Ken Peplowski - At Mezzrow

Styles: Clarinet And Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2024
Time: 60:06
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 138,3 MB
Art: Front

(7:21) 1. Vignette
(4:39) 2. Prisoner Of Love
(9:26) 3. Beautiful Love
(6:23) 4. All The Things You Are
(8:12) 5. Like Young
(3:54) 6. The Shadow Of Your Smile
(5:21) 7. Cabin In The Sky
(5:01) 8. Bright Mississippi
(4:18) 9. Here's To Life
(5:26) 10. Who Knows

Ken Peplowski is an extraordinary jazzman with over 70 personal recordings to his name and prestigious collaborations with a wide range of artists, including Charlie Byrd, Mel Tormé, Hank Jones, Peggy Lee, Woody Allen, Benny Goodman, and Madonna. Needless to say, this album, modestly titled Live at Mezzrow, is a true gem that your ears will quickly embrace, as Ken Peplowski’s melodic sense and saxophone playing are so commanding. On this recording, the band leader is accompanied by Ted Rosenthal on piano, Martin Wind on double bass, and Willie Jones III on drums, offering a captivating performance captured during two one-hour sets. We particularly appreciate the simplicity of this setup, which guarantees a very “club” sound, with Ken Peplowski’s playing alone bringing a form of modernity through his propositions. So, we sit down quietly, a glass in hand, and listen, captivated by the beauty of the moment.

In his own words, Peplowski shares the journey behind the album: “Like most musicians, when the dreaded Covid, along with the accompanying lockdown, struck in 2020, it was the end of work. As a sort of very dark cosmic joke, not only did I have a severe case of Covid in March 2020, but my beloved dog Honeypie had to be euthanized in April 2021. In June of that year, I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma.”

So, this is a very special album with a unique story. Indeed, SmallsLIVE owner and pianist Spike Wilner proposed the idea of this live album to Peplowski, who immediately accepted. The acclaimed multi-instrumentalist said, “This is my favorite way to record I like to work on musical material for a year or two, find interesting pieces that are less often played, revive a few pieces that I haven’t played in years, and simply go into the studio with friends and record like a band on stage, playing the music, with its imperfections, and that’s exactly what we did.”

We crave more of such imperfections because a ten-track live album seems a bit short once we’ve immersed ourselves in this ambiance. Ken Peplowski Live at Mezzrow includes unique interpretations of jazz classics as well as lesser-known gems, all delivered with an authority and nuance that only Peplowski and his colleagues can achieve. Each selection tells a story of Peplowski’s fruitful musical adventures with the architects of this art. The live performance is a true masterclass in interaction, with Peplowski’s melodic refrains soaring above Rosenthal’s harmonic reflections, supported by the rhythmic section of Willie Jones III and Martin Wind, themselves talented melodic musicians.

Needless to say, this album can quickly go on repeat, creating an honest and warm ambiance. Although they are covers, they are arranged with such talent that they can be considered recompositions, and this is probably why this album slips surreptitiously into our “Essentials”. By Thierry De Clemensat https://www.paris-move.com/reviews/ken-peplowski-live-at-mezzrow-eng-review/

Personnel: Ken Peplowski - Clarinet & Tenor Saxophone; Ted Rosenthal - Piano; Martin Wind - Bass; Willie Jones III - Drums

At Mezzrow

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Ann Hampton Callaway - Fever: a Peggy Lee Celebration!

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:10
Size: 118,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:43) 1. Fever
(3:18) 2. Till There Was You
(2:36) 3. The Glory Of Love (Feat. John Pizzarelli)
(6:06) 4. The Folks Who Live On The Hill
(1:47) 5. Sing A Rainbow
(2:57) 6. I Don't Know Enough About You
(3:37) 7. Claire De Lune
(5:54) 8. Black Coffee
(3:51) 9. I Love Being Here With You
(3:26) 10. The Other Part Of Me
(3:22) 11. Johnny Guitar
(4:53) 12. Where Can I Go Without You?
(2:38) 13. This Is A Very Special Day / It's A Good Day
(2:55) 14. Angels On Your Pillow

Peggy Lee was a remarkable singer and songwriter, but to some listeners, deeply enigmatic. Her time, often well behind the beat, conveyed a subtle sense of irony. "Are you getting this?" she sometimes seemed to say, "or am I going too fast for you?" She could be exuberant and world weary almost in the same breath. It was seemingly up to the audience to decipher her meaning. Lee could convey expectation and experience simultaneously, as in her version of "Folks Who Live on The Hill." "Fever."

