Plaza Magazine From Nr.5 2015

Barry Douglas’s decision in his Brahms series to mix and match pieces intuitively, rather than employing a strict sequence of genre or chronology, has given this series a pleasing personal slant, and Vol. 5 is no exception. Building the programme around three very different sets of variations, Douglas intersperses the more substantial works with palate-cleansing intermezzos, two little-known early Sarabandes – apparent fugitives from an unfinished Baroque-inspired suite or two – and one of Brahms’s not-so-jokey scherzos, the rugged Op. 4. Indeed, if you like your Brahms super-rugged, this CD will not disappoint. Douglas’s powerful tone and serious demeanour captures the composer’s uncompromising side; yet there’s a sense of flow that makes the intermezzos generous and warm without veering towards the emotionally indulgent. The Variations on a Hungarian Song and the Hungarian Dances are served on the bone with sour cream aplenty.

DG s iconic artist Anne-Sophie Mutter is breaking new grounds with her new album Live from Yellow Lounge. Inspired by the huge success of her first Yellow Lounge in Berlin in 2013, the new album was recorded live at two special Yellow Lounges, which makes for the first ever YL production on tape, 15 years after the concept was introduced. The events took place on two consecutive nights on 7 and 8 May, 2015 at one of Berlin s hippest venues Neue Heimat and was filmed in cooperation with ZDF and DEF Media.

Following the 2013 release of Betty’s S.F. Blends, Volume One and their third full-length album, 2014′s Phosphorescent Harvest, Chris Robinson Brotherhood are back with an exciting double-LP: Betty’s Blends, Volume Two: Best From the West. Taking cues from Volume One, the CRB once again joined forces with Betty Cantor-Jackson, legendary archivist for the Grateful Dead, and allowed her to curate the new live album.

The Lenny Hambro Quintet - Message From Hambro (1955) {2015 Japan Jazz Collection 1000 Columbia-RCA Series}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 114 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 83 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 217 Mb | 5% repair rar | Mono
© 1955, 2015 Columbia / Sony Music Japan | SICJ 27 | 2015 DSD Remaster
Jazz / Bop / Saxophone

Reissue with latest 2015 DSD remastering. Comes with liner notes. A bold little message from alto saxophonist Lenny Hambro – a very strong record that should have made him as much of a giant on his instrument as contemporary talents like Lee Konitz or Herb Geller! Hambro has some of the soulful edge of the latter, and lots of the crisp, modern chromes of the former – especially in the way he runs alongside some great guitar in the group from Dick Garcia – a player we mostly know for his work on the Dawn label at the time, but who really makes the record something special here. The rest of the combo features Wade Legge on piano, Clyde Lombardi on bass, and Mel Zelnick on rhythm – and Hambro's sax work is angular and very deft – already at the top of his game. Titles include the Legge originals "Slave Girl", "Message In Minor", "Moon Slippers", and "Hoof Beats" – plus Hambro's "Thanatopsis" and "The Lonely One".

Bandleader Simon Jeffes composed the leadoff track "Music for a Found Harmonium" on a harmonium he found abandoned on a Tokyo street, which offers an inkling of the musical inspiration that sprang from this remarkable Englishman. As usual, he gathers a loose aggregation of musicians who create stunning, free-flowing acoustic sounds that defy categorization…

This is a box set of previously unreleased live recordings from Yes's 1972 (fall) North American tour. There are seven concerts here, and each concert is covered by a pair of CDs. Each pair comes in its own double gatefold with unique artwork. On the inside is printed the location and date of the concert, along with the tracklisting and credits…