Roy Eldridge - Little Jazz: The Best Of The Verve Years

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 77:34
Size: 177.6 MB
Styles: Trumpet jazz
Year: 1994
Art: Front

[3:35] 1. Dale's Wail
[2:37] 2. Little Jazz
[3:29] 3. I Remember Harlem
[3:21] 4. Let Me Off Uptown
[3:14] 5. Rockin' Chair
[3:20] 6. Willow Weep For Me
[5:05] 7. Bugle Call Rag
[4:36] 8. Ja Da
[3:11] 9. Wailin'
[3:57] 10. Blue Moon
[4:30] 11. Sweet Georgia Brown
[5:19] 12. Sunday
[5:45] 13. I Still Love Him So
[4:04] 14. Honey Hill
[3:05] 15. How Long Has This Been Going On
[9:07] 16. Roy's Son
[2:39] 17. Dreamy
[3:00] 18. When I Grow Too Old To Dream
[3:33] 19. The Song Is Ended

These 19 songs cut throughout the 1950s offer a smorgasbord of Roy Eldridge's expertise. There's an impressive array of musical talents and settings here, forming something of a sampler of Eldridge's time on the Verve label.

"Ja-Da" finds him combining with a spirited group of Basie alumni, while "Let Me Off Uptown" reunites the trumpeter with Anita O'Day and Gene Krupa in a reprise of their trend-setting 1941 hit which is as aurally fulfilling as the original. "I Remember Harlem" is another standout; here, the moody, atmospheric melody is like few other Eldridge recordings. Against a beautiful and eerie arrangement featuring a bevy of strings and flute, Eldridge's playing is gorgeous and seductive, illuminating the nocturnal mood of the song like a street light on a darkened avenue. ~AllMusic

Little Jazz: The Best Of The Verve Years

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Dinah Washington - For Those In Love

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:39
Size: 111.4 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 1992
Art: Front

[6:21] 1. I Get A Kick Out Of You
[5:17] 2. Blue Gardenia
[4:59] 3. Easy Living
[4:01] 4. You Don't Know What Love Is
[6:49] 5. This Can't Be Love
[3:04] 6. My Old Flame
[4:28] 7. I Could Write A Book
[5:36] 8. Make The Man Love Me
[3:13] 9. Ask A Woman Who Knows
[4:45] 10. If I Had You

Dinah Washington cut a lot of sides in two decades of recording. However, her straight jazz sessions were few and far between because of the mass popular and commercial appeal that she had as a pop singer. Still, the versatile Dinah thrived in just about any setting and the one provided here in 1955 by the gifted Chicago producer Bob Shad showcases her intimate side to perfection.

Since Dinah Washington just about invented gospel-based soulful singing, it's thrilling to hear her at the peak of her powers backed by a small group that includes trumpeter Clark Terry and pianist Wynton Kelly. The session is also graced by Quincy Jones' tidy arrangements. With such expert support, the singer's powerful phrasing, precise diction, and pitch-perfect intonation draw as much emotion and meaning possible out of her chosen material, including Billie-associated tunes like "Easy Living" and "My Old Flame." Dinah Washington was first and foremost a musician--not a showboat. And part of her genius was that she could make her formidable presence actually underscore her own vulnerability, as in the lilting "Blue Gardenia" and blues-tinged "You Don't Know What Love Is." ~AllMusic

For Those In Love

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Eddie Palmieri - Straight Ahead

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:59
Size: 87.0 MB
Styles: Afro-Cuban jazz
Year: 2009
Art: Front

[5:15] 1. Si Echo Palante
[6:33] 2. Cafe
[4:05] 3. Mi Corazon Te Llama
[4:02] 4. Suave
[3:34] 5. Tu Tu Ta Ta
[3:34] 6. Es Mejor Separarnos
[5:27] 7. Mi Jeva
[5:27] 8. Sin Sabor Nada

This is one of Eddie's little known gems. Back in 1973 when I first listened to this album it was already a classic and not easy to find. I played trombone in a a garage salsa band back home in PR. We played mostly Willie Colon tunes. One day my uncle handed me this album and "Mozambique", he knew what we have been missing. When we heard the trombones come in on "Echando Pa'lante" we were stunned we couldn't believe our ears. Then we heard "Cafe" and that was it. This was the real deal, the band all the other trombone bands played second fiddle to.

