John Boutté - Good Neighbor

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:52
Size: 97,1 MB
Art: Front

(2:13)  1. Door Poppin
(2:26)  2. Good Neighbor
(2:48)  3. Showing Up For The Party
(2:21)  4. The Eternal Now
(4:08)  5. Southern Man
(3:51)  6. Wake Up
(2:07)  7. Cutting Heads
(4:38)  8. Sisters
(4:41)  9. Broke Down The Door/Thetreme Song
(3:30) 10. Love Ya Mean It
(3:00) 11. My Life
(3:38) 12. Foot Of Canal Street
(2:24) 13. Accentuate The Positive

At a club called d.b.a., along a boisterous strip of Frenchmen Street, singer John Boutté regularly silences the Saturday-night tourist conversations. For the locals who press up close to the stage, these weekly gigs are cathartic ritual. In performance, Mr. Boutté moves like a flyweight boxer: hanging back, shifting his weight, thrusting forward without warning. Even on CD, he conveys that sense bouncing silkily along until he delivers a stinging high note or devastating flurry of melismata. Born into a large and musical Creole family, Mr. Boutté has roots in gospel and traditional jazz. He frequently taps out syncopated beats on a tambourine. But he fits no convention. On "Good Neighbor," the sweetness and grit of his tenor voice is supported by an enviable list of New Orleans musicians. Trumpeter Leroy Jones, a frequent collaborator and local hero, adds subtle, pungent counterpoint to several tracks. "Foot of Canal Street" owes its revival-tent energy in part to the growls and purrs of brothers James and Troy Andrews on, respectively, trumpet and trombone. And when Mr. Boutté laments a loss of innocence on "Wake Up," the drama is unforced. Beneath his formidable musical talents lies a gift for elegantly telling the truth. Singing His Heart Out for the City of New Orleans ..."there was both authority and magnetism in his version of Steve Goodman’s “City of New Orleans.” Mr. Boutté recorded it several years ago with a bluegrass band called Uptown Okra, and his arrangement with Mr. Duke preserves a similar rollicking feel." Nate Chinen, NY Times, June 8, 2007 ..More https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/boutteworks2

Personnel: Vocals – Dave Pirner, Debbie Davis, John Boutté, Paul Sanchez; Bass – Peter Harris ; Bass Drum, Tambourine, Congas – Herlin Riley; Drums – Herman Lebeaux; Electric Piano – Ian Neville; Guitar – Todd Duke; Pedal Steel Guitar – Dave Easley; Piano, Shaker – David Torkanowsky; Trombone – Craig Klein, Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews; Trumpet – Leroy Jones; Trumpet, Vocals – James Andrews

Good Neighbor

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Philip Dizack - Single Soul

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:59
Size: 131,2 MB
Art: Front

(1:00)  1. Single Soul (Intro)
(8:14)  2. Jacob And The Angel
(2:49)  3. Benny's Tune
(7:20)  4. Take Me With You
(5:21)  5. Single Soul
(7:57)  6. Twins Of A Gazelle
(4:37)  7. Book Of Stones
(5:02)  8. Joy And Sorrow
(5:28)  9. It's Not Just In Some Of Us
(5:52) 10. Sasha Anne
(3:13) 11. I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good

Young trumpeter Philip Dizack is a new name on the Criss Cross record label but not a new name for those who closely follow the New York jazz scene. Since his arrival in New York, Dizack has been making waves and winning awards with his beautiful tone and dark intensity, both of which were on full display on his last album, End of an Era (Truth Revolution Records, 2012). For his Criss Cross debut, Dizack continues his maturation as a composer and player, contributing seven original tunes to this inspired recital. On "Single Soul," Dizack is accompanied by fellow newcomers to the Criss Cross label, Ben Wendel on tenor sax, and Eden Ladin on piano, also both young musicians who have been steadily gaining attention on the New York scene. Filling out the band are Criss Cross veterans, Joe Sanders on bass and Eric Harland on drums, giving the group a strong rhythmic foundation. After the fanfare-like intro, the group begins with the gently grooving Ladin original, "Jacob and the Angel." Sanders also contributes an original tune to the album, "Joy and Sorrow," which starts out as a gentle ballad and continues to build and crescendo right up to it's final climactic seconds. Ladin's and Sanders's original tunes prove to be good choices for inclusion on this album as they showcase both Dizack's unique tone and the group's strong chemistry and attention to dynamics. Dizack's original tunes are diverse and captivating, from the driving swing of "Take Me With You," to the lilting groove of "Single Soul." "Twins of a Gazelle" is a lively tune that leads the group into some of their best solos and interplay on the album. Dizack chose to record "Book of Stones" as a trio with just Sanders and Harland, and they masterfully lay down the groove. Harland never fails to keep the tune interesting and supports his Dizack and Sanders perfectly, but never overplaying.

