Joel Haynes/Seamus Blake/Neil Swainson - The Return

Styles: Contemporary Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:24
Size: 113,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:19) 1. The Return
(5:28) 2. Peregrination
(6:35) 3. There And Back
(7:14) 4. Tomorrow Never Knows
(6:59) 5. Secret Garden
(7:53) 6. Allure
(6:13) 7. Angel
(4:40) 8. Payback

The Return! is certainly well-named, as it is drummer Joel Haynes' third album as leader of his own group but the first in fifteen years, following Cellar Music recordings The Time Is Now (2005) and Transitions (2008). During his long absence from a recording studio, however, Toronto-based Haynes has managed to stay busy, performing with many of the finest jazz artists in Canada and appearing at jazz festivals and other events in North and South America, the Caribbean and Europe.

On The Return!, Haynes leads an all-star quartet whose other members are tenor saxophonist Seamus Blake, pianist Tilden Webb and bassist Neil Swainson. No slackers in that lineup. Blake in particular warrants special applause, as he carries much of the melodic load and never once drops the ball. His teammates, meanwhile, give him ample room to run, forming an earnest and effective rhythmic phalanx.

The playlist consists of five original compositions by Haynes, a couple by Webb, John Lennon/Paul McCartney's "Tomorrow Never Knows" and one outlier, "Angel." There are two flag-wavers, Webb's "There and Back" and Haynes' "Payback," the last of which the group saves for its closing number. Webb swings hard on both tracks, while Blake delivers dazzling solos and Haynes and Swainson show they are master hands at any tempo.

"Tomorrow," not one of the Beatles' better-known themes, is a pleasant groover on which Webb takes another tasteful solo, leading to more of the same by Blake who clearly brought his "A-game" to the session. Swainson, one of Canada's premier sidemen, also solos admirably, while Haynes keeps his usual flawless time. Webb's placid "Secret Garden" is next, followed by Haynes' sunlit "Allure," the easygoing "Angel" (arranged by Webb) and the emphatic "Payback."

While it has been a long time between recordings for Haynes, The Return! is well worth the wait. An appetizing slice of contemporary post-bop jazz. By Jack Bowers
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-return-joel-haynes-cellar-records

Personnel: Joel Haynes - drums; Seamus Blake - tenor saxophone; Neil Swainson - bass; Tilden Webb - piano

The Return

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Angela DeNiro - Angela DeNiro Swingin' with Legends 2 with the Ron Aprea Big Band

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:43
Size: 151,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:02) 1. New York City Blues
(5:20) 2. You'd Be So Easy To Love (Feat. Ken Peplowski)
(4:22) 3. Hello Young Lovers (Feat. Randy Brecker)
(5:50) 4. A House Is Not A Home
(3:50) 5. Willow Weep For Me
(7:47) 6. It Might As Well Be Spring (Feat. Lew Tabackin)
(2:25) 7. Don'cha Go 'Way Mad
(4:59) 8. Two For The Road
(3:09) 9. That Old Black Magic
(5:31) 10. Come In From The Rain
(4:10) 11. On Green Dolphin Street
(5:17) 12. My One And Only Love
(5:18) 13. For Phil
(3:36) 14. The Curtain Falls

On Swingin' with Legends 2, her fourth recorded collaboration with arranger (and husband) Ron Aprea's big band, vocalist Angela DeNiro sings beautifully and receives a lot of help from her friends, especially guests Ken Peplowski on clarinet, Randy Brecker on trumpet and Lew Tabackin on tenor sax and flute. And what a band! Well-stocked with stars who are eager to fly whenever Aprea raises his baton.

Not that DeNiro needs much help. She is quite simply a marvelous singer with excellent range, splendid diction and obvious respect for a lyric. She also sings on key, and as for breath control, dig the final note on Burt Bacharach's "A House Is Not a Home." And she scats respectably too (in sync with the band on Rodgers and Hammerstein's "It Might as Well Be Spring," on which Tabackin solos on tenor). Ballads pose no problem, as DeNiro readily nails "My One and Only Love" and Henry Mancini's "Two for the Road" but it's clear that she and the band relish every opportunity to step on the gas and flat-out swing. For crystal-clear examples, look no further than "That Old Black Magic" or Cole Porter's "Easy to Love" (with Brecker on trumpet).

