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Gloria Estefan - The Essential Gloria Estefan (2006) 2CD

Posted By: Designol
Gloria Estefan - The Essential Gloria Estefan (2006) 2CD

Gloria Estefan - The Essential Gloria Estefan (2006) 2CDs
EAC | FLAC | Tracks (Cue&Log) ~ 1 Gb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 359 Mb | Scans included
Label: Epic, Legacy | # 82876 89085 2 | Time: 02:33:20
Pop, Dance-Pop, Latin Pop, R&B, Adult Contemporary

The 2006 release of The Essential Gloria Estefan satisfied a long unmet need for a career-spanning English-language retrospective, one that includes the singer's popular hits with Miami Sound Machine in the mid-'80s as well as her subsequent solo recordings. For years, Estefan fans had few best-of choices to choose from – the Spanish-language Exitos de Gloria Estefan (1990), the two-volume Greatest Hits series (1992, 2001), and the latter-day Amor y Suerte: Exitos Romanticos collection (2004) – with no alternatives, not even budget-line knockoffs. The long-overdue release of The Essential Gloria Estefan thankfully resolved this gripe, for it includes the highlights from all aspects of Estefan's varied output, spread generously across two jam-packed discs.

George Benson - Goodies (1968) Japanese SHM-CD Remastered Reissue 2016

Posted By: Designol
George Benson - Goodies (1968) Japanese SHM-CD Remastered Reissue 2016

George Benson - Goodies (1968) Japanese SHM-CD Remastered Reissue 2016
XLD | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 242 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 90 Mb | Scans ~ 77 Mb
Crossover Jazz, Guitar Jazz, Soul | Label: Verve | # UCCV-9614 | Time: 00:39:04

Goodies is the sixth album by jazz guitarist George Benson recorded in 1968 and released on the Verve label.

Taj Mahal - Like Never Before (1991)

Posted By: Designol
Taj Mahal - Like Never Before (1991)

Taj Mahal - Like Never Before (1991)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 327 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 138 Mb | Scans ~ 68 Mb
Label: Private Music | # 261 679 | Time: 00:47:19
Contemporary Blues, Rhythm & Blues, Jazz-Blues, Country-Blues

This record was originally released in 1991 after Taj had taken a break for a number of side projects including children's records. He was obviously refreshed - the record is full of new ideas and incorporates new production techniques, check out the lovely song "Every wind in the river" and also the scratching and rap stylings of "Squat that rabbit". A bit radical for blues but both work very well. Taj revists the song "Giant step" and also takes the traditional blues "Blues with a feeling" to New Orleans, with an added dash of steel guitar (!?!). Guests include banjo player David Johnson, guitarist David Lindley, Andy Kravitz and Bill Summers and the backing band sound great throughout. This is a really good, imaginative record that saw Taj coming back to form and his next couple of records in the 90s were even better.

Spanky Wilson & The Quantic Soul Orchestra - I'm Thankful (2006)

Posted By: Designol
Spanky Wilson & The Quantic Soul Orchestra - I'm Thankful (2006)

Spanky Wilson & The Quantic Soul Orchestra - I'm Thankful (2006)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 218 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 85 Mb | Scans included
Genre: Deep Funk, Soul | Label: Tru Thoughts | # TRUCD109 | Time: 00:35:55

It was much to soul singer Spanky Wilson's surprise – she didn't realize she had had such an impact – when British multi-instrumentalist/producer Will Holland contacted her in her Los Angeles home in 2004, professing his love of her music and wondering if she'd collaborate with him. Still, she agreed to go the studio, and together they did two songs, "Don't Joke with a Hungry Man" and "When You're Through," for Holland's solo project, Quantic, on the album Mishaps Happening. That collaboration worked out so well that they decided to make an entire record together, this time with Holland's full band, the Quantic Soul Orchestra. Wilson's lovely voice is the centerpiece of I'm Thankful, and it does show a bit of its age, but only in the best of ways, deepening it and giving it an added measure of credibility and authenticity while still preserving its expressiveness and strength.

