Saturday, June 20, 2015

Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan - Getz Meets Mulligan In Hi-Fi

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:21
Size: 124.4 MB
Styles: Post bop, West Coast jazz, Saxophone jazz
Year: 1957/1991
Art: Front

[6:25] 1. Let's Fall In Love
[3:35] 2. Anything Goes
[6:54] 3. Too Close For Comfort
[5:55] 4. That Old Feeling
[8:44] 5. This Can't Be Love
[5:41] 6. A Ballad
[8:05] 7. Scrapple From The Apple
[8:59] 8. I Didn't Know What Time It Was

Stan Getz tenor sax & Gerry Mulligan baritone sax were consistently voted top dogs on their respective instruments in successive Downbeat polls and sooner or later they were bound to meet up for a recording date. From 1957 a fine jazz album with a unique twist the two men swap instruments on three numbers, producing some interesting comparisons between the styles of both musicians. Quintet is made up by the superb rhythm section of Lou Levy piano, Ray Brown bass, Stan Levey drums.

Getz Meets Mulligan In Hi-Fi

Suss Von Ahn - Zeldas Park

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:49
Size: 88.9 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2004
Art: Front

[2:57] 1. When The Lights Go Down
[2:40] 2. Gone Fishing
[2:10] 3. Sunday
[3:24] 4. Welcome To My House
[3:37] 5. Sally
[2:33] 6. Zeldas Park
[3:07] 7. One Of These Days
[3:10] 8. Mrs Blue
[3:44] 9. Everybodyâ's Talking
[3:02] 10. Confession
[2:42] 11. No One There
[3:32] 12. Life Before This
[2:03] 13. Donâ't Wanna Talk About Us

In Sweden Suss has often been compared to Norah Jones and this album shows her fantastic vocal and songwriting abilities in a mixture of jazz and pop. She´s got Sweden's best musicians to back her up with Christer Jansson on drums, Matts Alsberg on bass,Torbjörn Stener,Pelle Robertsson, Robert Öberg and Thomas Tjärnkvist on guitars, Jonas Sjöblom on percussion and Suss plays all the keyboards. Stockholm Power Horns contribute on a couple of songs.

Suss grew up in the northern part of Sweden and as a preacher's daughter experienced the benefits of moving around a lot. She spent 5 years of her childhood in Liberia, on the west coast of Africa . At the age of thirteen she started to write her own songs and learned to play the piano. Shortly after that she became a member in a band in Umeå, Sweden and also the pianist of a gospel choir. A few years later she started her own band. In 1994 her first album was released. She has performed at: Falun Jazz Festival; Umeå International Jazz Festival; Stockholm Jazz Festival just to name a few and many times on Swedish Television.

Zeldas Park

Bobby Hutcherson - The Kicker

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:43
Size: 123.0 MB
Styles: Post bop, Vibraphone jazz
Year: 1999
Art: Front

[10:31] 1. If Ever I Would Leave You
[ 6:49] 2. Mirrors
[ 7:52] 3. For Duke P. (Aka XYZ)
[ 6:04] 4. The Kicker
[14:16] 5. Step Lightly
[ 8:09] 6. Bedouin

Bobby Hutcherson recorded frequently for Blue Note in the 1960s, though this session remained unissued until 1999. The first half features the vibraphonist in a cooking hard bop session with Joe Henderson and Duke Pearson, starting with an energetic take on the normally slow ballad "If Ever I Would Leave You" and a sizzling Hutcherson original, "For Duke P." Guitarist Grant Green is added for the second half, beginning with the first recording of Henderson's "The Kicker," which became well known from it's later rendition on Horace Silver's highly successful release Song for My Father. Because this is part of Blue Note's limited-edition Jazz Connoisseur series, don't delay in picking it up. ~Ken Dryden

The Kicker

Jeff Hamilton Trio - The Best Things Happen

Styles: Jazz, Straight-ahead/Mainstream 
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:28
Size: 154,9 MB
Art: Front

