Roland Hanna - Colors from a Giant's Kit

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:54
Size: 151,4 MB
Art: Front

(2:10)  1. Colors from a Giant's Kit
(3:21)  2. Natalie Rosanne
(8:05)  3. A Story, Often Told but Seldom Heard
(4:29)  4. Robbin's Nest
(4:55)  5. My Romance
(4:23)  6. Blues
(3:34)  7. 'Cello
(2:24)  8. Moment's Notice
(7:22)  9. Lush Life
(5:21) 10. 20th Century Rag
(5:26) 11. Naima
(4:07) 12. Chelsea Bridge
(3:38) 13. In a Mellow Tone
(6:31) 14. Cherokee

When an artist passes on, the true fans mourn and the record companies often search through their vaults to try to capitalize on their passing. This often results in hastily compiled collections of music, or the surfacing of sub-par recordings that weren't released for obvious reasons when the artist was still around. That's not the case with this top-shelf solo recording from Sir Roland Hanna. Shortly before his death, the pianist had entered into a fruitful recording partnership with Bill Sorin a former student and longtime fan who founded IPO recordings and launched the label with Hanna's Everything I Love (IPO, 2002).  While this new chapter in Hanna's recording career was cut short when the piano giant was felled by a fatal heart attack in November of 2002, his other sessions for IPO are firm reminders of his sublime artistry and wide-ranging skills as a pianist, composer and interpreter of music of all kinds. Tributaries Reflections On Tommy Flanagan (IPO, 2002) and I've Got A Right To Sing The Blues Songs Of Harold Arlen immediately followed on the heels of Everything I Love, but it took eight years for Colors From A Giant's Kit to arrive. 

It was worth the wait. Hanna's relationship with the piano is a complex one but, unlike another former Charles Mingus-associated pianist, Jaki Byard who is also receiving a lot of attention for posthumously released solo piano outings it remains widely accessible at all times and rooted in the promise of melody. Hanna can engage the instrument with heavy handed chordal stomps ("Colors From A Giant's Kit") and flowery, flowing gestures of beauty ("My Romance"). He shows an obvious affection for Ellingtonia of all kinds, as he delivers a pair of Billy Strayhorn standards ("Lush Life" and "Chelsea Bridge") and an energetic take on Duke Ellington's own "In A Mellow Tone," which is anything but mellow. The music of John Coltrane also plays an important part here, as Hanna takes on two different sides of the late saxophonist's musical personality. "Moment's Notice" moves with precision and energy, while "Naima" gorgeously wafts through the air.  While the majority of the program is given up to standards of all shapes and sizes, Hanna touches on his own compositional legacy with five of his own pieces, ranging from sweeping, sad beauties ("Natalie Rosanne") to ragtime coated with an Eastern European sound. The fourteen-track program is capped off with a take on "Cherokee" that serves as a lesson in tempo revision. Hanna proves that Ray Noble's classic doesn't have to fly fast at all times.  The colors from this piano giant's kit cover the entire spectrum, from bold to bright, and this album continues to paint Hanna as the true genius that he was. ~ Dan Bilawsky https://www.allaboutjazz.com/colors-from-a-giants-kit-sir-roland-hanna-ipo-recordings-review-by-dan-bilawsky.php

Personnel: Sir Roland Hanna: piano.

Colors from a Giant's Kit

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Sylvia Vrethammar - Trivialitet

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 31:47
Size: 73,6 MB
Art: Front

(3:03)  1. Trivialitet
(3:55)  2. Just Because of You
(2:36)  3. Floy Joy
(3:58)  4. Magdalena (Livet före döden)
(3:13)  5. Små lätta moln
(3:16)  6. Du sköna nya värld
(2:53)  7. Oh Boy
(2:38)  8. Kung för en dag
(2:58)  9. Hej Monika
(3:14) 10. Step Up

Sylvia Vrethammar is back in the competition after 11 years. “In 2002, I thought it would never be done again and now it has somehow been put in my lap. A surprise that feels like an adventure ”. Sylvia's career took off in 1970 when she hosted the popular Hyland TV show. In 1971 she participated in the Melodifestivalen for the first time and in 1973 she recorded the song Eviva España which became a thunderous success in both Sweden and the UK. The English version was on the English hit list for a total of 28 weeks and gave Sylvia a place in the Guinness Record Book. Most recently she has been seen in the television program So Much Better. I understand that you have thought of presenting different types of music and broadened the range, broadened ages of artists and it is something that feels very mature in some way and I hope I will not be disappointed, she says. Sylvia describes her song as a Brazilian-inspired tribute to finding value in what is considered obvious. The song is about what we may sometimes forget, in the small there is big in life. To value what is near and small and nice and may not be able to see a final result all the time and go ahead of events. Translate By Google https://www.svt.se/melodifestivalen/sylvia-vrethammar-trivialitet-1/

