8½ Souvenirs - Happy Feet

Styles: Retro Swing, Alternative Country-Rock
Released: 1995
Label: RCA
File: mp3 @320K/s
Size: 122.4 MB
Time: 47:41
Art: full

1. Happy Feet - 2:55
2. Kazango - 3:41
3. No Lo Visto - 3:45
4. It's All Right With Me - 3:49
5. Minor Swing - 2:59
6. Le Poinconneur Des Lilas - 2:54
7. Black Trombone - 4:56
8. Place de Brouckere - 3:11
9. After You've Gone - 3:52
10. Come Di - 4:47
11. Blues En Mineur - 5:08
12. Botch-A-Me (Ba-Da-Baciani-Piccina) - 2:25
13. Brazil - 4:27
14. Y La Chalupa Va - 2:10

Notes: 8½ Souvenirs was an American swing jazz band active from approximately 1993 to 2000 and based in Austin, Texas. The band was signed to the RCA Victor label and had two releases under that label, as well as two other releases under Austin, Texas indie labels.
The band was named in tribute to the Federico Fellini film 8½ and the Django Reinhardt song "Souvenirs." The band was instrumental in that city's 1990s Swing Revival dance scene centered at the Continental Club. The band was notable for its Django Reinhardt, gypsy jazz and other European influences.
The band met with limited commercial success although it was featured on Austin City Limits broadcast in April, 1998.
They have four releases
Happy Feet (1995 - RCA Victor)
Souvonica (1997 - Continental Club music )
Twisted Desire (1999 - RCA Victor)
Live Memories (2000 - Giraudo Records)
The band lineup evolved over the years. During different periods, the personnel included:
Olivier Giraud (guitar, vocals) The founder and key member of the Souvenirs. Now a member of the band Paris 49.
Tony Balbineau (vocals, rhythm guitar)
Todd Wulfmeyer (bass)
Kathy Kiser (vocals)
Glover Gill (piano)
Adam Berlin (drums)
Juliana Sheffield (vocals)
Kevin Smith (bass)
Justin Sherburn (piano)
Rob Kidd (drums)
Chrysta Bell (vocals)

Happy Feet

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Candice Corbin, Teresa Fischer, Andrew David Sotomayor - Christmas Is...

Size: 98,4 MB
Time: 42:30
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Holidays
Art: Front

01. This Endris Night (2:04)
02. That Spirit of Christmas (3:24)
03. Still, Still, Still - Silent Nigh (3:15)
04. I'll Be Home For Christmas (2:09)
05. Christmas Boo (3:08)
06. The Christmas Wish (3:35)
07. Last Christmas (3:52)
08. Please Don't Make Me Sing A Christmas Ballad (3:20)
09. O Holy Nigh (3:36)
10. We'll All Meet Up Next Year (3:05)
11. Christmas Is... (2:34)
12. My Epiphany (5:07)
13. Pretty Little Dolly (3:14)

The sublime sits side by side with samples of the ridiculous—meaning silly—on Christmas Is ... It underscores the fact that the holiday can bring out the reverent beauty in song, praising the birth of Jesus, as well as deign to dishing about the more mundane secular habits. Dwelling on diversions of gift-giving and getting, parties and pairing-up pale in comparison to the stark beauty and simplicity highlighted so successfully in the serious numbers.

Sharing the bill, taking turns with solos or lead vocals while the other two provide back-up and harmonies ,are Candice Corbin, Teresa Fischer, and Andrew David Sotomayor, also the very capable pianist and musical director/arranger. He's a popular go-to guy for New York City cabaret shows, oft seen behind the keys at The Duplex, and contributes four originals, one a comical collaboration with the ever-likeable and feisty Fischer who sings it: "Please Don't Make Me Sing a Christmas Ballad" that grouses its self-explanatory titular position. His title song for this album lists tender and heart-revealing pictures of what "Christmas Is" ("No matter the way that you choose to believe, the love of the season is yours to receive, in a world that's so harried and littered with fear ..."). He leads the number with an especially sensitive vocal. Guest soloist Christian Smythe on oboe plays a powerful line, but it feels globbed on, too forward in the mix, rather than fully integrated and woven in. Sotomayor's own "Christmas Boo" finds him singing about potential love partners he's choosing among, as in a pageant; it starts nicely with its verse, but I find its charms resistible as he goes on about resisting most of their charms. His "My Epiphany" tries for a combination of straightforward appreciation of tradition with some offhand remarks about worldwide customs which I suspect work better in their in-person gigs.

