Chris Connor - He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

Size: 104,8 MB
Time: 44:53
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1956/2007
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. High On A Windy Hill (3:47)
02. 'Round About (3:55)
03. Angel Eyes (3:43)
04. You Stepped Out Of A Dream (3:47)
05. Why Can't I (3:46)
06. Suddenly It's Spring (3:08)
07. About The Blues (3:44)
08. Oh! You Crazy Moon (3:40)
09. But Not For Me (3:47)
10. I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry (3:27)
11. I Wonder What Became Of Me (4:10)
12. Thursday's Child (3:52)

Along with June Christy, Helen O'Connell, and Julie London, Chris Connor epitomized cool jazz singing in the 1950s. Influenced by Anita O'Day, the torchy, smoky singer wasn't one for aggression. Like Chet Baker on the trumpet or Paul Desmond and Lee Konitz on alto sax, she used subtlety and restraint to their maximum advantage. At the University of Missouri, Connor (who had studied clarinet at an early age) sang with a Stan Kentonish big band led by trombonist Bob Brookmeyer before leaving her native Kansas City for New York in 1947. Quite appropriately, she was featured in the lyrical pianist Claude Thornhill's orchestra in the early '50s. After leaving Thornhill, Connor was hired by Kenton at Christy's recommendation, and her ten-month association with him in 1952-1953 resulted in the hit "All About Ronnie." Connor debuted as a solo artist in 1953, recording three albums for Bethlehem before moving to Atlantic in 1955 and recording 12. Connor reached the height of her popularity in the 1950s, when she delivered her celebrated versions of Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life" and George Shearing's "Lullaby of Broadway," and recorded such excellent albums as The Rich Sound of Chris Connor and Lullabies of Birdland for Bethlehem and Chris Craft and Ballads of the Sad Cafe for Atlantic. Connor made a poor career move in 1962, the year she left Atlantic and signed with a label her manager was starting, FM Records -- Connor had recorded only two albums for FM when they folded. Connor's recording career was rejuvenated in the 1970s, and she went on to record for Progressive, Stash, and Contemporary in the '70s and '80s. Connor maintained a devoted following in the 1990s and continued to tour internationally. ~by Alex Henderson

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

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John Hart - Exit From Brooklyn

Size: 135,6 MB
Time: 58:17
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2016
Styles: Jazz: Mainstream Jazz
Art: Front

01. Here's That Rainy Day (5:51)
02. Exit From Brooklyn (5:54)
03. The Star Crossed Lovers (5:01)
04. Inside Out (6:04)
05. April In Paris (8:03)
06. Just Friends (5:49)
07. I Mean It! (6:53)
08. Ask Me Now (4:51)
09. Jackie-Ing (4:13)
10. Where Or When (5:32)

In the winter of 1984 I first arrived in New York City. Fresh out of college, armed with a couple of guitars, I was unaware that I was about to begin a 30-year odyssey in which I would experience virtually every facet of the NY jazz scene. I soon landed in Brooklyn - Fort Greene to be exact. Brooklyn was a popular location for migrating young jazz musicians at that time, as it was difficult for many to negotiate Manhattan’s high rents. Neighborhoods such as Ft. Greene, Park Slope, and Brooklyn Heights were teaming with musicians, and the sound of jam sessions coming from inside apartment buildings was ubiquitous.
It was a different Brooklyn from the Brooklyn today. The term hipster was dormant and I would venture to say that there were very few Brooklynites who knew what a latte was. The one thing that hasn’t changed, however, is the vibrant and fertile jazz scene that has always resided there.

Brooklyn is where I first met Bill Moring and Tim Horner, the two remarkable musicians who join me on this disc. We met shortly after I moved to NY, all from different parts of the country, each with different backgrounds but all with the same goal, to play and learn. We ran into each other at some of those apartment jam sessions, found each other on various gigs together, and eventually formed a trio around 2000. This is our fourth CD together. In the late 90’s we all headed to the suburbs, raised our families, played a lot of gigs together and kept those jam sessions happening (all though this time in a house, not an apartment!)

My idea for this record was for us to convene with a minimum of rehearsal, play music that is rich in melody and explore and refine the chemistry that we have developed after all these years playing together.

