Phineas Newborn Jr.Trio - Piano Portraits

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 70:47
Size: 162.1 MB
Styles: Piano jazz
Year: 2011
Art: Front

[2:57] 1. Star Eyes
[3:20] 2. Golden Earrings
[3:56] 3. It's All Right With Me
[3:55] 4. I Can't Get Started
[3:33] 5. Sweet And Lovely
[2:24] 6. Just In Time
[3:41] 7. Caravan
[4:14] 8. For All We Know
[4:04] 9. Blues Theme, For Left Hand Only
[3:44] 10. Passion Flower
[2:40] 11. Take The A Train
[3:03] 12. Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You
[3:54] 13. Ain't Misbehavin'
[3:26] 14. I've Got The World On A String
[4:02] 15. The Midnight Sun Will Never Set
[2:11] 16. Real Gone Guy
[3:39] 17. Undecided
[3:45] 18. Ivy League Blues
[4:00] 19. Love And Marriage
[4:11] 20. Give Me The Simple Life

Phineas Newborn Jr. (p), John Simmons (b), Roy Haynes (d). Tracks #1-10 originally issued on the LP "Piano Portraits by Phineas Newborn Trio" (Roulette SR-52031). Tracks #11-20 originally issued on the LP "I Love A Piano" (Roulette SR-52043). Recorded in New York City, June 17 (#1-10), and October 26-29 (#11-20), 1959.

Phineas Newborn’s warm, sensitive and impressionist playing is at its perceptive best in these outstanding examples of jazz piano. Uncluttered and supported by his remarkable technical ability, his ideas are in full flow, developing in sustained melodic lines, rather than relying on simple rhythmic patterns for their impact. Consistently subtle and full of emotional depth, the combination makes for a swinging collection of gripping performances by a piano virtuoso. Backed by John Simmons and Roy Haynes, he breathes new excitement into these familiar portraits.

Piano Portraits

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Sacha Boutros - Sacha: New York After Dark

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 50:32

Size: 115.7 MB

Styles: Jazz vocals

Year: 2013

Art: Front

[5:38] 1. Devil May Care

[4:10] 2. The Best Is Yet To Come

[6:26] 3. Love Won't Let Me Wait

[3:41] 4. I Believe In You

[4:17] 5. Sa.Cha.Cha

[3:17] 6. I Have Thought Of You

[4:07] 7. I Didn't Know What Time It Was

[3:47] 8. Gee Baby Ain't I Good To You

[5:57] 9. A Nightingale Sang In Berkley Square

[4:10] 10. Autumn Serenade

[4:57] 11. Fragile

A major part of Boutros’ appeal is her natural charm, sensual beauty, and an effortless versatility with standards, covers, and originals, opera, jazz, crossing generations. She can sing just about anything, make it a work of art, and reach audiences of all ages. She sings in 10 languages, speaking five of these languages fluently. Trained in classical music and Bel Canto opera, yet at ease in the world of pop, jazz, and Latin jazz, her voice is at once innocent and otherworldly, capable of wrapping itself around the heart of any tune and lingering well after a show has wrapped. She has an effortless, bountiful energy that’s especially fetching with the younger generation, who’ve discovered and embraced jazz through her engaging, fresh, crossover renditions.

2007 brought Boutros to Bruxelles, Belgium for the Young Jazz Singers competition, as a U.S. representative-finalist. Her September 2008 breakthrough album, “Simply Sacha”  a mix of standards and originals touching on jazz, Latin jazz, bossa nova, swing, and pop, and sung in five languages (English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and French) showcased the singer’s incredible musical and linguistic range, as well as compositional skills. She wrote half of the songs on this debut album, including one with four-time Grammy winner, Afro-Cuban pianist Chuchito Valdés. In addition to Valdés, the album featured plenty of other top-notch musicians, including Geoffrey Keezer, Red Holloway, Bob Magnusson, Mike Wofford – Sarah Vaughan’s pianist, Peter Sprague and was honored to have Concord Recording Artist and Grammy-nominated Karrin Allyson providing the liner notes. Boutros would return the favor for Holloway by appearing as a special guest on the saxophonist’s album, “Something Old Something New: Introducing Sacha Boutros,” in 2009, which resulted in a 2009 tour of Japan, winning even more fans. “Simply Sacha” would become the vocalist’s calling card to the world. It was the most downloaded Latin jazz release on emusic.com, was nominated for two Los Angeles Music Awards as “Best Latin Vocal” for her original song, “Amor Imposible,” and “Best Vocal,” hit number seven on the Japanese music charts, enjoyed heavy airplay at Japanese Airlines, and earned a Grammy nod as best new jazz album. To this day, the album’s considered among the top 10 jazz and Latin jazz albums of 2008 in the U.S. and Japan.

