Oliver Nelson - Meet Oliver Nelson

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:22
Size: 83.3 MB
Styles: Post bop, Saxophone jazz
Year: 1960/2013
Art: Front

[7:00] 1. Jams And Jellies
[6:49] 2. Passion Flower
[3:42] 3. Don't Stand Up
[5:28] 4. Ostinato
[6:50] 5. What's New
[6:31] 6. Booze Blues Baby

Oliver Nelson's debut as a leader found him at the age of 27 already a distinctive and skilled tenor-saxophonist. For this quintet set (reissued on CD in the OJC series), Nelson teams up with the veteran trumpeter Kenny Dorham, pianist Ray Bryant, bassist Wendell Marshall and drummer Art Taylor for four of his originals plus the ballads "Passion Flower" and "What's New." Although none of these Nelson tunes caught on, this was an impressive beginning to a short but productive career and gives one a strong example of the multi-talented Nelson's tenor playing. ~Scott Yanow

Meet Oliver Nelson

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The Mark Craddock Trio - Goodbye Blue Monday

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:15
Size: 115.0 MB
Styles: Contemporary jazz
Year: 2009
Art: Front

[4:34] 1. Goodbye Blue Monday
[6:46] 2. Womp
[6:43] 3. J-Bird
[4:59] 4. Tres Dados
[4:16] 5. Jam Night
[5:31] 6. Lost Ballad
[3:54] 7. Nosferatu
[6:35] 8. Funk In D
[6:53] 9. Libre

A San Francisco player through the 1990s, Mark Craddock was a member of “Thunder Blue,” a heavily Jimi Hendrix-influenced blues-rock band fronted by Bay Area veteran Regi harvey. Mark also was a member of a popular San Francisco free-jazz group, “The Lab Rats,” and did occasionals, session work and jams with many Bay Area notables such as percussionist Hugh “Sweetfoot” Manard (Caribbean All Stars), blues harpist Red Archibald, and steel guitarist Freddie Roulette. At one time or another, he played in most of the Bay Area’s major blues and rock venues, including New George’s (San Rafael); Skip’s Tavern, The Blue Lamp, Lou’s Pier 47, Biscuits and Blues, The Boom Boom Room (all San Francisco clubs); and JJ’s Blues (San Jose). In late 2001, Mark moved to Walsenburg, Colo., his wife’s hometown.

In addition to gigging with local musicians such as Brent and Babz Seawell, Steve Hohn, and Glenn Wilbanks, Craddock formed his own 9-piece funk/fusion band “Blue Monday,” which gigged frequently around Pueblo and Colorado Springs from 2002 to 2004. In 2004, Mark met Chicago blues pianist Ken Saydak and Nashville songwriter Fred James at a local watering hole. For the next three years he played extensively around Colorado and New Mexico as a member of Ken’s band, as well as gigging with Fred’s “Blazz” (blues-jazz) project.

For the last year and a half, Mark been playing pretty much exclusively with his own jazz combo, “The Mark Craddock Trio,” with bassist Tom Read and percussionist David Zehring. The trio has just released its first CD project on the L.A.-based Snailworx label, engineered by Steve Hohn, produced by Fred James, and featuring Ken Saydak, who stopped by the studio to lay down some incredible Hammond B3 tracks.

Goodbye Blue Monday

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James Taylor - 2 albums: Covers / Other Covers

Album: Covers
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:43
Size: 95.5 MB
Styles: Adult Contemporary, Soft Rock
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[4:08] 1. It's Growing
[3:15] 2. (I'm A) Road Runner
[3:39] 3. Wichita Lineman
[2:39] 4. Why Baby Why
[2:37] 5. Some Days You Gotta Dance
[4:47] 6. Seminole Wind
[3:34] 7. Suzanne
[3:00] 8. Hound Dog
[4:32] 9. Sadie
[4:08] 10. On Broadway
[2:39] 11. Summertime Blues
[2:40] 12. Not Fade Away

A cozy companion to One Man Band, James Taylor's 2007 intimate stroll through his back pages for Starbucks' Hear Music, Covers once again finds the singer/songwriter on familiar, friendly territory, as he returns to his easy rolling full band and digs into the songbook of the rock & roll era. It's his era, of course, the time he had hit singles, including many hit cover versions, as he points out himself in his brief liner notes to the album. All of this makes Covers feel perhaps even more comfortable than One Man Band, which had the distinction of its unique guitar-and-piano arrangements, something that made his hits sound relatively fresh. Here, standards -- and despite a couple of oddball choices like the Spinners' "Sadie," John Anderson's "Seminole Wind," and the only modern song here, the Dixie Chicks' "Some Days You Gotta Dance," this is all standards like "Wichita Lineman," "Suzanne," "Hound Dog," "On Broadway," "Summertime Blues," and "Not Fade Away" -- are given Taylor's warm, mellow signature, so Covers winds up feeling a bit like an outdoor concert on a sunny summer Sunday afternoon: something that is wholly relaxing and not in the least surprising. ~Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Covers

