Saturday, May 31, 2014

Chris Connor - A Jazz Date With Chris Connor / Chris Craft

Size: 176,9 MB
Time: 76:04
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1994
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. Moon Ray (3:14)
02. Poor Little Rich Girl - Live At The Village Vanguard (2:46)
03. Just Squeeze Me (4:16)
04. Fancy Free (2:15)
05. It's A Most Unusual Day (2:54)
06. All I Need Is You (3:28)
07. It Only Happens When I Dance With You (3:49)
08. Lonely Town (4:18)
09. Everything I've Got (3:21)
10. Driftwood (2:24)
11. I'm Shooting High (2:33)
12. My Shining Hour (3:12)
13. Moonlight In Vermont (3:14)
14. Blow, Gabriel, Blow (2:12)
15. Here Lies Love (3:37)
16. Be A Clown (3:01)
17. Good For Nothin' (But Love) (3:54)
18. On The First Warm Day (2:42)
19. Chinatown My Chinatown - Live At The Village Vanguard (2:33)
20. One Love Affair (2:41)
21. The Night We Called It A Day (3:21)
22. Johnny One Note (1:58)
23. Lover Man (3:50)
24. Be My All (4:20)

Two of singer Chris Connor's finest Atlantic albums are reissued in full on this single CD. The laid-back yet coolly emotional jazz singer is heard backed by top-notch rhythm sections (with either Ralph Sharon or Stan Free being the pianist/arranger) and occasional horns (trumpeter Joe Wilder, flutist Sam Most, tenors Al Cohn and Lucky Thompson, flutist Bobby Jaspar and Al Epstein on English horn and bass clarinet) adding some short solos. Connor (then around 30) was in her prime, and her renditions of such songs as "Poor Little Rich Girl," "Lonely Town," "I'm Shooting High," "Moonlight in Vermont," and even "Johnny One Note" are memorable and sometimes haunting. ~Review by Scott Yanow

A Jazz Date With Chris Connor / Chris Craft

Nick Ziobro - A Lot Of Livin' To Do

Size: 99,6 MB
Time: 42:32
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Jazz/Pop Vocals
Art: Front

01. Lot Of Livin' To Do (2:41)
02. This Guy's In Love With You (3:44)
03. It All Depends On You (3:29)
04. Nobody Else But Me (2:02)
05. Here's That Rainy Day (4:09)
06. The Rainbow Connection (3:23)
07. I Won't Dance (2:53)
08. Summer, Highland Falls (3:02)
09. Too Close For Comfort (2:32)
10. How Long Has This Been Going On (4:11)
11. Anyone Can Whistle (2:58)
12. All Of Me (2:49)
13. Blame It On My Youth (4:35)

Debut CD from 17 Year-old Vocal Sensation, Produced by Michael Feinstein featuring Jazz Greats Bucky Pizzarelli, Jay Leonhart, Ray Marchica and more!

"An easy swinging confidence that suggests he could evolve into another Michael Bublé." - The New York Times

Nick Ziobro, the 17 year-old pop/jazz vocal sensation, will release his debut album "A Lot of Livin' to Do" on Tuesday, May 20. The new disc, produced by Michael Feinstein -the two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy Award-nominated vocalist, pianist and musicologist - and available through Titanium Entertainment, will be available in stores and digital outlets such as iTunes and Amazon.com. The album's debut single "This Guy's In Love with You" is now available on iTunes.

The dynamic new collection of classic standards from the Great American Songbook and beyond features Nick's sensitive interpretations and invigorating arrangements by Tedd Firth. Nick, who has been hailed as "a budding young talent" by LA Weekly and praised for his "dreamy phrasing and perfect pitch" by Rex Reed in the New York Observer.

A Lot Of Livin' To Do

VA - Kickin' The 3: The Best Of Organ Trio Jazz

Size: 153,3 MB
Time: 65:26
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1997
Styles: Jazz: Hammond Organ
Art: Front & Back

01 Jimmy McGriff - Red Top (4:16)
02 Charles Earland - Kickin' The 3 (5:14)
03 Joey DeFrancesco - Evidence (4:56)
04 Jimmy Smith - Blues For J (5:07)
05 Dr. Lonnie Smith - Slouchin' (6:57)
06 Larry Goldings - Little Green Men (7:02)
07 Richard 'Groove' Holmes - Misty (1:55)
08 Johnny Smith - Lid Flippin' (5:16)
09 Jack McDuff - After Hours (4:32)
10 John Medeski - Beeah (6:59)
11 Larry Young - Monk's Dream (5:49)
12 Don Patterson - Dem New York Dues (0:38)
13 Will Bouleware - Back At The Chicken Shack (6:41)

