Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Halie Loren - After Dark

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:03
Size: 140,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:56)  1. After Dark
(4:27)  2. Waters of March
(4:17)  3. Gray to Grand
(4:28)  4. La Vie En Rose
(4:17)  5. Thirsty
(4:06)  6. Bye Bye Blackbird
(5:50)  7. Ode To Billie Joe
(3:53)  8. Tango Lullaby
(4:17)  9. Beyond the Sea
(3:38) 10. In a Sentimental Mood
(4:36) 11. Happier Than the Morning Sun
(4:35) 12. Give Me One Reason
(4:38) 13. It's You
(3:56) 14. Time to Say Goodbye

Halie Loren conceives a new style of jazz singer on her fourth album, After Dark. While the lively alto is not averse to putting her own stamp on evergreens like "Bye Bye Blackbird" and "In a Sentimental Mood," her conception also extends to songs borrowed from various branches of the pop/rock era including folk-rock singer/songwriters (Tracy Chapman's "Give Me One Reason" and Joni Mitchell's "Carey"), pop/R&B (Stevie Wonder's "Happier Than the Morning Sun"), and country-pop (Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe"). She is also willing to take on material closely associated with notable interpreters (Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Waters of March," Edith Piaf's "La Vie en Rose"), and to mix in the occasional composition of her own. The package is not as eclectic as all that might make it seem, since Loren sticks to one of two sets of backup musicians, either cutting in her own studio in Eugene, Oregon, with her stage trio (pianist Matt Treder, bassist Mark Schneider, and percussionist Brian West) or outside Nashville with such noted local jazzers as guitarist Jack Jezzro and bassist Jim Ferguson. They find the jazz feel in such seemingly unlikely material as "Ode to Billie Joe," given a bass/drums accompaniment with some sax work by Bryan Cumming, and "Give Me One Reason," which actually is simple enough to provide a platform for improvisation. Throughout, Loren sings with a light touch, even when she's dipping into Portuguese, French, or Italian. When she takes on the classical crossover standard "Time to Say Goodbye," the nominal closing song ("Carey" is billed as a "bonus track"), it has none of the histrionics applied by the likes of Andrea Bocelli. Loren and her musicians never lose sight of their duty to entertain, and that keeps this lengthy, varied set floating along to its conclusion. ~ William Ruhlmann https://www.allmusic.com/album/after-dark-mw0002073052

Personnel: Vocals – Halie Loren, John Shipe (2) (tracks: 9); Baritone Saxophone – Bryan Cumming; Bass, Backing Vocals – Mark Schneider (6); Cello – Dale Bradley; Clarinet – Denis Solee (tracks: 9); Drums, Percussion – Brian West (2); Piano – Matt Treder

After Dark

Gary Smulyan - Our Contrafacts

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 66:21
Size: 153,5 MB
Art: Front

(8:39)  1. Quarter Blues
(6:10)  2. Drink Up
(7:41)  3. Homebody
(5:43)  4. It Happens
(7:30)  5. Miles Tones
(8:11)  6. Good Riddance
(4:55)  7. How Deep
(6:46)  8. Tritonious Monk
(4:20)  9. What's Her Name
(6:21) 10. Sourpuss

A contrafact, a longtime jazz convention, is an original melody superimposed over the chord progression of a preëxisting song. If, in the course of listening to “It Happens,” from the baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan’s intriguing album “Our Contrafacts,” you find yourself humming Michel Legrand’s “Watch What Happens,” well, you’ve got the idea. Smulyan, a mainstream master of the big horn, has devoted previous albums to contrafacts composed by others; here, he and his sterling associates, David Wong on bass and Rodney Green on drums, contribute their own clever adaptations, which provide fertile terrain for improvisation invention upon reinvention, as it were. ~ Steve Futterman https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/night-life/gary-smulyan-our-contrafacts

Personnel: Baritone Saxophone – Gary Smulyan; Bass – David Wong; Drums – Rodney Green

Our Contrafacts

Dave Stryker - Blue To The Bone IV


Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:44
Size: 141,8 MB
Art: Front

(8:32)  1. Blues Strut
(8:33)  2. Workin'
(5:25)  3. For The Love Of You
(5:43)  4. Come On In My Kitchen
(7:41)  5. Big Foot
(7:20)  6. Blues For Brother Jack
(8:00)  7. Shades Ahead
(7:09)  8. Fun
(3:16)  9. Soul Power

Dave Stryker s music is deeply rooted in blues, having performed with Jack McDuff in the 80s and Stanley Turrentine in the 90s. Dave s special blend of jazz and blues culminated first time in 1996 in the form of Blue To The Bone I (SCCD 31400). Since then the project has become a popular on-going series. The fourth addition features Stryker s regular organ trio (Jared Gold on B-3 and McClenty Hunter on drums). There are solid solos from all hands throughout the album .... 

Based on the personnel and the feeling of these performances, I'd like to catch this group live . (Owen Cordle JazzTimes on Blue To The Bone III SCCD 31465) As great as the first set was, it's without hesitation that I deem this new one a valiant leap forward. .....They, along with the charts and an elation that the blues almost paradoxically provide, make for an end product that is indeed greater than the sum of the parts (C. Andrew Hovan-AAJ on Blue To The Bone II SCCD 31524) ~ Editorial Reviews https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Bone-IV-Dave-Stryker/dp/B00AZAJXDU

Personnel:  Dave Stryker – guitar; Freddie Hendrix – trumpet; Steve Slagle – alto sax; Vincent Gardner – trombone; Gary Smulyan – bari sax; Jared Gold – Hammond B3 organ; McClenty Hunter – drums

Blue To The Bone IV

Freddie Hubbard - The Black Angel

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:42
Size: 105,2 MB
Art: Front

(16:58)  1. Spacetrack
( 8:20)  2. Eclipse
( 8:20)  3. The Black Angel
( 6:41)  4. Gittin' Down
( 5:21)  5. Coral Keys

Freddie Hubbard released The Black Angel in the same year as the landmark Miles Davis album Bitches Brew. Its obvious Hubbard wanted to appeal to the emerging crossover rock/jazz crowd of the era. The presence of bop, however, still permeated Hubbard's playing, unlike Miles who had long since dropped the form. The opening Hubbard composition "Spacetrack" contains fiery avant garde interplay between Hubbard, James Spaulding on alto and Kenny Barron's electric piano. Thanks to Spaulding and bassist Reggie Workman, much of the playing here maintains intensity. 

The other Hubbard penned originals, "Gittin Down" is an urgent hard swinging boogaloo and the ballad "Eclipse" features Spaulding on flute and Barron on piano. "Coral Keys" written by Walter Bishop, Jr. and Barron's "Black Angel have a Latin tinge highlighted by Spaulding's soaring flute and the congas of Carlos "Patato" Valdes. An enjoyable session leaving the impression Hubbard was preparing to take a different musical direction. ~ Al Campbell https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-black-angel-mw0000054744

Personnel: Trumpet – Freddie Hubbard; Alto Saxophone; Piano, Electric Piano – Kenny Barron; Flute – Jimmy Spaulding ; Bass – Reggie Workman; Congas, Maracas – Carlos "Potato" Valdes; Drums – Louis Hayes

The Black Angel