"On Green Dolphin Street" is another burner, encompassing one of alto Todd Bashore's heated solos (the others are on "Willow Weep for Me" and "For Phil," Aprea's clever tribute to the late alto giant and close friend Phil Woods). "For Phil" leads to the tender-hearted finale, "The Curtain Falls," a closing theme often used by Bobby Darin. Aprea employs only one soloist on each number. Besides Bashore and the band's guests, they include trumpeter Bryan Davis on the opening "New York Blues," "That Old Black Magic" and "Come in from the Rain"; trumpeter Chris Persad ("A House Is Not a Home"), bassist Tim Givens ("Don't Cha Go 'Way Mad") and trombonist Wayne Goodman ("My One and Only Love").

If this isn't the best vocalist-with-big band album of the year, it is definitely a close second. And the other one would have to be downright spectacular. DeNiro and Aprea's partnership is awesome, and Swingin' with Legends 2 shines brightly from every angle. In other words, a definite keeper.

Angela DeNiro Swingin' with Legends 2 with the Ron Aprea Big Band

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Larry McKenna - World on a String

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:19
Size: 111,1 MB
Art: Front

(6:08) 1. I've Got the World on a String
(6:24) 2. But Beautiful
(3:50) 3. I Love You, Samantha
(7:10) 4. Emily
(5:31) 5. Dreamsville
(4:24) 6. Stompin' at the Savoy
(4:54) 7. Somewhere in the Night
(5:33) 8. Samba De Else
(4:21) 9. What Is There to Say?

Larry McKenna is not really a celebrity. He probably never will be. He plays tenor sax in and around Philadelphia. He apparently does not say a lot although he clearly has a puckish sense of humor. It comes out in his playing. It is possible to drive by his suburban home, vaguely aware that a saxophonist, a pretty good one, lives there and keep right on going. A sort of metaphor for McKenna and his career (read our 2007 interview).

To a small group, musicians primarily, McKenna is not your average player. Some will say he is arguably the best in the world at what he does, not just in Philadelphia. And what he does is play beautifully and lyrically, distilling the modern history of the tenor saxophone, at least since Lester Young, into gorgeous sonorities. He has not recorded as much as say, Stan Getz, whose sound he sometimes recalls, or made live appearances in Mexico City and try to speak Spanish (as Getz once did). If you have heard him live, it may have been at a Catholic parish festival in South Philly. Or then again, at a Woody Herman Tribute Band festival in Los Angeles, since he is a Herd alumnus. McKenna has flown under that sort of oddly fragmented radar for many years. He has been called a "natural," schooled on the gig, not in the classroom. It shows.

Sooner or later, many great bop players McKenna is arguably that too have recorded with strings. These outings are not to everyone's liking, Somehow, the strings here, gifted players all, some associated with Temple University, where Larry has taught, are not an afterthought, but a harmonic extension of McKenna's playing. There are nine tunes, including "Samba de Else," a McKenna original, to add to Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Yip Harburg, Henry Mancini, Cole Porter , Jimmy van Heusen and Johnny Burke, Johnny Mandel, and Edgar Sampson, among others.

To top it off, McKenna and Jack Saint Clair, a fellow tenor player, did the arrangements. They knew what they wanted. There is no wasted space, no wasted motion, and not a wasted note. McKenna makes all the pretty changes, with spectacular results. Polished, tasteful, meditative, musical, gorgeous and in places, wryly hip. Dexter Gordon even peeks through occasionally. It is that kind of creative thinking.

World on a String opens appropriately enough, with McKenna cruising through an easygoing double-time with a touch of 52d Street here and there. An incredible "But Beautiful" follows, shades of Gordon Jenkins, as yearning a version as one could hear, with strings and piano tastefully interwoven. "Samantha" is a bossa, a genre which sometimes means cliché-time. Not here, where sincerity, not cynicism holds. To get away from the insanity with which we have surrounded ourselves, choose either "Emily" or "Dreamsville." Both will take you, unaided, to a much better place.

