Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Pete Zimmer - Prime of Life

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:13
Size: 127,5 MB
Art: Front

(7:02)  1. Prime of Life
(5:12)  2. One for G.G.
(6:23)  3. Tranquility
(6:36)  4. Carefree
(6:16)  5. Strollin' Down Bourbon Street
(5:51)  6. T.T.T.
(7:48)  7. Night Vision
(5:19)  8. Almost Home
(4:42)  9. The Three Petes

Prime of Life, drummer Pete Zimmer's fifth recording as a leader, has a clean, crisp, soulful sound. The players of the quartet all top-notch musicians meld their talents into a polished cohesion. Zimmer is a fine drummer capable of impeccable timekeeping and intricate, though usually subtle percussive flourishes. Zimmer's music, with its tight grooves, sounds like heartland jazz, like the quintessentially American sound of an organ trio without, in this case, the Hammond B3 breathing into the mix. Guitarist Peter Bernstein, who has worked extensively with organists Melvin Rhyne and Larry Goldings, is a tangy presence here, whether laying down a slow, thoughtful, single-noting solo on "Tranquility," or with his ringing, organ-like chording on "Carefree." George Garzone fronts this quartet outing. 

The somewhat underappreciated saxophonist seems to fall into the "musicians' musician" category, like Joe Henderson prior to the late saxophonist's late-career breakout recording, So Near, So Far (Musings for Miles) (Verve, 1992). Like Henderson, Garzone solos with a labyrinthine eloquence, smoking in front of bassist Peter Slavov's always solid, always subtle pulse and Zimmer's relentless simmer on "T.T.T.," one of three tunes Garzone contributes to this otherwise all-Zimmer-penned outing. Where Garzone's "T.T.T" runs hot, Zimmer's "Night Vision" rides on a cool and laidback cruise control. It's a fluid roll, like a big new American-made sedan following its headlights along a freshly-paved highway, on a straight shot through the darkness over gentle rises and falls."Almost Home," at just a notch above ballad tempo, features Garzone's most beautiful blowing, and a very piquant solo by Bernstein, leading into the controlled burn of the closer, "The Three Petes," with Garzone the group's only "non-Pete" serving up another of his engagingly circuitous saxophone soliloquies. ~ Dan McClenaghan https://www.allaboutjazz.com/prime-of-life-pete-zimmer-tippin-records-review-by-dan-mcclenaghan.php

Personnel: Pete Zimmer: drums; George Garzone: tenor saxophone; Peter Bernstein: guitar; Peter Slavov: bass.  

Prime of Life

Irene Kral - Comes Love

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:20
Size: 150,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:44)  1. Detour Ahead
(2:36)  2. Comes Love
(2:46)  3. I Let a Song Go out of My Heart
(2:34)  4. It's a Wonderful World
(2:33)  5. The Night We Called It a Day
(2:20)  6. Rock Me to Sleep
(3:11)  7. The Meaning of the Blues
(2:32)  8. It Isn't so Good
(2:54)  9. Lazy Afternoon
(3:01) 10. What's Right for You
(3:35) 11. Guess I'll Hang My Tears out to Dry
(2:07) 12. This Little Love of Ours
(2:14) 13. Something to Remember You By
(3:03) 14. Spring Can Really Hang You up the Most
(2:13) 15. I'd Know You Anywhere
(3:23) 16. This Is Always
(2:21) 17. Better Than Anything
(2:22) 18. The Touch of Your Lips
(2:57) 19. Memphis in June
(1:56) 20. Nobody Else but Me
(2:40) 21. Just Friends
(3:11) 22. No More
(2:02) 23. Everybody Knew but Me
(1:54) 24. Passing By

A superb ballad singer who always put both plenty of emotion and subtlety into her often haunting interpretations, Irene Kral stood near the top of her field during her shortened life. The younger sister of singer/pianist Roy Kral (of Jackie & Roy), she debuted as a singer with the Jay Burkhardt Big Band. Freelancing in Chicago (including with a vocal group called the Tattle-Tales), Kral spent nine months singing with Maynard Ferguson's big band in 1957. Next up was an association with Herb Pomeroy's Orchestra. After getting married and settling in Los Angeles, Kral did not work for a while. However, from 1974-1977, she recorded three exquisite albums for Choice and Catalyst, including two duet sets with pianist Alan Broadbent (Where Is Love and Gentle Rain), that are considered classics; her rendition of "Spring Can Really Hang You up the Most" is definitive. 

