Erik Truffaz’ sweet, open trumpet tone reveals the influence of a 1970s Miles Davis. The Fender Rhodes with echo serves to drive that message home. Most of the compilation employs acoustic bass and a tasteful drummer in the mainstream jazz tradition. However, it’s the French trumpeter’s intimacy with Davis’ fusion periods that takes center stage. From the small town of Gex, ten miles from the French/Swiss border, Truffaz got his early training working with his father’s dance band. His formal training came later at the Geneva Conservatoire where the trumpeter studied composition, theory and technique. Each track is an original, composed by the quartet. Truffaz wrote "Betty," a light, lyrical waltz with open trumpet, acoustic piano and acoustic bass. A vocal-like trumpet message becomes soaked in the piano’s overlapping harmony.

Longevity among jazz groups is a surprisingly rare commodity. With relatively few exceptions, a run of a few years, at most, is standard; for a collective of jazz musicians to stick together for a decade or more is almost unheard of. That puts Fourplay, who celebrates their 25th anniversary this year, in a league of their own. Since 1990, bassist Nathan East, keyboardist Bob James, guitarist Chuck Loeb (who joined five years ago) and drummer Harvey Mason have continued to explore together, their efforts resulting in what All Music Guide called one of “the most intuitive, forward-thinking and focused groups in modern jazz.

Art Blakey Quintet - A Night at Birdland Vol.1 (1954) {Blue Note Japan, CP32-5201, Early Press}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 325 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 127 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 201 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1954, 1986 Blue Note / Toshiba EMI Japan | CP32-5201
Jazz / Hard Bop

During Blue Note vault research in 1975, four additional full performances from this historic Birdland recording were discovered. three of them were issued in the U.S. in 1978 as part of a Blakey double album. All four were issued in 1983 in Japan as A NIGHT AT BIRDLAND, Volume Three, which had a short playing time. Due to the expanded time limitations of the CD, half of these discoveries have been added to each of the original Birdland volumes. -Michael Cuscuna

Busoni's fascinating, mammoth Piano Concerto no longer can claim to be the rarity it once was, when just about the only version available was John Odgon's not-really-as-great-as-its-reputation-would-lead-us-to-believe recording for EMI. For the performance that really is great, look no further. Dohnányi and Ohlssen play the spots off the work, rugged and impassioned in the opening two movements, thoughtfully intense in the long central Pezzo serioso, scintillating in the All'Italiana, and refreshingly cogent and truly "moderato" in a finale that never drags or sounds anti-climactic.

Lee Konitz - Lee Konitz Meets Jimmy Giuffre (1951-1959) {2CD Set Verve 527 780-2 rel 1996}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 768 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 353 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 56 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1951-59, 1996 Verve / PolyGram | 527 780-2
Jazz / Cool / Bop / Saxophone

This unusual two-CD set not only reissues the original LP of the same name but three other rare Verve LP's from the 1950's. Altoist Lee Konitz (on "An Image") is showcased during a set of adventurous Bill Russo arrangements for an orchestra and strings in 1958, pops up on half of Ralph Burns' underrated 1951 classic Free Forms (the most enjoyable of the four sets) and meets up with baritonist Jimmy Giuffre, whose arrangements for five saxes (including the great tenor Warne Marsh) and a trio led by pianist Bill Evans are sometimes equally influenced by classical music and bop.

Louis Spohr gehörte als Geiger, Komponist, Dirigent und Pädagoge zu den vielseitigsten und einflussreichsten Persönlichkeiten des europäischen Musiklebens in der ersten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts. Als Komponist wurde er von seinen Zeitgenossen in einem Atemzug mit Beethoven genannt. Heute existieren über ihn Vorurteile, die viele Rezensenten und Wissenschaftler meist nur von einer Generation zur nächsten ungeprüft und in Unkenntnis der besten Werke übernommen haben. cpo will dem jetzt abhelfen und legt eine großangelegte Spohr-Edition vor, in deren Mittelpunkt die erste Gesamteinspielung der Violinkonzerte mit Ulf Hoelscher steht.

An American musicologist once noted that compared to its population, no other country has as many symphonists as Denmark. The release of this fine collection of violin concertos marks the beginning of a five volume, 2CD set series. The complete series will be available as 2 CDS for the price of 1, offering excellent value for money to explore these delightful and little known concertos.