(5:40)  1. I Love Being Here with You: I Love Being Here
(5:38)  2. I Concentrate On You
(5:35)  3. We'll Be Together Again
(6:22)  4. I Didn't Know What Time it Was
(6:00)  5. Like a Lover: Like a Lover
(5:03)  6. Poinciana
(3:48)  7. Bennissimo
(4:23)  8. The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing
(6:18)  9. Skylark
(7:15) 10. Moonbird
(6:30) 11. C Jam Blues
(4:51) 12. L'il Old Lady

The Best Things Happen' when you listen to Jeff Hamilton. He's universally acknowledged as one of the greatest drummers in jazz, whether he's swinging the Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra or waking up a famous ghost band by sitting in I witnessed that once, and the before/after difference was stunning. Unmatched for chops, ears, and flair, Hamilton has led his own trio for nine years. Previously with the superb Larry Fuller and maestro Lynn Seaton, it now contains players who all live in the same city. Pianist Tamir Hendelman's Eastman composition degree shows in his imaginative arrangements, and bassist Christoph Luty has a fat sound and unerring sense of melody. Together they balance, challenge, and support each other wonderfully, fulfilling Hamilton's mandate that a trio should consist of three equal parts.

But enough with the background. From the irresistible swing of its first track, "I Love Being Here with You," this CD is a first-class ticket to musical fulfillment. The journey includes new twists on old favorites for example, "Poinciana," while explicitly honoring the historic Ahmad Jamal version, lifts and lightens its familiar beat. Luty's innovative arrangement gives "C Jam Blues" a langorous morning-after feel, all slow and stretchy. The spirit of Oscar P. hovers happily over Hendelman check out his precise parallel octaves on the closing burner, Hoagy Carmichael's "L'il Old Lady." 

Hendelman also provides an intriguing new setup to the quietly lustrous "Skylark," and he wrote the jubilant "Bennissimo" in tribute to pianist Benny Green, who trio-ed with Ray Brown and Hamilton in the early '90s. As for the leader' while he's long-celebrated as a fully frontal player, Hamilton's brushwork is exceptionally elegant and judicious. You can hear this most clearly on Larry Golding's lovely "Moonbird" and the graceful "We'll Be Together Again," where his contribution is both crucial and nearly subliminal. All told, this CD is a fabulous ride, and highly recommended. ~ Dr Judith Schlesinger  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-best-things-happen-jeff-hamilton-azica-records-review-by-dr-judith-schlesinger.php

Personnel: Jeff Hamilton (drums), Tamir Hendelman (piano), Christoph Luty (bass)

Marica Hiraga - Mandelcini

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:00
Size: 119,8 MB
Art: Front

(2:56)  1. Moon River
(4:03)  2. Two for the Road
(3:44)  3. Cinnamon & Clove
(4:41)  4. Emily
(5:04)  5. Charade
(6:13)  6. A Time for Love
(3:35)  7. Moment to Moment
(4:42)  8. The Shadow of Your Smile
(4:38)  9. Close Enough for Love
(3:46) 10. Days of Wine and Roses
(3:17) 11. Loss of Love (Sunflower)
(5:16) 12. Dear Heart

Marica Hiraga is Japan’s leading jazz vocalist with a rich talent both in expression and technique. Her professional career began in 1981 after she was awarded the Asia Music Award in Hong Kong. She has acquired her understanding and feeling of jazz by performing and traveling between Tokyo and New York. Her first Jazz standard album, My Shining Hour, was released in 2001, and won the Best Singing Techniques award at the 19th Japan Jazz Vocal Award hosted by Jazz World magazine in 2003. Her 2nd album, Faith, released in 2006, was recorded with Eric Alexander and Harold Mabern Trio. Faith was selected as “ Swing Journal Gold Disc” and became her breakthrough album. She then worked with the legendary jazz combo, the Manhattan Jazz Quintet, lead by David Matthews, on 3rd album, Close to Bacharach, which was highly praised as the new Bacharach standards. The album was again selected as “ Swing Journal Gold Disc” and she received the Best Vocal award at the 41st Jazz Disc Award, hosted by Swing Journal, one of the most prestigious awards for jazz music in Japan.

