Bread – The Studio Album Collection (2015) [HDTracks 24-192]

August 8, 2015, 5:17 am

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Bread – The Studio Album Collection (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192kHz | Time – 03:42:57 minutes | 7,52 GB | Genre: Rock
Official Digital Download – Source: HDTracks | @ Elektra Entertainment
Recorded: 1969-77, Elektra Sound Recorders, Hollywood, California

Bread (1969)
#127 on the Billboard 200

On the Waters (1970)
#12 on the Billboard 200

Manna (1971)
#21 on the Billboard 200

Baby I’m-a Want You (1972)
#3 on the Billboard 200

Guitar Man (1972)
#18 on the Billboard 200

Lost Without Your Love (1977)
#26 on the Billboard 200

Bread was one of the most popular pop groups of the early ’70s, earning a string of well-crafted, melodic soft rock singles, all of which were written by keyboardist/vocalist David Gates. A session musician and producer, Gates met in 1968 guitarist/vocalist James Griffin, who had already released a solo album called Summer Holiday. Griffin hired Gates to produce a new album, and the pair soon became a group, adding guitarist/vocalist Robb Royer from the band Pleasure Fair, who Gates had produced early in its career. The trio soon signed with Elektra Records, becoming one of the label’s first pop bands. Naming themselves Bread, the group released its self-titled debut album in late 1968. Although it was filled with accessible, melodic soft rock that became the band’s signature sound, the record had no hit singles.

With their second album, On the Waters, Bread established themselves as hitmakers. “Make It With You,” the first single released from the album, became a number one hit, which led to “It Don’t Matter to Me,” a song taken from Bread, becoming a Top Ten hit. With On the Waters becoming a gold record, the group embarked on a tour, adding a full-time drummer, Mike Botts, to the lineup. Manna, released in the spring of 1971, wasn’t as big a hit as the previous record, yet it launched another Top Ten hit with “If.” Royer left the group after the album and was replaced by Larry Knechtel, a Los Angeles session musician who played on records by the Byrds, the Beach Boys, and the Monkees, among others. The new lineup released its first single, “Mother Freedom,” in the summer of 1971; the single scraped the Top 40 at number 37. Bread’s next single, “Baby I’m-a Want You,” became a number three hit at the end of the year. After “Everything I Own” reached number five in January of 1972, an album called Baby I’m-a Want You was released. Peaking at number three, the record became the group’s most successful album. The group’s fifth album, Guitar Man, followed in the fall of 1972.

At the beginning of 1973, Bread disbanded after a dispute between Gates and Griffin. Griffin claimed that, when the group was conceived, the pair agreed that the singles would be divided equally between the two songwriters; Gates wrote most of Bread’s hits and wanted to continue to compose the singles. The two parted ways, with each of the musicians pursuing solo careers. Bread reunited in 1976, releasing Lost Without Your Love in early 1977. The title track became their last Top Ten hit, peaking at number nine. The success could not keep the group together as tensions between Gates and Griffin began to escalate again. After Griffin split from the group, Gates assembled a new version of the band and toured under the name Bread. Griffin sued Gates for using the name, which the duo co-owned. A judge ordered the group not to perform, record, or collect royalty payments until the case was resolved; it wasn’t resolved until 1984. In the meantime, Gates and Griffin pursued solo careers. Of the two musicians, Gates was more successful, scoring a number 15 hit in 1978 with the title theme to Goodbye Girl. However, his career declined in the ’80s; by the ’90s, he was running a California ranch. Griffin relocated to Nashville, forming Dreamer with Randy Meisner in the early ’90s. –Artist Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Bread – Bread (1969/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 36:07 minutes | 1,18 GB
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Artwork: Front cover

Bread is seen as nothing but a wimp-pop band — an impression which is justified, but it wipes out the fact that the group was quite good and rather slyly diverse in its early days, particularly on its debut, Bread. This is effectively the birth of Californian soft rock, as David Gates and compatriots blend the folk-rock of the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield with a distinctly British melodicism and a streak of sentimentality borrowed from McCartney. The result is a modest little gem, with more strange turns than you’d expect from their reputation — including soaring falsettos, spiraling melodies, rough guitars, and, best of all, a set of tightly-written, appealing songs. Only “It Don’t Matter Me,” which became a hit after the second album, ranks among their best-known material, but each of the songs illustrates the exceptional craftsmanship of not just Gates, but Robb Royer and James Griffin. As such, this may not seem like the record for casual fans, if judged just on the track listing, but it will convince the pop fans that may have been doubters.

Tracklist:
01 – Dismal Day
02 – London Bridge
03 – Could I
04 – Look At Me
05 – The Last Time
06 – Any Way You Want Me
07 – Move Over
08 – Don’t Shut Me Out
09 – You Can’t Measure The Cost
10 – Family Doctor
11 – It Don’t Matter To Me
12 – Friends And Lovers

Bread – On The Waters (1970/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 37:30 minutes | 1,39 GB
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Artwork: Front cover

Bread broke big with their second album, thanks to David Gates’ sentimental soft pop classic, “Make It With You” — the song that set the standard for sensitive mellow pop ballads for the ’70s and for years to come. Its pull is strong, but it’s a bit misleading, since the group hardly just turns out a series of these lovely, luxurious pop tunes throughout the record. In fact, with the considerable assistance of Robb Royer and James Griffin, the group actually rocks it harder than Crosby Stills & Nash (if not CSNY, true enough), and they continue to show that the diversity and range of material they demonstrated on their debut was no fluke. If anything, “Make It With You” doesn’t set the pace for the rest of the record, since even the softer moments, such as “Look What You’ve Done,” isn’t as lushly mellow as that — there is more coloring through the guitars, and the songwriting has more edge and melody than that. Of course, this is hardly a hard rock record, but it’s a first-class Californian pop record, one that is as blissful as a sunset when it lays back, and as incandescent as a day at the beach when the tempo is sprightly.

Tracklist:
01 – Why Do You Keep Me Waiting
02 – Make It With You
03 – Blue Satin Pillow
04 – Look What You’ve Done
05 – I Am That I Am
06 – Been Too Long On The Road
07 – I Want You With Me
08 – Coming Apart
09 – Easy Love
10 – In The Afterglow
11 – Call On Me
12 – The Other Side Of Life

Bread – Manna (1971/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 36:13 minutes | 1,33 GB
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Artwork: Front cover

Bread’s third album, Manna, isn’t so much a step forward as it is a consolidation of strengths, as the group sharpens their skills and carves out their own identities. It’s clear that the rift between David Gates and Robb Royer and James Griffin is beginning to take shape, as the album is evenly divided between Gates tunes and Royer/Griffin compositions. This benefits the album, since it spurs each member to greater heights, and they even tend to sequence the record in ways that support that sentiment — Gates’ “Let Your Love Go,” complete with its rockin’ harpsichords, is followed by the hard-driving verses of “Take Comfort,” which, admittedly, is tempered by a dreamy chorus. And while some of the rougher edges present on Bread or On the Waters are sanded down slightly, they’re still there, providing good contrast to such soft pop landmarks as “If.” Yet, this is a record that is laid-back and even tempered, which isn’t a bad thing — it results in a fine listen, especially since the group’s songwriting remains at the high standard instituted on that first Bread album.

Tracklist:
01 – Let Your Love Go
02 – Take Comfort
03 – Too Much Love
04 – If
05 – Be Kind To Me
06 – He’s A Good Lad
07 – She Was My Lady
08 – Live In Your Love
09 – What A Change
10 – I Say Again
11 – Come Again
12 – Truckin’

Bread – Baby I’m-A Want You (1972/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 34:52 minutes | 1,26 GB
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Artwork: Front cover

Baby I’m-A Want You is Bread’s best album, showcasing its soft and hard sides (yes, Bread had a hard side) at their respective peaks. “Mother Freedom,” with its crunchy James Griffin guitar solo, and the superb soft rocker “Baby I’m-A Want You” made a brilliant opening which the rest of the album had a hard time matching. The songs range from wistful sentimentality (“Diary”) to spirited protest (“This Isn’t What the Government,” a poor man’s “Taxman” with an anti-war slant). The high points outnumber the flat spots, and the playing is very polished (with unexpected hard rock flourishes on “Dream Lady”), but this is still a ’70s period piece.

Tracklist:
01 – Mother Freedom
02 – Baby I’m-A Want You
03 – Down On My Knees
04 – Everything I Own
05 – Nobody Like You
06 – Diary
07 – Dream Lady
08 – Daughter
09 – Games Of Magic
10 – This Isn’t What The Governmeant
11 – Just Like Yesterday
12 – I Don’t Love You

Bread – Guitar Man (1972/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 43:15 minutes | 1,43 GB
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Artwork: Front cover

Guitar Man is a classy album from Bread which provided David Gates with reason enough to go solo. Just listen to “Aubrey” to hear how the producer/singer/songwriter could create a strong track with little or no help from his fellow musicians. On the other hand, two of his strongest songs, “Sweet Surrender” and “The Guitar Man,” are totally products of a band in a groove. The three hits failed to break the Top Ten, though the title track came close, one notch away. It and the sublime “Sweet Surrender” both topped the adult contemporary charts in 1972, while “Aubrey” followed those two titles, going Top 15 itself in early 1973. It would be almost four years before the group would enter the charts for the final time at the end of 1976 with “Lost Without Your Love.” That makes Guitar Man the final chapter of the band’s first era, three of their 11 hits coming from this volume. The original LP cover featured beautiful off-pastel illustrations by Bob Ziering on rough cardboard without the slick gloss, impressive to the look and touch, while the music inside reflected the professionalism radio programmers and the audience expected to hear from this product. James Griffin and Rob Royer contribute an exceptional “Don’t Tell Me No” with that Beatles influence which was part of the group’s sound at its onset. But it was the title track and “Sweet Surrender” which were the perfect pop products conceived and delivered by this important act. There’s little doubt “The Guitar Man” influenced the Carpenters to put that blazing guitar at the end of their number one adult contemporary hit “Yesterday Once More” a year after this, a truly smart and effective way to bring syrupy pop music to the attention of rock & roll fans — a song with enough bite that it wasn’t an embarrassment for the guys to listen to, and was sweet enough to attract the gals. As good as the first track “Welcome to the Music” and closing title “Didn’t Even Know Her Name” are as album tracks, the opening wah-wah, folk guitars, string movement, and vocal by David Gates are just so impressive on “The Guitar Man” that there is, musically, no comparison. This is the guy who wrote the Murmaids’ number-three hit in 1963, “Popsicles and Icicles,” and he certainly crafted a dreamy sound here; those keyboards Manfred Mann used so well in his version of Randy Newman’s “Living Without You” match the guitars, combining for a breath of fresh air on early-70s radio. “Tecolote,” on the other hand, like the James Griffin/David Gates number “Make It by Yourself” pale in comparison. They are competent album tracks, but they also show the difference between adequate and great. “Make It by Yourself” is a far cry from “Make It With You.” Here the band sounds closer to Jonathan Edwards if he joined the group America, or Jon Hall’s Orleans, not a bad direction for Bread and something they should have considered. No, it isn’t as effective as their middle-of-the-road stuff, but it is superior to the decent material which ends up becoming filler. Had they skillfully balanced “Sweet Surrender with “Make It by Yourself,” they could have rivaled the Eagles. That country-rock sound is where this group was heading before they imploded. Too bad, because having Larry Knetchel and David Gates on the same team could have brought more great sounds to radio. Regardless, Guitar Man is an album Bread can be proud of, one which begs the question what would have happened had they not taken so much time off from each other.

