Harvey Mandel - Righteous

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:11
Size: 94.3 MB
Styles: Blues/Rock/Jazz guitar
Year: 1969/2014
Art: Front

[3:41] 1. Righteous
[4:18] 2. Jive Samba
[7:32] 3. Love Of Life
[4:01] 4. Poontang
[4:49] 5. Just A Hair More
[3:23] 6. Summer Sequence
[6:05] 7. Short's Stuff
[3:17] 8. Boo-Bee-Doo
[3:59] 9. Campus Blues

Not as consistent as his debut, due to the presence of a few pedestrian blues-rock numbers. The better tracks, though, show Mandel continuing to expand his horizons with imagination, particularly on the cuts with string and horn arrangements by noted jazz arranger Shorty Rogers. Harvey's workout on Nat Adderley's "Jive Samba" is probably his best solo performance, and an obvious touchstone for the Latin-rock hybrid of Carlos Santana (whose own debut came out the same year); on the other side of the coin, "Boo-Bee-Doo" is one of his sharpest and snazziest straight blues-rockers. ~Richie Unterberger

Righteous

---

Lorraine Desmarais - Big Band

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:04
Size: 126.1 MB
Styles: Big band, Swing
Year: 2009
Art: Front

[5:28] 1. Puzzles
[4:34] 2. Ballade Pour Riki
[5:08] 3. Blues 12
[5:09] 4. And One For Chick
[6:40] 5. Bleu Silence
[4:25] 6. New Morning
[7:38] 7. Romanza
[5:23] 8. 5th Avenue
[4:43] 9. Bill
[5:51] 10. Samba

Lorraine Desmarais, piano and conductor; Frédéric Alarie, doublebass; Camil Bélisle, drum set. Saxophones: Jean-Pierre Zanella, alto & soprano (lead); David Bellemare, alto; André Leroux, tenor; Richard Beaudet, tenor; Jean Fréchette, baritone. Trumpets: Jocelyn Couture (solo/lead); Ron Di Lauro; Jocelyn Lapointe; Aron Doyle, flugelhorn. Trombones: Muhammad Al-Khabyyr (lead); Dave Grott; Richard Gagnon; Bob Ellis, bass.

Following appearances at the most prestigious jazz festivals and collaboration with the biggest names on the international stages, Lorraine Desmarais is coming back with this long awaited recording. Surrounded with top notch Montreal jazz musicians (Jean-Pierre Zanella, Ron Di Lauro, Muhammad Al-Khabyyr, Bob Ellis and many others), she is re-exploring the big band. A new gem on Lorraine Desmarais's crown.

"Until now all my recordings have been made with small jazz groups, trios, or quartets, with invited guests or solo piano. For my tenth album, I wanted to do something different. For a long time I had wanted to produce this disk with a big band and I have to admit that this project is surely one of the most ambitious of my career. The jazz trio (piano, double bass, percussion) being my basic unit, many of the works in the album were first composed for and performed by a small ensemble. The challenge of this big band project was to establish a perfect balance among the arranged sections, the development of the themes and the improvised sections. It is then in a completely different frame of mind that I approached this large jazz ensemble, by focusing on composition in its pure state and on the details that are closely linked to the instrumentation typical of big band. The numerous possibilities of performing for such an ensemble, added to the multiple textures that I was able to mine, allowed me to put the accent on the soloists and their magnificent playing, full of exceptional energy. It is therefore pleasant to note that thanks to a very intense group dynamic, the music speaks for itself… Each composition has a distinct colour, a very particular atmosphere, and it brings together styles as varied as swing, funk, ballad and pieces with Latin colours.

I feel quite fortunate to be able to share my music with this large ensemble and I am very glad to offer you this big band album." ~ Lorraine Desmarais

Big Band

---

Pee Wee Russell - Portrait Of Pee Wee

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:15
Size: 87.6 MB
Styles: Clarinet jazz
Year: 2011
Art: Front

[4:16] 1. That Old Feeling
[4:25] 2. World On A String
[3:02] 3. Exactly Like You
[4:00] 4. It All Depends On You
[3:21] 5. If I Had You
[4:50] 6. Out Of Nowhere
[4:22] 7. Pee Wee's Blues
[5:02] 8. I Used To Love You
[4:52] 9. Oh No!

Pee Wee Russell: clarinet; Ruby Braff: trumpet; Bud Freeman: tenor saxophone; Vic Dickenson: Trombone; Karl Kiffe: drums; Charles Potter: bass; Nat Pierce: piano.

Pee Wee Russell was an early pioneer, a Dixieland veteran, and an inspired clarinetist with an unusual voice. No less than Gene Krupa once said that he had "the most fabulous musical mind... I've never run into anybody who had that much musical talent.

