Mark Winkler - The Company I Keep

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:56
Size: 128.0 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2017
Art: Front

[4:12] 1. Walk Between The Raindrops (With Jackie Ryan)
[5:12] 2. Strollin' (With Cheryl Bentyne)
[4:27] 3. Midnight In Paris
[3:30] 4. But It Still Ain't So (With Steve Tyrell)
[5:42] 5. That Afternoon In Harlem
[3:15] 6. They Can't Take That Away From Me
[4:58] 7. Stolen Moments (With Claire Martin)
[4:27] 8. Love Comes Quietly
[5:18] 9. Rainproof (With Sara Gazarek)
[5:20] 10. The Sum
[4:00] 11. Lucky To Be Me
[5:28] 12. Here's To Life

Mark Winkler: vocals; Jackie Ryan: vocals (1); Jamieson Trotter: piano (1, 2, 4, 6, 7), Hammond B-3 (4); Lyman Medeiros: bass (1, 2, 4, 6, 10, 11); Mike Shapiro: drums (1, 2, 6, 10); Bob McChesney: trombone (1, 5, 7); Ron Blake: trumpet (1, 7); Brian Swartz: trumpet (1, 7); Bob Sheppard: saxophone (1, 4, 7, 9, 10), clarinet (11); Cheryl Bentyne: vocals (2); Larry Koonse: guitar (2, 3); Rich Eames: piano (3, 12); John Clayton: bass (3, 7-9); Jeff Hamilton: drums (3, 5, 7-9); Don Shelton: clarinet (3); Paul Cartwright: violin (3); Bob Mann: guitars (4); Kevin Winard: drums (4), percussion (10); Eric Reed: piano (5, 8); John Beasley: piano (10); David Benoit: piano (11).

The utility of music, at its very core, is entertainment. It is not all about dissonance and consonance, tonal conflict and resolution; heart and intellect, pathos and ethos. Somewhere in everything music has to offer, there must be a smile. It is in music's smile that vocalist Mark Winkler exists. An elegant West Coast mainstay, vocalist/lyricist/composer Winkler, drove across my radar first with his 2011 recording Sweet Spot (Café Pacific Records). I was struck by how well Winkler could skirt the orbit of con brio cabaret singing, with its fun, entertainment core, and remain completely fixed in his capacity of jazz singer and composer.

Winkler followed Sweet Spot with his bold 2013 release, The Laura Nyro Project (Café Pacific Records). An exceptional duet recording with The Manhattan Transfer's Cheryl Bentyne, West Coast Cool (Summit Records, 2013) came next, followed by the fun and good-natured Jazz and Other Four Letter Words (Café Pacific Records, 2015).

Winkler had a period of personal loss in 2016 that would have crushed lesser musical mortals. Rather than dwell in the loss, Winkler circled his wagons, and, by wagons I mean his friends, producing the present recording, The Company I Keep. The recording is tacitly a duets recording, where Winkler shares singing duties with the likes of Jackie Ryan "Walk Between the Raindrops" and Steve Tyrell "But It Still Ain't So." Sometimes the duets are with musicians: pianists David Benoit, Josh Nelson and Eric Reed join Winkler regular Jamison Trotter in providing the singer support. Add to this the contributions of reeds player Bob Sheppard and a picture is complete. With friends like that, how can one go wrong.

The recording, engineering, and sonics are exceptional, as well as the arrangements (mostly by Trotter). The project is composed of a a dozen pieces, half with lyrics composed by Winkler and half carefully selected by him and his cohorts. Beautifully, the "standards" (if you will) are not so standard. Donald Fagan's "Walk Between Raindrops," shared with Ryan and Prince's "Strollin'" shared with Cheryl Bentyne are pure genius in song selection. What is amply apparent is that Winkler is enjoying himself and his friends and vice versa. "Stolen Moments" with Claire Martin (using the late Mark Murphy's lyrics) and "Rainproof," sung with Sara Gazarek (this latter with Winkler lyrics) demonstrates Winkler's artistic resilience and determination.

