Herb Ellis - Roll Call

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 1991
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:28
Size: 126,7 MB
Art: Front

(5:26)  1. Just Blue
(3:49)  2. Naptown Blues
(4:19)  3. Isn't It Romantic
(4:55)  4. Till The Hurt Goes Away
(3:58)  5. Lime House Blues
(4:39)  6. Blues For Junior
(3:52)  7. Sugar Hill Stomp
(4:41)  8. Once I Loved
(8:46)  9. Detour Ahead
(4:55) 10. Blues For Bernie
(5:05) 11. Amazing Grace

Herb Ellis' first full set as a leader since leaving the Concord label (where he had been during 1973-88) finds him in inspired form. The veteran guitarist is heard in a trio with the recently rediscovered organist Mel Rhyne and drummer Jake Hanna plus guest violinist Johnny Frigo and Jay Thomas on tenor and flugelhorn. A fire seemed to have been lit under Ellis for he plays on the well-rounded program with much more passion than he had on most of his later Concord albums. This CD is highlighted by "Just Blue," "Limehouse Blues," "Sugar Hill Stomp," and "Detour Ahead" but all 11 selections are worth hearing. Recommended. ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/roll-call-mw0000115665

Personnel:  Herb Ellis (guitar);  Jay Thomas (tenor saxophone, flugelhorn);  Johnny Frigo (violin);  Mel Rhyne (Hammond B-3 organ);  Jake Hanna (drums).

Roll Call

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Jessica Molaskey - Pentimento

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2002
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:26
Size: 104,5 MB
Art: Front

(2:44)  1. Oh, You Beautiful Doll
(3:02)  2. I'm Just Wild About Harry
(3:06)  3. Ain't We Got Fun
(3:31)  4. What'll I Do
(3:22)  5. With Plenty Of Money And You/We're In The Money
(2:29)  6. Waitin' For The Train To Come In
(2:41)  7. Red, Red Robin
(1:57)  8. By The Beautiful Sea
(2:49)  9. I'm Always Chasing Rainbows
(2:46) 10. Oh, How I Hate To Get Up In The Morning
(4:12) 11. You Made Me Love You
(1:50) 12. I Tried Too Hard For Too Long
(1:05) 13. When I Lost You
(1:55) 14. Look For The Silver Lining
(3:18) 15. I Can't Give You Anything But Love
(1:37) 16. Beautiful Dreamer
(2:57) 17. Sail Away

With the seemingly steady rise of interest in traditional American popular song, the result has been a treasure trove of CD reissues, a Renaissance of careers of more seasoned veteran performers, and the appearance of many new singers who draw upon the repertoire and inspiration of the Great American Songbook. Along with the work of veterans such as Weslia Whitfield, the recently late Rosemary Clooney, and relative newcomers such as Stacey Kent, another traditional pop songstress has arrived. Pentimento, the new CD by Jessica Molaskey primarily mines the rare ore of songs from the era between the World Wars. Molaskey, and an impressive supporting cast including husband John, and father-in-law Bucky Pizzarelli, provide more than a mere recasting of this music. Instead of a stylized recreation by a repertoire-type ensemble, Molaskey and her assemblage, which also includes the clarinet of Ken Peplowski and the violin of Johnny Frigo, unearth a fresh, lightly swinging perspective that uncovers the sheer underlying beauty of these older songs. Molaskey performs the Eubie Blake/Noble Sissle classic “I’m Just Wild About Harry,” as a ballad rather than in its more familiar up-tempo version. 

As a ballad, a new tenderness of the lyric and the heartfelt emotion of this song come through like the beauty of aged wood grain hidden under stripped away old varnish. Another interesting twist is the inclusion of the seldom-heard verse to the song “Oh, You Beautiful Doll.” Molaskey’s voice is enchanting as she interprets songs such as “You Made Me Love You,” and “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love.” Her version of “Look for the Silver Lining,” even rivals the delicate rendition recorded by Chet Baker in the 1950’s.  Molaskey also demonstrates her writing talents with her added lyrics to Irving Berlin’s “Oh, How I Hate To Get Up In The Morning,” and original songs “I Tried Too Hard For Too Long,” and “Sail Away” co-written with husband John Pizzarelli. Molaskey also includes one song not from the 20th century. Her version of Stephen Foster’s “Beautiful Dreamer,” reveals the sentimental essence of this old chestnut. The recording quality of Pentimento is superb. The musicians assembled for the session represent top shelf talent. The quality of the sound is crystal clear with Molaskey’s very precise diction perfectly balanced with the accompanying instruments. For fans of traditional popular song and/or just fun sounding swinging music Pentimento is highly recommended as an addition to one’s CD collection. ~ Craig W.Hurst https://www.allaboutjazz.com/pentimento-jessica-molaskey-ps-classics-review-by-craig-w-hurst.php

Personnel: Jessica Molaskey, vocals; Bucky Pizzarelli, guitar and uke; John Pizzarelli, guitar, uke and additional vocals; Martin Pizzarelli, bass; Larry Goldings, piano; Ray Kennedy, piano; Johnny Frigo, violin; Ken Peplowski, clarinet; Tony Tedesco, brushes on phone book; Jesse Levy, cello.

