Andy Summers - Green Chimneys: The Music of Thelonius Monk

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 1999
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 70:04
Size: 161,1 MB
Art: Front

(5:57)  1. Green Chimneys
(4:36)  2. Hackensack
(3:29)  3. Brilliant Corners
(3:55)  4. Monk's Dream
(5:41)  5. 'Round Midnight
(4:56)  6. Bemsha Swing
(5:31)  7. Shuffle Boil
(3:16)  8. Boo Boo's Birthday
(4:14)  9. Evidence
(5:15) 10. Ugly Beauty
(4:08) 11. Think of One
(3:17) 12. Light Blue
(2:50) 13. Ruby My Dear
(2:30) 14. Crepescule with Nellie
(4:36) 15. Locomotive
(3:10) 16. Off Minor
(2:37) 17. Ruby (Electric Version)

What an albatross to have the Police hanging round your neck. So when it's all over, the singer gets even more famous and corners the market in sophisticated JazzRock, the drummer gets on with spending the money and stretching into movies and session fun, and the guitarist gets to play whatever he wants. Which has varied from turn it up Progressive Rock to echo Summers' days in the Soft Machine to delicate Blues and Folk experiments. But Green Chimneys is another matter: it's a fine, accessible homage to the immortal Thelonius Monk from a British club jazzer who got very lucky in pop. Monk's mastery of compositional architecture - from the blues to the birth of bop - lifts good players toward the stars. On Green Chimneys, Summers even gets Sting in to schmooze his way through one classic, 'Round Midnight. Except that Sting gives an affecting, genuine performance, while Summers' bigger band strip down to etched-naked chords and sinister brushes waiting for Andy's "do I not like that?" solo. Add cello, trumpet, saxophones and organ to a guitar trio, and you never know what colour comes next. Evidence leads with a fat, tight horn trio stating a fast funk theme against Summer's stinging blues leads, dissolves into big band call and return, segues into a blues rock chorus or two and dances out of the room heading for where Jeff Beck plays Mingus. Then there's the Pat Metheny-on-that-peyote-he-got-from-Tom Waits of Bemsha Swing, or the New Orleans funeral band - on Hackensack - plugging directly into a mobile 240AC outlet while Joey DeFrancesco's B3 vamps its way through the crowd on a flatbed truck right behind the hearse. Or the way the band rhythmically collapse Three Blind Mice into the angular, stop-time Jazzfunk of Monk's Dream, and the outrageous blend of Metal and Jimmy Smith on Shuffle Boil, where Summer's tone and phrasing deliver the impact usually carried by distortion. This is a guitar fan's album, but if the straighter moments of Zappa's methodical madness and subtly-caged playing ever tickled your sweet spots, Green Chimneys will make you happy too. And if you saw Peter Erskine drum with the Yellowjackets in London recently, his endlessly inventive accents and effortless leaps from supportive to lyrical to driving to painterly will be a joy revisited. ~ Ian Nicolson https://www.allaboutjazz.com/green-chimneys-andy-summers-rca-victor-review-by-ian-nicolson.php

Personnel:  Guitar, Banjo, Guitar [Dobro] – Andy Summers; Cello – Hank Roberts; Double Bass, Bass – Dave Carpenter; Drums – Bernie Dresel, Peter Erskine; Organ [Hammond B-3] – Joey De Francesco; Saxophone [Soprano, Tenor], Clarinet – Steve Tavaglione; Trumpet – Walt Fowler

Green Chimneys: The Music of Thelonius Monk

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Sonny Rollins - On Impulse

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1965
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 34:31
Size: 79,2 MB
Art: Front

( 7:07)  1. On Green Dolphin Street
(11:14)  2. Every Thing Happens To Me
( 5:29)  3. Hold'Em Joe
( 3:44)  4. Blue Room
( 6:56)  5. Three Little Words

