Raphael Wressnig - True Blue

Size: 116,7 MB
Time: 50:13
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2011
Styles: Jazz
Art: Front

01. Little Sheri (5:02)
02. The Jody Grind (4:45)
03. Angel Eyes (7:08)
04. Minor Chant (3:13)
05. That's Enough (4:48)
06. The Party (7:17)
07. I Can't Take It No Mo' (6:48)
08. Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child (6:08)
09. One Mo' Blues (5:00)

Raphael Wressnig, based in Austria but frequently on the road, is not your ordinary B-3 organ player. He’s actually one of a kind: a young master of the imposing, large instrument who is expansive in his breadth of expertise. He’s technically fluent in the blues, in jazz, in soul, and in funk, and he concocts exciting mixed-genre music from his fervid imagination. Versatile Wressnig doesn’t flaunt his virtuosic talent for the sake of spectacle but rather backs up his every movement on the keyboards, the drawbar and the bass pedal boards with a fierce emotional commitment. Influenced by royal predecessors like Jimmy Smith, Shirley Scott, Booker T. Jones and Joe Zawinul, Wressnig has taken his music throughout Europe and all over the world, from North Africa and Asia to the Middle East to the United States, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and the Caribbean. This self-effacing musician, a native of Graz in southeast Austria, has recorded at least 16 feature albums and appeared as a guest on about 30 others. In 2013, 2015 & 2016, he was honored with a nomination for best organ player of the year in Downbeat Magazine.

True Blue

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Inga Swearingen - Let Me Call This Home

Size: 120,0 MB
Time: 51:46
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2016
Styles: Jazz/Folk Vocals
Art: Front

01. Message In A Bottle (5:41)
02. Edge Of Town (5:15)
03. Find My Way (4:36)
04. This City Never Sleeps (6:26)
05. Blossom Blue (4:43)
06. Edie (5:32)
07. Wood And Steel (5:07)
08. New (5:14)
09. I Don't Need No Doctor (4:31)
10. Short Trip Home (4:33)

Inga Swearingen's highly anticipated fourth album, Let Me Call This Home speaks of the yin and yang pull of home, having a longing for it, and wanting to leave it to ultimately come home again.

“Sometimes home is a place, other times it's a person. You can long for it, or want to leave it. And songs can take you home or take you far away," says Swearingen. "There is a constant to my sense of home, and it's also ever changing. I love the people I love, and no matter where I am, I carry them with me and I am home. But I also must leave to be able to come back. The songs on this album express this pull and yearning."

Swearingen compares the building of this album to building a house. Pouring a good foundation musically translates into putting down solid grooves on which the songs are built. The album easily interchanges time signatures and feels, giving the arrangements sophistication and intrigue, but always serving the mood and message of the song. Continuing the analogy, walls are then built with rich harmony that is sometimes complex and dissonant and other times simple and nostalgic. These song structures support well-crafted melodies that are the roofs over houses where loved ones gather and experience the many facets of life. It all comes together to create a space that invites you to kick off your shoes and stay awhile in this house of jazz, folk and blues.

The fullness of the album, six original tracks, is the collaboration between Swearingen and Jeff Miley, an imaginative, provocative LA based guitarist who co-wrote, produced and mixed much of the album. Tracks Edge of Town and Wood and Steel uncover the paradox of being away from home to really appreciate it. Swearingen’s own Find My Way Home is a melodic testament to taking what life gives her and handling it beautifully. The song is enhanced with Inga’s signature scatting and the beautiful backing vocals of Moira Smiley. The album mixes in the compelling renditions of 80’s pop hits Message in a Bottle by The Police and This City Never Sleeps by the Eurythmics, connecting the listener to the shared experience of isolation. Ray Charles' I Don’t Need No Doctor delights with a front-porch blues romp featuring the brilliant harmonica playing of multiple Grammy-Award Winner Howard Levy. The last track Short Trip Home with music by Edgar Meyer and lyrics by Swearingen speaks to home by simply closing ones eyes to be with that person that is one's own solace. Altogether, the album is about love, longing and finding your way home.

