Linda Ciofalo - Sun Set / Dancing With Johnny

Album: Sun Set
Size: 140,1 MB
Time: 60:20
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2007
Styles: Jazz: Vocals
Art: Front

01. Oh What A Beautiful Morning (4:40)
02. You Took Advantage Of Me (3:39)
03. Orange Blossoms In Summertime (6:47)
04. Here Comes The Sun (4:35)
05. Comes Love (4:16)
06. Love Is Stronger Far Than We (6:20)
07. La Isla Bonita (3:33)
08. I'll Follow The Sun (4:51)
09. Midnight Sun (7:46)
10. Lazy Afternoon (4:00)
11. Blame It On The Sun (5:13)
12. The Last Day Of Summer (4:35)

Linda Ciofalo's Sun Set has connected all the dots to make for an impressive listening experience. Starting with a concept—songs with the word "sun" in the title, or sun-related—the package offers an eclectic collection of selections, innovative arrangements and performances by an engaging vocalist with major chops and choice instrumentalists: John di Martino (piano), John Hart (guitar), Marcus McLaurine (bass), Joel Frahm (sax) and Matt Wilson (drums).

Ciofalo's vocal clarity is refreshing and she knows what to do with her instrument. She can deliver a ballad reading with warmth, but also has enough of an edge to swing when necessary. The opening track, "Oh! What A Beautiful Morning," features Ciofalo's vocal floating over a 6/8 tempo accompanied by Frahm's fills. On "You Took Advantage of Me," Ciofalo swings, backed only by Wilson's wonderful hand drumming, and a straightforward reading of George Harrison's "Here Comes The Sun" takes us back to Beatletime. Another interesting material choice is a lovely and haunting reading of "Love Is Stronger Far Than We" from the film A Man and A Woman.

There is something to be said for every track. The players are well-attuned to each other and comprise a tight ensemble. Di Martino's piano work is outstanding; his harmonies and ability to play exactly what needs to be played behind a vocalist well on display. Frahm also delivers, wailing on his "Summertime" solo and also on "Midnight Sun." Hart has some shining moments on guitar and McLaurine's solid bass work throughout completes the picture. But, most of all, this is a vocalist's album and Ciofalo shows off her talent from start to finish. The CD bears more than one listening to discover all of its pleasurable dimensions. ~Review by Marcia Hillman

Personnel: Linda Ciofalo: vocals; John di Martino: piano; John Hart: guitar; Marcus McLaurine: bass; Joel Frahm: sax; Matt Wilson: drums.

Sun Set

---

Album: Dancing With Johnny
Size: 119,6 MB
Time: 51:17
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2010
Styles: Jazz: Vocals
Art: Front

01. Tangerine (4:06)
02. Talk To Me Baby (3:52)
03. I'm Old Fashioned (3:10)
04. The Days Of Wine And Roses (3:38)
05. That Old Black Magic (4:28)
06. Early Autumn (4:34)
07. P.S. I Love You (4:30)
08. Skylark (4:46)
09. Day In,day Out (3:18)
10. Moon River (3:22)
11. One For My Baby (4:47)
12. I Remember You (3:37)
13. Come Rain Or Come Shine (3:04)

Linda Ciofalo may have missed the Johnny Mercer centenary by a few months, but her addition to last year’s mini-flood of tribute albums serves as a lovely, inventive coda. As the title suggests, Ciofalo’s overarching goal was to interpret Mercer for your dancing pleasure and, more specifically, to assist you in refining your samba skills. Latin rhythms, ranging from soothing to scorching, invade all 13 tracks, invariably enhancing Mercer’s lyrical intent. Ciofalo’s early training as a big-band vocalist shines through on the sizzling opener, “Tangerine,” and a flame-licked “That Old Black Magic,” both superbly propelled by Brian Lynch’s trumpet.

