Roy Hargrove Quintet - Earfood

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:26
Size: 154,8 MB
Art: Front

(5:51)  1. I'm Not So Sure
(4:32)  2. Brown
(4:40)  3. Strasbourg / St. Denis
(7:56)  4. Starmaker
(4:48)  5. Joy Is Sorrow Unmasked
(4:59)  6. The Stinger
(2:48)  7. Rouge
(5:53)  8. Mr. Clean
(6:36)  9. Style
(5:12) 10. Divine
(5:45) 11. To Wisdom The Prize
(5:19) 12. Speak Low
(3:00) 13. Bring It On Home To Me

Trumpeter Roy Hargrove emerged into jazz consciousness as one of the "young lions" who beamed into the late 1980s and early 1990s. Other notable contemporary trumpeters include Terence Blanchard, Nicholas Payton, Kermit Ruffins, and Wallace Roney. All are associated with different genre traditions, Hargrove's being most closely associated with Lee Morgan. Hargrove's association with Morgan's style nevertheless has not prevented the young trumpeter from approaching music from a broad perspective. Hargrove and his Latin-Cuban band, Crisol, won a Grammy Award in 1998 for Habana (Verve, 1997). Hargrove participated in pianist Herbie Hancock's Directions in Music (Verve, 2002), earning a second Grammy Award. Hargrove does not limit himself to "jazz," however. He has also been active in the neo-electric-funk-soul arena with his band RH-Factor, releasing Distractions (Verve, 2006). If Roy Hargrove has been approaching his time to shine, it is here now. Hargrove returns to his roots with Earfood. "My goal in this project is to have a recording that is steeped in tradition and sophistication, while maintaining a sense of melodic simplicity." One would suspect that many of Hargrove's generation desire the same projects. That said, Hargrove enjoys complete success in achieving his goal with Earfood. The opening cut, "I'm Not So Sure," is a Cedar Walton composition Hargrove learned while playing with the pianist a number of years ago. The piano head is typically Cedar Walton a rhythmically and harmonically complex line that is splendidly integrated in such a way that it updates the sound pioneered by Lee Morgan on such songs as "Cornbread," "The Sidewinder" and "The Rumproller." Where Morgan's introductions were firmly steeped in the hard bop tradition, Hargrove transforms the idea into an updated post bop realm. Where Hargrove truly puts on his Morgan shoes is when he begins his solo on "I'm Not So Sure." It is exquisitely reminiscent of Morgan's famous solo on Bobby Timmons' "Moanin.'" Hargrove spits his opening four solo notes out with the funk authority author David H. Rosenthal described as "bad" in his book Hard Bop: Black Music and Jazz 1955-1965 (Oxford University Press, 1992). 

Walton's composition also gives the standard trumpet/saxophone quintet a facelift. Justin Robinson offers Hargrove a compelling reed foil. Robinson's alto saxophone vibrato recalls Johnny Hodges with the modern chops of Greg Osby. It is not too great a reach to imagine updated Miles Davis or the Jazz Messengers from this band. While Hargrove is redefining the hard bop of the 1950s and 1960s through the post bop lense of the 1980s and 1990s, he further deeps his ballad and slow-tempo burner chops with original compositions like the muted "Brown," conceived while Hargrove was recording Directions in Music with Hancock and saxophonist Michael Brecker, and the lilting "Starmaker," featuring Hargrove on flugelhorn. "Strasbourg/St. Denis" shows Hargrove's pop and R & B stripes. The listener can well imagine clever soul lyrics sung above this song (Al Green, perhaps). "The Stinger" is a breezy post bop tune that gently swings, stopping well short of turning into a cooker. Robinson's cylindrical solo dispels into Hargrove's muted introspection. "Mr. Clean" combines the R & B of "Strasbourg/St. Denis" with the Lee Morgan badness of "I'm Not So Sure." Hargrove delivers another thrilling open-bell solo, languid and sure. One can't help liking the direction this jazz is headed. The majority of the disc is devoted to slower, simpler ballad pieces. "Rouge," "Style," "Divine" and "Speak Low" all cast Hargrove, Robinson, and their rhythm section of pianist Gerald Clayton, bassist Danton Boller and drummer Montez Coleman in a fully realized ensemble mode where even the solos sound as if they were conceived by the group. It is in this environment that Roy Hargrove sounds most comfortable and where he and his fine quintet produce one of the most exceptional small-group recordings in recent memory. ~ C.Michael Bailey https://www.allaboutjazz.com/roy-hargrove-quintet-earfood-by-c-michael-bailey.php

Personnel: Roy Hargrove: trumpet and flugelhorn; Justin Robinson: alto saxophone and flute; Gerald Clayton: piano; Danton Boller: bass; Montez Coleman: drums.

R.I.P.
Born: October 16, 1969, Waco, Texas, United States
Died: November 2, 2018, New York City, New York, United States

Earfood

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Jacqui Hicks with the John Critchinson Trio - With A Song In My Heart

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:23
Size: 136,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:40)  1. This Can't Be Love
(5:04)  2. When Sunny Gets Blue
(4:59)  3. Love For Sale
(4:53)  4. Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight
(4:18)  5. You Taught My Heart To Sing
(4:00)  6. Night & Day
(4:10)  7. Ticket To Everywhere
(1:24)  8. The Very Thought Of You
(5:10)  9. With A Song In My Heart
(4:41) 10. Invitation
(3:39) 11. (I'm Afraid) The Masquerade Is Over
(4:39) 12. Where Is Love?
(4:00) 13. That's All
(4:41) 14. Beautiful Love (Live)

