Barbara Dane - What Are You Gonna Do When There Ain't No Jazz?

Size: 137,5 MB
Time: 58:58
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2002
Styles: Jazz/Blues Vocals
Art: Front

01. The World's Jazz Crazy (2:42)
02. Jelly Bean Blues (2:56)
03. Ain't Nobody Got The Blues Like Me (3:57)
04. Black-Eye Blues (3:07)
05. Pinchbacks, Take 'em Away (4:17)
06. Besame Mucho (5:32)
07. How Can You Face Me Now (3:51)
08. Blues For The Old Timer (6:11)
09. Brother, Can You Spare A Dime (4:17)
10. Tain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do (6:59)
11. Street Walker's Blues (3:39)
12. I'll See You In C-U-B-A (4:02)
13. My Melancholy Baby (4:20)
14. What Are You Gonna Do When There Ain't No Jazz (3:03)

This is Barbara's mature hot jazz-blues best, recorded in New Orleans (1988) and in Berkeley (2000). Three revered veterans of the San Francisco '50s jazz revival play on both sessions: Bob Mielke (trombone), Richard Hadlock (soprano & alto sax) and Pete Allen (bass). Two brilliant younger players, Clint Baker (guitar) and Marc Caparone (trumpet) animate the California session. The piano chair is shared by two of the greatest in traditional jazz: Ray Skjelbred and Butch Thompson (of Prairie Home Companion fame). There’s a rich mixture of classics like Jelly Bean Blues and Black Eye Blues, prohibition-era tunes like the title song and Irving Berlin's "See you in C-U-B-A," Barbara’s original “Blues for the Old Timer” dedicated to the elders who have inspired her, Yip Harburg's beloved "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?", and Fats Waller's "How Can You Face Me Now?", all delivered with a subtext that comments on life in today's uneasy world.

What Are You Gonna Do When There Ain't No Jazz?

---

Carla Cook - It's All About Love

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 56:22
Size: 129.1 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[3:59] 1. Corner Pocket/Until I Met You
[6:03] 2. Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)
[6:27] 3. Swing Time/The Way You Look Tonight
[5:22] 4. Knickerbocker Holiday/September Song
[6:29] 5. Cancao Do Sal
[5:08] 6. Hold To God's Unchanging Hand
[5:34] 7. It's All About Love
[3:30] 8. Where Or When/Babes In Arms/Where Or When
[4:50] 9. Can This Be Love
[5:34] 10. Heart Of Gold
[3:22] 11. These Foolish Things

Vocalist Cook took a beeline from her native Detroit to Boston, where she received a degree in speech communications, then to N.Y.C. She's influenced by the gospel and Motown music of her home, as well as jazz. Using an expressive, wide-ranging, utterly clear voice, Cook is also unafraid to scat as she does on several of these selections, sometimes in between lyrics. She's a warm, soulful singer, easy to enjoy and well aware of her capabilities, of which show a nice diversity, and the maturity of a more seasoned professional.

Cook's musical assets are greatly enhanced by the presence of pianist Cyrus Chestnut on eight of the 11 tracks. He truly can do it all, taking liberties with the song form on the Count Basie/Joe Williams evergreen "Corner Pocket," digging deep into soulful resources in tandem with percussionist Jeffrey Haynes for the spiritually oriented "Hold to God's Unchanging Hand," listening intently and responding to Cook and violinist Regina Carter during the heart melting "September Song," or simply laying out a lustrous melody as on "These Foolish Things." Andy Milne also plays piano on three selections, but is especially poignant as an arranger for Neil Young's "Heart of Gold," a midnight blue approach that is a stark contrast to the harmonica-spiked cowboy mentality of the original -- quite a showstopper. Cook's funkier persona is on the toned-down side as opposed to P-Funk; her "Inner City Blues" has an economical scat line sprinkled on top of the classic lyric. She wrote the pop blues title track and a samba-inflected "Can This Be Love?," Carter again accenting on violin. There are two versions of the standard "The Way You Look Tonight," one a bonus CD-ROM video track, the strictly audio version a vocal-bass intro that allows Cook flights of fancy that show how she's got it going on from a pure improvisers standpoint. She also does Milton Nascimento's "Salt Song" and, with Milne, a wonderful version of the patient Rodgers & Hart show tune "Where or When." This debut shows much promise, and though the theme in the title would suggest it, these are not all sappy torch songs. Her abilities are impressive, certainly enough to warrant the notion that this is a career in the making for Cook, and not a hobby. Recommended. ~Michael G. Nastos

