Hello,

Today's artist is an English singer-songwriter most active during the 1980s and 1990s. Her songwriting career started in 1980. Her classical training influenced her as did a desire to be experimental with her music. Although more popular in the Far East, most notably Japan, she remains a cult artist in her native England...... N'Joy

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Virginia Astley emerged as one of the UK’s unique singer/songwriter talents throughout a productive career covering the 1980s onwards. From her many collaborations with a variety of notable names in the music industry, through to her own solo career, Virginia has managed to carve out her own particular niche. Having developed an interest in music from an early age, it was somewhat inevitable that Virginia would embark on a musical career. Taking up piano at the age of 6 and flute at 14, Virginia also had the bonus of having composer and musician Edwin Astley (whose successes included the theme music for cult 1960s TV shows such as The Saint and Danger Man) as a father. Post-school, Virginia enrolled in the Guildhall School Of Music in London – a location that also exposed her to the vibrant post-punk music scene of the time. Keen to broaden her musical palette, Virginia initially took on keyboard duties for pop outfit Victims Of Pleasure.

She also linked up with former Skids frontman Richard Jobson for contributions to his album The Ballad Of Etiquette. This collaboration brought Virginia into the orbit of Belgian record label Les Disques Du Crépuscule, which in turn led to contributions to various Crépuscule releases (some of these melodies and ideas would later feature on her UK debut EP A Bao A Qu). Virginia also became part of an ensemble called The Dream Makers (in collaboration with filmmaker Jean Paul Goude). The results of this collaboration provided an early opportunity for Virginia to display her unique vocal charms for a cover version of ‘La Chanson d’Helene’ (‘Helen’s Song’) – a song originally sung by Romy Schneider in the 1970 French film Les Choses De La Vie.

During this crucial 1980s period that Virginia started to give serious consideration to writing and releasing her own material, signing to independent label Why-Fi in 1981. It was through fellow Why-Fi artist Troy Tate that Virginia was asked to support psychedelic pop outfit The Teardrop Explodes. Initially sceptical, Virginia overcame her doubts about performing live by recruiting old friends Nicky Holland and Kate St John. Adopting the title of The Ravishing Beauties, the trio whisked off to Liverpool in 1981 to join the Teardrops for a brief series of gigs.

Meanwhile, Why-Fi capitalised on the high profile of Virginia’s Teardrop activities by releasing the 10″ EP A Bao A Qu, which became Virginia’s debut solo release. The evocative melodies of this material were reflected in the choice of songs that The Ravishing Beauties were performing at the time on tour. Following the end of the Teardrop Explodes tour, The Ravishing Beauties continued with a few standalone gigs, but internal problems resulted in the trio parting ways in the summer of 1982. Keeping herself busy, Virginia had embarked on a new direction, which culminated in the instrumental album From Gardens Where We Feel Secure. Although the album had initially been scheduled for release on Liverpool’s Zoo Records label, plans fell through and the album was shelved throughout 1982.

1983 proved to be a complex year for Virginia. She scored some mainstream success via a new single release – the choral pop charm of ‘Love’s A Lonely Place To Be’. But despite enjoying more exposure as a result of this single, cracks had begun to appear in her relationship with Why-Fi. Unhappy with the level of support the label was giving her, Virginia left and founded her own label – Happy Valley.

Joining forces with the Rough Trade label, Virginia finally managed to get From Gardens Where We Feel Secure released in the summer of 1983. Her debut album won her fresh acclaim from the music press, although Virginia was keen to return to more traditional music composition for future releases.The same year, Why-Fi released Promise Nothing – a compilation album of the songs that Virginia had recorded while on the label. Meanwhile, Virginia had been working on new material and assembled a loose working band around her. This included Anne Stephenson, Jo Wells and Audrey Riley.

Among the many songs to emerge during this period were ‘I Live In Dreams’ and ‘Tree Top Club’ as well as the haunting ‘Waiting To Fall’ – later to feature on the Some Bizarre compilation If You Can’t Please Yourself You Can’t Please Your Soul. In 1985, Virginia released the Melt The Snow EP, which included tracks originally conceived as a winter alternative to Virginia’s 1983 album From Gardens Where We Feel Secure. The delicate strings-driven pop of the title track attracted the interest of the Elektra label, which resulted in the release in 1985 of euphoric pop tune ‘Tender’. A follow-up single, ‘Darkness Has Reached Its End’, saw Virginia switch to parent label WEA when it was released in November the same year.

Keen to keep busy, Virginia focused on writing material for a new album. Ryuichi Sakamoto (founder-member of Japanese electropop outfit Yellow Magic Orchestra) had been a fan of Virginia’s work for some time and came onboard as producer. Virginia worked with Sakamoto on the potential tracks for the album, which included a new arrangement of ‘Tree Top Club’ as well as new songs such as ‘Some Small Hope’ – which included a duet with former Japan frontman David Sylvian.

Lyrically, many of the songs for the new album had a darker edge than Virginia’s earlier material. The title, Hope In A Darkened Heart, however, hinted at optimism. Hope In A Darkened Heart received good reviews and a Japanese release of the album would be successful enough to persuade Japanese label Nippon Columbia to reissue From Gardens Where We Feel Secure in 1989. Virginia, meanwhile, had spent the post-Hope years focused on raising her daughter Florence, although she returned to songwriting in the 1990s with the release of the All Shall Be Well album in 1992. This album saw a more mature approach to songwriting and composition, although Virginia’s distinctive vocal style was present and correct. She had also continued to recruit from her immediate circle for collaborators, including Kate St John – as well as young daughter Florence on guest vocals. Meanwhile, Virginia was also attracting the interest of Japanese artists, including electronic trip-hop duo Silent Poets, for whom she contributed guest vocals on a few tracks, notably 1997’s ‘Don’t Break The Silence’.

During this period, Virginia had also been keen to divide her time between both music and writing. One of the projects she was exploring at the time was a musical based on the Thomas Hardy novel The Woodlanders. Some of these ideas later surfaced in song form on Virginia’s 1996 album Had I The Heavens. Meanwhile, Virginia has kept busy on a number of writing projects over the years, including plans for a novel set in Dorset and a multimedia project titled The Stories Of The Fields (which explores the tradition of how fields were given specific names). Virginia has also worked on self-produced CD releases with her daughter, combining spoken narrative pieces by Virginia and harp performances by Florence.

More recently, Virginia has released her first award-winning book of poetry, The Curative Harp. Virginia is currently working on Keeping The River – a non-fiction book that explores the River Thames and the lives of those who work and live on the river. Since then, Astley has guested on albums by both Hideaki Matsuoka and the Silent Poets. From Gardens Where We Feel Secure was re-issued with a new cover in 2003, and in 2006 she released her first album of new material in ten years, entitled The Words Between Our Words. This mini album features Astley reciting her own poetry to a backing of harp music. In 2007, she premiered a long poem "Ecliptic", with flute, harp and birdsong

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Virginia Astley's solo debut (she had previously been a member of the short-lived Ravishing Beauties with Kate St. John and Nicky Holland, and played piano on her brother-in-law Pete Townshend's single "Slit Skirts") is a magical piece of instrumental pop. It's too melodic to be Brian Eno-style ambient music, too involving to be new age mush, too simple and casual to fit in comfortably with the post-minimalist school of Michael Nyman, Andrew Poppy, or Wim Mertens, and too restrained to truly be pop music. Almost entirely instrumental, save for a few wordless vocals on "A Summer Long Since Past," and featuring little instrumentation besides Astley's piano and some subtle woodwinds, the album is a lovely 35-minute meditation built around field recordings Astley made of the ambient sounds of the rural English countryside. This description makes the album sound much more twee and insubstantial than it actually is; however, Astley is no mere ambient noodler. These nine songs are melodically rich and varied; mood pieces in the truest sense of the term. Specifically designed to mirror the moods of an indolent summer day (the sides of the original LP were even marked "morning" and "afternoon"), From Gardens Where We Feel Secure is a dreamy, involving, and occasionally even fascinating listen.



Virginia Astley - From Gardens Where We Feel Secure   (flac  163mb)

01 With My Eyes Wide Open I'm Dreaming 5:43
02 A Summer Long Since Past 4:35
03 From Gardens Where We Feel Secure 3:59
04 Hiding In The Ha-Ha 3:56
05 Out On The Lawn I Lie In Bed 5:09
06 Too Bright For Peacocks 2:29
07 Summer Of Their Dreams 3:22
08 When The Fields Were On Fire 3:15
09 It's Too Hot To Sleep 5:21

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Tuneful, delicate, often charming, occasionally cutesy songs, mostly produced by Ryuichi Sakamoto (who also plays keyboards). The swirling synthesizers and spare classical touches paint a dreamy canvas at their best, making one regret that Astley has not had a chance to build upon this effort in the nearly ten years that have passed without a follow-up. The opening track of 'Some small hope' is absolutely stunningly beautiful. It's a duet with David Sylvian and his voice melts with Virginia's in one unitone chorus of bliss.



Virginia Astley - Hope In A Darkened Heart (flac  230mb)

01 Some Small Hope 4:10
02 A Father 3:51
03 So Like Dorian 4:32
04 I'm Sorry 5:45
05 Tree Top Club 3:49
06 Charm 5:01
07 Love's A Lonely Place To Be 3:27
08 A Summer Long Since Passed 4:37
09 Darkness Has Reached Its End 3:47

Virginia Astley - Hope In A Darkened Heart   (ogg 96mb)

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Virginia Astley's outstanding flair for melody puts her in the front ranks of all composers and ALL SHALL BE WELL is the proof.Eight brand new songs and a couple of instrumentals,this is the first new work from Virginia since HOPE IN A DARKENED HEART in I986 and represents her comeback since her self imposed retirement to raise her daughter.In I989 her career began to take off in Japan where the singer is worshipped as a "perfect woman".Possibly her daughter inspired the comeback as the song "My smallest friend" is clearly about her:she joins her mother towards the end in a series of "la la las"."All shall be well",the title song,began life on the sessions for her brother in law Pete Townshend's album "The Iron Man" where she was used as a "technical advisor" and drew his attention to the mediaeval religious poem from "Revelations of Divine Love".Townshend sung the actual words whilst Virginia simplu used the title. "You take me away" is more upbeat than the average Virginia song and "Love's Eloquence" shows a Dylan influence in the words. "Martin",which should really be called "Where have those days gone"? is,like many of her songs,intensley sad. Joining Virginia on "Blue sky white sky" is Kate St.John,her former partner from the Ravishing Beauties of 1982:the music is by Mozart and a first for the artiste as she tended to set other people's words on many an occasion.



Virginia Astley - All Shall Be Well  (flac  196mb)

01 GL - Groundloop 5:10
02 AL - Allegory 5:40
03 DI - Displaced 4:45
04 HN - Hymn Noir 4:36
05 IM - Imparator 5:19
06 CH - Chronicle 5:59
07 SY - Synature  6:31
08 QM - Qui Mal 5:07

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Virginia Astley has the voice of an angel and the songwriting talent of the Beatles. There was never a more worthy (or more ludicrously overlooked) talent since the advent of ethereal popular music. If you wonder where Enya got her ideas, just listen to Virginia.....she was there first! An absolute visionary....every note of her songs sounds fresh and wonderful; like it could have been produced last week, not twenty years ago. Breathtaking and heavenly in every respect, Virginia Astley is a call from lost summers, her harmonies are gentle and her intensions feels like they come from an unspoiled heart. All Shall Be Well.



Virginia Astley - Had I The Heavens  (flac  224mb)

01 It's Over Now 3:38
02 Over The Edge Of The World 3:38
03 Nothing Is As It Seems 4:10
04 Broken 4:47
05 Where I Belong (A Thousand Nights) 5:00
06 I Can't Say Goodbye 4:11
07 Had I The Heavens 2:52
08 Another Road 3:24
09 How Can I Do This To You 3:07
10 I Know A Tune We Could Sing 4:24
11 A Long Long Year 2:43.

Virginia Astley - Had I The Heavens   (ogg  87mb)

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Hello,

Monty Python (sometimes known as The Pythons) were a British surreal comedy group who created the sketch comedy show Monty Python's Flying Circus, which first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four seasons. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and impact, including touring stage shows, films, numerous albums, several books, and a stage musical. The group's influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. ..N'Joy

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Fusing the topical satire of David Frost with the surreal outlandishness of The Goon Show, the Monty Python's Flying Circus troupe formed in England in 1969. Comprised of British performers John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Graham Chapman, along with American animator Terry Gilliam, the group emerged as an international cult phenomenon, honing its singular blend of broad slapstick, edgy black comedy, and social commentary in a string of successful television programs, films, and albums.

After meeting during a taping of the British children's series Do Not Adjust Your Set, the Pythons officially took shape in May 1969 when the BBC contracted the group to produce its own 13-week program. Monty Python's Flying Circus, a weekly sketch comedy series, premiered that October; after becoming a major hit throughout Europe, the troupe recorded 1970's Monty Python's Flying Circus LP, a set of new performances of television material recorded in front of a live audience (including their legendary "dead parrot" sketch, "The Pet Shop"). Their film debut, And Now for Something Completely Different -- a collection of highlights from the series -- followed in 1971.

Another Monty Python Record, released in the U.K. in 1971, made its American debut the following year; for most U.S. fans, the album was their first exposure to the troupe -- the BBC series did not begin appearing on public television outlets for several more months. After 1972's Monty Python's Previous Record, a mixture of original routines and TV material featuring "Eric the Half a Bee,""The Argument Clinic," and "Embarrassment/A Bed-Time Book," the group issued 1973's Matching Tie and Handkerchief, which featured a "trick track" gimmick whereby the second side contained separate grooves both featuring entirely different material; playing randomly depending upon where the needle dropped, the gimmick effectively created a "side three."
A 1973 British tour yielded Live at Drury Lane, released in 1974 to coincide with the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail; the movie's companion record, The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a reprise of screen material along with new skits, did not appear until the next year. After 1976's Live! At City Center, a long hiatus followed before the group reunited for the 1979 feature and soundtrack Monty Python's Life of Brian.

Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album appeared in 1980, followed by the 1982 concert film Live at the Hollywood Bowl. The 1983 feature Monty Python's the Meaning of Life was the last official group project, although the troupe members subsequently reunited on occasion; most famously, Cleese and Palin teamed in the hit comedy A Fish Called Wanda, while Gilliam's directorial efforts like Time Bandits, Brazil, and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen all prominently featured other Python alumni. Sadly, Graham Chapman died of cancer on October 4, 1989.

did U know

*The Python programming language by Guido van Rossum is named after the troupe, and Monty Python references are often found in sample code created for that language.
*Seven asteroids are named after Monty Python: 9617 Grahamchapman, 9618 Johncleese, 9619 Terrygilliam, 9620 Ericidle, 9621 Michaelpalin, 9622 Terryjones, and 13681 Monty Python.
*In 2006, Ben & Jerry's, known for their "celebrity flavours", introduced to the line-up "Vermonty Python", a coffee liqueur ice cream with a chocolate cookie crumb swirl and fudge cows.

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After concluding work on the fourth and final series of Monty Python's Flying Circus, writer/actors Michael Palin, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Terry Gilliam adapted many of the classic sketches for the stage. This album commences with a faux sincerely toned "Introduction" from Idle in the role of narrator, as he observes: "...Amongst the glittering audience here tonight I can see, uhm...oh...what's his name, uhh, the...the fellow with the glasses on the telly. And next to him is, uhm...oh, uh, the lady with the big knockers in the jam commercial." There are notable variations between the scripts used for the TV show and the dialogue incorporated during live performances. Additionally, this disc includes a few items that were presumably created for the staged show. Among them are former Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band member and part-time Python Neil Innes'"Idiot Song,""Secret Service," and the remarkable physical comedy involved in "Wrestling," which is countered by an equally silly color commentary from Cleese. Many of the better-known titles ("Communist Quiz,""Nudge, Nudge,""Lumberjack Song,""Pet Shop,""Albatross," and "Colonel") date back to some of the earliest episodes and have clearly become favorites of those in attendance. The core of their set remained intact when the Pythons brought the show stateside in 1976. However, as their other concert album, Live! At City Center (1976), demonstrates, there are subtle differences in delivery and pacing, as well as a few new links such as "Short Blues" and Innes' brilliant "Protest Song" from Rutland Times (1976), a conceptual collaboration with Idle that would ultimately yield the sublime Beatles parody and mockumentary All You Need Is Cash (1978). Live at Drury Lane is a great place for Python enthusiasts to start and revisit, as the presence of a live crowd progresses the humor to a new strata that is absent from the comparatively sterile TV versions.

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with

Eric Idle
Graham Chapman
John Cleese
Michael Palin
Terry Gilliam
Terry Jones


401 Live at Drury Lane (mp4  275mb)

401 Monty Python Live At Drury Lane (Side 1)32:07
Introduction/Llamas
Gumby Flower Arranging
Secret Service
Wrestling
Communist Quiz
Idiot Song
Albatross/The Colonel
Nudge, Nudge/Cocktail Bar
Travel Agent

402 Monty Python Live At Drury Lane (Side 2)29:38

Spot The Brain Cell
Bruces/Philosophers Song
Argument
I've Got Two Legs
Four Yorkshiremen
Election Special
Lumberjack Song/Liberty Bell Intro
Dead Parrot/Liberty Bell Finale

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Previously

101 Another Monty Python Record (mp4  212mb)
201 Monty Python's Previous Record (mp4  194mb)
301 Matching Tie and Handkerchief (mp4  159mb)

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Hello,

The music of Brazil encompasses various regional music styles influenced by African, European and Amerindian forms. After 500 years of history, Brazilian music developed some unique and original styles such as samba, bossa nova, MPB, sertanejo, pagode, tropicalia, choro, maracatu, embolada (coco de repente), mangue bit, funk carioca (in Brazil simply known as Funk), frevo, forró, axé, brega, lambada, and Brazilian versions of foreign musical genres, such as Brazilian rock and rap.


Today's artist was one of the cluster of endlessly inventive Brazilian percussionists who changed the direction and sounds of Brazilian jazz in the post-bossa nova 1970s. He was an especially inventive virtuoso of the berimbau, the expressive instrument shaped like an archer's bow, and he is also adept at the odd-numbered meters (5/4, 7/4) that were used frequently in the north but not the south of Brazil.........N'Joy

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Naná Vasconcelos, a Brazilian percussionist who left his mark on global music, passed away on March 9 at the age of 71 in Recife. Vasconcelos gained critical acclaim for his work with Egberto Gismonti, Codona, and the Pat Metheny Group. He won the Downbeat magazine Critics Poll in the category of percussion from 1983 to 1991 and was a tremendously influential figure in jazz and Brazilian music.

Vasconcelos was a master of the berimbau, a musical bow from Bahia with a single metal string and a resonating gourd, which he turned into a unique solo voice. His peer Airto Moreira called him “the best berimbau player in the world.” He was also adept with most other Brazilian percussion instruments, which he combined with layered vocals, handclaps and body percussion. He created irresistible rhythmic waves or engaged in spirited dialogues with other musicians. Sometimes he created dense atmospheres of sound, in which twangs, rustles, rattles and rumbles moved with captivating rhythms or clashed in unearthly cacophony.

Vasconcelos’s collaborations with leading figures from free jazz and fusion put him at the forefront of the world’s percussionists. Naná generated such a distinctive voice with his percussion that he was able to hold his own in duos and trios with musical heavyweights. He teamed with Egberto Gismonti on Dança da Cabeças and Duas Vozes, with Don Cherry and Collin Walcott for three Codona albums, with Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays on As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls, with Jan Garbarek and John Abercrombie on Eventyr, and with Milton Nascimento and Herbie Hancock on Miltons.

Juvenal de Holanda Vasconcelos (Naná was his nickname) was born on August 2, 1944 in the coastal city of Recife, which is home to a rich musical heritage that includes genres like maracatu and frevo. As a youth, he learned to play the drums of maracatu as well as most other Brazilian percussion instruments, and became adept with the berimbau, an instrument associated with the martial art capoeira.

In the late ‘60s, he toured with Gilberto Gil and was part of Quarteto Livre with northeastern singer-songwriter Geraldo Azevedo. For a time he was part of the seminal Som Imaginário band, which mixed Brazilian music, jazz and rock and backed Milton Nascimento. His playing caught the attention of saxophonist Gato Barbieri, with whom he started touring. He subsequently spent a few years in Paris and while there worked with disturbed children in a psychiatric hospital, using music as a form of creative therapy. His experiences there would inform his work: Vasconcelos saw how music could transform and improve people’s lives. During this era, he found time to record his first solo album, Africadeus (1973).

Towards the end of the decade, he toured and recorded with Egberto Gismonti on albums such as Dança das Cabeças (Dance of the Minds) in 1977, which was released in eighteen countries and sold more than two hundred thousand copies according to the ECM label, an impressive sum for nonvocal experimental music. In 1979 he formed Codona with trumpeter Don Cherry and percussionist Collin Walcott. The trio released three highly regarded albums for ECM that mixed free jazz and cross-cultural improvisation.

Vasconcelos expanded his audience greatly when he played percussion and sang with the Pat Metheny Group, beginning with Metheny and Mays’ 1981 As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls. “He was a total joy to work with,” keyboardist Mays told me in an interview for my book The Brazilian Sound. “One of the things that I most enjoyed about playing with Naná was that he was interested in working with me as a synthesizer player to come up with combination textures that neither of us could do alone. He took things a step further, using his voice together with his instrument and with my instruments. Naná broadened our soundscape, and he added charisma, another focal point of attention on stage.”

On his website, Pat Metheny adds, “In addition to being one of the best percussionists in music, Nana was an amazing, wonderful person. Everywhere he went (berimbau always nestled on his shoulder) he made friends and brought an infectious joy to the people around him. His laugh was contagious and his ability to bring happiness to any situation spilled over to the bandstand.”

Vasconcelos also appeared on Metheny’s Offramp and Travels, before moving on to other projects. Along with releasing his own albums, Vasconcelos enhanced the works of many artists, in and out of Brazil. One noteworthy example is Lenine’s Na Pressão (1999), on which Naná played shakers, a talking drum and other instruments on the album’s dramatic title track. He also recorded with Brazilian musicians Marisa Monte, Caetano Veloso, Alceu Valença, Eliane Elias, Joyce, Toninho Horta, Luiz Bonfá, Badi Assad and Mônica Salmaso, along with those mentioned above and many others. In addition, Vasconcelos recorded and/or performed with Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Tony Williams, Ralph Towner, Paul Simon, B. B. King, the Talking Heads, Leon Thomas, Jean-Luc Ponty, Jon Hassell, Harry Belafonte, Claus Ogerman, Ginger Baker, Jack DeJohnette, Carly Simon, and the Yellowjackets.

Nana’s many fine solo works, such as Saudades for ECM (1979), Bush Dance (1986), Rain Dance (1989), Storytelling (1995) and Chegada (2005) are like sound encyclopedias, beautiful elaborations of rhythmic and textural possibilities. His album Sinfonia and Batuques won a Latin Grammy award in 2011 for Best Native Brazilian Roots Album. Vasconcelos returned every year to Recife to take part in Carnaval celebrations and lead a large group of maracatu drummers and singers, one of his many projects that supported Afro-Brazilian culture. When he died, these and other local musicians paid musical tribute to him in a procession through the streets of Recife, on the way to where he was buried.

