Genius on The Edge

Forty-fifth anniversary box set release from The Velvet Underground & Nico featuring the latest remastering. Set consists of 6 discs includes 29 unreleased tracks in a 92-page hardcover book packaging with a sticker of banana. Japanese edition features the high-fidelity SHM-CD format (compatible with standard CD player). The set includes both stereo and mono versions of the album "The Velvet Underground & Nico" (Disc 1-2), as well as Nico's 1967 solo debut CD "Chelsea Girl" (Disc 3), a studio session at Scepter Studio recorded to acetate, and unreleased recording footage from rehearsal at Andy Warhol's Factory in January 1966 (Disc 4), and a live show from Columbus, Ohio (Disc 5-6).

While there can be no doubt that the late great Grover Washington, Jr. released his most commercially successful recordings for Columbia and Elektra, there is also no doubt that, critically and creatively, Washington's most visionary material, the stuff that virtually created the template for the smooth jazz generations that came after, were on the Kudu imprint and produced by Creed Taylor. Washington was a monster saxophonist on tenor as well as soprano, and a true stylist. Before coming to Motown and Kudu he had apprenticed with a number of soul-jazz masters, including Charles Earland and Johnny "Hammond" Smith. The material here focuses on the seminal eight years Washington recorded for Motown and Kudu, beginning with his early renditions of standards like "I Loves You, Porgy," from George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess…

Charlie Parker - Story On Dial Vol. 1 - West Coast Days (2016) {SHM-CD UCCU-5769 rec 1946-1947}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 256 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 126 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 61 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1946-47, 2016 Dial / Universal Japan | UCCU-5769
Jazz / Bop / Saxophone

The Kansas City alto saxophonist Charlie Parker, who was to post-second-world-war jazz what Louis Armstrong had been to its first wave, is as likely to be remembered today for his heroin habit and early death than for his exquisite and melodically stunning improvising. If that era's jazz is like journalism, Parker was its acutely observant war reporter, who kept coming back from the front of his own exploding world with new stories to tell.

Dave Fields new CD “UNLEASHED” is the next installment in the evolution of a blues rock master and beyond. “UNLEASHED” features seven live cuts that capture the pure fire of Dave Fields live and seven studio cuts that expose ever more Dave’s powerful, heart gripping song writing. Make no mistake about it. The gloves come off on “UNLEASHED”. Like all Dave Fields CDs there are many flavors of music. Dave exposes his jazzier roots with a live version of his instrumental “Anticipating You” (track 1) and New York City Nights (track 13) and an all out blues grass rumble on “L.E.S. Hoedown” (track 14)…

Miles Davis - The Cellar Door Sessions 1970 (2005) {6CD Columbia C6K 93614}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 2.17 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 821 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 132 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1970, 2005 Columbia / Legacy / Sony BMG Music | C6K 93614
Jazz / Fusion / Jazz-Rock / Trumpet

When Miles Davis released Live-Evil in 1970, fans were immediately either taken aback or keenly attracted to its raw abstraction. It was intense and meandering at the same time; it was angular, edgy, and full of sharp teeth and open spaces that were never resolved. Listening to the last two CDs of The Cellar Door Sessions 1970, Sony's massive six-disc box set that documents six of the ten dates Davis and his band recorded during their four-day engagement at the fabled club, is a revelation now. The reason: it explains much of Live-Evil's live material with John McLaughlin.

Charlie Parker - Story On Dial Vol. 2 - New York Days (2016) {Japan SHM-CD UCCU-5770 rec 1947}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 248 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 131 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 52 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1947, 2016 Dial / Universal Japan | UCCU-5770
Jazz / Bop / Saxophone

The Kansas City alto saxophonist Charlie Parker, who was to post-second-world-war jazz what Louis Armstrong had been to its first wave, is as likely to be remembered today for his heroin habit and early death than for his exquisite and melodically stunning improvising. If that era's jazz is like journalism, Parker was its acutely observant war reporter, who kept coming back from the front of his own exploding world with new stories to tell.

Miles Davis - The Original Mono Recordings (2013) {9CD Box Set Columbia 88883756642 rec 1957-1964}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.55 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 967 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 575 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1957-64, 2013 Columbia / Legacy / Sony Music | 88883756642
Jazz / Hard Bop / Modal Music / Trumpet

For nearly half a century, Miles Davis (1926-1991) was arguably the preeminent innovator in jazz - rarely staying in the same place twice, experimenting with the most cutting-edge styles and ideas he could imagine. This year, some of Miles' most enduring works for Columbia Records are collected the way they were originally heard: MILES DAVIS: THE ORIGINAL MONO RECORDINGS. Each CD, newly remastered by Mark Wilder at Battery Studios, is housed in a mini-LP replica jacket, faithfully replicating the original LP sleeves. They are encased in a quality slipcase, alongside a 40-page booklet with rare photos and brand-new essay offering in-depth, first-hand accounts from George Avakian, who signed Miles to Columbia in 1955, AND play-by-play from mastering engineer Mark Wilder. This is the true genius of Miles Davis as most people first heard it, the way it was intended to be heard: in mono.

Rick Wakeman's third solo album is among his best, as he employs his vast array of keyboards to their full extent, musically describing the characters pertaining to the days of King Arthur's reign. With orchestra and choir included, although a little less prevalent than on Journey, he musically addresses the importance and distinguishing characteristics of each figure through the use of multiple synthesizers and accompanying instruments. "Lady of the Lake" is given a mystical, enchanted feel, perpetrated by a more subtle use of piano and synthesizer, while the battle of "Sir Lancelot and the Black Knight" is made up of a barrage of feuding keyboard runs and staccato riffs, musically recounting the intensity of the duel. But it's on "Merlin the Magician" where Wakeman truly shines, as the whimsy and peculiarity of this fabled figure is wonderfully conjured up through the frenzy of the synthesizer.