Alma Micic - Tonight

Size: 91,2 MB
Time: 38:57
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Vocals, Crossover Jazz
Art: Front

01. Dark Cloud (4:16)
02. Love Is Stronger Than Pride (4:42)
03. Woke Up This Morning (4:37)
04. Roxanne (4:23)
05. Tonight (4:56)
06. What Can I Do For You (4:37)
07. Sweet Child Of Mine (4:23)
08. Kot' Pokida Sa Grla Djerdane (4:00)
09. Dawn (3:00)

New York based, Belgrade born jazz vocalist and songwriter Alma Micic has released her highly anticipated third album “Tonight” is a collaboration with celebrated guitarist and producer Doug Wamble. Here is what Alma says on her new record:

“I really took my time with this material. We recorded over time at Doug’s house, talking about what the songs meant to me and how I wanted that projected. All the original songs featured were written within one year, are all part of the same “story,” and go hand in hand with the pop covers that we arranged. There is soul and blues and longing in all of them, and the Serbian traditional tune is transported to Memphis, Tennessee via Doug’s guitar playing.”

Alma Micic has been featured in magazines such as Downbeat, JazzTimes, Jazzwise, All About Jazz as well as Boston Phoenix, Boston Globe, Riverdale Press and the New York Times.

Alma’s singing has been described as “confident, soulful, vulnerable, rhythmically savvy, with the most sensual vibrato you’re likely to hear” (All About Jazz).She has received numerous awards such as the Cleo Laine Award for Outstanding Musicianship and BRIO Award from the NY Arts Council.

*** Happy New Year ***

Tonight

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Steven Yelich - I Get My Way

Size: 80,2 MB
Time: 34:30
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Vocal Jazz, Piano Jazz
Art: Front

01. I Get My Way (1:56)
02. Times Square To Try (2:54)
03. No Easy Money (3:21)
04. Got It! (2:50)
05. It Goes Without Saying (4:23)
06. Five More Minutes (4:03)
07. Winter Rain (3:24)
08. Dreams Withheld (3:41)
09. In A Hurry (2:22)
10. Love Of Comfort (5:32)

This album fuses the best of the pop and jazz worlds. Thoughtful lyrics mesh with strong melodies to make each track convey the kind of heart that music has not had in decades. Watch for Beatles references and swinging jazz solos!

No one listens to twenty-eight minute jazz solos. But turn on the radio, and the alternative is even worse: mindless repetitions with no musical variety. I want listeners to enjoy solos, and I want songs to have a carefully crafted musical architecture. I used the same compositional techniques that made my favorite artists great. I can even point to influences from the Beatles, Beethoven, Bill Evans, Billy Childs, and Billy Joel (and those are just the B's!). However, this music stands on its own, as all its influences were filtered through my personal creative lens.
Listen to modern music, and you might hear a heavy beat paired (perhaps randomly) with a bass track, and some lyrics about partying and living it up, as though that is the point of existence.
Listen to my music, and you might hear more about the human experience. You'll hear elements of your own life in the lyrics and in the heart-felt melodies. Listen to my music, and you'll hear, well, I Get My Way.

I Get My Way

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The Bill Elliott Swing Orchestra - Swingin' The Century

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 45:10
Size: 103.4 MB
Styles: Swing, Jump blues
Year: 1999
Art: Front

[3:00] 1. Swingin' The Century
[2:59] 2. The Shim Sham Song
[3:17] 3. 69 Camp Hollywood Special
[3:07] 4. When We Dance
[2:36] 5. I'm Fallin' In Love Again
[3:14] 6. Hep Hop
[3:26] 7. Blues In The Night
[2:37] 8. Somebody Loves Me
[2:33] 9. Let's Get Married
[3:19] 10. Oh, Lady Be Good
[3:19] 11. Boogie Woogie Rhumba
[2:43] 12. Maze Of Death
[2:14] 13. At The Coconut
[3:48] 14. Come Rain Or Come Shine
[2:50] 15. Jeep Jockey Jump

Long time favorites in the L.A. swing scene, the Bill Elliott Swing Orchestra deftly recreates the sound of big bands from the 1930's and 1940's. On their third album Swingin' The Century, Bill, his vocal group The Lucky Stars, and the 15 piece orchestra lay to rest any rumours that the swing scene is dying. The instrumental title track, "Swingin' the Century," starts off the album and re-introduces the use of a clarinet, which was noticeably absent on the last album Calling All Jitterbugs!.

