Monty Alexander - The Way It Is

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:59
Size: 105.3 MB
Styles: Bop, Piano jazz
Year: 2006/2014
Art: Front

[11:22] 1. People Make The World Go Round
[ 6:34] 2. What Are You Doing With The Rest Of Your Life
[ 4:49] 3. Bluesology
[ 4:18] 4. Soft Winds
[ 8:28] 5. Come Sunday
[ 5:08] 6. That's The Way It Is
[ 5:18] 7. Bossa Nova Do Marilla

Bass – John Clayton; Drums – Jeff Hamilton; Piano – Monty Alexander.

Montgomery Bernard "Monty" Alexander (born 6 June 1944) is a jazz pianist. His playing has a Caribbean influence and bright swinging feeling, with a strong vocabulary of bebop jazz and blues rooted melodies. He was influenced by Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, Oscar Peterson, and Frank Sinatra. Alexander also sings and plays the melodica. He is known for his surprising musical twists, bright rhythmic sense, and intense dramatic musical climaxes. Monty's recording career has covered many of the well known American songbook standards, jazz standards, pop hits, and Jamaican songs from his original homeland. Alexander has resided in New York City for many years and performs frequently throughout the world at jazz festivals and clubs.

The Way It Is mc
The Way It Is zippy

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Monty Alexander, Ernest Ranglin - Untitled

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:12
Size: 112.7 MB
Styles: Guitar jazz
Year: 1981/2014
Art: Front

[5:48] 1. Just Friends
[5:52] 2. If I Should Lose You
[4:50] 3. Taboo
[3:44] 4. Cruxian Dance
[4:41] 5. Con Alma
[3:48] 6. Fools Rush In
[5:42] 7. Consider
[5:19] 8. Mountain Melody
[4:31] 9. Lullaby Of The Leaves
[4:53] 10. Fly Me To The Moon

Guitar – Ernest Ranglin; Piano – Monty Alexander. Recorded Dec. 17-18, 1980.

A pioneering force behind the rise of Caribbean music, guitar virtuoso Ernest Ranglin was born in Manchester, Jamaica, in 1932. He began playing ukulele as a boy, soon graduating to guitar; while in his teens he began performing live both locally and in the Bahamas, often in tandem with the young Monty Alexander. Ranglin's session work at the famed Studio One helped give birth to the ska phenomenon, which during the late '50s began taking Jamaica by storm. He finally began attracting international notice in 1964 when he traveled to London to perform at Ronnie Scott's jazz club, so impressing its owner that he remained on as the venue's resident guitarist for the next nine months. There he made a number of solo records for the fledgling Island label, and also collaborated with Prince Buster; additionally, Ranglin teamed with Jamaican singer Millie Small to cut the international smash "My Boy Lollipop." He soon returned to session work, arranging classics including the Melodians' majestic "Rivers of Babylon"; with his guitar leads on the Wailers' "It Hurts to Be Alone," he also laid the foundation for the rise of rockers reggae. Though remaining perhaps best known for his jazz prowess, in the '70s Ranglin toured with Jimmy Cliff; in 1973 he was awarded the Order of Distinction from the Jamaican Government for his contributions to music, and continued touring and recording regularly throughout the decades to follow, most notably signing to Chris Blackwell's newly formed Palm Pictures label to issue 1998's In Search of the Lost Riddim. E.B. @ Noon and Modern Answers to Old Problems arrived two years later, Grooving appeared in early 2001, and Alextown and Surfin' followed a year later by Earth Tones and Innovation. Both were collaborations with Jamaican guitarist Earl "Chinna" Smith and American jazz guitarist Charlie Hunter. Ranglin toured sporadically but shied away from recording. The second decade of the 21st century, saw an extensive series of reissues from his early back catalog reissued by several labels including Japan's Dub Store Records. In 2016, at age 84, he embarked on the Ranglin & Friends Farewell Tour accompanied by Courtney Pine, Tony Allen, Cheikh Lo, Ira Coleman, and others. ~ Jason Ankeny

Untitled mc
Untitled zippy

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Cleo Laine - Stormy Weather

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:40
Size: 95.4 MB
Styles: Vocal
Year: 2009
Art: Front

[3:32] 1. Stormy Weather
[3:47] 2. The Lady Sings The Blues
[2:54] 3. Mean To Me
[3:26] 4. Mood Indigo
[2:52] 5. I'll Get By (As Long As I Have You)
[3:56] 6. My One And Only Love
[3:28] 7. Love Is Here To Stay
[3:33] 8. Early Autumn
[3:53] 9. St Louis Blues
[2:57] 10. t'ain't What You Do (It's The Way You Do It)
[3:57] 11. Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe
[3:18] 12. Hit The Road To Dreamland

