Friday, June 17, 2022

Evan Christopher - This Side of Evan

Styles: Clarinet Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:20
Size: 139,1 MB
Art: Front

( 5:11) 1. I Want to Be Happy
( 6:13) 2. Get out of Town
( 4:50) 3. Paper Doll
( 5:33) 4. Smiles
( 5:56) 5. Mood Indigo
( 4:52) 6. Sonny Boy
( 3:51) 7. Nuages
( 4:31) 8. When Day Is Done
( 4:09) 9. Dark Eyes
( 4:46) 10. In the Wee, Small Hours of the Morning
(10:21) 11. Make Me One Pallet on Your Floor

Evan Christopher (born August 31, 1969) is an American jazz clarinetist and composer. His first musical training was at the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts. After high school, he studied saxophone at the University of Southern California and graduated from California State University at Long Beach where he studied clarinet. Early mentors include clarinetists Kenny Davern, Tony Scott and soprano saxophonist George Probert.

Career: Tours with singer-songwriter A.J. Croce in the early 1990s brought Christopher to New Orleans. He moved to Crescent City in 1994 and enjoyed varied work before leaving to join the Jim Cullum Jazz Band in San Antonio, Texas in 1996. For nearly three years, he appeared nightly as their featured clarinetist and recorded episodes of the syndicated radio program Riverwalk Jazz. He returned to New Orleans but was forced to leave in 2005 when the federal levees failed because of Hurricane Katrina. He traveled continuously and lived briefly in Paris at the invitation of the city of Paris. During this residency, he formed the Jazz Traditions Project and Django à la Créole. The latter fused Gypsy jazz with New Orleans grooves. Tours with Irvin Mayfield's New Orleans Jazz Orchestra made it possible for Christopher to return to New Orleans. He is a charter member of jazz composer guild, NOLA ArtHouse Music, and the Seahawk Modern Jazz Orchestra in southern California.

Christopher published research on the New Orleans style of clarinet. In 2002 he began pursuing a degree in musicology at Tulane University. From 2008–2009, he taught part-time at the University of New Orleans and taught an ensemble that performed with Lucien Barbarin and Marcus Roberts. In July 2010, he debuted the "Treat It Gentle Suite", a concerto for clarinet and jazz band with the Minnesota Orchestra. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Christopher

This Side of Evan

Dinah Washington - Dinah Washington Sings

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1963
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 28:08
Size: 70,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:13) 1. Out In The Cold Again
(2:45) 2. Hey, Good Looking
(3:00) 3. Tell Me Why
(2:17) 4. Wheel Of Fortune
(3:08) 5. Ain't Nobody's Business But My Own
(1:59) 6. New York, Chicago & Los Angeles
(2:44) 7. You Can Depend On Me
(3:08) 8. I Sold My Heart To The Junkman
(2:59) 9. West Side Baby
(2:49) 10. Why Can't You Behave?

The versatile vocalist Dinah Washington was born Ruth Lee Jones in Tuscaloosa Alabama on August 29th 1924. She grew up in Chicago where her family moved in 1928.

Her mother was heavily involved in church community centered around St Luke’s Baptist and Dinah was surrounded by gospel and church music since her early childhood. She exhibited musical talents at an early age and was part of the church choir playing the piano and singing gospel in her early teens. At age 15, enamored by Billie Holiday, she started playing and singing the blues in local clubs and made quite a name for herself. In 1942 Lionel Hampton heard her and hired her for to front his band. Hampton claims that it was he who gave her the name Dinah Washington but other sources disagree.

Some suggest the talent agent Joe Glaser suggested the new name and others cite the manager of the bar where she was performing at the time as the person who recommended it. This was also the year when she married her firs husband; John Young (she would marry 6 more times). She remained with Lionel Hampton from 1943-1946 and during this tenure made her recording debut, a blues session produced by Leonard Feather for Keynote records. She became quite popular both as the band singer for Hampton and as a solo artist. She used her new found financial success to buy a home for her mother and sister. She left Hampton’s orchestra early 1946 while she was living in LA and shortly afterwards recorded blues sides for the small Apollo label. Her big break came very shortly afterwards when she signed with Mercury label on January 14 1946. During her stay with Mercury she recorded a number of top ten hits in a multitude of genres including blues, R&B, pop, standards, novelties, even country. She never was strictly a jazz singer but did record number of jazz sessions with some of the most influential musicians of the day including Cannonball Adderley, Clark Terry, and Ben Webster. Her most memorable jazz recording is with Clifford Brown; the classic Dinah Jams from 1955.

