Friedrich Gulda & His Sextet - At Birdland

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 77:00
Size: 176.3 MB
Styles: Bop, Piano jazz
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[ 0:38] 1. Theme Song Vienna Discussion
[ 0:49] 2. Pee Wee Marquette Introduces Friedrich Gulda And His Sextet
[ 5:21] 3. Scruby
[ 4:29] 4. Dark Glow
[ 4:23] 5. A Night In Tunisia
[ 3:03] 6. Dodo
[ 5:13] 7. Air From Other Planets
[ 3:25] 8. New Shoes
[10:07] 9. Bernie's Tune
[ 3:04] 10. Quintet
[ 3:55] 11. Introvert
[ 8:25] 12. Out Of Nowhere
[ 4:46] 13. Teheran
[ 7:38] 14. All The Things You Are
[ 5:34] 15. Cool Hill
[ 6:01] 16. Lullaby Of Birdland

Alto Saxophone – Phil Woods; Bass – Aaron Bell; Drums – Nick Stabulas; Piano – Friedrich Gulda; Tenor Saxophone – Seldon Powell; Trombone – Jimmy Cleveland; Trumpet – Idrees Sulieman. Live at "Birdland", New York City, June 28 (tracks 1-5, 7, 8, 15 & 16) and 29 (tracks 6, 9 & 14), 1956. Tracks 1-9 from the RCA Victor album "Friedrich Gulda At Birdland" (LPM 1398) Tracks 10-16 from the Decca album "A Man of Letters (LK 4189).

Friedrich Gulda was a classical pianist of international stature who, following a meeting with Dizzy Gillespie in 1951, embarked on an attachment with jazz. This eventually led to his first regular American appearance at Birdland in New York City in 1956 which has been captured in this Fresh Sounds reissue. The impresario John Hammond was the driving force behind this Birdland session which was originally released on two 12" albums, the first by RCA Victor entitled Friedrich Gulda At Birdland and the second by Decca called A Man Of Letters. Hammond was fully aware that, while there might be some curiosity value in such an appearance by a classically trained pianist, he needed to ensure that Gulda had the opportunity to succeed and thus he put together a front line that was supportive and collaborative. The bassist and drummer were also known for their swing and steady timekeeping. The song set was a combination of Gulda original compositions and "head" arrangements of popular and jazz standards designed to engage the audience.

Now while it is accurate to say that all the tracks were recorded at Birdland, not all of them were performed live. All nine Gulda compositions were recorded in the afternoon without an audience, much like a recording studio, and the other five jazz-oriented tunes were done with an audience during the evening sessions. The Gulda compositions are intricately constructed with a chamber jazz feel but allow space for solos by the members of the band. Dark Glow is a sensuous ballad designed to showcase the creative alto sax of Phil Woods. Another piece in the same vein is Cool Hill which has a modelled structure for Woods to shine. Seldon Powell's cool tenor sax is prominently featured on Air From Other Planets. The real goodies on this disc are the live tracks from Birdland and all are swingers. The first substantive taste of Gulda's pianistic style shows up on a trio version of A Night In Tunisia. With Aaron Bell on bass and Nick Stabulas on drums, Gulda romps through the tune with strong single-note phrasing in a Bud Powell mode, but with a percussive note-striking style reminiscent of Eddie Costa. An extended version of Bernie's Tune has all the elements of a jam session, with strong choruses from all members of the band. Out Of Nowhere becomes a vehicle for trombonist Jimmy Cleveland where his creative and enthusiastic offerings are fully evident. Idrees Sulieman, a somewhat under-appreciated trumpeter, shows that he deserves more attention with some fine soloing on All The Things You Are. Finally the George Shearing classic Lullaby Of Birdland allows Gulda to take a block-chord Shearingesque attack on this signature tune. This is an interesting and noteworthy addition to any record collection. ~Pierre Giroux

At Birdland

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Friedrich Gulda - Ineffable: The Unique Jazz Piano Of Friedrich Gulda

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1965
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:38
Size: 90,3 MB
Art: Front

(5:02)  1. I Only Have Eyes For You
(2:04)  2. Prelude
(4:34)  3. Ineffable
(5:41)  4. The Horn And I
(4:33)  5. Plant Some Flowers (Plantem und Blomen)
(3:57)  6. I'll Remember April
(4:30)  7. Riverbed
(5:02)  8. Lament
(3:11)  9. Quartet

Classical and jazz pianist and composer, Friedrich Gulda was one of Austria's premiere pianists. Born in Vienna in 1930, Gulda started piano lessons at the age of seven. When he was 12, he enrolled in the Vienna Music Academy, and four years later received first place in the Geneva International Music Festival. In 1949, Gulda toured Europe and South America, earning international acclaim for his treatments of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, and the following year he successfully debuted at Carnegie Hall. Gulda became more involved in jazz from 1951 on, when he improvised with Dizzy Gillespie following a performance with the Chicago Symphony. Five years later, Gulda played his first American jazz concert at Birdland (N.Y.C.), followed by a performance at the Newport Jazz Festival. 

