Mark Sherman - The L.A. Sessions

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 70:53
Size: 162.3 MB
Styles: Vibraphone jazz
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[5:39] 1. Woody N' You
[5:18] 2. Quasimodo
[5:47] 3. It Could Happen To You
[5:46] 4. Celia
[5:31] 5. Far Away
[5:43] 6. Whisper Not
[5:00] 7. Moment's Notice
[9:11] 8. Bag's Groove
[5:02] 9. Serpent's Tooth
[5:27] 10. Quasimodo (Bonus)
[5:31] 11. Woody 'n You (Bonus)
[6:51] 12. Celia (Bonus)

Vibraphonist Mark Sherman has had a longstanding desire to release an album featuring some of his favorite bebop and standard tunes. Now, in L.A. Sessions, this dream comes true, with happy results. These jazz gems from a half-century ago are played in the tradition, but Sherman and his cohorts lovingly add luster. Chief help comes from Bill Cunliffe, on Hammond B-3 organ (rather than his usual piano), and masterful guitarist John Chiodini, a favorite on the Southern California club scene.

Sherman has 30 years of recording, composing, and performing with top players and vocalists. Indicating his prowess, he topped Downbeat Magazine's Critics Poll in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Much influenced by Milt Jackson, his centerpiece here is an extended version of the great vibraphonist's classic "Bag's Groove." On this, he is laidback and mellow, embracing, midway, solid guitar, organ and drum solosBop's progenitors are well represented. Dizzy Gillespie's 1942 standby, "Woody N' You," is a pleasure, as is Bud Powell's "Celia," another game-changing genre piece with its unmistakable and groundbreaking rhythmic repetition and chord tones. The quartet excels on both.

Sherman travels forward in time with Miles Davis' "Serpent's Tooth," featuring Charles Ruggiero's torrential drums, helping to create a swirling vibes-guitar tempest. Along the way, John Coltrane's "Moment's Notice" brings a post bop feel to the proceedings, while Sherman's original, "Far Away," with its haunting atmosphere, brings to mind Thelonious Monk's "'Round Midnight" from the earlier era.

If asked what bop was like, this CD could be used as an aural illustration. Not as authentic as listening to a pioneer like Charlie Parker, perhaps, but these enthusiastic recreations do prevail. ~Larry Taylor

Mark Sherman: vibes; Bill Cunliffe: Hammond B3 organ; John Chiodini: guitar; Charles Ruggiero: drums.

The L.A. Sessions

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Rodney Jones - The Undiscovered Few

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 1999
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:34
Size: 145,3 MB
Art: Front

(6:27)  1. The Undiscovered Few
(5:58)  2. Light And Shadows
(4:47)  3. Tradewinds
(5:58)  4. Dreamers In Love
(5:41)  5. My Favorite Things
(2:55)  6. Through The Eyes Of A Child
(5:22)  7. Oliver & Thad
(5:18)  8. The Message
(6:16)  9. Lesson Time
(4:06) 10. Tears Of A Forgotten Child
(5:08) 11. Circus Wheel
(4:33) 12. 3Rd Orbit

Guitarist Jones has a few other CDs that made you stop and listen, but this one is a true revelation. It explores the music from an expanded compositional standpoint as opposed to the A-B (with solos) -A format. The improvisational aspect of the leader is not de-emphasized, but this superb music, with its mainstream inclinations and joyous horn-embellished large group charts, comes out in a stunning and refreshing manner. Jones has substantial help from top-notch peers as saxophonists Donald Harrison, Greg Osby, and Tim Reis; trumpeters Tim Hagans and Earl Gardner; pianists Shedrick Mitchell, Mike Renzi, and Mulgrew Miller; bassist Lonnie Plaxico; and drummer Eric Harland, among others. As a player on his hollow bodied, non-treated electric guitar, Jones is economical, crisp, and driving. The music he makes is richly constructed, filling up space. Horns cry out, swing like mad, commanding attention. These charts are quite remarkable with presence and effective clarity. "Light & Shadows," "The Message," "Circus Wheel," and "Third Orbit" pop and bop, crackling with syncopated underpinnings. A tour de force blues "Oliver & Thad" for Oliver Nelson and Thad Jones swells with an orchestral quality and expansive concept that is a common theme throughout. The music jumps out at you. Smaller groupings give Jones no less room to stretch as on the Latin-inspired "Tradewinds," or duets with violinist Regina Carter on "Tears of a Forgotten Child," and cellist Jesse Levy on "Through the Eyes of a Child (For Cara)." You're going to exclaim a huge "wow!" upon hearing this one for the first time and with repeated listenings gain more enjoyment from this exciting recording. Clearly an extraordinary modern jazz effort, certainly the best of Jones' career, and a solid candidate for Jazz CD of 1999. ~ Michael G.Nastos http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-undiscovered-few-mw0000245489

Personnel: Rodney Jones (guitar); Greg Osby, Morris Goldberg (alto saxophone); Donald Harrison, Tim Ries (tenor saxophone); Tim Hagans, Earl Gardner (trumpet); Charles Gordon (trombone); Regina Carter (violin); Jesse Levy (cello); Mark Sherman (vibraphone); Shedrick Mitchell, Mike Renzi, Mulgrew Miller (piano); Lonnie Plaxico, Benjamin Brown (bass); Lewis Nash, Eric Harland (drums); Robert Allende (percussion).

