Jazz Dsd

Sam Jones - Seven Minds (1974) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000 UCCJ-9140}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 259 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 99 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 136 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD Mastering
© 1974, 2015 East Wind Music / Universal Japan | UCCJ-9140
Jazz / Hard Bop / Post Bop

Reissue with the latest DSD remastering. A strong 70s recording by a group that was mostly known as the Cedar Walton trio – the group of Sam Jones on bass, Walton on piano, and Billy Higgins on drums – recorded only for the Japanese market, and a heck of a record! The set's got one standout feature that sets it apart from some of the other sides by the Walton group at the time – the use of a string quartet on a few of the tracks, which creates some great interplay between the core trio and the augmented strings.

The Pentagon - The Pentagon (1976) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000 UCCJ-9196}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 206 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 77 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 142 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD Mastering
© 1976, 2015 East Wind Music / Universal Japan | UCCJ-9196
Jazz / Hard Bop / Piano

Reissue with the latest DSD remastering. A really wonderful album that's sometimes overlooked because of it's relatively oblique cover and name – which both hide the wonderful talents within! In truth, the set might be billed as a Cedar Walton session – or maybe almost an Eastern Rebellion one – as the vibe here is very similar to that later group, with a strong tenorist working alongside Walton's trio, plus a bit of extra Latin percussion. Clifford Jordan delivers wonderful tenor throughout – and the core sound of Walton on piano, Sam Jones on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums is as great as on any of that group's other wonderful albums of the time. Add in Ray Mantilla – who throws in some congas to complicate the grooves a all the best moments – and you've got some mighty nice icing on the cake! Titles include "He Is A Hero", "Una Mas", "Manteca", and "DB Blues".

Miles Davis - 'Round About Midnight (1956) {2001 Japan DSD Mastersound, SRCS 9725}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 387 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 138 Mb
Full Artwork @ 400 dpi (jpg) -> 27 Mb
© 2001 Sony Music Japan / Columbia | SRCS 9725 | DSD Mastering
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Trumpet

Given that Round About Midnight was Miles Davis' debut Columbia recording, it was both a beginning and an ending. Certainly the beginning of his recording career with the label that issued most if not all of his important recordings; and the recording debut of an exciting new band that had within its ranks Philly Joe Jones, Paul Chambers, pianist Red Garland, and an all but unknown tenor player named John Coltrane. The title track was chosen because of its unique rendition with a muted trumpet, debuted at the Newport Jazz Festival the summer before to a thunderous reception.

Masabumi Kikuchi - East Wind (1974) {DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000 UCCJ-9131 rel 2015}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 304 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 103 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 141 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD Mastering
© 1974, 2015 East Wind Music / Universal Japan | UCCJ-9131
Jazz / Post Bop / Avant-Garde Jazz / Piano

A brilliant set from Japanese pianist Masabumi Kikuchi – two long, leaping, loping tracks that almost feel like some of McCoy Tyner's best work! Kikuchi plays acoustic piano, and the group's a quartet with Terumasu Hino on trumpet, Koshuke Mine on tenor, Eric Gravatt on drums, and Juni Booth playing some really wonderful bass. Booth's bass leads the tracks with a soulful quality that you don't always hear on Kikuchi's other work – really giving the record a strongly-rooted vibe, while the musicians are still free to really open up and explore. The album's tracks, "East Wind" and "Green Dance", are both excellent examples of the soulful freedoms allowed in the Japanese scene of the 70s – side-long numbers that are different both from contemporary performances on both the US and European scenes of the period.

Miles Davis - 1958 Miles (1958) {DSD Sony Japan 2001, SRCS 9744}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 367 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 127 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 13 Mb
© 2001 Columbia / Sony Japan | SRCS 9744 | Master Sound | DSD Mastering
Jazz / Modal Music / Hard Bop / Trumpet

Some of the greatest Miles Davis material ever recorded – and not really ever officially issued as an album until this collection! The recordings are from the magical year of 1958, a time when Miles was working in the Kind Of Blue mode – on the album of the same name, one of his all-time standout classics. The work on this set is in a very similar spirit – recorded by a sextet that includes the rhythm section of Jimmy Cobb, Paul Chambers, and a young Bill Evans, who brings a magically modal feel to the album that really gives it an edge. Added to that are the saxophones of John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley, blowing together in two ends of the soul spectrum, really stretching the color palette from Miles' usual work.

Sadao Watanabe - Pamoja (1975) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000 UCCJ-9152}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 297 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 113 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 167 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD Mastering
© 1975, 2015 East Wind Music / Universal Japan | UCCJ-9152
Jazz / Post Bop / Neo Bop / World Jazz / Fusion / Saxopohone

Later than Sadao Watanabe's classic period, but a great album with some really wonderful moments! The set was recorded live in Tokyo in 1975, and it features Watanabe working with a group that includes Isao Suzuki on bass, Yshiaki Masuo on guitar, and Takehiro Honda on piano. The four tracks are all long, with some of the searching Coltrane-ish playing that Watanabe brought to his earlier Sony albums, but they've also got a fair bit of the warmth he was reaching for during the 70s – combining elements of world jazz styles into a mode that really pushed his work on alto and flute. Titles include "Pamoja", "Vichakani", and "Musitoni".

Hugh Hopper - 1984 (1972) {2013 Japan Mini LP Blu-spec DSD Remaster SICP 30325}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 350 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 140 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 20 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1972, 2013 Columbia / Sony Music Japan | SICP 30325 | DSD remaster
Jazz / Rock / Jazz Rock / Experimental / Prog Rock

Cardboard sleeve reissue features remastering in 2013 and the high-fidelity Blu-spec CD2 format (compatible with standard CD players). Includes bonus tracks. Originally released in 1973 by the Soft Machine bassist shortly after the band had lost eccentric drummer/vocalist Robert Wyatt and had begun their evolution into a respectable (and somewhat predictable) jazz-rock ensemble, this was Hopper's attempt at something more experimental.

Miles Davis - On The Corner (1972) {2006 DSD Japan Mini LP Edition, SICP-1227}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 385 Mb | Artwork (web)
© 2006 Sony Music Japan / Columbia | SICP 1227
Jazz / Fusion / Jazz Rock / Trumpet

ON THE CORNER enjoys a special cult status among musicians, anticipating as it does the punk funk/acid jazz movements. For Miles Davis, ON THE CORNER was another seismic shift. Miles was particularly fond of the lyric sweep of Hendrixian electric guitar, the James Brown-like rhythmic thump of Fender bass, and the bell-like timbre and chordal possibilities of the Fender/Rhodes electric piano. Now the trumpeter sought to incorporate the feel of street rhythms from around the world and to reflect the influence of modern electronic composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen.

Miles Davis - At Fillmore. Live At The Fillmore East (1970) [2CD] {2006 DSD Japan Mini LP Edition, SICP-1223/24}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 639 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 231 Mb | Artwork (web)
© 2006 Sony Music Japan / Columbia | SICP 1223/24
Jazz / Fusion / Jazz Rock / Jazz Funk

AT FILLMORE is the second release to document Miles' live presentation of BITCHES BREW's breakthroughs. Broken up into four parts, it shows the unprecedented growth of the same band that recorded BLACK BEAUTY just three months earlier. The addition of Keith Jarrett's organ expands the music even further over the borders that defined "jazz," creating a singular hybrid of rock, blues and jazz.