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Album: Other Covers
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 25:59
Size: 59.5 MB
Styles: Adult Contemporary, Soft Rock
Year: 2009
Art: Front

[3:10] 1. Oh, What A Beautiful Morning
[4:05] 2. Get A Job
[3:08] 3. Memphis Tennessee
[4:17] 4. Shiver Me Timbers
[4:13] 5. Wasn't That A Mighty Storm
[3:14] 6. In The Midnight Hour
[3:49] 7. Knock On Wood

2009 release, the companion to his successful 2008 Covers album. When James Taylor and his band went into the studio last year to record Covers, he had the foresight to record additional material. He took advantage of the time in the woods with this full touring band. This seven-song, specially-priced digipak CD is as powerful and perfectly conceived as the original.

Other Covers

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Eddie Condon & His All-Star Dixieland Band - Confidentially, It's Condon

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 27:46
Size: 63.6 MB
Styles: Dixieland jazz
Year: 1958/2013
Art: Front

[3:08] 1. That's A-Plenty
[2:14] 2. Ballin' The Jack
[2:45] 3. Cherry
[2:29] 4. Wherever There's Love (There's You And Me)
[2:47] 5. Ja-Da
[3:05] 6. It's Been So Long
[2:43] 7. Royal Garden Blues
[2:50] 8. Sugar
[2:54] 9. Back In Your Own Backyard
[2:46] 10. Indiana

Nice memories, Eddie Condon was a legendary performer in the world of jazz. This recording ,unavailable for over 50 yrs, was done during the time he had a club in the 'Village'. Plenty of foot tapping jazz, but without the coarseness typical of some dixie groups. Not sure who the sidemen were, but everyone plays smooth n easy, nothings forced. Typical late 1950s era...a joy to hear. ~Cody

Confidentially, It's Condon

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Bud Shank & Bill Perkins - Bud Shank & Bill Perkins

Styles: Saxophone Jazz, West Coast Jazz
Year: 1958
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:29
Size: 136,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:06)  1. Paradise
(4:21)  2. Fluted Columns
(3:34)  3. I Hear Music
(3:59)  4. Royal Garden Blues
(3:20)  5. A Sinner Kissed An Angel
(3:19)  6. It Had To Be You
(3:35)  7. Fluted Colums (alt. take)
(3:28)  8. I Hear Music (trio version)
(4:45)  9. Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?
(7:25) 10. Blues In The Night
(2:43) 11. Bojangles of Harlem
(4:43) 12. It's A New World
(3:41) 13. Angel Eyes
(3:47) 14. Sonny Speaks
(3:36) 15. Ain't Got A Dime To My Name

Two of the stars of cool jazz, Bud Shank and Bill Perkins, are featured to various degrees throughout this session. Shank in the 1950s was practically the epitome of West Coast jazz. His cool tones on alto and his fluid flute were utilized on many dates; the main set here also finds him switching in spots to tenor and baritone. Perkins, always a versatile reed soloist, is best known for his tenor playing but during that date he also plays alto, and (on two versions of "Fluted Columns") there are some rare examples of his flute. Shank and Perkins team up quite effectively with pianist Hampton Hawes, bassist Red Mitchell, and drummer Mel Lewis for the May 2, 1955 session, which includes a trio feature for Hawes ("I Hear Music"). Four numbers from February 19, 1956 (with Shank on flute and alto, pianist Russ Freeman, bassist Carson Smith, drummer Shelly Manne, and, on "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?," Perkins on tenor) are actually from a session led by Freeman but never completed, and were only put out previously on samplers. "Angel Eyes" (by a quartet with Perkins and pianist Jimmy Rowles) is a leftover track from a later date, as is "Sonny Speaks," which showcases Rowles in a trio without Perkins. 

This set concludes with the one surviving number ("Ain't Got a Dime to My Name") surviving from a truncated Perkins quartet set from 1958. Taken as a whole, there are many rewarding solos to be heard by Shank, Perkins, and the piano players on these formerly rare selections, even if the collection falls short of being classic. ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/bud-shank-and-bill-perkins-mw0000598499

Personnel: Bud Shank (flute, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone); Bill Perkins (flute, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Hampton Hawes, Jimmy Rowles, Russ Freeman (piano); Mel Lewis, Shelly Manne (drums).

