Cleo Brown - Living In The Afterglow

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:15
Size: 140.2 MB
Styles: Jazz-blues piano
Year: 1996/2015
Art: Front

[3:02] 1. I'm A Little Old Woman
[4:05] 2. Without A Song
[2:58] 3. Afterglow
[3:35] 4. Down By The Riverside
[2:26] 5. High Up On The Mountain
[3:20] 6. Silent Night
[2:21] 7. I'm Gonna Rise Up Singing
[4:20] 8. Amazing Grace
[4:06] 9. Medley The Old Rugged Cross Near The Cross
[3:21] 10. A Great Big Wonderful God
[4:40] 11. Marian's Mood
[2:37] 12. Walk All Over God's Heaven
[2:46] 13. Medley Fly Away Army Air Corps Song
[3:28] 14. Show Me A Rainbow
[4:10] 15. Just A Closer Walk With Thee
[2:35] 16. We're Running, Running, Running
[4:05] 17. I've Been 'buked And Scorned
[3:13] 18. I'm Gonna Tell God How You Treat Me

Cleo Brown was a singing boogie-woogie pianist active from the 1930s into the 1950s who was one of Dave Brubeck's early influences. She retired from music and she stuck to playing exclusively for her church in Denver as the jazz world lost track of her -- until Marian McPartland sought Brown for an appearance on her Piano Jazz series in the 1980s. This studio session followed the taping of the program, with McPartland as a guest on several tracks. Many of the numbers are original gospel compositions by Brown, some sung in a very friendly manner, such as her "I'm a Little Old Woman," the charming "Afterglow," and the very bluesy "I've Been 'Buked and Scorned." Brown's chops show no signs of slipping as she plays wonderful two-fisted piano on standards such as "Without a Song," and her stimulating duets with McPartland include the spiritual "Down by the Riverside," the surprising choice of "Silent Night," "Marian's Mood" (possibly worked out on the spot in the studio by the pianists), and the old hymn "Just a Closer Walk With Thee." Sadly, this was Cleo Brown's final recording prior to her death in 1995. ~Ken Dryden

Living In The Afterglow

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Jesper Thilo - Jesper Thilo & The American Stars (2-Disc Set)

Album: Jesper Thilo & The American Stars (Disc 1)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 147:05
Size: 336.7 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz
Year: 2011

[5:05] 1. Did You Call Her Today
[5:02] 2. My Romance
[6:24] 3. Just One Of Those Things
[6:07] 4. Save Your Love For Me
[6:22] 5. Cherokee
[6:23] 6. On The Trail
[9:08] 7. Like Someone In Love
[6:38] 8. Old Folks
[8:42] 9. Stelle By Starlight
[6:11] 10. God Bless The Child
[6:52] 11. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
[2:45] 12. Cotton Tail
[4:05] 13. Star Dust
[6:04] 14. Body And Soul
[5:32] 15. Rose Room
[6:33] 16. Wave
[3:54] 17. You Stepped Out Of A Dream
[3:40] 18. Blue And Sentimental
[3:21] 19. Sweets To My Sweet
[6:48] 20. Now And Then Blues
[5:00] 21. Cherokee
[7:10] 22. Seque In C
[7:15] 23. A Night In Tunisia
[5:06] 24. I'm Hungry Sabina
[6:48] 25. The Girl From Ipanema

This excellent sampler features the Zoot Sims-influenced Danish saxophonist Jesper Thilo on previously released performances taken from five LPs recorded during 1980-1987. Thilo is heard in a quintet with flügelhornist Clark Terry and pianist Kenny Drew (their version of Ben Webster's "Did You Call Her Today" is a delight), leading a quartet with Drew and drummer Billy Hart, jamming in a sextet with trumpeter Harry "Sweets" Edison, interacting with pianist Roland Hanna in a quartet, and co-leading a quintet with trombonist Al Grey. In each setting, Thilo holds his own with the better-known Americans, jamming music that falls between swing and bebop. Terry, Edison, and Grey are all fun to hear as usual, since they not only swing hard but are witty improvisers. It would be preferable to have the complete sessions and hopefully they will be reissued on CD eventually, but this sampler will suffice in the meantime, serving as an introduction to the playing of Jesper Thilo. ~Scott Yanow

