Duke Jordan - The Great Session

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:40
Size: 116.0 MB
Styles: Bop, Piano jazz
Year: 1982/1994
Art: Front

[6:36] 1. All The Things You Are
[7:28] 2. Moonglow
[6:38] 3. Satin Doll
[8:55] 4. Thinking Of You
[9:54] 5. A Night In Tunesia
[6:57] 6. Ladybird
[4:10] 7. Blues In The Closet

Bass – David Friesen; Drums – Philly Joe Jones; Piano – Duke Jordan. Recorded June 30, 1978.

One of many recordings by Duke Jordan for Steeplechase, this trio session pairs the pianist with bassist David Friesen and drummer Philly Joe Jones. There's a bit of hyperbole in the album's title, as the play list is hardly adventurous and the arrangements are average, in spite of the strong personnel. The date opens with a rather perfunctory rendition of "All the Things You Are" that incorporates Dizzy Gillespie's famous introductory vamp, and a spacious "Moonglow" followed by Duke Ellington's overly recorded "Satin Doll," a piece even many Ellington fans are tired of hearing. Jones sets up "A Night in Tunisia" with an extended fiery solo, with Jordan and Friesen firing on all cylinders in a romp through this bop standard. Friesen's delicious walking bass is the highlight of "Blues in the Closet." The CD edition adds a previously unissued track, Jordan's warm, low-key ballad "Thinking of You." ~Ken Dryden

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Andreas Varady - The Quest

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:56
Size: 146.4 MB
Styles: Guitar jazz
Year: 2018
Art: Front

[ 1:11] 1. Lost Memories
[ 8:49] 2. Radio Joint
[11:05] 3. Follow Me
[ 7:26] 4. The Time Is Now
[ 1:14] 5. Patience
[ 7:16] 6. The Quest
[ 7:34] 7. Story
[ 8:28] 8. Her Dream
[ 8:56] 9. Radiska
[ 1:54] 10. Outro

Andreas Varady: guitar, bass, vocals; Adrian Varady: drums; Bandi Varady: aoustic bass; Benito Gonzalez: piano; Radovan Tariška: saxophone.

Early-career hype can be a peculiar mix of blessing and curse. Andreas Varady certainly deserves some praise, and one could hardly ask for a more generous mentor and endorser than Quincy Jones ("It's not every day that you see a 15-year-old kid playing like George Benson!"). Pre-teen virtuosity and study of influences, however, inevitably have to give way to developing one's own voice. Old and new listeners alike should have no worries on that score. With his third recording coming as he approaches 21, Varady makes a promisingly bold leap towards coming into his own.

The titular quest doesn't refer to a goal but an intent to explore—"seeking cool things, playing cool music in cool places, enjoying it all and having fun doing what you wanna do," in the guitarist's words. Despite that prominent adjective, though, cool takes an easy second place behind hot on The Quest. The playing sizzles, the writing flies over the stylistic map with abandon, and the players' chemistry has the distinct brashness of youngsters freshly starting out and bursting with ambition.

The opening pair and brisk mid-album title track could almost make a listener wonder if they'd cued up a Pat Metheny Group recording by mistake. Benson, Wes Montgomery and Kurt Rosenwinkel make obvious touchstones as well, but more exciting is the way Varady spins his musical loves together. The leader shreds like a madman, yet never without purpose and smart deliberation. "Radiska" burns up the joint with some wild hard-bop piano and sax; the mid-tempo "The Time Is Now" and "Her Dream" coast with a warm mid-tempo ballad feel both classic and timeless. Each piece also boasts enough different sections and dynamics to leave those descriptions only a semi-accurate shorthand.

The time is indeed now for Andreas Varady. He's done his homework so much that the process sounds effortless. He's gone from reflecting influences to absorbing and reworking them. It just remains for the rest of us to excitedly watch where else this crazy talent will take him—all indications say it should be a remarkable journey. ~Geno Thackara

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Chick Corea - My Spanish Heart

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:41
Size: 155.0 MB
Styles: Fusion
Year: 1976/2016
Art: Front

