Sunday, August 22, 2021

Carol Kidd - Crazy for Gershwin

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:41
Size: 127,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:31) 1. I Got Plenty O' Nuttin'
(3:53) 2. I've got a crush on you
(3:28) 3. Ain't necessarily so
(5:39) 4. Someone to watch over me
(4:05) 5. Little jazz bird
(4:29) 6. Do it again
(3:58) 7. Stormy weather
(3:53) 8. Summertime
(2:19) 9. Sometimes (not often)
(3:32) 10. Is you is or is you ain't my baby
(4:42) 11. Smile
(5:16) 12. Porgy
(3:46) 13. Drifting
(3:02) 14. Rock-a-bye your baby with a dixie melody

For over a decade, jazz singer Carol Kidd has managed to consistently pull in accolades, "Best Awards," and honors from an arena consisting of all-time greats such as Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sarah Vaughan. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Kidd has known since she was five years old that she was a singer. While raising three children and running a hotel, she sang part-time all over Britain, performing on-stage and on television. Her full-time professional career began in 1990 when Frank Sinatra issued her an invitation to appear live with him at Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow, in front of a capacity crowd. British jazz lovers gave rave reviews and Kidd was invited to sing at London's internationally acclaimed Ronnie Scott's Club, where she was heard by Tony Bennett. The momentum of her success picked up and she was voted the Best Performer at the Edinburgh International Jazz. In 1990 she also signed with Linn Record, and the label released her debut album, The Night We Called It a Day. The album was voted Best Jazz Recording at the U.K. Musical Retailer's Awards. After being named Best Vocalist at the Cannes International Jazz Awards, Kidd began to receive invitations to appear all over Europe, the Far East, and the United States.

Kidd's respect for the integrity of lyrics often set her apart from other jazz singers, but it was her combination of big band songs and jazz, always sung in perfect pitch, that captured fans. Linn released her sophomore album, I'm Glad We Met in 1991, and Kidd continued performing worldwide throughout the '90s. In 1998, Linn released one album for her, and the Honest label released two more, including the extra popular All My Tomorrows. Honest also came out with a compilation, The Best of Carol Kidd, Vol. 1, in 1998. In April 1998, Kidd had the honor of presenting the prizes at The Duke of Edinburgh's Awards, held at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh. That same year she met with the Queen and Prince Philip in Windsor Castle at a Reception for the Arts, and she was also listed on The Queen's Birthday Honours List. This was followed in October 1998 by Prince Charles presenting her with the MBE (Services to Jazz) award in Buckingham Palace, and his also requesting that Kidd send him some of her CDs.

Some of the other awards bestowed on Kidd during the '90s were: Best Vocalist from Cannes International Jazz Awards; Best Performer, from Edinburgh Jazz Festival; Best Vocalist, from U.K. Jazz Awards; and Best Jazz Recording, from U.K. Music Retailers Awards. In 2000, Linn released both the compilation Linn Box Two and the album Crazy for Gershwin, which reflected the world's love both for the endearing Gershwin songs and for Kidd. By 2001 three of her tracks had become theme songs for TV soaps in Asia where she had become a major star. In Korea, her rendition of "When I Dream" became the background music for the Korean film Shiri, and she held the number one spot week after week on the Asian Music Box charts over names like Britney Spears, Celine Dion, and Mariah Carey. Linn released A Place in My Heart, with Kidd singing with the legendary Robert Farnon Orchestra, in May 2001. Farnon (born in 1917, Toronto, Canada) lives in Europe and has decades of big band experience composing, arranging, and conducting popular and light music. Recording together, Kidd and Farnon pulled rave reviews with 12 favorite tracks such as "Pennies From Heaven," "The Sunny Side of the Street," "I Get Along Without You Very Well," and "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered." Kidd filled the rest of 2001 with three major concerts in Singapore and one in Cambodia, plus returning once again to her homeland to do a major concert at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.~ Eleanor Ditzel https://www.allmusic.com/artist/carol-kidd-mn0000795936/biography

Crazy for Gershwin

Kirk Lightsey - Isotope

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1983
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:02
Size: 126,5 MB
Art: Front

( 7:00)  1. Isotope
( 5:03)  2. Oleo
( 9:51)  3. Pee Wee
( 8:03)  4. Witch Hunt
( 5:34)  5. A Monk's Dream
(12:49)  6. Little Daphne
( 6:40)  7. I'll Never Stop Loving You

Kirk Lightsey has long been an underrated modern mainstream pianist. He has a fine workout on this trio set with bassist Jesper Lundgaard and drummer Eddie Gladden from 1983. Of the six selections, Sonny Rollins' "Oleo" and Joe Henderson's "Isotope" are best known, but the other four tunes (by Johnny Griffin, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams and the obscure Rudolph Johnson) are rarely performed. The strong interplay between the musicians and the interesting material uplift the set above the average trio date. 
~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/isotope-mw0000100262

Personnel: Kirk Lightsey (piano), Jesper Lundgaard (bass), Eddie Gladden (drums).

