Saturday, June 11, 2016

Tina Brooks - True Blue

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:00
Size: 114.5 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz
Year: 1960/2015
Art: Front

[8:04] 1. Good Old Soul
[5:14] 2. Up Tight's Creek
[5:49] 3. Theme For Doris
[4:55] 4. True Blue
[5:29] 5. Miss Hazel
[7:50] 6. Nothing Ever Changes My Love For You
[5:05] 7. True Blue
[7:32] 8. Good Old Soul

Obscure but talented tenor saxophonist Tina Brooks is teamed with the young trumpeter Freddie Hubbard (on one of his earliest sessions), pianist Duke Jordan, bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Art Taylor for a set dominated by Brooks' originals. None of the themes may be all that memorable ("Nothing Ever Changes My Love for You" comes the closest), but the hard bop solos are consistently excellent. [Some reissues add alternate takes of "True Blue" and "Good Old Soul."] ~Scott Yanow

True Blue

Phil Collins - Going Back

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:00
Size: 130.5 MB
Styles: Soul/Pop/Rock vocals
Year: 2010
Art: Front

[2:30] 1. Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)
[3:02] 2. (Love Is Like A) Heatwave
[3:00] 3. Uptight (Everything's Alright)
[3:20] 4. Some Of Your Lovin'
[2:23] 5. In My Lonely Room
[2:56] 6. Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me For A Little While)
[3:24] 7. Blame It On The Sun
[6:41] 8. Papa Was A Rolling Stone
[2:57] 9. Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer
[2:39] 10. Standing In The Shadows Of Love
[2:48] 11. Do I Love You
[2:54] 12. Jimmy Mack
[2:44] 13. Something About You
[2:37] 14. Love Is Here And Now You're Gone
[2:49] 15. Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever
[2:46] 16. Going To A Go-Go
[2:45] 17. Talkin About My Baby
[4:35] 18. Going Back

A deeply personal labor of love that finds the eight-time Grammy winner, Phil Collins, faithfully recreating the Motown and soul music that played such an influential role in his creative life. Due September 28th, 'Going Back' marks the 2010 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee's first new studio album in eight years. Phil recorded the album along with three of Motown's legendary session players, aka The Funk Brothers bassist Bob Babbitt and guitarists Eddie Willis and Ray Monette. 'It shouldn't really be a surprise to anyone that I've finally made an album of my favourite Motown songs,' explains Collins. 'These songs along with a couple of Dusty Springfield tracks, a Phil Spector/Ronettes tune, and one by the Impressions make up the tapestry, the backdrop, of my teenage years. I remember it as if it was yesterday, going to the Marquee Club in London's Soho and watching The Who, The Action, and many others, playing these songs. In turn I'd go out the next day to buy the original versions. My idea, though, was not to bring anything 'new' to these already great records, but to try to recreate the sounds and feelings that I had when I first heard them. My intention was to make an 'old' record, not a 'new' record. To be able to have three of the surviving Funk Brothers play on all the tracks was unbelievable. There was one moment when they were tracking 'Heat Wave' that I experienced a wave of happiness and wonder that this was actually happening to me! I learned more about production skills and the wonderful songwriting of those concerned whilst making this album, than I have from anything else. To those pioneers... much love and gratitude.'

Going Back

Freddie Ravel - S/T

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:20
Size: 108.4 MB
Styles: Piano jazz
Year: 2001
Art: Front

[4:25] 1. Echo De Amor
[4:51] 2. Samba Mundial
[4:10] 3. Sunny Side Up
[4:33] 4. Bolerino Bella
[4:18] 5. Love Is In The Air... When You're Aware
[4:43] 6. Conversations
[4:53] 7. Piano Sensual
[4:58] 8. Dame Tu Calor
[4:31] 9. Summerplay
[4:18] 10. Dame La Razon
[1:35] 11. Echo De Amor

Though Freddie Ravel has done stints as music director for singer Al Jarreau and as a touring member of Earth, Wind & Fire, the keyboardist remains one of the best-kept secrets in smooth jazz. This album, his third, and his first in six years, may change that. Pretty melodies and lush arrangements that are dominated by the music of his Hispanic heritage mark Ravel's music. Marc Antoine, Peter White, and the team of Strunz and Farah will draw fans of flamenco guitar to this release. And Ravel's legendary ex-bandmates from EW&F, bassist Verdine White and guitarist Al McKay, add a funk punch to the track "Sunny Side Up." Ravel shows his palatable vocal chops on the memorable Latin-pop song, "Love Is in the Air ... When You're Aware," a tune that owes a distinct rhythmic debt to Tito Puente. This outing for Ravel should resonate with anyone fond of the crossroads between smooth jazz and samba, rumba, and merengue. --Mark Ruffin