La perfecta sound in this album is particularly clean and tight but with a feeling of sparseness and space. This session is not as explosive as "Mozambique" or "Molasses" still is a small band with a lot of drive and an absolute classic. Here you will find all the good things that made old salsa so enjoyable: Eddie's relentless and driving piano, heavy handed, pulsating percussion, clean and sharp brass playing infectious riffs, great singing and more importantly solos and descargas that bring excitement to the dancers and listeners alike. This is Vintage La Perfecta it doesn't get any better than this. ~Ramon Melendez

Straight Ahead

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Sean Harkness, Marcus Simeone - Blue

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:02
Size: 158.1 MB
Styles: Contemporary jazz
Year: 2017
Art: Front

[3:20] 1. Rainy Days And Mondays/Here's That Rainy Day
[3:19] 2. Blue Side
[3:53] 3. When Sunny Gets Blue
[3:44] 4. Nothing Compares To You
[2:46] 5. When Something Is Wrong With My Baby
[3:59] 6. Your Precious Love
[3:05] 7. Out Of Nowhere
[4:22] 8. Angel Eyes
[3:58] 9. Holy Days
[4:19] 10. Caught Up In The Rapture
[2:46] 11. Losing My Mind
[2:35] 12. Mood Indigo
[5:03] 13. Lay Me Down
[4:28] 14. Small Day Tomorrow
[4:48] 15. My Favorite Things
[4:50] 16. Stormy Monday
[4:40] 17. Skipping Under The Rainbow
[2:58] 18. I Can See Clearly Now

Marcus Simeone and Sean Harkness performed an elegant combination of blues songs and jazzy guitar solos to a seemingly awed audience. Dedicated to the loss of his husband of 17 years, it became apparent that Blue fits Simeone’s mood and style excellently. Dressed in all black—t-shirt, jeans and shoes—his heartfelt emotion rang through his fluid, suave voice, easing us into the set with an enchanting medley and the classic country ballad, “The Blue Side” (David Lasley/Allee Willis). Sean Harkness’ talented and sometimes unbelievably gifted guitar riffs backed Simeone’s enchanting feel as he inconsolably opened up his heart on the lines, “What I’ve got they used to call the blues” and “Same old me, in the same old clothes.” After this opening, the duo discussed the impetus for their show. Harkness then performed the first of three solo guitar numbers that were positioned throughout the show, “When Sunny Gets Blue.” As Simeone put it, Harkness’ fingers must have been “bleeding,” because he played so quickly and effortlessly. One of these guitar solos was an especially stunning original called “Holy Days.” However, Simeone truly captured my heart with “When Something Is Wrong with My Baby,” “Angel Eyes,” and a quick-paced “Mood Indigo.” The palpable emotion brought me into a nostalgic place. ~Chris Struck

Blue

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The Swingcats - Face To Face: The Swingcats Live

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:52
Size: 160.0 MB
Styles: Big band
Year: 2001
Art: Front

[4:57] 1. Good Queen Bess
[5:06] 2. I Want To Be Happy
[5:25] 3. Face To Face
[3:28] 4. Fascinating Rhythm
[3:26] 5. I Hear Music
[5:27] 6. (It Was) Just One Of Those Things
[6:27] 7. Indian Summer
[8:36] 8. Corrine, Corrina
[5:28] 9. Someone To Watch Over Me
[4:35] 10. It All Depends On You
[6:12] 11. What Is This Thing Called Love
[4:50] 12. You're My Everything
[3:18] 13. I'll See You In My Dreams
[2:31] 14. Everytime We Say Goodbye

Dutch swing revivalists of the 1990s & 2000s fronted by American singer Shaunette Hildebrand.

