John Lee, Gerry Brown, Eef Albers, Daryl Thompson - Brothers

Size: 100,4 MB
Time: 40:13
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1980/1997
Styles: Jazz: Jazz Rock
Art: Front

01. Uptown Express (6:15)
02. Brothers (4:27)
03. Rita (5:10)
04. Rise On (4:28)
05. For Bill (5:38)
06. Close The Door (4:44)
07. Uncle William (8:07)
08. Bury My Heart (1:20)

Personnel:
John Lee (electric bass)
Gerry Brown (drums)
Eef Albers (electric guitar)
Daryl Thompson (electric guitar)

John Lee and Gerry Brown have been friends since high school. When they recorded their album "Mango Sunrise" in 1972, they enlisted Dutch guitar master Eef Albers. In the mid seventies, guitarist Daryl Thompson was added to this formidable trio, and thus the genesis of "Brothers".

In the fall of 1980, John Lee, Gerry Brown, Eef Albers and Daryl Thompson embarked on a seven-week tour of Europe. The soaring fusion of jazz and rock performed by this well-rounded group of musicians was enthusiastically received by sold-out audiences all over the continent. During one such performance, the great German pianist Wolfgang Dauner heard the group and fell in love with their music. He asked John Lee if the group would like to record at the Sugar Factory Studio (Tonstudio Zuckerfabrik) in Stuttgart, Germany, and the result was one of the most outstandingrecords of the fusion era.

After seven weeks on the road, the band was absolutely tight and the music was second nature. The session lasted two days, around the clock. John Lee and Daryl Thompson mixed the album in twelve hours! Though labourious, the recording was "a labour of love". "Brothers" was chosen as the name of the band as well as the name of the recording, as it exemplifies the feeling that the group has for each other as well as for humankind.

"Brothers" was recorded and mixed at Tonstudio Zuckerfabrik, Stuttgart, Germany in December 1980.

Brothers

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Karolina - Songs Of Hope

Size: 101,3 MB
Time: 40:04
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2015
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. The White Cliffs Of Dover (5:18)
02. I Will Wait For You I'll Walk Alone (2:59)
03. Poor Butterfly (3:42)
04. I'll Never Smile Again (2:51)
05. Morning Star (4:08)
06. We'll Be Together Again (4:30)
07. If You Go Away (5:29)
08. I'll Be Seeing You (3:05)
09. Waiting For The Train To Come In (2:20)
10. Rozszumialy Sie Wierzby Placzace (2:33)
11. We'll Meet Again (3:03)

What I love most about Karolina Naziemiec's voice... is her phrasing and warmth she brings to the lyric. Her approach to everything is very pure and soulful, I just can't get enough of this wonderful singer. --Carmen Bradford

Theme: Longing and loss of loved ones in commemoration of the 70th Anniversary of the end of WWII in Europe, primarily honoring Polish, American, and British couples forced to separate during the war.

Songs: A jazz CD recording of 9 - 12 songs primarily in English, but also Polish and French. Several of the songs on the CD will come from a repertoire known as the Great American Songbook, originally written and performed during the 1940's, but are not particularly common today. The songs reflect on life rather than war, on people's natural desire to enjoy days of peace, togetherness, and a bright future by bringing back the feelings of relief and hope which filled people's hearts across the world as the brutal fighting came to an end. I would like to dedicate my CD, in particular, to those few heroes still alive and the memories of those who never returned from the war, but paved the road for future generations to build a better world.
Perhaps it could also serve as a reminder of the pain and suffering that war causes for so many and the importance of striving to achieve and maintain justice through peaceful means.

Songs Of Hope

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Bob Merrill - Cheerin' Up The Universe

Size: 168,2 MB
Time: 72:14
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2015
Styles: Jazz: Trumpet Jazz, Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. Cheerin' Up The Universe (2:50)
02. What The World Needs Now (5:00)
03. The Secret O' Life (4:05)
04. Glad (7:46)
05. Political Science (Let's Drop The Big One) (3:24)
06. Somewhere (3:00)
07. Compared To What (4:54)
08. Imagine (5:08)
09. I Say A Little Prayer (6:30)
10. Feelin' Groovy (The 59Th Street Bridge Song) (2:29)
11. Overjoyed (4:55)
12. Happiness (4:00)
13. The Creator Has A Master Plan (7:24)
14. Happy (3:09)
15. Igy (What A Beautiful World) (4:18)
16. I'm So Tired (3:15)

Trumpeter/vocalist Bob Merrill has had an amazingly varied career in and around music—mentored by his late father-in-law Joe Bushkin, Jaki Byard, and Red Rodney; starting and operating Hip Pocket Recording Studios in New York City; and recording as a leader himself. "Cheerin’ Up the Universe," his new CD and fourth to date, is being released September 4 by Accurate Records, which has also reissued two of Merrill’s earlier albums ("Catch As Catch Can," "Got a Bran’ New Suit").