The Undiscovered Few

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Laverne Butler - Day Dreamin'

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 1994
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:30
Size: 106,8 MB
Art: Front

(4:41)  1. Friday Afternoon
(3:24)  2. Love Me
(2:49)  3. The Happy Song
(4:19)  4. Little Girl Blue
(4:21)  5. When Your Lover Has Gone
(5:08)  6. Let Your Tears Hang Out
(4:14)  7. Gonna Give Lovin' A Try
(5:37)  8. For the Love of You
(3:41)  9. Day Dreaming
(4:59) 10. Photograph
(3:10) 11. Two Different Worlds

With LaVerne Butler having provided so much passionate, intense hard bop on her debut album, No Looking Back, it came as quite a surprise when the singer took a more mellow and laidback approach on her second album, Day Dreamin', which was devoid of loud horn solos and found her joined by an intimate piano trio. Not thrilled to hear Butler interpreting songs by the Isley Brothers and Aretha Franklin, some jazz purists dismissed the CD as lightweight quiet storm music and argued that Butler should have stuck with standards and hard bop. But in fact, Day Dreamin' has a lot going for it. By choosing less obvious material, Butler was taking chances, and they pay off handsomely. The Isleys' "For the Love of You" and Franklin's "Day Dreamin'" work well in an acoustic jazz setting, as does Brazilian singer Dori Caymmi's "Photograph." This CD can function as mood music, but it's personal, heartfelt mood music that is as rewarding as it is thoughtful. ~ Alex Henderson http://www.allmusic.com/album/day-dreamin-mw0000119633

Personnel: LaVerne Butler (vocals); Peter Bernstein (guitar); Rob Bargad (piano); Mark Sherman (vibraphone); Gregory Hutchinson (drums); Daniel Sadownick (percussion).

Day Dreamin'

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Tim Hegarty - Tribute

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 70:00
Size: 160,6 MB
Art: Front

( 7:34)  1. A New Blue
( 6:55)  2. Amsterdam After Dark
(10:05)  3. Simone
( 8:35)  4. Ineffable
( 7:21)  5. New Picture
( 7:03)  6. Not To Worry
( 6:48)  7. Low Profile
( 4:25)  8. Gingerbread Boy
( 7:14)  9. Pannonica
( 3:55) 10. Inner Urge

Tim Hegarty's Tribute is an audible panegyric on the great saxophonist-composers. It's a well-crafted, straightforward date that highlights Hegarty's love for those who've come before and the work that they've done on paper and on record. The list of saxophonists that Hegarty has studied includes George Coleman, Jimmy Heath, Frank Foster, Joe Henderson, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Charlie Parker, and Michael Brecker; the first four on that list are represented on the composition side during this program and the rest come out in various ways as Hegarty winds his way through the music. Sonically speaking, Hegarty's tenor comes off like a more lustrous Joe Henderson with a dash of Dexter Gordon thrown into the mix. His soprano is broader sounding and less shrill than most. He sounds phenomenal on both horns, riding atop the to-die-for rhythm section of pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Rufus Reid, and drummer Carl Allen.

This quartet, augmented by vibraphonist Mark Sherman on five tracks, doesn't try to reinvent the wheel by deconstructing or wildly reconstructing anything. This is more of an old school outfit, content to simply take a song and run with it. They play out-and-out classics (Henderson's "Inner Urge" and Foster's "Simone") deliver a few lesser known Heath tunes along with his most famous composition ("Gingerbread Boy"), and tackle a pair of Hegarty originals with class and assuredness. Thought was clearly put into the way the songs would be arranged or structured, but nothing was thought-to-death. Many outings of a similar nature tend to be underwhelming or overcooked, but this one came out just right. ~ Dan Bilawsky  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/tribute-tim-hegarty-miles-high-records-review-by-dan-bilawsky.php

Personnel: Tim Hegarty: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone;  Mark Sherman: vibraphone (2-6);  Kenny Barron: piano;  Rufus Reid: bass;  Carl Allen: drums.

Tribute

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Kenny Barron & Mark Sherman - Interplay

Size: 169,5 MB
Time: 73:26
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2015
Styles: Jazz: Piano Jazz
Art: Front

01. Afternoon In Paris (6:11)
02. Venture Within (7:43)
03. Dear Old Stockholm (4:53)
04. Darn That Dream (7:37)
05. Cheese Cake (9:04)
06. The Question Is (5:15)
07. Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk (4:57)
08. Polka Dots And Moonbeams (7:14)
09. Royal Garden Blues (4:53)
10. Indian Summer (7:35)
11. Without A Song (8:02)

Personnel:
Kenny Barron, piano
Mark Sherman, vibes

Recorded at Hirsch Center, Brooklyn, NY on 2014 (11/28/2014).

A premiere duo binaural release featuring jazz aficionados Mark Sherman and Kenny Barron (the tenth in the illustrious career of Kenny Barron and Mark Sherman's second with Chesky Records), Interplay is the blending of two generations of musical practitioners of the highest caliber. Lending their own unique verve and ingenuity to nine jazz standards and two original pieces, Sherman and Barron, both professors at Juilliard, teach us all a thing or two about the genre we call Jazz.

Interplay

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