Daryl Sherman, Johnny Mercer: A Centennial Tribute

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:57
Size: 146,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:42)  1. I'm Shadowing You
(5:21)  2. Little Ingenue
(5:11)  3. Midnight Sun
(3:20)  4. Jeepers Creepers
(4:38)  5. Come Rain Or Shine
(4:24)  6. The Bathtub Ran Over Again
(6:25)  7. Lazy Bones
(3:00)  8. Peter Piper
(5:38)  9. I Thought About You
(3:21) 10. At The Jazz Band Ball
(4:56) 11. Charade
(4:27) 12. Dream
(4:44) 13. Twilight World
(3:43) 14. Here Come The British

Choosing "I'm Shadowing You" as the opener on Daryl Sherman's fine Centennial Tribute to composer and lyricist Johnny Mercer inevitably recalls Blossom Dearie. Heretofore that tune has pretty much been the exclusive property of the late vocalist. There are also other, more than passing, resemblances between the two singers, both first-class self-accompanists on piano possessing underage sounding voices used effectively to slyly charming ends. With a legacy of 1,500 heartfelt and humorous songs, Mercer's is a rich one from which to choose. Sherman's selections are a welcome mix of classics such as "Come Rain or Come Shine" and "Midnight Sun" with more than a few choice rarities like "The Bathtub Ran Over Again." On the latter Wycliffe Gordon joins Sherman for a delightfully foxy vocal duet. His gravelly sound contrasts perfectly with Sherman's petite smoothness. "Little Ingenue" (co-written with Jimmy Rowles) is another gem. 

Here Sherman's silken glissando, backed by Jerry Dodgion's alto sax, is especially effective in capturing hope in the face of glamour that's a tad shopworn. On "Dream," one of the few songs for which Mercer wrote both music and lyrics, Gordon's trombone provides the most sensitive of accompaniment. As Sherman conjures "smoke rings rising in the air," he is playing heavenly notes behind her. It is a great, great song performed to perfection. The artistry and empathy between Sherman and her fellow musicians makes for a set that is a glowing tribute to one of the great masters of the jazz idiom and the American Songbook. ~ Andrew Velez  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/johnny-mercer-a-centennial-tribute-daryl-sherman-arbors-records-review-by-andrew-velez.php#.VFkx_8mHmtg

Personnel: Daryl Sherman: piano, vocals; Jerry Dodgion: alto sax; Wycliffe Gordon: Trombone, vocals; Howard Alden: guitar, banjo; Jay Leonhart: bass, vocals; Chuck Redd: drums, vibraphone; Marian McPartland: piano, Barbara Carroll: piano.

Daryl Sherman Johnny Mercer: A Centennial Tribute

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The Barbara Carroll Trio - Why Not?

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 32:15
Size: 74,3 MB
Art: Front

(2:59)  1. Later
(2:08)  2. You're Here Again
(2:00)  3. The Black Cat
(2:16)  4. Theme for a Starlet
(2:48)  5. Champagne Velvet
(3:00)  6. B's Flat Blues
(3:06)  7. Why Not?
(3:05)  8. Misty Morning
(2:50)  9. Dark Noon
(2:53) 10. Would It Be the Same
(3:16) 11. Lonely Night
(1:49) 12. Chevy's Chase

In the year 2005, Barbara Carroll could boast that she has began playing piano for a grand total of 75 years. Not without a pause to sleep and eat, obviously, but with a determination that might suggest such extremes. Born Barbara Carole Coppersmith, she began the instrument at only five-years-old and went on to classical training three years later, eventually graduating from the New England Conservatory. In terms of professional stagecraft, her initial training ground was a USO tour during the second World War in which she was part of an all-girl trio. This was quickly followed by leading her own trio on New York City's famous lane of jazz, 52nd Street, where she adopted her middle name of Carole as a stage name. The pianist was associated with such fine players as guitarist Chuck Wayne and bassist Clyde Lombardi, but what would develop into an extensive discography began in 1949 with a recording session backing up multi-instrumentalist Eddie Shu for the Rainbow label.

Among female piano players, Carroll is known as the first to venture into the progressive bebop style that was especially associated with Bud Powell.

Unlike the infamous Billy Tipton, Carroll also did not think it was necessary to hide the fact that she was a woman in jazz but this was New York City, not Oklahoma or Washington state. Not that Carroll had an easy time in a genre dominated by men. "People tended to put you down before they ever heard you," she has commented in interviews. "If you were a girl piano player, the tendency was to say: 'Oh, how could she possibly play?' You never even got a chance to present what you could do. But then, if you did prove yourself, it almost became a commercial asset, in a sense; you were regarded as unique."

