Mora's Modern Rhythmists - Call Of The Freaks

Styles: Swing/Big Band
Label: Mr. Ace
Released: 2000
File: mp3 @320K/s
Size: 145,6 MB
Time: 63:35
Art: front

1. Call Of The Freaks - 3:22
2. Queer Notions - 3:05
3. Jazz Pie - 3:28
4. A Viper's Moan - 3:30
5. Rigamarole - 2:36
6. I'm Good For Nothing But Love - 3:31
7. Tar Paper Stomp - 3:32
8. Uptown Rhapsody - 2:39
9. Night Wind - 3:12
10. Serenade For A Wealthy Widow - 2:54
11. Get Rhythm In Your Feet - 2:20
12. I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues - 4:49
13. Cuban Pete - 3:25
14. The Dipsey Doodle - 2:58
15. Honeysuckle Rose - 2:40
16. Annie's Cousin Fannie - 3:06
17. Hunkadola - 3:05
18. If Dreams Come True - 2:52
19. Daybreak Express - 2:50
20. It's Over Because We're Through - 3:31

Notes: MORA'S MODERN MUSIC represents the various vintage-style bands founded by pianist Dean Mora and based in Los Angeles, California. These groups perform American dance music from the years 1900 to 1950, using period arrangements and transcriptions from the original recordings. Each group is presented with a keen eye towards authenticity, both in terms of musical performance, as well as the appearance of its musicians.
The musical ensembles represented are:

Mora's Modern Rhythmists (1920s-1930s dance band)
Mora's Modern Swingtet (1930s-1940s small band)
Dean Mora And His Orchestra (1930s-1940s big band)
Mora's Ragtime Orchestra (Music from 1900-1920)

MORA'S MODERN RHYTHMISTS is the "flagship" of the MMM family, having been the first to be organized back in 1994, for the purpose of performing American popular dance music from the 1920s and early 1930s, using period arrangements and transcriptions from the original recordings.
Following a series of small concerts around the Los Angeles area, the Rhythmists were hired as the Monday-night house band at the Derby, a nightclub situated in one of the original Brown Derby Restaurants, in Hollywood, and which was considered by many to be the "ground-zero" of the Swing Revival of the 1990s. Soon, Mora's Modern Rhythmists began to garner a reputation as one of the best swing bands in Los Angeles, and their Monday night performances gained a cult following among dancers and band enthusiasts alike. They remained at the club for almost three years.

Call Of The Freaks

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Anjali Perin Quartet - First Reflection

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 54:08
Size: 123.9 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2007
Art: Front

[4:10] 1. Never Will I Marry
[5:19] 2. Autumn Leaves
[7:10] 3. Dare To Dream
[5:10] 4. You Must Believe In Spring
[2:24] 5. Lullaby Of Birdland
[4:34] 6. Speak Low
[6:37] 7. If You Wait
[5:15] 8. If I Should Lose You
[3:55] 9. A Light Inside
[6:28] 10. My Romance
[3:00] 11. Still Calling

This is the debut recording by young vocalist Anjali Perin and on the evidence of the music presented here she has a very promising future. Perin has been mentored by the more experienced singers Anita Wardell and Trudy Kerr. Indeed the album is released on Kerr’s Jazzizit label and the album maintains the high technical standards we have come to expect from the company. Once again the indefatigable Derek Nash deserves credit for his work both as engineer and as Perin’s co-producer.

A highly talented young band surrounds Perin. Pianist Liam Noble is the most experienced and is probably the best known. Young multi instrumentalist Jim Hart is also making quite a name for himself. He appears in the drum chair here but he also has a growing reputation as an outstanding vibes player. The quartet is completed by the excellent young bassist Amy Baldwin.

Perin is prepared to let her musicians stretch out thereby making this a real group effort. Noble is superb throughout, consistently inventive as a soloist and sensitive as an accompanist. On this album he shows the lyrical side of his playing, whereas on his own records he is more spiky and percussive. Nash has recorded him superbly and his playing here is a constant delight. Hart and Baldwin are an excellent rhythm section, combining swing with sensitivity. Baldwin has a warm rounded tone and solos fluently when required and the imaginative Hart is right on the money always conjuring up the right sounds and textures from his kit.

