Sophie Alour - Insulaire

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:08
Size: 156,3 MB
Art: Front + Back

( 6:07)  1. Septembre
( 8:15)  2. Les samourais
( 7:19)  3. Almost Paradise
( 7:42)  4. You've Changed
( 5:41)  5. At First Sight
( 4:31)  6. Doctor C.
( 3:37)  7. Black Narcissus
( 6:43)  8. Cheer Up!
( 6:30)  9. Oraison
(11:37) 10. Dedale

Alour Sophie learns the clarinet from 13 years in a music school in Quimper . Learning saxophone begins later, around 19 years, mainly self-taught in courses taken in the Parisian schools and jazz music, CIM and IACP . The young saxophonist truly begins on the jazz scene in 2000 participating in the new group called the Vintage Orchestra. This year, she is also associated with trumpeter Stephane Belmondo to form a sextet and occurs in various Parisian clubs. It also participates in orchestra Christophe Dal Sasso. Sophie Alour 2004 integrates a quartet of musicians, led by organist Rhoda Scott , along Bilberry Besson and Julie Saury, allowing him to further develop his game to the saxophone. During the year it also attracts the attention of trumpeter Wynton Marsalis who chooses to engage his orchestra . It is also asked to participate in a project of drummer Aldo Romano and noted for his interpretation on the big stage of Jazz in Vienna in 2004. The following year she released Islander, a first album as a leader that is well appreciated by critics.

She collaborates again with the Vintage Orchestra group recording the album Thad. In 2006, she participated in the recording of the album Christophe Dal Sasso Opening and Belmondo brothers. In 2007, the quintet saxophonist accompanied by pianist Alexandre Saada when recording his album Be Where You Are. This year, she published her second album Uncaged receiving good evaluations by critics. For 2 years she performed in various cities in France and abroad. In 2010, Sophie Alour presents his third album Opus 3, a trio along with bassist and drummer Yoni Zelnik Karl Jannuska, two musicians on his previous album. The following year she participated in the recording of the album Christophe Dal Sasso pretexts. In 2012 saxophonist released a new album entitled The geography of dreams. Sophie Alour form a new quintet with two musicians she knows well, Yoann Loustallot and Nicolas Moreaux, and two new Frédéric Pasqua on drums and vibraphone Stéphan Carracci. ~ Translate by Google   http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Alour

Personnel:  Sophie Alour - tenor saxophone; Huggo Lippi – guitar; Guillaume Naud - piano, Fender Rhodes; Sylvain Romano – bass; David Grebil – drums;  Emmanuel Bex - Hammond B3 organ (#4,8);  Stephane Belmondo - flugelhorn (#9)

Insulaire

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Michael Lington - Soul Appeal

Styles: Saxophone Jazz, Smooth Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:41
Size: 123,4 MB
Art: Front

(4:51)  1. Soul Appeal
(4:44)  2. Taking Off
(5:11)  3. Uptown Groove
(4:44)  4. Gonna Love You Tonite (feat. Kenny Lattimore)
(4:38)  5. Manhattan Nights
(5:17)  6. In the Pocket
(5:25)  7. Leave Me You (feat. Ryan Shaw)
(5:27)  8. Going Home
(4:46)  9. Double Down
(5:41) 10. Memphis Soul Stew
(2:51) 11. Follow Your Heart

The most recent release from Michael Lington, Soul Appeal, contains elements of jazz, instrumentals and soulful melodies that really bring this album to life. Soul Appeal has strong jazz influences and that is the main highlight of every track on the album. The album has a way of combining these more classical elements of music into a way that feels modern and upbeat. The record also features a variety of other musicians that come together to form a jam band session feel. So, it feels organic that these artists come together in order to produce this high quality of musicianship. Lington plays the alto and tenor sax on the record, which stand out on every track. Other musicians that are featured on Soul Appeal include Shedrick Mitchell, Paul Jackson Jr., Ray Parker Jr. and Phil Hamilton. 

