Denise Donatelli - When Lights Are Low

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:52
Size: 122,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:45)  1. It's You or No One
(6:01)  2. Don't Explain
(4:49)  3. When Lights Are Low
(6:32)  4. Big Lie, Small  World
(4:46)  5. Why Did I Choose You?
(3:27)  6. I Wish I Were In Love Again
(7:06)  7. Kisses
(4:21)  8. Forward, Like So
(2:32)  9. The Telephone Song
(4:18) 10. The Bed I Made
(5:11) 11. Enchantment

A recent news photo depicted pop singer, Lady Gaga, accepting an MTV Video Music Award bedecked in a gown of raw meat. While reactions to that stunt went to understandable extremes condone as art or revolt as déclassé it's easy to wonder what women jazz vocalists might have thought of it. Based upon the marvelously entertaining and stylistically brilliant CD, When Lights are Low, it might not be a surprise to envision Denise Donatelli heading up on stage come Grammy time. And, the only "chops" she'd be wearing would be the ones she carries wherever she appears.  When Lights are Low is a knockout, an outstanding, beautiful CD on all fronts Donatelli's, the tunes, the ensembles, and the soup-to-nuts entire production. In a descriptively admirable way, it is a stellar, one-dimensional showcase, where Donatelli shrewdly fits in perfectly with the entire textural approach, devised here by pianist Geoffrey Keezer who, in addition to performing on the album, is both producer and artistic director. Donatelli's is a vocal instrument of classic beauty, impeccable diction, dynamic nuance, phrasing and emotion. She turns a lyric with taste and passion, and has great respect for both ("Hush Now"). Donatelli can swing heavy, too ("It's You or No One"). As a youngster, Donatelli shared car rides to piano lessons with Keith Jarrett; here, with wunderkind Keezer at the keyboard, Donatelli shows instrumental experience through her voice, and interplay with forgive the homonym "Keez."

The Donatelli-Keezer team works in such wonderful, respectful compatibility. Her rhythmic approach is framed by Keezer's deft touch classic and swinging. He's a very sly partner, too, a "Have You Met Miss Jones?" five-note quote introducing his solo on "It's You or No One." Their beautiful takes on "Why Did I Choose You?" and "Forward, Like So" are duo perfection. Sting's "Big Lie, Small World," done bossa-style with neat vocal backgrounds provided by Julia Dollison and Kerry Marsh engages. "Enchantment (Firm Roots)" cooks at multiple temps with terrific solos by guitarist Peter Sprague and Keezer.  The incorporation of chamber strings and voices, arranged by Keezer, are a beautiful, romantic touch, as is Ingrid Jensen's haunting flugelhorn solo on "Hush Now"perhaps the CD's only drawback being that this is the only cut to feature Jensen's terrific talent. The rhythm section, comprised of Keezer, bassist Hamilton Price, Jon Wikan and Sprague, meshes perfectly. While there might not be electricity there, When Lights Are Low is powerhouse, desert island stuff. ~ Nichollas F.Mondello https://www.allaboutjazz.com/when-lights-are-low-denise-donatelli-savant-records-review-by-nicholas-f-mondello.php
 

Personnel:  Denise Donatelli: vocal;  Geoffrey Keezer: piano/Rhodes;  Peter Sprague: guitar;  Hamilton Price: bass/electric bass (10);  Jon Wikan: drums/percussion;  Jon Wikan:pandeiro (9);  Susan Wulff: double bass (2, 7);  Giovanni Clayton: cello (2,7); Roland Kato: viola (2, 7):  Alma Lisa Fernandez: viola (2,7); Matthew Duckles: viola (2, 7);  Julia Dollison: vocals (4, 10);  Kerry Marsh: vocal (4, 10);  Ingrid Jensen: flugelhorn (2);  Phil O'Connor: bass clarinet (4, 10);  Ron Blake: soprano sax (7).