Let Me Call This Home Instrumentation
Inga Swearingen - Vocals, acoustic guitar, resophonic guitar
Britta Swearingen - Cajon, vocals
Jeff Miley - Acoustic steel string and nylon string guitars, electric guitars, banjo, vocals
Dylan Johnson - Bass
Brian Kilgore - Percussion
Zac Mathews - Bass on "Edge of Town", "Edie" and "I Don't Need No Doctor"
Joel Alpers - Drums on "Edge of Town", "Edie" and "I Don't Need No Doctor"
Special Guests - Char Rothschild - Trumpet on "This City Never Sleeps"
Howard Levy - Harmonica on "I Don't Need No Doctor"
Guy Budd - Guitar solo on "I Don't Need No Doctor"
Moira Smiley - Vocals on "Find My Way"
Bob Liepman - Cello on "Short Trip Home"
Aaron Wolf - Alto sax on "Short Trip Home"

Let Me Call This Home

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Torun Eriksen - Grand White Silk

Size: 100,9 MB
Time: 39:17
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2016
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. The Opening (3:52)
02. More (3:12)
03. Take My Time (3:40)
04. Downhill (4:18)
05. Compromise (3:27)
06. Right Here (4:10)
07. Winter Today (4:24)
08. Darkness (2:54)
09. I´ve Been Thinking (4:09)
10. Grand White Silk (5:06)

Torun Eriksen presents Grand White Silk. Few songwriters can perform their material with such unobtrusive self-awareness as Torun Eriksen: she possesses many strengths as a lyricist, as a composer, as a singer. On Grand White Silk, she has pulled off the rare feat of playing to all of these enviable strengths with equal vitality and conviction. When you have set standards as high as Torun already has, all that remains to be done is aim higher: her aim has proven true, with a set of songs and performances that crown her work to date. Lyrically, the album draws on the place of the everyday amid the universal - those "little things we begin not to notice, that are important to us, yet we are blind to them through familiarity." Love; shame; self-acceptance; connections physical, emotional and electronic; contradictory feelings common to the modern world; the ability to simply breathe and accept a passing moment for what it is without question; the brief and frail existence of any individual within a universe without a visible, tangible beginning or end; all of this informs Grand White Silk, and it is delivered with images rich, poignant, sometimes seeming quotidian, at other times fragile and ethereal. Whether amid a lush arrangement with vast dynamic sweep, or against a sparse solo piano accompaniment, or against a juggernaut beat that seems close to unstoppable, Torun's sensitivity to her lyrical content is revealed time and time again by measured performances that are emotionally charged without melodrama, philosophical without cold intellectualism, meditative without haziness. Her distinctive tone, perfect phrasing and sensual delivery has few peers. Grand White Silk sets a new high-water mark for an already impressive career. Features: David Wallumrød on keys, André Berg on guitar, Kjetil Dalland on bass and Andreas Bye on drums.

Grand White Silk

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Judy Roderick - Ain't Nothin' But The Blues

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 34:22
Size: 78.7 MB
Styles: Blues vocals
Year: 1964/1990
Art: Front

[2:20] 1. Wild Women Don't Sing The Blues
[2:38] 2. Come Back Baby
[3:35] 3. Brother, Can You Spare A Dime
[2:48] 4. Mamma Goes Where Pappa Goes
[2:33] 5. Baltimore Oriole
[2:25] 6. Miss Brown To You
[2:03] 7. He Was A Friend Of Mine
[3:21] 8. Blues On My Ceiling
[2:31] 9. I'm Going To Live The Life I Sing About In My Song
[3:20] 10. Things About Going My Way
[3:17] 11. Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying
[3:26] 12. Moanin' Low

Harmonica – John Hammond, Jr.; Piano, Organ, Conductor – Bobby Scott; Trombone – Lou McGarity; Trumpet – Sidney DeParis; Vocals, Guitar – Judy Roderick.