After this, Gulda formed the Eurojazz Orchestra, a jazz combo and big band which drew from both jazz and classical compositions. In 1966, ten years after his Birdland appearance, Gulda organized a modern jazz competition in his native city. He was awarded the Vienna Academy's Beethoven Ring in 1970, but later returned it to protest what he regarded as a constricting educational system. This only reinforced the public's perception of Gulda as an eccentric. This reputation was not helped when he abruptly called off major performances more than once. A 1988 incident occurred in reaction to objections to his program for a Salzburg music festival that included jazz musician Joe Zawinul; he made another last minute cancellation by faking his own death with a phony obituary only days before a scheduled performance of Mozart. On January 27, 2000, Friedrich Gulda died of an apparent heart attack in Vienna, the city of his birth.
~Joslyn Layne https://www.allmusic.com/artist/friedrich-gulda-mn0000207805/biography

Ineffable: The Unique Jazz Piano Of Friedrich Gulda

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Simone Kopmajer - Daydreaming

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 25:23
Size: 58,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:30)  1. If We Never Met Again
(4:04)  2. Crazy Moon
(3:35)  3. Day Dreaming
(4:04)  4. Cat Song
(3:56)  5. Time And Time Again
(2:40)  6. Travelling To You
(3:30)  7. You Can Kiss Me

With all audiophile music lovers in mind, Simone Kopmajer presents Daydreaming. It includes brand-new original material in a smooth and relaxing jazzy mood as well as cover songs like Aretha Franklin’s “Day Dreaming”, Merle Haggard’s “Crazy Moon” and Pat Metheny’s masterpiece “Travels” in the vocal version “Travelling to You”. 

The original songs on Daydreaming are the result of Simone’s long-time and fruitful song writing collaboration with lyricist Karolin Tuerk. As a premiere, however, S.K. has brought out the pianist in herself and played all piano parts on this recording. http://www.simonekopmajer.com/news/2017/12/11/6u46n2uv8h7azmxupfn3a9nhj67lqc

Daydreaming

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Raphael Wressnig With Alex Schultz & James Gadson - Chicken Burrito

Size: 74,5 MB
Time: 31:59
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2018
Styles: Jazz, Hammond Organ
Art: Front

01. Chunky Thighs (3:21)
02. Nasty (4:56)
03. Born To Roam (5:28)
04. Tiny Dog Blues (4:16)
05. Chicken Burrito (4:56)
06. Get Down With It (5:36)
07. One Mo' Time (3:24)

Austria's funkiest B3 Hammond organ specialist returns with his new album "CHICKEN BURRITO". In collaboration with his longtime partner in crime ALEX SCHULTZ and the R&B drummer legend JAMES GADSON, Raphael now proudly presents a splendid, well danceable Funk & Groove album. In contrast to the soulful predecessors SOUL CONNECTION, SOUL GUMBO and SOUL GIFT, CHICKEN BURRITO is reduced to the essentials, and with only a few exceptions, it contains almost no vocals. By the way, for the first time in his career Raphael himself contributed these few vocals. JAMES GADSON , the previously mentioned drummer, is one of the most recorded drummers in Rhythm & Blues history, and has been a session musician for Bill Withers, Freddie King, Martha Reeves, Randy Crawford, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, BB King, Albert King, Paul McCartney and many, many more.

Chicken Burrito

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Simone Kopmajer - Spotlight on Jazz

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:41
Size: 149,4 MB
Art: Front

(3:52)  1. Spotlights
(5:08)  2. Pennies from Heaven
(3:26)  3. You Don't Call Me
(4:15)  4. Mighty Tender Love
(6:46)  5. Poinciana
(3:58)  6. Dig That Riff
(6:58)  7. Remember Jeannie
(4:07)  8. Struttin' with Some Barbecue
(4:40)  9. Exactly Like You
(4:37) 10. A Gift from Buddy
(4:20) 11. Stompin' at the Savoy
(4:28) 12. We're Goin' In
(4:01) 13. Mood Indigo
(3:02) 14. Dig That Riff (Remix)

A cool-toned Austrian jazz vocalist, Simone Kopmajer sings in flawless English. She had classical piano lessons starting at the age of eight and at 12 began playing saxophone. She performed in a youth big band and sang regularly in her father's band as a teenager. At 17 she studied with Sheila Jordan, who encouraged her. Kopmajer also studied with Mark Murphy, Jay Clayton, and Michele Hendricks. Since earning a Masters from the University of Music and Dramatic Arts in Graz, Austria, Kopmajer has toured the Netherlands twice with the Euro Big Band, appeared at European jazz festivals, and recorded three CDs: Moonlight Serenade (for the Japanese Venus label), her best-known set Romance (for Zoho), and her privately released Taking a Chance on Love. Each CD emphasizes her own fresh versions of standards. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/artist/simone-kopmajer-mn0001897290/biography

Spotlight on Jazz

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Renate Reich - Home

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:12
Size: 114.9 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2016
Art: Front

[3:58] 1. Doo Dn Do Do
[4:24] 2. Home
[5:46] 3. So Full Of Life
[4:08] 4. Venice
[4:06] 5. Playground
[3:46] 6. For A While
[3:33] 7. Disappear
[3:47] 8. Time For A Change
[3:58] 9. Sing Me A Lullaby
[3:57] 10. Swimming
[3:51] 11. Colours Of My Life
[4:53] 12. Roxanne

Renate Reich was born in a different world: in Kabul, Afghanistan, and was raised under the chants of the Muezzins, and hearing Orient-Pop and Evergreens sounding out of the Radio. At the age of four she already knew that she wanted to be a singer!

Now in fact she lives in Vienna as a singer, actor, cabaret actor, speaker, songwriter and vocal teacher! She worked a.o. with Richard Österreicher, George Farmer, Main Street, Die Echten, Willy Astor, V.S.O.P.- Christian Kolonovits, Gary Lux, Andy Baum, Peter Havlicek, Roger Whittaker, Johnny Logan, Roberto Blanco, Barock & Co., Andreas Lukas, Charlie Mc Light, Gunkl, Misfit, Misfitting Hats, Dirty Art Abuse, Nelson Kept Cool, Rich & Famous, Thomas Kramer, Palmina Waters, Thomas Palme, Bertl Mayer.