Pentimento

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Hot Club Of 52nd Street - S/T

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 45:23
Size: 103.9 MB
Styles: Gypsy swing
Year: 2004
Art: Front

[4:41] 1. Rosetta
[5:19] 2. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
[4:45] 3. Tangerine
[5:24] 4. Nuages
[4:51] 5. Strike Up The Band
[4:07] 6. Some Of These Days
[5:02] 7. Avalon
[5:30] 8. Melancholy Baby
[5:39] 9. I've Got Rhythm

It is hard to imagine two more appropriate guitarists to bring together for a tribute to the great Django Reinhardt than Bucky Pizzarelli and Howard Alden. They're joined by two other veterans, violinist Johnny Frigo and bassist Michael Moore, for this exciting set recorded at the A. C. Pianocraft Recital Hall in New York City, though it has the intimate sound of a recording made in a small nightclub. Although this is obviously a salute to the partnership of Reinhardt with violinist Stephane Grappelli, the approach is fresh due to interaction between the musicians and their frequently humorous solos. Frigo inserts a bit of pizzicato violin as the two guitar masters set the pace with Moore for a rapid fire take of "Tangerine." Reinhardt's "Nuages" has long been a favorite of guitarists, so Alden and Pizzarelli open this standard by themselves before they switch to the chugging rhythm made famous by the Quintet of the Hot Club of France. The interplay between Alden and Pizzarelli is incredible in the old chestnut "Avalon." The quartet finishes with a blazing interpretation of "I Got Rhythm." The only caveat about this terrific live session is the audience's insistence on regular enthusiastic applause as one solo gives way to the next, which results in drowning out the music itself. While the musicians likely appreciated the crowd's approval, it's a shame that they couldn't hold themselves in check until the conclusion of each performance. ~Ken Dryden

Hot Club Of 52nd Street

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Johnny Frigo - Debut of A Legend

Styles: Jazz, Swing
Year: 1994
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:58
Size: 132,3 MB
Art: Front + Back

(4:34)  1. Get Happy
(4:03)  2. I'm Old Fashioned
(3:04)  3. Osaka Saki
(5:09)  4. Too Late Now/Street of Dreams
(3:30)  5. Bow Jest
(4:25)  6. Nuages
(6:14)  7. Jitterbug Waltz
(5:25)  8. Heather On The Hill/How Are Things In Glocca Morra
(5:01)  9. I Love Paris
(6:18) 10. Here's That rainy Day
(3:09) 11. Lush Life
(5:03) 12. Jeannine

Violinist Johnny Frigo's third album as a leader (he had previously made a forgotten date for Mercury in 1957 and a Chesky CD in 1988) is his definitive set, even though he was 77 at the time. With a good supporting cast (guitarist Gene Bertoncini, Bob Kindred on tenor and clarinet, pianist Joe Vito, bassist Michael Moore, and drummer Bill Goodwin), Frigo mostly explores standards, plus two of his originals. The music, falling between swing and bop, is superior straight-ahead jazz; among the highlights are "Get Happy," "Bow Jest," "Jitterbug Waltz," and "Jeannine." Frigo's sudden prominence in his '70s (considering he spent most of his career as a bassist) was as unlikely and welcome an event as trumpeter Doc Cheatham's late-period triumphs. ~ Scott Yanow  http://www.allmusic.com/album/debut-of-a-legend-mw0000119053

Personnel: Johnny Frigo (violin); Gene Bertoncini (guitar); Bob Kindred (clarinet, tenor saxophone); Joe Vito (piano); Bill Goodwin (drums).

Debut of A Legend

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Martha Lorin - Come Walk With Me

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:15
Size: 163,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:43)  1. Close Your Eyes
(4:51)  2. Come Walk With Me
(4:19)  3. Carefully Taught
(4:47)  4. Let's Face The Music And Dance
(3:45)  5. The Island
(6:09)  6. You've Got A Friend
(5:38)  7. On Green Dolphin Street
(3:57)  8. Rain Song
(5:36)  9. Detour Ahead
(5:04) 10. Just A Sittin' & A Rockin'
(5:18) 11. Every Time We Say Goodbye
(5:10) 12. Low Down Blues
(4:37) 13. Cinnamon And Clove
(1:41) 14. Lush Life ( Intro)
(4:32) 15. Lush Life

Chicago's Southport label has brought different groupings of instrumentalists into the recording studio to back Martha Lorin for her second album. Only superb pianist Mike Black appears on all the cuts with Lorin. To Ms Lorin and Southport's credit, they avoid the temptation of limiting the musical agenda to the usual standards by offering songs that are not recorded that often.

