Sammy Price - Fire

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:46
Size: 139.1 MB
Styles: Blues/Jazz piano
Year: 1975/2008
Art: Front

[2:55] 1. Back Home Again To France
[3:29] 2. Black And Blue Blues
[3:01] 3. Walkin' Down Pigalle
[4:10] 4. Memories Boogie
[4:26] 5. Funky
[2:54] 6. Boogie Woogie For Hugues
[4:33] 7. West End Boogie
[3:48] 8. Whodat Blues
[3:55] 9. Riffin' Boogie
[4:57] 10. Tain't Nobody's Business If I Do
[2:24] 11. Salute To Basie
[3:22] 12. Begin The Beguine
[4:31] 13. West End Boogie (Take 1)
[4:41] 14. Indiana
[3:53] 15. Ain't She Sweet
[3:39] 16. Trombone With Fire

Ted Buckner - Sax (Alto); Doc Cheatham - Trumpet; Gene "Mighty Flea" Conners - Trombone; J.C. Heard - Drums; Sammy Price - Piano; Carl Pruitt - Bass.

This LP by pianist Sammy Price (put out domestically by Classic Jazz) can easily be split into two parts. Seven songs pay tribute in their titles to France and showcase Price mostly playing blues in a trio with bassist Carl Pruitt and drummer J.C. Heard. The remaining four songs add a trio of veteran swing-era horn players (trumpeter Doc Cheatham, trombonist Gene "Mighty Flea" Conners and altoist Ted Buckner) on three blues and the one non-Price standard "Tain't Nobody's Business If I Do." Although the inclusion of the horns gives added interest to the date, there is a certain sameness to much of the material and a predictability to the enjoyable but unsurprising outcome. ~Scott Yanow

Fire

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Lee Wiley - Sings The Songs Of George & Ira Gershwin And Cole Porter

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 51:48

Size: 118.6 MB

Styles: Standards, Vocal jazz

Year: 1989

Art: Front

[3:27] 1. How Long Has This Been Going On

[3:27] 2. My One And Only (What Am I Gonna Do )

[2:53] 3. Sweet And Low Down

[3:17] 4. 's Wonderful

[3:20] 5. I've Got A Crush On You

[3:01] 6. Someone To Watch Over Me

[3:29] 7. Sam And Delilah

[3:12] 8. But Not For Me

[3:25] 9. Looking At You

[3:04] 10. Let's Fly Away

[3:11] 11. Why Shouldn't I

[2:52] 12. Hot-House Rose

[3:05] 13. You Do Something To Me

[3:25] 14. Find Me A Primitive Man

[3:12] 15. Easy To Love

[3:20] 16. Let's Do It

Lee Wiley was the first jazz singer to record a full album (eight songs in the '78' days) dedicated to the music of one composer; her "songbooks" preceded Ella Fitzgerald's by more than 15 years. The greatest recordings of her career were these four projects, the first two of which are on this Audiophile reissue. Wiley, who had an introverted and quietly straightforward yet sensuous (and somewhat smoldering) style, is heard singing eight songs apiece by the Gershwins and Cole Porter. Her accompaniment includes all-star groups headed by pianist Joe Bushkin and trumpeter Max Kaminsky (which include tenor-saxophonist Bud Freeman, clarinetist Pee Wee Russell and on four songs Fats Waller), a quartet with Bushkin and trumpeter Bunny Berigan, and Paul Weston's Orchestra. Wiley's renditions of such songs as "How Long Has This Been Going On," "I've Got A Crush On You," "Someone To Watch Over Me," "Let's Do It" and "Easy To Love" are both memorable and haunting. This reissue is a gem as is the followup Audiophile release of Rodgers & Hart and Harold Arlen songs. ~Scott Yanow

Sings The Songs Of George & Ira Gershwin And Cole Porter

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Neil Diamond - The Movie Album (2-Disc Set)

On this lazy, nearly shameless album (two CDs that don't even make it to 70 minutes combined), Neil Diamond visits movie songs past ("As Time Goes By") and present ("My Heart Will Go On") with stops along the way for takes on almost anything you would anticipate an album and artist like this would cover ("Unchained Melody"? There. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight"? Ditto. "Moon River"? Yep, it's there.) Assisted by conductor Elmer Bernstein and an 80-piece orchestra, Diamond takes a 20-song stroll down film memory lane on The Movie Album: As Time Goes By with a bombast that often borders on parody. Oversinging like he's never oversung before, Diamond makes even the most inspired tunes of the bunch ("And I Love Her," "Can't Help Falling in Love") into Branson-worthy set pieces that are all melodramatic glitz and no style. A black stain on both Diamond and movies. ~Michael Gallucci