Home mc
Home zippy

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Martin Pyrker - Boogie Woogie Storm

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:51
Size: 150.8 MB
Styles: Boogie woogie, Piano blues
Year: 2009
Art: Front

[3:12] 1. Sabine's Jive (Feat. Sabine Pyrker)
[2:52] 2. Boogie Woogie Storm
[2:56] 3. Black Key Roller
[3:01] 4. How Long Blues (Feat. Gine Heiger & Michael Hudec)
[3:18] 5. Knockin' Myself Out
[3:26] 6. Blues Whistle
[4:17] 7. Honky Tonk Train Blues
[3:59] 8. I Got A Mind To Ramble
[2:32] 9. My Man Is Gone
[3:08] 10. He's Dynamite
[3:26] 11. Grooving The Blues
[3:51] 12. Mostar Blues
[3:50] 13. My Mellow Man
[3:11] 14. You Can't Take It With You
[3:24] 15. George's Texas Stomp
[3:14] 16. V-Disc Stomp
[2:54] 17. It's Good Like That
[2:41] 18. Cry On Daddy
[4:11] 19. Pallet On The Floor
[2:18] 20. At The Window

Born on August 27th,1954 in Vienna, discovered his love for the piano and thereby for the blues in 1971, when he was 17 years young and already playing the drums for 4 years. A blues program on the radio, an acquaintance with the pianists Vince Weber, Hans-Georg Möller and Axel Zwingenberger from Hamburg, who caused at that time the boogie woogie fever in Germany, and the meeting with the Viennese “blues guru” Hans Maitner, protagonist of the legendary radio program “Living Blues” fascinated Martin Pyrker of a kind of music that has meanwhile become 100 years old: the classical piano-blues and boogie-woogie.

Pyrker’s legendary concerts in the 1970s with Zwingenberger, Weber and Möller and, originated from this, the first piano-boogie woogie record in Austria (“Boogie Woogie Session 76” / EMI) were the beginning of a growing enthusiasm for this kind of music in Austria and Germany and influenced further generations of young pianists. Solo and together with many other well-known artists at home and abroad, Martin gave a lot of concerts in jazz clubs, blues bars and at blues and boogie festivals, where he also shared the piano with long gone legends of the blues: Blind John Davis, Roosevelt Sykes, Memphis Slims, Champion Jack Dupree, just to mention a few of them.

Since the legendary boogie woogie festival of Cologne (WDR 1974) and Vienna (concert hall 1976) the renaissance of boogie woogie could not be stopped anymore, unnumerous tours through Europe and USA followed (as "Stars of Boogie Woogie" and others). More than 1500 performances and concerts at home and abroad have left their mark on Pyrkers career since then. Also a lot of records were produced, out from a repertoire of more than 100 own compositions and the most important blues and boogie woogie standards, solo and together with international stars of the blues, recorded in Vienna, Wels, Paris and Fort Worth.

Since 1999 he is accompanied frequently by his daughter Sabine on the drums, who attained in the meanwhile absolute professional experience and motivates her father anew at each of their performances in a refreshing way. Martin Pyrker today is the most known authentic blues and boogie pianist in Austria and his CDs are well known in USA too, the origin country of this kind of music.

Boogie Woogie Storm

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Raphael Wressnig - Captured Live

Size: 138,8 MB
Time: 59:50
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2017
Styles: Jazz, Soul, Funk, Hammond Organ
Art: Front

01. Intro (0:31)
02. Slivovitz For Joe (8:43)
03. Soul-Jazz Shuffle (5:08)
04. All That I've Got (Feat. Deitra) (5:00)
05. Wichita Lineman (4:35)
06. Mustard Greens (8:37)
07. Soulful Strut (6:14)
08. A Change Is Gonna Come (5:38)
09. Banana Boogaloo (8:13)
10. It's Your Thing (7:07)

After the success of his last studio album "The Soul Connection" feta. Igor Prado, Austria's B-3 organist number 1 proudly presents a new live album! "Captured Live" is a musical ecstasy lasting over nine songs. Raphael Wressnig, his soul gift band and special guest Deitra Farr bring the "heavy organ soul & funk" from the stage straight into your living room!

Captured Live

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Raphael Wressnig Organic Trio - In Between

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:26
Size: 133.8 MB
Styles: B3 Organ Jazz/Blues
Year: 2016
Art: Front

[7:07] 1. Cherokee
[5:12] 2. Village
[5:11] 3. Mudslide
[4:37] 4. Hello Birdie
[8:35] 5. Fancy Free
[5:16] 6. Lightflight
[5:53] 7. Party At The Zoo
[7:10] 8. Dance On The Volcano
[9:21] 9. Vinny´s Blues

Raphael Wressnig - Hammond B-3 organ; Georg Jantscher - guitar; Lukas Knöfler - drums; Harry Tanschek - drums. Special guests: Ismael Barrios – percussion; Enrico Crivellaro – guitar; Vincenzo Barattin – drums.

Raphael Wressnig, based in Austria but frequently on the road, is not your ordinary B-3 organ player. He’s actually one of a kind: a young master of the imposing, large instrument who is expansive in his breadth of expertise. He’s technically fluent in the blues, in jazz, in soul, and in funk, and he concocts exciting mixed-genre music from his fervid imagination. Versatile Wressnig doesn’t flaunt his virtuosic talent for the sake of spectacle but rather backs up his every movement on the keyboards, the drawbar and the bass pedal boards with a fierce emotional commitment.

Influenced by royal predecessors like Jimmy Smith, Shirley Scott, Booker T. Jones and Joe Zawinul, Wressnig has taken his music around the world: the entire European Union, Russia, the Middle East, Asia, parts of Africa, the Caribbean, North and South America. This self-effacing musician, a native of Graz in southeast Austria, has recorded at least 20 feature albums and appeared as a guest on about 50 others. He has grabbed the attention of an international claque of critics and has been honored with a nomination as "Best Organ Player of the Year" at the DownBeat Critics Poll in 2013, 2015 & 2016.

