JACK KEROUAC — Reads On The Road (1999) Voices Series | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

While Rhino's compilation might mark a better place to start, Reads on the Road is certainly a worthy collection of some of Jack Kerouac's narratives and poetry, embellished by some actual singing. Kerouac is a more enjoyable author to hear reading on disc than most, since his prose had much of a jazz rhythm, and since he was an engaging reader/performer himself. The big find on this 74-minute CD is the 28-minute excerpt from On the Road his most famous and widely-read book, found on '50s acetates that had been thought lost. "On the Road" is presented as it was discovered, with just Kerouac's voice, but guitarist Vic Juris and Hammond organist John Medeski recorded music in 1998 for his early-'60s musical song-poem "On the Road" (a separate performance from his reading of material from the book). It's unexpected, and amusing if not brilliant, to hear Kerouac sing three jazz standards by the likes of Sammy Cahn, Johnny Mercer, and Gordon Jenkins in the late 1950s (presented with the original musical backing, by unknown musicians). David Amram, who had provided musical backup for Kerouac's readings in the late 1950s, wrote and recorded music in 1998 for two more Kerouac poems, cut by Kerouac in the back of a record shop, including the previously unpublished "Washington D.C. Blues," which runs for 17 minutes. Ending the set is Tom Waits, backed by Primus, doing yet another "On the Road," for which Waits put music to Kerouac's prose. Richie Unterberger
Tracklist :
1.    Jack Kerouac–    Ain't We Got Fun 2:31
Instrumentation By – Unknown Artist
Recorded By, Mixed By – Jerry Newman
Technician – Sean Slade
Vocals – Jack Kerouac
Written-By – Egan, Whiting, Sammy Kahn
2.    Jack Kerouac–    On The Road (Jazz Of The Beat Generation)  28:40
Technician – Greg Calbi, Steve Fallone
Voice – Jack Kerouac
3.    Jack Kerouac–    On The Road 2:16
Arranged By, Guitar – Victor Juris
Arranged By, Organ [Hammond] – John Medeski
Engineer [Assistant] – James Harned
Engineer, Mixed By – Danny Lawrence
Technician – Jim Sampas
Voice – Jack Kerouac
4.    Jack Kerouac–    Come Rain Or Shine 3:37
Instrumentation By – Unknown Artist
Lyrics By – Johnny Mercer
Music By – Harold Arlen
Recorded By, Mixed By – Jerry Newman
Technician – Sean Slade
Vocals – Jack Kerouac
5.    Jack Kerouac–    Orizaba 210 Blues 9:32
Composed By, Performer, French Horn, Piano, Shanai, Goblet Drum [Dumbek], Drums [Frame Drum], Flute [Lakota], Tin Whistle [Penny], Ocarina, Congas, Percussion – David Amram
Engineer [Assistant] – James Harned
Engineer, Mixed By – Danny Lawrence
Technician – Jim Sampas
Voice – Jack Kerouac
6.    Jack Kerouac–    When A Woman Loves A Man 2:54
Instrumentation By – Unknown Artist
Recorded By, Mixed By – Jerry Newman
Technician – Sean Slade
Vocals – Jack Kerouac
Written-By – Bernard D. Hanighen, Gordon Jenkins, John H. Mercer
7.    Jack Kerouac–    Leavin' Town 3:00
Instrumentation By – Unknown Artist
Recorded By, Mixed By – Jerry Newman
Technician – Sean Slade
Vocals – Jack Kerouac
Written-By – George Handy, Jack Segal
8.    Jack Kerouac–    Washington D.C. Blues 17:43
Alto Saxophone – Jerry Dodgion
Bass – Victor Venegas
Bassoon – Jane Taylor
Composed By, Performer – The David Amram Ensemble
Congas – Candido
Drums, Bongos – Johnny Almendra
Engineer [Assistant] – Danny Harned
Engineer, Mixed By – Danny Lawrence
Guitar – Victor Juris*
Oboe, English Horn – Ronald Roseman
Organ [Hammond] – John Medeski
Piano, French Horn, Shanai, Goblet Drum [Dumbek], Whistle [Penny] – David Amram
Technician – Jim Sampas
Viola – Midhat Serbagi
Voice – Jack Kerouac
9.    Tom Waits & Primus–    On The Road 3:58
Bass [Upright], Percussion – Les Claypool
Engineer [Second] – Jeff Sloan
Guitar, Percussion – Larry LaLonde
Mixed By – Bernd Burgdorf
Music By, Performer, Vocals, Guitar, Percussion – Tom Waits
Percussion – Brain (26)
Performer – Primus
Recorded By – Biff Daws
Saxophone – Ralph Carney 

