Thursday, December 31, 2009

4

In Person (1965-67) Vol.2 - Ramsey Lewis Trio


















Rating:
6.5/10 
Sound Quality: 320 kb/s
Format: Mp3
Record Label: Rev-Ola
Year Released: 2008
Album Covers: Included
Pass: radiodada
Links: rapidshare

Νote From Dada!
Ιδού και το 2ο δισκάκι από αυτή τη συλλογή ζωντανών εμφανίσεων του Ramsey Lewis Trio, εδώ από την διετία 1965-1967. Ζωντανών με όλη τη σημασία της λέξης, καθώς περίτρανα επιβεβαιώνεται από ένα "πανταχού παρόν" ακροατήριο που ουρλιάζει, τραγουδάει, χορεύει, χτυπάει παλαμάκια και αποτελεί ένα αναπόσπαστο και "ανεβαστικό" μέρος των ηχογραφήσεων. Αυτό το δεύτερο cd είναι μια "συγκομιδή" με θέματα από τους δίσκους "Hang On Ramsey"(1965) και Dancing In The Street (1967). Εδώ διασκευάζονται εξαιρετικά τα μπητλικά "A Hard Days Night" και "And I Love Her", το κλασικό και πρωτοηχογραφημένο από τους Martha Reeves & The Vandellas "Dancing In The Street", το "Manha De Carnaval" των Luiz Bonfa και Antonio Maria και φυσικά το "Hang On Sloopy" στο οποίο κοινό και μπάντα βρίσκονται σε έκσταση.

Ώτα μου αυτά για την ώρα.
Καλή ακρόαση...και του χρόνου με ηχεία.
Radiodada

Σύνθεση:
Ramsey Lewis: Πιάνο
Eldee Young: Μπάσο
Red Holt: Τύμπανα

About Ramsey Lewis
Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis, Jr. (born May 27, 1935) is an American jazz icon, composer, pianist and radio personality. He has been referred to as "the great performer", a title reflecting his performance style and musical selections which display his early gospel playing and classical training (Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, etc.) along with his love of jazz and other musical forms. Ramsey Lewis has recorded over 80 albums and has received five gold records and three Grammy Awards so far in his career.
Ramsey Lewis was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Ramsey Lewis, Sr. and Pauline Lewis. Lewis began taking piano lessons at the age of four. At 15 he joined his first jazz band, The Cleffs. The seven-piece group provided Lewis his first involvement with jazz; he would later join Cleffs drummer Isaac "Redd" Holt and bassist Eldee Young to form the Ramsey Lewis Trio.

The trio started as primarily a jazz unit and released their first album, Ramsey Lewis And The Gentlemen of Swing, in 1956. Following their 1965 hit The In Crowd (the single reached #5 on the pop charts, and the album #2) they concentrated more on pop material. Young and Holt left in 1966 to form the Young-Holt Trio and were replaced by Cleveland Eaton and Maurice White. White was replaced by Maurice Jennings in 1970. Later, Franky Donaldson and Billy "The Bhudda" Dickens replaced Jennings and Eaton; Felton Crews also appeared on many 1980's releases.

By 1966, Lewis was one of the nation’s most successful jazz pianists, topping the charts with The In Crowd, Hang On Sloopy, and Wade in the Water. Many of his recordings attracted a large non-jazz audience. In the '70s, Lewis often played electric piano, although by later in the decade he was sticking to acoustic and using an additional keyboardist in his groups.

In addition to recording and performing, Lewis hosted a morning show on Chicago "smooth jazz" radio station WNUA (95.5 FM) until May 22, 2009. His weekly syndicated radio program "Legends of Jazz," created in 1990, features recordings from artists such as David Sanborn, George Duke, Herbie Hancock, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Kurt Elling, Al Jarreau and Miles Davis. The show can be heard in 60 U.S. cities and overseas. On December 4, 2006, the Ramsey Lewis Morning Show became part of Broadcast Architecture's Smooth Jazz Network, simulcasting on other Smooth Jazz stations across the country for the first time. However, the show is still based in Chicago.

In 2006, a well-received 13-episode Legends of Jazz television series hosted by Lewis was broadcast on public TV nationwide and featured live performances by a variety of jazz artists including Larry Gray, Lonnie Smith, Joey Defrancesco, Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea, Kurt Elling, Benny Golson, Pat Metheny and Tony Bennett.

Lewis is artistic director of Jazz at Ravinia (an annual feature at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois) and helped organize Ravinia's Jazz Mentor Program. Ramsey also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Merit School of Music, a Chicago inner-city music program. Early in 2005, the Ramsey Lewis Foundation was created to help connect at-risk children to the world of music. As an offshoot of that foundation, Lewis plans to form a Youth Choir and Youth Orchestra. In January 2007, the Dave Brubeck Institute invited Lewis to join its Honorary Board of Friends at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. Lewis is an Honorary Board member of the Chicago Jazz Orchestra.

Lewis still lives in Chicago, Illinois, the city of his musical roots. He has seven children, fourteen grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

0

In Person (1960-65) Vol.1 - Ramsey Lewis Trio


















Rating: 6.5/10 
Sound Quality: 320 kb/s
Format: Mp3
Record Label: Rev-Ola
Year Released: 2007
Album Covers: Included
Pass: radiodada
Links: rapidshare

Note From Dada!
"Κλείνω" αυτή τη δεκαετία (ψψψψ....τι λες ρε μεγάλε...) με δύο δισκάκια, μιας jazz μπάντας που εκτιμώ ιδιαίτερα, τo trio του Ramsey Lewis. Σ' αυτό το post ανεβάζω το πρώτο από τα δύο cd που "συνοψίζει" τη live περίοδο του σχήματος από το 1960 έως το 1965 και "φωτογραφίζει" κάποιες στιγμές από τους δίσκους: "The In Crowd", "Ramsey Lewis Trio In Chicago" και το "Ramsey Lewis Trio At The Bohemian Caverns" το οποίο ανήρτησα πριν λίγο καιρό (κάντε κλικ εδώ).
Αν και το ρητό "three is a crowd" χρησιμοποιείται για ...άλλους λόγους, εδώ κολλάει τέλεια, καθώς ο τόσος γεμάτος και συμπαγής ήχος του σχήματος δεν αφήνει υπόνοιες για τυχόν "ορχηστικές αδυναμίες ή ελλείψεις". Ίσα ίσα το αντίθετο συμβαίνει. Η συγκεκριμένη μπάντα είναι ένα απ' τα καλύτερα παραδείγματα ότι τρία όργανα (στα κατάλληλα χέρια φυσικά ....) είναι αρκετά για γκρουβάρουν και να "ξεκουνήσουν" και τους πιο καρεκλόβιους...
Αν και ανάμεσα από τις δύο συλλογές δείχνω μια προτίμηση στο δεύτερο cd (...το οποίο θα ποστάρω στην επόμενη ανάρτηση), γνώμη μου είναι πως και  τα δύο δισκάκια είναι μια πάρα πολύ καλή και χορταστική "εισαγωγή" σ' αυτό τo ιστορικό τζαζ τριο.
Εξαιρετικό το standar της μπάντας "The 'In' Crowd", το κλασικό yiddish "Bei Mir Bist Du Schon", το "Delilah", το "My Babe", το γνωστό "You've Been Talkin' 'Bout Me Baby"  και η εκπληκτικά διασκευασμένη "Carmen" του Bizet.

Σύνθεση:
Ramsey Lewis: Πιάνο
Eldee Young: Μπάσο
Red Holt: Τύμπανα

About Ramsey Lewis

Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis, Jr. (born May 27, 1935) is an American jazz icon, composer, pianist and radio personality. He has been referred to as "the great performer", a title reflecting his performance style and musical selections which display his early gospel playing and classical training (Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, etc.) along with his love of jazz and other musical forms. Ramsey Lewis has recorded over 80 albums and has received five gold records and three Grammy Awards so far in his career.
Ramsey Lewis was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Ramsey Lewis, Sr. and Pauline Lewis. Lewis began taking piano lessons at the age of four. At 15 he joined his first jazz band, The Cleffs. The seven-piece group provided Lewis his first involvement with jazz; he would later join Cleffs drummer Isaac "Redd" Holt and bassist Eldee Young to form the Ramsey Lewis Trio.

