Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Deborah Shulman - 2 For The Road

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:33
Size: 137,4 MB
Art: Front

(4:01)  1. Two For The Road
(3:36)  2. Haven't We Met
(3:23)  3. Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year
(4:59)  4. I'm Through With Love
(3:02)  5. You Don't Know What Love Is
(6:11)  6. Where Do You Start
(5:46)  7. The Meaning Of The Blues
(4:44)  8. Something Cool
(2:41)  9. I Wish I Were In Love Again
(3:07) 10. Boy Next Door
(2:54) 11. I Like You, You're Nice
(5:15) 12. Here I Am In Love Again
(3:36) 13. In the Wee Small Hours
(5:11) 14. Some Other Time

Deborah Shulman, Singer, Recording Artist, Vocal Coach Growing up in Los Angeles, Deborah Shulman had the great fortune to be nurtured by a family with a very deep passion for music. Her late parents, both singers, lived in the back of their little music store at Carnegie Hall as newlyweds; her father had aspirations of joining the Metropolitan Opera before WWII intervened in his plan. Considering the family tree includes vaudevillians, a Broadway actor, and music lovers of all stripes, it’s easy to believe the Shulman family lore which says baby Deborah was singing before she was talking. When Deborah visited her grandfather, the renowned violin collector Nathan Posner, at his home in Beverly Hills, she’d sit surrounded by the magnificent instruments and sing her heart out. He made her feel like the world’s greatest singer, though he quietly hoped she would become a violinist. Today, Deborah Shulman is a successful singer and recording artist with an eclectic, international resume. 

The nurturing Deborah received paid off in a more unexpected way for the music world as well: as a vocal coach, Deborah is in demand by the dozens of professional and aspiring singers who come to her for guidance in overcoming large and small vocal challenges.Deborah developed and refined her coaching skills throughout the history of her own training beginning at age eleven, under the deft tutelage of her father (Irving Shulman). At age thirteen, Deborah Shulman became the youngest student ever accepted to The Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California where she studied opera with an esteemed faculty. In the idyllic Central Coast setting, with guitar virtuosos Pepe, Celin and Angel Romero in residence, Deborah grew enamored of the sound of classical guitar, and developed her attraction to song cycles, while enjoying the camaraderie of great artists and students. She also unsuspectingly began to lay the foundation of her own success as a teacher based on her father’s style wherein simple, joyful instruction supplants doubt and apprehension. Deborah jumped into the marketplace while still a student, and sang and auditioned at every opportunity. She hopskotched from operatic soprano and recitalist to pop songstress, musical theater comedienne and back again. She loved Schubert and Judy Garland, Schumann and Barbra Streisand. 

At 15, she attended the Musical Theater Workshop at UCLA with classmates Bonnie Franklin, Judy Kaye and John Rubinstein, and then returned to her roots soon after in the opera program at Cal State Northridge. At the age of 23, when Deborah met the successful actress and singer Ann Jillian at the Civic Light Opera Workshop at the Music Center, she had already been studying professionally for ten years. The two formed a musical partnership that seemed like just what the doctor ordered for a young woman weary from a decade of intense musical study: a way for Deborah to make a living in music, travel the world and blow off a lot of steam that had accumulated. The two singers played clubs for years in London, Sydney, Manila, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco under the name Jillian and Shulman and often opened for stars Johnny Ray, Robert Goulet and Carol Lawrence, delivering the wholesome brand of torch that was their specialty. When Jillian left to strike out on her own, Deborah quickly retooled the act as a solo, donned an army issue parka, and took off for the Aleutian Islands on a USO Tour. Later, back in the lower forty eight, Deborah began to pursue more theatrical and musical roles, appearing in many productions with The Actors Alley in Los Angeles. Among her musical theater roles, she portrayed Jellylorum in the second National Company of CATS at the Schubert Theater in Los Angeles. She found success in many other areas of the business as well, including as a librettist for four children’s operas and co-producer of the critically acclaimed L.A. production and National Tour of All Night Strut. 

