Noah Haidu - Standards

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2023
Time: 56:28
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 130,7 MB
Art: Front

(5:11) 1. Old Folks
(4:01) 2. Just In Time
(4:24) 3. Beautiful Friendship
(6:06) 4. All The Way
(5:47) 5. Someday My Prince Will Come
(5:30) 6. You And The Night And The Music
(6:55) 7. Ana Maria
(4:32) 8. Skylark
(6:02) 9. Thought About You
(1:17) 10. Last Dance I
(6:38) 11. Last Dance II

In 1983, Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette released the first of their album of standards, Standards Vol. 1 (ECM). The trio's harmonic ideas, insight and collective musicianship went on to become the benchmark for reworking these well- known American songs. Together they recorded 21 albums over three decades.

Inspired by that trio's work and celebrating the 40th anniversary of that release, pianist & composer, Noah Haidu, has released Standards. He is joined by bassists Buster Williams and Peter Washington, drummer Lewis Nash and guest saxophonist Steve Wilson. In many ways, Standards could be considered the companion release to Slowly: Song for Keith Jarrett (Sunnyside, 2021), Haidu's heartfelt tribute following Jarrett's debilitating illness. After recording that album, Haidu felt drawn to the trio format in his live performances and this release has evolved from that time spent on the road.

Starting with relaxed piano and melodic bass, the album opener, "Old Folks," subtly changes to a faster pace as Nash's drums drive the tune forward. "Just in Time," follows with Williams' fluent bass lines and Nash's fluid drumming contributing in equal part to Haidu's eloquent piano touch. "A Beautiful Friendship" opens with supple bass and swings throughout. Haidu's delicate style comes to the fore in the gentle "All the Way" as Nash and Williams hold back just enough to let the track breathe. Having played on the first four tracks, Williams makes way for Washington to take up bass duties for the rest of the album. He starts with a fluent improvisation, along with Haidu, on "Someday My Prince Will Come."

Haidu then picks the perfect moment to introduce acclaimed saxophonist, Steve Wilson on two tracks. The mood immediately changes as his alto takes centre stage on the fast moving "You and the Night and the Music." The Wayne Shorter composition, "Ana Maria" follows. Shorter wrote this piece for his wife, who passed away, along with their niece, on TWA flight 800. The playing is soulful and reverent and as Haidu states: "With the loss of Ana Maria, Dalila and of Wayne himself, this song now embodies the narrative of loss in so many ways."

Hoagy Carmichael's "Skylark" is a solo piano piece and is admirably executed. Haidu is at his bluesy best while Washington and Nash provide compelling support on the uplifting "I Thought About You." The album could end there, but another change sees Wilson return on "Last Dance I" and "Last Dance II." These are both Haidu compositions rather than standards. Named after a Jarrett recording and composed in tribute to his Standards trio and their final concert at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. They feature energised solos from Wilson and Haidu. The contemporary feel adds another facet to the album.

Many of the tracks featured on the album were part of Jarrett, Peacock and DeJohnette's catalogue. They are all played with vitality and appropriate respect. The variety of mood and texture, the track sequencing and the use of the different musicians, all ensure that the album sustains interest throughout. They have served Haidu with inspiration for a connection which he has distilled into a clear contemporary musical statement of his own. Highly recommended.By Neil Duggan
Noah Haidu: Standards album review @ All About Jazz

Standards

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Ann Hampton Callaway - Fever: a Peggy Lee Celebration!

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:10
Size: 118,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:43) 1. Fever
(3:18) 2. Till There Was You
(2:36) 3. The Glory Of Love (Feat. John Pizzarelli)
(6:06) 4. The Folks Who Live On The Hill
(1:47) 5. Sing A Rainbow
(2:57) 6. I Don't Know Enough About You
(3:37) 7. Claire De Lune
(5:54) 8. Black Coffee
(3:51) 9. I Love Being Here With You
(3:26) 10. The Other Part Of Me
(3:22) 11. Johnny Guitar
(4:53) 12. Where Can I Go Without You?
(2:38) 13. This Is A Very Special Day / It's A Good Day
(2:55) 14. Angels On Your Pillow

Peggy Lee was a remarkable singer and songwriter, but to some listeners, deeply enigmatic. Her time, often well behind the beat, conveyed a subtle sense of irony. "Are you getting this?" she sometimes seemed to say, "or am I going too fast for you?" She could be exuberant and world weary almost in the same breath. It was seemingly up to the audience to decipher her meaning. Lee could convey expectation and experience simultaneously, as in her version of "Folks Who Live on The Hill." "Fever."

Well, it was not as if much imagination was needed, with a drummer dropping exclamation points, but tastefully, not bump and grind. As much as any singer of her generation, even more than Anita O'Day, Lee could convey emotional turmoil, never perhaps really distant from her personal life. She was a singer for adults, like O'Day or Billie Holiday. She could sing sweetly, but that was not her customary image by the time she reached the 1960s.

