JEAN-LUC PONTY — King Kong : Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa (1970-1993) Two Version | WV (image+.cue), lossless + FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Not just an album of interpretations, King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa was an active collaboration; Frank Zappa arranged all of the selections, played guitar on one, and contributed a new, nearly 20-minute orchestral composition for the occasion. Made in the wake of Ponty's appearance on Zappa's jazz-rock masterpiece Hot Rats, these 1969 recordings were significant developments in both musicians' careers. In terms of jazz-rock fusion, Zappa was one of the few musicians from the rock side of the equation who captured the complexity -- not just the feel -- of jazz, and this project was an indicator of his growing credibility as a composer. For Ponty's part, King Kong marked the first time he had recorded as a leader in a fusion-oriented milieu (though Zappa's brand of experimentalism didn't really foreshadow Ponty's own subsequent work). Of the repertoire, three of the six pieces had previously been recorded by the Mothers of Invention, and "Twenty Small Cigars" soon would be. Ponty writes a Zappa-esque theme on his lone original "How Would You Like to Have a Head Like That," where Zappa contributes a nasty guitar solo. The centerpiece, though, is obviously "Music for Electric Violin and Low Budget Orchestra," a new multi-sectioned composition that draws as much from modern classical music as jazz or rock. It's a showcase for Zappa's love of blurring genres and Ponty's versatility in handling everything from lovely, simple melodies to creepy dissonance, standard jazz improvisation to avant-garde, nearly free group passages. In the end, Zappa's personality comes through a little more clearly (his compositional style pretty much ensures it), but King Kong firmly established Ponty as a risk-taker and a strikingly original new voice for jazz violin. Steve Huey   

Tracklist :
1    King Kong 4:54
Bass – Buell Neidlinger
Composed By, Arranged By – Frank Zappa
Drums – Arthur D. Tripp, III
Electric Piano – George Duke
Tenor Saxophone – Ian Underwood
Vibraphone, Percussion – Gene Estes
Violin [Electric Violin & Baritone Violectra] – Jean-Luc Ponty
2    Idiot Bastard Son 4:00
Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Ernie Watts
Bass [Fender] – Wilton Felder
Composed By, Arranged By – Frank Zappa
Drums – John Guerin
Electric Piano – George Duke
Violin [Electric Violin & Baritone Violectra] – Jean-Luc Ponty
3    Twenty Small Cigars 5:35
Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Ernie Watts
Bass [Fender] – Wilton Felder
Composed By, Arranged By – Frank Zappa
Drums – John Guerin
Electric Piano – George Duke
Violin [Electric Violin & Baritone Violectra] – Jean-Luc Ponty
4    How Would You Like To Have A Head Like That 7:14
Bass [Fender] – Wilton Felder
Composed By – Jean-Luc Ponty
Drums – John Guerin
Electric Piano – George Duke
Guitar – Frank Zappa
Tenor Saxophone – Ernie Watts
Violin [Electric] – Jean-Luc Ponty
5    Music For Electric Violin And Low Budget Orchestra 19:20
Bass – Buell Neidlinger
Bassoon – Donald Christlieb
Cello – Harold Bemko
Composed By, Arranged By – Frank Zappa
Conductor – Ian Underwood
Drums – Arthur D. Tripp, III
Flute – Jonathan Meyer
French Horn, Recorder [Descant] – Vincent DeRosa
French Horn, Tuba [Tuben] – Arthur Maebe
Oboe, English Horn – Gene Cipriano
Piano, Electric Piano – George Duke
Viola – Milton Thomas
Violin [Electric] – Jean-Luc Ponty
6    America Drinks And Goes Home 2:39
Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Ian Underwood
Bass – Buell Neidlinger
Composed By, Arranged By – Frank Zappa
Drums – Arthur D. Tripp, III
Electric Piano – George Duke
Vibraphone, Percussion – Gene Estes
Violin [Electric Violin & Baritone Violectra] – Jean-Luc Ponty 

