Sunday, June 12, 2022

Django Reinhardt - The Unforgettable

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 1960
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:50
Size: 112,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:54)  1. Sweet Georgia Brown
(2:27)  2. Minor Swing
(2:54)  3. Double Whisky
(3:45)  4. Artillerie Lourde
(2:35)  5. Saint James Infirmary
(3:34)  6. "C" Jam Blues
(3:34)  7. Honeysuckle Rose
(4:07)  8. Dream Of You
(3:47)  9. Begin The Beguine
(3:40) 10. How High The Moon
(3:28) 11. Nuages
(3:53) 12. I Can't Get Started
(3:41) 13. I Can't Give You Anything But Love
(3:25) 14. Manoir De Mes Reves

Django Reinhardt was the first hugely influential jazz figure to emerge from Europe and he remains the most influential European to this day, with possible competition from Joe Zawinul, George Shearing, John McLaughlin, his old cohort Stephane Grappelli and a bare handful of others. A free-spirited gypsy, Reinhardt wasn't the most reliable person in the world, frequently wandering off into the countryside on a whim. Yet Reinhardt came up with a unique way of propelling the humble acoustic guitar into the front line of a jazz combo in the days before amplification became widespread. He would spin joyous, arcing, marvelously inflected solos above the thrumming base of two rhythm guitars and a bass, with Grappelli's elegantly gliding violin serving as the perfect foil. His harmonic concepts were startling for their time making a direct impression upon Charlie Christian and Les Paul, among others and he was an energizing rhythm guitarist behind Grappelli, pushing their groups into a higher gear. Not only did Reinhardt put his stamp upon jazz, his string band music also had an impact upon the parallel development of Western swing, which eventually fed into the wellspring of what is now called country music.

Although he could not read music, with Grappelli and on his own, Reinhardt composed several winsome, highly original tunes like "Daphne," "Nuages" and "Manoir de Mes Reves," as well as mad swingers like "Minor Swing" and the ode to his record label of the '30s, "Stomping at Decca." As the late Ralph Gleason said about Django's recordings, "They were European and they were French and they were still jazz."

A violinist first and a guitarist later, Jean Baptiste "Django" Reinhardt grew up in a gypsy camp near Paris where he absorbed the gypsy strain into his music. A disastrous caravan fire in 1928 badly burned his left hand, depriving him of the use of the fourth and fifth fingers, but the resourceful Reinhardt figured out a novel fingering system to get around the problem that probably accounts for some of the originality of his style. According to one story, during his recovery period, Reinhardt was introduced to American jazz when he found a 78 RPM disc of Louis Armstrong's "Dallas Blues" at an Orleans flea market. He then resumed his career playing in Parisian cafes until one day in 1934 when Hot Club chief Pierre Nourry proposed the idea of an all-string band to Reinhardt and Grappelli.

Thus was born the Quintet of the Hot Club of France, which quickly became an international draw thanks to a long, splendid series of Ultraphone, Decca and HMV recordings.The outbreak of war in 1939 broke up the Quintette, with Grappelli remaining in London where the group was playing and Reinhardt returning to France. During the war years, he led a big band, another quintet with clarinetist Hubert Rostaing in place of Grappelli, and after the liberation of Paris, recorded with such visiting American jazzmen as Mel Powell, Peanuts Hucko and Ray McKinley. In 1946, Reinhardt took up the electric guitar and toured America as a soloist with the Duke Ellington band but his appearances were poorly received. Some of his recordings on electric guitar late in his life are bop escapades where his playing sounds frantic and jagged, a world apart from the jubilant swing of old. However, starting in Jan. 1946, Reinhardt and Grappelli held several sporadic reunions where the bop influences are more subtly integrated into the old, still-fizzing swing format. In the 1950s, Reinhardt became more reclusive, remaining in Europe, playing and recording now and then until his death from a stroke in 1953. His Hot Club recordings from the `30s are his most irresistible legacy; their spirit and sound can be felt in current groups like Holland's Rosenberg Trio.

