Sue Raney - Autumn In The Air / Singles

Album: Autumn In The Air
Size: 127,1 MB
Time: 53:59
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1997
Styles: Jazz/Pop Vocals
Art: Front

01. Looking Back (5:58)
02. I'll Never Go There Anymore Time Was Medley (4:24)
03. The Song Is Ended (3:55)
04. Once Upon A Summertime/The Summer Knows Medley (3:43)
05. Here's To Life (3:42)
06. I'll Be Seeing You (3:15)
07. Autumn In The Air (4:46)
08. When The World Was Young/Young And Foolish Medley (3:47)
09. Some Other Time (2:50)
10. Why Did I Choose You (3:33)
11. They Can't Take That Away From Me (3:01)
12. This Is All I Ask (5:47)
13. Over The Rainbow (5:12)

Sue Raney, a top studio singer for years and a beloved, well-respected vocal coach, had not recorded a full showcase for quite some time before making this CD in 1997. Blessed with a very appealing voice, Raney is accompanied by pianist Dick Shreve, whose sensitivity is a major asset to the date, and, on six of the 13 selections, bassist Bob Magnusson. Emphasizing ballads that often have the theme of the singer being in the autumn of her life, Raney manages to avoid sounding dreary or downbeat. In fact, the joy heard in her voice (one knows immediately that she loves singing and that she has complete control over her "instrument") allows her to uplift and make fresh such familiar material as "The Song Is Ended," "I'll Be Seeing You" (taken at a medium tempo), "Over the Rainbow" and even the overrecorded tearjerker "Here's to Life." Other highlights include Shreve's haunting "Autumn In the Air," "Some Other Time" and "This Is All I Ask." Sue Raney's improvising is quite subtle, but even when she sings material fairly straight, her dramatic pauses and placement of notes make the music special. Available from the Spanish Fresh Sound label, this is one to look for. ~by Scott Yanow

MC
Ziddu

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Album: Singles
Size: 101,3 MB
Time: 41:14
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2015
Styles: Jazz/Pop Vocals
Art: Front

01. What's The Good Word Mr. Bluebird (2:09)
02. The Careless Years (3:06)
03. Don't Take My Happiness (2:41)
04. Please Hurry Home (1:56)
05. Periwinkle Blue (2:19)
06. My My, How The Time Goes By (2:07)
07. The Restless Sea (3:11)
08. Everybody Loves My Baby (2:51)
09. I Don't Look Right Without You (1:56)
10. Swingin' In A Hammock (2:05)
11. The Word Got Around (2:01)
12. One-Finger Symphony (2:28)
13. Wait Until Dark (2:05)
14. Parade (2:17)
15. Early Morning Blues And Greens (2:44)
16. Knowing When To Leave (2:33)
17. Til There Was You (2:36)

Blessed with a beautiful voice from an early age, Sue Raney has performed music ranging from swinging jazz and ballads to cabaret, middle-of-the-road pop and jingles. Her mother was a singer and a great great aunt had been in German opera. Raney started singing when she was four and a year later she first performed in public, at a party in Wichita, Kansas. Because a voice teacher could not be found for her daughter (because of her extreme youth), Raney's mother took voice lessons herself and then passed down what she learned to Sue. A professional before she was a teenager, Raney worked steadily in New Mexico when her family relocated and took several trips out to Los Angeles during a couple of summer vacations. She joined the Jack Carson radio show in 1954 in L.A. when she was barely 14. Raney then appeared on Ray Anthony's television program and became his band's main vocalist. At 18 she started working as a single. She had already recorded for Phillips and then signed with Capitol, recording several middle-of-the-road jazz-influenced pop dates for the company. In the 1960's Raney often appeared on television variety shows, she led her own group and became very active in the studios where her impressive voice helped sell products. By the early 1980's, she was also working as a voice teacher. In the 1990's Sue Raney has sung with the L.A. Voices and Supersax, the Bill Watrous big band and as a single in addition to staying active as a jazz educator and in the studios. Her main jazz recordings were a trio of albums for Discovery in the 1980's; a VSOP/Studio West CD features the singer on various live performances from the 1960's. ~by Scott Yanow

