Don Byas - Slammin' Around

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:18
Size: 94.6 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz
Year: 2010
Art: Front

[2:58] 1. Three O'clock In The Morning
[2:43] 2. One O'clock Jump
[3:05] 3. Harvard Blues
[2:40] 4. Slam-In' Around
[2:50] 5. Laura
[3:03] 6. Stardust
[3:03] 7. Slam, Don't Shake Like That
[3:03] 8. Dark Eyes
[2:58] 9. Super Session
[3:15] 10. Melody In Swing
[2:49] 11. Humoresque
[2:57] 12. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams (And Dream Your Troubles Away)
[2:49] 13. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
[2:57] 14. Slamboree

One of the greatest of all tenor players, Don Byas' decision to move permanently to Europe in 1946 resulted in him being vastly underrated in jazz history books. His knowledge of chords rivalled Coleman Hawkins, and, due to their similarity in tones, Byas can be considered an extension of the elder tenor. He played with many top swing bands, including those of Lionel Hampton (1935), Buck Clayton (1936), Don Redman, Lucky Millinder, Andy Kirk (1939-1940), and most importantly Count Basie (1941-1943). An advanced swing stylist, Byas' playing looked toward bop. He jammed at Minton's Playhouse in the early '40s, appeared on 52nd Street with Dizzy Gillespie, and performed a pair of stunning duets with bassist Slam Stewart at a 1944 Town Hall concert. After recording extensively during 1945-1946 (often as a leader), Byas went to Europe with Don Redman's band, and (with the exception of a 1970 appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival) never came back to the U.S. He lived in France, the Netherlands, and Denmark; often appeared at festivals; and worked steadily. Whenever American players were touring, they would ask for Byas, who had opportunities to perform with Duke Ellington, Bud Powell, Kenny Clarke, Dizzy Gillespie, Jazz at the Philharmonic (including a recorded tenor battle with Hawkins and Stan Getz), Art Blakey, and (on a 1968 recording) Ben Webster. Byas also recorded often in the 1950s, but was largely forgotten in the U.S. by the time of his death. ~ bio by Scott Yanow

Slammin' Around

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Lena Horne, Gabor Szabo - Watch What Happens

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:06
Size: 82.7 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals, Jazz guitar
Year: 1970/2009
Art: Front

[4:05] 1. Watch What Happens
[3:09] 2. Something
[2:54] 3. Everybody's Talkin'
[3:45] 4. The Fool On The Hill
[4:07] 5. Yesterday
[3:30] 6. Rocky Racoon
[4:41] 7. My Mood Is You
[3:17] 8. Message To Michael
[3:39] 9. Night Wind
[2:56] 10. In My Life

The pairing of chanteuse Lena Horne and guitarist Gabor Szabo may seem incongruous on paper, but Watch What Happens! is an unexpected delight, capturing a soulfulness and sass largely absent from the singer's previous efforts. Producer and arranger Gary McFarland's candy-coated orchestral settings afford Horne the opportunity to step out of the elegant but often stuffy refinement of her classic LPs and let down her hair. Her vocals pirouette around Szabo's hypnotically funky guitar leads with the focused abandon of a child playing hopscotch. Keyboardist Richard Tee, bassist Chuck Rainey, and drummer Grady Tate contribute the supple grooves that highlight so many McFarland sessions, and the material is top-notch, including no fewer than three Beatles covers: "In My Life," "Fool on the Hill," and "Rocky Raccoon," the latter featuring the most purely joyful performance of Horne's career. [Watch What Happens! was originally released on Szabo's Skye Records label as Lena & Gabor in 1970.] ~Jason Ankeny

Watch What Happens

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Biel Ballester Trio - Bistro De Barcelona

