Danny Caron - How Sweet It Is

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 48:40
Size: 111.4 MB
Styles: Jazz-blues guitar
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[4:54] 1. Zydeco Boogaloo
[4:37] 2. The Promised Land
[4:30] 3. One For The Road
[4:19] 4. Grand Lake Shuffle
[4:56] 5. E.S.B. Blues
[6:12] 6. The Chicken
[4:22] 7. Need Your Love So Bad
[4:31] 8. Rock Candy
[7:09] 9. Body And Soul
[3:04] 10. Our Miss Brooks

n his own description, Danny Caron sees How Sweet It Is as an extension of Good Hands, and in many ways it is. But to my ears while Good Hands is about incredible guitar work from an incredible guitarist, How Sweet It Is is about musical choices. Don’t get me wrong, there is still plenty of great guitar work here but the choices make How Sweet It Is the great CD it is.

The first choice, naturally enough, is the music. While mostly slow blues and stylized jazz, there are even a couple of different flavors of zydeco, the jumping Zydeco Boogoloo and the slow, country roots One For The Road. As his bio indicates, this is the range of music Danny has been playing his whole life, and continues to play. All the numbers are beautifully arranged.

The next choice is the musicians. While all the players on this CD are noteworthy, to me the keyboard players deserve special mention: Wayne De La Cruz and Jimmy Pugh driving B-3 and John R. Burr on piano. It doesn’t get better at providing a counterpoint to Caron’s guitar. And though he only appears on a couple of tracks, Jeff Ervin delivers some truly powerful sax.

Did I mention vocals? The late Charles Brown is here; so smooth, like silk, forever. And Barbara Morrison, playful and earthy, like hearing the blues you always knew but never knew you missed quite so much.

For what is primarily an instrumental album, the several vocals on this CD are, on their own merit, worth the price of admission.

In short, How Sweet It Is is a great musical choice. Check it out. ~Karl Cishek

How Sweet It Is

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Chicago Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble - Blueprints

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 56:57
Size: 130.4 MB
Styles: Latin jazz
Year: 2010
Art: Front

[ 6:17] 1. Send Eggs
[ 8:38] 2. Milesmiles
[ 8:19] 3. Captain Spok
[ 5:33] 4. Vuelvo A Vivir
[ 5:50] 5. Blueprints
[ 6:06] 6. Bossa Pegajosa
[ 5:42] 7. Tierra
[10:28] 8. Timeless

When cooking a marvelous soup or stew from scratch with all the finest ingredients, there's that special moment when the culinary creation rushes to a boil and marvelous flavors burst out explosively into the air. It's the penultimate moment only surpassed by the delicious devouring. Contentment follows.

The selections contained in the Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble's fine Blueprints are wonderfully reminiscent of a musical recipe that simmers slowly and then bursts into a fiery buffet. This is a marvelously entertaining offering by a group of outstanding musicians, writers and arrangers. Forget the designations "Latin" and "jazz." This is outstanding, high-energy music. The recipe here is exclusively spicy Latin with wonderful, generous dollops of inventive, hard jazz playing across the board. While the Latin (and one reggae) grooves might sound familiar, it's the playing and exciting soloing over those rhythmic/harmonic structural underpinnings that blow white-hot. There's an air of machismo that runs throughout Blueprints from note one.

Not surprisingly, this group delivers. Each selection also offers intelligent and compelling writing. The arrangements all seem to be neatly constructed to allow room for both ensemble and solo showcases to reach a climax, all while avoiding any Latin band rhythmic or harmonic clichés. The ensemble playing is tight and the arrangers demand absolutely everything of the band, including cascading pyramids and melodic/time complexities on tracks like "Captain Spok." The one vocal cut, "Vuelvo a Vivir," segues from a rather restrained reggae groove to a blistering salsa, complete with screaming trumpet dog-whistle holdover. Soloists Juan Turros, on tenor sax, and trumpeter Victor Garcia (both of whom also add marvelous compositions and arrangements) delight. Alto saxophonist Greg Ward II inspires, while pianist Darwin Noguera throbs. The addition of trombonist/shell player Steve Turre is a wonderful, exciting touch, his playing always intelligently emotional. Noted trumpeter Roger Ingram helps add atmosphere and supreme lead playing to an ensemble whose rhythm section drives everything unmercifully.

The Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble soars with this exciting CD. It also further embraces the important and integral mix of Afro-American jazz and Latin pulses. Blueprints delivers the goods and cooks. Mama, this is not your average Latin paella. This is muy fuego. ~Nicholas F Mondello

Victor Garcia: trumpet; Tito Carrillo: trumpet; Roger Ingram: trumpet; Freddie Rodriguez: trumpet; Steve Turre: trombone, shells; John Mose: trombone; Craig Sunken: trombone; Greg Ward II: alto sax; Rocky Yera: tenor sax, baritone sax, flute; Steve Eisen: baritone sax; Rich Moore: alto sax (7), clarinet (7); Neal Alger: guitar; Darwin Noguera: piano: Joshua Ramos: electric bass; Paoli Mejia: congas; Victor Gonzales, Jr. congas; Juan Picorelli: timbales; Ernie Adams: drums (1, 3, 4, 6, 8); Juan Daniel Pastor: drums (2, 5, 7); Juan Daniel Pastor: cajon; Nythia Martinez: vocal; Ricky Luis: vocal.

Blueprints

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Deborah Brown - Jazz 4 Jazz

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 65:53
Size: 150.8 MB
Styles: Vocals, Standards
Year: 1988/1993/2000
Art: Front

[5:03] 1. Little Esther
[4:24] 2. Denise
[6:30] 3. Finally
[4:55] 4. It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
[8:05] 5. Embraceable You
[7:42] 6. Since I Fell For You
[7:31] 7. I Thought About You
[3:06] 8. My Romance
[3:26] 9. What Is This Thing Called Love
[5:08] 10. When We Were One
[2:53] 11. Bebop
[7:03] 12. When I Fall In Love

A pleasing and swinging singer who has not become famous in the United States despite her talents, Deborah Brown is in top form on this 1993 reissue of a set recorded in 1988 for the tiny Reaction label. Accompanied by a top-notch trio of American expatriates (pianist Horace Parlan, bassist Red Mitchell, and drummer Ed Thigpen), Brown swings her way through such songs as "It Don't Mean a Thing," "I Thought About You," "My Romance," and Dizzy Gillespie's "Bebop." This CD starts out a little unusual with one song apiece by Parlan, Thigpen, and Mitchell, tunes that give Deborah Brown an opportunity to show how creative a singer she is, before she tackles the well-known standards. Happily, Brown has remained active in Europe into the 21st century. Recommended. ~Scott Yanow

Jazz 4 Jazz

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Cris Monen Jazz & Blues Band - You've Got To Pay The Band

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 48:01
Styles: Blues-jazz, Easy Listening
Year: 1995
Art: Front

[3:34] 1. Oh Babe
[2:09] 2. Ma, She's Making Eyes A Me
[4:14] 3. Blue Light Boogie
[2:42] 4. Lulu's Back In Town
[3:46] 5. After You've Gone
[3:15] 6. One Note Samba
[3:40] 7. Georgia Mae
[3:51] 8. Hush, Hush
[3:31] 9. Some Of These Days
[2:55] 10. A Good Girl Is Hard To Find
[3:31] 11. I'm Crazy 'bout My Baby
[4:18] 12. She's Funny That Way
[3:21] 13. Saturday Night Fish Fry
[3:09] 14. You've Got To Pay The Band

You've Got To Pay The Band is the debut album of blues and jazz singer Cris Monen. He tours around the world with his band and sometimes solo. His beautiful voice and perfect guitar playing are very special. The album truly is magnificent and contains 14 superb easy listening jazz and blues songs. Band members: Cris Monen - guitar and vocals, Sjoerd Dijkhuizen - tenor/alto/saxophone/clarinet, Jos Machtel - trombone/cornet/tuba, Martijn Vink - drums and Frans van Geest - bass. A must fans of this genre.