One audience that found Carroll to their liking was the high society crowd, becoming enamored with her during an extended run at the ultra-chic Embers supper club. Her group at the latter venue included the bassist Joe Shulman, whom she married in 1954. Carroll did not ignore the pop styles of subsequent decades, yet always managed to keep a strong jazz flavor present in whatever material she performed. If swing was a bay leaf, it would be said that Carroll has a large bush growing right outside her kitchen window. She has recorded for many of the best labels in the genre including Verve and Atlantic and continues to be in demand at clubs and cabarets. Carroll works as an actress on occasion, such as the Broadway play entitled Me and Juliet. ~ Eugene Chadbourne  http://www.allmusic.com/artist/barbara-carroll-mn0000788256/biography

Why Not?

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Barbara Carroll - Old Friends

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1988
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:40
Size: 102,6 MB
Art: Front

(3:38)  1. Old Friends
(4:23)  2. Together Wherever We Go
(3:59)  3. Early Autumn
(4:21)  4. There Will Never be Another You
(3:29)  5. Looking At You
(6:13)  6. Dancing On The Ceiling
(3:59)  7. Can't We Be Friends
(5:08)  8. Too Soon
(3:43)  9. Aus Nossos Silhos
(5:44) 10. You Stepped Out Of A Dream

Entering her nineties, Barbara Carroll could boast that she had been playing piano for over 85 years. Not without a pause to sleep and eat, obviously, but with a determination that might suggest such extremes. Born Barbara Carole Coppersmith, she began the instrument at only five years old and went on to classical training three years later, eventually graduating from the New England Conservatory. In terms of professional stagecraft, her initial training ground was a USO tour during World War II in which she was part of an all-girl trio. This was quickly followed by leading her own trio on New York City's famous lane of jazz, 52nd Street, where she adopted a variation of her middle name, Carole, as a stage name. The pianist was associated with such fine players as guitarist Chuck Wayne and bassist Clyde Lombardi, but what would develop into an extensive discography began in 1949 with a recording session backing up multi-instrumentalist Eddie Shu for the Rainbow label.

Among female piano players, Carroll was known as the first to venture into the progressive bebop style that was especially associated with Bud Powell. Unlike the infamous Billy Tipton, Carroll also did not think it was necessary to hide the fact that she was a woman in jazz but this was New York City, not Oklahoma or the state of Washington. Not that Carroll had an easy time in a genre dominated by men. "People tended to put you down before they ever heard you," she commented. "If you were a girl piano player, the tendency was to say: 'Oh, how could she possibly play?' You never even got a chance to present what you could do. But then, if you did prove yourself, it almost became a commercial asset, in a sense; you were regarded as unique."

One audience that found Carroll to their liking was the high society crowd, becoming enamored with her during an extended run at the ultra-chic Embers supper club. Her group at the latter venue included the bassist Joe Shulman, whom she married in 1954. Carroll did not ignore the pop styles of subsequent decades, yet always managed to keep a strong jazz flavor present in whatever material she performed. If swing was a bay leaf, it would be said that Carroll had a large bush growing right outside her kitchen window. She recorded for many of the best labels in the genre including Verve and Atlantic and continued to be in demand at clubs and cabarets into her nineties, playing a regular gig at Manhattan's Birdland venue until December 2016. Carroll also worked as an actress on occasion, such as the Broadway play entitled Me and Juliet. She died in February 2017 at the age of 92. ~ Eugene Chadbourne  https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/old-friends/889301524

Personnel:  Barbara Carroll - Vocal; Phil Bodner - Reeds;  Jay Leonhart - Bass;  Grady Tate - Drums         

Old Friends

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Barbara Carroll - I Wished On The Moon

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:39
Size: 141,7 MB
Art: Front

(6:17)  1. But Beautiful
(6:13)  2. Gee Baby Ain't Good To You
(5:06)  3. Can't We Be Friends
(4:27)  4. I've Got A Crush On You
(6:48)  5. How Am I To Know
(6:11)  6. Prelude To A Kiss
(8:58)  7. Where Or When
(4:36)  8. I Wished On The Moon
(6:27)  9. You Are Not My First Love
(6:36) 10. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To

