Ray Brown - Some of My Best Friends Are Sax Players

Styles: Contemporary Jazz, Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1995
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:28
Size: 171,2 MB
Art: Front

(5:27) 1. How High the Moon
(4:42) 2. Love Walked In
(6:36) 3. Polka Dots and Moonbeams
(3:48) 4. Crazeology
(6:18) 5. Port of Rico (Stanley Turrentine)
(5:23) 6. Moose the Mooche (Jesse Davis)
(6:14) 7. Easy Living
(4:09) 8. Just You, Just Me (Joshua Redman)
(5:31) 9. Fly Me to the Moon
(7:08) 10. (When it's) Sleepytime Down So
(5:59) 11. These Foolish Things
(6:59) 12. God Bless the Child (Stanley Turrentine)
(0:54) 13. In Conversation with Joe Lovano
(1:05) 14. In Conversation with Benny Carter
(0:31) 15. In Conversation with Stanley Turrentine
(0:27) 16. In Conversation with Jesse Davis
(0:28) 17. In Conversation with Joshua Redman
(0:43) 18. In Conversation with Ralph Moore

As a follow-up to bassist Ray Brown's previous record in which he collaborated with several of his favorite pianists, Some of My Best Friends Are...The Sax Players features six major saxophonists (tenors Joe Lovano, Ralph Moore, Joshua Redman and Stanley Turrentine plus altoists Benny Carter and Jesse Davis) on two songs apiece with his regular trio. Although more than 60 years separate the ageless Carter from Redman, each of the saxes originally developed their own voice in the straight-ahead jazz tradition. Highlights of the colorful set include Benny Carter's playful rendition of "Love Walked In," Moore's cooking solo on "Crazeology" (a Benny Harris bop classic which the record mistakenly lists as written by Bud Freeman), Davis ripping through "Moose the Mooche" and Turrentine's romp on the blues "Port of Rico."

Pianist Benny Green and drummer Gregory Hutchinson provide suitable accompaniment (Green's solos are consistently excellent) and all dozen of the songs are successful and swinging. As an extra bonus, on the latter part of the CD each of the saxophonists has a brief chat (between 26 seconds and a minute apiece) with Brown about their early influences. There is so much good feeling and obvious mutual respect shown that one wishes these talks were at least twice as long; the Benny Carter segment is most memorable.~Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/some-of-my-best-friends-arethe-sax-players-mw0000184898

PERSONNEL: RAY BROWN, bass; BENNY GREEN, piano; GREGORY HUTCHINSON, drums

With: BENNY CARTER & JESSE DAVIS, alto sax; JOE LOVANO, RALPH MOORE, JOSHUA REDMAN & STANLEY TURRENTINE, tenor sax

Some of My Best Friends Are Sax Players

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Paco De Lucia - Cancion de Andaluza

Styles: Guitar
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 35:32
Size: 81,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:53) 1. María De La O
(4:43) 2. Ojos Verdes
(4:00) 3. Romance De Valentía
(3:31) 4. Te He De Querer Mientras Viva
(3:20) 5. La Chiquita Piconera
(4:03) 6. Zambra Gitana
(6:07) 7. Quiroga Por Bulerías
(5:51) 8. Señorita

Canción Andaluza (English: Andalusian Song) is the final studio album by Spanish musician Paco de Lucía, released on April 29, 2014 through Universal Music Spain. It was released posthumously after his death on February 25, 2014 and features collaborations with Oscar D'León, Estrella Morente and Vicente Castro "Parrita". The album was recorded at his studio in Mallorca, Spain. The production of the album appeared in the 2014 documentary film Paco de Lucía: La Búsqueda, directed by Francisco Sánchez Varela. At the 15th Annual Latin Grammy Awards, the album won Album of the Year, becoming the first flamenco music album to win the award, also the album won Best Flamenco Album, being the third time he wins that category after receiving the award for Cositas Buenas in 2004 and En Vivo Conciertos España 2010 in 2012https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canci%C3%B3n_Andaluza

Personnel: Guitar, Mandolin, Ney, Mandola – Paco De Lucía; Guitar – Hermanos Conde, Lester Devoe, Pepe Romero; Guitar, Guitarrón – Tony Morales; Mandola – Ricardo Sanchís

Cancion de Andaluza

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Hal Galper Trio - Trip the Light Fantastic (feat. Jeff Johnson & John Bishop)

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:19
Size: 102,1 MB
Art: Front

(4:01)  1. Alice in Wonderland
(6:57)  2. Babes of Cancun
(5:52)  3. Get Up & Go
(7:49)  4. Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry
(5:56)  5. Suspension
(8:07)  6. Trip the Light Fantastic
(5:34)  7. Be My Love

About eighty percent of the jazz piano players out there can fit into one of two schools: that of the introspective, harmonically rich Bill Evans mode; or the more percussive and gregarious Bud Powell bebop approach. There's also a small slice of the that pie that draws it primary inspiration from bright and splashy Art Tatum/Oscar Peterson pre-bop playing style, along with various subsets. Then there are those who take a foundation of one of those approaches and craft something quite unique, the path that Hal Galper has taken over the past decade. A veteran of the groups of trumpeter Chet Baker and alto saxophonist Phil Woods, Galper can certainly claim a bebop foundation. But he has taken that foundation and flown free with it, as documented in his recent Origin CDs Furious Rubato (2007) and E Pluribus Unum (2010) where he explored the rubato style of playing, an approach that lends elasticity to time and tempo, and often engenders wildness and abandon. Galper opens the set with Sammy Fain/Bob Hilliard's "Alice in Wonderland," a tune famously covered by Evans on his masterpiece Sunday at the Village Vanguard (Riverside Records, 1961). 

