Dan Barrett's International Swing Party Band - Tour (Live!, Vol.1, Vol.2)

Dan Barrett's International Swing Party Band - Tour (Live!, Vol. 1)
Styles: Vocal, Trombone Jazz
Year: 2012
Time: 68:39
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 157,9 MB
Art: Front

(7:13) 1. Back Home Again In Indiana (Live) (Feat. Butch Miles)
(6:07) 2. On The Sunny Side Of The Street (Live) (Feat. Butch Miles)
(9:31) 3. Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me (Live) (Feat. Butch Miles, Nicki Parrott & Dan Barrett)
(5:22) 4. Keepin' Out Of Mischief Now (Live) (Feat. Butch Miles)
(8:45) 5. Tea For Two (Live) (Feat. Butch Miles)
(4:37) 6. Let's Do It (Live) (Feat. Butch Miles)
(5:27) 7. Montevideo (Live) (Feat. Butch Miles)
(7:25) 8. The King (Live) (Feat. Butch Miles)
(8:01) 9. Bochum Electricity Blues (Live) (Feat. Butch Miles)
(6:07) 10. Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans (Live) (Feat. Butch Miles)

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Dan Barrett's International Swing Party Band - Tour (Live!, Vol. 2)

Time: 65:35
Size: 151,1 MB

(3:22) 1. Neal's Deal (Live) (Feat. Butch Miles)
(3:21) 2. Georgia Jubilee (Live) (Feat. Butch Miles)
(5:51) 3. Waste No Tears (Live) (Feat. Butch Miles)
(3:08) 4. Whoa Babe (Live) (Feat. Butch Miles)
(4:37) 5. Is You Is, Or Is You Ain't (Ma' Baby) (Live) (Feat. Butch Miles)
(4:22) 6. Cavernism (Live) (Feat. Butch Miles)
(5:08) 7. Absolutely, Positively (Live) (Feat. Butch Miles & Bernard Flegar)
(5:14) 8. With 'Em (Live) (Feat. Butch Miles & Bernard Flegar)
(6:29) 9. One O'clock Jump (Live) (Feat. Butch Miles)
(4:45) 10. Montevideo (Live) (Feat. Butch Miles)
(6:06) 11. If I Had You (Live) (Feat. Butch Miles)
(6:57) 12. Sweet Sue (Live) (Feat. Butch Miles)
(6:09) 13. Hindustan (Live) (Feat. Butch Miles)

I wasn’t there. I wish I had been. But the good news is that two compact discs from this band’s German tour have been issued on the Echoes of Swing label (EOSP 4058 / 4059, available separately) and they come in the ear like honey. Hot honey, if you must know: a really delicious sensation.

The gracious swingsters on these discs are Duke Heitger, trumpet / vocal; Dan Barrett, trombone, head arrangements, vocal; Dan Block, clarinet, alto, tenor; Engelbert Wroebel, clarinet, soprano, tenor; Chris Hopkins, piano; Eddie Erickson, guitar, banjo, vocal; Nicki Parrott, string bass, vocal; Butch Miles, drums; Bernard Flegar, drums (on two tracks). The material comes from March 2010, and each CD has expansive notes by Dan Barrett. This tour was the idea of the very knowing and generous jazz fan / collector / scholar / promoter Manfred Selchow, who has written two splendid books on his heroes Edmond Hall and Vic Dickenson (PROFOUNDLY BLUE and DING DING! respectively) so you know he has good taste in musicians and bands.

Volume One begins with a string of “old favorites” played with snap and crackle not to ignore pop: INDIANA and SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET, followed by BLUES MY NAUGHTY SWEETIE GIVES TO ME, with echoes of Louis and Eddie Condon and the Hampton Victors, then Eddie convinces he us he is behaving well on KEEPIN’ OUT OF MISCHIEF NOW. The reed players and rhythm make us forget that TEA FOR TWO is ninety years old, and Nicki purrs her way through LET’S DO IT (with some nifty new lyrics as well). A rhythm section feature, MONTEVIDEO, is both startling and supple, evoking a late Ellington trio and then everyone evokes a compact powerful version of the Forties Basie band with THE KING. But wait! There’s more. A nice long blues, BOCHUM ELECTRICTY BLUES, and a sweet Duke vocal / trumpet performance of DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO MISS NEW ORLEANS? (which he does).

