Thursday, December 26, 2013

Ida Landsberg - Cherry Tree Lane

Size: 88,8 MB
Time: 37:58
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Bossa Nova, Vocal Pop/Jazz
Label: Irma Records
Art: Front

01. Lagoon (3:31)
02. Afternoon Delight (2:47)
03. Fireflies (3:15)
04. Yesterday Dreams (4:42)
05. This Is What I Feel For You (3:45)
06. Playin' (3:52)
07. The House On The Land In The City (3:49)
08. A Little Yellow Boat (4:39)
09. You're So Beautiful (3:24)
10. Hey Love (4:09)

I am a Berlin jazz singer, piano player and songwriter living in Italy. Music is present in my life since I can think.

Whether it was singing on my grandmother’s balcony in the early childhood, my musical activities with piano and voice at school or in the parish or later on, while studying music with Renate Dasch or at the Berlin University of Arts (UdK Berlin) (with Jutta Schlegel, Jolyon Brettingham-Smith, Harald Schwarz, Marek Bobéth, Martin Ripper) and the Siena Jazz School (with Roberto Nanetti and Mariano di Nunzio), attending different master classes (Cheryl Porter, Marco Tamburini, Carl Verheyen, Greg Koch…) or taking vocal lessons (jazz improvisation with Susanna Stivali from Saint Louis College of Music or belcanto with Anastasia Tomaszewska from Istituto Rinaldo Franci) , I always felt that music was something really essential to me.

In Berlin I played gigs with Katie Mullins and Haruko Ota in a trio “a cappella” presenting jazz, barbershop, gospel and 20th centry classical music to our audience. I was a member of different choirs who also used to sing in the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, the “Neuköllner Oper” or the theatre of Baden Baden.

After I moved to Italy in 2000 my musical activity became very rich and I made a lot of gigs in clubs, theatres, at festivals, music shows and in the radio.

Just to name some of them, I played at “Villa Celimontana Festival” (Rome), “Cantiere Musica” (Anguillara), “Note di Montecucco” (Campagnatico), “Festival del Giornalismo” (Orbetello), Teatro Eliseo and Teatro Anfitrione (Rome), Disma Music Show (Rimini), “Capalbio Libri” with Tony Renis, at Massimo Nunzi‘s radio programme “Jazz a Nota Libera” together with Lino Patruno and many others.

In these past years I had the opportunity to collaborate with many talents of the national and international jazz and independent scene such as Frank Gambale, Ferruccio Spinetti, Emilio Soano, Mirco Mariottini, Lino Patruno, Francesco Poeti, Andy Gravish, Roberto Schiano, Lello Pareti, Piero Borri, Marco Caudai, Marco Guidolotti, Angelo Ferrua, Giampiero Grani, Katie Mullins, Stefano Bagnoli, Olivier Renne, Romano Pratesi, Nico Pistolesi, Angelo Olivieri, Giovanni Bataloni and many more.

In 2010 I signed with the German music company Salto Recordings and am now under contract with the Singapore record label EQ Music, partner of the jazz label Hitman Jazz from Bangkok and the Italian music label Irma Records. Since then I started to release different solo albums, soundtracks for iPhone games from Agharta Studio, compilations, club music tracks and had guest appearences in independent musical projects.

My repertoire includes jazz standards, bossa nova songs, international pop, musical and gospel classics as well as some Italian and Napolitan songs.

But in all these years I never stopped writing my own songs so that after a long period passed in the recording studio I just released my first album with original songs “Cherry Tree Lane” with Irma Records, available on all the main digital music stores (iTunes, Amazon, Beatport etc.).

I found out that creating, in life, is one of the most gratifying things and I really feel blessed when I have the opportunity to share my work with other people.