Singles

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The Chuck Berghofer Trio - The Film Music Of Ralph Rainger: Thanks For The Memory

Size: 184,2 MB
Time: 78:36
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2008
Styles: Jazz
Art: Front

01. Miss Brown To You ( 5:09)
02. Easy Living ( 5:47)
03. Sweet Is The Word For You ( 5:02)
04. Please ( 4:32)
05. Blue Hawaii ( 4:21)
06. If I Should Lose You (Feat. Sue Raney) ( 5:04)
07. Havin' Myself A Time ( 4:20)
08. Faithful Forever ( 4:08)
09. June In January ( 5:24)
10. Moanin' Low ( 4:39)
11. Here Lies Love ( 5:52)
12. I Wished On The Moon ( 5:29)
13. Love In Bloom ( 4:12)
14. Thanks For The Memory (Feat. Sue Raney) ( 3:45)
15. For These Memories...Thanks! (10:44)

Personnel: Jan Lundgren (p), Chuck Berghofer (b), Joe La Barbera (d), Sue Raney (vcl on #6 & 14)

Following his tribute to film composer Bronislau Kaper, record producer Dick Bank has turned his attention to another great talent who’s overdue for recognition. Ralph Rainger was a virtuoso pianist who enjoyed a fruitful collaboration with lyricist Leo Robin at Paramount Pictures in the 1930s. The result was a cavalcade of hit songs, many of which went on to become standards and also jazz perennials, including…

“Easy Living,” “I Wished on the Moon” (lyric by Dorothy Parker), “If I Should Lose You,” “Blue Hawaii,” “Love in Bloom,” “Please,” and “Thanks for the Memory.” (Rainger is less recognized as a pioneer in film scoring, as he often worked without credit in the early 1930s, when multiple composers would contribute to a movie’s underscore.)

To interpret the selections, Bank called on three of the finest jazz players in Los Angeles: pianist Jan Lundgren, drummer Joe La Barbera, and the great bassist Chuck Berghofer, who has never served as a leader on a record date—until now. Appropriately enough, he states the melodic line on several of these tunes, giving them a fresh, lively approach. This is impeccably tasteful straight-ahead jazz.

In addition to the titles mentioned above, the disc includes “Moanin’ Low,” Rainger’s first hit, with words by Howard Dietz, “Faithful Forever” from Max Fleischer’s animated feature Gulliver’s Travels, and many others.

A bonus track features Rainger in a rare, somewhat “canned” radio interview from 1937 that concludes with the composer playing a florid piano rendition of “Love in Bloom.” Then he and Leo Robin perform the same song at a famous 1940 ASCAP concert that took place in San Francisco.

An accompanying booklet fills us in on Ralph Rainger’s life and untimely death, and includes some publicity articles that appeared under his and Leo Robin’s byline in the 1930s along with photos and sheet music covers. I can’t think of a better tribute to an unsung figure from Hollywood’s—and popular music’s—golden age. ~Leonard Maltin

The Film Music Of Ralph Rainger

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Pepper Adams - Encounter!

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:54
Size: 102.8 MB
Styles: Bop, Saxophone jazz
Year: 1969/1996
Art: Front

[5:52] 1. Inanout
[3:54] 2. The Star-Crossed Lovers
[5:59] 3. Cindy's Tune
[6:27] 4. Serenity
[7:15] 5. Elusive
[7:17] 6. I've Just Seen Her
[4:04] 7. Punjab
[4:02] 8. Verdandi

Baritone Saxophone – Pepper Adams; Bass – Ron Carter; Drums – Elvin Jones; Piano – Tommy Flanagan; Tenor Saxophone – Zoot Sims. Recorded on 3 & 4 January, 1969 at Nola Sound Studios, NY.

