Dakota Staton - Great Ladies Of Song: Spotlight On Dakota Staton

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:31
Size: 104.2 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 1996
Art: Front

[2:25] 1. Anything Goes
[2:34] 2. Don't Explain
[1:53] 3. But Not For Me
[2:36] 4. Misty
[2:24] 5. September In The Rain
[3:12] 6. Solitude
[2:32] 7. I Hear Music
[2:38] 8. My One And Only Love
[2:08] 9. East Of The Sun (West Of The Moon)
[2:35] 10. The Late, Late Show
[2:24] 11. You Don't Know What Love Is
[2:20] 12. Too Close For Comfort
[2:49] 13. You've Changed
[1:43] 14. Love Walked In
[3:03] 15. Crazy He Calls Me
[1:53] 16. On Green Dolphin Street
[3:28] 17. Body And Soul
[2:46] 18. The Song Is Ended

Capitol's Great Ladies of Song series provides a fine introduction to the classic jazz vocals of the ‘50s and ‘60s. Brimming with talent, the label mostly stayed true to such vocalists as Nancy Wilson, Peggy Lee, June Christy, and Dakota Staton. Staton was the odd one out here in the popularity stakes, which was certainly not due to the caliber of her singing. This Great Ladies disc proves the point with 18 gems from her prime 1957-1961 stretch. Including the title track hit from her great debut album, The Late, Late Show, the collection gathers together highlights from most of her Capitol releases. And adding plenty of ideal backdrops, arrangers and accompanists Benny Carter, George Shearing, and Sid Feller provide an added touch of class. A great place for Staton newcomers to get familiar with all the singer's charms. ~Stephen Cook

Great Ladies Of Song: Spotlight On Dakota Staton

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The Beets Brothers - A World Class Jazz-Act

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:07
Size: 135.3 MB
Styles: Contemporary jazz
Year: 1998
Art: Front

[3:35] 1. Thirteen Ain't Too Much
[5:00] 2. Black Orpheus
[3:10] 3. I've Got The World On A String
[4:57] 4. 6,-6,5
[6:57] 5. Berliner Waltz
[4:33] 6. Blues For Stephanie
[5:03] 7. It Might As Well Be Spring
[4:56] 8. A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening
[6:20] 9. Moanin'
[4:46] 10. Tristity
[5:06] 11. Love For Sale
[4:38] 12. Whisper Not

Alexander Beets - tenor sax, Peter Beets - piano, Marius Beets - bass, Wim Holthaus - drums, Geja Griek - vocals. Recorded: 3 and 25 March 1990.

The Beets Brothers are from Groenlo, a small town east of The Netherlands. Their music is sixties style jazz, but it is all fresh and new in appeal. They gave their first performance in 1983 and in 1985, they were discovered at the Doetinchem Jazz Festival. During the same year, they appeared on many radio and jazz television programs throughout Europe gaining more and more popularity. Their success continued, winning the "Rein Gieling Trophy" for the most original and promising jazz band. They also won awards at N.O.S. Jazz Festival and the Polaroid Jazz Festival in Enschede and began playing at the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague in 1990.

Concert performances have taken the Beets Brothers throughout Europe, America, China, Finland and Curacao. More recently, they have been invited to give a concert tour in South Africa. They just celebrated their 15-year jubilee by re-releasing the sixth pressing of their first album. They presently have five CDs to their credit, The Beets Brothers 1990, School is Closed Now 1993 (dedicated to Art Blakey), In the New World 1993, Brotherwise 1995 and First Date in 1997 recorded with Jeff Hamilton. There's not a bad one in the lot!

