Janis Mann, Kenny Werner - Dreams of Flying

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:43
Size: 144,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:35) 1. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
(6:18) 2. Edith and the Kingpin
(6:31) 3. Wichita Lineman (Live)
(3:56) 4. Overjoyed
(6:30) 5. Where Do You Start
(3:54) 6. I Do It for Your Love
(5:19) 7. American Tune
(6:17) 8. When October Goes
(5:50) 9. Inside a Silent Tear (Live)
(6:28) 10. I Remember (Live)
(8:00) 11. Who Knows Where the Time Goes (Live)

Renowned jazz vocalist Janis Mann teams up once again with world-class pianist Kenny Werner for “Dreams of Flying”, a mesmerizing collection of modern standards from the New American Songbook.

Songs by Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Jimmy Webb, Stephen Sondheim, Johnny Mandel, Blossom Dearie and others get the rich interpretations they deserve in this unforgettable recording. https://janismann.hearnow.com/

Dreams of Flying

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Janis Mann - A Perfect Time - Drummers And Other Friends

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 76:23
Size: 175,2 MB
Art: Front

(5:51)  1. All my tomorrows
(6:29)  2. Summer night
(4:11)  3. Sharing the night with the blues
(6:35)  4. Quietly there
(4:32)  5. Can’t get out of this mood
(6:11)  6. The meaning of the blues
(4:26)  7. Cool
(5:41)  8. Someone to light up my life
(4:29)  9. Young and foolish
(5:31) 10. Everything happens to me
(4:27) 11. Love walked in
(4:18) 12. Watch what happens
(4:25) 13. Just in time
(3:41) 14. Once in a while
(5:29) 15. Old devil moon

Perhaps you know Janis Mann for her decade-long prominence among Seattle’s many great female jazz singers, or for the four collections of standards she released between 1997 and 2003. If not, then A Perfect Time: Drummers and Other Friends is, indeed, a perfect time to acquaint yourself with a truly splendid, if vastly underappreciated, vocalist. Mann, who originally hails from Brooklyn and has now settled in L.A, is owner and operator of a splendid instrument that owes as much to June Christy as it does to Sarah Vaughan. She possesses the unique ability to be simultaneously cool and sultry, to seem as crystalline as Baccarat’s finest yet smoky as a Dietrich film festival, and to suggest that she’s just stepped out of the 1950s while sounding utterly contemporary.

As the album’s title hints, Mann’s intent is to celebrate her admiration for first-class drummers by dividing the 15 tracks among four of the very best, with Peter Erskine, Joe La Barbera and Roy McCurdy each sitting in for four tracks and Paul Kreibich stick-handling the remaining three. The four lads’ contributions are expectedly superb. But, being the pros they are, all are far more interested in keeping their brilliance in the background, pushing Mann’s magnificent voice fully in the spotlight. (Oh, and while we’re on the subject of superlative accompaniment, it is imperative to add that bassists Chuck Berghofer and John Clayton deserve high praise for their equally subdued, equally gorgeous work.) The exquisite way in which Mann, with considerable assistance from arranger, producer and pianist Tamir Hendelman, finesses the likes of “Love Walked In,” “Just in Time,” “Once in a While” and “Watch What Happens” is beyond compare.

But what makes A Perfect Time most pleasurable is Mann’s ability to dig up less-familiar chestnuts Harry Warren’s softly wistful “Summer Night,” Johnny Mandel’s heartbreakingly wishful “Quietly There,” Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn’s joyously optimistic “All My Tomorrows” and the cautionary West Side Story anthem “Cool” (performed with such keenly intelligent precision that it sounds more choreographed than arranged) and transform them into the luminous gems they deserve to be.                 ~ Christopher Loudon   http://jazztimes.com/articles/20852-a-perfect-time-drummers-and-other-friends-janis-mann

Personnel: Janis Mann (vocals); Diane Schuur (vocals, piano); Jeff Clayton (alto flute, alto saxophone); Tamir Hendelman (piano); Joe La Barbera, Peter Erskine, Roy McCurdy, Paul Kreibich (drums).

