Nina Simone - Silk And Soul

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:03
Size: 82.6 MB
Styles: Soul-jazz vocals
Year: 1967/2006
Art: Front

[2:55] 1. It Be's That Way Sometime
[2:22] 2. The Look Of Love
[2:48] 3. Go To Hell
[5:06] 4. Love O' Love
[3:21] 5. Cherish
[3:07] 6. I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free
[2:24] 7. Turn Me On
[2:00] 8. The Turning Point
[2:08] 9. Some Say
[4:08] 10. Consummation
[2:19] 11. Why Must Your Love Well Be So Dry
[3:21] 12. Save Me

After moving from the blues to soul for her second RCA album, Nina Simone's extroverted, confident delivery proved a natural match with the ranks of soul shouters working the crowds during the late '60s. A plane ticket to Memphis or Muscle Shoals could've resulted in one of Simone's best works; unfortunately, this set was recorded in New York, and it shows. Simone does well taking on Dusty Springfield for "The Look of Love," though the sedate supper-club backing doesn't quite jive with her smooth, studied performance. Better are the less familiar tunes, like the highlight "It Be's That Way Sometimes" (written by Simone's brother Sam Waymon), "Go to Hell," and "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free," a trio of songs Nina Simone has no trouble making her own. ~John Bush

Silk And Soul

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Bud Shank, João Donato - Uma Tarde Com Bud Shank E João Donato

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:10
Size: 128.6 MB
Styles: Latin jazz, World Fusion
Year: 2004
Art: Front

[8:43] 1. Gaiolas Abertas
[8:18] 2. Joana
[7:44] 3. Black Orchid
[5:36] 4. Minha Saudade
[5:30] 5. Night And Day
[5:19] 6. But Not For Me
[6:18] 7. There Will Never Be Another You
[8:37] 8. Yesterdays

O som de Shank assume um tom pungente em 'Joana', sublinhado por Donato em cada inflexão e variação, sustentando seu solo impregnado de lirismo e delicadeza. Shank expõe 'Black Orchid' com acentuado lirismo no qual seu sax literalmente canta a melodia, embarcando numa exploração repleta de variações sugestivas, seguido por Donato, que exibe sua imaginação aparentemente inesgotável. Após introdução de piano em 'Minha Saudade', Shank expõe a melodia com frases articuladas, prelúdio de uma extensa improvisação; o solo de Donato é um autêntico poema tonal, lírico e introspectivo. O sucesso dessas gravações motivou o reencontro de Bud Shank com João Donato, em novembro de 2006, para dois concertos no Mistura Fina. Confira o resultado do encontro desses dois mestres da música!

Uma Tarde Com Bud Shank e Joao Donato                 

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Bob Mintzer Big Band - Old School: New Lessons

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:44
Size: 145.9 MB
Styles: Big band, Progressive jazz
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[7:46] 1. Not Quite Yet
[5:59] 2. Mofongo
[5:44] 3. My One And Only Love
[6:39] 4. Runferyerlife
[7:50] 5. Mosaic
[6:56] 6. Resolution
[7:14] 7. March Majestic
[8:12] 8. Black Sand
[7:19] 9. Go Go

Bob Mintzer: tenor saxophone, flute; Peter Yellin: alto saxophone, flute; Lawrence Feldman: alto saxophone, flute; Bob Malach: tenor saxophone, clarinet; Scott Robinson: baritone saxophone, clarinet; Bob Millikan: trumpet; Scott Wendholt: trumpet, flugelhorn; Terrell Stafford: trumpet; Frank Greene: trumpet; Michael Davis: trombone; Jason Jackson: trombone; Larry Farrell: trombone; David Taylor: bass trombone; Phil Markowitz: piano; Jay Anderson: bass; John Riley: drums; Kurt Elling: vocals; Yellowjackets--Bob Mintzer: tenor saxophone, EWI; Russell Ferrante: acoustic piano, synthesizer; Jimmy Haslip: electric bass; Marcus Baylor: drums.

He may be best known these days as one quarter of the contemporary jazz group Yellowjackets' best lineup in 25 years, but woodwind multi-instrumentalist Bob Mintzer first cut his teeth in the big bands of Buddy Rich and Mel Lewis, along with the late bassist Jaco Pastorius' groundbreaking Word of Mouth Big Band. And so, while he's made a significant part of his reputation through work in smaller ensembles, he's always had an affinity for the sonic possibilities and sheer power of larger ensembles. His own big band has been an ongoing concern since the early 1980s. Mintzer has clear reverence for the swing tradition of those early big bands' experiences. Still, with his own ensembles he's always been equally committed to moving that tradition forward, something he does to great effect on Old School: New Lessons, culled from a series of Manchester Craftsmen's Guild shows in Pittsburgh in 2004 and 2005. Augmenting his sixteen-piece band on two tracks with vocalist Kurt Elling, and on two others with his Yellowjackets bandmates, Mintzer has fashioned a large ensemble record that's respectful enough to appeal to staunch traditionalists, yet contemporary enough to perhaps act as an entry point for contemporary jazz fans who are less familiar with what a big band has to offer.