In 2013 “Sacha: NY After Dark,” Sacha Boutros’ long awaited third Album was released. Featuring and recorded in New York with Jazz greats Lewis Nash, Peter Washington, Terell Stafford, John di Martino and mixed by the legendary Al Schmitt at Capitol Records with a book to follow entitled, “NY After Dark.”

Sacha New York After Dark 

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Gene Ammons - Late Hour Special

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 34:58
Size: 80.1 MB
Styles: Soul jazz, Saxophone jazz
Year: 1964/1998
Art: Front

[5:42] 1. The Party's Over
[3:56] 2. I Want To Be Loved (But By Only You)
[4:27] 3. Things Ain't What They Used To Be
[4:28] 4. Lascivious
[5:00] 5. Makin' Whoopee
[5:47] 6. Soft Winds
[5:35] 7. Lullaby Of The Leaves

Originally released by Prestige while tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons was serving a long prison sentence for possession of drugs (the label effectively kept Ammons' name alive by regularly coming out with "new" material), this album was reissued on CD in 1997. The distinctive tenor is heard on three numbers with a quartet/quintet also including pianist Patti Bown, bassist George Duvivier, drummer Walter Perkins, and sometimes Ray Barretto on conga, and on four cuts as part of a ten-piece group arranged by Oliver Nelson. Flugelhornist Clark Terry gets a couple of choruses on "Things Ain't What They Used to Be," and Bown has several solos, but Ammons is the main star throughout. In addition to performing his own "Lascivious" (a blues), he sticks to standards, infusing each tune with soul and swing. A fine outing, although with brief playing time. ~Scott Yanow

Late Hour Special

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Art Pepper - The Capitol Vaults Jazz Series (Disc 2 of 3)

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 73:26
Size: 168.1 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz
Year: 2011
Art: Front

[5:59] 1. Blues In
[4:24] 2. Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered
[5:03] 3. Stompin' At The Savoy
[6:02] 4. What Is This Thing Called Love
[4:44] 5. Blues Out
[3:46] 6. Diane's Dilemma
[4:49] 7. When You're Smiling
[4:11] 8. Cool Bunny
[7:16] 9. Summertime
[4:53] 10. Diane's Dilemma
[5:29] 11. What Is This Thing Called Love
[3:53] 12. A Foggy Day
[4:00] 13. Diane-A-Flow
[5:13] 14. Zenobia
[3:37] 15. Angel Eyes


The Capitol Vaults Jazz Series (Disc 2)                

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Carmen McRae - Bittersweet

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:34
Size: 97,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:46)  1. When Sunny Gets Blue
(3:05)  2. How Did He Look?
(3:32)  3. Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry
(2:46)  4. Meaning of the Blues
(2:05)  5. If You Could Love Me
(6:18)  6. Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most
(3:35)  7. Second Chance
(2:48)  8. If You Could See Me Now
(2:41)  9. Here's That Rainy Day
(3:19) 10. I'm Gonna Laugh You Right Out of My Life
(3:05) 11. Ghost of Yesterday
(2:50) 12. I'm Lost
(2:38) 13. Come Sunday

Carmen McRae made many worthwhile albums during her long career, but this session of mostly melancholy ballads never received the exposure it deserved, possibly because it was done for Mort Fega's small independent label, Focus. But the singer, who is in top form throughout the date, responds beautifully to pianist Norman Simmons' well-crafted charts; the rest of the cast includes drummer Curtis Boyd; bassist Victor Sproles; and a last minute but valuable substitute, guitarist Mundell Lowe. 

