Hank Mobley - Workout

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 45:50
Size: 104.9 MB
Styles: Hard bop, Saxophone jazz
Year: 1961/2006
Art: Front

[ 9:58] 1. Workout
[10:44] 2. Uh Huh
[ 7:28] 3. Smokin'
[ 5:16] 4. The Best Things In Life Are Free
[ 6:58] 5. Greasin' Easy
[ 5:23] 6. Three Coins In The Fountain

This is one of the best-known Hank Mobley recordings, and for good reason. Although none of his four originals ("Workout," "Uh Huh," "Smokin'," "Greasin' Easy") caught on, the fine saxophonist is in top form. He jams on the four tunes, plus "The Best Things in Life Are Free," with an all-star quintet of young modernists -- guitarist Grant Green, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones -- and shows that he was a much stronger player than his then-current boss Miles Davis seemed to think. [Some reissues add a version of "Three Coins in the Fountain" from the same date, originally released on Another Workout.] ~Scott Yanow

Workout

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Hot Club Of Columbia - Swing 42

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 62:04
Size: 142.1 MB
Styles: Gypsy jazz
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[3:44] 1. Swing 42
[3:30] 2. Billet Doux
[3:51] 3. Minor Swing
[4:14] 4. Undecided
[5:46] 5. Manoir De Mes Reves
[3:54] 6. J'attendrai
[4:42] 7. Tears
[7:45] 8. Dr. Jazz
[4:03] 9. Lulu Swing
[3:15] 10. Viper's Dream
[5:51] 11. Slide Sister Slide
[2:51] 12. Swing De Paris
[5:27] 13. One Stolen Night
[3:06] 14. Belleville

Eventually everything old is new again. If you survey today’s music scene you will observe a fusion of music happening. Elements of rock, blues, jazz and ethnic folk music are being combined in a variety of ways. This reminds us of when jazz was blooming. Classically trained musicians such as Eddie Lang, Joe Venuti and Stephane Grappelli were inflecting jazz music with their classical heritage. Likewise Django Reinhardt was infusing traditional folk music from the gypsy camps in France into jazz. Swing 42 fuses classically trained musicians with jazz musicians to create hot club jazz.

Swing 42

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Shannon Gibbons - S/T

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 41:40
Size: 95.4 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 1987/2010
Art: Front

[3:16] 1. This Could Be The Start Of Something Big
[4:48] 2. But Beautiful
[3:07] 3. This Can't Be Love
[5:56] 4. Lately
[5:26] 5. Make Someone Happy
[3:02] 6. Just In Time
[6:08] 7. My One And Only Love
[3:28] 8. There Will Never Be Another You
[6:22] 9. You Don't Know What Love Is

Recording information: 39th Street Studio, NY (05/11/1987). Shannon Gibbons (vocals); Cecil Bridgewater (trumpet); Kenny Barron (piano); Rufus Reid (acoustic bass); Ben Riley (drums).

Shannon Gibbons

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Rob Heron & The Tea Pad Orchestra - Talk About The Weather

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 47:19
Size: 108.3 MB
Styles: Swing, Folk, Roots
Year: 2014
Art: Front

[3:30] 1. Drinking Coffee Rag
[4:39] 2. Soleil
[3:49] 3. Junk On The Radio
[3:48] 4. Crazy Country Fool
[4:32] 5. Hey Mr Landlord!
[4:08] 6. Small Town Blues
[4:27] 7. Killed By Love
[4:07] 8. High Speed Train
[5:20] 9. I'm Feelin' Blue
[4:06] 10. Penny Drop Mambo
[4:48] 11. Don't Kick That Oven Door

There’s always something to be grumbly, opposed to and misanthropic about. While this may seem bleak for humanity in general, it’s great news for blues’ musicians who wish to sing about more than love and drunkenness. Long queues at the supermarket? There’s a tune right there. The council has rerouted your favourite bus a 15 minute walk away from your house? Get out the guitar. The possibilities are endless, unfortunately.

