Bill Perkins - I Wished On The Moon

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:28
Size: 115.5 MB
Styles: Post bop, Saxophone jazz
Year: 1992
Art: Front

[3:54] 1. I Wished On The Moon
[5:08] 2. Remember
[3:09] 3. Beautiful Love
[7:05] 4. Besame Mucho
[5:39] 5. Opals
[5:27] 6. No More
[3:31] 7. Last Port Of Call
[4:58] 8. Rockin' Chair
[6:40] 9. The Summer Knows
[4:51] 10. Caravan

Bill Perkins is a special guest of the Metropole Orchestra on these studio sessions from 1989 and 1990. Backed by conductor Rob Pronk's lightly swinging arrangements, Perkins packs a punch with his effusive tenor sax in "I Wished on the Moon." He switches to flute for "Beautiful Love," which starts slowly before picking up the pace, while Perkins occasionally calls Eric Dolphy to mind with his bird-like runs. He is also hip to more contemporary sounds, as he plays soprano sax in the funky "Last Port of Call" (co-written by Lorraine Feather and Michael Cimbello). But Bill Perkins saves the best for last with a marvelous soprano sax solo in the exotic, tense arrangement of "Caravan." The strings tend to get a little too prominent in spots, but this is still a very enjoyable CD. ~Ken Dryden

I Wished On The Moon

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Kris Berg & The Metroplexity Big Band - This Time/Last Year

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:09
Size: 133.1 MB
Styles: Big band
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[6:53] 1. Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise
[5:48] 2. Games
[6:27] 3. This Time/Last Year
[6:10] 4. Forgotten Thoughts
[6:48] 5. Ru Chicken
[5:31] 6. The Gentle Rain
[6:50] 7. Pah-Dáh-Pah-Dah
[7:58] 8. Night Dreamer
[5:41] 9. I'm Okay, We're Okay

As Director of Jazz Studies at Collin College near Dallas, TX, award-winning bassist Kris Berg has vast experience teaching the music, directing various ensembles, as well as being founder of the annual Collin Jazz Festival and the Texas All-Star Jazz Camp. However, This Time / Last Year is his first project as bandleader, directing the large, twenty-plus-piece Metroplexity Big Band through nine electrifying orchestrations of originals and rearranged standards in the finest tradition of contemporary big band music.

Comprised of musicians from what Berg states are, "the crème de la crème of the jazz scene in the Dallas / Ft. Worth area, also known as the Metroplex," (from which the group's name is drawn), Berg harnesses the collective energy of some of the finest players in the business into a muscular ensemble on steroids. Special guests, trumpeters Wayne Bergeron and Clay Jenkins, trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis and flautist Chris Vadala, are the musical steroids helping to deliver that extra kick; that jolt, if you will, that makes this recording such a pleasure to hear.

The bassist delivers a fresh new arrangement of the Sigmund Romberg / Oscar Hammerstein classic, "Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise," featuring longtime friend Jenkins, and Marsalis, both doing the honors with solos in-between powerful brassy lines. The funk-infused "Games" originates from a composition for an old Berg fusion group and jumps out on electrifying chords from Dallas guitarist Noel Johnston and hard drum beats from Stockton Helbing, as Bergeron plays the lead. The funk continues on the original "RU Chicken," recorded with a smaller band, which takes the original melody of composer James "Pee Wee" Ellis's well-known "Chicken," and alters the rhythm to feature solos from electric pianist Kent Ellingson, a bit from tenor saxophonist Jeff Robbins, and more from Helbing.

Penned for wife Yvette, the title track features beautiful orchestrations, highlighting Helbing and former Maynard Ferguson band mate Ken Edwards on a sublime flugelhorn excursion. The Luiz Bonfa staple, "The Gentle Rain," is the soft spot of the recording, in an arrangement specifically designed to feature reed man Vadala on alto flute, to which Berg adds delicate ensemble work for an especially tender version of this standard. In an arrangement written specifically for vocalist Kurt Elling, who had been a special guest of Berg in the past, saxophonist Wayne Shorter's "Night Dreamer" turns into the defining chart of the recording, staying true to the melody but adding a full band intro with plenty of mutes, bass clarinets and flutes, ultimately featuring delicious solo spots from Jenkins and tenor saxophonist Brian Clancy.