The two Elling tracks are a lush reading of "My One and Only Love and a powerful version of "Resolution" that puts last year's Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra's overly-arranged version of John Coltrane's A Love Supreme to shame. Otherwise, the compositions are all Mintzer's. And of those seven Mintzer titles, a full five were originally recorded with Yellowjackets. While the use of his electronic wind instrument (EWI) feels a little out of place on the samba-inflected "Mofongo, which also features Yellowjackets pianist Russell Ferrante, electric bassist Jimmy Haslip and drummer Marcus Baylor, Mintzer's thirteen-piece horn section gives the piece a bright energy that surpasses the Yellowjackets version from Mint Jam (Heads Up, 2002). The pop balladry of "Mosaic, which also first appeared on Mint Jam, on the other hand, feels more organically integrated here. But Mintzer's Yellowjackets tunes interpreted by the big band alone best exemplify the convergence of these two seemingly disparate musical worlds. "Go Go, rhythmically rooted in the underground scene of Washington, DC, manages to feel authentic yet swings a little harder; pianist Phil Markowitz's accompaniment to Bob Malach's tenor solo is more abstractly modal than Ferrante's take on Time Squared (Heads Up, 2003). And while the burning "Runferyerlife grooved with a kind of Weather Report swagger on the live Mint Jam, it's more closely aligned here with traditional big band swing.

All too few artists today are exploring the greater possibilities a large ensemble can afford. So it's good news that Mintzer has chosen to remain committed to his big band throughout his career. Old School: New Lessons, a vivid set filled with excitement and color, continues to demonstrate Mintzer's ability to comfortably marry tradition with innovation. ~John Kelman

Old School: New Lessons

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Katie Melua - The Katie Melua Collection

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:40
Size: 141.2 MB
Styles: Adult alternative, Pop-Rock-Jazz
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[4:12] 1. The Closest Thing To Crazy
[3:16] 2. Nine Million Bicycles
[4:19] 3. What A Wonderful World
[3:59] 4. If You Were A Sailboat
[3:24] 5. Piece By Piece
[3:25] 6. Call Off The Search
[4:39] 7. On The Road Again
[3:12] 8. Mary Pickford
[3:59] 9. Spider's Web
[3:39] 10. Thank You, Stars
[3:36] 11. I Cried For You
[3:25] 12. Crawling Up A Hill
[3:05] 13. Tiger In The Night
[3:12] 14. Toy Collection
[3:49] 15. Somewhere In The Same Hotel
[2:58] 16. Two Bare Feet
[3:23] 17. When You Taught Me How To Dance

With combined U.K. album sales of nearly three million copies, Georgian-born Katie Melua has quietly become one of the biggest-selling female artists of the decade. Without the media profile of Britney Spears, the powerhouse vocals of Anastacia, or the critical acclaim of Dido, her success has been based purely on old-fashioned songs that have managed to have appeal beyond the usual folk-pop market. Indeed, just like her biggest influence, Eva Cassidy, who appears here on a posthumous cover of "What a Wonderful World," Melua's soothing and jazz-tinged tones found an audience through repeated plays on Terry Wogan's BBC Radio 2 show. So the fact that the majority of The Katie Melua Collection never really moves past first gear shouldn't come as any surprise. But what her detractors may call dull, others may call refreshingly simple. Indeed, her back-to-basics approach sometimes works wonderfully, particularly on her two biggest singles, the naïvely charming "Closest Thing to Crazy" and the Celtic-inspired "Nine Million Bicycles," one of the most lyrically unique love songs of recent times. Elsewhere, "I Cried for You" showcases Melua's heartfelt, impassioned vocals to full effect, while the dramatic "Spider's Web" is a decent stab at a rock-led political song. However, the less-is-more production sometimes renders the songs so nondescript that it's hard to remember anything about them. And the likes of "Call Off the Search" and "Crawling Up the Hill" do little to dispel the unwanted Norah Jones comparisons. However, the three new tracks, Melua's first since her split with longtime collaborator Mike Batt, suggest a different direction for album number four, with the jaunty big-band party song "Two Bare Feet" a particular highlight. Overall, this is a comprehensive roundup of a surprisingly successful, if fairly unadventurous, first chapter of her career. Without the aid of her chief songwriter, it will be interesting to see how she develops from here. ~Jon O'Brien

The Katie Melua Collection

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Chuck Wayne - Jazz Guitar Essentials

