Joyce Cobb - Beale Street Saturday Night

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 42:06
Size: 96.4 MB
Styles: Memphis blues/jazz
Year: 2003
Art: Front

[5:12] 1. Beale Street Medley: Memphis Blues/St Louis Blues/Beale Street Blues
[2:21] 2. Gospel Medley: Down By The Riverside/Swing Down Sweet Chariot
[2:00] 3. See See Rider
[2:12] 4. You Can't Tell The Difference After Dark
[2:27] 5. Aggravatin' Papa
[3:36] 6. Careless Love Blues
[2:52] 7. Blues Medley: Cotton Fields/Little Liza Jane
[1:29] 8. Good Rockin' Tonight
[3:36] 9. The Thrill Is Gone
[4:14] 10. Elvis Medley: That's All Right/Love Me Tender/Don't Be Cruel
[1:39] 11. Respect Yourself
[1:59] 12. I Can't Stand The Rain
[3:47] 13. Gee Whiz (Look At His Eyes)
[4:33] 14. Walkin' In Memphis

"If Beale Street Could Talk..." takes its name from an old W. C. Handy song describing the delights of Beale Street and its colorful inhabitants. The show features an all-Memphis cast with local legend Joyce Cobb providing the singing and the narrations, backed by guitar, keyboards, bass, drums and horns. The show captures the soulful sound and feel of Memphis and its storied musical history.

Joyce Cobb is Memphis’ most beloved performer. Her singing, playing and acting have been seen in several productions related to Memphis and the blues. If Beale Street Could Talk…, a history of the past 100 years of Memphis music. is based on Joyce’s original script and visuals. An earlier version of this show, Beale Street Saturday Night, toured in 2000. Joyce also starred in a show focusing specifically on female blues performers enttled Divas of the Delta. She has also appeared in one woman theater pieces on Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith.

Beale Street Saturday Night

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Eddie Condon - Eddie Condon In Japan

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 71:24
Size: 163.5 MB
Styles: Swing, Dixieland
Year: 1964/1977/2002
Art: Front

[1:40] 1. Introduction
[5:15] 2. I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me
[5:25] 3. Pee Wee's Blues
[3:47] 4. Stompin' At The Savoy
[5:20] 5. Rose Room
[3:57] 6. Manhattan
[3:39] 7. Caravan
[6:53] 8. Basin Street Blues
[3:49] 9. Three Little Words
[4:13] 10. I Would Do Anything For You
[3:56] 11. All Of Me
[6:07] 12. Am I Blue
[2:42] 13. When You're Smiling
[6:54] 14. Goin' To Chicago - Every Day - See See Rider
[7:39] 15. Royal Garden Blues

By 1964, Eddie Condon was not recording all that regularly; in fact this CD has his only recording from the 1963-67 period. Condon, who does some announcing and contributes some barely audible rhythm guitar, is joined by a particularly strong group consisting of trumpeter Buck Clayton, trombonist Vic Dickenson, tenor saxophonist Bud Freeman, clarinetist Pee Wee Russell, pianist Dick Cary (doubling on alto horn), bassist Jack Lesberg and drummer Cliff Leeman. The band plays Dixieland and swing standards with spirit and enthusiasm while singer Jimmy Rushing takes four vocals including a previously unissued "Blues Medley." The CD reissue also adds "new" versions of "Caravan" and "Basin Street Blues"; other highlights include "I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me," "Pee Wee's Blues," "Royal Garden Blues" and Dickenson's charming feature on "Manhattan." Recommended. ~ Scott Yanow

Eddie Condon In Japan

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Bluesin' The Groove - Let's Get High

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 47:57
Size: 109.8 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz, Blues/jazz
Year: 2011
Art: Front

[3:40] 1. Let's Get High
[4:43] 2. Bluesin' The Groove
[3:55] 3. Cuttin' In
[4:38] 4. Cow Cow Blues
[4:29] 5. (Tell Me) How Do You Feel
[3:40] 6. Come Back Baby
[4:38] 7. It's The Plitz
[5:27] 8. Things Have Got To Change
[4:36] 9. Wee Baby Blues
[4:40] 10. Reconsider Baby
[3:26] 11. Alimony

What happens when two Giants of the German Blues Scene cross paths with a Young Lion playing drums at a jam session and discover they are made for each other? They decide to form a joint project to present their amazing Groove - and as they all came together through sheer love of music a trio is born that seeks to express that freshness and spontaneity. There‘s no guitar or bass but that‘s no drawback: the sound is uniquely light and clear. When tenor sax player and singer Tommy Schneller, the legendary piano player Christian Rannenberg and drummer Alex Lex make music together, the seasoned Blues lover experiences a totally new and thrilling sound.

Let's Get High

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Sophie Milman - Her Very Best ... So Far

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:47
Size: 116,3 MB
Art: Front

(3:57)  1. Agua De Beber (Water To Drink)
(4:19)  2. I Concentrate On You
(4:28)  3. Speak Low
(4:14)  4. Be Cool
(3:19)  5. Matchmaker, Matchmaker
(2:20)  6. Ochi Cherneye (Dark Eyes)
(4:43)  7. (It's Not Easy) Bein' Green
(4:53)  8. La Vie En Rose
(4:09)  9. So Sorry
(3:25) 10. Eli, Eli (A Walk To Caesarea)
(3:06) 11. So Long, You Fool
(3:26) 12. I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby
(4:22) 13. No More Blues

