Ramblin´ Jack Elliott - Jack Takes The Floor (Topic, 1958, vinyl rip)

Ramblin' Jack Elliott is one of folk music's most enduring characters. Since he first came on the scene in the late '50s, Elliott influenced everyone from Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger to the Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead. The son of a New York doctor and a onetime traveling companion of Woody Guthrie, Elliott used his self-made cowboy image to bring his love of folk music to one generation after another. Despite the countless miles that Elliott traveled, his nickname is derived from his unique verbiage: an innocent question often led to a mosaic of stories before he got to the answer. According to folk songstress Odetta, it was her mother who gave Elliott the name when she remarked, "Oh, that Jack Elliott, he sure can ramble."

Elliott's recording debut came in the mid-'50s when he recorded three songs for a multi-artist compilation, "Bad Men, Heroes and Pirates", released by Elektra. Elliott was so influenced by Guthrie (whom he had met during a Greenwich Village picking session in 1950) that he began his musical career by mimicking the legendary folksinger. When Guthrie traveled to Florida in 1952, he sent for Elliott to join him. By the time Elliott arrived, however, Guthrie had already left for Mexico, where he was turned back at the border and forced to return to New York. Elliott reunited with Guthrie a few months later. In the winter of 1954, they traveled together back to Florida; in the spring of 1954, they continued on to California's Topanga Canyon. The trip marked the last time that Elliott saw a healthy Guthrie. When he went to Europe in 1955, Elliott sang Guthrie's songs and told stories about him. England provided the setting for Elliott's early success; his first album on his own, Woody Guthrie's Blues, was recorded in England for the Topic label. In addition to recording four more albums for Topic, he attracted attention with his performances with Derroll Adams, a banjo player he had met in California. The duo barnstormed throughout Europe and had a profound influence on the British music scene.


Here´s his Topic album from 1958 released in Great Britain on a 10-inch LP.

Ramblin´ Jack Elliott - Jack Takes The Floor (Topic, 1958, vinyl rip)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Pete Seeger - Wimoweh and other songs of freedom and protest (1968)

In 1961, Pete Seeger, long the flagship artist of the tiny independent Folkways Records label, signed to the major label Columbia Records. This did not, as it turned out, mean that he actually left Folkways, which retained the right to issue not only previously unreleased recordings dating from before the Columbia deal, but also new recordings if Columbia didn't deem them sufficiently commercial to constitute competition.

Nevertheless, Moses Asch, head of Folkways, couldn't have been very pleased at the development, and when Columbia issued its first Seeger album, a live LP called "Story Songs" in August 1961, Folkways countered the same month with its own live album, "Sing Out with Pete!", which turned out to be a cobbled-together set of tracks that had been left off earlier Seeger live collections.

In 1968, Folkways was in a flurry of releasing Seeger compilations (the others were "Pete Seeger Sings Woody Guthrie", "Pete Seeger Sings Leadbelly", and "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?"), and this one takes eight of the 12 tracks from the "Sing Out with Pete!" album, re-sequences them, and adds a few other stray tracks ("Wasn't That a Time," "What a Friend We Have in Congress," and "Hymn to Nations"). The recordings also seem to have been re-edited and remixed, with some extra waves of applause overdubbed. Although it contains a couple of Seeger's greatest hits, "Wimoweh" and "If I Had a Hammer (Hammer Song)," as well as some interesting performances of spirituals, with such collaborators as Big Bill Broonzy, Memphis Slim, and Willie Dixon thrown in, the album is still a hodgepodge. In fact, it's even more of a hodgepodge than the original version was seven years previously. 

The album features protest songs as well as old spirituals sung by legendary folk singer Pete Seeger. With Seeger's modern interpretations the folk process is truly at work, "making past experience meaningful for present-day life." Liner notes include background information on each of the tracks.
  

Tracklist:
101 I'm On My Way to Canaan's Land       4:20
102 Wimoweh      2:48
103 Wasn't That a Time           2:59
104 Freiheit           3:06
105 Study War No More (Down By the Riverside) - Pete Seeger and Big Bill Broonzy 5:28
201 Hold On - Pete Seeger, Memphis Slim, and Willie Dixon 3:27
202 If I Had a Hammer (Hammer Song)           2:21
203 We are Soldiers in the Army           4:05
204 Mrs. McGrath           4:19
205 What a Friend We Have in Congress           1:58
206 Hymn to Nations (Beethoven, Ludwig v.: 9th Symphony)           2:06    


Pete Seeger - Wimoweh and other songs of freedom and protest (1968)
(192 kbps, cover art included)     

Woody Guthrie - The Legendary Woody Guthrie

Originally posted in July, 2012:

HAPPY 100th BIRTHDAY WOODY!

Woody Guthrie was born on July 14th, 1912 in Okemah, Oklahoma. So we can celebrate his 100th birthday next saturday. And we will post some of his wonderful songs during this week.

Woody Guthrie was the most important American folk music artist of the first half of the 20th century, in part because he turned out to be such a major influence on the popular music of the second half of the 20th century, a period when he himself was largely inactive. His greatest significance lies in his songwriting, beginning with the standard "This Land Is Your Land" and including such much-covered works as "Deportee," "Do Re Mi," "Grand Coulee Dam," "Hard, Ain't It Hard," "Hard Travelin'," "I Ain't Got No Home," "1913 Massacre," "Oklahoma Hills," "Pastures of Plenty," "Philadelphia Lawyer," "Pretty Boy Floyd," "Ramblin' Round," "So Long It's Been Good to Know Yuh," "Talking Dust Bowl," and "Vigilante Man." These and other songs have been performed and recorded by a wide range of artists, including a who's who of folksingers.

Most of those performances and recordings came after Guthrie's enforced retirement due to illness in the early '50s. During his heyday, in the 1940s, he was a major-label recording artist, a published author, and a nationally broadcast radio personality. But the impression this creates, that he was a multi-media star, is belied by his personality and his politics. Restlessly creative and prolific, he wrote, drew, sang, and played constantly, but his restlessness also expressed itself in a disinclination to stick consistently to any one endeavor, particularly if it involved a conventional, cooperative approach. Nor did he care to stay in any one place for long. This idiosyncratic individualism was complemented by his rigorously left-wing political views. During his life, much attention was given in the U.S. to whether people of a liberal bent were or had ever been members of the Communist party. No reliable evidence has emerged that Guthrie was, but there is little doubt where his sympathies lay; for many years, he wrote a column published in Communist newspapers.

