Modern Classics From August September 2016

The biggest-selling R&B DJ is back with a better selection than ever… introducing ‘Trevor Nelson Club Classics’. Containing a completely new collection of hits (none of which are on his previous albums), this triple album is made up of 60 of the biggest anthems of all time. Spanning the 1970s right up to the present day, each track has been carefully handpicked by the music connoisseur himself. Featuring the world’s biggest superstars from the world of R&B; artists included range from legends such as Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Diana Ross, Chaka Khan and The Jackson 5; to modern-day megastars Drake, Rihanna, The Black Eyed Peas and The Weeknd. Whether it’s timeless hits from the likes of Bobby Brown, The Brand New Heavies, Beverley Knight and Blackstreet, or laid-back hip-hop classics from Warren G, Nelly, Fat Joe and LL Cool J – ‘Trevor Nelson Club Classics’ is undoubtedly that all-important, essential album for any R&B fan.

Back in New York after three years spent gigging and recording in Europe, a mature and rejuvenated James Moody resumed the endless North American scuffle to get by as a contemporary jazz musician. Volume five in the Classics James Moody chronology presents 16 rare Mercury recordings made between October 1951 and June 1953, followed by eight Prestige titles from January and April, 1954. The first four tracks feature baritone saxophonist Cecil Payne; high points include the rowdy, bristling "Moody's Home" and "Wiggle Waggle," an R&B rocker that sounds like something right up out of the King record catalog. Beginning with the material recorded on May 21, 1952, Moody is heard leading a group largely composed of players who, like him, had worked in Dizzy Gillespie's big band. Two of these individuals – trumpeter Dave Burns and baritone saxophonist Numa "Pee Wee" Moore – show up regularly in the front line of Moody's excellent recording ensembles between 1952 and 1955.

Rashied Ali - New York Ain't So Bad: Ali Plays the Blues (1975) {Knit Classics KCR-3025 rel 1999}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 205 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 87 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 49 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1975, 1999 Knit Classics / Survival Records | KCR-3025
Jazz / Post Bop / Avant-Garde Jazz / Drums

From the first in a series of obscure reissues by the Knitting Factory label, this Rashied Ali-led session from 1975 is exactly what it says it is, a blues date featuring the unusual, deep soul vocals of Royal Blue, who comes off styling his blues from the T-Bone Walker school of Texas blues crossed with the voiced passion of a Big Joe Turner and the clarity of speech that comes from Joe Williams with Count Basie. The Rashied Ali Quintet is the backing band, which featured Charles Eubanks on piano (and he is a truly amazing blues pianist), James Vass on alto sax and flute, Benny Wilson on bass, Marvin Blackman on tenor and flute, and, of course, Ali on drums.

Ronnie Spector - English Heart (2016) {429 Records FTN16121}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 202 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 77 Mb
Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 5 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2016 429 Records | FTN16121
Soft Rock / Pop Rock / Rock & Roll

Few if any artists of the girl group era were as iconic as Ronnie Spector. As the lead singer of the Ronettes, Ronnie was the crown jewel of Phil Spector's Wall of Sound (and also his wife for a while). But as iconic sounds of the '60s go, Ronnie and her peers had to play second fiddle to the Beatles and the many other British groups who invaded America in their wake. As it happens, Ronnie was a fan of the British Invasion bands just like the rest of us. What's more, she shared stages with the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, and the Kinks when the Ronettes toured the U.K. back in the day. So it makes sense that Ronnie would look back at this era by recording an album of classic tunes by great British acts of the '60s.

These performances are not, to be sure, historically informed, nor are they fashionably chamber-like. The Thomanerchor is traditionally large (and all male), and it is accompanied in four of the 11 discs by the Gewandhaus Orchestra and in the remaining seven by the Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum. The roster of the latter is not listed, but, like the Gewandhaus Orchestra, its players use modern instruments and are not adverse to vibrato. On the other hand, Rotzsch does avoid, for the most part, languid tempos and extravagant gestures. The young men of the Thomanerchor are well trained and attentive and make, collectively, a joyfully controlled noise. The orchestral players and instrumental soloists, too, are beyond reproach. Similarly, Rotzsch’s soloists are top-drawer. Among the latter, Arleen Augér, Otrun Wenkel, Peter Schreier, and Hermann Christian Polster make the most frequent appearances, but the others, including the likes of Regina Werner, Doris Soffel, Theo Adam, and Siegfried Lorenz, are splendid as well. Rotzsch, himself, sings on two of the discs (he is a tenor).

–George Chien

The CD format for opera on records coincides with (and perhaps encourages) the modern habit in the opera house of running two or more acts together without an interval. Some operas benefit from this, but I don't think Faust is one of them. It strikes a genial bargain. ''I won't waste your time,'' it promises, ''but don't bother to come along if you haven't got a full evening-out to spare.''

Charlie Parker - Intégrale Charlie Parker, Vol. 4, "Bird Of Paradise", 1947 (2012) {3CD Set Frémeaux & Associés FA1334}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 886 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 491 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 419 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1947, 2012 Frémeaux & Associés | FA 1334
Jazz / Be Bop / Bop / Saxophone

The year 1947 was one of the most creative of Charlie Parker. This box presents in 70 tracks the legacy recorded during the second half of this fruitful year, the first session of Miles Davis under his name for the Savoy label on August 14, 1947 at the session for the label Dial on December 17, always with Miles Davis but this time under the name of Charlie Parker.

Itzhak Perlman: Original Jacket Collection by Itzhak Perlman was released Mar 25, 2008 on the Sony Classical Essential Classics label. Itzhak Perlman: Original Jacket Collection is a 10-disc set with 95 songs.