MILES DAVIS: Live In Toyko 1975 (2CD)

• Brilliant performance live in Tokyo • Includes the entire broadcast • Digitally remastered • Background liners On his tour of Japan in early 1975, Miles Davis presented some of the most searing, electric fusion ever heard in concert. The performances on this 2CD set,  FM broadcast, hail from a January 22 gig at Shinjuku […]

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MILES DAVIS: Sun Palace, Fukuoka, Japan October ‘81 (CD)

Explosive performance at the Sun Palace, Fukuoka, Japan on October 11th 1981 Includes the entire broadcast Digitally remastered for greatly enhanced sound quality Background liners Following a six-year absence from music while he rebuilt his health, Miles Davis erupted back onto the live scene in 1981 with a new, young band comprising Bill Evans (sax, […]

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WAX CYLINDER RECORDINGS: Just how hard was recording on a wax cylinder?

Suzy Klein finds out – by making a record just as Elgar had done it I’ve loved exploring the last 100 years of music-making in Britain as we’ve recorded Our Classical Century. For this project we wanted to tell a story through our encounters with classical – both public and private – which brought into […]

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DAVID LYTTLE: Facing All The Music

Ian Patterson (all about jazz) writes ….. In times when independent musicians have to function as one-person business enterprises most musicians show more than one face. David Lyttle, drummer par excellence from Waringstown, Northern Ireland, wears more faces than most. Musician, songwriter, record label owner, producer, interviewer and talent scout—Lyttle has built a solid reputation […]

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JAZZ: Kool Jazz Festival NYC 1982 (CD)

We are told: • Excellent performance live from the Kool Jazz Festival, New York • Includes the entire NPR Broadcast • Digitally remastered for greatly enhanced sound quality • Background liners Jaco Pastorius, live at the Kool Jazz Festival, New York on 27th June 1982. Jaco Pastorius established himself as one of the greatest electric jazz bassists before forming […]

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JAZZ: Verve Records helped spread jazz around the world

Verve Records was formed in 1955 by Norman Granz and their studio albums and live recordings by Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Billie Holiday helped bring jazz to a world audience. Richard Havers writes “Jazz stirs the possibilities for creativity in the moment. Jazz is about the human character; jazz is about feeling, […]

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CHARLES MINGUS: The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady (Vinyl LP)

Bassist / composer Charles Mingus is one of the most radical figures in American music. Throughout the ’50s, he worked as a sideman with legendary players Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and more. In the ’60s, he gained recognition as a bandleader, often followed by controversy for making strong-minded statements in the press about race, politics […]

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HERBIE HANCOCK: The Broadcast Collection 1973 – 1983 (8CD Clamshell Box)

    We are told: The entire original WBCN, KJSO, WXRT, WBUR and NHK FM Radio and PBS-TV Broadcasts Covering live performances from Boston (1973), Omaha (1975), Chicago (1977 & 81), Berkeley (1978), Tokyo (1981 & 83) Professionally re-mastered with background liners and rare archival photos. No Export This eight disc box set, brings together […]

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DONNA LEWIS: Brand New Day – a Ben Scholz interview

Ben Scholz writes ….. Pop culture’s love-hate relationship with its artists presents an interesting conundrum. Music created for mass-consumption must be easily digestible, yet the public is quick to retaliate against content that lacks substance. Gifted musicians are often pigeonholed into a certain style or sound that may not reflect their true range. This myopic […]

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CUBAN JAZZ: Havana and Beyond

“Fans of Cuban jazz may think first of pianist, composer and producer Chucho Valdés, who presides over the Havana Jazz Festival and the steady flow of North American jazz artists to the island. Those who’ve traveled to woodshed, network and sometimes record in Cuba include Jane Bunnett, George Benson, Terence Blanchard, Steve Coleman, Roy Hargrove, […]

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JAZZ: Remembering Clifford Brown

Victor L. Schermer writes …… Benny Golson’s timeless ballad, “I Remember Clifford” is but one measure of the reverence and love with which Clifford Brown was regarded by musicians, friends, family, and fans. The affection in which he was held during his lifetime was made all the more poignant by his untimely death at the […]

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BILLIE HOLIDAY: Lady in Satin (3CD Box Set)

Though some may not prefer later Billie with an orchestra, this is a profound and deeply soulful session. Here are the contents. For those wondering, this is an official issue from SONY/CBS France. The outtakes have been on bootlegs before, but this is the first official issue. CD1 includes the master takes plus a few […]

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CHARLES MINGUS:nShadows (Limited Clear Vinyl LP)

At the time, we were told …. For the first time on vinyl the great score composed by Charles Mingus for the legendary 1959 directorial debut of John Cassavetes Shadows. Much has been said about the controversial relationship between the two great masters. “(…)The score encapsulates Cassavetes’ and Mingus’s unique approaches to both improvisation and composition in […]

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WYNTON MARSALIS: It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got swing

    Being with Wynton Marsalis is always an education. He’s happiest when he can enthuse about something, or learn something new from whoever he’s speaking to. Right now, sitting over lunch in a Japanese restaurant in New York, he’s off on the topic of jazz’s Anglo-Celtic roots. “Those folk songs and hymns the slaves […]

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JAMIE CULLUM: Prom

    Multimillion-selling jazz supremo and master of all musical trades Jamie Cullum returns to the BBC Proms following his sell-out appearance in 2010. This time Jamie is joined by the talented conductor, composer and arranger Jules Buckley and the renegade musicians who make up The Heritage Orchestra. London’s Roundhouse Choir, the Remi Harris Trio […]

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