Teresa makes her down-home sensibilities and slyness score with a folksy, frank look on the potential, and future potential, of holiday get-togethers in "We'll All Meet Up Next Year," a rouser and spirit-raiser written by Deirdre Flint. And, in the album's comedy highlight, she garners giggles with the snide look at the gift of the "Pretty Little Dolly" that can oh-so-cutely do everything oh-so pleasant and unpleasant. She has a field day with this Mona Abboud novelty number, but she can pull her weight in some straight-faced, straight-laced chores, too, and as a team player.

Candice Corbin invests contemporary soul into the proceedings with impressive stylizations. While I kept hoping she'd raise the roof all the way, her voice is a pleasure wrapping itself around the varied selections. She takes George Michael's self-penned hit "Last Christmas" and phrases it maturely, in a way to make the words and feelings command more attention. This is partly due to a more thoughtful tempo that avoids a see-saw melodic sameness. Her forceful vocal on "I'll Be Home for Christmas (If Only in My Dreams)" comes packaged with an invigoratingly lively (!), but not wholly convincing, arrangement, robbing it of its inherent bittersweet uncertain outcome.

So, Santa's bag is decidedly a mixed one here, but the very first track, with Andrew David Sotomayor leading vocally with the ancient carol "This Endris Night," is such a stunning beauty that I had to play it three times before being able to move on. It's simply gorgeous and his voice has a wondrous purity which cuts through everything and is breathtaking. This is an adventurous holiday collection that gets points for thinking outside the usual gift box. ~Rob Lester

Merry Xmas to you all

Christmas Is...

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Sarah Shea - The Nearness Of You

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 48:45
Size: 111.6 MB
Styles: Easy Listening
Year: 2011
Art: Front

[3:42] 1. Fever
[4:28] 2. I've Got You Under My Skin
[3:38] 3. Cheek To Cheek
[4:18] 4. These Foolish Things
[3:49] 5. Summertime
[4:36] 6. I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good
[3:39] 7. East Of The Sun
[4:13] 8. Cry Me A River
[4:42] 9. Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars
[4:51] 10. My Romance
[3:55] 11. Sunny
[2:49] 12. The Nearness Of You

Sarah Shea has been dreaming about this day since she was a little girl. She remembers sitting in the cart and singing the letters S-A-F-E-W-A-Y in perfect pitch at the store while her mother shopped. As she got older, she’d harmonize to the lifts while skiing. Ever since she can remember, music was “in” her.

Now, after years of hard work, determination and more than a few bumps in the road, Shea, 34, will celebrate the release of her first album, “The Nearness of You,” during Wine on the Waterfront at The Landing Mall in Port Angeles at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, July 30. She invites all her friends, family and fans to join the fun. “I’m very excited about this CD,” Shea said. “I’ve wanted to make a CD for a number of years but it always just seemed out of reach.”

With the exception of the first song, “Fever,” all of the vocals were recorded in Sequim. “Fever” was completed in one take and left unedited. Shea describes the track as purposely “raw.” Accompanying Shea on the CD are Craig Buhler on the saxophone, clarinet or flute and Al Harris on the piano. Buhler and Harris joined forces with Shea in 2009 to form Chez Jazz, a local performing band.

“I’m very proud of this CD because it really is a first-class CD and one that anyone could listen to,” Shea said.

The Nearness Of You

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Tom Saunders' Wild Bill Davison Band - Exactly Like You

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 79:30
Size: 182.0 MB
Styles: Dixieland
Year: 1995
Art: Front

[ 4:05] 1. Sleep
[ 7:10] 2. Someday You'll Be Sorry
[ 2:58] 3. Milenberg Joys
[ 3:43] 4. Echoes Of Spring
[ 6:19] 5. Struttin' With Some Barbecue
[ 3:17] 6. I'm Crazy 'bout My Baby
[ 6:00] 7. Smiles
[ 6:50] 8. If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight)
[ 7:42] 9. Doin' The New Low Down
[12:04] 10. Exactly Like You
[ 6:58] 11. Home
[ 5:31] 12. Beale Street Blues
[ 6:46] 13. I Never Knew

