The Art of hi fi

one hand on the steering wheel the other sewing a garden is the name of the second album by Canadian songwriter Alexandra Levy, publicly known by the moniker Ada Lea. On one hand…, it’s a collection of walking-paced, cathartic pop/folk songs, on the other it’s a book of heart-twisting, rear-view stories of city life.

After years of big band experimentation, Stan Kenton seemed to settle into a more grounded groove on 1956's In Hi-Fi. To his credit, Kenton did keep things swinging before, even in the midst of high brow bombast like the string-laden, 39 piece Innovations in Modern Music orchestra and numerous jazz meets Stravinsky projects. This uncanny balance of flow and brains came out of Kenton's own tempered direction and fine contributions by the likes of arranger Pete Rugolo, trumpeter Shorty Rogers, alto saxophonist Art Pepper, and singers Anita O'Day and June Christy. Thanks to a seamless mix of dazzling charts and liberal doses of Lunceford and Ellington-inspired swing, the marriage certainly works on Kenton in Hi-Fi…

Joel Paterson - Hi-Fi Christmas Guitar (2017) {Ventrella Records VEN-5007}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 235 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 98 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 16 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2017 Ventrella Records | VEN-5007
Christmas / Instrumental / Rock / Blues / Pop / Guitar

Christmas classics played by guitar virtuoso Joel Paterson! Season’s greetings to you all in Hi-Fi! I’ve been kicking around the idea of recording a Christmas guitar album for a while now. Every year I faced the same problem—I would get excited to play Christmas songs around the holidays, but couldn’t finish an album in time to release it before December. In 2016, I posted a series of guitar videos online counting down the days to Christmas. The response to them was overwhelming to me; it was great to know there was still a demand for classic Christmas music. So this summer I got motivated, locked myself in my music room to assemble some of my favorite seasonal songs, and started working on Hi-Fi Christmas Guitar.

Gene Ammons - Jammin' In Hi-Fi with Gene Ammons (1957) {Prestige OJCCD-129-2 rel 2006}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 310 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 121 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 7 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1957, 2006 Prestige / Fantasy / Universal | 00025218612920 / OJCCD-129-2
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Saxophone

Tenorman Gene Ammons headed a series of notable studio jam session in the 1950s and this is one of the better ones. With such fine young players as trumpeter Idrees Sulieman, altoist Jackie McLean, pianst Mal Waldron, guitarist Kenny Burrell, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Art Taylor, Ammons and his friends jam through four numbers all of which clock in between 11:59 and 13:01. The results are an accessible and often exciting brand of bebop.

14 favorites compiled by Bob James from the Tappan Zee years. Making this collection even more special are Bob's own liner notes giving his personal insights into each of the recordings. The master of smooth jazz delivers his first audiophile release and AUDIO FIDELITY has it. Some of his favorites in the collection are Angela, Westchester Lady, Rush Hour, and Spunky.

Danish-Spanish ambient trio formed in Copenhagen late 1995 by flamenco singer Gustav Carl Rey Henningsen Jr., guitarist Moe Lind and guitarist and programmer Frithjof Toksvig. All three had spectacular musical backgrounds: The part-Spanish Gustav Jr. had fronted numerous flamenco combos in both Sweden and Denmark, Moe Lind had played with grunge act Boghandle and punk legend Sort Sol, and Frithjof Toksvig had been part of the highly ambitious, but ill fated art-pop group, The Poets (originally Poets Of The Signature, in the US and Canada known as The Sealand Poets)…