A World Class Jazz-Act

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Raquel Cepeda - I'm Confessin'

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:23
Size: 140.5 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[3:36] 1. East Of The Sun
[7:14] 2. Besame Mucho
[3:48] 3. Chega De Saudade
[4:42] 4. These Foolish Things
[5:50] 5. Tonada De Luna Llena
[4:13] 6. Somos Novios
[3:19] 7. I Don't Know Enough About You
[4:28] 8. Dream A Little Dream Of Me
[4:09] 9. How Deep Is The Ocean
[5:00] 10. Me Flechaste El Corazon
[2:49] 11. What Is This Thing Called Love
[5:12] 12. I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)
[6:57] 13. Corcovado Estate

Raquel Cepeda: vocals; Bob Chadwick: flutes; David Caceres: alto and tenor saxophones; Warren Steed: tenor and soprano saxophones; Dennis Dotson: trumpet; Paul English: piano, trumpet, flugelhorn; Thomas Hulten: trombone; Brennen Nase: guitar; Guil Fonseca: guitar; Jeffry Eckels: bass; Dean Macomber: drums; Jorge Orta: percussion; Tony Parana: percussion; James Metcalfe: percussion; Marcia Sterling: violin; Oleg Sulyga: violin; Dan Strba: viola; Shino Hayashi: cello.

The Houston jazz mafia expands with vocalist Raquel Cepeda's I'm Confessin'. Cepeda joins the ranks of multi-instrumentalist Henry Darragh, singers Melissa Darragh, Tianna Hall, Jacqui Sutton and Danielle Reich, guitarist Paul Chester, trumpeter Dennis Dotson (who appears here), saxophonist Larry Slezak and (by extension), trumpeter Carol Morgan, Houston jazz mafiosi all. Cepeda adds eloquently to a merry band of musicians that harbor an amazing lack of overlap among their very individual styles.

Singing is the Venezuelan-born Cepada's avocation. By day she is a geological engineer working for the Texas oil industry. In addition to singing, she is also a visual artist, writer and dancer—all not surprising considering her gracefully exotic looks and perfectly sculpted voice which is capable of handling multiple song sources, all bearing refraction through the Latin jazz prism. Cepeda's approach is big and lush. Her baker's dozen of songs is supported by a large ensemble employing a string quartet when necessary. The overall personality of I'm Confessin' is elegance and intelligence. Elegance may be heard in the title tune and the foreign language pieces, "Besame Mucho" and "Chega de Saudade." Pianist Paul English provides plush arrangements well suited to Cepeda's studied voice. But all is not smooth corners and good behavior. Cepeda and company add provocative angularity with a swing-stop "East of the Sun" and "I don't Know Enough About You." "What is This Thing Called Love" is beautifully ill-behaved, the ballad taken at double time featuring English just keeping things in control: exciting and inventive. The disc concludes with a brilliantly combined "Corcovado/Estate" performed with humid langor and sotto voce promises. ~C. Michael Bailey

I'm Confessin'

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The Four Freshmen - Capitol Collectors Series

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:09
Size: 133.2 MB
Styles: Harmony vocal group
Year: 1991
Art: Front

[2:53] 1. It's A Blue World
[2:52] 2. The Day Isn't Long Enough
[3:09] 3. Poinciana (Song Of The Tree)
[2:26] 4. It Happened Once Before
[2:49] 5. Please Remember
[3:07] 6. We'll Be Together Again
[2:40] 7. Mood Indigo
[3:02] 8. It Never Occurred To Me
[1:56] 9. Day By Day
[2:35] 10. How Can I Tell Her
[2:14] 11. Charmaine
[2:44] 12. In This Whole Wide World
[3:31] 13. Angel Eyes
[1:59] 14. Love Is Just Around The Corner
[3:05] 15. Graduation Day
[2:33] 16. Whistle Me Some Blues
[3:23] 17. It Could Happen To You
[2:15] 18. Candy
[2:44] 19. (Get Your Kicks On) Route 66
[3:11] 20. Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring
[2:52] 21. And So It's Over

This quartet has developed a sound that is at once smooth, controlled and sweet. Yet for all its mainstream and popular appeal, the Four Freshmen's crooning harmonics is a force of nature, unlike anything that came before or after it. These are trained voices, full and pervasive, and the strength is quadrupled when thy sing in close unity. The exotic "Poinciana" relied solely on the four voices in harmony to create the powerful feeling of this song, and a guitar only aids them.

