Mark Morganelli And The Jazz Forum All Stars - Speak Low

Styles: Trumpet Jazz 
Year: 1990
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:26
Size: 139,7 MB
Art: Front

(7:27)  1. Speak Low
(6:39)  2. Dreams
(4:25)  3. Blues For Ian
(8:42)  4. When I Fall In Love
(6:58)  5. Summertime
(5:20)  6. Opus
(8:13)  7. Lamb Kurma
(6:25)  8. A Child Is Born
(6:14)  9. The Jolly Jumper

Mark Morganelli records infrequently as a leader, but he has been very active in New York City as a promoter and producer, and inevitably has been in charge of organizing the late-night jam sessions at the International Association of Jazz Educators Conference and the now-defunct Jazz Times Convention, as well as serving as the New York producer for Candid during its second incarnation. It's hard for a horn player to go wrong when he has recruited a rhythm section of Kenny Barron, Ron Carter, and Jimmy Cobb, and Morganelli seems additionally inspired by his company on this live date at Birdland. "Speak Low" is a real cooker, while Barron's "Dreams" is a gentle samba featuring the leader initially on flügelhorn before he returns on muted trumpet. Morganelli's dark flügelhorn and Barron's intriguing chord substitutions give a fresh sound to the oft-recorded "Summertime," and his waltzing version of another classic, "A Child Is Born," is also enjoyable. Morganelli also contributed two originals: the up-tempo post-bop "Blues for Ian" (in honor of his infant son) and a very happy sounding samba "The Jolly Jumper," named after one of his son's favorite toys. This CD will greatly please fans of hard bop and post-bop; Mark Morganelli clearly deserves to be recorded more frequently.~ Ken Dryden https://www.allmusic.com/album/speak-low-mw0000617098

Personnel: Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Mark Morganelli; Bass – Ron Carter; Drums – Jimmy Cobb; Piano – Kenny Barron

Speak Low

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Duchess - Live at Jazz Standard

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:46
Size: 129,1 MB
Art: Front

(0:46) 1. Introductions
(4:15) 2. (We) Love Being Here with You
(0:33) 3. Dialogue
(3:21) 4. Swing Brother Swing
(1:13) 5. Dialogue
(3:48) 6. Heebie Jeebies
(4:11) 7. Band Introductions
(2:35) 8. It’s a Man
(3:10) 9. Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen
(3:45) 10. On the Sunny Side of the Street
(0:22) 11. Dialogue
(2:52) 12. Joseph, Joseph
(0:42) 13. Dialogue
(3:31) 14. Three Little Sisters
(0:24) 15. Dialogue
(3:53) 16. A Little Jive is Good for You
(6:04) 17. Creole Love Call
(1:18) 18. Dialogue
(3:57) 19. Chattanooga Choo Choo
(0:51) 20. Dialogue
(4:02) 21. Everybody Loves My Baby

There are a fair number of vocal groups blending harmoniously and swinging through the jazz set today, but none are as charmingly sassy as DUCHESS. With two studio albums already under a collective belt actually three, if you include an under-the-radar Christmas set it only made sense for vocalists Amy Cervini, Hilary Gardner and Melissa Stylianou to finally show the greater listening community what Duchess does on the stage. Joining up with its regular rhythm section pianist Michael Cabe, guitarist Jesse Lewis, bassist Matt Aronoff and drummer Jared Schonig DUCHESS delivers a collection that's equally concerned with gaiety and focus. As on the trio's 2015 eponymous debut and the follow-up, Laughing At Life (Anzic, 2016) the music is tight and the performances are compact. But three or four minutes is all this crew really needs to sell a song, so there's no need to belabor the point(s). "Heebie Jeebies," for example, doles out tight, caffeinated lines, bluesy aplomb and some primo piano work from Cabe in short order. And "It's A Man," poking due fun at the not-so-fair sex while also beautifully hamming up the relationship dynamic, gets its wonderfully cheeky point across in the blink of an eye.