In the great tradition of trumpeter-singers, going back to Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Chet Baker, and Louis Prima, Merrill is both a carefree entertainer who wants to lift up his audience and a serious artist who pays the deepest respect to jazz tradition with his mastery of forms.

On previous albums, the New York-based artist mined the jazz mainstream, sometimes with a stylish Rat Pack-era sound, sometimes with a deeper blend of late swing and hard bop—and always, says Accurate Records honcho Russ Gershon, who has known Merrill since they were classmates at Harvard, with real jazz and real blues feeling. “He has a passionate attachment to the real thing,” said Gershon, leader of Either/Orchestra, who lends his saxophone skills to the album.

Backed by such one-of-a-kind guest players as trombone great Roswell Rudd and keyboardist John Medeski, Merrill indulges himself—and anyone who has grown up loving the likes of James Taylor (“The Secret o’ Life”), Steely Dan (“IGY [What a Beautiful World]”), Burt Bacharach (“I Say a Little Prayer”), and Stevie Wonder (“Overjoyed”)—by applying his personal touch to a selection of pop hits that in spirit and title promote happiness. For a little icing on the cake, he covers Pharrell’s inescapable “Happy,” with the lyrical bassist Nicki Parrott harmonizing and a touch of Lee Morgan’s infectious “Sidewinder” informing the bridge. The title track, a fetching Merrill original, aims to cheer up the universe “one star at a time.”

Merrill has deep history with the musicians on the date: guitarist Drew Zingg was a grade school classmate; his friendship with drummer George Schuller dates back to boarding school; keyboardist/arranger John Van Eps first connected with Merrill at the New England Conservatory.

John Medeski, who contributes to four tracks on piano and two on organ, met Merrill in 1989, when the keyboardist was hired, at Gershon’s suggestion, for a gig in Cambridge. “Russ also suggested some bass players who were all booked,” Merrill explains. “But my last call was to Chris Wood, who was free. It was on that gig that Medeski met Wood, and they later added Martin—the rest is history.”

Bob Merrill has had similar encounters with kismet throughout his life, which began in 1958 in Manhattan. He grew up in the Upper East Side building where Benny Goodman lived, and once he’d heard Goodman’s “Sing, Sing, Sing,” young Bob was hooked on jazz. After his head was turned by Doc Severinsen’s trumpet playing during a Tonight Show taping his father took him to, Bob devoted himself to the horn. He took lessons and played gigs with local trumpet guru Felix Sangenito and also studied with William Vacchiano, first trumpet chair at the New York Philharmonic.

While attending Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, he jammed with saxophonist Thomas Chapin. Accepted at Harvard, Merrill deferred for a year to study jazz at the New England Conservatory of Music, where his teachers included George Russell and Jaki Byard. He formed a group with drummer George Schuller, son of the late Gunther Schuller, then president of NEC.

Merrill began singing, he says, when he played wedding gigs and discovered that attractive women on the dance floor turned to hear what someone on stage was singing more than they ever turned to hear what someone was playing. His relaxed vocals add an important dimension to his art. He modestly says that his understated style is a concession to his vocal limitations. But with his Mel Tormé-influenced smoothness and Kurt Elling-like articulation, he is an appealing and distinctive interpreter of the Great American Songbook.

After marrying Christina Bushkin in 1991, Merrill coaxed her father, the fabled swing pianist Joe Bushkin, out of retirement. One of their first gigs was a memorable run at Tavern on the Green in Central Park with a group featuring bass immortal Milt Hinton, who credited Bushkin for bringing him to New York in the early ’50s for an extended run at the Embers with Jo Jones. Merrill produced CD reissues of Joe Bushkin’s classic LPs, and they played the jazz festival circuit until the pianist’s death in 2004.