Face To Face: The Swingcats Live

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Various - Capitol Sings Rodgers & Hart

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:24
Size: 165.8 MB
Styles: Easy Listening
Year: 1992
Art: Front

[1:51] 1. Susan Barrett - Manhattan
[2:27] 2. June Christy - You Took Advantage Of Me
[2:32] 3. Vic Damone - I Could Write A Book
[2:37] 4. The Dinning Sisters - Where Or When
[2:49] 5. Nancy Wilson - Little Girl Blue
[3:09] 6. Mel Tormé - Blue Moon
[3:04] 7. Margaret Whiting - Lover
[2:18] 8. Sarah Vaughan - Have You Met Miss Jones
[3:30] 9. Gordon MacRae - My Funny Valentine
[2:38] 10. The Andrews Sisters - My Romance
[2:41] 11. Peggy Lee - My Heart Stood Still
[2:28] 12. Nat King Cole - This Can't Be Love
[4:56] 13. June Christy - Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered
[2:42] 14. Margaret Whiting - Thou Swell
[3:15] 15. Dean Martin - It's Easy To Remember
[2:49] 16. Nancy Wilson - It Never Entered My Mind
[2:34] 17. Dolores Gray - Isn't It Romantic
[2:08] 18. Vic Damone - The Most Beautiful Girl In The World
[4:10] 19. Sarah Vaughan - Glad To Be Unhappy
[2:31] 20. Peggy Lee - The Lady Is A Tramp
[3:43] 21. The Four Freshmen - Spring Is Here
[2:58] 22. Dinah Shore - Falling In Love With Love
[2:26] 23. Jane Froman - With A Song In My Heart
[5:57] 24. Les Brown & His Band Of Renown - Slaughter On Tenth Avenue

The songwriting partnership of composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Lorenz Hart ended with Hart's death on November 22, 1943. The earliest track on this album of Rodgers & Hart songs from the Capitol Records vaults, the Dinning Sisters' version of the 1937 copyright "Where or When" (from the Broadway musical Babes in Arms), was recorded less than a month later, on December 17, 1943, and the latest one, Nancy Wilson's reading of "It Never Entered My Mind" (from the 1940 show Higher and Higher), on November 3, 1967. So, the collection consists of recordings made in the quarter-century after the Rodgers & Hart era. That's appropriate, since Capitol was co-founded by singer/songwriter Johnny Mercer to showcase the rise of individual pop singers in the waning days of the big-band period, and they often sang old show tunes with new, post-swing arrangements like those here, written by the likes of Billy May and Nelson Riddle. The leader in this sort of thing, of course, was Frank Sinatra, who was a Capitol artist. But he must have had a contractual right of refusal to have his recordings used on compilations like this, since he appears only as the conductor of Peggy Lee's version of "My Heart Stood Still." Most of the rest of Capitol's roster of singers is included, however, such as June Christy, Margaret Whiting, Nat King Cole, and Dean Martin. Only four of the tracks date from the 1940s, so this is really the music of the ‘50s and early ‘60s primarily, with the swing charts varied occasionally by a Latin treatment (Lee's "The Lady Is a Tramp") or a bongos-and-flute accompaniment (Dinah Shore's "Falling in Love with Love"). Variety is also provided by vocal groups like the Andrews Sisters and the Four Freshmen. Most of these performers are not jazz singers, but Mel Tormé gets to apply his pipes to "Blue Moon," and Sarah Vaughan goes all-out on an individual treatment of "Have You Met Miss Jones?" (or "old Jones," as she alters it), scatting like crazy. Richard Rodgers was notoriously hostile to liberal rearrangements of his songs, but he and Hart were done many favors by the Capitol singers who helped keep their copyrights alive and flourishing decades after the tunes were written. ~William Ruhlmann

Capitol Sings Rodgers & Hart

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Bennie Wallace - The Talk of the Town

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1993
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:47
Size: 111,8 MB
Art: Front

(6:17)  1. The Best Things in Life Are Free
(6:23)  2. It's the Talk of the Town
(4:30)  3. Thangs
(6:44)  4. I Concentrate on You
(5:38)  5. The Picayune
(4:22)  6. It Has Happened to Me
(5:38)  7. If I Lose
(9:11)  8. Blues Velvet