In the year 2005, Barbara Carroll could boast that she has began playing piano for a grand total of 75 years. Not without a pause to sleep and eat, obviously, but with a determination that might suggest such extremes. Born Barbara Carole Coppersmith, she began the instrument at only five-years-old and went on to classical training three years later, eventually graduating from the New England Conservatory. In terms of professional stagecraft, her initial training ground was a USO tour during the second World War in which she was part of an all-girl trio. This was quickly followed by leading her own trio on New York City's famous lane of jazz, 52nd Street, where she adopted her middle name of Carole as a stage name. The pianist was associated with such fine players as guitarist Chuck Wayne and bassist Clyde Lombardi, but what would develop into an extensive discography began in 1949 with a recording session backing up multi-instrumentalist Eddie Shu for the Rainbow label. Among female piano players, Carroll is known as the first to venture into the progressive bebop style that was especially associated with Bud Powell. Unlike the infamous Billy Tipton, Carroll also did not think it was necessary to hide the fact that she was a woman in jazz but this was New York City, not Oklahoma or Washington state. Not that Carroll had an easy time in a genre dominated by men. "People tended to put you down before they ever heard you," she has commented in interviews. "If you were a girl piano player, the tendency was to say: 'Oh, how could she possibly play?' You never even got a chance to present what you could do. But then, if you did prove yourself, it almost became a commercial asset, in a sense; you were regarded as unique." One audience that found Carroll to their liking was the high society crowd, becoming enamored with her during an extended run at the ultra-chic Embers supper club. Her group at the latter venue included the bassist Joe Shulman, whom she married in 1954. Carroll did not ignore the pop styles of subsequent decades, yet always managed to keep a strong jazz flavor present in whatever material she performed. If swing was a bay leaf, it would be said that Carroll has a large bush growing right outside her kitchen window. She has recorded for many of the best labels in the genre including Verve and Atlantic and continues to be in demand at clubs and cabarets. Carroll works as an actress on occasion, such as the Broadway play entitled Me and Juliet. ~ Eugene Chadbourne http://www.allmusic.com/artist/barbara-carroll-mn0000788256/biography

R.I.P.

Born: January 25, 1925, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States
Died: February 11, 2017

I Wished On The Moon

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Barbara Carroll Trio & Ken Peplowski - Something To Live For (Live)

Size: 131,1 MB
Time: 55:48
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2010
Styles: Jazz, Vocals
Art: Front

01. All I Need Is The Girl (Live) (6:06)
02. Lonely Town (Live) (7:46)
03. I Wanna Be Yours (Live) (3:44)
04. How Could You Do A Thing Like That To Me (Live) (7:07)
05. Single Petal Of A Rose (Live) (1:51)
06. In A Sentimental Mood (Live) (2:41)
07. Mood Indigo (Live) (3:37)
08. Things Ain't What They Used To Be (Live) (5:15)
09. How About You (Live) (4:13)
10. Something To Live For (Live) (2:09)
11. Lotus Blossom (Live) (5:26)
12. A Night In Tunisia (Live) (5:48)

(Barbara Carroll, piano & vocals; Ken Peplowski, tenor sax & clarinet; Jay Leonhart, doiublebass; Alvin Atkinson, drums)

Known as “the first girl to play bebop piano,” Barbara Carroll is one of the top women in jazz and is now 85 years old and still working. While she dropped out of the jazz world for a period when public tastes changed, she is now back and much appreciated in the jazz club and cabaret world. This recording was made in 2008 at Lincoln Center and is superb from beginning to end – fully supporting Duke Ellington’s definition of Carroll being “beyond category.” Not only does she offer clever, swinging and highly original takes on all dozen tracks here, but she even does the vocals on two of them. And in spite of her age she sounds better than the majority of the female jazz vocalists on disc that we receive for review!

Carroll has the terrific Jay Leonhart as the bassist in her trio, and she has rounded out her trio with one of my favorite reed-men, Ken Peplowski, making it really more of a quartet than a trio. Several of her tune choices are also not the expected ones: She does gorgeous lyrical treatments of two Ellington masterpieces (well, the second is really by Strayhorn) – Single Petal of a Rose and Lotus Blossom. Leonhart’s skillful use of his bow is prominent on these. In fact six of the tracks are Ellington or Strayhorn numbers. Peplowski’s clarinet shines on the seldom-heard How Could You Do a Thing Like That To Me? And he switches to tenor sax for Ellington’s Things Ain’t What They Used to Be. The quartet swings lustily on Dizzy’s closing A Night in Tunisia.

What a treat, from start to finish! ~John Henry

Something To Live For

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Barbara Carroll - Live at Dizzy's Club: How Long Has This Been Going On?

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:24
Size: 122,6 MB
Art: Front

(7:57)  1. Change Partners
(6:06)  2. Some Other Time
(4:20)  3. Fascinating Rhythm
(2:08)  4. Nice Work If You Can Get It
(6:31)  5. How Long Has This Been Going On
(3:33)  6. My Man's Gone Now
(6:33)  7. I Got Rhythm
(7:31)  8. Todd's Blues
(3:42)  9. Too Soon
(5:00) 10. Have You Met Miss Jones

The credit is to the Barbara Carroll Trio featuring Ken Peplowski, who adds clarinet and tenor saxophone. Carroll begins with Irving Berlin's "Change Partners" using only the trio (which is completed by bassist Jay Leonhart and drummer Alvin Atkinson) and ends with Rodgers & Hart's "Have You Met Miss Jones," both standards taken at lively tempos and featuring some vibrant playing from a leader just crossing her mid-eighties. After a thoughtful presentation of Leonard Bernstein's "Some Other Time," the bulk of the set is taken up by two sections, first a lengthy medley of Gershwin tunes including "Fascinating Rhythm," "Nice Work If You Can Get It," the title song, "My Man's Gone Now" from Porgy and Bess, and "I Got Rhythm."

