Various - The Aretha Franklin Songbook

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:05
Size: 128.4 MB
Styles: Jazz/Soul/R&B
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[4:43] 1. Dr. Lonnie Smith - Think
[4:40] 2. George Benson - Don't Let Me Lose This Dream
[5:39] 3. Stanley Turrentine - Dr. Feelgood
[4:35] 4. Cassandra Wilson - Angel
[4:59] 5. B.B. King - Spirit In The Dark
[4:19] 6. Will Downing - Daydreaming
[7:45] 7. Jimmy Smith - After Hours
[3:46] 8. Grover Washington, Jr. - All The King's Horses
[2:27] 9. Dianne Schuur - Climbing Higher Mountains
[7:13] 10. Quincy Jones - Daydreaming/First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
[5:55] 11. Stanley Turrentine - Dr. Feelgood (Alt. Take)

She is both a 20th and 21st century musical and cultural icon known the world over simply by her first name: Aretha. The reigning and undisputed “Queen Of Soul” has created an amazing legacy that spans an incredible six decades, from her first recording as a teenage gospel star, to her current releases. Her many countless classics include “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” “Chain Of Fools,” “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)”; her own compositions “Think,” “Daydreaming” and “Call Me”; her definitive versions of “Respect” and “I Say A Little Prayer”; and global hits like “Freeway Of Love,” “Jump To It,” “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me),” her worldwide chart-topping duet with George Michael, and “A Rose Is Still A Rose.”

The recipient of the U.S.A.’s highest civilian honor, The Presidential Medal Of Freedom, an eighteen (and counting) Grammy Award winner – the most recent of which was for Best Gospel Performance for “Never Gonna Break My Faith” with Mary J. Blige in 2008 – a Grammy Lifetime Achievement and Grammy Living Legend awardee, Aretha Franklin’s powerful, distinctive gospel-honed vocal style has influenced countless singers across multi-generations, justifiably earning her Rolling Stone magazine’s No. 1 placing on the list of “The Greatest Singers Of All Time.”

The Aretha Franklin Songbook

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Jimmy Rushing - The Very Best Of (2 Parts)

He was known as "Mister Five-By-Five" -- an affectionate reference to his height and girth -- a blues shouter who defined and then transcended the form. The owner of a booming voice that radiated sheer joy in whatever material he sang, Jimmy Rushing could swing with anyone and dominate even the loudest of big bands. Rushing achieved his greatest fame in front of the Count Basie band from 1935 to 1950, yet unlike many band singers closely associated with one organization, he was able to carry on afterwards with a series of solo recordings that further enhanced his reputation as a first-class jazz singer.

Raised in a musical family, learning violin, piano and music theory in his youth, Rushing began performing in nightspots after a move to California in the mid-'20s. He joined Walter Page's Blue Devils in 1927, then toured with Bennie Moten from 1929 until the leader's death in 1935, going over to Basie when the latter picked up the pieces of the Moten band. The unquenchably swinging Basie rhythm section was a perfect match for Rushing, making their earliest showing together on a 1936 recording of "Boogie Woogie" that stamped not only Rushing's presence onto the national scene but also that of Lester Young. Rushing's recordings with Basie are scattered liberally throughout several reissues on Decca, Columbia and RCA. While with Basie, he also appeared in several film shorts and features.

After the Basie ensemble broke up in 1950, a victim of hard times for big bands, Rushing briefly retired, then formed his own septet. He started a series of solo albums for Vanguard in the mid-'50s, then turned in several distinguished recordings for Columbia in league with such luminaries as Dave Brubeck, Coleman Hawkins and Benny Goodman, the latter of whom he appeared with at the Brussels World's Fair in 1958 as immortalized in "Brussels Blues." He also recorded with Basie alumni such as Buck Clayton and Jo Jones, as well as with the Duke Ellington band on Jazz Party. He appeared on TV in The Sound of Jazz in 1957, was featured in Jon Hendricks' The Evolution of the Blues, and also had a singing and acting role in the 1969 film The Learning Tree. ~bio by Richard S. Ginnell

Album: The Very Best Of (Part 1)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:36
Size: 166.2 MB
Styles: Jazz/Blues/R&B
Year: 2009

