Oliver Jones - Speak Low, Swing Hard

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:01
Size: 119.1 MB
Styles: Bop, Piano jazz
Year: 1985/1999
Art: Front

[5:14] 1. Softwinds
[4:31] 2. On The Trail
[5:17] 3. Street Of Dreams
[3:41] 4. Ballad For Claire
[4:51] 5. Hilly
[4:57] 6. I'm An Old Cowhand
[7:05] 7. Up Jumped Spring
[4:40] 8. Soul Eyes
[4:15] 9. The Reverend Mr. Jones
[7:25] 10. Speak Low

Bass – Skip Beckwith; Drums – Jim Hillman; Piano – Oliver Jones.

By the time pianist Oliver Jones recorded this set, his sixth release for Justin Time, he was finally gaining recognition in the U.S. for his brilliant playing. A virtuosic pianist, Jones is heard in excellent form on a trio date with bassist Skip Beckwith and drummer Jim Hillman, playing modern mainstream jazz interpretations of such standards as "Soft Winds," "Up Jumped Spring" and "Speak Low," along with his own "Hilly" and a pair of Beckwith originals, including "The Reverend Mr. Jones." ~Scott Yanow

Speak Low, Swing Hard

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Denilson Big D Martins - S/T

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:59
Size: 105.3 MB
Styles: R&B, Jazz-blues saxophone
Year: 2014
Art: Front

[3:22] 1. Get Hot
[2:46] 2. 3d (Feat. Sax Gordon)
[5:16] 3. Bee Hive
[3:30] 4. Oh Mariel (Feat. Sax Gordon)
[5:17] 5. Just A Close
[2:49] 6. Seven To Eleven
[3:46] 7. Joogie The Boogie
[2:39] 8. I Have Decided
[4:42] 9. Rock It
[4:14] 10. Bluejeans
[4:22] 11. The Newborn Shuffle (Feat. Junior Watson)
[3:09] 12. Boogie & Barbecue

Denilson Martins can play anything it seems, but here he’s chosen to apply his considerable abilities to a set of traditional, old-fashioned American Rhythm & Blues. This is rocking music from the days when the saxophone was the go-to instrument for excitement, back in the 1940s and 1950s when Rock & Roll was born, when wild performers pushed the limits of their instruments and their audiences. Things have changed in the music world since then and now it’s rare to find performers so committed and accomplished at this art, but what hasn’t changed is the effect this music has on audiences. Whether you’re dancing, partying, or just sitting back listening, Denilson and his band, led by guitarist and producer Igor Prado, will transport you to a place where the music is real, wild, fun, and spontaneous…a world where musicians and fans, dancers and listeners, are all in it together to have the time of their lives. This CD will bring you there until you get the chance to catch ‘em live! ~SAX GORDON BEADLE

Denilson Big D Martins

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The Hot Sardines - Live At Joe's Pub

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:43
Size: 132.1 MB
Styles: Dixieland jazz
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[ 5:01] 1. T'ain't Nobody's Business
[ 0:58] 2. Bib's Bachification
[ 6:07] 3. Comes Love
[ 9:14] 4. Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen
[ 4:04] 5. Meet Me At The Bottom Of The Bottle
[ 7:45] 6. Summertime
[ 5:17] 7. I Love Paris
[11:10] 8. St. James Infirmary
[ 8:03] 9. Bourbon Street Parade

The Hot Sardines sound – wartime Paris via New Orleans, or the other way around – is steeped in hot jazz, salty stride piano, and the kind of music Louis Armstrong, Django Reinhardt and Fats Waller used to make: Straight-up, foot-stomping jazz. (Literally – the band includes a tap dancer). They manage to invoke the sounds of a near-century ago and stay resolutely in step with the current age.

These tracks were recorded live at one of our absolutely favorite places to play in New York City, Joe's Pub, on January 9, 2013.