At times, the album does have a very classic, throwback feel when the alto and tenor sax highlighted like on tracks like "Manhattan Nights" and "Follow Your Heart," but overall the album has a more modern and strong creative tone that can be felt in the musicianship and arrangements. The tracks that will really appeal to more Top 40-driven fans will be "Gonna Love You Tonite" and "Leave Me You," which features the vocals of Ryan Shaw. "Gonna Love You Tonite" features the vocal work of Kenny Lattimore. It is refreshing to hear the influences and styles that are often sampled for popular songs in 2014 brought back to life in its full glory once again. Other stand out tracks on the album include "Uptown Groove," "Going Home" and "Double Down." ~ Chelsea Lewis  http://thecelebritycafe.com/reviews/2014/07/michael-lingtons-soul-appeal-album-review

Personnel: Michael Lington (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Paul Jackson, Jr., Ray Parker, Jr., Phil Hamilton (guitar); Adam Schroeder (baritone saxophone); Michael Stever (trumpet); Barry Eastmond (piano), Fender Rhodes (piano), Wurlitzer (organ); Shedrick Mitchell (Hammond b-3 organ); Teddy Campbell (drums); Lenny Castro (percussion).

Soul Appeal

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José James - Yesterday I Had The Blues: The Music of Billie Holiday

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:57
Size: 112,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:48)  1. Good Morning Heartache
(5:55)  2. Body And Soul
(5:09)  3. Fine And Mellow
(5:23)  4. I Thought About You
(5:36)  5. What A Little Moonlight Can Do
(3:22)  6. Tenderly
(6:39)  7. Lover Man
(6:12)  8. God Bless The Child
(4:48)  9. Strange Fruit

José James has a reputation as a 21st century musical renaissance man. He's issued a remarkably consistent series of records that blur the lines between soul, funk, dance music, jazz, and rock. In addition, in 2010, he released For All We Know, a fine collection of jazz standards in duet with Belgian pianist Jef Neve. It is from this place that James releases Yesterday I Had the Blues: The Music of Billie Holiday. In his liner essay he cites Holiday as the artist who made him aspire to be a jazz singer. Accompanied by pianist Jason Moran, drummer Eric Harland, and bassist John Patitucci, James delivers a program of beauty and restraint for the centennial of her birth. James, who has the ability to accomplish startling vocalese and scat techniques, brings none it. He offers these songs with nuance, subtlety, and grace, allowing his considerable discipline to inform his readings. He doesn't imitate Holiday because no one could, though many have tried but instead showcases how she opened herself to the songs themselves, and imbued them not only with sophistication but the cavernous honesty of emotional experience. 

"Good Morning Heartache" is elegantly paced and sparsely articulated. It emerges from the shadows just enough to reveal how deep these blues go and James responds to them with his own inimitable phrasing. In "Body and Soul," passion simmers with longing and disconsolate heartache as Moran layers his chords with gentle fills. They anchor James, keeping him from slipping beneath the weight of the emotional waves. In return, he allows the material to speak through him with slight skillful improvisational touches. In "What a Little Moonlight Can Do," this fine band flexes its muscles. Moran sprints through harmonically inventive runs atop Patitucci's frenetic comping as Harland adds elastic syncopation to bop. James doesn't enter until halfway through and glides through the lyric, creating contrast without limiting the swing. The slow, simmering "Lover Man" builds and dissipates tension several times in coming from the blues' deep well. On "God Bless the Child," the pianist opts for a Fender Rhodes. James uses this change to the song's advantage. He finds the seam in the lyric just as Holiday did and allows it to carry him inside the gorgeous melody, and everything gels.

"Strange Fruit" is a song covered and badly interpreted so many times it's nearly painful to hear any version but Holiday's. Until now. Accompanied only by trancelike handclaps and a chorale of (his own) hummed backing vocals in four-part gospel harmony, James imbues his haunted reading with moral authority and harrowing impact. James' phrasing is chilling. His accusation, like Holiday's before him, comes through the painful bewilderment of delivering the lyric, not overdramatization of it. On Yesterday I Had the Blues, James stays exceptionally close to the spirit of Holiday's work. 