Tracklist:
01 – Welcome To The Music
02 – Guitar Man
03 – Make It By Yourself
04 – Aubrey
05 – Fancy Dancer
06 – Sweet Surrender
07 – Tecolote
08 – Let Me Go
09 – Yours For Life
10 – Picture In Your Mind
11 – Don’t Tell Me No
12 – Didn’t Even Know Her Name

Bread – Lost Without Your Love (1977/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 36:21 minutes | 1,28 GB
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Artwork: Front cover

This was the end of the line for Bread. David Gates reunited one last time with James Griffin after a four-year hiatus spawned by a power dispute between the two lead songwriters. The band returned to form pretty well intact, with the Gates power ballad “Lost Without Your Love” cracking the Top Ten. It would be their last hit single. By 1977, the Bread formula was starting to sound dated, but despite the unevenness, completists and heartier Bread fans should seek and find this record. There’s plenty of filler, but a couple of the Gates ballads stand out: “Hooked on You” and “Belonging” are trademark honey sweet singer/songwriter pop. James Griffin co-wrote three cuts with original Bread member Robb Royer, and their work, like “She’s the Only One,” has a somewhat grittier country rock feel that is lacking in the more pop-centric work of Gates. “Hold Tight” is the album’s only true embarrassment — an abortive attempt at disco-rock. Casual listeners can safely stick with the best-of collections (especially Rhino’s Bread retrospective, on which Lost Without Your Love is adequately represented).

Tracklist:
01 – Hooked On You
02 – She’s The Only One
03 – Lost Without Your Love
04 – Change Of Heart
05 – Belonging
06 – Fly Away
07 – Lay Your Money Down
08 – The Chosen One
09 – Today’s The First Day
10 – Hold Tight
11 – Our Lady Of Sorrow

Download:

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Carmen McRae – At The Great American Music Hall (1977/2014) [Qobuz 24-192]

August 10, 2015, 8:26 am

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Carmen McRae – At The Great American Music Hall (1977/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192kHz | Time – 01:20:47 minutes | 2,99 GB | Genre: Jazz
Official Digital Download – Source: Qobuz | © Blue Note Records
Recorded Live At The Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA, June 15, 16 & 17, 1976

Recorded over a three-night engagement at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco in 1976, jazz vocalist Carmen McRae presents this eclectic selection of jazz standards and a handful of pop songs including a surprising cover of Alice Cooper’s ballad Only Women Bleed.

Carmen McRae has always shined on stage, and this fine account of her 1976 three-night stand at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco proves the point. Couched in that stellar Blue Note sound, McRae ranges far and wide on a set of standards. And McRae not only spices things up with an impressive reading of the bossa nova standard “Dindi,” but she even goes completely out of her expected domain with a version of the Alice Cooper ballad “Only Woman Bleed” — interesting, to say the least. Surprisingly, though, she turns this FM hit into one of the most effective performances here. The whole recording is remarkable, for that matter. And this, no doubt, can be traced to the McRae’s choice of backing, which includes the venerable Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet and future drumming heavyweight Joey Baron. A must for McRae fans. –AllMusic Review by Stephen Cook

Tracklist:
1 Them There Eyes 1:38
2 Paint Your Pretty Picture 6:06
3 On Green Dolphin Street 3:08
4 A Song For You 4:34
5 On A Clear Day (You Can See Forever) 4:01
6 Miss Otis Regrets 5:35
7 Too Close For Comfort 3:18
8 Old Folks 4:38
9 Time After Time 2:45
10 I’m Always Drunk In San Francisco 3:41
11 Don’t Misunderstand 3:15
12 A Beautiful Friendship 3:51
13 Star Eyes 2:27
14 Dindi 4:21
15 Never Let Me Go 1:57
16 T’ain’t Nobody’s Bizness If I Do 4:46
17 Only Women Bleed 4:08
18 No More Blues (Chega De Saudade) 3:58
19 The Folks Who Live On The Hill 3:51
20 Closing 1:33

Personnel:
Dizzy Gillespie – trumpet -5,6,11,12
Marshall Otwell – keyboards
Ed Bennett – bass, electric bass
Joey Baron – drums
Carmen McRae – vocals

Download:

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Carmen McRae – Carmen McRae (1954/2014) [The Classical Shop 24-96]

August 10, 2015, 8:31 am

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Carmen McRae – Carmen McRae (1954/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96kHz | Time – 00:22:13 minutes | 334 MB | Genre: Jazz
Official Digital Download – Source: theclassicalshop.net | © Bethlehem Records / Verse Music Group
Recorded: NYC, October 6, December, 1954

Carmen McRae’s debut was recorded in 1954, the same year she was awarded the title Best New Female Vocalist by DownBeat magazine. Accompanied by an all-star line up of musicians including Herbie Mann on flute and tenor saxophone, Wendell Marshall on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums, this auspicious debut set up the rest of McRae’s successful career which would see her record more than 60 albums, garner multiple Grammy nominations and appear in films and on television.

This CD reissue has Carmen McRae’s first recordings as a leader. McRae is heard on four songs apiece with the Mat Mathews quintet (a group including Herbie Mann on flute and tenor and guitarist Mundell Lowe) and clarinetist Tony Scott’s quartet. On the emotional “Misery” Tony Scott switches to piano and is the only accompanist to the singer. Five alternate takes augment this set which emphasizes ballads. Overall the music is pleasing but not too memorable and one wishes there were more variety. –AllMusic Review by Scott Yanow

Tracklist:
1 Easy To Love 2:24
2 If I’m Lucky 3:14
3 Old Devil Moon 2:36
4 Tip Toe Gently 2:38
5 You Made Me Care 2:09
6 The Last Time For Love 3:04
7 Misery 3:51
8 Too Much In Love To Care 2:17

Personnel:
Carmen McRae – vocals
Herbie Mann – flute, tenor saxophone
Mat Mathews – accordion
Mundell Lowe – guitar
Wendell Marshall

Download:

http://www.datafile.com/d/TVRFNE5qTXdNREkF9/CarmenMcRaeCarmenMcRae19549624.rar
or
http://rapidgator.net/file/7c603c3fce017cdfcbb73d8c33053ed1/CarmenMcRaeCarmenMcRae19549624.rar.html

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Carmen McRae – I Am Music (1975/2014) [HDTracks 24-192]

August 10, 2015, 8:33 am

≫ Next: Charles Mingus – East Coasting By Charles Mingus (1957/2013) [The Classical Shop 24-96]

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Carmen McRae – I Am Music (1975/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192kHz | Time – 00:43:39 minutes | 1,57 GB | Genre: Jazz
Official Digital Download – Source: HDTracks | © Blue Note Records
Recorded: Western Recorders, Hollywood, CA, April, 1975

Digitally remastered edition of this 1975 album from the Jazz legend. Carmen McRae was born in Harlem in 1920 and is considered to be one of the most influential Jazz vocalists of the 20th century. Throughout her career she recorded over 60 albums and was nominated for seven Grammy’s. I Am Music was Carmen’s first release for the legendary jazz label Blue Note in 1975 and shows off her extraordinary vocal talents in a Funky Jazz setting. The album was responsible for a significant career revival for Carmen and the beginning of a fruitful relationship with Blue Note. The album teamed Carmen with contemporary Jazz songwriters such as Bernard Ighner and Alan & Marilyn Bergman

Carmen McRae always had a nice voice (if not on the impossible level of an Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughan) but it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpretations of lyrics that made her most memorable. She studied piano early on and had her first important job singing with Benny Carter’s big band (1944), but it would be another decade before her career had really gained much momentum. McRae married and divorced Kenny Clarke in the ’40s, worked with Count Basie (briefly) and Mercer Ellington (1946-1947), and became the intermission singer and pianist at several New York clubs. In 1954 she began to record as a leader’ and by then she had absorbed the influences of Billie Holiday and bebop into her own style. McRae would record pretty steadily up to 1989 and, although her voice was higher in the ’50s and her phrasing would be even more laid-back in later years, her general style and approach did not change much through the decades. Championed in the ’50s by Ralph Gleason, McRae was fairly popular throughout her career. Among her most interesting recording projects were participating in Dave Brubeck’s the Real Ambassadors with Louis Armstrong, cutting an album of live duets with Betty Carter, being accompanied by Dave Brubeck and George Shearing, and closing her career with brilliant tributes to Thelonious Monk and Sarah Vaughan. Carmen McRae, who refused to quit smoking, was forced to retire in 1991 due to emphysema. She recorded for many labels including Bethlehem, Decca (1954-1958), Kapp, Columbia, Mainstream, Focus, Atlantic (1967-1970), Black Lion, Groove Merchant, Catalyst, Blue Note, Buddah, Concord, and Novus. –Artist Biography by Scott Yanow

Tracklist:
1. A Letter For Anna-Lee 05:01
2. The Trouble With Hello Is Goodbye 03:45
3. Faraway Forever 03:21
4. I Ain’t Here 03:28
5. You Know Who You Are 05:19
6. I Have The Feeling I’ve Been Here Before 05:56
7. Who Gave You Permission 03:14
8. Like A Lover 05:57
9. I Never Lied To You 03:19
10. I Am Music 04:19

Personnel:
Carmen McRae, vocals
Al Harshman, viola
Ed Lustgarten, cello
Emil Richards, vibraphone, percussion
Dave Grusin, electric piano, synthesizer, arranger
Dennis Budimir, guitar
John Gianelli, bass
Spider Webb, drums
Roger Kellaway, piano, arranger
Frank Collett, organ, synthesizer, piano, electric piano
John Guerin, drums
The Morgan Ames Singers, vocal group
Erno Neufeld, Jerry Vinci, violin
Byron Olson, arranger

Download:

http://www.datafile.com/d/TVRFNE5qTXdNRFUF9/CarmenMcRaeIAmMusic197519224.part1.rar
http://www.datafile.com/d/TVRFNE5qTXdNRGMF9/CarmenMcRaeIAmMusic197519224.part2.rar
http://www.datafile.com/d/TVRFNE5qTXdNRFkF9/CarmenMcRaeIAmMusic197519224.part3.rar
or
http://rapidgator.net/file/f24a383f4d9e5978e63ee91f35e2a7aa/CarmenMcRaeIAmMusic197519224.part1.rar.html
http://rapidgator.net/file/ec40a3652fc7e06f47e656a48666830e/CarmenMcRaeIAmMusic197519224.part2.rar.html
http://rapidgator.net/file/b9dc1780bbfa7348568ab17da8b21580/CarmenMcRaeIAmMusic197519224.part3.rar.html

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Charles Mingus – East Coasting By Charles Mingus (1957/2013) [The Classical Shop 24-96]

August 10, 2015, 8:36 am

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Charles Mingus – East Coasting By Charles Mingus (1957/2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96kHz | Time – 00:39:01 minutes | 458 MB | Genre: Jazz
Official Digital Download – Source: theclassicalshop.net | © Bethlehem Records / Verse Music Group
Recorded: NYC, August, 1957

Mingus originals, except for “Memories of You,” written by Blake-Rasaf, this album was originally recorded in 1957 for Bethlehem Jazz; released in the shadow of his 1962 album Tijuana Moods, East Coasting is finally enjoying the success it should have had from the beginning.

