Jessye Norman - Roots: My Life, My Song Disc 1, Disc 2

Album: Roots: My Life, My Song Disc 1

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:47
Size: 115,5 MB
Art: Front

(2:25)  1. African Drum Invocation
(1:45)  2. His Eye Is On The Sparrow
(2:25)  3. I Want Two Wings
(3:20)  4. Lord, I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray
(4:40)  5. Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child
(3:59)  6. Heaven
(1:29)  7. Somewhere
(3:22)  8. My Baby Just Cares for Me
(5:01)  9. Stormy Weather
(6:38) 10. Mack The Knife
(4:34) 11. Another Man Done Gone
(5:07) 12. Pretty Horses
(4:56) 13. God's Gonna Cut You Down

A sticker included on at least some versions of this Sony Classical release promises "music from Berlioz to Ellington," which would make it a pretty common type of classical vocal recital that includes a dash of jazz. That's not what's happening here at all, and there isn't even any Berlioz included. There is the "Habanera" of Georges Bizet, but that's given a tango-jazz treatment, and otherwise the only work from the European concert tradition is Poulenc's Les chemins de l'amour, a piece heavily influenced by popular song. This is not a souvenir or survey of Jessye Norman's career, but is instead oriented toward the roots mentioned on the cover. And, as such, it's quite an accomplishment. The two-disc program can be roughly divided into four overlapping and interpenetrating sections: spirituals, pop, French song, and jazz, with an introduction of African drumming. That's unusual enough as it is, but what really makes news here are the completely original treatments in each of the main categories. No information is included as to how the album took shape; some of it is apparently taken from live concerts in Munich and Frankfurt, Germany. Norman is accompanied by a small combo that serves the non-jazz as well as the jazz pieces. Even standards like "Stormy Weather" and "Mack the Knife" are given free, quiet, highly personal treatments, and there's very little "operatic" singing in evidence even in the spirituals, which could stand up to it. You might think of the entire collection as a jazz performance, based on its sense of individualistic departure from preexisting models, or as a uniquely personal rumination on a great singer's deep roots. The cumulative effect of the program is quite powerful, and Norman deserves a great deal of credit for taking chances with a project she could easily just have phoned in. ~ James Manheim https://www.allmusic.com/album/roots-my-life-my-song-mw0001993532

R.I.P.
Died: September 30, 2019
Born: September 15, 1945, Augusta, Georgia, United States

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Album: Roots: My Life, My Song Disc 2

Time: 48:30

Size: 112,2 MB

(6:28)  1. Les Chemins De L'Amour

(4:27)  2. J'ai Deux Amours

(4:28)  3. April In Paris

(5:31)  4. Habanera

(3:23)  5. Take The 'A' Train

(5:43)  6. Blue Monk

(4:04)  7. Solitude

(6:15)  8. It Don't Mean A Thing

(2:41)  9. Don't Get Around Much Anymore

(5:26) 10. When The Saints Go Marching In

Roots: My Life, My Song Disc 1, Disc 2

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Brother Jack McDuff - Walk On By

Styles: Soul Jazz
Year: 1966
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:27
Size: 88,5 MB
Art: Front

(2:41) 1. Walk On By
(6:48) 2. Around The Corner
(5:47) 3. Haitian Lady
(2:20) 4. Talking 'Bout My Woman
(2:33) 5. Jersey Bounce
(4:08) 6. For Those Who Choose
(2:20) 7. Too Many Fish In The Sea
(6:23) 8. There Is No Greater Love
(4:23) 9. Song Of The Soul

A marvelous bandleader and organist as well as capable arranger, "Brother" Jack McDuff has one of the funkiest, most soulful styles of all time on the Hammond B-3. His rock-solid basslines and blues-drenched solos are balanced by clever, almost pianistic melodies and interesting progressions and phrases.

