Saturday, March 22, 2014

Dontae Winslow - Change A Life... Change The World / Enter The Dynasty

Album: Change A Life... Change The World
Size: 164,1 MB
Time: 70:10
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2006
Styles: Various
Art: Front

01. Lil Boy With Big Dreams (2:24)
02. Intro (0:25)
03. Dream (3:50)
04. I Love School (2:51)
05. I'm Gonna Make It (Remix) (4:13)
06. 5 Years From Now (4:04)
07. You Show Me Love (5:03)
08. You Can't Stop Me (2:52)
09. My Brain Is A Weapon (5:25)
10. I'm Gonna Make It (The Hit) (3:57)
11. 5 Years From Now (Instrumental) (3:56)
12. The Playground (5:32)
13. Keep Hope Alive (2:17)
14. Hold On (3:56)
15. Free (5:24)
16. Dedication To Mothers (6:30)
17. School Song (3:40)
18. I'm A Leader (3:41)

Inspirational Childrens music through the styles of hip-hop, jazz, and gospel. Ages pre-K through 12th grade

Currently working on his 7th studio album entitled "The One" featuring Dontae as a songwriter/producer/trumpeter/MC. Dontae Winslow is one of music's "rising stars" and educators. He was trained in music at the formidable Baltimore School for the Arts high school. In four years, he attained a Bachelors and Masters degree in Classical Music Performance from the Peabody Conservatory of the John's Hopkins University.

He has toured the world with Gary Thomas Overkill, and has released 7 titles on his own independent label, Ransom Entertainment. Executive producing these albums honed his skills as a produce, songwriter, trumpeter, and rap artist. Ransom Entertainment owns 2 hip-hop albums, 1 children's hip-hop, 3 jazz albums, and his wife's R&B project "The Real Thing". All but MaShica's album was released while Dontae was still a full-time college student.

Dontae is also a featured soloist with composer Darin Atwater's Soulful Symphony. After winning the John Lennon international songwriting competition in 2002. Dontae moved to LA. In 2003, Dontae Winslow was awarded a full-fellowship to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz at USC, where he studied and performed with legendary jazz pianist Herbie Hancock and film composer Terence Blanchard. Dontae has worked in the bands of Queen Latifah. Common, D’ Angelo, Christina Aguilera, Lauryn Hill, and Mary Mary.

Dontae resides in California and works with producers Warryn Cambell, Karriem Riggins, DJ Khalil, and Nisan Stewart. His recent work includes: Kanye West-Late Registration, Talib Kweli-Toyota Matrix commercial, GZA-"Queen's Gambit", Jay Dilla-"The Shining", Musiq Soulchild-TBA, Patti Labelle-TBA New Gospel album, Mary Mary-Mary Mary, Paula Cambell-TBA,Really Doe, and Men of Standard-Surrounded, and Jay-Z “I Made It”.

In addition to recording Dontae is a jazz improvisation, music production and performance clinician for such esteemed institutions as The Berklee School of Music, The Baltimore School for the Arts, and The Peabody Conservatory of The Johns Hopkins University. He has a beautiful wife, singer-Mashica Winslow, and an anointed son Jedidiah Divine Order Winslow.

Change A Life... Change The World

Album: Enter The Dynasty
Size: 168,2 MB
Time: 72:57
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Jazz: Traditional Jazz Combo
Art: Front

01. Baltimore Crabcakes (Feat. Kenneth Whalum) (9:22)
02. Kings (Feat. Jedi, Adam Blackstone & George 'Spanky' McCurdy) (9:51)
03. Chrysalis (Feat. Chick Corea & Brian Frasier Moore) (5:24)
04. He Is (Feat. Warryn Campbell) (4:59)
05. Dontae's Inferno (9:11)
06. Blaxploitation & Revolution (Feat. West Coast Get Down) (9:13)
07. Red Bells, Red Wine, & Red Lingerie (Feat. Mashica Winslow) (4:18)
08. Mashica & Jedi (2:53)
09. 2304 West North Ave (7:09)
10. Drinks On Me (Feat. Dennis Chambers, Roy Hargrove, Antonio Hart, Aaron Camper & Mike Scott) (5:31)
11. Summer Cookout (Feat. Ahmir Questlove Thompson, Roy Hargrove & Jk) (5:02)

