Mal Waldron with Eric Dolphy and Booker Ervin - The Quest

Styles: Piano, Saxophone Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 1962
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:37
Size: 95,9 MB
Art: Front

(8:54)  1. Status Seeking
(4:09)  2. Duquility
(4:45)  3. Thirteen
(4:26)  4. We Diddit
(5:39)  5. Warm Canto
(5:39)  6. Warp and Woof
(8:02)  7. Fire Waltz

Although often reissued under Eric Dolphy's name, this CD reissue gives the leadership back to pianist Mal Waldron. The seven originals not only feature altoist Dolphy (who makes a rare appearance on clarinet during "Warm Canto") but tenor-saxophonist Booker Ervin, Ron Carter (on cello) and Waldron. With bassist Joe Benjamin and drummer Charlie Persip giving alert support, the complex music (which falls between hard bop and the avant-garde) is successfully interpreted. Worth checking out. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-quest-mw0000078389

Personnel:  Mal Waldron – piano; Eric Dolphy – alto saxophone, clarinet; Booker Ervin – tenor saxophone (tracks 1-4, 6 & 7); Ron Carter – cello; Joe Benjamin – bass; Charlie Persip – drums

The Quest

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Eva Cassidy - Imagine

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2002
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:44
Size: 94,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:13)  1. It Doesn't Matter Anymore
(3:56)  2. Fever
(5:42)  3. Who Knows Where The Time Goes
(4:48)  4. You've Changed
(4:36)  5. Imagine
(4:48)  6. Still Not Ready
(4:05)  7. Early Morning Rain
(2:32)  8. Tennessee Waltz
(3:19)  9. I Can Only Be Me
(3:41) 10. Danny Boy

A desperate clamoring from fans worldwide is no doubt the last thing the late singer could have imagined when she was at clubs and at home singing and doing rough recordings of the tunes that would someday be chosen for this magnificent hodgepodge. But many years after her death in obscurity in late 1996, she became a true phenomenon, with enthusiasts who find in her voice a true connection to heaven (take that in any number of ways). So even if the songs are rough, they're still Eva Cassidy. Another precious listen to her transcendent voice so brilliant in all genres; wispy and angelic one minute, soulful and guttural the next is worth all the dusty shelf-searching this compilation no doubt entailed. The songs recorded at the now-defunct Annapolis club Pearls the obscure chestnut "It Doesn't Matter Anymore," which Paul Anka gave to Buddy Holly; Gordon Lightfoot's "Early Morning Rain"; and the tearjerking "Danny Boy" present Cassidy at her purest, her simple acoustic guitar riding along behind increasingly emotional vocal lines. "Fever" is an alternate take from the version that wound up on Chuck Brown's The Other Side, beautifully torchy and featuring a sly violin line by brother Dan Cassidy. She recorded a folky rendition of the Sandy Denny classic "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" at the Maryland Inn, her voice rising and falling over a subtle violin. Her smoky jazz chops think Norah Jones with a lot more fire are in full force on "You've Changed" (recorded at Blues Alley in Washington, D.C.). Probably the richest performances are the powerful home-demo renditions of the title track and "Tennessee Waltz," given off-the-cuff readings (with only simple guitar lines) that show off Cassidy's casual genius. Finally, Cassidy's dad found a few formal early studio recordings, "Still Not Ready" and "I Can Only Be Me," a heartrending song Stevie Wonder wrote for Spike Lee's School Daze but never recorded. That's OK Cassidy's unintentional penchant is for redefining songs and creating new and definitive versions. Most likely, no major label would ever put out a new artist recording with this kind of a mixed bag, both stylistically and production-wise. But this hardly matters, as listeners seek more and more from the angel who left long before the world fell in love with her. The continuing heavenly serenade is hard to resist. ~ Jonathan Widran https://www.allmusic.com/album/imagine-mw0000661451

Imagine

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Buddy Morrow - Night Train

Styles: Trombone Jazz 
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 28:35
Size: 67,0 MB
Art: Front

