Dick Hyman & Ruby Braff - Manhattan Jazz

Styles: Piano And Cornet Jazz
Year: 1984
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:43
Size: 101,5 MB
Art: Front

(2:44)  1. Jubilee
(3:26)  2. You're Lucky to Me
(7:13)  3. The Man I Love/How Long Has This Been Going On/He Loves and She Loves
(3:20)  4. I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby, and My Baby's Crazy 'Bout Me
(3:14)  5. Some Day You'll Be Sorry
(4:58)  6. Don't Worry About Me
(4:01)  7. Jeepers Creepers
(4:40)  8. I'm Just Wild About Harry
(6:55)  9. The Man That Got Away/If I Only Had A Brain/Over The Rainbow
(3:06) 10. Blues for John W.

Every duet album by pianist Dick Hyman and cornetist Ruby Braff is magical. The pair of distinctive musicians always seem to react immediately to each other and they consistently play highly expressive versions of prebop standards. This outing has its memorable moments and is highlighted by "Jubilee," "You're Lucky to Me," "I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby" and "Jeepers Creepers"; Hyman takes "I'm Just Wild About Harry" as an unaccompanied solo. The CD is easily recommended to mainstream collectors. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/manhattan-jazz-mw0000197685

Personnel:  Dick Hyman - piano; Ruby Braff - cornet.

Manhattan Jazz

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Chris Connor - Sings Ballads Of The Sad Cafe

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:46
Size: 87,6 MB
Art: Front

(3:37)  1. These Foolish Things
(3:14)  2. Bargain Day
(3:48)  3. The End Of A Love Affair
(3:30)  4. Glad To Be Unhappy
(5:00)  5. Ballad Of The Sad Cafe
(4:23)  6. Good Morning Heartache
(4:27)  7. Something I Dreamed Last Night
(4:51)  8. Lilac Wine
(4:52)  9. One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)

Chris Connor uses several different musical settings for this album of torch songs, but the main distinction is between the arrangements that employ strings, such as "The End of a Love Affair," and those that use horns, such as "Bargain Day." The backgrounds color Connor's vocal interpretations, and she often interacts with the musicians, notably with flautist Eddy Jaspar in "These Foolish Things," a virtual duet. But her primary goal is to render the lyrics with a combination of precision and emotional distance. In this sense, the heart of the album is "Glad to Be Unhappy," which Connor begins by singing the rarely heard introductory verse, then gives musical coloration to by varying the notes at the end of each line. The listener is not meant to believe the emotions the lyrics describe, but rather to savor them along with the singer. Charles DeForest's "Ballad of the Sad Café," which takes nothing but its title from Carson McCullers' popular 1951 novella, is nevertheless literary in its descriptions of lonely people, and Connor, again through note alteration, gives it a reading that puts it at a further emotional remove. The trick, of course, is that the singer's posture puts her in an even darker position than that of the songwriters; at least they are still feeling something, while she seems to be so far from love that she is denying all feeling. And in that denial, her torch burns all the brighter. ~ William Rulhmann https://www.allmusic.com/album/sings-ballads-of-the-sad-cafe-mw0000478244  

Personnel:  Vocals – Chris Connor; Alto Saxophone – Marshall Royal, Phil Woods; Baritone Saxophone – Charlie Fowlkes; Bass – Don Payne, Eddie Jones; Cello [Violoncello] – Dave Soyer, Maurice Brown; Conductor, Arranged By – Ralph Sharon; Drums – Billy Exiner, Ed Shaughnessy, Sonny Payne; Flute – Bobby Jaspar; Guitar – Barry Galbraith, Freddie Green, Kenny Burrell; Piano – Stan Free ; Reeds [Saxes] – Bobby Jaspar, Jerry Sanfino, Morton Lewis, Stan Webb, Steve Perlow Tenor Saxophone – Frank Foster, Seldon Powell; Trombone – Al Grey, Eddie Bert, Frank Rehak, Dick Hixon, Wayne Andre,  Willie Dennis; Trumpet – Donald Byrd, Ernie Royal, Harry Edison, Joe Newman, Snooky Young; Viola – Dave Markowitz, Isadore Zir; Violin – Gene Orloff, George Ockner, Harry Katzman, Harry Melnikoff, Harry Urbont, Leo Kruczek, Mac Ceppos, Ray Free, Sam Rand, Sylvan Shulman, Tosha Samaroff;