Freddie Ravel

The Elder Statesmen Band - Ballads, Blues & Rock 'n Roll

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 30:21
Size: 69.5 MB
Styles: Blues
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[4:45] 1. Gift Of God
[3:25] 2. Old Statesman
[3:39] 3. You`re Forever Gone
[4:02] 4. Move On
[4:03] 5. Loving You`s A Mans Job
[2:48] 6. Old Blues
[3:00] 7. Shaking
[4:35] 8. Rainy Day

Uwe Gillert Gitarre, Gesang; Maximilian Gillert Gitarre; Burghart Bannach Bass; Winfried Klümpen Drums; Udo Larbig Keyboards, Gitarre.

Eine "nicht nur, aber auch" Blues Band mit einer Mixtur aus Blues Klassikern von BB King bis Muddy Waters, eigenen Blues Nummern, Balladen und Rockern, ist seit 2006 in verschiedenen Besetzungen erfolgreich aktiv!

Ballads, Blues & Rock'n Roll

Brad Mehldau Trio - Where Do You Start

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 78:28
Size: 183,4 MB
Art: Front

( 5:24)  1. Got Me Wrong
( 8:46)  2. Holland
( 8:13)  3. Brownie Speaks
(10:07)  4. Baby Plays Around
( 6:23)  5. Airegin
( 6:24)  6. Hey Joe
( 9:02)  7. Samba e Amor
( 5:26)  8. Jam
( 8:31)  9. Time Has Told Me
( 6:01) 10. Aquelas Coisas Todas
( 4:06) 11. Where Do You Start?

Hot on the heels of Brad Mehldau's Ode (Nonesuch, 2012) the pianist's first all-original set with his current trio comes Where Do You Start, culled from the same recording sessions but, with the exception of one Mehldau tune, all cover material. This isn't the first time Mehldau has split a particularly fruitful session down the same compositional line: Anything Goes (Warner Bros.) and House on Hill (Nonesuch) were both same from the same sessions, recorded with original drummer Jorge Rossy before he left the trio to return to Spain. But the two were released two years apartthe cover-song Anything in 2004 and all-original House in 2006 whereas Where Do You Start comes a mere six months after Ode. For some, this kind of accelerated release schedule can be a problem, but if guitarist Bill Frisell has proven anything, with four albums in the space of less than thirty months from Beautiful Dreamers (Savoy Jazz, 2010) through Floratone II (Savoy Jazz, 2012) it's that if you've established a strong fan base, you can be more aggressive with your release schedule. Despite being literally a generation apart, Mehldau's similarly rapid ascension since first appearing in the early 1990s, to a rarefied space occupied, in his case, by living pianists including Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock has been the direct result of a discography with plenty of hits and really no misses of which to speak.

Of course there's a difference when Mehldau, longtime bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard tackle cover material rather than a set of originals, although Where Do You Start's eclectic song selection ranging from well-worn standards like saxophonist Sonny Rollins' "Airegin" (taken at a fast clip, with the familiar melody skewed ever so slightly) to Billy Roberts' near- Jungian hit for Jimi Hendrix, "Hey Joe" (surprisingly literal, even leading to the psychedelic guitar legend's familiar power riff) provides and encourages the same flexibility and freedom as Mehldau's own writing. The sole Mehldau piece, "Jam," is really just a vamp that is tagged to the end of a gentle reading of Chico Buarque's "Samba E Amor," featuring a lengthy but wonderfully restrained solo that reaffirms the pianist is now in a place where he's nothing left to prove. Of course, Mehldau burns aplenty elsewhere, with the kind of frightening two-hand technique that has distinguished him from so many others. His "Hey Joe" may be relatively faithful, as is "Got Me Wrong," but the Alice in Chains hit provides a chance, in his impressive opening solo, for the pianist to set a very high bar for the rest of the set. From a soft look at Sufjan Stevens' "Holland," that is as much a feature for Grenadier's spare but perfect choices, to a more straight-ahead take on trumpeter Clifford Brown's "Brownie Speaks" (but still, with Mehldau's fugue-like approach), and a particularly lyrical close with the Mandel/Bergman/Bergman title track, Where Do You Start isn't so much an alternative as it is further evidence as if any were needed of this tremendous trio's ability to take any material old, new, borrowed or original and make it firmly its own.~John Kelman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/where-do-you-start-brad-mehldau-nonesuch-records-review-by-john-kelman.php
 
Personnel:  Brad Mehldau: piano;  Larry Grenadier: bass;  Jeff Ballard: drums.