It seems that one need only bat an eyelash to miss out on some of the heavy young musicians that are coming down the pike, let alone the ones who've become pretty well-established. A case in point is a young trumpeter / producer / rapper / educator Dontae Winslow. Though he appeared on recordings by Hugh Ragin's Trumpet Ensemble (Fanfare and Fiesta, Justin Time, 2001) and Roy Hargrove & the RH Factor (Hard Groove, Verve Records, 2003) over a decade ago, Enter the Dynasty is only Winslow's fourth album as a leader. In the meantime, the Baltimore native accumulated an impressive array of high-profile performing, recording and producing credits in the hip-hop and R&B arena with artists such as Kanye West, Justin Timberlake, D'Angelo, Jay-Z, Jill Scott, and a host of others. A graduate of the Johns Hopkins Peabody Conservatory, Winslow was a semi-finalist in the 1997 Thelonious Monk International Trumpet Competition, and won the prestigious Peabody Young Maestro Award in 2013.

Tempered, perhaps, by the experience of playing in front of huge audiences on a routine basis, Winslow's playing is completely assured and bold. Liberally incorporating Gospel, fusion, R&B, and funk influences, Winslow's composing and quick-witted trumpet playing throughout Enter The Dynasty nevertheless belies a continued immersion in jazz, both modern and traditional. Instead of spreading his considerable talents too thin, the dizzying stylistic variety here demonstrates that Winslow can thrive creatively in pretty much any musical setting. As a producer, he demonstrates the ability to sculpt these diverse tracks into a remarkably unified artistic statement. The veritable army of musicians featured on Enter The Dynasty represent a Who's Who of the extraordinary young musical talents circulating through the hip-hop and pop worlds. Winslow's also corralled a clutch of very impressive ringers from the jazz world for this project, including Hargrove, Chick Corea, Antonio Hart, Questlove , and Kirk Whalum to name just a few.

Throughout Enter The Dynasty, Winslow artfully balances the more challenging aspects of his music with more easygoing elements that are sure to appeal to a wider audience. Nevertheless, there is a surprisingly large amount of substantial and uncompromising jazz here. "Baltimore Crabcakes" is a funk tune from a time before the advent of slap bass and wah-wah guitar. The funk here is the bluesy, Gospel- infused, grits-and-gravy sound of Jimmy Smith, Horace Silver, and Lou Donaldson; the perfect vehicle for Winslow and Whalum to strut their soulful stuff. Whalum's also aboard for "Kings," a sweet slice of funky-but-sophisticated fusion a la Snarky Puppy enlivened by Spanky McCurdy's amazing drumming. The fusion envelope gets pushed hard on "Blaxploitation," a phantasmagorical stew of wailing, hard-hitting rock, jazz, and funk set off by Winslow's breathless no-nonsense rapping and Mashica Winslow's over-the-top operatic vocals. The only other artist I can compare this crazily intense and beautiful track to is Stanton Davis' Ghetto Mysticism. On the other hand, "Chrysalis" is sweet, easygoing funky-fusion jam with more impressive drumming (this time courtesy of Brian Frasier- Moore) framing thoughtful solos by Winslow and Chick Corea. On the gentler side of things, the album's ballads explore different aspects of things soft and downtempo. "He Is" is a lovely inspirational ballad, while "Red Lingerie"-featuring an alluring, sensual vocal by Mashica-uses the ballad form to muse on a completely different side of life. "Mashica & Jedi," dedicated to Winslow's wife and son, is sweet and direct with a sparse string backing. "Dontae's Inferno," which starts out as a rhapsodic acoustic ballad, is a complex modern jazz piece that edges into high-energy terrains during impressive solos by Winslow, pianist Miro Sprague, and tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III. Pianist Sam Barsh and bassist Edwin Livingston join Winslow on "2304 West North Avenue" in a tough little jazz trio that gives the leader a chance to really stretch out. As a trumpet soloist, the classically-trained Winslow is definitely in the Wynton Marsalis / Terence Blanchard lineage, though his playing has an appealingly emotive rawness missing from a lot of 21st Century jazz. A highly technical and proficient player, his solos are full of unexpected and dramatic trills, flutters, rips and partially- valved slurs.

