Jacky Terrasson - Push

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:46
Size: 130,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:14)  1. Gaux Girl
(5:59)  2. Beat It/Body and Soul
(7:39)  3. Ruby My Dear
(3:36)  4. Beat Bop
(6:23)  5. 'Round Midnight
(4:10)  6. Morning
(7:00)  7. My Church
(4:13)  8. Say Yeah
(3:26)  9. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
(3:15) 10. Carry Me Away
(5:45) 11. O Café, O Soleil

There are three qualities about pianist Jacky Terrasson's music that make it irresistible and riveting. The first is that it dances interminably. Secondly, it is jagged and angular an epithet often used to describe the music of Thelonious Monk and which suits Terrasson well as, even with his singularly distinctive voice, he is genealogically connected. Finally, Terrasson has a penchant for a playful, almost puckish, interpretation, where humor is implicit. As such he negotiates all melodies, even those that are contemplative, with sparkling and almost child-like candor. Above all, of course, Terrasson plays piano with devastatingly beautiful expression, sublime technique and incomparable virtuosity.  Push, then, is absolutely classic Terrasson. It is full of double entendre, unbridled ideation and luminosity. Like Monk, his muse, Terrasson's solos are abstruse. This is because his purported approach is never linear, but is instead curved and if he can get away with it, inside out. He attacks melodies askance, sometimes taking cues for his solo excursions from the third or fourth line in a verse. He is decidedly phonetic in his choice of notes, when expressing melodic invention in a kind of "E Flat's Ah Flat too" sort of way. Thus, he sometimes makes the most unlikely sequence of notes fit mellifluously. His soloing seems to come from deep within his lean guts, careening through his lean body and gaunt shoulders, and flung as if waved on by a magical wand onto the keyboard, where his fingers settle their scores with the keys.

On Push, Terrasson saves some of his most inventive work for the Monk songs "Ruby My Dear," which is played with abject tenderness, as if pleading Monk's case for an old sweetheart, and "'Round Midnight," a magical crepuscular sketch, which gads about, ultimately losing its mind with lonely splendor. His harmonic treatment of "Beat It" and "Body and Soul," tagged together here, turns the fleetingly familiar phrases of the melodies into an ad libitum essay that ultimately enriches the music as it veers way off course before eventually returning to the original melodies, almost as a codicil. "My Church" and "Say Yeah" contain some refreshingly beautiful "preaching of the Gospel" amid dazzling improvised parts, the latter with vocals and the rhythmic inflections of Brazilian percussionist, Cyro Baptista one of several guest appearances. Terrasson's treatment of "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" is wonderfully irreverent full of crushed notes and mashed chords. "Carry Me Away" is elegiac and luminous, and features some wonderful percussion from Baptista, and guitar from Matthew Stevens. Also memorable is the work of the extraordinarily talented harmonicist Gregoire Maret, who whose solo on "Ruby My Dear" echoes the song's implicit heartbreak, and that of tenor saxophonist Jacques Schwarz-Bart on "Morning." But in the guts of the music is bassist Ben Williams and drummer Jamire Williams, who underscore its utter beauty throughout the album. ~ Raul D’Gama Rose https://www.allaboutjazz.com/push-jacky-terrasson-concord-music-group-review-by-raul-dgama-rose.php
 

Personnel: Jacky Terrasson: piano, keyboards, vocals; Ben Williams: bass; Jamire Williams: drums; Gregoire Maret: harmonica (3, 8); Jacques Schwarz-Bart: tenor saxophone (6); Matthew Stevens: guitar (8); Cyro Baptista: percussion (8, 10, 11).