The remaining two original tunes serve as a nice way to wind the album down. "It's Not Just in Some of Us" is an intense piece and gives Dizack and Ladin a good chance to show off their soloing skills. "Sasha Anne" is a delicate and soulful ballad, starting as a duet between Ladin and Dizack before the whole band joins in to bring it to it's joyous conclusion. The remaining two tunes on the album are thoughtful takes on standards and are elegant nods to the past. Dizack and Sanders give us a duet version of Lionel Loueke's "Benny's Tune," which is short, but tasteful. The duet has a lovely intimate quality and Dizack's and Sanders's warm tones on their respective instruments were perfectly recorded at Systems Two Recording Studio in Brooklyn. The album closes with an even more intimate take on Ellington's classic "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good." Dizack chooses to play the ballad a cappella, letting his tasteful phrasing and elegant tone do the talking. "Single Soul" is a strong addition to this young trumpet player's growing portfolio, and it shows that he has versatility, talent, and taste. In 2007, Downbeat Magazine named Dizack as one of "25 Trumpet Players for the Future." On "Single Soul" Dizack proves that "the future" is here and that he is one of the strongest young trumpet players on the scene today. ~ Andrew Luhn https://www.allaboutjazz.com/philip-dizack-single-soul-by-andrew-luhn.php

Personnel: Philip Dizack: Trumpet; Ben Wendel: Tenor Sax; Eden Ladin: Piano; Joe Sanders: Bass; Eric Harland: Drums

Single Soul

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Mette Juul - Moon on My Shoulder

Styles: Vocal And Guitar Jazz
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:38
Size: 146,3 MB
Art: Front

(6:18) 1. Moon on My Shoulder
(6:04) 2. Be Cool
(5:36) 3. In This Life
(4:46) 4. Henya
(5:45) 5. Ask Me Now
(2:34) 6. Hum Drum Blues
(5:17) 7. When We Leave the Riverbank
(5:44) 8. For Jan
(1:56) 9. From This Moment On
(5:29) 10. How Many Hours Must I Travel Alone
(4:40) 11. April in Paris - Bonus Track
(4:51) 12. Once Upon a Summertime - Bonus Track
(4:32) 13. Softly as in a Morning Sunrise - Bonus Track

On her 2012 release, Moon On My Shoulder, jazz vocalist Mette Juul has created a fervent and elegant sound, and turned away from the full orchestration in order to produce a personal vocal jazz album that forms a beautifully calming and homogeneous soundtrack to hectic, modern lives. Mette Juul blasted her way into the hearts of many jazz critics back in 2010 with her debut album, “Coming In From The Dark”, with the legendary rhythm champion Alex Riel and his trio. Distinguished musicians such as trumpeter, Palle Mikkelborg, and guitarist, Poul Halberg, furthermore supported the young singer on her debut. The album was released on Cowbell Music and received a lot of great reviews in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Finland and Japan.

On this album, Juul has teamed up with the international jazz icon and hot Blue Note trumpeter, Ambrose Akinmusire, (born in 1982) from New York City. Despite Akinmusire’s young age his discography includes collaborations with jazz icons such as Wayne Shorter, Gretchen Parlato and Ron Carter so once again the young singer and winner of the International Jazz Artist Competition for vocalists (2007) has worked with a true jazz hot shot. The rhythm section consists of a strong line-up of bass player and cellist Lars Danielsson and drummer Morten Lund, and the album is additionally blessed with the Danish pianist Nikolaj Hess, who besides playing piano has also co-produced the album along with Mette Juul.