On "Savoy," McKenna is joined on tenor by Saint Clair, who more than holds his own. Joe Plowman also gets some space on bass, and with strings, the whole swings nicely indeed. The real sleeper is "Somewhere in the Night" otherwise known as the theme from the TV series "Naked City" (1960-1963), which has been little recorded since 1965. Some may remember Maynard Ferguson doing a big band arrangement, on Come Blow Your Horn (Cameo, 1963) and perhaps that is where this version originated. It is a pleasure to hear the Milt Raskin and Billy May chart rescued from obscurity. The recording closes out with a McKenna original, "Samba de Else" and "What is There to Say?"

A favorite? All of them. A memorable recording by an artist whose evident dislike for self-promotion and publicity should not prevent a widespread appreciation of his gifts.By Richard J Salvucci https://www.allaboutjazz.com/world-on-a-string-larry-mckenna-bcm-and-d-records

World on a String

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Ella Fitzgerald - The Complete Decca Singles Vol. 4 of 4 (1950-1955) 4-Disc Set

In 1934 Ella's name was pulled in a weekly drawing at the Apollo and she won the opportunity to compete in Amateur Night. Ella went to the theater that night planning to dance, but when the frenzied Edwards Sisters closed the main show, Ella changed her mind. "They were the dancingest sisters around," Ella said, and she felt her act would not compare. Once on stage, faced with boos and murmurs of "What's she going to do?" from the rowdy crowd, a scared and disheveled Ella made the last minute decision to sing. She asked the band to play Hoagy Carmichael's "Judy," a song she knew well because Connee Boswell's rendition of it was among Tempie's favorites. Ella quickly quieted the audience, and by the song's end they were demanding an encore. She obliged and sang the flip side of the Boswell Sister's record, "The Object of My Affections."

Off stage, and away from people she knew well, Ella was shy and reserved. She was self-conscious about her appearance, and for a while even doubted the extent of her abilities. On stage, however, Ella was surprised to find she had no fear. She felt at home in the spotlight. "Once up there, I felt the acceptance and love from my audience," Ella said. "I knew I wanted to sing before people the rest of my life." In the band that night was saxophonist and arranger Benny Carter. Impressed with her natural talent, he began introducing Ella to people who could help launch her career. In the process he and Ella became lifelong friends, often working together.

Fueled by enthusiastic supporters, Ella began entering - and winning - every talent show she could find. In January 1935 she won the chance to perform for a week with the Tiny Bradshaw band at the Harlem Opera House. It was there that Ella first met drummer and bandleader Chick Webb. Although her voice impressed him, Chick had already hired male singer Charlie Linton for the band. He offered Ella the opportunity to test with his band when they played a dance at Yale University. "If the kids like her," Chick said, "she stays." Despite the tough crowd, Ella was a major success, and Chick hired her to travel with the band for $12.50 a week.

Album: The Complete Decca Singles Vol. 4 (1950-1955) Disc 1
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 73:21
Size: 167.9 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2017

[2:55] 1. Baby, Won't You Say You Love Me
[3:21] 2. Don'cha Go 'way Mad
[3:00] 3. Solid As A Rock
[3:00] 4. Sugarfoot Rag
[2:20] 5. M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I
[2:10] 6. I Don't Want The World (With A Fence Around It)
[3:15] 7. I've Got The World On A String
[3:19] 8. Peas And Rice
[3:11] 9. Ain't Nobody's Business But My Own
[3:08] 10. I'll Never Be Free
[3:04] 11. Dream A Little Dream Of Me
[3:09] 12. Can Anyone Explain
[3:06] 13. Santa Claus Got Stuck (In My Chimney)
[2:41] 14. Molasses, Molasses (It's Icky Sticky Goo)
[3:13] 15. My One And Only
[3:12] 16. Someone To Watch Over Me
[3:05] 17. Looking For A Boy
[3:11] 18. But Not For Me
[3:12] 19. I've Got A Crush On You
[3:12] 20. How Long Has This Been Going On
[2:43] 21. Soon
[3:23] 22. Maybe
[3:05] 23. Little Small Town Girl (With The Big Town Dreams)
[3:15] 24. I Still Feel The Same About You

