Mogwai Special Moves on vinyl!

One of the finest live records I've had the pleasure of listening to. Renowned post rock pioneers Mogwai come with a double live LP of extended post-rock instrumentals that are perfect in every way, each a trip and beautifully recorded. The vinyl is very good, a blessing as the pieces are very dynamically varied and often come to very quiet, delicate and nuanced passages that need a quiet surface.

If you love Meddle era Pink Floyd as much as I do, you must hear this record and if you are prone to flashbacks, you'll surely have a few here. One of the best releases of 2010.

The last Hank Jones on Japanese vinyl:

The lengthy and distinguished career of the last Jones brother comes to a close on these two superb recordings only issued in Japan.

First is "Last Recordings", a quintet date adding Roy Hargrove's trumpet and Raymond McMorrin's tenor to the Hank Jones Great Jazz Trio.

Notwithstanding the valedictory nature of the affair, Jones no doubt had no idea this would be his final statement, so it's a lively and elegantly played affair that has Hank at the height of his powers and even stretching a bit by the quintet format. Fine playing by Hargrove and McMorrin. Superbly recorded (the vinyl sourced from DSD digital and sounding great) and the usual flawless Japanese pressing.

Nearly as good is Hank Jones "Jam At Basie", a live recording at the Japanese club that has a great live vibe about it and a bit more solo space for all. Basically the same band as "Last Recordings" minus Hargrove.

Two fitting tributes to a giant now silenced.

Hard to find on vinyl as these sold out very quickly in Japan, but I understand that a second pressing was done and may be found at Eastwind. Get them if you can.

Catching up with ECM on CD: Manu Katche, Beethoven, Nik Bartsch's Ronin:

ECM have been stepping up to the plate with some great titles on great sounding Cee-dees this year, and here are a few.

Manu Katche's Third Round is exceptional. It evokes a late 60's vibe, a late night, soulful jazz vibe, much in the vein of a lot of the late 60's/early 70's material that came from Atlantic but without the dated production and questionable Joel Dormn choices. Having an electric piano on several tunes is part of evoking that era, also, Pino Paadino's unexpected superb bass and the tenor of under-rated Tore Brunborg - channeling the masters of the era - combine with Katche's superb sense of rythmic complexity that never loses a soulful beat to make a simply excellent record that gets 5 doobies and a high recommendation.

On the classical side, a superb Beethoven piano concerto reading of the 4th and 5th by Till Fellner, Kurt Nagano and the excellent Montreal Symphony. Fellner has a light tough, power in reserve, and a lyrical sense that is superbly accompanied by the insightful and brilliant Nagano. Given an excellent, spacious recording that integrates the piano well yet doesn't submerge it, this one is a high recommendation that is off the traditional label mill giving a fresh, vibrant look at these warhorses.

On the right, we have Nik Bartsch's Ronin and 'Llyria', a fine record of abstract yet grounded performances with a traditional quartet + percussionist. Great atmospheric sound well suits the abstract, but accessible modern 'jazz' music that is a 4 doobie recommendation.

Interesting that the best jazz - in fact, the only vibrant black classical music scenes are in Europe. More on that soon.