Herb Ellis, Joe Pass - Two For The Road

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:21
Size: 101.6 MB
Styles: Guitar jazz
Year: 1974/2006
Art: Front

[4:48] 1. Love For Sale
[3:27] 2. Manha De Carnaval
[3:06] 3. Am I Blue
[4:30] 4. Seven Come Eleven
[2:47] 5. Guitar Blues
[3:57] 6. Oh Lady, Be Good
[2:46] 7. Cherokee (Concept 1)
[4:04] 8. Cherokee (Concept 2)
[3:22] 9. Seulb
[2:24] 10. Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You
[2:15] 11. Try A Little Tenderness
[3:58] 12. I've Found A New Baby
[2:52] 13. Angel Eyes

This recording was the third and final matchup between guitarists Herb Ellis and Joe Pass and, unlike the first two (which were both made for Concord), this is a duo date rather than a quartet session. Pass was just beginning to gain recognition for his remarkable unaccompanied solos, but Ellis had not recorded in such a sparse setting before. They complement each other quite well on such tunes as "Love for Sale," "Seven Come Eleven," "Oh, Lady Be Good," "I've Found a New Baby," and two versions of "Cherokee." Highly recommended. ~Scott Yanow

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Guido Basso, Doug Riley - A Lazy Afternoon

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:37
Size: 127.3 MB
Styles: Trumpet jazz
Year: 1997/2003
Art: Front

[3:41] 1. A Lazy Afternoon
[6:56] 2. Never Let Me Go
[5:20] 3. Sweet Georgie Fame
[7:09] 4. My Foolish Heart
[6:29] 5. Estate
[6:22] 6. Lush Life
[6:23] 7. I Can Dream Can't I
[6:10] 8. Embraceable You
[4:31] 9. Polka Dots & Moonbeams
[2:32] 10. A Lazy Afternoon (Alternate Version)

He's not Canada's best known jazz musician, but Guido Basso has been around since the mid-'60s, playing tart, hot licks, and heading large and small bands. He's made mellow mainstream sessions, done Afro-Latin and big band dates, plus bop and originals. ~ Ron Wynn

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John Bunch - Tony's Tunes

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:07
Size: 146.8 MB
Styles: Piano jazz
Year: 2003
Art: Front

[3:53] 1. I've Got The World On A String
[4:44] 2. Somewhere Along The Line
[5:05] 3. Emily
[4:04] 4. Broadway
[5:04] 5. The Second Time Around
[6:29] 6. Sleepin' Bee
[4:44] 7. Forget The Woman
[3:48] 8. Takin' A Chance On Love
[3:36] 9. The Good Life
[4:44] 10. Chicago
[3:53] 11. Maybe September
[6:44] 12. Street Of Dreams
[3:55] 13. Girl Talk
[3:16] 14. Put On A Happy Face

John Bunch (piano); Bucky Pizzarelli (guitar); Jay Leonhart (bass). Recorded at Nola Recording Studio, New York, New York on May 12, 2003.

No one can accuse John Bunch of having a short career; born on December 1, 1921, the veteran pianist was 81 when he recorded Tony's Tunes for Chiaroscuro on May 12, 2003. What's the secret to Bunch's success? In addition to having impeccable chops and an inherent sense of swing and melody, Bunch is smart enough to realize that a musician needs to be true to himself. All these years, Bunch has been a swing-oriented pianist along the lines of Teddy Wilson and Nat King Cole; that's his turf, and he has excelled by sticking with what he does best. This CD is called Tony's Tunes because all 14 of the songs are ones that Bunch played with Tony Bennett in the '60s, when he was the singer's music director -- familiar gems that range from "Street of Dreams" and Harold Arlen's "I've Got the World on a String" to Neal Hefti's "Girl Talk." Tony's Tunes is a tribute to Bennett, but it's a tribute on Bunch's own pianistic terms; there are no vocals at all, and Bunch maintains an improviser's mindset whether he is interpreting "Chicago" (that toddlin' town!) or "Put On a Happy Face." When Chiaroscuro president Hank O'Neal (who produced this release) first came up with the idea for Tony's Tunes, he seemed to envision an album of unaccompanied solo piano. But Tony's Tunes ended up being a trio session -- not a traditional piano trio (piano, bass, and drums), but a drummer-less trio uniting Bunch with frequent companions Bucky Pizzarelli (guitar) and Jay Leonhart (bass). That piano/guitar/bass format is, of course, the same format that the Nat King Cole Trio favored in the '30s and '40s, and it's a format that works pleasingly well for Bunch throughout this fine CD. ~ Alex Henderson

