Lee Wiley with Billy Butterfield & His Orchestra - A Touch Of The Blues

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 38:30

Size: 88.2 MB

Styles: Standards, Vocal

Year: 1958/2012

Art: Front

[3:24] 1. The Memphis Blues

[2:40] 2. From The Land Ofthe Sky Blue Water

[2:57] 3. The Ace In The Hole

[4:04] 4. Someday You'll Be Sorry

[3:08] 5. My Melancholy Baby

[3:05] 6. A Hundred Years From Today

[2:55] 7. Blues In My Heart

[3:12] 8. Maybe You'll Be There

[2:55] 9. Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea

[2:41] 10. I Don't Want To Walk Without You

[3:13] 11. Make Believe

[4:11] 12. A Touch Of The Blues

The stellar A Touch of the Blues pairs Lee Wiley with an exceptional band led by trumpeter Billy Butterfield, whose warm, beautiful tone proves a sympathetic counterpoint to Al Cohn and Bill Finegan's otherwise dark, melancholy arrangements. While a title like A Touch of the Blues guarantees the listener few surprises, the album consistently avoids the familiar bluesy clichés -- Wiley's sensuality and sophistication suggest emotional depths to make such gestures redundant anyway. And like her more celebrated songbook sessions, the material here is expertly selected, complementing Wiley's inherent strengths while affording her the latitude to stretch out in new directions. ~Jason Ankeny

A Touch Of The Blues

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Chet Atkins - The Essential Chet Atkins: The Columbia Years

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:44
Size: 125.3 MB
Styles: Country-jazz-pop
Year: 2004
Art: Front

[3:52] 1. Bourree
[4:14] 2. Cosmic Square Dance
[3:17] 3. Wobegon (The Way It Used To Be)
[3:07] 4. Maybelle
[3:49] 5. Dixie McGuire
[3:18] 6. Jam Man
[4:01] 7. Poor Boy Blues
[3:00] 8. Road To Gundaghi Waltzing Matilda
[4:24] 9. Sneakin' Around
[4:34] 10. Dream
[3:30] 11. After You've Gone
[2:57] 12. I'll See You In My Dreams
[3:12] 13. Young Thing
[4:05] 14. Imagine
[3:15] 15. So Soft, Your Goodbye

The Essential Chet Atkins: The Columbia Years collects 15 tracks from eight albums recorded between 1983 and 1997. While Atkins never fully gives up his country roots, much of this material leans in a definite jazz-pop direction, highlighted by memorable collaborations with Mark Knopfler on "Poor Boy Blues," "So Soft, Your Goodbye," and "I'll See You in My Dreams." Atkins also trades licks with Tommy Emmanuel on "Dixie McGuire" and "Road to Gundaghi/Waltzing Matilda," as well as longtime buddy Jerry Reed on "Sneakin' Around." The selections have been digitally remastered so every tiny musical nuance can be detected, which should no doubt satisfy guitar enthusiasts and Atkins fans. ~Al Campbell

The Essential Chet Atkins: The Columbia Years

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Andy Bey - Shades Of Bey

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:30
Size: 115.6 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals, Soul jazz
Year: 1998
Art: Front

[4:40] 1. Like A Lover (O Cantador)
[5:47] 2. Midnight Blue
[6:24] 3. Get It Straight
[5:17] 4. Pretty Girls (The Starcrossed Lovers)
[4:19] 5. River Man
[6:18] 6. Dark Shadows
[3:42] 7. Believin' It (Half & Half)
[4:10] 8. Some Other Time
[6:56] 9. The Last Light Of Evening (Blood Count)
[2:54] 10. Drume Negrita

Andy Bey's bass-baritone voice has aged over the last thirty-odd years, but it's aged well; he now sings in a husky drawl that sounds all the more warm and intimate for being a bit ragged around the edges. When he goes into falsetto, as on "Midnight Blue," athe sound is so dark that you don't recognize it as falsetto at first. This album peaks early on with "Like a Lover," a wistful love song with only the gentlest, sparest guitar accompaniment. But there are many other beautiful moments, the best of which always come on the slow numbers: the Billy Strayhorn classic "Pretty Girl," on which Bey sounds like Billy Eckstine with a weathered patina to his voice, and the surprising Nick Drake cover, the moody and intense "River Man." His vocal version of Thelonious Monk's "Straight, No Chaser" is fun, but it tends to expose the limitations of his range; however, he makes the uptempo "Believin' It" work beautifully -- Geri Allen's edgy, modernist piano contrasts nicely with Bey's effusive, bop-inflected delivery. ~Rick Anderson