Isotope

Marcin Wądołowski Trio - Standards

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:20
Size: 147.3 MB
Styles: Guitar jazz
Year: 2016
Art: Front

[7:48] 1. Equinox
[7:05] 2. Solar
[6:54] 3. All The Things You Are
[7:57] 4. Central Park West
[5:26] 5. Giant Steps
[6:50] 6. Nardis
[5:32] 7. Take Five
[4:57] 8. I Love You
[6:20] 9. Have You Met Miss Jones
[5:27] 10. Now's The Time

This is the fourth album by Polish guitarist Marcin Wądołowski, recoded in an intimate trio setting with the superb Polish Jazz bassist Piotr Lemańczyk and Canadian Drummer Tyler Hornby. The trio performs ten Jazz standards, three of which are by John Coltrane and two by Miles Davis. The album is dedicated to the two great Masters of Polish Jazz guitar: Marek Bliziński and Jarosław Śmietana, both sadly no longer with us.

Previous recordings by Wądołowski flirted with Jazz to some extent, but this one presents him for the first time as a bona fide Jazz player. The delicate arrangements, the careful selection of the tunes and their wonderful execution are all kept within the strict Jazz idiom, shearing away all the Blues-Rock or Fusion elements present on his older recordings. The transformation is quite remarkable.

Wądołowski's approach is very minimalistic and remarkably clean. The music is kept low key, almost acoustic, in order to emphasize every single note and chord, which thanks to the excellent recording quality are all perfectly audible. The guitar plays long beautifully structured solos, often introducing the tunes alone before the bass and drums join in. Even when the whole trio plays together, the music is still very unobtrusive and deliberately constrained. A wonderful atmosphere of relaxation and contemplation is present through out the entire duration of the music.

Overall this is a wonderful album from start to finish: fascinating guitar licks, breathtaking bass solos, superb selection of tunes and innovative nontrivial arrangements make it a brilliant listening experience. Yes it's mainstream and yes these are standards – this is exactly what was supposed to happen here and the result speaks for itself. In retrospect I am very glad Wądołowski recorded this album and proved his versatility and his skills as a player to all those who dismissed him in the past. This is definitely one of the finest Polish Jazz guitar albums ever recorded and a solid tribute to the past Masters. Hats off! ~Adam Baruch

Standards

Liz Gillies, Seth MacFarlane - Liz Gillies and Seth MacFarlane: Songs From Home

Styles: Vocal
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 21:18
Size: 49,8 MB
Art: Front

(2:29) 1. It’s A Good Day
(2:16) 2. Ain't We Got Fun?
(2:51) 3. Calcutta
(2:57) 4. Drinking Again
(2:40) 5. Come To The Mardi Gras
(2:45) 6. Better Than A Dream
(2:31) 7. This Could Be The Start Of Something Big
(2:46) 8. It Doesn't Cost A Dime To Dream

Liz Gillies and Seth MacFarlane have put together quite possibly the strangest musical duo, giving us a throwback right to the swinging fifties with their newest single: Ain’t We Got Fun. MacFarlane has already established himself as a strong and confident voice in the world of modern swing, but Liz Gillies was certainly a welcome surprise.

A lot of people, and especially young adults of this generation know the singer as the rebellious teen Jade West in Nickelodeon’s Victorious, and to see her tackle a project like this was unexpected to say the least. Vocal jazz has been an art only kept alive by a very small selection of artists, such as Michael Bublé, Tony Bennett, and MacFarlane himself. The Family Guy creator is an embodiment of Sinatra himself – the swagger, the charm, and the tone are all present in this record. His presence in this record gives so much life to the sound already beautifully crafted by the band, but it’s really Seth that brings you back to a time of old as soon as he starts singing.

Liz does a wonderful job as well, though her performance maybe pales a bit in comparison to the jazz veteran, but her voice’s contrast with MacFarlane make for a wonderful duet that both feels vintage and true. Their banter between the melodious phrases give all the more charm to this tune – you can almost hear them smile recording this record, and I believe that that’s the point of this record. Traditional pop in this style is fun and snappy, and that’s exactly what this song manages to send out to its listeners. The melodies are energetic and the production feels full of life, giving new listeners a window into music’s golden years. This single, as well as the rest of the LP, is a fun collaboration between two incredible talents, and the chemistry feels as lively as the soul in the swing of Ain’t We Got Fun.~ Nicholas Gaudet https://musictalkers.com/reviews/7700-review-ain-t-we-got-fun-%E2%80%93-liz-gillies-seth-macfarlane

Personnel: Seth MacFarlane, vocals; Liz Gillies, vocals; Andrew Synowiec, guitar; Culbreath, vibraphone;Dan Higgins, woodwinds; Dan Fornero, trumpet; Alex Iles, trombone; Tom Ranier, piano; Chuck Berghofer, bass; Peter Erskine, drums

Liz Gillies and Seth MacFarlane: Songs From Home