Volume Two opens with the bright NEAL’S DEAL (a Neal Hefti line for the 1951 Count Basie Sextet), then moves back nearly thirty years for GEORGIA JUBILEE, a memory of a pre-King-of-Swing record date led by Benny, with Coleman Hawkins on the tenor, and the Sidney Bechet WASTE NO TEARS featuring Block and Wroebel. Dan Barrett sings and swings mightily on the Lionel Hampton classic WHOA BABE, and then Nicki asks the troubling question in swing, IS YOU IS OR IS YOU AIN’T MY BABY. (We is, Nicki. We can’t help it nohow.)

An extraordinary, jumping version of Earl Hines’ CAVERNISM follows, then Eddie woos the crowd, which he does so well, with ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, a sweet love song written by the unheralded member of the Great American Songbook fraternity, Jabbo Smith. WITH ‘EM, Dan Barrett’s clever, hot, boppish take on I GOT RHYTHM, keeps the imagined dancers hopping, leading into a sleekly intense ONE O’CLOCK JUMP. Another delightful version of MONTEVIDEO follows remarkable improvisations on the theme and a tender IF I HAD YOU, before the disc romps home with SWEET SUE and HINDUSTAN.

If you know the players and singers here, you won’t have to be convinced of the quality of the music on these discs. But these performances are sharply executed when the music calls for it (this band isn’t ashamed of rehearsing) and loose, fervent, courageous when it’s time for jamming. These are live performances, so you can hear the good humor and delight in the various rooms and the sound is fine, too.

My only problem is that I file my CDs alphabetically according to the leader or the musician / singer I gravitate towards. I can’t be fair to anyone by putting these CDs under B for Barrett or H for Hopkins. It seems I have to buy multiple copies to satisfy my ethical self. You might not be burdened by such demands, but you will be delighted by every note on both discs.
https://jazzlives.wordpress.com/2012/07/15/chris-hopkins-presents-dan-barretts-international-swing-party-2010-featuring-butch-miles/

Personnel: Dan Barrett, trombone, head arrangements, vocal; Dan Block, clarinet, alto, tenor; Engelbert Wroebel, clarinet, soprano, tenor; Chris Hopkins, piano; Eddie Erickson, guitar, banjo, vocal; Nicki Parrott, string bass, vocal; Butch Miles, drums; Bernard Flegar, drums (on two tracks); Duke Heitger, trumpet /vocal

Tour 2010 (Live!,Vol.1,Vol.2)

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Dan Block - Block Party: A Saint Louis Connection

Styles: Saxophone And Clarinet Jazz
Year: 2018
File: MP3@256K/s
Time: 63:29
Size: 118,1 MB
Art: Front

(7:33)  1. Dinner for One Please, James
(6:57)  2. No, No, No
(6:09)  3. Light Blue
(5:05)  4. Smoke Signal
(6:44)  5. Wonderful One
(7:01)  6. Beautiful Changes
(6:32)  7. By the Fireside
(6:22)  8. Option Click
(5:53)  9. Ain't No Land Like Dixieland
(5:09) 10. It Was Written in the Stars

Although Dan Block ought not to need any more affirmation of his musicianship, this record Block Party will surely add to the reeds and winds maestro’s reputation. One of the great Romantics ever to indulge in the art of Jazz, Mr. Block is both a pedagogue of remarkable genius and also one of the finest horn players of his generation he has devised a programme encompassing multiple aspects of the halcyon days of the music with an ingenious interpretation of Thelonious Monk’s music on the stubbornly difficult to play licorice stickwith which he interprets “Light Blue”. He glides and leaps with languid ease to magical heights and breadths on the instrument in inimitable fashion. And it is also on Gigi Gryce’s “Smoke Signal” and Walter Donaldson’s “”Ain’t No Land Like Dixieland” that he gives notice of the extent of his erudition as well. To deliver such a programme with the kind of wide-ranging musicianship takes extraordinary ability and Mr. Block achieves this remarkably, bringing a sure response to the wry compulsiveness of “No, No, No” and its composer Phil Springer, the flickering virtuoso panache of “By The Fireside” and the maddening sound-world of Donaldson’s “Beatiful Changes”. 