Old favorites, like the wartime classic "We'll Be together Again" shows how the Four Freshmen are both faithful to the melody and add their own cool musical signature on the number with a subtle atonality in the harmonized melody. The close harmonies have a profound depth that is equally adept at extolling the sentiments of such disparate themes as the perky "Love Is Just Around The Corner" and the gloomy "Angel Eyes."

Capitol Collectors Series

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James Hunter - ...Believe What I Say

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:24
Size: 83.4 MB
Styles: Retro soul, Blue eyed soul
Year: 1996/2008
Art: Front

[3:28] 1. Two Can Play
[2:27] 2. Way Down Inside
[2:34] 3. The Very Thought Of You
[2:46] 4. It Ain't Funny
[3:01] 5. Let Me Know
[3:54] 6. I'll Walk Away
[2:45] 7. I Wanna Get Old With You
[2:42] 8. Hallelujah I Love Her So
[3:06] 9. Believe What I Say
[3:03] 10. Out Of Sight
[3:16] 11. Don't Step On It
[3:17] 12. Hear Me Calling

The singer/songwriter James Hunter introduced his retro blue-eyed soul approach with this 1996 debut. The smooth Sam Cooke/Clyde McPhatter-influenced vocals weren't quite as confident at his career's start, but for the most part, those smitten by People Gonna Talk will find this a terrific addition to their small Hunter collections. To his credit, Van Morrison was an early supporter, and he appears here on two Bobby "Blue" Bland covers. Morrison had already covered "Ain't Nothing You Can Do" on his live It's Too Late to Stop Now release, so it's likely he brought that to Hunter's attention. "Turn on Your Lovelight" sounds like it could have come off Morrison's His Band and the Street Choir, as he trades verses and harmonizes with Hunter in a spirited performance. Hunter's vocals emphasize Ray Charles more on this album, and not just on the cover of "Hallelujah I Love Her So." The original "Let Me Know" is fashioned from Charles' soul-blues-gospel, right down to the Raelettes-styled backing vocals. Damian Hand and Nick Lunt's sax section is integral to the snappy groove, and bringing the great soul woman Doris Troy along for a duet on "Hear Me Calling" is another classy move. But it's Hunter's terrific voice, sparse yet jazzy guitar, and excellent original songs that make this album so fresh, crisp, and hip. ~Hal Horowitz

...Believe What I Say

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Sonny Rollins - Sonny Meets Hawk!

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:15
Size: 124.2 MB
Styles: Bop, Saxophone jazz
Year: 1963/2016
Art: Front

[5:11] 1. Yesterdays
[9:36] 2. All The Things You Are
[5:59] 3. Summertime
[4:40] 4. Just Friends
[8:54] 5. Lover Man
[7:03] 6. At Mckie's
[3:47] 7. You Are My Lucky Star
[3:16] 8. I Could Write A Book
[5:45] 9. There Will Never Be Another You

