Two Step (2014)

Taj Mahal - Sing A Happy Song: The Warner Bros. Recordings (1976-1978) {2CD Set, Rhino Handmade rel 2014}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 998 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 370 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 39 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1976-1978, 2014 Rhino Handmade / Warner | 603497 774920
Blues / Folk Blues / Electric Country Blues / World / Contemporary Blues / Modern Acoustic Blues

Mahal's stint with Warner Bros. was not among his most artistically productive, documenting an era in which he become preoccupied with fusing his brand of blues with Caribbean rhythms and steel drums. This double-CD set contains the entirety of three 1976-1978 LPs for the label, in addition to some unreleased material. Those three LPs – 1976's Music Fuh Ya (Musica Para Tu), 1978's Evolution (The Most Recent), and the 1977 soundtrack to the little-known film Brothers – form most of what's on this compilation. There's a sameness to Mahal's easygoing blues-on-the-beach approach, and a sometimes irritating reliance on Caribbean steel drums for color, that wears down the listener's attention span in such a large dose.

On June 6, 2014, Dave Matthews Band returned to the state of Maine for the first time since 1997. With an acoustic set to open the show, fans got a taste of classic DMB tunes in stripped down arrangements. An intimate Oh and Bartender kick off the evening with Dave and Tim. By the end of set 1 it’s all hands on deck for an acoustically joyful Tripping Billies, gearing the crowd up for the electric second set. This show from the Summer of 2014 touches upon all eras of the DMB catalog from the radio hit, Crush, to the hard hitting Drive In, Drive Out.

Willie Nelson has been a prolific singer and recording artist since the 1970s, but the songwriter who penned hits for Ray Price, Patsy Cline, Billy Walker, and Johnny Cash, among others, hasn't issued an album of predominantly original material since 1996. Band of Brothers ends the drought. Its 14 selections include nine new songs by Nelson (with producer Buddy Cannon) and a handful of fine covers. Opener "Bring It On" is a honky tonk waltz that offers wisdom by someone who has lived through plenty as he looks eternity squarely in the eye. He is in excellent voice as Mickey Raphael's harmonica moans to underscore his lyric. Nelson delivers his first guitar solo on Trigger (his nylon-stringed instrument). His playing, with its unique phrasing, has always been underrated and here it evokes the blues. His love songs have always been highlights in his catalog. "I Thought I Left You" is in 4/4, with a slow processional pace adorned with slippery steel and piano. The lost romance portrayed in the waltz "Send Me a Picture" is another clear standout; a sighing pedal steel and Raphael's mid-register wail echo every sung line.

Sam Most - I'm Nuts About The Most….Sam That Is! (1955) {2014 Japanese Bethlehem Album Collection 1000 CDSOL-6129}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 230 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 88 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 217 Mb | 5% repair rar | East Coast Jazz Series No.9
© 1955, 2014 Solid Records / Bethlehem | CDSOL-6129 | LP BCP-18
Jazz / Bop / Cool / East Coast Jazz / Flute

Sweet flute work from the great Sam Most – a player who really shone brightly during his 50s recordings for Bethlehem Records – of which this is one of the best! Sam's got a mean, lean quality to his solos – a mode that rivals that of Frank Wess on the instrument at the time, and may well beat Herbie Mann – able to step lively on more boppish numbers, but step back into these soulful lines at just the right moments. The rest of the group has a tight feel too – modern, but a bit playful too – with Marty Flax on baritone, Barry Galbraith on guitar, Billy Triglia on piano, and Oscar Pettiford on bass. Titles include "Deed I Do", "Broadway", "Smiles", "Don't Worry Bout Me", "How Deep Is The Ocean", and "Tea For Two".

The Complete Albums Collection features all ten official studio albums and also includes a The Alan Parsons Project’s fifth album called The Sicilian Defence which is previously unreleased. The 11-disc set comes with a booklet with brand new liner notes and the CDs are packaged in mini-vinyl card sleeves.

The release of this four-CD set of works for solo string instruments and orchestra pays tribute, as does the recently issued box-set of ‘British Piano Concertos’, to the imagination and vision of the late Richard Itter and his pioneering Lyrita label. For many, Lyrita was the British music label and was loyally supported by various ‘in house’ conductors, among them Adrian Boult, Nicholas Braithwaite, Norman Del Mar and Vernon Handley. Many of the recordings offered here are from the old Lyrita analogue and early digital catalogue but there are a few recordings made during the label’s short revival between 1993 and 1996 which were not issued until more than a decade after they were made. The set makes for fantastic value for money, each CD containing well over 70 minutes of music, and the performances are generally of tremendous vibrancy and quality.