Melba Liston - Melba Liston & Her Bones

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 50:55
Size: 116.6 MB
Styles: Bop, Trombone jazz
Year: 2011
Art: Front

[4:41] 1. Zagred This
[2:30] 2. The Trolley Song
[3:24] 3. Insomnia
[3:54] 4. You Don’t Say
[4:56] 5. Christmas Eve
[5:04] 6. Never Do An Abadanian
[4:20] 7. Very Syrian Business
[4:17] 8. What’s My Line Theme
[3:18] 9. The Dark Before The Dawn
[6:27] 10. Blues Melba
[4:00] 11. Pow!
[3:57] 12. Wonder Why

Finding an obscure recording, especially one of quality, can be exciting for jazz enthusiasts. This reissue of Melba Liston's only recording as a leader, originally released by the short-lived Metro Jazz label half a century ago, is cause for celebration. The reissued Melba Liston and Her 'Bones also includes four tracks from another session which was originally released under Frank Rehak's name.

Melba Liston is best known as an arranger and composer, thanks to her associations with Dizzy Gillespie and subsequently Randy Weston. But she was a virtuoso trombone player as well. On this recording she joins a variety of other trombonists, including Bennie Green, Al Grey, and Benny Powell (three tracks); Jimmy Cleveland, Frank Rehak and Slide Hampton (five tracks); and Frank Rehak (the four bonus tracks). The leader's interplay with the other trombone players adds to the musical richness of the recording.

Even in the company of high-quality, accomplished master musicians like these, her musical skills stand out. Her lyrical improvisations are melodic, clear and gay when she plays unmuted, and mysterious and warm when muted. This recording is one of the few places to hear Melba Liston solo, in addition to two tracks on Ernie Henry's Last Chorus (Riverside, 1958) and a beautiful solo on "My Reverie with the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra.

This hard-swinging music is firmly planted in the bop tradition, enhanced by the playing of Marti Flax (baritone sax) and Kenny Burrell (guitar) on specific tracks. Melba Liston's playing matches her compositional skills; she wrote four of the twelve pieces, and they shine with originality. Liston has long been ignored as a composer and horn player, in large part due to gender bias, and so this reissue is long overdue—not just because of its historical value, but also the quality of the music. ~HRAYR ATTARIAN

Melba Liston, Bennie Green, Al Grey, Benny Powell: trombone; Kenny Burrell: guitar; George Joyner: bass; Charlie Persip: drums (3,6,7). Melba Liston, Jimmy Cleveland, Frank Rehak: trombone; Slide Hampton: trombone, tuba; Ray Bryant: piano; Frank Dunlop: drums (1,2,4,5,8). Melba Liston, Frank Rehak: trombone; Marty Flax: baritone saxophone; Walter Davis Jr.: piano; Nelson Boyd: bass; Charlie Persip: drums (9-12).

Melba Liston & Her Bones

---

Artie Shaw - The Artistry Of Artie Shaw & His Bop Band

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 55:12
Size: 126.4 MB
Styles: Big band
Year: 2000/2006
Art: Front

[3:21] 1. Smooth And Easy
[3:18] 2. Krazy Cat
[3:42] 3. Afro-Cubana
[3:39] 4. Stardust
[4:06] 5. Fred's Delight
[3:25] 6. I Get A Kick Out Of You
[3:47] 7. Mucho De Nada
[3:12] 8. I Cover The Waterfront
[3:00] 9. 's Wonderful
[3:25] 10. Similau
[3:41] 11. Aesop's Foibles
[2:52] 12. They Can't Take That Away From Me
[3:22] 13. So Easy
[3:06] 14. Carnival
[2:39] 15. Orinoco
[4:30] 16. Innuendo

In 1949, just before he was about to start yet another big band, Artie Shaw made the following statement: "We'll find an identity. Perhaps it would be fairer to say I'll find one. Sooner or later all bands that stick find an identity, and find it through their leader. All the sounds -the creative arrangements, the pop tunes and the originals - must be channelized through the leader."

And on September 14, 1949 Artie Shaw was back on the bandstand, opening at Symphony Hall, Boston. The band's book contained both old and new material, and it was the first time Shaw had gone on the road with a band for many years. The 1949 band features a mixture of numbers associated with the Shaw bands of the early 40's and some in a more modern vein from new writers/arrangers such as Tadd Dameron, Johnny Mandel, Gene Roland and George Russell, with the more exotic Latin sounds coming from the pen of John Bartee.

