Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Ray Brown - Some Of My Best Friends Are ... The Trumpet Players

Styles: Contemporary Jazz, Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:05
Size: 142,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:02) 1. Roy Hargrove / Our Delight
(6:29) 2. Jon Faddis / Bag's Groove
(5:49) 3. James Morrison / I Thought About You
(4:07) 4. Terence Blanchard/I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
(5:48) 5. Nicholas Payton / Violets for Your Furs
(3:01) 6. Clark Terry / Itty Bitty Blues
(4:28) 7. Roy Hargrove / Stairway To The Stars
(5:06) 8. Jon Faddis / Original Jones
(4:50) 9. James Morrison / When You Go
(4:21) 10. Nicholas Payton / The Kicker
(5:00) 11. Clark Terry / Clark's Tune (Legacy)
(7:57) 12. Terence Blanchard / Goodbye

In the latest edition of his "Some Of My Best Friends Are..." series, Ray Brown honors the trumpet players as they honor him. Having already musically expressed his friendship with singers, pianists and saxophonists, Brown's next group of honorees will include...trombonists? Drummers? Guitarists? The interesting aspect of Some Of My Best Friends Are...The Trumpet Players is the influence of Dizzy Gillespie. An inspiration to Brown, who first received recognition in Dizzy's group, as well as to jazz trumpeters everywhere, Dizzy's spirit infuses especially the Nicholas Payton, Jon Faddis and Roy Hargrove tracks.

Deeply indebted to Dizzy for spiritual as well as technical guidance, Faddis' work on "Original Jones" is the most obviously referential. As a result, it also is the most thrilling trumpet work, commanding the instrument's extreme upper register and negotiating intervallic leaps with ease. James Morrison, on the other hand, concentrates on a rounder tone that expresses the melodic intent of the tunes, particularly Brown's composition, "When You Go." Roy Hargrove introduces Some Of My Best Friends Are...The Trumpet Players with a confident bop sensibility on "Our Delight," combining a concise voice and clarity of thought.

Nicholas Payton proves that he is moving more and more away toward explorative work on Joe Henderson's "The Kicker," as he did recently on Steve Wilson's CD. Balancing aggressive work with a ballad, as do all of the other trumpeters on their two tunes apiece, Payton plaintively sings through his horn on "Violets For Your Furs," wavering a slight vibrato on the long tones, buzzing ever-so-perceptively on lower notes to balance the sweetness of his sound in the middle register.Terence Blanchard's ballad turns out to be Tadd Dameron's "Goodbye," the famous Benny Goodman closer, while in contrast Blanchard enlivens "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" at greater than twice the tempo of the famous Dorsey version.

And then there's Clark Terry. Being himself. Trading horns on "Clark's Tune." Creating an inimitable opening chorus, and well as solos, on Brown's "Itty Bitty Blues" with the apparent ease of a 30-year-old, although Terry will be 80 years young in two more months. Once again, Ray Brown has assembled a stellar trio. Geoff Keezer remains within the groove of the album, although his recent Zero One CD proves that he can be explorative and unconventional when he leaves the accompanist's role. And drummer Karriem Riggins propels the group with colors and drive without overpowering, as he does to animate Faddis' work on "Original Jones."

Then there's Ray Brown, sturdy and inspirational, establishing the mournful languor of "Bag's Groove" in tribute to Brown's and Faddis' friend, Milt Jackson. Conversing with Faddis, Brown responds to Faddis' groove with elaboration and eloquence. While it seems that Ray Brown makes friends wherever he goes, as his "Friends" albums prove, his circle of friends has widened to encompass his listeners, who no doubt will respond with affection to Some Of My Best Friends Are...The Trumpet Players , yet another estimable album in Brown's estimable series.~AAJ Staffhttps://www.allaboutjazz.com/some-of-my-best-friends-arethe-trumpet-players-ray-brown-telarc-records-review-by-aaj-staff

Personnel: Ray Brown, bass; Geoff Keezer, piano; Karriem Riggins, drums; Terence Blanchard, Jon Faddis, Roy Hargrove, James Morrison, Nicholas Payton, Clark Terry, trumpet

Some Of My Best Friends Are ... The Trumpet Players

Coleman Hawkins - Bean And The Boys

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 73:05
Size: 167.3 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz
Year: 1993/2009
Art: Front

[2:54] 1. In The Hush Of The Night
[2:50] 2. Out To Lunch
[2:48] 3. Every Man For Himself
[2:43] 4. Look Out Jack!
[2:39] 5. On The Bean
[2:51] 6. Recollections
[2:47] 7. Flyin' Hawk
[3:02] 8. Drifting On A Reed
[3:02] 9. I Mean You
[2:38] 10. Bean And The Boys
[2:41] 11. Bean And The Boys
[3:03] 12. Cocktails For Two
[3:00] 13. You Go To My Head
[6:06] 14. Stasch
[5:58] 15. Trust In Me
[6:04] 16. Roll 'em Pete
[5:58] 17. Skrouk
[6:56] 18. Since I Fell For You
[4:55] 19. My Babe

BEAN AND THE BOYS is the perfect title for this compilation, for certainly the list of players heard on this disc reads like a virtual "who's who" in jazz. Hawkins is teamed up with swing era players Jonah Jones (trumpet), and Walter "Foots" Thomas (tenor saxophone) on the first four tracks. Tracks nine through 13 highlight The Bean with the then young lions of bebop, J.J. Johnson (trombone), Fats Navarro (trumpet), Milt Jackson (vibes) and others. The final batch of tunes comes from a post-bop period (where Hawk finally settled musically). Songs from this era (late '50s) tend to incorporate stylistic elements from both swing and bebop. Hawkins himself never really became a bebop soloist per se, though he did sometimes "turn" a bop line quite successfully. All this, if nothing else, shows us the interconnection between the various genres of jazz. Mostly, all the styles heard on BEAN AND THE BOYS contain elements of the blues. As well, all styles herein contain highly syncopated rhythmical ideas, and similar song structures. Highlights include the bopish "Bean and the Boys," the bouncy "Out the Lunch," and the boogie woogie inflected "Roll 'em Pete."

