Lita Roza - Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea & Singles Compilation (1951-53)

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1953
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:32
Size: 166,2 MB
Art: Front

(2:51)  1. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
(3:16)  2. Willow Weep for Me
(3:18)  3. Little White Lies
(3:45)  4. Moon Song
(3:36)  5. Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams
(2:49)  6. I Only Have Eyes for You
(2:18)  7. You Turned the Tables on Me
(3:35)  8. I Cover the Waterfront
(3:01)  9. You're Driving Me Crazy
(3:08) 10. Moonglow
(2:32) 11. You Took Advantage of Me
(2:43) 12. No Moon at All
(2:55) 13. My One and Only Love
(2:30) 14. Lullaby of Broadway
(2:57) 15. A Wonderful Guy
(2:36) 16. I'm Gonna Wash that Man Right Out of My Hair
(2:38) 17. It's All in the Game
(2:23) 18. It's All Over but the Memories
(2:54) 19. Somewhere in the Moonlight
(2:31) 20. Oakie Boogie
(2:53) 21. Raminay
(3:01) 22. Blackpool Bounce
(2:08) 23. Botch-a-Me (Ba-ba-Baciami Piccina)
(2:42) 24. Ooh What You Do to Me
(2:23) 25. Crazy Man Crazy

Lita Roza was born Lilian Patricia Lita Roza on March 14, 1926 in Liverpool to Elizabeth Anne and Francis Vincent Roza, a Spanish marine engineer and part-time pianist at a local nightclub. The eldest of seven children, she auditioned as a dancer at the age of 12 in a pantomime to help support the family, eventually working up to performing with the comedian Ted Ray and actress Noel Gordon in the show Black Velvet. Because life was becoming too dangerous in London during the blitz of 1940, her family wanted her back in Liverpool. She turned to singing on her return and managed to get a job as a resident singer in a Merseyside club called The New Yorker. Shortly afterwards, she signed to become a singer with the Harry Roy Orchestra, one of Britain's leading wartime big bands, although when Roy was booked to tour the Middle East, the young Lita Roza was not allowed to join them, being only 17 years old. At just 18, she retired from show business, marrying James Shepherd Holland, one of the Canadian servicemen who was stationed in the U.K.; they moved to Miami. The marriage did not last, however, and after the war she returned to Britain, finding work with another top bandleader of the time, Ted Heath, alongside Dickie Valentine and Denis Lotis. As many of her contemporaries, she combined working with a big band with a career as a solo singer, and in 1953, she recorded a version of Patti Page's "How Much Is That Doggie in the Window," which topped the charts in April for one week, easily beating off the challenge of the Page version, and only the eighth number one song in the then recently introduced British charts. Despite its success, Roza hated the song and would never perform it in public. She left the Ted Heath band and married Ron Hughes, a trumpet player. She was voted Top Girl Singer of 1951-1952 in the Melody Maker dance band polls and won the Top Female Singer category in New Musical Express from 1951-1955 consecutively. 

Another couple of minor solo hits followed, "Hey There" and "Jimmy Unknown," but despite releasing a total of 55 singles and four albums on Decca Presenting Lita Roza, Listening in the After-Hours, Love Is the Answer, and Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea her record sales were halted by the arrival of rock & roll and in the mid-'50s she concentrated on television work (including her own show Lita Roza Sings and several appearances with Ted Heath and on the new TV pop show Six Five Special, the only pop show on TV in the mid-'50s) and working in cabarets around the world including in Australia, New Zealand, and the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. She was asked to join a series of Ted Heath reunion concerts in 1982 along with Denis Lotis and Don Lusher and most of the original musicians from the band. In 2001, Roza was honored as the first artist with a bronze disc placed on the Wall of Fame in Matthew Street, opposite the Cavern Club, which featured all the acts from Liverpool who had achieved a number one to date including everyone from Frankie Vaughan, Michael Holiday, and the Beatles to Sonia, Mel C, and Atomic Kitten. Throughout the late '90s and into the 21st century, Universal Music, which owns the rights to Roza's Decca recordings, released several compilations of her songs as well as her final album, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, and Ted Heath Singles 1951-1953. She gave her final performance on Radio Merseyside in November 2002. Lita Roza died at her home in London on August 14, 2008; she was 82 years old. ~ Sharon Mawer https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lita-roza-mn0000496575/biography

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea & Singles Compilation (1951-53)

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Patrick Cornelius - Maybe Steps

