George Cables Trio - Skylark

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 66:52
Size: 153.1 MB
Styles: Bop, Piano jazz
Year: 1996
Art: Front

[6:25] 1. Fungii Mama
[9:32] 2. Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum
[7:35] 3. Manha De Carnival
[8:16] 4. Skylark
[7:02] 5. Samba De Orfeu
[8:39] 6. Someday My Prince Will Come
[5:49] 7. A Felicidade
[6:50] 8. Pannonica
[6:38] 9. Dolahin

George Cables made a series of excellent CDs for Steeplechase during the 1990s, one of which is Skylark, a fun trio studio session with bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Tootie Heath. Starting with a brisk take of Blue Mitchell's enticing calypso "Fungii Mama," the pianist offers a well-conceived set. A trio of tunes by great Brazilian composers include a snappy take of "Manha De Carnaval," a driving "Samba De Orfeu," and an usually upbeat take of the normally relaxed "A Felicidade." Cables also offers fresh approaches to the standards "Skylark" and "Someday My Prince Will Come." His easygoing stroll through Thelonious Monk's "Pannonica" is followed by his sole original of the date, "Dolahin," a spirited blend of calypso and Latin rhythms. ~Ken Dryden

Skylark mc
Skylark zippy

---

The Jazz Passengers - Broken Night Red Light

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:26
Size: 92.6 MB
Styles: Bop
Year: 1987
Art: Front

[4:07] 1. Broken Night Red Light
[3:13] 2. Honer G. Krebbs
[2:33] 3. Rascal You
[4:31] 4. Indian Club Bombardment
[3:18] 5. My Spanish Cookies
[2:02] 6. Speedo
[7:19] 7. Spirits Of Flatbush Angel Eyes
[5:19] 8. Fathouse
[4:03] 9. Do Nothing 'till You Hear From Me
[3:55] 10. Badubuda

Bass – Brad Jones, Tony Garnier;Guitar, Trumpet – Marc Ribot; Percussion, Drums – E.J. Rodriguez; Saxophone [Tenor, Alto, Soprano], Clarinet – Roy Nathanson; Vibraphone [Vibes] – Bill Ware; Violin – Jim Nolet; Vocals, Trombone – Curtis Fowlkes.

The JAZZ PASSENGERS are a fantastical fusion of post-bop and musical comedy, once called a “perverse mainstream … hard-bop group as imagined by Frank Zappa.” (Bob Blumenthal, Boston Globe, 1989). Their name, a take-off on Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, reveals the musicians’ wild ride along the eccentric currents in modern American music. Saxophonist Roy Nathanson and trombonist Curtis Fowlkes, who found strong affinity in their Brooklyn roots while together in the band of the Big Apple Circus and John Lurie’s seminal band, The Lounge Lizards, founded the band in 1987. They first broke out on the New York City avant-garde scene centering around the Knitting Factory with a hybrid of Mingus-influenced dance rhythms and original tunes complete with lyrics and/or entertaining stories. Besides Nathanson and Fowlkes the original band members included Bill Ware on vibraphone, E.J. Rodriguez on percussion, Brad Jones on bass, Jim Nolet on violin and Marc Ribot on guitar. They are now a six-piece band without guitar and with Sam Bardfeld on violin.

The Jazz Passengers have toured and continue to tour extensively since the 1990s, traversing the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia and having played at major festivals and in clubs and concerts across the globe.

Broken Night Red Light mc
Broken Night Red Light zippy

---

Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra - The Best

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:15
Size: 87.6 MB
Styles: Big band, Early jazz
Year: 2014
Art: Front

[3:01] 1. Get Low-Down Blues
[3:03] 2. Ill Natured Blues
[2:55] 3. Kansas City Breakdown
[2:50] 4. Kansas City Shuffle 1
[2:48] 5. Kansas City Shuffle 2
[2:31] 6. Kater Street Rag
[3:20] 7. Moten Swing
[2:59] 8. Moten's Stomp
[3:21] 9. Muscle Shoals Blues
[2:52] 10. Rumba Negro Spanish Stomp
[3:16] 11. Small Black
[2:43] 12. South 1
[2:31] 13. South 2

In the late 1920s, Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra was the most sucessful Jazz band of the Midwest. The band toured all over the country and had a top selling recording in 1927 for Victor named "South". In 1929, the young Count Basie of The Blue Devils joined the band, and several other members of that band soon followed. Among them were bass player Walter Page, trumpeter Hot Lips Page, vocalist Jimmy Rushing and guitarist Eddie Durham (the first guitarist to experiment with proto-amplifiers, in the solo of Band Box Shuffle in October 1929). The acquisition of all these members of the Blue Devils caused the exodus of long-time Moten Band members Thamon Hayes and Harlan Leonard, who founded their own ensemble.

