Buck Clayton - Buck 'n' The Blues

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 44:45

Size: 102.4 MB

Styles: Swing, Trumpet jazz

Year: 1957/2009

Art: Front

[5:25] 1. Buck Buckles

[8:47] 2. Claytonia

[2:57] 3. Cool Too

[5:47] 4. Squeeze Me

[8:56] 5. Good Morning Blues

[5:12] 6. Ballin' The Jack

[3:13] 7. Blues Blase

[4:25] 8. The Queen's Express

Buck Clayton-trumpet; Vic Dickenson-trombone; Earle Warren-alto sax; Hank Jones-piano; Kenny Burrell-guitar; Aaron Bell-bass; Jo Jones-drums.

One of the yeoman trumpeters of the swing era, Buck Clayton's career extended into the early-'90s as an arranger and band leader. Clayton was born in Parsons, Kansas, began piano lessons at age 6, and switched to trumpet at 16. The early days of his career were spent in California, where he organized a band to play in Shanghai in 1934. After returning to California, he continued to lead his own groups. During a tour to the Midwest he met Count Basie, who hired him to replace Hot Lips Page as soloist and arranger.

Clayton's trumpet style--a full, clear tone, warm lyricism, with swinging improvisations derived from Louis Armstrong and the often overlooked Joe Smith, can be heard on Basie's early recordings such as "Swingin' The Blues," "Jumpin' at The Woodside," and "Good Morning Blues." He also played sessions with Billie Holiday and jams produced by John Hammond and later with Jazz at the Philharmonic. After leaving Basie he led his own groups, toured Europe and worked with Jimmy Rushing. Clayton appeared in the film "The Benny Goodman Story" and played with Sidney Bechet at the World's Fair in Brussels.

Buck 'n' The Blues

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Jim Hall - Guitar & Folk Jazz

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 73:06
Size: 167.3 MB
Styles: Guitar jazz
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[4:30] 1. Deep In A Dream
[4:28] 2. Tangerine
[5:41] 3. 9.20 Special
[3:35] 4. Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen
[4:36] 5. Stompin At The Savoy
[5:45] 6. Things Ain't What They Used To Be
[4:11] 7. A-Roving
[4:29] 8. Seven Come Eleven
[5:03] 9. Look For The Silver Lining
[3:26] 10. Three Blind Mice
[2:47] 11. This Is Always
[4:17] 12. John Henry
[5:14] 13. Thanks For The Memory
[4:19] 14. Wayfaring Stranger
[6:42] 15. Go Down, Moses
[3:55] 16. Stella By Starlight

Jim Hall, born in Buffalo, and educated at the Cleveland Institute of Music, moved to Los Angeles where he began to attract national, and then international, attention in the late 1950s. By 1960 Jim had arrived in New York to work with Sonny Rollins and Art Farmer, among others. His live and recorded collaborations with Bill Evans, Paul Desmond, and Ron Carter, are legendary.

Not only is Jim Hall one of the jazz world's favorite guitarists, but he has also earned critical acclaim for his skills as a composer and arranger. Some years ago, Guitar Player magazine quoted Jim as saying “I do feel good about my playing. The instrument keeps me humble. Sometimes I pick it up and it seems to say `No, you can't play today.' I keep at it anyway though.”

Guitar & Folk Jazz

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June Christy - Big Band Specials

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 32:23
Size: 74.2 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2015
Art: Front

[2:15] 1. You Came A Long Way From St. Louis
[2:22] 2. Swingin' On Nothin'
[2:46] 3. Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby
[3:53] 4. Prelude To A Kiss
[3:00] 5. Skyliner
[2:50] 6. A Night In Tunisia
[1:43] 7. It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
[2:20] 8. Frenesi
[2:28] 9. Stompin' At The Savoy
[3:03] 10. Goodbye
[2:54] 11. Time Was (Duerme)
[2:46] 12. Until (The Mole)

