Greg Lewis - Organ Monk

Styles: Jazz Funk
Year: 2010
File: MP3@128K/s
Time: 67:21
Size: 66,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:15) 1. Trinkle Tinkle
(3:59) 2. Jackie-ing
(5:09) 3. Criss Cross
(4:25) 4. Light Blue
(4:56) 5. Played Twice
(5:11) 6. Boo Boo's Birthday
(3:46) 7. Coming in the Hudson
(4:36) 8. Four in One
(5:17) 9. Locomotive
(4:18) 10. We See
(3:44) 11. Monk's Mood
(5:37) 12. Think of One
(3:54) 13. Work
(3:44) 14. Introspection
(4:29) 15. Kohl's Here

Reinventing the music of Thelonious Monk is no easy task, but organist Greg Lewis does precisely that on Organ Monk. Backed solely by drummer Cindy Blackman and guitarist Ron Jackson, Lewis goes through fifteen of Monk's timeless classics, adapting them to the feel of an organ trio.

Kicking off with an up-tempo take on "Tinkle Tinkle," the disc starts with a drum/organ duet that gives way to a flawless guitar solo from Jackson, before quickly closing with the outro. Lewis is at the forefront of "Jacking," with a few accents from Blackman, who enhances the bandleader's solos with precise touches on the cymbals. Jackson is featured on "Light Blue," where a simple blues structure gives the musicians plenty of space to improvise. Other guitarists would have used the opportunity to overplay, but Jackson plays suitable solos, while adding clever chords during Lewis' improvised moments.

"Coming to The Hudson" is one of the disc's best moments, as the musicians sound perfectly in sync. Jackson takes the first solo, which evolves from a simpler sequence to a flurry of notes at the end, when Lewis takes over and closes with his own improvisation. Unfortunately, Blackman fans will not hear many of her usual pyrotechnics here, as she competently adds to the music without ever stealing the spotlight. Organ Monkis a highly enjoyable disc with that reveals more with repeated spins.
Anyone willing to play such complex bass lines with their feet deserves praise. What might Lewis' follow-up be: maybe a selection of Mingus'canon for the B-3? By Ernest Barteldes
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/organ-monk-greg-lewis-self-produced-review-by-ernest-barteldes

Personnel: Greg Lewis: Organ; Cindy Blackman: drums; Ron Jackson: guitar.

Organ Monk

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Bob Crosby & His Orchestra - South Rampart Street Parade

Styles: Swing, Big Band
Year: 1992
File: MP3@256K/s
Time: 62:26
Size: 116,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:10) 1. Dixieland Shuffle
(3:07) 2. Royal Garden Blues
(2:54) 3. The Old Spinning Wheel
(3:13) 4. Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea
(2:32) 5. Little Rock Getaway
(3:34) 6. South Rampart Street Parade
(4:09) 7. Dogtown Blues
(2:39) 8. Panama
(2:56) 9. Wolverine Blues
(2:34) 10. Big Noise From Winnetka
(3:05) 11. Swingin' At The Sugar Bowl
(3:08) 12. I'm Prayin' Humble
(2:53) 13. I'm Free (What's New?)
(2:58) 14. My Inspiration
(2:51) 15. The Skaters' Waltz (In Swingtime)
(3:11) 16. Air Mail Stomp
(2:49) 17. Complainin'
(3:05) 18. Jimtown Blues
(3:14) 19. Milenberg Joys
(4:15) 20. Chain Gang

Bob Crodby led one of the hottest big bands of the 1930s, a unit that although filled with swing stylists could play Dixieland with the joy and spontaneity of a small group. In time, Bob Crosby's Bobcats would overshadow the big band, but this definitive CD shows how enjoyable the orchestra could be.

With such soloists as trumpeters Yank Lawson and Billy Butterfield, clarinetists Matty Matlock and Irving Fazola, Eddie Miller (on tenor and clarinet), and pianists Bob Zurke, Joe Sullivan, and Jess Stacy, among others, the Crosby aggregation could hold its own with any other band of the time.