Coleman Hawkins (tenor saxophone); Roy Gaines (guitar); Jerome Richardson (flute, alto saxophone); Eddie Barefield (clarinet, alto saxophone); Hilton Jefferson, Hubert Fol, Porter Kilbert (alto saxophone); Walter "Foots" Thomas, Walter Thomas (tenor saxophone); Pepper Adams (baritone saxophone); Fats Navarro, Idrees Sulieman, Jonah Jones (trumpet); Nat Peck, J.J. Johnson (trombone); Clyde Hart, Hank Jones , Jean-Paul Mengeon, Ray Bryant, Thelonious Monk (piano); Milt Jackson (vibraphone); Cozy Cole, Denzil Best, Kenny Clarke, Max Roach, Walter Bolden (drums).

Recording information: Hackensack, NJ (10/19/1944-12/21/1949); New York, NY (10/19/1944-12/21/1949); Paris, France (10/19/1944-12/21/1949).

Bean & the Boys  

Michel Legrand - Cole Porter

Styles: Piano Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:46
Size: 162,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:46) 1. Begin The Beguine
(4:22) 2. In The Still Of The Night
(2:20) 3. Just One Of Those Things
(3:10) 4. Ev'rytime We Say Goodbye
(2:45) 5. What Is This Thing Called Love
(2:49) 6. True Love
(1:56) 7. Ridin' High
(2:54) 8. Love Of My Life
(2:40) 9. Too Darn Hot
(3:38) 10. So In Love
(2:25) 11. Don't Fence Me In
(3:07) 12. Anything Goes
(2:29) 13. Love For Sale
(4:04) 14. Close
(2:50) 15. I Get A Kick Out Of You
(3:12) 16. I Love You
(2:46) 17. It's All Right With Me
(2:42) 18. I Am In Love
(2:33) 19. Night And Day
(2:01) 20. You Do Something To Me
(2:24) 21. From This Moment On
(3:29) 22. All Through The Night
(2:31) 23. I've Got You Under My Skin
(2:42) 24. Blow Gabriel Blow

Michel Legrand is a three-time Academy Award-winning French composer, conductor and pianist who composed over 200 film and television scores as well as recorded over a hundred albums of jazz, popular and classical music. He was born on February 24, 1932, in Becon-les-Bruyeres, in the Paris suburbs, France. His father, Raymond Legrand, was a French composer and actor. His mother, Marcelle der Mikaelian, was descended from the Armenian bourgeousie. From 1942 - 1949 young Legrand studied piano at the Paris Conservatoire. There his teachers were Nadia Boulanger and Henri Challan among other renown musicians. He received numerous awards for his skills in composition and piano and mastered a dozen other instruments. In 1947 he attended a concert by Dizzy Gillespie and caught a jazz bug. He started working as a pianist for major French singers. He eventually collaborated with Dizzy Gillespie on several albums and film scores.

In 1954 Legrand became an overnight star after his album "I Love Paris" became a hit, it went on selling over 8 million copies. He followed the success with such albums as "Holiday in Rome" (1955) and "Michel Legrand Plays Cole Porter" (1957). In 1958 he was invited to play at Moscow Festival of Students and Youth. There, in Moscow, he met his future wife, a young French model with who he went on to have three children. In the late 1950s and 1960s Legrand was caught up in the French New Wave. He scored seven films for jean-Luc Godard, he also made ten films with Jacques Demy, and became responsible for creating the genre of musical in the French Cinema. In 1963 Legrand did The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), the first film musical that was entirely sung. For that film score he received three Oscar nominations. His beautiful, haunting melody, "I Will Wait For You", received nomination for Best Original Song.

In 1966 Legrand decided to take his chances in Hollywood, and moved to Los Angeles with his wife and three children. His friendship with Quincy Jones and Hank Mancini helped him a great deal, especially in meeting the lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman. In 1969 Legrand won his first Oscar for Best Music, Original Song for "The Windmills of Your Mind" and was also nominated for Best Music, Original score for a Motion Picture for The Thomas Crown Affair (1968). Eventually Legrand went on to become a star in the US, he received twelve nominations for Academy Awards, and won two more Oscars. He was also nominated for a Grammy 27 times and received 5 Grammys in the 1970s.

In the 1980s and 1990s Legrand continued giving live concerts with his own jazz trio. He also led his big band which he took on several international tours, accompanying such stars as Ray Charles , Diana Ross , Björk , and Stéphane Grappelli who celebrated his 85th birthday in 1992. He also recorded several classical albums, including an album with cross-genre hits entitled "Kiri Sings Michel Legrand" with the opera singer Kiri te Kanawa. During the 2000s Legrand has been working mainly in the studio, and also made several international tours. In 2005 a compilation of Legrand's best known film soundtracks was released under the title "Le Cinema de Michel Legrand", featuring 90 songs composed in the course of his career.By:Steve Shelokhonovhttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006166/bio

Cole Porter