Archie Shepp, Michel Marre - Passion

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:11
Size: 119.5 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz
Year: 1986/2016
Art: Front

[12:07] 1. Passion
[ 5:06] 2. Prelude To A Kiss
[ 5:19] 3. We'll Be Together Again
[ 5:11] 4. For Heaven's Sake
[ 8:48] 5. You're My Thrill
[ 9:09] 6. Little Folks
[ 6:27] 7. Never Thought

In mid 80s one of free jazz cult figures American tenor Archie Shepp returns to his early r'n'b roots again and again. Usually combined with vocals and bluesy hard-bop numbers, Shepp's albums from that period are often a mixed bag, but for followers contain lot of interesting moments. One of better known albums of such kind is his "Down Home New York", recorded in States and released on renown Italian Soul Note label in 1984. "You're My Thrill" (reissued later on CD as "Passion" with two bonus tracks) was recorded in France and released on tiny domestic Vent Du Sud label. Both vinyl and CD (reissued in 1990) versions are real obscurities. From very first album sounds it becomes obvious that Shepp (or label) obviously tries to re-vitalize "Down Home NY.."'s successful formula. At the very same way, "You're My Thrill" opens with 10+ minute long catchy r'n'b number of the same way (actually, it is same song as "Down Home.."'s opener, just titled here as "Passion" and completed with slightly different lyrics).

Then (strictly according to previous album formula again) we have series of hard hard bop ballads with a few freer reeds solos and some of vocals.In contrast to Soul Note release where Shepp plays with team of renown Americans (incl. Kenny Werner on piano and Saheb Sarbib on bass among others), on "You're My Thrill" we hear mostly domestic European band. Weirdest collaborator is German keyboardist Siegfred Kessler using solely analog synths with extremely non-jazzy plasticky effervescent sound. Supporting band's leader trumpeter/tuba player Michel Marre demonstrates few solos, not on the level of Shepp's better collaborators' though. CD version's two bonuses are more lively compositions, contain more inspired (and a bit freer) playing but can hardly save all album. Obscure and hardly attractive for casual listener, this album still contains its two or three attractive moments for Shepp's fan or collector.

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Venissa Santi - Big Stuff

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:01
Size: 121.4 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[5:11] 1. Sunny Side Of The Street
[4:11] 2. Big Stuff
[5:25] 3. What's New
[3:58] 4. My Man
[4:04] 5. Strange Fruit
[3:37] 6. Stormy Weather
[5:29] 7. You're My Thrill
[3:08] 8. Travelin' Light
[3:45] 9. Involved Again
[4:55] 10. That Old Devil Called Love
[3:45] 11. I Cover The Water Front Monks Dream-
[5:28] 12. You Better Go Now

Venissa Santí: Vocalist​​; ​François Zayas: Drums, Percussion; Tim Thompson: Trumpet; Chris Aschman: Trumpet, and Flugelhorn; John Stenger: Piano; Jason Fraticelli: Bass​; Cuco Castellanos: Congas; Madison Rast: Bass; Paul Klinefelter: Contrabass; Jon Thompson: Clarinet; Jef Lee Johnson: Guitar.

Born in NY, trained in jazz in Philadelphia, and schooled in sacred/secular music in her ancestral homeland of Cuba, vocalist Venissa Santí traveled a long road to develop her signature musical style. She is a 2008 PEW Fellow, signed to Sunnyside Records. Venissa’s artistry stems from the necessity to express the many influences that have nourished her spirit as a Cuban American. She was born in Ithaca, New York and hails from a line of Cuban artists intellectuals, but it was her grandfather, Jacobo Ros Capablanca, a Cuban composer who instilled in her a life-long passion for music.

As a child she grew up listening to the sounds of Ravel, Celia Cruz and Michael Jackson as well as theatrical productions and jazz. After completing high school, she moved to Philadelphia, where she enrolled at the University of the Arts, connected with her Cuban roots (via her grandfather’s compositions) and majored in Jazz Vocal Performance.