Throughout a career that spanned more than 40 years, Coleman Hawkins consistently maintained a progressive attitude, operating at or near the cutting edge of developments in jazz. If Hawk's versatility came in handy when he backed Abbey Lincoln during Max Roach's 1960 We Insist! Freedom Now Suite, he took on an assignment of challenging dimensions when in 1963 he cut an entire album with Sonny Rollins in the company of pianist Paul Bley, bassists Bob Cranshaw and Henry Grimes, and drummer Roy McCurdy. Coleman Hawkins and Sonny Rollins each virtually defined the tenor saxophone for his respective generation. To hear the two of them interacting freely is a deliciously exciting experience. Hawkins is able to cut loose like never before. Sometimes the two collide, locking horns and wrestling happily without holding back. For this reason one might detect just a whiff of Albert Ayler's good-natured punchiness, particularly in the basement of both horns; such energies were very much in the air during the first half of the 1960s. Rather than comparing this date with the albums Hawkins shared with Ben Webster (1957), Henry "Red" Allen (1957), Pee Wee Russell (1961), or Duke Ellington (1962), one might refer instead to Hawk's wild adventures in Brussels during 1962 (see Stash 538, Dali) or Rollins' recordings from around this time period, particularly his Impulse! East Broadway Run Down album of 1965. Check out how the Hawk interacts with Rollins' drawn-out high-pitched squeaking during the last minute of "Lover Man." On Sonny Meets Hawk!, possibly more than at any other point in his long professional evolution, Hawkins was able to attain heights of unfettered creativity that must have felt bracing, even exhilarating. He obviously relished the opportunity to improvise intuitively in the company of a tenor saxophonist every bit as accomplished, resourceful, and inventive as he was. ~arwulf arwulf

Sonny Meets Hawk!

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Horace Parlan - Headin' South

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1960
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:42
Size: 96,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:29)  1. Headin' South
(5:55)  2. The Song Is Ended
(6:00)  3. Summertime
(5:29)  4. Low Down
(4:23)  5. Congalegre
(5:28)  6. Prelude To A Kiss
(4:33)  7. Jim Loves Sue
(5:22)  8. My Mother's Eyes

On the surface, Headin' South is another set of bluesy soul-jazz, but it actually finds the Horace Parlan trio stretching out a little. Adding conga player Ray Barretto to his usual rhythm section of bassist George Tucker and drummer Al Harewood, Parlan decides to take chances with his standard-heavy repertoire. "Summertime" features some evocative bowing from Tucker, and the solo sections on "The Song Is Ended," "Prelude to a Kiss," and "My Mother's Eyes" offer probing, intriguing tonal textures that make the selection of Ahmad Jamal's "Jim Loves Sue" understandable. Barretto's "Congalegre" is a fun, Latin-inflected number, and Parlan's "Headin' South" is a strong, swinging blues, but the slow blues "Low Down" is nearly undone by his incessant circular arpeggio, which lasts for over a minute. Still, that's not nearly enough to sink the record, which is another understated but solid effort from Horace Parlan. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine http://www.allmusic.com/album/headin-south-mw0000710182

Personnel: Piano – Horace Parlan; Bass – George Tucker;  Congas – Ray Barretto;  Drums – Al Harewood. 

Headin' South

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Marc Copland - Poetic Motion

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:13
Size: 140,7 MB
Art: Front

(6:49)  1. Second Sight
(4:40)  2. Blackboard
(7:45)  3. Not Going Gently
(6:49)  4. Nevertheless
(7:37)  5. Spartacus Love Theme
(7:20)  6. When We Met
(6:33)  7. Bittersweet Road
(7:25)  8. Dark Territory
(5:12)  9. Naima

There is a simple beauty to Marc Copland's solo piano playing. Sensitive and quiet, the pianist prefers slower, relaxed tempos in which the wood from the piano resonates gorgeously. Some might confuse it with so-called "elevator music," but that would be a serious mistake, for Copland, although here not too adventurous, performs with the experience and skill of the master. His attack is precise and fine, like waves slapping gently at the shore. He builds intensity in his own way, with small clusters caressing the edges. He takes liberties, too, with tempo and even harmonics, though at heart he remains a conservative player. As a composer, he is somewhat dull and his tunes are unlikely to be played too often, if at all, by others. Yet, he is a commanding presence of sorts, an individualist who eschews the radical freedom of the avant-garde, but who does not embrace traditional approaches to the piano either. There are classical influences, to be sure, and when he interprets John Coltrane's "Naima," the nature of Copland's approach seems clearer. He uses space effectively, and with a tender delicacy skirts the melody and pillows lush chords in logical progression. While Copland is wonderful background fare, he is more than that, too, and this recording his first solo release is a fine example of what he is capable of accomplishing. ~ Steve Loewy http://www.allmusic.com/album/poetic-motion-mw0000434330

