Mandy Barnett - Strange Conversation

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:40
Size: 91,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:43) 1. More Lovin'
(3:26) 2. It's All Right (You're Just in Love)
(3:44) 3. Dream Too Real to Hold
(4:49) 4. Strange Conversation
(3:34) 5. A Cowboy's Work is Never Done
(4:29) 6. Puttin' on the Dog
(4:04) 7. All Night
(4:12) 8. My World Keeps Slipping Away
(3:19) 9. The Fool
(3:16) 10. Put a Chain on It

Mandy Barnett casts her net wide on Strange Conversation, her first album since a 2013 tribute to Don Gibson and, really, her first album not to be in a strictly traditional country vein. Working with co-producers Doug Lancio and Marco Giovino, who have respectively collaborated with Patty Griffin and Robert Plant, Barnett decides to play a little bit of everything that constitutes Americana in 2018. This certainly encompasses the straight-ahead country that's firmly within her wheelhouse, but Barnett attempts a bunch of new things, ranging from the sultry Southern R&B groove of the title track to the gritty blues of "Put a Chain on It." Most of Strange Conversation is grounded in the soul identified with Muscle Shoals, which is where the album was recorded, but Barnett bends the form to suit her needs, flaunting a sly wit when she records a John Hiatt duet that sounds like a Tom Waits song ("A Cowboy's Work Is Never Done") and a Tom Waits song that sounds like funk ("Puttin' on the Dog"). It all adds up to what may be the richest record of her career: surprising, lively, and deeply felt.~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine https://www.allmusic.com/album/strange-conversation-mw0003196514

Personnel: Vocals, Harmony Vocals, Ukulele – Mandy Barnett; Accordion – Sonny Barbato; Backing Vocals – Ann McCrary, Brandon Young, Regina McCrary; Baritone Guitar – Billy Masters; Bass – Viktor Krauss; Guitar – Frank Swart, Peter Parcek; Harmonica – Dennis Brennan; Keyboards, Acoustic Guitar – Kylie Harris; Lap Steel Guitar – Thomas Juliano; Organ – Rudy Copeland; Organ, Piano, Electric Piano [Wurlitzer] – Tom West; Producer, Drums – Marco Giovino; Producer, Engineer, Guitar, Electric Guitar, Banjo, Mixed By – Doug Lancio; Saxophone – John Isley; Trombone, Arranged By [Horns] – Neal Pawley

Strange Conversation

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Aaron Parks - First Romance

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:42
Size: 113,9 MB
Art: Front

(6:21)  1. First Romance
(9:02)  2. Stella by Starlight
(5:14)  3. The Wizard
(7:41)  4. All the Things You Are
(8:00)  5. Someday My Prince Will Come
(6:30)  6. Beatrice
(6:52)  7. Oleo

First Romance, 16-year-old jazz pianist Aaron Parks' second CD, is a compilation of mostly live recordings made in and around Seattle, Washington. In addition to performing with his original trio mates, Evan Flory-Barnes and Eric Peters, he also performs here with Larry Holloway on bass and Julian MacDonough on drums. The title track, First Romance, along with his award winning tune, The Wizard, were composed by Aaron Parks. Also included are classic standards, such as All the Things You Are, Stella by Starlight, and Oleo. The trio's stunning rendition of Sam Rivers' Beatrice, comes from a University of Washington performance which has been listed by the Seattle Times as one of the top 10 notable jazz acts of 1999. 

The Aaron Parks Trio, with Evan Flory-Barnes on Bass, and Eric Peters on Drums, was awarded Northwest Emerging Group of the Year for 1999 by Seattle's Earshot Jazz. Aaron Parks has also received awards as a Yamaha Young Performing Artist, Presiden! tial Scholar in the Arts, Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellow, National High School Grammy Ensemble member, and Betty Carter Jazz Ahead participant. Most recently, he earned Third Place in the international Jas Hennessey Piano Solo Competition held at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Summer 2000. Aaron Parks is currently a student at Manhattan School of Music, studying under piano great, Kenny Barron. ~ Editorial Reviews https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004YW6R?_encoding=UTF8&isInIframe=0&n=5174&ref_=dp_proddesc_0&s=music&showDetailProductDesc=1#product-description_feature_div

Aaron Parks is one of the brightest, most talented musicians I have ever worked with... His music is beautifully intense ~ Marc Seales, jazz pianist, Director of Jazz Studies, University of Washington

This is the mark of musical genius, the kind of story-telling feel one gets from players such as Stan Getz and Jarrett ~ Paul de Barros, The Seattle Times, November 24, 1999

Though prodigies are not unusual in jazz think of Clifford Brown, and Wynton Marsalis genius is rare... This kid's the real thing ~  Paul de Barros, First Romance Liner Notes, July 1999