The trio started as primarily a jazz unit and released their first album, Ramsey Lewis And The Gentlemen of Swing, in 1956. Following their 1965 hit The In Crowd (the single reached #5 on the pop charts, and the album #2) they concentrated more on pop material. Young and Holt left in 1966 to form the Young-Holt Trio and were replaced by Cleveland Eaton and Maurice White. White was replaced by Maurice Jennings in 1970. Later, Franky Donaldson and Billy "The Bhudda" Dickens replaced Jennings and Eaton; Felton Crews also appeared on many 1980's releases.

By 1966, Lewis was one of the nation’s most successful jazz pianists, topping the charts with The In Crowd, Hang On Sloopy, and Wade in the Water. Many of his recordings attracted a large non-jazz audience. In the '70s, Lewis often played electric piano, although by later in the decade he was sticking to acoustic and using an additional keyboardist in his groups.

In addition to recording and performing, Lewis hosted a morning show on Chicago "smooth jazz" radio station WNUA (95.5 FM) until May 22, 2009. His weekly syndicated radio program "Legends of Jazz," created in 1990, features recordings from artists such as David Sanborn, George Duke, Herbie Hancock, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Kurt Elling, Al Jarreau and Miles Davis. The show can be heard in 60 U.S. cities and overseas. On December 4, 2006, the Ramsey Lewis Morning Show became part of Broadcast Architecture's Smooth Jazz Network, simulcasting on other Smooth Jazz stations across the country for the first time. However, the show is still based in Chicago.

In 2006, a well-received 13-episode Legends of Jazz television series hosted by Lewis was broadcast on public TV nationwide and featured live performances by a variety of jazz artists including Larry Gray, Lonnie Smith, Joey Defrancesco, Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea, Kurt Elling, Benny Golson, Pat Metheny and Tony Bennett.

Lewis is artistic director of Jazz at Ravinia (an annual feature at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois) and helped organize Ravinia's Jazz Mentor Program. Ramsey also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Merit School of Music, a Chicago inner-city music program. Early in 2005, the Ramsey Lewis Foundation was created to help connect at-risk children to the world of music. As an offshoot of that foundation, Lewis plans to form a Youth Choir and Youth Orchestra. In January 2007, the Dave Brubeck Institute invited Lewis to join its Honorary Board of Friends at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. Lewis is an Honorary Board member of the Chicago Jazz Orchestra.

Lewis still lives in Chicago, Illinois, the city of his musical roots. He has seven children, fourteen grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

Monday, December 28, 2009

0

Amassakoul - Tinariwen


















Rating:
5/10 
Sound Quality: 320 kb/s
Format: Mp3
Record Label: Wolrd Village
Year Released: 2004
Album Covers: Included
Pass: radiodada
Links: rapidshare

Note From Dada!
Παραμένοντας γεωγραφικά πολύ κοντά σε σχέση με το προηγούμενο post του Toumani Diabate, (δηλαδή στο Μάλι και συγκεκριμένα στο κομμάτι εκείνο της χώρας που βρίσκεται η έρημος Σαχάρα) αλλάζοντας όμως αρκετά το "μουσικό προσανατολισμό", αναρτώ ένα album μίας μπάντας που ενώ έχει την αφετηρία της πριν από περίπου 30 χρόνια, μόλις την τελευταία δεκαετία άρχισε να γίνεται ευρέως γνωστή. Πρόκειται για το μουσικό σχήμα των "Tinariwen", και συγκεκριμένα για το 2ο δίσκο (από τους 4 συνολικά της δισκογραφίας τους) με τίτλο "Amassakoul". Με έναν εξαιρετικά ιδιαίτερο ήχο, που βασίζεται κυρίως στις ηλεκτρικές κιθάρες και το μπάσο (λιγότερο στα κρουστά και ακόμα πιο σπάνια στα πνευστά) είναι αναγνωρίσιμοι από τις πρώτες κιόλας νότες των κομματιών τους. Ένας ήχος που πατάει ξεκάθαρα στο "αφρικανικό μουσικό τους τοπίο" απ' τη μία και απ' την άλλη το "εκτοξεύει" η πρόσμιξή του με "blues & rock" στοιχεία. Εδώ βρίσκεται και το αρκετά γνωστό και πολύ καλό "Aldhechen Manin", καθώς και τα αξιοσημείωτα "Amassakoul 'N' Ténéré" και "Eh Massina Sintadoben".

About Tinariwen
Tinariwen (Tamashek: "The deserts", plural of "ténéré" meaning "desert") is a band of Tuareg musicians from the Sahara Desert region of northern Mali. Formed in 1979, they rose to prominence in the 1980s as the pied pipers of a new political and social conscience in the southern Sahara, and the icons of a whole generation of young Touareg living in exile in Algeria and Libya. In the early 2000s Tinariwen started to gain a following outside Africa, first in the world music community, and then in the wider rock scene, thanks to frequent tours and appearances at major festival in Europe and the USA. After releasing their second CD album 'Amassakoul' in 2004 they become one of the most successful African groups in the world, and won several prestigious awards. They sing about the suffering and exile of their people, the semi-nomadic Kel Tamashek of the southern Sahara, and about their beauty of the desert home.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

2

The Mande Variations - Toumani Diabate


















Rating:
6/10 
Sound Quality: 320 kb/s
Format: Mp3
Record Label: World Circuit
Year Released: 2008
Album Covers: Included
Pass: radiodada
Links: rapidshare

Note From Dada!
Το τελευταίο album του Μαλινέζου δεξιοτέχνη της kora (ένας είδος αφρικανικής άρπας) Toumani Diabate, με τίτλο "The Mande Variations", είναι μια ακόμα "απόδειξη", για ποιο λόγο ο συγκεκριμένος καλλιτέχνης, είναι μία από τις πιο σημαντικές φιγούρες της αφρικανικής (παραδοσιακής και σύγχρονης ) μουσικής. Ως "συνεχιστής" της μουσικής κληρονομιάς του πατέρα του, Sidiki Diabate (γνωστού και ως "βασιλιάς της kora"), σ' αυτό το σολιστικό album του "συγκεντρώνει" παραδοσιακά θέματα μαζί με δικές του συνθέσεις, που ξεδιπλώνουν όχι μόνο το εύρος των δυνατοτήτων του ιδιαίτερου αυτού οργάνου αλλά και το απίστευτο δεξιοτεχνικό ταλέντου του Diabate. Περνάνε αρκετά tracks μέχρι να "πιστείς" ότι πρόκειται για τον ήχο που δημιουργούν δύο χέρια και ένα όργανο. Μουσικά θέματα στα οποία ο βιρτουόζος Diabate χρησιμοποιεί και τα τέσσερα παραδοσιακά κουρδίσματα του οργάνου καθώς και μία "παραλλαγή" που ο ίδιος "εφύηρε" αποκαλώντας την "Egyptian Tuning" για την oriental αίσθηση που αφήνει στο παίξιμο.

Τα περισσότερα θέματα του δίσκου είναι αφιερωμένα και έχουν τίτλους ονόματα φίλων και ιδιαίτερων για τον Diabate προσώπων (όπως για παράδειγμα τον συμπατριώτη του, Ali Farka Toure). Αξιοσημείωτα τα "Si Naani", "Kaounding Cissoko" και τον πολύ καλό "Cantelowes" στην αρχή το οποίου ακούγεται ως "εισαγωγή" το πασίγνωστο θέμα του Ennio Morricone "The Good, the bad and the ugly".

Ένα πολύ όμορφο album ή πιο απλά...ένας ψηφιακός ορός μετάγγισης εικόνων και αισθήσεων ή ένα πανίσχυρο απορρυπαντικό που εξαφανίζει τους unicef (και αρκετά επίκαιρους) συνειδησιακούς λεκέδες.

