Monday, January 8, 2018

Paolo Fresu - Mamut

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:21
Size: 115.3 MB
Styles: Modern Creative jazz
Year: 1986/2009
Art: Front

[7:19] 1. Dedalo
[3:08] 2. Yatra (First Take)
[3:59] 3. In
[1:03] 4. Yatra (Second Take)
[5:27] 5. Pin Pon
[4:01] 6. Dibuixos Sobre La Sorra Carillon
[6:53] 7. Mamut
[1:58] 8. March (First Take)
[0:55] 9. Birds
[3:04] 10. March (Second Take)
[3:34] 11. 'round About Midnight
[1:31] 12. Mar-Home-Mar
[7:21] 13. Pà

Bass, Electric Bass – Attilio Zanchi; Congas, Percussion – Mimmo Cafiero; Drums, Percussion – Ettore Fioravanti; Piano, Keyboards (Yamaha DX7) – Roberto Cipelli; Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone – Tino Tracanna; Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Cornet, Pocket Trumpet, Arranged By – Paolo Fresu.

Mämût is trumpet player and composer Paolo Fresu's first major statement as a bandleader. Though he has been awarded many honors, including Musician of the Year by the Italian Critics' poll in 1990, it wasn't until 1985 when the first of these works was recorded that Fresu's ensemble and his compositional style had reached its chromatic sophistication and intervallic elegance. The odd thing is, the music found on Mämût was recorded in 1985 and 1986 with music composed for two theater productions. The most remarkable thing about this album is how all of it flows as if from a single source, including the glorious cover of Monk's "'Round About Midnight," which occurs at the end of the disc. The 12 originals are a mix of pastoral swinging lyricism, post-bop modal inventions, and bluesed-out lyricism. The two takes each of "Yatra" and "March" are evidence of just how deep Fresu's ability to transfer emotion is without syrup or sentimentality. Part of this is due to the fact that he writes specifically for his wondrous sextet, which includes the great saxophonist Trino Tracanna, pianist Roberto Cipelli, bassist Attilio Zanchi, and drummer Ettore Fioravanti with percussionist Mimmo Cafiero. These men are all wise in the manner of understatement and are all intimately familiar with the curiously spare dynamics of Fresu's compositional methods. It can be argued on the basis of this lush, haunting record alone that without this band, Fresu's music would have an entirely different timbre. No matter, it's this sextet who performs the 13 tunes here and this band who expresses what to everyone, with the exception of Fresu, would be inexpressible. This is Italian jazz at its very best. ~Thom Jurek

Mamut mc
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Rigmor Gustafsson - I Will Wait For You

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:24
Size: 124.5 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2003
Art: Front

[3:56] 1. Empty Hearts
[4:10] 2. Is It A Crime
[4:49] 3. If You Go Away (Ne Me Quitte Pas)
[3:58] 4. Makin' Whoopee
[4:00] 5. Fire And Rain
[5:45] 6. It Never Entered My Mind
[3:45] 7. Fever
[4:33] 8. The Moon's A Harsh Mistress
[4:19] 9. I Will Wait For You
[4:41] 10. It's Been So Long
[5:20] 11. Black Coffee
[5:03] 12. The More I See

Bass – Lars Danielsson; Drums – Wolfgang Haffner; Piano – Roberto Di Gioia; Strings [Guest] – The Fleshquartet; Trombone, Vocals, Producer, Liner Notes – Nils Landgren; Trumpet [Guest] – Staffan Svensson; Vocals – Rigmor Gustafsson. Recorded and Mixed by Jan Ugand at Polar Studios, Stockholm, Sweden in January and April 2003.

"Rigmor is the greatest jazz singer that we have had in Sweden for a very long time" wrote the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. For years Rigmor Gustafsson has been a star of the young, vital Swedish jazz scene and has already released three albums in her own name. In Germany her highly-praised performance at the Berlin Jazz Festival in 2001 led to an invitation to the JazzBaltica Festival in 2002 as a result of which she could be introduced to the wider German audience as a "new star in the vocal heaven" (Jazzthetik). In the same year she guested on Nils Landgren’s successful Sentimental Journey album (ACT 9409-2). Now with the first ACT release I Will Wait For You she finally proves that she inherits seamlessly the tradition of great Swedish female vocalists such as Monica Zetterlund, Lill Lindfors and others.

