GIL EVANS – Tokyo Concert (1976-1990) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist & Credits :

JACKIE McLEAN | LEE KONITZ | GARY BARTZ | CHARLIE MARIANO - Altissimo (1973-1996) FLAC (tracks), lossless

This is a great summit meeting with McLean and fellow horn players Lee Konitz, Gary Bartz, and Charlie Mariano, plus a piano trio. Ron Wynn
Tracklist :
1     Another Hair-Do 3:47
Charlie Parker
2     Mode for Jay Mac 9:44
William Gault
3     Love Choral 7:32
Lee Konitz
4     Fanfare 6:09
Lee Konitz
5     Du Rain 3:34
Gary Bartz
6     Hymn 3:09
Lee Konitz
7     Telieledu Rama Tyagaraja 7:30
Traditional
Credits :    
Alto Saxophone – Charlie Mariano, Gary Bartz, Jackie McLean, Lee Konitz
Bass – Palle Danielsson
Drums – Han Bennink
Piano – Joachim Kühn

ANTHONY BRAXTON - ... If My Memory Serves Me Right (1987) Unofficial Release | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Despite the excellence of this performance by Mr. Braxton's quartet in 1987, with Mark Dresser, Gerry Hemingway, and pianist David Rosenbloom (who preceded Marilyn Crispell), the slim rating on this disc is given for it being on the infamous West Wind label, and is, more than likely, a pirated title. The information for its two selections, "Improvisation Alpha" and the title track, are, for instance, unnumbered! This is the first hint that something is amiss. Braxton's compositions, even if named, are always afforded numbers. The second is the dodgy sound balances in the right channel especially, where the drums are way too high in the stereo mix. Again, in releasing a recording of a live performance, Mr. Braxton is meticulous. Then there's the matter of the cover! Take a look and judge for yourself. Finally, it is painfully obvious that what transpires in both of these works is not complete -- they are excerpts of other pieces combined together on a compact disc. Despite the most interesting interplay between Rosenbloom and Braxton on soprano saxophone, and Dresser's ability to shore up the pianist when he begins to lose his way in Braxton's sound world, it is impossible to recommend this disc because of its slovenly presentation and dubious origins.  
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1    Improvisation Alpha    21:55
2    ...If My Memory Serves Me Right    18:36
Credits :
Bass – Mark Dresser
Drums – Gerry Hemingway
Piano – David Rosenboom
Reeds – Anthony Braxton

ANTHONY BRAXTON QUARTET - The Coventry Concert (2006) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The legendary Anthony Braxton Quartet, featuring pianist Marilyn Crispell, drummer Gerry Hemingway, and bassist Mark Dresser, recorded the music on this disc in 1980. The music on this disc should not, however, be confused with the same music plus plenty more that appear on the Leo label's multiple-CD package of The Coventry Concert. This partial version of the concert is a highly edited illegal pirate recording that both Mr. Braxton and Leo Feigin have thoroughly disavowed as such and have sought to have suppressed. Unfortunately, neither of them have the money to prosecute the German West Wind label. If this were only a bootleg it would be bad enough, but the substandard recording and stereo balance make this performance -- which is more than remarkable, it's revelatory -- not worth the substance it's printed on. It gives a warped picture of what the band played that night and reduces the continuity -- so central to any Braxton quartet performance -- to nil. Seek out the complete concert on Leo and forget this exists.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1    Composition 124    8:44
2    Composition 88    11:03
3    Piano Solo & Composition 239    16:33
4    Composition 69 F    5:09
5    Composition 40 N    9:35
Credits :
Bass – Mark Dresser
Drums – Gerry Hemingway
Piano – Marilyn Crispell
Reeds – Anthony Braxton

