Amber Chiang - My Love Journey

Size: 92,4 MB
Time: 39:10
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Easy Listening, Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. A Good Thing (1:56)
02. When We Love (3:21)
03. We Never Got To Know Each Other (2:38)
04. Alone In This World (2:08)
05. Baby Be Smart (3:17)
06. Let Me Know (2:23)
07. No Time For Me (2:12)
08. Broken Hearted (3:36)
09. Time Heals All (2:13)
10. Once More, Encore (4:16)
11. I Never Asked (2:56)
12. New Beginnings (4:13)
13. Just You And Me (3:57)

My music is drawn from my life. My influences are mostly from jazz artists, a combination of Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn and Betty Carter as well as Latin influences from various Brazilian artists. But I also grew up listening to rock, folk and pop. So, at times the music is a mixture of genres.

I finally recorded my songs through the ups and downs, struggles and insights of relationships. The album is called “My Love Journey”, songs from the heart. After many years of heartbreak and illusions, I found my soul mate!

My Love Journey

---

Nita Whitaker - One Voice

Styles: Soul

Year: 2001

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 50:50

Size: 116,6 MB

Art: Front

(4:42)  1. One Voice

(2:57)  2. I Choose Love

(5:39)  3. Until Now

(3:51)  4. Sending Out A Prayer

(4:50)  5. Use Your Life

(4:06)  6. Eyes of A Child

(3:15)  7. Shine

(3:38)  8. When Mountains Won't Move

(4:05)  9. Climb Ev'ry Mountain

(3:54) 10. That's When I'll Be There

(5:20) 11. A Quiet Place

(4:27) 12. Heaven Hold The Ones I Love

Nita Whitaker is a successful Los Angeles-based session singer, which has earned her the opportunity to make this earnest, if somewhat bland, solo album. On self-written songs and others of a similar tone, she sings of the importance of religion and familial love with a session singer's voice always on key, precise, and well articulated, but lacking something that would make it a real star vehicle. Whitaker once got a walk-on in The Bodyguard by doing an impressive demo for Whitney Houston, and there are several songs here in which she seems to be doing the same thing. But she never goes as far over the top as Houston does, though she has vocal chops at least as good, and her tastefulness makes you focus more on the material, which is mediocre for the most part. A characteristic mistake is her reading of "Climb Ev'ry Mountain," the inspirational song from The Sound of Music written to be sung by a soprano. 

Whitaker is an alto, and her transposition immediately robs the song of much of its force it isn't about climbing mountains anymore, it's just an L.A. pop singer's vocal exercise. It may be odd to criticize a vocalist for not being excessive and indulgent, but Whitaker is performing in not just a singer's, but also an entertainer's medium. Think not only of Houston, but also of Natalie Cole, Toni Braxton, and any number of other stars more interested in calling attention to themselves than to what they're singing. That narcissism is what helps make them stars. Whitaker really cares about her sentimental messages and wants to convey them to her listeners; her more successful peers recognize, intuitively, if not consciously, that they themselves are the message. How can a singer as modest as Whitaker, however good her pipes, compete ~ William Ruhlmann   http://www.allmusic.com/album/one-voice-mw0000015945

Personnel: Anita "Nita" Whitaker (vocals, background vocals); Michael Turner (guitar, acoustic guitar); David Levita (guitar); Dean Parks (acoustic guitar); Maria Casale (harp); Neli Nikolaeva (violin); Robin Ross, Gil Romero, Philip Vaiman, Calabria McChesney, Bette Byers, Harry Scorzo, Alexis Carreon, Michael Allen Harrison, Richard Dodd, Armen Ksadjikian, John Krovoza (strings); Chris Bleth (flute, piccolo, oboe); Daniel Kelley , Marni Johnson , Mark Adams (French horn); Phillip Teele, Bruce Otto, Bob McChesney (trombone); David Foster (piano, keyboards); William Thomas, Jr., Greg Phillinganes, David Loeb (piano); Gary Griffin (toy piano, celesta, keyboards, vibraphone, timpani, tubular bells); Cedric Sampson (drums, percussion); Russ McKinnon (drums); Bryan Brock, Scott Breadman (percussion); Adam Jackson, Ken Stacey, Carol Huston, Debbie Gates, Fred White , Melanie Taylor, Jennifer Cihi, Alex Brown, Peggi Blu, Wil Wheaton, Bridgette Bryant (background vocals).