But it is the way the musicians are mixed that makes for an intriguing, unusual event. On "You've Got a Friend" and "The Island," Leon Joyce's snare shares accompanist duties with Black resulting in a stark, slimmed down rendition of these two tunes. The dean of Chicago tenor saxophone players (although Eddie Johnson fans may disagree), Von Freeman, shows up on two tracks playing especially soulfully on "Carefully Taught" from South Pacific. Another staple of the Chicago jazz scene, violinist Johnny Frigo, lends his swinging fiddle to a fine arrangement of "Let's Face the Music and Dance" and well to "Detour ahead" for which he shares composer credit. Once again Leon Joyce's rat-a-tat snares are prominent in setting the pace. However, it's the opening cut which provides the clue that this album may not be the usual run of the mill release. 

"Close Your Eyes" is kicked off with as a tango by Black with William Blount's clarinet taking the melody providing a seductive lead in for Lorin. She keeps the tango beat going with strong support from Blount's playing in the clarinet's middle register. A very attractive performance, indeed. "On Green Dolphin Street" offers still another interesting assortment of instruments. With Black's piano continuing to be the constant, Fareed Haque's guitar provides the lead in for Lorin's vocal followed by an athletic Von Freeman tenor solo and he stays around to play behind Lorin for the last chorus. The arrangement of the Johnny Mandel/Alan and Marilyn Bergman tune "Cinnamon and Clove" centers on a Caribbean beat played against Johnny Frigo's straight ahead jazz violin. Lorin's own "Low Down Blues," which she wrote with pianist Frank Collett, is the best of her two compositions and highlights some excellent bass work by Larry Gray.

But nowhere is Lorin's ability to create a story with pictures  brought to life than on the album's coda, "Lush Life." With William Blount's brooding clarinet as background, Lorin delivers a stunning interpretation of Billy Strayhorn's difficult to sing tale of depression and woe. Although not a threat to replace the Johnny Hartman/John Coltrane Quartet version as the classic interpretation, Lorin's work does not suffer by comparison. Good work all around on this album which offers a generous 71 minutes of music. 

~ Dave Nathan http://www.allaboutjazz.com/come-walk-with-me-martha-lorin-southport-records-review-by-dave-nathan.php#.U6HBCbGoqdk

Personnel: Martha Lorin, Joanie Pallatto - Vocals; Miles Black - Piano; William Blount - Clarinet; Eddie de Haas - Bass; Larry Gray - Bass/Cello; Von Freeman - Tenor Saxophone; Johnny Frigo - Violin; Fareed Haque, Dave Onderdonk - Guitar; Leon Joyce - Drums; Mark Walker - Drums/Percussion

Come Walk With Me

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Solitaire Miles - Solitaire Miles

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:05
Size: 108,5 MB
Art: Front

(4:36)  1. Comes Love
(3:19)  2. Autumn Leaves
(2:24)  3. I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl
(4:02)  4. I Wished on the Moon
(5:01)  5. Lush Life
(4:18)  6. I Don't Know Enough About You
(5:35)  7. Blowtop Blues
(2:56)  8. Softly as in a Morning Sunrise
(5:52)  9. You Go to My Head
(5:03) 10. You Let Me Down
(3:52) 11. A Kiss to Build a Dream On

Chicago jazz vocalist Solitaire Miles captivates the seasoned jazz veteran with mesmeric tone, conversational phrasing, and a sinuous sense of swing. Her unaffected delivery never draws attention to itself, allowing the lyrics to shine through. She presents each song in a sincere manner, intimating a supple delivery so the patois of each arrangement has a lasting effect on the listener. Her timing and style impressed Chautauqua Symphony Bassist Harry Jacobson enough to label her as "Billie Holiday with sunshine and air".

Her debut album includes some of Chicago's best performers, arranged by the great jazz violinst Johnny Frigo and incomparable pianist Willie Pickens, the recording reflects the laid back, forthright swing that is signature of the Chicago sound. Also featured is Chicago Sax Maestro Von Freeman, who keeps the music genuine and sassy. There is also a cameo from trumpeter Brad Goode and three live tracks recorded in New York with pianist Don Rebic.  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/solitairemiles

Personnel: Solitaire Miles vocals ; Johnny Frigo violin; Von Freeman sax;  Willie Pickens piano;  Brad Goode trumpet ; Don Rebic piano;  Bruce Johnstone sax/clarinet ; John Whitfield bass;  Mike Raynor drums

Solitaire Miles

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Johnny Frigo, Bucky & John Pizzarelli - Live From Studio A

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 54:57
Size: 125.8 MB
Styles: Standards, Swing
Year: 1994
Art: Front

