Sunday, July 13, 2014

Wycliffe Gordon - The Intimate Ellington: Ballads & Blues

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 71:57
Size: 164.7 MB
Styles: Trombone jazz
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[6:35] 1. Pie Eye's Blues
[6:06] 2. Jeep's Blues
[6:59] 3. I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good
[7:59] 4. Creole Love Call
[7:28] 5. Stevie
[6:56] 6. The Intimacy Of The Blues
[5:13] 7. Lotus Blossom
[7:59] 8. Something Sexual
[8:20] 9. Sophisticated Lady
[8:16] 10. Caravan

On his eighth Criss Cross leader date, Wycliffe Gordon distills his exhaustive knowledge of the oeuvre of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn on a well crafted, ten-piece program spanning a timeline from 1927 (Creole Love Call) to 1967 (The Intimacy Of The Blues). Throughout the proceedings, which explore a broad array of flavors, Gordon – spurred by a killer rhythm section of pianist Aaron Diehl, bassist Yasushi Nakamura, and drummer Alvin Atkinson – plays with characteristic effervescence and tonal creativity, matched by Adrian Cunningham on saxophones and woodwinds and, on several selections, the soulful violin virtuoso Zach Brock and vocalist Dee Daniels.”

The Intimate Ellington: Ballads & Blues

Sambosseros - Gabiroba

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 50:09
Size: 114.8 MB
Styles: Latin jazz
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[3:02] 1. A Rã
[2:51] 2. Lobo Bobo
[2:16] 3. Só Danço Samba
[3:40] 4. Gabiroba
[3:07] 5. A Rita
[3:20] 6. Fotografia
[4:37] 7. Sambossero
[4:52] 8. Brigas Nunca Mais Discussão
[3:58] 9. Bonita
[2:58] 10. Forrosnazzy
[5:04] 11. Meditação
[3:31] 12. A Violeira
[3:30] 13. Doralice
[3:16] 14. Coração Vagabundo

The Argentine-born guitarist/composer/painter/engineer grew up with in the era of progressive rock, but was strongly influenced by Brazilian music as a teenager. After moving to the Los Angeles area, he studied harmony. He later moved to the Bay Area and focused on electronic music composition, but returned to his beloved guitar in 2001, when he became a founding member of Sambosseros. Pablo has since been continuing his research into Brazilian music and playing with the group for Bay Area audiences.

Bill Cawthorne came from Southern California. His parents, both musicians, immersed him in jazz, classical & even Brazilian music pretty early. Piano lessons began at 6. At 13 he discovered the trumpet, which took him from there through college, playing in every music performance class available. He studied music theory, synthesis and composition, while gigging regularly with various local “soul”, R&B, and rock groups.

Jesse Van Hiller, drums: A relative newcomer to the Brazilian scene, Jesse draws from a wide variety of styles in his performance. From jazz to country, pop and rock, funk and groove, his work with the Sambosseros blends jazz sensibilities with backbeat roots and in-the-pocket grooves. He relies on listening to the performance, responding to collaborators as they emote, anticipating changes as they arrive and allowing the music to create itself. “I try to let the music speak through me. I am a conduit.” Jesse lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Carl Herder is a musical chameleon who inhabits a broad swath of the musical style spectrum. He first joined the Bay Area Brazilian music scene in the late 1970s with Aguamarinha. But his love of the music was really cemented through his participation in the first San Franciso Carnaval celebrations as part of Culebra. In addition to samba, jazz, funk and rock bands, Carl has performed the full range of Caribbean music, including salsa, soka and reggae. Before joining Sambosseros, Carl performed brazillian music with Anna Estrada and Almas Feras.

Additional musicians: Bebel Delgado on voice, Kirk Abe on drums, and Jim Shearer on bass.