Where Do You Start

Sarah Vaughan - Copacabana

Styles: Vocal, Brazilian Jazz
Year: 1979
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 35:37
Size: 82,0 MB
Art: Front

(3:32)  1. Copacabana
(4:17)  2. The Smiling Hour (Abre Alas)
(3:49)  3. To Say Goodbye (Pra Dizer Adeus)
(3:32)  4. Dreamer (Vivo Sonhando)
(2:50)  5. Gentle Rain
(4:38)  6. Tete
(5:29)  7. Dindi
(3:31)  8. Double Rainbow (Chovendo Na Roseira)
(3:55)  9. Bonita

This 1979 production has a smooth, polished, and relaxed feeling. The arrangements are heavy with vocal choruses, electric guitar and languid Latin rhythms. Sarah Vaughn's crooning glows and smolders, creating a magnificent dynamic contrast. Vaughn completely possesses the ballad "Tete," captivating the listener in much the same way she did with her hit "Misty," 20 years previously. Like all her greatest work, it's multi-textured; prolonged whispers, powerful hollering, low moaning, staccato bopping, and a myriad of other techniques she employs with facility and finesse.  "Gentle Rain" finds Vaughn alone with a guitar. The spare orchestration has the profound simplicity of a haiku. Her voice is like a saxophone on this number, holding notes for lush intervals in her lower registers. "To Say Goodbye" has Vaughn modulating her resonant voice from bass to soprano. She is solely responsible for this tune's musical drama, giving it great emotional gravity.http://www.allmusic.com/album/copacabana-mw0000196915

Personnel:  Sarah Vaughan – vocals;  Hélio Delmiro – guitar;  Andy Simpkins - double bass;  Wilson DasNeves - drums

Copacabana

Jimmy Cobb - Yesterdays

Styles: Jazz, Hard Bop
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:23
Size: 115,6 MB
Art: Front

(9:46)  1. Love Walked Right In
(6:05)  2. Without a Song
(5:49)  3. Yesterdays
(9:47)  4. All Blues
(8:19)  5. Monk
(2:14)  6. Faddis
(8:21)  7. Purple Haze

Legendary jazz drummer, Jimmy Cobb, was born in Washington, D.C. on January 20, 1929. A superb, mostly self-taught musician, Jimmy is the elder statesman of all the incredible Miles Davis bands. Jimmy's inspirational work with Miles, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderly and Co. spanned 1957 until 1963, and included the masterpiece "Kind of Blue", the most popular jazz recording in history. He also played on "Sketches of Spain", Someday My Prince will Come", "Live at Carnegie Hall, "Live at the Blackhawk", "Porgy and Bess", and many, many other watershed Miles Davis recordings. Jimmy did his first recording with Earl Bostic and played extensively with Dinah Washington, Billie Holiday, Pearl Bailey, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, Cannonball Adderly, before joining Miles in 1957. by 1963 Tony Williams took over the Miles drum chair in 1963 and Jimmy left Miles to continue to work with Miles' rhythm section, Winton Kelly and Paul Chambers behind Wes Montgomery. In addition to several Winton Kelly Trio Albums, the three did albums with Kenny Burrell, and J.J. Johnson, among others, before disbanding in the late 60's.Jimmy then worked with Sarah Vaughn for 9 years. Afterward, Jimmy continued to freelance with several great groups throughout the 70's 80's and 90's including, Sonny Stitt, Nat Adderly, Ricky Ford, Hank Jones, Ron Carter, George Coleman, Fathead Newman, The Great Jazz Trio with Nancy Wilson, Dave Holland, Warren Bernhardt, and many, many others worldwide. 

