Wallace Roney Sextet - Kind Of Blue: Copenhagen Jazz Festival

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 85:14
Size: 196,4 MB
Art: Front

(17:14)  1. So What
(12:57)  2. Freddie Freeloader
( 5:18)  3. Blue In Green
(14:14)  4. All Blues
(11:57)  5. Flamenco Sketches
( 6:04)  6. Milestones
(10:42)  7. Ah-Leu-Cha
( 6:44)  8. The Theme

Trumpeter Wallace Roney is a forward-thinking, post-bop musician with a healthy respect for the jazz tradition. Blessed with a warm yet plaintive trumpet tone and a lithe improvisational style, Roney's distinctive playing bears the influence of such legendary predecessors as Miles Davis, Clifford Brown, and Woody Shaw. While many of his albums display his talent for swinging and harmonically advanced acoustic jazz, others reveal his love of genre-bending, electrified funk, hip-hop, and soul. Born in Philadelphia in 1960, Roney grew up alongside his younger brother, saxophonist Antoine Roney, and first displayed an interest in playing the trumpet around age four. As an adolescent, he enrolled in Philadelphia's Settlement School of Music where he studied trumpet privately with Sigmund Hering of the Philadelphia Orchestra. From there, he attended the Duke Ellington School of Music in Washington, D.C., where he gained further tutelage under Langston Fitzgerald of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. At the same time that Roney was receiving formal music training, his father was encouraging him to transcribe jazz solos of artists like Clifford Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, and others. Consequently, by his teens, Roney was an accomplished performer appearing regularly with both classical chamber groups and jazz ensembles. During this time, he took lessons with several trumpet luminaries including Gillespie, Clark Terry, and Woody Shaw. He also had the opportunity to play with pianist Cedar Walton's group. After high school, Roney attended both Berklee School of Music in Boston and Howard University before relocating to New York City in the early '80s. Although he had already played with such luminaries as drummer Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, replacing Wynton Marsalis, who was touring with Herbie Hancock's V.S.O.P. Quartet in 1981, Roney's initial time in New York was a struggle that also found him taking jobs in Latin dance and other kinds of bands to make ends meet. His break came in 1985 when he toured with Miles Davis alum/drummer Tony Williams, appearing on two Williams' albums Foreign Intrigue in 1985 and Civilization in 1986. Also around this time, he returned to Blakey's Jazz Messengers, this time replacing trumpeter Terence Blanchard. These esteemed gigs helped launch Roney into the upper echelons of the jazz scene. As a solo artist, Roney made his debut in 1987 with the album Verses on Muse, featuring drummer Williams, saxophonist Gary Thomas, pianist Mulgrew Miller, and bassist Charnett Moffett. Several more Muse albums followed, all of them sophisticated showcases for Roney's adventurous, post-bop and modal-influenced style. While Roney had long admired Miles Davis, an admitted influence who had mentored him on and off since first hearing him play at Davis' Carnegie Hall birthday gala in 1983, it was during Davis' famed 1991 tribute concert to Gil Evans at Montreux (later released as Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux) that he cemented his image as the heir apparent to Davis' legacy. Invited by Quincy Jones to participate in the concert, Roney sat next to Davis, trading solos on various Evans arrangements culled from such classic Davis releases as Birth of the Cool, Miles Ahead, and Sketches of Spain. Tragically, Davis, who was gravely ill at the time, died roughly a month after the Montreux concerts.

Following his high-profile show with Davis, Roney had established himself as a rising jazz star. He built upon this renown, signing a major-label deal with Warner Bros. and releasing several well-received albums with his brother, saxophonist Antoine Roney, and wife, pianist Geri Allen, including 1993's Misterios, 1995's Wallace Roney Quintet, and 1996's Village. Conversely, during this period Roney appeared on several of Allen's albums including 1997's Eyes in the Back of Your Head and 1998's The Gathering. In 2000, Roney took a creative turn toward funk, hip-hop, and experimental post-bop with the album No Room for Argument on Concord. It was a direction he stuck with through several more albums for Highnote, including 2004's Prototype and 2005's Mystikal. Roney never fully retreated from straight-ahead jazz, though, and generally incorporated a variety of jazz styles on his albums. This varied approach is represented on such releases as 2007's Jazz, 2010's If Only for One Night, and 2012's Home. In 2013, Roney delivered Understanding, his sixth album for Highnote. Also in 2013, he premiered his live version of saxophonist Wayne Shorter's "Universe," a long-form orchestral composition originally written for the Miles Davis' quintet in the late '60s. Abandoned for decades, "Universe" was eventually given to Roney, who spent much of the next several years touring the piece, which included playing an NPR broadcast performance at the 2014 Detroit Jazz Festival. In 2015, Roney appeared as a member of the ensemble Powerhouse on the album In an Ambient Way, which also included saxophonist/producer Bob Belden, drummer Lenny White, keyboardist Kevin Hays, guitarist Oz Noy, and bassist Daryl Johns. A reworking of Miles Davis' 1969 recording In a Silent Way, In an Ambient Way was the brainchild of Belden, who died a month before its release. After Belden's passing, Roney took time off from his "Universe" activities to tour with Powerhouse. ~ Matt Collar https://www.allmusic.com/artist/wallace-roney-mn0000813629/biography