Well, it was not as if much imagination was needed, with a drummer dropping exclamation points, but tastefully, not bump and grind. As much as any singer of her generation, even more than Anita O'Day, Lee could convey emotional turmoil, never perhaps really distant from her personal life. She was a singer for adults, like O'Day or Billie Holiday. She could sing sweetly, but that was not her customary image by the time she reached the 1960s.

Those same qualities are gloriously evident in Ann Hampton Callaway's well-chosen celebration of Lee. Just in case the listener were inclined to miss them, Callaway's version and it is her version of "Fever" includes a wry commentary on Lee's first marriage to guitarist Dave Barbour, when she was in her apprenticeship to Benny Goodman in the 1940s. It is a nod to Lee's songwriting as well, like "Captain John Smith and Pocahontas," that Lee apparently added. It is instructive to listen to Callaway doing "Till There Was You."

This tune dates from the 1950s, and Lee sold it as a straight love song, no fireworks. Callaway gives a different impression, regret perhaps. When you think of Lee as the voice of experience as in "Is that All There Is?," Calloway's quality is strikingly different. It is the same on "Folks Who Live on the Hill." Lee could have been looking into the future, but Callaway leaves the impression that she has seen it all.

"Black Coffee" has been done by so many artists since Sarah Vaughan that it would take a book to compare them. Callaway gives it a solid blues treatment, and like some others, she has the right voice for it, down and dirty. Lee pretty much did it that way too, but not every singer has. Callaway is true to the original, but then so was Lee. Preference is a matter of taste.

On the other hand, some of the material is, well, if not obscure, probably new to some. "The Other Part of Me," for instance, or "Johnny Guitar," is presumably related to a Joan Crawford film made in 1954 about the risks an independent woman had to take on the Wild West. Lee started young and had a long career that included acting. Not everyone will be familiar with her entire trajectory, or coded allusions to aspects of her personal life.

As for Callaway, this recording only goes to show she has not chosen to coast on past successes, of which there have been many. She is, like Lee, quite versatile, ranging far beyond basic blues, and very much her own singer and songwriter, no matter who her formative influences were.

There are plenty of subtle clues about Callaway's outlook in her singing: anyone who can do a song like "Thoughts and Prayers" is not about to compromise artistry or talent for anyone. Nor, one suspects, would Peggy Lee either. Jazz can be complicated, and so too, its best exponents.By Richard J Salvucci https://www.allaboutjazz.com/fever-a-peggy-lee-celebration-ann-hampton-callaway-palmetto-records

Personnel: Ann Hampton Callaway: voice / vocals; John Pizzarelli: guitar; Ted Rosenthal: piano; Martin Wind: bass, acoustic; Tim Horner: drums; Bob Mann: guitar.

Fever: a Peggy Lee Celebration!

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Martin Wind Quartet, Bill Mays, Scott Robinson, Matt Wilson - My Astorian Queen

Styles: Jazz, Bop
Year: 2021
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:27
Size: 126,3 MB
Art: Front

(7:35) 1. Mean What You Say
(5:30) 2. Solitude
(6:06) 3. Broadway
(7:35) 4. Peace Waltz
(5:02) 5. E Preciso Perduar
(7:57) 6. Out in P.A.
(5:30) 7. My Astorian Queen
(4:56) 8. There's a Boat That's Leaving Soon for New York
(3:12) 9. New York, New York

Bassist Martin Wind, born in Flensburg, Germany, moved to New York City in 1996 and has called the area home ever since more specifically, suburban New Jersey where he lives with his wife, Maria, two grown sons and one dog. Wind had been in New York for less than forty-eight hours when he was introduced to Maria who lived in an apartment in a predominantly Greek area of Astoria, Queens; soon afterward, she became Wind's Astorian Queen and lifelong companion. When planning his fifteenth album as leader or co-leader of his own groups, to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of his arrival, Wind turned to some old friends to flesh out his quartet and if it sounds like more than a quartet, that is more than likely because the versatile Scott Robinson plays tenor and bass saxophones, clarinet and trumpet (albeit not simultaneously). And if it sounds considerably better than your average foursome, that is definitely because pianist Bill Mays and drummer Matt Wilson complete the starting line-up.

Wind, who also composes, wrote three of the album's nine selections: "My Astorian Queen," "Solitude" and "Out in P.A.," while Mays wrote the meditative "Peace Waltz." New York is prominently represented with Wilbur Bird's swinging "Broadway" and the last two numbers, George Gershwin's "There's a Boat That's Leaving Soon for New York" (from the folk opera Porgy and Bess) and Fred Ebb & John Kander's iconic salute to the city, "New York, New York." Rounding out the program are Thad Jones' light-hearted "Mean What You Say" and the Latin charmer, "E Preciso Perduar," which was brought to Wind by one of his students, a drummer from Brazil.

