Soul Unsung

Esther Phillips - Brand New Day: The Lenox Atlantic & Roulette Recordings 1962-1970 (2020) {5CD Set, Soul Music QSMCR-5194BX}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.76 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 801 Mb
Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 45 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1962-70, 2020 Soul Music Records | QSMCR-5194BX
Jazz / R&B / Jazz Blues / Soul

The late Esther Phillips (1935-1984) has often been considered one of the ‘unsung’ pioneers in the world of R&B, stretching back to the early ‘50s when as a child star working with famed bandleader Johnny Otis, she enjoyed a run of chart-topping singles at the age of 15, making her the youngest female artist to ever have an No. 1 R&B hit at the time. The Texas-born vocalist returned in 1962 with a soulful version of the country hit, ‘Release Me’ for Lenox Records, subsequently signing with Atlantic Records for whom she recorded a total of four full albums between 1964-1970 with a brief spell at Roulette Records in 1969.

Ragged Soul was the first album in five years from the Lazy Cowgirls, and from the first blast of D.D. Weekday's guitar on "I Can't Be Satisfied" it's obvious that this band was ready to make up for lost time. Against all odds, Ragged Soul sounds like the band's best album ever; the twin-guitar punch of Weekday and Michael Leigh offers plenty of kick with no clutter, the rhythm section (Leonard Keringer on bass and Ed Huerta on drums) drives the songs forward without crowding anyone in the process, and Pat Todd proves he's one of the greatest unsung frontmen in rock, pouring out fire and passion on every cut…

Horace Tapscott with the Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra - Live At I.U.C.C. (2019) {Soul Jazz Records rec 1979}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/44.1kHz - Official Digital Download (deezer.com) -> 723 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 288 Mb | Cover | 5% repair rar
© 1979, 2019 Soul Jazz Records
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Experimental Big Band / Piano

"Horace Tapscott is one of the unsung giants of jazz music. A gifted composer and arranger, a boldly original pianist, and above all a visionary bandleader, Tapscott’s recorded footprint is small, but his legacy continues to vibrate through the Los Angeles music underground. From Freestyle Fellowship to Build An Ark, Kamasi Washington and Dwight Trible, it all traces back to Tapscott. The pianist was an organiser, and instead of chasing a successful recording career, he wanted to build a community band that would act as ‘a cultural safe house for the music.’ ‘I wanted to say, “This is your music. This is black music, and I want to present a panorama of the whole thing right here”’ said Tapscott in the late 1990s. ‘We would preserve the music on our ark, the mothership…’ That mothership was the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra – the Ark. As a culturally radical, communal big band with a visionary approach to American Black music, Tapscott’s group is second only to the other famous Arkestra, that of Sun Ra.