Baritonist Pepper Adams and tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims (who rarely performed together) make a surprisingly compatible team on this CD reissue of a 1968 Prestige session. With pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Elvin Jones forming a fairly adventurous rhythm section, Pepper and Sims sound inspired on material that includes obscurities by Flanagan, Thad Jones and Adams in addition to the Ellington-Strayhorn ballad "Star-Crossed Lovers" and a pair of Joe Henderson songs. The setting is more advanced than usual for Sims, who rises to the challenge. ~Scott Yanow

Encounter!

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George Colligan - Ask Me Tomorrow

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 53:17

Size: 122.0 MB

Styles: Piano jazz

Year: 2014

Art: Front

[7:33] 1. Ask Me Tomorrow

[7:56] 2. Two Notes Four Chords

[5:32] 3. Prague

[9:05] 4. Return To Copemhagen

[3:28] 5. Insistent Linda

[7:42] 6. Jeeper's Summer House

[6:42] 7. Catharsis

[5:14] 8. Jet Blue

Bass – Linda Oh; Drums – Ted Poor; Piano – George Colligan; Recorded January 2012.

George Colligan can, apparently, do no wrong. His choices in musicians and his compositional skills—not to mention superior musicianship—cannot be second-guessed. “Ask Me Tomorrow” is one more example in a long catalog of examples. Fronting his own trios and quartets or with Jack DeJohnette’s group, as a professor at Portland State University or as a blog-writer himself, Colligan does not disappoint.

“Ask Me Tomorrow”, recorded in January, 2012, Colligan points out in his liner notes was supposed to be a demo. He wanted to document this particular trio, and rightly so, because he calls it “one of the most liberating gigs” that he has ever played. Half-way through the first track the listener can already understand why. That first track—“Ask Me Tomorrow”—was the only track that was not a first take. The energy is high and the focus is razor sharp. It is all so clear from the outset. Colligan’s choices of Linda Oh (bass) and Ted Poor (drums) are spot-on. Colligan admits that he played “once or twice with Miss Oh in the band of flautist Jamie Baum” but that he had heard Ted Poor only on recording with trumpeter Cuong Vu. Poor’s reputation, however, was well-established and he was highly regarded.

Again, Colligan’s choice was correct. Poor plays the title track on the deep end of this blues and Oh plays off him and against him very well. Colligan himself, as always, is on top of the proceedings and, as composer, he is second to none. I even named him my “2013 Composer of the Year” for the Jazz Journalist Association poll for that year. ~Travis Rogers

Ask Me Tomorrow

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P.J. Perry & Tommy Banks - Old Friends

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:57
Size: 160.1 MB
Styles: Contemporary jazz
Year: 2014
Art: Front

[4:36] 1. First Song For Ruth
[4:48] 2. For All We Know
[3:17] 3. Joy Spring
[5:23] 4. My Old Flame
[3:05] 5. The Best Things In Life Are Free
[4:36] 6. Darn That Dream
[4:21] 7. Ceora
[4:34] 8. Laura
[4:15] 9. My Foolish Heart
[4:05] 10. If You Could See Me Now
[4:41] 11. Blue And Sentimental
[4:41] 12. September Song
[4:23] 13. Delilah
[4:15] 14. My Ideal
[4:40] 15. Old Folks
[4:08] 16. You Can't Go Home Again

For their first duo record, saxophonist P.J. Perry and pianist Tommy Banks play with the unforced enthusiasm you might expect but with an added ear for nuance and detail given their spare setting. While they stick with ballads through most of this 70-minute set of standards there are still a few sprightly tempos among 16 carefully engineered tracks. Perry’s glowing alto sax remains his most revealing instrument though it’s closely matched in the big, breathy feel of his tenor outings as he conjures up romance (My Old Flame, Laura), melancholy (If You Could See Me Now, My Ideal), and fleeting joy (Joy Spring, The Best Things In Life Are Free). Banks’ solo breaks take off with elegance, cheerful lyricism (Ceora, September Song) and understated bluesiness (Blue And Sentimental) when he’s not playing the perfect foil to Perry’s fluid melodies. This is an intimate collaboration every classic jazz fan should hear for the decades of shared experience it reflects and the intangible magic of two familiar musical minds meeting up for the simple satisfaction of it all. ~Roger Levesque

