Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra - SRJO Live

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 68:10
Size: 156.0 MB
Styles: Big band
Year: 2002
Art: Front

[ 5:06] 1. Happy Go Lucky Local (Parts 1 & 2)
[ 5:11] 2. Stomp It Off
[ 4:25] 3. The Maids Of Cadiz
[ 4:49] 4. Jumpin' At The Woodside
[ 3:33] 5. Concerto For Cootie
[ 7:41] 6. Better Get Hit In Your Soul
[ 6:00] 7. Isfahan
[ 7:20] 8. Nasty Magnus
[ 4:40] 9. Blue And Sentimental
[ 5:49] 10. Caravan
[13:28] 11. Walk On The Wild Side

The jazz scene in Seattle has a richness and depth that is rare. Not only is there a wealth of fine musicians who have gained recognition throughout the nation and around the globe, but also a lineage of jazz writers and players that began in the 1920s, and reached a golden age in the 1940s when Seattle enjoyed a flowering of jazz culture centered around the clubs and dance halls of Jackson Street. This period produced such greats as Ray Charles, Ernestine Anderson, Dick Wilson, Quincy Jones and Buddy Catlett. Since then, the torch has consistently been passed. Sixty years later, there is still a major jazz scene, supported by many clubs, large, enthusiastic audiences, and populated by both veteran and young players and writers who carry on Seattle's own, unique jazz tradition.

The Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra (SRJO) is an award-winning, 17-piece big band comprised of many of the region's leading jazz soloists and band leaders. The SRJO is the Northwest's only permanent ensemble dedicated to the accurate and historically observant performance of the great works of big band jazz. Drummer Clarence Acox, nationally recognized director of bands at Seattle's Garfield High School, and saxophonist/arranger Michael Brockman, long-time faculty member at the University of Washington School of Music, founded the SRJO in 1995. As early as 1988, however, many of the players had assembled for a now-annual concert of the Sacred Music of Duke Ellington, presented by Seattle's Earshot Jazz Society. A 1992 "Evening of Ellington" program, presented by Brockman at the University of Washington's Meany Theater, brought together players not normally included in the sacred concerts, and featured new transcriptions by Brockman of classic Ellingtonia. ~John Killoch

SRJO Live

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Bobby Durham Trio - We Three Plus Friends

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 73:48
Size: 169.0 MB
Styles: Contemporary jazz
Year: 2005
Art: Front

[0:12] 1. Planet Max
[8:48] 2. Planet Max
[8:30] 3. Almost Like Being In Love
[4:26] 4. Secret Love
[6:43] 5. Sack Of Woe
[3:37] 6. Ducky Is In Town
[5:17] 7. Azule Serape
[6:03] 8. Estate
[5:26] 9. Una Lunga Storia D'amore
[5:46] 10. The Very Thought Of You
[6:29] 11. Isn't She Lovely
[5:34] 12. Cherokee
[6:53] 13. Stompin' At The Savoy

Part of the enormous Philadelphia family tree of jazz players, Bobby Durham has amassed a long list of impressive jazz credits while alternating residencies between Italy and his hometown. He is perhaps best known as a member of several of the virtuoso pianist Oscar Peterson's classic trios from the '50s and as one of the great jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald's most sensitive accompanists, although jazz fans that are into the smoking organ trio sound will know Durham from his associations with the likes of turbaned Charles Earland or the innovative organist Shirley Scott. Durham is a personal favorite of jazz producer Norman Granz, who has turned to Durham again and again for help with his projects involving the likes of Fitzgerald and Basie as well as using Durham as the rhythm section drummer for jam session encounters with the likes of pianist Tommy Flanagan, guitarist Joe Pass, and trumpeter Harry "Sweets" Edison, among many.