The release of "Cheerin’ Up the Universe" opens a new chapter in Merrill’s musical life. “We now embark on the process of cheering up the universe in various venues, until we reach Pluto,” says Bob.

Cheerin' Up The Universe

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Alice Zawadzki - Lela

Size: 108,3 MB
Time: 46:33
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2015
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. Black Nile (3:57)
02. Naima (4:51)
03. Tenderly (5:31)
04. Lela (Feat. Rosa Campos Fernandez) (5:56)
05. Coralie (4:34)
06. There At The Turnpike (Feat. Rosa Campos Fernandez) (5:14)
07. Basin Street Blues (3:16)
08. Para Ti (4:35)
09. I'm Gonna Leave You (3:53)
10. Lascia Ch'io Pianga (4:42)

Celebrated jazz singer Alice Zawadzki and pianist Dan Whieldon have a powerful musical affinity which is palpable throughout this CD. Alice describes their connection as "some kind of telepathy", a synchronicity which brings stunning musical results. This collection of songs pay tribute to the styles which have influenced these outstanding musicians. Jazz is at the heart of the disc, but there are nods to classical and continental folk styles as well. The prevailing mood is one of serenity or, in Alice's words, "heartfelt simplicity", accentuated by the creation of a spacious sonority combined with the luminosity of Dan Whieldon's piano playing. Alice has said that she wishes "that anyone listening to our music will be able to take a moment out of their busy life to breathe, and to ebb and flow with us." This CD invites listeners to share the musical intimacy of this exceptional creative partnership. As Alice says: "Some of the first songs I ever learned are on here, and it feels like going home".

Lela

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Dinah Washington - Original Album Series

Size: 415 MB

Time: 2:53:50
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2015
Styles: Jazz/Blues/R&B/Pop Vocals
Art: Front

CD 1: Dinah '62
01. Drinking Again (2002 Remastered Version) (3:29)
02. Destination Moon (1997 Remastered Version) (2:32)
03. Miss You (2002 Remastered Version) (3:35)
04. A Handful Of Stars (2002 Remastered Version) (3:22)
05. Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby (2002 Remastered Version) (3:21)
06. You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You (2002 Remastered Version) (2:43)
07. Red Sails In The Sunset (2002 Remastered Version) (2:31)
08. Where Are You (2002 Remastered Version) (2:12)
09. Coquette (2002 Remastered Version) (2:54)
10. Take Your Shoes Off (2002 Remastered Version) (2:42)

CD 2: In Love
01. Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words) (2:26)
02. You're A Sweetheart (2:26)
03. Our Love (2:45)
04. Love Is The Sweetest Thing (2:43)
05. I'll Close My Eyes (2:49)
06. I Didn't Know About You (3:08)
07. If It's The Last Thing I Do (3:39)
08. Do Nothing 'til You Hear From Me (2:15)
09. My Devotion (2:38)
10. That's My Desire (2:51)
11. Was It Like That (2:37)
12. Me And The One That I Love (2:57)

CD 3: Drinking Again
01. Drinking Again (3:28)
02. Just Friends (3:14)
03. I'm Gonna Laugh You Out Of My Life (2:54)
04. I'll Be Around (2:53)
05. Lament (Love, I Found You Gone) (2:14)
06. I Don't Know You Anymore (2:44)
07. Baby Won't You Please Come Home (2:04)
08. Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be) (2:59)
09. The Man That Got Away (3:30)
10. For All We Know (3:11)
11. Say It Isn't So (3:07)

CD 4: Dinah '63
01. I Wanna Be Around (3:37)
02. Make Someone Happy (From 'Do-Re-Mi') (3:12)
03. Rags To Riches (2:44)
04. Take Me In Your Arms (2:20)
05. Drown In My Own Tears (2:35)
06. Why Was I Born (Sweet Adeline) (1990 Remastered Version) (2:40)
07. I Left My Heart In San Francisco (2:12)
08. The Show Must Go On (2:49)
09. I'm Glad For Your Sake (2:50)
10. There Must Be A Way (4:10)
11. What Kind Of Fool Am I (2:04)
12. Bill (1990 Remastered Version) (2:57)

