Azar Lawrence - The Seeker

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:12
Size: 146,0 MB
Art: Front

(10:27)  1. Gandhi
( 7:45)  2. Lost Tribes Of Lemuria
(12:04)  3. The Seeker
( 9:21)  4. One More Time
( 5:57)  5. Rain Ballad
(10:24)  6. Spirit Night
( 7:12)  7. Venus Rising

Azar Lawrence is fulfilling his musical quest with a most impressive live recording!  Sunnyside Records will drop an incredible live set recorded at the Jazz Standard. This all star collective features saxophonist Azar Lawrence, trumpet great Nicholas Payton, and a critically acclaimed rhythm section of Benito Gonzalez on piano, Essiet Okon Essiet on bass and the mighty Jeff "Tain" Watts on drums. The Seeker pays homage to those harmonic rebels that have forged their own path and this created and elevated the form and function of the improvisational music we have come to know as jazz. For the uninitiated, Lawrence has been cutting his own lyrical trail for the last four decades and has played with such luminaries as Freddie Hubbard and Earth Wind & Fire. 

The original compositions from Lawrence are diverse and visionary in their lyrical thought. Nicholas Payton shares the front line with Lawrence due largely in part to his exceptional conceptual feeling of just where Lawrence was heading on this most unique journey. Picking a highlight or two would be equivalent to asking a parent to pick their favorite child but I'll give it a whirl with "Rain Ballad" and "Spirit Night" topping the list. Both compositions are compelling lush ballad oriented tunes with a zen like serenity move slowly beneath the surface. Both tunes allow for dynamic interplay within the rhythm section with Essiet's bowed bass and Watts finesse on "Rain Ballad" while Gonzalez shines on "Spirit Night." The band finds their groove on the Gonzalez tune "One More Time" with a spirited exchange between Lawrence, Payton and of course Gonzalez.  Azar Lawrence may be a searching artist, the good artists are. The search for the listener can continue with one of the better live sets you will hear. Virtually flawless on all levels. http://www.criticaljazz.com/2014/06/azar-lawrence-seeker-sunnyside-2014.html

Personnel: Azar Lawrence (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Nicholas Payton (trumpet); Benito Gonzalez (piano); Jeff "Tain" Watts (drums).

The Seeker

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Avishai Cohen - Two Roses

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:29
Size: 144,3 MB
Art: Front

(3:59) 1. Almah Sleeping
(3:52) 2. When I'm Falling
(4:45) 3. Song for My Brother
(4:24) 4. Two Roses (Shnei Shoshanim)
(4:33) 5. Nature Boy
(7:14) 6. Emotional Storm
(6:24) 7. Puncha Puncha
(5:17) 8. Arab Medley
(8:35) 9. A Child Is Born
(4:55) 10. Alon Basela
(4:11) 11. Morenika
(4:16) 12. Nature Talking

Avishai Cohen dreamed big, with images of symphony orchestras dancing in his head. The Israeli-born bassist maneuvered that dream into a reality with Two Roses, a recording that finds Cohen in the company of the ninety-two piece Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, in addition to his jazz cohorts, Azerbaijani pianist Elchin Shirinov and New Jersey born and bred drummer Mark Guiliana. Eleven of the tunes presented here, in this lush landscape, come from Cohen's pen. The title piece is a popular tune from Cohen's homeland. "A Child Is Born" comes from the Thad Jones Songbook, and "Nature Boy" is the familiar Eben Ahbez tune, recorded by everyone from Miles Davis to Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughn, John Coltrane, Zoot Sims and many more.

The majestic, sweeping scope of this music suggests Cohen as a nominee for the "Aaron Copland of World" Music Award, as the bassist brings to the table influences which span the globe Afro-Caribbean music, melodies of Israeli folklore, Middle Eastern motifs, North African tinges and hints of Slavic and Russian shadings, all intertwined to create its own unique multicultural listening experience. With a beautiful and implacable grandeur in the embrace of a collective momentum of eighty-plus players including Cohen's occasional "every man of the world" vocals (he sounds like a nondenominational priest singing some kind of jazz Mass) the music could serve as a soundtrack to a grand epic of Cecil B. DeMille proportions, the orchestra at times delicate and fragile, at others powerful and momentous, and always profound.~ DAN MCCLENAGHAN https://www.allaboutjazz.com/two-roses-avishai-cohen-naive-believe__23161

Personnel: Avishai Cohen: bass; Mark Guiliana: drums; Elchin Shirinov: piano.

Two Roses

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Lina Nyberg, Daniel Karlsson - The Night and the Music

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:22
Size: 113,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:09) 1. Night and Day
(4:51) 2. Let's Face the Music and Dance
(4:26) 3. Red Sails in the Sunset
(5:44) 4. 'Round Midnight
(4:22) 5. Stardust
(3:54) 6. Dream a Little Dream of Me
(4:44) 7. Sure on This Shining Night
(3:36) 8. You and the Night and the Music
(4:09) 9. In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning
(4:36) 10. Good Morning Starshine
(4:46) 11. I Like the Sunrise

Two of Sweden's most successful jazz musicians perform together for the first time. Singer Lina Nyberg and pianist Daniel Karlsson have both had brilliant careers in Sweden and internationally through the years. April 30, 2021 the duo album The Night and the Music will be released, containing a string of famous songs inspired by nighttime. A number of jazz standards and evergreens has been carefully selected, all taking us step by step through evening, night and finally to early morning. You will hear classics like Red sails in the sunset and Thelonius Monk's Round midnight combined with modern hits such as Goodmorning starshine from the musical Hair, but also Samuel Barber's famous composition of James Agee's poem Sure on this shining night. With these melodies, the duo creates an inspiring musical experience for the listener and discovers new worlds in the music. https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Lina-Nyberg/dp/B08YHZVB1T

Personnel: Lina Nyberg - Vocal; Daniel Karlsson - Piano.

The Night and the Music

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