He does so without embalming her music as a museum piece or smothering his own voice, thereby adding a real contribution to her legacy. This is his most intimate, powerful, and masterful date. ~ Thom Jurek  http://www.allmusic.com/album/yesterday-i-had-the-blues-the-music-of-billie-holiday-mw0002805344

Personnel: José James, vocals;  Jason Moran, piano, Fender Rhodes, piano; Eric Harland, drums.

Yesterday I Had The Blues: The Music of Billie Holiday

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Ana Caram - Blue Bossa

Styles: Bossa Nova, Brazilian Jazz
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:16
Size: 108,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:22)  1. Desafinado
(4:45)  2. O Vento
(3:18)  3. Só Por Amor
(3:17)  4. Pura Luz
(4:28)  5. Blue Bossa
(3:28)  6. Triste
(4:04)  7. Corcovado
(3:54)  8. Só Tinha De Ser Com Você
(4:21)  9. Inútil Paisagem
(4:09) 10. Fly Me to the Moon
(4:20) 11. Anjo De Mim
(2:46) 12. The Telephone Song

Ana Caram is an excellent singer and guitarist of Brazilian music, but this set lacks any real surprises. She only plays guitar on one song, sticking to singing while being backed by a rhythm section and the saxophones of Paulo Levi. The selections all date from the 1960s (other than her original "Pura Luz") and Caram is mostly cast in the role of Astrud Gilberto, performing Jobim tunes (including "Desafinado," "Corcovado," and "Triste") and other tunes from the era, including "Blue Bossa," "Fly Me to the Moon," and Baden Powell's "So Por Amor." The results are pleasant but very predictable, with no real chances being taken nor any fresh light shone on the veteran warhorses. ~ Scott Yanow  http://www.allmusic.com/album/blue-bossa-mw0000591254

Personnel: Ana Caram (vocals); Nelson Faria (guitar); Paulo Levi (saxophone); Fender Rhodes (piano); Paulinho Braga (drums).

Blue Bossa

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Pete Alderton - Living on Love

Styles: Vocal, Pop/Rock
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:01
Size: 135,0 MB
Art: Front

(0:35)  1. It Seems Strange... (Intro)
(3:36)  2. (She Said That) Evil Was Her Name
(5:11)  3. Song For David (alternative version)
(3:12)  4. Have The Roses Gone Dry
(3:55)  5. I‘m Sad
(3:10)  6. Living on Love
(3:50)  7. Jesus In A Bottle
(0:46)  8. A Fool For Her Body (Skit)
(3:11)  9. Witching Hour
(3:12) 10. Give Me All Your Love
(1:05) 11. I Still Remember... (Skit)
(3:48) 12. A Taste Of The Blues
(3:36) 13. Baby I Love You
(3:59) 14. The Loved
(5:41) 15. Evil Was Her Name (Full edit)
(1:02) 16. Passing Ships
(1:02) 17. The End Of The Day (Outro)

I’ve got to admit, I hadn’t heard of Pete Alderton to the day I held the CD ‘Living On Love’ in my hands. It would have been easy to search for information, I could have listened to the recorded interview attached to the press kit, but I elected to listen first. To listen, undisturbed from any information, which might influence me. The only thing I knew was that these songs were based on the Blues. That alone enhanced my curiosity because I grew up on the Blues. And, as many of you may know, once you love, understand, play, and feel the Blues it remains a constant in your live, it’s just there, even when you don’t listen to it for many years. Which, of course, you won’t do. Anyway, I was in for a surprise. Expecting rough and to-the-core rhythms, garnished with screaming, virtously performed guitar solos and elaborate piano/organ excursions along with powerful, energetic voices, steaming drums and steady rocking, powerful baselines all of which I really love Pete Alderton and his crew came to me from a very different angle. 

