Prestige 2006

The rap on Sonny Stitt is that he was little more than an imitator of Charlie Parker, without a firm identity of his own. However, from the evidence of these early Stitt recordings - gathered together into a three-CD box - the first part of the rap doesn't quite ring true, though the second remains an open question. Stitt may have shared an occasional rhetorical turn or blindingly fast run with Bird - most tellingly on "S`Wonderful" - but definitely not his entire style. You can hear plenty of Lester Young influences on the tracks where he plays tenor sax, and many of the ballads preview the soulful inflections that would flourish when he joined the soul-jazz movement in the '60s. Moreover, aware of the Bird backlash, Stitt recorded the majority of these tracks on the tenor, with occasional sessions on the baritone and finally, about two-thirds of the way through the set, on alto…

Remembered in the west almost solely for his Soviet-era ballet The Red Poppy – and even then, for one popular selection from it, the energetic "Dance of the Russian Sailors" – Reinhold Glière is long overdue for a revival. If this 2006 recording by the Pulzus String Quartet of two of Glière's four string quartets gives any indication of his music's potential appeal, then it's high time that this neglected oeuvre is reassessed, both by ensembles in search of new repertoire and labels in need of fresh material.

Window Of Life sounds very much as a logical follow up to the acclaimed The World, and justifiely so. Te production is better, the artwork is more intricated and the songs are more a unit them just a bunch of different ideas thrown together. Wheter if their quality is better than the previous one is debatable. For me both CDs are fantastic and clearly showed how much Pendragon in general and Barrett in particular have evolved…

Long before his 1990s re-emergence as a fright wig wearing blues star, Robert "H-Bomb" Ferguson had recorded a series of Wynonie Harris-styled jump blues singles in the '40s and '50s for a variety of labels and under various names, including several as the Cobra Kid. Although he was so close to Harris' delivery and repertoire on these sides that most critics dismissed him as an outright clone, Ferguson's booming, wink-and-a-smile voice was obviously something special. Ferguson first recorded under the moniker H-Bomb in 1951 when he signed with Savoy Records, and the name stuck. This generous 31-track collection from Rev-Ola Records includes Ferguson's Savoy tracks, as well as sides he cut for the Atlas, Prestige and Esquire labels between 1951 and 1954, and features such gems as "Rock H-Bomb Rock," "On My Way," "Preachin' the Blues"….

Mose Allison - Mose Allison Sings (1959) {2006 Prestige RVG Remasters Series}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 282 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 109 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 57 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit remaster
© 1959, 2006 Prestige / Concord | 888072300118 | Prestige RVG Remaster Series | PRLP 7279
Jazz / Hard Bop / Jazz Blues / Piano / Vocal Jazz

“I was the engineer on the recording sessions and I also made the masters for the original LP issues of these albums. Since the advent of the CD, other people have been making the masters. Mastering is the final step in the process of creating the sound of the finished product. Now, thanks to the folks at the Concord Music Group who have given me the opportunity to remaster these albums, I can present my versions of the music on CD using modern technology. I remember the sessions well, I remember how the musicians wanted to sound, and I remember their reactions to the playbacks. Today, I feel strongly that I am their messenger.” Rudy Van Gelder

Coleman Hawkins - At Ease With Coleman Hawkins (1960) {2006 Prestige RVG Remasters Series}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 246 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 100 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 75 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2006 Concord / Moodsville / Prestige | 0888072300811 | 24-bit remaster
Jazz / Bop / Saxophone

At Ease is one of the most charming and attractive of the many albums the two made together—a collection of ballads played with great affection for the melody. Hawkins could be fiercely aggressive in his playing. In this collection, he displays his tenderness. If ever there was a master of the ballad, it was Coleman Hawkins. His romantic style and sound caused one writer to say: "Hawk turned the saxophone into the sexophone." At Ease was done for the Moodsville series but while Hawkins, with the expert help of his pianist, Tommy Flanagan, sets a mood on eight standards, it is never merely mood music.

Etta Jones - Don't Go To Strangers (1960) {2006 Prestige RVG Remasters Series PRCD-30007-2}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 228 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 98 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 18 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1960, 2006 Concord / Prestige | PRCD-30007-2 | 24-bit remaster
Jazz / Vocal Jazz / Standards

Don't Go to Strangers was Etta Jones' first album for the independent jazz label Prestige when it was released in 1960 (having been recorded in a single session on June 21 of that year), and although Jones had been releasing records since 1944, including a dozen sides for RCA in 1946 and an album for King Records in 1957, she was treated as an overnight sensation when the title tune from the album went gold, hitting the Top 40 on the pop charts and reaching number five on the R&B charts.