Yelena Eckemoff - Lonely Man and His Fish

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 87:14
Size: 207,8 MB
Art: Front

(6:15) 1. Lonely Man
(7:09) 2. Pet Store
(6:32) 3. First Evening at Home
(3:43) 4. Breakfast fro Two
(5:58) 5. Man and His Fish
(4:51) 6. Accident
(7:11) 7. In Hospital
(7:06) 8. Into the Wild
(5:05) 9. Life in the Pond
(6:55) 10. Survivor
(6:03) 11. Empty House
(8:59) 12. Song for Spark
(5:07) 13. Call of Friendship
(6:12) 14. Dreaming Together

A Moscow-raised, classically-trained pianist, Yelena Eckemoff made the move to the United States in 1991, after being bitten by the jazz bug via a Dave Brubeck concert she attended in Moscow in 1987. In 2010, after settling with her family in rural North Carolina, she released Cold Sun (L & H Records), a trio outing featuring bassist Mads Vinding and drummer Peter Erskine. She followed up this fine debut with several more albums, all on her L & H Label, teaming again with drummer Erskine, bassist Arild Andersen, drummers Marilyn Mazur and Billy Hart, saxophonist Mark Turner and vibraphonist Joe Locke.

So, how does a young mother from Moscow, settled in rural North Carolina, unknown in the jazz world, connect with and eventually employ such a top-of-the-line list of jazz players to help her present her artistic vision? The guess here, formed after a phone conversation with the artist, a fearless directness combined with a guileless personal approach, a bit of friendly, low-key audacity, unwavering determination, and a justified confidence in the quality of the art she is creating.

2015 was a breakout year for Eckemoff. Two of her finest albums, Lions and Everblue, both on L & H Records, came out that year two all-star ensembles showcasing Eckemoff's superior compositions and her themed approach to making albums. She continues in that tradition on Lonely Man And His Fish, music built around Eckemoff's story about a retired orchestral trumpeter player (the lonely man) and his retirement present pet fish, Spark.

Trumpeter Kirk Knuffke plays the lonely man part; Japanese flautist Masaru Koga supplies the voice of Spark. The story, included in the liner booklet, has the feel of a simple children's tale. Much of the music has a whimsical quality, with engaging melodies and complex, classical-like harmonies. Trumpeter Knuffke sounds quintessentially American, drawing from funk and New Orleans traditions; flautist Koga brings in the Eastern tinge, and the rhythm section Eckemoff, bassist Ben Street and drummer Eric Harland are impeccable and imaginative in their support and their embellishments to the story-telling.

The 2 CDs worth of music on Lonely Man And His Fish brims with joy and the exhilaration of creation. Eckemoff's theme-based offerings take another step forward in complexity and positivity. What might be next for the pianist-composer? It is impossible to say; she follows her muse from pride of lions to nocturnal animals, from colors to wildflowers, from the desert to blooming tall phloxes inspirations from unlikely places transformed into marvellous works of art. By McClenaghan
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/lonely-man-and-his-fish-yelena-eckemoff-l-and-h-production

Personnel: Yelena Eckemoff: piano; Kirk Knuffke: cornet; Masaru Koga: flute; Ben Street: bass; Eric Harland: drums.

Lonely Man and His Fish

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Kevin Hays - All Things Are

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2021
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:36
Size: 139,2 MB
Art: Front

( 7:45) 1. New Day
( 9:54) 2. Elegia
( 3:36) 3. Unscrappulous
(11:52) 4. For Heaven's Sake
( 9:35) 5. All Things Are
( 8:05) 6. Sweet Caroline
( 9:45) 7. Twilight

You can tell the heat of the trio by the laughter boiling over. Not in all cases, admittedly, but for this session, the exhortations and chuckles, picked up by the mic, drive drummer Billy Hart, bassist Ben Street, and pianist Kevin Hays with a gentle nudge here, a harder shove there to greater pleasures, in greater complexities, even as they start in simplicity.