This is not a floating Evans version, however; Galper and band mates drummer John Bishop and bassist Jeff Johnson take the tune on a furiously tumultuous ride, full of urgency, pushing in the direction of flying out of control, without ever doing so. Jule Styne's standard "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry" is more restrained, a deeply ruminative and intimate conversation between Galper and Johnson that leads into the ominous Galper original, "Suspension," which puts the trio's edgy interactivity and ability to sustain a prickly momentum on full display. The title tune, another Galper original, has a swaying, fractured grandeur, an off-center, freewheeling beauty full of mystery and intrigue. The trio wraps it up with "Be My Love," a film tune written for vocalist Mario Lanza. Bishop's drums sizzle and detonate unpredictably; Johnson's bass rumbles; and the piano notes careen with a scintillating, headlong freedom, closing out Galper's finest trio outing to date. ~ Dan Mcclenaghan   

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=40802#.UwzZuoVZhhk
 

Personnel: Hal Galper: piano; Jeff Johnson: bass; John Bishop: drums.

Trip the Light Fantastic (feat. Jeff Johnson & John Bishop)

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Lani Hall (feat. Herb Alpert) - Seasons Of Love

Styles: Vocal,Trumpet Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 35:05
Size: 81,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:13) 1. Happy Woman
(3:40) 2. Seasons Of Love
(2:40) 3. Lovely Day
(3:39) 4. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
(4:08) 5. Waters Of March
(3:08) 6. You Are
(4:24) 7. No Te Vayas No (I Don't Want You To Go)
(3:18) 8. Now You Know
(3:23) 9. Sorri
(3:28) 10. Here Comes The Sun

Vocalist and author Lani Hall has not released an album of her own in 20 years. That is our loss, for sure. Her last effort not counting her work with husband Herb Alpert on his tours and on a number of his fine Grammy-winning sessions was in 1998. With Seasons of Love Hall's stepping out in front shows nothing has changed. She still has an outstanding voice with plenty of walloping emotional impact. She "returns" with this effort, delivering ten fine songs most well-known which are all beautifully performed, impeccably presented, and superbly produced.

The title track is a dramatic take on the well-known feature from the Broadway hit Rent and it is a highlight. The late Bill Withers' upbeat "Lovely Day" is taken straight up by Hall, and builds over a terrific rhythm bed with Alpert's horn singing along with strings. It is a strong, involving track. "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" is an intimate play on the Roberta Flack classic. Hall caresses the rich lyric over an accompanying acoustic guitar and, later, with strings. Her approach is elegant and avoids any hint of being sappy or saccharine.

Hall's voice is full and right on point. It is a more seasoned sound than on the early Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 days. She is up front, direct, and honest with outstanding emotional depth, dynamic precision, and killer diction. Her approach to the lyrics is pristine and emotive. There is a ton of dramatic presentation across the session, as well. Herb Alpert handles the instrumental solos and sounds better than ever. His improvised accompaniment lines are well-chosen, lush, melismatic, and frame the vocals superbly without stepping on heels. The accompanying musicians are simply superb throughout.

The Bossa classic "Waters of March" puts Hall on a re-harmonised bed and is dramatically moving. "You Are" has Hall rhythmic over an energetic percussion platform with Alpert blowing on the chorus and a slick modulation. The dramatically lovely "No Te Vayas No (I Don't Want You to Go)" has Hall singing in impeccable Spanish. "Now You Know" is a very moving track with Hall accompanied by piano and strings and Alpert's trumpet filling a simply glorious experience. "Sorri" is a lush Bossa take on Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" where the suave syllabication of Hall's Portuguese lends a romantic and intimate flavoring to the optimistic focus of the tune. George Harrison's "Here Comes the Sun" has Hall's vocal sunshine all over it, closes the date and is very "all right."

As with anything Alpert, this is an impeccably produced and engineered production which plays perfectly to vocal, trumpet, percussion, and all background textures. Seasons of Love is almost an hour of excellent music. A very minor flaw is that a couple of the tracks, as great as they are, seem to end when listeners could certainly want more. But, then again who is to argue with genius?

Personnel: Lani Hall: voice / vocals; Herb Alpert: trumpet; Bill Cantos: piano; Hussain Jiffry: bass, electric; Mitchell Long: guitar; Andre De Santanna: bass; Rafael Padilla: percussion; Eduardo DelBarrio: piano.

Additional Instrumentation: Herb Alpert: vocals, flugelhorn; Bill Cantos: keyboards, strings;

Seasons Of Love

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