Much Of Elliott's music on this album is geared towards dancers, "The Shim Sham Song" having been written specifically for the Shim Sham, a sort of swing line-dance, at the urging of Rusty Frank, an L.A. dance instructor who specializes in Shim Sham. Bill also pays tribute to the dancers in "Camp Hollywood Special." Camp Hollywood is a popular L.A. dance camp/workshop that teaches the Dean Collins 'smooth style' Lindy Hop, which is often referred to as 'Hollywood Lindy' because of its prevalence in films of the 1930's like Hellzapoppin' and The Groovie Movie. And while I never thought I would hear an ode to Merv Griffin, that's just what "At the Coconut Is." It was written as a sort of thank you to Griffin, who is the owner of the Beverly Hills Hotel and opened up The Coconut Club last year and turned it into a haven for big bands to play to a dance floor where "Swing kids mix with the Hollywood elite."

Ten of the fifteen songs on the album are original compositions like the hilarious "Let's Get Married" and "Maze Of Death," which sounds like the theme to a forgotten noir thriller from the 40's. With the vocal stylings of Cassie Miller and the Lucky Stars, Bill also takes on classics like Arlen & Mercer's "Come Rain Or Come Shine" and Gershwin's "Oh Lady Be Good" to spectacular results. Maybe khakis don't swing anymore, but Bill certainly does. ~Courtney Knopf

Recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, California between December 1998 and May 1999.

Michael Lescault, Cassie Miller (vocals); Barry Zwieg (guitar); Don Shelton , Bob Reitmeier (clarinet); John Reilly, Gene Burkert, Ray Herrmann (reeds); Jay Mason (alto saxophone); Roger Neumann, Jeff Driskill (tenor saxophone); Chuck Erdahl (baritone saxophone); Darrel Gardner, Donald Clarke, Gary Halopoff, Jeff Bunnell, Wayne Bergeron, John Grab (trumpet); Charlie Morillas, Andy Martin, Bruce Otto (trombone); Brad Dutz (bongos).

Swingin' The Century

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Sammy Price & Doc Cheatham - Play George Gershwin

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 66:37
Size: 152.5 MB
Styles: Boogie woogie, Piano blues
Year: 2003
Art: Front

[1:45] 1. I Can't Give You Anything But Love
[3:19] 2. Can't Help 'lovin That Man
[1:07] 3. Keeping Out Of Mischief Now
[1:42] 4. Rosetta
[3:04] 5. Someone To Watch Over Me
[2:20] 6. Baby Won't You Please Come Home
[3:07] 7. Blues On My Heart
[3:15] 8. Saint Louis Blues
[4:16] 9. Tata's Blues
[2:17] 10. Tea For Two
[2:16] 11. Cinema's Boogie
[2:24] 12. Willow Weep For Me
[2:49] 13. Pinetop's Boogie Booogie
[2:39] 14. Valetta
[2:33] 15. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
[0:42] 16. Adieu
[3:18] 17. Lady Be Good
[3:18] 18. The Man I Love
[3:13] 19. I Got Rythm
[2:55] 20. Summertime
[2:47] 21. Somebody Loves Me
[4:47] 22. Embraceable You
[3:23] 23. S'wonderful
[3:10] 24. Rhapsodie In Blue