AIRTO MOREIRA - The Other Side of This (1992) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Using voice, drum, whistle, chimes, shakers, rattle, tambourine, and didgeridoo, Airto and company make music that comes from all regions and belongs to none. These are songs for ritual and healing, based on many cultures. The mood is ethereal, yet because of the predominance of percussion, also powerful. New age music with punch. by Steven McDonald
Tracklist :
1     Endless Cycle 4:00
Airto Moreira
Vocals, Drums [The 'Beast' - Suspended Steel Cylinder Drums], Bells, Whistle [Air Whistle] – Airto Moreira   
2     Tumbleweed 5:20
Airto Moreira
Ghatam – T.H. "Vikku" Vinayakram
Tabla, Wood Block [Wood] – Zakir Hussain
Wood Block [Wood] – Babatunde Olatunji, Kitaro, Mickey Hart
Wood Block [Wood], Vocals, Rattle, Shaker, Flute [Wooden], Flute [Charming] – Airto Moreira   
3     Back Streets of Havana 2:44
Bata, Cowbell, Shekere, Vocals – Giovanni Hidalgo
Bata, Shekere, Lead Vocals – Frank Colon
Bata, Vocals, Handclaps – Airto Moreira
Vocals, Handclaps – Diana Moreira   
4     Healing Sounds 2:42
Verna Yater
Vocals – Dr Verna Yater   
5     The Underwater People 8:30
Airto Moreira
Ghatam – T.H. "Vikku" Vinayakram
Tabla – Zakir Hussain
Vocals – Diana Moreira
Vocals, Percussion [Water Bottle], Flute [Wooden], Caxixi, Ganzá, Whistle [Air Whistle] – Airto Moreira
6     Old Man's Song 2:04
Airto Moreira
Vocals, Tambourine [Brazillian], Djembe, Caxixi – Airto Moreira
7     Hey Ya 4:06
Airto Moreira
Percussion [Stomping, Tree Branches], Vocals, Surdo, Shaker, Cowbell, Rattle, Bullroarer – Airto Moreira
Percussion [Stomping], Vocals – Caryl Ohrbach, Cheryl McEnaney, Diana Moreira, Flora Purim, Kitaro, Rose Solomon
Percussion [Stomping], Vocals, Shaker, Rattle – Mickey Hart
8     When Angels Cry 4:17
Flora Purim
Chimes, Performer [Bird Calls] – Airto Moreira
Vocals – Flora Purim
9     Dom-Um (A Good Friend) 5:58
Zakir Hussain / Airto Moreira
Berimbau, Caxixi, Triangle, Nose Flute, Vocals, Performer [Bird Calls] – Airto Moreira
Tabla – Zakir Hussain
10     Street Reunion 2:57
Bata, Lead Vocals, Shekere – Frank Colon
Bata, Vocals, Handclaps – Airto Moreira
Bata, Vocals, Shekere, Cowbell – Giovanni Hidalgo
Vocals, Handclaps – Diana Moreira   
11     Mirror of the Past 6:12
Airto Moreira
Didgeridoo, Vocals, Flute [African Black], Rattle [African Rattles], Bells [Chinese], Wind [Hollow Bamboo Blown On Water] – Airto Moreira
12     Sedonia's Circle 3:31
Stanley Clarke
Frame Drum, Vocals – Amrita Blain, Caryl Ohrbach, Jana Holmer, Justine Toms, KC Ross, Leah Martino, Sedonia Cahill
Rattle, Vocals – Margie Clark
Tar (Drum), Vocals – Margaret Barkley
Vocals – Diana Moreira, Flora Purim
13     Terra E Mar 6:03
Airto Moreira
Singing Bowls [Tibetan Bowl] – Mickey Hart
Vocals – Diana Moreira
Vocals, Rainstick [Brazilian], Conch, Performer [Bird Calls], Nose Flute, Sounds [Water Sounds] – Airto Moreira