Sings Ballads Of The Sad Cafe

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Harry Connick, Jr. - Occasion

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:04
Size: 150,4 MB
Art: Front

(4:40)  1. Brown World
(5:13)  2. Valentine's Day
(3:00)  3. Occasion
(5:56)  4. Spot
(5:05)  5. I Like Love More
(5:56)  6. All Things
(6:03)  7. Win
(4:10)  8. Virgoid
(7:07)  9. Remember The Tarpon
(5:50) 10. Lose
(3:15) 11. Steve Lacy
(2:16) 12. Chanson Du Vieux Carre
(6:25) 13. Good To Be Home

While singer/pianist Harry Connick Jr.'s opening performance at this year's Ottawa International Jazz Festival was entertaining in a lightweight kind of way, his two shows the following evening were the most revealing. On this world premiere, and two of only three live performances with his lifelong friend, saxophonist Branford Marsalis, Connick debuted material from Occasion: Connick on Piano 2, an even greater departure from his more widely-accepted crooner image than his '03 Marsalis Music release, Other Hours: Connick on Piano 1. Other Hours was a solid showcase for Connick as a pianist and composer in a group context, but Occasion puts him in the more inherently risky environment of the duo, where there's no safety net and both players are completely exposed. Recorded over three days earlier this year, it was originally intended to combine a handful of duet recordings with Marsalis with whom Connick has played on occasion over the years, most recently on Marsalis' Romare Bearden Revealed with a series of solo piano pieces. But the bond between the two players was so strong that Connick supplemented the pieces brought to the session with further writing done on the fly, and Marsalis ultimately contributed two pieces of his own the appropriately titled "Steve Lacy and the more traditionally-informed title track. 

It's often said that a player's personality is reflected in their music, and when I had the opportunity to see Connick in performance with Marsalis, his levity and often dry humour were in clear evidence throughout. Refreshingly, Connick's roots aren't in the post-Evans school of musical thought; rather, he comes directly and equally from the idiosyncratically irreverent Thelonious Monk and the behind-the-beat stride work of Erroll Garner. While Connick is capable of elegance and delicacy, as he demonstrates on the poignant "I Like Love More, a touch of classical influence on "Valentine's Day, and even a certain degree of abstraction on the dark-hued "Chanson Du Vieux Carre, he's generally more disposed towards a weightier but never overbearing touch. You can almost hear his New Orleans drawl on the bluesy "Good to Be Home and the modernized ragtime of "Spot. As in their live performance, the simpatico between Connick and Marsalis is palpable. Marsalis, always a versatile player, demonstrates a different side to his own roots on "Win and "Lose, which are two sides of the same coin sharing a theme but demonstrating just how far apart two takes on essentially the same piece can be. While Marsalis remains perhaps closer to the centre than in his own work, his ability to play tag team with Connick results in a surprising unpredictability throughout. During the first Ottawa show, Connick bemoaned how he's always wanted to be the pianist in Branford's band. Occasion may not make a strong case for him in that context, but it certainly presents a picture of him as a far more diversely capable player than fans of his crooner material and even his previous instrumental albums could possibly imagine. ~ John Kelman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/occasion-connick-on-piano-2-harry-connick-jr-marsalis-music-review-by-john-kelman.php

Personnel: Harry Connick Jr. (piano); Branford Marsalis (tenor and soprano saxophones)

Occasion

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Rob McConnell Tentet - Music of the Twenties

Styles: Trombone Jazz
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:44
Size: 165,4 MB
Art: Front

(8:53)  1. Thou Swell
(6:26)  2. Remember
(8:49)  3. Lover, Come Back to Me
(5:19)  4. Can't We Be Friends
(5:43)  5. Always
(6:12)  6. I Can't Believe That You're in Love With Me
(7:54)  7. Indian Summer/Summertime
(6:54)  8. How Long Has This Been Going On
(4:13)  9. You Do Something to Me
(7:33) 10. With a Song in My Heart
(3:44) 11. What I'll Do

