Ray Brown: The Red Hot Ray Brown Trio [96 24 Stereo LP Rip]

Ray Brown was in at the beginning of the Concord Jazz record label in the early '70s, and starting with Brown's Bag in 1975, he recorded a dozen albums as a leader for Concord before departing for Telarc Records in the early '90s. This two-disc compilation, with a running time of almost two hours and 20 minutes, presents 24 selections drawn from 19 Concord Jazz albums recorded between 1973 and 1993, including live performances at the Concord Jazz Festivals, recordings by Brown's trio and the L.A. 4, and a Brown duet with Jimmy Rowles, among other configurations. As a bass player, Brown only rarely solos, so one usually notices the horn players (Harry "Sweets" Edison, Red Holloway, Plas Johnson, Richie Kamuca, Blue Mitchell, Ralph Moore, and Bud Shank), the pianists (Monty Alexander, George Duke, Gene Harris, Art Hillery, and Rowles), or other frontline musicians…

If the picture of three grown men hanging onto giant, colored swirl sticks looks a bit odd, or if the title The Poll Winners seems a bit conceited, the music, nonetheless - recorded in 1957 - still sounds great. Besides, guitarist Barney Kessel, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer Shelly Manne really did win polls in Down Beat, Playboy, and Metronome in 1956, and this is precisely what brought the players together. Here, on their first outing, they interpret nine pieces for 40 lovely minutes of modern jazz. After kicking off with a fine take on Duke Jordan's "Jordu," the group delivers an emotionally warm, six-minute version of "Satin Doll," one the album's highlights. While each player is always fully engaged in this small setting, Kessel's guitar supplies the lead voice…

Returning to Gentle Giant's fourth album after any kind of lengthy absence, it's astonishing just how little Octopus has dated. Often written off at the time as a pale reflection of the truly gargantuan steps being taken by the likes of Jethro Tull and Barclay James Harvest, the band's closest relatives in the tangled skein of period prog, Gentle Giant often seemed more notable for its album art than its music…

EMERSON LAKE & PALMER (ELP) reformed for the first time since 1998 to headline the High Voltage Festival on Sunday July 25th 2010. 2010 marked the 40th anniversary of the creation of Emerson Lake and Palmer, the band that was formed from King Crimson, The Nice and Atomic Rooster. They became the first true prog-rock Super Group and defined an era…

Blu-ray plus bonus CD. Following the highly successful releases of the Steven Wilson's remixes of The Power And The Glory and Octopus, Steven has now remixed a specially curated selection of songs and compositions from the band's first three albums (Giant, Acquiring the Taste, Three Friends) presented in both 5.1 surround sound and stereo…

Bootsy Collins has rightfully received accolades as funk's second officer (after George Clinton – and it should be third after James Brown and Clinton). For decades he has been sampled by every rapper from Snoop Dogg to OutKast, and virtually created the bass sound that made the Red Hot Chili Peppers a household name and that created a career for Les Claypool. Yet, his most influential sound emanated not from his tenure with James Brown or P-Funk, but his own Rubber Band, and until now that wooly, wild, and surreal unit has never been properly anthologized. Rhino, in their usual thorough, crazy fashion, have directed the folks at the Warner archives and have created a massive, drop-the-bomb two-disc set that sets the record straight.