Composer and bassist, Charles Mingus, to this day, has a stature bigger than life, 36 years after his death in 1979. Known for his outbursts of overwhelming emotion, Mingus found music to be his major outlet, and it shows.

East Coasting compiles an array of compositions spanning deep melancholy to ecstatic bursts of energy and smooth, thoughtful mellow tunes. “Memories of You,” shows the incredible piano discourse of famed Bill Evans, as Knepper comes into the spotlight with a strong trombone line. Hadi’s sax does a playful run along the spectrum of notes in this solemn composition.

Bursting into triumphant playfulness, Shaw’s trumpet leads on “East Coasting,” the title track. A wild exposition of interplay among the band members. Evans flexes his keyboard muscle while Mingus backs him with a deep bass in an up-tempo hard bop fling.

“West Coast Ghost” offers a solo bit on bass before being joined by Evans on keyboard. Swinging, bopping, the trumpet sounds a bit muted, bringing a bluesy feel to this jam. Then Hadi kicks in with a sweet, sensual play along the keys on sax. A few mysterious passages lead the listener into several spectrums of emotion before kicking into the next track, “Celia,” where Shaw’s trumpet takes a melancholy lead.

As the title says, “Conversation” is a great interplay between musicians, an intimate interaction with each complimenting the other’s skill. First class all the way–just the way Mingus intended his music, classy, emotional, up close and personal.

Mingus earned his reputation as creator of complex sounds, bursting with energy and emotion. Today, his music is still revered around the world. This album is cause for celebration among Mingus fans.

Tracklist:

1 Memories Of You 4:23
2 East Coasting 5:10
3 West Coast Ghost 11:00
4 Celia 7:50
5 Conversation 5:25
6 Fifty-First Street Blues 5:45

Personnel:
Clarence Shaw – trumpet
Jimmy Knepper – trombone
Curtis Porter – tenor,alto saxophone
Bill Evans – piano
Charles Mingus – bass
Dannie Richmond – drums

Download:

http://www.datafile.com/d/TVRFNE5qTXdNRGsF9/CharesMingusEastCasting19579624.rar
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http://rapidgator.net/file/c1468bdb72ec4aa0f59bf0e8946a1c18/CharesMingusEastCasting19579624.rar.html

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Frederic Chopin – 24 Preludes, Op. 28 – Grigory Sokolov (2013) [Qobuz 24-44.1]

August 10, 2015, 7:43 pm

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Frederic Chopin – 24 Preludes, Op. 28 – Grigory Sokolov (2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44.1kHz | Time – 00:46:58 minutes | 395 MB | Genre: Classical
Official Digital Download – Source: Qobuz | © Naïve
Recorded: live at the Salle Adyar June 17, 1990

Grigory Sokolov: a living legend of the piano whose public performances and recordings are as rare as the man is secretive. He stepped away from the limelight years ago, refusing to be idolised by a society avid for imagery. Under the winged fingers of the giant you hear the vibrancy of an inner song, wordless but not illegible. June 7 1990: concert and recording of Chopin’s Preludes by Grigory Sokolov, still relatively unknown in France.
The record receives high praise from the critics.

Tracklist:
24 Préludes, Op. 28
01 – Prélude N° 1 in C major, opus 28 (Agitato) 00:00:46
02 – Prélude N° 2 in A minor, opus 28 (Lento) 00:02:44
03 – Prélude N° 3 in G major, opus 28 (Vivace) 00:01:01
04 – Prélude N° 4 in E minor, opus 28 (Largo) 00:02:20
05 – Prélude N° 5 in D major, opus 28 (Allegro molto) 00:00:36
06 – Prélude N° 6 in B minor, opus 28 (Lento Assai) 00:02:36
07 – Prélude N° 7 in A major, opus 28 (Andantino) 00:00:41
08 – Prélude N° 8 in F sharp minor, opus 28 (Molto agitato) 00:02:11
09 – Prélude N° 9 in E major, opus 28 (Largo) 00:01:30
10 – Prélude N° 10 in C sharp minor, opus 28 (Allegro molto) 00:00:39
11 – Prélude N° 11 in B major, opus 28 (Vivace) 00:00:53
12 – Prélude N° 12 in G sharp minor, opus 28 (Presto) 00:01:22
13 – Prélude N° 13 in F sharp major, opus 28 (Lento) 00:04:25
14 – Prélude N° 14 in E flat minor, opus 28 (Allegro) 00:00:39
15 – Prélude N° 15 in D flat major, opus 28 (Sostenuto) 00:07:16
16 – Prélude N° 16 in B flat minor, opus 28 (Presto con fuoco) 00:01:05
17 – Prélude N° 17 in A flat major, opus 28 (Allegretto) 00:04:11
18 – Prélude N° 18 in F minor, opus 28 (Allegro molto) 00:01:02
19 – Prélude N° 19 in E flat major, opus 28 (Vivace) 00:01:16
20 – Prélude N° 20 in C minor, opus 28 (Largo) 00:02:00
21 – Prélude N° 21 in B flat major, opus 28 (Cantabile) 00:03:03
22 – Prélude N° 22 in G minor, opus 28 (Molto agitato) 00:00:50
23 – Prélude N° 23 in F major, opus 28 (Moderato) 00:01:11
24 – Prélude N° 24 in D minor, opus 28 (Allegro appassionato) 00:02:41

Personnel:
Grigory Sokolov | piano

Download:

http://www.datafile.com/d/TVRFNE5qTXdOVFkF9/Chpin24PreudesGrigrySkv2013NAIVEStudiMaster44.1kHz24bit.rar
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http://rapidgator.net/file/6d4a2b0aaf225c87d22829925ab74eed/Chpin24PreudesGrigrySkv2013NAIVEStudiMaster44.1kHz24bit.rar.html

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Frederic Chopin – Preludes & Piano Sonata No. 2 – Jean-Philippe Collard (2013) [Qobuz 24-96]

August 10, 2015, 7:46 pm

≫ Next: CoreaHancock – An Evening With Chick Corea And Herbie Hancock (1979/2015) [HDTracks 24-192]

≪ Previous: Frederic Chopin – 24 Preludes, Op. 28 – Grigory Sokolov (2013) [Qobuz 24-44.1]

Frederic Chopin – Preludes & Piano Sonata No. 2 – Jean-Philippe Collard (2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 00:58:01 minutes | 890 MB | Genre: Classical
Official Digital Download – Source: Qobuz | @ La Dolce Volta
Recorded: 9-11 avril 2013, Paris (Paroisse protestante luthérienne « Bon-Secours »)

It has taken him decades to feel comfortable with the composer. Today he is confident in his approach to this repertory and has no qualms about his interpretative options. Chopin’s music gives him two very powerful impressions. First of all, it interprets the sensation of being in love, an aspect he finds fascinating. Moreover, his language speeds up the process of communication between artist and audience.
He sees this disc as a break, a renewal. All his previous records were released on EMI. Today he has changed labels, repertory, sound engineer … These developments enable him to escape a certain routine, to put himself on the line.
There are countless benchmark versions in this repertory, but the French pianist has not sought to measure himself against them, and his approach to the composer is honest and totally sincere. Chopin represents a genuine challenge, for which Jean-Philippe Collard has identified a style that is his alone.

Jean-Philippe Collard is a renowned interpreter of Romantic piano music, and his recordings of the works of Gabriel Fauré have been particularly praised for their brilliance and sensitivity. Somewhat surprisingly, his recordings of the music of Frédéric Chopin have been quite rare, so this 2013 release of the 24 Préludes and the Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor breaks new ground for this distinguished performer. One of Collard’s many gifts is an ability to make difficult music seem easy, and some of the more virtuosic Préludes are simply sparkling and spontaneous, without any signs of struggle or deliberate effort. Consequently, Collard cannot be expected to be overly dramatic or brooding, so the Préludes that other pianists treat with excessive pathos he tends to play with a lighter touch and a forward movement, to avoid sentimentality. Even in the famous Marche funèbre of the Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Collard maintains a steady but not overly slow tempo that makes the music more affecting for the lack of bombast, and he gives the following Presto an understated quality that is chilling. –AllMusic Review by Blair Sanderson

Tracklist:
Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849)
Préludes op. 28
1 Preludes No. 1 in C Major, Op. 28: Agitato 00:33
2 Preludes No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 28: Lento 01:42
3 Preludes No. 3 in G Major, Op. 28: Vivace 00:59
4 Preludes No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 28: Largo 01:44
5 Preludes No. 5 in D Major, Op. 28: Allegro molto 00:38
6 Preludes No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 28: Lento assai 01:46
7 Preludes No. 7 in A Major, Op. 28: Andantino 00:40
8 Preludes No. 8 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 28: Molto agitato 01:51
9 Preludes No. 9 in E Major, Op. 28: Largo 01:23
10 Preludes No. 10 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 28: Allegro molto 00:32
11 Preludes No. 11 in B Major, Op. 28: Vivace 00:36
12 Preludes No. 12 in G-Sharp Minor, Op. 28: Presto 01:14
13 Preludes No. 13 in F-Sharp Major, Op. 28: Lento 03:20
14 Preludes, Op. 28 No. 14 in E-Flat Minor: Allegretto 00:27
15 Preludes No. 15 in D-Flat Major, Op. 28: Sostenuto 05:12
16 Preludes No. 16 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 28: Presto con fuoco 01:12
17 Preludes No. 17 in A-Flat Major, Op. 28: Allegretto 02:50
18 Preludes No. 18 in F Minor, Op. 28: Allegro molto 00:52
19 Preludes No. 19 in E-Flat Major, Op. 28: Cantabile 01:22
20 Preludes No. 20 in C Minor, Op. 28: Largo 01:23
21 Preludes No. 21 in B-Flat Major, Op. 28: Cantabile 01:45
22 Preludes No. 22 in G Minor, Op. 28: Molto agitato 00:45
23 Preludes No. 23 in F Major, Op. 28: Moderato 00:58
24 Preludes No. 24 in D Minor, Op. 28: Allegro appassionato 02:38
Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 35 “Funeral March”
25 I. Grave – Doppio movimento 05:25
26 II. Scherzo 06:19
27 III. Marche funèbre (Lento) 08:23
28 IV. Finale (Presto) 01:32

Personnel:
Jean-Philippe Collard, piano

Download:

http://www.datafile.com/d/TVRFNE5qTXdOVGMF9/ChpinPrudesPianSnataN.2JeanPhiippeCard20139624.part1.rar
http://www.datafile.com/d/TVRFNE5qTXdOVGcF9/ChpinPrudesPianSnataN.2JeanPhiippeCard20139624.part2.rar
or
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http://rapidgator.net/file/0879a39a313c9ce642ee8d6bbeff4247/ChpinPrudesPianSnataN.2JeanPhiippeCard20139624.part2.rar.html

↧

CoreaHancock – An Evening With Chick Corea And Herbie Hancock (1979/2015) [HDTracks 24-192]

August 10, 2015, 7:48 pm

≫ Next: Cuarteto SolTango – Cristal (2015) [Qobuz 24-48]

≪ Previous: Frederic Chopin – Preludes & Piano Sonata No. 2 – Jean-Philippe Collard (2013) [Qobuz 24-96]

CoreaHancock – An Evening With Chick Corea And Herbie Hancock (1979/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192kHz | Time – 01:23:09 minutes | 2,91 GB | Genre: Jazz
Official Digital Download – Source: HDTracks | © Polydor Records | The Verve Music Group
Recorded live at Masonic Auditorium, San Francisco, Dorothy Chandler Pavillon, Los Angeles & Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, February, 1978.

