Charlie Parker - Big Band

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:12
Size: 153.9 MB
Styles: Bop, Saxophone jazz
Year: 1953/1999
Art: Front

[3:34] 1. Temptation
[3:28] 2. Autumn In New York
[3:09] 3. Lover
[2:59] 4. Stella By Starlight
[3:16] 5. Dancing In The Dark (With Studio Chatter)
[2:49] 6. Night And Day
[3:10] 7. I Can't Get Started
[2:36] 8. What Is This Thing Called Love
[2:33] 9. Almost Like Being In Love
[3:09] 10. Laura
[3:28] 11. In The Still Of The Night
[3:38] 12. Old Folks
[2:38] 13. If I Love Again
[3:53] 14. In The Still Of The Night
[3:32] 15. In The Still Of The Night
[3:36] 16. In The Still Of The Night
[4:11] 17. Old Folks
[3:37] 18. Old Folks
[3:41] 19. Old Folks
[1:26] 20. In The Still Of The Night
[0:45] 21. In The Still Of The Night
[0:46] 22. Old Folks
[0:39] 23. Old Folks
[0:29] 24. Old Folks

A reissue of the original 1952 Clef recording session, this is one of the few instances in Charlie Parker's later career where he played with something other than a small bebop group. Under contract at the time to Clef's Norman Granz, Parker was encouraged by the label to make recordings that took him out of his familiar settings and put him in with string arrangements, Latin rhythms, and larger band formats. This recording is the result of one of these experiments. Though Joe Lipman's arrangements are stellar, the musicians assembled for the sessions are an odd mix of pop-oriented big-band players and improvisers. The album also suffers from the pop orientation of the songs themselves: solos are kept short, and songs limited to a three-minute length that was both radio-friendly and compatible with the 78-rpm format. But when Parker does solo, it is just as magical as any of his earlier recordings. The songs also have a sweet smoothness to them that makes them eminently enjoyable. This record is not perfect, but it still musters up moments of brilliance. The reissue is even more fascinating than the original, containing 10 bonus tracks which are alternative takes of the top singles on the album. ~Stacia Proefrock

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Bill Sharpe - Famous People Live

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:18
Size: 142.6 MB
Styles: Cool jazz
Year: 2018
Art: Front

[ 4:24] 1. Silhouettes
[ 5:20] 2. Washed Away
[ 5:41] 3. Brazilian Dawn
[ 4:34] 4. Streetwalkin
[ 4:04] 5. Fools In A World Of Fire
[ 3:37] 6. Peace/Bill Blues
[ 4:11] 7. The Shuffle
[ 1:24] 8. Bill Gary Annoucement
[ 7:25] 9. Change Your Mind
[ 4:09] 10. Famous People
[ 4:41] 11. Catching A Train
[12:44] 12. Night Birds

Bill Sharpe - Keyboards; Andy Gangadeen - Drums; Nick Cohen - Bass; Mitch Dalton - Guitar; Derek Nash - Saxes; Jackie Rawe - Vocals (Lead Vocal on ‘Fools in a World of Fire’ and ‘Streetwalkin’); Tessa Niles - Vocals (Lead Vocal on ‘Famous People’);
Gina Foster - Vocals (Lead Vocal on ‘Change Your Mind’).

Shakatak's Bill Sharpe released Famous People in 1985, this is a new live recording and features a couple of Shakatak's songs, including the hit single 'Change Your Mind'. Includes a special announcement by Gary Numan.

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Gypsy Swing Allstars - Les Nouveaux Bohemiens

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 28:45
Size: 65.8 MB
Styles: Gypsy jazz, Swing
Year: 2015
Art: Front

[2:18] 1. Rive Gauche
[2:45] 2. St Ouen
[3:00] 3. Quais De La Seine
[2:41] 4. Quartier Latin
[2:40] 5. Les Bateaux Mouches
[2:38] 6. Cafe De Paris
[3:51] 7. Aux Champs Elysees
[2:23] 8. La Bastille
[3:46] 9. Tango Parisien
[2:37] 10. Mr L'inspecteur

Ten tracks of original Hot club de France Gypsy jazz that combine the feel of swing, the energy of rock, and the improvisation of jazz with string elements akin to bluegrass and a virtuosity like that of classical music. A loving tribute to the Quintette du Hot Club de France, the legendary group that popularized Gypsy swing (sometimes called Gypsy jazz), Les Nouveaux Bohemiens was brought to life by longtime Gypsy swing enthusiasts Josquin des Pres and Marti Amado.

