Various - Legends & Lions: Blues

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:17
Size: 133.4 MB
Styles: Jazz/Blues
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[6:09] 1. Terry Gibbs - St. Louis Blues
[5:37] 2. Sean Jones - Blues For Matt B
[6:48] 3. The Gerald Wilson Orchestra - Equinox
[6:20] 4. Cedar Walton - Willow Weep For Me
[2:58] 5. Oscar Brown, Jr. - But I Was Cool
[6:08] 6. Kenny Burrell - River's Invitation
[4:55] 7. Ilona Knopfler - Unchain My Heart
[4:51] 8. Terry Gibbs - Jumping With Symphony Sid
[5:39] 9. Eugene Maslov - Groove Merchant
[8:46] 10. The Gerald Wilson Orchestra - Blues For Manhattan

Legends & Lions: Blues is a series assembled by Detroit's Mack Avenue label that pairs its roster's veteran artists with its up-and-coming personas thematically. The first two volumes in the series -- Swingin' and Swoonin' -- were successful in their way. The Blues volume is another attempt at the formula and it meets with very mixed results. First off, one wonders how the label defines the word blues. The version of John Coltrane's "Equinox" here, by the brilliant Gerald Wilson Orchestra, brings out the blues in its soloist's parts, but the band underscores the changes and stretches them until the blues all but disappears. Far more successful is their second number "Blues for Manhattan (The Diminished Triangle)" where the blues are out, front and center, and it's a killer track to close with Too bad everything here isn't that good. Ilona Knopfler's reading of "Unchain My Heart," is, for this performer, typically daring and uses a polyrythmic approach to the blues. The cut feels more like Santana playing the blues with a female vocalist, until the strings kick in. It works beautifully. Terry Gibbs' version of "Jumpin' with Symphony Sid" is strident but stiff, as is the version of "St. Louis Blues" that's so laid-back it's almost unrecognizable. It should be mentioned that some of the sidemen on these sessions are very prominent names in jazz -- Eddie Gómez, Ralph Moore, Jon Faddis, Renee Rosnes, Cedar Walton, Jimmy Heath, and Oscar Brown, Jr. (whose "But I Was Cool," is one of the real high points here) just to name a few. Interesting but forgettable, Legends & Lions: Blues doesn't quite measure up to Mack Avenue's previous compilations. ~Thom Jurek

Legends & Lions= Blues mc
Legends & Lions= Blues zippy

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Legends & Lions - Swingin'

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:29
Size: 131.6 MB
Styles: Mainstream jazz
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[6:14] 1. Mighty Burner
[5:53] 2. Blues For Hamp
[5:48] 3. I Am Old Fashioned
[4:28] 4. Comment Allez-Vous
[3:40] 5. Seven Steps To Heaven
[6:06] 6. Nancy Jo
[5:39] 7. Blues For Matt B
[7:55] 8. Old Man Jazz
[6:21] 9. Centerpiece
[5:19] 10. The Masquerade Is Over

Legends & Lions: Swingin' is one of a pair of specially priced compilations simultaneously released by Mack Avenue at a special price to showcase their artists. Unlike typical collections, this CD combines previously issued tracks and music from future projects along with one unissued track that evidently will not appear elsewhere. The selections range from the tasty uptempo blues "Mighty Burner," which showcases trumpeter Rashawn Ross extensively before tenor saxophonist and leader Ron Blake makes his entrance; to vocalist Ilona Knopfler's sensual "Comment Allez-Vous" backed by a fine big band; to a bluesy down-home gospel-flavored treatment of "Centerpiece" that features Kenny Burrell, James Moody, Teddy Edwards, Cedar Walton, and Oscar Brashear. The unissued track, a brisk take of "I'm Old Fashioned" featuring alto saxophonist Bud Shank with pianist Mike Wofford, bassist Bob Magnusson, and drummer Joe La Barbera, may have been set aside due to a few reed squeaks in the opening minute. This excellent sampler showcases a label that is not focused exclusively either on veteran artists or rising stars, but one that simply seeks to record valuable jazz. ~Ken Dryden

Swingin' mc
Swingin' zippy

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Ilona Knopfler - Some Kind Of Wonderful

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:35
Size: 142,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:45)  1. Some Kind Of Wonderful
(3:18)  2. It's The Time Of The Season
(6:38)  3. Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
(3:57)  4. One
(3:11)  5. Something
(4:44)  6. Moondance
(6:41)  7. Alfie
(4:47)  8. Unchain My Heart
(3:56)  9. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
(3:15) 10. He's Not There
(4:20) 11. River Man
(3:21) 12. Never My Love
(4:36) 13. Can't You See