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The Real Thing - New Wrapping

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:50
Size: 93.5 MB
Styles: Soul-jazz
Year: 2003
Art: Front

[5:31] 1. No Bones About It
[3:23] 2. Schmell
[4:27] 3. Summer Blue
[5:53] 4. La Garota
[5:05] 5. Wrap It Up
[4:02] 6. On The Bus
[4:46] 7. The Black Pearl
[3:37] 8. Swedish Compliments
[4:00] 9. Maybe Paris

The Real Thing was a Soul Jazz Band from Oslo, Norway, founded in 1992 when Sigurd Køhn and Palle Wagnberg formed the forerunner, The B3 Blues Band with Vidar Busk and Hamlet Pedersen. They changed the name when Staffan William-Olsson and Fredrik Carl Stormer joined the band. Størmer was replaced by Torstein Ellingsen in 1995, and Ellingsen again by Børre Dalhaug in 1998. Due to the sudden death of the band's saxophonist Sigurd Køhn in December 2004 The Real Thing was hibernating until a reunion in 2010.

The quartet released eight albums, their debut in 1992 with the album The Real Thing and later both live and studio recordings. They for the most play original music, combining influences from American Blue Note jazz (represented by people such as like Jimmy Smith, George Benson and Wes Montgomery) and elements from modern popular music. The result is a mixture of genres including swing, blues, soul, Latin, funk and rock.

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Nina Simone - Let It Be Me

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:27
Size: 120.1 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 1987
Art: Front

[3:01] 1. My Baby Just Cares For Me
[3:17] 2. Sugar In My Bowl
[6:00] 3. Fodder On My Wings
[3:54] 4. Be My Husband
[3:37] 5. Just Like A Woman
[3:19] 6. Balm In Gilead
[4:30] 7. Stars
[2:54] 8. If You Pray Right (Heaven Belongs To You)
[7:15] 9. If You Knew Let It Be Me
[4:51] 10. Four Women
[5:02] 11. Mississippi Goddam
[4:40] 12. Baltimore

Drums – Cornell McFadden; Guitar, Bass [Electric] – Arthur Adams; Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone. Recorded live at Vine St.

Nina Simone's live performances have a power and an intimacy all their own, and those qualities stand out in this 1987 recording from Vine Street. It's a stunning form of cabaret singing, dramatic without melodrama, and with roots that reach to Billie Holiday's surprising success with "Strange Fruit." Simone can add profundity to a usually carefree song like "My Baby Just Cares for Me," and the range of the performance broadens with the startling "Be My Husband," a simple pattern reduced to the naked force of a field holler, and the stark hymn "Balm in Gilead." Carefully chosen songs from Randy Newman, Bob Dylan, and Janis Ian achieve new dimensions in Simone's treatments. Her own deeply felt "Four Women" and "Mississippi Goddam" are potent and enduring protests. There's some effectively spare accompaniment from guitar, bass, and drums, but Simone's piano is the essential instrumental voice, from slow barrelhouse to Bach. ~Stuart Broomer

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John Swanson - If We Only Knew

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:27
Size: 104.0 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2014
Art: Front

[4:15] 1. Easier Said Than Done
[3:13] 2. Just Around The Corner
[3:56] 3. Nobody Home
[3:40] 4. If We Only Knew
[5:04] 5. Chasin' Jeanie Around
[3:51] 6. Good To Go
[4:00] 7. I Just Stopped By To Say Hello
[3:11] 8. Sycamore Drive
[3:17] 9. Have I Got A Deal For You
[3:28] 10. Feelin' Hit
[3:44] 11. Ivory Tower Man
[3:42] 12. Takin' My Time

Smooth with full 30+ piece big band setting the tone for male crooner vocals. Nostalgic sound that might be heard in the 40’s, 50’s, or 60’s.