Ironically, as Guthrie's health declined to the point of permanent hospitalization in the '50s, his career took off through his songs and his example, which served as inspiration for the folk revival in general and, in the early '60s, Bob Dylan in particular. By the mid-'60s, Guthrie's songs were appearing on dozens of records, his own recordings were being reissued and, in some cases, released for the first time, and his prolific writings were being edited into books. This career resurgence was in no way slowed by his death in 1967; on the contrary, it continued for decades afterward, as new books were published and the Guthrie estate invited such artists as Billy Bragg and Wilco in to write music for Guthrie's large collection of unpublished lyrics, creating new songs to record.

Tracks:

1. What Did The Deep Sea Say - Guthrie, Woody & Cisco Houston
2. Oregon Trial
3. Car Song
4. We Shall Be Free - Guthrie, Woody & Leadbelly/Sonny Terry/Cisco Houston
5. Danville Girl
6. Struggle Blues
7. John Henry - Guthrie, Woody & Cisco Houston
8. Chisholm Trail - Guthrie, Woody & Cisco Houston
9. Ludlowe Massacre
10.: Nine Hundred Miles
11. Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor
12. Buffalo Skinner's
13. Ramblin' Round
14. Rising Sun Blues (house of the rising sun)
15. Lindbergh
16. Vigilante Man
17. Two Good Men
18. Red River Valley - Guthrie, Woody & Cisco Houston
19. Ranger's Command
20. Farmer Labour Train
21. Sinking Of The Rueben James
22. Hard Ain't It Hard

.

Woody Guthrie - The Legendary Woody Guthrie (192 kbps)

VA - Reggae Archive Vol. 2 (On-U Sound)

Unique, maverick and massively respected, On-U Sound is undoubtedly one of the UK’s most important independent labels.

Contributing a strikingly diverse soundtrack to chaotic post-punk, post-colonial Britain, On-U has become a by-word for experimentalism, spewing forth incredible, far-fetched, sometimes completely baffling tunes, never straying far from the cutting edge.

Primarily associated with the sound of ‘dub’, the label’s heritage is far broader, with many of its artists having backgrounds in punk & post-punk, industrial, hip-hop and funk where the cross-pollination of punk experimentation and Jamaican dub has mapped out the innovative, culturally exciting territory the label has covered over the years.

Since 1981, with label boss and producer Adrian Sherwood at the helm, On-U Sound has released over 100 albums and singles and has launched the careers and/or inspired an endless list of artists.
The label’s influence upon a younger generation of musicians, not to mention the ambient/techno style in general, has proved enormous, helping to fuse dub with both the independent rock and post-punk scenes

Tracklist:

1. Deadly Headley - 35 Years From Alpha

2. Deadly Headley - Head Charge

3. Bim Sherman/Deadly Headley - Without A Love Like Yours

4. Bim Sherman/Deadly Headley - Little Dove

5. Deadly Headley - Two From Alpha

6. Deadly Headley - Headley's Meadly

7. Deadly Headley/Singers & Players - Revolution Part 5

8. New Age Steppers - Some Love Dub

9. New Age Steppers - 5 Dog Race / Tribute

10. Lol Coxhill/New Age Steppers - 5 Dog Race Part 3

11. Bim Sherman - Accross The Red Sea

12. Bim Sherman - Awake The Slum

13. Bim Sherman - You Are The One

14. Bim Sherman - Golden Morning Star

15. Bim Sherman - Sit And Wonder

VA - Reggae Archive Vol. 2 (On-U Sound)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

VA - No volveremos atrás (Chile, 1973)

Originally posted in 2018.

This year it was 45 years ago that General Pinochet launched a bloody CIA-assisted coup against the democratically-elected socialist President Allende of Chile.

On September 11, 1973, General Augusto Pinochet and his right-wing supporters in the Chilean military and government staged a brutal coup d’etat that overthrew the democratically elected and socialist-leaning administration of Salvador Allende.
They did so with substantial assistance from the Nixon administration and the CIA, which had been supporting anti-socialist forces throughout Chile following the election of Allende in 1970 and his efforts to nationalize some key industries including the phone company, whose majority owner was the U.S.-based International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT).

Following the coup - in which tens of thousands were arrested and imprisoned in Chile’s football stadiums, untold numbers were tortured, executed, or “disappeared,” and Allende shot himself inside the presidential palace following his farewell speech - the Chicago Boys who had been trained in Friedman’s brand of neoliberalism, previously rebuffed in the 1970 election, were now suddenly given the keys to the Chilean economy by the Pinochet regime.
This came on the heels of a proposal published on the day of the coup by the Chicago Boys to restructure Chile as a kind of laboratory of neoliberalism.

During the airforce bombardment of the Presidential palace, La Moneda, Allende addressed the nation one final time. These were Allende’s famous last words, delivered after personally engaging in a bitter hours-long firefight with Pinochet’s treasonous military forces, and just moments before taking his own life with a rifle given to him as a gift by Fidel Castro:

"Surely, this will be the last opportunity for me to address you. The Air Force has bombed the antennas of Radio Magallanes. My words do not have bitterness but disappointment. May there be a moral punishment for those who have betrayed their oath: soldiers of Chile, titular commanders in chief, Admiral Merino, who has designated himself Commander of the Navy, and Mr. Mendoza, the despicable general who only yesterday pledged his fidelity and loyalty to the Government, and who also has appointed himself Chief of the Carabineros [paramilitary police]. Given these facts, the only thing left for me is to say to workers: I am not going to resign!
Placed in a historic transition, I will pay for loyalty to the people with my life. And I say to them that I am certain that the seeds which we have planted in the good conscience of thousands and thousands of Chileans will not be shriveled forever. They have force and will be able to dominate us, but social processes can be arrested by neither crime nor force. History is ours, and people make history.
Workers of my country: I want to thank you for the loyalty that you always had, the confidence that you deposited in a man who was only an interpreter of great yearnings for justice, who gave his word that he would respect the Constitution and the law and did just that. At this definitive moment, the last moment when I can address you, I wish you to take advantage of the lesson: foreign capital, imperialism, together with the reaction, created the climate in which the Armed Forces broke their tradition, the tradition taught by General Schneider and reaffirmed by Commander Araya, victims of the same social sector who today are hoping, with foreign assistance, to re-conquer the power to continue defending their profits and their privileges.
I address you, above all, the modest woman of our land, the campesina who believed in us, the mother who knew our concern for children. I address professionals of Chile, patriotic professionals who continued working against the sedition that was supported by professional associations, classist associations that also defended the advantages of capitalist society.
I address the youth, those who sang and gave us their joy and their spirit of struggle. I address the man of Chile, the worker, the farmer, the intellectual, those who will be persecuted, because in our country fascism has been already present for many hours — in terrorist attacks, blowing up the bridges, cutting the railroad tracks, destroying the oil and gas pipelines, in the face of the silence of those who had the obligation to act.
They were committed. History will judge them.
Surely, Radio Magallanes will be silenced, and the calm metal instrument of my voice will no longer reach you. It does not matter. You will continue hearing it. I will always be next to you. At least my memory will be that of a man of dignity who was loyal to his country.
The people must defend themselves, but they must not sacrifice themselves. The people must not let themselves be destroyed or riddled with bullets, but they cannot be humiliated either.
Workers of my country, I have faith in Chile and its destiny. Other men will overcome this dark and bitter moment when treason seeks to prevail. Keep in mind that, sooner rather than later, the great avenues will once again be opened through which free man will pass to build a better society.
Long live Chile! Long live the people! Long live the workers!
These are my last words, and I am certain that my sacrifice will not be in vain, I am certain that, at the very least, there will be a moral lesson that will punish felony, cowardice, and treason.
Santiago de Chile,
11 September 1973"

