Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Stephanie Nakasian - If I Ruled The World

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:07
Size: 148,6 MB
Art: Front

(3:55) 1. Almost in Your Arms
(6:09) 2. Too Many Tears
(4:56) 3. Im All Smiles
(3:59) 4. When Your Lover Has Gone
(4:06) 5. By Myself
(5:08) 6. You Aint Had the Blues
(4:55) 7. A Second Chance
(3:54) 8. Blizzard of Lies- Little White Lies
(3:53) 9. If I Ruled the World
(4:33) 10. The Moth and the Flame
(5:50) 11. (You May Not Be An Angel But) I'll String Along With You
(3:06) 12. Love Is Just Around the Corner
(3:36) 13. Who Cares'

Stephanie Nakasian is listed in the Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz as one of the world’s leading jazz singers. She first came to international attention in the mid-80s when she sang and toured with the vocal jazz master Jon Hendricks and Company her “vocal jazz apprenticeship.” Since then, she has toured and recorded as a leader and with her partner and internationally acclaimed jazz pianist Hod O’Brien. Together with their daughter Veronica (who also sings and records under the name Veronica Swift) they make their home in Charlottesville,Virginia. Since 1980 Ms. Nakasian has been actively recording. Her debut CD “Comin’Alive” (V.S.O.P.) features legendary saxophonist Phil Woods and received four stars from critic Leonard Feather.
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“French Cookin’” (V.S.O.P.) spotlights the beautiful combination of Ms. Nakasian’s voice with virtuoso French hornist Bobby Routch. Her “Bitter Sweet” CD (JazzMania) was also very well received. Her “Escapade” takes the audience on a fantasy swing voyage and her “Lullaby in Rhythm” is in tribute to Kenton singer June Christy and features tenor saxophonist Harry Allen. In 2006 two CDs were released: “Thrush Hour” (VSOP), a tribute to 20 great jazz singers featuring a 20 page booklet co-authored by Scott Yanow with pictures, bios and educational tips as to how to listen to each singer to hear the nuances of style and phrasing. “I Love You” (Spice of Life) was released in Japan to rave reviews and a full article in “Swing Journal” in which they called Stephanie “the perfect jazz singer.”

There are many jazz singers on the scene now. Jon Hendricks chose her because of her hip, swinging rhythm. The Jim Cullum Jazz Band features her frequently on their internationally syndicated show Riverwalk portraying Lee Wiley, Peggy Lee, Helen Ward, Helen Humes, 20s singers and blues singers. Their reason swing and authenticity. She portrayed herself on the show with Dick Hyman on tributes to composers Hoagy Carmichael and Walter Donaldson. The Richmond Times Dispatch “compared her to Ella…and (she) deserves it.” In Europe they have heard similarities to Sarah Vaughan. In New York, they heard early Margaret Whiting. Her clean, clear lovely tone is another reason for her popularity.

Her original concert revues such as “The Great Ladies of American Song” and various composer and singer tributes have been favorites with schools and universities and concert goers. Her “Great Ladies” revue tracing the development of jazz singing has also been offered as an academic course at the University of Virginia where Ms. Nakasian teaches private voice. She teaches jazz voice and vocal jazz improvisation at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. She has directed and coached vocal jazz ensembles and gives numerous workshops each year to schools and conferences. Ms. Nakasian authored the vocal jazz book “It’s Not on the Page! How to Integrate Jazz and Jazz Rhythm into Choral and Solo Repertoire” which she has presented in workshops to over 25 state and national music education conferences in the U.S., including MENC, IAJE and MTNA. She also adjudicated at the McKnight Fellowship Competition in Minneapolis in 2005.

Ms. Nakasian has appeared on television and radio in the U.S., Europe, Japan and the Caribbean. National Public Radio featured her on a one-hour concert on “Jazz Set” hosted by Branford Marsalis. Her many festival appearances include the Northsea Jazz Festival (Holland), the Kool Jazz Festival (NYC), S.C. Jazz Festival, N.C. Jazz Festival, Main Street (Columbia, SC) Jazz Festival, the Big Gig (Richmond, VA), the Bethlehem Musikfest (PA), numerous appearances at the Delaware Water Gap Jazz Festival (PA) and a Public Television special featuring duets with trumpet legend Clark Terry.

She was featured on tributes to June Christy with the Pete Rugolo Orchestra at the West Coast Jazz Festival in Newport Beach, CA, and at the Beverly Hills Hotel, and also with the Columbus Jazz Orchestra (OH) and Kansas City Jazz Orchestra, the Fargo Arts Group (ND), and at the NJ Jazz Festival. Since then, appearances include the Kennedy Center Jazz Club (DC), The Jazz Standard (NYC), Pensacola Jazz Festival, three cruises including James Moody’s 80th Birthday Cruise, Great Waters Festival (NH), Gulf Coast Festival (Panama City, FL), a week’s stint at Joe Segal’s Jazz Showcase in Chicago, and the Telluride Jazz Celebration. She also headlined with her daughter Veronica Swift at the Women in Jazz Festival at Lincoln Center in NYC.

