Just so we know

"Consumers have musical choice? What musical choice? In or society we choose only from what we are given to choose from, and that choice is determined by 5 major media corporations who control the exposure outlets that consumers depend on for their entertainment." -Christopher Knab

 "Record companies like to make money, and that is their only goal. They do not care about the content that they sell - they care about maximizing their profits. It is because of this that I hate record companies with the same passion that I hate venture capitalists. The record companies do not try to foster a creative environment which rewards musicians who serve their respective niche, but create an environment which attempts to market a small amount of music to the largest audience possible. It is more profitable for the record company to sell a few decent records in bulk than to have a vast array of cult hits that sell decently." -Numair Faraz

"This is all about greed, something the record/entertainment industry has honed to a science. Dusty LPs, the artists, they don't care! But if there's a nickel on the floor, look out; they'll cut your throat for it because they 'need' that nickel. Artists get paid a small sum, then the capital boys live off them like kings until the next big thing, then it's over. So it's not about the music you see it's about their nickel. That's why you can't have any sharing of long gone music, because there might be a nickel there and they want it. They wouldn't give to a charity if it wasn't showing them handing over a cheque or had a building named after them so why would they be charitable on long lost material. Strangely they even tried to stop resale of used CDs because there was that darned nickel they wouldn't get. May all the 'industry suits' have children who hate them." -Jannx




Thursday, March 26, 2009

JAMES BROWN - LIVE IN NEW YORK (1981)


And once again we have a guest post from Smooth @ MyJazzWorld. This time we have a not so easy to find live recording of good ol' James Brown, performing live in New York. The whole album, a double LP to be exact, was recorded live at the famous Studio 54. In the midst of the live tracks we will also find two instrumentals: studio tracks performed by the Bay Ridge Band. It made me wonder if the Bay Ridge Band also forms the band that backs up James during these live recordings. It's too bad that the Bay Ridge Band instrumentals have so clumsily been thrown in on this album, 'cause it breaks the continuity of the show and the first instrumental, "Brown's Inferno" doesn't even have a nice fade out. It's simply and brutally cut off after three minutes and "Bay Ridge Boogie" is misspelled as "Bay Ridge Boogy". There are more typos: "Get Up Offa That Thing" is actually spelled on the back cover as "Get Up Off That Thing", "Get On The Good Foot" is simply written down as "Good Foot", "I Got The Feelin'" has become "Got That Feeling". The other thing is that Get Up Offa That Thing, "Try Me" and "This Is A Man's World" all begin with the horn riff intro from "Everybody Wanna Get Funky One More Time".

So yes, the continuity of the album is a bit broken and yes, the cover information is on the shady side, but man, is this a superb live recording! Admitted, you have to be in the mood for James Brown's super fast renditions of classics such as "Get On The Good Foot", "Sex Machine", "The Payback, "Cold Sweat" or "Please, Please, Please", but on a lovely, sunny Saturday afternoon, when you're getting ready to go out with the boys for a beer with the ladies, this sparkling Studio 54 performance from the hardest working man in showbusiness will certainly live up the gathering and most definitely your mood. Especially the continuous cheering of the audience gives it that extra spark. Smooth delivered a pristine rip at 320Kbps, so enjoy folks and let's see those replies!

Reply to this post says Baby Grandpa op 21:19 12 replies Links naar dit bericht

Thursday, March 19, 2009

JACK DEJOHNETTE'S DIRECTIONS - UNTITLED (1976)