About Toumani Diabate
Toumani Diabaté (born August 10, 1965) is a Malian kora player who has gained international acclaim for his music. He is a versatile performer, being equally at home with the traditional music of Mali as well as with cross-cultural collaborations with flamenco, blues, jazz, and other international styles.Diabaté comes from a long family tradition of kora players including his father, Sidiki Diabaté, who recorded the first ever kora album in 1970. His cousin Maya Jobarteh is a premiere female diaspora kora player.In 1987 Diabaté released his first album in the West, a solo album entitled Kaira, recorded in one afternoon in London and produced by Lucy Duran. The album, featuring just Diabaté and his kora, is still considered one of the finest examples of solo kora.In addition to performing Malian traditional music, Diabaté has also performed and recorded in cross-cultural settings. He has collaborated with flamenco group Ketama, forming a combined group known as Songhai and releasing two recordings: Songhai I and Songhai II. He also released a memorable album with Kulanjan, bridging the gap between African and African-American music in collaboration with the American blues musician Taj Mahal. His MALIcool is another, more unusual but nevertheless successful, collaboration with the American jazz trombonist Roswell Rudd. He also collaborated with the Icelandic popular musician Björk on her 2007 album Volta.
In 1999 Diabaté released the album New Ancient Strings, a collaboration with Ballake Sissoko and in September 2005, he released In the Heart of the Moon, for which he collaborated with the late Ali Farka Touré, his mentor. The album went on to win the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Traditional World Music Album. On July 25, 2006 he released his latest album Boulevard de l'Independence, recorded with his Symmetric Orchestra. In the Heart of the Moon and Boulevard de l'Independence, are both part of the Hotel Mandé Sessions, recorded by Nick Gold and released on World Circuit. Both Boulevard and Hotel Mandé are references to landmarks in Mali's capital city, Bamako.The Symmetric Orchestra led by Toumani Diabaté is composed of musicians (mostly griots) from the across the old Mande Empire of west Africa, who play a mix of traditional instruments including the kora, djembe, balafon and bolombatto, as well as modern ones like the guitar and electronic keyboard. Diabaté appeared in 2006 at the WOMAD Festival UK, Roskilde Festival in Denmark, and at the Sziget Festival in Budapest, Hungary. In 2007 he performed at the Glastonbury Festival and toured the U.S.A.. In 2008, he was at WOMADelaide (in Adelaide, South Australia). In early 2008, Diabaté released his new album of solo Kora music, The Mande Variations, to widespread critical acclaim. Many reviewers praised the album for its detailed recording of the Kora and careful mastering, in addition to the improvisational skills and wide range of apparent influences displayed on the album.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

0

Radiodada's Layout Gallery - ή απλά - Δες το και θα με θυμηθείς...

Ώτα μου καλημέρα

Όπως ίσως θα έχετε παρατηρήσει, η dada κατά καιρούς, είτε για λόγους "επικαιρότητας", είτε λόγω κάποιου μουσικού αφιερώματος ή απλά για να μην πλήττουν τα μοντεμένια μάτια σας, φιγουράρει με συνολάκια φτιαγμένα από pixel εξαιρετικής ποιότητος και υψηλής αισθητικής*. Έτσι λοιπόν σε αυτό το post, και με αφορμή το νέο χειμερινό μου ένδυμα**, θα βρείτε μια κολλεκτιόν με όλη την καρνταρόμπα που πέρασε από την ψηφιακή σιλουέτα του blog.

Διατίθεται:
flash
και
pdf
(7.49MB...η πιο απλά "λίγο υπομονή")

Εντζόϊ!
Σχόλια για την "εμφάνιση και το γούστο μου" (φυσικά) ευπρόσδεκτα!
Σας φιλώ στο modem
Radiodada

*Δυστυχώς όλον αυτόν τον καιρό, στα layout του blog χρησιμοποιήθηκαν φωτογραφίες που λόγω κεκτημένης ταχύτητας, δεν αναφέρθηκε ή σε κάποιες άλλες περιπτώσεις δεν βρέθηκε "η πηγή" τους. Πράγμα που από δω και στο εξής (όταν αυτό είναι εφικτό) θα υπάρχει κάπου ως αναφορά, κάθε φορά που αλλάζει η εμφάνιση του blog.

**
Αυτή η πραγματικά εξαιρετική photo του τρέχοντος layout, είναι "δανεισμένη" από τον χρήστη του Flickr "Abbyclaire".
Εδώ η photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbyclaire/4051647847/sizes/o/
κι εδώ το προφίλ του χρήστη: http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbyclaire/

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Radiodada's Layout Gallery

This blog changes its appearance every now then with new layouts due to special tributes*.

Its brand new winter layout gives me the opportunity to post the whole collection 2008-2009 of the blog’s layouts**. It is available either in Flash Player (click here) or in Acrobat Reader-PDF (click here and be patient since it is 7.49MB in total!)

Enjoy!
Please feel free to comment on my appearance and taste.
Radiodada

*Unfortunately, the source of the photos that have been already incorporated in the blog’s layouts has not been mentioned so far. From now on it will always be traced out, unless it is not reported.

**The photo of the current blog’s layout was borrowed by the so called “Abbyclaire” Flickr user.
and here is the user’s profile: http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbyclaire/

Friday, December 18, 2009

3

The Modern Sounds Of Nicola Conte - Version In Jazz-Dub


















Rating: 6/10
Sound Quality: 320 kb/s
Format: Mp3
Record Label: Schema
Year Released: 2009
Album Covers: Included
Pass: radiodada
Links: rapidshare (Disc 1), rapidshare (Disc 2)

Note From Dada!
Εύκολα θα μπορούσανε κάποιοι "σκληροπυρηνικοί φίλοι της Jazz (...και όχι μόνο)" να πούνε, ότι αυτό που κάνει ο Nicola Conte είναι ένας είδος Easy Listening Jazz...
Άσχετα με το αν ο παραπάνω ισχυρισμός είναι αληθής ή όχι - υπάρχουν κατά τη γνώμη μου δύο κατηγορίες easy listening. Η μία βασίζεται στο "easy writing" (αγγλιστί ποιητική αδεία) και η άλλη όχι. Οι περισσότερες δουλειές του Ιταλού παραγωγού, Dj και κιθαρίστα Nicola Conte, ανήκουν σίγουρα στην δεύτερη κατηγορία όπως και το πρόσφατο διπλό album του, με τίτλο "The Modern Sounds Of Nicola Conte - Versions In Jazz-Dub". Μια "συγκομιδή" από 26 διασκευές και remixes με γνωστά και κλασσικά κομμάτια της jazz (π.χ Take Five), της bossa (π.χ Só Danço Samba), καθώς και "φρεσκαρισμένες" συνθέσεις του ίδιου του Nicola Conte, ιδωμένα υπό τον φρέσκο και δροσερό ήχο του και ερμηνευμένα από μία πλειάδα μουσικών και μουσικών σχημάτων.

Αν και τα δύο δισκάκια έχουν μια φοβερή ροή και ενότητα "απομονώνω" τα "Stolen Moments (Midnight Mood Rework)" με τον εξαιρετικό Mark Murphy, "Elevated States", "Yellow Daisies", "Flamenco Sketches (New Rhumba Version)" και All Or Nothing At All.

Εξαιρετικό ενδιαφέρον έχει το "Black Is The Graceful Veil (Acoustic Version)" στο οποίο ακούγεται η "αρμονική εκδοχή" του Miles Davis για το κλασσικό "Summertime" του Gerschwin.

Για όσους δεν έχει τύχει να ακούσουν κάποιο album του Conte, θα τους πρότεινα να "μυηθούν" στον γλυκό ήχο του, με το εξαιρετικό "Other Directions" που έχω ποστάρει παλιότερα και μπορούν να το βρουν κάνοντας κλικ εδώ

Καλή ακρόαση
Radiodada

About Nicola Conte
Nicola Conte is an Italian DJ, producer and guitar player known for introducing an innovative style of acid jazz that incorporates bossa nova themes, melodies drawn from Italian film scores of the 1960s, easy listening themes, and ethnic Indian music.
Conte, a classically-trained musician, is mastermind of a collective of acid jazz revivalists, "The Fez Collective," based in the Italian town of Bari, and the Schema label, their record label for promoting their distinctly Italian approach to acid jazz.