The set ends on a big bang note with the lively and swinging "I'm Okay, We're OK!" and with that, Kris Berg and his Dallas area orchestra take a Texas-sized leap. This Time / Last Year is a classic big band album that features an array of excellent soloists on an impressive debut presented with a measure of funk, swing and swagger. ~Edward Blanco

Kris Berg: bass; Wayne Bergeron: trumpet (2, 4, 7); Clay Jenkins: trumpet (1, 3, 8); Chris Vadala: alto flute (6); Delfeayo Marsalis: trombone (1); Keith Jourdan: trumpet; Micah Bell: trumpet; Ken Edwards: trumpet; Jack Evans: trumpet (1, 3, 6, 8); Tyler Mire: trumpet (2, 4, 7, 9); Tim Ishii: alto saxophone, flute (1-4, 7, 8); Collin Hauser: alto saxophone, flute (1-4, 6, 9); Jeff Robbins: tenor saxophone, flute, alto saxophone (5, 6); Brian Clancy: tenor saxophone, flute; Kevin McNerney: baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone (6); Bruce Bohnstengel: alto saxophone, flute (3, 8, 9); Sarah Roberts: alto saxophone, flute, bass clarinet (6, 8); Michael Burgess: trombone; Chris Seiter (1-4, 6-9); Simon Willats: trombone (1, 3, 6, 8, 9); Milas Yoes: trombone (2, 4, 7); A.G. Robeson: trombone; Stockton Helbing: drums; Kent Ellingson: piano (1-5, 7-9); Roberto Verastegui: piano (6); Tom Burchill: guitar (1, 3-9); Noel Johnston: guitar (2).

This Time/Last Year

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Patricia Dean - You Go To My Head

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:58
Size: 121.3 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2010
Art: Front

[5:05] 1. Take The A Train
[6:43] 2. You Go To My Head
[5:34] 3. Little Boat
[5:41] 4. Beautiful Love
[4:41] 5. In Love In Vain
[5:47] 6. The More I See You
[3:53] 7. The Lamp Is Low
[5:15] 8. Stew's Blues
[5:20] 9. Everytime We Say Goodbye
[4:55] 10. If I Were A Bell

PATRICIA DEAN and the legendary Grady Tate are among the few artists in the history of jazz who play drums and sing, and who do both at an exceptional level. PATRICIA DEAN is no mere "singing drummer" or "drumming singer". As a drummer she's an inspiring and supremely tasteful time keeper, accompanist, and soloist. As a jazz vocalist, Dean is swinging, sensitive, and quite simply, just wonderfully musical. This Tampa, Florida native was literally and figuratively surrounded by music while growing up. Her father, formerly lead alto saxophonist on the famed "Sherwood's Forest" recording by Bobby Sherwood, was also a talented composer, clarinetist, and pianist. Her older brother, an accomplished bassist was already playing in youth orchestras and backing up name acts while still in high school. But what led Patricia to seriously consider a career in music was none other than the singer/drummer Karen Carpenter. Dean went through her "banging on pots and pans stage" while playing with The Carpenter's records, finally got an actual drum set, began studying privately, and played her first professional gig at the age of 14. Along the way she listened and listened. She sites Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Wilson, Shirley Horn and Julie London as among her singing influences. Careful listeners may hear some overtones of Dinah Washington, who of course, greatlly influenced Nancy Wilson and Duke Ellington's Betty Roche. Indeed, Dean's version of "Take the "A" Train" recalls the memorable Roche/Ellington recording of that song in 1952. What is so special about Dean's singing is that she is equally skilled and convincingas a heartfelt ballad singer, swinging scatter, and evocative interpreter of Braziian melodies. That's rare.

In terms of drumming, Dean names Ed Thigpen, Sonny Payne, Tony Williams and Jack DeJohnette as some of the percussionists she listened carefully to. Dean has taken the best of what these players represent and combined them to forge her own, unique identity. Above all, no matter what the style or the song, "taste" is at the forefront. Pianist Stu Shelton is technically astounding, to be sure, but he's a player who never lets his chops get in the way of what a jazz pianist and accompanist for a singer is supposed to do: swing and support the vocalist in that order.

Bassist Rick Doll is a versatile and in demand player who is at home playing virtually any style of music. Guest artist Bob Zottola, who plays trumpet on the gorgeous ballad "You Go To My Head", was a first call New York city session player who backed everyone from Benny Goodman and Frank Sinatra to Chick Corea and Maynard Ferguson.