"I like songs with characters, places, foods, drinks. Tangible subject matter makes the best stories. The world around you is the lyrics. You just have to come up with a melody. You cannot hide from yourself in songwriting - you're in there at every turn. It demands honesty. Sometimes I'll write a song about some "other" people. You know, from a cool, detached observer point of view...then I'll go back and listen and think "Swanee, who you kidding? That's just you in that song. As important as creating original music is to me, playing the standards is just as important. That's one of the things I love so much about jazz and blues. There is no such thing as "cover music". Playing standards is not just accepted in jazz; it's required. It's required to be able to speak the language and to help define your own style.

I would list the great New Orleans bluesman Lonnie Johnson as my all-time fav. He was an innovative guitarist, a captivating singer, a brilliant songwriter, an A-list side-man, and a one-of-a-kind soloist. LJ was one of the most complete musicians ever. He pretty much exemplifies everything I would ever hope to be as a musician. Unless you happen to be Bob Dylan or Louis Armstrong you ain't gonna change the world with a musical instrument; but you can change YOUR world with one." ~"Swanee"

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Terence Blanchard - Bounce

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:13
Size: 153.9 MB
Styles: Trumpet jazz
Year: 2003
Art: Front

[8:40] 1. On The Verge
[6:29] 2. Passionate Courage
[7:40] 3. Fred Brown
[7:31] 4. Nocturna
[6:00] 5. Azania
[7:28] 6. Footprints
[8:56] 7. Transform
[7:20] 8. Innocence
[7:05] 9. Bounce Let's Go Off

Bass – Brandon Owens; Drums – Eric Harland; Electric Piano – Robert Glasper (tracks: 2 to 6, 8); Guitar – Lionel Loueke (tracks: 1 to 8); Piano – Aaron Parks (tracks: 1, 2, 4 to 8); Soprano Saxophone – Brice Winston (tracks: 1 to 3, 5 to 8); Trumpet – Terence Blanchard.

Although he’s spent much of the past 15 years scoring films for Spike Lee and others, trumpeter Terence Blanchard certainly hasn’t forgotten about jazz, as his impressive Blue Note debut makes clear. Bounce finds the former Jazz Messenger having grown well past his early days as part of the “young lions” phenomenon of the ‘80s into a mature, individual artist exploring a wide palette of jazz colors. Like the best jazz artists working today, Blanchard has an awareness of the music’s past and present and openness to influences outside the jazz world (at least, that is, to those who would offer a narrow definition of all that jazz encompasses). Along with a band of talented young stars in the making (Aaron Parks on piano, Brandon Owens on bass, Eric Harland on drums, Lionel Louke on guitar and Brice Winston on saxophone), Blanchard deftly blends neo bebop and Latin grooves, New Orleans funk and African rhythms into a cohesive, expressive, contemporary whole.

Among Blanchard’s impressive original compositions, his “Azania” digs deep into Afro-Caribbean traditions, including a wordless chant from Louke, while the title tune (which is paired with former partner Donald Harrison’s “Let’s Go Off”) is flavored with the down-home gumbo of his (and most of the band’s) Crescent City home. Blanchard even delves into free form funk, with the addition of Robert Glasper on Fender Rhodes, on the fiery original “Fred Brown” and on an edgy reworking of Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints.”

A generous leader and mentor, Blanchard gives plenty of room for band members to express themselves with extended solos, and in the case of Parks, Harland and Owens, with notable originals of their own. While never hogging the spotlight, Blanchard is an adroit soloist himself, always in full command of his instrument whether playing fast and furious runs or moody ballads. With Bounce, Blanchard proves himself a jazz artist very much of the moment and a jazz man for all seasons. ~Joel Roberts

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Robert Stewart - Judgement

Styles: Saxophone Jazz 
Year: 1993
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:56
Size: 105,7 MB
Art: Front

(5:24)  1. Serene
(4:26)  2. Speak Through Your Horn
(4:59)  3. Revelations
(8:36)  4. Judgement
(6:33)  5. Invitation
(5:59)  6. Familiar Changes
(3:41)  7. Soul Searchin'
(6:15)  8. As Time Goes By

