THREE is a modern snapshot, capturing a moment in the constantly expanding world of the Blue Man Group. Building upon their previous studio albums, including the gold-certified, Grammy®-nominated Audio (1999), and sophomore concept album The Complex (2003), THREE draws inspiration from 25 years of creative growth and development. The instrumental music features exciting sonic explorations from a wide array of newly developed instruments including the Snorkelbone, a creation that utilizes a plastic hose to produce a whirring, pulsating tone when swung in the air; a PVC pipe take on the traditionally wooden aboriginal instrument, the Didgeridoo; and the Chimeulum, which is best described as "orchestral chimes on steroids"; and many more.

On 2017’s Everybody Works, Melina Duterte introduced Jay Som to the world. The first proper release under her new stage name (which she adopted from a Wu-Tang name generator) delivered Duterte’s bedroom pop with punchy immediacy. Since that time, she’s relocated from California’s Bay Area to Los Angeles to explore new territories as a musician and producer. During a solo retreat to Joshua Tree, Duterte fleshed out the beginnings of her next Jay Som project, Anak Ko—a sonic travelogue of self-acceptance and growth.

The Dover Quartet, “the young American string quartet of the moment” (The New Yorker), makes its recording debutwith an all-Mozart album on Cedille Records honoring the soaring young ensemble’s illustrious teachers and coaches,the Guarneri Quartet.

This album contains a collection of classic tracks from Lita Ford's back catalogue. Seventeen killer cuts from the original glam-metal, rock chick - dark, deadly and dangerous to know! One of two solo stars to spring from the ashes of the '70s all-girl hard rock band the Runaways, Lita Ford has long been a more frustrating, contradictory proposition for critics than former colleague Joan Jett. Ford is subtly feminist in her musical approach, displaying guitar heroics on the level of any male metal hero; the mere fact of her existence in the otherwise testosterone-driven heavy metal genre has made her a hero to some, but her persona has often been criticized as calculated to appeal to male adolescent sexual fantasies, simply embodying the standard wild-girl stereotypes of many male metal artists' lyrics. When she has the material to back her up, though, Ford is inarguably capable of rocking out aggressively and assertively.

This disc pairs together the soundtracks for the Italian erotic comedies L'Amica Di Mia Madre and Lingua D'Argento, both of which were composed by Italian composer Alberto Baldan Bembo. Although the films these scores were penned for have a comedic bent, the music itself is no laughing matter: Bembo skillfully mixes jazz and soul elements with the smooth melodicism of easy listening to create an entrancing lounge delight. Good examples of this approach include "Tema Di Barbara," which layers soothing strings and a jazzy trumpet over a gently funky bossa nova rhythm, and "Pedro Come," which builds from a single acoustic guitar line into a full-blooded slice of cocktail jazz that pits rollicking piano riffs against a dreamy string arrangement…

Grant Green - Live At Club Mozambique (1971) {Blue Note}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 313 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 178 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 93 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1971, 2006 Blue Note / Capitol / EMI | 0946 3 63522 2 0
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Jazz Funk / Groove / Guitar

Live at Club Mozambique was, according to Bob Belden's liner notes, rumored to exist for decades in Blue Note's Grant Green discography, but was never released. His explanation as to why is satisfactory – Green's star had waned considerably – and makes some sense, but the label had 15 unissued albums by the guitarist by 1971. This date recorded at the famed Detroit jazz club (Green was living in the city at the time) is the second such set of grooves to be issued from the club floor – Lonnie Smith's was the first. The band consists of Idris Muhammad, Ronnie Foster, Houston Person, and the all but unknown Clarence Thomas, and the two tenor saxophonists (Thomas also played soprano here) laid out heavy, deep funk on the tunes that were chosen.

