Dr. John - In A Sentimental Mood

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 40:31

Size: 92.8 MB

Styles: R&B

Year: 1989

Art: Front

[4:07] 1. Makin' Whoopee! (With Rickie Lee Jones)

[5:33] 2. Candy

[3:53] 3. Accentuate The Positive

[3:50] 4. My Buddy

[4:05] 5. In A Sentimental Mood

[4:12] 6. Black Night

[4:53] 7. Don't Let The Sun Catch You Cryin'

[5:15] 8. Love For Sale

[4:41] 9. More Than You Know

On Dr. John's first major-label effort, and first vocal studio album in ten years, he performs a set of pop standards including Cole Porter's "Love for Sale" and Johnny Mercer's "Accentuate the Positive." After starting out with a wild stage act and unusual costumes, Dr. John has evolved into a vocal stylist and piano virtuoso, which makes the idea of doing this sort of material appealing. And he does it well, turning out a leisurely duet with Rickie Lee Jones on "Makin' Whoopee" that won a Grammy (Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo or Group), and giving sad feeling to "My Buddy." Maybe he has changed since the Gris Gris days, but even a mellowed Dr. John is a tasty one. ~William Ruhlmann

In A Sentimental Mood 

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Carmen McRae - Lover Man

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:17
Size: 105.9 MB
Styles: Vocal, Standards
Year: 1962
Art: Front

[2:45] 1. Them There Eyes
[4:51] 2. Yesterdays
[2:31] 3. I'm Gonna Lock My Heart (And Throw Away The Key)
[2:46] 4. Strange Fruit
[2:26] 5. Miss Brown to You
[4:05] 6. My Man
[2:51] 7. I Cried for You
[4:18] 8. Lover Man
[2:19] 9. Trav'lin' Light
[3:02] 10. Some Other Spring
[3:30] 11. What a Little Moonlight Can Do
[3:23] 12. God Bless the Child
[3:27] 13. If the Moon Turns Green
[3:55] 14. The Christmas Song

Carmen McRae is definitely one of jazz's underrated vocalists as this tribute to her idol, Lady Day clearly shows. Carmen proves she is a mean swinger on tracks like Them There Eyes, I Cried For You & especially Miss Brown To You, where her response at the end of the horn solo is just a slice of jazz heaven. On the ballads, Carmen is mellow & tender on numbers like Lover Man and has that bittersweet cynicism on torch songs like Yesterdays. Carmen never tries to imitate Lady Day but leaves her own unique stamp on each & every one of these Holiday classics. An album easily recommended for any Carmen fanatic or someone looking for the ideal place to start one's love affair with one of jazz's top songbirds or vocal jazz in general. ~Le Real Luc Ow

Lover Man

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Leroy Holmes - Bossa Nova

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 30:39
Size: 70.2 MB
Styles: Bossa Nova
Year: 1962/2009
Art: Front

[3:06] 1. Samba De Uma Nota
[3:43] 2. Desafinado
[2:53] 3. Morena
[3:00] 4. Baia
[2:54] 5. Recado
[2:32] 6. Tabatinga
[3:14] 7. The Jazz Samba
[3:23] 8. Perfidia
[2:49] 9. Poinciana
[3:00] 10. O Pato (The Duck)

Holmes graduated from Hollywood High School, studied music at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and the Juilliard School in New York, before working with a number of bandleaders during the 1930s and early 1940s. These included Ernst Toch, Vincent Lopez, and Harry James, for whose band, he wrote "The Mole".

After serving as a pilot and flying instructor, a lieutenant in the US Navy during the Second World War, he moved to Hollywood, where he was hired by MGM Music Studios as a house arranger and conductor. In 1950, he relocated to New York and continued as a record producer for MGM, and later moved to United Artists. During his time with MGM, he backed numerous vocalists, including Judy Garland, and in 1954 made what is possibly his best known recording, a version of the theme to the film The High and the Mighty. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. The song is known for its distinctive accompanying whistling, which was provided by Fred Lowery. Holmes provided the orchestration for Tommy Edwards epic 1958 hit "It's All In The Game", and tried rock and R&B with his backing to the Impalas "Sorry (I Ran All The Way Home)". Holmes also wrote the theme song to the television series International Detective.

