Quintet 1979

Art Pepper - Art Pepper presents “West Coast Sessions!” Volume 4: Bill Watrous (2017) {Omnivore Recordings rec 1979}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/44.1kHz - Official Digital Download -> 380 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 143 Mb | Artwork | 5% repair rar
© 1979, 2017 Omnivore Recordings
Jazz / Post Bop / West Coast Jazz / Mainstream Jazz / Saxophone

In 1977 Art came back from the dead. Or so it seemed to those who followed him, followed his music. And then in 1979, the Japanese came calling in the guise of a small record label, Yupiteru, later Atlas. They wanted Art to record for them. By then, Art was under exclusive contract to Fantasy/Galaxy records and couldn’t record as a leader. However, and I think I deserve credit for this sneaky idea, he could be a “sideman.” And he could choose the “leaders.” He did six albums for Atlas with six terrific “leaders.” And they are classics, now.

The young, American, all-female Lark Quartet have been gathering prizes and critical encomia over the past ten years or so, and these sensitively prepared performances of three of Schnittke’s most memorable chamber pieces show just why. I’m pretty sure I’ve not heard a better focused or more full-blooded account of the Second Quartet, nor one which held my attention more consistently.

Despite a huge hit single in the mid-'70s ("The Boys Are Back in Town") and becoming a popular act with hard rock/heavy metal fans, Thin Lizzy are still, in the pantheon of '70s rock bands, underappreciated. Formed in the late '60s by Irish singer/songwriter/bassist Phil Lynott, Lizzy, though not the first band to do so, combined romanticized working-class sentiments with their ferocious, twin-lead guitar attack. As the band's creative force, Lynott was a more insightful and intelligent writer than many of his ilk, preferring slice-of-life working-class dramas of love and hate influenced by Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and virtually all of the Irish literary tradition…

The eighth and ninth studio albums (there was a live recording between them) from the Atlanta Rhythm Section got a belated U.K. CD release in 2010. These closed out the act's affiliation with Polydor Records and are condensed onto a single CD here, as well as digitally remastered. It's another in the classy series of ARS reissues from BGO, which has treated the Southern pop act's catalog with utmost respect on four previous discs that bring the group's original albums back in print for collectors and music fans who want more than the 17 hits on Polydor's well-chosen 1982 vintage Best Of. Liner notes from Campbell Devine tend to be fawning but include a comprehensive history of the band, recounting its story leading up to and even after the recording of these tunes. Musically, ARS captured a unique style halfway between the smooth West Coast pop of the late '70s and the Southern rock of the era.

Black Rose: A Rock Legend would prove to be Thin Lizzy's last true classic album (and last produced by Tony Visconti). Guitarist Brian Robertson was replaced by Gary Moore prior to the album's recording. Moore had already been a member of the band in the early '70s and served as a tour fill-in for Robertson in 1977, and he fits in perfectly with Lizzy's heavy, dual-guitar attack. Black Rose also turned out to be the band's most musically varied, accomplished, and successful studio album, reaching number two on the U.K. album chart upon release…

Foreigner - Foreigner (1977). Blissful feelings arise at the mere mention of 70s arena rock. It gives listeners the permission to have fun, sing along to aircraft-hangar-size choruses, play air guitar solos, forget about any troubles, recall the experience of a first kiss, and quite simply, rock out. Few albums better instill these pleasures than Foreigner’s 1977 self-titled debut album, a five-times platinum blockbuster chock full of salacious riffs, soaring vocals, edgy beats, and lyrics that practically demand to be shouted.
Spearheaded by guitar hero Mick Jones, fresh off success with Spooky Tooth, Foreigner rallied around a talented collective pulled from the U.S. and U.K…