Manhattan Trinity - Alfie

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:30
Size: 128,6 MB
Art: Front

(5:47) 1. Alfie
(6:15) 2. Another Star
(4:02) 3. St. Thomas
(6:10) 4. Mack the Knife
(4:19) 5. I'm Through With Love
(4:53) 6. Mercy Mercy Mercy
(5:06) 7. Doxy
(7:34) 8. If You Could See Me Now
(5:00) 9. Stand By Me
(6:20) 10. Send One Your Love

The fifth work of Manhattan Trinity, which has been gradually powered up. Cyrus Chestnut, an immovable member of George Mraz (b) and Lewis Nash (ds), has been recognized by Ray Bryant as the legitimate successor to the black funky piano. In this work, jazz-born "lonely genius" Sonny Rollins challenges the number that has left eternity, and Nash, who has a reputation for percussive performance, has created a splendid Latin rhythm. Nowadays, there are no bebop drummers, and in an era when the generations below Nash with a new sensation occupy the majority, such a new swing feeling is created here as well.

The charm of this band is that Cyrus Chestnut, George Mraz & Lewis Nash are playing on an equal footing. This is the sixth work, a song selection centered on the Sonny Rollins repertoire. Two songs by Stevie Wonder. It's an elegant trio performance.
https://www-hmv-co-jp.translate.goog/artist_Manhattan-Trinity_000000000186454/item_Alfie_1881980

Personnel: Cyrus Chestnut - Piano; George Mraz - Bass; Lewis Nash - Drums.

Alfie

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Ron Carter, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Jack DeJohnette - Skyline

Styles: Jazz, Bop
Year: 2021
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:39
Size: 139,2 MB
Art: Front

(6:51) 1. Lagrimas Negras
(9:02) 2. Gypsy
(6:41) 3. Silver Hollow
(6:43) 4. Promenade
(3:26) 5. Novia Mia
(4:45) 6. Quite Place
(7:36) 7. Ahmad the Terrible
(7:54) 8. Siempre Maria
(7:36) 9. RonJackRuba

Substantial yet serene, sophisticated yet soothing, Skyline oozes with the earthiness of New York City. Here, Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette, and Gonzalo Rubalcaba merged their broad skills into an assemblage of erudite conversations, each package wrapped with beauty and delicate care. Of the many common threads heard in this collection, none could be more precious than time. Yes, of course, the trio had a wealth of rich pockets, but the reference is made to time of another nature. They were in no rush. They let the music develop at its own pace. Good things come to those who wait. In the case of Skyline, that would be great things.

Befitting a long overdue reunion, the trio chose to play with old friends. Familiar tunes were reimagined and reenergized with the clearly abundant joy of playing together. A snareless DeJohnette created the necessary Afro-Cuban bolero feel for the timeless standard "Lagrimas Negras." Rubalcaba crescendoed softly and again vigorously, while Carter deftly raised the conversational bar. Carter then reached into his hip-pocket for "Gypsy." A tune first recorded some forty years ago with Chick Corea and DeJohnette, had a luster to it, a shiny new coat. Carter's walking bass allowed Rubalcaba to freely move about. Articulating every note, Rubalcaba again took his time, and explored the boundaries of Carter's stellar composition. It was time for DeJohnette to look into his treasure trove. Out came "Silver Hollow." Well sequenced, Rubalcaba was now able to move deeply in turnabout. The mesmerizing tune heightened his emotional scale, eliciting a heartfelt dive, anchored by Carter's steady, sturdy core. Years before, Rubalcaba wrote a piece dedicated to Carter. There was an entirely different vibe this time around with Carter actually playing on "Promenade." The circumstances and the depth of composition coupled to keep the sentiment and warmth of the recording session intact.

After a return to the Afro-Cuban sound of "Novia Mia," the trio transitioned to "A Quiet Place." This vintage Carter work of art was given a makeover. Its appeal, however, was mostly steeped in the grace of connectivity. The trio had reached a zenith of collective happiness and ease of conversation. In 1984, DeJohnette had honored Ahmad Jamal in song with his composition, "Ahmad the Terrible." Rubalcaba had both the pleasure and the challenge of adding his own voice, while capturing a screen shot of Jamal. With DeJohnette's groovy patterns and flair to play off, Rubalcaba moved brightly and boldly, succeeding on both counts. While Carter, forever the centerpiece, the rock, the engaging conversationalist, propelled the vocabulary. After the recording session was finished, or so they thought, the trio stayed in the studio and continued to play. They weren't recording anymore, just having fun noodling around together. Well, perhaps accidentally on purpose, it was still recording. It turned out to be the final track. "RonJackRuba" is the epitome of improvisation. Completely off the cuff, just messing with some grooves. It resulted in a cool fly-on-the-wall moment to be shared by all. ~Jim Worsleyhttps://www.allaboutjazz.com/skyline-gonzalo-rubalcaba-5passion

Skyline is a breath of fresh air, the very definition of jazz. Three cool cats chilling out and digging on each other. Skyline is a Grammy-worthy project.

Personnel: Gonzalo Rubalcaba: piano; Ron Carter: bass; Jack DeJohnette: drums.

