Rebecca Kilgore - With Hal Smith's California Swing Cats

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:03
Size: 148.9 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2015
Art: Front

[2:47] 1. With Plenty Of Money And You
[3:48] 2. 'deed I Do
[4:30] 3. Sleepy Time Down South
[2:40] 4. Swing, Brother, Swing
[3:51] 5. Georgia On My Mind
[4:13] 6. You
[3:59] 7. I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me
[4:09] 8. Thou Swell
[4:30] 9. A Kiss To Build A Dream On
[2:43] 10. Piano Man
[4:32] 11. When My Dreamboat Comes Home
[4:03] 12. Drum Boogie
[3:57] 13. What A Little Moonlight Can Do
[5:08] 14. Sing, Sing, Sing
[3:12] 15. Pardon My Southern Accent
[3:30] 16. Cow Cow Boogie
[3:24] 17. La Vie En Rose

As an interpreter of classic American popular songs from the 1930s and 1940s, vocalist and guitarist Rebecca Kilgore helped revive the hits of yesterday for modern-era jazz audiences. Born in Waltham, MA, in 1949, she relocated to Portland, OR, at the age of 30, beginning her music career fronting an area swing band dubbed the Wholly Cats and recording a 1982 LP titled Doggin' Around. Following the group's 1984 breakup, she formed her own unit, the Rebecca Kilgore Quintet, which quickly emerged as a mainstay of the Northwest jazz scene, and in 1989, she released the cassette-only I Hear Music. Most of Kilgore's subsequent recordings were in conjunction with other performers: In 1990, she teamed with John Miller for Put on a Happy Face, and in 1993 appeared with Portland's Tall Jazz Trio on their Plays Winter Jazz disc. However, Kilgore's most fruitful collaborations were in conjunction with pianist Dave Frishberg; after teaming for 1993's Looking at You, they reunited a year later for I Saw Stars, followed in 1997 by Not a Care in the World and again in 2001 with The Starlit Hour. At the same time, Kilgore also fronted a '60s-style country band, Beck-a-Roo, and in 1994 contributed vocals to the score of the CBS animated special Tales From the Far Side, inspired by the popular Gary Larson comic strip. ~ bio by Jason Ankeny

With Hal Smith's California Swing Cats

---

Clark Tracey Quintet - No Doubt

Styles: Contemporary Jazz
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320 K/s
Time: 50:17
Size: 80,9 MB
Art: Front

( 9:37) 1. The Prince
(12:07) 2. Foxy Trot
( 5:37) 3. The Star-Crossed Lovers
( 9:41) 4. Pools
(13:12) 5. Top Dog

With each release, Clark Tracey finds new ways to keep the music he loves so passionately not just alive and kicking, but also manages to showcase emerging new talent. How he continue to do this is anyone's guess, but mine would be that he keeps a sharp eye on the BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year competition (where three members of his new quintet were finalists) and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire where he is a visiting tutor. From there he seems to have the uncanny knack of selecting not just the cream of the current crop, but young musicians who he feels that will benefit from the exposure to the style of jazz he is so fiercely protective of, and then nurturing them in a band that learns on the job.

It is therefore much to the credit of all concerned that this new album not just follows in the shadow of Tracey's former aggregations, but also stands up to be counted purely on its own merits. The quintet tackle an interesting and ambitious programme with aplomb. Altoist, Sean Payne, make his mark with some wonderful playing on Ellington and Strayhorn's "The Star-Crossed Lovers" and on his own composition "The Prince" with his blistering solo a real highlight. This track is cleverly modulated between interesting theme statement, controlled tempo, and some freewheeling soloing from alto, nicely balanced with some taut playing from Alex Ridout on trumpet. Ridout also gets to show her mastery of her instrument on a fine reading of "Foxy Trot" by Kenny Wheeler, and like her front line partner is also able to present one of her own compositions, "Top Dog", arranged for quintet in a delightful arrangement that would not be out of place coming from the Blue Note label of the sixties, yet retaining an utterly contemporary feel and providing a fine vehicle for some more fine solos from these young musicians.

