Jazzis Web Shop News 02/2007

Here is the last addition for this month and the first in a series of newly remastered brilliant Soft Machine albums:

SOFT MACHINE ~ THIRD (EXPANDED EDITION)
SONY BMG 687293 (Barcode: 828768729328) ~ UK ~ Canterbury Scene
Recorded: 1970 Released: 2007
3rd album originally released as a double LP. Although basically a trio at this point (Wyatt, Hopper & Ratledge) they use a horn-section to expand the sound of the band, which includes among others Elton Dean (soon to be a full time SM member) and Jimmy Hastings (brother of Pye from Caravan). The music is of course one of the most pivotal recordings of the era and widely accepted as one of the greatest epics of Prog and Canterbury music, with brilliant improvisations and incredibly strong writing. Almost entirely instrumental, with Wyatt`s occasional scatting, this album marks the band's transition from early psychedelic pop / rock to Jazz-Rock and later eventually to free jazz. With constantly changing lineup the band managed in the span of just a few months, between late 1969 and early 1970, to create an entirely new genre in itself, as nothing else done by any other band would ever sound similar to Soft Machine (of that period). This music is as revolutionary and groundbreaking as the stuff Miles Davis was creating at the time on the other side of the pond, and equally brilliant. The beautiful new edition adds a full bonus CD, which contains a live recording at the Royal Alert Hall (August 1970), done by the BBC (a trademark of sonic quality), previously unreleased. An absolute masterpiece, beyond essential!

https://www.jazzis.com/shop/default.asp?item=102221

=====================================

Have Fun!

Another Steve Hillage remaster added today (2 more to go):

HILLAGE, STEVE ~ FISH RISING
VIRGIN 373415 (Barcode: 094637341520) ~ UK ~ Canterbury Scene
Recorded: 1974 - 1975 Released: 2007
1st album recorded while Hillage was still a member of Gong. After recording with Gong the entire "Radio Gnome Invisible" trilogy, Hillage decided it was time to start a solo career, where his music would be featured more prominently, with this album being the first step in that direction. In Gong Hillage met his life-long partner Miquette Giraudy, who would become his musical collaborator and they both composed all the music and the entire concept of this album. Most of his Gong cohorts participate, but Hillage added the great Dave Stewart on keyboards and Lindsay Cooper (from Henry Cow) on bassoon, to create a much more sophisticated sound and instrumentation. The material consists mostly of 3 long (2 over 14 minutes) suites and a few shorter pieces. The overall sound and style of the album is still very much Gong related / influenced and can be considered as another Gong off-shot project (which many Gong fans do), but Hillage's individuality is certainly already present and it will come to full fruition starting with the next album. In retrospect this album manages to keep at its extraordinary qualities well and is still fresh and exciting, adding another Canterbury classic album to the list.

https://www.jazzis.com/shop/default.asp?item=102219

=====================================

Have Fun!

Here is the 2nd new Israeli beautiful reissue:

CASPI, MATTI ~ MATTI CASPI (2) (30TH ANNIVERSARY EXPANDED EDITION)
NMC (ISRAEL) 80779 (Barcode: 7290011507589) ~ ISRAEL ~ Progressive Rock
Recorded: 1975 - 1979 Released: 2007
2nd eponymous album by Caspi (his first album was also self-titled and hence this one is commonly known as "2" or the "door bell album" - see the cover art). The 1970's were the formative years of the Israeli musical scene and Caspi's role was one of the most crucial and influential at the time, rivaled only by the output of Yoni Rechter and Shlomo Gronich (with whom Caspi cooperated - see their album as a duo). Inspired by a wide variety of musical influences, like Progressive Rock, jazz, blues and Brazilian music, Caspi created a unique blend of superb songwriting, which inspired later generation of Israeli musicians, notable to this very day, as well as creating some of the best Israeli songs ever. Caspi not only wrote and arranged all the music on this album, but he also sings and plays all the instruments (and does it extremely well), giving a new meaning to the term "solo album". To this day this is one of the most "perfect" albums ever recorded in Israel, setting an incredibly high standard to be followed. This beautiful new edition includes an entire second CD of bonus live material, never previously available on record.

https://www.jazzis.com/shop/default.asp?item=102217

====================================

Have Fun!