Shades Of Bey

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Joe Locke, Milt Jackson Tribute Band - Rev-Elation

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 57:50

Size: 132.4 MB

Styles: Post bop, Vibraphone jazz

Year: 2005

Art: Front

[7:23] 1. The Prophet Speaks

[7:09] 2. Young And Foolish

[7:15] 3. The Look Of Love

[7:13] 4. Rev-Elation

[5:47] 5. Opus De Funk

[8:44] 6. Close Enough For Love

[7:20] 7. Big Town

[6:56] 8. Used To Be Jackson

Joe Locke was invited to join Milt Jackson's former rhythm section (pianist Mike LeDonne, bassist Bob Cranshaw, and drummer Mickey Roker) for an engagement at Smoke in New York City that served as a tribute to the late vibraphonist. They gelled as a group and promptly booked a week at Ronnie Scott's in London, where this CD was recorded, primarily utilizing repertoire drawn from the rhythm section's days backing Jackson. Locke's blues-inflected solo in the opener, "The Prophet Speaks," and his playfulness in "Opus de Funk" are complemented by LeDonne's light touch on electric piano. Two of the charts come from Jackson's partnership with the late Ray Brown. Brown's soulful scoring of Burt Bacharach's "The Look of Love" adds a tense vamp at the end of each chorus, while Locke and LeDonne (back on grand piano) dig into Brown's hard bop vehicle "Used to Be Jackson." In addition to enjoyable treatments of a pair of standards, LeDonne contributed the soulful "Rev-elation" and Locke the sauntering "Big Town." Cranshaw and Roker provide terrific support throughout the disc. This intimate live recording gives the listener a front row table at this London nightclub. ~Ken Dryden

Rev-Elation 

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Randy Sandke and the Metatonal Big Band - The Subway Ballet

Styles: Trumpet Jazz, Big Band
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:13
Size: 141,2 MB
Art: Front

(1:18)  1. The Subway Ballet: Watch the Closing Doors
(5:35)  2. The Subway Ballet: Dance of the Downtown Punks
(1:07)  3. The Subway Ballet: Electriglide
(4:27)  4. The Subway Ballet: Dance of the Wall Street Brokers
(1:34)  5. The Subway Ballet: Steel Wheels
(4:33)  6. The Subway Ballet: Dance of the Hassidic Diamond Merchants
(1:13)  7. The Subway Ballet: Making Tracks
(4:20)  8. The Subway Ballet: The Blind Beggar Encounters the Korean
(1:01)  9. The Subway Ballet: Momentum
(4:38) 10. The Subway Ballet: Dance of the Midtown Career Women
(0:43) 11. The Subway Ballet: Straphanging
(4:39) 12. The Subway Ballet: Pas de Deux
(1:14) 13. The Subway Ballet: Express Stop
(9:14) 14. The Subway Ballet: 125th Street
(4:36) 15. Music from 1988: Red Hook Blues
(3:13) 16. Music from 1988: Happy Birthday Berlin
(5:10) 17. Music from 1988: How Did It Get So Late
(2:27) 18. Music from 1988: Realization

Trumpeter Randy Sandke, considered a mainstream jazz stylist, reveals another side on this release, compiled from two sessions recorded about fifteen years apart. The Subway Ballet is a wild suite scored for big band (substituting vibes and xylophone for piano) that utilizes a metatonal harmonic approach, frequently sounding like snippets of music written for a suspense movie. Key centers are often fleeting, though most of the charts seem tightly scored. Sandke's compositions fit his individual titles perfectly; it is easy to conjure characters to match them as the music unfolds. Sandke's setting for the piece is in the early '80s, when New York City was viewed as a dangerous place. "Watch the Closing Doors and "Dance of the Downtown Punks are very ominous, followed by the breezy, playful "Electricglide, showcasing trombonist Wycliffe Gordon to good effect, who sounds like he would have enjoyed playing with Spike Jones. Sandke pulls all stops in the hilarious "Dance of the Hassidic Diamond Merchants, which blends traditional Jewish themes with David Krakauer's deliciously loopy clarinet solo. "Making Tracks, featuring alto saxophonist Ted Nash, is suggestive of Eric Dolphy's late work. Although no one has yet choreographed Sandke's intriguing ballet for dancers, it would be a challenging, worthwhile venture.

