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SACD

Bon Jovi – Greatest Hits (2010/2021) [SACD / Island Records – 5394030]

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Bon Jovi - Greatest Hits (2010/2021)

Title: Bon Jovi – Greatest Hits (2010/2021)
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO

2010 release, a career-spanning collection from the Rock icons featuring two new songs: “No Apologies,” and “What Do You Got?”. This release will transport listeners back in time through Bon Jovi’s worldwide monster hits of the past and offer a bridge to the future with the debut of the four new tracks. “Music marks milestones in all our lives,” notes frontman Jon Bon Jovi. “These songs have stood the test of time and they remind us all where we came from, even as we keep our eyes towards the future.” Hybrid SACD pressing. Greatest Hits is a compilation album by American rock band Bon Jovi, originally released in 2010. This 16-track album includes fourteen of the bands hits and two brand new singles “What Do You Got?” and “No Apologies.” Universal. 2021.

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SACD

Bon Jovi – Bounce (2002) [SACD / Island Def Jam Music Group – 063 391-2]

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Bon Jovi - Bounce (2002)

Title: Bon Jovi – Bounce (2002)
Genre: Rock
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Given that Bon Jovi successfully pulled off a comeback in 2000 with Crush, a shiny pop album pitched directly at the mainstream, it’s kind of a surprise that they returned two years later with a record as turgid as Bounce. Instead of continuing the colorful blueprint of Crush, they fearlessly backpedal, turning out dull, heavy, serious rock — the kind of music that sounds “serious” even when it’s about trivial things. Of course, much of the record is given over to “serious” topics, as if the band felt that the events of 2001 necessitated a grave response for Bounce, regardless of what they were singing. Such sobriety would not have been a problem if the band had solid material, but they’re not only lacking songs, they’ve inexplicably altered their musical approach. In particular, guitarist Richie Sambora sounds as if he’s aping James Hetfield’s lumbering downstrokes throughout the album, giving the record an oppressively heavy sound that never lets the music breathe. This casts a pall over the record, but this stumble is not the sole reason Bounce is such a misstep for the band. After all, this is a record where Bon Jovi seems to have consciously decided to avoid everything that gives their music character, melody, and muscle, a move that would have been odd at any point during their career, but is particularly puzzling after they delivered an album that found them growing old gracefully. It’s as if they want to undo everything Crush did for them.

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SACD

Bob Marley – Young Mystic (2004) [SACD / Audio Fidelity – AFZ 021]

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Bob Marley - Young Mystic (2004) [Audio Fidelity SACD #AFZ-021]

Title: Bob Marley – Young Mystic (2004)
Genre: Reggae
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Recorded under the auspices of revolutionary reggae producer Lee “Scratch” Perry, this compilation includes early versions of many of the songs that were later to make Bob Marley and the Wailers internationally famous. Previously a fairly run-of-the-mill Jamaican vocal group, the band were molded by Perry into a rootsy, Rasta-centric outfit. The polite ska rhythm of the ’60s is gone, replaced by upfront rhythm guitar and bass and Carlton Barrett’s exemplary one-drop reggae drumming, and Marley’s vocals are tough and confident. “Small Axe” is a Jamaican proverb shaped to suit the turbulent political times, while “Soul Rebel” is an early manifestation of Marley’s later persona, and “Kaya”‘s bass line is an inspired lift from Glenn Miller’s 1940s big band hit, “Tuxedo Junction”.

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SACD

Bob Kindred Quartet – Nights Of Boleros And Blues (2007) [Japan 2015] [SACD / Venus Records – VHGD-106]

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Bob Kindred Quartet - Nights Of Boleros And Blues (2007) [Japan 2015]

Title: Bob Kindred Quartet – Nights Of Boleros And Blues (2007) [Japan 2015]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Bob Kindred is a great tenor sax player who is consistently underrated and underexposed. Aside from some albums released by the Mapleshade label, it is not easy to find his leader albums on the market. For this second release from Venus, Kindred and co. decided to do a collection of Latin music, mostly boleros. The brawny and sexy sound of Kindred’s tenor is a perfect match for the mysterious and romantic music. The music transports the listener to a steamy bar in a subtropical country in Latin America. One can almost feel the hot and humid air.

