Emmy Rossum - Inside Out

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:02
Size: 119,6 MB
Art: Front

(2:36)  1. Slow Me Down
(3:23)  2. Inside Out
(3:14)  3. Stay
(4:04)  4. Falling
(6:53)  5. The Great Divide
(4:54)  6. Lullaby
(5:44)  7. Don't Stop Now
(3:59)  8. High
(4:53)  9. A Million Pieces
(3:42) 10. Rainy Days And Mondays
(4:49) 11. Anymore
(3:45) 12. Been Too Long

2007 debut album from Emmy Rossum, the actress best known for her acting roles in Phantom Of The Opera, Mystic River, and The Day After Tomorrow. Despite her being known primary as an actress, music has always played a major role in Emmy Rossum's life. When she was seven years old, she was singing with the Metropolitan Opera, and by the time she was a teenager, she had auditioned, and won, the part of Christine in the film version of Phantom of the Opera, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. Rossum recorded her new music with producer Stuart Brawley, with whom she co-wrote all of the songs, and it represents a showcase for her remarkable vocal range. Geffen. ~ Editorial Reviews https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Out-Emmy-Rossum/dp/B000W7Y1LK

Personnel:  Emmy Rossum — Writer, Vocals;  Stuart Brawley — Keyboards, Bass;  Joe Corcoran — Guitar;  Abe Laboriel, Jr. — Drums;  Sean Hurley — Bass

Inside Out

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Alex Acuña & The Unknowns - S/T

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:10
Size: 101.1 MB
Styles: Fusion
Year: 1991
Art: Front

[3:51] 1. Te Amo
[3:51] 2. Joe's Red Eye
[4:42] 3. Marionettes
[5:30] 4. Hoppin' It
[4:09] 5. Nice
[4:15] 6. Cocho San
[2:52] 7. Van Nuys Jam
[5:04] 8. Thinking Of You (Pensando En Ti)
[6:00] 9. Psalms
[3:52] 10. Ten O' Clock Groove

Backing Vocals – Dante Young, Tiki; Bass – Abe Laboriel, John Peña; Drums, Percussion, Vocals – Alex Acuña; Flute – Danilo Lozano; Flute, Synthesizer [Wind] – Pedro Eustache; Guitar – Carlos Santana; Guitar [Guitars] – Ramon Stagnaro; Keyboards – Cocho Arbe; Keyboards, Vocals – Otmaro Ruiz; Percussion – Luis Conte, Michito Sanchez, Paulinho Da Costa, Rudy Regalado; Saxophone [Sax] – Brandon Fields; Vocals – Diana Acuña; Vocals, Piano – Lou Pardini.

Born in Pativilca, Peru, Acuña played in local bands from the age of ten, and moved to Lima as a teenager. At the age of eighteen he joined the band of Perez Prado, and in 1966 he moved to San Juan Puerto Rico. In 1974 Acuña moved to Las Vegas, working with artists such as Elvis Presley and Diana Ross, and the following year he joined the jazz-fusion group Weather Report, appearing on the albums Black Market and Heavy Weather. Acuña left Weather Report in 1978, and became a session musician in California, recording and playing live with (amongst many others) Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Ella Fitzgerald, Elvis Presley, Chick Corea, Whitney Houston, Plácido Domingo, former Weather Report bandmates Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock, Carlos Santana, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Beck, Roberta Flack, U2, Al Jarreau Marcos Witt. He can be found on recordings by musicians as culturally Lee Ritenour, Johnny Clegg, Roy Orbison, YellowJackets, Lalo Schiffrin, Milton Nascimento, Don Grusin, Dave Grusin, The Brecker Brothers, Arturo sandoval, Paquito d' Rivera, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Brad Melhdau, Paco de Lucia, John Patitucci, Sadao Watanabe, Lyle Mays, Diana Ross, Sergio Mendez, Robbie Robertson, Jackson Browne Beth Midler, Christina Aguilrera, Seal, Chris Botti.