[4:46] 1. Love Castle
[3:12] 2. The Gardens
[4:27] 3. Day Danse
[1:38] 4. My Spanish Heart
[6:00] 5. Night Streets
[6:15] 6. The Hilltop
[5:00] 7. Wind Danse
[5:17] 8. Armando's Rhumba
[1:34] 9. Prelude To El Bozo
[2:53] 10. El Bozo, Part I
[2:03] 11. El Bozo (Part 2)
[4:58] 12. El Bozo (Part 3)
[6:06] 13. Spanish Fantasy (Part 1)
[5:15] 14. Spanish Fantasy (Part 2)
[3:06] 15. Spanish Fantasy (Part 3)
[5:04] 16. Spanish Fantasy (Part 4)

This 1976 release features Chick Corea in what was then, and remains, a unique musical setting. While it is truly an electric jazz fusion record, it is also the only solo recording of Corea's on which he attempted to truly explore the Latin side of his musical heritage. My Spanish Heart marks a full-scale, yet thoroughly modern, exploration in the musical lineage Corea sprang from. Making full use of synthesizer technology, a string section, and synth-linked choruses -- of two voices, his own and that of Gayle Moran -- as well as percussionist Don Alias, drummer Steve Gadd, a full brass section, and the sparse use of Jean Luc Ponty ("Armando's Rumba") and bassist Stanley Clark, Corea largely succeeded in creating a Spanish/Latin tapestry of sounds, textures, impressions, and even two suites -- "Spanish Fantasy" and "El Bozo." The string quartet performs its intricate and gorgeously elegant arrangements with verve and grace on "Day Danse" and on the suites, with Corea's contrapuntal pianism creating a sharp yet warm contrast to the shifting tempos, wild interval leaps, and shimmering timbral balances that occur. The only pieces that sound dated on this double-album-length set are the fusion pieces, which are, with their production and knotty stop-and-start modulations and key signature equations -- complete with aggressive arpeggios and scalar linguistics -- destined to be limited in expression by the voice of their use of technology. Thus, "Love Castles," "The Gardens," and "Night Streets" suffer from their rather cheesy production despite their tastefully done double fusion semantics (jazz to rock to Latin music). There is no doubt that Corea's musicianship was up to any task he chose at this point in time. Simply put, he was compositionally and intellectually at the top of his game, and this record, despite the many of his that haven't aged well, still surprises despite its production shortcomings. ~Thom Jurek

My Spanish Heart

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Bob Manning - Spotlight On ...Bob Manning

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:42
Size: 120.7 MB
Styles: Vocal, Easy Listening
Year: 1994
Art: Front

[3:10] 1. These Foolish Things
[2:23] 2. I Had The Craziest Dream
[2:56] 3. That Old Feeling
[3:05] 4. When Your Lover Has Gone
[3:07] 5. P.S. I Love You
[2:47] 6. It's Easy To Remember
[2:46] 7. You've Changed
[3:09] 8. I'm Thru With Love
[3:09] 9. You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want To Do It)
[3:16] 10. Alone Together
[2:43] 11. The Very Thought Of You
[2:49] 12. Love Letters
[3:19] 13. I Hadn't Anyone Till You
[2:09] 14. It's All Right With Me
[2:42] 15. My Ideal
[3:04] 16. The Nearness Of You
[2:52] 17. My Love Song To You
[3:07] 18. Goodbye

Capitol's roster of pop vocalists in the '50s boasted an incredible number of household names, most of whom have been well-served in the reissue market. Bob Manning, one of the label's lesser-known lights, finally received his due with Spotlight on Bob Manning, an 18-track anthology of Manning's Capitol recordings from 1953-1955. Strongly influenced by Dick Haymes, Manning is remembered for his definitive version of Hoagy Carmichael's "The Nearness of You," which gave Manning a Top 20 hit in 1953 and helped make the song a standard. Capitol's Spotlight On series is sometimes maddeningly neglectful of hits, striving not to round up hits but to gather up traditional pop vocal performances by some of the label's most esteemed singers. Consequently, Manning's volume omits two of his three hit singles, but contains nine of the 12 songs from his 1955 album, Lonely Spell (also available in its entirety on a Japanese import CD). Manning performs standards such as "These Foolish Things" and "P.S. I Love You" with a warmth and intimacy that recalls Dick Haymes' sublime a cappella hits, but Manning's performances feature the orchestrations of Monty Kelly, Sid Feller, and Nelson Riddle. Despite overlooking two of Manning's three chart singles, the compiler found room for "My Love Song to You," a novelty ballad composed as a promotional gimmick to tie in with the television series The Honeymooners. As vocalists go, Manning is the equal of many better-known singers who signed with Capitol in the '50s, and his comparative obscurity is no way reflects a dearth of talent. ~Greg Adams

