Cheryl Bentyne - The Book of Love

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:16
Size: 113,2 MB
Art: Front

(4:31)  1. You Don't Know Me
(4:48)  2. Be My Love
(3:40)  3. Blue Moon
(3:25)  4. Lets Do It
(5:05)  5. Don't Say A Word
(4:17)  6. The Book of Love
(4:29)  7. You Taught My Heart to Sing
(4:52)  8. You Go To My Head
(4:35)  9. Cry Me A River
(5:30) 10. I'm A Fool To Want You
(2:49) 11. Goodbye
(1:11) 12. The Book of Love (Reprise)

Much like fellow West Coaster Karrin Allyson, Cheryl Bentyne has shown a certain affection for thematic recordings. Allyson released her superb Coltrane tribute, Ballads: Remembering John Coltrane, in 2001, and Bentyne answered with her own tribute to Anita O'Day, Let Me Off Uptown, in 2005. Bentyne now returns with The Book of Love, a suite of standards based on a literary motif.  The Book of Love is divided into a seven chapters covering longing, flirtation, lust, love, joy, disillusion, and finally loss. Bentyne is clothed in a variety of musical attire for this reading. The opening "You Don't Know Me uses a Ray Charles line of orchestral outerwear to accent a soulful guitar-organ-piano ensemble warmly cushioning Bentyne's firm alto. "Be My Love is more simply clad with Wayne Johnson's classical guitar and bearing the jewel of Armen Ksajikian's cello solo.  "Blue Moon wears the flapper brocade of the 1920s Jazz Age. Bentyne playfully duets with John Pizzarelli while dancing with violinist Charlie Bisharat's best Joe Venuti. "Let's Do It wears the cloth of the guitar-piano quartet, swinging in three time signatures. Bentyne displays her superb lyric control best here. Having progressed through longing and flirtation, we arrive at lust, represented by the single song "Don't Say a Word, a contemporary piano-orchestra piece written by pianist Bill Cantos. Tenor saxophonist Bob Sheppard plays a Zoot Sims-inspired ballad solo and Bentyne captures the ember of the piece gracefully.

Love (containing the original title track) and joy reveal a gem in a regimented "You go to My Head, adorned with full orchestra and a languid guitar/piano/bass/drums rhythm section. Bentyne sings straight, employing a linear melody method not characteristically used on this song. Trumpeter Chris Tedesco blows a bright two-chorus solo that is a highlight.  But it is not longing, flirtation, lust or love that make the best songs; it is disillusion and loss. "Cry Me A River is formally dressed with stings and presented by Bentyne in a sardonically prideful manner. The true grief and anger are reserved for "I'm a Fool to Want You, where Bentyne's vocal sweetness is tainted by saline tears and bitterness. She sings in the context of her guitar-piano quartet accented again by Charlie Bisharat's violin. The disc closes with a smoky, Latinesque "Goodbye before signing off with a reprise of the original title track. Bentyne continues to deliver measured, intelligently defined recordings that brighten the jazz vocal landscape.By C.Michael Bailey https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-book-of-love-cheryl-bentyne-telarc-records-review-by-c-michael-bailey.php

Personnel:  Cheryl Bentyne, Zoe Allen, John Pizzarelli, Mark Kibble, Alvin Chea: vocals;  Grant Geissman, Wayne Johnson: guitar; Charlie Bisharat: violin;  Armen Ksajikian: cello;  Bob Sheppard:tenor saxophone;  Chris Tedesco: trumpet;  Corey Allen: piano, keyboards;  Bill Cantos: piano;  Kevin Axt: bass guitar; Dave Tull: drums;  Don Alias, Scott Breadman: percussion;  The City Of Prague Symphony.

The Book of Love

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Mark Winkler - Late Bloomin' Jazzman

Styles: Vocal
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:20
Size: 117,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:32) 1. It Ain't Necessarily So
(3:25) 2. Don't Be Blue
(4:43) 3. When All the Lights in the Sign Worked
(4:27) 4. Late Bloomin' Jazzman
(3:43) 5. In Another Way
(5:01) 6. Bossa Nova Days
(3:17) 7. Old Devil Moon
(3:44) 8. I Always Had a Thing for You
(4:01) 9. Before You Leave
(4:33) 10. Old Enough
(5:36) 11. Marlena's Memories
(4:13) 12. If Gershwin Had Lived

Anyone who can hold their own on a stage on in a studio with Cheryl Bentyne cannot be all bad, right? Even if one's taste runs more to Harry Connick, Jr than to Mark Murphy, it is difficult not to get seriously into Mark Winkler. Oh, he can sing, for sure, but even if he could not carry a tune, he is a lyricist for the ages. Not all ages, mind you. But for those of a certain age, sensibility, and experience. As people are wont to say of life, "tell me your truth," not tell me the truth. Winkler tells the audience his truth. And more than a few will nod in agreement. Winkler may be a romantic, but he is no fool.