In Between

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Elisabeth Lohninger - Eleven Promises

Size: 154,2 MB
Time: 66:00
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2016
Styles: Jazz/Pop Vocals
Art: Front

01. When We Were Young (4:07)
02. The Girl from Ipanema (5:03)
03. Take My Picture While I'm Smiling (4:16)
04. Eleven Promises (4:10)
05. Birthday Girl (4:39)
06. And If (7:56)
07. Mellow Moon Moaning (7:38)
08. Each Time You Leave (6:50)
09. Hold On (4:12)
10. Merry Go Round (6:52)
11. Circles (5:21)
12. Ya Mi Corazon (4:51)

New York-based Elisabeth Lohninger and Walter Fischbacher have evolved into a solid power-center in the city's jazz community. They operated Lofish Recording Studios until 2015, when gentrification forced them to close door. The pair have been prolific with recordings, including: Beneath the Surface (Lofish, 2004); The Only Way Out is Up (Lofish, 2007); Songs of Love and Destruction (Lofish, 2010); Christmas in July (Lofish, 2011), Elisabeth Lohninger Quartet: Live (Lofish, 2012), and the most recent and intimate Elisabeth Lohninger & Walter Fischbacher: Ballads in Blue (Jazz Sick Records, 2015).

What is evident from this decade of releases is that the Lohninger/Fischbacher jazz diptych has impressive depth and breadth. The two push their boundaries further with the airy and ethereal Eleven Promises where Lohninger's solidly established alto is allow free reign in an adult contemporary vocals environment. Lushly orchestrated with strings scored by Fischbacher, Eleven Promises approaches a post-modern ideal that had its genesis in the performance style of Sade Adu and Anita Baker. Lohninger enhances this vocals vector with a creatively dense overlay of her and Fischbacher's informed compositional skills. Smart and engaging, the 11 original compositions, lay out a comprehensive vision of singing that goes well beyond simple genre definitions and expectations.

This single standard, frightfully enough is well-trodden "The Girl from Ipanema." Like "My Funny Valentine," "The Girl from Ipanema" and other songs like them, experience a certain interpretive tachyphylaxis that manifests as a resistance to renewal and revelation, even in the hands of exceptional artists. In short, when one chooses to interpret a war-torn standard today, he or she should "go big, or go home." Thankfully, Lohninger is up to the challenge, creating a "Girl from Ipanema" as starkly angular and challenging as Laurie Antonioli's "My Funny Valentine" from her darkly beautiful recording Varuna (Origin Records, 2015). Lohninger brings the post-modern spirit with which she caressed this chestnut to the remainder of the recording, joining synergistically with Fischbacher and his intelligently navigated transitions from acoustic ("Take My Picture While I'm Smiling") to electric piano ("Ipanema" and "Mellow Moon Moaning") and stylistically from All American ("Take My Picture") and humidly Latin ("Ya Mi Corazon"). Splendid! ~Michael C. Bailey

Personnel: Elisabeth Lohninger: vocals; Walter Fischbacher: keyboards, string arrangements; Goran Vujic: bass; Ulf Stricker: drums; Ben Butler: guitar (5, 9); Pete McCann: guitar (1, 3); Gary Schreiner: chromatic harmonica (7).

Eleven Promises

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Raphael Wressnig - True Blue

Size: 116,7 MB
Time: 50:13
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2011
Styles: Jazz
Art: Front

01. Little Sheri (5:02)
02. The Jody Grind (4:45)
03. Angel Eyes (7:08)
04. Minor Chant (3:13)
05. That's Enough (4:48)
06. The Party (7:17)
07. I Can't Take It No Mo' (6:48)
08. Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child (6:08)
09. One Mo' Blues (5:00)

Raphael Wressnig, based in Austria but frequently on the road, is not your ordinary B-3 organ player. He’s actually one of a kind: a young master of the imposing, large instrument who is expansive in his breadth of expertise. He’s technically fluent in the blues, in jazz, in soul, and in funk, and he concocts exciting mixed-genre music from his fervid imagination. Versatile Wressnig doesn’t flaunt his virtuosic talent for the sake of spectacle but rather backs up his every movement on the keyboards, the drawbar and the bass pedal boards with a fierce emotional commitment. Influenced by royal predecessors like Jimmy Smith, Shirley Scott, Booker T. Jones and Joe Zawinul, Wressnig has taken his music throughout Europe and all over the world, from North Africa and Asia to the Middle East to the United States, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and the Caribbean. This self-effacing musician, a native of Graz in southeast Austria, has recorded at least 16 feature albums and appeared as a guest on about 30 others. In 2013, 2015 & 2016, he was honored with a nomination for best organ player of the year in Downbeat Magazine.

True Blue

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Simone Kopmajer - Moonlight Serenade

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:10
Size: 164,6 MB
Art: Front

(5:55)  1. Tea For Two
(4:55)  2. Fragile
(3:43)  3. L-O-V-E
(3:47)  4. For No One
(5:08)  5. Save Your Love For Me
(6:05)  6. I've Grown Accustomed To His Face
(4:04)  7. I'm Through With Love
(4:19)  8. Autumn Leaves
(4:19)  9. What A Diff'rence A Day Made
(5:31) 10. The Nearness Of You
(5:08) 11. Besame Mucho
(4:12) 12. Like Someone In Love
(4:23) 13. Peace
(6:07) 14. Moonlight Serenade
(3:26) 15. Stompin' At The Savoy

A cool-toned Austrian jazz vocalist, Simone Kopmajer sings in flawless English. She had classical piano lessons starting at the age of eight and at 12 began playing saxophone. She performed in a youth big band and sang regularly in her father's band as a teenager. At 17 she studied with Sheila Jordan, who encouraged her. Kopmajer also studied with Mark Murphy, Jay Clayton, and Michele Hendricks. Since earning a Masters from the University of Music and Dramatic Arts in Graz, Austria, Kopmajer has toured the Netherlands twice with the Euro Big Band, appeared at European jazz festivals, and recorded three CDs: Moonlight Serenade (for the Japanese Venus label), her best-known set Romance (for Zoho), and her privately released Taking a Chance on Love. Each CD emphasizes her own fresh versions of standards. ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/artist/simone-kopmajer-mn0001897290/biography

Personnel:  John Di Martino (piano);  Hans Glawischnig (bass);  Philipp Kopmajer (drums);  Simone (vocals).

