Saturday, November 20, 2021

Joe Farnsworth Quartet - My Heroes: Tribute To The Legends

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:44
Size: 116,3 MB
Art: Front

(5:46) 1. George's Dilenma
(7:35) 2. Moanin'
(5:27) 3. No Fills
(4:44) 4. Syeeda's Song Flute
(1:43) 5. Here We Go, Here We Go
(6:23) 6. Cute
(3:38) 7. Two Bass Hit
(7:50) 8. Greensleaves
(3:02) 9. Musashi
(4:33) 10. Reflection

Joe Farnsworth is already regarded as one of the top jazz drummers in the world, but as far as he is concerned, he is just getting started. He is dedicated to the great tradition of jazz drumming as conceived by men like Max Roach, Roy Haynes, Elvin Jones, Billy Higgins and Arthur Taylor and it keeps him in the practice room trying to continue and extend it. Joe was born on February 21, 1968 in South Hadley, Massachusetts into an unusually musical family. His father was a renowned music teacher who immersed his five sons, and it became clear early on that, Joe as the youngest would choose a career in music and would ultimately be a great success. His eldest brother, John, a renowned trombone and saxophone player, exposed him at the age of 12, to the music of Count Basie, John Coltrain, Charlie Parker and the drumming of Tony Williams which led Joe to seek lessons with Alan Dawson out of Boston.

Ultimately enrolling in William Patterson College in New Jersey, he met and befriended Harold Mabern who introduced him to tenor saxophonist George Coleman. Both Harold and George became major influences on Farnsworth's playing. During this time, Joe also sought out and studied with Art Taylor and became friends with saxophonist Eric Alexander. After moving to New York City with brother James, a saxophonist for Ray Charles (1992-1999) when he unexpectedly passed away, Joe became the leader on Friday and Saturday nights as the infamous jazz club Augie's (now Smoke) where he would meet and play with Junior Cook, Cecil Payne, John Ore, Big John Patton, Harold Mabern, Eddie Henderson and John Jenkins. Joe's undeniable talent and hard work ethic started to pay off. He began working with Jon Hendriks in 1992 and then with Diana Krall off and on until he became a full member for a year and half from 1999-2000.

Joe Farnsworth is now known as one of the most recorded drummers on the scene, with over 70 cd's behind him, for musicians such as Wynton Marsalis, Cedar Walton, Pharoah Sanders, Eric Alexander and Benny Golson. His first recording as a leader, “Beautiful Friendship” (Crisscross Records) featured pianist Cedar Walton and trumpeteer Eddie Henderson while his second, “It's Prime Time” (88 Records) included special guest artists Ron Carter, Curtis Fuller, Benny Golson and Harold Mabern, Jr. At 38, Joe has already performed on most of the greatest American and international stages. He appears regularly at New York City clubs like The Village Vanguard (Wynton Marsalis, Cedar Walton), Blue Note (Johnny Griffin, Horace Silver), Birdland (Lou Donaldson), Iridium (George Coleman, Pharoah Sanders) and Jazz at Lincoln Center (Wynton Marsalis). In any given year he is likely to be found backing major artists at the leading jazz clubs and festivals all over the world.

Farnsworth, also a regular on the Jazz Festival scene, has played with Benny Green, Diana Krall (Montreal Jazz Festival), Curtis Fuller and Barry Harris (Northsea Jazz Festival), Pori Jazz Festival, Red Sea Festival and Umbria just to name a few. As a straight-ahead jazz musician, Joe has been compared to his idol “...not unlike Max Roach in his ability to combine furious playing with structural cogency, Farnsworth audaciously travels around the set, establishing unifying ideas without interrupting the barrage of strokes...”

Orthman goes on to describe Joe's career including “...venerable leaders ranging from George Coleman to Benny Golson to Cedar Walton, who frequently call on him to light a fire under their bands. The ability to set all kinds of material in motion, minus fuss and clutter, has also placed him in a coterie of younger, tradition-minded musicians like Eric Alexander (a college classmate during the late 80's), Steve Davis, David Hazeltine and Jim Rotundi, a group of young players that are regulars at Smoke a jazz club in NYC.

In 2006, Japanese label, Commodore Records, will release Farnsworth's third cd, “Drumspeak”. which is sure to change the flavor of drums in jazz today. “Drumspeak” is touted as a festival of musical language incorporating traditional jazz with percussions, drums and various instruments from Japan, Latin-America, Africa and the U.S. Commodore Records will release “Drumspeak” later this year. https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/joe-farnsworth

Personnel: Drums – Joe Farnsworth; Piano – Harold Mabern; Tenor Saxophone – Eric Alexander; Bass – Nat Reeves

My Heroes Tribute To The Legends

Dizzy Gillespie & His Orchestra - A Portrait Of Duke Ellington

Styles: Trumpet Jazz, Big Band
Year: 1984
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:18
Size: 99,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:45) 1. In A Mellow Tone
(4:52) 2. Things Ain't What They Used To Be
(4:21) 3. Serenade To Sweden
(2:34) 4. Chelsea Bridge
(3:04) 5. Upper Manhattan Medical Group
(2:37) 6. Do Nothin Till You Hear From Me
(5:20) 7. Caravan
(3:17) 8. Sophisticated Lady
(3:36) 9. Johnny Come Lately
(4:49) 10. Perdido
(2:58) 11. Come Sunday

