Pepper Adams - Urban Dreams

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:21
Size: 91,0 MB
Art: Front

(6:27)  1. Dexter Rides Again
(4:44)  2. Urban Dreams
(7:18)  3. Three Little Words
(6:55)  4. Time on My Hands
(7:04)  5. Pent Up House
(6:51)  6. Trentino

Musicians frequently become associated with the attributes of their instruments. Charles Mingus was hulking and imposing, just like his bass. Art Blakey had the propulsive, authoritative personality of his drums. Paul Desmond was urbane and laidback, just like the sound of his sweet-toned alto. There are, of course, exceptions to these sorts of correlations. Take Pepper Adams for instance. Slight of frame, particularly in his later years, Adams physical presence was the apotheosis of his chosen axe. Hefting his baritone horn with rail-thin arms, he coaxed out growling guttural lines seemingly at odds with his stature and appearance. Like a lion tamer subjugating a savage beast, he made the weighty sax a complete instrument of his bidding. His tone and phrasing, muscular and blues-based, were far removed from his generation's other skinny guy with a big horn, Gerry Mulligan. Sadly, for whatever reason, Adams' opportunities to record as a leader were far less frequent than those afforded Mulligan. The situation likely has a lot to do his willingness to lend his talents to the causes of other colleagues. Even the quintet he co-led with Donald Byrd at the dawn of the '60s found him taking a second slot on the marquee. The '70s and '80s weren't much better, but Adams did find the occasional resources to record. This reissued Palo Alto date comes from relatively late in his career, but his abilities are hardly diminished. A blue chip rhythm section fronted by pianist Jimmy Rowles, an Adams associate since the '50s, does more than simply supply support, and each member of the quartet has room to solo. The six chosen tunes are all fine blowing vehicles and Adams makes certain that there's space for amicable improvisation. "Dexter Rides Again" finds the band at rollicking gallop with clocking a brisk pace through the changes beside Rowles' light comping and the steady bobbing bass line of George Mraz. Billy Hart stokes the aggressive beat further with steady snare accents. "Urban Dreams," the brief original ballad of the set, rolls out the leader's romantic side. His throaty tone braids through the melody as Hart's brushes further embellish on the amorous implications. Two standards arrive next "Three Little Words" voiced velociously and "Time is on My Hands" taken at another slow drawl tempo each one showing off the band's consummate skill with repertory material. Adams can't resist packing an ample amount of blues punch into both. Rollins' racetrack worthy "Pent Up House" proves even better terrain for the band's high-speed inclinations. Adams once again burns through the changes leaving a smoldering melodic trail in his wake. His lush Latin burner "Trentino" takes the session out. No alternate takes or unreleased tunes, just the original album served up with warm 24 bit mastering. Pepper Adams' memory lives on in this immensely enjoyable and easily recommendable album. ~ Derek Taylor https://www.allaboutjazz.com/urban-dreams-pepper-adams-palo-alto-review-by-derek-taylor.php

Personnel: Pepper Adams: baritone saxophone; Jimmy Rowles: piano; George Mraz: bass; Billy Hart: drums.

Urban Dreams

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Trisha Yearwood - Let's Be Frank

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:10
Size: 110,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:14)  1. Witchcraft
(2:55)  2. Drinking Again
(4:36)  3. All the Way
(3:10)  4. Come Fly with Me
(4:32)  5. Over the Rainbow
(4:29)  6. One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)
(3:13)  7. They All Laughed
(4:07)  8. If I Loved You
(4:15)  9. The Man That Got Away
(3:35) 10. The Lady is a Tramp
(3:51) 11. For the Last Time
(4:06) 12. I'll Be Seeing You

Let's Be Frank isn't precisely the kind of comeback most observers would've expected from Trisha Yearwood. After a 12-year hiatus  a break interrupted only by the 2016 release of Christmas Together, a duet album with her husband, Garth Brooks Yearwood returned with a tribute to Frank Sinatra. Assembling a well-balanced songbook drawing equally from saloon songs, ring-a-ding-ding swingers, and standards, Yearwood doesn't pick many obscure tunes, nor does she radically reinterpret the original arrangements, but she doesn't mimic Frank. Supported by a lush orchestra, she belts out the standards with aplomb, achieving a balance between crooner and diva, which is enough to give this familiar-sounding album a sense of personal identity. ~ Stephen Tomas Erlewine https://www.allmusic.com/album/lets-be-frank-mw0003246916

Let's Be Frank

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Earl Hines - Tour de Force

Styles: Piano Jazz 
Year: 1972
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:52
Size: 123,7 MB
Art: Front

(7:34)  1. Mack the Knife (take 2)
(5:34)  2. Indian Summer
(6:46)  3. I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues
(4:50)  4. I Never Knew (I Could Love Anybody Like I'm Loving You) (take 1)
(6:50)  5. When Your Lover Has Gone
(2:50)  6. Pretty Baby
(7:15)  7. Say It Isn't So
(4:59)  8. Blue Sands (take 1)
(7:12)  9. Lonesome Road

Pianist Earl Hines is in top form on this brilliant set of solo piano. This CD (which has three previously unreleased performances along with five of the six numbers from its counterpart LP) and Tour de Force Encore greatly expand upon the original set. Whether it be "Mack the Knife," "Indian Summer," or "I Never Knew," Hines is near the peak of his creativity on this CD, taking wild chances with time and coming up with fresh new variations on these veteran standards. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/tour-de-force-mw0000318067

