Carol Welsman - Memories Of You

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2009
Time: 60:51
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 139,3 MB
Art: Front

(3:49) 1. Don't Be That Way
(2:45) 2. Why Don't You Do Right
(3:28) 3. Moonglow
(3:10) 4. Stompin' At The Savoy
(5:47) 5. As Time Goes By
(4:49) 6. When You're Smiling
(4:10) 7. Johnny Guitar
(4:02) 8. Fever
(2:53) 9. Goody Goody
(3:08) 10. The Very Thought Of You
(2:39) 11. On A Slow Boat To China
(4:50) 12. Memories Of You
(3:03) 13. Sing Sing Sing
(3:50) 14. Where Or When
(4:15) 15. More Than You Know
(4:06) 16. The Glory Of Love

Internationally acclaimed vocalist/pianist Carol Welsman is a 6-time Juno Award Nominee (Canadian Grammy). She captivates audiences the world round with her unique ability to story tell and spread her infectious warmth and energy through music. Carol has 13 albums to her credit. Her 2016 solo piano/vocal album “FOR YOU” was the #1 selling album at retail in Japan for 6 months following its release, and it reached number 4 on the jazz charts. Volume 2, This is Carol Jazz Beauties, a trio album, was released in 2019 in Japan and it too was the #1 selling album of the year at retail. Carol’s 2020 Latin Jazz release, “Dance with me”, features a duet with Latin superstar Juan Luis Guerra, and the duet recording was added to a Spotify Latin playlist with 900,000 listeners.

Welsman has a brand new album entitled “14”, her fourteenth recording which will be released September 9, 2022 on Justin Time Records, with four singles that will be pre-released over the Spring and Summer. It is truly a jazz album co-produced by internationally renowned producer and composer/arranger, Romano Musumarra. It features Carol’s intimate piano/vocal accompaniment along with guitar and bass (and a few tracks with drums), featuring.

Carol is the granddaughter of Frank Welsman, founder and first conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Her album “I LIKE MEN- Reflections of Miss Peggy Lee”, was voted Top 5 album of the year in USA Today (all genres) in 2010. Carol has performed for such luminaries as Stevie Wonder, Gordon Lightfoot, Herbie Hancock (duet) and President Bill Clinton. She speaks English, French, Spanish and Italian fluently and also records in these language

While she has internationally, performing from trio to big band to Pops symphony orchestra concerts, Carol has enjoyed much of her career success in Japan and Canada. A “Distinguished Alumnus” of Berklee College of Music, Welsman is also a prolific songwriter and her songs have been recorded by such artists as Celine Dion, Ray Charles and Chrissy Hinde.

“Blessed with so many musical gifts taste, time, projection and a rhythmic sense of when to change chords Carol’s piano is beyond reproach, warm yet rhythmically sharp, giving her voice a perfect hammock of support to swing in.” I’m not an easy pushover, but she’s got what it takes to take me. By Rex Reed https://carolwelsman.com/bio/

Memories Of You

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Jacob Wendt - Silver Street

Styles: Jazz
Year: 2024
Time: 40:08
File: MP3 @ 128K/s
Size: 37,5 MB
Art: Front

(4:36) 1. Silver Street
(5:29) 2. New Groove
(4:55) 3. Park Bench Dream
(5:17) 4. No Shortcuts
(5:52) 5. Sycamore Stomp
(4:04) 6. Gin & Platonic
(5:11) 7. Before You Go
(4:41) 8. Cretaceous

When it comes to making jazz records, Jacob Wendt is a jack-of-all-trades. Not only did he assemble the band for Silver Street and play the drums, he also did all the composing and arranging for the eight songs on the record. He made key recording and mixing decisions alongside engineer Paul Tavenner, who has over 30 years in the industry (previously holding positions at Capitol Records and CBS) and has been the owner of Big City Recording in Los Angeles since 1999.

Born in the Bay Area, Wendt relocated to Southern California at 18 years old to begin studying jazz in earnest. He quickly developed a passion for learning how all his favorite albums were made, which eventually led him to take a more active role in the technical aspects of producing Silver Street. Specifically, he was inspired by the legend of jazz recordist Rudy Van Gelder’s home studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, which was active in the 1950s during hard bop’s golden era. In the spirit of his favorite albums made there, Wendt elected to have his band play together in one room at Big City while opting for minimalist miking techniques. Using a classic stereo spread that has horns and drums flanking the piano and bass in the center, each instrument cuts through the mix with refreshing clarity. And where the recording of piano tends to suffer on numerous classic jazz albums, here it has been exceptionally recorded. Wendt and Tavenner have succeeded at creating an intimate sonic portrait of a small jazz combo swinging into the wee hours of the night at a crowded metropolitan club.

Silver Street gets off to a swift start with the album’s title track, the name of which aptly cites one of Wendt’s main influences. Horace Silver was known to write uptempo, winding melodies in the spirit of bebop, and fans of the pianist might find “Silver Street” tastefully reminiscent of his composing and arranging style. Full of hits, breaks, and stop-time, this uptempo piece features a unison melody line that splits into call and response phrases at the bridge. The whole group really shines on this number. Trumpeter Harry Ostrander is first, coming straight out of the break with two fiery choruses. Jimmy Emerzian follows on tenor sax, crafting his solo with zig-zagging lines and intrepid bursts of energy. Pianist Doug Carter delivers a dazzling solo, stretching out to make use of the entire keyboard while throwing in some surprising rhythmic variations that will keep the listener on their toes. The whole piece ramps up to a shout chorus that puts the spotlight on the drums, highlighting Wendt's understated yet very slick playing.