Gabiroba

Chet Baker & Art Pepper - Complete Playboy Sessions

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 67:01
Size: 153.4 MB
Styles: West Coast jazz
Year: 2007/2011
Art: Front

[6:16] 1. Tynan Time
[4:14] 2. Little Girl
[7:12] 3. Minor Yours
[3:55] 4. Sonny Boy
[5:05] 5. The Route
[3:59] 6. For Minors Only
[6:42] 7. Minor Yours
[5:41] 8. Resonant Emotions
[5:32] 9. Tynan Time
[6:42] 10. Picture Of Heath
[6:26] 11. For Miles And Miles
[5:11] 12. C.T. A

This 2007 disc gathers all known sides cut during a July 26, 1956 confab led by West Coast cool purveyors Chet Baker (trumpet) and Art Pepper (alto sax). Keen-eyed enthusiasts will note that this particular date occurred during a remarkable week -- July 23 through July 31 -- of sessions held at the behest of Pacific Jazz label owner and producer Dick Bock at the Forum Theater in Los Angeles. Recordings made during this week not only inform The Route, but three other long-players as well: Let's Get Lost, Chet Baker & Crew, and At the Forum Theater. These were likewise the first sides cut by Baker since returning from his triumphant and extended stay in Europe. The Route compiles all 11 tracks by the sextet featuring Richie Kamuca (tenor sax), Pete Jolly (piano), Leroy Vinnegar (bass), and Stan Levey (drums) in support of Baker and Pepper. Bock had no immediate plans to use these recordings for any one album, that is to say he incorporated the titles throughout various compiles released on Pacific Jazz. Three months later, however, Baker and Pepper did record with a completely different personnel for the expressed purpose of creating what would become known as Playboys and alternately Picture of Heath. Perhaps encouraged by the swinging interaction on Pepper's "Tynan Time" and "Minor Yours," both cuts were featured at this get-together as well as during the Picture of Heath collaboration. There are a few unexpected moments of sheer brilliance spread throughout, such as the Baker penned title composition, which contains supple and nicely contrasting solos from Kamuca and Vinnegar -- whose solid pendulum accurately swings all through this collection. Complete Playboys Sessions 1956 is recommended for completists as well as curious consumers wishing to expand their knowledge of the light and airy rhythms that typify the cool West Coast jazz scene of the mid-'50s. ~Liondsay Planer

Complete Playboy Sessions

Lars Erstrand & Rebecca Kilgore - Lars Erstrand Meets Rebecca Kilgore

Styles: Vocal And Vibraphone Jazz
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:39
Size: 167,9 MB
Art: Front

(5:28)  1. I Want To Be Happy
(5:02)  2. I'm Confessin'
(5:09)  3. The Lady's In Love With You
(4:37)  4. Boogie Blues / Drum Boogie
(4:56)  5. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams
(5:31)  6. Sometimes I'm Happy
(4:37)  7. Cherokee
(2:28)  8. All Too Soon
(2:18)  9. Satin Doll
(2:40) 10. In A Mellow Tone
(6:14) 11. 'Deed I Do
(4:21) 12. Laverne Walk
(4:33) 13. Perdido
(5:54) 14. Them There Eyes
(3:44) 15. Blue Moon

Rebecca Kilgore, born in 1949, since 1979 American singer and guitarist, cultivate the great American songs from the 30 - 40 (The Great American Songbook) about thirty solo recordings, withThe Rebecca Kilgore Quartet or other renowned artists are cited ( the most notable accompanied by the piano of Dave Frishberg).

Lars Erstrand (born September 27, 1936, died March 11, 2009) Swedish vibraphonist School Benny Goodman, with whom he played in Paris in 1972. During the 60's duet form with clarinetist Ove Lind, who establish collaboration for nearly forty years. In 1991 recorded Two Generations Together with Lionel Hampton, who is considered a follower in style.

Lars Erstrand Meets Rebecca Kilgore

Byron Stripling - Byron, Get One Free...