(2:13)  1. Mangos
(2:15)  2. With a Song in My Heart
(2:04)  3. Midnight March
(3:01)  4. One Mint Julep
(2:22)  5. Rib Joint
(2:19)  6. With the Wind and the Rain in Your Hair
(3:02)  7. Night Train
(2:30)  8. Hey, Mrs. Jones
(2:14)  9. I'll Close My Eyes
(2:05) 10. Back Home
(4:25) 11. Pink Lady

Throughout his career, Buddy Morrow loved playing with big bands and doing what he could to keep nostalgic swing alive. He began playing trombone when he was 12 and within two years was working locally. Morrow developed quickly and moved to New York, where he studied at the Institute of Musical Art. He made his recording debut in 1936 with singer Amanda Randolph and trumpeter Sharkey Bonano. Morrow  known as Moe Zudekoff until he changed his name in the early 1940s kept busy during the swing era, working with Artie Shaw (1936-37 and 1940), Bunny Berigan, Frank Froeba, Eddie Duchin, Tommy Dorsey (1938), Paul Whiteman (1939-40) and Bob Crosby. After serving in the Navy (1941-44) he was with Jimmy Dorsey's Orchestra (1945). In 1945, at age 26, Morrow formed his own big band but it quickly failed. He became a studio musician for the remainder of the decade. In 1950 he formed a new orchestra that had strong success, giving an R&Bish sound to older standards and having a hit with "Night Train." Morrow spent most of the 1960s and '70s as a studio musician but he worked a bit with the World's Greatest Jazz Band in 1970; in the late 1970s he took over Tommy Dorsey's ghost band. Since then Morrow has been one of the few full-time big band leaders, performing melodic dance music based in the swing era. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/artist/buddy-morrow-mn0000537569/biography

Night Train

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Ian Shaw - Shine Sister Shine

Styles: Vocal, Piano Jazz
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:05
Size: 159,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:44)  1. Carry On World (Starring Everyone)
(3:46)  2. I Don't Know Enough About You
(3:50)  3. Trip and Tumble
(4:39)  4. This Beautiful Life
(3:44)  5. Shine Sister Shine
(6:16)  6. Keep Walking (Song for Sara)
(2:46)  7. How Little We Know
(4:56)  8. Not The Kind of Girl
(4:44)  9. Empire State of Mind New York
(3:27) 10. Touch Your Soul
(5:19) 11. Shine
(3:15) 12. Coming Around Again
(6:15) 13. Marche Loin (Pour Sara)
(3:36) 14. On Saturday Afternoons in 1963 - Bonus Track
(4:12) 15. A Horse Named Janis Joplin - Bonus Track
(4:28) 16. Jesse - Bonus Track

I ran my first 10K ever to these songs, on a cool morning in country backroads as mist lifted to reveal an early and golden morning. I ran my middle-aged, twice-cancered, arthritic, feminist, queer body to this album and Ian's voice. His music, his force and that of the glorious women he is channeling and championing here kept me going. This is an album of songs to run to and to crawl to. Here is music to sob to and anthems to change the world still so much world to change. Ian and I met on social media, we have friends in common, we met talking of the refugee crisis, we met because Ian was taking action about the refugee crisis. Taking action, no matter what. New takes, because we can. A new take on an old song for Joni Mitchell's always relevant Shine, reminding us that there are so many sides to truth, to every hurt. Light and dark, because there is not one without the other, no life without death, the dichotomy held here very gently, so we can allow the pain and not be broken by it. Keep Walking's true story of Ian's friend Sara. From Eritrea to Libya to Calais to Birmingham and the UK asylum system. A tale of someone else's pain, sustained in song, that we might feel it ourselves, maybe even feel it enough to make a difference. In action, there is hope. Ian's open-hearted version of This Beautiful Life is a full-throated call for a shining existence, and a vital panacea for the also-truth of Trip And Tumble's collapse, crumble, stumble from grace. Tanita Tikaram and Ian's Shine Sister Shine becomes a sing-a-long, march-along, dance-along paean to the LGBT community &ncash; so much achieved and still so far to go, both out in the world and among ourselves. Ian says the 'Sister' here is every gender and sexuality, all of us shining. Too many to list, but every one of these tracks offers a gift for the listener willing to let someone touch your soul. These are songs to hold us when we ask why, to promise that it's not only good to cry, but right to do so. They are also songs to prompt us when we ask how how do we make a difference, how do we create value in our individual lives, in a carry on world, starring everyone of us? This is an album crammed with sharp pain, deeply felt, then countered with soaring, resonant hope. Empire States Of Mind for all. We see what hurts, we cry the tears, and because we know there is also life, also light, we dig deep and find the strength to make a change. https://www.ianshaw.biz/p/albums/sister-about.php

