Friday, September 20, 2024

Eddie Harris - The Lost Album Plus The Better Half

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1993
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:18
Size: 130,3 MB
Art: Front

( 6:10)  1. The Dancing Bull
( 4:33)  2. Antidote
(14:55)  3. Cuttin' Out
(15:24)  4. Shakey Jake
( 2:33)  5. Half & Half
( 2:24)  6. K.C. Blues
( 4:03)  7. Lawrence Of Arabia
( 6:13)  8. Yea, Yea, Yea

Eight cuts culled from early-'60s Vee Jay dates. The first four blend soul-jazz and straight bop, with Ira Sullivan sparkling on trumpet and Harris dueling with alto saxophonist Bunky Green. The other two feature Harris wailing the blues alongside organist Melvin Rhyne, Sullivan, Green and guitarist Joe D'Orio. They recall the glory days of steamy, funky organ combos, with drummer Gerald Donovan keeping the backbeat steadily in the groove. ~ Ron Wynn https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-lost-album-plus-the-better-half-mw0000660476

The Lost Album Plus The Better Half

Andy Laverne - Spot On

Style: Piano Jazz
Size: 150,6 MB
Time: 65:35
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2024
Art: Front

1. Tune For Tyner (8:50)
2. Wistful Thinking (5:36)
3. Bassline (8:41)
4. Solace (7:25)
5. Spot On (5:46)
6. Interlude (8:41)
7. Flipside (7:11)
8. Prelude For Chick (6:35)
9. Corean (6:47)

Jazz pianist, composer, and arranger Andy LaVerne studied at Juilliard, Berklee, and the New England Conservatory, and took private lessons from legendary jazz pianist Bill Evans. The list of musicians with whom LaVerne has worked reads like a Who's Who in jazz: Frank Sinatra, Stan Getz, Woody Herman, Dizzy Gillespie, Chick Corea, Lionel Hampton, Michael Brecker, Elvin Jones, and numerous others.

A prolific recording artist, his projects as a leader number over 50, the most recent are: Intuition, a duo with saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi (SteepleChase), and Epiphany, a collection of Andy’s newest compositions (ClaveBop).

LaVerne is also a prominent jazz educator, having released a series of instructional videos, Guide to Modern Jazz Piano, Vols. 1 &, 2, and Jazz Piano Standards (Homespun Tapes), featuring the Yamaha Disklavier, as well as the video, In Concert (Homespun Tapes), with guitarist John Abercrombie. He is the author of Handbook of Chord Substitutions, Tons of Runs (Ekay), Bill Evans Compositions 19 Solo Piano Arrangements, and is the pianist on The Chick Corea Play-Along Collection (Hal Leonard).

The Music Of Andy LaVerne (SteepleChase Publications) has recently been published. Forthcoming are Keyboard’s Jazz Piano Compendium (BackBeat Books), and Jazz Bach, and Jazz Chopin (Mel Bay). Countdown To Giant Steps (Aebersold Jazz) is a two CD play-a-long with companion book, of which LaVerne served as player/producer/writer, and Tunes You Thought You Knew (Aebersold Jazz) is a LaVerne play-a-long CD/book set. Secret of the Andes, a collection of LaVerne originals, is Andy’s newest offering from Aebersold Jazz.

Andy is a frequent contributor (since 1986) to Keyboard Magazine, and Piano Today Magazine. His articles have also appeared in Down Beat, Jazz Improv, Piano Quarterly, Jazz and Keyboard Workshop, and JazzOne.

Andy is the recipient of five Jazz Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and winner of the 2000 John Lennon Songwriting contest for his tune Shania. He has appeared at concerts, festivals, and clubs throughout the world, and has also given clinics and Master classes at universities, colleges, and conservatories worldwide. Recently he has toured and recorded with legendary singer/songwriter Neil Sedaka. LaVerne is Professor of Jazz Piano at The Hartt School (University of Hartford), and on the faculty of the Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshops.
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/andy-laverne/

Spot On

Bob Baldwin - It's Okay to Dream

Styles: Smooth Jazz
Size: 154,2 MB
Time: 66:44
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2024
Art: Front

1. Cape Town At Night (7:33)
2. Turn Up the Positive (5:30)
3. That One (6:48)
4. My Will (4:44)
5. Malema, Pt. 1 (6:56)
6. Malema, Pt. 2 (2:31)
7. Dreamin the Dream (6:13)
8. I'm Good (Thanks for Asking) (5:39)
9. Get the Love (5:46)
10. Complicit (5:53)
11. It's Okay to Dream (5:17)
12. 'Til We Meet Again (3:51)

The second album that jazz keyboard player Bob Baldwin released on June 28 is a contemporary album. Baldwin describes “It’s Okay to Dream” as “a contemporary playlist of thoughts and dreams.”

Crafted from a toolbox of R&B, soul, funk, jazz, house music, Latin American and South African rhythms and melodies, the album was previewed earlier this year with the invigorating single 'I'm Good (Thanks for Asking)'.

The second single, 'Turn Up The Positive', followed on June 17, collecting playlist additions. Baldwin wrote the entire album, revisiting one of his 1980s songs, ‘Get the Love’, and finding inspiration from his wife (‘That One’) and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ('Dreamin' the Dream'). He offers authentic South African culture on 'Malema' and 'Cape Town at Night', which were co-written by Mozambican artist Jimmy Dludlu and performed by Dludlu's band members.

“Some of the music for the album was written in a dream. I hope the playlist takes you to a peaceful place where you can hear your beautiful voice, beyond the busy hustle and bustle of your own existence. This music is exactly what you need at the perfect time,” said Baldwin who just completed a concert tour of Johannesburg, South Africa. 'Til We Meet Again' appears in instrumental and vocal versions on 'Songs My Father Would Dig' and instrumentally on this album. The song was written for Baldwin's late brother William, who tragically died in a car accident in 1991 at the age of nineteen.

“It's a constant reminder, even 33 years later, that you never forget that day, the moment the phone rings and you hear the pain coming over the phone from my sister, who was visited by a local police officer who delivered that horrific news. I had just seen William twelve hours earlier at a family event. That day my heart was torn to shreds. I will never forget him and his spirit. This song is a repeat of a great man. We always ask, “What if…what if he was alive today?” Baldwin said.

Baldwin's contemporary jazz is very beautiful and highly recommended!http://www.smooth-jazz.de/Patrick/Baldwin/ItsOkayToDream.htm

It's Okay to Dream