Rick Vito - Band Box Boogie

Styles: Swing, West Coast Blues
Released: 2003
Label: Hypertension Records
File: mp3@320K/s
Size: 123 MB
Time: 49:05
Art: full

1. Rhythm - 2:19
2. Blues Town - 4:32
3. Last Change To Mambo - 3:39
4. Little Sheba - 4:16
5. Band Box Boogie - 2:49
6. Where Did You Go Bettie Page ? - 3:39
7. The Ways Of Sin - 4:46
8. Baby's In The Big House - 4:04
9. The Gypsy Serenade - 3:45
10. Message From Mister Jordan - 5:19
11. Hungry Man - 3:21
12. I Cant't Stop Rockin' - 3:28
13. Jack Knife Jump - 3:03

Notes: This CD blends Rick's unique brand of tasty guitar flash on material that incorporates elements of jump blues, cool swing and sensual slide guitar-driven rock and roll.
Backed by a pumping rhythm section that features the sax work of Jim Hoke, acoustic bassist Glen Worf, and drummer Ian Wallace (among others), Rick makes an impressive vocal delivery on tunes such as "Where Did You Go, Bettie Page?," "Last Chance to Mambo," and "Little Sheba," and tears up the frets on "Blues Town," and the fiery swing instrumental title track, "Band Box Boogie."
This is a great guitar-lovers CD, and will also be appreciated by those who appreciate their bluesy rock & roll with a jump and jive feel to it.
"BAND BOX BOOGIE" received a five star pick from Guitar Techniques magazine ("...an album that took our breath away from track one!"), and will soon receive featured reviews in both Guitar Player, and Vintage Guitar magazines.
We're betting that you'll love this one!

Band Box Boogie

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Deborah Shulman & The Ted Howe Trio - Get Your Kicks: The Music & Lyrics Of Bobby Troup

Size: 114,9 MB
Time: 49:06
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Jazz: Vocals
Art: Front

01. You're Looking At Me (5:11)
02. Route 66 (3:34)
03. Nice Girls Don't Stay For Breakfast (3:08)
04. Daddy (3:43)
05. Baby All The Time (5:09)
06. Girl Talk (5:19)
07. Lemon Twist (4:15)
08. February Brings The Rain (3:06)
09. The Three Bears (4:58)
10. It Happened Once Before (5:41)
11. Meaning Of The Blues (4:56)

Songwriter Bobby Troup was a master at composing conversational lyrics, and vocalist Deborah Shulman is a master at interpreting such lyrics. That the two come together on Get Your Kicks: The Music and Lyrics of Bobby Troup should be no surprise; also, it is about time that Troup received an homage treatment like this. His lyrics were always 1950s chic, written in a day before political correctness ended the evolution and expansion of the Great American Songbook. What Shulman does is bring an honest understanding of both a music and its period of popularity.

Ted Howe joins Shulman again after their collaboration with trombonist Larry Zalkind on Lost In The Stars: The Music Of Bernstein, Weill & Sondheim (Summit, 2012). Here, leading his trio, Howe's approach to arrangement is striking and illustrated in the rather dark "Route 66" and pathologically forlorn "Nice Girls Don't Stay For Breakfast." In Shulman's hands these are ballads of experience—too much, in fact, rather than a blushing socialite after an evening tryst.

One of Troup's most striking and controversial songs, "Girl Talk" is give a golden treatment, with Shulman navigating the period's sexism and making the song more ironic than a 1950s vision of women in the Eisenhower era. Get Your Kicks: The Music and Lyrics of Bobby Troup is a wholly conceived project by two masters at the top of their respective games. ~Review by C. Michael Bailey

Personnel: Deborah Shulman: vocals; Ted Howe: piano; Kevin Axt: bass; Dave Tull: drums.