This compilation in Verve's Jazz in Paris reissue series contains two separate sessions led by Sammy Price. The first, from 1956, features 14 piano solos by Price, exploring standards, classic jazz compositions, and some originals as well, so the title of this reissue is a bit misleading. The influence of Fats Waller, Earl Hines, and Teddy Wilson is evident in several of the selections, though Price is clearly his own man. The miniature performances of "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Rosetta" are joyous, while the loping midtempo arrangement of "Willow Weep for Me" is both elegant and entertaining. His compositions are hardly throwaway filler material, especially the fascinating "Tata's Blues." Two years later, Price was touring Europe while leading a band, but brought only one member into the studio, trumpeter Doc Cheatham. The eight-song set from this session focuses exclusively on George Gershwin's songbook, though Cheatham sits out three numbers. Although "Oh, Lady Be Good" and "Summertime" are laudable, it is their inspired condensed arrangement of "Rhapsody in Blue" (which is barely over three minutes) that proves to be the highlight of their duo session. Since Price and Cheatham were active professionally for six and seven decades respectively, this disc catches each of them roughly in the middle of their careers. While Cheatham was probably more widely known at the end of his long life, the music by both men within this CD is well worth acquiring. ~Ken Dryden

Play George Gershwin

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Fay Victor - In My Own Room

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 1998
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:09
Size: 131,3 MB
Art: Front

(5:25)  1. In My Own Room - 39 All Blues
(2:50)  2. I Remember You
(8:57)  3. Ask Me Now
(7:03)  4. Wave
(4:33)  5. This Masquerade
(4:00)  6. Sister Sadie
(3:00)  7. All of You
(5:25)  8. Skylark
(2:57)  9. Upside Down (Fleur de Lis)
(7:19) 10. Old Devil Moon
(5:35) 11. Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye

Fay Victor’s name is new to this reviewer. On this new CD from Timeless records we get a glimpse of Victor’s ability to perform some pretty crafty vocalese on such standards as Miles Davis’ “All Blues”, Monk’s “Ask Me Now”, Jobim’s “Wave” and others. 11 tracks in total, all of which are uniquely personal renditions of tried and true classics. At times Ms. Victor rekindles thoughts of the late Betty Carter. Fay Victor possesses a wide vocal range and often changes pitch on a moment’s notice, emphasizing the lyrics as if she wrote them. 

Good non-intrusive support from a band that appears to be comprised of Dutch/European musicians especially since this CD was recorded in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. On “All Blues”, Ms. Victor articulates passionate, steamy vocals while staying within the boundaries of this jazz classic. Victor jazzes it up a notch more on Cole Porter’s “Everytime We Say Goodbye”. Throughout “In My Own Room”, Victor displays a good tonal range and overall possesses an infectious, appeasing voice that is quite appealing. Victor’s diction and phrasing draws some parallels to Betty Carter but not quite as prominent or exceedingly noticeable. 

This is a good effort that serves up a nice hodgepodge of standards and classics. Fay Victor, while at times low key and sublime doesn’t re-invent the wheel but identifies herself as a worthy addition to a legacy of fine jazz vocalists that are worth hearing. ~ Glenn Astarita   http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=3249#.Ur7t97TJI0g

In My Own Room

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Ida Sand - The Gospel Truth

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:29
Size: 114,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:33)  1. Eyes On The Prize
(3:45)  2. Ain't No Sunshine
(4:12)  3. He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brothe
(4:32)  4. A Change Is Gonna Come
(3:37)  5. Have A Talk With God
(4:50)  6. I Wanna Know What Love Is
(3:15)  7. Until The End
(4:14)  8. I Wish I Would Know How
(4:21)  9. Have A Little Faith In Me
(3:49) 10. It Is To Know
(4:00) 11. Like A Prayer
(4:16) 12. God Only Knows

Whilst Ida Sand's second ACT album True Love was to some extent a family affair - an homage to her husband Ola Gustafsson and new born daughter - her third ACT CD "The Gospel Truth", signals a return to her roots and a unique combination of European and American soul. Released two years after True Love, The Gospel Truth presents the Swedish singer following on musically from her 2007 ACT debut, Meet Me Around Midnight", which captivated listeners with a sound which was "distinctively earthy, soaked with the blood of the blues, saturated by gospel, weathered by jazz and infected by soul" (Jazzthing).