Winkler's complete dedication to his friends is also expressed in the cover art, which includes West Coast dignitaries well known to our electronic pages (in no particular order): Lauren White, Jeffrey Gimble, Barbara Brighton, Andrew Abaria, Richard Winkler, Judy Wexler, and Dolores Scozzesi. Mark Winkler, I am so glad you (we) have them all. ~C. Michael Bailey

The Company I Keep mc
The Company I Keep zippy

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Joel Evans & Friends - Cozy Cool

Size: 195,5 MB
Time: 82:45
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2017
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. I Never Say No (Feat. Maggie Herron) (2:50)
02. There You Go (Feat. Jackie Ryan) (4:19)
03. Open Road (Feat. Carla Helmbrecht) (4:37)
04. The Dreamin' Kind (Feat. Roberta Donnay) (3:12)
05. Just The Right Amount Of Wrong (Feat. Tami Damiano) (3:57)
06. Don't Tell Me (Feat. Jackie Ryan) (3:40)
07. I Got Nothin' (To Worry About) [Feat. Roberta Donnay] (3:01)
08. What Have You Done (Feat. Carla Helmbrecht) (3:16)
09. Leaning Into Love (Feat. Jennifer Lee) (4:42)
10. Happy Lovin' You (Feat. Roberta Donnay) (3:09)
11. Christmas Time For Two (Feat. Carla Helmbrecht) (4:41)
12. I Never Say No (Vocal Muted) (2:50)
13. There You Go (Vocal Muted) (4:13)
14. Open Road (Vocal Muted) (4:32)
15. The Dreamin' Kind (Vocal Muted) (3:12)
16. Just The Right Amount Of Wrong (Vocal Muted) (3:52)
17. Don't Tell Me (Vocal Muted) (3:40)
18. I Got Nothin' (To Worry About) (Vocal Muted) (3:01)
19. What Have You Done (Vocal Muted) (3:16)
20. Leaning Into Love (Vocal Muted) (4:42)
21. Happy Lovin' You (Vocal Muted) (3:08)
22. Christmas Time For Two (Vocal Muted) (4:41)

Composer/Songwriter Joel Evans has songs & cues in more than 85 movies and 400 TV episodes; major Hollywood films, hip indie flicks, network and daytime dramas; ranging from Wedding Crashers to Passengers; and from Friends to Stranger Things. The 2014 Daytime Emmy winning special Young & Restless Tribute to Jeanne Cooper features as its main theme, “That’s When I’ll Stop Loving You”, co-written with Byron Walls (Starman, New Christy Minstrels). Ciroq Vodka TV and radio ads highlight his Big Band number, "Fly Away." Grammy-winning vocalist Carmen Bradford sings his song, "No Easy Way To Say Goodbye” on tour with the Count Basie Orchestra. Joel's songs have been recorded by diverse artists, including Spencer Day, Dave Samuels, Shaun Murphy, Roberta Donnay, The Yellowjackets and Peter Tork. (the former Monkee has a great blues band!)

After earning his BA on flute at Cal State University East Bay he performed with a series of groups, and quickly realized the fortunes of a jazz flautist were capricious at best. “We did one gig where our earnings didn't even pay off our bar tab,” he notes wryly. Later, a stint on piano backing Bobby Freeman (“Do You Wanna Dance”) took Evans to Tahoe and Reno, where watching the rock godfather reiterate the same patter night after night further inspired him to improvise. Life imitates art: in the film Rumor Has It, Kevin Costner and Jennifer Aniston share a conversation while the Joel Evans Combo paints the aural backdrop in the same San Francisco hotel bar where he once worked a steady piano gig. Evans’ Hollywood-sophisticated melodies are often used on screen to evoke sumptuous surroundings like hotel lobbies and upscale restaurants, so it’s no coincidence that he spent years performing in just these types of venues. Swing, big band and jazz: he occupies a decided stylistic niche. “I can’t do everything. I don’t write stuff that sounds like the 'Top 10'. I decided early on to hell with it, I’m going to do what I love.”