There is, in fact, great depth and beauty, and some joyous swinging to be heard on every track on this recording. ~Bruce Klauber

You Go To My Head

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Kenny Drew - A Harold Arlen Showcase

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 32:34
Size: 74.6 MB
Styles: Hard bop, Piano jazz
Year: 1957/2010
Art: Front

[2:40] 1. Come Rain Or Come Shine
[3:20] 2. That Old Black Magic
[3:10] 3. Over The Rainbow
[2:17] 4. Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea
[2:46] 5. As Long As I Live
[2:11] 6. It's Only A Paper Moon
[2:58] 7. Stormy Weather
[2:17] 8. I've Got The World On A String
[2:32] 9. Let's Fall In Love
[2:59] 10. Ill Wind
[2:37] 11. Blues In The Night
[2:43] 12. Get Happy

Kenny Drew — piano, Wilbur Ware — bass

A Harold Arlen Showcase is an album by pianist Kenny Drew recorded in 1957 and released on the Riverside Records subsidiary Judson label. The album was rereleased on CD by Milestone Records as a compilation with its companion album A Harry Warren Showcase as Kenny Drew Plays the Music of Harry Warren and Harold Arlen in 1995.

A Harold Arlen Showcase

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The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Jazz: Red, Hot And Cool

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1955
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:12
Size: 131,1 MB
Art: Front

( 5:08)  1. Lover
(10:39)  2. Little Girl Blue
( 7:23)  3. Fare Thee Well, Annabelle
( 5:23)  4. Sometimes I'm Happy
( 2:46)  5. The Duke
( 5:55)  6. Indiana
( 8:47)  7. Love Walked In
( 4:12)  8. Taking A Chance On Love
( 6:57)  9. Closing Time Blues

The "red hot" in the title comes from this album's cover photograph. A lovely model with bright red attire worked with Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond to provide the visual nightclub perspective. The "cool," of course, comes from the quartet's music. Recorded at Basin Street in New York at three dates in 1954 and '55, The Dave Brubeck Quartet works through several programs that offered happy-go-lucky fare. It's the kind that had already led Brubeck and Desmond to success. This version of the quartet features Bob Bates and Joe Dodge. San Franciscans all, the foursome provides cohesive interplay with mellow refrains. "Love Walked In," for example, offers both smooth group counterpoint and fluid soloing, typical of the work from Brubeck and Desmond. 

Two previously unreleased tracks, "Taking a Chance on Love" and Brubeck's "Closing Time Blues," offer up-tempo adventures that should have been issued long ago. Brubeck solos on the former with spirits soaring, while the latter drives with a pleasant bounce, featuring piano. Wire brushes and walking bass characterize all the sessions, while these last two add a little more. With its great sound reproduction, Jazz: Red Hot And Cool offers an accurate glimpse of the quartet's attractiveness and adds several unexpected surprises. ~ Jim Santella http://www.allaboutjazz.com/jazz-red-hot-and-cool-dave-brubeck-columbia-records-review-by-jim-santella.php

Personnel:  Dave Brubeck- piano;  Paul Desmond- alto saxophone;  Bob Bates- bass;  Joe Dodge- drums.

Jazz: Red, Hot And Cool

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Cris Barber - Comes Love

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:01
Size: 124,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:06)  1. East Of The Sun
(3:25)  2. Better Than Anything
(6:01)  3. Comes Love
(4:17)  4. O Pato
(6:47)  5. You Go To My Head
(4:11)  6. Exactly Like You
(3:15)  7. Hallo Haven't I seen You Before
(3:43)  8. Just A Little Lovin'
(4:28)  9. Teach Me Tonight
(4:19) 10. Dindi
(4:53) 11. You Taught My Heart To Sing
(5:33) 12. Lousiana Sunday Afternoon

"For an artist to come full circle in range with rhythmic vocals along with flawless precision in a single cut is special. Thus describes the craft of Cris Barber as for the third time this artist has released a smooth and genuinely exquisite production titled Comes Loves. Feminine is the performance, her tones rich and expressions that carry a true cool mystique."~ Karl Stober, international freelance columnist, JazzReview

Winner of the prestigious Orange County Music Award® for Best Jazz Artist, noted vocalist Cris Barber capped a winning year by re-entering the studio to record her 3rd Album, “Comes Love”. With a vocal style that conjures the grand jazz traditions while staying true to her 21st Century rhythmic soul, Cris' skillful vibe is sure to appeal to sophisticated jazz enthusiasts.