Meanwhile Michael Carr’s “Dinner for One Please, James" is played with a lucid mastery to match the arrangement of “It Was Written in the Stars”, which makes for a crowning finale to this record. Throughout, of course, one is enthralled by the Mr. Block’s extraordinary virtuosity and the warmth of his musicianship, highlighted by evocative and expressive playing. One should also bear in mind that Mr. Block’s idea was to celebrate a kind of impromptu Block Party a celebration of which takes place with his guitar-playing brother Rob, together with bassist Neal Caine, pianist Tadakeka Unno and drummer Aaron Kimmel, all of whom get together with a living pulse, at other times as loosely coordinated as a wind chime (the ever-changing mood of the music apparent to the eyen rather than the ear). Simple though the music may sound as it ambles in walking metre, each note by Mr. Block is like a separate pebble gently dropped into a pool sending out ripples to the guitar-playing Block as the other band members. By the very nature of its languid majesty this music by Dan Block encourages us to listen moment by moment rather than attempt to map it in its entirety. ~ Raul da Gama https://jazzdagama.com/music/dan-block-block-party/

Personnel – Dan Block: tenor saxophone (2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) and clarinet (1, 3, 4); Rob Block: guitar; Neal Caine: contrabass; Tadataka Unno: piano; Aaron Kimmel: drums

Block Party: A Saint Louis Connection

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Dan Block - Almost Modern: The Swing To Bop Project

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:31
Size: 147.7 MB
Styles: Mainstream jazz
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[5:26] 1. Dexter Rides Again
[6:27] 2. Too Much Of A Good Thing
[3:41] 3. Byas'd Opinion
[5:29] 4. Illinois Goes To Chicago
[5:31] 5. I Waited For You
[3:51] 6. That's Earl's Brother
[3:52] 7. Dizzy Atmosphere
[4:19] 8. Meandering
[5:10] 9. Setting The Pace
[5:25] 10. I Mean You
[4:52] 11. Sportsman's Hop
[3:26] 12. Koko
[6:57] 13. Disorder At The Border

On Almost Modern, which is subtitled "The Swing to Bop Project," tenor saxophonist and clarinetist Dan Block revives music from the period of time when swing was gradually being replaced by bop. Most of the selections on this CD are from 1944-1947. Block's group with trumpeter Jon-Eric Kellso sometimes pays direct tribute to the Coleman Hawkins 1945 Quintet which featured trumpeter Howard McGhee and pianist Sir Charles Thompson. Even the more boppish pieces such as "I Mean You" and "Dizzy Atmosphere" are played with a swing sensibility. Block has a tone somewhere between Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young and a style that perfectly fits these pieces while Kellso slightly modernizes his approach. The rhythm section swings, Larry Ham mixes together Count Basie and Bud Powell, and guitarist Chris Flory (replaced by Jon Hart on "Ko Ko") takes his share of Charlie Christian-inspired solos. The music pays homage to the past but is creative within the older transitional style. Recommended. ~Scott Yanow

Almost Modern: The Swing To Bop Project mc
Almost Modern: The Swing To Bop Project zippy

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Alexis Cole - A Kiss in the Dark

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:27
Size: 132,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:04)  1. Ain't We Got Fun
(4:32)  2. Whip-poor-will
(3:47)  3. Do You Ever Think Of Me?
(3:46)  4. Limehouse Blues
(3:16)  5. Chicago, that Toddlin' Town
(5:00)  6. Bimini Bay
(2:47)  7. Nobody Knows when You're Down and Out
(3:44)  8. After You've Gone
(4:33)  9. There's a Broken Heart for Every Light on Broadway
(2:36) 10. A Kiss in the Dark
(4:10) 11. Indian Summer
(3:37) 12. Turn Back the Universe and Give Me Yesterday
(3:40) 13. Let the Rest of the World Go by
(3:54) 14. Till We Meet Again

With a voice praised as “a deep contralto as smooth and dark as the richest espresso” (Jazz Times, November 2007,) award-winning jazz vocalist Alexis Cole has made an impressive impact on audiences ever since she first took the stage as a teenager. Yet it is impossible to understand Alexis’s power to touch listeners with her music without recognizing the influence that her devotion to a full spiritual life has played throughout her career. This holiday season, Alexis’ spiritual and musical interests once again coincide to miraculous effect as she offers The Greatest Gift to the world. A touching Christmas album with a jazzy twist that benefits a terrific cause, The Greatest Gift was inspired, says Alexis, “by Jesus’ love for humankind” as well as by her father, composer/arranger Mark Finkin. Sales of the CD will benefit World Bicycle Relief, an organization which provides sustainable access to healthcare, education, and economic opportunities in developing nations through The Power of Bicycles©. One specific event from Alexis’ youth resonates through the years to find a fitting echo in The Greatest Gift. 

