Shades of Blues

Charles Mingus - Three or Four Shades of Blues (1977) {2013 Japan Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series WPCR-27206}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 272 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 107 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 11 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24bit remaster
© 1977, 2013 Atlantic / Rhino / Warner Japan / WEA | WPCR-27206
Jazz / Post Bop / Post Bebop / Jazz Blues / Bass

Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. I have almost everything available by Mingus and had passed on this because I didn't think I needed yet more versions of some of his classics by what seems like an unlikely crew in tow. How wrong I was!!!! Mingus is apparently playing with a mic on his bass and you can easily hear what a monster he is, how sublime he can be, and it is totally thrilling. Coryell and Catherine have their flurry of notes thing going but it does not come off as showing off or dull fusion riffing. They - and the rest of the band- sound as if they were meant to be, really listening and bringing something wonderfully new to Mingus music.

In spite of the electric guitars, which don't really fit that well, the title track is one of the more successful Charles Mingus efforts at extended composition. The list of section titles for the work is a valuable document in itself; it includes the "Super Bebop Blues (Check Bird Out)" with George Coleman and the dudes who are advancing group improvisation, while USA press ignores them. And still does. Not his best work, but not without merit.

Originally in 1982 in Chur founded one made from 1989 to 2016 a small break. Now is the Bluesrockband again on tour. They are again on the way with Bluesrock-Covern from the sixty-year-old's years and seventies. Thus they play various titles of Fleetwood Mac, Jimi Hendrix, Yardbirds or Gary Moore. This is broken up by ZZ top and Bryan of Adam hits etc.

The group's follow-up to their comeback album is a major step forward, with more mature songs, more improvisation than the group had featured in their work since the early '70s, and more confidence than they'd shown since Brothers and Sisters. It's all here, from acoustic bottleneck playing ("Come on in My Kitchen") to jazz improvisation ("Kind of Bird"), with the most reflective songwriting ("Nobody Knows") in their history.

This is a well produced disc with a sharp rhythm section accented by horns on almost every track and sweet backup vocals from the ladies that contrast nicely with Blues Boy's gravelly voice. His vocals are one of the highlights of the album, he often sounds remarkably like B.B. King. The lyrics are on the humorous side, and the opening track "I'm gonna marry my mother-in-law" is quite racy.

Joe Bonamassa has moved far past his initial incarnation as a kid guitar wiz with a Stevie Ray Vaughan fascination, and has developed into an elegantly reverent guitarist and a fine singer as well, bringing a little R&B blue-eyed soul to the blues…

Joe Bonamassa has moved far past his initial incarnation as a kid guitar wiz with a Stevie Ray Vaughan fascination, and has developed into an elegantly reverent guitarist and a fine singer as well, bringing a little R&B blue-eyed soul to the blues. For Different Shades of Blue, Bonamassa co-wrote songs with veteran Nashville songwriters Jeffrey Steele, Gary Nicholson, James House, Jerry Flowers, and Jonathan Cain, then took 11 of the songs and tracked them in Las Vegas at Studio at the Palms with producer Kevin Shirley and a solid band of studio musicians including Reese Wynans (organ, piano), Carmine Rojas (bass), Michael Rhodes (bass), Anton Fig (drums, percussion), Lenny Castro (percussion), Lee Thornburg (trumpet, trombone), Ron Dziubla (saxophone), the Bovaland Orchestra (strings), and background vocalists Doug Henthorn and Melanie Williams.

For almost 40-years pianist/composer Anthony Geraci has played behind some of the most influential blues musicians of the 20th century. He is an original member of both Sugar Ray & the Bluetones and Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters, and has been recognized for his contributions on numerous albums by nominations from both the Blues Music Awards and the Grammys. 'Fifty Shades of Blue' showcases 13 of his original songs, backed by an all-star cast featuring the top blues musicians in the Boston area including Sugar Ray Norcia, Darrell Nulisch, Toni Lynn Washington, Michelle 'Evil Gal' Willson, Monster Mike Welch, Michael 'Mudcat' Ward, Marty Richards and Neil Gouvin.