The Tokyo Blues

This set is a previously unissued gig by one of the greatest lineups in the long history of Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers – Blakey, drums; Bobby Timmons, piano; Wayne Shorter, saxophone; Lee Morgan, trumpet; Jymie Merrit, bass. First Flight to Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings are drawn from the final shows of the band's first tour of Japan…

Tommy Flanagan - The Tokyo Recital (1975) {Pablo Japan VICJ-60869 rel 2001, Paper Sleeve}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 308 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 118 Mb
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© 1975, 2001 Pablo Records / Victor Japan | VICJ-60869 | 20bitK2
Jazz / Hard Bop / Piano

When this set was recorded, pianist Tommy Flanagan had spent so much time as Ella Fitzgerald's accompanist (the past seven years, plus two before that) that many jazz followers had forgotten how strong a soloist he was. In a trio with bassist Keter Betts and drummer Bobby Durham on this straight CD reissue of a former LP, Flanagan is heard in superior form. He interprets a full set of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn-associated songs. Highlights include "U.M.M.G. (Upper Manhattan Medical Group)," "Main Stem," "Chelsea Bridge," and a particularly memorable rendition of "The Intimacy of the Blues." Highly recommended.

Horace Silver is not only important because of his contributions as a pianist/composer; he's also been a first-rate talent scout (much like Miles Davis, Chick Corea, and Art Blakey). From Donald Byrd to Joe Henderson to Tom Harrell, so many of Silver's sidemen have come to be recognized as serious jazz heavyweights. The hard bopper led his share of five-star groups - especially in the '50s and '60s - but if any one Silver combo went down in history as his most important, it was the 1959-1964 quintet with trumpeter Blue Mitchell, tenor saxman Junior Cook, bassist Gene Taylor, and drummer Roy Brooks. And that cohesive group is the one that Silver leads on Paris Blues, which contains previously unreleased performances from an October 6, 1962, appearance at the Olympia Theater in Paris…

Electric guitar oriented originals in a variety of blues and blues-connected styles. Songs written from the heart about real life. Born in Los Angeles in 1958, Charles Burton plays with fire, and when he does, his articulation and phrasing are instantly recognizable. This tall drink of water has been playing Blues, Country, Rock, and Roots music for over forty years. He has played lead guitar in Country bands in Los Angeles (1970's), Honolulu (1980's), Tokyo (1990's), and Fresno, California. He headlined the Fresno Blues Festival playing with the late great Hosea Leavy in 1995. As a blues guitarist and singer, he has released five CDs with the Charles Burton Blues Band, and has toured Europe headlining festivals, culture houses, and clubs twice a year since 2005.

Finger Poppin' was the first album Horace Silver recorded with the most celebrated version of his quintet, which featured trumpeter Blue Mitchell, tenor saxophonist Junior Cook, bassist Gene Taylor, and (this time around) drummer Louis Hayes. It's also one of Silver's all-time classics, perfectly blending the pianist's advanced, groundbreaking hard bop style with the winning, gregarious personality conveyed in his eight original tunes. Silver always kept his harmonically sophisticated music firmly grounded in the emotional directness and effortless swing of the blues, and Finger Poppin' is one of the greatest peaks of that approach. A big part of the reason is the chemistry between the group - it's electrifying and tightly knit, with a palpable sense of discovery and excitement at how well the music is turning out…

A rare and fabulous tête-à-tête between the accordion and its maestro. Richard Galliano is the uncontested master of jazz accordion worldwide. The inventor of “new musette” – a mix between jazz and popular music – has been feeding off French chanson and musette, American blues music, and Brazilian forro. In May 2018, the accordionist played three concerts in Tokyo, alone on stage with his precious Victoria, the accordion that was gifted to him by his grandmother on his fourteenth birthday, upon the advice of his father.

This should not be confused with the Voodoo Lounge Uncut concert released in November 2018, since that concert was filmed in Florida on November 25th, 1994. This is a different concert from the same tour, but filmed in Japan at the Tokyo Dome on March 12th, 1995.
By the time the Rolling Stones began calling themselves the World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band in the late '60s, they had already staked out an impressive claim on the title. As the self-consciously dangerous alternative to the bouncy Merseybeat of the Beatles in the British Invasion, the Stones had pioneered the gritty, hard-driving blues-based rock & roll that came to define hard rock…