A Portrait of Duke Ellington is an album featuring trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and orchestra performing compositions associated with Duke Ellington, recorded in 1960 and released on the Verve label. All of the orchestral arrangements were provided by then Hi-Lo's accompanist and sometimes arranger Clare Fischer, hired on the basis of a previously recorded but unreleased album with strings, arranged by Fischer for erstwhile University of Michigan classmate Donald Byrd. Byrd played the tape for Gillespie; Gillespie liked what he heard.

Unfortunately for Fischer, especially in light of the critical accolades given the eventual fruit of his, and Gillespie's, labor, Fischer's name was nowhere to be found on the finished LP; widespread awareness of his participation would have to await the CD reissue almost 2½ decades later.

The AllMusic review awarded the album 4.5 stars. The album's original LP release received 5 stars from Billboard, though, owing to Verve's aforementioned oversight, Fischer's contribution went unnoticed. In fact, it was only through the efforts of The Washington Post's Tony Gieske that this, as well as two of Fischer's other groundbreaking efforts in this period, were acknowledged and documented. Regarding the Gillespie LP, Gieske noted:

And on A Portrait of Duke Ellington (Verve MG V 8386), that depth and skill, stimulated by a change in the stale Gillespie repertoire and compemented by rich, radically imaginative arrangements by, I am told, Clare Fischer, result in a really classic album. Fischer, a young conservatory graduate, is a new name to be reckoned with. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Portrait_of_Duke_Ellington

Personnel: Dizzy Gillespie - trumpet; Bennie Green - trombone; Ray Alonge, Richard Berg, Joe Singer - French horn; Jay McAllister - tuba; Robert DiDomenica - flute; Ernest Bright, John Murtaugh, Paul Richie, Stan Webb - woodwinds; George Devens - vibraphone; Hank Jones - piano, celesta; George Duvivier - bass; Charlie Persip - drums; Clare Fischer - arranger, director

A Portrait Of Duke Ellington

David Basse - Uptown

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:03
Size: 119.2 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2009
Art: Front

[5:10] 1. Uptown
[2:34] 2. Something Fried
[3:32] 3. 52nd & Broadway
[6:04] 4. Like Jazz
[3:29] 5. You Won't Hear Me Say Goodbye
[3:26] 6. Living Without You
[4:04] 7. Slow Boat To China
[4:17] 8. Parker's Mood
[4:35] 9. Bidin' My Time
[4:09] 10. Traffic Jam
[6:16] 11. But Anyhow The Blues Don't Care
[4:20] 12. I've Got The World On A String

David Basse: vocals; Phil Woods: alto saxophone; Mike Melvoin: piano; Steve Gilmore: bass; Bill Goodwin: drums.

West Coast singer Mark Winkler (Sweet Spot [Cafe Pacific Records, 2011]) heard David Basse and immediately signed him to his Cafe Pacific Records. Uptown is the first product of this partnership and, for the sake of the male jazz singer, does not come a moment too soon. There exists a huge disparity between female and male singers singing "serious" jazz. For the sake of context, the serious male jazz singers include Mark Murphy and Jon Hendricks (both in the autumn of their spectacular careers) as well as Kurt Elling and Andy Bey (still vital). The vast majority of what passes for as male jazz singers are more cabaret singers, the finest ones including Jim Caruso (The Swing Set [Yellow Sound Music, 2011]) and the aforementioned Winkler.

Basse has one of those confident yet moody voices that totally lacks self-consciousness, something necessary for jazz vocals. His recital on Uptown is a compelling collection of standards and originals tending toward a more conservative (read that: mainstream) vein of vocal performance. However, Basse is not afraid to take on King Pleasure and his brilliant adaptation of Charlie Parker's "Parker's Mood." In doing so, Basse pays special homage to those artists and the art of vocalese, a dying art in competency. Add the presence of Parker scholar Phil Woods and a sublime performance emerges. A perfect union of the blues in jazz, Woods introduces the piece with a chorus of the real thing. Pianist Mike Melvoin and Woods get grand solo space and proceed to show why this "old music" is so important. Basse plays things pretty straight without harnessing the ebullient personality of Pleasure, Parker, the blues, or jazz. ~C. Michael Bailey

Uptown

Klaus Mayer Big Band - Swing Nights

Size: 103,6 MB
Time: 39:03
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2015
Styles: Jazz: Big Band, Vocals
Art: Front

01. Fly Me To The Moon (2:40)
02. Deed I Do (3:08)
03. Night And Day (3:33)
04. At Last (4:19)
05. Comes Love (3:57)
06. It Don't Mean A Thing (2:00)
07. I´ve Got The World On A String (3:01)
08. Cheek To Cheek (3:39)
09. Teach Me Tonight (3:48)
10. Time After Time (2:48)
11. Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen (4:23)
12. When You're Smiling/The Sheik Of Araby (1:39)

