Don Lanphere - Where Do You Start?

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2002
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:11
Size: 127,9 MB
Art: Front

( 5:25)  1. Ragazza De La Mer
( 5:53)  2. All Across The City
( 7:10)  3. Blues Away
( 5:56)  4. Ming's Dream
( 3:01)  5. Methuselah's Big Duck
( 5:40)  6. Wilke's Grin
( 6:12)  7. Where Do You Start?
(10:13)  8. The Scene Is Clean
( 5:38)  9. Cottage For Sale

Few veterans of the classic bebop era were still active in 2002, and even fewer were still in their musical prime. Don Lanphere is a major exception. Rather than just recreating the past (which in his case includes leading a date that featured Fats Navarro), Lanphere always looks ahead. A distinctive tenor-saxophonist, Lanphere also doubles effective on soprano and leads a top-notch sextet in the Pacific Northwest. Where Do You Start has a high-quality repertoire performed by Lanphere, cornetist Jonathan Pugh, trombonist Jeff Hay, pianist Marc Seales, bassist Doug Miller and drummer John Bishop. The five originals by group members include "Blues Away" (which is in the Art Blakey hard bop tradition), a feature for Lanphere's soprano on the moody ballad "Ming's Dream" and the novel "Methuselah's Big Duck," which has the cornet and trombone imitating quacking sounds. Of the four other tunes, Jim Hall's "All Across The City" and "Where Do You Start" (which is very rarely ever done interpreted as an instrumental but works quite well) are joined by Tadd Dameron's "The Scene Is Clean" and a wistful version of "A Cottage For Sale." Just one in a string of excellent Don Lanphere recordings after 1980, Where Do You Start has been put out by Origin, a valuable label that documents the jazz scene in Washington State. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/where-do-you-start-mw0000020354

Personnel:  Saxophone – Don Lanphere; Bass – Doug Miller; Cornet – Jonathan Pugh; Drums – John Bishop; Piano – Marc Seales; Trombone – Jeff Hay

Where Do You Start?

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Carla Helmbrecht - Be Cool Be Kind

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:00
Size: 133,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:46)  1. Be Cool Be Kind
(4:14)  2. Later For Love
(4:56)  3. Easy Love
(4:55)  4. So Many Stars
(2:51)  5. Down With Love
(5:32)  6. Even Still
(5:01)  7. A Miracle
(5:20)  8. Windmills Of Your Mind
(4:50)  9. The Touch Of Your Lips
(5:07) 10. How I Remember You
(4:51) 11. (Song For) A Rainy Afternoon
(5:30) 12. The Party's Over

Once again San Francisco is home for a fine singer. Carla Helmbrecht is a summa cum laude graduate from that school of singers who believe that in order to deliver her special message, there is no need to indulge in vocal tricks, become over emotional or even overdo dynamics by major shifts between singing loud and louder. Rather, her approach is cool, languid, laid back (as distinguished from laid out) and gently fervent. On her second release for Heart Music with a play list that shows an ambivalent attitude, Helmbrecht stays away from up tempo rhythms, living comfortably with the slow and medium pace. The most excitable she gets is on "Easy Love" which she wrote with Peter Horvath. This track also reveals that she has a cute side about her. Helmbrecht's style results in pleasant off the beaten track Interpretations. Her "The Party's Over" which one normally hears with extensive emoting comes off matter of fact, "it's over and done with so get used to it", in Helmbrecht's vocal hands. Contrast this with the version to say Anita O'Day's. Jazz vocalizing allows plenty of room for both treatments. Helmbrecht has managed to convince outstanding jazz musicians to join her for this session.

In addition to the basic trio headed by Horvath's piano, invited guests make important contributions. On "Even Still", Ernie Watts sax offers dramatic counterpoint to Helmbrecht's plaintive rendering. Larry Koonse's guitar and Clay Jenkins' muted and open trumpet are delectably conspicuous on the "The Party's Over". Horvath's piano introduction sets the scene for a lovely "The Touch of Your Lips" as Joe LaBarbera's seductive brushes provide a soft angel hair like rhythmic underpinning.