Those same qualities are gloriously evident in Ann Hampton Callaway's well-chosen celebration of Lee. Just in case the listener were inclined to miss them, Callaway's version and it is her version of "Fever" includes a wry commentary on Lee's first marriage to guitarist Dave Barbour, when she was in her apprenticeship to Benny Goodman in the 1940s. It is a nod to Lee's songwriting as well, like "Captain John Smith and Pocahontas," that Lee apparently added. It is instructive to listen to Callaway doing "Till There Was You."

This tune dates from the 1950s, and Lee sold it as a straight love song, no fireworks. Callaway gives a different impression, regret perhaps. When you think of Lee as the voice of experience as in "Is that All There Is?," Calloway's quality is strikingly different. It is the same on "Folks Who Live on the Hill." Lee could have been looking into the future, but Callaway leaves the impression that she has seen it all.

"Black Coffee" has been done by so many artists since Sarah Vaughan that it would take a book to compare them. Callaway gives it a solid blues treatment, and like some others, she has the right voice for it, down and dirty. Lee pretty much did it that way too, but not every singer has. Callaway is true to the original, but then so was Lee. Preference is a matter of taste.

On the other hand, some of the material is, well, if not obscure, probably new to some. "The Other Part of Me," for instance, or "Johnny Guitar," is presumably related to a Joan Crawford film made in 1954 about the risks an independent woman had to take on the Wild West. Lee started young and had a long career that included acting. Not everyone will be familiar with her entire trajectory, or coded allusions to aspects of her personal life.

As for Callaway, this recording only goes to show she has not chosen to coast on past successes, of which there have been many. She is, like Lee, quite versatile, ranging far beyond basic blues, and very much her own singer and songwriter, no matter who her formative influences were.

There are plenty of subtle clues about Callaway's outlook in her singing: anyone who can do a song like "Thoughts and Prayers" is not about to compromise artistry or talent for anyone. Nor, one suspects, would Peggy Lee either. Jazz can be complicated, and so too, its best exponents.By Richard J Salvucci https://www.allaboutjazz.com/fever-a-peggy-lee-celebration-ann-hampton-callaway-palmetto-records

Personnel: Ann Hampton Callaway: voice / vocals; John Pizzarelli: guitar; Ted Rosenthal: piano; Martin Wind: bass, acoustic; Tim Horner: drums; Bob Mann: guitar.

Fever: a Peggy Lee Celebration!

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Pat Bianchi - Back Home

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:35
Size: 131,4 MB
Art: Front

(4:48)  1. Fifth House
(7:00)  2. Midnight Mood
(8:34)  3. Lithia
(5:47)  4. Back Home
(4:43)  5. Blues Connotation
(7:21)  6. Portrait of Jenny
(7:07)  7. Just In Time
(8:10)  8. Hammer Head
(3:00)  9. Fifth House - alternate

Organist Pat Bianchi's turn to be in the spotlight as a premier player on his instrument is long overdue, and with the release of Back Home, it's clear his time has finally come. Since the 2006 issue of his album East Coast Roots on the Jazzed Media label and his estimable work with guitarist Corey Christiansen, Bianchi's star has been steadily rising, but now he's reached his zenith. Playing with two different groups, Bianchi transcends soul-jazz by playing the C-3 (church) organ, choosing heady progressive material, and showing his acumen on his instrument similar to peer Larry Goldings (see the Goldings masterpiece Sweet Science). With his "A" group the very energetic sidemen of drummer Ralph Peterson, tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery, and trumpeter Terell Stafford alongside, Bianchi whips out compositions not necessarily thought of as vehicles for organ, evidence including the super-fast and tricky Ornette Coleman post-bop piece "Blues Connotation" and Chick Corea's 6/8 groove and bop track "Litha," which came directly from fusion originally with electric piano. The "B" trio with drummer Carmen Intorre and guitarist Gilad Hekselman also tackles difficult music John Coltrane's "Fifth House" (and an additional shorter alternate take) challenges rhythmic parameters in a modal sense while Bianchi goes off à la Larry Young. But where Bianchi's three pieces also explore a mellower sound during ballads and blues, it is his deeply hued style on the C-3 that identifies a new approach to playing modern jazz. What Bianchi is doing is very nearly innovative, and this should only be the tip of the iceberg. ~ Michael G.Nastos https://www.allmusic.com/album/back-home-mw0001987608

Personnel:  Pat Bianchi - Organ; Ralph Peterson Jr. - Drums ; Terell Stafford - Trumpet; Wayne Escoffery - Saxophone; Carmen Intorre Jr. - Drums; Gilad Hekselman - Guitar

Back Home

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Milt Hinton - Laughing At Life

Styles: Jazz, Swing
Year: 1994
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:48
Size: 130,2 MB
Art: Front

