Dina Blade - I'm In The Mood For Love

Size: 137,1 MB
Time: 58:35
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2002
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. I Won't Dance (4:21)
02. Big Spender (5:08)
03. Remind Me (4:38)
04. A Fine Romance (3:08)
05. I'm In The Mood For Love (5:44)
06. The Way You Look Tonight (5:41)
07. Pick Yourself Up (2:48)
08. April Fooled Me (4:38)
09. I Can't Give You Anything But Love (4:17)
10. Lovely To Look At (4:16)
11. On The Sunny Side Of The Street (2:43)
12. Don't Blame Me (7:18)
13. Exactly Like You (3:51)

This is a rather addictive recording, in which Dina Blade performs intimate versions of the best-known Fields songs, accompanied only by Bill Mays.

The most striking aspect of the recording is Blade's direct, confiding style. She clearly has great respect for both lyrics and music, and her fine voice is complimented by clear but unforced diction.

She has the confidence to take some of these tracks very slowly indeed! A highlight is an insinuating version of Big Spender, which takes 5 seductive minutes.

She performs some rarely-heard verses - both Don't Blame Me and Lovely To Look At include two verses.

I'm In The Mood For Love

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Son'ra - Electro World

Size: 118,4 MB
Time: 50:51
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Electro Jazz, World
Art: Front

01. Bad Day (3:39)
02. Toca las Palmas (5:36)
03. Mi Pena (3:48)
04. The Answer (4:40)
05. Oblivion (3:05)
06. Happy Hours (3:23)
07. Those Dark Eyes (3:27)
08. Yes Doctor (3:59)
09. On The Sea (4:06)
10. To The West (3:37)
11. Do The Bop (3:12)
12. Those Dark Eyes (Electro Swing Mix) (4:15)
13. Me Pena By Vella (Dub Mix) (3:58)

Personnel:
Alain Durand
Jean Michel Sonnerat
Laurent Coulaud

SON'RA est un groupe français né de la rencontre en 2006 entre l'accordéoniste Jean Michel Sonnerat et Alain Durand musicien compositeur et producteur.

Au départ il s'agissait de faire un album de plus, à la gloire de Jean Michel afin de saluer toute sa technique et son talent.Et puis, chemin faisant, les deux complices se sont pris au jeu en essayant de casser les codes établis pour ce genre d'exercice. Désormais il n'y aura plus d'interdit,on pourra faire vivre l'accordéon entre le jazz le dub,le tango et l'electro.

En 2009 l'album "JAZZAC" est en fin prêt, 12 titres métissées qui bénéficieront d'un excellent accueil auprès du public.Les réalisateurs lui donneront une seconde vie en utilisant la plupart des titres dans divers documentaires et séries TV (Famille d'accueil FR3 et Boulevard du palais A2).

En point d'orgues d'une série de concerts, le 16 et 17octobre 2010,le groupe est invité à partager la scène de L ' ODYSSEE de l 'ACCORDEON au Pavillon Baltard.

Fin 2011, vient le temps de se remettre au travail, la crise est là, les melodies se font plus profondes, ciselés sur des rythmiques puissantes. L'album s'appellera ELECTRO WORLD, un subtil mélange entre modernisme et traditions.

L'album "Electro World" comprend 13 titres dont 2 remixes.
Musiciens additionnels : Alain Alarcon (guitares) et Laurent Coulaud (drums)
Featuring vocal sur "the answer" Lennox DREAD, "Those dark eyes " Patricia Michel Ricordel.

Electro World

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Kiersten Rose & Adonis Blue - Bloom

Size: 114,3 MB
Time: 48:47
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Jazz/Folk Vocals
Art: Front

01. Want The Change (5:36)
02. You Gave Me Hope (3:29)
03. Bloom (3:10)
04. Tangled (3:52)
05. Sweet Redemption (4:21)
06. Hurry Home (3:42)
07. Looped (2:52)
08. Heaven Knows (5:25)
09. Corcovado (4:43)
10. Mary Go 'round (4:31)
11. I'll Meet You There (3:01)
12. Be My Voice (4:00)

Kiersten Rose & Adonis Blue's debut album "Bloom" includes 11 originals and one nostalgic cover. It's a creative mix of jazz, folk, and pop performed by Adonis Blue and guest musicians.

Adonis Blue was created in the summer of 2011 as the brainchild of lead singer and pianist, Kiersten Rose, who desired to lead a group who would take music outside, and shake some fresh air into it. She found a small group of talented and willing guys to go on the journey.

