Myth Syzer Birthday

This recording brings together music from some of Leonard Bernstein's best-loved scores with seldom heard occasional works and premiere recordings. From the iconic musical West Side Story, the hot-blooded dance number Mambo embodies the show's dramatic tensions. Slava! celebrates Bernstein's friend and colleague, the cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich, in music reworked from the daring show 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, from which the Suite rescues further highlights. CBS Music has not been heard since the broadcasting giant's 50th birthday celebrations in 1978, while the Birthday Bouquet takes the for of affectionate musical tributes from eight composer colleagues to one of the 20th century's greatest musicians. Marin Alsop's long association with Bernstein gives her unique insights into his music.

George Frideric Handel - Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne; Anthem for the Foundling Hospital / Joseph Haydn - Missa Brevis
Judith Nelson & Emma Kirkby / The Academy of Ancient Music / Simon Preston
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 348 MB | Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Decca "Editions de L'oiseau-Lyre" # 421 654-2 OH | Country/Year: UK 1989, 1978
Genre: Classical | Style: Baroque, Viennese School, Sacred, Vocal

…The Queen Anne Ode is a solemn piece, again, a real pleasure to listen to, but not exactly a memorable showstopper. If you are a fan of Hogwood, as am I, this is a must have CD. Nothing he ever did is a complete wash, and this collection a far cry from it. This is Vintage Hogwood. Call it "Early Original Instrument."

The liner notes neglect to mention in what year this April 29th birthday performance was recorded, but given the orchestra's lineup and set choices, 1953 or 1954 is likely. Unlike the majority of recently-discovered live tapes, this dance at Portland's McElroy's Ballroom was professionally recorded (by the great engineer Wally Heider) and so the sound is astonishing. This five-CD series is easily the best representation we have of Ellington's early-'50s lineup in an intimate ballroom dance setting.

On July 14th, 2008, a very special event took place at the Stravinsky Auditorium in Montreux, Switzerland. A number of musicians who have had the opportunity to work with Jones during the years gathered to celebrate his 75th birthday. For well over two hours, they sang, played, joked and thanked a living legend.
The actual concert is truly impossible to describe with simple words. Even a quick glance at the names of the musicians who took the stage should immediately reveal to you how incredibly influential Jones has been. In fact, one could argue that many of them have been just as influential as Jones – years from now, people will still talk about Chaka Khan, Herbie Hanckok, Al Jarreau, James Moody and Toots Thielemans.

In the early '70s, Capitol had both the Band and McGuinness Flint on their roster, with both bands producing the best work of their careers. Like the Band, McGuinness Flint excelled by ignoring trends in rock music and drawing on styles with deeper roots…

Jaco Pastorius - The Birthday Concert (1981) {Warner Bros. 9 45290-2 rel 1995}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 465 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 167 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 63 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1981, 1995 Warner Bros. | 9 45290-2
Jazz / Fusion / Post Bop / Big Band / Progressive Jazz / Bass

On an irregular basis in the early '80s, the innovative electric bassist Jaco Pastorius led a big band that he called Word of Mouth. This excellent CD documents Pastorius' 30th birthday party, a concert at which he was joined by the Peter Graves Orchestra (consisting of 14 horns, two steel drums, and two percussionists) plus drummer Peter Erskine, Don Alias on conga, and both Michael Brecker and Bob Mintzer on tenors.

Sun Ra & his Myth Sience Arkestra - Fate In A Pleasant Mood / When Sun Comes Out (1993) {Evidence ECD 22068-2 rec 1960-1963}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 310 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 159 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 37 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1960-63, 1993 El Saturn / Evidence Music | ECD 22068-2
Jazz / Experimental Big Band / Avant-Garde Jazz / Cosmic Jazz / Progressive Jazz

Before Sun Ra careened into the jazz avant-garde with his banks of electrickeyboards and highwire group improvisations, he made recordings like *Fatein a Pleasant Mood.* Rich with Ra's persistent astro-mythology, *Fate* is equally rich with an immersion in the history of big band music. The charts played on Fate are as orchestrally complex as anything Duke Ellington wrote, yet they still maintain a clear position on the cusp of the avant-garde. More than anything, changes are the order on Fate, fast runs across difficult melody statements, on-the-fly changes in harmonic aims and rhythmic jumps that illuminate just how completely Sun Ra understood the overlap of jazz traditions as the 1960s approached.