Milt Jackson - Olinga

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:35
Size: 104.4 MB
Styles: Bop, Vibraphone jazz
Year: 1974/2000
Art: Front

[3:47] 1. Olinga
[6:09] 2. Rerev
[6:18] 3. The Metal Melter
[5:28] 4. The Steel Bender
[4:34] 5. Lost April
[7:54] 6. I'm Not So Sure
[6:13] 7. The Metal Melter (Alternate Take)
[5:09] 8. The Steel Bender (Alternate Take)

Bass – Ron Carter; Drums – Mickey Roker; Piano – Cedar Walton; Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Jimmy Heath; Vibraphone – Milt Jackson.

Originally out on the CTI label, this set features vibraphonist Milt Jackson with some of his favorite musicians (pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Ron Carter, drummer Mickey Roker, and Jimmy Heath on tenor and soprano) along with an occasional string section. The performances are pretty straight-ahead for CTI, with Bags and company performing the ballad "Lost April," Dizzy Gillespie's "Olinga," a Walton original, and three recent songs by Jackson. Although Cedar Walton does not sound as formidable on electric piano as on acoustic and the other solos overall are a bit safe, this is a nice album. ~Scott Yanow

Olinga

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Peter Leitch - Blues On The Corner

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:06
Size: 162.8 MB
Styles: Bop, Guitar jazz
Year: 1999
Art: Front

[ 7:13] 1. Blues On The Corner
[ 6:57] 2. The Hillary Step
[ 7:20] 3. Nothing Ever Changes My Love For You
[10:23] 4. Johan Carolyn
[ 6:34] 5. Monk's Mood Bemsha Swing
[ 7:42] 6. K. Zee
[ 8:24] 7. Wendy's Shoes
[ 2:40] 8. Bud 'n Bird
[ 7:53] 9. How Long Has This Been Going On
[ 5:55] 10. From This Moment On

Canadian jazz guitarist Leitch continues to be a top player in this idiom as evidenced by his track record of fine recordings, this being another one. There are curiosities that pop up when Leitch's sparsely treated, lean electric guitar sound melds with Kendra Shank's mostly wordless vocalizing and the saxophone musings of Bobby Watson. Renee Rosnes plays piano on six of the ten cuts, while the bass of Dwayne Burno and the poignant drumming of Billy Hart anchor the varied combos. Leitch wrote half of the material. "The (Sir Edmund) Hillary Step" is steeped in bop; Shank's over-the-hump scat sets off a busy Watson and Rosens, then Shank and Hart trade ideas. The lovely, light-bossa swinger "Johan Carolyn," running over ten and a half minutes, sports beauteous guitar and alto sax unison over the modal chords of Rosnes as a vehicle for longer solos. The most gloriously constructed melody is extant during "K. Zee," which offers another unison line but darker, with Shank's sultry voice added to Watson's soprano and Leitch's wide-eyed line. Rosnes is more astounding on a choppy, chiming piano solo. "Wendy's Shoes" is a straight bluesy number scatted by Shank and spiced by Watson's fluent alto. Leitch goes it solo on "Bud & Bird," all in a fast, bright, evenly keeled bebop language. The guitar/bass/drums trio do the Gershwin ballad "How Long Has This Been Going On?" while "Nothing Ever Changes for You My Love" uses the same instrumentation in a bossa-to-swing style. The session is bookended by two anomalous, nay, disappointing or perhaps questionable numbers. The McCoy Tyner-written title track has Leitch displaying a little twang, and the intro chorus has Shank scatting only the first few bars of the melody twice, but all the way through at the end. The hip, charged bop of "From This Moment On" has Shank only singing the name of the tune, but not the lyric, then scatting a bit. This is an interesting aside for Leitch, not his best, but a change up of instrumentation and stance which is certainly unique for him, and, in many instances, welcome. ~Michael G. Nastos

Blues On The Corner

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Marian McPartland, Teddy Wilson - Piano Jazz

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:36
Size: 131.9 MB
Styles: Piano jazz
Year: 2005
Art: Front

[2:03] 1. Stompin' At The Savoy
[8:36] 2. Conversation 1
[3:39] 3. Medley 2
[3:47] 4. Conversation 2
[5:35] 5. I'll Remember April
[3:23] 6. Conversation 3
[4:57] 7. Medley
[1:32] 8. Conversation 4
[2:35] 9. Marian's Motif
[1:48] 10. Conversation 5
[0:42] 11. Traumerie
[6:22] 12. Conversation 6
[3:10] 13. Moon Glow
[4:33] 14. Conversation 7
[4:26] 15. Flying Home
[0:20] 16. Conversation 8

