Booker Little - Booker Little And Friend

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 1961
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:28
Size: 134,0 MB
Art: Front

(5:56)  1. Victory And Sorrow
(6:18)  2. Forward Flight
(7:26)  3. Looking Ahead
(5:11)  4. If I Should Lose You
(5:39)  5. Calling Softly
(5:16)  6. Booker's Blues
(5:55)  7. Matilde
(8:27)  8. Looking Ahead (take 4)
(8:16)  9. Looking Ahead (take 7)

A CD reissue of trumpeter Booker Little's Victory and Sorrow album for Bethlehem, this release adds two previously unheard alternate takes of "Matilde" to the original program. Little's final recording before he died of uremia at the age of 23, the sextet session also features fine playing by trombonist Julian Priester, tenor saxophonist George Coleman, pianist Don Friedman, bassist Reggie Workman, and drummer Pete LaRoca. However, Booker Little is generally the top soloist on the harmonically advanced hard bop date and he is in peak form throughout although he would pass away on October 5 of that year. Of his six originals, "Molotone Music" and "Victory and Sorrow" are most memorable even if Little's beautiful playing on a quartet version of the date's one standard, "If I Should Lose You," is actually the highpoint. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/booker-little-and-friend-mw0000175012

Personnel: Trumpet – Booker Little; Bass – Reggie Workman; Drums – Pete La Roca; Piano – Don Freedman; Tenor Saxophone – George Coleman;  Trombone – Julian Priester

Booker Little And Friend

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Lisa Wahlandt, Mulo Francel - Brisa Do Mar

Styles: Vocal, Saxophone, Clarinet Jazz 
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:23
Size: 133,5 MB
Art: Front

(4:23)  1. Brisa do mar
(4:45)  2. Biondina mi manchi
(4:02)  3. Sábado Em Copacabana
(4:59)  4. Wenn Ich an dich denke
(2:55)  5. Mademoiselle
(3:25)  6. Doralice
(3:53)  7. Stay a While
(3:47)  8. Close to You
(5:04)  9. Wonderland
(5:07) 10. They Say It's Spring
(4:19) 11. Amar Voce
(5:41) 12. Samba D'Orfeo
(4:58) 13. When I Think of You

Once they played together in the band Mind Games , then parted ways. Now they are musically reunited for a magical evening: Lisa Wahlandt , one of Europe's most fascinating jazz voices, and Mulo Francel , multi-instrumentalist and creative whirlwind at Quadro Nuevo . Together with their congenial accompanists on bass, piano and percussion, they take us with sambas and bossanovas into an imaginary land of longing, where everything is different sensual, southern, sometimes feathery swinging and grooving, sometimes with the typical tristeza of the tropics. Brisa do Maris an intense, emotional cocktail of pure joie de vivre and velvety melancholy and the many blue tones in between. A live delight for music connoisseurs and an evening that does the soul good. Translate by Google https://www.glm.de/en/product/lisa-wahlandt-meets-mulo-francel-brisa-do-mar/

Lisa Wahlandt vocals; Mulo Francel saxophones, clarinets, mandolin, vibraphone, guitar on 7, 8; Dunkka bass; Sven Faller bass on 1, 9, arrangement on 1; Dieter Holesch guitar and arrangement on 5, 9; Robert Kainar drums and percussion; Martin Kälberer piano on 4, 5, 6, 13; Jan Eschke piano on 1, 12; Andreas Binder french horn on 9, 12; Fanny Kammerlander cello on 1, 9; Peter Clemente violin and viola on 1; Christoph Bachhuber flute on 9; Reinhold Hoffmann oboe on 9; Claudio Estay percussion on 1, 6, 10, 11, 12; Vincenzo Barbalarga accordion on 4, 13; Wolfgang Lohmeier percussion on 7, 8

Brisa Do Mar

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Andrew Hill Trio - Invitation

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1992
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:00
Size: 133,5 MB
Art: Front

( 6:31)  1. Catfish
( 5:23)  2. Lost no more
(12:19)  3. Morning flower
( 8:40)  4. Invitation
( 7:34)  5. Laverne
( 6:51)  6. Little John
(10:39)  7. Catfish (Take 3)

After a flurry of recordings for Blue Note during the 1960s, Andrew Hill didn't make another album as a leader until this Steeplechase studio session in 1974. Not that the pianist was inactive during this five-year stretch; he was performing concerts, teaching at Colgate University, and also writing for string quartets and symphony orchestras. This trio date with bassist Chris White and drummer Art Lewis features five original compositions, beginning with the turbulent but enticing "Catfish," which alternates between post-bop and avant-garde. "Lost No More" is far more intense, rarely giving the listener a time to focus before Hill switches his attack in another direction. The one standard of the date, Bronislaw Kaper's "Invitation," finds the pianist in an adventurous mood as the members of his rhythm section seem to be playing with a mind of their own. The CD reissue adds an alternate take of "Catfish," omitted from the original LP. Such fascinating music will be of great interest to fans of Andrew Hill. ~ Ken Dryden https://www.allmusic.com/album/invitation-mw0000436631