The 13 performances on this 1997 CD sampler features a variety of the top jazz organists of the previous 40 years on selections (all easily available elsewhere) leased from Telarc, Fantasy, Sony, Polygram, Blue Note and Minor Music. However, although the music is reasonably enjoyable, the poor documentation (no personnel listing or dates) is inexcusable. If one wonders who a particular guitar or saxophone soloist might be, they can keep on wondering or do their own research. Obviously, this release is primarily for the casual listener who simply desires some grooving background music. Heard from are Jimmy McGriff (teaming up with altoist Hank Crawford), Charles Earland, Joey DeFrancesco, Jimmy Smith, Lonnie Smith, Larry Goldings, Richard "Groove" Holmes (his hit version of "Misty"), Johnny "Hammond" Smith, Brother Jack McDuff, Medeski, Martin & Wood, Larry Young, Don Patterson and Will Bouleware. ~Review by Scott Yanow

Kickin' The 3

Awa Ly - Awa Ly

Size: 127,6 MB
Time: 55:00
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Jazz/Pop Vocals
Art: Front

01. Doum Doum Doum (5:11)
02. Jungle (3:57)
03. Start To Walk (3:55)
04. Great Blue Sky (6:04)
05. Doum Doum Doum (Acoustic) (4:47)
06. Start To Walk (Acoustic) (3:54)
07. Great Blue Sky (Acoustic) (3:28)
08. A Toi (Acoustic) (Bonus Track) (4:31)
09. Doum Doum Doum (Instrumental) (5:11)
10. Jungle (Instrumental) (3:57)
11. Start To Walk (Instrumental) (3:54)
12. Great Blue Sky (Instrumental) (6:04)

Singer and songwriter, Awa Ly was born and raised in Paris. Both her parents are from Senegal, while most of her family lives in Dakar. She currently lives in Rome and works mainly in Italy as an actress and a singer.

Awa Ly

The Cleveland Jazz Orchestra - Traditions

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 61:22
Size: 140.5 MB
Styles: Big band
Year: 1999
Art: Front

[3:19] 1. Our Delight
[6:19] 2. Days Of Wine And Roses
[4:09] 3. Sometimes I'm Happy/There'll Be Some Changes Made
[6:40] 4. Meeting With You
[9:37] 5. Darn That Dream
[2:21] 6. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
[8:18] 7. 'Round Midnight
[8:57] 8. Thad Type Tune
[5:26] 9. So Many Stars
[6:10] 10. Conversations

Traditions, recorded in June 1999, refers to a nearly century-long tradition of world-class Jazz in that bustling city on the shores of Lake Erie, admirably summarized by Jazz historian and author Joe Mosbrook in an informative booklet that accompanies the CD, as well as to the fact that eight of its ten selections were written and / or arranged by musicians from Cleveland or northeastern Ohio (the exceptions are Slovenian Joze Privsek's breezy "Meeting with You" and Bill Holman's perceptive arrangement of Thelonious Monk's "'Round Midnight").

Traditions includes compositions by Clevelanders Tadd Dameron ("Our Delight"), Henry Mancini ("Days of Wine and Roses"), CJO bassist Dave Morgan ("Thad Type Tune") and trombonist Paul Ferguson ("Conversations," with its explicit reference to Bill Russo's "Frank Speaking"). Ferguson arranged "Getting Sentimental" (on which he's the featured soloist) and former Ellington vocalist Dolores Parker Morgan's medley, "Sometimes I'm Happy" and "There'll Be Some Changes Made" with other charts by Ohioans Willie Smith ("Our Delight"), Rich Shanklin ("Days of Wine and Roses"), Bill Dobbins ("Darn That Dream") and Chas Baker (Antonio Carlos Jobim's "So Many Stars"). The not-for-profit CJO is comprised of nineteen full-time musicians, several of whom are Jazz educators at area colleges, and their combined experience enlivens every aspect of the ensemble's makeup from snappy section work to clear-eyed soloists, none of whom is less than impressive. Besides Ferguson ("Getting Sentimental," "Conversations"), Morgan ("Darn That Dream") and trombonist Baker ("Days of Wine and Roses"), they include music director / trumpeter Jack Schantz ("Wine and Roses," "Conversations," flugel on "'Round Midnight"), tenors John Klayman ("Our Delight," "So Many Stars"), altos Rich Shanklin ("Our Delight") and Kent Engelhardt ("Meeting with You"), pianist Dan Wall ("Our Delight," "Darn That Dream," "Thad Type Tune"), drummer Mark Gonder ("Meeting with You"), trumpeter Sean Jones and tenor Peter Mills ("Thad Type Tune"). Traditions is a first-class endeavor from start to finish.