Get Your Kicks

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Deborah Shulman & Larry Zalkind - Lost In The Stars: The Music Of Bernstein, Weill & Sondheim

Size: 159,1 MB
Time: 67:54
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2012
Styles: Jazz: Vocals
Art: Front

01. Something's Coming (3:53)
02. Lucky To Be Me (6:03)
03. Mack The Knife (5:44)
04. The Ladies Who Lunch (3:29)
05. Children Will Listen (5:17)
06. It's Love (4:21)
07. I Feel Pretty (5:35)
08. Losing My Mind (5:34)
09. September Song (4:34)
10. Ain't Got No Tears Left (4:42)
11. My Ship (2:28)
12. Leave You (4:42)
13. Lost In The Stars (5:08)
14. Medley No One Is Alone - Not While I'm Around (6:18)

The respective output from compositional icons Leonard Bernstein, Kurt Weill and, to a lesser extent, Stephen Sondheim has frequently been putty in jazz musicians' and arrangers' hands, proving that malleability is a sine qua non for long-range success in writing; genius-level composing skills, of course, also tend to help.

While the actual act of interpreting the work of these three men is hardly original at this point, the fashion by which vocalist Deborah Shulman, trombonist Larry Zalkind and their talented compatriots dig into their music is wholly unique. They look at each of these fourteen selections as individual opportunities to honor each composer's original intention, while painting their own innovative brushstrokes atop these masterworks. While it would be easy to commit to a single strategy for a project like this, be it art song haughtiness, classical stringency or out-and-out nightclub jazz, Shulman and Zalkind take the high road, touching on everything but committing to no single avenue or approach. Zalkind's tone, honed through his work as the principal trombonist with the Utah Symphony, and Shulman's theatrical delivery hide no secrets about their respective stylistic comfort zones, but both artists prove to be just as malleable as the songs they interpret.

Four different arrangers were tapped for this project and each man brings something different to the table. Jeff Colella gives "Something's Coming" a terrific odd-metered makeover and brings a light-handed approach to "I Feel Pretty," while Terry Trotter moves "It's Love" from easy-does-it swing to Brazilian shores. Brad Warnaar turns "My Ship" into a rich and rewarding piece for a Zalkind overdubbed trombone choir, and Ted Howe removes the happy-go-lucky-swing shackles that often keep "Mack The Knife" from reaching its full potential. Here, it's reborn with chamber grace, riding atop a flowing 12/8 feel with graceful strings, accordion and, of course, trombone, helping to resurface its well-worn exterior.

Studio aces like guitarist Larry Koonse and drummer Joe LaBarbera deserve some credit for helping to shape and mold these songs into their final state, but this is really the Shulman and Zalkind show. Shulman's clear diction and artful interpretations of these songs, and Zalkind's fine and focused trombone work make for a winning combination. ~Review by Dan Bilawsky

Personnel: Deborah Shulman: vocals; Larry Zalkind: trombone; Jeff Colella: piano; Chris Colangelo: bass; Joe LaBarbera: drums; Larry Koonse: guitar; Roberta Zalkind: viola; Matthew Zalkind: cello; Frank Marocco: accordion; Steve Schaeffer: drums; Terry Trotter: piano.

Lost In The Stars

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Rick Wurzbacher - Rick Wurzbacher Live Feat. Joey DeFrancesco

Size: 154,0 MB
Time: 66:46
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2003
Styles: Jazz: Hammond Organ
Art: Front

01. The Sermon ( 7:01)
02. The Reverand ( 8:06)
03. All Blues (12:25)
04. The Champ (11:21)
05. Lenny ( 5:48)
06. Champagne Glass Blues (11:10)
07. Mac Tough (10:52)

Rick Wurzbacher LIVE with very special guest "The Incredible JOEY DEFRANCESCO" on the B-3 organ. This cd was recorded LIVE at Blues Alley, Georgetown DC on July 30, 2001. There are many significant features about this CD; Rick goes into the audience and borrows a patron's champagne glass and uses it as a slide on the guitar. Joey plays the organ, bass lines, and trumpet all at the same time. Bertell Knox plays incredible percussion at the age of 74. This album was mixed and produced at Racetrack Sound Studios' Les Paul Control Room by Paul Chiacchierini and Rick Wurzbacher. Mastering was completed at John Oram's Analogue Barn in Meopham, Kent, England, by JOHN ORAM "The Father of British EQ", assisted by Dave Cherry and Ash Phipps using the patented British Analogue Mastering technique with Maximum Saturation Technology. The results are stunning!