Jesper Thilo & The American Stars (Disc 1)

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Album: Jesper Thilo & The American Stars (Disc 2)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 75:41
Size: 173.3 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz
Year: 2011
Art: Front

[4:11] 1. Sunday
[8:05] 2. Frog Eyes
[2:53] 3. Mumbles
[6:13] 4. This Time It's Real
[6:50] 5. Star Eyes
[5:16] 6. Body And Soul
[5:28] 7. Just Jazz
[7:10] 8. The Vanguard Groove
[5:09] 9. There Will Never Be Another You
[4:57] 10. Medley: Lover Man/Embraceable You
[5:34] 11. Satin Doll
[6:36] 12. Sophisticated Lady
[7:12] 13. Ballad For Jesper

Jesper Thilo, a swinging tenor saxophonist from Denmark, has Zoot Sims as his musical role model, although he also sounds a bit like Johnny Griffin on "Cherokee" and otherwise displays a bit of his own personality in his solos. Thilo recorded a series of albums for Storyville in the 1980s that teamed him with some notable American all-stars. This sampler has three songs apiece from four of the dates and two from a fifth project. The first three selections match Thilo with flügelhornist Clark Terry (who always sounds so jubilant) and a trio with pianist Kenny Drew. Thilo is quite warm on "Body and Soul" and Terry is wonderful on "Cotton Tail." The next three numbers have Thilo mostly in the spotlight, since it is a quartet session with Drew. There are also three numbers with trumpeter Harry "Sweets" Edison and the superior pianist Ole Kock Hansen, a trio of selections with the Sir Roland Hanna Trio, and finally a matchup with trombonist Al Grey. There are no throwaway tracks and the music is highly recommended to fans of the styles of Zoot Sims and Al Cohn. Hopefully, Storyville will reissue the complete contents of these five rewarding sessions at some point in the future. ~Scott Yanow

Jesper Thilo & The American Stars (Disc 2)

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The Anita Kerr Singers - All You Need Is Love

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:55
Size: 86.8 MB
Styles: Vocal pop, Easy Listening
Year: 1967/2015
Art: Front

[3:06] 1. All You Need Is Love
[3:33] 2. Holiday
[3:03] 3. [you Make Me Feel Like] A Natural Woman
[2:36] 4. Never My Love
[3:24] 5. Stay
[2:59] 6. How Can I Be Sure
[3:28] 7. Autumn Afternoon
[2:33] 8. No Salt On Her Tail
[3:33] 9. Look Of Love
[2:52] 10. In The Morning
[3:25] 11. I Make A Fool Of Myself
[3:18] 12. The Last Waltz

The multi-talented, Nashville-based Anita Kerr had been a studio arranger and behind-the-scenes mover and shaker in Music City USA for nearly two decades when she signed with Warner Brothers in the mid-'60s. Her fourth LP bore the optimistic title All You Need Is Love (1967). In addition to remaking the Beatles' Summer of Love anthem, Kerr (soprano/soloist) leads her ensemble -- which also consists of B.J. Baker (alto), Gene Merlino (tenor), and Bob Tebow (bass) -- through an assortment of contemporaneous light rock and pop. Some of the re-arrangements work better than others in a choral setting. For instance, the Bee Gees' languid "Holiday" is exquisite and moody with Kerr's voice hovering over the ensemble for an ethereal listening experience that is particularly recommended for those who like the original. The Addrisi Brothers-penned "Never My Love" bears the same harmonic earmarks and complexities as the Association's hit version with the buoyancy of Kerr's gliding vocals. From the Bacharach/David songbook comes arguably the most endearing inclusion of them all, Kerr's interpretation of "The Look of Love." It retains all of the mystique and subtle charm of Dusty Springfield or Dame Shirley Bassey without becoming too instrumentally watered down or vocally tarted up. While not quite on par with the previously mentioned tunes, for the remake of "How Can I Be Sure?," Kerr and company match the minor-chord noir, yet can't seem to believably pull off the blue-eyed soul ingrained within the Rascals' formidable grooves. And to the same point, Kerr perhaps would have been better served having shelved the utilitarian choral reading of "(You Make Me Feel) Like a Natural Woman." Clearly, Aretha she ain't! And for her next album Sounds (1968), the Anita Kerr Singers returned to delivering selections that are uniformly better suited to the combo's strengths. ~Lindsay Planer

