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![Various Artists - Best of 2023 Blues, Country, Folk (FLAC Songs) [PMEDIA] ⭐️ Download](https://i0.wp.com/imageurl.xyz/images/2023/12/11/VariousArtistsBestof2023BluesCountryFolkFLACSongsPMEDIAe23fdafadba2b296.jpg?resize=500%2C500&ssl=1)
Tom Rainey Obbligato – Float Upstream (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 43:21 minutes | 447 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Intakt Records
On this second CD with his band Obbligato Tom Rainey surprises with standards and beautiful love songs like «Stella by Starlight», „What Is This Thing Called Love“ or „I Fall in Love too Easily“.
Tom Rainey has played in bands with Tim Berne, Fred Hirsch and Craig Taborn, and his own trio with Ingrid Laubrock and Mary Halvorson. For this ensemble he chose some of the finest players New York has to offer: Ingrid Laubrock, Ralph Alessi, Kris Davis and Drew Gress.
Christian Broecking writes (liner notes): „With Obbligato, Rainey brings two familiar acquaintances from Jazz history to the fore – collective playing and improvising on Standards – the actual material itself, the well-known melodies and chord progressions are not overly taken apart. With Obbligato he wanted to find his own way of playing the milestones of Jazz history.“
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Various Artists – Playing for the Man at the Door: Field Recordings from the Collection of Mack Mccormick, 1958–1971 (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 03:28:31 minutes | 3,55 GB | Genre: Blues
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
In the 1950s and 60s, the blues was the dominant form of Black vernacular music throughout Texas and the surrounding areas. In segregated neighborhoods, community members gathered in saloons, dancehalls, and each other’s homes to hear their neighbors sing their stories of sorrow, heartbreak, jubilation, and triumph. Robert “Mack” McCormick, an academically untrained but fanatical devotee of the blues, stepped into this world and became one of its most devout advocates and documentarians. By photographing Black and Latino Texans and their neighborhoods, as well as recording and interviewing musicians,many of whom never stepped foot into a proper recording studio, McCormick endeared and eventually embedded himself into these communities. By the time he died in 2015, McCormick had amassed a collection of 590 reels of sound recordings and 165 boxes of manuscripts, original interviews and research notes, thousands of photographs and negatives, playbills, and posters. Because McCormick never published or released most of these materials, his collection became a thing of legend and intense speculation among scholars, blues aficionados, and musicians alike. ‘Playing for the Man at the Door: Field Recordings from the Collection of Mack McCormick, 1958-1971′ is the first compilation of music drawn from this fabled collection, which indelibly documents a pivotal moment in African American history. It features never-before-heard performances not only from musicians who became icons in their own right,including Lightnin’ Hopkins and Mance Lipscomb, but also, crucially, performers whose names may be unfamiliar to even the most devoted blues fans and scholars. Newly mastered recordings and accompanying photographs bring to life many of these forgotten figures: offering insight into their lives and illuminating in new, enlightening ways their joys and anguish, deep social connections, distinctive voices, and cultural networks. The collection spans gospel, ragtime, country blues dirges, the unclassifiable music of George “Bongo Joe” Coleman, and more, showing that no community, no matter how tight knit, is monolithic. Accompanying the music is a 128-page book, which contains breathtaking photographs by McCormick and his associates, as well as contextual essays by producers Jeff Place and John Troutman on McCormick’s life, and by musicians Mark Puryear and Dom Flemons on some of the marginalized communities throughout “Greater Texas” to which McCormick devoted his life’s work. This release is a partnership with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
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Chris Stamey – The Great Escape (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 53:14 minutes | 1,02 GB | Genre: Pop Rock, Country Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Car Records
On his new album, The Great Escape, Chris Stamey – known for his work in The dB’s, the Big Star’s Third concerts, returns to the electric guitar sounds and melodic lyricism that informed his classic ’80s solo records It’s Alright, Fireworks, and 2004’s Travels in the South – but with a twist!. This time out, alongside adroit pedal-steel aces Eric Heywood (Jayhawks, Pretenders, Alejandro Escovedo) and Allyn Love, Mipso’s Libby Rodenbough, and Chatham County Line’s John Teer and Dave Wilson, he’s found a distinctive spin on the ’70s Southern California country-rock flavors of the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers.
