Ruthie Foster - Promise Of A Brand New Day

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:46
Size: 100.2 MB
Styles: R&B, Blues vocals
Year: 2014
Art: Front

[3:43] 1. Singing The Blues
[4:01] 2. Let Me Know
[3:26] 3. My Kinda Lover
[3:56] 4. The Ghetto
[4:47] 5. Outlaw
[2:49] 6. Second Coming
[3:22] 7. It Might Not Be Right
[3:25] 8. Learning To Fly
[4:57] 9. Believe
[2:13] 10. Brand New Day
[3:51] 11. Complicated Love
[3:10] 12. New

There is optimism within the title of Ruthie Foster's Promise of a Brand New Day, an optimism that's reflected in the music itself. Some of this brightness may be due to Foster's decision to have Meshell Ndegeocello produce this 2014 album, giving the neo-soul singer free rein to hire musicians and choose final takes, but Ndegeocello is hardly imposing her own attitude on Foster. Instead, she focuses on the soulful, kind vibe emanating from Foster, a feeling that infuses the message tunes and songs of love that comprise Promise. Often, the record veers ever so slightly to soul over gospel or blues -- something that's perhaps inevitable when William Bell collaborates on "It Might Not Be Right," a song that harks back to the classic Memphis sound. A few other songs on Promise of a Brand New Day touch upon that groove, including the opening "Singing the Blues," while other cuts get a little bit harder and grittier ("Let Me Know," "Believe"), and Foster also has a bit of fun twisting old Dylan lyrics on "Outlaw." That playfulness is subtle, as are the stylistic hybrids, and that might be the best thing about this thoroughly winning record: Foster is wearing her open heart on her sleeve but she's never pushing too hard, never overselling her message; she's charming with her warmth and sly skill. ~Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Promise Of A Brand New Day

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Dennis Chambers - Groove And More

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:20
Size: 124.4 MB
Styles: Soul-jazz, Smooth jazz
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[5:24] 1. Aircraft (Feat.Brian Auger)
[4:43] 2. Past & Future (Feat. Stanley Jordan)
[0:46] 3. Drums Solo Pt. 1
[4:56] 4. We Don't Know ( Feat. Dora Nicolosi)
[7:18] 5. Virtual Life (Feat. Scott Henderson)
[6:40] 6. Fall Out ( Feat. Gregg Kofi Brown)
[4:50] 7. Practice What You Preaching (Feat. Patti Austin)
[6:30] 8. Running On Line (Feat. Brian Auger)
[1:14] 9. Drum Solo Pt. 2
[7:29] 10. Time To Time (Feat. Scott Henderson)
[4:24] 11. Fall Out, Radio Edit (Feat. Gregg Kofi Brown)

Bass – Rossana Nicolosi; Drums – Dennis Chambers; Guitar, Percussion – Lino Nicolosi; Keyboards, Organ, Electric Piano – Pino Nicolosi.

A drummer whose propulsive style and versatility have enabled him to play in combos or large groups, and work with fusion and hard bop bandleaders, Dennis Chambers has also released two sessions as a leader. He's also recorded and played with Bob Berg, Bill Evans (sax), Victor Bailey, Bob Belden, Kevin Eubanks and Mike Stern among others. All these musicians currently have sessions including Chambers available on CD. ~ Ron Wynn

Groove And More

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Tower Of Power - S/T

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:28
Size: 90.4 MB
Styles: Soul/Funk/R&B
Year: 1973/1990
Art: Front

[5:03] 1. What Is Hip
[2:52] 2. Clever Girl
[2:49] 3. This Time It's Real
[3:48] 4. Will I Ever Find A Love
[4:53] 5. Get Yo' Feet Back On The Ground
[3:37] 6. So Very Hard To Go
[5:10] 7. Soul Vaccination
[3:21] 8. Both Sorry Over Nothin'
[3:18] 9. Clean Slate
[4:32] 10. Just Another Day

Lenny Williams - Lead vocals; Chester Thompson - Organ, Vocals; Bruce Conte - Guitar, Vocals; Francis Rocco Prestia - Bass; Brent Byars - Congas Drums, Bongos; David Garibaldi - Drums; Lenny Pickett - 1st Tenor Sax, Flute, Clarinet, Vocals; Emilio Castillo - 2nd Tenor Sax, Vocals; Stephen Kupka - Bari Sax, Oboe, Vocals; Mic Gillette - Trumpet, Trombone, Flugelhorn, Baritone Horn, Vocals; Greg Adams - Trumpet, Flugelhorn (Solo On "So Very Hard To Go"), Vocals.

