Jackie Ryan - This Heart of Mine

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:44
Size: 160,5 MB
Art: Front + Back

(3:52)  1. This Heart of Mine
(3:46)  2. Sleepin' Bee
(6:34)  3. Estate (Summer)
(5:50)  4. East of the Sun
(4:00)  5. Jump for Joy
(5:45)  6. Make it Last
(3:59)  7. Anos Dourados
(5:15)  8. Maybe September
(3:39)  9. When I Grow Old to Dream
(5:34) 10. Moon and Sand
(4:13) 11. Come Back to Me, Lover Come Back to Me
(6:48) 12. Sari (Trieste)
(4:49) 13. Velas Icadus (Sails)
(4:34) 14. Seasons of the Heart

You simply cannot sing a song any better than Jackie Ryan does. And you cannot make a better jazz vocal CD than this one. It is perfect. If that sounds too reverent, let me change the praise to “perfectly wonderful.” Each of the elements is truly wonderful: the choice of songs, the arrangements, accompanying musicians, even the ordering of the songs. And, most importantly, of course, Jackie Ryan! She is a smart, sophisticated vocalist for grown ups and this is her finest record and, in fact, may well be the best jazz vocal disc of 2003. If justice does exist, This Heart of Mine should make the San-Francisco-based Jackie a star. She has it all, a luxuriant smoky, rich alto, a feeling for jazz, a deft sense of swing, effortless delivery, stunning presentation and, just as importantly, an unaffected honesty. Each of her four CDs shows the steady growth of this remarkably talented artist, but This Heart of Mine deserves superlatives. How about the spell she weaves on that newest of standards, the jazz elegy to summer, “Estate,” or her moving version of Jobim’s seldom recorded tender “Anos Dourados” (Golden Years) sung in perfect Portuguese. The seldom-performed “Maybe September” is an exceptional song from a very non-exceptional movie (“The Oscar”). 

Alec Wilder’s “Moon and Sand” is getting more attention the past decade, and well it should. Ryan’s version is a wonderful and most tender addition to the growing canon. Other highlights include a gospel-tinged “Jump for Joy” and a graceful “Sleepin’ Bee.” Each track is meticulously constructed but still, the feeling of improvisation so important in jazz abounds. The “construction lines” are not visible only the spontaneity and the joy. You can tell a lot about a singer by the accompanists she keeps and Jackie Ryan keeps the best. This Heart of Mine features two different marvelous core bands. Four Los Angeles-based master musicians include pianist Jon Mayer, drummer Roy McCurdy, guitarist Barry Zweig, and bassist Darek Oles. A San Francisco contingent includes either Leonard Thompson or pianists Amina Figarova, bassists John Wiitala or Ruth Davies, and percussionists Omar Clay or Jason Lewis. The legendary Toots Thielemans adds his lyrical magic on the aforementioned “Estate” and “Maybe September.” Saxophonist Ernie Watts delivers some memorable contributions on three cuts. Yutaka Yokokura provides beautiful strings and Steve Erquiaga gentle bossa guitar rhythms on Jobim’s “Anos Dourados.” Jackie Ryan has a full-bodied voice and she intoxicates with a combination of power and perfume. She can be cute without cloying, sassy without being smug, she can swing but handles ballads with an assured delicacy and depth. Jackie is the real thing, an artist to delight in today and to follow in the future. This Heart of Mine is sixty seven minutes of glorious music. ~ Roger Crane https://www.allaboutjazz.com/this-heart-of-mine-jackie-ryan-openart-review-by-roger-crane.php

Personnel: Steve Erquiaga - Guitar;  Barry Zweig - Guitar;  Ruth Davies - Bass;  Roy McCurdy - Drums;  Jon Mayer - Piano;  Darek Oles - Bass;  Toots Thielemans - Harmonica;  Ernie Watts - Sax;  John Wiitala - Bass;  Jason Lewis - Drums;  Amina Figarova - Piano;  Yutaka Yokokura - Strings; Jackie Ryan - Vocals;  Leonard Thompson - Piano;  Bart Plateau - Flute;  Derek Oles - Bass.

This Heart of Mine

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Chet Baker - Koln Concert Featuring Dick Twardzik

Styles: Cool Jazz
Year: 1955
Time: 78:32
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 180,3 MB
Art: Front

( 2:50) 1. Announcement
( 7:16) 2. Exitus
( 0:31) 3. Announcement
( 7:08) 4. Tommyhawk
( 4:02) 5. Imagination
( 0:13) 6. Chet Baker Presents Dick Twardzik's Solo Feature
( 8:46) 7. Yellow Tango
( 5:29) 8. Someone to Watch Over Me
( 9:26) 9. C.T.A.
( 6:01) 10. My Funny Valentine
( 0:36) 11. Announcement: Campi Introduces Hans Koller and Willi Sanner
( 9:57) 12. Cool Blues
(15:08) 13. I'll Remember April
( 1:02) 14. Exitus (Closing Words by Chet Baker)

Unreleased for half a century and worth the wait. Documenting a complete West German live appearance from October 9, 1955 (including an announcement from promoter Gigi Campi and some impromptu dialogue from Chet Baker himself), The Köln Concert Featuring Dick Twardzik captures a harder, more soulful dimension of the trumpeter's work absent from his concurrent studio dates.