[2:51] 1. Baby, Don't Tell On Me
[3:14] 2. Rock And Roll
[7:37] 3. Evenin'
[4:50] 4. How Long, How Long Blues
[3:13] 5. I Left My Baby
[3:04] 6. Hey Pretty Baby
[2:36] 7. Bye Bye Baby
[2:53] 8. Somebody Stole My Gal
[1:47] 9. Baby Won't You Please Come Home
[2:45] 10. I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town
[4:33] 11. Harvard Blues
[2:49] 12. Money Is Honey
[2:24] 13. Hi-Ho Sylvester
[2:52] 14. Sent For You Yesterday (And Here You Come Today)
[2:48] 15. Where Were You
[2:45] 16. Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out
[3:01] 17. Blues In The Dark
[3:08] 18. Don't You Miss Your Baby
[4:20] 19. How You Want Your Lovin' Done
[2:45] 20. If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight)
[6:12] 21. Every Day I Have The Blues

The Very Best Of (Part 1)

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Album: The Very Best Of (Part 2)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:04
Size: 135.2 MB
Styles: Jazz/Blues/R&B
Year: 2009
Art: Front

[3:39] 1. Boogie Woogie
[1:31] 2. Pretty Little Baby
[3:36] 3. Goin' To Chicago Blues
[2:12] 4. She's Mine, She's Yours
[2:54] 5. Undecided Blues
[2:16] 6. Goodbye, Baby
[2:27] 7. In The Moonlight
[2:53] 8. Blue Skies
[3:22] 9. After You've Gine
[3:05] 10. It's The Same Old South
[2:38] 11. Take Me Back, Baby
[3:16] 12. It's Hard To Laugh A Smile
[3:22] 13. The Blues I Like To Hear
[3:11] 14. Good Morning Blues
[2:40] 15. Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good To You
[4:18] 16. I Want A Little Girl
[3:01] 17. Stop Beatin' Around The Mulberry Bush
[2:29] 18. Draftin' Blues
[2:57] 19. Jimmy's Blues
[3:07] 20. Ain't It Lonesome

The Very Best Of (Part 2)

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Karen Mason - Right Here, Right Now

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:16
Size: 94.5 MB
Styles: Easy Listening
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[3:10] 1. All That Jazz
[3:04] 2. Secret Love
[4:33] 3. Like The Heavens Hold The Stars
[3:37] 4. Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend
[4:35] 5. Help Being Alive
[2:58] 6. Hurry! It's Lovely Here
[2:50] 7. Make Someone Happy
[4:32] 8. Right Here Right Now
[3:09] 9. Get Happy
[4:43] 10. As If We Never Said Goodbye
[1:56] 11. Everything Old Is New Again
[2:03] 12. Look For The Silver Lining

Zevely Records is proud to present the long-awaited new CD from acclaimed vocalist Karen Mason. With her CD recordings, concerts, Broadway stage performances and TV appearances, Karen Mason “has few peers when it comes to ripping the roof off with her amazing voice that knows no bounds” (TheaterScene.net), which her stunning new recording reaffirms. Mason has headlined at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center and has shared concert stages with such musical luminaries as Luciano Pavarotti, Rosemary Clooney, Liza Minnelli and Michael Feinstein.

The nine-time MAC Award winner, including Major Female Vocalist of the Year for six consecutive years, releases her sixth CD, RIGHT HERE/RIGHT NOW. The recording is a showcase for Karen’s dynamic vocals and musical versatility, featuring a mix of classic standards, Broadway and motion picture favorites, as well as two never before recorded songs. Mason maximizes her vocal talents on this shining effort. From her jazz-tinged delivery on "All That Jazz" and "Everything Old Is New Again", Mason also shows her sensitive side, with exquisite, haunting readings on the classic standards "Secret Love", "Make Someone Happy" and "Look For The Silver Lining", giving them a depth and meaning that they never had before. Two of the recording’s high points are brand new songs co-written by Emmy Award-winning composer Paul Rolnick. The album’s title cut "Right Here, Right Now" and "Like The Heaven Holds The Stars" are given heartfelt and emotional performances as only Karen can. Another standout is Karen’s powerful rendition of "As If We Never Said Goodbye", from Sunset Boulevard. Karen had played the lead role of Norma Desmond to critical acclaim and standing ovations on Broadway and in Los Angeles over 200 times. The celebrated stage actress is currently starring as Velma Von Tussle in the Tony Award-winning Broadway smash hit Hairspray. Mason also originated the role of Tanya in Mamma Mia!, for which she was awarded a 2002 Drama Desk nomination as Best Actress and won the Outer Critics Circle Award for her performance in And The World Goes Round.

