Ottmar Liebert & Luna Negra - Rumba Collection 1992-1997

Time: 52:30
Size: 122.9 MB
Label: Epic
Styles: Flamenco, New Age
Year: 1998
Bitrate: 320K/s
Art: Front

[4:56] 1. Reaching Out 2 U (Todos Bajo La Misma Luna) Salsa 4 Peace
[3:52] 2. Snakecharmer
[4:32] 3. Montana Walking
[4:10] 4. Havana Club
[4:54] 5. Merengue De Alegrias (Candy 4 My Soul)
[4:52] 6. Butterfly + Juniper 4 Kelly
[4:10] 7. Turkish Night (with fade)
[3:40] 8. 'Black Hair In The Wind'
[4:06] 9. Ocean Blvd. / Miami
[4:44] 10. Lone Rider (4 slick) (with fade)
[4:47] 11. Tremulo (De Mi Corazon) (Unreleased Edit)
[3:42] 12. Barcelona Nights/Speed Merengue '97 (Unreleased Version)

Rumba Collection: 1992-1997 is an excellent summation of Ottmar Liebert's rumba recordings of the '90s, capturing some of his very best performances of the decade. Ten of these tracks are drawn from his popular albums for Epic -- Solo Para Ti, The House Between Night and Day, Viva! and Opium -- while two other cuts are previously unreleased: an edited version of "Tremulo" and a "speed merengue" version of "Barcelona Nights." ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Rumba Collection 1992-1997

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Bette Midler - Jackpot: The Best Bette

Time: 67:40
Size: 154.9 MB
Label: WEA/Rhino
Styles: Adult Contemporary, Soft rock
Year: 2008
Bitrate: 320K/s
Art: Front

[2:41] 1. In The Mood
[3:06] 2. This Ole House
[3:48] 3. Beast of Burden
[3:55] 4. Just My Imagination [Running Away With Me]
[3:35] 5. The Rose
[4:59] 6. When A Man Loves A Woman
[1:31] 7. I've Still Got My Health
[5:31] 8. Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most
[4:18] 9. Hello In There
[3:17] 10. The Glory Of Love
[3:12] 11. Tenderly
[4:55] 12. Wind Beneath My Wings
[2:44] 13. Do You Want To Dance
[2:27] 14. Baby Mine
[4:39] 15. From A Distance
[2:18] 16. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
[2:55] 17. Friends
[5:11] 18. Something Your Heart Has Been Telling Me [Demo Version]
[2:29] 19. Cool Yule

This 20-track collection is the second "Best of Bette" collection & is a good overview of Bette's career. Early hits like "Do You Want to Dance?," "In the Mood," & her signature song "Friends" are balanced with newer recordings like "Cool Yule," which went to #1 on my personal top ten last Christmas. Always, fans will have favorites songs like "In These Shoes," "Shining Star" or "Mambo Italiano" that were not included. However, this volume is well-engineered. The booklet is informative. Several tracks from films are included like the Carole King-David Foster-Carole Bayer Sager tune "My One True Friend" & "Baby Mine" from "Beaches." The previously unreleased demo from 1984, "Something Your Heart Has Been Telling Me," is a delightful track co-penned by Bette, "Last night I heard you calling, I heard you calling out a name I did not know." Two tracks shine here in replay, the Rolling Stones' "Beast of Burden" pops out of the speakers with some burning electric lead guitar; and the Temptations' #1 hit "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)" shimmers delightfully. "Jackpot!" is an excellent overview from this consummate actress-singer. Bravo! ~Lee Armstrong

Jackpot: The Best Bette

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Wes Montgomery - A Day In The Life

Time: 34:53
Size: 79.9 MB
Label: A&M
Styles: Guitar jazz
Year: 1967/1990
Bitrate: 320K/s
Art: Front

[5:49] 1. A Day In The Life
[2:45] 2. Watch What Happens
[2:55] 3. When A Man Loves A Woman
[2:32] 4. California Nights
[2:50] 5. Angel
[3:08] 6. Eleanor Rigby
[4:35] 7. Willow Weep For Me
[2:22] 8. Windy
[4:28] 9. Trust In Me
[3:25] 10. The Joker

As is usual on Wes Montgomery's later recordings, underneath all the orchestrated strings, horns, and windwinds, there's a killer rhythm section hard at work, and A DAY IN THE LIFE is no exception, with Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Grady Tate holding everything together. It's hard not to measure everything Montgomery did after 1963 against the four years of cooking, small-group albums he made for Riverside starting in 1959; the later, more arranged material is certainly less pure in terms of jazz content.

But the Verve and A&M albums were conscious attempts to market the guitarist to a wider audience, and as successful pop records, they gave Montgomery some degree of financial security after years of struggling to support a family of six on a jazzman's income. What's remarkable in retrospect is the amount of blowing that does occur here. On "Eleanor Rigby," of all places, the band lays down a groove for Wes to riff over before the strings come cascading back in, and good things happen also on the two standards, "Watch What Happens," and "Willow Weep For Me."

Recorded at Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, New Jeresey on June 6-8 & 26, 1967.

Wes Montgomery (vocals); Margaret Ross (harp); Harry Glickman, Lewis Eley, Julius Brand, Harry Urbont, Tosha Samaroff, Leo Krucczek, Sylvan Shulman, Peter Buonconsigilio, Mac Ceppos, Jack Zayde, Harry Katzman, Gene Orloff (violin); Harold Coletta, Emanuel Vardi (viola); Stanley Webb (bass flute, woodwinds); George Marge, Joe Soldo, Romeo Penque (bass flute); Phil Bodner (woodwinds); Ray Alonge (French horn); Herbie Hancock (piano); Grady Tate (drums); Jack Jennings, Joe Wohletz, Ray Barretto (percussion).

A Day In The Life

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