Monday, February 20, 2023

Gunhild Carling Big Band - Magic Swing!

Styles: Vocal, Swing
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:51
Size: 104,6 MB
Art: Front

(3:25) 1. Seventh Blues
(2:22) 2. Magic Swing
(4:11) 3. Memories
(2:54) 4. Jungle Log
(5:08) 5. Hindustan
(2:41) 6. After You've Gone
(2:45) 7. Diggeridoo
(3:15) 8. You Are My World
(3:15) 9. Some Day
(3:44) 10. Obelisk
(3:02) 11. Perdido
(1:56) 12. Chinatown
(2:54) 13. Ko Ko
(3:13) 14. Over the Rainbow

If Tommy Dorsey and Madonna had a baby, that child might very well grow up to be Gunhild Carling.

Ms. Carling, who will play the Key West Theater on Feb. 19, is known as Sweden’s Queen of Swing. She has made an international name for herself by performing jazz, swing and Big Band versions of contemporary songs such as Madonna’s “Material Girl,” Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” and Pharrell Williams’ “Happy,” to name a few. She attributes this sound to Postmodern Jukebox, a rotating musical collective founded by arranger and pianist Scott Bradlee. PMJ is known for reworking popular modern music into various musical genres, especially swing and jazz.

“People have been calling me the Queen of Swing for a long while,” Ms. Carling said by phone. “That and the Jazz Queen of Sweden. It started years ago and I’m happy to say it stuck.”

She’s a musical prodigy to be sure, proficient on the trombone, bagpipes, trumpet, recorder and stringed instruments such as the banjo, ukulele and harp often showcasing all of her skills in a single song while occasionally breaking into a tap dance or singing. And all with no formal training.

“I haven’t ever been to a music teacher,” Ms. Carling said. “That’s because I come from a family that plays music. I grew up outside of Malmö in the south of Sweden. Our house was always so full of variety circus, acting, dance, vaudeville and novelty. I just picked up instruments from when I was very young and played them. I started with the drums, then the recorder, trombone and trumpet. Then I started tap dancing and after that harmonica and bagpipe. Later, I began composing music.”

She said her greatest influences come from early jazz, particularly the New Orleans period, and the works of Louis Armstrong, Freddy Keppard, Jelly Roll Morton, Bix Beiderbecke and Billy Holliday. Her favorite instrument, however, is the trombone and she can play it in the style of all the jazz greats Tommy Dorsey, Jack Teagarden, Glenn Miller, Trummy Young, you name it.

“The trombone is very jazzy,” Ms. Carling said. “It’s very smooth and beautiful and lyrical, but it’s also very rough and bouncy. You can create so many really cool sounds with the trombone.”

She said her dream was always to come to America and tour the whole country, which she did, settling in San Francisco in 2019 with her husband and two children all of whom are also excellent musicians and frequently perform with her.

“I always perform with a band, depending on where I’m playing,” Ms. Carling said. “Sometimes it’s a combo, sometimes a full orchestra. When I come to Key West on Feb. 19, I’ll have my jazz band clarinet, trumpet, trombone and piano.”

Selected songs that night, she said, will include “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” “Bourbon Street Parade,” “Tiger Rag” and a mix of blues, jazz and swing from the Great American Songbook along with some original material of her own, possibly from her 2021 album, “Good Evening Cats.”

“And my family will perform with me that night,” Ms. Carling said. “My daughter plays trombone, saxophone, sings and dances. My son plays drums and my husband plays banjo and guitar.”

She added the best way to describe one of her concerts is it’s like attending a high-spirited party out of “The Great Gatsby,” with some New Orleans Mardi Gras thrown in for good measure.

“It will be something unexpected and unique, with great fun and a lot of energy,” Ms. Carling said. “You’ll hear some beautiful melodies and have a really enjoyable time. Plus, I have some of my own tricks. I play three trumpets at once, as well as bagpipes and about ten other instruments.”By Steven J.Smith
https://keywest.floridaweekly.com/articles/38967/

Magic Swing!