ARCHIE SHEPP - Perfect Passions (1978-1992) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Recorded in 1978 in Warsaw, Poland, this set of Archie Shepp's was played before it became his journeyman live gig. The greasy rhythm section includes Wilber Little on bass, the amazing Clifford Jarvis on drums, and German pianist Seigfried Kessler on piano. There are three tunes in the set: one of the finest and most involved harmonic performances of "Mama Rose"; "Billy Strayhorn's Lush Life," which is a mirror image of Coltrane's 19546 read, and goes on for a full 20 minutes. Finally, there is a shorter and more workmanlike reading of Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood," which nonetheless captures all of the emotion in the original. But it's "Mama Rose" that shows Shepp at his best, turning the modal structure of the tune to his own intervallic dimensional favor. Shepp goes meditating on breath and scales, and Jarvis anticipates his every move and gives him the platform to roll out onto. It's astonishing, the intensity he gets to, especially while keeping the melodic fragments together and stringing them together with long open legatos of Eastern original and intricate modal density. "Lush Life" is its stellar opposite, with Shepp staying deeply in the roots of blues and swing, and Little doing some beautifully spacious arco work on the bass. There is a problem, however, when one considers that this is on the notorious (read: pirate) West Wind label. The recording quality is less than stellar, and there's more than a good chance that Shepp never saw a dime from this recording. That said, the performance is so stunning, it would be worth purchasing and then sending Shepp a check through his management.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1    Mama Rose 26:39
Composed By – Archie Shepp
2    Lush Life 20:01
Composed By – Billy Strayhorn
3    In A Sentimental Mood 8:49
Composed By – Ellington, Mills, Kurtz
Credits :
Bass – Wilbur Little
Drums – Clifford Jarvis
Piano – Siegfried Kessler
Tenor Saxophone [Tenor Sax], Vocals [Vocal] – Archie Shepp

ARCHIE SHEPP - Bird Fire : A Tribute to Charlie Parker (1979-1987) FLAC (tracks), lossless

This Shepp date, recorded in Paris in 1979 under the auspices of being a tribute to Charlie Parker with a host of stringers, is a testament to two things: how far Shepp's star had fallen despite his still-considerable abilities as a musician, and how dire times must have been for him to choose such a bad band to hook up with. With a trumpet player and rhythm section -- all of who will remain nameless -- Shepp bills this set as a "tribute to Charlie Parker." The real reason these three Parker tunes were chosen and the other standard, "Lover Man," was because this was the only material the band could agree on. Many might argue that with choices like "Au Privave," "Parker's Mood," and "Now's the Time," the material is plenty hot on the bebop chart. But this music isn't played like that; it's played at a drugged-out tempo. The common wisdom is that Shepp could no longer -- if he ever could -- play these tunes in their original time signatures. That's ridiculous. The fact of the matter is that his pianist and bass player are sluggish; Shepp had to turn the standards into blues jams so they could hang. And why would he do this? To eat, man, to eat. Things were tough scuffling in 1979 before the Wynton revival in jazz really polished off the '60s cats, and at that time Shepp was down on his luck. As a tenor player, however, his solos here are as inspired as ever, which makes this record even more of a heartbreaking shame.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1     Lover Man 8:59
Jimmy Davis / Roger "Ram" Ramirez / Jimmy Sherman    
2     Au Privave 10:22
Charlie Parker    
3     Parker's Mood 11:13
Charlie Parker    
4     Now's the Time 8:47
Charlie Parker
Credits
Bass – Bob Cunningham
Drums – Clifford Jarvis
Piano – Siegfried Kessler
Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone – Archie Shepp
Trumpet – Everett Hollins

ARCHIE SHEPP & JEANNE LEE - Archie Shepp & Jeanne Lee (1984-1990) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1    Sophisticated Lady    6:36
Written-By – Duke Ellington
2    Mama Rose    6:07
Written-By – Archie Shepp
3    Bahia    10:50
Written-By – Ary Barroso
4    Blue Monk    5:50
Written-By – Thelonious Monk
5    'Round Midnight    7:55
Written-By – Hanighen, Williams, Monk
6    Tune For Shepp (Dedicated To Sun Ra)    11:50
Written-By – Patricia Jones / Jeanne Lee
7    U-Majaa    17:06
Credits :
Bass – Peter Bockius
Drums – Don Mumford
Piano – Siggi Kessler
Saxophone, Vocals – Archie Shepp
Vocals – Jeanne Lee
Notas.
Track 7 is unlisted.

