Alan Barnes - The Sherlock Holmes Suite Disc 1, Disc 2

Album: The Sherlock Holmes Suite Disc 1
Styles: Saxophone And Clarinet
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:28
Size: 151,8 MB
Art: Front

( 0:43) 1. 221b Play On
( 2:28) 2. Narration, Pt. 1
( 5:58) 3. The Game Is Afoot
( 2:40) 4. Narration, Pt. 2
( 7:14) 5. Watson
( 1:04) 6. Narration, Pt. 3
(11:29) 7. The Tiger Of San Pedro
( 2:22) 8. Narration, Pt. 4
(10:28) 9. The Napoleon Of Crime
( 0:48) 10. Narration, Pt. 5
( 7:24) 11. The Dancing Men
( 1:42) 12. Narration, Pt. 6
( 2:46) 13. Grimpen Mire
( 8:16) 14. The Hound Of The Baskervilles

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Album: The Sherlock Holmes Suite Disc 2
Time: 56:00
Size: 130,1 MB

(0:55) 1. Narration, Pt. 7
(4:21) 2. The Baker Street Irregulars
(3:26) 3. Narration, Pt. 8
(4:41) 4. Quite A Three Pipe Problem
(1:10) 5. Narration, Pt. 9
(5:46) 6. The 7% Solution
(2:15) 7. Narration, Pt. 10
(7:30) 8. Lestrade Of The Yard
(2:41) 9. Narration, Pt. 11
(8:23) 10. Watson's Women
(0:44) 11. Narration, Pt. 12
(7:07) 12. The Sussex Vampire
(1:38) 13. Narration, Pt. 13
(5:19) 14. 221b (Full Version)

Now this is something really different. It turns out that Alan Barnes has been a raving fan of Conan Doyle's writing, and more specifically, his greatest creation, Sherlock Holmes, since the age of eleven. This double album consists of 95 minutes of original music interspersed with narration relative to the plot and well put over by actor Alan Mitchell. Not only did Alan Barnes compose the music, he wrote the script, and jolly good it is as well.

This is all great fun, but more importantly, the music is outstanding, and the playing by this starry cast of musicians, is superb. Barnes chose his men very carefully, including some of his colleagues from groups in the past, and they all come up trumps, including their very talented leader.

The writing for the octet is clever as it leaves plenty of scope for each of them to show their improvisational skills, and they more than justify their selection. In his own liner notes, Alan states that he tried to write in a way that would bring out the unique qualities and strengths of his fellow musicians, and acknowledges that if that method was good enough for Duke, who is he to quarrel.

There are so many good things in these CDs; it is difficult to know what to pick out. Both Stan Sulzmann and Robert Fowler have their share of good moments, and Bruce Adams brings power and invention to the ensemble and to his solos. Mark Nightingale is just terrific in his spots, and especially in Grimpen Mire and The Hound of the Baskervilles. The rhythm section do a fine job throughout, with splashes of inspiration all over the place from David Newton, who swings hard in The Tiger of San Pedro, and then shows his reflective wistful side in The Napoleon of Crime. It doesn't matter a hoot whether you are familiar with the stories or not. The narration gives you the general idea, and the music is excellent. Alan Barnes has delivered an outstanding opus in this CD, great fun, fine production; I'd give it ten out of ten. Strongly recommended. http://www.woodvillerecords.com/Sherlock%20Holmes%20Suite.htm

Personnel: Alan Barnes - saxophones, clarinet; Bruce Adams - trumpet; Mark Nightingale - trombone; Robert Fowler - saxophones & clarinet; Karen Sharp - saxophones & clarinet; David Newton - piano; Simon Thorpe - bass; Clark Tracey - drums

The Sherlock Holmes Suite Disc 1, Disc 2

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Alice Spencer - Sing It Way Down Low

Styles: Vocal, Swing
Year: 2022
File: MP3@128K/s
Time: 48:44
Size: 49,3 MB
Art: Front