AIRTO / MICKEY HART / FLORA PURIM - Dafos (1989) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Long before 'world music' was a widely used term, ethnomusicologist and performer Mickey Hart became enamored with the culture of rhythms. After hooking back up with the Grateful Dead in the mid-'70s, Hart began incorporating advanced time-signatures into the "Drums" portion of the "Rhythm Devils" duets with Bill Kreutzmann (drums). As described in the liner notes, this is something of a soundtrack album for a planet called Däfos (1985). Hart (tar/beam/stick/tubular bells/percussion/berimbaus/saron/vocals) is accompanied by Steve Douglas (woodwinds), Shabda Khan (tar), Jody Diamond (saron), Bobby Vega (bass), Flora Purim (vocals), Airto Moreira (percussion) and the Brazilian group Batucaje among others for a collection of ambient soundscapes adorned by an array of indigenous hand and mallet-struck percussion. Although dominated by instruments, Flora Purim's vocals during "Reunion I" through "Reunion III" are equally as expressive as Vega's propulsive electric bass interjections, backed by Hart and Moreira's perpetual pursuit. "Saudação Popular" is one of the cuts to feature Batucaje, who join Hart on berimbau. The instrument's wah-wah effect is produced by the bow-like object that is struck, while the frequency is controlled by the amount of pressure the player places when moving it against the body. The mid-tempo tune incrementally increases in speed to match the intensity of the participants fervor. "Psychopomp" is Hart providing ambience on the amplified piano-string Beam -- that was often the highlight of the Grateful Dead's "Space" jams. The hollow, almost metallic "Subterranean Caves of Kronos" is once again just Hart on a series of subdued melodic tubular bell progressions. Conversely cacophonous is the multi-drum Beast, a 25-foot round aluminum frame able to support a capacious assemblage of drums. Its use became another zenith of Grateful Dead shows and Hart gives it a workout on the hell-bound "Gates of Däfos." According to the brief text supplied for each song title, the lengthy "Passage" depicts the journey once inside the Gates of Däfos, which develops from the atmosphere of a pastoral setting to the urban sounds of sambas and celebrations. Upon its release, Däfos (1985) garnered substantial notice from audiophiles, including a write-up in Absolute Sound that is reprinted in the Rykodisc CD edition. by Lindsay Planer  
Tracklist :
1     Dry Sands of the Desert 5:05
Mickey Hart
2     Ice of the North 1:20
Mickey Hart
3     Reunion I/Reunion II/Reunion III 9:52
Mickey Hart
4     Saudação Popular 5:12
Batucaje / Mickey Hart
5     Psychopomp 4:54
Mickey Hart
6     Subterranean Caves of Kronos 2:12
Mickey Hart
7     The Gates of Däfos 3:55
Mickey Hart
8     Passage 10:55
Mickey Hart
Credits :
Bass – Bobby Vega (faixas: 4)
Berimbau, Backing Vocals – Batucaje (faixas: 2), Mickey Hart (faixas: 2)
Gamelan – Jody Diamond (faixas: 3), Mickey Hart (faixas: 3, 5)
Other [Crew] – Billy Bullshit, Luvell, Ramrod, Young Dan Dundas
Percussion – Airto Moreira (faixas: 2, 4), Batucaje (faixas: 7), Mickey Hart (faixas: 4, 7)
Percussion [Tars] – Brian Crittenden (faixas: 1), Daniel Kennedy (faixas: 1), Habib Bishop (faixas: 1), Khadija Mastah (faixas: A1), Mica Katz (faixas: 1), Mickey Hart (faixas: 1), Ray Patch (faixas: 1), Shabda Kahn (faixas: 1)
Percussion [The Beast] – Mickey Hart (faixas: 6)
Vocals – Flora Purim (faixas: 2, 4), Marcos Antonio Dias (faixas: 2)
Woodwind – Steve Douglas (faixas: 1)

