Fay Claassen & David Linx & Wdr Big Band - And Still We Sing

Styles: Vocal, Big Band
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:01
Size: 129,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:32) 1. Sum It up (Disturbing the Peace)
(5:17) 2. Along Goes Betty
(5:48) 3. Waterfalls
(5:19) 4. Good Times
(5:55) 5. Tackle and Dabble
(6:30) 6. In a Sentimental Mood
(5:04) 7. Feel the Beat
(6:35) 8. J’me Prépare
(6:12) 9. I Will Build Myself a Nation (Biding My Time)
(3:43) 10. Rebirth

The Dutch vocalist Fay Claassen and her Belgian colleague David Linx sing some passages in unison, in others their voices cross or shine on their own. A congenial duo that harmonizes almost perfectly with each other, without a doubt, two all-round complementary timbres that already made for exclamation marks on the album “One Heart, Three Voices” with Diederik Wissels in 2005. But Claassen and Linx only experience the fine finishing touches through the dynamism of the WDR Big Band, which Magnus Lindgren navigates through ten songs. You never tire of singing the Song of Songs to this brilliantly nuanced body of sound, which is once again able to fully serve the two protagonists,without directing the spotlight on his famous soloists such as trombonist Andy Hunter or tenor saxophonist Paul Heller (Claassen's husband) at the right moments. Exciting: In the opener “Sum It Up (Disturbing The Peace)” the vocalists build a stable bridge from scat to rap in the form of spoken recitations. I would love to have more of it! Translate By Google https://www.jazzthing.de/review/fay-claassen-david-linx-and-still-we-sing/

And Still We Sing

---

Chuck Sagle & Neal Hefti Orchestras - Splendor In The Brass + Jazz Pops

Bitrate: 320K/s

Time: 65:27

Size: 149.8 MB

Styles: Contemporary jazz

Year: 2013

Art: Front

[3:57] 1. When Sunny Gets Blue

[3:22] 2. A Taste Of Honey

[2:49] 3. Bernie's Tune

[3:16] 4. Man With A Horn

[4:05] 5. Playboy's Theme

[2:54] 6. On Green Dolphin Street

[2:50] 7. Love For Sale

[1:55] 8. A Night In Tunisia

[2:51] 9. Easy Living

[2:03] 10. The Moon Was Yellow

[2:54] 11. Brassanctified

[2:56] 12. Coral Reef

[2:12] 13. Take Five

[2:50] 14. Exodus

[3:24] 15. Like Young

[4:56] 16. One & Two O'clock Jump

[3:14] 17. Cute

[4:34] 18. Moanin'

[3:10] 19. Petite Fleur

[5:07] 20. Li'l Darlin'

Tracks #1-11, from the Reprise album "Splendor in the Brass" (RS 6047). Tracks #12-20, from the Reprise album "Jazz Pops" (RS 6039). Both sessions recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, in 1962.

Chuck Sagle was a widely experienced arranger and conductor when, in 1962, he joined the a&r department at Reprise Records in Los Angeles. Among the first projects he produced for the label was his own album “Splendor in the Brass.” His tasteful arrangements skillfully juxtaposed various small instrumental combinations with each other and with the full orchestra, with deftly voiced French horns and saxophones revealing his fertile imagination and versatility. Garnishing these well-conceived performances are solos by such luminaries as Lou Levy, Shorty Sherock, Cappy Lewis, Buddy Collette, Bill Perkins and Emil Richards.

The second album on this set, “Jazz Pops,” also a Reprise release, is by another big band, this time under the direction of arranger, composer, trumpeter and bandleader Neal Hefti. While his arrangements here are of a different order to his early work for Woody Herman and Count Basie, they still bear the mark of his considerable talent. His writing is economical and unpretentious. The soloists, moreover, include Joe Maini, Jack Sheldon, Ted Nash, Larry Bunker and Conte Candoli.

In all, two highly satisfying big band albums of similar approach and spectacular sound, solidly heavily conceived and arranged—and brilliantly performed.

