Annie & The Hot Club - Play The Songs Of Tom Sturdevant

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 47:47
Size: 109.4 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2007
Art: Front

[2:45] 1. Sugar
[3:28] 2. I Love You
[3:26] 3. Mystery Of Love
[4:08] 4. He Loves Me I Can Tell
[4:08] 5. Pussycats And Moonbeams
[3:48] 6. Wish I
[3:15] 7. Chickadee 'n Cockadoodledoo
[4:08] 8. Full Moon Saturday Night
[3:05] 9. Henry McIntyre
[4:23] 10. Lonely
[3:22] 11. What My Eyes Might Say
[3:51] 12. Last Night I Cried My Eyes Out
[3:55] 13. Simply Beautiful

Annie and the Hot Club in homage to the Hot Club genre (Django-Reinhardt gypsy-swing) bring fiery guitar and violin soloing on repertoire from the 1930's and 40's such as Honeysuckle Rose and Sweet Georgia Brown…and to top it off, the perky storyteller and hard-swinging singer, Annie. Nashville native vocalist Annie Sellick was voted Best Jazz Artist by readers of the Nashville Scene five years in a row, and has since toured all over the world and performed and/or recorded with many of her musical heroes including Mark O'Connor's Hot Swing, Tommy Emmanuel and jazz organ royalty Joey DeFrancesco.

The Hot Club of Nashville is lead by Brittian-born Richard Smith who owns a guitar signed "To my hero, Richard", Jerry Reed and Chet Atkins. Rhythm guitarist Pat Bergeson (expect Howard Levy-like harmonica solos too) moved to Nashville at the request of Chet Atkins to record and join his band, where he remained several years. Fiddle player Aaron Till has performed with Jerry Reed, Tanya Tucker, Pam Tillis and Tommy Emmanuel, among other musical royalty. Bassist Charlie Chadwick who created the Chadwick Folding Bass (that's right folks, an acoustic bass that folds un half) joins the group and Josh Hunt on snare drum.

The group has performed at the Montreal Jazz Festival as well as abroad including the Tommy Emmanuel Guitar Festival in Reitberg, Germany and Poland. They are a mainstay at the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society Convention as well as The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville.

Expect original material as well - songs so reminiscent of an old swing standard that you would think they've been loved for decades, and pop crossovers you might hear on a future album by the likes of Norah Jones or Madeleine Peyroux.

"She hooks up with the Nashville-based Hot Club Band to create a magically fun musical experience. Annie and the Hot Club… is the real deal. It is a fun loving, story telling, toe tapping, tear jerking, sit back and enjoy experience for the listener. A certified "less of the same" endeavor. ~Bruce Pulver

Pat Bergeson (guitar, harmonica); Richard Smith (guitar); Aaron Till (violin); Charlie Chadwick (cello, bass guitar); Tom Giampietro (drums). Personnel: Tom Sturdevant (vocals); Jeff Taylor (accordion).

Play The Songs Of Tom Sturdevant

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Matt Belsante - Blame It On My Youth

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 47:39
Size: 109.1 MB
Styles: Vocal, Easy Listening
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[3:14] 1. Beyond The Sea
[4:01] 2. Brazil
[4:54] 3. At Last
[4:47] 4. A Whiter Shade Of Pale
[3:26] 5. I Saw Her Standing There
[3:56] 6. Blame It On My Youth
[3:12] 7. Witchcraft
[4:06] 8. I Get Along Without You Very Well
[3:09] 9. I Get A Kick Out Of You
[4:24] 10. Haven't Got Much
[4:03] 11. All In Love Is Fair
[4:23] 12. Never My Love