 

One Voice

---

Solitaire Miles - Born to Be Blue

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:50
Size: 116,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:03)  1. Baltimore Oriole
(4:02)  2. Too Close for Comfort
(5:11)  3. Born to Be Blue
(3:45)  4. You Gotta Crawl Before You Walk
(3:53)  5. Lover Come Back to Me
(5:51)  6. Detour Ahead
(3:43)  7. Moon Ray
(4:17)  8. Midnight Blue
(2:44)  9. Make with the Kisses
(4:11) 10. Serenade de Clair de Lune
(3:54) 11. Me and the Moon
(5:09) 12. I'll Never Be the Same

Solitaire Miles has always loved swing tunes. Her grandmother, a singer with a big band in the late 1930s, exposed her to the music early on. Solitaire originally planned to be an opera singer, but while attending DePaul University in Chicago, she met the legendary swing violinist Johnny Frigo who encouraged her to sing jazz. After college she began working in Chicago with Sax Maestro Von Freeman, and pianist Willie Pickens, who also played on her self-titled release in 2006. "I was lucky to have their guidance, because they were playing jazz with the greats in their day.” During later years while living in New York, she would sit in regularly with the great trumpeter Doc Cheatham, learning lots of swing tunes. From these venerable bandleaders, she learned more about phrasing; “They wrung every little bit of pop styling from my phrasing until it became authentic, unadulterated jazz and swing."

For her third release Born to Be Blue, Solitaire utilizes some of Chicago's top jazz musicians, all of whom have the flexibility to sound at home in a swing combo. “Willie Pickens is always my first choice on piano,” says the singer. “I love working with him because he is not just accompanying me, we listen closely and challenge each other.” A few of the numbers feature pianist Joe Vito who was Johnny Frigo's regular accompanist for years. Some selections include tenor-saxophonist Jim Gailloreto, while the versatile trumpeter Art Davis is heard playing in a conversational style not that dissimilar from Doc Cheatham's.

Born to Be Blue begins with “Baltimore Oriole” which composer Hoagy Carmichael performed in the Humphrey Bogart movie “To Have and Have Not". “It's a quirky song with a period feeling.” Solitaire says. The haunting vocal and concise solos by Pickens and Davis perfectly fit Carmichael's unusual tale. “Too Close For Comfort” is associated with several singers from the 1950s including Ella Fitzgerald, but Larry Kohut's arrangement, which begins as a duet by Solitaire with drummer Phil Gratteau, puts a new spin on the standard. One particular joy of this CD is hearing a lot of fresh material, and vintage songs that deserve to be revived. “Born to Be Blue” is one of Mel Torme's best originals while “You've Got to Crawl Before You Walk” was the only tune co-written by Torme and Duke Ellington. “Detour Ahead” was Johnny Frigo's most famous original, so it naturally features Joe Vito on piano and is a tribute to the violinist and Jim Gailloreto contributes a tasteful solo to this emotional version. Since she wanted to record several obscure songs that the musicians weren't too familiar with, Solitaire added “Lover Come Back to Me." "It's the type of jam session tune that we play late at night, an up-tempo number that lets everyone stretch out.”

It isn’t often that one gets to hear such superior, if forgotten numbers as Artie Shaw’s “Moon Ray”, which has prominent roles for bassist Joe Policastro and guitarist Andy Brown, or “Make With the Kisses” which features Art Davis and guitarist Neal Alger, and is a delightful romp that has rarely been performed since Mildred Bailey recorded it with Benny Goodman 70 years ago. One can easily imagine Billie Holiday performing "Midnight Blue." which features more ingenious improvising by Art Davis. Most unusual is “Serenade de Clair de Lune,” a version of Glenn Miller's theme song “Moonlight Serenade” sung in French. Joe Vito adds to the cafe atmosphere by switching to accordion with Neal Alger strumming on acoustic guitar. Other songs include “I'll Never Be the Same,” and the charming “Me and the Moon” a sweet band favorite which was originally recorded by the Hal Kemp Orchestra in 1933.

Throughout this project Solitaire and her musicians are not content to merely recreate the past but are creative within the style, adding to the music's legacy. While Solitaire can name a long list of influences, not the least of which was her Grandmother, she does not sound exactly like any of the singers who preceded her. Nor do her sidemen sacrifice their own individuality while doing justice to the material. Instead, they all fully understand the music and are able to add their own voices to the songs while being themselves.