Album: The Movie Album (Disc 1)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 33:16
Size: 76.2 MB
Styles: Adult Contemporary
Year: 1998

[2:53] 1. As Time Goes By
[3:38] 2. Secret Love
[3:49] 3. Unchained Melody
[4:06] 4. Can You Feel The Love Tonight
[2:37] 5. The Way You Look Tonight
[3:27] 6. Love With The Proper Stranger
[2:56] 7. Puttin' On The Ritz
[2:45] 8. When You Wish Upon A Star
[4:21] 9. The Windmills Of Your Mind
[2:38] 10. Ebb Tide

The Movie Album (Disc 1)

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Album: The Movie Album (Disc 2)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 33:21
Size: 76.4 MB
Styles: Adult Contemporary
Year: 1998
Art: Front

[3:09] 1. True Love
[4:13] 2. My Heart Will Go On
[3:58] 3. The Look Of Love
[4:37] 4. In The Still Of The Night
[3:30] 5. Moon River
[3:14] 6. Ruby
[4:21] 7. Suite Sinatra I've Got You Under My Skin One For My Baby
[2:23] 8. And I Love Her
[3:07] 9. Can't Help Falling In Love
[0:45] 10. As Time Goes By (Reprise)

The Movie Album (Disc 2)

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Lambert, Hendricks & Ross - The Swingers

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1958
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:50
Size: 96,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:32)  1. Airegin
(3:16)  2. Babe's Blues
(3:32)  3. Dark Cloud
(2:04)  4. Jackie
(5:07)  5. Swingin' 'Til the Girls Come Home
(4:13)  6. Four
(3:30)  7. Little Niles
(2:57)  8. Where
(2:58)  9. Now's the Time
(3:46) 10. Love Makes the World Go Around
(6:49) 11. Clap Hands! Here Somes Charley

One of the lesser-known sets by the classic jazz vocal group Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, this LP holds its own with their more famous recordings. Assisted by tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims, pianist Russ Freeman, and guitarist Jim Hall, among others, Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks, and Annie Ross sound at their best on such numbers as "Airegin," "Jackie" (a feature for Ross), "Swingin' 'Til the Girls Come Home," "Four," and "Now's the Time." 

This album is recommended to fans of this unique and influential vocal trio. ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-swingers!-mw0000194210

Personnel:  Vocals – Annie Ross, Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks;  Bass – Ed Jones;  Drums – Sonny Payne;  Guitar – Freddie Green;  Piano – Russ Freeman;  Tenor Saxophone – Zoot Sims

The Swingers

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Shirley Horn - I Love You, Paris

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 1992
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 74:28
Size: 170,9 MB
Art: Front

( 6:23)  1. Wouldn't It Be Lovely?
( 3:12)  2. Just In Time
( 4:50)  3. He Was Too Good To Me
( 8:16)  4. Do It Again
( 5:36)  5. Old Country
( 6:38)  6. It's Easy To Remember
( 2:31)  7. All Through The Night
( 6:47)  8. L.A. Break Down
( 9:44)  9. I Loves You Porgy/Here Comes De Honey Man
(12:53) 10. A Song For You/Goodbye
( 7:33) 11. That Old Devil Called Love

The highlights of a 2½-hour concert recorded in Paris, this CD has even more ballads than a typical Shirley Horn set because, due to the monitor malfunctioning during the second half of the performance, Horn chose to stick exclusively to ballads during that portion of the show. Accompanied by bassist Charles Ables and drummer Steve Williams, Horn is in peak form throughout this program, often sounding exquisite and using silence and pauses quite expertly. 

Among the highlights are "Wouldn't It Be Loverly," "Do It Again," a medley of "I Loves You Porgy" and "Here Comes De Honey Man," and a lengthy version of "A Song for You" that eventually becomes "Goodbye." Highly recommended. ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/i-love-you-paris-mw0000119061

Personnel: Shirley Horn (vocals, piano); Charles Ables (electric bass); Steve Williams (drums).