Trivialitet

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Ike Quebec - Ballads

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1997
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:43
Size: 122,0 MB
Art: Front

(7:24)  1. Nancy (With The Laughing Face)
(4:54)  2. Born To Be Blue
(6:30)  3. The Man I Love - Digitally Remastered
(5:54)  4. Lover Man
(5:21)  5. Willow Weep For Me
(6:04)  6. If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight)
(6:39)  7. Everything Happens To Me - Long Version
(5:10)  8. Imagination
(4:43)  9. There Is No Greater Love

Tenor saxophonist Ike Quebec always had a big, warm sound, and he was particularly expert on ballads. This 1997 sampler CD surprisingly does not have any examples of his early work on Blue Note in the mid- to late 1940s, instead concentrating on selections from four of Quebec's seven late-period Blue Note albums, a few songs originally issued as 45s, and "Born to Be Blue," which is taken from an album by guitarist Grant Green. The eight ballads are all standards and put the focus very much on Quebec, making for a fine mood album even if acquiring the full sessions (all but "It Might As Well Be Spring" are currently available on CD) is preferable. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/ballads-mw0000024976

Personnel: Ike Quebec (tenor saxophone); Sonny Clark (piano); Freddie Roach, Sir Charles Thompson, Earl Vandyke (organ); Grant Green, Willie Jones (guitar); Milt Hinton, Sam Jones (bass); Art Blakey, Louis Hayes, Al Harewood, J.C. Heard, Wilbert Hogan (drums).

Ballads

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Robert Walter - Super Heavy Organ

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:54
Size: 144,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:27)  1. Adelita
(3:14)  2. Kickin' Up Dust
(2:33)  3. Spell
(7:30)  4. El Cuervo
(5:12)  5. Criminals Have A Name For It
(7:15)  6. 34 Small
(3:38)  7. Don't Hate, Congratulate
(2:56)  8. Poor Tom
(6:05)  9. (smells like) Dad's Drunk Again
(4:57) 10. Big Dummy
(5:01) 11. Hardware
(9:02) 12. Cabrillo

Organist Robert Walter is best known as a founding member of the dance jazz funksters known as Greyboy Allstars. But since the mid-1990s he's also been involved in other projects, like the George Clinton tribute band The Clinton Administration featuring instrumental workups of classic Parliament and Funkadelic tunes and Robert Walter's 20th Congress, an update on 1970s jazz/funk. Super Heavy Organ is the first disc he's made since relocating to New Orleans, and by recruiting a group of notable Crescent City musicians he's created an album that not only fits comfortably in the jamband jazz/funk space he's made home all along, but also introduces some new elements as well. With bassist James Singleton and drummer Johnny Vidacovich the rhythm section for New Orleans supergroup Astral Project on seven of Walter's twelve original tunes, this "live in the studio session has a built-in chemistry. Stanton Moore previously intersecting with Walter in both The Clinton Administration and 20th Congress keeps the telepathy equally alive on the five tracks where he replaces Vidacovich. Saxophonist Tim Green may be better known in rock circles, having played with the Neville Brothers, Indigo Girls, and Peter Gabriel, but he's got some serious jazz chops. There's an immediacy about the whole record, right from the first notes of the greasy funk workout "Adelita. Walter's songs could be played by rhythm sections from anywhere and sound good, but there's a slap-happy looseness about the New Orleans approach that makes them sound great. It's less about virtuosity although there's no lack of that and more about a collective vibe.