Chile is - 40 years after the bloody overthrow of the socialist Allende government - focus of this year's "Festival Musik & Politik" in February. Besides a lot of other interesting events with music, discussion and film there will be a concert "Victor Jara presente" with Quilapayun and others on February 24, 2013. More information via http://www.musikundpolitik.de/.

We will present in the following month some albums remembering the struggle of the people in Chile and the brutal coup d’etat that overthrew the democratically elected and socialist-leaning government in Chile 40 years ago.

This LP, released by DICAP, is emblematic of the Chilean Unidad Popular and the way of making music in the service of popular political struggles. With most of the songs by Quilapayun, the idea of the work was to support the political campaign for the UP elections in March 1973.

Tracklist:

01 - Este es mi lugar [Quilapayún]
02 - Por siempre muy juntos [Quilapayún]
03 - No vamos hoy a bailar [Quilapayún]
04 - Conchalí [Bonnie-Baher y Quilapayún]
05 - Cueca negra [Quilapayún]
06 - Nuestro amor [Bonnie-Baher y Quilapayún]
07 - Onofre sí, Frei [Quilapayún]
08 - Al centro de la injusticia [Isabel Parra] (versión 1973
09 - El desabastecimiento [Víctor Jara]
10 - Frei, ayúdame [Quilapayún e Inti-illimani]
12 - Cueca roja [Quilapayún]

VA - No volveremos atras (Chile, 1973)
(160 kbps, front cover incuded)

Peter, Paul & Mary - In The Wind (1963)

You could have some fun with the title in more suggestive times, but In the Wind refers here to the popular trio's classic recording of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind." Interestingly, their recording did as much for Dylan's career as it did for PP&M's, for, while it sealed their image as the troubadours of the '60s civil rights movement, it helped posit the then-little-known Dylan as the voice of a generation. Other highlights here include their gorgeous interpretation of Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" as well as spirituals, a lullaby, and even a Civil War ballad. It may all seem quaint now, but when this LP reached No. 1 in 1963, only weeks after John F. Kennedy's assassination, the folk movement was in full throttle...and something was definitely in the air. Or in the wind, so to speak. --Bill Holdship

Their third recording was one of the group's stronger outings, even if it confirms their status as folk popularizers rather than musical innovators. In particular, this record was essential to boosting the profile of Bob Dylan, including their huge hit cover of "Blowin' in the Wind," their Top Ten version of "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right," and the bluesy "Quit Your Lowdown Ways," which Dylan himself would not release in the '60s (although his version finally came out on The Bootleg Series). "Stewball," "All My Trials," and "Tell It on the Mountain" were other highlights of their early repertoire, and the dramatic, strident, but inspirational "Very Last Day" is one of the best original tunes the group ever did.      

Tracklist:

1. "Very Last Day" (Peter Yarrow, Noel Stookey)
2. "Hush-A-Bye" (traditional; arranged by Peter Yarrow, Noel Stookey)
3. "Long Chain On" (Jimmie Driftwood)
4. "Rocky Road" (Peter Yarrow, Noel Stookey)
5. "Tell It on the Mountain" (arranged by Mary Travers, Peter Yarrow, Milton Okun, Noel Stookey)
6. "Polly Von" aka Polly Vaughn and Molly Bawn (Mary Travers, Peter Yarrow, Noel Stookey)
7. "Stewball" (Mary Travers, Milton Okun, Noel Stookey, Elena Mezzetti)
8. "All My Trials" (traditional; arranged by Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey, Mary Travers)
9. "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" (Bob Dylan)
10. "Freight Train" (Elizabeth Cotten)
11. "Quit Your Low Down Ways" (Bob Dylan)
12. "Blowin' in the Wind" (Bob Dylan)

Peter, Paul & Mary - In The Wind (1963)    
(320 kbps, cover art included)

The Effi Netzer Singers - A Festival Of Jewish Songs (Tradition, 1997)

"A Festival of Jewish Song" is a remastering of a collection of celebratory songs recorded on the old Olympic label in the 1960s by Effi Netzer and his singers. Given that they're all celebration songs for various occasions, the mood of the album is heavily different from the usually more tragic tone of Jewish song. A stray organ provides the bulk of the instrumental accompaniment, lending a tone to the album reminiscent of '60s rock almost single-handedly.

The music is exuberant and bouncing throughout the album, sometimes to good effect, and sometimes almost parodying itself. The bulk of the lyrical content deals with religious devotion, and the happiness that comes from it. A few deal instead with the basics of a party, or with the concept of peace in Israel (from the earlier conflicts). For a look at Jewish song that's more joyous than mournful, this is one of a handful of albums that do the genre justice. Aside from the Fiddler on the Roof soundtrack (which isn't necessarily authentic) and the vocal accompaniment to the progressive movements in klezmer and Jewish music in general, this is one of the better items available. Give it a listen as a curious newcomer, but search out the perhaps higher quality but more standard mood as an accustomed listener. (allmusic.com)

Tracklist:

1 Hinneh Tov 2:10
2 Yitbarach Shimecha 2:18
3 Yevarechecha 2:55
4 Ssissu Vessimchu 2:45
5 Hodu La'adony 2:30
6 Essa Ainy 2:45
7 Kol Rinah Vishu'ah 2:00
8 Haleluya 2:20
9 Yedid Nefesh 4:08
10 Ssissu Et Yerushalaim 2:45
11 Uveyom Kashabat 3:10
12 Av Harachaman 3:12

The Effi Netzer Singers - A Festival Of Jewish Songs (Tradition, 1997)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

The Fall ‎- A Part Of America Therein, 1981 (1982)

"From the riot torn streets of Manchester, England to the scenic sewers of Chicago" begins the hoarse American MC introducing The Fall to an audience of appreciative, but probably confused, stateside audience.