Roderick's first album, produced by Bobby Scott and featuring John Hammond Jr. on harmonica. Columbia seemed at a loss as to how to present this young woman who belted and moaned in the style and tradition of Bessie Smith and Memphis Minnie. Arrangements vary from large to intimate. A few jewels here, including inspired readings of "He was a Friend of Mine," "Brother Can You Spare a Dime" and Hoagy Carmichael's "Baltimore Oriole." ~William Ashford

Ain't Nothin' But The Blues

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Tal Farlow - Trilogy

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:39
Size: 122.8 MB
Styles: Guitar jazz
Year: 1981/2009
Art: Front

[5:59] 1. My Shining Hour
[5:12] 2. I Hear A Rhapsody
[7:05] 3. Falling In Love With Love
[4:18] 4. If I Should Lose You
[3:58] 5. Flamingo
[4:24] 6. Angel Eyes
[6:38] 7. There Is No Greater Love
[6:06] 8. But Not For Me
[5:55] 9. The Wolf And The Lamb
[4:00] 10. Funk Among The Keys

Bass – Lyn Christie; Guitar – Tal Farlow; Piano – Mike Nock, Drums - Bob Jaspe.

This lesser-known LP was originally released by Japanese Columbia, was made available domestically by Inner City in 1981 and then went out of print when the label folded. The music is typically excellent (Tal Farlow has yet to record an unworthy date), with the very fluent bop guitarist jamming on seven standards and two originals with pianist Mike Nock, bassist Lynn Christie and (on just one song) drummer Bob Jaspe. Pick this one up if you see it. ~Scott Yanow

Trilogy

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Marcus Goldhaber - The Moment After

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:09
Size: 124.0 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[6:41] 1. Honeysuckle Rose
[4:48] 2. Like Someone In Love
[3:17] 3. Walking My Baby Back Home
[3:47] 4. Be Careful It's My Heart
[4:09] 5. That Old Feeling
[3:25] 6. Keepin' Out Of Mischief Now
[5:08] 7. Old Cape Cod
[5:44] 8. The One I Love Belongs To Somebody Else
[3:37] 9. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter
[3:27] 10. You're Gonna Hear From Me
[4:37] 11. Lulu's Back In Town
[5:22] 12. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams

Marcus Goldhaber: vocals; Jon Davis: piano; Paul Gabrielson: bass; Kyle Struve: drums; Will Terrill: drums (4,7,9,12).

Jazz vocalist Marcus Goldhaber's debut album, The Moment After, reveals quite an interesting family history. Goldhaber's love of the Great American Songbook stems from the many times his mother would gather all around the 1928 Ivers & Pond upright piano and call out to young Marcus, "This one, you should know"—in the same manner that her parents had done when she was the same age as him. In a sense, this Buffalo, New York griot (forgive me, Goldhabers) was passing along an aural tradition that worked wonders, insofar as instilling the respect and familiarity with the great tunes of the Twentieth Century. I'm sorry that the album wasn't titled "This One, You Should Know"!

Listening to The Moment After, I'm tempted to say that Marcus Goldhaber sounds like someone else. The press sheet suggests that Goldhaber will remind you of John Pizzarelli, Harry Connick, Jr., Chet Baker, Michael Bublé and a young Frank Sinatra, and I have the distinct feeling that he is being marketed as someone worthy of joining the above circle of male vocalists. Goldhaber does indeed bear lots of similarities, especially to Pizzarelli and Baker, and that is to his credit. His voice, however, is not quite as distinctive as either's, but let's give him points for trying.

Always looking to judge a new jazz vocalist by his material and delivery, I was impressed. Goldhaber inserts rarely heard verses that work quite well, dramatically. The opener, the Waller/Rasaf "Honeysuckle Rose," is a good example. The balladic verse opens up into a swinging refrain, and during the instrumental break, pianist Jon Davis turns this number into a hand-clapper. Likewise on the Turk/Ablert piece "Walking My Baby Back Home," another Pizzarelli staple, Goldhaber makes use of the same sense of mid-tempo swing that the guitarist/singer has employed so successfully. Other intriguing use of verses occur on "Be Careful, It's My Heart," from the pen of Irving Berlin, and the Waller/Rasaf tune "Keepin' Out Of Mischief Now." On the ballads, Goldhaber uses more of his upper register, suggesting the attitude and style of Chet Baker, as on his performance of the Van Heusen/Burke piece "Like Someone in Love" or the Brown/Fain standard "That Old Feeling." I don't believe that Goldhaber is purposefully invoking the styles of Baker or Pizzarelli—rather, he seems to gravitate towards that style as a personal preference, and for that reason, I consider him much more of a jazz vocalist than someone like Michael Bublé. The selections continue with additional pleasantries including a version of the hard-to-find showstopper "You're Gonna Hear From Me," which was an Andre and Dory Previn song written for the mid-1960s film Inside Daisy Clover. At one time, every vocalist worth their salt was trying out that tune, but it has now virtually disappeared. ~Michael P. Gladstone