While Cervini, Gardner and Stylianou continue to nod to forebearers of the format notably their primary influence, The Boswell Sisters, and, to a somewhat lesser extent, The Andrews Sisters this program leaves little doubt as to their ability to stand on their own six feet. In tackling material from earlier dates, adding to their recorded catalog with familiar fare like "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" and "Chattanooga Choo Choo," and dusting off lesser-known delights such as "Joseph, Joseph" and the appropriately-adopted "Three Little Sisters" (complete with horn kazoo adornments), DUCHESS stands in no group's shadow. These whip-smart women see to it that all of the musical details in chief arranger Oded Lev-Ari's charts are on point, and they also seriously deliver with some marvelous banter. Some tend to sanitize live recordings with the removal of repartee, but this crew does no such thing. Instead, with asides giving background on a song's journey, opportunities to witness some gal-palling around, and even a playful turn of the gender tables offering some good-natured male objectification, DUCHESS adds volumes to the album and outlines the full experience of a live show. Those of us who missed out on these gigs at New York's Jazz Standard in May of 2019 clearly should have been there. It's doubtful that there was as much positive energy going on anywhere else in those moments.~ Dan Bilawsky https://www.allaboutjazz.com/live-at-jazz-standard-duchess-anzic-records

Personnel: Duchess: band/orchestra; Amy Cervini: voice / vocals; Hilary Gardner: voice / vocals; Melissa Stylianou: voice / vocals; Michael Cabe: piano; Jesse Lewis: guitar; Matt Aronoff: bass; Jared Schonig: drums.

Live at Jazz Standard

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Marquis Hill - Modern Flows EP, Vol. 1

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:24
Size: 102,5 MB
Art: Front

(2:31)  1. Modern Flows Intro
(5:03)  2. Black Harvest
(7:12)  3. White Shadow
(4:20)  4. The Essence
(2:19)  5. Love my Life
(4:34)  6. I Remember Summer
(4:48)  7. When We Were Kings
(2:47)  8. King Legend
(7:15)  9. Flow
(3:30) 10. Legend's Outro II

Chicago-raised trumpeter Marquis Hill, winner of last year’s Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, displays his compositional prowess along with his chops on his fourth recording as a leader, Modern Flows EP Vol. 1. Its 10 original compositions burst with equal parts passion and sophistication, the entire outing suffused with a strong and appealing sense of Afrocentric identity. Hill’s compositions cover a broad range of styles. “Black Harvest” finds Hill and alto saxophonist Christopher McBride trading spiky bop phrases over drummer Makaya McCraven’s staccato polyrhythms. “The Essence,” with its burnished melodic line for unison horns, includes charming, romantic fills from vibraphonist Justin Thomas. “I Remember Summer” is a serene showcase for vocalist Meagan McNeal. |

Hill’s best playing of the recording is his tight, smartly paced solo on the fascinating “White Shadow,” a tune melding McCraven’s tense runs and thunking bass from Joshua Ramos with a quirky melody that at times recalls a children’s song. This track and three others feature fiery spoken-word performer Keith Winford, who evokes both African-Americans’ regal ancestry (on “King Legend,” backed by McCraven’s stinging hip-hop-styled beats) and often-fraught contemporary circumstances (“White Shadow” finds Winford shouting, “Put me in a chokehold/Struggling to breathe”). Another spoken-word artist, South African poet Tumelo Khoza, graces the album’s intro track; she grandly intones, “Black, you do not lack/You are the crux of all that matters,” wafted along by a hushed melodic statement from Hill and McBride and a smooth groove from electric bassist Bryan Doherty.Hill’s Monk competition prize included a recording contract with Concord Music Group. If the musical artistry and powerful sociopolitical engagement of the self-released Modern Flows are an indication, we are in for an epochal recording. https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/marquis-hill-modern-flows-ep-vol-1/

Modern Flows EP, Vol. 1

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