Sunday, May 24, 2015

Zoot Sims - Getting Sentimental

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:02
Size: 114.5 MB
Styles: Bop, Saxophone jazz
Year: 1975/1997
Art: Front

[6:36] 1. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
[6:08] 2. Restless
[5:42] 3. Fred
[7:25] 4. Caravan
[6:43] 5. Dream Dancing
[6:20] 6. The Very Thought Of You
[4:52] 7. Love Me
[6:12] 8. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You

Everyone needs a little Zoot Sims now and then, and this reissue from 1975, with Jimmy Rowles on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass and Mickey ("The Stoker") Roker on drums will supply a good fix. This is classic Zoot -I think my grandmother could have passed a blindfold test with this recording- finding him relaxed and blowing hard. Recorded "on location" in a friend's living room near Long Island Sound, the ambiance must have been conducive to making jazz happen. The prime cut is Tom Satterfield's "Restless," but Zoot also captivates on soprano with a steamy "Caravan." ~David Zych

Getting Sentimental

The Paul Ferguson Jazz Orchestra - Friends

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:34
Size: 138.7 MB
Styles: Trombone jazz
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[6:36] 1. Blues For Clare
[8:33] 2. Fortune Teller
[6:44] 3. Dido's Lament
[7:01] 4. Point Of Return
[6:14] 5. Something From Everyone
[5:44] 6. Not So Happy Talk
[6:20] 7. I Fall In Love Too Easily
[4:19] 8. Nice And Easy
[4:17] 9. Only The Lonely
[4:42] 10. All The Way

Paul Ferguson has been director of Jazz Studies at Case Western Reserve University since 1988. A graduate of the University of Akron and the Eastman School of Music, Paul has travelled with the Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller bands as lead trombonist and arranger and currently fills those functions with the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra.

Paul was principal trombonist of the Canton Symphony from 1989-98 and at various times has also performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, Cleveland Opera, the Ohio Chamber Orchestra, Apollos’s Fire, the Cleveland Chamber Brass, the New Hampshire Festival Orchestra and various groups across Northeast Ohio.

In 1995, Paul was the recipient of the Gil Evans Fellowship in Jazz Composition. He has two recordings–”Blue Highways”, recorded with the RIAS Big Band of Berlin, and “Friends”, recorded with his own orchestra.

Friends

Lily Frost - Lily Swings

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:50
Size: 88.9 MB
Styles: Standards, Cabaret
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[3:50] 1. Lover Come Back To Me
[2:36] 2. Love Me Or Leave Me
[4:34] 3. Willow Weep For Me
[2:37] 4. I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
[2:06] 5. I Cried For You
[4:35] 6. Solitude
[2:09] 7. Them There Eyes
[2:48] 8. Now Baby Or Never
[4:36] 9. Crazy He Calls Me
[2:38] 10. Keeps On Raining
[1:41] 11. All Of Me
[4:36] 12. [untitled]

Singer Lily Frost is a hard one to pin down. She’s studied modern jazz and is influenced by 1960s music and pop culture, yet Frost also has a background in ‘20s jazz and pop as well as '50s retro swing. LILY SWINGS is a tribute to two legends, jazz vocal icon Billie Holiday and the late Canadian underground retro-wizard Ray Condo. On LILY SWINGS, Frost presents an album’s worth of songs of Holiday classics, but she does them her way. While SWINGS has a particularly old-school ambiance to it, Frost performs Holiday in a mostly up-tempo, swinging style (as opposed to sublime melancholy). ~AMG

Lily Swings

Mike Melvoin - The Capitol Sessions

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:28
Size: 165.9 MB
Styles: Piano jazz, Vocal jazz
Year: 2000
Art: Front

[3:49] 1. Bud's Open
[5:55] 2. I Think You Know
[4:43] 3. You Won't Hear Me Say Goodbye
[5:15] 4. Here's Looking At You
[7:13] 5. Haunted Heart
[3:19] 6. Ruth's Waltz
[5:46] 7. I Never Told You
[6:15] 8. Hello My Lovely
[9:17] 9. Blues For Leroy
[4:59] 10. Living Without You
[7:38] 11. Monday
[3:50] 12. 52nd Street
[4:24] 13. La Luna Negra

The world's most in demand piano-man-for-hire for over forty years, Mike Melvoin makes his debut for Naim Label in duo form with Naim regular and acclaimed bass player Charlie Haden.