Every once in awhile there comes along a singer who reminds you of something familiar yet something so new that it leaves you smiling; a young crooner's voice that wraps around you like a warm coat on a cold winters day. Matt Belsante is that rare kind of artist who has something new to offer. The Naperville, Illinois native Matt began playing tenor sax in 6th grade and continued to perform in middle and high school jazz bands. "I used to listen to Sinatra with my grandfather when I was little and my dad always had it in the car as well. At home I listened mostly to instrumental stuff and mostly sax players but big band as well and the major vocalists like Ella Fitzgerald," says Belsante. He started to sing in the jazz choir in high school during his junior year while continuing to play sax in the band. In his senior year he won the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award for both vocal jazz and instrumental jazz (the first student at his school to win both). After high school, Matt attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN to study engineering and economics. He contacted Billy Adair, husband of legendary piano player Beegie Adair, about singing for the Blair Music School Big Band. His mindset was to continue to sing jazz with the big band because he loved it, but never really thought about it as a career. During his four years in college, Matt also sang and arranged music for an acapella group called the Dodecaphonics. In his senior year, Matt got the opportunity to sing the songs of Frank Sinatra with the Nashville Jazz Orchestra, a group of Nashville's top jazz musicians. Billy Adair has always been a great teacher and supporter and helped Matt get the gig in the first place. After graduation, Matt was at a crossroads. Should he focus on a budding music career or find a job in his field? "At this point, I really started to think about the possibility of singing jazz in terms of a career. I am going to continue to work on my craft and listen to artists I neglected to realize before this point (Chet Baker, Sarah Vaughan, Julie London, and current artists, Jamie Cullum, Michael Buble). I really started to believe in my ability and felt like I could make a contribution in this genre if I focused on it and continued to study it." Maturing in a city filled with passion for music, Matt has been able to turn his sensitively realistic thoughts into art.

Recording information: My Space Recording, Nashville, TN.

Tom Hemby (acoustic guitar); Pat Begeson (electric guitar); Connie Ellisor, Pamela Sixfin, David Davidson (violin); Jim Grosjean (viola); Anthony LaMarchina (cello); Denis Solee (flute, tenor saxophone); Doug Moffet (bass clarinet, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone); Mark Douthit (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Cole Burgess (alto saxophone); George Tidwell (trumpet, flugelhorn); Mike Haynes , Jeff Bailey , Steve Patrick (trumpet); Beth Beeson, Jennifer Kummer (French horn); Prentiss Hobbs, Chris McDonald, Barry Green (trombone); Pat Coil (piano, organ); Craig Nelson (bass instrument); Scott Williamson, Bob Mater (drums, drum); Eric Darken (percussion); Eliza Quinn, Penelope Vandersnift (background vocals).

Blame It On My Youth

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Billy May - Cha-cha

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 25:39
Size: 58.7 MB
Styles: Latin
Year: 2011
Art: Front

[2:41] 1. In The Mood
[2:23] 2. Twelfth Street-Rag-Cha-Cha
[1:51] 3. The Poor People Of Paris
[2:29] 4. Flyin' Home
[1:55] 5. Bijou-Cha-Cha
[2:20] 6. In A Mellow Tone
[2:40] 7. Tuxedo Junction
[1:56] 8. Leap Frog-Cha-Cha
[2:20] 9. Snowfall Cha Cha
[1:44] 10. Artistry In Rhythm
[1:48] 11. I Remember
[1:27] 12. Goodbye-Cha-Cha

If you are among the millions who have been captivated by that exciting Latin rhythm called the cha-cha-cha, then music-master Billy May has designed this album especially for you. Here, in the tantalizing tempo of this South of the Border dance sensation, is a collection of all-time instrumental favorites, brought up-to-date with delicate cha-cha-rrangements that offer a refreshing contrast to the spectacular big-band orchestrations so often associated with Latin dance music.

Well known swing standards like Flyin’ Home, Tuxedo Junction, and In The Mood are magically transformed into light and nimble cha-chas by "El Gran Maestro," who features here a wondrous assortment of flutes, employing them with great imagination and a good deal of subtle humor to duplicate familiar ensemble and solo passages. The brilliant trumpet and rhythm sections are manned by a fine group of Latin musicians, whose distinctive phrasing and enthusiasm give this album an excitingly genuine Afro-Cuban sound, while the mellow tones of an agile marimba provide additional authentic effects.

Senor May also brings out the cha-cha-characteristics of such unlikely selections as Twelfth Street Rag, Snowfall, The Poor People of Paris, and several other wonderfully outrageous cha-cha-daptations of famous hits in which the flavor of the original arrangements has been retained. Only the beat has been changed to protect the innocent.