An Evening With Chick Corea & Herbie Hancock was the first of two popular live albums recorded by Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock, the second CoreaHancock released a year after the first in 1979. The record features the two performing on acoustic pianos at three different venues across California and one in Michigan.An Evening With Chick Corea & Herbie Hancock features cover works as well as pieces written by the duo and individual works by each artist.

This live album, a summit meeting of two keyboard geniuses, was recorded in 1978 at shows in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Ann Arbor, Michigan. Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock, known at the time for their fusion work on electric piano, stick to acoustic pianos on these extended live tracks taken from both musicians’ catalogues. The album marks the last time the two pianists recorded together.

A year after the 1978 Chick Corea/Herbie Hancock duo tour was documented on a two-LP Columbia album, An Evening with Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea, Corea’s label, Polydor, issued its own two-LP collection of extracts from the Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Ann Arbor concerts. With both artists still selling lots of electric records then, it was feasible to do so — and the two double sets served as massive ripostes to those who accused the two pianists of abandoning jazz per se in favor of filthy electronic lucre. Fortunately, there was enough worthwhile, often brilliant material on the tapes for both albums, with only one duplication of repertoire. The sole repeated item, the medley of Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage” and Corea’s “La Fiesta,” differs noticeably from the version on the Columbia album. For one thing, it clocks in seven and a half minutes shorter at 27 and a half minutes. For another, “Maiden Voyage” is developed more elaborately and “La Fiesta” incorporates more touches from the avant-garde and generates a little more heat. Indeed, the Polydor album seems to have been programmed with more of a classical bent than its companion. Corea’s “Homecoming” comes off like a big, progressive 20th century classical composition, broken up in the center with humorous fury that is followed by a section for prepared piano à la John Cage. “The Hook” develops the prepared piano ideas even further, with plunkings and buzzing strings galore. And as if the point wasn’t clear by now, Corea and Hancock hammer out a pretty good rendition of the brittle ostinato movement from Bartók’s Mikrokosmos, which doesn’t sound at all out of place with the rest of the program. As on the Columbia album, side three is a solo side, this time with Corea offering his lovely, Spanish-flavored “Bouquet.” Overall, the Polydor album is more stimulating than its Columbia cousin. –AllMusic Review by Richard S. Ginell

Tracklist:
1. Homecoming 19:15
2. Ostinato 03:02
3. The Hook 13:34
4. Intro 00:41
5. Bouquet 18:45
6. Maiden Voyage 12:17
7. La Fiesta 15:35

Personnel:
Herbie Hancock, piano – left channel
Chick Corea, piano, – right channel

Download:

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Cuarteto SolTango – Cristal (2015) [Qobuz 24-48]

August 10, 2015, 7:50 pm

≫ Next: Chicago – Now: Chicago XXXVI (2014) [ChicagoMerch 24-96]

≪ Previous: CoreaHancock – An Evening With Chick Corea And Herbie Hancock (1979/2015) [HDTracks 24-192]

Cuarteto SolTango – Cristal (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48kHz | Time – 01:00:50 minutes | 649 MB | Genre: Jazz
Official Digital Download – Source: Qobuz | @ Deutschlandradio / Avi-Service for music, Cologne/Germany
Recorded: X/XI 2014, Köln, Deutschlandfunk Kammermusiksaal

Das Cuarteto SolTango verkörpert die neue Stimme authentischen Tangos mit orchestralem Klang und kammermusikalischer Verve. Vereint interpretieren die vier Musiker klassischen Tango in unterschiedlichsten Stilen bis hin zum Tango Nuevo von Astor Piazzolla und Osvaldo Pugliese in brillanten Bearbeitungen von Martin Klett. Kurz nach seiner Gründung 2008 wurde das Quartett prompt zum Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival und zum Oberstdorfer Musiksommer eingeladen und unternahm somit seine ersten Schritte auf bedeutende klassische Konzertpodien. Seitdem hat es zahlreiche internationale Festivals bespielt – zuletzt das innovative Grachtenfestival, Amsterdam.

Cuarteto SolTango epitomizes the new generation of authentic tango, combining the luscious sound of a traditional orquesta with the verve that only chamber music can offer. Together, the four musicians interpret a wide diversity of classic tango styles right up to the Tango Nuevo of Astor Piazzolla and Osvaldo Pugliese in alluring arrangements by Martin Klett.

Soon after it was founded in 2008, the quartet was invited to perform at the music festivals of Schleswig-Holstein and Oberstdorf, thereby launching their appearances in a series of outstanding classical venues. Since then, the four have played at a number of international festivals – most recently at the innovative Grachtenfestival in Amsterdam. They were part of the Blue Tango show in conjunction with the International Tango Festival Düsseldorf and the show Terra Tango at the Ghent Festival of Flanders. The four virtuosos have been acclaimed by dancers at international tango festivals in Hamburg, Oldenburg and Leipzig, including appearances with prestigious dance pairs such as Michelle & Joachim (Basel), Alejandra & Mariano (Madrid), Gastón & Moira (Buenos Aires) and Claudia & Matias (Berlin).

Tracklist:
1 Cristal Tango
Estilo Aníbal Troilo / Música: Mariano Mores (*1918) 03:26
2 Buscándote Tango
Estilo Osvaldo Fresedo / Música: Eduardo Scalise (1912-1972) 02:57
3 La cicatriz Milonga
Estilo Juan D’Arienzo / Música: Raúl Aguirrezabalaga (1911-1982) 02:14
4 Fuimos Tango
Estilo Osvaldo Pugliese / Música: José Dames (1907-1994) 03:07
5 Lloran las campanas Tango
Estilo Carlos Di Sarli / Música: Alberto Suárez Villanueva (1913-1980) 02:58
6 Olivero Tango
Estilo Osvaldo Pugliese
Música: José Martínez (1890-1939) / Antonio Buglione (1899-1978) 03:09
7 Marejadilla
Música: Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) 08:19
8 Paisaje Vals
Estilo Pedro Laurenz / Música: Sebastián Piana (1903-1994) 03:08
9 La espuela Milonga
Estilo Juan D’Arienzo / Música: Elsa Pigrau Guidini 02:45
10 Mi viejo reloj Tango
Estilo Osvaldo Fresedo / Música: Osvaldo Nicolás Fresedo (1897-1984) 02:41
11 Bélgica Tango
Estilo Rodolfo Biagi / Música: Enrique Delfino (1895-1967) 02:15
12 Poema Tango
Estilo Francisco Canaro
Música: Eduardo Bianco (1892-1959) / Mario Melfi (1905-1970) 03:30
13 Alma de bohemio Tango
Estilo Carlos García / Música: Roberto Firpo (1884- 1969) 03:01
14 Prepárense Tango
Estilo Osvaldo Fresedo / Música: Astor Piazzolla 03:16
15 Verano porteño Tango
Estilo Osvaldo Pugliese / Música: Astor Piazzolla 03:35
16 Marrón y azul Tango
Estilo Osvaldo Pugliese / Música: Astor Piazzolla 03:26
17 Homenaje a Córdoba
Música: Astor Piazzolla 07:03

Personnel:
Rocco Heins, bandoneón
Karel Bredenhorst, cello
Sophie Heinrich, violin
Martin Klett, piano

Download:

http://www.datafile.com/d/TVRFNE5qTXdOamsF9/CuartetSTangCrista20154824.rar
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http://rapidgator.net/file/34ad6e3e1cbdff9d808065e6e693515f/CuartetSTangCrista20154824.rar.html

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Chicago – Now: Chicago XXXVI (2014) [ChicagoMerch 24-96]

August 10, 2015, 7:52 pm

≫ Next: Chic – The Studio Album Collection 1977-1992 (2014) [HDTracks 24-192]

≪ Previous: Cuarteto SolTango – Cristal (2015) [Qobuz 24-48]

Chicago – Now: Chicago XXXVI (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96kHz | Time – 50:22 minutes | 1,06 GB | Genre: Rock
Official Digital Download – Source: ChicagoMerch | @ Chicago Merch

NOW (Chicago XXXVI) is the band’s first new album of original material since the release of XXX in 2006, and once again these icons offer their signature fiery, jazz-rooted brass arrangements over slick pop rock songs.

Forty-five years into the band’s career, the seemingly straightforward numerical system Chicago follow to title their albums has gotten confusing. Their 2014 offering Now: Chicago XXXVI is clearly their 36th record but it is only their 23rd studio album and, to muddle matters more, it is their first collection of brand-new original material since Chicago XXX in 2006 (the 2008 release of Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus doesn’t really count, as that was initially scheduled for release in 1994, which would’ve made it Chicago XXII or so). Hence, the decision to put “Now” in front of Chicago XXXVI instead of behind: it emphasizes that this record showcases the band in the present, not the past. That Chicago’s Now sounds tethered to the Chicago of the early ’80s is neither here nor there. At this point, Chicago exist within their own universe, something made plain by the construction of Now, where each songwriter within Chicago acted as producer on his own tracks. Far from sounding disparate, Now is united in sound and sensibility, anchored upon the splashy horn-fueled jazz-pop they pioneered in the ’70s but usually returning to the slick professional adult contemporary of the ’80s, the music they made just before and just after Peter Cetera left. A few signifiers of the 2010s are peppered throughout the record — there’s the untrammeled patriotism of “America” (“America is free/America is you and me”) and the murky protest politics of “Naked in the Garden of Allah,” which is set to a spooky synth beat straight out of Knight Rider — and there’s a digital crispness that can’t be denied but, apart from that, these songs would’ve sounded at home in 1982 or 1983. While this would seem like it might be a step backward — after all, Chicago XXX was indebted to the early ’90s — the songs here flow naturally. They’re big, smooth, cheerful, and bright, emphasizing melody over instrumental interplay, explicitly evoking the past without re-creating it and, in 2014, that is likely what most Chicago fans would want.

