VA - Blues Guitar Blasters (2018/FLAC)

 

Warner Music compilation of blues guitar killers

The Shadows - Original Album Series (5 CD, 2015/FLAC)

 

1961 The Shadows 

1962 Out of The Shadows 

1964 Dance With The Shadows 

1965 The Sound of The Shadows 

1966 Shadow Music 

Modern Jazz : Encyclopedia of Jazz [100 CD, 2008] CD 1-10

 

CD 1: Miles Davis (1953–54) Vol. 1

CD 2: Miles Davis (1953–54) Vol. 2

CD 3: Miles Davis (1954) Vol. 3

CD 4: Miles Davis (1955–56) Vol. 4

CD 5: Dave Brubeck (1953) Vol. 1

CD 6: Dave Brubeck (1953–54) Vol. 2

CD 7: Lee Konitz (1956)

CD 8: Lee Konitz, Gerry Mulligan, Shorty Rogers (1951–53)

CD 9: Tony Scott & Bill Evans (1957)

CD 10: J.J. Johnson (1954–55) 

Johnny Otis and Friends - The Story of the Blues (2 CD, 2004/FLAC)

 There can’t be many people who have done more in the name of rhythm & blues than John Alexander Veliotes – Johnny Otis to his friends and fans.

Johnny has packed a lot into his lifetime: author, father, painter, radio DJ, TV host, sculptor, political activist, priest, farmer and much more besides. But whatever he’s known for, it’s the music he’s been making since the mid-1940s that has always endeared him to record collectors and marked him as one of the true originators of R&B.

VA- The Complete Stax - Volt Soul Singles Vol. 2, 1968-1971 [9 CD]

 

The first Stax-Volt box was a monolith, standing as the definitive document of the labels and, therefore, gritty Southern soul. Its sequel, The Complete Stax-Volt Soul Singles, Vol. 2: 1968-1971 is considerably more problematic. Covering only four years compared to its predecessor, which showcased nine years, Vol. 2 contains 216 tracks, including all of the A- and B-sides released during that era. Most critics consider these four years to be substantially less interesting than Stax's earlier years, and in a sense, they're right. There's no Otis Redding or Sam & Dave, and the music doesn't have the same innovative, kinetic spark of the early years. There's still a lot of great, great music here, but it's difficult to sort it out among these nine discs. About three or four discs' worth of material is truly essential, and it might have been better to boil this era down to a smaller box set, since that would have made for a necessary purchase. As it stands, it's too sprawling and comprehensive to be an essential purchase for anyone other than soul fetishists and hardcore collectors, but those listeners should find much of this fascinating.