Brazilian keyboardist, composer and music educator Antonio Adolfo reflects, “He grew tremendously when he traveled and lived outside Brazil. He developed a tremendous technique mixed with all his cultural background—presenting the berimbau to the world along with all his work with percussion in general—and became one of the most important percussionists of all time.” Vasconcelos continued to perform and record as in-demand sideman. In 2015, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and underwent treatment. He recorded the album Café no Bule in collaboration with Zeca Baleiro and Paulo Lepetit but his health continued to deteriorate. He passed away from respiratory failure on March 9, 2016 at home in Recife.

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This 1979 recording is probably Afro-experimentalist Vasconcelos' finest. It presents his various facets -- berimbao playing, intricate overlain vocals, fine percussion, even gorgeous guitar -- simply and almost overwhelmingly. This is one of those performances that remind one to never let natural dogmatism get too out of hand.



Nana Vasconcelos - Saudades  (flac  226mb)

01 O Berimbau 18:55
02 Vozes (Saudades) 3:12
03 Ondas (Na Óhlos De Petronila) 7:52
04 Cego Aderaldo 10:31
05 Dado 3:36

  Nana Vasconcelos - Saudades    (ogg  108mb)

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Bird Boy was composed by the Brazilian percussionist, Nana Vasconcelos, and was recorded by his band, The Bush Dancers, Rain Dance. Bird Boy is a beautiful and unique Afro-Brazilian reggae tune. The lyrical verse uses traditional Brazilian bird-calls for its inspiration, while the chorus is based on unison power-chords punctuated by drum & percussion fills. This arrangement also features a contrasting bridge and vamp, which serves as an open solo section which can be repeated between multiple soloists.



Nana Vasconcelos - Rain Dance   (flac  270mb)

01 Bird Boy 4:30
02 Anarrie/Rain Dance 7:40
03 Push Dance 3:26
04 Eh! Bahia 5:15
05 Cantei Oba 2:56
06 Batida 4:14
07 Olhos Azuis 4:21
08 Pasha Love 7:25
09 Bemtevi/Festa 7:05

Nana Vasconcelos - Rain Dance    (ogg  112mb)

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Fragments: Modern Tradition is a collection of compositions written by Nana Vasconcelos for six films. The music is appropriately atmospheric, and takes on a myriad of ethnic influences from around the world. Indeed, the first track "Vento Chamando Vento" sounds amazingly similar to fellow multi-ethnicists Dead Can Dance. Vasconcelos utilizes a variety of percussion instruments -- cowbells, shakers and drums -- to achieve the sounds of open landscapes. The album is not all space and wind, however. A fine backing band helps Vasconcelos create a number of musical textures, including the incredibly peppy "Forró Para Antero" and the poly-rhythmic "Let's Go to the Jungle." While this album does not shine with the brilliance of other work like Saudades and Bush Dance, it is a worthwhile addition to Vasconcelos' catalog.



Nana Vasconcelos - Fragmentos (flac 219mb)

01 Vento Chamando Vento (Wind Calling Wind) 4:13
02 Mundo Verde (Green World) 5:54
03 Sertao Das Memorias (Landscape Of Memory) 8:59
04 Forró Para Antero 3:14
05 Vozes (Voices) 3:51
06 Let's Go To The Jungle 4:54
07 Marimbariboba 2:49
08 Caminho Dos Pigmeus (Road To The Pygmies) 5:01
09 Gorée 3:45

Nana Vasconcelos - Fragmentos     (ogg 100mb)

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Without a doubt, this recording from the great Prince Debois Vasconcelos is enhanced by his retun to his roots. This is not music so much as it is beef and brocalli - with extra beef - food for the soul. If you consdier music to be a pasion, you will love this must record - more than any in your world colection. Clearly Mr. V. has never been more in touch with the love of all things music in his life. And the fun that happy life brings rings true on this exceptional disk. Naná Vasconcelos made, despite market demands or any other kind of impediment, an impeccable record, worthy of the work of a genuinely Pernambuco alchemist, fundamentally Northeastern, absolutely Brazilian.



Nana Vasconcelos - Minha Loa (flac  406mb)

01 Futebol 3:49
02 Afoxé Do Nêgo Véio 5:36
03 Estrela Negra  6:13
04 Goreé 2:49
05 Voz Nagô 4:30
06 Macaco 4:38
07 Don's Rollerskates (Tributo A Don Cherry) 5:14
08 Isleña 4:58
09 Cabloco De Lança 3:49
10 Forró Das Meninas 3:45
11 Curumim 3:30
12 Don's Rollerskates Remix 5:22

Nana Vasconcelos - Minha Loa  (ogg  189mb)

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Hello,

Today's artist is a very busy body who has produced 40 something in albums in the 39 years he's been on the scene, clearly the man doesn't need any extra stimulus and i suppose he ain't someone to chill out with. Elvis Costello, to be honest here, after his first four albums that came in rapid succession I kinda lost sight of him as there was so much more and I dislike those intellektual fans that made him their hero, never liked pretentious people waring those silly glasses either...
......N'Joy

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Declan Patrick Aloysius McManus alias Elvis Costello started out in a pubrock vain in a band called Flip City from 1974 through early 1976. Around this time, MacManus adopted the stage name D.P. Costello. After successfully landing a demo at Stiff records. His manager at Stiff, Jake Riviera, suggested a name change, to Elvis Costello. Costello's first album, My Aim Is True (1977), was a moderate commercial success with Costello appearing on the cover in his trademark oversize glasses, bearing a striking resemblance to a menacing Buddy Holly. Originally marketed as a punk artist, as the term new wave was applied to the first post-punk bands, Costello was classified as new wave for a time. The same year, Costello recruited his own permanent band, The Attractions, consisting of Steve Nieve (born Steve Nason; piano), Bruce Thomas (bass guitar), and Pete Thomas (unrelated to Bruce Thomas; drums). He released his first major hit single, "Watching The Detectives" . This Year's Model, Costello's first album recorded with the Attractions, was released in the spring of 1978. A rawer, harder-rocking record than My Aim Is True, it was also a bigger hit, the following year, Armed Forces was a more musically diverse album than either of his previous records. It was another hit, "Oliver's Army," the first single from the album, reached number two in Britain. In the summer of 1979, Costello produced the self-titled debut album by the Specials. In February of 1980, the soul-influenced Get Happy!!  the first record released on Riviera's new record label, F-Beat. Costello and the Attractions released Trust in early 1981; it was his fifth album in a row produced by Nick Lowe.

Jumping 22 very active years (19 albums) to 2003, when Costello returned with North, a collection of classically styled pop songs pitched halfway between Gershwin and Sondheim. The next year, he collaborated with his new wife, Diana Krall, on her first collection of original material, The Girl in the Other Room. That fall, Costello released two albums of original material: a classical work entitled Il Sogno and the concept album The Delivery Man, a rock & roll record cut with the Imposters. My Flame Burns Blue from 2006 was a live album with Costello fronting the 52-piece jazz orchestra the Metropole Orkest. On the album, classic Costello songs with new orchestral arrangements appeared alongside new compositions and a performance of the entire Il Sogno. The River in Reverse, a collaboration with R&B legend Allen Toussaint, arrived in 2006, followed by Momofuku, another effort credited to Elvis Costello & the Imposters, in 2008. That same year, Costello teamed up with veteran producer T-Bone Burnett for a series of recording sessions, the results of which were compiled into Secret, Profane & Sugar Cane and readied for release in early 2009. The pair also recorded a second album, National Ransom, which appeared the following year. In 2011 Costello & the Imposters released The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook!!!, which was recorded live over a two-day stint at the Wiltern in Los Angeles.

Over his career, Costello's musical eclecticism has distinguished his records and have shown him to be one of the most innovative, influential, and best songwriters who supports his fiercely literate lyrics with richly diverse music.


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Having gotten country out of his system with Almost Blue, Elvis Costello returned to pop music with Imperial Bedroom -- and it was pop in the classic, Tin Pan Alley sense. Costello chose to hire Geoff Emerick, who engineered all of the Beatles' most ambitious records, to produce Imperial Bedroom, which indicates what it sounds like -- it's traditional pop with a post-Sgt. Pepper production. Essentially, the songs on Imperial Bedroom are an extension of Costello's jazz and pop infatuations on Trust. Costello's music is complex and intricate, yet it flows so smoothly, it's easy to miss the bitter, brutal lyrics. The interweaving layers of "Beyond Belief" and the whirlwind intro are the most overtly dark sounds on the record, with most of the album given over to the orchestrated, melancholy torch songs and pop singles. Never once do Costello & the Attractions deliver a rock & roll song -- the album is all about sonic detail, from the accordion on "The Long Honeymoon" to the lilting strings on "Town Cryer." Of course, the detail and the ornate arrangements immediately peg Imperial Bedroom as Costello's most ambitious album, but that doesn't mean it's his absolute masterpiece. Imperial Bedroom remains one of Costello's essential records because it is the culmination of his ambitions and desires -- it's where he proves that he can play with the big boys, both as a songwriter and a record-maker. It may not have been a commercial blockbuster, but it certainly earned the respect of legions of musicians and critics who would have previously disdained such a punk rocker. And, perhaps, that's also the reason that he abandoned this immaculately crafted style of work on his next album, Punch the Clock. Ultimately, this is the album where Costello stepped past being an 80s rocker/pop star into a fully formed contemporary artist who would have staying power. There's an emotional heft, confidence and fearlessness about the material here that begins to place Costello into an upper echelon of pop artists.



Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Imperial Bedroom   (flac  324mb)

01 Beyond Belief 2:34
02 Tears Before Bedtime 3:02
03 Shabby Doll 4:48
04 The Long Honeymoon 4:15
05 Man Out Of Time 5:26
06 Almost Blue 2:50
07 ...And In Every Home 3:23
08 The Loved Ones 2:48
09 Human Hands 2:43
10 Kid About It 2:45
11 Little Savage 2:37
12 Boy With A Problem 2:12
13 Pidgin English 3:58
14 You Little Fool 3:11
15 Town Cryer 4:16

Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Imperial Bedroom  (ogg  115mb)

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Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Imperial Bedroom Bonus (flac  434mb)

01 The Land Of Give And Take (Early Version Of Beyond Belief) 3:05
02 Tears Before Bedtime (Alternate Version) 3:03
03 Man Out Of Time (Alternate Version) 3:43
04 Human Hands (Early Version) 2:44
05 Kid About It (Alternate Version) 3:18
06 Little Savage (Alternate Version) 3:07
07 You Little Fool (Alternate Version) 2:59
08 Town Cryer (Fast Version) 2:15
09 Little Goody Two Shoes (Alternate Version) 3:10
10 The Town Where Time Stood Still (Alternate Version) 2:57
11 ...And In Every Home (Rehearsal) 3:12
12 I Turn Around 2:10
13 From Head To Toe 2:35
14 The World Of Broken Hearts 3:03
15 Night Time 2:55
16 Really Mystified 2:05
17 The Stamping Ground 3:10
18 Shabby Doll (Demo) 4:21
19 Man Out Of Time (Demo) 3:27
20 You Little Fool (Demo) 3:11
21 Town Cryer (Demo) 3:03
22 Seconds Of Pleasure (Demo) 3:19
23 Imperial Bedroom 2:48

Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Imperial Bedroom Bonus  (ogg  159mb)

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Perhaps frustrated by the lack of commercial success Imperial Bedroom encountered, Elvis Costello enlisted British hitmakers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley to produce its follow-up, Punch the Clock. The difference between the two records is immediately noticeable. Punch the Clock has a slick, glossy surface, complete with layered synthesizers, horns, studio effects, and the backup vocals of Afrodiziak. The approach isn't necessarily a misguided one, since Costello is as much a pop musician as he is a singer/songwriter and many of the best moments on the record -- "Everyday I Write the Book,""Let Them All Talk" -- work well as shiny pop singles. However, the problem with Punch the Clock is that Costello is entering a fallow songwriting period; it is his least consistent set of original songs to date. The best moments, the antiwar ballad "Shipbuilding" and the eerie pseudo-rap "Pills and Soap," are as articulate and effective as any of his past work, but frequently Costello falls short of meeting his standards, particularly when he's trying to write a song in the style of his older songs. Nevertheless, the sheen of the Langer and Winstanley production makes Punch the Clock a pleasurable listen.



Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Punch the Clock (flac 298mb)

01 Let Them All Talk 3:06
02 Everyday I Write The Book 3:54
03 The Greatest Thing 3:04
04 The Element Within Her 2:52
05 Love Went Mad 3:13
06 Shipbuilding 4:51
07 TKO (Boxing Day) 3:28
08 Charm School 3:55
09 The Invisible Man 3:04
10 Mouth Almighty 3:04
11 King Of Thieves 3:45
12 Pills And Soap 3:43
13 The World And His Wife 3:22

Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Punch the Clock   (ogg  108mb)

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Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Punch the Clock Bonus (flac 461mb)

01 Everyday I Write The Book (Alternate Version) 2:22
02 Baby Pictures 1:30
03 Heathen Town 3:09
04 The Flirting Kind 3:01
05 Walking On Thin Ice 3:48
06 Big Sister's Clothes/Stand Down Margaret (BBC Session) 5:17
07 Danger Zone (BBC Session) 2:18
08 Seconds Of Pleasure 3:44
09 The Town Where Time Stood Still 3:33
10 The World And His Wife (Solo Version) 2:44
11 Shatterproof 2:15
12 Heathen Town (Demo) 2:17
13 The Flirting Kind (Demo) 2:53
14 Let Them All Talk (Demo) 2:14
15 King Of Thieves (Demo) 3:20
16 The Invisible Man (Demo) 2:12
17 The Element Within Her (Demo) 2:13
18 Love Went Mad (Demo) 3:01
19 The Greatest Thing (Demo) 2:25
20 Mouth Almighty (Demo) 3:03
21 Charm School (Demo) 2:17
22 Possession (Live) 2:29
23 Secondary Modern (Live) 3:02
24 The Bells (Live) 4:14
25 Watch Your Step (Live) 3:22
26 Back Stabbers/King Horse (Live) 4:47

Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Punch the Clock Bonus  (ogg  182mb)

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Hello,

These days i'm making an effort to re-up, it will satisfy a small number of people which means its likely the update will  expire relatively quickly again as its interest that keeps it live. Nevertheless here's your chance ... asks for re-up in the comments section at the page where the expired link resides, or it will be discarded by me. ....requests are satisfied on a first come first go basis. ...updates will be posted here  remember to request from the page where the link died! To keep re-ups interesting to my regular visitors i will only re-up files that are at least 12 months old (the older the better as far as i am concerned), and please check the previous update request if it's less then a year old i won't re-up.

Looka here another batch of 27 re-ups, requests fulfilled up to November 15th. There's much more to be had here. My tip here randomly pick an archive date and move up or down a few pages to older or newer posts, browse what you get there and maybe you'll find something of your liking or it may triggers a memory of what you'd really want and then do a search  ...N' Joy

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4x Into BPM NOW in Flac ( Blondie - Beautiful - The Remix Album, Sarah McLachlan - Remixed, Laibach - Anthems remixed, James Brown - Dynamite)

3x Sundaze NOW in Flac ( Laswell & Namlook - Psychonavigation, Laswell & Jah Wobble - Radioaxiom, Golden Palominos - Drunk With Passion)


3x Aetix Back in Ogg (Anthony Moore - Flying Doesn't Help, The Dance - In Lust, Freur - Doot-Doot)


3x Aetix Back In Flac (The dB's - Stands For DeciBels, The dB's - Repercussion, The dB's - Like This)


2x Sundaze NOW in Flac (Future Sound Of London - Lifeforms, Funki Porcini - Hed Phone Sex)


3x Roots Back in Flac (Orchestre Poly Rythmo - Cotonou Club, Orchestre Poly-Rythmo - The Kings Of Benin, Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou - The Vodoun  Effect)

2x Roots Back in Flac (Thomas Mapfumo - Singles 1977-86, Chiwoniso - Rebel Woman )


3x Sundaze Back in flac ( John Foxx - Cathedral Oceans I, John Foxx - Cathedral Oceans II , John Foxx - Cathedral Oceans III)


4x Grooves Back in Flac (The Temptations - Psychedelic Shack, The Temptations - Sky's the Limit, The Temptations - All Directions, The Temptations - Masterpiece )

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Hello,

Today's artist is an American singer whose career has spanned four decades, beginning in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. Widely known as the Queen of Funk, she has sold an estimated 70 million records worldwide. Khan was ranked at number 17 in VH1's original list of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll. In 2015, she was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the second time; she was previously nominated as member of Rufus in 2011. To date, Khan has won 10 Grammy Awards, including two as a member of Rufus. She has received 22 Grammy Award nominations, including three as a member of Rufus.... ..... N'joy

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Chaka Khan was born Yvette Marie Stevens on March 23, 1953 into an artistic, bohemian household in Chicago, Illinois. She is the eldest of five children born to Charles Stevens and Sandra Coleman, and has described her father Charles as a beatnik and her mother as 'able to do anything.' Raised in the Hyde Park area, 'an island in the middle of the madness' of Chicago's rough South Side housing projects. Her sister Yvonne later became a successful musician in her own right under the name Taka Boom. Her only brother, Mark, who formed the funk group Aurra, also became a successful musician. She has two other sisters, Zaheva Stevens and Tammy McCrary, the latter of whom is her current manager.

Chaka Khan was raised as a Catholic. She attributed her love of music to her grandmother, who introduced her to jazz as a child. Khan became a fan of rhythm and blues music as a pre-teen and at eleven formed a girl group, the Crystalettes, which included her sister Taka. In the late 1960s, Khan attended several civil rights rallies with her father's second wife, Connie, a strong supporter of the movement, and joined the Black Panther Party after befriending fellow member, activist, and Chicago native Fred Hampton in 1967. Though many think that she was given the name Chaka while in the Panthers she has made it clear that her name Chaka Adunne Aduffe Hodarhi Karifi was given to her at age 13 by a Yoruba Baba. In 1969, she left the Panthers and dropped out of high school, having attended Calumet High School and Kenwood High School (now Kenwood Academy). She began to perform in small groups around the Chicago area, first performing with Cash McCall's group Lyfe, which included her then boyfriend Hassan Khan, whom she would later marry.

She was asked to replace Baby Huey of Baby Huey & the Babysitters after Huey's death in 1970. The group disbanded a year later. While performing in local bands in 1972, she was spotted by two members of a new group called Rufus and soon won her position in the group (replacing rock and roll singer Paulette McWilliams). They later signed with ABC Records in 1973. Prior to signing with the label, she married on-and-off boyfriend Hassan Khan, changing her stage name to Chaka Khan.

In 1973, Rufus released their eponymous debut album. Despite their fiery rendition of Stevie Wonder's "Maybe Your Baby" from Wonder's acclaimed Talking Book and the modest success of the Chaka-led ballad "Whoever's Thrilling You (Is Killing Me)", the album failed to garner attention. That changed when Wonder himself collaborated with the group on a song he had written for Khan. That song, "Tell Me Something Good", became the group's breakthrough hit, reaching number-three on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974, later winning the group their first Grammy Award. The single's success and the subsequent follow-up, "You Got the Love", which peaked at number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100, helped their second parent album, Rags to Rufus, go platinum, selling over a million copies. From 1974 to 1979, Rufus released six platinum-selling albums including Rufusized, Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan, Ask Rufus, Street Player and Masterjam. The band gained a reputation as a live performing act with Khan becoming the star attraction, thanks to her powerful vocals and stage attire which sometimes included Native American garb and showing her midriff. Most of the band's material was written and produced by the band itself with few exceptions. Khan has also been noted for being an instrumentalist playing drums and bass; she also provided percussion during her tenure with Rufus.

In 1978, Warner Bros. Records released Khan's solo debut album, which featured the crossover disco hit, "I'm Every Woman", written for her by songwriters Ashford & Simpson. The success of the single helped the album go gold, selling over a million copies. In 1979, Khan reunited with Rufus to collaborate on the Jones-produced Masterjam, which featured their hit "Do You Love What You Feel", which Khan sang with Tony Maiden. In 1980, while Rufus released Party 'Til You're Broke, again without Khan, she released her second solo album, Naughty, which featured her on the cover with her six-year-old daughter Milini. The album yielded the disco hit "Clouds" and the R&B ballad "Papillon".

Also in 1980, she had a cameo appearance as a church choir soloist in The Blues Brothers with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. Khan released two albums in 1981, the Rufus release, Camouflage and the solo album What Cha' Gonna Do for Me. The latter album went gold. In 1982, Khan issued two more solo albums, the jazz-oriented Echoes of an Era and a more funk/pop-oriented self-titled album Chaka Khan. The latter album's track, the jazz-inflected "Be Bop Medley", won Khan a Grammy and earned praise from jazz singer Betty Carter who loved Khan's vocal scatting in the song.

In 1983, the singer returned with Rufus on a live album, Stompin' at the Savoy - Live, which featured the studio single, "Ain't Nobody", which became the group's final charting success reaching number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot R&B chart, while also reaching the top ten in the United Kingdom. Following this release, Rufus separated for good.

In 1984, Khan released her sixth studio album, I Feel for You. The title track was the first single released. Originally written and recorded by Prince in 1979, it had also been recorded by The Pointer Sisters and Mary Wells. Khan's version featured a harmonica solo by Stevie Wonder and an introductory rap by Grandmaster Melle Mel. It became a million-selling smash in the U.S. and United Kingdom and helped to relaunch Khan's career. "I Feel for You" topped not only the U.S. R&B and dance charts, but achieved great success on the U.S. pop chart and reached #1 in the United Kingdom. The song reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1984 and remained on that chart for 26 weeks, well into 1985. Additionally, it hit #1 on the Cash Box chart. It was listed as Billboard′s #5 song for 1985 and netted Prince the 1985 Grammy Award for Best R&B Song. In addition to the song's successful radio airplay and sales, a music video of Khan with break dancers in an inner-city setting enjoyed heavy rotation on television and helped to solidify Khan's notoriety in popular culture.

Khan followed up her successful I Feel For You album with 1986's Destiny and 1988's CK. Khan found more success in the late 1980s with a remix album, Life Is a Dance: The Remix Project, which reached the top ten on the British albums chart. As a result, she performed regularly in the United Kingdom, where she maintained a strong fan base. Khan returned with her first studio album in four years in 1992 with the release of The Woman I Am, which was a success thanks to the R&B songs "Love You All My Lifetime" and "You Can Make the Story Right". Khan abruptly left Warner Bros. after stating the label had neglected her and failed to release Dare You to Love Me

In 1998, Khan signed a contract with Prince's NPG Records label and issued Come 2 My House, followed by the single "Don't Talk 2 Strangers", a cover of a 1996 Prince song. Khan later went on a tour with Prince as a co-headlining act. In 2000, Khan departed from NPG and in 2004 released her first jazz covers album in twenty-two years with 2004's ClassiKhan. She also covered "Little Wing" with Kenny Olson on the album Power of Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix. Three years later, after signing with Burgundy Records, Khan released what many critics called a "comeback album" with Funk This, produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis & Big Jim Wright The album featured the hit, "Angel", and the Mary J. Blige duet, "Disrespectful". The latter track went to number one on the U.S. dance singles chart, winning the singers a Grammy Award, while Funk This also won a Grammy for Best R&B Album.

