Massimo Farao Trio - Autumn Leaves

Size: 141,5 MB
Time: 60:51
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2015
Styles: Jazz: Piano Jazz
Art: Front

01. Corcovado (6:11)
02. Estate (6:55)Massimo Farao, piano
Aldo Zunino, bass
Marco Tolotti, drums
03. To Each His Own (5:35)
04. Chanson De Maxence (6:30)
05. Someday My Prince Will Come (4:59)
06. No Problem (5:15)
07. Cheek To Cheek (6:59)
08. Alone Together (5:29)
09. Autumn Leaves (7:32)
10. I Thought About You (5:21)

Personnel:
Massimo Farao: Piano
Aldo Zunino: Bass
Marco Tolotti: Drums

Recorded at Pianopiano Studios in Torino on February 11, 12, & 13, 2014.

Massimo Farao is an outstanding pianist who has performed with Nat Adderley, Albert "Tootie" Heath, Red Holloway, Tony Scott, Franco Ambrosetti, Jack DeJohnette, Chris Potter, and many more.

Autumn Leaves was recorded in a three day session in February 2014. The quality of each track is incredibly high. Farao's ardent style and passion are extremely appealing along with the plentiful harmonies he creates. The notes he plays are sparse, his arrangements are effortless, and the notes he does choose are beautiful. All of Farao's music--with his reliable ear for swing--exudes happiness.

Autumn Leaves

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Carin Lundin - What Now My Love?

Size: 102,0 MB
Time: 39:25
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2016
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. Get Happy (2:51)
02. What Now My Love (4:56)
03. Second Time Around (3:59)
04. I've Got A Heart Full Of Rhythm (3:24)
05. Do Be Mama (4:32)
06. Baby, Won't You Please Come Home (4:01)
07. I Didn't Know What Time It Was (4:58)
08. Peel Me A Grape (3:45)
09. Just Squeeze Me, But Please Don't Tease Me (3:46)
10. Tribute To Miss A (3:08)

Carin Lundin is a class act, one of Sweden's best jazz singers. She hangs in there year on year, ably fending off the challenge of newer arrivals, without ever getting the full recognition she so richly deserves.

In 2005 her disk, "Songs We All Recognize" was named one of the year's best albums by the national newspaper Svenska Dagbladet. In 2007 she won the national Jazz Museum's Anita O'Day prize and in 2010 her album "Smulor och Parafraser (Crumbs and Paraphrases)" made it to fifth place in jazz magazine Orkester Journalen's Gyllene Skivan (Golden Record) reader's poll.

For this, her fourth album, a collection of standards and two of her own songs, she is accompanied by some of the Nordic nation's best young session men, led by the talented pianist Mathias Algotsson.

The title track is based on the 1961 French song, "Et Maintenant" by Gilbert Bécaud, with English lyrics penned by Carl Sigman. It was most famously performed by Elvis Presley for a live audience of a billion people in his satellite show Aloha From Hawaii, beamed to 43 countries via INTELSAT.

Lundin's version features a fine trumpet solo by Johan Setterlind, who—appropriately—goes one better on "The Second Time Around."

Dicken Hedrenius contributes excellent trombone solos on the old Louis Armstrong song "I've Got A Heart Full Of Rhythm" and "Peel Me A Grape."

The latter, along with Lundin's version of "I Didn't Know What Time It Was," is right up there with the best of them. So too the up-tempo numbers "Get Happy," on which she displays her O'Day credentials, and that fine old chestnut "Baby, Won't You Please Come Home."

Of the originals, "Do Be Mama" is a light-hearted meditation by a mother watching her children growing up and becoming independent. Lundin says, "I suddenly have so much time. Maybe I should be happy about it, but I miss being with and taking care of my kids."

"Tribute To Miss A" is a heartfelt look at the loss of a friend, at the age of 37 hit by a truck while cycling in central Stockholm—"While a lot seems faded, her precious tone lingers on." ~Chris Mosey

Personnel: Carin Lundin: vocals; Johan Setterlind: trumpet; Dicken Hedrenius: trombone; Mathias Algotsson: piano; Mattias Wein: bass; Daniel Fredriksson: drums.

What Now My Love?