‘Living on Love’ transports the Blues into another age, from its roots planted long ago right into our present days. Consequently, what we call the Blues has to be partly regarded in another way after this CD. This is no longer just a musical structure, which the instruments can use in order to go on excursions bound into these very limitations. Pete Alderton focuses much more on the words, the ever actual themes of  the Blues, like lost loves, loneliness, sadness and the boobytraps of feelings human life is constantly subjected to. This consequently comes in a different musical dress. Most of the songs are balladesque and adhere to Pete’s remarkable voice dark, deep, at times rough, at times even sentimental, but always in perfect context to the theme of the song. This voice is never stressed, it’s never going to the physical limits of its ability. There is quietness in it, coming from a man who is true to the word he sings. This creates an almost overwhelming honesty, an honesty felt by the listener as real truth and authenticity, and that is exactly what it is. As an almost perfect background the accompanying music plays on that same tune. No need to scream, no need to force issues, no need of lamenting and exposing technical stunts although I love those, too. 

The music here observes the strict rule of underlining the words and the voice, in a quiet and unselvish way, yet shining in its depth and perfect artistry. Passion is celebrated in a way that goes back to the very essentials and the roots of honesty, at the same time creating an atmosphere of peaceful acknowledgment of the words sung. Yes, here you can understand and clearly listen, at the same time being subjected to your own experiences and your feelings deep down inside, all of those getting hit straight on. Bullseye. I have to tip my hat to Pete Alderton, not only for his remarkable voice and his masterful lyrics, but also for his dedication to music. Also, I have to mention Carsten Mentzel, who co-wrote many songs, as well as Dagobert Böhm, Siggi Zufacher and Michel Roggenland for their great contributions. I know, I didn’t mention a song in particular. That was my very intent, cause there is no need to. All I wanted to achieve was to make you curious enough to listen to this CD. It’s definitely worth it.  By Fred Wheeler  http://www.tokafi.com/news/cd-feature-pete-alderton-living-on-love/

Personnel: Pete Alderton (vocals); Carsten Mentzel (guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, Fender Rhodes piano, keyboards, bass guitar, percussion, programming, background vocals); Dagobert Böhm (acoustic guitar); Siggi Zufacher (bass instrument); Michel Roggenland (drums).

Living on Love

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Vivian Buczek - Curiosity

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:25
Size: 137,1 MB
Art: Front

(5:04)  1. Lighthouse
(5:05)  2. I'm Strong
(4:05)  3. Indian Love Song (Cherokee)
(6:19)  4. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
(5:11)  5. It Might as Well Be Spring
(6:09)  6. Once You Love
(5:13)  7. Curiosity
(5:59)  8. How Deep Is the Ocean?
(5:46)  9. You're Everything
(5:08) 10. Nica's Dream
(5:21) 11. For All We Know

Vivian Buczek is blessed with a glorious voice warm, emotional, engaging and a talent for sophisticated interpretations of established but not over-worked songs. Curiosity, the Swedish singer's fifth album, places her in the company of a piano trio led by the excellent pianist and arranger Martin Sjöstedt. It's company she clearly relishes and in which she shines brightly.Buczek has put together a group of songs that draw on the American Songbook ("How Deep Is The Ocean," "For All We Know"), bop and post-bop standards ("Goodbye Pork Pie Hat," "Nica's Dream") and a few numbers from Scandinavian writers including her own "Once You Love," co-written with her father Bruno. Mostly these are songs of love, but it's not always the romantic kind and the lyrics tell many different stories. Whatever emotion or image the words aim to evoke, Buczek delivers. She captures the self-deprecation of "It Might As Well Be Spring," gives the romance of "How Deep Is The Ocean" an added touch of sensuality and lets her voice float over Sjöstedt's lovely arrangement of "For All We Know" with a perfect combination of longing and wistfulness. 