Skyline

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Esther Kaiser - Water

Styles: Vocal
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:06
Size: 125,0 MB
Art: Front

(0:48) 1. Vesi (Interlude)
(4:59) 2. Water
(5:30) 3. Duna
(4:28) 4. Wildfires
(4:21) 5. Salty River
(0:38) 6. The Tear (Interlude)
(5:24) 7. Lament of the King's Wife
(0:59) 8. Maji (Interlude)
(3:10) 9. The Sailor
(1:13) 10. Die Flut (Interlude)
(4:15) 11. Don't We Know Better
(3:54) 12. The Red Sea
(2:03) 13. Rain Dance (Interlude)
(5:04) 14. The Ocean's Song
(4:47) 15. Time's a River
(2:25) 16. Salty River - Epilog

The vocal artist and jazz vocalist Esther Kaiser has taken on a theme for her new album that as with the widely praised previous album “Songs of Courage” addresses an important aspect of our time, which is constantly in flux, in which nothing is more constant than the liquid, than the evaporation and liquefaction of everything solid and traditional: Water.

Esther Kaiser therefore takes the ancient and, from today’s perspective, of course not to be taken literally, quote from Thales of Miletus as a poetic-metaphorical image for her album: Water is the origin of all things. It´s the substance from which everything emerges and to which all things will return.

Thus, even the musically and lyrically multifaceted theme of the album repeatedly finds its way back to pure clarity and lightness, despite the shimmering socio-political and climate-related dimension that Kaiser does not disregard in her cleverly nuanced approach.

On this album, Kaiser transports listeners to a sound that is at once contemporary and urban, as well as to enraptured, almost fairy-like worlds of sound, thanks to the use of unusual sound sources such as the water-powered glass harp and extremely exciting musical guests such as Marie-Christine Gitman on oboe and English horn, the Berlin string quartet “Die Nixen” and the renowned trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist Sebastian Studnitzky.

The genesis of the album fits perfectly with the ancestral symbolism of water, which in many cultures is considered a threshold between (dream) worlds. “In the first Corona lockdown and during a prolonged period of drought in the spring of 2020, during which I had also read the book „The end of the ocean” by Norwegian author Maja Lunde, the song “Water” was created practically in my sleep,” says Esther Kaiser about her first initial inspiration for the new album, which could be described as no dream log. And adds: “I dreamed the melody and the complete lyrics of the chorus and wrote the idea down immediately after waking up. Very quickly, almost as if following a dream dictation, I then finished writing the piece. It was quickly joined by other compositions and lyrics, almost all of which were penned by me and my long-time musical companions Tino Derado and Marc Muellbauer. They’re not all explicitly about water, but on a more abstract level there are images, associations and analogies that connect the songs to the common theme"......More... https://www.glm.de/en/product/esther-kaiser-water/

Personnel: Esther Kaiser – voc/ synth/ glasharp/ glockenspiel; Tino Derado – piano/ accordion; Marc Muellbauer – doublebass; Roland Schneider – drums

Featured Guests: Marie Gitman – oboe/ englishhorn; Sebastian Studnitzky – trumpet; Die Nixen* – string quartet( * Rahel Rilling-violin1, Katharina Wildhagen-violin2, Kristina Menzel-Labitzke-viola, Nicola Springler-cello)

Water

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Wayne Shorter - Adam's Apple

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:55
Size: 109.7 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz, Bop
Year: 2003
Art: Front

[6:46] 1. Adam's Apple
[6:35] 2. 502 Blues (Drinkin' And Drivin')
[6:28] 3. El Gaucho
[7:26] 4. Footprints
[6:13] 5. Teru
[7:32] 6. Chief Crazy Horse
[6:52] 7. The Collector

Bass – Reginald Workman; Drums – Joe Chambers; Piano – Herbie Hancock; Tenor Saxophone – Wayne Shorter.

By the beginning of '66, Wayne Shorter had already made jazz history twice: forging gospel-drenched hard bop with Art Blakey from '59 to '64 and helping to create the metaphysical artistry of the Miles Davis quintet during the mid-'60s. So it should come as no suprise that Adam's Apple , which was recorded in February of '66, has Shorter compositions in standard AABA blues form and introspective ballads that sound like his work with Davis.

Recorded at the infamous Van Gelder studio for Blue Note Records, Adam's Apple features Shorter leading an all-star rhythm section consisting of pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Reggie Workman, and drummer Joe Chambers. As in the second "classic" Miles Davis quintet, Hancock and Shorter find solace in each other on Adam's Apple. Shorter's solos throughout the album are encouraged by Hancock's stride-like comping.

Adam's Apple features underrated drummer Joe Chambers, who appeared on four of Wayne Shorter's Blue Note albums during the '60s. Not a well-known Blue Note favorite like Tony Williams or Art Blakey, Chambers still manages to produce outstanding aesthetics of sound on his drums, frequently using the tom-toms in his solos to produce a tympanic effect. Chamber's playing is so controlled throughout Adam's Apple that he manages to keep a swinging tempo during his extremely polyrhythmic solos. ~Aaron Rogers

Adam's Apple

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