When Lights Are Low

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Jacqui Naylor - Dead Divas Society

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:38
Size: 131,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:54)  1. Skylark
(4:07)  2. It's A Good Day
(3:16)  3. Back To Black
(3:03)  4. Where Do You Start
(3:37)  5. It's A Most Unusual Day
(3:42)  6. Feelin' Good
(4:38)  7. Love Of My Life
(3:31)  8. The Windmills Of Your Mind
(2:55)  9. When The World Was Young
(3:45) 10. Gravy Waltz
(4:58) 11. Crazy He Calls Me
(4:13) 12. Never Too Much
(2:58) 13. Fool That I Am
(2:46) 14. They Say It's Spring
(4:07) 15. Dream A Little Dream Of Me

When preparing her previous release, Lucky Girl, Jacqui Naylor invited 90 friends and fans to listen to 25 selections and vote on each, ultimately recording the top 15 tunes. Such democracy continues with Dead Divas Society, though less formally. As the puckishly morbid title suggests, Naylor’s intent is to pay tribute to departed singers who have influenced her. Its 15 tracks were recorded live at San Francisco’s Coast Recorders in front off a hand-selected audience of 150, all polled in advance for suggestions. The final tally of 14 divas (Peggy Lee is saluted twice) extends from Ella, Billie and Sarah to Cass Elliot, Amy Winehouse and, another display of Naylor’s impishness, Freddie Mercury and Luther Vandross. Naylor, whose striking sound seems equal parts Holiday and Pearl Bailey, is in superb form throughout, tight as ever with longtime bandmates Art Khu (piano, organ, guitar), Jon Evans (bass) and Josh Jones (drums, percussion). As on Lucky Girl, they exercise their trademark “acoustic smashing” the layering of a jazz standard atop a rock classic just once, unfolding an ebullient “Feelin’ Good” (for Nina Simone) over a sizzling “I Shot the Sheriff.” Often opting for less obvious choices “Skylark” for Ella, “Gravy Waltz” for Sarah, “They Say It’s Spring” for Blossom Dearie Naylor shapes a consistently inspired olio, and her inky rendering of Winehouse’s “Back to Black” is a particular standout. ~ Christopher Loudon http://jazztimes.com/articles/103160-dead-divas-society-jacqui-naylor

Dead Divas Society

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Branford Marsalis Quartet - The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:20
Size: 143,3 MB
Art: Front

( 8:23)  1. Dance of the Evil Toys
( 8:46)  2. Conversation Among the Ruins
( 5:52)  3. Snake Hip Waltz
( 7:32)  4. Cianna
(10:15)  5. Nilaste
( 9:00)  6. Life Filtering from the Water Flowers
(12:30)  7. The Windup

Anyone who's seen the Branford Marsalis Quartet in concert is well aware of what high-flying improvisations the group can embark upon. But the foursome's abandoned approach hardly precludes due emphasis on structure how better to highlight it than leave it behind? which is also why this band makes studio albums as trenchant as The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul. Yet the irony in this duality is that strong material is the foundation for concise, purposeful musicianship, whether within or without the confines of tunes, such as the bandleader's own "Life Filtering from the Water Flowers."

The spirituous-mystical implications of its title (and that of the album itself) are in keeping with the unusual changes of the composition and, not surprisingly, the ingenious instrumental interplay proceeding from it. This musicianship is so striking in part because it's filtered through the Quartet's extended tenure together, the years of which have honed both their individual and collective instincts. The progression from the floating opening horn tones to more playful intonations there is also fully in keeping with another number, bassist Eric Revis' "Dance of the Evil Toys," the gaiety in the very title resonating through the sound of pianist Joey Calderazzo's instrument. Recorded in Melbourne, Australia in the midst of an international tour in the Spring of 2018, the ensemble's first pure quartet effort since Four MFs Playin' Tunes (Marsalis Music, 2012) contains spare uncluttered arrangements, rendered without extraneous notes or rhythmic fillips, produced by Branford himself, recorded and mixed by Rob 'Wacko!" Hunter. Obviously performing at an extremely high-level at the time, it's to the foursome's credit they were wise enough to access the studio setting to capture their interactions both frenzied and delicate, as on "Nilaste." 