Mike Westbrook - After Abbey Road: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of The Beatles' Classic (Live)

Styles: Contemporary Jazz
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 93:59
Size: 216,8 MB
Art: Front

( 5:28) 1. Come Together
( 8:05) 2. Something
( 3:34) 3. Maxwell's Silver Hammer
( 4:47) 4. Oh! Darling
( 3:55) 5. Octopus's Garden
( 9:39) 6. I Want You (She's So Heavy)
(15:41) 7. Here Comes the Sun
(13:26) 8. Because
( 6:52) 9. You Never Give Me Your Money
( 2:43) 10. Sun King
( 2:04) 11. Mean Mister Mustard
( 1:42) 12. Polythene Pam
( 2:36) 13. She Came in Through the Bathroom Window
( 3:49) 14. Golden Slumbers
( 2:37) 15. Carry That Weight
( 1:34) 16. The End
( 5:23) 17. She Loves You

This is a weird record, to say the least. Pianist Mike Westbrook and his English avant-garde octet remade the Beatles' entire Abbey Road record with unusual interpretations of each of the titles. The instrumental segments work best (Peter Whyman and Alan Wakeman are fine on reeds) but the overly pompous vocals of Phil Minton and Kate Westbrook, which lack the Beatles' humor, largely sink this strange outing. An interesting idea but the results are uncomfortable and not too appealing. by Scott Yanow
https://www.allmusic.com/album/off-abbey-road-mw0000315499

Personnel: Kate Westbrook, John Winfield (voices); Peter Whyman, Alan Wakeman (saxophones); Brian Godding (guitar) Andy Grappy (tuba) Peter Fairclough (drums); Mike Westbrook (piano)

After Abbey Road: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of The Beatles' Classic (Live)

Ali Ryerson - Portraits in Silver

Styles: Flute Jazz
Year: 1995
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:36
Size: 135,6 MB
Art: Front

(6:02) 1. Windows
(5:19) 2. Beatrice
(6:00) 3. Ausência
(4:16) 4. Shadowlight
(4:51) 5. Beautiful Love
(6:53) 6. Zingaro
(5:55) 7. Very Early
(6:53) 8. Jardin de la Paresse
(6:40) 9. Lament
(5:41) 10. The Summer Knows

A pleasant recording from this fine flutist, Portraits in Silver finds Ms. Ryerson playing several pieces which have had other flute interpretations. Her classically trained tone is clear and shimmering. With a sympathetic supporting cast, she mines new gold from the material, creating warm, beautiful, relaxing music. By Jim Newsom
https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/portraits-in-silver-mr0001444483

Personnel: Ali Ryerson, flute, alto flute; Kenny Werner, piano; Dennis Irwin, bass; Danny Gottlieb, drums, percussion

Portraits in Silver

Oliver Nelson - Meet Oliver Nelson / Main Stem

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:25
Size: 165.8 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[7:02] 1. Jams And Jellies
[6:51] 2. Passion Flower
[3:44] 3. Don't Stand Up
[5:30] 4. Ostinato
[6:52] 5. What's New
[6:34] 6. Booze Blues Baby
[6:50] 7. Main Stem
[5:50] 8. J & B
[4:33] 9. Ho!
[6:11] 10. Latino
[5:18] 11. Tipsy
[7:03] 12. Tangerine

Kenny Dorham, Joe Newman (tp), Oliver Nelson (ts), Ray Bryant, Hank Jones (p), Wendell Marshall, George Duvivier (b), Charlie Persip, Art Taylor (d).

”Meet Oliver Nelson” marked the leader recording debut of a considerable talent in tenor saxophonist Oliver Nelson (1932-1975). He was to win even greater acclaim later as a composer and arranger, but at 27 he was already a vastly experienced performer and a notably imaginative soloist, affectingly sensitive on ballads like Passion Flower and What’s New, with a voluminous sound, full and fiery, on more driving material.

For his debut he had simpatico company in trumpeter Kenny Dorham, so lyrical on Booze Baby Blues, and a shrewdly chosen rhythm section in pianist Ray Bryant, bassist Wendell Marshall and drummer Art Taylor. It was a noteworthy beginning.

Recorded almost two years later, “Main Stem” was much more like a typical Prestige blowing session of the time, heavily dependant on the wit and invention of the participants. Fortunately, Nelson again chose his colleagues well. Trumpeter Joe Newman is particularly good and pianist Hank Jones is his usual lucidly impeccable self in a swinging rhythm section with bassist George Duvivier and drummer Charlie Persip, while the leader, on both alto and tenor, produces an abundance of melodic, well-constructed solos over a satisfying session.

Meet Oliver Nelson/Main Stem