Helen Merrill - American Songbook Series : Cole Porter and Rodgers and Hammerstein

Styles: Vocal 
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 75:34
Size: 174,7 MB
Art: Front

(4:25)  1. What Is This Thing Called Love
(3:09)  2. I Love You
(3:42)  3. In The Still of the Night
(4:32)  4. My Heart Belongs To Daddy
(3:05)  5. True Love
(4:57)  6. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
(3:50)  7. Every Time We Say Goodbye
(5:36)  8. So In Love
(4:11)  9. I Concentrate On You
(3:30) 10. I Get A Kick Out of You
(5:22) 11. It Might As Well Be Spring
(5:01) 12. Hello Young Lovers
(3:59) 13. I Have Dreamed
(2:50) 14. People Will Say We're In Love
(3:14) 15. Getting To Know You
(3:09) 16. My Lord and Master
(3:36) 17. If I Loved You
(2:55) 18. My Favorite Things
(4:20) 19. The Sound of Music

A fine singer with a warm, expressive voice, Helen Merrill's infrequent recordings tend to be quite special with plenty of surprises and chance-taking. She started singing in public in 1944 and was with the Reggie Childs Orchestra during 1946-1947. Merrill, who was married for a period to clarinetist Aaron Sachs, had opportunities to sit in with some of the top modernists of the time, including Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and Bud Powell. She was with Earl Hines in 1952 and started recording regularly for EmArcy in 1954. Her collaboration with Clifford Brown was her first classic. She made several notable EmArcy albums during 1954-1958 (including one in 1956 that helped bring Gil Evans out of retirement); all have been reissued in a large box. After recording for Atco and Metrojazz in 1959, she moved to Italy for the next four years, touring often in Europe and Japan. Back in the U.S., Merrill teamed with pianist/arranger Dick Katz for a pair of notable and unpredictable Milestone dates (1967-1968) and then moved to Japan where she was quite popular. Helen Merrill returned to the United States in the mid-'70s and has since recorded for Inner City, Owl, EmArcy (including a reunion date with Gil Evans) Antilles, and Verve, which released her 2000 album Jelena Ana Milcetic a.k.a. Helen Merrill. © Scott Yanow /TiVo https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/interpreter/helen-merrill/download-streaming-albums

American Songbook Series : Cole Porter and Rodgers and Hammerstein

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Lucia Minetti - Lucia Minetti: Jazz Nature

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2017
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:31
Size: 100,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:24)  1. The Nearness of You
(4:20)  2. Alone Together
(3:55)  3. Wild Is the Wind
(4:02)  4. So in Love
(4:25)  5. The Two Lonely People
(4:20)  6. Skylark
(2:52)  7. The Old Country
(4:54)  8. Turn Out the Stars
(3:23)  9. I Wish I Knew
(4:39) 10. No Moon at All
(3:13) 11. Try Your Wings

After the beautiful return of " Fil Rouge " (2016), all in the name of elegance and great French song, the Milanese singer adds a new chapter to her attendance with the Velut Luna label which has been able to guarantee some of the results best in career - with a program entirely dedicated to the canon and the American songbook. The project is based on absolute simplicity and almost unadorned (the album was recorded strictly live in the studio, in a single session and the staff draws a minimal dimension that projects the voice forward) and for this reason it assumes a great impact force. Eleven songs, a solid and discreet accompaniment, which knows how to make the interpreter's choice of departure his own, a skillful arrangement ability: the rest is music. The voice is always intense and carnal - marrying the chosen repertoire perfectly and knows how to put all its resources to good use (the extension, of course, but above all the timbre and the management of the dynamics), offering for each of the pieces that make up the schedule an appropriate interpretation, which goes straight to the emotional core of things, preserving the final result from unnecessary superstructures. In the impeccable homogeneity of the context, it is difficult to make choices that are not veined with subjectivity, but The Nearness Of You , The Two Lonely People and Turn Out The Stars seem to have something more than the other songs. The reference is the audio quality, as usual for a label that has accustomed listeners to excellence and has been able to make the treatment reserved for female voices an absolute strength. https://www.musicajazz.it/lucia-minetti-jazz-nature/

Lucia Minetti: Jazz Nature

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Various Artists - Ella 100 - Live at the Apollo!

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 74:43
Size: 172,6 MB
Art: Front

