Dexter Gordon Quartet - The Apartment

Styles: Saxophone Jazz 
Year: 1974
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:05
Size: 108,1 MB
Art: Front

(5:51)  1. The Apartment
(7:30)  2. Wee-Dot
(7:17)  3. Old Folks
(7:50)  4. Strollin'
(7:43)  5. Candlelight Lady
(6:04)  6. Stablemates
(4:47)  7. Antabus

While in Europe, tenor-sax-great Dexter Gordon recorded many sessions with pianist Kenny Drew, bassist Niels Pedersen and drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath. All are worth acquiring and this one is no exception. In addition to three of his originals (including the title tune), the quartet performs the old bop line "Wee-Dot" and Horace Silver's "Strollin" while the ballad "Old Folks" is taken as an emotional Gordon-Pedersen duet. ~ Scott Yanow  https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-apartment-mw0000181338     

Personnel:  Dexter Gordon (tenor saxophone); Kenny Drew (piano); Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen (bass); Albert "Tootie" Heath (drums).

The Apartment

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Helen Shapiro - Tops With Me

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 1962
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 33:51
Size: 80,2 MB
Art: Front

(2:31)  1. Little Devil
(3:25)  2. Will You Love Me Tomorrow
(3:36)  3. Because They're Young
(2:39)  4. The Day The Rains Came
(2:52)  5. Are You Lonesome Tonight
(2:18)  6. A Teenager In Love
(2:23)  7. Lipstick On Your Collar
(3:34)  8. Beyond The Sea
(2:42)  9. Sweet Nothins'
(2:38) 10. You Mean Ev'rything To Me
(2:23) 11. I Love You
(2:44) 12. You Got What It Takes

Helen Shapiro's debut LP is a selection consisting primarily of covers of recent hits associated with other singers. It's an astonishingly wide array of material, associated with the Shirelles ("Will You Love Me Tomorrow?"), Elvis Presley ("Are You Lonesome Tonight?"), Marv Johnson ("You Got What It Takes"), Connie Francis ("Lipstick on Your Collar"), Bobby Darin ("Beyond the Sea"), Brenda Lee ("Sweet Nothin's"), and, from a uniquely British perspective in the jacket notes, Marty Wilde ("A Teenager in Love"), among others. She does well with the repertoire, backed by Martin Slavin & His Orchestra in tasteful fashion on most of it, and Shapiro was probably the only female singer in England at the time who would not embarrass herself covering an early Motown number, "You've Got What It Takes" in fact, that song, a convincingly raspy "Sweet Nothin's," and "A Teenager In Love" are the best tracks here. None of the rest is too memorable as a performance, or a threat to the originals. 

The primary goal seems to have been to show off the 15-year-old singer's range, intonation, and control, which this disc does admirably. Most of the contents of this LP subsequently appeared on two EPs, and some of the best of those appear on See for Miles' The EP Collection disc. The 24-bit remastering on some editions, however, does impart extraordinary presence and depth to the sound. ~ Bruce Eder https://www.allmusic.com/album/tops-with-me-mw0000087140

Tops With Me

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Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - Herb Alpert's Ninth

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 1967
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 28:43
Size: 71,6 MB
Art: Front

(2:11)  1. A Banda
(1:58)  2. My Heart Belongs To Daddy
(2:40)  3. The Trolley Song
(2:27)  4. The Happening
(3:38)  5. Bud
(2:29)  6. Love So Fine
(1:54)  7. The Love Nest
(2:43)  8. With A Little Help From My Friends
(2:05)  9. Flea Bag
(2:53) 10. Cowboys And Indians
(3:40) 11. Carmen

The cover art of Herb Alpert's Ninth is hilarious a bust of grim old Beethoven wearing a Herb Alpert sweatshirt, a parody of the pop icon fad going around at the time and maybe a comment on the rock world's newfound pretensions in the wake of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper. In any case, Herb Alpert's Ninth does introduce some highbrow pretensions of sorts to Alpert's Ameriachi sound some very subtly applied strands of strings on several numbers and a madcap, multi-sectioned fantasy of tunes from Bizet's Carmen that is full of in-jokes from the opera and the TJB's hits. Alpert is also quite aware of the brave new world around him; he does a spare, lazy, yet entirely novel-sounding cover version of Sgt. Pepper's "With a Little Help from My Friends" and gives the Supremes' "The Happening" a bouncy workout. There is also a touching memorial to the late Ervan Coleman ("Bud") and another underrated contribution from the Alpert songwriting team, Sol Lake's swinging "Cowboys and Indians." The TJB still churns out the Latin American rhythms, but sometimes with a shade less exuberance.~ Richard S.Ginell https://www.allmusic.com/album/herb-alperts-ninth-mw0000207755

Herb Alpert's Ninth

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Milt Buckner - Mighty High

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop

Year: 1960

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 58:33

Size: 134,1 MB

Art: Front

( 2:45)  1. Mighty  High

( 2:24)  2. Teach Me Tonight

( 7:07)  3. Abstraction

( 4:37)  4. Two Flights Up

( 3:41)  5. After Hours

( 3:18)  6. D.T.'s

( 1:41)  7. Organ Grinder's Swing

( 2:47)  8. Willow Weep For Me

( 4:52)  9. Burnt Out

( 2:40) 10. Syncopated Clock

( 3:08) 11. Castle Rock

( 2:47) 12. Haunting Me

Understatement was always Milt Buckner's strong suit, and Mighty High plays beautifully to those strengths, pairing the organist with guitarist Kenny Burrell, bassist Joe Benjamin, alto saxophonist Jimmy Campbell, and drummer Maurice Sinclair to create a collection of short, simple, and sweet jazz tunes energized by the wonderful rapport of the assembled players. Unlike fellow Hammond B-3 maestros like Jimmy Smith, Buckner clearly savors the group dynamic, eschewing theatrics in favor of brief yet effective solos that never attract attention away from the groove. The music crackles with collaborative energy, drawing its strength from numbers. ~ Jason Ankeny https://www.allmusic.com/album/mighty-high-mw0000878741

Personnel:  Organ – Milt Buckner;  Guitar – Kenny Burrell;  Alto Saxophone – Jimmy Campbell;  Bass – Joe Benjamin;  Drums – Maurice Sinclair

Mighty  High

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