Moonlight Serenade

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Raphael Wressnig & Enrico Crivellaro - Mosquito Bite

Styles: Organ Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:14
Size: 131,7 MB
Art: Front

(4:12)  1. Speedin'
(3:05)  2. Mosquito Bite
(6:27)  3. Wally's March
(6:32)  4. Boom Bello
(4:51)  5. West 43rd St. Blues
(7:39)  6. Cherokee
(6:28)  7. Frankie Lee Goes Uptown
(3:59)  8. Banana Boogaloo
(5:50)  9. A-Level
(7:07) 10. Sugar

Raphael Wressnig, based in Austria but frequently on the road, is not your ordinary B-3 organ player. He’s actually one of a kind: a young master of the imposing, large instrument who is expansive in his breadth of expertise. He’s technically fluent in the blues, in jazz, in soul, and in funk, and he concocts exciting mixed-genre music from his fervid imagination. Versatile Wressnig doesn’t flaunt his virtuosic talent for the sake of spectacle but rather backs up his every movement on the keyboards, the drawbar and the bass pedal boards with a fierce emotional commitment. Influenced by royal predecessors like Jimmy Smith, Shirley Scott, Booker T. Jones and Joe Zawinul, Wressnig has taken his music throughout Europe and all over the world, from North Africa and Asia to the Middle East to the United States, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and the Caribbean. This self-effacing musician, a native of Graz in southeast Austria, has recorded at least 16 feature albums and appeared as a guest on about 30 others. In 2013, 2015 & 2016, he was honored with a nomination for best organ player of the year in Downbeat Magazine.

A fine composer with a gift for searching out splendid classic material to rearrange, Wressnig confidently brings out the inherent pyrotechnic power and mightiness of the large B-3 console. Yet he’s also comfortable with slowing down the pace and lowering the heat in order to achieve colorful passages of quieter music. Not unlike a musician born and bred in New Orleans, the B-3 player possesses special knowledge about conjuring “groove.” As his many fans know so well, this surging or swinging rhythmic “vibe” is vastly important to the success of Wressnig’s sui generis music. In the 2010’s, Wressnig has solidified his standing as a solo artist. The sheer force of his artistic development has been a wonder to behold, whether encountered on albums or, better yet, at concerts. Live performances are particularly memorable for the happy collision of wild entertainment and focused artistry. In January of 2014 the B-3 groove master made a trip to New Orleans, literally and spiritually, to cook some Gumbo. Soul Gumbo, that is. For spice, he brought along loyal partners Alex Schultz on guitar and sax-extraordinaire Craig Handy. To bring the heat, he called on one of the funkiest drummers around, New Orleans' own, Stanton Moore. Wressnig's exciting music – a special hybrid of soul, funk, r&b, blues and jazz – benefits from the expert, soulful playing of Crescent City dignitaries Walter “Wolfman” Washington, The Meter’s George Porter, Jr. and Eric Bloom. Piano-man and soulful troubadour Jon Cleary was a special guest, as well as bayou-blues man Larry Garner from Baton Rouge and Midwestern testifier Tad Robinson. After all, Wressnig and the coterie of American and European musicians supporting him always give their best and it shows.http://raphaelwressnig.com/biography/

Personnel:  Raphael Wressnig - Hammond B-3 organ;  Enrico Crivellaro – guitar;  Lukas Knöfler – drums;  Special guest: Scott Steen – trumpet 3, 9

Mosquito Bite

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Wolfgang Puschnig - Faces and Stories

Styles: Saxofone Jazz, Big Band
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 99:47
Size: 231,3 MB
Art: Front + Back

(3:56)  1. In Another Time
(4:11)  2. Breath
(3:26)  3. Rivulets
(4:57)  4. Towards East
(2:45)  5. Jeli Don
(4:01)  6. Soundscape
(4:35)  7. In A Sentimental Mood
(3:57)  8. Dialogue
(5:34)  9. Armenian Longing
(4:32) 10. Little Suite
(3:59) 11. Out Of Somewhere
(4:58) 12. The Balsam Project
(4:17) 13. Of Other Lifes
(3:20) 14. Paul‘s Delight
(3:46) 15. Noah‘s Lullabye
(3:17) 16. Surroundings
(3:22) 17. Hommages
(3:59) 18. A Long Way From Home
(3:08) 19. Al Aylughs
(3:18) 20. Lonely Woman
(5:18) 21. Ivanka‘s World
(3:32) 22. And Then
(4:03) 23. Time Illusion
(3:46) 24. Naima
(3:39) 25. Valosn

Wolfgang Puschnig and Duos: A deja vu. An album full of dialogues with changing musical partners - like the time 1988. "Pieces of the Dream" was the plate. She was a special: Puschnig debut under his own name. 32 years old, he was at that time, known as one of the leading soloists of the "Vienna Art Orchestra", the internationally successful big band flagship of young Austrian jazz postmodernism. Wolfgang Puschnig should be a year later, in 1989, left to to embark on a solo career paths. Well prepared by band projects like "Part of Art", "Air Mail" and the "Pat Brothers", which were hailed in the 1980s in Europe Festival stages, and where Puschnig played a leading role. "Pieces of the Dream" signaled departure, initial spark, joy to our future.