As effective as Ciofalo is on the swinging numbers, her sound, with its enticing hint of Boz Scaggs-esque nasality, is most appealing in simpler settings. Atop percussionist Little Johnny Rivero’s bongos, she achieves precisely the right tone of conversational intimacy on “P.S. I Love You,” perfectly captures the Lynch-enfolded mistiness of “Early Autumn,” shimmers through the slithery slyness of “Talk to Me Baby” and, amid gentle waves from Paul Meyers’ nylon-string guitar, bathes in the dreamy reflection of “Moon River.” Most poignant is Ciofalo’s “One for My Baby,” neither sorrowful nor self-pitying yet brilliantly manifested in the soul-deep heartache that only a sympathetic bartender and a few too many can allay. ~By Christopher Loudon

Dancing With Johnny

---

The Three Tenors Of Swing - On Stage

Size: 167,2 MB
Time: 71:46
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Jazz: Swing
Art: Front

01. Bean Stalking - Idaho (1:57)
02. Shake It And Break It (3:08)
03. Black And Tan Fantasy (4:00)
04. The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise (5:13)
05. Attibert Wropila (5:22)
06. Jubilee Stomp (5:15)
07. La Vie En Rose (4:44)
08. South Rampart Street Parade (6:16)
09. Lester's Bounce (4:51)
10. Six Cats And A Prince (5:17)
11. The Mooche (5:27)
12. I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart (5:37)
13. Till Tom Special (5:53)
14. Misty Morning (3:51)
15. Websterity (4:46)

Antti Sarpila, Frank Roberscheuten, Engelbert Wrobel

Inspired by their shared love of and enthusiasm for the swing - jazz and from pleasure and joy of making music together in this tradition , three of the most renowned saxophonist and clarinetist of the European jazz scene have joined forces : Antti Sarpila from Finland, the Netherlands Frank Roberscheuten and Engelbert Wrobel from Germany . With plenty of power and drive , they allow taking a look back at the big time of swing and inspire their audiences with skillful arrangements , mainly from his own pen , and exciting improvisations. All three soloists and stand for years before his own formations .

With a wink, taking the headline reference to the famous " three tenors " from the Opera area. "The 3 Tenors of Swing " but might as well "The 3 Clarinets " or "The 3 Altos Of Swing " hot , or they would have to imagine as "The 3 Reed Men Of Swing" , because these three protagonists are all multi-instrumentalists - everyone plays both tenor and another saxophone, and clarinet - and each of these instruments masterfully.
The sound on the CD is wonderful, the musicians delightfully inspired, and the repertoire varied. I was listening to it for the first time this afternoon, and when the disc was about halfway through, I stopped it, and said to myself, “I have to write about this right now. It is so good.” It features Antti Sarpilla, Frank Roberscheuten, and Engelbert on reeds, with a rhythm section of Rolf Marx, guitar; Chris Hopkins, piano; Henning Gailing, string bass; Oliver Mewes, drums.

On Stage

---

Lisa Kirchner - Umbrellas In Mint

Size: 130,4 MB
Time: 55:48
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Jazz: Vocals
Art: Front & Back

01. Salty And Blue (I Don't Believe In Romance) (4:32)
02. A Billion Stars Ago (In The Shadow Of A Cow) (4:28)
03. What About You (3:48)
04. The Hudson Bay Inn (5:20)
05. Umbrellas In Mint (4:22)
06. Tim (5:00)
07. Let Us Go Then (5:31)
08. Under The Paris Moon (Manhattan Under The Paris Moon) (4:19)
09. At The Closing Of The Fair (5:06)
10. Old Shoes (4:13)
11. Southern Starlight (Charleston For You) (5:57)
12. Quarters And Dimes (3:07)

When Lisa Kirchner last appeared in these pages, I commented that though production credits went missing, it appeared she was the top dawg in the process and that this element appeared to endow the outing with its several defects among many strengths. This time, out, she is indeed the producer, and the difference, in just one year, is highly discernable. Recruiting an intriguing new backing band loaded with notables who were unafraid to mess around with the traditional aspects of the fare, the entirety of Umbrellas in Mint is everything that Charleston for You pointed towards. This is shown very early in A Billion Stars Ago (In the Shadow of a Crow), the second cut and an excellently blended mélange of cabaret, stage, and jazz, upbeat and reflective simultaneously, with even a short injection of delightfully contrasty bump and grind just before the number fades.

Every song here was in fact written by the wild-maned Kirchner and, for me, brings back tangs of the underlauded Robert Kraft, among others, as the Carmichaelish What About You? (LOVE that "A ceiling at midnight, where stars shine on cue" line!) demonstrates. A wide palette of world influences invade the entire cycle here, subordinated beautifully to the dominantly Broadway ambiance. Don't know what happened in the past year, but Kirchner got waaaaay the hell serious, not only maturing miles beyond expectations, but immersive in the literacy of her chosen milieu. Part of the credit goes to the immaculate choice of musicians (I could've done with a bit more of guitarist Ron Jackson, whose offbeat tempo play is intriguing for its colorations, but, hey, the emphasis is rightly on Kirchner's vocals, lyrical narrative, and cinematic textures), but then it also must be noted that they're rightly operating within her parameters, which have cinched up the aesthete factor rather breathtakingly.

