Jo Stafford - Once Over Lightly

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 35:46
Size: 82,4 MB
Art: Front

(2:50)  1. Almost Like Being in Love
(3:06)  2. A Foggy Day
(2:49)  3. The Lady Is a Tramp
(3:25)  4. These Foolish Things
(2:30)  5. Mine
(3:27)  6. The Gypsy in My Soul
(3:03)  7. Autumn Leaves
(2:18)  8. You're Mine, You
(1:52)  9. Nice Work If You Can Get It
(3:19) 10. My Old Flame
(3:14) 11. But Not for Me
(3:49) 12. One for My Baby

During the immediate postwar years, singer Jo Stafford rose to fame as both a member of Tommy Dorsey's band and as a solo act. Part of a loose sorority of pop-jazz vocalists that also included Kay Starr, June Christy, and Julie London, Stafford excelled at both swingers and ballads using her patented smooth pipes. On this mid-'50s outing, she's joined by accordionist Art Van Damme and His Quintet. Covering a ballad and mid-tempo mix of standards, Stafford especially excels on "Almost Like Being in Love," "One for My Baby," and "But Not for Me." While not in the same league of contemporary work by Christy and London, Once Over Lightly still fits in well with the many cocktail vocal offerings from the '50s. ~ Stephen Cook http://www.allmusic.com/album/once-over-lightly-mw0000849362

Once Over Lightly

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Mike Vax - On A Jazz Mission

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:37
Size: 104.4 MB
Styles: Trumpet jazz
Year: 2001
Art: Front

[3:30] 1. Louis Meets The Bird (Back Home In Indiana Donna Lee)
[4:00] 2. Freddie Freeloader
[2:35] 3. Day By Day
[4:21] 4. A Night In Tunisia
[4:56] 5. Night Of The Capricorn Moon
[2:30] 6. Trumpet Blues And Cantabile
[3:42] 7. Wild Man Blues
[5:17] 8. Kiss And Run
[1:50] 9. Lickety Split
[5:34] 10. I Can't Get Started
[4:38] 11. Short Stop
[2:37] 12. Heckler's Hop

Acoustic Bass – Bill Langlois; Cornet – Mike Vax; Drums – Eric Thompson; Flugelhorn – Bob Doll, Mike Vax, Steve Campos, Warren Gale; Guitar – Steve Draper; Keyboards – Larry Dunlap; Piano – Larry Dunlap; Trumpet – Bob Doll, Mike Vax, Steve Campos, Warren Gale; Trumpet [Piccolo] – Mike Vax; Wind Chimes – Larry Dunlap.

As a recording musician, Mike has performed on more than 75 albums, including 20 under his own name. Mike has done workshops and concerts in over 2500 middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities all around the world over the past 40 years. He is very active as a clinician and soloist in both the classical and jazz idioms.

TRPTS (Trumpets) was formed in 1985 as an experimental group to bring the history of jazz trumpet to audiences through performing voiced out solos from famous jazz trumpet players, playing music associated with trumpet jazz over the years, and also presenting new music written for especially for us. The CD “Transforming Traditons” (Later re-issued as “On a Jazz Mission” on Summit Records) has sold over 25,000 copies. The group has performed all over the United States. Our roster has included at different times: Mike Vax, Wayne Bergeron, Carl Saunders, Clay Jenkins, Claudio Roditi, Jeff Jarvis, Andrea Toffanelli, Steve Campos, Bob Doll, Warren Gale, and John Capobianco.

On A Jazz Mission

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Eric Reed - Something Beautiful

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:46
Size: 123,6 MB
Art: Front

(5:00)  1. Sun Out
(5:07)  2. In Your Own Sweet Way
(5:16)  3. Black Tables
(7:19)  4. How Deep Is the Ocean
(4:41)  5. I Still Believe in You
(3:52)  6. Lift Up Your Hands to the Lord
(4:03)  7. Mad About the Boy
(5:19)  8. Citadel
(4:19)  9. Honesty
(3:28) 10. Something Beautiful
(5:15) 11. If I Knew You

Eric Reed's Something Beautiful is well-named: a collection of mostly standards, delivered with sensitive hands and unerring taste. The pianist shows a knack for choosing great material, mostly staying away from jazz's grossly overplayed warhorses in favor of lesser-known material that is, nonetheless, classic and elegant. The album offers a unified atmosphere of down- and mid-tempo melodies sometimes melancholy, sometimes bouncy, and occasionally even uplifting. Jesse Tabish's "Black Tables" is almost hymn-like, with deep left-handed chords creating gravity under the melody, as drummer Rodney Green conveys the rhythm on the low toms. As he works out, Reed makes sure to allow a pause almost breathing room between ideas, preventing his improvisations from overwhelming the soft forward urge of the song. It takes a moment to grasp the melody of Billy Joel's "Honesty," with the almost pace diminished to a dirge. But it's there, and it turns out to be one of the best interpretations on the album. 

