Stan Getz - Bossas And Ballads: The Lost Sessions

Bitrate: 320K/s

Time: 68:30

Size: 156.8 MB

Styles: Saxophone jazz, Bossa Nova

Year: 2003

Art: Front

[7:21] 1. Sunshower

[7:59] 2. Yours And Mine

[7:49] 3. Joanne And Julia

[7:22] 4. Soul Eyes

[7:53] 5. Spiral

[8:13] 6. Beatrice

[8:54] 7. The Wind

[6:34] 8. El Sueno

[6:22] 9. Feijoada

First off, these "Lost Sessions" were never actually lost. The music here was supposed to be released as the Stan Getz Quartet's first issue on A&M, and for the usual record company reasons, it was shelved instead. The tapes were in the vault and catalogs, so it's not like they were found in someone's closet. The bottom line is that Getz, already ill at this point, still had the goods. Produced by Herb Alpert (a genius in his own right even if his records don't always hold up), the bossas here are tough, innovative jazz tunes mainly written by Getz's pianist, Kenny Barron. Don't look for the gentle side of Getz that was so beautifully displayed on his early bossa records with Charlie Byrd and Antonio Carlos Jobim. Instead, this is the man who had reinvented his playing technique. With a strong foil in Barron, Getz was free to explore his form of melodic improvisation to a fuller and wider extent, which is evident if you simply check out his solos on Barron's "Sunshower" and "El Sueno," and Mal Waldron's classic ballad "Soul Eyes." Interestingly, this was Barron's date as much as it was Getz's. His compositions and musical direction are key here, and he was trying to get deeper into and stretch the samba groove in his writing. Finding Getz in such an adventurous space in his playing allowed for this. With a rhythm section that includes bassist George Mraz and drummer Victor Lewis, this disc is essential not only for fans of Getz and Barron, but for real jazzheads. ~Thom Jurek

Bossas and Ballads: The Lost Sessions

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Cindy Scott - Let The Devil Take Tomorrow

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 61:28
Size: 140.7 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2009
Art: Front

[4:17] 1. You've Really Got A Hold On Me
[5:12] 2. If
[3:57] 3. Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps
[6:04] 4. You Don't Know What Love Is
[4:49] 5. The Boy Can Play
[5:52] 6. I Can't Help It
[4:43] 7. Let This Love Last
[4:52] 8. Obsession
[5:28] 9. Kiss Of Fire
[5:16] 10. Start Again
[4:30] 11. Beatriz
[6:23] 12. I'll Be Seeing You

Vocalist Cindy Scott is a rare breed of artist—comfortably covering a variety of music, undaunted by genre barriers and walls that scare lesser singers into pursuing a singular line of musical thought. The dozen songs that Scott presents on Let The Devil Take Tomorrow make up a rich smorgasbord of sounds, moving from Brazil to the Bayou and covering everybody from Smokey Robinson to Hank Williams. ~Dan Bilawsky

Cindy Scott: vocals; Brian Seeger: guitars, pedal steel; Vadim Neselovskyi: piano, melodica; Tommy Sciple: bass; Geoff Clapp: drums; Ed Petersen: saxophone; Brian Coogan: organ; James Shipp: percussion.

Let The Devil Take Tomorrow

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John Patton - Along Came John

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 34:19
Size: 78.6 MB
Styles: Organ jazz, Soul jazz
Year: 1963/2009
Art: Front

[5:38] 1. The Silver Meter
[5:00] 2. I'll Never Be Free
[5:58] 3. Spiffy Diffy
[6:00] 4. Along Came John
[5:59] 5. Gee Gee
[5:42] 6. Pig Foots

By the time John Patton recorded Along Came John, his debut as a leader, he had already become a familiar name around the Blue Note studios. He, guitarist Grant Green, and drummer Ben Dixon had become the label's regular soul-jazz rhythm section, playing on sessions by Lou Donaldson, Don Wilkerson, and Harold Vick, among others. They had developed an intuitive, empathetic interplay that elevated many of their sessions to near-greatness, at least in the realm of soul-jazz. That's one of the reasons why Along Came John is so successful -- the three know each other so well that their grooves are totally natural, which makes them quite appealing. These original compositions may not all be memorable, but the band's interaction, improvisation, and solos are. Tenor saxophonists Fred Jackson and Harold Vick provide good support, as well, but the show belongs to Patton, Green, and Dixon, who once again prove they are one of the finest soul-jazz combos of their era. ~Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Along Came John

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Ricky May & Bob Barnard - Just Foolin' Around: A Tribute To Louis Armstrong

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 71:25
Size: 163.5 MB
Styles: Vocal
Year: 1987
Art: Front