This delightful set not only proves that there is still plenty of life to be found in swing tunes, but it features Solitaire Miles at her very best, taking her place as one of the top swing singers around today. ~ Scott Yanow, jazz writer and critic  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/milessolitaire

Born to Be Blue

---

Rachel Z Trio - Moon At The Window

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2002
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:38
Size: 169,6 MB
Art: Front

( 4:26)  1. Big Yellow Taxi
( 5:47)  2. Carey
( 5:06)  3. Ladies Man
( 7:23)  4. Chinese Cafe
( 5:30)  5. Free Man In Paris
( 5:10)  6. From Both Sides Now
( 6:39)  7. Moon At The Window
( 4:10)  8. Help Me
( 4:53)  9. River
( 5:15) 10. Circle Game
( 5:11) 11. All I Want
(10:04) 12. Lakota

Rachel Z's tribute to Joni Mitchell has perhaps arrived at just the right time, hot on the heels of Mitchell's decision to never record again. No doubt her die-hard fans will be clamoring for as much original and tribute material as possible, and a good many will find joy in this comfortable instrumental release. It's impossible not to like the buoyant, loving arrangements that Rachel Z has collected here. However, for as many popular tunes as Joni Mitchell has created over the past three decades, this homage clarifies the fact that she a stronger lyricist than a composer. The jaunty theme of "Big Yellow Taxi" jumps right out, but like many of the selections here, the melody becomes a bit repetitive without the witty, socially conscious lyrics to fill things out. 

The three musicians perform exquisitely as a unit, often with a sense of David Benoit's lighter piano works. There are a number of charming twists and turns in the charts. Of particular note are Patricia Des Lauriers' resonant double-stops on the closing "Lakota", and Bobbie Rae's subtly effective rhyhmic matrices throughout the disc. The lush piano ripplings on "Chinese Cafe" and taut interaction on "Free Man in Paris" are attention-grabbers, and "From Both Sides Now" receives what is perhaps its most introspective interpretation yet. This music is obviously close to Rachel Z's heart. The only real beef remains a major one: Joni Mitchell's musical universe is so centered upon her words that it's hard for anyone to do her justice in an instrumental setting. No harm, no foul, then. The trio has made an admirable attempt at honoring a legend, resulting in a truly uplifting album. ~ Todd S.Jenkins   

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=10816#.Uub_jbRpQ2w
 

Personnel: Rachel Z, piano; Patricia Des Lauriers, bass; Bobbie Rae, drums.

Moon At The Window

---

Kenny Burrell - Special Requests (And Other Favorites): Live at Catalina's

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 74:50
Size: 171,9 MB
Art: Front

(6:47)  1. Killer Joe
(0:18)  2. Spoken Introduction, Pt. 1
(8:13)  3. Little Sunflower
(8:58)  4. Make Someone Happy
(0:36)  5. Spoken Introduction, Pt. 2
(6:29)  6. Sunset and the Mockingbird
(6:36)  7. Bye Bye Blackbird
(7:48)  8. Lament
(0:22)  9. Spoken Introduction, Pt. 3
(6:59) 10. Summer Knows
(0:19) 11. Spoken Introduction, Pt. 4
(5:38) 12. Feeling of Jazz
(5:22) 13. In A Sentimental Mood
(5:57) 14. Generation
(3:52) 15. Chitins Con Carne
(0:28) 16. Closing Remarks

Recorded live at Catalina's in Hollywood in November 2012, these pleasant reworkings are special requests by fans of the legendary jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell. Consider this release as the second part of the 2010 live date Be Yourself: Live at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, also on High Note. Alongside Burrell on these performances is an awesome set of musicians who provide a delicate balance between their post-bop technical excellence and improvisational skills: Justo Almario on sax and flute, Tom Ranier on piano, Tony Dumas on bass, and Clayton Cameron on drums. 

On these 11 tracks, Burrell pays tribute to Duke Ellington on "Sunset and the Mockingbird," "The Feeling of Jazz," and "In a Sentimental Mood," plus great renditions of "Generation," Benny Golson's "Killer Joe," the Freddie Hubbard composition "Little Sunflower," the standards "Make Someone Happy," "Bye Bye Blackbird," and "The Summer Knows," J.J. Johnson's "Lament," and Burrell's classic "Chitlins con Carne." Fans of Burrell's early sessions for Blue Note should be aware that the guitarist was in fine form in 2012, and listeners will definitely find some pleasant moments here. ~ Al Campbell   http://www.allmusic.com/album/special-requests-and-other-favorites-live-at-catalinas-mw0002551178

Special Requests

---