Composer, arranger, and producer Marti Amado has created music for LEGOLAND's Pirate Shores Attraction, The Odyssey TV network, The Muppets V-Chip, Warner Brothers Films, Universal Music Publishing, Entertainment Tonight, Chevrolet, Ford, Sears, Qualcomm, and more. She has worked with international artists including Jewel, Kenny Rogers, Rita Coolidge, and Michael Bolton. - John Jorgenson is a virtuoso multi-instrumentalist well known for his guitar work with the Desert Rose Band and The Hellecasters. Winner of the Academy of Country Music's Guitarist of the Year Award for three consecutive years, Jorgenson has recorded or toured with Elton John, The Byrds, Bob Dylan, Bob Seger, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Hank Williams Jr., Barbra Streisand, and more. - Charlie Bisharat is a Grammy-winning violinist who has extensively toured and / or recorded with numerous artists. Bisharat's work can be heard on more than 200 recordings, and scores of soundtracks.

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Esther Phillips - Esther Phillips Sings

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 30:54
Size: 70.8 MB
Styles: R&B, Vocal jazz
Year: 1966/2005
Art: Front

[3:01] 1. It's All Right With Me
[2:03] 2. The Shadow Of Your Smile
[3:33] 3. Crazy He Calls Me
[2:40] 4. He Touched Me
[2:06] 5. A Taste Of Honey
[2:01] 6. Let There Be Love
[2:33] 7. You Can't Go Home Again
[2:14] 8. Just Say Goodbye
[2:44] 9. I Could Have Told You So
[3:06] 10. Every Time We Say Goodbye
[2:43] 11. As Tears Go By
[2:03] 12. The Party's Over

Though it lacked a big hit (like 1965's And I Love Him!), Esther Phillips Sings featured a better set of songs and better charts for her to sing in front of. With the opener "It's All Right With Me" leading the way, Oliver Nelson's seven arrangements bring out the best in Phillips, giving her plenty of space with light instrumentation but filling any available gaps with his strong, brassy orchestra. "A Taste of Honey" and "Just Say Goodbye" are also very successful, leaving the big-band era for a groovier period of swinging traditional pop. There are a few clunkers, mostly the fault of Ray Ellis' overly commercial arrangements on "The Shadow of Your Smile" and "You Can't Go Home Again," but everywhere else Esther Phillips bridges the world of R&B and jazzy pop with finesse and an easy charm. ~John Bush

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Will Bernard - Just Like Downtown

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:48
Size: 102.6 MB
Styles: Guitar jazz
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[4:48] 1. Dime Store Thriller
[5:33] 2. Go West
[5:14] 3. Sweet Spot
[4:41] 4. Dancing Days
[5:18] 5. Little Hand
[5:19] 6. Safety In Numbers
[6:18] 7. Bali Hai
[5:11] 8. Route 46
[2:22] 9. P.M. Gone

Will Bernard: guitar; John Ellis: tenor saxophone, bass clarinet; Brian Charette: organ; Rudy Royston: drums.

Guitarist Will Bernard has been connected to a number of singular groups and individuals, from the Monk-to-funk outfit known as T.J. Kirk to New Orleans drumming giant Stanton Moore to multi-instrumentalist Peter Apfelbaum's boundary-pushing Hieroglyphics Ensemble, but a common denominator exists in his strongest work with each one: Bernard's best is always rooted in the groove. He has a no-fuss way of establishing and/or inhabiting the rhythmic currents of a song and he puts that skill to good use, once again, on Just Like Downtown.

This quartet date finds Bernard fronting a highly capable—and flexible—foursome. Together, they tackle original soul jazz ("Dime Store Thriller"), Led Zeppelin ("Dancing Days") and Richard Rodgers ("Bali Hai"). Some pieces are brisk and driving ("Sweet Spot") and others like to linger for a while ("Little Hand"), as Bernard and company simply let the music float on by. Most of these musical offerings get to the point right away, but a sense of mystery is occasionally in the air as things coalesce ("Bali Hai") or blow slowly in the Frisell-ian breeze ("P.M. Gone").

