Jazzis Web Shop News 06/2006

Last month I added the first two splendid Tyrannosaurus Rex reissues and the other two were added today:

TYRANNOSAURUS REX ~ MY PEOPLE WERE FAIR AND HAD SKY IN THEIR HAIR... (EXPANDED EDITION)

1st album (recorded 1968) by one of the most esoteric musical outfits on the UK scene during the heydays of the Psychedelic explosion. Tyrannosaurus Rex were a duo led by Marc Bolan, who was a member of the band Jon's Children before forming this band. Firmly based on the folk tradition, the duo expanded their unique sound way beyond the basics of folk by using elements of world music rhythmic patterns, chanting, gibberish and of course the outlandish vocal qualities of Bolan's voice. Shortly after the band was formed, they were spotted, while performing at London's legendary UFO Club, by Tony Visconti, who produced all their albums, They scored a surprising hit with the song "Debora" (their debut single) and had a dedicated following. After releasing four very interesting albums Bolan shortened the name of the band to T Rex and later on became a mega-star with his group during the Glam Rock Period. He died tragically in 1977 in a car accident. In retrospect this is one of the most surprising debut albums of the period and although not an easy listening, its intrinsic qualities make it a gem well worth remembering and repeated listening. The expanded edition more than doubles the contents of the original album and is splendidly remastered.

TYRANNOSAURUS REX ~ UNICORN (EXPANDED EDITION)

3rd album (recorded 1968-1969) and the last to feature the original Bolan / Took lineup. Shortly after this album was released and then toured the US for the first time the tensions between Bolan and Took resulted in Took being replaced by Mickey Finn. The band expands the basic sound by Bolan using electric guitar for the first time and Took using the full drum set in addition to the percussion instruments. The musical formula remains similar to the previous albums - a mixture of folk, Psychedelic influences and Fantasy (Bolan's obsession with the writings of Tolkien). It is all a strange brew, esoteric and enchanting, absolutely unique and sounding surprisingly fresh after all those years. The expanded edition more than doubles the contents of the original album and is splendidly remastered.

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Massive re-stocking with many items back!

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Have a great weekend all!

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Have Fun!

Another monumental Miles Davis Box Set Added today:

DAVIS, MILES ~ THE COMPLETE JACK JOHNSON SESSIONS

This is the 7th chapter in the Columbia's epic series of Miles Davis Box Sets, which is a monumental reissue project of recordings by the most important Jazz musician of the 20th century. Recorded between February and June 1970 this monumental document defines "Electric Jazz" - anything recorded since, be it Jazz / Rock or Fusion, has its roots here. These almost five hours of music remained mostly unreleased till this set was issued, as the original "A Tribute To Jack Johnson" album contained less than 10 % of the music included herein. Although a few other "cooked" albums included snippets of this music ("Live-Evil", Get Up With It", "Directions" and "Big Fun") they were never available in their full form. By the time this material was recorded Miles' approach to creating music changed dramatically: he was more of a captain giving the crew a general direction as to where he wanted to go, ratter that a navigator concerned with the exact details as to the course taken. An enormous amount of freedom was granted to the stellar collection of participants (Keith Jarrett, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea - keyboards, Steve Grossman, Bennie Maupin, Wayne Shorter - saxes, Dave Holland, Ron Carter, Michael Henderson - bass, John McLaughlin, Sonny Sharrock - guitar, Jack DeJohnette, Gene Perla - drums, Airto, Hermeto Pascoal - percussion) and for the first time Miles promoted John McLaughlin to be the primary soloist, much more dominant than his trumpet. McLaughlin of course was up to the job and presents some incredible guitar playing, firmly establishing the electric guitar as the leading instrument in instrumental music for the years to come. His fearless ventures into the uncharted territory of Fusion and even Rock would become a beacon for generations of guitar players, a source of inspiration and a vital learning tool. The unrestrained, almost jam-like atmosphere of the sessions inspired all the participants to search for the best they could achieve and the resulting music is simply phenomenal. This is visionary and groundbreaking, Promethean and pioneering musical creation, an absolute must to any Jazz fan that takes his music seriously.
A special note to collectors:
The initial release of all the Miles Davis Box Sets in this reissue series is packaged in an exquisite metal-bound (except chapters 5 & 8 which are cardboard-bound) frame housed in a hard cardboard CD-sized slipcase. Once the initial release is sold out, the CDs are repackaged in a tall-box digipack book format. Naturally the tall-box issues have a much lower retail price tag (except for chapter 5). The initial CD-sized issues become all priceless collectors' items in time.

