Pamela Hines - Twilight World

Size: 117,2 MB
Time: 50:14
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2004
Styles: Jazz
Art: Front

01. Continuacion (7:44)
02. Outhouse (3:38)
03. Traces (4:15)
04. Windprint (5:16)
05. Red's Blues (6:50)
06. Guataca City (5:02)
07. Twilight World (6:21)
08. Con Brio (5:04)
09. El Cura (6:01)

Pianist Pamela Hines puts her quartet through a powerfully driven modern mainstream session on Twilight World, which also includes searing ballads and heartfelt blues. With tenor saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi, she interprets a program of pert originals and other fresh themes.

Marian McPartland's "Twilight World" serves as the album's centerpiece, with its flowing melody and light Latin beat. The pianist provides a strong foundation for Bergonzi's articulate tenor, applying sparkling counterpoint that flows naturally. Her solo interludes give each selection an uplifting quality that celebrates the magic that makes jazz so special. She includes spontaneity in her keyboard actions, fuses her ensemble with a seamless quality, and contributes dazzling displays of lively music. She and Bergonzi share a love of the creative forces that can be unleashed through modern jazz. Remarkably, their work stands out as both fresh and original.

In an apparent tribute to Red Holloway, Bergonzi joins tenor saxophonist Miles Donohue on "Red's Blues" with feelings that run deep. They steer the ensemble through laid-back motions that stroll easily on sensual feet. There's a loose rhythm in the blues that simply cannot be ignored.

The session's Latin numbers provide a different kind of energy that seems to pump up the band every time. They drive forcefully and interact cohesively to produce a festive affair. Hines' session has a lot to offer, and every bit of her quartet's thrilling performance derives from the heart of jazz's modern mainstream. ~By Jim Santella

Personnel: Pamela Hines: piano; John Lockwood: acoustic bass (#2-5); David Hines: fretless acoustic bass (#1,6-9); Reed Deiffenbach: drums; Jerry Bergonzi: tenor sax; Miles Donahue: tenor sax (#2,5); April Hall, vocal (#3)

Twilight World

---

Julie Benko - Introducing Julie Benko

Size: 111,9 MB
Time: 48:09
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2017
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. Tomorrow Is A Day For You (3:36)
02. Matchmaker, Matchmaker (3:55)
03. Love For Sale (6:45)
04. I Love Paris (3:39)
05. Lonesome Polecat (5:23)
06. I Can Dream, Can't I (4:47)
07. Leaving On A Jet Plane (4:59)
08. Here We Go Again (3:51)
09. A Wish (4:01)
10. Wonderful, Wonderful Day (3:24)
11. Always (3:45)

Spellbinding songstress Julie Benko, who appeared in Broadway’s Fiddler on the Roof, the 25th Anniversary national tour of Les Misérables and the national tour of Spring Awakening, steps into the spotlight with the release of her debut album, “Introducing Julie Benko,” a diverse eleven track compilation of jazz standards and original compositions that displays her sweet and scintillating signature soprano voice. Joining Benko is co-producer, arranger, and frequent musical partner Jason Yeager on piano, Danny Weller on bass, and Jay Sawyer on drums. The album also features trumpeter Andy Warren, clarinetist Dan Levinson, trombonist Walter Harris, tenor saxophonist Andrew Mulherkar, guitarist Vinny Raniolo, violinist Jason Anick, bandoneónist JP Jofre, and cellist Alon Bisk. “Introducing Julie Benko” demonstrates that the young vocalist, composer, and producer offers many musical riches in the jazz idiom and beyond, in addition to her prowess as a Broadway performer.

When Julie Benko ambled into a Starbucks café in New York City’s Herald Square and struck up a conversation with the man sitting next to her, she could never have anticipated the collaborations both personal and musical that would follow. The man was jazz pianist/composer and Berklee College of Music faculty member Jason Yeager, and the two began to make music together. After informal sessions of Great American Songbook standards and Joni Mitchell gems, the two artists developed their own duo cabaret act entitled “Blame It On Our Youth,” performed in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Their professional collaboration evolved into a personal romance. Now, coming full circle, they have teamed up to record Ms. Benko’s debut jazz album.

As a child, Ms. Benko would watch classic movie-musicals with her mother and listen to the music of Ella Fitzgerald and other jazz greats with her father. An accomplished singer and actress, Ms. Benko explores the cross-section of these two early influences: jazz and musical theater. Specifically, she is fascinated by songs from the musical theater canon that did not manage to make the elusive “crossover” leap into jazz. Thus, Ms. Benko performs a swinging “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” from Fiddler on the Roof (in which Ms. Benko recently appeared on Broadway), featuring Dan Levinson on a klezmer-style clarinet. She also explores two songs from Johnny Mercer’s movie-musical Seven Brides For Seven Brothers — “Lonesome Polecat” and “Wonderful, Wonderful Day” get dramatically and excitingly reinterpreted.