On their CD, 20 of Bob Crosby's finest performances (17 of which are from 1936-1939) are included, with the high points being "Little Rock Getaway" (Zurke's classic interpretation of Sullivan's most famous song), "South Rampart Street Parade," "Big Noise From Winnetka," the original version of "What's New" (known at the time as "I'm Free"), "My Inspiration," "Jimtown Blues," and several heated Dixieland standards. Essential music for any serious jazz collection. By Scott Yanow
https://www.allmusic.com/album/south-rampart-street-parade-mw0000613711

South Rampart Street Parade

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Oscar Peterson - Solo

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1972
File: MP3@160K/s
Time: 67:39
Size: 78,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:44) 1. Yesterdays
(3:57) 2. Makin' Whoopee
(4:45) 3. Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)
(3:11) 4. Take the "A" Train
(4:38) 5. Body and Soul
(5:03) 6. Blues of the Prairies
(4:26) 7. Corcovado
(5:11) 8. Blues Etude
(4:24) 9. Autumn Leaves
(5:59) 10. Here's That Rainy Day
(4:32) 11. Sweet Georgia Brown
(5:41) 12. Satin Doll
(6:16) 13. Mirage
(5:44) 14. Hogtown Blues

Compared with his trio output, little of Oscar Peterson’s unaccompanied playing exists on CD, so these previously unissued solo concerts are a welcome addition to his discography. Recorded in Lebanon and the Netherlands in 1972, Solo finds Peterson full of energy and imagination and eager to fill the harmonic and rhythmic roles of his absent trio colleagues.

The pianos, particularly the one in Lebanon, may not have been in the same class as their player, but Peterson long ago figured out how to road test an instrument to see what it can handle. In Lebanon, we hear him audition the piano by way of a relatively cautious “Yesterdays.” Peterson’s caution resembles many other pianists’ maximum efforts. Then, following a jaunty introduction, he shifts up into a “Makin’ Whoopee” driven by the power of left-hand stride patterns that, in the trio, would make the bass player superfluous. Peterson finds joy in stride and uses modifications of the style to explode through “Take the ‘A’ Train” and sections of three blues. Even “Body and Soul” gets the treatment, and there’s a bit of stride samba in “Corcovado.”

Peterson’s velocity and control are astonishing on the Lebanon tracks. He has even greater fluidity and chance-taking in the Amsterdam concert, possibly due to a more agreeable piano. The identity of “Autumn Leaves” is disclosed only after two choruses of double-time ad-libbing at near the speed of light. Peterson charges through a program whose excitement is leavened by his ballad reflections on “Here’s That Rainy Day” and “Satin Doll.” “Mirage” begins in contemplation but evolves into a swinger. The album’s piece de resistance is Peterson’s “Hogtown Blues.” If the melody line doesn’t sound much like the song’s previous versions, and if the bass line has the album’s one finger bobble, who cares? It’s Peterson soaring, full of creativity, history and pizzazz.

The Oscar Peterson Trio with guitarist Herb Ellis and bassist Ray Brown reached its recorded zenith in 1956 with At the Stratford Shakespearean Festival (Verve). Recorded at another Canadian festival, in Vancouver, Tenderly does not quite achieve the Stratford album’s heights of swing, intensity and excitement. Despite recording imperfections, though, it comes close, and it has three rarities of Peterson’s recorded repertoire. By August 1958, shortly before Ellis moved on, Peterson had honed the trio into an engine of swing that was also capable of ensemble delicacy and intricacy all but unprecedented in jazz. Two of the band’s staples, “How About You” and “The Gypsy in My Soul,” are repeated from the Stratford concert. “Gypsy” swings at least as hard as the earlier version.

“The Surrey With the Fringe on Top,” which Peterson launches in a flurry of dissonances, goes from 0 to 60 in three seconds and never lets up. The trio discloses the other side of its personality in a “My Funny Valentine” that emphasizes the song’s and the musicians’ lyricism and reminds us that Ellis can be a gorgeous player of melody. It incorporates a bow toward Chopin and a thrilling section of chromatic modulation. There is more of the trio’s refinement, reflection and polish in “The Music Box Suite (Daisy’s Dream),” a Peterson composition that also includes a section of unrelenting swing. The only other recording of the suite surfaced on the CD reissue of the Stratford concert.