All You Need Is Love

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Kenny Davern, Bob Wilber - You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet: Summit Reunion Plays Some Al Jolson Songs

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:13
Size: 140.2 MB
Styles: Clarinet jazz, Swing
Year: 2000
Art: Front

[4:09] 1. Baby Face
[4:47] 2. Carolina In The Morning
[4:19] 3. Chinatown, My Chinatown
[4:12] 4. Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody
[3:40] 5. Swanee
[3:50] 6. After You've Gone
[6:02] 7. The Anniversary Song
[3:34] 8. When The Red, Red Robbin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin Along
[4:28] 9. You Made Me Love You
[3:56] 10. April Showers
[3:48] 11. Rose Of Washington Square
[6:49] 12. Avalon
[4:25] 13. Indiana
[3:07] 14. California, Here I Come

Described in The New York Times as "the finest clarinetist playing today" in the 1990s, that high praise wasn't far off the mark, as it applied to Kenny Davern in the autumn of his life, at the peak of his powers. Call him a jazz purist, even a snob, but Davern believed in playing standards, and that he did. Tunes by George Gershwin, Eubie Blake, Fats Waller, Irving Berlin; what are sometimes referred to as Great American Songbook tunes. He was often praised for the clarity and pureness of his tone, and often played outdoor festival gigs without amplification.

Throughout his long career, Bob Wilber has done a lot to keep classic jazz alive. A bit misplaced (most jazz players of his generation were much more interested in bop and hard bop), Wilber (along with Kenny Davern, Ralph Sutton, and Dick Wellstood) was one of the few in his age group to stick to pre-bop music. In high school he formed a band that included Wellstood, and as a teenager he sat in at Jimmy Ryan's club in New York. Early on he became Sidney Bechet's protégé and led his own young group, the Wildcats (with whom he made his recording debut). The close association with the dominant Bechet led to a bit of a personality crisis in the 1950s as Wilber sought to find his own voice. He studied with Lennie Tristano and formed the Six, a group that tried to modernize early jazz. When that ended, he played Dixieland with Eddie Condon, and in 1957 joined Bobby Hackett's band for a year. Wilber freelanced throughout the 1960s, in 1968 became a founding member of the World's Greatest Jazz Band, and in 1973 he formed Soprano Summit with Kenny Davern, one of the top swing-oriented groups of the decade.

Summit Reunion Plays Some Al Jolson Songs

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Zoot Sims & Kenny Drew Trio - Flower Walts

Styles: Saxophone And Piano Jazz
Year: 1978
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:24
Size: 118,5 MB
Art: Front

(8:05)  1. Flower Walts
(9:38)  2. Groovin' High
(4:45)  3. Come Rain Or Come Shine
(7:45)  4. Fled
(7:17)  5. I Wonder Where Our Has Gone
(5:13)  6. In A Mellow Tone
(2:14)  7. I Got It Bad
(6:23)  8. Caravan

This 1978 live date recorded in a unnamed Copenhagen nightclub finds Zoot Sims and the Kenny Drew Trio in great form; the outstanding bassist Niels Pedersen and drummer Ed Thigpen (both of whom worked with Oscar Peterson in separate time frames) round out the supporting cast. The first portion includes two unaccredited pieces, a lively bossa nova called "Flower Walts" and the rhythm & blues-flavored "Fled," featuring some of the tenor saxophonist's harder-edged blowing. Following a lyrical take of the infrequently recorded "I Wonder Where Our Love Has Gone," the quartet devotes themselves to strong interpretations of three classics from the Duke Ellington songbook: a swinging "In a Mellotone," an all too brief "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)," and a romp through "Caravan," with Sims switching to soprano sax and a fine solo by Thigpen. This is an excellent CD, though the label was very sloppy with the text in several places within the booklet. Highly recommended, as are virtually all of Zoot Sims' releases. 

~ Ken Dryden http://www.allmusic.com/album/flower-walts-mw0001245707

Personnel:  Tenor Saxophone – Zoot Sims;  Piano – Kenny Drew;  Bass – Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen;  Drums – Alex Riel

Flower Walts

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Lovisa Lindkvist - That Girl!