By the time this album was recorded in 1962, singer June Christy had already cut the great bulk of her discography. Many, critics especially, put her past her prime. This album demonstrates that the critics were wrong and the "Misty Miss Christy" was still at the top of her form. Her instantly recognizable voice takes the listener through a roster of tunes associated with the big bands. And she has a big band backing her that is made up of some of the best players on the West Coast -- or any coast, for that matter -- many of whom were habitues of the Stan Kenton band before Kenton's music became pretentious. The charts also came from former Kenton chart makers, Bill Holman, Shorty Rogers, and husband Bob Cooper. Most everything on this disc is done up-tempo. But things slow down a bit for a track or two, especially a typical Christy haunting version of "Goodbye" and a medium-tempo "Frenesi." The list of players in the band itself speaks eloquently of how good they sound. There are eloquent solos by Cooper, and Bob Mondragon basslines stand out on a few of the tunes. Jimmy Rowles and Mel Lewis round out the rhythm section. With Christy singing in her inimitable manner, backed by a big band of five star performers with top of the list charts, there's no way this album wasn't going to be successful. Originally issued on the Capitol label, the LP was reissued as a CD on Blue Note in 1999. A must for any jazz/pop vocal collection. ~Dave Nathan

Big Band Specials

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Spiral Starecase - More Today Than Yesterday

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:25
Size: 97.1 MB
Styles: AM pop, Sunshine pop
Year: 2009
Art: Front

[3:05] 1. More Today Than Yesterday
[2:59] 2. Broken Hearted Man
[2:58] 3. For Once In My Life
[3:26] 4. This Guy's In Love With You
[2:25] 5. Sweet Little Thing
[2:38] 6. Proud Mary
[2:58] 7. The Thought Of Loving You
[2:44] 8. Our Day Will Come
[2:29] 9. No One For Me To Turn To
[2:35] 10. Since I Don't Have You
[2:30] 11. Judas To The Love We Knew
[2:18] 12. Baby What I Mean
[2:17] 13. Makin' My Mind Up
[1:51] 14. I'll Run
[2:28] 15. Inside, Outside, Upside Down
[2:37] 16. She's Ready

Spiral Starecase's sole completed LP was recorded less than five weeks before its release -- astonishingly, it's a thoroughly polished, smoothly enjoyable upbeat collection of romantic songs, all featuring delectable horn charts and Pat Upton's inimitable voice, which would be worth hearing in almost any repertory. As it happens, the band's covers of "Proud Mary," "Our Day Will Come," "For Once in My Life," and "Since I Don't Have You," add enough new wrinkles, by way of the guitar parts, the accompaniment, or the singing, to make them worth hearing. The Upton originals, including "Judas to the Love We Knew," are superb pieces of songwriting, and point up the loss that this group was never able to sustain itself for another year. This wasn't the best record of 1969, but it's arguably one of the most consistently enjoyable pop/rock LPs of its period, of which the title track is merely one highlight. ~Bruce Eder

More Today Than Yesterday

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Ben Sidran - Cien Noches (One Hundred Nights At The Cafe Central)

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 64:54

Size: 148.6 MB

Styles: Jazz vocals, B3 Organ jazz

Year: 2008

Art: Front

[ 1:35] 1. Welcome To The Central

[ 5:14] 2. Gotta Serve Somebody

[ 7:39] 3. Take Me To The River

[ 5:04] 4. Drinkin' N Thinkin'

[ 6:29] 5. A Room In The Desert

[ 5:50] 6. Straight No Chaser

[ 0:22] 7. Something For You To Do

[ 7:14] 8. See That Rock

[ 5:47] 9. Subterranean Homesick Blues

[ 8:57] 10. Folio

[10:37] 11. Cave Dancing

This is Ben Sidran's first Hammond B3 organ project. It's an instrument he has played for forty years, and occasionally (as on his recent radio-friendly CD Nick's Bump) featured on recordings. But CIEN NOCHES -- the title refers to the fact that over a period of ten years he performed one hundred nights at Madrid's famed Cafe Central -- is the first time he has paid direct tribute to the instrument and the club scene it spawned.