While in high school, she collided with a car while riding her bicycle. Her recovery from the experience led to the beginning of her Christian Journey. It makes sense, then, that Alexis decided that the profits from the sale of The Greatest Gift would be donated to World Bicycle Relief, as the organization’s mission resonated with her own love of bicycles and her ongoing desire to make an impact on the world. Raised in Florida, Alexis came from a musical family, so it was only natural that she had begun to perform at the South Beach Hotel when still in high school, rapidly earning a reputation as one of the most talented young singers in town. She went on to enroll in the University of Miami's Jazz Studies program with the help of a Young Arts Scholarship. She transferred to finish her degree at William Paterson University, later integrating her musical studies with work that satisfied a spiritual calling at churches in New Jersey and North Carolina. Eventually, she relocated to New York City, where she worked as the music minister at the Jan Hus Presbyterian Church, leading the congregation with a blend of historic hymns and popular songs, music from the Taize tradition and Christian folk. Alexis released her first CD in 1999, a duet project with pianist Harry Pickens, titled Very Early. In 2005, she earned her Masters degree in music, and began to perform frequently at clubs throughout New York City, including The Oak Room, Dizzy's Club Coca Cola, The 55 Bar, The Zinc Bar, Smoke, Smalls and Sweet Rhythm. That same year, she released a second CD. 

Nearer the Sun, which renowned jazz critic Scott Yanow lauded as “a particularly strong effort from a jazz singer well worth discovering.” As her performing career took wing, Alexis traveled across Europe, Asia and South America. She also taught at a Berklee College of Music in Quito, Ecuador, and has entertained audiences during several three-month-long residencies at clubs in Tokyo. Despite her penchant for globetrotting, Alexis managed to release a third CD, Zingaro, in 2007, which Time Out New York praised as a “disc that will please purists and more adventurous listeners alike.” True to Alexis’ eclectic nature, the tracks on The Greatest Gift span genres. Selections include jazz and classical instrumentals, children’s chorale arrangements, Indian classical and overtone singing, straight ahead jazz, and bluesy pop. Alexis reinvents the Christmas favorites “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen,” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” and she contributes a heart-warming new song, “The Call,” to the lineup of Christmas standards. Mark Finkin, Alexis’ father, pens an uplifting, catchy, and sure-to-become holiday classic for the album, “Jesus Is the Best Part of Christmas,” and also delivers perhaps the most blues-y version of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” ever on record. 

Born into fascinating circumstances as a child of two deaf parents determined to give their child what they couldn’t have, Mark was introduced early on to the piano, and remains a passionate and prolific composer and performer. Finkin’s unique story, in part, inspired Alexis to record The Greatest Gift. In 2007, as Alexis sat in the audience of her father’s long-awaited college graduation recital, where he performed original compositions and unique arrangements of hymns, she reached a musical and personal epiphany. She decided to collaborate with her father on a Christmas benefit album, reinvesting herself in their relationship, and in her relationship to the church. A winner of the 2007 Jazzmobile competition and an award recipient at the Montreux Jazz Voice Competition, Alexis was cited as “a rising star in the jazz world” by Hot House Magazine. She continues to perform regularly at jazz clubs in her home base of New York City, as well as throughout the world. A dedicated educator, Alexis teaches privately and has also served on the faculty of at the 92nd St. Y in New York City and Berklee College of Music in Quito. Most recently, she’s also added the position of lead vocalist for the West Point Jazz Knights, the U.S. Army’s big band, to her always eclectic resume. http://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/alexiscole

Awards & Grants 2007 New York City Jazzmobile Vocal Competition 1st Place Winner 2004 Montreux Jazz Festival Shure Vocal Competition, 3rd Prize Winner 2003& 2005 Montreux Jazz Festival Shure Vocal Competition finalist 2004 Council for Arts and Humanities on Staten Island Emerging Artist Grant 1998National Endowment for the Arts Charles Cinnamon Grant 1994 National Endowment for the Arts A.R.T.S. Scholarship