Conte's first album was Jet Sounds of 2000. The single "Bossa Per Due" gained international recognition and was an underground hit. It was used almost immediately for a prime-time commercial for Acura automobiles. The album was licensed for American distribution by Thievery Corporation's Eighteenth Street Lounge (ESL) label in the summer of 2001 as Bossa Per Due, and was slightly reconfigured version of the Italian Jet Sounds album. This was followed by the Jet Sounds Revisited remix album in late 2002. Two years later, Blue Note's French subsidiary released Conte's next album Other Directions. In November 2008, Conte released his latest album, Rituals.

Conte also produced albums by other artists such as Rosalia De Souza and Paolo Achenza Trio.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

0

Hank Mobley Quintet


















Rating: 4/10
Sound Quality: 320 kb/s
Format: Mp3
Record Label: Blue Note
Year Released: 1957
Album Covers: Included
Pass: radiodada
Links: rapidshare

Note From Dada!
Όχι από τα καλύτερα δισκάκια του Mobley, τουλάχιστον από συνθετικής άποψης, γιατί την ερμηνευτική πλευρά εξυψώνουν ονόματα όπως Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Art Farmer, Doug Watkins. Ο όγδοος προσωπικός και ο τέταρτος για λογαριασμό της Blue Note δίσκος του Hank Mobley, όλος σε δικές του συνθέσεις. Ξεχωρίζουν τα "Funk In Deep Freeze" και το πολύ καλό "Fin De l'Affaire".

Σύνθεση:
Horace Silver: Πιάνο
Art Blakey: Τύμπανα
Hank Mobley: Τενόρο Σαξόφωνο
Art Farmer: Τρομπέτα
Doug Watkins: Μπάσο

About Hank Mobley
Henry (Hank) Mobley (July 7, 1930 – May 30, 1986) was an American hard bop and soul jazz tenor saxophonist and composer. Mobley was described by Leonard Feather as the "middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone", a metaphor used to describe his tone that was neither as aggressive as John Coltrane nor as mellow as Stan Getz. This description suggested to some that Mobley was mediocre; and, as his style was laid-back, subtle and melodic, especially in contrast with players like Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane, it took connoisseurs until after his demise to fully appreciate his talent.

Mobley was born in Eastman, Georgia, but was raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey, near Newark. Early in his career, he worked with Dizzy Gillespie and Max Roach. He took part in one of the landmark hard bop sessions, alongside Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Doug Watkins and trumpeter Kenny Dorham. The results of these sessions were released as Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers. They contrasted with the classical pretensions of cool jazz, with Mobley's rich lyricism being bluesier, alongside the funky approach of Horace Silver. When The Jazz Messengers split in 1956, Mobley continued on with pianist Horace Silver for a short time, although he did work again with Blakey some years later, when the drummer appeared on Mobley's albums in the early 60s.

During the 1960s, he worked chiefly as a leader, recording 25 albums for Blue Note Records, including Soul Station and Roll Call, between 1955 and 1970. He performed with many of the most important hard bop players, such as Grant Green, Freddie Hubbard, Sonny Clark, Wynton Kelly and Philly Joe Jones, and formed a particularly productive partnership with trumpeter Lee Morgan. Mobley is widely recognized as one of the great composers of originals in the hard-bop era, with interesting chord changes and room for soloists to spread out.

His 1961 album, Another Workout, while considered an instant classic, was inexplicably not released until 1985.

Mobley also spent a brief time in 1961 with Miles Davis, during the trumpeter's search for a replacement for John Coltrane. He is heard on the album Someday My Prince Will Come (alongside Coltrane, who returned for the recording of some tracks), and some live recordings (In Person: Live at the Blackhawk and At Carnegie Hall). Though considered by some as not having the improvisational fire of Coltrane, Mobley was still a major voice on tenor saxophone, known for his melodic playing.

Mobley was forced to retire in the mid-1970s due to lung problems. He worked briefly with Duke Jordan before his death from pneumonia in 1986.

Monday, December 14, 2009

3

Studio One Scorcher Vol.1


















Rating: 6/10
Sound Quality: 320 kb/s
Format: Mp3
Record Label: Soul Jazz Records
Year Released: 2002
Album Covers: Included
Pass: radiodada
Links: rapidshare, extra links


Note From Dada!Μια ακόμα πολύ καλή συλλογή της Soul Jazz Records, με ορχηστρικά θέματα του Studio One.

About Studio One
Studio One is one of Jamaica's most renowned record labels and recording studios, having been described as "the Motown of Jamaica." Studio One was involved with most of the major music movements in Jamaica during the 1960s and 1970s, including ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub and dancehall. The label was founded by Clement "Coxsone" Dodd in 1954, and the first recordings were cut in 1957 on Brentford Road in Kingston. Amongst its earliest records were "Easy Snappin'" by Theophilus Beckford, backed by Clue J and his Blues Blasters, and "This Man is Back" by trombonist Don Drummond. Dodd had previously issued music on a series of other labels, including World Disc, and had run Sir Coxsone the Downbeat, one of the largest and most reputable sound systems in the Kingston ghettos. The label and studio were closed when Dodd relocated to New York City in the 1980s. Studio One has recorded and released music by (and had a large hand in shaping the careers of) artists such as The Skatalites, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Burning Spear, Toots & the Maytals, John Holt, Horace Andy, Ken Boothe, Freddie McGregor, Dennis Brown, Jackie Mittoo, Gladiators, Michigan & Smiley, Wailing Souls, Dillinger, Delroy Wilson, Heptones, Johnny Osbourne, Marcia Griffiths (of the I-Threes), Sugar Minott, The Abyssinians, Culture, Soul Vendors, Lone Ranger, and Alton Ellis. Noted rival Prince Buster began his career working for Dodd's sound system, and the record producer Harry J recorded many of his best-known releases at Studio One.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

2

Search For The New Land - Lee Morgan


















Rating: 5/10
Sound Quality: 320 kb/s
Format: Mp3
Record Label: Blue Note
Year Released: 1964
Album Covers: Included
Pass: radiodada
Links: rapidshare

Note From Dada!
Oι μουσικοί που απαρτίζουν το 14ο προσωπικό (και 9ο για τη Blue Note) album του Lee Morgan "Search For A New Land" είναι μια "παρέλαση μουσικών ειδώλων" της jazz. Grant Green (Κιθάρα), Herbie Hancock (Πιάνο), Billy Higgins (Τύμπανα), Wayne Shorter (Τενόρο Σαξόφωνο). Ηχογραφήθηκε νωρίτερα από τo "The Sidewider" αλλά εκδόθηκε περίπου ένα χρόνο αργότερα. Ξεχωρίζουν τα "Search For The New Land", "Melancholee" και "Mr. Kenyatta". Όλες οι συνθέσεις του δίσκου ανήκουν στον ίδιο τον Lee Morgan.

Σύνθεση:
Lee Morgan: Τρομπέτα
Grant Green: Κιθάρα
Herbie Hancock: Πιάνο
Billy Higgins: Τύμπανα
Wayne Shorter: Τενόρο Σαξόφωνο
Reggie Workman: Κοντραμπάσο

About The Album
Search for the New Land is a 1964 album by jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan. A hard bop set with a group of well-known jazz musicians, Search for the New Land was recorded before The Sidewinder was released and is considered more abstract than its popular predecessor. It is described by jazz commentator Scott Yanow as "one of the finest Lee Morgan records". The album reached #16 on Billboard's "Black Albums" chart and #143 on "Pop Albums".