"You're playing better than in your well-regarded youth...the prodigies come and go, don't they?" If there is a mirror image to "September Song," "Late Bloomin' Jazzman" must be it, and Brian Swartz' tart trumpet adds the exclamation point. Yeah, novelty is sometimes confused with talent, or youth with beauty. Is it not, one thinks, the truth of the well-traveled?

"Bossa Nova Days" really drives it home. "I wasn't born for these times, music's not musical, and words don't even rhyme." Winkler remembers being lost in those bossa nova days, "singing of lost romance, sand beneath my feet." You, too, brother? "Take me back," he intones. Well, maybe not to Brazil, but some less exotic shore worked just as well. There were wars in 1967, too, but they had not visited one's doorstep yet. Not better times, but memory convinces otherwise. "Old Enough" explains it all. With ironic good humor. "I'm old enough not to be fooled by the lights and the show." "This time the clever is gone." And one gets it, including, "too many notes and too little feeling." Rueful, but funny. "I'm still young enough to know that I don't know that much." Point taken.

Too sentimental? Maudlin? Then try "Old Devil Moon." Winkler can swing, and he does not try too hard. The musicians are especially well placed here: Rich Eames on piano; Bob Sheppard on tenor sax; Christian Euman on drums; Gabe Davis on bass; and Grant Geissman on guitar, with Brian Swartz playing a solid backup line. Players of this caliber make it easier for a singer to sound good.

"Marlena's Memories" is almost too painful to hear, but a good reminder of how ordinary are the sources of pain. Winkler confesses he once wrote bad songs. Somehow, that seems implausible.

There are twelve tracks here. It really is not possible to write about all of them. And probably not necessary. To paraphrase a Founding Father, "If you have to ask, you will never know." A memorable performance indeed in a most memorable career.
By Richard J Salvucci https://www.allaboutjazz.com/late-bloomin-jazzman-cafe-pacific-records

Personnel: David Benoit: Piano; John Clayton: Drums; Jamieson Trotter: Piano; Bob Sheppard: Saxophone, Tenor; Nolan Shaheen: Flugelhorn; Kevin Winard: Drums; Jon Mayer: Piano; Gabe Davis: Bass, Acoustic; Clayton Cameron: Drums; Brian Swartz: Trumpet; Grant Geissman: Guitar; Christian Euman: Drums; Mark Winkler: Voice / Vocals.

Late Bloomin'Jazzman

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Carol Welsman - What'cha Got Cookin'?

Styles: Vocal, And Piano Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:44
Size: 141,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:22)  1. Hey Good Lookin'
(3:52)  2. Stand by Your Man
(3:57)  3. Everybody's Talkin'
(5:22)  4. It's My Party
(3:37)  5. By the Time I Get to Phoenix
(4:47)  6. Your Cheatin' Heart
(3:33)  7. Just a Little Lovin'
(4:54)  8. Always on My Mind
(6:09)  9. Walkin' After Midnight
(3:43) 10. I Feel Lucky
(3:37) 11. Baby Come Easy
(4:26) 12. Daddy's Little Girl
(5:17) 13. I Can't Stop Lovin' You
(4:59) 14. I'm Walkin' the Floor over You

Although Carol Welsman has moved to the Los Angeles area, she is best known in her native Canada. While frequently identified with smooth jazz, she has also recorded vintage standards and can swing in straight-ahead jazz settings, too. Her father was a big jazz fan with a large record collection, introducing his daughter to jazz. Not only did she hear his records, but from the age of 12 she often accompanied him to concerts, developing a love for the singing of Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, and Mel Tormé. Welsman played guitar from the age of ten, accompanying her singing of bossa novas and folk music. She began to perform jazz more in her late teens. Welsman attended the Berklee College of Music during 1980-1981 and studied voice in France with Christiane Legrand. She started the Welcar Music label in Toronto, recording her debut CD, Lucky to Be Me, in 1995. She performed throughout Canada and also worked as a jazz vocal professor at the University of Toronto. 

