Bobby Timmons - Born to Be Blue

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1963
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:08
Size: 96,7 MB
Art: Front

(4:30)  1. Born to Be Blue
(5:02)  2. Malice Towards None
(4:47)  3. Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child
(7:59)  4. Know Not One
(4:21)  5. The Sit-In
(6:07)  6. Namely You
(9:18)  7. Often Annie

Throughout his career, Bobby Timmons was typecast as a soulful and blues-oriented pianist due to his hits ("Moanin '," "This Here" and "Dis Dat"). But as he shows on this 1963 trio date (with either Sam Jones or Ron Carter on bass and drummer Connie Kay), Timmons was actually a well-rounded player when inspired. The repertoire on his CD ranges from bop to spirituals, from three diverse originals to "Born to Be Blue." This is excellent music but unfortunately Timmons would not grow much musically after this period. His CD is worth picking up. ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/born-to-be-blue-mw0000522593

Personnel:  Bobby Timmons – piano;  Ron Carter (tracks 3, 4 & 6), Sam Jones (tracks 1, 2, 5, & 7) – bass;  Connie Kay - drums

Born to Be Blue

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Kirk Whalum - Hymns In The Garden

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:06
Size: 146,1 MB
Art: Front

(4:27)  1. I Will Trust In The Lord
(4:18)  2. Jesus Paid It All
(4:47)  3. Christ Is All
(5:03)  4. Precious Lord Take My Hand
(3:38)  5. Just A Closer Walk With Thee
(5:19)  6. My Faith Looks Up To Thee
(5:55)  7. Jesus Is All The World To Me
(5:15)  8. Fairest Lord Jesus
(4:47)  9. Softly And Tenderly
(6:16) 10. I Must Tell Jesus
(4:02) 11. He's Sweet I Know / He Knows How Much You Can Bear
(5:26) 12. I Want Jesus To Walk With Me
(3:47) 13. In The Garden

Don't expect too many surprises from Kirk Whalum's Hymns in the Garden if you're familiar with his previous few gospel-tinged albums like Unconditional and The Gospel According to Jazz. Like those two albums, Whalum goes out of his way to invest a considerable amount of spiritual sentiment into his candy-coated crossover jazz. On this particular album, the religious overtones come via the song titles, "I Will Trust in the Lord," "Christ Is All," and "I Want Jesus to Walk With Me" being three examples. But while all this Christian sentiment may seem to be mostly packaging since this is an entirely instrumental album, you can't deny the fact that Whalum's playing seems considerably passionate here, even if it's still ironically plagued by its own accessibility. And it's not that Whalum wasn't passionate on his previous releases, because he was; it's just that these songs seem a little more invested with sentiment, and this is communicated partly through their introspective arrangements and partly through their laid-back tempos. In other words, this isn't the sort of album you throw on for a party unless it's a Sunday afternoon after church sort of party. It's more an album for reflective moments when you can really kick back and appreciate the sort of peaceful and hopeful mood Whalum is attempting to craft. And for the most part, he succeeds in crafting that very mood; there's not a song here that isn't charged with sentiment. Yet as successful and well-crafted as Hymns in the Garden is, you can't help feeling a bit underwhelmed if you're a longtime Whalum fan. After all, the guy seems to have become content when it comes to exploring new musical avenues and has instead turned toward the non-musical side of his music, further investing ideology into his music with Christian rhetoric song titles and packaging. This isn't necessarily a bad thing at all and, in a sense, is in fact noble. Sometimes you wish he'd take a few chances with his music, though. ~ Jason Birchmeier http://www.allmusic.com/album/hymns-in-the-garden-mw0000117629

Hymns In The Garden

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Valery Ponomarev - A Star For You

Styles: Trumpet Jazz 
Year: 1997
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:50
Size: 123,6 MB
Art: Front

( 6:10)  1. Commandments From A Higher Authority
( 6:02)  2. First Draft
( 9:54)  3. Dance Intoxicant
( 7:19)  4. A Star For You
( 5:58)  5. Uh Oh
(10:40)  6. We'll Be Together Again
( 7:47)  7. Blues For Elena

Valeri Ponomarev, one of the most underrated trumpeters in jazz, has a style based in the hard bop tradition of Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard, yet he keeps an open mind toward newer developments. On this CD, he is teamed with tenor saxophonist Bob Berg (whose soulful post-bop style has long been influenced by Michael Brecker), the little-known but talented Philadelphia-based pianist Sid Simmons, bassist Ken Walker, and drummer Billy Hart. The quintet performs six of the trumpeter's tricky yet swinging originals and a reharmonized rendition of "We'll Be Together Again." Ponomarev's very impressive range (hitting high notes with little difficulty), full sound and inventive ideas clearly inspire his sidemen. Berg puts plenty of passion into his solos, and Simmons makes one wish that he were recorded more extensively. Easily recommended to modern straight-ahead jazz collectors. ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/a-star-for-you-mw0000664171

Personnel: Valery Ponomarev (trumpet); Bob Berg (tenor saxophone); Sid Simmons (piano); Billy Hart (drums).

A Star For You

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