Bobby Darin - The Swinging Side Of Bobby Darin

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 31:02

Size: 71.1 MB

Styles: Vocal pop

Year: 2005

Art: Front

[1:56] 1. I Got Rhythm

[2:19] 2. I'm Beginning To See The Light

[1:47] 3. I'm Sitting On Top Of The World

[2:44] 4. There's A Rainbow 'round My Shoulder

[2:56] 5. Fly Me To The Moon

[1:56] 6. All Of You

[2:54] 7. Hello, Young Lovers

[2:42] 8. Just In Time

[2:07] 9. This Nearly Was Mine

[2:49] 10. Make Someone Happy

[2:11] 11. I Wanna Be Around

[2:09] 12. On The Street Where You Live

[2:26] 13. The Good Life

During the early '60s, the Capitol Tower had begun to lose its luster as the home of traditional pop. Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin had departed for Reprise, which soon became the home of pop with recordings from Sinatra and Martin plus Sammy Davis, Jr. One of Capitol's counter moves was to sign Atco's Bobby Darin, who had started as a teen idol but, thanks to his smashes "Mack the Knife" and "Beyond the Sea," crossed over to adult audiences. Darin boasted additional appeal thanks to his knockout club act and a series of film appearances (five in 1962 alone) that eventually earned him an Academy Award nomination. It seemed like a natural fit. Unfortunately, Darin never filled the shoes of Sinatra or even Martin. As his Atco period displayed, he was much better when he introduced material. Unlike most jazz singers, he wasn't a standards singer at heart and couldn't bring anything fresh to his readings of "Fly Me to the Moon," "All of You," or "I Got Rhythm." The Swinging Side of Bobby Darin, released to coincide with the 2004 Darin bio-pic Beyond the Sea, presents a short program of Darin's jazz sides recorded at Capitol. (Since Darin was even then moving into folk-pop, few of these songs were even released at the time.) Capitol initially paired him with Billy May, an obvious choice for arranger, and the results certainly fit the bill for swinging in the '60s. Before long, however, Darin had left behind the world of traditional pop, and Capitol never recouped its investment. ~John Bush

The Swingin' Side Of Bobby Darin   

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Vincent Herring - Secret Love

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:16
Size: 126.5 MB
Styles: Bop, Saxophone jazz
Year: 1993
Art: Front

[4:43] 1. Have You Met Miss Jones
[5:32] 2. Skating In Central Park
[6:12] 3. Secret Love
[5:30] 4. If You Never
[8:49] 5. Autumn Leaves
[4:46] 6. My Foolish Heart
[7:19] 7. Solar
[4:29] 8. Chelsea Bridge
[7:52] 9. And Then Again

Altoist Vincent Herring's release is an impressive effort. Although he still sounds fairly close to Cannonball Adderley at times, Herring is continuing to develop as a fine modern bop stylist. Accompanied by a strong rhythm section (pianist Renee Rosnes, bassist Ira Coleman, and drummer Billy Drummond), Rosnes explores Kenny Barronis' "And Then Again" and eight standards, including Jobim's lesser-known "If You Never," John Lewis' "Skating in Central Park," and Billy Strayhorn's lyrical "Chelsea Bridge." ~Scott Yanow

Secret Love

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Lena Seikaly - Written In The Stars

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:41
Size: 120.6 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2009
Art: Front

[5:27] 1. East Of The Sun
[5:20] 2. Gravitation
[5:56] 3. When I Fall In Love
[4:41] 4. A String Of Questions
[6:10] 5. The Very Thought Of You
[4:09] 6. You Go To My Head
[4:57] 7. Snapped
[5:40] 8. Duke Ellington Sound Of Love
[4:57] 9. It Only Takes A Moment
[5:20] 10. Written In The Stars