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Di Anne Price - Deja Blu

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:05
Size: 98.6 MB
Styles: Blues-jazz piano & vocals
Year: 2009
Art: Front

[3:05] 1. Tonight's The Night (2002 Version)
[5:05] 2. Wild Women Don't Have The Blues
[8:51] 3. Wong Key Hole
[3:02] 4. Fisherman's Blues
[4:25] 5. The Spinach Medley- I Didn't Like It The First Time
[3:24] 6. Fishing In The Sea Of Matrimony
[4:07] 7. Knocking Myself Out
[3:37] 8. Will My Man Be Home Tonight
[4:22] 9. Blues Have Been Good To Me
[3:03] 10. Pig Meat

Di Anne gets to the heart and meaning of a song that appeals to everyone. “When I play this music, sing these songs, I'm saying ‘share this story with me. I want real drums, real bass, and I want it to be my voice that people hear, not something created in a studio.”

Di Anne’s approach to music is shared with "Her Boyfriends" - drummer Tom Lonardo, saxophonist Jim Spake, and bassist Tim Goodwin. "Playing with them makes my back tingle. It's like making love," Di Anne says. "When we play, we're telling a story, and no matter where I start, they go with me." ~John Taylor

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Arnett Cobb - Just Like That

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 103:53
Size: 237.8 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz
Year: 2017
Art: Front

[5:20] 1. Blue And Sentimental
[6:53] 2. The Way You Look Tonight
[4:44] 3. I Don't Stand A Ghost Of A Chance
[5:20] 4. Black Velvet
[4:46] 5. Darn That Dream
[6:02] 6. Georgia On My Mind
[5:01] 7. Smooth Sailing
[3:17] 8. Your Wonderful Love
[5:07] 9. P.S. I Love You
[8:18] 10. Blues Around Dusk
[7:11] 11. Willow Weep For Me
[5:36] 12. (I'm Left With The) Blues In My Heart
[4:46] 13. Hurry Home
[8:54] 14. Lover Come Back To Me
[2:49] 15. Why Try To Change Me Now
[7:34] 16. Blue Me
[4:24] 17. Charmaine
[7:43] 18. Blue Sermon

A stomping Texas tenor player in the tradition of Illinois Jacquet, Arnett Cobb's accessible playing was between swing and early rhythm & blues. After playing in Texas with Chester Boone (1934-1936) and Milt Larkin (1936-1942), Cobb emerged in the big leagues by succeeding Illinois Jacquet with Lionel Hampton's Orchestra (1942-1947). His version of "Flying Home No. 2" became a hit, and he was a very popular soloist with Hampton. After leaving the band, Cobb formed his own group, but his initial success was interrupted in 1948, when he had to undergo an operation on his spine. After recovering, he resumed touring. But a major car accident in 1956 crushed Cobb's legs and he was reduced to using crutches for the rest of his life. However, by 1959, he returned to active playing and recording. Cobb spent most of the 1960s leading bands back in Texas, but starting in 1973, he toured and recorded more extensively, including a tenor summit with Jimmy Heath and Joe Henderson in Europe as late as 1988. Arnett Cobb made many fine records through the years for such labels as Apollo, Columbia/Okeh, Prestige (many of the latter are available on the OJC series), Black & Blue, Progressive, Muse, and Bee Hive. ~ Scott Yanow

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King Pleasure - Golden Days

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 30:49
Size: 70.6 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 1960/1981
Art: Front

[2:55] 1. Moody's Mood For Love
[2:59] 2. The New Symphony Sid
[2:55] 3. Don't Worry About Me
[2:24] 4. Little Boy, Don't Get Scared
[2:47] 5. Parker's Mood
[3:47] 6. Golden Days
[4:39] 7. Tomorrow Is Another Day
[5:13] 8. No, Not Much
[3:06] 9. All Of Me

Bass – Wilfred Middlebrooks; Drums – Earl Palmer; Piano, Arranged By – Gerald Wiggins; Tenor Saxophone – Harold Land, Teddy Edwards; Trombone – Matthew Gee.

