Monday, April 9, 2018

Donald Byrd, Herbie Hancock - Donald Byrd & Herbie Hancock

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:07
Size: 94.1 MB
Styles: Bop
Year: 1961/2016
Art: Front

[6:35] 1. Curro's
[5:21] 2. It's A Beautiful Evening
[8:07] 3. Mr Lucky's Theme
[9:36] 4. Out Of This World
[6:15] 5. Bird House
[5:09] 6. Day Dreams

Donald Byrd, (Donaldson Toussaint L’Ouverture Byrd II), American jazz and rhythm-and-blues artist played jazz trumpet with a bright tone and darting melodies before becoming one of the most popular soul-jazz performers and producers and a pioneering jazz educator. Byrd played (1951–53) in U.S. Air Force bands before receiving a Bachelor of Music degree (1954) from Wayne State University, Detroit. Almost as soon as he moved (1955) to New York City, he began performing with leading hard-bop musicians, including Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Sonny Rollins, and John Coltrane, and coled (1958–61) a quintet with baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams. Meanwhile, Byrd earned an M.A. in music education from the Manhattan School of Music, and he continued his music studies with noted teacher Nadia Boulanger (1963). He later became the first jazz teacher at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J.; studied law; and received an Ed.D. degree from Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City (1982). Byrd invented a soul-jazz fusion music, and his 1973 album Black Byrd became a hit.

Herbie Hancock is arguably the most influential practitioner of modern jazz piano since Thelonious Monk. From the bebop stylings of Bud Powell and Wynton Kelly, the classical legacy of Ravel and Debussy, and not least from the diverse genres of contemporary music exploding around him, Hancock has forged a style all his own.

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Pierre Sward Organ Jazz'n Soul Group - Slow But Fast

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:21
Size: 131.3 MB
Styles: Organ jazz, Funk
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[5:00] 1. South Street Stroll
[6:22] 2. Chicago Swing
[8:35] 3. Mr. Syms
[3:55] 4. Kool And The Gang
[4:51] 5. A Waltz In The Park
[6:03] 6. Georgia On My Mind
[5:24] 7. Frankfurt Funk
[5:05] 8. Walk With Me
[5:05] 9. Slow But Fast Slow But Fast
[6:57] 10. Stuffin'

Pierre Swärd: organ; Jan Ottesen: guitar; Joakim Ekberg: drums.

This album poses two problems. First: the electric organ. Even when played by a master like Jimmy Smith, monotony can easily set in. It's something to do with the way the instrument dominates so completely, leaving no space. Problem No.2: funk, the dominant genre on Slow But Fast. The idea is to hit a groove, preferably—as US DJ Pete Fallico explains in his sleeve note, one of the "in-the-pocket" variety—and then do it to death. Again, monotony hovers. Pierre Swärd's way out of this double impasse is to incorporate more interesting musical numbers into his book and make frequent changes of style and tempo. Sometimes, as in the case of John Coltrane's "Mr. Syms," he is strikingly successful.

From the 1962 Atlantic album, Coltrane Plays The Blues, this is a haunting minor blues with a bridge reminiscent of "Summertime," one of the tenor player's favorite pieces. After an uncertain intro with Joakim Ekberg's drums sounding rather like coconut shells imitating horses' hooves, Swärd and guitarist Jan Ottesen come up with a laid-back, lyrical treatment to make it the stand-out track. But at the other end of the scale, Swärd crucifies Hoagy Carmichael's "Georgia On My Mind," ruining the melody of that "old, sweet song" with a lot of flashy, pseudo-dramatic flourishes and embellishments, something else the electric organ seems designed to encourage.

Swärd aimed at a relaxed feel for this album, recording it not in a studio, but in an ordinary rehearsal room in the Swedish university city of Uppsala. He explains, "We decided to record one or two tracks there to see how it worked. We got such a great feeling that we wound up doing the whole thing there." The session kicks off with Kenny Barron's "South Street Stroll," a number the pianist wrote for Freddie Hubbard. Swärd's version never quite settles down and ends in an over blown climax. The deceptively simple "Chicago Swing," which follows, vies with the title track as the most successful of six Swärd originals.