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Janos Varga, The Mediterranean Combo - Latin Fantasy

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:49
Size: 118.6 MB
Styles: Guitar jazz
Year: 2014
Art: Front

[4:37] 1. Mediterranean Nights
[5:18] 2. Copacabana
[5:12] 3. Shall We Dance
[6:03] 4. Samba
[4:37] 5. Flamenco Flounces
[6:34] 6. Bacardi
[3:23] 7. When I'm Going To You
[6:52] 8. Castillan Hills
[4:32] 9. Fading Clouds
[4:36] 10. Sweet Dream

If you love the Latin/Mediterranean sounds of artists such as Oscar Lopez, Armik, the trio (Al Di Meola, Paco de Lucia, John Mc Laughlin) and other fiery acoustic players, you’ll really enjoy the legendary ex-East guitarist Janos Varga’s project recorded with his son Varga Jr. on second guitar and Zsolt Nagy on piano and Tsoukalas Hristos on darbuka. Entitled Latin Fantasy, the tunes exude passion and excitement while offering a melodic treat for the ears. Varga and Nagy also add some wicked hand percussion to the proceedings - in short, some amazing Latin and Mediterranean style music from a place you might not expect - Hungary.

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Don Bagley - Jazz On The Rocks

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 33:02
Size: 75.6 MB
Styles: Progressive jazz
Year: 1957/1999/2012
Art: Front

[5:29] 1. Batter Up'
[4:56] 2. Come Out Swingin'
[4:40] 3. Odd Man Out
[4:17] 4. Bull Pen
[8:47] 5. Hold In There
[4:50] 6. Miss De Minor

Alto Saxophone – Phil Woods; Bass – Don Bagley; Drums – Charlie Persip; Guitar – Sal Salvador; Piano, Vibraphone – Eddie Costa.

Don Bagley was better known as a sideman than a leader during the 1950s, touring with Stan Kenton and recording with the likes of Nat King Cole and Dexter Gordon. This is the second of just three records the bassist made as a leader, with a lineup of rising young stars including Phil Woods, Eddie Costa, Sal Salvador, and Charlie Persip. All six tracks are originals by Bagley, starting with the perky "Batter Up." The leader and the drummer set up the exotic groove to "Come Out Swingin'," which features a superb solo by Woods. "Odd Man Out" spotlights Bagley, with some delicate background accompaniment by Costa on piano. Costa switches to vibes for the driving bop vehicle "Bull Pen" and the playful "Hold in There." Originally recorded for Regent and reissued by Savoy on LP, this album finally reappeared in 1999 as a CD on the Spanish Blue Moon label. ~Ken Dryden

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Holly Cole - Dark Dear Heart

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:54
Size: 118.8 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 1987
Art: Front

[3:27] 1. I've Just Seen A Face
[3:58] 2. Make It Go Away
[4:03] 3. Onion Girl
[3:58] 4. Dark, Dear Heart
[4:30] 5. You Want More
[3:48] 6. Timbuktu
[5:16] 7. World Seems To Come And Go
[4:43] 8. River
[4:31] 9. Hold On
[4:51] 10. Brighter Lonely Day (Run, Run, Run)
[4:19] 11. I Told Him That My Dog Wouldn't Run
[4:24] 12. All The Pretty Little Horses

Instead of opting for the full-on pop diva route, Cole travels a far more interesting path towards the mainstream that picks up on the vapor trails of "I Can See Clearly Now" and her album of Waits covers. "I've Just Seen a Face" retains echoes of its signature melody, but is otherwise a smart reinvention, and Sheryl Crow's "You Want More" or the slinky Aaron Davis cowrite "Timbuktu" make fine follow-ups. Larry Klein's spartan production shines in particular on the title track. ~Jeff Bateman

Showcasing Cole in her most innovative and evocative setting yet, Dark Dear Heart promises to take her way beyond her rabid following. Leaving behind most of the jazz trappings that graced her earlier efforts, Holly moves squarely into a unique pop region which she will undoubtedly claim as her own. Produced by Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Shawn Colvin), music here ranges from breezy to unforgettable. 1st AAA single/video: A reworking of the Fab Four's "I've Just Seen a Face."

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Dave Valentin - Red Sun

Styles: Flute Jazz
Year: 1992
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:28
Size: 104,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:21)  1. With A Little Help From My Friends
(5:12)  2. Red Sun
(3:47)  3. Two Steps Ahead
(5:17)  4. We'll Be Together Again
(4:34)  5. Beyond The Ridge
(4:29)  6. Lia's Song
(5:05)  7. Loco Motion
(6:23)  8. Little Sunflower
(4:15)  9. Pensativa

This was flutist Dave Valetin's 15th release for GRP and, as with his previous ones, it features impeccable musicianship, subtle funk grooves, some heated Latin rhythms and rather lightweight melodies. Despite some passionate moments, the music always sounds a bit controlled, never exceeding prescribed time limits or emotional boundaries. There are some strong moments of interest on this relatively pleasing CD, particularly a restrained melodic statement by trumpeter Arturo Sandoval on "We'll Be Together Again" and a groovin' version of "With a Little Help from My Friends."~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/red-sun-mw0000097869

Personnel: Dave Valentin (flute); Jon Lucien (vocals); Bernd Schoenhart (guitar); Arturo Sandoval (flugelhorn); Steve Turre (trombone); Bill O'Connell (piano, synthesizer); Dave Samuels (vibraphone); Lincoln Goines (acoustic bass); Robby Ameen (drums, cymbals, percussion); Richie Morales (drums, cymbals); Milton Cardona (congas, cowbells, percussion); Sammy Figueroa (percussion); Steve Shapiro (programming).