It's All About Love

---

Richard Wyands - As Long as There's Music

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:29
Size: 118,6 MB
Art: Front

(5:31)  1. Stolen Sweets
(3:00)  2. As Long as There's Music
(6:19)  3. Stairway to the Stars
(5:31)  4. Focus
(6:37)  5. Ivy
(4:33)  6. What's New
(5:38)  7. Drop Me Off in Harlem
(5:29)  8. My Old Flame
(2:35)  9. With the Wind and the Rain in Your Hair
(6:12) 10. West 94th Street Funk

With the help of several independent labels and some of the best bassists and drummers in the business, Richard Wyands has been quietly building a superb body of jazz piano trio recordings. Amazing enough, As Long As There’s Music is his first American recording as a leader. Other trio recordings have been released by European labels such as Steeplechase and Criss Cross. On this outing, Wyands is accompanied by bassist Ray Drummond and drummer Grady Tate many a pianist’s dream rhythm section. His recent string of trio recordings with first rate rhythm sections is a testament to the pianist’s stature in the jazz world. This recording is a presentation of what admirers of Wyands have long cherished  his rich sense of tradition, his impeccable taste, his rhythmic ease, and his harmonic sophistication. Wyands is not a flashy pianist; he is a pianist of thoughtful, deeply felt emotion that is fully supported by the integrity of his technique and his artistic choices. Tadd Dameron’s “Focus” is one of the highlights of this recording. Wyands’ subtle shift in tempo over the stop-and-go course of the opening slides into a long, upbeat, boppish solo that brightly rounds the usual edges. Drummond follows with a concise solo before Wyands and Tate trade fours, leading to the closing. This track illustrates the trio’s easy rapport throughout the session. Another highlight is Wyands’ solo performance on “My Old Flame,” a track that vividly demonstrates the casual complexity of his rhythmic sense. A careful listening to his left hand at work, and how Wyands incorporates silences, is enlightening. Incidentally, this track does bring up the obvious that a solo Wyands recording is long overdue. Anyone familiar with this artist’s trio work will be happy to know that this recording is in the same league with his recent recordings with Peter and Kenny Washington on Criss Cross - high praise indeed. ~ Mike Neely https://www.allaboutjazz.com/as-long-as-theres-music-richard-wyands-savant-records-review-by-mike-neely.php

Personnel: Richard Wyands, piano; Ray Drummond, bass; and Grady Tate, drums.

As Long as There's Music

---

Kenny Drew - Misty

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1978-1992
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:03
Size: 115,1 MB
Art: Front

(7:14) 1. Stella By Starlight
(4:39) 2. Misty
(4:22) 3. Autumn In Rome
(4:37) 4. But Not For Me
(3:41) 5. As Time Goes By
(7:05) 6. Last Tango In Paris
(4:55) 7. Sunset
(3:16) 8. Blues In Green
(5:39) 9. The Way We Were
(4:31) 10. I'm Old Fashioned

Kenny Drew was born in New York City in August of 1928. At the age of 5, he began studying classical piano with a private teacher and at 8, gave a recital. This early background is similar to that of Bud Powell, the man who later became his main inspiration as a jazz pianist. After digging Fats Waller, at 12, and then Art Tatum and Teddy Wilson, Drew attended the High School of Music and Art. He was known as a hot boogie woogie player but passed through this phase before graduation. Kenny's first professional job was as accompanist at Pearl Primus' dance school. At the same time, he was alternating with Walter Bishop Jr. in a neighborhood band that included Sonny Rollins, Jackie McLean and Art Taylor. In this period, he used to hang-out on 52nd Street to listen to Charlie Parker and Powell and began sitting in at various jam sessions around town.