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:54
Size: 150.9 MB
Styles: Guitar jazz
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[3:04] 1. Lullaby In Rhythm
[2:40] 2. More Than You Know
[3:10] 3. Cool Saturday Night
[4:35] 4. Embraceable You
[5:06] 5. Red Sun Blues
[3:23] 6. What A Difference A Day Made
[5:06] 7. Love For Sale
[3:13] 8. Carmel
[3:27] 9. Body And Soul
[4:25] 10. Lover Man
[2:29] 11. Snuggled On Your Shoulder
[3:15] 12. Along With Me
[3:28] 13. Rockabye Bay
[3:48] 14. How About You
[6:00] 15. Blue Serge
[4:17] 16. Good Old Guy
[2:00] 17. Five O'clock Blues
[2:22] 18. Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe

Although he often paid his bills with non-jazz pursuits, native New Yorker Chuck Wayne was an expressive and talented, if underexposed, bebop guitarist along the lines of Barney Kessel, Tal Farlow, Jimmy Raney, and Johnny Smith. Wayne was never a huge name in the jazz world, but he did cross paths with major jazzmen like Dizzy Gillespie, Zoot Sims, and Woody Herman -- and improvisers who were familiar with his swinging yet lyrical playing (a relatively small group) swore by him. Wayne was capable of playing more than one style of jazz; he played swing before he played bop, and he could handle Dixieland as well. But bop was his preference, and that's the style that he is best known for in jazz circles. Wayne was born Charles Jagelka in the Big Apple on February 27, 1923 -- that's the name that appeared on his birth certificate -- but when he pursued a career in music, he realized it would be easier and more convenient to go by Chuck Wayne. The improviser didn't start out as a guitarist; as a teenager in the late '30s, he played swing on the mandolin. But by the early '40s (when he was hired a sideman by swing pianist Clarence Profit), Wayne had switched to the guitar and made it his primary instrument. After spending some time in the United States Army, Wayne became quite active on midtown Manhattan's legendary 52nd Street scene of the '40s -- and that was where he made the transition from swing to bebop. Wayne, whose early influences included Oscar Moore (of the Nat King Cole Trio) and the seminal Charlie Christian, first heard Charlie Parker around 1944; it didn't take him long to take the bebop plunge. The mid-'40s found Wayne playing with Woody Herman's big band, and 52nd Street was where he played with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. Wayne (who played the banjo and the balalaika as secondary instruments) was a sideman for pianist George Shearing from 1949-1952, and in the '50s he recorded some LPs for the Progressive label as a leader. But it was also during the '50s that Wayne had a lot of non-jazz activities, which ranged from writing for Broadway to working as a staff musician for CBS-TV to a stint with singer Tony Bennett (who isn't jazz per se but is a fine example of jazz-influenced traditional pop). However, Wayne never gave up bebop, and he recorded a handful of bop-oriented albums in the '60s and '70s (two more decades that found him dividing his time between jazz and non-jazz pursuits). The '80s found Wayne teaching at the Westchester Conservatory of Music in suburban White Plains, NY (just outside of the Big Apple), and he continued to teach and play in the '90s. On July 29, 1997, Wayne passed away at the age of 74. ~ Alex Henderson

Jazz Guitar Essentials

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Melissa Manchester - Playlist: The Very Best Of Melissa Manchester

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:49
Size: 114.0 MB
Styles: Soft rock, Adult Contemporary
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[3:55] 1. Midnight Blue
[3:38] 2. Just Too Many People
[4:14] 3. You Should Hear How She Talks About You
[3:58] 4. Lovers After All
[2:55] 5. Rainbird
[4:23] 6. Talkin' To Myself
[3:51] 7. Walk On By
[3:47] 8. I Can't Get Started
[4:10] 9. Through The Eyes Of Love (Theme From The Motion Picture Ice Castles )
[4:16] 10. Come In From The Rain
[3:48] 11. Don't Cry Out Loud
[3:13] 12. Shine Like You Should
[3:35] 13. A Mother And Father's Prayer

MOR singer/songwriter Melissa Manchester, whose father was a bassoonist for the New York Metropolitan Opera, began singing commercial jingles at age 15 and went on to become a staff writer for Chappell Music while attending the High School of Performing Arts. After taking a songwriting class at New York University taught by Paul Simon, Manchester took her talents to the Manhattan club scene, where she was discovered by Bette Midler and Barry Manilow; the two hired her as a backup singer in 1971. She recorded her debut album, Home to Myself, in 1973, co-writing many of the songs with Carole Bayer Sager. Released in 1975, Melissa produced her first Top Ten hit, "Midnight Blue," and set the tone for most of her career with its direct, slickly produced MOR pop sound. She and Kenny Loggins co-wrote the latter's 1978 duet hit with Stevie Nicks, "Whenever I Call You Friend," and the following year, Manchester returned to the Top Ten with "Don't Cry Out Loud." In 1980, Manchester became the first singer to have two movie themes nominated for Academy Awards (Ice Castles and The Promise); two years later she achieved her highest Billboard singles chart placement with the number five hit "You Should Hear How She Talks About You," which won a Grammy for Best Female Vocal Performance. Through the '80s and '90s, Manchester alternated occasional recording with scriptwriting and acting, appearing with Bette Midler in For the Boys and on the television series Blossom as the title character's birth mother. In spring 2004, Manchester returned with her first album in ten years. When I Look Down That Road, which included collaborations with Beth Nielsen Chapman and Keb' Mo' and marked her first proper release with Koch. ~bio by Steve Huey