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:03
Size: 110.0 MB
Styles: Gypsy jazz
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[4:47] 1. Ah, Les Femmes!
[2:31] 2. Fiso Place
[3:22] 3. When I Was A Boy
[4:44] 4. Some Love Here (Wedding Song For Robin & Judy)
[2:53] 5. Mirv (Farewell Song)
[3:09] 6. Love For Sale
[2:41] 7. Conception
[5:18] 8. All Blues
[4:27] 9. Your Shining Eyes
[3:17] 10. Ah, Les Femmes! (Vamp)
[3:12] 11. You Rascal You
[2:16] 12. Improvisation, No. 5
[2:16] 13. Improvisation, No. 4
[3:04] 14. Echoes Of Spain

The Biel Ballester Trio’s music creates a sophisticated yet hip atmosphere ensuring a lasting impression among your guests. Expanding on their highly exotic debut recording, Echoes From Mallorca, The Trio blends the sound of gypsy jazz pioneered by the legendary French/Belgian-born Django Reinhardt with exquisite instrumentation uniquely their own. Classically trained guitarist and bandleader Ballester hails from Mallorca in the Mediterranean Sea. Lauded as Spain’s ambassador to gypsy jazz, he now makes his home on the mainland in Barcelona where every day is a celebration of life.

Bistro De Barcelona

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Various Artists - Capitol Records From The Vaults: Capitol Jumps

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 72:43

Size: 166.5 MB

Styles: Easy Listening, Swing, Big band

Year: 2000

Art: Front

[3:07] 1. Nat King Cole Trio - Sweet Lorraine

[2:41] 2. Martha Tilton - Does Everyone Know About This

[3:00] 3. Coleman Hawkins - Stuffy

[3:00] 4. Benny Carter - Poinciana

[2:56] 5. Ella Mae Morse - Buzz Me

[2:36] 6. Stan Kenton & His Orchestra - Artistry Jumps

[3:06] 7. Cootie Williams And His Orchestra - Juice Head Baby

[2:36] 8. Alvino Rey - Cement Mixer (Put-Ti, Put-Ti)

[2:43] 9. Johnny Mercer - My Sugar Is So Refined

[2:40] 10. Geechie Smith & His Orchestra - T-Town Jump

[2:53] 11. Nellie Lutcher - Fine Brown Frame

[3:01] 12. Sam Donahue & His Orchestra - Robbin's Nest

[2:21] 13. Crown Prince Waterford - Move Your Hand, Baby

[3:14] 14. T-Bone Walker - I Got A Break Baby

[2:42] 15. Julia Lee And Her Boyfriends - King Size Papa

[3:04] 16. Benny Goodman - On A Slow Boat To China

[2:28] 17. Stan Kenton & His Orchestra - How High The Moon

[3:06] 18. Peggy Lee - Don't Smoke In Bed

[2:43] 19. Charlie Barnet - Be-Bop Spoken Here

[3:06] 20. Johnny Mercer - One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)

[3:08] 21. Dizzy Gillespie - You Stole My Wife-You Horse Thief

[3:07] 22. Kay Starr - Evenin'

[3:15] 23. Billy May - Lean, Baby

[3:01] 24. The Four Freshmen - Tuxedo Junction

[2:56] 25. Duke Ellington - Satin Doll

The swing era and pre-bop jazz age of the '40s was a zenith for Capitol Records, which was jumpin' not only on radios and jukeboxes nationwide, but at cash registers as well. This third volume in the venerable label's From the Vaults series is an indispensable guide to Capitol's ever-increasing talent roster, highlighting this unique period in American popular music. Aptly subtitled Capitol Jumps, the album does considerably more, ranging from the erudite cool of the Nat "King" Cole Trio on "Sweet Loraine" to decidedly more "alternative" bop classics such as Dizzy Gillespie's "You Stole My Wife You Horse Thief." On the lighter side are remnants of big-band orchestras led by Benny Goodman ("On a Slow Boat to China") and Johnny Mercer ("One More for My Baby (And One More for the Road)"). The passing of the pop music baton from big band to jazz is reflected in this volume most notably by the Four Freshmen's brilliant interpretation of "Tuxedo Junction" and the intoxicating one-two punch of Ella Mae Morse's "Buzz Me" and "Juice Head Baby by Cootie Williams & His Orchestra, featuring vocalist Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson. One trend continuing for Capitol was that of hitmaker. Among the seven Top 40 hits on Capitol From the Vaults, Vol. 3 are Alvino Rey's ultra-danceable "Cement Mixer (Put-Ti, Put-Ti)," Benny Carter & His Orchestra with "Poinciana," and the Johnny Mercer conducted orchestra on "My Sugar Is So Refined." This all-star recording also features labelmates the Pied Pipers, accompanied by Paul Weston & His Orchestra. As with other volumes in this collection, the sonic transfer is superior, making it an essential component to any comprehensive overview of American popular music. The 12-page liner notes booklet contains lots of memorabilia wrapped around another installment of Billy Vera's informative essays. ~Lindsay Planer

