Christine Tobin Band - Aililiu

Size: 128,3 MB
Time: 55:36
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2006
Styles: Jazz Vocals, Folk Jazz, Bossa Nova
Art: Front

01. Siul Arun - Circular Knotwork (10:29)
02. Lavender's Blue ( 8:33)
03. The Priest ( 4:44)
04. Aililiu Na Gamhna ( 2:26)
05. The Cargo Cafe ( 5:33)
06. Promised Land ( 5:35)
07. Those Who Love The Lord ( 4:48)
08. E So Tinha De Ser Com Voce ( 7:44)
09. Lord Gregory ( 5:39)

As anyone who has heard the folk/jazz group Lammas will know, Christine Tobin, a Dublin-born singer now resident in London, is as adept at raising gooseflesh with plaintive folk laments as she is at negotiating the hairpin bends of jazz improvisation. Leading her own band, however, she draws her material from an even wider variety of sources: Brazilian music (represented on this CD by a Jobim song impeccably performed in Portuguese), young UK jazz musicians to whose tunes she writes unusually cogent lyrics, and early influences on her style and approach such as Joni Mitchell – the latter’s ‘The Priest’ (from Ladies of the Canyon) is a highlight of the album. But Tobin is no mere musical magpie; she has clearly assimilated into her own style the music from all these apparently disparate fields. The strength, control and purity of her voice, and the telling contributions of her regular band – particularly the ever adventurous Huw Warren – ensure that the album is a satisfying artistic whole. An inspiring debut from a singer to watch. Chris Parker

Performer:
Tobin (vocals); Huw Warren (p, acc); Steve Watts (b); Roy Dodds (d), plus guests: Steve Buckley (whistle); Ben Davis (cello); John Parricelli, Phil Robson (g); Mike Pickering (d)

Aililiu

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LaVern Baker - Your Christmas With LaVern Baker

Size: 96,9 MB
Time: 41:40
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Blues, R&B, Holidays
Art: Front

01. There'll Be A Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight (2:40)
02. On Revival Day (3:16)
03. Baby Doll (3:27)
04. Gimme A Pigfoot (And A Bottle Of Beer) (3:06)
05. Empty Bed Blues (4:53)
06. Backwater Blues (4:42)
07. Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out (3:54)
08. Money Blues (2:50)
09. Young Woman's Blues (2:49)
10. Preaching The Blues (2:50)
11. After You're Gone (3:06)
12. I Ain't Gonna Play No Second Fiddle (4:02)

LaVern Baker was one of the sexiest divas gracing the mid-'50s rock & roll circuit, boasting a brashly seductive vocal delivery tailor-made for belting the catchy novelties "Tweedlee Dee," "Bop-Ting-a-Ling," and "Tra La La" for Atlantic Records during rock's first wave of prominence.

Born Delores Williams, she was singing at the Club DeLisa on Chicago's south side at age 17, decked out in raggedy attire and billed as "Little Miss Sharecropper" (the same handle that she made her recording debut under for RCA Victor with Eddie "Sugarman" Penigar's band in 1949). She changed her name briefly to Bea Baker when recording for OKeh in 1951 with Maurice King's Wolverines, then settled on the first name of LaVern when she joined Todd Rhodes' band as featured vocalist in 1952 (she fronted Rhodes' aggregation on the impassioned ballad "Trying" for Cincinnati's King Records).

LaVern signed with Atlantic as a solo in 1953, debuting with the incendiary "Soul on Fire." The coy, Latin-tempo "Tweedlee Dee" was a smash in 1955 on both the R&B and pop charts, although her impact on the latter was blunted when squeaky-clean Georgia Gibbs covered it for Mercury. An infuriated Baker filed suit over the whitewashing, but she lost. By that time, though, her star had ascended: Baker's "Bop-Ting-A-Ling," "Play It Fair," "Still," and the rocking "Jim Dandy" all vaulted into the R&B Top Ten over the next couple of years.

