Tony Bennett - Jazz

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:17
Size: 154.0 MB
Styles: Vocal
Year: 1987/2013
Art: Front

[3:06] 1. I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me
[2:00] 2. Don't Get Around Much Anymore
[2:25] 3. Stella By Starlight
[3:59] 4. On Green Dolphin Street
[2:46] 5. Let's Face The Music And Dance
[3:18] 6. I'm Thru With Love
[3:32] 7. Solitude
[3:11] 8. Lullaby Of Broadway
[2:30] 9. Dancing In The Dark
[1:58] 10. I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart
[4:57] 11. When Lights Are Low
[2:03] 12. Just One Of Those Things
[2:06] 13. Crazy Rhythm
[2:11] 14. Street Of Dreams
[2:33] 15. Love Scene
[4:31] 16. While The Music Plays On
[2:18] 17. Close Your Eyes
[4:30] 18. Out Of This World
[2:26] 19. Just Friends
[2:11] 20. Have You Met Miss Jones
[4:56] 21. Danny Boy
[3:39] 22. Sweet Lorraine

What a wonderful idea. This is a compilation album ranging across Tony Bennett's early career, from 1954 to 1967, highlighting some of his more adventurous sessions with jazz musicians, including Count Basie, Herbie Hancock, Herbie Mann, Art Blakey, Stan Getz, and others, and featuring jazz standards like "Green Dolphin Street," along with a healthy dose of Duke Ellington compositions. Bennett not only holds his own, he sounds delighted on every track. The ironic thing, of course, is that Columbia frowned on these kinds of side excursions from his pop career in the '50s. Now, all is forgiven, and this proves an unusually imaginative repackaging that illuminates an important part of Bennett's talent and further contributes to his '80s renaissance. (The album contains a previously unreleased 1964 performance of "Danny Boy" featuring Stan Getz. Originally released as a two-LP set, Jazz was compressed to a 67-minute CD by excising two tracks.) ~William Ruhlmann

Jazz

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Roy Hargrove - Approaching Standards

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:01
Size: 146.5 MB
Styles: Bop, Trumpet jazz
Year: 1994
Art: Front

[6:09] 1. Easy To Remember
[6:11] 2. Ruby My Dear
[7:38] 3. Whisper Not
[5:16] 4. What's New
[7:34] 5. September In The Rain
[6:24] 6. You Don't Know What Love Is
[8:01] 7. End Of A Love Affair
[5:43] 8. Things We Did Last Summer
[4:50] 9. Everything I Have Is Yours/Dedicated To You
[6:10] 10. My Shining Hour

Roy Hargrove/Trumpet,Flugelhorn; Stephen Scott/Piano; John Hicks/Piano; Billy Higgins/Drums; Ron Blake/Soprano Saxophone,Tenor Saxophone; Scott Colley/Bass; Foster/Drums; Gregory Hutchinson/Drums; Frank Lacy/Trombone;Christian McBride/Bass; Rodney Whitaker/Bass.

Ballads dominate the album, accounting for seven of the album's ten tracks; Hargrove generally interprets them in a cool, emotionally detached manner...Compiled from four albums whose recording dates span from 1989 to 1993, Approaching Standards...also documents Hargrove's growth as a musician. "Everything I Have is Yours/Dedicated to You," taken from the 1993 recording Of Kindred Souls, finds Hargrove in a more mature frame of mind, and points toward the much better albums he would soon make.

Approaching Standards

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Randy Crawford, Joe Sample - Live

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:42
Size: 113.8 MB
Styles: Soul jazz
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[5:13] 1. Every Day I Have The Blues
[3:56] 2. Feeling Good
[3:17] 3. Tell Me More And More And Then Some
[5:30] 4. Rainy Night In Georgia
[3:45] 5. This Bitter Earth
[2:25] 6. Me, Myself And I
[3:20] 7. No Regrets
[4:57] 8. One Day I'll Fly Away
[5:02] 9. Almaz
[6:07] 10. Street Life
[6:04] 11. Last Night At Danceland

Bass – Nicklas Sample; Drums – Steve Gadd; Piano – Joe Sample; Vocals – Randy Crawford. This album was recorded at various concert halls throughout Europe, during October - December of 2008.