About Lee Morgan

Lee Morgan, a leading (hard bop & modal jazz) trumpeter and composer, recorded prolifically from 1956 until a day before his death in February 1972. Originally interested in the vibraphone, he soon showed a growing enthusiasm for the trumpet; and on his 13th birthday his sister Ernestine gave him his first trumpet. His primary stylistic influence was Clifford Brown, who gave the teenager a few lessons before his untimely death in a 1956 car accident. Morgan joined the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band at 18, and remained a member for a year and a half, until economics forced Dizzy to disband the unit in 1958. He began recording for Blue Note Records in 1956, eventually recording 25 albums as a leader for the company, with more than 250 musicians. He also recorded on the Vee-Jay label.

He was a featured sideman on several early Hank Mobley records, as well as on John Coltrane's Blue Train (1957) on which, he played a trumpet with an angled bell (given to him by Gillespie) and delivered one of his most celebrated solos on the title track.

Joining Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in 1958 further developed his talent as a soloist and composer. He toured with Blakey for a few years, and was featured on numerous albums by the Messengers, including Moanin', which is one of the band's best-known recordings. When Benny Golson left the Jazz Messengers, Morgan persuaded Blakey to hire Wayne Shorter, a young tenor saxophonist, to fill the chair. This version of the Jazz Messengers, including pianist Bobby Timmons and bassist Jymie Merritt, would record the classic The Freedom Rider album. The drug problems of Morgan and Timmons forced them to leave the band in 1961, and the trumpeter returned to Philadelphia, his hometown. According to Tom Perchard, a Morgan biographer, it was Blakey who introduced the trumpeter to heroin, an addictive drug that impeded his career trajectory.

On returning to New York in 1963, he recorded The Sidewinder (December 1963), which became his greatest commercial success. The title track cracked the pop charts in 1964, and served as the background theme for Chrysler television commercials during the World Series. The tune was used without Morgan's or Blue Note's consent, and intercession by the label's lawyers led to the commercial being withdrawn. Due to the crossover success of "The Sidewinder" in a rapidly changing pop music market, Blue Note owners encouraged other of its artists to emulate the tune's "boogaloo" beat. Morgan himself repeated the formula several times with compositions such as "Cornbread" (from the eponymous album Cornbread) and "Yes I Can, No You Can't" on The Gigolo. According to drummer Billy Hart, Morgan said he had recorded "The Sidewinder" as filler for the album, and was bemused that it had turned into his biggest hit. He felt that his playing was much more advanced on Grachan Moncur III's essentially avant-garde Evolution album, recorded a month earlier, on November 21,1963.

After this commercial success, Morgan continued to record prolifically, producing such works as Search for the New Land (1964), which reached the top 20 of the R&B charts. He also briefly rejoined the Jazz Messengers after his successor, Freddie Hubbard, joined another group.

As the 60's progressed, he recorded some twenty additional albums as a leader, and continued to record as a sideman on the albums of other artists, including Wayne Shorter's Night Dreamer; Stanley Turrentine's Mr. Natural; Freddie Hubbard's The Night of the Cookers; Hank Mobley's Dippin', A Caddy for Daddy, A Slice of the Top, Straight No Filter; Jackie McLean's Jackknife and Consequence; Joe Henderson's Mode for Joe; McCoy Tyner's Tender Moments; Lonnie Smith's Think and Turning Point; Elvin Jones' The Prime Element; Jack Wilson's Easterly Winds; Reuben Wilson's Love Bug; Larry Young's Mother Ship; Lee Morgan and Clifford Jordan Live in Baltimore 1968; Andrew Hill's Grass Roots; as well as on several albums with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers.

He became more politically involved in the last two years of his life, becoming one of the leaders of the Jazz and People's Movement; the group demonstrated during the taping of talk and variety shows during 1970-71 to protest the lack of jazz artists as guest performers and members of the programs' bands.

His working band during those last years featured reedmen Billy Harper or Bennie Maupin; pianist Harold Mabern, bassist Jymie Merritt and drummers Mickey Roker or Freddie Waits. Maupin, Mabern, Merritt and Roker are featured on the well-regarded 3-disc, Live at the Lighthouse, recorded during a two-week engagement at the Hermosa Beach club, California, in July 1970.

That Lee Morgan would be murdered in the early hours of February 19, 1972, at Slugs', a jazz club in New York City's East Village where his band was performing, was as improbable as it was tragic. Following an altercation between sets, Morgan's live-in girlfriend (Helen More), shot him in the heart, killing him instantly.He was 33 years old.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

1

Ma Fleur - The Cinematic Orchestra


















Rating: 7.5/10
Sound Quality: 320 kb/s
Format: Mp3
Record Label: Ninja Tune
Year Released: 2007
Album Covers: Included
Pass: radiodada
Links: rapidshare

Note From Dada!
Κι εάν η πρησμένη κοιλιά της μουσικής βιομηχανοκουνέλας, γεννοβολά μουσικές και δίσκους σε ρυθμούς ακατάληπτους και με την βαρύτητας μιας πορδής, ευτυχώς υπάρχουν κάποιοι που βρίσκονται στο studio μόνο όταν συντρέχουν "εμπνευσμένοι" λόγοι. Αν το καλοσκεφτείς οι Portishead με τρία μόνο δισκάκια κατάφεραν να "εδραιωθούν" (θα μπορούσαν και μόνο με τα δύο πρώτα) ως ένα από τα πιο σημαντικά μουσικά σχήματα των 90's. Κάτι παρόμοιο (δεν μπαίνω στη διαδικασία σύγκρισης) συμβαίνει και με το μουσικό σχήμα των Cinematic Orchestra. To "Ma Fleur", το τέταρτο μόλις full length album τους, αποδεικνύει περίτρανα όταν δεν χρειάζεται μια μπάντα να είναι παραγωγική για να παραμένει "ενεργή" αλλά να είναι εμπνευσμένη. Κρατώντας λιγότερες "jazz δομές" σε σχέση με τους προηγούμενους δίσκους τους και ενισχύοντας την πιο ambient - downtempo πλευρά τους, το "Ma Fluer" είναι ένα από τα πιο ολοκληρωμένα album που άκουσα στη δεκαετία των "μηδενικών". Σε δύο τραγούδια "επιστρατεύεται" για μία ακόμα φορά από τα 60's, η καταπληκτική soul φωνή της Fontella Bass, πέντε κομμάτια "ντύνουν" με τις εξαιρετικές τους ερμηνείες ο Patrick Watson και η Lou Rhodes και τέλος πέντε μουσικά ορχηστρικά θέματα κλείνουν αυτό το album που είναι ισάξιο των προηγούμενων που κυκλοφόρησαν οι Cinematic.
Ενώ το album χαρακτηρίζεται από "τη μουσική του συνοχή", καθώς τα tracks "κυλάνε" το ένα πίσω από το άλλο, είναι δύσκολο να μην ξεχωρίσεις το -ανατριχιαστικό- "Breathe" με την Fontella Bass, το "To Build A Home" (Patrick Watson) και το "Time & Peace" (Lou Rhodes).
Όλος όμως ο δίσκος, είναι νομίζω το καταλληλότερο sountrack για αυτές τις βροχερές-χειμωνιάτικες μέρες (...και νύχτες). Καλή ακρόαση!

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Breathe - The Cinematic Orchestra
Σε αυτή τη live εκδοχή η ερμηνεία του τραγουδιού ανήκει στην Eska Mtungwazi αντί της studio version που τραγούδησε η Fontella Bass.




About The Album
Ma Fleur is the fourth full-length release and third proper studio album by The Cinematic Orchestra, released on 7 May 2007. The album is less jazz-influenced than the band's previous albums, but still retains their familiar downtempo sound. The North American version of the album contains 10 tracks in a different sequence from the UK version and omits "Child Song".

About The Cinematic Orchestra
The Cinematic Orchestra is a British-based jazz and electronic outfit, created in the late 1990s by Jason Swinscoe. The band is signed to Ninja Tune independent record label. In addition to Swinscoe, the band includes PC (former DJ Food member Patrick Carpenter) on turntables, Luke Flowers (drums), Tom Chant (Saxophone), Nick Ramm (piano), Stuart McCallum (guitar) and Phil France (double bass). Former members include Jamie Coleman (trumpet), T. Daniel Howard (drums), Federico Ughi (drums) and Alex James (piano). The most recent addition to the band is Mancunian guitarist Stuart McCallum. Swinscoe and Carpenter (PC) have also recorded together under the band name Neptune.