The Moment After

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Ronnie Laws - Mr. Nice Guy

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:05
Size: 82.6 MB
Styles: Jazz/Funk/Soul
Year: 1983/2010
Art: Front

[4:09] 1. Can't Save Tomorrow
[3:44] 2. Mr. Nice Guy
[3:33] 3. In The Groove
[4:57] 4. Third Hour
[4:07] 5. You
[4:23] 6. Big Stars
[3:54] 7. Rolling
[3:12] 8. What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)
[4:01] 9. Off And On Again

The music Ronnie Laws created in the 80's has always tended to be miscatagorized under the name of jazz. And such as with his previous album Solid Ground this recording contains very little that resembles even jazz FUSION let alone acoustic music. What you get in both cases is wonderfully crafted modern funky pop/R&B with some pop-jazz references. Overall the music here is closer to being that of an 80's era Jr.Walker (a fact not betrayed by the fact his classic hit "What Does It Take" is covered almost by wrote here). As for this album taken on it's own Ronnie Laws has taken the slick elements he began adding as far back as 1979's Every Generation and updated them with more mid 80's elements such as lightly gated drums and hand claps. The odd chords on the excellent shuffling album opener "Can't Save Tomorrow" are innovative and like so much music of this era contains a strong inspiration from Stevie Wonder's compositional style. The same use of chords shows up on the eerie near instrumental "Rolling". In between that the album emphasizes nothing but uptempo tunes of which the bouncy title track,"In The Groove","You" and "Off And On Again" offer in abundance. Ronnie takes a few more little creative soujourns on "Third Hour" and "Big Stars" but generally keeps the sound intact and the material consistant. Those people who have been collecting Ronnie Laws recordings all along will find this yet another in a string of solid consistant recordings he's made since 1975. And for reference purposes I actually like Ronnie's smooth soul singing on these songs and never had a problem with it at all; don't many believe as me that in the case of Laws,Norman Connors and Michael Henderson that vocals actually enhance their music? Either way this is a must have for any Ronnie Laws fan.~Andrew S. Grindl

Mr. Nice Guy

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Ranee Lee, Oliver Jones - Just You, Just Me

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:33
Size: 150.1 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2005
Art: Front

[4:17] 1. Just You, Just Me
[5:11] 2. Traveling Man
[6:03] 3. Stardust
[3:59] 4. Sister Sadie
[4:18] 5. There's Nothing Left
[4:33] 6. This Is It
[5:00] 7. Images
[6:22] 8. Sad Young Men
[4:16] 9. Until I Was Loved
[6:34] 10. Guess Who
[5:41] 11. Going Home
[5:34] 12. Autumn Leaves
[3:39] 13. Just You, Just Me (Duet)

Ranee Lee is considered one of Canada's top vocalists and Oliver Jones has long been one of that country's major pianists. Although they had known each other since the early '80s, Lee and Jones had only recorded one previous full-length album together before Just You, Just Me. This quartet outing has seven standards (including quartet and duo versions of "Just You, Just Me") and five of the singer's originals. While Jones (who was coaxed out of retirement by Lee) takes many fine solos along the way, the focus is mostly on Lee, who particularly excels on the ballads, six of which are duets. Her interpretations are straightforward yet quite expressive, showing off the beauty of both her voice and the lyrics that she interprets. ~Scott Yanow

Just You, Just Me

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Cal Tjader - Latin Jazz With Cal Tjader

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 78:24
Size: 179.5 MB
Styles: Latin jazz
Year: 2014
Art: Front

[1:34] 1. Coit Tower
[3:37] 2. The Last Luff
[4:35] 3. Lucero
[3:16] 4. Mood For Milt
[2:31] 5. Raccoon Straits
[3:21] 6. Running Out
[5:59] 7. Triplet Blues
[3:49] 8. Viva Cepeda
[3:45] 9. The Continental
[3:13] 10. Star Eyes
[7:28] 11. The Grant Avenue Suite
[2:17] 12. Ode To A Beat Generation
[4:20] 13. Union Square
[4:37] 14. Sigmund Stern Groove
[3:43] 15. Skyline Waltz
[3:06] 16. Martha
[4:47] 17. Mi Guaguanco
[4:08] 18. Cubano Chant
[4:58] 19. Tu Crees Que
[3:13] 20. Stella By Starlight