Born Featherstone, Yorkshire, England. As a child, Hicks began playing on the recorder before graduating to the clarinet on which she studied classical music. She also played tenor saxophone for a while. Her musical tastes inclined towards the jazzier end of the current pop spectrum, including musicians such as George Benson and Earth, Wind And Fire. At the age of 18 Hicks attended the Leeds College of Music where she was encouraged by Bill Charleson. She sang with the college band, with Brian Layton’s funk band, and with John Brown’s Student Bodies. After Leeds, she went to the Guildhall School of Music in London. In 1989 she sang occasionally with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and the following year joined the band on a regular basis. In 1992 she joined and toured the world with jazz funk band Shakatak. Also in the 90s Hicks began a solo career. She has composed songs, including ‘Just A Breath Away’, which she recorded with NYJO. Hicks is a skilled yet unfussy singer with charm and intelligence. https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/with-a-song-in-my-heart/212755890

Personnel:  Jacqui Hicks (vo);  John Critchinson (p);  Dave Green (b);  Tristan Mailliot (ds);  Martin Shaw (tp, flh on 3 tunes);  Tina May (vo on 1 tune)

With A Song In My Heart

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David Murray Quartet - Morning Song

Styles: Saxophone And Clarinet Jazz
Year: 1984
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:05
Size: 97,0 MB
Art: Front

( 8:06)  1. Morning Song
( 6:50)  2. Body And Soul
( 7:29)  3. Light Blue Frolic
( 6:29)  4. Jitterbug Waltz
(10:54) 5. Off Season
( 2:15)  6. Duet

For David Murray, this is a fairly straightforward quartet date. Joined by pianist John Hicks, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Ed Blackwell, Murray performs three of his lesser-known originals, Butch Morris' "Light Blue Frolic," "Body and Soul" and "Jitterbug Waltz." Doubling on tenor and bass clarinet, Murray as usual has a tendency to jump into the extreme upper register a bit too much at unexpected times, disrupting a relatively mellow mood on a few occasions. But one cannot deny his musicianship, and there are some exciting moments to be heard during this program. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/morning-song-mw0000649669

Personnel: David Murray – tenor saxophone, bass clarinet;  John Hicks – piano;  Reggie Workman – bass;  Ed Blackwell – drums

Morning Song

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Albert Bover & Horacio Fumero - Duo

Styles: Piano Jazz, Bop
Year: 1995
File: MP3@256K/s
Time: 61:43
Size: 113,1 MB
Art: Front

(4:52)  1. Au Privave
(7:45)  2. Infant Eyes
(8:00)  3. Alone Together
(5:08)  4. Inception
(7:31)  5. You Go To My Head
(7:16)  6. Bluebird
(8:38)  7. Darn That Dream
(7:39)  8. You Don't Know What Love Is
(4:51)  9. Anthropology

Pianist Albert Bover and bassist Horacio Fumero are technicians of the sacred. They boldly go where usually only quartets have gone before in search of that missing something in a classic jazz composition. They are both graduates of musical conservatories and it shows. Their technical proficiency on this program is almost without compare. But that is also this disc's greatest problem. To this reviewer's knowledge Charlie Parker never intended "Au Privae" to be an exercise in scalar modularity as opposed to a slamming bebop tune that used scales as a way to go somewhere else, and Wayne Shorter would be aghast at the stilted chromaticism in the middle section of his "Infant Eyes." While it's tempting to be swept away by the duo's musicianship on the faster numbers, such as McCoy Tyner's "Inception" and Bird's "Bluebird," there is a false sense of emotional understanding that all that speed and dexterity attempts to cover. And on the ballads, such as Shorter's, "Darn That Dream," or "You Don't Know What Love Is," with everything the pair tries to add with their muscle, their notion of lyric sensibility gets lost or perhaps isn't present because it was never found is more like it. Whatever the reason, this sounds like a record made by a couple of super-choppers, and the thrill of their attack wears off very quickly. ~ Thom Jurek https://www.allmusic.com/album/duo-mw0000536691

Personnel:  Albert Bover (piano), Horacio Fumero (bass)

Duo

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William Ash - Skyline Dreams

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:55
Size: 88,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:25)  1. The Soho Strut
(4:15)  2. Love Letters
(4:45)  3. Freewheelin'
(5:01)  4. Stardust
(3:46)  5. Coffee Rhumba
(3:52)  6. Four On Six
(3:14)  7. Skyline Dreams
(4:10)  8. S.O.S.
(4:24)  9. Usted Abuso

William Ash has been playing guitar most of his young life. He began learning the instrument at the age of nine, and by the time he was twelve he was working hard at mastering Wes Montgomery's style. During his high school years William studied with Barry Harris and Rodney Jones, and won the Young Talent Search of the National Association of Jazz Educators (NAJE), as well as the McDonald's Combo Contest. This led to him performing as a soloist with a big band at the Oakland Jazz Festival at the request of Buddy Montgomery, brother of the late Wes. William has continued to work as a sideman with a host of jazz legends, including Jack McDuff, Cecil Payne, Roy Hargrove, and Larry Goldings. On his own instrument, William acknowledges Wes Montgomery as a major influence, and William has been selected several times to appear in tributes to Montgomery. William's style emerges from his experiences playing with the great bop masters, as well as from playing in hard-driving organ combos with the likes of John Patton and Bobby Forrester, and you can clearly hear how he combines twisting bop melodies with deep groove. William Ash astounds on guitar, performing in a hard-swinging trio setting. William deploys his craft sincerely, and without guile, always drawing on his deep jazz roots. "a soulfully mellow sound with a driving dynamic approach" ~ All About Jazz

Personnel: William Ash - guitar; Jared Gold - organ; Yoichi Kobayashi - drums.

Skyline Dreams

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