Personnel:  Wallace Roney-trumpet;  Mark Turner-tenor sax;  Vincent Herring-alto sax;  Benny Green-piano;  Buster Williams-bass;  Jimmy Cobb-drums

Kind Of Blue: Copenhagen Jazz Festival

---

Pharez Whitted - For The People

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:40
Size: 151,9 MB
Art: Front

(5:37)  1. Watusi boogaloo
(5:56)  2. If they could only see
(6:48)  3. Another kinda blues
(5:36)  4. Freedom song
(5:43)  5. For the people
(4:25)  6. It is what it is
(7:33)  7. Sad eyes
(6:38)  8. Keep the faith
(6:27)  9. The unbroken promise
(5:08) 10. Venture
(5:45) 11. Hope springs eternal

Indianapolis-born trumpeter Pharez Whitted has kept a low profile in the new millennium. He's busied himself with teaching, attending to his duties as Director of Jazz Studies at Chicago State University, performing live and appearing as a sideman on a scant number of under-the-radar albums, but none of this has helped to boost his reputation beyond his Midwestern home base. His fourteen year silence between Mysterious Cargo (Motown, 1996) and Transient Journey (Owl, 2010) didn't help matters in the visibility department, but Whitted's making up for lost time now. For The People finds Whitted in fine form, delivering funky hard bop, sunny selections and probing fare with equal skill. His horn work and writing both take center stage here, as he moves through eleven originals with his simpatico sextet. Eddie Harris-influenced funk-meets-hard bop ("Another Kinda Blue"), John Coltrane-like mysticism ("Freedom Song"), Latin-tinged post-bop ("Keep The Faith") and muted melodicism ("For The People") all come into the picture at various times. Whitted's always-focused horn lights the way throughout, whether taking on a flugelhorn-like shine ("If They Could Only See"), working in fiery, Freddie Hubbard-derived fashion ("Another Kinda Blue") or turning into Terence Blanchard-esque territory ("The Unbroken Promise"). While some of the tunes try to pack in a few too many solos, it's understandable that Whitted would want to showcase these musicians. 

Guitarist Bobby Broom, who co-produced the album with Whitted, saxophonist Eddie Bayard, who's capable of delivering molten soul with his tenor and slightly mellower asides with soprano, and pianist Ron Perrillo are all deserving of the space they're given. Bassist Dennis Carroll, who establishes himself right out of the gate with some springy bass on "Watusi Boogaloo," and drummer Greg Artry, who sounds best when things get funky, also deserve a nod for their work. After a long drought, it seems that Pharez Whitted has found the waters of inspiration and virility that will allow him to teach, play and record. Now, people outside of the Chicago area can take notice of Whitted's winning work.~ Dan Bilaswsky https://www.allaboutjazz.com/for-the-people-pharez-whitted-origin-records-review-by-dan-bilawsky.php

Personnel: Pharez Whitted: trumpet; Eddie Bayard: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone; Bobby Broom: guitar; Ron Perrillo: piano, keyboards; Dennis Carroll: bass; Greg Artry: drums.

For The People

---

Nelson Riddle and his Orchestra - Sea Of Dreams

Styles: Jazz, Big Band
Year: 1958
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 33:35
Size: 77,6 MB
Art: Front

(2:41)  1. Out Of The Night
(3:31)  2. My Isle Of Golden Dreams
(2:32)  3. Tangi Tahiti
(2:53)  4. Dream
(2:23)  5. Theres No You
(3:22)  6. Drifting And Dreaming
(2:46)  7. Easter Isle
(2:22)  8. Lets Fall In Love
(3:12)  9. Polka Dots And Moonbeams
(1:54) 10. Put Your Dreams Away (For Another Day)
(3:12) 11. Autumm Leaves
(2:42) 12. Sea Of Dreams

