Thursday, December 9, 2021

Bill Evans - Quintessence

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1976
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:23
Size: 99,6 MB
Art: Front

( 6:08) 1. Sweet Dulcinea Blue
( 8:17) 2. Martina
( 3:45) 3. Second Time Around
( 7:34) 4. A Child Is Born
(10:07) 5. Bass Face
( 7:29) 6. Nobody Else But Me

Bill Evans was such a looming force as a trio pianist that people tend to overlook his achievements in a quintet context. A few sessions made the point throughout his career, though, like this 1976 date that was one of Evans’s personal favorites. With longtime friend Philly Joe Jones plus new-to-Evans associates Harold Land, Kenny Burrell, and Ray Brown, the ensemble is stellar to say the least; and the players strike a comfortably creative groove on a program that includes originals by trumpeters Thad Jones and Kenny Wheeler, plus Burrell’s blowing tune "Bass Face." And how fascinating to hear Ray Brown, the man who defined bass playing in the pre-Evans-trio style, finally making music with the pianist. https://concord.com/concord-albums/quintessence/

Personnel: Piano – Bill Evans; Bass – Ray Brown; Drums – Philly Joe Jones; Guitar – Kenny Burrell; Tenor Saxophone – Harold Land

Quintessence

Stan Kenton - A Merry Christmas

Styles: Piano, Christmas
Year: 2003
File: MP3@128K/s
Time: 34:21
Size: 33,7 MB
Art: Front

(1:58) 1. O Tannenbaum
(1:52) 2. The Holly And The Ivy
(2:14) 3. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
(1:44) 4. Good King Wenceslas
(4:07) 5. The Twelve Days Of Christmas
(2:04) 6. Once In Royal David's City
(1:46) 7. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
(3:17) 8. O Come, All Ye Faithful
(2:11) 9. Angels We Have Heard On High
(2:10) 10. O Holy Night
(8:24) 11. Christmas Medley
(2:29) 12. What Is Santa Claus?

When bandleader Stan Kenton was approached to record an album of holiday music in 1961 he agreed, on one condition -- no songs about singing snowmen or flying reindeer. The resulting album, A Merry Christmas, is a polyphonic masterpiece that is at once progressive and traditional. Included are such well-known classics as "O Tannenbaum" and "The Twelve Days of Christmas" as well as lesser known gems like "The Holly and the Ivy" and "Once in Royal David's City." Featuring Kenton's idiosyncratic style of arranging piercing trumpets over a wooly blanket of trombones and mellophones, this is beautiful, forward-thinking and angular music that addresses both complex classical harmony and Basie-style swing. Epitomizing this is the intricate and delicate harmonic dissonance on "O Come, All Ye Faithful," a must-hear for Kentonites. As a bonus, the album includes Kenton regular trumpeter Maynard Ferguson's stellar 1960 medley "Christmas for Moderns," which features the high-note master's hip takes on such other holiday nuggets as "White Christmas and "Jingle Bells." Fans should also get a kick out of Kenton's humorous 1963 spoken word piece "What Is Santa Claus?."~Matt Collar https://www.allmusic.com/album/a-merry-christmas%21-mw0000316697

A Merry Christmas