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Matt Mitchell, Kate Gentile – Snark Horse (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 05:35:28 minutes | 3,61 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Pi Recordings
Snark Horse is a book of highly-detailed one-bar compositions by pianist/composer Matt Mitchell and drummer/composer Kate Gentile — audaciously presented across six discs – that are designed to incite inventive, multi-directional improvisation. It is also the name of a revolving cast of musicians – including Mitchell and Gentile – who have performed this music in various combinations since 2013. Both Mitchell and Gentile’s work are characterized by their exacting nature. Mitchell’s prior release, Phalanx Ambassadors, was called by Popmatters “a high watermark for the new jazz… a breathtaking jawdropper from one of the best pianists and composers now working.” Gentile’s 2017 debut release, Mannequins, was described by The New York Times as “full of stuttering rhythms and teetering intervallic jumps; an array of textures – sometimes chiming, sometimes abraded – disorient you even as they deepen your listening.”
Read more![Johnny Nicholas - Mistaken Identity (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz] Download](https://i0.wp.com/imghd.xyz/images/2023/03/28/ezrx3p202zfrc_600.jpg?resize=500%2C500&ssl=1)
Johnny Nicholas – Mistaken Identity (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 38:52 minutes | 441 MB | Genre: Blues
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Valcour Records
Although the artistic career of former Asleep at the Wheel frontman Johnny Nicholas’ is well documented, his connection with South Louisiana music and culture and the influence it had on his storied musical career is not as well known. We’re happy to be a part of helping tell this story.
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Gloria Cheng – Montage: Great film composers and the piano (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:10:31 minutes | 1,10 GB | Genre: Classical, Piano
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © harmonia mundi
Props go to pianist Gloria Cheng for putting this program together in the first place; getting well-paid film composers to take time out to write abstract music was likely an arduous task. Montage is a collection of solo piano pieces by film composers, all of them famous and top-rank, and a couple, John Williams and Randy Newman, household names. All are recorded premieres, and all but Alexandre Desplat’s L’Etreinte were written for Cheng. None completely departs from his cinematic style, and none replicates it completely. The program, in fact, is organized more or less from least to most cinematic, although some might find Surface Tension by Don Davis (who wrote the score to The Matrix) the most modern. The two most accessible scores, as might be expected, are those by Williams and Newman, but it would be wrong to merely expect a reduction of some discarded film music. Each composer responded to the project with a rather personal essay; Newman takes as his subject the lineage of film music composers (Alfred, Emil, and Lionel) in his family, and Williams offers a still more original concept: imagined conversations among jazz musicians. The difficult modern scores are smoothly rendered by Cheng, who clearly had fun with the project. It’s a find for film music fans.
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Freddie Hubbard – The Hub of Hubbard (1970/2016)
DSD64 (.dsf) 1 bit/2,8 MHz MHz | Time – 35:03 minutes | 1,38 GB
or FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 35:03 minutes | 704 MB
Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source: highresaudio.com | Front Cover | © MPS
In 1970 Freddie Hubbard’s career reached a crossroads. Ten years after the trumpeter had released his debut album “Open Sesame” he could already take stock in an impressive array of achievements: around a dozen albums under his own name for Blue Note and Atlantic, participation in ground-breaking free jazz albums by Coltrane and Ornette Coleman, the development of an original sound somewhere between hard bop, soul, and fusion. From there he broke out and into his popular phase with CTI Records. At the same time this MPS album loomed on the horizon as a milestone. Hubbard recorded the album at the MPS studios in Villingen, Germany during a break in his European tour, thus we get to experience a musician and his world-class quintet spontaneously interacting in an open setting. Those who are familiar with the many dreamy versions of the standard “Without a Song” will be thrilled with this 13-minute escapade spotlighting the band’s unbridled play. Hubbard’s dialogue with saxophonist Eddie Daniels and drummer Louis Hayes’ powerful impulse crown the piece. The energy and enthusiasm increases on “Just One of Those Things”, as the players unleash an incredible chain of hard-bopping staccato lines. Hubbard dedicates the playful “Blues For Duane” to his son; bassist Richard Davis grounds the piece in a light-hearted, earthy feel. Hubbard reveals his radiant melodic prowess as he interprets “The Things We Did Last Summer” in broadly swinging arcs, congenially supported by Roland Hanna’s piano harmonies. Davis has another shining moment as he brings the piece to an end with just the right pensive touch.