Sea Of Dreams by Nelson Riddle (1921–1985) was released in 1958 on Capitol Records, but not only did it have to fend off a glut of Exotica releases of all flavors, for Riddle himself was his biggest competitor in the realms of string-laden Easy Listening: His own album C'mon… Get Happy, released in the same year, is Riddle’s more successful album, peaking at #20 in the Billboard Charts. However, Sea Of Dreams is much more lush, romantic and, most important in the given context, exotic. If you are begging for sarcasm, one could say that Riddle copies Les Baxter’s sound perfectly, which would neither be an insult, nor a coincidence, for Riddle teamed up with Baxter quite a lot and was in fact hired by him in order to come up with releases on Capitol Records. If you are craving for the romantic side of the Exotica genre, you are making the right choice with Sea Of Dreams. Instead of interweaving exotic percussion with the surroundings, Riddle concentrates exclusively on the strings, leaving a small niche for mallet instruments and bells of all kinds. In his later years, Riddle presented some variety in his albums, but here, the sphere of action is much more restricted, or as the saying goes, once you know one song, you know them all. The coherence isn’t bad at all, though, for romantic Exotica records need to maintain a certain quality in their continuity, I believe, so be aware of this. It’s also harder to write about them in greater detail. If you don’t like romantic Exotica and favor the tropical heat and bongo-driven savagery, you better stay away from it. I won’t, as the following paragraphs will show. Out Of The Night starts majestically and features a mellifluousness that is definitely kitschy. The whirling strings merge perfectly with the sustained serenity of main melody. Careful harp tones add articulated warmth to the mix which shows that Riddle doesn’t inundate the listener with string washes, but actually leaves room enough for placidity and particularities of other instruments. A negligible intro, if you ask me. The following classic My Isle Of Golden Dreams, though, is a killer track, even though this is just some cruddy Easy Listening album, right? Well, it’s not cruddy at all due to the start of the track which features gorgeous harp sprinkles and a careful fade-in of the string orchestra that plays extremely lush and dreamy. Additional xylophones shimmer through from the background and the character of the main melody is the slightest bit drugged or warped yes, seriously, making the first half of the track a surprisingly modern peculiarity in the genre. The second half is smoochy Easy Listening by the numbers whose sky-high strings are enhanced with quieter, blurry counterparts. Taking the limiting genre boundaries into account, this track is all the more successful in depicting the longing for an island in the tropics. Tango Tahiti (The Call Of Tahiti) is equally great, surprisingly laid back and reduced in volume. This has nothing to do with a Tango as we know it today, so don’t expect an explosive hot-blooded performance. The pulsating strings are meandering and spread spaces all over the song. Even though the volume is low, the strings are pompous and warm. Success! The next title is simply titled Dream and consists of violins played in high ranges but due to the sheer amount of violinists, the listener is washed away in terrifically mellow strings. The last song of side A, Drifting And Dreaming, has one particular element that you didn’t hear before on the album: Short double bass droplets create a lush bass line that works perfectly well with the acoustic guitar, the dark harp strings and the glinting xylophones. When the violinists return in full force, these diversified elements are still audible. In the boundaries of Sea Of Dreams, these small additions could be called risks or even dynamic experiments … but again, begone, sarcasm!

Easter Isle is a top-notch start of side B and continues the variety shown in Drifting And Dreaming. A repetitive two-note harp melody is soaked up and echoed by glitzy xylophones. The strings work particularly well and the cascading harp is utterly gorgeous. The double bass backings are again a vibrant rhythmic device. This could well be the Riddle’s best song that is featured on Sea Of Dreams. I’m not too sure about this due its the steady variety, but my rule of thumb is basically the following: once an string-laden Easy Listening track features a variety of additional instruments, it is certainly good. Let’s Fall In Love is the next great tune, and due to its name, the strings are even more lush than they were before, encapsulating a romance that erupts in multilayered melodies, for example darkly trilling strings, blissful harp chords and bold string washes. Jimmy Van Heusen’s 1940 Jazz standard Polka Dots And Moonbeams is next, and the transition can only be called phantasmagoric. The main melody is still recognizable, but much more dreamlike due to the full-scale orchestra. While the French classic Autumn Leaves is the most melancholic song on the album with the greatest wanderlust mood and a melodramatic motif that is interchanged with short outbursts of happiness, the final title-giving track Sea Of Dreams is a typical closer that is exuberant in its depiction of care-free happiness and majestic serenity. The final harp tones in the last 15 seconds show the great weakness of the whole album: the concentration on violins rather and the inferiority of other string instruments. Nelson Riddle delivers just another Easy Listening album in the pool of many other releases. In 1958 alone, he released at least 11 LP’s! Consistent quality is the tractive force we all strive for, but if a certain quality level is reached, the result is a whitewashed plateau. Sea Of Dreams has its moments and gorgeous tunes My Isle Of Golden Dreams, Easter Isle and, ahem, Let’s Fall In Love come to mind –, but its coherence and raison d’être prevent it from making a long-lasting impression in its entirety. In contrast to Les Baxter’s way of conducting, the strings aren’t remarkable and effervescent enough. The mood doesn’t change at all, there are no dark undertones, and only Autumn Leaves allows a strong wave of melancholy to enter the Sea Of Dreams. The Exotica level is still appropriate enough for me to consider this album in this section due to its island theme and the topics of reveries and romance. The only outstanding inclusions are a few mallet instruments and harp strings that could have enhanced the Exotica factor if they had been used more often. Recommended for the aforementioned target audience and fans of Les Baxter. Not recommended, though, for listeners who want energetic, tropical and percussion-driven Exotica skits; this niche is better served with the official next of kin to Sea Of Dreams, the much more exotic Love Tide, released on Capitol Records in 1961. That album even features two original tunes written by Nelson Riddle, and although I do not see that great a connection between Love Tide and Sea Of Dreams, it is a noteworthy contender as well. In smaller doses and in the right moments, Riddle’s Sea Of Dreams is charming. It is also easily available on digital music stores and streaming services. http://www.ambientexotica.com/exorev070_nelsonriddle_sod/