The jazz standards included on Ms. Benko’s album have received impressive and lively arrangements by Mr. Yeager. “Love For Sale,” performed as a melancholy tango and featuring Jason Anick on violin and JP Jofre on bandoneón, evocatively captures the cynicism and sadness of the world’s oldest profession. “I Love Paris” utilizes the exuberant and contrapuntal New Orleans-style three-horn front line (featuring standout performances by guitarist Vinny Raniolo, trumpeter Andy Warren, trombonist Walter Harris, and clarinetist Dan Levinson) to express the joy of love. “I Can Dream, Can’t I?” gets a bossa nova treatment—with sublime saxophone commentary from Andrew Mulherkar—to express the wistfulness of the lyric. Fred Hersch’s contemporary art song “A Wish” features an intimate trio arrangement with voice, piano, and cello (lyrically delivered by Alon Bisk). Ms. Benko also covers the folk-rock classic “Leaving On a Jet Plane” in an introspective, contemporary jazz setting, accompanied by the album’s stalwart rhythm section of Mr. Yeager on piano, Danny Weller on bass, and Jay Sawyer on drums. This John Denver classic reminds her of the many times she has left loved ones at home in order to pursue her passion of performing.

Benko’s original compositions, which emerge from the tradition of the Great American Songbook, are often responses to current events. She wrote “Tomorrow Is A Day For You” as a celebration following the US Supreme Court decisions defending same-sex marriage, and “Here We Go Again” was a response to the troubling and seemingly endless political campaigns of 2016. On the other hand, the poignant album-closer, “Always”, which is fittingly performed as a cozy duo with Mr. Yeager, is a love song written soon after the two became a couple.

With the help of her co-producer and partner Jason Yeager and the impressive line-up heard on this debut release, Julie Benko emerges as a diverse and innovative jazz and musical theater vocalist, composer, and producer.

Introducing Julie Benko

---

Tinez Roots Club - Have You Heard!

Size: 101,2 MB
Time: 42:59
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2017
Styles: Rock, Jazz, Blues
Art: Front

01. JL Boogie (3:12)
02. Please Tell Me (2:39)
03. Have You Heard (2:34)
04. Cast Away Your Spell (2:38)
05. This Cat (3:26)
06. Ant Eater (3:38)
07. Goin' To The Church (3:46)
08. Rock Baby Rock (3:36)
09. What You Do To Me (3:27)
10. So Hard To Love You (4:51)
11. Chimpanzee (3:10)
12. We're Gonna Rock (2:45)
13. Indeed I Do (3:09)

Tinez Roots Club is back to roam the scene with their raw and high energy mix of greasy rhythm ‘n blues, swing and wild rock ‘n roll!

With two honking saxophones, a deliciously grooving Hammond organ and wild-beating drums, they will make audiences shiver and rooms rumble.

Their new, and more mature, 3rd album is called ‘Have You Heard?!’ as it is a re-introduction to the audience after a couple of years of silence.

“13 great and original songs” – Sax Gordon

Martijn ‘Tinez’ van Toor – tenor saxophone & vocals; Evert Hoedt – baritone saxophone; Rob Geboers – Hammond organ; Andreas Robbie Carree – drums

Have You Heard!

---

Mark Murphy - Crazy Rhythm: His Debut Recordings

Size: 139,3 MB
Time: 59:16
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1999
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. Fascinating Rhythm (2:02)
02. Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square (3:51)
03. Give It Back To The Indians (3:17)
04. I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry (3:39)
05. Limehouse Blues (2:33)
06. Exactly Like You (4:11)
07. If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight) (2:38)
08. You Mustn't Kick It Around (2:32)
09. I Got Rhythm (2:23)
10. Elmer's Tune (2:42)
11. 'Tain't No Sin (To Dance Around In Your Bones) (2:13)
12. Robbins Nest (3:43)
13. Lady In Red (3:47)
14. Pick Yourself Up (2:29)
15. Let Yourself Go (2:21)
16. Crazy Rhythm (2:54)
17. Takin' A Chance On Love (4:01)
18. Lullaby In Rhythm (2:55)
19. Little Jazz Bird (2:30)
20. Ridin' High (2:25)

A fascinating collection that GRP put out in 1999, Crazy Rhythm focuses on the early recordings of Mark Murphy, who was only 24 and 25 when he provided this material for Decca in 1956 and 1957. Back then, the singer wasn't the cutting-edge risk-taker he would evolve into in the 1960s. The young Murphy heard on this CD is a likable crooner with a strong passion for Mel Torme--Murphy wasn't scatting a lot at that point, and he had yet to seriously get into vocalese and modal improvising or put lyrics to an abundance of post-bop and hard bop instrumentals. Nonetheless, one could hear a lot of potential in Murphy, whose versions of "Fascinating Rhythm," "Exactly Like You" and other standards on this 20-song CD are enjoyable and nicely executed, if rather conventional. Those getting into Murphy for the first time would be better off starting out with some of his more adventurous recordings of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, but seasoned Murphy fans will find Crazy Rhythm to be quite interesting. ~by Alex Henderson

