Montreux

Closing out the 2004 Montreux Jazz Festival, Chic featuring Nile Rodgers made sure this festival would end on a high note.Jamming on some of their most memorable funk/disco hits ('Dance Dance Dance', 'Le Freak', 'Good Times'), Chic also throw in a melody of songs written by Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, but originally performed by Diana Ross and Sister Sledge ('I'm Coming Out' / 'Upside Down' / 'He's The Greatest Dancer' / 'We Are Family').

Norman Granz is one of the most important non-musicians in the history of Jazz and no one has made a greater contribution to the staging, recording and filming of Jazz concerts. This series of performances from the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival now makes a part of this legacy available on DVD for the first time.Milt Jackson is recognized as one of the finest vibraphone players ever to grace a Jazz stage, whether with the legendary Modern Jazz Quartet of collaborating with other great musicians.

The mastermind of the Parliament/Funkadelic collective during the 1970s, George Clinton broke up both bands by 1981 and began recording solo albums, occasionally performing live with his former bandmates as the P.Funk All-Stars. Born in Kannapolis, NC, on July 22, 1940, Clinton became interested in doo wop while living in New Jersey during the early '50s. He formed the Parliaments in 1955, based out of a barbershop back room where he straightened hair.

This previously unreleased set from the 1980 Montreux Jazz Festival features the pacesetting Afro-Cuban jazz conguero Mongo Santamaria and his frequently blazing seven-piece band. With trumpeter Tommy Villarini (whose high-note flurries sound a little like Jon Faddis in spots) and saxophonists Doug Harris and Allen Hoist (who takes a rare spot on cello) taking heated solos and Santamaria a major force throughout, this is highly enjoyable music. "Watermelon Man" has guest appearances by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and harmonica great Toots Thielemans, although Gillespie is inaudible and Thielemans is largely buried in the band. It really does not matter, for Santamaria's group is quite stirring by itself. Milton Hamilton's long and inventive, unaccompanied introduction to "Solrito" is a highlight of this highly recommended date.

Don Pullen & The African Brazilian Connection - Live…Again: Live at Montreux (1995) {Blue Note CDP 724383027125 rec 1993}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 471 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 175 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 22 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1995 Blue Note / Capitol | CDP 7243 8 30271 2 5
Jazz / Post Bop / Brazilian Jazz / Piano

I was unfamiliar with the music of Don Pullen before the summer of '93, when I had the opportunity to play a couple of jazz festivals in Europe with my high school jazz band. The first was at the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, where I first encountered Pullen and the African-Brazilian Connection. I was so enthralled by them that when I heard they were also playing the Montreaux Jazz Festival, some of my friends and I made sure to be there. We were very glad that we made the effort to see them again, because their performance was awe-inspiring.