In a 2008 interview Khan said that she, unlike other artists, felt very optimistic about the current changes in the recording industry, including music downloading. "I'm glad things are shifting and artists – not labels – are having more control over their art. My previous big record company (Warner Bros.) has vaults of my recordings that haven't seen the light of day that people need to hear. This includes Robert Palmer's original recording of 'Addicted to Love'– which they took my vocals off of! We are working on getting it (and other tracks) all back now. On May 19, 2011, Khan was given the 2,440th Hollywood Walk of Fame star plaque on a section of Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. Her family was present when the singer accepted the honor, as was Stevie Wonder. Khan is working on her new album called iKhan which is said to be released in 2015...still in the pipeline. Instead she released Soul Diva Chaka Live in flac format. In July 2016, she canceled concert performances and entered rehab, we wish her strength.

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Still very much an integral part of Rufus, Chaka Khan set the charts on fire with her debut solo release. The first single was the R&B chart-topper "I'm Every Woman," an Ashford & Simpson track with Khan lighting up the lyric with her tantalizing vocals. "Life Is a Dance," the second release, doesn't quite compare to its predecessor, but it still made the R&B Top 40. The sentimental ballad "Roll Me Through the Rushes" is poetically engaging, and despite never being released as a single, it became a mainstay of radio. Although Khan had much credibility from her association with Rufus, this album demonstrated that the dynamic vocalist could hold her own ground alone.



Chaka Khan - Chaka   (flac  273mb)

01 I'm Every Woman 4:07
02 Love Has Fallen On Me 4:53
03 Roll Me Through The Rushes 4:42
04 Sleep On It 4:21
05 Life Is A Dance 4:21
06 We Got The Love 3:28
07 Some Love 5:50
08 A Woman In A Man's World 3:58
09 The Message In The Middle Of The Bottom 4:16
10 I Was Made To Love Him 3:24

Chaka Khan - Chaka (ogg   96mb)

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By the early '80s Chaka Khan and producer Arif Mardin had a great working relationship that was responsible for her hit solo debut, 1979's Chaka. Despite having the hit single "I'm Every Woman," Chaka was often a stilted and unfocused affair. Naughty presents the two in a more centered working relationship. The big hit here, "Papillion (aka Hot Butterfly)," projects an effortlessness that didn't come as easy during Khan's concurrent run with Rufus. The tough, Latinized rock/funk of "Too Much Love" has one of Khan's most visceral performances. For Naughty Khan also does one of the better versions of Aaron Schroeder and Jerry Ragovoy's "Move Me No Mountain" that's made even better by Anthony Jackson's steady bass and Steve Ferrone's tough drumming. Despite the high points, other songs like "What You Did,""Our Love's in Danger," and even Ashford & Simpson's "Clouds" come off underdone. Recorded at Atlantic Studios in New York, most of Naughty represents Khan in a holding pattern, without much material to accommodate her widening range. That being said, Naughty is only a few songs away from being a bona fide classic.



Chaka Khan - Naughty   (flac 263mb)

01 Clouds 4:26
02 Get Ready, Get Set 3:41
03 Move Me No Mountain 4:14
04 Nothing's Gonna Take You Away 3:42
05 So Naughty 3:57
06 Too Much Love 3:53
07 All Night's All Right 4:24
08 What You Did 3:57
09 Papillon (AKA Hot Butterfly) 4:08
10 Our Love's In Danger 3:35

Chaka Khan - Naughty (ogg  96mb)

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As a vocalist, Chaka Khan is the one of the very few who often doesn't need great material to prosper. Thankfully, on What Cha' Gonna Do for Me that isn't the case. Teaming again with Arif Mardin, slowly but surely the two began to craft an even more successful and innovative sound. This effort not only bests the work before it, but it is Mardin's most fulfilling production since 1974's Average White Band. The cover of "We Can Work It Out" gets a brash and funky Stevie Wonder-style arrangement, with Gregory Phillanganes doing great synth work. The biggest hit here is the melodic title track and has Khan's patented mix of sexiness and intelligent phrasing. The best song here, "I Know You, I Live You," displays the brilliant bass and drum team of Anthony Jackson and Steve Ferrone, whose innovation all but rendered Rufus obsolete. Their pounding yet refined sound is also on "We've Got Each Other," a hooky and propulsive duet with Khan's brother Mark Stevens. The ambitious and much loved "And the Melody Still Lingers On (Night in Tunisia)" had Mardin and Khan creating pithy lyrics that paid homage to '40s jazz legends as well as all other subsequent musical geniuses. The track features a clavitar solo from Herbie Hancock, Dizzy Gillespie, and an "excerpted" solo break from Charlie Parker. Throughout What Cha' Gonna Do for Me, Mardin seems to get amazing vocals from Khan and has he certainly had fun playing with her voice. What Cha' Gonna Do for Me is arguably the best effort of their partnership.



Chaka Khan - What Cha' Gonna Do For Me   (flac  277mb)

01 We Can Work It Out 3:41
02 What Cha' Gonna Do For Me3:52
03 I Know You, I Live You 4:28
04 Any Old Sunday 3:36
05 We Got Each Other 3:54
06 And The Melody Still Lingers On (Night In Tunisia) 5:01
07 Night Moods 4:18
08 Heed The Warning 4:32
09 Father He Said 3:51
10 Fate 3:18
11 I Know You, I Live You (Reprise) 1:18

Chaka Khan - What Cha' Gonna Do For Me (ogg   100mb)

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An excellent album from Chaka Khan, mixing tingling uptempo tunes with her characteristic soaring, glorious vocals. "Got to Be There" reached number five on the R&B charts, but it actually wasn't the album's high point. That was the marvelous "Be Bop Medley," which later led hardcore jazz purist Betty Carter to proclaim Khan the one female singer working outside the jazz arena with legitimate improvising credentials.



Chaka Khan - Chaka Khan   (flac 264mb)

01 Tearin' It Up 6:39
02 Slow Dancin' 5:22
03 Best In The West 4:00
04 Got To Be There 4:00
05 Be Bop Medley 5:22
Hot House/East Of Suez (Come On Sailor)/Epistrophy (I Wanna Play)/
Yardbird Suite/Con Alma/Giant Steps
06 Twisted 4:12
07 So Not To Worry 4:55
08 Pass It On (A Sure Thing) (Pasa Lo Esta Seguro) 4:32

Chaka Khan - Chaka Khan (ogg 96mb)
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Hello,

Today's artist is an American composer (born October 3, 1936) who, along with La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass, pioneered minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. His style of composition influenced many composers and groups. His innovations include using tape loops to create phasing patterns. These compositions, marked by their use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm and canons, have significantly influenced contemporary music, especially in the US...... N'Joy

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A highly influential avant-garde composer and one of the key founders of the minimalist school of music, Reich has embraced a wide variety of musical styles and interests, forging from them a unique synthesis.

Reich took piano lessons as a youngster, but his first big musical revelations came at 14, when he encountered the music of Bach and Stravinsky. He also had his first exposure to bebop, and immediately started learning drums and playing in a jazz band with friends. He played on weekends while studying at Cornell, which he entered at age 16 and where he received a degree in philosophy, specializing in the work of Wittgenstein. In 1957, he entered Juilliard, studying with William Bergsma and Vincent Persichetti (and meeting fellow student Philip Glass). Here Reich first heard 12-tone music; he got a further dose of it during graduate studies at Mills College in Oakland, working with Luciano Berio and Darius Milhaud, and eventually earning his master's degree.

At about that time Reich met Terry Riley, who was in the process of writing In C (1964). Reich played in its premiere, and In C's tonal approach and use of repeating patterns had a big influence on Reich's own music. In turn, Reich suggested the use of the eighth note pulse, which is now standard in performance of the piece. Reich had been experimenting with tapes, creating loops of speech and layering them, allowing the layers to move in and out of sync with one another. His early works It's Gonna Rain (1965) and Come Out (1966) led to similar experiments with live performers, the first of which was Piano Phase for two pianos (1967). Back in New York, Reich and Glass formed an ensemble to perform their music (1968-1971). Several of those players later formed Steve Reich and Musicians, which has toured the world many times over.

In 1970, Reich studied for several weeks at the University of Ghana. His encounter with Ghanaian music and dance inspired his ambitious work Drumming (1970). Encounters with Indonesian gamelan music in 1973-1974 at Seattle and Berkeley were equally significant, and broadened Reich's rhythmic and timbral palette. His most significant composition of the time was Music for 18 Musicians (1974-1976), a large and colorful work which brought Reich worldwide recognition.

In the mid-'70s, Reich started taking Torah classes with his future wife, video artist Beryl Korot. He also studied traditional Jewish cantillation and incorporated it into his psalm settings, Tehillim (1981). Several chamber and orchestral works followed in the 1980s. For Different Trains (1988, a Grammy winner), Reich used a digital sampler to record speaking voices and derived the rhythmic and melodic ideas of the piece from those voices. Reich knew that Different Trains was going to lead to some kind of new documentary form incorporating both video and music. Collaborating with his wife for the first time, the two completed their theater work The Cave in 1993. They continued to explore the combination of music and video with Three Tales (1998-2002).

Music for 18 Musicians [Nonesuch 1998] By the end of the 21st century's first decade, the lasting significance of Reich's music was being recognized worldwide. After 1998's new recording of Music for 18 Musicians won a Grammy, Reich received honorary doctorates and awards from Juilliard, Budapest's Franz Liszt Academy and other schools; the 2007 Polar Music Prize; the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Music (for Double Sextet); and, in 2012, an American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal for Music. On March 5, 2013 the London Sinfonietta, conducted by Brad Lubman, at the Royal Festival Hall in London gave the world premiere of Radio Rewrite for ensemble with 11 players, inspired by the music of Radiohead. The programme also included Double Sextet for ensemble with 12 players, Clapping Music, for two people and four hands featuring Reich himself alongside percussionist Colin Currie.

In 2013 Reich received the US$400,000 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in contemporary music for bringing a new conception of music, based on the use of realist elements from the realm of daily life and others drawn from the traditional music of Africa and Asia. In September 2014, Reich was awarded the "Leone d'Oro" (Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Music) from the Venice Biennale. In March 2016, Reich was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the Royal College of Music in London at the ripe old age of 79 years.

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These historical recordings were difficult to find (usually on out of print compilations) for a long time, so it's gratifying to have them readily available in one place. The two important tape pieces here from the mid-'60s, "Come Out" and "It's Gonna Rain," have their sound sources originating in police brutality and apocalyptic evangelism. Reich takes his sources and turns them into two short tape loops repeated rapidly as they gradually go out of synch with each other -- what's revealed are the intricacies of the human voice. "Come Out" takes the voice fragment and turns it into a hall-of-mirror set of voices over shuffling beat and wah-wah that are actually a by-product of subtleties of the voice and almost unrecognizable as the original vocal sample. It becomes a scary psychedelic funk piece that Funkadelic or Can would have been proud of. "It's Gonna Rain" is similarly looped and phased as the preacher's admonition is transformed, moving in and out of synch as the piece progresses with the second part of the piece especially full of fierce, terrifying swirls of noise. After taking musique concrete to another level, Reich decided to try to make similar strides with instrumental music. The two other pieces here, "Piano Phase" and "Four Organs," represent this new direction in his work. Early Works is a must-have introduction for anyone interested in the roots of minimalist music.



Steve Reich 01 Early Works   (flac  298mb)

01 Come Out 12:58
02 Piano Phase (feat Double Edge) 20:36
03 It's Gonna Rain 17:55
04 Four Organs (feat Bang On A Can) 15:52

Steve Reich 01 Early Works    (ogg  147mb)

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Along with Terry Riley's In C and perhaps Glass' early piano music, Drumming defined the essential component of this new form of music: a transparent process that could imperceptibly lead to bewildering complexity. Crucially, Reich added an extra ingredient: rhythms derived from his studies of West African drumming, giving the work an inherent vitality sometimes missing from his contemporaries. Drumming is a 75-minute piece laid out in four sections, one apiece for small tuned drums (played with mallets), marimbas, and glockenspiels, ending with a combination of all three plus the addition of voices mimicking the percussion. Beginning with a single struck drum, notes are added little by little, apparently simply filling the voids between them but, almost before the listener realizes it, suddenly being heard as new rhythmic patterns themselves, taking on a miraculously shifting guise. One can virtually choose to hear any of a number of rhythms depending on how one organizes the sounds in one's head. Indeed, Reich allowed his musicians to "discover" various rhythms for themselves and accent them accordingly. The process is fairly similar in each section, the palette changing from the beautifully resonant drums to the luscious marimbas to glockenspiels, the massed character of which add an extra element: ringing overtones. In Drumming, Reich arrived at the perfect combination of intellectual rigor and corporeal sensuousness, neither side predominating, both in clear and glorious presence.



Steve Reich 02 Drumming (flac  242mb)

01 Part I 17:31
02 Part II 18:10
03 Part III 11:12
04 Part IV 9:50

Steve Reich 02 Drumming   (ogg 135mb)

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Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ is a preliminary step down the path Reich would take in coming years, using longer melodic lines and a looser, more expansive rhythmic system. Very beautiful in and of itself, one can't help but think that the composer really made his major statement earlier, in Drumming, and that much of what would follow would be elaboration on those basic ideas.



Steve Reich 03 Music For Mallet Instruments (flac  170mb)

01 Music For Mallet Instruments, Voices And Organ 16:59
02 Clapping Music 4:48
03 Six Marimbas (feat The Manhattan Marimba Quartet) 16:19

  (ogg   mb)

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If Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians is simply described in terms of its materials and organization -- 11 chords followed by 11 pieces built on those chords -- then it might seem utterly dry and monotonous. The actual music, though, is far from lackluster. When this recording was released in 1978, the impact on the new music scene was immediate and overwhelming. Anyone who saw potential in minimalism and had hoped for a major breakthrough piece found it here. The beauty of its pulsing added-note harmonies and the sustained power and precision of the performance were the music's salient features; and instead of the sterile, electronic sound usually associated with minimalism, the music's warm resonance was a welcome change. Yet repeated listening brought out a subtle and important shift in Reich's conception: the patterns were no longer static repetitions moving in and out of phase with each other, but were now flexible units that grew organically and changed incrementally over the course of the work. This discovery indicated a promising new direction for Reich, one that put him ahead of his peers by giving his music greater interest and adaptability and led to the more elaborate works of the next two decades.



Steve Reich 04 Music For 18 Musicians  (flac  318mb)

01 Pulses 5:26
02 Section I 3:58
03 Section II 5:13
04 Section IIIa 3:55
05 Section IIIb 3:45
06 Section IV 6:36
07 Section V 6:48
08 Section VI 4:54
09 Section VII 4:19
10 Section VIII 3:34
11 Section IX 5:23
12 Section X 1:50
13 Section XI 5:44
14 Pulses 6:10

Steve Reich 04 Music For 18 Musicians   (ogg  152mb)

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Hello,


Monty Python (sometimes known as The Pythons) were a British surreal comedy group who created the sketch comedy show Monty Python's Flying Circus, which first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four seasons. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and impact, including touring stage shows, films, numerous albums, several books, and a stage musical. The group's influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. ..N'Joy

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Fusing the topical satire of David Frost with the surreal outlandishness of The Goon Show, the Monty Python's Flying Circus troupe formed in England in 1969. Comprised of British performers John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Graham Chapman, along with American animator Terry Gilliam, the group emerged as an international cult phenomenon, honing its singular blend of broad slapstick, edgy black comedy, and social commentary in a string of successful television programs, films, and albums.

After meeting during a taping of the British children's series Do Not Adjust Your Set, the Pythons officially took shape in May 1969 when the BBC contracted the group to produce its own 13-week program. Monty Python's Flying Circus, a weekly sketch comedy series, premiered that October; after becoming a major hit throughout Europe, the troupe recorded 1970's Monty Python's Flying Circus LP, a set of new performances of television material recorded in front of a live audience (including their legendary "dead parrot" sketch, "The Pet Shop"). Their film debut, And Now for Something Completely Different -- a collection of highlights from the series -- followed in 1971.


Another Monty Python Record, released in the U.K. in 1971, made its American debut the following year; for most U.S. fans, the album was their first exposure to the troupe -- the BBC series did not begin appearing on public television outlets for several more months. After 1972's Monty Python's Previous Record, a mixture of original routines and TV material featuring "Eric the Half a Bee,""The Argument Clinic," and "Embarrassment/A Bed-Time Book," the group issued 1973's Matching Tie and Handkerchief, which featured a "trick track" gimmick whereby the second side contained separate grooves both featuring entirely different material; playing randomly depending upon where the needle dropped, the gimmick effectively created a "side three."
A 1973 British tour yielded Live at Drury Lane, released in 1974 to coincide with the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail; the movie's companion record, The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a reprise of screen material along with new skits, did not appear until the next year. After 1976's Live! At City Center, a long hiatus followed before the group reunited for the 1979 feature and soundtrack Monty Python's Life of Brian.

Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album appeared in 1980, followed by the 1982 concert film Live at the Hollywood Bowl. The 1983 feature Monty Python's the Meaning of Life was the last official group project, although the troupe members subsequently reunited on occasion; most famously, Cleese and Palin teamed in the hit comedy A Fish Called Wanda, while Gilliam's directorial efforts like Time Bandits, Brazil, and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen all prominently featured other Python alumni. Sadly, Graham Chapman died of cancer on October 4, 1989.

did U know

*The Python programming language by Guido van Rossum is named after the troupe, and Monty Python references are often found in sample code created for that language.
*Seven asteroids are named after Monty Python: 9617 Grahamchapman, 9618 Johncleese, 9619 Terrygilliam, 9620 Ericidle, 9621 Michaelpalin, 9622 Terryjones, and 13681 Monty Python.
*In 2006, Ben & Jerry's, known for their "celebrity flavours", introduced to the line-up "Vermonty Python", a coffee liqueur ice cream with a chocolate cookie crumb swirl and fudge cows.

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The actual title of this release is "The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)." As such, a majority of the disc consists of extracts from the motion picture's dialogue. This is a different approach from what writer/actors Michael Palin, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Terry Gilliam (also visual designer) had taken with their previous studio outings, which were in essence re-recordings of classic sketches from the Monty Python's Flying Circus television program. For the sake of continuity, several new bits have been added; chief among these are Chapman's assorted "Executive Edition" announcements, concluding with the "verrrry nice""Executive Edition Addendum." For the "Tour of the Classic Silbury Hill Theatre" and "Live Broadcast from London: Premiere of the Film," Palin and Cleese provide setting and exposition for both the album and the film. At times they mock the visual aspects and the very nature of the cinematic experience as it translates (or fails to translate) onto vinyl. Much of what is included here has become legendary among the faithful, as well as definitive within the Python repertoire, most notably "Bring Out Your Dead,""A Witch,""The Knights Who Say 'Ni!'," and "Camelot," the Hollywood-style production number written by former Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band member Neil Innes, who also provided all the songs for the flick.

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with

Eric Idle
Graham Chapman
John Cleese
Michael Palin
Terry Gilliam
Terry Jones


501 Monty Python and the Holy Grail (flac  191mb)


501 Monty Python And The Holy Grail - Original Film Soundtrack (Side 1)23:25
Introduction To The Executive Album Edition
Tour Of The Classic Silbury Hill Theatre
Live Broadcast From London: Premiere Of The Film
Narration From The Silbury Hill Gentlemen's Room/You're Using Coconuts
Bring Out Your Dead
King Arthur And The Old Woman: A Lesson In Anarcho-Syndicated Commune Living
A Witch?
A Lesson In Logic
Camelot
The Quest For The Holy Grail
Live From The Parking Lot At The Silbury Hill Theatre
The Castle Of Louis De Lombard: A Strange Person
Bomb Scare
Executive Album Edition Announcement

502 Monty Python And The Holy Grail - Original Film Soundtrack (Side 2)23:48
Another Executive Album Edition Announcement
The Story Of The Film So Far
The Tale Of Sir Robin
The Knights Who Say Ni!
Interview With Filmmaker Carl French
The Tale Of Sir Lancelot: At Swamp Castle
Tim, The Enchanter/A Shakespearean Critique
A Foul-Tempered Rabbit
Executive Album Edition Addendum
The Castle Aaargh/The End

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Previously

101 Another Monty Python Record (flac  212mb)
201 Monty Python's Previous Record (flac  194mb)
301 Matching Tie and Handkerchief (flac  159mb)
401 Live at Drury Lane (flac  275mb)

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Hello,

The music of Brazil encompasses various regional music styles influenced by African, European and Amerindian forms. After 500 years of history, Brazilian music developed some unique and original styles such as samba, bossa nova, MPB, sertanejo, pagode, tropicalia, choro, maracatu, embolada (coco de repente), mangue bit, funk carioca (in Brazil simply known as Funk), frevo, forró, axé, brega, lambada, and Brazilian versions of foreign musical genres, such as Brazilian rock and rap.


Today's artist is a Brazilian singer, songwriter, actor, and painter active for more than 70 years beginning in 1933. He contributed to the birth of Brazil's bossa nova movement, and several of his samba pieces, such as "Samba da Minha Terra", "Doralice" and "Saudade da Bahia", have become staples of Música popular brasileira. Equally notable are his ballads celebrating the fishermen and women of Bahia, including "Promessa de Pescador", "O Que É Que a Baiana Tem?", and "Milagre". Caymmi composed about 100 songs in his lifetime, and many of his works are now considered to be Brazilian classics. N'Joy

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If one were to look for a geographical region in Brazil that resembles the Mississippi Delta in terms of producing a lion's share of influential performers, a good case could be made for the region of Bahia in Brazil's northeast. The list of Bahian performers is formidable: Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, Maria Bethania, etc. What links all of these people is the influence of Dorival Caymmi perhaps the single most important composer to come from this region.

Caymmi was born in Salvador, Bahia, to Durval Henrique Caymmi, the great-grandson of an Italian immigrant, and Aurelina Soares Caymmi, a native Bahian. He had two younger sisters, Dinahir and Dinah, and a younger brother, Deraldo. His father, a civil servant, often played the piano, guitar, and mandolin at home, and his mother, a housewife, sang regularly. He participated in his church's choir for much of his childhood. At age 13, he left school to work as a journalist at Bahian newspaper O Imparcial. When O Imparcial went out of business two years later, he took up work as a street vendor.

Although he never formally studied music, Caymmi taught himself to play guitar in the late 1920s and began to compose, sing, and play his own songs on Bahian radio programs around 1930. He first achieved widespread recognition in 1933, when at age 16, he composed the song "O Que É Que a Baiana Tem?" ("What Is It About Bahian Women?") for singer Carmen Miranda. In 1936, at age 22, he won a songwriting contest at Salvador's annual Carnaval celebration. His prize was a pink satin lampshade. Despite his early musical success, he moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1938 with intentions to pursue a law degree and to return to working as a journalist. While employed there by the newspaper Diários Associados, he spent his spare time composing and singing songs on the radio show Dragão da Rua Larga. His popularity began to grow with the show's audience.