Distilling the essence of disgruntlement into song, however, is a special kind of talent, particularly if a songwriter is to avoid hitting the same downbeat note. It requires spinning a sense of joy and satisfaction from subject matter that is often resolutely unromantic, such as the weather, rogue landlords and the HS2 rail network.

Step forward Rob Heron and the Tea Pad Orchestra. A combination of offbeat, quirky lyrics and wonderfully tight and inventive musicianship raises their new album Talk About The Weather firmly out of the humdrum. Heron’s smokey, expressive vocals and keen sense of dynamics inject a sense of continuity into a varied repertoire of upbeat ragtime and swing numbers, country songs and a mambo. There is a real sense of fun and occasion that runs throughout the album.

Drinking Coffee Rag tells the sorry tale of one man’s descent into coffee addiction, while Junk On The Radio bemoans the vacuousness of modern media. Hey Mr Landlord and High-Speed Train tackle some of the more pressing political and social issues of our time. Penny Drop Mambo evidences the group’s flair for a broad variety of musical styles and Heron showcases his talent as a straight up crooner on I’m Feeling Blue, a simple, sparse song about love and loneliness. Sometimes the meaning of the blues is just that straightforward. ~Rachel Devine

Talk About The Weather

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Ken Peplowski - Noir Blue

Styles: Clarinet And Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:48
Size: 141,8 MB
Art: Front

(4:31)  1. The Best Thing For You
(5:13)  2. Home With You
(5:38)  3. Bourbon Street Jingling Jollies
(6:44)  4. Riverboat Shuffle
(6:17)  5. Love Locked Out
(4:00)  6. If Not For You
(8:31)  7. Multi-Colored Blue
(6:20)  8. Noir Blue
(6:35)  9. Nobody Else But Me
(7:56) 10. Little Dogs

Ken Peplowski has much to say; not in the sense that he jabbers incessantly, as many men with horns (and embouchures for hire) sometimes do. However, in erudite and leaping ululations, and in warm, wafting glissandos he sings of the gaiety and sadness of life. This he does through clarinet or tenor saxophone, depending on the echo and longevity he wishes his harmonic monologues to have. An old soul, with a spectacular perspective on the past, Peplowski lives in a place called the "near future"; just close enough for him to cast shy, but frequent glances into the ever-present. His song is tinged with a glimmering shade of sadness, but as a wry epicure, he seems to always smile just beyond the wet guise of his reeds. If all this seems contrary to a musician schooled on the waxed floors of swing, it bears mention that the Peplowski eschews unnecessary chatter and hollow garrulousness for meaningful tributaries of sound that always have a harmonic confluence with the poetry of melody and utterly surprising rhythm . He is a not-so-distant disciple of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, of Hoagy Carmichael and therefore Bix Beiderbecke. Not in emulating their music, but certainly in his understanding of the alchemy of sound that made them special beacons that called across the ocean of music. This is why he can hear and reveal in genteel manner a bolero once hidden in "Bourbon Street Jingling Jollies." Or where he might skip and swing with eloquent grace (including a quick wink at Charlie Parker somewhere in the middle chorus) as he romps through the "Riverboat Shuffle," where others might end up with a wild and loud rant. 

On Noir Blue, which might well be something to savor for a considerable length of time, the clarinetist and saxophonist finds that he is closer to the deep azure of the Duke that otherwise imagined. Not that anyone is complaining. Ray Noble "Love Locked Out" and Strayhorn's "Multi-Colored Blue" come in complimentary shades of indigo, the latter an elemental lament with a deeply cathartic wail in its tail. "Noir Blue" is equally moving and inhabits the same realm and yet gives credence to the ancient belief that the blues is nothing but deep sorrow turning into joy and at Peplowski's hand, seemingly turning on a dime if that. Such is his mastery of emotion and his ability to curve the air with feeling. Peplowski is not alone in this wonderful adventure. Surrounding himself with a group of musicians who subscribe the identical point of view, he forges an alliance that can only further his joyous cause. Pianist Shelly Berg, bassist Jay Leonhart and drummer Joe LaBarbera are old souls too. They dive into the same well of emotions with Peplowski, plunging into sorrowing hues and bursting out; soaring into the bubbling spray of elation with him. Together they make the experience of Noir Blue something truly unforgettable. ~ Raul D’Gama Rose  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/noir-blue-ken-peplowski-capri-records-review-by-raul-dgama-rose.php#.U-f98GNryKI