Playlist: The Very Best Of Melissa Manchester

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Bob James, David Sanborn - Double Vision

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:15
Size: 99.0 MB
Styles: Piano jazz, Crossover jazz
Year: 1986/2014
Art: Front

[6:47] 1. Maputo
[6:16] 2. More Than Friends
[7:03] 3. Moon Tune
[5:49] 4. Since I Fell For You
[5:13] 5. It's You
[6:27] 6. Never Enough
[5:36] 7. You Don't Know Me

Bass – Marcus Miller; Drums – Steve Gadd; Guitar – Paul Milton Jackson Jr.; Keyboards, Synthesizer, Arranged By [Rhythm & Synthesizer], Programmed By – Bob James; Percussion – Paulinho Da Costa; Saxophone – David Sanborn.

This combination works quite well. Poppish keyboardist/arranger Bob James joins with electric bassist Marcus Miller, drummer Steve Gadd, guitarist Paul Jackson, percussionist Paulinho da Costa, and (on two songs) guitarist Eric Gale to accompany the distinctive and always soulful altoist David Sanborn. Sanborn caresses the strong melodies, mostly originals by James and Miller, and plays well with guest vocalist Al Jarreau on "Since I Fell for You." One of the best recordings ever released under James' name (Sanborn gets co-billing) and a big seller. ~Scott Yanow

Double Vision 

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Gato Barbieri - Under Fire

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 35:47
Size: 81.9 MB
Styles: Latin jazz
Year: 1971/2016
Art: Front

[9:08] 1. El Parana
[4:51] 2. Yo Le Canto A La Luna
[3:51] 3. Antonico
[9:35] 4. Maria Domingas
[8:20] 5. El Sertao

Under Fire is Gato Barbieri in his early-'70s prime, when the Argentinean tenorman's transition from the avant-garde to exploring his South American continental routes still hadn't passed beyond the pale into flaccid fusion. He's joined by a pretty stellar band: his regular pianist Lonnie Liston Smith (before he fuzaked out), Airto Moreira and James Mtume on drums and percussion, the veteran Roy Haynes guesting on "El Parana," a young John Abercrombie on guitar and Stanley Clarke in his young lion-of-acoustic-bass phase.

Barbieri floats in the background of "El Parana" before kicking into the song proper at an accelerated tempo. More than improvising per se, his trademark was the emotionally charged sonic stamp he put on the melody (check the intro to the ballad "Yo Le Canto a la Luna," where Barbieri sounds like he's aiming to blow down walls) that made clichés like "Latin passion and fire" sound like, well, the real deal. It also provides a good counterpoint to the exuberant playing of the group -- Smith's solo shows the impact of his years with Pharoah Sanders, but it's Clarke and the rhythm section that really drive the piece while Abercrombie tosses in fills here and there.

"Antonico" features double-tracked Barbieri and the strongest improvisation (so far) at the end, while Brazilian songwriter Jorge Ben's "Maria Domingas" fades in with a full head of steam thanks to Abercrombie and Clarke dueling over Moreira and Mtume. Barbieri's echoed yelps give way to a deeply lyrical sax melody -- he does a lot of similar dynamic shifts here -- before Abercrombie's guitar comps re-start the up-tempo with Clarke effortlessly loping on as the octave-leaping anchor for Barbieri's searing statement of the theme. "El Sertao" opens with Barbieri squeaks over Smith's echoed Fender Rhodes trills, a Clarke foundation riff, and Abercrombie's comps before Barbieri enters full-force. The music stays light and buoyant before another downtempo shift builds to a climatic coda with Clarke shining.

Even the longer pieces are over before you know it so, although Under Fire doesn't quite match the charged intensity of Fenix or El Pampero, it leaves you wishing for two things. First, that there were outtakes to include here because you never come close to getting tired of the music -- double the music would mean double the fun. And what a shame that Carlos Santana, who was just entering his Devadip phase, never recorded with Barbieri at this point in their careers because that combination had the potential to create some pretty incredible music. ~Don Snowden

Under Fire

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