For close to 50 years, Tower of Power has been creating their own kind of soul music. Since 1968, Tower of Power has delivered their unique brand of music to their fans, appearing before sold out crowds as they tour the world each year. Tower’s sound can be hard to categorize, but the band's leader and founding member, Emilio Castillo, has labeled their sound as "Urban Soul Music."

Tower's rhythm section lays down a groove like no other band. The band’s horn driven sound is unique, and the way they approach everything, from writing and arranging to mixing and performing, is totally their own. Combine all of that with an outstanding lead vocalist and you have one of the most dynamic groups of musicians to ever hit the stage.

Tower Of Power

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Freddie Hubbard - On The Real Side

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:09
Size: 119.4 MB
Styles: Bop, Trumpet jazz
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[8:41] 1. Lifeflight
[7:04] 2. Up Jumped Spring
[6:32] 3. Theme For Kareem
[6:22] 4. On The Real Side
[7:35] 5. Take It To The Ozone
[9:33] 6. Skydive
[6:19] 7. Gibraltar

Like its predecessor, 2001's New Colors, On the Real Side, which again pairs Freddie Hubbard with the New Jazz Composers Octet (David Weiss, trumpet; Myron Walden, alto sax; Jimmy Greene, tenor and soprano sax; Steve Davis, trombone; Norbert Stachel, baritone sax and flute; Xavier Davis, piano; Dwayne Burno, bass; and E.J. Strickland, drums, plus guests Craig Handy, tenor sax on two tracks and flute on a third, and Russell Malone, guitar on the title tune), is in essence a victory lap for the veteran horn player, whose chops are admittedly diminished as he reaches age 70. Annotator Bill Milkowski makes no bones about that and even quotes Hubbard to the effect that "I gotta resolve myself to be happy with what I can do now...play a couple of choruses and get out." As such, this album -- with the exception of the newly written title track -- consists of re-recordings of Hubbard favorites, functioning as a tribute disc on which the honoree sits in. In that sense, it might be compared to the latter day recordings of Brian Wilson in the pop realm, in which a group of technically proficient Beach Boys fans efficiently plays the composer's music around him as he pitches in. At that, the result is not unpleasant, and Hubbard even manages some good solos, or at least parts of solos, before giving way to his acolytes. It is notable that he only plays flugelhorn, especially since he is glimpsed holding a trumpet on the album cover. ~William Ruhlmann

On The Real Side

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Harry Allen - Tenors Any One ?

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1996
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:54
Size: 128,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:31)  1. It Was Just One Of Those Things
(4:04)  2. Blue And Sentimental
(6:01)  3. Flying Home
(4:27)  4. My Favorite Things
(4:07)  5. Lester Leaps In
(4:38)  6. Somewhere Over The Rainbow
(4:05)  7. America, The Beautiful
(5:20)  8. The Peacocks
(6:03)  9. Tea For Two
(3:03) 10. If I'm Lucky
(6:12) 11. Cool Man Chu
(3:18) 12. Four Brothers

Gene Lees writes, “Stan Getz was once asked his idea of the perfect tenor saxophone soloist. His answer was, 'My technique, Al Cohn's ideas, and Zoot's time.' The fulfillment of that ideal may well be embodied in thirty-year-old Harry Allen.” BMG recording artist Harry Allen has over twenty recordings to his name. Three of Harry's CDs have won Gold Disc Awards from Japan's Swing Journal Magazine, and his CD Tenors Anyone? won both the Gold Disc Award and the New Star Award. His recordings have made the top ten list for favorite new releases in Swing Journal Magazine's reader's poll and Jazz Journal International's critic's poll for 1997, and Eu Nao Quero Dancar (I Won't Dance), the third Gold Disc Award winner, was voted second for album of the year for 1998 by Swing Journal Magazine‚s reader‚s poll. Harry has performed at jazz festivals and clubs worldwide, frequently touring the United States, Europe, and the Far East. He has performed with Rosemary Clooney, Ray Brown, Hank Jones, Frank Wess, Flip Phillips, Scott Hamilton, Harry 'Sweets' Edison, Kenny Burrell, Herb Ellis, John Pizzarelli, Bucky Pizzarelli, Gus Johnson, Jeff Hamilton, Terry Gibbs, Warren Vache, and has recorded with Tony Bennett, Johnny Mandel, Ray Brown, Tommy Flanagan, James Taylor, Sheryl Crow, Kenny Barron, Dave McKenna, Dori Caymmi, Larry Goldings, George Mraz, Jake Hanna, and Al Foster, among others. Harry is featured on many of John Pizzarelli's recordings including the soundtrack and an on-screen cameo in the feature film The Out of Towners starring Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn. He has also done a series of commercials for ESPN starring Robert Goulet. Harry was born in Washington D.C. in 1966, and was raised in Los Angeles, CA and Burrillville, RI. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in music in 1988 from Rutgers University in New Jersey, and currently resides in New York City. https://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/harryallen