Concert appearances as a featured performer include performances with Urbie Green, Pat Metheny, Bobby McFerrin, Milt Hinton, Clark Terry, J.R. Monterose, Joe Temperly, Scott Hamilton, Harry Allen, Sheila Jordan, Bob Dorough, Valery Ponomarev and (with Jon Hendricks) Red Mitchell, Hank Jones, Philly Joe Jones, Roy Haynes, and Annie Ross to name a few.
https://www.last.fm/music/Stephanie+Nakasian/+wiki

If I Ruled The World

Dave Brubeck - The 1965 Canadian Concert

Styles: Piano
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 78:38
Size: 180,9 MB
Art: Front

(11:19) 1. St. Louis Blues
( 8:23) 2. Take The 'A' Train
( 6:54) 3. Cultural Exchange
( 6:46) 4. Tangerine
( 5:11) 5. Someday My Prince Will Come
(10:55) 6. These Foolish Things
( 5:01) 7. Koto Song
( 1:50) 8. Take Five (incomplete)
( 5:41) 9. St. Louis Blues
( 6:13) 10. Nomad
( 5:51) 11. Thank You (Dziekuje)
( 4:30) 12. Brandenburg Gate

This release contains a splendid 1965 concert by the Dave Brubeck Quartet with Paul Desmond recorded in Ontario, Canada & presented here for the first time ever on CD. As a bonus, all of the music from an extremely rare 1962 TV broadcast featuring the same group has been added.
https://www.jazzmessengers.com/en/5325/dave-brubeck/the-1965-canadian-concert

Personnel: Paul Desmond - alto sax; Dave Brubeck - piano; Eugene Wright - bass; Joe Morello - drums

The 1965 Canadian Concert

Bob James Trio - Feel Like Making LIVE !

Styles: Piano Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 76:34
Size: 176,2 MB
Art: Front

(6:57) 1. Angela
(4:50) 2. Rocket Man
(4:42) 3. Maputo
(5:48) 4. Topside
(4:51) 5. Misty
(6:02) 6. Avalabop
(2:47) 7. Nautilus
(6:28) 8. Downtown
(4:47) 9. Niles A Head
(9:16) 10. Feel Like Making Love / Night Crawler
(5:40) 11. Submarine
(8:31) 12. Mister Magic
(5:48) 13. Westchester Lady

Bob James keyboardist, pianist, composer and arranger opens Feel Like Making Live! with his original tune, "Angela (Theme From 'Taxi')." Everyone has heard it that is what exposure from a popular television show can do. That series ran from 1978 to 1983. Taxi music, along with his albums on Creed Taylor's CTI Records during this time, in addition to his taking on arranging chores for the label, for the likes of saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr. and more, made a name for James. So, a short history of a sixty year career: his first album, Bold Conceptions (Mercury Records) released in 1963, fifty or so more albums followed, a dozen with his group Fourplay; his contribution to hip hop via sampling of his recordings, and finally coming around now to a trio offering a mode of making music he calls ..."a perfect way that I can express myself" with Feel Like making Live!, an audio/visual experience that includes, along with the CD, a Blue Ray disc of James and his trio performing in the studio.

After "Angela" leaves, James and the trio take on Elton John, with "Rocket Man." Laying aside the goofy lyrics of the tune, and hearing it in a purer form, reveals the accessible loveliness of the melody. And that is a trademark of James' approach finding the beauty of a tune, then putting his stamp on it, via embellishment with lush and polished arrangements, or using subtle adjustments and "just" a trio to make his mark.

Also included are "Misty," written and made famous by Erroll Garner, and a Clint Eastwood movie; "Feel Like Makin' Love,'' written by Eugene McDaniels and covered by Roberta Flack and then Bob James in 1974 again, a pop tune turned into an engaging jazz listening experience. Marcus Miller's "Maputo" is here, and "Downtown," made famous by Petula Clark; Miles Davis' "Nardi" and a couple of handfuls of James more popular originals: "Westchester Lady," "Topside," "Angela" (of course), "Avilabop..."

For an artist who made a good part of his name with lush, broad-stroke arrangements and polished production that earned him a "smooth jazzer" tag (sometimes employed derisively, by people who don't know their hindquarters from a hole in the ground in regards to James' sound), a lot of late career trio work from Bob James is showing up. 2018 saw the release of Expresso (Evosound Records); and in 2021 Once Upon A Time: The Lost 1965 New York Studio Sessions (Resonance Records) was released, looking back at James' early days. He started his jazz journey with a trio, and with Feel Like Making Live! he returns to it. Put in the strings and intricate horns, charts and keyboards, and Bob James makes beautiful music. Pare it down to the trio, and he does the same thing.

And the Blue-Ray: This captures James and company in a spacious studio in warm lighting, the leader's electric and acoustic keyboards set at right angles so he can play them simultaneously, offering an intimate "in the room with them" listening experience.
~Dan McClenaghanhttps://www.allaboutjazz.com/feel-like-makin-live-bob-james-trio-evolution-music-group

Personnel: Bob James: piano; Michael Palazzollo: bass; Billy Kilson: drums.

Feel Like Making LIVE !