Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Roy Eldridge And The Swing Trumpets: The Essential Keynote Collection 4, CD 1, CD 2

The Essential Keynote Collection 4 CD 1
Styles: Trumpet Jazz, Swing
Year: 1987
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 74:27
Size: 172,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:17) 1. Don't Be That Way
(3:00) 2. I Want To Be Happy
(2:56) 3. Fiesta In Brass (Alternate Take)
(2:58) 4. Fiesta In Brass
(2:40) 5. St. Louis Blues (Alternate Take)
(2:40) 6. St Louis Blues
(5:02) 7. Mountain Air
(4:21) 8. Curry In A Hurry (Alternate Take 1)
(4:42) 9. Curry In A Hurry
(4:41) 10. Curry In A Hurry (Alternate Take 2)
(4:43) 11. Stardust (Alternate Take)
(4:33) 12. Stardust
(4:11) 13. Rosetta (Alternate Take 1)
(5:04) 14. Rosetta (Alternate Take 2)
(4:44) 15. Rosetta
(2:58) 16. What Is This Thing Called Love
(3:16) 17. Minor Blues
(2:48) 18. You Know It (Alternate Take)
(2:38) 19. You Know It
(3:02) 20. Lullaby Of The Leaves

The Essential Keynote Collection 4 CD 2
Time: 65:37
Size: 152,1 MB

(2:30) 1. Lust For Licks
(3:06) 2. Just Like A Butterfly
(2:39) 3. B.H. Boogie
(3:08) 4. Twelfth Street Rag (Alternate Take)
(3:06) 5. Twelfth Street Rag
(2:33) 6. Poor John
(3:24) 7. Trumpet Interlude
(2:56) 8. Little Sir Echo
(3:01) 9. Exactly Like You
(2:41) 10. Why Do I Love You (Alternate Take)
(2:38) 11. Why Do I Love You
(3:01) 12. All My Life
(3:19) 13. Groovin' With J.C.
(3:16) 14. What's The Use?
(3:20) 15. The Girl In My Dreams
(3:02) 16. A Pocketful Of Dreams
(2:46) 17. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
(2:50) 18. Wick's Kicks
(3:06) 19. You Can Depend On Me
(3:11) 20. She Didn't Say Yes
(3:07) 21. Black Butterfly
(2:47) 22. Pocatello

Roy David Eldridge was a jazz trumpet player in the Swing era. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, resulted in him sometimes being seen as the link between Louis Armstrong-era swing music and Dizzy Gillespie-era bebop. Roy's rhythmic power to swing a band was a dynamic tradmark of the Swing Era.

Eldridge was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His nickname was Little Jazz. Eldridge played in the bands of Fletcher Henderson, Gene Krupa and Artie Shaw before making records under his own name. He also played in Benny Goodman's and Count Basie's Orchestras, and co-led a band with Coleman Hawkins.

Also known as “Little Jazz” Roy Eldridge was a fiery, energetic trumpeter who although short in stature was a larger-than-life figure in the jazz trumpet lineage. Stylistically speaking he was the bridge between the towering trumpet stylists Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie. One of a significant number of jazz greats from the city of Pittsburgh, Roy’s first teacher was his alto saxophonist older brother Joe. Some of the great rhythmic drive of Eldridge’s later trumpet exploits could be traced to his beginnings on the drums, which he began playing at age six. His first professional work came at age 16 when he worked with a touring carnival, playing drums, trumpet, and tuba.

As a trumpeter Roy had come under the spell of Louis Armstrong’s irrisistable style. Among his earliest band affiliations were Oliver Muldoon, Horace Henderson, Zack Whyte, Speed Webb, and his own band, under the banner of Roy Elliott and his Palais Royal Orchestra. In 1930 he made the move to New York and headed straight to Harlem, where he gained work with a number of dance bands, among which was the Teddy Hill band. He left New York in 1934 to join the Michigan-based McKinney’s Cotton Pickers alongside such significant players as tenor man Chu Berry. Roy returned to New York to rejoin Teddy Hill in 1935, with whom he made his first recordings as a soloist in 1935. Prior to recording with Hill he toured with the Connie’s Hot Chocolates revue. After he left Hill’s band he became the lead trumpeter in Fletcher Henderson’s orchestra where his upper register abilities were highlighted. It didn’t take long for Eldridge to exert himself as a bandleader, forming his own octet in 1936 in Chicago; a band which included his brother Joe.

Eldridge recorded with the Three Deuces group, then left music for a short time to pursue radio engineering, an interesting twist considering his Chicago group’s nightly radio broadcasts. By the end of the 1930s after freelancing with such a wide array of bands Eldridge had gained notice as one of the swing bands’ most potent soloists. In 1941 he joined drummer Gene Krupa’s band. Not only did he provide trumpet fireworks for Krupa’s outfit he also sang, recording a memorable duet with the band’s female singer, Anita O’Day (NEA Jazz Master 1997) on the tune “Let Me Off Uptown” in 1941. Later, after Krupa’s band disbanded in 1943, and a period of freelancing, he toured with the Artie Shaw band in 1944. After Shaw it was time for Roy to lead his own big band, though economics forced him back to small swing groups.