To anyone who may be wondering why Rob McConnell would devote an entire album to music that is almost eight decades old, all I can say is, “listen.” Not only don’t they write ‘em like that anymore, they almost never play ‘em this way either. Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hart, the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Victor Herbert, Sigmund Romberg, Jimmy McHugh and other legendary Tin Pan Alley tunesmiths have seldom sounded fresher or more fashionable than in this dazzling tour de force by McConnell’s spectacular Tentet, thanks on the one hand to Rob’s bright and imaginative arrangements (and one by Rick Wilkins) and on the other to the ensemble’s scintillating performance. Almost everyone in the all-star Tentet is showcased on at least one number, and everyone gets into the solo act on the hot-blooded opener, Rodgers and Hart’s “Thou Swell” (from A Connecticut Yankee, 1927). “I’ve often wondered how I could feature everyone in this band on one number,” Rob writes. “This is the answer.” And what an answer it is, with McConnell’s nimble valve trombone pointing the way toward shimmering solos by all hands. R&H are also represented by “With a Song in My Heart” (1929; solos by tenor Mike Murley, pianist Dave Restivo), Berlin by “Remember” (1925; chart by Wilkins, solos by Restivo and bassist Steve Wallace), “Always” (1925; featuring Guido Basso, flugelhorn) and “What’ll I Do” (1924; Steve McDade, trumpet). Alto P.J. 

Perry is the headliner on Romberg’s mercurial “Lover Come Back to Me” (1928). Trombonist Terry Promane softly caresses the melody and Murley solos on the Gershwins’ “How Long Has This Been Going On” (1927), while McConnell and Restivo are the main men on McHugh’s “I Can’t Believe That You’re in Love with Me” (1926), tenor Alex Dean and drummer Terry Clarke on Porter’s “You Do Something to Me” (1929). Romberg’s carefree “Indian Summer” (1929) is briefly paired with the only song that doesn’t date from the ‘20s, “Summertime,” written in 1935 by George and Ira Gershwin, DuBose Heyward and Dorothy Fields for the folk opera Porgy and Bess. The soloists are Dean and Wallace (“Indian Summer”) and Basso (muted on “Summertime”). “I decided,” says Rob, “that a small tribute to Miles Davis and Gil Evans with a bit of ‘Summertime’ at the end [of ‘Indian Summer’] would be OK.” And indeed it is. That covers everything except the loosely swinging Kay Swift / Paul James standard from 1929, “Can’t We Be Friends,” on which McConnell states the melody and Wallace is the featured soloist. About the only decision one has to make when listening to McConnell’s Tentet (as was true of the late and grievously lamented Boss Brass) is, which is more impressive, Rob’s arrangements or the ensemble itself? And as is always the case, the “competition” has to be ruled a draw. When all is said and done, it’s simply impossible to choose between perfect and flawless. One thing is sure, and that is that whenever McConnell and his ensemble come together to record, there is more musical talent in that one studio than in all the rock bands in the universe. No matter what the era, the Rob McConnell Tentet makes every song truly irresistible. Another clear-cut winner. ~ Jack Bowers https://www.allaboutjazz.com/music-of-the-twenties-rob-mcconnell-tentet-review-by-jack-bowers.php

Personnel: Rob McConnell, Terry Promane, trombone; Guido Basso, Steve McDade, trumpet, flugelhorn; P.J. Perry, alto sax; Mike Murley, Alex Dean, tenor sax; Dave Restivo, piano; Steve Wallace, bass; Terry Clarke, drums.

Music of the Twenties

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Danny Barker - Save The Bones

Styles: New Orleans Jazz
Year: 1988
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 33:19
Size: 76,6 MB
Art: Front

(2:22)  1. Ham & Eggs
(3:03)  2. Save The Bones
(2:55)  3. Bill Bailey
(3:26)  4. I'm A Cowboy
(2:51)  5. Hard Hearted Hannah (The Vamp Of Savannah)
(2:30)  6. Nevertheless (I'm In Love With You)
(3:38)  7. You Got The Right Key But The Wrong Keyhole
(4:07)  8. St. James Infirmary
(3:47)  9. You Gotta Get Yourself A Job Girl
(2:31) 10. Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out
(2:03) 11. When You're Smiling

Veteran guitarist Danny Barker made a countless number of sessions through a five-decade period as a sideman, but only two full-length dates as a leader. This CD is quite definitive, for Barker is heard singing and playing guitar unaccompanied on a variety of ancient standards and obscurities. Barker's version of "St. James Infirmary" (which contains many of his own lyrics and asides) is classic. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/save-the-bones-mw0000269788

Personnel:  Guitar, Vocals – Danny Barker; Producer, Backing Vocals – Carlo Ditta

Save The Bones

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