Old Wine, Old Bottles. I was cleaning out my to review list recently and came across a couple of older RED Records releases that I had not previously spun under the laser. Tenor Saxophonist Robert Stewart emerged first and I found this disc to me most enjoyable. Judgement is one of the most thoroughly entertaining jazz offerings that is hiding its light under the proverbial basket. Robert Stewart has made his name being a musical jack-of-all-trades. He has orchestrated and arranged film scores ( Howard’s End and Remains of the Day ), acted as engineer (Dennis Brown’s Live In Montego Bay Sonic Sound 39), produced ( Welcome To the Universe, Twisted 11753) and even performed with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra ( Jazz At The Lincoln Center: They Came To Swing, Sony 66379). He has released two discs on RED Records and Two on Warner Brothers. The All Music Guide cites Judgement as having been released on World Stage Records. It is the same recording as that released on RED, for whom I credit with the first release. Equal Representation. Judgement has a little of everything, ballads, bossa nova, Hard Bop blues, minor blues, and one standard. The blues are the hard hitters with the “Cornbread”-like “Speak Through Your Horn” and the “Watermelon Man”-like “Soul Searchin’”. The ballads, “Serene” and “Revelations” are silky smooth and soft. “As Time Goes By” betrays Stewart’s warm, broad tone as being influenced by Long Tall Dexter, Ben Webster, Hank Mobley, and Sonny Rollins. No Coltrane here, No. Stewart is joined by Eric Reed on piano, Billy Higgins on drums, and Mark Shelby on Bass. The support is solid and crisply recorded. Reed, who most lately has been recording with Wynton Marsalis’ Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and his Septet. Here he plays with a controlled funky abandon that he previously had little opportunity for. Higgins is his propulsive self. And Shelby, a rock bassist by trade, pulls a few jazz tricks out of his sleeves. This sold support along with Stewart’s solid tone make this disc readily accessible to all. A superb jazz recording. ~ C.Michael Bailey https://www.allaboutjazz.com/judgement-robert-stewart-red-records-review-by-c-michael-bailey.php

Personnel: Robert Stewart: Tenor Saxophone; Billy Higgins: Drums; Eric Reed: Piano; Mark Shelby: Bass.

Judgement

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Renee Geyer - Difficult Woman

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1994
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:58
Size: 103,7 MB
Art: Front

(4:15)  1. Close
(3:47)  2. Careless
(4:30)  3. Difficult Woman
(2:05)  4. God only Knows
(3:30)  5. Foggy Highway
(5:34)  6. Summer, Winter, Spring and Fall
(4:56)  7. Just the Thought of You
(4:35)  8. Sweet Guy
(5:21)  9. Real
(3:10) 10. He Was Too Good to Me
(3:11) 11. Trouble

Renée Geyer is Australia's most respected and successful soul singer, with a recording career of nearly 30 years. Her career began around 1971 in Sydney, when a girlfriend took her along to the rehearsal of friends who were forming a band. Geyer was encouraged to get up and have a sing and was instantly invited to join as singer. Although she was so shy in the beginning she couldn't face the audience, musicians noticed her, and Geyer was invited to join one more experienced band after another until 1971, when she became part of an ambitious jazz fusion group called Sun. Geyer was still just 19. After one album (Sun '72), Sun and Geyer parted company; Geyer eventually found herself part of a group called Mother Earth, still with jazz leanings but also incorporating the soul and R&B Geyer loved and excelled at. With Mother Earth, she started touring and was offered a solo recording contract. She insisted that Mother Earth provide the backings on her first album. For her second album, the cream of Melbourne musicians were assembled for the sessions. Geyer formed such a strong bond with these musicians, but by the time the It's a Man's World album was released and her powerfully provocative version of the James Brown title song was a big hit, Geyer was ready to throw her lot in with those musicians rather than be a solo performer.

