Jarrett Davies

Keith Jarrett - Mozart - Piano Concertos II (1999) {2CD Set, ECM New Series 1624/25}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 423 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 246 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 33 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1999 ECM Records | ECM New Series | 1624/25
Classical / Concerto / Piano

Jarrett brings to his Mozart repertoire steadiness of interpretation and relaxation that may surprise listeners who know him mainly for the adventurousness and quirks of his celebrated marathon solo recordings. A jazz pianist performing classical music might be expected to take rubato liberties. Jarrett does not. His reading of the magnificent pre-Romantic D-minor concerto No. 20, K. 466, employs effective dynamics without extremes in the direction of Arthur Rubenstein's daring and exuberance in the rondo, Mitsuko Uchida's mystique behind the beat in the romance movement or Clara Haskil's blurred articulation at the piano entry in the allegro.

Ray Davies published a memoir chronicling his life-long affair with America in 2013. Naturally, it was called Americana, and that's also the title of this 2017 musical adaptation of the book. Davies plays a little fast and loose with his facts, which is perhaps a detriment in an autobiography but suits the condensed nature of songwriting. He doesn't tell a story with Americana – it's not a song cycle along the lines of Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) – but rather offers a series of vignettes, some torn from the pages of his book, others expanding upon its themes. Images of highways, cowboys, and movies dance through the songs, as do sly allusions to the Kinks.

Arvo Pärt - Musica Selecta (2015) {2CD ECM New Series 2454/55}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 491 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 338 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 29 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2015 ECM Records | ECM New Series 2454/55 / 481 1905
Classical / Avant-Garde / Choral / Orchestral / Modern Composition / Miscellaneous (Classical)

As the title and subtitle imply, this is a kind of greatest-hits album, with music selected by ECM label producer Manfred Eicher from the 12 albums on the label devoted to the music of Arvo Pärt. Pärt's music is so malleable that people tend to make their own versions of it rather than collect it, but if you wanted an anthology as a starter box, this would be the one to choose. Eicher has worked closely with Pärt since the 1980s, and he has indeed made a sensible "sequence" out of works that do not have a lot of contrast among them.

ECM made history in 1984 with the release of Tabula rasa, the first of the jazz label’s equally influential New Series. Not only did this beloved recording introduce many to the music of Arvo Pärt, but it also clarified producer Manfred Eicher’s classical roots and fed into the likeminded sensibilities Eicher was then bringing with increasing confidence to his groundbreaking approach to jazz. It is therefore appropriate that Pärt, the imprint’s shining star, should be represented here more than any other composer or performer.

Nimbus
This disc unites works by two distinctly original American composers who, while maintaining their own identities, share many similarities. To begin with, both men live on the West Coast: Alan Hovhaness in Seattle, Lou Harrison just outside Santa Cruz, California. This is more than an accident of geography: the Eastern seaboard has been the traditional centre of American musical life and both Hovhaness and Harrison are, to a degree, outsiders. They follow no leaders, lead no followers. Yet such is the appeal of their work that they have brought the musical mainstream to them rather than bending their aesthetics to public or professional taste.

In the winter of 2012/13, the Haus der Kunst in Munich – one of Europe’s most important museums for contemporary art – hosted the exhibition ECM – A Cultural Archaeology. The goal of curators Okwui Enwezor and Markus Müller was to show the range of the label’s artistic endeavours in music, graphic art, and photography and its creative interchanges with film, theatre and literature. For this exhibition, Manfred Eicher and Steve Lake created this box-set accentuating directions in ECM's rich musical history. Many themes and streams are touched upon here including the range of composition in the New Series, music for and from films, imaginative historical reconstructions, trans-cultural music, ambient minimalism, and jazz and improvisation of many hues, in a collection with a playing time of more than seven hours.

Speedometer are one of the UK's more established new deep funk bands, having been on the scene for some ten years now. As with other British bands from the scene, in the UK they have largely a cult following, with their reputation built more around live shows that CD sales.

Miles Davis - On The Crest Of The Airwaves (2011) {4CD Set Rock Melon Music RMBOX3 rec 1970, 1988}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.30 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 617 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 111 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1970, 1988, 2011 Rock Melon Music | RMBOX3
Jazz / Jazz Funk / Fusion / Trumpet

4 x CD in book/DVD-style tall packaging. Containing 3 rare and previously unreleased concerts from San Francisco 1970, England 1970 and Melbourne Australia 1988. These concerts highlight the genius that was Miles Davies and are also an important piece of jazz history. All discs have been digitally remastered for superior sound quality .The iconic artwork and in dept sleeve notes make this a must have release for all true jazz fans.