Unlike many instrumental composers, Evans usually co-writes complete songs. “Until it Happens to You” from Mini’s First Time provided an improbable soundtrack to a fight scene with stars Jeff Goldblum and Alec Baldwin “trying to kill one another, with my Sinatra style swing thing in the background,” laughs Evans. He notes that one of his most unexpected inclusions was in the gritty rock and roll noir film, Sugartown, where his sweet song, “Moody” played behind, as he delicately phrases it, “The depiction of an act of love. But it fit the scene.” A self-professed team player, Evans enlists first call musicians who can deliver the requisite tones; veterans like Dame Cleo Laine's favorite pianist, Larry Dunlap and David Rokeach from the Ray Charles band; seasoned authorities who helped define the genres his compositions reference. Talented Co-writers like Nashville-based Lisa Aschmann and pop/theatrical writer Adryan Russ contribute their magic to the sterling credibility of the songs. ~Bio by Dan Kimpel

Cozy Cool

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Jackie Ryan - This Heart of Mine

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:44
Size: 160,5 MB
Art: Front + Back

(3:52)  1. This Heart of Mine
(3:46)  2. Sleepin' Bee
(6:34)  3. Estate (Summer)
(5:50)  4. East of the Sun
(4:00)  5. Jump for Joy
(5:45)  6. Make it Last
(3:59)  7. Anos Dourados
(5:15)  8. Maybe September
(3:39)  9. When I Grow Old to Dream
(5:34) 10. Moon and Sand
(4:13) 11. Come Back to Me, Lover Come Back to Me
(6:48) 12. Sari (Trieste)
(4:49) 13. Velas Icadus (Sails)
(4:34) 14. Seasons of the Heart

You simply cannot sing a song any better than Jackie Ryan does. And you cannot make a better jazz vocal CD than this one. It is perfect. If that sounds too reverent, let me change the praise to “perfectly wonderful.” Each of the elements is truly wonderful: the choice of songs, the arrangements, accompanying musicians, even the ordering of the songs. And, most importantly, of course, Jackie Ryan! She is a smart, sophisticated vocalist for grown ups and this is her finest record and, in fact, may well be the best jazz vocal disc of 2003. If justice does exist, This Heart of Mine should make the San-Francisco-based Jackie a star. She has it all, a luxuriant smoky, rich alto, a feeling for jazz, a deft sense of swing, effortless delivery, stunning presentation and, just as importantly, an unaffected honesty. Each of her four CDs shows the steady growth of this remarkably talented artist, but This Heart of Mine deserves superlatives. How about the spell she weaves on that newest of standards, the jazz elegy to summer, “Estate,” or her moving version of Jobim’s seldom recorded tender “Anos Dourados” (Golden Years) sung in perfect Portuguese. The seldom-performed “Maybe September” is an exceptional song from a very non-exceptional movie (“The Oscar”). 

Alec Wilder’s “Moon and Sand” is getting more attention the past decade, and well it should. Ryan’s version is a wonderful and most tender addition to the growing canon. Other highlights include a gospel-tinged “Jump for Joy” and a graceful “Sleepin’ Bee.” Each track is meticulously constructed but still, the feeling of improvisation so important in jazz abounds. The “construction lines” are not visible only the spontaneity and the joy. You can tell a lot about a singer by the accompanists she keeps and Jackie Ryan keeps the best. This Heart of Mine features two different marvelous core bands. Four Los Angeles-based master musicians include pianist Jon Mayer, drummer Roy McCurdy, guitarist Barry Zweig, and bassist Darek Oles. A San Francisco contingent includes either Leonard Thompson or pianists Amina Figarova, bassists John Wiitala or Ruth Davies, and percussionists Omar Clay or Jason Lewis. The legendary Toots Thielemans adds his lyrical magic on the aforementioned “Estate” and “Maybe September.” Saxophonist Ernie Watts delivers some memorable contributions on three cuts. Yutaka Yokokura provides beautiful strings and Steve Erquiaga gentle bossa guitar rhythms on Jobim’s “Anos Dourados.” Jackie Ryan has a full-bodied voice and she intoxicates with a combination of power and perfume. She can be cute without cloying, sassy without being smug, she can swing but handles ballads with an assured delicacy and depth. Jackie is the real thing, an artist to delight in today and to follow in the future. This Heart of Mine is sixty seven minutes of glorious music. ~ Roger Crane https://www.allaboutjazz.com/this-heart-of-mine-jackie-ryan-openart-review-by-roger-crane.php