Personnel: Andrew Hill - piano, writer; Chris White - bass; Art Lewis - drums

Invitation

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Jeremy Steig - Howlin' For Judy

Styles: Flute Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:31
Size: 109,6 MB
Art: Front

( 4:37)  1. Howlin' For Judy
( 5:19)  2. Mint Tea
( 4:20)  3. Alias
( 5:53)  4. Waves
( 8:15)  5. In The Beginning
(11:06)  6. Nardis
( 7:58)  7. Permutations

"Howlin' for Judy" is flutist Jeremy Steig's best-known track, thanks to the Beastie Boys' use of a sample from it in "Sure Shot." As the title track for this collection, it marks new chapter in Blue Note's Rare Groove series. This seven-track set is compiled from two different albums: 1969's Legwork, which appeared on Solid State, and 1970's Wayfaring Stranger on Blue Note itself both of which were originally produced by the great Sonny Lester. Blue Note's Michael Cuscuna produced this collection by paring down the original albums to just the tracks that featured the trio of Steig, bassist Eddie Gomez, and drummer Don Alias. Why? In order to maximize its groove quotient; Legwork had its share of duo cuts and Wayfaring Stranger had some that featured a quartet with guitar. That said, the previous outings were quite adventurous in places: they contained various blues, ostinato workouts, and more ponderous numbers, too. Cuscuna pruned away until only the deeply funky, beat-driven trio tracks remained. That said, there is plenty of adventure not just in the music, but in its production: Steig was a fan of stereo separation and overdubbing techniques that were focused to maximize the rhythmic aspects of certain tracks. His own playing style is a great cross between Hubert Laws' more soulful technique and the dynamically rich and physically percussive aspects of Rahsaan Roland Kirk both rhythmically attuned players. While many are familiar with the title cut with its two-channel overdubbed bass and flute, far fewer punters know Steig's wildly groove-drenched sound world from the era. What a treat! You are the person this compilation is directed at.

Take "Mint Tea," with Gomez offering a deep wood-toned upright ushering in Alias' skittering breaks and rolling snares. For his part, Steig blows, whispers, moans, and groans through the flute, using an astonishing array of techniques. (Anyone who has ever thought of the flute as an airy, effete instrument has obviously never heard him play!) Alias gets busy with the kit, offering Gomez a solid beat to get behind. There are layers of hand percussion, shakers, and cymbals overdubbed onto that rhythm, so Alias can feel free to let the breakbeats fall. Gomez is hypnotic in his steadiness, and Steig enters by blowing another rhythm track and a staggered melody track overdubbed on top. Only four minutes and 20 seconds in length, this monster is all too brief but ripe for beatheads to plunder. There is a beautiful and provocative version of Miles Davis' "Nardis" here, too. It begins sparsely as an Eastern-tinged flute solo on the melody; when the rhythm section enters at about the two-minute mark, it becomes an exploratory folk melody before Alias and Gomez ramp it up into a finger-popping bop number. This might throw some the first time through, but it is one of the hippest numbers on the disc. "Waves," a more languid groover, is a bit more elemental; but when it comes to rhythm and grooves that's a stone positive quality the pizzicato work by Gomez on this baby is stellar. Ultimately, Howlin' for Judy signals a new kind of compilation where a certain period in an artist's oeuvre is mined for maximum aesthetic effect. Cuscuna took this material from a very brief period in Steig's development as an artist, but he came up with a monster that withstands not only repeated listening, but the hard critical assessment of hipsters, club connoisseurs, and jazz fans. ~ Thom Jurek https://www.allmusic.com/album/howlin-for-judy-mw0000791388

Personnel:  Flute [Flutes] – Jeremy Steig; Bass – Eddie Gomez; Drums, Percussion – Don Alias

Howlin' For Judy

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Vijay Iyer Trio - Break Stuff

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 70:43
Size: 163,0 MB
Art: Front

(3:52)  1. Starlings
(4:35)  2. Chorale
(6:47)  3. Diptych
(6:10)  4. Hood
(6:14)  5. Work
(7:15)  6. Taking Flight
(4:35)  7. Blood Count
(5:26)  8. Break Stuff
(6:21)  9. Mystery Woman
(6:38) 10. Geese
(5:57) 11. Countdown
(6:47) 12. Wrens