Anglo-Jamaican contralto Cleo Laine cut her first records for the Esquire label in the early 1950s with saxophonist and bandleader John Dankworth, whom she married in 1958. Over the next several decades, Laine became established as England's premiere pop singer, actress, and jazz vocalist. As is the case with any artist whose recording career spans more than half-a-century, her discography contains enough reissued material to suggest the dynamic of a Möbius strip. Case in point: the album Stormy Weather was brought before the public by Hallmark in 2009. It is a reissue of the same label's 2008 release In Retrospect, with "Stormy Weather" moved to cut one and designated as title track. Both albums trace back to DRG's In Retrospect, which appeared in 1990 with the 12 titles in completely different order -- a relevant point because the title sequence on the 2008 Hallmark edition is identical with that of Laine's groundbreaking 1957 MGM LP She's the Tops. Unfortunately, some online discographies list In Retrospect as the title of both the original 1957 release and a 1982 reissue of the same on the DRG Jazz Masters Series. These grievous errors have, as we say in the 21st century, gone viral online. In Retrospect, as the title clearly implies, was the fully seasoned vocalist's song-for-song re-creation of her landmark album, which had appeared 33 years earlier.

Compared with her later self, the Cleo Laine of 1957 worked with a higher tessitura, delivering upbeat numbers and lush ballads with a youthful, slightly sassy resilience. For all the right reasons, Laine in 1957 was fully in league with such powerful beacons of warmth as Dinah Washington and Eartha Kitt. The songs themselves suggest a keen awareness of the tradition designed and developed by Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Lester Young, Ella Fitzgerald, and Lena Horne. Revisiting the same dozen melodies in 1990, she brought a fully bloomed elegance to each of the tunes. Everything we adore about Cleo Laine is fully present in these autumnal interpretations; the smoky, musky, honeyed immediacy of her art is here for all to experience. Whether you opt for Hallmark's Stormy Weather of 2009 or one of the preceding issues of In Retrospect, this array of 12 standards is recommended as a definitive example of Laine's refined skill as interpreter of well-loved melodies. The album of 1990 compares beautifully with her 1957 recording of the same material. Those who wish to experience this singer's artistry even more fully should pursue her 1974 Nonesuch recording of early 20th century chamber classical works by Charles Ives and Arnold Schoenberg (Pierrot Lunaire Op.21 sung in English), as well as an inexplicably overlooked reading of Porgy and Bess, recorded for Norman Granz's Pablo label in 1976 in duo performance with the mighty Ray Charles. ~arwulf arwulf

Stormy Weather mc
Stormy Weather zippy

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Ernest Ranglin - Ranglypso

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:45
Size: 102.5 MB
Styles: Soul, Reggae, Jazz
Year: 2016
Art: Front

[4:44] 1. Mento Time In Jamaica
[6:47] 2. Feel Like Making Love
[5:32] 3. Escape To Villingen Blues
[4:11] 4. Tico Tico
[6:41] 5. Ranglypso
[5:41] 6. You Make Me Feel Brand New
[5:25] 7. Honky Tonk
[5:43] 8. Freeway

A pioneering force behind the rise of Caribbean music, guitar virtuoso Ernest Ranglin was born in Manchester, Jamaica, in 1932. He began playing ukulele as a boy, soon graduating to guitar; while in his teens he began performing live both locally and in the Bahamas, often in tandem with the young Monty Alexander. Ranglin's session work at the famed Studio One helped give birth to the ska phenomenon, which during the late '50s began taking Jamaica by storm. He finally began attracting international notice in 1964 when he traveled to London to perform at Ronnie Scott's jazz club, so impressing its owner that he remained on as the venue's resident guitarist for the next nine months. There he made a number of solo records for the fledgling Island label, and also collaborated with Prince Buster; additionally, Ranglin teamed with Jamaican singer Millie Small to cut the international smash "My Boy Lollipop." He soon returned to session work, arranging classics including the Melodians' majestic "Rivers of Babylon"; with his guitar leads on the Wailers' "It Hurts to Be Alone," he also laid the foundation for the rise of rockers reggae. Though remaining perhaps best known for his jazz prowess, in the '70s Ranglin toured with Jimmy Cliff; in 1973 he was awarded the Order of Distinction from the Jamaican Government for his contributions to music, and continued touring and recording regularly throughout the decades to follow, most notably signing to Chris Blackwell's newly formed Palm Pictures label to issue 1998's In Search of the Lost Riddim. E.B. @ Noon and Modern Answers to Old Problems arrived two years later, Grooving appeared in early 2001, and Alextown and Surfin' followed a year later by Earth Tones and Innovation. Both were collaborations with Jamaican guitarist Earl "Chinna" Smith and American jazz guitarist Charlie Hunter. Ranglin toured sporadically but shied away from recording. The second decade of the 21st century, saw an extensive series of reissues from his early back catalog reissued by several labels including Japan's Dub Store Records. In 2016, at age 84, he embarked on the Ranglin & Friends Farewell Tour accompanied by Courtney Pine, Tony Allen, Cheikh Lo, Ira Coleman, and others. ~ Jason Ankeny

