McCoy Tyner - The Impulse Story

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:37
Size: 143.4 MB
Styles: Post Bop, Piano jazz
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[ 3:37] 1. Greensleeves
[ 6:12] 2. Speak Low
[ 6:34] 3. Effendi
[ 4:17] 4. Reaching Fourth
[ 5:26] 5. Groove Waltz
[ 5:00] 6. Star Eyes
[ 7:44] 7. Newport Romp
[ 5:18] 8. Blues Back
[ 3:44] 9. Oriental Flower
[10:09] 10. Three Flowers
[ 4:30] 11. Searchin'

McCoy Tyner proved early on he was one of the most versatile pianists in jazz. His star, of course, rose with his boss John Coltrane's, yet Tyner held a separate identity in the music. His volume on the Impulse Story series is a fine picture of his creativity, discipline, and wide-ranging ability to play inside and outside the tradition. There are 11 cuts collected here. The set opens with Tyner's arrangement of "Greensleeves" used on Coltrane's Ballads album. There are two -- "Speak Low" and "Effendi" -- from his own label debut, Inception (with drummer Elvin Jones and bassist Art Davis); and another pair of cuts -- "Groove Waltz" and "Star Eyes" -- off Nights of Ballads and Blues. The rest of the material is taken from an assortment of records from his own titles -- Live at Newport, Today and Tomorrow, and McCoy Tyner Plays Ellington -- and those of others on the label such as "Blues Back" from Art Blakey's A Jazz Message, and "Oriental Flower" from the Jones-Jimmy Garrison outing Illumination! This is a cogent portrait of the artist from his tenure at Impulse, and showcases everything from the modal technique used with Coltrane to his unique voicings on standards, and his compositional skills as well. This is an excellent introduction. ~Thom Jurek

The Impulse Story

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Various - New Flamenco

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:14
Size: 117.3 MB
Styles: Nuevo Flamenco, New Age
Year: 2014
Art: Front

[5:34] 1. Luna Blanca - El Dorado
[2:42] 2. Fuegoitaliano - Rumba Del Sol
[4:56] 3. Bino Dola - Venta De Vargas
[4:57] 4. Luna Blanca - Rio Mamoré
[4:23] 5. Fuegoitaliano - Quando Tramonta Il Sol ..
[4:27] 6. Bino Dola - Tiempo Irreal
[4:36] 7. Luna Blanca - Guapa (Deluxe Version)
[3:12] 8. Fuegoitaliano - Cumbia
[4:21] 9. Bino Dola - Oreo
[3:43] 10. Luna Blanca - Sunset
[3:56] 11. Fuegoitaliano - Siempre Volando
[4:21] 12. Bino Dola - Libre Como El Viento

Bino Dola (Germany), Fuegoitaliano (Italy) and Luna Blanca - Richard Hecks and his Nouveau Flamenco Band (Germany) created the "European New Flamenco Foundation". The first music release of the foundation presents these fine artists with her music based mainly on Spanish guitars and latin percussions, but every artist created his own style, mixing in a different way instruments and sounds.

New flamenco (or nuevo flamenco) is synonymous with contemporary flamenco and is a modern derivative of traditional flamenco. It combines flamenco guitar virtuosity with musical fusion. Jazz, rumba, bossa nova, Gypsy, Latin, Middle Eastern, rock, Cuban swing, tango and salsa have all been fused into flamenco by different artists to produce its sound.

Traditional flamenco had been displaced in Spain in the 1950s and 1960s by rock-and-roll. Artists such as Camarón de la Isla worked with the music during that period, infusing it with new sound. However it was during the 1980s that revival really took off, by artists such as Paco de Lucia, Pata Negra, Ketama, and later more mainstream stylists, such as The Gipsy Kings. The artists fused it with other forms, including jazz and salsa. Although fused with other music, it was still based on the classic flamenco the artists had grown up with, a new form of the old. Among the artists wrongly associated with this style is Ottmar Liebert. Another example is the duo Strunz & Farah, who, in an interview in Guitar Player, strenuously denied their music to be a form of flamenco, whilst acknowledging an influence.