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Just one masterpiece added today:

RAINING PLEASURE ~ REFLECTIONS: MUSIC BY MANOS HADJIDAKIS

Anybody our there remembers the legendary 1969 album "Reflections: Music By Manos Hadjidakis" by the New York Rock & Roll Ensemble? If you do, you surely appreciate how revolutionary and pioneering it was at the time. Hadjidakis cooperated with a group of young Rock musicians and composed a cycle of songs called "Reflections" (with English lyrics) especially for them. The resulting album created quite a sensation at the time and became a cult album in the years to follow. Hadjidakis was of course the greatest 20th century Greek composer who at that time was a political exile in the US (between 1966 and 1972), as were many other Greek intellectuals and artists who opposed the military dictatorship in their native country. In 1993 Hadjidakis re-recorded "Reflections", this time with Greek lyrics. Raining Pleasures, the most prominent and ambitious Rock group in Greece since the mid-1990's re-recorded "Reflections" yet again in late 2004 / early 2005 with the original English lyrics again, but with much richer and profound instrumental arrangements, developing it into a full-blown Prog masterpiece. Featuring the Mellotron as the main instrument, this is a beautiful and sensitive piece of musical artistry. The original music by Hadjidakis remains as profoundly moving as it ever was, but the modern treatment takes it into new musical vistas, proving that the music is absolutely timeless. Anybody with a well-developed taste for quality will enjoy this masterpiece immensely, regardless of his / hers cultural background, as this music is definitely beyond any boundaries.

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Massive re-stocking today!

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Finally here!!!

MCLAUGHLIN, JOHN ~ INDUSTRIAL ZEN

Here it is at last - the finest album recorded in the 21st century! As lofty and far-fetched as this might sound, I'm ready to defend this statement for as long as it takes. This masterpiece by the legendary guitarist is a complex, multi-layered work of art. On one hand it is contemporary in every sense, especially as far as the overall sound is concerned, on the other hand however it is also an amalgam of McLaughlin's entire life as a musician, including every style, genre, direction and sound he played over the years, all of these synthesized into an integral new entity. For people familiar with McLaughlin's illustrious career it should be quite easy to recognize the familiar elements: the spontaneity of the Miles Davis sessions, the fire of Mahavishnu Orchestra, the grace of his solo work on acoustic and electric guitar and of course his sensitivity and openness to other cultures as demonstrated in Shakti and Remember Shakti. Every note here is original and yet every note also has traces and links to something accomplished in the past. As far as the sound and instrumentation are concerned, these are completely new to McLaughlin. As the title of the album suggests, he uses plenty of electronics here - synth-guitar, keyboards and even drums are used to produce a plethora of both foreground and background electronic sounds, somewhat similar to the so-called "Industrial" sound used in Rock, but of course infinitely more complex and interesting. In addition, the album is very rhythmic and percussive, with two drummers and percussion players present simultaneously on most tracks. To achieve the maximal effect McLaughlin uses different players on various tracks and the list is most impressive: Mark Mondesir, Vinnie Colaiuta, Dennis Chambers, Gary Husband - drums; Otmaro Ruiz, Gary Husband - keyboards; Bill Evans, Ada Rovatti - sax; Matthew Garrison, Hadrien Feraud - bass; Zakir Hussain - tabla; Shankar Mahadevan - vocals. This superb group of musicians supports their Master with love and devotion, which is evident, every step of the way. Another very interesting aspect of this album is that it seems McLaughlin is paying homage to the greatest Fusion ensemble in history - Weather Report. Two of the tracks are explicitly named after WR members: "For Jaco" (Pastorius) and "Wayne's Way" (Shorter) but also the entire sound and feel of the album reflects very closely the feel of WR albums. I had a distinct feeling as if listening to a new album by an expanded version of WR including guitar. Perhaps something that was meant to happen but never did (i.e. WR playing with McLaughlin) finally materializes here? Fusion Karma? Whatever the Gods intended is besides the point here; one thing is sure: to create such divine music McLaughlin surely had to have a measure of godly intervention / inspiration. Bless you John for giving us such a wonderful musical gift. You do make life endurable again with your beacon clearly showing the direction to ships sailing the oceans of musical ennui.

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The most anticipated new album by Trespass was added today:

TRESPASS ~ MORNING LIGHTS

2nd album (recorded 2004-5) by Israeli trio Trespass. The band achieved worldwide recognition after their debut album was released on the French Musea label in 2002 and was accepted warmly by Prog fans. Gil Stein, who plays a multitude of keyboard instruments and recorders and occasionally sings, leads the trio. He is also the main composer and on this album he composed two and co-composed another two tracks. The fifth track is the band's adaptation of Vivaldi's violin concerto in A minor. Listeners familiar with the band's debut album will find this one quite different. Gone is the feverish, faster then light racing on the keyboards; the music is now firmly based on classical music, with frequent quotations reminiscent of Baroque Masters. The compositions are solid and very well developed, with many themes and tempo changes. The similarity to bands like Nice, Refugee, Trace, etc. is obvious, especially due to the sound, which is (purposely I assume) very 70's. I'm personally very happy to see the band fulfill the high hopes we all had and produce an album, which can easily compare (if not overshadow) to any other Prog album produced anywhere else in the world. This again strengthens the fact that something truly wonderful is happening on the Israeli scene since the beginning of the 21st Century with a long streak of impressive new albums being produced one after another.

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Massive re-stocking!

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Have Fun!