Of the early live albums, "A Part of America Therein 1981" might be one of their best. The sound quality and band mix is fine, though a slight distortion suggests a poor source tape or a vinyl remaster. Above all, the band is in top form, Mark E. Smith amusing in several audience asides while focused and possessed of vitriol in the treatise-like songs ("The N.W.R.A." and "Cash 'n' Carry") that make up a majority of this set. "Totally Wired" can't help but be a lashing out of the scene surrounding him, as Smith changes the lyrics to attack the faux punks in the audience. And the line "When the going gets weird/the weird turn pro" could be The Fall's motto. The double-punch of Craig Scanlon and Marc Riley's guitars add to the fury.

Tracklist:

	North Side:
A1	The N.W.R.A.	10:50
A2	Hip Priest	7:35
A3	Totally Wired	4:08
A4	Lie Dream Of A Casino Soul	3:05
	South Side:
B1	Cash 'N' Carry	6:35
B2	An Older Lover	6:40
B3	Deer Park	4:24
B4	Winter	7:25

The Fall ‎- A Part Of America Therein, 1981 (1982)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Mutter - Hauptsache Musik

In the late 1980s, a new musical scene was emerging in Hamburg compromising a number of bands that sung in German but that had no record deals (with the exception of "Die Antwort"). To remedy this situation and to give the new style a platform, the record label "L'age d'or" (French for "Golden Age") was established in October 1988 by Carol von Rautenkranz and Pascal Fuhlbrügge. They signed contracts with many bands and published numerous albums. A great deal of the albums were produced by Chris von Rautenkranz, Carol's brother, in the legendary Soundgarden recording studio in Hamburg. Another label that influenced the emerging genre was Alfred Hilsberg's "What's so funny about?" which published the first albums by Blumfeld, Die Erde, Cpt. Kirk and Mutter.

Soon, however, the Hamburger Schule was not restricted to Hamburg anymore. In particular, a local scene of Germanophone bands had developed in the small town of Bad Salzuflen in Eastern Westphalia, which was centered around the label Fast Weltweit. Founders were Frank Werner, Frank Spilker ("Die Sterne"), Michael Girke, Bernadette La Hengst ("Die Braut haut ins Auge"), and Jochen Distelmeyer (then "Bienenjäger", now "Blumfeld"). They got in contact with the Hamburg scene through Bernd Begemann who was a native of Bad Salzuflen but moved to Hamburg where he established his band "Die Antwort". This led to various gigs in Hamburg for bands from the "Fast Weltweit" label, eventually causing many other artists to move to Hamburg.Another first-generation Hamburger Schule band, "Die Regierung", was not from Hamburg, but rather from Essen.

Here´s Mutter - Hauptsache Musik with favourites like "Ihr seid alle schön" ("You all are beautiful") and "Die Erde wird der schönste Platz im All" ("Earth will become the most beautiful place in the universe"):

Mutter - Hauptsache Musik
(256 kbps, front cover included)

Manfred Lemm & Ensemble - Majn cholem. Mordechaj Gebirtig, Jiddische Lieder Vol.4

Today is the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, marking the passage of 80 years since the January 27, 1945, liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet soldiers. Auschwitz was a network of concentration camps built and operated in occupied Poland by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. Auschwitz I and nearby Auschwitz II-Birkenau were the extermination camps where an estimated 1.1 million people - mostly Jews from across Europe, but also political opponents, prisoners of war, homosexuals, Roma and others  -were killed in gas chambers or by systematic starvation, forced labor, disease, or medical experiments. About 200,000 camp inmates survived the ordeal. Today, a number of heads of states and aging survivors will attend a ceremony marking the anniversary at the site in Poland, now maintained as a museum.

Mordechaj Gebirtig was a great Yiddish bard, folk singer and labour poet. He has not performed them himself, as Gebirtig was killed in 1942 in the ghetto in Polish Krakau. 

Gebirtig belonged to the Jewish Social Democratic Party, a political party in Galicia which merged into the Jewish Labour Bund after World War I. The Bund was a Yiddishist proletarian socialist party, which called for Jewish cultural autonomy in a democratic Second Republic.

From 1906 he was a member of the Jewish Amateur Troupe in Kraków. He also wrote songs and theater reviews for "Der sotsial-demokrat", the Yiddish organ of the Jewish Social-Democratic Party. It was in such an environment that Gebirtig developed, encouraged by such professional writers and Yiddishist cultural activists as Avrom Reyzen, who for a time lived and published a journal in Krakow. Gebirtig's talent was his own, but he took the language, themes, types, tone, and timbre of his pieces from his surroundings, in some measure continuing the musical tradition of the popular Galician cabaret entertainers known as the Broder singers, who in turn were beholden to the yet older and still vital tradition of the badchen's (wedding jester's) improvisatory art.

He published his first collection of songs in 1920, in the Second Polish Republic. It was titled "Folkstimlekh" ('of the folk'). His songs spread quickly even before they were published, and many people regarded them as folksongs whose author or authors were anonymous. Adopted by leading Yiddish players such as Molly Picon, Gebirtig's songs became staples of numerous regular as well as improvised theatrical productions wherever Yiddish theatre was performed. It is not an exaggeration to say that Gebirtig's songs were lovingly sung the world over.

German singer-guitarist Manfred Lemm became obsessed by the works of Gebertig and collected, researched and adapted all his songs. Lemm put poems to music and brought his collection together in a weighty book, including lyrics, translations and music notations through which a peek into the life of Gebirtig is visible.

This is the fourth collection of songs by Mordechaj Gebirtig in interpretations by Manfred Lemm. It was recorded at Radio Krakow Malopolska ind 2005 and 2006.

Tracklist:

1 Majn Cholem 2:43
2 Glokn-Klang 0:53
3 A Suniker Schtral 2:28
4 Blumke Majn Shiduwke 3:30
5 Schlojmele Liber 2:58
6 Schtern Ssortn 1:40
7 Sog Mir Lewone 2:46
8 Sun Sun Sang 1:31
9 Mojschele 3:47
10 Geforn Ganz Wajt 1:35
11 Chaluzim Libe 3:17
12 Freds' Mechaje 4:32
13 Die Nacht Kumt On Zu Schwejbn 2:08
14 Trili Trilili 3:47
15 Di Neschome 1:35
16 A Tog Fun Nekome 1:34
17 Fun Wanen 0:44
18 Majn Tate A Kohen 2:16
19 Majn Hejm 4:35

Manfred Lemm & Ensemble - Majn cholem. Mordechaj Gebirtig, Jiddische Lieder Vol.4

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Dub Taylor - Detect (Force Tracks)

It's difficult to talk about "Detect" without mentioning Force Tracks, the label releasing this collection of producer Alex Krüger's Dub Taylor productions. Though Force Tracks had been churning out 12"s at a prolific rate in 1999-2001, the years leading up to this album's release, they rarely delved into the market for full-length albums. However, when they did release the occasional full-length, like Luomo's "Vocal City", for example, these releases were met with substantial acclaim and ardor.