There's real heat simmering below Baker's icy-cool tones, and he invests familiar compositions like "Imagination" and "I'll Remember April" with new verve. No less notable is his support staff, featuring pianist Richard Twardzik in one of his final performances before his fatal heroin overdose just 12 days later. His contributions here are shapely and supple, each note a poignant reminder of the immense talent he squandered away.By Jason Ankeny
https://www.allmusic.com/album/k%C3%B6ln-concert-featuring-dick-twardzik-mw0000583508#review

Personnel: Trumpet, Vocals – Chet Baker; Baritone Saxophone – Willi Sanner ; Drums – Peter Littman; Piano – Dick Twardzik; Tenor Saxophone – Hans Koller

Koln Concert

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Carmen Cuesta-Loeb - Toda una vida

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:43
Size: 119,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:46)  1. Voy a Apagar la Luz
(3:50)  2. Quizás, Quizás, Quizás
(4:23)  3. Contigo Aprendí
(4:40)  4. Eu Sei Que Vou Te Amar
(4:02)  5. El Reloj
(4:57)  6. La Puerta
(4:40)  7. El Día Que Me Quieras
(4:52)  8. No Te Confundas
(4:09)  9. Dos Gardenias
(4:16) 10. Como Fue
(3:16) 11. Bésame Mucho
(3:46) 12. Toda una Vida

“Toda Una Vida” is not your typical Boleros album even though it has mostly Bolero standards. Spaniard singer Carmen Cuesta gives a nice jazzy spin to classic Boleros in her CD with the help of jazz guitarist and husband Chuck Loeb. “Most singers at one point in their career will want to do a Boleros album…” Carmen told me in an interview with Latino Music Café. “There are so many good Bolero albums out there, that I wanted to give mine something different. I wanted to combine the American influence of Jazz with the Latin essence of the Bolero” said the singer raised in Madrid.To be able to achieve this beautiful differentiation in “Toda Una Vida”, it helps to work (and be married ) with legendary guitarist Chuck Loeb, who played in Stan Getz´s band. 

“Collaborating with Chuck allowed me to take (the songs) into a slightly different dimension, a new approach” says Carmen in her press release for “Toda Una Vida” (released January 2014). In our conversation, Carmen said that they wanted to change the tempo of the typical Bolero, but still keeping the essence of the message and feeling of each song. This extraordinary mix of beautiful Bolero standards with a slightly different musical approach was achieved thanks to Chuck Loeb’s musical mastery as well as the participation of Madrid-based renown musicians. “Toda Una Vida” was co-produced by popular Spanish music producer Paco Ortega and was recorded in Ortega’s Musicgrama recording studio in Madrid.¨ For her 6th album, Carmen Cuesta selected a combination of songs that include renown Bolero standards, a few less known Boleros, and then added one song of her own authorship. “My first thought was to record less known but beautiful Boleros that people might not be familiar with; but then decided that I also wanted to record some Bolero standards that I really love. To round up the album I thought, ‘why not add one of my own compositions?’, and added “No Te Confundas”. http://www.latinomusiccafe.com/2014/02/16/carmen-cuestas-jazzy-boleros-in-toda-una-vida/

Personnel: Carmen Cuesta: vocals; Chuck Loeb: guitars, additional keyboards; José San Martín: drums, shakers; Antonio “Toño” Miguel: acoustic bass; Moisés P. Sánchez: piano, electric piano; Yuvisney Aguilar: percussion; Antonio Serrano: harmonica (3); Kike Perdomo: flute (2); Oli Rockberger: piano (12).

Toda una vida

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The World's Greatest Jazz Band Of Yank Lawson & Bob Haggart - Live At The Roosevelt Grill

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:32
Size: 106.5 MB
Styles: Big band, Dixieland
Year: 1970/2007
Art: Front

[3:25] 1. That's A Plenty
[3:48] 2. Five Point Blues
[5:06] 3. My Honey's Lovin' Arms
[3:25] 4. Black And Blue
[4:12] 5. That D Minor Thing
[3:37] 6. Royal Garden Blues
[5:26] 7. Come Back Sweet Papa
[4:05] 8. Under The Moonlight Starlight Blue
[3:49] 9. Constantly
[5:05] 10. New Orleans
[4:30] 11. The Jazz Me Blues

This all-star group was founded in 1968 by Dick Gibson at his sixth annual Jazz Party. Despite the impossibility of living up to its outrageous name, the band was indeed the finest in Dixieland/classic jazz. Co-led by Yank Lawson and Bob Haggart, and also featuring Billy Butterfield, Bud Freeman, Bob Miller, and Ralph Sutton, the WGJB originally alternated standards with Dixiefied versions of current pop tunes like "Mrs. Robinson," but its finest album (Live on Atlantic) sticks to hot jamming. After the personnel changed a bit (Eddie Miller and Dick Wellstood passed through the band), the group broke up in 1978, although reunions by Lawson and Haggart in later years sometimes revived the name. Their recordings for Project 3, Atlantic, and their own World Jazz label are pretty much all worth getting. ~bio by Scott Yanow

Live At The Roosevelt Grill

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