A Perfect Time - Drummers And Other Friends

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Janis Mann & Kenny Werner - Celestial Anomaly

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:51
Size: 130,4 MB
Art: Front

(4:15)  1. Still We Dream
(6:15)  2. Come Down in Time
(4:30)  3. Wild Is the Wind
(6:54)  4. Throw It Away
(2:44)  5. You Must Believe in Spring
(3:36)  6. Early Autumn
(5:00)  7. With a Song in My Heart
(5:01)  8. Fragile
(5:13)  9. So in Love
(5:18) 10. Once I Loved
(4:35) 11. If I Loved You
(3:23) 12. I'll Be Seeing You

Five years ago, L.A.-based vocalist Janis Mann paid exquisite tribute to timekeepers, alternating among a quartet of preeminent drummers on A Perfect Time. Now, two albums later, two of the four Roy McCurdy and Joe LaBarbera return for the equally sublime Celestial Anomaly. This time, though, co-billing is ascribed to pianist Kenny Werner. Bassist Hamilton Price, as impressive as his better-known bandmates, completes the rhythm section. Astronomically speaking, the title refers to an apsis, the farthest point between two bodies in elliptical orbit, which seems an odd insinuation. If the two bodies are Mann and Werner, then their union couldn’t be closer a masterful fusion of musical minds. And though Werner’s playing is expectedly brilliant, the entire ensemble, whether anchored by McCurdy or LaBarbera, is tight and interdependent. Mann is often likened to Sarah Vaughan, and certainly shares Sassy’s dark, rich texture and her versatility. But Mann adds an enticing air of mystery, a dusky hint of veiled possibilities. She is not only one of the most skilled vocalists around, but one of the most alluring as well. Her excellent taste in standards here extends from a smoky “So in Love” and an intriguingly propulsive “Early Autumn” to an entrancing “Wild Is the Wind” and spellbinding “Throw It Away.” More contemporary material is as shrewdly interpreted, including gorgeous readings of Elton John’s “Come Down in Time” and Sting’s “Fragile.” ~ Christopher Loudon   http://jazztimes.com/articles/123113-celestial-anomaly-janis-mann-kenny-werner

Celestial Anomaly

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Janis Mann - Blow Away

Styles: Jazz Vocals

Year: 2010

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 45:08

Size: 104,0 MB

Scans: Front

(3:17)  1. That Old Black Magic

(4:04)  2. Never Let Me Go

(5:07)  3. Then I'll Be Tired of You

(4:15)  4. I Got Lost In His Arms

(3:26)  5. Moment To Moment

(5:30)  6. Slow Hot Wind

(5:37)  7. If You Could See Me Now

(4:37)  8. My One and Only Love

(3:23)  9. It's Always You

(5:48) 10. You'll See

Janis Mann’s last album, A Perfect Time (Pancake 2008), was a galvanizing tour de force that revealed her as a singer who loves to swing and has an affinity for rhythmic variation.With this offering, Mann shows us another side of her tonal personality. Her past efforts have utilized written arrangements and pre-set formats, but here Janis and her band trusted their musical instincts. This album is not a construct of multiple takes and canny edits, laboriously winnowed into a pasted-up final edition. It’s an audio snapshot of four musicians who met in the studio and courted serendipity. The heads were worked out on the spot and they relied on mutual chemistry as a guide.

The idea of equal collaboration is important here. Unlike the usual figure/ground relationship of a vocalist who stands in front of a trio, Mann functions as a horn that improvises yet also interprets lyrics. The lush though intense lyric reading on “Never Let Me Go” floats and undulates over the free-flowing accompaniment of indeterminate meter. Talk about flying without a net!

She’s one of the few true heirs to Sarah Vaughan, but Janis is no clone. They share an ability to improvise melodically and subtly manipulate notes like the discreet yet wavy melisma on Henry Mancini’s sultry “Slow Hot Wind.” Sarah took out a patent on Tadd Dameron’s lush “If You Could See Me Now” when she recorded it in 1946. Janis pulls off the hat trick of giving a first-class rendition while nodding to Sarah, and yet making her own statement.

Mann could scarcely have chosen more flexible collaborators. Pianist Bill Cunliffe is a Grammy-winning arranger, who plays with an arranger’s ability to see the whole tune, not just one set of eight bars after another. He doesn’t merely support Janis he provides musical options and potential. His sublime introduction to “I Got Lost in His Arms” offers a judiciously chosen harmonic outline for her to design the first chorus upon. Then he leads the way for her, gets underneath her, and opens up space for her in the most thoughtful ways.

Bassist Cristoph Luty has a similar sense of the best choices, drawn from a wide musical vocabulary: muscular chords on a rhythm tune, a melancholy arco break on “Slow Hot Wind” or a pizzicato melodic fragment behind one of Mann’s held notes. The protean Roy McCurdy remains a drummer for all seasons. He provides everything from the sizzle to “Old Black Magic,” whispering brushes, colorful cymbals, and the gently rocking beat on “My One and Only Love.”

In this company, she can swing at any tempo, take liberties with phrasing and rhythm, and impart a lyric with clarity and emotion. Her judicious use of scat, as on “Moment to Moment,” springs organically from the tag. A first-class balladeer as well, her “Then I’ll Be Tired of You” relies on forthright delivery rather than musical tricks. Taken together, it amounts to the province of an artist, and Janis Mann doesn’t share it with many others.  (by Kirk Silsbee) http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/janismann2

Blow Away

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