Randy Brecker - Toe to Toe

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 1990
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:42
Size: 101,3 MB
Art: Front

(5:40)  1. Mr. Skinny
(5:13)  2. Trading Secrets
(4:55)  3. It Creeps Up on You
(6:07)  4. The Glider
(4:55)  5. Toe To Toe
(5:52)  6. It's Up to You
(4:42)  7. What Is The Answer
(6:14)  8. Lost 4 Words

Jazz trumpeter and composer Randy Brecker has helped shape the sound of jazz, R&B and rock for more than four decades. His trumpet and flugelhorn performances have graced hundreds of albums by a wide range of artists from James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen and Parliament/Funkadelic to Frank Sinatra, Steely Dan, Jaco Pastorius and Frank Zappa. Born in 1945 in Philadelphia to a musical family, Randy’s musical talent was nurtured from an early age. He attended Indiana University from 1963-66 studying with Bill Adam, David Baker and Jerry Coker and later moved to New York where he landed gigs with such prominent bands as Clark Terry’s Big Bad Band, the Duke Pearson Big Band and the Thad Jones Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. In 1967, Randy ventured into jazz-rock with the band Blood, Sweat and Tears, but left to join the Horace Silver Quintet. He recorded his first solo album, ‘Score’, in 1968, featuring a young, then unknown 19 year-old tenor saxophonist named Michael Brecker. After Horace Silver, Randy joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers before teaming up with brother Michael, Barry Rogers, Billy Cobham, and John Abercrombie to form the seminal fusion group ‘Dreams’. The group recorded two adventurous and wildly acclaimed albums: ‘Dreams’ and ‘Imagine My Surprise’now collector’s items for Columbia Records before they disbanded in 1971. In the early 1970s, Randy performed live with many prominent artists including Larry Coryell’s Eleventh House, Stevie Wonder and Billy Cobham. He also recorded several classic albums with his brother under the leadership of the great pianist/composer Hal Galper. By 1975, Randy and Michael were ready to front their own group, the Brecker Brothers Band.  A band of immeasurable impact and influence, they released six albums on Arista and garnered seven Grammy nominations between 1975 and 1981. 

Their eponymous first record, which Randy wrote, arranged and produced, featured his now classic composition “Some Skunk Funk.”In 1992, exactly ten years after they parted ways to pursue solo careers, Randy and Michael reunited for a world tour and the triple-Grammy nominated GRP recording, ‘The Return of the Brecker Brothers’. The follow-up, 1994’s ‘Out of the Loop,’ was a double-Grammy winner.In 1997, ‘Into the Sun’ (Concord), a recording featuring Randy’s impressions of Brazil, garnered Randy his first Grammy as a solo artist.In 2001, Randy released ‘Hangin’ in the City’ (ESC), a solo project which introduced his alter-ego Randroid, a skirt chasing, cab driving ne’er do well, with lyrics and vocals by Randroid himself. This CD was especially well received in Europe, where Randy toured extensively with his own line-up.Randy’s next CD for ESC Records, ’34th n’ Lex,’ won him his third Grammy for ‘Best Contemporary Jazz Album’ in 2003. In May of that year he toured Europe with his Quintet in support of the CD, and in the summer went back to Europe yet again with the Randy Brecker/ Bill Evans Soulbop Band. The summer of 2003 culminated in the special headline appearance in Japan at the Mt. Fuji Jazz Festival of the reunited Brecker Brothers.2004 saw Randy touring Europe extensively as co-leader (with Bill Evans) of the band Soulbop. The WDR Big Band also celebrated Randy and his music that year in a performance at the Leverkusen Jazz Fest. The date was of special significance to Randy as it was the last time he played with his brother, who took ill shortly thereafter with a rare form of leukemia known as MDS. In 2005, with Mike unable to travel to Russia for Brecker Brothers gigs booked there, Randy’s wife Ada sat in for the first time.  Randy’s active schedule continued apace with the Randy Brecker Band performing throughout Eastern Europe and across the globe. In 2007, Randy was awarded his fourth Grammy for “Randy Brecker Live with the WDR Big Band” (Telarc/BHM), the live recording (also available in DVD format) of his performance with Michael at the Leverkusen Jazz Fest in 2004. 