After the unexpected commercial success of “What a Diff'rence a Day Makes,” in 1959, which marked Washington’s breakthrough into the mainstream pop and won her a Grammy; she stopped recording blues and jazz songs and concentrated on more easy listening tunes characterized by lush orchestrations. The critics decried this shift in her career but it did bring her music more widespread exposure and commercial success. She started having problems with her weight so she became dependant on diet pills and on Dec. 14, 1963 she died of an accidental overdose of alcohol and diet pills in a hotel room in Detroit. She was buried at Burr Oak Cemetery in Chicago. https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/dinah-washington

Dinah Washington Sings

Stephen Riley, Ernest Turner - Original Mind

Styles: Saxophone And Piano Jazz
Year: 2021
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:09
Size: 108,6 MB
Art: Front

(2:12) 1. Doris
(6:23) 2. Among My Souvenirs
(4:58) 3. Beautiful Moon Ago
(7:52) 4. J
(4:35) 5. Namely You
(5:07) 6. Sophisticated Lady
(4:55) 7. Light Blue
(6:24) 8. Turnin’
(4:39) 9. Blessed Assurance

Saxophonist Stephen Riley and pianist Ernest Turner present a poignantly beautiful set of originals and standards

Hailing from North Carolina, tenor saxophonist Stephen Riley and pianist Ernest Turner come together to present a poignantly beautiful set of original compositions and standards. Recorded in a beautiful house on the West side of Vancouver, BC, Canada the sound quality is absolutely wonderful, capturing every single nuance. The interplay between the two musicians is purely magic. Features a beautiful tune selection including some original material, lesser known standards and a gospel hymn that highlights the wonderfully unique tenor saxophone sound of Stephen Riley. Released September 17, 2021

Personnel: Stephen Riley – tenor saxophone; Ernest Turner - piano

Original Mind

The Dave Flippo Trio - Life On Mars

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2021
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:15
Size: 158,1 MB
Art: Front

(6:23) 1. Life on Mars
(4:38) 2. Tangled Up in Blue
(5:13) 3. Visions
(6:23) 4. Chelsea Morning
(9:02) 5. Old Country
(3:29) 6. Norwegian Wood
(5:53) 7. If Six Was Nine
(6:18) 8. It Might As Well Be Spring
(5:49) 9. Dance the Night Away
(6:41) 10. Fool on the Hill
(8:24) 11. Secret Love

Pianist Dave Flippo’s release Life on Mars is not as esoteric as the title sounds. He and his trio elegantly interpret classic rock tunes with a couple of standards thrown into the mix, and endow them with a delightful sense of swing. The overall laid-back mood the band creates bellies constantly engaging variations in their approach to the material. The Curtis Lewis/Nat Adderley-penned “Old Country” opens with lilting effervescence and hints of Latin. Flippo’s facile, charming solo filled with graceful arpeggios nods at Western classical influences. Bassist Donn De Santo embellishes the melody with lyricism before the three musicians exchange clever and inventive phrases. Haunting group performance with con-arco bass makes for a memorable conclusion. In intriguing contrast stand such tracks as the award-winning “If Six Were Nine.”

The Jimi Hendrix piece features electric instrumentation and a funky ambience. Flippo’s acerbic keyboard notes swagger with soul while De Santo lays down muscular bass lines. Another example is Bob Dylan’s “Tangled Up In Blue,” where Flippo and De Santo converse in an eloquent dialogue with plenty of deep simmer over drummer Heath Chappell’s thunderous gallop. Flippo’s arrangements do not simply “jazzify” the originals, but tastefully infuse them with new sensibilities. On Joni Mitchell’s “Chelsea Morning,” the ensemble plays the theme with suave subtly. Flippo improvises with crystalline tones, showcasing the composition’s complex beauty. Meanwhile Stevie Wonder’s “Visions” is given a crepuscular mood with darkly hued rhythms. Flippo again gracefully exposes its sublime and emotive core. Life on Mars may not be terribly innovative or groundbreaking, but thanks to the high-caliber artistry of the individual musicians and their superb camaraderie, it is pleasantly alluring. This enjoyable and captivating work puts a fresh spin on these much-loved songs without detracting from their inherent appeal.~ Hrayr Attarian https://www.chicagojazz.com/dave-flippo-life-on-mars

Personnel: Dave Flippo – Piano and keyboard; Donn De Santo – Electric and acoustic bass; Heath Chappell – Drums

Life On Mars