"Detect" should function no differently -- it's a remarkable full-length worthy of celebration. Rarely can a electronic dance producer assemble a consistently engaging full-length. This task requires a producer to be diverse and creative -- a problem considering how most producers struggled with the 12" format, not to mention the ambitions required to assemble a full-length. But Krüger proves himself to be no slouch when it comes to diversity and creativity. He can produce dance-pop anthems like "I Can't (...You Know)," along with straight-up minimal house tracks like "Newmen." And with half these tracks featuring some sort of vocal arrangement, the album wavers back and forth with its pop accessibility. It's this affirmation of dance's link to pop music as well as the dance floor that makes Krüger's Dub Taylor so fascinating.

Like other German labels like Playhouse and Kompakt, Force Tracks seems to have stumbled onto a wonderful sound with its roster of minimal house producers and their unashamed concessions to the undeniable hook. Still, with or without the occasional vocal hooks, "Detect" features amazing minimal house with big, dubby basslines that just don't stop. It belongs to be place aside past Force Tracks classics like "Vocal City" and MRI's "Rhythmogenesis".


Tracklist:
1 Detect 9:23
2 Sweet Lips 8:17
3 Observer 6:49
4 Newmen 6:02
5 Something.Sometimes. 7:20
6 Our Youth 8:01
7 John Wayne 5:33
8 I Can't (...You Know) 7:38
9 Dirty Highways 7:35
10 2scale 7:20


Dub Taylor - Detect (Force Tracks)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

The Weavers - Folk Songs Around The World (1959)

The Weavers had the most extraordinary musical pedigree and pre-history of any performing group in the history of folk or popular music.

More than 50 years after their heyday, however, their origins, the level of their success, the forces that cut the group's future off in its prime, and the allure that keeps their music selling are all difficult to explain - as, indeed, none of this was all that easy to explain at the time. How could a song as pleasant and tuneful as "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" be subversive?

The quartet went from being embraced by the public, and selling four-million-records, to being reviled and rejected over the political backgrounds of its members, and disbanding after only four years together. Yet, despite the controversy that surrounded them, and the fact that their work was interrupted at its peak, the Weavers managed to alter popular culture in about as profound a manner as any artist this side of Bob Dylan - indeed, they set the stage for the 1950s folk revival, indirectly fostering the careers of the Kingston Trio, among others, and bridging the gap between folk and popular music, and folk and the topical song, they helped set the stage for Dylan's eventual emergence. And the songs that they wrote or popularized, including "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine," "Wimoweh," "Goodnight Irene," "Wreck of the John B," "Follow the Drinking Gourd," and "On Top of Old Smoky," continued to get recorded (and occasionally to chart) 50 years after the group's own time.

Tracklist:

A1 - Around The World
A2 - Bay Of Mexico
A3 - I Know Where I'm Going - Hush Little Baby
A4 - The Frozen Logger
A5 - Darling Corey
A6 - Follow The Drinking Gourd
B1 - Tzena, Tzena, Tzena
B2 - Suliram
B3 - Sylvie (Bring Me A Little Water)
B4 - Greensleeves
B5 - Along The Colorado Trail
B6 - Hard Ain't It Hard

The Weavers - Folk Songs Around The World (1959)
(192 kbps, cover art included, vinyl rip)

Kurt Weill - Bertolt Brecht - Meisterwerke (2 CDs)

This double album is a good Kurt Weill/Bertolt Brecht overview. It contains excerpts from "Die Dreigroschenoper", "Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny", "Die sieben Todsünden", "Der Jasager", Happy End" and "Lady In The Dark". Kurt Weill wrote the music, Bertolt Brecht contributed most of the lyrics (plus some lyrics by Ira Gershwin and Arnold Sundgaard). These are the "classic" 1950s/60s recordings, mostly with Lotte Lenya.


Tracklist:

1.01: Die Moritat von Mackie Messer
1.02: Anstatt-Dass-Song
1.03: Kanonensong
1.04: Die Ballade von der sexuellen Hörigkeit
1.05: Die Seeräuber Jenny
1.06: Die Zuhälterballade
1.07: Die Ballade vom angenehmen Leben
1.08: Ballade über die Frage "Wovon lebt der Mensch"
1.09: Das Lied von der Unzulänglichkeit
1.10: Salomon-Song
1.11: Die Schluss-Strophen der Moritat
1.12: Alabama-Song
1.13: Havanna Song
1.14: Von nun an war der Leitspruch
1.15: Zweitens kommt die Liebe...
1.16: Sieh jene Kraniche
1.17: Meine Herren, meine Mutter prägte
1.18: Erstens, vergesst nicht, kommt das Fressen

2.01: Bilbao-Song
2.02: Matrosen-Tang
2.03: Das Lied vom Branntweinhändler
2.04: Fürchte dich nicht
2.05: Surabaya Johnyy
2.06: In der Jugend goldnem Schimmer
2.07: Die Ballade von der Höllen-Lilli
2.08: Stolz
2.09: Zorn
2.10: Unzucht
2.11: Neid
2.12: Ich bin der Lehrer
2.13: Seit dem Tag, an dem uns dein Vater verließ
2.14: One Life To Live
2.15: Girl Of The Moment
2.16: The Greatest Show On Earth
2.17: The Saga Of Jenny
2.18: My Ship
2.19: Septembre Song
2.20: Lover Man

Kurt Weill - Bertolt Brecht - Meisterwerke (2 CDs)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Hammerfest – Schleudertest (1981)

 

This is down-to-earth rock with German lyrics, perfect for their thousands of live gigs. The style runs from psychedelic via prog-rock to political agitation. Only 8 songs didn't sum up to a regular LP, so they used a nice trick and pressed one with 45 rpm, at least it gives a better sound. The album was recorded at Cottage Studio, Spenge, and released on the Schneeball label. Track B4 is a cover of Shadows' Apache.           


Tracklist

A1	Arbeitslos	3:43
A2	Bubi-Lubi	2:22
A3	Delirium	3:30
A4	Die Irren	3:36
B1	Panik, Panik	4:30
B2	Nachtschicht	3:12
B3	Bäume statt Beton	2:25
B4	A. Patsche	3:45

Musicians
Wolfgang Kuhlmann (Wolli Kuhl): guitar
Rüdiger Friese (Rubbel Rüdi): guitar
Achim Patz (Ako Patz): keyboard, vocals
Jakob Künzel (Jesus Caneloni): sax
H.F. Schänder: bass, vocals
Klaus Otto (Fetzenotto): drums


Hammerfest - Schleudertest (1981, Schneeball)
(ca. 256 kbps, cover art included)

Trio ‎– Live im Frühjahr ’82

Trio was a German band, formed in the small German town of Großenkneten in 1980. The band is most noted for the song "Da da da, ich lieb dich nicht, du liebst mich nicht, aha aha aha" (usually simply "Da Da Da") which was a hit in 30 countries worldwide.

