Sunday, August 8, 2021

Groove Collective - The Best of Groove Collective

Styles: Acid Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:04
Size: 159,7 MB
Art: Front

( 5:40) 1. Everything Is Changing
( 3:43) 2. Out The Door
( 5:04) 3. Ransome
( 5:01) 4. Runaway Child
( 3:55) 5. End Transmission
( 5:36) 6. Lift-Off (Salaam Remi Remix)
( 4:23) 7. Earth to Earth
( 7:45) 8. Stargazer (feat. Chucho Valdes)
( 6:12) 9. In Your Mind
( 4:49) 10. Floating
( 5:41) 11. St. Gallen
(11:07) 12. I Want You (She's So Heavy)

The Best of Groove Collective is a bit of a misnomer, as it only collects tracks off of the group's three Shanachie releases. As such, seminal hip-hop jazz tracks such as "Rentstrike" and "Rhasaansong" both off Groove Collective's Reprise debut are absent here. Nonetheless, the innovative ensemble continued to make highly danceable and funky music through the late '90s and early 2000s, and this compilation offers a nice single-disc overview.~Matt Collar https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-best-of-groove-collective-mw0000325155

The Best of Groove Collective

Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah - Diaspora

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2017
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:28
Size: 113,4 MB
Art: Front

(4:57)  1. Diaspora
(4:17)  2. IDK
(3:44)  3. Our Lady of New Orleans (Herreast Harrison)
(2:11)  4. Bae (Interlude)
(5:35)  5. Desire and the Burning Girl
(3:53)  6. Uncrown Her
(3:59)  7. Lawless
(6:19)  8. Completely
(3:00)  9. New Jack Bounce (Interlude)
(6:10) 10. No Love
(5:19) 11. The Walk

Diaspora is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter Christian Scott released on June 23, 2017 by Ropeadope Records. The album is the second installment of The Centennial Trilogy, with Ruler Rebel and The Emancipation Procrastination being the first and the third ones respectively. The title Diaspora refers to the entirety of Adjuah's listening public, even though the term has specific meanings in the African-American experience, celebrating the rhythmic feels and traditions that arose from the historic movement of African peoples to the Americas and around the globe. 

Adjuah explains "We're trying to highlight the sameness between seemingly disparate cultures of sound as a means of showing a broader reverence and love for the people who create the sound and the experiences that lead them to those places." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaspora_(Christian_Scott_album)

Personnel:  Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah – trumpet, siren, sirenette, reverse flugelhorn, SPD-SX, sampling, sonic architecture; Elena Pinderhughes – flute; Lawrence Fields – piano; Kris Funn – bass; Cliff Hines – guitar; Corey Fonville – drums, SPD-SX; Joe Dyson Jr. – pan-African Drums, SPD-SX; Weedie Braimah – djembe, bata, congas; Chief Shaka Shaka – dununba, sangban, kenikeni; Sarah Elizabeth Charles – special guest, vocals

Diaspora

Hilary Kole - A Self-Portrait

Size: 147,8 MB
Time: 63:34
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. While We're Young (3:32)
02. 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover (4:54)
03. When The World Was Young (4:48)
04. God Give Me Strength (5:51)
05. And I Love Him (6:15)
06. It's All Right With Me (4:55)
07. River (5:21)
08. I Remember You (4:11)
09. Lemon Twist (3:09)
10. Come A Little Closer (2:34)
11. Landslide (4:24)
12. You Must Believe In Spring (5:01)
13. The Man I Love (4:03)
14. Some Other Time (4:31)

A tale of lost innocence and hard-earned lessons. Songs from such writers as Stevie Nicks, Joni Mitchell, and Paul Simon, as well as familiar chestnuts, sound as personal here as pages ripped from Hilary's diary.