During the fifties, long after his style of music had fallen out of favor, he stayed at the top of his game by absorbing the new styles that had come along, recording Coleman tunes with a piano-less quartet for Impulse! and gigging with Thelonious Monk. However, Portrait of Pee Wee, a compilation of recordings from that decade, finds the clarinetist in the company of some of his peers playing the early swing music that they know so well, still with the same fire and verve that made them special in the first place. Fans will be delighted to find Ruby Braff, Bud Freeman, Vic Dickenson and Nat Pierce still at the top of their game, playing solos that are both hot and gentlemanly at the same time.

This isn't music that will quicken the pulse, but it mixes the New Orleans aesthetic with the grace of the ballroom floor on well known tunes like "Out Of Nowhere and "That Old Feeling. It's great to see these terrific musicians at the top of their game, but it's even better that someone was around to record them when this style of music was no longer fashionable. ~David Rickert

Portrait Of Pee Wee

---

Julie London - Sings The Choicest Of Cole Porter

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 48:44

Size: 111.6 MB

Styles: Jazz vocals

Year: 1991/2010

Art: Front

[4:33] 1. All Through The Night

[1:44] 2. What Is This Thing Called Love

[2:57] 3. Get Out Of Town

[2:40] 4. My Heart Belongs To Daddy

[4:07] 5. So In Love

[2:13] 6. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To

[2:39] 7. In The Still Of The Night

[3:27] 8. At Long Last Love

[1:48] 9. I Love You

[3:02] 10. I've Got You Under My Skin

[2:37] 11. Love For Sale

[2:29] 12. Easy To Love

[2:28] 13. Make It Another Old-Fashioned, Please

[2:16] 14. You Do Something To Me

[2:46] 15. My Heart Belongs To Daddy

[2:29] 16. Always True To You In My Fashion

[4:22] 17. Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye

Julie London (vocals), Bud Shank (alto saxophone, flute), Barney Kessel, Al Viola, Joe Pass, Howard Roberts (guitar), Jimmy Rowles, Russ Freeman (piano), Emil Richards (vibraphone), Ray Leatherwood, Don Bagley, Red Mitchell, Monty Budwig (bass), Earl Palmer, Colin Bailey (drums).

In celebration of what would have been Cole Porter's 100th year, EMI collected all of Julie London's studio recordings of the master's work onto one compact disc. Ten of the 17 tracks come from 1965's exceptional All Through the Night, which finds the sultry vocalist proving her cool jazz mettle once again with a quintet led by Bud Shank. The other seven songs are culled from London's sessions with Barney Kessel, Jimmy Rowles, and various studio orchestras. If anyone doubts that London was a jazz-based singer at heart (and there are many doubters out there), listen to the two versions of "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" that are included here. London sticks to the melody in each but offers completely different emotional and musical interpretations that relate to the type of backing band. This was EMI's first Julie London CD reissue and it remains one of the best out. ~ Nick Dedina

Sings The Choicest Of Cole Porter

---

Doc Cheatham - Swinging Down In New Orleans

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 69:54

Size: 160.0 MB

Styles: Dixieland, Trumpet jazz

Year: 1994

Art: Front

[4:11] 1. Swinging Down In New Orleans

[4:51] 2. When I Grow Too Old To Dream

[6:18] 3. I Want A Little Girl

[3:27] 4. You're Lucky To Me

[3:06] 5. Never Swat A Fly

[3:32] 6. I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me

[2:55] 7. Memories Of You

[2:42] 8. Avalon

[2:54] 9. Love Will Find A Way

[3:12] 10. What Can I Say After I Say I'm Sorry

[4:59] 11. Mandy

[4:51] 12. I Would Do Anything For You

[3:16] 13. My Ideal

[3:29] 14. World On A String

[3:28] 15. Swing That Music

[8:30] 16. Orignial Jelly Roll Blues

[4:04] 17. Strutting With Some Barbecue

Although it has not gotten the publicity that his Columbia and Verve CDs received, this is one of the finest of all Doc Cheatham albums. Age 88 at the time, Cheatham had not lost a thing and plays miraculously well. He is teamed up with clarinetist Brian O'Connell, pianist Butch Thompson, Les Muscutt (doubling on guitar and banjo), Bill Huntington (on bass and guitar), bassist Peter Badie and drummer Ernest Elly. Cheatham plays melodic, swinging and frequently exciting solos, taking personable and whispery vocals on such likeable numbers as "When I Grow Too Old to Dream," "You're Lucky to Me," "Never Swat a Fly," "I Would Do Anything for You" and "I've Got the World on a String." This somewhat overlooked CD is highly recommended. ~Scott Yanow

