Western, 1997

Didier Squiban - Molène (1997) {L'Oz Production L'OZ17}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 254 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 154 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 87 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1997 L'Oz Production | L'OZ 17
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Piano

Wonderful album adroitly mixing modern adaptations inspired by traditional folk melodies from Bretagne, the western-most region of France and ethereal, beautiful sounding original compositions. Any Piano lover will be enchanted Didier Squiban's piano solo albums, 'Molene', 'Rozbras', 'Porz Gwenn' and 'Ballades'. And no doubt many others will be.

From his poignant liner notes, David Benoit would have us believe that the wide range of styles he delves into on the majestic American Landscape will take us on an adventure completely new in the pianist's catalog, but it simply expands upon the unique themes he introduced on 1994's Shaken Not Stirred, one of his best ever. These include his expansion into orchestral music, which grew out of his budding film score career: the dusty Western flavors of the title track "American Landscape," for example, actually evolved from of an unused demo for a Kevin Costner movie. The song includes the brilliant touches of Tommy Morgan's harmonica and the swelling London Symphony Orchestra, which dances here not with wolves, but in and around Eric Marienthal's funky sax. The melancholy orchestral intro to "A Personal Story" sounds like it should accompany scenes of heartbreak, but then Benoit throws a curve, easing into a lively trio date.

At times albums are born out of an explosion of creativity. At other times they are a sort of musical distillation of ingredients, carefully selected and combined to create a tasteful and sensitive sonorous balance. Ones and Zeros is a successful mixture of musical colours. A project that has evolved over years, lending itself to the contributions of musicians of very different musical and cultural backgrounds, each one leaving their own very personal touch on the project. Ones and Zeros is the second solo album of Saro Cosentino. Already active on the electronic and musical fronts, with Ones and Zeros, Saro has widened his musical boundaries to encompass a fuller and more organic conception.

A White Sport Coat And A Pink Crustacean (1973). While it still lies much closer to Nashville than Key West (like in the boisterous slide guitar solo that lights up "The Great Filling Station Holdup"), Jimmy Buffett's A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean does begin to delineate the blowsy, good-timin' Key West persona that would lead him to summer tour stardom and the adoration of millions of drinking buddies everywhere. "Why Don't We Get Drunk," "Railroad Lady," and "Grapefruit - Juicy Fruit" rightly became crowd pleasers. But Buffett reveals himself a storyteller with the touching sigh of "He Went to Paris," where a slide guitar appears again to lend a subtle gleam to the arrangement, or in the gorgeous, sweetly sad tale of a passed-away poet's unlikely posthumous success…

Les Paul - The Complete Decca Trios - Plus, 1936-1947 (1997) {2CD Set Decca–MCA Records MCAD2-11708}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 496 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 337 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 193 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1936-47, 1997 Decca / MCA Records | MCAD2-11708
Jazz / Swing / Guitar

More than just a roundup of the Les Paul Trio's Decca recordings – which by themselves wouldn't add up to a single CD, let alone two – this 50-track set is a bewilderingly diverse compendium of Paul's adventures in show business prior to his string of hits with Mary Ford. In doing so, MCA has made amends for at least four decades of neglect, unearthing ten previously unreleased tracks as part of the deal.