This enjoyable concert not only features cornetist Tom Saunders' "Wild Bill Davison Legacy Band" (consisting of Saunders, trombonist Bill Allred, clarinetist Chuck Hedges, tenor saxophonist Danny Moss, pianist Johnny Varro, guitarist Marty Grosz, bassist Isla Eckinger and drummer Butch Miles), but three numbers showcase the frontline of cornetist Dick Sudhalter, trombonist Roy Williams and baritonist John Barnes. All three reeds are heard on "Exactly Like You," and the full 11-piece group romps on the final three numbers; in addition, Jeanie Lambe has a spirited vocal on "Milenburg Joys." Although no one ever duplicated the sound of Wild Bill Davison (Ernie Carson has come the closest), he would have enjoyed this outing by his associates. Highlights include "Sleep," Varro's piano feature on "Echoes of Spring," "Struttin' With Some Barbeque," "Doin' the New Lowdown" and a riotous version of "Beale Street Blues." ~Scott Yanow

Exactly Like You

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Jorge Ben - Puro Suingue

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 43:38
Size: 101.1 MB
Styles: Brazilian jazz
Year: 2000
Art: Front

[3:01] 1. Que Pena (Ela Já Não Gosta Mais De Mim)
[2:35] 2. Take It Easy My Brother Charles
[4:04] 3. Que Maravilha
[2:34] 4. Bebete Vãobora
[3:03] 5. Chove Chuva
[3:48] 6. O Telefone Tocou Novamente
[2:58] 7. Mas Que Nada / De Manhã
[3:02] 8. Rita Jeep
[3:29] 9. Criola
[2:54] 10. Se Segura Malandro
[2:45] 11. Por Causa De Você, Menina
[3:32] 12. Que Nega E Essa
[2:41] 13. Minha Teimosia, Uma Arma Pra Te Conquistar
[3:06] 14. Taj Mahal

Jorge Ben is a brazilian musician born March 22, 1942, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (in 1988, Ben changed his name to Jorge Ben Jor, due to the fact that the international rights for his songs were going to George Benson). Jorge Ben, considered the father of Brazilian soul (together with Tim Maia, who came next), rose to fame with his album Samba Esquema Novo (1963). His music has a very particular style, which fuses samba, funk and rock; his lyrics blend humor and satire and is sometimes reminiscent of the themes of Rio de Janeiro’s samba schools.

PURO SUINGUE features 14 favorites from Brazilian music great Jorge Ben including "Que Maravilha" and "Rita Jeep." Greatest hits compilation featuring 'Bebete Vaobora,' 'Quepena,' 'Chove Chuva,' 'se Segura Malandro,' 'O Telefone Tocou Novamente,' 'Que Nega E Essa,' 'Criola' and 'Taj Mahal.'

Puro Suingue

Gerri DiMaggio - Comes Love

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:52
Size: 92,5 MB
Art: Front

(4:26)  1. Like Someone In Love
(4:49)  2. The Man I Love
(2:58)  3. Sway
(4:06)  4. Comes Love
(4:56)  5. O' Barquinho (MyLittle Boat)
(4:29)  6. Stolen Moments
(5:48)  7. Sem Compromisso
(3:23)  8. East Of The Sun (And West Of The Moon)
(4:54)  9. Moody's Mood For Love

Gerri DiMaggio's smoky alto voice gives her an edge when she sings romantic songs, so this program of standard love songs seems made just right for her vocal style. With a stellar piano trio in support, as well as a guest trumpeter on two selections, DiMaggio explores a lasting love story. Her delivery swings, her interpretations are cool, and she allows plenty of space for the music to breathe. From Madison, Wisconsin, DiMaggio is familiar with techniques for communicating effectively with an audience. Her blend of Brazilian strolls and pages from the Great American Songbook gives variety to Comes Love. Her interpretation of "Moody's Mood for Love, in particular, offers a special delight that straight-ahead jazz fans will enjoy. DiMaggio's session takes the listener for a stroll along palm-lined beaches and rural stretches where crowds have the day off. It's just her and the music and plenty of cool swing. "Stolen Moments drives nonchalantly with no hint of a schedule, while "East of the Sun moves fluidly at a faster pace toward romantic promises. It's a light program. Several selections feature DiMaggio's interpretation of Portuguese lyrics. "Comes Love represents one of the session's numerous high points. DiMaggio delivers her message coolly, calmly and collectedly, allowing its romantic spirit to take center stage. ~ Jim Santella   http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=22165#.Urg56bRc9sg

Personnel: Gerri DiMaggio: vocals; Paul Hastil: piano; John Mesoloras: bass; John Becker: drums, percussion; Dave Cooper: trumpet.