Randy Crawford's and Joe Sample's musical paths have been intertwined for 36 years; they began with his keyboard work on her debut album Everything Must Change in 1976. She returned the favor a couple of years later with her vocal on the Crusaders' 1978 smash "Street Life." The pair have worked together intermittently since then, but only formally recorded as a dual entity on 2007's Feeling Good, a collection of (mostly) jazz tunes and standards. They followed it with No Regrets in 2008, a collection of blues, soul, and pop tunes. Both albums were highly regarded critically. Sample's piano was aided by drummer Steve Gadd and bassist Christian McBride. Live was recorded on various European stages between October and December of 2008, immediately prior to and just after the release of No Regrets. Gadd is present here, but it is Sample's son Nicklas in the upright bass chair. The impeccably recorded program is drawn from both albums and then some. Beginning with an in-the-pocket read of "Everyday I Have the Blues," and continuing with standards from the jazz, blues, and soul books, the set is well-sequenced and feels very much like a seamless live date. There's an excellent, jazzed-up reading of "Street Life" surprisingly enough, and a shimmering take on Tony Joe White's "Rainy Night in Georgia" (that features Sample quoting from the Crusaders' "Hard Times" in his vamps and fills. There's also moving a version of Clyde Otis' "This Bitter Earth" (first recorded by Dinah Washington in 1960). The tunes that reflect the depth of Crawford's and Sample's musical relationship best, however, are in her "Almaz," and Sample's "One Day I'll Fly Away." On the former, Crawford's vocal is haunting, spare, intimate; it is underscored by Sample's elegant playing with its restrained harmonics and Spanish tinge. The latter tune was more risky. Given that the song was a hit for Crawford and is her best-known tune, the bubbling bassline and lush strings are parts of its signature. Stripping all that back for this piano-trio setting meant letting the tune's simple melody be the sole anchor for its smoldering emotion. Crawford deliberately understates it. Sample responds by filling the spaces with poetic economy and a new version emerges that is every bit as resonant. While Live is a further inscription in the collaborative book authored by Crawford and Sample, it is more, too: a classy, soulful example of inspired musicmaking. ~Thom Jurek

Live

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Reuben Wilson - Organ Donor

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:27
Size: 110.9 MB
Styles: B3 Organ jazz
Year: 1998
Art: Front

[6:53] 1. Hot Rod
[5:25] 2. Orange Peel
[5:40] 3. Now's The Time
[6:07] 4. Groovin'
[8:14] 5. Trouble Man
[6:40] 6. Got To Get Your Own '98
[4:19] 7. Ronnie's Bonnie
[5:05] 8. Organ Donor

Drums – Adrian Harpham; Flute [Tenor], Flute [Alto], Flute [Soprano] – Melvin Butler; Guitar – Robin Macatangay; Keyboards – Bruce Flowers; Organ [Hammond B3] – Reuben Wilsonl; Percussion – Ricardo Rodriquez; Saxophone [Tenor], Flute [Tenor] – Donny Mcaslin; Trombone – Jason Forsythe; Trumpet – Kenny Rampton; Vocals – Saundra Williams, Starr Adkins.

Reuben Wilson (born 1935) is best remembered as one of Blue Note's funkiest organists, making five albums for the label between 1968 and 1971 (only Love Bug and the excellent Blue Mode are currently available on CD). He went on to record three more records for Groove Merchant, then he whipped up some disco for smaller labels and by the end of the seventies, he was gigging with the Fatback Band. Wilson disappeared from the scene until groups like Us3, Nas and A Tribe Called Quest started sampling his funky old Blue Note grooves. Now he's part of that groove hierarchy of elder funksmen who tour with funk-jazz revivalists, jams it up with Guru and the Greyboy All Stars and records groove tribs like Organic Grooves (Hip Bop).

