Slow Sand

Band of Joy was the name of Robert Plant’s Black Country psychedelic folk group of the late ‘60s and his revival of its name and spirit in 2010 is of no small significance. Certainly, it’s an explicit suggestion that Plant is getting back to his roots, which is true to an extent: the original Band of Joy was unrecorded outside of a handful of demos, so there is no indication of whether this 2010 incarnation sounds anything at all like the ‘60s band but the communal vibe that pulsates throughout this album hearkens back to the age of hippies as much as it is an outgrowth of Raising Sand, Plant’s striking duet album with Alison Krauss. Such blurred borders are commonplace on Band of Joy, where American and English folk meld, where the secular and sacred walk hand in hand, where the past is not past and the present is not rootless…

Various Artists - From Hard Bop To Cool (1955-1957) - La Grande Histoire Du Jazz Vol. 3 (2010) {Box 25CD - 75 of 100}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 10.6 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 5.07 Gb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 792 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1955-57, 2010 Le Chant du Monde | 574 1950.74
Jazz / Classic Jazz / Bop / Hard Bob / Cool

An epic 100 CD chronological documentation of the history of jazz music from 1898 to 1959, housed in four boxed sets. Each box contains 25 slipcase CDs, a booklet (up to 186 pages) and an index. The booklets contain extensive notes (Eng/Fr) with recording dates and line-ups. 31 hours of music in each box, totalling 1677 tracks Each track has been restored and mastered from original sources.

Manifold Records presents Mykonos Chillout Café (Feelings Del Mar) Vol. 1-5. Frank Borell, Paradise Blue, Orange Music, Chillwalker, Noise Boyz, Mahoroba, Cafe Americaine and many others.

Ralph Towner - Solstice (1975) {ECM 1060}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 215 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 97 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 20 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1975 ECM Records | ECM 1060 / 825 458-2
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Post Bop / Folk Jazz / Guitar

This is arguably the first recording to fully flesh out the aural expanse for which ECM has come to be known. Although I am well aware of the immense groundswell of musical activity that was the 1970s, certainly an album like this was a refreshing and altogether mind-altering experience for those fortunate enough to be young musical explorers at the time. Featuring a lineup of musicians who would go on to weave ECM’s significance into the fabric of time, Solstice is a tour de force of musicianship, writing, arrangement, and recording.

Band of Joy was the name of Robert Plant’s Black Country psychedelic folk group of the late ‘60s and his revival of its name and spirit in 2010 is of no small significance. Certainly, it’s an explicit suggestion that Plant is getting back to his roots, which is true to an extent: the original Band of Joy was unrecorded outside of a handful of demos, so there is no indication of whether this 2010 incarnation sounds anything at all like the ‘60s band but the communal vibe that pulsates throughout this album hearkens back to the age of hippies as much as it is an outgrowth of Raising Sand, Plant’s striking duet album with Alison Krauss…

Kenny Burrell - Guitar Forms (1965) {Verve Master Edition 521 403-2 rel 1997}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 433 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 179 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 476 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1965, 1997 Verve / PolyGram | Verve Master Edition 521 403-2
Jazz / Bop / Cool / Progressive Jazz / Big Band / Guitar

Though the jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell is associated mostly with Blue Note-based hard bop and soul-jazz (he had a hit with the funky "Chile con Carne"), he is also a musician of considerable artistry. Witness his landmark 1965 collaboration with Gil Evans, Guitar Forms, which rivals anything the arranger did with Miles Davis. Indeed, the track "Lotus Land" has a bolero form very reminiscent of Sketches of Spain.