Robert Walter's 20th Congress - Get Thy Bearings

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:14
Size: 90,8 MB
Art: Front

(4:01)  1. Hunk
(4:55)  2. Little Business
(2:55)  3. Get Thy Bearings
(5:01)  4. Foxhunting
(4:32)  5. Dog Party
(4:42)  6. Inversion Layer
(3:03)  7. Crux
(4:32)  8. Don't Chin the Dog
(5:30)  9. Up from the Skies

One of the unintended benefits that jazz-funk keyboard great Robert Walter received when moving back to California after a sojourn in New Orleans, was jumpstarting his 20th Congress, which had been dormant for a decade. Get Thy Bearings showcases this quintet in a series of seven originals and two covers. The title track, written by Donovan, is completely revisioned. Its spacey guitars lay down a foundation for Cochema Gastelum's alto saxophone, which blasts the lyric in the first verse with Walter's B-3 taking the second. In the codas and bridge are swelling, dramatic arcs of that border on prog with their complex rhythms and harmonies. "Hunk" (featuring guest Karl Denson on saxophone), is a hard groover with a Meters-esque rhythm via a tight backbeat by Aaron Redfield, and Elgin Park doubling on guitar and playing fat, dirty-assed bass. "Foxhunting" is even meaner. Gastelum double tracks alto and tenor in popping lines and fills as Park's bassline bumps and throbs under a rim-shot shuffle, while Walter soars over the top, filling every nook and cranny with piano and B-3. 

This is backbone-slipping jazz- funk at its best. "Dog Party" is more on the R&B tip. It sounds like a response to Quincy Jones' Sanford and Son theme song or Fat Albert's. Walter's piano solo in the middle register boxes the groove and then breaks it open with a gospel-like zeal. Speaking of gospel, check out "Crux." Its nasty bassline could have come from a blaxploitation film soundtrack scored by Johnny Pate. Walter's swirling, knotty B-3 vamps duel with Redfield's popping cymbals and snare, while Gastelum's baritone solo testifies. This jam may reach for the heavens, but it comes from the heart of the gutter. The set closer is a cosmic jazz workout on Jimi Hendrix's "Up from the Skies." Walter directly references the melody line on his organ, accenting its origins in soul. Park's strident bass counters even as it accents; it begins to break things down and carry them outside. The frenetic yet circular rhythm provided by Chuck Prada's congas are the only thing holding the tune to the floor as group improvisation grips the center. While the melody returns briefly, this one moves off the rails and into the gone. Get Thy Bearings reveals that the inherent grittiness and innovative funk laid down by the 20th Street Congress is not only present after all these years, it's braver and hungrier than ever before. ~ Thom Jurek https://www.allmusic.com/album/get-thy-bearings-mw0002544966

Personnel:  Organ, Piano, Electric Piano, Synthesizer – Robert Walter; Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone – Cochemea Gastelum; Drums – Aaron Redfield; Guitar, Bass – Elgin Park

Get Thy Bearings

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Michela Lombardi, Piero Frassi Circles Trio - Shape Of My Heart (The Music Of Sting)

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:55
Size: 148,2 MB
Art: Front

(5:40)  1. Wrapped Around Your Finger
(4:54)  2. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
(4:34)  3. Sister Moon
(4:49)  4. It's Probably Me
(5:56)  5. Seven Days
(4:35)  6. Dienda
(4:44)  7. Message In A Bottle
(6:47)  8. The Windmills Of Your Mind
(3:41)  9. Consider Me Gone
(4:28) 10. Shape Of My Heart
(4:26) 11. Englishman In New York
(5:05) 12. Fragile / Frágil
(4:10) 13. Fields Of Gold

Thirteen brilliant unpublished arrangements of the Artist's greatest hits including "Sister Moon", "Message In a Bottle" and "Consider Me Gone" show the formidable interplay of the trio and the incredible versatility of the vocalist, able to range from bossanova of "Fragile", performed both in English and in Brazilian Portuguese, to the funky-blues of "It's Probably Me"; from the swing of "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" to the ethereal ECM-style jazzwaltz perfectly exemplified in "Dienda"; from Dusty Springfield's echoes in "The Windmills Of Your Mind" to the soulful vocal performance of "Wrapped Around Your Finger"; again, from the scat of "Englishman In New York" to the most sophisticated 5/4 songs like "Seven Days" and the title-track "Shape Of My Heart"; to conclude with a touching version in duo piano and voice of "Fields Of Gold."Translate by Google http://bargajazz.it/michela-lombardi-piero-frassi-circles-trio/

