Yasuko Agawa - Meu Romance

Styles: Vocal Jazz, Brazilian Jazz 
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:26
Size: 116,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:29)  1. A Felicidade
(4:06)  2. So Nice
(4:31)  3. The Boy From Ipanema
(8:27)  4. Meu Romance
(4:55)  5. How Insensitive
(4:32)  6. Little Boat
(3:06)  7. Só Danço Samba
(3:01)  8. Carnival
(4:31)  9. Meditation
(3:30) 10. Chega de Saudade
(3:29) 11. Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars
(1:43) 12. Epilogue

Yasuko Agawa, born October 16th, 1951 in Kamakura, Japan) is a Japanese jazz singer and actress. Yasuko began singing in Jazz clubs in 1973 and by 1978 had signed a deal with Victor Entertainment. Yasuko released her fist album, "Love-Bird," in 1978. Yasuko has remained active since the late '70s and has released 35 albums to date along with several concert DVDs and photobooks. https://www.last.fm/music/Yasuko+Agawa/+wiki

Meu Romance

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Kenny Dorham - Afro-Cuban

Styles: Trumpet Jazz

Year: 1955

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 45:45

Size: 107,0 MB

Art: Front

(5:02)  1. Afrodisia

(4:18)  2. Lotus Flower

(4:26)  3. Minor's Holiday

(5:02)  4. Basheer's Dream

(5:32)  5. K.D.'s Motion

(5:19)  6. La Villa

(5:26)  7. Venita's Dance

(6:07)  8. Echo of Spring (aka K.D.'s Cab Ride)

(4:28)  9. Minor's Holiday (Alternate Take)

The fabled Spanish tinge has hovered on the fringes of jazz a lot longer ago that it was known to have been introduced into that idiom. Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton may have been the first to “claim” to have introduced it into the music, but in reality it is neither a proven but for Alan Lomax’s 1938 wax masters in the Library of Congress nor is necessary. Suffice it to say that the phrase Spanish tinge is a reference to the belief that an Afro-Latin rhythmic touch offers a reliable method of spicing the more conventional 4/4 rhythms commonly used in jazz music. The rhythm adaptation came from mimicking the sensuously quick step of the tresillo and shuffling skip of the habanera from Cuba of the day into the 4/4 rhythmic intervals of jazz. This is what is known today as clave, and once Dizzy Gillespie got a hold of it in the 1940s it has been in much greater use and thanks to the plethora of Afro-Caribbean folk forms has been almost completely embraced by musicians playing in the jazz idiom. However, those priceless recordings from the 1940s and 1950s, most precious among them being a 1993 compilation featuring selections by Machito and his orchestra entitled The Original Mambo Kings An Introduction to Afro-Cubop 1948-1954, which seduced such luminaries as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Flip Phillips and Howard McGhee and the ineffable Mario Bauzá as well. Another classic recording was the 1955 recording Afro-Cuban featuring by Kenny Dorham and spotlighting the percussionist Carlos “Patato” Valdés.

Mr. Dorham had a sensationally pristine tone; husky and sensuous and full of forthright humility. His best work bespoke the rapid fire rhythm of bebop coloured in golden bronze. On Afro-Cuban he doffs his proverbial hat to the rhythms of the Afro-Caribbean part of the southern continent with full-blooded and messianic fervour. The album combines five tracks played in this vein and five tracks without the Carlos “Patato” Valdés. The Afro-Cuban music rumbles with the gravitas of the great bassist, Oscar Pettiford and baritone saxophonist Cecil Payne. Mr. Dorham soars over them like a majestic condor, howling on the wing as he mashes triplets with hot arpeggios and buttery glissandi. The group also features the dry warmth of tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley and the legendary trombonist J. J. Johnson. Carlos “Patato” Valdés is not the only crowning glory. That honour also belongs to Art Blakey, who trades “fourths” with Mr. Valdés. All of this makes for memorable charts such as “Afrodisia” the bolero-melded-into-a ballad, “Lotus Blossom.” Mr. Dorham’s playing is absolutely celestial here. The racy “Minor’s Holiday” provides a welcome change of pace for the rhythmists, but Mr. Dorham is utterly cool in his solo. Horace Silver, the pianist on this date is almost too self-effacing as he plays quietly tempered soli whenever he is called upon to do so, both here as well as on the beguiling “Basheer’s Dream.”

The rest of the album features alumni from this session without Mr. Pettiford, who is replaced by Percy Heath. This session begins with the medium fast blues, “K.D’s Motion” in which Mr. Dorham ad-libs for four glorious choruses before handing over to Hank Mobley. Horace Silver also displays splendid form in his solo. “La Villa” features a twisting melody played at great speed. Mr. Dorham solos beautifully and yammers almost endlessly and Mr. Silver chops up a fine solo here too before the song returns to its erudite and gravity-defying unison setting. “Venita’s Dance” features a skipping rhythm swathed in a pensive melodic line. Mr. Dorham is once again brilliant and Hank Mobley is sinewy; but he is matched muscle for muscle by Cecil Payne and Horace Silver. “K.D’s Cab Ride,” another scorching bebop chart completes this unforgettable album, one that ought to make into every true enthusiast’s collection.https://latinjazznet.com/reviews/cds/essential-albums/kenny-dorham-afro-cuban/

Personnel: Kenny Dorham: trumpet; J.J. Johnson: trombone; Hank Mobley: tenor saxophone; Cecil Payne: baritone saxophone; Horace Silver: piano; Oscar Pettiford: bass (1 – 4, 9); Art Blakey: drums; Carlos “Patato” Valdes: congas (1 – 4, 9); Ritchie Goldberg: cowbell (1 – 4, 9); Percy Heath: bass (5 – 8).

