Smaller C, 1e

Composer, conductor, administrator, impresario, creative writer, acid critic, sometime painter, aspiring philosopher, classical symphonist, opera romantic, profound nationalist … blessed with the melodic flowering of a Mozart, the technical facility of a Mendelssohn … a man, conscious of his genius, ‘always honest and selfless in his dealings with his fellow men and with the art he loved’ (Autobiographical Sketch, Dresden, 14 March 1818) … put on a pedestal by all the post-Beethovenites, the inspiration of Mahler and Debussy, of Hindemith and Stravinsky: Carl Maria von Weber was, by universal consent, a great pianist in an age of great virtuosi.

Raymond Fol Big Band - Les 4 saisons (1965) {Gitanes 548 791-2 rel 2001}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 198 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 86 Mb
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© 1965, 2001 EmArcy / Universal / Gitanes | 548 791-2 | Jazz in Paris 66
Jazz / Big Band / Bop

Raymond Fol's jazz arrangement of Antonio Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" may have fallen into obscurity, but the French pianist's big band scoring of this classical favorite shows plenty of imagination. With a band of his fellow countrymen, along with expatriate Americans Johnny Griffin (tenor sax), bassist Jimmy Woode, and drummer Art Taylor, he casts a variety of moods, even within individual sections. In the first movement of "Le Printemps (The Spring)" he chooses an Afro-Cuban mood, while the second shifts to a smaller chamber jazz setting, showcasing guitarist Pierre Cullaz, vibraphonist Sadi, and the leader in turn.

Alarm Will Sound's recording of Steve Reich's monumental orchestral/choral works The Desert Music and Tehillim, released on the Cantaloupe label in 2002, greatly benefits from the group's close connections with the composer: the ensemble's conductor, Alan Pierson, and several of the performers studied at the Eastman School with Brad Lubman, a conductor frequently enlisted by Reich. Also, Pierson's arrangements, which reconcile the chamber and orchestral versions that exist for both works, were prepared in close consultation with the composer; thus, this may well be the definitive recording of these pieces. Brilliantly sonorous in their climaxes – the burst of light near the end of Desert Music, the "Alleluias" that close Tehillim – the players also articulate Reich's intricate canonic textures with nimble precision.

John Coltrane - The Complete Concerts: Live in France, July 27 & 28, 1965 (2009) {2CD Set Gambit Records 69317}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 597 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 268 Mb
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© 1965, 2009 Gambit Records | 69317
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Saxophone

1965 was a furious time for John Coltrane. He had just come off the recording of the future landmark, A Love Supreme a year earlier and now was in mist of a series of quartet and ensemble sessions. By June of '65 Coltrane had recorded The Quartet Plays, OM, Kulu Se Mama, Selflessness and another landmark recording to rival A Love Supreme–Ascension. Ascension was a massive work that feature a who's who of future jazz legends (Freddie Hubbard, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, Art Davis, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones, Marion Brown, Dewey Johnson and McCoy Tyner). It is another spiritual masterpiece that is difficult for the average Coltrane fan to get their head and ears around. It is a cavalcade of sound and emotion that is similar in scope to OM. Shortly after its release Coltrane set out on a European tour with his current quartet. This formed the basis for the Live In France release.

Eddie Money was always reliable for turning out a hit single or radio anthem on each of his records. Often, it felt like all of his energy went into a couple of songs per album, since the remainder of each record, while frequently enjoyable, was cluttered with filler. Which is a roundabout way of saying what a welcome addition Greatest Hits: The Sound of Money is to Money's catalog: not only is it a fine collection of his hits, it's the most consistent record he's assembled. Not that it's perfect. Some of his smaller hits are missing and there's a bit of filler even on this hits disc, but the truly essential items – "Baby Hold On," "Two Tickets to Paradise," "I Wanna Go Back," "Walk on Water," "Shakin'," "Take Me Home Tonight," "Think I'm in Love," even "Peace in Our Time" – are here, and the best of them really do define what album rock was all about at the turn of the '70s and early '80s.