Adonis Blue is jazz, folk, a bit of Americana and pop all blended together and served with a slice of lemon. We are all musicians who love the artistry of our instruments and creating new and tasty sounds. Kiersten Rose is the lead vocalist, pianist, and accordion player, Brian Vaccaro plays guitar, Mark Wallace plays the bass, and Kyle Honeycutt plays drums. Our set list consists of new and old jazz standards, some tried and true covers incognito, and originals as the muse brings them. So, come along, sit back, grab a glass of wine, and chill...

Bloom

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KJ Denhert - Destiny

Size: 110,7 MB
Time: 47:35
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Jazz/Folk Vocals
Art: Front

01. I Don't Think So (3:35)
02. Destiny (3:46)
03. Try To Fly (4:29)
04. Do You Love (3:49)
05. So The Story Goes (4:23)
06. Beautiful (6:44)
07. Sorry (3:57)
08. Interlude (1:07)
09. Love Comes Tumbling Down (3:43)
10. Goodbye Sunny Friend (3:28)
11. I Don't Think So - Lp (5:08)
12. One Day (3:22)

Karen Jeannne Denhert is a Grenadan-American urban folk-jazz artist who has won four Independent Music Award nominations and was named as one of the best female vocalists of 2009 by Jazz.com. Denhert was a winner in the Kerrville New Folk Song contest in June 2006 for "Private Angel," and won the Mountain Stage New Song contest in August 2005 with "Little Mary." Another Year Gone By, Live won the 2006 Independent Music Award for Best Live Performance. Her song "Choose Your Weapon" also went on to win Best Social Action Song at the 10th Annual Independent Music Awards.

Karen Jeannne was the first Denhert born an American citizen; her older brother was born in Aruba. She was born in New York City and raised in The Bronx. She cites her primary influences as James Taylor and Joni Mitchell, but also Sergio Mendes, John Hartford, Carole King, Laura Nyro, Steely Dan, and Hubert Laws. In the 1980s, she played lead guitar and occasionally sang for an all-female rock band called Fire, which toured North America and Europe. She then worked as a financial analyst for Dannon in Cleveland, Ohio, where she started her record label, Mother Cyclone. She returned to New York in 1997, where she formed her current band.

Destiny

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Rod McGaha - The Black Flower Project

Size: 135,6 MB
Time: 58:19
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Contemporary Jazz: Trumpet Jazz
Art: Front

01. The Challenge (5:50)
02. Inner Courage (3:21)
03. Lullaby (5:34)
04. Bleep Blop (4:54)
05. Wish I Knew (3:39)
06. Black Flower (5:40)
07. Unexpected Soul (6:16)
08. Mama Said (5:09)
09. When I Was Growin' Up (5:33)
10. Here's That Rainy Day (5:13)
11. Cookout (5:37)
12. Your's Truly (1:27)

Rod McGaha's “The Black Flower Project” counts on this fact. And, why shouldn't it? McGaha took a racially diverse, multi-generational group of musical artists and formed this project. If they could not only grasp the universality of the subject, but also build upon it, certainly it would be comprehensible for the listening masses.

“The Black Flower Project” is an example of Identity Art going aural. McGaha launches into it with a rigorous, raw energy at the very beginning on the fiery tune, “The Challenge”. You may not be sure if McGaha meant the challenge of self-examination or the challenge of viewing someone undergoing such an examination. However it is meant, we are both provoked and thrilled by the music. As always, Rod is a gentleman and sometime chooses to put us at ease with compositions like Lullaby and the titular, sublimely lovely, yet wonderfully soulful Black Flower.

Rod is also true to form by introducing tunes for your amusement like Bleep Blop and Cookout. And, if you were wondering, yes, he is aware of the melodic allusion to Bobby Timmon's Moanin'. Miles said it best, “Bad musicians borrow, the good musicians steal!”

Songs like Inner Courage and Unexpected Soul make us consider the lush richness of the “African American experience”. Certainly not to be missed is McGaha's attempt at a sort of mental slight of hand, causing us to look back so acutely that we somehow see the future. Rod does this on the tune When I Was Growin' Up by utilizing the heralded and surprising lyricist (XXL and NPR have already agreed), who goes under the moniker of “OpenMic”. Apparently, the maxim is correct, the apple does not fall very far.

Altogether, this is a 12-track exhibit of the inner-world and history of an African American musical artist. If Freud was right and there are at least two of you in actuality, Rod McGaha hopes that at least one of those yous will appreciate “The Black Flower Project.”

