Alan Barnes - A Jazz Christmas Carol

Styles: Jazz, Holiday
Year: 2015
Time: 50:13
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 116,2 MB
Art: Front

(1:15) 1. The Start Of It
(6:08) 2. Bah Humbug!
(5:02) 3. Marley's Ghost
(4:31) 4. The Ghost Of Christmas Past (Portrait Of Belle)
(6:16) 5. The Ghost Of Christmas Present
(5:25) 6. Tint Tim
(2:48) 7. The Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come
(5:10) 8. The End Of It
(4:01) 9. God Bless Us Everyone!
(4:11) 10. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
(5:21) 11. The Christmas Song

Like the Dickens classic itself, Alan Barnes’s “Christmas Carol” has something for everyone.

A family night out that is also a treat for the jazz connoisseur; it will delight anyone who loves music or literature – or just Christmas! This new suite of pieces, touring for the first time this year, takes the audience through the characters and scenes of ‘A Christmas Carol”. Readings from the original Dickens tell the story, and after each scene eight virtuoso musicians bring the characters and scenes to life, switching audiences from hilarity to pathos with a skill that would have done credit to Dickens himself!

A gruff baritone sax plays Scrooge, his lost love Belle is a lyrical alto, his clerk Bob Cratchit a cheery clarinet and Marley’s Ghost walks in the person of a swinging trombone. Just as Scrooge’s ghosts take him on a tour of his life, so the movements of this suite seemed each to have a benevolent presiding ghost, celebrating the spirit of jazz greats past and present. The music and readings inspire the full range of Dickens’s imagination and emotion: from terror and remorse through to love and then irresistible joy: "God Bless Us Every One!"

“Barnes is a true Dickensian. He is a serious reader of the novels. It is a clear blunder of providence that he was born too late to appear in their pages!” Hot News. https://www.alanbarnesjazz.com/a-jazz-christmas-carol

Personnel: Alan Barnes - saxophone, clarinet and bass clarinet; Bruce Adams - trumpet and flugelhorn; Mark Nightingale - trombone; Robert Fowler - saxophones and clarinet; Karen Sharp - saxophones and clarinet;

A Jazz Christmas Carol

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Scott Hamilton Quartet - Dean Street Nights

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2014
Time: 62:41
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 143,9 MB
Art: Front

( 7:41) 1. I Just Found Out About Love
( 8:52) 2. Sweet And Lovely
(13:12) 3. Jitterbug Waltz
( 5:20) 4. If I Had You
( 9:40) 5. Zoot's Blues
( 6:23) 6. Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most
(11:29) 7. Cherokee

Tenor sax player Scott Hamilton performed his first gigs in the UK in 1978, following a much-heralded breakthrough in the States alongside Roy Eldridge and Benny Goodman. He was described as the saviour of mainstream jazz, a young fogey and a Ben Webster sound-alike. It soon became apparent that, while each of these statements had an element of truth, Hamilton was intent on forging his own way through the international jazz scene with an individual voice grounded in quality, consistency and swing.

Hamilton’s latest release, recorded at the Pizza Express Jazz Club, celebrates the 35th anniversary of his début appearance at the venue. The quartet has been touring in the UK and elsewhere since the turn of the millennium. Some of the relationships go back much further: John Pearce (whom I first saw with Hamilton beside Dick Morrissey in 1989) is a hugely experienced and enterprising pianist; bass legend Dave Green has worked with Hamilton on and off for at least 20 years, and the talented, brio-fuelled Steve Brown replaced the much-loved drummer Allan Ganley in 2000.

The opener, I Just Found out about Love, is relatively benign and gives little indication of what comes later. Sweet and Lovely arranged as a slowish samba includes a magnificent piano solo followed by a quietly arresting creation by the leader. You think you know what you’re going to get from Hamilton, but his work is full of surprises and rarely derivative. He prefers to improvise on the music at hand rather than throw in quotations at random and it’s easy to overlook the power that he generates.