Jazz vocalist Sophie Milman is a sophisticated and torchy singer with a bent toward American popular songbook standards. Born in Russia of Jewish heritage, Milman spent much of her childhood in Israel, where her parents moved after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In the early '90s, Milman's family emigrated once again to Toronto, Canada. Having sung from a young age, the then teenage Milman was already familiar with such iconic vocalists as Ella Fitzgerald, Mahalia Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and others. In 2004, a chance performance at "Real Divas" night  a local Toronto jazz series  brought Milman to the attention of producer Bill King, who then secured a few showcase performances for the burgeoning star. Subsequently, Milman signed a recording contract with Linus Entertainment and released her self-titled debut album. Make Someone Happy followed on JVC in 2007.  https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/sophie-milman/id73368614#fullText

Her Very Best ... So Far

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Peter Vuust Quartet & Veronica Mortensen - September Song

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:18
Size: 148,1 MB
Art: Front

(6:12)  1. September Song
(3:54)  2. Meet Me With a Kiss
(5:23)  3. Sugar Bowl
(6:24)  4. The Absence of Open Air
(5:09)  5. I Could Feel the Joy of Your Love
(4:56)  6. I Know
(6:13)  7. The Inner Child
(4:48)  8. Tomorrow Will Be Better
(4:58)  9. Keep Me Close
(5:31) 10. It Isn't Always Hard to Leave
(4:29) 11. Silver Lining Around My Heart
(6:17) 12. Hey Jude

“After the jazz festival in Aarhus in 2011, where Veronica played a couple of concerts with my quartet as she has been doing regularly since 2005, she complained to me that she was lacking new songs to sing. We only had the six songs we recorded years ago on “Image of Falling”. Since I am not a lyricist, she offered to put me in contact with someone in the Northern part of Norway, who had written excellent lyrics to a couple of songs for her. When Roy-Frode Løvland began to send me lyrics out of the blue, I was busy doing other things, and I just downloaded them to a library on my hard disc, thinking that I would probably never get to have a look at them. Nevertheless, I had a couple of days off at the end of September 2011, and I printed the whole lot out, put them on my piano and began working my way through the pile of lyrics. Doing this, I found a well of creativity that I hadn’t felt for years.

In three weeks during the late Indian summer of 2011, I wrote the songs that appear on this album. We recorded them in two days in the famous Nilento Studio in Göteborg, as easily as they had been written. When I write music to lyrics, I do not necessarily think about what they mean, I just go along with the sound of the words and the overall mood of the text. It wasn’t until I heard the final recordings – with Lars’ spirited and playful piano, Paul’s youthful drumming, Ove’s mellow and virtuous saxophone, not to mention Veronica’s wonderful voice – that I really understood how brilliant and moving Roy-Frode’s lyrics truly are. I sincerely thank you guys for making this a record which I really love. I hope listeners will find as much pleasure in listening to this record as we had making it.” ~ Peter Vuust  http://www.petervuust.dk/?p=856

September Song

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Griffith Hiltz Trio - Now And Then

Styles: Jazz
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:46
Size: 141,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:19)  1. Sporty Portia
(6:30)  2. When All The Men Wore Hats
(7:20)  3. Seven Storey Mountain
(5:14)  4. Footsteps
(8:14)  5. Soul Purpose
(7:13)  6. With Hodges In Mind
(6:56)  7. Sheer Force Of Bill
(7:04)  8. 12 Ton Blues
(7:33)  9. Now And Then
(0:19) 10. Movie Theme

Griffith Hiltz Trio is comprised of long-time Toronto jazz men Johnny Griffiths (saxophone), Nathan Hiltz (guitar) and Sly Juhas (drums). Another well-known Toronto jazz fixture, Don Thompson, produced Now & Then and plays vibes or keyboards on half of the ten tracks. He also composed “12 Ton Blues.” All other tracks are composed by Griffith and/or Hiltz. It is notable that although the trio has no traditional bass player there is a strong bass component provided by Hiltz’s use of bass pedals. The jam duo of Griffith and Hiltz credit the addition of the pedals to their weekly sessions for inspiring them to add a drummer, Juhas, thus creating the trio.

The material is well chosen for showcasing the broad talents of the trio rather than demonstrating the individuals’ favorite honed licks and gimmicks (although, in live performances Griffith sometimes impressively plays alto and bass clarinet simultaneously). It allows the trio (plus one) to reveal their depth of experience as performers. With the addition of Thompson, who is well-known in Toronto and throughout Canada as a multi-instrumentalist, on much of the CD and with Griffith and Hiltz both doing double instrumental duty, the resulting sound is much larger than a simple trio. The trio’s admitted influences are Blue Note jazz and “Eastern” music, although it would seem more appropriately called “North African” (think Miles’ “Nardis” or Wayne Shorter’s “Black Nile”) which is evidenced on “Seven Storey Mountain.” The occasional use of bass clarinet does lend a non-Western exoticism to some selections (“Sporty Portia,” “Footsteps,” “Now and Then”.

The compositions are inventive and interesting with ample time for instrumental solos. The title track is a good case in point, allowing Griffith and Hiltz plenty of room for creativity. Juhas gets his spotlight on “Seven Storey Mountain” with a good long solo on drum set. Producer and mentor, Don Thompson, although often in a supporting role on keyboards, has opportunity to work with vibes on “Soul Purpose” and with keyboards on “With Hodges In Mind” and on his own “12 Ton Blues.” The sparse angular melody of “12 Ton Blues,” starting out on sax and picked up later by guitar in unison with the sax, is intriguing. The laid back spacey head sets everything up for freewheeling improvisation all around as the piece progresses. Although there are ten tracks, the final cut, “Movie Theme,” is really just a brief coda, or, I suspect, used as an intermission playoff during live performances.

Having made the point that this CD is not a collection of hot licks, there may have been a bit too much holding back in total. It could have benefited now and then (pun intended) from a little more flash and glitz which all of these performers obviously have in abundance. But, this is their first release together and all in all is a very enjoyable one from some of Toronto’s finest.  http://www.muzikreviews.com/reviews.php?ID=791

Now And Then

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