During 2004-2005 she toured in Japan, Italy, and Brazil in addition to Canada and worked a bit in Los Angeles as a singer/pianist, but Carol Welsman has yet to become well known in the U.S. despite being a household name in Canada. ~ Scott Yanow https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/carol-welsman/id7239327#fullText

Personnel:  Carol Welsman - piano, Fender Rhodes, vocal;  Kevin Axt - bass (acoustic & electric);  Ray Brinker – drums;  Grant Geissman – guitars;  Randy Waldman – keyboards;  Brad Dutz - percussion

What'cha Got Cookin'?

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Dan Siegel - Going Home

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1991
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:04
Size: 95,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:53)  1. Dee-Ah
(4:23)  2. Going Home
(3:32)  3. Next To You
(4:41)  4. Dark Rain
(4:53)  5. Don't Let Go
(4:04)  6. The Untraveled Path
(2:50)  7. Can't Remember
(4:36)  8. Sojourn
(4:20)  9. Searching
(3:48) 10. The Last Dance

Smooth jazz keyboardist Dan Siegel has been helping to shape the genre since his recording debut in 1980. Born in Seattle and raised in Eugene, OR, Siegel started taking piano lessons at age eight and was fronting a rock band at 12. After attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston, he received a degree in composition from the University of Oregon and began recording his own works. Soon thereafter, well-known independent jazz label Inner City Records signed the young keyboardist, releasing 1980's Nite Ride, which featured guitarist Lee Ritenour. Siegel's second album for Inner City, 1981's The Hot Spot, was more successful and spent ten weeks in the Top Ten of Billboard's jazz chart. In 1983, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue film and television work, as well as a more active recording career. Spending half of the decade composing TV and film scores as well as releasing several albums of varying interest, he signed with Epic in 1986 and began moving away from the ailing jazz fusion scene and into the adult contemporary jazz sound that he had been toying with all along. Highlights of this era include 1994's worldbeat-influenced Hemispheres and the urban-flavored Clairvoyance, released in 1998. Siegel spent the 1990s recording for a variety of labels, working with some of the bigger names in smooth jazz (Boney James, Larry Carlton, John Patitucci), and leading the hard bop combo Birds of a Feather. In 2000, Legacy Recordings released a greatest hits compilation called Along the Way: The Best of Dan Siegel. ~ Zac Johnson https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dan-siegel-mn0000566054/biography 

Kenny Rankin (Vocals); Michael Landau, Allen Hinds, Richard Smith, Grant Geissman (Guitar); Ernie Watts, Jeff Kashiwa, Everette Harp, Gary Herbig, Mark Hollingsworth (Saxophone); Abraham Laboriel, Jimmy Johnson, Ed Alton, Neil Stubenhaus, Dwayne Smith, Alec Milstein (Bass); Vinny Colaiuta, Bobby Colomby, Moyes Lucas Jr., Randy Drake, Dave Miller (Drums);  Luis Conte, Alex Acuña (Percussion); Dan Siegel (Keyboards, Vocals).

Going Home

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Mel Carter - The Heart & Soul Of Mel Carter

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:04
Size: 103.2 MB
Styles: R&B, Vocal jazz
Year: 2009
Art: Front

[4:18] 1. Heart And Soul
[3:44] 2. It May Sound Silly
[3:12] 3. Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone, Who’s Sorry Now
[3:24] 4. Cry
[4:39] 5. Tomorrow Night
[2:58] 6. I Worry About You
[2:44] 7. Where Or When
[6:24] 8. The Glory Of Love, You’ll Never Know
[3:11] 9. Too Soon To Know
[2:55] 10. If It’s The Last Thing I Do
[3:43] 11. I Don’t Care Who Knows (Baby I’m Yours)
[3:47] 12. Heart And Soul (Reprise)

Piano/arr. - Randy Randolph; Bass - James Leary; Drums - Dean Koba; Guitar - Grant Geissman; Trumpet - Charlie Peterson; Trombone - Duane Benjamin; Alto Sax - Tim Messina.