Another Steve Hillage remaster added today (5 down, 3 to go):

HILLAGE, STEVE ~ OPEN
VIRGIN 373459 (Barcode: 0094637345924) ~ UK ~ Progressive Rock
Recorded: 1979 Released: 2007
7th album by Hillage in less than 5 years and the third one originally released in 1979 - a very busy year for him. As already mentioned (see Live Herald) the album opens with four studio tracks originally included as side 4 of the Live Herald album and then continues with the tracks recorded a few months later as the original Open album. As usual most of the music was written by Hillage and his partner Miquette Giraudy, with just one cover of a Beatles song and a most surprising instrumental track based on a song by the legendary Egyptian singer Oum Kalsoum. This proves that Hillage was looking everywhere for inspiration and his openness to music outside the strict rock circles was always obvious. Just two months after the album was released the Steve Hillage band would play a couple of farewell concerts and disband and it would be three years until the next Hillage album would be released. The album stands the test of time beautifully and the remaster upgrades the sound considerably, so this is another must for SH fans.

https://www.jazzis.com/shop/default.asp?item=102215

=====================================

Have Fun!

Another Steve Hillage remaster added today:

HILLAGE, STEVE ~ L
VIRGIN 373419 (Barcode: 094637341926) ~ UK ~ Progressive Rock
Recorded: 1976 Released: 2007
2nd album by Hillage and his most (commercially) successful release ever. In contrast to the debut album, which was recorded while Hillage and his partner Miquette Giraudy were still members of Gong and included strong similarities to Gong material, this album was quite a different affair. Hillage used his record label's connections to establish contact with US musician / producer Todd Rundgren, who agreed to produce this album. Hillage and Giraudy left for the US, where this album was recorded and produced by Rundgren, with members of Rundgren's band Utopia serving as the backing band. The material includes both original material by Hillage / Giraudy and a few covers of what Hillage describes as "his favorite songs at the time" (including a great version of Donovan's "Hurdy Gurdy Man"). The album stands the test of time fabulously and is a great example of both Hillage's strength as a composer and a guitarist. One more point of interest is the participation of the great jazz trumpet player Don Cherry, who adds an interesting coloring to the album's atmosphere. A classic by all means!

https://www.jazzis.com/shop/default.asp?item=102213

====================================

Have Fun!

Another John Mayall reissue added today for all the blues loving people:

MAYALL, JOHN ~ LIVE AT THE BBC
DECCA 984466 (Barcode: 602498446652) ~ UK ~ Blues
Recorded: 1965 - 1975 Released: 2007
As part of the splendid reissue series of the early John Mayall and his Bluesbreakers recordings, this album collects sessions made for the BBC, which are always a revelation and an important document of all UK artists' output. Thanks to the UK Musicians' Union agreement with the BBC, a vast number of recordings made on a regular basis documented over the years the development of the musical scene in the UK and many of these recordings are finding their rightful place on recent reissues. The bulk of the material on this album was recorded between 1965 and 1967 and features Eric Clapton or Peter Green as the lead guitarist. The last two tracks are from 1975 and were recorded for TV. Mayall was of course the most important protagonist of the UK blues movement and every piece of previously unheard material is an absolute treasure. Clapton's and Green's revolutionary guitar styles are a model for countless guitar players to this very day.
A special note to collectors:
Most of these tracks were included as bonus material on the Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton (Deluxe Edition) and A Hard Road reissues. Therefore this album is mostly for people who don't own these reissues, or hard-core Mayall collectors.

https://www.jazzis.com/shop/default.asp?item=102211

====================================

Have Fun!

Following the superb reissues by Virgin/EMI of Steve Hackett, VDGG, Peter Hammill and Captain Beefheart, it's time for the Steve Hillage catalog. Today the first of the recently remastered 8 Hillage albums was added:

HILLAGE, STEVE ~ LIVE HERALD
VIRGIN 373440 (Barcode: 0094637344026) ~ UK ~ Progressive Rock
Recorded: 1977 - 1978 Released: 2007
5th album by the legendary guitarist and the only live document of his music during the early period of his solo career. Recorded during a period of 18 months when Hillage and his band (three different band lineups are featured) performed frantically all over the world in support of his excellent solo albums, this material was initially released as a double LP. The first 3 sides of the album included live material and the fourth side included new studio material. For the CD reissue the 3 live sides were combined into a single CD (now with bonus live material previously unreleased) and the studio material was moved as bonus tracks of the next album (Open), where it rightfully belongs. Hillage composed almost all the music on the album with his life-long musical companion and synthesizer pioneer Miquette Giraudy, whom Hillage befriended during his Gong days. The sound of the band is often quite similar to Gong's familiar mixture of psychedelic Space-Rock and early ambient influences (which would later develop as Hillage's main interest) are also quite evident. In retrospect this is quite visionary music, foretelling by almost 20 years the ambient explosion of the late 1990's. There is a lot happening (musically) here, which means this stuff requires attentive listening to truly comprehend its complexity. This is an important historical document, which sheds a lot of light on the music scene of the late 1970's, which existed in parallel to the punk dominated mainstream.

https://www.jazzis.com/shop/default.asp?item=102209

====================================

Have Fun!