Callen Radcliffe Tjader, Jr. (/ˈtʃeɪ.dər/ CHAY-der; July 16, 1925 – May 5, 1982), known as Cal Tjader, was an American Latin jazz musician, known as the most successful non-Latino Latin musician. He also explored various other jazz idioms but never abandoned the music of Cuba, the Caribbean, and Latin America, performing it until his death.

Tjader primarily played the vibraphone. He was accomplished on the drums, bongos, congas, timpani, and the piano. He worked with numerous musicians from several cultures. He is often linked to the development of Latin rock and acid jazz. Although fusing jazz with Latin music is often categorized as "Latin jazz" (or, earlier, "Afro-Cuban jazz"), Tjader's output swung freely between both styles. He won a Grammy in 1980 for his album La Onda Va Bien, capping off a career that spanned over forty years.

Latin Jazz With Cal Tjader

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Jeff Lorber - He Had A hat

Styles: Piano Jazz

Year: 2007

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 52:22

Size: 120,3 MB

Art: Front

(3:48)  1. Anthem For A New America

(4:34)  2. He Had A Hat

(4:06)  3. Grandma's Hands

(4:10)  4. Surreptitious

(4:25)  5. All Most Blues

(3:54)  6. Orchid (Chris Botti)

(2:28)  7. BC Bop

(5:35)  8. The Other Side of the Heart (Paula Cole)

(3:58)  9. Hudson

(3:52) 10. Super Fusion Unit

(3:50) 11. Eye Tunes

(3:43) 12. Requiem for Gandalf

(3:52) 13. Burn Brightly

A sophisticated showcase for his varied jazz styles, Jeff Lorber's He Had a Hat finds the pianist moving from softly funky pop-jazz numbers to a few straight-ahead swingers. Always an urbane and tasteful musician, Lorber has often found a good balance between contemporary pop oriented material and more cerebral improvisational cuts, and He Had a Hat is a prime example of this duality. To these ends, tracks like the title cut and the frenetic "Surreptitious" evince a kind of Tower of Power meets Brecker Brothers funk. Fittingly, trumpeter Randy Brecker adds his supple chops to the latter track. Similarly engaging big-band numbers like "All Most Blues" and the afterglow ballad "Orchid" bring to mind both early- and late-period Miles Davis, respectively. Also joining Lorber here are a bevy of name artists including trumpeter Chris Botti, vocalist Paula Cole, saxophonist Gerald Albright, and many others.This CD was nominated for a Grammy award in 2007 for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. ~ Matt Collar http://www.allmusic.com/album/he-had-a-hat-mw0000478929

Personnel:  Jeff Lorber – Piano & Keyboards (All Tracks);  Eric Benet – Vocals (Track 3 & 8);  Paula Cole – Vocals (Track 8);  Hubert Laws – Flute (Tracks 9 & 11);  Bob Sheppard – Tenor saxophone (Tracks 6 & 9);  Gerald Albright – Alto saxophone (Track 3);  Kirk Whalum – Tenor saxophone (Track 2);Ada Rovatti – Tenor saxophone (Track 4);  Chris Botti – Trumpet (Tracks 6 & Bonus Track);  Randy Brecker – Trumpet & Horn Arrangement (Track 4);  Jacques Voyemant – Trombone (Track 2);  Tom Scott – Horns & Horn Arrangement (Tracks 2 & 5);  Paul Jackson Jr. – Guitar (Tracks 2, 3, 4, 8 & 10);Paul Brown – Guitar (Track 3);  Russell Malone – Guitar (Track 13);  Brian Bromberg – Bass (Tracks 1, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12 & Bonus Track);  Alex Al – Bass (Tracks 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10 & 13);  Lenny Castro – Percussion (Tracks 2, 3, 9, 10, 12, 13 & Bonus Track);  Abe Laboriel Jr. – Drums (Tracks 1, 2, 3, 8 & 9); Dave Weckl – Drums (Tracks 4 & 13);  Vinnie Colaiuta – Drums (Tracks 5, 6, 7, 11, 12 & Bonus Track);  Blood, Sweat & Tears – Horns (Tracks 4, 7, 9, 11 & 13);  The Lair Studio Brass Ensemble (Tracks 5, 10 & 12);  The Krim Symphonic Orchestra – Orchestrated by Jeremy Lubbock (Tracks 1 & 8);
Bobby Colomby – Producer (All Tracks).

