Alan Barnes - Songs for Unsung Heroes

Styles: Clarinet, Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 73:33
Size: 171,3 MB
Art: Front

(7:21)  1. Blue Note
(5:25)  2. Throwing out the Vinyl Blues
(3:39)  3. Waltz for Sonny
(6:59)  4. Slim's Chicken
(6:28)  5. The Ballad of Miles Davis
(4:33)  6. The Motorway Jump
(5:04)  7. The Power of Prez
(7:52)  8. Love Song for a Slob
(4:59)  9. The Rhythm Method
(5:37) 10. Rhyme Time
(5:03) 11. Dinner Jazz
(4:28) 12. Swallows on the Water
(6:00) 13. Everybody's Got to Be Somewhere

This is the UK sax and clarinet virtuoso Alan Barnes, with lyricist and playwright Alan Plater, on a collection of songs accompanied by a hellraising British octet fronted by singer Liz Fletcher. Plater is a witty writer, and the songs (one of which castigates the elevator-music vapidities of smooth-jazz) are diverting enough. But it's hard not to feel that this fine band left to itself might not have made a more evocatively ambiguous job of conjuring up memories of Lester Young, Sonny Criss etc. Barnes is scaldingly brilliant, trumpeter Bruce Adams unleashes some mind-boggling Maynard Fergusonisms, and the whole ensemble rockets along. Liz Fletcher is a little demure, but those who enjoy a straightahead jazz/cabaret vibe with some fierce playing will get plenty out of it. ~ John Fordham https://www.theguardian.com/music/2004/aug/13/jazz.shopping2

Personnel:  Alan Barnes - baritone, bass clarinet; Liz Fletcher - piano; Bruce Adams - trumpet, flugelhorn; Stan Sulzmann tenor alto, flute; Robert Fowler - tenor clarinet; Mark Nightingale - trombone; Brian Dee - piano; Simon Thorpe - acoustic bass, guitar; Clark Tracey - drums, percussion

Songs for Unsung Heroes

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Florence Joelle - Life Is Beautiful

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 33:11
Size: 76,6 MB
Art: Front

(3:20)  1. Angel's Child
(3:05)  2. Si Tu Savais
(4:00)  3. Life Is Beautiful
(3:16)  4. Sleepy Eyes
(2:54)  5. Chez Moi
(3:16)  6. One Step Forward
(3:22)  7. Two and Two Don't Make Five
(3:05)  8. Here Comes the Lady
(4:17)  9. Johnny Tu N'es Pas Un Ange
(2:31) 10. Wake Up Swinging

The Paris-born, London-based singer, songwriter and harmonica player returns with her third offering, 'Life Is Beautiful'. Recorded straight to tape on analogue equipment and mixed in mono at Gizzard Recording Studios, the album exudes warmth and authenticity. 'Life is beautiful, baby. If you let it'. That's what Jimmy Scott, the legendary jazz singer, used to tell her. She wrote those words down and for years she kept them in her purse to remind herself. After he died in 2014 she wrote this song for him. 'Life is Beautiful', in fact, is her most jazz-focused album to date. But though many of these ten new songs sound like classics, seven of them are Joelle originals. ~ Editorial Reviews https://www.amazon.com/Life-Beautiful-If-You-Let/dp/B01GKJN6M8

Life Is Beautiful

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Herbie Hancock - Sunlight

Styles:  Piano Jazz
Year: 1978
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:20
Size: 90,8 MB
Art:

(8:55)  1. I Thought It Was You
(8:24)  2. Come Running to Me
(7:10)  3. Sunlight
(6:18)  4. No Means Yes
(8:32)  5. Good Question

After Man-Child, alas, Herbie Hancock's American jazz-funk records in the 1970s grew gradually more commercial, less stimulating, and crucially, less truly funky with each release, even as his equipment rack grew larger. Just take a look at the staggering collection of keyboards on the back cover of the Sunlight LP all sought-after collectors' items now yet Hancock makes so little use of their possibilities here. For much of the album, he seems most interested in establishing a new career as an electronic vocalist. "I Thought It Was You," "Come Running to Me," and the title track introduce the ghostly, gauzy sound of Herbie's singing voice as heard through a vocoder; there's even an electronic Herbie scat choir. Stevie Wonder, he's not. There are still occasional splashes of Hancock harmonic color on the keyboards, but he also relies upon superfluous, self-arranged brass riffs and string backgrounds. The backup bands shift from track to track, from combinations of Headhunters alumni that offer soft-focused facsimiles of the old funk drive to a surprisingly strait-jacketed pairing of Tony Williams and Jaco Pastorius on the eccentric "Good Question." ~ Richard S.Ginell https://www.allmusic.com/album/sunlight-mw0000473390

Personnel:  Herbie Hancock – keyboards, synthesizers, lead and background vocals (through vocoder) (1–3), string, brass and woodwind arrangements; Patrick Gleeson – additional synthesizers (5); Bennie Maupin – soprano saxophone solo (3); Wah Wah Watson, Ray Parker, Jr. – guitar (1, 3); Byron Miller (1), Paul Jackson (2–4), Jaco Pastorius (5) – electric bass; Leon "Ndugu" Chancler (1), James Levi (2, 3), Harvey Mason, Sr. (4), Tony Williams (5) – drums; Raul Rekow (exc. 3), Bill Summers (exc. 1) – percussion; Baba Duru – tabla (2); Bobby Shew, Maurice Spears, Robert O'Bryant, Garnett Brown – brass (exc. 4); Ernest J. Watts, Fred Jackson, Jr., Jack Nimitz, David Willard Riddles – woodwind (2, 5); Terry Adams, Roy Malan, Nathan Rubin, Linda Wood, Emily VanValkenburgh – strings (2)

