The Black Ark Presents - Rastafari Liveth In The Hearts Of Everyone Itinually

"Rastafari Liveth..." is a very dread collection, with heavy Rasta vibes throughout. Many of these tracks can't be found anywhere else, making this a valuable collection for serious Lee Perry fans. This album follows the pattern of a lot of Lee Perry releases, choosing to chronicle a series of singles and offering first the A, then the B side. The effect is not as mind-numbing and clinical as one might think.

These songs are from the prime of Perry's conscious phase, right during his flirtation with Rastafari. The lyrics are strong and the beats are strident and military, more reminiscent of some of King Tubby's work than a lot of what leaked from The Black Ark. Many of the usual suspects contribute vocals here, including Devon Irons and Watty Burnett.

Highlights include Clive Hylton's meditative "Judgement Day", Devon Irons' heavy duty "When Jah Comes", and the startling "Forward With Jah Orthodox", a menacing nyabinghi number calling for a new order in Jamaica. For those looking for a Lee Perry starting point, there are better records. For the converted, it´s tough to getenough andthis will be a welcome addition to the pile.


Tracklisting:

01. Ethiopian Land - Peter & Paul Lewis
02. Dub Land - The Upsetters
03. Rise And Shine - Watty & Tony
04. Shining Dub - The Upsetters
05. What A War - Watty Burnett
06. What A Dub - The Upsetters
07. 23rd Psalm - Junior Delgado & Big Youth
08. Judgement Day - Clive Hylton
09. Well Judged Dub - The Upsetters
10. Forward With Jah Orthodox - Mystic
11. Orthodox Dub - The Upsetters
12. Come Along - The Bluebells
13. Dub Along - The Upsetters
14. 4 And 20 Dreadlocks - Evan Jones
15. Dreadlocks Dub - The Upsetters
16. When Jah Comes - Devon Irons
17. When Jah Dubs - The Upsetters

The Black Ark Presents - Rastafari Liveth... (192 kbps)

Lee Perry - Black Ark In Dub

Some call him a genius, others claim he's certifiably insane, a madman. Truth is, he's both, but more importantly, Lee Perry is a towering figure in reggae -- a producer, mixer, and songwriter who, along with King Tubby, helped shape the sound of dub and made reggae music such a powerful part of the pop music world. Along with producing some of the most influential acts (Bob Marley & the Wailers and the Congos to name but two) in reggae history, Perry's approach to production and dub mixing was breathtakingly innovative and audacious - no one else sounds like him - and while many claim that King Tubby invented dub, there are just as many who would argue that no one experimented with it or took it further than did Lee Perry.

"Black Ark In Dub" is a fine collection of early Perry dub packaged in what seems to be a semi-legit, bootleg way.

This label seems to be tied in with the French label Lagoon, which has released the Perry-produced Bob Marley session (two CDs, both of them essential). This is a good selection; Perry remixes are typically audacious and crazy, but there's little enclosed information telling you when the tracks were cut. Lack of information is an ongoing problem with Perry releases, since his entire output defies any kind of authoritative historical treatment. Still, this is worthy of your time, even if it doesn't provide the big buzz of some of Perry's other, more far-out experiments.                

Still, this is worthy of your time, even if it doesn't provide the big buzz of some of Perry's other, more far-out experiments.

Lee Perry - Black Ark in Dub

(256 kbps, cover art included)

Mississippi John Hurt - The Best Of (1968)

No blues singer ever presented a more gentle, genial image than Mississippi John Hurt. A guitarist with an extraordinarily lyrical and refined fingerpicking style, he also sang with a warmth unique in the field of blues, and the gospel influence in his music gave it a depth and reflective quality unusual in the field. Coupled with the sheer gratitude and amazement that he felt over having found a mass audience so late in life, and playing concerts in front of thousands of people - for fees that seemed astronomical to a man who had always made music a sideline to his life as a farm laborer - these qualities make Hurt's recordings into a very special listening experience.

This inappropriately titled album is actually a concert recording from a performance at Oberlin College in 1965. Regardless, Hurt's rich, gentle voice and relaxed, flowing guitar lines could soothe the stormiest Monday. Among the hymns and traditional songs heard here are "I Shall Not Be Moved," "Nearer My God to Thee," "Since I've Laid This Burden Down," and "You Are My Sunshine." Complementing those are Hurt folk/blues staples, notably "Monday Morning Blues," "Coffee Blues," and "C.C. Rider." The blues patriarch's warmth and geniality come through here with such emotional intimacy that you can't help being deeply moved. --Genevieve Williams

Tracklist:

Side 1:

1. Here Am I, Oh Lord, Send Me 3:02
2. I Shall Not Be Moved 3:26
3. Nearer My God To Thee 3:04
4. Baby What's Wrong With You 3:35
5. It Ain't Nobody's Business 3:04

Side 2:

1. Salty Dog Blues 2:58
2. Coffee Blues 3:15
3. Avalon, My Home Town 3:41
4. Make Me A Pallet On The Floor 3:45
5. Since I've Laid This Burden Down 3:45