On "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" Charles Mingus and Rahsaan Roland Kirk's eulogy for Lester Young she celebrates the saxophonist's legacy just as much as she mourns his passing. The tune's impact is itself heightened by a bluesy solo from guest guitarist Elias Källvik. Johan Björk's "Lighthouse" celebrates a relationship, the trio at its punchiest and most upbeat. Claudia Campagnol's "I'm Strong" reflects on the loss of a relationship: the album's most poignant song, backing vocals from the composer and Källvik's understated guitar help to create a smooth '80s soul vibe. Alongside these numbers the arrangement for Ray Noble's "Cherokee" sounds fresh, but Noble's lyrics seem archaic and clichéd although Buczek's performance is once again impeccable. Curiosity is delightful, thanks to the song choice, the arrangements, the instrumentalists and, of course, Buczek's vocals. ~ Bruce Lindsay  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/curiosity-vivian-buczek-volenza-review-by-bruce-lindsay.php

Personnel: Vivian Buczek: vocals; Martin Sjöstedt: piano, Fender Rhodes, organ; Niklas Fernqvist: bass; Johan Löfcrantz Ramsay: drums, percussion, backing vocals; Elias Källvik: guitar (2, 4, 7); Claudia Campagnol: backing vocals (2).

Curiosity

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Gretchen Parlato - In A Dream

Styles:  Vocal
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:26
Size: 106,8 MB
Art: Front

(4:46)  1. I Can't Help It
(5:32)  2. Within Me
(4:59)  3. Butterfly
(5:27)  4. In A Dream
(3:18)  5. Doralice
(5:10)  6. Turning Into Blue
(4:02)  7. E.S.P.
(4:14)  8. Azure
(3:55)  9. On The Other Side
(4:59) 10. Weak

Gretchen Parlato grew up in a musical household, the daughter of bassist/guitarist Dave Parlato (who worked with Don Ellis, Warne Marsh, Gil Melle and Frank Zappa, among others). She won the 2004 Thelonious Monk Jazz Vocal Competition and released her debut CD on her own label the following year; In a Dream is her long awaited follow-up and it does not disappoint. Like many jazz musicians of her generation, Parlato casts a wide net in choosing her repertoire, drawing from pop, jazz standards and her own originals, with a sympathetic band including African guitarist/singer Lionel Loueke, pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Derrick Hodge and drummer Kendrick Scott, all of whom have recorded as leaders. Parlato kicks off by engaging in a playful Latin setting of Stevie Wonder's "I Can't Help It," with Loueke as her sole partner. 

Her first original, the album's title track, is set to a tune by pianist Robert Glasper, a breathy ballad that shimmers like sunlight on the water. "Turning Into Blue," with music by Alan Hampton, is a breezy affair that successfully blends elements of jazz and pop. Parlato's magical rendition of Duke Ellington's infrequently performed "Azure" finds her musicians very reserved yet taking the music down a different path, while the singer overdubs extra lines at times. She bubbles with energy in the electric setting of Wayne Shorter's "E.S.P.," scatting a solo with occasional overdubbed excerpts of her singing at the age of two. A vintage home recording is also added to her interpretation of Herbie Hancock's "Butterfly," with her sweet voice complemented by Loueke's inventive acoustic guitar and offbeat mouth clicking. Parlato resists preset boundaries and follows her own muse, rewarding listeners with her spirit of adventure. ~ Ken Dryden  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/in-a-dream-gretchen-parlato-obliqsound-review-by-ken-dryden.php

Personnel: Gretchen Parlato: voice, percussion; Lionel Loueke: acoustic guitar, voice; Aaron Parks: piano, Fender Rhodes, synthesizer, glockenspiel; Derrick Hodge: acoustic bass, electric bass; Kendrick Scott: drums.