Peplowski makes his first appearance on clarinet on "Fascinating Rhythm," immediately establishing a playful rapport with Carroll, sometimes mirroring her lines and other times introducing counter-melodies. Carroll takes to the microphone for a rhythmic recitation of some of the lyrics to "How Long Has This Been Going On?," her only vocal work on the album; Peplowski switches to tenor to match her. He sits out "My Man's Gone Now," but returns to clarinet for "I Got Rhythm," again twinning with Carroll spectacularly. That sets up further fireworks in the second section of the set, which consists of two Carroll originals. The first, "Todd's Blues," finds Peplowski playing some high, piercing notes on his clarinet and Leonhart taking an arco solo. "Too Soon" is a lilting waltz that confirms the swing of Carroll and Peplowski as a musical couple. In 2010, when this show at Dizzy's Club was recorded, "this," that is, Barbara Carroll's career at the piano, had been going on for about 80 years, and it showed no signs of stopping. ~ William Ruhlmann  http://www.allmusic.com/album/live-at-dizzys-club-how-long-has-this-been-going-on-mw0002187487

Personnel: Barbara Carroll (piano, vocal); Ken Peplowski (clarinet, tenor saxophone); Alvin Atkinson (drums).

Live at Dizzy's Club: How Long Has This Been Going On?

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Barbara Carroll - This Heart Of Mine

Styles: Jazz, Vocal, Cabaret
Year: 1994
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:58
Size: 151,5 MB
Art: Front

(6:33)  1. The Way You Look Tonight
(5:16)  2. Never Let Me Go
(6:41)  3. In Some Other World
(6:06)  4. This Heart Of Mine
(5:44)  5. I Wanna Be Yours
(5:06)  6. Sweet Lilacs
(6:01)  7. Medley: On Second Thought/Why I Can't
(3:13)  8. Lester Leaps In
(6:32)  9. Some Other Time
(4:23) 10. Rain Sometimes
(5:59) 11. Whenever A Soft Rain Falls
(4:19) 12. It's Like Reaching For The Moon

This is one of the better later recordings by Barbara Carroll. A bop-based pianist and a cabaret singer, Carroll balanced her two very different skills quite well throughout the date. There are a few instrumentals along the way (including "The Way You Look Tonight" and "Lester Leaps In") which team her with Jerome Richardson (heard on tenor and alto) and Art Farmer (on the trumpet) along with drummer Joe Cocuzzo and either Jay Leonhart or Frank Tate on bass. The overall music is more jazz-oriented than some of Carroll's recordings and her soft-spoken vocals are generally a delight; however, it is her swinging piano that consistently takes honors. A fine all-around set that serves as a good introduction to the music of Barbara Carroll. ~ Scott Yanow  http://www.allmusic.com/album/this-heart-of-mine-mw0000120021

This Heart Of Mine

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Mary Lou Williams & Barbara Carroll - Ladies Of Jazz

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 42:08
Size: 98.1 MB
Styles: Piano jazz
Year: 1951/2010
Art: Front

[3:03] 1. My Funny Valentine
[2:21] 2. Taking a Chance on Love
[2:53] 3. You Took Advantage of Me
[3:26] 4. 'Tis Autumn
[2:27] 5. The Lady's in Love with You
[2:37] 6. Love of My Life
[4:36] 7. Autumn in New York
[2:52] 8. You're the Cream in My Coffee
[2:29] 9. Surrey with the Fringe on Top
[2:45] 10. Pagliacci
[2:56] 11. Opus Z
[3:40] 12. From This Moment On
[3:05] 13. In the Purple Grotto
[2:51] 14. 'S Wonderful

This is a reissue of an early LP that devoted a side apiece to these two talented pianists in a trio setting. Most of Barbara Carroll's recordings from this era are long out of print, and she was recorded rather sporadically until a flurry of activity in the early '90s, so it's a treat to hear her swinging renditions of gems like "Taking a Chance on Love" and "The Lady's in Love With You," with the added bonus of a previously unissued track, "They Can't Take That Away From Me." Mary Lou Williams' set is more adventurous, featuring an adaptation of Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci," and classic show tunes like "The Surrey With the Fringe on Top" and "'S Wonderful." But it's her potent originals that steal the show -- the bluesy "In the Purple Grotto" and "Opus Z," a composition co-written with the unjustly neglected Herbie Nichols. ~Ken Dryden

Ladies Of Jazz

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