Baker's statuesque figure and charismatic persona made her a natural for TV and movies. She co-starred on the historic R&B revue segment on Ed Sullivan's TV program in November of 1955 and did memorable numbers in Alan Freed's rock movies Rock, Rock, Rock and Mr. Rock & Roll. Her Atlantic records remained popular throughout the decade: she hit big in 1958 with the ballad "I Cried a Tear," adopted a pseudo-sanctified bellow for the rousing Leiber & Stoller-penned gospel sendup "Saved" in 1960, and cut a Bessie Smith tribute album before leaving Atlantic in 1964. A brief stop at Brunswick Records (where she did a sassy duet with Jackie Wilson, "Think Twice") preceded a late-'60s jaunt to entertain the troops in Vietnam. She became seriously ill after the trip and was hospitalized, eventually settling far out of the limelight in the Philippines. She remained there for 22 years, running an NCO club on Subic Bay for the U.S. government.

Finally, in 1988, Baker returned stateside to star in Atlantic's 40th anniversary bash at New York's Madison Square Garden. That led to a soundtrack appearance in the film Dick Tracy, a starring role in the Broadway musical Black & Blue (replacing her ex-Atlantic labelmate Ruth Brown), a nice comeback disc for DRG (Woke Up This Mornin'), and a memorable appearance at the Chicago Blues Festival. Baker died on March 10, 1997. ~Biography by Bill Dahl

Your Christmas With LaVern Baker

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America - Holiday Harmony

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 45:10
Size: 103.4 MB
Styles: Holiday
Year: 2002
Art: Front

[3:11] 1. Winter Wonderland
[2:42] 2. Let It Snow
[3:50] 3. White Christmas
[3:51] 4. A Christmas To Remember
[3:40] 5. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
[3:58] 6. Sleigh Ride
[4:49] 7. Silver Bells
[3:21] 8. Christmas In California
[2:33] 9. It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas
[3:40] 10. Winter Holidays
[2:27] 11. Frosty The Snowman
[4:35] 12. Silent Night
[2:26] 13. The First Noel

Although Dan Peek left America in 1976, the remaining members--Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley--recapture the magic that put the folk rock trio atop the charts 25 years ago on Holiday Harmony, their first Christmas album. Much of the credit must go to seminal 1970s figure Andrew Gold, who not only produced and engineered the record, but played all the instruments (save Beckley's and Bunnell's guitars) and added his own soaring background vocals to the 13 songs. Gold also cowrote "Christmas in California," one of the three originals on the disc, which, with its tight harmonies and breezy subject matter, could have been lifted off The Beach Boys' Christmas Album. In an unusual twist for a holiday album, America's newly penned songs are the best tunes on the collection. Beckley and Bunnell haven't lost their chemistry and homespun imagination, conjuring images of Yuletides past on the excellent "Christmas to Remember" and the witty "Winter Holidays." When the duo cover Christmas classics, they seem to bend them to their will, adding background harmonies on "Winter Wonderland" that recall the ones they used on "A Horse with No Name." On their version of "White Christmas," Beckley and Bunnell incorporate the melody line from "Tin Man," with surprisingly good results. ~Jaan Uhelszki

Holiday Harmony

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Hugh Masekela - Almost Like Being In Jazz

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 42:25
Size: 97.1 MB
Styles: Soul-jazz
Year: 2005
Art: Front

[5:47] 1. You'll Never Know
[0:19] 2. Answer Me My Love
[0:07] 3. Don't Explain
[3:32] 4. It Never Entered My Mind
[4:55] 5. Paper Moon
[0:13] 6. Betcha By Golly Wow
[5:29] 7. Midnight Sun
[0:02] 8. I Remember Clifford
[4:26] 9. Smile
[5:45] 10. You Don't Know What Love Is
[4:21] 11. My Ship
[7:24] 12. Presente De Natal

Hugh Masekela is a world-renowned flugelhornist, trumpeter, bandleader, composer, singer and defiant political voice who remains deeply connected at home, while his international career sparkles. He was born in the town of Witbank, South Africa in 1939. At the age of 14, the deeply respected advocator of equal rights in South Africa, Father Trevor Huddleston, provided Masekela with a trumpet and, soon after, the Huddleston Jazz Band was formed. Masekela began to hone his, now signature, Afro-Jazz sound in the late 1950s during a period of intense creative collaboration, most notably performing in the 1959 musical King Kong, written by Todd Matshikiza, and, soon thereafter, as a member of the now legendary South African group, the Jazz Epistles (featuring the classic line up of Kippie Moeketsi, Abdullah Ibrahim and Jonas Gwangwa).