Push

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Johanna Grussner - Lazy Afternoon

Styles: Vocal Jazz 
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:51
Size: 114,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:57)  1. Lazy Afternoon
(2:52)  2. It Never Entered My Mind
(3:54)  3. I Can't Make You Love Me
(3:59)  4. My Foolish Heart
(3:54)  5. A Natural Woman
(2:59)  6. They Can't Take That Away From Me
(4:29)  7. Caught Up In The Rapture
(3:59)  8. Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing
(4:18)  9. Day By Day
(4:58) 10. Willow Weep For Me
(3:11) 11. Let's Stay Together
(3:42) 12. It's Alright With Me
(2:32) 13. When I Fall In Love

Johanna Grüssner is from the Åland Islands in Finland. She studied in Sweden before moving to Boston. She is a Berklee and Manhattan School graduate. Grüssner made headlines in major U.S. television broadcasting companies in 2001 when she had trained her Bronx public school children to sing groovy gospel, and touring her native Finland. She made a particular impression on New York Times journalist Anemona Hartocollis, who wrote the book Seven Days of Possibilities, describing Grüssner's ambitious dedication.  Grüssner has recorded several albums with pianist Mika Pohjola. Additionally she has performed and recorded with her Manhattan Jazz Orchestra and Grammy award winning musicians Darmon Meader and Peter Eldridge. Her quintet, featuring drummer Antonio Sanchez, guitarists Miles Okazaki and Paul Pesonen and bassist Hans Glawischnig recorded for the Swedish Prophone-Naxos Jazz label in 2002. A follow-up album was recorded two years later. Johanna Grüssner is currently based in Stockholm, Sweden where she is a busy performer and teacher.

All Things Considered: Ten years ago, jazz singer Johanna Grüssner moved to New York from Finland to study music and pursue stardom. Instead, she discovered a second love teaching music to 10, 11 and 12-year olds at P.S. 86, an underprivileged Bronx school. Nine out of 10 students enrolled at the school were poor. Only four in 10 spoke English; only two in 10 could read at grade level. Many were considered troublemakers and underachievers. Hoping to show the students what they were capable of, Grüssner formed a children's choir. Three and a half years ago, the group traveled to the Åland Islands, Grüssner's homeland, for a performance that captivated their hosts. Their story is chronicled in the new book Seven Days of Possibilities, by New York Times education reporter Anemona Hartocollis. Shortly after that performance in Finland, Grüssner left the states. This summer, Grüssner reunited with many of her former students for one last performance. NPR's Claudio Sanchez talks with the students about what the experience meant to them. http://en.johannagrussner.com/biography

Lazy Afternoon

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George Cables - Morning Song

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:19
Size: 127,3 MB
Art: Front

(7:16)  1. Green Dolphin Street
(4:49)  2. Who Can I Turn To
(3:27)  3. The Stroll
(3:42)  4. I Remember Clifford
(6:42)  5. Morning Song
(6:58)  6. Up Jumped Spring
(5:01)  7. Little B's Poem
(4:10)  8. As Time Goes By
(7:42)  9. Quiet Fire
(5:28) 10. Polka Dots and Moonbeams

Morning Song, a recently discovered live set from 1980 led by the great George Cables, is a tale of two gigs. While the quartet performances are middling, Cables' overall dynamism, particularly on his solo piano turns, lifts the disc above mediocrity. The rhythm section of Cables, bassist John Heard and drummer Sherman Ferguson, is excellent, with the leader constantly inspiring Heard and Ferguson to meet his harmonic challenges. Heard's pizzicato on "Up Jumped Spring" is luminous; it also drives the Latin burner "Quiet Fire," with Ferguson finding an extra gear in his drum kit to complement Cables' flurries. The quartet is weakened, however, by Eddie Henderson, a fine trumpet player who clearly had a bad night. Throughout Morning Song his playing is fragmentary, distracted, sometimes sounding like he's catching his breath instead of blowing. On "Up Jumped Spring" Henderson is breathless and off-key. He rallies somewhat as each tune progresses and even comes up with a few interesting ideas and sustained riffs, but the overall effort is shaky.