Juul’s dazzling voice, Akinmusire’s soft trumpet laying and Hess’ rich, simple piano touch characterizes “Moon on my shoulder”. The record contains no technical postulated phrasings and long pretentious solos, just simple well-organized jazz music focusing on telling a story. While the 1st album, “Coming In from The Dark”, mainly contained jazz standards and five of Juul’s own compositions the new album, “Moon on my shoulder”, shows how Mette Juul has searched the songbook of jazz for more unknown songs and made them her own. She has chosen six songs in the genre ranging from modern jazz to the singer-songwriter tradition, e.g. Thelonious Monks’ “Ask Me Now”, Joni Mitchell’s “Be Cool” and a radical reinterpretation by Cole Porter’s “From This Moment On.”

She has also composed some songs of her own: “When We Leave The River Bank” and “In This Life” and included her signature song “How Many Hours Must I Travel Alone”, a remake from her first album – this time re-arranged and stripped down to the tunes of Juul’s vocals and Akinmusire’s trumpet without the grandiose Riel Orchestra. Mette Juul has re-arranged the title track by Lyle Lowett, “Moon On My Shoulder”, and made it entirely her own and she is accompanied by Lars Danielson on cello. Akinmusire has moreover contributed with a remake of one of his songs, the almost meditative “Henya”. Altogether the album contains ten wonderful vocal jazz songs focusing on simplicity and an ambition to interpret the songs in an intimate and direct way and give life to the songs at a more metaphysical and universal level as a way to make both lyrics and music relevant and meaningful to the audience. https://www.storyvillerecords.com/products/moon-on-my-shoulder-1014333

Personnel: Vocals, Guitar – Mette Juul; Piano – Nikolaj Hess; Trumpet – Ambrose Akinmusire; Bass, Cello – Lars Danielsson; Drums – Morten Lund

Moon on My Shoulder

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Stéphane Grappelli - Swing From Paris 1935-1943 Vol.2

Styles: Violin Jazz, Swing
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:07
Size: 136,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:09) 1. Hot Lips
(2:58) 2. Ain't Misbehavin'
(3:01) 3. H.C.Q. Strut: H. C. Q. Strut
(2:37) 4. Swing from Paris
(3:02) 5. I've Had My Moments
(2:45) 6. Smiles: Time On My Hands
(3:15) 7. Scatter-Brain
(3:30) 8. Ting-A-Ling (The Waltz of the Bells)
(3:01) 9. Lying in the Hay
(2:29) 10. Playmates
(3:05) 11. Sweet Potato Piper
(2:58) 12. Twelfth Street Rag
(3:04) 13. Beat Me, Daddy, Eight to a Bar
(2:39) 14. I Never Knew
(3:28) 15. Body and Soul
(3:33) 16. Wide and Handsome: The Folks Who Live on the Hill
(3:10) 17. Weep No More, My Lady
(3:06) 18. That Old Black Magic
(3:07) 19. Heavenly Music

Jazz's most famous and most popular violinist, Stephane Grappelli was born in Paris on 26January 1908. His Italian father Ernesto(translated by the Parisians to Ernest) had come to the French capital as arefugee at the age of nineteen. A studious and refined individual who in hisyouth had been an aspiring dancer, he served in the Great War and althoughsubsequently a struggling business entrepreneur did his best to encourageStephane's artistic inclinations. Stephane's mother had died when he was threeyears old and he spent his early life in a Paris orphanage. Largely self-taughtat first in piano (a sample of his playing on \It Had To Be You" opens StephaneGrappelli Vol.1, Naxos 8.120570), he also trained at the Isadora Duncan schoolof dance but, inspired by classical music began to take a serious interest inthe violin at the age of twelve. His father taught him tonic sol-fa and having already mastered theharmonium at twelve he enrolled in piano and violin classes at theConservatoire, paying his way meanwhile by playing violin on cafe terraces.

