Ripper Final

Artie Shaw - The Last Recordings, Volume 2 - THe Final Sessions (1954) {2CD Wyastone-Nimbus NI 2721~22 rel 2009}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 381 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 248 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 29 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1954, 2009 MusicMasters / Wyastone / Nimbus | NI 2721~22
Jazz / Bop / Swing / Clarinet

Conversing with Artie Shaw – as Loren Schoenberg and I did in preparation for annotating these further treasures from his last recordings – is an exhilarating experience. This is because this master of the clarinet excels at making connections. Just as he always knew how to get from one note the next in such a way that the result was a cohesive statement – a story, as jazz musicians used to put it – he knows how to link one idea to another, to make allusions, to place things in context, within a frame of reference that ranges wide and far. Artie Shaw always told a story when he played, and he had that sound – immediately, unmistakably identifiable as his and his alone. It is a treat to hear him tell us some timeless stories we hadn’t heard before. Dan Morgenstern.

Bessie Smith - The Complete Recordings Vol. 5: The Final Chapter (1996) {2CD Set Columbia C2K 57546 rec 1931-1933}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 385 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 271 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 391 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1931-33, 1996 Columbia / Legacy / Sony Music | C2K 57546
Blues / Jazz / Classic Female Blues / Early Jazz / Vaudeville Blues

Bessie Smith cut 160 sides for the Columbia and OKeh labels between 1923 and 1933, and the four previous two-CD/cassette box sets of her complete recordings released in the 1990s covered 154 of them, which introduces the question, what can a fifth two-CD/cassette box set contain in addition to the remaining six cuts? First, there are five previously unreleased alternate takes; second, there is the 15-minute low-fi soundtrack to the two-reel short St. Louis Blues, which constitutes the only film of Smith; and third, taking up all of the second CD/cassette, there are 72 minutes of interview tapes of Ruby Smith, Bessie Smith's niece, who traveled as part of her show. The box contains a "Parental Advisory – Explicit Lyrics" warning because of the nature of Ruby Smith's reminiscences. You won't learn much about Bessie Smith's music from her niece's remarks, but you will learn a lot about her sexual preferences.