Recorded live on the bandstand of a sans-audience Smoke Jazz Club, this date finds Hays and Hart switching posts between leader and led. The drummer can be a one-man solar system through his cymbals and dry snare, while the piano hops around the stereo spectrum, a fire sometimes banked as Hart muses, sometimes roaring ahead and around. I’m intrigued how Street keeps himself to one side, stereo and muse-wise. But from a little farther back he always comments, astutely, quietly, in wisdom.

Hays states that the virus gave him the chance to improve, practicing at home, but he worried about losing his ability to relate to others. Sounds like he needn’t have worried. Three tunes here stemmed directly from him; three others sprang up as contrafacts of standards. Reworking “All the Things You Are” into “All Things Are” gives you its hint from the new title: leaving things out to put most anything in, thus expanding possibilities from the already-rich cycle of fifths in the original. Street waits patiently for his chance, gets it, and explains everything the other two left out. I grow weary and numb and even cynical watching the news, feeling the grind through my bones; then I hear this, and our race seems worth saving.By By Andrew Hamlin
https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/kevin-hays-ben-street-billy-hart-all-things-are-smoke-sessions/

Personnel: Kevin Hays, piano; Ben Street, bass; Billy Hart, drums.

All Things Are

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Johnathan Blake Quartet - Gone, But Not Forgotten

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:13
Size: 157,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:43)  1. Cryin' Blues
(8:06)  2. Firm Roots
(4:35)  3. Maracas Beach
(7:55)  4. All Across the City
(8:00)  5. Broski
(6:57)  6. Born Yesterday
(6:05)  7. Circle Dance
(5:16)  8. New Wheels
(5:15)  9. Anysha
(3:40) 10. The Shadower
(6:37) 11. Two for the Blues

Inspired by jazz luminaries who have recently departed, Johnathan Blake’s second album as a leader explores material by Cedar Walton, Jim Hall, Mulgrew Miller, Paul Motian, Frank Foster, Frank Wess and Eddie Harris. The NYC-based, Philly-born drummer also pays tribute to three of Philadelphia’s finest musicians: Charles Fambrough, Trudy Pitts and James “Sid” Simmons, and includes two original compositions-one dedicated to the daughter of saxophonist Jimmy Greene, Ana Grace, who was killed in the Sandy Hook tragedy, the second to gifted bassist Dwayne Burno, who passed away last year at 43. Thematically solemn, the recording nonetheless brims with a life-affirming sense of creativity and vitality. The fiery lineup features two stellar saxophonists-Mark Turner and Chris Potter-with Ben Street on bass. Sans chordal instrument, the two distinct horns are free to play with and against each other as Blake drives the proceedings with Street. Walton’s “Firm Roots” has both Turner and Potter burning; Simmons’ jazz-funk vehicle “Maracas Beach” features Potter on alto flute that, together with Turner’s tenor, creates a unique sonic palette matching the tune’s breezy brightness. For “All Across the City”which Blake performed with its composer, Jim Hall-the drummer uses a handwritten chart given to him by Hall, infusing the classic ballad with his personal harmonic touch. Blake’s propulsiveness, imagination and dexterity are showcased on Fambrough’s “Broski” (named after Art Blakey), Motian’s “Circle Dance” and his own “The Shadower.” Blake is one of the most sought-after drummers of his generation, playing alongside Tom Harrell, Oliver Lake, Kenny Barron and others; here he expresses his singular voice, not only through the choice of material and bandmates, but his adventurous, driving yet sensitive playing, infusing beloved tunes with new life and demonstrating fine compositional aptitude as well. ~ By Sharonne Cohen https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/johnathan-blake-gone-but-not-forgotten/
 

Personnel: Drums – Johnathan Blake; Bass – Ben Street; Tenor Saxophone, Flute [Alto Flute] – Chris Potter 

Gone, But Not Forgotten

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Michael Kanan - The Gentleman is a Dope