Tour de Force

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Grant Green - Carryin' On

Styles: Guitar Jazz 
Year: 1970
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:30
Size: 86,6 MB
Art: Front

( 5:47)  1. Ease Back
( 6:34)  2. Hurt So Bad
( 6:12) 3. I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door I'll Get It Myself)

(10:04)  4. Upshot
( 8:51)  5. Cease The Bombing

Having firmly established himself as the '60s jazz guitarist second only to the great Wes Montgomery, Grant Green was willing and able to move into something new and give himself up to the emerging funk wave that would seep across the '70s. Attacked by purists as Grant's grand selling-out, these recordings have been rediscovered and widely sampled by legions of acid-jazz aficionados. Hypnotically rhythmic and quintessentially grooving, the five tracks on this straight reissue are all exceptionally tasty bursts of authentic funk. Carryin' On contains two solid covers, the Meters' "Ease Back" and James Brown's "I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door I'll Get It Myself," which alone make it well worth the money. These are about the funkiest tracks ever laid down by any jazz artist, completely danceable and sample ready. In fact, they are so infectious that they have the tendency to evoke uncontrollable movement in ass and limb. Neal Creaque's "Cease the Bombing," (later covered by Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers) floats like a smooth sailing trip across the ether with Green majestically at the helm. A consistent pleasure to listen to, this should be one of the first jazz purchases for those who need a beat in the soundtrack of their lives. ~John Ballon https://www.allaboutjazz.com/grant-green-carryin-on-grant-green-by-john-ballon.php

Personnel: Grant Green: Guitar; Claude Bartee: Tenor Sax; Willie Bivens: Vibes; Clarence Palmer: Electric Piano; Earl Neal Creaque: Electric Piano (on "Cease the Bombing" only); Jimmy Lewis: Fender Bass; Idris Muhammad: Drums

Carryin' On

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Randy Brecker & NDR Bigband - Rocks

Styles: Trumpet Jazz, Big Band
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:17
Size: 147,8 MB
Art: Front

(8:09)  1. First Tune Of The Set
(6:18)  2. Adina
(6:38)  3. Squids
(7:22)  4. Pastoral
(6:22)  5. The Dipshit
(7:32)  6. Above and Below
(7:26)  7. Sozinho
(6:54)  8. Rocks
(6:33)  9. Threesome

Randy Brecker has been at the forefront of jazz since the late 1960s. His debut album as leader way back in 1969 was Score (Solid State). In addition to numerous albums under his own name he's also recorded with George Benson, Duke Pearson, Dreams and Larry Coryell's Eleventh House, to name just a few. But perhaps he is best known for the albums he produced with his younger brother, the late Michael Brecker as The Brecker Brothers. Lest people forget what a significant force of nature the BBs were, Stuart Nicholson in his book Jazz-Rock: A History, described the Breckers' horn lines as becoming "the model for countless fusion bands in the 1980s and 1990s." So this recording, made with the NDR Big Band in January 2017 and May 2018, revives fond memories of the Breckers' illustrious outfit by including within the nine track selection no fewer than five tracks originally recorded by the brothers. Another three tracks are taken from Randy Brecker's The Brecker Brothers Band Reunion (Piloo, 2013) namely "First Tune Of The Set," "Adina" and "The Dipshit." The exception to this is "Pastoral" which Brecker originally wrote as a elegiac tribute to the late Jaco Pastorius (with whom he recorded two albums) and which was first released on his 2001 record Hangin' In The City (ESC Records). This is a sumptuous outing with Brecker's flugelhorn playing at its most lyrical. The brash opener, "First Tune Of The Set," the brass embellished by chirruping synth, is followed by the relatively stately pace of "Adina" with Brecker delivering a majestic flugelhorn solo and Ada Rovatti following with a lissom soprano solo. The BB funk of "Squids" from Don't Stop The Music (Arista, 1977) still has those unmistakable hooks, revivified by the orchestra and a meaty tenor solo by Frank Delle. "The Dipshit," a Latin-esque romp, features a soaring alto solo by BB alumnus David Sanborn. Reassuringly, over the course of half a century, Brecker has lost none of his superlative virtuosity as evidenced by his rivetingly ebullient trumpet solos on, for example, "Above And Below" and the title track taken from the brothers' eponymous debut album (Arista, 1975) replete with its trademark funky clavinet. With auspicious augmentation courtesy of the magnificent NDR Big Band, this album is, in effect, a Brecker Brothers redux, with bells on. ~ Roger Farbey https://www.allaboutjazz.com/rocks-randy-brecker-jazzline-records-review-by-roger-farbey.php

Personnel: Randy Brecker: trumpet, flugelhorn; Dave Sanborn: alto saxophone; Ada Rovatti: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone; Wolfgang Haffner: drums. NDR Bigband: Jörg Achim Keller:conductor; Thorsten Benkenstein, Ingolf Burkhardt, Claus Stötter, Reiner Winterschladen: trumpet; Fiete Felsch, Peter Bolte: alto saxophone, reeds; Frank Delle, Björn Berger: tenor saxophone, reeds; Edgar Herzog: baritone saxophone, reeds; Dan Gottshall, Sebastian Stanko, Klaus Heidenreich: trombones; Stefan Lottermann, Ingo Lahme: bass trombone, tuba; Christian Diener: electric bass, acoustic bass; Vladyslav Sendecki: keyboards; Bruno Müller: guitar; Marcio Doctor: percussion.

Rocks

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