Ida Sand's career began with the church choir. Her father was a well known Swedish opera singer and her mother is still a church organist. As such, Ida learnt to play not only the cello and piano but also sang in several choirs from the age of eight. It was not only Scandinavian choir music that influenced her but also America's gospel choirs. With the world hit "Oh Happy Day" by the Edwin Hawkins Singers, a gospel craze swept across Sweden in the early seventies which in turn led to gospel queen Mahalia Jackson becoming one of Ida's very earliest influences alongside the Swedish gospel pianist Per-Erik Hallin. Captivated by this music, Ida soon discovered the world of soul and fell in love with its masters, such as Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin.

"I grew up with a clear idea of religion," says Ida Sand. "This has changed a bit now that I'm an adult but I still carry the belief with me, deep in my heart." Her latest album, The Gospel Truth, is the musical expression of this sentiment and many of the songs on it have been with the singer for a long time. "For example, I have never sung Nina Simone's I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free before but it is one of the songs of my childhood." However, the album doesn't only feature the soul heroes of her childhood like Sam Cooke, Donnie Hathaway and Stevie Wonder (with a brilliant version of Have a Talk With God). Genuine surprises are also included, such as Madonna's Like A Prayer, John Hiatt's Have A Little Faith and I Wanna Know What Love Is by the band Foreigner, which were part of her teenage years and twenties. "It was a challenge to transfer also these songs from my wilder teenage years to the soul cosmos," explains Sand. "And, of course, I didn't want it to be solely a gospel album which would have been too one-sided."

Vitality, suspense and considerable musical scope are provided not only by Sand's earthy and variable piano playing but also by select guest stars - in particular Nils Landgren who produced the album together with Siggi Loch, and who plays not only the trombone but also the trumpet. As Landgren has also been a member of the famous US band Jazz Crusaders for some time, he was also able to get Joe Sample to join in with his grooving, murmuring playing of the Fender Rhodes, and the great drummer Steve Gadd on A Change Is Gonna Come. Sand's husband, Ola Gustafsson, is also featured on the lap steel guitar as is her friend of many years, woodwind player Magnus Lindgren.

A very special track is the magnificent vocal duet with blind singer and guitarist Raul Midón, who is extremely prominent back home in the USA. "During the Christmas tour with Nils, I saw a video of one of his performances and was completely spellbound. Nils knew him and so I ventured to ask Raul if he would like to accompany me on Bobby Scott's "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother". I didn't expect anything which was why I was even happier when it worked out," says Sand.

The choir, without which the The Gospel Truth could hardly have been realised, remained as the last building block. "A normal gospel choir seemed too flat," says Sand. "Then Siggi Loch had the idea to simply ask our Swedish colleagues." This was how the ACT Jubilee Singers were born, with Jeanette Köhn, Sharon Dyall, Rigmor Gustafsson and Jessica Pilnäs. This unparalleled combination of voices can be heard on four tracks and goes far beyond the usual description of a just 'backing singers'. Yet despite all the famous music names supporting on this new recording, none of them ever force themselves into the limelight. On The Gospel Truth it is Ida Sand who remains solely and justifiably at the fore - possibly the best European soul voice in recent years.  https://www.actmusic.com/en/Artists/Ida-Sand/The-Gospel-Truth/The-Gospel-Truth-CD/Produktinformation

The Gospel Truth

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Jeanie Lambe - Live in Hamburg

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 1995
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 79:24
Size: 181,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:14)  1. Any place I hang my hat is home
(3:08)  2. Can't we be friends
(4:10)  3. Little girl blue
(5:33)  4. I'm glad there is you
(3:22)  5. Stormy weather
(3:51)  6. Blue prelude
(4:42)  7. I can't give you anything but love
(5:15)  8. Bye bye blackbird
(5:33)  9. Stompin' at the Savoy
(3:13) 10. Teach me tonight
(3:33) 11. All of you
(3:26) 12. My funny Valentine
(2:38) 13. You came a long way from St. Louis
(5:57) 14. Candy
(2:25) 15. Gee baby, ain't I good to you
(3:16) 16. 'Deed I do
(6:56) 17. St. Louis blues
(4:23) 18. Nobody knows you when you're down and out
(3:42) 19. Aunt Hagar's blues

Jeanie Lambe's robust and husky voice takes a bit of getting used to. She does have a strong feel for the 19 standards she sings on this CD (which is taken from three different periods), but Lambe will not be everyone's cup of tea. More accessible is her husband Danny Moss' consistently inventive tenor solos. Lambe is accompanied by either Brian Dee, Brian Lemon or Johnny Varro on piano, Len Skeat or Isla Eckinger on bass and Oliver Jackson or Butch Miles on drums. 