ARCHIE SHEPP & HORACE PARLAN - Mama Rose : In Concert (1987-2000) 2xCD | FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Tracklist 1 :
1    Arrival 10'22
 Horace Parlan
2    Backwater Blues 9'02
 Bessie Smith / Traditional
3    Round About Midnight 11'03
 Bernie Hanighen / Thelonious Monk / Cootie Williams
4    Mama Rose 7'09
 Horace Parlan / Archie Shepp
5    How Long Blues 7'18
 Leroy Carr
6    Steam 7'03
 Archie Shepp
Tracklist 2 :
1    Make Me A Pallet On The Floor 9'03
 Archie Shepp / Traditional
2    Ruby My Dear 12'12
 Thelonious Monk
3    Nobody Knows You When You Are Down And Out 9'01
 Archie Shepp / Traditional
4    Trouble In Mind 7'21
 Richard M. Jones
5    Deep River 11'54
 Traditional
6    Sophisticated Lady 10'00
 Duke Ellington / Irving Mills / Mitchell Parish
Credits :
Archie Shepp - Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor), Vocals
Horace Parlan - Piano

JOHNNY GRIFFIN QUARTET - Unpretentious Delights (1978-1992) FLAC (tracks), lossless

This nearly hour-long set by Johnny Griffin comes from a 1978 concert in Warsaw. The Little Giant is in great form, though the track listing on the rear of CD is bound to confuse first-time listeners. The opening set begins with a four minutes of a chant-like vamp, before segueing directly into a lively arrangement of "A Night in Tunisia," which will definitely surprise anyone expecting "Body and Soul" (which is incorrectly labeled as track one); both pianist Pat Coil and drummer Art Taylor are also featured to good effect. Griffin's explosive take of "All the Things You Are" takes no prisoners, following it with lyrical interpretation of "Body and Soul." Although Griffin's tenor sax is well recorded, both the piano and bass suffer from distortion at times, so that should be taken into account before purchasing this CD. Ken Dryden
Tracklist :
1     Body and Soul 18'30
Frank Eyton / Johnny Green / Edward Heyman / Robert Sour
2     All the Things You Are 20'10
Oscar Hammerstein II / Jerome Kern
3     A Night in Tunisia 19'15
Dizzy Gillespie / Frank Paparelli
Credits :
Bass – Marc  Johnson
Drums – Art Taylor
Piano – Pat Coil
Tenor Saxophone – Johnny Griffin

MAX ROACH / ABBEY LINCOLN - Love for Sale (1999) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1     Sophisticated Lady 6:11
Written-By – Ellington, Mills     
2     Jordu 6:35
Written-By – Duke Jordan
3     Love for Sale 3:59
Written-By – Cole Porter
4     Long as You're Living 5:31
Written-By – Priester, Brown, Turrentine
5     Who Will Buy? 2:38
Written-By – Lionel Bart
6     Mop Mop 5:12
Written-By – Dalmerius, Williams    
7     Ceciliana 6:21
Written-By – Max Roach
8     This Night Mountain 13:11
Written-By – Max Roach
Credits :
Bass – Eddie Kahn
Drums – Max Roach
Piano – Coleridge T. Perkins
Tenor Saxophone – Clifford Jordan
Vocals – Abbey Lincoln

KENNY GARRETT · JOHN SCOFIELD · MICHAEL BRECKER · DAVID FRIESEN — Old Folks (1999) Two Version | FLAC (image+.tracks+.cue), lossless