The aforementioned tune from Revis, one of two here along with Calderazzo's pair of contributions, (covers of Andrew Hill and Keith Jarrett appear as well), sounds as if recording began in the middle of a dense jam. A conversation ensues among the four players, including drummer Jason Faulkner's distinct echoing of his percussion mate, during which all the players exchange ideas and embroider upon them during the course of the track. Based on decades of playing together, the simpatico is as keen and well-defined as the recording quality throughout; no one man or his instrument takes precedence over the others, but Calderazzo's piano is prominent by dint of its bright tone, a marked contrast to the somber air of that tune of his that follows, "Conversation Among the Ruins."

Serious in both concept and execution, The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul concludes with the direct and deliberate communication at which the Branford Marsalis Quartet excels throughout the record. Yet this seventh cut, "The Windup," overflows with the joy of a complete and utter romp no doubt envisioned by its author, Keith Jarrett, the piano icon of The Koln Concert (ECM, 1975). It is revelatory in making explicit just how much pleasure this group shares by playing together. By Doug Collete https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-secret-between-the-shadow-and-the-soul-the-branford-marsalis-quartet-okeh-review-by-doug-collette.php

Personnel: Branford Marsalis: saxophone; Joey Calderazzo: piano; Eric Revis: bass; Justin Faulkner: drums.

The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul

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Bennie Wallace - Moodsville

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2002
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:46
Size: 117,5 MB
Art: Front

(6:04)  1. I'll Never Smile Again
(5:39)  2. Con Alma
(4:30)  3. April In Paris
(7:02)  4. Milestones
(6:32)  5. When A Man Loves A Woman
(5:00)  6. Love For Sale
(5:57)  7. My Little Brown Book
(6:08)  8. I Concentrate On You
(3:51)  9. A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing

Here's another set of standards, a bunch of songs out of The Great American Songbook. The line-up: Tenor sax out in front of the piano/bass/drums rhythm section. Nothing earthshaking here... But it's done on this Moodsville, with such style and reverence, with a distinct muscular-toned tenor flavor. The three rhythm guys on the disc Mulgrew Miller on piano; Peter Washington, bass; and Lewis Nash doing the drum chores are all better known in jazz circles than leader/tenor man Bennie Wallace, but Wallace's talent keeps pace with his bandmates. He has put out a couple of fine CDs on the Enja label, another two on Blue Note; and also has done the sondtracks for the movies "Blaze"(1990) and "White Men Can't Jump" (1992). He has a deep, throaty, Coleman Hawkins-like tone, and an energetic and sometimes edgey, Dolphyesque approach to his soloing that contrasts beautifully with his relatively smoother accompaniment.

The leader/rhythm section tug-of-war is what makes the music. Mulgrew and crew at times smilingly seem to be in a reigning-in mode with leader Wallace to the benefit of the music. Wallace sounds like a free blower ensnared happily in an environment that is holding him back, just a bit. Melody is king here, though Wallace stretches it at times. The songs: "I'll Never Smile Again; "Dizzy's Con Alma"; an "April In Paris" that'll have you reaching for your "Hawk In Paris" CD, to contrast Manny Albam's lush orchestrations with Wallace's pared down approach; a reverent version of Miles Davis's "Milestones"; a hopped-up, Latinized take on Cole Porter's "Love for Sale": a couple of lovely (but aren't they all) Strayhorns: "Little Brown Book" and "A Flower is a Lovesome Thing". A fresh and distinctive revisitation of some American Classics, a must have CD for fans of Coleman Hawkins or Dexter Gordon's quartet work.By Dan McClenaghan https://www.allaboutjazz.com/moodsville-bennie-wallace-groove-note-records-review-by-dan-mcclenaghan.php

Personnel: Bennie Wallace, Tenor Sax; Mulgrew Miller, piano; Lewis Nash, drums; Peter Washington, bass

Moodsville

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