Five Play - On The Brink

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 1999
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:47
Size: 152,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:29)  1. I'll Get By
(6:07)  2. I've Got The World On A String
(5:24)  3. How Insensitive
(5:03)  4. On The Brink
(7:22)  5. Medley: I'm A Fool To Want You/ In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning/This Love
(4:30)  6. Scatterbrain
(4:24)  7. Shifting Down
(5:04)  8. Like Someone In Love
(2:50)  9. Some Nerve
(5:37) 10. Someone Nice Like You
(4:24) 11. Momma Flossie
(6:16) 12. How Deep Is The Ocean
(5:11) 13. I Believe In You

Drummer Sherrie Maricle from the Diva Big Band takes four of her bandmates to form this all female quintet of mainstream jazz players. Karolina Strassmayer and Laura Dreyer both play alto sax and flute, Canadian pianist Lorraine Desmarais and Australian acoustic bassist Nicki Parrott help Maricle in the rhythm section. Though the woodwind players are quite lyrical, playing in unison most of the time, it's the sparkling bottom end tones and witty asides of Parrott and the exquisite pianistics of Desmarias that keep the music flowing. The bandmembers wrote none of the 13 selections, but there are homages to the Al Cohn-Zoot Sims tenor tandem, Frank Sinatra, many American popular songwriters, and contemporary jazzmen Jerry Bergonzi and John Scofield, with arrangements by John McNeil. At their best in uptempo hard swinging modes, Strassmayer and Dreyer frequently sound like twin Phil Woods bop towers, for instance the furious "I'll Get By," the outstanding Bergonzi written-up-and-gone title track, the Latin-ish "Scatterbrain," a luscious take on Kenny Dorham's easy swinging "Shifting Down," and the waltzy 6/8 version of the standard "Like Someone in Love." Two flutes appear on the sleepwalk slow "Someone Nice Like You." Alto and flute contrast on the bossa "How Insensitive" and a Sinatra medley of "I'm a Fool to Want You/Wee Small Hours/This Love of Mine." Desmarais' glistening light shines on her delicate features for a bluesy "I've Got the World on a String," where Parrott tears up a solo and states the melody line with the others laying out. The pianist is also particularly strong at improvising on the changes of "On the Brink," her solo is positively captivating, setting up Maricle's drum breaks quite well. Though a steady timekeeper, the drummer does get to punch in with traded fours, solo bars and phrases, but gives the spotlight to her bandmates for the majority of this recording. On Scofield's "Some Nerve" given a too brief 2:28, Maricle plays the N.O. shuffle cum calypso rhythm to perfection and delight. "Momma Flossie" is the Cohn-Sims flagwaver, and a perfect example of what happens throughout, that Strassmayer and Dreyer are reluctant to step on each other's toes and really wail. It's also unfortunate that the producers have not seen fit to identify which solos are Strassmayer's or Dreyer's. This lack of variation and sameness in that regard renders their playing relatively uninteresting; they're very fine musicians, but not distinct. Hopefully they'll get another shot to mix it up a bit. ~ Michael G.Nastos https://www.allmusic.com/album/on-the-brink-mw0000671740

Personnel:  Sherrie Maricle: Leader, Drums;  Karoline Strassmayer: Alto Saxophone, Flute;  Laura Dreyer: Alto Saxophone, Flute;  Lorraine Desmarais: Piano;  Nicki Parrott: Bass

On The Brink

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Dick Hyman - Mirrors - Piano & Organ Jazz

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:39
Size: 90,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:24)  1. House of Mirrors
(3:21)  2. In the Heat of the Night
(4:11)  3. Groovin'
(2:36)  4. In the Wee Small Hours
(3:03)  5. Mercy, Mercy, Mercy
(2:44)  6. The Flower Road
(3:36)  7. Ode to Billy Joe
(2:29)  8. Up, Up and Away
(3:27)  9. Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me
(3:06) 10. Hit the Road, Jack
(3:28) 11. Weekend Blues
(3:09) 12. Respect

A very versatile virtuoso, Dick Hyman once recorded an album on which he played "A Child Is Born" in the styles of 11 different pianists, from Scott Joplin to Cecil Taylor. Hyman can clearly play anything he wants to, and since the '70s, he has mostly concentrated on pre-bop swing and stride styles. Hyman worked with Red Norvo (1949-1950) and Benny Goodman (1950), and then spent much of the 1950s and '60s as a studio musician. He appears on the one known sound film of Charlie Parker (Hot House from 1952); recorded honky tonk under pseudonyms; played organ and early synthesizers in addition to piano; was Arthur Godfrey's music director (1959-1962); collaborated with Leonard Feather on some History of Jazz concerts (doubling on clarinet), and even performed rock and free jazz; but all of this was a prelude to his later work. In the 1970s, Hyman played with the New York Jazz Repertory Company, formed the Perfect Jazz Repertory Quintet (1976), and started writing soundtracks for Woody Allen films. He has recorded frequently during the past several decades (sometimes in duets with Ruby Braff) for Concord, Music Masters, and Reference, among other labels, and ranks at the top of the classic jazz field. In 2013, Hyman teamed up with vocalist Heather Masse for a set of standards on the Red House label called Lock My Heart. ~ Scott Yanow & Al Campbell https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/mirrors-piano-organ-jazz/581315632

Mirrors - Piano & Organ Jazz

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Don Shirley Duo - Improvisations