Comes Love

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Alexis Cole - The Greatest Gift

Styles: Holiday
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:45
Size: 125,7 MB
Art: Front

(5:30)  1. Joy To The World
(5:20)  2. Jeanette Isabella-The Call
(2:41)  3. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
(3:35)  4. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
(5:26)  5. Rise Up, Shepherd, And Follow
(5:39)  6. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
(0:47)  7. Christmas Time Is Here (Prelude)
(3:25)  8. Christmas Time Is Here
(3:53)  9. What Child Is This
(4:12) 10. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
(3:12) 11. Away In A Manger
(3:54) 12. Silent Night
(3:42) 13. Happiest Christmas
(3:21) 14. Jesus Is The Best Part Of Christmas

Award-winning vocalist Alexis Cole is getting ready for Christmas with The Greatest Gift. The disc features 14 tracks, including original songs and some Christmas favorites such as "Joy to the World," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "Away in a Manger," and "Silent Night." The titles may be familiar, but Cole's unique interpretation turns the songs into jazz, blues and classical music all highlighting her warm and rich vocals, so emotive they register in the keys of love and gratitude.

Inspiration for the disc's title came from her father, singer/composer Mark Finkin, who in 2007 performed at a recital called "The Greatest Gift" during his long-awaited college graduation festivities. It was around this time that Cole rededicated herself to the church and ultimately to music. Inspired by her religious feeling and the Christmas holiday, Cole is dedicating part of the sales from The Greatest Gift to the World Bicycle Relief Fund, an organization that raises money in support of disaster aid.

Standout performances include the disc's opening selection, an up-tempo instrumental of "Joy to the World"; "Jeanette Isabella/The Call," which includes original songwriting by Cole in a spiritual "call" to celebrate all children; a bluesy version of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen," featuring vocals by Cole and her father; "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," done with a Caribbean twist; "Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow," an African-American spiritual reinvented to include Indian music; and "The Happiest Christmas," a stripped-down, bare-bones performance with piano, violin and Cole's vocals.

Expressions of charity and goodwill are sprinkled throughout the disc, from the liner notes to the enhanced CD featuring videos of the World Bicycle Relief fund. It's one thing to reference the celebration of Jesus in an album title, and quite another to honor love and community with the album itself. The Greatest Gift is more than jazzed-up Christmas music it's a gift that comes from within ~ Bridget Arnwine  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=34669#.UrjOM7TJI0g

Personnel: Alexis Cole: vocals; Mark Finkin: vocals, piano; St. Paul's Children's Choir: vocals; St. James' Quartet: harps; Greg Frens: vocal; Don Brayden: sax; Christian Howes: violin; Warren Chasson: vibraphone; Alan Ferber: trombone; Jon Cowherd: piano; Jeff Haynes: percussion; Jessie Lewis: guitar; Ike Sturm: bass; Fred Kennedy: drums; Gottfried Stoger: sax; John Menegon: bass; Alvin Atkinson: drums; Kumar Das: tablas; Pir Shabda Khan: tambura; Zach Brock: violin; Andie Springer: violin; Beth Meyers: viola; Jody Redhage: cello; Warren Chasson: vibes; Tedd Firth: piano.

