Cheryl Bentyne & The Harmony - Moonlight Serenade

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2003
File: MP3@256K/s
Time: 37:50
Size: 70,0 MB
Art: Front

(2:56)  1. Moonlight Serenade
(3:53)  2. Blue Prelude
(3:15)  3. Alice in Wonderland
(3:51)  4. Caravan
(2:48)  5. How High The Moon
(4:33)  6. Land of Make Believe
(3:55)  7. Soft Strum Blues
(2:22)  8. My One And Only Love
(4:32)  9. For Claudio
(2:47) 10. Tull Tales
(2:53) 11. Since First I Saw Your Face

A member of the Manhattan Transfer beginning in 1979, Cheryl Bentyne's beautiful voice, wide range, versatility, and impressive stage presence made her into a major asset for the popular vocal group from the start. Her father was a clarinetist who led a Dixieland band, and Bentyne sang swing music with his group while in high school. She was the lead singer with the New Deal Rhythm Band (a swing-oriented band) for four years and then in 1979 replaced Laurel Masse with the Manhattan Transfer. In 1992 she released her first solo album, Something Cool. Produced by trumpeter/arranger Mark Isham, it found Bentyne delving into pop standards in a jazz style. Although she continued to perform and record with the Manhattan Transfer, it took over ten years for Bentyne to release her next solo album. Released in 2003, Among Friends featured Bentyne performing in a straight-ahead jazz style on various Great American Songbook standards. Since then, Bentyne has stuck to the acoustic jazz aesthetic, releasing a steady stream of albums including Lights Still Burn and Sings Waltz for Debby in 2004, Let Me Off Uptown in 2005, and Book of Love in 2006.  Bentyne then delivered two composer tribute albums with 2011's Gershwin Songbook and 2012's Let's Misbehave: The Cole Porter Songbook. She next paired with vocalist Mark Winkler for 2013's West Coast Cool. The compilation album Lost Love Songs, featuring tracks from several of Bentyne's Japan-only albums, appeared in 2016.~Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/artist/cheryl-bentyne-mn0000108223/biography

Moonlight Serenade

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Nicki & Lisa Parrott - The Awabakal Suite

Size: 155,2 MB
Time: 66:57
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2003
Styles: Contemporary Jazz
Art: Front

01. Come And Get It ( 6:02)
02. Amblin' ( 7:02)
03. The Awabakal Suite - Part 1-Sawari, Part 2-Qrf, Part 3-Bound For (14:26)
04. Just You And Me As Evidence ( 3:53)
05. Cello Concerto ( 7:01)
06. One For Eric ( 6:12)
07. Jitterbug Waltz ( 5:41)
08. Second Chances ( 5:55)
09. Six Nettes ( 4:42)
10. Bound For South Australia ( 5:58)

The Parrott sisters have pooled their individual talents to release a CD that presents a 360 degree look-see at two of New York City's most exciting jazz musicians. Under the watchful eye of producer Rufus Reid, Nicki and Lisa take the listener on an eclectic jazz journey influenced by Australian folk as well as classical Western and Indian music. Although the creative re-working of standards like Monk's "Evidence" are intriguing, it is the self-penned compositions that make this CD a must-have.

Awabakal Suite is titled after an extinct Australian Aboriginal tribe from Lake Macquari, New South Wales. Nicki and Lisa, who were raised near this lake, elected to record the CD on January 26th, Australia Day. Commemorating the initial English landing, many Australians, including Nicki and Lisa, prefer to refer to this date as "Invasion Day". It has become a day of mourning for the subjugation of Aboriginal peoples. The suite blends Eastern and Western influenced changes in a manner reminiscent of Pharaoh Sanders' Upper and Lower Egypt. Didgeridoo sounds evoke images of native Australians and a marching snare signals British occupation as Lisa plays mournful sax. It is a piece that also weaves childhood themes with historical and political images ending with the catchy "Bound for South Australia", an Australian sea shanty often sung by Australian children.