She began her coaching career with the help of her friend, voice coach Seth Riggs. Her reputation as a generous, skilled teacher became well known and her vocal clientele has grown to include Bette Midler, Linda Ronstadt, Jennifer Warnes; Deborah received a platinum album for her work with David Lee Roth on his recording SKYSCRAPER. Recently, Deborah Shulman found herself to be a startled divorcée and a grieving orphan within the span of a few years. After the unexpected end of her first marriage Deborah comforted herself by listening to standards; the lyrics spoke to her and she was drawn by their truth and tenderness. For Deborah, it was the beginning of a journey forward by calling on the past for strength. In 2004 she teamed up with pianist Terry Trotter, in a collaboration which has produced two sophisticated, elegant recordings: 2004’s 2 for the road, and the brand new My Heart’s In The Wind. Trotter, the jazz pianist known for his interpretation of Sondheim scores, gently coaxed Deborah to use her considerable musical knowledge in a new way. They began to record piano vocal tracks, and Deborah’s mother and father were able to enjoy the beginning of her reinvention before they passed on within six months to the day of each other. Deborah’s liner notes described her inspiration for 2 for the road : “This is my story, my journey, a divorce I never thought would happen;grief, the kind I had only read about; a strength I never knew I had, and a new love, a new beginning and a new marriage.”

Trotter and Shulman recorded 2 for the road in Los Angeles in the highly regarded company of guitarist Larry Koonse, bassist Tom Warrington, and drummer Joe LaBarbara. On 2007’s My Heart’s In The Wind, the same personnel appear, with the exception of the bassist; instead we are treated to the talent of Kenny Wild. Deborah’s affinity for song cycles is celebrated throughout the pacing of the repertoire on both recordings. Rob Lester described Deborah’s debut online at Talkin’Broadway.com: “Silky, subtle, sophisticated and shimmering, Deborah Shulman is pure pleasure to hear if you love a love song sung with an adult been-there, done-that sensibility. She can explore a sad lyric without over-doing the sorrow or skimping on the pure musicality. 2 for the road is a thoroughly classy affair….beginning with the album’s rich, romantic embrace of its Mancini/Mercer title song, to its closer “Some Other Time” from On The Town, this is an album with so many impressive, detailed moments.” On My Heart’s In The Wind, Deborah continued her embrace of classic American Songbook, with selections like “A Sleepin’ Bee,” and “My One And Only Love.” Yet she skillfully expanded her repertoire to include under sung jewels like Mandel’s “The Shining Sea,” Dave Frishberg’s “You are There, ” and “Shiver Me Timbers” by Tom Waits. 

In support of her recordings, Deborah has been performing in a variety of California clubs, including Spazio’s Restaurant in Sherman Oaks, Holly Street Bar & Grill in Pasadena, Club 10/20 at the Bel Age Hotel in Los Angeles, Tom Rolla’s Gardenia, The Hollywood Studio Bar and Grill, and Peter’s in Palm Springs. She recently made her New York debut at Barnes and Nobles Lincoln Center Location, featured in their Any Wednesday series of live performances by emerging and established artists. Deborah is enjoying her twelfth year on the faculty of Joe Malone’s Performing Arts Center, where she designed and teaches voice classes for professional dancers. Her successful curriculum utilizes the basic tenets organic to her style: simplicity and joy in learning. As in her private lessons, she uses her technique to build on an individual’s knowledge and gifts.  http://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/musician.php?id=16785#.U0HMZldSvro

2 For The Road

Alicia Myers - Peace Of Mind

Styles: Soul, R&B
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:10
Size: 97,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:41)  1. United We Stand
(3:50)  2. Fallin' Apart
(4:33)  3. I Really Really Want You Now
(3:44)  4. Journey
(2:29)  5. Stay
(4:31)  6. Weekend
(4:06)  7. Higher
(5:11)  8. I Will Stand By You
(3:42)  9. Fancy Dancer
(5:21) 10. Peace Of Mind

Alicia Myers has lived a real life since the spotlight from her time as a member of One Way and her respectable career as a singer of tunes such as “I Want to Thank You” and “If You Play Your Cards Right” receded. She worked office jobs, primarily in the medical field even returning to school to beef up her skills in medical transcription. Myers underwent treatment for breast cancer and now devotes herself to the cause fighting the disease by working with Susan G. Komen for the Cure and encouraging black women to stay on top of their health. With real life intervening on a regular basis, Myers didn’t have a lot of time to get back into the music business full time. Myers told a Jet magazine interviewer that she performs occasionally in her hometown of Detroit. Apparently, the itch to create was still there, and this year Myers decided to scratch it by releasing an album titled Peace of Mind. 