Capitol Records From The Vaults: Capitol Jumps

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The Four Preps - S/T

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 27:05
Size: 62.0 MB
Styles: Harmony vocal group
Year: 2007
Art: Front

[2:30] 1. 26 Miles (Santa Catalina)
[2:08] 2. It's You
[1:46] 3. Again 'n Again 'n Again
[2:25] 4. I Cried A Million Tears
[2:14] 5. How About That
[2:31] 6. Moonstruck In Madrid
[2:14] 7. Dreamy Eyes
[2:37] 8. Falling Star
[2:16] 9. Humble Pie
[1:52] 10. Promise Me Baby
[2:25] 11. Fools Will Be Fools
[2:02] 12. Too Young For Love

The clean-cut West Coast-based Four Preps are best remembered for a string of Top 100 hits during the late '50s and early '60s, including "Twenty Six Miles (Santa Catalina)," "Big Man," "Down by the Station," "Lazy Summer Night," "Got a Girl," "It Ain't Never," "Moon River," "Lollipops and Roses," "My Special Angel," and others. Ultimately, the Four Preps' biggest influence can be heard via their impact on Brian Wilson, whose harmony-driven production for the Beach Boys was a direct antecedent of the Four Preps' sound.

The original group -- Bruce Belland, Ed Cobb, Marv Ingraham, and Glen Larson -- were discovered by Capitol Records A&R exec Nik Venet while performing at a Hollywood High School talent show in 1956 and were signed shortly afterwards to a long-term contract. By the end of the year, the wholesome milk-fed group charted their first single, "Dreamy Eyes." Before long, there were changes to the lineup, with former Diamonds' original lead vocalist David Somerville joining the group as a replacement for the departing Larson. For eight years, between 1956-1964, the Four Preps charted on the Top 100 13 times, but by the mid-'60s, they were beginning to sound a bit outdated. Their last chart hit "A Letter to the Beatles" was a desperate attempt to stay hip, but the days of button-up sweaters, crew cuts, and four-part vocal harmonies were waning, and they knew it. The Four Preps continued to record until 1967.

Today, there's a new group of Preps on the oldies scene -- appropriately enough, they're called the New Four Preps -- whose performing lineup includes Belland, Cobb, Somerville (a.k.a. "the three tenors of Pop"), and Jim Yester of the Association; together they represent accumulated record sales in excess of 100 million, including 29 hit singles, 15 gold albums, and 13 Grammies. ~bio by Bryan Thomas

The Four Preps

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Howard McGhee - Maggie: The Savoy Sessions

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:22
Size: 158.8 MB
Styles: Bop, Trumpet jazz
Year: 1995/2009
Art: Front

[2:06] 1. Merry Lee
[1:55] 2. Short Life
[2:49] 3. Talk Of The Town
[2:58] 4. Bass C Jam
[2:46] 5. Down Home
[2:58] 6. Sweet And Lovely
[2:08] 7. Fiesta
[2:53] 8. I'm In The Mood For Love
[2:44] 9. Belle From Bunnycock
[2:29] 10. Flip Lip
[2:45] 11. The Man I Love
[2:21] 12. The Last Word
[4:16] 13. Medley Royal Garden Blues, Mood Indigo, St. Louis Blues
[2:36] 14. One O'clock Jump
[2:00] 15. Stormy Weather
[3:45] 16. The Man With A Horn
[2:11] 17. Stompin' At The Savoy
[5:18] 18. Lady Be Good
[3:06] 19. Stardust
[4:57] 20. How High The Moon
[3:26] 21. Don't Blame Me
[3:22] 22. Body And Soul
[3:24] 23. Harvest Time

