Barbara McAfee - World Of Wonders

Size: 129,2 MB
Time: 56:09
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Jazz Vocals, Jazz Folk
Art: Front

01. World Of Wonders (6:44)
02. This Vehicle Makes Frequent Stops (2:05)
03. The House On Sherburne Street (4:22)
04. Kindness (3:54)
05. Rivers (4:20)
06. Margie's Song (3:11)
07. Breathing Trees (4:18)
08. More Than A House (4:26)
09. Let It Be (4:03)
10. Jewels (2:54)
11. Kindness (Reggae Reprise) (2:47)
12. Child Of My Heart (4:35)
13. I Wish That I Could Show You (3:42)
14. When I Die (4:38)

Barbara has been a voice coach for over twenty years supporting leaders from all sectors to unleash the full power and presence in their voices. Her book, Full Voice: The Art and Practice of Vocal Presence (Berrett-Koehler Publishers) was the #1 Amazon bestseller in business communications when it was released in October of 2011. She was an organizational development consultant for twelve years, specializing in team building, communications, and applying organizational principles and practices within communities.

A professional singer/songwriter and keynote speaker, Barbara blends practical content, sassy music, useful wisdom, and sophisticated humor in her keynote presentations. She has released six CDs of her music.

She was “the band” for a 15-city Women’s Leadership Revival Tour with leadership author and speaker Margaret Wheatley and wrote the theme song as well. Barbara also appears regularly with author Peter Block who wrote the forward to her book.

Barbara is the founder of the Morning Star Singers, a group of volunteers who bring songs of comfort and healing to people in hospitals, hospices, and nursing homes.

A native Minnesotan, she now lives across the street from the Mississippi River in Minneapolis.

World Of Wonders

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Spud Taylor - Z-Energy

Size: 115,6 MB
Time: 50:17
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Guitar Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Latin Jazz
Art: Front

01. Z-Energy (4:20)
02. Ba Dadah (3:36)
03. Let Yourself Go (5:07)
04. I Wanna Show You How (5:13)
05. Sassina (5:29)
06. Everything Must Change (5:42)
07. You Are Mine (5:51)
08. Possibilities (Feat. Tim Cunningham) (4:40)
09. When Elana Smiles (4:20)
10. Stay Here With Me (5:53)

Spud Taylor is a straight-ahead and Latin jazz guitarist from St Louis.

More information about this great guitarist will be welcome.

Z-Energy

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Jimmy Smith - Christmas Cookin'

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 48:48
Size: 111.7 MB
Styles: Holiday
Year: 1964/1992
Art: Front

[4:15] 1. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
[3:11] 2. Jingle Bells
[3:42] 3. We Three Kings (Of Orient Are)
[4:30] 4. The Christmas Song
[2:48] 5. White Christmas
[5:23] 6. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
[4:01] 7. Silent Night
[6:06] 8. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
[5:56] 9. Baby, It's Cold Outside
[8:52] 10. Greensleeves

This Christmas jazz album has five selections in which organist Jimmy Smith is joined by a big band arranged by either Billy Byers or Al Cohn. The remaining selections feature Smith with a variety of trios; guitarist Wes Montgomery is heard on "Baby It's Cold Outside," one of two "bonus" cuts taken from other sessions that help to fill up this otherwise brief set. Smith is fine on "Jingle Bells," "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" and two versions of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and, even if nothing all that unusual occurs, the performances can serve as high-quality background music during the Christmas season. ~Scott Yanow

Christmas Cookin'

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Spike Wilner - La Tendresse

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 55:47
Size: 127.7 MB
Styles: Piano jazz
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[5:05] 1. La Tendresse
[3:04] 2. If I Only Had A Brain
[6:26] 3. Solace
[5:24] 4. Silver Cord
[4:32] 5. Always
[4:52] 6. Lullaby Of The Leaves
[5:53] 7. After You've Gone
[4:11] 8. Le Sucrier Velours
[6:00] 9. Little Girl Blue
[4:33] 10. Crepuscule With Nellie
[2:28] 11. I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together
[3:12] 12. Happy Ending

Joy.