Tragically, Michael passed away that same year on Jan 13th. 2007 also saw the release of a 2 CD set of live recordings of the band ‘Soulbop’ (BHM) featuring Dave Kikoski, Victor Bailey, Steve Smith or Rodney Holmes and the late great Hiram Bullock. Randy returned to his long-time love of Brazilian music in 2008 for the album ‘Randy in Brazil,’ which was recorded in Sao Paulo with a full complement of great Brazilian musicians and released on Summit Records. Chosen one of the top 10 CDs of 2008 by AllAboutJazz.com, the CD won the Grammy for “Best Contemporary Jazz Album,” bringing his Grammy total to five. A “Tribute to the Brecker Brothers” featuring Randy and recorded live at the Hamamatsu Jazz Festival in Japan with Yoichi Murata’s Solid Brass & Big Band was released by JVC Victor in Japan in late 2008. And in 2009, Randy’s roots were celebrated with the release of ‘Jazz Suite Tykocin,’ a project initiated and conceived by the Polish pianist and composer Wlodek Pawlik, featuring Randy as a soloist with members of the Bialystok Philharmonic. Tykocin is the area in Poland where Randy’s ancestors (mother’s maiden name: Tecosky) hail from, a fact that Pawlik discovered while helping to search for a bone marrow donor for Michael. 2011 saw the release of ‘The Jazz Ballad Song Book: Randy Brecker with the Danish Radio Big Band and The Danish National Chamber Orchestra,’ which garnered 4 Grammy nominations and enjoyed enthusiastic critical acclaim.  And in 2012, Sony Legacy recaptured history with the long-awaited boxed set, “The Brecker Brothers – The Complete Arista Albums Collection.” A Brecker Brothers Band Reunion tour of European festivals in the summer of 2013 in support of Randy’s newest project, Randy Brecker’s “Brecker Brothers Band Reunion,” re-introduced the familiar faces of Brecker Brothers Band members from the past and their special brand of music to sell-out crowds. 

A dual-disc release, Randy’s newest project will be released on September 25th, 2013 on Piloo Records. Randy Brecker’s “Brecker Brothers Band Reunion” features a live DVD recorded at the Blue Note in NYC bundled with a new 11-song studio recording featuring members of the Brecker Brothers bands from throughout the years including Dave Sanborn, Mike Stern, Will Lee, and Dave Weckl. George Whitty is back in the production and keyboard chair, and Randy’s Italian wife Ada Rovatti is in the ‘hot saxophone’ seat, keeping it in the family on tenor and soprano saxophone. The new dual-disc recording will be released in North America by Magenta/E-One, in Europe by Moosicus Records in November and in Japan by JVC/Victor. A long time in the making, this project is very close to Randy Brecker’s heart. It is dedicated to his brother, Michael, and other departed Brecker Brothers Band members. As a composer, performer and in-demand Yamaha clinician, Randy Brecker continues to influence and inspire young musicians around the world. http://randybrecker.com/about/

Personnel: Randy Brecker - Electric Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Mixing, Producer, Trumpet, Vocals, Arranger; Jim Beard - Drum Machine, Drum Programming, Keyboards, Arranger, Producer; Michael Brecker - Sax (Tenor); Bob Mintzer - Clarinet (Bass); Jon Herington - Guitar; Victor Bailey - Bass (Electric); Darryl Jones – Bass; Dennis Chambers - Drums, Drums (Snare); Bashiri Johnson – Percussion; Regina Belle - Vocals (Background); Mark Ledford - Arranger, Vocals, Vocals (Background)

Toe to Toe

---

Jules Day - Day Dreams

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:11
Size: 102,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:40)  1. Rio
(3:56)  2. Speak To Me
(3:40)  3. Come Sunday
(3:27)  4. XOXO
(3:41)  5. Late Night Cafe
(3:03)  6. The Goodbye Song
(4:05)  7. Life Goes On
(4:27)  8. When That Sun Rolls Back Around
(3:42)  9. Dues
(3:18) 10. Close Your Eyes
(3:20) 11. The Things That You Do
(3:46) 12. Freedom

Originally from Minneapolis, Jules Day is based in Los Angeles, California, where this album was created and recorded. After several years of anticipation, this album and project finally came true. From the start, the goal was not to compile just another collection of songs, but create a listening experience that will take you from a breezy and tropical feel, to a late night smoky atmosphere, to reflective and melancholy moments, to bluesy moods , and finally, to energetic songs that might surprise you. I hope you find this musical journey well worth the trip. https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/julesday4