This single CD put out by the Japanese Denon label has 23 of the 27 selections put out a decade earlier on a two-LP set. Worse than the omissions was the decision to duplicate the liner notes and reprint them so small as to be microscopic. The first half of this set is actually quite good, featuring trumpeter Howard McGhee jamming with a talented sextet that co-stars altoist Jimmy Heath and vibraphonist Milt Jackson and with another group that has solo space for Billy Eckstine on his surprisingly effective valve trombone. The remainder of the CD is much weaker, music recorded in Guam by McGhee, trombonist J.J. Johnson and tenor saxophonist Rudy Williams with a pianoless rhythm trio. Guitarist Skeeter Best is not strong enough to make up for the lack of a piano and some of the repertoire (including an attempt at a brief history-of-jazz) does not work that well. It is best to hold on to the original two-LP set. Otherwise, this CD is mostly recommended for the two earlier dates. ~Scott Yanow

Maggie: The Savoy Sessions

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Stephen Riley - Lover

Styles: Saxophone Jazz

Year: 2013

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 64:59

Size: 149,5 MB

Art: Front

(8:28)  1. Nice Work If You Can Get It

(6:27)  2. Love Is a Many/Splendored Thing

(6:49)  3. When I Take My Sugar To Tea

(8:34)  4. When Your Lover Has Gone

(5:37)  5. When Lights Are Low

(8:57)  6. Deluge

(6:11)  7. Lover

(4:55)  8. After You, Who?

(8:56)  9. Evidence

Saxophonist Stephen Riley favored a sans-piano format on his first few albums as a leader all the better to showcase his lithe, striated tenor without the potential constrictions imposed by a chordal instrument. Since those early efforts, he’s teamed up with pianist Ernest Turner on a pair of occasions. The switch in strategy initially took some getting used to, but it also swiftly revealed Riley’s skill at excelling in virtually any small group setting. My preference still lies with his piano-less ventures, but I’ve definitely warmed to those where keys are a factor. Lover, Riley’s latest, employs the talents of label mate Peter Zak at the ivories. (Longtime bassist Neal Caine and drummer Jason Marsalis are also on hand.) Zak proves an even better fit with Riley’s sensibilities than Turner did. His preference for playing sparingly and succinctly leaves the players plenty of space to move and react. The musical chemistry between the pair is so potent that the session produced not one but two discs worth of material; the second will be released later.  As he has in past recordings for the Danish label Steeplechase, Riley retools antiquated standards with unconventional arrangements. The title tune forms a loose sort of thematic trilogy with two others, in which the presence of “Love” in the titles telegraphs a pervasive romantic bent.

Zak sits out during the opening of “Nice Work if You Can Get It” leaving Riley to weave beautifully with bass and drums. Caine’s strings have a reverberating snap that is accentuated by punctuating strums. Flirting with oblique iterations of the theme, Riley folds in a winking tag from Charlie Parker’s “Koko” before finally revealing the melody proper in full at the close. Zak leads for much of “Love Is a Many Splendored Things” setting up a solo prelude as a counterpart to Riley’s lush unaccompanied tenor cadenza. Suitably obscure in origin, “When I Take My Sugar Tea” is parsed with playful pauses and tempo shifts. Caine and Marsalis earn their hazard pay by keeping pace with Riley’s hairpin turns and caroming asides. An aggressive drum solo disperses into light-touch Tin Pan Alley syncopations and sets up the unabashed beauty on display for “When Your Lover Has Gone.”

