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9

RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C. 6/10/73

Read "RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C. 6/10/73" reviewed by Doug Collette


As much or more so than any previously released new release or archive package, the cover art of Grateful Dead's RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C. 6/10/73 accurately (and vividly) reflects the nuances of the music behind the enticing graphics. In a pastel green and pink/orange color scheme of both matt and glossy finish, Masaki Koike's intricate designs hint at the dense subtleties the iconic band infuses into its chosen range of material during this approximately four-hour cull from the larger seventeen-CD ...

2

Live At Sweetwater / Live At Sweetwater Two / Live In Japan

Read "Live At Sweetwater / Live At Sweetwater Two / Live In Japan" reviewed by Doug Collette


Hot Tuna's Live at Sweetwater/Live at Sweetwater 2/Live in Japan (Mercury Studios, 2004) reaffirms the fluidity of personnel that's marked the veteran ensemble throughout its over fifty-year career. Comprised of titles originally issued on the Relix Records label in the mid-to-late Nineties, then re-released in modified form in 2004, this Mercury Studios compendium may represent the definitive versions of those titles (though the lack of notes providing historical perspective, as appeared on previous editions, leaves that a moot point).

7

A Supreme Love

Read "A Supreme Love" reviewed by Duncan Heining


Alan Skidmore is one of the finest saxophonists to come out of the United Kingdom, Europe or indeed anywhere. In fact, it was hearing Skidmore's tenor solo on “Have You Heard?" from John Mayall's Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton (Decca, 1966) that encouraged a young Michael Brecker to take up the instrument. Skidmore had also served his apprenticeship with blues singer Alexis Kornerin the sixties and by the end of the decade was equally well-versed in the blues and in the ...

18

Harvest 50th Anniversary Edition (CD/DVD)

Read "Harvest 50th Anniversary Edition (CD/DVD)" reviewed by Doug Collette


To hear and see Neil Young express such deep-seated personal contentment near the end of his film Harvest Time is to understand more fully why he would go to some lengths to curate a box set of the album upon which the movie is based. While some of the content enclosed on the CDs and DVDs in the 50th Anniversary Edition of the 1972 album has been in unofficial circulation for awhile, immersion in the collection vividly depicts the vagaries ...

20

Revolver Super Deluxe Edition (5CD)

Read "Revolver Super Deluxe Edition (5CD)" reviewed by Doug Collette


The five CDs in The Beatles' Revolver Super Deluxe Edition reaffirm a fundamental verity regarding the group's work. The Liverpudlian quartet was never more unified in its creativity than in writing, recording and producing the sixteen tracks that comprise the box in collaboration with producer George Martin, engineer Geoff Emerick and the additional musicians and technicians who participated. The curators of this set in turn have channeled the remarkably pragmatic and disciplined approach of the Beatles and company. ...

19

Hellbound Train—An Anthology

Read "Hellbound Train—An Anthology" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


A career anthology of trumpeter Miles Davis' music would struggle for cohesion, trying to combine sounds from his Birth Of The Cool (Capitol, 1957) to the first and second great quintets, to Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1970) and On the Corner (Columbia, 1972). It is a stew that is hard to digest in one sitting. It makes more sense to listen to the albums separately rather than putting snippets into one package. The same could be said for pianist Herbie Hancock, ...

11

Lyceum Theatre, London, England - 5/26/72

Read "Lyceum Theatre, London, England - 5/26/72" reviewed by Doug Collette


The final night of any given tour can find the musicians excited at the prospects of jobs well-done throughout the prior road work or exhausted and lethargic from their previous labors. Fifty years ago, when the Grateful Dead's Europe '72 (Warner Bros., 1972) was released, the third LP of the set (conceived as such in part as fulfillment of their contract with the label), included material from the final show of the now mythic tour, clearly documenting how these psychedelic ...

95

Exposures

Read "Exposures" reviewed by John Kelman


Between the impact of the COVID pandemic since 2020, and in the eight year-long tenure of King Crimson's final lineup, which toured between 2014 and 2021, there's been a lot revealed about its sole remaining founding member, guitarist/keyboardist Robert Fripp. Since 2012, the more than five-decade history of King Crimson, live and in the studio, has been painstakingly and exhaustively documented in a series of large multimedia box sets and smaller, more price-friendly editions of key material, often ...

18

Music For Ukraine

Read "Music For Ukraine" reviewed by Ian Patterson


Music For Ukraine is a benefit album whose proceeds are intended solely for humanitarian aid in Ukraine. This gargantuan compilation features artists from the roster of Finnish label We Jazz Records. The twenty-six tracks--contemporary jazz for the most part, with the odd foray into modern chamber and electronica- tinged experimentalism--amount to two-and-a-half hours of compelling music. A host of well-known Finnish artists such as Verneri Pohjola, Timo Lassy, Olavi Louhivuori, Mikko Innanen, Aki Rissanen and Kalle Kalima are all featured. ...

14

Lennie Tristano Personal Recordings, 1946-1970

Read "Lennie Tristano Personal Recordings, 1946-1970" reviewed by Peter Rubie


They called it the Cool School, but what's in a name?In this case, quite a lot as it happens. The Cool School included musicians like Chet Baker, John Lewis and the Modern Jazz Quartet, and Dave Brubeck. Under the guidance of arranger and composer Gil Evans, it established itself in an unquestionable way with the release of Miles Davis' album Birth of the Cool (Capitol Records) in 1957, though the music had actually been recorded some eight or ...


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