One of the bands that came to Warner Bros. in their buyout of Autumn Records were the Tikis. They had only recorded a handful of singles, and in terms of musical direction and group identity, they definitely had potential. Enter producer Lenny Waronker and session musician /arranger /songwriter /general musical architect Van Dyke Parks. The two of them brought then-drummer Ted Templeman up to the front as co-lead vocalist, along with Dick Scoppettone, and created a soft-rock identity for the group, renaming them Harpers Bizarre. Their first single was perhaps their greatest shot: a cover of the then-brand new Paul Simon song, "Feelin' Groovy." Buttressed by an amazing Leon Russell arrangement and some great performances from the A-list of L.A. session cats, the song quickly went into the Top Ten. The resulting album is almost as great as the single, with songs by Van Dyke Parks ("Come to the Sunshine"), Randy Newman ("Debutante's Ball"), and others. An excellent and definitive slice of California soft pop.

Simon & Garfunkel's first masterpiece, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme was also the first album on which the duo, in tandem with engineer Roy Halee, exerted total control from beginning to end, right down to the mixing, and it is an achievement akin to the Beatles' Revolver or the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album, and just as personal and pointed as either of those records at their respective bests…

A battle of the bands? Not quite – more like a mutual admiration society, with the orchestras of both jazz titans playing together. (The Duke is heard on the right side of your stereo/headphones, the Count on the left.) Ellington's elegance and unique voicings meet Basie's rollicking, blues-based Kansas City swing, and it works gloriously. There's no clutter, each band is focused, and they sound great together. This is not the thoughtful, reflective composer side of Ellington (listeners should check out Far East Suite or Black, Brown & Beige for that). The Duke and his band accentuate their swinging dance band side, while Basie and company have never sounded as suave and exotic as when playing Billy Strayhorn arrangements. Everyone has a good time, and that joy infuses this album from start to finish.

Cannonball Adderley - Accent On Africa (1968) {2011 Japan 24-bit Remaster} [Jazz Masterpiece Best & More 999 Series]
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 219 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 77 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 13 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit remaster
© 1968, 2011 Capitol / EMI Music Japan | TOCJ-50202 | Jazz Masterpiece Best & More 999 Series
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Saxophone

Though labeled as a Cannonball Adderley Quintet session, this is actually a workout with a percussion section loaded with African drums, a big band, and in spots, voices – all unidentified. Nevertheless, this is one of the best and most overlooked of the Cannonball Adderley Capitols, a rumbling session that bursts with the joy of working in an unfamiliar yet vital rhythmic context. Cannonball turns in one of his swinging-est solos through a Varitone electronic attachment on Caiphus Semenya's "Gumba Gumba" and "Marabi" is a real hip-jiggler; you can't sit still through it. Other highlights include Cannon preaching blue smoke in his own Afro-Cuban-blues-flavored "Hamba Nami," a dignified trip through Wes Montgomery's "Up and At It," and Nat Adderley's commanding work on cornet at all times.

J.J. Johnson - J.J. Inc. (1960) {2014 Japan Jazz Collection 1000 Columbia-RCA Series SICP 3987}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 457 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 169 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 290 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1960, 2014 Columbia / Sony Music Japan | SICP 3987
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Trombone

Reissue with latest remastering. Comes with liner notes. JJ Johnson's greatest album – without a doubt! This gem of a session was recorded in 1960 in New York, with an incredibly hip sextet that includes Cedar Walton, Clifford Jordan, and Freddie Hubbard. The tracks are all long, hip, and very much in a Blue Note soul jazz mode – very unusual not only for Johnson, but for Columbia records as well. The album feels like it should have been issued on Epic, with those killer Dave Bailey sides from 1961 – which might be why it has frequently gotten lost in Johnson's career, hidden amidst some of the sleepier material that seems to see the light of day more often than this one. The album's a stone winner all the way through – and features Johnson playing some of his gutsiest solos ever. Tracks include "Minor Mist", "In Walked Horace", "Fatback", "Aquarius", and "Shutterbug".

Miles Davis Quintet with John Coltrane - The 1960 German Concerts (2010) {Jazz Lips Music JL776}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 310 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 144 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 22 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1960, 2010 Jazz Lips Music | JL776
Jazz / Hard Bop / Post Bop / Modal Music / Trumpet / Saxophone

This 2010 release presents two never before released performances in Germany by the great Miles Davis Quintet with John Coltrane. Among the highlights are three different extended performances of 'So What' (two sets were played at the first concert) and a new reading of the classic ''Round Midnight'.