A few years later of “Vamos A Comer” EP (2010 © Lovemonk) and the “Unexpected Tapas” (2011 © Lovemonk) album releases, the Basque-German DJ & music maker, Mikel Makala, and the producer and director of the Gasteiz Big Band, Jimmy Bidaurreta, join forces again to create a new album called “Descarga Libre” (2019 © Orrua Diskak). Now the Basque duo strikes with the same purpose to rescue those Latin, Jazz, Funk and Descarga to Nuyorican Salsa sounds of labels like Fania, in combination with club & dancefloor rhythms. In the beginning of 2019 they’re back with a new album containing 7 originals songs, giving continuity to that brilliant sound they have signed together & have already obtained remarkable admiration from some international reputed DJs, producers and radio hosts.

Sugar Ray and its fans can thank Celebrity Big Brother for an assist in bringing about the group's first new album in 10 years. Frontman Mark McGrath was part of the 2018 CBS show, finishing third overall. For his introduction package producers wanted some footage of the singer working in the recording studio; So, McGrath, guitarist and co-founder Rodney Sheppard, drummer Dean Butterworth and producer Michael Lloyd hit the studio and began jamming on an idea that turned into the new song "Higher Tree." "We forgot they were even filming this piece for Big Brother," McGrath tells Billboard. "We ended up writing a song and recording it right then and there. It just came magically." It also put the wheels in motion for the Little Yachty album, which comes out July 26.

Hildegard von Bingen - Celestial Stairs - Ensemble für frühe Musik Augsburg (1997) {Christophorus CHR77205}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 227 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 131 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 155 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1997 Christophorus | CHR 7720
Classical / Medieval

I have a lot of Hildegard in my collection this cd would have to be the most satisfying offering on the market. It combines a mixture of female and male voices and instrumentals, all executed with artistic ingenuity and subtlety. Forget Sequentia, Synfonie, Oxford Camerata….the Ensemble fur fruhe musick augsburg knows how to interpret Hildegard the best. Their earlier foray "Hildegard und Ihre Zeit" was only a taste of what was to come. You can't go wrong in buying this cd.' Highly recommended.

Devour marks the fourth full-length record from Margaret Chardiet’s project Pharmakon and her most intense output to date. Like her previous albums, Devour comes with a strong concept that is exorcised throughout the five demolishing tracks on the album, using imagery and language of self-cannibalism as allegory for the self-destructive nature of humans. Each of the five songs echoes a stage of grief associated with this cyclical chamber of self-destruction and the chaos surrounding us that leads us to devour ourselves in an attempt to balance the agony.

Gary Burton & Keith Jarrett - Gary Burton & Keith Jarrett (1970) {2012 Japan Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series WPCR-27043}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 222 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 86 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 17 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit remaster
© 1970, 2012 Atlantic / Rhino / WEA / Warner Japan | WPCR-27043 | Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series
Jazz / Post Bop / Vibes / Piano

This combination works. Vibraphonist Gary Burton and pianist Keith Jarrett (along with guitarist Sam Brown, bassist Steve Swallow, and drummer Bill Goodwin) play four Jarrett originals plus Steve Swallow's "Como en Vietnam." Elements of pop music, rock, country, and the jazz avant-garde are used in the mixture of styles and the results are quite logical.

Alcantara is a testament to the beauty of simplicity. This CD holds deliciously exotic music spun from the lovely singing of Moroccan vocalist Amina Alaoui and light but expressive guitar and percussive accompaniment from Henri Agnel and Bijan Chemirani. Empty of any sublime pretensions or girlish Western tone, Alaoui sings simply and maturely–with the love for her Anadalusian heritage spilling naturally through. Her style reminds one of Cesaria Evora–not singing to impress but to preserve and celebrate her culture's music. Rooted in a Muslim dynasty of Spain that ruled from the 8th to the 15th century, Andalusian music has a distinctly ancient, Arabic feel that's not particularly melancholy, certainly not solemn–just lyrical and elegant. And Alaoui portrays these qualities with a rare grace and expertise. To mine for more gems of Amina Alaoui's talent, check out her first U.S. release, Gharnati: Arabo-Andalusian Music of Morocco.