Cherry Tree Lane

Dian S. Meechai - Stormy Weather

Size: 118,0 MB
Time: 51:01
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Vocal Jazz, Holidays, Classical
Art: Front

01. Cheek To Cheek (3:44)
02. Christmas Time Is Here (3:05)
03. Stormy Weather (3:34)
04. The Way You Look Tonight (3:37)
05. Over The Rainbow (3:56)
06. They Can’t Take That Away From Me (3:40)
07. Santa Baby (3:30)
08. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (4:23)
09. Silent Night (3:32)
10. Ave Maria (4:23)
11. Rusalka, Act I, Mesicku Na Nebi Hlubokem (5:46)
12. Le Nozze Di Figaro, Act IV, Deh Vieni Non Tardar (3:20)
13. O Holy Night (4:26)

Dian Meechai's debut album Stormy Weather is a celebratory blend of Christmas music, jazz standards and classical arias. The album is divided into two sections, Christmas Cocktails and Sunday Service. Each section reflects the various spirits of the holiday season. Â Christmas Cocktails begins the festivities with familiar jazz songs such as "The Way You Look Tonight" and "They Can't Take That Away From Me." Listeners are invited to dance "Cheek to Cheek" with a loved one, cozy up to the sentimental sounds of "Christmas Time is Here" and "Over the Rainbow," or take a spirited turn to the groovy "Santa Baby." For Sunday Service, the mood becomes more intimate as the drummer and bassist step away. Dian transports the listener to their own personal recital with holiday classics such as "Silent Night" and "O Holy Night." By including sweet arias such as "Mesicku na nebi hlubokem," she creates a scene reminiscent to those found in the novels of Jane Austen. "The holiday season is my favorite time of year," Dian says. "I hope to bring some of my mushy spirit into your home." Dian is accompanied on Stormy Weather by renowned jazz pianist Dan Zemelman, drummer Greg Wyser-Pratte, and bassist Mike Bordelon.

Stormy Weather

Sammy Benskin - These Foolish Songs

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 60:07
Size: 137.6 MB
Styles: Piano jazz
Year: 2002
Art: Front

[2:52] 1. I Only Have Eyes For You
[4:24] 2. I Remember You
[4:15] 3. Lullaby Of The Leaves
[3:31] 4. Lush Life
[2:38] 5. Keepin' Out Of Mischief Now
[4:03] 6. Easy Living
[3:04] 7. Ain't Misbehavin'
[4:21] 8. Durango
[3:45] 9. Blue Moon
[3:09] 10. I'm Going To Seat Down
[4:22] 11. Pennies From Heaven
[3:21] 12. Stompin' At The Savoy
[4:09] 13. My Ship
[3:54] 14. What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life
[3:59] 15. Alice's Blues
[4:12] 16. Have You Met Miss Jones

Pianist Sammy Benskin was considered one of the finest of accompanists for vocalists, to the point where he spent parts of his career simply coaching them rather than following them on-stage. By the time Benskin was done with his students, which included singers of the caliber of Diahann Carroll, none could possibly be the subject of a joke such as "How do you know when a singer is at the door?" (Answer: They don't know how to come in.) Benskin made his professional debut at the age of 18, backing up Bardu Ali, a performer whose name sounds something like the title of an Egyptian novel. Through the '40s, the pianist was associated a strong lineup of jazzmen including Bobby Burnet, Stuff Smith, Gene Sedric, Benny Morton, and Don Redman. By the end of the decade and into the early '50s, he began leading his own piano trio as well as appearing as a soloist. Roy Hamilton and Titus Turner became the first of many singers he would accompany during this period, and Benskin also joined a group named the Three Flames in the summer of 1954. The following year he began a stint as part of the "Time of Your Life revue" at City Center in New York, a gig he would bounce in and out of while training with singers as diverse as Carroll and the magnificent Al Hibbler. He followed "Time of Your Life" overseas for performances at the Brussels World Fair and for a brief spell began touring with Dinah Washington as her accompanist. From the '60s onward, he stayed fairly busy as a vocal coach, arranger, and producer. A disc's worth of his solo performances entitled These Foolish Songs was reissued a decade after his death. ~Eugene Chadbourne