Rick Wurzbacher Live Feat. Joey DeFrancesco

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Nancy Walker - 'Til Now Is Secret

Size: 149,1 MB
Time: 64:37
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Jazz: Chamber Jazz
Art: Front

01. 'Til Now Is Secret (7:13)
02. Night On Earth (9:44)
03. Arctic Willow (6:27)
04. Folding (3:28)
05. Shade Of Many Shades (8:23)
06. Mock Turtle (3:02)
07. Luna Llena (6:28)
08. Buzz Theory (8:42)
09. Chemin Des Cascades (5:19)
10. I Read It Somewhere (5:47)

Pianist/composer Nancy Walker has been recognized with honours Canada-wide, including the National Jazz Awards Keyboardist Of The Year Award, the Montréal International Jazz Festival’s prestigious Grand Prix de Jazz, a JUNO nomination for Instrumental Album Of The Year, and an induction into the Mississauga Music Walk Of Fame.

Nancy has a solid background as a pianist and keyboard player for a variety of international recording and concert acts, both in and outside the jazz idiom. She’s recorded and toured with children’s entertainer Raffi, folk artist Sylvia Tyson, pop icons The Parachute Club, balladeer Roger Whittaker, and the late well-loved composer Hagood Hardy. As the pianist in the John Geggie Trio, Nancy held the piano chair in the house rhythm section for The Ottawa International Jazz Festival’s nightly jam sessions for over a decade. She can be heard on recently released recordings by Kirk MacDonald Jazz Orchestra, Fair/Galloway Quintet, John Geggie + Donny McCaslin (this Plunge Records release garnered rave reviews and made several "best of" lists), and Swedish guitarist Mikko Hildén.

Nancy also has several discs to her credit as leader. Her most recent release is 'Til Now Is Secret. Showcasing ten of her original compositions, the recording features multi-reed player Shirantha Beddage, guitarist Ted Quinlan, bassist Kieran Overs and drummer Ethan Ardelli.

"Nancy Walker has played enough piano to know how to keep listeners interested however hard she pushes the boundaries of familiarity." - Geoff Chapman, The Whole Note Magazine

'Til Now Is Secret

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Jade De Lafleur - Jaded EP

Size: 73,4 MB
Time: 31:45
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Jazz/Blues/R&B Vocals
Art: Front

01. The Way You Look At Me (3:54)
02. Fly (2:23)
03. Smokin' In My Car (Feat. James Fauntleroy) (4:47)
04. Stormy Weather (3:11)
05. Jaded (3:31)
06. Freedom (Feat. James Fauntleroy) (3:29)
07. Blue Notes And Green Trees (3:00)
08. So Long (Feat. Da From Chester French) (3:48)
09. Brown Box (3:37)

The 9 track EP features the singer/songwriter’s experimental mix of R&B, jazz and blues as well as songwriting and production from James Fauntleroy, D.A. from Chester French, Corey “Chorus” Gibson, The Page Brothers and LaFleur herself. To celebrate the release of the project, LaFleur exclusively premiered a stream of the EP on Noisey.

Jaded features the single, “Blue Notes & Green Trees” and the title track, “Jaded”, which was also featured on Solange’s Saint Heron compilation album. Other standout tracks include “Smoking In My Car” featuring James Fauntleroy, “So Long” featuring D.A. from Chester French and “Brown Box”. The EP tells the story of Jade’s first experiences moving to New York City and is a collection of her thoughts, heartbreaks, feelings and humbling moments.