Personnel: Steve Erquiaga - Guitar;  Barry Zweig - Guitar;  Ruth Davies - Bass;  Roy McCurdy - Drums;  Jon Mayer - Piano;  Darek Oles - Bass;  Toots Thielemans - Harmonica;  Ernie Watts - Sax;  John Wiitala - Bass;  Jason Lewis - Drums;  Amina Figarova - Piano;  Yutaka Yokokura - Strings; Jackie Ryan - Vocals;  Leonard Thompson - Piano;  Bart Plateau - Flute;  Derek Oles - Bass.

This Heart of Mine

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Jackie Ryan - Best of Love songs

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:55
Size: 155,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:41)  1. When I grow too old
(4:53)  2. You'd be so nice to come home to
(3:56)  3. While we're young
(5:47)  4. Make it last
(4:36)  5. Let there be love
(2:50)  6. Luiza
(3:54)  7. This heart of mine
(3:11)  8. Once in everyone's life
(5:35)  9. Besame mucho
(4:36) 10. Seasons of the heart
(5:28) 11. Serenade in blue
(4:15) 12. Now or never
(4:34) 13. Historia de un amor
(5:17) 14. The very thought of you
(5:15) 15. You are there

An effective best-of CD isn't necessarily going to be the last word on an artist's contributions, but it should at least offer an appealing synopsis that makes one want to dig deeper. Best of Love Songs, which is Jackie Ryan's first best-of collection, accomplishes that; when this 67-minute CD is finished playing, the listener definitely wants to hear more from her. Best of Love Songs' greatest flaw is its lack of liner notes. Although Ryan has a lot going for her, she isn't a major name in the jazz world (at least as of early 2010), and that is precisely why a Ryan best-of should have had comprehensive, informative liner notes. Sometimes, the jazz releases that lack liner notes are the ones that need them the most. But the absence of liner notes doesn't make these previously released recordings any less enjoyable. Listening to "Serenade in Blue" from Passion Flower, "Make It Last" from This Heart of Mine, or "The Very Thought of You" from You and the Night and the Music, it is obvious that Ryan is a skillful, expressive torch singer who has learned a lot from influences like Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Billie Holiday, and Betty Carter (although Ryan isn't nearly as abstract as Carter). One of Ryan's major assets is her ability to express herself in languages other than English; Best of Love Songs underscores that point by giving listeners a chance to hear her performing in Spanish on Consuelo Velazquez's "Bésame Mucho" and Carlos Almaran's "Historia de un Amor," and in Portuguese on Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Luiza." Best of Love Songs paints an attractive picture of Ryan, and it can be a pleasing, if imperfect, place to start exploring her work. ~ Alex Henderson http://www.allmusic.com/album/best-of-love-songs-mw0001961317

Personnel:  Vocals: Jackie Ryan;  Sax: Ernie Watts, Red Holloway, Noel Jewkes;  Piano: Jon Mayer, Tamir Hendelman, Larry Vuckovich, Leonard Thompson;  Drums: Jeff Hamilton, Roy McCurdy, Omar Clay, Eddie Marshall;  Percussion: Luis Romero;  Trumpet: Allen Smith ;  Bass: Christoph Luty, Jeff Chambers, Darek Oles, John Wiitala;  Guitar: Barry Zweig, Larry Koonse;  Harp: Carol Robbins

Best of love songs

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Jackie Ryan - Speak Low

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:49
Size: 144,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:08)  1. Doozy
(5:14)  2. Speak Low
(6:33)  3. Caminhos Cruzados
(4:49)  4. Do Something
(4:52)  5. Opportunity Please Knock
(8:34)  6. I Haven't Got Anything Better to Do
(5:25)  7. Brigas Nunca Mais/A Felicidade
(3:25)  8. Tell Me More and More and Then Some
(5:12)  9. Dat Dere
(5:08) 10. With the Wind and the Rain In Your Hair
(4:56) 11. My How the Time Goes By
(4:26) 12. Solamente una Vez

