Thursday, September 11, 2014

Christy Baron - Steppin'

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:37
Size: 120,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:54)  1. Will It Go 'round In Circles
(5:40)  2. Mercy Street
(7:05)  3. Tomorrow Never Know
(3:36)  4. Thieves In The Temple
(4:14)  5. This Must Be Love
(6:28)  6. Delays On The Downtown
(3:37)  7. She's Not There
(4:06)  8. The Shadow Of Your Smile
(1:23)  9. Is Love Enough
(3:13) 10. Ain't No Half Steppin'
(3:16) 11. Spooky
(6:03) 12. Nite And Day

Christy redefines “classics,” it’s entirely appropriate that she was signed by Chesky Records, an audiophile label that redefines the modern recording process by returning to the earliest recording techniques. Chesky works with artists who are not only great musicians, but who also must be able to stand up to a unique recording process. Take This Journey was recorded live to two-track over a three-day period at St. Peter’s Church in Manhattan. “On a Chesky recording, one doesn’t have the standard modern-day options,” Christy says. “If you make a mistake, you don’t go back to fix it. There’s no punching in vocals, no overdubs, no compression or EQ.” In approaching Take This Journey, Christy teamed with renowned bassist David Finck, who’s worked with Natalie Cole, Paquito D’Rivera, Rosemary Clooney, Ivan Lins, Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard, Andre Previn, and Peter Cincotti. Finck not only played the bass, but also wrote songs, handled the arrangements, and produced the CD. “In selecting material, the most important element of a song, for me, is my ability to connect with it emotionally,” Christy says. 

“The songs I choose need to be able to sustain a jazz treatment, but first and foremost, I have to respect the composer’s and the lyricist’s intention within my interpretation.” Take This Journey includes material by some of Christy’s favorite artists: Wonder, Carole King, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and Steven Sondheim, as well as David Finck. Christy grew up in a musical family  her mother is a pianist and music teacher who recognized Christy’s abilities early on. She sang with her brothers and sisters  six in all  merging their voices. (She now finds herself more influenced by instrumentalists than vocalists, a result of finding her own voice after her early years of trying to merely blend in.) Her parents listened to the pop music of their time, the music of Cole Porter and George Gershwin music that became standards, and instilled in Christy a reverence for the music of the times, be it music of the 40’s, the 60’s, or the 80’s. By the time she was 16, Christy was performing almost nightly in a club  she was underage, but with the help of her mother, she managed the necessary maneuvers. Her mother had recognized the significance of singing for Christy as a child, she’d suffered petit mal seizures, seizures that fully abated when she sang. 

It was inevitable that Christy would pursue a life in the arts, and when she enrolled at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, she studied not only music, but also dance and drama. She’s worked as an actress in film, television, and on the stage, (she landed a role in Les Miserables on Broadway, but left when her desire to sing her music overtook her.) And if the words “Wonderful use of iambic pentameter…wameter” sound familiar, it’s because Christy delivered them in her portrayal of a frazzled, baby-talking mommy in a now legendary commercial for Visa. When asked about her two seemingly diverse careers, Christy responds, “I approach both types of performances in a very similar way.” In fact, she likens acting with an ensemble to singing with a band. “The way actors play off each other influences each and every performance so performances differ every night. You have to really listen to each other and react accordingly... listening makes you a better actor. It’s the same thing when working with a band You surround yourself with great musicians... really listen... and it makes you a better singer... and because of these ever-varying conversations between artists, each song sounds unique each time we perform it.” But then again with Christy, each song is bound to sound unique on any given night. She’s fueled by a passion that can’t be contained, and that passion is guaranteed by Christy’s insistence on performing material to which she’s emotionally linked. Like the songs she’s performing, Christy herself is a classic. Bio ~ http://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/christybaron    

Personnel: Curtis King (vocals); David Johansen (spoken vocals); Didier Raxchou (guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, nylon-string guitar, congas, percussion, drum programming, percussion programming, sampler); Pauline Kim (violin); Dave Eggar (cello); Andy Middleton (flute, soprano saxophone); William Galison (harmonica); Chris Rogers (trumpet); Dan Zank (piano); Christos Rafalides (vibraphone); John Herbert (acoustic bass); Zach Danziger (cymbals); Jeff Haynes, Gilad (percussion); Doriane Elliot (background vocals).