In many ways, King Pleasure wrote the book on bop vocalese, composing and performing lyrics to famous jazz solos. If not the first to do it, he was certainly the first to have hit records doing it, including "Moody's Mood for Love," based on James Moody's version of "I'm in the Mood for Love"; Gene Ammons's "Red Top"; and "Parker's Mood." In the process, he led the way for other jazz singer-lyricists such as Jon Hendricks and Annie Ross. On this 1960 session, the original scat vocalist is heard recapping some of his greatest successes, including the famous James Moody and Charlie Parker solos. He's joined by two of the most underrated modern jazz tenor saxophonists, Harold Land and Teddy Edwards. After being impressed by the verbal wit and gymnastic diction that Pleasure's art demands, listeners may be struck by how much his mellow sound resembles that of Land or Moody. ~Stuart Broomer

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Ithamara Koorax - Brazilian Butterfly

Styles: Vocal, Brazilian Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 79:38
Size: 185,7 MB
Art: Front

( 8:24)  1. O Vento
( 6:38)  2. Escravos De Jo
(10:23)  3. Amor Em Jacuma
( 6:06)  4. Lamento Negro
( 6:45)  5. Butterfly
( 6:29)  6. Fica Mal Com Deus
( 8:49)  7. Noite De Temporal
( 4:11)  8. A Lenda Do Abaete
( 5:52)  9. Coco Penerue
( 7:05) 10. Carinhoso
( 8:52) 11. Frenetico

Except for two ballads the cosmopolitan "Carinhoso with her Brazilian jazz fusion compatriots Azymuth, and Herbie Hancock's title track Ithamara Koorax's ninth album is her most adventurous release. It seems constructed to honor legendary Brazilian vocalist Flora Purim and her husband/bandleader/percussionist Airto. This Brazilian Butterfly soars and flutters while multiple percussionists (often as many as four on the same song, most often led by the late and legendary Dom Um Romão, with Koorax frequently flailing away among them) knit together, pull apart, then reweave hot thick blankets of Brazilian rhythm. Romão's "Amor Em Jacuma occasions an international jazz jam as Ron Carter's thoroughly upright acoustic bass and Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba's roiling piano set table for a solo helping of meaty trombone from Raul de Souza of Brazil. Pianist Francesco Gazzara lovingly renders Hancock's title tune, especially in his solo, which builds up chords then reconsiders their construction in equal parts musical architecture and alchemy. Koorax breathes her most romantic vocal, and it's hard to imagine that many mortals can resist her languid invitation to "Stay awhile... which just seems to float throughout the air forever, like... a Brazilian butterfly.  

The remaining material seems specifically composed and arranged to stress test Koorax's four-octave range. She swings joyously from the framework of Milton Nascimento's "Escravos de Jo, a melodic abstraction airy and inscrutable not packed full but no less complex as Joni Mitchell's Shadows & Light collaborations with Pat Metheny and Jaco Pastorius. Her voice soars above the Afro-macumba chant "Lamento Negro and streams bright as dawn to open "Fica Mal Com Deus, then completely changes tone and color by digging into the low notes with the growling fury of a blasting trumpet. The opening "O Vento and closing "Frenetico drive Koorax's Brazilian journey further into outer space: Her voice intricately navigates the thorny, shimmering thicket of electric piano and four percussionists in "O Vento and hangs in "Frenetico, where the background frame of congas, bass drum and cymbal (not her voice) emerges as the lead instruments. Each is an excellent vehicle for discovering, then remembering, that Brazilian Butterfly is Koorax's most fertile adventure in exploring the boundaries of contemporary Brazilian vocal music. ~ Chris M.Slawecki https://www.allaboutjazz.com/brazilian-butterfly-ithamara-koorax-irma-molto-jazz-review-by-chris-m-slawecki.php

Personnel: Ithamara Koorax (vocals, percussion); Eloir de Moraes (vocals, rap vocals, bass drum, cymbals, percussion); Thiago de Mello (vocals, acoustic guitar, berimbau, piano, percussion); Dom Um Romao (vocals, drums, percussion); Nelson Angelo (guitar, acoustic guitar); Francesco Gazzara (guitar, nylon-string guitar, piano, electric piano, Fender Rhodes piano, keyboards); José Ramos (flute, baritone saxophone); Carlos Malta (bass flute); Raul de Souza (trombone); Carlos Fuchs, Gonzalo Rubalcaba (piano); José Roberto Bertrami (electric piano, Fender Rhodes piano, keyboards); Paula Faour (electric piano, keyboards); Manuel Gusmao, Massimo Sanna (acoustic bass); Jorge Pescara (electric bass, fretless bass); Alex Malheiros (electric bass); Ivan Conti (drums); Marcelo Salazar (congas, bongos, percussion); Sidinho Moreira (bongos, percussion); Mauro Mirti, Eduardo Piloto Barretto, Jadir de Castro, Gaudencio Thiago De Mello, Laudir DeOliveira, Arnaldo DeSouteiro (percussion).