Hip-hop influences figure into the album's closing tracks. "Summer Cookout" is an unpretentious slice of pure fun; Winslow 's wah-wah trumpet converses with Hargrove's flugelhorn over gospel-saturated organ, wordless vocals and Questlove's shambling good-time drums. "Drinks on Me" summons up a harder-hitting Funkadelic-inspired party vibe replete with screaming guitars, subsonic bass and masses of synth burbling up beneath solos by Hargrove and Winslow. Though it's not his debut album, Enter the Dynasty captures the excitement and fire of an unusually accomplished young artist's first release. This is a truly auspicious album that covers a lot of stylistic ground in a creative and personal manner, while establishing Dontae Winslow as a name to look out for in the jazz world. ~Dave Wayne

Enter The Dynasty

Jolie Goodnight - Say Goodnight Gracey

Size: 89,9 MB
Time: 38:38
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Jazz/Pop Vocals
Art: Front

01. These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You) (3:44)
02. Basin Street Blues (3:38)
03. Ain't Misbehavin' (2:31)
04. You've Changed (4:55)
05. After You Get What You Want, You Don't Want It (3:03)
06. My Daddy Rocks Me (3:49)
07. Pennies From Heaven (4:04)
08. Sugar In My Bowl (2:56)
09. Summertime (5:48)
10. You Don't Know Me (4:05)

Jolie Goodnight is a creative tour-de-force, an international jazz performer in love with all things decadent and delightful. Hailing back to the days of glitz and glamour, Jolie Goodnight has dazzled audiences around the US with steamy fan dances and sensational jazz singing. Although she is hailed as a staggering jazz singer, Goodnight is well known for her dirty blues tunes and surprising audiences with a larger than life voice, a voice that’s been said to “drip from her mouth like sweet molasses.”

Daughter of the legendary producer Joe Gracey and singer song-writer Kimmie Rhodes, Goodnight was born in Austin, Texas into a world-wide showbiz life. She began her career as an actress, performing in pieces including “Footloose,” “Much Ado About Nothing,” “The Way of the World,” “Small Town Girl,” “Hillbilly Heaven,” and “Parade.” A ravishing member of the illustrious Jigglewatts Burlesque Revue, it’s no surprise that this sultry red-head was awarded “Best Tease” and “Audience Choice” at the Texas Burlesque Festival and is the 2012 2nd runner up for Miss Viva Las Vegas.

In love with the beauty of another era, she pursued a career as a pin up model, beginning in Rockabilly Magazine and later featuring in Retro Lovely, Pin Curl Magazine, Bachelor Pad, Pin Up Playing Cards, Texas Women with Texas Tattoos, and The Austin Post.

Currently, Jolie croons with her jazz band, performs burlesque as a member of the Jigglewatts, and will soon release her debut November 22nd.

Say Goodnight Gracey

Mimi & Richard Farina - The Complete Vanguard Recordings

Size: 89,3+112,4+173,7 MB
Time: 38:53+48:59+75:44
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2001
Styles: Folk
Art: Full

CD 1:
01. Dandelion River Run (Instrumental) (1:42)
02. Pack Up Your Sorrows (Live) (2:58)
03. Tommy Makem Fantasy (Instrumental) (1:34)
04. Michael, Andrew And James (5:12)
05. Dog Blue (Instrumental) (1:46)
06. V. (Instrumental) (3:34)
07. One Way Ticket (3:28)
08. Hamish (Instrumental) (1:51)
09. Another Country (4:06)
10. Tuileries (Instrumental) (1:49)
11. The Falcon (3:44)
12. Reno Nevada (3:12)
13. Celebration For A Grey Day (Instrumental) (3:50)