Riley and Zak take “When Lights Are Low” together without support. It’s a five-and-a-half minute exercise in tempering comeliness with close colloquy. Wayne Shorter’s “Deluge” and Monk’s “Evidence” drag the songbook forward a few decades, and the quartet gives both the collective workout each deserves. Each piece exposes Riley’s kinship with the specific moods of the composer. The former builds from a subdued melancholic open and caps with a pithy Coltrane quote. The latter develops through a string of duo exchanges where Riley flirts with the angular Monkian melody before going silent for much of the second half and  leaving his rhythm section to their own devices. My abiding admiration (some might argue bias) for Riley’s work is no secret to those who have read coverage here at Dusted over the years. His unconventional use of ultra-hard reed to essay a satin soft sound a common sense contradiction sets him apart from every other under-40 player I can think of. This date brings his track record as a leader to seven for seven and, for reasons I’m still discovering and savoring, it comes highly recommended. ~ Derek Taylor http://dustedmagazine.tumblr.com/post/72564002367/stephen-riley-lover-steeplechase

Personnel: Stephen Riley (tenor saxophone), Peter Zak (piano), Neal Caine (bass), Jason Marsalis (drums)

Lover

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Julie London - Sophisticated Lady

Styles: Vocal Jazz

Year: 1962

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 36:32

Size: 85,2 MB

Art: Front

(2:37)  1. Sophisticated Lady

(2:37)  2. Blame It On My Youth

(2:32)  3. Make It Another Old-Fashioned, Please

(3:12)  4. You're Blase

(2:55)  5. Bewitched

(3:50)  6. Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most

(3:14)  7. Remind Me (Moonlight in the Tropic)

(2:42)  8. When She Makes Music

(4:42)  9. When the World Was Young

(2:49) 10. If I Should Lose You

(2:56) 11. Where Am I To Go

(2:21) 12. Absent Minded Me

"Sophisticated" is the right word to describe Julie London's cool vocal approach; it can be shoved into the background, but if you listen closely there's a lot of turmoil going on under its seemingly calm surface. Similar to Chet Baker's unruffled way with a lyric, London's self-described "thimble full of a voice" ends up describing how pain hasn't quite iced over all her emotions rather than proving how unfeeling she is. Also like Baker, so many of her best recordings are steeped in the style and mood of laid-back West Coast jazz. Sophisticated Lady is one of a string of records London cut in the early '60s with less of a jazz feel than most of her sessions from the '50s, but it's still a worthy album. If it's not exactly an essential session, it is a good one, and the backing orchestra is to blame for the album's shortcomings not the vocalist. The charts balance a mellow very mellow kind of 1940s-era swing feeling (think of Tommy Dorsey or Glenn Miller doing a slow-dance number) with heavy string statements and semi-classical passages. They aren't particularly obtrusive or bad charts, but they are undistinguished, and the arranger for the date doesn't even get a credit on the album sleeve. It's these arrangements, not London's vocal performance, that make this a mediocre, but still worthy, album. (To hear how this approach is done correctly, just listen to Nelson Riddle's beautiful and more jazz-flavored work on Frank Sinatra's exquisite Nice 'N' Easy album.) That's not to say it's not a good disc, though, and standout tracks include Cole Porter's witty "booze as a cure for heartache" number "Make It Another Old-Fashioned Please" and three songs by writers associated with cool jazz. The Wolf/Landesman cut "Spring Can Really Hang You up the Most" has deservedly earned its status as a standard, but the neglected "Absent Minded Me" by Bob Merrill and Bobby Troup's "Where Am I to Go" deserve to be rediscovered and more widely recorded. ~ Nick Dedina  http://www.allmusic.com/album/sophisticated-lady-mw0000740188

Sophisticated Lady

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Don Friedman - Hope For Tomorrow

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1975
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:07
Size: 87,6 MB
Art: Front

(10:29)  1. Hope For Tomorrow
( 5:50)  2. A Place Within
( 4:28)  3. Paula's Wish
( 5:58)  4. Beedies
( 5:15)  5. Canvas On My Mind
( 6:05)  6. Lullaby For Lynne

