The Tenor Scene

One of the Canterbury scene's most revered bands, Hatfield and the North made up for the brevity of their career with some fascinating music. Always adventurous, the quartet had the keen sense to realize that only the most hardened jazz fans respond to numerous key changes and exceedingly complex time signatures, and thus enlivened their live set with the odd gnome smashing, suggestive lyrics, and jokey song titles. It worked a charm, with the band quickly amassing a large, loyal following at home in Britain and across the continent. On their eponymous debut, Hatfield stunningly succeeded in translating both their sense of fun and their musical brilliance onto disc.

The third in the Glass’ trilogy of operas about men who changed the world in which they lived through the power of their ideas, “Akhnaten”‘s subject is religion. The Pharaoh Akhnaten was the first monotheist in recorded story, and his substitution of a one-god religion for the multi-god worship in use when he came to power was responsible for his violent overthrow. The opera describes the rise, reign, and fall of Akhnaten in a series of tableaus. Libretto (Egyptian, Arcadian, Hebrew, and language of the audience) by the composer in association with Shalom Goldman, Robert Israel and Richard Riddell. Vocal text drawn from original sources by Shalom Goldman.

Prokofiev's score for Ivan the Terrible is some of the best film music ever written, fusing the composer's melodic gifts, his salty version of high-romantic orchestration, his love of grand church chants and thrilling marches. Despite the lack of Eisenstein's visuals, this powerful recording captures much of the film's epic grandeur, with Polyansky drawing some massive climaxes and breathtaking moments of intimacy from his forces.

Mike Carr & The EmCee Five - Bebop From The East Coast 1960/1962 (1996) {Birdland Records MC596}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 314 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 143 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 27 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1961-67, 1996 Birdland Records / Cargo Music | MC596
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Piano / Organ

A great set of Brit jazz from the early 60s with a good set of notes. The EmCee Five were a legendary bop group led by trumpeter Ian Carr, who went onto later fame in the jazz/rock years with Nucleus – but who's playing great here in his earlier stretch, in a lineup of players that includes Mike Carr on piano, Gary Cox on tenor, Spike Heatley on bass, and even a bit of guitar from a young John McLaughlin! The sound here is quite different from Carr's Nucleus years – and even from his years with Don Rendell – much more bop-structured, with that sense of tightness that made the British scene so great at the start of the 60s. Titles include many originals by Mike Carr and Gary Cox – and tunes include "Mike's Dilemma", "John's O Groats", "Groovin At The Downbeat", "The One That Got Away", "Stephenson's Rocket", "Lefty's Tune", and "The Bridge".

Clifford Brown - The Complete Paris Collection (1953) {3CD Set Vogue Japan, K30Y-6184~6, Early Press rel 1987}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 930 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 463 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 250 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1953, 1987 Disques Vogue / King Records Japan | K30Y-6184~6
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Trumpet

In a way, Brown was the Wynton Marsalis of his time; like Marsalis, Brown came on the jazz scene following a period of significant stylistic change. However, unlike Marsalis (who rejected the free jazz made famous by the generation just preceding his own), Brown chose to embrace the innovations of his immediate elders. In the process, Brown became one of the great post-Gillespie trumpeters, developing a voice that spoke the language of bebop with a distinct, personal inflection. In September 1953 – having just recorded his first dates as a leader for Blue Note – Brown went to Europe with Lionel Hampton.

Francesco Tamagno - The Complete Recordings and Three Unpublished Recordings (1990) {Pearl-Opal CD 9846 rec 1903-1904}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 258 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 128 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 10 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1903-04, 1990 Opal / Pearl | Opal CD 9846
Classical / Opera / Tenor / Italian Music

Francesco Tamagno (28 December 1850 – 31 August 1905) was an Italian operatic tenor who sang with enormous success throughout Europe and America. On 5 February 1887, he sang Otello in the first performance of Giuseppe Verdi's opera. He is also the earliest Italian tenor of note to have left a sizeable body of recordings of his voice.

This opera is one of the best examples of a musical work for the stage in the 20th century. Composed in 1919, it was first staged in Chicago in 1921 with Prokofiev conducting. This recording features a legendary performance, recorded in 1961.

The Esoteric Circle - George Russell Presents The Esoteric Circle (1969) {Flying Dutchman-BGP CDBGPM824 rel 2014}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 295 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 106 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 17 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1969, 2014 Flying Dutchman / BGP | CDBGPM824
Jazz / Post Bop / Contemporary Jazz

Groundbreaking sounds from the Norwegian scene of the late 60s – an album that's got George Russell's name on the cover, but which actually features brilliant performances from a quartet who'd go onto become huge names in the ECM scene of the 70s! Yet the sound here is quite different than ECM, too – very full and free – with vibrant work that really illuminates the younger years of these musicians – a sublime quartet that includes Jan Garbarek on tenor and soprano sax, Terje Rypdal on guitar, Arild Anderson on bass, and Jon Cristensen on drums! Some tunes are quite free, while others have a spiritual sense of soul that's equally grat – and throughout the record, all players express themselves in an unfettered way.