The Cinematic Orchestra's sound, in both live and studio contexts, employs a live band which improvises along with a turntablist and electronic elements such as samples provided by Swinscoe. In their studio releases Swinscoe will often remix the live source material to produce a finished product that is a seamless combination of live jazz improvisation with electronica, such that it is difficult to tell where the improvisation ends and the production begins.

Swinscoe first formed a group called Crabladder in 1990, whilst studying Fine Art at Cardiff College, releasing one official single on his own Power Tools label. In 1994, Swinscoe was given a DJ spot on Heart FM, a pirate radio station in south London.
Their debut album, Motion, was released in 1999. The critical success of that album led to them being asked to perform at the Director's Guild Awards ceremony for the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award to film director Stanley Kubrick.

The band were asked by the organisers of the Porto European City of Culture 2001 festival to write a new score to Dziga Vertov's classic 1929 Russian silent film Man with a Movie Camera, to be performed live in accompaniment with a showing of the film. The work differed from the band's usual compositions due to its live performance, ruling out the post production work that was present on Motion. The Cinematic Orchestra toured with the work and later released it on an album of the same name. Many of the compositions originally created for Man with a Movie Camera were later adapted from live form (adding in vocal tracks and electronic elements, among other changes) for their next album, Every Day.

In 2006, The Cinematic Orchestra created a cover version of the Radiohead song "Exit Music (For a Film)" that appeared on an album titled Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads. In this piece the band slowed down the tempo of the original, divided the timbre into four sections beginning with saxophone, to the classical guitar, to the electric guitar, ending the piece with the same simple acoustic guitar rhythm as the original version.

The Cinematic Orchestra released the album Ma Fleur on May 7, 2007. Several songs feature Patrick Watson, Fontella Bass, or Lou Rhodes on vocals, with Rhodes and Watson sharing vocals on one song.

The Cinematic Orchestra recorded the soundtrack to the Disneynature film The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos (in French: Les Ailes Pourpres: Le Mystère des Flamants), released in France on December 15, 2008. The score was performed live with the London Metropolitan Orchestra at The Union Chapel, Islington on September 17th, 2009 and won the award for best original score at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Festival In Wyoming, USA on October 1, 2009.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

0

Jamaica Funk: Original Jamaican Funk And Soul 45's


















Rating: 6/10
Sound Quality: 320 kb/s
Format: Mp3
Record Label: Soul Jazz Records
Year Released: 2007
Album Covers: Included
Pass: radiodada
Links: rapidshare

Note From Dada!
Μιας και στην προηγούμενη ανάρτηση αναφέρθηκα στις παραγωγές της "Soul Jazz Records", είπα να μην "ξεφύγω από το θέμα" και έτσι λοιπόν ώτα μου σας σερβίρω μια ακόμη εξαιρετική "Soul Jazz Records συλλογή", φτιαγμένη από funk - soul 45άρια της αντίστοιχης τζαμαϊκανής μουσικής σκηνής.
Εξαιρετικά, εξαιρετικά και πάλι εξαιρετικά τα "Brown Baby" (Derrick Harriot) και "I Love The Way You Love" (The Chosen Few) τα οποία αναρτώ πιο κάτω στη γνωστή "γιού-τιούμπ - αϊ-τιούμπ - σι-τιούμπ" μορφή.
Καλή Ακρόαση!

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Brown Baby - Derrick Harriot


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I Love The Way You Love - The Chosen Few

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

2

Studio One Kings


















Rating: 6.5/10
Sound Quality: 320 kb/s
Format: Mp3
Record Label: Soul Jazz Records
Year Released: 2007
Album Covers: Included
Pass: radiodada
Links: rapidshare

Note From Dada!
Οι συλλογές και γενικότερα οι παραγωγές της Soul Jazz Records είναι απ' τις πιο προσεγμένες, όχι μόνο από μουσικής άποψης αλλά και από την πλευρά των εκδόσεων (φωτογραφικό υλικό, ένθετα, πληροφορίες κ.α.). Το ίδιο λοιπόν συμβαίνει και μ' αυτή τη συλλογή, που περιλαμβάνει μερικούς από τους "κορυφαίους", του θρυλικού Studio One" (Johnny Osbourne, Cornel Campbell, Horace Andy κ.α.). Το προτείνω ανεπιφύλακτα, όχι τόσο στους λάτρεις ή γνώστες της Reggae, αλλά σε όσους διατηρούν την εντύπωση, ότι Reggae σημαίνει "Μarley και ξερό χασίς..." Αν και όλος δίσκος φεύγει "νεράκι" από εξαιρετικά tracks - σημειώνω κάποια που ξεχωρίζω: "I've Got To Make It" (Larry Marshall), "Change Of Plan" (Joe Higgs), Roots Natty (Albert Griffiths).

About Studio One
Studio One is one of Jamaica's most renowned record labels and recording studios, having been described as "the Motown of Jamaica." Studio One was involved with most of the major music movements in Jamaica during the 1960s and 1970s, including ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub and dancehall. The label was founded by Clement "Coxsone" Dodd in 1954, and the first recordings were cut in 1957 on Brentford Road in Kingston. Amongst its earliest records were "Easy Snappin'" by Theophilus Beckford, backed by Clue J and his Blues Blasters, and "This Man is Back" by trombonist Don Drummond. Dodd had previously issued music on a series of other labels, including World Disc, and had run Sir Coxsone the Downbeat, one of the largest and most reputable sound systems in the Kingston ghettos. The label and studio were closed when Dodd relocated to New York City in the 1980s. Studio One has recorded and released music by (and had a large hand in shaping the careers of) artists such as The Skatalites, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Burning Spear, Toots & the Maytals, John Holt, Horace Andy, Ken Boothe, Freddie McGregor, Dennis Brown, Jackie Mittoo, Gladiators, Michigan & Smiley, Wailing Souls, Dillinger, Delroy Wilson, Heptones, Johnny Osbourne, Marcia Griffiths (of the I-Threes), Sugar Minott, The Abyssinians, Culture, Soul Vendors, Lone Ranger, and Alton Ellis. Noted rival Prince Buster began his career working for Dodd's sound system, and the record producer Harry J recorded many of his best-known releases at Studio One.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

1

The Astounding Eyes Of Rita - Anoura Brahem


















Rating: 6/10
Sound Quality: 320 kb/s
Format: Mp3
Record Label: ECM
Year Released: 2009
Album Covers: Included
Pass: radiodada
Links: rapidshare

Note From Dada!
Όσο εύκολα μπορώ να πω, πως δεν πρόκειται για την καλύτερη δισκογραφική δουλειά του Τυνήσιου ουτίστα Anouar Brahem (είμαι λάτρης των "Thimar", "Kohmsa", "Le Voyage de Sahar"), άλλο τόσο δύσκολα μπορώ να μην εκφράσω, πως πρόκειται για ένα πραγματικά πολύ όμορφο album. Ο τελευταίος και αρκετά πρόσφατος δίσκος του Brahem είναι αφιερωμένος στον Παλαιστίνιο ποιητή Mahmoud Darwish, από ποίημα του οποίου είναι "εμπνευσμένος" και ο τίτλος του.
Όπως και στο παρελθόν, έτσι και εδώ, o Brahem "ντύνει" αριστοτεχνικά τις ρίζες της μουσικής του καταγωγής, με μια "δυτική" προσέγγιση (συνήθως ενορχηστρωτική και όχι τόσο συνθετική) που επ' ουδενί δε θα τη χαρακτήριζα World ή Ethnic καθώς οι συγκεκριμένοι όροι μάλλον τείνουν να αποκτήσουν ένα νόημα Easy Listening.
Εξαιρετικά τα "Stopover At Djibouti", "The Astounding Eyes Of Rita", πολύ καλά τα "Al Birwa" και "Galilee Mon Amour".