Her two solo albums so far had been cover versions or sourced songs, apart from the single "Heading in the Right Direction." The Renée Geyer Band wrote the songs for 1975's Ready to Deal album in the studio and toured extensively. A live album, Really.. Really Love You, followed, based on Geyer's building reputation as a powerfully voiced, raunchy performer. That reputation found its way to America and led to an invitation to record an album in Los Angeles with famed Motown producer Frank Wilson. While the Movin' Along album provided another hit at home, in America Stares and Whispers created confusion. R&B stations loved the record, but didn't know what to do when they discovered Geyer was a white Jewish girl from Australia. For the next few years, Geyer bounced between Australia and America, working in Australia and recording two more albums in America. When 1981's So Lucky album presented her with a huge hit with "Say I Love You" both in Australia and New Zealand, it became necessary to put the American dream aside for two years. In 1983, Geyer returned to base herself in America permanently, still keeping in touch with her Australasian fans with tours. While in America, Geyer became part of a group called Easy Pieces with former members of the Average White Band. But the album took so long to record, by the time it was finished, the group had never performed and were going their separate ways. Geyer spent several years in America doing session work for Sting (the fade vocal on "We'll Be Together"), Neil Diamond, Jackson Browne, and others, touring with Joe Cocker and Chaka Khan and others, and writing songs. During one foray back to Australia, Geyer was invited to sing the Paul Kelly song "Foggy Highway" for the soundtrack of a TV series based on the seven deadly sins. Kelly was so impressed by Geyer's version, he offered to produce an album and wrote some of the songs, including the title track, which (alongside "It's a Man's Man's World" has become Geyer's signature song, Difficult Woman). The working relationship with Paul Kelly was such a happy and satisfying one, Geyer decided to base herself back in Australia. With Paul Kelly and Joe Camilleri (Jo Jo Zep, Black Sorrows) producing, she recorded 1999's Sweet Life album.

At the end of 1999, Geyer released her frank life story, Confessions of a Difficult Woman through Harper Collins. ~ Ed Nimmervoll https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ren%C3%A9e-geyer-mn0000884390

Difficult Woman

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Stefon Harris, David Sanchez, Christian Scott - Ninety Miles

Styles: Vibraphone, Saxophone And Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:09
Size: 124,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:04)  1. Nengueleru
(4:17)  2. E'cha
(6:47)  3. City Sunrise
(3:53)  4. The Forgotten Ones
(6:21)  5. Black Action Figure
(6:30)  6. Congo
(9:28)  7. And This Too Shall Pass
(5:01)  8. Brown Belle Blues
(5:46)  9. La Fiesta Va