Artie Shaw (leader, cl) with Don Paladino, Don Fagerquist, Dale Pierce and Vic Ford (tp), Sonny Russo, Fred Zito, Ange Callea and Porky Cohen (tb), Herb Steward and Frank Socolow (as), Al Cohn and Zoot Sims (ts), Danny Bank (bars), Gil Barrios (p), Jimmy Raney (g), Dick Niveson (b), Irv Kluger (d)

The Artistry Of Artie Shaw & His Bop Band

---

Rita Lee - Balacobaco

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 46:20
Size: 106.1 MB
Styles: Ballads, Bossa Nova
Year: 2003
Art: Front

[3:37] 1. Amor E Sexo
[3:47] 2. A Fulana
[3:39] 3. As Mina De Sampa
[3:44] 4. Copacabana
[4:35] 5. B A L A C O B A C O
[3:32] 6. Ja Te Falei
[4:14] 7. Nave Terra
[4:17] 8. A Gripe Do Amor
[3:41] 9. Tudo Vira Bosta
[3:06] 10. Eu E Mim
[3:41] 11. Over The Rainbow
[4:22] 12. Hino Dos Malucos

Rita Lee is one of Sao Paulo's best known daughters. Initially with the seminal band Os Mutantes during Tropicalia,and later with the band Tutti Frutti, Lee went on his own teamed with husband Roberto in the mid 1970s. Most of her subsequent works were top notch spawning Brazilian rock classics such as DOCE VAMPIRO,ALO MARCIANO & BALADA DO LOUCO. Her latest work,BALACOBACO features ballads (the hit AMOR E SEXO) and other songs that range from bossa nova such as COPACABANA BOY to a more uptempo song like As Mina DE SAMPA. The quality of arrangements,instrumentation and vocals are simply amazing. ~Antonio M Vazquezpausa/amazon

Balacobaco

---

Joni Janak - The Wind

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2002
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:50
Size: 165,6 MB
Art: Front

(5:13)  1. The Wind
(3:44)  2. Chega de Saudade (No More Blues)
(6:25)  3. Where Do You Start?
(7:22)  4. I Concentrate on You
(5:35)  5. Night Town
(4:49)  6. With a Song in My Heart
(7:20)  7. Close Enough for Love
(6:49)  8. I Have a Feeling I've Been Here Before
(4:44)  9. The Way You Look Tonight
(6:22) 10. Trouble with Hello Is Goodbye
(3:58) 11. Only You
(3:32) 12. Cinnamon & Clove
(5:51) 13. Music Is Forever

Born and raised in Amarillo, Texas, vocalist Joni Janak attended college at Texas Tech University on a Vocal Scholarship. Her passion for music began when she was a youngster. With the attraction for the vocal style of Doris Day as her early influence, Joni soon journeyed into the world of jazz. Her innate talent was influenced by both belonging to a music-oriented family, as well as listening to the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Dakota Staton, Ethel Ennis, Irene Kral, June Christy, and other singers - especially those fronting big bands. Her grandparents and parents owned, operated and taught in the Amarillo College of Music. In 1969, she moved to Denver, Colorado and has lived there since. She is considered to be The Song Stylist in that geographic location - and to the ears of many fans, The Singer of Choice throughout the world. 

Her reputation for excellence is heard in her performances, as well as on her recordings as a leader, Let's Live Again (JLECD- 44004), The Wind (JLECD-4123), and on Centerpiece Jazz' Get Outta Here! (JLECD-8400) on the Jazz Link Enterprises label. She is also featured on (drummer) Ron Moewes' CD, Ron Moewes and Friends: All This You Gave to Me (JLECD-6099). Additionally, she is heard on several of KUVO-89.3 FM 24-hour-a-day jazz radio station's live Performance Studio CDs that are compilations of musicians used for fund-raising premiums.

