Carolyn Hester – Scarlet Ribbons (1958/2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Carolyn Hester – Scarlet Ribbons (1958/2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 34:06 minutes | 261 MB | Genre: Folk
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RevOla

Hester’s rare late-’50s debut album is a sedate, if quite prettily sung, traditional folk record. Even more so than Hester’s self-titled early-’60s album for Tradition, this has a reverent recital quality in the John Jacob Niles school that, while admirable in its purity, is also kind of sterile. (Niles is in fact credited with three of the adaptations here, including the famous “Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair.”) Whether or not Joan Baez was influenced by this specific record, Hester’s high voice and pristine execution certainly foreshadow the kind of recordings made by several high-voiced woman folksingers (Baez, Judy Collins, and others) in the early-’60s folk revival. There’s also a much fainter foreshadowing of folk-rock in the presence of Jerry Allison, drummer for Buddy Holly & the Crickets, who plays brushes on a cardboard box on “The Wreck of the Old Ninety-Seven.” Too, Holly producer Norman Petty nabs the co-credit for the adaptation of “Hush-A-Bye.”

(more…)

Read more

Kebyart – Traum der Jugend (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Kebyart – Traum der Jugend (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 53:34 minutes | 876 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Linn Records

With this album, fittingly entitled Traum der Jugend, the young musicians of Kebyart see a longstanding dream come true. Drawn by its eagerness to reveal new soundworlds, the saxophone quartet has interwoven works from different epochs and given them a new, unconventional guise through its own arrangements. Taking Jörg Widmann’s 7 Capricci as a starting point – a work specially written for the quartet which sparked the idea of this recording – Kebyart draws a myriad of musical connections that journey from Felix Mendelssohn, one of Widmann’s favourite composers, to Johann Sebastian Bach, himself a source of inspiration to Mendelssohn. The programme culminates with a tribute to Fanny Mendelssohn, whose skilful compositions played a key role in developing the musical personality of her brother Felix.

(more…)

Read more

Karel Sejna – Dvořák: Slavonic Dances Op. 46 & 72 by Karel Šejna (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Karel Sejna – Dvořák: Slavonic Dances Op. 46 & 72 by Karel Šejna (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:11:52 minutes | 1,23 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Alexandre Bak – Classical Music Reference Recording

Karel Šejna (1 November 1896, Zálezly – 17 December 1982, Prague) was a Czech double bassist and conductor, the principal conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in 1950.

(more…)

Read more

Jordi Savall & Le Concert des Nations – Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 ‘Italian’ (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Jordi Savall & Le Concert des Nations – Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 ‘Italian’ (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 59:51 minutes | 997 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Alia Vox

After Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert, Jordi Savall continues his journey into the 19th century with the Italian Symphony of Felix Mendelssohn, a composer he records for the first time. He delivers 2 versions of the work: the one which was performed at the wolrdwide premiere in 1833 and the revised one from 1834. The most conspicuous changes are to be found in the last tree movements. The comparison of the two scores and the performance on period instruments take us as close to Mendelssohn’s work and original intention as we will ever get. Thanks to Jordi Savall’s insightful conducting, there is still something to discover in Mendelssohn’s most famous symphony.

(more…)

Read more

Johan Farjot & Friends – Caravan Party II (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

Johan Farjot & Friends – Caravan Party II (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 57:35 minutes | 622 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Klarthe Records Jazz

After his first opus placed under the sign of travel and nomadic solidarity, Johan Farjot takes his “Caravan Party” on a new journey marked by freedom and a limitless passion for the present moment.

With his friends from the Bal Blomet where he pursues, in a determined fashion, his series of “1001 Jazz Nights” alongside his accomplice Raphaël Imbert, we now find ourselves suspended in a balancing act called Live, an instant in time where anything can happen, created from the energy found on stage.

Surrounded once again by a fantastic cast, made up of surprising and improbable encounters, “Caravan Party II” takes us around the world, blown by a gust of freedom, thanks to, in alphabetical order:Felipe Cabrera, Hugh Coltman, Jean-Jacques Élangué, Daniel Humair, Raphaël Imbert and his son Timon, Naïssam Jalal, Raphaël Merlin, Anne Pacéo, Matteo Pastorino, Vincent Peirani, Joe Quitzke, Louis Sclavis, Damien Varaillon and MJ Williams

(more…)

Read more

Pierre Pichler – SONUS (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Pierre Pichler – SONUS (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:04:25 minutes | 934 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Gramola Records

If you will, it was a “century of the clarinet” – that age of the fading classical and romantic periods in which this woodwind instrument was already so mature that it could be considered ennobled, for example, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Quintet for Clarinet and String Quartet K. 581 of 1789, set for basset clarinet, and his immortal Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra K. 622 of 1791. Carl Stamitz, Franz Krommer, Louis Spohr and Carl Maria von Weber contributed numerous works to a modern literature, and increasingly detailed technical extensions animated composers to dedicate new demanding and rewarding pieces to the clarinet.

