Joey DeFrancesco - Ballads And Blues

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:32
Size: 140.9 MB
Styles: Bop, Soul jazz
Year: 2002
Art: Front

[6:13] 1. Get It All
[6:15] 2. These Are Soulful Days
[6:33] 3. Take The Coltrane
[6:36] 4. You Don't Know What Love Is
[5:34] 5. Jammin' In The Basement
[7:40] 6. Home On The Range
[7:23] 7. Ceora
[5:17] 8. Basin Street Blues
[4:02] 9. Mama Don't Allow No
[5:52] 10. That's All

Don't be fooled by the title. While Ballads and Blues may sound like a mellow batch of tunes to listen to while strolling in the park, the ever-soulful Joey DeFrancesco has something else in mind. The album takes off with "Get It All," a groovy piece of funk complete with Paul Bollenback's zesty guitar and Byron Landham's balanced backbeat. A steady, rocking groove also defines pieces like "Take the Coltrane" and "Jammin' in the Basement." The latter cut, in particular, emanates a good vibe, perhaps due to the presence of brother John DeFrancesco on guitar and Papa John DeFrancesco on a second B-3. Other guests include Pat Martino and saxophonist Gary Bartz on two tracks each. At least two pieces, "Home on the Range" and "Mama Don't Allow No," suggest that DeFrancesco has been hanging out with genre-bending guitarist Bill Frisell. And while soul-jazz renditions of folk songs may sound like a strange mix, every cut flows together in a lovely mesh of organ, guitar, and drums. DeFrancesco ends the album in a flourish by adding his smooth, rich vocals to "That's All." While his fans probably will not wait for a recommendation to pick up Ballads and Blues, everyone else will find the album a good introduction to organ music for the new millennium. ~Ronnie D. Lankford Jr.

Ballads And Blues

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Gal Costa - Plural

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:45
Size: 104.7 MB
Styles: Latin jazz
Year: 1990
Art: Front

[2:46] 1. Salvador Não Inerte Ladeira Do Pelô
[3:36] 2. A Verdadeira Baiana
[4:14] 3. Begin The Beguine
[3:01] 4. Fon-Fon
[4:15] 5. Eu Acredito
[4:11] 6. Holofotes
[3:34] 7. Cabelo
[5:03] 8. Brilho De Beleza
[3:44] 9. Alguém Me Disse
[3:01] 10. Nua Idéia (Leila Xii)
[3:31] 11. Zanzando
[4:43] 12. I Didn't Know What Time It Was

Held in very high regard in Brazilian music circles, Gal Costa has been impressively consistent over the years. And the charismatic singer was in excellent form when she greeted the 1990s with Plural. Though Costa isn't a jazz singer per se, she uses jazz influence to her advantage on caressing versions of the standards "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" and "Begin the Beguine" (which was a major hit for Artie Shaw during the swing era). Costa sings mostly in Portuguese, but switches to English for those standards. While they favor the type of relaxed introspection one expects from bossa nova, Costa is much more exuberant and upbeat on the reggae-influenced "Cabelo," the Caribbean-minded "Zanzando," and the percussive "Salvador Nao Inerte" (a fine example of the Bahian school of Brazilian pop). Plural demonstrates that the dedicated following she commands is well deserved. ~Alex Henderson

Plural

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Pat Boone - The Best Of Pat Boone

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 29:41
Size: 68.0 MB
Styles: Vocal pop
Year: 2000
Art: Front

[2:23] 1. Ain't That A Shame
[2:58] 2. I'll Be Home
[2:36] 3. I Almost Lost My Mind
[2:54] 4. Friendly Persuasion
[2:17] 5. Don't Forbid Me
[2:11] 6. Love Letters In The Sand
[2:39] 7. April Love
[2:05] 8. A Wonderful Time Up There
[2:33] 9. It's Too Soon To Know
[1:53] 10. Sugar Moon
[2:35] 11. Moody River
[2:31] 12. Speedy Gonzales

Pat's huge hits for Dot Records, all of them Top 10 and six #1s: Love Letters in the Sand; I Almost Lost My Mind; April Love; Ain't That a Shame; Don't Forbid Me; Moody River; Speedy Gonzales; Sugar Moon , and more.

The Best Of Pat Boone

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Jimmy Bruno, Joe Beck - Polarity

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:33
Size: 134.1 MB
Styles: Guitar jazz
Year: 2000
Art: Front

[4:31] 1. How Long Has This Been Going On
[4:29] 2. Lazy Afternoon
[4:05] 3. Polarity
[4:08] 4. I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face
[5:09] 5. Eleanor Rigby
[5:55] 6. Estate
[3:43] 7. Summertime
[4:16] 8. Tenderly
[4:45] 9. Carioca Blue
[4:03] 10. Emily
[4:12] 11. I Don't Stand A Gost Of A Chance With You
[4:10] 12. Cherokee
[5:00] 13. Poem For #15

Veteran guitarists Joe Beck and Jimmy Bruno work well together and share an appreciation of beautiful sound as applied to jazz's mainstream. Most of the feature work is from Bruno, 46, who plays a seven-string guitar. Beck, 54, plays an instrument of his own creation. His alto guitar is tuned down a fifth and offers the artist a means for providing both bass line and accompaniment. Tone quality remains of paramount importance throughout the duo session.

"Summertime" moves at a lively tempo and becomes a fast-fingered clinic for Bruno's dexterous hands. Unfortunately, the flying fingers and urgent mood have eroded the piece's sentimental spirit. While his interpretation is unique, the standard "Summertime" carries its own set of familiar elements. The duo's arrangement takes some getting used to. Similarly, "Emily" loses much of its familiar lingering lyricism as the duo takes it up-tempo with a bouncing rhythm.

