Folkstone is an Italian folk metal band from Bergamo. The idea was born from Lorenzo, Ferro and Forese, who wanted to bring back to life ancient melodies and put them in a metal key. At the beginning Lorenzo and his tumbler friend Teo started to play Baghèt, the tipical Bergamo’s bagpipe, and after a few month the medieval bagpipe. Folkstone find their inspiration in band like In Extremo, Corvus Corax, Schelmish and other transalpine medieval bands. After a small research, the first line-up was completed and Folkstone were ready to compose their own songs for the mini album “BRIGANTI DI MONTAGNA“. Their live shows are a mix of “extreme medieval metal music” , fire-games and beer.

Wisdom was formed in the fall of 2001 to bring back those glorious days when the performance, the attitude of the musicians and the music they played was intended to impress the audience.Wisdom "Our music is composed of the heavy/power metal elements. Nowadays it is almost impossible to come up with brand new ideas but it is still possible to create something superb. This is our basic concept and the principle we follow and try to adhere to. We especially pay attention to write meaningful and thoughtful lyrics. The whole conception of Wisdom is based upon our drive to share wisdom with our audience through our music. Wiseman, our cabala figure helps us to fulfil this mission."

The challenge for any smooth jazz artist over time is appeasing longtime fans with certain stylistic similarities, yet searching for ways to keep things unique and distinctive with each successive album. Guitarists Nick Webb and Greg Carmichael (the principals in Acoustic Alchemy) kept the reference point of their steel and nylon string chemistry intact while always venturing the new agey jazz trappings they became accustomed to. Their fifth album features sojourns into reggae, flamenco, blues, country-rock, samba, and jazz improvisation, adding up to their most styistically diverse outing up till that time.

Thelonious Monk Quartet With John Coltrane - At Carnegie Hall (1957) {Blue Note}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC, IMG+CUE+LOG -> 299 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 123 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 40 Mb
© 2005 Blue Note | 0946 3 35173 2 5
Jazz / Hard Bop / Piano / Saxophone

On paper it seems as if such titanic and distinctive musical personalities as Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane might not mix very well, but this stellar set, recorded live at Carnegie Hall in 1957, plays almost like a blissful extended duet between the two (with support from a sensitive yet hard-swinging bassist and drummer). The opener, "Monk's Mood," for example, features the composer/pianist's typically brilliant, idiosyncratic playing, while Coltrane floats over the top in the most lyrical of modes. Monk, in particular, is a master of tension-and-release tunefulness, creating rhythmic and harmonic intricacies that seem to spur Coltrane's saxophone exploration to new heights.

Lorez Alexandria has not received her due as a jazz singer, probably due in part to her long layoff from recording (11 years) for nationally distributed labels following these 1964 studio sessions for Impulse! But the vocalist is in top form throughout each of these three sessions, each with a different group of musicians. ~ AllMusic

Portraits is a sprawling, ambitious work composed by bassist Barry Guy that brings together musicians from across the British jazz/improv spectrum, from free music luminaries Evan Parker, Paul Rutherford, and Phil Wachsmann to somewhat more jazz-based players such as Paul Dunmall and Trevor Watts. ~ AllMusic

Early Russian All Night Vigil / S.Rachmaninov Choral Works - B.Tevlin & A.Sveshnikov (1991)
Melodiya | USSR | SUCD 10-00274 | 1991 | 1 CD | EAC Rip | FLAC (img + cue), LOG | Covers (jpg 300 dpi) | TT 68:49 | RAR 272 MB + 3% Recovery
Classical / Choir / Vocal

The artistic concept behind this disc gives us a somewhat unusual compilation, featuring 9 excerpts from an "early Russian" All-Night Vigil–unison chants transcribed from 16th- & 17th-century manuscripts, recorded in 1988 by the Youth & Students Choir of the Moscow Musical Society (Boris Tevlin, cond.) These are followed by the first six movements from Rachmaninoff's "All-Night Vigil," op.37, from the classic (& currently unavailable) 1965 recording by the USSR State Chorus under Alexander Sveshnikov.