Live At Joe's Pub

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Bob Berg - The Best Of Bob Berg On Denon

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:25
Size: 156.6 MB
Styles: Bop, Saxophone jazz
Year: 1995/2009
Art: Front

[ 5:24] 1. Friday Night At The Cadillac Club
[ 8:06] 2. Kalimba
[11:16] 3. Pipes
[ 7:25] 4. Mayumi
[ 7:19] 5. In The Shadows
[ 4:55] 6. Autumn Leaves
[ 8:07] 7. Silverado
[ 4:06] 8. When I Fall In Love
[ 6:23] 9. Amazon
[ 5:19] 10. Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man

Tenor saxophonist Bob Berg channeled the bold dynamics of hard bop to emerge as one of contemporary jazz's most expressive and resourceful improvisers, honing a richly articulated sound bolstered by flawless technical command. Born in New York City on April 7, 1951, Berg grew up in Brooklyn, initiating piano lessons at age six. At 13, he moved to alto saxophone, first discovering jazz when a high school teacher introduced him to the music of Cannonball Adderley and Horace Silver. After dropping out of New York's High School of Performing Arts, Berg enrolled in a special non-academic curriculum at the Juilliard School of Music. In 1968, he made his professional debut touring behind Brother Jack McDuff, and by the time the 1960s drew to a close, he specialized in tenor saxophone, his subsequent creative path profoundly shaped by John Coltrane. After a brief flirtation with free jazz Berg renounced the avant-garde in favor of postwar bop. On the recommendation of fellow saxophonist Michael Brecker, he joined Silver in 1973, remaining with his boyhood hero for three years, when he replaced George Coleman in Cedar Walton's Eastern Rebellion. In 1978 Berg stepped out to record his debut LP, New Birth, and after leaving Walton in 1981 he cut his sophomore effort, Steppin': Live in Europe; he rose to new levels of renown upon joining Miles Davis in 1984, a three-year stint that set the stage for his 1987 breakout session, Short Stories. Berg closed out the decade in the band he led with co-founder/guitarist Mike Stern, cutting a series of LPs including 1988's Cycles and 1990's In the Shadows. In 1992, he signed on with Chick Corea's acoustic quartet, and that same year led his own quartet on a U.S. Department of State-sponsored tour of the Caribbean. Upon releasing the 1997 solo date Another Standard, Berg joined an acoustic reincarnation of the group Steps Ahead, and in 2000 he also joined the cooperative project the Jazz Times Superband, collaborating with Randy Brecker, Joey Defranchesco, and Dennis Chambers. Berg next surfaced alongside vibraphonist Joe Locke in the group 4 Walls of Freedom. Sadly, their eponymous debut set did not appear until after the saxophonist's death in an auto accident near his home on Long Island on December 5, 2002. ~bio by Jason Ankeny

The Best Of Bob Berg On Denon

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Frankie Avalon - 25 All-Time Greatest Hits

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:18
Size: 140.4 MB
Styles: Early pop/rock
Year: 2002
Art: Front

[2:23] 1. Venus
[2:52] 2. I'll Wait For You
[2:10] 3. Dede Dinah
[2:01] 4. Gingerbread
[2:27] 5. Just Ask Your Heart
[2:38] 6. Where Are You
[2:17] 7. A Perfect Love
[2:35] 8. Why
[2:54] 9. Tuxedo Junction
[2:08] 10. Too Young To Love
[2:37] 11. Bobby Sox To Stockings
[1:57] 12. A Boy Without A Girl
[2:30] 13. Togetherness
[2:43] 14. Don't Let Love Pass Me By
[1:54] 15. Swinging On A Rainbow
[2:30] 16. All Of Everything
[2:28] 17. Don't Throw Away All Those Teardrops
[2:23] 18. Who Else But You
[3:04] 19. You Are Mine
[2:48] 20. Call Me Anytime
[2:19] 21. A Miracle
[2:12] 22. Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea
[2:18] 23. Two Fools
[2:00] 24. Beach Party
[2:55] 25. Don't Stop Now