Sunlight

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Harold Danko - Stable Mates

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1998
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 74:00
Size: 170,3 MB
Art: Front

(8:20)  1. Con Alma
(6:37)  2. Quietude
(8:46)  3. Windows
(8:06)  4. Gingerbread Boy
(9:41)  5. Dolphin Dance
(4:08)  6. Solar
(6:08)  7. Seven Steps to Heaven
(7:32)  8. Nostalgia in Times Square
(6:21)  9. Line for Lyons
(8:17) 10. Stablemates

It’s a shame that we see so little press for those few working bands currently in existence. It’s bad enough that money and schedules make it difficult to keep any kind of firm line-up in place for very long, making such business enterprises almost unviable these days. Little beyond their developing catalog of SteepleChase sides seems to suggest that the Harold Danko Quintet will be taking the world by storm any time soon, yet the group happens to be of the first rank when it comes to the kind of sympathetic and empathetic ensembles that were almost the norm back in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Together for most of the ‘90s, the Danko Quartet’s fifth set for SteepleChase, Stable Mates, gathers a selection of the type of tunes many developing jazz artists have used to cut their teeth on over the years. The Miles Davis connection is a strong one too, with “Solar” and “Seven Steps to Heaven” on tap, as well as classics from former Davis sidemen Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Victor Feldman, and Jimmy Heath. The sign of a group certain in its abilities and identity, there’s a sense of relaxed confidence that permeates. As a result, the previously mentioned “Seven Steps to Heaven,” which in lesser hands can merely be a lessen in pure speed, bounces at a medium tempo with the support of bassist Scott Colley’s well-placed “steps”. Saxophonist Rich Perry distinguishes himself once again with a liquid tone and seamless technique, the perfect match to Danko’s refined lyricism. Stable mates, band mates, whatever the terminology, the Harold Danko Quartet proves again that it’s all in the chemistry. ~ C.Andrew Hovan https://www.allaboutjazz.com/stable-mates-harold-danko-steeplechase-records-review-by-c-andrew-hovan.php

Personnel: Harold Danko- piano, Rich Perry- tenor saxophone, Scott Colley- bass, Jeff Hirshfield- drums

Stable Mates

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Christian McBride - A Family Affair

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 1998
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:58
Size: 152,7 MB
Art: Front

(6:59)  1. I'm Coming Home
(4:40)  2. A Dream Of You
(6:42)  3. Family Affair
(6:59)  4. Theme From Our Fairy Tale
(5:42)  5. ... Or So You Thought
(6:42)  6. Summer Soft
(6:17)  7. Brown Funk (For Ray)
(9:29)  8. Open Sesame
(7:32)  9. Wayne's World
(4:51) 10. I'll Write A Song For You

At 26, bassist Christian McBride qualifies for the "young lion" tag. His visibility has been enhanced by appearances on Robert Altman's film Kansas City, Clint Eastwood's Eastwood After Hours, Diana Krall's Love Scenes, the compilation Upstairs at Melrose Place, John Pizzarelli's Dear Mr. Cole, and Joshua Redman's MoodSwing. Moreover, his experience with Randy Weston, Freddie Hubbard, T.S. Monk, Chick Corea, McCoy Tyner, and organist Jimmy Smith has demonstrated McBride's mainstream roots to the jazz-listening public. The bassist wrote half the selections on this album, including the lyrics to "A Dream of You" and "...Or So You Thought." Most tracks feature the quartet of tenor saxophonist Tim Warfield, pianist Charles Craig, bassist McBride, and drummer Gregory Hutchinson. Like the music at a family get-together, McBride splits the session between R&B "fun music" and his straight-ahead acoustic ensemble. The leader begins Stevie Wonder's "Summer Soft" with the bowed acoustic bass but soon switches to the electric model and offers the pop tune with back beat and quiet repetition. Sly Stone's "Family Affair" places the acoustic quartet in the spotlight as the ensemble marches deliberately and takes turns at the solo mic. The toe-tapping music swings deliciously and is presented in a variety of different formats. Earth, Wind & Fire's "I'll Write a Song for You" is performed by the duo of Russell Malone on acoustic guitar and McBride on bowed bass. Together, they offer a lovely ballad with attention paid to the lyrical nature of the tune. Kool and the Gang's "Open Sesame" is performed as an arrangement that allows the dramatic intensity to leap out. Hutchinson and Craig, particularly, stretch out freely. McBride's composition "Wayne's World" follows with more drama. Together, these two tracks achieve what the leader intended when he put this session together: he's combined daring straight-ahead ideas with enjoyable and familiar R&B. ~ Jim Santella https://www.allaboutjazz.com/a-family-affair-christian-mcbride-verve-music-group-review-by-jim-santella.php

Personnel: Christian McBride: acoustic bass, electric bass; Charles Craig: piano, electric piano, synth; Tim Warfield: tenor saxophone; Gregory Hutchinson: drums; Russell Malone: acoustic guitar, electric guitar; Munyungo Jackson: percussion; Vintage Keys: synths; Will Downing, Vesta: vocals.

A Family Affair

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