Ron Levy's Wild Kingdom - Zim Zam Zoom

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:51
Size: 116.4 MB
Styles: Soul/Blues/Jazz organ
Year: 1996
Art: Front

[ 5:54] 1. Zim Zam Zoom
[ 6:08] 2. C.C. Rider
[ 6:41] 3. Lost Tribes
[ 6:50] 4. U Rockin' Me
[ 4:28] 5. Sons Of Abraham
[ 4:40] 6. Silver Cannonball 2
[10:28] 7. Last Go Round
[ 5:39] 8. Lonely Avenue

If you like blues and funky soul-jazz (with just a twist of the future), this is an album to enjoy. Hammond B-3 artist Ron Levy gathers some of the greatest groove players of all time for this steam session, including Melvin Sparks on guitar and the great Idris Muhammad on drums. Call it retro or acid-jazz if you want, but groove lover Levy never stops playing that funky soul-jazz long enough to look back. This album carries the groove tradition on, maintaining that integrity. Produced by Bob Porter. ~Michael Erlewine

Zim Zam Zoom

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Charlie Singleton - At His Best

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 32:10
Size: 73.6 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz
Year: 2010
Art: Front

[2:22] 1. Gone With The Wind
[2:20] 2. Blow Mr. Singleton
[3:10] 3. Cry
[2:39] 4. Swinging Away
[2:59] 5. Lonely Lover Blues
[2:40] 6. Cat's Paw
[2:46] 7. Super Chief
[2:26] 8. Jiving With Dr. Jive
[2:29] 9. Pony Express
[2:36] 10. Broadway Beat
[2:51] 11. Oozing Along
[2:46] 12. The Boardwalk

Charlie Singleton was a New York City-based saxophonist and bandleader who worked in a jump blues/R&B vein during the late '40s and early '50s. During his tenure with Atlas Records; one of the first New York based, Black owned independent record labels of the early fifties, Charlie recorded a number of highly influential jump blues instrumentals and also backed many of the groups who recorded for Atlas including the great jump blues singer, H-Bomb Ferguson. This collection focuses on the sides Singleton cut as a leader between 1952 and 1953. All selections newly remastered.

At His Best

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Joyce Moreno - Raiz

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:32
Size: 122.6 MB
Styles: Samba, Bossa Nova
Year: 2015
Art: Front

[3:24] 1. Copacabana
[2:51] 2. Meu Piao
[4:14] 3. O Barquinho
[2:57] 4. Tamba
[6:56] 5. Desafinado
[4:38] 6. O Morro Nao Tem Ves
[4:38] 7. Na Baixa Do Sapateiro
[2:45] 8. Cartao De Visita
[3:18] 9. Ceu E Mar
[5:14] 10. Nos E O Mar
[2:05] 11. Vestido De Bolero
[3:46] 12. Tristeza De Nos Dois
[6:40] 13. Canto De Yansan

The Portuguese word "raiz" translates to "roots" in English. On this date, the iconic Brazilian singer Joyce Moreno celebrates 50 years in the music business by returning to them. She and her band explore classic bossa and samba tunes from the Brazilian canon with the kind of elegance and grace that have been hallmarks of her career. In addition to singing, she is both guitarist and musical director. Her band includes husband Tutty Moreno on drums and percussion, bassist Rodolfo Stroeter, and jazz pianist Helio Alves. The program is rich, filled with tunes from some of Brazil's greatest composers. Two highlights are "O Barquinho" and "Nos E O Mar" by Roberto Menescal. He discovered Moreno in 1964 after hearing a home recording of her and assisted greatly in launching her career. Though she's thanked him publicly before, she does so again here -- he is the only guest, playing guitar on both of his songs. The inventively arranged two-song medley of Dorival Caymmi tunes, "Vestido de Bolero"/"Requebre Que Eu Dou Um Doce," is a set highlight. Also included are Tom Jobim and Vinicius De Moraes' "Desafinado," which gets a gorgeous reading as its folk roots peer through bossa and jazz. Jobim's "O Morro Nao Tom Vez" beams through burning samba. The set's greatest surprise, however, is inclusion of Luiz Eça's "Tamba," delivered in a gorgeous arrangement with Moreno's chanted vocal as percussion and piano ride atop a groove that walks the line between Sergio Mendes' "Mais Que Nada" and Afro-Cuban jazz. The closer, "Canto de Yasaan" by Baden Powell and Ildásio Tavares, is introduced by electric bass harmonics before a crystalline piano whispers to the fore. In this number, Moreno is her most vocally expressive, allowing the emotional power in lyric and melody to come through unrestrained by the nuance or arrangement. Raiz is gorgeous. It offers continued -- and inspired -- proof that Moreno remains one of the great interpretive singers in the Brazilian MPB tradition. Add to this that her skills as a guitarist and arranger are undiminished by time, and the word "iconic" fits like a glove. ~Thom Jurek

Raiz

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Dave Pell - Dave Pell Plays Artie Shaw

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 31:02
Size: 71.1 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz
Year: 2002/2011
Art: Front

[2:42] 1. Nightmare
[3:29] 2. Yesterdays
[3:15] 3. Stardust
[3:42] 4. Jungle Drums
[2:20] 5. I Concentrate On You
[2:59] 6. Frenesi
[3:05] 7. Moonglow
[3:13] 8. September Song
[2:41] 9. Could Be
[3:32] 10. I Could Write A Book

Dave Pell is one of the founding fathers of West Coast jazz. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1944, Pell played on Bob Crosby's radio show and freelanced, joining Les Brown's band in 1947. In the years that followed Dave became one of California's most prolific studio musicians and ensemble leaders, forming a popular octet from the ranks of Brown's orchestra. Dave was a virtuoso player at an early age, able to mimic the sound and tone of virtually any popular tenor saxophonist.

