Plas Johnson - Positively

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1976
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:15
Size: 117,0 MB
Art: Front

(3:33)  1. Positively
(4:44)  2. Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be)
(7:09)  3. Let's Get It All Together
(4:39)  4. Easy For You To Say
(4:50)  5. Never More
(5:29)  6. My Foolish Heart
(5:07)  7. Careless Love (Traditional)
(4:30)  8. A Cottage For Sale
(3:34)  9. Dirty Leg Blues
(4:38) 10. Sea Sea

This CD reissue brings back one of Plas Johnson's few opportunities through the years to lead his own recording session. The appealing tenor jams through a variety of songs that range from straight-ahead to soulful, with touches of gospel and even country. Assisted by guitarist Herb Ellis, electric keyboardist Mike Melvoin, bassist Ray Brown, either Jake Hanna or Jimmie Smith on drums, and Bobby Hall on conga, Johnson shows that he was an overlooked transition figure between Stanley Turrentine and Joshua Redman. Highlights include "Lover Man," "My Foolish Heart" and "Careless Love." 

~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/positively-mw0000593294

Personnel:  Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Plas Johnson; Bass – Ray Brown; Congas – Bobbye Hall; Drums – Jake Hanna , Jimmie Smith; Guitar – Herb Ellis 

Positively

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Joan Osborne - Love and Hate

Styles: Vocal 
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:36
Size: 116,0 MB
Art: Front

(5:43)  1. Where We Start
(2:45)  2. Work On Me
(4:10)  3. Mongrels
(4:35)  4. Train
(3:50)  5. Up All Night
(5:46)  6. Not Too Well Acquainted
(3:37)  7. Thirsty For My Tears
(3:38)  8. Love and Hate
(5:19)  9. Kitten's Got Claws
(4:04) 10. Secret Room
(3:43) 11. Keep It Underground
(2:21) 12. Raga

After nine previous albums that span musical terrains including mainstream pop, blues, throwback soul, rock, and modern country, singer and songwriter Joan Osborne delivers her first formal "song cycle" on Love and Hate. Co-produced once more with Jack Petruzzelli, these songs (all written or co-written by the artist), with their first-person protagonist, traverse the many stages between the poles reflected in the title though thankfully they never quite reach the latter. This record is ultimately a showcase for the songwriter more than it is the singer, one trying to come to grips with mastering this aspect of her craft. In set opener "Where We Start," Osborne is clearly influenced by Van Morrison's trademark weave of jazz and R&B. Its soulful melodic repetition is underscored by a Veedon Fleece-esque string chart, and well-placed use of a Rhodes piano. "Mongrels" and "Kitten's Got Claws" are fine rockers that feature Nels Cline's stinging guitar playing and a female backing chorus that includes Amy Helm, Gail Ann Dorsey, and Catherine Russell, while "Keep It Underground," co-written with Gary Lucas, features the same lineup in a funkier, grittier R&B setting. First single "Thirsty for My Tears" comes close to what passes for contemporary country but much is far less slick. 

"Not Too Well Acquainted" is soulful, jazzy pop that simultaneously recalls Dusty Springfield's kaleidoscopic Philly period and Burt Bacharach's mid'70s era, with gorgeous string and horn charts. Some of these songs falter. The direct melodic quote from Pink Floyd's "Us and Them" in the opening phrase of the title track is the best part of an otherwise mediocre tune. An attempt at lushly orchestrated gospel-tinged soul in "Train" is too limited melodically to overcome its arrangements."Work on Me" and "Secret Room" use Spanish flamenco and fado-inspired frameworks far too lazily to make them work. The tender yet erotic "Raga" places Petruzzelli's banjo and hand percussion (not tablas) in a mix with acoustic guitars, harmonium, and Cline's lap steel. It simultaneously and successfully juxtaposes East Indian and American folk traditions and closes it all on a high note. Lyrically, Osborne misses at times; she can be too obvious with her metaphors, and use age-old clichéd lines from music history or rhymes that feel stretched to fit. 

However, these songs are poignant; they present love's many gradations its victories, difficulties, and failures in a sincere context. Love and Hate is uneven, but is worthwhile for the sheer pleasure and authority in hearing Osborne deliver songs from one of the heart's messiest places. ~ Thom Jurek  https://www.allmusic.com/album/love-and-hate-mw0002627420

Love and Hate

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Phil Woods - Musique Du Bois

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1974
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:30
Size: 125,0 MB
Art: Front

( 7:02)  1. Samba Du Bois
(10:11)  2. Willow Weep For Me
( 8:27)  3. Nefertiti
( 9:12)  4. The Last Page
( 7:20)  5. The Summer Knows
( 6:00)  6. Airegin
( 6:16)  7. Samba Du Bois - Alternative Take

On Musique Du Bois, things start with a chorded bass-alto workout in the intro of "Samba du Bois," actually more a hard bop than Brazilian excursion, with Phil Woods' alto frying on the edges. The most inventive juxtaposition of "All Blues" welded to "Willow Weep for Me" works perfectly over ten-plus minutes, in a steady but quick waltz tempo. This is a tour-de-force reading, Woods wafting over Jaki Byard's blue-green chords. During his solo, the pianist goes light blue in cascading, flowing phrases that tumble out of the 88 keys. "Nefertiti" is vastly different than the Miles Davis-Wayne Shorter original; where that one was haunting, sparse, swelling and free, Woods interprets this as an easy swinger, anchored on terra firma with Byard's scurrying solo and funky R&B coda a listener's delight. The band goes through definite time shifts, from easy bluesy groove to funk and hard bop during "The Last Page"; they swing "Airegin" pretty well; and during "The Summer Knows," the altoist confirms what many have long since known that he is an unsurpassed master when interpreting a standard in ballad form. A lilting alternate take of "Samba du Bois" is the more Latin-oriented one, same tempo but with drums and the trio introing and playing all the way through. This LP is a widely acknowledged modern jazz masterpiece, a classic in the discography of Woods, easily amongst the best five recordings of his long and storied career and a must-buy. 