In the early 90's a Television Special produced by Eleana Tee featured Jimmy playing and hanging with Freddie Hubbard, Gregory Hines, Bill Cosby, Dave Leibman, Pee Wee Ellis, and others. Jimmy has played around the world from Newport to Monte Carlo, from LA to Japan. He has performed for both Presidents Ford, and Carter, the Shah of Iran and many other dignitaries in his storied career, and is quoted extensively in "Kind of Blue", the Documentary of those legendary recording sessions as well as Writing the forward for the Book Kind of Blue the making of the Miles Davis Masterpeicein 2000.In 2002 Jimmy completed a "Four Generations of Miles" album with guitarist, Mike Stern, Ron Carter (bass), and George Coleman (tenor) for Chesky records. Other releases include his long awaited solo album, "Yesterdays", produced by Eleana Tee for Rteesan Productions. It features Michael Brecker on tenor, Marion Meadows on soprano, Roy Hargrove, trumpet and flugelhorn, Jon Faddis, trumpet, Eric Lewis, electric piano, Peter Bernstein, guitar, and John Weber on bass. This album was done in Jimmy's two adopted home towns; recorded and shot in New York, and mixed and edited in Woodstock, NY. It includes a wide variety of arrangements ranging from a unique interpretation of Jimi Hendrix "Purple Haze" to ballads "Yesterdays" and blues (All Blues, Faddis, Monk) and standards, "Without a Song" and "Love Walked Right In". This major musical statement will include several music videos and a complete television documentary.

Later, Jimmy's Albums New York Time, Cobb's Corner and West of 5th, Produced by Eleana SteinbergTee and David Chesky were released. Jimmy's Album New York Time played by Jimmy, Christian McBride, base, Javon Jackson, tenor sax, and Cedar Walton, on piano incorporates songs for all moods. West of 5th features Jimmy, accompanied by Hank Jones on piano and Christian McBride on Bass, in this compilation of songs is a ballad written by Mr. Cobb in tribute to his late younger sister Eleanor. And In 2007 Cobbs Corner was released, played by Jimmy, Roy Hargrove, Ronnie Mathews, and Peter Washington AKA The Jimmy Cobb Quartet. Jimmy remains active, not only in New York City, where he leads Jimmy Cobb's Mob but on the international circuit including Japan, China, Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy, & South Africa.

TEACHING: Jimmy is constantly being approached to teach what he knows and loves to aspiring jazz musicians all over the world. Jimmy travels every year for the last 9 years to Stanford University to teach Master Classes for the Universities Jazz Workshop. He has taught for Parsons: The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City, at the University of Greensboro in North Carolina, the International Center for the arts at San Francisco and numerous educational institutions throughout the globe. And in January, Jimmy will be teaching the North Sydney Boys High School Orchestra at the Toronto Canada Jazz Festival. And as usual with Jimmy Cobb, you won't believe what's up next! http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7615047&style=music&fulldesc=T

Yesterdays

James Blood Ulmer - Odyssey

Styles: Vocal And Guitar Jazz
Year: 1983
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 35:52
Size: 88,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:58)  1. Church
(4:47)  2. Little Red House
(5:07)  3. Love Dance
(3:41)  4. Are You Glad To Be in America?
(3:29)  5. Election
(5:03)  6. Odyssey
(4:11)  7. Please Tell Her
(4:32)  8. Swings & Things

Tales of Captain Black was a startling debut, but Odyssey stands as James Blood Ulmer's signature masterpiece, the purest and most accessible showcase for his bold, genre-clashing guitar vision. With minimal trio accompaniment -- only drummer Warren Benbow and violinist Charles Burnham -- Ulmer's guitar is always the meat of the ensemble, especially since his unique tuning (developed specially for this album) allows him to cover bass parts as well as guitar leads. Save for the title track, his playing isn't as jagged or fragmented as on past efforts. Part of the reason is his conscious emphasis on the smoother tones of Burnham's amplified violin, which is often fed through a wah-wah pedal; his solos often resemble the faux-orchestral sounds electric guitarists can create by skillfully manipulating their volume controls. It lends an almost pastoral tint to Ulmer's skittering avant jangle, which is otherwise firmly rooted in downtown New York. Few other scenes could have nurtured Ulmer's blend of free jazz, blues, rock & roll, funk, and punk (by way of no wave noise rock). And Odyssey mixes them all freely yet cohesively, as though there had never been a line separating the most experimental musical forms from the earthiest. The instrumentals are particularly inspired examples: The opener "Church" contrasts freely improvised passages with spare James Brown grooves; the droning, Eastern-tinged "Love Dance" features soaring interplay between Ulmer and Burnham; and the closing "Swing & Things" switches between dissonant jazz-rock and straight-up guitar boogie. In addition, Ulmer's vocals are showcased at their most effective on the blues "Little Red House," the Jimi Hendrix-style ballad "Please Tell Her," and a major-label revisitation of his signature tune, "Are You Glad to Be in America?" All the pieces come together to produce not only Ulmer's finest album, but a certified classic of the modern jazz avant-garde.~Steve Huey http://www.allmusic.com/album/odyssey-mw0000648740

Personnel: James Blood Ulmer (vocals, guitar); Charles Burnham (violin); Warren Benbow (drums).

Odyssey