Rebecca Richardson - Stirred, Not Shaken

Size: 110,3 MB
Time: 47:19
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2010
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. All Of You (3:08)
02. E Preciso Perdoar (4:58)
03. Do It The Hard Way (2:55)
04. Tea For Two (4:49)
05. Whisper Not (4:01)
06. Daddy (3:14)
07. Nana/Daydream (6:50)
08. My Romance (2:56)
09. Teach Me Tonight (3:31)
10. Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea (3:05)
11. I Didn't Know What Time It Was (2:47)
12. C'est L'amour (4:57)

Featuring the soothing, sultry vocals of Rebecca Richardson:
Rebecca earned her Bachelor's of Vocal Jazz Performance from Cornish College of the Arts (Seattle, WA) and went on to study in New York, with esteemed jazz musicians (David Budway) and masterclasses at the Juilliard School. Her performance career has spanned ten years, beginning in Seattle, where she performed jazz in various venues including: Tula's, The Space Needle, and the Sorrento Hotel; as well as performed for Spirit Cruises, The Seattle Symphony, Civic Light Opera, Dickens Carolers, as well as Disney. She then moved to New York to develop her style futher, and continued performing, working with the Hank Lane Orchestra, and with smaller jazz groups at venues such as Kavehaz, Cleopatra's Needle, The French Consulate, The Waldorf Astoria, The C Note, and Flute. She also served on the CPSM voice faculty at Queens College. Sunny weather lured her to Naples, Florida, where she now resides and performs with her trio at the chic Campiello Ristorante four nights a week, as well as other area venues/organizations such as: The Ritz Carlton, The Hilton, Aldo's, Bellasera, and Opera Naples.

Stirred, Not Shaken

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Ron Levy's Wild Kingdom - Mo' Jazzy Grooves

Size: 161,5 MB
Time: 69:43
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2012
Styles: Jazz: Hammond Organ
Art: Front

01. Some Sorta Blue ( 7:00)
02. After Midnight Grooves ( 8:37)
03. Indian Summer Waltz ( 5:47)
04. The Wes Side ( 5:51)
05. Big Fine Lil' Lass ( 6:21)
06. Love Retoined ( 4:46)
07. Long Time Ago ( 6:41)
08. Green Eye Soul ( 7:41)
09. A.J. Bustah ( 6:27)
10. Back At The Levshack (10:28)

This album is part of a four part series showcasing Ron Levy as a composer and master musician. It is an anthology drawn from the various recordings Mr. Levy produced, arranged and played his signature sound on piano, electric piano, vibes, guitar and Hammond organ. There are even a couple of his Blues inspired vocals!

Historically over the last twenty years, Ron has blended many different styles and genres into his own unique musical gumbo within each of his critically acclaimed and popular recordings. Enough so, he has now been able to assemble four separate full length albums comprised in each genre of grooves.

These album titles aptly describe each particular mood and vibe contained in each of them: “Mo’ JAZZY Grooves” - “FUNKY Soul Grooves” - “Mo’ BLUES & Grooves” and “LATIN-a-licious Grooves”.

This newest collection is in addition to his three previously released anthologies: Ron Levy’s Wild Kingdom - “Best Grooves and Jams” - “Jazz-a-licious Grooves” and “Best of RLWK”. All distributed by CdBaby and on his Facebook fan page music store.

As usual, Levy has always surrounded himself with many of the most talented musicians in the world throughout his long and celebrated career. They all have interpreted his compositions with soulful empathy, adding their own unique artistic creative contributions and styles to help fulfill Ron’s vision of his original compositions and are featured throughout all four albums.

Included in this collection are: Karl Denson, Melvin Sparks, The Memphis Horns, Idris Muhammad, James Gadson, David T. Walker, Stanley Banks, Jeff Lockhart, Crispin Cioe, ‘Sax’ Gordon, Albert Collins, Tutu Jones, Johnnie Bassett, Preston Shannon, Smokey Wilson, Bobby Forte, Jim Spake and Scott Thompson, Anson Funderburg and Sam Myers, Kim Wilson, Jimmie Vaughan, Roomful of Blues, Lowell Fulson, Larry Davis and Ronnie Earl.

