Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley's Beach Party (1963) {Hip-O Select B0015214-02 rel 2011}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 174 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 79 Mb
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© 1963, 2011 Checker / Geffen / Hip-O Select | B0015214-02
Blues / Rock & Roll / Early R&B

A blistering live album, especially in mono, cut by Bo Diddley and company in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on July 5 and 6, 1963. This album contains 30-plus minutes of the best live rock & roll ever issuedd on record. Diddley and company are "on" from the get-go with a killer instrumental erroneously credited as Chuck Berry's "Memphis" (which it isn't), that's a showcase for Diddley's attack on his instrument and a crunching assault by the rest of the band (all in that shave-and-a-haircut-two-bits beat), cymbals on top of an overloaded bass, and what sounds like every rhythm guitar in the world grinding away.

Julian Coryell began playing the guitar at the tender age of 5, & quickly exhibited a natural talent for the instrument (other instruments as well – piano, bass, & drums to name a few). Son of famed guitarist Larry Coryell, Julian’s musical gifts were nourished & he began writing music at a young age. The Coryell household was never lacking in musical visitors, & Julian was exposed to everyone from Miles Davis to James Taylor, each adding to the mix of influences from which Julian is inspired. Julian entered Berklee college of Music at 16 years old & was the youngest graduate a few years later when he was 18 years old. Since then, he has toured & recorded with numerous platinum artists & has released his own solo records on Universal, Sony, & GRP. Since his early years in Berklee College, Julian has been recording his own music as well as other artists.

Conductor Rinaldo Alessandrini's historical-instrument recordings of Vivaldi and other Italian Baroque composers, originally recorded around the turn of the millennium for the Opus 111 label, are being reissued on Naïve, complete with the fashion-forward graphics for which that label is known. Any and all remain completely distinctive, but this all-Vivaldi disc makes perhaps the ideal place to start. It comes with a pretty substantial booklet essay (in French, English, and Italian, although the texts of the vocal pieces are only in Latin, English, and French) by Alessandrini himself, providing the historical background for his unorthodox readings; this is highly readable and touches on such subjects as visual art and theatrical history.

'Somewhere/Anywhere' is the debut album by Milky Way Gas Station, a progressive rock band from the Netherlands. Fans of Pink Floyd, Steven Wilson and other progressive artists will definitely embrace the group's musical diversity, ranging from straight-in-your-face rock guitars to quiet synth-filled atmospheric songs. This work features musical input from keyboardists Joakim Svalberg (Opeth) and Jan Peter Bast (The Scene), and background vocals by Lana Wolf and Sanne Jonges.

Here's more proof that Weather Report actually became a more potent, life-affirming musical force after the departures of its best-known sidemen. Things begin on an oddly commercial note with a pop song "Can It Be Done," sung by Carl Anderson, that actually lays out Weather Report's credo, searching for sounds never heard before. Then Joe Zawinul and company get down to business with the funky "D-Flat Waltz," marked by Omar Hakim's flamboyantly complex drumming. Zawinul's synthesizer textures become thicker and more flexible with the help of newly-introduced digital instruments, and the funk element in general becomes more pronounced than on any record since Tale Spinnin'.

A 2004 Chandos release, this recording of Johann Nepomuk Hummel's Piano Concerto in C major, Op. 34, and two concertante works is a charming exploration of early nineteenth century music at the crossroads of Classicism and Romanticism. Dating from 1809, Hummel's Concerto was contemporary with Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, "Emperor," and bears some comparison with that work in terms of its expansive length, heroic piano part, and martial atmosphere, attributable to Napoleon's occupation of Vienna that year.

If you like Weather Report you'll probably like this music, though purists may say that it's late, missing Pastorius, and perhaps a bit mechanical by this stage (and certainly the medley of their most famous tracks does seem a bit like "they're expecting these so we have to deliver"). The energy and atmosphere are still there, and this a valuable - though very short - document of a unique moment in the history of music.