Expect generous doses of Rogers & Hart, Brel, Hammerstein, and a bunch of others in the Songbook milieu, but there are also a number of surprisingly Brechtian tinges, as Kirchner's unafraid of the shadows populating boulevards and hearts. She knows those darksome dimensions are just wellsprings, and saxist Sherman Irby leans into 'em more than once, often with a suppressed grin, lighting up the corners. In sum, Umbrellas is an exhilarating escapade, a collection of songs wrought for a stage musical yet to be put beneath the lights, but, now having heard the disc, I'm not so sure that's even necessary, as the CD does quite well on its own, needing no further explication…though it'd be intriguing as hell to see what could be done with them visually. ~by Mark S. Tucker

Umbrellas In Mint

---

Jeff Elliott - Facing West

Size: 143,0 MB
Time: 61:30
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Jazz: Crossover Jazz
Art: Front

01. Magic Jazz Dance (7:23)
02. Out Of The Fog (6:20)
03. Happy Village (5:46)
04. Things Change (5:35)
05. Mad Traffic Jam (5:29)
06. Western Man (5:01)
07. Mine Tonight (5:33)
08. War Zone (6:26)
09. I've Lived 100 Lifetimes (6:20)
10. Resolution (Feat. Ernie Watts) (7:33)

Jeff Elliott – the trumpet leader – has been “jazz is in my veins” since his father, clearly a wise man, bought him a real trumpet in 1963. This album celebrates not only that gift of 50 years ago, but adds up to Jeff’s life in music in the decades since.

These days, he decided to sum it all up, and this album reveals how much Jeff has in his veins because of those 50 years.

Back in the 1960s, Jeff’s father made sure Jeff heard the records of Chet Baker, Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Jonah Jones, the high standard bearers and blowers of jazz then. But, when his father left the room, Jeff grabbed his own guitar and played along with The Beatles.
In high school, he dreamed of being a rock star, even if the school sat him in its orchestra’s first chair, as first trumpet.

As Jeff Elliott grew into his twenties, he began thinking of himself as “a musical mutt,” a guy with more than just one style and instrument in his repertoires. And to help this mixture, whether Mutt or purebred, Jeff was blessed with perfect pitch.

Jeff Elliott always craved being “in the band,” whether it was a concert band or a jazz big band. Which didn’t matter, because Jeff grew up playing professionally at least those two loves: jazz trumpet and rock everything. Over the years, he has blended those genres into his own styles, passions, and beliefs about music.

As Jeff matured, playing with his and other bands and appearing night after night with West Coast clubs out on the Pacific shores, his ears began to hear a fresh style of music.

That style is not to be put in words here. It is best defined in your ears.

He thinks of it as and refers to it as “Pacific” and describes the ten compositions on this album as “another branch to the left of the great music tree: The West side, where I am from, facing west to the ocean and the sun.”

And thus this CD, which compiles the influences of Jeff’s past: jazz, folk, rock, orchestra, ethnic, funk, and concert band.

It’s amazing what you can create in only 50 years, if you’ve put all your different hearts into an album like this.

Facing West

---

Madeline Eastman - Can You Hear Me Now?

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:45
Size: 129,3 MB
Art: Front

(3:49)  1. You Say You Care
(7:33)  2. Make Someone Happy
(4:55)  3. Show Me
(2:34)  4. Pent Up House
(5:44)  5. Slow Boat to China
(6:37)  6. Don't Look Back
(0:42)  7. Intro Baubles
(5:02)  8. Baubles, Bangles and Beads
(4:58)  9. Gone with the Wind
(5:05) 10. Haunted Heart
(3:53) 11. I Love You
(4:46) 12. Epistrophy