(more…)

Read more

Labirinti Armonici – Bonporti: Sonatas, Op. 1 for 2 Violins and B.C. (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

Labirinti Armonici – Bonporti: Sonatas, Op. 1 for 2 Violins and B.C. (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:00:41 minutes | 1,08 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Brilliant Classics

Francesco Bonporti (1672-1749) lived for the largest part of his life in Trento, his native town. He studied in Rome, and was influenced by Arcangelo Corelli, whose style of imitative counterpoint he invests with dramatic elements. His fame spread over Europe and the great Johann Sebastian Bach transcribed for harpsichord some of his violin sonatas.

The complete Trio Sonatas for 2 Violins & B.C. Op. 1 consist of the 4 movements of the Sonata di Chiesa (Church Sonatas). The first violin is mainly predominant, the other two instruments usually providing the accompaniment. The faster movements require virtuoso skills from the performers while the slow movements flow in sensitive and slightly melancholy melodic lines.

The Italian group Labirinti Armonici specializes in the performance of undiscovered Baroque music, it consists of two violins, cello and harpsichord/organ. They successfully recorded the Bonporti Sonatas Op. 2 for Brilliant Classics.

(more…)

Read more

Jeff Lorber Fusion – The Drop (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Jeff Lorber Fusion – The Drop (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 38:38 minutes | 865 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Shanachie

Jeff Lorber’s funkiest album yet, featuring an amazing allstar lineup including Grammy winning jazz greats Jimmy Haslip, Paul Jackson, Jr, Snarky Puppy’s Marc Lettieri, Gary Novak, David Mann and more! Grammy winning superstar keyboardist, writer, producer Jeff Lorber is renowned as a pioneer in the Jazz-Fusion movement. Scoring #1 radio hits with Jeff Lorber Fusion and as afounding member of Smooth Jazz super-group Jazz Funk Soul, Lorber performs constantly before his dedicated fans from coast to coast!! Highlights include the uber-funky “The Drop,” the warm, intimate “Hang Tight,” the bright, uplifting “Reception,” and more Lorber originals.

(more…)

Read more

Jasper Somsen – Jasper Somsen Invites Paul Van Der Feen and Bert Van Den Brink (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Jasper Somsen – Jasper Somsen Invites Paul Van Der Feen and Bert Van Den Brink (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 58:01 minutes | 463 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Challenge Records

In the fall of 2013, the cosy old bar of the grand café Loburg in my home town of Wageningen (The Netherlands) turned into a brand new, beautiful small venue, perfectly suited for an audience of a hundred people. In collaboration with LoburgLive, we started the concert series “Jasper Somsen Invites …” as part of the international programme of Jazz in Wageningen, in January 2014.

(more…)

Read more

The Ink Spots – The Ink Spots’ Greatest Hits (1935/2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

The Ink Spots – The Ink Spots’ Greatest Hits (1935/2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 43:50 minutes | 423 MB | Genre: Soul, R&B, Vocal Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Everest Records

The Ink Spots played a large role in pioneering the black vocal group-harmony genre, helping to pave the way for the doo wop explosion of the ’50s. The quavering high tenor of Bill Kenny presaged hundreds of street-corner leads to come, and the sweet harmonies of Charlie Fuqua, Deek Watson, and bass Hoppy Jones (who died in 1944) backed him flawlessly.