These Foolish Songs

Marcus Belgrave - You Don't Know Me

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 48:18
Size: 110.6 MB
Styles: New Orleans jazz, Trumpet jazz, Vocal jazz
Year: 2007
Art: Front

[0:59] 1. Tailgate Ramble (Overture)
[2:17] 2. Let The Good Times Roll
[3:09] 3. Life Is So Peculiar
[3:19] 4. You Can't Lose A Broken Heart
[3:46] 5. My Sweet Hunk O Trash
[3:38] 6. Sweet Substitute
[4:43] 7. The Mooche
[7:34] 8. You Don't Know Me
[2:59] 9. Unchain My Heart
[7:01] 10. Drown In My Own Tears
[4:43] 11. Cheek To Cheek
[4:04] 12. Tailgate Ramble

Marcus Belgrave presents a tribute to his mentor, Ray Charles, to New Orleans and the Great Ladies of Song featuring Joan Bow and Charlie Gabriel.

Coming into prominence as a teenaged sensation in the Ray Charles Orchestra, Marcus Belgrave has become an internationally recognized jazz trumpet virtuoso. Born in Chester, PA, Marcus has lived in Detroit most of his life. Appointed the "Jazz Master Laureate" for the City of Detroit in 2008. At the request of Wynton Marsalis, and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, he represented Detroit as part of the Lincoln Center Motor City Jazz Masters tribute. A tribute which also Included jazz legends Yusef Lateef, Curtis Fuller, Charles McPherson, and Ron Carter.

A true Renaissance man, there isn’t much this musical legend has not done. He is a trumpeter, composer, arranger, educator, recording artist and producer. He is a professor of music at Oberlin University, in Oberlin Ohio, is the co-founder of the Jazz Studies Program at the Detroit Metro Arts Complex and the Jazz Development Workshop in Detroit. His career as a player has intersected with an unparalleled variety of musicians across musical generations including Ray Charles (with whom he collaborated extensively) Ella Fitzgerald, Charles Mingus, McCoy Tyner, Dizzy Gillespie, Eric Dolphy, Aretha Franklin, Wynton Marsalis and Joe Henderson. He has mentored and Recorded with pianist Geri Allen, bassist Bob Hurst alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett, and percussionist/composer Lawrence Williams. This only scratches the surface of his musical collaborations.

His community involvement is exemplary. He considers it his personal responsibility to groom and enlighten the next generation of musicians. He happily takes the time to provide joy and music to countless community retirement centers all over the metro Detroit area. His giving ways have endeared him to countless, both young and old.

The collective impact of Belgrave’s mind, music and vision is felt across the spectrum of identities for which he has become rightfully recognized both within and outside of the jazz community. His tribute to Louis Armstrong is unparalleled and is enthusiastically received by audiences all over the globe. . As a singer, Marcus is blessed with a natural low and gravelly voice… so his “Satchmo-like” vocalizing comes off evoking the Armstrong sound, spirit and warmth with uncanny ease. His CD “Tribute to Louis Armstrong” was accepted for inclusion as part of the official Louis Armstrong House and Archives at Queens College, flushing, New York. His CD Tribute to New Orleans, Ray Charles & The Great Ladies of Song, highlight his collaborative side as he has fun with the music in duets and shows the audience a bit of the New Orleans spirit which produced such great music.. He currently also tours (as a special guest) with the Historic New Orleans Preservation Hall Band.

You Don't Know Me

George Kahn - Jazz Deluxe

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 61:40
Size: 141.2 MB
Styles: West Coast jazz
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[5:41] 1. Bourbon Street Strut
[4:56] 2. Smooth Jazz Seven
[5:01] 3. Silver Blues
[6:42] 4. Miles Journey
[5:32] 5. Ritmo Jazz
[4:10] 6. Your Life
[5:29] 7. Summer Carnival
[4:45] 8. Dream Lover
[3:35] 9. El Rico Montuno
[6:18] 10. Riding On Air
[4:05] 11. Time Flyer
[5:19] 12. Havana Nights

George Kahn, who performs frequently in the Los Angeles area, including an annual Jazz For The Homeless fundraiser for the charity PATH (People Assisting The Homeless) and benefits for public school music programs, looks forward to touring again in the near future. “My main goal is to share my music with as many people as possible. I believe that there is a great deal of life in West Coast Jazz. It is not only viable but has the opportunity and ability to broaden its base. I purposely pick out songs that might get a John Mayer fan who has never heard a jazz album, to possibly explore this CD because they know some of the songs.”