The album’s sound will be recognizable to anyone familiar with Myers from her time making funky dance music with Al Hudson or as Anita Baker’s predecessor as the princess of the Motor City’s jazz infused R&B. Myers is clearly in her comfort zone when driving in the smooth lane. The jazz ballad “Stay” melts like butter when Myers applies her smoky vocals to the lyrics. The 1981 song “If You Play Your Cards Right,” showed the Myers has a jazz singer’s sensibility when in comes to rendering vocals that are both understandable and intimate. Unfortunately, “Stay” is the only track on Peace of Mind in which we hear those skills applied to a ballad. Myers gives us a few dance tracks. “Weekend” is an up-tempo party anthem that sports a funky bass line and a catchy hook. Youth oriented artists have annexed the party anthem, and that makes sense to a point. They’re young and have the time and disposable income to hang out. 

However, there have been some pretty memorable party anthems made by grown folks can anybody say Bell and James and Myers mines that vein with this song. The song’s lyrics remind listeners that if anyone needs to go out on a Saturday night, it’s somebody with a job and kids (especially teenaged kids). Good tune, although I thought the ‘ain’t no party like a weekend party’ chant was a bit of overkill. On “Fancy Dancer” Myers seeks to recapture some of that One Way vibe, but the effort falls flat under clichéd lyrics that has the listener visualizing images from every dance floor song made between 1976 and 1979. That miss aside, Peace of Mind is a solid comeback effort for Myers that will hopefully lead to some dates outside of the Motor City and future projects. Recommended. ~ By Howard Dukes   http://www.soultracks.com/alicia-myers-peace-of-mind-review

Fraser MacPherson - Live at Puccini's 1977

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:59
Size: 112,7 MB
Art: Front + Back

(4:38)  1. I Got Rythm
(5:59)  2. All the Things You Are
(3:43)  3. Body and Soul
(3:33)  4. Goose Pimples
(5:21)  5. Someday You'll Be Sorry
(2:40)  6. Sweet Georgia Brown
(5:07)  7. Struttin' With Some BBQ
(4:35)  8. Drop Me Off In Harlem
(4:37)  9. Sophisticated Lady
(3:10) 10. Honeysuckle Rose
(3:12) 11. Young and Foolish
(2:19) 12. Back Home Again In Indiana

Raised in Victoria, BC, John Fraser MacPherson played clarinet and piano during his formative years. Later he took up the alto and tenor, establishing himself first in Vancouver as an altoist in the bebop tradition before learning to appreciate the subtleties of Johnny Hodges. He stuck to the tenor from the early 1970s on, earning an international reputation, largely influenced by Lester Young, whom he revered. MacPherson moved to Vancouver in 1948. In 1956-57 he studied in New York with Vincent James Abato (saxophone) and Henry Zlotnick (flute). He worked for 20 years in local nightclubs, among them the Palomar (1950-4, with the bands of Chuck Barber, Bob Reid, and Lance Harrison) and the Cave (1961-3 with Chris Gage, 1964-70 leading his own band), where he played with such visiting luminaries as Ella Fitzgerald, Earl Hines, Tony Bennett and Duke Ellington. Concurrently he was a first-call studio musician (saxophone, flute, and clarinet) and occasionally played saxophone with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. 

