Larry Coryell - Barefoot Man: Sanpaku

Size: 120,7 MB
Time: 51:59
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2016
Styles: Jazz
Art: Front

01. Sanpaku (10:39)
02. Back To Russia ( 6:09)
03. If Miles Were Here ( 6:55)
04. Improv On 97 ( 5:03)
05. Penultimate ( 6:28)
06. Manteca ( 8:21)
07. Blue Your Mind ( 8:22)

Much to the excitement of music aficionados worldwide, Jazz guitar icon Larry Coryell, one of the most respected and celebrated guitarists of his generation, offers a brand new album of seven original compositions titled Barefoot Man: Sanpaku.

Says Larry, “I was inspired by John Lappen's suggestion that I do a recording similar to one that I did in the '70s that had a lot of energy. Using that as a template I carved out several compositions that I felt would be appropriate. The result was better than I expected; I had a great rhythm section in John Lee and Lee Pierson, and the soloists from Florida, Lynne Arriale and Dan Jordan, played on a world class level. Michael Franklin's production was hands off except for a few relevant suggestions that really helped round out the project.”

In addition to Coryell's signature guitar playing, this album features the talents of award-winning pianist Lynne Arriale, longtime Coryell collaborator John Lee on bass, Dan Jordan on saxophone and flute, and drummer Lee Pierson!

Barefoot Man

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Jane Bunnett & Maqueque - Oddara

Size: 125,2 MB
Time: 53:30
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2016
Styles: Afro-Cuban, Latin Jazz, World, Country
Art: Front

01. Little Feet (4:15)
02. Dream (4:32)
03. El Chivo (5:56)
04. New Moves (4:03)
05. Songs For You (5:40)
06. Power Of Two (Ibeyi) (4:58)
07. La Flamenca Maria (6:54)
08. Eulogy (4:35)
09. Tres Golpes (3:36)
10. Chagui Guaso (4:16)
11. Cafe Pillon (4:41)

Four-time JUNO Award winner, two-time Grammy nominee, and Officer of the Order of Canada, soprano saxophonist/flautist Jane Bunnett & Maqueque is set to release “Oddara”.

Jane Bunnett’s continuing quest to seek out and present musical talent untapped and unheard beyond the confines of the island nohas led her down many roads, and it was during a trip 30 years ago to Havana, Cuba she discovered then-unknown musicians and formed the all-star ensemble Maqueque (pronounced “Mah-Keh-Keh”, meaning “the energy of a young girl’s spirit.”) Their 2014 self-titled debut CD was awarded a much-deserved Juno Award for Best Group Jazz Album of the Year.

Jane Bunnett’s assembly of all-star Cuban musicians, the sextet which includes herself and five extraordinary young females, ensured a spotlight for their fluid, seamless music. “Everything I’ve done,” Jane says with pride, “has led up to this group, which is the perfect vehicle for now.” Maqueque currently includes Yissy Garcia on drums, Dánae Olano on piano, Magdelys Savigne on batá drums and congas, Elizabeth Rodriguez on violin and vocals and Celia Jiménez on bass. Maqueque often features guest stars Melvis Santa on percussion and vocals, as well as Dayme Arocena assisting vocals.

Oddara

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George Cables - The George Cables Songbook

Size: 168,3 MB
Time: 72:53
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2016
Styles: Jazz
Art: Front

01. Traveling Lady (6:22)
02. Aka Reggie (7:26)
03. The Dark The Light (6:49)
04. For Honey Lulu (5:49)
05. Melodious Funk (6:27)
06. Face The Consequences (5:20)
07. Colors Of Light (8:43)
08. Think On Me (5:55)
09. The Mystery Of Monifa Brown (7:55)
10. Baby Steps (6:19)
11. Suite For Sweet Rita (5:43)