Performing professionally since age 13, she has worked and/or recorded with such notables as Carl Fontana, Stefan Karlsson, Marvin Stamm, Ed Soph, Tom Warrington, Ross Tompkins, Carson Smith, Bill Watrous, Andy Simpkins, Jake Hanna, Bob Cooper and Conte and Pete Candoli. She has worked with many musicians in Colorado, including Ellyn Rucker, Ron Moewes, Ed Stephen, Dean Ross, Dale Bruning, Rich Chiaraluce, Eric Gunnison, Jeff Jenkins, The Gordon Dooley Orchestra, Ken Walker, Roger Campbell, Mark Simon, Colin Gieg, The Hot Tomatoes, Dean Bushnell Big Band, and Paul Romaine.

Her first European tour occurred in Derry, Northern Ireland in 2001, followed by a highly acclaimed appearance during the Derry Jazz Festival in 2002. While there, she was a guest on several television and radio programs. In the United States, her CDs are played by syndicated radio hosts Bob Bednar, Bob Parlocha, Jim Wilke, and Ross Gentile. Collectively, these radio programs are heard in more than 100 cities throughout the United States, as well as being streamed from their websites world- wide. http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/janak2

The Wind

---

Cyrille Aimée - It's a Good Day

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:03
Size: 99,7 MB
Art: Front

(2:46)  1. Where or When
(2:28)  2. It's a Good Day
(3:51)  3. Bamboo Shoots
(3:20)  4. Twenty-Eight
(3:16)  5. Caravan
(4:11)  6. Nuit Blanche
(3:30)  7. Young at Heart
(3:03)  8. Off the Wall
(2:33)  9. Love Me or Leave Me
(4:59) 10. One Way Ticket
(3:32) 11. Pourtant
(3:03) 12. All Love
(2:25) 13. Tricotism

It's A Good Day is the major label debut by the widely acclaimed young jazz singer Cyrille Aimée-yet another step forward for the rapidly rising vocalist. Winner of both the Montreux Jazz Festival's Vocal Competition and the Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition, Aimée explores a range of musical styles, eras, continents and moods on It's A Good Day (Mack Avenue) with a singular voice on inventive arrangements, produced by Fabrice DuPont (Shakira, Jennifer Lopez). Aimée's musical outlook is reflected in an emphasis on the guitar, an instrument with an indigenous form in nearly every culture of the world-and it was the sound of the gypsy guitar that inspired Aimée to become a musician. While growing up in Samois-sur-Seine, Aimée snuck out of her home to the nearby gypsy encampments and was mesmerized by the music of those who followed the spirit of Django Reinhardt, revered as one of the world's most influential guitarists. Aimée-who as a child also lived in Paris, Cameroon, Singapore and the Dominican Republic-later became fascinated with Brazilian guitar, and her music reveals a thorough understanding of bossa nova and samba idioms. 

She has now settled in Brooklyn, where she continues to absorb the inner workings of American jazz and the culture of the music's homeland. The musical accompaniment on It's A Good Day is as novel as Aimée herself: three guitars (Jazz, Gypsy and Brazilian) with bass and drums. This captivating multi-guitar sound is provided by her close collaborator, Michael Valeanu, a player of French and Italian extraction on a contemporary jazz-style electric guitar; her countryman Adrien Moignard on the steel-string guitar gypsies favor due to its piercing, staccato sound; and the Brazilian guitarist Guilherme Mont eiro, who relies on a nylon-stringed instrument which provides the bossa nova its soft and undulating sensuous sound. Thoughtful arrangements of the thirteen songs-both standards and originals-ensure a sumptuous musical blend. "We worked hard to create a road map for each guitar to make the sound beautiful and exciting-without creating a musical traffic jam," explains Aimée. The flexible and fluid rhythm section of bassist Sam Anning and drummer Rajiv Jayaweera holds it all together. Opening the album are two standards, an engaging version of Rodgers and Hart's "Where Or When," and the upbeat title track, "It's A Good Day," made famous by Peggy Lee. "Bamboo Shoots," an alluring original by Anning, somehow manages to sound gypsy, Hawaiian and pop-all at the same time. In the same vein, her arrangement of "Love Me Or Leave Me" has an original multi-cultural spin. "I was inspired to do a version of 'Love Me Or Leave Me' after hearing Nina Simone's recording," recalls Aimée, "and then I found the Billie Holiday version, and was further inspired." Seamlessly added to the mix are covers of Michael Jackson's "Off The Wall" and Duke Ellington's "Caravan." "Caravan was one of the first songs I ever learned," says Aimée, "and it was time to inject some fiery gypsy soul into it." 