Ultimately it's Cables' piano that saves Morning Song. He mines jazz's heavier elements, fusing Bud Powell's feeling, Fats Waller's juke joint geniality and Art Tatum's quick wit into his own transformative lyricism. For example, he gives perfunctory nods to the melancholia and sentimentality of "Who Can I Turn To" and the misty-eyed "I Remember Clifford" before redefining them in his image with sparkling runs of boundless invention. Bobby Hutcherson's "Stroll" begins with the measured pace the title implies but eventually cascades of notes burst forth. "As Time Goes By" becomes a skip through a meadow and he turns the ballad "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" into a lively hard bop exposition. The glorious paradox is that Cables plays like someone who's familiar with the piano's most subtle nuances, yet is experiencing the joy of truly discovering the instrument for the first time. He explores each song carefully, interpreting it with depth and beauty. Morning Song shows why alto saxman Art Pepper named Cables as his favorite pianist and dubbed him "Mr. Beautiful." ~ Terrell Kent Holmes https://www.allaboutjazz.com/morning-song-george-cables-highnote-records-review-by-terrell-kent-holmes.php
 

Personnel: George Cables: piano; Eddie Henderson: trumpet; John Heard: bass; Sherman Ferguson: drums.

Morning Song

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Daniel Freedman - Imagine That

Styles:  Jazz, Bop
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:21
Size: 113,8 MB
Art: Front

(5:28)  1. Determined Soul
(6:02)  2. Baby Aya
(4:46)  3. Big in Yemen
(5:07)  4. Codex
(7:08)  5. Mindaho
(5:26)  6. Love Takes Time
(6:31)  7. Eastern Elegy
(8:49)  8. The Sisters Dance

Few can match drummer Daniel Freedman when it comes to pan-stylistic jazz presentations that cut across cultural lines. This lifelong New Yorker has found a way to bridge sonic worlds, erase boundary lines, and merge various musical languages in masterful fashion in his own work and in support of others. It's no wonder why the best of the best the one and only Sting, West African superstar Angelique Kidjo, and Israeli clarinet queen Anat Cohen, to mention three have called on Freedman. He isn't nearly as well-known as he should be at this point, due in no small part to the fact that his sideman duties take up much of his time, but with each successive release under his own name he furthers his reputation as one of the most open-minded drummer-leaders on record.  Imagine That, Freedman's third album, is a logical next step given what appeared on its predecessor Bamako By Bus (Anzic Records, 2012). It's a global feast for the senses built by one of the most intriguing multicultural units assembled in recent times. What emerges, with Brooklynite Jason Lindner manning the keys, Benin-born sensation Lionel Loueke on guitar, Israeli Omer Avital holding things down on bass, and Brazilian percussionist Gilmar Gomes adding rhythmic spice to the mix, is a beyond-category hybridized form of music. Pan-African presentations, Carnatic ideals, Middle Eastern sounds, blues-tinged suggestions, modern jazz tides, and more all come into the picture at one time or another. The grooves are deep, the harmonies are intriguing, and the end result is something that's both smart and stirring.

This band gets down on the dance floor right out of the gate with Lindner's "Determined Soul," a piece with pseudo-Afrobeat undercurrents and Indian inflections. It's the first of many rhythmically rousing numbers on the bill, and each one relies on different source material and stylized directions. There's Freedman's "Baby Aya," a cradle song that morphs into a celebration and features Loueke and Kidjo, making her lone guest appearance, on vocals; "Big In Yemen," built on a "Yemeni/Bahia hybrid" groove cooked up by Freedman and Gomes; Loueke's "Mindaho," a hypnotic, slow-building roamer that features some of the guitarist's most entrancing playing on record; and the Gnawa-influenced "The Sisters Dance," uplifted by inspired contributions from Gomes and some fiery, barbed guitar work from Loueke. In other places, Freedman and company prove to be just as engaging without putting such a premium on rhythmic dialogue. Radiohead's "Codex," for example, moves from a cinematic space to a pure rock environment. Then there's "Love Takes Time," an undiluted soul experience, and "Eastern Elegy," a universal threnody of a sort that tugs at the heartstrings and features some incredibly moving bass work from Avital. With the eight numbers presented here, Daniel Freedman manages to prove that seemingly dissimilar musics, much like people, can prove to be completely compatible. Imagine that. ~ Dan Bilawsky https://www.allaboutjazz.com/imagine-that-daniel-freedman-anzic-records-review-by-dan-bilawsky.php

Personnel: Lionel Loueke: guitar, vocals; Jason Lindner: piano, keyboards; Omer Avital: bass, oud (3); Gilmar Gomes: percussion; Daniel Freedman: drums; Angélique Kidjo: vocals (2).