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:36
Size: 130,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:46)  1. The Look Of Love
(3:19)  2. New At Last
(4:52)  3. When I Fall In Love
(3:56)  4. Time is a Healer
(4:51)  5. My One And Only Love
(3:26)  6. My Romance
(4:21)  7. I Fall In Love Easily
(4:07)  8. Skylark
(5:22)  9. Some Other Time
(3:13) 10. I'm All Smiles
(4:30) 11. He Was Too Good To Me
(3:57) 12. Line' Em Up
(4:08) 13. There Was A Room
(2:42) 14. That Girl

Jazz from Scandinavia is well tolerated, the presence of Swedish and Norwegian artists on world-wide festival platforms inevitably connected with quality and originality. The fact that Sweden has more than one piece of furniture for the world has turned around since singers such as Viktoria Tolstoy or Rigmor Gustafsson were brought into the limelight by their famous countryman, the trombonist Nils Landgren. Already in the 1960s it was the Stockholm actress and singer Monica Zetterlund, who was put into the public focus of the Jazzgemeinde by Quincy Jones and Bill Evans. And right there the circle closes to the most recent discovery from the almost inexhaustible reservoir of Scandinavian singers, the only 26  year old Lovisa Lindkvist, who was the first scholarship holder to be awarded the Monica Zetterlund Scholarship.

A voice that stands out in its purity and intonation security, a young artist, whose naturalness is refreshingly like a spring day. In her debut album, she was with the pianist and arranger Bengt Lindkvist as an old hare of the Swedish jazz scene, who acquired his craft in the 60s and 70s when the poles of the music world were somewhere between Burt Bacharach and John Coltrane. And so it is no wonder that the repertoire of Lovisa's first work is between timeless jazz standards like some Hoagy Carmichael's "Skylark" (in a very contemporary interpretation) or the Rodgers & Hart - Evergreen "He Was Too Good For Me" "The Look Of Love" by Burt Bacharach, but also small Pop miniatures such as the relatively new James Taylor song "Line` em Up "or" Time Is A Healer "from the unforgotten Eva Cassidy. All in all, a very personal and very youthful look at half a century of great songwriting. To the musicians of the album "That Girl!" belongs among others. the great Swedish trumpeter Jan Allan, who belongs to the first series of Swedish jazz musicians. The merit of having presented the young Stockholmian Lovisa for the first time outside of Sweden is due to Nils Landgren, who was already mentioned at the outset, who presented the young singer as part of a new generation in Bonn. In the meantime, successful performances even followed exotic places like the Dubai Jazz Festival. Translate by Google https://www.amazon.de/That-Girl-Lovisa/dp/B0015UGNDM

Statements from the Swedish press: "What is the meaning of this?" - "It's pleasant listening: pure and natural voice, clear and sensitive knowledge of both music and lyrics.

The German audience can already look forward to the Swede on 17 April, when she is part of the first Skip Labelnight Jazz is Now! in the Hamburg Kampnagelfabrik the album "That Girl!" will be presented.

That Girl!

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Kaori Kobayashi - Spirit

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:19
Size: 136,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:07)  1. High Flyer
(4:43)  2. The Fighter
(4:33)  3. Sunny Orange
(3:56)  4. Light And Shadow
(6:34)  5. Azuchi-Momoyama
(5:01)  6. Edo-Mae
(6:01)  7. Dream
(5:11)  8. Now And Forever
(5:15)  9. Shooting Star
(5:33) 10. Looking Forward
(2:13) 11. See You
(6:05) 12. Place In The Sun

Saxophonist and flutist Musical composition and arrangement / producing.

Kaori Kobayashi was born in October of 1981 in Kanagawa Prefecture. She grew up in Tokyo and is a graduate of Senzokugakuen Music University’s Jazz Course. She has released eight albums, one Greatest Hits album, one DVD of her live performance, as well as a collection of her own sheet music. She performs at music venues and at jazz festivals all over Japan, and makes appearances on many TV and radio programs. She has also released her CDs and has performed in Taiwan, South Korea, China and Thailand. She became a household name after her YouTube video “Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love for You” gained more than 5 million views and was widely picked up by newspapers and TV. 2005 February: Released her debut album “Solar” from JVC;  2011 August: Fan clubs were created in both Thailand and Taiwan. A meet-and-greet she held at a music venue in Taiwan was so crowded many fans could not get inside. 2011 February: Released her self-produced album “SEVENth”, which included works she had composed and arranged herself in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The album topped the Jazz Charts for two weeks in a row in Taiwan. She also toured around North East Japan, visiting Ishinomaki and other affected sites of the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011.