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2002
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:42
Size: 113,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:45)  1. Tautology
(6:05)  2. Adorée
(5:31)  3. Ghost of Yesterday
(6:04)  4. Unbelievable
(4:22)  5. The Gentleman is a Dope
(4:51)  6. I Don't Know Where to Turn
(4:52)  7. The Blues at Roslyn's Court
(6:59)  8. Red on Maroon
(5:09)  9. Thelonious

Michael Kanan hails from Boston, Massachusetts where he first began to play the piano at age 7. He started improvising at the keyboard early on, and by age 10 he was listening to jazz. His first instructor was pianist Harvey Diamond, a student of jazz innovator Lennie Tristano. During his years at Boston College, Michael had the opportunity to perform with several jazz greats including Tal Farlow, Lee Konitz, Al Cohn, and Alan Dawson. After graduating college and doing some freelance work around Boston, he moved to New York in 1991 to study with another Tristano student, the pianist Sal Mosca. He established himself in New York, playing and recording with Kurt Rosenwinkel, Mark Turner, and Jorge Rossy, among others. He also developed a growing reputation as a vocal accompanist. In 1996, he joined the band of legendary singer Jimmy Scott, touring the US, Europe, and Japan and recording 4 CDs. In 2001, Michael became the accompanist and arranger for one of today's most celebrated vocalists, Jane Monheit. With Ms. Monheit's group, he has toured all over the world, recorded several CDs and DVDs, and made many TV appearances, including The David Letterman Show and The Conan O'Brien Show. When not on the road with the Monheit band, Michael performs and records with his own groups. He has made two trio recordings for Barcelona's Fresh Sound New Talent label: "Convergence" and "The Gentleman Is A Dope", both featuring bassist Ben Street and drummer Tim Pleasant. He has also recorded a duet with his longtime collaborator, alto saxophonist Nat Su, entitled "Dreams And Reflections". He can be heard around New York with his trio featuring guitarist Greg Ruggiero and bassist Neal Miner. Today, Michael lives in Brooklyn, and is a student of classical piano teacher Sophia Rosoff. http://www.michaelkanan.com/bio.htm

Personnel: Piano – Michael Kanan; Bass – Ben Street; Drums – Tim Pleasant

The Gentleman is a Dope

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Michael Kanan Trio - Convergence

Styles: Piano Jazz 
Year: 1999
File: MP3@224K/s
Time: 56:39
Size: 92,2 MB
Art: Front

(5:27)  1. Crosscurrent
(7:41)  2. A Family Song
(5:02)  3. Victory Ball
(7:55)  4. Ghost of a Chance
(6:03)  5. Leave Me
(4:39)  6. Subconscious-Lee
(6:38)  7. Stardust
(7:33)  8. Ablution
(5:38)  9. You Do Something to Me

Michael Kanan hails from Boston, Massachusetts where he first began to play the piano at age 7. He started improvising at the keyboard early on, and by age 10 he was listening to jazz. His first instructor was pianist Harvey Diamond, a student of jazz innovator Lennie Tristano. During his years at Boston College, Michael had the opportunity to perform with several jazz greats including Tal Farlow, Lee Konitz, Al Cohn, and Alan Dawson. After graduating college and doing some freelance work around Boston, he moved to New York in 1991 to study with another Tristano student, the pianist Sal Mosca. He established himself in New York, playing and recording with Kurt Rosenwinkel, Mark Turner, and Jorge Rossy, among others. He also developed a growing reputation as a vocal accompanist. In 1996, he joined the band of legendary singer Jimmy Scott, touring the US, Europe, and Japan and recording 4 CDs. In 2001, Michael became the accompanist and arranger for one of today's most celebrated vocalists, Jane Monheit. With Ms. Monheit's group, he has toured all over the world, recorded several CDs and DVDs, and made many TV appearances, including The David Letterman Show and The Conan O'Brien Show. 