There is a fair amount of confusion about the term "West Coast Jazz". Some people would argue that West Coast Jazz is jazz recorded on the West Coast of California, from Los Angeles up to the San Francisco area. After all, some of Charlie Parker's most important recordings for Dial Records were made in LA, before and after he spent time "Relaxing at Camarillo". Wardell Grey, Teddy Edwards and Dexter Gordon all burned up the Central Avenue scene, playing bebop as bad as anyone on 52nd Street.

West Coast Jazz 2 Some would say the West Coast Jazz is not based on location, but more a certain sound. Many people go so far to call it a creation of the West Coast record companies in an attempt to "brand" and cash in on a style that, for a moment, caught the ear of the nation via Dave Brubeck's quartet with Paul Desmond, and the creative "little big band" sound of Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All Stars.

I would posit that "West Coast Jazz" was (and is) really an attitude, a feeling, a "vibe" that could only originate in a place filed with palm trees, big, open horizons, ocean breezes and urbanity. It was an answer to the left turn that took place when the Big Bands died out and jazz starting chasing the Bird down the bebop trail. And it took the mix of the City and the Wild West to make it come together.

Jazz Deluxe

Kathy Kosins - Vintage

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:09
Size: 132,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:10)  1. Tomorrow Is Another Day
(3:19)  2. Tiptoe Gently
(5:25)  3. Go Slow
(3:44)  4. When In Rome
(4:43)  5. These Boots Are Made For Walkin'
(3:23)  6. Nice Girls Don't Stay For Breakfast
(2:59)  7. Look Out Up There
(6:27)  8. Penthouse Serenade (Album Version)
(2:37)  9. You're A Heavenly Thing (Album Version)
(5:16) 10. When I'm With You (Album Version)
(4:46) 11. I Can't Change You
(4:57) 12. Get Here (Album Version)
(5:18) 13. I Know You Oh So Well

Kathy Kosins has a fine expressive voice and she is joined by a top-notch sextet, but the real star of this set are the songs, which are mostly both very obscure and superior. When was the last time King Pleasure's "Tomorrow Is Another Day," "Tiptoe Gently" (recorded by Carmen McRae in the 1950s), Russ Garcia's "Go Slow," or Bobby Troup's "Nice Girls Don't Stay for Breakfast" were performed? The closest songs to standards on this set are Cy Coleman's "When in Rome," the early-'30s Depression tune "Penthouse Serenade," Victor Young's "You're a Heavenly Thing," and "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," and those tunes are given fresh arrangements. All of the musicians play well, with guitarist Peter Bernstein often taking honors. Throughout the date, Kosins shows versatility, always swings, and uplifts each of the obscurities, making this a particularly memorable outing.  ~ Scott Yanow   
http://www.allmusic.com/album/vintage-mw0000205722              

Fleurine - San Francisco

Styles: Brazilian Jazz, Bossa Nova
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:23
Size: 111,1 MB
Art: Front

(5:08)  1. Love Marks
(3:34)  2. E Se
(3:41)  3. Tatuagem
(3:45)  4. Memories In Black and White
(3:51)  5. Encontro
(5:16)  6. Anoiteceu
(6:17)  7. The Roses
(3:19)  8. Behind Close Doors
(3:59)  9. Tempestade
(5:26) 10. Spring-buds Through the Snow
(4:03) 11. Passagem

The bossa nova was Brazil's gift to twentieth century music. Several of that country s sensational female singers were responsible for its successful worldwide export; from Astrud Gilberto to Elis Regina. Now at the dawn of a new era, the captivating vocalist Fleurine delivers the delicate nuances of that music in Portuguese and English on her debut Sunnyside CD, San Francisco, produced by Robert Sadin (Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Kathleen Battle).