Side 3:

1. Sliding Delta 3:06
2. Monday Morning Blues 3:56
3. Richland Women Blues 4:33
4. Candy Man 3:47
5. Stagolee 4:22

Side 4:

1. My Creole Belle 2:25
2. C.C. Rider 3:59
3. Spanish Fandango 1:05
4. Talking Casey 4:19
5. Chicken 0:54
6. You Are My Sunshine 2:36
.
Mississippi John Hurt - The Best Of (1968)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Dizzy Gillespie - Afro (1955)

Dizzy Gillespie's contributions to jazz were huge. One of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time (some would say the best), Gillespie was such a complex player that his contemporaries ended up copying Miles Davis and Fats Navarro instead, and it was not until Jon Faddis' emergence in the 1970s that Dizzy's style was successfully recreated. Somehow, Gillespie could make any "wrong" note fit, and harmonically he was ahead of everyone in the 1940s, including Charlie Parker. Unlike Bird, Dizzy was an enthusiastic teacher who wrote down his musical innovations and was eager to explain them to the next generation, thereby insuring that bebop would eventually become the foundation of jazz.

Dizzy Gillespie was also one of the key founders of Afro-Cuban (or Latin) jazz, adding Chano Pozo's conga to his orchestra in 1947, and utilizing complex poly-rhythms early on. The leader of two of the finest big bands in jazz history, Gillespie differed from many in the bop generation by being a masterful showman who could make his music seem both accessible and fun to the audience. With his puffed-out cheeks, bent trumpet (which occurred by accident in the early '50s when a dancer tripped over his horn), and quick wit, Dizzy was a colorful figure to watch. A natural comedian, Gillespie was also a superb scat singer and occasionally played Latin percussion for the fun of it, but it was his trumpet playing and leadership abilities that made him into a jazz giant.

Pairing Dizzy Gillespie with Cuban arranger/composer Chico O'Farrill produced a stunning session which originally made up the first half of a Norgran LP. O'Farrill conducts an expanded orchestra which combines a jazz band with a Latin rhythm section; among the participants in the four-part "Manteca Suite" are trumpeters Quincy Jones and Ernie Royal, trombonist J.J. Johnson, tenor saxophonists Hank Mobley and Lucky Thompson, and conga player Mongo Santamaria.

"Manteca," written during the previous decade, serves as an exciting opening movement, while the next two segments build upon this famous theme, though they are jointly credited to O'Farrill as well. "Rhumba-Finale" is straight-ahead jazz with some delicious solo work by Gillespie. A later small-group session features the trumpeter with an all-Latin rhythm section and flutist Gilberto Valdes, who is heard on "A Night in Tunisia" and "Caravan."


Tracks:01 Manteca Theme
02 Contraste
03 Jungla
04 Rhumba Finale
05 A Night in Tunisisa
06 Con Alma
07 Caravan

Dizzy Gillespie - Afro (1955)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Don Kosaken - Stenka Rasin (1970)

Stepan (Sten'ka) Timofeyevich Razin (1630 – 1671) was a Cossack leader who led a major uprising against the nobility and Tsar's bureaucracy in South Russia.

Razin originally set out to loot villages, but as he became a symbol of peasant unrest, his movement turned political. Razin wanted to protect the independence of the Cossacks and to protest an increasingly centralized government. The Cossacks supported the tsar and autocracy, but they wanted a tsar that responded to the needs of the people and not just those of the upper class. By destroying and pillaging villages, Razin intended to take power from the government officials and give more autonomy to the peasants. However, Razin’s movement failed and the rebellion led to increased government control. The Cossacks lost some of their autonomy, and the tsar bonded more closely with the upper class because both feared more rebellion. On the other hand, as Avrich asserts, “[Razin’s revolt] awakened, however dimly, the social consciousness of the poor, gave them a new sense of power, and made the upper class tremble for their lives and possessions.”
At the time of the Russian Civil War, the famous writer and White emigre Ivan Bunin compared Razin to Bolshevik leaders, writing "Good God! What striking similarity there is between the time of Sten'ka and the pillaging that is going on today in the name of the 'Third International.'"

Don Cossacks were Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don.

This album is a best of compilation of the "Don Kosaken Chor", referring to these historical issues, featuring 15 tracks recorded between 1954 and 1970.