[Aaron Parks] is a vital, fresh, new, creative force ready to begin his career in the jazz world ~ Joanne Brackeen, jazz pianist & composer

Personnel:  Aaron Parks - piano Larry Holloway - base (1,3,5,7) Evan Flory-Barnes - base (2,3,6) Julian MacDonough - drums (1,3,4,5,7) Eric Peters - drums (2,6)

First Romance

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Fred Hersch - Breath By Breath

Styles: Piano Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:28
Size: 107,4 MB
Art: Front

(6:52) 1. Begin Again
(4:13) 2. Awakened Heart
(6:22) 3. Breath By Breath
(4:01) 4. Monkey Mind
(5:02) 5. Rising, Falling
(4:39) 6. Mara
(3:41) 7. Know That You Are
(5:24) 8. Worldly Winds
(6:10) 9. Pastorale

Fred Hersch’s Breath by Breath is a special album by any standard. Compositionally, the implementation of a string quartet into his pieces is breathtaking. Fred Hersch‘s Breath by Breath is a third-stream masterpiece. In addition to enlisting bassist Drew Gress and drummer Jochen Rueckert, the veteran pianist has opened the sound up to include percussionist Rogerio Boccato and all four members of the Crosby Street String Quartet. Breath by Breath sounds like a jazz piano trio album with string additions on some tracks. On others, the lines between jazz and classical music will start to blur. As the genre continues to dreamily float in some in-between zone, musical emphasis shifts between piano and string quartet. Compositionally, Hersch’s implementation of the string quartet into his pieces is breathtaking.

It turns out that Hersch had been pondering the inner workings of a string quartet for most of his life. “I grew up listening to string quartets as a very young musician in Cincinnati,” he writes in the album’s liner notes. “My piano teacher was the wife of the cellist in the famous LaSalle Quartet. I used to lie on the rug in their living room as an elementary school student while they rehearsed, quietly following along, hearing how the viola part meshed with the first violin, or the second violin and the cello.” Hersch then describes how he began studying composition at age eight. You read that right. That means Hersch has had close to 60 years to think about how best to loop a string quartet through his piano compositions or the other way around.

Of the nine pieces on Breath by Breath, eight make up “The Sati Suite”. “Sati” roughly translates to “mindfulness” or “awareness”, thus making the 40 minutes of music revolve around meditation. Some titles don’t need much explanation, like “Breath by Breath”, “Rising, Falling”, and “Know That You Are”. Others are a bit more abstract, like “Monkey Mind” and “Mara”, if you are unfamiliar with stories of the Buddha. The theme lies within the subject rather than the music itself, allowing Hersch to do whatever he likes stylistically. “Mara”, named for a god that tempted Buddha with material desires, makes Boccato the star of the show. Like clockwork, his light percussive touch is the only pulse behind cellist Jody Redhage Ferber as she introduces Hersch’s tenuous solo. The sleepy drone that Boccato creates is an atmosphere not unlike something Cyro Baptista would record for Tzadik.

The opener, “Begin Again”, leans towards the jazzier side of the third stream spectrum, though Rueckert’s beat is more Latin-influenced than swing. “Awakened Heart” is pure melancholy, starting with a molto string quartet and handing things over to Hersch as he searches for a new link between the spirit of Bill Evans and mindful meditation. “Breath by Breath” begins as a quartet piece but soon finds Rueckert escorting them with brushwork, thereby morphing into a quiet piece of lounge jazz. “Worldly Winds”, the concluding movement, sees the two approaches fully immersed with one another. The quartet get a track to themselves with “Know That You Are”, a Romantic piece of shifting chords and unclear resolution. “Monkey Mind”, named for distracting thoughts that get in the way of meditation, leaps over the Romantic era with string pizzicato and wide interval hopping from Hersch.

The one track that is not part of “The Sati Suite” is placed at the end, “Pastorale (Homage a Robert Schumann)”. Hersch begins the piece with a pretty unassuming pattern that continually rises as more and more is added to the mix. That all stops at one point and turns into a plucked string quartet melody that ushers in Hersch staccato melody. If this is an homage to “The Merry Peasant”, then said peasant must have gotten lost somewhere along the way – or took a detour to a tavern. By the time the rest of the piano trio returns, the harmony has turned to a shifting state of bewilderment. But as all conflict is soon followed by resolution, Hersch takes everything back to an agreeable place of rest with both piano and strings.

Breath by Breath is a special album by any standard. Whether one considers it a crossover project or just an enhanced jazz album, the compositions and performances can’t be improved. Together, the continuity they produce can only be enhanced from repeated listens.~ John Garratt https://www.popmatters.com/author/john_garratt

Personnel: Piano – Fred Hersch; Bass - Drew Gress; Cello – Jody Redhage Ferber; Drums – Jochen Rueckert; Viola – Lois Martin; Violin – Joyce Hammann, Laura Seaton

Breath By Breath

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