Friday, September 4, 2020

Della Reese, Glenn Osser - Della Reese with Glenn Osser

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:37
Size: 105,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:17)  1. The Touch of Your Lips
(3:21)  2. He Was Too Good to Me
(3:30)  3. That Old Feeling
(3:55)  4. I Had the Craziest Dream
(3:23)  5. I Wish I Knew
(3:40)  6. Lamplight
(4:20)  7. How Did He Look?
(4:30)  8. More Than You Know
(4:24)  9. These Foolish Things
(3:41) 10. Deep in a Dream
(3:47) 11. Embraceable You
(3:43) 12. Two Sleepy People

Renowned as both a television star and a top-flight interpreter of jazz, blues, R&B, gospel, and straight-ahead pop music, Della Reese's many talents ensured a long, varied, and legendary show biz career. In addition to being nominated for both an Emmy and a Grammy and receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Reese was also an ordained minister in the Universal Foundation for Better Living, an association of churches she helped found in the early '80s. Born Deloreese Patricia Early on July 6, 1931, the young Reese began singing in the Baptist church choir in her hometown of Detroit at age six. In 1945, having developed quite rapidly, she caught the ear of legendary gospel queen Mahalia Jackson, who invited Reese to join her touring choir; Reese did so for the next five summers. Upon entering Wayne State University to study psychology, Reese formed a women's gospel group, the Meditation Singers, but her college career was cut short by the death of her mother and her father's serious illness. Reese worked odd jobs to help support the rest of her family; she also continued to perform with the Meditation Singers and various other gospel groups. Encouraged by her pastor, Reese began singing in nightclubs in hopes of getting a singing career off the ground; recently married to a factory worker named Vermont Adolphus Bon Taliaferro, her name was too long to fit on marquees, and she eventually arrived at her performing alias by splitting up her first name. After impressing a New York agent, who promptly signed her, Reese moved to New York and joined the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra in 1953. A year later, she had a recording contract with Jubilee, for whom she scored hits like "And That Reminds Me," a 1957 million-seller.

Switching to RCA Victor, Reese landed her biggest hit in 1959 with "Don't You Know?," a song adapted from Puccini's La Bohème; this cemented her career, leading not only to plentiful appearances on variety shows, but successful nightclub tours of the country and eventually nine years of performances in Las Vegas, as well as recording contracts with a variety of labels over the next few decades. Building on her previous variety show experience, Reese made a small bit of television history in 1969 when she became the first woman to guest-host The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Later that year, she became the first black woman to host her own variety show, the syndicated Della, which ran until 1970. Following its cancellation, Reese returned to her nightclub tours, often putting in guest appearances on television shows like The Mod Squad, Sanford and Son, and Chico and the Man; after three prior failed marriages, Reese also found a lasting relationship with producer Franklin Lett, whom she married in 1978.  On October 3, 1980, while taping a song for The Tonight Show, Reese suffered a brain aneurysm that nearly proved fatal; however, thanks to a successful operation, she was able to make a full recovery. She kept up her singing career and appeared on television shows like Designing Women, L.A. Law, and Picket Fences, as well as the Eddie Murphy films Harlem Nights and The Distinguished Gentleman. Reese also starred in the Redd Foxx sitcom The Royal Family from 1991-1992, and garnered what was undoubtedly her highest level of recognition in the inspirational drama series Touched by an Angel, a quite popular program that ran for nine years, between 1994 and 2003, on the CBS network. After Touched by an Angel finished its run, Reese continued to act intermittently on television through to 2014. She died at her home in Encino, California in November 2017 at the age of 86.~ Steve Huey https://www.allmusic.com/artist/della-reese-mn0000196544/biography

Born  28 August 1914, Munising, Michigan, USA. The son of Russian immigrants, Osser has had a successful career arranging and conducting for many leading bands and singers. He has also achieved a distinctive string sound through his clever scoring, which he describes as ‘voicing register, and composition of the counterpoint’. In his early career Osser concentrated on arranging, and his scores were accepted by Bob Crosby, Charlie Barnet, Bunny Berigan, Paul Whiteman, Les Brown and Red Nichols. During the 50s, while still regularly working with Whiteman (who was Musical Director of the ABC Network at that time), Osser was in demand to back many singers for albums, including Georgia Gibbs, Vic Damone, Jack Jones, Frankie Laine, John Raitt, Maurice Chevalier and Guy Mitchell. Osser was also recording his own instrumental albums, notably some with Bobby Hackett and Joe Bushkin. Further albums found Osser backing Johnny Mathis, Jerry Vale, Tony Bennett, Robert Goulet and Leslie Uggams. Leaving US Columbia Records and moving to RCA Records, Osser worked with Della Reese and Sam Cooke. Until 1987 he was Music Director and arranger for the Miss America Beauty Pageant on television, with Osser and his wife contributing various original songs including ‘Miss America, You’re Beautiful’ and ‘Look At Her’. He has also written many works for concert bands that are still regularly performed by many high school and college bands in the USA. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/glenn-osser-his-orchestra-mn0000663196/biography

Della Reese with Glenn Osser

Harold Mabern - Mabern Plays Mabern

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:53
Size: 160,4 MB
Art: Front

( 9:44)  1. Mr. Johnson
( 8:00)  2. The Iron Man
( 7:34)  3. Lover Man
(11:56)  4. The Lyrical Cole-Man
( 8:53)  5. Edward Lee
( 5:59)  6. It's Magic
( 7:34)  7. The Beehive
(10:09)  8. Rakin' and Scrapin'

A tad more subdued than the barn-burning The Iron Man: Live At Smoke (Smoke Sessions Records, 2019), Mabern Plays Mabern still manages to jump full throttle from where that defining recording left us, with a lush, lyrical intensity and a vital, legacy-culling energy which plays as an exquisite coda to the pianist's long, outstanding career.  Alive with the same stylist's intuition and unbridled spirit which found him cutting through the ranks with such contemporaries as Charles Lloyd and Steve Coleman, and had him sitting on many notable sessions with, among others, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Archie Shepp and Sarah Vaughan, the 81-year-old gentleman bopper takes to the spotlight and the stage, and celebrates our common humanity joyously with a virile drive that will surely stun young lions half his age.

Riding rubato into his rollicking tribute to J.J. Johnson, stalwart saxophonist Eric Alexander launches into the first of many flights of high-stakes frenzy as Mabern comps raucously behind him, buoyed by long-standing bassist John Webber and drummer Joe Farnsworth on high heat. The guest addition of trombonistSteve Davis gives the performance added zest, to the great delight of the Smoke audience. Mabern and Alexander trade blows (and Farnsworth solos for all he is worth) on "The Lyrical Cole-Man" a fevered nod to Coleman, whom he remained close friends with till the end. 1968's "Rakin' and Scrapin" makes its second, though lengthier rock solid appearance in as many recordings. Mabern's big hands swing a lot like, well, the Mabern of '68. Webber and Farnsworth hold steady with a soulful groove as Alexander sails and wails along. "The Beehive" buzzes as Alexander and special guestVincent Herring's winding alto sax leap and bound, play tag, and fuel each other's performance. A fitting farewell, indeed. ~ Mike Jurkovic https://www.allaboutjazz.com/mabern-plays-mabern-harold-mabern-smoke-sessions-records

Personnel: Harold Mabern: piano; Eric Alexander: saxophone, tenor; John Webber: bass, acoustic; Joe Farnsworth: drums; Steve Davis: trombone; Vincent Herring: saxophone.

Mabern Plays Mabern