The last four selections are grouped as "Music From 1988, described by Sandke as unreleased music that never found a home. The highlight, the gritty "Red Hook Blues, finds Jim McNeely making a rare appearance on organ. The eerie "How Did It Get So Late is a modern classical effort intermingling scored and improvised sections. Less interesting are "Happy Birthday Berlin, an ear-jarring techno track that seems out of place and "Realization, with the flavor of a generic rock soundtrack to an '80s action flick. ~ Ken Dryden  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-subway-ballet-randy-sandke-evening-star-records-review-by-ken-dryden.php

Personnel: Chuck Wilson: alto sax, flute, piccolo; Ted Nash: alto sax, flute; Scott Robinson: tenor sax, soprano sax, clarinet; John Allred: trombone; Joe Barati: bass trombone; Steven Bernstein: trumpet, slide trumpet; Erik Charlston: percussion, xylophone, vibraphone; Mike Christianson; trombone; Greg Cohen: bass; Jim Czak: voices; Glenn Drewes: trumpet; John Goldsby: bass; Wycliffe Gordon: trombone; John Riley: drums; John Hayward: drum machine; David Krakauer: clarinet; Jim McNeely: organ, piano; Bob Millikan: trumpet; Gerry Neiwood: flute, alto sax; Randy Sandke: trumpet, flugelhorn, electric guitar, keyboards, piccolo trumpet; Jack Stuckey: bass clarinet, baritone sax; Kenny Washington: drums; Walt Weiskopf: clarinet, tenor sax; Scott Wilson: clarinet, flute, soprano sax, tenor sax.

The Subway Ballet

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Phil Traynor - Still Life

Styles: Jazz, Smooth Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:16
Size: 94,8 MB
Art: Front

(6:01)  1. Martin's Joy
(4:34)  2. For a Moment
(4:49)  3. I Remember Christmas Eve
(4:53)  4. Door to Babylon
(4:43)  5. Legacy #5
(5:10)  6. Down 'n' Out
(5:15)  7. Debbie's Wind
(5:48)  8. Embryo

Still Life is Phil Traynor's fourth CD, and represents over two years of work. Collaborating with some of the finest national and international guitarists, including national fingerstyle champion and Emmy® nominee Pete Huttlinger, Guitar Player Magazine "Guitar Superstar" winner Vicki Genfan, international jazz and fingerstyle virtuoso Adam Rafferty, and some of the Tampa Bay area's finest talent; including Stacey Knights on flute , Dan O'Hara on keyboards , Douglas Lichterman on guitars, Austin Vickrey on saxophone, Kevin Clark on trumpets, and Chris Barbosa on the viola, and dear friends like sax and flute virtuoso Brian Dyre; Still Life is a delightful collection of old-school smooth and contemporary jazz compositions spanning three decades, and bursts with the joy and love that poured into its creation. http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/philtraynor2

Still Life

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Kristine Mills - Kristine Mills Music

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 20:50
Size: 47,9 MB
Art: Front

(2:12)  1. All of Me
(2:40)  2. Vivo Sonhando
(3:00)  3. Everytime We Say Goodbye
(2:29)  4. Blue Skies
(2:29)  5. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
(2:35)  6. Route 66
(2:54)  7. Bônus: Vivo Sonhando - Trio
(2:28)  8. Bônus: You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To - Trio

This, my first cd, is a brief glimpse into the songs and styles that have made me the musician I am today. You'll find a touch of Texas-style blues in each of the tracks whether they are heart-wrenching Cole Porter songs from the Great American Songbook to lush renditions, sung in Portuguese, of a Bossa Nova classic by Antonio Carlos Jobim. I believe that the voice is simply another instrument in the ensemble  just one among the others from the piano to the bass and even the drums. They all speak all work together communicating in our unique language music. https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/kristinemills

Kristine Mills Music

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Seth Walker - Sky Still Blue

Styles: Vocal, Pop/Rock
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:00
Size: 94,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:31)  1. Easy Come, Easy Go
(3:45)  2. Trouble (Don't Want No)
(4:01)  3. Grab Ahold
(3:54)  4. Another Day
(2:56)  5. Tomorrow
(3:25)  6. All That I'm Asking
(4:05)  7. High Wire
(4:16)  8. For A Moment There
(3:59)  9. Either Way I Lose
(2:59) 10. Jesus (Make My Bed)
(4:03) 11. Way Too Far

