THE CLARINET TRIO – Ballads And Other Related Objects (2005) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The title of the Clarinet Trio's third album is entirely descriptive. While Gebhard Ullman (bass clarinet), Jurgen Kupke (b flat clarinet, or your basic everyday model), and Michael Thieke (alto clarinet) have proven themselves more than capable of whipping up a dissonant free jazz whirlwind of notes, like three clarinet-playing John Coltranes in the middle of his sheets of sound period, such passages are few on Ballads and Related Objects, which favors a more sedate, cerebral sound. It's the second part of the title that's the key to the record, however: all of these 13 tracks are interconnected, whether overtly -- as in the three-part "Déjà Vu," a theme and two variations, or the four entries in the trio's continuing "Collective" series of improvisations -- or more subtly, through the use of repeated phrases or similar time signatures. The overall effect is similar to Anthony Braxton in his less abstruse settings, and satisfying both as passive listening (the opening "Déjà Vu [Variation 1]" has some simply spine-tingling moments that are both beautiful and unsettling) and as the basis for more intensive musicological exploration. Stewart Mason
Tracklist :
1    Déjà Vu (Variation 1)    3:26
2    Seven 9-8    7:39
3    Collective No. 9, Parts 1-4    3:46
4    Almost Twenty-Eight    6:45
5    Variations On A Theme By Claude Debussy    5:09
6    Collective No. 10 (Lines)    1:58
7    29 Shoes    6:49
8    Collective No. 11 (Hohe Objekte)    1:26
9    Verschiedene Annäherungen An Den Ton Ges    3:19
10    Déjà Vu (Theme)    3:49
11    Desert... Bleue... East    5:27
12    Collective No. 12 (Ballad)    1:01
13    Déjà Vu (Variation 2)    1:45
Credits :
Alto Clarinet, Clarinet – Michael Thieke
Bass Clarinet, Producer [Produced By], Liner Notes – Gebhard Ullmann
Clarinet – Jürgen Kupke
Composed By – Gebhard Ullmann, Jürgen Kupke (tracks: 3, 6, 8, 12), Michael Thieke (tracks: 3, 6, 8, 12)
Painting [Cover] – Robert Weber

AMY BEACH — Piano Music (Martina Frezzotti) (2023) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1    Out Of The Depths Op 130. (1932)    2:43
2    Variations On Balkan Themes Opp. 60 (1904)    25:12
3    Dreaming Op. 15 No. 3 (1892)    4:29
4    Serenade "Standchen" After Richard Strauss (1902)    3:49
5    Prelude And Fugue Op. 81 (1914)    10:30
6    Canoeing Op. 119 No. 3 (1927)    1:08
7    Honeysuckle    2:55
8    A Hermit Thrush At Eve Op. 92 No. 1 (1922)    4:48
9    Nocturne Op. 107 (1924)
    Three Pieces Op. 128 (1932)    
10    I Scherzino - A Peterborough Chipmunk    1:10
11    II Young Birches    2:52
12    III Humming Bird    1:01
Credits :
Composed By – Amy Marcy Cheney Beach
Piano – Martina Frezzotti

LAST EXIT – Köln (1986-2015) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Another live set from the 1986 tour, Köln could well be the best of the bunch. There is an actual song here (Ronald Shannon Jackson's aptly titled "Brain Damage") and an opening track, the nearly 20-minute rumble called "Hard School," that scorches from top to bottom. This recording was supposed to come after Cassette Recordings '87 and before Iron Path, but Bill Laswell was involved in some rancorous disagreements with Enemy and the record's release was postponed for a couple of years. But man, was it ever worth the wait. Open up and burn. John Dougan
Tracklist :
1        Hard School    19:05
2        Brain Damage    6:20
3        Taking A Beating    2:50
4        Last Call    4:27
5        Dark Heart    6:35
Credits :
Bass [6 String] – Bill Laswell
Drums, Voice – Shannon Jackson
Guitar – Sonny Sharrock
Tenor Saxophone – Peter Brötzmann