He Had A hat

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David Weiss - The Mirror

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:28
Size: 143,3 MB
Art: Front

(10:29)  1. Stalker
(10:27)  2. The Mirror
( 7:04)  3. Nostalghia
( 6:35)  4. Our Trip
(11:00)  5. The Sacrifice
( 7:48)  6. Love Letter to One Not Yet Met
( 9:02)  7. Mr. Jin

The ability to create music that is intellectually provocative and eminently approachable is a challenge to which many artists aspire but relatively few manage to succeed. Trumpeter Davis Weiss has certainly had the opportunity to explore both sides of the equation. In high demand over the past decade, he has worked with artists including Bob Belden, Freddie Hubbard and Tom Harrell in capacities involving performance, arrangement and transcription. But it has only been since his '01 début as a leader, Breathing Room , that he has emerged as a composer and bandleader of significance. Now with The Mirror , he demonstrates that Breathing Room was no fluke as he serves up a programme marking him as one of the more cerebral yet visceral writers to arise in recent years. With an album that is heady in both senses of the word intelligent and exhilarating Weiss emerges as one of the finest artists to mine the post bop arena, with an ability to develop longer-form composition that is clearly indebted to Wayne Shorter. Not since Dave Douglas rose to prominence in the mid-'90s has a trumpet player come along with such a perfect combination of technical prowess, unerring instinct for captivating melody, harmony and counterpoint, and sheer emotional force. A masterpiece by any definition, The Mirror deserves a place high in most listeners' top ten lists for '04 for its ability to engage more than just the ears; Weiss' compositions are remarkably visual as well. 

This is no surprise, given that Weiss has worked heavily as a freelance artist for stage and screen, citing Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky as having a profound influence on his work. Like a good filmmaker, Weiss views his compositions and his record as having a larger underlying arc. "The Stalker" may alternate between an odd-metered tempestuous vamp and a hard-swinging middle section, but it is when placed beside the more relaxed and harmonically rich title track, that a musical story begins to come forward. Weiss' themes may be deep and complicated, but they unravel at a pace that ensures they remain fresh in the mind long after their time has passed. Utilizing two ensembles a sextet for the first five pieces and an octet for the remaining two, Weiss has chosen his players well. Especially notable are alto saxophonist Myron Walden, still in his early 30s and already well-established with a robust tone and boldly lyrical style; and pianist Xavier Davis, who provides rich accompaniment, especially to Weiss, who never lets technical concerns get in the way of structural and evocative integrity in his solos. Along with five original compositions, Weiss features a piece by pianist Kevin Hays and, more importantly, closes the album with an octet version of Wayne Shorter's "Mr. Jin," bringing a deeper sense of counterpoint to the tune without losing its innate swing. A fitting homage that shows just how far he has come, Weiss draws a strong line between the past and present, The Mirror being the perfect analogy for self-examination without self-absorption. ~ John Kelman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-mirror-david-weiss-fresh-sound-new-talent-review-by-john-kelman.php

Personnel: David Weiss (trumpet), Myron Walden (alto saxophone), Xavier Davis (piano), Dwayne Burno (bass), Marcus Strickland (tenor saxophone on "Stalker," "The Mirror," "Nostalgia," "Our Trip," "The Sacrifice"), E.J. Strickland (drums on "Stalker," "The Mirror," "Nostalgia," "Our Trip," "The Sacrifice"), Craig Handy (tenor saxophone on "Love Letter to One Not Yet Met," "Mr. Jin"), Steve Davis (trombone on "Love Letter to One Not Yet Met," "Mr. Jin"), Norbert Stachel (baritone saxophone, bass clarinet on "Love Letter to One Not Yet Met," "Mr. Jin"), Nasheet Waits (drums on "Love Letter to One Not Yet Met," "Mr. Jin")

The Mirror

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Chihiro Yamanaka - Guilty Pleasure