CD 2:
01. Reflections In A Crystal Wind (3:34)
02. Bold Marauder (4:04)
03. Dopico (3:54)
04. A Swallow Song (2:51)
05. Chrysanthemum (Instrumental) (2:26)
06. Sell-Out Agitation Waltz (2:51)
07. Hard Loving Loser (4:39)
08. Mainline Prosperity Blues (6:27)
09. Allen's Interlude (2:52)
10. House Un-American Blues Activity Dream (3:09)
11. Raven Girl (5:10)
12. Miles (Instrumental) (2:54)
13. Children Of Darkness (4:02)

CD 3:
01. The Quiet Joys Of Brotherhood (4:18)
02. Joy 'round My Brain (3:47)
03. Lemonade Lady (2:02)
04. Downtown (Instrumental) (1:37)
05. Almond Joy (2:12)
06. Blood Red Roses (2:30)
07. Morgan The Pirate (5:46)
08. A Swallow Song (2:50)
09. All The World Has Gone By (3:45)
10. Pack Up Your Sorrows (3:07)
11. Leaving California (One-Way Ticket) (1965 Newport Folk Festival) (3:31)
12. Sell-Out Agitation Waltz (1965 Newport Folk Festival) (2:54)
13. Pack Up Your Sorrows (Peter Yarrow) (1965 Newport Folk Festival) (6:20)
14. House Un-American Blues Activity Dream (1965 Newport Folk Festival) (3:26)
15. The Bold Marauder (1965 Newport Folk Festival) (6:15)
16. Hard Lovin' Loser (1965 Newport Folk Festival) (4:19)
17. Dopico (1965 Newport Folk Festival) (6:58)
18. Celebration For A Grey Day (1965 Newport Folk Festival) (7:49)
19. Shady Grove (Jean Ritchie) (1965 Newport Folk Festival) (2:06)

This is a straightforward three-CD set of the Fariñas' Vanguard recordings, each disc containing one of their three albums: Celebrations for a Grey Day, Reflections in a Crystal Wind, and the posthumous outtakes collection Memories. For Richard & Mimi Fariña fans who already have all of those albums, the chief interest lies in the seven previously unreleased bonus tracks that have been added to the Memories disc, all of them taken from their appearance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. Those songs, in which the duo played in an acoustic setup with some help from onstage guests (including Bruce Langhorne and Fritz Richmond), are enjoyable but not essential, particularly as the sound quality isn't that great. The new additions, however, make live versions of some their best songs available, among them "The Bold Marauder" (the best of the live cuts), "Sell-Out Agitation Waltz," "Pack Up Your Sorrows" (with Peter Yarrow), and "Celebration for a Grey Day"; Jean Ritchie accompanies them on "Shady Grove" (which is sometimes nearly drowned out by airplane swoops). Overall this is seminal, underrated mid-'60s folk-rock, quite consistent in quality for the most part. It's not an over-investment for the cost-conscious, and if you like any one of their albums, you'll probably like all of them. Note, however, that it's not quite the complete Vanguard recordings since it doesn't have the unreleased version of "Tuileries" that appeared on the compilation Pack Up Your Sorrows: Best of the Vanguard Years. It's also a bit disappointing that no further studio outtakes were found, such as the demos referred to in David Hajdu's book Positively 4th Street. ~Review by Richie Unterberger

The Complete Vanguard Recordings CD 1
The Complete Vanguard Recordings CD 2
The Complete Vanguard Recordings CD 3

Cecile Charbonnel Trio - Topaze

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:57
Size: 126,1 MB
Art: Front