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Leslie Pintchik - You Eat My Food, You Drink My Wine, You Steal My Girl!

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:14
Size: 105.9 MB
Styles: Piano jazz
Year: 2018
Art: Front

[4:44] 1. You Eat My Food, You Drink My Wine, You Steal My Girl!
[6:10] 2. I'm Glad There Is You
[6:13] 3. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
[7:19] 4. Mortal
[5:27] 5. Your Call Will Be Answered
[5:57] 6. Hopperesque
[4:39] 7. Happy Dog
[5:42] 8. A Simpler Time

Leslie Pintchik (piano); Steve Wilson (alto saxophone), Ron Horton (trumpet and flugelhorn), Shoko Nagai (accordion), Scott Hardy (bass and guitar), Michael Sarin (drums), and Satoshi Takeishi (percussion).

On this, her sixth album, pianist Leslie Pintchik shows that she can compose distinctive melodies. All of the original compositions she does on this CD are bright and memorable and even the two standards she covers are given surprising arrangements.

She establishes herself from the beginning with the uniquely-titled "You Eat My Food." This turns out to be a nice piece of surging jazz-funk in the manner of early Herbie Hancock with a serpentine piano line and pithy accents from the two horn players. It also features sharp, wailing solos by Steve Wilson on alto sax and bassist Scott Hardy doubling on electric guitar. "Mortal" is a ballad that showcases Pintchik's quietly dramatic ability at slow tempos and has gorgeous solos by Wilson and Ron Horton on flugelhorn. "Your Call Will Be Answered...," the other tune with a mouthful of a title, shows how hard Pintchik can swing in a pure piano trio format accompained by Hardy and drummer Michael Sarin. Shoko Nagai's accordion adds exotic elements to the music on "Hopperesque" and "Happy Dog." The former has a slowly swirling tango feel and the latter emerges as a swinging samba. Both provide space for Pintchik's piano to really sparkle amidst complex rhythm work. The closing ballad, "A Simpler Time" has a pretty, sentimental theme that is played by the group with delicacy and care. As for the two standards they both get slightly unconventional treatments that benefit them. "I'm Glad There Is You" is played as a slow, romantic bolero and "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" is set to a sly Latin rhythm with a heavy groove set by Hardy with Pintchik's playing coming out both subtle and frisky.

This is an excellent set of piano-led jazz, alternately funky and tender, playful and profound. Leslie Pintchik can play with as much verve and feeling as any other mainstream pianist around and she also writes exceptional tunes. ~Jerome Wilson

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Eddie Gomez Trio - Palermo

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:16
Size: 138.0 MB
Styles: Bop
Year: 2007
Art: Front

[8:04] 1. Palermo
[8:57] 2. Illusion
[6:17] 3. Missing You
[8:56] 4. On Green Dolphin Street
[7:35] 5. Smilin' Eyes
[6:27] 6. We Will Meet Again
[7:44] 7. If I Should Lose You
[6:12] 8. My Foolish Heart

Double Bass – Eddie Gomez; Drums – Nasheet Waits; Piano – Stefan Karlsson.

Legendary bassist and two-time Grammy ® award winner EDDIE GOMEZ has been on the cutting edge of music for over four decades. His impressive resumé includes performances with jazz giants such as Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Evans, Gerry Mulligan and Benny Goodman. Eddie’s unique sound and style can be heard on many Grammy winning records as well as on hundreds of recordings spanning the worlds of jazz, classical, Latin jazz, rhythm & blues, popular and contemporary music.