But having been told that one word reviews aren't sufficient, how about this: Pianist Spike Wilner's disc La Tendresse is pure joy.

Wilner can probably best be described as an old soul occupying a modernist corpus. His foundations in ragtime and stride piano inform the music heard here, but like Thelonious Monk, he uses the tradition as the architecture for the anatomy of a modern player. Even his take on "Crepuscule With Nellie," the classic Monk expression of hesitation and suspension, is delivered as a tender blues. More importantly, he delivers it without the cartoon clichéd dawdling.

Wilner's approach is to brighten each piece with the energy of his playing. Like his hero, Willie "The Lion" Smith and other Harlem stride pianists, he makes the difficult seem quite simple. The speed at which the trio navigates "After You're Gone" is just short of tumult. Drummer Dezron Douglas and bassist Joey Saylor chase, and then are chased by, the exuberance of Wilner's piano.

He is also quite comfortable carrying the day unaccompanied. As with his previous solo recording Live At Smalls (Smalls Live, 2011), Wilner performs several solo pieces here. The old Carol Burnett sign off tune "I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together" is rationed with the appropriate melancholy, and Harold Arlen's "If I Only Had A Brain" bounces and frolics with a campy stride fitting the dopey scarecrow.

The trio performs Irving Berlin's "Always," raising the bandstand much like early Bill Evans would, interlacing a subtle and intellectual swing with a quasi-classical approach. The highlights of this disc might be Scott Joplin's "Solace" and Bernice Petkere's "Lullaby Of The Leaves." Both tracks beg for comparison to master musician Bebo Valdes' playing. With "Solace," Wilner mixes his ragtime approach with Valdes' Cuban-folk take on American jazz.

There is much rejoicing to be had—or heard—here. ~Mark Corroto

Spike Wilner: piano; Dezron Douglas: bass; Joey Saylor: drums.

La Tendresse

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Christina Watson - A Flower Truly Blue

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 51:05
Size: 117.0 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[5:27] 1. Lazy Afternoon
[4:33] 2. The World Is What You Make It
[5:32] 3. Half Moon
[3:33] 4. We Can Work It Out
[4:08] 5. A Flower Truly Blue
[5:08] 6. Don't Misunderstand
[3:56] 7. All Of You
[5:15] 8. A Thousand Kisses Deep
[3:46] 9. Free
[5:30] 10. All I Need Now
[4:12] 11. What Do Your Voodoo Do

Originally from Middlesboro, Kentucky and Knoxville, Tennessee, Christina moved to Nashville in 2001 after graduating from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Since her arrival in Music City, her versatile voice of 3 + octaves and love of all cultures have gained her entry into a wide array of musical situations, including appearances at various jazz festivals and venues in the US, France, Belgium, Sweden and China. Her Watson Utterstrom Nordic Quintet toured Sweden in the summer of 2007 and appeared in Sweden and Belgium in April 2008. Her new CD "A Flower Truly Blue" features arranger Pat Coil on piano and B3, Jeff Coffin on sax, Oscar Utterstrom on trombone, Joe Gross on trumpet, Craig Nelson on bass, Bob Mater on drums, and vocalist Jeff Hall makes a guest appearance on "The World Is What You Make It" on which he also contributes a 4-part vocal arrangement sung by himself and Christina. In 2004 she released her debut album "All About Love."

Christina sings soprano in the Nashville based vocal jazz quartet 3rd Coast Vocals, directed by tenor/arranger Jeff Hall. She teaches private voice lessons from her home studio, at St. Edward's School in Nashville and from Gene Ford Music in Brentwood, TN. She is an instructor of vocal literature, chart writing and music theory at the Nashville Jazz Workshop. Christina directs the women's a capella choir "The Holiday Belles," which performs for charity, and she's a member of the folk/Celtic vocal group "The Ravens."

Christina also holds a BA in French from Centre College and an MA in French Literature from UT Knoxville.