(7:17)  1. A Child Is Born
(5:46)  2. Sweet Georgia
(4:23)  3. Brown
(4:32)  4. Laughting At Life
(4:05)  5. Prelude To A Kiss
(3:04)  6. Indiana
(5:04)  7. Mona's Feeling Lonely
(4:20)  8. Jon John
(4:33)  9. Old Man Harley
(4:52) 10. Just Friends
(6:52) 11. The Judge And The Jury

Milt Hinton's major label debut as a leader (at age 85), other than a 1955 date for Victor, finds the great bassist utilizing two separate rhythm sections on a variety of standards. In addition to fine solos from pianists Richard Wyands and Derek Smith, there are guest appearances by trumpeter Jon Faddis (who defies his stereotype by sounding closer here to Roy Eldridge than to Dizzy Gillespie) and veteran Harold Ashby whose warm tenor recalls Ben Webster. Even if Hinton's three vocals are one too many, his singing has its charm. The finale "The Judge and the Jury" adds four other bassists for a very musical tribute to one of the few veterans of the 1920s still to be heard in his prime in the mid-'90s. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/laughing-at-life-mw0000628214

Personnel:  Bass, Vocals – Milt Hinton;  Bass – Brian Torff, Lynn Seaton, Rufus Reid, Santi Debriano;  Drums – Alan Dawson, Dave Ratajczak, Terry Clark;  Piano – Derek Smith, Richard Wyands;  Saxophone [Tenor] – Harold Ashby ;  Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Jon Faddis

Laughing At Life

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Julian Lage - Speak To Me

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2024
Time: 59:54
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 138,8 MB
Art: Front

(2:22) 1. Hymnal
(6:05) 2. Northern Shuffle
(3:26) 3. Omission
(5:20) 4. Serenade
(6:00) 5. Myself Around You
(5:14) 6. South Mountain
(4:15) 7. Speak To Me
(4:19) 8. Two And One
(4:26) 9. Vanishing Points
(4:25) 10. Tiburon
(5:07) 11. As It Were
(4:36) 12. 76
(4:14) 13. Nothing Happens Here

Julian Lage is a surprising composer and guitarist. In the opening of this album, one seamlessly transitions from intentions inspired by flamenco to a jazz-infused blues, with delightful touches of humor along the way. Invariably, over the past few years, the Blue Note label seems to be giving wings to its artists, to the extent that journalists and radio programmers, much like with albums from Mack Avenue, delight even before discovering the cover of a new album.

That was the case here, a simple black and white portrait of Julian Lage, giving no hint of the content within. Clearly, Julian Lage is devoted to telling us stories through his music; it’s a music of tales, dialogue, perhaps even of novels. The guitarist states: “Throughout my life, I’ve always been drawn to music that has a narrative quality,” explaining that he sees his recent compositions as less of a departure and more of an extension of the originals from previous albums, notably his first album, “Squint,” on Blue Note in 2021. “I believe there’s a sort of connective tissue that music has, and that’s important, and it’s fun to cultivate.”

The musical language on this album speaks so directly to the listener that one could have named it “Speak to You,” as each person will find a bit of their musical universe within it, those cultural elements that shape an individual throughout their life. “Speak To Me” showcases the guitarist and composer in various contexts, including solo acoustic, duos, with his usual trio consisting of bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King, and a larger ensemble with keyboards (by Kris Davis and Patrick Warren) and woodwinds (Levon Henry).

This is Lage’s fourth effort for Blue Note and is part of a torrent of creative activity that includes his participation in Charles Lloyd’s Trio of Trios project and recordings with Terri Lynn Carrington, John Zorn, and Cautious Clay. From start to finish, we are plunged into highly diverse musical worlds on this album, some even occasionally reminiscent of cinematic soundtracks, whether intentional or not, the effect is guaranteed, and at no moment can this album be found dull. Between amusing passages, sometimes poetic, sometimes dramatic, sometimes joyful, it’s even difficult to say if this album leans towards a particular audience, because as I mentioned, this album speaks to everyone.

“Speak To Me” was recorded quickly, over a few days. Instead of pre-production, Lage and Henry maintained a constant electronic flow of discussion on tone, temperament, and mission for months before the sessions. When Lage was frustrated that a song he had written didn’t fit with the others, he would send a demo to Joe. “I would tell him, ‘I’m about to toss this one. Does it fit into the narrative we’re trying to create with the other pieces?’ Several times, I told him I didn’t think a song was appropriate. And he would tell me it was he saved a few songs that way.”

This is probably what makes this album as rich as it is exciting, immediately becoming indispensable from the first notes, and we are certainly here on Julian Lage’s best album, one of sincerity.Julian Lage – Speak to Me (ENG review) - Paris Move (paris-move.com)

Personnel: Julian Lage guitar; Levon Henry tenor saxophone; Patrick Warren keyboards; Kris Davis piano; Jorge Roeder bass; Dave King drums

Speak To Me

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