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Lee Konitz - S/T

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:26
Size: 101.7 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[5:46] 1. Caravan
[4:36] 2. Espace Sonore N°1
[3:25] 3. Resistance
[5:34] 4. Parisian Thoroughfare
[4:44] 5. Star Eyes
[4:28] 6. What's New
[9:35] 7. Oleo
[6:14] 8. Lover Man

One of the most individual of all altoists (and one of the few in the 1950s who did not sound like a cousin of Charlie Parker), the cool-toned Lee Konitz has always had a strong musical curiosity, leading him to consistently take chances and stretch himself, usually quite successfully. Early on he studied clarinet, switched to alto, and played with Jerry Wald. Konitz gained some attention for his solos with Claude Thornhill & His Orchestra (1947). He began studying with Lennie Tristano, who had a big influence on his conception and approach to improvising.

Konitz was with Miles Davis' Birth of the Cool Nonet during their one gig and their Capitol recordings (1948-1950) and recorded with Lennie Tristano's innovative sextet (1949), including the first two free improvisations ever documented. Konitz blended very well with Warne Marsh's tenor (their unisons on "Wow" are miraculous) and would have several reunions with both Tristano and Marsh through the years, but he was also interested in finding his own way; by the early '50s he started breaking away from the Tristano school. Konitz toured Scandinavia (1951), where his cool sound was influential, and he fit in surprisingly well with Stan Kenton & His Orchestra (1952-1954), being featured on many charts by Bill Holman and Bill Russo. ~Scott Yanow

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Kenny Werner Trio - Animal Crackers

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2017
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:09
Size: 124,7 MB
Art: Front

(5:27)  1. Ari
(5:07)  2. The Song Is You
(3:59)  3. Animal Crackers
(6:41)  4. Breathing Torso
(4:04)  5. I Should Care
(5:00)  6. What?
(6:42)  7. If I Should Lose You
(9:58)  8. Lago
(7:08)  9. Mechanical Arm

Four loud snare hits and you're right in the middle of this album! The first song ("Ari") starts programmatically: More modern jazz does not work! Are John Lewis and George Russell resurrected? We know everything! But no, if we listen more closely, we notice immediately: Kenny Werner has a very personal signature. There is no soulless copyist at work here. This music lives.Jazz legend Quincy Jones told the Brooklyn pianist: "100 percent soul and precision in a single person!" The next title sounds like tailor-made. "The song is you" - somewhere between Dave Brubeck and Thelonious Monk - is driven by drums. Flogging blows jostle the pearling repeatedly stumbling piano torrents until the lemming crash into the harmonic orc! Drummer Ari Hoenig convinces with his own signature and stoically precise timing but also angry Rolls and hectic pelvic work. The bassist Johannes Weidenmüller from Cologne, with his accentuated style of playing, adds exactly that little bit of cohesion to the arrangement, making the arrangements look like one piece - in spite of all the freedom that all the musicians of this trio take. Sure, the 66-year-old New York pianist and composer Werner, who completed his first TV appearance at the age of eleven, is washed with all the musical waters. He played with jazz-heroes like Archie Shepp, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Charles Mingus, Elvin Jones, Lee Konitz, Lou Rawls, Mel Lewis, Toots Thielemans, John Scofield and so on ... ..has no proof of his extraordinary abilities in Showbizz omitted.

He even succeeds in futuristic sound paintings like "Breathing Torso". Despite Synthigewaber in the intro a typical Werner play almost filmmusikmäßig and soundtrack suspicious. Hats off: There mixes radio play sounds with Gregorian-sounding choral set pieces and swelling orchestral passages including synthetic violins, but suddenly dissolve into nothingness. A true, yet 100 percent successful, challenge is "What". Choppy accented modern jazz with struggling resolution-seeking chords that suddenly switch to sparkling impersonal e-piano tones, then step into a kind of competition to make a grandfathership with him. An interesting, highly exciting finger exercise almost like the intro of a fifties newscast. Is this a radio play now? No matter, this song is captivating, exciting, somehow avant-garde but also retro yet always up-to-date music. The final piece is also fascinating: "Mechanical Arm" is a stubborn, restrained composition (sometimes exploring the limits of free jazz) but still grounded and extremely (dis-) harmonious. Had also in the disco of spaceship "Orion" can run (I see Dietmar Schönherr and Eva Pflug almost dancing in front of my eyes). A real Burner! Translate by Google ~ Willy Theobald https://www.aboutjazz.de/2017/12/kenny-werner-trio-animal-crackers.html

