MuzikMan's Reviews And News

10/16/2018

"Jazz On A Summer's Day" 60th Anniversary Edition - 1958 Newport Jazz Festival

Bert Stern's acclaimed film of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival is newly restored for its 60th Anniversary

“Jazz on a Summer's Day” is one of the greatest concert movies ever made, a timeless record of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, with some of the most stunning images of live music ever brought to the cinema screen.

Conceived by stills photographer Bert Stern (Vogue magazine, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn) and brilliantly filmed over three days in August 1958, “Jazz On A Summer's Day” provided the template for future concert documentaries such as Monterey and Woodstock.

Interspersing footage of the crowd and fashions of late Fifties America, the America's Cup yacht race with artists live on stage and largely devoid of dialogue, Stern's fluid form perfectly echoes the jazz vibe tempering a fly-on-the-wall documentary style with surreal, dreamlike flourishes.

Although the festival featured a glittering array of jazz giants such as Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk, Anita O'Day, Dinah Washington, George Shearing, and Gerry Mulligan, the event encompassed far more. Chuck Berry duck-walked his way to rock glory, Big Maybelle provided her powerhouse R&B and the magnificent Mahalia Jackson delivered gospel in a manner that demonstrated what true soul was all about.

In 1999, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

Bert Stern's acclaimed film of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival is newly restored for its 60th Anniversary by Richard J Whittaker of FX with DVD authoring by Ray Shulman at I-Sonic while the soundtrack has been digitally remastered for CD by Peter Reynolds at Reynolds Mastering and for the first time ever, mastered at half-speed by Barry Grint at Alchemy Studios on two 33 1/3 rpm audiophile Vinyl LPs.

Released on Charly Records, the special edition comes housed in a lavish, blue-foil blocked fully-illustrated 40-page hardback book complete with new, definitive sleeve notes by Mojo's Fred Dellar, including artist and track-by-track details.

DVD extras include an interview with Bert Stern, an introduction to “Jazz on a Summer's Day,” artist biographies and photo gallery.

60TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
DVD | CD | VINYL | BOOK
• Complete film DVD + bonus
documentary + extras
• Newly-remastered soundtrack
on CD
• 2 x 10-inch LPs mastered
half-speed on audiophile vinyl
• 40-page lavishly illustrated
hardback book
• New liner notes by Fred Dellar

Release date: 26th October 2018

“An audio-visual treat, a moment to savour from the Indian summer of Jazz.” - THE GUARDIAN

“Sixty years on, 'Jazz on a Summer's Day' remains a timeless venture, forever memorable.” - Fred Dellar, MOJO MAGAZINE

To purchase: http://smarturl.it/JAZZis60

Press inquiries (North America): Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158 (USA), glassonyonpr@gmail.com

10/14/2018

Curved Air Announces Third Volume of its Ongoing Rarities Series With The Second British Rock Meeting 1972 - OUT NOW!

London - Legendary Prog band Curved Air is pleased to announce the third volume of its ongoing rarities series with The Second British Rock Meeting 1972 – OUT NOW!

The sound quality is of an astonishing fidelity for a live recording from the early 1970s and features the only known recordings of the band improvising!

The last track is an extended jam and a version of the band’s hit “Vivaldi” – lasting well over 30 minutes!

The band had just released its Phantasmagoria album at the time and the line-up was:
Sonja Kristina
Darryl Way
Francis Monkman
Florian Pilkington-Miksa
Mike Wedgwood

The booklet features a written introduction by Francis Monkman, who mastered the audio and curated the release personally, along with two essays written by attendees at the festival and previously unseen pictures.

Francis recalls the concert: “Listening to the recording, I was at first puzzled that we'd decided to start the set with Everdance, especially as I had some kind of hazy memory of waiting in the dank pre-dawn gloom, trying to persuade my fingers to work in preparation for our customary opening with It Happened Today. But the uncertainty of the initial holding pattern rhythm, together with Sonja's plaintive "what shall we do?" triggered the realisation that we had arrived on stage and plugged in, only to find that the guitar was for some now-long-forgotten reason not working. So we had to decide quickly once it became clear it wasn't going to be fixed in a hurry. And what you hear is the upshot...”

These recordings capture a unique set from the band’s heyday, their only recorded improvisations and all in unbelievable sound quality for a festival in the early 70s!

1. No-Guitar Blues (3:33)
2. Everdance / Cheetah / Vivaldi (7:40)
3. Phantasmagoria (3:34)
4. Melinda (More or Less) (3:11)
5. Over And Above (11:32)
6. The Germersheim Jam / Vivaldi (31:47)

To Purchase:
Amazon CD: http://geni.us/CRVERS003
iTunes: http://geni.us/CRVERS003dig

Official website: www.curvedair.com
Official Facebook: www.facebook.com/CurvedAir

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158 (USA), glassonyonpr@gmail.com

Curved Air Announces Third Volume of its Ongoing Rarities Series With The Second British Rock Meeting 1972 - OUT NOW!

