Geoff Gascoyne - Keep It To Yourself

Styles: Contemporary Jazz
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:12
Size: 143,4 MB
Art: Front

(4:37) 1. Raggedy Ann
(4:02) 2. Love Won't Let Me Wait
(2:51) 3. God Only Knows
(4:02) 4. E Flat Triangle
(3:41) 5. Spring Is Here
(4:02) 6. Shapeshifter
(3:35) 7. Tribulation
(2:38) 8. All My Tomorrows
(6:04) 9. Lament
(4:26) 10. Keep It To Yourself
(4:31) 11. I'll Sing You
(3:10) 12. Somebody's Gotta Move
(4:41) 13. Theme From 'The Terminal
(3:29) 14. Scrapple From The Apple
(6:16) 15. Frankie & Johnny (Bonus Track)

Geoff Gascoyne is Jamie Cullum's bassist, and the leader of his regular band. Returning the favour Cullum turns up on two tracks here, and supplies the liner notes. But though the singer gives this set something of his familiar late-night soul-ballad spin (he sings Love Won't Let Me Wait and the Beach Boys' God Only Knows, the latter against a Gascoyne strings arrangement), and there are other guest vocalists in Trudy Kerr and the indestructible Georgie Fame, Keep It to Yourself feels like an open, if orthodox, exercise in instrumental jazzy swing, with some fine playing from pianist Tom Cawley, saxophonist Steve Kaldestad, trumpeter Martin Shaw and Gascoyne himself.

The sound of 1960s Blue Note soul-jazz hovers in the background, and Kaldestad suggests the smoky sound and leisurely pacing of that label's underrated sax master Hank Mobley on the train-rhythm hustle of Raggedy Ann or in Fame's Mose Allison cover Somebody's Gotta Move. Gascoyne's immaculate, full-bodied bass sound drives the music, and Cawley has rarely played better - both in his metallically Monkish solos (check out his playing on the fast, boppish E Flat Triangle) and in his creative prodding behind other improvisers. Fame achieves as much by insinuation as declaration on his two songs, and hangs so engagingly loosely around the beat that he seems about to fall asleep. Perhaps a bit too self-consciously a something-for-everyone set, but plenty of fine jazz for the cognoscenti. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/oct/14/jazz.shopping

Personnel: Geoff Gascoyne (acoustic bass); Gavyn Wright, Jackie Shave (violin); David Daniels (cello); Steve Kaldestad (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Martin Shaw (trumpet, flugelhorn); Tom Cawley (piano). Audio Mixers: Derek Nash; Geoff Gascoyne.; Liner Note Author: Jamie Cullum.

Keep It To Yourself

---

Jamie Cullum - Taller

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:36
Size: 138,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:35) 1. Taller
(4:49) 2. Life Is Grey
(4:20) 3. Mankind
(3:33) 4. Usher
(5:24) 5. The Age Of Anxiety
(3:25) 6. For The Love
(3:49) 7. Drink
(3:08) 8. You Can't Hide Away From Love
(4:00) 9. Monster
(3:09) 10. Endings Are Beginnings
(3:38) 11. Love Is In The Picture
(3:47) 12. Work Of Art
(3:34) 13. The Man - From "King Of Thieves"
(3:21) 14. Good Luck With Your Demons
(3:25) 15. Marlon Brando
(2:30) 16. Show Me The Magic

Recording for a legendary jazz label may be fraught with expectations, especially for a contemporary artist with unabashedly eclectic tastes. But at this stage in his career, upwards of 10 million album sales along, Jamie Cullum doesn’t appear the least bit concerned with where his music falls on the pop-jazz spectrum. Arriving five years after his last album and marking his eighth studio release, Taller is Cullum’s most self-assured and least calculated offering to date, engaging for its candor, craft, and dynamic breadth.

The British singer/songwriter and keyboardist can win over live audiences on the strength of his showmanship alone. On recordings, though, his boyish croon isn’t appealing enough to compensate for a throwaway lyric or dull arrangement. Fortunately, the long layoff between releases seems to have sharpened Cullum’s pen and wits. After kicking off with the wry, self-referential title track, Taller delivers a series of strong performances, intimate and expansive by turns. The upbeat tracks, more often than not, leave the most lasting impressions, whether it’s the gospel-charged “Mankind” or the Prince-inflected “Usher.” Of course, the album’s commercial prospects will likely benefit from Cullum’s cleverly rebooted brand of pop and funk.~ Mike Joyce https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/jamie-cullum-taller-blue-note/