New Flamenco

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Jessica Schultz - Quiet Nights

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:58
Size: 109.8 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2000
Art: Front

[3:05] 1. A Foggy Day
[5:34] 2. All My Tomorrows
[4:24] 3. Bye Bye Blackbird
[5:38] 4. Lover Man
[4:27] 5. Tea In The Sahara
[4:29] 6. Corcovado
[4:51] 7. I Thought About You
[4:46] 8. Emily
[5:13] 9. In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning
[5:27] 10. All Blues

The music of vocalist Jessica Schultz combines the swing of yesterday’s big bands with the creative freedom of today’s artists. “I want to use the lyrical tools of singers to reach an advanced audience‚” Jessica says‚ and she has done just that.

Her first CD, "Quiet Nights," is an expressive combination of jazz standards and interesting arrangements to keep audiences on their ears. A graduate of Western Michigan University, Jessica has studied with such artists as Sunny Wilkinson, Fred Hersch, Mark Murphy, Kevyn Lettau, Madeline Eastman, and Kurt Elling.

Jessica’s dedication to her art is well known. Downbeat magazine named her "Outstanding Jazz Soloist" for 2000 in the college category. Jessica has performed throughout the United States. She has been a featured vocalist with the Downbeat award-winning ensemble Gold Company. Locally, she can often be seen performing with her husband, pianist and composer of note Marcus Reynolds.

Quiet Nights

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Woody Allen & His New Orleans Jazz Band - Wild Man Blues

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:31
Size: 138.6 MB
Styles: New Orleans jazz-blues
Year: 1998
Art: Front

[3:42] 1. Lonesome Blues
[2:49] 2. Dippermouth Blues
[3:35] 3. After You've Gone
[4:03] 4. Martha (Aka Mazie)
[3:17] 5. Lead Me Savior
[4:43] 6. Swing A Lullaby
[2:45] 7. Last Night On The Back Porch
[3:32] 8. Shake That Thing
[2:29] 9. Yaaka Hula Hickey Dula
[4:33] 10. In The Evening
[4:47] 11. Come On And Stomp, Stomp, Stomp
[3:34] 12. Wild Man Blues
[4:12] 13. Tie Me To Your Apron Strings Again
[6:56] 14. Pappy's B-Flat Blues
[5:29] 15. Hear Me Talkin' To Ya

Woody Allen's New Orleans jazz is a combination of mournful blues and lively syncopation played with raw spontaneity. His clarinet tone is downright edgy in the treble clef, although his low-register work is more soulful. He affects a decorative style with a vibrato frequently wide enough to drive a Mack truck through.

Five of the 15 tracks are from the books of past greats. Louis Armstrong's "Hear Me Talkin' to Ya" is a languid lament, Lillian Hardin Armstrong's "Lonesome Blues" is delivered in an upbeat stop-tempo, and King Oliver's "Dippermouth Blues" is rendered slow and easy. There's musical breadth and depth to charts like Fats Waller's "Come On and Stomp, Stomp, Stomp," the prayer-like "Lead Me Savior," and the title track. Eddie Davis ("The Manhattan Minstrel") is the musical director, vocalist, and banjo player with the seven-piece band and pull-out trio.

Part of a tandem production, this CD features re-recorded selections from the video documentary of the same name. The session was played without rehearsal in a Manhattan church, the documentary's music supplemented by additional tracks. ~Patricia Myers

Wild Man Blues

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Duke Robillard - Duke`s Box, The Blues And More (3-CD Set)

As usual, Dixiefrog has designed a great-looking 8-page digipak containing three CDs. Duke's looking back at almost twenty years with StonyPlain/Dixiefrog. Philippe Langlois has compiled a nice selection of blues related music: blues, jump/swing, and rock/blues. Two unreleased tracks, plus two bonus cuts with Sonny & Her Joy Boys.

Album: Duke`s Box, The Blues And More Cd 1
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 77:42
Size: 177.9 MB
Styles: Contemporary blues
Year: 2009

[2:59] 1. I Still Love You Baby
[3:55] 2. Buy Me A Dog
[4:49] 3. Everything Is Broken
[5:24] 4. Never Let You Go
[3:57] 5. How Long Has It Been
[3:05] 6. Midnite Cannonball
[7:48] 7. West Side Shuffle
[4:28] 8. Gambler Blues
[6:41] 9. Pony Blues
[3:20] 10. World Of Blues
[7:07] 11. Goodtime Charlie
[8:36] 12. Blues Nightmare
[8:09] 13. Two Bones And A Pick
[7:17] 14. The Return Of Duke`s Mood

