James Austin Jr. - Songs In The Key Of Wonder

Size: 129,3 MB
Time: 55:22
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2018
Styles: Jazz
Art: Front

01. Isn't She Lovely (5:20)
02. My Cherie Amour (4:51)
03. Another Star (6:34)
04. You've Got It Bad Girl (5:02)
05. Part-Time Lover (4:53)
06. Golden Lady (5:51)
07. Overjoyed (5:10)
08. You Are The Sunshine Of My Life (6:33)
09. Tuesday Heartbreak (5:39)
10. Lately (5:26)

Songs In The Key Of Wonder is an album of Stevie Wonder covers by jazz pianist James Austin, Jr. What’s interesting is that this is James Austin, Jr.’s debut album. I find it intriguing whenever an artist chooses for his or her first release to do a tribute album. The person the artist is covering and honoring must mean a lot to him or her personally and must have had a strong influence on his or her musical development. If you are going to do a tribute album for your first release, Stevie Wonder is certainly a good choice of artists to cover. Stevie Wonder has so many excellent songs. For the ten selections on this CD, James Austin Jr. chooses a few of Wonder’s most famous songs, such as “My Cherie Amour” and “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life,” but also some lesser-known numbers like “Golden Lady” and “Tuesday Heartbreak.” Joining the pianist on this release are Bobby Broom on guitar, Ben Rubens on bass, David Williams on bass, Kobie Watkins on drums, Samuel Torres on percussion, Jarrard Harris on alto saxophone, and Joe Magnarelli on trumpet.

This album opens with a sweet rendition of “Isn’t She Lovely,” a song that was included on Stevie Wonder’s Songs In The Key Of Life, the 1976 album that obviously gives this release its playful title. James Austin Jr.’s rendition begins differently from Stevie Wonder’s original version, with a nice, thoughtful, quiet introduction on piano. This version then builds and grows in joy, with some wonderful stuff on both trumpet and saxophone, as well as on drums, even including a drum solo. That’s followed by “My Cherie Amour,” which is given a different and prominent rhythm. But it is that lively piano lead that is most interesting. I don’t recall this song ever sounding so sprightly. James Austin Jr. then returns to Songs In The Key Of Life, giving us a rendition of that album’s “Another Star.” This version begins with the good groove, and the piano, when it comes in, basically at first simply joins that rhythm, adding its voice to it (a piano is a percussion instrument, after all). It is then the horns that rise above the strong rhythm. This is one should get your body moving.

“You’ve Got It Bad Girl” is a more relaxed number, with some nice work on bass. This is a song that was included on Stevie Wonder’s Talking Book, a 1972 LP from which James Austin Jr. chooses a total of three tracks to cover. The second song from that album to be included here is “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life,” which was also released as a single and reached #1 on the Billboard chart. The flip side to that single was “Tuesday Heartbreak,” the third track from Talking Book to be covered on this release. This version has kind of an easygoing vibe, and I really like James Austin Jr.’s lead section on keys.

“Part-Time Lover” was a big hit for Stevie Wonder in the mid-1980s, and here James Austin Jr. and his band seem to be having fun with it, getting loose, and delivering a really good rendition. This was never one of my favorite Stevie Wonder songs, but this version is giving me more of an appreciation for it. I particularly love the work on guitar and on drums. That’s followed by “Golden Lady,” which features some really nice stuff on both piano and trumpet, and a prominent rhythm. Then James Austin Jr. dips back into In Square Circle (the album that gave us “Part-Time Lover”) for a cover of “Overjoyed.” This is a gentle, incredibly pretty rendition, and I love that gorgeous, tender work on saxophone. This is one of my favorite tracks. This tribute to Stevie Wonder ends with “Lately,” from Hotter Than July. This version includes just piano and bass, and is an absolutely gorgeous way to conclude the album. ~by Michael Doherty

Songs In The Key Of Wonder

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Bob Baldwin - Bob Baldwin Presents Abbey Road And The Beatles

Size: 148,1 MB
Time: 63:25
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2018
Styles: Jazz: Smooth Jazz
Art: Front