The album includes the original songs "Get It Yourself," an acerbic commentary on the rock and roll industry, and "Cave Dancing," an extended parable of jazz and the roots of religion. In addition, it features two Bob Dylan classics, "Gotta Serve Somebody" and "Subterranean Homesick Blues," along with saxophonist Bob Rockwell's "Drinkin' and Thinkin," an obvious party favorite.

Sidran is no stranger to combining jazz, party music and story telling. Raised in the industrial lakeshore city of Racine, Wisconsin, while still in high school, he went to Madison, the home of the University of Wisconsin, to play with his own jazz trio and soon joined a Southern comfort party band led by frat boy singer Steve Miller and his Texas friend, Boz Scaggs. He eventually penned the lyrics for Miller's hit song "Space Cowboy" earning a place in rock history and royalties enough to cover his graduate education.

Cien Noches (One Hundred Nights At The Cafe Central)

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Jerry Bergonzi - Lineage

Styles: Saxophone Jazz

Year: 2010

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 59:56

Size: 137,5 MB

Art: Front

(12:52)  1. Inner Urge

(11:09)  2. Everything Happens to Me

(11:36)  3. Red's Blues

(10:40)  4. On The Brink

(13:37)  5. Jones

Jerry Bergonzi has long been an important part of the New England jazz scene, while he may very well be better appreciated in Europe than in his homeland. This 1989 concert features the powerful tenor saxophonist stretching out on each of the five selections, backed by the driving, equally inventive pianist Mulgrew Miller, bassist Dave Santoro, and drummer Adam Nussbaum. Starting with a roaring extended workout of Joe Henderson's "Inner Urge" that equals the fire of the studio version recorded by its composer with McCoy Tyner, the quartet quickly switches gears for a heartfelt, expressive rendition of the standard "Everything Happens to Me." The disc concludes with three strong originals by the leader, with the brisk, breezy Latin-flavored "On the Brink" sounding like it is descended from Charlie Parker's "Donna Lee." This is one of many excellent recordings in Jerry Bergonzi's vast discography. ~ Ken Dryden  http://www.allmusic.com/album/lineage-mw0000089050

Personnel: Jerry Bergonzi (tenor saxophone); Mulgrew Miller (piano); Adam Nussbaum (drums).

Lineage

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Joe Krown - Exposed

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:58
Size: 118,8 MB
Art: Front

(4:19)  1. Exposed
(3:39)  2. Rum & Coca Cola
(4:44)  3. All That and Then Some
(3:39)  4. Pop's Dilemma
(5:19)  5. Last Call
(3:51)  6. Monkey On My Back
(4:55)  7. 13th Ward Boogie
(4:13)  8. Mother in Law
(3:27)  9. Man Down
(3:37) 10. Mardi Gras in New Orleans
(4:24) 11. So Fine, All the Time
(3:45) 12. Hucklebuck

Joe Krown is an American keyboardist, based in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is known for his long tenure with Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown's band. As a solo artist, he has been playing in several different styles. When he plays the piano, he typically plays in the traditional New Orleans style. When he plays with his band the Joe Krown Organ Combo, the sound is jazzy and funky, and he plays the Hammond B-3 organ. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Krown

Exposed

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Carrie Wicks - Maybe

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:25
Size: 122,8 MB
Art: Front

(4:14)  1. Ghost of a Perfect Flame
(6:50)  2. Small Day Tomorrow
(4:22)  3. Desolation Moon
(4:04)  4. It Could Happen to You
(3:23)  5. Maybe
(5:43)  6. Watercolor Rhyme
(6:11)  7. Afternoon
(4:20)  8. The Bottom of Your Heart
(5:23)  9. Dreamtime
(4:04) 10. Waltz Beyond
(4:48) 11. Solitude