LENA SEIKALY is a fresh voice on the national jazz scene from Washington, D.C. Named “one of Washington’s preeminent jazz singers" and “brightest voices in jazz" (The Washington Post), as well as a “major league young talent in jazz" by Duke Ellington’s biographer, Dr. John Hasse, Lena is already making her mark as both a revivalist of traditional jazz vocals, as well as an innovator in contemporary vocal jazz styles. She began her training at age four with piano, continued with classical voice in her teens, and went on to complete a B.M. in classical vocal performance at the University of Maryland School of Music. It was in college where Lena discovered a strong passion for jazz, and embarked on a fervent education of jazz history, styles, theory and composition before pursuing a jazz career in the Washington, D.C. area. Most recently, she was named one of eleven semi-finalists for the 2015 Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Vocals Competition. She was a Strathmore Artist-In-Residence in 2009-2010, a participant in the prestigious Betty Carter Jazz Ahead residency in Washington, D.C. (2009) where she worked closely with Dr. Billy Taylor, Carmen Lundy, George Cables, Curtis Fuller, Winard Harper and others, and a participant at the Jazz Aspen Snowmass program in Aspen, CO (2005), directed by Christian McBride.

As the leader of her own trio, quartet and quintet, Lena has headlined at such renowned D.C. venues as Blues Alley, the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, the Atlas Theater, Strathmore Mansion, and at festivals across the U.S. (including the Elkhart Jazz Festival and Mel Bay Jazz Festival) and in Holland, Switzerland, and France. Lena has self-produced three albums – Written In The Stars (2009), Lovely Changes (2011) and Looking Back (2013) – all three received critical acclaim from music critics in leading D.C. online and print publications, and the latter two of which were released to sold-out shows at Blues Alley. Lovely Changes earned her the titles of D.C.’s “Best Vocalist" and “Best Composer" for 2011 by the Washington City Paper, while Looking Back — a tribute to Ethel Waters, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, and featuring “lost songs" from the 1920s and ‘30s — was dubbed “the work of a supremely confident master of her instrument" by the same publication.

Lena is also very active in the D.C. area as a professional classical mezzo-soprano, a recording artist in varying genres, and arranger, and in 2012 had the unique privilege of being commissioned to arrange a suite of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s music for a 16-piece version of the New Orchestra of Washington, which premiered later that same year. An avid educator, Lena was the jazz vocal instructor at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts during 2008-09, and has lead seasonal workshops at the Strathmore Music Center for aspiring jazz vocalists since 2010. As a Palestinian American, Lena has also been involved in many Arabic fusion projects both in the U.S. and abroad — in summer of 2015, she toured in Palestine (West Bank) and Israel as the featured vocalist with Al-Manara, a European-Palestinian ensemble performing original music based on the life of its Palestinian composer and founder, Ramzi Aburedwan.

Written In The Stars

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The Los Angeles Jazz Ensemble - Jazz For A Sunday Brunch

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 68:31

Size: 156.9 MB

Styles: Contemporary jazz

Year: 2015

Art: Front

[2:35] 1. Lullaby Of Birdland

[2:26] 2. They Can't Take That Away From Me

[4:16] 3. More Than You Know

[2:51] 4. I'll Remember April

[2:17] 5. We'll Be Together Again

[2:24] 6. Secret Love

[2:29] 7. I Get A Kick Out Of You

[3:19] 8. Shine

[2:48] 9. Tenderly

[2:21] 10. This Can't Be Love

[2:36] 11. These Foolish Things

[2:16] 12. Crescendo Date

[3:44] 13. Memories Of You

[3:18] 14. Willow Weep For Me

[2:12] 15. Nola

[2:32] 16. Three Little Words

[1:56] 17. Southern Fried

[3:52] 18. If I Had You

[2:17] 19. I Love Paris

[3:32] 20. Moonglow

[1:56] 21. Baubles Bangles And Beads

[2:22] 22. Body And Soul

[1:52] 23. Bernie's Tune

[2:56] 24. Lots Of Living To Do

[3:12] 25. Poor Butterfly

Jazz For A Sunday Brunch

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Bob Scobey's Frisco Band - Rompin' And Stompin'