In 1960, at the age of 21 he left South Africa to begin what would be 30 years in exile from the land of his birth. On arrival in New York he enrolled at the Manhattan School of Music. This coincided with a golden era of jazz music and the young Masekela immersed himself in the New York jazz scene where nightly he watched greats like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Mingus and Max Roach. Under the tutelage of Dizzy Gillespie and Louis Armstrong, Hugh was encouraged to develop his own unique style, feeding off African rather than American influences – his debut album, released in 1963, was entitled Trumpet Africaine.

Hugh is currently using his global reach to spread the word about heritage restoration in Africa – a topic that remains very close to his heart. “My biggest obsession is to show Africans and the world who the people of Africa really are,” Masekela confides – and it’s this commitment to his home continent that has propelled him forward since he first began playing the trumpet.

Hugh Masekela on flugelhorn, Larry Willis on piano, John Heard on bass and Lorca Heart on drums.

being re-processed. new link soon.

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Julie Bond Rhyne - Here's That Rainy Day

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 39:39
Size: 90.8 MB
Styles: Standards, Vocal jazz
Year: 2011
Art: Front

[4:51] 1. Here's That Rainy Day
[3:56] 2. Someone To Watch Over Me
[4:15] 3. Four
[4:16] 4. When I Fall In Love
[3:38] 5. Once I Loved
[3:11] 6. What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life
[4:04] 7. There's A Light Within
[3:53] 8. Green Dolphin Street
[3:29] 9. Everything Must Change
[4:01] 10. I'll Be There For You

This project actually originated when I was living in Nashville a couple years ago. It's hard not to get bitten by the songwriter bug there, and I was a willing victim. In the end, only two of my songs appear on this collection, "There's A Light Within" and "I'll Be There For You". As this is my first solo outing, I wanted to first pay tribute to some of the amazing writers of the "Great American Songbook" who inspired me since I was a little girl growing up in Houston. My goal was to bring something new to the table, while staying true to the melodic and emotional intent of these great songs. Luckily I had the perfect "partner in crime" for this project with my husband Chris. He is an amazing veteran pianist and arranger, who has worked with a diverse who's who in music (Santana, Gino Vanelli, Jean Luc Ponty, Dianne Reeves and Burt Bacharach to name a few). With his mastery of both standard tunes and more modern genres, we came up with our own hybrid blend of the old and the new. We had more fun than is legal, working on this project and are both very happy with the results. I sincerely hope you enjoy it too!

Here's That Rainy Day

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Robin Nolan - Gypsy Blue

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 48:15
Size: 110.5 MB
Styles: Gypsy jazz guitar
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[3:25] 1. Gypsy Blue
[5:11] 2. Ravi
[3:32] 3. Dream Of You
[6:36] 4. The Rain Song
[3:18] 5. Mokum Swing
[5:46] 6. Snow
[5:22] 7. Flora
[3:59] 8. Sweet Georgia Brown
[4:22] 9. Anniversary Song
[3:55] 10. Paquito
[2:44] 11. Buckets Of Rain

Gypsy Blue features twelve songs ranging from the upbeat title track, which opens the album, to the more contemplative jazziness of a song like "Snow", even tossing in some Spanish flamenco on "Paquito". The album also features a range of takes on established classics, including Led Zeppelin's "Rain Song" and Bob Dylan's "Buckets of Rain". One particular highlight of the album is a track called "Ravi", a Beatles-esque composition which Nolan says is not just a tribute to the legendary Ravi Shankar, but also a nod to the Harrison legacy. "Even though it's called 'Ravi' it's a whole melting pot of the feeling I get at Friar Park. I met Ravi there and played with him at George's wake, which was an intense evening, very emotional. So that song is inspired by Ravi, but is a blues basically and reeks of Harrison-there's a couple of things in it that sound very George. I do this kind of Indian slide, which is heartfelt and a mix of those two worlds," says Robin Nolan.