One of Marian McPartland's first guests in her long-running NPR radio series was Teddy Wilson, an old friend with whom she had occasionally played and also recorded a duo album for her own Halcyon label. She gets Wilson to talk about his trademark left handed runs that were so important to his style, along with his excitement at hearing classical jazz pianist Vladimir Horowitz in concert at the White House earlier in the year, prompting him to play Robert Schumann's "Träumerei" (from Kinderscenen). Of course, Wilson's style hadn't changed significantly since his tenure with Benny Goodman, though there is nothing wrong with that, though McPartland builds an impressive improvisation, "Marian's Motif," that is based upon a brief musical phrase that Wilson suggested during the taping. Their duets are just as much fun, including delightful romps through "I'll Remember April" and "Flying Home." [Note: this CD is a straight reissue of the earlier 1985 Jazz Alliance release, with a change in the cover art.] ~Ken Dryden

Piano Jazz

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Scott Morgan - Songs Of Life

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:25
Size: 115.4 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2016
Art: Front

[3:39] 1. It's You Or No One
[5:16] 2. Little Prayer/Wouldn't It Be Loverly
[4:05] 3. Song Of Life
[3:13] 4. Lazin' Around
[3:10] 5. I Just Found Out About Love
[3:56] 6. Secret O' Life
[4:18] 7. Like A Lover
[3:16] 8. I'm Just A Lucky So-And-So
[4:01] 9. Lost In The Stars
[4:19] 10. I'll Follow
[3:39] 11. This Heart Of Mine
[3:59] 12. Don't Let Me Be Lonely
[3:29] 13. I Will

Scott Morgan: vocals; Fred Hersch: piano; Matt Aronoff: bass; Ross Pederson: drums; Joel Frahm: tenor saxophone (3, 5, 8); Janis Siegel: vocals (10).

There's no greater teacher than life. Its bounties and tragedies, triumphs and defeats, and strange flirtations with absurdist theater and dead on truth have a way of enriching perspective and giving us the tools to communicate at a much deeper level. Few embody that fact better than vocalist Scott Morgan, who, after studying music in college in the '80s, taking a protracted time away from the art form, and reengaging with the craft at the dawn of the new millennium, is finally releasing his debut album.

Morgan's background in musical theater greatly informs his work on Songs Of Life, allowing him to exist in a variety of character spaces and scenes. His strength sits with his ability to tap into the proper emotional streams and put across an idea without coming off as disingenuous. It might sound like something that's easy to do, but it's not. The medley of Dave Catney's "Little Prayer" and Lerner and Loewe's "Wouldn't It Be Loverly"—the former given as a threnody to its composer and other victims of the AIDS epidemic, the latter performed with a touching, featherweight delivery—is a prime example of the candor that comes through in Morgan's voice. "Lost In The Stars" is another one.

In terms of repertoire, Morgan proves to have catholic tastes. He takes a crack at vocalese by writing his own lyrics to a Chet Baker solo for "It's You Or No One," visits two James Taylor tunes, touches on Duke Ellington, investigates a number of Fred Hersch compositions, delivers a wonderfully nuanced take on Alan and Marilyn Bergman's "Like A Lover," and rides off into the sunset with the The Beatles' "I Will." Some of the material, such as Hersch's "Lazin' Around" and Ellington's "I'm Just A Lucky So And So," speaks in lighthearted tones; other tracks swing with style, guided by an ace crew that includes Hersch, bassist Matt Aronoff, and drummer Ross Pederson; and a good number of selections allow for deep reflection and rumination.

Some may shy away from dubbing Morgan a "jazz singer," but the classification of what he does, or what he is, is largely irrelevant. The veracity of his vocal work is what counts. He takes each song on its own terms, pulling personal meaning from the music and words while remaining respectful in his interpretations. That's all that anybody could want or ask for in a singer. ~Dan Bilawsky

Songs Of Life

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Bertha Hope Trio - In Search Of Hope

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:41
Size: 150.4 MB
Styles: Piano jazz
Year: 1991
Art: Front

[ 4:36] 1. In Search Of -
[10:19] 2. Pas De Trois
[ 6:48] 3. You Know Who
[ 5:21] 4. A Wise And Wonderful Book
[ 4:49] 5. Roll On
[ 7:27] 6. Nieta
[ 5:26] 7. Mother Of Fortune
[ 7:22] 8. Release Yourself
[ 6:22] 9. Lament
[ 7:08] 10. Mitzi's First Night Out

Bass – Walter Booker; Drums – Billy Higgins; Piano – Bertha Hope. Recorded in October 1990.