The Greatest Gift

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Lyne Tremblay - Break' N Enter

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:13
Size: 119,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:21)  1. Here's To You
(5:10)  2. J'attendrai
(5:20)  3. Silently
(2:20)  4. Le Jazz Et La Java
(4:57)  5. Caravan
(4:58)  6. Couleur Cafe
(4:40)  7. Just Call Me Love Bird
(4:13)  8. Do You Miss Me
(3:33)  9. La Chanson Des Vieux Amants
(3:35) 10. Entropy Means Nothing To Me
(4:49) 11. Break ' Enter
(2:10) 12. Tout Mais Pas CA
(2:01) 13. J'attendrai (Reprise)

With all the experience she has gained on stage and in cabaret, Lyne Tremblay has become an accomplished singer. She is at ease with show tunes (her credits include playing Sally Bowles in Cabaret and Cassandra in Cats.) and pop songs, but it is her way with a jazz tune that carves the notch on her pillar of accomplishments. Tremblay has an adept sense of phrasing, shaping the words, creating the right texture and capturing the moment with aplomb.

The songs here have an impressive range and include those written by Jacques Brel, Serge Gainsbourg and Duke Ellington, whom she picks for “Caravan” sung in French and English. Set off by a Middle Eastern sax sound and percussion, Tremblay brings in a seductive presence as she lets the song undulate and sway. With Scott Marshall adding some clean, inventive lines on the clarinet this turns out to be quite the delight.

Another attribute is the way Tremblay meshes with the musicians. They play along as she sings, adding an indelible adjunct, blending as one, interweaving voices and giving the songs a very welcome depth and groove. The Gainsbourg tune, “Couleur Café,” latches on right from the moment Guido Basso brings it in on the flugelhorn, his tone flowing in buttery richness and Geordie Haley taking it home on the guitar with a range of scintillating ideas. And hand it to Tremblay for her sense of timing and emphasis on the sensuous “Just Call Me Lovebird,” where the jazz landscape is extended by Marcell Aucoin on piano through a stream of rich harmonic permutations. The different sides of Tremblay are worthy of attention. ~ Jerry D' Souza 

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=12584#.UrYwbOJc9sg

Break' N Enter

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Ehud Asherie - Welcome To New York

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:24
Size: 142,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:23)  1. Drop Me Off In Harlem
(4:27)  2. Manhattan Serenade
(3:52)  3. 52nd Street Theme
(5:47)  4. Autumn In New York
(4:45)  5. 42nd Street
(4:56)  6. Lullaby Of Broadway
(6:10)  7. Somewhere
(4:08)  8. Harlem Bound
(3:58)  9. Lovers In New York
(6:53) 10. Lonely Town
(3:34) 11. Harlem Strut
(4:29) 12. Manhattan
(4:57) 13. Take The 'a' Train

On Welcome to New York, his first-ever solo-piano collection, Asherie’s mastery of various masters’ styles, from Waller and Tatum and Dave McKenna on down, puts him in the elite group of heritage pianists who rode in on the wave of Wynton Marsalis traditionalism. The 13-tune playlist here is resourcefully thematic, not necessarily extolling New York as Asherie raids the Bernstein songbook for two more nuggets, “Lonely Town” and “Somewhere.” The latter ballad builds to a rhapsodic fantasia after a hushed, cathedral-like intro, cresting as Asherie tellingly floats the aching yearning of his right hand over the dark fatality of his left.

Duke Ellington’s “Drop Me Off in Harlem” begins the Gotham travelogue with a hazy saloon-hall ambiance, and Billy Strayhorn’s “Take the ‘A’ Train” swings us out. In between we’re treated to choice interpretations of Monk’s “52nd Street Theme,” James P. Johnson’s challenging “Harlem Strut” and Rodgers and Hart’s anthemic “Manhattan.” Nothing stomps quite as hard as Asherie’s electrifying “42nd Street” when it reaches full steam before a graceful landing that duly honors the stop-time “Naughty, bawdy, gaudy, sporty” coda on the lyric sheet. Even more artful, Asherie expresses the wistfulness of Vernon Duke’s “Autumn in New York” by nostalgically quoting Gershwin’s “Summertime.” Dedicated students of the art form will then recognize the Hank Jones vamp that framed the opening track of Cannonball’s Somethin’ Else, “Autumn Leaves.”

Little delights like that are sprinkled everywhere, like Monk’s “Well, You Needn’t” in the middle of “Lullaby of Broadway” and a drop-by from the “Marines’ Hymn” in “52nd Street Theme.” Asherie studied hard for his first solo test.  ~ Perry Tannenbaum   

http://jazztimes.com/articles/27437-welcome-to-new-york-ehud-asherie

Welcome To New York

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