Robin Nolan has been around the world and back to find his wide-ranging musical style. His story begins in the psychedelic 60s no less, in an evacuation hospital in Vietnam, to be precise, where he was born in 1968, before spending his formative years in Hong Kong with his Liverpudlian father teaching him to play guitar. He eventually ended up at the Guildhall School of Music in London before having his entire perspective on music changed forever by a trip to the annual Django Reinhardt Festival in Samois-Sur-Seine, France.

Gypsy Blue

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Clara Vuust - Here's to Love

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:18
Size: 99,8 MB
Art: Front

(4:42)  1. Don't Care Much
(4:27)  2. Here's to Life
(4:09)  3. Once Upon a Summertime
(6:54)  4. Samba Em Preludio
(2:58)  5. Sicilian Lovesong
(3:31)  6. Time After Time
(3:09)  7. Evening
(5:03)  8. It's Happening Again
(5:14)  9. Smile
(3:06) 10. Você Vai Ver

Denmark's Clara Vuust has a voice as clean and clear as the "ping" you get when you flick your fingernail against a piece of Scandinavian crystal glassware." She uses it to come up with a quite stunning debut album. Hitherto she was known in her homeland only as the sister of saxophonist Christian Vuust and for an educational show for children aged 2-6 called Jazzkatten På Tur (The Jazz Cat On Tour).

Her metamorphosis to major league jazz vocalist seems to have come about largely as a result of her marriage to Sicilian pianist/arranger Francesco Cali. She has also been inspired by Cali's mother, Cara Anna Maria. Vuust describes her as "a seamstress at night, a cook during the day, a mother and a grandmother and last, but not least, a great singer." Sadly, Cara Anna Maria died shortly before this album was recorded. It is dedicated to her memory. Vuust opens with a fine version of the bitter/sweet "I Don't Care," written for Cabaret but dropped from the original production and not reinstated until the 1990s. In a duo with Cali, she wisely resists the temptation to over- dramatize Arnie Butler's modern standard, "Here's To Life," the title song in all but two letters, to produce a wonderfully stark understatement. It vies with Shirley Horn's otherwise classic interpretation and is far more palatable than Joe Williams' sub-Ray Charles tearjerker that Vuust names as her own particular favorite. She uses the Barbra Streisand version of "Once Upon A Summertime," which interestingly contains a verse in French from Michel Legrand's original song from 1956, "La Valse Des Lilas."

There are two other standards, "Time After Time," by Sammy Cahn and Julie Styne and Charlie Chaplin's saccharine "Smile." Three Cali/Vuust originals, "Sicilian Love Song," "Evening" and "It's Happening Again" hold their own in such exalted company and the two bossa novas allow Vuust to display her linguistic talents by singing in Portuguese.

Sometimes she could do with a tad more expression in her voice, occasionally Nico Gori's clarinet gets just a mite too flowery and Flemming Agerskov fluffs a few notes of his trumpet solo on "It's Happening Again." But these are minor complaints about what is otherwise an excellent and warmly recommended album. ~ Chris Mosey  

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=45861#.UqdvsuIufkc

Personnel: Clara Vuust: vocals; Francesco Cali: piano; Nico Gori: clarinet; Jeppe Holst: guitar; Daniel Franck: bass; Flemming Agerskov: trumpet.