Crazy Rhythm

---

Jill Johnson - Christmas Island

Size: 101,3 MB
Time: 37:16
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2017
Styles: Jazz Vocals, Big Band, Xmas
Art: Front

01. Christmas Island (3:01)
02. Mistletoe And Holly (2:28)
03. It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas (2:41)
04. What Are You Doing New Year's Eve (3:50)
05. Ain't Nothing Like Christmas (3:31)
06. I Will Wait For You (2:37)
07. Let It Snow (2:52)
08. I Wish It Was Christmas (3:31)
09. Christmas Journey (3:00)
10. Christmas Time Is Here (3:31)
11. Winter Wonderland (2:23)
12. When You Wish Upon A Star (3:44)

The last time Jill Johnson released an album with her own material was in 2012 and the years since have probably added up to the most successful and happening period of her career to date! Two seasons of the Swedish National TV series “Jill’s Veranda, Nashville”, three seasons of her own dinner show, a big band album and a duet album with country artist Doug Seegers plus an array of concerts around Sweden and Europe.

After this eventful and successful period in her career Jill decided to take a break, she wanted some breathing space for new song-writing.

“But it wasn’t to be”, explains Jill. “Writing is an extremely soul-baring and finite process. I couldn’t come up with anything at all.”

So the pause became slightly longer than planned, but thanks to the rest came new energy and an inspiration was borne. The songs finally came as a flood and after an April week in Nashville and Austin, Jill came home with enough songs for an album, to be released on the 23 September and titled “For You I’ll Wait”. The album contains 11 tracks – with a delicate sound and intimate lyrics revealing who Jill is today – as a person and a musician.

“It should chafe, there should be brittleness and it should be felt! It is a feeling that became even more apparent after my collaboration with Gabriel Kelley. The meeting with him in ‘Jill’s Veranda’ in Nashville affected me quite profoundly. I felt an immediate contact with Gabriel on a spiritual level. He has that effect on people! I felt at once that I wanted to make music with him and I think that he brought me to a darker, deeper sound with more heart and soul,” explains Jill.

On ”For You I’ll Wait”, Jill worked with some of USA:s most outstanding song-writers and as well as Garbriel Kelley, was of course, Liz Rose, a close friend of Jill who’s a several time Grammy-nominee – and even award winning, Nathan Chapman, Kate York and Lori McKenna. A new acquaintance of Jill’s is the gifted, Emily Shackelton, who worked on the first single,”Gotta Love Me More”.

“It sounds almost silly when you say that you’ve written that much music over just four days, but that’s exactly what happened. I really opened up and we wrote around the clock which produced results. I was completely at a standstill when I got home but simultaneously felt quite elated”, says Jill.

The first single released in August was, “Gotta Love Me More” about which Jill says;

“Gotta Love Me More” is about a kind of survival, a renewal. It’s life not a war, The feeling that you’ve no choice. The pain of leaving someone you love with the impulse that you have to put oneself first and love yourself more.”

This is more or less the theme for the whole album, it’s about life, love and also about that which we all know, that a person should first and foremost love and respect herself – in order to love and respect others.

In November she will release a big band Christmas album called “Christmas Island”

Christmas Island

---

The Devin Kelly Organ Trio - Whenever You're Ready

Size: 109,5 MB
Time: 47:32
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2017
Styles: Jazz, Hammond Organ
Art: Front

01. Whenever You're Ready (3:56)
02. Hand In Hand (3:56)
03. Some Swink For Sinc (7:16)
04. Two For The Road (4:18)
05. Ah-Leu-Cha (4:01)
06. Bright Mississippi (3:52)
07. Three And One (4:20)
08. Blues For Coleman (4:09)
09. Funk In Deep Freeze (5:57)
10. Way Over Yonder (5:43)

DPK Records is pleased to announce the release of Central New York based drummer Devin Kelly’s second recording as a leader, “Whenever You're Ready”. The album features Los Angeles guitarist Gary Solt (Frank Foster, Nancy Wilson, Don Rader & Clark Terry) along with organist Joe Bagg (Larry Coryell, Jon Gordon, Anthony Wilson & Bill Holman). Mr. Kelly has shared the stage with Bob Brookmeyer, Bill Cunliffe, Larry Koonse, Peter Bernstein, Bob Sneider, Gary Foster, Bobby Militello, Julie Kelly & Judy Wexler, among other artists. The group's second album explores lesser-known compositions penned by Charlie Parker, Hank Mobley, Thelonious Monk & Mulgrew Miller, in addition to singer-songwriter icons Carole King & James Taylor. Original compositions by members of the group round out the album. All tracks were recorded live "in studio".