This is an outstanding track. The lyrics are printed in the liner notes. But the producer let the graphic and design people run wild with the color combinations. Some of the words are red on a gray background which make them virtually impossible to read. Oh well, albums are bought for the quality of performances not the quality of the color layouts. And this album should be added to one's collection. ~ Dave Nathan https://www.allaboutjazz.com/be-cool-be-kind-carla-helmbrecht-heart-music-review-by-dave-nathan.php?width=1920

Be Cool Be Kind

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Emanuele Cisi - Urban adventures

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:57
Size: 136,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:37)  1. Back to the city
(8:26)  2. Lazy rainy sunday
(8:21)  3. Cieloceleste
(6:16)  4. Primulanita
(9:15)  5. Weather of dreams
(8:23)  6. No way
(6:26)  7. La notte delle lucciole
(6:06)  8. Quasimodo
(2:03)  9. Children heart

Emanuele Cisi is considered to be one of the most interesting musicians of the new European jazz scene. He has a very personal approach of Jazz music, with both one foot in the present and the other in the future. In 1995, he was elected 'best new talent' by the Italian critic. He has already recorded 7 albums under his own name as well as given his contribution on many other recordings as co-leader or side man on renowned record labels such as Blue Note and Universal. He has also collaborated with prestigious musicians such as Billy Cobham, Nat Adderley or Aldo Romano among many others. Elabeth. 2006. ~ Editorial Reviews https://www.amazon.com/Urban-adventures-Emanuele-Cisi/dp/B00150CQ3S

Personnel:  Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Emanuele Cisi; Trumpet – François Chassagnite; Double Bass – Jean-Marc Jafet, Simone Monnanni; Drums – Yoann Serra; Piano – Paolo Birro.

Urban adventures

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Dick Katz - Piano & Pen

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:06
Size: 88,0 MB
Art: Front

(5:14)  1. Timonium
(4:30)  2. Aurora
(4:34)  3. Duologue No. 1
(4:46)  4. Glad To Be Unhappy
(3:22)  5. Round Trip
(6:56)  6. Afternoon In Paris
(4:07)  7. Ain't Misbehavin'
(4:34)  8. Scrapple From The Apple

A versatile pianist and arranger, Dick Katz was responsible for many stimulating and memorable recordings through the years, often as an important sideman and/or producer. He studied at the Peabody Institute, the Manhattan School of Music, and Juilliard, in addition to taking piano lessons from Teddy Wilson. In the 1950s, he picked up important experience as a member of the house rhythm section of the Café Bohemia, with the groups of Ben Webster and Kenny Dorham, the Oscar Pettiford big band, and later with Carmen McRae. Katz was part of the popular J.J. Johnson/Kai Winding Quintet (1954-1955) and Orchestra USA, and participated on Benny Carter's classic Further Definitions album. He freelanced throughout much of his career and was a guiding force behind some of Helen Merrill's finest recordings. Katz, who played with Roy Eldridge and Lee Konitz starting in the late '60s, co-founded Milestone Records in 1966 with Orrin Keepnews. In the 1990s, Dick Katz worked both as a pianist and an arranger with the American Jazz Orchestra and Loren Schoenberg's big band. Unfortunately, he did not recorded all that frequently as a leader, cutting fairly obscure dates for Atlantic (1957 and 1959), Bee Hive (1984), and Reservoir (1992), but the jazz world was well aware of his talents. Dick Katz died in Manhattan in November 2009 at the age of 85. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dick-katz-mn0000821321/biography

Personnel:  Piano – Dick Katz; Bass – Joe Benjamin; Drums – Connie Kay; Guitar – Chuck Wayne, Jimmy Raney

Piano & Pen

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Herb Ellis - Herb Ellis Meets Jimmy Giuffre

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 1999
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:53
Size: 92,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:05)  1. Goose Grease
(5:57)  2. When Your Lover Has Gone
(7:43)  3. Remember
(4:06)  4. Patricia
(5:06)  5. A Country Boy
(4:32)  6. You Know
(3:32)  7. My Old Flame
(4:49)  8. People Will Say We're In Love

"Herb Ellis Meets Jimmy Giuffre presents an unusual team. It is an album with involved arrangements, as opposed to a jam session format, and the only solo voice heard here is Ellis guitar with the exception of the tune "Remember", on which some short solos by the horns are heard. Not even Giuffre solos, as he contented himself with writing all of the arrangements and playing on the elaborate ensemble passages." https://www.freshsoundrecords.com/herb-ellis-albums/5238-herb-ellis-meets-stan-getz-roy-eldridge-art-pepper-jimmy-giuffre-2-lp-on-1-cd.html

Personnel:  Guitar – Herb Ellis, Jim Hall;  Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Arranged By – Jimmy Giuffre;   Alto Saxophone – Art Pepper, Bud Shank; Bass – Joe Mondragon; Drums – Stan Levey; Piano – Lou Levy; Tenor Saxophone – Richie Kamuca

Herb Ellis Meets Jimmy Giuffre

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