Bernard's buddies deserve a good deal of credit for bringing his music to life. They sound good when working from the same playbook as the leader ("Dime Store Thriller"), but they sound great when one person's contributions are thrown into sharp relief; John Ellis' swaggering bass clarinet riff, for example, enlivens the jaunty "Go West," and drummer Rudy Royston delivers a tornado of a performance on the choppy "Safety In Numbers," which also features a beast-of-a-solo from Bernard. Organist Brian Charette—the fourth piece of the puzzle—is the one most responsible for adding color to the project. He brings all manner of sound—both earthy and alien—into the picture. Just Like Downtown possesses an immediately likeable, unforced quality. The music simply flows when Will Bernard and company get going. ~Dan Bilawsky

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Michal Urbaniak Jazz Trio - My One And Only Love

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:29
Size: 165.9 MB
Styles: Fusion
Year: 1981/1996
Art: Front

[10:17] 1. My One And Only Love
[ 9:22] 2. Bells
[10:17] 3. Folky Mazurka
[ 8:47] 4. Apology
[ 7:35] 5. More Michal Moore
[ 9:25] 6. Manha De Carnival
[ 8:34] 7. Summertime
[ 8:10] 8. Just A Little Waltz

Once Poland's most promising import in the jazz-rock 1970s, Michal Urbaniak's chief value in retrospect was as a fellow traveler of Jean-Luc Ponty, a fluid advocate of the electric violin, the lower-pitched Violectra, and the Lyricon (the first popular, if now largely under-utilized wind synthesizer). Like many Eastern European jazzmen, he would incorporate elements of Polish folk music into his jazz pursuits, and his other heroes range from the inevitable Miles Davis to Polish classicist Witold Lutoslawski. His electric violin was often filtered with a gauze of electronic modifying devices, and on occasion, he could come up with an attractively memorable composition like "Satin Lady."

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Tubby Hayes & Ronnie Scott - The Couriers of Jazz!

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1958
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:38
Size: 98,0 MB
Art: Front

(5:30)  1. Mirage
(7:55)  2. After Tea
(3:49)  3. Stop the World, I Want to Get Off!
(4:04)  4. In Salah
(4:11)  5. Star Eyes
(4:40)  6. The Monk
(6:21)  7. My Funny Valentine
(6:04)  8. Day In - Day Out

Tenor saxophonist Ronnie Scott looms among the towering figures of Britain's postwar jazz scene, exerting equal influence as a performer and as the owner of the world-famous club bearing his name. He was born Ronald Schatt in the east end of London on January 28, 1927 his father, dance band saxophonist Jock Scott, separated from his mother shortly after his birth. After first purchasing a cornet from a local junk shop, Scott then moved to the soprano saxophone, finally settling on the tenor sax during his teens; at a local youth club he began performing with aspiring drummer Tony Crombie, and soon began playing the occasional professional gig. After backing bandleader Carlo Krahmer, Scott toured with trumpeter Johnny Claes in 1945, joining the hugely popular Ted Heath Big Band the following year; however, changing economics made the big bands increasingly unfeasible, and as the nascent bebop sound developing across the Atlantic began making its way to the U.K., he and Crombie traveled to New York City to explore the source firsthand. Scott would regularly return to New York after signing on to play alongside alto saxophonist Johnny Dankworth on the transatlantic ocean liner the Queen Mary. Despite his travels Scott remained a linchpin of the growing London bop scene, and in late 1948 he co-founded Club Eleven, the first U.K. club devoted to modern jazz. During this time he developed the lyrical but harmonically complex style that would remain the hallmark of his career, first backing drummer Jack Parnell before finally forming his own band in 1953. The nine-piece group made its public debut in conjunction with a London appearance by Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic touring revue working from arrangements by trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar, the Scott band's debut proved a landmark moment in the history of British jazz, in many respects heralding the true starting point of the postwar era. Not all of Scott's instincts were sound in 1955, he briefly assembled a full-size big band, to disastrous creative and commercial results but when he officially dissolved the group in 1956, he was a household name throughout Britain. In 1957 he co-founded the Jazz Couriers with fellow tenor saxophonist Tubby Hayes, scaling to even greater heights of fame. The Jazz Couriers amicably split in 1959.     