Traditions

Howard Alden - I Remember Django

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 59:09
Size: 135.4 MB
Styles: Gypsy jazz, Guitar jazz
Year: 2011
Art: Front

[3:28] 1. Who Cares
[5:10] 2. Up Jumped You With Love
[5:03] 3. I Remember Django
[4:26] 4. Jubilee Stomp
[5:21] 5. Insensiblement
[4:10] 6. Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea
[6:14] 7. Nuages
[3:49] 8. Bernardo
[4:59] 9. For Django
[3:16] 10. Nagasaki
[3:24] 11. I'm Confessin' That I Love You
[4:33] 12. I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles /I'll See You In My Dreams
[5:10] 13. Tears

I Remember Django scarcely qualifies as a hard sell. Guitarist Django Reinhardt’s legacy, after all, has long been a sweet spot for Howard Alden, the renowned seven-string disciple with a track record that speaks eloquently for itself. If Woody Allen hadn’t entrusted Alden with the responsibility of hitting all the right notes during the melancholic, Django-indebted charmer Sweet and Lowdown, would Sean Penn, the film’s star, have seemed so convincing in the role? Fat chance.

As it happens, Sweet and Lowdown inspires a highlight performance on this 13-track homage, a medley of “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” and “I’ll See You in My Dreams” that is soulfully enhanced by cornetist Warren Vaché. The well-matched musicians get off to a splendid start with “Who Cares?,” and spend much of their time shading and trading lines with the kind of precision and effortlessness a Reinhardt celebration demands. Alden is in fine company throughout, with bassist Jon Burr and rhythm guitarist Matt Munisteri providing expert support. The guitarist goes it alone on “Nagasaki,” however, a crackling tour de force.

Elsewhere, the five collaborations with clarinetist Anat Cohen are as welcome as they are evocative. They include an appropriately buoyant rendering of “Up Jumped You With Love,” a lushly textured interpretation of Barney Kessel’s “I Remember Django,” and, best of all, a now sensuous, now spirited take on “Nuages.” No doubt Reinhardt—and occasional clarinetist Allen—would approve. ~Mike Joyce

I Remember Django

Miranda Sage - Timeless Places

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:40
Size: 131,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:38)  1. Twilight World
(7:28)  2. A Timeless Place (The Peacocks)
(5:18)  3. Nature Boy
(5:04)  4. Solitary Moon (Moon Song)
(5:08)  5. Easy Living
(4:28)  6. Born To Be Blue
(4:07)  7. Sugar
(3:45)  8. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
(4:54)  9. Never Let Me Go
(5:00) 10. Que Reste-T-Il De Nos Amours
(2:50) 11. Thank You
(3:53) 12. I'll Be Seeing You

"A sultry silky style with wonderful light and shade, quite stunning" PBS FM, Melbourne Australia.

Miranda Sage and her band are three musicians united by Norma Winstone. Not literally, but each shares a notable connection to the highly-regarded English jazz vocalist. The British born, Victoria-based Sage studied with Winstone in the late 90s in Belfast, and cites her as her most influential voice teacher. Bassist Rick Kilburn produced Winstone's 1993 recording "Well Kept Secret", and pianist, Don Thompson has performed with Winstone on numerous occasions. It makes sense then that Sage's new CD is titled Timeless Places, a nod to " A Timeless Place," the song Winstone co-wrote with Jimmy Rowles. Sage's own version of the song is something of a centerpiece for the mostly-standards album, which has its own subtle, "winstonesque" quality about it. The moody, tastefully spare piano-bass-vocal arrangements showcase Sage's voice, which has been described by Monday Magazine as being "of thrilling flexibility and range, making jazz singing sound like it's the easiest thing in the world." 

The repertoire includes sultry covers of "You'd be so Nice to Come Home to" and "I'll be Seeing You" and one Sage original: "Thank you." Sage has done extensive vocal training, both at the University of Victoria and the Royal Conservatory of Music and at numerous jazz workshops in North America and Europe. In addition to Winstone, she has studied with Sheila Jordan, Jay Clayton and Louise Rose. The Times Colonist once wrote that her "horn-like phrasing is a delight." Sage began her musical studies at four and, along the way, picked up piano, guitar, lute, harp, sax and clarinet - though she now concentrates on voice and guitar. In the 90s, Sage was championed by Hugh Fraser and released two CDs on his Boathouse label. She's performed with his Hugh Fraser Big Band and with the Port Townsend Jazz Festival Big Band. Other performance highlights include the Ile of Wight Jazz Divas Festival and Scotland's Mid Argyle Annual Gala. Sage performs regularly around Victoria with the Swiftsure Big Band and smaller ensembles. She's also performed several times at the Victoria International Jazz Fest. Timeless Places is Sage's third CD.