On this magnificent release - her fourth as a leader Fleurine pays tribute, not to that great California city by the bay, but to three like-named Brazilian writers. San Francisco is an ode to three outstanding Brazilian songwriters who happen to have their first names in common: Francisco Chico" Buarque de Hollanda, Francis Hime, and Francisco "Chico" Pinheiro, Fleurine writes in her liner notes. Supporting her on this heartfelt tribute are saxophonist Chris Potter, pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Doug Weiss, percussionist Gilad, cellist Erik Friedlander, guitarist Freddie Bryant, and Pinheiro himself on vocals and guitar.

Pinheiro first met Fleurine when she performed at the Heineken Jazz Festival in Saõ Paulo, Brazil in 2000. Six years later, he gave his latest CD to my husband (who was on tour in Brazil) with the prophetic words: I think your wife might enjoy this... she writes. That turned out to be a huge understatement; I fell in love with his music upon first listening! In Brazil he is being hailed as one of the successors of Jobim in the press, and one of the most exciting young Brazilian composers to arise on the scene in decades. I am proud to feature him on some of his gorgeous compositions here.

Fleurine s ethereal and evocative vocals swoon with a feather-textured, Brazilianized, Shirley Horn-style sound on the Pinheiro-penned tracks, which include the softly-swung Encontro, the joyous The Roses, Passagem, and Tempestade, with Potter literally playing up a storm. Besides being a remarkable composer Pinheiro accompanies Fleurine on guitar with great virtuosity.

I've tried to convey the pictures or atmospheres painted by the great poetic soul of Chico Buarque, and the words of a talented young Brazilian lyricist named Guile Wisnik, she writes. Some lyrics are full of cultural references, from the name of a soccer club, to a particular good luck charm that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. I chose to stick to the story while making the references universal in my English adaptations.

The fruits of her translations are evident on Behind Closed Doors, a delicious duet with Fleurine and Bryant, and the haunting Jobim/Buarque standard, Memories in Black and White. The bouncy E Se, composed by Hime, features Fleurine s hip, Bobby McFerrin-style vocal percussion throughout, while his Anoiteceu, co-composed with the legendary poet-lyricist Vinicius De Moraes, offers her melancholy vocal intertwined with Erik Friedlander s cello. Some of the most intimate performances on San Francisco feature Fleurine with Mehldau on the opening track Love Marks and their lovely one-on-one, Spring-buds Through the Snow.

For me, language and music have always been undeniably connected language, like music being an imitation of sound, she writes I have been infatuated with languages since my youth. Growing up bilingual (Dutch-English), I was exposed to Portuguese from an early age; during my childhood, teens and twenties I spent summer vacations in Portugal where my grandparents lived. Raised in the Netherlands, Fleurine studied at the Amsterdam School of the Arts/Conservatory for four years, then moved to New York. ~ Editorial Reviews http://www.amazon.com/San-Francisco-Fleurine/dp/B000Z6MIVS

San Francisco          

Gwyneth Herbert - Clangers and Mash

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 32:51
Size: 75,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:07)  1. Perfect Fit (Radio Edit)
(4:38)  2. My Mini & Me (Polar Bear Remix)
(2:53)  3. So Worn Out (In the Bedroom)
(3:49)  4. Narrow Man (Girl After Shower Remix)
(3:18)  5. Perfect Fit (Mr Solo & The Voluntary Butler Scheme Remix)
(3:29)  6. Petite Cacahuete
(4:43)  7. So Worn Out (Temper D Remix)
(3:15)  8. Perfect Fit (Original Version)
(3:36)  9. Midnight Oil (A Cappella Version)