Many of Caymmi's lyrics pay homage to the lifestyle, beaches, fishermen, and women of his native Bahia. He drew much of his inspiration from music indigenous to northeastern Brazil, especially Afro-Brazilian music and samba. He recorded for more than five decades and released about 20 albums, sometimes singing and playing guitar as a soloist and at other times accompanied by bands and orchestras. Although active for the better part of the 20th century, Caymmi wrote only about 100 songs. Despite having a relatively small body of work, Caymmi held a reputation for composing songs of exceptional quality. He occasionally collaborated with Jobim, who called him a "universal genius" and Brazil's greatest composer. Many contemporary Brazilian artists, including Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil and Beth Carvalho cite Caymmi as a significant influence on their music.

"O Que É Que a Baiana Tem?" gained even more fame in Brazil when Miranda performed it in the 1939 film Banana-da-Terra, and it was this song that garnered her international attention and helped launch her career. After this success, Caymmi began to focus more on making music, and he wrote songs that appeared in other Brazilian films. In late 1939, he signed with Odeon Records and recorded his first three singles. In the 1950s and 1960s, Jobim, João Gilberto, and others who contributed to the birth of the bossa nova style collaborated with Caymmi and often referenced his work when composing their own pieces. During this era, Gilberto covered several of Caymmi's songs, including "Rosa Morena" ("Dark-skinned Rose") and "Saudade da Bahia" ("Longing for Bahia"). Jobim was particularly enamored of Caymmi's music, and the two grew to be close friends.

Caymmi was a lifelong friend of Bahian author Jorge Amado, and in 1945, he set one of Amado's politically driven poems to music to aid the senatorial campaign of Luís Carlos Prestes.[1][4] In the late 1970s, Caymmi again took inspiration from Amado when he composed "Modinha para a Gabriela" ("A Little Song for Gabriela"), a musical adaptation of Amado's novel Gabriela, Cravo e Canela.

To thank Caymmi for bringing international attention to Brazilian music and culture, in 1968, the governor of Bahia presented Caymmi with a house in Salvador, and so he returned to live in his hometown for a short period of time. In 1972, Caymmi was awarded the Order of Merit of the State of Bahia, an order given to Bahian residents for excellent service to the state. In Caymmi's case, the service was bringing pride and honor to Bahian people through the widespread dissemination of his music about life there. On Caymmi's 70th birthday, in 1984, French Minister of Culture Jack Lang presented him with the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, a French order that recognizes significant contributors to the fields of art and literature, in Paris. The following year, a new street named Avenida Dorival Caymmi (Dorival Caymmi Avenue) opened in Salvador. In 1986, Rio de Janeiro's famed Mangueira samba school based its Carnaval performance on Caymmi's life and work, and the school won the annual parade-style samba competition. In 2015, his tribute album Centenário Caymmi was nominated for the 16th Latin Grammy Awards in the Best MPB Album category.

Although Caymmi earned his fame through music, he was also known to a lesser degree for his paintings. From 1943 to 1945, he regularly attended a drawing and painting class at the Escola de Belas Artes, a fine arts school in Rio de Janeiro. Even after discontinuing his formal study, he painted for the rest of his life. He practiced Candomblé, an Afro-Brazilian religion characterized by belief in spirit-gods and ritualistic practices involving mediumship. Candomblé was his father's religion, and Caymmi gradually involved himself more with it as an adult, when his friends invited him to accompany them to religious ceremonies and parties. Caymmi was also a naturist, and when he was in Bahia, he liked to bathe nude in the Lagoa do Abaeté

While working at Rádio Nacional in 1939, he met Brazilian vocalist Adelaide Tostes, who is better known by her stage name Stella Maris, and the two married in 1940. Tostes responded to a 1994 press query about Caymmi's habit of frequenting bars with a short story: "One night I went to look for him in a bar ... He was surrounded by women. I went in and slammed a table. A glass broke. The bouncer came, and I punched Caymmi's face. Then I left cussing. I thought he was involved with drugs, but it wasn't the case. He was with the tramps." Despite such incidents, however, they remained together for 68 years, until his death in 2008. The couple had three children, Nana, Danilo, and Dori, all of whom followed their father into musical careers. Dorival Caymmi died at age 94 of kidney cancer and multiple organ failure on August 16, 2008, at his home in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro.


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Dorival Caymmi – arguably one of the true fathers of Brazilian music from the 60s onward! This is a record that's filled with early compositions that went onto become standards of Brazilian song – the kind of tunes that have been recorded often by others over the years, presented here in key original versions ! . Eu Nao Tenho Onde Morar is magical early work from Dorival Caymmi – and the kind of record that easily shows why he was such a huge influence on Brazilian music! The album bubbles along with a lively mix of samba and larger orchestrations – Caymmi's wonderful vocals and songs filling up the set with a sense of tone, color, and life that surpasses most other popular Brazilian albums of the time. Titles include "Rosa Morena", "Acontece Que Eu Sou Baiano", "O Dengo Que A Nega Tem", "Vizinha Do Lado", "Marina", and "Sao Salvador



Dorival Caymmi - Eu não tenho onde morar (flac 155mb)

01 Eu não tenho onde morar 2:23
02 Rosa morena 2:19
03 Acontece que eu sou baiano 2:18
04 Acalanto 3:18
05 Vestido de bolero 2:09
06 O dengo que a nêga tem 2:43
07 Dora 3:32
08 O que é que a baiana tem 2:30
09 A vizinha do lado 2:56
10 Adeus 3:50
11 São Salvador 2:14

     (ogg  mb)

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Accompanied by the Quartet in Cy and the set of Oscar Castro Neves , Vinicius de Moraes and Dorival Caymmi they packed the nightclub Zum Zum in Copacabana , in a series of concerts held between 1964 and 1965 . As there was no way to record live LPs that time, "Vinicius and Caymmi at Zum Zum" was produced in the studio. - With classics like "The Creation Day,""Taiwan" and "Bud Friend" Baden Powell makes an appearance on the album getting next to Vinicius de Moraes in all the songs.



Dorival Caymmi e Vinicius de Moraes - No Zum Zum  (flac  244mb)

01 Bom Dia Amigo/Carta A Tom/Berimbau 7:40
02 Tem Dó De Mim 2:04
03 Broto Maroto 1:37
04 Minha Namorada 4:04
05 Saudades Da Bahia/...Das Rosas 5:15
06 História De Pescadores 9:15
07 Dia Da Criação 4:52
08 Aruanda/Adalgiza 2:37
09 Formosa 2:02
10 Final0:51

  Dorival Caymmi e Vinicius de Moraes - No Zum Zum    (ogg  96mb)

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Songwriter Dorival Caymmi was one of the key figures in the history of samba-cancao pop... He wrote many classic songs, including some of Carmen Miranda's hits in the 1940s. Caymmi continued recording well into the 1950s, '60s and '70s... The presentation here is certainly a big step forward from the over-the-top pop-orchestrations that plague many of his earlier albums. Its certainly very interesting to hear a different texture of music behind him. The results are generally very positive, not just because of the backing band (the percussion is exceptional, but I'm still not sure about the backing singers), but mostly because of Dorival himself, who plays and sings as well here as on any recording, and also the production in general being much better than most of the 1950s albums.This is a reissue of an unusual album from 1972 that features lots of traditional Afro-Brazilian oba drumming and Bahian candomble music. It's very different from Caymmi's acoustic guitar-based music of earlier decades. If you liked Virginia Rodrigues's use of candomble rhythms in her albums of the 1990s, you might also want to check this album out.



Dorival Caymmi - Caymmi-Tambem E De Rancho   (flac  401mb)

01 Promessa De Pescador 4:43
02 Morena Do Mar 2:49
03 Santa Clara Clareou 1:56
04 Canto De Nanã 1:55
05 Dona Chica (Francisca Santos das Flores) 2:52
06 Oração De Mãe Menininha 3:15
07 Eu Cheguei Lá 1:56
08 Sodade Matadeira 3:02
09 A Preta Do Acarajé 3:05
10 Rainha Do Mar 1:43
11 Vou Ver Juliana 2:15
12 Itapoan 2:26
13 Canto Do Obá 3:52
Tambem E De Rancho
14 ...Das Rosas 3:38
15 Rosa Morena 2:24
16 Cancão de Partida 3:06
17 Marina 2:32
18 Canoeiro 2:32
19 Sábado Em Copacabana 2:22
20 Coqueiro de Itapoan 2:38
21 Peguei Um Ita No Norte 3:19
22 Nem Eu 2:23
23 O Bem Do Mar 2:02
24 Tamporal 3:00
25 Acalanto 3:03

Dorival Caymmi - Caymmi-Tambem E De Rancho      (ogg  185mb)

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This is Dorival Caymmi – Caymmi (1985), recorded by Fundacao Emilio Odebrecht to celebrate Dorival Caymmi 70th anniversary in 1985. This is not a commercial album, distributed only to Fundacao Emilio Odebrecht customers. Caymmi is 100% made of new recordings with Dorival Caymmi and his violao on the first LP and Dorival Caymmi with Maestro Radames Gnattali on the second LP. The phonographic content would be unheard of until 1997, when he received an edition cd. But we can say that since it is a material out of print and therefore deserves our attention. This album was a production that involved Caymmi himself. He brings, of course, some of the many and most famous of his compositions. Caribé testimonials, Jorge Amado, Tom Jobim and Caetano Veloso. To complete the dish, special spices: a team of very first musicians, starting with the principal conductor and arranger, Radames Gnattali.



Dorival Caymmi – Caymmi (Odebrecht) (flac  349mb)

01 Depoimento De Jorge Amado
02 É Doce Morrer No Mar
03 Festa de Rua
04 A Preta Do Acarajé
05 Canção Da Partida (História De Pescadores)
06 A Lenda Do Abaeté
07 O Que É Que A Baiana Tem
08 Depoimento de Caetano Veloso
09 Depoimento de Tom Jobim
10 Das Rosas
11 Dora
12 Eu Fiz Uma Viagem
13 Peguei Um Ita No Norte
14 Maracangalha
15 Acalanto
16 Depoimento De Carybe
with Radamés Gnattali
17 Caymmiana (Instrumental)
18 Você Já Foi A Bahia
19 João Valentão
20 O Samba Da Minha Terra
21 Sargaço Mar
22 A Mãe D’água E A Menina
23 Pescaria
24 Vatapá
25 Marina
27 Dois De Fevereiro
28 Oração De Mãe Menininha

Dorival Caymmi – Caymmi  (ogg  189mb)

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Hello,

Today's artist is a very busy body who has produced 40 something in albums in the 39 years he's been on the scene, clearly the man doesn't need any extra stimulus and i suppose he ain't someone to chill out with. He's an Liverpudlian musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as part of London's pub rock scene in the early 1970s and later became associated with the first wave of the British punk and new wave movement that emerged in the mid-to-late 1970s. His critically acclaimed debut album, My Aim Is True, was released in 1977......N'Joy

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Declan Patrick Aloysius McManus alias Elvis Costello started out in a pubrock vain in a band called Flip City from 1974 through early 1976. Around this time, MacManus adopted the stage name D.P. Costello. After successfully landing a demo at Stiff records. His manager at Stiff, Jake Riviera, suggested a name change, to Elvis Costello. Costello's first album, My Aim Is True (1977), was a moderate commercial success with Costello appearing on the cover in his trademark oversize glasses, bearing a striking resemblance to a menacing Buddy Holly. Originally marketed as a punk artist, as the term new wave was applied to the first post-punk bands, Costello was classified as new wave for a time. The same year, Costello recruited his own permanent band, The Attractions, consisting of Steve Nieve (born Steve Nason; piano), Bruce Thomas (bass guitar), and Pete Thomas (unrelated to Bruce Thomas; drums). He released his first major hit single, "Watching The Detectives" . This Year's Model, Costello's first album recorded with the Attractions, was released in the spring of 1978. A rawer, harder-rocking record than My Aim Is True, it was also a bigger hit, the following year, Armed Forces was a more musically diverse album than either of his previous records. It was another hit, "Oliver's Army," the first single from the album, reached number two in Britain. In the summer of 1979, Costello produced the self-titled debut album by the Specials. In February of 1980, the soul-influenced Get Happy!!  the first record released on Riviera's new record label, F-Beat. Costello and the Attractions released Trust in early 1981; it was his fifth album in a row produced by Nick Lowe.

Jumping 22 very active years (19 albums) to 2003, when Costello returned with North, a collection of classically styled pop songs pitched halfway between Gershwin and Sondheim. The next year, he collaborated with his new wife, Diana Krall, on her first collection of original material, The Girl in the Other Room. That fall, Costello released two albums of original material: a classical work entitled Il Sogno and the concept album The Delivery Man, a rock & roll record cut with the Imposters. My Flame Burns Blue from 2006 was a live album with Costello fronting the 52-piece jazz orchestra the Metropole Orkest. On the album, classic Costello songs with new orchestral arrangements appeared alongside new compositions and a performance of the entire Il Sogno. The River in Reverse, a collaboration with R&B legend Allen Toussaint, arrived in 2006, followed by Momofuku, another effort credited to Elvis Costello & the Imposters, in 2008. That same year, Costello teamed up with veteran producer T-Bone Burnett for a series of recording sessions, the results of which were compiled into Secret, Profane & Sugar Cane and readied for release in early 2009. The pair also recorded a second album, National Ransom, which appeared the following year. In 2011 Costello & the Imposters released The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook!!!, which was recorded live over a two-day stint at the Wiltern in Los Angeles.

Over his career, Costello's musical eclecticism has distinguished his records and have shown him to be one of the most innovative, influential, and best songwriters who supports his fiercely literate lyrics with richly diverse music.


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Elvis Costello coproduced this 1986 album with roots-rock maestro T-Bone Burnett, creating a deeply personal and affecting series of songs that shade beautifully between folk and country. Stripping away much of the excess that cluttered Punch the Clock and Goodbye Cruel World, Elvis Costello returned to his folk-rock and pub rock roots with King of America, creating one of his most affecting and personal records. Costello literally took on the album as a return to roots, billing himself by his given name Declan MacManus and replacing the Attractions with a bunch of L.A. session men (although his old band appears on one cut), who give the album a rootsy but sleek veneer that sounds remarkably charged after the polished affectations of his Langer/Winstanley productions. And not only does the music sound alive, but so do his songs, arguably his best overall set since Trust. Working inside the limits of country, folk, and blues, Costello writes literate, introspective tales of loss, heartbreak, and America that are surprisingly moving -- he rarely got better than "Brilliant Mistake,""Glitter Gulch,""American Without Tears,""Big Light," and "Indoor Fireworks." What separates King of America from the underrated Almost Blue is that Costello's country now sounds lived-in and worn, bringing a new emotional depth to the music, and that helps make it one of his masterpieces.



Elvis Costello - King of America (flac  480mb)

01 Brilliant Mistake 3:45
02 Lovable 2:53
03 Our Little Angel 4:05
04 Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood 3:21
05 Glitter Gulch 3:17
06 Indoor Fireworks 4:10
07 Little Palaces 3:49
08 I'll Wear It Proudly 4:24
09 American Without Tears 4:34
10 Eisenhower Blues 3:46
11 Poisoned Rose 4:06
12 The Big Light 2:33
13 Jack Of All Parades 5:17
14 Suit Of Lights 4:05
15 Sleep Of The Just 3:51
Extended
16 The People's Limousine 3:38
17 They'll Never Take Her Love From Me 3:01
18 Suffering Face 3:08
19 Shoes Without Heels 4:18
20 King Of Confidence 2:46

Elvis Costello - King of America  (ogg  187mb)

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Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Live On Broadway, 1986 Bonus (flac  160mb)

01 How You Get Killed Before 2:41
02 The Big Light 2:50
03 It Tears Me Up 3:24
04 The Only Daddy That'll Walk The Line 2:37
05 Your Mind Is On Vacation / Your Funeral And My Trial 5:14
06 That's How You Get Killed Before (Reprise) 7:08

  (ogg   mb)

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Elvis Costello returned to the Attractions as quickly as he abandoned them, hiring the band and old producer Nick Lowe to record Blood & Chocolate, his second record in the span of one year. Where King of America was a stripped-down roots rock affair, Blood & Chocolate is a return to the harder rock of This Year's Model. Occasionally, there are hints of country and folk, but the majority of the album is straight-ahead rock & roll: the opener, "Uncomplicated," only has two chords. The main difference between the reunion and the Attractions' earlier work is the tone -- This Year's Model was tense and out of control, whereas Blood & Chocolate is controlled viciousness. "Tokyo Storm Warning,""I Hope You're Happy Now," and "I Want You" are the nastiest songs he has ever recorded, both lyrically and musically -- Costello snarls the lyrics and the Attractions bash out the chords. Blood & Chocolate doesn't retain that high level of energy throughout the record, however, and loses momentum toward the end of the album. Still, it's a lively and frequently compelling reunion, even if it is a rather mean-spirited one.



Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Blood & Chocolate (flac 273mb)

01 Uncomplicated 3:28
02 I Hope You're Happy Now 3:07
03 Tokyo Storm Warning 6:24
04 Home Is Anywhere You Hang Your Head 5:07
05 I Want You 6:44
06 Honey, Are You Straight Or Are You Blind? 2:08
07 Blue Chair 3:41
08 Battered Old Bird 5:51
09 Crimes Of Paris 4:19
10 Poor Napoleon 3:23
11 Next Time Around 3:36

Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Blood & Chocolate  (ogg  107mb)

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Throughout his career Elvis Costello has always been prolific; thus it was surprising, even given the change in record labels for the US, when he took a whole 20 months between Blood & Chocolate and this follow-up. But the musical growth he exhibits makes the wait worthwhile. This is an ambitious album, with Costello working with multiple collaborators, genres, and sounds. He's feeling expansive, and also more direct than at times in the past. But nothing seems jarring in juxtaposition here--it all flows as one, held together by a distaste for current political and cultural trends. The musical settings range from the stark folk of "Tramp the Dirt Down" to the pop sprightliness of "Veronica" (a collaboration with Paul McCartney that became Costello's first American Top 20 hit) and the New Orleans jazz sound of "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror," featuring the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. The lyrics are among his best.



Elvis Costello - Spike (flac 398mb)

01 ...This Town...4:31
02 Let Him Dangle 4:45
03 Deep Dark Truthful Mirror 4:06
04 Veronica 3:09
05 God's Comic 5:31
06 Chewing Gum 3:46
07 Tramp The Dirt Down 5:41
08 Stalin Malone 4:09
09 Satellite 5:44
10 Pads, Paws And Claws 2:56
11 Baby Plays Around 2:46
12 Miss MacBeth 4:23
13 Any King's Shilling 6:06
14 Coal-Train Robberies 3:18
15 Last Boat Leaving 3:31

Elvis Costello - Spike  (ogg  150mb)

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Hello, just the three valid requests this week and 2 turkeys, what do you expect on Thanksgiving Day. Prayers of thanks and special thanksgiving ceremonies are common among almost all religions after harvests and at other times. The Thanksgiving holiday's history in North America is rooted in English traditions dating from the Protestant Reformation. It also has aspects of a harvest festival, even though the harvest in New England occurs well before the late-November date on which the modern Thanksgiving holiday is celebrated.

These days i'm making an effort to re-up, it will satisfy a small number of people which means its likely the update will  expire relatively quickly again as its interest that keeps it live. Nevertheless here's your chance ... asks for re-up in the comments section at the page where the expired link resides, or it will be discarded by me. ....requests are satisfied on a first come first go basis. ...updates will be posted here  remember to request from the page where the link died! To keep re-ups interesting to my regular visitors i will only re-up files that are at least 12 months old (the older the better as far as i am concerned), and please check the previous update request if it's less then a year old i won't re-up.

Looka here another batch of 9 re-ups, requests fullfilled up to November 24th. There's much more to be had here. My tip here randomly pick an archive date and move up or down a few pages to older or newer posts, browse what you get there and maybe you'll find something of your liking or it may triggers a memory of what you'd really want and then do a search  ...N' Joy

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as expected a request for..
3x Aetix Back in Flac ( Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True, Elvis Costello - Armed Forces, Elvis Costello - Get Happy)

3x Roots Back in Flac ( Zion Train - Passage To Indica, Zion Train - Natural Wonders Of The World In Dub, Zion Train - Secrets Of The Animal Kingdom In Dub)


3x Grooves Back in Flac (Albert King - Born Under A Bad Sign, Albert King - Live Wire / Blues Power, Albert King - Years Gone By)

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Hello,

Today's artist is an American singer whose career has spanned four decades, beginning in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. Widely known as the Queen of Funk, she has sold an estimated 70 million records worldwide. Khan was ranked at number 17 in VH1's original list of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll. In 2015, she was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the second time; she was previously nominated as member of Rufus in 2011. To date, Khan has won 10 Grammy Awards, including two as a member of Rufus. She has received 22 Grammy Award nominations, including three as a member of Rufus.... ..... N'joy

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Chaka Khan was born Yvette Marie Stevens on March 23, 1953 into an artistic, bohemian household in Chicago, Illinois. She is the eldest of five children born to Charles Stevens and Sandra Coleman, and has described her father Charles as a beatnik and her mother as 'able to do anything.' Raised in the Hyde Park area, 'an island in the middle of the madness' of Chicago's rough South Side housing projects. Her sister Yvonne later became a successful musician in her own right under the name Taka Boom. Her only brother, Mark, who formed the funk group Aurra, also became a successful musician. She has two other sisters, Zaheva Stevens and Tammy McCrary, the latter of whom is her current manager.

Chaka Khan was raised as a Catholic. She attributed her love of music to her grandmother, who introduced her to jazz as a child. Khan became a fan of rhythm and blues music as a pre-teen and at eleven formed a girl group, the Crystalettes, which included her sister Taka. In the late 1960s, Khan attended several civil rights rallies with her father's second wife, Connie, a strong supporter of the movement, and joined the Black Panther Party after befriending fellow member, activist, and Chicago native Fred Hampton in 1967. Though many think that she was given the name Chaka while in the Panthers she has made it clear that her name Chaka Adunne Aduffe Hodarhi Karifi was given to her at age 13 by a Yoruba Baba. In 1969, she left the Panthers and dropped out of high school, having attended Calumet High School and Kenwood High School (now Kenwood Academy). She began to perform in small groups around the Chicago area, first performing with Cash McCall's group Lyfe, which included her then boyfriend Hassan Khan, whom she would later marry.

She was asked to replace Baby Huey of Baby Huey & the Babysitters after Huey's death in 1970. The group disbanded a year later. While performing in local bands in 1972, she was spotted by two members of a new group called Rufus and soon won her position in the group (replacing rock and roll singer Paulette McWilliams). They later signed with ABC Records in 1973. Prior to signing with the label, she married on-and-off boyfriend Hassan Khan, changing her stage name to Chaka Khan.

In 1973, Rufus released their eponymous debut album. Despite their fiery rendition of Stevie Wonder's "Maybe Your Baby" from Wonder's acclaimed Talking Book and the modest success of the Chaka-led ballad "Whoever's Thrilling You (Is Killing Me)", the album failed to garner attention. That changed when Wonder himself collaborated with the group on a song he had written for Khan. That song, "Tell Me Something Good", became the group's breakthrough hit, reaching number-three on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974, later winning the group their first Grammy Award. The single's success and the subsequent follow-up, "You Got the Love", which peaked at number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100, helped their second parent album, Rags to Rufus, go platinum, selling over a million copies. From 1974 to 1979, Rufus released six platinum-selling albums including Rufusized, Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan, Ask Rufus, Street Player and Masterjam. The band gained a reputation as a live performing act with Khan becoming the star attraction, thanks to her powerful vocals and stage attire which sometimes included Native American garb and showing her midriff. Most of the band's material was written and produced by the band itself with few exceptions. Khan has also been noted for being an instrumentalist playing drums and bass; she also provided percussion during her tenure with Rufus.