[3:10] 1. Ding Dong Daddy From Dumas
[4:03] 2. Shadrach
[3:41] 3. Public Melody Number One
[3:23] 4. Swing That Music
[4:06] 5. Just Foolin' Around
[5:20] 6. Old Rockin' Chair
[4:05] 7. I'm Confessing That I Love You
[3:23] 8. That's My Desire
[3:30] 9. A Kiss To Build A Dream On
[3:20] 10. I Get Ideas
[3:42] 11. La Vie En Rose
[5:10] 12. What A Wonderful World
[4:20] 13. Mack The Knife
[5:29] 14. Now You Has Jazz
[4:29] 15. Blueberry Hill
[5:26] 16. Hello Dolly
[4:41] 17. Cabaret

Ricky May was a Maori jazz / pop vocalist from Onehunga, Auckland. In 1961 jazz pianist Ronnie Smith set up a group to play at the "Sorrento" in Wellington. The group included Tommy Tamati on bass and a young Ricky May on drums and vocals. Bruno Lawrence was always watching in the audience and was given a chance to play the drums when Ricky got up to sing. He impressed Ronnie enough to become a regular with the group. That group stayed together for about a year, even touring around the lower North Island area.

Robert Graeme Barnard, 24 November 1933, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Born into a musical family, Barnard began playing trumpet partly because the family band, led by his father, needed a trumpeter, but also because he had heard and was deeply impressed by a record of Muggsy Spanier. Barnard gained experience playing dance music but listened eagerly to records, notably those by his major influence, Louis Armstrong, and also to popular Australian jazz bands of the 40s, including that led by Graeme Bell. During this period and on into the 50s, Barnard had a day job, in a bank, but played extensively, touring with bands including the one led by his brother, Len Barnard. In 1957, he played in Sydney with a small group led by guitarist Ray Price. Back in Melbourne, he continued to play as a semi-pro, making occasional records, such as The Naked Dance with a band led by his brother. Bell called him with a job offer in Sydney and, although the gig failed to materialize, Barnard later joined Bell’s band. This led to a tour of his home country, and a visit to New Zealand and New Guinea alongside pop singer Frank Ifield. In 1963, Armstrong came to Australia, and Bell’s band greeted the visitor at the airport where Barnard played briefly with his idol.

Just Foolin' Around: A Tribute To Louis Rmstrong

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Stephanie Nakasian With Harris Simon Trio - Show Me The Way To Get Out Of This World

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:57
Size: 160,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:15)  1. Lonesome Road
(4:37)  2. So In Love
(4:23)  3. Lucky So And So
(3:49)  4. Easy Street
(5:16)  5. Nica's Dream
(3:56)  6. I Concentrate On you
(4:33)  7. The End Of A Love Affair
(6:15)  8. Don't Blame Me
(5:31)  9. Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most
(3:07) 10. Times Are Gettin' Tougher Than Tough
(6:49) 11. I'll Wind
(3:07) 12. Control Yourself
(5:44) 13. You And The Night And The Music
(4:24) 14. Zanzibar
(3:01) 15. Show Me The Way

I have to admit that normally the more traditional standard singer simply is not my cup of tea. I don't like tea. I do like Stephanie Nakasian! Show Me The Way To Get Out Of This World is her new release which hits the street on June 19th 2012 on the Capri Records label and this release embraces everything good about vocal jazz while she is certainly well grounded in the past, Nakasian embraces the current as well as the future with a fearless virtuosity that you will not being hearing in your local hotel lounge anytime soon!  Joined by the Harris Simon Trio there is an intimacy to the recording as though you were the only one in the room. Opening with the stunning "Lonesome Road" there is an organic quality that seems to transcend genre and time itself. I first heard this tune on the old Andy Griffith show but not like this. Suddenly Nakasian breaks into a swing allowing pianist Harris Simon to stretch out and the release transforms itself from the wistful melancholy to a tune of joyous abandon with Nakasian's exemplary ability to scat and create a delightful texture of feel and allow the listener to become emotionally engaged. 

As a critic or jazz advocate as I prefer to be called, one knows age is beginning to catch up when standard singers are doing Van Morrison. The blues infused swing of Morrison's "Times Are Gettin' Tougher Than Tough" swings are and is an ebullient take on a tune that one remembers long after the last note has faded. "You And The Night And The Music" is a tender somewhat melancholy ballad that shows off Nakasian's pristine vocals and immaculate phrasing. Far from the more standard release we are treated to more traditional swing, bebop roots, vibrant poly rhythms and textured harmonic movement that takes what could be considered the more typical and elevates Nakasian to the level of special!  As vocal release go, Show Me The Way To Get Out Of This World is easily one of the better eclectic releases of the year and certainly a new release to mark on your calendar! ~ http://www.criticaljazz.com/2012/05/stephanie-nakasian-show-me-way-to-get.html

Personnel: Stephanie Nakasian: vocals; Harris Simon: piano; Chris Brydge: bass; Billy Williams: drums.