Personnel: Guitar – Django Reinhardt; Alto Saxophone, Clarinet – André Ekyan;  Bass – Alf Masselier, Carlo Pecori;  Drums – Aurelio De Carolis , Roger Paraboschi;  Piano – Gianni Safred, Ralph Schécroun; Violin – Stephane Grappelli       

The Unforgettable

Houston Person - Trust In Me

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 78:08
Size: 179,4 MB
Art: Front

(7:58) 1. Chocomotive
(3:54) 2. You're Gonna Hear From Me
(7:38) 3. Close Quarters
(8:36) 4. Since I Fell For You
(7:59) 5. More (Theme From Mondo Cane)
(3:27) 6. Airegin [Bonus Track]
(5:27) 7. One Mint Julep
(4:57) 8. Trust In Me
(5:11) 9. Hey There
(4:24) 10. My Little Suede Shoes
(6:10) 11. That Old Black Magic
(6:31) 12. Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child
(5:49) 13. The Second Time Around

Houston Person is generally considered a soul-jazz specialist whose tenor playing can be counted on to elevate a standard organ combo or groove-based session into something memorable. This set, however, demonstrates Person's reach well beyond funk and blues grooves. The CD, combining the 1967 dates Chocomotive and Trust in Me, reveals a multi-faceted player who has grasped the lessons of tenor greats from Coleman Hawkins to Gene Ammons to Sonny Rollins. This explains why when Person sits down with a Johnny Hammond, Eddie Harris, or Charles Earland he has a whole lot more in his bag than blues licks and an assertive tone. Pianist Cedar Walton is a major presence on both sets, providing a powerful, personal approach that falls somewhere between Horace Silver's sublime earthiness and Thelonious Monk's knotty logic.

Veteran hard boppers Bob Cranshaw and Paul Chambers share the bass spot. The drummers are lesser-knowns Lenny McBrowne and Frankie Jones. Drummer's drummer Alan Dawson is on the Chocomotive tracks in a rare but effective turn at the vibes. Space limitations mean that "Girl Talk" and "Up, Up and Away" from the original Chocomotive are not on the compilation. On the other hand, the bonus track, a brief outing on Sonny Rollins' "Airegin," serves as a prime example of Person's abilities in a probing, straight-ahead setting. A couple of tracks veer towards a blowsy lounge style, but even on "More" (a song that has not stood the test of time) Person with effective work from Walton, Dawson, and Cranshaw steers the performance to a swinging place that transcends the tune's inherent cheesiness.~Jim Todd https://www.allmusic.com/album/trust-in-me-mw0000012925

Personnel: Houston Person- tenor saxophone; Cedar Walton- piano; Alan Dawson- vibes; Bob Cranshaw- bass; Frankie Jones- drums; Paul Chambers- bass; Lenny McBrowne- drums; Ralph Dorsey- conga.

Trust In Me

Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks - Cotton Club Revisited

Styles: Big Band
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:14
Size: 102,0 MB
Art: Front

(3:00)  1. Cotton Club Stomp
(4:29)  2. Stormy Weather
(2:48)  3. Get Yourself a New Broom
(2:52)  4. Trickeration
(4:10)  5. I've Got the World On a String
(2:35)  6. Harlem Holiday
(2:37)  7. Happy As the Day Is Long
(3:22)  8. Minnie the Moocher
(3:36)  9. Raisin' the Rent
(3:23) 10. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
(3:38) 11. As Long As I Live
(4:49) 12. Minnie the Moocher's Wedding Day
(2:48) 13. Truckin'

Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks once again establish a musical time warp, across 13 songs that carry listeners back to the summer of 1932, by way (mostly) of the music of Ted Koehler and Harold Arlen, with additional contributions by Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Duke Ellington, and Cab Calloway. The playing is inventive and impeccable, and there's not a false note anywhere. From the opening "Cotton Club Stomp" through "Stormy Weather," "I've Got the World on a String," "Harlem Holiday," "Minnie the Moocher," "Raisin' the Rent," etc. (with John Leifert providing vocals where needed), the effect is seductive if not downright intoxicating, and even veteran listeners will be thrown by the obvious new vintage of the recordings themselves.
~ Bruce Eder http://www.allmusic.com/album/cotton-club-revisited-mw0001419025

Cotton Club Revisited

Flora Purim - If You Will

Styles: Vocal
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:52
Size: 100,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:11) 1. If You Will
(5:27) 2. This Is Me
(6:30) 3. 500 Miles High
(3:22) 4. A Flor Da Vida
(4:55) 5. Newspaper Girl
(4:36) 6. Dandara
(4:26) 7. Zahuroo
(5:36) 8. Dois + Dois = Tres
(4:44) 9. Lucidez

Everyone loves a great comeback, and, after a lengthy hiatus, Flora Purim obliges with If You Will, the Brazilian's first studio album since Flora's Song (Narada, 2005). Released to coincide with her 80th birthday, If You Will is a somewhat nostalgic celebration that polishes a few old gems from a recording career that began under military dictatorship with the groundbreaking Brazilian jazz album é M.P.M. (1964, RCA). The production values are excellent, as are the performances from Purim and the trusted collaborators with whom she surrounds herself.

