Miles Davis - Star People

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 1983
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:53
Size: 135,6 MB
Art: Front

(11:03)  1. Come Get It
(10:07)  2. It Gets Better
( 8:33)  3. Speak
(18:46)  4. Star People
( 5:51)  5. U 'n' l
( 4:30)  6. Star on Cicely

On this 1983 release, Miles Davis rediscovers the blues. He really stretches out on "Star People," making dramatic use of silence and placing each note carefully. "Come Get It" is also memorable although "U 'n' I" (which had the potential to catch on) is only heard in a truncated version. In general Davis is in fine form on this set and, although saxophonist Bill Evans is barely heard from (many of his solos were edited out), the contrasting guitars of Mike Stern and John Scofield hold one's interest. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/star-people-mw0000023240

Personnel: Miles Davis – trumpet, keyboards; John Scofield – electric guitar; Mike Stern – electric guitar; Bill Evans – tenor & soprano saxophone; Marcus Miller – electric bass; Tom Barney – electric bass; Al Foster - drums; Gil Evans – arranger (uncredited)

Star People

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Dave Weckl - Heads Up

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 1992
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:57
Size: 113,6 MB
Art: Front

(5:13)  1. 7th Ave. South
(6:41)  2. Heads Up
(5:21)  3. Taboo
(5:34)  4. Tomatillo
(5:11)  5. Peripheral Vision
(5:32)  6. Tee Funk
(5:44)  7. Against The Wall
(5:38)  8. Full Moon
(3:58)  9. Trigger Happy

On drummer Dave Weckl's GRP set the rhythms are funky but complex and intelligent, Weckl's sidemen are very complementary and the grooves are quite infectious. Altoist Eric Marienthal and tenor saxophonist Steve Tavaglione get to blow up a storm twice apiece over vamps, Jay Oliver's synth spot recalls Chick Corea on "Tomatillo" and there are strong cameos by trumpeters Randy Brecker and Jeff Beal. 

Listeners who hate the sound of electronics would best avoid this date, but within its genre Heads Up is a superior effort. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/heads-up-mw0000077788

Personnel: Drums – Dave Weckl; Keyboards, Programmed By [Synth] – Jay Oliver; Soprano Saxophone – Eric Marienthal, Steve Tavaglione; Trumpet – Randy Brecker, Jeff Beal ; Bass – Jimmy Earl, John Patitucci.

Heads Up

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Larry Willis Trio - The Big Push

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:55
Size: 122,0 MB
Art: Front

(6:27)  1. The Surrey with the Fringe on Top
(6:36)  2. Today's Nights
(6:25)  3. The Day You Said Goodbye
(6:12)  4. Just Wait and See
(5:45)  5. Annika's Lullaby
(7:44)  6. I Have a Dream
(4:00)  7. Everything I Have Is Yours
(4:39)  8. The Big Push
(5:02)  9. Poppa Nat

Pianist Larry Willis has been on over 300 sideman sessions and led eighteen of his own albums since 1970, fifteen of them since 1989. Willis has been in involved in many sub-genres of jazz, largely in the earlier years including jazz-rock fusion and the avant-garde. He was the pianist for Blood Sweat & Tears in the early '70s, Sonny Fortune in the late '70s, and David "Fathead" Newman, Carla Bley and Nat Adderley in the '80s. His albums have appeared on Groove Merchant, Audioquest, Brunswick and Mapleshade. In choosing a trio for The Big Push, Willis selected drummer Al Foster, his old student partner from the High School of Music & Art in Manhattan, and the in-demand bassist Buster Williams. The tunes are a combination of a few sturdy standards, two originals and jazz standards. Beginning with an untempo version of the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic "The Surrey with The Fringe on Top," Willis and company find out what makes its wheels turn; his tribute to former employer Nat Adderley is a poignant "Poppa Nat." Buster Williams steps in frequently to provide fine support for Willis, notably on the ballads and mid-tempo tracks; Al Foster supplies just the right touch for the cookers as well as the tastefulness needed on the ballads. ~ Michael P.Gladstone   https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-big-push-larry-willis-highnote-records-review-by-michael-p-gladstone.php

Personnel: Larry Willis: piano; Buster Williams: bass; Al Foster: drums.

The Big Push

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Mary Stallings - Songs Were Made to Sing

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:27
Size: 151,2 MB
Art: Front

(5:07)  1. Stolen Moments
(4:28)  2. Lover Man
(6:25)  3. Blue Monk
(7:14)  4. Ill Wind
(4:41)  5. While We're Young
(6:08)  6. Lady Bird
(3:36)  7. When I Close My Eyes
(3:59)  8. Prelude to a Kiss
(3:32)  9. Third Time is the Charm
(5:12) 10. 'Round Midnight
(5:34) 11. Soul Mates
(4:13) 12. Give Me the Simple Life
(5:14) 13. Sugar

Mary Stallings tends to inspire superlatives, and Songs Were Made to Sing is sure to coax another chorus of well-deserved, overdue praise. Released on the verge of her 80th birthday, the album captures an ageless artist at full power, a peak she’s been hitting consistently since Concord relaunched her recording career with a series of excellent albums in the 1990s. A teenage star in San Francisco who learned her craft performing with giants like Ben Webster, Teddy Edwards, and Louis Jordan, Stallings made an auspicious recording debut as a jazz singer with Cal Tjader in 1961. Though she spent the next dozen years touring with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Billy Eckstine, and the Count Basie Orchestra, she didn’t release another album for almost three decades. “Rediscovered” anew several times since then, Stallings just keeps doing her thing, infusing songs with a surfeit of soul. A piquant blues inflection marks every note Stallings sings, and her taste in material and collaborators never fails. She’s found another stellar accompanist/arranger here in pianist David Hazeltine, who leads a top-shelf rhythm section with bassist David Williams and drummer Joe Farnsworth. Right from the slow-burning opener “Stolen Moments,” featuring saxophonist Vincent Herring and trumpeter Eddie Henderson, the album returns again and again to themes of rue, longing, and wistful regret, Stallings’ emotional sweet spot. The album’s many high points include her preaching the blues on Abbey Lincoln’s lyrics for “Blue Monk” (with some expert alto commentary from Herring), and a devastatingly slow and urgent take on “Ill Wind” that prompts exquisite muted accompaniment from Henderson. Stallings reveals the inimitable personality in her phrasing: The way she inserts pauses between words in the “Ill Wind” line “let me rest today,” for example, reminds you it’s a plea for death. A jazz artist of the highest order, Stallings keeps adding to her legacy. ~Andrew Gilbert https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/mary-stallings-songs-were-made-to-sing-smoke-sessions/

Songs">Songs Were Made to Sing

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