In the 1970s and '80s, George Cables was the pianist of choice for saxophonists Dexter Gordon and Art Pepper and he also recorded a lot with jazz stars Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson and Frank Morgan. On Cables' own new album, it's all personal. He's a terrific pianist, but his new album illuminates his gifts as a composer as much as his skill at the keyboard. Cables' student and outstanding vocalist in her own right, Sarah Elizabeth Charles has written lyrics for a number of Cables' instrumental numbers and she appears on the album to deliver them with a real sense of swing, style and sensitivity. Reedman Craig Handy is also featured as is percussionist Steve Kroon, adding some extra subtle color to the proceedings. But the dominant leitmotif throughout it all is Cables and his piano playing which, with all its ease of execution and non-flashy excellence, is always present to give good taste a good name.

The George Cables Songbook

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The Pasadena Roof Orchestra - Live From London

Size: 141,2 MB
Time: 60:14
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2016
Styles: Jazz: Swing Jazz
Art: Front

01. Let Yourself Go (Live) (3:01)
02. Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart (Live) (3:01)
03. Top Hat White Tie And Tails (Live) (2:52)
04. Sophisticated Lady (Live) (3:46)
05. Cheek To Cheek (Live) (3:31)
06. High Society (Live) (4:12)
07. A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square (Live) (4:27)
08. You Couldn't Be Cuter (Live) (2:54)
09. Paddlin' Madelin' Home (Live) (2:07)
10. Drummin Man (Live) (4:34)
11. East St. Louis Toodle-Oo (Live) (3:35)
12. Tiger Rag (Live) (3:57)
13. Over My Shoulder Goes One Care (Live) (2:36)
14. I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues (Live) (3:26)
15. Diga Diga Doo (Live) (3:01)
16. My Blue Heaven - Singing In The Rain (Live) (3:39)
17. As Time Goes By (Live) (3:38)
18. Home In Pasadena (Live) (1:48)

The Pasadena Roof Orchestra is a world class, unique formation which was created over 40 years ago. It has successfully appeared at major concert houses in London, New York, Dubai, Berlin Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpar. It has recorded more than forty albums. The Orchestra has provided music for films, such as the ‘Comedian Harmonists’ (Josef Vilsmaier,) and completed a soundtrack for ‘Just a Gigolo’ 1980 with David Bowie and Marlene Dietrich (her last film). It has appeared at Buckingham Palace (Christmas party 2010), and its soundtracks have been used in numerous advertising campaigns. The musicians have twice toured the USA to critical acclaim.

It is probably no longer accurate to list the Orchestra nostalgia, as this seems more applicable to the recent phenomenon of tribute bands. The Orchestra has become an established name, in its own right, in a similar way to the great dance bands that inspired it.

The music is a form of modern classic. It stands on the shoulders of giants like George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Jerome kern, Ray Noble, Hoagy Carmichael. These were Composers who wrote unforgettable melodies, and sophisticated romantic lyrics. Our tunes are still the all-time standards, the towering achievements of the song-writers art.

Like the great bands of Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Ray Noble, Fletcher Henderson and Jack Hylton, ours are the sound of their era. The music was the back-drop to events of world shattering significance. Take a listen to the sounds that grew out of New York, New Orleans, Paris and Berlin in the 1920’s. Hear to the growling trumpet, the muted trombone, the wailing clarinet glissando over the steady throb of the rhythm section, as the smoky shaft of spotlight picks out the white tux and red carnation of the singer.

When it comes to authentic Dance band/ early swing music, the Pasadena Roof Orchestra has no equal. It has always had access to the finest arrangements, the best musicians, and under the directorship of Band-leader and singer, DuncanGalloway, produces an immaculately presented show, full of fun, rhythm and laughter.

