The Kristin Korb-Todd Johnson Trio - Get Happy

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:44
Size: 136.8 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2004
Art: Front

[3:53] 1. I'm Old Fashioned
[4:59] 2. Top Of The World
[4:45] 3. Just A Closer Walk With Thee
[4:19] 4. If You Never Fall In Love With Me
[4:10] 5. Moon River
[4:42] 6. Sunshine & Slim
[4:30] 7. Cheek To Cheek
[2:08] 8. Wonder Why
[3:28] 9. Get Happy
[4:04] 10. You Don't Know What Love Is
[4:42] 11. Goin' Home
[2:58] 12. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
[3:09] 13. Everything Happens To Me
[4:32] 14. Blues For Hellen
[3:19] 15. When You're Smilin'

Kristin Korb, vocals & upright bass; Todd Johnson-6-string bass; Kendall Kay, drums.

My vision for a "bass duo" began sometime in 2003. I'd been working successfully as a solo bass act, but missed the interplay of another musician. I knew if I could find the right bass player it just might work. Shortly thereafter, I discovered Kristin Korb. I contacted her and spoke with her about my idea. She said, "Let's give it a try." So I booked us at a duo series I was hosting. She came and had dinner with my family and me, we talked over a few tunes and we were off to the gig. Well, the rest is history. My vision was rapidly becoming a reality. Just one thing was missing. I found it quickly in Kendall Kay. He's one of the finest drummers and people you'll ever hope to work with. He ALWAYS plays the RIGHT thing at the RIGHT time. My vision is now complete.

I hope you find this CD musical, entertaining, and a little bit innovative. Not bad for 2 bass players and a drummer! ~ Todd Johnson

Get Happy

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Richie Beirach - Manhattan Reverie

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:41
Size: 159.5 MB
Styles: Piano jazz
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[5:14] 1. You Don't Know What Love Is
[6:09] 2. On Green Dolphin Street
[6:40] 3. If I Were A Bell
[5:07] 4. Manhattan Reverie
[8:49] 5. Etude (No. 6 In E-Flat Minor, Op. 10)
[9:07] 6. Transition
[8:34] 7. Stella By Starlight
[5:37] 8. Veils
[6:30] 9. Blood Count
[7:52] 10. Footprints

Richie Beirach: piano; George Mraz: bass; Billy Hart: drums.

It was all in the eyes. They say peek into someone's eyes if you really want to see what they're about and how they're feeling. From the looks of things at a performance to celebrate his sixtieth birthday at Birdland at the end of August 2007, it seemed that Richie Beirach was feeling good. Sounded tops, too. This classically-trained veteran pianist was marking his sixth decade on earth with a little help from his friends—trio band mates, bassist George Mraz and drummer Billy Hart, expert rhythm makers also featured on this highly effective 2007 Japanese import from Venus Records, Manhattan Reverie. They all appeared to have a certain twinkle in their eyes, suggesting that they are very comfortable playing with each other, wise to each other's ways and that they were having a good time. It was kind of a nice message: Age has nothing to do with vitality or musical ability, except maybe, in this case, it adds to both of those things.

Two terrific guests shared in the belated (his birthday was in May) festivities at Birdland —trumpeter Randy Brecker and the violinist Gregor Huebner. Whether live or on recording, Hart and Mraz supplied excellent support to Beirach's intricate, introspective and lively playing. Surprises of the show included explorations of Bartók and Bach, each offering gorgeously rendered improvisations. A tribute to the late Michael Brecker, in the form of a rearranged "old Russian folk song as Beirach described it, was moving and beautiful, if at moments almost painful to witness, a feeling heightened by the intensity of brother Randy's participation. These stunning, seemingly effortless endeavors were punctuated by exquisite soloing by Huebner.

The live event had been touted in some circles as an occasion also to mark the release of Manhattan Reverie so the repertoire sampled on the Friday before Labor Day was somewhat unexpected, as no pieces from the album were played in that particular set. But the recording merits repeated listening. It features several standards, including "You Don't Know What Love Is, "On Green Dolphin Street and "If I Were a Bell, all performed at breakneck pace. Somehow that works. In fact, for those of us out here who are a little love-weary (or even love-leery?) it was a welcome change of pace to hear a heart-crushing tune like "You Don't Know What Love Is zip by at such a clip. Would that the pain of lost love could breeze by like that. The Germany-based pianist's own title track is delicious and more gently realized, though a pretty violin accompaniment goes by uncredited. ~Laurel Gross

Manhattan Reverie

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Alexa Tarantino - Firefly

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:35
Size: 133,7 MB
Art: Front

(5:39) 1. Spider's Dance
(4:44) 2. Mindful Moments
(4:08) 3. Move Of The Spirit
(4:43) 4. Iris
(4:19) 5. Daybreak
(1:37) 6. Surge Fughetta
(4:11) 7. Surge Capacity
(4:34) 8. La Donna Nel Giardino
(6:43) 9. Rootless Ruthlessness
(6:33) 10. Lady Day
(4:24) 11. Violet Sky
(5:56) 12. The Firefly Code

The twenty-first century sees many of us talking to a cloud-based artificial intelligence: "Alexa, play my music." And so she does. The time frame also sees the emergence of a talented human Alexa Alexa Tarantino, who plays her music, on Firefly, the woodwindist's third album release on Posi- Tone Records, an evolutionary leap forward conceptually and compositionally from her debut, Winds of Change (2019), and her second outing, Clarity (2020), both on Posi-Tone Records. Fronting a quintet which includes vibraphonist and label mate Behn Gillece and keyboardist Art Hirahara, Tarantino, plays alto and soprano saxophones, flute and clarinet, making a music which has a feeling of a release of positivity, of pent-up feelings and ideas being given voice with the easing of a post-pandemic isolation.