To see Hilary Kole step onto a bandstand is like watching Gene Tierney make her entrance in Laura: the view is so dazzling that, at first, it's hard to notice anything else. But Hilary's musicianship can't be overlooked. Her tangy-sweet, liquid tone is impeccably in tune; she's also a conservatory-trained composer and pianist who has studied theory, harmony, arranging, and jazz technique. When she set out to become a singer, she says, "I wanted to know as much as everybody in the band. I didn't want to be that girl who doesn't know where to come in." ... A sense of freedom pervades this CD. For the first time, nearly every artistic decision was hers aided by the fatherly wisdom of co-producer Jim Czak, owner of New York's historic, now-defunct Nola Recording Studios, where Hilary made her first demo at fourteen. Veering at last from the standards, she has discovered an important part of her voice through such writers as Stevie Nicks, Joni Mitchell, and Paul Simon. Their songs, as well as familiar chestnuts, sound as personal here as pages ripped from her diary. Most were arranged with a translucent grace by Hilary herself. ... She found While We're Young via two of her key inspirations, the jazz vocal duo Jackie and Roy. For her, that lilting waltz by Alec Wilder and William Engvick holds profound meaning: "As long as you can hope for the future then you're young." That involves leaving room for fun. It's All Right with Me, Cole Porter's hard-boiled look at a one-night stand, acquires a lowdown riff, played by pianist Tedd Firth, that could have come from a 1960s detective series. As a jazz singer, Hilary lets loose here like never before. Her dreamy reinvention of And I Love (Him) floats on the sparse chords of pianist John DiMartino and guitarist John Hart. John Pizzarelli, who produced two of her previous albums, suggested Lemon Twist, Bobby Troup's skittering, boppish ode to cocktail-swilling hipsters of the '50s. Hilary breezes through its tricky intervals, swinging all the way. --James Gavin

A Self-Portrait

Kristin Callahan - Lost in a Dream

Styles: Vocal
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 34:13
Size: 78,7 MB
Art: Front

(5:25) 1. Lush Life
(0:54) 2. Memories Always Start
(3:59) 3. Round Midnight
(4:41) 4. Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise
(4:33) 5. Lost in a Dream
(6:37) 6. Caravan
(4:59) 7. The Shadow of Your Smile
(3:02) 8. Once I Loved

The body of compositions known as "jazz standards" has proved to be as durable as it is long lived. These musical pieces, partially provided by the "Great American Songbook" and partially by composing jazz practitioners, have afforded artists a veritable bottomless pit of material with which to apply their own unique vision. One-hundred-plus years of recording history have resulted in a great many standard interpretations. So now it is difficult, if not aesthetically dangerous, for newer artists to delve into its center, attempting anything new from the old. The days when a standards collection could be assembled and presented with little thought are gone. A standards collection recorded today must be carefully programmed and performed, It is also beneficial that the collection be thematically integrated. It is this careful curation, this thoughtful selection of material coupled with a seasoned instrumental approach, which makes vocalist Kristin Callahan's Lost in a Dream successful.

Lost in a Dream follows two previous releases by the Washington, DC-based Callahan, A New Love (Self Produced, 2011) and One Magic Day (Self Produced, 2013), each a more tradition exposition of the standards book. For the present recording, Callahan and bassist-arranger Eliot Seppa, accomplish the "something new (or newer)" by using a guitar-bass-percussion rhythm section consisting of guitarist Matvei Sigalov, Seppa, and percussionist Tom Teasley (among others) and an organically centered production approach to recording. The entire recital is given a light Latin treatment, providing the collection its focal integration. Never heavy-handed, each song bears its Latin seasoning well. In particular, "Lush Life" and "'Round Midnight" are revealed as capable vehicles for the Latin humidity imparted by the gentle clave rhythm employed.

The Ellington-Tizol composition "Caravan" is a perfect song for this presentation. What sets its performance apart from others is the forward-thinking guitar solo of Sigalov, which mixes equal parts of flamenco, Far East scales, with a touch of Stephen Stills ("Carry On") tossed in the mix in an edgy and anxious monolog buffeted by precision percussion. It is as provocative as revealing. Callahan's evenly tempered voice proves a great match for the material. The sum of results is a svelte interpretation not within a light year of a cliche. In between lies "The Shadow of Your Smile" and the title track, both strategically performed to express the integral Latin without becoming saccharine or overstated. Callahan's and Seppa's tactical application of Joe Herrera's trumpet, Matt Rippetoe's saxophone and added percussion throughout ensure the intended stylistic tone is complete It is this careful balance of thought, planning, and application that makes this recording so appealing.~ C.Michael Bailey https://www.allaboutjazz.com/lost-in-a-dream-kristin-callahan-ivy-door

Personnel: Kristin Callahan: voice / vocals; Eliot Seppa: bass; Matvei Sigalov: guitar; Tom Teasley: percussion; Joe Herrera: trumpet; Matt Rippetoe: saxophone; Mark Prince: drums; Lee Pearson: drums; Carroll Dashiell III: drums.

Lost in a Dream