01. Come Together (Can We All Just Get Along ) (6:00)
02. (Mellow) Yellow Submarine (7:05)
03. And I Love Her (5:26)
04. Don't Wanna Be (The Fool On The Hill) (Feat. CeCe Peniston) (5:52)
05. Imagine (Living As One) (Feat. Euge Groove) (5:11)
06. Michelle (My Girl) (Feat. Ragan Whiteside) (5:38)
07. Something (In The Way She Moves) (Instrumental) (3:44)
08. My Love (Feat. Lori Williams) (4:19)
09. Abbey Road (Feat. Lori Williams) (4:38)
10. Yesterday (4:43)
11. Eleanor Rigby (6:03)
12. Something (In The Way She Moves) (Vocal) (4:40)

As we enter into the fall of 2018, pianist/keyboardist Bob Baldwin has craftfully unleashed several projects this year in celebrating his 30th year as an artist, and 10/1/18 will mark his 10th year on the air with his NewUrbanJazz Radio Network, which begun with a humble five stations within the NPR Radio chain. The show continues to grow with over 45 terrestrial stations and a listening base of over 500,000 listeners. The show can be consumed with a NewUrbanJazz app via your smartphone, or you can listen in from your desktop computer at work. Archived weekly shows appear on Soundcloud.

So what way to further celebrate 30 years in the music business and still turn heads? By releasing a personal best 10 projects in a 12-month period. His brand new September 20 release entitled, Bob Baldwin Presents Abbey Road the Beatles featuring House groove singer CeCe Peniston, Smooth saxman Euge Groove, Flutist Ragan Whiteside and Washington DC vocalist Lori Williams.
His creatively arranged arrangements of classic tracks by Lennon, McCartney and the rest of the Abbey Road gang has been on the back burner for several years, but Baldwin had to time it perfectly to record and release the project in 2018.

Bob Baldwin Presents Abbey Road And The Beatles

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The Funkstamatics - Koekwaus: The Best Of The Euro Cinema Years

Size: 82,1 MB
Time: 35:01
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2018
Styles: Jazz Funk, Hammond Organ
Art: Front

01. Koekwaus (100K Horns Mix) (3:32)
02. Going Up (3:03)
03. One Kind Of Coffee (3:49)
04. Ducktape (3:39)
05. Funkstamatic (3:57)
06. Der Alte (3:02)
07. Scool (3:38)
08. Brooklyn Groove (3:08)
09. The Mulligan (3:10)
10. Jazz Dog (3:59)

Looks like The Funkstamatics (a.k.a. the band formerly known as Euro Cinema) have been having rather a lot of success on digital platforms these days recently clocking up an impressive one hundred thousand plays of their 2013 single Koekwaus. Thinking that perhaps they ought to celebrate, the band had a ponder about how they could top the original version of this guitar-n-Hammond-heavy beast and decided they might throw in a blaxploitation brass section courtesy of Efraïm ‘Amsterdam Funk Orchestra’ Trujillo. Which is precisely what they have done – and you can get your hands on the bad boy known as the Koekwaus (100K Horns Mix) as part of the band’s new comp. Koekwaus – the Best of The Euro Cinema Years.

Koekwaus

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Clara Vuust - Before You Walk Away

Size: 103,2 MB
Time: 44:22
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2018
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. Some Other Time (6:16)
02. Estate (4:37)
03. I Will Wait For You (3:59)
04. Out Of Nowhere (4:13)
05. Sea Lady (4:02)
06. One November Day (2:53)
07. I Wish You Love (3:46)
08. Watch What Happens (2:51)
09. Tomorrow (4:01)
10. When I Look In Your Eyes (4:23)
11. Joana Francesa (3:18)

Clara Vuust is a Danish jazz singer from Copenhagen, a capital of jazz in Northern Europe and once home to great musicians such as Ben Webster and Dexter Gordon...