28 years later, the signs are different. "Faces & Stories" sounds left, almost sober. The view is partly a retrospective, rekapitulierender. Wolfgang Puschnig is gone his way, has left deep marks in the European jazz course. Projects such as "Red Sun & Samul Nori" are on record, mainly in the 1990s, caring furore cooperation with master drummers from South Korea. The groundbreaking confrontation of deep black, from Ornette Coleman's "harmolodics" Funk-influenced jazz and traditional Austrian brass music in "Alpine Aspects". From the recent past was "For The Love of It" called a many-voiced, genre cross-experiment in musical poetry, the sounds of jazz, folk and classical music combined - and Puschnig there led back to where he himself and much of the comes from, which makes it unmistakable as a musician: Are his cantabile lines and sigh on alto saxophone but deeply marked by melancholy Slavic Melos of songs Carinthia. Wolfgang Puschnig, which is now the wonderful model case of a European musician, reflecting its origins in the rapidly identifiable sound and yet proves cosmopolitan openness. Successively it has mutated over the years and the much respected "elder statesman" of the Austrian Jazz, who willingly Younger passes on his knowledge.

A full circle. Duo is the most intensive form of interaction, because one relatively 'naked' is in this constellation. One must with much more energy act as in the context of a band, so Wolfgang Puschnig said years ago. And also that it is the most intimate, most personal form of musical exchanges. "Faces & Stories" because also has something of a sounding Photo Album, are in the meetings held with close people. A collection of acoustic stories and memories. Some of DuopartnerInnen were already present on "Pieces of The Dream": The legendary pianist and composer Carla Bley, Puschnig participates in the Big Band since the 1980s as a soloist. Singer Linda Sharrock, with many years linked him an equally intense as fruitful partnership. The once active in Ornette Coleman electric bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Puschnig "twin brother" from Philadelphia. Or saxophonist Hans Koller, 2003 82-year deceased father figure of modern Austrian Jazz.

Other pieces with the New York violinist Mark Feldman, the Moravian singer-violinist Iva Bittová, the once living in Vienna Tunisian singer and oud player Dhafer Youssef or the late Indian master percussionist Pandit Arjun Shejwal who raises his voice brittle here - are Puschnig overgrown over the years. In still another is long-standing and still current companion: The 75-year-old electric bassist Steve Swallow poet should be mentioned. Or Jon Sass, who lives in Vienna, New York tuba, the Puschnig still knows "Vienna Art Orchestra" days. The Armenian pianist Karen Asatrian and his Viennese colleague Paul Urbanek. . And also the Carinthian vocal quartet "intersection vowel" Puschnig would not however Puschnig, were it not for some new faces at his side: Approximately Croatian cellist Asja Valcic, known from the "radio.string.quartet.vienna". A native of Burkina Faso balafon virtuoso Mamadou Diabaté. As Puschnig 17-year-old son Samo Weidinger. There are very personal, almost private snapshots that divides Wolfgang Puschnig here with the audience. Where a part of the message in the openness and respect are, with the alto saxophonist and flutist such different characters on opposite eye level occurs. Original sound Wolfgang Puschnig: "What is most important for me, and what is hopefully also be felt in the music, this is the love - as energy. The need to be there. She gives the music an extra dimension.” Translate by Google https://www.amazon.de/Faces-Stories-Wolfgang-Puschnig/dp/B01E9N1HFK

Faces and Stories

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Wolfgang Puschnig - Alpine Aspects

Styles: Flute, Saxofone Jazz, Big Band
Year: 1991
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:21
Size: 145,7 MB
Art: Front

(9:14)  1. Root March
(8:41)  2. Little Stars, Dancing and Jumping
(8:39)  3. We Reach for the Sky
(7:36)  4. First Meeting
(9:43)  5. Strange March
(8:53)  6. March of the Lost Illusion
(8:19)  7. Like a Song, Like a Dance
(2:15)  8. Looney Tune

Early nineties took the Carinthian saxophonist Wolfgang Puschnig with much seriousness, heart and wit of the old and often sad songs at his home, and transformed it into the sound of the present. The final analysis, "Alpine Aspects" meant a piece of music, which to this day the most important, because the most original, Austrian jazz productions counts at all. "Alpine Aspects" was and is like a moderate, erratic block in Austria musical landscape, a brilliant milestone of European jazz as a whole. 

The project has remained without successor. It screamed then to resurrect the "Alpine Aspects" program with his plump, rousing vitality of relish out-living making music again. As an Austrian brass band to fat radio of electric bassists Jamaaladeen Tacuma fits, just sound marching clocks to oblique jazz rhythms and Harmolodik of Ornette Coleman for functional harmony of local folk songs, of which evidence can be found in the Vienna Sargfabrik on 23 November.http://www.musicaustria.at/wolfgang-puschnig-alpine-aspects/

Personnel: Alto Saxophone, Piccolo Flute – Wolfgang Puschnig;  Clarinet – Ingrid Schaupp;  Clarinet [Eb] – Robert Pussecker;  Clarinet, Alto Saxophone – Johann Leonhartsberger;  Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone – Raimund Aichinger;  Drums – Thomas Alkier, Wolfgang Schneider;  Electric Bass – Jamaaladeen Tacuma;  Flugelhorn – Franz Rappersberger, Hans Schaupp; Flute – Oskar Eder;  Horn [Tenor] – Hermann Berger;  Leader, Conductor – Robert Pussecker;  Trombone – Günter Innerlohinger, Leopold Libal;  Trumpet – Josef Burcharts, Bumi Fian, Rudolf Pilz;  Tuba – Herbert Klaus, Jon Sass;  Vocals – Linda Sharrock (tracks: 3, 6)

