Francesca Tandoi Trio - For Elvira

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:21
Size: 143,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:12) 1. In A Mellow Tone
(6:16) 2. For Elvira
(4:47) 3. Love For Sale
(5:22) 4. P.S. I Love You
(4:49) 5. Dedicated To You
(4:54) 6. Parker 51
(6:44) 7. Estate
(6:33) 8. Mice's Blues
(3:32) 9. You Do Someyhing To Me
(4:20) 10. I'm Confessin' That I Love You
(5:01) 11. You're My Everything
(4:46) 12. Goodbye

Francesca Tandoi started to play classical piano at an early age. After a few years she got very much interested in jazz music and became a big fan of swinging virtuoso piano players like, Oscar Peterson, Phyneas Newborn, Gene Harris, Bobby Timmons, and other musicians of that generation. She started her carrier as a teenager in Italy, especially in the jazz scene of Rome, her own city. She had the chance to play and perform with many great italian musicians, joining some of the most important italian jazz festivals all around the country. In 2009 she moved to the Netherlands and in 2013 she gradueted with a special mention at the “Royal Conservatory of The Hague” in jazz piano and singing.

After that she moved to the Conservatory of Rotterdam “Codarts” and got her Master degree in 2015 writing a thesis about “The art of rearranging jazz standards for jazz piano trio” . In Holland she started playing with some of the finest dutch and international jazz musicians and performed all around the world. Jazz festivals in Japan, Malesya, Indonesia, India. Tours all around Europe. Holland, Italy, Swiss, Germany, France, Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Ukraine. She also performed in many important jazz festivals as North sea jazz festival, Maastricht jazz festival, Breda jazz festival, Bosendorfer gala 2013, and many others, both as accompanist and as a leader of her trio. With her trio (Frits Landesbergen on drums and Frans van Geest on double bass) she recorded three CD's for a japanise label: Atelier Sawano For Elvira (2014) Something blue (2015) Wind Dance (2016) https://music.metason.net/artistinfo?name=Francesca%20Tandoi

Personnel: Piano, Vocals – Francesca Tandoi; Bass – Frans Van Geest; Drums, Producer – Frits Landesbergen

For Elvira

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Yola Nash - Touched By Love

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 33:23
Size: 77,5 MB
Art: Front

(6:22) 1. Lies And Wishes
(5:29) 2. I Miss You Loving Me
(4:54) 3. Ready For Love
(4:56) 4. Dance With Me
(5:35) 5. Forbidden Love
(6:05) 6. Lololove Me

Yola Nash is often described as a European-American treasure, for her media, art, and humanitarian achievements. As an internationally accomplished singer, she has performed for Pope John Paul II and successfully debuted on the Top 40 AC radio charts in the USA. She made history by becoming the first Polish-American singer to perform and record with the world-renowned, Grammy-winning Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and its music director, legendary trumpeter, Wynton Marsalis.

And as music critics often emphasize Yola's Polish roots and vibes place her in a long line of female performers whose exotic delivery adds appeal to her music. Yola’s new highly anticipated album, “Touched By Love”, it's an intimate acoustic jazz meditation on love with European Folk, Pop and Latin flavors. And it's up for a Grammy this year in two Jazz Vocal categories. Best Jazz Vocal Album and Album Of The Year. All songs on the album written by Yola (except one) and acclaimed composers Dr. Octavio Vazquez and Dr. Graham Keir.

The lone song on “Touched By Love” not penned by Yola is “Dance With Me,” a cabaret-like track that she describes as “musical exploration.” It sets a beautiful theatric poem by award-winning Poet, Writer, Poetry Film Director Fella Cederbaum to music written by the author. The Poet Fella is also featured at the end of that track (Spoken Word).

This excellent collection of Yola's original, poetic songs and musical ideas married perfectly with the brilliant, artistic vocabulary of her band allowed the magic to happen and took her project to a unique dimension. Her songs derive from the depths of her personal experience. She collaborates with extraordinary musicians, artists and engineers including: award winning composer, poet Fella Cederbaum, Edsel Gomez, the Grammy winning, pianist, composer, arranger (former music director of jazz legend, Dee Dee Bridgewater), who came on board as Music Director to help produce Yola’s dream album; Grammy winning percussionist Luisito Quintero (also a member of legendary Chick Corea's band), Grammy nominated accordionist Alex Meixner, award winning jazz guitarist Dr. Graham Keir, accomplished bassist Dave Baron (known for his collaborations with Herbie Hancock).

