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As a genre, jazz is particularly ripe for reissue mania. Many records by artists who didn't fall into the Coltrane/Miles/Monk axis were never issued on CD and have remained the exclusive bounty of seasoned vinyl hunters. Portland distribution company Allegro is the conduit for the Savoy Jazz MS 20-bit Master Transfer Collection, which features 32 titles from the '40s and '50s. The CDs come in sleeves that emulate the original vinyl packaging, complete with back-cover essays (though you may need a magnifying glass to read them in this shrunken form). The recordings include brilliant performances from Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers (Midnight Session) and Lester Young (The Master's Touch). Remastered from the 78-rpm vinyl, these recordings sound remarkably vibrant and warm, and they're devoid of the static and hiss that mars many such efforts. One of the most worthy artists to benefit from this trend is Rahsaan Roland Kirk. The blind multi-instrumentalist died in 1977 at age 41, and many of his recordings languished until New York's 32 Jazz began resurrecting his work last year. The follow-up to 1997's Dog Years in the Fourth Ring is the breathtaking Aces Back to Back (its release date is April 28), a four-CD set that collects four out-of-print Kirk albums originally released on Atlantic between 1968 and 1976. Besides traditional instruments like saxophone and flute, Kirk experimented with conch shells and whistles on his sprawling, genre-jumping compositions, which featured sizable ensembles backing him on brass, strings and percussion. This made him too outré for purists of his time, but the Aces set allows for a reassessment of his recordings. The Kirk collection is an example of the best-case scenario for reissues, in which they prove that in retrospect, an artist overlooked in his time was making revolutionary music that still sounds fresh and vital today. Lilith Can You Hear Me?: As reported in this space a month ago, last year's most successful touring festival, the Lilith Fair, kicks off its '98 go-'round June 19 in Portland. Its mastermind, Sarah McLachlan, offers a sneak preview with a two-night stand at the Rose Garden Arena Theater of the Clouds (which, I point out for accuracy's sake, doesn't actually have any clouds). The Canadian singer and her famously bespectacled colleague Lisa Loeb appear April 20 and 21. McLachlan's about to become even more famous, as Arista will soon release a two-CD feminine fest called Lilith Fair: A Celebration of Women in Music, featuring a mostly commendable list of sure-selling hot-shots (Paula Cole, Indigo Girls, Jewel, Shawn Colvin) and some who deserve the added exposure they'll undoubtedly get (Victoria Williams, Emmylou Harris, Auteur De Lucie). |
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