In 1978, Warner Bros. Records released Khan's solo debut album, which featured the crossover disco hit, "I'm Every Woman", written for her by songwriters Ashford & Simpson. The success of the single helped the album go gold, selling over a million copies. In 1979, Khan reunited with Rufus to collaborate on the Jones-produced Masterjam, which featured their hit "Do You Love What You Feel", which Khan sang with Tony Maiden. In 1980, while Rufus released Party 'Til You're Broke, again without Khan, she released her second solo album, Naughty, which featured her on the cover with her six-year-old daughter Milini. The album yielded the disco hit "Clouds" and the R&B ballad "Papillon".

Also in 1980, she had a cameo appearance as a church choir soloist in The Blues Brothers with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. Khan released two albums in 1981, the Rufus release, Camouflage and the solo album What Cha' Gonna Do for Me. The latter album went gold. In 1982, Khan issued two more solo albums, the jazz-oriented Echoes of an Era and a more funk/pop-oriented self-titled album Chaka Khan. The latter album's track, the jazz-inflected "Be Bop Medley", won Khan a Grammy and earned praise from jazz singer Betty Carter who loved Khan's vocal scatting in the song.

In 1983, the singer returned with Rufus on a live album, Stompin' at the Savoy - Live, which featured the studio single, "Ain't Nobody", which became the group's final charting success reaching number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot R&B chart, while also reaching the top ten in the United Kingdom. Following this release, Rufus separated for good.

In 1984, Khan released her sixth studio album, I Feel for You. The title track was the first single released. Originally written and recorded by Prince in 1979, it had also been recorded by The Pointer Sisters and Mary Wells. Khan's version featured a harmonica solo by Stevie Wonder and an introductory rap by Grandmaster Melle Mel. It became a million-selling smash in the U.S. and United Kingdom and helped to relaunch Khan's career. "I Feel for You" topped not only the U.S. R&B and dance charts, but achieved great success on the U.S. pop chart and reached #1 in the United Kingdom. The song reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1984 and remained on that chart for 26 weeks, well into 1985. Additionally, it hit #1 on the Cash Box chart. It was listed as Billboard′s #5 song for 1985 and netted Prince the 1985 Grammy Award for Best R&B Song. In addition to the song's successful radio airplay and sales, a music video of Khan with break dancers in an inner-city setting enjoyed heavy rotation on television and helped to solidify Khan's notoriety in popular culture.

Khan followed up her successful I Feel For You album with 1986's Destiny and 1988's CK. Khan found more success in the late 1980s with a remix album, Life Is a Dance: The Remix Project, which reached the top ten on the British albums chart. As a result, she performed regularly in the United Kingdom, where she maintained a strong fan base. Khan returned with her first studio album in four years in 1992 with the release of The Woman I Am, which was a success thanks to the R&B songs "Love You All My Lifetime" and "You Can Make the Story Right". Khan abruptly left Warner Bros. after stating the label had neglected her and failed to release Dare You to Love Me

In 1998, Khan signed a contract with Prince's NPG Records label and issued Come 2 My House, followed by the single "Don't Talk 2 Strangers", a cover of a 1996 Prince song. Khan later went on a tour with Prince as a co-headlining act. In 2000, Khan departed from NPG and in 2004 released her first jazz covers album in twenty-two years with 2004's ClassiKhan. She also covered "Little Wing" with Kenny Olson on the album Power of Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix. Three years later, after signing with Burgundy Records, Khan released what many critics called a "comeback album" with Funk This, produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis & Big Jim Wright The album featured the hit, "Angel", and the Mary J. Blige duet, "Disrespectful". The latter track went to number one on the U.S. dance singles chart, winning the singers a Grammy Award, while Funk This also won a Grammy for Best R&B Album.

In a 2008 interview Khan said that she, unlike other artists, felt very optimistic about the current changes in the recording industry, including music downloading. "I'm glad things are shifting and artists – not labels – are having more control over their art. My previous big record company (Warner Bros.) has vaults of my recordings that haven't seen the light of day that people need to hear. This includes Robert Palmer's original recording of 'Addicted to Love'– which they took my vocals off of! We are working on getting it (and other tracks) all back now. On May 19, 2011, Khan was given the 2,440th Hollywood Walk of Fame star plaque on a section of Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. Her family was present when the singer accepted the honor, as was Stevie Wonder. Khan is working on her new album called iKhan which is said to be released in 2015...still in the pipeline. Instead she released Soul Diva Chaka Live in flac format. In July 2016, she canceled concert performances and entered rehab, we wish her strength.

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When Chaka Khan recorded her fifth solo album, I Feel for You, in 1984, she knew that R&B had changed a lot since the 1970s. Horn-powered funk bands, strings-laden Philadelphia soul, and orchestral disco were out of vogue, and the urban contemporary audiences of 1984 were into a more high-tech, heavily electronic style of R&B. Many artists who had been huge in the 1970s found that they no longer appealed to black radio programmers, who had abandoned them and turned their attention to electro-funksters and Prince disciples. But Chaka Khan had no problem keeping up with the times; I Feel for You made it clear that she could easily be relevant to the urban contemporary scene of 1984. No one would mistake I Feel for You for a Rufus project from 1975 -- it's way too high-tech -- and yet, everything on the album is unmistakably Chaka Khan. That is true of up-tempo items like "Love Is Alive" (an interesting remake of Gary Wright's 1976 hit) and "La Flamme," as well as the ballad "Through the Fire," which was a big hit on urban radio but crossed over to adult contemporary stations in a major way. "This Is My Night" (which was written and produced by the System) also became an urban radio hit, but the album is best known for Khan's unlikely remake of Prince's "I Feel for You." When Prince first recorded "I Feel for You" in 1979, it wasn't a hit; Khan's version, however, soared to number one on Billboard's R&B singles chart. Khan had a very different take on the song than Prince; while his original version was subtle and restrained, Khan went for exuberance and added a strong hip-hop flavor. Excellent from start to finish, this album went down in history as both a creative and a commercial success.



Chaka Khan - I Feel For You   (flac  300mb)

01 This Is My Night 4:38
02 Stronger Than Before 4:21
03 My Love Is Alive 4:42
04 Eye To Eye 4:38
05 La Flamme 4:27
06 I Feel For You 5:44
07 Hold Her 5:14
08 Through The Fire 4:45
09 Caught In The Act 3:45
10 Chinatown 4:37

Chaka Khan - I Feel For You (ogg   114mb)

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CK is the seventh studio album by American R&B/funk singer Chaka Khan, released on the Warner Bros. Records label in 1988. CK was Khan's first album not to be recorded with Arif Mardin, instead it had with the exception of two tracks Russ Titelman at the helm as producer, with whom she had collaborated on hits like "Ain't Nobody" (1983), "Eye to Eye" from 1984's platinum-selling I Feel for You as well as "Tight Fit" from her previous album Destiny. Musically ck combined a variety of genres such as soul, R&B, funk, pop as well as two jazz titles and altogether the set was more laid-back, less hip-hop influenced and production-wise not as complex and synth-driven as I Feel for You and Destiny.

Three singles were released from CK: Womack & Womack's Latino-flavoured "It's My Party" which reached #5 on Billboard's R&B Singles chart, "Soul Talkin'" and "Baby Me" which became another Top 10 hit on the R&B chart, peaking at #8. The ck album itself also charted higher than the preceding Destiny, reaching #17 on the R&B Albums chart. CK opens with Khan's cover of Stevie Wonder's 1970 hit "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours", again featuring the composer himself on harmonica, just like on "I Feel for You".

One of the two tracks not to be produced by Russ Titelman was the funky and improvisational "Sticky Wicked", Khan's first proper collaboration with Prince after having covered his "I Feel for You" in 1984 and turning it into a million-selling hit single. ck also includes a second Prince composition, "Eternity" (produced by David Frank and Khan herself), and some ten years later Khan and Prince were to team up for a full-length album together, Come 2 My House.She currently speaks with disdain about the record business, and it's probably due to the relative failure of great records like this to break out and really enjoy the success they merit that's disillusioned.



Chaka Khan - CK >   (flac 297mb)

01 Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)4:45
02 Soul Talkin' 4:16
03 It's My Party 5:11
04 Eternity 4:03
05 Sticky Wicked 6:54
06 The End Of A Love Affair 5:10
07 Baby Me 4:04
08 Make It Last 4:47
09 Where Are You Tonite 4:54
10 I'll Be Around 5:20

Chaka Khan - CK (ogg  112mb)

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Criminally overlooked upon its release, 1998 saw Chaka Khan shine on Come 2 My House. This album is thanks largely to the work of Prince, whose voice, words, and musicianship permeate the record all the way down to the colorful packaging. In fact, compared with New Power Soul, his own lackluster release that year, Come 2 My House and Graham Central Station's 2000, also from the Prince camp, should count as the real Prince albums of 1998.
What might have been rather mundane Prince songs about the usual subjects shimmer in the throat of Chaka Khan, whose singing here runs the full range of high and lows; funky or slow, seductive, spiritual, or funny. Prince's production is lush and deep, filled with orchestral and electronic arrangements, funk flourishes and voices deep in the mix: a tribute both to his own old-school '80s funk/R&B inventions, and the ease with which he's been able to incorporate them into a contemporary atmosphere without the overcalculation that's plagued much his own late '90s work. This shows on every track. For the longtime fan of both Khan and Prince, maturing through the years, this is music that delights both in its familiarity and consistency. Amidst the midtempo groove of "Spoon," Chaka Khan concurs: "U are just like my favorite spoon/cuz U stir me up." House will stir up anyone delighted by these pros in the past.



Chaka Khan - Come 2 My House  (flac  414mb)

01 Come 2 My House 4:46
02 (Intro) 0:32
03 This Crazy Life Of Mine 2:33
04 Betcha I 4:30
05 Spoon 3:50
06 Pop My Clutch 4:47
07 Journey 2 The Center Of Your Heart 4:16
08 I'll Never B Another Fool 4:13
09 Democrazy 6:08
10 I Remember U 4:16
11 Reconsider (U Betta) 4:23
12 Don't Talk 2 Strangers 3:16
13 Hair 5:45
14 The Drama 6:36

Chaka Khan - Come 2 My House (ogg   141mb)

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Three years on from Chaka Khan's recording of Classikhan with the London Symphony Orchestra, Funk This is likewise heavy on fresh looks at some of Khan's favorite songs, but its sources involve the likes of Jimi and Joni instead of Leiber & Stoller. Recorded with a core of Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, and Bobby Ross Avila, with guest contributions from Mary J. Blige, Michael McDonald, and Rufus guitarist Tony Maiden, Funk This sounds like much of it was recorded live, giving it a loose, not-fussed-over sound, though there are some questionable moves -- like the favoring of a smoothed-out synth over a crunching guitar riff during Rufus'"You Got the Love," or the use of a talk box on McDonald's "You Belong to Me." The covers do work more often than not, highlighted by Prince's "Sign 'O' the Times" and Joni Mitchell's "Ladies Man" (an unlikely but very smart choice). There's a handful of new songs, including the nostalgic "Back in the Day," where Chaka looks back to when she was known as Yvette Stevens, and the fast and furious "Disrespectful" -- where Jam and Lewis try to capture some of Rich Harrison's breakbeat-heavy "Crazy in Love"/"1 Thing" magic -- but the one that sticks out most is "Hail to the Wrong," which could be mistaken for a new version of an excellent album cut from 1980's Naughty or 1981's What Cha' Gonna Do for Me. Chaka sounds mostly excellent from track to track, especially during the more relaxed moments.



Chaka Khan - Funk This   (flac 393mb)

01 Back In The Day 4:29
02 Foolish Fool 3:47
03 One For All Time 4:45
04 Angel 4:26
05 Will You Love Me? 4:59
06 Castles Made Of Sand 4:00
07 Disrespectful (feat Mary J. Blige) 4:45
08 Sign 'O' The Times 5:24
09 Pack'd My Bags/You Got The Love 5:55
10 Ladies' Man 3:52
11 You Belong To Me (feat Michael McDonald) 3:59
12 Hail To The Wrong 3:43
13 Super Life 5:01

Chaka Khan - Funk This (ogg 137mb)

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Hello,

Today's artist is an American composer (born October 3, 1936) who, along with La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass, pioneered minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. His style of composition influenced many composers and groups. His innovations include using tape loops to create phasing patterns. These compositions, marked by their use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm and canons, have significantly influenced contemporary music, especially in the US...... N'Joy

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A highly influential avant-garde composer and one of the key founders of the minimalist school of music, Reich has embraced a wide variety of musical styles and interests, forging from them a unique synthesis.

Reich took piano lessons as a youngster, but his first big musical revelations came at 14, when he encountered the music of Bach and Stravinsky. He also had his first exposure to bebop, and immediately started learning drums and playing in a jazz band with friends. He played on weekends while studying at Cornell, which he entered at age 16 and where he received a degree in philosophy, specializing in the work of Wittgenstein. In 1957, he entered Juilliard, studying with William Bergsma and Vincent Persichetti (and meeting fellow student Philip Glass). Here Reich first heard 12-tone music; he got a further dose of it during graduate studies at Mills College in Oakland, working with Luciano Berio and Darius Milhaud, and eventually earning his master's degree.

At about that time Reich met Terry Riley, who was in the process of writing In C (1964). Reich played in its premiere, and In C's tonal approach and use of repeating patterns had a big influence on Reich's own music. In turn, Reich suggested the use of the eighth note pulse, which is now standard in performance of the piece. Reich had been experimenting with tapes, creating loops of speech and layering them, allowing the layers to move in and out of sync with one another. His early works It's Gonna Rain (1965) and Come Out (1966) led to similar experiments with live performers, the first of which was Piano Phase for two pianos (1967). Back in New York, Reich and Glass formed an ensemble to perform their music (1968-1971). Several of those players later formed Steve Reich and Musicians, which has toured the world many times over.

In 1970, Reich studied for several weeks at the University of Ghana. His encounter with Ghanaian music and dance inspired his ambitious work Drumming (1970). Encounters with Indonesian gamelan music in 1973-1974 at Seattle and Berkeley were equally significant, and broadened Reich's rhythmic and timbral palette. His most significant composition of the time was Music for 18 Musicians (1974-1976), a large and colorful work which brought Reich worldwide recognition.

In the mid-'70s, Reich started taking Torah classes with his future wife, video artist Beryl Korot. He also studied traditional Jewish cantillation and incorporated it into his psalm settings, Tehillim (1981). Several chamber and orchestral works followed in the 1980s. For Different Trains (1988, a Grammy winner), Reich used a digital sampler to record speaking voices and derived the rhythmic and melodic ideas of the piece from those voices. Reich knew that Different Trains was going to lead to some kind of new documentary form incorporating both video and music. Collaborating with his wife for the first time, the two completed their theater work The Cave in 1993. They continued to explore the combination of music and video with Three Tales (1998-2002).

Music for 18 Musicians [Nonesuch 1998] By the end of the 21st century's first decade, the lasting significance of Reich's music was being recognized worldwide. After 1998's new recording of Music for 18 Musicians won a Grammy, Reich received honorary doctorates and awards from Juilliard, Budapest's Franz Liszt Academy and other schools; the 2007 Polar Music Prize; the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Music (for Double Sextet); and, in 2012, an American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal for Music. On March 5, 2013 the London Sinfonietta, conducted by Brad Lubman, at the Royal Festival Hall in London gave the world premiere of Radio Rewrite for ensemble with 11 players, inspired by the music of Radiohead. The programme also included Double Sextet for ensemble with 12 players, Clapping Music, for two people and four hands featuring Reich himself alongside percussionist Colin Currie.

In 2013 Reich received the US$400,000 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in contemporary music for bringing a new conception of music, based on the use of realist elements from the realm of daily life and others drawn from the traditional music of Africa and Asia. In September 2014, Reich was awarded the "Leone d'Oro" (Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Music) from the Venice Biennale. In March 2016, Reich was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the Royal College of Music in London at the ripe old age of 79 years.

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One of the most complex and fascinating works in his catalog, "Eight Lines" -- scored for two pianos, two string quartets, flute, piccolo, and clarinets -- weaves a dense fabric of music where melodies emerge, interlock, and sing. Its 5/4 time signature resists mental subdivision, making the composition appear seamless from beginning to end. Based on Jewish sounds of cantillation, this piece builds melodies one note at a time, making the listener hear a melody emerge that they have actually been listening to for some time; a remarkable work. 1981's Tehillim has earned its place in Steve Reich's canon. It's arguably his most mature and fully realized work, taking the various strands which had intrigued him before (including African percussion, the human voice, and the power of subtly changing patterns) and developing them in new and interesting ways. The title is Hebrew for "Psalms," and the chants the female vocals develop throughout are indeed liturgical texts. As such, they have a rhythm of their own which plays off of the steady pulse of the finger cymbals in interesting ways, placing accents in unexpected places. .



Steve Reich 05 Eight Lines - Tehillim   (flac  234mb)

01 Eight Lines (Octet) 17:36
Tehillim
02 Part I 11:45
03 Part II 6:01
03 Part III 6:18
05 Part IV 6:23

Steve Reich 05 Eight Lines - Tehillim    (ogg  107mb)

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This hour-long work, commissioned by West German Radio and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, marks a transitional period for Reich. Based in the rhythmic pulse of Music for 18 Musicians, he adds a text by William Carlos Williams (sung by a full chorus), uses the more traditional sounds of a full orchestra (strings and brass are suddenly prominent), and snatches of melody dot the musical canvas here and there. The use of vocals here looks forward to such projects as Different Trains and The Cave. If Reich is trying to encapsulate the grandeur of the American west without falling back on typical "Western" tropes, he does so successfully.



Steve Reich 06 The Desert Music (flac  238mb)

01 First Movement - Fast 7:54
02 Second Movement - Moderate 6:59
03 Third Movement Part One - Slow 6:59
04 Third Movement Part Two - Moderate 5:53
05 Third Movement Part Three - Slow 5:54
06 Fourth Movement - Moderate 3:35
07 Fifth Movement - Fast 10:47

Steve Reich 06 The Desert Music   (ogg 97mb)

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Although Reich's music during the '80s, as he gained in popularity, was increasingly written for larger, lusher ensembles (with, oftentimes, the concomitant loss of "edge"), he occasionally and happily reverted to more contained compositions such as those included here. "Sextet" is pared down to four percussionists and two keyboardists (the latter including synthesizers) and evokes early pieces of Reich's Drumming while incorporating his ongoing use of longer melodic lines. In five sections, it tends toward a buoyant and jazzy bubbliness, percolating with all manner of busy interaction and wonderfully intermeshed rhythms. One of the new techniques employed is having the vibraphonists bow their instruments, generating long, ghostly tones reminiscent of musical saws but cleaner and more precise. Since this cannot be done quickly, Reich writes patterns that interweave between performers, achieving a kind of hocketing effect where, by playing only every third or fourth note in a rhythmic line, the ensemble can produce what the listener perceives as a fast tempo even as each individual is playing slowly. The closing section is pure effervescent bliss.



Steve Reich 07 New York Counterpoint - Sextet - The Four Sections (flac  272mb)

New York Counterpoint
01Part I5:03
02Part II2:43
03Part III3:40
Sextet
04Part I10:29
05Part II4:12
06Part III2:27
07Part IV3:14
08Part V5:59
The Four Sections
09Part I11:25
10Part II2:29
11Part III5:54
12Part IV6:13

Steve Reich 07 New York Counterpoint - Sextet - The Four Sections  (ogg  130mb)

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This late-'80s work finds the minimalist composer mixing acoustic and taped material to great effect. The disc's centerpiece is "Different Trains," a work that frames Reich's impressions of his boyhood train trips between his mother in Los Angeles and his father in New York; Reich also intersperses references to the much more harrowing train rides Jews were forced to take to Nazi concentration camps. Using the fine playing of the Kronos Quartet as a base, Reich layers the work with the taped train musings of his governess, a retired Pullman porter, and various Holocaust survivors -- vintage train sounds from the '30s and '40s add to the riveting arrangement. And for some nice contrast, Reich recruits guitarist Pat Metheny to create a similarly momentous piece in "Electric Counterpoint" (Metheny plays live over a multi-tracked tape of ten guitars and two electric basses). Two fine works by Reich in his prime. Meanwhile, Reich -- for the first time in his mature career as a composer -- experiments with modulation between keys and other elements of tonality that he had previously ignored. Indeed, when the final movement, after three movements' worth of Reich's characteristic tonal ambiguity, finally "affirms the key of D major as the basic tonal center," as Reich's lucid liner notes helpfully explain, the effect, combined with the increasing power and passion of the female voices, is astonishing



Steve Reich 08 Different Trains - Electric Counterpoint - Three Movements  (flac  282mb)

Different Trains
01 America - Before The War 8:58
02 Europe - During The War 7:30
03 After The War 10:30
Electric Counterpoint
04 Fast 6:50
05 Slow 3:21
06 Fast 4:39
Three Movements
07 Movement I 6:43
08 Movement II 3:41
09 Movement III 4:18

Steve Reich 08 Different Trains - Electric Counterpoint - Three Movements   (ogg  121mb)

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Hello, F1 2016 season came to an end today, Hamilton won followed by Rosberg, Vettel and Verstappen all within 2 seconds, sensational race then nah Hamilton sort of backed Rosberg into Vettel and Verstappen but Vettel was happy with his 3rd place and no need to go for broke in the final lap and Verstappen's tires were the oldest on show at the time. He had another interesting race getting spun around at the start and thus starting at the back, by the time he had his first pitstop he was just passed by Rosberg dropping to position 3, from 8th he got back to position 3 again only to be passed by Vettel shortly before the finish, Vettel's tactic of staying out long and coming back for a short stint on superfast tires got him close to the lead again but hey no win for Ferrari in 2016.
Hamilton showed his lack of class again, unable to really congratulate his team mate Rosberg with winning the World Title. Hamilton fans prefer a Mercedes conspiracy but there's just one man responsible for losing his world title and that is Lewis Hamilton, he messed up 5 starts, in the end this cost him the 5 points he came up short with. Next season promises a shake up with far faster cars and unlikely Mercedes dominance again.



Monty Python (sometimes known as The Pythons) were a British surreal comedy group who created the sketch comedy show Monty Python's Flying Circus, which first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four seasons. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and impact, including touring stage shows, films, numerous albums, several books, and a stage musical. The group's influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. ..N'Joy

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Fusing the topical satire of David Frost with the surreal outlandishness of The Goon Show, the Monty Python's Flying Circus troupe formed in England in 1969. Comprised of British performers John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Graham Chapman, along with American animator Terry Gilliam, the group emerged as an international cult phenomenon, honing its singular blend of broad slapstick, edgy black comedy, and social commentary in a string of successful television programs, films, and albums.

