When Rick James died of a heart attack on August 6, 2004 at the relatively young age of 56, some of his admirers were surprised that the funk/soul icon lived as long as he did. Saying that James, who spent a considerable amount of time in the fastest stretches of the fast lane, subjected his body to extensive abuse over the years would be an understatement. Regardless, James was a major talent – some of the most talented musicians are also among the most self-destructive – and his die-hard fans never quit hoping that he would eventually recapture the commercial and creative success he enjoyed during his late-'70s/early-'80s heyday. Recorded in 2003 and 2004 and released posthumously in May 2007, Deeper Still ended up being James' swan song.

This CD is well worth the wait. Carrington is joined by a number of jazz greats–pianist Herbie Hancock, saxophonist Gary Thomas, guitarists Kevin Eubanks and Paul Bollenback, and trumpeters Wallace Roney and Terence Blanchard. Stylistically, Carrington's drumming is a brilliant blend of Tony Williams's power, Billy Higgins's finesse, and Elvin Jones's African syncopations. She knows that she does not need to blow everybody away with loud solos, so she leads by driving her band mates. She wrote most of the music, which has a '60s, Miles Davis feel. "Jazz Is" is a spectral opus featuring actor Malcolm Jamal Warner on spoken word and bass. "Lost Star" swings with a Live at the Plugged Nickel vibe, while her take on Wayne Shorter's classic "Witch Hunt" is a melodically recombinant version for this century.

Many jazz releases suffer from the same old "song and dance" syndrome—a couple of obligatory ballads (song narrative) sprinkled between numbers of up-tempo (dance) tracks. This repeated programming can get old very fast. But this is not the case with Waking Dreams , the long overdue and brilliant debut by vibraphonist Chris Dingman.

Bright, lean, and crisp, Embrace, the new recording from vibraphonist Chris Dingman, contrasts strikingly with its predecessors, The Subliminal and the Sublime from 2015 and Waking Dreams from 2011. Both of those recordings were sextet dates spotlighting the leader’s dense, complex compositions. Embrace has the loose, limber feel of a blowing session, albeit one with unusual instrumentation: vibes, bass (Linda May Han Oh), and drums (Tim Keiper); the underrated vibesman Walt Dickerson recorded in this austere context in the mid-’70s, but it hasn’t been well utilized since.

The subliminal empathy shared by bassist Scott Colley, saxophonist Chris Potter, and drummer Bill Stewart is masterfully illustrated on Colley’s album, This Place. Colley’s tutelage with Charlie Haden clearly informs his knack for developing warm, simpatico lines that are nearly always melodically astute yet never showy. On originals like his hypnotic title track, Colley can create a simple bass figure that grounds and propels the gorgeous melodies of Potter and the textural and rhythmic splendor of Stewart. Colley’s most sensual performance on this date, however, is his haunting “Long Lake,” where he delivers a heartfelt counter melody beneath Potter’s raspy tenor and Stewart’s shimmering brushes…

The backstage are Jonas Reingold, Craig Blundell & Rob Townsend of Steve’s Genesis Revisited band. The Backstage has gathered Prog/Jazz/Fusion royalty from around the globe in this exciting, eclectic project and has created the best Prog/Fusion music inspired by the sounds of the 70-ies. Featuring: Steve Hackett, Tom Brislin, Marco Minneman, Nick Beggs, Roger King, Roine Stolt, Pat Mastelotto, Mike Thorne, Andy Tillison, Krister Jonsson, Carl Orr, Adam Holzman, Luke Machin, Randy McStine, James Taylor, Lelo Nika, Chris Lord Alge and Lalle Larsson.

The tram to Bondi might have stopped running years ago, but that hasn’t stopped Tramtracks from launching "Then?", a fabulous vinyl recording of some of their finer tunes – though totally reimagined and produced into a contemporary prog rock sound. Released on Prommo Grande Records this selection of hand-picked tunes bears wonderful fruit.

Diana Damrau and Angelika Kirchschlager star in the acclaimed 2008 production of Humperdinck's famous fairytale opera, in the company of two of Britain's most revered musical figures: Thomas Allen, playing the role of the Father, and the legendary conductor Colin Davis. Directors Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser combine their characteristic wit and a dash of deliciously dark comedy with the opera's fairytale charm. Humperdinck's music mixes catchy folk-like songs with sumptuous instrumental colour, making the result as tunefully approachable, musically memorable and visually delightful as opera gets. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in full Surround Sound.

Their fans have long known that the 20 year music business veteran vikings of Månegarm are not afraid of developing their melodic pagan sound further. With their latest, self-titled album the band keeps true to course: Månegarm remains expressive and varied from the first note to the last. Once again the band around singer Erik Grawsiö shows just how much wicked fun powerful music can be. From Swedish folk ballads reminiscent of camp fires to wild and forceful black metal interludes, everything the metal sounds of the north are known for is represented. Those looking for the soundtrack to life as a seafaring warrior will get just the thing. And anyone remaining to be convinced will finally receive certainty: Odin owns ye all! Limited Editon Digipak incl. 2 Bonus Tracks ( “Mother Earth Father Thunder” featuring Jennie Tebler - sister of Quorthon/Bathory, Alan Nemtheanga (Primordial) & Mikael (Ereb Altor) )

For all tid (English: For All Time) is the debut studio album by Norwegian black metal band Dimmu Borgir. It was remastered and re-released in 1997 with their new label Nuclear Blast with the front cover art in full color and the entire Inn i evighetens mørke EP added. It is the band's only studio album on which Shagrath is on drums, Tjodalv on guitar and Silenoz on vocals. The artwork displayed on the front cover of the album is inspired by Gustave Doré's illustration of Camelot from Idylls of the King.

TEE is a present Japanese band, made of five musicians on keyboards, flute, guitar, bass and drums. The second opus "Trans-Europe Expression" (2011) could have been a tribute to Kraftwerk, but the music featured here is quite different. The recipe of the first album has been kept and bettered, an instrumental brand of Progressive jazz-rock fusion cooked with patience and talent. Let's just notice a new ingredient added for good measure on the track "Intersection": female voices, melodic to the bone. Here are six long pieces, to be tasted with pure enjoyment only! The title of the third album, "Tales Of Eternal Entities" (2016), remains faithful to the three letters making TEE. Faithful also to the musical style, the construction of the album (Six instrumental pieces), and of course, to the superior quality level dear to the Japanese band.

Jordi Savall & Montserrat Figueras - El Nuevo Mundo - Folias Criollas (2010) {Alia Vox AVSA 9876}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 414 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 183 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 273 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2010 Alia Vox | AVSA 9876
Classical / Chamber Music / Vocal Music / Early Music / Baroque / World Music

This album takes off from where a previous Jordi Savall release, Villancicos y danzas criollas (Creole Dances and Villancicos), left off. Now Savall, aided by his wife and lead vocalist Montserrat Figueras, as well as several of his longtime co-conspirators, has formed a new group, Tembembe Ensamble Continuo, specifically devoted to the Latin American Baroque repertory heard here. The album is accompanied by an impressive 172-page booklet, with all texts in the original language, generally Spanish but with mixtures of Native American and African speech, English, French, Castilian Spanish, German, and Italian, and booklet notes (in all those languages plus Catalan), including an overview of the genres involved plus a historical essay on the culture of the Spanish-colonized Latin-Caribbean region.