This package is part of the Varese Sarabande label's general campaign to put out new greatest-hits packages of artists they've already given the best-of treatment to, the chief difference being the inclusion of more tracks the second time around. The company's The Best of Frankie Avalon, issued in 1995, had 18 songs; 25 All-Time Greatest Hits, as is self-evident, has seven more. The biggest hits are on both CDs, but alas it's not an automatic given that 25 All-Time Greatest Hits makes other Avalon anthologies redundant, since it's missing a number 56 chart hit that was on The Best of Frankie Avalon, "The Puppet Song." Granted that tune's not a world-beater, but its inclusion would probably mean something to a lot of fans who bother to select an Avalon best-of off the shelves. That omission aside, this has everything almost anyone would want by Avalon, including a bunch of songs beyond the half-dozen or so that still cling to oldies radio play lists. The best of the obscure tracks are the ones from the 1963 non-charting 45 "Beach Party"/"Don't Stop Now," which are far harder-rocking than most of his output, though they're not memorable. "Beach Party" was written by Gary Usher and Roger Christian, who were involved in composing many a hot rod and surf record, including some for the Beach Boys; "Don't Stop Now," which sounds like it would have fit in well in one of his beach movies, even has some early fuzz guitar. Beyond that, it might be noted that a surprisingly high portion of this has no relation to rock music, being far more in the orchestrated pop balladeer school that rock & roll did so much to close down. ~Richie Unterberger

25 All-Time Greatest Hits

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Irene Kral, Alan Broadbent - Where Is Love?

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 1974
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:27
Size: 92,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:09)  1. I Like You, You're Nice
(3:38)  2. When I Look in Your Eyes
(6:31)  3. A Time for Love/Small World
(3:10)  4. Love Came on Stealthy Fingers
(4:36)  5. Never Let Me Go
(5:03)  6. Spring Can Really Hang You Up
(6:44)  7. Lucky to Be Me/Some Other Time
(4:22)  8. Where Is Love?
(3:09)  9. Don't Look Back

It's really quite amazing to read anything about the late jazz vocalist Irene Kral. I've never seen anything less than superlative adjectives applied to her all-too-brief career. The younger sister of singer-pianist Roy Kral (Jackie & Roy) who died in July 2002, she spent some time with Maynard Ferguson's band in 1957 and Herb Pomeroy's organization in Boston in '58. I've always enjoyed her presence as Eliza Doolittle on Shelly Manne's 1964 My Fair Lady with the Unoriginal Cast, in which she sings with, and without, a clowning Jack Sheldon as Henry Higgins. After leaving the business in the mid 1960s to raise a family, Irene Kral returned to record a series of ballad albums with pianist-arranger Alan Broadbent and a final work with Loonis McGlohan, before succumbing to breast cancer in 1978. Which brings us to Where is Love, recorded in 1976. It's been almost 30 years since it was released and I haven't heard my vinyl copy in a while (well... decades), so I don't mind telling you that if I had my Desert Island Discs all lined up, Kral's would certainly be represented.

With just a spare piano accompanyment, the vocalist tackles nine very well chosen ballads that are meant not only to entertain us but to advise us about the compositions of singer-songwriters like Bob Dorough, Dave Frishberg and Blossom Dearie. Her "Lucky To Be Me"/"Some Other Time" medley are two of the best reasons to see the Leonard Bernstein-Comden/Green musical Wonderful Town (just revived in NYC). It's no wonder that musicians like Bill Evans/Mark Murphy/Fred Hersch have gravitated to recording these tunes. Her unhurried and moving delivery opens up the lyrical content of show tunes like the title song from Oliver or Leslie Bricusse's "When I Look In Your Eyes." I defy you to find a better recording of "Love Came On Stealthy Fingers" or the jazz chanteuse standard "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most."  Although Kral chose to perform in a low-key manner in her final years, she was a fine interpreter of mid- and up-tempo vocals. Clint Eastwood was well aware of this when he chose two of her selections with the Junior Mance Trio to use in his Bridges of Madison County film. When the Eastwood character wanted to demonstrate the power of jazz music circa 1965, he turned on the truck radio and received her versions of "It's A Wonderful World" and "This is Always." ~ Michael P.Gladstone https://www.allaboutjazz.com/where-is-love-irene-kral-choice-candid-review-by-michael-p-gladstone.php