This is a state of the art jazz piano trio playing compositions by bertha, first husband elmo, second husband and bassist walter booker, and other jazz musicians. Beautiful touch on the piano. Three great players who mesh perfectly. The other albums, with cobb replacing higgins, are also excellent, although the recording balance is not always as good as here. ~D. Perrine

This is the first leader recording by Elmo Hope’s widow Bertha Rosemond Hope (b. November 8, 1936 in Los Angeles). She started playing piano at the age of three. She became interested in jazz through Bud Powell and turned pro in the early 50s. She has been in the shadow of her legendary husband for a long time but deserves wider recognition on her own.

Spain’s Compact magazine put it correctly, “ No es una viuda, es una extraordinaria pianista .”

In Search Of Hope

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Javier Girotto - New York Sessions

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:53
Size: 148.6 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[4:08] 1. Che Che Querido
[5:32] 2. No More Eleven
[5:48] 3. Danza De Las Madres
[5:45] 4. Cronologia Del '900
[7:23] 5. Inmigracion
[7:07] 6. Carnavalito De Los Chicos
[6:51] 7. Barrio Jardin
[3:22] 8. Miss Mg
[4:50] 9. Mensajes
[6:02] 10. Wrong Way
[8:00] 11. Pa-Ritango

Ben Street (Bass); Edward Simon (Piano); Javier Girotto (Soprano & Baritone Sax); Jeff Ballard (Drums). Recorded in May 2004 at Sear Sound Studio.

A passionate, accomplished improviser, soprano and baritone, saxophonist Girotto leads Edward Simon (piano), Ben Street (bass) and Jeff Ballard (drums) on a programme of originals reflecting his Argentinean homeland. Venezuelan-born Simon is an ideal collaborator, since he also straddles the worlds of latin and jazz, while Street and the incandescent Ballard give the latin elements that hard New York drive and edge. Girotto's originals have a folkloric feel, the lines simple and repetitive, but they also offer plenty of harmonic meat to players of his and Simon's capabilities, and Ballard relishes their rhythmic nuances. All handle the occasional ventures outside the envelope with aplomb, with the saxophonist at home in this elite company regardless of where it takes him. ~Ray Comiskey

New York Sessions

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Lee Morgan - City Lights

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:09
Size: 85.1 MB
Styles: Trumpet jazz
Year: 1957/2006
Art: Front

[5:42] 1. City Lights
[6:23] 2. Tempo De Waltz
[5:59] 3. You're Mine You
[9:22] 4. Just By Myself
[9:41] 5. Kin Folks

Lee Morgan: trumpet; Curtis Fuller: trombone; George Coleman: tenor and alto sax; Ray Bryant: piano; Paul Chambers: bass; Art Taylor: drums.

This album may not enjoy the same status as Charlie Chaplin's revered movie of the same title, but it's a session that evokes similar feelings. Like the beloved Tramp, Lee Morgan wins our respect with a performance of exceptional warmth and dignity, grace and beauty, sprinkled with moments of gentle humor. His playing on this session anticipates, more than do his immediately subsequent recordings, the composer of the sublimely poetic "Ceora" (Cornbread, 1965).

Also credit Benny Golson, who provided three of the five tunes and the arrangements for the sextet on this date. Beginning with Lee Morgan Sextet (December, 1956) to City Lights (August, 1957), Golson supplied four consecutive recordings' worth of material for the developing session leader— compositions and textures that would showcase the young artist while lending form and focus to his creative energies. Clifford Brown had much the same in mind with a very "West Coast-sounding" eponymous septet date featuring the trumpet giant playing Jack Montrose arrangements (Pacific Jazz, 1954).

After City Lights, Morgan would continue his prolific recording output but increasingly shoulder the burden—as one of only two horns on The Cooker (September, 1957) and the sole horn on Candy (November, 1957). As much latitude as the gifted trumpeter is given on these last two dates, the formal constraints of City Lights prove no less rewarding—if anything, they serve as a luminous foil, setting off the artist's inventions and magnifying his unique talent. ~Samuel Chell

City Lights

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