A Flower Truly Blue

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Ximo Tebar - Goes Blue

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 54:48
Size: 125.4 MB
Styles: Guitar jazz
Year: 2005
Art: Front

[5:59] 1. Goes Blue
[5:58] 2. I Love You
[5:51] 3. Laura
[7:53] 4. Days Of Wine And Roses
[8:19] 5. Invitation
[6:29] 6. Midnight Creeper
[7:34] 7. Come To Me
[6:41] 8. Blues Walk

Goes Blue is the third entry in Ximo Tebar's Jazz Guitar Trio series, which has featured the Spanish guitarist playing with such luminaries as Idris Muhammad and Joey DeFrancesco. On this entry, Tebar and Muhammad are joined by Dr. Lonnie Smith and, on three tracks, Lou Donaldson. Listeners will not find anything too challenging or surprising, but the performances are always accomplished and solid, as should be expected from the quality of the players involved.

The three numbers featuring Donaldson are obvious highlights. His opening wail on a slow burn version of "Laura is suitably dramatic, paving the way for his smooth, sensitive solo. Donaldson also appears on a fun version of "Midnight Creeper, which he first performed with Muhammad and Smith back in 1968 with George Benson on guitar. Tebar fits in nicely with a tart, exuberant solo. As always, Smith flashes deep soul with every note and Muhammad cultivates a rock-solid beat.

Tebar deviates from the soul-jazz underpinnings of most of the numbers with a lush, delicate take on Mancini's "Days Of Wine And Roses. His introduction is quite lyrical and contrasts nicely with the choppy rhythm the rest of the band creates when it enters. Smith applies some lovely dark colors throughout.

Goes Blue is a relaxed outing that features some great players in a casual frame of mind. It is far from essential, but still highly enjoyable. ~Stephen Latessa

Ximo Tebar: guitar; Dr. Lonnie Smith: Hammond B3 organ; Idris Muhammad: drums; Lou Donaldson: alto saxophone (tracks 3,6,8).

Goes Blue

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Alyssa Graham - Lock, Stock and Soul

Styles: Adult Contemporary
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:06
Size: 128,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:41)  1. Til my heart quakes
(3:02)  2. I know
(4:05)  3. Exploded view
(4:34)  4. High time
(4:04)  5. He's a lover
(2:38)  6. Round & round
(3:23)  7. Until the last leaf falls
(4:39)  8. Ain't my kind of boy
(3:59)  9. I'll stay with you
(2:39) 10. You're the one
(4:02) 11. Lock, stock and soul
(4:47) 12. Tidal wave
(3:15) 13. Watching the sky
(2:57) 14. Lament
(3:13) 15. Don't leave me this way

Vocalist Alyssa Graham earned accolades from the music press for the jazz-leaning sounds of her first two albums, What Love Is and Echo, but Graham has changed lanes with her third album and has set her sights clearly on pop music. Most artists who give themselves this sort of creative makeover have chart success in mind, but that doesn't seem to be what Graham is aiming for on Lock, Stock & Soul; this is hardly the sort of pop music that has been selling many records in the past two or three decades, recalling the Laurel Canyon singer/songwriter community of the late 1960s and early '70s in its easygoing vibes and mellow but precise craft. Fittingly, while Graham relied on cover material on her earlier albums, she wrote or co-wrote five of the 12 tunes on Lock, Stock & Soul, while David Garza contributed four songs to the set list.

However, if this is truly the music Graham has wanted to make all along, it's tempting to say she was better off following someone else's muse. Lock, Stock & Soul is the musical equivalent of a cup of warm milk, warm and soothing but short on personality, and more likely to lull you off to dreamland rather than make you sit up and take notice. On these sessions, Graham's vocals are light, breathy, and subdued, with the phrasing lacking the jazzy angles of her earlier work and her instrument suggesting an artier and less emphatic Olivia Newton-John. Graham's songwriting also confirms she was wise to interpret other people's work on her first two discs; as a lyricist, she sounds like a high school poetry student who is likable but has little to say, and it's unfortunate but true that the one song she wrote with no outside help, "He's a Lover," is easily the weakest track on the album. 

