PHAROAH SANDERS - Message From Home (1996) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The world music-minded producer Bill Laswell gets a hold of Pharoah Sanders here and lo, the sleeping volcano erupts with one of his most fulfilling albums in many a year. Message From Home is rooted in, but not exclusively devoted to, African idioms, as the overpowering hip-hop groove of "Our Roots (Began In Africa)" points out. But the record really develops into something special when Sanders pits his mighty tenor sound against the pan-African beats, like the ecstatically joyful rhythms of "Tomoki" and the poised, percolating fusion of American country & western drums and Nigerian juju guitar riffs on "Country Mile." In addition, "Nozipho" is a concentrated dose of the old Pharoah, heavily spiritual and painfully passionate, with a generous supply of the tenor player's famous screeching rhetoric, and kora virtuoso Foday Musa Suso shows up on "Kumba" with a touch of village Gambian music. This resurrection will quicken the pulse of many an old Pharoah fan. Richard S. Ginell
Tracklist :
1    Our Roots (Began In Africa)    10:21
Written-By – Pharoah Sanders
2    Nozipho    9:43
Written-By – Pharoah Sanders
3    Tomoki    6:26
Written-By – Pharoah Sanders
4    Ocean Song    8:49
Written-By – Pharoah Sanders
5    Kumba    7:50
Written-By – Pharoah Sanders / Foday Musa Suso
6        Country Mile    6:03
Written-By – Pharoah Sanders
Credits :
Acoustic Bass – Charnett Moffett
Backing Vocals – Fanta Mangasuba, Fatumata Sako, Mariama Suso, Salie Suso
Bass – Steve Neil
Drums, Tabla, Drums [Frame Drums], Vocals – Hamid Drake
Electric Piano, Piano, Vocals – William Henderson
Guitar – Dominic Kanza
Keyboards, Programmed By – Jeff Bova
Keyboards, Vocals – Bernie Worrell
Kora, Kora [Dousongonni], Vocals – Foday Musa Suso
Percussion [Chatan], Congas, Bells, Gong, Vocals – Aiyb Dieng
Producer – Bill Laswell
Saxophone, Flute, Bells, Vocals, Singing Bowls [Bowls] – Pharoah Sanders
Violin – Michael White

GINGER BAKER - Horses & Trees (1986) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Bill Laswell's musical career has been a highly collaborative one. Almost every new release from solo excursions to a variety of mercurial group projects finds him engaged with a notable instrumentalist from the arenas of jazz, electronica, funk, hip-hop, reggae, and world music. It's not that he seems dominating as a musician per se, but the results do typically bare the producer's singular aural stamp. Horses & Trees is no exception. Persuaded by Laswell to continue working throughout the second half of 1980s, drummer Ginger Baker produced some of his most stimulating collections, not least of which were the Laswell produced Middle Passage and this 1986 set. The drummer is rock-solid throughout, which means that most of the compositions become a showcase for an impressive lineup of guest musicians that reads like a list of the Bill Laswell all-stars. Even when pared down to an all-rhythm trio on "Mountain Time," Baker, though undeniably effective, remains the big beat behind Daniel Ponce and Aiyb Dieng's percussion display. That does little to change the fact that this is one of the most enjoyable albums Baker (or Laswell) has been involved in. "Uncut" finds the likes of Bernie Worrell, Shankar and Laswell in fine form, taking solos like a jazz combo. "Dust to Dust" is the only piece composed solely by Baker (he shares credits everywhere else) and is the most stunning of the set with a repeated section that sounds like an alien hoe-down with world music undertones. Laswell alumni and hip-hop pioneer Grandmixer D.ST (of "Rock It" fame) returns, delivering slashes from his turntable that provide the sort of genre-bending texture Laswell is so fond of. Baker, while never caught stealing the show on any track, looms large. On Horses & Trees, his big beat pulls the greatest weight. by Nathan Bush  
Tracklist:
1 Interlock 4:55
Bass – Bill Laswell
Bells, Bata – Daniel Ponce
Drums – Ginger Baker
Guitar, Twelve-String Guitar – Nicky Skopelitis
Harp [Dousongonni] – Foday Musa Suso
Organ – Bernie Worrell
Talking Drum, Percussion [Chatan], Bells – Aiyb Dieng
Violin – Shankar
2 Dust To Dust 5:31
Bass, 6-String Bass, Slide Guitar – Bill Laswell
Bata – Daniel Ponce
Drums – Ginger Baker
Organ – Bernie Worrell
Percussion [Chatan] – Aiyb Dieng
Twelve-String Guitar – Nicky Skopelitis
Violin – Shankar
3 Satou 5:21
Berimbau, Cuica, Voice, Shaker – Nana Vasconcelos*
Drums – Ginger Baker
Kalimba, Violin [Nyanyer] – Foday Musa Suso
Talking Drum, Percussion [Chatan], Bells – Aiyb Dieng
Turntables – D.ST.
4 Uncut 6:50
Bass – Bill Laswell
Bata, Bells – Daniel Ponce
Drums – Ginger Baker
Harp [Dousongonni] – Foday Musa Suso
Organ – Bernie Worrell
Talking Drum, Percussion [Chatan], Bells – Aiyb Dieng
Twelve-String Guitar – Nicky Skopelitis
Violin – Shankar
5 Mountain Time 6:05
Bells – Daniel Ponce
Drums – Ginger Baker
Talking Drum, Percussion [Chatan] – Aiyb Dieng
6 Makuta 5:34
Berimbau, Cuica, Voice, Shaker – Nana Vasconcelos
Drums – Ginger Baker
Kora, Violin [Nyanyer] – Foday Musa Suso
Organ – Robert Musso
Talking Drum, Percussion [Chatan], Bells – Aiyb Dieng
Twelve-String Guitar – Nicky Skopelitis