Personnel:  Harry Allen - tenor saxophone;  John Pizzarelli – guitar;  Ray Kennedy – piano;  Martin Pizzarelli - bass

Tenors Any One ?

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Jackie Allen - My Favorite Color

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:07
Size: 125,3 MB
Art: Front

(5:41)  1. Sleepin' Bee
(3:54)  2. Mercy, Mercy, Mercy
(6:45)  3. My Man's Gone Now
(7:33)  4. Blame It In My Youth
(7:06)  5. Manic Depression
(4:08)  6. Stuck In the Middle With You
(4:17)  7. A House Is Not A Home
(4:33)  8. Diana
(6:03)  9. Born To Be Blue
(4:04) 10. Call Me Winter

Eight years’ absence from the recording studio has done nothing to diminish Jackie Allen’s allure. The voice dusky, mellow and wise is as spellbinding as ever, now shot through with a captivating world-weariness, her folk-rock roots clearly showing. Though My Favorite Color’s inclusive playlist includes a tender, bruised “Born to Be Blue,” the album’s title is to be taken figuratively, Allen exploring various musical hues and shades that intrigue her. There are jazz standards: a lithe “A Sleepin’ Bee” that seems plucked fresh from an antebellum plantation; a gorgeous, near-baroque rendering, alone with guitarist John Moulder, of “Blame It on My Youth”; and an extraordinary “My Man’s Gone Now” that progresses from woe to rage before it settles into resigned gloom. There’s a delightfully curious assortment of rock and pop hits, stretching from the depths of Jimi Hendrix’s “Manic Depression” and dejection of Bacharach and David’s “A House Is Not a Home” to the sass and slither of Stealers Wheel’s “Stuck in the Middle With You,” its funk gloriously reimagined by a collective that includes keyboardist Ben Lewis, drummer Dane Richeson, bassist Hans Sturm, trumpeter Tito Carillo and saxophonist Steve Eisen. Finally there are Allen originals, two exquisite pieces: the lilting “Diana,” a cautionary tale of abandoning bohemian freedom for fenced-in security; and the icebound “Call Me Winter,” a labyrinthine voyage of self-discovery co-crafted with Illinois Poet Laureate GE Murray. ~ Christopher Loudon http://jazztimes.com/articles/132339-my-favorite-color-jackie-allen

Personnel: Jackie Allen (vocals); John Moulder (guitar); Ben Lewis (keyboards); Hans Sturm (double bass); Dane Richeson (drums, percussion).

My Favorite Color

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The Horace Silver Quintet - Serenade To A Soul Sister