Old Friends  

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Alemay Fernandez - Hard To Imagine

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:44
Size: 95.6 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2016
Art: Front

[5:51] 1. Being You
[3:09] 2. Hard To Imagine
[4:43] 3. Spare Me The Details
[3:27] 4. I Believe
[4:35] 5. Meant To Be
[3:07] 6. Sheer Perfection
[3:58] 7. How Many Ways
[5:30] 8. Heaven Wrote A Song
[2:40] 9. My Baby & Me
[4:40] 10. I Got The Feeling

Hailed by TimeOut magazine as one of Singapore's "best-loved entertainers", homegrown vocal powerhouse Alemay Fernandez is a rising star in the Asian Jazz scene. Known for her sultry-smooth tone and an onstage presence that keeps the audience eating out of the palm of her hand, she has performed with The Count Basie Orchestra, David Foster, The Platters' Bobby Soul, and opened for Laura Fygi & Incognito.

Hard To Imagine is her maiden album - a labour of love five years in the making. The album of original tracks is the singer’s first foray into writing, arranging and producing. Deeply personal, the tunes are a diary of her journey as an artiste. Expect an elegant mix of jazz, soul & bluesy goodness backed by soulfully honest vocals. There are 21 musicians as well as 4 guest vocalists on this album featuring a cross-section of both Singaporean as well as internationally renowned musicians including drummer Erik Hargrove (who has toured with James Brown & Bootsy Collins), drummer Pablo Calzado (who has played with The Buena Vista Social Club), bassist Christy Smith (who has toured with Stevie Wonder), vocalist Richard Jackson (who has performed with Randy Brecker & Ernie Watts), vocalists Vanessa Fernandez & Michaela Therese (who have recorded and performed respectively with Brian McKnight).

Hard To Imagine

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Kenny Ball - Invitation To The Ball

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:51
Size: 100.4 MB
Styles: Dixieland
Year: 1960/2011
Art: Front

[2:48] 1. Hawaiian War Chant
[2:55] 2. Them There Eyes
[2:37] 3. Georgia Swing
[4:37] 4. Riverside Blues
[4:02] 5. Sorry
[5:49] 6. Original Dixieland One Step
[4:03] 7. Teddy Bears' Picnic
[2:43] 8. I Got Plenty O' Nuttin'
[3:11] 9. Dinah
[3:36] 10. Lazy River
[2:43] 11. 1919 Rag
[4:40] 12. South Rampart Street Parade

Kenny Ball's debut album presents the band in superb form, the rhythm section locked together like they're joined at the hip, and the rest not much less tight -- and their ranks include Diz Disley, no less, on banjo. The stereo sound is used a bit more subtly that it would have been in America, but the dividing of the soloists and the section plays well off the technology. ~Bruce Eder

Invitation To The Ball

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Ernie Watts & Gilberto Gil - Afoxé (Ah-Fo-SHAY)

Styles: Vocal and Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1991
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:05
Size: 131,4 MB
Art: Front

(4:34)  1. The Green Giant, Part I
(3:32)  2. Show Me
(5:01)  3. You're My Thrill
(7:37)  4. From Japan
(1:50)  5. Meditation
(3:49)  6. Rituals Of Spring
(7:44)  7. A Raca Humana
(4:13)  8. Free Afoxe
(4:33)  9. Gondwana
(5:32) 10. Oriente
(3:07) 11. The Green Giant, Part II
(4:28) 12. From Japan (Portuguese version)

