Matt Carter Octet - Read Between The Lines

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2023
Time: 62:05
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 142,4 MB
Art: Front

(0:57) 1. Sunny Side
(7:06) 2. Abode
(5:33) 3. They Can't Take That Away From Me
(7:17) 4. Fighting Talk
(8:10) 5. High Germany
(5:51) 6. Girl Talk
(5:57) 7. Hope Song
(6:30) 8. Duke's Mood
(7:24) 9. Like It Or Not
(7:16) 10. Read Between The Lines

For those who like their jazz upbeat and straight-ahead comes this entertaining first studio album from a young British pianist and composer. Matt Carter was still studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London when he began putting together its band members and music, while also backing singers such as Joss Stone and Mica Paris. Though he’s no purist, Carter’s heart clearly lies with purring big bands. His octet (all young) comes with a five-strong brass section, augmented by the guest flute of relative veteran Gareth Lockrane on three cuts.

Among the cover versions is the luscious Girl Talk by Neal Hefti, Count Basie’s arranger, who also composed the Batman theme, while a couple of originals here, Abode and Fighting Talk, sound like theme tunes in search of an action TV series. Another great band leader, Duke Ellington, gets a more ruminative tribute on Carter’s Duke’s Mood, with a blousy trombone solo from Harry Maund.

They Can’t Take That Away from Me is arguably an over-covered item from the Great American Songbook, but Carter’s solo swings delightfully, as does the brass arrangement. More unlikely is a version of the folk tune High Germany, here hauled unceremoniously into the clattering modern age. An auspicious debut. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jul/22/matt-carter-octet-read-between-the-lines-review-an-auspicious-debut

Personnel: Piano – Matt Carter; Bass – Joe Lee; Drums – Luke Tomlinson; Trumpet – Geroge Jefford; Tenor sax – Tom Smith; Baritone sax – Harry Greene; Alto sax – Jonny Ford; Trombone – Harry Maund; Flute – Gareth Lockrane

Read Between The Lines

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Joel Harrison - Anthem of Unity

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2023
Time: 50:22
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 116,3 MB
Art: Front

(8:16) 1. Anthem Of Unity
(4:35) 2. Survival Instinct
(5:30) 3. The Times They Are A-changin'
(5:08) 4. Today Is Tomorrow's Yesterday
(7:55) 5. Doxy
(4:21) 6. Migratory Birds
(8:31) 7. Parvati
(6:03) 8. Mohawk Valley Peace Dance

American guitarist/composer Joel Harrison showcases the pragmatic eclecticism that characterizes his music on Anthem of Unity, his 25th album as a leader. The disc features phenomenal rhythmic pulsations engendered by legendary drummer Jack DeJohnette, the adventurous melodicism of saxophonist Greg Tardy, and the extra harmonic color of organist Gary Versace, who, together with Harrison, creates colorful groove-centered tapestries.

Inspired by the influential late guitarist Mick Goodrick, the title track opens the album as an enjoyable concoction of funk, rock and Americana. The anthemic theme reveals a mild temperament but the solos by Tardy and Harrison are pure fire. In a similar tone but with a more incisive post-bop attack, “Survival Instinct” features another otherworldly tenor statement and the excellent underpinning of DeJohnette, who assures that his drum fills shine with a special energy.

Only two of the eight tracks that compose this work weren’t penned by Harrison, namely, “The Times Are A-Changin’” and “Doxy”, by Bob Dylan and Sonny Rollins, respectively. The former, a protest folk tune, waltzes smoothly with jazzy colors; the latter, served with jazz and funk ingredients at the base, boasts its heavenly melody with transparency and a laid-back groovy feel.

“Migratory Birds” develops in five and at some point places a heart-reaching flute at the center in unison with guitar, whereas “Today is Tomorrow’s Yesterday” swings energetically with casual post-bop fling. Before bringing the album to a close with “Mohawk Valley Peace Dance”, a blues rock incursion with a saucy wah-wah guitar solo on top of a dub substratum, Harrison offers “Parvati”, a rousing fusion with a great melodic theme, chromatic shifts, and a drum intro that’s quite interesting to hear.

Versatility abounds in a record that, not reaching the levels of America at War (Sunnyside, 2020), consistently satisfies. https://jazztrail.net/blog/joel-harrison-anthem-of-unity-album-review

Personnel: Joel Harrison: guitar; Greg Tardy: tenor saxophone, flute; Gary Versace: Hammond B-3 organ, piano; Jack DeJohnette: drums.

Anthem of Unity

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Johnny Hartman - Complete Regent Recordings (Bonus Version)

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 73:12

Size: 167.6 MB

Styles: Vocal jazz, Standards

Year: 2015

Art: Front

[2:36] 1. I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart

[2:34] 2. Why Was I Born

[2:32] 3. Just You, Just Me

[2:39] 4. A Woman Always Understands

[2:37] 5. Sometime Remind Me To Tell You

[3:02] 6. There Goes My Heart

[2:40] 7. Just A Wearyin' For You

[2:49] 8. I'll Never Smile Again

[2:55] 9. Tormented (Why Must I Be)

[3:04] 10. What's To Become Of Me

[2:57] 11. I Should Care

[2:39] 12. That Old Black Magic

[3:43] 13. If Love Is Trouble

[2:29] 14. Close Your Eyes

[2:39] 15. S'posin'

[2:25] 16. Goodbye

[3:10] 17. September In The Rain

[2:43] 18. Remember

[2:57] 19. Out Of The Night

[2:37] 20. Worry Bird

[2:27] 21. Wheel Of Fortune

[2:35] 22. Wild

[2:59] 23. Black Shadows

[2:57] 24. I Feel Like Crying

[3:50] 25. Stella By Starlight

[2:29] 26. Somebody Loves Me

The release of this retrospective of songs recorded for Regent by jazz vocalist Johnny Hartman probably owes a lot to Clint Eastwood's film The Bridges of Madison County. Hartman's smooth voice is heard throughout the soundtrack, and many listeners became latter-day fans of this popular singer from the 1950s and '60s. Hartman is best known for his work with jazz giant John Coltrane on their classic CD on Impulse: John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman, recorded in 1963. But Hartman recorded with many other great jazz luminaries of his day, and much of that work appears on this compilation. The CD features Hartman crooning with an astonishing array of musicians: Dizzie Gillespie, Prez Prado, Budd Johnson, Errol Garner,Cozy Cole, Jimmy Nottingham, Tony Farina, and Bobby Tucker, to name a few. The CD includes material recorded in 1947 through 1954, plus some bonus tracks recorded live in 1961 with the Andrew Hill Trio. Hartman, a master at interpreting the inner life of a ballad, comes through soft and clear on standards such as "That Old Black Magic," "I Let a Song Go out of My Heart," "I'll Never Smile Again," "Just You, Just Me," "September in the Rain," "Stella by Starlight," and "Somebody Loves Me." The amorous and sophisticated tone of the entire set is polished off with the final selection, "Misty," which expresses how the listener might feel after hearing so many songs of romance and seduction. ~Sharon Witmer

Complete Regent Recordings  

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