A tremendous little album from pianist Don Friedman a trio session, but one that's cut with a mixture of Fender Rhodes and electric bass, which gives the album a majestically soulful groove! Friedman's never sounded better, and the record is easily one of his best with a sound that matches the best CTI sides of the time, colored by the freedoms of the Japanese recording scene of the 70s territory that Don never hit this strongly again, and which makes the record a really unique outing, quite diferent than both his early work and later sides. The group features Lyn Christie on bass and Bill Goodwin on drums and titles include "Paula's Wish", "Canvas On My Mind", "Lullaby For Lynne", "Hope For Tomorrow", and "A Place Within". © 1996-2016, Dusty Groove, Inc. https://www.dustygroove.com/item/736192

Personnel:  Don Friedman (Piano, Electric, Electric Piano), Lyn Christie (Bass, Electric Bass), Bill Goodwin (Drums)  

Hope For Tomorrow

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Marc Copland - Time Within Time

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:34
Size: 143,9 MB
Art: Front

(2:59)  1. Some Other Time (C major)
(5:58)  2. River's Run
(5:22)  3. Pirouette
(6:06)  4. Footprints
(3:31)  5. Some Other Time (D flat major)
(6:03)  6. Time Was
(8:09)  7. Round She Goes
(5:52)  8. Django
(3:12)  9. Some Other Time (G major)
(6:30) 10. All Blues
(5:30) 11. You Can't Go Home Again
(3:18) 12. Some Other Time (C major)

Solo recordings have their risks and rewards. Risks, because the artist is laid completely bare, with nothing to fall back on but his or her own abilities; rewards because there is the greatest opportunity for pure and unencumbered expression. While Time Within Time is not pianist Marc Copland's first solo release which was the '01 Sketch release Poetic Motion it does give one the opportunity to assess the continued evolution of a pianist who, quietly and without any fuss, is emerging as one of the most significant pianists of the last twenty years. Part of the reason for this emergence has to do with the number of releases Copland has been putting out since '00. With Time Within Time and his new trio disc with guitarist John Abercrombie and trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, Brand New, representing his 12th and 13th releases as a leader or co-leader in the past five years, and new trio and quartet discs in the offing for later this year, Copland's exposure has never been greater. And yet, while he is as meaningful an artist as Brad Mehldau, for example, he remains in lower profile, without the same level of recognition.

Time Within Time utilizes a conceit familiar to fans of Copland's earlier Hatology discs, using multiple interpretations of the same tune to subdivide the album into chapters of sorts. On Haunted Heart and Other Ballads it was "My Favourite Things; on And... it was Paul Simon's "Old Friends"; and now, to tie into the "time" theme, Copland uses the Leonard Bernstein composition "Some Other Time." Copland's four readings demonstrate an increasing penchant for abstract impressionism, a characteristic that defines much of the recording. While the almost iconically familiar theme is never far from the surface, Copland surrounds it with more oblique harmonies and spacious textures, giving each interpretation its own complexion. In fact, while Copland's reputation for lyricism and romanticism remains intact, in particular on his renditions of the John Lewis classic "Django" and Don Sebesky's sentimental "You Can't Go Home Again," elsewhere he demonstrates a more abstruse side. The original composition "River's Run" may be a blues, but it's so harmonically altered as to be nearly unrecognizable as one. And when Copland looks at two widely recorded classics, also blues Wayne Shorter's "Footprints" and Miles Davis' "All Blues" while he is clearly true to their essence, he liberally reharmonizes them, taking them both to darker places. In contrast to solo works by Keith Jarrett and Mehldau, whose recent Live in Tokyo included a twenty-minute stream-of-consciousness "Paranoid Android," Copland works more in miniature, never running the risk of overstaying his welcome. And, as much as improvisation is an unequivocal component, Copland always works within a structure. Still, he exploits, to great effect, the ability to be freer with time than is possible in larger group contexts; possibly the meaning behind the title. Time Within Time is a rich and hauntingly beautiful recording from an artist whose eye is always on the core of song, and whose formidable abilities are always the means, never the end. ~ John Kelman  https://www.allaboutjazz.com/time-within-time-marc-copland-hatology-review-by-john-kelman.php
 

Personnel: Marc Copland: piano.

