Johnny Coles

Miles Davis - Porgy and Bess (1958) {1997 Columbia Remaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 325 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 133 Mb
Full Artwork @ 400 dpi (jpg) -> 29 Mb
© 1997 Sony Music / Columbia / Legacy | CK 65141
Jazz / Experimental Big Band / Cool / Modal / Bop

Of all Gil Evans' orchestral scores for soulmate Miles Davis, PORGY AND BESS is his richest and most ambitious–a watershed of modern jazz harmony which served to secure Davis' pop star stature and define his brooding mystique. Inevitably, even non-jazz listeners own a copy of PORGY AND BESS or SKETCHES OF SPAIN.

Like MILES AHEAD, Evans' band on PORGY AND BESS de-emphasized the traditional reed section in favor of a tuba, three French horns, two flutes and two saxophones. The resulting chords and overtones are dark, alluring and mysterious. Thus the opening brass-cymbal bluster of "The Buzzard Song" gives way to a mid-eastern carpet of flutes and deep brass as Davis' poignant trumpet speaks in split tones and yearning cadences, bursting with blues feeling; a tuba soon picks up the theme as muted trumpets are followed by tolling trombone/French horn chords.

2006 two CD compilation series from the team that brought you the Blue Series, the biggest selling Jazz series ever. These compilations will all cover distinct historical and stylistic phases of the label's history, gathering together tracks that are rarely anthologized alongside some of the more well known cuts. Each one will then be housed in a distinctive sleeve that looks like a Blue Note compilation that was done at the specific period covered by the release. Sharp Shades & Finger Snaps features 19 tracks including cuts from Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, Hank Mobley, McCoy Tyner, Grant Green, Lee Morgan and others.

In-demand Chicago bassist Ethan Philion — praised by bass legend Rufus Reid for his “wonderful internal pulse,” and by The Washington Post for his “well-honed chops and astounding musicality” — has long looked to Charles Mingus as a towering role model. Mingus’ highly physical bass technique, his up-front communicative style as a bandleader, his interest in blending composition and improvisation, his pursuit of a unified voice in both small and large group settings, and not least of all his uncompromising antiracist politics and the way they manifest throughout his oeuvre: these qualities continue to inspire Philion and so many others in the decades following Mingus’ untimely death from ALS in 1979, at age 56.

The first of many live recordings made of Mingus's touring band of 1964, most in Europe, it's got one of his strongest lineups: Eric Dolphy (alto saxophone, bass clarinet, flute), Johnny Coles (trumpet), Clifford Jordan (tenor saxophone), Jaki Byard (piano), and Dannie Richmond (drums). Every performance on the tour is worth listening to. The only knock against this disc is its 45-minute length.

This fourth installment in the Classics Gene Ammons chronology sews together everything recorded and released under his name for the Prestige, Decca, and United record labels between June 1951 and June 1953. Instrumental highlights, in addition to Ammons' sensually charged tenor saxophone, include Sonny Stitt on supporting tenor (on tracks 13-16, Stitt plays baritone sax); trombonist J.J. Johnson (tracks 13-16); and trumpeter supreme Johnny Coles, who was destined to make outstanding records with James Moody and Charles Mingus (tracks 17-24). This particular slice of Gene Ammons' career is delightfully gutsy and easy to relate to…

Miles Davis - Miles Davis At Carnegie Hall (1961) {2014 Japan Jazz Collection 1000 Columbia-RCA Series SICP 3961}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 293 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 107 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 168 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1961, 2014 Columbia / Sony Music Japan | SICP 3961 | MONO
Jazz / Hard Bop / Experimental Big Band / Modal Music / Trumpet

Reissue with the latest remastering. Comes with liner notes. Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall is a live album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, recorded on May 19, 1961, at Carnegie Hall and released by Columbia Records. Davis is captured with his transitional small combo featuring Hank Mobley, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb, as well as with the Gil Evans Orchestra. It was one of only two concerts Davis and Evans performed together, and that alone makes the album necessary for collectors, but the music itself is terrific. Neither the small group nor large band performances offer any new revelations, but they both showcase a strong, powerful Davis, and the music is quite enjoyable.

Miles Davis - More Music From The Legendary Carnegie Hall Concert (1961) {2014 Japan Jazz Collection 1000 Columbia-RCA Series SICP 3962}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 128 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 82 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 190 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1961, 2014 Columbia / Sony Music Japan | SICP 3962 | MONO
Jazz / Hard Bop / Experimental Big Band / Modal Music / Trumpet

Reissue with the latest remastering. Comes with liner notes. Extra material from the 1961 date at Carnegie Hall, an astounding live set that featured Miles in a transitional quintet with Hank Mobley, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb, and also with the Gil Evans Orchestra. The performance is rendered with a subtle grace, an excellent portrait of Miles at a pivotal point in his career, moving on from his early command of bop and explorations of the cool, but not yet exploding his sound altogether with the modal approach that he would soon adopt. Side one features "Concierto De Anranjuez", and side two features "Teo", 'Walkin" and "I Thought About You".