Jim Snidero – Live at the Deer Head Inn (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 55:33 minutes | 1,09 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Savant
As with many professions, it was a difficult thing to be a jazz musician during the pandemic year of 2020, but alto saxophonist Jim Snidero found himself in a unique situation: he was able to assemble a quartet for a feasible, safe, limited-audience gig at Pennsylvania’s famed Deer Head Inn.
(more…)
Andrew Rangell – J.S. Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2 (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 02:24:33 minutes | 1,96 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Steinway and Sons
On April 1, 2022, Steinway & Sons releases Andrew Rangell’s recording of Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2 (STNS 30176). Pianist Andrew Rangell’s debut recording—released thirty years ago—featured Bach’s Goldberg Variations, F-sharp minor toccata, and the two Ricercares from “A Musical Offering”. Over the course of many years, the verve, beauty and originality of Mr. Rangell’s Bach playing have been evidenced in a steady progression of interpretations: The Partitas, French Suites, Well-Tempered Clavier (bk.1), The Art of Fugue, English Suites, Inventions, Sinfonias, and many other individual pieces. This second book of the WTC now brings to completion a journey and survey which was never firmly planned as such. This is because the pianist’s embrace of Bach has run parallel with other deep involvements, beginning with Beethoven, but also exploring repertoire ranging from Sweelinck, Gibbons, and Farnaby to Ives, Nielsen, Enescu, Schoenberg and a host of other 20th century voices. Schubert, Haydn and Chopin also receive special attention within the artist’s rich discography. Rangell’s Bach survey ends with this second book of the WTC in sparkling, free-spirited performances.
(more…)
Andreas Vollenweider – Kryptos (1997/2005)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 55:31 minutes | 631 MB | Genre: New Age
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © AVAF Music
Swiss harpist Andreas Vollenweider continues his exploration of world fusion on this ambitious, genre-blending release. In addition to the usual presence of Vollenweider’s electrified harp, on which he manages to combine the instrument’s lush, classical sound with unusual rhythmic effects and uncharacteristic tones, KRYPTOS boasts a range of other instruments, including flutes, synthesizer, human choruses, and a variety of percussion.
(more…)
Jim Robitaille Trio – Space Cycles (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 53:12 minutes | 581 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Whaling City Sound
After a brief interlude in a group format, Jim Robitaille is back inside the sparse and generous spaces of his trio. Flanked by Bill Miele on bass and Chris Poudrier on drums, Robitaille sounds as if he returned home after being away for a while. The colors throughout these arrangements pulse and glow, embracing a spectrum of musical emotion, while Robitailles guitar tone also explores the range of what is possible within the framework, he’s set for himself. Miele and Poudrier buttress Robitailles work with sturdy, confident rhythm and gentle explorations of their own. From the moody opener, Natural Selection, the delicate and profound melancholy of When We Passed, all the way through to the closing, quietly epic ensemble jam Chance Meeting, the recording session is dazzling, understated, beautiful, at times even sublime. Theres an unwritten story here on Space Cycles, lurking somewhere in the satisfying jams like warm toes under a blanket. Wed ask a few questions about those stories, find out where they come from, and what the reasoning behind it all is, but the sounds are all we need and wed rather just enjoy the warmth anyway.
(more…)
Ana Turkalj, Aleck Carratta – Reinecke: Complete Cello Sonatas (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 58:06 minutes | 260 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Brilliant Classics
The fundamentally Romantic idiom of Carl Reinecke coexists with the twilight of the 19th century and the dawn of the 20th century. He was a precocious and prolific composer, who wrote music from an early age after his birth in the North German town of Altona in 1924.
(more…)
Jim Porcella – Christmas Is: December Duets (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 30:55 minutes | 340 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Whaling City Sound
Do you know Mike Renzi? Now semi-retired, the immense musical talent has won seven Emmys for musical direction, including wins for his work on “Sesame Street” and the soap opera “One Life to Live.” Also noteworthy: Mike has backed some amazing talent, including Sinatra, Tony Bennett, as well as Tony’s work with Lady Gaga at the Grammys in 2015, appearing in an Irving Berlin tribute at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, dedicating a new Bennett-Sinatra Studio in Queens, and performing with Michael Feinstein and the Kravis Center Pops Orchestra Big Band in Palm Beach. Renzi’s newest project, Christmas Is: December Duets, is a recording for the acclaimed Whaling City Sound label. The date is a partnership with Jim Porcella, a genial-voiced baritone with serious jazz cred of his own.
(more…)
Jim O’Rourke – Too Compliment (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 35:59 minutes | 394 MB | Genre: Electronic
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © DDS
DDS catch enduringly absorbing sonic alchemist Jim O’Rourke at his knottiest and most ingenious in a wormholing suite of amorphous rhythm and psychedelic electronics – a massive RIYL Autechre, Roland Kayn, Bernard Parmegiani, NYZ, Keith Fullerton Whitman.