Whenever You're Ready

---

Cynthia Bane - Clearly

Size: 101,7 MB
Time: 42:30
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2017
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. It's A Wonderful World (Feat. John Harmon) (1:44)
02. Detour Ahead (Feat. John Harmon) (5:23)
03. Itsy Bitsy Blues (Feat. John Harmon, Andy Sachen & Mike Malone) (3:46)
04. Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me (Feat. John Harmon, Andy Sachen & Mike Malone) (4:30)
05. Midnight Sun (Feat. John Harmon) (4:33)
06. Have You Met Old Jones (Feat. John Harmon, Andy Sachen & Mike Malone) (3:07)
07. Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most (Feat. John Harmon) (8:34)
08. West Coast Blues (Feat. John Harmon, Andy Sachen & Mike Malone) (3:19)
09. Twisted (Feat. John Harmon, Andy Sachen & Mike Malone) (3:32)
10. Never Let Me Go (Feat. John Harmon) (3:58)

Jazz vocalist Cynthia Bane's hip, understated style and pure vocal tone appeal to a wide variety of jazz fans. Jazz singer Janet Planet proclaimed her, "a star whose voice defines swing, elegance, and taste."

Cynthia's debut album, "Clearly" (Stellar! Sound Productions) provides the listener with an intimate view of Cynthia as a versatile jazz artist. Teaming up with renowned pianist John Harmon, along with Andy Sachen (bass), and Mike Malone (drums), Cynthia skillfully delivers jazz standards, bebop vocalese tunes, and ballads with warmth and authenticity.

Cynthia, a professor of psychology at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, took an unconventional path to vocal jazz. Growing up in Iowa, she played the French horn throughout high school and at Luther College, where she played in the concert band while earning a bachelor's degree in psychology. She continued playing in community bands and high school pit orchestras while pursuing a Ph.D. in social psychology at Miami University. A stroll through a Pottery Barn in Columbus, Ohio, where recordings by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong played in the background, sparked her interest in jazz. She immediately scoured the jazz cd collection at the local public library and checked out the cd with the hippest looking cover: Hank Mobley's "No Room for Squares" (cover designed by legendary photographer and graphic designer, Reid Miles). In addition to Hank Mobley, she became a fan of Lee Morgan, Anita O'Day, Chet Baker, Cannonball Adderley, Irene Kral, Miles Davis, and Lambert, Hendricks, & Ross..

In 2007, Cynthia attended Tritone Jazz Fantasy camp in Door County, Wisconsin as a vocalist. At Tritone she met faculty members John Harmon (piano), Janet Planet (vocal), and Tom Washatka (saxophone), who collaborated with Cynthia on the "Clearly" album.

Cynthia performs locally in Northeastern Iowa with the Bluetone Jazz Collective.

Clearly

---

Clifford Jordan Big Band - Play What You Feel

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:59
Size: 160.2 MB
Styles: Bop, Big band
Year: 1990/2010
Art: Front

[ 9:31] 1. Third Avenue
[10:40] 2. Angelica
[ 5:17] 3. Old Bo
[ 6:22] 4. I Waited For You
[ 0:32] 5. Introduction To Evidence
[ 7:24] 6. Evidence
[ 5:24] 7. I'll Be Around
[ 6:14] 8. Bearcat
[ 7:17] 9. Down Through The Years
[ 6:56] 10. Charlie Parker's Last Supper
[ 3:30] 11. Don't Get Around Much Anymore
[ 0:44] 12. Band Roster

In 1990, tenor-saxophonist Clifford Jordan achieved one of his lifetime goals and formed a big band. They recorded a demo in December, 1990, that helped land them a record deal with Fantasy. The orchestra recorded one album before Jordan passed away in 1993. The music on Play What You Feel, which was originally the demo, was released for the first time in 1997. The 16-piece orchestra, which includes many of Jordan's friends and longtime associates, was loose but tight, featuring strong solos, spirited ensembles and colorful straight-ahead arrangements. In addition to Jordan, who is heard in prime form and often sounds exuberant, key soloists include Dizzy Reece, Benny Powell and Junior Cook. Highlights include Duke Ellington's joyful "Angelica," "Evidence" and "Charlie Parker's Last Supper" (a blues in the "Parker's Mood" vein) but all of the selections are fun and swinging. This is a highly recommended if little-known gem that makes one happy that Clifford Jordan was able to achieve his goal. ~Scott Yanow

Play What You Feel

---

Sara Bareilles - What's Inside: Songs From Waitress

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:36
Size: 83.8 MB
Styles: Broadway musical
Year: 2016
Art: Front

[1:15] 1. What's Inside
[3:19] 2. Opening Up
[2:54] 3. Door Number Three
[3:50] 4. When He Sees Me
[2:57] 5. Soft Place To Land
[2:23] 6. Never Ever Getting Rid Of Me
[3:24] 7. I Didn't Plan It
[3:24] 8. Bad Idea
[4:09] 9. You Matter To Me
[4:10] 10. She Used To Be Mine
[3:37] 11. Everything Changes
[1:09] 12. Lulu's Pie Song

What’s Inside: Songs From Waitress is a piece of a larger story. A story that began two years ago and is still ongoing. This is not a traditional record for Bareilles, it is very much a concept record, and as such might disappoint for someone looking for the next “Brave” or “Love Song.” But what it offers is a heavy dose of personality, warmth, insecurity, love, loneliness, and hope.

