Eddie Henderson - Shuffle and Deal

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Size: 135,2 MB
Time: 59:02
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2020
Art: Front

1. Shuffle and Deal (5:30)
2. Flight Path (5:15)
3. Over the Rainbow (8:11)
4. By Any Means (3:15)
5. Cook's Bay (7:19)
6. It Might as Well Be Spring (9:22)
7. Boom (4:04)
8. God Bless the Child (6:53)
9. Burnin' (4:56)
10. Smile (4:13)

Heading into his 80th birthday, Eddie Henderson issues Shuffle And Deal a material addition to his vast oeuvre of leader dates. The album builds on several long-term creative relationships fostered during the trumpeter’s prolific career. He returns to the studio with practically the same winning lineup from his 2018 release, Be Cool, and daughter Cava Menzies and wife Natsuko Henderson again contribute compositions. Most notably, though, the aesthetic pull of the album derives from Henderson’s deep affinity with freakishly empathic pianist Kenny Barron.

The word “shuffle” is a play on the groove of the title cut a sophisticated, Miles Davis-inspired composition Henderson penned for the album but also describes the recurrence of tunes from his and his players’ established repertoire. Henderson includes two Barron compositions: “Flight Path,” a fervent, melodic imperative, and the charming Latin medium-tempo “Cook’s Bay.” There’s also altoist Donald Harrison’s “Burnin’” and four lovingly polished standards recognizable ballads rendered all the more touching alongside the rambunctious originals.

Besides Henderson’s own pieces, two other tunes are all-new with this release. Menzies’ clever, mixed-meter “By Any Means” delights with its clean horn lines and irresistible harmonic undertow, and Natsuko Henderson’s neo-soul “Boom” featuring Mike Clark’s high-velocity drumming sparkles with intensity.

But it is Henderson’s clarion trumpeting that guides the crush of talent on this album. His musical wisdom, gleaned during decades spent on the best jazz bandstands, informs every unerring note.By Suzanne Lorge
https://downbeat.com/reviews/detail/shuffle-and-deal

Personnel: Eddie Henderson, trumpet; Donald Harrison, alto saxophone; Kenny Barron, piano; Gerald Cannon, bass; Mike Clark, drums.

Shuffle and Deal

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Erroll Garner - Campus Concert

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:07
Size: 88,6 MB
Art: Front

(2:54)  1. Indiana (Back Home Again in Indiana)
(5:47)  2. Stardust
(2:21)  3. Mambo Erroll
(4:35)  4. Lulu's Back in Town
(4:11)  5. Almost Like Being in Love - Live
(5:30)  6. My Funny Valentine
(5:29)  7. These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)
(3:17)  8. In the Still of the Night
(3:59)  9. La Petite Mambo

This is the final live concert album released by Erroll Garner during his lifetime. It showcases the pianist in rare form, flanked by his classic trio and performing for an attentive and receptive audience of mostly young fans. This new edition includes a previously unreleased version of his rarely recorded “La Petite Mambo,” as well as fully restored musical introductions from the original masters. https://www.errollgarner.com/campus-concert-ors

Personnel: Erroll Garner: piano; Eddie Calhoun: bass; Kelly Martin: drums.

Campus Concert

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Lisa Bassenge - Wildflowers

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:41
Size: 111,9 MB
Art: Front

(5:00) 1. Till I Get It Right
(4:39) 2. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
(6:08) 3. Parasite
(4:01) 4. Wildflowers
(4:44) 5. The Look Of Love
(3:12) 6. Four Seasons In One Day
(4:26) 7. Skylark
(4:05) 8. I Think It's Going To Rain Today
(4:37) 9. Precious
(3:10) 10. I'll Follow You Into The Dark
(4:33) 11. Morning Sounds Of Spring

Lisa Bassenge is back with a bouquet of flowers. "Wildflowers" completes her trilogy of trio albums, again with Jacob Karlzon on piano and Andreas Lang on bass - same as on her two previous albums.

“Wildflowers” covers a range of songs that stretches from Dolly Parton to Depeche Mode, from Bob Dylan to Death Cab for Cutie. The way the trio arranges and performs them, these individual pieces don't seem to be thrown together, but rather like chapters of a story. Each one shimmers on its own, but the ensemble is more than the sum of its parts.

Jacob Karlzon from Sweden and Andreas Lang from Denmark embed Lisa Bassenge's unique voice in a warm sound that is ‘Scandinavian’ in the best sense of the word: relaxed but always engaging; playful, dynamic, full of subtle energy. "This sound has found us", says Lisa Bassenge.
https://herzogrecords.bandcamp.com/album/wildflowers

Personnel: Lisa Bassenge (vocal); Jacob Karlzon (piano); Andreas Lang (bass)

Wildflowers

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Al Grey & Arnett Cobb - Ain't That Funk For You

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 46:03
Size: 105.4 MB
Styles: Bop, Trombone jazz
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[5:10] 1. On The Trail
[3:45] 2. Saint Louis Blues
[5:06] 3. I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good
[3:43] 4. A Familiar Song
[6:11] 5. Blues Abrupt
[6:03] 6. Ain't That Funk For You
[5:33] 7. Get It Going For Black And Bue
[4:24] 8. On The Trail
[6:04] 9. Blues Abrupt

As the sixties drew to a close, Jean-Marie Monestier and Jean-Pierre Tahmazian discovered the whereabouts of the last living classical jazz musicians. They decided to bring them to France, out of the anonymity into which forgetfulness had plunged them. With the applause of the concert audience still ringing in their ears, these musicians then recorded some of their most beautiful music for Black & Blue. Jean-Michel Proust and Jean-Marc Fritz who were aware of their historical value, listened to these treasures. The result was “The Definitive Black & Blue Sessions”.

Al Grey (tb), Arnett Cobb (ts), Ray Bryant (p), John Duke (b), J.C. Heard (d). Recorded on July 11, 1977 at Grande Parade du Jazz in Nice, France. Digitally remastered.

Ain't That Funk For You

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Brandee Younger - Wax & Wane

Styles: Harp Jazz
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 26:40
Size: 62,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:42)  1. Soul Vibrations
(5:46)  2. Essence of Ruby
(2:04)  3. Ruby Echo
(3:15)  4. Afro Harping
(4:11)  5. Wax and Wane
(1:46)  6. Ebony Haze
(4:53)  7. Black Gold

Being a harpist on the jazz scene can’t be easy.  And though jazz, as much as any genre, takes a sincere stab at incorporating non-traditional instruments into the body of work, it’s a not a huge stretch to assume that a harpist has gotta work a bit harder than most to find ways to fit in.  Historically, there aren’t a lot of predecessors to glean wisdom from on a course to chart, and it’s not like the current scene is loaded with jazz harpists, so hoping for some gestalt action from fellow birds of a feather might be too much to expect.  But it’s in the context of those potential obstacles that it’s so encouraging when someone like Brandee Younger steps up with such creative abandon to express a bold vision, and it’s why it’s really easy to forget that there may have been some obstacles less than ordinary in her path getting there. Younger’s debut EP Prelude immediately displayed equal willingness to groove, swing and sway.  That was followed by the excellent live set Brandee Younger 4tet Live @ the Breeding Ground, an album that kicked up all kinds of sparks and heat.  A great live set recording is the kind of thing where you immediately go and check the tour page on the artist’s site to see if she’s performing in a town near you.  Younger’s Breeding Ground release elicits that kind of response.  It has all the electricity you want to feel from music and it has all the intelligence you want to excite your cortex.  And while much of the music sounds planted firmly in Today, Younger doesn’t turn her back on what came before.  The composition “Soul Vibrations,” a frequent tune performed by jazz harp trailblazer Dorothy Ashby, is a fixture in Younger’s repertoire.  Another trailblazer in jazz harp is Alice Coltrane… a different sound and a different approach than Ashby, yet Younger seamlessly insinuates her own sound onto the Coltrane composition “Blue Nile” and makes it part of the whole mix for some remarkable cohesion.  A mix, worth noting, that incorporates an impressive number of Younger originals.  Another Ashby tune Younger embraces is “Wax and Wane.”  It’s also the title of her newest release.

Younger’s take on a contemporary soul-jazz sound is positively addictive.  Where Live @ the Breeding Ground showed she has the ability to kick out flames and flash a sharp edge, Wax and Wane is proof that the music is still highly charged even when Younger chooses to lower the voltage and develop a flow that’s gift-wrapped for dance.  The trio of bassist Dezron Douglas, guitarist Mark Whitfield and drummer Dana Hawkins dig deep for a groove that’s light on its feet with “Essence of Ruby.”  And though it’s a tune just dripping with sunshine, the tenor sax of Chelsea Baratz reminds us that sometimes the heat of sunshine burns.  But perhaps most impressive, and enjoyable, is how the seemingly different goals of the rhythm section, tenor sax, and the duo interaction of Younger’s harp and Anne Drummond‘s flute work in tandem in a fluid construct, as if Younger’s crew were taking individual streams of water and weaving them into a flowing river. But then there’s a track like the elegant “Ruby Echo,” and the abundance of warmth generated by the melodic bursts from harp and strings… an elegance that remains when the thick grooves return on “Afro Harping.” The cinematic “Ebony Haze” recalls Alice Coltrane’s spiritual heavy works on the Impulse label.  Those early 1970’s recordings were melodically striking and maximized dramatic effect without risking its abiding sense of serenity.  It’s nifty that Younger shows she’s already got a handle on that approach to her instrument and compositions, but it’s that she’s able to drop that track right after the groove-heavy “Wax and Wane” and park it up against the fender of subsequent track “Black Gold,” with its drifting ambiance and punctuated tempos, that’s an entirely different level of creative deftness. Younger is showing all kinds of promise with her recordings to date, and it’s a seriously positive sign about the strength of the modern jazz scene that albums like Wax and Wane are getting a share of the spotlight. https://www.birdistheworm.com/recommended-brandee-younger-wax-and-wane/

Personnel:  Brandee Younger (harp), Anne Drummond (flute), Dezron Douglas (electric bass), Mark Whitfield (guitar), Dana Hawkins (drums), Chelsea Baratz (tenor sax) and Chargaux (violin, viola).

Wax & Wane

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