CHUCK SAGLE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Collective personnel includes: Conrad Gozzo, Mickey Mangano, Shorty Sherock, John Best, Ray Triscari, Bud Brisbois (tp); Cappy Lewis (tp, flh); Dave Wells (b-tp); Milt Bernhart, Tommy Pederson, William Schaefer, Lew McCreary, Lloyd Ulyate, Lew McCreary, Tommy Shepard, Dave Wells (tb); Ed Kusby, George Roberts (b-tb); Sinclair Lott, James Decker, George Hyde, Gale Robinson, Vince DeRosa, John Cave, Alan Robinson (frh); Ted Nash, Harry Klee, Bill Calkins (as, fl); Jules Jacob (as, cl); Buddy Collette (ts, fl); Wilbur Schwartz, Gene Cipriano, Bill Perkins (ts); Chuck Gentry, Dick Nash (bs); Sam Rice, Red Callender (tuba); Louis Singer, Emil Richards (vib); Ray Sherman, Lou Levy (p); Al Hendrickson, Bob Gibbons (g); Joe Mondragon (b); Alvin Stoller, Milt Holland, Earl Palmer (d); Norman Jeffries, Larry Bunker (bongos); plus string section.

NEAL HEFTI AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Collective personnel includes: Al Porcino, Conte Candoli, Gerald Wilson, Don Fagerquist, Jack Sheldon, Pete Candoli (tp); Dick Nash, Tommy Pederson, Lew McCreary, Tommy Shepard, Dick Noel (tb); George Roberts, Kenny Shroyer (b-tb); Vince DeRosa, Bill Hinshaw, Dick Perissi, Gale Robinson, Alan Robinson (frh); Joe Maini, Charlie Kennedy (as); Med Flory, Lou Ciotti (ts); Bill Hood (bar); Harry Klee, Plas Johnson, Bill Calkins, Justin Gordon, Buddy Collette, Ted Nash, Willie Schwartz (fl); Emil Richards (vib); Larry Bunker (vib, bongos); Bob Gibbons (g); Al McKibbon (b); Shelly Manne, Earl Palmer (d); Milt Holland (conga); Francisco Aquabella (bongos).

Splendor In The Brass + Jazz Pops

---

Joel Lyssarides/Georgios Prokopiou - Arcs & Rivers

Styles: Jazz
Year: 2024
Time: 40:41
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 94,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:34) 1. Arcs
(4:51) 2. Anamnesis
(3:07) 3. A Night in Piraeus
(5:25) 4. Echoes
(4:27) 5. Rivers
(2:15) 6. Lyssarides Lament
(6:08) 7. Kamilieriko Road
(4:30) 8. Orange Moon
(3:25) 9. From East to West
(2:55) 10. Zafeirious Solo

It is highly (exceedingly) likely that an album review involving a piano and a bouzouki has never been featured in any high end audio journal. Most will have never heard of this instrument and will utter “It’s all Greek to me”, and they will of course be correct.

Arcs & Rivers is just such an album, but fear not, with the exception of one track that celebrates the ‘Greekness’ associated with the instrument, the album will not evoke memories of long hot days on a magical Aegean isle.

This album is the result of musical curiosity, Joel Lyssarides (piano) went and heard Georgios Prokopiou (bouzouki) playing live in Stockholm, spoke to him afterwards, and they arranged to meet for a session and have forged a musical partnership. Both musicians come are of Greek origin but are residents of Stockholm.

The musical journeys taken by Lyssarides and Prokopiou could not have been more different to one another, while Lyssarides has made his name from accompanying mezzo-soprano Anne Sophie von Otter as well as being a contributor to the excellent Esbjörn Svensson tribute e.s.t. 30, commemorative album, Prokopiou had a less salubrious start and honed his skills playing his bouzouki at seedy clubs in Athens from the age of 10.

The result of this meeting of stark different musical backgrounds is a charming short album that in deference to the promos is far from being anything close to jazz, instead it offers melodious sounds that combine essences of ancient European music with hints of ‘nearly country music’ (the banjo is a distant relative of the bouzouki after all) with some Greek accents. There are melodys, pace and panache and a very synergetic musical relationship, there is no leader in this band of two.

The bouzouki sound signature is made of using three or four groups of two strings and is mostly at the mid high to high range of the sound scale. When accompanied by a piano that is able to offer syncopating background backup with lower registers, the bouzouki is projected and stands in front of the speakers, listening to the album is akin to a live session in a small space. Arcs & Rivers is a charming album, timed for the arrival of shorter days and a likely to aid lowering the blood pressure during a commute on busy highways and byways.
https://the-ear.net/music/arcs-rivers/

Arcs & Rivers

---