Right Here, Right Now

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Bob Dorough & Dave Frishberg - Who's On First

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:53
Size: 130.2 MB
Styles: Bop, Vocal jazz
Year: 2000
Art: Front

[2:53] 1. Rockin' In Rhythm
[3:43] 2. Who's On First
[3:04] 3. Lookin' Good
[4:23] 4. Too Long In L.A
[2:42] 5. You Are There
[1:24] 6. Intro: The Underdog
[3:45] 7. The Underdog
[0:28] 8. Intro: Where You At
[3:46] 9. Where You At
[4:13] 10. Health Food Nut
[3:29] 11. Devil May Care
[4:57] 12. Nothing Like You
[3:21] 13. Hong Kong Blues
[1:29] 14. Intro: I'm Hip
[3:59] 15. I'm Hip
[5:00] 16. At The Saturday Dance
[4:09] 17. Conjunction Junction

Bob Dorough and Dave Frishberg (his co-leader on this CD) have a lot in common. Both are swinging pianists, likable vocalists that do not have conventional voices, and superb lyricists with very original wits. They only collaborated once before making this CD, writing "I'm Hip" back in 1965. In recent times Ruth Price of Los Angeles' Jazz Bakery persuaded the pair to perform as a duo and this live recording is the result. After an instrumental version of "Rockin' in Rhythm," Frishberg and Dorough perform a new classic by the former, "Who's on First," which deals with the difficulties of deciding who should perform first during their joint show! Frishberg "won" and he sings and plays the biting "Lookin' Good" which is about the advantages of being good-looking in this society. Other highlights of the delightful program include the touching "You Are There," "Where You At," Dorough's "Health Food Nut," "Hong Kong Blues," "Devil May Care," "Nothing Like You," and, of course, "I'm Hip." Frishberg and Dorough also perform their long overdue second collaboration, "At the Saturday Dance," and the set concludes with Dorough's catchy "Conjunction Function" from Schoolhouse Rock. This is a fun CD that lives up to its potential. ~Scott Yanow

Who's On First

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Lena Horne - The Classic Lena Horne

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:05
Size: 101,3 MB
Art: Front

(3:23)  1. Stormy Weather
(3:22)  2. One for My Baby (And One More For the Road)
(3:26)  3. How Long Has This Been Going On?
(3:13)  4. Love Me Or Leave Me
(3:32)  5. Fun To Be Fooled
(2:51)  6. I'd Do Anything
(2:23)  7. Get Out Of Town
(2:43)  8. Darn That Dream
(2:52)  9. Come On Strong
(2:47) 10. I Hadn't Anyone Till You
(3:15) 11. Someone To Watch Over Me
(3:36) 12. The Rules Of The Road
(3:44) 13. I Get The Blues When It Rains
(2:51) 14. I Got Rhythm

Lena Horne served three separate tours of duty with RCA Victor Records, from 1941 to 1945, from 1955 to 1963, and from 1975 to 1976, making the label the largest repository for her recordings. While RCA has never reissued her work in any comprehensive manner, periodically the label assembles a single-disc compilation, and The Classic Lena Horne, part of its "100 Years of Music" centenary series, is yet another one. For once, terms like "greatest hits" and "best of" are not being used, which is a relief in Horne's case since, as annotator Colin Escott is at pains to point out, she didn't have much in the way of chart hits. Actually, unlike RCA's 2000 Greatest Hits album, this one does have her sole Top 20 hit, "Love Me or Leave Me." Also included is her 1941 recording of "Stormy Weather," made before she sang it in the movie of the same name and it became her signature song. Otherwise, compiler/sequencer Buzz Ravineau has adopted a roughly chronological approach and chosen a couple of other '40s performances ("One for My Baby [And One More for the Road]" and "How Long Has This Been Going On?") to go with various studio recordings made in the '50s and early '60s. Standards like Ira and George Gershwin's "Someone to Watch Over Me" and "I Got Rhythm" are mixed with less-well-known, but nevertheless impressive songs like Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh's "The Rules of the Road." The result is a sampler that is not, and does not claim to be, the best of Lena Horne on RCA, but that is instead a representative sampling of the kind of high-quality work she did for the label. ~ William Ruhlmann http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-classic-lena-horne-mw0000005796