Tracklist:

1. Stenka Rasin 5.25
2. Still ruht der See 2.05
3. Zwei Kosakenlieder 2.09
4. Reitermarsch 2.02
5. Hindulied 3.45
6. Der Kuckuck 2.35
7. Ave Maria 2.59
8. Legende von den 12 Räubern 6.38
9. Matrosenlied 2.17
10. Alter Walzer 5.51
11. Lescinka (Kaukasische Melodie) 3.59
12. Russischer Tanz 1.55
13. Lied vom Terek Fluss 4.33
14. Die Wolga entlang 4.09
15. Guten Abend, gut‘ Nacht 2.10

Don Kosan - Stenka Rasin (1970)

(256 kbps, small front cover included

Ruth Brown - Black Is Brown And Brown Is Beautiful (1969)

They called Atlantic Records "the house that Ruth built" during the 1950s, and they weren't referring to the Sultan of Swat. Ruth Brown's regal hitmaking reign from 1949 to the close of the '50s helped tremendously to establish the New York label's predominance in the R&B field. Later, the business all but forgot her — she was forced to toil as domestic help for a time — but she returned to the top, her status as a postwar R&B pioneer (and tireless advocate for the rights and royalties of her peers) recognized worldwide.

Young Ruth Weston was inspired initially by jazz chanteuses Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, and Dinah Washington. She ran away from her Portsmouth home in 1945 to hit the road with trumpeter Jimmy Brown, whom she soon married. A month with bandleader Lucky Millinder's orchestra in 1947 ended abruptly in Washington, D.C., when she was canned for delivering a round of drinks to members of the band. Cab Calloway's sister Blanche gave Ruth a gig at her Crystal Caverns nightclub and assumed a managerial role in the young singer's life. DJ Willis Conover dug Brown's act and recommended her to Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson, bosses of a fledgling imprint named Atlantic. Unfortunately, Brown's debut session for the firm was delayed by a nine-month hospital stay caused by a serious auto accident en route to New York that badly injured her leg. When she finally made it to her first date in May 1949, she made up for lost time by waxing the torch ballad "So Long" (backed by guitarist Eddie Condon's band), which proved to be her first hit.

Brown's seductive vocal delivery shone incandescently on her Atlantic smashes "Teardrops in My Eyes" (an R&B chart-topper for 11 weeks in 1950), "I'll Wait for You" and "I Know" in 1951, 1952's "5-10-15 Hours" (another number one rocker), the seminal "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean" in 1953, and a tender Chuck Willis-penned "Oh What a Dream," and the timely "Mambo Baby" the next year. Along the way, Frankie Laine tagged her "Miss Rhythm" during an engagement in Philly. Brown belted a series of her hits on the groundbreaking TV program Showtime at the Apollo in 1955, exhibiting delicious comic timing while trading sly one-liners with MC Willie Bryant (ironically, ex-husband Jimmy Brown was a member of the show's house band).

After an even two-dozen R&B chart appearances for Atlantic that ended in 1960 with "Don't Deceive Me" (many of them featuring hell-raising tenor sax solos by Willis "Gator" Jackson, who many mistakenly believed to be Brown's husband), Brown faded from view. After raising her two sons and working a nine-to-five job, Brown began to rebuild her musical career in the mid-'70s. Her comedic sense served her well during a TV sitcom stint co-starring with MacLean Stevenson in Hello, Larry, in a meaty role in director John Waters' 1985 sock-hop satire film Hairspray, and her 1989 Broadway starring turn in Black and Blue (which won her a Tony Award).

There were more records for Fantasy in the '80s and '90s (notably 1991's jumping Fine and Mellow), and a lengthy tenure as host of National Public Radio's Harlem Hit Parade and BluesStage. Brown's nine-year ordeal to recoup her share of royalties from all those Atlantic platters led to the formation of the nonprofit Rhythm & Blues Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping others in the same frustrating situation. In 1993 Brown was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and 1995 saw the release of her autobiography, Miss Rhythm. Brown suffered a heart attack and stroke following surgery in October 2006 and never fully recovered, passing on November 17, 2006.

Here´s her 1969 album "Black Is Brown And Brown Is Beautiful".

Tracklist:

A1	Yesterday	4:02
A2	Please Send Me Someone To Love	2:57
A3	Looking Back	4:07
A4	Try Me And See	2:08
B1	Miss Brown's Blues	7:00
B2	My Prayer	3:49
B3	Since I Fell For You	4:57
B4	This Bitter Earth	3:54

Ruth Brown - Black Is Brown And Brown Is Beautiful (1969)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi - Ndega Zvangu (1997)

Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi (born 22 September 1952 in Highfield, Harare) is a Zimbabwean musician, businessman, philanthropist, human rights activist and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Southern Africa Region. Tuku is considered Zimbabwe's most renowned and internationally recognised cultural icon of all time.

Mtukudzi began performing in 1977 when he joined the Wagon Wheels, a band that also featured Thomas Mapfumo. Their single Dzandimomotera went gold and Tuku's first album followed, which was also a major success. Mtukudzi is also a contributor to Mahube, Southern Africa's "supergroup".
With his husky voice, he has become the most recognised voice to emerge from Zimbabwe and onto the international scene and he has earned a devoted following across Africa and beyond. A member of Zimbabwe's KoreKore group, with Nzou Samanyanga as his totem, he sings in the nation's dominant Shona language along with Ndebele and English. He also incorporates elements of different musical traditions, giving his music a distinctive style, known to fans as Tuku Music. Mtukudzi has had a number of tours around the world. He has been on several tours in the UK, US and Canada to perform for large audiences.
Unlike Mapfumo, Mtukudzi has refrained from directly criticising the government of President Robert Mugabe.