Although bassists, even when leading a group, more often than not take on a supporting role, Wind takes the lead on "My Astorian Queen," using his resonant sound and marvelous technique to bring its lovely melody to life. Robinson plays tenor on that theme, as he does on "E Preciso Perduar" and "Out in P.A.," moving to trumpet on "Mean What You Say" and "There's a Boat," clarinet on "Solitude," bass saxophone on "Broadway." Wind also carries the melody on "New York, New York," played by the trio without Robinson, as is "Peace Waltz." Wind plays arco bass there, and on "Out in P.A." As for Mays, he is simply one of the best in the business, whether soloing or comping, and Wilson (who solos smartly on "There's a Boat") fits any milieu like the proverbial glove. With My Astorian Queen, Wind and his colleagues have celebrated his anniversary in grand style. By Jack Bowers https://www.allaboutjazz.com/my-astorian-queen-martin-wind-laika-records

Personnel: Martin Wind: bass, acoustic; Bill Mays: piano; Scott Robinson: saxophone, baritone; Matt Wilson: drums.

My Astorian Queen

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Adrian Cunningham, Ken Peplowski - Duologue

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:45
Size: 134.5 MB
Styles: Bop, Swing, Bossa Nova, Cool Jazz
Year: 2018
Art: Front

[4:23] 1. Show Type Tune
[4:10] 2. Jimmy Up Jimmy Down
[4:28] 3. Ballade
[5:03] 4. Background Music
[4:33] 5. Carinhoso
[5:33] 6. Mozart After A Few Beers
[5:05] 7. Dois Grandes Grinos
[5:09] 8. Looking Back
[6:40] 9. I'm Just A Lucky So And So
[3:44] 10. Luiza
[5:59] 11. Sonic Garden
[3:52] 12. Alligator Crawl

Bass – Martin Wind; Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Liner Notes – Adrian Cunningham; Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone, Producer, Liner Notes – Ken Peplowski; Drums – Matt Wilson; Piano – Renee Rosnes. Recorded on May 10 & 11, 2017 in New York City.

A co-leader project often is an opportunity to hear an old favorite in a new context—and perhaps to discover a new favorite musician. Such is the case with Duologue, icon Ken Peplowski’s album with fellow clarinetist Adrian Cunningham, an Australian native now based in New York who has collaborated with other acclaimed bandleaders, including trombonist Wycliffe Gordon and bassist Vince Giordano. But the title of this excellent straightahead disc is somewhat misleading because the project involves a flexible, collaborative quintet, and the other three band members made essential contributions, adding one composition apiece to the recording. Acrobatic pianist Renee Rosnes gave this program “Jimmy Up Jimmy Down,” a gem she composed for saxophone legend Jimmy Heath. Bassist Martin Wind offered “Looking Back,” which adds a supremely memorable melody to a program filled with them. Gregarious drummer Matt Wilson supplied “Sonic Garden,” an avant-leaning piece that demonstrates how musical elements from Earth can meld well with those from Saturn. The co-leaders’ shared affinity for Brazilian tunes is evident: The band transforms Pixinguinha’s “Carinhoso” into a brilliant flute showcase for Cunningham, while Rosnes and Peplowski’s duo reading of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Luiza” illustrates why the clarinet master is invited to perform at festivals around the globe.

Elsewhere on this 12-track album, Cunningham and Peplowski offer authoritative dual-clarinet segments, particularly on the buoyant “Dois Grandes Gringos.” (Other woodwinds factored into the recording sessions as well, with the co-leaders contributing tenor saxophone and bass clarinet.) This album’s smile-inducing renditions of Duke Ellington’s “I’m Just A Lucky So And So” and Fats Waller’s “Alligator Crawl” will be catnip for fans of classic jazz. Additionally, this project showcases Cunningham’s sense of humor, not only in the song title of his “Mozart After A Few Beers,” but also in his liner notes essay: “Ken’s idea to record the album entirely [with the musicians] drumming on reclaimed Tupperware was suggested, and put aside … as was his idea of having us play underwater, with only the bubbles of air recorded as they hit the surface. (Preliminary bathtub tests proved unsuccessful.) All jokes aside, this album is terrifically successful. ~Bobby Reed

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Philip Catherine, Martin Wind - New Folks

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:30
Size: 129.4 MB
Styles: Guitar jazz
Year: 2014
Art: Front

[5:49] 1. Old Folks
[4:18] 2. Fried Bananas
[3:51] 3. Hello George (For G. Shearing)
[3:51] 4. Blues In The Closet
[4:12] 5. How Deep Is The Ocean
[2:51] 6. Jenny Wren
[6:05] 7. Song For D
[4:36] 8. Sublime
[2:38] 9. Pivoine
[5:34] 10. L'eternel Desir
[4:59] 11. Standing At The Window Waving Goodbye
[2:47] 12. Toscane
[4:54] 13. Winter Moon

