Saturday, January 20, 2024

T.K. Blue, James Weidman - The Tide Of Love

Styles: Saxophone And Flute Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:56
Size: 129,2 MB
Art: Front

(4:46) 1. When Sunny Gets Blue
(5:30) 2. The Peacocks
(6:42) 3. The Tide Of Love (Radio version)
(3:26) 4. Eu Sei Que Vou Te Amar (guitar)
(5:32) 5. Never Felt This Way
(6:35) 6. Luiza
(5:08) 7. That's All
(5:24) 8. A Prayer For Us (Radio version)
(3:28) 9. A Quiet Place
(4:46) 10. To Mend A Broken Heart
(4:33) 11. So Many Stars (Radio version)

T.K. Blue is an artist who is proficient on both the alto saxophone and flute; he has released a striking album entitled The Tide of Love that offers a diverse and engaging musical journey through various genres of the jazz spectrum. In this session, he is accompanied by several superb musicians, including Grammy-nominated Stefon Harris on vibes, along with pianist James Weidman, bassist Gavin Fallow, drummer Lenny Robinson and guitarist Ron Jackson. The group recorded an album of creativity, originality, and emotional impact in this eleven-track outing.

The opening track is "When Sunny Gets Blue." With a creative mode of expression, Blue offers an interesting take on the number under a cloak of restraint. The following cut is a beautiful Jimmy Rowles original called "The Peacocks." Performed as a duo with Blue and pianist James Weidman, it harkens back to the initial 1975 release of the song on an album by the composer and tenor saxophonist Stan Getz. Blue's tone has a beauty all its own, while Weidman shows a crystalline precision of each note.

The title track, "The Tide of Love," is a Blue original composition, one of several that appear on the release. Taken at a languid tempo, this emotive number has an elliptical sense of phrase with Blue, Harris, Weidman and Jackson playing notes and figures that keep the composition moving forward. Bossa master Antonio Carlos Jobim contributes two pieces to the outing; the first is " Eu Sei Que Vou Te Amar," followed by "Luiza." On the former, through overdubbing, Blue is heard on both alto sax and flute to provide an empathetic interplay with Jackson on acoustic guitar. Although subtle, the bossa effect is more pronounced on the latter.

In addition to Blue, both Weidman and Jackson, again on acoustic guitar, are very effective in their solo interventions. The popular standard "That's All" is covered with Blue, concisely stating the melody with a reflective feel. Weidman's support is sensitive to the dynamics of the number and enhances Blue's relaxed inventions. The closing track is "So Many Stars" the well-known bossa nova by Sergio Mendes and Alan & Marilyn Bergman. In this rendition, Blue confirms his ability to navigate and blend this genre to provide an expressive and sentimental side of jazz. The album shows T.K. Blue's skill, passion, and commitment to musical diversity.By Pierre Giroux
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-tide-of-love-tk-blue-arkadia-records

Line-up/Musicians: T.K. Blue: alto sax and alto flute, arranger, leader; Stefon Harris: vibraphone, marimba; James Weidman: piano; Gavin Fallow: bass; Lenny Robinso: drums; Ron Jackson: guitar.

The Tide Of Love

Ed Wiley, Jr. - Sassy

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:45
Size: 135,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:15)  1. Room 608
(5:28)  2. Stretchin' Out
(4:07)  3. Sassy
(6:41)  4. Little Girl Blue
(4:50)  5. Lazarus
(8:29)  6. No Greater Love
(3:08)  7. Max The Maximum
(4:17)  8. Billy Boy
(5:13)  9. Do You Know A Good Thing When You See One?
(4:51) 10. Blues For Duane
(2:20) 11. Here, There And Everywhere
(4:00) 12. Sassy - (Alternate Take)

One of the tracks on Sassy, the Lennon-McCartney tune “Here, There and Everywhere,” says much about Ed Wiley’s fourth release for Swing Records. The album was compiled from three sessions recorded between 1999 and 2000 in Brooklyn, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and mixed in two Washington, D. C., studios. Not surprisingly the results are uneven. To Wiley’s credit, the one constant is his big, soulful Texas tenor. The other constants, despite an occasional clash of styles, include the adventurous minds of trumpeter Nicolas Payton, pianist Sir Roland Hanna and guitarist Mark Whitfield. Compare styles in the two versions of the title tune-a truly sassy line-that Wiley wrote in honor of Sarah Vaughan. B-3 organist Joey DeFrancesco propels the first version, while the second, lower and slower, relies on Whitfield’s guitar, but that soul-filled, down-home cushion is missing. Elsewhere, “Room 608,” a tricky bop line by Horace Silver, finds alto player Donald Harrison stealing some of the thunder from Wiley. 

It’s not meant to be a cutting session; Wiley is consistently generous with stretch-out room for his sidemen. “Lazarus” is interesting in that it begins with solos and ends with the written head for the ensemble. Included in four front lines is trombonist Al Grey, but he solos only on “No Greater Love.” Good to hear his Vic Dickenson inspired humor, but also bittersweet: he died before the CD was released. Overall, Wiley can be proud of this release, but he shouldn’t stray too far from his roots. ~ Harvey Siders https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/ed-wiley-jr-sassy/

Personnel: Ed Wiley Jr. - tenor saxophone; Roland Hanna - piano; Paul Bollenback - guitar; Al Grey - trombone; Nicholas Payton - trumpet; Donald Harrison - alto saxophone; Carl Allen - drums; Davey Yarborough - tenor saxophone.