Californian Madeline Eastman, blessed with an absolutely perfect voice, can run rings around just about any jazz singer, but chooses not to blow you away with animated or histrionic acrobatics, preferring to dig deep into a sophistication that is quite easy to enjoy and if you listen closely, she mainlines straight to the heart of any matter. This live concert date at the famous Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society, at Half Moon Bay near the San Francisco area, features Eastman with her prime elements of playfulness, heightened emotion, abstract cool, and deftly enunciated phrasings that mark her as one of the few original jazz singers who refuses to compromise commercially. Her outstanding band with pianist Randy Porter and the imported East Coast pros of peerless bassist Rufus Reid and lithe, limber drummer Matt Wilson supplies all the top-notch musicianship required to match Eastman's hip, literate, and precise vocal legerdemain step for step. Her cut-up version of the Sonny Rollins favorite "Pent Up House" is an "aw shucks" tune with her original lyrics, a tale where she eventually tells a recent acquaintance she "forgot your name." The band tears up "I Love You" and the solid swinger "You Say You Care" with extrapolated second and third choruses, and she extols the virtues or perils of shopping for jewelry on television on the intro before the cute "Baubles, Bangles and Beads." 

Eastman and Jeff Pittson's arrangement of "Slow Boat to China" wedded to Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage" works very well, a nice twist and corollary, where the soulful, modal "Show Me" could easily have been charted by Horace Silver. Vocalists have a thing for doing a duo with their bassists, and Reid is her perfect foil during the midtempo "Gone with the Wind," while the closer, "Epistrophy," is a perfectly funky get-up/get-down affair. Madeline Eastman has produced several very good recordings, but she's at the top of her game when captured live, and cheesy cell phone slogan title notwithstanding, she should be listened to by a larger chunk of the general populace. Her kind of jazz singer is far from a dime a dozen. ~ Michael G. Nastos   http://www.allmusic.com/album/can-you-hear-me-now-madeline-eastman-live-mw0000797780

Madeline Eastman (vocals); Randy Porter (piano); Rufus Reid (bass instrument); Matt Wilson (drum).

Can You Hear Me Now?

---

Manhattan Jazz Quintet - Latino-Bop

Styles: Post-Bop, Latin
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:38
Size: 132,5 MB
Art: Front

(7:55)  1. El Cumbanchero
(8:42)  2. Besame Mucho
(6:23)  3. Volare
(7:08)  4. Libertango
(5:01)  5. La Malaguena / Granada
(8:00)  6. Sway (Quien Sera)
(7:16)  7. Taboo
(7:10)  8. Passion Fruit

The Manhattan Jazz Quintet are an unusual group in that they very rarely perform as a unit in the United States (much less Manhattan) but have been a major hit in Japan, both for their recordings and occasional tours. Originally comprised of leader/pianist David Matthews, trumpeter Lew Soloff, tenor saxophonist George Young, bassist Eddie Gomez, and drummer Steve Gadd, the band (which emphasizes straight-ahead hard bop swinging) first came together in 1983 at the suggestion of the King label and the top Japanese jazz magazine Swing Journal. To everyone's surprise, its first recording (simply called Manhattan Jazz Quintet) became such a big seller that it was awarded Swing Journal's annual 1984 Gold Disk Award as the number one album in Japan. Several years later the group broke up when Gomez and Gadd needed more time to pursue their individual projects and all of the quintet members later became quite successful in their own careers but this edition of the MJQ recorded reunions in 1990 (which found John Scofield guesting on a few selections) and in 1993. 

Victor Lewis replaced Gadd that year, and subsequently Young was replaced by Andy Snitzer and Gomez by Charnett Moffett. The Manhattan Jazz Quintet recorded primarily for King in Japan (those dates were mostly made available in the U.S. by Projazz) during the 1980s, although they cut some later recordings among the comparative very few that actually took place in Manhattan! for the Sweet Basil label. During the new millennium the Manhattan Jazz Quintet have recorded regularly for Video Arts. Bio ~ https://itunes.apple.com/nz/artist/manhattan-jazz-quintet/id79729527#fullText.

Personnel: David Matthews – Piano; Lew Soloff – Trumpet; Andy Snitzer - Tenor Saxophone; Francois Mutin – Bass; Victor Lewis - Drums

Latino-Bop

---

Bruce Gertz - Shut Wide Open

Styles: Jazz
Year: 1998
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:20
Size: 145,4 MB
Art: Front

( 7:37)  1. Letter From Ghana
( 8:17)  2. Toots
( 6:17)  3. Shut Wide Open
( 8:49)  4. Tenerife
( 7:04)  5. Pluto Was Here
( 4:07)  6. I See You
( 5:31)  7. Booga Chacha Lu
( 5:07)  8. Blueprint
(10:27)  9. Revolving Door

