Ruby Braff & Ellis Larkins - The Complete Duets

Styles: Cornet, Trumpet And Piano Jazz
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 160:05
Size: 370,9 MB
Scans: Front & Back

(5:39) 1. Love For Sale
(3:46) 2. I've Got A Pocketful Of Dreams
(4:36) 3. Blues For Ruby
(3:47) 4. I've Got The World On A String
(5:37) 5. Please
(5:31) 6. Old Folks
(3:28) 7. Blues For Ellis
(4:32) 8. What Is There To Say
(5:07) 9. When A Woman Loves A Man
(5:39) 10. You Are Too Beautiful
(5:16) 11. Skylark
(4:47) 12. Sailboat In The Moonlight
(2:54) 13. A City Called Heaven
(5:38) 14. My Funny Valentine
(4:59) 15. Where Or When
(3:30) 16. I Could Write A Book
(4:59) 17. Little Girl Blue
(3:56) 18. Thou Swell
(3:29) 19. My Romance
(4:50) 20. The Girl Friend
(3:18) 21. Mountain Greenery
(4:16) 22. Blue Moon
(3:34) 23. You Took Advantage Of Me
(4:04) 24. I Married An Angel
(4:19) 25. I Didn't Know What Time It Was
(6:55) 26. Romance in the Dark
(5:58) 27. When You Wish Upon a Star
(7:24) 28. (I Don't Stand A) Ghost of a Chance
(4:44) 29. Where's Freddie
(3:16) 30. Wishing (Will Make It So)
(5:49) 31. I'm in the Market for You
(9:17) 32. Sweet Sue, Just You
(5:00) 33. Linger Awhile

A unique collection of laidback jazz recordings recorded in a very spare setting that has trumpeter Ruby Braff playing with pianist Ellis Larkins, and no other accompaniment! The setting's quite unusual for the time, and it makes for a relaxed intimate meeting between two strong talents that really differs from the work that either of them were recording elsewhere. But even more incredible is the way that the two players come together without additional support working beautifully in a format that would have others faltering always swinging the tunes despite the lack of bass or drums, and clearly very at home here with the extra space that lets both of them open up creatively!

2-CD set features 25 titles that are exclusively Larkins/Braff duets recorded for Vanguard in 1955, plus an additional 8 numbers from a sextet session that features Braff with Vick Dickenson, Sam Margolis, and Nat Pierce. Titles include "Love For Sale", "Skylark", "Blue Moon", "Blues For Ellis", "Please", "Sailboat In The Moonlight", "Linger Awhile", "I'm In The Market For You", "Where Or When", "I Could Write A Book", "The Girl Friend", "Little Girl Blue", and "Thou Swell".https://www.freshsoundrecords.com/ruby-braff-ellis-larkins-albums/4309-the-complete-duets-2-cd-set.html
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Personnel: Cornet, Trumpet – Ruby Braff; Piano – Ellis LarkinsDrums – Jo Jones, Nat Pierce Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet –Trombone – Vic Dickenson; : Bass – Walter Page".

The Complete Duets

Eubie Blake - Eighty Six Years Of Eubie Blake

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1969
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:33
Size: 161,9 MB
Art: Front

(2:44) 1. Dream Rag
(3:36) 2. Charleston Rag
(1:39) 3. Maple Leaf Rag
(2:36) 4. Semper Fidelis
(2:34) 5. Eubie's Boogie
(2:17) 6. Poor Jimmy Green
(2:40) 7. Tricky Fingers
(2:23) 8. Stars and Stripes Forever
(2:39) 9. Baltimore Todolo
(1:16) 10. Poor Katie Red
(2:41) 11. Kitchen Tom
(2:02) 12. Troublesome Ivories
(2:09) 13. Chevy Chase
(3:16) 14. Brittwood Rag
(2:10) 15. Medley: Bleeding Moon / Under the Bamboo Tree
(1:18) 16. It's All Your Fault
(6:41) 17. "Shuffle Along" Medley
(0:50) 18. I'm Just Wild About Harry
(2:13) 19. Spanish Venus
(3:23) 20. As Long As You Live
(4:05) 21. Medley: Charleston / Old Fashioned Love / If I Could Be with You
(1:19) 22. You Were Meant for Me
(2:33) 23. Dixie Moon
(3:31) 24. Blues, Why Don't You Let Me Alone
(2:23) 25. Blue Rag In 12 Keys
(4:22) 26. Memories of You

Eubie Blake had such a unique career that he fits into his own musical category. A near-contemporary of Scott Joplin, Blake was a ragtime composer as early as 1899 when he wrote “Charleston Rag.” A stage performer, he not only teamed up with singer Noble Sissle as the Dixie Duo in black vaudeville but collaborated with Sissle in writing musicals including the pioneering hit Shuffle Along in 1921 which included his “I’m Just Wild About Harry.”