Let me take you on a personal musical journey and feel the joy I had of remembering special moments in my life connected with the songs I’ve chosen for this CD. I was a big fan of Hoagy Carmichael in my teens, seeing and hearing him do his songs in films. One of these was “Heart And Soul” which was the second most played song at parties, next to the number one being “Chopsticks.” The Cleftones had a doo wop hit with this song in the fifties.

In 1957 I recorded an Ivory Joe Hunter song called “I Need You So” for Mercury Records. Among the other songs submitted to me was “It May Sound Silly.” This minor hit for Ivory Joe Hunter later became a mega-hit for the McGuire Sisters — and now this was my chance to keep the hit going. I’m lucky that as a teen I got to go to stage shows. They would have the regular movies playing at the theatres during the week, and on the weekends there would be live performances by popular artists of the day. I was at every one of those shows and saw lots of performers. Buddy Johnson and his sister Ella Johnson was one of the acts I saw. Ella was the first blues singer that sang so you understood all the words. “Baby, I’m Yours” was one of her songs that stayed with me through the years.

I hope you enjoy this musical journey as much as I have enjoyed recording these special songs for you. I give you, “The Heart and Soul of Mel Carter.” Thanks for listening... MC

The Heart & Soul Of Mel Carter mc
The Heart & Soul Of Mel Carter zippy

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Buddy Bregman Big Band - It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing

Styles: Jazz, Big Band, Swing
Year: 1998
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:02
Size: 137,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:36)  1. In The Mood
(3:52)  2. Chattanooga Choo Choo
(5:14)  3. Leap Frog
(5:15)  4. Big Noise From Winnetka
(4:19) 5. It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
(5:02)  6. Sing, Sing, Sing
(5:46)  7. Opus No. 1
(4:59)  8. The Mooch
(4:35)  9. One O'Clock Jump
(6:03) 10. Moten Swing
(4:44) 11. Take The 'A' Train
(4:32) 12. Jumpin' At The Woodside

A screenwriter obsessed with jazz shows up at the offices of the production company Bregman Entertainment in Hollywood. He has an appointment to make a pitch to Buddy Bregman, a producer, director, and writer who has also been a great success in the music business as an arranger, composer, and conductor. A current list of Bregman film projects under development includes a drama entitled The Trial of Ezra Pound, so the screenwriter is confident that Bregman won't pass off the movie idea he is about to be offered as too intellectual. It is a variation on Oscar Wilde's classic The Picture of Dorian Gray. In that story, a vain man retains his youth while a bewitched portrait of him simultaneously ages. In the jazz buff's variation, an important reference volume prepared by a major jazz critic adds years on to the lives of various performers by printing incorrect information about their birthdays. Bregman shows the guy the door. It isn't just that he is too busy to listen, overwhelmed by his own responsibilities as "Owner, producer, director, writer, composer, arranger, rehearsal pianist and God knows what else" for Capone: The Musical, just about to open at the The Derby. The subject is too close to home. In The Encyclopedia of Jazz, published in 1960, Bregman's year of birth is listed as 1930, according to some more than a decade off the mark. One would think Bregman belongs to a previous generation. Instead of a young boy marveling at his much older, talented uncle Jules Styne, Sammy Cahn's songwriting partner, responsible for a veritable blizzard of hits including "Let It Snow! Let It Snow" Bregman is incorrectly identified by Feather Styne's sibling. Bregman's professional career began during his sophomore year of college. 