And while Graham has some gifted accompanists on Lock, Stock & Soul (including Chris Bruce on guitar, Me'Shell Ndegéocello on bass, and Michael Jerome on drums), this music is so polite it feels more like wallpaper than any sort of emotional, expressive art. Maybe Lock, Stock & Soul really is the sound of Alyssa Graham's soul, but if that's the truth, you'd have to go back to the Wizard of Oz to find a better example of an invented persona that was more interesting that the person behind the curtain. ~ Mark Deming   http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-lock-stock-and-soul-mw0002231927

Lock, Stock and Soul

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Nancy Sinatra - Shifting Gears

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:57
Size: 144,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:36)  1. As Time Goes By
(2:55)  2. When I Look in Your Eyes
(4:54)  3. Holly Holy
(3:16)  4. I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise
(2:21)  5. Cockeyed Optimist (Guitar Version)
(2:54)  6. I Can See Clearly Now
(3:50)  7. Killing Me Softly with His Song
(8:31)  8. Play Me
(3:11)  9. Something
(5:53) 10. MacArthur Park
(8:06) 11. The Hungry Years
(2:58) 12. Cockeyed Optimist (Orchestra Version)
(2:54) 13. Why Did I Choose You?
(4:20) 14. I Don't Know How to Love Him
(3:11) 15. We Need a Little Christmas

You naturally think of “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” and her many other immortal 1960s rock ‘n’ roll hits when you think of the iconic Nancy Sinatra, but she also topped the charts in 1967 with her “Somethin’ Stupid” adult duet with her dad, and sang arguably the greatest James Bond theme, “You Only Live Twice,” also a 1967 hit.

And just as The Simpsons last week used the Bond song as a key episode theme (it previously ended Season 5 of Mad Men), Sinatra has returned with a new collection of mature ballads, Shifting Gears, largely made up of covers of movie/musical theater standards like "As Time Goes By" as well as more contemporary pop fare including a glorious version of Neil Diamond's "Holly Holy."

These recordings were culled from the Sinatra vaults. To be issued Dec. 3 by Sinatra herself (through her Boots Enterprises, Inc.) and via download only, the album is her first release since her 2009 set, Cherry Smiles: The Rare Singles, which was also digital.

“The music business has changed radically,” says Sinatra, who nevertheless thrilled audiences in August when Wilco brought her up to sing "Boots" and "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" during their AmericanaramA set in Irvine, Calif.

“Unless you are a huge star it's difficult to get a record out today," she continues. "Once we decided on this project it took a long time to pull it together because the tracks were recorded at different times and in different places. Producer Michael Lloyd managed to smooth them all out so that they work as a collection.”

As Sinatra notes on her website, the music on Shifting Gears “was not created to sit in a vault. It is meant to be shared and heard. Songs get lonely with nobody to listen to them.”

She says she sequenced the songs on the album to illustrate the arc of a relationship. It opens with the Casablanca movie classic “As Time Goes By,” which she performed in her record-breaking Las Vegas nightclub show at Caesars Palace in the summer of 1970, which was taped for her Emmy-winning Ed Sullivan Presents Movin’ With Nancy, On Stage TV special; the album closer “We Need A Little Christmas” also came from the Vegas/TV show.

Other movie songs on Shifting Gears include the Don Costa-arranged “When I Look In Your Eyes” from Doctor Dolittle and initially released on Sinatra’s 1998 Sheet Music collection, and “A Cockeyed Optimist,” from the Rodgers & Hammerstein film and Broadway musical South Pacific. Sinatra sees the latter song as part of Shifting Gears’ “optimism trilogy,” also including the Johnny Nash hit “I Can See Clearly Now,” and “I’ll Build A Stairway To Paradise,” which appeared both in Broadway’s 1922 version of George White’s Scandals and the film classic An American In Paris.