Tracklist:
01 – Now
02 – More Will Be Revealed
03 – America
04 – Crazy Happy
05 – Free At Last
06 – Love Lives On
07 – Somethings Coming I Know
08 – Watching All The Colors
09 – Nice Girl
10 – Naked In The Garden Of Allah
11 – Another Trippy Day

Download:

http://www.datafile.com/d/TVRFNE5qTXdNVE0F9/ChicagNw.ChicagXXXVI2014ChicagMerchFAC2496.part1.rar
http://www.datafile.com/d/TVRFNE5qTXdNVEkF9/ChicagNw.ChicagXXXVI2014ChicagMerchFAC2496.part2.rar
or
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↧

Chic – The Studio Album Collection 1977-1992 (2014) [HDTracks 24-192]

August 10, 2015, 7:55 pm

≫ Next: Dawes – All Your Favorite Bands (2015) [HDTracks 24-96]

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Chic – The Studio Album Collection: 1977-1992 (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 5:27:22 minutes | 12 GB | Genre: Disco, Soul, R&B, Funk
Official Digital Download – Source:HDTracks | @ Atlantic Records
Recorded: 1977-92

The supreme disco band, led by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards; released four Top Ten singles and collaborated with Sister Sledge and Diana Ross. This eight disc box set of disco band Chic’s studio albums spanning from 1977 to 1992. Includes albums: Chic, C’est Chic, Risqué, Real People, Take It Off, Tongue in Chic, Believer, and Chic-Ism. Dance your way through all eight discs!

There can be little argument that Chic was disco’s greatest band; and, working in a heavily producer-dominated field, they were most definitely a band. By the time Chic appeared in the late ’70s, disco was already slipping into the excess that eventually caused its downfall. Chic bucked the trend by stripping disco’s sound down to its basic elements; their funky, stylish grooves had an organic sense of interplay that was missing from many of their overproduced competitors. Chic’s sound was anchored by the scratchy, James Brown-style rhythm guitar of Nile Rodgers and the indelible, widely imitated (sometimes outright stolen) bass lines of Bernard Edwards; as producers, they used keyboard and string embellishments economically, which kept the emphasis on rhythm. Chic’s distinctive approach not only resulted in some of the finest dance singles of their time, but also helped create a template for urban funk, dance-pop, and even hip-hop in the post-disco era. Not coincidentally, Rodgers and Edwards wound up as two of the most successful producers of the ’80s.

Chic – Chic (1977/2012)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 38:54 minutes | 1,32 GB
Official Digital Download – Source:HDTracks | Front cover

When Chic’s self-titled debut album came out in 1978, many rock critics gave it very negative reviews and failed to see just how rhythmically and harmonically exciting Chic’s blend of funk, soul, and Euro-disco was. But one critic who often gave Chic favorable coverage was Don Waller, who hit the nail on the head when he exalted the band as “an uptown version of Booker T & the MG’s.” It was a most insightful analogy — Chic’s music was a lot sleeker than Booker T & the MG’s raw, instrumental Memphis soul, but like Booker T., the Niles Rodgers/Bernard Edwards team turned out some of the most infectious and influential R&B party grooves of their era. Although not quite as strong as Chic’s next two albums — C’est Chic and Risqué — would be, this highly enjoyable album put the group on the map commercially thanks to the infectious hits “Dance, Dance, Dance” and “Everybody Dance.” Some rock critics saw Chic as just another faceless disco production, but, in fact, the opposite is true — with this album, Chic fashioned a very distinctive and recognizable sound that proved to be as influential in its era as Booker T & the MGs were in theirs. The sound that Chic established with this album was one that everyone from Queen and ABC to Sister Sledge, the Sugarhill Gang, and Madonna would benefit from.

Tracklist:
01 – Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)
02 – Sao Paulo
03 – You Can Get By
04 – Everybody Dance
05 – Est-Ce Que C’est Chic
06 – Falling In Love With You
07 – Strike Up The Band

Chic – C’est Chic (1978/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 42:08 minutes | 1,61 GB
Official Digital Download – Source:HDTracks | Front cover

Released in 1978, just as disco began to peak, C’est Chic and its pair of dancefloor anthems, “Le Freak” and “I Want Your Love,” put Chic at the top of that dizzying peak. The right album at the right time, C’est Chic is essentially a rehash of Chic, the group’s so-so self-titled debut from a year earlier. That first album also boasted a pair of floor-filling anthems, “Dance Dance Dance” and “Everybody Dance,” and, like C’est Chic, it filled itself out with a mix of disco and ballads. So, essentially, C’est Chic does everything its predecessor did, except it does so masterfully: each side similarly gets its timeless floor-filler (“Le Freak,” “I Want Your Love”), quiet storm come-down (“Savoir Faire,” “At Last I Am Free”), feel-good album track (“Happy Man,” “Sometimes You Win”), and moody album capper (“Chic Cheer,” “[Funny] Bone”). Producers Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers were quite a savvy pair and knew that disco was as much a formula as anything. As evidenced here, they definitely had their fingers on the pulse of the moment, and used their perceptive touch to craft one of the few truly great disco albums. In fact, you could even argue that C’est Chic very well may be the definitive disco album. After all, countless artists scored dancefloor hits, but few could deliver an album this solid, and nearly as few could deliver one this epochal as well. C’est Chic embodies everything wonderful and excessive about disco at its pixilated peak. It’s anything but subtle with its at-the-disco dancefloor mania and after-the-disco bedroom balladry, and Edwards and Rodgers are anything but whimsical with their disco-ballad-disco album sequencing and pseudo-jet-set Euro poshness. Chic would follow C’est Chic with “Good Times,” the group’s crowning achievement, but never again would Edwards and Rodgers assemble an album as perfectly calculated as C’est Chic.

Tracklist:
01 – Chic Cheer
02 – Le Freak
03 – Savoir Faire
04 – Happy Man
05 – I Want Your Love
06 – At Last I Am Free
07 – Sometimes You Win
08 – (Funny) Bone

Chic – Risqué (1979/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 36:53 minutes | 1,3 GB
Official Digital Download – Source:HDTracks | Front cover

Chic was very much in its prime when it recorded its third album, Risqué, which contained hits that ranged from “My Feet Keep Dancing” and “My Forbidden Lover” to the influential “Good Times.” That feel-good manifesto is one of the first songs that comes to mind when one thinks of the disco era and the Jimmy Carter years, but Chic’s popularity certainly wasn’t limited to the disco crowd. The fact that “Good Times” became the foundation for both the Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” and Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” tells you a lot — it underscores the fact that Chic was influencing everyone from early rappers to art rockers. A group that many rock critics were so quick to dismiss was having an impact in many different areas. From hip-hoppers to new wavers in London and Manchester, Risqué was considered primary listening. And Risqué is impressive not only because of its up-tempo cuts, but also because of slow material that includes the lush “A Warm Summer Night” and the dramatic ballad “Will You Cry (When You Hear This Song).” Risqué is definitely among Chic’s essential albums.

Tracklist:
01 – Good Times
02 – A Warm Summer Night
03 – My Feet Keep Dancing
04 – My Forbidden Lover
05 – Can’t Stand To Love You
06 – Will You Cry (When You Hear This Song)
07 – What About Me

Chic – Real People (1980/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 37:36 minutes | 1,32 GB
Official Digital Download – Source:HDTracks | Front cover

In the early ’80s, Chic’s influence on other artists was hard to miss. Change, Fantasy, Luther Vandross, the Talking Heads, Grace Jones and Queen were among the many artists who were incorporating elements of the Chic sound. It was ironic and quite amusing to hear some members of the “Death to Disco!” brigade blaring Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” on their car stereos during the summer of 1980, for that funk-rock ditty was obviously based on “Good Times.” But Chic itself was seeing its popularity start to fade, and fans were realizing that the group had reached its creative peak in the late ’70s. Like other albums that Chic recorded in the early ’80s, Real People is competent but less than essential. Diehard fans will find that while “Rebels Are We,” “I Got Protection” and “Chip off the Old Block” are likable and catchy, they aren’t in a class with “Good Times” or “Le Freak.” This is a decent album, but it’s also the work of a group that was past its prime.

Tracklist:
01 – Open Up
02 – Real People (Single Edit)
03 – I Loved You More
04 – I Got Protection
05 – Rebels Are We (Single Edit)
06 – Chip Off The Old Block
07 – 26
08 – You Can’t Do It Alone

Chic – Take It Off (1981/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 46:06 minutes | 1,43 GB
Official Digital Download – Source:HDTracks | Front cover

In 1981, a lot of rock & rollers were claiming that the disco era was officially over. Disco, of course, never really died — a lot of the dance-pop, house music, Hi-NRG, and Latin freestyle that was recorded in the ’80s and ’90s was essentially disco — but as far as many of the radio stations and record company A&R men of 1981 were concerned, disco was dead. And that was bad news for Chic, a group closely identified with the disco era. Even though a lot of Chic’s work had as much to do with funk and soul as it did with the Euro-disco sound, Chic was unable to live down its reputation as a disco group. But Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards gave it a try with 1981’s Take It Off, an admirable, if uneven, project that finds the group downplaying the Euro-disco elements. With R&B and funk as the foundation, Chic tries to branch out by incorporating elements of pop-rock on “Your Love Is Canceled,” and jazz on “Flash Back” and “So Fine” (which shouldn’t be confused with the “So Fine” that Kashif produced for R&B singer Howard Johnson in 1982). In fact, a few of Rogers’ guitar solos give the impression that he’d been listening to a lot of Wes Montgomery. But as likable as the LP is, it didn’t contain a major hit — the single “Stage Fright” only made it to #34 on Billboard’s R&B singles chart. And for a group that had enjoyed #1 pop and R&B smashes only two and three years earlier, that was certainly disappointing.

Tracklist:
01 – Stage Fright
02 – Burn Hard
03 – So Fine
04 – Flash Back
05 – Telling Lies
06 – Your Love Is Cancelled
07 – Would You Be My Baby
08 – Take It Off
09 – Just Out Of Reach
10 – Baby Doll

Chic – Tongue In Chic (1982/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 32:07 minutes | 1,17 GB
Official Digital Download – Source:HDTracks | Front cover

None of the albums that Chic recorded from 1980 to 1983 can be called essential, and none of them are in a class with C’est Chic or Risqué. Even so, they were generally respectable, and they didn’t deserve to be ignored. When Tongue in Chic came out in 1982, the only people who were still buying Chic’s albums were its most diehard fans. Black radio no longer seemed to be interested, which is ironic because the R&B charts of the early ’80s were full of Chic-influenced groups (Change, High Fashion, Fantasy, among many others). Although Tongue in Chic isn’t among the group’s best albums and didn’t contain any radio hits, it isn’t a bad album either. “Hangin’,” “Chic (Everybody Say),” and “I Feel Your Love Comin’ On,” demonstrated that Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards were still quite capable of providing infectious R&B/funk grooves, and “City Lights” almost sounds like an example of early house music — which isn’t all that surprising when you consider that Marshall Jefferson and many other house icons were major Chic fans.