Throughout, Tracey's presence is felt, providing a firm guiding hand on proceedings. The rhythm section as we have come to expect from one of Clark's bands is rock solid, with an elasticity that is flexible to go with, and shape the music wherever it may lead. Add to this the sensitive accompaniment that pianist Elliott Sansom brings to the table, along with some assured solos, just listen to his outing on Alex Ridout's "Top Dog" and the sparkling solo on "Pools" by Don Grolnick. All in all another superb album from a band that sound like they have certainly got it together in the recording studio, but who should really be heard live. Catch them while you can.~ Nick Lea https://www.jazzviews.net/clark-tracey-quintet---no-doubt.html

Personnel: Clark Tracey (drums); Alex Ridout (trumpet & flugelhorn); Sean Payne (alto saxophone); Elliott Sansom (piano); James Owston (doyble bass)

No Doubt

---

Ben (L'Oncle Soul) - Soul Wash

Styles: Vocal, Soul
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 20:44
Size: 47,6 MB
Art: Front

(2:56) 1. Seven Nation Army
(2:41) 2. Crazy
(4:17) 3. Barbie Girl
(3:52) 4. Sympathique
(3:14) 5. I Kissed A Girl
(3:41) 6. Say You'll Be There

Ben l'Oncle Soul is a French soul singer with a retro style who made his eponymous Top Five hit album debut in 2010. Born Benjamin Duterde in 1984 in Tours, Indre-et-Loire, France, he took his name and look from Uncle Ben, the fictitious elderly African-American man dressed in a bow tie who serves as the brand image of Uncle Ben's Rice. The moniker Ben l'Oncle Soul was chosen rather than Uncle Ben to avoid any charges of trademark infringement. Years before Duterde adopted the Ben l'Oncle Soul moniker, he got his professional start as a vocalist in the Fitiavana Gospel Choir, which he joined in 2004. The Tours-based gospel choir made its album debut with I Have a Dream (2009), a collection of English-language soul classics such as "Killing Me Softly," "Lean on Me," and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman."

In turn, Duterde was offered a solo recording deal with the French division of Motown Records. Billing himself as Ben l'Oncle Soul, he made his solo recording debut with the Soul Wash EP (2009). Comprised of cover material, the majority of it sung in English, the six-track EP is performed in a retro style informed by the Motown and Stax sounds of the 1960s. A cover of the Gnarls Barkley smash hit "Crazy" was released as a single. A half-year later, Duterde made his full-length debut with the eponymous album Ben l'Oncle Soul (2010). Produced by Guillaume Poncelet and Gabin Lesieur, the album is comprised entirely of original material, plus the cover version of the White Stripes hit "Seven Nation Army" from the Soul Wash EP. With "Seven Nation Army" released as its lead single, Ben l'Oncle Soul was a Top Five hit on the French albums chart.~ Jason Birchmeier https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ben-loncle-soul-mn0002459668/biography

Soul Wash

---

Asleep At The Wheel - Half a Hundred Years

File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:24
Size: 161,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:34) 1. Half a Hundred Years
(3:06) 2. It's the Same Old South
(3:46) 3. I Do What I Must
(4:00) 4. There You Go Again (feat. Lyle Lovett)
(3:34) 5. My Little Baby
(4:08) 6. Paycheck to Paycheck
(2:38) 7. Word to the Wise (feat. Bill Kirchen)
(2:59) 8. That's How I Remember It
(2:55) 9. The Photo
(3:34) 10. I Love You Most of All (When You're Not Here)
(3:43) 11. The Wheel Boogie
(4:01) 12. Take Me Back to Tulsa (feat. George Strait and Willie Nelson)
(3:37) 13. The Letter That Johnny Walker Read (feat. Lee Ann Womack)
(4:04) 14. Bump Bounce Boogie (feat. Chris O'Connell, Katie Shore, and Elizabeth McQueen)
(3:18) 15. Miles and Miles of Texas
(3:11) 16. (Get Your Kicks on) Route 66 (feat. Leroy Preston, Johnny Nicholas, and Ray Benson)
(3:33) 17. Marie (feat. Willie Nelson)
(3:24) 18. Spanish Two Step (feat. Johnny Gimble and Jesse Ashlock)
(4:11) 19. The Road Will Hold Me Tonight (feat. Emmylou Harris and Willie Nelson)

Asleep at the Wheel, the long-running and influential Western-swing band, will mark 50 years together with a new album. The aptly titled Half a Hundred Years will be released in October and features a number of all-star guests. The Wheel preview the upcoming LP with the title track, released on Friday. Elevated by buoyant horns and singer Ray Benson’s drawling baritone, the track is the ultimate road song: “I’ve been on the road for half a hundred years,” Benson boasts. “I was trying to get across the sacrifices you have to make in 50 years on the road and the other positive side of it. The great experiences, the places I’ve been, and all the amazing people I’ve had the opportunity to meet and play music with,” Benson said in a statement.

The album Half a Hundred Years spans 19 songs includes a number of A-list collaborations: George Strait, Emmylou Harris, Lyle Lovett, Lee Ann Womack, and Bill Kirchen all pop up. Willie Nelson, who paired with Asleep at the Wheel for 2009’s Willie and the Wheel, appears on no less than three tracks. He also earns a shout-out in the title song. “I might catch up to Willie one of these days,” Benson ad libs, paying homage to the enduring road warrior. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/asleep-at-the-wheel-50th-anniversary-new-album-1208853/

Half a Hundred Years

---