Ken Peplowski - Last Swing Of The Century

Styles: Clarinet Jazz, Big Band
Year: 1998
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:28
Size: 150,5 MB
Art: Front

(2:20)  1. Let's Dance
(3:27)  2. Hunkadola
(3:12)  3. Between The Devil And The Deep
(6:59)  4. King Porter Stomp
(5:17)  5. Moon Glow
(6:08)  6. Stealin' Apples
(2:32)  7. You Turned The Tables On Me
(3:07)  8. Bugle Call Rag
(3:19)  9. Don't Be That Way
(4:00) 10. Memories Of You
(4:11) 11. Restless
(3:16) 12. Get Happy
(5:14) 13. Sometimes I'm Happy
(4:56) 14. China Boy
(3:29) 15. Down South Camp Meetin'
(3:53) 16. Good-Bye

Last Swing Of The Century - Big Band Music of Benny Goodman released on Concord Jazz in 1999 by Benny Goodman Orchestra alumnus, Ken Peplowski, is a heartfelt tribute to The King of Swing and the wonderful arrangements he commissioned in the 1930s and 1940s. Recorded the last night of a 15-concert tour, the CD is the perfect collection of swing standards for those who dance or those that spectate. Ken Peplowski takes 16 essentials, long associated with one of the greatest names in jazz and reinteprets it with veterans of various Benny Goodman orchestras including Randy Sandke, Eddie Bert, Bobby Pring, Ben Aronov, Frank Capp and Jack Stuckey along with other brilliant musicians as Conte Candoli, Frank Vignola, Bob Milikan, Scott Robinson, Joe Romano, Rickey Woodard, and Richard Simon.

 Although the cliche that big bands will never come back is somewhat true, Ken Peplowski is the closest that some listeners near the end of this century will remember as bringing the music back to the ‘90s with taste, drive and creativity. Peplowski doesn’t compromise the artistic integrity of his mentor even though each soloist is playing in their own style, with no re-creations of solos from old records! Popular standards such as “Let’s Dance,” “Moon Glow,” “Bugle Call Rag,” “Don’t Be That Way,” and the “King Porter Stomp,” receive some of the very best arrangements they’ve ever had. On “Memories Of You,” Ken spotlights Bobby Pring’s trombone and the young, Frank Vignola’s mellow guitar. He duets with Vignola on one of Goodman’s favorites, “China Boy,” originally recorded with Teddy Wilson and Gene Krupa in 1936. 

The clarinet of Ken Peplowski, taken up in honor of Goodman, is brilliant on this hard-swinging set of performances by his orchestra and serves as an excellent example of what can be done and has been done to the keep the music of the Big Band Era fresh and vital. Last Swing Of The Century - Big Band Music of Benny Goodman captures the brilliant essence of Benny Goodman and is ever so essential.
By Paula Edelstein http://www.allaboutjazz.com/last-swing-of-the-century-big-band-music-of-benny-goodman-ken-peplowski-concord-music-group-review-by-paula-edelstein.php 

Musicians: Ken Peplowski, clarinet; trumpets; Conte Candoli, Bob Milikan, Randy Sandke; trombones,  Eddie Bert, Bobby Pring; saxophones,  Jack Stuckey - lead alto,  Scott Robinson - tenor,  Joe Romano - alto, Rickey Woodard - tenor; rhythm section, Ben Aronov-piano, Frank Vignola - guitar, Richard Simon - bass, Frank Capp - drums.

Mark Weinstein - Con Alma

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 61:08
Size: 140.0 MB
Styles: Flute jazz, Afro-Cuban jazz
Year: 2005
Art: Front

[6:57] 1. Santi's Africaleidoscope
[4:05] 2. Broadway Local
[5:14] 3. Con Alma
[6:28] 4. Crescent
[5:58] 5. Fee Fi Fo Fum
[3:10] 6. Evidence
[6:10] 7. La Coneja Loca
[2:48] 8. Gotcha
[8:50] 9. Soul-Leo
[5:50] 10. Monte Adentro
[5:33] 11. Stella By Starlight

Mark Weinstein and his San Francisco Bay area-based Latin jazz quintet perform bop-oriented Afro-Cuban jazz, music that is not all that much different than the Latin jazz of the '50s and '60s. Weinstein has an attractive sound and a fluent style on flute, pianist Mark Levine gets nearly as much solo space as the leader, and the rhythm section keeps the music swinging, grooving, and danceable. Weinstein, whether jamming on the chord changes of "Giant Steps" ("Broadway Local"), playing tunes by Wayne Shorter or Thelonious Monk, or Latinizing obscurities, is in top form throughout. Fans of Cal Tjader (despite the lack of vibes), 1960s Herbie Mann, and traditional Latin jazz will enjoy this likable set. ~Scott Yanow

Con Alma

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Peter Lehel - Chamber Jazz Quartets

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:15
Size: 109,3 MB
Art: Front

(3:51) 1. Gavotte
(4:10) 2. Libertango
(3:20) 3. Brahms Meets Santana
(4:17) 4. Vilia
(4:12) 5. Värmland
(3:20) 6. Pavane
(2:44) 7. Stride La Vampa
(4:49) 8. Adgaio In G Minor
(3:07) 9. Für Eine Nacht Voller Seligkeit
(4:28) 10. Reverie
(3:21) 11. Moldau
(5:36) 12. Adagio For Saxes

The saxophonist, bass clarinetist, composer and arranger Peter Lehel studied jazz and popular music at the music academies in Stuttgart and Budapest from 1988 to 1996 and passed his concert exam with distinction.

