Liane Carroll - Up and Down

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:51
Size: 128,1 MB
Art: Front

(4:02)  1. Buy and Sell
(3:01)  2. What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life
(4:29)  3. Moanin'
(3:29)  4. Take Me Home
(6:11)  5. What Now My Love
(6:46)  6. Turn Out the Stars
(3:58)  7. Some Children See Him
(2:45)  8. Witchcraft
(5:33)  9. My Funny Valentine
(4:54) 10. Old Devil Moon / Killer Joe
(7:56) 11. Make Someone Happy
(2:41) 12. I Can Let Go Now

Liane Carroll is a much-admired British singer and pianist, winner of accolades including Musician Of The Year at the 2008 Parliamentary Jazz Awards. She has worked with musicians as varied as Sir Paul McCartney and Charlie Haden, while on this album her invited guests include tenor saxophonists Kirk Whalum and Julian Siegel, and Kenny Wheeler on flugelhorn. She already has a strong body of work to her name, but Up And Down might just be her finest album to date. Carroll's voice is superb bluesy, smooth, ballsy, cheeky, romantic, heartbreaking, and never less than honest. This combination makes Carroll eminently capable of performances of tremendous emotional intensity when the songs are upbeat and positive this results in moments of intense joy, when the songs are sad this intensity can be hard to bear. Aided by producer and horn player James McMillan and a roll-call of top British jazz musicians, Carroll draws out the full impact of these songs in some unexpected ways. The most surprising is her approach to "What Now My Love?" The opening Carroll singing over Mark Edwards' gospel-style organ with Whalum adding brief tenor phrases is in keeping with the song's usual sentiment, but everything moves up a few notches with the entry of Mark Hodgson's rock solid bass beat. As Whalum and Edwards add some funky and fiery riffs it's no longer a torch song, a cry of pain from a spurned lover. Now it seems from Carroll's bluesy but almost triumphant tone that she's engineered her lover's departure all along. "What now my love? A nice gin and tonic and a sit down I think. And good riddance."

"Buy and Sell" opens with the sounds of children at play, features electric guitar with an Ernie Isley vibe courtesy of Mark Jaimes and an electric piano solo from Edwards, and adds a vocal chorus courtesy of Carroll's multi-tracked voice. The result gives a fittingly late-60s feel to this beautiful Laura Nyro song. Wheeler guests on Bill Evans' "Turn Out The Stars," adding a starkly emotive solo to Carroll's poignant vocal. Carroll's singing on Tom Waits' "Take Me Home" and Rodgers and Hart's "My Funny Valentine" are two of her finest vocals. The emotional engagement of both performances is staggering. On Waits' ballad Carroll, playing some delicate and graceful piano phrases, makes a heartfelt plea to her lover that would melt all but the hardest of hearts. On "My Funny Valentine," Carroll, Edwards on piano and McMillan on flugelhorn give one of the album's most powerful performances: superbly stark and raw, it reaches into the song's heart to draw out the full poignancy of the words. Up And Down is beautiful. The song choices and arrangements are inspired, and the musicians are uniformly superb. Carroll is a singer of superb style, capable of projecting every nuance and subtlety of a lyric. What more is there to say? This is one of the finest vocal jazz albums to appear for many a moon. ~ Bruce Lindsay https://www.allaboutjazz.com/up-and-down-liane-carroll-quietmoney-recordings-review-by-bruce-lindsay.php

Personnel: Liane Carroll: vocals, piano (1, 2, 4, 8, 12); James McMillan: trumpet (1), flugelhorn (1, 2, 7, 9), celesta (2); Mark Bassey: trombone (2, 4, 7); Rob Leake: flute (2); Mark Edwards: piano (3, 6, 9, 10), Hammond organ (3, 5), electric piano (1); Simon Purcell: piano (11); Mark Jaimes: guitar (1, 12); Roger Carey: bass (4, 6, 8, 10); Mark Hodgson: bass (2, 3, 5); Steve Pearce: bass (1); Mark Fletcher: drums; Julian Siegel; tenor saxophone (11); Kirk Whalum: tenor saxophone (3, 5); Kenny Wheeler: flugelhorn (6).