Red Sun

Renee Olstead - Skylark

Styles: Vocal  Jazz
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:41
Size: 123,4 MB
Art: Front

(3:02)  1. Midnight Man
(5:02)  2. Lover Man
(3:15)  3. Stars Fell On Alabama
(3:03)  4. My Baby Just Cares For Me
(4:43)  5. When I Fall In Love
(3:01)  6. Thanks For The Boogie Ride
(4:02)  7. Hold Me Now
(4:12)  8. Skylark
(3:26)  9. Midnight In Austin Texas
(3:23) 10. Hit The Road Jack
(3:28) 11. You've Changed
(2:46) 12. Ain't We Got Fun
(4:11) 13. Nothing But The Blame

Much like her self-titled debut from 2004, the second album by television actress and jazz-pop singer Renee Olstead finds the flame-haired teenager working with producer and arranger David Foster on a track list consisting mostly of standards from the Great American Songbook. A more than adequate singer with a surprising depth for such a young age (just 17 when this album was recorded), Olstead shines on classics like "Stars Fell On Alabama" and "Lover Man."~ Charity Sttaford https://www.allmusic.com/album/skylark-mw0000794568

Skylark

Don Rendell et Bobby Jaspar - Recontre À Paris

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1955
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 26:55
Size: 62,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:45)  1. Pot Luck
(5:13)  2. Olympia
(3:56)  3. Dave's Blues
(3:25)  4. Kingfish
(3:48)  5. Thou Swell
(4:46)  6. A Long Way From Home

Born 4 March 1926, Plymouth, Devon, England. Rendell began playing alto saxophone as a child but later switched to tenor. He played in a number of dance bands during the late 40s, and in 1950 became a member of John Dankworth’s septet. After leaving Dankworth in 1953 he formed his own small group but also worked with bands led by Tony Crombie, Ted Heath and others. In 1956 he joined Stan Kenton for a European tour, appearing on Live At The Albert Hall. In the late 50s he played with Woody Herman. During the 60s Rendell was again leading his own bands, featuring musicians such as Graham Bond, Michael Garrick and Ian Carr, with whom he was co-leader of a successful band. The four albums he recorded with Carr are highly recommended. Rendell has also recorded with Stan Tracey (The Latin American Caper), and Neil Ardley (Greek Variations). A fluent improviser, with hints of post-bop styling overlaying a deep admiration for the earlier work of Lester Young, Rendell has long been one of the most admired of British jazz artists. For many years he has been tireless in the promotion of jazz through his activities as a sought-after teacher.  https://www.allmusic.com/artist/don-rendell-mn0000193495/biography              

Personnel:  Don Rendell (Tenor Sax);  Bobby Jaspar (Tenor Sax);  Dave Amram  (Cor);  Sacha Distel (Guitar);  Maurice Vaer (Piano);  Guy Pedersen (Bass);  Mac Kak (Drums).

Recontre À Paris

Wayne Shorter - Etcetera

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1995
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:15
Size: 100,0 MB
Art: Front

( 6:21)  1. Etcetera
( 6:46)  2. Penelope
( 7:24)  3. Toy Tune
(11:08)  4. Barracudas (General Assembly)
(11:35)  5. Indian Song

In Harold and the Purple Crayon,” a children’s book from 1955, the intrepid hero, a sturdy toddler, decides to go for a walk in the moonlight. There is no moon, and so, with his purple crayon, Harold draws one, and then decides to draw a straight path to walk upon. When this leads him nowhere, he follows his crayon under the moon’s watchful eye through a series of adventures, conjuring a field, a forest, an apple tree, a nasty dragon, an ocean, a sailboat, a beach, a picnic lunch of pie, a moose and a porcupine to eat it, a mountain to climb, a balloon to ferry him down it, a house, a front yard, a city full of windows, and a policeman to point the way home. Then, finally, he draws his bedroom window around the moon, draws his bed, draws himself under the covers, drops the pen and goes to sleep. This synesthetic process is not unlike what Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Cecil McBee, and Joe Chambers did at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio on June 14, 1965, when they made Etcetera, Shorter’s fifth recording for Blue Note. Like each of Shorter’s other Blue Note sessions from that era, it was a one-shot affair.  “There was nothing developmental as a band,” he told his biographer Michelle Mercer. “A recording was just one movie, and then the next was another movie, in a kind of dream away from Miles.”