In May 2008, she released a collection of mature love songs as 4th album, More Romance, and in November, she released 5th album, Batucada-Jazz‘ n’ Bossa, on which she worked with many prominent musicians including the genius Gil Goldstein, the leading AOR musician Michael Franks, Marcos Valle, Phil Woods, Kenny Garrett and Randy Brecker, as a celebration album for bossa nova’s 50th anniversary. Batucada was again selected as“ Swing Journal Gold Disc” and won her the Best Vocal award at the 42nd Jazz Disc Award. In 2009, she released 6th album, Sing Once More-Dear Carpenters, a tribute album to Carpenters, for which she received the grand prize at the 25th Japan Jazz Vocal Award and the Best Vocal award at the 43rd Jazz Disc Award, making her the first musician to receive this award for 3 consecutive years. In 2011, She released 7th album, Mona Lisa-Tribute to Nat King Cole, a tribute album to the legendary singer, Nat King Cole. Marica Hiraga’s latest album, Sings With The Duke Ellington Orchestra, released in April 2012, The full big band album which becomes the first in self is challenged, and costarring with a historical big band is achieved. She has been performing at numerous concert halls and jazz festivals, and her artistic talents extend to a wide range of activities, such as being a radio personality and contributing as a music magazine columnist. ~ Bio  http://www.last.fm/music/Marica+Hiraga/+wiki

Mandelcini

Jacques Stotzem, Thierry Crommen - Different Ways

Styles: Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:31
Size: 90,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:59)  1. The Rules of the Game
(3:34)  2. Ljubljana
(4:28)  3. Always There
(5:20)  4. Close to You
(4:17)  5. Blues for Germain
(3:23)  6. La Part Du Rêve
(3:35)  7. Different Ways
(6:42)  8. Lovely Eyes
(4:10)  9. Sombre Histoire

Time passes quickly when Stotzem and Crommen set off a brilliant fireworks of exceptionally well-ripened ideas from melancholic folk, juicy blues, swinging jazz and even driving rock - ideas that they have succeeded in developing during their ten-year professional careers (in part together, but mostly on their individual paths). While Thierry Crommen at home on both the chromatic and the diatonic harmonica, as well as in a great variety of music styles excelled at the world championship for harmonica and participated in countless studio recordings, Jacques Stotzem's star in the acoustic-guitar heavens rose at the beginning of the Nineties. Extensively praised for his inimitably melodious fingerpicking compositions, the spectrum of which ranges from dreamy ballads to snappy jazz and up to practically thundering acoustic rock, Stotzem has in the meantime evoked storms of enthusiasm at festivals on both sides of the Atlantic with his music that is equally exciting and simply beautiful. http://www.acoustic-music.de/jacques-stotzem-thierry-crommen-different-ways/en

Sarah Jane Morris - Love And Pain

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2002
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:48
Size: 117,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:33)  1. Love And Pain
(4:10)  2. I Get High
(3:52)  3. Cowboy Junkies
(3:56)  4. Innocence
(3:35)  5. Nothing Comes From Nothing
(4:55)  6. Arms Of An Angel
(3:38)  7. Mad Woman Blues
(3:59)  8. 'It's Jesus I Love'
(3:42)  9. Blind Old Friends
(3:12) 10. Once In Every While
(5:18) 11. A Horse Named Janis Joplin
(5:50) 12. Fields Of Wheat

To underpin her classic blue-eyed soul voice with electronic swoops and programmed drums is a very clever entrance into Sarah Jane Morris' Love and Pain. The swirling organ and sparse bass do their jobs as well to further bolster the acoustic guitar-driven opening track, "Mad Woman Blues." It serves as the signature, cornerstone piece setting the tone and kicking off a terrifically intriguing series of 12 tunes. These juxtaposed instrumental choices and themes weave in and out of the sonic landscape, making room for other just as titillating production elements such as world-tinged percussion grooves, guitars on the brink of distortion, way-hip sampled bits and beats, processed vocal parts, and more. Morris' smoky voice is the common thread holding it all together. 

Her performances dance from sultry to sassy in the blink of an eye (or the change of a track, as the case may be). From moment to moment, you might think of Garbage, Moby, Alison Moyet, or Primitive Radio Gods, or even reach as far as Erykah Badu. But while those works might seem similar, Love and Pain is something else altogether, and it's pretty darn cool. ~ Kelly McCartney  http://www.allmusic.com/album/love-and-pain-mw0000039761

Personnel: Sarah Jane Morris (vocals); Calum MacColl, Martyn Barker (various instruments, programming); Mornington Lockett (saxophone); Simon Edwards (bass).