Personnel: Michela Lombardi voice; Piero Frassi piano; Gabriele Evangelista double bass; Bernardo Guerra battery

Shape Of My Heart (The Music Of Sting)

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Vassar Clements - Back Porch Swing

Styles: Jazz, Swing
Year: 1999
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:46
Size: 103,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:12)  1. King Porter's Stomp
(3:40)  2. Hillbilly Jazz
(4:02)  3. If That's Love
(3:16)  4. String Of Pearls
(3:26)  5. Four Brothers
(4:30)  6. Ezra's Holler
(4:17)  7. Bad Is Bad
(5:19)  8. Nur Shab Da
(2:56)  9. Old Black Magic
(4:38) 10. Clemency
(5:26) 11. Take It Easy On My Heart

Vassar Clements has always been one of the most recognizable fiddlers in bluegrass. When he steps to the mic to take a solo, the most foursquare traditional breakdown or reel takes on a jazzy, swinging flavor one that generally disappears as soon as his solo ends. On this album, he moves well away from the whole bluegrass genre, opting instead for the accompaniment of a jazz band and a program of undiluted swing, jazz, and R&B. Opening with a burning rendition of Jelly Roll Morton's "King Porter Stomp," Clements delivers one original (the thoroughly charming "Hillbilly Jazz"), several standards ("That Old Black Magic," "String of Pearls"), and a handful of numbers by his pianist, Fred Bogert. Bogert's "If That's Love" sounds like it came straight out of Muscle Shoals, with Clements' slinky fiddle weaving in, out, and around the sturdy drumming and funky bass. "Ezra's Holler" is a sort of modified bossa nova on which Clements plays the head in unison with sax player Paul Martin Zonn, to very fine effect. Just about everything on this album is both musically interesting and lots of fun. Highly recommended. ~ Rick Anderson https://www.allmusic.com/album/back-porch-swing-mw0000672609

Back Porch Swing

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Leigh Harris - Polychrome Junction

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:30
Size: 136,2 MB
Art: Front

(5:48)  1. Dog Days
(8:11)  2. Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most
(5:34)  3. Oh What a Beautiful Morning
(4:28)  4. Paralyzed
(6:56)  5. Poinciana
(4:56)  6. You Always Knew Me ( Better Than I Knew Myself)
(7:00)  7. Crazy Mirrors
(2:39)  8. Cloudburst
(7:17)  9. Candy
(5:36) 10. Make a Better World

Recorded in New Orleans in 2000 by the innovative keyboard/percussion/vocal quintet, Roy G Biv, led by vocalist Leigh "Little Queenie" Harris, Polychrome Junction opens with Harris's "Dog Days" (later tapped for re-release on Sony's Doctors, Professors, Kings, and Queens: The Big Ol' Box of New Orleans): a funk-drenched, witty paean to Crescent City weather ("Down here in the land of the dreamy dream/the air condition stay on past Halloween"), complete with authentic howling about the heat and a blistering tuba solo by "honorary Biv-ouac" Matt Perrine. Jazz standard "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most" receives a major groove overhaul with percussionist Michael Skinkus's multilayering of shekere, congas, djali, shakers and bells, and pianist Joshua Paxton & organist David Ellington's adroit, joyous cross-pollination of New Orleans and Afro-Carribean polyrhythms; kit drummer Karl Budo picks up his sticks and lays down a subtle but definite NOLA street beat on "Poinciana". Young tenor saxophonist Rebecca Barry guests on "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" to great effect in both her solo and interplay work with Harris .The dizzying rendition of "Cloudburst" is a standout, and Harris's take on "Candy" will send many listeners to the bedroom or the kitchen or both. Harris's two other compositions, "Crazy Mirrors" and "Paralyzed" (written with Subdude John Magnie and Bruce MacDonald),are vivid tales of unrequieted love and sexual obsession. "You Always Knew Me Better (Than I Knew Myself"), written for Harris by Dr John and Doc Pomus, is a soulful, heartwrenching ballad performed as a duet between Harris and Paxton. The final track, Earl King's "Make a Better World", provides ample forum for Paxton and Ellington's James Booker/Professor Longhair chops and Harris's undeniable take-no-prisoners way with an R&B classic. Polychrome Junction is a fine archive of an extremely creative group comprised of top-notch musicians living and working in contemporary New Orleans, in energetic, fertile flower, containing superb playing and vocalising throughout. https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/lharris

Polychrome Junction

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Brad Mehldau - Finding Gabriel

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:38
Size: 130,1 MB
Art: Front

