Peter Erskine, Alan Pasqua & David Carpenter - Live at Rocco Disc 1, Disc 2

Album: Live at Rocco Disc 1
Styles: Jazz Fusion, Post Bop
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:44
Size: 165,9 MB
Art: Front

( 7:33) 1. To Love Again
( 8:40) 2. Riff Raff
( 6:10) 3. Caribe (intro)
( 7:56) 4. Caribe (body)
( 9:09) 5. Life Today
( 5:05) 6. Jerry Goldsmith
( 8:01) 7. Greta
(10:06) 8. Bulgaria

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Album: Live at Rocco Disc 2
Time: 61:25
Size: 160,1 MB

(13:29) 1. How About You?
( 6:18) 2. Autumn Rose
( 6:20) 3. Pure & Simple
( 9:35) 4. All of You
( 5:30) 5. Children
(11:44) 6. Milago
( 8:25) 7. Taiowa

Since 1992, Peter Erskine has been putting out exquisite piano trio music on the ECM label, in the company of pianist John Taylor and bassist Palle Daniellson. Live at Rocco is the double-disc debut of a new, equally exciting trio completed by pianist Alan Pasqua and bassist David Carpenter, both of whom, incidentally, have done stellar work with Allan Holdsworth. Erksine, Pasqua, and Carpenter have all had the fusion bug at one time or another, but the vibe here is acoustic, generally mellow, and gloriously melodic.

Pasqua, who wrote seven of the 15 tunes, has a way with hooks "To Love Again" and "Caribe" sound almost like finely crafted pop songs. "Taiowa," the vamp-based "Jerry Goldsmith," and the stately "Milagro" reveal his more adventurous side, while the two ballads "Greta" and "Children" whisper with fragility and tenderness. Carpenter's sole original, "Riff Raff," begins as a bass-driven groove and eases into bopping swing.

Erskine contributes the spritely "Bulgaria," the hypnotic and soft "Life Today," and the Jarrett-like "Autumn Rose." Impressionistic yet burning takes of "All of You" (Carpenter's solo) and the seldom-played "How About You?" fit right in with the original material. John Taylor's "Pure and Simple," the most swinging cut of the session, could have lent the album a fitting subtitle. Keeping it pure and simple was exactly the intention of these three strikingly complementary players.By David R.Adler
https://www.allmusic.com/album/live-at-rocco-mw0000067336

Personnel: Peter Erskine: drums; Alan Pasqua: piano; David Carpenter: double-bass.

Live at Rocco Disc 1, Disc 2

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Bob Sheppard - Close Your Eyes

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:06
Size: 115,8 MB
Art: Front

(6:16)  1. Close Your Eyes
(6:29)  2. Surface Tension
(6:15)  3. Goodbye
(6:07)  4. Brain Fog
(4:36)  5. Fast Company
(6:29)  6. Phantoms
(4:43)  7. Lightness
(5:23)  8. Gazelle
(3:41)  9. All in a Row

The distinction between East Coast and West Coast jazz is probably an outdated oversimplification. Yet it is hard not to think of Close Your Eyes as quintessentially Californian. Its airiness and clarity insinuate ocean breezes and sunlight. Bob Sheppard of Los Angeles is one of the most skilled multireed players in jazz. He is a studio musician, professor, clinician and first-call sideman (Freddie Hubbard, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, James Taylor). Close Your Eyes is a rare project under his own name, and the most complete document to date of his art. It is polished, sophisticated, intricately organized music. Alan Pasqua or John Beasley play piano and B3. Gabe Noel/Antonio Sánchez/Walter Rodriguez are on bass/drums/percussion. Guitarist Larry Koonse and trumpeter Alex Sipiagen join on two numbers each. But it doesn’t sound like a small-group session because Sheppard, who usually solos on tenor saxophone, overdubs himself on six other woodwind instruments to create layered horn backgrounds. Every tune is arranged into a tight, multifaceted design. People (East Coast people?) who require lots of blood and guts in their jazz might find performances like “Surface Tension” and “Brain Fog” and “Fast Company” too intellectual. But even such charts, with their high degree of difficulty, their tricky meters and clever unisons, get down to business when the solos kick in. Sipiagen and Koonse and Pasqua wait for their moments, then kill. Every Sheppard improvisation is a unique revelation of unpredictable finesse. In a lucid tenor saxophone tone, he dances among ideas like Baryshnikov. Kenny Barron’s “Phantoms” is perfectly quiet and ominous, but the best track is “Goodbye.” Like every piece on this album, it is precisely calibrated, but only to set up Sheppard, whose smeary, floating solo is an elegant, passionate iteration of melancholy. ~ Thomas Conrad https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/bob-sheppard-close-your-eyes/

Personnel: Bob Sheppard - Saxophone; Antonio Sanchez -Drums; Alan Pasqua - Piano & Organ; John Beasley- Piano & Organ; Larry Koonse- Guitar; Alex Sipiagen- Trumpet & Flugelhorn; Gabe Noel - Bass; Walter Rodriguez- Percussion

