Taking Back What’s Mine

Takehiro Honda - What's Going On (1971) {Solid Japan Cardboard Sleeve CDSOL-1482 rel 2012}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 253 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 81 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 53 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1971, 2012 Trio Records / Solid Records Japan | CDSOL-1482
Jazz / Jazz Funk / Soul Jazz / Groove

Recorded in the U.S. with arranger Teddy Adams, What's Going On embraces in full the American influences that shape it – the polemical R&B of James Brown and Marvin Gaye looms heavy via covers of "Ain't It Funky Now" and the title cut, while the sound and sensibility clearly draw from West coast soul-jazz innovators like Les McCann and Gerald Wilson. But the curiosity and estrangement inherent in the album's stranger-in-a-strange-land origins are in fact its dominant element: Takehiro Honda doesn't simply channel his myriad influences, he also dissects them, taking them apart and putting them back together to understand how they work. The result is a wonderfully eccentric and heartfelt interpretation of American funk rendered in distinctly Japanese terms – studious but a bit goofy, formal yet passionately groovy.

The Complete Motown Singles has been a dream project of Motown and soul fanatics for many years, ever since the first decade of Stax/Volt singles was compiled in an impressive nine-disc box set in 1991. The Complete Motown Singles might have seemed like a logical move to soul collectors and fanatics, but it remained in the realm of fantasy for many years because, as enticing as that set was, it was difficult to create.

Aptly titled, 'The Great Vocalists Of Jazz & Entertainment', culls 748 of the absolute finest recordings by top singers of the pre-rock era of the '30s, '40s & '50s. All recordings are digitally remastered and over 20 top names are featured, including Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Sarah Vaughan, Lena Horne and Perry Como. Each artist has at least one disc devoted to solely to their repertoire; most have two (Billie & Frank deservedly have three apiece). Hou sed in a sealed, full color 5' x 6' x 8' box, it contains 20 double slimline jewelcases.