Styles: Trumpet Jazz, Big Band
Year: 1959
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:25
Size: 97,7 MB
Art: Front

(2:33)  1. Colonel Bogey March
(3:13)  2. The Pearls
(3:00)  3. Kansas City Stomp
(3:28)  4. Buddy Bolden's Blues
(3:58)  5. Skit-Dat-De-Dat
(3:49)  6. The Chant
(2:38)  7. Shake It And Break It
(3:45)  8. Canal Street Blues
(3:49)  9. Fidgety Feet
(4:40) 10. Dallas Blues
(3:52) 11. London Blues
(3:36) 12. Black Bottom Stomp

Trumpeter Bob Scobey still had a spirited Dixieland group in 1959, but the addition of pianist Art Hodes for this date clearly uplifted the band. Scobey performs six songs associated with Jelly Roll Morton (including "The Pearls," "Kansas City Stomp" and "The Chant"), plus six other songs dating mostly from the 1920s. A strictly instrumental date (although Clancy Hayes helps out the rhythm section on banjo), clarinetist Brian Shanley, trombonist Jim Beebe and the tuba of Rich Matteson are strong assets, along with Hodes and Scobey. Well worth searching for by Dixieland collectors. https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/rompin-stompin/id453951910

Rompin' And Stompin'

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Agneta Baumann - Sentimental Lady

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2002
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:57
Size: 130,6 MB
Art: Front

(5:17)  1. Born To Be Blue
(6:18)  2. Close Enough For Love
(4:58)  3. I Didnt Know About You
(5:41)  4. Im Glad There Is You
(5:11)  5. If You Could See Me Now
(6:55)  6. What Are You Doing in The Rest of Your Life
(5:55)  7. My Ship
(5:36)  8. Only Trust Your Heart
(7:31)  9. Young And Foolish
(3:30) 10. Where Do You Start

A smooth delivery as well as her own unique way of phrasing make Agneta Baumann one of the most respected Jazz singers in Sweden. Her trio on this outing is unique in that it is not your typical piano bass and drums setup but rather trumpet bass and piano. This arrangement lends itself beautifully to Baumann’s style of singing.  Born To Be Blue sets the mood for what is to follow. Written by Robert Wells and the great Mel Torme, this piece demands vocal control as well as an emotional attachment to the melody for it to succeed. Baumann delivers in spades. An opportunity to listen to one of the finest trumpet players on the Swedish jazz scene, Broberg’s ability is on display for all to enjoy. Taking the melody in stride, Baumann’s sense of timing and relaxed approach connect with the listener in a way that is soothing, and direct. I Didn’t Know About You is one of those ballads that stands out as an exercise in restraint for whoever is interpreting it. Broberg’s sympathetic solo flows like a slow running river before Baumann’s return to the vocal. 

Another example of Baumann’s expertise in ballad singing is Kurt Weill’s My Ship. A slow moving version with nice interplay from Broberg. The mood is created and builds as Broberg’s solo progresses. Gosta Rundqvist offers some delicate yet effective piano playing that contributes to the spirit of this classic.  Rundqvist’s empathetic piano leads off Young and Foolish, another torch like song that has been covered by many vocalists over the years. Baumann stretches out on this one milking every note as if it were her last. Danielsson’s sparse bass playing is effective in that it lays the foundation for this fragile yet meaningful love song. His talent has been recognized for many years and on this number we hear why. Making ballads her main vehicle for vocal expression, Baumann offers listeners a recording suited for late night listening, relaxing and romantic evenings. Her phrasing is second to none. Baumann’s sense of enjoyment shines through on every number. This is one recording not to miss. Highly recommended.~Randy Mcelligott http://www.jazzreview.com/cd-reviews/jazz-vocals-cd-reviews/sentimental-lady-by-agneta-baumann.html