Last year's All the Ghosts album was a coming-of-age for Gwyneth Herbert, the autobiographical Hackney singer-songwriter who had sidestepped being marketed as a saleable jazz chanteu se to explore her own poetry, folk-song, variations on Hackney pirate-radio beats, and dark Tom Waitsian whimsy, among many things. This mini-album (occasioned by Herbert's forthcoming single, Perfect Fit) invites producer and engineer Robert Harder, pre-Ziggy Bowie fan Mr Solo, west country electronicists Girl After Shower, and Polar Bear's Seb Rochford to remix several All the Ghosts songs – which make it a fascinating set of variations on the familiar for Herbert regulars, or an appealing introduction for jazz-averse newcomers. Rochford's transformation of Herbert's bluesy roadsong My Mini and Me draws the singer's voice into a whirlpool of electronic hummings and thundering tom-tom patterns, Girl After Shower strips down the lyrical My Narrow Man to its title phrase amid squeezed electronic sounds and backwards-tape noises, Mr Solo's version of Perfect Fit turns it into a Bowie song. For all these radical transformations, though, Herbert's unfussy soulfulness and personal vision always glow through. ~ John Fordham  http://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/dec/16/gwyneth-herbert-clangers-mash-review

Enrico Pieranunzi - FelliniJazz

Styles:  Straight-ahead/Mainstream
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:44
Size: 146,5 MB
Art: Front

(4:41)  1. I Vitelloni
(5:44)  2. Il Bidone
(5:32)  3. Il Bidone
(5:10)  4. la Citta Delle Donne
(6:46)  5. Amarcord
(7:07)  6. Cabiria's Dream
(6:04)  7. La Dolce Vita
(6:47)  8. La Dolce Vita
(5:47)  9. La Strada
(6:38) 10. Le Notti Di Cabiria
(3:24) 11. Fellini's Waltz

The elegance that is Fellini Jazz serves as a tribute to both the great director and this assembly of musicians. Italian pianist Enrico Pieranunzi continues to make make dream recordings that are so much more than all-star get togethers. This release follows two stellar sessions, Plays Morricone and Current Conditions (both on CAM Jazz), with bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joey Baron. Think of Fellini and the name that follows is Nino Rota, who composed music for the director’s films and also Coppola’s Godfather series. Rota draws inspiration from all music to form his unique brand of folk music. This band measures out the composer's vision in satisfying portions. Besides the pianist, the attention-grabbing performances come from trumpeter Kenny Wheeler and saxophonist Chris Potter. Potter a mainstay in Dave Holland’s band, has full command of his horn at the tender age of 31. He tends toward a gentle but large voice, for example covering the ballad “Il Bidone” like fresh syrup over warm pancakes. The two versions of that particular track are done in the form of a ballad and a post-bop workout. Wheeler’s flugelhorn complements Potter with remarkable telepathy. His muted trumpet fills the tango of “La Città Delle Donne” as well as the railroad-patterned version of “La Dolce Vita.” 

Pieranunzi finds it almost second nature to be partnered with drummer Paul Motian and bassist Charlie Haden. Motian, who played with Bill Evans, keeps that open, loose rhythm swirling behind Pieranunzi’s Evans-like clean vision. Haden and the pianist close the record with a sentimental duo of a Pieranunzi bitter/sweet original that could be the end piece to a "love found/love lost" movie. The band keeps the music in the forefront here. They play the circus theme version of “La Dolce Vita” with a straight-face, Pieranunzi ringing in the track by comping around Potter’s soprano flight. The favorite always is the composition “Amarcord.” Played as a blues, it reveals Fellini’s bittersweet cinematic themes. This is a sensational recording, worthy of its subject matter and its superb cast.
~ Mark Corroto  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=12908#.UrbDi-Jc9sg

Personnel: Kenny Wheeler - Trumpet, Flugelhorn; Chris Potter, Charlie - Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone; Enrico Pieranunzi - Piano; Haden - Bass; Paul Motian - Drums.