They're all relative youngsters in a jazz world that still finds nonagenarians like Dave Brubeck hitting the summer festival circuit. Tenor saxophonist David Sanchez may be the elder statesman on the marquis of Ninety Miles, with vibraphonist Stefon Harris in the middle position at 38 and trumpeter Christian Scott still on the shy side of 30, but each of them has already made his mark, making this an all-star in-the-making American/Cuban collaboration on an upward trajectory. Scott's visibility has been soaring, with an album almost every year since Rewind That (Concord, 2006), and delivering incendiary live performances like his 2010 Ottawa Jazz Festival appearance. Harris' career has unfolded a little more slowly since bursting out with Cloud of Red Dust (Blue Note, 1998), but an impressive 2006 Montreal Jazz Festival appearance and sophomore set with his electrified Blackout on Urbanus (Concord, 2009) proves his mesh of cerebral sophistication and get-down grooves remains intact. Sánchez is even more patient, with albums coming every three or four years, but in the time between Cultural Survival (Concord, 2008) and now, he's kept busy with Kenny Werner, heard in a 2009 Montreal performance and on the pianist's Balloons (HalfNote, 2011). For non-Americans, the significance of Ninety Miles the distance between coastal United States and Cuba might be lost; small, perhaps, but with the troubled past between the two nations, it's always held greater significance. Over a year of red tape was required to bring Harris, Sánchez and Scott together with two outstanding Cuban piano quartets one led by Rember Duharte, the other by Harold López-Nussa, who wowed audiences at Germany's 2010 Enjoy Jazz Festival but it was clearly worth the effort. Ninety Miles combines originals from the two Cuban pianists with two tunes by Sánchez and three from Harris, including a new look at the title track to the vibraphonist's Black Action Hero (Blue Note, 1999) that's faithful, but achieves far greater liftoff, thanks to López-Nussa's drummer, brother Ruy A Lopez Nussa and percussionist Edgar Martinez Ochoa. It's a song that defines the entire set, filled with irresistible rhythms, memorable melodies and some of the most flat-out exhilarating playing heard from everyone involved. A marriage (well, two, really) made in heaven, then, but one that doesn't neglect the need to balance the more energetic material with some much-needed respite. Despite being propelled lightly by Ochoa's bata, Sánchez "The Forgotten Ones" is an atmospheric breather, a four-minute duet for the saxophonist and the shimmering, ethereal Harris. And while the three stars are working with two similarly configured Cuban groups, Osmar Salazar's electric bass on tracks like the effervescent "Congo" pushes the bottom end differently than acoustic bassist Yandy Martinez González's Latin swing on Harris' "And This Too Shall Pass."  Without compositional representation, Scott has to rely on his inestimable chops and taste to make his presence felt, but with brash solos like his searing, stratospheric work on "Congo," there's little fear of being ignored. Together with Harris, Sánchez and their Cuban friends, Ninety Miles is music that could bridge the gap if it was ninety light years. ~ John Kelman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/ninety-miles-stefon-harris-concord-picante-review-by-john-kelman.php

Personnel: Stefon Harris: vibraphone; David Sanchez: tenor saxophone; Christian Scott: trumpet (1-3, 5-8); Rember Duharte: piano (1, 6 8), voice (6); Osmar Salazar: electric bass (1, 6, 8); Eduardo Barroetabena: drums (1, 6, 8); Jean Roberto San Miguel: batá, congas, percussion (1, 6, 8); Harold López-Nussa: piano (2-3, 5, 7, 9); Yandy Martinez Gonzalez: bass (2-3, 5, 7, 9); Ruy Adrian López-Nussa: drums (2-3, 5, 7, 9); Edgar Martinez Ochoa: congas, djembe, percussion (2-3, 5, 7, 9), batá (4).

Ninety Miles

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Vladimir Shafranov Trio - Kids Are Pretty People

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 66:30
Size: 185,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:01)  1. O Que Tinha De Ser
(5:07)  2. With Malice Toward None
(6:12)  3. Avila And Tequila
(6:52)  4. I Wish I Knew
(3:44)  5. Cinema Paradiso 'Love Theme'
(5:54)  6. Glad To Be Unhappy
(5:16)  7. Firm Roots
(6:08)  8. Brigas Nunca Mals 'No More Fighting'
(4:15)  9. Easy Walker
(3:26) 10. Cup Bearers
(6:50) 11. Kids Are Pretty People
(4:36) 12. Prelude No.20
(3:02) 13. It Never Entered My Mind

Vladimir Shafranov , Russian jazz pianist , born December 31, 1946, residing in Jomala.Vladimir started playing piano and violin at four years of age. At the beginning of 1973, he moved from his hometown St. Petersburg to Israel . A few years later, he moved to Finland and since 1980 he is a Finnish citizen. During his time in Finland he played with the best Finnish jazz musicians. 1983 moved to New York where Vladimir played with musicians like Art Farmer , Stan Getz , Chet Baker , George Coleman , Ron Carter , Dizzy Gillespie and Al Foster . Nowadays Vladimir lives in Jomala with his wife Lena. They have three children, Alexandra (f 92), Rebecca (f 97) and David (f 99). He composes and releases regular discs. Famous producers include Kompass Records, Atelier Sawano and Venus Records. https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=sv&u=https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Shafranov&prev=search

Personnel:  Vladimir Shafranov - piano; Pekka Sarmanto - bass;  Jukkis Uotila - drums.

Kids Are Pretty People

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