Alpine Aspects

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John Arman Organ Trio - John Arman Organ Trio

Size: 169,1 MB
Time: 73:19
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2016
Styles: Contemporary Jazz, Hammond Organ
Art: Front

01. Something Like That ( 5:25)
02. Yaya & Kiwi ( 5:05)
03. Infant Tales ( 6:56)
04. This Time The Dream's On Me ( 6:30)
05. The Race ( 5:18)
06. Gateway ( 8:52)
07. Easyfetz ( 6:36)
08. Makeshift ( 8:57)
09. Tarantella ( 6:48)
10. Hot Coffee (12:47)

Personnel:
Drums - Wolfi Rainer
Guitar - John Arman
Hammond Organ - Christian Wegscheider

After about five years of band history has finally come: The first CD is there and with a little "best of" program perpetuates the band their favorite titles in recent years. Heard there mainly Arman and Wegscheider originals, but the composer remains zweitrangig- the blind understanding of the three Tyrolean men makes the music and gives it that unique, unmistakable sound. ~Google translation

John Arman Organ Trio

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Engelbert Wrobel, Paolo Alderighi, Nicki Parrott, Stephanie Trick - From Joplin To Jobim

Size: 147,7 MB
Time: 62:53
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2016
Styles: Jazz, Blues, Bossa Nova
Art: Front

01. The Cascades (4:01)
02. Blueberry Hill (4:52)
03. Tico Tico No Fuba (4:54)
04. September Song (4:30)
05. Agitation Rag (2:50)
06. Bei Mir Bist Du Schon (4:07)
07. Doralice (4:23)
08. Thanks For The Memory (3:43)
09. Liza (4:18)
10. Aquarela Do Brasil (2:54)
11. Donna (4:30)
12. The Girl From Ipanema/Wave/Aqua De Beber (7:23)
13. Willie El Gato (3:29)
14. Swingin' Ladies Boogie (3:05)
15. Il Profumo Del Mondo (3:46)

These jazz unique cast composed by two world-class pianists Stephanie Trick and Paolo Alderighi and the well known bassist and vocalist Nicki Parrott and clarinetist and saxophonist Engelbert Wrobel, present their new release entitled "from Joplin to Jobim". The repertoire ranges from early ragtime through swing, blues and boogie woogie to Bossa. A joyful and groove entertainment to the jazz fans.

Engelbert Wrobel (clarinet, saxophone, GER)
Stephanie Trick (piano, USA)
Paolo Alderighi (Piano, IT)”
Nicki Parrott (bass, vocal, AUS)

From Joplin To Jobim                

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Susana Sawoff - Bathtub Rituals

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:19
Size: 92.3 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2015
Art: Front

[4:10] 1. The First Time I Know (Feat Heigl Jonsson)
[4:13] 2. Oh Anthony! (Feat Heigl Jonsson)
[4:12] 3. A Jigsaw Puzzle On Our Love
[3:54] 4. Salt (Feat Heigl Jonsson)
[4:20] 5. How Happy We Are
[3:30] 6. I Love Us
[3:50] 7. Hold Me Through (Feat Heigl Jonsson)
[4:31] 8. After Winter Might Come Fall (Feat Heigl Jonsson)
[3:22] 9. Birds Of Prey
[4:11] 10. I Can't Wait To Be Old (Feat Heigl Jonsson)

Listening to Susana's Album "Bathtub Rituals" is a bit like a musical Join-The-Dots. Eventually the whole picture emerges- and a rather beautiful picture it is. A unique journey to embark on with one trusted travelling companion, Susana's voice: soothing, warm, engulfing, sometimes melancholic but always by your side. The Songs can be described as a blueprint of Susana's microcosm. Its finely chiselled lyrics put the focus on the little things and act as a very personal looking glass on life. This magnification transforms Susana's microcosm into everyone's macrocosm for the length of the album, possibly a lot longer. Sparsely instrumented with only a classic Jazz-Trio setup (piano, bass, drums) and icelandic Guest Musician Helgi Jonsson, the songs achieve greatness through reduction, simmering down to the core of the story. A rare moment of clarity in this over-informed world. A musical calligraphy, if you will. Join the dots.

Susana Sawoff is a Singer and Pianist from Austria who performs throughout Europe with her Austrian-acclaimed colleagues Christian Wendt (Bass&Vocals) and Jörg Haberl (Drums&Vocals). Susana Sawoff has been nominated three times for Austria’s biggest Music-Award, the "Amadeus". She has performed amongst others at: Bix Jazzclub/ Stuttgart, European Jazznights/ Oslo, International Jazzfestival Murszene/ Graz, Opus Jazz Club/ Budapest, Porgy&Bess/ Wien, United Island Festival/ Prag, Jazzkaar Festival/ Estonia, Kaunas Jazz/ Lithuania, JazzGAP/Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Women in Jazz Festival/Halle and at the prestigious "Ö1 Stage" at the "Danube Island Festival". Her Solo Debut Album, Wrapped up in a little Sigh, was sold out and is now in its 3nd Edition. Her Album "Bathtub Rituals" was released on the 12th of June 2015 and is available in CD, VINYL and digital in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Japan.