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Professor Cunningham & His Old School - The Rhythm Method

Size: 103,7 MB
Time: 44:32
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2016
Styles: New Orleans Jazz/Blues, Vocals
Art: Front

01. Joshua Fit The Battle At Jericho (3:13)
02. Lesson In Groove (3:27)
03. High Degree (3:01)
04. Chant In The Night (3:04)
05. One Thing (2:24)
06. Down By The Riverside (3:19)
07. Black Coffee (4:35)
08. So Nice (Feat. Tamar Korn) (3:25)
09. You Shook Me All Night Long (3:35)
10. It Ain't Necessarily So (3:11)
11. Inside Out (3:45)
12. Ain't Gonna Bring Me Down (2:58)
13. Amazing Grace (4:28)

The Professor's syllabus is taken from the finest New Orleans repertoire, from Sidney Bechet to Fats Domino, catered to the lindy hop dancers..
Led by Aussie reedman Adrian Cunningham (Baby Soda, Gordon Webster) the band performs regularly in NYC and out of town, the Professor and his group focuses on music that makes you wanna move!

"Professor Cunningham & His Old School are a new favorite at Boston Swing Central! Delightfully danceable, The Professor has studied his old jazz records, carefully selecting material that is great for dancing." ~Mike Hibarger- Boston Swing Central

"We recently had the privilege of Professor Cunningham and his Old School play for our monthly swing dance at Club Helsinki in Hudson, NY. Though only a trio, the richness and fullness of their arrangements rivaled many wonderful quartets and quintets we've had play for us. I was equally impressed with their sensitivity to playing different tempos and musical styles that maintained great energy on the dance floor for the entire night. They clearly love what they do and love sharing it with dancers. Thank you Professor!!" ~Paul Rix- swing dancer and cohost of Helsinki Swings

The Rhythm Method

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Karolina Strassmayer & Drori Mondlak - Of Mystery And Beauty

Size: 162,0 MB
Time: 69:51
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2016
Styles: Jazz
Art: Front

01. From Her Pale Blue Home (7:46)
02. Of Mystery And Beauty (9:05)
03. Postcard From A Quiet Place (6:25)
04. Fanfare From Another World (7:27)
05. Wandering (7:18)
06. Gently Spoke The Mermaid (6:43)
07. Four Us All (4:08)
08. Of Space And Rest (6:38)
09. Side To Side (5:00)
10. Cascades (3:54)
11. Still In Her Ears (5:22)

Over the past decade and a half Austrian saxophonist Karolina Strassmayer has established herself as a superbly consummate musician. Her multifaceted compositions are always subtly, engagingly inventive and brim with brilliant wit and lyricism. As an improviser she plays with a reserved intensity and a captivating and suave spontaneity. Her seventh release Of Mystery and Beauty showcases again her unique style that has matured and ripened without losing any of its vibrant energy.

Like all of Strassmayer's previous albums this one is also in collaboration with American drummer Drori Mondlak. An undisputed master percussionist Mondlak, with his virtuosity and bold, explorative spirit, is the indispensible driving force behind the pair's music. Case in point; his unaccompanied solo "Cascades" is breathtakingly spirited and unexpectedly tuneful.

Together with their quartet Klaro! Strassmayer and Mondlak interpret the ten originals with a sublime mix of magical ethereality and visceral earthiness. The title track for instance opens with bassist John Goldsby's contemplative reverberating strings. Pianist Rainer Böhm's resonant chiming keys and Mondlak's softly propulsive beats create an expectant ambience for Strassmayer's yearning poetry. Heavily tinged with mysticism. Strassmayer lets loose intricate meandering alto lines that build an intriguing and passionate melody. After Böhm's shimmering, incandescent deluge of notes tense sonic fragments usher in the darkly hued conclusion.

The dramatic and provocative "Four Us All" has an otherworldly mood and lilting cadence. Mondlak's primal rumble and rustling sticks together with Goldsby's thumping vamps and Böhm's sparse, haunting chords form a loose and angular rhythmic framework. Strassmayer fills this gripping harmonic shell with her free flowing and open-ended extemporization making the piece one of the most innovative on the record.

Elsewhere on the funky and emotive "Side by Side" Strassmayer's blues-drenched saxophone dances seductively and with muscular phrases around the main theme. Böhm's buoyant piano echoes and expands on the altoist's mordant and acerbic tones and stirring wail.

The vigorous "Fanfare From Another World," meanwhile, features Böhm's lithe pianism. His breathtaking acrobatics are equal parts technical prowess and elegant artistry. Strassmayer blows with fiery gusto the bubbling head over her band-mates hard swinging refrains. Mondlak bisects the tune with his thunderous thumps and complex, overlapping polyrhythms.

This captivating record closes with the hypnotic and gorgeous ballad "Still In Her Ears." This Strassmayer and Böhm duet spotlights the former's thick breathy flute as it undulates gracefully over the latter's introspective and classically influenced performance.