In A Dream

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Opus 5 - Introducing Opus 5

Styles: Trumpet And Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:36
Size: 143,7 MB
Art: Front

(11:07)  1. Think Of Me
( 5:04)  2. Tallysman
(10:18)  3. Baker's Dozen
( 8:17)  4. Ton To Tom
( 8:20)  5. Nostalgia In Time
( 8:31)  6. Asami's Playland
(10:56)  7. Sokol

Collectively delivered jazz albums almost always fall into one of three categories: some are outings from neophytes looking to pool their resources, while trying to build a fan base from the ground floor up; others marry the musical skills of seasoned musicians who've crossed paths in various situations and/or share a commonality in approach; and the most commercially successful, yet artistically regretfully, are usually hastily conceived or rendered performances that simply attach several big names to a project in order to cash in and make a quick buck. Introducing Opus 5, with a to-die-for grouping of modern heavyweights who speak the same language, falls into the second category. Every member of this multicultural quintet was baptized-by-fire in the world of Charles Mingus having worked at various times in different incarnations of the Sue Mingus-driven groups that honor her husband's music and memory but the material on this seven-song outing usually bears little resemblance to the bassist's compositions. 

Easy going fare to ease the ears into the album (pianist George Cables' "Think Of Me"), bristling material with some fiery trumpet work from Alex Sipiagin ("Talltsman"), an odd-metered gem that showcases pianist/composer David Kikoski's uplifting solo work and puts Boris Kozlov's pliant bass on display ("Baker's Dozen"), and light, elegant bossa nova strains (Toninho Horta's "Ton To Tom") come first in the running order, but they don't come to define this band. The final trio of selections, which include an electrified, muscular hard bop update which nods to Mingus in title and spirit more than sound ("Nostalgia In Time"), a soothing entry that puts saxophonist Seamus Blake's warm, yet lustrous, tenor on display, while also showcasing Sipiagin's softer side (Donald Edwards' "Asami's Playground"), and a Russian folk song arranged to highlight an inside-outside duality in this ensemble ("Sokol"), marks Opus 5 as an omnivorous entity that takes all music in and then spits it back out, refracted through its own multidimensional lens of musical perception. 

While time will tell if this is a one-off outing or the start of a fruitful partnership, in the meantime, Introducing Opus 5 tells the story of five highly skilled musicians carrying out a shared artistic mission, and it proves to be a real musical page-turner. ~ Dan Bilawsky  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/introducing-opus-5-seamus-blake-criss-cross-review-by-dan-bilawsky.php#.U7VtybF8eM1
 

Personnel: Seamus Blake: tenor saxophone; Alex Sipiagin: trumpet, flugelhorn; David Kikoski: piano, Fender Rhodes;,: bass; Donald Edwards: drums.

Introducing Opus 5

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Karen Lane - Once In A Lifetime

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:28
Size: 143,1 MB
Art: Front

(7:26)  1. On Green Dolphin Street
(3:34)  2. Devil May Care
(5:59)  3. The Good Life
(4:05)  4. Lullaby Of Birdland
(3:27)  5. Sometimes I'm Happy
(4:47)  6. Love Is In Bloom
(3:36)  7. I Hadn't Anyone Till You
(5:05)  8. Memory Serves
(4:46)  9. Here's To Life
(3:30) 10. This Is It
(5:26) 11. Till Death Do Us Part
(5:32) 12. Love Me Or Leave Me
(5:08) 13. Once In A Lifetime

Arriving in London through Perth in western Australia, song stylist and singer/songwriter Karen Lane serenades her listeners with a light, expressive, but highly personal voice that delivers each tune with coquettish emotion. She's like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar and getting away with it coyly with a wry smile. She possesses a built-in sense not only of melody and lyricism, but for the rhythmic feel of the music. Listen to a rather misnamed "Till Death Do Us Part," a catchy tune with a calypso beat where her second voice fades in and out with Robin Aspland's Fender Rhodes. Dave Colton's guitar makes "Lullaby of Birdland" one of the swingier cuts on the CD. On the other side, there is a good deal of pain and heavy breathing leading into her version of the classic "On Green Dolphin Street." 

