Wednesday, June 12, 2024

Lyn Stanley - Interludes

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2015
Time: 58:41
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 136,7 MB
Art: Front

(4:03) 1. How Long Has This Been Going On
(3:33) 2. Just One Of Those Things
(4:37) 3. Black Velvet
(4:23) 4. More Thank You Know
(4:31) 5. Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
(5:26) 6. Whole Lotta Love
(3:28) 7. Last Tango In Paris
(5:09) 8. Don't Explain
(2:58) 9. Nice 'n Easy
(5:13) 10. The Island
(3:53) 11. It's Crazy
(4:47) 12. In A Sentimental Mood
(3:15) 13. I Was A Little Too Lonely
(3:18) 14. I'm A Fool To Want You

Vocalist/producer Lyn Stanley has established herself as a foremost stylist of the Great American Songbook. That is no mean feat. The sheer amount of vocal music made each year around the Songbook is impressive. It is too bad that the quality of a great many of those recordings is not equally impressive. Stanley's two previous recordings, Lost in Romance (A.T. Music, LLC, 2013) and Potions: From the '50s (A.T. Music, LLC, 2014), have been an evolving prelude to the present. "How Long has This Been Going On," the opener for Interludes demonstrates Stanley's command of the standard.

But it is not the jazz standard that is special about Interludes. Stanley addresses two more recent compositions: "Black Velvet," released by Alannah Myles in 1989 and Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love," from Led Zeppelin II (Atlantic, 1969).

Lyn Stanley takes on the most white-hot anthem of the carnality of youth. She does so unflinchingly. There is little to be nostalgic about young love once you've learned what you are doing. And that is Stanley's point with covering this song. Arranged by guitarist John Chiodini the nominal blues-rock monolith becomes a steamy rumba propelled by bassist Chuck Berghofer and drummer Paul Kreibich, whose deft tom-tom work amps up the performance's already heady sensuality. Then, there is Stanley, who produced this recording, ensuring that a proper mixture of Bobby Gentry's "Ode to Billy Joe," Peggy Lee's "Fever," and Dusty Springfield's "Son of a Preacher Man" are admixed into one grown up vision of love, sex, and the whole shooting match.

Think if George Gershwin had composed "Summertime" with J.J. Cale and you may begin to get the idea. Stanley must be applauded for taking this gigantic artistic chance. So many "jazz" covers of contemporary material end so badly. In this case, not so. This is a special release in every way. By C. Michael Bailey https://www.allaboutjazz.com/interludes-lyn-stanley-at-music-llc-review-by-c-michael-bailey

Personnel: Lyn Stanley: vocals; Mike Garson, Bill Cunliffe: piano; Chuck Berghofer: bass; Ray Brinker, Paul Kreibich: drums; John Chiodini: guitar; Cecilia Tsan: cello; Brad Dutz: percussion; Bob McChesney: trombone; Hendrik Meurkens: harmonica; Steve Rawlins: finger snaps.

Interludes

Eliane Elias - Dance Of Time

Styles: Vocal, Brazilian Jazz
Year: 2017
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:20
Size: 129,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:17)  1. O Pato
(3:50)  2. You're Getting To Be A Habit With Me
(5:20)  3. Copacabana
(4:59)  4. Coisa Feita
(5:15)  5. By Hand (Em Maos)
(3:48)  6. Sambou Sambou
(4:59)  7. Little Paradise
(6:33)  8. Speak Low
(3:20)  9. Samba De Orly
(5:38) 10. Na Batucada Da Vida
(4:22) 11. An Up Dawn
(3:55) 12. Not To Cry (Pra Nao Chorar)

