Andrea Beneventano - The Driver

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:30
Size: 109,8 MB
Art: Front

(6:02)  1. Cool River
(4:29)  2. Midget Steps
(5:27)  3. The Driver
(5:08)  4. When Sunny Gets Blue
(5:19)  5. Passing Seasons
(6:35)  6. If I Should Lose You
(3:56)  7. I Got Your Rhythm
(3:53)  8. Donna quee
(6:38)  9. My Gospel

The Driver is the new work as a leader of the pianist Andrea Beneventano  after Trinacria in 2003, which on this occasion completes his trio with the excellent Francesco Puglisi on double bass and Nicola Angelucci on drums.

Therefore, a classical formation that knows how to offer in the nine proposed tracks all signed by the leader except for a couple of standards a jazz vision that does not differ much from the guidelines of the mainstream (in the broadest sense of the term), even if in the way of proposing himself as a Sicilian pianist, various reasons of interest can be traced, which make listening to the entire work pleasant and worthy of attention. Starting from the way in which it expresses a complete and versatility melodic vision to an extreme formal beauty in "Passing Seasons," to the more introspective and shadowy passage of the opener "Cool River," to the fragmented visions of "The Driver," a nervous passage and snappy, in which Puglisi and Angelucci produce themselves in a remarkable accompanying work.

Beneventano intertwines different stylistic roots that range from the "I Got Your Rhythm" bop to the "My Gospel" contemplations, so that his work also characterized by an excellent interplay knows no moments of yielding neither from the formal point of view nor under the expressive profile. Translate By Google
By AAJ Italy Staff https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-driver-nicola-angelucci-alfamusic-review-by-aaji-staff.php

Personnel: Andrea Beneventano: pianoforte; Francesco Puglisi: contrabbasso; Nicola Angelucci: batteria.

The Driver

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Modern Jazz Quartet - The Montreux Years

Styles: Jazz, Bop, Cool
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 76:33
Size: 177,7 MB
Art: Front

( 5:13) 1. Ko-Ko
(15:56) 2. A Day in Dubrovnik
( 4:51) 3. Django
( 7:52) 4. Blues in A Minor
( 4:12) 5. Bags' Groove
( 4:18) 6. The Golden Striker
( 8:27) 7. One Never Knows
( 8:38) 8. Le Cannet
( 5:16) 9. Nature Boy
( 6:53) 10. Rockin' in Rhythm
( 4:50) 11. True Blues

A showcase of some of The Modern Jazz Quartet’s most iconic Montreux Jazz Festival live performances, recorded between 1985 and 1993!

The audio has Expertly restored and remastered in superlative HD audio; The Montreux Years is released on superior audiophile heavy weight vinyl, MQA quality CD and in HD digital. The release includes brand new liner notes and rare photos from his Montreux shows.

The Montreux Years is released as part of a brand new Montreux Jazz Festival and BMG collection series “The Montreux Years”. The collections will uncover legendary performances by the world’s most iconic artists alongside rare and never-before-released recordings from the festival’s rich 57-year history, remastered in superlative audio. Each collection will be accompanied by exclusive liner notes and previously unseen photography.
https://www.amazon.ca/Modern-Jazz-Quartet-Montreux-Years/dp/B0C4Q8YFPJ

Personnel: John Lewis - piano, Milt Jackson - vibraphone, Percy Heath - double bass, Connie Kay - drums

Modern Jazz Quartet: The Montreux Years

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Orrin Evans - The Red Door

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:21
Size: 144,2 MB
Art: Front

(4:04) 1. Red Door
(7:11) 2. Weezy
(7:35) 3. Phoebe's Stroll
(9:15) 4. The Good Life
(4:36) 5. Big Small
(3:58) 6. Dexter's Tune
(4:12) 7. Amazing Grace
(5:15) 8. Feed the Fire
(4:25) 9. All the Things You Are
(2:43) 10. Smoke Rings
(5:22) 11. They Won't Go When I Go
(3:39) 12. I Have the Feeling I've Been Here Before

A most generous craftsman, composer and bandleader, pianist Orrin Evans never fails to bring out the best of whoever he chooses to create with. The Red Door is gratefully, and gracefully, no exception to that rule.

Whatever musical setting Evans chooses to practice his sinewy, r'n'b inflected post-bop insideman, big band, trio, quartet, duo, whatever a sweet animation propels his music and buoys the players gathered around him. In this case the two core units feature bass legend Buster Williams, drummer Gene Jackson, the late Wallace Roney on trumpet and fellow Philadelphian, tenor legend Larry McKenna. The other quintet features trumpeter Nicholas Payton, saxophonist/flutist Gary Thomas, bassist Robert Hurst and drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith.

Just as it was a standout track on his second recording with the The Bad Plus, 2019's canny and expressive Activate Infinity (Edition Records), the lead-off title track carousels into consciousness with a brassy, staccato effervescence and witticism courtesy of Payton and Thomas, that Hurst, Evans and Smith quickly wrest control from, deconstruct, then return sprightly to the dance. As Immanuel Wilkins' saxophone did throughout Evan's previous highlight reel, 2021's The Magic of Now (Smoke Sessions Records) Thomas' flute becomes the voice of the circuitous and bluesy "Weezy."

But it may well be "Phoebe's Stroll" that we remember The Red Door for in the years ahead. A jaunty, trio workout of everything that makes Evans tick his quotable, neo-pop melodicism, his patient way with time, his keen, articulate framing and sense of communal dance all in one seven plus minute slice of perfection. It's a grand gesture and sure to be a setlist perennial.

Geri Allen's antic "Feed the Fire" gets the full-on quintet treatment as Thomas and Payton play cat and mouse around Smith and Hurst's elusive current and Evans' pronounced freneticism. Ditto "Smoke Rings." With Buster Williams providing the smooth, second set of the night groove, McKenna, uncurls an entrancing, deep blue solo that defines "The Good Life." Ever a shaman of the collective, Evans brings onboard Jazzmeia Horn who, as has become custom, delivers a slyly impassioned reading of Bill McHenry's feminine forward lyric for Evans' "Big Small," which originally appeared sans lyrics on Flip the Script (Posi-Tone Records, 2012)

A substantive tribute to those whom Evans claims has gotten him to the pinnacle he inhabits right now and to those who will help him carry it forward, (including Sy Smith and Alita Moses, The Red Door is a masterful high point in a career that continues to climb. By Mike Jurkovic
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-red-door-orrin-evans-smoke-sessions-records__14893

Personnel: Orrin Evans: piano; Robert Hurst: bass; Marvin "Smitty" Smith: drums; Gary Thomas: saxophone; Nicholas Payton: trumpet.

Additional Instrumentation: Nicholas Payton: trumpet (1, 2, 5, 10); Gary Thomas: tenor sax (1, 5, 10) flute (2); Robert Hurst: bass (1-3, 5-8, 10, 12); Marvin “Smitty” Smith: drums (1-3, 5-8, 10, 12); Wallace Roney: trumpet (9); Larry McKenna: tenor sax (4); Buster Williams: bass (4, 9); Jazzmela Horn: vocal (5); Sy Smith: vocal (7); Alita Moses: vocal (11).

The Red Door

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