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:19
Size: 102,2 MB
Art: Front

(7:36)  1. Sometimes I'm Happy
(3:44)  2. But Not For Me
(2:59)  3. Tenderly
(4:06)  4. What Is There To Say
(3:18)  5. Autumn Leaves
(4:44)  6. Atonal Ostinato Blues In B Flat
(3:20)  7. When I Fall In Love
(5:30)  8. Over The Rainbow
(4:03)  9. Let's Fall In Love
(4:57) 10. Walkin' By The River

Pianist, composer, and arranger Don Shirley was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on January 29, 1927. He began playing piano at age two and seven years later had developed his skills so rapidly, he was studying theory at the prestigious Leningrad Conservatory of Music. Shirley made his concert debut with the Boston Pops in 1945, while the following year the London Philharmonic Orchestra performed one of his first major compositions. In the ensuing years between 1954 and 1968, Shirley performed as a soloist and as a member of several symphonies, including the Boston Pops, Detroit Symphony, Chicago Symphony, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington. Shirley also composed several organ symphonies, a piano concerto, two string quartets, and numerous pieces for piano. His musical language also encompassed tastefully mastered combinations of standards, show tunes, ballads, spirituals, and jazz performed with his own trio. Incredibly, Shirley also found time between performing and recording to obtain a doctorate of Music, Psychology, and Liturgical Arts. Throughout the '50s and '60s, Shirley released numerous albums on the Cadence label. In 1999, Collectables began reissuing several of those albums as two-for-one sets. ~ Al Campbell https://www.allmusic.com/artist/don-shirley-mn0000160561/biography

Improvisations

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Roy Brooks & The Improvisational Sphere - Live at Lelli's

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:38
Size: 102,2 MB
Art: Front

(11:48)  1. Ha-Ya !
(13:06)  2. Samba Del Sol
(13:44)  3. Basketball
( 5:58)  4. Her Blues Is Mine Ra

Roy Brooks ! what can i say about one of the greatest jazz drummers ?! a man who paid his dues, who lived an hard life...who's Detroit Jazz ! started to play in the 50's with Yusef Lateef, spent 5 years with Horace Silver doing the hard and the bop, then with Dexter Gordon, Lee Morgan, Jackie McLean, two years with Mingus, played with Max Roach M'Boom... plus many others... in the 80's he formed The Artistic Truth & The Aboriginal Percussion Choir... the rec. on this album is even more precious since this is the sole available rec. of this innovative group who had been assembled by Roy for this occasion only ! surely a unique sphere with very eclectic instrumentations and varied exotic flavors coming from Africa, the Caribbean/Cuba, Brazil, not to mention the blues from the deep South... Mr. Brooks latest proper release came out in 1983, so nearly 30 years ago ?! higher forces were in motion to make this happens... " ep https://www.soundohm.com/product/live-at-lelli-s/pid/16781/
 

Personnel:  Drums, Marimba, Steel Drums – Roy Brooks;  Congas, Bells, Percussion – Ray Mantilla;  Guitar – Rodney Rich; Organ [Hammond B-3 Organ] – Claudine Myers; Shaker, Cuica, Percussion, Tabla – Jerry LeDuf

Live at Lelli's

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Karin Plato - This Could Be the One

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:21
Size: 129,3 MB
Art: Front

(3:45)  1. This Could Be the One
(6:01)  2. I've Just Seen a Face
(5:33)  3. Sweet Summer
(8:47)  4. July
(4:16)  5. Take Time
(4:49)  6. I'm so Lonesome I Could Cry
(3:56)  7. What Came Before
(3:47)  8. Life Is a Beautiful Game
(6:16)  9. Insomnia
(4:27) 10. Heart and Soul
(4:40) 11. Sorrow

Born 31 March 1960, Alsask, Saskatchewan, Canada. As a small child, Plato studied piano, later attending the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, where she received a Bachelor Of Music Degree in Piano and Voice. In 1985, she moved to Vancouver to study vocal jazz and arranging at Capilano College, and has made the city her base ever since. In the late 90s, she also studied with Sheila Jordan and Jay Clayton at the Banff Centre For The Arts. In 2000, There’s Beauty In The Rain was nominated for a Juno Award. Appearing in concert throughout Canada, Plato has also appeared at many jazz festivals. Her appearance at Sasktel Jazz Festival in 2000, at which she opened for Brad Mehldau, was recorded for CBC’s Jazzbeat. The April Arrangement is a concert performance in which she presents some of her original compositions and arrangements of standards for a septet, which she has performed at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre and Festive Jazz (2000), her arrangements of traditional Christmas carols and original songs presented at the Capilano College Theatre for the Performing Arts. In 2000, she became a member of DIVAS For Life, which came about when the Vancouver-based magazine, Lifestyles, profiled six female vocalists: Plato, Laura Crema, Dee Daniels, Kate Hammett-Vaughan, Stevie Vallance and Tammy Weis. Established to help raise money for people living with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses, their debut concert was a huge success and the singers appeared collectively and individually at a series of SOR engagements, including the Vancouver International Jazz Festival. With some personnel changes, DIVAS have continued to perform to rave reviews and to raise money for their espoused cause, making records and broadcasting on CBC. Plato uses her very pleasing contralto to deliver elegant performances of standards and original material with flair and sophistication, singing in an unadorned and intimate style. https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/this-could-be-the-one/1439082010

This Could Be the One

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