In September 2018 she is releasing her third studio album "Before You Walk Away" - recorded in both Copenhagen and Catania - from the very north to the very south of Europe. The sound combines a Nordic, lyrical vocal tradition with the Mediterranean warmth in the arrangements by Italian composer and arranger Francesco Calì - and as such it makes sense to have created the album in the two places that also come together in the music.

Clara was born in the outskirts of Aarhus – the second biggest town in Denmark. Her childhood was all about children's choir and classical piano until, at the age of 11, she discovered jazz music. For her eleventh birthday she got a Real Book filled with jazz standards and a new world opened: Nancy Wilson, Cannonball Adderley and Ella Fitzgerald were put on repeat on the stereo. Clara continued with classical singing, but slowly the love for the jazz genre took over and after a breif encounter with medical school she decided to pursue a career as a jazz singer and vocal trainer.

Clara Vuust did her musical education as a singer at RMC – the Rhythmic Music Conservatory – in Copenhagen. There she met Francesco Calì, pianist and composer from Italy. They quickly became partners, both in music and in life, and he co-writes, arranges and produces all of Vuust's albums.

Clara is currently an artist at Storyville Records - the oldest independent jazz label in Europe - where she has released two albums "Here's to Love" and "A Winter Tale", and has a third one coming September 2018. The Storyville "family" counts numerous great Danish Jazz musicians.

Before You Walk Away

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Milt Jackson Sextet - Invitation

Styles: Vibraphone Jazz
Year: 1962
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:15
Size: 116,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:54)  1. Invitation
(5:14)  2. Too Close For Comfort
(4:27)  3. Ruby, My Dear (take 6)
(4:20)  4. Ruby, My Dear (take 5)
(6:33)  5. The Sealer
(6:54)  6. Poom-A-Loom
(4:00)  7. Stella By Starlight
(5:53)  8. Ruby
(3:58)  9. None Shall Wander (take 8)
(3:59) 10. None Shall Wander (take 6)

Once in while, an audiophile reissue can make the listener realize that what seemed like a good, solid record is better than that. If I had been asked to evaluate Invitation before hearing this release, I would’ve said it was a fairly typical early-60s hard-bop record, led by the great vibraphonist Milt Jackson. I might have added that it suffers from neither the overly careful approach that plagued much of the Modern Jazz Quartet’s output, nor from the opposite extreme, of simply blowing long solos on overly familiar standards, something Jackson has done more than enough of in his time. The success of Invitation owes on both counts to the presence of trumpeter Kenny Dorham and alto saxophonist Jimmy Heath. Each contributes not only fine solos, but a couple of nifty arrangements. But what this listener had not fully appreciated from earlier releases is the fantastically subtle interplay of the rhythm section: Tommy Flanagan, piano, Ron Carter, bass, and Connie Heath on drums. On this remastered LP, one hears every nuance with delicious clarity, from the crackle of Kay’s cymbals to the big, fat sound of Carter’s walking lines. Rarely have Jackson’s uniquely swinging vibes been heard in a more sympathetic setting. ~ Duke Baker http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/milt-jackson-sextet-invitation/

Personnel:  Milt Jackson – vibes;  Kenny Dorham, Virgil Jones (tracks 2 & 6) - trumpet;  Jimmy Heath - tenor saxophone (tracks 1, 3-5 & 7-10);  Tommy Flanagan - piano;  Ron Carter - bass;  Connie Kay - drums

Invitation

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Janet Seidel - Songs in the Key of Peggy Lee

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2002
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:25
Size: 155,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:08)  1. Blues in the Night
(3:17)  2. You do Something to Me
(2:48)  3. He's a Tramp
(2:22)  4. Things are Swingin'
(5:18)  5. Fever
(4:14)  6. Johnny Guitar
(4:06)  7. It Takes a Long Train with a Red Caboose
(5:47)  8. Black Coffee
(2:43)  9. Why don't ya do Right
(3:12) 10. I Don't Know Enough About You
(4:34) 11. Bella Notte/La La Lu
(3:48) 12. Mr. Wonderful
(2:23) 13. Bye Bye Blues
(3:02) 14. The Folks Who Live on the Hill
(4:22) 15. Street of Dreams
(3:46) 16. Don't Smoke in Bed
(3:02) 17. Lover
(3:22) 18. Golden Earrings