Live From London

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Rich Perry - Nocturne

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:28
Size: 141,0 MB
Art: Front

(7:24)  1. Autumn Nocturne
(7:35)  2. Cherokee
(8:07)  3. Never Let Me Go
(8:54)  4. Old Folks
(8:48)  5. I've Never Been In Love Before
(6:37)  6. My Little Suede Shoes
(6:44)  7. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
(7:17)  8. Lotus Blossom

When, if ever, does loyalty to a record label become a liability for a musician? I posed the question in rhetorical fashion in a recent review of the latest release by saxophonist Ari Ambrose for Steeplechase. It’s a query that’s even more apposite in the context of labelmate Rich Perry. Nocturne marks Perry’s 21st disc for the Danish imprint, and curiously enough, like Ambrose’s album, it’s the tenorist’s first in the configuration of a conventional jazz quartet in which a guitar replaces a piano. Unlike the Ambrose disc, all of the tracks on Nocturne are standards dating from bebop and backward, and one of the participants, drummer Jeff Hirshfield, has been in Perry’s professional orbit since the saxophonist’s debut date way back in 1993. So the question stands: What can Perry possibly say that he probably hasn’t said in some shape or form before given the consistent circumstances of his output over several decades? The answer is a subjective one, but to these ears Perry’s situation exemplifies one of the fundamental advantages of jazz as a means of creative expression. In the right hands, even the most threadbare standard can be made to hold emotional and artistic weight. And nearly all of Perry’s picks for the session have seen their share of excessive use over the years.

“Cherokee,” which falls second in the program pecking order, has recorded renderings numbering well into the quadruple digits. Perry approaches it with little fanfare and not a hint of trepidation, decelerating the tempo from a customary bop gallop to lustrous crawl, his tone corpulent but his phrasing still airy and agile. Bassist John Hebert is especially helpful in this setting, planting a fat, strutting line in pace with the gentle glide of Hirschfield’s swishing brushes. Guitarist Nate Radley comps in the cracks, and Perry’s winding, aerated line receives just the right degree of support for the duration. The other tracks advance at speeds ranging from medium to gradual with the exceptions coming with a variable speed, behind the beat “Never Let Me Go” and the closing version of Kenny Dorham’s “Lotus Blossom.” These pieces almost sound like émigrés from another album, with Perry hinting at free playing in places and improvising with a vigor unmatched elsewhere in the set. While my preference would be for more blowing of this sort, it’s hard to fault the path of lesser resistance Perry and his colleagues choose instead. This is standards-centered jazz of the best sort. It’s the kind that mines the beauty in the melodies without being beholden to this history of their forms and it answers the aforementioned question of potential artistic stasis to my mind without equivocation. ~ Derek Taylor http://dustedmagazine.tumblr.com/post/76439049084/rich-perry-nocturne-steeplechase

Personnel:  Rich Perry, tenor sax;  Nate Radley, guitar;  John Hebert, bass;  Jeff Hirshfield, drums

Nocturne

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Conrad Herwig & Andy LaVerne - Shades of Light

Styles: Trombone And Piano Jazz
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:31
Size: 143,8 MB
Art: Front

(7:41)  1. Three Flowers
(5:45)  2. Tones for Joan's Bones
(6:15)  3. Crystal Silence
(8:24)  4. Bessie's Blues
(4:31)  5. If You Never Come to Me
(6:07)  6. Shades of Light
(5:33)  7. Black Narcissus
(5:25)  8. Think on Me
(5:19)  9. African Flower
(7:26) 10. In Your Own Sweet Way

Trombonist Conrad Herwig and pianist Andy LaVerne picked some beautiful, modern tunes for this duo session. In addition to music by McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea, Joe Henderson, John Coltrane, Hubert Laws, and George Cables, they tangle with Brubeck's "In Your Own Sweet Way," Ellington's "African Flower," and Jobim's "If You Never Come to Me." (Corea's "Crystal Silence," famously played by its author and Gary Burton as a piano/vibes duet, is a particularly good choice.) Few besides Herwig can get the ungainly trombone to sing and turn corners like this; his rapport with LaVerne, one of Steeplechase's most sophisticated and prolific artists, is often breathtaking. This record came out around the same time as Wycliffe Gordon and Eric Reed's We, and makes for an interesting comparison. ~ David R.Adler http://www.allmusic.com/album/shades-of-light-mw0001032591