Up and Down

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Terry Callier - Timepeace

Styles: Guitar Jazz, Funk, Soul
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 76:20
Size: 175,8 MB
Art: Front

(2:50)  1. Ride suite ride (intro)
(8:28)  2. Lazarus man
(4:54)  3. Keep your heart right
(5:15)  4. Java sparrow
(6:50)  5. People get ready/Brotherly love
(4:29)  6. Love theme from 'spartacus'
(5:45)  7. No more blues
(8:55)  8. Timepeace
(6:37)  9. Following your footprints
(5:04) 10. C'est la vie
(4:51) 11. Coyote moon
(4:49) 12. Aka new york al
(3:21) 13. Traitor to the race
(4:07) 14. Love theme from spartacus - zero 7 remix (Bonus Track)

For far too long, folk-jazz mystic Terry Callier was the exclusive province of a fierce but small cult following; a singer/songwriter whose cathartic, deeply spiritual music defied simple genre categorization, he went all but unknown for decades, finally beginning to earn the recognition long due him after his rediscovery during the early '90s. Born in Chicago's North Side also home to Curtis Mayfield, Jerry Butler, and Ramsey Lewis and raised in the area of the notorious Cabrini Green housing projects, Callier began studying the piano at the age of three, writing his first songs at the age of 11 and regularly singing in doo wop groups throughout his formative years. While attending college, he learned to play guitar, eventually setting up residency at a Chicago coffeehouse dubbed the Fickle Pickle and in time coming to the attention of Chess Records arranger Charles Stepney, who produced Callier's debut single, "Look at Me Now," in 1962. In 1964, Callier met Prestige label producer Samuel Charters, and a year later they entered the studio to record his full-length bow, The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier; upon completion of the session, however, Charters traveled to Mexico with the master tapes in tow, and the album went unreleased before finally appearing to little fanfare in 1968. Undaunted, Callier remained a fixture of the Windy City club scene, and in 1970 he and partner Larry Wade signed on with his boyhood friend Jerry Butler's Chicago Songwriters Workshop. There they composed material for local labels including Chess and Cadet, most notably authoring the Dells' 1972 smash "The Love We Had Stays on My Mind." The song's success again teamed Callier with Stepney, now a producer at Cadet, and yielded 1973's Occasional Rain, a beautiful fusion of folk and jazz textures that laid the groundwork for the sound further explored on the following year's What Color Is Love?

Despite earning strong critical notices and building up a devoted fan base throughout much of urban America, Callier failed to break through commercially, and after 1975's I Just Can't Help Myself he was dropped by Cadet; in 1976, he also suffered another setback when Butler closed the Songwriters Workshop. Upon signing to Elektra at the behest of label head Don Mizell, Callier resurfaced in 1978 with the lushly orchestrated Fire on Ice; with the follow-up, 1979's Turn You to Love, he finally cracked the pop charts with the single "Sign of the Times," best known as the longtime theme for legendary WBLS-FM disc jockey Frankie Crocker. He even appeared at the Montreux Jazz Festival. However, when Mizell exited Elektra, Callier was quickly dropped from his contract; after a few more years of diligent touring, he largely disappeared from music around during the early '80s; a single parent, he instead accepted a job as a computer programmer, returning to college during the evenings to pursue a degree in sociology. Although he had essentially retired from performing, Callier continued composing songs, and in 1991 he received a surprise telephone call from fan Eddie Pillar, the head of the U.K. label Acid Jazz. Pillar sought permission to re-release Callier's little-known, self-funded single from 1983, "I Don't Want to See Myself (Without You)." Seemingly overnight, the record became a massive success on the British club circuit, and the singer was soon flown to Britain for a pair of enormously well-received club dates. In the coming months, more gigs followed on both sides of the Atlantic, and in 1996, Callier even recorded a live LP, TC in DC. In 1997, he teamed with British singer Beth Orton, another of his most vocal supporters, to record a pair of tracks for her superb EP Best Bit; the following year, Callier also released his Verve Forecast debut Timepeace, his first major-label effort in close to two decades. Lifetime followed in 1999, and two years later came Alive, recorded live at London's Jazz Cafe. Callier returned in 2002 with Speak Your Peace and 2005 with Lookin' Out. In May of 2009, Hidden Conversations, co-written and produced by Massive Attack, was released on Mr. Bongo in the U.K.; a release in the United States followed in the fall of 2010. Two years later, however, he died from cancer in Chicago on October 27, 2012. Terry Callier was 67 years old. ~ Jason Ankeny http://www.allmusic.com/artist/terry-callier-mn0000027916/biography

