The Bongo Hop mi Olla

On his first several albums beginning in the mid-'90s, trumpeter Nicholas Payton appeared intent on establishing the range of his New Orleans influences, whether Wynton Marsalis or Louis Armstrong, to whom Payton paid tribute on 2001's Dear Louis. Then, on 2003's Sonic Trance, Payton threw a curve by diving headfirst into the world of late-'60s/early-'70s Miles Davis, complete with funky wah-wahs and sprawling electric keyboards. Into the Blue is another turnabout, and a welcome one: on this set of mostly original compositions, a pensive, largely laid-back Payton truly comes into his own. The ten tunes, recorded in New Orleans, offer a variety of moods, from melancholy to jubilant, an elegance permeating all of the performances…

Johnny Otis - Rhythm & Blues Caravan: The Complete Savoy Recordings (1999) {3CD Set, Atlantic–Savoy 92859-2 rec 1949-1952}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 937 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 518 Mb
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© 1949-52, 1999 Atlantic / Savoy Jazz | 92859-2
Jazz / Blues / Early R&B / Jump Blues

A deluxe three-disc set summing up Otis' pre-Hand Jive days as an R&B bandleader of some renown who employed various singers on a number of singles for the Savoy label. The recording debuts of the Robins, Little Esther Phillips, Mel Walker, guitarist Pete Lewis, and Linda Hopkins are all here, and you hear how Otis kept his ear to the ground, changing and moving to keep pace with a big-band scene that was slowly dying out, while making some marvelous DIY records along the way. Incredible notes from Billy Vera make this a box set well worth having in the collection.

Bernard Haitink - Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra - Live - The Radio Recordings (1999) {14CD Box Set Q Disc 97014}
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© 1999 Q Disc | 97014
Classical / Orchestral

This huge set is "an initiative of Radio Netherlands (the Dutch World Service) and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra…" presented to Bernard Haitink on his seventieth birthday as a tribute to his consummate musicmaking." Haitink, born in Amsterdam in 1929, became joint chief Conductor of the Concertebouw in 1961, along with Eugen Jochum, and was its chief conductor from 1963 to 1988. Like his predecessor, Eduard van Beinum, Haitink also was principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, from 1967 to 1979, and in 1978 became musical Director of the Glyndebourne Opera. Ten years later he became musical director of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. Haitink guest conducted most of the major orchestras of the world and has received numerous awards for his services to music. In January 1999 Haitink was named "Honorary Conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra."

Originally recorded in 1989, The Sacred Bridge contains a speculative program linking various genres of Christian and Jewish religious music, most of it medieval. The Boston Camerata continued to perform the program in various forms in subsequent years.

In the late spring of 1972, after numerous invitations to reunite, the elusive Dion DiMucci finally agreed to perform – for the first time in 12 years – with the original members of the Belmonts in a one-off concert as part of a rock and roll revival show to be held at Madison Square Garden. The date was June 2, 1972. The arena was sold out and the atmosphere was electric. The legendary Bronx, New York-based vocal group had earned a reputation not only for topping the charts but for creating some of the most vital and exciting doo-wop music on the American scene. With songs such as “I Wonder Why,” "A Teenager In Love" and "Where or When," Dion and The Belmonts earned their place in the history books, while the group's pioneering role in the development of rock 'n' roll underscored their enduring accomplishments. For this magical night Billy Vera and his band would be the backing band. “It was like an earthquake. You could literally feel the stage shake.” - Billy Vera