After meeting during a taping of the British children's series Do Not Adjust Your Set, the Pythons officially took shape in May 1969 when the BBC contracted the group to produce its own 13-week program. Monty Python's Flying Circus, a weekly sketch comedy series, premiered that October; after becoming a major hit throughout Europe, the troupe recorded 1970's Monty Python's Flying Circus LP, a set of new performances of television material recorded in front of a live audience (including their legendary "dead parrot" sketch, "The Pet Shop"). Their film debut, And Now for Something Completely Different -- a collection of highlights from the series -- followed in 1971.

Another Monty Python Record, released in the U.K. in 1971, made its American debut the following year; for most U.S. fans, the album was their first exposure to the troupe -- the BBC series did not begin appearing on public television outlets for several more months. After 1972's Monty Python's Previous Record, a mixture of original routines and TV material featuring "Eric the Half a Bee,""The Argument Clinic," and "Embarrassment/A Bed-Time Book," the group issued 1973's Matching Tie and Handkerchief, which featured a "trick track" gimmick whereby the second side contained separate grooves both featuring entirely different material; playing randomly depending upon where the needle dropped, the gimmick effectively created a "side three."
A 1973 British tour yielded Live at Drury Lane, released in 1974 to coincide with the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail; the movie's companion record, The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a reprise of screen material along with new skits, did not appear until the next year. After 1976's Live! At City Center, a long hiatus followed before the group reunited for the 1979 feature and soundtrack Monty Python's Life of Brian.

Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album appeared in 1980, followed by the 1982 concert film Live at the Hollywood Bowl. The 1983 feature Monty Python's the Meaning of Life was the last official group project, although the troupe members subsequently reunited on occasion; most famously, Cleese and Palin teamed in the hit comedy A Fish Called Wanda, while Gilliam's directorial efforts like Time Bandits, Brazil, and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen all prominently featured other Python alumni. Sadly, Graham Chapman died of cancer on October 4, 1989.


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Like the title says, by the late '70s Monty Python was less interested in continuing under their group name, except for the occasional foray into film. John Cleese was busy with Fawlty Towers, while Michael Palin was branching out into film, Terry Gilliam was making a name for himself as a director, and the rest were involved in television and other projects. For all intents and purposes, this is almost an Eric Idle solo album, since a majority of the songs were written by him or with Neil Innes (the two had recently collaborated on the brilliant Beatles parody, The Rutles). Not that they aren't funny: "I Like Chinese,""Medical Love Song," and "Never Be Rude to an Arab" raise a smile, and "Decomposing Composers," (not by Idle) despite the obvious pun of the title, is actually quite affecting, delivered in a gentle Cockney drawl by Michael Palin. Yet the record suffers from many weak tracks, most of which are old standards with new dirty lyrics ("Sit on My Face") or experiments in repetition and boredom ("I Like Traffic Lights,""I'm So Worried"). What sound like new skits from Cleese and Graham Chapman ("String,""Bookshop") are actually pre-Python skits written for Cleese and Marty Feldman given a dusting off in lieu of any real writing. The only other track of note is "Rock Notes," a parody of rock journalism from where the future rock group Toad the Wet Sprocket got its name. A spotty finale for the Python's recording career.


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with

Eric Idle
Graham Chapman
John Cleese
Michael Palin
Terry Gilliam
Terry Jones


601 Contractual Obligation Album (flac  190mb)


601 Contractual Obligation Album (Side 1) 19:22
Sit On My Face
Announcement
Henry Kissinger
String
Never Be Rude To An Arab
I Like Chinese
Bishop
Medical Love Song
Farewell To John Denver
Finland
I'm So Worried!

602 Contractual Obligation Album (Side 2) 25:34
I Bet You They Won't Play This Song On The Radio
Martyrdom Of St. Victor
Here Comes Another One
Bookshop
Do What John?
Rock Notes
Muddy Knees
Crocodile
Decomposing Composers
Bells
Traffic Lights
All Things Dull And Ugly
A Scottish Farewell

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Previously

101 Another Monty Python Record (flac  212mb)
201 Monty Python's Previous Record (flac  194mb)
301 Matching Tie and Handkerchief (flac  159mb)
401 Live at Drury Lane (flac  275mb)
501 Monty Python and the Holy Grail (flac  191mb)

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Hello,

The music of Brazil encompasses various regional music styles influenced by African, European and Amerindian forms. After 500 years of history, Brazilian music developed some unique and original styles such as samba, bossa nova, MPB, sertanejo, pagode, tropicalia, choro, maracatu, embolada (coco de repente), mangue bit, funk carioca (in Brazil simply known as Funk), frevo, forró, axé, brega, lambada, and Brazilian versions of foreign musical genres, such as Brazilian rock and rap.


Today's artist is was born Astrud Evangelina Weinert, the daughter of a Brazilian mother and a German father, in the state of Bahia, Brazil. She was raised in Rio de Janeiro. She married João Gilberto in 1959 and emigrated to the United States in 1963, residing in the U.S. from that time. Astrud and João divorced in the mid-1960s and she began a relationship with her musical partner, American jazz saxophone player Stan Getz.... N'Joy

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The honey-toned chanteuse on the surprise Brazilian crossover hit "The Girl From Ipanema," Astrud Gilberto parlayed her previously unscheduled appearance (and professional singing debut) on the song into a lengthy career that resulted in nearly a dozen albums for Verve and a successful performing career that lasted into the '90s. Though her appearance at the studio to record "The Girl From Ipanema" was due only to her husband João, one of the most famed Brazilian artists of the century, Gilberto's singular, quavery tone and undisguised naïveté propelled the song into the charts and influenced a variety of sources in worldwide pop music.

Born in Bahia, Gilberto moved to Rio de Janeiro at an early age. She'd had no professional musical experience of any kind until 1963, the year of her visit to New York with her husband, João Gilberto, in a recording session headed by Stan Getz. Getz had already recorded several albums influenced by Brazilian rhythms, and Verve teamed him with the cream of Brazilian music, Antonio Carlos Jobim and João Gilberto, for his next album. Producer Creed Taylor wanted a few English vocals for maximum crossover potential, and as it turned out, Astrud was the only Brazilian present with any grasp of the language. After her husband laid down his Portuguese vocals for the first verse of his and Jobim's composition, "The Girl From Ipanema," Astrud provided a hesitant, heavily accented second verse in English.

Not even credited on the resulting LP, Getz/Gilberto, Astrud finally gained fame over a year later, when "The Girl From Ipanema" became a number five hit in mid-1964. The album became the best-selling jazz album up to that point, and made Gilberto a star across America. Before the end of the year, Verve capitalized on the smash with the release of Getz Au Go Go, featuring a Getz live date with Gilberto's vocals added later. Her first actual solo album, The Astrud Gilberto Album, was released in May 1965. Though it barely missed the Top 40, the LP's blend of Brazilian classics and ballad standards proving quite infectious with easy listening audiences.

Though she never returned to the pop charts in America, Verve proved to be quite understanding for Astrud Gilberto's career, pairing her with ace arranger Gil Evans for 1966's Look to the Rainbow and Brazilian organist/arranger Walter Wanderley for the dreamy A Certain Smile, a Certain Sadness, released later that year. She remained a huge pop star in Brazil for the rest of the 1960s and '70s, but gradually disappeared in America after her final album for Verve in 1969. In 1971, she released a lone album for CTI (with Stanley Turrentine) but was mostly forgotten in the U.S. until 1984, when "Girl From Ipanema" recharted in Britain on the tails of a neo-bossa craze. Gilberto gained worldwide distribution for 1987's Astrud Gilberto Plus the James Last Orchestra and 2002's Jungle.

Gilberto received the Latin Jazz USA Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1992, and was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame in 2002. In 1996, she contributed to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Rio produced by the Red Hot Organization, performing the song "Desafinado" along with George Michael. Although she did not officially retire, Gilberto announced in 2002, that she was taking "indefinite time off" from public performances.


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Astrud Gilberto became an accidental success when her fragile command of English made her the de facto choice to sing "The Girl from Ipanema" at a session led by Stan Getz and her husband, João Gilberto. Of course, despite its overwhelming success, it wasn't clear that she could sustain a career when she recorded her first solo LP, The Astrud Gilberto Album. She had sounded more like an amateurish novelty act than a recording professional, her voice was sweet but fragile, and the Getz/Gilberto album had featured two strong voices, with Gilberto herself an afterthought (albeit a commercially effective afterthought). But The Astrud Gilberto Album was at least as good as Getz/Gilberto (despite what jazz fans say), for several reasons. The Brazilian repertoire plays particularly well to traditionally weak vocalists, her voice was yet more sweet than had been heard previously, and as before, the record featured two strong leaders -- arranger Marty Paich and the incomparable Antonio Carlos Jobim. Paich's strings positively coated the album with radiance, and his choices for lead instrumental voices -- Bud Shank's flute, João Donato's piano, Jobim's guitar -- complemented her vocals perfectly. Gilberto sounded beautiful on a range of material, from the sentimental "Dindi" to the playful "Agua de Beber," and as long as intelligent musicians were playing to her strengths (as they do here), the results were splendid.



Astrud Gilberto - The Astrud Gilberto Album (flac 157mb)

01 Once I Loved 2:11
02 Água De Beber 2:17
03 Meditation 2:40
04 ...And Roses ...And Roses 2:34
05 O Morro Não Tem Vez 2:58
06 How Insensitive 2:48
07 Dindi 2:40
08 Fotografia 2:12
09 Dreamer 2:03
10 Só Tinha De Ser Com Você 2:19
11 All That's Left Is To Say Goodbye 3:12

     (ogg  mb)

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For her second Verve LP, Astrud Gilberto expanded her range from a raft of Gilberto/Jobim standards to embrace the large and obviously daunting catalogue of classic American pop. With arrangements by Don Sebesky and Claus Ogerman (as well as two by country-mate João Donato), The Shadow of Your Smile can't help but shine a bright spotlight on Gilberto's weak voice, especially when she's singing material previously enlightened by singers with the weight of Frank Sinatra or Sarah Vaughan. Even the intimate, understated arrangements on songs like "Day by Day," the title track, and "Fly Me to the Moon" overshadow the chanteuse's limited range. Brazilian material like the five songs by Luiz Bonfá make for better listening, though the preponderance of flutes, strings, and muted trumpet in the arrangements is very mid-'60s, for better and worse. (And the notes' description of "O Ganso" as an "exercise in vocalise based on bah and dah sounds" is being more than generous.) Certainly, no American vocalist could hope to equal the tortured syntax and somehow endearing performances on these songs; still, Verve did much better by Gilberto later on when they gave her good-time Brazilian songs to sing and didn't attempt to force comparison with standard jazz/pop vocalists.



Astrud Gilberto - The Shadow Of Your Smile  (flac  154mb)

01 Love Theme From "The Sandpiper" (The Shadow Of Your Smile) 2:30
02 (Take Me To) Aruanda 2:25
03 Manha De Carnaval 1:55
04 Fly Me To The Moon 2:15
05 The Gentle Rain 2:20
06 Non-Stop To Brazil 2:30
07 O Ganso 2:04
08 Who Can I Turn To 2:07
09 Day By Day 2:05
10 Tristeza 2:20
11 Funny World (Theme From "Malamondo") 2:25

     (ogg   mb)

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This was a beautiful bossa nova record of Astrud Gilberto's vocal stylings...All the material (32:13) here, with the exception of "Learn to Live Alone" and "Pretty Place," which were arranged by Al Cohn, were arranged by Gil Evans. With the exception of a Johnny Coles trumpet solo, the personnel was uncredited on this 1966 recording. Discographies have credited Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone), Kenny Burrell (guitar), and Grady Tate (drums), but except for a few bars of sax, there was no solo indivdualism in this large Creed Taylor-produced orchestra.



Astrud Gilberto - Look To The Rainbow   (flac  152mb)

01 Berimbau 2:23
02 Once Upon A Summertime 3:02
03 Felicidade 2:44
04 I Will Wait For You 4:38
05 Frevo 2:21
06 Maria Quiet (Maria Moite) 1:52
07 Look To The Rainbow 3:26
08 Bim Bom 1:49
09 Lugar Bonita (Pretty Place) 3:16
10 El Preciso Aprender A Ser So (Learn To Live Alone) 3:20
11 She's A Carioca 2:26

    (ogg   mb)

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In 1966, the bossa nova craze was at a peak, and A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness marked a collaboration between two of its biggest stars -- vocalist Astrud Gilberto, brought to fame by her classic rendition of "The Girl from Ipanema," and organist Walter Wanderley. Even though the album is good, it is not as exciting as one might hope. While the music is remarkably innocent and sweet, with just a little underlying touch of sadness beneath the joyous, even naïve, surface, Gilberto and Wanderley do not always seem to work together on these tracks -- it often appears as if each is performing in a universe of his or her own. That being said, there are many bright sides to the album, too: Wanderley's organ playing is as enthusiastic and fluffy as ever, while Gilberto's singing (in both English and Portuguese) remains smile-inducing. Both manage to create an incredibly warm sound, and when Wanderley plays some piano (as on the beautiful "A Certain Sadness"), you can sense a spark between the two. So, while A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness might not be the most successful album of all time, it is still a nice record that fans of either Gilberto or Wanderley will want to have. And -- even though one tends to use the word "cocktail lounge music" -- their rendition of "Tristeza" is simply irresistible, easy listening or not.



Astrud Gilberto And Walter Wanderley - A Certain Smile A Certain Sadness (flac  199mb)

01 A Certain Smile 1:27
02 A Certain Sadness 3:08
03 Nega Do Cabelo Duro 2:18
04 So Nice (Summer Samba) 2:41
05 Vocé Ja Foi Bahia 2:15
06 Portuguese Washerwoman 1:30
07 Goodbye Sadness (Tristeza) 3:33
08 Call Me 3:20
09 Here's That Rainy Day 2:43
10 Tu Mi Delirio 3:38
11 It's A Lovely Day Today 2:39
12 The Sadness Of After 2:27
13 Who Needs Forever? 2:48

  (ogg   mb)

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Hello,

Today's artists are an English musical duo of Martyn Bates and Peter Becker, based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. They have described their music as "veer[ing] crazily from filmic ambiance to rock and pop, industrial funk to avant-folk styles." Formed in 1980, the group went into hiatus in 1987, re-emerging in 1993.......N'Joy

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Specializing in alternative pop/rock, post-punk, and art rock, the experimental British duo Eyeless in Gaza have enjoyed an enthusiastic cult following since the early 1980s. The music of Eyeless in Gaza has tended to be moody, quirky and atmospheric, drawing on influences that have ranged from Brian Eno, Pink Floyd and Pere Ubu to Roxy Music, David Bowie (especially Bowie's Low/ Heroes/Lodger period of the late 1970s) and the seminal Kraftwerk. Eyeless in Gaza experimented with electronics from the beginning, and they clearly admired Eno's breakthroughs in the ambient electronic realm.

Becker, a laboratory technician, had played in a covers band before buying and experimenting with a Wasp synthesizer (he released a solo cassette-album in June 1980 and a second a year later). Bates, a hospital worker, had previously been in a very early lineup of the unclassifiable Coventry-based band Reluctant Stereotypes, and also released a cassette of experimental electronic music in January 1980. Shortly afterwards they met and got started in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England in 1980, they named their group after British author Aldous Huxley's 1936 novel, which Bates was reading when he met Becker. Both of them have embraced a variety of instruments in Eyeless in Gaza; Bates has played keyboards, organ, guitar and drums (among other instruments), while Becker has contributed guitar (both electric and acoustic), bass, drums, percussion and melodica (in addition to helping with the vocals). Eyeless in Gaza's first mini-album was their 1980 EP Kodak Ghosts Run Amok, which was followed by their Invisibility EP in 1981 and their full-length albums of 1981 Photographs as Memories and Caught in Flux. Eyeless in Gaza recorded frequently in the 1980s, providing full-length albums that included Pale Hands I Loved So Well and Drumming the Beating Heart in 1982, Rust Red September in 1983, and Back from the Rains in 1986.

But the duo went on hiatus in 1987, when Bates opted to pursue some solo projects. The two of them were reunited briefly in 1990 when they worked with poet Anne Clark on her album The Law Is an Anagram of Wealth, but many of Eyeless in Gaza's followers were wondering if Bates and Becker would ever record together again as Eyeless in Gaza. In 1993, however, Bates and Becker were officially reunited as Eyeless in Gaza after a seven-year hiatus--and the duo's recording career was resumed with 1993's Fabulous Library (which started out as a Becker solo project but became a full-fledged Eyeless in Gaza album when Bates came on board). By that time, music that was loosely defined as alternative rock or alternative pop/rock had become rock's dominant direction thanks to the major commercial success of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and others. Instead of being described as music for the select few like it had been in the 1980s, alternative had become downright mainstream--and the return of Eyeless in Gaza was quite appropriate considering that Bates and Becker were embracing alternative long before it was in vogue. After Fabulous Library, Eyeless in Gaza continued to build their catalog with Saw You in Reminding Pictures in 1994, Bitter Apples in 1995, All Under the Leaves, the Leaves of Life in 1996, Song of the Beautiful Wanton in 2000, Home Produce: Country Bizarre in 2003, and Summer Salt/Subway Sun in 2007/2008.  More releases by Eyeless are Answer Song & Dance (2010), Everyone Feels Like A Stranger (2011), Butterfly Attitude (2012). In 2012, Martyn Bates and Peter Becker appeared on "Right North", the eleventh album, a double digipack, of the international collective 48 Cameras, and Mania Sour in 2014.


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Aldous Huxley begins his brilliant novel “Eyeless in Gaza” with the sentence: “The snapshots had become almost as dim as memories” so Photographs as Memories may be considered as a kind of illustration to this great novel.

The days of the garage groups are gone. The bands of today are being born in bedrooms and the latest in the increasing line of DIY knob-doodling duos are Eyeless In Gaza from Leamington Spa. Although “Photographs As Memories” is an awkward album that initially sounds irritating and samey, like a rough assortment of improvisations over very similar backing tracks, further listening reaps rewards, revealing a record made up more of experimental fragments than actual bona-fide songs.

Starting and finishing somewhat arbitrarily, each individual track attempts, with varying degrees of success, to define a different mood, ranging from the malice and menace of “Keepsake” and the boisterous bubblegum bop of “No Noise” to the weird and worrying “In Your Painting” – a sort of “Weaver’s Answer” for the Eighties. Predominantly featuring scratchy, freely-scuttling guitar over basic drumbeats, and atmospheric keyboards and occasionally augmented by unnecessary and incongruous Beefheartean sax, Eyeless’s real strengths and weaknesses lie in their overblown vocals which, while inhibiting literal understanding, instill the proceedings with crucial emotion. A cross between unbridled passion and stylish effect, the voice is by turns crudely convincing and theatrically histrionic, resulting in an album that simultaneously sooths as it unnerves. “Photographs” constantly strives for something special, very seldom fully succeeds but even its many pitfalls and failures make for an interesting, invigorating listen.



Eyeless In Gaza - Photographs As Memories (flac  225mb)


01 Seven Years 2:21
02 Fixation 3:19
03 Looking Daggers 1:51
04 From A To B 2:19
05 Clear Cut Apparently 1:26
06 Speech Rapid Fire 2:54
07 John Of Patmos 4:18
08 Knives Replace Air 6:43
09 Faceless 2:20
10 In Your Painting 2:10
11 A Keepsake 4:35
12 Whitewash 4:22
13 No Noise 5:49

Eyeless In Gaza - Photographs As Memories  (ogg  113mb)

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Whereas previous Eyeless in Gaza material, especially the album Pale Hands I Loved So Well, was somewhat non-linear and improvisational, Drumming the Beating Heart emphasizes another side of the band's identity. Martyn Bates and Peter Becker take a more focused approach on this album, although they are working within a familiar idiom -- drafting melancholy, sometimes unsettling sketches with minimal percussion, introspective lyrics, emotionally charged vocals, and sparse, melodic keyboard and guitar patterns. Notwithstanding the atmospheric instrumental "Dreaming at Rain," which continues in the rambling, experimental vein that was most pronounced on Pale Hands I Loved So Well, this material finds the Nuneaton duo fashioning their stock sonic components into more immediately accessible, conventional song structures, albeit at the avant end of the pop spectrum. This departure is evident on the single "Veil Like Calm" (which also marked the band's first foray into music video), and the stripped-down, staccato guitar funk of "Two." A salient characteristic of this album is its juxtaposition of the fragile and reflective alongside the jagged and fraught, sometimes in the context of the same track: On "Transience Blues," for instance, Bates' urgent, almost pained vocals and a shuddering rhythm are shadowed by haunting keyboards. Drumming the Beating Heart's most compelling tracks are those that underscore the influence of traditional English folk forms on Eyeless in Gaza's work. Although it's rendered in a considerably pared-down manner, that influence manifests itself particularly on "Ill Wind Blows," with its droning keyboard and bare, rattling percussion, and on the short, vocally intense "Picture the Day." Listened to alongside the band's earlier projects, Drumming the Beating Heart reflects Eyeless in Gaza's growing maturity. The newfound cohesion and developing pop sensibility demonstrated here would be more fully realized on Rust Red September the following year.

Having already released a slew of singles and full releases, Eyeless in Gaza found itself already well primed to deliver this striking album, arguably the highlight of the band's earliest days. It's a delicate, focused, and impassioned collection that sounds like little else released in the English-speaking world in 1981. The haunting tones, guitar-produced and otherwise, on songs like "Warm Breath, Soft and Slow" suggest strange, soothing alien messages that aren't that far removed either way from Brian Eno or the Aphex Twin, or even Amnesiac-era Radiohead, say. Bates' singing here is almost totally absent or reduced to near-abstraction, letting the focus fall specifically on the duo's ear for unexpected arrangements and unusual melodies. Touches from clattering, musique concrète percussion on "Sheer Cliffs," swathed in heavy echo to sound even more monumental, and Gregorian chant samples on "Letters to She" years before they would become standard dance/ambient reference points, help flesh out the album's strange power. Hands-down highlights: "Blue Distance," Bates' strong, breathy keen cutting across a layer of instruments, including lush piano that sounds like Harold Budd on speed, "Lies of Love," with a softly growing chime taking the fore along with Bates' singing over murky rumbles, and a wonderful one-two combination at the end. "Light Sliding" features one of Bates' few straightforward vocals over a lovely keyboard figure like a heavenly carnival ride, while "Big Clipper Ship" concludes the album with a combination of acoustic and electric guitar and kalimba that's at once beautiful and chaotic.