CD 5: Back To The Blues
01. The Blues Ain't Nothin' But A Woman Cryin' For Her Man (3:45)
02. Romance In The Dark (2:11)
03. You've Been A Good Ole Wagon (3:49)
04. Let Me Be The First To Know (2:38)
05. How Long (4:58)
06. Don't Come Running Back To Me (2:22)
07. It's A Mean Old Man's World (3:10)
08. Key To The Highway (2:39)
09. If I Never Get To Heaven (3:44)
10. Duck Before You Drown (2:11)
11. No Hard Feelings (2:33)
12. Nobody Knows The Way I Feel This Morning (8:39)

Dinah Washington was at once one of the most beloved and controversial singers of the mid-20th century -- beloved to her fans, devotees, and fellow singers; controversial to critics who still accuse her of selling out her art to commerce and bad taste. Her principal sin, apparently, was to cultivate a distinctive vocal style that was at home in all kinds of music, be it R&B, blues, jazz, middle of the road pop -- and she probably would have made a fine gospel or country singer had she the time. Hers was a gritty, salty, high-pitched voice, marked by absolute clarity of diction and clipped, bluesy phrasing. Washington's personal life was turbulent, with seven marriages behind her, and her interpretations showed it, for she displayed a tough, totally unsentimental, yet still gripping hold on the universal subject of lost love. She has had a huge influence on R&B and jazz singers who have followed in her wake, notably Nancy Wilson, Esther Phillips, and Diane Schuur, and her music is abundantly available nowadays via the huge seven-volume series The Complete Dinah Washington on Mercury.

Born Ruth Lee Jones, she moved to Chicago at age three and was raised in a world of gospel, playing the piano and directing her church choir. At 15, after winning an amateur contest at the Regal Theatre, she began performing in nightclubs as a pianist and singer, opening at the Garrick Bar in 1942. Talent manager Joe Glaser heard her there and recommended her to Lionel Hampton, who asked her to join his band. Hampton says that it was he who gave Ruth Jones the name Dinah Washington, although other sources claim it was Glaser or the manager of the Garrick Bar. In any case, she stayed with Hampton from 1943 to 1946 and made her recording debut for Keynote at the end of 1943 in a blues session organized by Leonard Feather with a sextet drawn from the Hampton band. With Feather's "Evil Gal Blues" as her first hit, the records took off, and by the time she left Hampton to go solo, Washington was already an R&B headliner. Signing with the young Mercury label, Washington produced an enviable string of Top Ten hits on the R&B charts from 1948 to 1955, singing blues, standards, novelties, pop covers, even Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold Heart." She also recorded many straight jazz sessions with big bands and small combos, most memorably with Clifford Brown on Dinah Jams but also with Cannonball Adderley, Clark Terry, Ben Webster, Wynton Kelly, and the young Joe Zawinul (who was her regular accompanist for a couple of years).

In 1959, Washington made a sudden breakthrough into the mainstream pop market with "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes," a revival of a Dorsey Brothers hit set to a Latin American bolero tune. For the rest of her career, she would concentrate on singing ballads backed by lush orchestrations for Mercury and Roulette, a formula similar to that of another R&B-based singer at that time, Ray Charles, and one that drew plenty of fire from critics even though her basic vocal approach had not changed one iota. Although her later records could be as banal as any easy listening dross of the period, there are gems to be found, like Billie Holiday's "Don't Explain," which has a beautiful, bluesy Ernie Wilkins chart conducted by Quincy Jones. Struggling with a weight problem, Washington died of an accidental overdose of diet pills mixed with alcohol at the tragically early age of 39, still in peak voice, still singing the blues in an L.A. club only two weeks before the end. ~by Richard S. Ginell

Original Album Series CD1+CD2
Original Album Series CD3+CD4
Original Album Series CD5

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Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra - Joyful Jazz (Feat. Freddy Cole)

Size: 161,5 MB
Time: 69:21
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2015
Styles: Jazz Vocals, Beyond Jazz, Xmas
Label: MCG Jazz
Art: Front

01. Jingle Bells (5:05)
02. Jingles, The Christmas Cat (Feat. Freddy Cole) (3:49)
03. Carol Of The Bells (6:04)
04. Blue Christmas (7:15)
05. A Cradle In Bethlehem (Feat. Freddy Cole) (6:19)
06. Do You Hear What I Hear (3:58)
07. It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year (4:55)
08. White Christmas (In The Sahara) (Feat. Freddy Cole) (6:34)
09. Merry Christmas, John Coltrane (4:03)
10. Snowfall (5:21)
11. Sleigh Ride (4:56)
12. The Christmas Song (3:58)
13. Joy To The World (6:59)

One way in which to launch an appraisal of this outstanding seasonal album, the first ever by the world-class Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra, is to check out its candid—and uncommonly accurate—title. Joyful? Most definitely. Jazz? Without a doubt. For five years, the orchestra's annual holiday celebration has been a welcome tradition for families in the greater Pittsburgh area; now, the ensemble has decided to spread the good cheer to a wider audience by re-creating its exhilarating brand of Joyful Jazz in a recording studio.