Lounge and cabaret performer and all-around ace singer Janet Seidel's Don't Smoke in Bed honors the important contributions of Peggy Lee to the vocal art. Australia's Seidel doesn't stop at entries from the Great American Songbook that Lee liked to sing, and includes her significant contributions to that document as a composer. In addition to the title tune, "Don't Smoke in Bed," there are five more Lee pieces on the play list. Through her personal appearances and many recordings, Seidel is a virtual institution in that country down under. This album is understandably somewhat jazzier and a lot torchier than her previous release, which was a nod to another one her favorites, Doris Day. Thus, you have a swinging, lilting "Street of Dreams," a sassy "I Don't Know Enough About You," and a very smoky version of a Lee classic, "Black Coffee." Kevin Hunt and Chris Morgan on piano and guitar, respectively, add just the right amount of the jazz feel for this cut, especially Morgan's intense, smoldering guitar. Another interesting element added by Seidel and cohorts is that the songs are not just limited to Lee's big recordings, such as the always enduring "Fever," but those she sang in her early days with Benny Goodman and some from her movie work, such as the films The Lady and the Tramp and Johnny Guitar. As always, Seidel is backed by top musicians. In addition to Hunt and Morgan, reed player Don Burrows is on a couple cuts. Her brother, David Seidel, carries on with his usual bass duties, helped along by Adam Pache on drums. Seidel by no means replicatesLee's way of doing this material, but presents it Seidel style. So this release offers the best of two worlds, literally: Peggy Lee and Janet Seidel. ~ Dave Nathan

Personnel: Janet Seidel (vocal,piano);  Kevin Hunt (piano);  Chuck Morgan (guitar);  David Seidel (bass);  Adam Pache (drums);  Ian Bloxson (bongos), Special Guest: Don Burrows (flute, aito sax cralinet)

Songs in the Key of Peggy Lee

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Mary Ann Redmond - Here I Am

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:58
Size: 139,2 MB
Art: Front

(4:00)  1. Cry Love
(4:13)  2. Because I Told You So
(4:54)  3. Enemy Lines
(4:45)  4. Stop In The Name Of Love
(4:38)  5. Time Will Do The Talking
(4:46)  6. Man I Wanted
(5:02)  7. Man On A Mission
(5:07)  8. Here I Am
(4:02)  9. Alone But Not Lonely
(4:09) 10. (I Know) I'm Losing You
(4:58) 11. Out On A Limb
(4:10) 12. I've Been Loving You Too Long
(5:08) 13. You Don't Wanna Be With Me

When Mary Ann Redmond recorded Here I Am in 2000, she was a hot local attraction in the Washington, D.C., area. The expressive, whiskey-voiced singer wasn't well known nationally, but in and around D.C., people really swore by her. And listening to Here I Am, it isn't hard to understand why; this CD is an enriching example of what can happen when soul and rock intersect. All of Redmond's albums have some type of rock influence like Tina Turner, Redmond is a soulstress with rock leanings but Here I Am is especially rock-minded. Had this release come out in 1970 instead of 2000, it's quite possible that black radio would have responded to Redmond in much the same way that it responded to Ike and Tina Turner back then; in other words, some tracks would have enjoyed airplay on black radio, and some would have been considered "too rock." It's easy to envision the black radio of the late '60s and early '70s playing "Out on a Limb" or Redmond's version of the Supremes' "Stop in the Name of Love" (which she transforms into a slow, moody ballad). However, "Man on a Mission," the title track, and John Hiatt's "Cry Love" probably would have been considered "too rock" for black stations (just like some of Ike and Tina Turner's work). Regardless, Redmond is consistently soulful and funky. And while it is interesting to speculate on how Here I Am would have been received 25 or 30 years earlier, the fact is that Redmond isn't dealing with the '60s or '70s market she's dealing with the 21st century market. In 2000, this excellent album was well received in the D.C. area, although one hoped that Redmond would become as well known nationally as she was locally. ~ Alex Henderson https://www.allmusic.com/album/here-i-am-mw0000229321