When it comes to jazz/improvised music, there are those who, like pianist Keith Jarrett, prefer to approach it with a blank slate, clearing their minds of everything in order to find a way to pull form from the ether. Then there are those who spend considerable time formulating their approach, and coming up with a philosophy, an aesthetic, to apply to the music they make. While he's far from the only musician to take the latter approach, few are as articulate as pianist Vijay Iyer in explaining the underlying concept(s) that drives an album...or an overall methodology. In less than a year since moving from one German label (ACT) to another (ECM), Iyer has managed to put out no less than three releases. Mutations, released in March 2014, was a bold first statement from the lauded label that, combining piano and electronics with a string quartet, suggested considerably greater freedom for a pianist who, in addition to becoming a Franklin D. and Florence Rosenblatt Professor of the Arts at Harvard last year, was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2013 and, since emerging twenty years ago this year with his leader debut, Memorophilia (Asian Improv), has received numerous almost countless other awards and critical accolades. Released just eight months later in November 2014, Radhe Radhe: Rites of Holiday was an even more ambitious collaboration with filmmaker Prashant Bhargava in commemoration of the centenary of classical composer Igor Stravinsky's influential and groundbreaking "The Rite of Spring." Break Stuff, in its return to the pianist's eleven year-old trio with bassist Stephan Crump and drummer Marcus Gilmore, might seem like a less ambitious recording on the surface, but to think so would be a mistake. Iyer, it seems, does nothing without a purpose, and if the palette available to him here is somewhat reduced, that should in no way be taken as a sign that Break Stuff is either an easier...or less considered...listen. What Iyer sacrifices in sonic options he more than makes up for in the chemistry that this longstanding trio has developed over the course of its now three albums (five, if you include two additional recordings made with the addition of saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa). As distanced as Iyer's music has increasingly become, three of Break Stuff's dozen tracks still make clear his ever-present allegiance to the jazz tradition, even if his interpretations reflect a voice that only occasionally wears its influences on its sleeve. "Work," by Iyer's "number one hero of all time," Thelonious Monk, is perhaps the most faithful; delivered in conventional head-solo-head fashion, it's a rare moment where the trio actually swings in a traditional manner though there's little doubting that this trio swings, in its own way, throughout this 71-minute program. What the inclusion of "Work" accomplishes, however beyond impressive soloing from both Iyer and Crump, with Gilmore's brush work opening up to even more simpatico stick work is to clarify just how Monk's idiosyncrasies imbue Iyer's entire approach, even though the pianist has traveled a long way from imitation or even stricter reverence.

An even quirkier look at John Coltrane's "Countdown" demonstrates how Iyer's trio is capable of deconstructing the most familiar material into something deeply personal. Despite time based largely on West African music in general and Gilmore touchstone Brice Wassy in particular remaining largely fluid, with the composer's changes only overtly revealed about halfway through its six-minute duration, Iyer delivers some of his most virtuosic playing of the set...and Gilmore's most incendiary. Iyer goes solo for a briefer look at Billy Strayhorn's "Blood Count," demonstrating that as knotty as he can sometimes be, a gentler, more beauty-laden approach is still well within not just his reach, but his desire as well. Elsewhere, the music is all composed by Iyer, and comes from a variety of sources, ranging from the Break Stuff suite premiered at the New York Museum of Modern Art to Open City, where Iyer's trio reduces the pianist's larger scale collaboration with Nigerian-born writer Teju Cole. The title track and subsequent "Mystery Woman" may share a similar scalar figure, but they demonstrate just how far Iyer, Crump and Gilmore can stretch commonality: the former, taken at a breakneck speed and leading to a modal solo section that, following Iyer's voicing-rich solo, dissolves into a gentler, more ethereal feature for the ever-lyrical Crump (whose work with his wife, singer Jen Chapin, clearly touches everything he does); the latter, slowed down to evoke an initially more abstract ambiance, builds inexorably into something more powerful and densely constructed...only to return to its initial abstraction, like looking at a time-lapse video of a flower blooming, only to reverse and close in upon itself once again. Iyer, in his brief liner notes, explains how "a break in music is still music: a span of time in which to act." It's an obvious but rarely considered truth: that the act of not playing can be as considered as that of playing, and that the spaces that exist between the notes are as contextually critical as the notes themselves. That these breaks are also the inspiration for everything from breakdowns and break beats to break dancing are points Iyer also makes, not just in his liners, but in the music itself, with the repetition-heavy but still evolution-defined "Hood" a logical development from what was originally the "rhythmic backbone" for a sextet piece, here exploited by Iyer's trio for all it's worth. Three bird-themed pieces from Open City "Starlings," "Geese" and "Wren" may not have the luxury of the broader expanses provided by its original nineteen performers, but the greater freedom to explore their many breaks by a smaller, more closely connected trio of players makes for some of Break Stuff's most surprising moments, as the trio seems to effortlessly flow from dark-hued mise-en-scènes to passages of more visceral propulsion. While there's no doubt that much of this group's development has been the consequence of time spent together honing its unique complexion, beyond Break Stuff's more pristine sonics there's little doubt, when compared to its ACT recordings, that this recording has benefited significantly from the "fourth" member of Iyer's trio: label head and producer Manfred Eicher. If the three recordings Iyer has prolifically released in just eleven months are any indication, the pianist's move to ECM already yielding significant results has only begun to deliver on even greater promises to come. ~ John Kelman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/vijay-iyer-trio-break-stuff-by-john-kelman.php

Personnel:  Vijay Iyer – piano; Stephan Crump – bass; Marcus Gilmore – drums

Break Stuff

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