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Album: The Complete Decca Singles Vol. 4 (1950-1955) Disc 2
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 75:10
Size: 172.1 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2017

[2:59] 1. Lonesome Gal
[3:05] 2. The Bean Bag Song
[3:20] 3. Two Little Men In A Flying Saucer
[3:13] 4. The Hot Canary
[2:38] 5. The Chesapeake And Ohio
[3:08] 6. Because Of Rain
[3:28] 7. Even As You And I
[3:09] 8. Do You Really Love Me
[3:16] 9. Mixed Emotions
[1:56] 10. Come On-A My House
[2:58] 11. Love You Madly
[3:03] 12. Smooth Sailing
[2:46] 13. There Never Was A Baby Like My Baby
[3:18] 14. Give A Little, Get A Little
[3:16] 15. Baby Doll
[3:17] 16. Lady Bug
[2:30] 17. Necessary Evil
[3:08] 18. Oops!
[3:11] 19. I Don't Want To Take A Chance
[3:12] 20. Rough Ridin'
[3:07] 21. Lazy Day
[2:40] 22. What Does It Take
[2:24] 23. That Old Feeling
[2:50] 24. A Guy Is A Guy
[3:07] 25. Gee, But I'm Glad To Know You Love Me

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Album: The Complete Decca Singles Vol. 4 (1950-1955) Disc 3
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 66:26
Size: 152.1 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2017
Art: Front

[3:00] 1. Air Mail Special
[2:21] 2. Goody, Goody
[3:09] 3. Ding-Dong Boogie
[3:01] 4. Preview
[3:00] 5. Trying
[2:13] 6. My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean
[2:46] 7. My Favorite Song
[2:26] 8. Walkin' By The River
[3:19] 9. Would You Like To Take A Walk
[2:16] 10. Who Walks In When I Walk Out
[2:53] 11. I Can't Lie To Myself
[3:00] 12. Don't Wake Me Up
[2:50] 13. Careless
[2:44] 14. Blue Lou
[3:05] 15. Nowhere Guy
[2:52] 16. Angel Eyes
[2:43] 17. When The Hands Of The Clock Pray At Midnight
[3:05] 18. Crying In The Chapel
[5:11] 19. You'll Have To Swing It (Mr. Paganini) Pt. 1 & 2
[2:11] 20. The Greatest There Is
[2:54] 21. I Wonder What Kind Of A Guy You'd Be
[2:26] 22. Somebody Bad Stole De Wedding Bell (Who's Got The Ding Dong )
[2:49] 23. Melancholy Me

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Album: The Complete Decca Singles Vol. 4 (1950-1955) Disc 4

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 61:39

Size: 141.2 MB

Styles: Jazz vocals

Year: 2017

Art: Front

[2:39] 1. Baby

[2:37] 2. I Need

[2:46] 3. Who's Afraid (Not I, Not I, Not I)

[3:08] 4. I Wished On The Moon

[2:49] 5. Lullaby Of Birdland

[2:33] 6. Later

[3:03] 7. An Empty Ballroom

[2:43] 8. If You Don't, I Know Who Will

[2:38] 9. Moanin' Low

[3:04] 10. Taking A Chance On Love

[1:57] 11. Lover, Come Back To Me

[2:55] 12. Old Devil Moon

[2:24] 13. Pete Kelly's Blues

[2:58] 14. Hard Hearted Hannah

[3:00] 15. Soldier Boy

[2:31] 16. A Satisfied Mind

[2:46] 17. The Impatient Years

[2:56] 18. But Not Like Mine

[2:58] 19. The Tender Trap

[3:20] 20. My One And Only Love

[3:11] 21. Early Autumn

[2:32] 22. Ella's Contribution To The Blues

Ella Fitzgerald - The Complete Decca Singles Vol. 4 (1950-1955) Disc 1, Disc 2  

Ella Fitzgerald - The Complete Decca Singles Vol. 4 (1950-1955) Disc 3, Disc 4

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