Show Me The Way To Get Out Of This World

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Greg Poppleton & The Bakelite Broadcasters - Sweet Sue

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:12
Size: 131,1 MB
Art: Front

(2:15)  1. Sweet Sue
(2:15)  2. Sweet Sue - Take 2
(3:04)  3. Blue Skies
(3:40)  4. I Can't Give You Anything But Love
(5:30)  5. St Louis Blues
(2:37)  6. Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams
(3:53)  7. These Foolish Things
(3:37)  8. Walking My Baby Back Home
(3:41)  9. Carolina In The Morning
(4:22) 10. The Way You Look Tonight
(4:02) 11. As Time Goes By
(3:24) 12. I've Got The world On a String
(5:04) 13. Am I Blue
(4:51) 14. Am I Blue - Take 2
(3:48) 15. Blue Moon

Greg Poppleton and the Bakelite Broadcasters have released their latest album, titled, "Sweet Sue." The record is comprised of 15 tracks for an approximate total listening time of one hour. A return to the popular, early jazz era of the '10s, Roaring '20s and 1930s, "Sweet Sue" is great music performed the way it hasn't been done in a hundred years, and it's creating exclamation points among critics and music fans alike everywhere it goes. Australia's Greg Poppleton and the Bakelite Broadcasters (who take their name from a plastic created in 1907 used largely in radios) are not another latter-day swing-revival big band. This sound is earlier than Glenn Miller's. This is music F. Scott Fitzgerald's Jay Gatsby might have listened to, and it is entirely legitimate. Poppleton and his Bakelite Broadcasters are a genuine crew of "old souls," if any performer could ever be called such. Poppleton himself cites as main artistic influences a top-shelf roster: Louis Armstrong, Al Bowlly, Rudy Vallee, Annette Hanshaw, Bing Crosby, Rudi Schuericke, Alberto Rabiagliati, Skinnay Ennis, Beniamino Gigli, Tito Schipa, Cab Calloway, Don Redman, Fletcher Henderson, and Jim Davidson and his ABC Dance Orchestra. 

To those who don't know, the above list should at least prove that Poppleton isn't coming from the usual crowd of fanboys familiar with names like Krupa, James, Dorsey, and Goodman, all of whom are exceptionally popular titans of jazz by any account. But to those who do know, it's positively clear that Poppleton is a man of exceptionally good taste who really knows his records. When asked what possible message their new album may have in store for listeners, Poppleton states proudly, "'Sweet Sue' is a shared acknowledgement between listeners and Greg Poppleton and the Bakelite Broadcasters as to how we choose to fit in the contemporary music scene: 'Vive la différence!'" Ironically, the Broadcasters aren't finding such differences to be anything but a boon. Their 2012 album, "Doin' the Charleston," has become one of a very elite clutch of independent jazz records to be played on modern commercial radio. It has been listed as CD of the Week and Jazz CD of the Week on flagship metropolitan radio stations. They were Jazz Finalists at the 2013 MusicOz Awards. Also very much of note is the live essence of their "Sweet Sue" recording. Every take is entirely recorded live as a band, all at once as it was done in the 1920s and for decades afterward. 

The studio was cramped, forcing Poppleton and the Bakelite Broadcasters to play barefooted, as their tapping feet were being picked up by microphones. Alternative takes have been included on the record as an added treat for their fans, many of whom may not have ever heard how the performance of a jazz number will shift from show to show. "[The alternative takes] show that Greg Poppleton and the Bakelite Broadcasters never play the same song the same way twice," writes a Poppleton representative. "It's real improvised jazz and swing - keeping this collection of classics from the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s energetic, exciting and fresh. We sincerely trust you'll enjoy, 'Sweet Sue.'"  http://www.bakelitejazz.com/reviews.html

Personnel:  Greg Poppleton: vocals; Paul Furniss: reeds; Al Davey: trumpet; Grahame Conlon: guitar; Darcy Wright: double bass; Lawrie Thompson: drums.

Sweet Sue

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Sigurdur Flosason & Kjeld Lauritsen - Nightfall

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:35
Size: 134,4 MB
Art: Front

(6:41)  1. These Foolish Things
(5:40)  2. For You, For Me, Evermore
(6:52)  3. Angel Eyes
(5:42)  4. The Touch Of Your Lips
(5:31)  5. Skylark
(6:04)  6. Tea For Two
(6:27)  7. Too Late Now
(4:25)  8. Why Try To Change Me Now?
(6:28)  9. I Only Have Eyes For You
(4:39) 10. Young At Heart

A long time in a galaxy far, far away…There was a jazz label called Blue Note that truly put out “The Finest in Jazz Since 1939.” Every release was a 40 minute treat of some of the most heavenly music God ever allowed on the planet. Casual and yet exciting , the music was simple, sincere and swinging. Unfortunately, through the years, the Dark Forces took it over, causing it to surrender until the Princess Norah came and brought it back to life. It still exists, but under a different Prince with the Empire having returned to make it release material that includes hip hop and ….Country!!       