In January of 1950, Drew made his first appearance on record, with Blue Note. Howard McGhee was the leader and the other featured soloists were Brew Moore and J.J. Johnson. One of the six sides released was “I'll Remember April.” The label, in addition to stating “Howard McGhee's All Stars”, further read, “Introducing Kenny Drew.” Later, in 1953, Kenny made his first album as a leader. Again it was Blue Note who recorded him, this time in a trio with Curly Russell and Art Blakey. But Kenny opted to settle in Los Angeles for the next few years. There in 1955, he formed a quartet with the late Joe Maini, Leroy Vinnegar and Lawrence Marable. The quartet first recorded together in 1955 for Pacific Jazz. In December, Jazz West, a subsidiary of Aladdin Records, brought the quartet as is into Capitol's recording studios for “Talkin' & Walkin'.”

In February of '56, Kenny's band and arrangements were used for another Jazz West release, this one by vocalist Jane Fielding. A month later, Drew, Paul Chambers, John Coltrane and Philly Joe Jones made the great “Chambers' Music” for the same label, which is now reissued on Blue Note. In early 1957 Kenny made his way back to New York as accompanist for Dinah Washington. That September, he participated in John Coltrane's monumental masterpiece “Blue Train,” but his association with Blue Note did not heat up again until 1960 when he made his own “Undercurrent” as well as Jackie McLean's “Bluesnik,” and “Jackie's Bag,” Kenny Dorham's “Whistle Stop,” Dexter Godon's “Dexter Calling,” Grant Green's “Sunday Mornin'” and a couple of Tina Brooks dates all within the space of a year.

Although Kenny was active on the recording and club scenes in New York and even subbed for Freddie Redd for a while in the successful Off-Broadway run of The Connection, he eventually chose to migrate to Europe. But he again popped up on a classic Blue Note date, Dexter Godon's “One Flight Up,” done in Paris in 1964. Kenny became a major star in Europe and Japan although his music was sadly neglected at home. He settled in Copenhagen where he ran a publishing company and was the house pianist at the Café Montmartre. He was also the pianist for the Steeplechase label, where he was on countless sessions backing visiting musicians. He left an impressive legacy of recordings both as sideman and leader. Kenny Drew died on Aug. 4, 1993. https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/kenny-drew

Personnel: Bass – Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen; Drums – Alvin Queen, Ed Thigpen; Piano – Kenny Drew

Misty

---

Cy Coleman - Piano Witchcraft

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1963
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 30:02
Size: 76,7 MB
Art: Front

(2:14) 1. Brassmen's Holiday
(2:15) 2. Witchcraft
(2:32) 3. Misty
(1:54) 4. I'm Gonna Laugh You Right of My Life
(3:02) 5. It Amazes Me
(2:27) 6. Hey, Look Me Over
(2:18) 7. The Riviera
(2:49) 8. Autumn Nocturne
(2:17) 9. Leave It To Love
(3:01) 10. I Thought About You
(2:24) 11. You Fascinate Me So
(2:43) 12. The Best Is Yet To Come

The compositional skills of Cy Coleman (1929–2004) run through the veins of Jazz, and this is only the starting point for other genres, styles and radical interpretations du jour to succumb to the clarity of the tone sequences and strong melodies. In fact, there is no area of popular music in the 50’s and 60’s that hasn’t been touched by Coleman’s wizardry, and whether you call Space-Age, Exotica or Saturday show tunes your forte, multiple arrangers got your back and bring you Coleman, among them American composer, arranger and trumpeter Billy May (1916–2004) who brings us the 12-track compendium of Coleman corkers called Piano Witchcraft, released in 1963 on Capitol Records. If there is one basic premise of a spell, it is its reliance on ploys, illusions, deceptions, razzle-dazzle.