Alex Acuna & The Unknowns are one of the greatest fusion groups that nobody has heard of! Alex Acuna (drummer for the famous Weather Report) and world class session drummer is well known but his work with the "Unknowns" remains unknown to the vast majority of the jazz fusion listening public! ~David Arivett

Alex Acuña & The Unknowns mc
Alex Acuña & The Unknowns zippy

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Jeff Lorber - He Had A hat

Styles: Piano Jazz

Year: 2007

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 52:22

Size: 120,3 MB

Art: Front

(3:48)  1. Anthem For A New America

(4:34)  2. He Had A Hat

(4:06)  3. Grandma's Hands

(4:10)  4. Surreptitious

(4:25)  5. All Most Blues

(3:54)  6. Orchid (Chris Botti)

(2:28)  7. BC Bop

(5:35)  8. The Other Side of the Heart (Paula Cole)

(3:58)  9. Hudson

(3:52) 10. Super Fusion Unit

(3:50) 11. Eye Tunes

(3:43) 12. Requiem for Gandalf

(3:52) 13. Burn Brightly

A sophisticated showcase for his varied jazz styles, Jeff Lorber's He Had a Hat finds the pianist moving from softly funky pop-jazz numbers to a few straight-ahead swingers. Always an urbane and tasteful musician, Lorber has often found a good balance between contemporary pop oriented material and more cerebral improvisational cuts, and He Had a Hat is a prime example of this duality. To these ends, tracks like the title cut and the frenetic "Surreptitious" evince a kind of Tower of Power meets Brecker Brothers funk. Fittingly, trumpeter Randy Brecker adds his supple chops to the latter track. Similarly engaging big-band numbers like "All Most Blues" and the afterglow ballad "Orchid" bring to mind both early- and late-period Miles Davis, respectively. Also joining Lorber here are a bevy of name artists including trumpeter Chris Botti, vocalist Paula Cole, saxophonist Gerald Albright, and many others.This CD was nominated for a Grammy award in 2007 for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. ~ Matt Collar http://www.allmusic.com/album/he-had-a-hat-mw0000478929

Personnel:  Jeff Lorber – Piano & Keyboards (All Tracks);  Eric Benet – Vocals (Track 3 & 8);  Paula Cole – Vocals (Track 8);  Hubert Laws – Flute (Tracks 9 & 11);  Bob Sheppard – Tenor saxophone (Tracks 6 & 9);  Gerald Albright – Alto saxophone (Track 3);  Kirk Whalum – Tenor saxophone (Track 2);Ada Rovatti – Tenor saxophone (Track 4);  Chris Botti – Trumpet (Tracks 6 & Bonus Track);  Randy Brecker – Trumpet & Horn Arrangement (Track 4);  Jacques Voyemant – Trombone (Track 2);  Tom Scott – Horns & Horn Arrangement (Tracks 2 & 5);  Paul Jackson Jr. – Guitar (Tracks 2, 3, 4, 8 & 10);Paul Brown – Guitar (Track 3);  Russell Malone – Guitar (Track 13);  Brian Bromberg – Bass (Tracks 1, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12 & Bonus Track);  Alex Al – Bass (Tracks 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10 & 13);  Lenny Castro – Percussion (Tracks 2, 3, 9, 10, 12, 13 & Bonus Track);  Abe Laboriel Jr. – Drums (Tracks 1, 2, 3, 8 & 9); Dave Weckl – Drums (Tracks 4 & 13);  Vinnie Colaiuta – Drums (Tracks 5, 6, 7, 11, 12 & Bonus Track);  Blood, Sweat & Tears – Horns (Tracks 4, 7, 9, 11 & 13);  The Lair Studio Brass Ensemble (Tracks 5, 10 & 12);  The Krim Symphonic Orchestra – Orchestrated by Jeremy Lubbock (Tracks 1 & 8);
Bobby Colomby – Producer (All Tracks).

He Had A hat

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The Crown Project - Modern Mancini

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:48
Size: 120.9 MB
Styles: Contemporary jazz, Vocals
Year: 2005
Art: Front

[4:05] 1. Moon River
[4:41] 2. Charade
[3:42] 3. Peter Gunn Theme
[4:12] 4. The Pink Panther
[4:06] 5. Days Of Wine And Roses
[4:34] 6. Dreamsville
[4:06] 7. Baby Elephant Walk
[4:48] 8. The Molly Maguires
[4:02] 9. Song For Cat
[4:18] 10. Holly
[4:54] 11. Two For The Road
[5:15] 12. Soldier In the Rain (with Mark Gasbarro)

Janis Siegel, Oleta Adams, Fred White, Lamont van Hook - Vocals; Alto Saxophone – Gerald Albright; Tenor Saxophone – Doug Norwine; Percussion – Walter Rodriguez, Piano – Fred Hersch, Programmed By – Mark Gasbarro; Flugelhorn – Dmitri Matheny; Flute, Soprano Saxophone – Dan Higgins; Guitar – Carl Verheyen, Dwight Sills, Russell Malone; Harmonica – Tommy Morgan; Drums – Cliff Almond, Jack Kelly; Bass – Abraham Laboriel, Larry Kimpel.