Time Within Time

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Donny McCaslin - Beyond Now

Styles: Saxophone Jazz, Fusion
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:02
Size: 147,3 MB
Art: Front

(7:14)  1. Shake Loose
(6:24)  2. A Small Plot of Land
(7:52)  3. Beyond Now
(4:52)  4. Coelacanth 1
(8:51)  5. Bright Abyss
(4:05)  6. Faceplant
(8:41)  7. Warszawa
(8:11)  8. Glory
(6:48)  9. Remain

A graduate of the Berklee School of Music, Donny McCaslin (born Donald Paul McCaslin) has had a saxophone in his hands from his earliest years and has integrated the entire range of sounds that a tenor sax can produce into his repertoire: from mainstream modern to funky fusion to laid-back balmy ballads, all flavored with his own experimental style. McCaslin's father originally taught high-school English but favored being a jazz musician, playing the vibraphone and piano in local gigs with young McCaslin in the audience. When he was only 12 years old, McCaslin joined his father's group. By the time he was in high school he had formed his own band, and was selected to play at the Monterey Jazz Festival for three years in a row. During high school he also performed with an eight-piece salsa band, and spent much time at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center, where nationally known jazz artists gathered. 

He studied with Paul Contos and Brad Hecht, accomplished members of his father's groups, and was influenced by the likes of John Coltrane, Michael Brecker, and Sonny Stitt. McCaslin's technique and expression allowed him to tour with all-star youth ensembles through Europe and Japan, and won him a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music starting in 1984. His main influences there included Gary Burton, Herb Pomeroy, Billy Pierce, George Garzone, and Joe Viola. During his senior year at Berklee he joined vibraphonist Burton's quintet, and for four years the group toured Europe, Japan, North America, and South America. During 1991, after moving to New York City, McCaslin became a member of Steps Ahead, and played with them for over three years. Michael Brecker, formerly of Steps Ahead, had been one of McCaslin's teenage idols; now McCaslin was replacing him. McCaslin co-wrote two of the compositions that appeared on the group's album Vibe. During those same years McCaslin actively gigged with top jazz artists and groups, such as the Gil Evans Orchestra, George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band, the Danilo Perez Quartet, the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, and Santi Debriano's Panamaniacs, plus he appeared on many recordings. 

In 1996 McCaslin was featured with John Medeski (organ), Doug Yates (clarinet), and Uri Caine (piano) in Ken Schaphorst's big-band work "Uprising." Three years later Naxos Records released the piece on Purple, and the jazz media gave McCaslin's solo work rave reviews. During 1997 McCaslin joined with David Binney (alto), Scott Colley (bass), and Kenny Wollesen (drums) to form Lan Xang, an experimental jazz collective that released Mythology. The name Lan Xang symbolizes freedom, the bandmembers' concept of experimental jazz. 

In 2000 Lan Xang released Hidden Gardens and they continue to play gigs together, presenting unique forays in group improvisation. In 1998 Naxos released Exile and Discovery, McCaslin's first solo record. Playing with him were Ugonna Okegwo (bass), Bruce Barth (piano), and Billy Drummond (drums).Arabesque Records released 2000's Seen from Above, an album in which McCaslin integrates blues, swing, and fusion, reflecting his skill both as a composer and a soloist.Way Through, released by Arabesque in September 2003, was his third solo album. Donny McCaslin's reputation, technical skills, and artistic gifts are unique, attracting a long list of collaborators with whom he has performed and recorded. The saxophonist's goal is to develop his composing skills and expressive abilities further as a group leader and bandmember in a variety of ensemble settings. ~ Eleanor Ditzel https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/donny-mccaslin/id4478381#fullText

Personnel:  Donny McCaslin (Saxophone);  Tim Lefebvre (Bass);  Mark Guiliana (Durms);  Jason Lindner (Piano).

Beyond Now

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