These songs as well as many of these personalities (and many more) are further explained and candidly revealed in Ron’s web-book, “Tales of a Road Dog” available on his website. Look up Ron Levy / Levtron - online. We hope you enjoy these selections and include them in your regular rotation and consider them among your favorites. So stay tuned, there’s much more to come. Enjoy!

Mo' Jazzy Grooves

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Jim Grant - You Go To My Head

Size: 51,4 MB
Time: 21:53
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. Close Your Eyes (2:08)
02. Big City (2:27)
03. Ain't No Use (3:37)
04. Gentle Rain (2:46)
05. The Letter (1:52)
06. He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother (3:42)
07. Getting Some Fun Out Of Life (2:06)
08. You Goto My Head (3:12)

If there’s a real-world sensibility to this record, a firm grasp on the passion it takes to withstand hard times, you can credit Jim Grant’s resume as a working man. If there’s a remarkable eloquence to his phrasing, look to this Chicago vocalist’s time at the Bloom School of Jazz. That voice, though? It’s a chocolate-y wonder, with all of the complexities that implies: dark and brooding one moment and bursting with soaring bliss the next. Well, that voice is all Grant’s. Pair it with a West Coast jazz-inflected trio and You Go To My Head sets up as an intriguing juxtaposition of styles and substance.

The opening “Close Your Eyes” begins with a ruminative bass signature from Geoff Lowe, before Grant slips in – offering the lyric first with a whispered confidentiality before descending into a girder-shaking baritone. Jim Sellers adds a spritely piano figure, over the lightest of brush strokes from drummer Sam Pincich, and the template for You Go To Me Head is set: Smoothly sophisticated swing running like a current underneath a profoundly suave, midnight blue singer in the manner of Johnny Hartman. A stutter from Pincich opens up into a crisp cadence on “Big City,” as Grant proceeds to give his whole heart over to a metropolis’ hustle and bustle. Sellers offers a series of playful retorts, while Lowe and Pincich keep a brisk time – deftly mirroring the city noise. Grant, however, strides confidently through it all, connecting his passion for the urban landscape with a life’s love. The joy in his voice is palpable.

“Ain’t No Use” is the first inkling that Grant and this group can go deeper into the R&B-inflected soul that marked Hartman’s best sides. Singing with an ocean-bottom’s depth, Grant throws his arms around heartbreak, even as his band makes full use of the track’s darkness and space. When they grind this sad and lonely exploration to a sudden halt, Grant makes the word “please” sound as awful as anyone ever has. They return then to the album’s principal atmosphere of sleek urbanity on “Gentle Rain,” with Grant exploring the middle area of his range while the trio of Sellers, Lowe and Pincich delve into the kind of air-filled, almost confectionary lines that were the hallmark of Bill Evans’ trios. There’s not as much meat on this song’s bones, at least compared to the devastatingly confessional “Ain’t No Use,” but that takes nothing away from its enduring loveliness.

Grant next takes on a couple of charting pop songs in a row, first making an energetic, rhythmically assured run through “The Letter.” Whereas the radio hit boiled with emotion, Grant and Company reshape it here as a rapturous up-tempo piece – made complete by lock-step performance by guest saxist Eric Schneider. “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” follows, and this time they approach this old favorite as a sublimely attenuated ballad. It’s a masterpiece of shading, quietly assertive where another singer might have fallen into easy melancholy.

“Getting Some Fun Out of Life” arrives then like a sunburst. Powered along by a walking bass line from Lowe, Grant tosses aside all of that introspection for an unvarnished bit of fleet-footed cheer. Sellers plays, too, with a winking charm – adding a just-right accompaniment for the lyric.