You've Got To Pay The Band

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Barb Jungr - Chanson: The Space In Between

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:03
Size: 128,8 MB
Art: Front

(5:32)  1. Ne Me Quitte Pas
(6:29)  2. Sunday Morning St Denis
(3:50)  3. I Love Paris
(6:32)  4. Les Marquises
(2:40)  5. Cri du Coeur
(5:13)  6. Quartier Latin
(4:02)  7. Marieke
(2:48)  8. April in Paris
(5:56)  9. La Chanson des Vieux Amants
(3:33) 10. New Amsterdam
(3:19) 11. Les Poetes
(3:14) 12. The Space In Between
(2:48) 13. No regrets

Timeless as it is, you could have asked, justly, whether or not the new millennium really needed yet another interpretation of the Jacques Brel songbook, so often had it been attempted, both successfully and miserably, in the preceding century. Barb Jungr definitively answered that question on Chanson: The Space in Between, and she answered resoundingly in the affirmative -- it is an exhilarating purr of an effort. But then, Jungr, a longstanding anchor of the British alternative cabaret circuit, had already been compared to both Lotte Lenya and Edith Piaf prior to recording this first full-fledged effort in the genre (she had previously performed some of the music live and Bare did include a Brel song amongst its set list), so its accomplishment is no surprise.

The album, too, goes well beyond Brel, featuring as it does a repertoire that includes songs by Cole Porter, Jacques Prévert, Léo Ferré, and E.Y. "Yip" Harburg from the old tradition, as well as a tune from the pen of Elvis Costello and a modern chanson from compatriot Robb Johnson. There are several reasons why Chanson is such a splendid realization of Jungr's vision. For one, the singer specially commissioned translations of the Brel and Ferré pieces from Johnson and fellow cabaret haunter Des de Moor, and they represent the most accurate renderings of these songs into English.

Secondly, producer Calum Malcolm, utilizing an extremely sympathetic band, creates rich, poignant backdrops for the songs. You can hear the mythic Paris of yore wafting throughout, particularly in "Sunday Morning St. Denis" and "Cri du Coeur," while there is an equally strong strain of straight-ahead jazz ("Quartier Latin," "The Space in Between"). Most important, though, are the ravishing readings given by Jungr. Her performance ranges from the almost desperate and passion-haunted, both in life and love ("La Chanson des Vieux Amants"), to the positively triumphant ("Marieke") with equal skill, sounding as gorgeously weathered on "I Love Paris" as she seems delightfully guileless and clear-eyed on "New Amsterdam" (with its flawlessly ringing production). This is cabaret in its highest form. ~ Stanton Swihart  

http://www.allmusic.com/album/chanson-the-space-in-between-mw0000097710

Personnel: Barb Junger (vocals); Rolf Wilson (violin); Kim Burton (kaval, accordion, piano); Russell Churney, Simon Wallace (piano); Julie Walkington (bass); James Tomalin (samples); Kevin Hathway (percussion).

Chanson: The Space In Between

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Joe Sample - Soul Shadows

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:38
Size: 113,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:30)  1. How You Gonna Keep 'Em Down On The Farm?
(5:09)  2. Ain't Misbehavin'
(4:23)  3. Avalon
(5:07)  4. Soul Shadows
(3:36)  5. I Got Rhythm
(4:14)  6. I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good
(3:45)  7. Spellbound
(2:20)  8. It's A Sin To Tell A Lie
(3:36)  9. The Entertainer
(4:09) 10. Shreveport Stomp
(5:13) 11. Embraceable You
(4:30) 12. Jitterbug Waltz

If anyone out in CD land ever wondered what a Joe Sample solo piano album would sound like, here it is and it's a good bet that this is not what a Sample fan would expect. Rather than conform to the cerebral solo piano mainstream as exhaustively set forth in the "Maybeck" series, Sample's inspiration goes way, way back back to the teens and 1920s, to the formative, nearly-forgotten example of James Reese Europe, to the heydays of ragtime and stride. 