The art of the ensemble, led here by bassist Gertz and trumpeter Cervenka, displays itself in a lively and diverse set of originals by band members Jerry Bergonzi (tenor) and Bruce Barth (piano). What's consistent is the good taste and mutual understanding, which extends itself even to the new compositions, which sound confident enough to have been around for ages: Gertz's breezy "Letter From Ghana," based on Cole Porter's "Love for Sale," flows flawlessly into the next track, a whimsical tribute to "Toots" by Bergonzi. Cervenka's title tune is a post-bop scamper built on "Rhythm" changes, while "Tenerife" is a kind of "Caravan" for the '90s, resonating with open horn harmonies and imaginative solos. Drummer Jorge Rossy neatly splashes his cymbals to underscore all the fun, which goes south for a samba on Gertz's "Pluto Was Here," loosely based on Jobim's "Triste" and a cha-cha on Barth's "Revolving Door," sustaining the excitement and good vibes to the album's final measure. ~ Jeff Kaliss   http://jazztimes.com/articles/10376-shut-wide-open-bruce-gertz-ken-cervenka.

Personnel: Bruce Gertz (bass); Ken Cervenka (trumpet); Jerry Bergonzi (tenor saxophone); Bruce Barth (piano); Jorge Rossy (drums).

Shut Wide Open

---

Nancy Wilson - Hollywood - My Way

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1963
File: MP3@224K/s
Time: 46:50
Size: 75,8 MB
Art: Front

(1:57)  1. My Shining Hour
(3:26)  2. The Days Of Wine And Roses
(2:07)  3. Moon River
(3:05)  4. Secret Love
(2:13)  5. Dearly Beloved
(2:39)  6. I'll Never Stop Loving You
(2:56)  7. When Did You Leave Heaven?
(2:30)  8. Almost In Your Arms
(2:50)  9. Wild Is The Wind
(2:53) 10. The Second Time Around
(3:44) 11. Did I Remember
(2:34) 12. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
(3:04) 13. Alfie
(2:26) 14. The Look Of Love
(3:14) 15. More (Theme From 'mondo Cane')
(2:01) 16. The Shadow Of Your Smile
(3:04) 17. Watch What Happens

Like one of her biggest selling CDs Yesterdays Love Songs/Tomorrow's Blues, Hollywood My Way is filled with strong material, fine arrangements, and more than enough evidence of Wilson's considerable and elegant vocal talents. One thing the Hollywood My Way doesn't have, though, is a big hit like Yesterday's Love Song's "Guess Who I Saw Today" and that goes a long way in explaining Capitol's reticence about releasing it. Regardless, this collection of movie songs ranging from 1931's "When Did You Leave Heaven" to 1962's "Days of Wine and Roses" with stellar Jimmy Jones' arrangements is one of Wilson's best. As usual she deftly works through a variety of tempi with aplomb. "My Shining Hours"' breakneck speed arrangement is kept in check by her behind-the-beat, elongated phrasing, while the ballad tempo in "Days of Wine of Roses" is ignited with an assured and dramatic vocal buildup. Wilson's supple voice seems especially fit for the bossa nova treatment of "Moonriver"; she easily shifts from a whisper to full-throated dynamics over the lilting, yet steady beat. Equally impressive is her urbane blues delivery on "When Did You Leave Heaven." [The 2006 CD reissue added five bonus tracks.] ~ Stephen Cook  http://www.allmusic.com/album/hollywood-my-way-mw0000571551

Personnel: Nancy Wilson (vocals); Nancy Wilson; Herb Ellis, Howard Roberts , Al Hendrickson, John Collins (guitar); Ann Mason Stockton (harp); Justin Gordon (reeds, saxophone); Bob Richards, Jules Jacob, Jack Nimitz, Abe Most, Plas Johnson , Bill Perkins, Skeets Herfurt, Buddy Collette (reeds); Harry Klee, Wilbur Schwartz (saxophone); Don Fagerquist, Harry "Sweets" Edison , Ray Triscari, John Audino, Tony Terran, Bud Brisbois (trumpet); Dick Noel, Lew McReary, Bill Schaefer, Vern Friley, Tommy Pederson (trombone); Donn Trenner (piano, harpsichord); Ronnell Bright (piano); Mike Melvoin (organ); Buster Williams (bass instrument); Larry Bunker (percussion); Pete Candoli (trumpet); Earl Palmer (drums, percussion, bells).

Hollywood - My Way

---