Trio was part of the Neue Deutsche Welle (or NDW); however, the band preferred the name "Neue Deutsche Fröhlichkeit", which means "New German Cheerfulness", to describe their music. At that time, as now, popular songs were based on extremely simple structures that were ornately produced. 

Trio's main principle was to remove almost all the ornamentation and polish from their songs, and to use the simplest practical structures (most of their songs were three-chord songs). For this reason, many of their songs are restricted to drums, guitar, vocals, and just one or maybe two other instruments, if any at all. Bass was used very infrequently until their later songs, and live shows often saw Remmler playing some simple pre-programmed rhythms and melodies on his small Casio VL-1 keyboard while Behrens played his drums single-handedly while eating an apple.

"Live im Frühjahr 1982" was first released on cassette only in 1982.

Tracklist:

Sabine Sabine Sabine
Lady-O-Lady
Sunday You Need Love Monday Be Alone
Ya Ya
Halt mich fest ich werd verrückt
Nur ein Traum
Kummer
Ja ja ja
Energie
Da Da Da ich lieb dich nicht du liebst mich nicht aha aha aha
Los Paul
Broken Hearts For You And Me
JaJa wo gehts lank Peter Pank schönen Dank
Trio Bommerlunder

Trio ‎– Live im Frühjahr ’82

(192 kbps, cover art included)

Nina Simone - At The Village Gate (1962)

"Nina Simone at the Village Gate" (1962) is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone (1933-2003). It was her third live album for Colpix recorded at The Village Gate. It is particularly notable for the amount of folk songs and African related songs on the album early in Simone's career. Richard Pryor had one of his first nights as a comedian, opening for her. Simone about Pryor's first night:

"He shook like he had malaria, he was so nervous. I couldn't bear to watch him shiver, so I put my arms around him there in the dark and rocked him like a baby until he calmed down. The next night was the same, and the next, and I rocked him each time.^"

Nina Simone had the rare ability of really being able to dig into material and bring out unexpected meaning in familiar lyrics.
On "Just in Time" from this set, she gives one the impression that if she had not been found "Just in Time," she would have committed suicide. During "He Was Too Good to Me," Simone sounds absolutely stunned about the end of a love affair. "Brown Baby" is both hopeful and defiant in its call for freedom, while "Zungo" is an African work song.

Also from her 1961 trio performance at the Village Gate, Simone performs the overly serious "If He Changed My Name," the good-time gospel piece "Children Go Where I Send You," a regretful rendition of "House of the Rising Sun," and an unpredictable instrumental version of "Bye Bye Blackbird." Nina Simone, who was always in a category by herself, is heard throughout in her early prime.           

01. Just in time
02. He was too good to me
03. House of the rising sun
04. Bye bye blackbird
05. Brown baby
06, Zungo
07. If he changed my name
08. Children go where i send you

Nina Simone - At The Village Gate (1962)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Joan Baez - Live In Düsseldorf, November 30, 1977

With the exception of Bob Dylan, Joan Baez was the most important artist to rise from the folk music movement that first blossomed in the late 1950s and early '60s. Baez was also the finest and most influential interpretive singer in contemporary folk; blessed with a soprano voice of uncommon clarity, her performances were emotionally compelling without resorting to histrionics. Early on, she recorded striking renditions of classic folk standards, as on her 1960 debut album Joan Baez, while later she would help popularize the work of songwriters such as Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, and Richard Fariña; songs by all three appeared on 1964's "Joan Baez 5". 

Her early recordings were austere acoustic sessions, but in time she would learn to work effectively with a band, as well as adding her own songs to her repertoire, and the title track to 1975's "Diamonds & Rust", a biographical recollection of her relationship with Dylan, would prove to be one of her most enduring hits. Baez would become nearly as well-known for her political activism as her music, lending her talent and media profile to a long list of progressive causes from the early stages of her career to her farewell concert tour in 2019.

This is a radio broadcast of the Rockpalast concert in November 1977 in Düsseldorf.


Tracklist:

1. Radio Announcement
2. Blowin In The Wind
3. Earth Angel
4. The Partisan
5. Plasier d'Amour
6. Gracias A La Vida
7. Natalie (Gorbaneskaja)
8. Love Is Just A Four Letter Word
9. Kumbaya
10. Swing Low Sweet Chariot
11. Oh Happy Day
12. Farewell Angelina
13. Michael
14. The Altar Boy & The Thief
15. Suzanne
16. Sag Mir Wo Die Blumen Sind
17. Imagine
18. Love Song To A Stranger II
19. Let It Be
20. Joe Hill
21. We Shall Overcome


Joan Baez - Live In Düsseldorf, November 30, 1977

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Henry Cow - Western Culture (1978)

The group's fourth and final studio LP, "Western Culture" remained for a long time Henry Cow's hidden treasure. Two factors were instrumental to its occultation (and one more than the other): first, it was not released by Virgin like the other ones; second, it did not have the "sock" artwork common to its brothers. Obscurity aside, "Western Culture" remains one of the group's strongest efforts in the lines of composition, especially since the unit was literally torn apart at the time. Side one consists of a suite in three parts, "History & Prospects," written by Tim Hodgkinson. The opener, "Industry," stands as one of Henry Cow's finest achievements, the angular melody played on a cheap electric organ hitting you in the face so hard it makes an imprint in your brains. Side two features another suite, this one in four parts and by Lindsay Cooper. While Hodgkinson's music leans toward rock, energy, and deconstruction, her writing embraced more contemporary classical idioms. Filled with contrasting textures and delicate complicated melodies, these pieces showcased another aspect of the group's sound while foretelling her later works. Swiss pianist Irène Schweizer performed a cadenza of sorts in "Gretel's Tale." 

While most 70s progressive rockers had their noses stuck deep in the works of Herman Hesse or Tolkien and spent their time copping licks from Ravel or Mussorgsky, the members of Henry Cow were reading Marx, Mao and Walter Benjamin and preferred Varese, Cage or Sun Ra for inspiration. One of the first signings to Virgin records in 1973, the Cow were responsible for some of the most dazzlingly complex rock ever recorded, merging British psychedelia, free improvisation and modern classical with a healthy dose of revolutionary polemic. The band gained a reputation for immense seriousness depite their occasional sly Dadaist humour, though to be fair there pobably weren't many fart jokes in the Henry Cow tour bus.

"Western Culture" was recorded in 1978 some time after their difficult split with Virgin, and was made in the knowledge that the group was to fold afterwards (a previous attempt at recording had failed a few months earlier). Though these were obviously tricky times for all concerned, you wouldn't know it from the music on this CD, which is some of their finest and dispatched with awesome precision and economy.