~ Michael G.Nastos https://www.allmusic.com/album/musique-du-bois-mw0000207406

Personnel: Phil Woods - alto saxophone, composer; Jaki Byard - piano; Richard Davis - bass; Alan Dawson - drums

Musique Du Bois

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Dave Stryker - Full Moon

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 1994
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:55
Size: 149,4 MB
Art: Front

(8:45)  1. The sphinx
(5:52)  2. I mean you
(8:21)  3. Wise one
(5:40)  4. Leadbelly sez
(9:03)  5. Bayou blues
(8:58)  6. Deluge
(2:13)  7. Monk's mood
(8:18)  8. The disguise
(7:42)  9. Full moon

WASHINGTONIANS may know guitarist Dave Stryker's work by way of the soulful accompaniment he's provided saxophonist Stanley Turrentine in concert dates and recording sessions over the past decade, but his new quartet album, "Full Moon," presents a much broader picture of his exceptional talent and diverse tastes. Unlike some recordings that attempt to demonstrate a musician's stylistic reach, only to end up sounding contrived and disjointed, "Full Moon" is as cohesive as it is adventurous. The quartet's precise interplay, honed over a period of 10 years and four recordings, distinguishes each arrangement and manifests itself in both subtle and stirring forms, from the sly, conversational exchanges between Stryker, bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Jeff Hirshfield to the brash but precise unisons stated by Stryker and saxophonist Steve Slagle. In addition to this near telepathic level of teamwork, "Full Moon" consistently benefits from the resourcefulness and ingenuity Stryker and Slagle demonstrate as improvisers and from a series of truly distinctive arrangements. Among the best are a New Orleans funked-up version of Thelonious Monk's "I Mean You," Stryker's own languid musing "Bayou Blue," and Ornette Coleman's bop-inspired theme, "The Disguise." DAVE STRYKER -"Full Moon" (SteepleChase). Appearing Wednesday at Blues Alley with the Steve Slagle Quartet. To hear a free Sound Bite from this album, call 202/334-9000 and press 8109. ~ Mike Joyce https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/02/03/stryker-hits-mark-on-full-moon

Personnel:  Guitar – Dave Stryker; Alto Saxophone, Flute – Steve Slagle;  Bass – Jay Anderson; Drums – Jeff Hirshfield

Full Moon

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Claude Tissendier, Claude Bolling - Ellington Moods

Styles: Saxophone , Clarinet Jazz
Year: 1999
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:02
Size: 130,3 MB
Art: Front

(5:14)  1. Nuances
(5:39)  2. Pour Duke
(4:01)  3. Aaron
(3:33)  4. Alter Ego
(5:19)  5. Blowing the Groove
(4:29)  6. It's a Sun of a Beach
(5:09)  7. Princess
(7:12)  8. Afterblue
(5:14)  9. Spatial Mood
(6:24) 10. Phil
(3:43) 11. Fashion Power

Born France. While studying classical clarinet and alto saxophone at Toulouse Conservatory, Tissendier began playing jazz. His interests followed a chronological path, starting with New Orleans music, passing through the mainstream into bop. In 1977 he joined the big band led by Claude Bolling and also worked with Gerard Badini and others. In the early 80s he taught at the Paris School of Jazz and in 1983 formed a sextet especially to recreate the music of John Kirby. In demand for club and festival dates, the band won many awards for both live performances and records. In 1987 Tissendier formed Saxomania, a seven-piece band featuring two alto saxophones, two tenors and three rhythm. Once again he won honours and gained invaluable experience and exposure accompanying visiting American jazzmen including Benny Carter, Buddy Tate, Jimmy Witherspoon and Spike Robinson, with some of whom he also recorded. Tissendier’s alto playing is striking for its intensity and driving swing and the high musical standards displayed by the Saxomania band ably demonstrate that his is a major talent. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/claude-tissendier-quintet-mn0000391438

Personnel:  Claude Tissendier, alto sax, clarinet; Claude Bolling, piano # 1; Georges Arvanitas, piano # 2; Patrice Galas, piano # 3; Philippe Baudoin, piano # 4; Stan Laferriere, piano # 5; Andre Persiani, piano # 6; Henri Renaud, piano # 7; Alain Jean Marie, piano # 8; Patrice Authier, piano # 9; Aaron Bridgers, piano # 10; Claude Carriere, piano # 11; Jean-Christophe Vilain, trombone; Dominique vernhes, tenor sax; Jean Eteve, baritone sax; Pierre-Yves Sorin, bass; Vincent Cordelette, drums

Ellington Moods

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