This applies to the very title of this album which offers much more than just the magic of the piano: varied brass layers and two flutes are equally important in transmuting the material into magic. And Billy May knows what he is doing. Exotica fans know him best as the principal leader of the Rico Mambo Orchestra that fueled Yma Sumac’s most celebrated release Mambo! (1954) or probably for his supergroup The Out Islanders whose album Polynesian Fantasy (1961) is an enchanting amalgamation of Proto-Surf, Ragtime and soothing island vibes. Here, then, is a closer look at Piano Witchcraft which is excitingly dreamy and insouciant as well. There’s probably no better way to start an album that’s called Piano Witchcraft than with Brakemen’s Holiday, at least when this particular arrangement is considered: spectacularly vivid piano helixes rotoscope amid municipal horn protuberances, the tempo is smoking fast, making side A running on all cylinders right from the get-go. The adjacent gold standard Witchcraft then resides on the laid-back side of life, enchanting with its fittingly aureate piano chords, the warm polyphony of the trumpets and cautiously shrill flute ectomorphs aka the wherewithal of magic.

While the warmhearted Misty’s physiognomy is that of a carefully accompanied piano arrangement with a delicious interlocution between pristine dew drops and name-related mellow brass smoke, I'm Gonna Laugh You Out Of My Life augments the timbrical retinue of brass, woodwind and piano epithelia with a unapologetically magnanimous good mood fueled by happy carefreeness, before It Amazes Me emits white keys like dew drops; their rotatory sprinkles are few and far between, but held together by a milquetoast micrometry of the brass layers. Hey, Look Me Over then illumines the proscenium with neon-colored show tune tonalities trumpet-wise and gives the hydromagnesite piano glints a Saturday night vibe. Side B opens with The Riviera, an uplifting stroll through the orthochromatic landscape that is inculcated via technicolor brass flares and a paraphyletic piano phytotelemata of the glacial kind, thus shuttling between fuzzy warmth and crystalline clarity whereas Autumn Nocturne revs up the presence of the piano in a quasi-focused arrangement with the signature instrument in the epicenter, only providing a mild serration of it with the fibrillar aura of the subdued brass illuminants; the precise proclivity of the flutes scythes through the viscoelasticity one single time only, and it’s more caproic than truly incisive.

Leave It To Love meanwhile oscillates between moonlit horn vibes and the piano-and-flute-driven concept of an afternoon stroll through concrete jungles, with the follow-up I Thought About You providing a starstruck slow dance ceremony where the piano glistens like cerulean dew; cautious intermediate tones even hint at a pinch of Rag, but make no mistake, this is a smoochy affair when compared directly to these fragile style adjuvants. The penultimate You Fascinate Me So returns to the saturated hue of cajoling brass fibroblasts and offers an another iteration of admixed predilection for a piano-driven epicenter before the cheeky occurrence of The Best Is Yet To Come marks the swinging finale that somewhat mirrors the opener of side A due to its orthogonal perianths: nomological flutes meet muted brass muons and their fully colored show tune brethren, altogether mustered by the plinking prestidigitation of Cy Coleman on the piano. Piano Witchcraft is a magnificent work of playful interdependencies between its primary three forces – piano, flutes, brass – and nothing else, and this erudite cathexis as well as the willful reduction to this formula make the album a masterful sparkler that should not remain underestimated. It is true that this particular work is less considered and clearly situated under the radar nowadays if only for the fact that an officially remastered digital reissue has yet to materialize at the time of writing this review, but this only heightens and magnifies the enchantment of the featured material. All compositions feature the basic premise of Cy Coleman’s cosmic melodies, centrifugal journeys and tantamount moments of contemplation and quiescence, and Billy May’s orchestra knows how to encapsulate and exude their particular spirits.