Zoot’s Blues is a bright, jaunty tribute to one of Hamilton’s early influences, John Haley “Zoot” Sims. Its swagger is ideal for him and Pearce, whose skilful runs and beautiful chording maintain the momentum. Most revered for his ballad interpretations, Hamilton displays a fluffy and expressive vibrato on If I Had You and Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most. They both contain well-executed work and beautiful flourishes, although they are arguably the least impressive selections in a varied and classy concert. Follow the link to read full review:

https://londonjazznews.com/2014/02/22/cd-review-scott-hamilton-quartet-dean-street-nights/

Personnel: Scott Hamilton - tenor sax; John Pearce - piano; Dave Green - bass; Steve Brown - drums

Dean Street Nights

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Banu Gibson/John Sheridan/David Boeddinghaus - Livin' In A Great Big Way

Styles: Vocal, Bop
Year: 1991
Time: 42:12
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 98,5 MB
Art: Front

(2:32) 1. I'm Living In A Great Big Way
(2:15) 2. They All Laughed
(3:01) 3. Fancy Meeting You
(2:55) 4. It's Been So Long
(2:44) 5. About A Quarter To Nine
(2:58) 6. I've Got A Crush On You
(2:12) 7. Lazy
(2:34) 8. Take Another Guess
(2:15) 9. You Can't Pull The Wool Over My Eyes
(2:45) 10. Rock-a-bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody
(2:47) 11. I've Got A Feelin' You're Foolin'
(2:24) 12. You're Getting To Ba A Habit With Me
(1:54) 13. Out For No Good
(2:59) 14. After You, Who?
(2:46) 15. I'll See You In My Dreams
(3:05) 16. Goodnight My Love

This is an unusual Banu Gibson CD in that, instead of using her regular New Orleans Hot Jazz Orchestra, the talented singer is accompanied by just one of two pianists, John Sheridan or David Boeddinghaus. Gibson's repertoire on this set includes both classics from the pre-bop era and obscurities, and the highlights (among many) are "They All Laughed," "It's Been So Long," "About a Quarter to Nine," "I've Got a Feelin' You're Foolin'" and "I'll See You in My Dreams."

Arguably the top classic jazz singer to be active in the 1990s, Banu Gibson's attractive voice and versatile swinging style are very much in evidence throughout this excellent outing. By Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/livin-in-a-great-big-way-mw0000654405

Livin' In A Great Big Way

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Itziar Yagüe - Delicious

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2020
Time: 20:17
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 46,8 MB
Art: Front

(2:50) 1. Delicious (Feat. Enric Peidro)
(3:34) 2. Daddy's Gone For Good
(4:00) 3. We Make A Good Team
(3:06) 4. What If It Were You
(4:35) 5. Not A Doll
(2:10) 6. Red River

Itziar Yagüe has been the lead singer for different blues, soul, funk, jazz Madrid bands for the past 10 years. She has played the Vitoria Jazz Festival in 2018, the 25th Anniversary of the Thyssen Museum in Madrid and opened the 2020 Ciudad de Talavera Gospel & Blues Festival. She boasts a powerful, versatile voice alongside an equally impressive stage presence.https://www.jazziz.com/new-releases/delicious/

Singer-songwriter Itziar Yagüe’s debut EP, DELICIOUS. Containing six original songs in some of the classic African-American traditional genres, DELICIOUS is as fresh as a debut EP should be while displaying the maturity of an experienced artist.

Personnel:

Raúl Platz: double bass, artistic direction and arrangements.

Giulio Pietropaolo: piano, Rhodes, arrangements, and vocal arrangements in What if it were you

Luis Carpizo: tenor sax, We make a good team, Not a doll

Víctor Barceló: harmonica and backing vocals in What if it were you

Elvira Sodalita: drums

Enric Peidro: alto and tenor sax in Delicious

Emilio Arsuaga: voice, We make a good team

Mónica Benito: vocal arrangement and backing vocals in What if it were you

Marianne Ax: vocal coach

DELICIOUS was recorded live on the 22nd and 23rd February 2020 at Estudio Brazil in Madrid.

Delicious

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