Durham got into music young, starting out dancing and singing before beginning drums well before his teen years. He was a professional musician by the time he was 16 with the group the Orioles. From 1956 to 1959 he served in a United States military band, then began working with the band of King James and the Stan Hunter trio upon getting out of the services. In 1960 his career really took off when he moved to New York and began working with a who's who of mainstream jazz greats that includes Lloyd Price, Wild Bill Davis, Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, Slide Hampton, Grant Green, Hary Edison, Tommy Flanagan, and Jimmy Rowles. He met the fine trombonist Al Grey in the Basie band and was later a part of Grey's own combos. In these small groups, Durham was often given ample solo space, and several recordings by these groups represent the best examples of Durham's jazz drumming that are available. Then again, the upsurge in interest in hard-driving organ trio jazz that came along with the acid jazz scene in the late '90s has sparked an interest in groups such as the trio led by organist Earland, featuring Durham and the impressive guitarist Pat Martino. Durham worked with Fitzgerald for a decade, for an equal length of time with Peterson, and with the big band of Duke Ellington for five years. A tasteful and restrained drummer with great control, Durham has also been called in to help perform and record with top pop and soul vocalists such as Frank Sinatra, James Brown, Ray Charles, and Marvin Gaye. He has performed on many television shows including the Tonight show hosted by Johnny Carson and with Fitzgerald on the Ed Sullivan Show. Perhaps Fitzgerald is where Durham picked up his flair for scat singing on his own, a talent which he has put to great use in a variety of settings but particularly when leading his own trios. European concert listeners have remarked on the entertaining number entitled the "Airplane Song," supposedly based on the printed safety instructions handed out to passengers. Durham certainly would have had plenty of time to study up on such material through his frequent touring, but has yet to record the number. Perhaps he might want to consider a full-length opera based on the idea, adding in all the new airline safety regulations added after September 11, 2001. During his long European residencies, much of them based out of Italy, Durham has formed trios with support from Italian and Scanadanivian musicians. These players include Aldo Zunino, Andrea Zonzaterra, and Massimo Farao. ~bio by Eugene Chadbourne

We Three Plus Friends

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Django Reinhardt - Swing 39

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 49:59
Size: 114.4 MB
Styles: Swing, Gypsy guitar
Year: 2000
Art: Front

[3:12] 1. Jeepers Creepers (Instrumental)
[3:12] 2. Jeepers Creepers
[3:17] 3. Swing 39
[2:38] 4. Japanese Sandman
[3:00] 5. I Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight
[3:06] 6. I Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight (Alternate Take)
[2:49] 7. Tea For Two (Instrumental)
[2:50] 8. Tea For Two
[3:20] 9. My Melancholy Baby (Instrumental)
[2:39] 10. Time On My Hands
[2:37] 11. Twelfth Year (Instrumental)
[2:39] 12. Twelfth Year
[2:46] 13. My Melancholy Baby
[3:06] 14. Japanese Sandman
[3:12] 15. Tea For Two (Alternate Take 2)
[2:44] 16. I Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight (Alternate Take 2)
[2:44] 17. Hungaria

Although the war was raging when Django Reinhardt, Stephane Grappelli, and the Quintet of the Hot Club of France recorded these tracks in 1939, their light-hearted swing on standards such as "Jeepers Creepers," "Tea for Two," and "My Melancholy Baby" recalls an earlier, more peaceful time. Reinhardt and Grappelli trade solos as if they are giving each other presents. They sound as if they are in a friendly competition to see not who is the fastest or flashiest, but rather who can play the most elegant, musical lines. This CD contains multiple takes of a number of songs, including "Japanese Sandman," "I Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight," and the Reinhardt composition "Twelfth Year," but Reinhardt and Grappelli's inventiveness keeps them from sounding repetitive. Their intros and solos are different each time, and you get the feeling they could have recorded the same song a dozen times and come up with 12 different, but equally perfect, versions. The tracks on Swing 39 are among the last recorded in Paris by Django Reinhardt, Stephane Grappelli, and the Quintet of the Hot Club of France. Within a few months the group would be split up by the war, with Grappelli spending the duration in London and Reinhardt trapped in Paris. These tracks are a fitting tribute to not only a great band, but also to an era that was soon to disappear forever. ~Michael Simmons

Swing 39

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Ana Paula Lopes - Meu

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 52:21
Size: 119.9 MB
Styles: Brazilian traditions
Year: 2005
Art: Front

[4:33] 1. Meu
[4:01] 2. Chovendo Na Roseira
[5:06] 3. Sereia. Amor D'água
[3:37] 4. Água De Beber
[4:55] 5. A Mais Bonita
[5:02] 6. A História De Lily Braun
[4:52] 7. Águas De Março
[4:14] 8. O Morro Não Tem Vez
[5:00] 9. Esperança Perdida
[5:11] 10. What's New
[5:45] 11. Lisa

Influenciada pelo jazz, bossa nova e pela música popular brasileira, apresenta novas versões de um repertório clássico e já consagrado.  Produzido por Celso Marques e co-produzido pela própria cantora, o CD de estréia retrata toda a sua formação musical. Canções de Tom Jobim, Vinícius de Moraes, Chico Buarque, Djavan, Edu Lobo, Suba, Johnny Burke, Bob Haggart e Sonny Henry ganharam sofisticados arranjos. Seu timbre suave e muito agradável, aliado a sua técnica vocal, demonstram todo o cuidado e refinado trabalho feitos neste CD.