[ 3:00] 1. Pick Yourself Up And Start All Over Again
[ 6:43] 2. Do Nothing Til You Hear From Me
[ 4:16] 3. Detour Ahead
[ 3:18] 4. Just Friends
[ 2:29] 5. Estrellita
[ 4:01] 6. Stompin' At The Savoy
[ 4:58] 7. Early Autumn
[ 3:15] 8. You Stepped Out Of A Dream
[ 5:12] 9. In A Sentimental Mood
[ 4:03] 10. The Song Is You
[ 4:02] 11. I'm Through With Love
[ 2:32] 12. Summer Me, Winter Me
[ 3:15] 13. Tangerine
[ 3:47] 14. I'll Never Be The Same

At the age of 71, Johnny Frigo finally had his debut as a leader on record, with the exception of an obscure effort in 1957. Although he had spent much of his career as a studio bassist, Frigo successfully switched full-time to his first love, the violin, and was immediately considered one of the top swing-based violinists. Joined by both Bucky and John Pizzarelli on guitars, either Ron Carter or Michael Moore on bass, and drummer Butch Miles, Frigo is in wonderful form on 14 standards, including "Pick Yourself Up," "Detour Ahead" (which he had co-written while with the Soft Winds in the late '40s), "Stompin' at the Savoy" and "The Song Is You." This recommended CD launched the Chesky label. ~Scott Yanow

Live From Studio A

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Bucky Pizzarelli, Michael Moore, Johnny Frigo, Howard Alden - Hot Club of 52nd Street

Styles: Dixieland/New Orleans/Swing
Label: Chesky Records
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:00
Size: 114,5 MB
Scans: Front

(4:42)  1. Rosetta
(6:23)  2. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
(5:39)  3. Tangerine
(6:42)  4. Nuages
(5:15)  5. Strike Up The Band
(4:07)  6. Some Of These Days
(5:02)  7. Avalon
(6:10)  8. Melancholy Baby
(5:59)  9. I've Got Rhythm

There is no lack of talent or passion on Hot Club of 52nd Street ; for these two reasons alone it would be a noteworthy album. But this is a rare kind of swinging, foot-stomping, finger-tapping live session, as expressive and fiery as it is expertly controlled. Conceived and carried out in the spirit of guitar great Django Reinhardt (incidentally, Hot Club guitarists Bucky Pizzarelli and Howard Alden trained the actors and laid down the soundtrack for Woody Allen’s Django film homage Sweet and Lowdown ), Hot Club of 52nd Street certainly does credit to the wayward genius gypsy’s illustrious name.

The album comprises nine standards, all performed with an ear for pure melody. Things begin playfully enough with “Rosetta,” as the rhythm guitarist (Alden? Pizzarelli? Does it even matter with a quartet as cohesive as this?) twice shimmies his way down a partial scale, allowing Johnny Frigo to enter with his violin and spin, dance, pirouette, somersault. As he bows out, the other guitarist comes in. He seems to dismantle and reassemble his acoustic guitar, strumming all the while. Throughout the four-minute tune, Michael Moore plucks his bass notes, each as clear and distinct as though he were slyly mirroring the guitar picking.

The rendition of “On the Sunny Side of the Street” which follows is one of the best I have ever heard jaunty, confident, carefree, brimming with optimism and goodwill. “Tangerine” simply rockets forward. (Despite its speed, it isn’t the 3:39 the liner notes claim. It’s actually 5:39.) Here rhythm guitar and bass unite to propel the song via a locomotion that suggests an all-out sprint rather than a mere pitter-pat. They use this same technique to astounding, vibrant effect later on “Strike up the Band.”

Reinhardt’s own ballad “Nuages” floats and drifts as lazily, as it ought to. Frigo’s double solo, with all the weeping and laughing of his instrument, is the most salient among them. “I Got Rhythm,” the closing track, takes the Gershwins' tune to a country hoedown: impressive finger picking by at least one of the guitarists matched with Frigo’s fiddle-like exuberance.

For a Chesky release, the quality of the recording is open to debate. Pristine sound is not the issue here, it’s the applause that enthusiastically and invariably follows each solo, always far louder than the quartet itself. This is fine for those who listen to a live recording and enjoy feeling a part of the audience. If you prefer a more privileged vantage somewhere closer to the musicians than the crowd in New York City’s A.C. Pianocraft Recital Hall  Hot Club of 52nd Street will be something of a disappointment. Playing the disc at the volume it deserves means reaching for the volume knob three or four times per song to compensate for the whistles, shouts and clapping.~ Eric J.Iannelli http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=13820#.Uh0AQlcucv4

Personnel: Bucky Pizzarelli, acoustic guitar; Michael Moore, bass; Johnny Frigo, violin; Howard Alden, acoustic guitar

Hot Club of 52nd Street

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