Taller

---

Jamie Cullum - The Pianoman At Christmas

Styles: Vocal, Piano, Christmas
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:08
Size: 90,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:14) 1. It's Christmas
(3:30) 2. Beautiful, Altogether
(4:56) 3. Hang Your Lights
(3:04) 4. The Jolly Fat Man
(4:35) 5. The Pianoman at Christmas
(4:15) 6. Turn On The Lights
(3:28) 7. So Many Santas
(2:42) 8. Christmas Never Gets Old
(6:01) 9. How Do You Fly?
(3:18) 10. Christmas Caught Me Crying

With his first holiday-themed album, 2020's The Pianoman at Christmas, Jamie Cullum strikes a festive balance between swinging traditional pop and heartfelt singer/songwriter introspection. It's a balance the singer and pianist has been perfecting ever since breaking through in the early 2000s, moving between urbane re-interpretations of jazz standards and his own lyrical pop/rock originals. It's also a formula that has helped him remain a Top 20 chart regular in the U.K. with albums like 2014's Interlude and 2019's Taller. The Pianoman at Christmas makes the most of these skills as Cullum brings all of his varied experience to bear on a set of original holiday songs. Produced by Greg Wells, the album is a fittingly lush production, recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios with a varied mix of big band, orchestral, and small group arrangements. Tracks like "It's Christmas" and "Christmas Never Gets Old" are big swinging numbers that capture a Frank Sinatra fireside sparkle. Similarly vintage-sounding, "Hang Your Lights" is a snappy, minor-key jump blues rhumba in the Louis Prima tradition, while "So Many Santas" crackles with a Las Vegas high-kicking chorus-girl energy. We also get the bluesy, Ray Charles-sounding "Jolly Fat Man" with its wry, nightclub sense of humor. While much of the album evokes the 1950s and '60s golden age of traditional pop, there are more introspective moments as Cullum settles gently into the Billy Joel-esque title track, the ebullient '70s soft-rock anthem "Turn On the Lights," and the dusky, cinematic string romanticism of "Beautiful Together." The Pianoman at Christmas isn't just a great holiday album, it's a great Jamie Cullum album. ~ Matt Collar https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-pianoman-at-christmas-mw0003441306

Personnel: Vocals, Piano – Jamie Cullum; Alto Flute, Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone – Martin Williams (2), Paul Booth (2); Alto Saxophone, Flute – Graeme Blevins, Howard McGill; Backing Vocals – Aisha Stuart, Naomi Miller, Shanna Goodhead; Baritone Saxophone, Bass Clarinet, Clarinet, Flute – Claire McInerney; Bass [Upright Bass], Electric Bass, Backing Vocals – Loz Garratt; Cello – Bozidar Vukotic, Chris Worsey, Ian Burdge, Tony Woollard; Conductor, Piano, Saxophone, Bells [Sleigh Bells], Tambourine, Backing Vocals – Tom Richards (5); Double Bass – Chris Laurence, Richard Price; Stacey Richard Watton; Drums – Ed Richardson (tracks: 2); Drums, Backing Vocals – Brad Webb; French Horn – Alexei Watkins, Angela Barnes, Laurence Davies, Michael Thompson (2), Richard Bissill; Guitar – Tom VarrallHarp – Hugh Webb; Piano – Ross Stanley; Trombone – Alistair White, Mark Frost, Nichol Thomson, Trevor Mires;Trombone [Orchestral Trombone] – Chris Traves, Dave Stewart (2), Mark Nightingale, Tracey Holloway; Trumpet – Louis Dowdswell, Rory Simmons, Tom Rees-Roberts, Tom Walsh (12); Tuba – Mike Poyser, Owen Slade; Ann Beilby, Helen Kamminga, Julia Knight, Kate Musker, Lydia Lowndes-Northcott, Reiad Chibah; Violin – Beatrix Lovejoy, Ben Buckton, Ciaran McCabe, Daniel Bhattacharya, Dorina Markoff, Everton Nelson, Jeremy Isaac, Kate Robinson, Marianne Haynes, Max Baillie, Natalia Bonner, Patrick Savage, Rita Manning, Steve Morris, Tom Pigott-Smith; Violin, Leader – John Mills (8)

The Pianoman At Christmas

---

Various - Jazz Loves Disney

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:28
Size: 108.7 MB
Styles: Stage & Screen
Year: 2016
Art: Front