Laura Nyro & Labelle - Gonna Take a Miracle (1971)

Posted By: Designol
Laura Nyro & Labelle - Gonna Take a Miracle (1971)

Laura Nyro & Labelle - Gonna Take a Miracle (1971)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 188 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 84 Mb | Scans included
R&B, Soul, Soft Rock | Label: Columbia | # CK 30987 | Time: 00:33:17

Gonna Take a Miracle is the fifth album by New York City-born singer, songwriter and pianist Laura Nyro, with assistance by vocal trio Labelle. It was released on Columbia Records in November 1971, one year after its predecessor, Christmas and the Beads of Sweat. The album is Nyro's only all-covers album, and she interprets mainly 1950s and 1960s soul and R&B standards, using Labelle as a traditional back-up vocal group. In 2005, music magazine The Word voted Gonna Take a Miracle among the 60 Best Underrated Albums of All Time.

Herbie Hancock - Possibilities (2005)

Posted By: Designol
Herbie Hancock - Possibilities (2005)

Herbie Hancock - Possibilities (2005)
EAC | FLAC | Tracks (Cue&Log) ~ 335 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 135 Mb | Scans ~ 161 Mb
Label: Hancock Music/Hear Music/Vector/Warner | # 50-51011-0111-2-2 | 00:58:32
Genre: Jazz-Pop, Jazz-Funk, Soul-Jazz, Vocal Jazz, R&B

Possibilities is a Herbie Hancock adventure record. This ten-cut smorgasbord features the ever restless pianist, composer, and arranger in the company of literally dozens of artists, from pop singers like Christina Aguilera, Sting, and Annie Lennox to rock legends such as Santana and Paul Simon to relative newcomers like John Mayer, Jonny Lang, and Joss Stone, as well as some renowned international performers, such as Angélique Kidjo and Raul Midón in a wide range of songs, styles, and moods. Hancock cut the record in studios all over the world, all the collaborations were done face to face, not long distance. Session musicians here include everyone from Stevie Wonder (who plays the harmonica solo on the cover of his tune "I Just Called to Say I Love You"), to Santana to Cyro Baptista, Willie Weeks, John Pattitucci, Steven Jordan, and Gina Gershon (the actress)! The standout cuts are the sensual read of Leon Russell's "A Song for You," sung by Aguilera, Simon's jazzed-up revisioning of his "I Do It for Your Love," and Lennox's read of "Hush, Hush, Hush," written by Paula Cole (whatever happened to her?).

Kenny Neal - Hoodoo Moon (1994)

Posted By: Designol
Kenny Neal - Hoodoo Moon (1994)

Kenny Neal - Hoodoo Moon (1994)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 319 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 117 Mb | Scans ~ 113 Mb
Label: Alligator Records | # ALCD 4825 | Time: 00:51:02
Modern Electric Blues, Swamp Blues, Louisiana Blues

Kenny Neal is such a terrific singer that he can make any kind of blues sound good. On Hoodoo Moon, Neal does the Delta blues justice on a version of Elmore James's "It Hurts Me Too," and does a fine job on the Chicago blues with "I'm a Blues Man." He even pulls off some James Brown funk on "Just One Step." Nonetheless, Neal makes his most valuable contributions when he allows his Louisiana roots to show. On "Don't Fix Our Love," for example, Neal lays his blues-harmonica solo and gravelly vocal over a New Orleans second-line parade rhythm. Lucky Peterson plays the Professor Longhair-like piano part expertly and does the same with the Fats Domino-like piano triplets on "Why Should I Stay." "The Real Thing" and the album's title track boast the slippery shuffle beat of upstate Louisiana's swamp blues.

Cypress Hill - Original Album Classics (2008) 5CD Box Set

Posted By: Designol
Cypress Hill - Original Album Classics (2008) 5CD Box Set

Cypress Hill - Original Album Classics (2008) 5CD Box Set
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 1.59 Gb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 636 Mb | Scans included
Label: Sony/Columbia/Legacy | # 88697368922 | Time: 04:36:20
Genre: Hip-Hop, Rapcore, Rap-Rock

Original Album Classics contains five albums by Cypress Hill: Cypress Hill (1991), Black Sunday (1993), Cypress Hill III: Temples of Boom (1995), Cypress Hill IV (1998), and Stoned Raiders (2001). That's the group's first four albums, plus its sixth – 2000's Skull & Bones was presumably left out because it's a two-disc album. For most casual fans, 2005's Greatest Hits from the Bong will be adequate, but this is a rather affordable way to obtain a major chunk of the group's catalog. The discs are presented as they were originally released, within standard jewel cases that slide inside a basic cardboard sleeve.