Robert Hamilton Kindred, 11 May 1940, Lansing, Michigan, USA. Raised just outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Kindred began studying clarinet and later played this instrument and the alto saxophone with the Philadelphia Youth Jazz Band, under the direction of Jimmy DePriest. At 17 he was with Pennsylvania Sixpence, a small band that played swing and dixieland and which played at many east coast venues and also toured Europe and made records. After graduating from college, Kindred left music and entered the business world, becoming a corporate head-hunter and forming his own company. At the age of 30 he heard Phil Woods in concert and decided to being playing again. He studied with Woods and after two years decided to re-enter the world of music on a full-time basis. He joined the ongoing Glenn Miller Orchestra and then joined Woody Herman, appearing on 1975’s Live At Carnegie Hall. Among other artists with whom he played around this time were Charles Earland, Harry Sweets Edison, Hank Jones, Mel Lewis, Shirley Scott and Buddy Tate, and he has also played with the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra. Kindred, who would gradually become better known as a tenor saxophonist, also plays baritone saxophone and flute. His own concert performances include a tribute to Ben Webster and Johnny Hodges, To Ben And Johnny, With Love, and an annual work, Bending Towards The Light … A Jazz Nativity, of which he is co-composer with his wife, singer Anne Phillips. During the 90s, Kindred appeared at many prestigious venues both in the USA and overseas, including among the former the Topeka Jazz Festival, the Colorado Springs Jazz Party, Carnegie Hall, in a tribute to the Nicholas Brothers, and the Fairbanks Arts Festival at which he conducted clinics for jazz woodwinds and performed as soloist with the symphony orchestra. In 2001, Kindred recorded two well-received albums with Little Jimmy Scott, Over The Rainbow and But Beautiful, and in the same year a duo set with Larry Willis for Mapleshade Records. In addition to performing, Kindred is also active in jazz education as a clinician and has worked with the International Art Of Jazz, Festival Jazz and the Smithsonian Jazz Repertory Company. Although much reference has been made to other tenor saxophonists in reviews of Kindred s work, his greatest quality is that while he might evoke occasional thoughts of these other players, he is at all times his own man, original, commanding and eloquent. Like Spike Robinson, whose late flowering was a thing of beauty, in the early years of the twenty-first century Kindred was attaining that same level of creative and popular success. That this recognition should not have happened until the mature years of his career is jazz s loss but for all its tardiness, it is certainly very well deserved.

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SACD

Bob Kindred Quartet – Blue Moon (2004) [Japan 2016] [SACD / Venus Records – VHGD-124]

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Bob Kindred Quartet - Blue Moon (2004) [Japan 2016]

Title: Bob Kindred Quartet – Blue Moon (2004) [Japan 2016]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Bob Kindred is a great tenor sax player who is consistently underrated and underexposed. Aside from some CDs released by a small audiophile label Mapleshade, it is not easy to find his leader albums in the market. Venus Records wanted to correct this situation and signed Kindred a few years ago and released this label debut album, Blue Moon.
With superb supporting musicians, Kindred plays a program of mostly standards with his distinctive, brawny and sensual tone and a sly sense of humor. This swinging and romantic collection is a must-have SACD for fans of Kindred and jazz saxophones!

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SACD

Bob James – Jazz Hands (2023) [SACD / Evosound – EVSA2484S]

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Bob James - Jazz Hands (2023)

Title: Bob James – Jazz Hands (2023)
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO

GRAMMY® NOMINATED Jazz Hands is Bob James’ third outing for evosound, following in the wake of 2018’s Espresso and 2022’s Feel Like Makin’ LIVE. Produced by the pianist with his manager Sonny Abelardo, the ten-track album was mostly recorded during the months of the Covid pandemic and featured James in a number of different musical settings. It also features a stellar cameo from the ex-Gnarls Barkley singer CeeLo Green on the sensuous title track and includes production input from the legendary hip-hop turntablist DJ Jazzy Jeff, who rose to fame as half of the hit-making ’80s/’90s rap duo, DJ Jazzy Jeff And The Fresh Prince, early samplers of James’ music. Blending cool jazz tropes with funky dance floor grooves, blues-tinged ballads, cinematic mood pieces, and sensuous slow jams, Jazz Hands is the Missouri pianist’s most eclectic album of his long career. Simultaneously classic and contemporary, it’s Bob James at his majestic, ground-breaking, and timeless best. The album has been nominated for the GRAMMY AWARDS® for the category of “Best Contemporary Instrumental Album” – proving that the Jazz legend has no plans to slow down anytime soon.