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Satsuki Iida - Moon River

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:23
Size: 126.8 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2014
Art: Front

[4:52] 1. Moon River
[4:26] 2. Love Letters
[3:52] 3. It Don't Mean A Thing
[5:01] 4. Our Love Is Here To Stay
[5:07] 5. Take The A Train
[6:27] 6. My Foolish Heart
[4:51] 7. Just The Way You Are
[5:37] 8. The Way We Were
[5:03] 9. Will You Still Be Mine
[4:32] 10. Summertime
[5:32] 11. Autumn In New York

Received the 26th Japan Jazz Vocal Award "Newcomer Award". Romantic Smokey Voice Iida Satsuki. It is one of the most interested as the orthodox young singer who can sing jazz standard straight.

Watanabe Hiroshi and Star Da Stars bassist grandfather Tatsuo Iida, father of Iida Jazz School Academy Director, the third generation of the jazz family. (Iida Jazz School is the oldest established jazz school in Tokyo, the 60th anniversary of its founding, has been producing many professional musicians until now. My mother is a classical piano teacher and composer.

Beginning the piano from the age of 3. Since age 14 he studied jazz vocal with Yoshiko Goto and long studied with Mr. Ishii Tomoko. Live debut at the 17-year-old Shinjuku "J". Started professional activities from the university, 3 years college. Grand prix was awarded in 2007 "7th JAZZ DAY Newcomer Vocal Grand Prix Contest". (Translated from Japanese.)

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Ken Peplowski, Alan Barnes - At The Watermill

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:11
Size: 146.9 MB
Styles: Bop, Swing
Year: 2015
Art: Front

[ 5:00] 1. Tippin'
[ 6:21] 2. Strollin'
[ 5:14] 3. Jubilation
[ 3:57] 4. Luiza
[ 8:54] 5. Together
[ 6:48] 6. Some Other Spring
[ 6:28] 7. Perdido
[ 6:04] 8. Menina Flor
[ 4:57] 9. Jazz Line Blues
[10:22] 10. Pee Wee's Blues

Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Producer – Alan Barnes; Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone – Ken Peplowski; Double Bass – Dave Green; Drums – Steve Brown; Piano – John Pearce. Recorded at the Watermill Jazz Club, 11th October 2010.

Alan Barnes’ Woodville label continues to attract some of the best of mainstream American players this time it’s clarinet and tenor player Ken Peplowoski. Alan takes out his full armoury of instruments for this session which enables the two frontline musicians to mix and match which brings a multitude of possibilities to the sound of the quintet. The backing trio is about as near perfect as you are likely to find in the UK.

Ken Peplowski is one of those musicians who appeared on the scene along with a host of what is known as the new mainstreamers such as Scott Hamilton and Warren Vache and played in much the same style but later became a little more adventurous without losing his basic style. In Alan Barnes he is teamed with his ideal partner as Alan is capable of playing in man styles.

There is much to admre on this album with all members of the quintet on top form with a good spread of instrumental variations. This album comes highly recommended in all departments. ~Roy Booth

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Harry James - Things Ain't What They Used To Be

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 1989
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:57
Size: 124,5 MB
Art: Front

(2:59)  1. Shine
(2:12)  2. Block Party
(3:28)  3. Proclamation
(3:09)  4. Slap Happy
(3:34)  5. Cottontail
(3:29)  6. I May Be Wrong
(2:45)  7. Or Words To That Effect
(2:30)  8. Big Boy
(2:44)  9. The Arrival
(2:35) 10. Raffles
(3:52) 11. Six, Two, and Even
(2:09) 12. Bells
(2:37) 13. There They Go
(2:22) 14. 'Cept February, Which Has 28
(3:25) 15. You Turned The Tables On Me
(2:40) 16. Snooty Fruity
(3:48) 17. Things Ain't What They Used To Be
(3:32) 18. Lover

American jazz musician Harry James learned to play the trumpet at age eight and became one of the most admired trumpet players of the big band era.