For many years MacPherson pursued his jazz career largely on CBC radio and TV, initially as a member of the Ray Norris Quintet (circa 1951) and later as a featured sideman with Doug Parker and trombonist Dave Robbins on such shows as 'Jazz Workshop,' as well as fronting his own groups, including a quintet in the early 1960s featuring Carse Sneddon on trumpet and valve trombone, and Gage on piano. Those musicians were later replaced by Ian MacDougall on trombone and Parker on piano. He was heard on alto saxophone as the leader of a nonet in the so-called West Coast style on 'Jazz Workshop' and 1963-4 with a string orchestra in a CBC series of his own called 'The Pretty Sounds of Jazz' (later 'The Sounds of the Sixties'). In 1978, under the aegis of Overture Concerts, he made the first of an unprecedented four tours in the USSR -- his was the first North American jazz group to be invited back behind the former Iron Curtain. Other tours followed in 1981, 1984, and 1986. MacPherson performed under Radio Canada International sponsorship in Europe (Montreux, The Hague) in 1979. In Canada he has made several national tours and performed at most of the major festivals eg, the Montreal Jazz Festival in 1982 and 1984, the Edmonton Jazz Festival in 1984 and 1986, and regularly at the Vancouver Jazz Festival. 

He also has appeared on occasion in the USA (Concord and the Kool Jazz Festival in Detroit with Rosemary Clooney) and in 1986 performed in Australia. MacPherson has remained a favourite on CBC radio jazz shows, among them 'Jazz Radio-Canada' and 'Jazz Beat,' and was host in the summer of 1977 for the former program's series devoted to the history of jazz in Canada. MacPherson was nominated for two Juno Awards, winning 'Best Jazz Album' in 1983 for his duo recording with Gannon (I Didn't Know about You). Besides work under his own name, MacPherson can be heard on recordings by Anita O'Day, Oliver Jones, Charles Mountford, Eiji Kitamura, Dave McMurdo and the Canadian Jazz All-Stars (featuring Jones, Ed Bickert, Jim Galloway, Terry Clarke and Dave Young). MacPherson was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1987 and won the Oscar Peterson Trophy shortly before his death in 1993. ~ Bio   http://www.amazon.com/Fraser-MacPherson/e/B000APXHKU/ref=ac_dtp_sa_bio

Personnel: Fraser MacPherson (tenor saxophone); Oliver Gannon (guitar); Wyatt Ruther (bass guitar).

Live at Puccini's 1977

J.J. Johnson - Four Trombones - The Debut Recordings

Styles: Trombone Jazz
Year: 1953
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 75:56
Size: 177,9 MB
Art: Front

(14:26)  1. Wee Dot (Blues for some bones)
( 5:03)  2. Stardust
( 6:58)  3. Move
(11:13)  4. Ill Remember April
(14:27)  5. Nows The Time
( 3:29)  6. Trombosphere
(15:19)  7. OW!
( 4:57)  8. Chazzanova

Recorded live at the Putnam Central Club in Brooklyn in September, 1953, and released later that year, this album documents the first meeting of what would become a well-known trombone duo, Jay & Kai. The first of these Jazz Workshops featuring four trombonsists was issued by Vogue about eighteen months ago. This record presents the same musicians in two extended performances. I gave the first volume five stars, but the present release is more mixed in quality, having the defects as well as the virtues of spontaneity. Benny Green's solo stands out in I'll Remember April. J. J. Johnson relies a little too much on his mannerisms on this side, yet it is he who plays the best trombone choruses even if some are a little uneven on Blues For Some Bones. 

Kai Winding and Willie Denis also contribute inventive and contrasting solos. But although all the soloists produce some good jazz, each seems to run short of ideas after a time and be forced to fill in with cliches. Perhaps the real star of the session is pianist John Lewis. His quiet, but not unemotional, playing succeeds in being original as well as satisfying. ~ E.J. , gramophone.net   http://theblues-thatjazz.com/en/jazz/475-jjjohnson/11124-four-trombones-the-debut-recordings-1953.html.

Personnel: J.J. Johnson, Kai Winding, Willie Dennis, Bennie Green (trombone); John Lewis (piano); Charles Mingus (bass);
Art Taylor (drums).