John Di Martino - A Tribute to King of Jazz

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:39
Size: 120,7 MB
Art: Front

(6:12)  1. Candlelight Blues
(5:58)  2. Magic Beams
(4:22)  3. Falling Rain
(4:47)  4. Love in Spring
(4:24)  5. Love at Sundown
(4:33)  6. Oh I Say
(3:21)  7. Blue Day
(3:57)  8. H.M. Blues
(5:11)  9. I Think of You
(4:08) 10. Still on My Mind
(5:42) 11. Echo

John di Martino is a New York area based pianist, composer, arranger and Venus recording artist. He is a sought after musical director and is in demand by many singers as an accompanist, having accompanied such singers as Jon Hendricks, Sylvia Sims, Diane Schuur and Billy Eckstine. His talents as a pianist and arranger can be heard on recordings with Freddy Cole, Gloria Lynne and Grady Tate. Noted for his versatility, di Martino has also performed and recorded with such notables as Kenny Burrell, James Moody, Joe Lovano, the late David "Fathead" Newman, Pat Martino, Paquito D'Rivera and Houston Person. Di Martino was a long time member of Ray Barretto's "New World Spirit" group and he was a featured pianist and arranger on several recording including Barretto's Grammy-nominated CD, Contact! (Blue Note, 1997). He also enjoyed a long association with percussionist Bobby Sanabria and can be heard on Sanabria's Grammy-nominated CD Afro-Cuban Dream: Live And In Clave (Arabesque, 2000). Born in Philadelphia, di Martino was a student of Lennie Tristano, Don Sebesky and Jimmy Amadie. He has performed everywhere from Carnegie Hall to the Peoples' Republic of China.~Marcia Hillman http://www.allaboutjazz.com/john-di-martino-piano-man-in-on-demand-john-di-martino-by-marcia-hillman.php 

Personnel:  John Di Martino - musical direction, arrangements, piano, keyboards;  Alex Foster - soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, clarinet;  Paul Meyers - acoustic nylon string guitar;  Deanna Kirk – vocals;  Boris Kozlov – bass;  Tim Horner – drums

A Tribute to King of Jazz

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Deanna Kirk - Where Are You Now?

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1997
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:51
Size: 120,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:23)  1. Where Are You Now
(3:27)  2. No Ghosts Allowed
(4:41)  3. Marianna Came To
(3:55)  4. I Want It Now
(3:56)  5. Not The One
(5:10)  6. Carousel
(4:22)  7. When Love Comes Around
(4:24)  8. Take Down The Kasbah
(4:41)  9. Fallen Arms
(3:39) 10. Ballad Of The Small Cafe
(5:46) 11. If Not For Love
(3:23) 12. You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch

If you're a sucker for sultry glances and pouty lips, then you may find yourself repeatedly distracted from the music on this disc by the photos of the singer that grace its packaging. That's partly the fault of the packaging and partly the fault of the music, which is so uniform in tempo and mood that it's difficult to keep your attention focused on it. That's not to say that it isn't lovely -- in fact, there are lots of very lovely songs here, including the lovely "No Ghosts Allowed" (with its string arrangement and, get this, ticking clock) and the lovely "Carousel." Then there's the lovely "When Love Comes Around." "I Want It Now" sacrifices a bit of loveliness on the altar of the rock'n'roll backbeat, but "When Love Comes Around" and "Fallen Arms" buy it back with lots and lots of metronomic acoustic piano and acoustic guitar. Lovely. You say you can't take that much loveliness all at once? Oh, well. The best thing on the album by far is her hilarious, torchy rendition of "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch." ~ Rick Anderson  http://www.allmusic.com/album/where-are-you-now-mw0000030429

Personnel: Deanna Kirk (vocals); Kevin Bents (guitar, keyboard, background vocals); Patrick Daugherty (piano); Mark Egan (bass); Joe Bonadio (drums, percussion); Aaron Comess (drums); Steve Jagoda (percussion); Peter Davis, Elaine Caswell (background vocals).

Where Are You Now?

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Deanna Kirk - Lost In Languid Love Songs

Size: 119,8 MB
Time: 51:23
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2012
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. I Wanna Be Loved (5:02)
02. Until It's Time For You To Go (4:33)
03. Once Upon A Summertime (4:59)
04. Summer Me, Winter Me (4:59)
05. Wouldn't It Be Loverly (2:47)
06. Gentle Rain (4:10)
07. These Foolish Things Remind Me Of You (5:24)
08. Song For Old Lovers (6:11)
09. They Say It's Wonderful (4:35)
10. Don't Look Back (2:26)
11. Labor Of Love (1:42)
12. Skylark (4:30)

If Deanna Kirk were not such a gifted singer, she's probably have made a damn good hypnotist. The mesmerizing sound of her lovely, feathery, voice—ethereal and yet conversationally phrased with naturalness—and the way she spins a lyric and creates a mood pulls you into the spells she casts. Images presented in the bonus track of the standard "Skylark" could paint a picture of the tender, fragile, lovelorn environs and personae she creates: "faint as the will o' the wisp"; "a meadow in the mist where someone's longing to be kissed"; "a blossom-covered lane." Rare is the song stylist who can paint such vivid yet elusive scenes with such specificity in the way she colors and intones even the most well-known words. A wistful sigh crystallizes the pang of a much-missed treasured romantic memory in "Once Upon a Summertime" and one can see clearly through the mist and tears the many sentiment-drenched items in the list song "These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)." Yes, Lost in Languid Love Songs is a perfect title for this moody, brooding collection that immerses itself in longing and liquid dreaminess.

Deanna, a gifted jazz-influenced vocalist who seems to disappear for long stretches of time, caught my attention years ago with one of the earliest of her several albums and I was delighted to find her also re-emerging for some live Manhattan gigs in the last year or two. She's a captivating and unique in-person presence with very much her own presentation style and stance, and her gamine image and the (broken) heart on her sleeve come through—just through—her sweet and well-calibrated voice.

Most tracks have an element of sorrow; clouds seem poised to come into rain, and silver linings appear in them when things get gloomy. It never gets too weepy or wailing, as she has her own point of keeping on the communicative, storytelling side of the fence rather crossing over to play the "poor me" card. There's a grown-up kind of acknowledgment and acceptance of the struggles and pains that come with the territory called love and life. Annie Get Your Gun's "They Say It's Wonderful" is re-shaped to allow a more experienced point of view—not a first-timer at romance, but someone waiting for one of her romantic adventures to have a happier ending. You can get that in the way she implies the word "or" in the lyric's line, "so they say." Another show tune is the lightest/brightest spot, emotionally, with "Wouldn't It Be Loverly" from My Fair Lady getting some respite from gloom and doom as the character drifts into her reverie about a warm, comfy place. It gets its playfulness quotient.

The musicians are first rate. Pianist-arranger John di Martino provides attentive, simpatico settings that embrace the storylines of the material caringly and carefully. Though he's a prodigiously skilled jazzman who can be very cerebral, fleet in side trip improvisations, he's more reserved and cinematically sketching here. Joined by the excellent bassist Neil Miner and superb sax player Harry Allen (who gets many tasty moments that add much flavor), the band is completed with the percussion players Manolo Badrena and sensitive drummer Tim Horner. The playing throughout is same-page thoughtful and resonant with the exquisite vocals.

The only way Lost in Languid Love Songs loses its way is in the credits, with several songwriter credits having spelling errors or being incomplete. But there's no sense of incompleteness or inattentiveness with the way these languid love songs, a rewarding world to be willingly lost in. ~Rob Lester

Lost In Languid Love Songs

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