Organ Donor is a terrific slice of heavy-metal funk. Recorded in 1996 and just recently released the U.S., it's a great introduction to Wilson's brand of grind. He's got a spare style that belies his instrument's reputation. But he manages to whip off one cool lick after another – each packing a powerful wallop of a punch. It's as if his playing doesn't have to prove anything. He knows what grooves. All eight tracks here are newly recorded, but only two (by my count) are really 'new'. Both "Now's the Time" and "Organ Donor," co-written by Wilson and producer / bassist Chris Parks, have a wildly funky groove. The rest will seem pretty familiar to funk fans, yet all are worth hearing in their new incarnation: "Ronnie's Bonnie" (originally from 1968's On Broadway and, because of US3, the launchpad for Wilson's revival), "Hot Rod" (from 1969's Love Bug, here done up MMW-style), "Orange Peel" (from 1969's Blue Mode ) and the excellent disco-funk of "Got To Get Your Own" (from an old Cadet album of the same name).

Despite a lot of cooks in the kitchen, few players other than Wilson are featured. But all solo well and a few stand out: Bruce Flower's keyboards on "Hot Rod," Melvin Bulter on "Orange Peel" and either Bulter or Mcaslin on "Got To Get Your Own" and Robin Macatangay's guitar on "Trouble Man" and "Organ Donor." This is a great disc for groove lovers, and there ain't one dud in the bunch. ~Douglas Payne

Organ Donor

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Margaretha Evmark, Rolf Jardemark - Plays Cole Porter: Get Out Of Town

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:11
Size: 121.8 MB
Styles: Guitar & vocal jazz
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[3:30] 1. Let's Do It
[4:13] 2. Get Out Of Town
[4:59] 3. In The Still Of The Night
[3:31] 4. So In Love
[4:05] 5. I Love Paris
[2:53] 6. Too Darn Hot
[4:41] 7. Just One Of Those Things
[4:35] 8. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
[4:35] 9. I Love You
[4:25] 10. I Concentrate On You
[3:05] 11. You Do Something To Me
[4:31] 12. Easy To Love
[4:02] 13. Everytime We Say Goodbye

Accordion – Pierre Eriksson (2); Drums – Anders Kjellberg (tracks: 3, 7, 9, 11); Guitar – Rolf Jardemark; Harmonica – Björn Karlsson (tracks: 3, 7, 11); Vibraphone – Mark Johnson (tracks: 3, 9, 10); Vocals, Double Bass – Margareta Evmark.

“The older I get, the more I appreciate truly good songwriting. This album was my first with an in depth focus on vocals. It features the work of the great Cole Porter, one of the most important contributors to the American songbook and entertainment.” ~Rolf Jardemark

Plays Cole Porter: Get Out Of Town

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Ornette Coleman - Virgin Beauty

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:53
Size: 102.8 MB
Styles: Free jazz, Saxophone jazz
Year: 1988/2013
Art: Front

[4:19] 1. 3 Wishes
[5:09] 2. Bourgeois Boogie
[4:44] 3. Happy Hour
[3:33] 4. Virgin Beauty
[5:20] 5. Healing The Feeling
[4:22] 6. Singing In The Shower
[4:23] 7. Desert Players
[4:22] 8. Honeymooners
[3:00] 9. Chanting
[1:25] 10. Spelling The Alphabet
[4:11] 11. Unknown Artist

This CD is often quite exciting, if a bit messy. Ornette Coleman (on alto, trumpet and violin) is heard with his "double quartet" Prime Time, which at the time was comprised of guitarists Bern Nix and Charlie Ellerbee, electric bassists Al MacDowell and Chris Walker, and drummers Denardo Coleman (who also plays some keyboards) and Calvin Weston. As if the ensembles are not dense and overcrowded enough, Jerry Garcia sits in on third guitar on three of the 11 Coleman originals. The music is frequently exciting, but will take several listens to absorb. Worth investigating. ~Scott Yanow