Grant closes with an intimate take on the oft-sung title cut, ending an astonishingly consistent album he co-produced along side David Bloom with one more impeccably executed, cliché-free performance. In that way, Grant brings to mind Billy Strayhorn, as well. When Grant pauses midway through the title as this song concludes, it’s both a heartbreaking moment of realism and a final example of a complete command of his vocal instrument. This one will, in fact, go to your head. ~Nick DeRiso

You Go To My Head

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Marc Copland & Randy Brecker - Both/And: That's For You Version

Size: 197,6 MB
Time: 84:55
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Jazz
Art: Front

01. Through The Window (8:26)
02. I Loves You, Porgy (8:14)
03. Over The Hills (8:25)
04. Prometheus' Peace (8:16)
05. The Sidewinder (6:27)
06. Both And (8:17)
07. Easy Living (7:45)
08. Round The Horn (5:04)
09. When The Wind Stops (8:48)
10. Bookends (8:53)
11. Eidolon (6:16)

This album verifies that Randy Brecker’s straightahead improvisational chops are intact, unbesmirched and uncompromised by his various business pursuits in more commercially viable jazz formats. His trumpet tone is distinctively burnished and attractively astringent. His ideas always push against and alter expectation. He sounds unhurried, even at fast tempos.

The other members of this unpretentious yet sophisticated quartet are pianist Marc Copland, bassist Ed Howard and drummer Victor Lewis. Each is capable of commanding attention on his own. On Copland’s teetering, enigmatic title track, the piano solo holds the song’s tension and then releases and spills it. When the arrangement focuses on Howard, his shifting, elusive ostinato becomes a cryptic bass solo. But the strength of this rhythm section lies in creating inspirational contexts for Brecker.

The best piece is “I Loves You Porgy,” because the feeling is retained in Brecker’s luxuriant, luminous trumpet sound even as he smears and fragments one of Gershwin’s most-played songs. Lee Morgan’s “The Sidewinder” is uncharacteristically asymmetrical and oblique, and provokes the freest, most expansive statements on the album by Brecker and Copland. ~By Thomas Conrad

Both/And: That's For You Version

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Barry Harris - Lonesome Lover

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 78:57
Size: 180.7 MB
Styles: Piano jazz
Year: 2014
Art: Front

[4:52] 1. Morning Coffee
[4:04] 2. There's No One But You
[7:35] 3. I've Got A Crush On You
[6:31] 4. My Heart Stood Still
[3:35] 5. I Should Care
[4:48] 6. Woodyn' You
[7:25] 7. Billie-Doo
[4:13] 8. Play Carol Play
[5:09] 9. Don't Blame Me
[7:23] 10. If I Love Again
[5:01] 11. It's The Talk Of The Town
[4:03] 12. What Is This Thing Called Love
[4:38] 13. One Down
[5:47] 14. If Someone Had Told Me
[3:47] 15. Curtain Call

One of the major bop pianists of the last half of the 20th century, Barry Harris has long had the ability to sound very close to Bud Powell, yet he can also do convincing impressions of Thelonious Monk and has his own style within the bop idiom. He was an important part of the Detroit jazz scene of the 1950s, and has been a jazz educator since that era. Harris recorded his first set as a leader while in 1958, and moved to New York in 1960, where he spent a short period with Cannonball Adderley's Quintet. He also recorded with Dexter Gordon, Illinois Jacquet, Yusef Lateef, and Hank Mobley, and was with Coleman Hawkins off and on throughout the decade (including Hawk's declining years). In the 1970s, Harris was on two of Sonny Stitt's finest records (Tune Up and Constellation), and made many recordings in a variety of settings for Xanadu. Barry Harris has mostly worked with his trio since the mid-'70s, and he has recorded as a leader for Argo (1958), Riverside, Prestige, MPS, Xanadu, and Red. ~bio by Scott Yanow

Lonesome Lover

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Laura Fygi - The Best Is Yet To Come

Bitrate: 320K/s

Time: 47:06

Size: 107.8 MB

Styles: Easy Listening, Vocal jazz

Year: 2011

Art: Front

[3:13] 1. The Best Is Yet To Come

[3:33] 2. Smile

[3:55] 3. Too Darn Hot

[3:46] 4. I've Got A Crush On You

[3:36] 5. This Can't Be Love

[3:51] 6. Cheek To Cheek

[3:53] 7. Fever

[4:16] 8. That Old Black Magic

[4:50] 9. It's Easy To Remember

[3:24] 10. You And The Night And The Music

[4:22] 11. Old Devil Moon

[4:21] 12. The Good Life

Laura Fygi has long considered Julie London one of her principal inspirations. Yes, the lushly exotic Fygi, whose multicultural heritage is Dutch by way of Egypt and Uruguay, can smolder with London-worthy intensity.