Yesterday one of my friends came over to borrow my copy of Jack DeJohnette's Directions. And as I have said before, I never hand out my records to others, not even to my best friends, 'cause experiences from the past have learnt that it's the best way to loose your precious vinyls. So, as before, I offered to rip the entire album for him in the WAV format. When he finally left the joint, I decided to share this gem with you in MP3 on my blog as well. A few years ago I bought the album in a second hand store. I was offered to listen to it before I made my decision and what finally made my buy it, was the freaky but at the same time dreamy atmosphere of the album. I can't properly describe it. Anyway, the compositions are at times simply stunning. "Morning Star" for instance. A beautiful, beautiful and oh so sweet track that indeed does remind you of early mornings and the last faint stars in the sky, right before the sun rises. Or the fantastic opening track, "Flying Spirits". Whenever I play this one, I can't help but think that everybody in the studio was under the influence of something mind expanding. There's just so much melody and variation everywhere. The seventh and last cut, "Malibu Reggae", delivers exactly what the title suggests: a very wobbly reggae song as if it was played by a band, completely drunk from drinking too much Malibu. Some beat diggers might even like the intro to "Fantastic" because of Jack's fabulous drums. All in all a wonderful album with some wild, loud and complex solos in the more uptempo tracks, that will definitely be of interest for the lovers of this kind of Jazz. In the line-up we find Jack DeJohnette on drums (and tenor sax on "The Vikings Are Coming"), John Abercrombie on electric and acoustic guitars, Alex Foster on tenor and soprano sax, Mike Richmond on acoustic and electric bass and Warren Bernhardt on keys. Listen to it from A to Z and take your time for it. The production is spacious, tight, crisp and with a great balance between bass, mid and treble. The vinyl has some audible surface noise (the previous owner must have played it a lot), but in all modesty I will say that the audio quality of my own rip is just very good. Artwork is embedded in every track for the Pod users; the usual high res cover scans are available in the file itself. Let's follow Jack DeJohnette's Directions, nicely ripped at 320Kbps. Enjoy and let's see those replies folks, 'cause not only do I love reading your comments, but since audio quality of all my rips is important to me, I'd like to know your opinions about that too!

Reply to this post says Baby Grandpa op 00:01 39 replies Links naar dit bericht

Monday, March 16, 2009

HORACE SILVER - SILVER 'N BRASS (1975)


And we're back! My two week holiday is over folks! So back to the rat race again... Today's special is this lovely gem by Horace Silver. "Silver 'N Brass" was the first of a series that began with "Silver 'N". After this one, four more titles came out: "Silver 'N Woods" (1975), "Silver 'N Voices" (1976), "Silver 'N Percussion" (1977) and "Silver 'N Strings Play The Music Of Spheres" (1978). I have never been able to lay hands on these four, no: I only have the LP "Silver 'N Brass". I know that other blogs like Bacoso's Orgy In Rhythm and Smooth's MyJazzWorld have posted either the entire "Silver 'N" series or individual albums, so it should be possible to obtain all five online. And if there's anyone out there who'd like to leave links to the remaining four titles in the comment field, then please feel free to do so. Anyway, "Silver 'N Brass" is a marvellous Jazz album that contains two hot and super funky cuts: "Kissin' Cousins" and "The Sophisticated Hippie". Very danceable and 'must haves' for every Jazz and Funk DJ, if you ask me. Bernard Purdy plays drums on both cuts, so that must be the reason why those two stand out. We see some more known names: Ron Carter on acoustic bass, Bob Cranshaw on Fender Bass; as always I included the front and back cover in the file so that you can read more about the other personnel. According to Silver's own liner notes he had been playing with the idea of having his own music orchestrated and thanks to the arrangements of Wade Marcus, that whole plan came together. The other four tracks, "Barbara", "Dameron's Dance", "Adjustment" and "Mysticism" are straight up Jazz compositions with some wild soloing here and there; highly energetic and inspiring to say the least -the brass section is simply great. Last but not least I have a question for y'all: is it just me, or is Horace undeniably playing horrible false notes during his piano solo on "The Sophisticated Hippie"? I'm talking about the part between 2'55" and 3'28". I truly can't help it; those 33 seconds of Horace's solo just sound false. I'm curious what you guys think, so let me know. Enough talk, time for us all to enjoy this lovely piece of out of print yummieness, of course nicely ripped at 320Kbps with the artwork included in every track for the Pod users. Once again I did my utmost to make the rip sound as perfect and crisp as possible, so let's see those replies on these issues, folks!

Reply to this post says Baby Grandpa op 18:50 34 replies Links naar dit bericht

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