Personnel:  Bosse Broberg (Trumpet), Gosta Rundqvist (Piano), Palle Danielsson (Bass), Agneta Baumann (Vocals)

Sentimental Lady

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Bill Frisell - Disfarmer

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:43
Size: 164,8 MB
Art: Front

(5:37)  1. Disfarmer Theme
(1:15)  2. Lonely Man
(1:50)  3. Lost, Night
(1:03)  4. Farmer
(2:26)  5. Focus
(4:43)  6. Peter Miller's Discovery
(3:10)  7. That's Alright, Mama
(3:42)  8. Little Girl
(1:16)  9. Little Boy
(2:47) 10. No One Gets In
(2:48) 11. Lovesick Blues
(3:50) 12. I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You)
(4:26) 13. Shutter, Dream
(2:12) 14. Exposed
(1:52) 15. The Wizard
(4:37) 16. Think
(4:29) 17. Drink
(1:32) 18. Play
(3:36) 19. I Am Not A Farmer
(1:00) 20. Small Town
(1:53) 21. Arkansas (Part 1)
(2:19) 22. Arkansas (Part 2)
(1:54) 23. Arkansas (Part 3)
(2:06) 24. Lost Again, Dark
(2:59) 25. Natural Light
(2:06) 26. Did You See Him?

Often a cinematic writer, guitarist Bill Frisell has composed film scores in the past, including his back-to-back release of Music For The Films Of Buster Keaton: The High Sign/One Week and Go West (both Elektra/Nonesuch, 1995) and, more recently, music for the 2007 Canadian film All Hat (Emarcy/Universal, 2008). Instead of writing for images in motion, however, Disfarmer is an album of largely original music inspired by Depression-era photographer Michael Disfarmer's arresting images of rural America. Frisell manages to capture the ambience of Disfarmer's work, at times as ethereally static as those single frames, but elsewhere inspired to create pulsating Americana music that continues to skew ever so slightly a longtime definer of Frisell's best work. Violinist Jenny Scheinman, steel guitarist/mandolinist Greg Liesz and bassist Viktor Krauss are all longtime collaborators, with Krauss dating back to Frisell's much-lauded (and controversial) Nashville (Nonesuch, 1997). Disfarmer shares much with Nashville's drummer-less bluegrass vibe, as it does the even more folkloric The Willies (Nonesuch, 2002). Still, while those albums were as much a part of Frisell's persistent anti-soloing aesthetic as any he's recorded in recent years, Disfarmer is even less about playing and more about concept, despite the inescapable fact that it couldn't succeed as it does without the effortless interaction and instrumental acumen of its participants.

Tracks like the collectively improvised "Shutter, Dream" are as atmospheric as anything Frisell's ever done, while the hauntingly lyrical "Think" ranks with "Strange Meeting" and "Monica Jane," both heard at their best on This Land (Elektra/Nonesuch, 1994), as some of his most poignant writing. "Focus" layers a bittersweet, countrified melody over Scheinman's relentless, Philip Glass-like layered arpeggios, while "Peter Miller's Discovery" posits strong counterpoint between Scheinman and Frisell's serpentine theme and Krauss' soft yet undeniably rhythmic lines, with Liesz weaving lines like thread through a needle. Frisell has performed this music live, and uses music boxes and looping to augment the real-time potential of 26 miniatures ranging in length from one to just under five minutes, but judicious overdubbing turns Disfarmer into a more expansive work, albeit a delicately orchestrated one. Less about soloing and more about mining the essence of the simplest melody, Frisell's quartet proves capable of empathic exploration throughout, while turning a familiar tune like Arthur Crudup's buoyant "That's Alright, Mama" into something both authentically of its period and, at the same time, unmistakably modern.