Ranglypso

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Dizzy Reece - Asia Minor

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:13
Size: 82.9 MB
Styles: Bop, Trumpet jazz
Year: 1962/1992
Art: Front

[5:26] 1. The Shadow Of Khan
[4:31] 2. The Story Of Love
[5:38] 3. Yamask
[4:37] 4. Spiritus Parkus (Parker's Spiritus)
[7:48] 5. Summertime
[8:11] 6. Ackmet

Baritone Saxophone – Cecil Payne; Bass – Ron Carter; Drums – Charlie Persip; Flute – Joe Farrell; Piano – Hank Jones; Tenor Saxophone – Joe Farrell; Trumpet – Dizzy Reece. Recorded in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey; March 13, 1962.

This is one of trumpeter Dizzy Reece's finest recordings, a well-planned sextet date (reissued on CD) with baritonist Cecil Payne, Joe Farrell on tenor and flute, pianist Hank Jones, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Charlie Persip that is on the level of a Blue Note album. Reece (who contributed three diverse originals) performs mostly minor-toned songs that seem to really inspire the musicians. The solos tend to be concise but quite meaningful, and, overall, this hard bop but occasionally surprising session is quite memorable. Strange that Reece would not get another opportunity to lead a record date until 1970. ~Sxptt Yanow

Asia Minor

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Ernest Ranglin - Softly With Ranglin

Size: 105,7 MB

Time: 37:45

File: MP3 @ 320K/s

Released: 1969/2015

Styles: Jazz

Art: Front

01. Nocturne In E-Flat Major (2:27)

02. I Remember You (2:54)

03. Blue Velvet (3:26)

04. Like Someone In Love (2:42)

05. Deep Purple (2:26)

06. An Affair To Remember (2:35)

07. Why Don't You Believe Me (3:22)

08. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes (4:25)

09. Misty (3:53)

10. They Say That Falling In Love Is Wonderful (3:30)

11. Blue Star (2:30)

12. San Francisco (3:31)

A pioneering force behind the rise of Caribbean music, guitar virtuoso Ernest Ranglin was born in Manchester, Jamaica, in 1932. He began playing ukulele as a boy, soon graduating to guitar; while in his teens he began performing live both locally and in the Bahamas, often in tandem with the young Monty Alexander. Ranglin's session work at the famed Studio One helped give birth to the ska phenomenon, which during the late '50s began taking Jamaica by storm. He finally began attracting international notice in 1964 when he traveled to London to perform at Ronnie Scott's jazz club, so impressing its owner that he remained on as the venue's resident guitarist for the next nine months. There he made a number of solo records for the fledgling Island label, and also collaborated with Prince Buster; additionally, Ranglin teamed with Jamaican singer Millie Small to cut the international smash "My Boy Lollipop." He soon returned to session work, arranging classics including the Melodians' majestic "Rivers of Babylon"; with his guitar leads on the Wailers' "It Hurts to Be Alone," he also laid the foundation for the rise of rockers reggae. Though remaining perhaps best known for his jazz prowess, in the 1970s Ranglin toured with Jimmy Cliff; in 1973 he was awarded the Order of Distinction from the Jamaican Government for his contributions to music, and continued touring and recording regularly throughout the decades to follow, most notably signing to Chris Blackwell's newly formed Palm Pictures label to issue 1998's In Search of the Lost Riddim. E.B. @ Noon and Modern Answers to Old Problems arrived two years later, Grooving appeared in early 2001, and Alextown and Surfin' followed in 2005. ~Jason Ankeny

Softly With Ranglin

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