When Moten hired Ben Webster and Eddie Barefield in 1932, the modernization of the band was complete. Later that same year, Moten recorded Moten's Swing, one of the first recordings to use a riff, the foundation of Kansas City jazz. Count Basie took over the band after Moten's death in 1935.

The Best mc
The Best zippy

---

Airto Moreira - Homeless

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:23
Size: 115.3 MB
Styles: Latin, Brazilian rhythms
Year: 2016
Art: Front

[4:45] 1. Vira Poeira (Burning To Dust)
[4:44] 2. Come As You Are
[4:37] 3. 700 Years
[3:02] 4. After These Messages
[5:02] 5. Street Vendors (D'jmbo)
[4:14] 6. Wake Up Now
[6:17] 7. Homeless (Around The Fire)
[6:58] 8. Samba 4 Sale
[5:57] 9. Ginga Sem Fronteira
[4:41] 10. The Last One

Although Airto Moreira was never a jazz purist, most of his work has been jazz-oriented. From his years with Chick Corea's first Return to Forever lineup to his classic CTI dates of the 1970s to his work on wife Flora Purim's albums, the Brazilian drummer/vocalist has been known for combining jazz with Brazilian music, rock, and funk. No one could ever accuse Purim's husband of being someone who is only interested in showing the world how fast he can play John Coltrane's "Giant Steps," but it is safe to say that most of Moreira's work has been jazz-oriented even though it isn't straight-ahead bop. Homeless, however, is a Moreira project that has very little to do with jazz. This diverse, highly rhythmic CD draws on everything from pop, funk, hip-hop, and Afro-Brazilian tribal chanting to club and rave music, but jazz considerations aren't a priority. Although Homeless isn't the least bit predictable, there is something that ties all the material together: rhythm. Whether Moreira is embracing melodic Brazilian pop on the introspective "Wake Up Now" (which features his daughter, singer Diana Moreira Booker), getting into Afro-Brazilian tribal sounds on "The Last One" and "Come As You Are" (which are all rhythm and no melody), or getting into a moody yet funky rave/trance groove on "Vira Poeira (Burning to Dust)," the common denominator is Moreira's distinctively Brazilian sense of rhythm. The lead vocals are shared by Moreira and Booker; while Moreira sings in Portuguese, his daughter handles the English lyrics. Not surprisingly, Booker sounds somewhat like Purim, although she does have an appealing delivery of her own. This likable, if a bit uneven, CD isn't among Moreira's essential releases, but it's an intriguing addition to his catalog -- and he deserves credit for trying something a bit different. ~Alex Henderson

Homeless mc
Homeless zippy

---

Richie Cole - The Alto Sax Of Richie Cole

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:05
Size: 119.2 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz
Year: 2017
Art: Front

[5:37] 1. There Will Never Be Another You
[4:35] 2. On Misty Mornings
[6:45] 3. House Of Jazz
[4:18] 4. Sister Sadie
[2:09] 5. Emily
[4:26] 6. I Love Lucy
[6:00] 7. Night In Tunisia
[7:06] 8. Satin Doll
[4:26] 9. Softly As In A Morning Sunrise
[5:58] 10. Waterhouse Blues
[0:40] 11. Stardust

Richie started playing alto saxophone when he was 10 years old in his home town of Trenton, New Jersey. Influenced by Sonny Rollins and Charlie Parker, Cole’s talent and dedication won him a full scholarship from Downbeat Magazine to the Berklee School of Music in Boston.

His professional career began in 1969 when he joined the Buddy Rich Big Band. And after stints with the Lionel Hampton Big Band and the Doc Severinsen Big Band, Cole formed his own quintet and toured worldwide, doing a great deal to popularize bebop and his own “Alto Madness” style in the 70’s and early 80’s.