I Love You, Paris

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Miles Davis - On the Corner

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 1972
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:44
Size: 125,8 MB
Art: Front

(19:56)  1. On the Corner/New York Girl/Thinking of One Thing and Doing Another
( 5:16)  2. Black Satin
( 6:08)  3. One and One
(23:22)  4. Helen Butte/Mr. Freedom X

Could there be any more confrontational sound in Miles Davis' vast catalog than the distorted guitars and tinny double-timing drums reacting to a two-note bass riff funking it up on the first track from On the Corner? Before the trumpet even enters the story has been broken off in the middle deep street music melding with a secret language exchanged by the band and those who can actually hear it as music. Here are killer groove riffs that barely hold on as bleating trumpet and soprano sax lines (courtesy of Dave Liebman on track one) interact with John McLaughlin's distortion-box frenzy. Michael Henderson's bass keeps the basic so basic it hypnotizes; keyboards slowly enter the picture, a pair of them handled by Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea, as well as Ivory Williams' synthesizer. Finally, Colin Walcott jumps in with an electric sitar and there are no less than five drummers  three kits (Al Foster, Billy Hart, and Jack DeJohnette), a tabla player, and Mtume. It's a four-tune suite, On the Corner is, but the separations hardly matter, just the shifts in groove that alter the time/space continuum. After 20 minutes, the set feels over and a form of Miles' strange lyricism returns in "Black Satin." Though a tabla kicks the tune off, there's a recognizable eight-note melody that runs throughout. Carlos Garnett and Bennie Maupin replace Liebman, Dave Creamer replaces McLaughlin, and the groove rides a bit easier except for those hand bells shimmering in the background off the beat just enough to make the squares crazy. 

The respite is short-lived, however. Davis and band move the music way over to the funk side of the street  though the street funkers thought these cats were too weird with their stranded time signatures and modal fugues that begin and end nowhere and live for the way the riff breaks down into emptiness. "One and One" begins the new tale, so jazz breaks down and gets polished off and resurrected as a far blacker, deeper-than-blue character in the form of "Helen Butte/Mr. Freedom X," where guitars and horns careen off Henderson's cracking bass and Foster's skittering hi-hats. It may sound weird even today, but On the Corner is the most street record ever recorded by a jazz musician. And it still kicks. ~ Thom Jurek http://www.allmusic.com/album/on-the-corner-mw0000197892

Personnel:  Miles Davis – electric trumpet;  Dave Liebman – soprano saxophone;  Carlos Garnett – soprano and tenor saxophone;  Herbie Hancock – electric piano, synthesizer;  Chick Corea – electric piano;   Harold I. Williams – organ, synthesizer; David Creamer, John McLaughlin – electric guitar;  Michael Henderson – electric bass;  Collin Walcott, Khalil Balakrishna - electric sitar;  Bennie Maupin – bass clarinet (B1);  Badal Roy – tabla;  Jack DeJohnette– drums;  Jabali Billy Hart – drums, bongos;  James "Mtume" Foreman, Don Alias – percussion;  Paul Buckmaster – cello, arrangements

On the Corner

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Andrew Rathbun - Affairs of State

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:49
Size: 148,9 MB
Art: Front

(6:10)  1. Fragmented
(8:16)  2. We Have Nothing But Tears
(7:14)  3. Around the Same Circles, Again and Again
(6:04)  4. Break the Chains
(6:38)  5. 5th Anniversary
(6:34)  6. Fiasco
(8:30)  7. Ongoing
(6:21)  8. Folly (Of the Future Fallen)
(8:58)  9. Paint Peelings

Andrew Rathbun is a Canadian-born tenor saxophonist resident in New York, a Brooklyn regular who has garnered support from fellow tenorists Joe Lovano and Dave Liebman as well as trumpeter Kenny Wheeler. That should give some sense of Rathbun's lineage. He's a thoughtful player and true to the influence of Wheeler (and Booker Little) and the mid-'60s Miles Davis quintet a skillful composer, honing a refined lyricism that explores challenging harmonic patterns. He’s also interested in consistent partnerships. The quintet heard here includes two musicians, trumpeter Taylor Haskins and bassist John Hebert, who played on Rathbun's first quintet session, Scatter Some Stones (Challenge, 1998). Returning the favor, Rathbun has also appeared on Haskins' two Fresh Sound CDs. As one might expect, there's a close-knit feeling that extends from hand-in-glove ensemble playing to some understated contrapuntal improvising.  