Yola also brought a couple of master recording engineers to help shape her signature sound like Tom Tedesco, known for his works with the biggest jazz stars in the world, including: Joe Lovano, Ravi Coltrane, Randy Brecker as well as Grammy winning Fran Cathcart.

Aside from the music, you'll want to read Yola's inspiring and truly uplifting personal story, a story of triumph over adversity that shows the power of Yola's positive spirit. The spirit that bravely lead her from communist Poland and extreme adversities to freedom, to NYC, to her own show at WABC and to Grammy Awards.

Touched By Love

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Charlie Porter - Hindsight

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2021
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:42
Size: 139,6 MB
Art: Front

(5:49) 1. Tipping Point
(7:00) 2. Hindsight
(6:51) 3. Walking the Plank
(7:52) 4. Things Fall Apart
(7:37) 5. Requiem
(9:43) 6. In Short Supply
(5:55) 7. Going Viral
(5:32) 8. Paradise Lost
(4:19) 9. For Ellis

Portland based trumpeter/composer Charlie Porter is back, and following the trend industry wide over the past year, has released a finely crafted collection of pieces attached to a social narrative. Hindsight examines how we act in hindsight dealing with the long term societal struggles of racism, corruption and inequality. While two of the pieces feature the lyrics of Majid Khaliq and Madelaina Piazza, Porter has namaged to weave the emotional uncertainty of daily life during the Covid-19 pandemic into bittersweet melodies performed by a stellar cast.

Porter is no stranger to the abstract art of applying social commentary to instrumental composition, as this recording follows his acclaimed statement of the American condition, Immigration Nation (OA2, 2019). The two albums feature some common denominators in superb alto saxophonist Nick Biello, and the grounding presence of bassist David Wong and drummer Kenneth Salters. New to the crew is pianist Orrin Evans, vibraphonist Behn Gillece, guitarist Mike Moreno and transcendent vocalist Jimmie Herrod.

Getting down to the bones of the music, Hindsight is a fine jazz album that has two distinct chapters, and a delightful tag at the end. The opener, "Tipping Point," is a neo-bop gem that swings hard and fast, highlighted by Wong's relentless bass line. Porter's thick sound and elegant articulation is evident from the outset, as is the madly swinging Biello's otherworldly talents. The addition of Evans pays immediate dividends, as is the case throughout these nine tunes. While his solos are always an intrepid delight, his comping behind his mates enables the rhythm section to unspool freely and provide a seamless center for soloists to orbit about.

Adding Gillece to the mix for the title track, Porter offers a lovely ballad featuring a melody so beautiful, it seems as if the soloists handle it with special regard. Porter's muted solo is lush, his long tones expressing romance and melancholy. Evans shines once again, reimagining the piece with colorful chord voicings.

"Things Fall Apart" sends the album on a completely different path. Herrod's vocals are surrounded by a darker, electric fabric of sound, with the vibe set primarily by guitarist Moreno, and electric bassist Damian Erskine's Jaco-esque work. Herrod beautifully renders Khaliq's prose, and is joined by rapper Rasheed Jamal in that recitation. There is a slight disconnect in the arrangement as Jamal enters the fray in terms of phrasing, acting much like a double time solo within a ballad.

"In Short Supply" takes yet another turn, incorporating African instrumentation. Bassekou Kouyate joins on n'goni (African traditional guitar), and Mahamadou Tounkara provides amazing depth on tama (African Talking Drum). Herrod sings melody without lyrics, like a fresh wind blowing off the water.

While six of the tunes in this collection sound more like modern, post-bop jazz with traditional instrumentation, Porter is not afraid to wander into different quadrants of his imaginative compositional prowess. "For Ellis" welcomes his newborn son to the world in a very personal way. Porter's solo trumpet is framed by a choral arrangement performed by the Hallowed Halls Gospel Choir. The piece is detached from common grounding elements, left adrift and guided by Porter's gentle, yet abstract manifestations on trumpet.