Also from Broadway comes The Yearling’s “Why Did I Choose You?" “I Don’t Know How To Love Him” is from Jesus Christ Superstar and was in Sinatra’s show with The Muppets; it was recorded with the same big orchestra used on “Holly Holy,” which she hails as "one of the most important recordings of my career,” and was also in her Vegas/TV show.

Included in Shifting Gears, too, are Diamond’s “Play Me,” The Beatles’ “Something” (also originally in Sheet Music), Neil Sedaka’s “The Hungry Years” and Jimmy Webb’s “MacArthur Park.”

“There are so many wonderful composers, arrangers and musicians featured on these tracks, and it was sad to me that they were languishing,” says Sinatra. “These songs needed to reach the ether and be heard by my fans!”

She notes that some of the charts were written expressly for her stage shows and TV specials.

“I'm just glad I had the foresight to go into a studio when I had the chance to preserve them,” she relates. “We were on a real budget so we couldn't do take after take, usually only one take. So we had to accept the ‘clams’ [mistakes] in the orchestra. Michael plays several instruments so he was able to replace a bad note with a good one as he restored the tracks. The vocals were added over the last 10 years as we went along. It really was a big undertaking, but it wasn't ego-driven. I really didn't want the music to die.”

She’s particularly pleased that arrangements by her late friends Costa and Billy Strange are represented, Strange having arranged both “Somethin’ Stupid” and the non-soundtrack version of “You Only Live Twice.” Many of the musicians are well-known, she says, and include L.A.’s famed Wrecking Crew of session players, of which guitarist Strange was a member.

Sinatra is promoting Shifting Gears so far via her active Twitter account, as well as Facebook. She notes on her website: “It’s been a real struggle because when we say ‘vault’ we really mean ‘garage,’ which is where the tapes were for decades before we had the vault. Some were multi-track, some were quarter-inch and some were only cassettes!”

She also lauds the Shifting Gears artwork by Shag, which evokes the “I Gotta Get Out Of This Town” segment from the Movin’ With Nancy special. ~ Jim Bessman  http://www.examiner.com/article/nancy-sinatra-shifts-gears-with-new-digital-album

Shifting Gears

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Ty Causey - Cool In My Skin

Styles: R&B
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:53
Size: 118,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:01)  1. Bad Boy
(3:28)  2. Step N2 Love
(4:11)  3. Love Me That Way
(4:04)  4. Keep Your Head Up
(4:19)  5. Other Side of Town (feat. Najee)
(3:40)  6. Ordinary Guy
(4:25)  7. No More Broken Hearts (feat. Zedric Teague)
(3:58)  8. Hold On, Don't Let Go
(4:06)  9. Free Ride
(3:56) 10. Cool in My Skin (feat. Bobby Bruns)
(3:47) 11. Payin' My Dues
(4:21) 12. Slide (feat. W.R. Sanders)
(3:32) 13. Good Old Fashion Love

“Possessing abundant sex appeal, smooth vocal ease and poetic mastery, Causey is catching the attention of a growing fan base.” ~ Jazzreview.com

“There’s just something about Causey’s brand of smooth soul that works on your brain and heart and feet like magic. It’s that voice. And those beats. And those hooks. And that voice. Somehow Causey knows just what to do to make you melt, fall in love, dance the night away.” ~ Whatsup magazine

"Causey consistently gives long time soul and R&B fans what they say the music has lacked for years  arrangements that fuse R&B with jazz and a little dash of funk, lyrics that ooze sensuality even while tastefully leaving just enough to the imagination, all sung by a man who has true control of his vocal instrument."~ Soultracks.com

"Despite what you might have been told, there are some things you can count on: The sun coming up in the east (barring some unforeseen Divine demonstration), death and taxes and Ty Causey putting out a great album."~ Frost Illustrated

Mellifluous, enticing, passionate and dexterous  these are superlatives most certainly appropriate for defining the style and sound of acclaimed singer/songwriter/producer, TY CAUSEY. Talented, prolific, and genuine are best in describing who he is. All combined the result unveils an artist that harkens back to the storied crooners of the past, but with a present day sheen that boasts a collage of soul, jazz and R&B. His brand of sensual soul and smooth R&B is winning over a growing number of fans and industry insiders alike on the strength of his acclaimed CDs and live performances causing many to place him amongst the elite vocalists on the scene today.