Sea Of Dreams

---

Kenny Burrell Trio - A Night at the Vanguard

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 1960
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 35:18
Size: 81,1 MB
Art: Front

(5:17)  1. All Night Long
(4:26)  2. Will You Still Be Mine
(4:38)  3. I'm a Fool to Want You
(4:21)  4. Trio
(4:21)  5. Broadway
(3:20)  6. Soft Winds
(4:20)  7. Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin'
(4:31)  8. Well, You Needn't

Kenny Burrell's storied career as perhaps the premier modern jazz guitarist has been documented by many efforts in the studio, but here's a nightclub date that may well be highly ranked as one of his very best efforts. The spontaneity and freshness of Burrell's lyric lines and deft chords is further enhanced by perhaps the most advanced musicians he has ever played with bassist Richard Davis and drummer Roy Haynes. For music done in 1959, this is heady, seat-of-the-pants, brilliantly executed jazz that is mostly based in standards, but stretched to exacting tolerances that bend, but are not close to breaking. Davis provides strong support without going as outward as he did later in life, while Haynes might sound subdued to his fans, yet has an elastic presence that allows the other two a lot of freedom to fully articulate this modern mainstream language as a prelude heading into the turbulent '60s. On this straight reissue that originally sported the title "Man at Work," the trio plays all standards save the lively blues groove, more pronounced than the studio version of Burrell's "All Night Long," and the Erroll Garner tune "Trio," where Burrell's proves expert at combining singles lines and chords in balance. Most of the material is very upbeat and energetic as on the fast and quick "Will You Still Be Mine," and the bop swing of "Broadway" mixed up a little melodically by Burrell. The love of Duke Ellington's music is always with the guitarist as rendered during "Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin'," where the genius of Burrell is extant in his ability to provide his own counterpoint. Burrell's other precious component is his ability to relax and consistently swing as on Thelonious Monk's "Well, You Needn't," Benny Goodman's poignant and simple "Soft Winds," and dipping deep into the tenderness quotient on the ballad "I'm a Fool to Want You" aside the tango-flavored bass of Davis. A solid effort top to bottom, and a recording most highly recommended, this is Burrell and his extraordinary trio very close to, if not truly in their prime, and their element.~ Michael G.Nastos https://www.allmusic.com/album/a-night-at-the-vanguard-mw0000203946

Personnel:  Kenny Burrell - guitar;  Richard Davis - bass;  Roy Haynes - drums

A Night at the Vanguard

---

Mark Winkler, Cheryl Bentyne - Eastern Standard Time

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:41
Size: 113,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:17)  1. Devil May Care
(3:43)  2. Rhode Island Is Famous for You
(3:37)  3. Like Jazz
(4:29)  4. The Gentleman Is a Dope
(3:55)  5. I Could Get Used to This
(4:27)  6. The Best Is yet to Come
(6:14)  7. Spring Can Really Hang You up the Most
(4:16)  8. Walk on the Wild Side
(4:03)  9. You Smell so Good
(3:28) 10. Things Are Swingin'
(6:07) 11. Ballad of the Sad Young Men / Lies of Handsome Men

Vocalists Mark Winkler & Cheryl Bentyne go together like champagne and caviar. They’ve teamed up to record Eastern Standard Time, a sophisticated project of songs culled from known standards and several less familiar pages of the Great American Songbook, as well as a couple of originals by Winkler. This is their second Cd together. The first, West Coast Cool, was released in 2013 and received critical acclaim and went to #16 on the Jazzweek chart. For that project, Winkler and Bentyne chose tunes from the 1950s associated with the West Coast Cool sound. For Eastern Standard Time they reprise the concept, but this time present songs of East Coast lineage. They’ve chosen songs that you would hear if you habituated jazz clubs in New York City back in the late 50s and early 60s. Although the CD comprises mainly duets, they each perform two solo pieces as well. Eastern Standard Time  is a cool and cultivated project by two stellar vocalists who can transform whatever they sing into a statement of great emotional depth. Individually, Winkler and Bentyne are highly compelling performers. Together, they are musical powerhouses. https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/markwinkler28

Eastern Standard Time

---