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SACD

Bob Dylan with The Band – Planet Waves (1974) [MFSL 2016] [SACD / Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab – UDSACD 2153]

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Bob Dylan with The Band - Planet Waves (1974) [MFSL 2016]

Title: Bob Dylan with The Band – Planet Waves (1974) [MFSL 2016]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Reteaming with the Band, Bob Dylan winds up with an album that recalls New Morning more than The Basement Tapes, since Planet Waves is given to a relaxed intimate tone – all the more appropriate for a collection of modest songs about domestic life. As such, it may seem a little anticlimactic since it has none of the wildness of the best Dylan and Band music of the ’60s – just an approximation of the homespun rusticness. Considering that the record was knocked out in the course of three days, its unassuming nature shouldn’t be a surprise, and sometimes it’s as much a flaw as a virtue, since there are several cuts that float into the ether. Still, it is a virtue in places, as there are moments – “On a Night Like This,” “Something There Is About You,” the lovely “Forever Young” – where it just gels, almost making the diffuse nature of the rest of the record acceptable.

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SACD

Bob Dylan – The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963) [MFSL 2012] [SACD / Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab – UDSACD 2081]

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Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963) [MFSL 2012]

Title: Bob Dylan – The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963) [MFSL 2012]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

It’s hard to overestimate the importance of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, the record that firmly established Dylan as an unparalleled songwriter, one of considerable skill, imagination, and vision. At the time, folk had been quite popular on college campuses and bohemian circles, making headway onto the pop charts in diluted form, and while there certainly were a number of gifted songwriters, nobody had transcended the scene as Dylan did with this record. There are a couple (very good) covers, with “Corrina Corrina” and “Honey Just Allow Me One More Chance,” but they pale with the originals here. At the time, the social protests received the most attention, and deservedly so, since “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Masters of War,” and “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” weren’t just specific in their targets; they were gracefully executed and even melodic. Although they’ve proven resilient throughout the years, if that’s all Freewheelin’ had to offer, it wouldn’t have had its seismic impact, but this also revealed a songwriter who could turn out whimsy (“Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”), gorgeous love songs (“Girl From the North Country”), and cheerfully absurdist humor (“Bob Dylan’s Blues,” “Bob Dylan’s Dream”) with equal skill. This is rich, imaginative music, capturing the sound and spirit of America as much as that of Louis Armstrong, Hank Williams, or Elvis Presley. Dylan, in many ways, recorded music that equaled this, but he never topped it.

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SACD

Bob Dylan & The Band – Before The Flood (1974) [MFSL 2015] [SACD / Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab – UDSACD 2-2128]

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Bob Dylan & The Band - Before The Flood (1974) [MFSL 2015]

Title: Bob Dylan & The Band – Before The Flood (1974) [MFSL 2015]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Bob Dylan and the Band both needed the celebrated reunion tour of 1974, since Dylan’s fortunes had been floundering since Self Portrait and the Band stumbled with 1971’s Cahoots. The tour, with its attendant publicity, definitely returned both artists to center stage, and it definitely succeeded, breaking box office records and earning great reviews. Before the Flood, a double-album souvenir of the tour, suggests that these were generally dynamic shows, but not because they were reveling in the past, but because Dylan was fighting the nostalgia of his audience — nostalgia, it must be noted, that was promoted as the very reason behind these shows. Yet that’s what gives this music such kick — Dylan reworks, rearranges, reinterprets these songs in ways that are still disarming, years after its initial release. He could only have performed interpretations this radical with a group as sympathetic, knowing of his traits as the band, whose own recordings here are respites from the storm. And this is a storm — the sound of a great rocker, surprising his band and audience by tearing through his greatest songs in a manner that might not be comforting, but it guarantees it to be one of the best live albums of its time. Ever, maybe.

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