First Reflection

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Sony Holland - I'll Remember Paris

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 44:22
Size: 101.6 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2003
Art: Front

[2:29] 1. Barcelona
[4:13] 2. Million Dollar Dreams
[2:50] 3. Your Style And Charm
[3:08] 4. You're Always With Somebody New
[2:47] 5. Savin' My Life Everyday
[3:23] 6. A Man In Manhattan
[3:42] 7. This City Is Mine
[4:31] 8. I'll Lead The Way
[2:42] 9. I'll Remember Paris
[2:46] 10. Tokyo Too
[4:27] 11. Carnival
[3:30] 12. Is It Jazz
[3:47] 13. Curiosity

Singer Sony Holland has created some buzz around Nashville. Her debut CD with the Dennis Burnside Trio aims to spread to word beyond Tennessee. Holland has a warm, appealing voice. While her style has been likened to Diana Krall, Holland’s voice is higher and is buoyed by a good dose of cabaret showmanship. On one song, "Is It Cabaret," she even pokes a little fun at her repertoire. "So is it jazz or cabaret? I don’t know," she sings.

The CD, "I’ll Remember Paris," is made up of 13 songs written by Holland’s husband, Jerry Holland. The music is said to be inspired by the energetic streets of Paris and New York. A pair of New York numbers highlight the album. "A Man in Manhattan" is a swinging affair, one woman’s odyssey of looking for Mr. Right. It’s followed by "This City is Mine," a soaring, cinematic love song to New York.

Dennis Burnside is on piano; Dave Pomeroy, bass; Mickey Grimm, drums. Jim Hoke plays flute, sax and harp. The CD, however, is Holland’s show. She handles the mix of ballads and up tempo numbers with grace. Listeners can practically see her smiling through their speakers. If you are looking for something off the beaten path, consider "I’ll Remember Paris."

I'll Remember Paris

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Diane Hubka - Look No Further

Styles: Vocal, Jazz
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:59
Size: 98,4 MB
Art: Front

(3:20)  1. Look No Further
(4:37)  2. Morning
(4:32)  3. Dolphin Dance
(4:46)  4. In Walked John
(3:47)  5. Photograph
(3:45)  6. Small Day Tomorrow
(5:16)  7. Baby, You Should Know It
(4:34)  8. In April
(3:56)  9. August Moon
(4:21) 10. Better Than Anything

This is Washington, D.C. based Diane Hubka's second album for A-Records, a subsidiary of The Netherlands label, Challenge Records. Like her first, she stays avoids standard material. Instead the play list is dominated by what most would call "off-beat" songs. Whatever, these tunes do not receive much recording attention even though many are the product by well know writers like Richard Rodgers, Jule Styne and Herbie Hancock.

Filling a CD with this kind of material can be a risky endeavor; a vocalist must have great confidence in her ability to pull it off. Hubka obviously met that bill since this is as entertaining an album that has hit the streets for some time. This album demands the listener give it an intense listen, not only to the lyrics, but to the interplay between Hubka and the musicians who accompany her on this journey down the road of fresh ideas and changing tempos.

The satisfactory results make the effort worthwhile as there is not a bad track on this CD. "In Walked John", Malachi Thompson's lyrical description of John Coltrane's influence on jazz, is one of the highlights of the album. Hubka's delivery is straight forward and compelling while everyone gets an opportunity to stretch out paying their personal homage to the seminally influential tenor saxophonist. Especially commanding is Scott Whifield's trombone solo. "Never Never Land" (somewhere between Oz and Wonderland, I suppose), has a fairy tale aura about it. Along with Hubka's delicate phrasing, there's an extended solo by guitarist John Hart with Tony Moreno's drums dancing among the chords of the guitar. Hubka shows that she is no slouch with a guitar as she honors one her mentors, Bob Dorough, on "Small Day Tomorrow." With "Baltimore Oriole" comes a mood change. As Hart's guitar provides just the right accents to complement her vocal eloquence, Hubka goes blues with the Hoagy Carmichael tune, recalling the versions by Carmen McRae and Lorez Alexandria. Another singer who explores material similar material, Meredith d'Ambrosio. Another contribution to making this album as successful as it is the balance Hubka strikes between straight singing and wordless vocalizing and scatting. She doesn't scat on every tune but when she does, it is important to the lyrical message she is conveying. Other singers could learn a good deal from listening to the album.