Born in Georgia in 1916, Harry James learned to play the trumpet at age eight and became one of the most admired jazz musicians of the big band era. He was so popular in the early 1940s that Columbia Records couldn't press enough of his records to meet demand. In 1943 he married film star Betty Grable and appeared in several movies. https://www.biography.com/people/harry-james-9352531

Things Ain't What They Used To Be

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Barbara Hendricks & Monty Alexander Trio - Tribute to Duke Ellington

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz 
Year: 1995
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 76:13
Size: 175,3 MB
Art: Front

(5:50)  1. Duke's Place
(3:21)  2. I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart
(2:54)  3. Don't Get Around Much Anymore
(3:46)  4. Prelude to a Kiss
(2:31)  5. Love You Madly
(5:34)  6. I Got It Bad
(5:04)  7. Brown-Skin Gal (In the Calico Gown)
(4:11)  8. Mood Indigo
(4:14)  9. What Am I Here For?
(3:42) 10. In a Sentimental Mood
(5:58) 11. Squeeze Me
(4:05) 12. Sophisticated Lady
(3:36) 13. Take the "A" Train
(3:36) 14. Solitude
(4:06) 15. Come Sunday
(4:18) 16. Caravan
(4:23) 17. Creole Love Call
(4:52) 18. It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)

Barbara Hendricks is widely regarded as one of the finest American lyric sopranos of her generation, both for her work on the operatic stage and in the concert hall. She possesses a vast repertory in the realm of German lieder and is known for her recitals of American, French and Scandinavian works. She has also sung in performances of Mozart's Mass in C minor, Brahms' Requiem, Mahler's Second Symphony, Del Tredici's Final Alice, and has frequently appeared in jazz concerts as well. In the realm of opera Hendricks has sung a variety of roles, including Pamina from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Gilda (Verdi's Rigoletto), Micaela (Bizet's Carmen), Tatiana (Eugene Onegin), Mimi and Liu (Puccini's La bohème and Turandot, respectively), and many more. Hendricks has appeared at most of the major operatic venues, including the Met, Paris Opera, La Scala, and Covent Garden. She has made many recordings, from best-selling Christmas CDs and Gershwin song albums to popular Schubert lieder and Verdi opera recordings. She has appeared on nearly 80 recordings spread over a variety of major labels, including DG, Decca, EMI, Sony, Philips, RCA, and Arte Verum. Barbara Hendricks was born in Stephens, AK, on November 20, 1948. After obtaining a degree at the University of Nebraska in chemistry and mathematics, Hendricks studied voice at Juilliard under Jennie Tourel. Hendricks' major debut was in 1974 at the San Francisco Opera in Cavalli's Ormindo as Erisbe, and that same year she made her recital debut at New York's Town Hall. In 1975 she appeared on her first recording (Decca), singing Clara in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. Hendricks soon became an international star, receiving a flood of invitations to the major operatic venues, concert halls, and music festivals. Her appearances with Herbert von Karajan (1977) and Leonard Bernstein (1985) were only two of many internationally acclaimed concert tours. From 1987 Hendricks has worked on behalf of refugees, mainly through the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. Since her 1994 debut at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Hendricks has regularly appeared at leading jazz festivals throughout the world. In 2006 Hendricks did not renew her contract with EMI, but formed her own label, Arte Verum. Via this new enterprise she appeared on five recordings in 2008, including an acclaimed disc of Poulenc works. A citizen and resident of Sweden, Hendricks married her manager Martin Engström in 1978, and the couple have three children.~ Robert Cummings https://www.allmusic.com/artist/barbara-hendricks-mn0000215176/biography
     
Jamaican-born pianist Monty Alexander is a sophisticated, prolific performer with an urbane, swinging style informed by the bop tradition, as well as the reggae and Caribbean folk he grew up with. Born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1944, Alexander first started playing piano around age four and took classical lessons from age six. By his teens, however, he had discovered jazz and was already performing in nightclubs. Although his early career found him covering pop and rock hits of the day, it was his love of jazz-oriented artists like Oscar Peterson, Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, and Nat King Cole that brought him the most inspiration.