Virgin Beauty

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Robin Eubanks, Steve Turre - Dedications

Styles: Trombone Jazz
Year: 1989
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:08
Size: 115,1 MB
Art: Front

(6:22)  1. The New Breed
(6:11)  2. V.O.
(6:33)  3. Red, Black and Green Blues
(6:43)  4. Trance Dance
(5:03)  5. Perpetual Broove
(7:16)  6. Especially for You
(5:02)  7. Koncepts
(6:55)  8. Victory

This CD teams together two of the brightest young trombonists of the period, Robin Eubanks and Steve Turre. The music covers a wide area with "The New Breed" placing the horns over a complex 7/4 funk rhythm (with pianist Mulgrew Miller making his recording debut on synthesizer), "V.O." being a modern Latin original, "Red, Black & Green Blues" featuring the band jamming on a blues reminiscent of the Jazz Messengers and "Trance Dance" evolving from a free form introduction to a nearly impossible-to-play solo section (with 45 beats every four bars). The funky "Perpetual Groove" is succeded by a ballad dedicated to Woody Shaw, the straightahead "Koncepts" (similar to "Giant Steps") and the uptempo "Victory." Eubanks and Turre had worked together on and off for nearly four yaers at this point and their familiarity with each other's playing shows. Add to the two trombones a strong and flexible rhythm section and the result is a stimluating and varied set of modern jazz. ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/dedications-mw0000202222

Personnel:  Robin Eubanks - trombone, bass trombone, keyboards, bells;  Steve Turre - trombone, sea shells, synthesizer, bells, claves;  Mulgrew Miller - piano, synthesizers;  Francesca Tanksley – synthesizer;  Charnett Moffett – bass;  Tommy Campbell, Tony Reedus – drums;  Jimmy Delgado - congas, timbales

Dedications

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Inger Marie Gundersen - My Heart Would Have A Reason

Styles: Vocal

Year: 2009

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 47:51

Size: 110,1 MB

Art: Front

(3:31)  1. Some Things Never Change Music

(4:09)  2. I Can See Clearly Now

(4:08)  3. That's All

(4:34)  4. Something

(4:11)  5. The Road From Yesterday

(4:07)  6. Last First Kiss

(5:17)  7. The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face

(3:47)  8. I Only Want To Be With You

(5:27)  9. Turn Your Lights Down Low

(5:28) 10. Why Should I Cry For You?

(3:07) 11. Even When

Inger Marie’s third CD release proves that the success of her previous two albums was no coincidence. She and her new collaborator, producer and guitarist Georg Wadenius, have handpicked a selection of extremely wellsuited songs, which she and her band  and featured guest, trumpeter Mathias Eick  perform to near perfection. Norwegian jazz diva Inger Marie Gundersen spreads a con- tagious mood of unstressed wellbeing. Her style is relaxed and her vocal phrasing is rock-steady. Once you’ve heard her interpret one of the songs that are so dear to her heart, her voice will never be a stranger to you. Few European fema- le vocalists can match her penetrating charisma. Her art is deeply embedded in her own original musical world. Her sound is personal, and she has the courage to choose tunes from a broader palette than the usual American Songbook. This selection includes her own originals as well as songs by Norwegian colleagues and composers from the outskirts of jazz such as Sting and Bob Marley. Inger Marie strikes a seductive, blue, vibrant note and leaves her audience with a luscious velvety, dusty feeling. Such is the smooth and credible sound of an experienced woman  it is the sound of reflection, love and longing. She administers her extraordinary vocal talent with authority.