Exit From Brooklyn

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Kevin Stewart - Never Look Back

Size: 140,3 MB
Time: 59:47
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2016
Styles: Jazz: Piano Jazz
Art: Front

01. Moonlight (5:06)
02. Full Steam (3:36)
03. Still Unforgettable (4:33)
04. Never Look Back (3:30)
05. Mom's Lake (3:18)
06. Overjoyed (4:27)
07. The Calm (3:22)
08. Distracted (5:00)
09. Lost Generation (6:00)
10. Never Can Say Goodbye (3:55)
11. Roof Garden (3:49)
12. Downtime (4:29)
13. Timeless Tale (4:12)
14. You Touch My Brain (4:22)

Any info will be welcome.

Never Look Back

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Ruby Braff and Dick Hyman - Play Nice Tunes

Styles: Cornet And Piano Jazz
Year: 1996
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:15
Size: 147,6 MB
Art: Front

(6:11)  1. I Want a Little Girl
(3:27)  2. My Heart Belongs to Daddy
(4:24)  3. Sweet Savannah Sue
(4:36)  4. Why Was I Born
(4:32)  5. Lotus Blossom
(4:29)  6. Joseph! Joseph!
(5:34)  7. Thanks a Million
(4:23)  8. By Myself
(6:09)  9. I Must Have That Man
(4:28) 10. Come Sunday
(3:12) 11. Save It, Pretty Mama
(4:00) 12. Once Upon a Time
(3:21) 13. You're Lucky to Me
(5:24) 14. When It's Sleepy Time Down South

All of cornetist Ruby Braff's duet collaborations with pianist Dick Hyman are something special. The success of this set was a bit unlikely because the great cornetist was very ill just a few months earlier. Luckily he recovered and does not show any weakness, hesitancy or diminishing abilities on his duet date. The emphasis is on slower renditions of superior standards, but there is also plenty of fire and subtle invention displayed during the thoughtful interpretations. Hyman is typically imaginative in his accompaniment and virtuosic solos, while Braff makes the most out of every note. Highlights include Fats Waller's "Sweet Savannah Sue," "Why Was I Born," "Thanks a Million" and "You're Lucky to Me." ~ Scott Yanow  http://www.allmusic.com/album/play-nice-tunes-mw0000026338

Personnel: Ruby Braff (trumpet, cornet); Dick Hyman (piano).

Play Nice Tunes

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Wolfgang Muthspiel - Drumfree

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:36
Size: 125,1 MB
Art: Front

(6:31)  1. Ibrahim
(5:05)  2. Tribal games
(6:51)  3. Sunspot
(7:11)  4. Double blues
(6:07)  5. This over that
(5:06)  6. Ralphone
(6:36)  7. The Palace (to Wena)
(5:48)  8. Looking for Elba
(5:16)  9. Raumzeit

Drumfree contains some of the most stimulating three-way counterpoint written and played in a long time. All of the compositional credit goes to Wolfgang Muthspiel, the composer; but making it all come alive is Muthspiel, the guitarist, and his chosen partners for this date: saxophonist Andy Scherrer and bassist Larry Grenadier. Muthspiel leads from the front with the warmth and splendor of his authoritative voice. The guitarist is deeply rooted in the harmonic ideas of European music, with phrases fully formed and informed by the contrapuntal ideas that spring from the tradition of Bach. Muthspiel is also a sublime melodist, taking leave from Mozart as much as he does some of his contemporaries spread across the landscape of modern music. He has certainly heard the ancestors of his chosen instrument, from Charlie Christian and Freddie Green to Wes Montgomery. But he has also listened carefully to pianists Bill Evans and the magical Abdullah Ibrahim.

Muthspiel's is a unique voice. Bright and singing, it sets the music aglow with bubbling melody and sophisticated harmony ensconced in an enormous palette of colors, which the guitarist applies with deft touch and exacting technique. He plays single notes with joyful clarity, triads and chords with a sense of purpose to bring about a sunburst of colors. His ability to make outstanding timbral pronouncements puts him in a league presided over by the sublime mastery of Ralph Towner. Here, too, Muthspiel holds his own, delivering on the promise held out for his ingenuity as well. His dialogs with that other master on this date, Grenadier, are a joy to hear, whether they are navigating a complex musical portrait in "Ibrahim," or swinging in and out of a minor blues, "Double Blues," where Muthspiel trades thirds with Grenadier, then dropping back to comp in the shadow of the bassist's deep grumbling solo. Then Muthspiel dives behind Scherrer's lush soloing, before playing a maddeningly brilliant harmonic figure to lead the trio into Grenadier's solo. In between it all there is music that reveals Muthspiel's mastery of various modes. 