(2:55)  1. The More I See You
(2:38)  2. For Once In My Life
(2:56)  3. Bang-Bang
(4:10)  4. Roxanne
(3:41)  5. This World Today Is A Mess
(3:59)  6. Baker Street
(4:32)  7. Close To You
(3:04)  8. Teach Me Tonight
(3:56)  9. Here Comes The Rain Again
(3:39) 10. Eternal Flame
(3:46) 11. Why Should I Care
(4:02) 12. I Can Dream Can't I
(2:20) 13. Plus Je T'embrasse
(4:30) 14. You Don't Know Me
(7:42) 15. 15 - Mona Lisa.mp3

"I always sang" argues the complainant. She hummed the airs of Vivaldi 5 years, fell into hard rock at age 15, lived experiences of several groups (Alpheratz, Thunder, Charline and the Fox) before falling in love with jazz. Few nibbles later, she started her own discography. First with the album "Solid" in 2005 and with "How are you? "In 2008. A travel trio on the rich and fertile lands of jazz, blues cottony plains and urban avenues of pop ... The new and third album that we now book "Topaz" is in the same spirit as the previous one, "spark more," she adds. She gets in his way of standard blues or pop it "jazzifie" but also jazz standards she "popise." The album will be pop for some jazz, pop jazz to others. Whatever. It is against the chapels and musical sectarianism. Considering that no genre is "superior" to another, that artists are doers of emotion, dedicated to the unusual spirits, twisters straight lines, rippers benches, Cécile focuses as usual, the beautiful music whatever their origins and offers us a new package *. It offers us in chopped, sweet and felted interpretations.

This is again a trio that recorded this album, always accompanied by Jean-Michel Charbonnel, her husband, one of the best french bass (who plays with such Louiss Eddy, Billy Cobham, Jean-Marie Ecay, André Charlier and Benoït Sourisse, André Manoukian and Didier Lockwood) but this time swapping the 6 strings of Jean-Baptiste Gaudrey (the famous guitar sounds of Martin Solveig) for piano Nicolas Christmas, self-taught raw talent, pianist Little Bob (to see in the film Aki Kaurismaki "Le Havre") but also for Demi Evans and Jean-Jacques Milteau.The choice of album title, "Topaz", we look more closely, is not so trivial.

As the gemstone, which can shine in different colors, this new album is adorned with multiple musical tones. Beliefs attributed to the fifteenth century topaz faculty, among others, to awaken the wisdom and away the sadness and melancholy ... That's what Cecile Charbonnel done with this new album. Always at the service of the swing, emotion and musicality. Velvet jazz tempos felted. The desire to have fun and share the fun on disc and on stage. . Smooth and amazing (*) mainly includes the menu: "Baker Street" (Gerry Rafferty), "Here comes the rain again" (Eurythmics), "Eternal Flame" (Bangles), "For once in my life" (Stevie Wonder ), "Bang Bang" (Cher), "Roxanne", but also "Close to You" (Burt Bacharach), "Mona Lisa" (Nat King Cole), "Teach me tonight" (that interpreted among other Dinah Washington) or "Why Should I Care?" signed Clint Eastwood.Produced by SAFT / Noa Music, the album was arranged by Jean-Michel Charbonnel, recorded and mixed by Antoine Saddle and Andrew Lyden Elisa Studio in November 2011, and mastered by John Dent at Loud Mastering (Taunton / England).Translate by google...  http://www.cecilecharbonnel.com/bio.htm

Maria Jacobs - No Frills

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 1996
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:55
Size: 91,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:42)  1. Time After Time
(3:04)  2. You Stepped out of a Dream
(3:30)  3. No Frills
(3:47)  4. Black Coffee
(6:07)  5. Tenderly
(4:37)  6. Corcovado
(2:39)  7. Scrapple from the Apple/Honeysuckle Rose
(5:25)  8. In a Mellow Tone
(6:01)  9. You Don't Know What Love Is