Airto Moreira's dancing percussion opens "If You Will," an uplifting tune originally penned by George Duke, and sung here by Flora's daughter, Diana Purim. Short-and-sweet solos from keyboardist Mika Mutti and electric bassist Fábio Hess come and go, but the album as whole is less about individual virtuosity and more about the collective vibe, with half a dozen percussionists and almost twice as many backing vocalists creating rich rhythmic layers and melodic textures. Mother and daughter share vocal duties on "This Is Me," a soaring, percussion-fueled slice of Brazilian jazz with call-and-response, a fine keyboard solo from Bryan Velasco and an utterly infectious vocal motif that proves impossible to shake.

The leader takes centre stage on Chick Corea's "500 Miles High," from Return to Forever's Light As A Feather (Polydor, 1973). Purim's pipes are still in remarkably good shape, her delivery of Neville Potter's lyrics as soulful and bright as it was half a century ago. Moreira's distinctive non-syllabic vocals bookend Jose Neto's breezy "Newspaper Girl." The guitarist's tasteful solo adds colorful splashes to this tune of loping rhythmic gate and sunny melodic contours. Another long-term collaborator of the leader, notably in the group Fourth World, Neto shines on Nuno Mindelis's Pino Daniele-esque blues "Dois +Dois = Tres," though it is Flora Purim who is in the driving seat.

The elegant bossa-jazz "Dandara," named for the 17th century Afro-Brazilian warrior who fought against slavery, is a family affair. Poet Judith de Souza wrote the lyrics, which grandson Felipe Machado put to music. His grandfather, singer-songwriter Filó Machado, who has worked with Michel Legrand, Jon Hendricks and Hermeto Pascoal, arranged the track, also adding acoustic guitar and backing vocals alongside Vitor Pinheiro. Flora Purim rolls back the years to makes it her own. Claudia Villela's catchy pop-samba "Zahuroo" features the leader on wordless vocals, with sizzling percussion from Celso Alberto and Moreira.

The shuffling acoustic ballad, "Lucidez," co-written by Diana Purim, Krishna Booker and Fabio Nascimento, closes the album on an introspective note. With percussion assuming a more subtle role, Flora Purim's warm vocals are to the fore, framed by Nascimento's acoustic strumming and Todd S. Simon's painterly touches on flugelhorn. Whether If You Will marks a late-career renaissance or a joyous swansong for Flora Purim remains to be seen. Regardless, it is a fine testament to a unique figure in contemporary Brazilian music.
~Ian Pattersonhttps://www.allaboutjazz.com/if-you-will-flora-purim-strut-records__722

Personnel: Flora Purim: voice / vocals.

Additional Instrumentation: Airto Moreira: percussion, drums (9), vocals (5, 7); Diana Purim: vocals (1-2, 4), backing vocals (4); Mikka Mutti: keyboards (1, 9); Fábio Hess: bass (1); Léo Costa: drums (1-2); Grecco Buratto: guitar, backing vocals (2); Bryan Velasco: piano, keyboards (2); Andre de Santanna: bass (2); Alberto Lopes: percussion (2); Gibi dos Santos: percussion (2); Krishna Booker: percussion (2, 9), backing vocals (9); Caro Pierotto: backing vocals (2); Maria Joana: backing vocals (2); Emina Shimanuki: (2); Kana Shimunaki: backing vocals (2); Mari Nobre: backing vocals (2); Niura Band: backing vocals (2); Davi Sartori: electric piano (3); Thiago Duarte: bass (3); Endrigo Bettega: drums (3-4); Stéphane San Juan: drums (4); José Neto: guitar (5, 7-8); Frank Martin: keyboards (5); Gary Brown: bass (5); Celso Alberti: drums (5, 8), percussion (7); Café da Silva: bata (5); Filó Machado: acoustic guitar, backing vocals (6); Vitor Pinheiro: backing vocals (6); Claudia Villela: vocals (7); Marcio Lomiramda: keyboards (8); Stéphane San Juan: drums (8); Fabio Nascimento: acoustic guitar (9); Todd M. Simon: flugelhorn (9); Léo Nobre: bass (9); Filipe Castro: percussion (9).

If You Will