Personnel: Piano, Electric Piano, Synthesizer – Kenny Werner;  Bass – Johannes Weidenmueller;  Drums – Ari Hoenig

Animal Crackers

Lady Linn and Her Magnificent Seven - No Goodbye at All

Styles: Vocal, Soul
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:47
Size: 100,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:21)  1. Cry Baby
(3:42)  2. Anything for You
(3:50)  3. Little Bird
(4:02)  4. Over
(2:24)  5. Good Morning
(4:07)  6. Good Old Sunday Blues
(3:38)  7. Love Song
(2:33)  8. Nina
(4:25)  9. Didn't Know What to Say
(3:36) 10. Always Shine
(4:06) 11. First Snow
(3:58) 12. No Goodbye at All

An English-language jazz-pop group from Ghent, Belgium, Lady Linn and Her Magnificent Seven experienced Top Ten success with their first album of original songs, Here We Go Again (2008), after several years of performing classic jazz covers. Led by Lady Linn (vocals; born Lien de Greef), who also sings in the Belgian groups Bolchi and Skeemz, the group is also comprised of Marc de Maeseneer (baritone sax), Frederick Heirman (trombone), Tom Callens (tenor saxophone), Yves Fernandez (trumpet), Christian Mendoza (piano), Koen Kimpe (double bass), and Matthias Standaert (drums). 

After a couple self-titled underground releases in 2003 and 2005, Lady Linn and Her Magnificent Seven released the Shopping (2006) single on Zephyrus Records, the title track of which was the group's first original song, arranged, composed, and written by Lady Linn herself. The group then proceeded to record an entire album of originals, Here We Go Again (2008), produced by Jeroen de Pessemier, a colleague of Lady Linn's in Bolchi. Released by V2 Records, the album became a Top Ten hit in Belgium. ~ Jason Birchmeier https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/no-goodbye-at-all/507225137

No Goodbye at All

VA - Oscar, With Love: The Songs Of Oscar Peterson

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 178:47
Size: 412,8 MB
Art: Front

(6:18)  1. The Contessa (Makoto Ozone)
(3:39)  2. Blues For Smedley (Robi Botos)
(5:43)  3. Celine's Waltz (Oliver Jones, Dave Young)
(5:11)  4. Bossa Beguine (Gerald Clayton)
(3:31)  5. Cool Walk (Benny Green)
(8:16)  6. Dream Of Me (Michel Legrand)
(4:34)  7. Sushi (Renee Rosnes, Bill Charlap)
(3:00)  8. If I Love Again (Ramsey Lewis)
(3:49)  9. On Danish Shore (Justin Kauflin)
(8:51) 10. Ballad For Benny Carter (Kenny Barron)
(2:28) 11. A Little Jazz Exercise (Makoto Ozone)
(5:56) 12. Tranquille (Monty Alexander, Dave Young)
(4:58) 13. Take Me Home (Hiromi)
(3:35) 14. Announcement (Bill Charlap)
(5:20) 15. If You Only Knew (Benny Green)
(6:39) 16. Love Ballade (Renee Rosnes)
(5:22) 17. The Gentle Waltz (Monty Alexander, Dave Young)
(6:14) 18. Summertime (Justin Kauflin)
(6:22) 19. Laurentide Waltz (Ramsey Lewis)
(4:58) 20. Morning (Gerald Clayton)
(7:59) 21. Harcourt Nights (Michel Legrand)
(4:19) 22. Wheatland (Robi Botos)
(5:11) 23. Why Think About Tomorrow (Oliver Jones, Dave Young)
(6:28) 24. One For Oscar (Chick Corea)
(5:06) 25. The Smudge (Kenny Barron)
(4:58) 26. Sir Lancewell (Lance Anderson)
(4:13) 27. Dear Oscar (Makoto Ozone)
(6:03) 28. I Remember OP (Oliver Jones, Dave Young)
(4:03) 29. Oscar's New Camera (Hiromi)
(2:38) 30. OP's Boogie (Lance Anderson)
(4:28) 31. Trust (Monty Alexander, Dave Young)
(4:03) 32. Emmanuel (Robi Botos)
(3:13) 33. Look What You’ve Done To Me (Audrey Morris)
(3:16) 34. Goodbye Old Friend (Dave Young)
(5:18) 35. Hymn To Freedom (Gerald Clayton)
(2:29) 36. When Summer Comes (Robi Botos)

