Simone Helle - My Starry Eyes

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:47
Size: 101,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:43) 1. Bentheim
(4:07) 2. My Starry Eyes
(2:50) 3. Love Birds
(4:10) 4. My Inner Home
(4:55) 5. Let's Face The Music And Dance
(4:14) 6. Let Us Agree
(7:32) 7. This Fragile Love
(4:43) 8. You Must Believe In Spring
(3:58) 9. God Bless The Child
(2:30) 10. Lullaby For A Little Star

Bad Sassendorf, April 2023, Jazz singer Simone Helle, who grew up in Germany with Persian roots, will release her new album "My Starry Eyes" on June 16, 2023 via Timezone Records. The album combines a Modern Mainstream Jazz with Gospel to World Music influences.

The album features renowned musicians such as Olaf Krüger, Carsten Gronwald, Dimitrij Markitantov, Klaus Bernatzki, Thorsten Heitzmann, Cornelia Wolff, Nic Floer, Martin Scholz, Nils Imhorst, Caspar van Meel, Boris Becker and Daniel Sanleandro. "My Starry Eyes", produced by Simone Helle and Thomas Erkelenz, recorded in various recording studios, was mastered by Hans-Jörg Maucksch, Pauler Acoustics.

Helle's vocals are reminiscent of jazz greats such as Nina Simone, Dianne Reeves and Cassandra Wilson. Klaus Bernatzki's horn arrangements add depth and dynamics to Helle's compositions and enhance her vocal radiance. What makes this album special is the wide range of Hele's vocal expression both stylistically and in terms of vocal range and timbre.
https://jazz-concerts.com/en/publication/Simone-Helle-My-Starry-Eyes-7823

My Starry Eyes

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Johnny Hodges - In Concert

Styles: Saxophone Jazz, Swing
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 70:42
Size: 163,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:56) 1. C Jam Blues
(2:27) 2. The Jeep Is Jumpin'
(3:50) 3. Good Queen Bess
(5:50) 4. Things Ain't What They Used To Be
(4:13) 5. Sophisticated Lady
(1:11) 6. I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart
(2:38) 7. Don't Get Around Anymore
(2:47) 8. Just Squeeze Me
(2:42) 9. Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me
(2:48) 10. Rose Of Rio Grande
(2:22) 11. All Of Me
(3:55) 12. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
(9:36) 13. Perdido
(2:45) 14. Take The A Train
(2:20) 15. Mood Indigo
(2:28) 16. Solitude
(2:33) 17. Satin Doll
(2:52) 18. I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good
(4:15) 19. Rocking In Rhythm
(4:04) 20. Autumn Leaves

Well-honed musicians schooled in Ellington texts. There are twenty pieces in the seventy minutes of playing time by this group. Duke Ellington was in Paris, writing the score for the film ‘Paris Blues’. There was free time for the band, so impresario Norman Granz pulled some of them together, under the leadership of Johnny Hodges, and set up a tour. One of the concerts was held at the Sportpalast in Berlin and eventually a 2CD recording was issued by the Pablo label. Another concert took place in Paris and was issued on the Fremaux label. This, the Copenhagen concert, is a new issue.

Ellington devotees shuddered at Ellington concerts when the dreaded medley was signalled. Ellington explained that many in his audience expected to hear some his popular pieces, so he assembled the hits together to get them out of the way before presenting some new work.

This album is like an extended medley: most of the pieces are around three or four minutes, only ‘Perdido’ is longer. The individual musicians go through what they longer. normally played on Ellington concerts. Johnny Hodges graces ‘Things Ain’t What They Used To Be’. Lawrence Brown slides through ’Rose Of The Rio Grande’. Harry Carney brings out ‘Sophisticated Lady’ and finishes with the long note and the circular breathing that he performed on every Ellington concert. Ray Nance, an excellent trumpet player also sings ‘Don’t Get Around Much Anymore’ and ‘Just Squeeze Me’.

Al Williams has the unenviable task of playing the Ellington role. He has the long introduction to ‘Perdido’ and that is his main contribution to the evening.

It is always good to hear these musicians. They all had their own individual sound, the sound as important as the content they played. Hodges was the most important alto player in the pre-Parker era. Strayhorn’s writing brought out his romanticism. Harry Carney’s sound was as mature and satisfying as black tobacco, always worth listening to even when he is on auto pilot. Many in the audience would leave the concert hall with a warm feeling knowing that they had seen legends: Hodges, Nance, Carney, Lawrence Brown, Sam Woodyard.