Also, a major factor in the success of the session is Hubka's supporting cast. Special mention needs to be made of Frank Kimbrough whose piano is the glue which holds the session together. Diane Hubka belongs to the coterie of special singers who can work magic with off the beaten track material. Irene Kral, Jeri Southern, Meredith d'Ambrosio, Sheila Jordan and Blossom Dearie are other members of this special group. This album is highly recommended. ~ Dave Nathan  

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=5806#.UkIxnxAkI5c

Personnel: Diane Hubka-Vocals, Guitar; John Hart-Guitar; Frank Kimbrough-Piano; Dean Johnson - Bass; Tony Moreno - Drums; Scott Whitfield -Trombone

Look No Further

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Sandy Stewart & Bill Charlap - Something To Remember

Styles: Jazz Vocals
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:06
Size: 144,9 MB
Art: Front

(5:00)  1. Where or When
(3:36)  2. I Thought About You
(2:38)  3. Why Did I Choose You
(3:36)  4. Somebody Loves Me
(5:14)  5. A Ghost Of A Chance
(3:08)  6. Isn't This A Lovely Day?
(4:08)  7. Something To Remember You By
(6:05)  8. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
(5:02)  9. I Was Telling Him About You
(1:41) 10. Stars
(4:55) 11. Where Do You Start?
(2:28) 12. The Best Thing for You
(4:58) 13. Solitude
(4:41) 14. When You Wish Upon A Star
(4:49) 15. Two for the Road

The new album from mother-son duo of world-class jazz pianist, BILL CHARLAP and Grammy Award-nominated vocalist SANDY STEWART features a collection of ballads from some of the most popular songwriters of the twentieth century, such as George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Richard Rodgers and Irving Berlin.

In addition to classic songs by Rodgers & Hart (“Where Or When”), Henry Mancini & Leslie Bricusse (“Two For The Road”) and Irving Berlin (“Isn’t This A Lovely Day”), the album features rarely-heard gems such as “I Was Telling Him About You”with music by Moose Charlap (the composer of Peter Pan starring Mary Martin, also Bill’s father and Sandy’s late husband) and “Stars” by noted songwriter Charles Sweeney.

When the duo previewed the album at a recent engagement at the New York nightclub Feinstein’s at Loews Regency, Will Friedwald raved in the Wall Street Journal, “The Stewart-Charlap combination is, eternally, like a master class in interpretation.The team is so subtle, so understated, so specific in their approach that even a clinking glass might break the spell. Ultimately, by the encore Feinstein's has become nothing less than a serenely reverent church of the Great American Songbook.”

SANDY STEWART is best known for the Grammy-nominated recording “My Coloring Book” (she lost to Ella Fitzgerald’s “Mack The Knife”). She began her performing career at 15 in her native Philadelphia and soon moved to New York for a variety of television gigs with Merv Griffin, Dick Van Dyke, and as a regular with “The Perry Como Show” while also touring with Benny Goodman. After marrying Broadway composer Moose Charlap, she retired to raise a family. Later, she resumed singing in clubs and on recordings and voiceovers. Sandy’s previous CD with Bill, Love Is Here To Stay, was greeted with universal acclaim.

BILL CHARLAP – one of the world’s premier jazz pianists, has performed and recorded with many leading artists of our time – ranging from jazz masters Phil Woods and Wynton Marsalis to singers Tony Bennett and Barbra Streisand. Since 1997, he has led the Bill Charlap Trio with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington, now recognized as one of the leading groups in jazz. Charlap is the artistic director of New York City’s Jazz in July Festival at the 92nd Street Y, and he has produced concerts for Jazz at Lincoln Center, the JVC Jazz Festival and the Hollywood Bowl. A two-time Grammy nominee, Charlap is married to renowned jazz pianist Renee Rosnes. http://www.sh-k-boom.com/stewart-charlap_somethingtoremember.html.

Something To Remember

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Robert Palmer - Ridin' High

Styles: Vocal, R&B
Year: 1992
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:21
Size: 114,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:44)  1. Love Me or Leave Me
(2:35)  2. (Love Is) The Tender Trap
(3:57)  3. You're My Thrill
(4:07)  4. Want You More
(3:31)  5. Baby, It's Cold Outside
(3:01)  6. Aeroplane
(3:17)  7. Witchcraft
(2:43)  8. What A Little Moonlight Can Do (Road House)
(2:27)  9. Don't Explain
(2:43) 10. Change
(2:51) 11. Goody Goody
(3:45) 12. Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me
(2:49) 13. Honeysuckle Rose
(2:23) 14. No, Not Much
(2:15) 15. Ridin' High
(3:06) 16. Hard Head

Robert Palmer's tuxedo on the album cover isn't much of a surprise; he's always been the most dapper of pop stars. However, the tux turns out to be an apt representation of an album that's a real change of pace. Here, Palmer performs a program of pre-rock pop standards, with a couple of original ringers in the classic style. Palmer's not Sinatra, but he can swing when he puts his mind to it, and between his appealingly intimate vocals and the lush, Nelson Riddle style arrangements, this is a terrific late night moonlight and whiskey sort of album. Highlight: "Baby it's Cold Outside," done as a frankly erotic duet with Carnie Wilson.  http://www.allmusic.com/album/ridin-high-mw0000616162

Ridin' High

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