Sunday, September 18, 2016

André Previn - The Popular Previn: André Previn Play's Today's Big Hits

Styles: Piano Jazz 
Year: 1965
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 32:42
Size: 80,3 MB
Art: Front

(2:58)  1. One Note Samba
(2:50)  2. People (from 'Funny Girl')
(2:26)  3. Bluesette
(2:34)  4. Call Me Irresponsible
(3:02)  5. Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars (Corcovado)
(2:23)  6. Kiss Me, Stupid
(2:11)  7. Never You Mind
(3:23)  8. The Girl from Impanema
(3:01)  9. Gravy Waltz
(2:24) 10. Sunrise, Sunset (from 'Fiddler On The Roof')
(2:55) 11. Manha de Carnaval
(2:30) 12. Goodbye Charlie (from 'Goodbye Charlie')

One of the most versatile musicians on the planet, André Previn has amassed considerable credentials as a jazz pianist, despite carving out separate lives first as a Hollywood arranger and composer, and then as a world-class classical conductor, pianist, and composer. Always fluid, melodic, and swinging, with elements of Bud Powell, Oscar Peterson, and Horace Silver mixed with a faultless technique, Previn didn't change much over the decades but could always be counted upon for polished, reliable performances at the drop of a hat. He started piano lessons in his native Berlin before the Nazi threat forced his family to move to Paris in 1938 and the U.S. the following year. Settling in Los Angeles, the wunderkind Previn began working as a jazz pianist, an arranger for MGM, and a recording artist for Sunset Records while still in high school and by his 18th year, his first recordings for RCA Victor had racked up substantial sales. Originally swing-oriented, Previn discovered bop in 1950 just before his induction into the Army.

Upon returning to Los Angeles, Previn went into overdrive, gigging as a jazz pianist, scoring films, and playing chamber music. Forming a smooth boppish trio with Shelly Manne and Leroy Vinnegar, Previn scored a huge crossover hit with an album of jazz interpretations of My Fair Lady, which in turn led to a series of likeminded albums of Broadway scores and kicked off an industry trend. By 1962, Previn started to make the transition away from Hollywood toward becoming a full-time classical conductor, dropping his jazz activities entirely. He stayed away from jazz for 27 years, with the exceptions of a handful of sessions with Ella Fitzgerald and classical violinist/dabbler Itzhak Perlman. Indeed, in 1984, he was quoted as saying that jazz was "an expendable art form" for him. But in March 1989, shortly before resigning from the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a dispute with management, Previn returned to jazz with a trio album for Telarc with Ray Brown and Joe Pass, showing that he had not lost an iota of his abilities. Subsequently, he returned frequently to the studio as a jazz pianist for Telarc, Angel, Deutsche Grammophon, and DRG when not freelancing as a conductor or composing classical scores. ~ Richard S. Ginell  https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/andre-previn/id702496#fullText

Personnel:  André Previn, piano;  Marty Paich, conductor

The Popular Previn: André Previn Play's Today's Big Hits

Rufus & Chaka - Masterjam

Styles: Vocal, Funk, Soul 
Year: 1979
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:29
Size: 92,2 MB
Art: Front

(4:29)  1. Do You Love What You Feel
(4:52)  2. Any Love
(3:47)  3. Heaven Bound
(4:07)  4. Walk The Rockway
(3:54)  5. Live In Me
(5:58)  6. Body Heat
(4:34)  7. I'm Dancing For Your Love
(4:06)  8. What Am I Missing?
(3:37)  9. Masterjam

As Khan released her first solo album, I'm Every Woman, the band released 1978's Numbers, sans Khan, and it went absolutely nowhere. Masterjam finds them back together, renamed Rufus and Chaka, with Quincy Jones producing the effort. Khan had worked with Jones on his 1978 album, Sounds...And Stuff Like That. The most striking thing about Masterjam is that is doesn't sound like a trademark Rufus effort. Jones' production style is so strong that the band's individual sound is all but lost. It's nothing to cry about, since Jones was at his R&B/pop peak and Rufus couldn't do it any better on their own. The album's first track is "Do What You Love What You Feel," with its subtle horn riffs arranged by Jerry Hey and vocals from guitarist Tony Maiden and Khan. On a track somewhat close to a ballad, the brilliantly arranged "Heaven Bound," Jones gets a good raw vocal from Khan. A frequent Jones collaborator, Rod Temperton, offers the title track and the even better "Live in Me." The album's only low point was a cover of Jones' own "Body Heat." On this version the pace is quickened, inexplicably turned into disco which revealed the lyrics to be paper-thin. Although Masterjam was just more of a Quincy Jones album than a Rufus effort, this ended up being one of the groups' last successful full-studio endeavors. ~ Jason Elias http://www.allmusic.com/album/masterjam-mw0000096521

Personnel: Chaka Khan (vocals, background vocals); Tony Maiden (vocals, guitar); David "Hawk" Wolinski, Kevin Murphy (vocals, keyboards); Bobby Watson (vocals); Sid Sharp (strings); Kim Hutchcroft (flute, saxophone, horns); Larry Williams (flute, saxophone, wind); Gary Grant, Larry Hall (trumpet, flugelhorn, horns); Jerry Hey (trumpet, flugelhorn); Lew McCreary, William Frank "Bill" Reichenbach Jr. (trombone); Seawind (horns); John "J.R." Robinson (drums, hand claps, percussion); George A. Johnson, Jr. , Louis Johnson, Richard Heath (hand claps, percussion).

Masterjam

Joshua Douglas Smith - Unstuck in Time

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@256K/s
Time: 64:46
Size: 118,9 MB
Art: Front

( 8:09)  1. I'll Be Seeing You
( 7:46)  2. Unstuck in Time
( 8:51)  3. Food For Beauty
( 5:37)  4. Like Someone In Love
( 8:47)  5. So It Goes
( 7:35)  6. Good Hair Day
( 7:17)  7. African Flower
(10:41)  8. Toy Tune

“ Still not yet 22 – he was born in New York on August 24, 1982…, Joshua displays his rapidly growing confidence and maturity…The outcome is an invaluable, focussed snapshot of his artistic development …” (Mark Gardner)

Personnel: Joshua Douglas Smith (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Ben Monder (guitar); Billy Hart (drums);  Ron McClure (bass).

Unstuck in Time