2014 is already shaping up to be a great year for Jade as she has already won the praise and support of such outlets as Complex, VIBE, Billboard, Essence, CMJ and Centric who named her as one of “14 R&B Artists You Need to Know In 2014” along with such names as Jhene Aiko, Sampha and Kelela.

Jade de LaFleur is poised to change the landscape of R&B and Jaded is just the first taste of what is to come. Go ahead and take listen to the artist everyone is raving about!

Jaded

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Gill Manly - With A Song In My Heart

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:28
Size: 131,6 MB
Art: Front + Back

(3:41)  1. Midnight Sun
(3:08)  2. Robbin's Nest
(6:04)  3. With A Song In My Heart
(3:51)  4. A Night In Tunisia
(4:29)  5. Daydream
(7:24)  6. Taxi Driver - Love For Sale
(3:55)  7. Take Love Easy
(5:57)  8. September Song
(3:00)  9. Sittin And a-Rockin'
(5:02) 10. Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most
(3:18) 11. Where Or When
(3:22) 12. Lush Life
(4:10) 13. I Keep Going Back To Joe's

Gill who? Until a decade or so ago, Gill Manly was a familiar face, a versatile singer who - like her friends Barb Jungr and Ian Shaw - could skip between blues, jazz and pop and who had built an impressive reputation as a teacher and all-round ideas machine. Serious illness then interrupted her career, and her devotion to Buddhism carried her off on a different path all together. Now she is back with an album that is easily one of the best vocal efforts of the past 12 months. 'With a Song in my Heart' is a desperately old-hat title, to be honest, and the bland cover photograph of the artist, microphone in hand, is not likely to stop many punters in their tracks. It is only when you delve deeper that you truly sense the level of sophistication. It is, perhaps, the sort of record that can only have been made by someone who has done her share of living. 'Lush Life' is the ultimate test, and Manly passes it in style. Her Soho date was a slightly more easy-going affair, the singer - who now walks with a cane - remaining seated for the most part as her band, directed by that understated pianist Simon Wallace, blew an unpretentious path through songs from the album. Guy Barker stepped up to add peppery trumpet obbligatos. It was not all torch songs. Manly let rip on 'I Ain't Got Nothing But the Blues' and swung gently on 'Sittin' and a Rockin', the drummer Ralph Salmins and bassist Mark Hodgson setting up a nonchalant pulse. If the choice of material was conceived as a homage to Ella Fitzgerald, the finished product bears the stamp of Manly's own personality. Her performance, particularly on 'Midnight Sun' and 'Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most', had an intensity that made the work of many of her younger rivals seem callow by comparison. ~ The Times

It's been a decade since the last album from singer Gill Manly, and it's good to have her back. She's a wonderful interpreter of top-drawer songs and this new CD oozes class. The programme is designed as a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, so the programme is packed with timeless standards, as well as a few less familiar choices. Manly is superb, her rich voice bringing the best out of the lyrics, and her interpretations are coloured by a sense of improvisation, not least on a duet with the super-hip Mark Murphy on 'I Keep Going Back to Joe's'. ~ Yorkshire Post

Jazz singing is so much more difficult than many of the new jazz singers believe. It's so exposing, for a start - there is no external instrument to hide behind, no place to hide. One note hit not quite in the centre, one shaky rhythmic moment, one verse which doesn't quite convince the listener... it's just so easy to fall. Have you ever heard of Gill Manly? Nope, neither had I. I think we might be excused our ignorance as this is her first recording in over a decade and even before then she was working mostly locally in London. For a while she turned to a spiritual quest, convinced her singing career was behind her. She picked up the mic again two years ago and this is very much the work of an artist given a much valued and strongly embraced second chance. 