The Black Flower Project

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Sarah Jane Morris - Bloody Rain

Size: 165,8 MB
Time: 71:12
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Jazz/Pop/Soul/R&B Vocals
Art: Front

01. Feel The Love (4:05)
02. For A Friend (3:46)
03. No Beyonce (4:36)
04. I Shall Be Released (6:30)
05. David Kato (5:53)
06. Comfort They Have None (5:00)
07. Bloody Rain (4:04)
08. Wild Flowers (4:47)
09. Kora (0:32)
10. Across The Desert To Love (4:05)
11. Deeper Well (6:15)
12. Coal Train (8:18)
13. Get Them Out (4:28)
14. On My Way To You (3:53)
15. Men Just Wanna Have Fun (4:52)

Sarah-Jane Morris is the British soul, jazz and r&b singer who topped the UK pop charts for a month in 1986 (with The Communards' disco version of 'Don't Leave Me This Way') and then eloquently and joyously side-stepped the mainstream ever after.

Morris's magnificent soul voice and emotional power would have brought multiple Grammy awards and celebrity status to most singers with her charisma and drive. But for over 25 years of a unique career, Morris has steered by her own star, not the music industry's, and that independence has brought her a devoted audience, inspired by her belief in the power of song to change hearts and minds.

That belief inspired Bloody Rain, the ambitious new collection of love-songs, tributes, warnings and protests that she regards as the best album of her life.

Devoted to the people of Africa, and the music of that continent that has inspired so many artists for so long, Bloody Rain brings together a stunningly diverse group of performers. Among a raft of guests are the Zimbabwe-born singer Eska, Senegal's Seckou Keita on kora, UK-Caribbean saxophonist Courtney Pine, the Soweto Gospel Choir, American/Israeli jazz trumpeter Avishai Cohen, former James Brown arranger Pee Wee Ellis - and of course the soulmates from Morris's touring band, including Sting sideman Dominic Miller, and guitarist Tony Remy, co-writer of many of the new songs.

Typically, Sarah-Jane Morris doesn't flinch from some raw subjects in telling this story, and while she hopes that many of these haunting songs 'will lift your spirits', she accepts that 'some will make you weep.' Blossoming as a lyricist in recent years, the singer and her co-writers have taken on subjects from tyrannical political power ('Bloody Rain'), to honour killings ('No Beyonce'), child-soldiers ('No Comfort For Them'), and homophobia ('David Kato').

But these forthright songs, ignited by irresistable grooves, superb playing, and Morris's startling shifts from the soulfully rhetorical to the intimate, are about hope, not resignation. Bloody Rain is also, crucially, about love - in which respect, though the examples are Sarah-Jane Morris's own, the music speaks to everyone. Her husband Mark and her 80 year-old mother Joy are the inspirations for the glowing Afrobeat opener 'Feel The Love', 'For A Friend' is a tender yet upbeat tribute to special companions, 'Wild Flowers' a grateful celebration of her eccentric, accidentally-liberating upbringing, and the closing 'On My Way To You' is as delicate and tender as anything this expressive singer has recorded in her long career.

Bloody Rain

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Jussara Silveira - Cancoes De Caymmi

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 45:23
Size: 103.9 MB
Styles: Brazilian pop
Year: 2000
Art: Front

[2:58] 1. O Vento
[4:00] 2. Lá Vem A Baiana
[4:47] 3. Nem Eu
[2:25] 4. O Anjo Da Noite
[4:08] 5. Você Diz Que Amar É Crime / Vou Vê Juliana
[3:57] 6. Maracangalha
[4:42] 7. Yayá Não Sabe / Você Não Sabe Amar
[2:39] 8. Horas
[4:13] 9. Milagre / Historia Pro Sinhozinho
[4:08] 10. Canto De Nanâ / Quem Vem Pra Beira Do Mar
[0:37] 11. O Vento
[3:56] 12. Saudade De Itapoâ
[2:46] 13. Adalgisa

This is one of the relatively few releases today that doesn't appeal to easy commercial clichés, reaching considerable depth in the interpretation of some of the best Brazilian classics. Faithful to Brazilian tradition, Jussara Silveira stuck to acoustic renditions of Dorival Caymmi's songs without being excessively reverent; the modern arrangements extend the tradition with better harmonies, reaching the original intentions of the genial composer, who, since early age, had a keen ear for chords, even if his poor musical background didn't provide for a full harmony understanding, which he had to try to compensate with his intuition.