Masahiko Togashi - Isolation (1971) {Nippon Columbia, Paper Sleeve, COCP-30979, rel 2000}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 186 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 87 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 111 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1971, 2000 Nippon Columbia | COCP-30979
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Experimental Jazz / Drums / Percussion

Top rare Japanese holy grail free jazz album by jazz drummer Masahiko Togashi and jazz saxophonist Mototeru Takagi. This is part of a series of CD reissues from Columbia as "Masahiko Togashi 45th Anniversary". Comes in mini LP replica with 4-page insert in Japanese & obi. A child prodigy on violin and percussion, Togashi became a professional drummer when barely into his teens. He gained a solid reputation in his homeland, playing with Sadao Watanabe among others and also led his own small groups. At the end of the 60s injuries turned him away from playing drums to other percussion instruments and he extended his interest in writing music.

A very unusual date from Art Farmer, who is better known for his top notch hard bop with Benny Golson. This is a more cerebral outing, moody and brilliantly performed.

Karlheinz Stockhausen - Litanei 97 & Kurzwellen (2000) {Stockhausen-Verlag No. 61}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 328 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 182 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 44 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2000 Stockhausen-Verlag | Stockhausen 61
Classical / Avant-Garde / Experimental / 20th Century

Since 1991, a complete edition of all recordings in which Karlheinz Stockhausen has personally participated is being released on compact discs. Each CD in this series is identified by Stockhausen's signature followed by an encircled number. The numbers indicate the general historical order of the works. Stockhausen realised the electronic music and participated in these recordings as conductor, performer, sound projectionist, and musical director. He personally mixed down the recordings, mastered them for CDs, wrote the texts and drew the covers.

Although this is billed to Wes Montgomery, it is in fact a combination of two early-'60s LPs by the Montgomery Brothers – The Montgomery Brothers and The Montgomery Brothers in Canada – onto one disc. (Also note that it's almost entirely different from the Montgomery Brothers' Milestone double LP that also bears the name Groove Brothers, which mostly features material from their Riverside LP Groove Yard.) With Wes on guitar, Monk on bass, and Buddy on piano (Larance Marable fills out the quartet on drums), The Montgomery Brothers (1960) is a boppish set of five lengthy tracks, divided between both originals (penned by either Wes or Buddy) and standards. "June in January" is a particularly good vehicle for Wes' fluid single-note runs, while "D-Natural Blues" is one of his more enduring and good-natured compositions from the period. Buddy Montgomery, who often played the piano with the Montgomery Brothers, sticks exclusively to vibes on The Montgomery Brothers in Canada, which in addition to Wes and Monk has Paul Humphrey on drums.

The Rock Sects In was the Downliners Sect's final official studio album, though you'd never guess from the intensity with which they approach covers of "Hang on Sloopy" and "He Was a Square" – they were becoming less enchanted with the direction in which music was going around them, and losing enthusiasm for recordings, in particular, but that didn't stop them from generating this fuzzed-out classic. They could still hold their own with anyone in music this side of the Kinks, and on "I'm Looking for a Woman," with its shimmering Bo Diddley guitar pyrotechnics, they even managed to outdo the Stones on their similarly conceived "Please Go Home." The sound is beautiful throughout the CD, and there's a very full and informative annotation of the group's history, but it's the presence of bonus tracks like the fuzzed-out lust-fest "All Night Worker" that make this essential listening.

The second Downliners Sect album has always confused the uninitiated because of its title. At the insistence of their producer, Mike Collier, the band plays some country music such as "Ballad of the Hounds" and "Wolverton Mountain," but also branches into folkier sounds on "Hard Travellin'" (done in country style, but known best in the early '60s as a folk standard) and even brushes up against protest music on "Little Play Soldiers," but the big surprise comes with gospel numbers like "Wait for the Light to Shine" and "Waiting in Heaven." The group's primitive nature comes through loud and clear on the loud Bo Diddley-based backbeat on "I Got Mine" and most of the rest here, which not only makes a lot of it work really well but generally turns this album into yet another brilliant outing for the band, if not quite the same as the first album.