Davis Vector

This 15-track compilation gathers the best of Chicago soul singer Tyrone Davis' Columbia recordings from 1976 to 1981. Cut after Davis made his career defining soul hits for Dakar in the '60s, he scored a few more chart toppers including the upbeat, disco era tracks "Give it Up, Turn it Loose, "This I Swear," and "Get On Up (Disco)." But it's the lush, Quiet Storm material represented exceptionally well on "In the Mood," "Lets be Closer Together" and "Close to You," (not the Carpenters tune), that finds the vocalist in his true element. This is a good introductory retrospective from this romantic soul master and the perfect companion to 20 Greatest Hits which focuses on his Dakar material.

Born in 1885, Alban Berg was one of the most significant composers of the Second Viennese School, whose output proved tremendously influential in the development of music in the twentieth century. He was a student of Schoenberg, who found that his juvenile compositions were almost exclusively written for voice; his natural ability to write lyrical melodic lines (even in later life while following the restrictions of twelve-tone serialism) probably remained the most outstanding quality of his style. His Op. 1 Piano Sonata was the fulfilment of a task set by Schoenberg to write non-vocal music. The Passacaglia, written between the sonata and World War I was only completed in short-score, and may have been intended to form part of a larger work. Both pieces are recorded here in skilful orchestrations by Sir Andrew Davis. The Three Orchestral Pieces were composed alongside his first great masterpiece, Wozzeck, and could be seen as a tribute to his musical hero, Mahler.

Along with its sister recording, Pangaea, Agharta was recorded live in February of 1975 at the Osaka Festival Hall in Japan. Amazingly enough, given that these are arguably Davis' two greatest electric live records, they were recorded the same day. Agharta was performed in the afternoon and Pangaea in the evening. Of the two, Agharta is superior. The band with Davis - saxophonist Sonny Fortune, guitarists Pete Cosey (lead) and Reggie Lucas (rhythm), bassist Michael Henderson, drummer Al Foster, and percussionist James Mtume - was a group who had their roots in the radically streetwise music recorded on 1972's On the Corner, and they are brought to fruition here. The music on Agharta, a total of three tunes spread over two CDs and four LP sides, contains the "Prelude," which clocks in at over a half-hour…

The three-disc anthology The Real…Miles Davis: The Ultimate Miles Davis Collection brings together tracks the legendary trumpeter recorded for Columbia during the '50s and '60s. These are some of Davis' best-known and most influential recordings when he was at the height of his pre-fusion, modern jazz career. Included are such cuts as "So What," "I Thought About You," "Stella by Starlight," "Milestones," and more.

The Spencer Davis Group is fondly remembered for their late-1960s singles that featured the deep soul vocals of Steve Winwood, then only a teenager. Singles like "Somebody Help Me," "Keep on Running," "Gimme Some Lovin'," and "I'm a Man" were solid R&B rockers, making The Spencer Davis Group one of the most explosive bands in the so-called British Invasion era…

Miles Davis - The Complete Miles Davis At Montreux (2002) {20 CD LongBox Warner 0927-41836-2 rec 1973-1991}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 7.60 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 2.67 Gb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 25 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1973-91, 2002 Warner Music Switzerland | 0927-41836-2
Jazz / Jazz Rock / Fusion / Experimental Big Band / Trumpet

Produced with loving care by Claude Nobs, founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival, with no edits or overdubs, this document of Miles Davis's Montreux performances shows through never-before-released material how Miles and company transformed his music live, with their fire, invention, and interplay. The list of sidemen on these dates is a who's who of today's superstars, including saxophonist Dave Liebman, guitarists John Scofield and Robben Ford, keyboardists Adam Holzman and Kei Akagi, bassist Michael Henderson, and percussionist Mtume. Most of the music on these discs features versions of Davis's fusion "hits." The funky and R&B-ish ditty "Ife" and the bouncy "Calypso Frelimo" are rendered with more gusto than their studio versions, as are the in-the-pocket, mid-'80s tunes "Star People" and "New Blues." A package this big has more than a few surprises, however. Chaka Khan lends her powerful pipes to Davis's unique cover of the Michael Jackson sleeper, "Human Nature," and "Al Jarreau" is an upbeat (though too short) tribute to the great vocalise master.

If you are familiar with the fragile, faltering trumpet sound Miles Davis revealed on his return to music in 1982 the first thing that will strike you here is that by 1985 the 'prince of darkness' had his strength and his embouchure back. By '85 Miles is both up to it and up for it. As are his band. Seasoned tenor firebrand Bob Berg and guitarist John Scofield share the frontline; Darryl Jones deploys his industrial strength funk bass to maximum effect and Miles' nephew Vince Wilburn Jr. proves that the drum kit Davis bought him as a Star kid was a sound investment. As always with Miles the set list is drawn from contemporaneous releases: Star People (1983), Decoy (1984) and predominantly You're Under Arrest (1985). Performed on July 28, 1985 at Yomiuri Land, Open Theatre East, Inagi, Japan and broadcast on NHK radio.

This two-CD, 51-song set covers virtually everything the group recorded with Steve Winwood in the lineup from 1964-1967. The gap between the band's best and worst material was considerable; quite a few of their R&B covers are surprisingly routine, and the occasional cuts that don't have Winwood on lead vocals are downright pedestrian…