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:09
Size: 129,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:43)  1. Christmas Gift
(5:32)  2. Maybe Steps
(2:32)  3. Bella's Dreaming
(6:26)  4. Brother Gabriel
(4:47)  5. Shiver Song
(6:08)  6. Into The Stars
(6:17)  7. A Day Like Any Other
(5:51)  8. Echoes Of Summer
(4:55)  9. My Ship
(3:59) 10. Conception
(4:54) 11. Le Rendez-vous Final

Maybe Steps is alto saxophonist Patrick Cornelius' third album, and his first for the excellent Los Angeles-based Posi-Tone Records. He's joined by the talented rhythm section of pianist Gerald Clayton, bassist Peter Slavov and drummer Kendrick Scott in a graceful and melodically strong performance, mostly of his original tunes. Cornelius' compositions swing gracefully, with seemingly effortless ease on the part of all of the musicians. "Maybe Steps" typifies this relaxed groove; the tune also appears on Cornelius' second album, Fierce (Whirlwind Recordings, 2010) where it was characterized by a brighter sound and Michael Janisch's tough bass line. This new version is more effective, the subtle playing of Clayton, Slavov and Scott providing a perfectly judged backdrop to Cornelius' warm alto. On "Echoes of Summer," Cornelius is joined by guitarist Miles Okazaki, the two instruments complementing each other sonically and giving added depth to its melody. Ispired by Cornelius' baby daughter, "Bella's Dreaming" is a lovely ballad that displays the saxophonist's masterful control of his instrument. "Brother Gabriel," which Cornelius first recorded with the Transatlantic Collective on Travelling Song (Woodville Records, 2009), gets its inspiration from singer/songwriter Peter Gabriel's reflective and downbeat "Here Comes The Flood." Once again, Cornelius produces a beautifully controlled performance, this time on a tune that is a touch more intense than most in this collection. "Le Rendez-vous Final" swings gently, thanks especially to Scott's drumming, and yet it carries an air of sadness that is somehow at odds with this rhythm.  Pianist Asen Doykin duets with Cornelius on an understated and delicate performance of Kurt Weill's melancholic "My Ship"; slow, measured and emotive, it's a superb interpretation of this classic song. Sir George Shearing's "Conception" is more upbeat, driven by Scott's percussion and given added depth, once again, by Okazaki's deft guitar work. Cornelius' star continues to rise. Maybe Steps is his strongest outing yet, demonstrating his all-too-rare ability to combine the writing of memorable and accessible tunes with a performance that engages with, and enhances, their beauty and emotional connection. ~ Bruce Lindsay https://www.allaboutjazz.com/maybe-steps-patrick-cornelius-posi-tone-records-review-by-bruce-lindsay.php

Personnel: Patrick Cornelius: alto saxophone; Gerald Clayton: piano; Peter Slavov: bass; Kendrick Scott: drums; Mile Okazaki: guitar (6, 8); Assen Doykin: piano (9).

Maybe Steps

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Chick Corea - Akoustic Band

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1989
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:15
Size: 139,3 MB
Art:

(4:55)  1. Bessie's Blues
(4:47)  2. My One And Only Love
(6:53)  3. So In Love
(5:06)  4. Sophisticated Lady
(8:13)  5. Autumn Leaves
(6:11)  6. Someday My Prince Will Come
(6:33)  7. Morning Sprite
(5:12)  8. T.B.C. (Terminal Baggage Claim)
(6:29)  9. Circles
(5:52) 10. Spain

After recording a string of fusion records in the late '80s with his Elektric Band, Chick Corea returned to acoustic jazz with this trio date. Enlisting Elektric Band sidemen John Patitucci and Dave Weckl, Corea swings through ten tracks with noticeably mixed results. The leader is as romantic as ever, playing with bravado even on ballads, flawlessly executing complicated ideas, reveling in drama and melodrama. Patitucci's upright playing clearly betrays his electric pedigree; listen quickly to his solo on "So in Love" and you might mistake it for a Jaco Pastorius spot. Weckl has been accused of being a soulless technician serving questionable music in the past, and those who are predisposed against him will find nothing here to change their minds. On the Corea-penned compositions, the band sounds tight and fresh, but on the standards, they sound out of place. 