This West Wind album, recorded at various studio sites in Seattle, WA, Portland, OR, Berkeley, CA, and New York City between 1987 and 1994, has Kenny Garrett as the leader, but a closer reveal might more accurately hand that title to David Friesen. The bassist is on five of the nine tracks, in duet performances with John Scofield, Michael Brecker, or Denny Zeitlin, while Garrett does lead the other four selections in larger ensemble contexts. Extraordinary musicianship is present throughout, making for an interesting musical experience, and with great appeal for fans who enjoy any of these talented musicians.
Longtime friends Scofield and Friesen reunite for a somber take of "Old Folks" and a brighter "True Blue," Brecker's tenor sax joins the bassist for a great, spirited version of the Sonny Rollins classic "Airegin" and the heavy duty, hip neo-bop original "Signs & Wonders," with the two occasionally merging in tandem phrases. A final track for bass and piano with the brilliant Zeitlin allows them to interpret the great Wayne Shorter composition "Speak No Evil" over nine minutes with a symmetry and balance unparalleled in most duet recordings, especially over long lengths of time via the wonderfully inventive acoustic keyboardist. Garrett leads a sextet with less dominant trombonist Julian Priester, a pronounced Bill Frisell and sublimated Robben Ford on electric guitars. They do the sly Duke Ellington evergreen "Wanderlust" proud under a deep bassline by Anthony Cox, while the outstanding track of the album "The Oyster Dance" slips from 7/8 time to fractured beats at will in a funky yet scattered method quite reminiscent of Thelonious Monk. Another quintet with Steve Nelson and Mulgrew Miller offers up a different sonic challenge, as they do pianist Miller's "Wingspan" in hard bop fashion with Garrett's alto alongside Nelson's vibraphone in fully charged bright moments, while "Sonhos Do Brasil" offers a contrasting, sleek, and softer bossa nova style, with percussionist Rudy Bird as special guest. The listening skills of the larger ensembles is quite evident, while Garrett -- at this time a 27-year-old phenom -- is still learning his craft but growing very quickly in the company of these well-chosen super-pro partners. Drummers Jerry Granelli and Tony Reedus are especially notable for rhythmically moving things along quite nicely for Garrett and friends. This material deserves high marks simply for the great musicians participating, and though uneven, retains full intrigue in one-of-a-kind session status, any of which could have been full-blown concepts -- one of which (sigh) might have been a Garrett-Brecker project that is not here. Michael G. Nastos 
Tracklist :

1.     Old Folks    6:15
Dedette Lee Hill / Willard Robison
2.     Wanderlust    7:46 
Kenny Garrett
3.     True Blue    7:48
David Friesen
4.     Airegin    4:56
Sonny Rollins
5.     Signs and Wonders    6:04
David Friesen
6.     Speak No Evil    8:42
Wayne Shorter
7.     Wingspan    5:36
Mulgrew Miller
8.     The Oyster Dance    5:04
Kenny Garrett
9.     Sonhos Do Brasil (Dreams of Brazil)    7:14
Kenny Garrett
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Kenny Garrett (tracks: 2,7-9)
Banjo – Bill Frisell (tracks: 2)
Bass – Anthony Cox (tracks: 2,8), Charnett Moffett (tracks: 7,9), David Friesen (tracks: 1,3-6)
Drums – Jerry Granelli (tracks: 2,8), Tony Reedus (tracks: 7,9)
Grand Piano – Denny Zeitlin (tracks: 6)
Guitar – Bill Frisell (tracks: 2,8), John Scofield (tracks: 1,3), Robben Ford (tracks: 2,8)
Percussion – Rudy Bird (tracks: 9)
Piano – Mulgrew Miller (tracks: 7,9)
Tenor Saxophone – Michael Brecker (tracks: 4,5)
Trombone – Julian Priester (tracks: 2,8)
Vibraphone – Steve Nelson (tracks: 7,9)