Personnel: Irene Kral, vocals; Alan Broadbent, piano

Where Is Love?

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Peter Bernstein - Stranger In Paradise

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 66:31
Size: 153,1 MB
Art: Front

(7:19)  1. Venus Blues
(6:51)  2. Stranger In Paradise
(6:24)  3. Luiza
(6:04)  4. How Little We Know
(6:03)  5. Bobblehed
(8:42)  6. Just A Thought
(6:30)  7. This Is Always
(5:40)  8. Soul Stirrin
(6:34)  9. That Sunday,That Summer
(6:20) 10. Autumn Nocturne

Guitarist Peter Bernstein is reunited with pianist Brad Mehldau once more (their fourth recording together under Bernstein's name) and also keeps the rhythm section intact from his earlier Criss Cross CD Heart's Content, with Larry Grenadier on bass and drummer Bill Stewart. These rewarding sessions blend elements of hard bop and post-bop, including an intriguing, slightly off-center approach to "Stranger in Paradise" and an intricate, moving interpretation of "This Is Always," a ballad that can become stale in the wrong hands. The quartet also tackles quite a few works that don't get all that much attention, like a greasy arranging of Babs Gonzales' "Soul Stirrin'" and a breezy take of "That Sunday, That Summer," the latter a hit for Nat King Cole during his years as a popular singer. 

Bernstein also adds four potent originals, all of which set the band afire. It is a shame that Peter Bernstein is overlooked by American record labels, but be thankful that the Japanese know talent when they hear it and invest the time and money to document his work. Highly recommended! ~ Ken Dryden http://www.allmusic.com/album/stranger-in-paradise-mw0000697592

Personnel: Peter Bernstein (guitar); Brad Mehldau (piano); Larry Grenadier (bass); Bill Stewart (drums).

Stranger In Paradise

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McCoy Tyner - Blue Bossa

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1991
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:43
Size: 88,9 MB
Art: Front

(9:57)  1. Blue Bossa
(5:50)  2. Recife's Blues
(7:45)  3. I'll Take Romance
(6:49)  4. Rotunda
(8:21)  5. We'll Be Together Again

McCoy Tyner's CD for the budget label LRC finds his regular trio of the time (bassist Avery Sharpe and drummer Aaron Scott) augmented by percussionist Raphael Cruz and trumpeter/fluegelhornist Claudio Roditi on most of the tracks. Unfortunately, Cruz proves to be more of an unnecessary distraction, marring an otherwise potent take of "Blue Bossa" and adding little to Tyner's hard driving "Rotunda." Roditi is a better fit with Tyner's group, especially on the lyrical arrangement of "We'll Be Together Again," but his two originals are rather lame compared to the remainder of the release. Tyner's trio tackles "I'll Take Romance" without either one of their guests, with superb results. Three additional tracks from these sessions appeared on the compilation Double Exposure. A later reissue of this CD by Laserlight under the same title omits both Roditi's "The Natural Bridge" and Tyner's "Traces." Although Tyner is in top form throughout, this is not an important release in his considerable discography, but its low price make it worth acquiring. ~ Ken Dryden http://www.allmusic.com/album/blue-bossa-mw0000268506

Personnel: McCoy Tyner (piano); Claudio Roditi (trumpet, flugelhorn); Avery Sharpe (bass); Aaron Scott (drums); Raphael Cruz (percussion).

Blue Bossa

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