Monday, September 20, 2021

Conrad Herwig - The Latin Side of Horace Silver

Styles: Trombone Jazz
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 78:58
Size: 182,0 MB
Art: Front

( 7:38) 1. Nica's Dream
(10:38) 2. Song for My Father
(11:39) 3. The Gods of Yoruba
( 8:11) 4. Peace
( 9:27) 5. The Cape Verdean Blues
(10:52) 6. Filthy McNasty
( 8:55) 7. Silver's Serenade
(11:34) 8. Nutville

New York-based trombonist Conrad Herwig began exploring the "Latin side" of various jazz musicians in 1996, with The Latin Side of John Coltrane, which earned him the first of four Latin Grammy Award nominations. Since then, Herwig has done the same for Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson and, now, pianist Horace Silver. The formula is trim and solid; choose several of an artist's more notable compositions and recast them in a rhythmic Latin framework. For The Latin Side of Horace Silver, recorded live in 2017 (the notes don't say exactly where), arrangements are in the capable hands of Herwig (three), pianist Bill O'Connell (four) and Marc Stasio ("The Gods of the Yoruba").

This is basically an octet, which can sound larger or smaller than its size, depending on the context and the chart. (For examples of each, compare "Nica's Dream" or "Filthy McNasty" with "Peace" or "Silver's Serenade.") Herwig shares the front line with alto saxophonist Craig Handy, tenor saxophonist Igor Butman and trumpeter Alex Sipiagin. O'Connell plays the keyboard on five tracks, guest Michel Camilo on the other three, with Ruben Rodriguez on bass, Robby Ameen on drums and Richie Flores on congas. The other selections each of which, beyond any doubt, is well known to Silver's many fans are "Song for My Father" and "Nutville," which wraps up the concert.

The album's generous seventy-nine-minute running time affords ample room to stretch, and there are engaging south-of-the-border solos along the way by everyone on the front line, as well as by O'Connell, Camilo and Flores who also adds considerable energy and weight to the Latin pulse. The easygoing "Silver's Serenade" offers nearly nine minutes of (relative) calm, with Handy on flute and Sipiagin on flugelhorn (as they are on "Peace"). Even here, however, the Latin temperament holds sway and the rhythm never flags. Herwig, who has long been a champion of Latin music and culture, takes great pleasure in sharing that passion with others, and The Latin Side of Horace Silver looks to be a splendid candidate for a fifth Latin Grammy nomination.~Jack Bowers https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-latin-side-of-horace-silver-conrad-herwig-savant-records

Personnel: Conrad Herwig: trombone; Alex Sipiagin: trumpet; Craig Handy: saxophone, alto; Igor Butman: saxophone, tenor; Bill O'Connell: piano; Michel Camilo: piano; Ruben Rodriguez: bass; Robby Ameen: drums; Richie Flores: congas.

The Latin Side of Horace Silver

Sonny Stitt, Don Patterson - The Boss Men

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 76:52
Size: 176.0 MB
Styles: Bop, Saxophone jazz
Year: 2001
Art: Front

[3:47] 1. All God's Chillun Got Rhythm
[4:41] 2. Answering Service
[5:28] 3. Tangerine
[5:53] 4. Night Crawler
[3:19] 5. Who Can I Turn To
[5:58] 6. Star Eyes
[5:49] 7. Diane
[8:22] 8. Someday My Prince Will Come
[5:44] 9. Easy To Love
[5:35] 10. What's New
[3:13] 11. Big C's Rock
[7:52] 12. They Say It's Wonderful
[5:42] 13. Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone
[5:22] 14. 42639

In another of those two-fers that are going to tangle discographies for some time to come, this bears the title of a Don Patterson album, The Boss Men, and includes all of the material from that LP. However, this CD, though it's also called The Boss Men, is billed to both Sonny Stitt and Don Patterson, and combines the original Patterson The Boss Men LP with another album cut in 1965, Night Crawler, that was billed to Sonny Stitt, although it featured the exact same lineup (Stitt on alto sax, Patterson on organ, Billy James on drums) as The Boss Men. Not only that, the CD adds two cuts from a Patterson 1964 LP, Patterson's People, also featuring the Stitt-Patterson-James trio. As for the original The Boss Men, it's a respectable straight-ahead jazz-with-organ session. It's also very similar to so many other Prestige dates from the mid-'60s -- not to mention the other dates with featured the exact same three players as this LP does -- that it challenges the reviewer to come up with anything new, fresh, and exciting to say about the music. It's an even-tempered mix of up-tempo tunes and more meditative ones, the only original being Patterson's "Big C's Rock," which is far by the bluesiest and most riff-driven tune of the bunch. Night Crawler is a standard Stitt Prestige session (not to say a standard mid-'60s Prestige jazz session) that's not so much soul-jazz as solid, unexceptional straight-ahead boppish jazz with organ (just two of the six numbers are Stitt originals). He swings pretty hard on the opener, "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm," in which Patterson takes his own solo, with a skittering intensity that makes it the highlight of the LP. The soul-blues element comes more to the fore on the title track, with its syncopated beat; a bit of Afro-Cuban tempo sneaks into "Star Eyes"; and the interpretation of the pop standard "Who Can I Turn To?" is the lone slowie. ~Richie Unterberger

The Boss Men

Maynard Ferguson - Dimensions

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 1956
Time: 36:37
Size: 43,6 MB
Art: Front

(3:46) 1. Egad, Marths
(3:55) 2. Breakfast Dance
(2:55) 3. Maiden Voyage
(2:40) 4. Thou Swell
(2:50) 5. The Way You Look Tonight
(2:50) 6. All God's Children Got Rhythm
(2:37) 7. Slow Stroll
(3:24) 8. Wonder Why
(2:59) 9. Willie Nillie
(2:30) 10. Hymn To Her
(3:04) 11. Lonely Town
(3:01) 12. Somewhere Over The Rainbow

This Trip LP is a reissue of an earlier EmArcy album that has not yet appeared on CD. The always-impressive trumpeter Maynard Ferguson is featured with a nonet arranged by Bill Holman in 1955 and a septet from 1954. The concise performances include both standards and originals with all but two four-minute songs clocking in around three minutes; the soloists include Ferguson, trombonists Milt Bernhart and Herbie Harper, altoists Herb Geller and Bud Shank, baritonist Bob Gordon and Bob Cooper on tenor. Although not essential, the bop-oriented music is well-played and gives one a good taste of early Ferguson.~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/dimensions-mw0000919103

Personnel: Trumpet – Conte Candoli, Maynard Ferguson; Alto Saxophone, Flute – Bud Shank, Herb Geller; Baritone Saxophone – Bob Gordon ; Bass – Curtis Counce, Red Mitchell; Drums – Gary Frommer, Shelly Manne; Piano – Russ Freeman; Tenor Saxophone – Bob Cooper, Nino Tempo; Trombone – Herbie Harper, Milton Bernhart

Dimensions