In 1948 Norman Granz recruited Eldridge for his Jazz at the Philharmonic, an ideal situation for Roy since he was one of the ultimate jam session trumpeters. He toured briefly with Benny Goodman and took up residence in Paris in 1950, where he made some of his most successful recordings. He returned to New York in 1951 and continued freelancing with small bands, including work with Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter, Ella Fitzgerald, and Johnny Hodges. He made notable albums for Verve Records alongside Hawkins and continued freelancing and leading a house band at Jimmy Ryan’s club in New York. In 1980 he was felled by a stroke but that didn’t cut off his musicality. Disabled from the rigorous demands of playing the trumpet, Eldridge continued to make music as a singer and pianist until his 1989 passing.
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/roy-eldridge/

The Essential Keynote Collection 4 CD 1, CD 2

Melba Moore - Imagine (Deluxe Edition)

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:37
Size: 105,7 MB
Art: Front

(4:05) 1. So In Love
(3:33) 2. Take Me Away
(3:51) 3. Can't Stop The Rain
(3:19) 4. Imagine
(4:18) 5. Since I Took My Heart Back
(4:37) 6. Take Her Picture Down
(4:18) 7. Free
(3:33) 8. The Highest Star
(2:47) 9. Joy & Pain
(4:22) 10. Forever
(3:25) 11. It Seems To Hang On
(3:24) 12. It Seems To Hang On (Pride Mix)

You don’t get to be six decades deep in your career without talent and tenacity. The ever-legendary Melba Moore has both in spades and continues to extend her legacy with each passing year. In 2022, she released her 28th album Imagine to great acclaim from her fans. Now she’s giving us all a special treat with her latest single “It Seems To Hang On.”

“It Seems To Hang On” is a cover of the Ashford & Simpson staple from their 1978 album Is It Still Good To You. While that version, with its pulsing disco grooves, was perfect for its era, Melba retools the song to fit her style and the current day. To that effect, it’s now become a mid-tempo R&B cut perfect for two-stepping to or just lounging around thinking about your love.

Melba is still in fine voice as she sings and harmonizes over the warm mix of synth piano, bass and gently knocking drums. Her vocal is subtle as she evokes the feeling of being wrapped up in a love that will always linger. She even makes time for a spoken moment on which she gets a little sassy before falling back into the groove.

“I recorded this classic as a way to honor my fans as well as two very special people Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson who opened up so many doors of opportunities for me,” the singer said of the song in a press release.

We’ll always have time for Melba Moore and “It Seems To Hang On” is a welcome addition to our playlists. The song will be added as a bonus track on Imagine, but you can give it a spin in full below.By D-Money https://soulbounce.com/2023/06/melba-moore-it-seems-to-hang-on/

Imagine (Deluxe Edition)

Mark Lewandowski - A Bouquet (for Lady Day)

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:12
Size: 107,0 MB
Art: Front

(0:53) 1. Day Breaks
(5:17) 2. More Than You Know
(4:14) 3. This Year’s Kisses
(6:07) 4. P.s. I Love You
(4:08) 5. What A Little Moonlight Can Do
(4:45) 6. Billie’s Blues
(3:21) 7. Lady Sings The Blues
(6:06) 8. Some Other Spring
(0:52) 9. The Still Of The Night
(5:17) 10. Who Wants Love?
(5:07) 11. Left Alone

A regular in the Mingus Big Band and Wynton Marsalis' quartet, New York-based Mark Lewandowski has won numerous awards for his sonorous double bass playing, which can be appreciated in settings as diverse as John Zorn's The Book of Beri'ah (Tzadik Records, 2018) and Joe Chambers's Dance Kobina (Blue Note Records, 2022). As a leader, Lewandowski previously released the joyous, highly personal Fats Waller homage Waller (Whirlwind Records, 2017) and, following his relocation from London to New York, the impressive, all-originals calling-card Under One Sky (MGL Music, 2021). For his third opus, Billie Holiday provides the inspiration.

As with Waller, Lewandowski teams up with pianist Liam Noble. Whereas that was a trio recording (with drummer Paul Clarvis) A Bouquet For Lady Day is mostly duets, with singer Heidi Vogel lending smoky gravitas to "Lady Sings The Blues" and "Left Alone," songs which also acknowledge Holiday's collaborators Herbie Nichols and Mal Waldron.

Given the reduced setting, the aim from the outset was evidently to avoid slavish reproduction or mawkish tribute. Instead, Lewandowski and Noble revel in intimate dialogues as playful as they are tender. The overarching mood is mellow, the exchanges melodious; clearly, this is a celebration of Holiday's musical gifts to the world, with little room for mournful reflection on the darker aspects of her short yet storied life.

The sunny disposition of the swinging "This Year's Kisses," the gentle blues of "P.S. I Love You" and a gossamer reading of "What a Little Moonlight Can Do," which features an exquisite bass solo, speak to the beauty of Holiday's musical soul.

It is in the imaginative deconstruction of Holiday's self-penned "Billie's Blues" and Franz Waxman & Gus Kahn's "Who Wants Love?" where bassist and pianist flip between gnarly improvisation and walking blues figures that the duo's bridging of old ways and modern byways is seen in starkest relief.

The spaces between the eleven tracks are threaded with brief field recordings of police sirens, rainfall, car horns and a dog barking in the distance a nod, perhaps to Holiday's beloved canine friends. These sounds provide a noirish ambiance, though one rendered with a light touch.

"Left Alone" closes the set on the bluest of notes. To spare accompaniment, Vogel's rich tenor invests Holiday and Waldron's devastating portrait of hurt, rejection and longing with an aching which Holiday would probably have recognised all too well. It is a fine performance from the vocalist, though somewhat at odds with the album's generally upbeat vibe.

Lewandowski's heartfelt homage to Billie Holiday is full of grace, grit and soul much like her incomparable voice. A second volume of such splendid fare would not go amiss.By Ian Patterson
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/a-bouquet-for-lady-day-mark-lewandowski-ubuntu-music

A Bouquet (for Lady Day)