~ Matt Collar..More...  https://www.allmusic.com/artist/monty-alexander-mn0000589256/biography

Tribute to Duke Ellington

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Max Roach - Deeds, Not Words

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 1958
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:50
Size: 102,3 MB
Art: Front

(7:49)  1. You Stepped Out Of A Dream
(7:09)  2. Filide
(4:15)  3. It's You Or No One
(4:59)  4. Jodie's Cha-Cha
(4:37)  5. Deeds, Not Words
(5:15)  6. Larry-Larue
(3:51)  7. Conversation
(5:51)  8. There Will Never Be Another You

This Max Roach Riverside date is notable for featuring the great young trumpeter Booker Little and for utilizing Ray Draper's tuba as a melody instrument; tenor saxophonist George Coleman and bassist Art Davis complete the excellent quintet. 

Highlights include "It's You or No One," "You Stepped Out of a Dream," and Roach's unaccompanied drum piece "Conversation." This is fine music from a group that was trying to stretch themselves beyond hard bop.~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/deeds-not-words-mw0000651771      

Personnel: Max Roach (drums); George Coleman (tenor saxophone); Booker Little (trumpet); Ray Draper (tuba); Art Davis, Oscar Pettiford (bass).

Deeds, Not Words

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Charles Mingus - Tonight At Noon

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 1961
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:15
Size: 89,6 MB
Art: Front

(6:00)  1. Tonight At Noon
(4:50)  2. Invisible Lady
(7:55)  3. 'Old' Blues For Walt's Torin
(9:42)  4. Peggy's Blue Skylight
(9:46)  5. Passions Of A Woman Loved

A valuable reissue for Mingus fans, Tonight at Noon compiles five tunes originally recorded for two of the great bassist's most important album's, 1957's The Clown and 1961's Oh Yeah. Though the two sessions cover somewhat different stylistic ground, they blend together seamlessly and amount to much more than a haphazard assemblage of dusty outtakes. The earlier session is the more restrained of the two, with Mingus and a typically responsive quintet (trombonist Jimmy Knepper, alto saxophonist Shafi Hadi, pianist Wade Legge and drummer Dannie Richmond) expertly weaving a path between the extremes of European impressionism (on the haunting "Passions of a Woman Loved") and hard bop (on the fast-paced title tune). The 1961 date is a more freewheeling journey into the blues and gospel roots of jazz via Duke Ellington, with Mingus switching to piano (an instrument on which he was more than proficient) and handing the bass duties over to Doug Watkins. The hard-swinging group also includes Mingus stalwarts Knepper and Richmond, along with the dynamic saxophone duo of Booker Ervin and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Though most of the compositions on Tonight at Noon are not well known (with the exception of "Peggy's Blue Skylight" from the 1961 session) and several make their only appearances in the Mingus catalog here, there's certainly nothing second rate about these tunes. Along with the time limitations of the LP era, one gets the impression that, if anything, they were left off the original albums because they were even more provocative than the selected cuts. This is vital, exciting music.~ Joel Roberts https://www.allaboutjazz.com/tonight-at-noon-charles-mingus-water-music-review-by-joel-roberts.php

Personnel: Charles Mingus, Bass, Piano, Vocals; Shafi Hadi, Alto Saxophone; Doug Watkins, Bass; Dannie Richmond, Drums; Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Saxophones; Wade Legge, Piano; Booker Ervin, Tenor Saxophone; Jimmy Knepper, Trombone.

Tonight At Noon

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Chris Byars - New York City Jazz

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:45
Size: 148,8 MB
Art: Front

(5:59)  1. Transfiguration
(8:10)  2. Quick Turnaround
(6:01)  3. Dawn in the City
(8:12)  4. Hot Dog
(6:48)  5. No Message
(9:08)  6. Chess
(5:13)  7. Bridge of Locks
(5:50)  8. The General's Song
(9:21)  9. B.G.'s Holiday

Chris Byars, the award winning alto saxophonist, composer, arranger, jazz historian and a 100% native New Yorker set out to "curate the state of jazz to create a sort of time capsule" for this album. What Byars successfully presents here is the genuine creative aspiration that prevails in world's most diverse and competitive artistic environment.

"Chris Byars has done a remarkable job reviving these neglected compositions of Frank Strozier while also putting his own stamp on them with his inventive arrangements." - Ken Dryden, New York City Jazz on (SCCD31824 'The Music of Frank Strozier')

Personnel:  Chris Byars alto saxophone, Flute;  John Mosca trombone;  Stefano Doglioni bass clarinet;  Pasquale Grasso guitar;  Ari Roland bass;  Stefan Schatz drums

New York City Jazz

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