Styles: Vocal And Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:41
Size: 137,1 MB
Art: Front

(4:02)  1. Indiana
(7:14)  2. Con Alma
(2:39)  3. Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You
(6:34)  4. Frank's Magic
(5:41)  5. Lover Man
(5:41)  6. Sometimes I'm Happy
(7:02)  7. I Can't Give You Anything But Love
(9:31)  8. Byron, Get One Free...
(4:47)  9. I'm Old Fashioned
(6:26) 10. Woody 'N' You

Byron Stripling is a confident trumpeter who is unafraid of being compared to earlier greats on his instrument; he delves into time-tested standards of the swing era as well as the music of Dizzy Gillespie, yet produces a fresh approach in every case. With pianist Bill Charlap, drummer Dennis Mackrel, either Peter Washington or Ira Coleman on bass, trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, and tenor saxophonist Frank Wess joining him, Stripling's lively playing is a delight throughout the sessions. His spirited interplay with Gordon on the strutting opener, "(Back Home Again In) Indiana," and a bluesy exchange of solos with Wess in "Lover Man" are both gems. Fellow trumpeter Michael P. Mossman arranged both Gillespie's "Con Alma" and "Woody 'n You," and Stripling makes the most of his good friend's imaginative charts. The trumpeter also contributes two potent originals, the Basie-like swinger "Frank's Magic" (with a wide-ranging solo by Wess) and the low-key "Byron, Get One Free," which focuses on his tasty muted horn. Highly recommended.    ~ Ken Dryden  http://www.allmusic.com/album/byron-get-one-free-mw0000015845.

Personnel: Byron Stripling (vocals, trumpet); Frank Wess (tenor saxophone); Wycliffe Gordon (trombone); Bill Charlap (piano); Dennis Mackrel (drums).

Cosa Nostra Jazz Band - Cosa Nostra Jazz Band

Styles: Big Band
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:38
Size: 134,7 MB
Art: Front

(6:56)  1. I've Found A New Baby
(6:12)  2. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
(5:45)  3. That's A Plenty
(5:01)  4. Rose De Picardie
(4:55)  5. It Don't Mean A Thing
(4:20)  6. Big City Blues
(5:38)  7. All Of Me
(4:25)  8. Tiger Rag
(5:05)  9. Si Tu Vois Ma Mère
(4:43) 10. Royal Garden Blues
(5:33) 11. The Sheik Of Araby

Cosa Nostra is one of Japan's '70s retro bands with a modern taste for samples and loops, while keeping their sound as organic as possible. With ties to United Future Organization, Pizzicato Five, and Spank Happy, the band, led by Momoko Suzuki and Reiko Oda, follow in the good-vibes feel of early Sly and the Family Stone, Stevie Wonder, and various Philly soul acts, while borrowing from modern house music, trip-hop, and turntablism. Their earlier work was mostly in English, which left them with few fans initially, some seeing the band as trying to pander to the West (more likely they were trying to be as authentic as possible in their experiment). Their main founder, Tetsutaro Sakurai, came from the Tokyo music scene, first coming to fame with the Girl! Girl! Girl! radio show on FM Yokohama, where he shared songwriting duties with Pizzicato Five's Yasuharu Konishi and guitarist Haruo Kubota. Like Konishi, he brought an encyclopedic knowledge of Western pop to his group, and throughout the '90s produced many other acts. 

They debuted in 1991 with Cosa Nostra. Though self-titled, it was actually a shared album with United Future Organization and various groups, the former of which went on to considerable success. The remaining groups, if one examines the credits, contain the members of Cosa Nostra in various guises. A follow-up album, Cosa Nostra II, continued the theme. The band was finding their footing, trying out various genres and styles. With Medicated Soul, their first album in 1993, Cosa Nostra first introduced Momoko Suzuki and Reiko Oda as their main vocalists, but the true coalescence of the group came with a label switch the next year from Sony to Bellissima! Toy's Factory records, and their second album, 1994's Mind Songs. Cosa Nostra's sound reached an apex in 1995, with World Peace, featuring: funk, soul, hip-hop, a mix of vintage instruments, and new sounds. 

By 1997's Trip Magic, the group was moving toward a hard rock sound, as well as singing in Japanese. 1998's Our Thing turned out to be a turning point for the group. After its release, founding member Jun Sasaki left the band, and Cosa Nostra left Bellissima! Records. The obligatory compilation album was released soon after. Fears that Cosa Nostra were finished as well were unfounded the group resurfaced on 1999's Yippee! on Sony once again, with a companion remix album surfacing a year later.  Bio ~ Ted Mills  http://www.allmusic.com/artist/cosa-nostra-mn0000780601/biography