Sassy

Greg Foat & Art Themen - Off-Piste

Styles: Soul Jazz, Jazz Fusion
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:08
Size: 99,1 MB
Art: Front

(10:39) 1. Fresh Snow
( 3:54) 2. La Partida
( 7:44) 3. Off Piste
( 4:48) 4. Yrsno
( 8:15) 5. Sis No Hyp
( 7:46) 6. Apres Ski

Pianist Greg Foat, who has been who has been at the forefront of the UK jazz scene for the past decade, has teamed up with 83 year-old London saxophone great Art Themen on a superb new album for the Athens Of The North label, titled Off-Piste.

Admirers of each other’s work, the two were interested in recording an album together for a number of years, however the pandemic put a delay on the session for a while. Once things opened up again, they headed to highly acclaimed Edinburgh-based Chamber Studio with an exciting group of UK musicians that included guitarist Gavin Sutherland, harpist Amanda Whitingm electric bassist Philip Achille, and drummer/percussionist Nadav Schneerson.

This remarkable 6-track recording features a solid dose of breezy instrumental cosmic jazz featuring warm analog tones, meditative grooves, hypnotic effects, atmospheric textures and cinematic soundscapes. The session truly sounds like the album’s peaceful cover photo. https://www.jazzmessengers.com/en/96650/greg-foat/off-piste-s-art-themen-limited-edition

Personnel: Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Art Themen; Bass – Philip Achille; Drums, Percussion – Nadav Schneerson; Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes], Synthesizer [Prophet 10, Roland SH-101,MK-80,Sequential OB-6] – Greg Foat; Guitar – Gavin Sutherland; Harp – Amanda Whiting

Off-Piste

Béla Fleck/Zakir Hussain/Edgar Meyer/Rakesh Chaurasia - As We Speak

Styles: Worldwide
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 75:18
Size: 173,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:56) 1. Motion
(9:16) 2. The B Tune
(5:30) 3. Tradewinds Bengali
(6:11) 4. J Bhai
(4:47) 5. Rickety Karma
(6:17) 6. 1980
(4:33) 7. Owl’s Misfortune
(8:24) 8. Pashto
(4:53) 9. Hidden Lake
(7:00) 10. Beast In The Garden
(8:22) 11. Conundrum
(5:04) 12. As We Speak

As We Speak is an emphatic continuation of banjoist Bela Fleck's eclectic adventures dating back to his high school days. It is thus only fitting that this LP's title alludes to the ongoing artistic process wherein creativity can ensue, virtually non-stop, no matter what other dialogue(s) might be going on at the time.

In fact, the trio of Fleck, tabla master Zakir Hussain and bassist Edgar Meyer have collaborated in the past see The Melody of Rhythm (Koch, 2009). But whereas that project involved The Detroit Symphony Orchestra, this title incorporates bansurist Rakesh Chaurasia, whose instrument lends an alternately ghostly and fanciful air to the proceedings via "Motion" and "The B Tune," among others

Mirroring the mesh of blurred images on the album cover, this quartet's fusion of Indian and Western classical musics, bluegrass and jazz brings to mind the late keyboardist/composer Joe Zawinul's comment about Weather Report, the ensemble he led with saxophonist/composer Wayne Shorter; to paraphrase, Fleck, Hussain, Meyer and Chaurasia sound like they're always soloing, but never soloing.

During the fleet and graceful interactions that comprise "J Bhai," for instance, economy and self-discipline coexist with utter abandon in such a way as to ignite not only the musicians' collective and individual imaginations, but mostly likely those of listeners as well. And while "Tradewinds Bengali" conjures exotic realms, the undercurrent of gaiety within "Rickety Karma" also injects a measure of levity into the proceedings that precludes anything overly serious from radiating out of this or the total dozen tracks.

Produced by Fleck (who also co-engineered with his long-time sonic guru Richard Battaglia), various compositional combinations of the three principals supply the source material of a sumptuous seventy-five minute program worth savoring repeatedly in its entirety. It is a credit to these artists that, even when the interplay becomes frenetic, as on "Pashto," they never succumb to the temptation to outplay each other.

Likewise, in the comparatively restful form of "1989," this is music that lives and breathes as a direct expression of each musician's working experience and, to only a slightly lesser extent, the shared history of Fleck, Meyer and Hussain. And while there is a dignified formality to some intervals like that aforementioned track, a decided whimsy flows as well, again thanks in large measure to the airy textures Chausari unfurls with his flute.

In the end, the four-way generation of these colorful sounds on As We Speak is at once insinuating and transportive. These are four musicians who, above all else, simply love to play, perhaps never more than when they do here with such intuitive fluidity. By Doug Collette
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/as-we-speak-bela-fleck-thirty-tigers

Personnel: Banjo – Béla Fleck; Bansuri – Rakesh Chaurasia; Double Bass – Edgar Meyer; Tabla – Zakir Hussain

As We Speak