A piece I can find no other trace of in Peterson’s discography is “Pogo,” an uptempo tune on “I Got Rhythm” changes. Ellis is featured on his “Patricia,” a ballad with more of his heartfelt melodicism. “Tenderly,” of which Peterson makes much in his spoken introduction as the group’s theme, lopes along in a perfect medium groove for four minutes, then unceremoniously fades away 24 bars short of a full chorus and considerably short of a full performance. Applause is dubbed in and the music ends suspended in midair. That production oddity and occasional midrange frequency distortions in the recording are annoyances, but the music is wonderful. By Doug Ramsey
https://jazztimes.com/archives/oscar-peterson-solo/

Solo

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Johnathan Blake - Passage

Styles: Straight-Ahead, Jazz Fusion
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:38
Size: 134,8 MB
Art: Front

(1:13) 1. Lament For Lo
(9:38) 2. Passage
(9:37) 3. Muna & Johna’s Playtime
(6:29) 4. Tiempos
(5:07) 5. Groundhog Day
(5:21) 6. Tears I Cannot Hide
(1:04) 7. A Slight Taste (Dez Intro)
(8:36) 8. A Slight Taste
(7:07) 9. Out of Sight, Out of Mind
(4:22) 10. West Berkley St.

When drummer/composer Johnathan Blake released 2021's Homeward Bound, his debut for Blue Note, he showcased a quintet he'd been working the road with. Its lineup bassist Dezron Douglas, vibraphonist Joel Ross, pianist David Virelles, and alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins delivered an eight-song set that tastefully showcased the canny communicative strengths of the ensemble. Three years on and seasoned by dozens of gigs, Passage contains five compositions by Blake, two by Douglas, and one by Virelles, along with tunes by the late violinist John Blake, Jr. the drummer's father and late mentor/drummer/composer Ralph Peterson, Jr. The set is dedicated to them.

Blake's playing and composing signatures differ from most drummers, which is presumably why he made such a great addition to the Mingus Big Band, Q-Tip, and Dr. Lonnie Smith. Opener "Lament for Lo" is a minute-long tom-tom solo played with mallets; it's an incantation dedicated to the memory of drummer Lawrence "Lo" Leathers. At just under ten minutes, "The Passage" is a shining example of this group firing on all cylinders.

Composed by Blake's father, it has a rippling, post-bop modal theme with a harmonic questions-and-answers dialogue between piano and vibes under Wilkins' labyrinthine solo. It's followed by the equally lengthy "Muna and John's Playtime" (titled after his children), and draws equally on South African township and gospel music, contemporary jazz, and post-bop. Virelles' pianism and his lyric synth play bridge all the instruments. Blake and Ross add mysterious fills, accents, extrapolated harmonies, and breaks. Wilkins and Virelles answer by trading compelling solos.

"Tiempos" is one of the set's more intriguing tunes, with elements of a wedding tango, Cuban danzon, son, and blues illustrated by the piano trio. Its elegance, humor, and grace rival Pentad's for subtlety. its crisscrossing theme, syncopated rhythms, and intertwining harmonic dialogue between piano and vibraphone, Wilkins has to eventually join with his own break. Peterson's "Tears I Cannot Hide" is a ballad.

The dovetailed lines played by Ross and Wilkins flow into one another then overlap with contrasting lead voices. Virelles' Rhodes piano adds additional textural and tonal variation, extending the tune's reach. Douglas' quirky "A Slight Taste" cuts across hip-hop, jazz-funk, blues, and fusion. Virelles adorns the push-and-pull dancing rhythms with Rhodes and MiniMoog, as Ross and Wilkins wind around one another, reaching further into their exchanges before Blake drops a brief, mesmerizing, soulful solo.

Closer "W. Berkley St." is a lithe, fingerpopping post-bop number with South African jazz and gospel overtones under its sun-drenched melody. As Blake adds easy-grooving breaks and accents, Virelles traces the harmony while making it swing with a subtle Afro-Latin groove. Wilkins rolls up and down the alto horn alongside them.

Passage also goes a bit further than its predecessor due to the more mature, intimate communication between these players as they confidently articulate Blake's music.by Thom Jurek
https://www.allmusic.com/album/passage-mw0004045405

Personnel: Johnathan Blake: drums; Immanuel Wilkins: alto saxophone; Joel Ross: vibraphone; David Virelles: piano; Dezron Douglas: bass. .

Passage

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