Count Basie Jam - Montreux '77 (P) (24b rem) (eac-flac-cover)

Count Basie Jam  - Montreux '77 (24b rem)

jazz | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 290MB

Pablo | rar +5% recovery

AMG:
From Norman Granz's marathon series of performances recorded at the 1977 Montreux Jazz Festival, this set finds Count Basie fronting a jam session featuring trumpeter Roy Eldridge, altoist Benny Carter, Zoot Sims on tenor and the trombones of Vic Dickenson and Al Grey. Despite the possibility of being overcrowded, a bit of planning by Basie made this into a very coherent set with a blues, a long ballad medley and the closing "Jumpin' at the Woodside." Lots of nice moments.

Tracks:
Bookie Blues
She's Funny That Way
These Foolish Things
Kidney Stew
Trio Blues
I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
Jumpin' At The Woodside

Personnel:
Roy Eldridge (tp) Vic Dickenson, Al Grey (tb) Benny Carter (as) Zoot Sims (ts) Count Basie (p) Ray Brown (b) Jimmie Smith (d)

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Wayne Shorter - Native Dancer (1974) (eac-flac-cover)

Wayne Shorter - Native Dancer (1974)

jazz | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 290MB

SONY | rar +5% recovery

AMG
Some jazz purists would say that Wayne Shorter went downhill in the 1970s, when he passionately embraced electric jazz-fusion and co-led the innovative Weather Report with Joe Zawinul. But remember: Those are the same people who also claim that Miles Davis' stunning Bitches Brew has no value and that Chick Corea's visionary Return to Forever was a complete waste -- so it's hard to take their opinions seriously. The fact is that the 1970s were a highly productive time for Shorter, and it wasn't until the 1980s that the tenor and soprano saxophonist really declined creatively. One of Shorter's best-selling albums from the 1970s was Native Dancer, a Brazilian-oriented jazz-fusion masterpiece that boasts Herbie Hancock on acoustic piano and electric keyboards, and employs such Brazilian talent as singer Milton Nascimento (a superstar in Brazil) and percussionist Airto Moreira. Everything on this melodic, consistently lyrical effort is a jewel, and that includes Hancock's "Joanna's Theme" as well as pieces by Nascimento ("From the Lonely Afternoons," "Ponta de Areia," "Tarde," "Lilia," and "Miracle of the Fishes") and by Shorter himself ("Ana Maria," "Beauty and the Beast," and "Diana"). Reissued on CD by Columbia in 1990, Native Dancer is clearly among Shorter's most essential albums.

Tracks:
1. "Ponta de Areia" (Nascimento) - 5:18
2. "Beauty and the Beast"- 5:04
3. "Tarde" (Brant, Nascimento) - 5:49
4. "Miracle of the Fishes" (Brant, Nascimento) - 4:48
5. "Diana" - 3:04
6. "From the Lonely Afternoons" (Brant, Nascimento) - 3:15
7. "Ana Maria" - 5:10
8. "Lilia" (Nascimento) - 7:03
9. "Joanna's Theme" (Hancock) - 4:17

Personnel:
* David Amaro - Guitar
* Jay Graydon - Guitar
* Herbie Hancock - Piano, Keyboards
* Dave McDaniel - Bass
* Airto Moreira - percussion
* Milton Nascimento - Guitar, Vocals
* Wayne Shorter - Saxophone, Sax (Soprano), Sax (tenor)
* Roberto Silva - drums
* Wagner Tiso - Organ, Piano

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Primus - Miscellaneous Debris (EP) (1992) (eac-flac-cover)

Primus -  Miscellaneous Debris (EP) (1992

alternative | EP | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 125MB

Interscope | rar +5% recovery

AMG
What makes this 5-song EP of covers Primus's best release is the material. For once, Les Claypool's crew plays actual songs instead of sketching out a few ideas as an excuse for jamming. As a result, Miscellaneous Debris isn't as weird and alienating as previous albums, and often their reinterpretations -- from the clever ribbing of XTC's "Making Plans for Nigel" and Pink Floyd's "Have A Cigar" to the relatively respectful readings of The Meters, the Residents and Peter Gabriel's "Intruder" -- show flashes of brilliance, largely due to the loose yet focused musicianship.