Jussara, backed by some of the best musicians in Brazil, decided to balance some of the most widely known Caymmi's hits on this album ("Nem Eu," "Maracangalha," "Você Não Sabe Amar," "Quem Vem Pra Beira Do Mar," "Saudade de Itapoã") with less successful compositions, but which also had superior musical qualities, like the haunting, mysterious "O Vento." The inlay has all Portuguese lyrics. ~Alvaro Neder

Cancoes De Caymmi

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James Chirillo - Sultry Serenade

Bitrate: 320K/s

Time: 71:10

Size: 162.9 MB

Styles: Post bop, Guitar jazz

Year: 2000

Art: Front

[5:50] 1. When Lights Are Low

[4:45] 2. I Love You, Samantha

[6:03] 3. Sultry Serenade

[6:42] 4. Counterpoise #2 For Electric Guitar And Trumpet

[5:24] 5. If I Only Had A Brain

[6:49] 6. Move

[4:47] 7. Elend (From Op. 27, No. 7)

[7:07] 8. Can't We Be Friends

[3:04] 9. Bourbon Street Parade

[5:33] 10. Lush Life

[4:49] 11. I'm Always Chasing Rainbows

[5:05] 12. Fancifree

[5:06] 13. Blues For Valerie

If you dig jazz guitar that's particularly smooth and cool, then you'll want to check out James Chirillo, who's performed with Tiny Grimes and Benny Goodman. Chirillo's playing sneaks up on you. His reading of heads is pretty basic: it's lyrical but sticks to the ink for the most part. But that's right before he begins to swing, develops his solo and, in the bargain, attracts your attention. Cases in point include "When Lights Are Low," "If I Only Had a Brain" and "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows," all of which find him negotiating myriad chord changes with apparent ease. But Chirillo can also step out of the box, so to speak. On a Latin version of "I Love You, Samantha," he sensitively supports Vera Mara's sultry vocal on acoustic guitar, moving on to contribute an elegantly understated solo. Then there's his foray into the formal on John Carisi's "Counterpoise #2 for Electric Guitar and Trumpet" and his own "Blues for Valerie," which displays his compositional chops and improvisational abilities in the context of a subdued blues. While it's a bit surprising that this is Chirillo's first recording as leader, it's a safe bet it won't be his last. ~Jim Ferguson

Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – James Chirillo; Bass – Greg Cohen; Bass Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Scott Robinson; Drums, Percussion – Dave Ratajczak; Piano – Alan Simon; Trumpet – John Carisi (track 4), Randy Sandke; Vocals – Vera Mara (track 2).

Sultry Serenade

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King Curtis - That Lovin' Feeling

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 30:54
Size: 70.7 MB
Styles: Soul-jazz-funk
Year: 1966/2006
Art: Front

[2:56] 1. The Shadow Of Your Smile
[2:06] 2. Michelle
[2:37] 3. Cryin' Time
[2:14] 4. I Left My Heart In San Francisco
[3:03] 5. Moonglow
[2:43] 6. Spanish Harlem
[3:18] 7. You've Lost That Loving Feeling
[2:24] 8. What Now My Love
[2:26] 9. And I Love Her
[2:05] 10. Make The World Go Away
[2:44] 11. The Girl From Ipanema
[2:12] 12. On Broadway

That Lovin' Feeling was originally released in 1966 on Atlantic subsidiary Atco Records and featured King Curtis playing saxello (a soprano saxophone, for all practical purposes) on a dozen 1960s pop hits. This isn't the hard-blowing and honking Curtis that most people will recall from his Enjoy sessions, but shows him in a jazzy MOR mode working with heavily orchestrated arrangements done by Arif Mardin. The end result is a restrained and refined album with a mellow, after-hours feel, and if Curtis fails to really belt anything out, his tone is always appropriate (with just the hint of an edge) and his lead lines show his jazz roots and his ease with a ballad. The standout tracks are both Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller songs, the beautiful and easy groove of "Spanish Harlem" and the light, rhythmic funk of "On Broadway." Curtis is in full lyrical mode on these cuts, playing within the arrangements, and if this style is not the one most people expect from him, it is revealing to realize how versatile he was as a horn man (one of the reasons he was so in demand as a session player). Fans of King Curtis' more familiar hard R&B sax sound may want to skip this release, but listeners who want a full and rounded portrait of this wonderful musician's range should definitely give That Lovin' Feeling a try. ~Steve Leggett

That Lovin' Feeling

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Steve Grossman - Love Is The Thing