Cha-cha

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Janis Siegel - Night Songs - A Late Night Interlude

Styles: Jazz Vocals
Label: Palmetto Records
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:26
Size: 145,2 MB
Art: Front

(7:23)  1. Love Saves (Salva Pantallas)
(4:40)  2. Slow
(5:08)  3. Love and Paris Rain
(6:12)  4. If You Never Come to Me (Inutil Paisgem)
(5:30)  5. Marie
(5:39)  6. You're Mine, You
(5:19)  7. Sweet September Rain
(4:21)  8. A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing
(7:32)  9. Midnight Sun
(6:12) 10. Lover
(4:28) 11. Say You'll Go
(0:56) 12. Clair De Lune

The Manhattan Transfer (1972 - Present)
Founding member of the world's pre-eminent vocal group, interpreting American music from Swing to Rock and Pop to vocalese and Rhythm and Blues. Over the years, Janis has sung lead on many of the Manhattan Transfer's biggest hits, including 'Operator,' 'Twilight Zone,' 'The Boy from New York City,' 'Mystery,' 'Spice of Life,' 'Shaker Song,' 'Birdland,' 'Ray's Rockhouse,' and the 5-million selling 'Chanson D'Amour.' Janis co-produced the group's Pastiche album, and has arranged many of the vocals on the Transfer's 18 albums, yielding her aGrammy for Best Vocal Arrangement for 'Birdland.' In 1991, Janis co-wrote and sang lead on the Grammy-winning performance for 'Sassy.'

Solo Work
Janis has mounted regular solo singing projects and tours throughout the years when not recording or touring with The Manhattan Transfer. She has toured all throughout the United States, is eagerly anticipating her first solo European tour in Spring 2005, and has recently performed in Panama. Her first solo album, Experiment in White, was released in 1981. At Home, her second solo effort, garnered Janis a Grammy nomination for Best Female Jazz Vocal. In 1985, Janis joined Jon Hendricks, Bobby McFerrin, Dianne Reeves in a group called 'Sing, Sing, Sing' and performed to raves at The Playboy Jazz Festival and The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. Other solo performances include the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Tri-C Jazz Festival, The North Beach Jazz Festival and stints at Birdland in NYC and the Blue Note in NYC and Tokyo. Janis has an ongoing duo collaboration with pianist Fred Hersch. Their first album, Short Stories, earned another Grammy nomination in 1989. The second album with Fred Hersch, Slow Hot Wind, was released in 1995 on Varese/Sarabande Records. Janis and Fred have toured extensively in the U.S. and Japan, and have also done radio concerts, T.V. and private dates. Her fifth solo album entitled The Tender Trap was released by Monarch Records in 1999, was produced and arranged by Fred Hersch, and featured Russell Malone, Matt Wilson, Victor Lewis, Michael Brecker and Hank Crawford. I Wish You Love, released in 2002, marked her first CD for the Telarc label and a return to working with longtime collaborator and friend Joel Dorn. Friday Night Special followed in 2003 featuring soul jazz and bluesy grooves with a first-rate organ/tenor ensemble consisting of Joey DeFrancesco and Houston Person. Her most recent Telarc release, 2004's Sketches of Broadway, was produced and arranged by longtime friend Gil Goldstein. Janis will be touring on Night Songs in 2013.~Editorial Reviews  http://www.amazon.com/Night-Songs-Janis-Siegel/dp/B00DX88GFC .

Night Songs

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Beegie Adair & Jaimee Paul - After the Ball

Styles: Vocal, Piano Jazz

Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:00
Size: 139,7 MB
Scans: Front

(4:17)  1. Let Me Call You Sweetheart
(4:20)  2. I Love a Piano
(5:50)  3. You Are My Sunshine
(5:51)  4. After the Ball
(4:00)  5. A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody
(5:02)  6. I'm Always Chasing Rainbows
(2:48)  7. They Didn't Believe Me
(4:19)  8. I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now?
(3:03)  9. 3 O'Clock in the Morning
(4:37) 10. Poor Butterfly
(3:38) 11. Shine On Harvest Moon
(4:56) 12. You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)
(4:12) 13. Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life
(3:58) 14. Sweet and Low

This unique collection of piano and vocal duets by jazz's reigning queen of the keys, Beegie Adair, and the exciting young chanteuse, Jaimee Paul, highlights songs from the turn of the 20th century. With compositions originating from the 1860s to the 1930s, this sentimental treasure trove includes such favorites as Let Me Call You Sweetheart, Sweet & Low, A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody, Shine On Harvest Moon and many more. Adair's light melodic touch combined with Paul's charming and emotive interpretation of the lyrics of these classic compositions creates a historical, yet endearing piece of musical work from beginning to end. After the Ball album by Beegie Adair / Jamie Paul was released Jun 05, 2012 on the Green Hill Music label.

