Masabumi Kikuchi Trio - Sunrise (2012)
EAC rip | FLAC+CUE+LOG | Scans | 250 Mb (Incl. Recovery)
Genre ~ Post-Bop, Free Improvisation | Label ~ ECM Records 2096

"With a surprising number of recordings coming out that represent some of drummer Paul Motian's final work before passing unexpectedly in the fall of 2011, few have created as deeply personal a tribute as the liner notes to Japanese pianist Masabumi Kikuchi's Sunrise. "Suddenly Paul was gone. He left without warning," Kikuchi writes, as he recounts his first meeting with Motian, the time they shared together in the Tethered Moon trio—which, with bassist Gary PeaBlah Blah, released three albums between 1993 and 2004—through to a last visit to the hospital a week before the drummer passed. Sunrise was recorded a full two years before Motian's death, but in its angular yet strangely rounded and beveled surfaces—and liberated quietude—it may well be the closest of these last releases to truly articulating what Motian was all about.

Joe Sanders - Introducing Joe Sanders (2012)
MP3 320 kbps CBR | 64:55 min | 144 MB
Genre: Jazz | Label: Criss Cross

Criss Cross is proud to present the leader debut of bassist Joe Sanders, who is most widely known on the international scene for his long association with pianist Gerald Clayton's Trio, and is often heard with the best and brightest of his New York City peer group, of whom he convenes three - pianist Luis Perdomo, alto saxophonist Wil Vinson, and drummer Rodney Green (rising star vocalist Gretchen Parlato joins the mix on Sanders' Journey and Sorrow) for a diverse recital comprising 7 strikingly melodic, harmonically sophisticated originals that cover a range of stylistic food groups, as well as 2 jazz standards (Cedar Walton's Hindsight and Pat Metheny's Question and Answer) and a songbook chestnut (The Things We Did Last Summer).

Curtis Amy & Dupree Bolton - Katanga! (1963) [Remastered 1998]
EAC rip | APE+CUE+LOG | Scans | 310 Mb (Incl. Recovery)
Genre ~ Hard Bop, Soul-Jazz, Saxophone Jazz | Label ~ Pacific Jazz Records

"Tenor saxophonist Curtis Amy recorded six albums for Pacific Jazz during 1960-63. This CD reissue from 1998 has all of the music from his sixth set (Katanga) and half of the performances (three selections) from his fourth outing, Way Down. Amy had a fine hard bop-oriented style with a soulful sound. The Katanga date matched him with the legendary (and barely documented) trumpeter Dupree Bolton, guitarist Ray Crawford (heard in top form), pianist Jack Wilson, bassist Victor Gaskin and drummer Doug Sides on four originals, plus "A Shade of Brown" and "You Don't Know What Love Is." The other session finds Amy with a completely different group consisting of trumpeter Marcus Belgrave (one of his few recordings from the era), valve trombonist Roy Brewster, vibraphonist Roy Ayers (at the beginning of his career), bassist George Morrow and drummer Tony Bazley, performing three of Amy's tunes. Obscure but rewarding music that was overshadowed during the era and was previously long out of print. ~ AllMusic"

Johnny Coles - Little Johnny C (1963) Audio Wave XRCD24 AWMXR-0006
EAC Rip | WV (image+.cue+log) - 254 MB | Scans | MP3 CBR 320 kbps (LAME 3.98) - 93 MB
Genre: jazz, hard-bop | RAR 5% Rec. | Label: Blue Note | # AWMXR-0006 | 2010

Although this Blue Note session (reissued on CD in 1996) is led by trumpeter Johnny Coles, pianist Duke Pearson (who contributed the arrangements and five of the six compositions) really functioned as leader. The typically impressive Blue Note lineup (which includes Leo Wright on alto and flute, tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, bassist Bob Cranshaw, and either Walter Perkins or Pete LaRoca on drums, in addition to Coles and Pearson) handles the obscure material with creative invention.

Duke Ellington - Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band 1940-1942 (2003)
XLD rip | FLAC+CUE+LOG | Scans | 3 CDs | 950 Mb (Incl. Recovery)
Genre ~ Big Band, Early Jazz | Label ~ RCA Victor

"This three-CD set chronicles one of the most storied of the Duke Ellington band lineups, which included saxophonists Ben Webster and Johnny Hodges, bassist Jimmy Blanton, clarinetist Barney Bigard, and trombonist Juan Tizol. Including previously unreleased takes of such numbers as the Webster showcase "Body and Soul" and "Sepia Panorama," NEVER NO LAMENT also features the delightful "Portrait of Bert Williams," Ellington's tribute to the legendary vaudeville performer, and trumpeter Cootie Williams's extended display of musical pyrotechnics, "Concerto for Cootie." Comprehensive and illuminating, this collection forms a welcome consolidation of previously available, yet widely dispersed recordings.