Cole has performed and recorded with the great vocalese artist Eddie Jefferson, the Manhattan Transfer, Bobby Enriquez, Freddie Hubbard, Sonny Stitt, Art Pepper, Tom Waits, Boots Randolph, and Nancy Wilson, to name just a few of his musical collaborations. Notably, Cole has performed at the Village Vanguard and Carnegie Hall as well as gave a command performance for the Queen of England.

Cole has recorded over 50 albums and CDs, including his top hit album “Hollywood Madness” (1979 Muse Records) and his tribute album to Leonard Bernstein, “Richie Cole Plays West Side Story” (1997 Music Masters Jazz). A prolific composer, Cole also finds time to arrange for full big bands, symphony orchestras and frequent performances at jazz festivals worldwide. Moreover, he enjoys sharing his love of music with younger generations and is active recording, touring and presenting university master classes.

The Alto Sax Of Richie Cole mc
The Alto Sax Of Richie Cole zippy

---

Donald Byrd - Places And Spaces

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 1975
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 35:48
Size: 83,0 MB
Art: Front

(5:08)  1. Change (Makes You Want To Hustle)
(6:10)  2. Wind Parade
(4:30)  3. (Fallin' Like) Dominoes
(6:17)  4. Places And Spaces
(5:22)  5. You And The Music
(3:43)  6. Night Whistler
(4:35)  7. Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)

Reuniting with Larry Mizell, the man behind his last three LPs, Donald Byrd continues to explore contemporary soul, funk, and R&B with Places and Spaces. In fact, the record sounds more urban than its predecessor, which often played like a Hollywood version of the inner city. Keeping the Isaac Hayes, Curtis Mayfield, and Sly Stone influences of Street Lady, Places and Spaces adds elements of Marvin Gaye, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Stevie Wonder, which immediately makes the album funkier and more soulful. Boasting sweeping string arrangements, sultry rhythm guitars, rubbery bass, murmuring flügelhorns, and punchy horn charts, the music falls halfway between the cinematic neo-funk of Street Lady and the proto-disco soul of Earth, Wind & Fire. Also, the title Places and Spaces does mean something there are more open spaces within the music, which automatically makes it funkier. Of course, it also means that there isn't much of interest on Places and Spaces for jazz purists, but the album would appeal to most fans of Philly soul, lite funk, and proto-disco. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine https://www.allmusic.com/album/places-and-spaces-mw0000616571

Personnel: Donald Byrd (vocals, trumpet, flugelhorn); Fonce Mizell (vocals, trumpet, Clavinet, clavichord); Larry Mizell (vocals, piano); Kay Haith (vocals); James Carter (whistling); Craig McMullen, John Rowin (guitar); Tyree Glenn (tenor saxophone); Ray Brown (trumpet); George Bohannon (trombone); Skip Scarborough (electric piano); Chuck Rainey (electric bass); Harvey Mason, Sr. (drums); Mayuto Correa (congas, percussion); King Errisson (congas).

Places And Spaces

---

Denise King - Fever

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:35
Size: 148,2 MB
Art: Front

(6:30)  1. The Nearness of You
(5:41)  2. Fever
(5:22)  3. Jim
(6:23)  4. It Never Entered My Mind
(6:38)  5. Song for My Father
(6:28)  6. Summertime
(5:31)  7. In a Sentimental Mood
(3:05)  8. Autumn Leaves
(3:50)  9. Violets for My Fur
(4:38) 10. When I Fall in Love
(5:47) 11. I Wish You Love
(4:37) 12. Green Dolphin Street

Influenced by Nancy Wilson, Marlena Shaw and Sarah Vaughan, Denise King is an expressive, big-voiced singer who combines jazz with elements of R&B, blues and gospel. King was born and raised in Philadelphia, where she was exposed to R&B as a child and discovered jazz at 12 thanks to an uncle who was an avid record collector. After graduating from high school, the Philadelphian entered the medical field and earned her living as a technician and a family-planning counselor. King was in her early 30s when she started doing club gigs around Philly, and eventually, she became a full-time singer. Though she's no stranger to standards, one of King's strong points has been her ability to provide jazz interpretations of rock and soul hits in fact, she has turned everything from Santana's "Evil Ways" to Ruby & the Romantics' "Our Day Will Come" into swinging acoustic jazz. King started recording in the 1990s, offering Live In Japan: I Remember You in 1993, Now Ain't That Love in 1996 and Simply Mellow in 1997. ~ Alex Henderson https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/fever/136807140

Fever

---

Anna Webber - Percussive Mechanics

Styles: Flute And Saxophone Jazz 
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:03
Size: 135,4 MB
Art: Front

(6:49)  1. Dan:Ce
(4:46)  2. Certain Transcendence
(5:34)  3. Terrarosa
(9:24)  4. Percussive Mechanics
(8:53)  5. Vigilance
(7:19)  6. Sleeping Is Giving In
(6:27)  7. Histrionics
(6:35)  8. Let It Cut More Deep
(3:12)  9. Eins!