But Fygi is a far more gifted vocalist, with a substantially wider range and significantly sharper interpretive skills. If comparisons need be made, equating her with Peggy Lee seems far more apt. Like Lee, she can swing easy and seduce cunningly, all while maintaining a feisty sense of self-reliance. The Best Is Yet to Come is Fygi’s 12th album as leader and marks the 20th anniversary of her solo career. Remarkably, it is her first recorded session with a big band.

Co-arrangers and producers Jan Menu and Johan Plomp have smartly placed Fygi in settings that recall platters crafted by Lee, Sinatra and their ilk under the hip direction of such craftsmen as Billy May and Neal Hefti. Along the way, Menu and Plomp make several enriching choices. “Smile,” too often misinterpreted as sunnily optimistic, is softly clouded in grey. “Too Darn Hot” rides atop a scorching, brass-wrapped drum line worthy of Buddy Rich. “The Good Life” slowly builds from gentle musing to impassioned vamp, and a pulsating “You and the Night and the Music” sounds as if it has been plucked from hard-hearted Hannah’s songbook. Even “Fever,” where you might expect the Lee echoes to be most evident, is distinctly re-imagined, its slow burn escalated to a three-alarm blaze. ~Christopher Loudon

The Best Is Yet To Come

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Roberto Menescal - Bossa Evergreen

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 42:21
Size: 97.0 MB
Styles: Brazilian jazz
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[3:40] 1. Nós E O Mar
[2:51] 2. Minha Namorada
[3:07] 3. Insensatez
[2:00] 4. Samba De Verão
[3:22] 5. Amor Em Paz
[3:11] 6. Garota De Ipanema
[3:52] 7. Wave
[2:24] 8. Influência Do Jazz
[2:43] 9. Ah! Se Eu Pudesse
[3:27] 10. O Barquinho
[3:51] 11. Corcovado
[2:14] 12. Batida Diferente
[2:50] 13. Até Quem Sabe
[2:43] 14. Você

Roberto Menescal, a pioneer composer and performer of Bossa Nova, and his long-time partner Wanda Sa, offer a delightful selection of classic Brazilian jazz selections including some of Menescal's well-known compositions and those of the "grand master", Antonio Carlos "Tom" Jobim. Their guitars and voices blend wonderfully and create the light, breezy familiar style that has become their trademark. I have had the privlege of seeing and hearing them live and meeting them personally and I have found that the genuine warmth, Brazilian passion and friendliness they showed to me is conveyed effectively through their music. Though well-known in Brazil, many international audiences, especially in the U.S., Europe and Asia are only now discovering one of Brazil's greatest musical national treasures. Listen once, and you too will know that you have found something very special. ~Amazon

Bossa Evergreen

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Louisiana Jazz Band - In A Mellow Tone

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 55:46
Size: 127.7 MB
Styles: Big band
Year: 2003
Art: Front

[4:33] 1. Take The A-Train
[3:32] 2. Lonesome Road
[3:48] 3. After You've Gone
[2:45] 4. Stardust
[3:37] 5. One O'clock Jump
[3:50] 6. In A Mellow Tone
[2:49] 7. Dream A Little Dream Of Me
[3:41] 8. Secret Love
[3:29] 9. Sophisticated Lady
[2:49] 10. I'm Getting Sentimental
[2:56] 11. Come Rain Or Come
[3:27] 12. All Of Me
[3:53] 13. Annie Laurie
[3:48] 14. Jeeps Blues
[3:44] 15. Stomping At The Savoy
[2:59] 16. Things Ain't What They Used To Be

Bandet består av jazzmusikere med lang erfaring fra deltagelse i norske og internasjonale jazzfestivaler, jazzkonserter på Mississippi's riverboats, jamsessions i New Orleans, kulturarrangementer, jazzklubber, radio, TV, LP, CD-innspillinger, spellemannspris m.m.
Louisiana Jazzband spillestil er supertradjazz basert på New Orleans - jazz og hardtswingende standards med små arrangementer, samt slap - bass a la Pops Foster og Slam Steward.