This is a prime example of the images a singer with an expressive voice can create. Here in one's minds eye, there's a picture of Lane not only swaying vocally, but bodily as well. On this cut, the vibes of Milo Fell carry the main instrumental load. For her first album, she has wisely hooked up with some of London's young modern creative jazz, blues, and rock musicians. Aspland has worked with Claire Martin and Van Morrison, and sax player Derek Nash with the Peter Green Splinter Group. Lane and her cohorts have succeeded where many have tried and failed, bringing together elements of jazz and contemporary pop in a way that is mature and well constructed rather than shallow and contrived. Recommended. ~ Dave Nathan   http://www.allmusic.com/album/once-in-a-lifetime-mw0000320589

Personnel:  Karen Lane vocals, Dave Colton, guitar, Robin Aspland piano and Fender Rhodes, Jeremy Brown bass, Rod Youngs drums, Martin Shaw trumpet, Phil Peskett piano, Milo Fell percussion, Sam Burgess bass, Simon Pearson drums, Dave Jones bass, Josephone Knight cello, Laura Melhuish violin, Derek Nash saxophone

Once In A Lifetime

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Cindy Blackman - In The Now

Styles: Hard Bop, Jazz
Year: 1998
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:56
Size: 146,5 MB
Art: Front

( 6:48)  1. In The Now
( 3:25)  2. A Banana For Ron
( 6:44)  3. Passage
(15:05)  4. A King Among Men
( 7:28)  5. Sophia
( 7:17)  6. Prince Of Darkness
( 4:37)  7. Happy House
( 4:33)  8. A Strawberry For Cindy, A
( 7:56)  9. Let Love Rule

Sometimes it takes the loss of a parent to bring about a heightened sense of maturity and clarity of purpose in oneself. In many ways, Tony Williams was Cindy Blackman's spiritual father, certainly her biggest role model. His passing has inspired the drummer-composer to go deep within and reflect on Tony's contribution as well as her own gifts. The result of that introspection is her most profound and heartfelt statement to date. Tony's influence looms large on her sixth album as a leader. There was a time, back in the early '80s, when Blackman played like she had something to prove. She's gotten well beyond that now. While her playing is still aggressive, her touch is more brisk and her ideas more organically integrated into the fabric of the compositions. Like Tony, she is a thinking, reacting drummer who propels the music forward while shaping and coloring it from measure to measure with well-placed tom and snare accents and cymbal splashes. 

In the Now features her most mature, interactive playing on record while also highlighting her evolving sophistication as a composer. Jacky Terrasson's use of Fender Rhodes on Blackman originals like "Passage" and the title track, as well as on a savvy cover of pop star Lenny Kravitz's "Let Love Rule," immediately triggers a Miles in the Sky/Filles de Kilimanjaro vibe. Ron Carter's pedalling and walking basslines complete the connection to that time and place. Ravi Coltrane responds to this surging, expansive attitude with some probing and highly personal work on tenor (and soprano on "Passage"), with a few nods to Joe Lovano along the way. The centerpiece of this excellent album is "A King Among Men," Cindy's heartfelt tribute to her hero, Williams. The 15-minute suite moves through a variety of moods marked by her conversational approach to the kit. Coltrane's tenor playing is particularly lyrical here as well as on swinging renditions of Wayne Shorter's "Prince of Darkness" and Ornette Coleman's "Happy House." The brooding ballad "Sophia" is a fine example of Blackman's alluring brushwork, underscored by Carter's sparse, zenlike presence on bass, while she holds nothing back on the dynamic go-for-it traps showcase "A Strawberry for Cindy."  After years of trying to find her own place in the music, Cindy Blackman arrives in high style with In the Now. ~ Bill Milkowski   http://jazztimes.com/articles/8709-in-the-now-cindy-blackman

Personnel: Cindy Blackman (drums); Ravi Coltrane (soprano & tenor saxophones); Jacky Terrasson (piano), Fender Rhodes (piano); Ron Carter (bass).

In The Now

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