Reaching deep into a space of quiet joy and beauty, tinged with bit of melancholy, Seattle vocalist Carrie Wicks presents a new set of original songs that complement lyrically and melodically the three accompanying classics, Bob Dorough's 'Small Day Tomorrow,' Van Heusen and Burke's 'It Could Happen To You,' and Ellington's 'Solitude. ' Featuring the same superb, simpatico trio as her prior two recordings, pianist Bill Anschell, Jeff Johnson on bass, and drummer Byron Vannoy provide a comfortable, warmly swinging environment for Wicks' lyrics to shine. '. . . a skilled vocalist, top-notch in her phrasing and intonation, but she also possesses an ineffable 'something extra' that's both compelling and engaging. . . Carrie Wicks proves herself a very convincing storyteller. ' - All About Jazz ~ Editorial Reviews  http://www.amazon.com/Maybe-Carrie-Wicks/dp/B013R4QHC0

Personnel: Carrie Wicks: vocals; Bill Anschell: piano; Jeff Johnson: bass; Byron Vannoy: Drums.

Maybe

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Jazzanova - Of All The Things

Styles: Pop/Rock
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:42
Size: 118,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:00)  1. Look What You're Doin' To Me
(6:25)  2. Let Me Show Ya
(3:29)  3. I Can See
(4:29)  4. Lie
(6:04)  5. Little Bird
(4:42)  6. Rockin' You Eternally
(4:11)  7. So Far From Home
(4:45)  8. What DoYou Want?
(3:32)  9. Lucky Girl
(2:38) 10. Gafiera
(4:08) 11. Morning Scapes
(4:13) 12. Dial A Cliche

Could it be? Is it really possible that one of the most innovative collectives in modern music could stoop to making a throwback soul record? (Perhaps they should have recruited Joss Stone as a guest vocalist.) Sarcasm aside, it's obvious that a soul record from a group like Jazzanova is quite a different proposition from the usual retro rot. So confident in their middle age that they feel no need to innovate (at least, purely for its own sake), the Berliner sextet ends up delivering one of the best soul albums of the era (or any other). True, the influences may be easy to spot Philly soul here, Motown there, plenty of '70s progressive jazz with taut strings or breezy woodwinds but with arrangements as accomplished as these are, and productions that crackle as gloriously as these do, the group can rest comfortably with their theft, genius as it is. Each track has a vocal feature, which might disappoint a few dance fans, but as with the first Jazzanova production LP (In Between), listeners won't spend long wishing they could hear instrumentals of these songs. The caressing vocalist Paul Randolph is responsible for a large share of the highlights, while Jazzanova must be proudest for snaring the smooth soul maverick Leon Ware to appear on a cover of his own "Rockin' You Eternally," with backing vocals from fellow Detroiter Dwele. 

(Still, Phonte from Little Brother is responsible for the record's greatest feat delivering a fine soul vocal on the opener "Look What You're Doin' to Me," then rapping just as well for "So Far from Home.") It's to be expected that Jazzanova would turn in excellent productions with every track, but what's most impressive about Of All the Things is the work that Jazzanova haven't made their forté in the past songwriting, arrangements, and the pairing of each vocalist with a song that works perfectly for them. (Credit for much of the songwriting and arranging for horn or strings goes to Stefan Leisering.) Whereas in the past, Jazzanova's preeminence was obvious on the surface, Of All the Things displays their subtle powers for music-making. ~ John Bush  http://www.allmusic.com/album/of-all-the-things-mw0000800609

Personnel: José James, Bembe Segue (vocals); Kalle Kalima (guitar, acoustic guitar); Volodymyr Korobov, Ralf Zettl, Kim Hyun Jung, Alexandra Shipilo, David Canisius, Sandor Farkas (violin); Astrid Hengst, Dieter Vogt, Verena Wehling, Benker Steiner, Matthias, Peter Bock (viola); Dirk Steglich (flute, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Magnus Lindgren (flute); Frank Fritsch (saxophone); Skip Reinhart (trumpet); Stephanie Böhm (trombone); Roberto Jose Bertrami (Fender Rhodes piano); Paul Kleber (acoustic bass); Alex Malheiros (electric bass); Ivan Conti (drums, percussion); Wilson Michael (background vocals).

Of All The Things

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