Bandet har opparbeidet seg en betydelig posisjon innenfor jazz og kulturlivet i Norge, med sin publikumsvennlige attityde og jazzsti
Louisiana Jazzband har i de senere år deltatt og høstet strålende kritikker bl.a. i Smøgen Tradjazzfestival i Sverige, hvor de også markerte sitt 15 års jubileum, deltakelse i åpningen av EURO-SONG's artistshow i Oslo 1996, Color Line's Jazzcruise til Hirtshals, Tynset Kulturfestival, Sildajazzfestivalen i Haugesund, Plankejazzfestivalen i Fredrikstad og
utallige glajazzcruise med veteranbåter i Oslofjorden bl.a. på skoleskipet Christian Radich.

In A Mellow Tone

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Teraesa Vinson & Tom Dempsey - Next To You

Styles: Vocal And Guitar Jazz
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:57
Size: 103,4 MB
Art: Front

(3:27)  1. Nobody Else But Me
(3:17)  2. Next To You
(4:01)  3. Opportunity Please Knock
(4:03)  4. Foolish Heart
(4:53)  5. Triste
(4:49)  6. You Taught My Heart To Sing
(3:58)  7. My How The Time Goes By
(2:18)  8. I Remember You
(3:37)  9. Ribbon In The Sky
(4:49) 10. Just Squeeze Me
(2:55) 11. Old Devil Moon
(2:44) 12. Bein' Green

Teraesa Vinson sings her program from the heart with a genuine air. She convinces. As an experienced storyteller, she puts you right in the lap of each experience. "Being Green, for example, carries a wider meaning than what you hear on the surface. In Vinson's care, its lyrics stretch out to cover it all. The same is true for her sensual ballads and up-tempo swingers.  Working in a duo format with guitarist Tom Dempsey for this, her second recording, the singer has opted for a cross-section of material, from Ellington and Jobim to Stevie Wonder and Oscar Brown, Jr. Her program and her musical format are designed for intimacy. She delivers the message clearly while Dempsey provides exemplary accompaniment. Together, they establish a comfortable blues aura that surrounds their performance with class.Vinson remains comfortable with all kinds of songs.

"Ribbon in the Sky introduces built-up emotions, while "Just Squeeze Me saunters idly through swing. McCoy Tyner's "You Taught My Heart to Sing brings tears to the eye, while Dempsey's "Next to You settles in comfortably with cool passion. Vinson has mastered each mood accurately and musically. She and Dempsey keep most their session mellow and laid back. The comfort allows them to deliver meaning naturally. Old Devil Moon stands out with an emotional surge as the session's high point. Here, singer and guitarist turn it up a notch through tension and release. Their balance points them in the direction of cohesive success as the two intertwine naturally. Vinson and Dempsey share a deep love for the music that comes reflected in each interpretation.     ~ Jim Santella   http://www.allaboutjazz.com/next-to-you-teraesa-vinson-self-produced-review-by-jim-santella.php#.U5FAtyioqdk
 

Personnel: Teraesa Vinson: vocals; Tom Dempsey: guitar.

Next To You

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Karen Lane - Once In A Lifetime

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:28
Size: 143,1 MB
Art: Front

(7:26)  1. On Green Dolphin Street
(3:34)  2. Devil May Care
(5:59)  3. The Good Life
(4:05)  4. Lullaby Of Birdland
(3:27)  5. Sometimes I'm Happy
(4:47)  6. Love Is In Bloom
(3:36)  7. I Hadn't Anyone Till You
(5:05)  8. Memory Serves
(4:46)  9. Here's To Life
(3:30) 10. This Is It
(5:26) 11. Till Death Do Us Part
(5:32) 12. Love Me Or Leave Me
(5:08) 13. Once In A Lifetime

Arriving in London through Perth in western Australia, song stylist and singer/songwriter Karen Lane serenades her listeners with a light, expressive, but highly personal voice that delivers each tune with coquettish emotion. She's like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar and getting away with it coyly with a wry smile. She possesses a built-in sense not only of melody and lyricism, but for the rhythmic feel of the music. Listen to a rather misnamed "Till Death Do Us Part," a catchy tune with a calypso beat where her second voice fades in and out with Robin Aspland's Fender Rhodes. Dave Colton's guitar makes "Lullaby of Birdland" one of the swingier cuts on the CD. On the other side, there is a good deal of pain and heavy breathing leading into her version of the classic "On Green Dolphin Street." 