According to the sleeve notes, "Ndega Zvangu" means "All Alone" and Mutukudzi is all alone, apart from his acoustic guitar, throughout. This gives a sound completely different from the faster, more percussion-based Zimbabwean music I'd heard before.
Instead, the sound is stripped-down, sometimes melancholy, but always beautiful. The album doesn't suffer from over-polished production, which makes it feel as though Mutukudzi is right there in the room with you. A wonderful album!

Tracklist:

1	Cheka Ukama
2	Mwana Wamambo
3	Andinzwi
4	Unodada Nei?
5	Chirimundari
6	Zivai Nemoyo
7	Handiende
8	Neria
9	Kwawakabva
10	Ndima Ndasakura
11	Ndakuneta

Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi - Ndega Zvangu (1997)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Jacques Brel - Quand On N'a Que L'amour (1957)

Jacques Brel was on tour when he learned that a song from his most recent EP release, "Quand on N'a Que l'Amour," had hit number three on the French chart. The song fell like a hand grenade into the comfortable world of French pop in the mid-1950s -- not through its sentiments (the best known English version, "If We Only Have Love," is as worthy a translation as any) or through its delivery, but via an almost intangible sense that in Jacques Brel, France had finally been gifted a hero as relevant to its modern culture as Elvis Presley was to America, or Tommy Steele to Britain. Maybe even more so.

Since the release of his debut album, Brel had launched into a period of considerable musical experimentation, pairing himself with a string of different accompanists in an attempt to find that which most suited his material. Neither Michael Legrand nor Andre Popp matched his standards, however, and Brel finally returned to Francois Raubert, with whom he had recorded the earlier mini-hit "Sur la Place." The wisdom of his decision became immediately apparent, as "Quand on N'a Que l'Amour" soared up the chart and work immediately began on completing Brel's next album. "Jacques Brel 2" can scarcely be expected to match up to either the brilliance of his debut or the magnificence of the hit. Acting to strike while the commercial iron was hot, Philips chose to draw its contents from the stockpile of material Brel had recorded over the past two years, ensuring just one other Raubert recording, the initially eerie, and utterly hymn-like "L'Air de la Betise" made the set. Other cuts were drawn from the Popp and Legrand sessions, with the occasionally less-than-sympathetic results Brel had already noted.

Nevertheless, some undisputed masterpieces emerged. "Pardons" is a slight song raised to unexpected heights by its smoky jazz club backing, while "J'en appelle" could easily have competed with the broad pop ballads which would soon be unleashed by the English likes of Billy Fury and Cliff Richard. "La Bourree Du Celibataire," better known to English audiences as "Bachelor's Dance," is a bawdily infectious singalong, while the raw violin which opens "Heureux" elucidates a pain which Brel's haunted delivery stretches to panoramic proportions. The melodic similarity to "Quand on N'a Que l'Amour," incidentally, was surely deliberate, bookending the eight-song heart of the original album release, before the set closed with the only true (but nevertheless enjoyable) throwaway in sight, "Les Bles."                


Tracklist:

01. Quand On N'a Que L'Amour
02. Qu'Avons-Nous Fait Bonnes Gens ?
03. Les Pieds Dans Le Ruisseau
04. Pardons
05. La Bourrée Du Célibataire
06. L'Air De La Bêtise
07. Saint-Pierre
08. J'en Appelle
09. Heureux
10. Les Blés 11. Quand On N'a Que L'Amour

01 to 10: from the album "Quand On N'A Que L'Amour", 1957
11: recorded on January 25th 1960

Jaques Brel - Quand On N'a Que L'amour (1957)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

David Bowie in Bertolt Brecht´s "Baal" (1982) - Rest in peace!

Baal is an EP by David Bowie, comprising recordings of songs written for Bertolt Brecht’s play Baal. It is also referred to as David Bowie in Bertolt Brecht’s Baal, as credited on the sleeve.

In August 1981, Bowie had begun rehearsals to appear in the BBC version of Baal. The lyrics to the songs were all translated by Ralph Manheim and John Willett. Dominic Muldowney provided all new musical settings, except for "The Drowned Girl", which was a setting by Kurt Weill done originally for Das Berliner Requiem.
In September 1981, Bowie and Tony Viscontireturned to the Hansa studios in Berlin to re-record the five songs Baal performed in the play.

“Baal’s Hymn” is a combination of the vignettes spread throughout the play, and establishes Baal’s amoral character. “Remembering Marie A” concerns Baal’s reminiscences of a past conquest, where he can remember a cloud drifting overhead, but not the face of the girl he was with. “Ballad of the Adventurers” is Baal’s aggressive lament to the death of his mother. “The Drowned Girl” relates the suicide of one of Baal’s conquests – a video clip for this song was shot by David Mallet at the same time as the one for “Wild is the Wind”. “The Dirty Song” is a short number, with Baal humiliating his lover Sophie.