FRANK ZAPPA – Läther (1996) 3CD | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The official version of Läther was released posthumously in September 1996. It remains debated whether Zappa had conceived the material as a four-LP set from the beginning, or only when approaching Phonogram; In the liner notes to the 1996 release, however, Gail Zappa states that "As originally conceived by Frank, Läther was always a 4-record box set." Along with most of Zappa's material, a "mini-LP" CD edition was also released by Rykodisc in Japan, with the artwork reformatted to resemble the packaging of a vinyl album. In December 2012, the album was reissued with different packaging that better reflected the intended album cover.

The recordings for the album were originally delivered to Warner Bros. in 1977. Contractual obligations stipulated that Zappa deliver four albums for release on DiscReet Records, which eventually resulted in much of the material on Läther being released on four separate albums: Zappa in New York (1977), Studio Tan (1978), Sleep Dirt (1979), and Orchestral Favorites (1979), only the first of which was produced with Zappa's oversight. Zappa had planned to include much of the material from these albums as a quadruple box set entitled "Läther", but Warner Bros. refused to release it in this format. However, bootlegs of the original recording had existed for decades before the album's official release as a result of Frank Zappa broadcasting it over the radio in 1977 and encouraging listeners to make tape recordings of it.

Gail Zappa has confirmed that the 2-track masters for the planned original album were located while producing the 1996 version. While the official CD version of Läther released is reportedly identical to the test-pressings for the original quadruple album, four bonus tracks were added to the 1996 release and the title of the song, "One More Time for the World" was changed to "The Ocean is the Ultimate Solution", the title under which the same song appears on the album Sleep Dirt. The album does not include "Baby Snakes", a song which was originally planned for the album. A version of the song served as the title of the film from the same era.

Zappa managed to get an agreement with Phonogram Inc. to release Läther in its original configuration, and test pressings were made targeted at a Halloween 1977 release, but Warner Bros. prevented the release by claiming rights over the material. Zappa responded by appearing on the Pasadena, California radio station KROQ, allowing them to broadcast Läther and encouraging listeners to make their own tape recordings. After Warner Bros. censored Zappa in New York to remove references to Angel guitarist Punky Meadows, and demanding four additional albums, a lawsuit between Zappa and Warner Bros. followed, during which no Zappa material was released for more than a year. Eventually, Warner Bros. issued Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt and Orchestral Favorites. The original cover artwork had featured a photograph of Zappa in blackface and holding a mop; this photograph was eventually used as the cover for Joe's Garage, Act I.

In the spring of 1977, Frank delivered the master tapes for a four-record boxed set called Läther (pronounced “leather,” due to the umlauts over the A) to Warner Bros., who then decided not to pay the amount they contractually owed him, oafishly thinking that he’d frivolously thrown the package together just to speed along his remaining album requirements, thereby freeing himself from his recording contract. He retrieved the tapes and offered the set to EMI instead. Warner, currently being sued by Frank (who wanted the rights to his old albums, plus damages for years of bad bookkeeping and deficient royalties), threatened EMI with a lawsuit, scaring them out of negotiations. Frank then tried Mercury/Phonogram, who was to press and distribute the set as the first release on Zappa Records; but after it had gone through the test-pressing phase and had even been assigned a catalogue number, they suddenly refused to distribute it, as someone there had noticed its “offensive lyrics.”