Albums cobbled from work of seemingly disparate parts, can at times be seen as unfocused artistically. But having lived through 2020, an epic year of isolation we have all endured, the music on this album more seems like echoes of a mind left to the vagaries of time and space. It somehow finds a way to the listener's inner sanctum and sheds a light on that which we have all experienced collectively. It will be interesting in so many ways some decades down the road, to look back at this period of time in terms of jazz composition. With Hindsight, Porter leaves a blaze on that particular trail. By Paul Rauch https://www.allaboutjazz.com/hindsight-charlie-porter-oa2-records

Personnel: Charlie Porter: trumpet; Nick Biello: saxophone; Orrin Evans: piano; Mike Moreno: guitar; Behn Gillece: vibraphone; David Wong: bass; Kenneth Salters: drums; Damian Erskine: bass, electric; Jimmie Herrod: voice / vocals; Rasheed Jamal: voice / vocals; Majid Khaliq: violin; Mahamadou Tounkara: percussion; Bassekou Kouyate: various.

Hindsight

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Franco Ambrosetti - Nora

Styles: Flugelhorn and Guitar Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:03
Size: 127,2 MB
Art: Front

(6:38) 1. Nora's Theme
(7:05) 2. Morning Song
(7:48) 3. All Blues
(5:32) 4. Falling in Love
(5:55) 5. Autumn Leaves
(6:37) 6. Sweet Journey
(6:04) 7. It Happened Quitetly
(8:23) 8. After the Rain

When Alan Broadbent isn't playing extraordinary jazz piano with his trio, he's typically hard at work arranging and conducting a large orchestra for a jazz artist or vocalist. In the case of Swiss flugelhornist Franco Ambrosetti's new album, Nora (Enja), Alan is at the helm of a 22-piece string orchestra, and the result is gorgeous, reflective and perfect for this time of year. The album also features guitarist John Scofield, bassist Scott Colley, pianist Uri Caine and drummer Peter Erskine.

Ambrosetti began his recording career as a leader on trumpet in Milan in 1965 with A Jazz Portrait of Franco Ambrosetti, featuring Franco D'Andrea (p) Giorgio Azzolini (b) and Franco Mondini (d). Remarkably, he is self-taught, and his tone is deliciously embracing. Coming up in Italy over the years, he played with a long list of touring American jazz greats, including Kenny Clarke, Dexter Gordon, Phil Woods, Cannonball Adderley, Geri Allen, Joe Henderson, Michael Brecker and Mike Stern.

John Scofield has recorded with Ambrosetti multiple times. The first was in 1978 on The George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band in Germany, followed by Movies in 1986, Movies, Take 2 in 1988, Cheers in 2017, Long Waves in 2019 and Lost Within You in 2020. For Alan, this is his first Ambrosetti collaboration. And what a score he has written. Ambrosetti was looking for a project on the same scale as Bird With Strings and Clifford Brown With Strings two of his favorite albums that marry a strong soloist and an understanding orchestral background. Mission accomplished on Nora.

The opening track is Nora's Theme by Ambrosetti, which sets the mood. Nora is Nora Helmer, the lead character in Ibsen's A Doll's House. Ambrosetti wrote the theme for a 1997 production of the play that starred his wife, Silli, in the Nora role. So in truth, Nora's Theme is a deep, passionate love song for his wife.

Moving forward, the album feels like the soundtrack to a romantic suspense movie set in Malibu, starring Kim Novak or Sandy Dennis. It's soft and panoramic, but there are undertones of psychological drama to come. The songs that follow Nora's Theme are George Gruntz's Morning Song of a Spring Flower, Miles Davis's All Blues, Victor Feldman's Falling in Love, the standard Autumn Leaves, Ambrosetti's Sweet Journey, Johnny Dankworth's It Happens Quietly and John Coltrane's After the Rain. Alan's arrangements remain wonderfully atmospheric and Ambrosetti's flugelhorn soars gracefully through the mist birdlike, but with strength and purpose.

Ambrosetti's tone throughout has a melancholy, sunny afternoon feel as if you're driving along country roads this fall with the trees ablaze in color. You can't help but think things over as you listen. The combination of Ambrosetti's soulful flugelhorn and Alan's empathetic and ruminative strings pull you in deeper on each track. [Photo above of Alan Broadbent conducting by Joe Vella]

Also unbeatable is the new 3D sound technology used to record the music. The fidelity creates the sensation that you're seated in the middle of the recording studio. As you listen, all that's missing are snapping logs in a fireplace. This album and Alan deserve a Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album and another for Ambrosetti for Best Improvised Jazz Solo.By Marc Myers https://www.jazzwax.com/2022/10/franco-ambrosetti-nora.html

Personnel: Franco Ambrosetti, flugelhorn; John Scofield, guitar; Scott Colley, bass; Uri Caine, piano; Peter Erskine, drums; Sara Caswell, violin, concertmaster; Alan Broadbent, arranger, conductor

Nora

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