Her dramatic lagging behind the beat in "The Meaning of the Blues" adds to its appeal. "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most" is the only extended piece and was already a regular part of her repertoire by the time of this recording, so her effortless take is no surprise. McRae was an excellent pianist and accompanies herself on the defiant "I'm Gonna Laugh You Right Out of My Life." Duke Ellington's meditative "Come Sunday" provides a ray of hope among the otherwise bittersweet songs on this CD. Fortunately, Koch had the wisdom to reissue this lost treasure, and it easily ranks among Carmen McRae's best recordings. ~ Ken Dryden  http://www.allmusic.com/album/bittersweet-mw0000215902

Personnel:  Curtis Boyd - Drums;  Mundell Lowe - Guitar;  Carmen McRae - Piano, Vocals;  Norman Simmons - Piano;  Victor Sproles - Bass

Bittersweet

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Buddy DeFranco - Cooking The Books

Styles: Clarinet Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:10
Size: 147,5 MB
Art: Front

(7:34)  1. Softly, As In a Morning Sunrise
(3:48)  2. Prisoner Of Love
(4:32)  3. What Is This Thing Called Love?
(6:32)  4. Cookin' the Books
(7:47)  5. I Lost The Blues
(8:30)  6. East of the Sun (And West of the Moon)
(6:07)  7. Dancing in the Dark
(5:27)  8. Poor Butterfly
(8:11)  9. Gone With The Wind
(5:37) 10. Scrapple From the Apple

While one finds the clarinet less often in the new millennium, than say, the tenor sax, it no longer seems in danger of becoming extinct, thanks to practitioners like Buddy DeFranco. From "Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise," to the closing intensity of Charlie Parker's "Scrapple From the Apple," DeFranco, guitarist John Pizzarelli, bassist Martin Pizzarelli, pianist Ray Kennedy, and drummer Butch Miles show that even though the clarinet may be rooted in jazz past, it's far from old-fashioned. 

The set list includes lots of standards "Dancing in the Dark," "Poor Butterfly," and "Gone With the Wind" and two super upbeat pieces by DeFranco "I Lost the Blues," and the title cut. Lengthy cuts like "East of the Sun (And West of the Moon)" allow the clarinet, guitar, and piano plenty of solo time, while bassist Martin Pizzarelli and drummer Miles keep this outfit in a steady groove. The album also includes two nice vocals by John Pizzarelli on "Prisoner of Love" and "What Is This Thing Called Love?" It's easy to forget that clarinet practitioners like Tony Scott and DeFranco took the clarinet far beyond the swing familiarized by Benny Goodman and others. Cookin' the Books, however, will serve to freshen the memory in the most enjoyable way. ~ Ronnie D.Lankford, Jr http://www.allmusic.com/album/cookin-the-books-mw0000325590

Personnel: Buddy DeFranco (clarinet);  John Pizzarelli (vocals, guitar);  Ray Kennedy (piano);  Martin Pizzarelli (bass instrument);  Butch Miles (drums);  John Pizzarelli Trio.

Cooking The Books

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Bobby Gordon - Bobby Gordon Plays Joe Marsala

Styles: Clarinet Jazz
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:23
Size: 143,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:28)  1. Woo-Woo
(4:20)  2. Southern Comfort
(2:27)  3. Don't Cry Joe
(4:08)  4. Little Sir Echo
(3:40)  5. Say When
(3:38)  6. Morning Star
(4:07)  7. Hot String Beans
(3:45)  8. Jim-Jam Stomp
(3:34)  9. And So To Sleep Again
(3:00) 10. I Don't Have To Dream Any More
(4:11) 11. Angelique
(4:21) 12. Bird Man Blues
(3:36) 13. Village Blues
(4:47) 14. Like Never Before
(3:50) 15. Lower Register
(2:49) 16. You Can Never Give Me Back My Heart
(2:33) 17. I Must Be Dreaming

The first impression one gets when listening to this well-crafted tribute to the 100th birthday of Joe Marsala (and available now, thirty years after his death) is the feeling of having been transported to the past, albeit with clear digital technology. The CD is traditional jazz at its best with none of the hiss so common in remastered recordings of the 1930s era after all, the disc was recorded in 2007.  During the sessions, clarinetist Bobby Gordon made no attempt to write arrangements that modernized the tunes; all of them are played in their original swinging big band era style, of which Marsala is a direct product. To recreate the selections, much of the sheet music was obtained from publishers who still carried them, while others came from collectors' files and even auction sites like eBay.