Swinging Down In New Orleans

---

Harry Allen, Randy Sandke - Turnstile: Music of the Trumpet Kings with the RIAS Big Band

Styles: Saxophone And Trumpet Jazz, Big Band
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:14
Size: 136,6 MB
Art: Front

(5:13)  1. I Love Louis
(5:21)  2. Cloudy
(4:22)  3. Echoes of Harlem
(3:28)  4. Little Jazz Boogie
(4:31)  5. I Can't Get Started
(3:43)  6. Melancholy Rhapsody
(2:31)  7. Randy's Rolls Royce
(5:28)  8. Shaw'Nuff
(6:12)  9. All Blues
(3:08) 10. Turnstile
(6:17) 11. Relaxin' At Clifford's
(4:07) 12. The Moontrane
(4:47) 13. Birdlike

Most of the recordings put out by the German Nagel Heyer label are pre-bop, ranging from Dixieland to mainstream. This outing stretches the boundaries a little, for trumpeter Randy Sandke (who is joined by tenor saxophonist Harry Allen and a big band led by Jiggs Whigham) pays tribute to a variety of great trumpeters ranging from Louis Armstrong to Woody Shaw ("The Moontrane") and Freddie Hubbard ("Bird Like"). Sandke contributed a pair of originals, arranged all 13 pieces, and helped bring a forgotten (and only partly composed) Bix Beiderbecke composition ("Cloudy") to life. In addition to those mentioned, Sandke pays tribute to Cootie Williams, Roy Eldridge, Bunny Berigan, Harry James, Buck Clayton, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Chet Baker, and Clifford Brown. He hints at their styles without actually copying them, and has a flexible enough approach to sound comfortable in all of the idioms. Recommended. ~ Scott Yanow  http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-music-of-the-trumpet-kings-mw0000732284

Personnel: Randy Sandke - (trumpet), Harry Allen - (tenor sax) with the RIAS Big Band Berlin led by Jiggs Whigham

Turnstile: Music of the Trumpet Kings with the RIAS Big Band

---

Donald Harrison & Christian Scott - Two Of A Kind

Styles: Saxophone And Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:50
Size: 147,2 MB
Art: Front

(9:25)  1. Summertime
(6:08)  2. A Night In Tunisia
(8:40)  3. Twerk It
(5:38)  4. I'm Barred
(9:05)  5. The Hook Up
(5:17)  6. Cool Breeze
(4:02)  7. Two Of A Kind
(7:51)  8. Oriental Folk Song
(7:38)  9. Nouveau Swing

Donald Harrison, Jr. (who is also known as Big Chief Donald Harrison of Congo Nation) is a celebrated jazz saxophonist, composer, and educator who resides both in New Orleans and New York City. Born in New Orleans on June 23, 1960, Harrison is the son of the late Donald Harrison, Sr., a legendary New Orleans folklorist and, during his lifetime, the Big Chief of four different NOLA tribes. The younger Harrison began his education at the prestigious New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts and studied with Ellis Marsalis. After graduation, he attended the Berklee College of Music. Though he began playing as a professional while in high school, Harrison gained recognition for his tone and acumen on both alto and tenor horns, playing in the bands of Roy Haynes, Jack McDuff, and most famously, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers; along with trumpeter and future musical partner, Terence Blanchard; they succeeded Wynton and Branford Marsalis. The pair left Blakey's band and began recording as the Terence Blanchard/Donald Harrison Quintet. Between 1983-1988, they issued five albums, including New York Second Line (1984) and Discernment (1986), both for Concord, and Nascence (1986), Crystal Stair (1987), and Black Pearl (1988) for Columbia. While with the unit, Harrison also took part in recording sessions in the jazz vanguard: in 1985, he played on the avant The Sixth Sense (Black Saint) with Bobby Battle, Olu Dara, and Fred Hopkins, and in 1986, recorded with Don Pullen. The Quintet split in 1989.