Here's to Love (feat. Francesco Calí, Nico Gori, Daniel Franck & Jeppe Holst)

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Frank Tiberi - Tiberian Mode

Styles: Straight-ahead/Mainstream
Year: 1999
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:24
Size: 131,5 MB
Art: Front

(6:43)  1. Spets Esrever
(6:23)  2. Stella By Starlight
(3:36)  3. I Have Loved
(8:22)  4. Retrospect
(6:24)  5. The Garz and I
(4:49)  6. The Champ
(5:15)  7. Confusion
(9:38)  8. Body and Soul
(6:14)  9. Cherry Key

Better late than never. Although Frank Tiberi’s stature among his fellow musicians approaches legendary, it took a Woody Herman alumnus (John Nugent) with his own record company to appreciate the benefits of bringing the present leader of the Herman Herd into a studio to document his prodigious talents. And while doing so, to invite two of Tiberi’s ardent admirers and former “students,” saxophonists Joe Lovano and George Garzone, to take part in the session. Lovano and Garzone are graduates of the “Herman Academy of Jazz,” having sat next to Tiberi in that awesome sax section, and both say they learned many an important lesson about their craft from “the professor.” 

Those lessons are put to good use immediately on Tiberi’s “Spets Esrever” (the first and last sections of Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” written backward) whose unharnessed energy and power (after a charming a cappella intro by the saxophone trio) are akin to that released when one uncaps an oil well or opens the door to let a whirlwind in the house. Garzone and Tiberi frolic together on two more of Frank’s compositions, “Retrospect” (based on the standard ”I’ll Remember April”) and “The Garz and I,” and Garzone and Lovano (sans Tiberi but with Dave Reikenberg’s baritone sax added) enliven a loping rendition of Dizzy Gillespie’s “The Champ.” Tiberi, who is widely known as a master of all the woodwinds, plays soprano on the fleet–footed finale, “Cherry Key” (cherry key; get it, kemo sabe?), tenor the rest of the way. 

While Tiberi is wholly unflappable at breakneck speed, he’s even more comfortably at ease at more moderate tempos, wresting every nuance of warmth and soulfulness from the evergreens “Stella by Starlight” and “Body and Soul” as well as from his own compositions, “I Have Loved” (a marvelous duet with pianist Andy Laverne) and “Confusion.” The only minor problem I have is with drummer Adam Nussbaum, whose playing leans at times toward boisterous, drawing one’s ear away from the soloists, where it properly belongs. Laverne and James Williams, who alternate at the keyboard, are first–rate, and bassist Drummond is as dependable (and welcome) as a morning sunrise. While Tiberi may be the antithesis of a “young lion,” the teeth and claws haven’t been dulled by the passage of time but remain razor–sharp and eager for combat. Our thanks to Nugent and NY Jam for giving him an opportunity bare them one more time. ~ Jack Bowers  

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=4127#.UqtSSLRc_vs 

Personnel:  Frank Tiberi, tenor and soprano saxophones; Joe Lovano, George Garzone, tenor saxophone; Andy Laverne, James Williams, piano; Ray Drummond, bass; Adam Nussbaum, drums; David Reikenberg, baritone sax

Tiberian Mode

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Lou Donaldson - Here 'Tis

Styles: Jazz
Year: 1961
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:14
Size: 90,2 MB
Art: Front

(6:37)  1. A Foggy Day
(9:30)  2. Here 'Tis
(6:56)  3. Cool Blues
(7:34)  4. Watusi Jump
(8:35)  5. Walk Widme

Here 'Tis is in the front rank of Lou Donaldson records, an exceptionally funky soul-jazz session that finds the saxophonist swinging harder than usual. As he moves from hard bop to soul-jazz, Donaldson reveals a bluesy streak to his playing while keeping the vigorous attack that defined his best bop. Donaldson's playing is among his finest in the soul-jazz vein, but what makes Here 'Tis such an enjoyable session is his interaction with his supporting trio of guitarist Grant Green, organist Baby Face Willette, and drummer Dave Bailey. As support, all three know how to keep a groove gritty and flexible, following Lou's lead and working a swinging beat that keeps flowing, never growing static. Green and Willette also have their time in the spotlight, and both musicians are frequently stunning. Green's single-note leads are clean and inventive; Willette is rhythmic and forceful, but also capable of soulful, mellow leads on the slow blues. Their talent, combined with Donaldson at a peak, results in a terrific record. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine  http://www.allmusic.com/album/here-tis-mw0000496644

Here 'Tis

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