It's inspired by Ella and there are moments when an individual sample, subjected to a voice pattern test, might throw up an uncanny similarity in phrasing and timbre. To be able to approach the vocal near-perfection of the great Ms Fitzgerald is an achievement in itself. But this is certainly not to suggest that Gill Manly is an imitator for nothing could be further from the truth. It's truly remarkable and truly inspiring to hear a 'new' singer who is this good. The songs are mostly familiar ones  'September Song', 'Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most', 'Midnight Sun', 'Lush Life' but the insights Gill gives, both to their melodic and harmonic content, and to their lyrical meaning are fresh and original. She is just as comfortable at quicker, swinging paces as in slow ballads, and her vocal technique is both impeccable and apparently effortlessly delivered. She has a strong trio behind her, led on piano by Simon Wallace, Guy Barker adds some tasty trumpet and Mark Murphy pops in for a duet. I've searched this disc for some failure, some fall from grace, but I have searched in vain. It's as near perfection as we humans can manage. ~ The Jazz Breakfast  (Editorial Reviews)   http://www.amazon.com/With-Song-Heart-Gill-Manly/dp/B001PA7O4O

With A Song In My Heart

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Lisa Hilton - Kaleidoscope

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:04
Size: 115,1 MB
Art: Front

(4:53)  1. Simmer
(4:40)  2. Whispered Confessions
(5:00)  3. Labyrinth
(5:07)  4. When I Fall in Love
(3:41)  5. Bach, Basie, Bird Boogie Blues Bop
(3:51)  6. Kaleidoscope
(4:30)  7. Midnight Mania
(3:12)  8. Blue Horizon
(5:28)  9. Stepping Into Paradise
(3:51) 10. One and Only
(4:46) 11. Sunny Side Up

“Lisa Hilton’s signature style is impressively on display.”  George Harris/JazzWeekly

“Lisa Hilton is a jazz musician of incredible sensibility and nuance that, along with a beautifully evocative style of playing, places her at the very top. The track Midnight Mania is insanely great music, one of several by the way, where Hilton and JD are in perfect sync, with bassist Grenadier and drummer Marcus Gilmore pushing the beat in some truly fascinating ways.” ~ Hugh Carson/KVNF Radio

“We play a boat-load of Lisa Hilton’s music, & have quite a few fans on our staff.” ~ Mark DeBoskey/ KSDS Radio

 “LOVE IT! Nice arrangements/feel/music.  I really like the composed/impressionistic aspects, plus the lush recording.” ~ Todd Steed/WUOT Radio

 “Under the deft touch and considerable artistic vision of Lisa Hilton, modern and traditional jazz come together as one. The new sound for improvisational music is only enhanced with the prolific rhythm section of bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Marcus Gilmore when you toss in the King of improvisational minimalism in tenor player, J.D. Allen, then things just got serious. Nine of the eleven tunes on Kaleidoscope are originals further solidifying Hilton as a composer of note. In somewhat the same lyric vein as Allen there has been a zen-like less is more quality to Hilton’s work, yet with Allen the harmonics and the lyric flow are more open ended and there is a deceptively subtle sense of urgency smoldering just beneath the surface. Hilton moves effortlessly between classical and jazz with Bach/Basie/Bird Boogie Blues Bop while doing her own riff on Horace Silver and Herbie Hancock with the opening tune, Simmer. There is a shift, a lyrical and harmonic adjustment within the more traditional ranks of jazz and Lisa Hilton is now leading the charge. A formidable quartet with adventurous original compositions banged out by some of the finest musicians of our time. It doesn’t get much better than this”.  ~ Brent Black/Critical Jazz.com 2014     http://lisahiltonmusic.com/?p=1337

Personnel: Lisa Hilton (piano); J.D. Allen (tenor saxophone); Marcus Gilmore (drums).