For anyone worried that Sara couldn’t pull off writing a Broadway Musical, set your fears aside. She’s done it. There’s moments of Sondheim, moments of deep character study and in-the-moment frantic examination (When He Sees Me). There’s the stylized and fuzzy feeling of Schwartz, where you just smile ear to ear for minutes on end (Never Ever Getting Rid Of Me). And there’s devastatingly somber notes reminiscent of Jason Robert Brown, that tug at your heart-strings and won’t go away (You Matter To Me). But make no mistake, this music is whole-heartedly Bareilles. She doesn’t try to be someone else, molding herself after their style. Sara is absolutely a composer and lyricist ripe for the medium of musical theatre, she always has been. She just uses this opportunity to write other people’s stories, instead of her own. ~Cassidy Knight

What's Inside: Songs From Waitress

---

Jackie Wilson - 20 Greatest Hits

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:54
Size: 116.5 MB
Styles: Soul/Pop/R&B
Year: 2002
Art: Front

[2:39] 1. Reet Petite
[2:27] 2. To Be Loved
[2:41] 3. Lonely Teardrops
[2:03] 4. That's Why (I Love You So)
[2:08] 5. I'll Be Satisfied
[2:02] 6. You Better Know It
[2:16] 7. Talk That Talk
[2:52] 8. Doggin' Around
[2:47] 9. Night
[2:34] 10. A Woman, A Lover, A Friend
[2:35] 11. Am I The Man
[2:35] 12. The Tear Of The Year
[2:02] 13. Please Tell Me Why
[2:19] 14. I'm Comin' On Back To You
[2:59] 15. Baby Workout
[2:24] 16. Whispers (Getting Louder)
[2:36] 17. I Don't Want To Lose You
[2:58] 18. (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher
[2:55] 19. I Get The Sweetest Feeling
[2:53] 20. (I Can Feel Those Vibrations) This Love Is Real

Jackie Wilson was one of the most important agents of black pop's transition from R&B into soul. In terms of vocal power (especially in the upper register), few could outdo him; he was also an electrifying on-stage showman. He was a consistent hitmaker from the mid-'50s through the early '70s, although never a crossover superstar. His reputation isn't quite on par with Ray Charles, James Brown, or Sam Cooke, however, because his records did not always reflect his artistic genius. Indeed, there is a consensus of sorts among critics that Wilson was something of an underachiever in the studio, due to the sometimes inappropriately pop-based material and arrangements that he used.

Wilson was well-known on the R&B scene before he went solo in the late '50s. In 1953 he replaced Clyde McPhatter in Billy Ward & the Dominoes, one of the top R&B vocal groups of the '50s. Although McPhatter was himself a big star, Wilson was as good as or better than the man whose shoes he filled. Commercially, however, things took a downturn for the Dominoes in the Wilson years, although they did manage a Top 20 hit with "St. Therese of the Roses" in 1956. Elvis Presley was one of those who was mightily impressed by Wilson in the mid-'50s; he can be heard praising Jackie's on-stage cover of "Don't Be Cruel" in between-song banter during the Million Dollar Quartet session in late 1956.

Wilson would score his first big R&B (and small pop) hit in late 1956 with the brassy, stuttering "Reet Petite," which was co-written by an emerging Detroit songwriter named Berry Gordy Jr. Gordy would also help write a few other hits for Jackie in the late '50s, "To Be Loved," "Lonely Teardrops," "That's Why (I Love You So)," and "I'll Be Satisfied"; they also crossed over to the pop charts, "Lonely Teardrops" making the Top Ten. Most of these were upbeat, creatively arranged marriages of pop and R&B that, in retrospect, helped set the stage both for '60s soul and for Gordy's own huge pop success at Motown. The early Gordy-Wilson association has led some historians to speculate how much differently (and better) Jackie's career might have turned out had he been on Motown's roster instead of the Brunswick label. ~Richie Unterberger

20 Greatest Hits

---

Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox - Fake Blues

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:27
Size: 129.3 MB
Styles: Contemporary jazz
Year: 2017
Art: Front

[4:30] 1. What Is Love
[3:27] 2. Sledgehammer
[4:19] 3. Feel Good Inc
[3:24] 4. All The Small Things
[4:31] 5. Side To Side
[5:42] 6. Don't Look Back In Anger
[3:00] 7. Poker Face
[5:20] 8. I Want You To Want Me
[3:07] 9. Thong Song
[3:57] 10. Spiderwebs
[3:36] 11. Sunday Morning
[3:48] 12. Baby One More Time
[4:51] 13. Nothing Else Matters
[2:49] 14. Harry Potter Jazz Variations

How did Miley Cyrus' "We Can't Stop" become a '50s-style doo wop number? Since when was Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass" about an upright bass fiddle? At what point did Macklemore's "Thrift Shop" evolve into a '20s hot jazz tune? And whose idea was it to rework Lorde's "Royals" into a polished ballad sung by a sad clown? It's all part of the topsy-turvy world of Postmodern Jukebox, an ongoing musical project spearheaded by pianist and arranger Scott Bradlee, who takes contemporary pop and rock tunes and fashions new arrangements for them that cast them in an unpredictable variety of musical styles from the past.