Beck has created harmonic bossa arrangements for most of the album's selections. They're lively and serve to demonstrate Bruno's superb technique. "Cherokee," accustomed to this kind of blazing-fast tempo, appears here as an up-tempo waltz. It's quite appropriate, and both guitarists seem quite comfortable with the situation. Joe Beck has one solo feature, "Tenderly." On it, he caresses the lyrical melody with slow, well-thought-out chords that preserve the ballad's original meaning. His one solo interlude, also chorded, appears during the romantic "Estate'" with a fresh improvised twist on a lovely tune.

Limiting the selections to under five minutes in the context of blazing-fast Jimmy Bruno guitar epithets, Polarity brings the listener variety and good, clean guitar adventures. ~Jim Santella

Polarity

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Lee Morgan Quintet - Take Twelve

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 1962
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:16
Size: 111,2 MB
Art: Front

(6:52)  1. Raggedy Ann
(5:00)  2. A Waltz For Fran
(8:31)  3. Lee-Sure Time
(7:50)  4. Little Spain
(4:59)  5. Take Twelve
(7:30)  6. Second's Best (take 5)
(7:30)  7. Second's Best (take 1)

Take Twelve was trumpeter Lee Morgan's only recording during an off-period that lasted from mid-1961 to late 1963. Morgan (who sounds in fine form) leads a quintet with tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan, pianist Barry Harris, bassist Bob Cranshaw and drummer Louis Hayes through four of his originals, Jordan's "Little Spain," and the title cut, an Elmo Hope composition. The superior material uplifts the set from being a mere "blowing" date but it generally has the spontaneity of a jam session. It's one of Lee Morgan's lesser-known dates. Originally released in 1962, Take Twelve was reissued on CD in 2006, and includes an alternate take of "Second's Best." ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/take-twelve-mw0000203606

Personnel: Lee Morgan (trumpet); Clifford Jordan (tenor saxophone); Barry Harris (piano); Louis Hayes (drums).

Take Twelve

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Paul Desmond - Skylark

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1973
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:51
Size: 124,4 MB
Art: Front

(6:10)  1. Take Ten
(9:42)  2. Romance De Amor
(4:51)  3. Was A Sunny Day
(6:44)  4. Music For A While
(5:20)  5. Skylark
(3:59)  6. Indian Summer
(5:55)  7. Music For A While (alt tk)
(5:38)  8. Skylark (alt tk)
(5:27)  9. Indian Summer (alt tk)

Moving over to the CTI label with Creed Taylor, Paul Desmond injects a bit of the 1970s into his sound, obtaining agreeable if not totally simpatico results. Here, the cool altoist is teamed with the progressive-slanted drumming of Jack DeJohnette (who might have been too busy a drummer for his taste), and Bob James' electric and acoustic pianos, with Ron Carter as the bass anchor, Gene Bertoncini on rhythm guitar, and, most interestingly, another individualist, Gabor Szabo, on solo electric guitar. For the first and only time, even taking into account the most inspired moments of Jim Hall, Desmond is not the most interesting soloist on his own record, for it is Szabo who most consistently draws you in with his mesmerizing incantations over vamps from the rhythm section. 

For those who missed it the first time, Desmond remakes "Take Ten" without the Middle Eastern elements "Romance de Amor" is eventually dominated by Szabo, and the inclusion of "Was a Sunny Day" proves that Desmond's involvement with the music of Paul Simon in 1970 was not a passing infatuation. Don Sebesky is credited with the "arrangements" but his orchestrating hand is not felt except for a single solo cello (George Ricci) in an adaptation of Purcell ("Music for a While"). It's a cautious change of pace for Desmond, although the fiercer context into which he was placed doesn't really fire his imagination. ~ Richard S.Ginell http://www.allmusic.com/album/skylark-mw0000651923

Personnel: Paul Desmond (alto saxophone); Gabor Szabo, Gene Bertoncini (guitar); George Ricci (cello); Hilary James , Bob James (piano, electric piano); Jack DeJohnette (drums); Ralph MacDonald (percussion).

Skylark

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Paul Brown - One Way Back

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:49
Size: 91,4 MB
Art: Front

(3:44)  1. Put It Where You Want It
(4:00)  2. Sexy Thang (feat. Darren Rahn)
(3:52)  3. Hush
(3:48)  4. Piccadilly Circus (feat. Chris Standring)
(3:52)  5. River Walk (feat. Marc Antoine)
(4:08)  6. Well Alright (feat. Don Bryant)
(4:29)  7. Take Flight (feat. Peter White)
(3:24)  8. One Way Back
(3:49)  9. Rear View Mirror (feat. Chuck Loeb)
(4:39) 10. Heaven

On his latest Woodward Avenue set One Way Back, two time Grammy winning guitarist Paul Brown keeps the deep funk and cool urban vibe flowing while tapping deeper than ever before into his lifelong blues influences. While extending his long history of collaborations with the genre's top saxophonists with "Sexy Thang" featuring Darren Rahn, the collection's musical core is a series of dynamic collaborations with top genre guitarists Chris Standring, Peter White, Marc Antoine and Chuck Loeb. Highlights include a the lead single, a bold and fiery re-imagining of The Crusaders' soul-jazz classic "Put It Where You Want It," and a powerhouse Memphis soul-influenced tune "Well Alright" featuring vocalist (and former Hi Records songwriter) Don Bryant. ~ Editorial Reviews https://www.amazon.com/One-Way-Back-Paul-Brown/dp/B01JRJC4C6

One Way Back

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