Brazilian Butterfly

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Jaco Pastorius & Brian Melvin - Jazz Street

Styles: Jazz-Rock, Jazz-Funk 
Year: 1989
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:06
Size: 89,5 MB
Art: Front

(2:43)  1. No Slack
(3:52)  2. Jazz Street
(5:05)  3. Miles Mode
(6:30)  4. May Day
(6:19)  5. Wedding Waltz
(6:24)  6. Out Of The Night
(8:09)  7. Drums of Yadzarah

Jaco Pastorius' recording sessions with drummer Brian Melvin resulted in five releases: four studio (including Jazz Street) and one live. This body of work is unique in that it not only takes the electric bassist out of his New York element but also represents a focused, reinvigorated Pastorius. The instrumental Jazz Street, one of Pastorius' last studio dates, places him in a west coast pop-jazz climate and he comes through with flying colors. His playing is clear and vibrant, best exemplified on Joe Henderson's "Out of the Night" which features extended, fluid soloing by Pastorius. He's also quite prominent on "No Slack" and the title track, two upbeat cuts on which Pastorius slickly executes some very familiar licks and riffs. Honorable mentions go to Jon Davis' bluesy piano piece "Wedding Waltz" and Melvin's atmospheric "Drums of Yadzarah," an offbeat drums/percussion/synth creation. Though Jazz Street was most likely the last Pastorius/Melvin collaboration, it most closely resembles their first, the superior Night Food, recorded almost two years earlier -- not to be confused with Melvin's later, nearly identically titled release, Nightfood, featuring Bob Weir.  ~ David Ross Smith https://www.allmusic.com/album/jazz-street-mw0000872851

Personnel: Bass – Jaco Pastorius, Keith Jones ;  Drums;  [Percussion, Drums] – Brian Melvin; Piano, Synthesizer – Jan Davis ;  Saxophone, Drum Programming – Rick Smith;  Guitar – Paul Mousavi

Jazz Street

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Screaming Headless Torsos - Screaming Headless Torsos

Styles: Jazz Funk
Year: 1995
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:36
Size: 133,2 MB
Art: Front

(4:25)  1. Vinnie
(4:27)  2. Free Man
(4:08)  3. Cult Of The Internal Sun
(4:23)  4. Word To Herb
(5:14)  5. Blue In Green
(0:29)  6. Chernobyl Firebirds
(7:14)  7. Graffiti Cemetery
(3:52)  8. Smile In A Wave (Theme From Jack Johnson)
(6:24)  9. Wedding In Sarajevo
(4:22) 10. Hope
(8:02) 11. Kermes Macabre
(4:30) 12. Another Sucka

Debut and self-titled album by the band also known as the Torsos or SHT a genre-defying rock band formed in 1989. The album mixes and mashes guitar driven rock, jazz, hip-hop, funk, soul, reggae and drum and bass with grooves and concepts. Along with future shock percussion improvisation and acrobatic vocals with mircro-tonal guitar influences. ~ Editorial Reviews https://www.amazon.com/Screaming-Headless-Torsos/dp/B000003MW0

Personnel:  Dean Bowman – vocals;  David Fiuczynski – guitar;  Fima Ephron – bass;  Jojo Mayer – drums;  Daniel Sadownick – percussion               

Screaming Headless Torsos

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Monty Alexander - Triple Treat III

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1987
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:34
Size: 130,0 MB
Art: Front

(6:06)  1. I Told You I Love You, Now Get
(5:15)  2. Secret Love
(4:23)  3. In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning
(7:54)  4. High Heel Sneakers
(8:45)  5. Renewal
(5:16)  6. I Love You
(6:15)  7. My One And Only Love
(7:35)  8. Corcovado (Quiet Nights)
(5:00)  9. There Will Never Be Another You

Recorded at the sessions that resulted in Triple Treat II, this Concord release follows the same format with the trio of pianist Monty Alexander, guitarist Herb Ellis and bassist Ray Brown being joined by violinst John Frigo for around half of the selections. The music consists of boppish interpretations of standards ranging from "I Told You I Love You, Now Get Out," and "High Heel Sneakers" to "Corcovado." Fans of these veteran players will be very satisfied with the results. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/triple-treat-vol-3-mw0000202516   

Personnel: Monty Alexander (piano), Ray Brown (bass), Herb Ellis (guitar), John Frigo (violin).         

Triple Treat III

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