Born on Long Island, Bradlee relocated to New York City after studying jazz at the University of Hartford. While playing gigs at restaurants and nightclubs in New York City, Bradlee began experimenting with ragtime and jazz arrangements of pop tunes from the '80s, and he recorded several self-released digital albums of his offbeat versions of well-known melodies, as well as performances that interpolated seemingly dissimilar songs of different eras. Bradlee upped the ante on these experiments in 2012 with an album called A Motown Tribute to Nickelback, but as he began imagining a new platform for his experiments, he thought of YouTube, where he had been posting solo performance videos since 2009. In 2013, Bradlee began posting weekly videos in which he and a rotating cast of musicians and vocalists performed a new song each week, recorded live in a single take in Bradlee's living room. In September 2013, Bradlee posted his '50s-style reimagining of Cyrus' "We Can't Stop," and the clip soon went viral, racking up over four million views in less than two months and topping 14 million two years later.

Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox channel was soon racking up Internet successes on a regular basis, and Bradlee continued to release both videos and albums based on his playful fun-house covers of popular songs. By 2015, Bradlee had made over 130 Postmodern Jukebox clips available online, and he and his crew were taking the show on the road, touring in North America, Europe, and the United Kingdom. Bradlee was quite prolific in 2016, with the release of several albums including PMJ and Chill and Swing the Vote! ~ Mark Deming

Fake Blues

---

Charlie Byrd - Jazz Recital

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 32:05
Size: 73.4 MB
Styles: Guitar jazz
Year: 1957/2009
Art: Front

[3:02] 1. Prelude
[3:37] 2. My Funny Valentine
[3:45] 3. Little Girl Blue
[3:17] 4. My Heart Stood Still
[1:32] 5. Interlude
[3:06] 6. Spring Is Here
[3:36] 7. A Foggy Day
[2:15] 8. Spanish Guitar Blues
[4:07] 9. Chuck A Tuck
[3:43] 10. Homage To Charlie Christian

Bass – Al Lucas, Drums – Bobby Donaldson, Flute, Tenor Saxophone – Tom Newsom, Guitar – Charlie Byrd.

Tasteful, low-key, and ingratiatingly melodic, Charlie Byrd had two notable accomplishments to his credit -- applying acoustic classical guitar techniques to jazz and popular music and helping to introduce Brazilian music to mass North American audiences. Born into a musical family, Byrd experienced his first brush with greatness while a teenager in France during World War II, playing with his idol Django Reinhardt. After some postwar gigs with Sol Yaged, Joe Marsala and Freddie Slack, Byrd temporarily abandoned jazz to study classical guitar with Sophocles Papas in 1950 and Andrés Segovia in 1954. However he re-emerged later in the decade gigging around the Washington D.C. area in jazz settings, often splitting his sets into distinct jazz and classical segments. He started recording for Savoy as a leader in 1957, and also recorded with the Woody Herman Band in 1958-59. A tour of South America under the aegis of the U.S. State Department in 1961, proved to be a revelation, for it was in Brazil that Byrd discovered the emerging bossa nova movement. Once back in D.C., he played some bossa nova tapes to Stan Getz, who then convinced Verve's Creed Taylor to record an album of Brazilian music with himself and Byrd. That album, Jazz Samba, became a pop hit in 1962 on the strength of the single "Desafinado" and launched the bossa nova wave in North America. Thanks to the bossa nova, several albums for Riverside followed, including the defining Bossa Nova Pelos Passaros, and he was able to land a major contract with Columbia, though the records from that association often consisted of watered-down easy listening pop. In 1973, he formed the group Great Guitars with Herb Ellis and Barney Kessel and also that year, wrote an instruction manual for the guitar that has become widely used. From 1974 onward, Byrd recorded for the Concord Jazz label in a variety of settings, including sessions with Laurindo Almeida and Bud Shank. He died December 2, 1999 after a long bout with cancer. ~ Richard S. Ginell

Jazz Recital

---

Joe Pass, Tommy Gumina Trio - Sound Project

Styles: Guitar And Accordion Jazz
Year: 1987
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:44
Size: 105,8 MB
Art: Front

(4:18)  1. My Shining Hour
(3:56)  2. My Ship
(3:42)  3. Once In A While
(2:32)  4. Cavaquino
(3:33)  5. Wee Small Hours
(4:16)  6. Secret Love
(5:02)  7. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
(3:31)  8. When You Wish Upon A Star
(6:07)  9. About Time
(3:35) 10. Will You Give Me These
(5:07) 11. Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry

Sound Project is an album by jazz guitarist Joe Pass, released in 1987. 