THE MOODY BLUES — This Is The Moody Blues (1974-1989) 2CD | FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

It might surprise those coming in late to their story that the original double-LP version of this album from 1974 was the first compilation devoted to the Moody Blues' work. That's seven years after their switch from R&B-based British Invasion rock & roll to psychedelic music, and ten years into their overall history, an awfully long time for a successful band to avoid the compilation route. That fact alone speaks volumes for how healthy their album sales were -- only the group's decision to take a hiatus seems to have prompted the assembling of this collection. The Moody Blues had actually had enough hits and charting singles between England and America since 1967 so that a good best-of could have been assembled, but the makers went far beyond that, encompassing LP tracks that had become favorites on FM radio between 1967 and 1973 and also ignoring the actual release order of anything here. So instead of a tour through their history, listeners get a kind of collage of most of their best work, the songs nicely representative of the various members' most important contributions to the group's work. That said, however, it should also be pointed out that so much of the band's music is connected, conceptually and thematically, with the surrounding songs on their albums that inevitably the listener will feel rushed through some of this history; additionally, there is one excellent number left off for every three that are included. Bruce Eder
Tracklist 1 :
1. Question (5:39)
2. The actor (4:08)
3. The word (poem) (0:51)
4. Eyes of a child (2:35)
5. Dear diary (3:46)
6. Legend of a mind (6:35)
7. In the beginning (2:04)
8. Lovely to see you (2:34)
9. Never comes the day (4:39)
10. Isn't life strange (5:32)
11. The dream (poem) (0:51)
12. Have you heard? Part 1 (1:21)
13. The voyage (4:09)
14. Have you heard? Part 2 (2:09)
Tracklist 2:
1. Ride my see-saw (3:32)
2. Tuesday afternoon (4:01)
3. And the tide rushes in (2:56)
4. New horizons (5:05)
5. A simple game (3:18)
6. Watching and waiting (4:16)
7. I'm just a singer (in a rock and roll band) (4:10)
8. For my lady (3:57)
9. The story in your eyes (2:44)
10. Melancholy man (5:05)
11. Nights in white satin (4:32)
12. Late lament (2:36)
Line-up / Musicians
- Justin Hayward / Guitars, Vocals
- John Lodge / Bass Guitar, Vocals
- Michael Pinder / Keyboards, Vocals
- Ray Thomas / Harmonica, Flute, Vocals
- Graeme Edge / Drums, Percussion

BOBBY McFERRIN | CHICK COREA — The Mozart Sessions (1996) Two Version | APE (image+.cue), lossless + FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The informal title says a great deal about the contents of The Mozart Sessions, which could have been called Concerti for Piano and Orchestra, Nos. 23 and 20, since that is, for the most part, what it is. But of course the conductors, vocalist Bobby McFerrin and jazz keyboard player Chick Corea, are not your average classical musicians. Nor is there any doubt about the non-traditional

nature of the recording, when it starts with McFerrin's patented improvisational vocals followed

by Corea's piano inventions under the title "Prelude." So, for a start, purists should be warned away. On the other hand, the more adventurous may be slightly disappointed, since after they get the preliminaries out of the way, McFerrin and Corea, aided and abetted by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, turn in pleasant but unexceptional readings of the concerti, with Corea especially eschewing any attempt at dazzle in what are usually showcase pieces. The piano work is fluid and the orchestral accompaniment delicate, but the principals seem sufficiently concerned about getting anything wrong not to really take off. At the end, as Corea once again improvises in tandem with McFerrin's voice, one longs for more of their interaction, perhaps in a less restrictive context. William Ruhlmann 

Tracklist :

1-3    Concerto For Piano And Orchestra No. 23 In A Major, K. 488
4-6    Concerto For Piano And Orchestra No. 20 In D Minor, K. 466
7    "Song For Amadeus" / Improvisation On Mozart's Sonata No. 2 In F Major, K.280/189e: II. Adagio)
Composed – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor, Vocals – Bobby McFerrin
Orchestra – The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (tracks: 1 to 6)
Piano – Chick Corea