 1. David Alan Grier/Ayo - Vintage 1934 “Apollo Amateur Night” Radio Broadcast / Judy (3:58)
 2. David Alan Grier - Ella 100 Co-Host David Alan Grier Opening (1:50)
 3. Patti Austin/Count Basie Orchestra - A-Tisket, A-Tasket (3:13)
 4. Patti Austin/Count Basie Orchestra - When I Get Low I Get High (3:33)
 5. David Alan Grier/Count Basie Orchestra - Do Nothin’ Till You Hear From Me (4:16)
 6. Lizz Wright/The Ella 100 All-Star Quartet - Love You Madly (4:37)
 7. Lizz Wright/The Ella 100 All-Star Quartet - The Nearness Of You (6:40)
 8. Ayo/Afro Blue - Oh, Lady Be Good (4:26)
 9. Patti Austin/Afro Blue/Count Basie Orchestra - How High The Moon (4:54)
10. Count Basie Orchestra - Back To The Apollo! (Apple) (5:45)
11. Patti Austin/David Alan Grier/Count Basie Orchestra - I Loves You, Porgy / There’s a Boat Dat’s Leavin’ Soon for New York - Medley (6:31)
12. Cassandra Wilson/Count Basie Orchestra - Cry Me A River (5:35)
13. Ledisi/Count Basie Orchestra - Honeysuckle Rose (3:38)
14. Monica Mancini/Brian Nova - Once In A While (5:51)
15. Patti Austin/David Alan Grier/Count Basie Orchestra - You’ll Have To Swing It (Mr. Paganini) / Paganini Bows Reprise (6:12)
16. Ella Fitzgerald - People (3:36)

To be taken back in time within the scope of a period piece movie has long been a staple. Some journeys feel much more real than others, but the concept is commonplace. Venturing into the past with only the audio of a CD or record is, as they might have said back in 1934, "a whole different kettle of fish." A live audience first laid eyes and ears on this 100th birthday celebration honoring the sensational Ella Fitzgerald (born on April 25th, 1917), live at the Apollo in 2017. It took a host of talent to do justice to one seventeen-year old singer in this project recreating the night of November 21, 1934, when the teenage Fitzgerald made her debut at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. With only voice and musical instruments to channel us back to 1934, emcee David Alan Grier accurately took us there. The feel of an old-time radio show was present. Fittingly, seventeen-year old Ayodele Owalabe started the show with "Judy," the same tune another seventeen-year old had sung performing on that same stage in 1934, launching her prolific career.

It just wouldn't have been right to not have The Count Basie Orchestra perform with the many singers who proceeded to hit the stage one after another. The orchestra was in full swing and later tore the house down with an all instrumental take on "Back to the Apollo." Prior to that, Patti Austin stole the show early, finding her inner child Ella and playfully scatting through the classic "A Tisket-A Tasket." Impressively changing gears on a dime, Austin then took "When I Get Low I Get High" on a sultry road which had the crowd buzzing. Keeping your mind in 1934 may be a challenge sometimes due to some rough editing which keeps pulling you back to reality. However, the show itself didn't skip a beat with Andra Day's feisty take on "Ain't Misbehavin.'" David Alan Grier proved to be well more than an emcee with a riveting version of "Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me." Moving right along, the incomparable Lizz Wright took her "wrightful" place center stage, along with the Ella 100 All Star Quartet featuring guitarist Brian Nova, bassist Nathan East, pianist Shelly Berg and, far from last and least, drummer Gregg Field. The quartet leader, Field, most notably played with Fitzgerald "back in the day." While the quartet changed the mood from the big sound of the orchestra and played superbly, it was Wright who smoldered into "Love You Madly" and, like butter, slid into a heartfelt "The Nearness of You." Wright seemed to take the audience's breath away.

A fun spin on "Oh, Lady Be Good" by Afro Blue had elements of The The Modernaires. The Count Basie Orchestra and Austin returned to the stage to join Afro Blue in a kicked-up look at "How High is the Moon." After a brief repartee which clarified that Grier was as unfunny in 1934 as he is in the present, he again stunned in a magnificent duet with Austin of "I Loves You Porgy." Cassandra Wilson's delightful bend on "Cry Me A River" followed. Next up, Ledisi took a run on "Honeysuckle Rose." With due respect, the show lost a little steam at this point. Neither Ledisi's voice nor scatting sensibilities were on a par with her predecessors. Not that she isn't a fine singer, perhaps just not the best choice to be singing Ella Fitzgerald tunes. Monica Mancini yes Henry Mancini's daughter then sang "Once in A While" joined by Brian Nova's fine Joe Pass interpretation on guitar. Grier and Austin returned for a finale that was Broadwayesque, as opposed to the big band power push one might expect in honoring a jazz singer. Not to mention the fact that The Count Basie Orchestra was in the house. There are certainly way more hits than misses and a couple of the hits were home runs or triples. An enjoyable listening experience was enhanced when the record closed with a live recording of "People" sung in all its glory by the legend herself. With just one song you clearly hear and understand why Ella Fitzgerald is heralded as the "The First Lady of Song."~ Jim Worsley https://www.allaboutjazz.com/ella-100-live-at-the-apollo-various-artists-concord-jazz

Personnel:  The Count Basie Orchestra: band/orchestra; David Alan Grier: voice / vocals; Patti Austin: voice / vocals; Monica Mancini: voice / vocals; Cassandra Wilson: voice / vocals; Ledisi: voice / vocals; Ella Fitzgerald: voice / vocals; Afro Blue : voice / vocals; Lizz Wright: voice / vocals; Andra Day: voice / vocals; Brian Nova: guitar; Gregg Field: drums; Nathan East: bass; Shelly Berg: piano.

Ella 100: Live at the Apollo!

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