Bathtub Rituals

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Simone - Essential Best

Size: 165,3 MB
Time: 71:20
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2009
Styles: Jazz/Pop Vocals
Art: Front & Back

01. Moonlight Serenade (6:03)
02. Stompin' At The Savoy (3:26)
03. This Can't Be Love (3:28)
04. The Way You Look Tonight (4:21)
05. Emily (3:51)
06. We Kiss In A Shadow (4:04)
07. Taking A Chance On Love (2:58)
08. If (3:52)
09. Imagine (7:04)
10. Everything Must Change (7:18)
11. Let's Fall In Love (5:17)
12. Moon Glow (5:24)
13. The Waters Of March (4:08)
14. I Can't Give You Anything But Love (4:32)
15. I'm Confessin' (5:25)

Japanese compilation includes 9 unreleased tracks recorded for previous albums, "Romance", "Taking A Chance On Love", and "Let's Fall In Love".

It was Simone’s idea to take the great songs of different generations and put all together in what could be considered a level playing field. «I love to sing the great jazz standards,» the 20-something Austrian native tells me, «but, great as they are, I don’t want to sing them exclusively.» Thus she mixes it up–going seamlessly from the music of Prince and Motown to that of the Gershwins and Rodgers & Hart. She varies between the old and new, which is entirely logical considering that virtually all of them are considerably older than she is. She also includes music from both Broadway and Nashville–also a logical choice considering that New York and Tennessee are roughly equidistant from Vienna.

Simone takes an evocative country-folk song associated with Alison Kraus, and, with her stunning voice and the combined musicality of herself and co-producer/pianist John di Martino, makes it into something even more special. «I was driving from one show to another in the States, when I heard it on the car radio.» she reports, «I couldn’t get all the details, but I eventually figured out what the song was. Before I could find the sheet music, I wrote out the chords myself.» It’s a beautifully sung and even haunting performance–in more ways than one.

The new CD also includes three excellent original songs, my favorite of which is «Didn’t You Say.» «It’s about these men that promise you all kinds of things, and then in the end, they don’t deliver anything.» She tells me it’s inspired by real relationships, and I tell her she’s too young to be so cynical. However, the Count Basie-style beat provided by the combination of di Martino and ace rhythm guitarist helps negate any possible ill will, and «Didn’t You Say» turns out to be a real romper after all.

Meet a fresh, young singer from Austria, whose US debut in the year 2000 was hailed as "captivating“. Jazz legend Ira Sullivan calls her “a great young talent” with a big future in Jazz.

Simone, now 25 years old, grew up in a family of musicians and started to sing, in her father's band when she was 12. At the same time she studied piano, though singing remained her first love. Early on, she entered and won various talent contests and even made appearances on television in her native land, Austria. As a young performer, she twice toured the Netherlands with the “Euro Big Band” and later appeared in several International Jazz Festivals.

Influenced by some of the great American vocalists, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Jon Hendricks, Simone has developed into a true Jazzsinger, a singer who uses a wide variety of rhythms and excels in her very individual style of scatting. Laurie Antonioli says that “Simone is an excellent musician, with soulful and hip improvising. She digs in and isn't afraid to take risks with the music”.

Simone received her Masters Degree from the University for Music and dramatic Arts in Graz, Austria where she had the opportunity to work with such Jazz luminaries as Mark Murphy, Sheila Jordan, Michele Hendricks, Jay Clayton and the New York Voices.

Essential Best

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Susana Sawoff - Bathtub Rituals

Size: 100,4 MB
Time: 40:19
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2015
Styles: Jazz/Pop Vocals
Art: Front

01. The First Time I Knew (Feat. Helgi Jonsson) (4:10)
02. Oh Anthony! (Feat. Helgi Jonsson) (4:13)
03. A Jigsaw Puzzle On Our Love (4:12)
04. Salt (Bathtub Rituals) (Feat. Helgi Jonsson) (3:54)
05. How Happy We Are (4:20)
06. I Love Us (3:30)
07. Hold Me Through (Feat. Helgi Jonsson) (3:50)
08. After Winter Might Come Fall (Feat. Helgi Jonsson) (4:31)
09. Birds Of Prey (3:22)
10. I Can't Wait To Be Old (Feat. Helgi Jonsson) (4:11)

Listening to Susana's Album "Bathtub Rituals" is a bit like a musical Join-The-Dots. Eventually the whole picture emerges- and a rather beautiful picture it is. A unique journey to embark on with one trusted travelling companion, Susana's voice: soothing, warm, engulfing, sometimes melancholic but always by your side. The Songs can be described as a blueprint of Susana's microcosm. Its finely chiselled lyrics put the focus on the little things and act as a very personal looking glass on life. This magnification transforms Susana's microcosm into everyone's macrocosm for the length of the album, possibly a lot longer. Sparsely instrumented with only a classic Jazz-Trio setup (piano, bass, drums) and icelandic Guest Musician Helgi Jonsson, the songs achieve greatness through reduction, simmering down to the core of the story. A rare moment of clarity in this over-informed world. A musical calligraphy, if you will. Join the dots.

Susana Sawoff is a Singer and Pianist from Austria who performs throughout Europe with her Austrian-acclaimed colleagues Christian Wendt (Bass&Vocals) and Jörg Haberl (Drums&Vocals). Susana Sawoff has been nominated three times for Austria’s biggest Music-Award, the "Amadeus". She has performed amongst others at: Bix Jazzclub/ Stuttgart, European Jazznights/ Oslo, International Jazzfestival Murszene/ Graz, Opus Jazz Club/ Budapest, Porgy&Bess/ Wien, United Island Festival/ Prag, Jazzkaar Festival/ Estonia, Kaunas Jazz/ Lithuania, JazzGAP/Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Women in Jazz Festival/Halle and at the prestigious "Ö1 Stage" at the "Danube Island Festival". Her Solo Debut Album, Wrapped up in a little Sigh, was sold out and is now in its 3nd Edition.

Bathtub Rituals

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