Simultaneously unconventional and accessible Of Mystery and Beauty is an imaginative work. With charm and intelligence it eschews both abstruseness and banality. It engrosses with its diversity yet remains conceptually cohesive. It stimulates and moves with its ingenious complexity and fascinating fluidity. In short it is, to date, Strassmayer and Mondlak's finest disc and one that surely will stand the test of time. ~Hrayr Attarian

Personnel: Karolina Strassmayer: alto saxophone, flute; Drori Mondlak: drums; John Goldsby: bass; Rainer Böhm: piano.

Of Mystery And Beauty

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Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox - PMJ And Chill

Size: 115,3 MB
Time: 49:24
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2016
Styles: Jazz, Ragtime, Pop, Vocals
Art: Front

01. Sorry (Feat. Shoshana Bean) (3:57)
02. Bye Bye Bye (Feat. Tara Louise) (4:17)
03. Ex's & Oh's (Feat. Lisa Gary) (2:47)
04. Here (Feat. Aubrey Logan) (3:45)
05. I’m Not The Only One (Feat. Cristina Gatti) (3:56)
06. Hotline Bling (Feat. Cristina Gatti) (3:01)
07. Ignition (Remix)) (Feat. Rayvon Owen) (3:19)
08. Love Yourself (Feat. Sara Niemietz) (4:18)
09. Hello (Feat. Maiya Sykes) (4:18)
10. Just Like Heaven (Feat. Natalie Angst) (4:22)
11. Focus (Feat. Lavance Colley) (3:21)
12. Thinking Out Loud (Feat. Holly Campbell-Smith) (3:50)
13. Heroes (Feat. Nicole Atkins) (4:06)

How did Miley Cyrus' "We Can't Stop" become a '50s-style doo wop number? Since when was Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass" about an upright bass fiddle? At what point did Macklemore's "Thrift Shop" evolve into a '20s hot jazz tune? And whose idea was it to rework Lorde's "Royals" into a polished ballad sung by a sad clown? It's all part of the topsy-turvy world of Postmodern Jukebox, an ongoing musical project spearheaded by pianist and arranger Scott Bradlee, who takes contemporary pop and rock tunes and fashions new arrangements for them that cast them in an unpredictable variety of musical styles from the past. Born on Long Island, Bradlee relocated to New York City after studying jazz at the University of Hartford. While playing gigs at restaurants and nightclubs in New York City, Bradlee began experimenting with ragtime and jazz arrangements of pop tunes from the '80s, and he recorded several self-released digital albums of his offbeat versions of well-known melodies, as well as performances that interpolated seemingly dissimilar songs of different eras. Bradlee upped the ante on these experiments in 2012 with an album called A Motown Tribute to Nickelback, but as he began imagining a new platform for his experiments, he thought of YouTube, where he had been posting solo performance videos since 2009. In 2013, Bradlee began posting weekly videos in which he and a rotating cast of musicians and vocalists performed a new song each week, recorded live in a single take in Bradlee's living room. In September 2013, Bradlee posted his '50s-style reimagining of Cyrus' "We Can't Stop," and the clip soon went viral, racking up over four million views in less than two months and topping 14 million two years later. Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox channel was soon racking up Internet successes on a regular basis, and Bradlee continued to release both videos and albums based on his playful fun-house covers of popular songs. By 2015, Bradlee had made over 130 Postmodern Jukebox clips available online, and he and his crew were taking the show on the road, touring in North America, Europe, and the United Kingdom. ~Mark Deming

PMJ And Chill

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Art Farmer & Jim Hall Quartet - Complete Live Recordings

Styles: Jazz, Mainstream Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:57
Size: 159,2 MB
Art: Front

(12:25)  1. Stompin' At The Savoy
( 5:56)  2. Swing Spring
( 4:28)  3. What's New
( 9:44)  4. I Want To Be Happy
( 5:07)  5. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
( 7:49)  6. Sometime Ago
( 6:10)  7. Bilbao Song
( 4:55)  8. Darn That Dream
(11:21)  9. Valse Hot
( 0:58) 10. Theme

The Art Farmer-Jim Hall Quartet recorded only a handful of times in the early 1960s, making this reissue of two separate live performances all the more valuable. By the time Farmer recruited Hall for his new group, he had made the switch from trumpet to the richer sound of the flugelhorn, while the guitarist's style of playing complemented the leader perfectly. The first date originally was issued by Atlantic, though both the album and the subsequent CD reissue have long been unavailable; the rhythm section consists of Steve Swallow (who had not yet made the switch to electric bass) and drummer Walter Perkins. Except for Miles Davis' "Swing Spring," all of the songs are from the swing era. The extended workout of "Stompin' at the Savoy" is illustrative of the group's abilities, while Hall is featured in a lush setting of "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You." 