It is a collaboration with Tommy Gumina, the creator of Polytone guitar amplifiers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_Project

Personnel:  Joe Pass – guitar;  Tommy Gumina – accordion;  Jimmie Smith – drums

Sound Project

---

Erin Bode - Photograph

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:01
Size: 111,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:07)  1. The Mountain
(3:11)  2. Heart of Mine
(4:31)  3. To Lose
(4:47)  4. Stephanie Moore
(4:08)  5. November
(4:20)  6. The Letter
(4:29)  7. Joseph
(5:27)  8. Photograph
(4:08)  9. Beating on the Door
(4:03) 10. Telescope
(3:45) 11. Wise Man

Vocalist Erin Bode's debut, Don't Take Your Time (MAXJAZZ, 2001), showcased her abilities to coat jazz singing with a user-friendly, pop-oriented patina, but subsequent albums have taken her farther afield from the world of straightforward jazz vocals. Bode showed early promise as a singer/songwriter, with the title track on her debut release, and she's made good on that promise on Over And Over (MAXJAZZ, 2006) and The Little Garden (Native Language, 2008). Both of those albums put strong emphasis on Bode-as-writer, with the latter leaning toward a folk-based sound sporting modern production values, and she continues that trend with Photograph. Her original compositions resemble prior works in some ways, but Bode uses far different instrumental textures to deliver some of this material. Occasional songs, like "Joseph" and the album-closing "Wise Man," sound like they could be carryovers from The Little Garden sessions, but those tracks are the exception, not the rule. The biggest game-changer, in terms of sound, comes in the form of the DX7. Yamaha unveiled this synthesizer in the early '80s, and the sound of this machine came to epitomize the direction of many a pop artist during that era. Multi-instrumentalist Adam Maness Bode's prime collaborator and co-writer on all eleven tracks adds this instrument to his arsenal on three tunes, lending them a retro-'80s pop sheen. Bode fans who have enjoyed soaking in the earthy elements of her prior albums might not take to the slightly sugary "Heart Of Mine" or "Stephanie Moore," but the DX7 doesn't dominate the entire album, and it provides some complementary additions to "Beating On The Door." At other times, Bode strikes a balance between Nanci Griffith and Lisa Loeb ("Wise Man"), and shows Paul Simon-esque compositional savvy on "The Letter," where Adam Maness acts as a sound architect, his marimba and guitar work at the core of the group sound. Bode's voice is an emotionally resonant instrument of beauty on "November," and Maness is a masterful accompanist, cushioning Bode's voice with guitar and a bed of subtle synthesizer sounds. While this album is the least jazz-oriented production of Bode's career, her celestial vocals remain a draw in any genre and she hits quite a few along the way on Photograph. ~ Dan Bilaswsky https://www.allaboutjazz.com/photograph-erin-bode-self-produced-review-by-dan-bilawsky.php

Personnel: Erin Bode: vocals, whistle; Adam Maness: electric guitar, acoustic guitar, marimba, glockenspiel, DX7, synthesizers, accordion, road case, 750 piece 'Christmas Magic' puzzle, electric piano, phone; Syd Rodway: acoustic bass, banjo, electric bass, whistle, acoustic guitar, background vocals; Mark Colenburg: drums and percussion (1, 11); Jimmy Griffin: electric guitar (2, 4); Derek Phillips: drums and percussion (2-4, 6-9, 10); Seamus Blake: saxophone (4); Chris Hobson: hand claps (9), background vocals (6-7, 11).

Photograph

---

Ramsey Lewis - Fantasy

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1985
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:01
Size: 92,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:16)  1. This Ain't No Fantasy
(4:01)  2. Ram Jam
(4:28)  3. It's Gonna Change
(3:43)  4. Les Clefs De Mon Coeur (The Keys To My Heart)
(4:13)  5. Victim Of A Broken Heart
(4:16)  6. Slow Dancin'
(4:58)  7. Never Give Up
(4:34)  8. Part Of Me
(5:29)  9. The Quest

