» Музыка в lossless форматах (без потерь)

Bug Music is a tribute to the music of the Raymond Scott Quintette, the John Kirby Sextet and Duke Ellington, headed by the remarkably versatile clarinetist Don Byron. Raymond Scott's legendary compositions feature eccentric song titles (including, on this set, "Siberian Sleighride," "Tobacco Auctioneer" and "War Dance for Wooden Indians"), complex and thoroughly composed arrangements (all of which were originally memorized rather than being written out) and unique melodies. Kirby's brand of swing, which is quite complementary to Scott's novelties, often utilized themes from classical music and had solos, but were also tightly arranged (even "St. Louis Blues" and "Royal Garden Blues"). The CD begins and ends with four Ellington/Strayhorn pieces that fit well into the idiom (particularly "The Dicty Glide" and "Cotton Club Stomp"). In addition to Byron, the key players on the project include altoist Steve Wilson (one of the best of the younger swing stylists), trombonist Craig Harris and pianist Uri Caine, in addition to four other horns and several rhythm sections. Other than a silly rendition of Ellington's "Blue Bubbles" and an adventurous interpretation of "Snibor," the selections are played with respect and great understanding of the somewhat forgotten style. None of the modern musicians sound as if swing were only their second language, making the continually surprising set a major success. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

REVIEW


PERSONNEL
Christian McBride - Upright Bass
Roy Hargrove - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Joshua Redman - Saxophone (Tenor)
Steve Turre - Trombone
Cyrus Chestnut - Piano
Lewis Nash - Drums

Who likes to boogie? Apparently Tom Browne does. Since he teams with Dave Grusin on this GRP release. The albums starts off with a bang with the effervescent "Fungi Mama". It's a deliteful as the rooster introduces p-funked style horn boogie, complete with synths and a killer disco-calypso vocal refrain hook that brings to mind Manu DiBango's Soul Makossa. This is one fun party jam, much in the vein of his first and biggest hit, Funkin’ for Jamaica. Browne, ever the trendspotter jumped on the moog/arp/obx train and unleashed plenty of bass synthesziers on this track. The rest of album is not so inspired, although there are two very competent renditions of Coltrane classics cuts, Naima and Lazy Bird. The Queens bred Browne, had his first gig with funk jazz impresario Weldon Ervine, and also later played with Lonnie Liston Smith. So his roots are steeped in jazz, but Browne isn't afraid to let the funk side of his music flow as well. --RUN, UnderTheRadar

I Feel For You is the sixth solo album by Chaka Khan, released in 1984. The title track, "I Feel for You" is a cover of a 1979 Prince track, and stands as one of her best known songs. Other lesser hit singles from the album are "This Is My Night" and the ballad "Through The Fire," which helped introduce Khan to Adult Contemporary as well as soul and pop audiences.

The title track was ultrahip, bringing together several different sides of early 80s black pop: a song by Prince, with harmonica by Stevie Wonder, plus a rap by Grandmaster Melle Mel, topped off by Chaka's vocals. Throughout, the album utilized state of the art technology, so much so that now much of it sounds dated ("My Love Is Alive" and "La Flamme" use stuttering vocal sampling to an irritating extent). But the effects are used carefully, and often with stunning results ("Eye To Eye"); and a lot of the songwriting is first rate ("This Is My Night," the electrofunk "Caught In The Act"). The lyrics aren't much and if you're an old school funkaholic you may hate all the gadgetry, but if you like 80s pop tunes this is top of the line. Tony Maiden is the only other Rufus alum here; other players include Reggie Griffin, Steve Lukather and Mike Landau. Produced by Arif Mardin and a host of others. --David Bertrand Wilson, WARR.org

Marketed as an EP, but with ten songs running over forty minutes, it sounds like an album to me, albeit a minor one. The ambition and range of Mama's Gun are missing, as Badu sticks to midtempo retro-soul loops, and the two long numbers don't develop ("Bump It," "I Want You"). Still, everything's pleasant, and sometimes excellent - "The Grind" with rhymes from Dead Prez; the super-catchy "Danger" - and there's even some old school rapping from Queen Latifah, Angie Stone and Badu on the Sequence tribute "Love Of My Life Worldwide." Still, it's not a great sign that the most arresting piece of music is the brief instrumental outro to "I Want You." Lots of guests, including Lenny Kravitz ("Back In The Day (Puff)"), Zap Mama, Caron Wheeler ("Bump It") and Hargrove ("Think Twice"). --David Bertrand Wilson, WARR.org

AUDIOPHILE IMPORTS EXCLUSIVE !! "Fruit From The Loom" is the first release from drummer Billy Cobham (under his own name) since the 1998 release "Focused". It is intended to be the first of four releases in this music series in which Cobham will be revisiting the music he has created throughout his career as well as re-connecting with the musicians who helped him create his past sonic offerings. Some of the pieces he has re-worked for this release are Spectrum, Crosswinds, and the Grammy-nominated Zanzibar Breeze. Among the old friends Billy has invited to appear on this recording are: Ernie Watts (sax), Dave Samuels (vibraphone, marimba), Guy Barker (trumpet), Victor Bailey (bass), Brian Auger (organ) and guitarists Dean Brown & Jean-Marie Ecay. Past and current members of Culture Mix, Cobham's multi-national quintet round out the supporting cast. They include Stefan Rademacher (bass), Junior Gill (steel pan), Marco Lobo (percussion) and Christophe Cravero (piano). String flavors also color several of the tunes with violinists Johan Renard and Aurelien Guyot. Five members of the explosive Nigerian percussion ensemble, Okuta Percussion join Billy in a rhythmic tour-de-force on "Thoughts from Okuta". Some of the more recent compositions by Billy Cobham finally make their appearance on this studio recording like "Florianopolis", "Clitter Clatter", "Eggshells Still On My Head" and "Cat in the Hat". And of course, no Cobham solo album would be complete without a solo piece from the master himself which he calls "Sambu du Militairstrasse". This CD is currently only available at his concerts and thru Audiophile Imports.

PERSONNEL
Billy Cobham - Drums
Brian Auger - Organ
Victor Bailey -    Bass
Guy Barker - Trumpet
Dean Brown - Guitar
Dave Samuels - Vibraphone
Ernie Watts - Saxophone
Christophe Cravero - Piano, Violin
Jean Marie Ecay - Guitar
Marco Lobo - Percussion
Stefan Rademacher - Bass
Nigeria "Okuta Percussion" ensemble