Pat Martino El Hombre (1967) [rvg Remaster 2006] (2014_hdtracks 24 44,1)

Jackie McLean - Capuchin Swing (1960) {2008 Analogue Productions Remaster + 2002 Blue Note RVG Remaster}
XLD+EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 538 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 194 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 43 Mb
© 2008, 2002 Analogue Productions / Blue Note | CBNJ 84038 SA + 40033
Jazz / Hard Bop / Saxophone

Saxman Jackie McLean's explorations of free jazz and the avant-garde were still a couple of years away when he cut this Blue Note album in 1960, but that doesn't mean CAPUCHIN SWING is a by-the-numbers affair by any means. Though its name isn't generally invoked when the tally of hard bop's greatest albums is made, it stands up alongside anything Freddie Hubbard, Hank Mobley, et al were doing at the time. With trumpeter Blue Mitchell proving to be a perfectly matched sparring partner, McLean pushes bop harmonies and structures nearly to the breaking point with his intense improvisations on a batch of original compositions with a couple of outside tunes thrown in. Throughout, McLean stirs the sonic pot in such a fiery fashion, you can just tell something's cooking that he hasn't quite served up yet.

Bobby Hutcherson - Oblique (1967) [2005 RVG Remaster]
EAC+LOG+CUE | Flac (image) | 1 CD | 239 MB | scans @ 600dpi | Time: 41:04 | 3% recovery | HF + RS
Jazz, Post Bop | Blue Note/ Capitol Records | EMI Catalog # 7 2435 63835 2

This album, recorded in 1967, had to wait 13 years to be released. But when it was, it was hailed as one of the greatest albums in this great vibist's long career. The quartet tackles both attractive and challenging material contributed by Hancock and Chambers as well as the leader.

Despite the title and the cover of this CD reissue (which makes it appear that the performances are greatly influenced by music of the Far East), the style played by guitarist Pat Martino's quartet is very much in the hard bop tradition. Martino was already developing his own sound and is in excellent form with pianist Eddie Green, drummer Lenny McBrowne, and either Ben Tucker or Tyrone Brown on bass during two group originals, Benny Golson's "Park Avenue Petite," John Coltrane's "Lazy Bird," and the standard "Close Your Eyes." It's a good example of Pat Martino's playing in his early period.

Gene Ludwig & Pat Martino Trio - Young Guns (1968-1969) {HighNote HCD 7258 rel 2014}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 385 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 184 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 98 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1968-69, 2014 HighNote Records | HCD 7258
Jazz / Post Bop / Soul Jazz / Hammond B-3 organ / Guitar

The name Young Guns seems ironically amiss until one learns that this recording dates from 1968-69 when organist Gene Ludwig was thirty years old, guitarist Pat Martino twenty-three and drummer Randy Gelispie somewhere in that neighborhood, long before he became fondly known as "Uncle G." The organ trio was in its heyday then, and this one was caught on tape during an exciting live date at Club 118 in Louisville, KY. How many other such performances have been lost forever owing to the absence of a tape recorder or the failure to turn it on is anyone's guess. But this one, thank goodness, has been preserved for present-day ears to appreciate.

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - The Freedom Rider (1961) {2000 Japan 24bit RVG Remaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 191 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 76 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 16 Mb
© 2000 Toshiba-EMI / Blue Note Japan | TOCJ-9217 | 24-bit Mastering
Jazz / Hard Bop / Classical Jazz

The final recording by this edition of The Jazz Messengers (featuring trumpeter Lee Morgan, tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Bobby Timmons, bassist Jymie Merritt and drummer/leader Art Blakey) finds the group consolidating their year-and-a-half of experience into yet another exciting document. Blakey's unaccompanied drum feature on "The Freedom Rider" is full of drama while the rest of the program (two compositions apiece by Morgan and Shorter) makes this last chapter for this particular band quite memorable.