His performance as Baal was transmitted on February 2, 1982, and RCA issued the EP to coincide with this. Both the play and EP were well received, with the latter reaching #29 in the UK chart, commendable considering the unconventional tracks. As well as the 7" edition (which came packaged in a double gatefold sleeve containing extensive notes pertaining to the musical content and a short biography of Bertolt Brecht) the EP was released as a 12" which gained it some play in clubs as well as radio airplay.


Tracks:

A1) Baal's Hymn
A2) Remembering Marie A
B1) Ballad Of The Adventurers
B2) The Drowned Girl
B3) Dirty Song

David Bowie in Bertolt Brecht´s "Baal" (1982)
(320 kbps, cover art included)

Paul Robeson - Spirituals (1945)

Born on April 9, 1898, in Princeton, New Jersey, Paul Robeson went on to become a stellar athlete and performing artist. He starred in both stage and film versions of The Emperor Jones and Show Boat, and established an immensely popular screen and singing career of international proportions. Robeson spoke out against racism and became a world activist, yet was blacklisted during the paranoia of McCarthyism in the 1950s. He died in Pennsylvania in 1976.

When he was 17, Robeson earned a scholarship to attend Rutgers University, the third African American to do so, and became one of the institution's most stellar students. He received top honors for his debate and oratory skills, won 15 letters in four varsity sports, was elected Phi Beta Kappa and became his class valedictorian.

Increasing political awareness impelled Robeson to visit the Soviet Union in 1934, and from that year he became increasingly identified with strong left-wing commitments, while continuing his success in concerts, recordings, and theatre. In 1950 the U.S. State Department withdrew his passport because he refused to sign an affidavit disclaiming membership in the Communist Party. In the following years he was virtually ostracized for his political views, although in 1958 the Supreme Court overturned the affidavit ruling. Robeson then left the United States to live in Europe and travel in countries of the Soviet bloc, but he returned to the United States in 1963 because of ill health.

Robeson appeared in a number of films, including Sanders of the River(1935), Show Boat (1936), Song of Freedom (1936), and The Proud Valley (1940). His autobiography, Here I Stand, was published in 1958.
Tracklist:

Go Down Moses	2:44
Balm In Gilead	2:13
By An' By	2:29
Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child	2:31
John Henry	2:27
Water Boy	2:30
Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen	2:41
Joshua Fit De Battle Of Jericho	1:53

 
Paul Robeson - Spirituals (1945)   
(320 kbps, cover art included)               

Doc Watson - Southbound (1966)

"Southbound" is the second studio album by the American folk music artist Doc Watson, released in 1966.

"Southbound" was a pivotal record for Doc Watson. Upon its 1966 release, it demonstrated that Watson was capable of more than just dazzling interpretations of folk songs, but that he could also write excellent original material and rework new country songs in a fascinating manner.

"Southbound" also marked the recorded debut of Merle Watson, Doc's astonishingly talented son.               

Tracklist:

A1	Walk On Boy	3:19
A2	Blue Railroad Train	2:41
A3	Sweet Georgia Brown	1:52
A4	Alberta	2:40
A5	Southbound	2:44
A6	Windy And Warm	2:11
A7	Call Of The Road	2:16
B1	Tennesse Stud	3:33
B2	That Was The Last Thing On My Mind	2:44
B3	Little Darling Pal Of Mine	2:40
B4	Nothing To It	2:00
B5	Riddle Song	2:34
B6	Never No More Blues	3:09
B7	Nashville Pickin'	1:50

Doc Watson - Southbound (1966)
(192 kbps, cover art inlcuded)

Josh White - The Story of John Henry - 25th Anniversary Album (1957)

Josh White had a talent for self-reinvention, and his career - which began in the 1920s and stretched essentially uninterrupted all the way into the '60s - is an amazing story of adaptability and survival.

Slick, sly, and fiercely intelligent, White began as a Piedmont blues player, but became a sort of pre-Harry Belafonte black sex idol, complete with a leftist social and political agenda, during his so-called cabaret blues period in the late '40s, and when the McCarthy era led to his blacklisting, he rebounded into the folk revival with several carefully assembled albums for Jac Holzman's newly created Elektra label that recast him as a folk balladeer. 

This set, originally released as an LP in 1957, was the first of those albums for Elektra. Few performers could make the folk-blues straddle the line between being rustic on the one hand and artfully urbane on the other like White was able to do, and while to some extent it was a stage act, there is no doubting White's ultimate devotion to his material. 

The key track here is the first one, an epic 23-plus-minute version of "John Henry" that was the center of White's live performances during his folk period and was somewhat of a signature song for him. Although some doubted White's authenticity as a folk-blues performer (they really shouldn't have), the fact remains that White was an excellent acoustic guitar player and a subtle and versatile singer who carefully selected his material, well aware of how it made him appear. 

