The Cannonball Adderley Quintet - Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! Live At "The Club"

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1967
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:22
Size: 95,2 MB
Art: Front

( 0:07)  1. Introduction
( 8:19)  2. Fun
( 7:20)  3. Games
( 5:10)  4. Mercy, Mercy, Mercy!
( 4:03)  5. Sticks
( 5:49)  6. Hippodelphia
(10:31)  7. Sack O' Woe

Cannonball Adderley's most popular album, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy wasn't actually recorded "Live at 'The Club'," as its subtitle says. The hoax was meant to publicize a friend's nightclub venture in Chicago, but Adderley actually recorded the album in Los Angeles, where producer David Axelrod set up a club in the Capitol studios and furnished free drinks to an invitation-only audience. Naturally, the crowd is in an extremely good mood, and Adderley's quintet, feeding off the energy in the room, gives them something to shout about. By this point, Adderley had perfected a unique blend of earthy soul-jazz and modern, subtly advanced post-bop; very rarely did some of these harmonies and rhythms pop up in jazz so saturated with blues and gospel feeling. Those latter influences are the main inspiration for acoustic/electric pianist Joe Zawinul's legendary title cut, a genuine Top 40 pop hit that bears a passing resemblance to the Southern soul instrumentals of the mid-'60s, but works a looser, more laid-back groove (without much improvisation). 

The deep, moaning quality and spacy texture of "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" stand in contrast to the remainder of the record, though; Nat Adderley contributes two upbeat and challenging originals in "Fun" and "Games," while Zawinul's second piece, "Hippodelphia," is on the same level of sophistication. The leader's two selections the gospel-inflected "Sticks" and the hard-swinging, bluesy bop of "Sack O' Woe" (the latter of which became a staple of his repertoire)  are terrific as well, letting the group really dig into its roots. Adderley's irrepressible exuberance was a major part of his popularity, and no document captures that quality as well or with such tremendous musical rewards as Mercy, Mercy, Mercy. ~ Steve Huey   http://www.allmusic.com/album/mercy-mercy-mercy!-live-at-the-club-mw0000173884

Personnel : Cannonball Adderley (alto saxophone); Nat Adderley (cornet); Joe Zawinul (acoustic & electric pianos); Victor Gaskin (bass); Roy McCurdy (drums).

Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! Live At "The Club"

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Jimmy Heath Quartet - You've Changed

Bitrate: 320K/s

Time: 62:20

Size: 142.7 MB

Styles: Saxophone jazz, Hard bop

Year: 1991

Art: Front

[8:11] 1. Soul Eyes

[9:19] 2. Sleeves

[7:12] 3. Bluesville

[8:16] 4. You've Changed

[7:27] 5. Basic Birks

[7:10] 6. Last Night When We Were Young

[6:35] 7. Sassy Samba

[8:07] 8. Prince Albert

You've Changed presents journeyman saxophonist Jimmy Heath in an unadorned setting that exhibits his talents in full splendor. Also a noted composer -- three of the pieces here are his -- this session showcases Heath's sound, which is as smoky and sweet as the best whiskey. Heath plays with fluid drive. The composer in him never takes a break as evidenced by the logical flow of his melodic ideas. The band is a pared down version of the Heath Brothers with regulars Tony Purrone and brother Tootie Heath on board joined by bassist Ben Brown. Purrone's smooth, bluesy fretwork provides just the right foil for the leader. ~David Dupont

You've Changed

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Stella Bass - Look for the Silver Lining

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2024
Time: 42:17
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 97,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:32) 1. Being Alive
(5:41) 2. Blame It on My Youth
(2:23) 3. This Could Be the Start of Something Big
(3:47) 4. All the Colours of My Love
(5:07) 5. Pure Imagination
(3:32) 6. Old Devil Moon
(5:15) 7. Still
(3:11) 8. Look for the Silver Lining
(4:23) 9. I Believe in You
(4:21) 10. Change Partners

It is an enviable trait to always look for the silver lining in troubled times. For Dublin vocalist Stella Bass, when gigs dried up during the Covid pandemic, the silver lining was the gift of time. She did not waste it, studying music production with Berklee College, Boston, and music composition & arranging with Studio Orchestrations, Belfast. The seeds planted, work duly followed, with writing, arranging and syncing music for TV, film and gaming. She also decided that it was time to record again, almost a decade after Too Darn Hot (Self Produced, 2014). For Bass, the title of her second album seemed obvious from the outset.

Bass has led her own quartet for years, playing a weekly residency at Dublin's Café en Seine. She has also sung with the long-running Dublin City Jazz Orchestra, so she can call on the cream of the city's jazz musicians. It is no less than her voice deserves. Just as pianist Phil Ware's arrangements were key to the success of Too Darn Hot, another lauded pianist, Johnny Taylor, leaves an indelible stamp on the standards-heavy Look for the Silver Lining, with arrangements which play to Bass' strengths.

Taylor is a refined pianist, one who values economy and space, qualities that also shape his arrangements. However, when the mood takes him he is also capable of lighting a fire, as he does on "Being Alive," and on the swinging "Old Devil Moon," while his silky touch chimes nicely with Bass' deft delivery on the ever-popular "Pure Imagination." Drummer Dominic Mullan and bassist Barry Donohue, both long-standing collaborators, provide equally sympathetic support.

Telling cameos from flugelhornist Ronan Dooney brighten "Blame It on My Youth" and the leader's own "All The Colours of My Love," while tenor saxophonist Michael Buckley brings his customary panache to the swinging "This Could be the Start of Something Big" and the bossa nova-tinged "Change Partners."

But Bass is the real star of the show, her pure-toned voice, lightly spiced by vibrato, bossing the swingers, and imbuing the ballads with the requisite emotional nuance. In essence an interpretive jazz singer, albeit one who also sings Kurt Weil, Marlene Dietrich, Amy Winehouse and Ella Fitzgerald, Bass contributes two original compositions.

The swaying "All the Colours of My Heart" and the pretty ballad "Still," co-penned with Yann O'Brien and Neville Lloyd respectively, nestle comfortably among the standards. So comfortably, in fact, that for one not overly familiar with the standards presented here, it would be hard to pick out Bass' originals from those by Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin et al. She should not wait for the next pandemic before reaching for pen and blank paper.

Excellent production values give these strong performances the added luster they demand. Recommended for lovers of vocal jazz standards sultry, swinging, playful and tender. By Ian Patterson https://www.allaboutjazz.com/look-for-the-silver-lining-stella-bass-self-produced

Personnel: Stella Vass: Vocal; Johnny Taylor: piano; Dominic Mullan: drums; Barry Donohue: bass; Michael Buckley: tenor saxophone; Ronan Dooney: flugelhorn

Look for the Silver Lining

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