To mark the ninetieth anniversary of the legendary jazz pianist Oscar Peterson's birth (August 15, 2015), Peterson's widow, Kelly Peterson, produced a tribute album for the ages: Oscar, with Love, a marvelous three-disc set comprising ten never-before-recorded Peterson compositions, nineteen of his better-known works and seven compositions written especially for him, performed by sixteen contemporary piano masters on Peterson's personal Boesendorfer Imperial piano at his private studio in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Makoto Ozone has the honor of opening Disc 1 with a warm-hearted reading of Peterson's lovely ballad, "The Contessa." He is followed, in order, by a veritable who's who of noteworthy (no pun intended) keyboard artists: Robi Botos, Oliver Jones, Gerald Clayton, Benny Green, Michel Legrand, Renee Rosnes, Bill Charlap, Ramsey Lewis, Justin Kauflin, Kenny Barron, Monty Alexander, Hiromi, Chick Corea, co-producer Lance Anderson and Peterson's close friend, Chicagoan Audrey Morris. While most tracks showcase the solo piano, Peterson's longtime bassist, Dave Young, accompanies Jones ("Celine's Waltz," "Why Think About Tomorrow," "I Remember OP"), Alexander ("Tranquille," "The Gentle Waltz") and performs alone on "Goodbye Old Friend." Morris plays and sings on "Look What You've Done to Me," while Charlap and Rosnes appear separately on "Announcement" and "Love Ballade," respectively, and together on "Sushi."

The songs written for Peterson include Corea's earnest "One for Oscar" (composed especially for this album), and his bravura performance, which leads off Disc 3, is one of the set's myriad highlights. As for others, any song on which Barron, Jones, Legrand, Lewis, Charlap or Rosnes are in the driver's seat is almost by definition a highlight, and none of them is less than inspired, nor are Ozone, Alexander, Anderson, Botos, Clayton, Green, Hiromi, Kauflin or Morris. Jones, who like Peterson was born in Montreal, is closest to his fellow Canadian in spirit, and even though he was roughly eighty years old when the album was recorded, plays with the agility and vigor of someone many years his junior. Lewis, another newly minted octogenarian, shows no deference to Father Time on his opulent features, "If I Love Again" and "Laurentide Waltz," while the (now) eighty four year old Legrand is sublime on "Dream of Me" and "Harcourt Nights." That's not to demean the (relatively) younger lions Botos, Clayton, Hiromi and Kauflin each of whom makes an auspicious impression. And for brio emblematic of Peterson himself, dig Ozone's busy fingers on "Dear Oscar" and "A Little Jazz Exercise." This is an album on which every participant seems entirely aware that he or she is not merely playing another song but is offering his or her homage to one of the most renowned jazz pianists who ever lived. That fondness and appreciation are palpable from start to finish, which is one (of many) reasons why Oscar, with Love is an album to be applauded and treasured. Others include immaculate sound, splendid packaging, erudite and inclusive liner notes by Basie trumpeter Scotty Barnhart, and warm personal remembrances by Peterson's daughter, Celine. An exemplary tribute worthy of the name and the monarch to whom it is inscribed. ~ Jack Bowers https://www.allaboutjazz.com/oscar-with-love-oscar-peterson-two-lions-records-review-by-jack-bowers.php