Bennie Wallace's unique approach to the tenor sax makes him one of the easiest players to identify, with a constantly probing attack from many different angles, mixing in a bit of dissonance but never losing sight of the melody. This 1993 studio session for Enja featured his working group at the time, including guitarist Jerry Hahn, bassist Bill Huntington and drummer Alvin Queen. His take of "The Best Things in Life are Free" finds him opening alone, then gradually expanding his full bodied tenor as the rhythm section joins in for this old chestnut. "It's the Talk of the Town" sticks closer to the original melody, with some lush accompaniment by Hahn. His "Thangs," an imaginative reworking of the chord changes to "All the Things You Are," showcases Huntington. The sassy New Orleans flavored strut "Picayune" and the exquisite ballad "If I Lose You" are two additional examples of Wallace's immense gifts as a composer. No longer available outside of Europe, this rewarding CD is highly recommended. ~ Ken Dryden https://www.allmusic.com/album/talk-of-the-town-mw0000105246

Personnel: Bennie Wallace (tenor saxophone); Jerry Hahn (guitar); Bill Huntington (bass); Alvin Queen (drums).

The Talk of the Town

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Julienne Taylor - Songs To The Siren

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:33
Size: 95,8 MB
Art: Front

(2:54)  1. Ever Fallen In Love
(4:26)  2. Song To The Siren
(5:17)  3. Ripples
(3:38)  4. I Would Love You
(4:11)  5. I Burn For You
(3:51)  6. Let's Fly
(3:02)  7. Oh My Love
(3:50)  8. Eden
(2:47)  9. Live Tomorrow
(4:33) 10. Your Song
(2:59) 11. The Hill

Julienne Taylor’s enchanting and captivating voice raised comparisons with both Norah Jones and Eva Cassidy, but Julienne has her own unique and distinctive style influenced from her Scottish ancestry.The musical journey of Julienne Taylor has been a long and winding road. Having played in various bands in her High School years and studied dance and expressive mime in Edinburgh with Kinny Gardner (Lindsay Kemp Company), Julienne was convinced by musician friends who had previously made the transition, that a move to London was the only way to seriously pursue a career in music. So at 17 years old she did just that. 'Home', somewhat strangely, for the first few months of her arrival in the capital was living out of a suitcase in student nurse accommodation in Guys Hospital, being signed in as a guest by nursing staff friends and 'changing' her name every other day to avoid detection. A flat in an insalubrious part of S. E. London, which she shared with former band members from Scotland was to become a more permanent base with Julienne working by day and writing songs by night  soon discovering that success does not come suddenly. A spell of homelessness on London's streets was only to compound this further.

Subsequent years saw Julienne working at Shepperton Film Studios learning the craft of sound engineering whilst regularly singing six nights a week with blues and soul bands and lending her voice as a backing vocalist for established acts. Later, a serious car crash would lead Julienne to pursue a studio engineering career whilst still persevering with her own musical ambition.  In 2001, whilst working with an Edinburgh based independent label, and following a series of successful live performances at the Edinburgh Festival, Julienne was signed to Virgin Records. A delay in the release of her first album however, meant the momentum was lost and in a world of priorities, the album and Julienne slowly became misplaced in the shuffle. Since 2010 Julienne has been happily signed to Hong Kong based record label 'Evolution'. http://juliennetaylor.com/biography/#content-wrapper

Songs To The Siren

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Sarah Manning - Dandelion Clock

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:06
Size: 149,6 MB
Art: Front

(8:10)  1. The Peacocks
(5:49)  2. Marble
(7:21)  3. Habersham Street
(9:45)  4. I Tell Time By The Dandelion
(6:24)  5. Crossing, Waiting
(9:58)  6. The Owls (Are On The March)
(4:03)  7. Through The Keyhole
(9:15)  8. Phoenix Song
(4:17)  9. The Windmills Of Your Mind