Lonnie Liston Smith - Explorations: The Columbia Recordings (2002) 2CDs

Posted By: Designol
Lonnie Liston Smith - Explorations: The Columbia Recordings (2002) 2CDs

Lonnie Liston Smith - Explorations: The Columbia Recordings (2002) 2CDs
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 918 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 353 Mb | Scans ~ 26 Mb
Jazz-Funk, Fusion, Post-Bop | Label: Columbia/Legacy | # C2K 86588 | 02:34:40

Compilation for the jazz funk legend combines four albums on two CDs, 'Exotic Mysteries' (1978), 'Loveland' (1978), 'Love Is The Answer' (1980) plus 'A Song For The Children' (1979) along with a number of tracks previously unreleased on CD. All four Columbia classics are unavailable domestically.

Jon Lucien - Rashida (1973) Remastered Reissue 2011

Posted By: Designol
Jon Lucien - Rashida (1973) Remastered Reissue 2011

Jon Lucien - Rashida (1973) Remastered Reissue 2011
EAC | FLAC | Tracks (Cue&Log) ~ 329 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 148 Mb | Scans included
Soul, Vocal Jazz, Vocal Pop | Label: Big Break | # CDBBR 0032 | 00:47:12

Like Lucien's first effort (1970's I Am Now), Rashida didn't set the world on fire commercially speaking, but it solidified Lucien's status as a purveyor of intelligent romantic ballads and poetic if not gushy lyrics. Even to fans of jazz/R&B/pop, Lucien is a love or hate proposition, and Rashida was the effort that all but etched his persona in stone. Produced by Shep Meyers and Larry Rosen, Rashida, displays Lucien's soothing baritone and romantic nature with much aplomb. As the arranger here, he also shows an immense capacity for melodies. Although this album has a few clunky but danceable tracks, at this point Lucien was much better at handling the ballads. "Kuenda," a mellow, wordless vocal, sets the stage for the album's ambience; "Would You Believe in Me" benefits from Lucien's relentless poesy and a strong idiosyncratic horn arrangement. To a listener, Lucien no doubt might seem like an odd bird, (having a track called "Satan" doesn't help), but often when the arrangements and Lucien's vocals are in sync, he is simply one of the most focused and emotional balladeers to even step in front of a microphone.

Shemekia Copeland - Talking To Strangers (2002)

Posted By: Designol
Shemekia Copeland - Talking To Strangers (2002)

Shemekia Copeland - Talking To Strangers (2002)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 401 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 137 Mb | Scans ~ 42 Mb
Modern Electric Blues, Soul-Blues, R&B | Label: Alligator | # ALCD 4887 | Time: 00:59:45

This disc, which has Dr. John at the controls as a producer, brings together a mix that brings out the best for all those concerned and involved with this project. There is no weakness here, it is a straight-ahead use of all the strengths of Shemekia Copeland, daughter of Johnny Copeland. The songs were well selected to effectively show off all her potency as a vocalist. There are some many good writers that are also players on this disc that the tunes fit like gloves. There are strong contributions by John "Fingers" Hahn, Mac Rebennack, and Shemekia Copeland herself. The tunes, varied in style, are all based in the deep blues, and were selected for their capability to push her vocal talents to constant new personal pinnacles. She keeps it interesting by varying the pace and on "The Push I Need," she sounds right at home singing this funky tune as a duet with Dr. John. She stays with the good Dr. through the tune as if she were doing this everyday. Then she turns around and seems just as comfortable singing "Happy Valentine's Day," as a slow bluesy torch-burner, with minimal accompaniment.