Rathbun likes extra-musical themes (two of his previous CDs have been poetry settings), and the pieces here reference the decline of America in the Bush years, from the Iraq war to collapsing infrastructure and luxury condos; however, the album's dominant moods are melancholy and resilience rather than rage, an introspective lyricism that wouldn't otherwise suggest the political theme. Rathbun's compositions use contrasting elements to create tension and develop texture, as in the antiphonal voicings of "Fragmented," the dissonant elegy of "We Have Nothing But Tears" and the effective use of sparkling electric piano on "Folly." His tenor sound possesses significant flexibility, from warm calm to gritty resistance; it's a fine match with Haskins, whose pitch inflections can add a sudden illumination. The rhythm section Herbert joined by pianist Gary Versace and drummer Mike Sarin is a model of support, a loose and engaged presence balancing empathy and aggression with an almost orchestral breadth. The result is consistently thoughtful, well-crafted music in a mature idiom. ~ Stuart Broomer https://www.allaboutjazz.com/affairs-of-state-andrew-rathbun-steeplechase-records-review-by-stuart-broomer.php
 

Personnel: Andrew Rathbun: tenor saxophone; Taylor Haskins: trumpet; Gary Versace: piano; John Hebert: bass; Mike Sarin: drums.

Affairs of State

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Ari Ambrose - Jazmin

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:00
Size: 145,5 MB
Art: Front

( 8:41)  1. Jazmin
( 7:10)  2. When Your Lover Has Gone
(10:27)  3. Ila
(12:06)  4. Along Came Betty
( 4:25)  5. Dollar Shot
( 9:19)  6. Bubbles, Bangles and Beads
( 8:49)  7. Who Know

So-called Young Lions seem pretty toothless these days. Wynton’s playing sideman gigs at the Village Vanguard, a venue he once lorded over (see the exemplary box set on Columbia), and cats like Nicholas Payton and Joshua Redman have largely fallen off the radar of public consciousness. The Zeitgeist seems ripe for new contenders and tenor player Ari Ambrose just might lead the pack. Rather than traffic in hard bop retreads, the saxophonist sets his sights higher. A reverence for the glories of the past tempers an insightful ear cocked toward future challenges to conquer. One element essential to this sort of strategy is a like-minded band. Ambrose has his bets covered in this regard with Michael Leonhart, Joe Martin and Rick Montalbano. Even with several records under their collective belt this is still a relatively young ensemble, and that freshness feeds directly into the music. Vestiges of Byas and Webster crop up in his tone and phrasing, but there’s also an edge of unpredictability to his sound. Sliding into near micro tonality on the velvet ballad changes of “When Your Lover Has Gone” Ambrose’s tenor adopts a ghostly translucent cast. Leonhart’s lovingly muted brass smears out a gentle counterpoint and Martin’s ensuing bass solo builds at a beautifully sculpted pace. Everything about the track registers as a model of grace and measured poise.


“Ila” radiates avant-garde overtones while still adhering to a solid structural base. Martin’s dour bass bowing weaves with Montalbano’s atmospheric cymbals and malleted toms, prefacing Ambrose’s own somber entrance. The tenor’s solo loses steam after a strong opening section, segueing into a spate of pitch-pointed cries and flutters. But succor comes in the form of Martin’s busy fingers, which pluck out a vacillating harmonic backdrop alongside Montalbano’s traps and Ambrose regains focus through the coalescing momentum. Rollinsesque ingenuity saturates the playing of both horns, with each man reeling off his share of melodic quotes and Leonhart also trading in legato trills. Benny Golson’s “Along Came Betty,” rendered at a languorous tempo and elongated duration, allows the band even more room for spacious interplay. Ambrose steps forward first, flanked by Leonhart’s lubricious counterpoint and the roles smoothly transpose during the trumpeter’s own solo. Further interjections from the horns punctuate pauses in Martin’s solo, but his fingers plough right on through with an ergonomically sound excursion across his strings. Montalbano gets room to move through a series of highly attentive drum breaks. Leonhart’s “Dollar Shot” bounces along on an infectious highlife-flavored groove, while the venerable standard “Baubles, Bangles and Beads” furthers the mood of accessible exploratory élan. A rousing reading of Monk’s questionary “Who Knows” closes things out and the quartet demonstrates a convincing affinity for the composer’s angular harmonic antics. Ambrose and his colleagues probably won’t register in the minds of many jazz listeners, but engaging discs like this one suggest that their relative anonymity is almost certainly a temporary ailment.~ Derek Taylor https://www.allaboutjazz.com/jazmin-ari-ambrose-steeplechase-records-review-by-derek-taylor.php

Personnel:  Ari Ambrose- tenor saxophone;  Michael Leonhart- trumpet;  Joe Martin- bass;  Rick Montalbano- drums.

Jazmin

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