Steppin'

Charles McPherson - Siku Ya Bibi (Day Of The Lady)

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1972
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:46
Size: 107,5 MB
Art: Front

(4:21)  1. Don't Explain
(4:53)  2. Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be)
(4:24)  3. God Bless The Child
(4:39)  4. Miss Brown To You
(4:13)  5. Good Morning Heartache
(4:58)  6. For Heaven's Sake
(4:39)  7. I'm A Fool To Want You
(6:56)  8. Lover Come Back To Me
(7:39)  9. My Funny Valentine

For the second of his three Mainstream sessions (one that has been reissued on CD), the bebop altoist Charles McPherson pays tribute to Billie Holiday; in fact, "Siku Ya Bibi" means "Day of the Lady" in Swahili. The emphasis is mostly on ballads, with "Miss Brown to You" and "Lover Come Back to Me" being exceptions. Four of the eight selections find McPherson backed by ten strings arranged by Ernie Wilkins, while the remainder of the date has the altoist joined by a rhythm section that includes pianist Barry Harris. Although not quite up to the level of his upcoming, more freewheeling Xanadu sessions, this is a fine outing. Highlights include the two aforementioned cooking pieces, "Lover Man," "Good Morning Heartache," and "I'm a Fool to Want You." ~ Scott Yanow  http://www.allmusic.com/album/siku-ya-bibi-mw0000275027

Siku Ya Bibi (Day Of The Lady)

Jonny Cooper Orchestra - Legends Of Swing

Styles: Swing, Big Band
Year: 2002
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:35
Size: 105,2 MB
Art: Front

(2:24)  1. Opus One
(4:12)  2. Sing, Sing, Sing
(3:14)  3. Harlem Nocturne
(3:03)  4. A String Of Pearls
(3:16)  5. In The Mood
(3:18)  6. The Kid From Redbank
(3:41)  7. I'm Beginning To See The Light
(3:57)  8. That Old Black Magic
(2:56)  9. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
(4:26) 10. My Funny Valentine
(4:45) 11. Li'l Darlin'
(3:29) 12. You Made Me Love You
(2:47) 13. Mack The Knife

The Jonny Cooper Orchestra is an American–style dance band from South Africa, of all places, and a fairly decent one at that. On Legends of Swing, which we presume is the orchestra’s recorded debut, trumpeter Cooper and his comrades pay tribute to bandleaders Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller and Harry James, Jazz pathfinder Louis Armstrong, vocalist Ella Fitzgerald and composer Earle Hagen. Even though the charts are unremarkable and the orchestra unassuming, the music is beyond reproach and always a pleasure to hear no matter how unsteady the framework on which it rests. The album begins with a salute to Dorsey, Sy Oliver’s “Opus One,” which includes the first of several bright solos by guest trumpeter Jan Johansson. Basie is next up with Neal Hefti’s “The Kid from Red Bank,” on which pianist Gavin Fullard sits in for the Count, then Ellington (“I’m Beginning to See the Light,” solos by Johansson and tenor Ron Franchitti). 

The JCO employs two vocalists, Kate Normington and Donald Tshomela. Normington is heard on two songs associated with Ella, “That Old Black Magic” and “My Funny Valentine,” while Tshomela presides over the band’s homage to Armstrong, “Mack the Knife.” Drummer McGill Anderson and clarinetist Stuart Goodwin are featured on Louis Prima’s “Sing Sing Sing” (dedicated to Goodman), Johansson on “You Made Me Love You” (ditto to James), Goodwin (alto) on Hagen’s “Harlem Nocturne,” trombonist Clive Sharrock on Dorsey’s familiar theme, “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You.” The JCO saves Miller for last, bowing respectfully to the undisputed monarch of the big–band era with “A String of Pearls” (solos by Franchitti, trumpeter Julian Ford, alto Simon Bates) and Joe Garland’s evergreen, “In the Mood” (Blake, trumpet; Goodwin, alto; Franchitti, tenor). Smooth, pleasant dance music with a touch of Jazz, on the order of that produced by the giants to whom the album is dedicated. ~ Jack Bowers  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/legends-of-swing-jonny-cooper-jc-review-by-jack-bowers.php#.VBBl2xZZjKc

Personnel: Jonny Cooper, leader, trumpet; Mike Blake, Julian Ford, David Abrahams, Lee Thomson, trumpet; Clive Sharrock, Mike Nixon, Sym Yarrow, Lawrence Jacobs, trombone; Stuart Goodwin, alto, tenor sax, clarinet; Simon Bates, alto sax; Ron Franchitti, tenor sax, clarinet; John McBeath, tenor sax; Llewelyn Arnold, baritone sax, clarinet; Gavin Fullard, piano; Martin Nosworthy, guitar; Don Williams, bass; McGill Anderson, drums; Donald Tshomela, Kate Normington, vocals. Guest artist