Culture Club & Boy George - Albums Collection 1982-2013 (14CD) [Re-Up]

Posted By: Designol
Culture Club & Boy George - Albums Collection 1982-2013 (14CD) [Re-Up]

Culture Club & Boy George - Albums Collection 1982-2013 (14CD)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 5.01 Gb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 1.74 Gb | Scans ~ 1.16 Gb
New Wave, New Romantic, Blue-Eyed Soul, Pop, Pop/Rock | Time: 12:56:10

Collection includes 5 studio albums by Culture Club, 7 studio albums by Boy George and also one general compilation.

Tracy Nelson & Mother Earth - Albums Collection 1969-2011 (12CD)

Posted By: Designol
Tracy Nelson & Mother Earth - Albums Collection 1969-2011 (12CD)

Tracy Nelson & Mother Earth - Albums Collection 1969-2011 [12CD]
EAC | FLAC | Tracks (Cue&Log) ~ 2.96 Gb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 1.25 Gb
Blues, Soul, Blues Rock, Country-Rock | Time: 08:32:50 | Scans included

A very versatile and talented vocalist, Tracy Nelson is better known for her role as lead singer of Mother Earth. Collection includes four studio albums by Mother Earth feat. Tracy Nelson and nine solo studio albums by Tracy Nelson.

Maria Muldaur - Meet Me At Midnite (1994) Reissue 2005

Posted By: Designol
Maria Muldaur - Meet Me At Midnite (1994) Reissue 2005

Maria Muldaur - Meet Me At Midnite (1994) Reissue 2005
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 353 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 159 Mb | Scans included
Blues, R&B, Soul | Label: Shout! Factory | # DK 34344 | Time: 00:50:27

Wisely, Shout! Factory has picked up Maria Muldaur's two early-'90s recordings – this one and Louisiana Love Call – from the defunct Black Top label for reissue. While both these recordings are excellent, it's Meet Me at Midnite that offers a portrait of the artist as a hardcore R&B singer of the highest order. Produced by John Porter, Muldaur surrounds herself with crack studio players including Rick Vito, Johnny Lee Schell, Hutch Hutchinson, Bill Payne, and a slew of others. Where Louisiana Love Call focused on the music of New Orleans, Meet Me at Midnite digs deep into various dimensions of the Memphis sound – soul, R&B, and blues – and concentrates on the myriad stages and phases of love. While it's true that the set opens with "Trouble With My Lover" by the Crescent City's Allen Toussaint, its vibe is pure Memphis: funky, dirty grooves, packed in a tight cut-time beat and Muldaur shouting the blues with a big, clear ringing voice that wrenches emotion from every syllable. Likewise, the title cut by Vito and John Herron crawls down into the blues alley with killer slide guitar riffs winding their way around Muldaur's seductive vocals.

Sons Of Champlin - Follow Your Heart (1971) Remastered Reissue 2002

Posted By: Designol
Sons Of Champlin - Follow Your Heart (1971) Remastered Reissue 2002

Sons Of Champlin - Follow Your Heart (1971) Remastered Reissue 2002
EAC | FLAC | Tracks (Cue&Log) ~ 270 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 114 Mb | Scans included
Psychedelic Rock, R&B, Early Jazz Rock | Label: Acadia | # ACA 8032 | Time: 00:40:07

Recorded in Bruce Walford's studio in San Anselmo, this album sees the Sons in transition. Tim Cain, the sax player who co-founded the band with Bill Champlin back in 1965, had left, as had trumpet player Jim Beem. The stripped down band has an opportunity to stretch out on a number of fine Bill Champlin compositions, and the album also features the recorded debut of Terry Haggerty's "Follow Your Heart", a tune that would stay in the band's set list until Haggerty's departure in 2001 (a more polished version of the tune appeared on the out of print Circle of Love album, and there is a great performance on The Sons Live CD released in 1997). Soon after the release of this album Bill Champlin took the first of his sabaticals from the group, returning to a new rhythm section and a revised name (Yogi Phlegm) several months later. Not quite as good as Welcome to the Dance, this album still cooks pretty hard and is definitely worth a listen.