On the never-before-recorded "Angelique," violinist Russell George obviously channels Stephane Grappelli in one of his solos; "Village Blues swings hard while George, trumpeter Randy Reinhart and Gordon trade solos until they all come together, improvising New Orleans-style until the end. The same happens with "Southern Comfort and "Little Sir Echo," the latter being the most enjoyable (and upbeat) of the three. The title track has a bluesy feel on which Gordon stretches and the brilliant "I Don't Have To Dream Anymore opens with a syncopated bass line by Vince Giordano and has another fine Reinhart solo. 

Another previously unrecorded tune, "Say When," begin with notes resembling the theme from the film An Affair to Remember but soon evolves through each musician's lead turns, one of the most beautiful coming from pianist Keith Ingham. This disc brings listeners back to a bygone era ripe for discovery by younger jazz fans. ~ Ernest Barteldes http://www.allaboutjazz.com/bobby-gordon-plays-joe-marsala-lower-register-bobby-gordon-arbors-records-review-by-ernest-barteldes.php
 

Personnel: Bobby Gordon: clarinet; Keith Ingham: celesta; James Chirillo: guitar; Russell George: violin; Randy Reinhart: trumpet; Vince Giordano: bass guitar; Arnie Kinsella: drums; Steve Little: drums.

Bobby Gordon Plays Joe Marsala

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Bob Wilber - Horns A-Plenty

Styles: Clarinet And Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:54
Size: 144,7 MB
Art: Front

(2:42)  1. Walking Happy
(4:18)  2. Make Believe
(4:14)  3. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
(5:23)  4. Come Fly With Me
(5:31)  5. The Maids of Cadiz
(4:24)  6. Just a Rose in a Garden of Weeds
(4:09)  7. Its De-Lovely
(3:25)  8. Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise
(4:02)  9. Was I to Blame for Falling in Love with You?
(3:08) 10. This Can´t Be Love
(4:46) 11. Puerto Penasco
(3:30) 12. Falling in Love with Love
(4:11) 13. Drifting Clouds
(4:12) 14. Valley of the Sun
(4:52) 15. All That I Ask of You Is Love

Throughout his long career, Bob Wilber has done a lot to keep classic jazz alive. A bit misplaced (most jazz players of his generation were much more interested in bop and hard bop), Wilber (along with Kenny Davern, Ralph Sutton, and Dick Wellstood) was one of the few in his age group to stick to pre-bop music. In high school he formed a band that included Wellstood, and as a teenager he sat in at Jimmy Ryan's club in New York. Early on he became Sidney Bechet's protégé and led his own young group, the Wildcats (with whom he made his recording debut). The close association with the dominant Bechet led to a bit of a personality crisis in the 1950s as Wilber sought to find his own voice. 

He studied with Lennie Tristano and formed the Six, a group that tried to modernize early jazz. When that ended, he played Dixieland with Eddie Condon, and in 1957 joined Bobby Hackett's band for a year. Wilber freelanced throughout the 1960s, in 1968 became a founding member of the World's Greatest Jazz Band, and in 1973 he formed Soprano Summit with Kenny Davern, one of the top swing-oriented groups of the decade. 

A few years later the band broke up and Wilber teamed up with his wife, singer Pug Horton, in Bechet Legacy (which also featured either Glenn Zottola or Randy Sandke on trumpet). In addition, Bob Wilber has worked with the New York Jazz Repertory Company, released music on his own Bodeswell label, wrote the authentic soundtrack to the movie The Cotton Club (1984), in 1988 led a band at Carnegie Hall to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Benny Goodman's famous concert, and authored his frank memoirs, Music Was Not Enough. Influenced on soprano, clarinet, and alto by respectively Bechet, Goodman, and Johnny Hodges, Wilber has long had his own sound on each of his instruments. He recorded frequently through the years for many labels, including Arbors in the '90s and 2000s. ~ Scott Yanow  https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/bob-wilber/id70646967#fullText

Personnel:  Bob Wilber: Clarinet, tenor, alto, curved soprano and straight soprano saxes;  Johnny Varro: Piano;  Phil Flanigan: Bass;  Ed Metz, Jr.: Drums

Horns A-Plenty

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