In the early 1950s, Dave was instrumental in developing West Coast jazz's sound and mystique. An early developer of linear, "storytelling" jazz solos, he also earned extra cash as a photographer at the start of the 1950s. With a Rolleiflex, Dave documented the emerging West Coast jazz scene. He took dozens of cover photos, including the famous Gerry Mulligan Quartet 10-inch LP, Pacific Jazz's first release. Today Dave owns one of Lester Young's tenor saxophones and plays it regularly in concert, much to the delight of audiences. Young's only other known horn is at Rutgers University's Institute of Jazz Studies.

Dave Pell Plays Artie Shaw

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George Shearing - On The Sunny Side Of The Strip

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1958
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:59
Size: 87,1 MB
Art: Front

(4:33)  1. Jordu
(2:56)  2. As I Love You
(4:42)  3. Confirmation
(3:59)  4. The Nearness Of You
(3:15)  5. Mambo Inn
(3:42)  6. Bernie's Tune
(4:09)  7. Some Other Spring
(4:46)  8. Joy Spring
(5:52)  9. Drume Negrita

This is one of five live George Shearing Quintet LPs whose contents were reissued as part of a Mosaic CD box set. Superior to the pianist's studio mood music albums of the period, this set is quite bop-oriented with such songs as "Jordu," "Confirmation," "Bernie's Tune" and "Joy Spring" being given the Shearing treatment. 

Vibraphonist Emil Richards, guitarist Toots Thielemans, bassist Al McKibbon and drummer Percy Brice complete the quintet while as usual the congas of Armando Peraza help out on a couple of Latin pieces. [Long out of print on vinyl, a CD version was released in 1993.] ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/on-the-sunny-side-of-the-strip-original-mw0000619536

Personnel: George Shearing (piano); Toots Thielemans (harmonica); Emil Richards, Armando Perrazza (percussion); Al McKibbon (bass);  Percy Brice (drums).

On The Sunny Side Of The Strip

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Joanne Brackeen & Ryo Kawasaki - Trinkets And Things

Styles: Piano and Guitar Jazz
Year: 1978
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:37
Size: 97,9 MB
Art: Front

(5:08)  1. Trinkets And Things
(6:04)  2. Shadowbrook Air
(5:09)  3. Winnie And Woodstock
(4:43)  4. Fair Weather
(6:42)  5. Whim Within
(7:31)  6. Spring Of Things
(7:20)  7. Haiti B

A wonderful little record from pianist Joanne Brackeen unlike anything the artist ever recorded, as it's just a set of duets with guitarist Ryo Kawasaki, who brings in some really beautiful elements to the mix! Ryo plays an acoustic nylon string guitar, but with a dexterity that most other players would use on electric and the balance of his instrument with Brackeen's piano is sublime full of colors and imaginative tones, but also a fair degree of rhythmic impulses too which guide the duo in ways that are completely refreshing throughout! 

And yes, Ryo could be slick on other records, but he's definitely not here and instead finds a special space alongside those choppy blocks of sound that Joanne plays so well. Titles include a great reading of Kawasaki's "Trinkets & Things" plus "Shadowbrook Air", "Spring Of Things", "Fair Weather", "Whim Within", and "Winnie & Woodstock". © 1996-2016, Dusty Groove, Inc.https://www.dustygroove.com/item/764023

Personnel:  Guitar – Ryo Kawasaki ;  Piano – Joanne Brackeen

Trinkets And Things

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Jeff Lorber - Shades Of Soul

Styles: Jazz Funk, Fusion 
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:23
Size: 115,4 MB
Art: Front

(4:25)  1. All Night Long
(4:37)  2. Then And Now
(4:52)  3. Enjoy Yourself
(3:50)  4. Gazpacho
(4:13)  5. Love Come Down
(4:36)  6. We Got To Live Again
(4:57)  7. Get Wid' It
(5:10)  8. San Vicente
(5:09)  9. Shades Of Soul
(4:34) 10. Gangsta Jam
(3:52) 11. Hey Uh

Although his name does not appear on the outside of this CD, this is really a Jeff Lorber project. Lorber contributes funky keyboards and a drum machine. The music is quite derivative R&B-ish dance music, featuring the core trio of Lorber, guitarist-vocalist Marlon McClain and bassist-vocalist Nathaniel Phillips, joined by many guests. The late Art Porter, who passed away in 1996, is heard on two selections (one imagines that his part was saved and mixed in with other musicians in modern times) and there are also a pair of guest spots for trumpeter Chris Botti. Some of the music features vocals while other selections are easy listening instrumental pop, but there are no real surprises or spontaneity. At best, this set works fine in the background, suitable for parties in which no one is listening closely to the music.~Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/shades-of-soul-mw0000159727

Personnel:  Jeff Lorber - keyboards, drum programming;  Marlon L. McClain - guitars, vocals;  Nathaniel Phillips - bass, vocals;  Rayford Griffin - additional drums;  Patrick Lamb- tenor sax on Love Come Down;  Wirlie Morris - drum programming and keyboards on Love Come Down

Shades Of Soul

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