Close Your Eyes

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Allan Holdsworth - Velvet Darkness

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 1976
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 30:03
Size: 69,6 MB
Art: Front

(5:23)  1. Good Clean Filth
(2:46)  2. Floppy Hat
(4:21)  3. Wish
(3:06)  4. Kinder
(4:43)  5. Velvet Darkness
(3:10)  6. Karzie Key
(1:37)  7. Last May
(4:54)  8. Gattox

This debut solo release by Allan Holdsworth has an "in the raw," coarsely presented, jam-session quality complete with warts and all, as well as real gems of jazz fusion shining through. A first hearing of this release in its vinyl version might provoke laughter at how really bad it sounds compared to Holdsworth's other releases as well as his playing with other groups. As it turns out, Holdsworth himself abhors this release (considering it "a real terrible disaster"), and has taken legal action and had it removed from production for several reasons. The original label used rehearsal tapes to compile it, deeming it unnecessary to finance real sessions. During the recording session, Holdsworth had to hurry through each song and apparently never obtained the masters to go over before release. In essence, the original release was nothing more than a taped rehearsal, packaged by CTI as an album without Holdsworth's permission. This recording has been bootlegged by label after label, none of the musicians involved ever saw any royalties, and no legal paperwork exists. (The recording's known labels and release/re-release dates include CTI Records [1976], King Records [1976], Epic Associated Records [CD, 1990], King Records [Japanese-only CD, 1994], and CTI Records [Japanese-only CD, 1997]. Velvet Darkness was also released in 1997 on an unknown label in Japan as a bootleg CD; an original copy of the vinyl LP album had been transferred to the CD.) This 1990 release with alternate takes (just more pieces dredged up from the jam-session practice tapes) is indeed an interesting snapshot of young stellar musicians doing their thing in a laid-back but energetic fusion-funk-rock groove. It is for all the above reasons that this is indeed a completist/collectors item nowadays. Included are the now very rare recordings of Holdsworth playing acoustic guitar and violin, which he does very well. The alternate take of "Gattox" is a special treat, featuring Holdsworth soloing with an intensity and emotive power that echoes all the best dynamics jazz fusion could offer in the '70s. Obtaining this release second-hand is probably the only and most proper way to find it now. ~ John W.Patterson https://www.allmusic.com/album/velvet-darkness-mw0000204270

Personnel: Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Violin, Written-By – Allan Holdsworth;  Bass – Alphonse Johnson;  Drums – Narada Michael Walden;  Piano – Alan Pasqua

Velvet Darkness

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Alan Pasqua, Peter Erskine, Dave Carpenter - Standards

Styles: Piano Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:30
Size: 158,9 MB
Art: Front

(9:05)  1. The Way You Look Tonight
(7:46)  2. Dear Old Stockholm
(6:10)  3. Deep in a Dream
(6:31)  4. Con Alma
(6:29)  5. It Never Entered My Mind
(6:26)  6. Speak Low
(7:26)  7. I'm Glad There Is You
(5:41)  8. I Hear Rhapsody
(6:03)  9. I'm Old Fashioned
(6:47) 10. I Could Have Danced All Night

Representing the other half of a two-release project from drummer Peter Erskine's Fuzzy Music label that also includes Worth The Wait (2008), with trumpeter Tim Hagans and the Norrbotten Big Band, Standards is exactly what the title implies a session of old standards with a couple of new acquaintances thrown in for good measure. In an attempt to come as close as possible to the sound produced in a concert experience, the recording was made in an acoustically live space and enhanced with two pair of KMF Audio Stereo Tube Microphones. Performed by a veteran trio that also features pianist Alan Pasqua and bassist Dave Carpenter, the music is rhythm-based light jazz taken from the Great American Song Book and played in a straight-ahead style that comes across with warmth and elegance. Opening with the Sinatra staple "The Way You Look Tonight, Pasqua leads the music with light touches on the keys, giving way to an extended solo by Carpenter and putting a new face on this old classic that composers Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields would not recognize. The Van Heusen/de Lange cushy ballad, "Deep In a Dream, features Erskine's soft brush strokes, which he employs many times throughout the recording. The drummer uses the cymbals and picks up the sticks for a rather interesting rendition of Dizzy Gillespie's "Con Alma that swings to a different rhythm and beat than the original, while Pasqua performs magnificently on a beautiful interpretation of "It Never Entered My Mind. The group goes on to play delicious versions of standards including "Speak Low, "I'm Old Fashioned and "I Could Have Danced All Night, but none of these match the intensity and energy conveyed by their performance of "I Hear a Rhapsody, clearly the best cut on the disc. Completing a two record release that stretches the range in performance from featuring new music with the big band sound to the limited voice of a small combo, Standards represents the other side of Erskine's musical personality with a repertoire of familiar tunes that jazz audiences will love. ~ Edward Blanco https://www.allaboutjazz.com/standards-peter-erskine-fuzzy-music-review-by-edward-blanco.php

Personnel: Alan Pasqua: piano; Dave Carpenter: bass; Peter Erskine: drums.