Prior to this release, the sisters had gone in different directions. Lisa, known for her playing with big band "Diva", the PLK trio and for a smoky Ben Websteresque sax on two Derek Bronston Quartet releases has become a versatile contemporary player with a recognizable light touch who can also "honk" with the best. Nicki appears weekly with Les Paul and is one of New York City's most sought after bassists. She combines Skitch Henderson, Johnny Frigo and Johnny Varro session work with permanent spots in "David Krakauer's Klezmer Madness", "Mikveh", and the "Ron Jackson Duo". For their first collaboration, these two diverse musicians have put together a tight band prominently featuring Kevin Hays (piano) and Dion Parson (drums) that is able to adeptly switch styles while maintaining a solid rhythm.

Nicki's "Come and Get It" and Lisa's "Amblin" showcase Lisa's sax playing in a tight jazz combo setting, with some fine solo trading. Nicki never sacrifices this underlying rhythm for ego tripping solos. Of special mention is the arrangement of Schuman's Concerto in A Minor opus 129 for Cello and Orchestra. Kevin Hays treads that dangerous line of classical/jazz piano without sacrificing the inherent feel of the piece as Nicki plays the cello line exquisitely on bass. The listener's mind floats through heartrending images in the elegant Nicki Parrott composition "Second Chances" only to be jolted to the ceiling by "Six Nettes" that features some of Lisa's best manic playing and honks. Nicki keeps up and anticipates every move as bass and sax drive each other to the point of no return only to be brought back by Nicki's solid line to close out the album.

Up to this point, Nicki and Lisa Parrott were two musicians who happened to be sisters. With The Awabakal Suite they have hearkened back to common roots from their diverse individual perspectives to produce a collective self-portrait. ~by Elliott Simon

Personnel: Nicki Parott (double bass), Lisa Parrott (alto and baritone saxophone), Kevin Hays (piano), Dion Parson (drums), Cafe De Silva (percussion)

The Awabakal Suite  

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Teri Roiger - Ghost of Yesterday: Shades of Lady Day

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2017
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:41
Size: 133,2 MB
Art: Front

(4:23)  1. Lady Day and John Coltrane
(3:41)  2. (I Don't Stand A) Ghost of a Chance
(3:50)  3. What a Little Moonlight Can Do
(7:49)  4. You Don't Know What Love Is
(5:46)  5. Fine and Mellow
(3:26)  6. Them There Eyes
(5:15)  7. It's Easy to Remember
(5:10)  8. Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans
(4:48)  9. Lady Day
(5:22) 10. Ghost of Yesterday
(5:18) 11. These Foolish Things
(2:48) 12. Lady Sings the Blues

Since Billie Holiday was a major influence on Abbey Lincoln, it’s entirely apt that vocalist Teri Roiger, who owes a considerable debt to both, follows her 2012 tribute to Lincoln a fine, thoughtful appreciation with an equally imaginative salute to Holiday. Roiger opens with a less funky but no less stirring take on Gil Scott-Heron’s “Lady Day and John Coltrane.” Later, she offers up her own paean, “Lady Day,” based on music contributed to Roiger by the late David “Fathead” Newman, dotted with Holiday touchstones, including references to Lester Young and “Don’t Explain.” Both Young and Holiday recorded “(I Don’t Stand) A Ghost of a Chance With You,” though not together. Roiger introduces her version by adding sage lyrics to Young’s solo, with Jay Collins accompanying on tenor saxophone. Young’s solo on “Fine and Mellow,” recorded with Holiday, is lyrically retraced with equal aplomb, here with support from trombonist Roswell Rudd. And she adds an interesting twist to “Them There Eyes,” inserting Ella Fitzgerald’s scat solo, again fitted with new lyrics. Roiger bypasses Holiday’s sturdiest signatures “Strange Fruit,” “God Bless the Child,” “Good Morning, Heartache,” “Lover Man” filling the balance of the album with selections from across her sizeable songbook. Traveling from a wistfully tender “It’s Easy to Remember” to a laidback “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans,” she closes with a dusky reading of Holiday’s late-career masterpiece, “Lady Sings the Blues.” https://jazztimes.com/reviews/vox/teri-roiger-lady-day/

The Band: The new recording features Wayne Hawkins (piano), John Menegon (bass), Steve Williams (drums) + The Visitors: Roswell Rudd (trombone), Jay Collins (baritone and tenor sax), Steve Gorn (clarinet & bansuri flute), Rebecca Coupe-Franks (trumpet), Mark Dziuba (guitar) & Abdou Mboup (percussion).

Ghost of Yesterday: Shades of Lady Day

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