I just found out through a friend of mine that the Complete Miles Davis box set is available from Amazon in the UK.  This set features all of Miles Davis’s recordings on the Columbia label.  It also features a new release in the complete Isle of Wight festival performance, and includes a DVD as well.

The deal through Amazon in the U.S. is currently around $293, which works out to just over $4 per disc (the set has 70 discs).  It is also an exclusive Amazon item.  What I wasn’t aware of is that Amazon UK has it also, but at a much lower cost.  In fact, the total cost is over $70 less than the US price, shipped to the US!  Read on for details and an ordering link.

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This past Sunday (November 15th), we were fortunate to see Herb Alpert, Lani Hall and their stellar band in concert at the Wharton Center in East Lansing, Michigan.  Despite my usual aversion to anything Spartan-related (inside joke), we made the trip and had an enjoyable evening of music.  Touring with Herb and Lani are Hussain Jiffry on bass, Michael Shapiro on drums and percussion, and Bill Cantos on piano and vocals.

The set list for this gig was pretty much the same as other stops on the tour, but the whole musical approach is open and flexible.  It is as though the whole group comes in with their rough sketches of the songs beforehand, and completely colors them in during the performance, with the lucky audience able to witness the artistry firsthand.  In other words, a lot of the music is improvised, but it still follows the basic arrangement on which it is based.

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The Brian Setzer Orchestra’s newest release on Surfdog Records, Songs from Lonely Avenue, is available today.  The new project features Setzer and the orchestra doing a new set of self-penned “jazz noir” compositions, to capture the cinematic mood of film soundtracks from the 1940s and 1950s.  It is released in a few different formats: a CD-only version, an LP version with CD, and a deluxe audiophile edition with the standard CD and LP, a 4-LP audiophile 45RPM version, and among other extras, a disc of multitracks where you can mix your own version of the album!  It is also available as an Amazon MP3 download.  The tracks so far sound pretty amazing–look for a full review here within a week or two!

I grew up listening to Edu Lobo’s music.  I didn’t have any of his own recordings up until the past decade or so, but by listening to Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66, and the Tijuana Brass, I became familiar with a few of his songs.  Back then, I had no idea how influential he was to Brazilian music in general.  After reading Ruy Castro’s Bossa Nova, I learned the roots of Brazilian music, and how the bossa nova originators and later Brazilian musical movements all fit in together.

Edu Lobo came onto the scene in the early to mid 60s, and he recorded his debut album in 1965: A Música de Edu Lobo por Edu Lobo. Even better: he’s accompanied by the Tamba Trio, which was already a well-known bossa nova group that leaned more toward the jazz side of the music.  Do they fit well together?

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September 9, 2009 is The Big Day for Beatles fans around the world, as that is when the new 2009 remasters are officially available for sale.  Rudy’s Corner was fortunate enough to listen to some pre-release CDs over the past few days, and compared some of the tracks to the original 1987 releases.  Remasters can go one of two ways: better sonics, or worse.  What’s the verdict?  Given the cross-sampling of tracks I’ve heard so far, I think that most Beatles fans should be pleased.

Continue reading Beatles 2009 Remasters: First Impressions →