Here I Am

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Jack Teagarden And His Band - 1951 - Live At The Royal Room-Hollywood

Styles: Trombone Jazz
Year: 1999
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:26
Size: 141,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:07)  1. Stars Fell On Alabama
(1:55)  2. Little Rock
(2:36)  3. But Not For Me
(5:53)  4. That's A Plenty
(6:42)  5. Ain't Misbehavin'
(6:00)  6. Muskrat Ramble
(6:54)  7. At The Jazz Band Ball
(1:44)  8. Tickled To Death
(2:15)  9. Possum And Taters
(4:20) 10. Peg O' My Heart
(7:01) 11. Struttin' With Some Barbecue
(4:46) 12. Stardust
(6:07) 13. Somebody Loves Me

Jack Teagarden was a trombone player, singer, and band leader whose career spanned from the 1920’s territory and New York jazz scenes to shortly before his death in 1964. Teagarden was not a successful band leader, which may explain why he is not as widely known as some other jazz trombonists, but his unusual singing style influenced several other important jazz singers, and he is widely regarded as the one of the greatest, and possibly the greatest, trombonist in the history of jazz. Teagarden was born in 1905 in Vernon, Texas. Born Weldon Lee Teagarden or Weldon John Teagarden (more sources say Weldon Lee, but John makes more sense considering his nickname), Jack’s earliest performances were working with his mother Helen, who played ragtime piano, in theaters. His siblings also became professional musicians: his younger sister Norma played piano, his younger brother Charlie, trumpet, and his brother Clois (“Cub”), drums. Jack Teagarden began playing piano at age five, took up baritone at age seven or eight, and had settled on trombone by age ten. Some sources claim his unusual style of trombone playing stemmed from the fact that he began playing before he was big enough to play in the farther positions. He moved to Chappell, Nebraska, with his family in 1918, but by 1921 was back in Texas playing with Peck Kelley’s Bad Boys. Through the early and mid 1920’s, he played with several other territory bands, including Doc Ross’s Jazz Bandits, and the Orginal Southern Trumpeters. My sources disagree concerning which band brought Teagarden to New York, and with whom he made his earliest recording, but there is agreement that he arrived in New York in 1927 and was playing with Ben Pollack’s orchestra by 1928. Although Teagarden enjoyed a long career, it was at this point that he had the greatest effect on the history of jazz. The reaction to his unique style of trombone- playing appears to have been both immediate and widespread. Historians and critics widely agree: “No one disputes Jack Teagarden’s place in the trombone pantheon”(Morgenstern, 2004, p.292). Teagarden “is considered by many critics to be the finest of all jazz trombonists....”(Kernfeld, 1988) Teagarden “single-handedly created a whole new way of playing the trombone “ a parallel to Earl Hines and the piano comes to mind “ and did so as early as the mid-twenties and evidently largely out of his own youthful creative resources.”

His unusual approach to trombone playing had both a technical and a stylistic component. His technical approach in particular was quite unorthodox. A short digression into the mechanics of trombone playing will explain why. The trombone slide has seven positions where traditionally notated (chromatic scale) pitches can be played. Each position causes the instrument to be a slightly different length, and the instrument can play a (different) harmonic series at each length. The notes in any harmonic series are much closer together in the upper part of the series. This has a practical effect on trombone playing: in the lower register of the instrument, there are fewer notes in any given position, and often only one position in which a note can be played. In the upper register, notes in any position are closer together, and many notes can be played in more than one position. New Orleans-style trombonists tended to play in the lower range of the instrument, where it is simply impossible to change notes as quickly as a trumpet or clarinet does; entire arms can’t move as fast as a single finger. So the traditional trombone stylists specialized in playing simpler accompaniment parts featuring cute special effects like glissandos. Jack Teagarden apparently did not like this “tailgate” style of trombone-playing. Instead, he played higher in the instrument’s range, using mostly the first and second positions, and rarely moving beyond fourth position. Using “alternate” positions and an embouchure that was apparently extremely flexible (meaning he could change the pitch of a note using only small changes in his lips, mouth, and face muscles), Teagarden could play in the way that appealed to him. It apparently also greatly appealed to other musicians as soon as they heard it, but it relied so heavily on using unusual slide positions and on his ability to bend notes with his unusually flexible embouchure, that his style is generally considered to be literally “inimitable.” Teagarden’s style is also often described using words such as lyrical, vocal, legato, relaxed, fluent and smooth. The two premier trombonists on the New York scene when Teagarden arrived had also already rejected “tailgate” style playing, and there is disagreement about how much Miff Mole and Jimmy Harrison influenced Teagarden. But Teagarden appears to have arrived in New York with a clear idea of how he wanted to sound, and although the three players do seem to have influenced each other somewhat, they each also retained their distinctive styles. Harrison also played in the upper register of the instrument, so that he could play fast trumpet-style licks, but his playing is still firmly in the jazz brass tradition, with hard, clear articulations. More.. https://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/jackteagarden 