In 1965 and 1966 tenor giant Sonny Rollins issued three albums for the Impulse label. They would be his last until 1972 when he re-emerged on the scene from a self-imposed retirement. This date is significant for the manner in which Rollins attacks five standards with a quartet that included pianist Ray Bryant, bassist Walter Booker and drummer Mickey Roker. Rollins, who's been recording for RCA and its Bluebird subsidiary, had spent the previous three years (after emerging from his first retirement) concentrating on standards and focusing deeply on intimate, intricate aspects of melody and harmony. He inverts the approach here, and digs deeply into pulse and rhythm and leaving melody to take care of itself. This is not a "new thing" date but instead focuses on playing according to the dictates of the rhythm section and on interchanging with Booker and Roker, leaving much of the melodic aspect of these tunes to Bryant. Rollins could never quite leave the melody out of anything he played because of his intense gift as a lyrical improviser; he nonetheless stripped his approach back and played tunes like "On Green Dolphin Street" by improvising according to theme rather than strict melody, where his interplay with the rhythm section becomes based on the dynamic and shifting times played by Roker. While things are more intimate and straight on "Everything Happens to Me," he nonetheless plays the edges, filling the space like a drummer. Melody happens throughout, the tune is recognizable, but it is stretched in his solo to a theme set by the shimmering cymbals and brushed snare work of Roker. The oddest cuts in the set are the last two; spaced out readings of "Blue Room," and "Three Little Words"; they sound as if he were preparing the listener for a true change in his approach. Melody gets inverted, with spaces and syncopation taking the place of notes. The swing is inherent in everything here, but it's clear that the saxophonist was hearing something else in his head, the way he squeezes notes tightly into some phrases where they might be placed elsewhere, and substitutes small, lithe lines inside Bryant's solos which dictate the harmonic intervals more conventionally with his singing approach. And speaking of rhythm, the album's hinge piece is the burning calypso "Hold "Em Joe." Here again, as Bryant's changes play it straight, Rollins shoves his horn inside them and draws out the beat on his horn over and over again. As strange and beautiful as this record sounds, it would have been wonderful if he had chosen to explore this track on his later records, but that restless spirit was already moving onto something else, as evidenced by his next offering, which were his original compositions for the film Alfie with arrangements by Oliver Nelson. If anything, Sonny Rollins on Impulse! feels as if it were a recording Rollins had to get out of his system. But thank goodness for us because it's a winner through and through. ~ Thom Jurek https://www.allmusic.com/album/on-impulse-mw0000188710

Personnel: Sonny Rollins – tenor saxophone; Ray Bryant – piano; Walter Booker – bass; Mickey Roker – drums

On Impulse

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David Grisman Quintet - Dawgnation

Styles: Mandolin
Year: 2002
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 66:17
Size: 154,1 MB
Art: Front

(0:23)  1. Citizens Of Dawgnation
(6:51)  2. Slade
(6:51)  3. Mellow Mang
(3:45)  4. Why Did The Mouse Marry The Elephant?
(6:19)  5. Cha Cha Chihauhua
(3:33)  6. Desert Dawg
(4:08)  7. Twin Town
(5:06)  8. Vivace
(4:28)  9. Mr. Coolberg
(5:41) 10. Dawgnation
(6:08) 11. Bluegrass At the Beach
(5:10) 12. Argentine Trio
(7:49) 13. Dawg After Dark

David Grisman returns in fine, if standard, form on Dawgnation, the first record of new material produced by his David Grisman Quintet since 1995's Dawganova. The material on Dawgnation doesn't break any new ground particularly, though Grisman's so-called "dawg" music a mix of bluegrass, hot jazz, Latin grooves, klezmer, and world rhythms can still be exhilarating, especially if one has never heard it before. The band manages to keep the energy high and the music fresh-sounding, making this as fine a starting point into the quintet as any. Each of the tracks is a tribute to one of Grisman's extended musical family such as "Slade" (for the late Charles Sawtelle), "Why Did the Mouse Marry the Elephant?" (for bassist Edgar Meyer), and the title track for "Spudboy" (aka Jerry Garcia). Still, the pastoral mix of Matt Eakle's flute, Enrique Coria's flamenco jazz guitar, and Joe Craven's fiddle and percussion with Grisman's mandolin melodies doesn't break any new boundaries. It is calming, pretty, well-executed music that is unlikely to offend anyone, but is ultimately (perhaps) slightly too lite to be considered ballsy and a touch too syncopated and strange to find acceptance among any mainstream audience. ~ Jesse Jarnow https://www.allmusic.com/album/dawgnation-mw0000219429