The Classic Lena Horne

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Charlie Haden & Gonzalo Rubalcaba - Tokyo Adagio

Styles: Jazz, Straight-ahead/Mainstream 
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:49
Size: 121,5 MB
Art: Front + Back

( 9:05)  1. En La Orilla Del Mundo
(11:54)  2. My Love And I
( 8:29)  3. When Will The Blues Leave
( 5:47)  4. Sandino
( 9:12) 5. Solamente Una Vez (You Belong To My Heart)
( 7:19)  6. Transparence

Tokyo Adagio is a posthumous release, but one that Charlie Haden ardently desired prior to his passing in July 2014. The album marks the pinnacle of the American bassists collaborations with Gonzalo Rubalcaba, the pianist of genius he first encountered in Cuba in 1986, and with whom Charlie immediately developed a bond bordering on the telepathic. Several recordings the famous Montreal Tapes (1998), the studio albums Nocturne (2001) and Land of the Sun (2004) are evidence of the deep concordance of these two musicians, but no recording had yet captured the communal purity with which the duo displayed for the audience at the Blue Note Tokyo on consecutive evenings in the Spring of 2005. 

Ten years on, Impulse!/Universal Music Classics are happy to publish this unique eyewitness account with a title to Charlies taste, since he often referred to himself as an adagio guy. Tokyo Adagio is both a tribute and a testament to the nobility of his inimitable grace; through this release the spirit of Charlie Haden will endure. Despite the 26-year gap in our ages, he never treated me as an inferior in any sense. We had each other s confidence. We could talk about politics, life, family, business. Spending so much time with him, I learned not only about music, but also about being. Our connection was about love, for the music and for our families, and for each other. ~ Gonzalo Rubalcaba https://www.amazon.com/Tokyo-Adagio-Charlie-Haden/dp/B00WFKXPKK

Personnel: Gonzalo Rubalcaba (piano);  Charlie Haden (bass).

Tokyo Adagio

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Donald Harrison - This is Jazz

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:21
Size: 129,3 MB
Art: Front

( 9:29)  1. Cut & Paste
( 9:52)  2. MSRP
( 5:32)  3. You Are My Sunshine
(11:32)  4. Seven Steps to Heaven
( 8:45)  5. I Can't Get Started
(11:09)  6. Treme Swagger

Saxophonist Donald Harrison's name is writ large on the cover of This Is Jazz, but the album is a collaborative trio in every sense. After all, playing with legendary bassist Ron Carter and drummer extraordinaire Billy Cobham could never be equated with simply hiring sidemen. Recorded live at New York's Blue Note, the six tracks on this album take post- bop expansion to exemplary heights and keep it there for the duration. Harrison has a tight but wandering presence on alto. He drifts off into almost spacey places as he improvises, with peculiar trills and off-key runs, but in doing so he stays fairly close to the beats and, ultimately, the melodies as well. He does a masterful job of engaging in serious explorations without dissolving the framework of the songs.

Carter, with five decades of professional experience and an unparalleled list of cohorts, can play anywhere he wants, for as long as he wants, and he takes full advantage of his seniority. This Is Jazz shows him not only as a great rhythm bassist, but also as an exceptional soloist. He's always rock-solid behind Harrison, but really shines in his solo improvisations, bouncing around against the drums, or, in the case of "You Are My Sunshine," simply playing the whole song by himself. Part of the thrill can be credited to recording engineer Steve Remote of Aurasonic, Ltd. who captures the woodiness, vibrations and scale of the acoustic bass, instead of just low-note tones. The drums are the most understated element of the trio, but the skins are also where the album reveals its deepest subtlety. Cobham is an elegant drummer, with stick work that is supportive and unerringly tasteful, but also quietly complex. Seemingly content in the rhythm role, Cobham doesn't take a solo until the fourth track, Victor Feldman/Miles Davis' "Seven Steps To Heaven," and even then his statement is a tightly considered against the composition. Cobham's drumming reveals class and an attention to detail that should be studied and emulated. This record features three masters showing all the world how this music is really played. Combining a first-rate set list, equal measures of exceptional soloing and ensemble playing, and an energy that should be bottled, This is Jazz truly lives up to its name. ~ Greg Simmons https://www.allaboutjazz.com/this-is-jazz-donald-harrison-half-note-records-review-by-greg-simmons.php
 

Personnel: Donald Harrison: alto saxophone; Ron Carter: bass; Billy Cobham: drums.