Personnel: Ken Peplowski: clarinet, tenor saxophone; Shelley Berg: piano; Jay Leonhart: bass; Joe La Barbera: drums.

noir blue

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Freda Payne - Come Back to Me Love

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:00
Size: 147,7 MB
Art: Front

(4:23)  1. You'd Be so Nice to Come Home To
(3:54)  2. Haven't We Met
(3:52)  3. Lately
(5:24)  4. Come Back to Me Love
(3:23)  5. Whatever Happened to Me
(3:48)  6. You Don't Know
(5:21)  7. Save Your Love for Me
(3:55)  8. Guess I'll Hang My Tears out to Dry
(6:10)  9. The Island
(3:32) 10. I Should Have Told Him
(4:25) 11. I Just Have to Know
(5:38) 12. Midnight Sun
(4:47) 13. Spring Can Really Hang You up the Most
(4:23) 14. I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water

In 1970, the spirited R&B/pop singer Freda Payne had a monster success with "Band of Gold," a bouncy love-gone-wrong song that was probably the first top 40 hit ever written about impotence. Decades later, with undiminished pipes, beauty, and impressive energy, Payne returns to the spotlight with this big-band outing from Mack Records on its Artistry Music imprint. Arranged and conducted by the brilliant pianist Bill Cunliffe, Come Back to Me Love features a full complement of brass and horns together with a cushion of violins, violas, cellos, and a guitar, vibraphone, and harp. It's an elaborate yet tasteful backdrop for the 14 songs in the session. 

These include six written by Gretchen C. Valade, the founder of Mack Records, whose lyrics are clever and ring true, but whose melodies don't rise to the classic level of "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To," "The Island" and "Midnight Sun" (Note: the "Lately" on this track list is not by Stevie Wonder.) Payne's versatile voice, with its echoes of Dinah Washington, Marlena Shaw and Nancy Wilson, sounds best when belting through a blazing arrangement of "I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water," or sensuously wrapped around a beloved standard like "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry." 

It's ironic, given the luscious colors of all those horns and strings, that one of the album's standouts would be this simple quartet arrangement of ..."Tears" (bass, piano, brushes, guitar). Moreover at least to these ears Payne never sounds better than she does on "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most," which is just a duo with Cunliffe's eloquent and lyrical piano. Perhaps the intimacy of the setting makes the communication deeper and more direct; maybe Payne just had a special love for the song. It's also possible that things in the studio were simply more relaxed when it was recorded. In any case, it's a moving and memorable beauty, the crown jewel of a thoroughly enjoyable and versatile collection. ~ Dr Judith Schlesinger  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/come-back-to-me-love-freda-payne-mack-avenue-records-review-by-dr-judith-schlesinger.php#.U-ZoS2NryKI
 