Personnel:  David Grisman – mandolin, mandola; Enrique Coria – guitar, whistle; Matt Eakle – flute, bass flute; Jim Kerwin – double bass; Joe Craven – percussion, violin, mandolin

Dawgnation

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Van Morrison - The Best Of Van Morrison

Styles: Vocal, Post Bop
Year: 1998
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 79:46
Size: 189,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:45)  1. Bright Side Of The Road
(2:38)  2. Gloria
(4:32)  3. Moondance
(2:43)  4. Baby Please Don't Go
(4:20)  5. Have I Told You Lately
(3:04)  6. Brown Eyed Girl
(3:13)  7. Days Like This
(4:23)  8. Sweet Thing
(3:23)  9. Warm Love
(4:00) 10. Wonderful Remark
(2:57) 11. Jackie Wilson Said (I'm In Heaven When You Smile)
(3:14) 12. Full Force Gale
(4:31) 13. And It Stoned Me
(2:46) 14. Here Comes The Night
(3:09) 15. Domino
(4:07) 16. Did Ye Get Healed
(3:32) 17. Wild Night
(4:42) 18. Cleaning Windows
(4:54) 19. Whenever God Shines His Light
(4:53) 20. Queen Of The Slipstream
(4:48) 21. Dweller On The Threshold

For an artist who's doggedly album-oriented, plus a songwriter who revels in subtlety, Van Morrison doesn't seem like a logical candidate for a successful greatest-hits compilation. Nevertheless, The Best of Van Morrison is a crackerjack compilation, tracing Van the Man from his days with Them, through his best-known tunes ("Brown-Eyed Girl," "Moondance," "Blue Money," "Wild Night"), to highlights from the '70s and '80s cult efforts, topped off by "Wonderful Remark," a song first heard on the King of Comedy soundtrack. 

This collection makes Morrison's work seem a little more immediate and accessible than it usually is, but that's a blessing, since it provides a great summary of his hits and a nice introduction for the curious. Yes, it could have dug deeper into the catalog, but as a sampler, it can't be faulted.~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-best-of-van-morrison-mercury-mw0000204352

The Best Of Van Morrison

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Cécile Verny Quartet - Of Moons and Dreams

Styles: Vocal 
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 70:07
Size: 163,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:26)  1. I Heard an Angel Singing
(3:47)  2. Krakatoa Moon
(4:17)  3. The Garden of Love
(5:07)  4. Birds in Your Heart / Hear I Call
(3:38)  5. There is No Way Back
(4:12)  6. Mon avenir s'est envolé
(4:28)  7. This House
(5:21)  8. Top Shelf Life
(4:33)  9. The Dream
(3:55) 10. The Same Dream
(3:49) 11. Kissing the Moon
(3:33) 12. Witch
(4:20) 13. Talkin'
(4:23) 14. New Moon
(3:51) 15. The Power to Be
(4:09) 16. My Steps Their Beat
(3:09) 17. Je ferme les yeux

The album "Of Moons And Dreams" is an album with brilliant songs, an album on which ballads and straight groove numbers work together seamlessly, an album which you would rather not ever take out of the player, because you have become addicted to it. Admittedly, this is rare, but sometimes it just so happens to be true. When it comes down to the question of whether to call this jazz-pop or pop-jazz, well ultimately, that is irrelevant. https://www.in-akustik.de/en/music-media/album/verny-cecile-quartet-1/of-moons-and-dreams-0366171/

Of Moons and Dreams

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