Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Ann Savoy & Her Sleepless Knights - If Dreams Come True

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 45:20
Size: 103.8 MB
Styles: Swing, Jazz vocals
Year: 2007
Art: Front

[3:42] 1. If Dreams Come True
[4:22] 2. The Very Thought Of You
[2:56] 3. Melodie Au Crepuscule
[3:31] 4. Getting Some Fun Out Of Life
[4:19] 5. If You Don't I Know Who Will
[3:55] 6. Ces Petites Choses
[4:42] 7. Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered
[4:06] 8. If Your Kisses Can't Hold The Man You Love
[4:35] 9. It's Like Reaching For The Moon
[4:45] 10. Si Tu Savais
[4:21] 11. The Way You Look Tonight

Renowned for her respectful and authentic zydeco recordings with a variety of groups, Ann Savoy took a small detour on this 2007 release that lounges near the smoother, jazzier end of the French-Southern spectrum, and includes several jazz and pop standards as well. Savoy's voice is red-wine rich and intoxicating, and Her Sleepless Knights provide able support. ANN SAVOY & HER SLEEPLESS KNIGHTS Ann Savoy never rests musically. She and the players have produced a hugely enjoyable and timeless recording. ~ Richard Thompson

In the world of Cajun music, Ann Savoy is one of the most admired icons of the genre. She's a singer with a gift for subtlety and nuance, an adept musician and producer. Beyond that, as a writer and photographer, she has extensively documented the unique music and culture of Southwest Louisiana. Now, with the May 15th release of Ann Savoy & Her Sleepless Knights, she's making music that breaks new ground while maintaining respect for the traditions of the past. She, together with her all-star band, has made an album of jazz-tinged music that is, at once, swinging and sultry. With both down home and cosmopolitan overtones, it's a unique work that is certain to find an audience far removed from the Louisiana prairie and bayou land that birthed it. Born and raised in Richmond, VA, she began playing guitar as a pre-teen and went on to become a French major at the University of Virginia.

She met Cajun music traditionalist Marc Savoy more than thirty years ago at the National Folk Festival in Washington, DC. The two soon married and went on to raise four children. Ann would write Cajun Music: A Reflection of a People, a Botkin Book Award winner, a chronicle of the history of Cajun and Zydeco music, an essential source for anyone interested in Cajun or Creole culture. As a musician, she's been involved in Cajun music both with her husband and compatriots in Savoy Doucet Band, with her Marc and their sons Joel and Wilson in the Savoy Family Band and with her all-woman band The Magnolia Sisters. She most recently collaborated with Linda Ronstadt on Adieu False Heart and received a Grammy ® nomination for her efforts. She was previously nominated for a Grammy for the tribute album Evangeline Made that featured Ronstadt, John Fogerty, Nick Lowe, Rodney Crowell and Richard and Linda Thompson and followed that up with Creole Bred, a tribtue to Creole and Zydeco music featuring such notables as Cyndi Lauper, Taj Majal and Tom Tom Club. Ann Savoy & Her Sleepless Knights features jazz virtuosos and old friends Tom Mitchell (guitar) and Kevin Wimmer (fiddle) along with Eric Frey (upright bass) Chas Justus (guitar), Glenn Fields (drums) as well as her sons Wilson and Joel Savoy on piano and guitar, respectively.

The album was produced by Joel along with Tom Mitchell and Ann in Eunice, Louisiana, all of the music having been recorded live with no "fixing." The group breathes fresh air into standards and traditional songs, some in French but speaking a universal language to the listener. From sensual love songs to original songs of local color and humor, Ann and the guys bring forth their superb artistry with a relaxed, fun filled feeling.

Ann Savoy (vocals); Joel Savoy (guitar, violin); Tom Mitchell , Chas Justus (guitar); Kevin Wimmer (fiddle); Wilson Savoy (piano); Eric Frey (upright bass); Glenn Fields (drums).