Tracklist:
01 – Hangin’
02 – I Feel Your Love Comin’ On
03 – When You Love Someone
04 – Chic (Everybody Say)
05 – Hey Fool
06 – Sharing Love
07 – City Lights

Chic – Believer (1983/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 36:35 minutes | 1,3 GB
Official Digital Download – Source:HDTracks | Front cover

If Prince and Shalamar — two artists who made their recording debuts in the late ’70s — could be relevant to the urban contemporary scene of 1983 and even cross over to pop-rock/new wave audiences, why not Chic? Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards hoped that Chic could, which is why 1983’s Believer finds the group updating its sound with generally appealing, if uneven, results. Using a lot more keyboards and drum machines and favoring a more high-tech production style, Rogers and Edwards sound like they’re trying hard to live down their reputation as a late ’70s disco act. Urban contemporary considerations are strong, and some of the songs might have reached pop-rock and new wave audiences with the right promotion. The infectious “Party Everybody” contains more rapping than singing, and acknowledges hip-hop’s popularity, which is appropriate considering how often hip-hoppers have sampled Chic over the years. And even though Believer falls short of being a gem, you have to admire Chic’s ability to update its approach while continuing to sound incredibly distinctive. But the LP didn’t contain any hit singles, and Believer would be Chic’s last album for Atlantic. Chic broke up in 1985, although they reunited for 1992’s uneven Chic-ism and 1996’s superb Live at the Budokhan (neither of which were big sellers). The ironic thing is that while Rodgers and Edwards were very much in demand as producers during the ’80s (when Rodgers produced such superstars as Duran Duran, Madonna, David Bowie, and the B-52s, and Edwards worked with the Power Station, Rod Stewart, Robert Palmer, and Jody Watley, among others), Chic itself never returned to the top of the charts.

Tracklist:
01 – Believer
02 – You Are Beautiful
03 – Take A Closer Look
04 – Give Me The Lovin’
05 – Show Me Your Light
06 – You Got Some Love For Me
07 – In Love With Music
08 – Party Everybody

Chic – Chic-ism (1992/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 63:04 minutes | 2,55 GB
Official Digital Download – Source:HDTracks | Front cover

“Doin’ That Thing to Me” contains a reference to the mythological wizard Merlin in its lyrics. By some strange twist of nature, mythology was certainly at work when those reviewing Chic-Ism on its release in 1992 dismissed it purely because Chic were old hats. In actuality, the worst thing about it is the cover. Chic-Ism certainly isn’t likely to make album of the century listings, but as Chic albums go, it’s fine if a tad ’80s, which is to be expected as it was recorded only two years into the ’90s. What were critics expecting of Chic — synthesizers à la Kraftwerk? Kicking in with the infectious “Chic Mystique,” a little too long at six and a half minutes, it’s pretty much business as usual. This leads into “Your Love” and “Jusagroove,” both keeping pace before slowing down for “One and Only One.” “In It to Win It” is a perfect update of their New York disco-funk style, a recipe that bands like the Brand New Heavies emulated in later years. The last stretch of the album includes “High,” a beauty that is close enough a slowed down “Good Times.” “MMFTCF (Make My Funk the Chic Funk)” and a better edited reprise of “Mystique” conclude.

Tracklist:
01 – Chic Mystique
02 – Your Love
03 – Jusagroove
04 – Something You Can Feel
05 – One And Only One
06 – Doin’ That Thing To Me
07 – Chicism
08 – In It To Win It
09 – My Love’s For Real
10 – Take My Love
11 – High
12 – M.M.F.T.C.F.
13 – Chic Mystique (Reprise)

Download:

↧

Dawes – All Your Favorite Bands (2015) [HDTracks 24-96]

August 12, 2015, 7:38 am

≫ Next: Death Cab for Cutie – Kintsugi (2015) [HDTracks 24-96]

≪ Previous: Chic – The Studio Album Collection 1977-1992 (2014) [HDTracks 24-192]

Dawes – All Your Favorite Bands (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96kHz | Time – 00:47:56 minutes | 0,99 GB | Genre: Rock
Official Digital Download – Source: HDTracks | © HUB Records
Recorded: 2015 at Woodland Sound Studios, Nashville TN

At the start of Dawes’ fourth studio effort, 2015’s All Your Favorite Bands, lead singer Taylor Goldsmith kicks off the sanguine opener “Things Happen” by admitting “I could go on talking, or I could stop/Wring out each memory til I get every drop.” This sentiment, ripe with a post-breakup emotional stew of yearning, anger, and eventual acceptance, colors all the tracks on this tight, impeccably crafted album. Influenced by the passionate ’70s country-rock and singer/songwriter sound of artists like Jackson Browne and groups like the Band, Los Angeles’ Dawes have quietly built a loyal following with their own brand of memorable and often poignant folk-rock. Produced by journeyman composer and guitarist David Rawlings (Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, the Decemberists) at Nashville’s Woodland Studios, All Your Favorite Bands has a warm, organic texture that’s at once raw and immediate, sophisticated and polished. It’s perhaps the closest Dawes has come to capturing their live sound. Each song is performed with an intimate, personal intensity, making it feel like they’re playing it only for you. Cuts like the urgent, minor-key “I Can’t Think About It Now,” with its gospel-style female backing vocals, and the heartbreakingly honest “Waiting for Your Call” are rootsy anthems that combine Goldsmith’s poetic, literate lyrics, crisp vocal harmonies, and evocative, Dire Straits-influenced guitars with the hushed ripple of a Hammond organ. These songs, while efficiently constructed, have plenty of breathing room — there are actual guitar solos here, and jazz-like drum accents. Of course, a big part of what makes Dawes’ songs so palpable is Goldsmith’s knack for highlighting those often mundane details in life that initially seem insignificant, but take on greater meaning in hindsight. On the title track he sings “When I think of you, you’ve still got on that hat that says ‘Let’s Party’/I hope that thing is never thrown away,” and later, “I hope your brother’s El Camino runs forever.” Although most likely directed at a former flame, with the song’s insistent, piano-driven vibe it sometimes feels more like a message of goodwill toward the band’s own fans. Similarly, on the ruminative breakup number “Don’t Send Me Away,” Goldsmith transforms his car into a mausoleum of regret with the line “I’m getting on the freeway/Your jacket’s in my car/Your ashes in my ashtray/And I’m there with you, wherever you are.” It’s this gift for capturing intangible longing that drives much of All Your Favorite Bands. Goldsmith perhaps expresses this the best on the tragic ballad “To Be Completely Honest.” He sings “I think I know how it ends/The universe continues expanding while we discuss particulars of just being friends/And maybe that makes everything okay/Your memory the defect at the heart of every promise.” Ultimately, All Your Favorite Bands is a comforting album, leaving you with the notion that whatever happens in your life, good, bad, or indifferent, all things take on a beautiful if bittersweet meaning when viewed through the rear-view mirror. –Matt Collar

Tracklist:
1. Things Happen 04:03
2. Somewhere Along The Way 05:39
3. Don’t Send Me Away 04:55
4. All Your Favorite Bands 03:35
5. I Can’t Think About It Now 06:16
6. To Be Completely Honest 04:44
7. Waiting For Your Call 04:09
8. Right On Time 04:49
9. Now That It’s Too Late, Maria 09:46

Personnel:
Taylor Goldsmith, lead vocals, guitar
Griffin Goldsmith, drums, background vocals
Wylie Gelber, bass
Tay Strathairn, keyboards, background vocals
Additional musicians:
Gillian Welch, guitar
The McCrary Sisters, vocals
David Rawlings, guitar, vocals
Richard Bennett, acoustic guitar
Paul Franklin, pedal steel

Download:

http://www.datafile.com/d/TVRFNE9UZzFOREEF9/DawsAllYurFavrtBands20159624.part1.rar
http://www.datafile.com/d/TVRFNE9UZzFOREUF9/DawsAllYurFavrtBands20159624.part2.rar
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Death Cab for Cutie – Kintsugi (2015) [HDTracks 24-96]

August 12, 2015, 7:41 am

≫ Next: Claude Debussy – Preludes, Livres I & II – Philippe Bianconi (2012) [Qobuz 24-96]

≪ Previous: Dawes – All Your Favorite Bands (2015) [HDTracks 24-96]

Death Cab for Cutie – Kintsugi (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96kHz | Time – 00:45:11 minutes | 999 MB | Genre: Rock
Official Digital Download – Source: HDTracks | @ Atlantic Records/Barsuk Records
Recorded: Eldorado Recording Studios

KINTSUGI, which follows 2011s GRAMMY Award-nominated CODES AND KEYS marks Death Cab for Cutie s first new album since the departure last year of founding guitarist/keyboardist/producer Chris Walla. Recorded in Los Angeles with Rich Costey (Franz Ferdinand, Muse, Interpol) behind the board, the album takes its title from the Japanese art of repairing broken ceramics with precious metals like gold, silver, and platinum, highlighting cracks rather than hiding them. As such, kintsugi represents a compassionate aesthetic philosophy in which damage and wear are embraced as part of an objects history.

Death Cab for Cutie’s eighth full-length album, 2015’s Kintsugi, finds the group sliding further into the studio smoothness that marked 2011’s Codes and Keys. Produced by Rich Costey — best-known for his work with Kimbra, Mew, Muse, Interpol, and Chvrches — Kintsugi is also the last album Death Cab recorded with co-founding member Chris Walla, who announced he was leaving the band during the recording process. Sentiment has always been lead singer/songwriter Ben Gibbard’s calling card, but as he starts to stare down the corridor to 40, he seems comfortable with leaving that open heart unadorned — or, better still, gussied up in a coat of studio shellac. Although there are fragile solo numbers dotted throughout the album, most of Kintsugi shimmers upon a gloss constructed out of new wave remnants and faded memories of yacht rock. Conceivably, Gibbard’s intent hews toward the latter — such clean disco-rock diversions as “Good Help (Is So Hard to Find)” and the galloping collegiate rock echoes of “El Dorado” show a yen for art — but his open heart nudges Kintsugi toward new millennial soft rock. This is a feature, not a bug. Gibbard has a gentle touch so having cushy, sugary melodies mirrored by a production equally as supple feels like a marriage of intent and sound.