Personnel: Monty Alexander: piano; Lance Anderson: piano; Kenny Barron: piano; Robi Botos: piano; Bill Charlap: piano; Gerald Clayton: piano; Chick Corea: piano; Benny Green: piano; Hiromi: piano; Oliver Jones: piano; Justin Kauflin: piano; Michel Legrand: piano; Ramsey Lewis: piano; Audrey Morris: piano, vocal; Makoto Ozone: piano; Renee Rosnes: piano; Dave Young: bass.

Oscar, With Love: The Songs Of Oscar Peterson

Sugarpie & The Candymen - Waiting for the One

Styles: Swing
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:18
Size: 120,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:13)  1. Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)
(2:38)  2. Blue 'bout Love
(3:09)  3. Lil
(5:34)  4. Bohemian Rhapsody
(4:00)  5. Toxic
(3:53)  6. Material Girl
(4:11)  7. Madness in the Rain
(4:24)  8. Highway Star
(3:09)  9. Bad
(3:40) 10. Dusty
(2:50) 11. Warchild
(2:43) 12. No Words
(4:04) 13. Good Vibration
(3:43) 14. Vmq

“Waiting For the One” is the third and brand new effort for Sugarpie and the Candymen.Why the title “Waiting for the One“? As the exact meaning goes, “waiting for someone, something that really makes a difference” it can be an event, a moment, a person … not waiting for something to change but more of a hope and a promise.This album, in fact, represents a further evolution in the sound and in the musical direction of the band. The ‘Swing’ trademark it’s always there but the spectrum broadens with new colours,styles and inspirations: the marching bands of New Orleans, Cuban sound, Reggae, Nu Jazz, Rhythm and Blues of early 50’s, all of these Sounds are here, and… why not? Pop as well! The Record is equally made up by originals songs and covers, as we have seen in their previous work “Swing’n’Roll,” but here the tracking list is shuffled differently to show that there are two sides of the same coin.

The original tracks range from the traditional swing of “Blue About Love” to the french flavors of “Madness in the Rain” from the Beatles pop sound of “Lil” to the battered and Waits (Tom) sounding “Dusty”, from the progressive fairy tale of “QMV” to the country manouche of “Warchild”…While amongst he covers we find a number of hits of the last decade (“Single Ladies” by Beyonce sounds like it’s straight out of a Dr. John Album!, while “Toxic” by Britney Spears winks at Buena Vista Social Club.Catchy Hits of the ’80s like “Bad” has kept the original dance beat with a bit of gypsy flavor, “Material Girl” arrangement is inspired by Louis Jordan and 50’s Jump Blues”, Hard Rock milestones like “Highway Star” by Deep Purple has received the “Count Basie” treatment, but the most remarkable accomplishments of the Album must go to the two Pop Symphonies, the evergreen and worlwide Hits, massively known that go by the names of : “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Good Vibrations”.

In most of the tracks the Band has had the pleasure to have special guests on them: a horn section with Gianni Satta on trumpet, Rudy Migliardi on trombone and tuba and Gregory Agid hailing New Orleans on clarinet and sax.Daniel Richiedei is on violin and Giovanni Colombo on the piano, the accordion played by Fausto Beccalossi  and the percussions by Riccardo Marenghi.The same Candymen themselves, quite often switch instruments quite freely. These to follow were quite in use on this Recording (dobro, banjo, piano, organ, mandolin, glockenspiel, kazoo and various percussions … ). Special attention to production details were given and are clear to be heard on the sounds, the arrangements and the performances are all at the highest level! The recording of the Album took place at ‘Elfostudio’ in Tavernago (Piacenza), and in various other locations (often in their guests’ houses!). http://www.irmagroup.com/sugarpie-candymen-waiting-one/

Waiting for the One