Personnel:  Piano – Marc Copland

Poetic Motion

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Somi - Petite Afrique

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2017
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:57
Size: 122,3 MB
Art: Front

(1:42)  1. Disappearing Act I
(5:15)  2. Alien
(3:05)  3. Black Enough
(4:07)  4. The Wild One
(5:28)  5. They're Like Ghosts
(5:21)  6. The Gentry (feat. Aloe Blacc)
(3:49)  7. Kadiatou the Beautiful
(5:05)  8. Holy Room
(1:15)  9. Disappearing Act II
(3:12) 10. Let Me
(4:29) 11. BLUE
(1:10) 12. Go Back to Your Country (Interlude)
(4:55) 13. Like Dakar
(3:57) 14. Midnight Angels

Somi's debut on the Okeh imprint The Lagos Music Salon (Okeh, 2014) pulled no punches. It tackled tough topics within an African framework, bringing hard truths to bear in soulful fashion. This follow-up is equally impactful, but it shifts focus stateside, eyeing the titular Harlem neighborhood that Somi calls home now.  In addressing life along 116th Street, Somi opens eyes to the cultural ideals and struggles associated with the working class immigrants that reside there while also touching on broader social issues. As with its predecessor, Afrocentric thoughts dominate. But New York, not Nigeria, is the scene for these stories. The album opens with modern field recordings and subway sounds that track toward "Alien," Somi's brilliant repurposing of Sting's "Englishman In New York." While Sting used it to lightheartedly play British standards against American society, Somi uses it as a more somber and serious vehicle to express issues of xenophobia and isolation felt by the African community in America. 

It's but one of many instances where cool musical foundations support heavy issues. As the program continues, Somi's blend of musical sleekness and topical potency continues to carry the day. There's a taste of Afrobeat nouveau in "The Wild One," a slow and soulful "They're Like Ghosts" that's tied to love and yearning for what's been lost, a spryly bounding "The Gentry" that invites vocalist Aloe Blacc to join in on the telling of a tale about the showdown between Harlem's past and present, a positive "Holy Room" that serves as a testament to faith and love while also addressing Islamophobia, and a "Like Dakar" that bridges Mother Africa and Petite Afrique, touching on highs and lows painted in memories. While Somi's mesmerizing vocals are the delivery system that gets each and every point and song across, her band is every bit as important to this project. In bringing together Liberty Ellman's mutable guitar and Toru Dodo's glazed chords, placing them atop vibrant yet understated grooves provided by bassist Michael Olatuja and drummer Nate Smith, adding a touch of strings or a standout guest to color the mix, and occasionally augmenting the band with a horn section that includes trumpeter Etienne Charles, alto saxophonist Jaleel Shaw, and multi-reedist Marcus Strickland, Somi creates a sonic recipe for success. The music and the messages on Petite Afrique prove to be inextricably linked, and it shouldn't be any other way. Somi has crafted another smooth-flowing collection that's both affecting and intoxicating. ~ Dan Bilawsky https://www.allaboutjazz.com/petite-afrique-somi-okeh-review-by-dan-bilawsky.php

Personnel: Somi: vocals; Liberty Ellman: guitar; Nate Smith: drums; Toru Dodo: piano, Rhodes; Michael Olatuja: bass; Keith Witty: percussion, guitar; keyboards, sample programming; electric bass; Marika Hughes: cello (2); Etienne Charles: trumpet (3, 6), mouth percussion (3), percussion (6, 10, 13); Jaleel Shaw: alto saxophone (3, 6, 13); Marcus Strickland: tenor saxophone (3, 6, 13), bass clarinet (13); Mazz Swift: violin (5); Dana Lyn: violin (5); Jessica Troy: viola (5); Aloe Blacc: vocals (6).

Petite Afrique

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