Pianist and composer Ramsey Lewis has been a major figure in contemporary jazz since the late '50s, playing music with a warm, open personality that's allowed him to cross over to the pop and R&B charts. Lewis was born in Chicago, Illinois on May 27, 1935, and was introduced to music by his father, who directed the choir at a local church and enjoyed the music of Duke Ellington and Art Tatum. Lewis began studying the piano when he was four years old, and was soon accompanying the choir at Sunday services. At the age of 15, he joined a jazz combo called the Cleffs, who played at parties and dances. Lewis was interested in a leaner, more bebop-oriented sound, and when the group splintered after several members joined the military, he formed the Ramsey Lewis Trio with two other former Cleffs, bassist Eldee Young and percussionist Redd Holt. The trio became a fixture on the Chicago jazz scene, and they were signed to a deal with Chess Records, releasing their first album, Ramsey Lewis & His Gentlemen of Jazz, in 1956.  Lewis and his trio continued to record and tour steadily over the years, building a sizable audience among jazz fans, but their career received a serious boost in 1965, when they recorded a swinging version of Dobie Gray's hit "The In Crowd" at a gig in Washington, D.C. Chess released the track as a single, and it became a sizable pop hit, earning Lewis his first gold record, as well as a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance. As Lewis' star rose, he returned to the pop charts in 1966 with versions of "Hang on Sloopy" and "Wade in the Water." Meanwhile, Young and Holt left Lewis' trio to form their own group, Young-Holt Unlimited, and the pianist hired a new rhythm section, Cleveland Eaton on bass and Maurice White on drums. n 1970, White resigned to form his own group, and Morris Jennings signed on as the trio's new percussionist. Lewis continued to record for Chess until 1972, when he moved to Columbia Records, and as his music developed a more contemporary groove, White's group, Earth, Wind & Fire (also on Columbia), was beginning to enjoy considerable success on the R&B charts. White produced Lewis' 1974 album, Sun Goddess, in which he experimented with electronic keyboards for the first time, and several members of EWF played on the sessions; it became a major crossover hit and took Lewis to the upper ranks of the smooth jazz/fusion scene. Lewis would record R&B-influenced material through the '70s, but continued to explore his roots in more traditional jazz sounds as well as Latin rhythms. In 1983, he went into the studio with Eldee Young and Redd Holt for the album Reunion; in 1984, he collaborated with Nancy Wilson on The Two of Us; in 1988, he recorded with London's Philharmonia Orchestra for the album A Classic Encounter, and in 1989, Lewis and Dr. Billy Taylor cut a set of piano duets, We Meet Again.

In 1992, Lewis signed with the successful jazz label GRP Records, and in 1995, he launched the side project Urban Knights, in which he collaborated with a handful of successful crossover jazz stars, including Grover Washington, Jr., Earl Klugh, and Dave Koz. In 1997, Lewis added disc jockey to his résumé, hosting a popular show on Chicago's WNUA-FM that ran until 2009; the show went into syndication in 2006 under the name Legends of Jazz with Ramsey Lewis, and is still on the air. In 2005, Lewis looked back on his roots in gospel music with the album With One Voice, which earned him the Stellar Gospel Music Award for Best Gospel Instrumental Album. In 2007, he was commissioned to write a jazz ballet for the Joffrey Ballet Company, and "To Know Her..." debuted at Highland Park, Illinois' Ravina Music Festival, where Lewis is artistic director of the festival's jazz series, and helped found their Jazz Mentor Program. Lewis has also written several pieces for string ensemble and orchestra that have premiered at Ravina; highlights were featured on the 2009 album Songs from the Heart: Ramsey Plays Ramsey, his first release from Concord Records. In addition to his work as a performer, composer, educator, and disc jockey, Lewis has received five honorary doctorate degrees, won the National Endowment for the Arts' Jazz Master Award in 2007, and is one of the few noted jazz artists to carry the Olympic Torch, having briefly escorted the flame as it passed through Chicago en route to the 2002 Winter Games. In 2011, he delivered Taking Another Look, a reworking of his classic 1974 electric jazz-funk album Sun Goddess. The album was reissued in a deluxe package with bonus tracks in 2015. Two years later, Lewis was a featured guest on pianist Alan Storeygard's trio album New Directions. ~ Mark Deming https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ramsey-lewis-mn0000334770/biography

Personnel: Ramsey Lewis (piano, keyboards).       

Fantasy

---

Jan Garbarek, Bobo Stenson Quartet - Dansere

Styles: Saxophone And Piano Jazz
Year: 1976
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:10
Size: 88,5 MB
Art: Front

(15:02)  1. Dansere
( 4:55)  2. Svevende
( 6:13)  3. Bris
( 1:34)  4. Skrik & Hyl
( 5:38)  5. Lokk (Etter Thorvald Tronsgard)
( 4:46)  6. Til Vennene

Among the many stylistic twists and turns negotiated by Jan Garbarek early in his career, the subtle shift in direction from the previous, spectacular Witchi-Tai-To to Dansere was probably the most decisive. In fact, Dansere, recorded in 1975, was one of the first examples of what would come to be known as the "ECM sound," not so much for the usual crystalline recording quality but for a creeping, languidly pastoral sensibility that would become more and more prominent both in Garbarek's own work as well as in the label's releases in general. Still, that granola and Birkenstock aura is subdued enough in this album to grudgingly recommend it to fans of his earlier work. Bassist Palle Danielsson, while less angular and experimental than Arild Andersen, provides a solid and propulsive foundation for Garbarek and Stenson, the former tending to increasingly rein in his playing as the influence of Albert Ayler, so prominent in his first albums, continued to wane. Instead, one can hear traces of Keith Jarrett, with whom Garbarek had recently been working and, indeed, much of Dansere compares favorably with Jarrett's quartet work from around the same time. Fans of his subsequent work with the Hilliard Ensemble might find this relatively tough sledding while lovers of albums like Tryptikon could well hear excessive smoothness, but it stands up decently enough on its own merits. ~ Brian Olewnick https://www.allmusic.com/album/dansere-mw0000197829

Personnel:  Jan Garbarek – saxophones;  Bobo Stenson – piano;  Palle Danielsson – bass;  Jon Christensen – drums       

Dansere

---