Sam Brown

Treasure Island, released in early 1974, was the second of two albums pianist and composer Keith Jarrett recorded for Impulse Records – the first was Fort Yawuh, issued a year earlier. Cut at Generation Sound Studios in New York City, the band consisted of Jarrett on piano and soprano saxophone, Dewey Redman on tenor, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Paul Motian. And though he would more than likely disagree, this was the best band he ever led. In addition to the quartet, guitarist Sam Brown contributes to a pair of cuts here as Guilherme Franco and Danny Johnson add percussion to the mix. The set kicks off with the beautiful "The Rich (And the Poor)," a folkish melody of the type Jarrett was exploring on ECM at the time, with some stellar African undertones – it's easy to hear the majesty of Abdullah Ibrahim's South African musical sphere in this mix, and earthy deep, sparer work by Redman and Haden.

Herbie Mann - First Light - The Family of Mann (1973) {2014 Japan Fusion Best Collection 1000 Series WPCR-28032)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (image)+CUE+LOG -> 249 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 90 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 19 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24bit remaster
© 1973, 2012 Atlantic / Warner Japan | WPCR-28032 / 8122-79568-5
Jazz / Fusion / Soul Jazz / Flute

Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. Pretty great stuff – and a record that's often hidden amidst the flurry of so-so Herbie Mann albums from the mid 70s – but is well worth seeking out! The Family Of Mann group is one organized by Herbie Mann, and featuring Steve Gadd on drums, Pat Rebillot on keyboards, Tony Levin on bass, and David Newman on reeds along with Herbie – a combo who backed up Mann on some other records from the time, but who really get to shine center stage here! The band has a strong electric groove on their best moments – with kind of a choppy fusion groove, but one that's tight too – almost funky, at a level that's somewhere near cop/crime soundtrack work of the time. Rebillot's keyboards are great, as always.

Before I Forget is a 1982 album by Jon Lord, featuring a largely conventional eight-song line-up, no orchestra. The bulk of the songs are either mainstream rock tracks ("Hollywood Rock and Roll", "Chance on a Feeling") or, specifically on Side Two, a series of very English classical piano ballads sung by mother and daughter duo, Vicki Brown and Sam Brown (wife and daughter of entertainer Joe Brown) and vocalist Elmer Gantry. The album also features prolific session drummer (and National Youth Jazz Orchestra alumnus) Simon Phillips, Cozy Powell, Neil Murray, Simon Kirke, Boz Burrell and Mick Ralphs. Lord used synthesizers more than before, principally to retain an intimacy with the material and to create a jam atmosphere with old friends like Tony Ashton.

SamTaylor doesn't mess around when it comes to delivering his brand of blues. From fantastic interpretations of classic blues, with a funk no one quite delivers like Sam; to originals and in Tucson fantastic collaborations with violinist Heather Hardy, Keep the Blues Alive is a must-have album. It is a stand alone album reflecting Sam Taylors quest for the best blues he can create. The Bluzman, name must have been invented for this album.

A singer and demon guitarist whose raucous blend of country and rock & roll helped make him a successful crossover act, Junior Brown was born in 1952 and raised in the backwoods of Kirksville, IN. He first learned to play the piano from his father, and was exposed to country through radio and TV, becoming a fan of Ernest Tubb's music and television program. He became a professional musician at the tail end of the '60s, while still in his teens.After honing his guitar skills in relative anonymity throughout the '70s, Brown became an instructor at the Hank Thompson School of Country Music, an affiliate of Rogers State College in Oklahoma. There, while teaching under the auspices of steel guitar legend Leon McAuliffe, a onetime member of Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys, Brown met "the lovely Miss Tanya Rae," a student whom he would later marry in 1988 and who eventually joined his band as a rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist…….