Maria Jacobs is a fine singer with an appealing voice, a subtle style and the ability to swing. On her debut recording, she is joined by Mike Petrone or Robert "Skeets" Rose on piano, Martin Block or Jesse Dandy on bass, drummer Roy King (on four of the nine songs) and, for three tunes, the saxes of Gerald Linthicome. Among the highlights are a pair of vocal-piano duets ("Black Coffee" and "You 'Don't Know What Love Is"). Based in Cleveland at the time of the recording (she has since relocated to L.A.), Maria Jacobs sings mostly melodic versions of standards (plus her own "No Frills"), stretching out a bit on "Corcovado," "In a Mellow Tone" and "You Don't Know What Love Is." Although hopefully she will explore some lesser-known and newer material in the future, this is an impressive start to what should be a productive career. ~ Scott Yanow   http://www.allmusic.com/album/no-frills-mw0000748365

Avishai Cohen - Triveni II

Styles: Trumpet Jazz, Fusion
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:33
Size: 120,6 MB
Art: Front

(9:40)  1. Safety Land
(4:39)  2. B.R Story
(5:50)  3. Nov. 30th
(2:39)  4. Music News
(2:53)  5. Willow Weep for Me
(3:57)  6. Woody `n' You
(7:44)  7. Portrait
(4:37)  8. Get Blue
(2:15)  9. Follow The Sound
(8:14) 10. Art Deco (Alt. Take)

Trumpeter Avishai Cohen had already reached the upper echelons of the jazz world when he put Triveni into motion, but this trio's debut Introducing Triveni (Anzic Records, 2010) still managed to mark a quantum leap in his artistry. The Israeli-born horn man first made stateside ripples when he placed third in the Thelonious Monk Jazz Trumpet Competition in 1997 and those ripples turned to waves as he became an established presence on the scene. A string of albums in his own name, work with his equally sublime siblings in the 3 Cohens, and a slew of sideman dates helped him climb the ladder of success, but his ascendancy was marked by his arrival as the trumpet heir in the SFJAZZ Collective and the formation of this trio. Triveni, a Sanskrit word that means "the place where three sacred rivers meet," is an accurate descriptor for this bold trio. 

Cohen called on bassist Omer Avital and drummer Nasheet Waits to help him achieve his artistic aims, sans chordal instrument, and he couldn't have asked for two better-suited partners. The trumpeter has a longstanding relationship with Avital, which includes their collaborative efforts within Third World Love, while Waits' drum work in triangular settings led by pianists Jason Moran and Fred Hersch has established him as the most important, now-practicing stick wielder in the artistic medium known as the jazz trio. When these three men match wits, barbs and quips, the results are stunning. They demonstrate that a trio can be off-the-wall without veering completely off the tracks ("Safety Land"), and they toy with the idea of musical solid ground forming and failing at a moment's notice. Cohen sneaks in one number with mournful, Hebraic undertones ("November 30th"), but the majority of the music doesn't betray his birthplace; instead, the music simply betrays his love for free spirited travels that marry straight line jazz with post bop and free bop tendencies. 

He gives a nod to trumpet legend Dizzy Gillespie without trying to imitate the high note king ("Woody 'N' You"), touches on broad- toned beauty with a nod to bassist Charles Mingus ("Portrait") and displays a love for Ornette Coleman by borrowing two numbers from the saxophone maverick's book ("Following The Sound" and "Music News"). While the inclusion of "Willow Weep For Me" might seem odd on paper, it fits in perfectly and proves to be one of the most memorable performances on an album full of them. Rather than deliver this one as a soothing balm to heal the fire-borne marks left by earlier numbers, Cohen goes full tilt, trafficking in heady and raunchy melodicism; swagger reigns supreme here, as bubbling, bravado-based lines burst from his bell. Compare-and- contrast discussions that put this album and its predecessor in head-to-head competition may ensue, but these discussions will serve little purpose. Both Triveni dates are triumphant outings; now, it's time for Cohen to buckle down and make another record to complete a Triveni trifecta. ~ Dan Bilawsky   
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=42990#.UyztUoUqPro
 
Personnel: Avishai Cohen: trumpet; Omer Avital: bass; Nasheet Waits: drums.