Duke`s Box, The Blues And More Cd 1

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Album: Duke`s Box, The Blues And More Cd 2
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:43
Size: 157.3 MB
Styles: Contemporary blues
Year: 2009

[4:10] 1. Lonesome Woman Blues
[4:50] 2. Glamour Girl
[3:18] 3. Gee I Wish
[6:42] 4. The Lonesome Road
[9:00] 5. I`m Still In Love With You
[7:20] 6. Train To Texas
[6:33] 7. When Your Lover Has Gone
[2:46] 8. Hardway
[6:47] 9. Red Dog
[5:56] 10. I Got It Bad (And That Ain`t Good)
[3:18] 11. I Miss My Baby In My Arms
[3:11] 12. Jimmie`s Texas Blues
[4:46] 13. Undecided

Duke`s Box, The Blues And More Cd 2

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Album: Duke`s Box, The Blues And More Cd 3
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 79:18
Size: 181.6 MB
Styles: Contemporary blues
Year: 2009

[ 2:53] 1. Real Live Wire
[ 3:51] 2. Slim Jenkins Joint
[ 4:04] 3. Jumpin`rockin`rhytm
[ 5:18] 4. Low Side Of The Road
[ 3:06] 5. Just Before Daw/Dawn
[ 4:33] 6. Fishnet
[16:12] 7. Blues A Rama
[ 8:47] 8. Love Sick
[ 4:54] 9. Do The Memphis Grind
[ 6:34] 10. Too Much Stuff
[ 8:23] 11. Stratisfied
[ 5:16] 12. Addiction
[ 5:23] 13. Rehab

Duke`s Box, The Blues And More Cd 3

s c a n s

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The New Stan Getz Quartet - Getz Au Go-Go

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:08
Size: 89.6 MB
Styles: Bossa Nova, Saxophone jazz
Year: 1964/2007
Art: Front

[2:51] 1. Corcovado
[4:29] 2. It Might As Well Be Spring
[2:32] 3. Eu E Voco
[8:12] 4. Summertime
[1:04] 5. 6-Nix-Pix-Plix
[4:40] 6. Only Trust Your Heart
[3:46] 7. The Singing Song
[1:58] 8. The Telephone Song
[3:19] 9. One Note Samba
[6:11] 10. Here's That Rainy Day

Although the name Stan Getz (tenor sax) was initially synonymous with the West Coast cool scene during the mid-to-late 1950s, he likewise became a key component in the Bossa Nova craze of the early 1960s. Along with Astrud Gilberto (vocals), Getz scored a genre-defining hit with the "Girl From Ipanema," extracted from the equally lauded Getz/Gilberto (1963). While that platter primarily consists of duets between Getz and João Gilberto (guitar/vocals), it was truly serendipity that teamed Getz with João's wife Astrud, who claims to have never sung a note outside of her own home prior to the session that launched her career. Getz Au Go Go Featuring Astrud Gilberto (1964) was the second-to-last album that he would issue during his self-proclaimed "Bossa Nova Era" -- the final being Getz/Gilberto #2 [Live] (1964) concert title from Carnegie Hall. In many ways, that is a logical successor to this one, as both include the "New Stan Getz Quartet." The band features a young Gary Burton (vibraphone), Kenny Burrell (guitar), Gene Cherico (bass), and Joe Hunt (drums). As is typical with jazz, there are a few personnel substitutions, with Helcio Milito (drums) and Chuck Israels (bass), respectively, filling in on nearly half the effort. As the name of the disc intimates, this recording hails from the venerable Greenwich Village venue, the Café Au Go Go, in mid-August of 1964 -- two months after "Girl From Ipanema" became a Top Five pop single. However, the focus of Getz Au Go Go steers away from the Brazilian flavored fare, bringing Astrud Gilberto into the realm of a decidedly more North American style. That said, there are a few Antonio Carlos Jobim compositions -- "Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars)" and "One Note Samba" -- both of which would be considered as jazz standards in years to follow -- as well as the lesser-circulated "Eu E Voce." Getz and crew gather behind Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein's "It Might as Well Be Spring," and the scintillating instrumental "Summertime," from Porgy & Bess. Other equally engaging cuts include affective vocal readings of "Only Trust Your Heart," and the diminutive, yet catchy "Telephone Song." There is also some great interaction between Getz and Burton on "Here's to That Rainy Day." Getz Au Go Go is highly recommended for all dimensions of jazz enthusiasts. ~Lindsay Planer