Causey now returns with another hot new release, COOL IN MY SKIN, that continues his constistent trend of winning projects, boasting his now trademark sound of sensual soul and smooth R&B and featuring guest spots from a host of talented musicians including a musical reunion with contemporary jazz icon, saxophonist and flautist, Najee.

Established fans and those new to Causey's music will be caught and delighted by one of the most engaging voices out now on the strength of outstanding tracks like "Bad Boy", "Keep Your Head Up", "Other Side of Town", and the amazing first single, "Love Me That Way." http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/tycausey14

Cool In My Skin

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Thelonious Monk - Paris 1969

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:42
Size: 141,7 MB
Art: Front

( 7:21)  1. I Mean You
( 6:31)  2. Ruby My Dear
( 6:47)  3. Straight, No Chaser
( 4:21)  4. Bright Mississippi
( 7:39)  5. Light Blue
( 4:54)  6. Epistrophy
( 4:54)  7. Don't Blame Me
( 1:36)  8. I Love You Sweetheart of All My Dreams
( 2:19)  9. Crepescule with Nellie
( 3:08) 10. Bright Mississippi (reprise)
(10:03) 11. Nutty
( 2:04) 12. Blue Monk

Thelonious Monk was having a rough time of it during the latter 1960s. Experiencing health and some economic problems, he was also in dispute with Columbia Records, whose marketing department was trying to re-create him in the image of a rock star (see the cover of Underground). On top of this, he had lost his core rhythm section, bassist Larry Gales and drummer Ben Riley. For his eighth European tour, the pianist hired young, unknown players as accompanists for himself and saxophonist Charlie Rouse: Berklee music school student Nate "Lloyd" Hygelund on bass and 17-year-old drummer Paris Wright  son of bassist Herman Wright. 

This date was recorded on the last night of the tour at the 3,800 seat Salle Pleyel (the same theater in which a far lesser-known Monk, playing with a local rhythm section, had bombed badly in 1954), and was filmed for French television broadcast. The members of this band had been able to establish a rapport during their travels, including a stint at Ronnie Scott's in London as well as gigs in Berlin, Cologne, and Italy. The show finds Monk and band playing well even if, at times, they are just swinging through the tunes rather than embellishing them. The versions of his classic tunes  "Ruby My Dear," "Straight, No Chaser," "Light Blue," "Epistrophy," "Crepuscule with Nelly," "Bright Mississippi" and others are played with a sophisticated command, if not the experimentation they once contained. Wright is a perfectly capable, hard-swinging hard bop drummer; his chops are impressive  for his age  if not exceptional. Hygelund is the perfect timekeeper, always physical and in the pocket, and Rouse, so familiar with his boss' music, plays it so effortlessly and perfectly that at times he seems on autopilot  save for his angular solo on "Light Blue." 

Monk, despite his health problems, seems undiminished. While there is no dancing, unpredictable bashing of chords with his elbows, or other theatrics common to his earlier persona, his sense of rhythm, harmony, imagination, and swing is ample. Wright gets a lesson in how it's all done on "Nutty," when the pianist calls out Philly Joe Jones (then a resident of Paris), who, though looking haggard, adds a polyrhythmic thrust to the proceedings that emboldens and energizes Monk. Another spot where we hear the pianist stretch is in his uncharacteristically busy flourishes on "Ruby My Dear." This volume is a welcome addition to Monk's recorded catalog; it adds a fine performance to counter the then-popular critical notion that the great composer and pianist was languishing. ~ Thom Jurek  http://www.allmusic.com/album/paris-1969-mw0002581640

Paris 1969

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