Listeners should definitely check out some of White's early Piedmont-styled 78s from the '20s, though, like "Blood Red River" and "Silicosis Is Killin' Me," to really hear this intelligent performer at his best.


Tracklist:
1. The Story Of John Henry... a musical narrative   23:33

2. Black Girl   2:58

3. Free And Equal Blues   3:49

4. Live The Life   2:22

5. Sam Hall  2:58

6. Where Were You, Baby?   3:38

7. Delia's Gone   3:49

8. Run, Mona, Run   1:37

9. You Don't Know My Mind   3:52

Josh White - The Story of John Henry - 25th Anniversary Album (1957)

(320 kbps, cover art included)

Woody Guthrie - Songs to Grow on for Mother and Child (1956)

Some of the last songs written and recorded by Woody Guthrie were his children's songs.

Their strength, shown in "Songs to Grow on for Mother and Child", is an unusually strong identification with actually being a child, in all its simplicity and charm, along with the ability to win over listeners. Good examples here are "Rattle My Rattle" and "I Want My Milk." Guthrie is an acquired sonic taste worth acquiring. Ages 3-5.

Tracklist:

1	Grassy Grass Grass (Grow, Grow, Grow)	1:35
2	Swimmy Swim	1:53
3	Little Sugar (Little Saka Sugar)	1:22
4	Rattle My Rattle	1:11
5	I Want My Milk (I Want It Now)	2:17
6	1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8	1:11
7	One Day Old	1:33
8	Wash-y Wash Wash (Warshy Little Tootsy)	1:34
9	I'll Eat You, I'll Drink You	1:40
10	Make A Blobble	2:05
11	Who's My Pretty Baby (Hey Pretty Baby)	1:43
12	I'll Write And I'll Draw	2:27
13	Why, Oh Why	3:27
14	Pick It Up	1:51
15	Pretty And Shiny-O	1:28
16	Needle Sing	2:15
17	Bling-Blang	2:41
18	Goodnight Little Arlo (Goodnight Little Darlin')	3:16

Woody Guthrie - Songs to Grow on for Mother and Child (1956)
(Ca. 145 kbps, cover art included)

Utah Phillips - We Have Fed You All A Thousand Years

"These are songs and stories of the Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies), a union to which I have belonged for over forty years. Recorded live in front of a group of striking Telecommunications Worker s in British Columbia, this is what I wanted to sing and say about our working class culture and why we should teach, study, and cherish it all the time, using it to build class solidarity and a better future for all workers. By the way, these workers I was singing for really joined in, and they all knew what we were singing about too!"

Utah Phillips was an amazing advocate for workers' rights, and he made it his life's mission to keep alive the songs of the working class. Here, in his 1993 recording, he collected the songs of Joe Hill and others as preserved through the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) Songbook. Folks interested in learning more about the plight of the labor movement, and the history of the songs that have accompanied it, would appreciate this well-performed collection.

Tracklist:

1	Boss	0:19
2	We Have Fed You All A Thousand Years	1:59
3	Sheep And Goats	1:02
4	Timberbeast's Lament	1:41
5	Dump The Bosses Off Your Back	4:15
6	Lumberjack's Prayer	1:48
7	Mr. Block	4:27
8	Preacher And The Slave	4:12
9	Popular Wobbly	2:04
10	Casey Jones	2:57
11	Where The Fraser River Flows	2:53
12	Bread And Roses	2:56
13	Joe Hill	4:14
14	Union Burying Ground	3:31
15	Two Bums	1:02
16	Hallelujah, I'm A Bum	5:28
17	Solidarity Forever	4:19
18	There Is Power In A Union	3:42

Here´s a link to a nachruf in german language:
http://www.linksnet.de/de/artikel/23569

Utah Phillips - We Have Fed You All A Thousand Years
(320 kbps, front cover included)

John Zorn - Kristallnacht (1993)

Today is the Holocaust Memorial Day, dedicated to the remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust. The chosen date is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp by the Soviet Army in 1945.

This release documents an intense musical representation of Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, a coordinated attack on Jews throughout the German Reich that occurred on November 9, 1938, during which Nazis, SS members, and Hitler youth broke into Jewish homes and businesses, assaulting the people and their property. The official German report tallied 7,500 businesses destroyed, 267 synagogues burned (with 177 totally destroyed), and 91 Jews killed.

John Zorn has created a musical work that powerfully represents the different stages of this historical event. "Shtetl (Ghetto Life)" is beautiful yet apprehensive klezmer, interspersed with sound bites of German rallies and speeches that become more frequent, increasingly crowding the life from the music. This segues into "Never Again," which, Zorn warns in the liner notes, "contains high frequency extremes at the limits of human hearing and beyond, which may cause nausea, headaches and ringing in the ears." While nearly unbearable, it is a fitting sound representation of Kristallnacht, as thousands of layers of shattering glass assault the ears. "Never Again" is both effective and affecting, if you can listen. This onslaught is followed by the loud silence and emptiness of "Gahelet (Embers)," a walk through the immediate aftermath of wind, darkness, and destruction. Alley echoes are heard as sound is overwhelmed by a dread and horror beyond expressing, and no words can contain what might begin to form in the midst of shock. This is a heavy silence. Strings have gone haggard on the next composition, and from this point the album becomes less literal and explicit, moving away from poignancy and focus into more chaos.