Around this time Scott began to again entertain the notion of a London-based jazz club in the tradition of the landmarks dotting New York's 52nd Street along with Pete King, a longtime collaborator who'd recently retired from active performing, he borrowed the money necessary to lease the building at 39 Gerrard Street and on October 31, 1959 opened Ronnie Scott's Club for business. Scott himself co-headlined the opening night along with Hayes and Parnell sales were promising, but the venue only began reaching true critical mass in 1961 when it hosted its first American act, Scott favorite Zoot Sims. In the months to follow, Ronnie Scott's was the setting of performances by a who's who of American tenor icons including Dexter Gordon, Roland Kirk, Stan Getz, Sonny Stitt, Ben Webster, and Sonny Rollins. In late 1965 the club moved to its present location on Frith Street, where before the end of the decade it would host everyone from Ella Fitzgerald to Albert Ayler, becoming the epicenter of London's jazz community. Although the club consumed much of his time, Scott continued touring with a quartet featuring pianist Stan Tracey during the late 1960s, he also spearheaded an eight-piece group with whom he created the most idiosyncratic and experimental music of his career. At the time of Scott's death on December 23, 1996, his namesake club was perhaps the most famous jazz venue in all of Europe.~ Jason Ankeny https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ronnie-scott-mn0000332807/biography                           

Personnel:  Tubby Hayes & Ronnie Scott (tenor sax), Terry Shannon (piano), Jeff Clyne (bass), and Bill Eyden (drums).

The Couriers of Jazz!

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Tommy Flanagan - Sunset And The Mockingbird - The Birthday Concert

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1998
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:49
Size: 160,1 MB
Art: Front

( 9:16)  1. Birdsong
(10:26)  2. With Malice Toward None
( 7:19)  3. Let's
( 5:27)  4. I Waited For You
(14:34)  5. Tin Tin Deo
( 5:52)  6. Sunset And The Mockingbird
(12:42)  7. The Balanced Scales / The Cupbearers
( 4:09)  8. Goodnight My Love

Recorded at the Village Vanguard on the night of his 67th birthday, Tommy Flanagan celebrated by recording this memorable set. Joined by bassist Peter Washington and drummer Lewis Nash, the brilliant pianist devours two up-tempo bop classics by Thad Jones, "Birdsong" and "Let's," plus a trio of tunes by Tom MacIntosh (a composer who merits wider recognition). His lengthy sojourn through Dizzy Gillespie's "Tin Tin Deo" explores new ground, while the late trumpeter's lesser-known "I Waited for You" is quite enchanting. Flanagan's arrangement of the title track, a rarely performed song from Duke Ellington's "Queen's Suite," matches the elegance of the late composer's recording. His dramatic solo of "Good Night My Love" is dedicated to his wife Diana, who is not only present but heard answering her husband's call to her at the end of the night. ~ Ken Dryden https://www.allmusic.com/album/sunset-and-the-mockingbird-mw0000040449

Personnel: Tommy Flanagan (piano); Peter Washington (bass); Lewis Nash (drums).

Sunset And The Mockingbird - The Birthday Concert

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Randy Weston - Earth Birth

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1995
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:41
Size: 107,2 MB
Art: Front

( 3:55)  1. Earth Birth
( 3:48)  2. Pam's Waltz
( 7:48)  3. Little Niles
( 2:58)  4. Babe's Blues
( 5:43)  5. Where
(10:24)  6. Hi-Fly
( 6:49)  7. Portrait of Billie Holiday
( 5:11)  8. Berkshire Blues
( 0:00)  9. Portrait of Vivian

Recorded in Montreal with 24 strings from the Montreal Symphony and two can't-miss jazz cohorts, bassist Christian McBride and drummer Billy Higgins, here we have another reunion between Weston and arranger Melba Liston in a collection of mostly early Weston tunes, some dating back to the early 1950s. The strings sound unearthly, as if they were recorded in a dead studio (the locale is the Ludget-Duvernay Hall of Montreal's Monument National), and even though Liston blends them with the piano in an integral manner, they respond stiffly; it's an uneasy, not terribly imaginative fusion. The most famous Weston tune, "Hi-Fly," is completely retooled into a cocktail-hour ballad it also features quite an intricate string chart and composer Weston enjoys poking around the tune's angles and corners. Coming after his exciting African experiments in the '90s, this CD, despite Weston's sharply etched solos, is a relatively minor nostalgic effort. ~ Richard S.Ginell https://www.allmusic.com/album/earth-birth-mw0000086449 