This is an album full of romanticism, but it is the good, non-cheesy kind of devotion and mutual understanding! Even my beloved and fully orchestral Love Eyes (1960) by Dominic Frontiere is much more tacky in its less stellar parts. Piano Witchcraft, on the other hand, advertises the well-known slogan ”less is more,” at least on the instrumental side of life before it ventures all the keener into the chromogenic verglas dioramas of Coleman’s compositions. Everything fits together, and despite the focus on coherence and continuity, the amethystine flow allows for sparkling surprises to happen throughout the short runtime. Piano Witchcraft never overstays its welcome which makes it even larger. http://www.ambientexotica.com/exorev476_cycoleman_witchcraft/

Piano Witchcraft

---

Adam Shulman Quartet - On Second Thought

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:24
Size: 125,1 MB
Art: Front

(7:33) 1. New Beginning
(7:10) 2. 78 Prosper Resolution
(5:32) 3. Bounce
(6:01) 4. The Little Ones
(5:06) 5. On Second Thought
(9:45) 6. For An Unknown Lady
(7:13) 7. Sara's Song
(6:01) 8. Going Home

With On Second Thought, the Adam Shulman Quartet breaks through with its first CD, a selection of thoughtful and eminently accessible originals by leader and pianist Shulman. It features eight melodic compositions, melding perfectly the group's talented musicians, which include Dayna Stephens on alto, John Wiitala on bass and Jon Arkin on drums. Shulman has been active in the San Francisco jazz scene since he moved there some six years ago, playing regularly in the Bay area with assorted groups. He paid his dues with renowned jazz artists such as Stefon Harris, Paula West and Bobby Hutcherson. On his site, Shulman praises Bill Evans as a huge influence on him. This can be heard in the melodic force and use of chord voicing, as Shulman borrows from both classical and popular forms. It is Stephens on tenor, though, who shines here.

With his warm, breathy tone, he is right out of the Lester Young school via Stan Getz and, currently, Harry Allen. On this album, he delivers a string of peerless solos. On his way to becoming one of the best, he is currently leading groups in the New York area which sometimes include pianist Taylor Eigsti. This praise is not to detract from Shulman, though. The two wonderfully complement each other, piano and sax weaving in and out of often contrapuntal, melodic configurations. Assuredly backing them are Wiitala's bass and Arkin's drums. The ensemble shows up best on "For An Unknown Lady. " Both Shulman and Stephens have strong solos, and, near the end, Shulman's repetitive chords support Stephens' powerful statement. The whimsical "Bounce" takes off from the children's tune "Inchworm" and goes with it, providing fodder for Stephens' imaginative ideas. After this, one looks forward to Shulman's next release.~Larry Taylorhttps://www.allaboutjazz.com/on-second-thought-adam-shulman-kabocha-records-review-by-larry-taylor

Personnel: Adam Shulman: piano; Dayna Stephens: tenor sax; John Wiitala: bass; Jon Arkin: drums.

On Second Thought

---

Beverly Kenney - Sings For Johnny Smith

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 30:19

Size: 69.4 MB

Styles: Jazz vocals

Year: 1955/2013

Art: Front

[2:11] 1. Surrey With The Fringe On Top

[2:35] 2. I'll Know My Love

[2:22] 3. Destination Moon

[3:11] 4. This Little Town Is Paris

[2:48] 5. Stairway To The Stars

[2:30] 6. Tis' Autumn

[2:20] 7. Looking For A Boy

[3:04] 8. Ball And Chain

[2:09] 9. Almost Like Being In Love

[2:13] 10. There Will Never Be Another Yo

[2:18] 11. Moe's Blues

[2:31] 12. Snuggled On Your Shoulder

Beverly Kenney was one of the most promising new jazz singers of the mid-'50s. Unfortunately, she did not live long and recorded just three albums as a leader. This particular CD reissue, a quartet date with guitarist Johnny Smith, pianist Bob Pancoast, bassist Knobby Totah, and drummer Mousie Alexander, is a real gem, with Kenney heard in top form. Her version of "Destination Moon" is quite delightful, and other highlights include "Tis' Autumn," "Almost Like Being in Love," "There Will Never Be Another You," and "Snuggled on Your Shoulder," even if "Ball and Chain" (a renamed "Sweet Lorraine") does not quite cut it. Beverly Kenney had great potential and deserves to be remembered today. This reissue from the Spanish Fresh Sound label is highly recommended. ~Scott Yanow

Sings For Johnny Smith

---