Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Joe Henderson, Ron Carter, Chick Corea, Billy Higgins - Mirror, Mirror

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 1980
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:42
Size: 102,0 MB
Art: Front

(5:55) 1. Mirror, Mirror
(6:17) 2. Candlelight
(9:45) 3. Keystone
(9:44) 4. Joe's Bolero
(4:00) 5. What's New
(7:59) 6. Blues for Liebestraum

Tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson has had a remarkably consistent career. Although he has spent periods (such as the 1970s) in relative obscurity and others as almost a jazz superstar, Henderson's style and sound has been relatively unchanged since the 1960s. This lesser-known album finds Henderson in typically fine form in an acoustic quartet with pianist Chick Corea, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Billy Higgins. Carter and Corea contribute two songs apiece, Henderson gets to perform his "Joe's Bolero" and the tenor sounds majestic on "What's New."~Scott Yanowhttps://www.allmusic.com/album/release/mirror-mirror-mr0004590662

Personnel: Tenor Saxophone – Joe Henderson; Bass – Ron Carter; Drums – Billy Higgins; Piano – Chick Corea

Mirror, Mirror

Christian McBride Big Band - For Jimmy, Wes and Oliver

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:53
Size: 166,8 MB
Art: Front

(5:21) 1. Night Train
(6:39) 2. Road Song
(8:12) 3. Up Jumped Spring
(3:47) 4. Milestones
(8:33) 5. The Very Thought of You
(8:20) 6. Down by the Riverside
(7:18) 7. I Want to Talk About You
(6:32) 8. Don Is
(7:13) 9. Medgar Evers'Blues
(9:53) 10. Pie Blues

JazzTimes may earn a small commission if you buy something using one of the retail links in our articles. JazzTimes does not accept money for any editorial recommendations. Read more about our policy here. Thanks for supporting JazzTimes. hristian McBride’s first two big-band albums won Grammys. The new one is grounded in specific history. Jimmy Smith and Wes Montgomery recorded two LPs in 1966, The Dynamic Duo and Further Adventures of Jimmy and Wes. McBride says he and his classmate Joey DeFrancesco “wore out the grooves” of these records when they were in high school in Philadelphia. DeFrancesco fills Smith’s organ role on McBride’s new release.

The Smith/Montgomery recordings had pieces for big band arranged by Oliver Nelson and also quartet tracks. So does For Jimmy, Wes and Oliver. But McBride’s tribute is more spiritual than one-for-one. He repeats only four tunes from the 1966 albums. All are big-band tracks. It is fun to hear “Night Train” again, powering headlong over the rails, and to hear McBride’s tight large ensemble crack “Milestones” like a whip.

The quartet here is DeFrancesco, Mark Whitfield, McBride, and drummer Quincy Phillips. The first three take almost all the solos. Given this chance to stretch out, DeFrancesco reveals the enormous range of his B-3 chops, and Whitfield reveals that he should be mentioned more often on lists of the top jazz guitarists.

On this swinging, hard-driving album, two rapt quartet ballads stand out. On “I Want to Talk About You,” Whitfield creates gentle tension by continuously postponing melodic closure. On “The Very Thought of You,” DeFrancesco makes his boisterous instrument whisper in your ear. McBride also solos, pizzicato and arco respectively, on these two love songs. In his hands, an acoustic bass can shamelessly expose the human heart.

This is not an album for adventurous listeners who require risk in their jazz. But this conservative, impeccably executed music is full of joie de vivre. In times like these, who can’t use more of that?~ Thomas Conrad https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/christian-mcbride-big-band-for-jimmy-wes-and-oliver-mack-avenue/

For Jimmy, Wes and Oliver

Heath Brothers - In Motion

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 1979
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:53
Size: 88,7 MB
Art: Front

(6:06) 1. Feelin' Deelin'
(4:23) 2. The Voice Of The Saxophone
(6:44) 3. Project 'S'
(6:47) 4. Move To Groove
(5:28) 5. Passion Flower
(7:23) 6. (There's) A Time And A Place

The Heath Brothers was an American jazz group, formed in 1975 in Philadelphia, by the brothers Jimmy (tenor saxophone), Percy (bass), and Albert "Tootie" Heath (drums); and pianist Stanley Cowell. Tony Purrone (guitar) and Jimmy's son Mtume (percussion) joined the group later. Tootie left in 1978, and was replaced by Akira Tana for a short period before returning in 1982. They also added other sidemen for some of their recording dates. The group issued four singles between 1978 and 1981, "Mellowdrama", "For the Public", "Use it (Don't abuse it)" and "Dreamin'". "Dreamin'", a track from the 1980 LP, "Expressions of Life", had the most airplay in the UK despite not reaching the UK charts.

The group with just two of the brothers, Jimmy and Tootie, and additional sidemen as needed, continued to perform and record after Percy died in 2004. The DVD, Brotherly Jazz: The Heath Brothers, recorded in 2004, shortly before Percy's death, was one of the last times the three brothers played together and chronicled the brothers' personal lives as well as socio-political issues many jazz musicians dealt with in the later 20th century, including jail, drugs, discrimination and segregation. The 2009 CD Endurance was the first without Percy, and features seven original numbers by Jimmy, including "From a Lonely Bass", composed in memory of his late brother. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heath_Brothers

The Heath Brothers: Jimmy Heath (tenor saxophone); Percy Heath (bass); Albert "Tootie" Heath (drums); Stanley Cowell (piano); Tony Purrone (guitar).

In Motion

Kristin Korb - Finding Home

Size: 102,3 MB
Time: 42:01
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Jazz/Pop Vocals
Art: Front

01. Something To Celebrate (5:13)
02. Jeg Elsker Dig (Y-Eye Elsker D-Eye) (4:09)
03. 58 Boxes (4:06)
04. Up Again (5:00)
05. It's Spring (3:35)
06. The Letter (4:39)
07. Happy For Me (4:43)
08. Invisible (5:22)
09. Finding Home (5:10)

Kristin Korb treasures the jazz tradition. She is known for her collaborations with Ray Brown, Bruce Forman, Jeff Hamilton and more who have all taken note of her incredible sense of swing. On Kristin’s 2013 release What’s Your Story?, she dug deep into her long-standing relationship with classic jazz material and those musical personalities who influenced her. Out of those relationships and experiences, a more developed and diverse musician is emerging and Finding Home.

Love brought the American bassist and singer to Denmark in 2011. This September, Kristin Korb releases her most personal CD yet. Finding Home features Kristin’s stories of love, travel, language lessons and the peace she has found in her marriage and her adopted country. Instead of her “korbinated” arrangements of jazz standards, Kristin has made the bold leap to write all original material to fit her life experiences.

Personnel:
Kristin Korb – bass & vocals
Magnus Hjorth – piano
Snorre Kirk – drums
Jacob Fischer – guitar
Poul Halberg – guitar solo (Invisible)
Gerard Presencer – trumpet
Karl-Martin Almqvist – tenor saxophone
Steen Nikolaj Hansen – trombone

Finding Home