On this CD, the key for Sample is to make sure no one misses the missing bass and drums, to keep the pulse of jazz present as much as possible, with lots of thumping stride as a default mode. He does not disguise his heavyweight, full-fisted approach to the keyboard, and there are some occasionally clumsy moments when the line of thought strays. The repertoire is old, perhaps even ancient, at times a bit naive; When was the last time you heard "How You Gonna Keep `Em Down on the Farm?" on any new recording, let alone a jazz record? Gershwin gets his due ( a brittle "I Got Rhythm" and a sometimes whimsical ballad treatment of "Embraceable You"), so does Fats Waller ("Ain't Misbehavin," a staccato "Jitterbug Waltz"), Scott Joplin (a somewhat hesitant "The Entertainer"), and Jelly Roll Morton (a jaunty "Shreveport Stomp"). There are also a pair of Sample originals in a contemplative manner ("Soul Shadows" and "Spellbound"). Although smooth jazz outlets probably won't touch this sampling of Sample, antiquarians will be intrigued. ~ Richard S. Ginell  http://www.allmusic.com/album/soul-shadows-mw0000701715

Personnel: Joe Sample (piano); Paul Mitchell (recorder).

Soul Shadows

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Lynne Barber - Don't Let Another Day Go Bye

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:23
Size: 105,1 MB
Art: Front

(4:50)  1. Crazy He Callsme
(3:52)  2. Ain't Misbehavin'
(4:15)  3. Blame It on My Youth
(3:29)  4. Don't Let Another Day Go Bye
(5:34)  5. I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good
(3:32)  6. Honeysuckel Rose
(3:49)  7. The More I See You
(4:23)  8. Skylark
(3:54)  9. Makin'whoopee/The Glory of Love
(4:42) 10. Baby Don't You Quit
(2:58) 11. When Your Lover Has Gone

Like the great Sarah Vaughn, Lynne bounces around melodies with a sweet mellowness that sets you at ease immediately. Lynne Barber has shared the microphone with such greats as Dizzy Gillespie, Vince Guaraldi and Dodo Marmarosa. Critics have praised her intimate style and soulful delivery. With this CD, her career begins anew. And we, the lucky listeners, get to go along for the ride. Lucky, because Lynne Barber has returned to her jazz roots without letting another day go by. http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/lynne1

Don't Let Another Day Go Bye

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Johnny Guarnieri - Cheerful Little Earful

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 24:08
Size: 55,5 MB
Art: Front

(2:04)  1. At Sundown
(2:01)  2. Three Little Words
(2:10)  3. Ain't We Got Fun
(2:01)  4. After You've Gone
(1:49)  5. Cheeful Little Earful
(1:53)  6. I Love Louisa
(2:12)  7. Ain't Misbehavin'
(2:12)  8. Facinating Rhythm
(1:57)  9. Breezin' Along With The Breeze
(1:58) 10. Let's Have Another Cup Of Coffee
(1:54) 11. I Know That You Know
(1:52) 12. Anything Goes

One of the most talented pianists of the 1940s, Johnny Guarnieri had the ability to closely imitate Fats Waller, Count Basie, and even Art Tatum. Not too surprisingly, he was in great demand during his prime years. Guarnieri started classical piano lessons when he was ten and soon switched to jazz. In 1939, he joined Benny Goodman's orchestra, recording frequently with both the big band and B.G.'s sextet. In 1940, Guarnieri became a member of Artie Shaw's orchestra and gained fame playing harpsichord on Shaw's popular Gramercy Five recordings. 

After further associations with Goodman (1941) and Shaw (1941-1942), he was with Tommy Dorsey (1942-1943) and then freelanced. Among Guarnieri's many recordings during this era were important dates with Lester Young ("Sometimes I'm Happy"), Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Rex Stewart, Don Byas, and Louis Armstrong ("Jack-Armstrong Blues"). He also recorded frequently as a leader during 1944-1947, including one date on which Lester Young was his sideman. Guarnieri joined the staff of NBC in the late '40s, appeared in the Coleman Hawkins/Roy Eldridge television pilot After Hours (1961), moved to California in the '60s where he often played solo piano, and a few times in the 1970s toured Europe. Guarnieri's later records often found him playfully performing stride in 5/4 time. He recorded as a leader through the years for such labels as Savoy, Majestic, Coral (1956), Golden Crest, Camden, Dot, Black & Blue, Dobre, and Taz-Jazz (1976 and 1978). Bio ~ Scott Yanow  http://www.allmusic.com/artist/johnny-guarnieri-mn0000210757/biography

Cheerful Little Earful

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