He moved to United Artists Records in the early 1960s, where he contributed to many compilations of movie themes, released albums under his own name and backed a succession of singers, notably Connie Francis, Gloria Lynne, Shirley Bassey and Puerto Rican singers like Tito Rodríguez and Chucho Avellanet. In addition, he produced albums for a number of United Artists acts, including the Briarwood Singers. He also worked on the music for the 1977 film The Chicken Chronicles. Holmes died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California at the age of 72

Bossa Nova

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Trini Lopez - The Love Album

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 35:38

Size: 81.6 MB

Styles: Vocal

Year: 1965/2005

Art: Front

[3:25] 1. Are You Sincere

[2:17] 2. Our Day Will Come

[2:56] 3. Laura

[3:25] 4. Dear Heart

[3:19] 5. People

[2:32] 6. You'll Be Sorry

[2:54] 7. Blue Velvet

[2:49] 8. Moon River

[3:06] 9. Return To Me

[2:49] 10. Sad Tomorrows

[2:51] 11. Tammy

[3:10] 12. A Taste Of Honey

In his continuing quest to be all things to all record-buyers, Trini Lopez added The Love Album to his previous records The Latin Album and The Folk Album (one more was yet to come: The Rhythm and Blues Album). With arrangements from Don Costa -- whose blend of flutes and strings smoothened many a Sinatra chart of the '60s (and who had actually discovered Lopez a few years earlier) -- the LP certainly had potential, but the misses outweigh the hits. Lopez's voice was deep and friendly enough to appeal to most pop listeners of the era, and the material appears to have been selected well ("Blue Velvet," "Moon River," "People," "Our Day Will Come"). Still, Lopez doesn't have the same ease of delivery he'd shown on his previous work. With his pop singles ("Lemon Tree," "If I Had a Hammer") or with his Latin material, he always had energy to spare, but here he appears unsure of how to treat the type of vocal pop that gets a performer into a supper club. ~John Bush

The Love Album

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Tommy Flanagan - Tommy Flanagan Plays The Music of Harold Arlen

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:53
Size: 111.9 MB
Styles: Piano jazz
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[5:46] 1. Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea
[4:20] 2. Over The Rainbow
[6:01] 3. Sleepin' Bee
[6:34] 4. Ill Wind
[6:31] 5. Out Of This World
[3:17] 6. One For My Baby
[5:12] 7. Get Happy
[5:15] 8. My Shining Hour
[5:52] 9. Last Night When We Were Young

Originally released by the Japanese Trio label and reissued on a DIW CD in that country, this Tommy Flanagan session has only appeared in the U.S. thus far on an Inner City LP. The very consistent pianist performs nine Harold Arlen tunes with bassist George Mraz and drummer Connie Kay. Highlights include "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea," "Sleepin' Bee," "One for My Baby" and "My Shining Hour." Producer Helen Merrill takes a sensitive vocal on "Last Night When We Were Young." Excellent music, but this one will be difficult to locate. ~Scott Yanow

Tommy Flanagan Plays The Music Of Harold Arlen

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David Kikoski - Mostly Standards

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:00
Size: 155,8 MB
Art: Front

( 9:02)  1. Grey Areas
( 8:39)  2. Blues On The Corner
( 6:47)  3. Old Folks
( 8:53)  4. Chance
( 7:41)  5. Doxy
( 6:28)  6. TBS
(12:42)  7. Autumn Leaves
( 7:45)  8. Leaves

David Kikoski's ninth CD is titled Mostly Standards, barely a half-truth when you peruse the titles of the selections. Only two of them are actual American popular songs, adapted as the brilliant pianist and his able trio can do them. They also tap on the familiar repertoire of McCoy Tyner, Sonny Rollins, and to an extent Miles Davis, while offering two originals and an adaptation of a classic. Bassist Eric Revis and drummer Jeff Watts have been in the mainstream post-bop jazz game long enough to fully understand how this music works, and add their estimable talents to Kikoski's consistently wondrous and inventive piano musings. The opener "Grey Areas" is a compelling and accessible original of the pianist, combining funk with mysterious dark bass ostinato. Kikoski's true romantic and nostalgic solo piano piece "Leaves" follows a lengthy, extemporaneous, ad infinitum hard bop stretching of "Autumn Leaves," where the changes of the latter standard are only slightly hinted at in the former modification. Tunes like the easygoing Rollins chestnut "Doxy" and Tyner's emerging standard "Blues on the Corner" seem simplistic, even nonchalant in the hands of these three great jazzmen. There's peace, reverence, and repast on "Old Folks," Kenny Kirkland's "Chance," and the Watts penned waltz "TBS," which displays his atypically languid mood. In fact, Watts is much more restrained throughout this entire date. Tasteful, in control, and technically perfect, Kikoski always delivers finely wrought mainstream jazz music that should please anyone with common sense about the music's core values, and this effort is no different. ~ Michael G.Nastos http://www.allmusic.com/album/mostly-standards-mw0000808577

Personnel: Dave Kikoski (piano); Eric Revis (upright bass); Jeff "Tain" Watts (drums).