Tracks:
1. "Intruder" (Peter Gabriel) 4:18
2. "Making Plans For Nigel" (Colin Moulding) 3:35
3. "Sinister Exaggerator" (The Residents) 3:37
4. "Tippi-Toes" (The Meters) 1:16
5. "Have a Cigar" (Roger Waters) 5:29

Personnel:
* Les Claypool - bass guitar, vocals
* Larry "Ler" LaLonde - guitars, synthesizer
* Tim "Herb" Alexander - drums, percussion

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Primus - Antipop (1999) (eac-flac-cover)

Primus - Antipop (1999)

alternative | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 450MB

Interscope | rar +5% recovery

AMG
On the surface, all Primus albums seem to sound alike, especially to outsiders (read: anyone who either respects the group but doesn't get them, or the minority that actively hates them, particularly Les Claypool's demented comedy schtick). That's not really true, even if the same basic elements remain in place each time, no matter who is in the band. And Primus has never tried to shake things up as much as they do on their seventh album, AntiPop. Primus enlisted a dizzying array of collaborators - Stewart Copeland, Tom Waits, James Hetfield, Tom Morello, Jim Martin, Matt Stone, Martina, and Fred Durst among them - all in the purpose of challenging themselves to find different dimensions to its music. Some play or sing, some produce, but it's amazing how much each individual guest changes the tone of the music. It's not always for the best, but it keeps things fresh, if not necessarily coherent. Though there are a couple of good lyrics here, this is by and large an album about music; it would have been even better if it had been primarily an instrumental album, actually, since the vocals get in the way occasionally. By now, the popping bass, dissonance, and angular riffs don't seem like schtick, but the lyrics and singing do. Still, it's possible to get past those and hear AntiPop as one of Primus' most ambitious and best efforts. No, they're not always successful, but no two songs sound the same, and some collaborations are among the best things Primus has ever recorded. AntiPop is dense music that isn't afraid to be goofy or fall on its face - and even if it's not to your particular taste, it's hard not to respect this.

Tracks:
01 - Intro
02 - Electric Uncle Sam
03 - Natural Joe
04 - Lacquer Head
05 - The Antipop
06 - Eclectic Electric
07 - Greet The Sacred Cow
08 - Mama Didn't Raise No Fool
09 - Dirty Drowning Man
10 - The Ballad of Bodacious
11 - Power Mad
12 - The Final Voyage of the Liquid Sky
13 - Coattails of a Dead Man (+ hidden track: The Heckler)

Personnel:
Les Claypool - Bass, Vocals
Larry LaLonde - Guitar
Brian "Brain" Mantia - Drums

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Coleman Hawkins & Ben Webster - Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster (1957) (eac-flac-cover)

Coleman Hawkins & Ben Webster - Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster (1957)

jazz | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 270MB

Verve Master Edition | 20bit remaster | rar +5% recovery

Amazon
Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster first met at a Kansas City jam session at which Hawkins finally encountered his match in local tenors Webster, Herschel Evans, and Lester Young. The all-night meeting has become the stuff of legend (and a continuous thread in Robert Altman's film Kansas City, though there it's reduced to two tenors). Recorded by Norman Granz, this 1957 meeting supports the two with fine accompaniment that includes Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, and Herb Ellis. The material includes the great "Blues for Yolanda," with a honking, squeaking solo that suggests Hawkins is the father of all R&B tenor saxophonists as well as those in jazz, while "Rosalita" has an engaging Latin beat. There's also plenty of room for the two to display their ballad art, but there's no real competition between the two big-toned, gruff tenorists, each a mature artist enjoying the highest challenge a peer might offer.