Zorn's forceful undertaking is realized through the expert and passionate musicianship of violinist Mark Feldman, guitarist Marc Ribot, keyboardist Anthony Coleman, bassist Mark Dresser, and percussionist William Winant, as well as guest trumpeter Frank London and clarinetist David Krakauer.

Tracklist:

1	Shtetl (Ghetto Life)	5:51
2	Never Again	11:41
3	Gahelet (Embers)	3:25
4	Tikkun (Rectification)	3:02
5	Tzfia (Looking Ahead)	8:46
6	Barzel (Iron Fist)	2:01
7	Gariin (Nucleus - The New Settlement)	7:58

John Zorn - Kristallnacht (1993)
(320 kbps, cover art included)
               

Hugh Masekela & The Union Of South Africa - Same (1971) - Rest In Peace!

Hugh Masekela, the legendary trumpeter, composer, singer and anti-apartheid activist, lost his battle with prostate cancer for which he had been receiving treatment since 2008. “The father of South African jazz” as he had been dubbed, died on Tuesday, January 23 2018.

Hugh Masekela & the Union of South Africa is an inspired mix of soul, highlife, and even New Orleans jazz. This works excellently on the old-fashioned "Goin' Back to New Orleans" and the fast-moving "Ade" and "Dyambo" where horn lines, call-and-response singing, and funky guitars, together with African rhythms, create furious dance music. But some of the slower numbers seem to be left without direction, a fact that is only partly covered by Masekela's trumpet playing. The closing "Hush (Somebody's Calling My Name)," though, is a great exception to that, with simple basslines and chorus, and slow-building energy. But if the mix of cultural influences is the strength of Hugh Masekela & the Union of South Africa, it may also be the weakness of the album; the difference between the groove-based "Ade," jazzier numbers like "Caution," and African highlife songs like "Shebeen" and "Johannesburg Hi-Lite Jive" is so big you'd think they belong on separate albums, and they may not appeal to the same audience. Hugh Masekela & the Union of South Africa was originally released on Masekela's own label, Chisa, and was re-released in 1994 on Motown. 

Tracklist:

Goin' Back To New Orleans	5:07
Ade	3:47
To Get Ourselves Together	2:55
Johannesburg Hi-Lite Jive	3:57
Mamani	5:20
Shebeen	4:00
Dyambo	3:48
Caution!	5:45
Hush (Somebody's Calling My Name)	3:32

Hugh Masekela & The Union Of South Africa - Same (1971)       
(192 kbps, cover art included)   

Erich Kästner - Muttersohn im Vaterland

Erich Kästner (February 23, 1899 - July 29, 1974) was one of the most famous German authors, screenplay writers, and satirists of the 20th century. His popularity in Germany is primarily due to his humorous and perceptive children's literature and his often satirical poetry.

Kästner was a pacifist and was opposed to the Nazi regime in Germany. Unlike many of his fellow authors critical of the dictatorship, Kästner did not emigrate. The Gestapo interrogated Kästner several times, and the writers' guild excluded him. Fanatic mobs burnt Kästner's books as "contrary to the German spirit" during the book burnings of 1933.

"Muttersohn im Vaterland" is a literary and musical voyage through the time, life and dreams of Erich Kästner.

With it´s well selected collection of the satirists poems, notes and fragments of novels this lecture by Ulrich Ritter leads us authentic and in a high tempo through Erich Kästner´s world.

Erich Kästner - Muttersohn im Vaterland

(192 kbps, ca. 88 MB)

VA - Klangdenkmal für die Opfer des Holocaust - A Monument in Sound for the Victims of the Holocaust (2004)

Today we remember the anti-Jewish pogrom in Nazi Germany and Austria on 9 to 10 November1938, also known as "Novemberpogrome", "Reichskristallnacht", "Reichspogromnacht" or "Pogromnacht" in German.

Twenty six variations on a subject that one finds difficult to put into words. The incomprehensibility and the magnitude of the Holocaust can perhaps be described in facts, dates and figures - but the suffering of the victims, the regret about what happened, the consequence is especially difficult to "grasp" in terms of one´s owen life. Perhaps this is the reason for music as music is "the ability to communicate where speech has ended" (R. M. Rilke) and gives us the possivility of combining emotions and reason without a verbal setting, to allow grief and hope to flow into each other and in this manner to remember the victims in a very special way.