With only bassist Reuben Rogers accompanying, Reed draws this familiar pop song into exceptional new territory, with a deep connection to the music, and a delivery that places its emphasis on poignancy rather than pyrotechnics. It's a masterful performance. Reed's own compositions are equal to his interpretations and fit quite naturally with the rest of the album. The title track bounces a little more, with a prominent bass line, an accessible melody, and some really tight syncopation. Again, Reed employs those subtle pauses in the rhythm and in his improvisational delivery, adding an ingenious effect to an already well-crafted tune. The closing "If I Knew You," performed solo, returns to the larghissimo pace employed in "Honesty," with largely the same effect. Reed has a true feel for these ballads, playing with enough self-restraint to allow the melodies to shine through employing his considerable technique in the service of the piece, but never the other way around. 

That's a difficult balancing act, and one he manages with aplomb. If there's any criticism of his original compositions it's that there aren't more of them.  Reed's last effort, The Dancing Monk (Savant, 2011), was also an excellent effort, but Something Beautiful is better. Constrained by a single composer, Reed was forced to concede some of his own stylistic ground to compositions that that could never be mistaken for anyone other than Thelonious Monk. Here, he's free to interpret the material in his own style, and as a result he delivers a much more passionate performance. It has been noted that ballads can be the most difficult songs to master because of the subtlety involved. If that is the case then Something Beautiful represents the performance of a truly gifted and sensitive balladeer. ~ Greg Simmons  

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=41153#.Usm2urRc_vs
 

Personnel: Eric Reed: piano; Reuben Rogers: bass; Rodney Green: drums.

Something Beautiful

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James & Bobby Purify - Shake A Tail Feather: The Best Of James & Bobby Purify

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:43
Size: 159.6 MB
Styles: Pop/Soul/R&B
Year: 2002
Art: Front

[2:58] 1. I'm Your Puppet
[2:48] 2. You Left The Water Running
[2:06] 3. Shake A Tail Feather
[2:31] 4. I Was Born To Lose Out
[2:37] 5. So Many Reasons
[2:15] 6. Wish You Don't Have To Go
[2:33] 7. You Can't Keep A Good Man Down
[2:12] 8. I Take What I Want
[2:25] 9. Let Love Come Between Us
[3:13] 10. I Don't Want To Have To Wait
[2:04] 11. You Don't Love Me
[1:43] 12. Goodness Gracious
[2:16] 13. Hello There
[2:12] 14. Keep Pushing Me
[2:59] 15. Just Like Old Times
[2:35] 16. I Can Remember
[2:33] 17. We're Finally Gonna Make It
[2:30] 18. Untie Me
[2:15] 19. Everybody Needs Somebody
[2:20] 20. Last Piece Of Love
[2:16] 21. Help Yourself (To All My Lovin')
[2:28] 22. I Don't Know What It Is You Got
[2:35] 23. Section C
[2:42] 24. My Adorable One
[2:28] 25. Do Unto Me
[2:51] 26. The Weeper
[2:45] 27. She Ain't Gonna Do Right
[2:19] 28. Somebody Cares

You couldn't ask for a better compilation of James & Bobby Purify than this one, which fits no less than 28 songs onto a single disc, all from their prime 1966-1969 Bell era. In addition to a wealth of singles, B-sides, and LP tracks, there are five previously unissued cuts, the whole deal expertly annotated. The duo was harder to fit into a niche than many soul acts of the era; although there have been some comparisons to Sam & Dave, at times their sides were more pop-oriented than what Sam & Dave cut at Memphis, particularly on songs with sophisticated production touches like vibes. At other times, though, they were indeed in the late-'60s Southern deep soul bag; sometimes some doo wop and older R&B influences surfaced; and there's even a reading of the blues classic "You Don't Love Me." It makes for a varied and nice set, though there really isn't anything as instantly memorable as the song that will be always be their calling card, "I'm Your Puppet." If you do like "I'm Your Puppet" in particular, you'll probably go for the half a dozen or so other tracks in which Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham were also involved in the songwriting, like "So Many Reasons" and a version of "You Left the Water Running" that stands up to the better-known one by Otis Redding. For more up-tempo numbers, their interpretation of "I Take What I Want," with fuzzy guitar to the forefront, is at least as good as the more famed
version by Sam & Dave. ~Richie Unterberger

Shake A Tail Feather: The Best Of James & Bobby Purify

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