The CD features well-known Los Angeles studio and concert players Karen Hammack (piano), Doug Webb (sax), Kurt Rasmussen (percussion), Barry Cogert (bass) and Aldo Bentivenga (drums). The musicians blend masterfully with Cris' vocal style for a wonderfully cohesive sound indicative of a truly great jazz album.

Cris Barber has gained a reputation as one of the premier jazz vocalists in Los Angeles and Southern California, performing in most of the area's top venues. Her “smooth, womanly vocals*” are dynamic and captivating, and have delighted audiences for over a decade. She has received accolades from around the world, including top 10 airplay in Europe, Australia, Canada, Argentina and the U.S. and CD Sales throughout the U.S., Europe, Australia and Japan. http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/crisbarber3

Comes Love

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Mary Cleere Haran - This Funny World: Sings Lyrics By Hart

Styles: Vocal, Cabaret
Year: 1995
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:58
Size: 142,2 MB
Art: Front

(4:18)  1. Manhattan
(3:06)  2. I Married An Angel
(3:32)  3. I'll Tell The Man In The Street
(2:30)  4. Way Out West
(5:06)  5. Everybody Loves You - Sleepyhead
(3:51)  6. With A Song In My Heart
(3:06)  7. Chicago
(5:04)  8. A Tree In The Park
(4:20)  9. Falling In Love With Love
(4:09) 10. Easy To Remember
(3:11) 11. A Lady Must Live
(3:56) 12. This Funny World
(3:45) 13. Wait Till You See Him
(3:10) 14. Everything I've Got
(4:36) 15. My Friend The Night
(4:12) 16. The Blue Room

Mary Cleere Haran emerged in the 1980s' revival of interest in classic pop and cabaret singing. The second of eight children in an Irish Catholic family, she was the daughter of a professor of theater and film at San Francisco City College and grew up immersed in the music and movies of the 1930s and '40s, forming a permanent attachment to the songs of the classic pop songwriters of that era. She began singing as a teenager and moved to New York in the late '70s, where she made her Broadway debut playing a band singer in The 1940s Radio Hour in 1979. 

She toured with the show, then settled in New Jersey and began performing the club circuit. She made her official cabaret debut at the Ballroom in New York in 1988, where she was acclaimed by critics. She began to appear in other prestigious clubs in major cities, and made her recording debut in 1992 with the album There's a Small Hotel (Live at the Algonquin) on Columbia Records. Also busy as a researcher and television producer for PBS, Haran continued her live performance career while making regular recordings This Heart of Mine: Classic Movie Songs of the Forties (1994), This Funny World: The Songs of Lorenz Hart (1995), Pennies from Heaven (1998), and The Memory of All That: Gershwin on Broadway. Crazy Rhythm was issued in fall 2000. ~ William Ruhlmann http://www.allmusic.com/artist/mary-cleere-haran-mn0000859476/biography

Personnel: Mary Cleere Haran (vocals); Richard Rodney Bennett (arranger, piano); Fred Sherry (cello); Ted Nash (tenor saxophone); Bill Charlap (piano); David Finck (bass); Tim Horner (drums).

This Funny World

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Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie & Harry Edison - Tour de Force

Styles: Trumpet Jazz

Year: 1956

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 37:17

Size: 85,5 MB

Art: Front

(17:26)  1. Steeplechase

( 8:41)  2. Ballad Medley

(11:09)  3. Tour De Force

A triple-trumpet session with a really wonderful sound the kind of all-star date that only a label like Verve could have done so well! As you'll guess from the title, the record's a showcase for the three trumpeters in the lead and the tracks are long, with plenty of space for each player to state their case in a very distinct solo voice. Rhythm is by a familiar quartet that features Oscar Peterson on piano, Herb Ellis on guitar, Ray Brown on bass, and Buddy Rich on drums and the use of guitar in a set like this creates an especially ringing tone at the bottom, one that often seems echoed by the brighter notes of the trumpet over the top. The album's got a great extended "Ballad Medley", plus long takes on "Tour De Force" and "Steeplechase". https://www.dustygroove.com/item/511746

Personnel: Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie, Harry “Sweets” Edison (tp), Oscar Peterson (p), Herb Ellis (g), Ray Brown (b) and Buddy Rich (d).

Tour de Force

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