Blake began recording as early as 1917 and with Sissle made a few pioneering sound films in 1923. He had success writing “Memories Of You” and recorded with his swing band in 1931 but mostly maintained a low profile for decades. However during 1968-69, with the release of the double-LP The Eighty-Six Years Of Eubie Blake, he launched a comeback that resulted in his last 14 years being among the busiest of his life. The last living ragtime composer, Blake became a national celebrity who was universally beloved.

The Eighty-Six Years Of Eubie Blake, which amazingly enough has still not been reissued on CD, does a superb job of summing up Blake’s life up to that point. He performs a variety of his originals (including “Charleston Rag,” “Eubie’s Boogie,” “Tricky Fingers,” “Troublesome Ivories,” “Shuffle Along Medley” with Noble Sissle, “I’m Just Wild About Harry,” and “Memories Of You”) plus a James P. Johnson medley, “Maple Leaf Rag” and a delightful version of “The Stars And Stripes Forever.”

Other than Sissle’s three appearances, Eubie Blake is heard throughout as a solo pianist, clearly having a great time being back in the spotlight again. This is his definitive album and it is well worth a search on Amazon to acquire. (It can be found on some streaming services or for sale as MP3s.) ~ Scott Yanow https://syncopatedtimes.com/the-eight-six-years-of-eubie-blake

Personnel: Eubie Blake - piano, songwriter; Noble Sissle - vocals, cover art, songwriter

Eighty Six Years Of Eubie Blake

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John Pizzarelli - Better Days Ahead (Solo Guitar Takes on Pat Metheny)

Styles: Guitar Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:51
Size: 134,3 MB
Art: Front

(3:44) 1. Better Days Ahead
(4:39) 2. Spring Ain't Here
(8:17) 3. April Wind/Phase Dance
(5:18) 4. September Fifteenth
(4:19) 5. James
(5:52) 6. Antonia
(4:50) 7. (It's Just) Talk
(2:26) 8. Letter From Home
(5:58) 9. If I Could
(4:09) 10. Last Train Home
(2:49) 11. From This Place
(3:09) 12. The Bat
(2:15) 13. Farmer's Trust

Better Days Ahead features both signature songs and deep cuts from Metheny’s prolific career, including material dating back from The Pat Metheny Group’s influential eponymous album from 1978, through the title track of 2020’s Grammy-nominated From This Place. Though it contains some gloriously meditative music, the album was created in a perfect storm. “Two weeks after canceling all my live performances on April 1, 2020” remembers John, “my father, Bucky passed away from the Coronavirus. Five days after that I turned sixty, and two days later my mother Ruth was taken by the same virus. After sixty years of marriage, and within one week of each other, both my parents were gone.”

As a way to deal with the pain, Pizzarelli developed these musical interpretations in early-morning sessions, alone with his guitar. “I had watched my father do this my whole life,” he remembers. “Before we ventured out to a day filled with recording sessions, ‘The Tonight Show,’ or late-night jazz gigs, he would practice classical pieces. So that’s what I felt compelled to do during this rough period. I started out playing standards, but then felt drawn to the idea of deconstructing Pat Metheny’s group arrangements from my seven-string guitar. I had loved the recordings of the Pat Metheny Group since I was a teenager, and I welcomed the challenge of diving deep into his canon of remarkably dense and moving material. Every day, it was a miraculous diversion from my own personal grief and the tragedy of the pandemic I saw unfolding on the nightly news.”

Coincidentally, Metheny reached out to Pizzarelli to send condolences on his recent loss. “When I told him I had been working on his songs, Pat graciously sent me a treasure trove of his lead sheets. Now, I could hold this music in my hands and dive into every note. It’s like the holy grail to get that from a composer!”

Metheny himself offered kind words of encouragement: “I have admired John for years as a fantastic musician with an amazing ability to communicate. His love and understanding of classic song forms runs deep, almost as a birthright, thanks to having grown up on the knee of one of the greatest guitarists ever, his dad Bucky. His vast reserve of knowledge into the nuts and bolts of why those Great American Songbook tunes have the musical impact they do continually give his performances an insightful edge that connects him with a deep tradition. His life in music brings authority and insight that is increasingly rare as time moves on. To say it was flattering to have John address these tunes, knowing all the great music he has been around his whole life, is an understatement. It is an incredible honor for me.”(To be continued) https://www.thekurlandagency.com/2021/04/14/new-album-john-pizzarellis-better-days-ahead-a-solo-guitar-celebration-of-pat-metheny/

Better Days Ahead (Solo Guitar Takes on Pat Metheny)

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