Instrumental New Age /Ambient/Jazz Review: Jeff Oster-Reach

Release Date: October 5, 2018

Label: Retso Records
Website

Three years ago, I covered Jeff Oster’s Next album. If you do a search on my New Age Music Reviews site it will show several other artist reviews as well. The reason is that Jeff is in demand to play on other people’s albums. There is a very good reason for this. He is one of the few Flugelhorn and Trumpet players in the genre that plays a chill ambient type of music that new age recording artists and listeners alike want to hear. He also is able to interject jazz and funk elements into his recordings. Besides that, it is a great partnership. Jeff is masterful with his instruments and with the new album out now titled Reach, he is in great form and so are the folks that accompanied him on the album.

Reach has nine tracks in total and it is a great mixture of sound and textures that will do many things to you while listening including relaxing, feeling energized and wanting to move, becoming contemplative, just about everything one person can think of or do during the listen of one album really. It invites you in at the outset and you never want to leave that “musical comfy chair.”

I love new age music when it combines jazz and world rudiments. “Le Caveau” is a great example of those sounds and atmospheres getting in sync. The music and sound clarity are amazing. The following track “Five Great Mountains” is just hypnotic. Jeff’s horn is superlative and the bass is incredible, in fact, I thought it might be Tony Levin, who seems to show up on everyone’s albums. It is, in fact, Benjamin J. Shepherd, who plays a huge role in the track, and the entire sound of the album actually. His rhythm and musical leadership in the track are exemplary. That kind of preciseness allows the star of the show to shine even brighter, so hats off to Benjamin for doing such a great job with his instrument. Everyone involved in this project is outstanding so I felt the need to list the credits below.

Some of the other instruments on this recording, besides the horns of course, that give it an overall world-jazz flavor, are the Erhu and Indian Flutes. Then there are very calming spiritual tracks like “The Lotus Within.” In my estimation, the reference would be the Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also known as the Indian or sacred lotus. The emphasis is on sacred for this magnificent composition.

To keep things fresh and on your “listening toes,” Jeff follows those two critical tracks with an upbeat jazz and funk-filled number titled “Troppo Y Boffo.” The Latin percussion and bass pulsate and drive the number while Jeff just glides through with his horn putting the veritable icing on the cake. It is Latin bliss, wonderful and colorful as it gets. This track could find a home on any good (worthy) jazz album.

Jeff Oster puts it all together on Reach. Every track is solid and consistent throughout. The combination of instruments, musical style and artistry of every contributing musician make this album one of the best in the genre this year. This comes as no surprise to me as everything I have ever heard from Jeff has been superlative from his own recordings to being a guest on other recordings. He is in a groove that keeps him at the forefront of the music industry and I can see that influence growing more all the time. In conclusion, I think that he will Reach a much larger audience with each successive release

Artists:

Jeff Oster – Flugelhorn, Trumpet

Ruslan Sirota – Piano, Keyboards, Guitar, Vocals

Robyn Ghosh – Guitar

Benjamin J. Shepherd – Bass

Tamir Barzilay – Drums

Pete Korpela – Percussion

Jenni Asher – Erhu (Track 4)

Ravichandra Kulur – Indian Flutes (Track 9)

Drew Allsbrook – Vocals (Track 4)

Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck

October 14, 2018

Founder of:

New Age Music Reviews

Rate The Tracks

Review Provided By New Age Music Reviews

Tracks:
1. Onward
2. Far Rockaway
3. Le Caveau
4. Five Great Mountains
5. The Lotus Within
6. Troppo Y Boffo
7. How Familiar
8. Velvet and Smoke
9. The Pink City

10/12/2018

Blues Rock Vinyl Review: Kamchatka-Stone Cold Whiskey Bones/Midnight Charmer

Release Date: October 5, 2018

Label: H42

Website

Kamchatka Is:

Per Wiberg – Bass & Vocals

Thomas Juneor Andersson – Guitar & Vocals

Tobias Strandvik – Drums

They are a powerful trio from Sweden that is highly influenced by 60s and 70s Blues Rock bands. And man do they ever make some noise! The two tracks on this 7” inch Beige and black swirl vinyl are killer examples of what kind of punch this band can pack.

These men know how to crank out a tune. “Stone Cold Whiskey Bones” gets you in the mood and sets the atmosphere just right to set you up for “Midnight Charmer.” I really liked “Stone Cold Whiskey Bones” but “Midnight Charmer” is the track that really convinced me that I needed to hear more of this band. It is quite the rocker and bit more complex than its “A” Side counterpart.

I was unable to find any streams for either of the tracks so I am providing a video of “Tango Decadence” so you can get an idea of what they are capable of and seek out their music. This takes nothing away from the two tracks on the limited-edition vinyl, if anything it will compel you to buy the vinyl!

If you like Blues-Rock such as Hendrix. ZZ Top etc. you will gobble this up!

With 225 copies of this keeper available, you have to snag them up fast. There are still some available on eBay right now.

Specialty label H42 is the creator of the vinyl.

Production was of the following: 100 Black, 50 Beige, 50 Clear (approx. 12 are clear-smokey), 25 Whitelabel/Label Edt. with B7W one sheet cover numbered.

If you go to the label site you will see them sold out so start your search now if you are interested in any of the colors.