Joan Chamorro & Andrea Motis - Feeling Good

Styles: Vocal, Trumpet And Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:24
Size: 141,2 MB
Art: Front

(4:05)  1. Feeling good
(2:48)  2. Between the devil and the deep blue sea
(3:39)  3. How insensitive
(3:48)  4. Lover come back to me
(3:48)  5. Moon River
(4:18)  6. Love me or leave me
(5:48)  7. Lover man
(5:04)  8. In my solitude
(3:34)  9. Allelujah
(2:44) 10. Easy Livin
(3:17) 11. My funny valentine
(4:00) 12. Bésame Mucho
(4:39) 13. Sophisticated Lady
(2:24) 14. Gee baby, ain't I good to you
(4:29) 15. Lover man
(2:52) 16. Lullaby of birland

Feeling Good is well named: the feelgood vibe is strong and the love of music that reaches out from this album is pretty much guaranteed to leave listeners with a similarly good feeling. It's the second album from Joan Chamorro bassist, saxophonist and director of Barcelona's Sant Andreu Jazz Band and the band's star member, the teenage singer and instrumentalist Andrea Motis. Chamorro's name may come first, but it's Motis' personality that shines through most strongly on Feeling Good. Chamorro can take much of the credit for this he's mentored Motis and other members of the Sant Andreu Jazz Band for some years, creating a band with the talent and maturity that belies the ages of its members (who are between 9 and 20 years old). Chamorro and Motis recorded this album at a series of live concerts between February and August 2012, when Motis was 16. Although Motis plays trumpet on a few songs (her trumpet solo on "Solitude" is charming) it's her singing that gets featured here. Motis' Sant Andreu bandmates appear on a couple of songs, including "Feeling Good" with the great Scott Robinson on tenor and trumpet.

However, it's a core group of excellent Spanish players Chamorro, pianist Ignasi Terraza, guitarist Josep Traver and drummer Esteve Pi (with bassist David Mengual joining in when Chamorro plays tenor) that provides the crucial instrumental accompaniment for the singer. Motis' voice has been likened to Norah Jones,' a reasonable comparison but one that doesn't do justice to Motis' vocal range. "Bésame Mucho" shows that she can swing, "Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good To You" suggests that she's a blues singer in the making. On "The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea" and "Lover Come Back To Me" she displays a knowing cheekiness reminiscent of R&B singer Julia Lee. Cut to the fragile cover of "Moon River" with just her core quartet for company, Terraza and Traver playing with exceptional delicacy and taste she makes Audrey Hepburn sound like Janis Joplin. Comparisons don't retain their validity for too long when they refer to a teenage singer who's developing at speed. Two versions of "Lover Man," recorded just a couple of months apart, show how quickly things move. On the first, a lushly orchestrated '40s style version featuring a string quartet, Motis' voice has a naive, child-like, quality rather at odds with the lyrics' sentiments. 

On the second, Chamorro and Traver providing a sympathetic bass and guitar backing, Motis sounds more mature, more wordly it's far easier to believe that she's lived the story. Motis is already a big name in Spain, selling out major concert halls. She's still learning, still gaining confidence, but her talent is undoubted. Feeling Good is a fine album, but it's almost certainly just the beginning. ~ Bruce Lindsay  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/feeling-good-andrea-motis-temps-records-spain-review-by-bruce-lindsay.php

Personnel: Andrea Motis: vocals, trumpet; Joan Chamorro: double bass, tenor saxophone; Ignazi Terraza: piano; Josep Traver: guitar; David Mengual: double bass; Esteve Pi: drums; Eva Fernández: clarinet, alto saxophone; Alba Esteban: soprano saxphone, alto saxophone; Iscle Datzira: clarinet, tenor saxophone; Joan Marti: alto saxophone; Eduard Ferrer: baritone saxophone; Marçal Perramon: tenor saxophone; Alba Armengou: trumpet; Carles Vázquez: flute; Èlia Bastida: violin; Edwine Vila: violin (6, 7, 13); Marc Ormengol: violin (6, 7, 13); Joan Ignasi Ferrer: viola (6, 7, 13); Esther Vila: cello (6, 7, 13); Carla Motis: guitar (14); Scott Robinson: tenor saxophone, trumpet (1).

