Dominic Frasca is kind of like a cross between Andrés Segovia and Elliott Sharp. Although classically trained and still deeply influenced by classical guitar tradition, Frasca doesn't create music that sounds classical in any meaningful way, and his instrument (a customized ten-string guitar) is a bizarre Frankenstein's monster of acoustic and electronic parts that he uses simultaneously as a melodic and percussive instrument.

Bret Higgins' Atlas Revolt - Bret Higgins' Atlas Revolt (2015) {Tzadik TZ 7813}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 242 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 101 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 116 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2015 Tzadik | TZ 7813 | Tzadik Spotlight Series
Jazz / Jazz Rock / World Music / Instrumental / Surf-psychedelic

A fabulous release by this Canadian instrumental band that blends latin, r&b, soul, film soundtracks, jazz and more into moody and infectious grooves. Bret Higgins is no stranger to Tzadik, performing on the 2014 release Zebrina and performing with Tzadik regulars like Frank London, David Buchbinder, Ben Goldberg and many others. A new take on The Meters and Booker T, this is small unit instrumental music that you will return to again and again.

Al Smith - Midnight Special (1960) {Prestige-Bluesville OBCCD-583-2 rel 1996}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 209 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 76 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 9 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1960, 1996 Prestige/Bluesville Records / Fantasy | OBCCD-583-2
Blues / Regional Blues / Soul-Blues / Urban Blues / West Coast Blues

For many decades, African-American churches have worried about losing their best singers to secular music. And inevitably, many of them will, in fact, explore secular music instead of devoting 100 percent of their time to gospel. Al Smith is a perfect example. The obscure singer's roots were gospel, but he favored a jazz-influenced approach to blues and soul when he recorded two albums for Prestige/Bluesville: Hear My Blues in 1959 and Midnight Special in 1960. Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's famous New Jersey studio, Midnight Special finds Smith backed by a rock-solid quintet that consists of King Curtis on tenor sax, Robert Banks on organ, Jimmy Lee Robinson on electric guitar, Leonard Gaskin on acoustic bass, and Bobby Donaldson on drums.