Tracklist:
01 – No Room in Frame
02 – Black Sun
03 – The Ghosts of Beverly Drive
04 – Little Wanderer
05 – You’ve Haunted Me All My Life
06 – Hold No Guns
07 – Everything’s a Ceiling
08 – Good Help (Is So Hard to Find)
09 – El Dorado
10 – Ingenue
11 – Binary Sea

Download:

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Claude Debussy – Preludes, Livres I & II – Philippe Bianconi (2012) [Qobuz 24-96]

August 12, 2015, 7:43 am

≫ Next: Debussy, Bartok & Prokofiev – Etudes – Garrick Ohlsson (2015) [hyperion-records 24-96]

≪ Previous: Death Cab for Cutie – Kintsugi (2015) [HDTracks 24-96]

Claude Debussy – Preludes, Livres I & II – Philippe Bianconi (2012)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:17:10 minutes | 1.06 GB | Genre: Classical
Official Digital Download – Source: Qobuz | @ La Dolce Volta
Recorded: Paris on February 2012 (Église de la rue Titon)

Philippe Bianconi has achieved recognition as one of France’s most accomplished instrumentalists despite his reluctance to embrace the capital. The interpretion of French music has always been of great importance in his repertoire.
“Debussy has always been part of my life” says the pianist about the composer so close to his heart.
Discophiles have been impatiently awaiting his recording of the towering Préludes, but Philippe Bianconi has taken his time before entering the studio to capture what he calls “the quintessence of Debussy’s art”. Beneath his fingertips, which conjugate a profound attention to detail with an irresistible poetic imagination, the art of Claude de France reveals all its riches and its startling modernity.
The enchanting sonorities and the density of Philippe Bianconi’s interpretation make his new CD a major addition to the list of great versions of the Préludes, enhanced by the exceptional sound quality of the recording itself, to which the pianist has devoted particular attention.

Tracklist:
Achille-Claude Debussy (1862 – 1918)
Préludes (24, complete)
Livre I (1909 – 1910)
1 I. Danseuses de Delphes 02:46
2 II. Voiles 03:32
3 III. Le vent dans la plaine 02:05
4 IV. Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l’air du soir 03:31
5 V. Les collines d’Anacapri 03:05
6 VI. Des pas sur la neige 03:45
7 VII. Ce qu’a vu le vent d’Ouest 03:23
8 VIII. La fille aux cheveux de lin 02:18
9 IX. La sérénade interrompue 02:37
10 X. La cathédrale engloutie 06:00
11 XI. La danse de Puck 02:53
12 XII. Minstrels 02:23
Livre II (1910 – 1912)
13 I. Brouillards 02:42
14 II. Feuilles mortes 02:52
15 III. La Puerta del Vino 03:15
16 IV. Les fées sont d’exquises danseuses 02:56
17 V. Bruyères 02:34
18 VI. Général Lavine – eccentric 02:35
19 VII. La terrasse des audiences au clair de lune 04:17
20 VIII. Ondine 03:01
21 IX. Hommage à S. Pickwick Esq PPMPC 02:25
22 X. Canope 02:31
23 XI. Les tiers alternées 02:36
24 XII. Feux d’artifice 04:23
25 Anic Epigraphs: Pour l’égyptienne 02:45

Personnel:
Philippe Bianconi, piano

Download:

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Debussy, Bartok & Prokofiev – Etudes – Garrick Ohlsson (2015) [hyperion-records 24-96]

August 12, 2015, 7:45 am

≫ Next: Denes Varjon – Precipitando: Alban Berg, Leos Janacek, Franz Liszt (2012) [Qobuz 24-44.1]

≪ Previous: Claude Debussy – Preludes, Livres I & II – Philippe Bianconi (2012) [Qobuz 24-96]

Debussy, Bartok & Prokofiev – Etudes – Garrick Ohlsson (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96kHz | Time – 01:06:35 minutes | 997 MB | Genre: Classical
Official Digital Download – Source: hyperion-records | @ Hyperion Records
Recorded: December 2013, Henry Wood Hall, London, United Kingdom

Études are primarily intended as exercises to train musicians in specific techniques, but since the Romantic era they have become associated with other miniature forms, such as the prelude and the intermezzo, and frequently regarded as evocative character pieces or tonal pictures. Garrick Ohlsson’s album of piano études by Claude Debussy, Sergey Prokofiev, and Béla Bartók offers a brief survey of the genre in modern practice, and demonstrates the blending of pedagogy and poetry in these works. Ohlsson has become internationally known as an exquisite interpreter of the music of Frédéric Chopin, and much of the subtlety and atmosphere found in his previous recordings is present here. Ohlsson’s finesse and humor are perhaps most evident in Debussy’s Études, L. 143, which have a lighter character than Prokofiev’s Études, Op. 2, which tend toward the sardonic side, and Bartók’s Études, Op. 18, which are intensely virtuosic and mysterious. Hyperion’s recording captures the nuances of Ohlsson’s playing, and the piano is close enough to hear every detail, while the acoustics lend it a pleasant natural aura. — AllMusic Review by Blair Sanderson

Tracklist:
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Études L143
1 Pour les ‘cinq doigts’ (d’après Monsieur Czerny)[3’16]2 Pour les tierces[3’42]3 Pour les quartes[4’46]4 Pour les sixtes[4’14]5 Pour les octaves[2’49]6 Pour les huit doigts[1’57]7 Pour les degrés chromatiques[2’18]8 Pour les agréments[5’27]9 Pour les notes répétées[3’16]10 Pour les sonorités opposées[4’47]11 Pour les arpèges composés[4’12]12 Pour les accords[5’59]Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Études Op 2
13 No 1 in D minor: Allegro[2’52]14 No 2 in E minor: Moderato[3’00]15 No 3 in C minor: Andante simplice[4’01]16 No 4 in C minor: Presto energico[2’10]Béla Bartók (1881-1945)
Études Sz72 Op 18
17 Allegro molto[2’17]18 Andante sostenuto[3’10]19 Rubato[2’22]

Download:

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↧

Denes Varjon – Precipitando: Alban Berg, Leos Janacek, Franz Liszt (2012) [Qobuz 24-44.1]

August 12, 2015, 7:48 am

≫ Next: Diana Damrau – Fiamma del belcanto (2015) [HRA 24-96]

≪ Previous: Debussy, Bartok & Prokofiev – Etudes – Garrick Ohlsson (2015) [hyperion-records 24-96]

Denes Varjon – Precipitando: Alban Berg, Leos Janacek, Franz Liszt (2012)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/44.1 kHz | Time – 00:57:42 minutes | 318 MB | Genre: Classical
Official Digital Download – Source: Qobuz | @ ECM Records GmbH
Recorded: April 2011, Auditorio Radiotelevisione svizzera, Lugano

After important contributions to Heinz Holliger’s “Romancendres” and acclaimed performance, with Carolin Widmann, of Schumann’s Violin Sonatas, here is the first New Series solo recording from Hungarian pianist Dénes Várjon. It is a recital that draws the listener in from the first moments – beginning with the dark, brooding language of Alban’s Berg’s Piano Sonata Op. 1, shaped in the shadow of Schoenberg, and continuing into the nebulous regions of Janáček’s impressionistic and near-contemporaneous “In the mists”, finally emerging into the clear light of Liszt’s immense – and immensely-influential – B-minor Sonata.

“Precipitando,” precipitating, is an excellent title for this recital, which is dramatically better as a whole than as the sum of its parts. Each work, in the vision of pianist Dénes Várjon, is the precipitate, or perhaps the crystallization, of an experimental tradition that began with Liszt and continued in various forms through the Second Viennese School and the French Impressionists, whom Várjon considers manifestations of related rather than opposed impulses. Várjon’s most novel take here is his way of looking at Liszt as a proto-modern, getting away from the rock-star image bequeathed by, among others, filmmaker Ken Russell. Instead, as Paul Griffiths puts it in his fine notes, Liszt was the “forerunner” of Strauss and Schoenberg “in matters for form because he was so in matters of harmony, a continuous, constantly evolving structure answering the needs of a harmonic style in which keys and key relationships can no longer be taken for granted.” That description might apply to all three of the pieces on the album: the densely motivic and harmonically challenging Piano Sonata, Op. 1, of Berg, and even Janácek’s In the mists, which pushes Debussy’s Impressionism to the breaking point harmonically. You could find better recordings of any of these pieces individually; the Liszt Piano Sonata in B minor may seem perfunctory for some listeners. Yet hearing the three works together in this way becomes a source of revelations, many of them concerning the fact that harmonic experimentation was never an end in itself for composers in the second half of the 19th century. An intelligent triumph of programming, and engineering as well. –AllMusic Review by James Manheim

Tracklist:
Alban Berg (1885-1935)
1. Sonata Op. 1 11:03
Leoš Janáček (1854-1928)
2. V Mlhách (In the Mists) (1912): I Andante 03:28
3. V Mlhách (In the Mists) (1912): II Molto Adagio 05:08
4. V Mlhách (In the Mists) (1912): III Andantino 02:56
5. V Mlhách (In the Mists) (1912): IV Presto 04:13
Franz Liszt (1811–1886)
6. Sonata in B Minor (1853) 31:10

Personnel:
Dénes Várjon: piano

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Diana Damrau – Fiamma del belcanto (2015) [HRA 24-96]

August 12, 2015, 7:50 am

≫ Next: Earth, Wind & Fire – All ‘N All (1977) [Qobuz 24-96]

≪ Previous: Denes Varjon – Precipitando: Alban Berg, Leos Janacek, Franz Liszt (2012) [Qobuz 24-44.1]

Diana Damrau – Fiamma del belcanto (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96kHz | Time – 01:18:49 minutes | 1,48 GB | Genre: Classical
Official Digital Download – Source: highresaudio.com | © Warner Classics
Recorded: Teatro Regio Torino, 8-13 September, 2014

In her first recital album devoted entirely to Italian opera, soprano Diana Damrau takes the golden age of bel canto, the early 19th century, as the starting point for an exploration of theatrical and musical passion that leads to the high-octane verismo drama of the 1890s. “Italian opera is an art form that deals with real feelings,” she says of the arias she has chosen by Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini and Leoncavallo, lit up by her coloratura pyrotechnics and dramatic prowess.

In this recital of 19th century Italian arias Damrau proves that precision, refinement and controlled intensity of expression – the guiding principles of bel canto (literally, beautiful singing) – apply not only to Bellini and Donizetti, but also in the more explicit passions of their successors, Verdi, Puccini and Leoncavallo. Performing with the Orchestra of the Teatro Regio Torino under Maestro Gianandrea Noseda, and featuring as guests artists Nicolas Testé (Diana Damrau’s husband), Nicole Brandolino and Piotr Beczała, this album sits between two releases of complete recordings of works at the centre of the bel canto canon – Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor (November 2014) and Verdi’s La Traviata (Autumn 2015). This album is sure to further affirm her place as the important dramatic coloratura soprano of her generation.