Compositional duties are split between saxophonist/keyboardist Tim Hodgkinson and bassoonist Lindsay Cooper (possibly the only ever fulltime bassoonist in a rock band). Their dense, cerebral compositions are restless, angular affairs with nervy, timeshifting rhythmic dexterity from drummer Chris Cutler (who has to be one of the finest, most inventive drummers this country has ever produced) and guitarist Fred Frith (doubling on bass). Frith is superb, switching from fuzzed out, oblique rockisms to querulous Derek Bailey acoustic scrabble ("The Decay of Cities") and occupying a few thousand points inbetween. There are no pointless displays of prog virtuosity though; despite the sometimes bewildering complexity of the music, not a note is wasted throughout.
Guest pianist Irene Schweizer provides a spot of free jazz fire on Coopers doleful "Gretel's Tale", while Anne Marie Roeloffs's trombone and violin add extra textural grit. The most affecting track is "Half the Sky", where lush chords underpin Friths Frippish glides and Hodgkinsons chattering alto sax, eventually breaking out into an almost klezmer-esque melody over Cutler's tumbling percussives. "Western Culture" is a fitting testament to possibly the most progressive of all English rock bands. Bless 'em.

Tracklist:

History & Prospects
Industry 6:58
The Decay Of Cities 6:55
On The Raft 4:01
Day By Day
Falling Away 7:38
Gretels Tale 3:58
Look Back 1:19
1/2 The Sky 5:14


Henry Cow - Western Culture (1978)
(256 kbps, cover art included)         

Crass - How Does It Feel (1982)

"How Does It Feel" was recorded and mixed in August 1982 at Southern Studios, London.

George Barber wrote in the Crass story, Having had a bit more time to consider their response, Crass released another single: ‘How Does It Feel To Be The Mother Of A Thousand Dead?’ A direct attack on Thatcher, it came in a black sleeve decorated with white graveyard crosses. When, during Prime Ministers Question Time,Thatcher was asked if she’d heard the record, things were getting serious.

The Conservative Party attempted to fight back, as the Guardian reported: “The Attorney General, Sir Michael Havers, has been asked by the Conservative MP for Enfield North, Mr. Tim Eggar, to prosecute an Anti-Falklands war record under the Obscene Publications Act. The record ‘How Does It Feel To Be The Mother of 1,000 Dead?’, by the group Crass, which also owns the record company Crass Records, which released it, is said to have sold 20,000 copies since it was issued last Saturday. It refers to Mrs. Thatcher and the decision to send the Task Force. ‘You never wanted peace or solution, from the start you lusted after war and destruction . . . Iron Lady, with your stone heart so, eager that the lesson be taught that you inflicted, you determined, you created, you ordered . . . It was your decision to have those young boys slaugh- tered.” Tim Eggar was the brother of Robin Eggar, a Daily Mirror columnist who had previously written in his column:“Rock music is often used by the young to voice their protests. However distasteful the Sex Pistols appeared to be in 1977, their songs were a chilling warning of the coming recession. But anarchist band Crass have gone too far. They released last week the most revolting and unnecessary record I have ever heard. ‘How Does It Feel To Be The Mother of 1,000 Dead?’ is a vicious and obscene attack on Margaret Thatcher’s motives for engaging in the Falklands war. It bears little relation to reality. Retailing at only 75p it has already sold more than 28,000 copies.”

Crass themselves escaped any direct threat from the state.“We didn’t actually get any of it,” says Rimbaud.“There’s no question at all that that was a policy.” Rimbaud cites a circular sent around the Tory party after MP Timothy Eggar opened proceedings against ‘How Does It Feel?’ which stated that “on no account must they respond to any form of provocation from us”.

A hilarious LBC radio interview ensued, where Tim Eggar debated with Andy Palmer and Pete Wright. Eggar is clearly angry fit to burst before he even starts, and – sounding like a clichéd public school Tory – starts off by blustering that the record goes “beyond the acceptable bounds of freedom of speech, being the most vicious, scurrilous and obscene record that has ever been produced”.

Tracklist:

A How Does It Feel (To Be The Mother Of A Thousand Dead)?
B1 The Immortal Death
B2 Don't Tell Me You Care

Crass - How Does It Feel (1982)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Meistersinger & Ihre Kinder - Meistersinger & Ihre Kinder (1978)

Nuremberg's most valuable contribution to the polit-rock scene was the group Ihre Kinder:
A german rock band from the late 1960s and early 1970s, considered a pioneer of german rock music, because they were one of the first modern rock groups singing in german language.
Their music contained elements of classic rock, folk and jazz rock, their lyrics were politically aware.

After the decline of the band the keyboarder and singer Sonny Henning formed a horrible soul pop-rock band named Powerful Tramps, before regaining some musical sense as Meistersinger & Ihre Kinder, a quintet that recorded two albums in the late seventies.

Tracklist:

A1		Mit dem Kopf durch die Wand	3:10
A2		Zustand Nr. 10	6:00
A3		Könnte ich Fliegen	3:35
A4		Tohuwabohu	3:45
A5		Das Wort zum Montag	3:55
B1		Bär sucht Honig	4:35
B2		Im Paradies ist die Hölle los	3:30
B3		Erinnerung	3:45
B4		Schlechte Zeiten	6:55

Meistersinger & Ihre Kinder - Same (1978)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Luis Cilia - O Guerrilheiro (1974)

Luís Fernando Castelo Branco Cília is a portugues composer and musician, born in Angola in 1943.

The protest singer was exiled in France and denounced the colonial war and the lack of freedom in Portugal. One of his best-known songs from that period, "Avante camarada", became an unofficial anthem for the Portuguese Communist Party.

Born in Nova Lisboa (now Huambo), Angola, he moved to Portugal in 1959 to continue his studies. In 1962, he met the poet Daniel Filipe who encouraged him to put poetry to music. His first experiences in that field date back to that year ("Meu país", " O menino negro não entrou na roda", among others), later included in his first album, recorded in France, for the Chant du Monde publisher. In April 1964 he left for Paris, where he lived until 1974. In France he studied classical guitar with António Membrado and composition with Michel Puig. Between 1964 and 1974 he performed recitals in almost every country in Europe.

After his return to Portugal he continued to record albums, as a composer and performer and to perform live. As a musician, he recorded eighteen albums, some of which were dedicated to poets, such as Eugénio de Andrade ("The weight of the shadow"), Jorge de Sena ("Sinais de Sena") or David Mourão Ferreira ("Penumbra").

More recently, he has dedicated himself fully to composition, writing for Theater, Ballet and Cinema.

On June 9, 1994 he was made an Officer of the Order of Freedom.