When planning an album like this (or any album, for that matter), it certainly helps to have co-music directors of the caliber of trumpeter Sean Jones and saxophonist Mike Tomaro who are not only tasteful moderators but extraordinary musicians to boot. Jones opens and closes the album with gusto, gently caressing the melody before unfolding high-energy solos on Tomaro's buoyant arrangements of "Jingle Bells" and "Joy to the World" (the latter tossing in a Dixie-style coda for good measure). Tomaro scored everything else save the "colorful" themes "Blue Christmas" and "White Christmas" (arranged, respectively, by trombonists Jeff Bush and Jay Ashby). Guest Freddy Cole sings on "White Christmas," as he does on "A Cradle in Bethlehem" and "Jingles, the Christmas Cat" (an agreeable tune but not nearly as charming as the holiday evergreens it aspires to emulate, "Frosty the Snowman" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"). At age eighty-four, Cole has more limited vocal assets than in his prime but compensates with personality and savoir-faire. Another seasonal favorite, "The Christmas Song," is marvelously sung by Pittsburgh favorite Maureen Budway who, sadly, succumbed to cancer at age fifty-one not long after the album was recorded.

In addition to those already noted, Tomaro's invariably handsome charts include "Carol of the Bells," "Do You Hear What I Hear?," "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," "Snowfall," "Sleigh Ride" and "Merry Christmas, John Coltrane" (interweaving elements of "Deck the Halls" with Coltrane's "Giant Steps" and encompassing heated solos by Jones and tenor Eric DeFade). "Do You Hear," deftly introduced by drummer Thomas Wendt, is especially seductive; on the other hand, so are the radiant "Carol of the Bells" and "Most Wonderful Time." Tomaro's soprano sax helps enliven that one, as it does "Sleigh Ride," and he adds a crisp alto solo on "The Christmas Song." Masterful as they are, however, Jones and Tomaro are by no means the whole show, as trombonists Bush and Ashby, trumpeter Kenny Rittenhouse, flugel James Moore, guitarist Marty Ashby, bassist Paul Thompson and pianist Alton Merrell complement their artistry with impressive statements along the way.

If you're keen to spruce up the holiday season with appetizing big-band fare, you couldn't do better than inviting the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra into your living room for a bounteous serving of Joyful Jazz. ~by Jack Bowers

Personnel: Sean Jones: co-conductor, co-artistic director, trumpet, flugelhorn; Mike Tomaro: co-conductor, co-artistic director, soprano, alto sax, flute, clarinet; Steve Hawk: trumpet, flugelhorn; James Moore: trumpet, flugelhorn; Kenny Rittenhouse: trumpet, flugelhorn; Curtis Johnson: alto sax, flute; Eric DeFade: tenor sax, flute, clarinet; Kenny Powell: tenor sax, clarinet; Brad Wagner: baritone sax (1-3, 9, 11, 12); James Germann: baritone sax, bass clarinet (4-8, 10, 13); Jeff Bush: trombone; Keith Jackson: trombone; Jay Ashby: trombone, percussion; Chris Carlson: bass trombone (1-3, 9, 11, 12); Glenn Wayland: bass trombone (4-8, 10, 13); Marty Ashby: classical and electric guitar; Alton Merrell: piano, keyboards; Paul Thompson: acoustic, electric bass; Thomas Wendt: drums; Lucas Ashby: percussion (3); Maureen Budway: vocal (12). Special guest – Freddy Cole: vocals (2, 5, 8).