Mostly Standards

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Dennis Coffey - Back Home

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 1977
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:57
Size: 99,1 MB
Art: Front

(5:21)  1. Funk Connection
(5:33)  2. Back Home
(5:49)  3. Free Spirit
(5:59)  4. Our Love Goes On Forever
(6:40)  5. High On Love
(5:50)  6. Boogie Magic
(7:41)  7. Wings Of Fire

With each successive effort for the Westbound label, Dennis Coffey moved further away from the heady funk-rock of his earliest LPs and towards a glossy, unapologetically commercial approach informed by the growing popularity of disco. With Back Home, he essentially abandons funk for good, in the process scoring a major disco hit with "Wings of Fire." But disco is about production, not virtuoso playing, and too much of Back Home stifles Coffey's innovative fretwork in favor of overbaked arrangements and repetitive rhythms. The end result smoothes away the rough edges that made Coffey such an exciting and singular guitarist. ~ Jason Ankeny http://www.allmusic.com/album/back-home-mw0000909827

Personnel:  Guitar – Dennis Coffey;  Alto Saxophone, Flute, Tenor Saxophone – Larry Nozero;  Bass – Roderick Chandler (Penut);  Drums – Lee Nathan Marcus;  Piano – Garry Schunk, Rudy Robinson;  Rhythm Guitar – Bruce Nazarian, Eddie Willis;  Trombone – Stu Sanders;  Trumpet – Johnny Trudell, Marcus Belgraves, Maurice Davis;  Vocals – Brandy

Back Home

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Lionel Hampton - You Better Know It

Styles: Vocal And Vibraphone Jazz 
Year: 1964
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:49
Size: 91,6 MB
Art: Front

(3:29)  1. Ring Dem Bells
(5:08)  2. Vibraphone Blues
(3:59)  3. Tempo's Birthday
(3:12)  4. Sweethearts on Parade
(5:34)  5. Moon over My Annie
(3:34)  6. Pick-A-Rib
(6:03)  7. Trick or Treat
(3:06)  8. Cute
(2:44)  9. A Taste of Honey
(2:55) 10. Swingle Jingle

Vibist Lionel Hampton's rhythmic abilities haven't been dulled by age, and he displayed his proficiency on this date, which includes the enjoyable bonus track "Moon Over My Annie." There was no wasted energy or unnecessary or exaggerated solos; just bluesy, assertive, muscular arrangements, accompaniment, and ensemble segments. Highlights included "Vibraphone Blues," "Trick or Treat" and "Swingle Jingle," in which Hampton shifted from vibes to piano. ~ Ron Wynn http://www.allmusic.com/album/you-better-know-it%21%21%21-mw0000623627

Personnel: Lionel Hampton (vocals, vibraphone, piano); Ben Webster (tenor saxophone); Clark Terry (trumpet); Hank Jones (piano); Milt Hinton (bass); Osie Johnson (drums).

You Better Know It

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Irene Schweizer & Han Bennink - Welcome Back

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:03
Size: 110,4 MB
Art: Front

(6:02)  1. Welcome Back
(3:04)  2. Kit 4
(3:56)  3. Trap 5
(4:43)  4. Free for All
(2:14)  5. Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland
(2:42)  6. Verflixt
(2:52)  7. Rag
(3:42)  8. Bleu Foncé
(4:42)  9. Apus Melba
(3:25) 10. Ntyilo, Ntyilo
(3:05) 11. Firewood
(3:21) 12. To Misha with Love
(2:16) 13. I Surrender, Dear
(1:54) 14. Eronel

For such an assuredly rhythmic player Swiss pianist Irene Schweizer shows an unexpected affinity to drummers, who feature disproportionately as partners in her discography. But even so Welcome Back constitutes only the second entry to pair Schweizer with maverick Dutch drummer Han Bennink, following their eponymous debut (Intakt, 1996), which was itself preceded by years of engagement stretching back further still. In spite of their impeccable avant-garde credentials (both have been at the forefront of European improv for the last five decades) they have crafted a surprisingly accessible album which fizzes with joie de vivre. Two days in the studio generated sufficient material from which to select a diverse yet well-rounded program. Among the 14 short cuts are those which reflect a fondness for tradition (a gentle "Meet me tonight in dreamland" on which Bennink's airy accompaniment brings a smile to the face), the influence of South African expatriates (Johnny Dyani's richly voiced "Ntyilo, Ntyilo") and their regard for Monk (the concluding sunny rendition of "Eronel"). Though credited to one or other of the two principals, many of the remaining cuts sound spontaneous with an unforced freewheeling feel. They conjure outbreaks of irrepressible swing from even the seemingly most abstract surroundings -the opening title track in which Schweizer initially hints at Cecil Taylor is a good example. A relaxed vibe pervades the set, stemming from a perception that each can explore in whatever direction they choose no matter what the starting point.

Although largely held in check, Bennink's sense of mischief manifests in the occasional irreverent thump -as on ballad stylings of "Free for all." Tenderness comes out on the lilting stroll of "I surrender, dear." But glorious extemporized syncopation proves their strongest suit, notably evident in the pianist's "Rag" and the jointly apportioned "To Misha with love." In the end, it's two people having fun in a way which everyone can share. ~ John Sharpe https://www.allaboutjazz.com/welcome-back-irene-schweizer-intakt-records-review-by-john-sharpe.php

Personnel: Irene Schweizer: piano; Han Bennink: drums.

Welcome Back

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