Eyeless In Gaza - Drumming The Beating Heart - Pale Hands I Loved So Well (flac  447mb)

Drumming The Beating Heart
01 Transience Blues 4:33
02 Ill-Wind Blows 3:13
03 One By One 3:30
04 Picture The Day 1:45
05 Dreaming At Rain 6:53
06 Two 2:27
07 Veil Like Calm 1:53
08 Throw A Shadow 2:02
09 Pencil Sketch 2:24
10 At Arms Length 2:02
11 Lights Of April 2:21
12 Before You Go 2:25
Pale Hands I Loved So Well
13 Tall And White Nettles 1:53
14 Warm Breath, Soft And Slow 3:33
15 Blue Distance 3:53
16 Sheer Cliffs 2:20
17 Falling Leaf / Fading Flower: Goodbye To Summer 5:10
18 Lies Of Love 3:03
19 To Ellen 1:21
20 Pale Saints 5:17
21 Letters To She 6:24
22 Light Sliding 3:52
23 Big Clipper Ship 3:22

Eyeless In Gaza - Drumming The Beating Heart - Pale Hands I Loved So Well   (ogg  189 mb)

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Officially the band's fifth full vinyl release, Rust Red September finds the group further moving away from the brusquer hooks of its earliest days to a calmer reflectiveness. If anything, the duo also achieved a light, airy pop feeling with this album, slotting it alongside more successful sounds from the U.K. in the mid-'80s without actually breaking through or, on a happier thought, pandering to achieve such success. This newer approach comes courtesy of Bates' singing voice, here sweetly overdubbed at many points with butter-melting-in-mouth effect -- indeed, such is the purity he reaches here it almost sounds like he should be in a Scandinavian jangle pop act! "New Risen," the single from the album, balances both a catchy melody and a curious, unexpected keyboard/rhythm arrangement -- the closest parallel might be to the similarly not-quite-straightforward work of the Associates, if on a generally calmer level. The elegant arrangements he and Becker create truly, completely shimmer with a strange, sparkling power, light without ever sounding either airily new age or anything remote easy listening. Consider Bates' simple but effective electric guitar work on "Pearl and Pale," which had to have been an influence on any number of later acts on the Projekt record label, heartbreaking chimes, and atmospherics while avoiding simply turning on the effects pedals. Becker's abilities with rhythm work serve the duo quite well -- what initially seems like an intriguing-enough off-time drum pattern on "Leaves Are Dancing" takes a further subtle turn with the introduction of another percussion line on the chorus, steering away from 4/4 into differing realms. His many other understated touches throughout -- the accordion wails on "No Perfect Stranger," the beautiful synth backing on "Bright Play of Eyes" -- help further the beauty of this striking album. The CD reissue of Rust Red September contains some excellent bonuses for the appreciative fan. Three, "To Steven,""Sun-Like-Gold," and "To Elizabeth S.," originally from the Myths. Instructions. I compilation on Sub Rosa, are rougher, murkier instrumentals with an appropriately shady appeal. The remaining three are the B-sides from the Sun Bursts In EP that followed the album, resulting in a near comprehensive picture of the band's work at that time.



Eyeless In Gaza - Rust Red September (flac 350mb)

01 Changing Stations 2:26
02 Pearl And Pale 3:32
03 New Risen 2:50
04 September Hills 3:55
05 Taking Steps 3:31
06 Only Whispers 4:38
07 Leaves Are Dancing 3:14
08 No Perfect Stranger 4:50
09 Corner Of Dusk 3:54
10 Bright Play Of Eyes 3:28
11 Stealing Autumn 4:39
12 To Steven 4:05
13 Sun-Like-Gold 3:14
14 To Elizabeth S. 4:30
15 Lilt Of Music 1:38
16 Inky Blue Sky 3:39
17 Tell 2:19

Eyeless In Gaza - Rust Red September  (ogg  157mb)

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The subtitle "Chronological Singles, Etc., 1980-86" tell the whole story; Kodak Ghosts Run Amok covers the best work of Eyeless in Gaza's first incarnation. Taking its title from the group's debut 1980 EP, the album runs through the A-sides of all of their singles, adding a few key album tracks to flesh out the picture of the early days. Starting from their rather minimalist and icy early work, the first few songs progress Martyn Bates and Peter Becker's slow transformation from artsy students into purveyors of a peculiar brand of pop music that's both sonically inviting and coolly distanced. By the time side one ends with the surprise chart hit "Veil Like Calm," the change is complete; the first half of side two is a run of singles as good as anything the U.K. indie scene offered up in 1983 and 1984, with Bates' vocals more subtle and controlled than the anguished wailing that tends to predominate on the early songs, and Becker's musical backing adding gentle acoustic guitars and sunny harmonies to the synthesizers. "New Risen" and "Sun Bursts In" are both classics of their time and place. Frankly, though, by the end of the album, the duo has listed too far in the chart-pleasing direction; "New Love Here" and "Back From the Rains" are nearly as empty and glossy as Wham!'s contemporaneous singles, and a whole lot less memorable.



Eyeless In Gaza - Kodak Ghosts Run Amok (flac 271mb)

01 Kodak Ghosts Run Amok 2:24
02 Invisibility 2:39
03 No Noise 2:50
04 Others 2:53
05 Pencil Sketch 2:22
06 Veil Like Calm 1:51
07 Bright Play Of Eyes 3:23
08 New Risen 2:47
09 No Perfect Stranger 4:46
10 Sun Bursts In 3:46
11 Welcome Now 3:35
12 New Love Here 3:44
13 Back From The Rains 3:15

Eyeless In Gaza - Kodak Ghosts Run Amok  (ogg  102mb)

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previously, wavetrain-3rd-wagon.html

Eyeless In Gaza - Caught In Flux  (ogg  337mb)

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Hello,

Today's artists are an American band that has spanned the musical genres of R&B, soul, funk, jazz, disco, pop, rock, Latin and African. They are one of the most successful bands of all time. Rolling Stone Magazine described them as "innovative, precise yet sensual, calculated yet galvanizing" and declared that the band "changed the sound of black pop" All month at Grooves..... ..... N'joy

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Earth, Wind & Fire were one of the most musically accomplished, critically acclaimed, and commercially popular funk bands of the '70s. Conceived by drummer, bandleader, songwriter, kalimba player, and occasional vocalist Maurice White, EWF's all-encompassing musical vision used funk as its foundation, but also incorporated jazz, smooth soul, gospel, pop, rock & roll, psychedelia, blues, folk, African music, and, later on, disco. Lead singer Philip Bailey gave EWF an extra dimension with his talent for crooning sentimental ballads in addition to funk workouts; behind him, the band could harmonize like a smooth Motown group, work a simmering groove like the J.B.'s, or improvise like a jazz fusion outfit. Plus, their stage shows were often just as elaborate and dynamic as George Clinton's P-Funk empire. More than just versatility for its own sake, EWF's eclecticism was part of a broader concept informed by a cosmic, mystical spirituality and an uplifting positivity the likes of which hadn't been seen since the early days of Sly & the Family Stone. Tying it all together was the accomplished songwriting of Maurice White, whose intricate, unpredictable arrangements and firm grasp of hooks and structure made EWF one of the tightest bands in funk when they wanted to be. Not everything they tried worked, but at their best, Earth, Wind & Fire seemingly took all that came before them and wrapped it up into one dizzying, spectacular package.



White founded Earth, Wind & Fire in Chicago in 1969. He had previously honed his chops as a session drummer for Chess Records, where he played on songs by the likes of Fontella Bass, Billy Stewart, and Etta James, among others. In 1967, he'd replaced Redd Holt in the popular jazz group the Ramsey Lewis Trio, where he was introduced to the kalimba, an African thumb piano he would use extensively in future projects. In 1969, he left Lewis' group to form a songwriting partnership with keyboardist Don Whitehead and singer Wade Flemons. This quickly evolved into a band dubbed the Salty Peppers, which signed with Capitol and scored a regional hit with "La La Time." When a follow-up flopped, White decided to move to Los Angeles, and took most of the band with him; he also renamed them Earth, Wind & Fire, after the three elements in his astrological charts. By the time White convinced his brother, bassist Verdine White, to join him on the West Coast in 1970, the lineup consisted of Whitehead, Flemons, female singer Sherry Scott, guitarist Michael Beal, tenor saxophonist Chet Washington, trombonist Alex Thomas, and percussionist Yackov Ben Israel. This aggregate signed a new deal with Warner Bros. and issued its self-titled debut album in late 1970. Many critics found it intriguing and ambitious, much like its 1971 follow-up, The Need of Love, but neither attracted much commercial attention despite a growing following on college campuses and a high-profile gig performing the soundtrack to Melvin Van Peebles' groundbreaking black independent film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song.

Last Days and Time Dissatisfied with the results, White dismantled the first version of EWF in 1972, retaining only brother Verdine. He built a new lineup with female vocalist Jessica Cleaves, flute/sax player Ronnie Laws, guitarist Roland Bautista, keyboardist Larry Dunn, and percussionist Ralph Johnson; the most important new addition, however, was singer Philip Bailey, recruited from a Denver R&B band called Friends & Love. After seeing the group open for John Sebastian in New York, Clive Davis signed them to CBS, where they debuted in 1972 with Last Days and Time. Further personnel changes ensued; Laws and Bautista were gone by year's end, replaced by reedman Andrew Woolfolk and guitarists Al McKay and Johnny Graham. It was then that EWF truly began to hit their stride. 1973's Head to the Sky (Cleaves' last album with the group) significantly broadened their cult following, and the 1974 follow-up, Open Our Eyes, was their first genuine hit. It marked their first collaboration with producer, arranger, and sometime-songwriting collaborator Charles Stepney, who helped streamline their sound for wider acceptance; it also featured another White brother, Fred, brought in as a second drummer. The single "Mighty Mighty" became EWF's first Top Ten hit on the R&B charts, although pop radio shied away from its black-pride subtext, and the minor hit "Kalimba Story" brought Maurice White's infatuation with African sounds to the airwaves. Open Our Eyes went gold, setting the stage for the band's blockbuster breakthrough.

That's the Way of the World In 1975, EWF completed work on another movie soundtrack, this time to a music-biz drama called That's the Way of the World. Not optimistic about the film's commercial prospects, the group rushed out their soundtrack album of the same name (unlike Sweet Sweetback, they composed all the music themselves) in advance. The film flopped, but the album took off; its lead single, the love-and-encouragement anthem "Shining Star," shot to the top of both the R&B and pop charts, making Earth, Wind & Fire mainstream stars; it later won a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Group. The album also hit number one on both the pop and R&B charts, and went double platinum; its title track went Top Five on the R&B side, and it also contained Bailey's signature ballad in the album cut "Reasons." White used the new income to develop EWF's live show into a lavish, effects-filled extravaganza, which eventually grew to include stunts designed by magician Doug Henning. The band was also augmented by a regular horn section, the Phoenix Horns, headed by saxophonist Don Myrick. Their emerging concert experience was chronicled later that year on the double-LP set Gratitude, which became their second straight number one album and featured one side of new studio tracks. Of those, "Sing a Song" reached the pop Top Ten and the R&B Top Five, and the ballad "Can't Hide Love" and the title track were also successful.

Spirit Sadly, during the 1976 sessions for EWF's next studio album, Spirit, Charles Stepney died suddenly of a heart attack. Maurice White took over the arranging chores, but the Stepney-produced "Getaway" managed to top the R&B charts posthumously. Spirit naturally performed well on the charts, topping out at number two. In the meantime, White was taking a hand in producing other acts; in addition to working with his old boss Ramsey Lewis, he helped kickstart the careers of the Emotions and Deniece Williams. 1977's All n' All was another strong effort that charted at number three and spawned the R&B smashes "Fantasy" and the chart-topping "Serpentine Fire"; meanwhile, the Emotions topped the pop charts with the White-helmed smash "Best of My Love." The following year, White founded his own label, ARC, and EWF appeared in the mostly disastrous film version of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, turning in a fine cover of the Beatles'"Got to Get You Into My Life" that became their first Top Ten pop hit since "Sing a Song." Released before year's end, The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 produced another Top Ten hit (and R&B number one) in the newly recorded "September."



1979's I Am contained EWF's most explicit nod to disco, a smash collaboration with the Emotions called "Boogie Wonderland" that climbed into the Top Ten. The ballad "After the Love Has Gone" did even better, falling one spot short of the top. Although I Am became EWF's sixth straight multi-platinum album, there were signs that the group's explosion of creativity over the past few years was beginning to wane. 1980's Faces broke that string, after which guitarist McKay departed. While 1981's Raise brought them a Top Five hit and R&B chart-topper in "Let's Groove," an overall decline in consistency was becoming apparent. By the time EWF issued its next album, 1983's Powerlight, ARC had folded, and the Phoenix Horns had been cut loose to save money. After the lackluster Electric Universe appeared at the end of the year, White disbanded the group to simply take a break. In the meantime, Verdine White became a producer and video director, while Philip Bailey embarked on a solo career and scored a pop smash with the Phil Collins duet "Easy Lover." Collins also made frequent use of the Phoenix Horns on his '80s records, both solo and with Genesis.

Bailey reunited with the White brothers, plus Andrew Woolfolk, Ralph Johnson, and new guitarist Sheldon Reynolds, in 1987 for the album Touch the World. It was surprisingly successful, producing two R&B smashes in "Thinking of You" and the number one "System of Survival." Released in 1990, Heritage was a forced attempt to contemporize the group's sound, with guest appearances from Sly Stone and MC Hammer; its failure led to the end of the group's relationship with Columbia. They returned on Reprise with the more traditional-sounding Millennium in 1993, but were dropped when the record failed to recapture their commercial standing despite a Grammy nomination for "Sunday Morning"; tragedy struck that year when onetime horn leader Don Myrick was murdered in Los Angeles. Bailey and the White brothers returned once again in 1997 on the small Pyramid label with In the Name of Love.

After 2003's The Promise, a mix of new material and fresh looks at classics, the group realigned with several top-shelf adult contemporary artists and released 2005's Illumination, which featured a collaboration with smooth jazz juggernaut Kenny G. The album was Grammy-nominated in the category of Best R&B Album. Earth, Wind & Fire continued to tour and made a show-opening appearance on American Idol's Idol Gives Back show in 2007. Three years later, Maurice and Verdine White, Bailey, Dunn, and McKay were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The band released Now, Then & Forever, their first album in five years, in 2013. Three years later, on February 3, 2016, Maurice White died from the effects of Parkinson's disease at his home in Los Angeles; he was 74 years old.


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The debut for the nine-member Earth, Wind & Fire was as assured as that of any rock band from the '60s and early '70s. Already fluent with the close harmonies of the classiest soul groups, the deep funk of James Brown, and the progressive social concerns and multiple vocal features of Sly & the Family Stone, the group added (courtesy of auteur Maurice White) a set of freewheeling arrangements, heavy on the horns, that made Earth Wind and Fire one of their finest albums -- the artistic equal of their later hits, if not on the same level commercially. Unlike the work of most early funk bands, the songwriting was as strong and focused as the musicianship; the record boasts a set of unerringly positive compositions, reflecting the influence of the civil rights movement with nearly every song urging love, community, and knowledge as alternatives to the increasing hopelessness plaguing American society. The stop-start opener "Help Somebody," the deep funk extravaganza "Moment of Truth," and the sweet ballad "Love Is Life" were unified in their pursuit of positivity, while even the potentially incendiary title "Fan the Fire" was revealed in a peaceful context: "The flame of love is about to die/Somebody fan the fire." And the instrumental closer, "Bad Tune," is hardly a cast-off; the furious kalimba work of Maurice White and wordless backing vocals combine to create an excellent piece of impressionist funk.



Earth Wind & Fire - Earth, Wind & Fire   (flac  193mb)

01 Help Somebody 4:02
02 Moment Of Truth 3:07
03 Love Is Life 5:12
04 Fan The Fire 5:16
05 C'Mon Children 3:21
06 This World Today 3:40
07 Bad Tune 5:22

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The ambitions of Earth, Wind & Fire only increased after their stellar debut, and the group brought an abstract sense of composition to their sophomore record, The Need of Love. The opener, a ten-minute piece named "Energy," is proof enough, with several extended passages inspired by everything from free jazz as well as in-the-pocket funk like Kool & the Gang. The next song up, "Beauty" is also positive and intriguing, though in an overly similar groove as "Fan the Fire" from the first album. The closer, a cover of Donny Hathaway's gloriously funky "Everything Is Everything," does justice to the original (and that's saying a lot). Compared to the debut, The Need of Love lacks a sense of exuberance as well as a passel of solid songs and performances.



Earth Wind & Fire - The Need Of Love  (flac 195mb)

01 Energy 9:40
02 Beauty 4:15
03 I Can Feel It In My Bones 5:07
04 I Think About Lovin' You 5:59
05 Everything Is Everything 6:46

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Earth, Wind & Fire were nothing if not ambitious, and by the time of their third album they had forged an individual sound by absorbing nearly everything that had gone before them in the previous ten years. It was as if they were trying to encapsulate every eclectic foray pursued by Motown, from catchy, rhythmic pop to churning funk, and even from Stevie Wonder singing borrowed folk songs like "Blowin' in the Wind" (here, Philip Bailey did "Where Have All the Flowers Gone") to the schmaltzy, string-filled pop that spelled legitimacy to Motown. Not only that, they wanted to incorporate Sly & the Family Stone's horn-filled, gutbucket R&B and some of the fusion style of Weather Report. On Last Days and Time, they succeeded in pulling all that into their orbit, but they hadn't yet managed one crucial thing: they hadn't learned to write hits. That would come next.



Earth Wind & Fire - Last Days And Time  (flac  248mb)

01 Time Is On Your Side 3:41
02 Interlude #1 0:23
03 They Don't See 3:31
04 Interlude #2 0:23
05 Make It With You 3:26
06 Power 8:17
07 Remember The Children 4:03
08 Interlude #3 0:52
09 Where Have All The Flowers Gone 4:52
10 I'd Rather Have You 4:40
11 Mom 5:51

Earth Wind & Fire - Last Days And Time (ogg   92mb)

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As phenomenally popular as Earth, Wind & Fire was from the mid-'70s to the early '80s, it's easy to forget that the band was hardly an overnight success. With Head to the Sky -- EWF's fourth album overall, second with Philip Bailey, and second for Columbia -- Maurice White's very spiritual and ambitious brand of soul and funk was starting to pay off commercially. The Latin-influenced "Evil" became the soulsters' biggest hit up to that point, and material ranging from the hauntingly pretty title song (which boasts one of Bailey's finest performances ever) to the jazz fusion gem "Zanzibar" is just as rewarding. The lineup White unveiled with Last Days and Time was working out beautifully; Bailey was clearly proving to be a major asset. Also worth noting is the presence of singer Jessica Cleaves, who left after this album and, several years later, resurfaced in George Clinton's eccentric female group the Brides of Funkenstein. EWF still had what was basically a cult following, but that was beginning to change with Head to the Sky. And when EWF took off commercially in 1974 and 1975, many new converts went back and saw for themselves just how excellent an album Head to the Sky was.



Earth Wind & Fire - Head To The Sky   (flac 222mb)

01 Evil 4:57
02 Keep Your Head To The Sky 5:08
03 Build Your Nest 3:16
04 The World's A Masquerade 4:47
05 Clover 5:21
06 Zanzibar 13:00

Earth Wind & Fire - Head To The Sky (ogg 84mb)

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Hello,

American composer (and native New Yorker) Steve Reich has been writing the definitive city soundtrack for 40 years. From his early tape pieces "Come Out" and "It's Gonna Rain", to his now classic minimalist works-- though Reich would certainly scoff at the term-- Drumming and Music For 18 Musicians, to more recent works bother greater in scope and somehow conventionally attractive (Tehillim, Different Trains, The Desert Music), he's invented a sound that nails both the intricate detail and speed-ridden blur of some abstract "downtown." Where Philip Glass's music from the 1960s and 70s is vaguely futuristic and precise, Reich's is warm. Where Terry Riley, who never felt a particularly strong allegiance to the minimal aesthetic in the first place, is boundless and organic, Reich is brainy, propulsive, and hardened to the interiors of a metallic landscape. I read someone call him the "greatest living American composer," and though any all-encompassing title is debatable, you'd be hard pressed to find a more fitting example of individualism and stubborn will so often identified with this place....... N'Joy

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A highly influential avant-garde composer and one of the key founders of the minimalist school of music, Reich has embraced a wide variety of musical styles and interests, forging from them a unique synthesis.

Reich took piano lessons as a youngster, but his first big musical revelations came at 14, when he encountered the music of Bach and Stravinsky. He also had his first exposure to bebop, and immediately started learning drums and playing in a jazz band with friends. He played on weekends while studying at Cornell, which he entered at age 16 and where he received a degree in philosophy, specializing in the work of Wittgenstein. In 1957, he entered Juilliard, studying with William Bergsma and Vincent Persichetti (and meeting fellow student Philip Glass). Here Reich first heard 12-tone music; he got a further dose of it during graduate studies at Mills College in Oakland, working with Luciano Berio and Darius Milhaud, and eventually earning his master's degree.

At about that time Reich met Terry Riley, who was in the process of writing In C (1964). Reich played in its premiere, and In C's tonal approach and use of repeating patterns had a big influence on Reich's own music. In turn, Reich suggested the use of the eighth note pulse, which is now standard in performance of the piece. Reich had been experimenting with tapes, creating loops of speech and layering them, allowing the layers to move in and out of sync with one another. His early works It's Gonna Rain (1965) and Come Out (1966) led to similar experiments with live performers, the first of which was Piano Phase for two pianos (1967). Back in New York, Reich and Glass formed an ensemble to perform their music (1968-1971). Several of those players later formed Steve Reich and Musicians, which has toured the world many times over.

In 1970, Reich studied for several weeks at the University of Ghana. His encounter with Ghanaian music and dance inspired his ambitious work Drumming (1970). Encounters with Indonesian gamelan music in 1973-1974 at Seattle and Berkeley were equally significant, and broadened Reich's rhythmic and timbral palette. His most significant composition of the time was Music for 18 Musicians (1974-1976), a large and colorful work which brought Reich worldwide recognition.

In the mid-'70s, Reich started taking Torah classes with his future wife, video artist Beryl Korot. He also studied traditional Jewish cantillation and incorporated it into his psalm settings, Tehillim (1981). Several chamber and orchestral works followed in the 1980s. For Different Trains (1988, a Grammy winner), Reich used a digital sampler to record speaking voices and derived the rhythmic and melodic ideas of the piece from those voices. Reich knew that Different Trains was going to lead to some kind of new documentary form incorporating both video and music. Collaborating with his wife for the first time, the two completed their theater work The Cave in 1993. They continued to explore the combination of music and video with Three Tales (1998-2002).

Music for 18 Musicians [Nonesuch 1998] By the end of the 21st century's first decade, the lasting significance of Reich's music was being recognized worldwide. After 1998's new recording of Music for 18 Musicians won a Grammy, Reich received honorary doctorates and awards from Juilliard, Budapest's Franz Liszt Academy and other schools; the 2007 Polar Music Prize; the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Music (for Double Sextet); and, in 2012, an American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal for Music. On March 5, 2013 the London Sinfonietta, conducted by Brad Lubman, at the Royal Festival Hall in London gave the world premiere of Radio Rewrite for ensemble with 11 players, inspired by the music of Radiohead. The programme also included Double Sextet for ensemble with 12 players, Clapping Music, for two people and four hands featuring Reich himself alongside percussionist Colin Currie.

In 2013 Reich received the US$400,000 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in contemporary music for bringing a new conception of music, based on the use of realist elements from the realm of daily life and others drawn from the traditional music of Africa and Asia. In September 2014, Reich was awarded the "Leone d'Oro" (Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Music) from the Venice Biennale. In March 2016, Reich was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the Royal College of Music in London at the ripe old age of 79 years.