He has positioned himself internationally with very diverse and independent music in the field of tension between jazz and classical music. He is undoubtedly one of the most outstanding composers and arrangers for the saxophone and clarinet family. Numerous arrangements for saxophone quartets and ensembles, free of all stylistic barriers, have been published in the meantime.

He works as a musician and composer with renowned jazz musicians and internationally renowned ensembles such as the Oláh Kálmán Trio Budapest, Ulisses Rocha European Brazil Project, Kristjan Randalu from Estonia, Monika Herzig Acoustic Project (USA), Barbara Dennerlein (Germany) as well as with classical stars such as Sabine Meyer, Wolfgang Meyer, Henning Wiegräbe, Steven Mead and many others.

As an arranger, he has worked for the Cuban world star of Latin jazz, Paquito d'Rivera, and for the "Trio di Clarone" around the clarinettists Sabine and Wolfgang Meyer (Grammy nomination 2010). He has arranged the music of the Hammond organist Barbara Dennerlein for large symphony orchestra.His compositions for jazz soloists with chamber orchestra and with string quartet have received great attention.

As a soloist and composer Peter Lehel works with various orchestras including the Budapest Chamber Symphony, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn, the Sinfonietta Tübingen, the Stuttgart Philharmonic and the Artisfact Chamber Orchestra.

Concert tours regularly take Peter Lehel to the USA, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, the Caribbean, Cuba, Jamaica, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Spain, Italy and France, the Netherlands and Belgium, Hungary, Switzerland and Austria, South Korea, Taiwan and China, Israel, Egypt, Oman, Jordan, United Arab Emirates.

He is a jazz prizewinner of the state of Baden-Württemberg (1997), twice received the "Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik" (2000, 2006), was among the winners of the International Contest for Jazz and Church Organ (Best Group 2001).

In 2004 he received a scholarship from the Kunststiftung Baden-Württemberg, on whose jury he was appointed in 2008. n 2007 he became visiting professor at the Shenyang Conservatory of Music in China.

Peter Lehel has a very rich discography with very diverse formations and CD productions that cross the boundaries of genres, including Peter Lehel Quartet, Finefones Saxophone Quartet, Pipes and Phones and SaltaCello. In 2011 he founded the Jazz Ensemble Baden-Württemberg, a formation that works on the development of special programmes in various constellations.

Since 2014 he has been artistic director of the Jazz Juniors of the Baden-Württemberg State Music Council, where he is responsible for the highly talented promotion of jazz. Peter Lehel teaches the subjects saxophone, jazz theory, big band and ensembles at the Karlsruhe University of Music.
https://www.hfm-karlsruhe.de/en/university/persons/peter-lehel

Chamber Jazz Quartets

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Christina Tourin - Geodepédie - Hidden Light

Styles: Harp Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:47
Size: 137,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:51) 1. Geodepédie - Hidden Light
(2:11) 2. Music Is Love
(5:00) 3. Passacaglia - Handel's Healing Harp
(3:02) 4. Brigid's Green Mantle
(3:20) 5. Land O' The Leal
(2:01) 6. Early One Morning
(2:54) 7. Walk Through The Sunflowers
(3:57) 8. Reminisce
(1:37) 9. Sommarpsalm
(6:57) 10. Icelandic Northern Lights
(1:46) 11. Grieg’s Morning Mood
(3:38) 12. Largo - Vivaldi's Vision
(3:23) 13. Arigatou, I For You
(3:28) 14. Amethyst Of Avalon
(8:39) 15. As Above So Below
(2:56) 16. Colors Of The Season

For Christina Tourin, Geodepédie - Hidden Light, is more than simply the perfect title for the influential, world renowned harpist/composer’s sparkling, magically lyrical new age album – her first since 2010’s Iona Inspirations, which capped a prolific and prodigious 20 years of composing and recording.

“With a twist on Erik Satie's Gymnopedie,” Tourin says, “I present Geodepédie! May we open ourselves to let light shine forth as with a beautiful geode!” The new album is a journey of peace and wonder, reflecting the boundless immensity of the earth and sky.

With each track, Tourin strives for a sound that can transform lives, emotionally and spiritually. Listeners may imagine the shining inside of a newly-opened geode, while also picturing a crystalline night sky filled with glittering stars, planets and galaxies. The music, she says, creates a place to find the center of one’s being, allowing each listener to let go of tension and rise into the cumulus of their own imagination.

Musicians on the album include Christina Tourin (harp), Peter Sprague(guitar/synth), David Eastoe (synth), Suzanne Doucet (synth), Buvana Gerlach (vocals), Lies Joosten (Harp,Track 1). The album was produced by Christina Tourin for her Emerald Harp Productions, LLC, and recorded at SpragueLand Studios, Encinitas, CA, with sound engineer Peter Sprague. Cover design is by Jaime Tourin, with liner notes by Jonathan Widran.

Tourin truly lives a life “as above so below,” experiencing the magnificent and transcendent in small but significant ways. As one of the foremost leading educators of the harp, she founded the International Harp Therapy Program, which has training centers in multiple countries and languages with Therapeutic Harp Practitioners from 32 countries serving on five continents.

Tourin’s musical life has taken her around the world from Japan to Ireland, where she’s brought the National Instrument of the harp to blind children. She trained in performance both at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria and at McGill University in Montreal, and has accompanied chorales, performed with symphonies and been part of ensembles in off Broadway theaters. A highlight of her career is performing for 17 years for the Von Trapp Family at their Austrian Chalet Lodge in Vermont.

Harp has been in Tourin's family for several generations. As she says, “Expressing through music is not what I do, it’s who I am.”
https://www.thebcompany.com/geodepedie-hidden-light-a-brilliant-new-harp-album-by-christina-tourin

Geodepédie - Hidden Light

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