Abstraction and accessibility isn't an easy match, but alto saxophonist Sarah Manning weds the two with fine results on Dandelion Clock. Manning's desire to create "a working, stable group that through rehearsals and philosophy lives and breathes on stage as a musical unit," is largely achieved with this quartet, featuring bassist Linda May Han Oh, pianist Art Hirahara and drummer Kyle Struve.These players aren't content to just play time or deliver, bland cliché-ridden music. While Manning bookends the album with two classics starting with Jimmy Rowles' "The Peacocks" and ending with Michel Legrand's "The Windmills Of Your Mind" her conception of these pieces marks her as a restless musical explorer and creative small group arranger. Her delivery of the melody on "The Peacocks" introduces a sound that, while controlled, has a slightly tart and edgy sound to it. Some saxophone phrases end with fluttery sendoffs and Hirahara pushes a bit, but then holds back, during a compelling piano solo. All the while, the rhythm section creates a loose, rumbling musical underbelly. "The Windmills Of Your Mind" takes shape with Manning and Oh beginning the piece. The music seems to be reverse-engineered and the pieces are put together and stabilized by Hirahara and Struve. Manning's take on this song contains more thrust than most, bringing something new to both of these well-worn pieces.

The remaining seven songs Manning's compositions all are no less original. When "Habersham Street" begins, it sounds like it could have been a long lost relative of Billy Strayhorn's "Blood Count," but this doesn't last too long. The band picks up steam when Hirahara solos, and a saxophone cadenza closes out the song. The ticking of the clock on "I Tell Time By The Dandelion Clock" is represented by Struve's steady clicking and some repetitive, ominous bass and piano motifs that come and go.Oh's steady rhythm introduces "Crossing, Waiting," as Manning delivers a melody filled with mystery and paranoia, leading to Oh taking control with an exhilarating solo. Manning returns with a slightly more angular and rough sound, while Struve takes over for an unaccompanied solo. Struve and Oh create a doom-laden cadence on "The Owls (Are On The March)" features a unique rhythmic structure that allows the music to briefly morph into swing and then a Latin-esque groove, with Hirahara delivering his wildest and most unruly playing on the album. The highlight on "Phoenix Song" is the interplay and exchanges between Manning and Struve. Manning solos, with only drums beneath her, and then removes herself, allowing Struve to wreak some havoc. Manning's writing and playing, along with the singular, organic nature of this quartet, makes Dandelion Clock a winning listen from beginning to end.~ Dan Bilawsky https://www.allaboutjazz.com/dandelion-clock-sarah-manning-posi-tone-records-review-by-dan-bilawsky.php

Personnel: Sarah Manning: alto saxophone; Art Hirahara: piano; Linda Oh: bass; Kyle Struve: drums.

Dandelion Clock

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Courtney Pine - Another Story

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1998
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 78:32
Size: 184,0 MB
Art: Front

(8:01)  1. I've Known Rivers (4 HERO Remix Vol 1)
(8:13)  2. Don't X'plain (Flytronix Mix)
(5:36)  3. Tryin' Times (Peshay Remix)
(9:08)  4. The 37Th Chamber (Flytronix Mix)
(5:59)  5. The In-Sense Song (Raw Deal Mix)
(6:36)  6. Tryin' Times (Attica Blues Remix)
(6:58)  7. I've Known Rivers (Pressure Drop Rivers Run Deeper Mix)
(6:24)  8. Tryin' Times (Headstrong Vocal Mix)
(6:47)  9. Don't X'plain (Attica Blues Head Knod)
(5:25) 10. Don't X'plain (Roni Size Remix)
(5:51) 11. The In-Sense Song (The Mighty Strinths Remix)
(3:28) 12. I've Known Rivers (4 HERO Bossa)

Another Story offers another perspective on Courtney Pine's work, namely that of a remixer. Pine has aessembled a number of producers, including such names as Roni Size and Attica Blues, giving them the go-ahead to rework selected moments from Modern Day Jazz Stories and Underground. All of the selections have now been recast as drum'n'bass crossover tracks, and they work surprisingly well, showcasing the freshness of Pine's playing while revealing that there is true improvisation and jazz within the busy jungle grooves. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine https://www.allmusic.com/album/another-story-mw0000741961