Even singer Anthony Farrell, who appears on three tracks, isn't any kind of "lead singer. Instead, he contributes howls and moans to "Spell and some spoken word to "Don't Hate, Congratulate that are down in the mix, constituting integral parts rather than standing out. Walter's material may be groove-centric, but the group's energy and open ears keep things from becoming predictable. "El Cuerve may revolve around a two-chord vamp in 7/4, but Vidacovich and Singleton keep things fluid underneath powerful solos from both Green and Walter. "Cabrillo, the album closer and, at nine minutes, the longest piece, swings in 5/4 and evidences Walter's concerns beyond funk and soul, with a Latin vibe that's grist for one of his most purely adventurous solos on the record. Still, Walter can't forget his funk. "Hardware is down-and-dirty, with Vidacovich laying down a lazy behind-the-beat backbeat peppered by the occasional military roll, while Moore creates a huge sound behind Walter's combo of organ and clavinet on the up-tempo "Poor Tom. Walter differentiates himself from other contemporary Hammond players like Gary Versace and Larry Goldings with a purview that extends well beyond the jazz tradition. And while he shares some ties to the jamband aesthetic of MMW, Walters remains more direct. Still, with its combination of unassailable grooves filtered through a New Orleans sensibility and open-ended spontaneity, Super Heavy Organ is sure to find fans from a variety of stylistic vantages. ~ John Kelman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/super-heavy-organ-robert-walter-magnatude-records-review-by-john-kelman.php

Personnel: Robert Walter: Hammond organ, clavinet, piano, melodica, percussion; Stanton Moore: drums; Johnny Vidacovich: drums; Tim Green: tenor saxophone; James Singleton: bass. Special guest Anthony Farrell: vocals.

Super Heavy Organ

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Harold Land - Just Imagine

Styles: Saxophone Jazz 
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 81:38
Size: 189,1 MB
Art: Front

( 4:18)  1. Take the "A" Train
( 5:40)  2. Beautiful Love
( 6:59)  3. Tom Dooley
( 5:16)  4. Hava Nagila
( 5:36)  5. George's Dilemma
( 3:00)  6. On Top of Old Smokey
( 4:22)  7. Foggy, Foggy Dew
( 4:56)  8. Sandu
(11:15)  9. I'm Gonna Go Fishin'
( 2:53) 10. Swingin'
( 4:09) 11. Scarlet Ribbons
( 5:10) 12. Jacqui
( 4:57) 13. Land's End
( 6:40) 14. Full Moon and Empty Arms
( 3:24) 15. If I Love Again
( 2:56) 16. Gerkin for Perkin

Harold Land was a member of the Max Roach-Clifford Brown quintet in the '50s, and co-led another quintet with Bobby Hutcherson in the late '60s and early '70s. Early in his career, he was noted for a dry tone and rather individualistic approach. During the '60s, Land's tone became harder and his phrasing and style more intense as he incorporated elements of John Coltrane's approach into his style. But Land was first and foremost a hard bop stylist. Land began playing sax at 16, after his interest in music increased during high school. He initially played in San Diego bands, then moved to Los Angeles. Land's earliest recording experience was for Savoy in 1949, when he cut four tracks with Leon Petties, Froebel Brigham, and others leading the Harold Land All Stars. He joined the Max Roach-Clifford Brown quintet in the early '50s, replacing Teddy Edwards. Land stayed in the group about 18 months, recording with them for EmArcy, then left to play with Curtis Counce. He played with Counce from 1956 to 1958, appearing on Counce dates for Contemporary and Dooto. (He also recorded with Frank Rosolino on a Specialty date that didn't surface until the late '80s, though it was originally done in 1959.) Land recorded as a leader on Contemporary in the late '50s, making one of his finest albums, The Fox, with Elmo Hope. He worked often with Gerald Wilson in both the '50s and '60s. Land also divided his time during these decades between heading groups and playing with Red Mitchell. He and Mitchell recorded an album for Atlantic in 1961. There were also dates with Wes Montgomery and Kenny Dorham for Jazzland, and sessions for Imperial and Pacific Jazz. Land played with Carmell Jones, Bud Shank, Leroy Vinnegar, Gary Peacock, Thelonius Monk, and Wilson, among others. He and Hutcherson co-formed a quintet in 1967, and continued until 1971. They recorded for Cadet, Mainstream and Blue Note. Land and Blue Mitchell co-led a quintet from 1975 to 1978, recording for Concord, Impulse and RCA. Land worked with his son Harold Land, Jr. in Wilson's orchestra, and reunited with Hutcherson for a Muse session in the '80s. He continued working and performing into the '90s. ~ Ron Wynn https://www.allmusic.com/artist/harold-land-mn0000665944/biography

Just Imagine

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