Day Dreams

---

Peter Erskine, Tim Hagans With Norrbotten Big Band - Worth the Wait

Styles: Post Bop, Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:00
Size: 156,7 MB
Art: Front

(10:41)  1. Worth the Wait
(10:56)  2. You Should See My Office
(12:11)  3. Plan 9
( 9:03)  4. First Jazz
( 8:15)  5. Scotland, Africa
(11:04)  6. Reason to Believe
( 5:48)  7. Drum Row

Peter Erskine and Tim Hagans shared the stage in the early 1970s as members of the Stan Kenton Orchestra, which provided a nurturing atmosphere for two young musicians and a beginning to their musical careers. After decades in divergent paths, this recording reunites the drummer and the trumpeter in another big band setting that's, well, Worth The Wait. The duo front the sixteen-piece Swedish Norrbotten Big Band (NBB), which Hagans has directed since 1996, in a live recording for Sveriges Radio P2 (Swedish Radio) at the Kulturcentrum Ebeneses in Luea, Sweden. Playing with the NBB offered the perfect platform for the performance of their seven original compositions on a world stage. The big band's mission is to perform original music while featuring star soloists such as Joe Lovano, Toots Thielemans and Chris Potter; here of course, Erskine and Hagans fill that role admirably. The album is actually one half of a two-record release from Erskine's independent record label, while the other album, Standards (Fuzzy Music, 2007), features the drummer in a piano trio. There are no sweet ballads, charming melodies or simplistic big band charts, the music on this disc flows to a more sophisticated groove sure to draw the interest of the jazz aficionado who leans towards the progressive big band sound. Though the music is accessible, the intricate arrangements offer ample solo space for various members of the band to join the co leaders in play. The opening title track, an Erskine composition and Hagan arrangement, offers a glimpse of the nature of this recording as the music features the sounds of altoist Johan Horlen and bassist Martin Sjostedt early on, with later solos from Erskine that only become brassy midway towards the track's end. The woodwind section comes alive on Hagans' "You Should See My Office," where the two featured artists take their turn in the spotlight only after tenor Mats Garberg sets the stage with a solid performance of his own. Another Hagans tune, "First Jazz," delivers what is unquestionably the best swinging number of the album as Hakan Brostrom's play on alto outshines the leaders. Composer/arranger and professor of the Eastman Jazz Ensemble at the University of Rochester, Bill Dobbins contributes arrangements of Erskine's "Plan 9" and the percussive "Scotland, Africa" where Erskine takes over the tune with his prowess. He is again showcased as the only soloist on the Hagans finale, "Drum Row," where the band plays only a supporting role. This Erskine and Hagans big band project in no way resembles the classic orchestrations they were a part of during their Kenton days. That's not to say that the new music they are a part of now isn't as good or wasn't worth the wait, because the music is definitely good and the wait, certainly worth it. ~ Edward Blanco https://www.allaboutjazz.com/worth-the-wait-peter-erskine-fuzzy-music-review-by-edward-blanco.php

Personnel: Peter Erskine: drums; Tim Hagans: conductor,trumpet; Hakan Brostrom: saxophone; John Horlen: saxophone; Mats Garberg: saxophone; Bengt Ek: saxophone; Per Moberg: saxophone; P-O Svanstrom: trombone; Magnus Puls: trombone; Peter Dahlgren: trombone; Bjorn Hangsel: bass trombone; Bo Stranberg: trumpet; Dan Johansson: trumpet; Magnus Ekholm: trumpet; Tapio Maunuvaara: trumpet; Daniel Tilling: piano; Ola Bengtsson: guitar; Martin Sjostedt: bass.

Worth the Wait

---

Wallace Roney - Prototype

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:43
Size: 123,2 MB
Art: Front

( 7:48)  1. Cyberspace
(10:37)  2. Shadow Dance
( 6:13)  3. Prontotype
( 4:49)  4. Then and Now
( 4:59)  5. Let's Stay Together
( 6:19)  6. Quadrant 329-4-526
( 5:19)  7. Three Views of the Blues
( 7:36)  8. Secret Identity