As a bandleader in his own right, Harrison issued the hard bop Blakey tribute album entitled For Art's Sake on Candid in 1991 and followed it with the historic Indian Blues. It was the first time that Harrison actively engaged his New Orleans musical heritage on a large scale. It wedded Mardis Gras Indian tunes and chanting (courtesy of the Guardians of the Flame Mardi Gras Indians with his father on vocals), to funky Crescent City rhythm & blues and modern jazz. The session featured Dr. John, Cyrus Chestnut, Carl Allen, Phil Bowler, Bruce Cox, and Howard Smiley Ricks. Harrison also recorded the smooth jazz date The Power of Cool, which was released in Germany in 1991, but not until 1994 in the States.In 1993, he signed to GRP/Impulse. His first album for that label was Nouveau Swing, the album and concept that gave Harrison his nickname "the King of Nouveau Swing." That set employed straight-ahead jazz concepts on half the set, and Caribbean rhythms on the remainder. His follow-up went even more afield, further establishing the nouveau swing concept by including Latin rhythms, more rhythm & blues, smooth jazz, and even hip-hop. In 1999, Harrison officially became a Big Chief and founded the Congo Nation Mardi Gras Indians to honor his father and further New Orleans African roots culture. To close out the century, he recorded The New Sounds of Mardi Gras, which merged New Orleans traditional music with hip-hop.

In 2000, Harrison issued the landmark Spirits of Congo Square album, recorded with his New Orleans Legacy Ensemble. The album featured parade rhythms and hard bop solos whether the tune was a traditional NOLA number or a jazz standard by a modern composer. In 2002, he issued his first collaboration with nephew, Christian Scott, in a quintet setting of newly arranged jazz standards called Kind of New. In 2003, he recorded a pair of albums for Nagel Heyer Records. The first, Free Style, may have been a thorough jazz date, but it was entirely inspired by hip-hop rhythms. The second, Heroes, with Ron Carter and Billy Cobham, was more conventionally post-bop, but offered extremely inspired playing by each of the trio's members. In 2004, Harrison also issued Paradise Found, his second quintet offering with his nephew. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Harrison began to immerse himself in New Orleans' life as an educator as well as a musician and Big Chief. He began employing high school students in his bands, and getting them dates with other professional musicians in order to foster the New Orleans musical heritage and give the younger players more professional exposure. Many musicians had left the city due to Katrina's aftermath, and Harrison saw it as his duty to keep the flame alive.

In 2006, he issued Survivor, a straight-ahead jazz date with Mulgrew Miller and others. He also released the first volume of a projected three-album series entitled 3D (one volume to showcase each of his playing styles). This first entry focused on the commercially viable side of Harrison's musical identity in smooth jazz, urban rhythm & blues, and funk. (Volumes Two and Three will be dedicated to straight-ahead jazz and hip-hop, respectively.) In 2008, he released The Chosen in Europe only. In 2009, he released three titles on Nagel Heyer: The Ballads, The Burners, and Two of a Kind with Christian Scott. In 2010, Harrison became an occasional member of the cast of the HBO television series Treme, playing himself. He reunited with Carter and Cobham for a live date entitled This Is Jazz: Live at the Blue Note, playing a program of originals and standards. It included a new Harrison composition entitled "Treme Swagger." ~ Thom Jurek, Rovi  http://www.billboard.com/artist/301152/donald-harrison/biography

Personnel:  Donald Harrison - alto sax;  Christian Scott – trumpet;  Mulgrew Miller – piano;  Eric Reed – piano;  Luques Curtis – bass;  John Lamkin - drums

Two Of A Kind

---

Jazzanova - Funkhouse Studio Sessions

Styles: Pop/Rock
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 76:35
Size: 176,3 MB
Art: Front

(6:12)  1. Let Me Show Ya
(4:30)  2. Theme From Belle Et Fou
(5:05)  3. I Human
(3:38)  4. Look What You're Doin' To Me
(4:39)  5. Lucky Girl
(5:00)  6. No Use
(2:48)  7. No Use, Pt. 2
(6:47)  8. Flashback
(6:17)  9. Believer
(6:38) 10. Little Bird
(5:26) 11. I Can See
(6:23) 12. Boom Clicky Boom Klack
(6:54) 13. Fedime's Flight
(6:10) 14. Let It Go

Berlin's Jazzanova collective have been actively building on their pioneering nu-jazz brand for nearly two decades. They've pursued it as a production team and with their Sonar Kollectiv label as well. In recent years, they've formed a live group for the purpose of touring. Funkhaus Studio Sessions showcases their road band a septet in a studio collaboration with Detroit vocalist Paul Randolph (aka Randolph of Lonely Eden fame). The program is a fine mix of redone classic tunes such as "The Fedime's Flight," and more recent fare such as 2008's "Look What You're Doin to Me," as well as new songs. The groove-consciousness in these 14 tracks is undeniable. Though this set doesn't pack the body punch that some of their live dates have, it's not meant to. With Randolph's wide range of vocal styles and expressions, the smoother approach is welcome. "I Human," with its old-school synth, popping funky bassline, and electric piano, touches on smooth, late-'70s-era, funky jazzy-soul (à la Norman Connors and Roy Ayers), all the while pushing the frame to include contemporary jazz tropes. 