He resorted to splitting the set into four separate LPs, leaving out all linking transitions, adding a few songs and omitting others. He delivered the first Läther-ette, Zappa in New York, with packaging and liner notes that were preserved when Warner finally released the album on DiscReet. Shortly after providing that live double-disc, he handed over the other three all at once, fulfilling his contractual obligations anyway. Whether he planned to turn in his packaging designs upon being paid for these three, submitted designs that were ignored by Warner, or was shut out of the process as soon as they had the actual tapes, the albums were ultimately issued with sequencing and artwork that he hadn’t approved.

Before Warner could begin these staggered releases, Frank played the orignal Läther in its entirety on KROQ-FM (Burbank-Pasedena, California), encouraging listeners to record it off the radio. The conflicting report that the four separate albums came first, and were rearranged into Läther after Frank learned that Warner wouldn’t pay fairly, is false, according to Gail Zappa’s booklet notes in the CD set: “As originally conceived by Frank, Läther was always a 4-record box set.” The triple-CD package was released in 1996 on Rykodisc. Four bonus songs were added, extending the length to nearly three hours. Included were a 1993 remix of “Regyptian Strut” (spelled without the hyphen this time, as on Sleep Dirt); Frank’s opening and closing comments on the radio at the time of his broadcast; a piece called “Leather Goods,” which was made up of unused Lumpy Gravy dialogue, some Gravy-reminiscent instrumental music, and the original beginning of “Duck Duck Goose” (which included Led Zeppelin’s “Dazed and Confused” riff before the “Whole Lotta Love” one heard on Läther proper, as well as two solo breaks, tributing Jimmy Page’s in “Whole Lotta Love” and “Heartbreaker”); “Revenge of the Knick-Knack People,” heard during some of the non-stage segments in the Baby Snakes movie; and the instrumental “Time Is Money” (included on Sleep Dirt but not Läther itself).

Gary Panter, an artist best known for his work in Raw Comix, was responsible for the illustrations on the covers of Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt and Orchestral Favorites. Frank hadn’t chosen Gary’s work; one of the titles wasn’t his, either. “I might point out that [Sleep Dirt is] not the name of the album,” he told Record Review in the spring of 1979. “That’s just a further violation of the original contract. The original title of that album, as delivered to them, was Hot Rats III. I presume that’s just another snide attempt to undermine the merchandising of it. If you saw an album sitting in the rack with the title Sleep Dirt on it, you probably wouldn’t be too intrigued by it. And based on the job they did with the cover of Studio Tan, they made [all of the packaging] as unappealing as possible.”

The full saga of Läther (pronounced leather) is tangled enough to give a migraine to all but committed Zappaphiles. Basically, what you need to know is that this project was originally conceived of as a four-record box set. When record company politics prevented its release in that format, much of the material was spread over the albums Live in New York, Sleep Dirt, Studio Tan, and Orchestral Favorites. This three-CD set presents the album as it was originally conceived, with the addition of four bonus tracks at the end. It mixes previously available material, alternate mixes, and edits, and previously unissued stuff, though only the most serious Zappa fans will have a good grip on exactly what has appeared where (the liner notes are surprisingly unexact in this regard). And the music? It's almost like a résumé of Zappa's bag of tricks: Uncle Meat-like experimentation, intricate jazz-rock, straight hard rock, orchestral composition, and comedy. Some of those comedy tracks became some of his most notorious routines, like "Punky's Whips" and "Titties 'n Beer," which amounted to avant- rock for drunk frat boys and pot smoking, underachieving junior high school students. The juvenile humor, hamfisted parody of hard rock clichés, and the shaggy-dog opera of the 20-minute "The Adventures of Greggery Peccary" are outshone by the lengthy, more experimental instrumental passages. It's interesting, but exhausting to wade through all at once, and the avant-garde/composerly cuts are not as exceptional as his earlier work in this vein in the late '60s and early '70s. That means that this will appeal far more to the Zappa cultist than the general listener, though the Zappa cult -- which has been craving Läther in its original format for years -- is a pretty wide fan base in and of itself. [In 2005, Rykodisc made available the Japanese Mini LP replica version...which is a bit strange since Läther was never officially released on LP.] 

Tracklist + Credits :