In researching Disfarmer, Frisell traveled to rural Arkansas and, as much as the album reflects in sound the utterly human photographs reproduced in the liners, it's also something of an aural travelogue, evoking emotions ranging from the thrill of discovery to gentle longing. The three-part "Arkansas" suite is a rarified summoning of times past, even as Frisell continues to twist singable melodies on their side with the slightest alteration. The feather-light but resonantly deep Disfarmer continues Frisell's pursuit of Americana; a haunting look and the intrepid supposition of what one documenter of that time may have been thinking, as he created his starkly compelling images.~John Kelman http://www.allaboutjazz.com/disfarmer-bill-frisell-nonesuch-records-review-by-john-kelman.php
 

Personnel: Bill Frisell: electric and acoustic guitars, loops, music boxes; Greg Liesz: steel guitars, mandolin; Jenny Scheinman: violin; Viktor Krauss: bass.

Disfarmer

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Conrad Herwig, Igor Butman - Reflections

Styles: Trombone And Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:20
Size: 138,7 MB
Art: Front

(6:19)  1. Falling Out
(8:36)  2. King of the Mountain
(8:07)  3. Wingspan
(6:29)  4. Reflections
(8:05)  5. Olvidame
(6:59)  6. Who Cares?
(7:59)  7. Samba De Igor
(7:42)  8. Big O's Blues

"Tight" is the word that most readily comes to mind to describe this band's playing. For Reflections, his tenth release as a leader for the Dutch Criss Cross label, trombonist Conrad Herwig has joined forces with Russian tenor man Igor Butman as co-leader. Rounding out the front-line is trumpeter extraordinaire Alex Sipiagin, a name that will be very familiar to anyone who keeps up with Criss Cross releases. The music on this disc, beautifully recorded and mixed by Michael Marciano, falls mostly into the "straight-ahead" category and relies on the exceptional talents of the players and the chemistry they achieve together to bring excitement to the music. The program consists of five Herwig originals, two tunes contributed by Butman, and a swinging take on Gershwin's "Who Cares?" The three horn players blend well together and achieve a sound that is at times reminiscent of the classic Shorter/Hubbard/Fuller incarnation of the Jazz Messengers. Also in that spirit, each of the horn players seems eager to speak his piece and lead the band in a new direction. On five of the eight tunes Butman leads off the solo sections and never fails to impress with his warm, dark tone and long, coherent phrases that burn with an understated fire. Herwig follows suit with solos that often culminate in acrobatic displays of agility in the upper range of the trombone. Sipiagin also rises to the occasion magnificently and contributes some mind-blowing solos as well.

With such a strong horn section one might think that the rhythm section would recede into the background on a record like this, but that is certainly not the case on Reflections. Pianist David Kikoski offers solos that succeed in matching the intensity and wit of the horn players (his solo on "King of the Mountain" is one of the high points of the album), but it is his magnificent comping that deserves the most admiration. His playing choices are constantly informed by both the soloists and the rhythm section and his clever reactions keep the music consistently engaging. The same can be said of drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts who often sounds as though he has a third arm. Watts' playing is busy, but is always tasteful and raises the level of playing for the rest of the band. It is clear that bassist Kenny Davis is also listening to the rest of the band closely and performs admirably as an accompanist. Swing is the dominant feel of the session but there are a few exceptions. 

The second track, "King of the Mountain" has a modern straight-eighth feel and is one of the standout tracks of the set, with all the soloists doing some of their best work. The title track is a delicate tastefully-done ballad. As it's name implies, "Samba De Igor" has a relaxed Brazilian feel and Herwig's "Olvidame," which (judging by its title) one might expect to have a Latin feel as well, is actually pure funk. Overall, the musicianship and sympathy displayed on this recording makes it a rewarding experience that is worth several listens.~Andrew Luhn http://www.allaboutjazz.com/reflections-conrad-herwig-igor-butman-criss-cross-review-by-andrew-luhn.php
 

Personnel: Alex Sipiagin: Trumpet, Flugelhorn; Igor Butman: Tenor Sax; Conrad Herwig: Trombone; David Kikoski: Piano; Kenny Davis: Bass; Jeff "Tain" Watts: Drums

Reflections

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