Marty Ehrlich - Just Before the Dawn

Styles: Clarinet, Saxophone And Flute Jazz
Year: 1995
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:07
Size: 139,4 MB
Art: Front

(2:32)  1. Spirit of JAH
(6:46)  2. Thickets
(8:00)  3. Mudpie Anthem
(6:12)  4. Dance No. 1
(8:27)  5. Flight
(7:16)  6. The Folksinger
(7:04)  7. Side by Side
(7:16)  8. Underground/Overground
(6:32)  9. Eliahu

The second Darkwoods Ensemble recording for multi-woodwind instrumentalist and composer Ehrlich is a true winner, and a progressive jazz icon for the '90s. To paraphrase Ehrlich's own description of his music "Sounds startle the air" birds call across as if the light won't come... these sounds will find a center or the center will change... metal hued breath across strings... birds in the darkness, waiting for no one... open the door, wake these sounds, just before the dawn." Ehrlich is assisted in this quest by French horn player Vincent Chancey, bassist Mark Helias, cellist Erik Friedlander, and percussionist Don Alias. 

At their most free and uninhibited, the group digs in on "Side By Side" with Ehrlich's clarinet setting off some unison lines and a cello-bass-conga groove bridge, or there's the scatter shot improv, prompted by serious bass clarinet and goofy French horn, with terpsichorean tuneful unison during "Dance #1." Elephantine clarion calls from Chancey with other animals chattering on a freely associated "Underground/Overground" is a prelude for swooping bird sounds via the strings and quite soulful unison horns in this segmented piece. Also highly developed is the risky "Flight" starting as a whack waltz, going to multi-faceted lighthouse beam spotted melodies, and an intense, free bridge that suddenly stops, making way for introspective, collective meditations. 

As complexly written is "Thickets," with haunting cello, ethnic percussion, minimalist, repeated clarinet and NYC urgent traffic motifs. A more mournful bass/cello/alto sax informs "Mudpie Anthem" with additional chamber-like counterpoint. The most tuneful asides are the wood flute/percussion Afro-Cuban groove of "Spirit Of J.A.H." (for Julius Hemphill), the heavy bass/bass clarinet ostinato of "Eliahu," and the lilting, beautiful, tuneful flute/plucked cello/shaker percussion beaut "The Folksinger." This music needs to be heard by all who love a good joust from improvising musicians who fully understand shadings, nuance, power and glory. Highly recommended, and a high point in Ehrlich's substantial discography. ~ Michael G.Nastos https://www.allmusic.com/album/just-before-the-dawn-mw0000181959

Personnel:   Marty Ehrlich - clarinet, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, flute; Vincent Chancey - French horn; Erik Friedlander - cello; Mark Helias - bass; Don Alias - percussion

Just Before the Dawn

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Jan Daley - His Light

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:09
Size: 113,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:28)  1. His Light
(4:49)  2. Can't Give You Any Answers
(2:59)  3. Great Is Thy Faithfulness
(4:00)  4. Even If There Weren't A Forever
(4:06)  5. Aubrey Ja'Nien
(4:37)  6. Sweep Your Love Thru Me
(3:33)  7. You Changed My Life
(4:12)  8. Blessed Assurance
(3:39)  9. All of Me
(4:32) 10. One Beam of Light
(2:26) 11. Touch Me
(3:48) 12. Find Me the Mason
(1:20) 13. His Light Reprise
(1:32) 14. He Overcomes

This is a fresh and beautiful album of songs written by our greatest inspirational writers and some of Miss Daley s best originals. It brings out Miss Daley s amazing range and quality and insight into the heart of the subject, with uplifting and lush arrangements. The CD is the combined efforts of three gifted and talented producers. John Thompson Craig Stull, and Greg Edmunson. The CD is dramatic and yet with many of the songs being guitar based, give it a acustic feeling. If you are looking for something that brings an emotional tug, listen to Aubrey Ja Nien. If you are a Gospel fan, Miss Daley has written, Sweep Your Love Thru Me. For those of you traditionalist, she has put her own twist on Great Is Thy Faithfulness and Blessed Assurance, but the song that might stay in your mind, give you a lift, and keep you humming through the day is the title song, His Light , which Miss Daley wrote. They have used the best musicians to surround Miss Daley s spectacular voice and has something for everyone. This is a CD worth buying for you and your friends. 

If you've never heard Jan Daley's voice, start downloading or run to the nearest store. She hits the high notes with urgency and has this wonderful angelic quality in both upper and lower register. That being said, her songwriting grabs you in your heart and soul. She has a story to tell about her faith and writes about it in beautiful ballads and catchy up-tempo songs. Being a cancer survivor herself, check out her miracle song, "Aubrey Ja'Nien." I like that she included traditional standards, but what she does with them makes you think they were written just for her. This CD is not to be missed!" 