But he was actually only 17-years old at the time, due to skipping several grades. Bregman got an opportunity to write arrangements for the Cheers, a white vocal group "You couldn't get three whiter people in this life," Bregman has said who were cutting a new song by Leiber & Stoller for the Capitol label. That side was "Bazoom I Need Your Lovin'," which, according to release sheets, came out in 1954. Thus, the thing to hype about Bregman's career is not his age, but rather the opposite, his youth. He seems to have developed advanced talents as a musician at an early age, helped in no small part by the previously mentioned great composer in his extended family, as well as his own parents' wise decision to expose him to lots of live music. Bregman claims to have been able to orchestrate at the age of 11, and three years later had one of his charts performed by jazz musician Bill Russo. Bregman admits that the latter effort was horrible. But he must have made great improvements by the time of his recording debut. "Bazoom I Need Your Loving" was a hit, and veteran producer Norman Granz wound up hearing it on the radio. This led to a terrific career break. Granz was starting up a new record label and offered Bregman a chance to work for him. That label turned out to be Verve, one of the most famous jazz labels. Bregman became the A&R head, but is best known by jazz fans for his arranging and conducting activities on a stack of sides by great singers such as Ella Fitzgeraldand Anita O'Day. He also made what might arguably be one of Bing Crosby's best records, Bing Sings Whilst Bregman Swings. Despite her generously sweet nature, Fitzgerald was apparently still unable to hide her initial reaction to the greenhorn producer Granz had hired for her. Her attitude was summarized best by the Italian composer, percussionist, and conductor Andrea Centazzo's reaction to an extra, uninvited dinner guest showing up: "Who the hell is this guy?" A set of double albums devoted to Cole Porter and Rodgers & Hart are absolute masterpieces. Interviews conducted decades after these albums were created provide insight into what the young dude brought to the table, aspects that could be easy to overlook in the rush to swoon at Ella's feet. This includes Bregman's insistence on playing all the verses originally written for these songs, material that Fitzgerald, like most performers of the classic standard song repertoire, would rather leave out. 

Verve also gave Bregman the opportunity to put out albums under his own name, such as the action-packed Swinging Kicks in 1956. Bregman's career would lead to television within several years. He became the musical director of The Eddie Fisher Show, and was soon offered his own slot as a kind of a competitive response to Dick Clark. This series, Buddy Bregman's Music Shop lasted for an unlucky 13 shows, hardly knocking Clark off the American Bandstand. Nonetheless there were other, older performers in the music business who thought Bregman was moving ahead too quickly. "I'm 15 years younger than the guys like Nelson Riddle and Bill May, who were my contemporaries," Bregman wrote this author in an e-mail. "I was never with a band in my whole life. I just went from wealthy kid to hot arranger, composer, conductor. And they all resented me cause I worked with such big stars and had no real "road-like" experience. But I couldn't care less about what they thought I just plowed ahead." Collaborations with some of the greatest singing entertainers were his pasture, as well as television direction and production and film scoring. If this is plowing, hipsters who smile in recognition at names such as Betty Hutton, Sammy Davis, Jr., Annie Ross, and Roger Corman might want to reconsider farming as a career these are all people Bregman has worked with. His stature as a producer and director seemed to advance significantly due to a relationship with Intel, an international production company. This outfit put Bregman in charge of a series of award-winning programs produced in Europe. This success, in turn, led to an invitation from BBC-TV to produce and direct a series of major specials, as well as a series. Bregman was the first foreigner to be given such an opportunity by the BBC. He eventually became the head of entertainment for the London-based ITV network. Prior to returning to the United States, Bregman wrote Jump Jim Crow, the Royal Shakespeare Company's first effort at a stage musical. He was nominated for an Emmy award for the television version of Ain't Misbehavin', a tribute to Fats Waller and other musicians of his generation. While it is difficult to pick what the specialty is of this versatile artist, he seems to be consistently involved in tributes to legends of American musical history, including Bing Crosby. Another of his film projects in development concerns the relationship between singer Billie Holiday and saxophonist Lester Young. In television, Bregman has developed more than 50 pilot scripts. ~ Eugene Chadbourne http://www.allmusic.com/artist/buddy-bregman-mn0000942181/biography

Personnel:  Bass – Tray Henry; Drums – Ed Smith;  Guitar – Grant Geissman;  Keyboards – Steven Orich;  Piano – Emilio Palame;  Reeds – Robert Carr, Chris Bleth, Jan Kip, Mark Hollingsworth (2), Phil Feather;  Trombone – Gary Tole (2), Nick Lane, Richard Bullock, William Booth;  Trumpet – Bob Summers (3), Dennis Farias, Stanley Martin, Wayne Bergeron

It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing

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Chuck Mangione - Everything For Love

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:34
Size: 149,1 MB
Art: Front

(6:10)  1. Peggy Hill
(7:08)  2. Slo Ro
(7:02)  3. Amazing Grace
(6:18)  4. Seoul Sister
(7:48)  5. Viola
(4:14)  6. Fox Hunt
(6:33)  7. Annalise
(6:00)  8. I Do Everything For Love
(6:29)  9. Papa Mangione
(6:50) 10. Freddie's Walkin'