Among the stronger selections are "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home," "Stompin' at the Savoy" (a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald), "Deed I Do" and "St. Louis Blues." ~ Scott Yanow  http://www.allmusic.com/album/three-great-concerts-live-in-hamburg-1993-1995-mw0000049219

Live in Hamburg

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Fred Astaire & Oscar Peterson - Complete Norman Granz Sessions (Disc 1) And (Disc 2)

Styles: Jazz
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time:  79:22 (Disc 1)
Size: 183,0 MB (Disc 1)
Time:  76:27 (Disc 2)
Size: 175,6 MB (Disc 2)
Art: Front

Disc 1
 

(4:29)  1. Isn't this a lovely day
(2:52)  2. Puttin' on the Ritz
(4:17)  3. I used to be color blind
(3:31)  4. The Continental
(4:38)  5. Let's call the whole thing off
(3:16)  6. Change partners
(2:59)  7. 'S Wonderful
(3:28)  8. Lovely to look at
(2:57)  9. They all laughed
(5:41) 10. Cheek to cheek
(2:24) 11. Steppin' out with my baby
(2:59) 12. The way you look tonight
(2:59) 13. I've got my eye on you
(4:47) 14. Dancing in the dark
(4:49) 15. The Carioca
(2:09) 16. Nice work if I can get it
(2:29) 17. New sun in the sky
(3:03) 18. I won't dance
(2:46) 19. Fast dances
(4:02) 20. Top hat white tie and talls
(2:57) 21. No strings
(2:45) 22. I concentrate on you
(2:54) 23. I'm putting all my eggs in one basket

Disc 2

( 3:46)  1. A Fine Romance
( 5:24)  2. Night and Day
( 2:44)  3. Fascinating Rhythm
( 2:40)  4. I Love Louisa
( 2:57)  5. Slow Dances [Instrumental]
( 2:03)  6. Medium Dance [Instrumental]
( 4:24)  7. They Can't Take That Away from Me
( 3:24)  8. You're Easy to Dance With
( 2:23)  9. A Needle in a Haystack
( 3:21) 10. So Near and Yet So Far Away
( 4:02) 11. A Foggy Day
( 5:03) 12. Oh, Lady Be Good
( 4:01) 13. I'm Building Up to an Awful Letdown
( 3:39) 14. Not My Girl
( 6:35) 15. Jam Session for a Dancer [Instrumental]
(12:03) 16. The Astaire Blues [Instrumental]
( 7:52) 17. The Second Astaire Blues [Instrumental]

Perhaps more organically grounded than his earlier Hollywood recordings, Fred Astaire's December 1952 collaborations with pianist Oscar Peterson have an intimate honesty about them that some might find comforting. Of course, most of this material, written by Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Arthur Schwartz, Jerome Kern, Vincent Youmans, Johnny Mercer, and the Gershwin brothers, is tied directly to Astaire's motion-picture career. 

Included are two ad-lib tap dance inventions and three original compositions devised especially for this project by Peterson. Producer Norman Granz fortified the sessions with the Jazz at the Philharmonic All-Stars, placing trumpeter Charlie Shavers and tenor saxophonist Flip Phillips in front and surrounding the pianist with guitarist Barney Kessel, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer Alvin Stoller. You can't beat 40 tracks featuring Fred and Oscar together.  ~ arwulf arwulf    http://www.allmusic.com/album/complete-norman-granz-sessions-mw0000745219

Complete Norman Granz Sessions(Disc1)

Complete Norman Granz Sessions(Disc2)

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