When not on the road with the Monheit band, Michael performs and records with his own groups. He has made two trio recordings for Barcelona's Fresh Sound New Talent label: "Convergence" and "The Gentleman Is A Dope", both featuring bassist Ben Street and drummer Tim Pleasant. He has also recorded a duet with his longtime collaborator, alto saxophonist Nat Su, entitled "Dreams And Reflections". He can be heard around New York with his trio featuring guitarist Greg Ruggiero and bassist Neal Miner. Today, Michael lives in Brooklyn, and is a student of classical piano teacher Sophia Rosoff. http://www.michaelkanan.com/bio.htm

Personnel:  Michael Kanan, piano; Ben Street, bass; Tim Pleasant, drums

Convergence

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Charles Davis Quartet - Plays The Music Of Bent Jaedig: Our Man in Copenhagen

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:36
Size: 112,0 MB
Art: Front

(7:13)  1. Atlicity
(5:44)  2. Drum Case
(6:21)  3. The Red Lightning
(7:23)  4. Ballad For Brew
(6:05)  5. Rod's Shtick
(9:13)  6. Sizzling
(6:33)  7. The Strootch

Like Bent, Charles is well known and highly respected by his peers, but not as known to the general public as he deserves to be. He also has remained open to all types of music in his long career and today he is still found in as different contexts as Barry Harris group and the Sun Ra Arkestra. He is completely committed to his musical message, a timeless yet constantly evolving message. Like Bent, he has released only a handful of albums under his own name, but they are of extremely high quality. Charles Davis is a master of the saxophone and I am truly honored that he has agreed to do this album.
His writing was sparse, but when he wrote something it was precise. I would guess that there are around 15 Bent Jædig compositions that we know of. On this album we have recorded 8 of them. I wanted people to hear this music interpreted by the best quartet I could imagine. I see Ben Street as the most important bassist of his generation, highly original and sophisticated, also Sam Yahel, to me, is playing the most exiting stuff on the scene today on piano and organ.

This is the first album on Fresh Sound Records by the Charles Davis Quartet. This All-Star group is lead by one of the greatest exponents of true Be Bop sax playing in the world. At 75 years of age Charles Davis continues to perform regularly with such great bands as the Barry Harris group, the Jimmy Heath big band and the Sun Ra Arkestra and leads his own bands. Davis lives and works out of New York as he has been since he left Chicago in 1957. he has performed with Billy Holliday, John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra, Billy Higgins, Hank Mobley, Clifford Jordan among others. He is acknowledged by his peers as a very original lyrical improviser. http://www.freshsoundrecords.com/charles-davis-albums/5029-plays-the-music-of-bent-jaedig-our-man-in-copenhagen.html

Personnel:  Charles Davis (ts), Sam Yahel (p), Ben Street (b), Kresten Osgood (d).

Plays The Music Of Bent Jaedig: Our Man in Copenhagen

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Albert Heath, Ben Street & Ethan Iverson - Philadelphia Beat

Styles: Jazz, Post-Bop
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:25
Size: 115,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:24)  1. Bag's Groove
(3:50)  2. Reets and I
(3:44)  3. I Will Survive
(4:49)  4. Concorde
(6:15)  5. Memories of You
(3:04)  6. Con Alma
(3:02)  7. Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme
(3:30)  8. Bye-Ya
(4:52)  9. Everything Must Change
(4:09) 10. Speak Low
(3:19) 11. Pentatonic Etude
(5:22) 12. Bakai