Chuck Mangione, the famed flugelhornist and trumpeter fills his first recording of the 21st century with some wonderfully subdued love songs whose subtle, intimate qualities may surprise those of his fans who best know his boisterous pop hits. More than simply expressing a romantic boy-girl kind of love, Mangione is playing gentle, atmospheric jazz for a wide variety of special people, real and animated. And there is no doubt that the truest love here is that between the artist and some of his old bandmates; saxman Gerry Niewood played with Mangione from 1968 through the mid-'70s, while guitarist Grant Geissman (showing a rich, traditional jazz depth only hinted at on most of his smooth jazz efforts) and bassist Charles Meeks were there during Mangione's late '70s pop heyday. "Slo Ro," dedicated to Mangione's wife, is a moody reflection piece led by a drifting muted trumpet and the bluesy duality of Niewood's smoky tenor and Allen's keys. A seven-minute meditative version of "Amazing Grace" begins as a quiet, prayer-like duet between Mangione and Geissman, who switches partway through from the Wes sound to an electric rock axe for an edgy solo; then, Allen's organ solo takes this very spiritual rendition to church before Niewood chimes in with a sweet flute solo. Within each song, there are moments when Pellegrini's drums kick the softness up a few notches, and the peppery horn playing on "Fox Hunt" and the clapping percussion on the Latin-spiced "I Do Everything for Love" show a more playful side than Mangione displays elsewhere. Fans who know Mangione's whole career will see this as a fine addition to his jazz catalog; those who want more pop hits will be surprised at the low-key nature of the project. ~ Jonathan Widran http://www.allmusic.com/album/everything-for-love-mw0000104126

Personnel: Chuck Mangione (trumpet, flugelhorn); Charles Meeks (vocals, electric bass); Gerry Niewood (soprano & tenor saxophones); Corey Allen, Tim Regusis (keyboards); Grant Geissman (acoustic & electric guitars); Darryl Pellegrini (drums); Paulette McWilliams, Cindy Mizelle (background vocals).

Everything For Love

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Diane Schuur - Pure Schuur

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 1991
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:46
Size: 109,6 MB
Art: Front

(5:10)  1. Nobody Does Me
(4:53)  2. All Caught Up In Love
(2:19)  3. Deed I Do
(4:54)  4. What A Difference A Day Makes
(6:10)  5. Touch
(4:32)  6. Baby You Got What It Takes
(3:55)  7. Unforgettable
(4:53)  8. I Could Get Used To This
(3:15)  9. You Don't Remember Me
(4:25) 10. Hold Out
(3:15) 11. We Can Only Try

Diane Schuur has always been one of the world's greatest modern jazz voices, and her purity on this collection makes for her most artistic yet accessible statement to date. She may be broadening her scope to include pop, but she's also sure to pay homage to her jazzy upbringing, most notably on her stunning renditions of "Unforgettable" (the same year Natalie Cole triumphed with the song) and "Deed I Do," a sassy big-band duet with the late Joe Williams. The magic of Pure Schuur lies in Schuur's ability to pick and interpret such a wide range of songs with so many different types of arrangements.

While producer Andre Fischer seems to have a grand old time backing Deedles with sporty horn sections and synthesized sounds, the album is most effective with minimal instrumentation, as on the magnificent "You Don't Remember Me" and "We Can Only Try." As with Frank Sinatra and the like, Schuur is blessed with good-to-great songs, smart arrangers, and stellar productions, but it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that...voice. Schuur's is clear, rich, and powerful, mixing fun and romance as only a jazz legend in the making can.~Jonathan Widran http://www.allmusic.com/album/pure-schuur-mw0000317774

Personnel: Diane Schuur (vocals, keyboards); Joe Williams , Bobby Womack (vocals); Dean Parks (guitar, acoustic guitar); Grant Geissman (guitar); Ernie Fields Jr., Fred Jackson, Jr. , Jack Nimitz, Joel Peskin (saxophone); Larry Williams (alto saxophone); Chuck Finley (tenor saxophone, trumpet); Dan Higgins (tenor saxophone); Kim Hutchcroft (baritone saxophone); Gary Grant (trumpet, flugelhorn); Nolan Andrew Smith, Oscar Brashear, Sal Marquez, Steve Huffsteter , Frank Szabo (trumpet); Chuck Findley (flugelhorn); David Duke , Richard Perissi, Art Mawby, Marni Robinson, Richard Evans (French horn); Dick Hyde, Garnett Brown, Richard Hyde, Charles Loper, Maurice Spears (trombone); David Benoit, Tom Garvin (piano); Michael Ruff (organ); Marc Hugenberger (keyboards, programming); André Fischer (drums, programming); Harold Jones , Carlos Vega (drums); Larry Steelman (programming, keyboard programming); Brad Cole (programming); Denise DeCaro, Maxine Anderson, Lynn Davis , Maxi Anderson (background vocals).