Personnel: Randy Weston (piano); Marcelle Mallette, Pascale Frenette, Marc Béliveau, Ariane Bresse, Isabelle Lessard, Daniel Godin, Hung Bang, Sophie Dugas, Nadia Francavilla, Monique Poitras, Denis Béliveau, Jeanne LeBlanc (violin); Suzanne Careau, Christiane Lampron, Andre Roy, Margot Aldrich, Jocelyne Bastien, Francine Lupien, Sylvie Laville, Lorraine Desmarais (viola); Sylvie Lambert, Christine Harvey, Jean-Luc Morin, Christine Giguère (cello); Jacques Beaudoin (double bass); Billy Higgins (drums)

Earth Birth

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Ken Navarro - Dreaming Of Trains

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:20
Size: 118,3 MB
Art: Front

(2:47)  1. Dream So Real
(4:46)  2. Self Propelled
(8:44)  3. True Stories
(8:28)  4. Dreaming Of Trains
(4:36)  5. The Buzz
(5:43)  6. Shared Air
(5:43)  7. Everything Being Is Dancing
(7:24)  8. The Stars, The Snow, The Fire
(3:05)  9. Gymnopedie No. 1

This is Ken Navarro's 19th CD release and is the follow up to his breakthrough release of 2008, The Grace of Summer Light which was named the #1 Contemporary Jazz CD of 2008 by Jazz Times magazine. Featured musicians include Jay Rowe from Special EFX and the Marion Meadows band, Tom Kennedy from the Al Dimeola band and the Mike Stern band and Joel Rosenblatt from Spyro Gyra. These 9 new recordings are built around strong melodic themes which flow perfectly within each composition. 

The reason a group of songs with this level of complexity can be so accessible is because they are beautiful, diverse, and there isn't the dissonance that is often the hallmark of progressive and fusion projects. Complex solos, arrangements and rhythms? Yes. Self serving edginess? No. ~ Editorial Reviews https://www.amazon.com/Dreaming-Trains-Ken-Navarro/dp/B002ZXZJDI

Dreaming Of Trains

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Kat Edmonson - Old Fashioned Gal

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:07
Size: 86,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:27)  1. Sparkle and Shine
(2:51)  2. I'd Be a Fool
(4:25)  3. A Voice
(3:08)  4. If
(3:01)  5. Canoe
(3:01)  6. Old Fashioned Gal
(4:44)  7. Please Consider Me
(3:11)  8. How's About It Baby
(2:31)  9. Goodbye Bruce
(3:33) 10. With You
(3:09) 11. Not My Time

Possessing a fleet, light voice and a sly touch, jazz vocalist Kat Edmonson brings both the songs and the sensibility of the Great American Songbook into the 21st century. Her debut 2009 debut album, Take to the Sky, split the difference between Cole Porter and the Cure, and as she continued to record over the course of the 2010s, she started to incorporate original material on her new albums. A native of Houston, Texas, Edmonson began to write songs as a child, and after attending South Carolina's College of Charleston for a time, she relocated to Austin, Texas to pursue a musical career. After an unsuccessful audition for the second season of American Idol, she hunkered down in Austin and developed her idiosyncratic vocal style. In 2009 she independently released her debut, Take to the Sky, which wound up climbing into the Top 20 of the Billboard jazz charts. Three years later she independently released Way Down Low, which made it to number one on Billboard's Heatseekers chart in the wake of positive notices on NPR and in The New York Times. After Way Down Low, Edmonson signed to Sony Masterworks, which released The Big Picture in 2014; the album was produced by Mitchell Froom. An appearance as a singer in Woody Allen's 2016 film Café Society appeared before she started work on her fourth album. Produced by Edmonson, the resulting Old Fashioned Gal was a collection of all originals.~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine https://www.allmusic.com/artist/kat-edmonson-mn0001735756/biography

Old Fashioned Gal

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