Ann Hampton Callaway & Liz Callaway - Boom! Live At Birdland

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2011
File: MP3@256K/s
Time: 79:06
Size: 152,1 MB
Art: Front

(4:03)  1. Got To Get You Into My Life / Happy Together
(6:26)  2. Come Together
(3:53)  3. Always Something There To Remind Me
(5:50)  4. A Case Of You
(0:49)  5. "Do You Remember Those Long Car Trips..."
(3:59)  6. Back-Seat-Of-The-Car Medley
(3:41)  7. Yesterday
(0:49)  8. "We Would Like To Take This Time..."
(4:46)  9. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
(0:38) 10. "Having A Dad Who Was A Reporter..."
(4:36) 11. Blowin' In The Wind
(0:52) 12. "I Wanted To Be The 6th Dimension..."
(5:24) 13. Didn't We / MacArthur Park
(4:27) 14. I Know A Place / Downtown
(3:49) 15. These Boots Are Made For Walkin'
(1:38) 16. "We Were Very Different..."
(5:16) 17. That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be
(2:58) 18. The Way We Were
(0:50) 19. "The Ed Sullivan Show..."
(8:54) 20. Stevie Wonder Medley
(0:16) 21. "One Album That Unites Us..."
(5:02) 22. You've Got A Friend

Broadway veteran Liz Callaway and cabaret/jazz vocalist Ann Hampton Callaway joined forces for an extended engagement at Birdland in 2011, exploring favorite pop songs from the 1960s and early '70s. The two sisters explain a little bit about their influences and thoughts about some of the songs between performances and connect with their attentive audiences. Whether singing together or individually, they capture the essence of each song, supported by pianist Alex Rybeck's lively arrangements. They're equally effective interpreting ballads like Carly Simon's "That's the Way I Always Heard It Should Be" and Marvin Hamlisch's "The Way We Were" as a duo, complementing one another's voices. They have a lot of fun playing off the Beatles' stoner favorite "Come Together" and offer a "Back-Seat-of-the-Car" medley that includes snippets of many favorites from the late '60s and early '70s. But the strongest songwriter represented in this collection is easily Stevie Wonder, who is honored with an extended medley of songs that mostly have been widely recorded by jazz artists. This live recording is an enjoyable look at the past that never bogs down into predictability. ~ Ken Dryden   

http://www.allmusic.com/album/boom!-live-at-birdland-mw0002159883

Personnel: Liz Callaway (background vocals); Ann Hampton Callaway (background vocals); Alex Rybeck (piano, background vocals); Ron Tierno (drums); Jered Egan (background vocals).

Boom! Live At Birdland

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Frank Foster And The Loud Minority - Shiny Stockings

Styles: Saxophone Jazz 
Year: 1978
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:22
Size: 151,7 MB
Art: Front
( 9:15)  1. Shiny Stockings
(10:33)  2. Thruway Traffic
( 8:28)  3. Dayspring
( 9:41)  4. Four Five Six
(11:10)  5. Hills Of The North Rejoice
( 9:02)  6. Manhattan Fever
( 7:10)  7. Tomorrow's Blues Today

Frank Foster's Loud Minority big band was formed in the early 1970s, and made a raucous, politically oriented funk-fusion type recording for the Mainstream label. As the Black Nationalist movement was pronounced in those days, the Loud Minority fit in quite well, and spoke to a generation of listeners who were prone to accept their protestations against racism, oppression, and the immoral Vietnam War. This version, recorded a handful of years later, was a more refined and hard swinging musical effort, leaving the vocal outspokenness to the side, concentrating on the highly composed and arranged instrumental charts of Foster's making. Two recording sessions done a full year apart with slightly different 21 piece lineups feature Foster's still fearless approach to modern and progressive big-band music, accented by a multi-layered precept that in some ways reflects his time with Count Basie, but speaks more to the advanced Tadd Dameron/Oliver Nelson/Thad Jones-Mel Lewis sound distinctly rooted in Duke Ellington. 

Foster is ever mindful of how the individual voices of his bandmembers shape the music, but solos are reserved only for the leader's tenor or soprano saxophone, as well as trumpeter Sinclair Acey and trombonist Kiane Zawadi. The famous "Shiny Stockings" is treated here in a joyous holiday flair with all the trimmings, whether in bright flute flashes, arpeggiated piano riffs from Mickey Tucker, or rich brass burnishings, and that's all in just the melody. A paraphrase of "I'm Beginning to See the Light" is added by Foster's tenor. The New York City strut 6/8 time signature of "Manhattan Fever," initially done when Foster was leading small group sessions for the Blue Note label, is done here and expanded to big-band fare, with brilliant call and response variations that bear repeat listenings. "Thruway Traffic" is also distinctly urban and hip, evocative of the multi-dimensional-sounding rat race life in the big city. The most startling piece, "Dayspring," is only loosely based on Clifford Brown's "Joyspring." It churns with dazzling layers of counterpointed modality, flavored by the Afro-Cuban congas of Roger Blank, and has Tucker driving the juggernaut express with three simple piano chords as the horns have a field day on this most sumptuous chart one of Foster's all-time best.