(2:03) 1. When My Sugar Walks Down The Street
(4:21) 2. I Just Couldn't Take It, Baby
(3:05) 3. Believe It, Beloved
(5:08) 4. I Hate To Leave You Now
(2:48) 5. Blue River
(3:37) 6. Baby, Oh Where Can You Be?
(3:59) 7. Sunday
(4:18) 8. How Can I (With You In My Heart)?
(2:22) 9. Sing It Way Down Low
(3:36) 10. The Object Of My Affection
(2:39) 11. I'm Having My Fun
(3:58) 12. Say It Simple
(4:17) 13. Draggin' My Heart Around
(2:28) 14. I Would Do Anything For You

I remember very clearly the first time I heard Alice Spencer (on disc: I haven’t had the pleasure of encountering her in person). My reaction was loud pleased astonishment, and the expurgated version would read: “Who in the sacred name of Jack Kapp is she?” “Jazz singers” proliferate these days, but some seem to have given more thought to their hair stylist or their cover photograph than to the music. Alice’s love for this music and this period bubbles up on every track.

For me the great singer-virtues are a deep understanding of the emotional content of the lyrics without jokes on one hand or melodrama on the other. An unforced swing, a willingness to improvise without undermining melody or lyrics, plain-spoken diction, and, perhaps most importantly, the ability to convey joy. We gravitate to music that doesn’t hurt our feelings, or our ears. Alice understands that as well as embodying it.

This disc reminds me, perhaps at an unusual angle, of the miracles Basie and friends created, imbuing the saddest song (hear DRAGGIN’ MY HEART AROUND) with a wink at the listener (“Isn’t it fun to swing along so gloomily?”) or reminding us that there is a touch of melancholy in any elation.

I’d direct you first to I HATE TO LEAVE YOU NOW, one of the gorgeous Thirties songs (linked to Fats and Louis, one of the ideal combinations of Western civilization) that are the gems in the constellation of this disc. What I hear, and I hope you do also, is a rare combination of emotional intelligence Alice knows how to feel, how to tell a story in song and light-heartedness.

Her art is both delicate and sincere. She doesn’t have to take off her shoe and hit us over the head, but we know the tale of hope, longing, and ardor the song, and she, convey. And the subtly memorable variations on the theme between her first and second choruses are a Jazz Studies program in themselves. No, better.

It’s also clear that although this might not be Alice’s conventional repertoire (the wonderful program is inspired by the deep listening of Hal Smith, scholar and swing percussionist) that she is being herself on every performance. Yes, I hear echoes of young Ella and of Helen Humes and Connee, but Alice has not spent her evenings mimicking them. What Louis called TONATION and PHRASING are all hers, and they touch our hearts in each phrase.

Hear her “I need you!” in BABY, WHERE CAN YOU BE? The way she handles the verse to SUNDAY, rising to pure pleasure at the end. Wow is what I say. The wistful tenderness of THE OBJECT OF MY AFFECTION and HOW CAN I? The “It’s my birthday today!” delight of I’M HAVING MY FUN. To paraphrase Whitney Balliett, Alice is a great actress who doesn’t need a script.

The same mastery comes through in the instrumentalists who join Alice on her musical journeys. No one needs multiple choruses to tell their tale. Perhaps you’ll hear echoes of the great Holiday-Wilson sessions, of Bing, Jack, Louis: I could call the names of the Heroic Ancestors who have informed the music of honored individualists Marc, Kris, James, and Hal, but I’ll leave that to you what Barbara Lea called “Sounding Like.” A lifetime research project with a lifetime of rewards.

If these notes go on too long, I might get in the way of your absorbing the delights captured here, not once but many times. In an extended California sojourn, I learned about “sound healing,” how the right vibrations could put a psychically lopsided being into happy balance. I think that Doctor Spencer and her practitioners have just the remedy for what ails us, and I hope the prescription is renewable for many more sessions.
https://jazzlives.wordpress.com/2022/10/09/alice-spencer-sings-and-we-are-glad-with-hal-smith-kris-tokarski-james-singleton-marc-caparone/#comments

Sing It Way Down Low

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