If Dreams Come True

The Mark Craddock Trio - Goodbye Blue Monday

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 50:22
Size: 115.3 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz
Year: 2009
Art: Front

[4:34] 1. Goodbye Blue Monday
[6:46] 2. Womp
[6:43] 3. J-Bird
[4:59] 4. Tres Dados
[4:16] 5. Jam Night
[5:31] 6. Lost Ballad
[3:54] 7. Nosferatu
[6:42] 8. Funk In D
[6:53] 9. Libre

A San Francisco player through the 1990s, Mark Craddock was a member of “Thunder Blue,” a heavily Jimi Hendrix-influenced blues-rock band fronted by Bay Area veteran Regi harvey. Mark also was a member of a popular San Francisco free-jazz group, “The Lab Rats,” and did occasionals, session work and jams with many Bay Area notables such as percussionist Hugh “Sweetfoot” Manard (Caribbean All Stars), blues harpist Red Archibald, and steel guitarist Freddie Roulette. At one time or another, he played in most of the Bay Area’s major blues and rock venues, including New George’s (San Rafael); Skip’s Tavern, The Blue Lamp, Lou’s Pier 47, Biscuits and Blues, The Boom Boom Room (all San Francisco clubs); and JJ’s Blues (San Jose).

In late 2001, Mark moved to Walsenburg, Colo., his wife’s hometown.

In addition to gigging with local musicians such as Brent and Babz Seawell, Steve Hohn, and Glenn Wilbanks, Craddock formed his own 9-piece funk/fusion band “Blue Monday,” which gigged frequently around Pueblo and Colorado Springs from 2002 to 2004. In 2004, Mark met Chicago blues pianist Ken Saydak and Nashville songwriter Fred James at a local watering hole. For the next three years he played extensively around Colorado and New Mexico as a member of Ken’s band, as well as gigging with Fred’s “Blazz” (blues-jazz) project.

For the last year and a half, Mark been playing pretty much exclusively with his own jazz combo, “The Mark Craddock Trio,” with bassist Tom Read and percussionist David Zehring. The trio has just released its first CD project on the L.A.-based Snailworx label, engineered by Steve Hohn, produced by Fred James, and featuring Ken Saydak, who stopped by the studio to lay down some incredible Hammond B3 tracks.

Mark Craddock - Tenor, soprano sax; Dave Zehring - drums; Tom Reid - bass.

Goodbye Blue Monday

Gipsy Kings - Savor Flamenco

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 38:36
Size: 88.4 MB
Styles: Gypsy jazz, Latin rhythms
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[3:30] 1. Caramelo
[3:30] 2. Bye Bye (Ella Me Dice Vay)
[3:08] 3. Como L'agua
[3:38] 4. Tiempo Sel Sol
[3:48] 5. Me Voy
[3:51] 6. Fairies Melody
[3:10] 7. Samba Samba
[3:28] 8. Corazon
[3:39] 9. Savor Flamenco
[3:37] 10. Sueno
[3:10] 11. Habla Contingo

It has been seven long years since France's groundbreaking Gipsy Kings have issued a recording of new material. Savor Flamenco, the group's debut for Knitting Factory, still features the band's original lineup of two groups of brothers -- the Reyes (Nicolas, Canut, Paul, Patchai, and Andre) and the Baliardos (Tonino, Paco, and Diego) -- with guest players filling out the cast. The set was produced by Tonino Baliardo and Nicolas Reyes. Musically, Savor Flamenco looks simultaneously backward and forward. The single "Samba Samba" commences with a breezy bossa nova before spiraling out, wedding both fiery flamenco and driving Brazilian samba. The tune dates to the years before the band ever recorded. While this arrangement has been updated to reflect the group's garnered knowledge of Brazilian folk and pop forms, it's still raw and immediate. Bossa and samba also inform the striking instrumental "Tiempo del Sol," as jazzy flamenco is complemented by organic percussion and Stephane Chausse's brilliant flute improvisation, and the burning opener "Caramelo," which is driven by forro and carnival rhythms. "Me Voy" is modern flamenco, embellished by an acoustic piano and Bernard Paganotti's upright bass playing. For those who love the Kings' traditional meld of pop-nuevo flamenco, tracks such as "Como L'Agua" and "Corazon" should satisfy -- though the latter is influenced by Brazilian MPB as well. Not everything works quite so well, however, as the instrumental "Fairies Melody" and the ballad "Sueño" both feel too polished and slight in comparison to everything else here. Thankfully, a slicker approach isn't always a bad thing. Closer "Habla Contiguo" weds Latin son, flamenco, and acoustic pop for a successful finish -- it also features one of Tonino Baliardo's finest guitar solos on the album. Other than two (slight) missteps, Savor Flamenco marks a welcome return for the progenitors of nuevo flamenco. ~ Thom Jurek

