This CD reissue features trumpeter Miles Davis with three different pickup recording groups that are full of fellow all-stars. "Tune-Up," "Miles Ahead," "When Lights Are Low" (which uses slightly different chord changes than its composer Benny Carter originally intended), and "Smooch" find Davis joined by pianist John Lewis (Charles Mingus plays piano on "Smooch"), bassist Percy Heath, and drummer Max Roach. With pianist Horace Silver, bassist Heath, and drummer Art Blakey offering solid accompaniment, Davis introduces "Four" and performs "Old Devil Moon" and "Blue Haze." Finally, with altoist Dave Schildkraut, Silver, Heath, and drummer Kenny Clarke, Miles jams through "I'll Remember April." Although not as essential as the trumpeter's classic Quintet records of 1955-1956, several of the performances (most notably "Tune-Up" and "Four") are quite memorable, and the straight-ahead playing is of consistently high quality.

La primera mitad del siglo XX dio a luz una multitud de estilos musicales que conformarían la base de toda la música moderna. Aquello que en un principio fue folklore, la voz de un pueblo y orgullo racial, maduraría hasta merecer la categoría de arte. Nacieron y crecieron, tanto en Europa como en América, el blues, el jazz, el tango, el swing, y cada uno tomó su camino, cercano pero propio. SHINE es sinónimo de swing: un swing elegante, sincero, cálido y particular, capaz de evocar con sorprendente naturalidad los sonidos de una época mágica en que la música era protagonista en radios, clubs y salas de baile…

Cruz with Willie is just about as sure a thing as Celia with Johnny (Pacheco). Surer, maybe, since C&J have made far more recordings than C&W. Celia Cruz is the nearest thing to an icon in contemporary salsa, and since she reaches at least two generations, you can bet on this reaching at least the Top Three, if not the zenith.

Sweet Megg & The Wayfarers – Sweet Megg & The Wayfarers (2017)
MP3 CBR 320 kbps | 11 Tracks | 38:11 | 103 MB
Genre: Jazz, Swing, Vocal Jazz | Label: Sweet Megg & The Wayfarers

Sweet Megg and her wayfaring musicians will transport you, not to the past but to a new world of their own making. The band is lead by the charmingly enigmatic Sweet Megg, who imbues each song with her own concoction of melancholy and euphoria that will delight you, surprise you, and break your heart all at once. The band seamlessly incorporates elements of New Orleans Swing, Harlem swing, Parisian cabaret, and gut bucket blues into one charming musical performance. Saxophonist Ryan Weisheit reimagines a world where Sidney Bechet, Lester Young, and Charlie Parker blow side by side. Together Sweet Megg, Ryan, and all the Wayfarers create a world where jazz is alive and well and living in New York.

At the end of his life, Horowitz had chosen to record for Deutsche Grammophon. The Hamburg label reissues all of its recordings, 6 CDs, commemorating the centenary of the birth of the pianist.

It may surprise you to learn that, despite his untouchable reputation with the public, Vladimir Horowitz enjoyed a certain dubious reputation with the critics. For many, he was the epitome of the witless virtuoso, all technique and vulgar display, and no brains. There was some truth in this to the extent that he really could be variable on record, but by general consensus his Masterworks recordings show him at his absolute best.