First she was a flutist, then a saxophonist, now an outstanding jazz and new music composer. Canada's Anna Webber follows up her debut, Third Floor People (Nowt Records, 2010), with Percussive Mechanics, a skirmish between contemporary composed music and jazz improvisation. As a player, she has recorded with Stephon Harris's Blackout Urbanus (Concord, 2009) and has also performed with Jason Moran, Tony Malaby, and John Hollenbeck. It is Hollenbeck that is the touchstone for her compositions here. Webber plays with the conflicts between thoroughly composed music and jazz improvisation. Her pieces, like the title track, come across as automated, almost precise machine-driven compositions. Performed by skilled musicians, Percussive Mechanics is a tightly scored system of music. The beauty here is that her structures leak improvisation between the gears. The recording builds from its marimba/vibraphone and flute opening, adding clarinet, piano, and eventually the entire septet. Brief solos emerge as it gains momentum. Tension builds within the structure, eventually the orchestration giving way to the hoots and hollers of the players.

Webber's stratagem, to compose using layer upon precise layer to elicit both a disciplined sound and a new expression of controlled chaos, is the heart of jazz improvisation. Pianist Elias Stemeseder's simple and exact lines open "Sleeping Is Giving In" drums, percussion and meticulous horns then enter, following Webber's system. As the piece unfolds, the lines diverge and the music blossoms, with soloists spiraling above and escalating the music. Album highlights include "Terrarose," with its whistled passage, and "Histronics," which opens with Webber and one (then two) drummers, harmonizing with her tenor saxophone. The stripped-down piece sums up her methodology from the detailed discipline of writing, the human element and expression bloom. ~ Mark Corroto https://www.allaboutjazz.com/percussive-mechanics-anna-webber-pirouet-records-review-by-mark-corroto.php

Personnel: Anna Webber: flute, tenor saxophone; James Wylie: clarinet, alto saxophone; Elias Stemeseder: piano, wurlitzer; Julius Heise: vibraphone, marimba, whistling; Igor Spallati: double bass; Max Andrzejewski: drum set, glockenspiel, miscellaneous percussion, whistling; Martin Kruemmling: drum set, miscellaneous percussion.

Percussive Mechanics

---

Dan Siegel - Inside Out

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:27
Size: 104,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:12)  1. Just Like That
(5:31)  2. Inside Out
(4:07)  3. In Your Eyes
(4:47)  4. When The Time Comes
(5:18)  5. Between The Lines
(4:53)  6. To The Point
(5:00)  7. This Time Around
(4:05)  8. Crossroads
(3:23)  9. The Long Goodbye
(4:07) 10. Gone But Not Forgotten

Almost a quarter century after his debut, Dan Siegel remains one of the kings of smooth-as-silk piano smooth jazz. No computer blips or hip-hop samples here. Siegel is such a mellow mood on his first new studio CD in six years that if you're not completely relaxed after his latest, you should probably get your money back. Saxophonists Boney James and Jeff Kashiwa spice things up in solos and as part of a horn section, but their playing enhances the mellowness instead of taking it outside a comfort zone. None of this is bad, of course. On "Just Like That" and the cover track, Siegel's chirpy playing and smooth backbeat are just what my doc might prescribe during the nadir of a hectic work week. Siegel steps outside his comfort zone a little with "Between the Lines," laying down some tasty organ grooves, but soon slips back into his mellow groove with "To the Point." He ventures into Yanni territory on the final cut, "Gone, But Not Forgotten," a spiritual and uplifting four minutes of music cinema. Siegel is from the old school, a defining member of the smooth jazz movement who still believes in music's healing and calming attributes. In today's loud world, there's still plenty of room for that. ~ Brian Soergel https://www.allaboutjazz.com/inside-out-dan-siegel-native-language-review-by-brian-soergel.php

