Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers - Miss Smith To You!

Styles: Vocal, Swing, Big Band  
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:48
Size: 128,2 MB
Art: Front

(2:58)  1. Miss Brown To You
(3:38)  2. It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
(4:39)  3. Daddy
(6:37)  4. With My Man
(3:23)  5. I'm Not Evil
(2:54)  6. 'Deed I Do
(5:52)  7. I Ain't Got Nothin' But The Blues
(5:06)  8. Boogie Woogie (I May Be Wrong)
(4:21)  9. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
(6:17) 10. Need A Little Sugar In My Bowl
(4:13) 11. Jumpin' In The Morning
(5:45) 12. When The Saints Go Marching In

The third CD from the swingin' jazz vocalist Lavay Smith. Her last album received a prestigious 4 & 1/2 star review in Downbeat magazine and reached the top 10 on the national Billboard Jazz charts. https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/lavaysmithhrhsl

“Lavay is wonderful! She and her band are a breath of fresh air. It is so unlikely and so exciting that a band would appear on the scene today that plays classic jazz and blues so well and so convincingly.”~ Johnny Otis

“The San Francisco-based Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers are a notable exception to the retro-swing norm. The saucy vocalist and her eight-piece crew actually know the difference between jump music and bland R&B in corny suits. They have been a working unit since 1989 and sound as tight as the legendary musicians they choose to emulate.”~ Bob Blumenthal, Boston Globe

“A lush vocal style recalling both Bessie Smith and Dinah Washington.”~ Don Heckman, Los Angeles Times

“Splendid vocals and exemplary material.”~ Frank-John Hadley, Downbeat

“Hands-down the best thing to come out of the jump/swing revival...the gal can sing her tail off.”~ Paul de Barros, Seattle Times

“First-rate vocals...magnificent arrangements...the best combo in town.” ~ Phil Elwood, San Francisco Examiner

“A living testament to the jump-blues era, Lavay is an impassioned singer.”~ William Stephenson, Jazziz

“As close to the real deal as you can get.”~ Adam Mazmanian, The New York Press

“Pure class and a sense of humor...a time machine in vintage threads.”~ Tom Hyslop, Blues Revue

“As a singer, Smith is both ravishing and compelling, and her band, led by pianist Chris Siebert, is world-class.”~ Marian Wallace, Alternative Press Magazine

“Outstanding...the real deal. Unlike some retro-swing outfits that put posturing above musicianship, Smith and her red-hot musicians are schooled in the nuances of blues, swing, and bop.”~ Lee Hildebrand, East Bay Express

“The Skillet Lickers are bona fide jazz players, proffering chops and Basie-esque arrangements to shame all other modern groups of their ilk. Then there's Smith, whose sultry vocals readily betray the influence of Billie Holiday, Little Esther and Dinah Washington while sounding slavish to none.”~ Buddy Siegal, Orange County Weekly

“Folks, no matter how bad your day has been, this CD is guaranteed to make you feel better.”~ Dan Akroyd (a.k.a. Elwood Blues), House of Blues Radio Hour

“I love this band-they’re great!”~ President Bill Clinton

Miss Smith To You!

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Dave Schildkraut - Last Date

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1979
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:53
Size: 139,7 MB
Art: Front

(9:23) 1. All The Things You Are
(6:14) 2. Cherokee
(7:41) 3. Now's The Time
(6:18) 4. Lover Man
(6:16) 5. Thou Swell
(5:31) 6. It Might As Well Be Spring
(7:24) 7. Confirmation
(3:12) 8. 52nd Street Theme
(5:32) 9. Polka Dots And Moonbeams
(3:19) 10. Stars And Stripes Forever

The fact that the name Dave Schildkraut doesn't always ring bells among the jazz cognoscenti constitutes one of the sad realities of jazz history. He appeared with a flourish on a Miles Davis Prestige session, Solar (on alto), in 1954. He played with some notables before and after that, and appeared as sideman on a few other records, but mostly was lost in a haze of obscurity. To me he epitomizes the "falling off the face of the earth" syndrome. What happened? There are reasons. He apparently turned down some key opportunities, to record for Norman Granz, etc. Why that was I do not know. I only know that on the basis of the Miles session I knew from the first hearing that this was a very promising, even important saxophonist. Over the years I was only able to track down one old LP, a private recording where he was playing in a pickup group for one of the sides. It was a poor recording and didn't do justice to Dave's playing.

I recently found out through the kindness of saxophonist/author Allen Lowe that there was something else. Dave recorded in a New Haven club in 1979, right before he retired. In fact Allen was the man who ran a tape recorder to capture the gig. And the CD has apparantly been out since 2000. Last Date (Endgame 005) ironically, is also the only (real) date of Schildkraut as a leader. With the proviso that "last" is not least, I was very happy when Allen was kind enough to send me a copy. And listening to it for a number of times now, I am not disappointed in what is on there. It's a home tape recorder that captures the extended set and the balance is not entirely perfect. But Dave comes through loud and clear, on tenor and alto, sounding a bit more evolved than what he did in 1954, occasionally faltering a little in his phrasing, but also unleashing torrents of bop/post-bop phrasing that show a sound his own and a sense of timing and line weaving that fully justifies the legend that he is in some circles. It's not a perfect recording; he is not perfect on that last date; the band is OK but doesn't stand out, though pianist Bill Triglia gets some decent solo time.

It is Dave playing bop standards and songbook standards in ways that suggest he of course had internalized Bird, and had some relation in his playing to early Trane and the Tristano saxophonists (Konitz, Marsh). But really he falls from the sax tree to a place of his own. Since we don't have a lot of documentation of his playing this CD becomes an indispensible record for all who would seek to dig him. He was good. VERY good. Original? Sounds that way to me. Listen!~ GREGO EDWARDS https://www.allaboutjazz.com/news/dave-schildkraut-last-date-august-12-1979/

Personnel: Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Dave Schildkraut; Bass – Jeff Fuller; Drums – Frank Bennett; Piano – Bill Triglia

Last Date

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Lisa Ekdahl - Grand Songs

Styles: Vocal
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:15
Size: 87,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:08) 1. Wish You Were Gay
(4:20) 2. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
(3:34) 3. If I Were a Boy
(3:49) 4. Stop! In the Name of Love
(3:50) 5. Most of the Time
(3:26) 6. I Should Have Known Better
(4:07) 7. Till the Rivers All Run Dry
(3:06) 8. Dream a Little Dream of Me
(3:48) 9. Take a Giant Step
(4:03) 10. You Can Close Your Eyes

After more than 20 years of career, 2 million albums sold and 200 million streams on platforms, the Swedish singer with the unique vocal signature releases an album with English covers of great songs pop of yesterday and today: Grand Songs. The choice of songs is a message in itself. It's a time machine, reflecting the dizzying abundance of the digital age. A secret advantage of covers is also to modestly send very personal messages, through the words of another. "This is true for me as it is for any listener. If a song touches you deeply, it's often because it offers expression to intimate feelings", Lisa explains.

Upon arrival, "Grand Songs" is a very interesting step in Lisa's musical journey. Charming, tender, surprising. Her versions of Billie Eilish or Beyoncé show that she can connect with the most contemporary pop, while remaining faithful to her style. Grand Songs turns out to be dreamlike, poetic and timeless, Jazzy with a pinch of Soul and Folk. The quintessential 'Feel Good' album! https://www.bengans.se/sv/artiklar/ekdahl-lisa-grand-songs.html

Grand Songs

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