"One of the outstanding jazz vocalists of her generation and, quite possibly, of all time...rivaling the dexterous sass of Sarah Vaughan, the instinctive smarts of Carmen McRae and the scintillating verve of Diana Krall." ~ Christopher Loudon, Jazz Times

Jackie teamed with Grammy Award winner John Clayton to deliver her latest chart-topping CD "Listen Here" - a tour de force through a myriad of jazz idioms from blues and gospel flavored jazz gems, to luscious love songs, a soaring Spanish ballad, a Gershwin classic, pulsating samba rhythms, an original with lyrics penned by Grammy/Oscar/Emmy Award winners all culminating with the title track: a stunning duet with 3-time Grammy nominee Gerald Clayton. "Those who hear her are the fortunate ones," writes Howard Mandel - president, Jazz Journalists Association; "An astonishing contralto voice," (Downbeat), thrilling audiences across the globe with her powerful 3 & 1/2 octave range and her magnetic stage presence - and amassing, along the way, an impressive array of records (three back-to-back #1 CDs on JazzWeek's nationwide chart) and glowing reviews. Her last outing - a double CD, "Doozy" - featured Cyrus Chestnut, Eric Alexander, Jeremy Pelt, Carl Allen, Ray Drummond and Romero Lubambo, garnered universal praise (4-Stars from both Downbeat and AMG), and held the #1 position nationwide on JazzWeek's industry-standard chart for a record-breaking 7 solid weeks. Her previous CD, "You and The Night and The Music" featuring Red Holloway, Tamir Hendelman, and Jeff Hamilton among others, also received 4 stars from AMG and Downbeat. In addition to these jazz greats , Ms. Ryan has recorded and/or performed with: Toots Thielemans, Clark Terry, Buddy DeFranco, Ernie Watts, Harry Allen, Scott Hamilton, John Clayton, Gerald Clayton, Amina Figarova, Mike Wofford, Jon Mayer, Larry Vuckovich, Barry Harris, Bill Cunliffe, Shelly Berg, Benny Green, Jeff Hamilton, Terry Gibbs, Emil Richards, and Jon Hendricks

Grammy- Award winning John Clayton - who produced and arranged her latest chart-topping CD for Jackie "Listen Here" (#1 on Jazzweeks nationwide radio chart for 4 weeks!) - has a gift for arranging for singers (Diana Krall, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Whitney Houston, among others), and this pairing was a match made in musical heaven. "I first paid attention to Jackie when I heard her stunning recordings with The Jeff Hamilton Trio," John says. "Her version of 'Besame Mucho' stopped me in my tracks." For these special recordings, John called on members of both the Grammy - nominated Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, and the Clayton Brothers Quintet (nominated for two Grammy Awards)  the extraordinary pianist Gerald Clayton, fiery percussionist Obed Calvaire, soulful saxmaster Rickey Woodard, trumpet virtuoso Gilbert Castellanos, and gifted guitarist Graham Dechter. John also lent his prodigious talents to this CD, weaving a sensitive bow - as on "A Time For Love," that literally melts into Ms. Ryan's sultry voice. Ms. Ryan's rousing rendition of "The Gypsy In My Soul" perfectly reflects the gypsy in her soul - the far-reaching range of musical territory she traverses in her concerts and her lifelong love of jazz in all its manifold permutations. This ability to explore genres both culturally outside of jazz's mainstream, as well as those conventional touchstones within its borders, is the mark of a true jazz mind. Not content to merely rehash the safety of well-worn standards, Jackie will often overlook the ordinary, and seek out and delve into the extraordinary, the a-typical, the exotic. Ms. Ryan has been profiled as the featured artist for NPR, Voice of America, Primetime A&E and CNN TV en Español and has filled premier venues both here and abroad - Asia, Australia, and Europe (such as eight years at London's famed Ronnie Scott's Club) - and festivals at home such as Telluride, Monterey, and the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, and packed concerts at New York's Birdland, Lincoln Center's Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, Florida's Broward Center, and the San Francisco Bay Area's Yoshi's. But it is not by accident that her cross-cultural appeal "bridges the gap between both geography and generations," as Billboard so aptly put it. Part Irish, part Mexican, she was born into it - and grew up listening to a unique blend of voices around her family's small home. Her father was of Irish descent, born in San Francisco's Butchertown, working night shifts and educating himself in Greek and Latin and singing classical pieces around the house in his trained baritone.