Standards

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Peter Erskine, Richard Torres - From Kenton To Now

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:40
Size: 145.8 MB
Styles: Progressive jazz
Year: 1995
Art: Front

[6:45] 1. L.A. Stomp
[8:09] 2. Blues For All
[7:37] 3. Happy Day
[7:18] 4. Artistry In Rhythm
[5:56] 5. I Love You (Sweetheart Of All My Dreams
[6:16] 6. Modern Drummer Blues
[7:27] 7. Intermission Riff
[5:24] 8. The Park
[3:55] 9. Richard's Blues
[4:48] 10. Constance

Bass – Dave Carpenter; Drums – Peter Erskine; Piano – Alan Pasqua; Tenor Saxophone – Richard Torres.

Drummer Erskine, tenor saxophonist Torres, and pianist Alan Pasqua crossed paths in the Stan Kenton band of 1972. (Pasqua was subbing for an ailing Kenton.) This reunion, with Dave Carpenter on bass, is a highly charged blowing session. Torres is hot throughout the date, with a robust sound, soulful inflections, a straight ahead sense of rhythm, and pliant, supple lines. Pasqua, who performed with Tony Williams’ New Lifetime in the early ’70s, demonstrates a climactic style of solo-building. Carpenter is perfectly at home in this strong company.

Erskine’s crisp articulation, commanding sense of time, and clean fills and solos put a synergistic touch on the performances. Torres’ “Blues for All,” a take-off on Miles Davis’ “All Blues,” contains his best solo-shades of the late Shelly Manne tap-dancing over a march beat. Torres composed six originals for the date. There are also tunes associated with Kenton: the late bandleader’s “Artistry in Rhythm” and Ray Wetzel’s “Intermission Riff.” ~Owen Cordie

From Kenton To Now mc
From Kenton To Now zippy

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Kyle Eastwood - Paris Blue

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:31
Size: 127,4 MB
Art: Front

(3:38)  1. Big Noise (From Winnetka)
(5:56)  2. Marrakech
(5:48)  3. Muse
(6:43)  4. Le Point Royal
(6:26)  5. Solferino
(5:33)  6. Cosmo
(8:15)  7. Paris Blue
(7:17)  8. Big Noise Remix
(5:51)  9. Marrakech Remix

At last! A recording firmly planted in the jazz tradition of Charles Mingus, but updated and as fresh as this morning's brew. Bassist Kyle Eastwood has brought together a collection of (mostly) original compositions and mixed them with programmed or hip-hop rhythms underneath a mainstream horn section to create an accessible yet challenging listen. On the original "Marrakech," Michael Stevens' keyboards and programming create an exotic Middle Eastern flavor that melds perfectly with the serpentine soprano sax and mourning duduk. "Solferino" creates a mood of haunting moonlight sonatas, featuring the dark and forboding tenor saxophone of Doug Webb. A Freddie Hubbard-like Jim Rotondi spits out bullets over a CTI-era keyboard backdrop on "Cosmo." Eastwood even digs up the Swing Era classic "Big Noise" with whistles and all, grooving it with a heavy beat that is a perfect counterbalance to the bop solos by Webb and trumpeter Lee Thornberg. Paris Blue has something for everyone: creativity, deep grooves and excellent lead solos. Something new is rising from Eastwood. ~ George Harris https://www.allaboutjazz.com/paris-blue-kyle-eastwood-rendezvous-review-by-george-harris.php

Personnel: Kyle Eastwood: bass; Vinnie Colaiuta, Kendall Kay: drums; Jim Rotondi, Lee Thornberg: trumpet; Michael Stevens: keyboards; Alan Pasqua, John Beasley: piano.

Paris Blue

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Alan Pasqua, Darek Oleszkiewicz, Peter Erskine - My New Old Friend

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:27
Size: 145.2 MB
Styles: Post bop, Piano jazz
Year: 2005
Art: Front

[4:55] 1. You Must Believe In Spring
[4:33] 2. Barcelona
[5:59] 3. Highway 14
[4:38] 4. All The Things You Are
[8:29] 5. My New Friend Old Friend
[7:18] 6. Body & Soul
[4:20] 7. One More Once
[7:03] 8. Vienna
[5:58] 9. Wichita Lineman
[4:37] 10. Stick Slap
[5:31] 11. Smile

Alan Pasqua's My New Old Friend is mostly a set of sensitive and relaxed trio improvisations. Pasqua, bassist Darek Oles and drummer Peter Erskine, three of the top jazz musicians based in Los Angeles, perform subtle reshapings of five standards which alternate with six of Pasqua's generally introspective originals. One is reminded of Bill Evans (particularly on the standards) in Pasqua's sophisticated chord voicings and the close interplay of the musicians, but that is only a point of reference rather than a direct copy. However fans of Evans' treatments of ballads will certainly enjoy this accessible and thoughtful effort. ~Scott Yanow

My New Old Friend

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