Live The Thelonious Monk Quartet

This outstanding DVD series pays homage to the East & West coast jazz scenes (namely the cities of New York and Los Angeles), where the bulk of modern jazz developed and evolved, and to some of the most important musicians who have spent a major part of their career there. This collection, consisting of 6 separate DVDs, focuses exclusively on live performances ranging from clubs to festivals to TV studio engagements, without any speakers or introducers… Nothing but music!

T.J. Kirk - Talking Only Makes It Worse (2003) {Ropeadope Records rec 1997}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 460 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 175 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 8 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1997, 2003 Ropeadope Records | [none]
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Post-Bop / Fusion / Guitars

Although it is not noted on the outside cover and is even difficult to discern from the inside liner notes, this is a live recording of the short-lived group, caught at a show at an unnamed venue in 1997. Regardless of the rather mysterious nature of the disc, it's a terrific representation of the foursome's phenomenal instrumental chops. The triple guitar/drums lineup cherry-picks tracks from their studio albums, both of which are out of print as of this disc's appearance in early 2004. Hence, it's the only way to hear this adventurous quartet deconstruct/reconstruct and mix and match the funk, jazz, and avant-garde qualities of the music of James Brown, Thelonious Monk, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk.

Miles Davis Quintet Featuring Barney Wilen - Amsterdam Concert (1957) [Lone Hill Jazz, LHJ10141] (speed corrected)
1CD | FLAC (IMG) | Cue, no log | ffp, md5 | Full HQ Art (PNG, 300dpi) | 313MB (3% rec) | RS, HF
Lone Hill Jazz LHJ10141, unofficial

"Amsterdam Concert" is a rare live Miles Davis recording from 1957. This album, one of the least known recordings of Miles Davis, was recorded at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam on December 8, 1957, a couple of days after the recording of the movie soundtrack "Ascenseur pour l'échafaud." On this concert, Miles didn't play with his regular quintet, but with the same line-up he used for the recording of "Ascenseur pour l'échafaud." It features Barney Wilen on tenor saxophone, René Urtreger on piano, Pierre Michelot on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums.

One of the towering figures of 20th century's music, Alabama-born pianist and organist Herman "Sun Ra" Blount (1914) became the cosmic musician par excellence. Despite dressing in extraterrestrial costumes (but inspired by the pharaohs of ancient Egypt) and despite living inside a self-crafted sci-fi mythology (he always maintained that he was from Saturn, and no biographer conclusively proved his birth date) and despite littering his music with lyrics inspired to a self-penned spiritual philosophy (he never engaged in sexual relationships apparently because he considered himself an angel), Sun Ra created one of the most original styles of music thanks to a chronic disrespect for both established dogmas and trendy movements.

Nearness finds acclaimed jazz saxophonist Joshua Redman and pianist Brad Mehldau teaming up for a set of loose yet heartfelt duo performances. Collaborators since they first began playing together in Redman's quartet in the early '90s, Mehldau and Redman have forged their own distinct solo careers. While they have continued to work together in various settings, the duo put a spotlight on their creative friendship with their 2011 tour. Nearness features live performances captured during the European leg of that tour, including tapings in Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Norway. These are dazzlingly collaborative performances that reveal Redman and Mehldau to be a highly intuitive and harmonically adroit team.