Her mother (who sang operettas at the Teatro Degollado in Guadalajara) was Mexican and crooned Spanish folk songs to her as a child. "I remember those romantic album covers she had with the Spanish ladies in brilliant colors; and the melodies I heard, the songs I heard, just filled me up. So that's what I kept inside of me." Tragically, Jackie lost her mother at the age of 15 and, in memory, always includes a Spanish song in each of her CDs - in this case, the passionate "La Puerta."  Ms. Ryan's natural affinity for languages extends deeply into the language of jazz and its intricate structures. She possesses a keen ear for jazz phrasing and its internal rhymes - and, as a lyricist, has composed note-for-note vocalese to the scorching sax solos of Benny Carter's "DOOZY" and Joe Henderson's "The Kicker." Her love of a great lyric is reflected in her choices for this concert and her CD - a collection celebrating some of her favorite lyricists - from lesser-recorded jazz gems such as Carolyn Leigh's wry lyrics in "How Little We Know," to Abbey Lincoln's joyous ode to love and life in "Throw It away." "Dear wonderful Abbey Lincoln was a true original, one of my heroines," Jackie says. "I've been a fan of her ever since I saw her as an actress in 'Nothing But A Man.' She had a freedom of expression - a voice for social activism she shared with her husband, Max Roach - their 'We Insist/Freedom Jazz Suite' was a masterpiece." In her CDs, like in her concerts, Jackie offers us a bounty of lyrical choices. So give a "Listen Here," and you will be joining Jackie and these superb musicians on an adventurous journey across a most inviting, expansive terrain - and maybe put a little gypsy in your soul!  http://www.jackieryanmusic.com/bio.html

Personnel:  Jackie Ryan (vocal);  Cyrus Chestnut (piano);  Eric Alexander (tenor sax);  Jeremy Pelt (flugelhorn,trumpet);  Romero Lubambo (guitar);  Carl Allen (drums);  Ray Drummond (bass);  Neal Smith (drums);  Dezron Douglas (bass)

Speak Low

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Jackie Ryan - Listen Here

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:40
Size: 143,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:59)  1. Comin' Home Baby
(3:01)  2. The Gypsy In My Soul
(6:26)  3. Throw It Away
(4:51)  4. Accentuate The Positive
(3:19)  5. Anytime, Any Day, Anywhere
(5:32)  6. I Loves You Porgy
(4:02)  7. How Little We Know (How Little It Matters)
(4:04)  8. La Puerta
(4:54)  9. Rip Van Winkle
(6:27) 10. A Time For Love
(3:58) 11. No One Ever Tells You
(3:32) 12. Before We Fall In Love
(4:27) 13. To The Ends Of The Earth
(4:01) 14. Listen Here

With Listen Here, vocalist Jackie Ryan offers a diverse and delectable array of Great American Songbook and jazz classics, well-known but not regularly-recorded older hits, and superb original selections. Supported by Grammy Award-winning bassist John Clayton and most able friends (including Clayton's son, pianist Gerald Clayton, a three-time Grammy nominee), the overall effort soars. It's a tour de force of talent and taste. Ryan's voice is full, highly resonant and eminently inviting. It is also one of subtle shadings. Her colorings run from the bluest blue to the sultriest scarlet. Her intonation and rhythmic sense knowing precisely where to place a beat within a lyric line are uncanny. Those unique abilities assist perfectly in displaying and enhancing her fine emotional range. She covers the 14-cut session with elegance, grace and swing. 

