CTI Records 40th Anniversary Celebration Continues!

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African American, CTI Records, Deodato, George Benson, Jazz, Jim Hall, Milt Jackson, Paul Desmond, Ron Carter

Long overdue, I can’t wait to revisit these marvelous recordings from CTI!

SONY MASTERWORKS JAZZ RELEASES CLASSIC REISSUES FROM GEORGE BENSON, DEODATO, MILT JACKSON, PAUL DESMOND, JIM HALL AND RON CARTER

Available: JANUARY 25, 2011

George Benson - WHITE RABBIT (Remastered)

Also available, critically acclaimed CTI Records: The Cool Revolution deluxe 4-CD box and California Concert: The Hollywood Palladium 2-CD set featuring previously unreleased tracks.

NEW YORK, Jan. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Masterworks Jazz continues the celebration of the 40th anniversary of CTI Records, the beloved jazz label founded in 1970 by producer Creed Taylor with the release of 6 more classic reissues available on January 25th, 2011. They include: White Rabbit by George Benson, All Blues by Ron Carter (first time on CD in the U.S.), Prelude by Deodato, Pure Desmond by Paul Desmond, Concierto by Jim Hall, and Milt Jackson’s Sunflower. The reissues are packaged in eco-friendly softpack sleeves that replicate the original gatefold LP design and their iconic covers most with photos by Pete Turner.

White Rabbit is perhaps George Benson’s finest album for CTI, featuring the signature title track arrangement of the Jefferson Airplane classic – a 1972 Grammy® nominee for Best Jazz Performance by a Group.

[Classic Jazz Revisited] … Various Artists, California Concert: The Hollywood Palladium

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AIRTO MOREIRA, Billy Cobham, Freddie Hubbard, George Benson, HANK CRAWFORD, Hubert Laws, Jazz, JOHNNY HAMMOND, Ron Carter, Stanley Turrentine

Classic Jazz Revisited

Various Artists - California Concert

Various Artists -][- California Concert: The Hollywood Palladium – [SONY MASTERWORKS, 2010]

With CTI Records having gone independent in 1970, founder Creed Taylor celebrated the early success of the label with a one night only concert at the Hollywood Palladium on July 18, 1971.

Taylor handpicked a dream team of CTI artists for California Concert: The Hollywood Palladium, with GEORGE BENSON on guitar, FREDDIE HUBBARD on trumpet, HUBERT LAWS on flute, STANLEY TURRENTINE on tenor saxophone, HANK CRAWFORD on alto saxophone, JOHNNY HAMMOND on organ and electric piano, RON CARTER on bass, BILLY COBHAM on drums and AIRTO MOREIRA on percussion.

California Concert: The Hollywood Palladium is newly remastered from the original two-track analog tapes and is the most complete version of the legendary concert ever released. This 2-CD set doubles the content of the original five-song LP release with five additional tracks – three of them previously unreleased – and restores the original concert sequence for the first time.

Disc: 1

1. Impressions (previously unreleased)
2. Fire And Rain
3. Red Clay
4. Blues West
5. So What (previously unreleased)

Disc: 2

1. Here’s That Rainy Day
2. It’s Too Late
3. Sugar
4. Leaving West
5. Straight Life (previously unreleased)

..:: Source: Amazon.com ::..

Marc Antoine -][- My Classical Way [Frazzy Frog Music]

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Arts, Canada, George Benson, Guitar, Jazz, Los Angeles, Marc Antoine, Music

Marc Antoine - My Classical Way

Marc Antoine -][- My Classical Way – [Frazzy Frog Music, 2010]

Guitarist, composer and producer, Marc Antoine, was born in Paris (France) on the 28th of May 1963. His parents bought him his first guitar when he was 11 years old which quickly became his third arm. Marc has had a guitar in his hands ever since.

At age 13, his father saw such rapid progress that he sent him to the conservatory where he would study classical music. By then his mentors were Andres Segovia and John Williams.

At 17 he’d already won many prizes and started showing an interest in a variety of music genres including jazz, rock, Afro, pop, and more. At the same time he was playing in local bands in Britany (France).

Tragedy struck in the summer of 1981 when his debut career got cut short by a devastating accident to his left hand. The surgeon told him that his chances of playing guitar again were very slim and next to nothing. However, through the adversity, his love and passion for music helped him overcome this tragedy and in 1984 he was back on the scene in Paris, performing in clubs and recording for artists like Philippe Petit, Charlelie Couture, Jill Kaplan, France Gall, and Ray Lema.

Fuse One | Silk

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African American, George Benson, Jazz, Stanley Clarke, Wynton Marsalis

Music mogul Creed Taylor, was the founder, producer, and visionary of CTI Records. He seemed to rarely miss the mark as a producer. With each project, his creative productions appealed to jazz fans world-wide as they adored dozens of quality recordings during the late sixties, seventies and early eighties. Fuse One was one of those magical moments. Frankly, I’m a little hesitant when record labels and producers release all-star projects. Production is usually good, but they have a tendency to neglect listeners needs compositionally. However, this is not the case. With Mr. Taylor’s vision, concept, and insight he balanced a near perfect combination of songs to produce another enjoyable and accessible recording featuring a cast of the finest musicians available is one of those gems. Yes, this production by the gifted Creed Taylor is reason enough to celebrate quality music! ~ The Urban Flux

Fuse One | Silk – [CTI, 1981] – The Weekend Spin

Fuse One, Silk

At his worst, Creed Taylor had a way of smothering a potentially great jazz album by producing it to death. But when he didn’t overproduce — when he gave musicians the right amount of guidance and direction yet let them have enough room to stretch out and improvise — Taylor created some real winners. One of them was Fuse One’s Silk, an all-star jazz-pop-funk project that boasted Stanley Turrentine on tenor sax, Tom Browne or Wynton Marsalis on trumpet, Ronnie Foster on electric keyboards, Stanley Clarke on electric bass, Eric Gale or George Benson on electric guitar, Sammy Figueroa on percussion, and Leon “Ndugu” Chancler on drums. With Taylor doing the producing and Clarke serving as musical director, congenial pieces like Foster’s “Sunwalk” and Chancler’s “Silk” offer a healthy blend of jazz, R&B, and pop elements. It’s interesting to hear a 19-year-old Marsalis letting loose on Chancler’s Latin-flavored “Hot Fire” (which originally appeared on George Duke’s Reach for It album in 1977), and note how he sounded in 1981 — at that point, he wasn’t emulating Miles Davis and had a big, brassy sound along the lines of Clifford Brown and Freddie Hubbard.

Considering how strident a jazz purist Marsalis would become, it’s surprising to hear him playing crossover. Not that Silk is “watered down” or anything like that. Though the material proved to be accessible to pop and R&B fans, it’s also quite creative and doesn’t toss jazz considerations to the wind. Unfortunately, this LP remains out of print and has yet to be reissued on CD. —Alex Anderson

Source: Allmusic.com