Andre Reyes, Nicolás Reyes, Patchai Reyes, Canut Reyes (vocals, guitar); Francis Cabrel (vocals); Diego Baliardo, Paco Baliardo, Paul Reyes, Tonino Baliardo (guitar); Bernard Paganotti (upright bass); Rodolfo Pacheco Jimenez (percussion). Recording information: Studio Ephemere; Studio Ferber, Paris.

Savor Flamenco

Robin McKelle - Soul Flower

Styles: Jazz Vocals
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:41
Size: 116,7 MB
Art: Front

(5:19)  1. So It Goes
(3:58)  2. Tell You One Thing
(3:34)  3. Nothing's Really Changed
(3:49)  4. Fairytale Ending
(5:09)  5. Miss You Madly
(3:41)  6. Don't Give Up
(3:12)  7. Walk On By
(4:06)  8. To Love Somebody
(3:42)  9. Change
(4:49) 10. I'm Ready
(4:29) 11. Love's Work
(4:47) 12. I'm A Fool To Want You

First, Robin McKelle & The Flytones Soul Flower is not neo-soul. Neo-soul is what Amy Winehouse was and Cee Lo Green is (at least on his "Forget You"). Neo-soul is a cheeky attempt to cash in on a classic style while, at the same time, not taking it seriously. Second, Soul Flower might be better termed retro-soul, except that McKelle avoids the pitfall of clinging too tightly to the old style that has plagued other artists trying to put a new spin on the soul canon. A mixture of originals with some clever covers make up Soul Flower. McKelle is a more than capable composer a roll she shares with Sam Barsh (bassist Avishai Cohen's former pianist).

For any Baby Boomer, Soul Flower can be eaten with a spoon. It is more Motown than Memphis by way of Muscle Shoals, and smacks of Bobbie Gentry having a pool party with Gladys Knight and the Pointer Sisters. McKelle possesses a contemporary authenticity that manifests in her assimilation of multiple older styles presented with a freshness that has the fragrance of experience re-imagined. Pianist Beat Kaestli Ben Stivers ' use of the electric piano lends this collection of a dozen songs that sound, which is at once retro and chic. This, coupled with McKelle's honesty, makes this a recording that should encourage a reappraisal of period soul and that being made today. And isn't that what all art is supposed to do? ~ C.Michael Bailey
  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=44970#.UjyFKhAkI5c

Personnel: Robin McKelle: vocals; Derek Nievergelt: bass; Adrian Harpham: drums; Ben Stivers: keyboards; Al Street: guitar, Scott Aruda: trumpet; Mike Tucker: saxophone.

Soul Flower

Elizabeth Shepherd - Heavy Falls The Night

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:53
Size: 93,6 MB
Art: Front

(2:50)  1. What Else
(4:02)  2. The Taking
(4:19)  3. Heavy Falls The Night
(3:04)  4. Numbers
(3:15)  5. Seven Bucks
(3:28)  6. One More Day
(4:03)  7. A Song For Dinah Washington
(3:23)  8. High
(3:27)  9. It's Coming
(2:42) 10. On The Insufficiency Of Words
(6:14) 11. Danny's Song