This is a prime example of the images a singer with an expressive voice can create. Here in one's minds eye, there's a picture of Lane not only swaying vocally, but bodily as well. On this cut, the vibes of Milo Fell carry the main instrumental load. For her first album, she has wisely hooked up with some of London's young modern creative jazz, blues, and rock musicians. Aspland has worked with Claire Martin and Van Morrison, and sax player Derek Nash with the Peter Green Splinter Group. Lane and her cohorts have succeeded where many have tried and failed, bringing together elements of jazz and contemporary pop in a way that is mature and well constructed rather than shallow and contrived. Recommended. ~ Dave Nathan   http://www.allmusic.com/album/once-in-a-lifetime-mw0000320589

Personnel:  Karen Lane vocals, Dave Colton, guitar, Robin Aspland piano and Fender Rhodes, Jeremy Brown bass, Rod Youngs drums, Martin Shaw trumpet, Phil Peskett piano, Milo Fell percussion, Sam Burgess bass, Simon Pearson drums, Dave Jones bass, Josephone Knight cello, Laura Melhuish violin, Derek Nash saxophone

Once In A Lifetime

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Doug Webb - Another Scene

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:56
Size: 142,4 MB
Art: Front

(4:04)  1. Mr. Milo
(7:01)  2. One For Art
(4:29)  3. Smatter
(5:52)  4. Southern Scene
(4:58)  5. Another Step
(5:52)  6. Double Rainbow
(5:42)  7. Eulogy
(3:47)  8. Rhythm With Rudy
(5:17)  9. What Is There To Say
(6:16) 10. Verdi Variations
(4:44) 11. Bird Song
(3:48) 12. Only Trust Your Heart

Doug Webb has released three critically acclaimed recordings on the Posi-Tone label. So who is Doug Webb? Having played and recorded with such luminaries as Stanley Clarke, Rod Stewart, and Pancho Sanchez there is no questioning Webb's versatility. Small screen work for Webb includes such smash television shows as Family Guy and Law And Order, toss in solos from big screen soundtracks that include Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, and Grand Torino and you are looking at perhaps the premier first call tenor player on the left coast. It would be all too easy to lump Doug Webb in the category of that all too typical session player that bangs out some righteous solos and then packs his horn up only to move on to the next gig.  Another Scene is Webb's finest solo work to date with a formidable 4tet that hits all their marks and then some! Well traveled bassist Dwayne Burno works well within a rhythm section including the largely unheralded Peter Zak on piano and perhaps one of the finest half dozen drummers on the planet in Rudy Royston. 

Everyone needs a change of scene on occasion and with Another Scene recorded in the improvisational mecca we know as New York, Doug Webb embraces a hard swing and intense lyrical sense of direction that his musical co-conspirators work to a new level of hard bop. A release with six of the twelve tunes as originals puts Webb's compositional prowess front and center. The opening "Mr. Milo" and "Rhythm With Rudy" coupled with the striking Jobim cover of  "Double Rainbow" reinforce colors, textures and a deft hand at shading that push Another Scene into the rarefied air of hard bop for the next generation.  Posi-Tone clearly has a stable of perhaps the finest saxophonists working today and Webb is certainly deep in the mix. This is jazz that is real, raw, and at times on a delightful ragged edge. While others are languishing in odd meter to make a point and attempting to work from that pretentious speed is king mentality, Doug Webb keeps it real.  A stellar effort!  http://www.criticaljazz.com/2013/10/doug-webb-another-scene-posi-tone-2013.html

Personnel: Doug Webb: Tenor Saxophone; Peter Zak: Piano; Dwayne Burno: Bass; Rudy Royston: Drums.

Another Scene

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