JIMMY SMITH - Root Down (1972-2000) / RM / APE (image+.cue), lossless

Toward the end of his stint with Blue Note, Jimmy Smith's albums became predictable. Moving to Verve in the mid-'60s helped matters considerably, since he started playing with new musicians (most notably nice duets with Wes Montgomery) and new settings, but he never really got loose, as he did on select early Blue Note sessions. Part of the problem was that Smith's soul-jazz was organic and laid-back, relaxed and funky instead of down and dirty. For latter-day listeners, aware of his reputation as the godfather of modern soul-jazz organ (and certainly aware of the Beastie Boys' name drop), that may mean that Smith's actual albums all seem a bit tame and restrained, classy, not funky. That's true of the bulk of Smith's catalog, with the notable exception of Root Down. Not coincidentally, the title track is the song the Beasties sampled on their 1994 song of the same name, since this is one of the only sessions that Smith cut where his playing his raw, vital, and earthy. Recorded live in Los Angeles in February 1972, the album captures a performance Smith gave with a relatively young supporting band who were clearly influenced by modern funk and rock. They push Smith to playing low-down grooves that truly cook: "Sagg Shootin' His Arrow" and "Root Down (And Get It)" are among the hottest tracks he ever cut, especially in the restored full-length versions showcased on the 2000 Verve By Request reissue. There are times where the pace slows, but the tension never sags, and the result is one of the finest, most exciting records in Smith's catalog. If you think you know everything about Jimmy Smith, this is the album for you. by Stephen Thomas Erlewine  
Tracklist :
1 Sagg Shootin' His Arrow 7:09
Jimmy Smith
2 For Everyone Under the Sun 5:56
Peter Chase
3 After Hours 7:45
Erskine Hawkins / Avery Parrish
4 Root Down (And Get It) 7:44
Jimmy Smith
5 Let's Stay Together 6:30
Al Green / Al Jackson, Jr. / Willie Mitchell
6 Slow Down Sagg 6:43
Jimmy Smith
Credits :
Bass – Wilton Felder
Congas, Percussion – Buck Clarke
Drums – Paul Humphrey
Guitar – Arthur Adams
Harmonica – Steve Williams
Organ – Jimmy Smith

THE CRUSADERS - Pass the Plate (1971-2008) RM / FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

After 1970's Old Socks, New Shoes...New Socks, Old Shoes landed them a spot on the charts briefly for the single "Hard Times" the Crusaders decided on an entirely new approach by making a very small change: they dropped the word "Jazz" from their moniker for 1971's Pass the Plate, the group's final offering on Chisa. Pass the Plate is notable for many things. For starters, a member of the band wrote every composition on it and yet it's a thoroughly modern recording. It begins with trombonist Wayne Henderson's 15- plus-minute title suite that contains no less than five separate parts (the Crusaders were no strangers to the pop music of the era; here they did their own nearly side-long take on what the Beatles accomplished on side two of Abbey Road). The original quartet of Henderson, pianist Joe Sample, saxophonist Wilton Felder, and drummer Stix Hooper are assisted on guitar -- and one assumes on bass since this instrument is uncredited -- by soul and blues legend Arthur Adams. It is a seamless track that allows for the individual abilities of all of its members to shine through as improvisers and displays Henderson's impeccable sense of time, seamlessly melding genres such as gospel, blues, and vintage and latter day soul into jazz. In addition to Adams, there are also uncredited female and male choruses edited into the proceedings at two points (they're in the background and they don't distract) and Philemon Hou, from the Friends of Distinction, adds some "tapping" and "begging" to the mix, bringing it the feel of some good-time street theater. The first side closes with a reprise of the group's first hit of a decade earlier, "Young Rabbits (71-72)," with a brief but tough drum break by Hooper. The second half of the album is almost all Sample. It begins with "Listen and You'll See," one of the pianist's now trademark sleight-of-hand compositions where theme, interlude, bridge, and improvisation all feel like separate tunes until the theme returns at the end. His own Fender Rhodes breaks twinned with Adams' guitar are lean, choppy, and tough while the horn parts are elegant and graceful. Hooper's "Greasy Spoon" is next; it's a tune that would become an enduring part of the group's live show. With its shuffling bluesy frontline -- the horns and guitar -- it's all groove and sounds like its title: all meat and potatoes. "Treat Me Like Ya Treat Yaself," -- Sample's good-natured dig at Sly Stone and Les McCann, follows, but that's in title only. These cats could lay down some of the most sophisticated grooved out funk of the era. Adams plays full wah-wah on both rhythm and his leads, and the horns inside and out with a James Brown-style moves as Sample does his pump-it-up move with simple but effective key changes in the melody, which give way immediately to a wickedly raspy solo by Felder. The funk continues on "Goin' Down South," which feels more like one of Johnny Pate's blaxploitation soundtrack cues than a typical Crusaders tune of the time, but that's a compliment. The album closes on a slow note with the midtempo ballad "Love Can't Grow Where the Rain Won't Fall," a gospel-sounding tuner with direct nods to the Burt Bacharach-Hal David fakebook. Ultimately, like its predecessor, this is arguably the Crusaders at their finest and most accessible to rock and pop audiences of the time, though they didn't give up an inch of the jazz cred they'd established over the previous decade. by Thom Jurek  
Tracklist:
Pass The Plate    (15:39)
1.1    Tap N' Shuffle  
1.2    Sing For Your Keep  
1.3    Beggin'  
1.4    Haggin' Stomp!  
1.5    Pennies  
1.6    Nickels And Dimes  
2    Young Rabbits '71 - '72    4:51
3    Listen And You'll See    5:30
4    Greasy Spoon    4:06
5    Treat Me Like Ya Treat Yaself    2:35
6    Goin' Down South    5:21
7    Love Can't Grow Where The Rain Won't Fall    4:05
Credits:
Composed By – Hooper (tracks: 4), J. Sample (tracks: 3, 5 to 7), W. Henderson (tracks: 1, 2)
Drums – "Stix" Hooper
Guitar – Arthur Adams
Keyboards – Joe Sample
Saxophone – Wilton Felder

Trombone – Wayne Henderson

THE CRUSADERS - Free as the Wind (1976) Mp3