In 1921, Stephane first heard Louis Mitchell's Jazz Kings atthe Coliseum and, by 1924 was himself actively playing (mainly piano) in summerseasons and in silent cinemas. Already an avid student of the latestdevelopments of American jazz, he was greatly impressed by the recordings ofLouis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke and, especially, by the Philadelphia-bornviolinist Joe Venuti (1903-1978) who, like Grappelli, had entered the world ofjazz via more classical channels. At first his engagements were centred aroundsmall jazz ensembles at Parisian society functions but from 1926 he performedin a piano duo within the band of Gregor et ses Gregoriens, a Jack Hylton-esqueband resident at the Casino de la Forât, and it was at this time that he firstmade the switch from piano to Venuti-style violin. In June 1930 the groupsailed to Buenos Aires and, on their return in October, toured the south ofFrance. At the end of 1930,Grappelli was back in Paris and by 1931 was regularly engaged at the Croix duSud, an avant-garde bohemian establishment frequented by, among other talents,Django Reinhardt.

By October 1932, he was playing piano once more with Gregorat the Paris Olympia. With this group he toured to Zurich, Lugano, Milan andRome and, prior to its permanent disbanding, to St. Jean-de-Luz, in 1933. Thefollowing year (with Django, Django's brother Joseph and Roger Chaput onguitars and Louis Vola on bass) he formed the Quintette du Hot Club de France,which made its first recordings in December 1934 and swiftly won renownthroughout Europe and the USA. Soon, the Club's two major protagonists werehousehold names and from 1935 Stephane and Django also recorded with ColemanHawkins' jazz ensemble before the Quintette first visited London, in 1938.

Their reputation on several recorded imports (includingtracks 1-6 here) having preceded them, the much-f?â?¬ted Hot Club made anotherappearance in London (at the Palladium) at the outbreak of World War II, inSeptember 1939. By this time Stephane was already domiciled in England and, onleaving the Quintette, remained to pursue a more solo profile, particularlywith George Shearing. Although in poor health and speaking little EnglishStephane was kept working in London throughout the blitz, assisted primarily byvocalist Beryl Davis and her father, Harry Davis, who fronted Oscar Rabin'sband. During late 1939, at the invitation of his friend the pianist ArthurYoung, he joined the resident band of Hatchett's Restaurant in Piccadillywhich, rivalled only the Cafe de Paris, ranked among London's plushest eatingand dancing establishments. Although a group known as the Swingtette was already in existence at therestaurant, Grappelli's arrival on 3 December 1939 was viewed as a major coupboth by Hatchett's and by Stephane himself. Up to that time little more than a well-intentioned societyband, the Swingtette now boasted a hot Parisian extra in the form of "TheWorld's Greatest Swing Violinist". Stephane, too, had cause for jubilation,having found a new niche as well as a new home: "I always think of England asmy second country", he later averred, "because I was welcomed during the warlike a brother, and I will never forget it"

From 29 December 1939 the group (on average a ten-partensemble, plus vocalist) recorded on a regular basis for Decca (the firstsession included Ting-A-Ling, a seemingly unlikely revival of a British popnumber of 1926 vintage and a characteristically swung version of FrankieMasters' imported American novelty Scatter-Brain). The "corny element" of theNovachord offset by Grappelli's swinging fiddle set the trend for an extendedfurther series of popular recordings, which ranged from various jazz'revivals', including Euday L. Bowman's Twelfth Street Rag (1916) and JohnnyGreen's Body And Soul (1930) to Lying In The Hay (an Anglicised version ofFrench cabaret-star Mireille's 1933 tune 'Couches dans le foin') and the latestAmerican dance and film material (by Don Raye, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen andthe like). In the summer of 1940,soon after the outset of the Battle of Britain, Arthur Young was injured in anair raid and had to resign from Hatchett's. His place was taken in the Swingtette by the blind,twenty-year-old American George Shearing, heard here in the sessions of28February and 9April 1941 and 7July and 6October 1943. https://naxosdirect.co.uk/items/grappelli-stephane-swing-from-paris-143842

Swing From Paris (1935-1943)

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