Afoxé (pronounced ah-fo-SHAY), much like the music Ernie Watts, Gilberto Gil and their friends have created here and in Brazil itself, is the sum of striking contradictions. In Bahia, the vast coastal state known as the heartland of African culture in Brazil contemporary secular version of sacred Afo-Brazilian candomblé hymns are called afoxés. (The ritualistic candomblé sect is the product of an innovative blending of Catholic tradition and the beliefs of the secretive African religious societies.) The procession of musicians and singers who bring the candomblé message to the streets of Salvador every year during carnaval is itself known as an afoxé. And so are the drums, Brazil's answer to the Cuban conga. Even a popular percussion instrument today as much at home in high school band rooms in the U.S. Midwest as it is in the winding back alleys of Salvador's historic Pelourinho neighborhood, has taken the name afoxé. http://www.erniewatts.com/discography/afoxe.html

Personnel:  Ernie Watts – Saxophones;  Gilberto Gil - Vocals, Guitar; Robert Sadin – Keyboards;  Dunn Pearson - Additional Keyboards;  Sharon Bryant – Vocals;  Marlon Graves – Guitar;  Ray Bardani - Synthesized Percussion;  Marcus Miller – Bass;  Kenny Kirkland - Electric Piano;  Romero Lubambo - Midi Guitar;  Mark Egan – Bass;   Victor Bailey – Bass;  Frank Colon – Percussion;  Jack DeJohnette - Kalimba, Drums;  Eddie Gomez – Bass. 

Afoxé (Ah-Fo-SHAY)

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Sue Raney - Sue Raney Volume II

Styles: Vocal Jazz

Year: 2004

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 48:38

Size: 111,7 MB

Art: Front

(2:22)  1. Someone To Watch Over Me

(1:57)  2. I Hear Music

(2:10)  3. Trouble Is A Man

(2:59)  4. Breezin Along With The Breeze

(2:36)  5. Little Girl Blue

(2:24)  6. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams

(1:28)  7. Deed I Do

(1:59)  8. Love Me Or Leave Me

(1:56)  9. No Place To Go

(2:41) 10. Five Definitions Of Love

(2:47) 11. With A Little Help From My Friends

(2:58) 12. My Love Is A Wanderer

(3:58) 13. Umbrellas Of Cherbourg (Watch What Happens)

(2:24) 14. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams

(3:28) 15. Burnt Sugar

(2:26) 16. I Ain't Got Nobody

(2:03) 17. Deed I Do

(1:55) 18. Breezin Along With The Breeze

(2:01) 19. Goodbye Charlie

(1:57) 20. Bluesette

Sue Raney, who has always had a beautiful voice, first gained some recognition for her work in jazz and popular music in the late 1950s. She has been a fixture in Los Angeles ever since, becoming a well-known vocal coach and teacher in addition to continuing her solo career. The second volume of previously unreleased material from Studio West features Raney in four different settings. Nine selections team her with a quartet led by pianist Page Cavanaugh that perfectly fits her singing. Two songs have her joined by Page 7 (a septet led by Cavanaugh), there are five numbers with a quartet co-led by clarinetist Buddy DeFranco and accordionist Tommy Gumina, and the remaining four selections are with the 1970 version of Shelly Manne & His Men. The performances are usually brief but Raney takes advantage of each moment, stretching her repertoire from swing standards to the Beatles"With a Little Help From My Friends" and Michel Legrand's "Umbrellas of Cherbourg." Highlights include "Trouble Is a Man," "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams," and two versions apiece of "Breezin' Along With the Breeze" and "'Deed I Do." Because Sue Raney has never recorded often enough, this set of rarities is particularly recommended to listeners unfamiliar with the talented singer. ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/volume-ii-mw0000152127

Personnel: Sue Raney (vocals); Tommy Gumina (accordion); Buddy DeFranco (clarinet); Shelly Manne & His Men, Page Cavanaugh Quartet.

Sue Raney Volume II

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