Afro-Cuban

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Steely Dan - Countdown to Ecstasy

Styles: Vocal And Guitar Jazz 
Year: 1973
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:24
Size: 94,0 MB
Art: Front

(5:14)  1. Bodhisattva
(3:10)  2. Razor Boy
(5:36)  3. The Boston Rag
(6:35)  4. Your Gold Teeth
(5:23)  5. Show Biz Kids
(5:41)  6. My Old School
(3:44)  7. Pearl Of The Quarter
(4:58)  8. King Of The World

Can't Buy a Thrill became an unexpected hit, and as a response, Donald Fagen became the group's full-time lead vocalist, and he and Walter Becker acted like Steely Dan was a rock & roll band for the group's second album, Countdown to Ecstasy. The loud guitars and pronounced backbeat of "Bodhisattva," "Show Biz Kids," and "My Old School" camouflage the fact that Countdown is a riskier album, musically speaking, than its predecessor. Each of its eight songs have sophisticated, jazz-inflected interludes, and apart from the bluesy vamps "Bodhisattva" and "Show Biz Kids," which sound like they were written for the stage, the songs are subtly textured. "Razor Boy," with its murmuring vibes, and the hard bop tribute "Your Gold Teeth" reveal Becker and Fagen's jazz roots, while the country-flavored "Pearl of the Quarter" and the ominous, skittering "King of the World" are both overlooked gems. Countdown to Ecstasy is the only time Steely Dan played it relatively straight, and its eight songs are rich with either musical or lyrical detail that their album rock or art rock contemporaries couldn't hope to match. 

~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine http://www.allmusic.com/album/countdown-to-ecstasy-mw0000191882

Personnel: Walter Becker (vocals, guitar, harmonica, bass guitar); Donald Fagen (vocals, piano, electric piano, keyboards, synthesizer, percussion); David Palmer (vocals, keyboards, background vocals); Jim Hodder (vocals, drums, percussion); Sherlie Matthews, Patricia Hall, Royce Jones, Michael Fennelly, James Rolleston, Myrna Matthews (vocals, background vocals); Ben Benay (guitar, acoustic guitar); Rick Derringer (guitar, slide guitar); Jeff Baxter (guitar, steel guitar); Denny Dias (guitar); Ernie Watts, John Rotella, Lanny Morgan, Bill Perkins (saxophone); Victor Feldman (keyboards, vibraphone, marimba, percussion); Sherlie Mathews, Pam Hall (background vocals).

Countdown to Ecstasy

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Fats Navarro - Goin' to Minton's

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 1999
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:07
Size: 165,6 MB
Art: Front

(5:32)  1. Boppin' A Riff
(5:45)  2. Fat Boy
(5:52)  3. Everything's Cool
(5:38)  4. Webb City
(2:50)  5. Calling Dr. Jazz
(2:53)  6. Fracture
(2:42)  7. Hollerin' & Screamin'
(2:49)  8. Stealing Trash
(2:16)  9. Just A Mystery
(3:06) 10. Red Pepper
(2:33) 11. Spinal
(3:03) 12. Maternity
(2:21) 13. Fat Girl
(2:41) 14. Ice Freezes Red
(2:25) 15. Eb Pob
(2:52) 16. Goin' to Minton's
(3:00) 17. A Be Bop Carroll
(2:53) 18. The Tadd Walk
(2:44) 19. Nostalgia
(2:40) 20. Barry's Bop
(2:37) 21. Be Bop Romp
(2:48) 22. Fats Blows

There are many tragic figures in bebop history, but Fats Navarro's story is even sadder than most. Considered by some to be a better trumpeter than Dizzy Gillespie (Lennie Tristano is reported to have said of Gillespie, "He's a nice trumpet player, but he's no Fats"), Navarro was killed by his heroin addiction at age 26. This disc includes material from five sessions recorded between September of 1946 and December of 1947, when bop was at the height of its popularity and its most important and influential practitioners were still alive. Some of them, in addition to Navarro, are present on these sessions: Bud Powell plays piano on "Boppin' a Riff," "Fat Boy," "Everything's Cool," and his own "Webb City," tracks which also feature Sonny Stitt on alto and Kenny Clarke on drums. Other sessions feature Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis on tenor, frequent Charlie Parker sideman Curley Russell on bass, Charlie Rouse on tenor, and Art Blakey on drums. While the sound quality isn't always great, the performances themselves rarely fall short of greatness, and Navarro's sweet tone and effortlessly beautiful phrasing are a constant pleasure throughout. ~ Rick Anderson http://www.allmusic.com/album/goin-to-mintons-mw0000252304

Personnel includes: Fats Navarro (trumpet); Leo Parker (alto & baritone saxophones); Sonny Stitt, Ernie Henry (alto saxophone); Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Charlie Rouse, Morris Lane (tenor saxophone); Ed DeVerteuill (baritone saxophone); Kenny Dorham (trumpet); Bud Powell, Tadd Dameron, Al Haig (piano); Huey Long (guitar); Al Hall, Gene Ramey, Curley Russell, Nelson Boyd (bass); Kenny Clarke, Denzil Best, Art Blakey (drums).

Goin' to Minton's

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