~ Christian Life Magazine

Miss Daley is one of my favorite gospel singers. She sends chills up your spine. Everything I've ever heard her sing moves me and confirms my own faith. Her own songs have always touched me, because I feel she writes them from experience and most times I think she must have known my own struggles. Everything that comes from her is about falling short & climbing that mountain, again, with God's help. I'm so glad she has released "His Light." Just one more CD I can listen to on the way to work. ~ Orange County, Bill Zaun - Editorial Reviews https://www.amazon.com/His-Light-Jan-Daley/dp/B0034L0D8G

His Light

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Don Cherry - Eternal Now

Styles: Avant-Garde Jazz
Year: 1974
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:57
Size: 87,5 MB
Art: Front

(8:32)  1. Gamla Stan - The Old Town by Night
(7:53)  2. Love Train
(3:49)  3. Bass Figure for Ballatune (Two pianos and three piano players)
(9:44)  4. Moving Pictures for the Ear
(7:59)  5. Tibet

I'm (almost) discovering this record with you. I've bought it 2 weeks ago at the flea market, and I'm still under the impression. Everybodies knows Don Cherry for his collaborations with the early free jazz activists Ornette Colmenan and Albert Ayler in the 50's, but if you liked my psychedelic Vox Populi! post, and terrestrials tunes such as Raksha Mancham, O Yuki Conjugate or Vasilisk you should enjoyed this LP (side B = wah! wah ! wah!). http://artoflosing.canalblog.com/archives/2010/06/25/18423651.html

Personnel:  Don Cherry - trumpet, piano, harmonium, vocals, h'suan, daster, gong;  Bengt Berger - piano, Tibetan bells, African finger piano, mridangam, cymbal;  Christer Bothén - piano, dousso n'koni, Tibetan bells;  Bernt Rosengren - tárogató;  Agneta Ernström - Tibetan bells, dousso kynia

Eternal Now

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Tony Martin - Dream A Little Dream

Styles: Vocal, Easy Listening
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 32:14
Size: 74,4 MB
Art: Front

(3:35)  1. Now I Lay Me Down To Dream
(2:56)  2. When Your Lover Has Gone
(2:33)  3. Learn To Croon
(3:00)  4. You Came Along
(2:33)  5. I Guess I'll Have To Change My Plan
(3:04)  6. Soon
(2:40)  7. Soft Lights And Sweet Music
(3:35)  8. Among My Souvenirs
(2:04)  9. My Baby Just Cares For Me
(3:29) 10. My Silent Love
(2:40) 11. I'll See You In My Dreams

A popular crooner of the 1940s and '50s, Tony Martin's deliberate delivery and romantic ballads were more in keeping with vintage movie musicals than the currents that would shape the pop music of the last half of the 20th century. Taking his inspiration from singers like Russ Columbo, he had already been in some Hollywood musicals by the time he made his first hit record in 1938, "Now It Can Be Told" (with the Ray Noble Orchestra). Drafted into the Navy during World War II, rumors that he'd bribed his way into an officer's commission made work tougher to find after his discharge from the armed forces. 

A brief but fairly successful stint on Mercury in 1946-1947 helped get things going again, after which he moved to RCA and enjoyed many pop hits over the next decade. He also got a lot of work in radio and television, and performed with considerable success on the cabaret circuit with his wife, dancer/actress Cyd Charisse.~ Richie Unterberger https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tony-martin-mn0000012140/biography

 

Dream A Little Drea

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Alan Broadbent Trio - New York Notes

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:19
Size: 143,7 MB
Art: Front

(8:44)  1. Clifford Notes
(8:18)  2. Minority
(7:10)  3. I Fall in Love Too Easily
(8:32)  4. Continuity
(5:09)  5. Crazeology
(5:40)  6. On a Misty Night
(6:28)  7. Waltz Prelude
(4:38)  8. 317 East 32nd Street
(7:37)  9. Fine and Dandy

I began paying attention to pianist-arranger Alan Broadbent in 1973, when Woody Herman's Giant Steps came out. It was my senior year in high school, and the wife of the band's drummer, Ed Soph, was one of my teachers. I wasn't much of a student during high school until my last year, when I began acing everything. I have no idea what motivated the turnaround. Perhaps the editorship of the high school newspaper straightened me out. Or maybe it was the new batch of young teachers who were less foreboding than the older ones. Whatever the reason, I loved the Herman album and Alan's arrangements of A Child Is Born and Bebop and Roses. But it was his piano accompaniment on two albums by singer Irene Kral (Where Is Love? and Gentle Rain) in 1974 and 1977, respectively, that won my heart. Alan's way with a piano is still so darn beautiful. His approach has often been compared with the inhaling-exhaling style of Bill Evans, but in truth, Alan is about taste, sensitivity and swing. On his new album, New York Notes (Savant), Alan is backed by his long-time bassist Harvie S and drummer Billy Mintz. Alan has chosen songs with plenty of mood and attitude. There's Gigi Gryce's Minority, Little Benny Harris's Crazeology, Tad Dameron's On a Misty Night and Lennie Tristano's 317 East 32nd Street. 

There are two American songbook classics I Fall in Love Too Easily and Fine and Dandy but both have become part of the jazz vocabulary. Miles Davis recorded the former twice (in 1963 and 1965) and Chet Baker sang and played it. Fine and Dandy has been recorded by many jazz artists since the late 1940s, including Bud Powell and Sonny Stitt. And then there are Alan's gorgeous originals: Clifford Notes, Continuity and Waltz Prelude. Interestingly, On a Misty Night is taken a few ticks slower than most versions of the song, giving it a lusher coloration. Tristano's 317 East 32nd Street also is special. The Out of Nowhere cousin seems to move backward and forward at the same time and becomes a colorful workout for Alan, who spins it gracefully in the air as if making a pizza. If there's a common thread running through all of these songs, it's their sophisticated, breathless quality. It's magical to hear Alan burrow deep inside each one and then marvel at how he works his way back out. An album that shows off Alan's enormous dexterity while giving the beautiful melodies all the attention they deserve. Best of all, it's an album on which Alan dances differently with each song. Here's Fine and Dandy. Alan knew he had to advance the song's story and not play it straight. It's fascinating to hear how he turns the song inside out in the front half...~ Jazzwax By Marc Myers https://news.allaboutjazz.com/alan-broadbent-new-york-notes.php

Personnel: Piano – Alan Broadbent; Bass – Harvie S; Drums – Billy Mintz

New York Notes

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