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:35
Size: 97,8 MB
Art: Front

(5:16)  1. Naima
(5:29)  2. Easy To Love
(6:06)  3. My Old Flame
(6:02)  4. Easy Leaving
(6:34)  5. I Didn't Know What Time It Was
(6:44)  6. 415 Central Park West
(6:21)  7. What's New

Although tenor saxophonist Steve Grossman's main influence by the 1980s was Sonny Rollins, this quartet set could be considered a tribute to John Coltrane. With inspiring support from pianist Cedar Walton, bassist David Williams and drummer Billy Higgins, Grossman interprets such ballads as "Naima," "Easy to Love," "Easy Living" and "I Didn't Know What Time It Was," but is careful to vary the tempos and moods; he also contributes an original, "415 Central Park West." Excellent modern mainstream music from a fine tenorman. ~ Scott Yanow  http://www.allmusic.com/album/love-is-the-thing-mw0000087102

Personnel: Steve Grossman (tenor saxophone), Cedar Walton (piano), David Williams (bass), Billy Higgins (drums).

Love Is The Thing

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Roberta Piket Trio - Speak, Memory

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:26
Size: 122,7 MB
Art: Front

(7:23)  1. Too Sensible
(4:34)  2. A Time For Love
(6:30)  3. Gone
(7:49)  4. Up, Up And Away
(6:33)  5. Lost In The Stars
(7:07)  6. When The Sun Comes Out
(6:03)  7. Hands
(4:26)  8. Speak, Memory
(2:59)  9. The Man That Got Away

Roberta Piket plays the piano with the sensibility of someone on an endless search, yet she makes music that is accessible to the listener who is willing to meet her halfway. On speak, memory, her steely determination is balanced by a willingness to interact conversationally with bassist Masa Kamaguchi and drummer Jeff Williams (her musical partner for the last 9 years), and a gentle, knowing way with the melodies of standards such as 'Lost In The Stars,' and 'The Man That Got Away.' Piket seldom stays in one mode for too long; she efficiently develops an idea and then restlessly moves on and plays something quite different, with Kamaguchi and Williams ably responding to her maneuvers on a moment's notice. Long after the individual tracks have ended, her provocative improvisations linger in the memory. The solo on her composition 'Too Sensible' starts off with a series of short phrases, playing against Williams' light cymbal and snare drum figures, and then gradually digs in and swings hard. The title track finds Piket and company in overdrive, with the pianist's right hand and brief chordal bursts charging over Kamaguchi's walking bass and Williams' colorful use of the entire drum set. 

Her treatment of Jim Webb's 'Up, Up And Away' (a 1967 hit for the popular vocal group, The Fifth Dimension), makes a fine vehicle for creative improvisation. Piket has a haunting way of stating the melody, turning it over for three minutes before beginning a solo that starts off airily and then rapidly gets flinty, with her left and right hands seemingly working against each other. After a brief restatement of the tune, the track ends with a polyrhythmic turn by Williams, running counter to the pianist's hard, repetitive chords. ~ David A.Orthmann  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/speak-memory-roberta-piket-blue-moon-review-by-david-a-orthmann.php#.VBX62BawTP8
 

Personnel: Roberta Piket - piano; Masa Kamaguchi - bass; Jeff Williams - drums.

Speak, Memory

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Richie Kamuca - The Richie Kamuca Quartet

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1985
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 30:36
Size: 70,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:22)  1. Just Friends
(3:34)  2. Rain Drain
(2:27)  3. What's New
(4:12)  4. Early Bird
(6:15)  5. Nevertheless
(3:33)  6. My One And Only Love
(2:10)  7. Fire One
(3:00)  8. Cherokee

Considering his talent, it is very surprising that tenor saxophonist Richie Kamuca led so few record dates throughout his career just three during 1956-58 and three for Concord in 1977. This quartet set (a MOD LP reissued by V.S.O.P. on CD) features the excellent cool-toned tenor in a quartet with pianist Carl Perkins, bassist Leroy Vinnegar and drummer Stan Levey. Only the brief playing time (just over 30 minutes) keeps this set from getting a higher rating, for Kamuca is in prime form. Highlights include "Just Friends," "What's New" and "Cherokee." 

~ Scott Yanow  http://www.allmusic.com/album/richie-kamuca-quartet-mw0000201037

Personnel: Richie Kamuca (tenor saxophone), Carl Perkins (piano), Leroy Vinnegar (bass), Stan Levey (drums).

The Richie Kamuca Quartet

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