Getz Au Go-Go

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Eyal Vilner - Introducing The Eyal Vilner Big Band

Styles: Saxophone Jazz, Big Band
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:08
Size: 124,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:06)  1. Woody'N You
(4:52)  2. Epilogue
(4:19)  3. Your Eyes
(7:43)  4. Tonk
(6:43)  5. Isn't This a Lovely Day
(5:36)  6. Un Poco Loco
(6:20)  7. The Nearness of You
(4:29)  8. New One
(4:14)  9. Night Flight
(5:43) 10. Remember

Tel Aviv, Israel-born saxophonist, composer and bandleader Eyal Vilner moved to New York City in 2007 to continue his studies at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. After touring Israel in the summer of 2008, he decided to establish a New York version of his all-star Israeli big band. Enlisting fourteen of the city's finest musicians, the ensemble boasts such players as veteran saxophonist Dan Block, trumpeter and director of the Julliard Jazz Orchestra Brandon Lee, Grammy Award-winning trombonist and director of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra John Mosca, and young jazz vocal sensation Yaala Ballin. Having performed at various venues throughout the Big Apple, Introducing The Eyal Vilner Big Band is the group's self-titled debut CD, containing a selection of originals as well as new arrangements of standards by Dizzy Gillespie, Irving Berlin, Bud Powell and others. A brisk new arrangement of Gillespie's jazz classic "Woody'N You" opens the date in swinging fashion, featuring solos from Mosca and Vilner. 

The first Vilner original of the set is the brief "Your Eyes," a mid-tempo piece introducing pianist Yonatan Riklis and capturing the leader on both alto sax and clarinet. Blending the sounds of New York jazz with the New Orleans style, "Tonk" is a Ray Bryant tune spiced up with an arrangement penned at the request of pianist Junior Mance. Mance performed the piece with Vilner's band at the New School, where he also teaches. Israeli songbird Yaala Ballin lends her lush vocals to three songs. Berlin's "Isn't This a Lovely Day" is a slow, cushy love ballad that also features light solos from trumpeter Lee and trombonist Mosca. She returns with a warm performance on Hoagy Carmichael's classic "The Nearness of You," and is a delight on the other Berlin standard, "Remember." Powell's familiar "Un Poco Loco" is one of the rousing orchestrations featuring the unusually-configured sections of five reeds and four brass, which work quite well here. The burly baritone sax voice of Jonah Parzen-Johnson introduces "New One," another swinging big band chart enjoying furious solos from tenorist Ned Goold and trumpeter Lee. Not to be confused with Sammy Nestico's composition of the same name, Vilner's "Night Flight" flies a distinctly different approach low and slow, under the radar, guided by the leader's gorgeous alto phrases and tender piano chords. 

This truly artistic effort ends with a beautiful, partly improvised piece appropriately entitled "Epilogue." Mosca, Goold and Vilner offer marvelous solo performances on the final selection. Eyal Vilner's skills as a musician are unquestionable, but his talents as a composer, arranger and bandleader are what's truly on display on Introducing The Eyal Vilner Big Band, a remarkable debut recording from a group poised to take their place among the major big bands of the East. Vilner offers clever charts, excellent musicianship and an exciting new sound in the finest tradition of contemporary big band music. ~ Edward Blanco  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/introducing-the-eyal-vilner-big-band-eyal-vilner-gut-string-records-review-by-edward-blanco.php
 

Personnel: Eyal Vilner: alto saxophone, clarinet; Andrew Gould: alto saxophone, clarinet; Pablo Castano: alto saxophone, flute; Ned Goold: tenor saxophone; Dan Block: tenor saxophone, clarinet; Jonah Parzen-Johnson: baritone saxophone, bass clarinet; Cameron Johnson: trumpet; Brandon Lee: trumpet, flugelhorn; John Mosca: trombone; Kevin Cerovich: trombone; Yonatan Rosen: drums; Yonatan Riklis: piano; Montana Agte-Studier: flute (4); Yaala Ballin: vocals (4, 6, 9).

Introducing The Eyal Vilner Big Band

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