Σύνθεση:
Anour Brahem: Ούτι
Klaus Gessing: Μπάσο Κλαρινέτο
Bjorn Meyer: Ηλεκτρικό Μπάσο
Khaled Yassine: Νταρμπούκα, Μπεντίρ

About Anouar Brahem
Anouar Brahem (transliteration of the Arabic أنور ابراهم) was born on October 20, 1957 in the town of Halfouine in the Medina of Tunis, Tunisia. He is an oud player and composer, who is widely acclaimed as an innovator in his field. Performing primarily for a jazz audience, he fuses Arab classical music, folk music and jazz and has been recording since at least 1991, after becoming prominent in his own country in the late 1980s.

Encouraged by his father, an engraver and printer, but also a music lover, Brahem began his studies of the oud at the age of 10, at the Tunis National Conservatory of Music, where his principal teacher was the oud master, Ali Sriti. An exceptional student, by the age of 15 Brahem was playing regularly with local orchestras. At 18 he decided to devote himself entirely to music. For four consecutive years Ali Sriti received him at home every day and continued to convey to him the modes, subtleties and secrets of Arab classical music through the traditional master / disciple relationship, particularly in the intricacies of the Maqam system, and taqsim.
Little by little, Brahem began to broaden his field of listening to include other musical expressions from around the Mediterranean, Iran and India, before jazz began to command his attention. According to Brahem, "I enjoyed the change of environment, and discovered the close links that exist between all these musics".

Brahem increasingly distanced himself from an environment largely dominated by entertainment music. He sought to do more than simply perform at weddings, and did not want to join one of the many existing ensembles, in which the oud was little more than an accompanying instrument for singers. Passion for his vocation as an oudist led him to give first place to his preferred instrument of Arab music, and to offer the Tunisian public ensemble and solo concerts. He began writing his own compositions and gave a series of solo concerts in various cultural venues. He also issued a self-produced cassette, on which he was accompanied by percussionist Lassaad Hosni.

A loyal public of connoisseurs gradually rallied around him and the Tunisian press gave enthusiastic support. Reviewing one of Brahem's first performances, critic Hatem Touil wrote: "this talented young player has succeeded not only in overwhelming the audience but also in giving non-vocal music in Tunisia its claim to nobility while at the same time restoring the fortunes of the lute. Indeed, has a lutenist produced such pure sounds or concretised with such power and conviction, the universality of musical experience."
In 1981, he left for Paris in search of new vistas. This enabled him to meet musicians from a variety of genres. He remained there as a composer for four years, notably for Tunisian cinema and theatre. He collaborated with Maurice Béjart for his ballet Thalassa Mare Nostrum and with Gabriel Yared as lutist for Costa Gavras’ film Hanna K.

In 1985 he returned to Tunis, where an invitation to perform at the Carthage festival provided him with the opportunity to bring together for Liqua 85, outstanding figures of Tunisian and Turkish music, and French jazz. These included Abdelwaheb Berbech, the Erköse brothers, François Jeanneau, Jean-Paul Celea, François Couturier and others. The success of the project earned Brahem Tunisia's Grand National Prize for Music.

In 1987, he was appointed director of the Musical Ensemble of the City of Tunis (EMVT). Instead of keeping the large existing orchestra, he broke it up into formations of variable size, giving it new orientations: one year in the direction of new creations, and the next more towards traditional music. The main productions were "Leïlatou Tayer" (1988) and "El Hizam El Dhahbi" (1989) in line with his early instrumental works and following the main axis of his research. In these compositions, he remained essentially within the traditional modal space, although he transformed its references and upset its hierarchy. Following a natural disposition towards osmosis, which has absorbed the Mediterranean, African and Far-Eastern heritages, he also touched from time to time upon other musical expressions: European music, jazz and other forms.

With "Ennaoura el achiqua" (1987), Brahem presented a performance of songs, a result of his association with the poet Ali Louati. In this exploration of vocal music, he showed a connection with its elaborate classical forms, such as the "Quassid", in the footsteps of Khemais Tarnane, Saied Derwich, Riadh Sombati and Mohamed Abdelwahab. "Ennaoura el achiqua", a marginal work, going against the grain, nevertheless had considerable impact on both press and public.
"Ennaoura el achiqua" was not to be his only excursion into the field of song. He returned to it from time to time, for film music or in association with a singer and often with the complicity of Ali Louati. For instance, he collaborated with Nabiha Karaouli - whom he revealed to the public, Sonia M’barek, Saber Rebaï, Teresa de Sio, Franco Battiato and Lotfi Bouchnak, who sang "Ritek ma naaref ouin", composed in the spirit of an "imaginary folklore".

In 1988, before an audience of 10,000 people, he opened the Carthage festival with "Leilatou tayer". The newspaper Tunis-Hebdo wrote: "if we had to elect the musician of the '80s, we would without the least hesitation, choose Anouar Brahem".

With "Rabeb" (1989) and "Andalousiat" (1990), Anouar Brahem returned to classical Arab music. Despite the rich heritage transmitted by Ali Sriti and the fact that this music constituted the core of his training, he had in fact, never performed it in public. With this "return" he wished to contribute to the urgent rehabilitation of this music. He put together a small ensemble, a "takht". Brahem believes this is the only means of restoring the spirit, the subtlety of the variations and the intimacy of this chamber music. He called upon the well-known Tunisian musicians, such as Béchir Selmi and Taoufik Zghonda, and undertook thorough research work on ancient manuscripts, with strict attention to transparency, nuances and detail.
In 1990, he decided to leave the EMVT and embarked on a tour to the USA and Canada. On his return he met with Manfred Eicher, the producer/founder of the German label ECM Records. From this meeting spawned a fruitful collaboration, that marked an important evolution in his work. So far, ten albums have resulted from this association, which have been received extremely well by the international press and the public.

The same year he released his first record, Barzakh, in collaboration with two prominent Tunisian musicians, with whom he had already established a close artistic relationship - Béchir Selmi and Lassaad Hosni. Considered by the German magazine Stereo as "a major musical event", this record confirmed his position as "an exceptional musician and improviser". In Conte de l’incroyable Amour, recorded in 1991, improvisation was central, and the tone was quite different, due in particular to the presence of Barbarose Erkose and the expressive power of his clarinet, and the Sufi inspiration of Kudsi Erguner’s nai. According to Le Monde, "the album unfurls around the poetic talent of Anouar Brahem’s lute. One follows him with delight around the subtle arrangement of the melody, the silences of the musical phrasing, across the unspoken into oriental paths, in a poetry of light and delicate beats". The same paper selected "Conte de l’Incroyable Amour" as one of the best records of 1992.

The same year, he was called upon to conceive and participate actively in the creation of the Centre for Arab and Mediterranean music in the palace of the Baron d’Erlanger at Sidi Bou Saïd. In November 1993, he fulfilled his dream of paying a worthy tribute to his master, Ali Sriti, who for the occasion, agreed to return to the stage after nearly thirty years. Brahem organised "Awdet Tarab", a concert of traditional instrumental and sung music, at the Erlanger Palace. The Tunisian public retain the indelible memory of the duos of the master and his pupil, accompanied by the voice of Sonia M’barek. In 1994 he recorded Madar with the Norwegian saxophonist, Jan Garbarek and the Pakistani master of the tabla, Shaukat Hussain. Jan Garbarek had been impressed by Brahem’s first two albums and had expressed the wish to work with him. Brahem, for his part, had admired the musician for years and shared the same wish. The meeting therefore came quite naturally, encouraged by Manfred Eicher. Brahem and Garbarek were united in a common quest: for a universal tradition. Madar mingles these of traditions, without harming the essence of each.

