John Watt

An Elton John collaborations album made during lockdown featuring a collection of 16 songs, with some of the biggest, most exciting artists in the world today. The lead single 'Cold Heart' featuring Dua Lipa is a mashup of 'Sacrifice' & 'Rocketman', and the album features artists such Brandi Carlile, Charlie Puth, Dua Lipa, Eddie Vedder, Gorillaz, Lil Nas X, Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, Rina Sawayama, SG Lewis, Stevie Nicks, Stevie Wonder, Surfaces, Years & Years, Young Thug, and more.

In this self-titled set, bassist and composer Steve Swallow proves his strengths in both capacities. Leading a septet that includes Steve Kuhn on piano, Carla Bley on organ, Karen Mantler on synthesizer and harmonica, Hiram Bullock on guitar, Robby Ameen on drums, and Don Alias on percussion, along with special guests Gary Burton on vibes and John Scofield on guitar, he adds yet another hue to his spectrum of colors. Swallow has always been a lively player, and here his ability to bring high-energy grooves into focus sings with vibrancy. That said, a recumbent “William And Mary” pans the camera to Bley’s organ, as do “Thirty Five” and the Scofield-centric romance of “Doin’ It Slow,” for a more touching mode of expression.

Carla Bley's tentet performs some of her most colorful themes on this often-humorous and generally stimulating set. "Jesus Maria and Other Spanish Strains" and the three-part "Musique Mecanique" are particularly memorable. This is the perfect setting for Bley's music, with such musicians as trumpeter Michael Mantler, Gary Windo on tenor and bass clarinet, trombonist Roswell Rudd and Bob Stewart on tuba making their presence felt.

Carla Bley - European Tour 1977 (2007) {ECM Records WATT/8}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 230 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 102 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 11 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1977, 2007 ECM Records / Watt Works | WATT/8 / 831 830-2
Jazz / Post Bop / Experimental Big Band

One of Carla Bley's most rewarding recordings, this set features her tentet playing such numbers as "Wrong Key Donkey," "Drinking Music" and the 19-minute "Spangled Banner Minor and Other Patriotic Songs." Bley's wry humor is often felt and she utilizes such colorful players as trumpeter Michael Mantler, Gary Windo on tenor, trombonist Roswell Rudd and Bob Stewart on tuba in this unusual, somewhat innovative and always fun music.

Carla Bley - Night-Glo (1985) {Watt-ECM WATT16-827 640-2 rel 2000}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 176 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 86 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 11 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1985, 2000 Watt Works / ECM Records | WATT/16 / 827 640-2
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Post Bop

Though Heavy Heart was supposedly the "mellow, sensual" album Carla Bley had in mind, Night-Glo is more like it – a relaxed, easygoing, easy-listening series of compositions that nearly spills over into fuzak. Writing for a basic sextet with an added five-man horn section, most effectively when one color melts gently into another, Bley permits the lazy pina-colada mood to amble undisturbed from track to track.