Meu

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Opus 5 - Pentasonic

Styles: Trumpet And Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:33
Size: 150,6 MB
Art: Front + Back

(6:30)  1. The Saboteur
(7:48)  2. Videlles Dreams
(8:14)  3. Sign of Life
(8:16)  4. Ducktones
(8:50)  5. Little Dancer
(5:49)  6. Three Days of Maybe
(9:07)  7. Danny
(7:31)  8. Red Clay
(3:25)  9. Charlie's Wig

The powerful all-star quintet Opus 5 returns with Pentasonic, the follow-up to their muscular 2011 debut Introducing Opus 5. It's a can't-miss lineup with tenor saxophonist Seamus Blake and trumpeter Alex Sipiagin in the front line, David Kikoski doubling on piano and Fender Rhodes, Boris Kozlov on bass, and Donald Edwards on drums. Once again Opus 5 puts original music by the band's members in the forefront, but the choice arrangements of Charlie Parker's seldom-heard Charlie's Wig and Freddie Hubbard's classic Red Clay bring unique and unexpected angles to the session. Moody and ethereal, rhythmically skewed, always furiously burning, this is music that lives up to the name of everyone involved. ~ Editorial Reviews  http://www.amazon.com/Pentasonic-Opus-5/dp/B008I66CSC

Personnel: Seamus Blake (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Alex Sipiagin (trumpet, flugelhorn); Dave Kikoski (piano, Fender Rhodes piano); David Edwards (drums).

Pentasonic

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Brenda Earle Stokes - Right About Now

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:30
Size: 143,8 MB
Art: Front

(5:46)  1. It's High Time
(4:40)  2. In September
(5:51)  3. Water Into Wine
(4:59)  4. The Letters on the Pages
(3:07)  5. Balao Em Minha Cabeca
(6:29)  6. (Meant) For You
(4:59)  7. Everything I Love
(5:07)  8. Right About Now
(7:16)  9. She Sings
(5:48) 10. The Birthday Song
(4:23) 11. Got the Time
(4:00) 12. Let My Love Open the Door

Is Brenda Earle Stokes primarily a vocalist, a composer, or a pianist? That's an unanswerable question if ever there was one. The marketplace typically forces artists to list their chief credential first, making it easier to categorize and pigeonhole them, but that's a problem for Stokes; she's equally talented in all three areas, as demonstrated throughout Right About Now. This album marks Stokes' return to recording after a five year hiatus. During that time, her life, outlook, and approach to music evolved and settled into a new space. Marriage, the birth of a child, and the passage of time all managed to alter and deepen her perspective, but Stokes' longtime fans need not worry about things being too different. She still has that same attractive sound, with a gentle-yet-weighted voice and playing style, and she still uses the three-pronged approach to song presentation that worked on Songs For A New Day (Allsheneeds, 2009), delivering originals, a classic or two, and contemporary fare; she just does so with greater ease, comfort, and emotional range. The album opens with a bluesy odd-metered original that's firm in conviction ("It's High Time"). That initial sign of strength is then washed away by the wistful "In September," a tale of a romance with a summer-long lifespan. Egberto Gismonti's "Water Into Wine," featuring Stokes-penned lyrics, follows, proving to be the most affecting song on the program. 

A sense of longing, obsession and desire all come through during this mesmerizing and heart-wrenching number. Stokes goes on to visit all sorts of other places across the nine tracks that follow. Her wordless vocals gleefully bound along during the sprightly, Brazilian-based "Baiao Em Minha Cabeca," snazzy swing surfaces in the form of Joe Jackson's "Got The Time," and Stokes looks at the many faces of love on "(Meant) For You," "Everything I Love," and "Let My Love Open The Door." All of those pieces manage to make an impression, but "The Birthday Song," which finds her mulling over life as it exists at the age of thirty-three, is more emotionally potent than the rest. The crew that Stokes works with seems tailor-made for her brand of music. Bassist Matt Aronoff and drummer Jordan Perlson balance firmness and sensitivity in their rhythmic pursuits, guitarist Steve Cardenas is a wonderful colorist, and saxophonist Joel Frahm is a man for all moods. Together, this collection of musicians makes for a great team that helps Stokes document life as she knows it and sees it on Right About Now. ~ Dan Bilawsky  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/right-about-now-brenda-earle-stokes-magenta-label-group-review-by-dan-bilawsky.php#.U7YpD7F8eM0
 

Personnel: Brenda Earle Stokes: piano, vocals, rhodes, triangle; Matt Aronoff: bass; Jordan Perlson: drums; Steve Cardenas: guitar; Joel Frahm: saxophone.

Right About Now

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