Charlie was very keen to record an album with Mike, with whom he had not played since the pianist's move from New York to Los Angeles in 1962. "I was totally thrilled when Charlie asked me to do a record with him," enthuses Mike. The intensity of feeling and enjoyment involved in this record is obvious through listening. As Mike says, jazz is what he is, whereas pop is what he does.

There are three vocal tracks by Bill Henderson on the album. Bill and Mike are also old friends, having appeared as a duo many times. Bill features on Charlie's most recent Quartet West album. Bill is still going strong at well over 80 years old and was recently described as "one of jazz's greatest living male vocalists".

Capitol Sessions was recorded during two intense days of recording at the world famous Capitol Studios in Los Angeles.

The Capitol Sessions

Keri Johnsrud - All Blue

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:56
Size: 114,7 MB
Art: Front

(5:46)  1. Anything Goes
(4:31)  2. (The Old Man from) The Old Country
(4:49)  3. But Beautiful
(4:00)  4. More and More
(5:06)  5. The Great City
(5:49)  6. Cabin
(4:01)  7. For Every Man There's a Woman
(5:10)  8. Cryin' Time
(5:32)  9. A Blossom Fell
(5:06) 10. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To

In her long-awaited debut album, All Blue, Keri Johnsrud creates a cool, indigo feeling, a mood of jazz and cocktails, city lights and smoky cafes. This exciting new singer brings us an eclectic assortment of songs, each humming with an urban pulse, dynamic and fresh, yet tinged with a world-weary sophistication. As a third-generation musician, born to a musical family in rural Iowa, Keri draws inspiration from her small town roots while communicating a finesse cultivated in Chicago clubs and lounges. With her subtle, casual delivery, Keri celebrates the universal nature and freedom of jazz by saluting well-known standards and re-imagining classic country and modern classical works. Supported by a superb group of versitile and talented musicians, she contributes her distinct and honest voice to the vibrant future of this music.

"She seamlessly sings Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes” to the beautiful and distinctive melody of Miles Davis’s “All Blues.” The melding works wonderfully, as does Johnsrud’s cool and casual delivery throughout this project. Johnsrud’s duet version of “But Beautiful” with (Ari) Seder is just that. A low-key, laid-back beauty." ~ Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes

“Keri Johnsrud has a unique and appealing voice. Sweet, clear and understated, but the girl can tinge it with blue more naturally than many of the female vocalists trying for that vein... A very nice debut from a singer with an appealing combination of talent and taste.”~ Brad Walseth, JazzChicago.net  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/kerijohnsrud

All Blue

Kim Nalley - Need My Sugar

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:37
Size: 88,6 MB
Art: Front

(3:21)  1. September In The Rain
(5:36)  2. At Last
(3:39)  3. Say It Isn't So
(6:13)  4. Nature Boy
(2:51)  5. Need My Sugar
(3:06)  6. I Was Telling Him About You
(2:59)  7. Too Close For Comfort
(4:12)  8. Goin' To New York
(6:34)  9. Our Day Will Come

Vocalist supreme Kim Nalley put her mark on the Johnny Nocturne Band's "Million Dollar Secret" album, seductively purring the band's tunes to life. On her new album "Need My Sugar," she presents a selection of nine tunes, revealing the work of a singer with an expansive musical sensibility. Backed by Etta James' pianist Dave Mathews, superlative bassist Jeff Chambers and the deft drummer Kent Bryson (who holds down the drum chair in the Johnny Nocturne Band), Nalley moves gracefully through a range of material that displays her respect for the tradition of Ivie Anderson, Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington and her determination to add to the lineage. ~ Editorial Reviews  http://www.amazon.com/Need-My-Sugar-Kim-Nalley/dp/B00006SM92

"In a world where any pretty young thing is touted as the next jazz superstar, Nalley is the real deal." ~ CultureVulture - Mark Jennet

"Love the CD! I play it often both on air & at home." ~ Clifford Brown, Jr. (KBLX, KSCM)

"She can give us sugar any time she wants to. This is a CD offering some fine sounds." ~ California JazzNow -Ferdinand Maylin

"Sultry voiced 28-year-old Kim Nalley brings an irresistibly sexy sense of swing, rhythmic dexterity and beautiful sound to the classics." ~ Andrew Gilbert - Down Beat

"The entire album is a treat, 40 minutes of excellence." ~ All About Jazz - Forrest Bryant

Personnel: Kim Nally (vocals); Dave Mathews (piano); Jeff Chambers (bass); Kent Bryson (drums).

