Wallace Roney - If Only for One Night

Styles: Trumpet Jazz 
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:36
Size: 141,5 MB
Art: Front

(11:34)  1. Quadrant
( 5:48)  2. If Only for One Night
( 5:48)  3. Only with You
(10:31)  4. I Have a Dream
( 8:16)  5. Metropolis
( 7:49)  6. Let's Wait Awhile
( 6:40)  7. I Love What We Make Together
( 5:08)  8. FMS

Wallace Roney's six-year association with HighNote beginning with Prototype (2004), followed by Mystikal (2005), and culminating with Jazz (2007) has allowed the trumpeter to amass a body of work far more indicative of where he's always wanted to be than his largely mainstream run with Muse in the early 1990s. If Only for One Night culled from a four-night run at New York's Iridium continues to paint a broader picture of an artist for whom the lifelong arc of Miles Davis remains an influence, but one distanced from mere mimicry through greater technical facility and an all-encompassing approach to collating a broad set of interests that's in sharp contrast with Davis' more linear evolutionary approach. Most telling is Roney's statement in Francis Davis' liner notes. "I'm not sure Miles had to give up what he already had to get where he was going," says Roney, referencing Davis' well-documented and lifelong rejection of what came before. Unlike most for whom the spirit of Davis looms large, rather than focusing on a single period, Roney integrates aspects spanning Davis' four-decade run, as well as touchstones from the work of John Coltrane and Herbie Hancock. With longtime musical partner/brother/saxophonist Antoine Roney and bassist Rashaan Carter back from Jazz, what's most striking is how seamlessly Roney's quintet navigates the broad stylistic markers demanded by both the original material and covers ranging from Hancock's still modernistic-sounding "I Have a Dream," from The Prisoner (Blue Note, 1969) to a darker look at Brenda Russell's lyrical title track (made famous by Luther Vandross), and Tony Williams' "Only With You," which rivals the rhythmic intensity and effervescent swing of the original on Angel Street (Blue Note, 1988), when Roney was a member of the late drummer's quintet. 

Roney's quintet is as comfortable with an even fierier take of Prototype's fusion-esque "Quadrant" as it is the intensely swinging "Metropolis," from No Room For Argument (Stretch, 2000) two originals that demonstrate the trumpeter's acute ability to fashion an eclectic nexus one clearly hidden to his mentor where all his innovations meet. Roney's chops have never been more exhilarating or tastefully focused, whether waxing prolific on "Metrolopis" or more intently thematic on his closing, a capella "FMS." The group's youngest members demonstrate Roney's ever-astute skill in locating unknown but remarkable talent. Cuban keyboardist Aruán Ortiz organically combines synth washes, choppy organ and Hancock-like clavinet to accompany Wallace and Antoine Roney's fiercely funkified solos on "Quadrant," but turns to acoustic piano for his own impressive solo, while drummer Kush Abadey merges contemporary rhythms and post-bop elasticity throughout, his fluid, less-direct approach turning Davis' "I Love What We Do Together" (previously only recorded as a demo by Davis in the mid-'80s) from what might have been slicker fare into something that relentlessly grows from a simmer to a boil. With even greater emphasis on high powered blowing and group chemistry than recent studio efforts, If Only for One Night is the live album Roney's been harboring for the past several years and further consolidation of where he's been...and where he's going. ~ John Kelman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/if-only-for-one-night-wallace-roney-highnote-records-review-by-john-kelman.php

Personnel: Wallace Roney: trumpet; Antoine Roney: soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet; Aruán Ortiz: keyboards; Rashaan Carter: bass; Kush Abadey: drums.

If Only for One Night

---

Sathima Bea Benjamin - Southern Touch

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:34
Size: 100,9 MB
Art: Front

(8:57)  1. Loveless Love / Careless Love
(4:55)  2. Street of Dreams
(4:01)  3. I've Heard That Song Before
(5:04)  4. I'm Glad There Is You
(5:23)  5. One Alone
(5:10)  6. Together
(3:32)  7. I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart
(6:31)  8. Lush Life

Evocative, expressive ballads and love songs done by wonderful vocalist Satima Bea Benjamin, wife of Abdullah Ibrahim. She sings without a trace of self-indulgence and has the right touch to make even the most sentimental lyric seem convincing and genuine. 

~ Ron Wynn https://www.allmusic.com/album/southern-touch-mw0000078655

Southern Touch

---

Yusef Lateef - Psychicemotus

Styles: Flute, Saxophone And Tambourine Jazz 
Year: 1966
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:26
Size: 90,8 MB
Art: Front

(5:04)  1. Psychicemotus
(4:00)  2. Bamboo Flute Blues
(4:29)  3. Semiocto
(6:29)  4. Why Do I Love You?
(3:26)  5. First Gymnopedie
(6:32)  6. Medula Sonata
(4:39)  7. I'll Always Be In Love With You
(4:45)  8. Ain't Misbehavin'