Joyful Jazz

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James Collins - The Way You Look Tonight

Size: 101,1 MB
Time: 42:13
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2009
Styles: Easy Listening, Guitar Instrumental
Art: Front

01. Sunburst (3:39)
02. Danza Brasileira (2:38)
03. Nuages (4:31)
04. They Can't Take That Away From Me (4:07)
05. But Not For Me (3:56)
06. Romance (3:01)
07. Lagrima (1:45)
08. Hallelujah (4:04)
09. Deep River (3:18)
10. In My Life (2:54)
11. Here Comes The Sun (2:10)
12. The Way You Look Tonight (3:22)
13. Can't Help Falling in Love With You (2:40)

James Collins was born in Exeter, U.K. 1984, and moved to Perth, Western Australia with his family before he was three. He began learning guitar with the late Andy Hassan at nine and made his first public appearance in the same year.

From school, James began a Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Western Australia under the tutelage of John Casey. After winning the prize for the highest performance mark in the University of Western Australia School of Music, James moved to Manchester to take up studies at the RNCM with leading guitarist Craig Ogden, where he was awarded the Royal Northern College of Music Overseas Governor's Award. It was at the RNCM that he met the Irish composer Michael Doherty, who has collaborated with James in the six orchestral tracks of this recording.

James has performed extensively on the guitar and lute throughout England, as well as Scotland, Prague, Vienna and Australia, both as soloist and chamber musician.

Requested by wiznbon
The Way You Look Tonight

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Ryan Kisor - Awakening

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:49
Size: 121,2 MB
Art: Front

(12:56)  1. Awakening, Pts. 1-2
( 7:58)  2. Sioux City
( 4:53)  3. UFO
( 6:28)  4. Harlem Moon
( 5:13)  5. Effing Blues
( 7:10)  6. What Can I Say?
( 8:08)  7. Free As a Bird

On his first album of all original material, trumpeter Ryan Kisor delivers an atmospheric mix of organ-based post-bop. Calling to mind the work of such late-'60s luminaries as Pat Martino, Freddie Hubbard, and Wayne Shorter, Awakening coalesces various harmonic and rhythmic themes Kisor has explored on his previous efforts. That said, there is something deeper and more crystallized about his work here, especially on the two-part opening title track, an eerie, spacy, and fractured bossa nova piece. Throughout the album, Kisor displays a knack for unpredictable, intellectual improvisation. He draws you in with warm storytelling phrases and pretty birdcall-like tones. Urging him on are the expansive organ sounds of Sam Yahel and sensitively funky guitar work of Peter Bernstein. Together they bring a mix of angular minimalism and gooey nonlinear swing to Kisor's understatedly hip compositions. Similarly, tenor saxophonist Grant Stewart and drummer Willie Jones III add their distinctive styles to an ensemble that seems to thrive on subtle group interplay. While Kisor does not push the boundaries of jazz style and form to their edges, he has found a fresh way to imprint his persona on the tradition with an album that ranks as his best so far. ~ Matt Collar  http://www.allmusic.com/album/awakening-mw0000324295

Personnel: Ryan Kisor (trumpet); Grant Stewart (tenor saxophone); Sam Yahel (Hammond B-3 organ); Peter Bernstein (guitar); Willie Jones III (drums).

Awakening

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Hilary Kole - You Are There

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:40
Size: 139,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:56)  1. If I Had You (with Hank Jones)
(5:03) 2. Every Time We Say Goodbye (with Cedar Walton)
(4:53)  3. It's Always You (with Freddy Cole)
(6:58)  4. Lush Life (with Kenny Barron)
(4:11)  5. These Foolish Things (with Dave Brubeck)
(4:15)  6. I Remember (with Mike Renzi)
(4:32)  7. How Do You Keep the Music Playing (with Michel Legrand)
(4:37)  8. But Beautiful (with Hank Jones)
(4:12)  9. Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise (with Benny Green)
(4:18) 10. Strange Meadowlark (with Dave Brubeck)
(4:16) 11. You Are There (with Alan Broadbent)
(4:24) 12. Two for the Road (with Steve Kuhn)
(5:01) 13. All the Way (with Monty Alexander)

Vocalist Hilary Kole is more than a mere interpreter of songs. Like the great singers who came before her, Kole is a master storyteller who merges cabaret sensibilities, jazz vocal craft and a slight hint of folk charm into one appealing package. She possesses a voice that could fit naturally on a Broadway stage or in a swanky jazz club, and she puts it to good use on this all-standards affair. Kole sticks to the softer side of the jazz canon, interpreting thirteen ballad gems with eleven different pianists of note. Had she only been able to get one of these master craftsmen like Hank Jones or Dave Brubeck the project would likely have drawn interest from the jazz listening public, but with a roster of ivory ticklers that's as deep as the ocean, she ups the interest quotient considerably.

