Udsacd 7001

George Duke - Brazilian Fusion (2013) {Wounded Bird Records WOU 7001 rec 1977-1984}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 541 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 172 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 13 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1977-84, 2013 Wounded Bird Records / Heads Up / Epic | WOU 7001
Jazz / Fusion / Jazz Funk

A dream of a set – at least to our Brazilian-loving ears – a special package that brings together all the best Brazilian-flavored cuts from George Duke's late 70s run on Epic Records! The package is filled with wonderfully sunny grooves throughout – tunes that sparkle and soar with mighty nice rhythms – topped with loads of keyboards from George, and vocals that often have a scatting, breezy style that's plenty sweet – American soul influenced by Brazilian grooves, in a sound that's a bit like the feel of Earth Wind & Fire's "Brazilian Rhyme".

Various Artists - Mexican-American Border Music - An Introduction, 1928-1958 (1994) {Arhoolie CD-7001}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 251 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 171 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 36 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1994 Arhoolie | CD-7001
Latin / Tejano / Corrido / Mexican Traditions / Norteno / Tex-Mex

The first album in Arhoolie's superb Tex-Mex series, this traces the roots of the modern norteño-Tejano-conjunto sound. We hear the early accordion players and duet singers, then see them come together in the 1930s and '40s, forming the heart of the style as it has existed ever since. All the key names are here, from the blind fiddler El Ciego Melquiades to the magnificent Texan diva Lydia Mendoza, accordion pioneers Santiago Jiménez and Narciso Martinez, and the trend-setting Alegres de Teran. A 36-page booklet puts the music in context and makes this an essential purchase for anyone interested in border music.

Having scored three multi-platinum hits in a row, Billy Joel took a breather, releasing his first live album, Songs in the Attic, as he worked on his ambitious follow-up to Glass Houses. Joel wisely decided to use the live album as an opportunity to draw attention to songs from his first four albums. Apart from "Piano Man," none of those songs had been heard by the large audience he had won with The Stranger. Furthermore, he now had a seasoned backing band that helped give his music a specific identity – in short, it was an opportunity to reclaim these songs, now that he had a signature sound. And Joel didn't botch the opportunity – Songs in the Attic is an excellent album, ranking among his very best work.

Simon & Garfunkel's first masterpiece, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme was also the first album on which the duo, in tandem with engineer Roy Halee, exerted total control from beginning to end, right down to the mixing, and it is an achievement akin to the Beatles' Revolver or the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album, and just as personal and pointed as either of those records at their respective bests. After the frantic rush to put together an LP in just three weeks that characterized the Sounds of Silence album early in 1966, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme came together over a longer gestation period of about three months, an uncommonly extended period of recording in those days, but it gave the duo a chance to develop and shape the songs the way they wanted them.