Anouar Brahem has composed the original scores for many films and plays, amongst which, Sabots en Or and Bezness by Nouri Bouzid, Ferid Boughedir’s Halfaouine, Moufida Tlatli’s Les Silences du Palais and La saison des hommes as well as for Iachou Shakespeare and Wannas el kloub by Mohamed Driss, El Amel, Borj El hammam and Bosten Jamalek by the Theatre Phou. In Khomsa (1995), he picked up a few of these pieces which he had always dreamed of performing in a free, airy and purely musical manner "freed from the chains of images and texts", as he put it. He assembled an eclectic ensemble to perform this music, including Richard Galliano (accordion), Palle Danielsson (double bass), Jon Christensen (drums), François Couturier (piano), Jean-Marc Larché (saxophone) and Béchir Selmi (violin). The sextet brought together by the composer, also featuring on oud, is constantly being divided into solos, duos, and trios - "hence the dominant and delicious impression of being on a motionless voyage full of secret passages, of novel tones, of suspended endings", as Alex Dutilh put it on France Musique. The Guardian declared that "Khomsa is one of the great records of the year. Brahem is at the forefront of jazz because he is far beyond it".

Three years later, Anouar Brahem was back in the studio to pick up where he had left off with Madar, passionately exploring the orchestral form of the trio, but this time in a context wide open to the great variety of the “worlds” of jazz. Flanked by two eminent musicians, pillars of the ECM label for the last thirty years, John Surman, the saxophonist and Dave Holland, the double bass player, heralds of British free music in the late '60s and since pursuing each his own highly particular and artistically coherent universe, Anouar Brahem ventured with infinite delicacy the refined poetry of his instrument at the "risk" of conceptions of improvisation far removed from his own universe. The result is in keeping with the challenge: Thimar is an outstanding success, a meditative and supremely musical work, permeated with poetry, where each piece is played in a contemplative atmosphere of extreme concentration. In this recording, without deviating from his personal aesthetic line, Anouar Brahem explores the “mysteries of jazz” to an extent he had never reached before. In Germany, Thimar received the “Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik". It was named “Best jazz album of the year” by the English magazine Jazz Wise.

Astrakan Café, his sixth album in 10 years for the Munich company, came out in September 2000. Although the oud player undoubtedly revisits his oriental and Mediterranean roots, it also built on his preceding albums. Playing once again for the occasion with his two faithful partners, the clarinetist of Romany origin, Barbaros Erköse, and the Tunisian percussionist, Lassad Hosni, Brahem drifts away on an intimate and eminently personal line, celebrating the syncretistic spirit of Arab music, while enhancing his approach to improvisation and collective sound with the ambitious works, Madar and Thimar.

In 2002, Brahem returned with a surprising and highly personal album. In a trio, again, with the pianist François Couturier, longstanding partner and, more unexpectedly, with the accordionist Jean-Louis Matinier, Anouar Brahem gives us with Le pas du chat noir, a soothing, melancholy music, with a tone of exquisite refinement and whose formal balance is unusual for a piece of popular music.

Anouar Brahem is an artist who, while profoundly imbued with his Arab heritage, is unequivocably modern, well anchored in his times and headed towards the future. He is furthermore, an artist unperturbed by the clash of cultures. He has always enjoyed initiating meetings with musicians of different horizons, finding in each the means of renewing himself while retaining his own identity. When questioned as to his inspiration, Brahem refers to the tree which, while rising above the ground and taking up more space, continues to develop and dig its roots deeper into the ground", an image which quite obviously has references to Tunis, a multi-faceted city, rooted in its Arab-Moslem culture and nourished on its African and Mediterranean influences, its traces always present in the artist’s work. In fact, he believes that a tradition which is unable to change and adapt is doomed to die. This is why he takes up challenges and opens his music to new forms of expression. "It would seem," wrote Wolfgang Sandner in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Magazin, "that the man from Tunisia has gone much further than many jazz musicians busily seeking out new music".

In playing style, Anouar Brahem is often compared to Rabih Abou-Khalil, though his compositions tend to be more mellow and spare. Most often he utilizes an ensemble of three or four musicians. He has collaborated throughout his career and on several albums with other musicians: Tunisian percussionist Lassad Hosni and violinist Bechir Selmi and Turkish clarinetist Barbaros Erköse. He has also performed live concerts with these same ensembles.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

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All Kooked Out! - Stanton Moore


















Rating: 6/10
Sound Quality: 320 kb/s
Format: Mp3
Record Label: Fog City Records
Year Released: 1998
Album Covers: Included
Pass: radiodada
Links: rapidshare

Note From Dada!
Ώτα μου κατά καιρούς μου αρέσει να ψάχνω στα τυφλά στο internet διάφορους δίσκους ή μουσικούς, που ποτέ μου δεν έχω ακούσει κάτι γι αυτούς άλλα ούτε κάποια άλλη πληροφορία προκαταλαμβάνει τις μεμβράνες των τυμπάνων μου. Καρπός της τυφλής μου αυτής αναζήτησης και ετούτο το δισκάκι (πρώτο προσωπικό) του αμερικανού ντράμερ - και μέλος των Galactic - Stanton Moore. Με κύρια συστατικά την jazz, τo funk και την acid jazz, αυτός ο δίσκος ενώ έχει τη βάση του καμιά σαρανταριά χρονάκια πίσω, καταφέρνει να τα συνδυάζει όλα αυτά με φρέσκια ματιά και έναν ιδιαίτερο ήχο. Εξαιρετικό το "Blues For Ben", πολύ καλά τα "Common Ground", "Farmstead Antiques","Kooks On Parade", "Nalgas" και "Angel Nemali".

Σύνθεση:
Stanton Moore: Τύμπανα, Κρουστά
Brent Rose: Άλτο & Τενόρο Σαξόφωνο
Brian Seger: Κιθάρα
Matt Perrine: Τούμπα
Ben Ellman: Τενόρο Σαξόφωνο
Charlie Hunter: Οκτάχορδη Κιθάρα
Skerik: Σαξόφωνο

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Stanton Moore - Kooks On Parade



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Stanton Moore- Sprung Monkey


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About Stanton Moore
Stanton Moore is a drummer raised in Metairie, Louisiana. Most widely known as a founding member of Galactic, Moore has also pursued a solo recording career (beginning with his 1998 debut All Kooked Out!) and recorded with bands as diverse as jazz-funk keyboardist Robert Walter and heavy metal act Corrosion of Conformity. He also travels internationally to teach New Orleans drumming, writes a regular column for drumming magazines, and releases instructional books and videos.
As of 2008 some of Moore's recent projects include the Stanton Moore Trio, Garage A Trois and the Midnite Disturbers. Moore performs with his Stanton Moore Trio including a variety of local and visiting musicians in New Orleans. As a trio he has toured nationally with keyboardist Robert Walter and guitarist Will Bernard. Additionally, Walter and Bernard are the credited musicians on Moore's two most recent solo albums. Moore continues to perform with his co-founded Garage A Trois with Skerik, Mike Dillon and Marco Benevento. Moore organized the all-star brass band Midnite Disturbers with drummer Kevin O'Day. The Midnite Disrurbers are Trombone Shorty and Jamelle Williams on trumpets, Big Sam and Mark Mullins on trombones, Ben Ellman and Skerik on saxophones, Jeffery Hills on sousaphone and Kevin O’Day and Moore on drums.
Other ongoing collaborations include bands such as Dragon Smoke and MG5. Dragon Smoke features Eric Lindell, Robert Mercurio, Ivan Neville and Stanton Moore. MG5 (formerly Frequinox) features Robert Walter, Robert Mercurio, Will Bernard, Donald Harrison, Jeff Coffin and Stanton Moore.
Since Hurricane Katrina Moore has helped start and participates in the Tipitina's Foundation workshop for students, providing young people an opportunity to learn, play and perform with professional musicians.
Recently, Moore has collaborated with Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Boots Riley of the Coup on a new project under the name Street Sweeper Social Club, which released an album on June 16, 2009.
Moore released Emphasis! (On Parenthesis) on Telarc April 2008 as Stanton Moore Trio. The trio consists of long time associates Robert Walter and Will Bernard.
At the 2009 Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, California Stanton Moore introduced a signature model snare drum under his own brand, The Stanton Moore Drum company of New Orleans. The drum is 4.5" x 14" made of titanium. Stanton worked closely with drum designer Ronn Dunnett (Dunnett Classic Drums) to create a drum that embodied the sound of a classic vintage snare drum that Stanton had once owned.