Each pianist merges with Kole in a different, wondrous way, bringing a little bit of themselves into the songs. Hank Jones largely takes a back seat to Kole, befitting a pianist who spent many a year supporting singers, but his playing on "But Beautiful" is all class and charm. Kole brings an overwrought sense of drama to Michel Legrand's "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?," as the composer also magnifies the intense emotional outpouring on piano. Mike Renzi provides rippling tides of sound on "I Remember," and Kole's vocals are as lovely as a clear blue sky.

While the aforementioned differences from track to track might not pop up on everybody's radar, there are other things to help make certain songs stick out. Freddy Cole adds his vocals to the mix on "It's Always You," while Benny Green brings more of himself into his performance, perhaps, than anyone else, with some bluesy licks and a bit of honky tonk machismo taking "Softly, As A Morning Sunrise" to a different place. Kenny Barron's superb playing ups the ante on "Lush Life," and Kole proves up to the challenge, delivering a jewel of a performance. 

When Barron solos, he takes the music in a different direction, with his staccato left hand playing against his running right. Other highlights include Alan Broadbent's masterful shaping of the title track, and Kole's two meetings with Brubeck. If people are truly measured by the company they keep, then Kole deserves all the accolades in the world for You Are There; fortunately, she does just as well when measured on her own merits throughout this captivating set. ~ Dan Bilawsky  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/you-are-there-hilary-kole-justin-time-records-review-by-dan-bilawsky.php

Personnel: Hilary Kole: vocals; Hank Jones: piano (1, 8); Cedar Walton: piano (2); Kenny Barron: piano (4); Dave Brubeck: piano (5, 10); Alan Broadbent: piano (11); Freddy Cole: vocals and piano (3); Benny Green: piano (9); Steve Kuhn: piano (12); Michel Legrand: piano (7); Mike Renzi: piano (6); Monty Alexander: piano (13).

You Are There

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Lee Lessack - In Good Company

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 74:21
Size: 170,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:35)  1. Lee Lessack With Nita Whitaker - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
(3:50)  2. Lee Lessack With Susan Egan - The Look Of Love
(3:09)  3. Lee Lessack With Jon Philip Alman - Sweet Mystery
(4:39)  4. Lee Lessack With  Mary Jo Mundy - Never Saw Blue Like That
(4:56)  5. Lee Lessack With  Brian Lane Green - Opens Arms
(6:15)  6. Lee Lessack With Ann Hampton Callaway - Bring Back Romance
(3:50)  7. Lee Lessack With Johnny Rodgers - Here's To You
(5:13)  8. Lee Lessack With Joanne O'Brien - Summer Wine
(4:54)  9. Lee Lessack With Franc D'Ambrosio - Vincero Perdero
(4:54) 10. Lee Lessack With Maureen McGovern - If You Go Away
(4:05) 11. Lee Lessack With Stephen Schwartz - For Good
(3:15) 12. Lee Lessack With Susan Werner - Blue Guitar
(3:58) 13. Lee Lessack With David Burnham - Let It Be Me
(3:31) 14. Lee Lessack With Amanda McBroom - The Rose
(4:42) 15. Lee Lessack With Ken Page - Vincent
(3:54) 16. Lee Lessack With Stacy Sullivan - Stay the Night
(4:34) 17. Lee Lessack With Michael Feinstein - May I Suggest

No one is working harder than Lee Lessack to keep the increasingly fragile art of cabaret singing on life support. To date, he has released more than 100 discs by some 70 artists (including himself) on his L.A.-based LML label. But never before has Lessack launched so overt an assault as with this 17-track collection that pairs him with a brigade of the genre's top singers and players. The results are uniformly lovely, especially when Lessack joins forces with Susan Egan on "The Look of Love," Maureen McGovern on "If You Go Away," David Burnham on a slow-roasted "Let It Be Me" and composer Stephen Schwartz on the magical "For Good" from his score for Broadway's Tony-winning Wicked.