The last five tracks first appeared on the Moon bootleg CD Meets Mulligan & Hall, though it too has been out of print for some time, with Pete La Roca (aka Pete Sims) taking over on drums. The sound of these performances is a bit muddy, as if taken from a second or third generation of a broadcast taping, though the music is excellent throughout the set. This Gambit reissue repeats the earlier CD's sloppy composer credits, which attribute the lilting take of "Sometime Ago" to Chick Corea instead of Sergio Mihanovich, though the addition of detailed liner notes is welcome. The heartfelt arrangement of "'Darn That Dream" and burning take of Sonny Rollins' unusual jazz waltz "Valse Hot" are also highlights. ~ Ken Dryden  http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-complete-live-recordings-mw0001664687

Personnel: Art Farmer (flugelhorn); Jim Hall (guitar); Pete La Roca, Walter Perkins (drums).

Complete Live Recordings

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Charnett Moffett - The Art of Improvisation

Styles: Jazz, Post-Bop
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:01
Size: 135,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:25)  1. We Pray
(5:07)  2. Moses
(5:10)  3. The Story
(5:05)  4. Dreams
(5:45)  5. Elements of Life
(4:44)  6. Call For Peace
(4:57)  7. The Awakening
(5:34)  8. Swing Rock
(4:28)  9. Enlightenment Part I
(7:26) 10. Enlightenment Part II
(3:50) 11. The Art of Improvisation
(3:23) 12. Star Spangled Banner

A fascinating recording, The Art of Improvisation is as mysterious as it is a showcase for the formidable bass playing skills of its leader Charnett Moffett; his playing on electric and acoustic basses has a grounded, vocal quality he always seems to be singing through his instruments. Even when he is playing a fusillade of notes (and Moffett does have fleet fingers), the feel of various folk musics (Asian, Middle Eastern, African, even Celtic) are invoked, as heard through both parts of "Enlightenment." "Part I" starts with a floating, meditative mood, building in speed and emotional intensity over a pedal tone. "Part II" becomes a duet of bass and drums, using the melodic materials of "Part I" in an approach similar to that of a sitar/tabla duet. 

Moffett's bass again sings a duet with Tibetan vocalist Yunchen Lhamo on "Call for Peace," a striking track of such sincerity it begs for more. "Dream," another fascinating composition, features a poet's recitation over a sonic landscape that sounds as if it could have been recorded in the '60s or '70s a cross between the Last Poets and music found at the Creative Music Studio. The title track, of course reminds listeners of Ornette Coleman's 1961 album, The Art of the Improvisers; Charnett, after all, is a contraction of Charles as in drummer Charles Moffett, his father and Ornette, Charles Moffett's boss circa 1965. And the bassist's version of the "Star Spangled Banner" convincingly revives the spirit of Hendrix's Woodstock version of the national anthem. 

Moffett doesn't take the usual route of making a recording that's a concise collection of tunes. He stretches out on his basses more than any other bassist/bandleader dares to. And though Moffett can remind one of Jaco Pastorius, James Jamerson, Milt Hinton, Charlie Haden, Stanley Clarke or an Edgar Meyer none would have made an album with this kind of directness. ~ Francis Lo Kee  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-art-of-improvisation-charnett-moffett-motema-music-review-by-francis-lo-kee.php

Personnel: Charnett Moffett: basses; Will Calhoun: drums Yungchen Lhamo: vocal; Scott Brown: piano; Pat Jones: guitar. Steve Barnes: guitar. Eric McPherson: drums. Charnette Max Moffett: drums. Robert Joseph Avalon: trumpet.

The Art of Improvisation

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Bernd Reiter Quartet feat. Roman Schwaller - Live at the Jazzland Vienna

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:31
Size: 159,3 MB
Art: Front

( 7:35)  1. Strike up the band
( 8:24)  2. Theme for Ernie
(10:44)  3. Ruby, my dear
( 7:48)  4. Bitter Suite
(12:21)  5. Cheesecake
(13:10)  6. Body and Soul
( 9:24)  7. Dear John

Any information of this album will be very welcome!

Personnel: Bernd Reiter – dr;  Roman Schwaller – ts;  Sascha Mutic – p; Robert Jukic - b

Live at the Jazzland Vienna

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