There is something so totally alluring about Elizabeth Shepherd's album Heavy Falls the Night that it bears very close listening. Every word and each note resonates with a certain swagger and at times, a soulful intensity that makes it impossible to give it a casual listen. Whether it is the manner in which Shepherd holds onto a spry note just out of her vocal range as if her life depended on it, or the unusual harmonies she overlays onto her "lead" voice, the effect is the same: it is mesmerizing. But she never allows this vocalizing to become de rigueur or predictable. Often tempering her flat delivery with soaring, bell-like tones of the Rhodes or the grinding triads and multi-colored arpeggios on the Wurlitzer, Shepherd draws the listener right in to her world. Joni Mitchell has that effect too, but Mitchell is confessional almost vulnerable as she bares her soul. Shepherd eschews that Plath-like school, preferring to make oblique attacks on the senses, delivering a surprise as she takes hard knocks on her jaw.

Shepherd is also a wonderfully melodic storyteller and combines dense lyricism with clear annunciation almost as if she were reciting lyrics that are slanted into the music, as if the two were separate parts that just happened to jive by magic. The title song and "On the Insufficiency of Words" both illustrate the unique quality of her music. It is this subtle almost unobtrusive charm that makes her style attractive in a wan way. Her phrasing is also quite unique. The ebb and flow of her breath brings words, phrases and whole lines to the senses in wave after rising wave of intensity or calmness in a rhythm that conjures imagery of the pastoral. She is certainly in no rush to clutter feelings and emotions with the urban density from which many of these might spring. Still, the alternative is presented with near perfect counterpoint and timing.

This is because unlike many vocalists, Shepherd is a rhythmic singer who feels the rhythm of the earth in her whole being and makes music to its pulse. Perhaps this is why her emotions are so authentic and almost palpable when she sings. And this is also why she can pull off a wonderful tribute to another great vocalist in "A Song for Dinah Washington."

The beauty of the music also has much to do with the striking work of bassists Scott Kemp and Ross MacIntyre, drummer Colin Kingsmore, the unobtrusive percussion colorist, Roman Tome, vibes player Michael Davidson and guitarists Brian MacMillan and Paul MacDougall. Together these musicians assist Shepherd in making the dense imagery of Heavy Falls the Night a captivating album that sticks in the memory with the thick echoes that follow in the wake of the last notes of "Danny's Song." ~ Raul D’Gama Rose  
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=36113#.UkC0ERAkI5c

Personnel: Elizabeth Shepherd: piano, Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Glockenspiel, prepared piano, Vocals, background vocals; Scott Kemp: bass (2, 6, 8, 9, 12); Colin Kingsmore: drums, circular saw, cajon; Ross MacIntyre: bass: 1, 3-5, 7, 10, 11); Roman Tome: percussion (1, 2, 4-6, 9, 10); Michael Davidson: vibraphone (9); Brian McMillan (guitar (10); Paul MacDougall: guitar (11).

Aaron Robinson - La Belle Epoque

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:56
Size: 111,1 MB
Art: Front

(5:09)  1. Friendship
(2:12)  2. Kentucky Couture
(4:28)  3. Song Without Words
(4:46)  4. La Belle Epoque
(3:48)  5. Caterpillar Hill
(2:58)  6. Ragtime Waltz
(3:57)  7. Hallelujah!
(6:35)  8. For My Daughter
(3:43)  9. Perpetual Motion
(2:48) 10. Grey Gardens
(4:26) 11. Waltz for Little Edie
(3:01) 12. Closing Credits

The piano music of Aaron Robinson draws upon 20 years of inspiration and creativity ranging from the Broadway Stage to the Silver Screen. Heard here for the very first time, these piano vignettes pay homage to the music of Vince Guaraldi, Dave Grusin, Paul Sullivan, and celebrates legendary masters such as Jelly Roll Morton and George Gershwin - all the while maintaining their unique distinctive voice. Belle Epoque (Age of Beauty) encompasses all forms of musical genre including early Jazz and Ragtime, Swing and Stride piano, Classical Vocalise and Minimal, Nightclub and Cinema. Dedicated to friends and colleagues who inspired their creation, each piano piece provides a small glimpse into the vast world from which they were created. ~Editorial Reviews   http://www.amazon.com/La-Belle-Epoque-Aaron-Robinson/dp/B006R8RZA2