Styles: Piano Jazz 
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:10
Size: 119,8 MB
Art: Front

(5:10)  1. Clue
(6:16)  2. Guilty Pleasure
(6:23)  3. Caught In The Rain
(4:44)  4. Life Goes On
(4:36)  5. The Nearness Of You
(5:10)  6. At Dawn
(3:41)  7. Hedge Hop
(3:47)  8. Moment Of Inertia
(1:17)  9. Guilty Pleasure Reprise
(5:25) 10. Meeting You There
(5:36) 11. Thank You Baby

Born Kiryu, Japan. Yamanaka played piano from the age of four, studying classical music and was eventually awarded the grand prize of Japan’s Gumma Fresh Talent competition. In the USA, she studied at the Berklee College Of Music, graduating in 2000. She was critically praised, winning DownBeat magazine’s award for Outstanding Performance and the IAJE (International Association of Jazz Educators) Sisters In Jazz competition, following which she toured Europe with other winners. Among many artists with whom she has performed are George Benson, Gary Burton, Terri Lyne Carrington, Curtis Fuller, George Russell and Ed Thigpen. In the early 00s she was a member of DIVA, the all-female big band led by drummer Sherrie Maricle, with which group she has played concerts and recorded. Yamanaka also played in the DIVA spin-off quintet, Five Play, with which group she played on Marlene VerPlanck’s 2003 album It’s How You Play The Game. Among musicians Yamanaka has used on her recording dates are bass players Ray Parker, Ben Street and Larry Grenadier and drummers Ben Perowsky, Rodney Green and Jeff Ballard. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/chihiro-yamanaka-mn0000283696/biography

Guilty Pleasure

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Kirk Knuffke Quartet - Big Wig

Styles: Trumpet Jazz 
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:04
Size: 155,4 MB
Art: Front

(3:54)  1. Enough
(6:09)  2. The Same
(2:14)  3. Sustain 1
(4:43)  4. Something's Always Change
(7:18)  5. Page 1 #1
(2:11)  6. Sustain 2
(7:55)  7. Normal
(7:45)  8. Charp
(2:44)  9. Repeat
(6:42) 10. Is Is
(5:34) 11. Big Wig
(4:49) 12. Truck

Trumpeter Kirk Knuffke has been living in Brooklyn for three years, originally hailing from Denver. Once arriving, he set about forming a trio, but then met up with trombonist Brian Drye and wisely decided to expand into quartet form. The combo's lineup is completed by bassist Reuben Radding and drummer Jeff Davis. As a debut disc (or as any kind of album) Big Wig is a crucial work. Knuffke wrote all of its tunes, daggering into just the right juncture between hurtling-together themes and broken-up chaos. His chief compositional influence must surely be Steve Lacy, with a marked predilection for perambulatory bouts of optimism, cheerfully rolling, but always gripped with a nervy tension. On the opening "Enough," Knuffke is curt and impatient against Radding's grimy bowing. The group sound is akin to a smoked-out apiary, and in the track's 3mins 52secs plays host to a remarkable amount of curves and jagged switches. On "The Same," they're barreling and bluff, the brass rounded with a military band swagger, constantly squirming into new shapes as the leader flutter-mutes at speed.

Some of these pieces ("Page 1 # 1," "Charp," "Truck") achieve perfection (though that's never smoothed-out or regimented: this is perfection as organized chaos). The first of these three tracks becomes progressively more fragmented, leading into an oleaginous trombone solo, creaming with grace. Then the combo comes together again, followed by a climaxing drum solo of controlled flailing. The rhythm team set up a tough thrum on "Charp," helping out the cast-off freedom of the horns. A good-humored belligerence prevails throughout "Truck," barging then blowsy, then back to barging, before closing with a brawl.  The album's remaining nine numbers are almost up to this phenomenal level and there's a real fear that the quartet's November, 2008 gig at New York's Park Slope's Tea Lounge will push it's intensity up to an uncontrollable level. ~ Martin Longley https://www.allaboutjazz.com/bigwig-kirk-knuffke-clean-feed-records-review-by-martin-longley.php
 

Personnel: Kirk Knuffke: trumpet; Brian Drye: trombone; Reuben Radding: bass; Jeff Davis: drums.

Big Wig

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