Tracks
1.# "Blues for Yolande" (Hawkins) – 6:44
2 # "It Never Entered My Mind" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 5:47
3 # "La Rosita" (Paul Dupont, Allan Stuart) – 5:02
4 # "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" (Cole Porter) – 4:15
5 # "Prisoner of Love" (Russ Columbo, Clarence Gaskill, Leo Robin) – 4:13
6 # "Tangerine" (Johnny Mercer, Victor Schertzinger) – 5:21
7 # "Shine On, Harvest Moon" (Jack Norworth, Nora Bayes) – 4:4
8 # "Blues for Yolande" (alt) - 6:52
9 # "Blues for Yolande" (alt2) - 4:49

Personnel
* Coleman Hawkins – tenor saxophone
* Ben Webster
* Oscar Peterson – piano
* Herb Ellis – guitar
* Ray Brown – double bass
* Alvin Stoller – drums

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Thelonious Monk - 5 By Monk By 5 (1959) (eac-flac-cover)

Thelonious Monk  - 5 By Monk By 5 (1959)

jazz | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 370MB

OJC | rar +5% recovery

AMG
As the '50s drew to a close, so did Thelonious Monk's illustrious tenure on Riverside Records. In fact, the three dates needed for this title would be his penultimate for the label. The concept of the album consists of five Monk originals performed in a quintet setting. Ironically, this was the first time that Monk had recorded with a lineup that so prominently featured the "standard" bop rhythm section incorporating both a trumpet (or, in this case, cornet) and sax player. The quintet featured on Five by Monk by Five includes Monk (piano), Thad Jones (cornet), Charlie Rouse (tenor sax), Sam Jones (bass), and Art Taylor (drums). Rouse would become Monk's permanent tenor saxophonist for the majority of the 1960s. In what had become somewhat of a tradition, the disc's program consists of several of Monk's more established works as well as a few new compositions. One of the new works, "Jackie-ing" (incidentally, named after one of Monk's nieces), leads off the disc. It exemplifies the loose, disjointed, and exceedingly difficult arrangements that would define Monk as a premier composer/arranger/bandleader. This is in contrast to Monk the keyboard player and band member, which he skilfully demonstrates throughout the track as well as the rest of the album. The song's opening jam features a tasty tug of war between Rouse's animated lead and Monk's interjections and piano antics. Jones' cornet is incorporated tastefully throughout Monk's tricky arrangements. The stark contrast in performance timbre between the comparatively subdued Rouse or Monk and the frenetic bleating of Jones is notably disconcerting. The CD reissue includes two alternate takes of "Played Twice," the other Monk composition to be debuted on Five by Monk by Five.

Tracks
01 - Jackie-Ing
02 - Straight, No Chaser
03 - Played Twice (Take 3)
04 - Played Twice (Take 1)
05 - Played Twice (Take 2)
06 - I Mean You
07 - Ask Me Now

Personnel
* Thelonious Monk - Piano
* Thad Jones - Cornet
* Sam Jones - bass
* Charlie Rouse - Tenor Saxophone
* Art Taylor - Drums

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Primus - Rhinoplasty (1998) (eac-flac-cover)

Primus - Rhinoplasty (1998)

alternative | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 340MB

Interscope | rar +5% recovery

AMG
Rhinoplasty? Call it Miscellaneous Debris, Pt. 2. An EP of covers and live cuts designed to buy time between albums, Rhinoplasty is another small treasure for fans. When Primus covers songs, it rarely sticks to the original recorded versions, preferring to turn in new, sometimes startling arrangements that are often unpredictable. If the band hasn't chosen any surprising covers -- there are more Peter Gabriel and XTC tunes, as well as Police, Stanley Clarke, Metallica, and Jerry Reed songs, plus a new version of their own "Too Many Puppies" -- it makes up for it with great performances. Rhinoplasty is certainly an EP intended for the dedicated, but it does the most important thing any specialist release can do -- it doesn't disappoint.

Tracks
1. Scissor Man [XTC Cover] (5:11)
2. The Family and the Fishing Net [Peter Gabriel Cover] (6:26)
3. Silly Putty [Stanley Clarke Cover] (4:21)
4. Amos Moses [Jerry Reed Cover] (3:11)
5. Behind My Camel [The Police Cover] (2:52)
6. Too Many Puppies (3:00)
7. The Thing That Should Not Be [Metallica Cover] (6:47)
8. Tommy the Cat [live] (9:10)
9. Bob's Party Time Lounge [live] (7:40)

Personnel
Les Claypool (bass, vocals)
Larry "Ler" LaLonde (guitars)
Brian "Brain" Mantia (drums)

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