Tracklist:

A1 O Adeus D'um Proscrito
A2 O Conde Niño
A3 Flor Da Murta
A4 A Guerra Do Mirandum
A5 O Conde De Alemanha
B1 D. João Da Armada
B2 Canção Do Figueiral
B3 D. Sancho
B4 O Guerrilheiro

Luis Cilia - O Guerrilheiro (1974)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

The Fugs - Tenderness Junction (1968)

The Fugs began their career as a gaggle of post-beat era bohemians whose talents were as poets and activists first, musicians second, but after recording a handful of unexpectedly successful albums for Folkways and ESP, the group found themselves signed to Reprise Records, and had to face the prospect of becoming a genuine, professional rock & roll band.

"Tenderness Junction" was The Fugs' first album for Reprise, and also unveiled a new lineup, with founders Ed Sanders, Tuli Kupferberg, and Ken Weaver joined by three capable young rock & rollers, guitarist Danny Kortchmar (aka Danny Kooch), bassist Charles Larkey, and multi-instrumentalist Ken Pine.

While the early Fugs albums often made a virtue of the limited abilities of the musicians on hand, "Tenderness Junction" proved they could add a bit of polish and firm up their sound without losing touch with what made them memorable; the music is strong and expressive without being unnecessarily flashy, and Sanders clearly enjoyed having more reliable accompanists for his pastiches on various musical conventions, such as blues ("Knock Knock"), doo wop ("Wet Dream"), country ("War Song"), and traditional English folk ("Fingers of the Sun").

The Fugs also made the most of Reprise's pledge not to censor the group's material by including a recording of their appearance at an anti-war event in Washington D.C., in which they conducted an exorcism of the Pentagon in the midst of a "Grope for Peace."

"Tenderness Junction" puts greater focus on the extended poetics of "The Garden Is Open" and the five-part "Aphrodite Mass" over short, funny songs like "Slum Goddess," "CIA Man," or "I Couldn't Get High", presumably because they could, and they had collaborators with the chops to make them work musically, but this also makes this album less immediately engaging than the Fug´s earlier works. Still, it's musically ambitious while still allowing Sanders, Kupferberg, and Weaver to sound like themselves, and it's the rare album where chaos and discipline both get their moment in the spotlight and bring out the best in one another.      


Tracklist:

Side 1:
1 Turn On / Tune In / Drop Out
2 Knock Knock
3 The Garden Is Open
4 Wet Dream
5 Hare Krishna

Side 2:
1 Exorcising The Evil Spirits From The Pentagon October 21, 1967
2 War Song
3 Dover Beach
4 Fingers Of The Sun
5 Aphrodite Mass (In 5 Sections) 

The Fugs - Tenderness Junction (1968)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Albert Ayler - Spirits Rejoice (1966)

Recorded live at New York's Judson Hall in 1965, "Spirits Rejoice" is one of Albert Ayler's wildest, noisiest albums, partly because it's one of the very few that teams him with another saxophonist, altoist Charles Tyler. It's also one of the earliest recordings to feature Ayler's brother Don playing an amateurish but expressive trumpet, and the ensemble is further expanded by using bassists Henry Grimes and Gary Peacock together on three of the five tracks; plus, the rubato "Angels" finds Ayler interacting with Call Cobbs' harpsichord in an odd, twinkling evocation of the spiritual spheres. 

Aside from that more spacious reflection, most of the album is given over to furious ensemble interaction and hard-blowing solos that always place in-the-moment passion above standard jazz technique. Freed up by the presence of the trumpet and alto, Ayler's playing concentrates on the rich lower register of his horn and all the honks and growls that go with it; his already thick, huge tone has rarely seemed more monolithic. Spirits Rejoice also provides an opportunity to hear the sources of Ayler's simple, traditional melodies becoming more eclectic. 

The nearly 12-minute title track has a pronounced New Orleans marching band feel, switching between two themes reminiscent of a hymn and a hunting bugle call, and the brief "Holy Family" is downright R&B-flavored. "Prophet" touches on a different side of Ayler's old-time march influence, with machine-gun cracks and militaristic cadences from drummer Sunny Murray driving the raggedly energetic ensemble themes. For all its apparent chaos, Spirits Rejoice is often surprisingly pre-arranged -- witness all the careening harmony passages that accompany the theme statements, and the seamless transitions of the title track. 

"Spirits Rejoice" is proof that there was an underlying logic even to Ayler's most extreme moments, and that's why it remains a tremendously inspiring recording.

Tracklist:

1 Spirits Rejoice 11:43
2 Holy Family 2:10
3 D.C. 8:01
4 Angels 5:30
5 Prophet 5:36


Albert Ayler - Spirits Rejoice (1966)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Sun Ra - Supersonic Jazz (1956)

Sun Ra had only been heading his Arkestra for a couple of years when they recorded the 12 songs featured on this 1956 session. But while the arrangements, ensemble work, and solos are not as ambitious, expansive, or free-wheeling as they became on later outings, the groundwork was laid on such cuts as "India," "Sunology," and one of the first versions of "Blues at Midnight." Ra's band already had the essential swinging quality and first-class soloists, and he had gradually challenged them with compositions that did not rely on conventional hard bop riffs, chord changes, and structure but demanded a personalized approach and understanding of sound and rhythm far beyond standard thinking. You can hear in Ra's solos and those of John Gilmore, Pat Patrick, Charles Davis, and others an emerging freedom and looseness which would explode in the future.        

"This 1956 album was out of this world! Sun Ra, a super talented pianist/composer played a big role in the Avant-Garde movement and was right there with Mingus, thinking “outside of the box” and taking risky improvised chances. The Jazz Con Class Radio listeners who never heard of Sun Ra will enjoy this mostly Hard Bop album very much but should learn more of his Avant-Garde albums that later followed. The ones who are very familiar with Sun Ra would be totally surprise to hear such a “down to earth” album from this “out of space” innovator. “Super-Sonic Jazz” is a collector’s item and every Jazz lover should have it in their collection along with all his other works. In my next to last post, I mentioned John Gilmore, who gave Coltrane saxophone lessons, is brilliant in this album. But then again, the whole band is great. Sun Ra’s belief that he was in contact with aliens from Saturn should not throw anyone off at all (Read biography below). This album will be featured for a week or so, check the schedule link for play times." - Jazz Con Class Radio

Tracklist:

A1		India
A2		Sunology
A3		Advice To Medics
A4		Super Blonde
A5		Soft Talk
B1		Kingdom Of Not
B2		Portrait Of The Living Sky
B3		Blues At Midnight
B4		El Is A Sound Of Joy
B5		Springtime In Chicago
B6		Medicine For A Nightmare

Sun Ra - Supersonic Jazz (1956)
(256 kbps, cover art included)