The subtle side is represented by his arrangement of the traditional piece "Hills of the North Rejoice," theme music for a rural vista, with tambourine, Foster's slightly sharp tenor, and Tucker's repeat, rolling hills chorus. Never forgetting the blues via his roots in his native Cincinnati or his home for an important time in Detroit, "Four, Five, Six" has that Basie or Oliver Nelson abstract truth feel while mixing in the simple melodic style of "Bags Groove," while "Tomorrow's Blues Today" is a steady and cool late-night clubbin' cruiser. There's absolutely no filler, no wasted motion or excess, and nothing but solid musicianship on this guaranteed gold recording that ranks with the very best that modern big-band jazz has to offer. It belongs in every collection  period! 

~ Michael G. Nastos http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=4740519&style=music&fulldesc=T

Personnel: Frank Foster (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Ted Dumper, Ted Dunbar (guitar); William Saxton, Charles Williams (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Leroy Barton (alto saxophone); William Cody, Doug Harris, Bill Cody, Bill Saxton (tenor saxophone); Kenny Rogers (baritone saxophone); Joe Gardner, Robert Rutledge, Robert Ruthledge, Chris Albert, Don McIntosh, Sinclair Acey, Virgil Jones (trumpet); Janice Robinson, Emmet McDonald, Kiane Zawadi, Charles Stephens (trombone); Bill Lowe (bass trombone); Bill Davis , Willie J. Davis (tuba); Mike Tucker (piano); Mary Earl (electric bass); Charlie Persip (drums); Babafume Akunyun, Roger Blank (percussion).

Shiny Stockings

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Nicholas Payton - Smoke Sessions

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:23
Size: 154,7 MB
Art: Front

(7:43) 1. Hangin' and a Jivin'
(7:03) 2. Big George
(6:48) 3. Levin's Lope
(6:51) 4. No Lonely Nights
(6:30) 5. Lullaby for a Lamppost (for Danny Barker), Pt. 1
(6:23) 6. Lullaby for a Lamppost (for Danny Barker), Pt. 2
(4:35) 7. Q for Quincy Jones
(5:29) 8. Gold Dust Black Magic
(6:39) 9. Turn-a-Ron
(9:19) 10. Toys

Nicholas Payton has a new project called Smoke Sessions. The album has its roots in Payton’s love of Miles Davis’ 1966 album Four & More. Payton has convened two legendary musicians who played with Davis on that album, bassist Ron Carter and special guest saxophonist George Coleman. He asked Coleman to contribute a pair of tunes. (A third contributor to Four & More, pianist Herbie Hancock, is represented by the composition “Toys).” Rounding out the quartet is drummer Karriem Riggins with Payton filling the keyboard chair and playing the trumpet. Payton explains, “Miles Davis’ ‘Four’ & More was the album that really inspired me to take up music seriously,” Payton explains. “Ever since then, Ron Carter has been an idol and a favorite musician of mine. As long as I’ve been leading bands, I’ve patterned my choice of bassists by the metric of how much Ron they have in their playing. When I’ve looked for pianists in my band over the years, it’s often predicated on how much Herbie they have in their sound. So, this album is really a dream come true for me.”

“Hangin’ and a Jinvin’” is our first taste of the project and instantly establishes that Payton will not preset a straight-ahead album. Instead, he keeps the feels contemporary with a blend of swing, funk, soul, and hip-hop influences. With Riggins’ drum fluidity and Carter’s rock-solid time feel on the bass, this is brought to life. Payton starts on the Fender Rhodes. Playing with tiny motifs and shifting chords, one can hear Carter’s basslines following wherever Payton may lead. Payton eventually switches to the trumpet, and that is when things really heat up. Payton and Carter have strong communication with each other, and it is a delight to hear. Carter explains, “Listen to him play trumpet. He’s listening to my response to what he does if the trumpet players of today want to try to put him in a place, he should be up there because he listens to what the bass player contributes to his solo.”

“Big George” is the first track on which saxophonist George Colman appears, “Turn-a-Ron” is Coleman’s second guest spot; both are excellent. Speaking of “Big George,” Payton says, “I feel like George didn’t get as much credit as he deserved for being a part of Miles’s experimentations in alternate changes and chord progressions,” Payton says. “That’s why the songs on the album with George tend to be basically four-bar vamps – those four-bar turnarounds and what they would do with them were so influential in changing the landscape of how musicians play chord changes. It was important to me to get into that stuff that they did back in the 60s. George being there was like the cherry on top.” “Big George” is a medium groove that does just that, explores the harmonic possibilities of a simple set of changes between the big ears of this jaunty ensemble. Payton stays on the Rhodes for this one and lets Carter and Colman take the lead.

Smoke Sessions allows Payton to engage with two icons of jazz, Ron Carter and George Colman. The result is the multi-instrumentalist brings his trademark approach of contemporary styles to the elegance and time-honored tradition that these two giants represent. The elastic groove of Payton’s Fender Rhodes and trumpet playing is in full force here. Payton concludes, was “like a pinch-myself moment… I used to pretend I was playing with [these musicians] when I was a child, and now it’s happening. I literally felt like I was walking on air. To have someone I’ve listened to on record and admired from afar actually be a part of something that I created was just beyond my wildest imagination. I remained in a dream state for a couple of months afterward".~Icrom Bigrad https://jazzsensibilities.com/reviews/nicholas-payton/

Personnel: Nicholas Payton, trumpet, Fender Rhodes; Ron Carter, bass; Karriem Riggin, drums; Guest: George Coleman, tenor saxophone

Smoke Sessions

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