Gene Krupa made the drums a solo instrument and remains one of the most famous drummers in history. The music and contributions of Krupa are brought into focus, with rare footage from the 1940s and still photographs. This PBS documentary features jazz legend Gene Krupa playing on the drums with many of the great names in music. Archival film clips capture Krupa at his best accompanying other jazz greats such as Lionel Hampton, Roy Eldridge, and Benny Goodman. Interviews with family, friends, and colleagues give the viewer insight into the man behind the drums.
Riset Bak Speilet, the second album from Norweigan group Tusmørke, is strong and creative in many ways. It combines a unique style with vintage instrumentation and production, a toothsome treat for any progressive music fan. If the album has an obvious flaw, though, it’s the bland rehashing of a few musical ideas — or the lack of a few more original ideas to explore. I’m reminded of a quote from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring, where Bilbo tells Gandalf, “I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.” I feel that this is an EP that got spread out into a full length album, and it unfortunately diminishes the efforts of an immensely gifted band.
This collection contains 349 songs recorded at 91 separate recording sessions between October 11, 1942 and March 23, 1961. Two-thirds of the selection on this 18-disc anthology have either been out out of print since the 1940s, or have never been released in any form. Cole's 1956 album, AFTER MIDNIGHT, is included here in its entirety, along with all of the trio's more familiar songs. Included in this set are 104 tracks previously unavailable on US LPs. Sixty-six of the tracks were previously unavailable anywhere. Fifty-six rare Capitol radio transcriptions appear commercially for the first time. Dozens of the tracks appear at the correct speed for the first time ever.
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music
Cressida’s short career will be unfortunately unnoticed, despite having a lot of trumps in their hands. Just two albums, but both fetching small fortunes (partly due to the fact that they were released on Vertigo’s Swirl label), but the music quality is simply excellent on both records although there are very notable differences between them.
Italy’s finest export SWINGROWERS are back with their fourth album Hybrid. Swingrowers are an accomplished four-piece band from Palermo, Sicily. Made up of Loredana Grimaudo (singer, songwriter), Roberto Costa aka Pisk (DJ, producer), Alessio Costagliola (guitarist, composer), and Ciro Pusateri (saxophonist, composer). The band fuse a multitude of genres from Jazz to hip-hop, electronica to gypsy-swing, and have seen (or heard!) their sound has steadily evolved since their debut into unique electro swing and vintage-inspired pop. They are noted for their irreverent style, which blends the freshness of dance music, with the warm influences of swing from the 20s to 50s.