Near Blue

Duke Robillard pays homage to T-Bone Walker with this collection of swing, big band and blues songs. The bubbly and bouncy "Lonesome Woman Blues" has a be-bop Count Basie feeling as his supporting players are given brief solos to shine, particularly the horn section. There is far more substance and style to this approach than a rehashed run-through à la Brian Setzer…..

Bobby Hutcherson - Natural Illusions (1972) {Blue Note–Liberty 4408}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 190 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 84 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 6 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1972 Blue Note / Liberty Records | 4408 / APBC 2301
Jazz / Jazz Funk / Post Bop / Vibes

Vibes and orchestrations – a combination that makes for one of the coolest Bobby Hutcherson albums of the 70s – a really magical set that expands the sound of Bobby's work in ways we wouldn't have expected! The style is similar to that used with Grant Green and Lou Donaldson at the time on Blue Note – a style that's clearly trying for the more sophisticated sounds of CTI, and which beautifully balances the modes of presentation – so that there's still plenty of soulful moments and slyly funky bits alongside the strings and woodwinds in the orchestrations – proof that a record like this can be really brilliant if scored properly!

Even by the supremely high standards of Blue Note Records in the mid-1960s, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson's HAPPENINGS was a rare event. This superb quartet session (with Herbie Hancock on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass and Joe Chambers on drums) remains not only the pinnacle of Hutcherson's outstanding career but one of the absolute best of sixties jazz dates.

Bobby Hutcherson - Happenings (1966) {2013 Japan SHM-CD Blue Note 24-192 Remaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 265 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 105 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 255 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit 192 kHz remaster
© 1966, 2013 Universal Japan / Blue Note | BN 75th The Masterworks | TYCJ-81027
Jazz / Post Bop / Vibraphone

Reissue. Features the high-fidelity SHM-CD format (compatible with standard CD player) and 24bit remastering. Bobby Hutcherson's first quartet outing, Happenings, casts the brightest spotlight on the vibraphonist's soloing abilities, matching him once again with pianist Herbie Hancock (who is also heavily featured) and drummer Joe Chambers, plus bassist Bob Cranshaw. For that matter, the album also leans heavily on Hutcherson's compositional skills; save for Hancock's "Maiden Voyage," six of the seven numbers are Hutcherson originals.