The disc opens with Hirahara's "Spider's Dance," a luminescent reverie, with the leader sounding particularly inspired, The arrangement the back and forth of piano, vibes and saxophone solos is as close to perfection as can be. Vibraphonist Gillece's "Mindful Moments" finds Tarantino switching to flute, floating over the rhythm section's fluid shuffle, leading into a composition from the group's drummer, Rudy Royston, "Move The Spirit," a high octane, get-up-and-dance type of tune.. With "Iris," a tune written by saxophonist Wayne Shorter which appeared on Miles Davis' ESP (Columbia Records, 1965) the ensemble explores Shorter's classic sound, edgy and luxuriant at the same time in this quintet's rendition.

All great music, but it is with her own "Daybreak" that Tarantino's evolutionary progression begins to show. The tune serves as Part 1 of her original "A Moment In Time" suite. It has a "clean slate, go out and make the day" sound, brimming with energy and optimism," moving into the minute-and-a-half "Surge Fughetta" from bassist Boris Kozlov's pen. The tune has a dreamy, chamber music vibe (flute, vibes and bass), which segues into Tarantino's "Surge Capacity," a scintillating barnburner, with Tarantino's blowing bringing alto saxophonist Jackie McLean to mind. Tarantino and the group re-visit Wayne Shorter with "Lady Day," a lovely, introspective, time-stands-still six and half minutes. This excellent set closes with the highlight, Tarantino's "The Firefly Code," which, on an Alexa mix (the artificial intelligence Alexa, not the saxophonist Alexa) could be mistaken for a Hubert Laws composition intricately and ethereally beautiful, exuding "hope, faith, rest and rejuvenation," as only the best music can.~ Dan McClenaghan https://www.allaboutjazz.com/firefly-alexa-tarantino-posi-tone-records

Personnel: Alexa Tarantino: saxophone, alto; Behn Gillece: vibraphone; Art Hirahara: piano; Boris Koslov: bass; Rudy Royston: drums.

Firefly

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Nnenna Freelon - Time Traveler

Styles: Vocal
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:11
Size: 132,2 MB
Art: Front

(5:07) 1. I Say a Little Prayer
(6:05) 2. Marvin Medley: If This World Were Mine / Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing/ Ain't No Mountain High Enough
(5:31) 3. Just You
(4:53) 4. Betcha by Golly Wow
(6:59) 5. Time in a Bottle
(5:05) 6. You Make Me Feel Brand New
(5:56) 7. Moon River
(4:58) 8. Time After Time
(4:49) 9. Come Rain or Come Shine
(4:29) 10. Time Traveler
(3:17) 11. Time Traveler (Reprise)

Multi-GRAMMY nominated vocal artist Nnenna Freelon is back, delivering her eleventh album after a decade-long hiatus from the studio. With 'Time Traveler,' she offers a celebration of love and a prayer of hope for those living with loss. The sessions for the album stretched over two years, between 2018 and 2020, coinciding with the loss of Freelon’s soulmate and husband of forty years, Phil Freelon, to ALS. Freelon draws from her & Phil's shared love of jazz and rhythm and blues, to step through an imagined doorway where past, present and future collide. From the album's centerpiece, a medley of Marvin Gaye classics, to standards such as “Come Rain or Come Shine” and “Moon River,” or her self-penned title song, Freelon reminds us of the grace and elegance that naturally accompanies her approach to interpreting melody. Inspired by her emotive glances to the past, and soulful presence in the here and now, she paints a portrait of reverence and gratitude for the gift of love that permeates every aspect of the human condition. https://media.allaboutjazz.com/track-time-traveler-by-nnenna-freelon

Personnel: Nnenna Freelon - Vocals; Miki Hayama - Piano (1,3,5,7,8), Fender Rhodes (2,4,9), Synthesizer (2,8) ; Chuckey Robinson - Keyboards (10,11); Brandon McCune - Hammond Organ (1,3); Keith Ganz - Guitar (2-6,8-11); Noah Jackson - Acoustic Bass (1,3-5,7,9); Gerald Veasley - Electric Bass (2,8); Lance Scott - Electric Bass (10,11); E.J. Strickland - Drums (1,3-5,7,9); Adonis Rose - Drums (2,8); Jon Curry - Drums (10,11); Beverly Botsford - Percussion (2,4,8); Trineice Robinson-Martin - Background Vocal (1); Kirk Whalum - Tenor Saxophone, Flute (4); Shana Tucker - Cello (5)

Time Traveler

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