Personnel:  Alexis Cole – vocals;  Dan Block - saxophone, clarinet;  Saul Rubin – guitar;  Pat O'Leary – bass;  Phil Stewart - drums

A Kiss in the Dark

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Dan Barrett - Dan Barrett's International Swing Party Vols 1 & 2

A bunch of international jazz cats that all seem to have gotten together through an association with Arbors Jazz get their passports stamped for a get together in various places in Germany to jam, taking a lot of jazz back to the root. The kind of players that really blossom in a live setting away from the show biz trappings of the record making process, nobody steps on anybody else’s toes and the playing is one of those rare treats throughout. A delightfully swinging pair of discs, available separately, you can jump in any place and have a fine time. Wonderful stuff that’s sure to give you that blissful smile of enjoyment as you just sink into the music and let it do it’s thing. Killer stuff throughout. ~Chris Spector

Duke Heitger (trumpet); Dan Barrett (trombone, head arrangements, vocals); Dan Block (alto sax, tenor sax, clarinet); Engelbert Wrobel (clarinet, soprano sax, tenor sax); Chris Hopkins (piano); Eddie Erickson (guitar, banjo, vocals); Nicki Parrott (bass, vocas); Butch Miles (drums); Bernard Flegar (drums, special guest.

Album: Dan Barrett's International Swing Party

Bitrate: 320K/s

Time: 76:46

Size: 175.8 MB

Styles: Swing

Year: 2001

Art: Front

[4:03] 1. Easy Street

[7:42] 2. Linger Awhile

[4:31] 3. 'tain't Me

[4:39] 4. I'm On My Way From You

[4:45] 5. Vic's Spot

[6:02] 6. The Lamp Is Low

[8:52] 7. I Double Dare You

[6:54] 8. What Is This Thing Called Love

[5:18] 9. Early Session Hop

[3:43] 10. Jumpin' Punkins

[9:15] 11. Hindustan

[6:41] 12. Esquire Bounce

[4:16] 13. Dream A Little Dream Of Me

International Swing Party 

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Album: Dan Barrett's International Swing Party Vol 2

Bitrate: 320K/s

Time: 67:33

Size: 154.7 MB

Styles: Swing

Year: 2012

Art: Front

[3:23] 1. Neal's Deal

[3:57] 2. Georgia Jubilee

[6:33] 3. Waste No Tears

[3:30] 4. Whoa Babe

[4:49] 5. Is You Is, Or Is You Ain't (Ma' Baby)

[4:32] 6. Cavernism

[5:19] 7. Absolutely, Positively

[5:15] 8. With 'em

[6:25] 9. One O'clock Jump

[4:41] 10. Montevideo (Bonus)

[6:03] 11. If I Had You (Bonus)

[6:53] 12. Sweet Sue (Bonus)

[6:08] 13. Hindustan (Bonus)

International Swing Party Vol 2

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Dan Block - Duality

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 51:24
Size: 117.7 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[5:06] 1. Long Ago And Far Away
[3:30] 2. I'm Bringing A Red Red Rose
[3:02] 3. Chorino For Dennis
[6:08] 4. If You Could See Me Now
[4:17] 5. Out Of Touch
[3:08] 6. Pitter Panther Patter
[4:58] 7. Lyric Waltz [from Dance Of The Dolls]
[7:25] 8. In The Dark
[4:09] 9. My Own Morning
[4:45] 10. The Jazz Samba
[4:52] 11. I'll Build A Stairway To Paradise

It must be one of the most pure ways to improvise: the duet. Call and respond are the basic elements of jazz music, born a century ago ..... Dan Block had the audacity to make such an album, entitled Duality - almost a dozen duo-specials, featuring Dan Block in duet with pianist Ted Rosenthall, guitar player Paul Meyers, awards winning vocalist Catherine Russell, baritone saxophone player Scott Robinson, vibist Mark Sherman and a handfull of others.

Recording information: Cathedral Sound (02/16/2011-05/??/2011); Zebulon Sound Factory (02/16/2011-05/??/2011); Cathedral Sound (05/17/2011/05/21/2011); Zebulon Sound Factory (05/17/2011/05/21/2011).

Duality

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