"Believer" is a solid stepper with its rumbling samples and keyboards in the intro, while Randolph near scats in his phrasing as the groove builds to include breaking hi-hats, fat, warm, bubbling bass, and washes of ambient sound. The redone instrumental "La Belle et Fou," with its syncopated horn chart and hand percussion, touches on Latin as well as jazz funk. The mid-register trombone solo soars above the handclaps, silvery guitars, and keys. Randolph is the perfect foil for Jazzanova. He croons, growls, hovers, swoons, and gets gritty as the music dictates, becoming an instrument in the mix rather than just a frontman. Funkhaus Studio Sessions may not break much new ground, but who cares when the music is this well-played and presented? ~ Thom Jurek  http://www.allmusic.com/album/funkhaus-studio-sessions-mw0002328641

Personnel: Arne Jansen (electric guitar, 12-string guitar, nylon-string guitar); Sebastian Borkowski (flute, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone); Sebastian Studnitzky (trumpet, grand piano, electric piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Wurlitzer piano, harmonium, synthesizer); Stefan Ulrich (trombone); Paul Kleber (upright bass, electric bass, percussion); Carl-Michael Grabinger (drums); Stefan Leisering (congas, bongos, percussion); Axel Reinemer (percussion).

Funkhouse Studio Sessions

---

Lorraine Feather - Flirting With Disaster

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:02
Size: 139,1 MB
Art: Front

(5:33)  1. Flirting with Disaster
(4:46)  2. Feels Like Snow
(5:55)  3. I'd Be Down with That
(6:44)  4. Off-Center
(5:16)  5. Be My Muse
(5:04)  6. Later
(4:01)  7. The Last Wave
(4:27)  8. Disastrous Consequences
(6:26)  9. Big-Time
(5:26) 10. Wait for It
(6:18) 11. The Staircase

The release of a new Lorraine Feather recording consistently brings a sense of excitement and delicious anticipation. What does this gifted singer-lyricist who, like a figure-ground illustration simultaneously brilliant at both, have in store for us? More than likely, if she's true to her own Muse, I'd suppose it's going to be a sublime rendering of relationship-themed, thoughtfully poetic, yet sparkling verbiage that's delivered paired with highly stylized and impeccably-performed music. In the case of Flirting with Disaster the supposition is dead-on. Working once again with ace composers-collaborators Eddie Arkin, Russell Ferrante, Dave Grusin, Shelly Berg and a terrific rhythm section, Feather settles into eleven emotion-stimulating original renderings. There's no falling back on the faux security of GAS material for this high-wire artist. Like a Wallenda (would you believe she actually incorporates that surname in one line?), she works sans net, fearless and supremely confident about what she's offering, risks be damned.

Although there's an adequate mix, the fare is predominantly slower, thoughtful, and for the most part, artful and Impressionistic ("Feels Like Snow," "The Last Wave," "Wait for It"). The compositional elements are melodically unique and provide Feather ample opportunity to demo her extraordinary ability to color her lyrics. She has superior vocal chops, impeccable diction, and an innate poetic sense of phrasing. Even the hip-hoppity "I'd Be Down with That" demos her versatility. Her overdubbing is exact ("Be My Muse") and is incorporated judiciously. As lyricist, Feather is pure emotion and wit, splattering tons of "touches," "hands," "hearts" and more across her offerings. She can milk a phrase with a sly glee that tickles interest and provides a tease of what might be coming next. Her lines never disappoint. The team supporting this Feather are heavyweights indeed and in deed. Their playing is complementary perfection. Flirting with Disaster is no surprise in the most positive sense. It's Lorraine Feather at her best. I think that even Mr. Wallenda would even relish the fact that his surname might eventually become a noun as a result of this grand flirtation. ~ Nicholas F.Mondello  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/flirting-with-disaster-lorraine-feather-jazzed-media-review-by-nicholas-f-mondello.php
 

Personnel: Russell Ferrante: piano (1,2,3,4,6,7,8), arranger (2,3,8); Shelly Berg: piano (5,11), arranger (5,11); Dave Grusin: piano (9,10), arranger (9,10); Michael Valerio: bass (1,3,4,5,6,9,10); Grant Geissman: (1,9,10); Eddie Arkin: guitar (4,6), arranger (1,4,6,7); Michael Shapiro: drums/percussion (1,2,6,9,10); Gregg Field: drums (4,5); Carlos Del Rosario: percussion (10); Charles Bisharat: violin (1,4,5,8,11); Yutaka Yokokura: additional vocals (2).

Flirting With Disaster

---