Personnel: Jaimee Paul (vocals); Beegie Adair (piano)

After the Ball

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Larry Carlton - Take Your Pick

Styles: Jazz
Label: 335 Records
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:08
Size: 141,2 MB
Art: Front

(4:22)  1. Jazzy Bullets
(6:08)  2. Nite Crawler 2010
(4:57)  3. The Way We Were
(4:38)  4. Islands Of Japan
(6:16)  5. Neon Blue
(4:33)  6. Tokyo Night
(4:53)  7. Hotalu
(5:31)  8. East West Stroll
(5:11)  9. Easy Mystery
(4:08) 10. Ao
(4:49) 11. Take Your Pick
(5:36) 12. A Girl From China

It's a shame that artists' careers are reduced to oversimplifications of who they are and what they're capable of. Guitarist Larry Carlton, for example despite releasing kick-ass blues-centric records like Sapphire Blue (Bluebird, 2004) and, more recently, the exciting yet unfailingly tasty Live in Tokyo (335 Records, 2007), not to mention delivering iconic solos on Steely Dan albums like The Royal Scam (MCA, 1976) and Gaucho (MCA, 1980) is, more often than not, associated with the smooth jazz of albums like Alone/But Never Alone (MCA, 1986). Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that, especially when it's real players playing music that's easy on the ears but has its own set of challenges, but it's too easy to forget that Carlton can play through changes with the best of them, as his still-stunning bop-centric solo on "Mulberry Street," from Strikes Twice (MCA, 1981), amply proved nearly thirty years ago. If Carlton can be criticized of anything, it's his emphatic lyricism and unfailing taste, though it seems incredulous that the words "too" and "melodic" could ever be used together in the same sentence. Take Your Pick teams the veteran session man and, yes, smooth jazz hit maker with Japan's Tak Matsumoto guitarist for B'z and, with over 80 million albums sold in his country alone, no less an icon, at least in some parts of the world. Carlton's name may come first, but this is a truly collaborative effort, with the two guitarists splitting the writing and arranging duties right down the middle; Matsumoto even arranges two of his tunes for a Japanese horn section, while Carlton brings in some American ringers to spice up three of his tunes. But regardless of where the music was recorded from Franklin and Nashville to Los Angeles and Tokyo the core rhythm section of drummer Billy Kilson (Dave Holland, Chris Botti), bassist Michael Rhodes ((J.J. Cale, Aaron Neville, and keyboardist Jeff Babko (Sheryl Crowe}}, James Taylor Quartet) keeps things honest on a set that leans towards a lighter complexion, though between Carlton and Matsumoto, there's plenty of grit to give the music some edge and energy. Carlton's sweeter tone, recognizable vibrato and slightly broader language makes him easily distinguishable from the largely fuzzier-toned and rockier Matsumoto, especially on tracks like the Japanese guitarist's opening "JAZZY BULLETS," a finger-snapping tune with some tasty twin-guitar melodies and ass-kicking solos. But Matsumoto proves capable of a cleaner tone and twangier disposition on "Nite Crawler 2010" an update on Carlton's self-titled 1978 MCA debut and the similarly light funk of the Japanese axe-slinger's "THE WAY WE WERE." Surprisingly, the more oriental-sounding references come on Carlton tracks like "Islands of Japan," with its koto samples. The lighter disposition at the start of the disc kicks into higher gear on Carlton's rocking, horn-driven "Easy Mystery," and the greasy funk of Matsumoto's closing "A girl from China." Throughout, Carlton may navigate the changes with a little more finesse, but he's well-matched, in tone and feel, with Matsumoto, making the easygoing but undeniably satisfying Take Your Pick less a matter of "either/or" and more a case of "and." ~John Kelman http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=37409#.UiTRsD-wVw8.

Personnel: Larry Carlton: guitar, arrangements (2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11); Tak Matsumoto: guitar (1, 3, 6, 7, 10, 12); Billy Kilson: drums; Michael Rhodes: bass; Jeff Babko: keyboards; Mark Douthit: saxophone (2, 9, 11); Watanabe Fire: saxophone (1, 12); Kazuhiro Takesa: saxophone (1, 12); Mike Haynes: trumpet (2, 9, 11); Osamu Ueishi: trumpet (1, 12); Barry Green: trombone (2, 9, 11); Azusa Tojo: trombone (1, 12).

Take Your Pick

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