Trouble is, despite the accuracy of its title, In Good Company lacks cabaret's most essential spice-variety. The all-ballad assortment is like a damask table runner: beautiful and tasteful, but ultimately just passively decorative. The one notable-indeed, soaring-exception is his teaming with keyboardist Johnny Rodgers (who coproduced the album with Lessack and whose band backs each track) on the Rodgers-penned "Here's to You" that pays superlative homage to Simon and Garfunkel. ~ Christopher Loudon  http://jazztimes.com/articles/16099-in-good-company-lee-lessack

Personnel: Lee Lessack (vocals); David Burnham , Franc d'Ambrosio, Joanne O'Brien, Ken Page, Michael Feinstein, Amanda McBroom, Nita Whitaker, Ann Hampton Callaway, Stacy Sullivan, Stephen Schwartz, Susan Egan, Susan Werner, Maureen McGovern, Jon Philip Alman, Mary Jo Mundy, Johnny Rodgers, Brian Lane Green (vocals); Joe Ravo (guitar); Una Tone (violin); Wolfram Koessel (cello); John F. Rodgers (piano, organ); Danny Colfax Mallon (drums); Tom Harrell (trumpet, flugelhorn).

In Good Company

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Allen Toussaint - From A Whisper To A Scream

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1970
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:29
Size: 86,3 MB
Art: Front

(3:30)  1. From A Whisper To A Scream
(3:23)  2. Chokin' Kind
(3:18)  3. Sweet Touch Of Love
(3:35)  4. What Is Success
(3:13)  5. Working In The Coalmine
(3:11)  6. Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky
(2:54)  7. Either
(3:04)  8. Louie
(3:21)  9. Cast Your Fate To The Wind
(3:30) 10. Number Nine
(4:27) 11. Pickles

Kent Soul has done an exceptional job in remastering and reissuing Allen Toussaint's classic sophomore long-player which was known simply as Allen Toussaint and the "bonus" selection, a vocal-less blues-meets-funk titled "Number Nine." When these songs first surfaced circa 1970, Toussaint (piano/vocals) had become a decade-long veteran of the New Orleans' Crescent City soul movement. Under his own name as well as the pseudonym of Naomi Neville, he was a composer, producer, and even a recording session musician. He left a trail of influential R&B titles that would resound back across the pond in the form of cover versions by the likes of the Rolling Stones ("Pain in My Heart"), the Yardbirds ("A Certain Girl"), and the Who ("Fortune Teller"), along with countless others. Toussaint's uncanny musical malleability resulted in a diverse yet solid second solo outing. He is supported by Mac Rebennack (organ/guitar) (aka Dr. John), Terry Kellman (guitar), Eddie Hohner (bass), Freddie Staehle (drums), John Boudreaux (drums), Clyde Kerr (trumpet), Earl Turbinton (alto sax), and none other than Merry Clayton (backing vocals) and Venetta Fields perhaps the most in demand studio voices of the rock & roll era. 

The dramatic "From a Whisper to a Scream" perfectly captures the synergy existing between Toussaint's ultra cool delivery and the understated yet piercing lyrical indictment. Other highlights include the pop-oriented, upbeat, and classy "Sweet Touch of Love," the author's interpretation of "Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky" and "Working in the Coalmine." The latter pair were likewise formerly charting sides Toussaint had inked for vocalist Lee Dorsey. Looking forward to the ensuing years, Toussaint garnered sizable clout for providing Bonnie Raitt with "What Is Success." The instrumentals "Either" and "Louie" foreshadow the type of stylish no-nonsense soul that informed his collaborations with the Meters. "Pickles" on the other hand is comparatively jazzier and doused in the revelry of Mardi Gras, complete with a catchy call-and-response. Finally, Toussaint's masterful touch and craftsman-like imprint is evident on the uplifting take of Vince Guaraldi's "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" as he explores alternate textures that lead the melody to some memorable places. While his mid-'70s platters for Warner Brothers may have provided him with additional exposure, this is a sonic touchstone worth repeated examinations. ~ Lindsay Planer  http://www.allmusic.com/album/from-a-whisper-to

Personnel:  Backing Vocals – Merry Clayton, Venetta Fields;  Bass – Eddie Hohner;  Drums – Ed Greene (2), Freddie Staehle, John Boudreaux;  Guitar – Terry Kellman; Piano – Allen Toussaint;  Saxophone – Earl Turbington, Frederic Kemp;  Trumpet – Clyde Kerr

R.I.P
Born: January 14, 1938/Died:  November 10, 2015

From A Whisper To A Scream

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