Styles: Piano Jazz

Year: 1968

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 38:17

Size: 102,9 MB

Art: Front

(7:18)  1. Psychedelic Sally

(6:22)  2. Serenade To A Soul Sister

(6:25)  3. Rain Dance

(6:51)  4. Jungle Juice

(5:58)  5. Kindred Spirits

(5:22)  6. Next Time I Fall In Love

One of the last great Horace Silver albums for Blue Note, Serenade to a Soul Sister is also one of the pianist's most infectiously cheerful, good-humored outings. It was recorded at two separate early-1968 sessions with two mostly different quintets, both featuring trumpeter Charles Tolliver and alternating tenor saxophonists Stanley Turrentine and Bennie Maupin, bassists Bob Cranshaw and John Williams, and drummers Mickey Roker and Billy Cobham. (Williams and Cobham were making some of their first recorded appearances since exiting the military.) Silver's economical, rhythmic piano style had often been described as funky, but the fantastic opener "Psychedelic Sally" makes that connection more explicit and contemporary, featuring a jubilant horn theme and a funky bass riff that both smack of Memphis soul. (In fact, it's kind of a shame he didn't pursue this idea more.) Keeping the album's playful spirit going, "Rain Dance" is a campy American Indian-style theme, and "Jungle Juice" has a mysterious sort of exotic, tribal flavor. "Kindred Spirits" has a different, more ethereal sort of mystery, and "Serenade to a Soul Sister" is a warm, loose-swinging tribute. You'd never know this album was recorded in one of the most tumultuous years in American history, but as Silver says in the liner notes' indirect jab at the avant-garde, he simply didn't believe in allowing "politics, hatred, or anger" into his music. Whether you agree with that philosophy or not, it's hard to argue with musical results as joyous and tightly performed as Serenade to a Soul Sister. ~ Steve Huey http://www.allmusic.com/album/serenade-to-a-soul-sister-mw0000203356

Personnel: Horace Silver (piano); Stanley Turrentine, Bennie Maupin (tenor saxophone); Charles Tolliver (trumpet); Bob Cranshaw (piano); Mickey Roker, Billy Cobham (drums).

Serenade To A Soul Sister

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Kenny Garrett - Do Your Dance!

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:46
Size: 130,5 MB
Art: Front

(8:06)  1. Philly
(6:56)  2. Backyard Groove
(4:43)  3. Wheatgrass Shot (Straight to the Head)
(6:22)  4. Bossa
(4:58)  5. Do Your Dance!
(4:37)  6. Calypso Chant
(7:23)  7. Waltz (3 Sisters)
(8:08)  8. Persian Steps
(5:30)  9. Chasing the Wind

On Kenny Garrett's fourth Mack Avenue release, 2016's Do Your Dance!, the Detroit-born saxophonist dives headlong into a set of original songs that exploit dance rhythms in subtle, unexpected ways. Conceptually speaking, while there are dance beats from swing, funk, Latin, and more throughout Do Your Dance!, the idea of doing your dance could also simply refer to the idea of doing your own thing and expressing yourself in your own unique way. That seems to be the deeper notion running through much of Garrett's music, which is often explosive, harmonically challenging, and highly engaging here. Joining Garrett are several collaborators from his other Mack Avenue releases, including pianist Vernell Brown, Jr., bassist Corcoran Holt, drummers Ronald Bruner, Jr. and McClenty Hunter, and percussionist Rudy Bird. Together, they have a lively, organic ensemble sound that lends itself to group interplay even during solos. Everybody sounds alert and focused with all ears on Garrett. Bookended by two fiery post-bop swingers in "Philly" and "Chasing the Wind," both of which bring to mind mid-'60s John Coltrane, Do Your Dance! finds Garrett in an eclectic mood. His roiling "Backyard Groove" picks up on the angular circularity of Miles Davis' "Freedom Jazz Dance," while the aptly titled "Bossa" is a fluid, minor-key-tinged exploration the Brazilian sound. Elsewhere, Garrett displays his knack for combining disparate sounds, as on the classically inflected "Wheatgrass Shot (Straight to the Head)" featuring rapper Donald "Mista Enz" Brown, Jr., which sounds delightfully like the Roots making an ECM album. Also unexpected are the ruminative "Waltz (3 Sisters)" and the exotic "Persian Steps," which features Garrett on sax, flute, and the droney, traditional Indian Shruti Box. More expected, but no less impressive, is the buoyant "Calypso Chant," in which Garrett summons the titanic energy and island-inspired hard bop of Sonny Rollins. Ultimately, with Do Your Dance! Garrett has crafted an album that will get your blood flowing to your brain and your feet. ~ Matt Collar http://www.allmusic.com/album/do-your-dance!-mw0002945796

Personnel: Kenny Garrett: alto saxophone (1 – 6, 9, soprano saxophone (7), percussion, vocal (6), piano, flute, shruti box (8);  Vernell Brown Jr: piano (1 – 7, 9), chant (8);  Corcoran Holt: bass (1 – 7, 9);  Ronald Brunner: drums (1, 2, 8, 9);  McClenty Hunter: drums (3 – 7);  Rudy Bird: percussion (3 – 6); Donald ‘Mista Enz’ Brown: rap (3, 5).

Do Your Dance!

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