This is a result of making music in Europe, where the musician is surrounded by craftsmanship and history that impels the artist into the Greco-Roman world of exactitude, as well as into the beautiful florid world of the baroque era, when Johann Sebastian Bach and Antonio Vivaldi held sway. Being surrounded by all things melodic and Mozart also must have counted for something. Muthspiel has absorbed all this as well as enough of the tradition of the blues to make music that is not only worldly in vision, but also contemporary in relevance. He demonstrates an unaffected style, letting it all emerge with just the right amount of intellect and emotion on "Ralphone," and the crowning moments of "Raumzeit," where Grenadier's arco playing is sublime. Despite Muthspiel's travels through time this remains a truly modern guitar album. ~ Raul D’Gama Rose  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/drumfree-wolfgang-muthspiel-material-records-review-by-raul-dgama-rose.php
 

Personnel: Wolfgang Muthspiel: guitars; Andy Scherrer: saxophones; Larry Grenadier: bass.

Drumfree

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Viktor Lazlo - My Delicious Poisons

Styles: Vocal, Jazz Pop
Year: 1991
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:20
Size: 95,1 MB
Art: Front

(4:04)  1. Teach Me To Dance
(3:41)  2. Ballad For Lisa
(3:57)  3. Love Insane
(3:36)  4. Pearl's A Singer
(3:30)  5. Lullaby
(4:01)  6. Men Of A Kind
(4:34)  7. Light And Dark
(3:43)  8. If I Could Love You More
(3:15)  9. Desir Fou
(2:58) 10. Easy To Lose
(3:56) 11. Poison

My Delicious Poisons is the fourth studio album by French-Belgian singer Viktor Lazlo. A French version of the album was recorded and released in France, entitled Mes Poisons Délicieux. The album was not as successful as its predecessors as it only entered the Dutch album charts, peaking at No. 71. The first single off the album, Teach Me To Dance was co-written by Lazlo herself with Chris Rea. The album also contains a cover version of the Elkie Brooks song Pearl's a Singer. Singles off the album were Teach Me To Dance, Love Insane and Ballad For Lisa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Delicious_Poisons

My Delicious Poisons

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Snake Davis Band - Classic Sax Solos

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:05
Size: 137,8 MB
Art: Front

(2:10)  1. Tequila
(5:12)  2. Baker Street
(2:23)  3. Harlem Nocturne
(8:34)  4. Medley
(3:24)  5. Parker's Mood
(3:32)  6. Still Crazy After All These Years
(3:32)  7. Walk in the Night
(4:20)  8. Deacon Blues
(5:08)  9. Going Home
(4:31) 10. Just the Way You Are
(3:27) 11. Night Train
(3:11) 12. Poirot - Pink Panther
(3:42) 13. A Million Love Songs
(1:54) 14. Yakety Yak
(2:45) 15. Respect
(2:12) 16. Yakety Sax

Possibly the UKs most popular saxophone session and touring artist, Snake Davis, has compiled 16 great tunes with classic sax solos in them. A fitting tribute to some of the sax greats."We humbly offer these recordings with love and respect for the original artists. Birchy, Bryan, Gareth and Simon did an absolutely outstanding job on this album. Their commitment to this project and their intense hard work has been inspiring  they are absolute troopers. It was hard to narrow the choice down, there are just so many crackers out there. What is it that makes them classics, revered and remembered? It's such a subjective decision, and they are so very different from each other. Some go straight for your heartstrings, some grab you by the scruff of the neck, and some hit you in the stomach. We managed to get 22 solos in - some of our versions are short, and some are very short, but we only slashed so we could cover more ground. All the musicians learn from the great players who went before them, and always have done. Each of these solos is a mini masterclass on some aspect of sax playing" http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/snakedavis6

Classic Sax Solos

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