2012 January: Received “Most Beautiful Saxophonist in Asia” from the Thailand Sax Society. 2012 November: Held a successful solo concert in Hong Kong’s STAR HALL. 2013 February: Released the R&B themed “Urban Stream”, her eighth studio album in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Placed #1 in the Taiwanese Jazz Charts for the third year in a row. 2013 March: Performed at the Java Jazz Festival, the biggest jazz festival in Asia, held in Jakarta, Indonesia. There, her performance was met with high praise and she made the front page of the local newspaper, alongside musicians such as Basia. 2013 October: Performed at the Taichung Jazz Festival, held in Taichung, Taiwan, and received a stating ovation from a crowd of 60,000. 2014 March: Invited by the Japanese Embassy to the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC. The next day, she performed at Blues Alley in front a full audience, her first show in the USA. 2014 May: Released the 9th Self-produced J-pop themed album “SPIRIT” in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. 2015 June: Released the 10th Anniversary album “STORY” in Japan and Asia. which includes 3 music numbers produced by Jamie Odell of the SHAKTAK Family. July perform in SAPPORO CITY JAZZ. September perform in TOKYO JAZZ. 2016 August : Released the11th  album “Melody”, covering the well known popular songs . Kaori is also participating as a sax player  in the band of such singers as Shigeru Izumiya and YukihideTakekawa, the artists representing Japan. http://kaorikobayashi.com/biographyeng

Spirit

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Red Garland - Rojo

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1958
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:06
Size: 95,5 MB
Art: Front

(8:54)  1. Rojo
(6:47)  2. We Kiss In A Shadow
(5:14)  3. Darling Je Vous Aime Beaucoup
(6:43)  4. Ralph J. Gleason Blues
(5:12)  5. You Better Go Now
(8:14)  6. Mr. Wonderful

Pianist Red Garland recorded frequently with trios for Prestige during the second half of the 1950s. For this set (reissued on CD), Garland, bassist George Joyner and drummer Charlie Persip are joined by Ray Barretto on congas and the emphasis is on forceful swinging. Garland takes such ballads as "We Kiss in a Shadow" and "You Better Go Now" at faster-than-expected tempos. "Ralph J. Gleason Blues" and the Latin feel of "Rojo" are among the highlights of this enjoyable disc. ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/rojo-mw0000619557

Personnel: Red Garland (piano); Ray Barretto (congas); George Joyner (bass); Charlie Persip (drums).

Rojo

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Bruce Barth - Don't Blame Me

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1997
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:41
Size: 137,0 MB
Art: Front

(5:08)  1. Don't Blame Me
(6:47)  2. Days of June
(6:33)  3. Evidence
(5:59)  4. Song for Alex
(7:37)  5. For Clara
(6:46)  6. Prospect Blues
(3:40)  7. Lazy Bird
(5:19)  8. The Way He Wore His Hat
(4:48)  9. Autumn in New York
(7:01) 10. Fascinating Rhythm

A rewarding trio session from Bruce Barth, one of the most underrated post-bop pianists. Joined by bassist Ed Howard and drummer Billy Drummond, Barth splits the program evenly between standards and originals, the latter including a lovely pair of dedications: "Song for Alex" and "For Clara." Barth's affinity for Monk comes through on "Evidence" and an intriguing original called "The Way He Wore His Hat," intended as a Monk tribute but based on a motif from "They Can't Take That Away From Me." With "Lazy Bird," "Fascinating Rhythm," and the title track, Barth and company display their flair for rhythmic surprises. ~ David R.Adler http://www.allmusic.com/album/dont-blame-me-mw0000030718

Personnel: Bruce Barth (piano); Ed Howard (bass); Billy Drummond (drums)

Don't Blame Me

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