Way back in 1991, Brazilian-born pianist Eliane Elias opened Illusions, her debut solo album, with a tune called "Choro." It offered a swinging distillation of the musical form that has been at the heart of her life-long study of samba. Since then, she's revisited her musical heritage over and over again, wedding modern jazz to post-1960 Brazilian jazz and MPB. In the process, she's developed an instantly identifiable sound as a pianist. Dance of Time follows 2015's fine Made in Brasil, a set that relied most heavily on bossa nova. Teaming again with collaborative producers Steve Rodby and husband Marc Johnson, Elias is accompanied by a stellar rhythm section: bassist Marcelo Mariano, guitarist Marcus Teixeira, drummer Edu Ribeiro, and percussionists Marivaldo dos Santos and Gustavo di Dalva on most of this set. Recorded in Brazil and New York, the date also includes a wonderful guest list that includes Take 6's Mark Kibble, Randy Brecker, Mike Manieri, Joao Bosco who adds his voice and guitar to a lovely reading of his own "Coisa Feita" and Toquinho.

The program contains readings of killer sambas such as "O Pato," Joao Donato's eternal "Sambou Sambou," the wonderful "Samba de Orly" (co-composed by Toquinho, who also sings on it, Vinicius De Moraes and Chico Buarque), and Ary Barroso's "Na Batacuda da Vida." Each of these numbers remains faithful to the originals, but Elias' arrangements, pianism, and breezy, syncopated vocals graft them so thoroughly onto swinging, straight-ahead, modern post-bop, it's difficult to accept they weren't always in the jazz fakebook. But she goes further. She injects Harry Warren's slippery pop blues "You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me," with a slow choro backbeat. She also transforms Kurt Weill's and Ogden Nash's sultry "Speak Low" into simmering, polished modern jazz with a fantastic multi-tracked backing vocal by Kibble and great soloing from Brecker.

The best tunes here, however, are her own. "By Hand ("Em Maos") offers another backing vocal from Kibble, as Elias stitches samba onto bossa in a lithe, sensual groove. "An Up Dawn" is a vehicle for her intricate, syncopated chord voicings on her instrument's middle and lower registers, which create an interlocking dance of samba, tango, and bluesy ragtime. "Not to Cry (Pra Nao Chorar)" is a co-write with Toquinho who lends his guitar and weathered yet effective vocal in a duet. He began the tune in 1978 as a vehicle (for Elias) with the working title "Eliane." He completed it for this album with participation from the tune's muse. Their singing voices are an elegant yet earthy study in contrasts, while his lilting guitar chords pace her keyboard embellishments. Its tenderness sends the set off with a sweet whisper. Dance of Time is inspired, deftly musical, and truly accessible to a wide range of listeners from jazz to pop to Brazilian music. It's virtually flawless.By Thom Jurek http://www.allmusic.com/album/dance-of-time-mw0003020224

Personnel: Eliane Elias (vocals, piano).

Dance Of Time

Dmitry Baevsky - The Composers

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:07
Size: 122,9 MB
Art: Front


(6:30) 1. Ojos de Rojo
(6:12) 2. Gaslight
(5:52) 3. Mister Chairman
(5:29) 4. To Whom it May Concern
(7:37) 5. Self Portrait (of the Bean)
(6:15) 6. Swift As the Wind
(4:17) 7. Smoke Signal
(6:02) 8. Three Wishes
(4:49) 9. Tears Inside

Personnel: Dmitry Baevsky: alto saxophone; Peter Bernstein: guitar; David Hazeltine: piano; John Webber: bass; Jason Brown: drums.

The Composers

Spike Robinson - Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:26
Size: 142.9 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz
Year: 1986
Art: Front

[5:12] 1. Love Walked In
[7:20] 2. Talk Of Thw Town
[5:32] 3. Some Time Ago
[5:27] 4. For You, For Me, For Evermore
[8:56] 5. Lover Come Back To Me
[8:03] 6. Ghost Of A Chance
[7:51] 7. Shadow Of Your Smile
[4:58] 8. April Showers
[9:03] 9. Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most

Spike Robinson's sessions are usually pleasant, casually swinging, and musically proficient, and this quartet outing isn't any different. Robinson explores ballads, mid-tempo standards, and originals with a steady, big tone and full sound. He doesn't try anything too intricate, sticking close to the melody and then adding some embellishments and slight alterations. The backing group featuring Ted Beament, Peter Ind, and Bill Eyden follow the same formula. ~Ron Wynn

Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most