(more…)

Read more

The Independents – Chuck, Helen, Eric, Maurice (1973/2017) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

The Independents – Chuck, Helen, Eric, Maurice (1973/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 34:12 minutes | 749 MB | Genre: Soul, R&B
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Roadshow Records

The Independents’ sophomore album 1973’s “Chuck, Helen, Eric, Maurice” featured a personnel change – original member Marvin Yancy replaced by Eric Thomas. While Yancy dropped out of active performing, he continued his working relationship with the group, but this time around in the role of songwriter and producer. Co-produced by Jackson and Yancy, the album seemingly sought to find a balance between past successes and some new directions. While the heavy reliance on ballads certainly served the group well on the debut album (wracking up a series of radio hits), Jackson and Yancy were smart enough to avoid falling into an aural trap with this album. There were still plenty of old school ballads showcasing Chuck Jackson’s lead vocals (though Curry was notably absent throughout the set). ‘The First Time We Met’ and the breezy ‘Lucky Fellow’ were first rate ballads, easily as good as anything on the debut Less impressive were the single ‘It’s All Over’ and the closer ‘Sara Lee’. That said, this time around the highlights came in the form of the group’s atypical offerings; among them the bluesy The Same Old Way” and the up tempo numbers ‘No Wind, No Rain’ and ‘Show Me How’.

(more…)

Read more

The Hopewell Furnace – 1877 (2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

The Hopewell Furnace – 1877 (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 15:43 minutes | 356 MB | Genre: Metal
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © The Hopewell Furnace

1877 is a year buried in the midst of some of the United States’ most tumultuous and formative years. While a lot happened (I invite you to peruse the Wikipedia Page at your leisure), one event is crucial for the understanding of the concept underlying the conceptual EP by Pennsylvanian technical Deathcore outfit, The Hopewell Furnace. In late June—around the time you’re reading this, hopefully—ten men of Irish heritage were hanged on “The Day Of the Rope” for their purported connection with a vigilante outfit, The Molly Maguires. More information can be gleaned from 1877, or from The Internet (see the aforementioned wiki) on your time, but that event serves as the conceptual foundation and aesthetic basis for the long awaited release by this crushing quartet. What else do you need to know? Read on—because 1877 is a dense and devastating release packed with technicality, brutality and atmosphere aplenty.

(more…)

Read more

The Holydrug Couple – Hyper Super Mega (2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

The Holydrug Couple – Hyper Super Mega (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 41:48 minutes | 502 MB | Genre: Psychedelic Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sacred Bones Records

It was 10 years ago, in a house on the outskirts of Santiago, Chile, that Ives Sepúlveda Minho and Manuel Parra started playing music together, and The Holydrug Couple was effectively born. A decade later, they’ve made Hyper Super Mega, an album that represents the culmination of everything they’ve learned in their years as a band.

(more…)

Read more

Glenn Fallows, Mark Treffel – The Globeflower Masters, Vol. 1 (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Glenn Fallows, Mark Treffel – The Globeflower Masters, Vol. 1 (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 31:43 minutes | 311 MB | Genre: Jazz, Easy Listening
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Mr Bongo

The Globeflower Masters Vol. 1 takes its inspiration from classic soundtrack and cinematic composers such as Axelrod, Morricone, Gainsbourg, Jean-Claude Vannier and Piero Umiliani. Created during Summer 2020, this album is the product of a fruitful collaboration between Brighton-based musicians Glenn Fallows (The Impellers / Andres y Xavi) and Mark Treffel (Blue States / The Soul Steppers). These seasoned performing and recording artists have put their abundance of experience and skilful musicianship into effect with aplomb on this album. This is as accomplished a debut release as you will ever hear, and dare we say, a future classic in the making.

(more…)

Read more

Giovanni Mazzocchin – D. Scarlatti: 12 Keyboard Sonatas (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

Giovanni Mazzocchin – D. Scarlatti: 12 Keyboard Sonatas (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:12:15 minutes | 1,07 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © OnClassical

Born: August 8, 1994 – Bassano del Grappa, Vicenza province, Veneto region, Italy.

The Italian pianist, Giovanni Mazzocchin, studied at the Conservatory ‘Arrigo Pedrollo’ in Vicenza under the guidance of Marco Tezza (2007-2012). During the years of conservatory he also attended master-classes with some notable pianists such as Carlo Grante, Alexander Madzar, Filippo Gamba, Massimiliano Ferrati, and Wolfram Schmitt-Leonardy, who particularly appreciated the his performance of Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt. He obtained his Diploma in Piano in 2012 with high degrees, honor and special mention, playing a program which included the J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations (BWV 988) and the L.v. Beethoven’ most difficult sonata, the Hammerklavier. He also studied at Liceo Scientifico (2008-2013). He then studied at the University of the Padua in the faculty of Computer Science, where he obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science (2013-2018), and his Master’s degree in Computer Science (2016-2019). He combines the study with the musical interest. He is currently perfecting with Massimiliano Ferrati at the Conservatory ‘Steffani’ of Castelfranco Veneto.

(more…)

Read more
%d bloggers like this: