Monday, August 12, 2024

Lauren Henderson - A La Madrugada

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:45
Size: 142,2 MB
Art: Front

(5:48)  1. You and the Night and the Music
(3:54)  2. Stranded
(3:45)  3. Accede
(4:48)  4. There Is No Greater Love
(5:16)  5. Hasta Nunca
(6:50)  6. My Foolish Heart
(6:22)  7. A La Madrugada
(4:53)  8. Twisting Squares
(5:02)  9. December Ballad
(4:49) 10. Quizas Vaya
(4:53) 11. What You Won't Do for Love
(5:21) 12. There Will Never Be Another You

Lauren's Afro-Caribbean and Latin Heritage are central themes in her original music. Her eclectic vocal influences and style spread across genres. The distinct yet versatile sound is rooted in jazz and extends to pop, flamenco and other genres.

Lauren Henderson is a jazz and latin jazz vocalist and composer from Massachusetts. Henderson's Caribbean and Latin Heritage are central themes in her original music and performance. In 2011 she released her first debut album, Lauren Henderson. The record was recorded almost immediately upon her arrival in New York City after graduating from Wheaton College (Massachusetts) where she was inspired by her masterclasses with Paquito D'Rivera and Take 6. She created the hour long recording with her close friend, Sullivan Fortner (pianist and composer under Impulse! and member of the Roy Hargrove Quintet), Ben Leifer (bass) and Jesse Simpson (drums). The original intent of the recording was to help Lauren ease into the competitive New York Jazz Scene and increase her work as an artist. The quartet recorded classics by noted composers like Duke Ellington, Hoagy Carmichael, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Rogers and Hart. After the work was shared with colleagues and fellow musicians, it was reviewed by various publications, including DownBeat Magazine, JazzTimes and All About Jazz. which is available on iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby and is accessible as a Pandora.com station. Henderson's eclectic vocal influences and style spreads across genres. Her Afro-Latin influence aids her in producing a distinct yet versatile sound. Lauren's diverse musical background is rooted in jazz and expands to rhythm and blues, latin, soul, gospel, classical, fusion, neo-soul, pop, nuevo-flamenco and many other forms. Beginning piano lessons at the age of 7 and singing in church and school choirs, molded her into the growing and developing musician she is today. She has composed, performed, studied and directed music in the United States and internationally and is currently incorporating the influences of her travels to create a second record.

Currently based in New York, She has performed at various clubs and participated in workshops around the city including: Millesime of the famous Carlton Hotel where she has a Thursday Night Residency. She has had the opportunity to study with legendary and influential musicians like Barry Harris at the Barry Harris Workshop and Grammy Nominated Vocalist, Jane Monheit. Having earned college degrees in both Music and Hispanic Studies, Lauren continues to combine her love for music and culture. While living in Puebla, México she studied the traditional music of the Yucatán and popular music throughout the country at Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. 

Through her international piano and voice studies, she worked on developing her musicianship. In Córdoba, España she studied flamenco and the similarities it shares with jazz. An avid nuevo-flamenco listener, Lauren often quotes the new and popular sounds of various countries while nurturing the roots of classic forms. Her new unreleased recording features Sullivan Fortner on piano ( Impulse - Universal Music Group Artist and member of the Roy Hargrove Quintet and current finalist in the American Pianist Association 2015 Jazz Competition), Ameen Saleem on bass (Recording Artist and Member of the Roy Hargrove Quintet), Louis Fouche on alto saxophone (Member of Eddie Palmieri Afro-Carribean Sextet, Recording Artist and collaborator with Christian Scott), Jonathan Powell on trumpet (Member of Eddie Palmieri Afro-Carribean Sextet, Arturo O'Farrill's band and Grammy Winning Album, and voted "Best Latin Jazz Trumpeter" 2009 by Latin Jazz Corner), Riley Mulherkar on trumpet (Member of Julliard, named "Rising Jazz Artist" by Wynton Marsalis) and Jeremy Bean Clemmons on drums and percussion (Award Winning Producer and prior member of Grammy Nominated, Andy Bey's Quartet, Member of Soul Understated). http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/laurenhenderson2

A La Madrugada

Hal Singer - Challenge

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 75:50
Size: 174,6 MB
Art: Front

(10:16)  1. Challenge
( 9:01)  2. Hamid's Time
(10:57)  3. Hong Kong Nights
( 8:38)  4. I Thought About You
( 7:55)  5. Long March to Freedom
(10:27)  6. Stressology
(10:02)  7. Dreams of Dream
( 8:31)  8. About the Children

This was a very interesting collaboration between saxophonists Hal Singer and David Murray. Aided my Murray's core band of Lafayette Gilchrist on piano, Jaribu Shahid on bass and Hamid Drake on drums, the group develops a nice swing feel that is less of a tenor battle and more of a friendly conversation. The saxophone tones contrast nicely, with Singer's lighter Pres like tone counteracting nicely with the gruff Hawkins like feeling of David Murray. Occasionally I longed to hear them let rip with a Kansas City like tenor sax battle of history, but that's not the point of this disc. Rasul Siddik sits in on trumpet on two tracks, enlivening Murray's "Hong Kong Nights" and "Stressology" with strong brassy accents. Gilcrest is excellent throughout with a bright and strong tone. Drake, as always, is a joy mixing rhythm and pace, getting his own feature on the aptly named "Hamid's Time," composed by Singer. But the focus is really on the two saxophonists throughout, trading solos and ideas and sparking off of each other with ebullient energy and taste. Singer tends to reign in Murray's occasional over-exuberance, and Murray in turn challenges Singer to a high level. Classy photographs of the sessions and liner notes in English and French round out an excellent package.

Personnel: Tenor Saxophone – Hal Singer; Tenor Saxophone, Art Direction – David Murray;  Bass – Jaribu Shahid; Drums – Hamid Drake; Piano – Lafayette Gilchrist; Trumpet – Rasul Siddik

Challenge

Basia - Butterflies

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:30
Size: 97,9 MB
Art: Vocal

(3:50)  1. Bubble
(3:40)  2. Matteo
(4:35)  3. No Heartache
(4:33)  4. Butterfly
(4:07)  5. Where's Your Pride
(3:59)  6. Be.Pop
(3:17) 7. Liang & Zhu
(4:28)  8. Show Time
(4:20)  9. Like Crazy
(1:15) 10. Rachel's Waltz
(4:23) 11. Pandora's Box

Nine long years after It’s That Girl Again, it’s that girl again. The international singing star Basia customarily takes her time with recording new material but rewards her fans’ patience with Butterflies, out on May 18, 2018 from Shanachie Entertainment. Brazilian-flavored jazz-pop didn’t begin with Basia or her pre-solo group Matt Bianco: Sergio Mendes tasted the first success stateside with his Brasil ’66 group. However, Basia updated the sound and often made it discotheque-ready, and just as Lani Hall lent a unique voice to Brasil ’66, Basia boasts a distinctive, powerful voice of her own. The enduring appeal of this brand of pop is proven with the trio of platinum-selling studio albums Basia made from 1988 to 1993. Many of the things expected from a Basia record are here: smart and snappy songs co-composed by Basia and her collaborator from the start, Danny White, with rich vocal arrangements.

And of course, there’s the virtuosic voice of Basia herself, who seems to have lost none of her edge. But the jazz part of Basia’s jazz-pop gets more explicit here. That element was always present in her music but the production is scaled back with more acoustic elements (particularly the frequent presence of the unplugged guitar of Danny White’s brother Peter), enough to make the jazz easier to identify. That’s most apparent right from the start: “Bubble” is nearly all-acoustic straight-ahead jazz, a far cry from the elaborately constructed affairs of the first three albums and the swing suits Basia well.

“Be.Pop,” with its big band accompaniment, reminds us that big band swing used to pop music decades ago, but there’s just enough of a contemporary sheen to this number to make one wonder why can’t it be that way again in the 21st century. The heartfelt Latin folk number “Matteo” was the sneak peak of the album when it gave fans a taste back in March. “Show Time” rides on one of Basia and White’s signature bossa nova struts, a close cousin to 1990’s “Cruising For A Bruising” hit but this time Mark Reilly handles singing one of the verses, making this song a de-facto Matt Bianco reunion.

Per usual for Basia, there’s enough variety in the moods and styles of the songs to hold attention. “No Heartache” lures listeners into yet another breezy cadence before slamming into a funky chorus, and then a jazzy sax solo courtesy of Paul Booth. The synth bass line on “Butterfly” is a throwback of sorts to Time and Time‘s late 80s production values but sounds much less dated here; actually it underpins a choice mid-tempo groove and a nifty piano turn by White. The piano-led, slow-dance tempo “Where’s Your Pride” gives the song a sway that’s enticing. Even gentler is the Chinese-inspired ballad “Liang & Zhu,” which even has a hint of East Asian violin to underscore the heritage intended for the song. A little mellower and little more intimate, Butterflies is Basia aging gracefully with music that will likely not age at all. http://somethingelsereviews.com/2018/05/17/basia-butterflies-2018/

Butterflies