Herb Geller - That Geller Feller

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 35:03
Size: 80,7 MB
Art: Front

(5:54)  1. S'pacific View
(5:40)  2. Jitterbug Waltz
(6:15)  3. The Fruit
(4:40)  4. Here's What I'm Here For
(4:39)  5. Marable Eyes
(3:40)  6. An Air for the Heir
(4:12)  7. Melrose and Sam

Herb Geller was a veteran of the Los Angeles jazz scene of the 1950s who played better than ever by the turn of the millennium. Geller played in 1946 with Joe Venuti's Orchestra, and in 1949 he traveled to New York to play with Claude Thornhill. In 1951 he moved back to L.A. and married the excellent bop pianist Lorraine Walsh. Geller was a fixture in L.A., playing with Billy May (1952), Maynard Ferguson, Shorty Rogers, Bill Holman, and Chet Baker, among others; jamming with Clifford Brown and Max Roach (1954); and leading a quartet that included his wife (1954-1955). Lorraine Geller's sudden death in 1958 eventually resulted in the altoist deciding to leave the country to escape his grief. 

He played with Benny Goodman off and on between 1958-1961, spent time in Brazil, and in 1962 moved to Berlin. Geller worked in German radio orchestras for 30 years, played in European big bands, and continued to grow as a musician, although he was pretty much forgotten in the U.S. From the early '90s into the 2000s, Herb Geller returned to the States on a more regular basis, and he recorded tributes to Al Cohn and Arthur Schwartz for Hep. Geller also recorded as a leader in the 1950s for EmArcy, Jubilee, and Atco, and in his later years for Enja, Fresh Sound, and VSOP. Herb Geller died in Hamburg, Germany on December 19, 2013; he was 85 years old. ~ Bio Scott Yanow  http://www.allmusic.com/artist/herb-geller-mn0000677067/biography

Personnel: Herb Geller (soprano saxophone, alto saxophone); Harold Land (tenor saxophone); Kenny Dorham (trumpet); Lou Levy (piano); Larance Marable (drums).

That Geller Feller

George Robert & Dado Moroni - Youngbloods

Styles: Trombone And Piano Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 70:40
Size: 162,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:59)  1. I Remember You
(5:57)  2. Blues For Andy
(3:37)  3. Lush Life
(6:28)  4. Love's Mirror Image
(4:16)  5. East of the Sun
(5:47)  6. Missing You
(3:38)  7. Voyage
(5:09)  8. My Kind Of World
(4:44)  9. Pacific Sunset
(5:09) 10. Easy to Love
(4:28) 11. Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most
(4:15) 12. Stablemates
(4:48) 13. Susanita
(7:17) 14. Body And Soul

This duo date features two of Europe's finest jazz musicians of the 1990s, George Robert and Dado Moroni, in a program that mixes exciting versions of standards and jazz compositions. "I Remember You" gets things off to a fast start, with Robert's alto sax and Moroni's piano inviting comparison to a match of Phil Woods and Kenny Barron. This comparison doesn't last, as these musical chameleons refuse to be pigeonholed; a mesmerizing "Lush Life," a driving "Easy to Love," and an emotional take of "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most." The duo also interprets classics from the jazz canon, such as "Stablemates" and Kenny Barron's "Voyage" (which has become one of the most frequently interpreted works of the post-bop era) with the same level of imagination. 

The only misfires occur when Moroni makes an ill-advised switch to a Fender Rhodes electric piano, badly dating Jimmy Woode's otherwise swinging "My Kind of World," as well as distracting from the beauty of Robert's lyrical clarinet on "Body and Soul" and a bossa nova arrangement of "East of the Sun." Robert also wrote three of the songs, including the lively gospel-flavored "Blues for Andy," the bittersweet ballad "Missing You," and the Latin-flavored "Pacific Sunset." Both of these talented musicians should command wider audiences as the 21st century progresses. ~ Ken Dryden  http://www.allmusic.com/album/youngbloods-mw0000181476

Personnel: George Robert (trombone); Dado Moroni (piano, Fender Rhodes piano).