Personnel: Freda Payne: vocals; Bill Cunliffe: piano, synth; David Stone: bass; Dan Lutz: bass; Jonathan Richards: bass; Curt Bisquera: drums; Joe LaBarbera: drums; Walter Rodriguez: percussion; John Chiodini: guitar; Alisha Bauer: cello; Vanessa Freebairn-Smith: cello; Pete Christlieb: saxophone; Tom Peterson: saxophone; Keith Fiddmont: saxophone; Brian Scanlon: saxophone; Bob Sheppard: saxophone; Nick Mancini: vibraphone; Bob McChesney: trumpet: Carl Saunders: trumpet; Bob Summers: trumpet; Kye Palmer: trumpet; John Papenbook: trumpet; Bijon Watson: trumpet; Jeff Driskill: flute; Ben Devitt: trombone; Andy Martin: trombone; Bob McChesney: trombone: Ira Nepus: trombone; Briana Bandy: viola; Scott Hosfeld: viola; Jessica Vanvelzen Freer: viola; Amy Shulman: harp; Clayton Haslop: violin; Sharon Jackson: violin; Peter Kent: violin; Barbara Porter: violin; Erica Walczak: violin; John Wittenberg: violin; Judy Yoo: violin.

Come Back to Me Love

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Fred Hersch - Floating

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:36
Size: 134,2 MB
Art: Front

(5:41)  1. You & the Night & the Music
(5:48)  2. Floating
(2:01)  3. West Virginia Rose (For Florette & Roslyn)
(5:52)  4. Home Fries (For John Hebert)
(6:34)  5. Far Away (For Shimrit)
(6:27)  6. Arcata (For Esperanza)
(7:03)  7. A Speech to the Sea (For Maari
(6:05)  8. Autumn Haze (For Kevin Hays)
(6:11)  9. If Ever I Would Leave You
(6:49) 10. Let's Cool One

There's no arguing the considerable merits of pianist Fred Hersch's Alive at the Vanguard (Palmetto Records, 2012) or his Alone at the Vanguard (Palmetto Records, 2011), trio and solo efforts respectively, both recorded live at the legendary Village Vanguard, home of so many classic live sets. Hersch is at the height of his artistic powers in the place. It seems a consensus opinion that "Live" is better, an idea that has picked up credibility with the technical evolution resulting in very nearly studio quality sound for the documentation of concert recordings. No more murky sonics injected with those "tinkling ice, background chatter" crowd noises that can be heard on so many of the live offerings from yesteryear. But let's not downplay the studio, especially in Hersch's case. His Whirl (Palmetto Records 2010) isn't Hersch's most lauded recording that accolade probably goes to his ambitious larger ensemble offering Leaves of Grass (Palmetto Records, 2005). But Whirl is a studio piano trio recording put together to perfection to simulate a tight live set. And Floating is more of that, with the same trio Hersch joined by John Hebert on bass and drummer Eric McPherson going even deep in that mode of operation. The trio opens with a touchstone, the familiar "You and the Night and the Music," laid down in an unfamiliar way spiced up and rollicking. Saucy. A version to bring a smile, that gives way to the title tune, a Hersch original. 

The sound is a fluid, frictionless momentum that does indeed evoke the sensation of weightlessness, of notes floating on clouds. Music played on the moon. Hersch is a marvelous tune-smith, writing in a variety of styles and moods, while maintaining the cohesion of the "set." "West Virginia Rose," dedicated to Hersch's mother and grandmother, plays with Appalachian themes. "Home Fries" slides down south to Louisiana with its second line New Orleans feel, and is dedicated to bassist Hebert, who hails from the Baton Rouge. The trio really lets go and lets it rip on the tune, before moving into the wistful, delicately drawn "Far Away," a piece that Hersch wrote for the late Israeli pianist Shimrit Shoshan. The pianist's touch here is deft and delicate beside McPherson's subtle brushwork and Hebert's steady, dreamy patience on the bass. Three more distinctive originals are played out before the trio shifts back to the familiar, with a gorgeous, understated version of Lerner and Lowes' "If Ever I Would Leave You," and then closing with Thelonious Monk's "Let's Cool One," sounding refined and playful and devil-may-care on this perfect close out to a superb piano trio set. ~ Dan Mcclenaghan  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/floating-fred-hersch-palmetto-records-review-by-dan-mcclenaghan.php#.U-hTTmNryKI

Personnel: Fred Hersch: piano; John Hebert: bass; Eric McPherson: drums.

Floating

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