The "Monument in Sound for the Vicitms of the Holocaust" has been "built" by 27 composers who belong to the "Deutsche Komponistenverband" (German Association of Composers). The project was initiated in 1999 following a unanimous resolution passed by the associations´s state branch in Berlin. Composers from a variety of generations and artistic origins are involved and the starting point was the theme of a song by Coco Schumann. He was persecuted as the son of a Jewish mother and deported to the concentration camps Theresienstadt, Auschwitz and Dachau - he survived these camps and still performs on stage to this very day.

The theme of his compositon was arranged for a string quartet setting and sent to all the project´s participants in alphabetical order, one after another. Each artist then had the possibility, whilst taking the opening theme into consideration, to take up from his predecessor in terms of compostion or to carry on independatly ins or her own way. As such, after two years work, an astonishingly homogeneous musical piece of contemporary history came into being, contrary to all doubts, created by artist from a variety of musical fields - from jazz, avant garde and serious music. A musical work in which past and present flow into a spiritual entirety, as the sum of the involved composers´ personal and subjecitve experiences, each being treated in their own individual artistic manner.


VA - Klangdenkmal für die Opfer des Holocaust (2004)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson - Secrets (1978)

Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson made a lot of incredible music together and "Secrets" is no exception. Soul and Jazz come together with the brilliance that is Gil Scott-Heron's mind and the result is truly inspiring. This 1978 album from the poet/musician, an album that continues the journey started on the 1977 album, "Bridges".

"Angel Dust" warns of the dangers of drug abuse. "Show Bizness" is a hilarious look at the perils of the music business ('they'll take care of everything for only 95%'), whilst "Madison Avenue" talks of the over commercialization of western society ("buying is all that's asked of you..."). "Better Days Ahead" and "Prayer For Everybody" see Gil in a more optimistic light hoping for a better future.

Gil Scott Heron was rapping and telling it like it is long before hip hop even thought about running its course. This album was a good example of Gil's finest works.

Tracklist:
1. Angel Dust
2. Madison Avenue
3. Cane
4. Third World Revolution
5. Better Days Ahead
6. 3 Miles Down
7. Angola Louisiana
8. Show Bizness
9. A Prayer For Everybody To Be Free


Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson - Secrets
(192 kbps, front cover included)

Sun Ra - Dancing Shadows

"Dancing Shadows" is a mid-'80s German bootleg disc gathering material that had been recorded some two decades earlier for the ESP-Disk indie label. It should also be noted that the same eight sides can be found as both "Nothing Is" (1970) and the somewhat erroneous "Heliocentric Worlds, Vol. 3" (1966). In terms of the contents, the cuts were documented at various stops on the Arkestra's 1966 spring tour of state universities of New York. The instrumental free jazz improvisations surrounding the more discernible melodies from Ra (piano/clavioline) and company serve as the primary impetus for this collection.

From out of the free-for-all introduction "Dancing Shadows," Ra's keyboards are incisive and direct as he rides the band into a swinging and inventive jam sporting the same brand of advanced arrangements and tricky time signatures that are associated with the likes of Pharoah Sanders and Thelonious Monk. Longtime Arkestra stalwarts Marshall Allen (alto sax/flute/piccolo/oboe), John Gilmore (tenor sax), and Pat Patrick (baritone sax/flute) entwine their Eastern-influenced interjections and effuse interaction over the solid rhythm section of Ronnie Boykins (bass/tuba), Clifford Jarvis (drums), Carl Nimrod [aka Carl S. Malone/Nimrod Hunt] (sun horn/gong), and James Jacson (flute/log drums).

While no traditional drum kit performers are credited, they are evident throughout. Sandwiched between "Dancing Shadows" and "Exotic Forest" is the spoken or (perhaps more accurately) chanted chorus of "the second stop is Jupiter." Keen-eared enthusiasts might recall this extract, which hails from "Rocket #9." There is an entrancing and almost intoxicating quality to "Exotic Forest." Allen's oboe solo is bound to some equally heady percussive expressions. This release can be recommended for this track alone, as it exemplifies the unquestionable beauty that the Arkestra created from seeming sonic chaos. After "Sun Ra and His Band from Outer Space" - a brief piano solo interlude - the final extended piece is "Shadow World." Here, Patrick's opening solo is met head-on with a hard-hitting and edgy assault from Allen on oboe. This eventually leads into a full Arkestra meltdown prior to Ra's "Theme of the Stargazers" and a final chorus of "Next Stop Mars" - another spoken/sung chant. The audio quality of this specific incarnation is less than favorable when compared to either of the previously mentioned releases "Nothing Is" or "Heliocentric Worlds, Vol. 3" - both of which are available on CD. All manner of free jazz fans are encouraged to locate "Dancing Shadows", as it provides an unabashed glimpse into what makes this era of the Arkestra so highly lauded among listeners.               

Tracklist:

1. Dancing Shadows / Imagination / Exotic Forest (20:15)

2. Sun Ra And His Band From Outer Space / Shadow World / Theme Of The Stargazers / Outer Spaceways Incorporated / Next Stop Mars (17:54)



Sun Ra - Dancing Shadows
(192 kbps, cover art included)