Feeling Good

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Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - Rattle Them Bones

Styles: Retro Swing
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:55
Size: 160,4 MB
Scans:

(0:35)  1. The Adventures Of...
(4:15)  2. Diga Diga Do
(3:14)  3. The Jitters
(3:20)  4. Let It Roll Again
(4:08)  5. It Only Took A Kiss [featuring Meaghan Smith]
(3:26)  6. She's Always Right (I'm Never Wrong)
(3:34)  7. Why Me?
(4:33)  8. Devil's Dance
(3:22)  9. It's Lonely At The Top
(5:09) 10. Still In The Mood
(2:55) 11. Gimme That Wine
(5:18) 12. 5-10-15 Times

Since hitting it big in the '90s during the swing revival, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy have stuck to their retro-guns while finding ways to explore new ground. To these ends, 2003's Save My Soul found the band delving into New Orleans rhythms and R&B, while 2009's How Big Can You Get?: The Music of Cab Calloway featured the music of the legendary Hi-De-Ho man. That album brought them deeper into a hardcore jazz sound and most likely helped them in signing with the Savoy Jazz label for 2012's similarly jazz-inflected Rattle Them Bones. Once again centered around the sweet and lyrical lead vocals of guitarist/songwriter Scotty Morris, the album features a mix of new material, jazz covers, and even an unexpected take on Randy Newman's "It's Lonely at the Top." These are crisply produced, urbane, and always swinging tunes that often have an old-school big-band sound. 

This impressive large ensemble sound comes via the longtime core rhythm section of pianist Joshua Levy, bassist Dirk Shumaker, and drummer Kurt Sodergren, as well as such featured players as trumpeter Glen "The Kid" Marhevka, and saxophonists Karl Hunter and Andy Rowley. With all arrangements by Levy, the band is also complemented by a bevy of stellar studio musicians who round out several cuts here. Also featured here is vocalist Meaghan Smith, who duets with Morris on the romantic midtempo ballad "It Only Took a Kiss." Longtime fans of the group’s neo-crooner jazz sound, as well as anybody who digs solidly crafted and always swinging traditional jazz and pop, should find much to enjoy here. ~ Matt Collar  http://www.allmusic.com/album/rattle-them-bones-mw0002409480

Personnel: Scotty Morris (vocals, guitar, banjo); Andy Rowley (vocals, baritone saxophone); Dirk Shumaker (vocals, acoustic bass, upright bass); Karl Hunter (clarinet, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Glen "The Kid" Marhevka (trumpet); Joshua Levy (piano); Kurt Sodergren (drums).

Rattle Them Bones

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Joseph Lamb - A Study In Classic Ragtime

Styles: Jazz, Ragtime
Year: 1960
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:46
Size: 95,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:14)  1. Cottontail Rag
(3:02)  2. Excelsior Rag
(3:18)  3. Cleopatra Rag
(3:16)  4. The Meeting With Scott Joplin
(2:43)  5. Sensation - A Rag
(0:50)  6. Arthur Marshall, Artie Mathews, James Scott
(3:19)  7. Topliner Rag
(3:17)  8. The Alaskan Rag
(1:46)  9. The Composition of "Nightingale"
(3:38) 10. The Ragtime Nightingale
(3:30) 11. American Beauty Rag
(2:26) 12. The Naming of "Contentment"
(2:51) 13. Contentment Rag
(3:29) 14. Patricia Rag

This is a very historic LP (not yet reissued on CD) that was recorded just in the nick of time. Along with Scott Joplin and James Scott, Joseph Lamb was one of the "big three" of classic ragtime composers. Joplin and Scott never recorded, but Lamb lived into the early 1960s and was tracked down by Rudi Blesh in the late 1940s in time to be interviewed for his classic They All Played Ragtime book.

In 1959, at the age of 72, Lamb made his one and only record (although an obscure cassette of him playing from the same year was also recorded), and this is it. In addition to performing ten of his rags (including "Sensation Rag," "Ragtime Nightingale," "American Beauty Rag" and his then-recent "Cottontail Rag") in sometimes hesitant but quite listenable form, Lamb is heard talking about four different topics, including remembrances of his first meeting with Scott Joplin and his favorable opinions of the other ragtime composers. Although there should have been so much more of Joseph Lamb on record, one is grateful that this priceless document exists, forever immortalizing one of the giants of ragtime. ~ Scott Yanow  http://www.allmusic.com/album/a-study-in-classic-ragtime-mw0001044128

A Study In Classic Ragtime

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