Inger Marie does not take a new release lightly. For her, a new CD is an important and very personal undertaking   indeed it is so important, that her first solo album is only a few years back. But her following has been growing quickly ever since. Surprisingly, Asia was first to discover her great talent. She has sold thousands of units there and toured extensively. Her enga- gements include weeklong gigs at Tokyo’s Cotton Club. At home in Norway and in Denmark, where her recording label resides, and all over Europe and in the US, her audiences grow daily. The musicians on My Heart Would Have a Reason are almost exactly the same as on her first two albums (Make This Moment, 2004 and By Myself, 2006), and listening to the music, it is obvious that Inger Marie feels at home in their company. The band is: Oscar Jansen (piano/ Rhodes), Ole Kristian Kvamme (bass), Tom Rudi Torjussen (drums/percussion), Øivind G. Stømer (alto and soprano sax), Mathias Eick (trumpet) and Georg Wadenius (guitar). Swedish Georg Wadenius plays a definitive role as producer and co-arranger as well as with his tasteful musicianship on acoustic and electric guitar. Wadenius has been a professional musician since 1968. He soon became one of Sweden’s most popular session musi- cians, but moved to USA in the early ‘70s to join Blood Sweat and Tears. Once again his reputation grew swiftly, and over the years he worked with a wide range of acts inclu- ding Luther Vandross, Roberta Flack, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Donald Fagen, Michael Franks, Backstreet Boys and many others. The seasoned Georg Wadenius has now returned to Scandinavia, and his collaboration with Inger Marie has resulted in this remarkable album. http://www.challengerecords.com/products/1238593562/

Personnel: Inger Marie Gundersen (vocals); Georg "Jojje" Wadenius (guitar); Mathias Eick (trumpet); Oscar Jansen (piano).

My Heart Would Have A Reason

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Barbara Dennerlein - Orgelspiele

Styles: Jazz, Hard Bop, Post-Bop 
Year: 1984
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:54
Size: 97,2 MB
Art: Front

(6:27)  1. Blue Rondo A La Turk
(4:23)  2. This Masquerade
(3:55)  3. Asinus Phi
(3:04)  4. Recreation
(3:25)  5. Eternal Voyage
(2:36)  6. Werde Munter Mein Gemüthe
(5:30)  7. Spain
(2:28)  8. Prelude No.4
(3:08)  9. Fly Me To The Moon
(3:40) 10. Recordame
(3:12) 11. All In Love Is Fair

Organist Barbara Dennerlein performs a wide variety of material on this little-known quartet session from her private German Bebap label. The repertoire ranges from "Blue Rondo A La Turk" and "This Masquerade" (the latter's authorship is mistakenly assigned to George Benson) to Stevie Wonder's "All In Love Is Fair," Chick Corea's "Spain" and pieces by Bach and Chopin. Dennerlein is one of the few original voices on the organ to emerge after Larry Young and she is fine form on the swinging set. ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/orgelspiele-mw0000338070

Personnel:  Bass – Barbara Dennerlein;  Drums – Harald Rüschenbaum;  Guitar – Peter Wölpl;  Organ – Barbara Dennerlein;  Violin – Jörg Widmoser

Orgelspiele

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Larry Schneider & Andy LaVerne - Bill Evans... Person We Knew

Styles: Piano And Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1994
File: MP3@256K/s
Time: 63:58
Size: 117,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:54)  1. Re: Person I Knew
(6:53)  2. 34 Skidoo
(8:46)  3. Dream Gypsy
(5:39)  4. Orbit (Unless It's You)
(6:51)  5. Time Remembered
(7:22)  6. Show-Type Tune
(8:46)  7. Detour Ahead
(3:05)  8. Israel
(6:08)  9. Elsa
(5:09) 10. Funkallero
(0:18) 11. Bill's Signature

This duo date by tenor saxophonist Larry Schneider and pianist Andy LaVerne is a tribute to the late Bill Evans, covering both Evans' compositions as well as works by others that he recorded. Evans' problems with drug addiction throughout his adult life are all too well-known, so it almost seems like "Re: Person I Knew" is actually played as a tribute to its composer's struggle with life. Unlike Evans' often rapid fire and melodic interpretations, LaVerne plays an almost dirge-like line to accompany Schneider's almost anguished sounding tenor sax. The duo reverts to a joyous roller coaster ride through Evans' tricky "34 Skidoo" and adds a Latin rhythm to his infrequently played "Orbit." "Time Remembered" is one of Evans' most gorgeous ballads, and Schneider's soulful playing is underscored by LaVerne's shimmering impressionistic piano line. They catch the playful spirit of "Funkallero" and even add Evans' brief signature stag, which he used at the end of each live set. 