Pure Schuur

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Lorraine Feather - Language

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 44:25
Size: 101.7 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[4:12] 1. Traffic And Weather
[3:40] 2. We Appreciate Your Patience
[4:29] 3. Very Unbecoming
[3:56] 4. I Love New York At Christmas
[5:02] 5. Home Alone
[2:24] 6. Hit The Ground Runnin'
[4:12] 7. Where Are My Keys
[3:52] 8. In Flower
[4:02] 9. Waiting Tables
[4:34] 10. A Household Name
[3:58] 11. Making It Up As We Go Along

Over her mere seven-album discography, Lorraine Feather has carved out a fulfilling career as a jazz singer far outdistancing many one-shots, far less talented but successful pop-jazz vocalists, and wannabes. Her talent as a lyricist of wit, sarcasm, and keen observations of the American human condition is her true strength, and not always as acknowledged as her verbal chops and inventiveness. Her language goes beyond the nomenclatures of swing, bop, and contemporary improvisation, as Feather exploits many literary references and well-worn phraseology from various acumens, and keeps the proceedings upbeat and interactive between her words and the musical notes offered by her excellent confreres. Pianist Shelly Berg is closest to Feather as a collaborator, writing the music for Feather's cleverest lyrics. The quick, lithe, bouncy, and brisk "Traffic and Weather" relates to Bay Area commuter congestion, climatological issues, or references to inseparable pairings, and "We Appreciate Your Patience," with a cynical, animated take on annoying automated answering services, teams Feather and Berg in multilevel harmonic and whimsical refrains. Feather is fond of stringing worn-out clichés together, as on "Patience," but is in an especially sharp mood about trite multiple sports adages on the bopper "Hit the Ground Runnin'," featuring a furious Russell Ferrante on piano, and tells the all too familiar thoughts-racing, mouse-on-a-treadmill tale of "Where Are My Keys?," turning a dilemma into fun. Also skillful, aside from their lyric content, are her instrumental ideas, like using a horn section and a drummer only on the sassy tale of a career dilemma "Waiting Tables," or the slinky, bluesy Duke Ellington-like "A Household Name," debunking stardom and alerting you to the pitfalls of the celebrity trap. Feather can also be sentimental, as on her romanticized Billy Strayhorn waltz tribute "In Flower," the melancholy "I Love New York at Christmas," and her most languid, evocative tune, "Making It Up as We Go Along." She is rarely self-conscious or insular, but Ferrante's modal two-chord piano prop-up during "Home Alone" keeps Feather's possible dour mood in check, although she can't help being doting on "Very Unbecoming." On occasion, vocalists Tierney Sutton, Janis Siegel, and Cheryl Bentyne enter in supportive vocal cameos. This may very well be Lorraine Feather's best effort, certainly the one where collaboration is the key, and statements on our disposable, technology-driven, time-consuming society had to be made. Bravo Lorraine, and hang in there! ~ Michael G. Nastos

Recording information: Entourage; Visual Rhythm.

Lorraine Feather (vocals); Janis Siegel (vocals, background vocals); Grant Geissman (guitar); Greg "Frosty" Smith (saxophone); Willie Murillo, Gary Grant (trumpet); Andy Martin (trombone); Michael Lang , Russell Ferrante, Shelly Berg (piano); Michael Valerio (bass guitar); Gregg Field, Michael Shapiro (drums, percussion); Cheryl Bentyne, Tierney Sutton (background vocals). Audio Mixer: Carlos Del Rosario.

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Grant Geissman - Bop! Bang! Boom!

