Tone Jansa Quartet Pattern 1979

Woody Shaw - With Tone Jansa Quartet (1985) {2015 Japan Timeless Jazz Master Collection Complete Series}
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© 1985, 2015 Timeless Records / Solid Records Japan / Ultra-Vibe | CDSOL-6359
Jazz / Hard Bop / Post Bop / Trumpet / Saxophone

Reissue with the latest remastering. Features original cover artwork. Comes with a descripton in Japanese. One of our favorite Woody Shaw albums from his later years – and an album that's got the same joyous spirit and free soaring feel of his best 70s work! The core group on the album is the Tone Jansa Quartet – led by European reedman Jansa, and working in a space that's quite similar to that of Shaw's backing groups on previous sessions. Jansa wrote all the tunes on the set, and gave them a soaring feel that we really love – just the right mix of introspection and exploration found on classic Shaw sessions like Little Red's Fantasy or Lovedance. Titles include "Midi", "Boland", "Call Mobility", "River", and "May".

Tone Janša Quartet feat. Woody Shaw - Dr. Chi (1986) {2015 Japan Timeless Jazz Master Collection Complete Series}
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© 1986, 2015 Timeless Records / Solid Records Japan / Ultra-Vibe | CDSOL-6390
Jazz / Hard Bop / Post Bop / Saxophone / Trumpet

Reissue with the latest remastering. Features original cover artwork. Probably recorded in the mid-'80s, this delightful collaboration between American trumpeter Woody Shaw and the Tone Janša Quartet works on nearly every level. Janša shares the front line with the trumpeter, and is a perfect foil for Shaw on each of Janša's instruments, tenor and soprano saxophones and flute. Janša's fluid, driving lines fit beautifully with Shaw's concepts. Even more importantly, Shaw is in great form, and there is an electricity in the air that infuses each track.

This compilation taken from two seminal albums in the history of Eastern European jazz - particularly in what used to be Yugoslavia - is a welcome find in the bins of the United States and England. Saxophonist Tone Jansa is a giant of a man, and a saxophonist who has much in common with both Pharaoh Sanders and the giant who influenced him, John Coltrane. This quartet made a total of five records, and one in quintet and sextet settings. But the two that are referred to here should be reissued in their entirety. Oh well, what can ya do? The first two tracks of this outrageously beautiful, spiritually motivated open modal jazz is from the Tone Jansa Jazz Kvartet disc on RTB in 1976, and the last four are from the Tone Jansa Kvartet disc on the same label from 1978…

Harry Verbeke / Rob Agerbeek Quartet - Gibraltar (1979) {2015 Japan Timeless Jazz Master Collection Complete Series}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 240 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 112 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 256 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1979, 2015 Timeless Records / Solid Records Japan / Ultra-Vibe | CDSOL-6410
Jazz / Post Bop / Modern Post Bebop / Saxophone / Piano Trio

Reissue with the latest remastering and the original cover artwork. Comes with a description written in Japanese. A killer Dutch duo from the end of the 70s – tenorist Harry Verbeke, who's got a bold, clear sound – and pianist Rob Agerbeek, who's been making soulful sides from the 60s onwards! The pair get great accompaniment here from drummer Billy Higgins and bassist Herbie Lewis – the last of whom may be at his best here – with these well-placed, well-rounded lines that help the record groove right from the start – and which give the record a nice bounce, even in gentler moments – followed up strongly by Agerbeek and his strong sense of chord progressions. Most tunes are familiar, but get nice readings by the group – and titles include "Gibraltar, "Holy Land", "Soul Sister", "No Me Esqueca", and "No Problem".

This ambitious and beautifully produced two-CD set includes nearly all of Iannis Xenakis' chamber music for strings, piano, and strings and piano combined. Chamber music constituted a small part of the composer's output, since large ensembles and large forms were vehicles more commensurate with the aesthetic of his monumental, granitic music. There are no small pieces here, though; in each of these works, ranging from solos to a quintet for piano and strings, Xenakis was able to express his uncompromising vision no less ferociously than in his orchestral works. While all of the pieces have an elemental character, many with a visceral punch, the actual sound of the music is surprisingly varied, and the individual works have distinctive and individual characters. In spite of the weightiness and rigor of the music, the tone is not necessarily heavy, and some pieces, like Evryali for piano and Dikhthas for violin and piano, have moments of what could almost be described as whimsicality.

I first heard the late string quartets of Beethoven in my teens, on a budget price LP on the French Musidisc label. I don’t remember much about the performances; one movement that sticks in my mind is the slow movement of Op. 127, which was played at an expansive tempo, and took around twenty minutes. However I do remember the liner-notes, which were obviously translated by someone for whom English was not their first language.