Over the course of time, Heavy Sugar has been the title of a song, the name of a radio station, an independent movie and the primary ingredient for a rapturous recipe. How fitting it is that this latter description also epitomizes the ingredients that go to make up Heavy Sugar: The Pure Essence of New Orleans R&B. Just think, if the celebrity chefs of New Orleans were to whip up Heavy Sugar until the peaks start to form, then the hostesses on Bourbon Street would go that little bit further and add any flavour necessary to achieve a creamy finish.
First the good news, which is really good: the sound on this 340-song set is about as good as one ever fantasized it could be, and that means it runs circles around any prior reissues; from the earliest Aristocrat sides by the Five Blazers and Jump Jackson & His Orchestra right up through Muddy Waters' "Going Down to Main Street," it doesn't get any better than this set. The clarity pays a lot of bonuses, beginning with the impression that it gives of various artists' instrumental prowess. In sharp contrast to the past efforts in this direction by MCA, however, the producers of this set have not emasculated the sound in the course of cleaning it up, as was the case with the Chuck Berry box, in particular.
It’s been a while coming, but here we finally get Trikont’s third volume in their amazing Early Black Rock ‘N Roll series. As before, the intent is to present real American rock ‘n roll as it first emerged in the late 1940s-early 1950s, before the music’s black roots were de-emphasised and it was cleaned up for consumption by the middle class white America of Richie Cunningham, Ralph Malph and Potsie. These 26 knock-out tracks certainly deliver on this - or, in the words of Nik Cohn in the booklet’s notes, ‘compared to the sentimentalism of white music, (hearing the originals) was like a window being opened to let the stale air out’.
This album is dedicated to Masabumi "Poo-Sun" Kikuchi (1939-2015). Tamaya Honda is a Japanese drummer, son of Takehiro Honda. His mother is the jazz singer Chiko Honda, and he is a nephew of Sadao Watanabe and Fumio Watanabe.
Sony Music Entertainment is pleased to announce another ten Masters, the latest instalments in this mouth-watering series for collectors of the great artists. Here are ten new budget-priced box sets of classic recordings by some of the most celebrated musicians of the 20th century.