Shine Sister Shine

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The Microscopic Septet - Been Up So Long It Looks Like Down To Me: The Micros Play The Blues

Styles: Progressive Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2017
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:13
Size: 154,4 MB
Art: Front

(4:33)  1. Cat Toys
(2:47)  2. Blues Cubistico
(6:34)  3. Dark Blue
(4:04)  4. Don't Mind If I Do
(4:50)  5. Migraine Blues (for Wendlyn Alter)
(6:21)  6. PJ In The 60s
(4:34)  7. When It's Getting Dark
(5:43)  8. Simple-Minded Blues
(2:28)  9. After You, Joel
(4:26) 10. 12 Angry Birds
(5:51) 11. Quizzical
(6:21) 12. Silent Night
(3:16) 13. I've Got A Right To Cry
(0:17) 14. Untitled

Saxophonist Phillip Johnston founded The Microscopic Septet in 1980 when the group briefly counted John Zorn as one of its members. They recorded four albums and were a regular presence in New York's downtown scene before disbanding in 1992. In 2006 Cuneiform Records re-released the four albums leading to the reformation of the group and presently, to their new release Been Up So Long It Looks Like Down to Me: The Micros Play the Blues. Johnston and pianist Joel Forrester, saxophonist Dave Sewelson and bassist Dave Hofstra were all members of the original group. However, drummer Richard Dworkin and saxophonist Don Davis followed closely, both coming on board in the early 1980s. Only tenor saxophonist Mike Hashim is a later arrival, having joined the band shortly after the reformation in 2007. If any of their album titles crystalizes the essence of the The Micros, it is Surrealistic Swing: The History of the Micros, Vol. 2 (Cuneiform Records, 2006). Johnston and Forrester, who evenly divide the writing credits on this album, share an affinity if not an outright insistence for a swing-based criteria. 

Yet throughout their recordings, there is a progressive bent that makes the music feel neither nostalgic nor avant-garde but somewhere in-between. Each of fourteen compositions on Been Up So Long It Looks Like Down to Me share that aesthetic sense but each with its own idiosyncrasy. "Cat Toys" could be out of the 1940s save for an appealing and technically modern bass solo from Hofstra. "Blues Cubistico," with its swinging dance rhythm, is kept up to date with Hashim and Sewelson's low-end improvised saxophones. The down and dirty "Dark Blues" features Johnston, Hashim and Sewelson in some fine creative interplay, handing off to Forrester for an engaging piano solo. Dworkin has time to shine on the percussion driven "Migraine Blues," a blend of swing and jump blues. "PJ in the 60s" opens as close to free playing as the group goes but quickly returns to the concept; again, the three saxophones enter into some pleasing dialog with Forrester and Dworkin later getting some quality solo time.

The tracks on Been Up So Long It Looks Like Down to Me are relatively compact, with one clocking in at under one minute; all having a contagious cheerfulness, modernly ostentatious and colorful textures. Like all of the compositions in the Microscopic Septet catalog, there is an unaffected and timeless quality to the music that will appeal to those who favor mainstream as well as the more exploratory listener. ~ Karl Ackermann https://www.allaboutjazz.com/been-up-so-long-it-looks-like-down-to-me-the-micros-play-the-blues-microscopic-septet-cuneiform-records-review-by-karl-ackermann.php

Personnel: Phillip Johnston: soprano saxophone; Don Davis: alto saxophone; Mike Hashim: tenor saxophone; Dave Sewelson: baritone saxophone; Joel Forrester: piano; Dave Hofstra: bass; Richard Dworkin: drums.

Been Up So Long It Looks Like Down To Me: The Micros Play The Blues

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