Once in awhile, members of the True Force return to remind people of the halcyon days of jazz, and knights Sigurdur Flosason/as and Kjeld Lauritsen/B3 are emissaries of the world of light through the healing powers of Storyville Records. Here, they team up with Jacob Fischer/g and Kristian Leth/dr to run through a deliciously intimate, swinging, bluesy and personal collection of standards. No frills, no gimmicks, no angst, no “edginess”…just straight music that you can listen to at any stage of your life and have it make you a better person for it. Flossason’s alto has that Paul Desmond airy lilt to it, Lauritsen is John Patton silky smooth, Fischer’s strings are tasty and succinct, and Leth is subtle and supportive. Smoky treatments of “These Foolish Things” and “Angel Eyes” create sonic moods of oozing clouds hovering through the hills, with Flosason’s alto glistening through like a morning sun. A duet with alto and guitar on “Skylark” have you not wanting it to end, and the only let-down is when the band gently joins in Flosason’s solo intro to “Young at Heart” at just the point where you hope that it’s totally him and him alone the entire journey.  If you want to know how far jazz has strayed from its zenith, listen to this and hope for the return of the Jedi. ~ George W.Harris   http://www.jazzweekly.com/2013/05/ringer-of-the-weeksigurdur-flosason-kjeld-lauritsen-night-fall/

Personnel:  Sigurdur Flosason (alto saxophone), Kjeld Lauritsen (hammond b3), Kristian Leth (drums), Jacob Fischer (guitar)

Nightfall

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Nicholas Payton - Into The Blue

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:11
Size: 149,5 MB
Art: Front

( 6:21)  1. Drucilla
( 7:26)  2. Let It Ride
(11:47)  3. Triptych
( 3:59)  4. Chinatown
( 6:13)  5. The Crimson Touch
( 6:01)  6. The Backwards
( 4:36)  7. Nida
( 4:36)  8. Blue
( 7:46)  9. Fleur de Lis
( 6:21) 10. The Charleston Hop

This is a strange mixture of an album. It includes passages of extraordinary and singular beauty and others of noodling anonymity. Practically all of the interest lies in trumpeter Nicholas Payton's performances; most of the blandness comes from his band. The two best tracks, "Drucilla" and "Chinatown," are so exquisitely gorgeous that they almost make up for the grey stuff. But they're outnumbered and it's a tough battle. The approximate dividing line is keyboard player Kevin Hays. Along with bassist Vicente Archer and percussionist Daniel Sadownick, Hays was a member of the larger group featured on Payton's previous album, the retro-fusion Sonic Trance (Warners, 2003). When Hays is on acoustic piano here, he brings something compelling to the party; when he's on Fender Rhodes, as he mostly is, he sticks to funk-lite vamps and ostinatos, and drifts his way through an overabundance of solo time as though on autopilot. He does this so unvaryingly that one can only imagine Payton approved. The slow, lonesome "Drucilla," the opening track, raises expectations heavenwards. It's in four distinct sub-sections. The first, Payton's theme statement and embellishment, is of almost unbearable poignancy; the second, where the bass and drums get busier behind Hays' muscular solo, is more assertive; the final two sections, accompanying Payton's extended solo, each raise the temperature further. Payton's improvisation, which begins in reflective, sorrowful mode, concludes with passion, fire and optimism. 

The mourner transforms into a celebrant, and your spirits rise alongside him. "Chinatown" and "The Crimson Touch," the first a bittersweet ballad, the second a skittish, off-center, mid tempo swinger, are the other two acoustic tracks, and almost as memorable. On the other tracks, Hays and the band only really get out of their comfort zone on "Nida." An Eastern-tinged, upbeat jam revisiting trumpeter Donald Byrd's and pianist Herbie Hancock's jazz-funk templates of the 1970s, it features Hays' most engaging electric solo, and an expansive, solid improvisation from Payton over a conventionally swinging middle section. Too often, on the remaining tracks, Payton's solo flights seem entirely independent of the musicians behind him. If Payton was to focus on the qualities which make "Drucilla," "Chinatown" and "The Crimson Touch" the creative triumphs that they are, we would have an album of truly majestic stature. He's demonstrably got it in him. Maybe next time. ~ Chris May   http://www.allaboutjazz.com/into-the-blue-nicholas-payton-nonesuch-records-review-by-chris-may.php#.U4Jm9Cioqdk 
 

Personnel: Nicholas Payton: trumpet; Kevin Hays: piano and Fender Rhodes; Vicente Archer: bass; Marcus Gilmore: drums; Daniel Sadownick: percussion.

Into The Blue

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