A funk version of the pop-jazz hit "Comin' Home Baby" and the straight-ahead "Gypsy in My Soul" place Ryan out in front and make the initial up-tempo statements. While they launch the effort in fine shape, Ryan's wheelhouse doors open wide on her string-accompanied "Throw It Away." Crescendo, decrescendo and lyric interplay dominate this highlight. The ensuing ballad selections "I Love You, Porgy," "A Time for Love" and "Before We Fall in Love" demonstrate Ryan's gorgeous lyric approach and mile-deep emotional depth. And, not to be constrained, she does it in Spanish, too ("La Puerta").
The gospel-ized version of Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer's "Accentuate the Positive" played here at a divine tempo  demonstrates that Ryan can sing hand-on-hip and finger-wag powerful. It's a hoot, as there's no faux soul in the rendition. She seals the deal with "No One Ever Tells You." Rickey Woodard's tenor funks up both selections. Gerald Clayton's impeccable taste, touch and meticulous accompaniment dovetail beautifully with Ryan's vocal instrument. The result is, indeed, keyboard/vocal unity. The sonorous John Clayton and guitarist Graham Dechter are understated elegance throughout. Drummer Obed Calvaire wisely never intrudes, and trumpeter Gilbert Castellano offers white- hot solos when and where he stretches out. Listen Here is an apropos title for this wonderfully entertaining recording, one which delivers abundant aural riches by way of a truly gifted vocal talent. It's also a great suggestion. ~ Nicholas F.Mondello  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/listen-here-jackie-ryan-open-art-productions-review-by-nicholas-f-mondello.php
 

Personnel: Jackie Ryan: vocals; Gerald Clayton: piano, organ; John Clayton: bass; Gilbert Castellanos: trumpet; Graham Dechter: guitar; Obed Calvaire: drums; Rickey Woodard: saxophone.

Listen Here

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Jackie Ryan - You and The Night and The Music

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:07
Size: 158,7 MB
Art: Front

(4:51)  1. You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To
(5:15)  2. The Very Thought of You
(3:50)  3. Something Happens to Me
(5:33)  4. Bésame Mucho
(4:34)  5. Let There Be Love
(6:56)  6. Wild Is the Wind
(5:57)  7. Moonlight
(4:39)  8. The Best Is Yet to Come
(5:58)  9. You and the Night and the Music
(5:15) 10. You Are There
(4:26) 11. I Just Found out About Love
(5:26) 12. Never Let Me Go
(2:25) 13. I Know That You Know
(3:54) 14. While We're Young

On most vocal recordings, singers are accompanied by their usual band, perhaps with a famous guest sitting in for a track or two. If the singer and band are good, the result is pleasing but when the singer is excellent, the band is a crackling, long-term trio on its own, and the guest is a legend, it vaults the whole enterprise into an altogether different category.  All of these elements are here, on Jackie Ryan's third release for Open Art Productions. Ryan is an excellent singer: classy and warm, with a supple, rich, wide-ranging voice, great phrasing and time and the ability to make you believe everything she says. The band is the peerless Jeff Hamilton Trio, featuring the superb bass of Christoph Luty, the exceptional playing and arranging of pianist Tamir Hendelman, and Jeff Hamilton, the world's most tasteful and musical drummer. The visiting legend is Red Holloway, who swings his posterior off on five of the fourteen tracks, and there are two more guests: guitarist Larry Koonse and harpist Carol Robbins, members of the Billy Childs sextet. 

Aside from their other contributions, each of them gets a powerful duet turn with Ryan. This CD is so good that picking highlights is purely a matter of personal taste. To these ears, the peaks include the swingers "You'd Be So Nice... and "Let There be Love (Red!!), the rarely-heard "Moonlight, rendered as a luxurious bossa, and Hendelman's blazing solo on "The Best is Yet To Come. Then there are luminous ballads "Wild is the Wind, "Never Let Me Go, and "You Are There, which Dave Frishberg has identified as his favorite of all the lyrics he's written. I also appreciated Ryan's sensuous, fully-ripe approach to "Besame Mucho it's high time somebody seared the clichés off that tune and revealed how beautiful it really is.  So far, Jackie Ryan is best-known on the West Coast and in London, where she performs regularly at Ronnie Scott's; this CD will create legions of new fans in all the places in-between. Consistently excellent, gimmick-free, alternately exuberant and moving, You and the Night and the Music is a treasure, and highly recommended. ~ Dr. Judith Schlesinger   

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=26731#.UxqQO4VZhhk
 

Personnel: Jackie Ryan: vocals; Tamir Hendelman: piano; Christoph Luty: bass; Jeff Hamilton: drums; Red Holloway: tenor sax; Larry Koonse: guitar; Carol Robbins: harp.
 