Tracklist:
Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)
Rosmonda d’Inghilterra (1834)
1. Ancor non giunse (Rosmonda) 02:39
2. Perché non ho del vento (Rosmonda) 02:50
3. Torna, torna, o caro oggetto (Rosmonda) 03:19
Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835)
I puritani (1835)
4. O rendetemi la speme (Elvira) 01:38
5. Qui la voce sua soave (Elvira) 02:59
6. Vien, diletto (Elvira) 04:60
Gaetano Donizetti
Maria Stuarda, Act 2 (1835)
7. Allenta il piè, Regina (Maria, Anna) 03:28
8. O nube! che lieve per l’aria (Maria, Anna) 04:07
9. Nella pace del mesto riposo (Maria, Anna) 03:07
Vincenzo Bellini
La sonnambula, Act 2 (1831)
10. Oh!… se una volta sola (Amina) 05:13
11. Ah! non credea mirarti (Amina) 04:06
12. Ah! non giunge uman pensiero (Amina) 03:20
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
I masnadieri, Act 1 (1847)
13. Venerabile, o padre (Amalia) 02:04
14. Lo sguardo avea degli angeli (Amalia) 03:43
Giuseppe Verdi
La traviata, Act 1 (1853)
15. È strano!… È strano! (Violetta) 01:12
16. Ah, fors’è lui (Violetta) 05:21
17. Follie! Follie! (Violetta) 01:04
18. Sempre libera (Violetta, Alfredo) 03:49
Luisa Miller (1849)
19. Il padre tuo (Luisa, Wurm) 03:23
20. Tu puniscimi, o Signore (Luisa) 02:42
21. Qui nulla s’attenta (Luisa, Wurm) 01:55
22. A brani, a brani, o perfido (Luisa, Wurm) 03:32
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
La Bohème, Act 3 (1858-1924)
23. D’onde lieta usci (Mimi) 03:16
Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857-1919)
Pagliacci: Act 1 (1892)
24. Qual fiamma avea nel guardo! (Nedda) 05:01

Personnel:
Diana Damrau, soprano
Orchestra Teatro Regio Torino
Gianandrea Noseda, conductor
Nicole Brandolino, mezzo-soprano
Piotr Beczała, tenor
Nicolas Testé, bass

Download:

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Earth, Wind & Fire – All ‘N All (1977) [Qobuz 24-96]

August 12, 2015, 7:15 pm

≫ Next: Earth, Wind & Fire – Head To The Sky (1973) [Qobuz 24-96]

≪ Previous: Diana Damrau – Fiamma del belcanto (2015) [HRA 24-96]

Earth, Wind & Fire – All ‘N All (1977)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96kHz | Time – 00:38:58 minutes | 912 MB | Genre: R&B, Soul, Funk
Official Digital Download – Source: Qobuz | © Columbia Records
Recorded: August 1977 at Hollywood Sound and The Burbank Studios, California

All ‘N All is the eighth studio album by the American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in 1977 on Columbia Records. It is one of the group’s most well known albums and has been certified triple platinum in the United States for sales of three million copies by the RIAA, gold in Canada by Music Canada and silver in the UK by the British Phonographic Industry.

All ‘N All reached number three on the Pop Album chart and stayed at number one on the Black Album chart for nine weeks. All ‘N All was also the bestselling R&B album of 1978. The album features hit songs such as “I’ll Write A Song For You”, “Serpentine Fire”, “Love’s Holiday”, and the pop hit “Fantasy”.
Earth, Wind & Fire’s artistic and commercial winning streak continued with its ninth album, All ‘N All, the diverse jewel that spawned major hits like “Serpentine Fire” and the dreamy “Fantasy.” Whether the visionary soul men are tearing into the hardest of funk on “Jupiter” or the most sentimental of ballads on “I’ll Write a Song for You” (which boasts one of Philip Bailey’s many soaring, five-star performances), All ‘N All was a highly rewarding addition to EWF’s catalog. Because EWF had such a clean-cut image and fared so well among pop audiences, some may have forgotten just how sweaty its funk could be. But “Jupiter” — like “Mighty, Mighty,” “Shining Star,” and “Getaway” — underscores the fact that EWF delivered some of the most intense and gutsy funk of the 1970s. –AllMusic Review by Alex Henderson

Tracklist:
1 Serpentine Fire 3:51
2 Fantasy 4:38
3 In The Market Place (Interlude) 0:43
4 Jupiter 3:55
5 Love’s Holiday 5:43
6 Brazilian Rhyme (Interlude) 1:20
7 I’ll Write A Song For You 5:23
8 Magic Mind 3:39
9 Runnin’ 6:45
10 Brazilian Rhyme (Interlude) 1:20
11 Be Ever Wonderful 5:08

Personnel:
Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone – Donald Myrick
Arranged By [Horns, Strings] – Tom Tom 84
Drums – Fred White, Ralph Johnson
Guitar – Al McKay, Johnny Graham
Piano, Synthesizer [Oberheim, Moog] – Larry Dunn
Tenor Saxophone – Andrew Woolfolk
Trombone – Louis Satterfield
Trumpet – Michael Harris
Vocals, Bass – Verdine White
Vocals, Congas, Percussion – Philip Bailey
Vocals, Drums, Kalimba, Producer – Maurice White

Download:

http://www.datafile.com/d/TVRFNE9UZzBOalkF9/arthWndFrAllNAll19779624.part1.rar
http://www.datafile.com/d/TVRFNE9UZzBOalUF9/arthWndFrAllNAll19779624.part2.rar
or
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Earth, Wind & Fire – Head To The Sky (1973) [Qobuz 24-96]

August 12, 2015, 7:18 pm

≫ Next: Earth, Wind & Fire – Open Our Eyes (1974) [Qobuz 24-96]

≪ Previous: Earth, Wind & Fire – All ‘N All (1977) [Qobuz 24-96]

Earth, Wind & Fire – Head To The Sky (1973)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96kHz | Time – 00:36:35 minutes | 832 MB | Genre: R&B, Soul, Funk
Official Digital Download – Source: Qobuz | © Columbia Records
Recorded: 1973, Clover Recorders, Hollywood. Mastered at A&M Studios.

Head to the Sky is the 4th studio album by Earth, Wind & Fire, released in 1973. Their second album on Columbia Records, Head to the Sky was EWF’s first commercially successful album and it has been certified platinum in the United States for sales of over a million copies by the RIAA.

As phenomenally popular as Earth, Wind & Fire was from the mid-’70s to the early ’80s, it’s easy to forget that the band was hardly an overnight success. With Head to the Sky — EWF’s fourth album overall, second with Philip Bailey, and second for Columbia — Maurice White’s very spiritual and ambitious brand of soul and funk was starting to pay off commercially. The Latin-influenced “Evil” became the soulsters’ biggest hit up to that point, and material ranging from the hauntingly pretty title song (which boasts one of Bailey’s finest performances ever) to the jazz fusion gem “Zanzibar” is just as rewarding. The lineup White unveiled with Last Days and Time was working out beautifully; Bailey was clearly proving to be a major asset. Also worth noting is the presence of singer Jessica Cleaves, who left after this album and, several years later, resurfaced in George Clinton’s eccentric female group the Brides of Funkenstein. EWF still had what was basically a cult following, but that was beginning to change with Head to the Sky. And when EWF took off commercially in 1974 and 1975, many new converts went back and saw for themselves just how excellent an album Head to the Sky was. –AllMusic Review by Alex Henderson

Tracklist:
1 Evil 4:57
2 Keep Your Head To The Sky 5:08
3 Build Your Nest 3:16
4 The World’s A Masquerade 4:47
5 Clover 5:21
6 Zanzibar 13:00

Personnel:
Arranged By – Earth, Wind & Fire
Clarinet, Piano, Organ – Larry Dunn
Drums, Percussion – Ralph Johnson
Guitar, Percussion – Johnny Graham
Guitar, Sitar, Percussion – Al McKay
Saxophone [Soprano], Flute – Andrew Woolfolks
Vocals – Jessica Cleaves
Vocals, Bass, Percussion – Verdine White
Vocals, Congas, Percussion – Phillip Bailey
Vocals, Drums, Kalimba – Maurice White

Download:

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http://www.datafile.com/d/TVRFNE9UZzBOekUF9/arthWndFrHadTThSky19739624.part2.rar
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Earth, Wind & Fire – Open Our Eyes (1974) [Qobuz 24-96]

August 12, 2015, 7:20 pm

≫ Next: Earth, Wind & Fire – That’s The Way Of The World (1975) [Qobuz 24-96]

≪ Previous: Earth, Wind & Fire – Head To The Sky (1973) [Qobuz 24-96]

Earth, Wind & Fire – Open Our Eyes (1974)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96kHz | Time – 00:39:50 minutes | 848 MB | Genre: R&B, Soul, Funk
Official Digital Download – Source: Qobuz | © Columbia Records
Recorded: August 1973, Caribou Ranch, Nederland, Colorado, U.S.

Open Our Eyes is the fifth studio album by Earth, Wind & Fire, released in 1974 on Columbia Records. The album went to number one on the R&B Charts and number 15 on the Pop Charts. Open Our Eyes contained the Billboard charting singles, “Mighty Mighty” (R&B #4, Pop #29), “Devotion” (R&B #23, Pop #33) and “Kalimba Story” (R&B #6, Pop #55). The album was made available in a digitally remastered version in 2001, which includes 4 previously unreleased bonus tracks. Open Our Eyes has been certified platinum in the US by the RIAA.

Finally, after almost half a decade of serious dues-paying, Earth, Wind & Fire took off commercially with its fifth album, Open Our Eyes. EWF had been delivering great albums since 1971, but it wasn’t until 1974 that the public proved genuinely receptive to Maurice White’s mystical and unorthodox take on soul and funk. No longer would EWF enjoy only a small cult following. Thanks to treasures like “Kalimba Song,” the gritty funk smoker “Mighty Mighty,” and the unforgettable “Devotion,” Open Our Eyes became EWF’s first gold album and went to the top of the R&B charts. It’s also interesting to note that with this album, singer Jessica Cleaves was gone, resulting in the first time EWF had an all-male lineup. The 2001 CD reissue adds four previously unreleased bonus tracks, one of them a “Walkin’ in N’awlins” mix of “Fair But So Uncool,” though the other three songs did not appear on the original album in an alternate form. –AllMusic Review by Alex Henderson

Tracklist:
1 Mighty Mighty 3:01
2 Devotion 4:49
3 Fair But So Uncool 3:37
4 Feelin’ Blue 4:28
5 Kalimba Story 4:01
6 Drum Song 5:08
7 Tee Nine Chee Bit 3:45
8 Spasmodic Movements 1:41
9 Rabbit Seed 0:32
10 Caribou 3:23
11 Open Our Eyes 4:54

Personnel:
Drums, Percussion – Ralph Johnson
Guitar, Percussion – Johnny Graham
Piano, Organ, Synthesizer [Moog] – Larry Dunn
Soprano Saxophone, Flute – Andrew Woolfolk
Vocals, Bass, Percussion – Verdine White
Vocals, Congas, Percussion – Philip Bailey
Vocals, Drums, Kalimba – Maurice White
Vocals, Guitar, Percussion – Al McKay

Download:

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or
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