Imagine That

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Hiroshima - Little Tokyo

Styles: Jazz Fusion, Big Band
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:08
Size: 117,8 MB
Art: Front

(5:25)  1. Midnite Sun
(4:59)  2. On The Fence
(4:12)  3. Lanai
(3:37)  4. Red Beans and Rice
(4:32)  5. Sir Charles
(5:41)  6. Hidden Times
(4:25)  7. Shades of Honor
(5:14)  8. Quan Yin
(4:33)  9. Drama
(4:19) 10. Hiro Chill
(4:05) 11. Little Tokyo Underground

Something seems to happen to many bands after they enter 20 to 25 years of making music. They seem to run out of new and interesting things to say and pretty soon all they do is recycle the same scant ideas over and over as they become dim parodies of themselves. You see this happen all the time in rock 'n roll where, too often, making money takes precedence over having anything new and fresh to say. How fortunate it is that Hiroshima doesn't play rock. If anything the band has stayed fresh and innovative by merging jazz, R&B, and world music with an awesome array of Japanese percussion and other native instruments like June Kuramoto's koto. Hiroshima makes some truly diverse and interesting music and Little Tokyo, its fourteenth album, is the second consecutive release without a featured vocalist. The decision to eschew a singer is a smart move by Hiroshima as it puts the music first instead of merely sounding like the back-up band. Dan Kuramoto's mournful tenor sax offsets the booming taiko drums of Shoji Kameda and Kenny Endo, as June Kuramoto's koto solidifies the Far Eastern roots of the group and sets the tone for the rest of the album. Kimo Cornwell's piano and keyboards are standouts, particularly so on "On the Fence," and again as he trades off with keyboardist James Lloyd from Pieces of A Dream as he sits in on the lovely "Lanai."

Just because Hiroshima can play it sophisticated and stylish doesn't mean they can't get down. "Red Beans and Rice," by Cornwell, is an homage by the band to the spirit and culture of New Orleans as it struggles to rise again from the disaster of Hurricane Katrina, showing off some nasty-as-he-wanna-be bass by Dean Cortez. There has been an ongoing love affair between Hiroshima and black American music since the band began in 1979. They don't just want to sit back and close your eyes in blissful contemplation; they want you to get up and dance or at the very least snap your fingers, bob your head and shake your groove thing. "Drama," "Hiro Chill" and "Little Tokyo Underground" are all designed provoke such a reaction. Unlike some bands whose attempts to jam seem contrived and calculated, Hiroshima never lapses into a parody of a dance band. Its foundation is, first and foremost, a jazz band that knows how to groove and when to lay back and soothe. Little Tokyo is ample evidence Hiroshima is still rising and advancing as a musical force to be reckoned with and respected. There's no danger of them joining the country fair circuit of broken-down oldies bands dutifully cranking out tired version of past hits. Dan Kuramoto and the rest of Hiroshima are still challenging themselves, making innovative music and having fun in the process. ~ Jeff Winbush https://www.allaboutjazz.com/little-tokyo-hiroshima-heads-up-international-review-by-jeff-winbush.php
 

Personnel: June Kuramoto: koto; Dan Kuramoto: tenor and soprano saxophone, flute, keyboards, synthesizer, percussion, shakuhachi; Kimo Cornwell: piano, synthesizer, rhodes, clavinet; Danny Yamamoto: drums; Dean Cortez: bass; Shoji Kameda: taiko, percussion, voice; Dean Taba: acoustic bass (1, 6, 8, 10); Kenny Endo: taiko, percussion (1, 6-8, 11); Richie Gajate Garcia: conga, percussion (1, 5, 7, 8); James Lloyd: keyboards, synthesizers (2); Mary Garcia: coquito (5); Leslie Chew: guitars (9).

Little Tokyo

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