(7:18)  1. The Garden
(4:01)  2. Born to Trouble
(4:38)  3. Striving After Wind
(5:21)  4. O Ephraim
(6:20)  5. St. Mark Is Howling in the City of Night
(6:47)  6. The Prophet Is a Fool
(4:32)  7. Make It All Go Away
(5:13)  8. Deep Water
(4:17)  9. Proverb of Ashes
(7:06) 10. Finding Gabriel

Brad Mehldau fans should be used to his shapeshifting ways by now. Rightfully acclaimed for his jazz trio recordings, it is the balance of his catalog that delivers a rounded portrait of the musician, from Largo and The Highway Rider to Mehliana: Taming the Dragon, and more. But Finding Gabriel marks his most idiosyncratically expansive release yet. Its thematically linked compositions were inspired by a close reading of Old Testament sources  Daniel, Hosea, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and Job while considering our current sociopolitical era. He also experimented with the Oberheim OB-6 analog synth while composing, an instrument whose possibilities were new to him. It's used alongside acoustic and electric pianos, organ, xylophone, mores synths, and voice. His celebrated cast of guests includes trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, violinist Sara Caswell, saxophonist Joel Frahm, drummer Mark Guiliana, vocalists Becca Stevens, Kurt Elling, and Gabriel Kahane, and small string and horns sections. In addition to ensemble pieces, three tunes are performed by Mehldau as a one-man band. A repetitive melody on grand piano and analog synth introduces overture "The Garden," with Giuliana's kick drum offering an urgent pulse underneath. Next, Mehldau's, Stevens', and Kahane's voices sing wordlessly, like instruments, before Giuliana executes furious breakbeats and cymbal crashes. Akinmusire's smeared post-bop trumpet bleats are (like Gabriel's horn at the end of time) countered by contrapuntal reeds and winds. "Striving After Wind" is a fusion tune akin to something by Flying Lotus, with sweeping synths, electric pianos, and synthetic drums ballasted by entwined wordless vocals. 

On the solo "O Ephraim," synths, pianos, and Mehldau's (lovely) wordless singing juxtapose prog rock and jazz. Chiming keyboards introduce "St. Mark Is Howling in the City of Night" with Caswell's violin, funky breaks, and other strings ushering in a rockist frame that morphs into a minimalist piano theme accented by beats and classical strings. "The Prophet Is a Fool" is introduced by the crowd chanting "Build that wall!" in a jarring freeze frame of this historical moment; it's followed by a dialogue that underscores just who the subject is. Frahm delivers a fire-breathing tenor solo, followed by Akinmusire's as junglist rhythms underscore the tune's urgency. "Make It All Go Away" is a pillowy, near-pop melody with Stevens and Elling hovering alongside keys and drums. "Deep Water" is darker, a piece of neo-classical prog with violin and string trio and Mehldau's elliptical piano. Elling takes a killer sonically treated scat vocal on "Proverb of Ashes," with its backing track wedding EDM futurism to post-punk. Mehldau closes the set solo with the title track, a spoken prayer surrounded by angelic voices, shimmering pianism, mellotrons, synths, and percussion instruments concluding with a quote from the prophet Daniel. It will take several listens to appreciate all that takes place on Finding Gabriel, but that's as it should be. Mehldau is scratching an itch; whatever bothers him is provoking action that leads to a strange, ethereal space where the questions and answers of both history and mystery are not only provocative, but interchangeable. 

~ Thom Jurek https://www.allmusic.com/album/finding-gabriel-mw0003269321

Personnel:  Brad Mehldau – synthesizers (1–10), piano (1, 2, 5–10), Fender Rhodes (3, 4), Hammond B-3 organ (10), Musser Ampli-Celeste (4), Morfbeats gamelan strips (4), xylophone (6), Mellotron (10), drums (2, 4, 10), percussion (10), vocals (1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 10); Ambrose Akinmusire – trumpet (1, 6); Chris Cheek – baritone sax and tenor sax (1); Charles Pillow – baritone sax (6), alto sax and bass clarinet (1), soprano sax (1, 6); Joel Frahm – tenor sax (1, 6); Michael Thomas – alto sax and flute (1, 6); Sara Caswell – violin (5, 8); Lois Martin – viola (5, 8); Noah Hoffeld – cello (5, 8); Mark Guiliana – drums (1, 3, 5–9); Aaron Nevezie – effects (9); Kurt Elling – vocals (7, 9); Gabriel Kahane – vocals (1, 3, 5, 8); Becca Stevens – vocals (1, 3, 5, 7, 8); "Snorts" Malibu – vocals (9)

Finding Gabriel

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