Kaleidoscope

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Nils Gessinger - Ducks'N'Cookies

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1995
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 73:13
Size: 167,9 MB
Art: Front + Back

(4:35)  1. Ducks`N`Cookies
(4:55)  2. Angel
(6:34)  3. Late Nite
(3:25)  4. Mind Overload
(6:27)  5. Nighttalk
(4:40)  6. Pem Pem
(5:08)  7. Central Park
(4:39)  8. Casacajun Girl
(5:26)  9. Smoothin´
(5:49) 10. Nilas
(6:05) 11. Afif
(4:45) 12. Bobo´s Blues
(6:06) 13. Almost Seven
(4:32) 14. Friends & Gloves

In the 1990s, smooth jazz was the whipping boy of the jazz world everyone from hard boppers to Dixieland revivalists to fusion guitarists railed against the schlock that filled NAC play lists. And their anger was often justifiable; elevator versions of Michael Bolton hits shouldn't be described as jazz. However, commercial pop-jazz doesn't have to be bloodless elevator Muzak, and the German keyboardist/organist Nils Gessinger was obviously well-aware of that fact when he recorded 1995's Ducks 'N' Cookies for GRP. Make no mistake: Ducks 'N' Cookies is commercial music. The pop-jazz instrumentals that dominate the CD are meant to be accessible and groove-oriented, and when Gessinger features a vocalist on occasion, he tends to favor soul-influenced pop/rock melodies along the lines of Steely Dan (but minus the cryptic, abstract lyrics that Walter Becker and Donald Fagen were known for). In fact, Ducks 'N' Cookies often sounds like it could have been recorded in the late '70s or early '80s instead of 1995  the CD recalls a time when artists like David Sanborn, the Crusaders, Ronnie Laws, and the late Grover Washington, Jr. were providing commercial pop-jazz that had some meat on its bones. Not a masterpiece but generally respectable, Ducks 'N' Cookies could easily be described as "smooth jazz with a difference." ~ Alex Hernderson   http://www.allmusic.com/album/ducks-n-cookies-mw0000646773.

Personnel Billy King – vocals, Nils Gessinger - piano, Hammond B-3 organ, Fender Rhodes

Ducks`N`Cookies

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Nancy Wilson - Broadway My Way

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1963/2006
File: MP3@224K/s
Time: 45:29
Size: 73,0 MB
Art: Front

(2:08)  1. A Lot Of Livin' To Do
(4:42)  2. You Can Have Him
(2:33)  3. Tonight
(3:17)  4. Make Someone Happy
(2:02)  5. I Believe In You
(2:29)  6. As Long As He Needs Me
(2:35)  7. Getting To Know You
(3:14)  8. My Ship
(2:04)  9. The Sweetest Sounds
(3:56) 10. Joey, Joey, Joey
(2:12) 11. Loads Of Love
(2:31) 12. I'll Know
(2:07) 13. Hello, Young Lovers
(2:57) 14. If Ever I Would Leave You
(1:45) 15. I'm All Smiles
(2:35) 16. Come Back To Me
(2:12) 17. Don't Rain On My Parade

This fine album was one of many solid Capitol releases Nancy Wilson cut during the first half of the '60s. Having already visited Tinseltown's back catalog on Hollywood My Way, Wilson now turns to the wealth of Broadway songs for this 1964 offering. Along with material from familiar shows like Bye Bye Birdie "A Lot of Livin' to Do"), The King and I ("Getting to Know You"), and West Side Story ("Tonight"), Wilson also dives into stock from such relatively obscure stage excursions as Lady in the Dark ("My Ship") and No Strings ("Loads of Love"). All the performances are top-notch and feature the stellar charts of Jimmy Jones and a memorable cast that includes pianist Lou Levy, guitarist Bill Perkins, and trumpeter Dan Fagerquist, among others. [The 2006 CD reissue added five bonus tracks.] ~ Stephen Cook   http://www.allmusic.com/album/broadway-my-way-mw0000573152

Personnel: Nancy Wilson (vocals); John Michael Gray, Al Hendrickson (guitar); Paul Horn (reeds); Bill Perkins, Justin Gordon, Bill Hood, Buddy Collette (saxophone); Don Fagerquist (trumpet); Lew McCreary (trombone); Lou Levy (piano); Shelly Manne, Kenny Dennis (drums); Emil Richards (percussion).

Broadway My Way

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