It's also the third release from Vancouver's own Chelsea Bridge Records, the imprint belonging to veteran bassist, Rick Kilburn, who spent the 70s playing with Chet Baker, the Brubecks and Mose Allison. Back in Vancouver since the mid 80s, Kilburn devotes much of his time to teaching and mentoring emerging artists. He still performs regularly and produces albums for other artists. Kilburn plays bass on Timeless Places, while piano is provided by Don Thompson, whose own CD, Ask Me Later , won this year's Juno Award for Traditional Jazz Album of the year. Thompson also picked up three National Jazz Awards this past April: Musician of the Year, Instrumentalist of the Year and SOCAN Composer of the Year.  Sage launches Timeless Places August 11th at the Cellar in Vancouver and August 12th at Hermann's in Victoria, featuring Thompson on piano, Kilburn on bass and Craig Scott on drums.  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/sagemiranda.

Personnel:  Miranda Sage – vocals;  Rick Kilburn – bass;  Don Thompson – piano

Renato Sellani Trio Introducting Camilla Battaglia - Joy Spring

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:49
Size: 135,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:53)  1. Doodlin'
(4:59)  2. Our Love Is Here To Stay
(4:14)  3. Four
(5:08)  4. Everything Happens To Me
(4:34)  5. Satin Doll
(4:21)  6. But Beautiful
(3:31)  7. Joy Spring
(4:56)  8. Prelude To A Kiss
(3:31)  9. Softly As In A Morning Sunrise
(4:32) 10. Sometimes I'm Happy
(4:15) 11. Four - Alternate
(4:48) 12. Satin Doll - Alternate
(5:02) 13. Doodlin' - Alternate

Camilla Battle born in 1990, in 2010 recorded his first album 'Joyspring' with the trio of Renato Sellani and ranks second alPremio Massimo Urbani the same year. Here are several collaborations including Maurizio Urbani; Dado Moroni, Alvin Queen eRiccardo Fioravanti (with whom he performed at the awards ceremony for the best interpretation of the song 'Miss Bo' Gianni Basso at the festival of Asti in 2012); Dino Rubino which performs at the Sicilian Festival Sergio Amato in 2011; the jazz orchestra of Sardinia; Civic Orchestra of jazz courses in Milan directed by Enrico Intra Mo with which he performs in 2013 for Italian Jazz Graffiti at the Little Theatre; Luca Calabrese with whom he worked in the group that in 2011 Piero Umiliani Experience performs alBlue Note in Milan; Carlo Morena with which he performs all'Iseo jazz festival in 2013 and many others. 

It has also performed regularly with some formations in his name at renowned festivals and Italian clubs, including the Umbria Jazz Festival in 2012 and 2013. Also won the award for best singer in the Tuscia in Jazz festival in 2012, gets the second place in the competition Chicco Bettinardi for young jazz talents in 2012, the Best Band award in the contest Bucharest Jazz Competition in 2011 and has just won a scholarship at the New School.University in NYC. ~ Translate by google   http://www.strill.it/citta/reggio/reggio-ancora/2014/02/reggio-camilla-battaglia-project-per-la-rassegna-internazionale-jazzmin/

Personnel: Camilla Battaglia (vocals); Renato Sellani (piano); Luciano Milanese (double bass); Stefano Bagnoli (drums).

Rob Jacobs & Tjalf Sparnaay - Out Of The Blue

Styles: Saxophone And Piano Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:22
Size: 87,1 MB
Art: Front

(4:22)  1. Out Of The Blue
(1:54)  2. Expectations
(2:54)  3. Mixing Colors
(1:34)  4. Work In Progress
(3:46)  5. Time Out
(1:39)  6. No Pictures!
(2:29)  7. Yellow
(1:24)  8. Green
(2:41)  9. Red
(2:41) 10. Barefoot Blues
(2:32) 11. Don't Disturb
(2:14) 12. Blue Notes
(2:33) 13. Glazing Layers
(2:41) 14. Vermeer's Light
(1:52) 15. When She's Gone

Two artists with a passion for art and music. So they decided to once again make music together, just tape recorder and play the result is wonderful CD Out of the blue, painted music. Tjalf Sparnaay on piano and Rob Jacobs on Sax, with one exception, they have the entire CD composed together, often while playing. Listen and enjoy!

Manhattan Jazz Quintet - Teen Town

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:53
Size: 116,9 MB
Art: Front

(6:07)  1. Flash Point
(6:43)  2. Blues Intro/The Chicken
(4:31)  3. Teen Town
(7:20)  4. Road Song
(6:26)  5. I Wish
(4:08)  6. To M.O. Emm
(4:08)  7. Sparkle
(6:14)  8. Pastime Paradise
(5:12)  9. Rumblin'

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.  https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/manhattan-jazz-quintet/id79729527#fullText

Teen Town