This is a welcome reissue of one of a series of fine Impulse! albums by multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef that have never taken their deserved place among the major recordings of the '60s. I suspect part of the reason for their neglect has to do with the image, helped by both the Impulse!, and later Atlantic labels, in portraying Lateef as a purveyor of hopelessly arcane musical exotica. The weird title of this album doesn't help any more than the 2005 front cover copy crowing about how this music is "mysterious and uncategorizable." I find it nothing of the sort. Psychicemotus is quite available to any jazz fan with open ears, and unmysterious to anyone who can understand that African and Asian instruments and musical concepts have long been embraced and integrated into jazz by Lateef, who also has a long history in integrating R&B into jazz. Lateef's album is simply wildly eclectic and often driven by a variety of flutes. He handles Erik Satie's "First Gymnopedie" with a devout classical tone that's faithful to the graceful meditative structure of the original. On the other hand, "Bamboo Flute Blues" has some unusual tones vocalized on a F pentatonic scale called "primitive" in the original liner notes! but the shape of the piece is derived from traditional New Orleans jazz and gospel. 

Workouts on tenor sax like "I'll Always Be In Love With You" have a gruff sweetness to them that makes Lateef fit nicely in the same musical universe as Sonny Rollins. Much of the pleasure of this 1965 album is also derived from the superlative support given Lateef by bassist Reggie Workman, the obscure pianist George Arvanitas, and the amazingly underrated drummer James Black. The lightness and playfulness of the musical experimentation here is a massive contrast to much of what the Impulse! label was recording in the '60s, which serves as a reminder that new jazz then, as now, need not be darkly moody in order to make a mind and heart-expanding statement. ~ Norman Weinstein https://www.allaboutjazz.com/psychicemotus-yusef-lateef-impulse-review-by-norman-weinstein.php

Personnel: Yusef Lateef: flutes, tenor sax, tambourine; George Arvanitas: piano; Reggie Workman: bass; James Black: drums, percussion.

Psychicemotus

---

Roy Haynes - Keeping Up

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 114:45
Size: 266,4 MB
Art: Front

( 3:46)  1. As Long as There's Music
( 5:59)  2. Gone Again
( 1:58)  3. Well Now
( 7:00)  4. Sweet and Lovely
( 4:24)  5. Reflection
( 6:41)  6. Moon Ray
( 5:31)  7. Hagnes
( 7:29)  8. Down Home
( 8:53)  9. Solitaire
( 4:24) 10. Sneaking Around
( 3:31) 11. Some Other Spring
( 7:06) 12. Speak Low
( 6:34) 13. Con Alma
(11:21) 14. After Hours
( 5:50) 15. If I Should Lose You
( 6:25) 16. Sugar Ray
( 4:02) 17. Our Delight
( 7:02) 18. Cymbalism
( 6:40) 19. Fly Me to the Moon

A veteran drummer long overshadowed by others, but finally gaining recognition for his talents and versatility, Roy Haynes has been a major player since the 1940s. He worked early on with the Sabby Lewis big band, Frankie Newton, Luis Russell (1945-1947), and Lester Young (1947-1949). After some engagements with Kai Winding, Haynes was a member of the Charlie Parker Quintet (1949-1952); he also recorded during this era with Bud Powell, Wardell Gray, and Stan Getz. Haynes toured the world with Sarah Vaughan (1953-1958); played with Thelonious Monk in 1958; led his own group; and gigged with George Shearing, Lennie Tristano, Eric Dolphy, and Getz (1961). He was Elvin Jones' occasional substitute with John Coltrane's classic quartet during 1961-1965, toured with Getz (1965-1967), and was with Gary Burton (1967-1968). In addition to touring with Chick Corea (1981 and 1984) and Pat Metheny (1989-1990), Haynes has led his own Hip Ensemble on and off during the past several decades. When one considers that he has also gigged with Miles Davis, Art Pepper, Horace Tapscott, and Dizzy Gillespie, it is fair to say that Haynes has played with about everyone. He led dates for EmArcy and Swing (both in 1954), New Jazz (1958 and 1960), Impulse (a 1962 quartet album with Roland Kirk), Pacific Jazz, Mainstream, Galaxy, Dreyfus, Evidence, and Storyville. In 1994, Haynes was awarded the Danish Jazzpar prize, and two years later, he received the prestigious French Chevalier des l'Ordres Artes et des Lettres. In the late '90s, Haynes formed a trio with pianist Danilo Perez and bassist John Pattitucci, and they released their debut album, The Roy Haynes Trio Featuring Danilo Perez & John Pattitucci, in early 2000 on Verve. Haynes' son Graham is an excellent cornetist. Haynes paid tribute to Charlie Parker in 2001 with Birds of a Feather, his fourth release for the Dreyfus Jazz label, which was subsequently nominated for a Grammy in 2002; Fountain of Youth followed two years later. Also released in 2004, Quiet Fire compiled two of his prior releases for Galaxy (1977's Thank You Thank You and 1978's Vistalite) into one back-to-back record. Whereas appeared in mid-2006, and it earned Haynes a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/artist/roy-haynes-mn0000290464/biography

Keeping Up

---