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Elvin Jones – Dear John C. (1965) [Analogue Productions 2011]
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 38:58 minutes | Scans included | 1,6 GB
or FLAC 2.0 (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | Full Scans included | 882 MB
Drummer Elvin Jones may have been breaking down new rhythmic boundaries at the time with John Coltrane’s Quartet but his own sessions as a leader were not all that innovative. This quartet set with altoist Charlie Mariano, bassist Richard Davis and either Roland Hanna or Hank Jones on piano is an example of how the avant-garde of the era was starting to influence the more mainstream players. The music is in general safe but enjoyable with the virtuosic bassist Richard Davis often taking solo honors on what was in reality a modern bop date.
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Eddie Henderson – Collective Portrait (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:08:29 minutes | 1,42 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Smoke Sessions Records
“I DON’T LIKE TO WRITE IN ALL OF THE NOTES,” says legendary trumpeter Eddie Henderson with a laugh, ”Miles always said, ‘just write a sketch and let all the musicians fill in.’ He’d say, ‘A collective portrait is better than a self portrait.’” It was advice that resonated with a young Eddie Henderson who, even after 40-something years, still relies on it as a primary organizing principle for his music. Eddie is someone who thrives on—requires really—a group that embodies the risk-taking and creative freedom that Miles encouraged and for Collective Portrait he has chosen some of the very best: Gary Bartz, George Cables, Doug Weiss and Carl Allen. Eddie says that he knew “instinctively” that this combination would have just the musical chemistry he wanted. Eddie, George and Gary have been making music together since the 1970s when he was still based in California and having them together again, he decided to revisit some of this Blue Note Records “hits” from that era, some of which have been famously sampled in recent years by acid jazz and hip hop artists. With updated arrangements, they breathe new life into “Sunburst,” “Dreams,” “Morning Song,” and “Beyond Forever.” They also delve into some of the iconic works of the hard-bop trumpet canon—“Gingerbread Boy,” “Zoltan” and “First Light”—giving Eddie an opportunity to put his personal stamp on these works made famous by Miles, Woody Shaw and Freddie Hubbard respectively. Of course, no one today plays a ballad quite like Eddie Henderson and there are several memorable ones in this set including “Together,” which Eddie’s wife, Natsuko wrote for him in celebration of their 20 years together.
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Dr. John – Ske-Dat-De-Dat…The Spirit Of Satch (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 58:31 minutes | 1,32 GB | Genre: Blues, R&B, Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Concord Music Group
Ske-Dat-De-Dat: The Spirit of Satch is a 2014 album by American musician Dr. John. Produced by Dr. John and Sarah Morrow, it was released in August 2014. It features many guest musicians, such as The Blind Boys of Alabama and Bonnie Raitt.
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Carlos Kleiber – Weber: Der Freischütz, J. 277 (Remastered) (1973/2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 02:08:57 minutes | 2,08 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
Der Freischütz is one of the great milestones in the history of opera. The resounding success of its premiere in 1821 practically made it a manifesto for German Romantic opera, one that would become a significant formative influence on Wagner. Although it has its roots in the Singspiel tradition exemplified by Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Der Freischütz cut new ground with its potent mixture of supernatural elements, dreams, folk melodies, evocations of nature, and symphonic tone painting. Here, von Weber exploited his brilliant orchestral imagination–using, for example, carefully divided string tremolos and a gleaming choir of four horns–to maximum effect.
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Various Artists – American Epic: The Collection (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 05:14:40 minutes | 3,31 GB | Genre: Soundtrack
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia – Legacy
American Epic, a film series produced by Allison McGourty, Duke Erikson and Director Bernard MacMahon, explores the pivotal recording journeys at the height of the Roaring Twenties, when music scouts armed with cutting-edge recording technology captured the breadth of American music and discovered the artists that would shape our world.
Read more![Swedish Radio Symphony Orch, Robin Ticciati - Berlioz: Romeo et Juliette (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download](https://i0.wp.com/imghd.xyz/images/2022/09/01/k6yp4xilx3dkc_600.jpg?resize=500%2C500&ssl=1)
Swedish Radio Symphony Orch, Robin Ticciati – Berlioz: Romeo et Juliette (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:34:04 minutes | 1,63 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Linn Records
Alongside new versions by Valery Gergiev and Sr Andrew Davis, this might seem in danger of being overwhelmed. Robin Ticciatti, though, has proved to be a special Berlioz interpreter, and offers an individual, youthful reading: swifter, airy rather than lush, driven by crisp detail and translucent textures and Berlioz’s vital rhythmic spring. In the pivotal Love Scene and ‘Queen Mab’ scherzo Ticciati seems much more intimate and delicate than the rival alternatives, although he unleashes appropriate power in ‘Tumulte’, for example, and the conclusion.
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