Personnel: Dan Siegel (piano and synthesizer); Brian Bromberg (fretless bass); Alex Al (bass); Robert Bacon (guitar); Lenny Castro (percussion); Boney James (saxophone); Jeff Kashiwa (saxophone); Dave Hooper (drums)

Inside Out

---

Ignasi Terraza - Live at the Living Room, Bangkok

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 73:16
Size: 168,4 MB
Art: Front

(7:29)  1. An Emotional Dance
(4:49)  2. Les dotze van tocant
(4:59)  3. Georgia on My Mind
(6:49)  4. Give Me Another
(7:58)  5. Motherland
(4:21)  6. Waltz for Auro
(4:58)  7. Corcovado
(3:38)  8. Under the Sun
(4:50)  9. Oscar's Will
(7:03) 10. Canco num.6
(4:44) 11. Chega de saudade
(5:49) 12. Blues for Stephanie
(5:42) 13. Liner Notes (by Claudio Cifuentes, Albert Mallofre, Joe Zender)

Pianist Ignasi Terraza has led trios and quartets for twenty years, collaborating with Spain's finest jazz musicians along the way. He's also played with saxophone legends Teddy Edwards, Lou Donaldson and Frank Wess, singer Stacey Kent, and trumpeter Jon Faddis. ...Live at the Living Room, Bangkok documents his trio, over two nights in the Thai capital, and shows just why Terraza has been first-call pianist for top jazz musicians visiting Barcelona. This nicely varied set includes standards, calypso, bossa nova, blues, five Terraza originals and the pianist's arrangements of two Catalan folk songs. Terraza is unashamedly old-school in his conception, influenced by pianist Oscar Peterson's graceful virtuosity, Wynton Kelly's blues, and arguably most of all by Ahmad Jamal's sense of space and dynamics. However, as this wonderful set demonstrates, Terraza is never imitative, personalizing a well-worn standard like Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Corcovado," whose intro he and bassist Pierre Boussaguet imbue with a classical air, the pianist's two-handed dialogue captivating. Jobim and Vinicius De Moraes's "Chega de Saudade" is also dressed in new robes, with a classical lining and swinging four-four time makeover. Terraza balances brilliant technique with a deft touch and an unerringly strong, melodic center.

"An Emotional Dance" is an invigorating example of Terraza's compositional flair, and his ability to solo at breathtaking speed without abandoning the song's melody. Boussaguet and drummer Esteve Pi are seasoned players and provide great support throughout. Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell's "Georgia on My Mind" begins with a delicate piano intro and Pi's brushes. Boussaguet provides leisurely counterpoint to Terraza's soulful playing until the half-way point, when Terraza takes the tune onto another plane by unleashing dizzyingly fast and swirling runs over strong left-hand jangling. The fast-paced workout of "Oscar's Will" draws from stride and ragtime as much as bop. The tuneful "Give Me Another" underlines that Terraza doesn't have to go at a gallop to impress. Terraza makes a very Jamal-influenced trio arrangement of "Les dotze van tocant," a Catalan Christmas carol. Terraza has borrowed from Catalan folk before, with guitarist Miguel Llobet}}'s "El Noi de la Mar" given a jazzy yuletide treatment on Christmas Swings in Barcelona (K Industria, 2003), and he's clearly at home in this terrain. Catalan composer Federico Mompou's lovely "Canco num. 6" veers between softly voiced lyricism and vibrant trio interplay. 

The other Terraza originals include the dancing "Waltz for Auro," with a walking bass and ride cymbal at full tilt, and a calypso of irresistible rhythm and melodic charm, "Under the Sun." Boussaguet's impressive "Motherland," however, carries more dramatic ebb and flow, with Terraza's breathtaking virtuosity once again on show. Former Count Basie bassist John Clayton Jr.'s "Blues for Stephanie" puts a bouncing seal on an excellent set. Five minutes of audio liner notes bear the visually impaired in mind, and run in Spanish, Catalan, English and Thai. It's a nice touch, and symbolic of the inclusive, all-encompassing outlook that Terraza brings to his music. His jazz may be firmly rooted in the tradition, but it contains a whole world of vibrant colors. ~ Ian Patterson https://www.allaboutjazz.com/live-at-the-living-room-bangkok-swit-records-review-by-ian-patterson.php

Personnel: Ignasi Terraza (piano), Pierre Boussaguet (bass), Esteve Pi (drums).

Live at the Living Room, Bangkok

---