(more…)
Jim Nabors – The Complete Columbia Christmas Collection (2015/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:19:29 minutes | 1,96 GB | Genre: Christmas
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Columbia – Legacy
James Thurston Nabors was an American actor, singer, and comedian. “The Complete Columbia Christmas Recordings” combines Jim Nabors’ two holiday albums for Columbia – 1967’s Jim Nabors’ Christmas Album and 1972’s Merry Christmas – adding a couple of seasonal religious tunes from 1968’s The Lord’s Prayer & Other Sacred Songs and 1971’s How Great Thou Art for good measure (as it happens, these bonus cuts include two different versions of “Ave Maria.” Of the two albums, the 1967 set is slightly stuffier – there’s a reliance on old-fashioned carols and the string arrangements are a bit stiff – but 1971 conjures just a bit of the spirit of Hollywood holiday specials, its strings feeling slightly snazzy, not starchy. His sensibility belongs in an era that was bypassed when these records were recorded, so this release functions as dual nostalgia: pining for pining for days of Christmas past.
(more…)
Amatis Trio – Messiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du temps (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 46:22 minutes | 447 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © CAvi-music
“The work,” as Messiaen writes, “is directly inspired by the Revelation of St. John. Its musical language is essentially transcendental, spiritual, catholic. Certain modes, realizing a kind of tonal ubiquity in terms of harmony and melody, draw the listener into a sense of the eternity of space or time. Special rhythms, lying outside any sort of measure, contribute significantly toward the banishment of the concept of time.
(However, all this is mere striving and childish stammering if one compares it to the overwhelming greatness of the subject!)
(more…)
Jim Nabors – Kiss Me Goodbye (1968/2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 32:34 minutes | 730 MB | Genre: Pop, Vocal
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia – Legacy
While better known as an actor thanks to his immortal role as television’s bumbling Gomer Pyle, Jim Nabors also enjoyed a successful career as an easy listening balladeer. Born June 12, 1930, in Sylacauga, Alabama, he graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in business administration, but later found himself working in TV as an apprentice editor; at much the same time, he also pursued a career as a cabaret singer. In 1963, Nabors was hired to guest star on an episode of the popular Andy Griffith Show; although his role as the hayseed Gomer was originally intended as a one-shot, the character proved such a hit with audiences that he went on to become a featured player for the next two seasons. In 1965, Nabors even received his own spinoff series, Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C., in which Gomer appeared as a hapless Marine Corps private. During a 1964 guest appearance on The Danny Kaye Show, Nabors first displayed his vocal prowess; his baritone subsequently graced dozens of albums, including a number of gospel and country efforts. He also had an opportunity to sing on his Gomer Pyle show; during the program’s fourth season, in an episode entitled “The Show Must Go On” which aired on November 3, 1967, Nabors sang “The Impossible Dream” from Man of La Mancha, and the song subsequently became a popular part of his repertoire as a performer. From 1969 to 1972 Nabors hosted his own variety program, The Jim Nabors Show, and also regularly performed in concert. Jim Nabors died at his home in Honolulu, Hawaii on November 30, 2017; he was 87 years old.
(more…)
Jim Merchant – Jim Merchant and His Sax of Gold (1968/2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 29:52 minutes | 554 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Audio Fidelity
Audio Fidelity peers into the history of the saxophone with this charming release from the great Jim Merchant. Jim Merchant and His Sax of Gold features some of the great standard from the American Songbook, performed with style and attitude.
(more…)
Alphaville – Forever Young (Super Deluxe Edition) (1984/2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 03:07:47 minutes | 2,18 GB | Genre: Synthpop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © WM Germany
German synthpop band Alphaville‘s 1984 debut album Forever Young will be reissued as a five-disc super deluxe edition in March, for its 35th anniversary.
The singles pulled from this album include the international hit ‘Big in Japan’, the anthemic title track, ‘Sounds Like A Melody’ and ‘The Jet Set’.
The album has been remastered (for the first time, apparently) and this package comes with two additional CDs, one with original single versions, B-sides and remixes and the other with 16 original demos. The fourth disc is a DVD which boasts a documentary and promo videos.
(more…)
Jim James – Uniform Distortion (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 40:11 minutes | 450 MB | Genre: Indie Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © ATO (UK)
The GRAMMY Award-nominated frontman of My Morning Jacket, Jim James, has announced the release of his third studio album, Uniform Distortion. Uniform Distortion was produced by Jim James and Kevin Ratterman at Louisville, KY’s La La Land, with Ratterman also serving as recording engineer. All songs were written by James, who is backed on the album by bassist Seth Kauffman (Floating Action) and longtime touring drummer Dave Givan, with backing vocals provided throughout by Dear Lemon Trees’ Leslie Stevens, Jamie Drake and Kathleen Grace. “The name of my new record is Uniform Distortion because I feel like there is this blanket distortion on society/media and the way we gather our ‘news and important information. More and more of us are feeling lost and looking for new ways out of this distortion and back to the truth…and finding hope in places like the desert where I write this now…finding hope in the land and in the water and in old books offering new ideas and most importantly in each other and love.” says James.
(more…)
Alphonse Cemin, Matteo Cesari, Iris Zerdoud, Quentin Dubreuil, Gaspar José, Vincent Lhermet, Noemi Schindler, Clotilde Lacroix – Tomás Bordalejo: Fétiches (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:02:35 minutes | 568 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Paraty
These ritual objects that accompany us, protect us, reassure us on a daily basis, give substance to our fears, our desires, our passions. But if we sometimes choose them, they can also choose us… Fétiches includes five caprices for solo violin, magical utensils, each containing their own magic, their own meaning.
(more…)