Personnel:  Jack Teagarden-trombone & vocal;  Charlie Teagarden-trumpet (Jack's brother);  Norma Teagarden-piano (Jack's sister);  Helen Teagarden-piano (8.9) (mother);  Pud Brown-reeds;  Ray Leatherwood-bass;  Ray Bauduc-drums

Live At The Royal Room-Hollywood

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Steve Dobrogosz - Golden Slumbers

Styles: Piano
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:34
Size: 113,7 MB
Art: Front

(4:34)  1. Goodnight
(2:49)  2. Golde Slumbers/You Never Give Me Your Money
(6:17)  3. Across The Universe
(3:49)  4. Two Of Us
(3:26)  5. Blackbird
(4:26)  6. If I Fell
(4:26)  7. Don't Let Me Down
(4:53)  8. The Long And Winding Road
(4:14)  9. Because
(2:29) 10. I'll Follow The Sun
(4:17) 11. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
(3:50) 12. I Will

Steve Dobrogosz is an American pianist and composer based in Sweden whose career spans several decades and ranges in style from classical to jazz and pop. He was particularly successful in collaboration with vocalists Radka Toneff during the early '80s, Berit Andersson during the late '80s and early '90s, and Anna Christoffersson during the mid- to late 2000s. Born on January 26, 1956, in Bellefonte, PA, Dobrogosz grew up in Raleigh, NC, and later studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. In 1978 he moved to Stockholm, Sweden, and began a fruitful musical career there amid the city's vibrant jazz scene. Dobrogosz made his solo album debut in 1980 with Songs on the Caprice label. He later collaborated with Norwegian jazz legend Radka Toneff on the album Fairy Tales (1982), a classic pairing of vocals and piano that was released around the time of the vocalist's tragic death. A couple years later he began a long-running collaboration with Swedish vocalist Berit Andersson that spanned the years 1984 to 1992 and resulted in three full-length albums, The Final Touch (1989), Jade (1990), and Skin Balloon (1993), plus the double-disc compilation Best of Steve Dobrogosz & Berit Andersson (1999). During the 1990s he also released the albums Pianopieces (1992), a collaboration with percussionist Petur Östlund; Duckwalk (1996), with the Steve Dobrogosz Quartet; Mass (1997), with St. Jacob's Chamber Choir; and Ebony Moon (1998), a solo piano collection. After the turn of the century Dobrogosz was particularly successful in collaboration with Swedish vocalist Anna Christoffersson. Their first album, It's Always You (2006), was a Top 20 hit on the Swedish albums chart while their second, Rivertime (2008), reached the Top Ten. Other recordings by Dobrogosz released during the 2000s include Feathers (2000), a collaboration with vocalist Jeanette Lindström; Requiem/Te Deum (2004), with St. Jacob's Chamber Choir; Chambers (2007), a solo piano collection; and Poems (2009), a six-track EP with vocalist Annika Skoglund. ~ Jason Birchmeier https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/golden-slumbers/338053298

Golden Slumbers

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