You and The Night and The Music

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Jackie Ryan - Doozy Disc 1 And Disc 2

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:41 (Disc 1)
Size: 114,3 MB (Disc 1)
Time: 54:42 (Disc 2)
Size: 125,7 MB (Disc 2)
Art: Front

Disc 1

(4:08)  1. Doozy
(5:25)  2. You ll See
(6:33)  3. Caminhos Cruzados
(4:49)  4. Do Something
(5:08)  5. With the Wind and the Rain In Your Hair
(5:14)  6. Speak Low
(4:26)  7. I Must Have That Man
(5:12)  8. Dat Dere
(3:45)  9. Beautiful Moons Ago
(4:56) 10. My How the Time Goes By

Disc 2

(4:52)  1. Opportunity Please Knock
(8:34)  2. I Haven t Got Anything Better to Do
(5:25)  3. Brigas Nunca Mais/A Felicidade
(7:50)  4. Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most
(4:26)  5. Solamente una Vez
(3:06)  6. Summer Serenade
(4:22)  7. Get Rid of Monday
(6:01)  8. Midnight Sun
(3:25)  9. Tell Me More and More and Then Some
(6:37) 10. Some Other Time

This two-CD set is vocalist Jackie Ryan's third recording and it's definitely a keeper. On the heels of her 2007 success, You And The Night And The Music (Open Art Productions), which landed on the charts, also appears destined for success. With her clear, rich voice, Ryan undoubtedly has one of jazz's great vocal instruments no low-note warble or reedy high notes for her and with a 3-1/2 octave range, she handles each song with aplomb. In addition, she has a sure sense of phrasing and an unerring accuracy for getting to the heart of a song. To say she always swings is an under-statement.

Based in the San Francisco Bay area, Ryan has played around the world London, Japan, Amsterdam and made a memorable 2006 appearance in New York at the Lincoln Center. Along the way, she has been backed by some of the best, including Clark Terry, Toots Thielemans, Barry Harris, Terry Gibbs, Buddy DeFranco and Red Holloway.  Her accompaniment here is led by peerless pianist Cyrus Chestnut , and includes a superb front line of tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, trumpeter Jeremy Pelt and the great Brazilian guitarist, Romero Lubambo.

Ryan includes a collection of pop tunes, Latin American songs and under- appreciated jazz compositions. Everything stands out on about the CD, making it difficult to choose highlights, but here are a few: On the opening title track, her original vocalese interpretation brings to mind the great Annie Ross, with tasty solos delivered by Pelt, Alexander, and Chestnut. Ryan's ability to tell a story and the flexibility of her voice is displayed in "Do Something," as she ranges up and down the scales and in and out of the melody. Also, Chestnut's expertise as an accompanist is reaffirmed in his embellishments. Another favorite, "Speak Low" executed with a samba beat is a vivid example of how Ryan builds dramatic intensity.

Lubambo's guitar magic is conjured particularly well in Jobim's "Caminhos Cruzados." His infectious bossa nova rhythm frames Ryan's sensual rendering. Later, their duo on Augustin Lara's classic "Solamente Una Vez" is blissfully beautiful.  Leonard Bernstein's "Some Other Time" finishes off the set, featuring just Ryan and Chestnut. Someone once said that "less is better." That maxim is proven with the stark beauty of this piece. ~ Larry Taylor   

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=34561#.UruO7rTJI0g

Personnel: Jackie Ryan: vocals; Eric Alexander: saxophone; Jeremy Pelt: trumpet, flugelhorn; Cyrus Chestnut: piano; Romero Lubambo: guitar; Ray Drummond: bass; Dezron Douglas: bass; Carl Allen: drums; Neal Smith: drums.

Doozy Disc 1
Doozy Disc 2

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