Sunday, July 7, 2024

Jo Stafford - Lucky Days

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2021
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:22
Size: 158,1 MB
Art: Front

(2:30) 1. Baby, It's Cold Outside
(2:53) 2. Sleigh Ride
(3:04) 3. O Holy Morning
(1:34) 4. Winter Weather
(2:05) 5. Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
(2:08) 6. Silent Night
(3:33) 7. The Christmas Song
(2:28) 8. I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm
(2:20) 9. Winter Wonderland
(2:37) 10. By the Fireside
(2:20) 11. It Happened in Sun Valley
(3:03) 12. Toyland
(4:14) 13. 'T Was the Night Before Christmas
(2:23) 14. March of the Toys
(3:21) 15. June in January
(0:32) 16. Jingle Bells
(2:34) 17. I Wonder as I Wander
(3:21) 18. Whiffenpoof Song
(3:38) 19. Hanover Winter Song
(3:31) 20. Georgia on My Mind
(3:08) 21. Moonlight in Vermont
(3:11) 22. Nearer My God to Thee
(0:44) 23. Happy Holiday
(2:36) 24. These Will Be the Best Years of Our Lives
(1:55) 25. O Little Town of Bethlehelm
(2:27) 26. Make Believe

Jo Elizabeth Stafford, the third of four sisters, was born November 12, 1917 on a tract of land known as "Lease 35" in Coalinga,California. Her mother, Anna York Stafford,a distant cousin of World War I hero Alvin York was known as one of the finest five-string banjoists in Gainsboro, Tennessee. Her father, Grover Cleveland Stafford, had come West to work in the California oil fields.

Jo's professional debut was with the Stafford Sisters, a trio in which Jo, upon graduation from Long Beach Poly High, joined her sisters Christine and Pauline. They had their own weekly radio show on KHJ radio, were regular performers on David Broekman's California Melodies, the Crockett Family of Kentucky shows, and performed both solo and group vocal work for all the major motion picture studios.

After marriage broke up the Stafford Sisters trio , Jo joined a group called the Pied Pipers, and along with her seven other group members was hired by Tommy Dorsey for the Raleigh-Kool radio program in 1938. After ten weeks with Dorsey the group dissolved, but Jo was hired back with three others once again as the Pied Pipers who sang with Dorsey for three years, recorded "I'll Never Smile Again" with Frank Sinatra, and provided Jo with the opportunity of making her own solo recordings with the Dorsey band. Her first solo recording was "Little Man with a Candy Cigar."

When Johnny Mercer assembled the artists to form Capitol Records in 1943, Jo began a recording career that was to culminate in Columbia Records giving her a Diamond Award as the first recording artist to sell 25,000,000 Records.

After guesting on all the major radio shows, Jo started her own series with the Chesterfield Supper Club, to which was added the Jo Stafford Show for Revere Camera, followed by featured roles on the Carnation and Club 15 Shows.

In 1950, Jo began a series of broadcasts that brought her international recognition. In Hollywood she recorded a weekly fifteen minute Youth Program for the Voice of America to internationally promote the cause of democracy.

Soon she added another weekly half-hour musical show, also recorded in Hollywood, for broadcast over 200,000 watt Radio Luxembourg; Europe's most powerful station. During this period Frank Lee , then British director of Radio Luxembourg said: "In her own quiet way Stafford is selling America to Europe."

In 1952, coinciding with her marriage to arranger/conductor/composer Paul Weston, European demand (and a honeymoon) took them to London, where she headlined the bill at the Palladium and made appearances for the Voice of America in the British Isles and on the continent.

With the advent of television , Jo Stafford guested on all the major variety shows, and in 1954 hosted her own JO STAFFORD SHOW on CBS-TV. Thus when Hollywood decided to commemorate its stars with plaques in the sidewalks of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street Jo Stafford was one of the few stars to have three separate plaques, one for records, one for radio, and one for television.

In the late fifties she cut down her activities sharply in order to devote her time to her family, and aside from a few trips to New York to appear on the Garry Moore and Firestone Hour Variety Shows, she did only recordings and TV shows based in Hollywood.

In 1961 the family moved to London for the summer so that Jo could host her final JO STAFFORD SHOW, a syndicated series for the ATV British Network. These shows were seen in this country, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, as well as in the British Isles, and her guests included Bob Hope, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald and Peter Sellers.

While family commitments precluded her public appearances, Jo did continue to record for Capitol, Dot , and Reader's Digest Records, as well as making religious albums for Corinthian and the World Library of Sacred Music.

Her Hits include: "You Belong to Me", "Timtayshun" , "Whispering Hope" ( with Gordon MacRae ), "Shrimp Boats", "Make Love to Me", "Jambalaya", her album of "American Folk Songs", and the comedy albums made under the name of Darlene Edwards. One of these, "Jonathan and Darlene in Paris", won a Grammy Award in 1960 for Best Comedy Recording. Most of her best known recordings including "The Columbia Hits Collection", are currently in release on the Corinthian Records label.

She is a past-president of SHARE, one of Hollywood's best known charitable organizations, which concerns itself with aiding mentally handicapped children. One of her last public appearances was at SHARE's 25th Anniversary Show, along with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis,Jr., Johnny Carson and Milton Berle.

Her final public vocal performance was with the Hi Los as part of a Society Of Singers tribute to Frank Sinatra. Her Corinthian recordings continue to enjoy sales throughout the world.
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/jo-stafford

Lucky Days

Kenny Burrell - Unlimited 1: Live at Catalina's

Styles: Guitar Jazz, Big Band
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 75:51
Size: 174,3 MB
Art: Front

(1:29)  1. Spoken Introduction
(9:33)  2. Stolen Moments
(5:36)  3. Jeannine
(5:43)  4. Be Yourself
(0:27)  5. Spoken Introduction
(6:03)  6. Remembering
(1:07)  7. Spoken Introduction
(9:33)  8. Mama Ya Ya
(5:43)  9. Fourth Dimensions (aka Kenny's Sound)
(7:49) 10. Adelante!
(0:26) 11. Spoken Introduction
(6:28) 12. Soulero
(0:22) 13. Spoken Introduction
(9:49) 14. Strayhorn Medley: Passion Flower/Take the "A" Train
(0:15) 15. Spoken Introduction
(5:22) 16. Things Ain't What They Used to Be (with Barbara Morrison)

Guitarist Kenny Burrell, who isn't generally known for hanging out with big bands, now has one of his own: the Los Angeles-based Jazz Orchestra Unlimited, for which he serves as music director on its debut album, Unlimited 1, Live at Catalina's. While the ensemble is splendid, individually and collectively, there's no doubt that Burrell is the star attraction. Any misgiving about that is erased by the fact that the names of orchestra members aren't listed in the Catalina's booklet except as soloists.

Luckily, most of them have at least one chance to do so, leaving less than a handful of uncounted participants. In his opening remarks, Burrell says a part of the orchestra's mission is to become a repertory ensemble playing "the great jazz classics and standards," a purpose that is somewhat underplayed here, as only four of the ten numbers would qualify as such. Besides soloing on all but one selection, Burrell sings on two (Duke Pearson's "Jeannine," his own "Remembering"), guest Barbara Morrison on one (the bravura finale, "Things Ain't What They Used to Be"). Although his voice is by no means polished, Burrell manages to reach the proper notes; Morrison, meanwhile, lends a bluesy patina to the Ellington classic, on which Burrell and the orchestra swing with abandon. Burrell's co-directors are composer / arranger / guitarist Charley Harrison and trumpeter Bobby Rodriguez, and among the album's highlights is Rodriguez' loping Latin-accented romp, "Mama Ya Ya," written to honor his great-great grandmother (on his mother's side).

Rodriguez also composed the multi-faceted "Adelante!" as a showpiece for Burrell and the orchestra. Completing the amiable program are Burrell's lyrical "Be Yourself" (inspired, he writes, by Ellington) and power-packed "Fourth Dimensions" (arranged by Don Sickler), Richard Evans ' evocative blues, "Soulero" (featuring versatile drummer Clayton Cameron) and a Billy Strayhorn medley ("Passion Flower," "Take the 'A' Train"), on the last of which the trumpet section reprises Ray Nance's original solo. In sum, an auspicious debut by the Jazz Unlimited Orchestra, whose sections are laden with some of the area's most accomplished sidemen, and another solid outing for Burrell who is at home in any arena.By Jack Bowers https://www.allaboutjazz.com/unlimited-1-live-at-catalinas-kenny-burrell-highnote-records-review-by-jack-bowers.php

Personnel: Kenny Burrell: artistic director, electric guitar, vocals, commentary; Los Angeles Jazz Orchestra Unlimited: Charley Harrison, Dr. Bobby Rodriguez: co-directors; Bobby Rodriguez: trumpet; Mike Price: trumpet; Dave Richards: trumpet; Jon Papanbrook: trumpet; Tom Marino: trumpet; Andre Delano: alto sax; Justo Almario: tenor sax, flute; Scott Mayo: tenor sax; Charles Owens: baritone sax; Nick De Pinna: trombone; Ryan Porter: trombone; Billy Mitchell: piano; Trevor Ware: bass; Clayton Cameron: drums; Barbara Morrison: vocal (16). Other personnel unlisted.