There are no surprises here and little improvisation. The absence of Ellington means that there is no one to challenge them. The main players are the spine of an Ellington band that was about to embark in the sixties on a journey that would produce the ‘New Orleans Suite’, the ‘Far East Suite’, The Afro Eurasian Eclipse’, ‘The Latin American Suite’, ‘Suite Thursday, the ‘Goutelas Suite,’,’ The Uwis Suite’, ‘The River Suite’, , ‘TheTogo Brava Suite’. Here they are relaxing on a well-paid European holiday playing pieces that they could negotiate in their sleep. You really do have to treasure them. We didn’t realise how lucky we were.

Personnel: Johnny Hodges (saxophone); Ray Nance (trumpet, violin, vocal); Lawrence Brown (trombone); Harry Carney (baritone); Al Williams (piano); Aaron Bell (bass); Sam Woodyard (drums)

In Concert

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Larry Schneider - Blind Date

Styles: Saxophone Jazz

Year: 1992

File: MP3@224K/s

Time: 68:27

Size: 109,8 MB

Art: Front

(10:50)  1. Blind Date

( 9:28)  2. Stardust

(12:52)  3. Autumn Leaves

( 8:53)  4. Body and Soul

( 7:55)  5. How My Heart Sings

( 9:34)  6. Eye Care

( 8:53)  7. Peggy's Blue Skylight

Tenor saxophonist Larry Schneider and pianist Andy LaVerne make a great team. Their follow-up date to an earlier duo session for Steeplechase CD (Bill Evans Person We Knew) adds bassist Mike Richmond and drummer Keith Copeland to create a fiery quartet. LaVerne's "Blind Date" has an infectious hook and will invite obvious comparisons to the classic quartet of John Coltrane. But the heart of the CD is a trio of lush ballads, including "Stardust," "Autumn Leaves," and "Body and Soul," beautifully performed with lyrical treatments. Their buoyant setting of "How My Heart Sings," a favorite of Evans, is first rate, while their hip arrangement of Charles Mingus' "Peggy's Blue Skylight" is the perfect close to a rewarding release. ~ Ken Dryden http://www.allmusic.com/album/blind-date-mw0000891911

Personnel: Larry Schneider (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Andy LaVerne (piano); Keith Copeland (drums).

Blind Date

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Gael Rakotondrabe - Shadow

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2024
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:53
Size: 119,3 MB
Art: Front

(5:23) 1. And I love her
(7:48) 2. My funny valentine
(5:41) 3. La chanson d'Hélène
(6:10) 4. I fall in love too easily
(4:03) 5. Shadow
(7:18) 6. In a sentimental mood
(7:22) 7. Smoke gets in your eyes
(4:02) 8. The way you look tonight
(4:01) 9. Because

Gael Rakotondrabe, pianist and composer from Réunion, is distinguished by his eclecticism and virtuosity. He is the only French pianist to have won the Montreux Jazz Festival international solo piano competition, under the honorary presidency of Quincy Jones.

From film music to astonishing artistic encounters, from scholarly orchestrations to urgent improvisations, he multiplies collaborations and connivences. In particular, he was seen alongside artists such as Antony and the Johnsons (Anohni), CocoRosie, David Byrne, Charles Aznavour, Woodkid, Hugh Coltman, Clara Luciani, Ayo. He also composed the film scores presented in Sundance, Tribeca, Venice or Cannes.

Gael Rakotondrabe revealed intense and singular music and unveiled his first album "Shadow".

From a Beatles classic, And I Love Her, to another, Because, he evokes immense legacies (My Funny Valentine, In a Sentimental Mood, I Fall In Love Too Easily...), recalls the sublime song of Hélène by Philippe Sarde, and book Shadow title eponymous title of the album, one of his many compositions.

Eerrated and tightened at the same time, this music unfolds the singular identity of Gael Rakotondrabe, always between two shores and concerned everywhere with emotional clarity.

Find Gael Rakotondrabe on 17 February 2024, at the Duke of the Lombards, on the occasion of his concert in trio. Translate By Google https://caramba-records.com/artistes/gael-rakotondrabe

Shadow

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