Mel Torme - Swingin' On The Moon (1960)

Mel Torme - Swingin' On The Moon (1960)

  The Chill factor is high on this one kids !  Loung'ie and yet crooner'ish and yet jazzy and even a bit spacey ...all in one album.  Torme emotes that on track 2 Midnight Cocktails are THE thing !  I totally dig this album and think Mel had a great voice.  On this album Torme reinterpreted the songs to fit the theme of this album being that of the lunar space and stratosphere. 

Elton John SACD (1969)

Elton John (1969) Island Records SACD

  The early Elton John albums are to die for......and although this was his 2nd album it really all started here with this album in collaboration with Bernie Taupin.  On this album Elton started to really combine strings and orchestra with the band and fuse lyrics in a way that was pretty ground breaking.  `Sixty Years On` is one of the great numbers

  Elton ever wrote and really could have come off of the Moody Blues `Days of Future Pass`album with is delicate orchestration and pop magical`ness.  `The King Must Die`is another pure magical moment as well that will have you memorized.

Julie London - London By Night (1958)

Julie London - London By Night (1958) Remaster

   Julie London had one of the greatest voices of all time......timeless and perfect.   Every darn time she just gets me "right there"....something that words just can`t express.    London By Night is a great late night chillin album for when you just need to kick back and take er easy.    This is one of THE Melancholy albums of all time.

Jimmy Smith - Back At The Chicken Ranch (1963) SACD

Jimmy Smith - Back At The Chicken Ranch (1963) Analogue Productions SACD

   Jimmy Smith's "Back At The Chicken Shack" is one of the hallmark albums for lovers of the organ driven jazz.  This album is a combo of soul, blues, jazz and fusion genres ....all in one album.  Jimmy Smith is helped out on by Stanley Turrentine (tenor saxophone), Kenny Burrell (guitar) and Donald Bailey (drums).  Jazz organ enthusiasts (like me) will love this album with its soulful presence and mindful jazziness.

Mike Oldfield - Incantations (1978) Deluxe Edition

Mike Oldfield - Incantations (1978) Deluxe Edition

  The Deluxe Edition of Mike Oldfield's 1978 album Incantations is the Holy Grail of all versions of this gem.   This 3 disc set (2 audio and one DVD) brings to life finally this masterpiece album with outstanding tone quality.  Included here is Mike's own remastered version and a 5.1 mix of the same album.  The 3rd disc is a DVD recorded live in 1979 at Wembley with a promo video of "Guilty".   The live DVD is worth the whole package alone....with guest appearances by Wigwam's Pekka Phojola (bass), Pierre Moerlen (Drums) and David Bedford (percussion) to name a few of the more famed guests.    Overall for fans of this album I would highly recommend this deluxe edition as the mixes are just so much more improved  and really and finally brings this recording to life.

  I think one of the great musical moments is at the 8:00 min mark of Part One when the electronica starts and Oldfield fuses this with the choral vocals and flute which builds to a great epic ending.   Genius stuff .......pure genius

The Thorns (2003)

The Thorns - 2003, Aware Records (Special 2 CD Edition)
 
  The Thorns have sadly only released this one solo album....and equally sadly is the fact that this album was not well liked by the public'!.   This is an album of beautifully crafted pop songs with some fantastic vocal harmonies and excellent songwriting.  In many ways this album feels like an ode to Crosby Stills and Nash with the overall harmonic approach.    The Thorns was the combined talents of 3 contemporary popmeisters....Matthew Sweet, Shawn Mullins and Pete Droge.
  The Special 2 CD edition of this album contains a second acoustic take on the album which is absolutely essential and often it is a toss up which disc I will play.

An excellent album

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Couldn't Stand The Weather (1984)

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Couldn't Stand The Weather (1984) Legacy 2 CD Remaster

   Lets start off 2012 on the right foot shall we ?  
      "Couldn't Stand The Weather" was the 2nd album way back from guitar blues wizard Stevie Ray Vaughan.  Follow up albums are usually key and Vaughan and Double Trouble managed to pull off another great album to support perhaps my favourite blues rock album of all time.... "Texas Flood". 
   Not a bad track on this album with 2 absolutely stunning ones "Tin Pan Alley" and his ode to Jimbo Hendrix "Voodoo Child (slight return) which is just a stunning version.  Included in the legacy 2 CD remastered edition is a live performance from Montreal at the Spectrum (Aug 17th, 1984) .  Also included are a number of unreleased tracks from these recording sessions making this quite a stunning package.