Earth, Wind & Fire were one of the most musically accomplished, critically acclaimed, and commercially popular funk bands of the '70s. Conceived by drummer, bandleader, songwriter, kalimba player, and occasional vocalist Maurice White, EWF's all-encompassing musical vision used funk as its foundation, but also incorporated jazz, smooth soul, gospel, pop, rock & roll, psychedelia, blues, folk, African music, and, later on, disco. Cardboard sleeve (mini LP) reissue from Earth Wind & Fire featuring the high-fidelity Blu-spec CD format (compatible with standard CD players) and DSD mastering (subject to change). Comes with a reprint of the Japanese edition LP obi, a new description, and lyrics. Part of a 15-album Earth Wind & Fire Blu-spec CD cardboard sleeve reissue series featuring albums "Last Days And Time," "Head To The Sky," "Open Our Eyes," "That's The Way Of The World," "Gratitude," "Spirit," "All 'N All," "The Best Of Earth, Wind & Fire Vol.1," "I Am," "Faces," "Raise!," "Powerlight," "Electric Universe," "Touch The World," and "Heritage."
ALAS was one of the most exquisite progressive bands in Argentina. The effective way in which they infused airs of Creole Argentinean folklore into their main prog sound - influenced by the massive energy of ELP (30 %) and the exuberant magic of WEATHER REPORT and RETURN TO FOREVER (70 %) - made ALAS a world of their own. Keyboardist/wind player/vocalist/main writer Gustavo Moretto had been a prominent figure in his country's musical scene. With the idea of forging a new musical direction leaning towards art-rock, he founded the band in 1975 in allegiance with bassist Alex Zucker and drummer/percussionist Carlos Riganti.
With the hit "Mercy Mercy Mercy" still reverberating on the sales charts, Capitol simply had the Quintet crank out one live club date after another at this point, hoping for another smash. They never really got one, but Cannonball and Nat Adderley, in league with pianist Joe Zawinul, bassist Victor Gaskin and drummer Roy McCurdy, left a strong legacy like this vigorous live Hollywood gig. One of Nat's best gospel-styled hip-shakers, "Do Do Do," opens the record, and Joe Zawinul comes up with another bluesy, catchy self-help tune in the vein of "Mercy" called "Walk Tall," prefaced by another of Cannonball's wryly inspirational talks.
Hermeto Pascoal, the Brazilian multi-instrumentalist whose contribution to jazz is beyond measure ever since the short-lived Quarteto Novo and his collaboration with Miles Davison Live Evil, surrounds himself with a stellar line-up on this long awaited reissue. With an impressive ensemble including Weather Report's Chester Thompson and Alphonso Johnson, and with long-time friends Airto Moreira and Flora Purimas producers, Hermeto opts for a collective approach.
Five CD box set containing a quintet of their albums housed together in an attractive slipcase: Chicago Transit Authority (1969), Chicago II (1970), Chicago V (1972), Chicago VI (1973) and Chicago VII (1974). While Chicago are oft remembered as a Pop/Rock hit making machine, their musical roots were Jazz-oriented and this quintet of albums features the band blending their commercial sensibilities with their excellent Jazz/Rock musicianship
Innovatively fusing traditional ethnic musics with state-of-the-art rhythms, the work of Deep Forest was best typified by their 1993 "Sweet Lullaby," which brought together the contemporary sounds of ambient techno with a haunting traditional lullaby from the Solomon Islands. The project was primarily the work of the French keyboardists and programmers Eric Mouquet and Michael Sanchez; after the latter returned from Africa with boxes of records he'd picked up across the continent, he and Mouquet began sampling the native sounds for use with their atmospheric dance tracks, and with the aid of producer Dan Lacksman, their eponymous debut LP appeared in 1993. Propelled by the international hit "Sweet Lullaby," Deep Forest was a surprise success; Mouquet and Sanchez soon began work on a follow-up, this time exploring such areas as Mongolia, India, and Hungary, recording several tracks with singer Marta Sebestyen…
This CD has some of the best all-around playing by the Mark Egan-Danny Gottlieb group Elements. The band originally started out as a crossover/fusion group, but by the mid-'90s it was much more post-bop with touches of Weather Report and Miles Davis-type fusion. In addition to the co-leaders, the solo strength of keyboardist Gil Goldstein and particularly David Mann on soprano and tenor gave this unit its own musical personality, permanently taking it away from crossover into adventurous jazz. The seven originals on this live set (six by Egan) serve as stimulating devices for fiery and creative solos, and the music is consistently exciting. Highly recommended, this date is an essentially unclassifiable set of modern jazz.
Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. Other than two selections put out on a sampler and the soundtrack from the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, this LP is quite significant for having the first recordings of Eric Dolphy with the Chico Hamilton Quintet. Dolphy's solos (on alto, flute and bass clarinet) are brief, but he already sounded fairly distinctive. The third version of Hamilton's popular Quintet also included the drummer/leader, cellist Nate Gershman, guitarist Dennis Budimir and bassist Wyatt Ruther. On this album, half of the tunes are played by the basic quintet, while the remaining five songs have an added string section. The West Coast jazz chamber music generally holds one's interest, but has been out of print for some time.