Eighty years of fragrance are those of Albert "Tootie" Heath , judging by the quality of the game basted in a trio with the plan of Ethan Iverson and the bass of Ben Street , a game now in its third and most successful hand, voted in the rules unwritten of the jazz school in Philadelphia. A Magisterium, to Heath, formed on lightness, taste subtraction, it said in decades of acquaintances at the top of the history of jazz (asArt Farmer to Yusef Lateef , as Dexter Gordon to John Coltrane, down to Anthony Braxton and Roscoe Mitchell ...) This trio seems to deepen the attitude of Iverson to break down to a minimum the syntax of the standards: where with the Bad Plus pianist uses the art of a baroque masked, with an overload of dynamics, here on the contrary he seems even to dry the pasta of the agreements, insisting on a melodic cantabile whose irregularities mention with continuous syncopations and thin contour colors. The bank that the low Street is able to offer the pianist stands out tonally sense that rhythm, chasing osmosis perfectly realized. The percussion of the great Heath start dancing and lead with extraordinary skill, suggesting unexpected openings, ironic asides, punctuation scathing. It is a different way short of remaking the classic feel of this formula, in a path that draws Iverson still following in the footsteps of a genealogy piano: John Lewis , Lennie Tristano ,Bud Powell , Thelonious Monk , Mal Waldron .

There is the scent of Modern Jazz Quartet in several episodes, the initial "Bag's Groove" to an enchanting "Concorde" which cites the beginning Heath the "I'm an Old Cowhand" rollinsiana. The Powell-Monk line (so to speak ..) passes through the beauty of "Reets and I" up to a luxury "Bye-Ya" which pays tribute to Heath Art Blakey and feels ... An alienating treatment is reserved the cult of the album "I Will Survive," loved by Iverson to the point of even sing live (heard years ago in trio Billy Hart ): here the theme is announced by a whirlwind of color scales and slightly dissonant harmony. But think now not too speculative transactions: the music remains clear and fresh, even in the simple magic tricks. How to confirm the literal reading of "Everything Must Change," with reference to that of Mal Waldron of almost thirty years ago, and the Afro-Cuban of "Bakai" which closes the program.  Libretto of very well done CD, with introductions to individual pieces of Iverson , vintage photos of Tootie with Hi-Tones and Bee-Boppers and other current, taken to the mythical Clef Club next door to friends Buster Williams , Mickey Roker , Sam Reed. ~ Stefano Merighi  https://www.allaboutjazz.com/philadelphia-beat-albert-tootie-heath-ethan-iverson-ben-street-sunnyside-records-review-by-stefano-merighi.php (Translate by Google)

Personnel: Albert Tootie Heath: drums; Ethan Iverson: piano, electric piano; Ben Street: bass.

Philadelphia Beat

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Albert Heath, Ethan Iverson & Ben Street - Tootie's Tempo

Styles: Jazz, Post-Bop
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:09
Size: 108,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:42)  1. The Charlston
(4:52)  2. Charade
(2:18)  3. Danube Incident
(5:39)  4. Stompin At The Savoy
(6:12)  5. Violets For Your Furs
(4:04)  6. The Intimacy Of  The Blues
(5:07)  7. How Insensitive
(3:44)  8. Fire Waltz
(1:46)  9. Cute
(4:28) 10. It Should Have Happened A Long Time Ago
(5:12) 11. Tootie's Tempo

At 78 years old, Albert “Tootie” Heath is certainly a link to jazz history. This is due to both his lineage as the youngest of the three jazz-playing Heath brothers and his many accomplishments as a musician on his own. Here, pianist Ethan Iverson and bassist Ben Street join Heath, and the results are as satisfying as a visit with a favorite old uncle. The music is straight-down-the-middle bebop with a strong emphasis on ballads and relaxed midtempo gems. Ever the gentleman, Heath plays here with subtlety and elegance, setting his tempos and throwing in little rhythmic wrinkles rather than banging away on solos. Just listen to his playing on “The Intimacy of the Blues,” the title track, and “Cute” to see what we mean. The often-pensive material here ranges from a fun, un-flapper-like version of “The Charleston” to the lovely theme from the film Charade to an earthy take of the bossa nova classic “How Insensitive.” Then things do pick up for a robust version of “Fire Waltz.” It's highly recommended for fans of classic jazz. ~ Itunes Reviews https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/tooties-tempo/id676272985

Personnel:  Bass – Ben Street;  Drums – Albert Heath;  Piano – Ethan Iverson

Tootie's Tempo

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