Xrcd 20 Bits k2

In 1984, a 45-year-old Tina Turner made one of the most amazing comebacks in the history of American popular music. A few years earlier, it was hard to imagine the veteran soul/rock belter reinventing herself and returning to the top of the pop charts, but she did exactly that with the outstanding Private Dancer. And Turner did so without sacrificing her musical integrity. To be sure, this pop/rock/R&B pearl is decidedly slicker than such raw, earthy, hard-edged Ike & Tina classics as "Proud Mary," "Sexy Ida," and "I Wanna Take You Higher."

Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers - Ugetsu (1963) {Riverside 20-bit K2 Limited Edition}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 414 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 134 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 20 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2004 Riverside / Fantasy | RITB 9464-2 | 20-bit K2 remaster | LP RLP 464
Jazz / Hard Bop

This edition limited to 10,000 copies and 20-Bit K2 Super Coding. Ugetsu, a 1963 live set from the original Birdland, finds Art Blakey & His Jazz Messengers at the peak of their powers with one of their strongest lineups. The group primarily recorded sessions for Alfred Lion's Blue Note label, but this Riverside date is as strong as any of their previous outings. Having acquired the services of trombonist Curtis Fuller in 1961, the Messengers' front line was its most robust ever, with Wayne Shorter and Freddie Hubbard consistently turning in some of their best performances. Rounding out the rhythm section with Blakey are the equally powerful Reggie Workman and Cedar Walton.

Sonny Rollins - Way Out West (1957) {Contemporary 20-bit K2 Limited Edition}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 467 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 168 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 37 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2000 Contemporary / Fantasy | CCD-7530-2 | 20-bit K2
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Saxophone

This edition limited to 10,000 copies and 20-Bit K2 Super Coding. Contemporary's 2000 re-release appended three bonus tracks, all of them alternate takes. A classic set that brings the east coast tenor of Sonny Rollins into contact with a west coast rhythm section of Ray Brown and Shelly Manne! Despite Rollins' silly look on the cover, and the album's overall "western" theme, the session's a brilliant one – right up there with Sonny's strongest trio sides of the late 50s, and a key link in a string of excellent recordings for Blue Note, Prestige, and Riverside! The lack of a piano really opens up the style of the set – letting Sonny explore freely on his solos, while Brown's bass and Manne's drums do more than enough to keep the rhythms going on their own. Solos aren't as "out" as on the Village Vanguard sessions, but certainly every bit as inspired – and titles include "I'm An Old Cowhand", "Solitude", "Come, Gone", "Way Out West", and "Wagon Wheels".

Kenny Dorham - Quiet Kenny (1959) {Prestige 20-bit K2 Limited Edition}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 274 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 100 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 42 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2001 Prestige / Fantasy | PRCD-8225-2 | 20-bit K2 remaster
Jazz / Hard Bop / Trumpet

This edition limited to 10,000 copies and 20-Bit K2 Super Coding. In the liner notes of Quiet Kenny, former Downbeat magazine publisher Jack Maher states that trumpeter Kenny Dorham's music is not necessarily the demure, balladic, rapturous jazz one might associate as romantic or tranquil. Cool and understated might be better watchwords for what the ultra-melodic Dorham achieves on this undeniably well crafted set of standards and originals that is close to containing his best work overall during a far too brief career. Surrounded by an excellent rhythm team of the equally sensitive pianist Tommy Flanagan, emerging bassist Paul Chambers, and the always-beneficial drummer Art Taylor, Dorham and his mates are not prone to missteps or overt exaggerations.

John Coltrane - Coltrane (1957) {Prestige 50th Anniversary 20-bit K2 Edition}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 156 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 91 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 24 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2001 Prestige / Fantasy | PRCD-7105-2 | 20-bit K2
Jazz / Hard Bop / Saxophone

On his first session as a bandleader, tenor saxophonist John Coltrane is joined by Johnny Splawn on trumpet, Sahib Shihab on baritone sax, and a rhythm section of bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath with piano duties split between Mal Waldron and Red Garland. Right out of the gate, the propulsive syncopated beat that drives through the heart of Coltrane's fellow Philly denizen Calvin Massey's "Bakai" indicates that Coltrane and company are playing for keeps. Shihab's emphatic and repetitive drone provides a manic urgency that fuels the participants as they weave in and out of the trance-like chorus.

Sonny Rollins - Plus 4 (1956) {Prestige 50th Anniversary 20-bit K2 Edition}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 115 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 70 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 21 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2002 Prestige / Fantasy | PRCD-7038-2 | 20-bit K2
Jazz / Hard Bop / Mainstream Jazz / Saxophone

One of the true monumental figures of jazz who is still vibrantly recording and performing, Sonny Rollins was still an upstart tenor saxman in 1956 when he delivered Plus Four, a classic date with the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet (of which he was a member). About the session, which featured Brown in one of his last recording dates, liner note writer Ira Gitler points out, "Within the overall empathy of Brown/Roach were interior connections: Roach, a master soloist himself, with all the soloists; and the bonding of Rollins and Brown."

Thelonious Monk - Monk's Music (1957) {Prestige-Riverside 50th Anniversary 20-bit K2 Edition}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 181 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 107 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 17 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2001 Riverside / Fantasy | RCD-242-2 | 20-bit K2
Jazz / Bop / Piano

Monk's Music is among the most significant of Thelonious's classic Riverside albums. Here he was literally looking back and ahead at the same time, by bringing together Coleman Hawkins (the very first important voice on tenor saxophone) and John Coltrane (on the verge of becoming a major shaping force of the Sixties). Equally notable is the incredible rhythmic support provided by combining Art Blakey and Wilbur Ware; and, justifying the album title, a selection of vital Monk compositions–plus his choice of the 19th century hymn, "Abide with Me" (written by one William H. Monk).

Hampton Hawes Quartet - All Night Session, Vols. 1-3 (1956) {2CD Set Japan Victor Mini LP 20-bit K2, VICJ-60782~3 rel 2001}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.08 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 437 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 21 Mb | 5% repair rar | 20-bit K2 super coding
© 1956, 2001 Contemporary Records / Victor Japan | VICJ-60782~3
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Piano

A Japanese reissue of this terrific session which was originally released on three LPs. It's beautifully remastered in 20-bit K2 super coding and contains one track not on any of the original LPs. Originally issued on three LPs, the music resulting from Hampton Hawes' All Night Session! was stereophonically recorded for the Contemporary label in Los Angeles on the night of November 12 and into the morning of November 13, 1956. This session transcended the conventions of studio production by moving steadily from one tune to the next like a live gig with no alternate takes.

Abbey Lincoln - Abbey Is Blue (1959) {Riverside RITB-1153-2, 20-bit K2 rel 2005}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 217 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 94 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 25 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1959, 2005 Riverside / Fantasy / Concord | RITB-1153-2 | 20-bit K2 remaster
Jazz / Vocal Jazz / Standards

This edition limited to 10,000 copies and 20-Bit K2 Super Coding. Abbey Lincoln's third of three Riverside albums directly precedes her more adventurous work with drummer (and then-husband) Max Roach. With fine backup from trumpeter Kenny Dorham, pianist Wynton Kelly, Les Spann (doubling on guitar and flute), bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Philly Joe Jones) on seven of the ten numbers, and by Roach's regular quintet at the time on the other three selections, Lincoln is quite emotional and distinctive during a particularly strong set. Highlights include the first vocal version ever of "Afro-Blue," "Come Sunday," Oscar Brown, Jr.'s "Brother, Where Are You," "Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise," "Long as You're Living," and Lincoln's own "Let Up." A very memorable set.