Since On the Outside, his 2005 debut, songwriter and guitarist Seth Walker has been gradually refining his approach. Early records were full-band exercises of electric Texas juke joint blues. On 2012's fine, self-produced Time Can Change, he showcased a greater diversity in his writing and arrangement. Walker relocated to New Orleans in 2012, and the influence of the Crescent City's musical rainbow is reflected on the excellent Sky Still Blue. Produced by Oliver Wood (Wood Brothers), it is the leanest recording in his catalog. Walker's road band, bassist Steve Mackey and drummer/percussionist Derrick Phillips, are the primary players, but Wood (who co-wrote five tunes here) brought in a handful of supplemental musicians including brother Chris Wood (Medeski, Martin & Wood) on upright bass. Opener "Easy Come, Easy Go" is swampy, jazzy blues, whose melody and lyrics nod toward eternal hepcat Mose Allison, while the guitar work reveals both T-Bone Walker and Jimmie Vaughan.

"Trouble (Don't Want No)" and the slow, moody gospel blues "Jesus (Make My Bed)" are excellent portraits of the rumbling, gritty aspect of Walker's playing and singing. If one listens closely NOLA's deep impression on the songwriter can be heard throughout, but it's especially evident in the slow, slippery combination of gospel and R&B in "Grab Ahold" (one of the tunes the McCrary Sisters appear on) and in the acoustic R&B on "Tomorrow," with its greasy backbeat and upright bass and piano. "All That I'm Askin'" is double-time, second-line funk orchestrated by Ephraim Owens' double-tracked trumpet locking with Chris Wood's upright bas. Here Afro-Cuban and pre-bop jazz meet gritty, vintage R&B, featuring breaking rimshot percussion and chunky guitar vamps along with Brigitte DeMeyer's backing vocal. 

The McCrarys add a sweet chorus to Walker's soulful croon in the Big Easy R&B of "For a Moment There." Van McCoy's soul classic "Either Way I Lose" is interpreted as a jazz-laden blues, with a killer vocal and beguiling guitar work. As evidenced here, Walker has become an excellent singer adding to his skills as a songwriter and guitarist. He has deliberately streamlined his sound and applied what he's learned to what he already knows. The sum is that Sky Still Blue is his finest recording to date. ~ Thom Jurek  http://www.allmusic.com/album/sky-still-blue-mw0002666296

Personnel: Seth Walker (vocals, guitar); Oliver Wood (guitar, background vocals); Ephraim Owens (trumpet); Jano Rix (piano, organ, Wurlitzer organ, drums, percussion, background vocals); Chris Wood (upright bass); Derrek Phillips (drums, percussion); The McCrary Sisters, Brigitte DeMeyer (background vocals).

Sky Still Blue

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Nicolas Folmer - Plays Michel Legrand

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:14
Size: 138,2 MB
Art: Front

(5:50)  1. Oum Le Dauphin
(3:20)  2. Watch What's Happen
(6:05)  3. Tu Dormiras Longtemps
(8:43) 4. The Windmills Of My Mind (Les Moulins De Mon Cœur)
(6:38)  5. Once Upon Summertime
(2:47)  6. Quand Ça Balance!
(5:02)  7. A Quiet Room
(6:40)  8. Papa Can You Hear Me
(4:34)  9. You Must Believe In Spring
(5:50) 10. What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life
(4:40) 11. Summer 42

After “I comme Icare” (Django d’Or new talent) and “Fluide”, Nicolas Folmer, considered as one of the best trumpttist of his generation, signs his third album as leader and is charged with deep emotion for Michel Legrand revisiting his repertoire who really becomes a very important part of French cultural patrimony. Nicolas Folmer, orchestratist himself (he is especially the co-leader of the Paris Jazz Big Band) and unconditional of the composing style and interpreter of Michel Legrand who has proposed this confirmed project. Michel Legrand was invested into this project as well playing piano and singing for 2 headings of this album, and also keeping Nicolas Folmer company and his group in concert. http://www.cristalrecords.com/cristalrecords/en/419

Personnel:  Nicolas Folmer : Trompette, arrangements;  Thierry Eliez : piano;  Jérôme Regard : contrebasse (sauf titres 7, 11);  Mauro Gargano : contrebasse (7, 11);  Benjamin Henocq : batterie;  Michel Legrand : piano, chant (7, 11)

Plays Michel Legrand

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