Red Mitchell - Presenting Red Mitchell

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 1957
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:28
Size: 100,7 MB
Art: Front

(5:33) 1. Scrapple from the Apple
(5:23) 2. Rainy Night
(5:23) 3. I Thought of You
(6:19) 4. Out of the Blue
(7:02) 5. Paul's Pal
(5:36) 6. Sandu
(8:09) 7. Cheek to Cheek

Bassist Red Mitchell, who had led two fairly obscure sessions for Bethlehem in 1955, came up with a gem on his lone Contemporary set as a leader (which has been reissued as this CD). Based in Los Angeles at the time, Mitchell utilized pianist Lorraine Geller and two up-and-coming players: James Clay (who splits his time between tenor and flute) and, in one of his first recording sessions, drummer Billy Higgins. The quartet performs then-recent tunes by Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Clifford Brown ("Sandu"), a pair of Mitchell originals, "Scrapple From the Apple" and "Cheek to Cheek." Despite Higgins' and (to a lesser extent) Clay's connections with Ornette Coleman, the music is strictly high-quality modern mainstream bop of the era. Easily recommended to collectors of straight-ahead jazz.~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/presenting-red-mitchell-mw0000080163

Personnel: Bass – Red Mitchell; Drums – Billy Higgins; Flute – James Clay; Piano – Lorraine Geller; Tenor Saxophone – James Clay

Presenting Red Mitchell

---

Viktoria Tolstoy - Stations

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:28
Size: 116,5 MB
Art: Front

(4:19) 1. I Should Run
(4:30) 2. Stations
(4:36) 3. The Mind Is Free
(3:56) 4. Land of the Humble
(5:14) 5. Million Miles
(4:53) 6. The Streets of Berlin
(5:59) 7. Old Country
(3:57) 8. The Great City
(3:56) 9. Where the Road Ends
(4:07) 10. Poinciana
(4:56) 11. Here's to Life

Born in Sigtuna, Sweden in 1974, Viktoria Tolstoy has built a strong following mainly in Scandinavia and northern Europe. Her unconventional repertoire typically contains songs originating in these regions and particularly draws upon her Swedish homeland as well as her Russian heritage (she is the great great granddaughter of Leo Tolstoy). For some years she collaborated extensively in both performance and songwriting with pianist Esbjörn Svensson.

She has been recording since the early 1990s and on this, her 11th album, she continues with her chosen path, avoiding over-used songs, concentrating mainly on little heard and original material. Here, seven of the songs she sings fall into these categories, the others being Bob Dylan’s Million Miles, Nat Adderley’s The Old Country (lyrics by Curtis Lewis), a lively and engaging version of Nat Simon and Buddy Bernier’s Poinciana, and a gently moving performance of Phyllis Molinary and Arthur Butler’s Here’s To Life. Tolstoy’s vocal sound is clear and unforced and her interpretation of the lyrics and accompanying exposure of the central meaning is admirable. Her accompanists, well known in Sweden, are all top-flight musicians and provide appropriate and subtle backing to the singer’s warm interpretations of songs that are mostly unknown to the international audience.~ Bruce Crowther https://jazzjournal.co.uk/2020/02/05/viktoria-tolstoy-stations/

Stations

---