Sadly, Irene Kral was struck down by cancer at the height of her career at age 46. Her recordings (for United Artists in 1959, a 1963 date for Ava, a Mainstream session in 1965, and the Choice and Catalyst albums) are all currently out of print, although a live set from September 1977 put out by Just Jazz in the mid-'90s is available on CD. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/artist/irene-kral-mn0000080919/biography

Comes Love

Laurent Courthaliac - All My Life, A Musical Tribute to Woody Allen

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:03
Size: 101,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:08)  1. He Loves and She Loves
(2:56)  2. Strike Up the Band
(4:33)  3. All My Life
(5:06)  4. Ev'ryone Says 'I Love You'
(2:24)  5. Looking at You
(5:33)  6. But Not For Me
(3:51)  7. You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me
(4:47)  8. I've Got a Crush on You
(5:23)  9. Just You, Just Me
(5:18) 10. Embraceable You

After his tribute to Baroness Pannonica, muse of be-boppers, the pianist Laurent Courthaliac celebrates Woody Allen and his love of jazz. From poetic and timeless "Manhattan" to merry and swinging "Everyone says 'I Love You'", the pianist operates at the head of a byte of choice a classy dive at the heart of Gershwin's spirit and culture New York standards. Translate by Google http://www.jazzandpeople.com/portfolio/allmylife/

Personnel:  Laurent Courthaliac , piano, arrangements; Fabien Mary , trumpet; Bastien Ballaz , trombone; Dmitry Baevsky , alto sax; David Sauzay , tenor sax; Xavier Richardeau , baritone sax; Clovis Nicolas , double bass; Pete Van Nostrand , drums; on orchestrations by Jon Boutellier .

All My Life, A Musical Tribute to Woody Allen

Ed Palermo Big Band - A Lousy Day in Harlem

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:32
Size: 165,4 MB
Art: Front

(8:25)  1. Laurie Frink
(5:14)  2. Affinity
(5:36)  3. Brasilliance
(6:02)  4. Sanfona
(2:32)  5. Like Lee Morgan
(7:03)  6. The One with the Balloon
(3:38)  7. Minority
(8:07)  8. The Cowboy Song
(3:02)  9. Well You Needn't
(4:04) 10. Giant Steps
(7:33) 11. Next Year
(7:47) 12. Gargoyles
(2:24) 13. This Won't Take Long

There’s often a note of humor in the titles and artwork of arranger/saxophonist/composer Ed Palermo’s recordings (The Great Un-American Songbook featured several British Invasion-era tunes), and this one is no exception: The cover of A Lousy Day in Harlem plays off of the classic 1958 Art Kane photograph of 57 jazz musicians gathered in front of a Harlem brownstone, with Palermo in front of the same building, alone and forlorn.  But that’s where the funny stuff ends; when Palermo gets down to arranging music, he’s dead serious. Unlike previous efforts from him that focused largely on a single composer (more often than not Frank Zappa), this program roams widely. A couple of the numbers Monk’s “Well You Needn’t” and Gigi Gryce’s “Minority” come from musicians who appeared in that 1958 photo; the rest are either Palermo originals or interpretations of pieces both contemporary (Renee Rosnes) and classic (Ellington). Throughout, there’s a uniformity in the airtight arrangements and the seamlessly executed playing. Twenty-first century big-band music doesn’t get more exciting and impressive than this. Among the pieces from outside sources, the Egberto Gismonti tune “Sanfona” is a particular highlight, gliding easily between divergent tempos; Phil Chester’s sweet and sassy soprano saxophone solo is punctuated by unexpected bursts from the other horn players. The originals show that Palermo has learned well from the masters. Opener “Laurie Frink,” dedicated to the late trumpeter, gets things off to a swinging start, while “Like Lee Morgan” gives one of the band’s current trumpeters, John Bailey, an opportunity not to mimic Morgan but to honor him in his own way. Two tenor saxists, Bill Straub and Ben Kono, nod similarly to Trane in an uptempo, electrifying “Giant Steps.” Ain’t nothing lousy at all about this one. https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/ed-palermo-big-band-a-lousy-day-in-harlem-sky-cat/

Personnel:  Ed Palermo - alto sax; Cliff Lyons - alto sax, clarinet, soprano sax; Phil Chester - alto sax, soprano sax, flute, piccolo; Bill Straub - tenor sax, clarinet, flute; Ben Kono - tenor sax, flute, oboe; Barbara Cifelli - baritone sax, bass clarinet, Eb mutant clarinet; Ronnie Buttacavoli - trumpet; John Bailey - trumpet; Steve Ingman - trumpet; Charley Gordon - trombone; Mike Boschen - trombone; Matt Ingman - bass trombone; Ray Marchica - drums; Paul Adamy - electric bass;  Bob Quaranta - piano; Ted Kooshian - keyboards

A Lousy Day in Harlem