Lawrence 2014

Azar Lawrence - People Moving (1976) {2014 Japan Rare Groove Funk Best Collection 1000 UCCO-90361}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 265 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 91 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 185 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1976, 2014 Prestige / Concord / Universal Music Japan | UCCO-90361
Jazz / Post Bop / Soul Jazz / Jazz Funk / Saxophone

Reissue with the latest remastering. Stellar reed work from Azar Lawrence – a player who's best known for his acoustic revival in recent years, but who could play with some excellent electric backings during the 70s! The set's less an electric funk outing than it is a spiritual jazz set, with keyboards and guitar in the mix – beautifully put together by the young Skip Scarborough, with a feel that's very similar to Gary Bartz's work with Larry Mizell!

Azar Lawrence - The Seeker (2014) {Sunnyside SSC 1392}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 441 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 151 Mb | Artwork | 5% repair rar
© 2014 Sunnyside Communications, Inc. | SSC 1392
Jazz / Post Bop / Modal Jazz / Spiritual Jazz / Saxophone

Jazz fans of a certain age who remember McCoy Tyner’s great 1973 album Enlightenment may have wondered what became of Azar Lawrence. He dropped off jazz radar for most of three decades, but he is back. The Seeker is his fifth record since 2007. He also plays in drummer-composer Franklin Kiermyer’s quartet on Further. Lawrence has been compared to John Coltrane his whole working life, but he is not a replica. He plays Coltrane’s instruments but not his licks and patterns. Even Lawrence’s sound is a variant. On soprano saxophone he is somewhat more rounded, and has slightly more vibrato on tenor. What he shares with Coltrane is an intensity of passion that overwhelms everything in its path.

Founded in 1719 as the first opera company in the English-speaking world, the Royal Academy of Music commissioned and premiered some of the finest 18th-century operas, including Handel's Giulio Cesare. On this exciting album, renowned American countertenor Lawrence Zazzo is joined by La Nuova Musica and David Bates for a snapshot of the Academy's hits circa 1725 featuring arias by Handel, Ariosti and Bononcini.

Azar Lawrence - Summer Solstice (1975) {2014 Japan Rare Groove Funk Best Collection 1000 Series UCCO-90360}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 269 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 97 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 152 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1975, 2014 Prestige / Concord / Universal Music Japan | UCCO-90360
Jazz / Post Bop / Soul Jazz / Jazz Funk / Afro-Cuban Jazz / Spiritual Jazz / Saxophone

A beautiful album of spiritual soul and Brazilian influenced jazz from Azar Lawrence – and a pretty rare one we're thrilled to have! Lawrence is a stellar sax player with a sound that's a bit like Gary Bartz, which means that he fits in perfectly with the Fantasy-era Prestige Records sound – but the sounds on this set are uncommonly rich and globally influenced. The set's predominantly acoustic, with lots of modal grooves in kind of a Strata East vein – and angular post-Coltrane playing that's very similar to Bartz's work on the Libra album from his early days. Players include Raul De Souza on trombone, Ron Carter on bass, Billy Hart on drums, Dom Salvador, who is really allowed to shine on piano on a few tracks, and drummer & percussionist Guilherme Franco, who brings a world of wonderful percussion on a couple of numbers.

Laurence Cummings leads the FestspielOrchester Gottingen and a cast of superb soloists in a performance of Handel's opera Faramondo. The work was first performed in London in 1738. There were only eight performances and it was never revived during the composer's lifetime. The first modern production was in Halle in 1976, and several recordings have been made. Its convoluted plot is a story of revenge, intrigues, love and jealousy, backed by some of Handel's most sublime music.