McDuff began as a bassist playing with Denny Zeitlin and Joe Farrell. He studied privately in Cincinnati and worked with Johnny Griffin in Chicago. He taught himself organ and piano in the mid-'50s, and began gaining attention working with Willis Jackson in the late '50s and early '60s, cutting high caliber soul-jazz dates for Prestige. McDuff made his recording debut as a leader for Prestige in 1960, playing in a studio pickup band with Jimmy Forrest. They made a pair of outstanding albums: Tough Duff and The Honeydripper. McDuff organized his own band the next year, featuring Harold Vick and drummer Joe Dukes.

Things took off when McDuff hired a young guitarist named George Benson. They were among the most popular combos of the mid-'60s and made several excellent albums. McDuff's later groups at Atlantic and Cadet didn't equal the level of the Benson band, while later dates for Verve and Cadet were uneven, though generally good. McDuff experimented with electronic keyboards and fusion during the '70s, then in the '80s got back in the groove with the Muse session Cap'n Jack. While his health fluctuated throughout the '90s, McDuff released several discs on the Concord Jazz label before succumbing to heart failure on January 23, 2001, at the age of 74. By Ron Wynn
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jack-mcduff-mn0000118853#biography

Personnel: Jack McDuff - organ; Red Holloway (tracks 2 & 8), Harold Ousley (tracks 3, 6 & 9) - tenor saxophone; Pat Martino - guitar; Joe Dukes - drums; Unidentified orchestra arranged and conducted by Benny Golson (tracks 1, 4, 5 & 8)

Walk On By

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Bill Barron - Higher Ground

Styles: Saxophone Jazz 
Year: 1989
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:08
Size: 117,5 MB
Art: Front

(7:52)  1. Caravan
(7:19)  2. I Thought About You
(4:17)  3. More Blues
(5:28)  4. We'll Be Together Again
(6:40)  5. Emanation
(7:40)  6. Alone Together
(6:11)  7. Interpretation
(5:38)  8. Time, Motion, Space

Bill Barron's final recording as a leader (cut just 8½ months before his death at age 62) was released for the first time on this 1993 CD. Barron was still in his prime and this effort (a quintet date with trumpeter Eddie Henderson, pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Rufus Reid and drummer Ben Riley) is more straight-ahead than usual. Barron, who usually did not play standards much, performs four here (including "Caravan" and "Alone Together") and his three originals (plus one by younger brother Kenny) are also very much in the hard bop vein, less avant-garde than usual. The leader's solos, however, are as adventurous as ever, and the CD is easily recommended as an example of his excellent, underrated playing.~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/higher-ground-mw0000121824

Personnel: Bill Barron (tenor saxophone); Eddie Henderson (trumpet); Kenny Barron (piano); Rufus Reid (bass); Ben Riley (drums).

Higher Ground

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Dave Pietro - The Talisman

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2024
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:09
Size: 156,5 MB
Art: Front

(6:08) 1. Essence
(6:26) 2. The Windmills Of Your Mind
(8:11) 3. Auriga
(7:19) 4. The Talisman
(8:15) 5. Alexandra
(7:05) 6. Yvette
(7:31) 7. Eternal Optimism
(7:46) 8. Until The Day
(9:24) 9. Adagietto From Symphony No. 5

Things kick off here in classic hard bop guise finding US altoist Dave Pietro fuse with trumpeter Scott Wendholt the rhythm section steered so consummately by Billy Drummond. Pietro's first album for Danish label Steeplechase, tunes include originals, a version of Michel Legrand's timeless 'The Windmills of Your Mind' and I didn't see this coming at all a beautiful version of Mahler’s 'Adagietto' from his 5th symphony.

Pianist Gary Versace is very listenable throughout I'd pick out his soloing on 'Auriga' and on the introduction to the Mahler, while bassist Jay Anderson adds gravitas to the stand-out title track so well. Pietro is more a modernist than you'd think at first glance, essentially steeped in the language of bop and beyond, and knows exactly what he wants to say with it. He has very persuasive tone on a subdued ballad like 'Alexandra' and again melds so well with Wendholt on 'Yvette'. Recommended. SG https://www.marlbank.net/posts/dave-pietro-the-talisman-steeplechase

Personnel: Dave Pietro - (alto saxophone) Scott Wendholt - (trumpet) Gary Versace - (piano)

The Talisman

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