Tribute albums are all the rage these days, so Monarch Records has release Modern Mancini – Tribute to a Music Master under the mysterious moniker “The Crown Project.” Henry Mancini was undoubtedly one of the foremost film and TV scorers, with nearly 80 film scores, four Oscars, and twenty Grammies to his credit, yet one doesn’t have to look too far into his compositions to see his jazz sensibilities at work. Had Mancini not focused so much of his time and talent on scoring and devoted more energies to composing and recording jazz, we can only wonder what he might have contributed to this genre. But given that his musical legacy is what it is, this effort to present some of his most familiar works (and some lesser-known gems as well) in a contemporary jazz context yields only mixed results. For example, “Charade” is re-worked from a waltz into a 4/4 smooth jazz arrangement complete with rhythm loops. Gerald Albright’s sax ably conveys some of the song’s angst with his soulful musings, but it can’t save this musical mismatch. Keyboardist Mark Gasbarro, who plays on many of the selections, tries to update “Baby Elephant Walk” with some new synth samples, but it comes across as hokey. The “Pink Panther” theme fares better, with some great harmonized vocals. Oleta Adams lends some soulful expressiveness to “Moon River,” but I think this song might still be dead from overexposure.

The arrangements that stay away from the contemporary trappings work best. The French horns and strings on “The Days of Wine and Roses” provide a lush, beautiful setting in which Albright’s alto truly shines. Janis Siegel’s duet with guitarist Russell Malone says more with a voice and guitar than many full-production blowouts could ever hope to accomplish. Same goes for Siegel’s duet with frequent collaborator, pianist Fred Hersch. Gasbarro’s acoustic piano pairing with Dan Higgins’ flute and soprano on “The Molly Maguires” is elegant, simple beauty.

For this recording, a never-before-recorded Mancini gem “Song for Cat” was uncovered, and given lyrics and Transferesque vocal arrangement by Janis Siegel. Andy Martin’s trombone and Doug Norwine’s flute make nice contributions as well. This same trombone and flute combination also works well on the next tune, “Holly.” Bottom line: the lesser-known tunes with the more traditional arrangements or elegant duet pairings work well; the overly-familiar tunes with the contemporary reworks don’t. Still, there are lots of exquisite musical moments here, and Mancini lovers should be pleased. (Monarch 1025) ~Dave Hughes

Modern Mancini

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Ben Sidran - The Cat And The Hat

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 1979
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:48
Size: 86,6 MB
Art: Front

(5:00)  1. Hi-Fly
(4:11)  2. Ask Me Now
(4:45)  3. Like Sonny
(4:28)  4. Give It To The Kids
(3:33)  5. Minority
(3:53)  6. Blue Daniel
(4:28)  7. Ballin' The Jack
(3:12)  8. Girl Talk
(4:14)  9. Seven Steps To Heaven

This album became the stuff of legend after the A&M Horizon label went out of busines just weeks after its release. The Steve Gadd feature on "Seven Steps to Heaven" has been transcribed and passed down to generations of drummers, and the versions of "Girl Talk" (with original lyrics to replace the Bobby Troup trops) and "Blue Daniel" (with original lyrics that became the song "Life's a Lesson") have been covered often.  http://bensidran.com/album/the-cat-and-the-hat

Ben Sidran - Piano, Vocals; Steve Gadd – Drums; Abe Laboriel – Bass;  Mike Mainieri – Vibraphone; Lee Ritenour – Guitar; Michael Brecker – Saxophone; Joe Henderson – Saxophone; Tom Harrell –Trumpet; Buzzy Feitenm – Guitar;  Luther Van Dross – Vocals;  Paulinho Da Costa – Percussion; Don Grolnick – Organ; Tom Scott – Saxophone; Pete Christlieb – Saxophone; Jim Horn – Saxophone; Jerry Hey – Trumpet;  Frank Floyd – Vocals; Mike Finnegan - Vocals

The Cat And The Hat

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