The non-Evans tracks also show plenty of imagination. The choice of "Dream Gypsy" is an inspired one, since it appeared only once in Evans' considerable discography (on Undercurrent, with Jim Hall). The duo improvisation that opens John Carisi's "Israel" is breathtaking, while Earl Zindars' "Elsa" is a beautiful jazz waltz that is also well-interpreted. The thought that went into the arrangements and song selections (as well as the consistently high level of playing) make this tribute to Evans an essential acquisition for anyone who is a fan of his many contributions to jazz. ~ Ken Dryden http://www.allmusic.com/album/bill-evans-person-we-knew-mw0000517077

Personnel:  Piano – Andy LaVerne;  Tenor Saxophone – Larry Schneider

Bill Evans... Person We Knew

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Rodney Jones - The Undiscovered Few

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 1999
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:34
Size: 145,3 MB
Art: Front

(6:27)  1. The Undiscovered Few
(5:58)  2. Light And Shadows
(4:47)  3. Tradewinds
(5:58)  4. Dreamers In Love
(5:41)  5. My Favorite Things
(2:55)  6. Through The Eyes Of A Child
(5:22)  7. Oliver & Thad
(5:18)  8. The Message
(6:16)  9. Lesson Time
(4:06) 10. Tears Of A Forgotten Child
(5:08) 11. Circus Wheel
(4:33) 12. 3Rd Orbit

Guitarist Jones has a few other CDs that made you stop and listen, but this one is a true revelation. It explores the music from an expanded compositional standpoint as opposed to the A-B (with solos) -A format. The improvisational aspect of the leader is not de-emphasized, but this superb music, with its mainstream inclinations and joyous horn-embellished large group charts, comes out in a stunning and refreshing manner. Jones has substantial help from top-notch peers as saxophonists Donald Harrison, Greg Osby, and Tim Reis; trumpeters Tim Hagans and Earl Gardner; pianists Shedrick Mitchell, Mike Renzi, and Mulgrew Miller; bassist Lonnie Plaxico; and drummer Eric Harland, among others. As a player on his hollow bodied, non-treated electric guitar, Jones is economical, crisp, and driving. The music he makes is richly constructed, filling up space. Horns cry out, swing like mad, commanding attention. These charts are quite remarkable with presence and effective clarity. "Light & Shadows," "The Message," "Circus Wheel," and "Third Orbit" pop and bop, crackling with syncopated underpinnings. A tour de force blues "Oliver & Thad" for Oliver Nelson and Thad Jones swells with an orchestral quality and expansive concept that is a common theme throughout. The music jumps out at you. Smaller groupings give Jones no less room to stretch as on the Latin-inspired "Tradewinds," or duets with violinist Regina Carter on "Tears of a Forgotten Child," and cellist Jesse Levy on "Through the Eyes of a Child (For Cara)." You're going to exclaim a huge "wow!" upon hearing this one for the first time and with repeated listenings gain more enjoyment from this exciting recording. Clearly an extraordinary modern jazz effort, certainly the best of Jones' career, and a solid candidate for Jazz CD of 1999. ~ Michael G.Nastos http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-undiscovered-few-mw0000245489

Personnel: Rodney Jones (guitar); Greg Osby, Morris Goldberg (alto saxophone); Donald Harrison, Tim Ries (tenor saxophone); Tim Hagans, Earl Gardner (trumpet); Charles Gordon (trombone); Regina Carter (violin); Jesse Levy (cello); Mark Sherman (vibraphone); Shedrick Mitchell, Mike Renzi, Mulgrew Miller (piano); Lonnie Plaxico, Benjamin Brown (bass); Lewis Nash, Eric Harland (drums); Robert Allende (percussion).

The Undiscovered Few

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