On Prototype , his first album in four years, trumpeter Wallace Roney continues to develop ideas begun on Village ('97) and No Room For Argument ('00). That is to say, as the liner notes describe, "Miles' playing and his album Nefertiti as one link; Weather Report as the compositional link; Mwandishi (pianist Herbie Hancock groundbreaking early '70s fusion band) as the conceptual link, with John Coltrane as the spiritual link." Roney's links to Miles Davis have been written about and, perhaps, overexaggerated. There is no doubt that Roney's playing and concept of openness stems from Miles and a time in the late '80s when Roney was hanging with the Prince of Darkness. But whereas Miles changed direction countless times during his career, Roney has chosen a starting point for his music that of the transitional Miles period of Nefertiti through Filles de Kilimanjaro and steadfastly evolved the idea, incorporating contemporary technologies and rhythms, painting a picture of where Miles might have gone had he been more evolutionary than revolutionary. Take "Then and Now," with its "I Got Rhythm" changes. It may start out as the most mainstream-sounding piece on the record, but only for about thirty seconds as it quickly breaks down into a freer piece, with wife Geri Allen peppering the song with abstract harmonies while bassist Matt Garrison and drummer Eric Allen play loose and elastic with the time. But while the track unquestionably fits within the context of the album as a whole, it is something of an anomaly. 

"Cyberspace" opens the album with a dark and deep funk groove, Roney and brother Antoine on saxophone stating the attractive yet edgy theme while keyboardist Adam Holzman, who spent time in Miles' late '80s bands, colors the piece with sharp chords and subtle washes. Similarly, "Shadow Dance" finds an expanded horn section building the extended theme over a 3/4 ostinato before heading into more exploratory territory, with guest Don Byron delivering a particularly pungent solo. The title track is a tender ballad, but even though it is one of only two completely acoustic tracks ("Then and Now" being the other), it brings a sense of freedom to the more closely-adhered changes that lends it a consistency with the rest of the record. It is, in fact, this sense of freedom that pervades the whole record, giving it a sense of urgency. That's not to say this is exactly free jazz; rather it is more open-ended jazz where a firm sense of rhythm exists throughout, but with harmonic and thematic liberation the group is less concerned with hanging on specific changes and, instead, uses harmonic devices as a jumping off point, much as early Weather Report did. Prototype continues to evolve Roney's conception of jazz, one that successfully combines inarguable roots with a more contemporary view, incorporating a diversity of influences into a blend where the fundamental notion is that of freedom, but, like Miles before him, with a clearly-defined rhythmic and harmonic basis. ~ John Kelman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/prototype-wallace-roney-highnote-records-review-by-john-kelman.php

Personnel: Wallace Roney: trumpet; Antoine Roney: saxophones; Geri Allen: piano; Adam Holzman: keyboards; Matthew Garrison: basses; Eric Allen: drums; Clifton Anderson: trombone; Don Byron: clarinet; DJ Logic.

Prototype

---

Ken McIntyre - 'Way,'Way Out

Styles: Saxophone, Flute Jazz
Year: 1963
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:10
Size: 92,9 MB
Art: Front

(7:25)  1. Miss Ann
(7:31)  2. Lois Marie
(5:04)  3. Chittlin's And Cavyah
(6:15)  4. Permanentity
(4:50)  5. Tip Top
(3:23)  6. Kaijee
(5:39)  7. Reflections

A versatile player with a thoughtful style who can play quite freely, Ken McIntyre has never been a major name in jazz despite his talents. After serving in the military and graduating from the Boston Conservatory, he arrived in New York in 1960 and made a strong impression. He recorded two albums for New Jazz that year, including one on which he held his own against Eric Dolphy. McIntyre also led two now-scarce records for United Artists during 1962-1963 (including one titled Way Way Out) but became involved in education, teaching in public schools starting in 1961. He continued playing on a part-time basis (recording with Cecil Taylor in 1966). McIntyre led five albums for SteepleChase during 1974-1978, including his definitive set Hindsight (which finds him spotlighting each of his five horns in a quartet). He also recorded with Craig Harris in 1983 and put together an Eric Dolphy tribute set for Serene in 1991, but Ken McIntyre never gained the recognition he deserved. In the early '90s, he adopted the first name of Makanda and in June 2001, he released his first recording in years, entitled A New Beginning. Multi-instumentalist and music educator Dr. Makanda Ken McIntyre passed away at the age of 69 as a result of a heart attack on Wednesday, June 13, 2001, at his home in Harlem, NY. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ken-mcintyre-mn0000766122/biography

Personnel: Makanda Ken McIntyre: alto saxophone, flute, oboe; Bob Cunningham: bass; Edgar Bateman: drums; 13-piece string orchestra

'Way,'Way Out

---