This is Jazz

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Preston Reed - Handwritten Notes

Styles: Guitar, Contemporary Jazz 
Year: 2000
File: MP3@256K/s
Time: 55:47
Size: 102,4 MB
Art: Front

(4:58)  1. Night Ride
(3:42)  2. Gianaina
(4:28)  3. First summer without you
(3:50)  4. Tractor pull
(4:45)  5. Crossing open water
(3:01)  6. The Groove is Real
(5:02)  7. What you don't see
(3:22)  8. Accelerator
(3:59)  9. Love in the Old Country
(3:28) 10. Along The Perimeter
(4:33) 11. Lost time
(3:35) 12. Quintana roo
(3:58) 13. After the rain
(3:00) 14. Shinkansen

Preston Reed is a guitarist of many parts - so many parts that when he brings them all into play, first time listeners often find it impossible to believe that they're hearing just the one musician, in real time. At full tilt, Reed's fingers, thumbs, fists and hands at once suggest a drummer, keyboardist, bassist and several guitarists at work. It's a dizzying, exhilarating phenomenon. A portrait of the acoustic guitar as full-on heavy metal band. But impressions of rock bands - and high speed trains and duelling, pulling tractors - are only one side of Reed. While acknowledging that somewhere inside him there is a screaming electric guitarist pacing like a caged lion, Reed is also a player of deep sensitivity who can compose and play a blues or a ballad with a touch reminiscent of his great jazz piano-playing hero, Bill Evans. Reed's entry into this guitar odyssey was inauspicious enough, his path thereafter largely self-discovered. A few chords learned from his guitar playing father, a brief, very brief, flirtation with the ukulele, clandestine practice sessions of his favourite Beatles and Stones songs on Dads guitar.... and then a too-strict classical guitar teacher led to premature retirement.  At 16, however, Reed heard Jefferson Airplane's rootsy blues offshoot, Hot Tuna. His interest was rekindled big time. Acoustic guitar heroes John Fahey and Leo Kottke were studied, their styles absorbed but not imitated, and at this point things really begin to get interesting because, at 17, Reed, by now precociously proficient, played his first live gig, supporting beat poet Allen Ginsberg at the Smithsonian Institute.

Just getting on a train from his native Armonk in New York state to Washington was a cool adventure. And it was just the first of many, not least of which was the one which resulted from his signing his first deal with a major record company, MCA, through the auspices of his friend, country singer-songwriter Lyle Lovett. Determined to make the most of this opportunity, Reed pushed himself to go beyond the standard fingerpicking styles he'd perfected. The result was the beginnings of the startlingly innovative style, with its percussive, two-handed fretboard attack, that you hear today and which as caused guitar luminaries such as Al DiMeola and the late Michael Hedges to describe Reed as "phenomenal" and "inspiring". Reed's compositional talents extend to film soundtracks and prestigious commissions for the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet, and as well as appearances alongside Bonnie Raitt and Linda Ronstadt his major performances include an historic live satellite broadcast on Turkish National Television in 1997 with renowned saz player and composer Arif Sag which reached an audience of 120 million in 17 countries, prompting a flood of international telephone calls to the station from stunned viewers.  Since 1979, he has recorded thirteen albums and three videos and charmed audiences on three continents. He continues to tour with the same hunger and relish that informs his guitar playing and he gives regular workshops where he passes on the techniques he has developed for extending the acoustic guitar's possibilities. The secret, he says, is to relax and let the guitar patterns run by themselves. Which explains how, at full tilt, he may sound like a full-on heavy metal band but he still won't have broken sweat. http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/prestonreed

Handwritten Notes

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