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 65:24
Size: 149.7 MB
Styles: Guitar jazz
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[4:43] 1. Boom!
[5:36] 2. The Singularity
[5:27] 3. Q Tip
[6:00] 4. Un Poco Espanol
[6:18] 5. Go To The Window
[5:59] 6. Good Morning, Mr. Phelps
[3:37] 7. $25 Stella
[5:29] 8. Texas Shuffle
[6:09] 9. Samba En Menor
[4:29] 10. Guitarism
[6:15] 11. Take Yer Time
[5:16] 12. Off The Grid

Grant Geissman's lengthy career as a guitarist and composer started in the early '70s. His résumé includes the guitar solo on flugelhornist Chuck Mangione's 1978 hit single "Feels So Good," a discography of around 15 albums as leader and compositions for TV such as the theme for the CBS comedy Two And A Half Men. Bop! Bang! Boom! is the final installment of a trilogy that also includes Say That! (Futurism, 2006) and Cool Man Cool (Futurism, 2009). As before, it features a strong core band plus guest appearances from Geismann's friends and colleagues including saxophonist Tom Scott, guitarists Larry Carlton and Albert Lee, and Brian Wilson collaborator Van Dyke Parks, on accordion.

The single defining characteristic of the music on this album, all written by Geissman, is its lack of a single defining characteristic—except, perhaps, its immediate likeability. There are a couple of smooth Latin tunes, "Samba En Menor" and "Un Poco Español," while there's a slow, swampy, blues, "Take Yer Time," which features Geissman's TV music writing partner Dennis C Brown and TV producer Chuck Lorre in a three-guitar lineup.

"Boom!" provides some funk, with lovely unison lines from Geismann and Brian Scanlon on tenor saxophone, "The Singularity" is rooted in bebop, "Q Tip" mixes funk and boogie into an irrepressibly danceable tune, and there's even a spot of electric sitar on the Indian-influenced "Go To The Window." The lyrical "Guitarism," on which Geissman overdubs two guitars and palmas (flamenco-style handclaps), is the album's gentlest and prettiest number, though it's in a close run with the sweet "Good Morning, Mr Phelps," which features Scanlon on soprano sax. "$25 Stella" is a slinky, accordion-led Cajun number, on which Geissman adds a spiky solo played on the 1966 Stella acoustic guitar which has been in his family for three generations (and which may or may not have originally cost the titular sum). The tune is additionally distinguished by the accordion duo of Parks and Doug Lacey, and underpinned by the warm bass notes of Trey Henry's tuba. Cheekily, Geissman follows up with "Texas Shuffle," pretty much the same tune but reworked as an up-tempo guitar shuffle featuring Lee, Carlton and Geissman, all delivering fine solos.

Bop! Bang! Boom! might well be subtitled How To Have Fun With A Guitar, Some Friends And A Cool Bunch Of Tunes. To remain in keeping with the retro-style of artist Miles Thompson's wonderful sleeve design, it seems only fair to award Bop! Bang! Boom! the prestigious epithet of "Groovy!" Which is, of course, very high praise. ~Bruce Lindsay

Grant Geissman: guitars, electric sitar, palmas; Brian Scanlon: alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute; Emilio Palame: piano, Fender Rhodes; Trey Henry: acoustic bass, tuba; Ray Brinker: drums; Alex Acuna: congas, bongos, percussion; Brian Kilgore: percussion; Tom Scott: tenor saxophone(3), alto saxophone (12); Tom Rainier: piano (2, 9); Corey Allen: piano (11); Jim Cox: Hammond organ (3, 12); Greg Mathieson: Hammond organ (8); Michael Finnigan: Hammond organ (11); Russell Ferrante: Fender Rhodes (4, 6); Doug Lacey: accordion (7); Van Dyke Parks; accordion (7); Albert Lee: guitar (8); Larry Carlton: guitar (8); Dennis C Brown: guitar, harmonica (11); Chuck Lorre: guitar (11); Leland Sklar: electric bass (11); Kevin Axt: acoustic bass (2, 4, 6, 8, 9).

Recording information: General Confusion Music, Sherman Oaks, CA (07/12/2011-11/19/2011); Glenwood Place Studios, Burbank, CA (07/12/2011-11/19/2011); Johnny Lee Schell's Ultra Tone Studios, Studio City, CA

(07/12/2011-11/19/2011); Lafx, North Hollywood, CA (07/12/2011-11/19/2011); Larry's Log Cabin, Franklin, TN (07/12/2011-11/19/2011).

Bop! Bang! Boom!

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