That frame of mind found it to "Pourtant," a French pop song that was a hit for Vanessa Paradis, as well as "All Love," which began as an instrumental composition by the late guitarist Babik Reinhardt, the son of the legendary Django. "I heard this beautiful melody so many times, but when they played it at Babik's funeral, I asked for permission to put a lyric to it." It's A Good Day also features catchy original compositions by Aimée. Featured are "One Way Ticket"-the result of a trip to India, "Twenty-Eight" and "Nuit Blanche" ("White Night"), a French expression that refers to an inability to sleep while brooding over lost love. Oscar Pettiford's "Tricotism" is the zesty closer-almost an encore. How better to feature bassist Anning than in a jazz classic by one of the founding fathers of the modern jazz bass? Cyrille Aimée is an artist of many facets. Infused by a novel blend of multicultural influences, a vision for a unique sound and with a voice that is sublime, It's A Good Day makes for a great day for a wide array of lovers of music.  

http://www.criticaljazz.com/2014/06/cyrille-aimee-its-good-day-coming-81914.html

It's a Good Day

---

Bobby Enriquez And Richie Cole - The Wildman Meets Madman

Styles: Jazz, World Fusion
Year: 1981
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:53
Size: 100,7 MB
Art: Front

(6:15)  1. Groovin' High
(4:54)  2. Once In A While
(4:53)  3. Yardbird Suite
(6:52)  4. Wildman Blues
(6:38)  5. On Green Dolphin Street
(6:33)  6. Blue Hawaii
(2:32)  7. Serenata
(5:13)  8. Um Um

The second recording by pianist Bobby Enriquez is a crazy affair. Enriquez, who had the tendency to throw in an excess of silly song quotes, meets up with the equally crazy Richie Cole, and they bring out the worst in each other. With guitarist Bruce Forman, bassist Bob Magnusson and drummer Shelly Manne keeping the proceedings swinging, Enriquez and Cole generally start out their solos well before getting bogged down in topping each other's absurdity. This set is not without interest, and some of the humor (such as Cole's "vocal" on "Wild Man Blues") works, but much of it is tiresome by the second or third listen. ~ Scott Yanow  http://www.allmusic.com/album/wildman-meets-the-madman-mw0000905836

The Wildman Meets Madman

---

Sant Andreu Jazz Band - Live At Casa Fuster - Barcelona

Styles: Jazz, Big Band
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:02
Size: 166,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:03)  1. Cute
(5:49)  2. Some Of These Days
(4:12)  3. Basin Street Blues
(5:14)  4. China Boy
(3:19)  5. Splanky
(2:39)  6. When You're Smiling
(3:39)  7. Tiger Rag
(5:03)  8. In A Sentimental Mood
(3:09)  9. Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans
(2:09) 10. Bill Bailey
(6:22) 11. Careless Love
(3:12) 12. Shiny Stockings
(3:08) 13. Petite Fleur
(4:11) 14. The Sheik Of Araby
(5:22) 15. Black And Tan Fantasy
(5:14) 16. That's A Plenty
(4:25) 17. You Need To Rock
(1:45) 18. Turtle Walk

"The Sant Andreu Jazz Band is a dream come true. It is the result of sharing my passion for jazz with its members (most of whom are between 10 and 16 years old), of believing that they can do as well or better than me, of feeling like the most advanced student rather than the teacher, and of not putting limits on their abilities. The band was formed in 2006, in the heart of the Escola Municipal de Música de Sant Andreu. Since then it has gradually developed into what it is today: a large, open musical group that is constantly evolving."~ Joan Chamorro

“These young people are very lucky to have someone like Joan Chamorro. It is hard to find someone who can teach people to play with so much heart and with such a wide range of musical forms. They play everything with confidence, from the oldest sounds to swing. I am incredibly impressed. I will tell everyone about these young people when I get to New York”~ Scott Robinson  http://santandreujazzband.bandcamp.com/album/jazzing-live-at-casa-fuster

With Joan Chamorro, Dani Alonso, Juli Aymí, Josep Mª Farràs, Curro Gálvez, Ricard Gili, Carlos Martín, Pepe Robles, Clara Sallago, Ignasi Terraza, Josep Traver, Sergi Vergés.

Live At Casa Fuster-Barcelona

---