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The Cave is a December 1994 piece featuring the Steve Reich Ensemble (conducted by Paul Hillier) in collaboration with video/text writer Beryl Korot. The story concerns the only place in the world where both Jews and Muslims are allowed to worship, a mosque in Hebron supposed to be the Cave of the Patriarchs where Abraham and many of his descendants were buried. Reich's ensemble includes four vocalists, four percussionists, three vocalists and a five-piece string section. The work begins with regimented percussion and follows through short spoken-word parts and longer sung passages. In several of the spoken-word parts, the harmonics are echoed in the string section (one of Reich's most recognizable and appealing devices), and although the content may be uninteresting to those not familiar with the ongoing Israeli-Arab differences, The Cave is a fascinating piece.



Steve Reich 09 Excerpts from The Cave   (flac  290mb)

01 Act 1 (Part I)2:58
02 Act 1 (Part II) 1:33
03 Act 1 (Part III) 4:42
04 Act 1 (Part IV) 2:32
05 Act 1 (Part V) 2:36
06 Act 1 (Part VI) 5:25
07 Act 1 (Part VII) 3:27
08 Act 1 (Part VIII) 1:20
09 Act 1 (Part IX) 4:30
10 Act 2 (Part I)4:40
11 Act 2 (Part II) 5:19
12 Act 3 (Part I) 6:29
13 Act 3 (Part II) 4:23
14 Act 3 (Part III) 4:40
15 Act 3 (Part IV) 4:04
16 Act 3 (Part V) 4:28
17 Act 3 (Part VI) 8:42

Steve Reich 09 Excerpts from The Cave    (ogg  139mb)

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This recording brings together three disparate styles on one record showcasing Reich's compositional work. Opening with "Proverb," a piece for voices and a mixed ensemble, the disc begins on a somber note. The complete text of the piece is the following line from Ludwig Wittgenstein: "How small a thought it takes to fill a whole life!" This line is sung very, very slowly, note by note with style and chord structure hearkening back to medieval harmonization. Electric organs double the singers. The centerpiece of the record is "Nagoya Marimbas," with a sound reminiscent of Reich's marimba work from the '60s and '70s, and for fans of this era of Reich's work it is a pleasant surprise to hear another piece in this style again. Marimba parts themselves are significantly more complex here, showing Reich's continuing development even when returning to old haunts. The final piece, "City Life," is a kickback to an earlier composition style, utilizing sounds in the natural environment (or in this case the urban environment) to generate musical material. Rather than using manipulated magnetic tape, however, Reich uses what he calls the "extended idea of prepared piano" -- the electronic keyboard sampler. Unlike experiments using tape, this piece was recorded live and can be easily reproduced live on-stage. Sampled sounds come in the form of speeches at political rallies, car horns, pile drivers, and sounds from fire-department radios during the first World Trade Center bombing. Using a car horn to replace the sound of a clarinet is, it must be said, pretty darn cool. This record shows Reich playing with different styles -- it is a transitional point in his career -- which leaves the cohesiveness of the recording off-balanced. But seeing the forest for three different kinds of trees, the new works are exciting and musically satisfying.



Steve Reich 10 Proverb - Nagoya Marimbas - City Life (flac  180mb)

01 Proverb 14:09
02 Nagoya Marimbas 4:35
City Life
03 Check It Out 5:51
04 Pile Drive - Alarms 3:53
05 It's Been A Honeymoon - Can't Take No Mo 4:46
06 Heartbeats - Boats And Buoys 3:58
07 Heavy Smoke 4:42

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Steve Reich continues his exploration of counterpoint and phasing with Triple Quartet, a commission piece for the Kronos Quartet dating to 1999. For this piece (a suite in three movements), Kronos recorded two quartet scores, then played along with the tape, resulting in the Triple Quartet. Originally inspired by Bela Bartok's Fourth Quartet, the movements alternate fast, slow, and fast, with thick contrapuntal melodies rising and falling throughout. "Electric Guitar Phase" began life as "Violin Phase" in 1967. For this version, Dominic Frasca plays four electric guitar parts designed to set up phasing patterns. The initial melody (which almost sounds like the intro to a Van Halen tune) is doubled on a second guitar, then gradually sped up so that the second guitar winds up one eighth note ahead of the original melody. As other guitar parts are added in, the melody constantly changes subtly, the end result being a fascinating mixture of stasis and evolution. "Music for Large Ensemble," originally dating to 1977, is for a group approaching 30 players and is reminiscent of "Music for 18 Musicans" (also from the same time period), while "Tokyo/Vermont Counterpoint" is originally from 1981 and is performed by only one player performing multiple parts. For this piece, the original arrangement for flutes and piccolos is scored for MIDI marimba and xylophone. The natural duration of the notes was shortened in order to maintain the clarity of the composition, but the piece still shares a sonic kinship with "Six Marimbas." Triple Quartet is another beautiful offering from Steve Reich. It would also serve as a fine introduction to his work, as it surveys each of his four active decades as a composer and touches on the various styles and processes he's been interested in since moving away from pure musique concrète. Highly recommended.



Steve Reich - Triple Quartet  (flac  277mb)

Triple Quartet, for 3 string quartets
01 First Movement 7:10
02 Second Movement 4:04
03 Third Movement 3:33

04 Electric Guitar Phase (arr. of Violin Phase) 15:20
05 Music for a Large Ensemble14:58
06 Tokyo/Vermont Counterpoint, for MIDI marimba 9:04

Steve Reich - Triple Quartet  (ogg  133mb)

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The composer's first new work since 2002's Three Tales finds him working with choral and orchestral elements, but is as rhythmically driven as anything he's done in years. Urban activity: buses moving; keypads clicking; bikers cutting off cabs; window washers scaling up a half completed skyscraper; the distant wail of an ambulance siren, and its sudden pitch modulation as it zooms past, carrying a rush of wind and a trail of receipts, wrappers, or the rare leaf; the clang of the subway; cash registers opening, closing, opening; everyone is counting something: time, money, appointments, each other; the whistle of a traffic cop and hundreds of half-heard conversations in the street. The flurry of the city isn't something best described as "beautiful" so much as alive, unstoppable, cruel, and complex.

You Are (Variations). is Reich's first album of new material since the not altogether warmly received Three Tales (2002). If the composer has suffered complaints from critics of lacking ambition in recent years, he hasn't let that affect his writing: You Are is prime Reich, using choral and orchestral elements similarly to older pieces like Tehillim and The Desert Music, but seeming as rhythmically driven as anything he's done in years. Harmonically, he sticks to majors and relative minors (that is, a minor key that utilizes the same notes as a major one, but starts from a different point in the scale)-- a common Reich device-- thereby blurring the line between different tonalities. He uses a choir to impart text translated from Hasidic mystical verse: "You are wherever your thoughts are", "Explanations come to an end somewhere," and the idea of saying "little and do much". Words are repeated and spread out over great lengths, so the end effect is not one of narrative but of words as purely musical ingredients. The closing track is Reich's Cello Counterpoint, featuring cellist Maya Beiser (Bang On a Can) overdubbed eight times to create a surprisingly dense string ensemble. As Reich points out in the insert, the cello is great because its capable of resonating clearly in a very wide range-- this piece was actually written for a full string octet, but its marked accents and interweaving melodies sound great all performed by one person.



Steve Reich - You Are (Variations)  (flac  184mb)

You Are (Variations)
01 You Are Wherever Your Thoughts Are 13:14
02 Shiviti Hashem L'Negdi (I Place The Eternal Before Me) 4:15
03 Explanations Come To An End Somewhere 5:24
04 Ehmor M'Aht, V'Ahsay Harbay (Say Little And Do Much) 4:04

05 Cello Counterpoint 11:31

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Steve Reich's 2007 Double Sextet, which won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize, is given its first performance by eighth blackbird, the group for whom it was written. For most of his career, Reich has constructed his music with canons using matched pairs of instruments, and he writes that when he was presented with the request from eighth blackbird, he felt he could only write the piece for two identical ensembles, with the live players performing to an accompaniment they had previously recorded, creating the effect of two antiphonal sextets. It's that version that's played here, although both Reich and the ensemble agree that an ideal live performance would feature 12 players. That is somewhat less of an issue in a recording of the piece than in a concert setting, but it is in fact easy to imagine that the give and take of two live sextets could produce subtly different results. Except for conventionality of the instrumentation -- Pierrot ensemble plus percussion -- the Double Sextet doesn't particularly break new ground for Reich, but it's the territory of Eight Lines and Music for Eighteen Musicians in which he's endlessly inventive, and it's loads of fun to hear him so happily and imaginatively at play. Like many of his instrumental works, it's in three movements -- fast, slow, fast -- as is his 2008 2x5 for a double quintet of rock instruments, also recorded for the first time with players from Bang On A Can playing against a recording of themselves. Both works are bright and frisky, saturated with contrapuntal zigzagging, but the Double Sextet is the subtler and more substantial. They receive absolutely top-notch virtuoso performances by their respective ensembles and should certainly delight the composer's fans and listeners who enjoy the cross-pollination of rock and classical that is Reich's specialty. Nonesuch's sound is immaculate and beautifully engineered.



Steve Reich - Double Sextet, 2x5    (flac  188mb)

Double Sextet22:18
01 Eighth Blackbird Fast 8:39
02 Eighth Blackbird Slow 6:43
03 Eighth Blackbird Fast6:56
2x5 20:32
04 Bang On A Can Fast10:12
05 Bang On A Can Slow3:12
06 Bang On A Can Fast7:08

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Hello,


Monty Python (sometimes known as The Pythons) were a British surreal comedy group who created the sketch comedy show Monty Python's Flying Circus, which first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four seasons. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and impact, including touring stage shows, films, numerous albums, several books, and a stage musical. The group's influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. ..N'Joy

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Fusing the topical satire of David Frost with the surreal outlandishness of The Goon Show, the Monty Python's Flying Circus troupe formed in England in 1969. Comprised of British performers John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Graham Chapman, along with American animator Terry Gilliam, the group emerged as an international cult phenomenon, honing its singular blend of broad slapstick, edgy black comedy, and social commentary in a string of successful television programs, films, and albums.


After meeting during a taping of the British children's series Do Not Adjust Your Set, the Pythons officially took shape in May 1969 when the BBC contracted the group to produce its own 13-week program. Monty Python's Flying Circus, a weekly sketch comedy series, premiered that October; after becoming a major hit throughout Europe, the troupe recorded 1970's Monty Python's Flying Circus LP, a set of new performances of television material recorded in front of a live audience (including their legendary "dead parrot" sketch, "The Pet Shop"). Their film debut, And Now for Something Completely Different -- a collection of highlights from the series -- followed in 1971.

Another Monty Python Record, released in the U.K. in 1971, made its American debut the following year; for most U.S. fans, the album was their first exposure to the troupe -- the BBC series did not begin appearing on public television outlets for several more months. After 1972's Monty Python's Previous Record, a mixture of original routines and TV material featuring "Eric the Half a Bee,""The Argument Clinic," and "Embarrassment/A Bed-Time Book," the group issued 1973's Matching Tie and Handkerchief, which featured a "trick track" gimmick whereby the second side contained separate grooves both featuring entirely different material; playing randomly depending upon where the needle dropped, the gimmick effectively created a "side three."
A 1973 British tour yielded Live at Drury Lane, released in 1974 to coincide with the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail; the movie's companion record, The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a reprise of screen material along with new skits, did not appear until the next year. After 1976's Live! At City Center, a long hiatus followed before the group reunited for the 1979 feature and soundtrack Monty Python's Life of Brian.


Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album appeared in 1980, followed by the 1982 concert film Live at the Hollywood Bowl. The 1983 feature Monty Python's the Meaning of Life was the last official group project, although the troupe members subsequently reunited on occasion; most famously, Cleese and Palin teamed in the hit comedy A Fish Called Wanda, while Gilliam's directorial efforts like Time Bandits, Brazil, and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen all prominently featured other Python alumni. Sadly, Graham Chapman died of cancer on October 4, 1989.


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Soundtrack album for arguably the Python's best film (or at least their most controversial, talky, and profound). The group's take on the biblical epic focuses on Brian (Graham Chapman), mistaken for the messiah by a group of easily impressed locals. All the best bits from the movie are here, including the "Sermon on the Mount" (as misheard by "Mr. Big Nose"); the People's Liberation Front of Judea (or is it the Judean People's Liberation Front?); Brian's impromptu preaching ("He's making it up as he goes along!"), and the concluding song, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," sung by the cast as they hang crucified. The album offers little apart from the clips from the film, except for some studio banter between a producer (Eric Idle) and a useless announcer (Graham Chapman).






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with

Eric Idle
Graham Chapman
John Cleese
Michael Palin
Terry Gilliam
Terry Jones


701 Life of Brian (flac  231mb)


Monty Python's Life Of Brian (Side 1) 25:12

Introduction
Brian Song
Three Wise Men
Brian Song (Continued)
Sermon On The Mount (Big Nose)
Harry The Haggler
Stoning
Ex-Leper
You Mean You Were Raped? (Nortius Maximus)
Link
In The Amphitheatre (Loretta)
Short Link
Romans Go Home
Missing Link
Revolutionary Meeting
Very Good Link/Ben
Audience With Pilate
Meanwhile

Monty Python's Life Of Brian (Side 2) 26:47

The Prophets
Beard Salesman
Lobster Link
Brian's Prophecy
Lobster Link II
The Hermit (Simon The Holy Man)
He's Not The Messiah
Sex Link
He's A Very Naughty Boy
Lighter Link
Pilate Sentences Brian
Nisus Wettus
Pilate With The Crowd (Welease Woger)
Nisus Wettus With The Jailers
Release Brian
Not So Bad Once You're Up
Reg Salutes Brian
Cheeky Is Released
Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life
Closing


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Previously

101 Another Monty Python Record (flac  212mb)
201 Monty Python's Previous Record (flac  194mb)
301 Matching Tie and Handkerchief (flac  159mb)
401 Live at Drury Lane (flac  275mb)
501 Monty Python and the Holy Grail (flac  191mb)
601 Contractual Obligation Album (flac  190mb)

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Hello,

The music of Brazil encompasses various regional music styles influenced by African, European and Amerindian forms. After 500 years of history, Brazilian music developed some unique and original styles such as samba, bossa nova, MPB, sertanejo, pagode, tropicalia, choro, maracatu, embolada (coco de repente), mangue bit, funk carioca (in Brazil simply known as Funk), frevo, forró, axé, brega, lambada, and Brazilian versions of foreign musical genres, such as Brazilian rock and rap.


Today's artist is was born Astrud Evangelina Weinert, the daughter of a Brazilian mother and a German father, in the state of Bahia, Brazil. She was raised in Rio de Janeiro. She married João Gilberto in 1959 and emigrated to the United States in 1963, residing in the U.S. from that time. Astrud and João divorced in the mid-1960s and she began a relationship with her musical partner, American jazz saxophone player Stan Getz.... N'Joy

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The honey-toned chanteuse on the surprise Brazilian crossover hit "The Girl From Ipanema," Astrud Gilberto parlayed her previously unscheduled appearance (and professional singing debut) on the song into a lengthy career that resulted in nearly a dozen albums for Verve and a successful performing career that lasted into the '90s. Though her appearance at the studio to record "The Girl From Ipanema" was due only to her husband João, one of the most famed Brazilian artists of the century, Gilberto's singular, quavery tone and undisguised naïveté propelled the song into the charts and influenced a variety of sources in worldwide pop music.

Born in Bahia, Gilberto moved to Rio de Janeiro at an early age. She'd had no professional musical experience of any kind until 1963, the year of her visit to New York with her husband, João Gilberto, in a recording session headed by Stan Getz. Getz had already recorded several albums influenced by Brazilian rhythms, and Verve teamed him with the cream of Brazilian music, Antonio Carlos Jobim and João Gilberto, for his next album. Producer Creed Taylor wanted a few English vocals for maximum crossover potential, and as it turned out, Astrud was the only Brazilian present with any grasp of the language. After her husband laid down his Portuguese vocals for the first verse of his and Jobim's composition, "The Girl From Ipanema," Astrud provided a hesitant, heavily accented second verse in English.

Not even credited on the resulting LP, Getz/Gilberto, Astrud finally gained fame over a year later, when "The Girl From Ipanema" became a number five hit in mid-1964. The album became the best-selling jazz album up to that point, and made Gilberto a star across America. Before the end of the year, Verve capitalized on the smash with the release of Getz Au Go Go, featuring a Getz live date with Gilberto's vocals added later. Her first actual solo album, The Astrud Gilberto Album, was released in May 1965. Though it barely missed the Top 40, the LP's blend of Brazilian classics and ballad standards proving quite infectious with easy listening audiences.

Though she never returned to the pop charts in America, Verve proved to be quite understanding for Astrud Gilberto's career, pairing her with ace arranger Gil Evans for 1966's Look to the Rainbow and Brazilian organist/arranger Walter Wanderley for the dreamy A Certain Smile, a Certain Sadness, released later that year. She remained a huge pop star in Brazil for the rest of the 1960s and '70s, but gradually disappeared in America after her final album for Verve in 1969. In 1971, she released a lone album for CTI (with Stanley Turrentine) but was mostly forgotten in the U.S. until 1984, when "Girl From Ipanema" recharted in Britain on the tails of a neo-bossa craze. Gilberto gained worldwide distribution for 1987's Astrud Gilberto Plus the James Last Orchestra and 2002's Jungle.

Gilberto received the Latin Jazz USA Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1992, and was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame in 2002. In 1996, she contributed to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Rio produced by the Red Hot Organization, performing the song "Desafinado" along with George Michael. Although she did not officially retire, Gilberto announced in 2002, that she was taking "indefinite time off" from public performances.


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One of Gilberto's less impressive '60s Verve outings, primarily due to the more pop-oriented song selection. Much of this is just standard pleasant Gilberto: offhand vocals and a sumptuous Brazil pop-cum-U.S. orchestration feel (Ron Carter and Toots Thielemans are among the sidemen). And some of the pop choices work well, particularly Tim Hardin's gorgeous "Misty Roses." No vocals or arrangements, however, could save the criminally wrong-headed military march of "A Banda (Parade)," or the exasperatingly coochie-coochie duet between Gilberto and her six-year-old son on the Lovin' Spoonful's "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice." Which makes it all the more surprising when the next and concluding track, "Nao Bate O Corocao," has Gilberto cutting loose with confident, sassy scats, as she rarely did before or since. The CD reissue improves matters by adding five bonus cuts from A Certain Smile a Certain Sadness, recorded in 1966 in more authentically bossa nova-style arrangements, anchored by organist Walter Wanderley.



Astrud Gilberto - Beach Samba (flac 275mb)

01 Stay 2:41
02 Misty Roses 2:36
03 The Face I Love 2:06
04 A Banda (Parade) 2:07
05 Oba, Oba 1:59
06 Canoeiro 1:32
07 I Had The Craziest Dream 2:25
08 Bossa Na Praia (Beach Samba) 2:48
09 My Foolish Heart 2:47
10 Dia Das Rosas (I Think Of You) 2:21
11 You Didn't Have To Be So Nice 2:41
12 Nao Bate O Coracao 1:35
Bonus Tracks
13 Goodbye Sadness 3:34
14 Call Me 3:20
15 Here's That Rainy Day 2:44
16 Tu Meu Delirio 3:39
17 It's A Lovely Day Today 2:39

Astrud Gilberto - Beach Samba     (ogg  107mb)

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While assembled from seemingly disparate sessions arranged by Eumir Deodato, Don Sebesky, and Pat Williams, Windy nevertheless proves one of Astrud Gilberto's most consistent and sublime efforts, artfully straddling the division between Brazilian bossa nova and American sunshine pop. Credit the aforementioned arrangers for much of the LP's appeal -- from a percolating rendition of the Association's title cut to a neo-classical reinvention of the Beatles'"In My Life," the songs possess a lithe, shimmering beauty that perfectly complements Gilberto's feathery vocals. Still, she can't quite skirt the cloying sweetness that undermines so many of her mid-period Verve LPs -- son Marcelo, who first joined his mother on the previous Beach Samba for an excruciating duet version of the Lovin Spoonful's "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice," resurfaces here for a reading of The Jungle Book's "The Bare Necessities," proving yet again that children should be seen and not heard.



Astrud Gilberto - Windy  (flac  174mb)

01 Dreamy 2:05
02 Chup, Chup, I Got Away 2:04
03 Never My Love 2:37
04 Lonely Afternoon 3:16
05 On My Mind 2:41
06 The Bare Necessities 2:39
07 Windy 2:45
08 Sing Me A Rainbow 2:05
09 In My Life 2:35
10 Crickets Sing For Anamaria 1:35
11 Where Are They Now? 3:09

    (ogg   mb)

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Astrud Gilberto had begun tackling '60s vocal pop crossovers on her Windy album from earlier in 1969, but her final record (of three) from that year found her stretching out not just on material but on arrangements. The production and arrangements by Brooks Arthur and Albert Gorgoni, respectively, attempt to push Gilberto into the type of groovy "now sound" that everyone from Harry Nilsson to Andy Williams was employing in the late '60s. Of course, Gilberto was an easy fit for this type of sound, and the only missteps here come when the songs don't fit her occasionally limited talents. "Light my Fire" is at the top of that list, while the Bee Gees'"Holiday" and Nilsson's "Don't Leave Me, Baby" appear very high as well. Highlights do crop up, with the opener "Beginnings" working very well except for its long coda, and the one Brazilian song, "Let Go (Canto de Ossanha)" charting the perfect balance between timeless pop and late-'60s crossover appeal.



Astrud Gilberto - September 17 1969   (flac  269mb)

01 Beginnings 8:08
02 Holiday 3:11
03 Here There And Everywhere 2:25
04 Light My Fire 2:54
05 Let Go (Canto De Ossanha) 3:05
06 Let's Have The Morning After (Instead Of The Night Before) 4:04
07 Think Of Rain 2:46
08 A Million Miles Away Behind The Door 2:27
09 Love Is Stronger Far Than We 3:40
10 Don't Leave Me Baby 2:30
11 Summer Sweet 6:29

Astrud Gilberto - September 17 1969    (ogg  99mb)

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Astrud's voice and laid-back delivery are better here then on her earlier (and better-known) Verve albums. Stanley Turrentine is all over this record, and his solos are soulful, strong, and melodic as always. However, the real treasures of this ablum though are the outstanding arrangements by Eumir Deodato, who once again proves he is the master of this type of music. Nearly every track is full of interesting, complex, yet beautiful instrumentation. He blends mellow low strings with lots of Fender Rhodes electric piano, plenty of electric and acoustic guitar, and a wide variety of Brazilian percussion instruments. It's just a rich tapestry of sound that never fails to intrigue



Astrud Gilberto - Gilberto With Turrentine (flac  257mb)

01 Wanting Things 2:35
02 Brazilian Tapestry 5:10
03 To A Flame 3:17
04 Solo El Fin (For All We Know) 3:10
05 Zazueira 3:40
06 Ponteio 3:35
07 Travelling Light 3:25
08 Vera Cruz 5:05
09 Historia De Amor (Love Story) 3:29
10 Where There's A Heartache 3:10
Bonus Tracks
11 Just Be You 2:29
12 The Puppy Song 3:21
13 Polytechnical High 2:48

Astrud Gilberto - Gilberto With Turrentine  (ogg 107mb)

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