[2:55] 1. Jamie Cullum - Ev'rybody Wants To Be A Cat
[3:40] 2. Melody Gardot - He's A Tramp
[3:11] 3. Stacey Kent - Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo
[3:47] 4. Gregory Porter - When You Wish Upon A Star
[4:59] 5. China Moses - Why Don't You Do Right
[3:51] 6. Raphael Gualazzi - I Wan'na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)
[4:14] 7. The Rob Mounsey Orchestra - A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes
[4:03] 8. Hugh Coltman - You've Got A Friend In Me
[3:23] 9. Anne Sila - Let It Go
[3:26] 10. Melody Gardot - The Bare Necessities
[3:28] 11. Laika - Once Upon A Dream
[3:16] 12. Nikki Yanofsky - Un Jour Mon Prince Viendra
[3:08] 13. The Hot Sardines - I Wanna Be Like You

The notion that jazz singers love Disney tunes is hardly new, the relationship stretching from Johnny Mercer’s 1947 rendition of Song of the South’s Oscar-winning “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” to Steve Tyrell’s Disney Standards, from 2006. Never, though, has so ambitious or smartly executed a Disney-themed collection of vocal jazz been assembled as this.

Recorded in 2014 and 2015 across sessions spanning London, Paris, New York and L.A., Jazz Loves Disney is overcrowded with A-listers, all in top form: Gregory Porter’s haunting “When You Wish Upon a Star”; Jamie Cullum’s frisky “Everybody Wants to Be a Cat”; Melody Gardot coyly channeling Peggy Lee on “He’s a Tramp” and teaming with Italian crooner Raphael Gualazzi for a sprightly spin through “The Bare Necessities”; and, in French, Stacey Kent reimagining Cinderella’s “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo” as a cozy bossa nova. Reinterpretation en français is a recurring theme, with an impressively mature Nikki Yanofsky serving up a sultry “Un jour mon prince viendra” (“Someday My Prince Will Come”) and Miz Elizabeth’s Hot Sardines revitalizing The Jungle Book’s “I Wanna Be Like You” as what might best be described as Left-Bank Dixieland.

Less-familiar names add equally fine performances, among them a Connick-esque “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” by Hugh Coltman and a delicate handling of Frozen’s “Let It Go” by Anne Sila, a victor on the French version of The Voice. If there’s a sour note it’s the sole instrumental track, an overly lush “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” from the Rob Mounsey Orchestra that feels entirely out of place. ~Christopher Loudon

Jazz Loves Disney mc
Jazz Loves Disney zippy

---

Beady Belle - Belvedere

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:58
Size: 89.2 MB
Styles: Neo-soul, Contemporary R&B, Vocal jazz
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[4:38] 1. Apron Strings
[5:05] 2. A Touch Of Paradise
[4:51] 3. Tower Of Lament
[4:18] 4. Self-Fulfilling
[4:23] 5. Tranquil Flight
[3:35] 6. Intermission Music
[3:41] 7. Viscous Ocean
[4:28] 8. Boiling Milk
[3:55] 9. Two-Faced

Beady Belle is one of the favorite bands of the jazz star Jamie Cullum. That's why he sings on Beady Belle's new album, on the duet "Intermission music". * Also the the American soul star, India. Arie, is one of Beady Belle's biggest fans. She also sings on "Belvedere", on the duet "Self-fulfilling". Beady Belle has played over 180 concerts in over 100 cities in over 20 countries.

Belvedere

---

Jamie Cullum - Interlude

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:45
Size: 100,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:27)  1. Interlude
(2:57)  2. Don't You Know
(3:55)  3. The Seer's Tower
(2:43)  4. Walkin'
(3:32)  5. Good Morning Heartache [feat. Laura Mvula]
(3:45)  6. Sack O' Woe
(2:58)  7. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood [feat. Gregory Porter]
(4:32)  8. My One And Only Love
(3:07)  9. Lovesick Blues
(3:24) 10. Losing You
(5:51) 11. Out Of This World
(3:28) 12. Make Someone Happy

The intent behind Jamie Cullum's seventh album, Interlude released in the U.K. in 2014, with a U.S. release in 2015 is to strongly reconnect the singer/pianist with his jazz roots. Gone are the flirtations with electronics, along with original material: Cullum is playing live with a jazz orchestra, singing standards that are familiar but not shopworn. He expands the songbook so there's room for Hank Williams' "Lovesick Blues" and the Animals' "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," but his playbook is straight out of Ray Charles. He's growling and crooning as he alternately pounds and tinkles his piano, giving plenty of space for the orchestra to surge but not allowing a lot of room for improvisation. Most of the songs here clock in somewhere between three and four minutes, which is a strong indication that this album lies toward the pop end of the jazz spectrum. This is by no means a bad thing. By devoting himself to a strong book of standards and recording with a live big band, Cullum seems reinvigorated. He's enjoying tearing into these old tunes and that excitement isn't merely palpable, it's contagious. 

~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine  http://www.allmusic.com/album/interlude-mw0002750782

Interlude

---