Unlimited 1: Live at Catalina's

Black Art Jazz Collective - Truth To Power

Styles: Jazz, Big Band
Size: 144,2 MB
Time: 62:45
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2024
Art: Front

1. Black Heart (5:49)
2. The Fabricator (6:16)
3. Truth To Power (8:20)
4. It's Alright (7:51)
5. Coming Of Age (5:29)
6. Dsus (5:29)
7. Code Switching (5:51)
8. Soliloquy (For Sidney Poitier) (4:20)
9. Lookin' For Leroy (6:45)
10. Blues On Stratford Road (6:30)

Many jazz fans break out in a sweat when they see the word “collective" in the name of a jazz group. One assumes the music is going to be avant-garde and free form to the point of incoherence. You'll be happy to know that that the Black Art Jazz Collective's new album Truth to Power (HighNote) is warmly stormy and soulfully engaging.

This collective is a sextet that has been around since 2014 and features topnotch musicians carrying on the tradition of black jazz of the 1960s and '70s that was both spirited and socially conscious. The album includes the following musicians on different tracks: Jeremy Pelt, Josh Evans and Wallace Roney Jr. (tp), James Burton III (tp), Wayne Escoffery (saxophones), Xavier Davis and Victor Gould (p,el p), Vincent Archer and Rashaan Carter (b) and Johnathan Blake and Mark Whitfield, Jr. (d).

tracks are: Black Heart; The Fabricator; Truth to Power; It's Alright; Coming of Age; Dsus; Code Switching; Soliloquy (for Sidney Poitier); Lookin' for Leroy; Blues on Stratford.

The music is hard-charging ("Truth to Power," “Dsus," “Lookin' for Leroy" and “Code Switching") and sensual ("It's Alright" and “Soliloquy for Sidney Poitier". In some places the group reminds me of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers with Wayne Shorter and in others the Jazz Crusaders.

Overall, the Black Art Jazz Collective has its own sound that delivers a strong message. This is jazz from a black point of view as I remember it in the 1960s and '70s, which means it's deeply felt and muscular in a poetic, meaningful way. Check it out. By Marc Myers
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/news/black-art-jazz-collective-and-39truth-to-power-and-39/

Personnel: Wayne Escoffery - (tenor saxophone); Jeremy Pelt - (trumpet); Josh Evans, Wallace Roney Jr; James Burton III - (trombone); Xavier Davis - (piano on tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 9 & 10); Victor Gould - (piano on tracks 3, 6, 7 & 8); Vicente Archer - (bass on tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 9 & 10); Rashaan Carter - (bass on tracks 3, 6, 7 & 8); Johnathan Blake - (drums on tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 9 & 10); Mark Whitfield Jr - (drums on tracks 3, 6, 7 & 8).

Truth To Power

Jacintha - The Girl from Bossa Nova

Styles: Vocal, Brazilian Jazz, Bossa Nova
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:17
Size: 104,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:34) 1. O Ganso
(3:15) 2. So Danço Samba
(4:48) 3. Dindi
(3:44) 4. Once I Loved
(4:32)  5. Desafinado
(5:07) 6. So Nice
(5:08) 7. Wave
(5:06) 8. How Insensitive
(4:51) 9. Corcovado
(4:07) 10. Waters Of March


Jacintha picks up the tempo on her first bossa nova session. Featuring a program of some of the most well known classics of the genre, including several Jobim favorites like So Nice, Desafinado, Dindi and Corcovado, as well as less familiar tunes like O Ganso and So Danco Samba, this CD is a striking change of pace for Jacintha. With superb work from tenor Harry Allen and guitarist John Pisano (ex-Diana Krall), the album's supreme finishing is the magical playing of legendary Brazilian master percussionist Paulinho Da Costa, who blesses the entire album with an authentic bossa nova vibe.By Editorial Reviews https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Bossa-Nova-Jacintha/dp/B00027JYWQ


Personnel: Acoustic Guitar – John Pisano; Bass – Darek Oleszkiewicz; Drums – Tim Pleasant; Percussion – Paulinho Da Costa; Piano – Bill Cunliffe; Tenor Saxophone – Harry Allen ; Vocals – Jacintha .

The Girl from Bossa Nova