Need My Sugar

Russ Phillips - Love Walked In

Styles: Vocal And Trombone Jazz
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:00
Size: 137,9 MB
Art: Front

(5:26)  1. All My Love
(9:16)  2. You Must Believe In Spring
(3:39)  3. Love Walked In
(2:57)  4. A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing
(3:47)  5. Isn't It a Lovely Day
(2:38)  6. The Bad And The Beautiful
(3:41)  7. No Moon At All
(7:25)  8. Blues in the Night
(4:23)  9. It's So Peaceful in The Country
(4:26) 10. Old Devil Moon
(4:10) 11. Azalea
(8:07) 12. Goodbye

"...Russ Phillips, whose trombone style now robust, now sweet, now silky, now turbulent  like a compendium of all the best elements of trombone style since jazz was born. Russ must be one of the four or five best trombonists now playing traditional jazz." ~ Tom Gilmore, Contributor to "The Mississippi Rag"  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/russphillips1

Personnel: Russ Phillips (vocals, trombone); Jeannie Lambert (vocals); Katherine Hughes, Mark Agnor (violin); Ben Wedge (viola); Jill Kaeding (cello); Stewart Miller (bass); Charles Braugham (drums).

Kristin Callahan - A New Love

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:18
Size: 91,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:15)  1. The Very Thought Of You
(5:08)  2. Cry Me A River
(3:49)  3. Whatever Lola Wants
(4:11)  4. What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life
(4:34)  5. Someone To Watch Over Me
(4:16)  6. The Boy From Ipanema
(4:53)  7. Small Day Tomorrow
(2:59)  8. Just One Of Those Things
(4:09)  9. Summertime

Anyone who has ever sat in on a performance by Kristin Callahan will later describe the unexpected silence that falls over the building after the first couple lines in an attempt to communicate the authentic experience they had that night. They may also tell of the stunned delay in applause when the song was over. They may say that they forgot what they had been talking about, or that their drink was just as full when the song was over as it was when it began. But in the end, they'll probably tell you to just go see it for yourself. Because what they're trying to tell you is that Kristin Callahan has that rare ability to coax listeners into the anticipation of each note, to bring people into the very soul of music, that realm of musical experience that is ill-described in the past tense. 

Quiet and unassuming, Callahan has a stage presence that is both sweet and sexy, one that catches everyone off guard and then keeps them there until the very last note. From her shy smiles between songs to her flawless execution of some of the most demanding pieces, Kristin exudes the perfect combination of country charm and urbane hipness. She grew up in a small town in Western Maryland, where it became evident early on in her childhood that she was a vocal prodigy. With the encouragement of all those who recognized her talent, she began learning and singing gospel songs in her church and in talent shows across the region, regularly winning any competition she entered. As a promising eighteen-year-old, Kristin was awarded a scholarship to attend the Berklee College of Music summer program, where she began honing in on her style that today ranges from blues to R&B and Jazz. 

Her experiences there had a profound impact on her direction in life, confirming music and art as her passion. Kristin knew from her experience there that her life, in whatever way possible, would be dedicated to her gift. And so it has been since then. Today Callahan is fully focused on her art, and has recorded and performed with several accomplished musicians, including the well-known D.C pianist Vince Evans, who is featured on Kristin's album, "a new love". Some may already know of the authentic experience of music that attendees of Kristin's performances are trying to describe. They may think they've found it in other places. But there's something else hanging in the hushed tone of the crowd besides tranquility and awe. It's vibrant. It's exciting. It's knowing that you're witnessing enormous potential actualizing before your very eyes. It's sensing that Kristin Callahan is a name you will remember. http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/kristincallahan