The global influence of classic American pop songs is very apparent on Some Kind of Wonderful, Ilona Knopfler's impressive and multifaceted debut, which finds the Parisian-born singer (who spent some of her formative years in Hong Kong) tackling '60s and '70s favorites in a variety of styles. She shows her aggressive, bluesy Bonnie Raitt-flavored wares on the brass-funk driven twist through Grand Funk's "Some Kind of Wonderful" (featuring a feisty electric guitar solo by Pat Kelley), then goes jazz-trio cool on the Zombies' "It's the Time of the Season," revealing a different dimension of the tune (with the help of Eugene Maslov's piano). This kind of balance between pop/rock and different jazz forms carries throughout, and it's clear that Knopfler is most comfortable on the mid-tempo ballads, delivered with panache with jazz inflections. Although the grooves are organic and provide the most fun, Knopfler's deeper vocal artistry comes alive on gentle acoustic interpretations of "Alfie" and "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do." ~ Jonathan Widran  http://www.allmusic.com/album/some-kind-of-wonderful-mw0000037626

Personnel: Ilona Knopfler (vocals); Bill Armstrong (trumpet); Eugene Maslov (piano); Pat Kelley (guitar); Dave Carpenter (bass); Skeeto Valdez (drums); Lenny Castro (percussion).

Some Kind Of Wonderful

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Ilona Knopfler - Live The Life

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:26
Size: 132,1 MB
Art: Front

(4:51)  1. I'm Going To Live The Life I Sing About In My Songs
(4:31)  2. Comment Alez-Vous
(3:54)  3. But For Now
(5:07)  4. Ask Me Now (How I Wish)
(5:15)  5. Throw It Away
(4:19)  6. Dansez Sur Moi (Girl Talk)
(4:26)  7. Le Jazz Et La Java
(5:35)  8. This Is Always
(3:55)  9. Parce Que
(3:28) 10. Alone Together
(6:38) 11. Les Moulins De Mon Coeur
(4:24) 12. No Tomorrow

Beaucoup plaisir awaits on this English and French jazz vocal new release. Ilona Knopfler, born in Paris but a pre-school world traveler, made her stage debut at the age of fifteen in Hong Kong and later became the house favorite at the Jazz Club in Hong Kong. Moving to New York, Knopfler studied for five years at the Lee Strasberg Institute. This album was recorded in both New York and Paris.  Live The Life begins with the unlikely gospel anthem of the late Thomas Dorsey, "I'm Going To Live The Life I Sing About." After the stated vocals, a stunning French vocal duo of Knopfler and Kim Nazarian (from New York Voices) emulates the stylings of the Blue Stars of France quite effectively. That is followed by a cooking alto solo from Antonio Hart.

Immediately on the way is the next tune, "Comment Allez-Vous," a signature piece of Blossom Dearie, who coincidentally founded the Blue Stars in the early 1950s.  Many well-chosen songs in both English and French ensue, and all are treated with respect and the appropriate feelings of swing or tenderness. We can include in that group Bob Dorough's "But For Now," Monk's "Ask Me Now" (with lyrics by Jon Hendricks), Abbey Lincoln's "Throw It Away," and Charles Aznavour's "Parce Que." "Dansez Sur Moi" is a French lyric for the 1960s jazz standard "Girl Talk," and "Le Jazz Et La Java" is Dave Brubeck's "Three To Get Ready" (from Time Out), with Knopfler singing vocalese beautifully against the horns, followed by a fine Sean Jones trumpet solo. "Les Moulins De Mon Coeur" is a French translation of the Alan and Marilyn Bergman hit "The Windmills of My Mind." "No Tomorrow" is an Ivan Lins composition with lyrics from Peter Eldridge. The haunting ballads "This Is Always" and "Alone Together" are also highlights.  Producers Jay Ashby and Al Pryor should be proud of this fine album showcasing the talents of Ilona Knopfler. I have no idea what her 2003 debut for Mack Avenue, Some Kind of Wonderful, sounds like, but on paper the selections all consist of pop and rock tunes. ~ Michael P.Gladstone   

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=18462#.Uz9brVdSvro

Personnel: Ilona Knopfler: vocals; Antonio Hart: alto sax; Sean Jones: trumpet; Paquito D'Rivera: clarinet; Alain Mallet: piano; Rufus Reid or James Genus: bass; Marty Ashby: guitar; Jamey Haddad: drums; Kim Nazarian: background vocals.

Live the Life

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