Personnel: Conrad Herwig (trombone), Andy LaVerne (piano)

Shades of Light

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Enrico Pieranunzi, Marc Johnson, Joey Baron - As Never Before

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:33
Size: 135,5 MB
Art: Front

(6:52)  1. Soundings
(3:16)  2. Improheart
(6:45)  3. A Nameless Gate
(7:50)  4. As Never Before
(9:12)  5. Many Moons Ago
(3:18)  6. Impromind
(6:52)  7. Song For Kenny
(7:03)  8. Time's Passage
(7:20)  9. Winter Moon

Pianist Enrico Pieranunzi isn't the only artist influenced by Kenny Wheeler's classic Gnu High. It's a safe bet that the trumpeter's 1976 debut as a leader for ECM, featuring the perfect line-up of pianist Keith Jarrett, bassist Dave Holland and drummer Jack DeJohnette, has been one of small group jazz's most influential albums of the past thirty years; as remarkable for Wheeler's inimitable writing as its unparalleled performances. Few, however, get the opportunity to recruit Wheeler in the same quartet context for an album perhaps lacking the "classic" stamp of Gnu High, but coming darn close. With seven Pieranunzi compositions and two group improvisations of complete spontaneity but equally immediate compositional focus, the pianist augments his existing trio of bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joey Baron with Wheeler, making As Never Before an appropriately titled disc that actually manages to surpass Pieranunzi's career-defining Live in Japan (Cam Jazz, 2007).  Pieranunzi, Johnson and Baron may not have the cachet of Jarrett, Holland and DeJohnette. Still, over the past quarter century they've established themselves individually as comfortable in a variety of environments and, now early into its third decade, a trio capable of musical empathy akin to that Johnson experienced with his first major employer, the late legend Bill Evans. Pieranunzi, like most modern pianists, owes much to Evans, but he's long since transcended Evans as an overt reference point. If there's any pianist with whom he shares much these days it's John Taylor, who has worked regularly with Wheeler for five decades, making the Pieranunzi/Wheeler pairing an equally winning combination. Nor is this Pieranunzi's first recorded encounter with Wheeler. FelliniJazz (Cam Jazz, 2004) also brought the two together, but on a set of music culled largely from soundtracks to films of the great Frederico Fellini, and with a line-up possessing its own strength but lacking the simpatico inherent in a group that's worked together for twenty-five years. 

FelliniJazz's strength was in how its players found common ground to interpret non-original music with their own voices; written with this line-up in mind, As Never Before even more successfully speaks to the players' individual strengths. And what strengths. Baron, beginning as a vivacious and raucous player on the downtown New York scene, has evolved into a drummer of great nuance, swinging lightly alongside Johnson on "Time's Passage" while energetically punctuating without losing sight of the song's evocative resonance. Johnson, a most elegant and lyrical bassist, is the litmus test for perfection in instantaneous choice, balancing rhythm section responsibilities with a conversational approach that feeds Pieranunzi's own thematic disposition to solo building. And what of Wheeler? Approaching eighty, his peerless technique shows no signs of weakening, with every solo combining his unmistakable melancholy melodism with a nearly unequaled ability to deliver perfection, take after take. Quintessential modern mainstream jazz, As Never Before blends traditional elements with European classicism and, like its players, is as unassuming as it is stellar; as honest, committed and selfless as intimate, small group jazz gets. ~ John Kelman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/as-never-before-enrico-pieranunzi-cam-jazz-review-by-john-kelman.php

Personnel: Enrico Pieranunzi: piano; Marc Johnson: bass: Joey Baron: drums; Kenny Wheeler: trumpet, flugelhorn.

As Never Before

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