Another Story

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Walt Weiskopf - Fountain Of Youth

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2017
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:19
Size: 136,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:24)  1. Backstage Blues
(4:42)  2. Close Enough For Love
(4:24)  3. Petal
(5:49)  4. How Are Things In Glocca Morra
(5:41)  5. Loose Lips
(4:59)  6. Echoes Of The Quiet Past
(4:55)  7. Laura
(7:06)  8. Young And Foolish
(4:16)  9. Hot Dog Days
(6:05) 10. Heads In The Clouds
(5:53) 11. Double Date

Fountain Of Youth is the latest installment of Walt Weiskopf's mid-career renaissance. In reviews of Weiskopf's three previous Posi-Tone releases, I made the misstep of treating his imposing skills as a tenor saxophonist, composer, arranger, and bandleader as separate, albeit compatible entities; this time around I realized that they are indeed parts of a larger, all-encompassing vision that winds through the disc's eleven tracks. Whereas Overdrive, Open Road, and The Way You Say It are with few exceptions driven by Weiskopf's compositions, there's a sufficient amount of non-original material in Fountain to make a case for his transformative powers in regard to the Great American Songbook, and the capacity to shape them and his own works into a cohesive program. "Close Enough For Love," "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?," "Laura," "Young And Foolish" (as well as vibraphonist Behn Gillece's "Double Date") are handled with care while recast as Weiskopf vehicles; in the end, it's a tribute to his interpretative acumen to say that they don't stand in stark contrast to his six originals. A varied and sturdy lot, Weiskopf's compositions aren't knockoffs of classic jazz tunes. A couple of favorites are the brusque, no nonsense "Hot Dog Days," and the carnival-like, mercurial "Heads In The Clouds." Moreover, the relative brevity of the tracks only one is over seven minutes and most are considerably shorter further encourage the perception of the record as a unified endeavor.

Weiskopf's tenor is perhaps foremost of Fountain's overlapping virtues. One of the impressive things about his instrumental prowess is the capacity to sound emotionally convincing in vastly different contexts. A fierce, gripping, blues drenched disposition which contains an element of calculation in keeping with the precision in which he articulates each note characterizes "Backstage Blues," "Loose Lips," and "Hot Dog Days." In short, he often sounds positively invincible. Conversely, Weiskopf's ballad playing isn't merely pretty; in particular, the heads of "How Are Things In Glocca Morra," "Young and Foolish" and his "Echoes Of The Quiet Past" express a palpable sense of vulnerability. The monster tenor sax is briefly transformed into something smaller, almost frail, and recognizably human. It's apparent throughout that Weiskopf is writing and arranging for people who challenge, stimulate, and inspire him. 

Shout choruses and written figures behind the soloists invariably prove out in relation to each composition. Weiskopf utilizes these devices just enough to keep things sounding fresh and avoids the all-too-common, seemingly endless cycle of head/solos/head. Gillece, pianist Peter Zak, bassist Mike Karn, and drummer Steve Fidyk, all of whom have performed on at least one of his previous Posi-Tone releases, relish the challenges of Weiskopf's arrangements and acquit themselves admirably when its their turn to solo. In particular, when Zak follows Weiskopf, it feels like a sudden change in the weather, without any break in momentum. Karn merits special mention for playing some of the fiercest, most propulsive bass lines in recent memory. Guided by Weiskopf's firm hand, Fountain Of Youth is a tightly wrapped package, filled with ingenious designs and spirited, articulate performances. Highly recommended. ~ David A. Orthmannn https://www.allaboutjazz.com/fountain-of-youth-walt-weiskopf-posi-tone-records-review-by-david-a-orthmann.php

Personnel: Walt Weiskopf: sax; Behn Gillece: vibes; Peter Zak: piano; Mike Karn: bass; Steve Fidyk: drums.

Fountain Of Youth

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