In addition to Silver, Wendt readily admits that the Blue Note Records catalog has served as a broader source of inspiration. Beginning with the release of Lee Morgan’s “The Sidewinder” in 1964, the “boogaloo” became a staple of numerous classic Blue Note albums that followed. “New Groove'' comes from that boogaloo school, but adds a twist: While the piece follows a standard A-A-B-A structure, Wendt spices things up by using a changing time signature for the A sections that alternates between 4/4 and 3/4. It’s a real treat to follow along with bassist David Reynoso’s soulful, varied basslines throughout. Tap your foot and get lost in Wendt’s funky house of mirrors!

“Park Bench Dream” is another of the album’s Silver-inspired tunes. The song’s laid-back melody came to Wendt in a dream where he and Silver sat together on a park bench poring over sheet music. You can almost feel the breeze while listening. “No Shortcuts” evokes a different kind of mood. The song’s darker modal theme and waltz feel reference another of Wendt's chief inspirations, Wayne Shorter. Pianist Carter sets things off with some triumphant block chords, then proceeds to fill the empty space left by the horns with pretty runs recalling Herbie Hancock backing Shorter on one of their legendary dates together. Careful listening will reveal how trumpet and tenor beautifully weave their solo together for one chorus, initially trading phrases before building and overlapping their lines. You’ll hear them take this approach a few times on the album.

“Sycamore Stomp” is a 24-bar blues written as an ode to the street of the same name that Wendt lived on in downtown Santa Ana. Surrounded by nightclubs and bars, Wendt imagined a lively crowd swarming the street below his window on a Saturday night during jazz’s golden age. Things begin with trumpeter Harry Ostrander letting off a warning shot before delivering his most inspired solo of the record. Emerzian follows, rising to the occasion with two rousing choruses full of groovy licks. Carter is next with an exuberant solo highlighted by periodic use of glissando which keeps the party going. The piece closes with a punchy shout chorus before returning to the melody.

Cooling things down for a bit, “Gin and Platonic” is a contrafact of the jazz standard “Just Friends.” Parts of the melody here emphasize and harmonize chord extensions that give the piece a bit of an unresolved, teetering feeling. Piano is absent during the head and horn solo sections, which frees up the trumpet and tenor to forge a harmonic path forward with less restraints. Improvised in the style of legendary duo Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh, the frontline engages in some percolating counterpoint, and Carter perfectly complements the mellower vibe with a sparse, lyrical solo. Wendt holds down the background all along with tight, swinging brush work locked in with Reynoso’s driving pulse.

“Before You Go” is a tender ballad that fits into Silver Street’s tracklist like a glove. If I had to pick one word to describe the ambience here, it would have to be “classic.” The horn lines ooze mood, melding together then parting again in a seamless dance. Trumpeter Ostrander focuses on the melody while tenor Emerzian plays background lines, counterpoint ideas, and harmonized phrases. Also noteworthy is the longing, lyrical melodic line penned by Wendt, which has an especially satisfying cadence in the final stanza.

Closing things out is “Cretaceous.” Named after a period in Earth’s ancient history dominated by dinosaurs – specifically, the king of all the big lizards, Tyrannosaurus Rex – indeed there is something primeval about music that makes a break with more traditional harmonic ideas. “Cretaceous” begins with a foreboding unaccompanied solo by bassist Reynoso, which is masterfully recorded by engineer Tavenner. The band then joins Reynoso, and Ostrander’s choice of a mute for his trumpet gives the track’s otherwise menacing mood a touch of comic relief. After the head, the rhythm section breaks out into a lurking walk as pianist Carter channels a dissonant solo in the Monkian tradition. Finally, our humble bandleader returns to the spotlight mid-song, fastidiously working around his kit while the bass leads and horns interject.

In its own voice, Silver Street makes a unique contribution to a musical conversation that began many years ago in jazz’s hard bop era. And record collectors are starting to take notice of Jacob Wendt, who had a hand in every aspect of making this album: composing, performing, recording, graphic design, and pressing the vinyl. The finished product the very LP you are now holding is sure to make his passion for this entire process undeniable! By Richard Capeless

Personnel: Jacob Wendt (drums, compositions); Harry Ostrander (trumpet);Jimmy Emerzian (tenor sax);Doug Carter (piano); David Reynoso (bass)

Silver Street

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Nina Simone - High Priestess Of Soul

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 1967
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 35:51
Size: 88,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:09)  1. Don't You Pay Them No Mind
(2:18)  2. I'm Gonna Leave You
(2:06)  3. Brown Eyed Handsome Man
(3:26)  4. Keeper Of The Flame
(2:48)  5. The Gal From Joe's
(2:49)  6. Take Me To The Water
(2:52)  7. I'm Going Back Home
(2:21)  8. I Hold No Grudge
(3:39)  9. Come Ye
(3:10) 10. He Ain't Comin' Home No More
(3:07) 11. Work Song
(4:01) 12. I Love My Baby

Perhaps a bit more conscious of contemporary soul trends than her previous Philips albums, this is still very characteristic of her mid-'60s work in its eclectic mix of jazz, pop, soul, and some blues and gospel. Hal Mooney directs some large band arrangements for the material on this LP without submerging Simone's essential strengths. The more serious and introspective material is more memorable than the good-natured pop selections here. 

The highlights are her energetic vocal rendition of the Oscar Brown/Nat Adderley composition "Work Song" and her spiritual composition "Come Ye," on which Simone's inspirational vocals are backed by nothing other than minimal percussion.By Richie Unterberger http://www.allmusic.com/album/high-priestess-of-soul-mw0000691461

High Priestess Of Soul

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