Another recetly discovered Soft Machine live album added today, a true piece of history this one:

SOFT MACHINE ~ MIDDLE EARTH MASTERS
CUNEIFORM 235 (Barcode: 045775023526) ~ UK ~ Canterbury Scene
Recorded: 1967 - 1968 Released: 2006
Although the last decade witnessed an abundance of live Soft Machine releases, it is always welcome to discover yet another piece of the mysterious musical phenomenon that surrounded this band. Soon after the band was formed in 1966 and even before the first album was recorded they lost Daevid Allen and the remaining trio (Kevin Ayers, Mike Ratledge and Robert Wyatt) carried on with their unique psychedelic sound and vision. The music contained on this album presents the band live at the legendary London's Middle Earth club (the successor of the no less legendary UFO club). Two sessions, one from late 1967 and the other from early 1968, recorded by the experimental sound technician Bob Woolford, remained completely forgotten for almost 40 years, to be recently unearthed by (or rather for) the owner of Cuneiform Records, who is a restless SM aficionado. Considering the sound quality of the original recording, some painstaking efforts have been made to restore this music to an audible quality and maintain the atmosphere of the original setting. The result is quite impressive and although the vocal parts are badly under-recorded the entire set has its magic, especially the sound of fuzz organ being pounded mercilessly during the extended instrumental improvisations. For the many SM fans, this is a unique document of the early days and a key factor in understanding the band's development.

https://www.jazzis.com/shop/default.asp?item=102207

=====================================

Have Fun!

A beautiful new jazz item added today:

LIEBMAN, DAVE ~ BACK ON THE CORNER
MASCOT 7219 (Barcode: 8712725721925) ~ USA ~ Jazz
Recorded: 2006 Released: 2007
In June of 1972 Miles Davis entered the studio to record one of the most radical statements of his entire career - the legendary On The Corner album. Moving further away from conventional jazz, this music was all about funk and groove, based on hypnotic bass riffs. Miles used an extended group of musicians on this session, some of them "Miles veterans" (McLaughlin, Corea, Hancock) and others "Miles first-timers", including the saxophonist Dave Liebman. Playing with Miles was of course an event, which would jump-start Liebman's career, who was in time to become one of the finest American jazz players of all times. 34 years later Liebman returns to these sessions with fond memories and pays tribute to the Master by recording this excellent album. Using his regular quartet (Vic Juris - guitar, Tony Marino - bass and Marko Marcinko - drums) and strengthened by ex Miles Davis sideman Mike Stern and legendary bassist Anthony Jackson, Liebman recreates the atmosphere of the On The Corner sessions splendidly. Liebman wrote most of the music, but he also uses two Miles-penned tunes from that album ("Black Satin" and "Ife") to emphasize the connection. Everything works like magic here: the music is beautiful, the musicians excellent and the grooves are able to wake the dead. It's been quite a while since I had such a good time with a new jazz album. Do yourself a huge favor and grab this ASAP.

https://www.jazzis.com/shop/default.asp?item=102205

=====================================

The new Blackfield album is, as expected, the most wanted item in a long time. Thank you all for these orders ;)

=====================================

Have Fun!

Another Santana related item added today, this time a Fusion tribute to his great music:

VARIOUS ARTISTS ~ VIVA CARLOS!: A SUPERNATURAL MARATHON CELEBRATION
MASCOT 7210 (Barcode: 8712725721024) ~ USA ~ Jazz-World Fusion
Recorded: 2006 Released: 2006
5th Fusion tribute album produced by Jeff Richman (see the earlier John Coltrane, John McLaughlin, Miles Davis and Steely Dan Fusion tributes). Sticking to the same formula, the producer sets up a "house band" (this time including Peter Wolf - keyboards, Abe Laboriel - bass, Dave Weckl - drums and Luis Conte - percussion) and matches it with some of the best Fusion guitar players (this time Robben Ford, Frank Gambale, Albert Lee, Pat Martino, Mike Stern and others). As the title suggests, the subject matter this time is the music of Carlos Santana. Since this formula worked out splendidly on the previous four albums, there is no reason to suspect that things would go wrong this time, and indeed they don't. The only problem might have been the choice of material from the vast Santana repertoire, but fortunately only the best tunes were selected, all of them from his early and most fruitful years. The various guitar players, rather then to imitate Santana's guitar sound and special technique, play in their own individual way, taking the music places often quite different from the origin. The entire album works out beautifully as a whole and Fusion fans (and guitar freaks) should have a field day with this stuff.

https://www.jazzis.com/shop/default.asp?item=102203

=====================================

The new Blackfield album is here! It will be added tomorrow!

=====================================

Have Fun!