Bud Shank & Bill Perkins

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Barbara Leah Meyer - Winter Child

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:34
Size: 145,9 MB
Art: Front

(5:15)  1. Bridges
(7:55)  2. I Thought About You
(6:54)  3. Detour Ahead
(4:44)  4. I've Never Been in Love Before
(4:43)  5. Never Let Me Go
(5:48)  6. Saudade
(4:27)  7. Nature Boy
(3:25)  8. Up Jumped Spring
(5:43)  9. Like a Lover
(5:19) 10. Winter Child
(5:33) 11. So Many Stars
(3:43) 12. Slap That Bass

Barbara Leah Meyer has been a dynamic member of the Canadian and European music scenes for many years. A native of Edmonton, Canada she has entertained a variety of audiences across Canada and throughout Europe, Scandinavia, Japan and the Middle East, as a solo artist, with jazz ensembles, big bands and symphony orchestras. Barbara's musical background is diverse. She studied classical piano and music theory from an early age, going on to graduate from Grant MacEwan Community College in Edmonton with a diploma in jazz vocal performance and piano. She then co-founded the popular jazz vocal trio Alley Scatz. Performances at the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, the Edmonton Jazz City Festival, Expo 86, Canadian and international touring, a United Nations Entertainment Tour to Cyprus and Israel and numerous television and radio appearances were but a few of the highlights.

In 1989 Barbara began a long touring career throughout Europe, eventually settling in Frankfurt, Germany in 1997. Based in the centre of a bustling European music scene she toured extensively and enjoyed enormous success with various projects. She has performed as a solo vocalist/ pianist at many of Europe and Scandinavia’s top luxury hotels and was the Music Director at the Hotel Intercontinental in Frankfurt am Main from 1998 until 2005. Barbara has been a guest vocalist with symphony orchestras, big bands, jazz ensembles, and various music groups. 

Highlights were performances with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the Baden-Badener Philharmonie, the Krimm Orchestra in Yalta, the Philharmonie Suedwestfalen and the European Philharmonia Baden Baden as well as invitations to perform at the Baku Jazz Festival (Azerbaijan), at Canada Day celebrations in Istanbul and Ankara and recent solo engagements in Fuerteventura, Spain. As a member of the renowned female vocal group Ladies Nyght she appeared at numerous jazz festivals and on club and concert stages across Europe. As a recording artist Barbara has been very prolific. 1989 marked the release of her first compact disc Out On A Limb. The album reached the Top 10 in several European countries, was #12 on Canada's Country Music Hit Chart and was the first Canadian production to be chosen as the Independent Record of the Month by a leading music publication in London, England. Barbara was honored to have been selected as Female Vocalist of the Year at the 1992 ARIA (Alberta Recording Industry Association) Awards.

In 1997 Barbara released her first jazz CD “Comes Love”. Described as "sultry, stunning and impeccable" this album showcases her lush vocals and the superb playing of some of Western Canada's top jazz musicians. “Winter Child” (Laika Records - DE) was recorded in February 2001 in Frankfurt am Main. It features Barbara’s work as a jazz lyricist as well as the masterful musicianship of some of the top names in the German jazz scene. Subsequent releases include CD recordings with the Baden-Baden Philharmonie, the German vocal trio Ladies Nyght (“How to Fly”) and an innovative and charming English/ German children’s’ CD entitled Maple Surple “Sing Together!”Barbara Leah Meyer is very active as a vocalist, pianist, accompanist, arranger, music director, voice and piano teacher and repertoire coach. She has taught at the prestigious Frankfurt Musikhochschule (Frankfurt University of Performing Arts) and at the Scream Factory (Frankfurt). She also offers workshops on jazz/pop vocal technique, interpretation, improvisation and performance.After enjoying many fulfilling years living in Germany Barbara is happy to have returned “home” to Alberta in 2010. 

She now resides in St. Albert with her two young children Carmen and Evan. http://barbaraleahmeyer.com/bio.html

Winter Child

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Ken Peplowski - Illuminations

Styles: Clarinet and Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1990
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:39
Size: 146,0 MB
Art: Front

(7:12)  1. June Night
(5:30)  2. Trubbel
(5:41)  3. Panama
(6:51)  4. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
(5:14)  5. How Long Has This Been Going On
(5:45)  6. Jim Dawgs
(4:55)  7. Smada
(4:50)  8. Alone Together
(3:25)  9. Did I Remember
(4:58) 10. Nancy (With the Laughing Face)
(5:49) 11. The Best Things in Life Are Free
(3:24) 12. If We Never Meet Again

Ken Peplowski on clarinet and tenor is a superb swing-based soloist who has taken elements from several classic players, fusing them together in his own strangely familiar but fairly original style. Peplowski's clarinet solo on this CD's version of the cooking "June Night" seems to shout out "Benny Goodman Lives!" "If We Never Meet Again," "Alone Together" and a delightful rendition of "Panama" are taken as stirring duets with guitarist Howard Alden. Other selections feature Peplowski in a quintet also including pianist Junior Mance, bassist Dennis Irwin and drummer Alan Dawson. The leader's tenor on "Jim Dawgs" and the romantic "Nancy" are additional highlights of this easily recommended mainstream set. ~ Scott Yanow  http://www.allmusic.com/album/illuminations-mw0000674475

Personnel:  Ken Peplowski - clarinet, alto & tenor sax;  Junior Mance – piano;  Howard Alden – guitar;  Dennis Irwin – bass;  Alan Dawson - drums

Illuminations

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