The notion of an imaginary screenplay in notes and tones suits the ambiance of this exceptional date. Each piece evokes a fantasy world, tells a story with a beginning, a middle and an end upon which the protagonists improvise, creating lines that assume a life of their own and following them wherever they choose. As Hancock put it thirty-seven years later, “The world is Wayne’s stage; he can grab a metaphor from almost anything in life.” Perhaps that cinematic, episodic quality is one reason why Etcetera, which would not be released until fifteen years after it was recorded, resonates so deeply with numerous Boomer jazzfolk. Another is the humanity of Shorter’s instrumental voice, efflorescent in the quartet setting, emotional, hardcore, expressing the same passion, vulnerability and free spirit that suffuses his pieces.

Consider the kaleidoscopic emotional range conveyed on the noirish title track, on which the leader and Hancock, already close friends after nine months together with Miles, offer soliloquies conveying ecstasy, torment, and angst, navigating the tricky harmonic terrain with melodies that meander through, around, and in synch with Joe Chambers’ roiling, orchestrative, funky beats. On the meditative “Penelope,” dedicated perhaps to the wife of Odysseus or to a real, live woman (Shorter doesn’t say), the composer channels his inner Strayhorn, while on “Toy Tune,” a mid-tempo swinger that doesn’t settle on a key center, Shorter offers a master class on building tension over multiple choruses. On Gil Evans’ “Barracudas,” he uncorks a Coltrane-inflected declamation (Hancock’s response is equally intense) whose thematic coherence is undoubtedly informed by his year-earlier solo flight on Evans’ swirling arrangement of that piece on The Individualism of Gil Evans.  Of “Indian Song,” an anthemic line propelled by Cecil McBee’s insistent bass vamp and Joe Chambers’ impeccable, surging, polyrhythmic 5/4 beat, Shorter further refracts Coltrane’s syntax and spirit into his own argot on a lengthy first section, before Hancock, himself a force of nature, completely changes the feel. Perhaps another reason why Etcetera has become such a notable signpost is that, as much as any other Shorter album, it emblemizes an aspiration that Shorter stated in 2003, while traveling in Europe with his present quartet in the aftermath of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. “Music is a part of the struggle,” he said. “They talk about the unknown factor they don't know what's going to happen. Why don't we do that every night on stage?  There's no school, no university for the unknown. Music is mysterious. Everything is. The unexpected is what's happening.”

Personnel:  Wayne Shorter (Tenor saxophone); Herbie Hancock (Piano); Cecil McBee (Bass); Joe Chambers (Drums).

Etcetera

Vincent Herring - Don't Let It Go

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1995
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:24
Size: 124,9 MB
Art: Front

(6:26)  1. Don't Let It Go
(7:37)  2. Into the Midnight
(6:57)  3. Sabrosa
(7:02)  4. In the Shadow of John Galt
(5:38)  5. Big Bertha
(6:24)  6. The Unknown Ideal
(7:24)  7. Liberation
(6:52)  8. Blueprint for a New Tomorrow

On alto saxophonist Vincent Herring's third Musicmasters release, he is joined by trumpeter Scott Wendholt, pianist Cyrus Chestnut, bassist Jesse Yusef Murphy, and drummer Carl Allen to perform seven originals (five by the group's members) and one jazz classic, Duke Pearson's hard-swinging "Big Bertha." Outside of "Big Bertha," this recording has a more relaxed, introspective feel, a departure from Herring's previous hard bop-oriented releases.

Herring's big, Adderley-influenced sound is intact, but his attack is more restrained, expressing the emotions that help to shape the music, and his unison lines with Wendholt on the melodies give this recording much of its flavor. Other favorites include the Shorter-ish title track, Chestnut's Latin-influenced "Into the Midgreg Turner night" (a feature for Herring's soprano), Tex Allen's "Sabrosa," which has a slower, Latin-influenced melody, and Wendholt's fast waltz, "The Unknown Ideal" (another Herring soprano feature). This is a welcome addition to the Herring discography. ~ Greg Turner https://www.allmusic.com/album/dont-let-it-go-mw0000125935

Personnel:  Vincent Herring (Alto saxophone, soprano saxophone); Scott Wendholdt (Trumpet); Cyrus Chestnut (Piano); Jesse Yusef Murphy (Bass); Carl Allen (Drums).

Don't Let It Go