Exciting collection of big band song and swing from Mexico´s premier big band. Interpreted by young and talented musicians from Guadalajara, Mexico (the youngest one being 16 years old) under the direction of the Austrian saxophonist and bandleader Klaus Mayer. Features a young vocalist whose exceptional talent has led her to develop a unique and intriguing style that exudes youth yet reminds one of the maturity, brilliance and freshness of the great ladies of song Billy Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Etta James. Klaus Mayer, Austrian citizen, who left his country to play jazz in the US and then moved to Mexico where he found fertile grounds and acceptance for his music, formed the band in 2009 inviting young instrumentalists of Guadalajara, Mexico hungry to learn the craft of playing jazz and big band. Initially the band had five horns (term musicians use for wind instruments), a rhythm section of three (piano, bass and drums) and a singer. Over the next six years the instrumentation expanded and now there are five saxophones, three trumpets, three trombones, piano, guitar, drums, bass and vocals. The band has performed with some of Mexico´s famous rock singers like Jose Fors (Cuca), Ugo Rodriguez (Azul Violeta), Sara Valenzuela (La Dosis) and other singers and songwriters like Ricardo Caballero (La Academia), Paola Vergara, Jaramar, Henry Reneau (Afro Brothers) among others. The band is a steady at Mexico´s jazz festivals. It also has done concerts with some important jazz players and big band directors who live in the US like Alex Sipiagin (Mingus Big Band, Dave Holland Sextet), Boris Kozlov (Mingus Big Band), Pete Rodriguez (Celia Cruz, Johnny Pacheco, Tito Puente), Dave Douglas (SF Jazz Collective, John Zorn). The band has steadily expanded its repertoires starting out studying the styles of the orchestras of Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Buddy Rich, Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Count Basie.

Trombones:
Armando González (Gerzz) 1st tenor and bass trombone
Hugo Ayanegui 2nd tenor trombone (Trombone solo on Comes Love)
Adrián Nava 3rd tenor trombone
Samuel Flores Bass and additional tenor trombones
Rodrigo Sandoval additional tenor trombone

Trumpets:
José Luis Alemán 1st and additional trumpet
Oliver García 2nd trumpet
Cesar López 3rd trumpet
Omar Rosales 4th trumpet
Chai Flores additional trumpets

Saxofones:
Sara Ventura Sax 1st Alto Sax
Fernando García 2nd Alto Sax
Klaus Mayer Sax 1st Tenor and Baritone Sax
Juan Daniel Morfín Sax 2nd Tenor Sax

Rhythm section:
Alejandro Castro Bass
Jorge González Piano
Andrés Gallegos Drums
Erik Kasten Guitar

Vocals:
Ana Sandoval

Swing Nights

Andrea Superstein - Worlds Apart

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:31
Size: 115,4 MB
Art: Front

(4:02)  1. Nouveau
(3:22)  2. I Tried
(4:20)  3. De Temps en Temps
(0:41)  4. Be Your Woman
(4:28)  5. You Spend
(3:17)  6. Angel Eyes
(4:26)  7. Never Let It Go
(4:32)  8. Star Blues (Part 1)
(3:06)  9. My Favourite Things (Mes Joies Quotidiennes)
(6:10) 10. Hakol
(4:10) 11. Don't Think Twice It's Alright
(4:04) 12. Garden of Love
(2:47) 13. Star Blues (Part 2)

Jazz musician Andrea Superstein is known for her powerful voice and indie jazz sound. Her third album, Worlds Apart, is a meticulously arranged blend of reimagined classics, and electro-infused original songs. "The added layer of having composed and written a lot of the music and lyrics definitely gives me confidence," Superstein told Hot Air host Margaret Gallagher. The album's title comes from Superstein's relationship with her hometown, Montreal, and her current home, Vancouver. "Montreal still holds a strong place in my heart. Those two cities could not be any more different from each other … [it's] kind of reconciling my love for both places." All the original music on Worlds Apart was written in Vancouver, and every track was recorded in Montreal. Elizabeth Shepherd, an acclaimed jazz musician in her own right, produced the record. When Superstein was a little girl, she would rifle through her parents' basement looking for records. What she found were eight-track tapes of Simon & Garfunkel and Bob Dylan. Now on her new album, the jazz vocalist gives Dylan's Don't Think Twice, It's Alright the Superstein treatment. The tempo is restructured, with some magic jazz dust sprinkled on top. "What I like to do with other people's music is try to look at it from a totally different perspective. I think that's the way I can try to make somebody else's song new." Superstein says she has always been drawn to the doo-wop harmonies of 1950s and '60s music, jazz standards, and the harmonies and social messages of folk music of the '60s and '70s. All that influence pops up in Worlds Apart. ~ Laura Sciarpelletti https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/andrea-superstein-s-new-album-is-a-jazzy-blend-of-originals-and-reimagined-classics-1.4835022

Worlds Apart