The band's reading of "Sophisticated Lady," for example, is busy and confused, but once they get their hands on Corea's own "Morning Sprite," the resulting joyful romp is pure pleasure. An unremarkable performance of "Autumn Leaves" is balanced by a great new take on Corea's classic "Spain," where Weckl and Patitucci tear through the song with panache as Corea solos gleefully on top. This band seems made for one thing: to play Chick Corea originals and in any situation other than that they sound awkward. If this album is an attempt to take the standard piano trio and apply a fusion-informed, Corea-style attitude toward familiar material, it is an interesting experiment. In the end, however, it still does not work as well as some of Corea's other efforts, but you can't blame him or his bandmates for trying. A pleasant, though by no means essential, entry in Corea's discography. ~ Daniel Gioffre https://www.allmusic.com/album/chick-corea-akoustic-band-mw0000199498

Personnel:  Piano, Producer – Chick Corea; Bass – John Patitucci; Drums – Dave Weckl

Akoustic Band

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Fourplay - Esprit De Four

Styles: Jazz, Funk, Soul, Fusion 
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:01
Size: 126,6 MB
Art: Front

(7:46)  1. December Dream
(4:12)  2. Firefly
(7:11)  3. Venus
(4:12)  4. Sonnymoon
(6:08)  5. Put Our Hearts Together - Instrumental Version
(4:16)  6. All I Wanna Do
(7:05)  7. Logic Of Love
(6:22)  8. Esprit De Four
(4:26)  9. Sugoi
(3:18) 10. Put Our Hearts Together - Vocal Version

Bands don't last over two decades with minimal turnover in personnel and continued success if they're composed of egotists, prima donnas, drama queens or people that just don't play nice together. Fourplay has endured and thrived because it is an egalitarian coalition of seasoned professionals who set aside private agendas to serve the group dynamic. When a new guitarist joins Fourplay it typically takes their sophomore recording with the long-running band before they truly begin to fit in. In over 20 years there have been only three personnel changes, with original guitarist Lee Ritenour being replaced by Larry Carlton, who manned the spot for 12 years and seven albums, until he exited and Chuck Loeb became the "new guy" on Let's Touch the Sky (Heads Up, 2010). Stability has been a strength for this assemblage of veteran musicians even if consistency has led the band to be dismissed by critics little more than slick, smooth jazz. That was truer before than it is now as the Fourplay of 2012 bears little resemblance to the 1991 version despite three-quarters of the lineup being still composed of founders Bob James, Nathan East and Harvey Mason. James' keyboards are still at the heart of the group, but whoever the guitarist is gives it much of its soul, and on Esprit De Four a lion's share of the direction as well. Loeb is predominantly featured on the first four tracks and guides the group into making music that is too passionate to be "slick." Even when East takes his standard vocal turn on "All I Wanna Do," Loeb's guitar is front and center leading the way. This hardly means the rest of the band recedes into the background. Mason's "Venus" is lush and lovely with James and Loeb gently trading leads before smoothly dueting to the close. "Sonnymoon" is the closest these old pros come to sounding like "classic" Fourplay, as the Mason and East rhythm section keeps things fast and funky. It's just an excuse for four minutes of jamming, but let no one think Fourplay can't still get down when it wants to. 

If Loeb steps up to assert himself as primary soloist, James, who will turn 73 in December 2012, seems willing to relinquish some of the spotlight to Loeb, or at least doesn't seem the least stressed out sharing it. James has a deep fondness for Eastern culture and his two contributions, "Sugoi" and "Put Our Hearts Together," are evidence of that influence. "Put Our Hearts Together" (in both an instrumental and vocal version) is dedicated to the people of Japan in the wake of 2011's horrific earthquake and tsunami. Esprit De Four eschews the Fourplay formula of American chart-topping guest vocalists such as Anita Baker or Michael McDonald in favor of a demonstration of cross-cultural outreach, as Japanese superstar Seiko Matsuda to provides the vocals for "Put Our Hearts Together." The charge most frequently levied at Fourplay by its detractors is that the music is safe and formulaic. While it would be an untruth to say this is the most freewheeling quartet in jazz, it's petty to confuse popularity and acclaim with shallowness and superficiality. Fourplay cares too deeply about its music to be a cynical superstar band conceived as little more than a cash grab. ~ Jeff Winbush https://www.allaboutjazz.com/fourplay-esprit-de-four-by-jeff-winbush.php

Personnel: Bob James: keyboards; Nathan East: bass, vocals; Chuck Loeb: guitars, synths; Harvey Mason: drums, percussion, vibes, synths; Seiko Matsuda: vocals (10); Lizzy Loeb: additional vocals (1); Kenny Mason and the Voices of Praise Choir.

Esprit De Four

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