Personnel:  Acoustic Guitar – Terry Callier;  Bass – Dave Barnard, Eric Hochberg;  Double Bass [Bass Violin] – Eric Hochberg;  Drums – Alfredo Alias , Dave Trigwell, Morris Jennings;  Guitar – Dave Onderdonk, Jim Mullen, John Moulder;  Percussion – Boscoe D'Olivera, Pennington McGee;  Piano – Mark Edwards;  Producer – Brian Bacchus, Eric Hochberg;  Saxophone – Gary Plumley; Vocals – Terry Callier, Veronica Cowper

Timepeace

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Liane Carroll - The Right To Love

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 2017
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:37
Size: 107,9 MB
Art: Front

(5:37)  1. Skylark
(5:34)  2. The Right To Love
(3:21)  3. It's A Fine Line
(3:43)  4. If You Go Away
(7:43)  5. You Don't Know What Love Is
(4:22)  6. Goin' Back
(5:17)  7. Lately
(3:51)  8. Georgia
(3:03)  9. In The Neighbourhood
(4:02) 10. I Get Along Without You Very Well

Liane Carroll’s talents, as singer, pianist and all-round musical force of nature, seemed to defy all efforts to capture them successfully on record. Until, that is, she began working with producer James McMillan. This, their fourth album together, displays a characteristic mixture of deceptive simplicity and emotional depth. Following the loose theme of attitudes to love, Carroll calls on songs by, among others, Stevie Wonder, Tom Waits, Jacques Brel and Hoagy Carmichael, whose I Get Along Without You Very Well provides the most touching moment. The arrangements and playing, notably Mark Jaimes (guitar) and Kirk Whalum (tenor sax), are superb. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jul/23/liane-carroll-right-to-love-review-jazz

Personnel:  Liane Carroll (piano, vocals);  Mark Edwards (piano);  Malcolm Edmonstone (piano);  Mark Jaimes (guitars);  Kirk Whalum (saxophone); Loz Garratt (bass);  Roger Carey (bass);  Ralph Salmins (drums);  Russell Field (drums);  James McMillan (trumpet).

The Right To Love

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The Mark Edwards Swing Gospel Jazz Orchestra - S/T

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 50:32
Size: 115.7 MB
Styles: Big Band, Christian
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[4:12] 1. The Battle Hymn Of The Republic
[4:50] 2. Wade In The Water
[5:46] 3. Hymn To Freedom
[3:40] 4. Put Your Hand In The Hand Of The Man From Galilee
[3:38] 5. How I Got Over
[3:46] 6. I'll Wait And Pray
[6:08] 7. Amazing Grace
[5:19] 8. You Are Mighty
[2:43] 9. The Preacher
[3:04] 10. What A Friend We Have In Jesus
[1:06] 11. Home Into Your Arms
[6:13] 12. Hiow Great Is Our God

A much respected jazz musician, session pianist and record producer (whose story Cross Rhythms published a while back), Edwards offers here an outstanding album packed with top quality musicianship which conveys passion, tenderness, joy, emotion and conviction. There are moments on this album, such as during the full band sound of "Hymn To Freedom" and the powerful reworking of "Amazing Grace", when if you close your eyes you could be forgiven for thinking you are following a New Orleans jazz funeral procession. The authentic feel of this album is founded on classic sound of jazz from the deep south, whilst drawing influences from the wider world of jazz music, for instance in "I'll Wait And Pray" and "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" there is an improvised piano-based feel that you might expect to get in a smoky nightclub or jazz bar. Whatever your preference, from the opening piano and muted trumpet of "Battle Hymn Of The Republic" to the uplifting cover of Chris Tomlin's "How Great Is Our God" this is an album to savour. Over the years the Christian record companies have delivered their share of "jazz praise" duds. This, emphatically, isn't one of them. ~Alastair McCollum

Performances that are rich, and full of feeling, tenderness and power set this CD apart from so many instrumental albums. Each arrangement is lovingly crafted, and rooted in praise. The difference is tangible; a listening experience that will move you into a sense of the Father. Mark takes a number of well-known worship tunes and offers fresh arrangements and expressive performances, backed by a host of top musicians. Simply stunning!

The Mark Edwards Swing Gospel Jazz Orchestra

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