Philip Catherine - the South German Newspaper in Munich just recently wrote that he “plays things that cannot be heard by any other guitarist in the world today”. His partner on the bass, Martin Wind, is one of only a few Germans who made it in New York. Both are aesthetes that love melodic jazz with Swing roots. Without any haste or superficial virtuosity, but instead with complete mutual trust they find the ideal tone, the right timbre for each note, lining up sound and space perfectly. A meeting of generations marked by harmony and respect.

The Belgian guitarist Philip Catherine is a European jazz legend. The now 71-year-old Catherine started playing professionally when he was only 17 and toured with artists such as Lou Bennett, Dexter Gordon, Jean-Luc Ponty, Chet Baker (with whom he recorded 6 albums), Tom Harrell and many others. In 1978 he received the “Artist of the year” award by the German Phono-Academy, and Charles Mingus gave him the nickname “Young Django”. This is also a result of his impeccable time feel, which allows him to sound relaxed and loose even while playing the most breathtaking up-tempo passages. But it is not mainly his technique and dexterity that sets him apart; furthermore what made him so unique is his acoustic guitar sound, as well as an improvisational style, which is based not on other guitarists, but on some of the great horn players in jazz.

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Martin Wind - Tender Waves

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:23
Size: 138.2 MB
Styles: Piano jazz, Contemporary jazz
Year: 2007
Art: Front

[ 6:19] 1. There's A Boat That's Leaving Shortly For New York
[ 6:25] 2. Quietly
[ 7:28] 3. Marc's Moments
[ 7:22] 4. You're My Everything
[ 2:53] 5. Tender Waves
[10:17] 6. Make A New Start
[ 6:12] 7. Coraçao Vagabundo
[ 7:48] 8. You And The Night And The Music
[ 5:35] 9. Too Far From You

The influence of Bill Evans is quite strong on Tender Waves, which is Martin Wind's second album as a leader and was recorded in Holland in 1994. This Dutch release finds the acoustic bassist forming a piano trio with drummer Keith Copeland and the lyrical, melodic pianist Bill Mays, who brings his appreciation of Evans to Wind's thoughtful compositions as well as introspective versions of George Gershwin's "There's A Boat That's Leaving Shortly for New York" (one of the Gershwin classics that hasn't been overdone by jazz musicians in recent years) and Caetano Veloso's Brazilian classic "Coracao Vagabundo." But while Evans is among Mays' strongest influences, Mays is nonetheless his own man. Mays is an admirer of Evans, but not a clone-and ultimately, it is Mays' own lyricism, not the ghost of Bill Evans, that proves valuable to Wind on this memorable CD. ~Alex Henderson

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Martin Wind Quartet - Turn Out The Stars: Music Written Or Inspired By Bill Evans

Size: 167,7 MB
Time: 72:41
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Jazz: Straight-Ahead/Mainstream Jazz
Art: Front

01. Turn Out The Stars ( 8:48)
02. My Foolish Heart ( 8:50)
03. The Days Of Wine And Roses ( 6:09)
04. Jeremy ( 8:01)
05. Memory Of Scotty ( 6:16)
06. Kind Of Bill ( 4:44)
07. Blue In Green (12:27)
08. T.T.T.T (11:54)
09. Goodbye Mr. Evans ( 5:28)

Has an artist ever been characterized as a hopeful romantic? If not, then let us nominate Martin Wind, not as hopeless, but a bullish and inspiring romantic. His quartet and the 36- piece Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana tribute to pianist Bill Evans Turn Out The Stars marries his talents, both as a jazz bassist/bandleader and orchestral arranger.

Besides leading his own quartet, and working in trio with Bill Mays and Matt Wilson, and in the guitar/bass duos with Philip Catherine or Ulf Meyer, Wind is an in-demand sideman featured in multiple projects, including Matt Wilson's Arts & Crafts and bands led by, Ted Nash, Gary Smulyan, and Pete Mills, to name just a few. He released two stellar recordings in 2013, the CD Ulf Meyer and Martin Wind At Orpheus Theater (Laika) and an audiophile LP Remember October 13th (Edition Longplay).

Recorded live at the Theatro Rossini in Pesaro, Italy, Wind's quartet includes his regular partners, saxophonist Scott Robinson and pianist Bill Cunliffe, plus drummer Joe LaBarbera, who was Bill Evans' drummer in the pianist's final trio (1978-1980). This homage to Evans is enhanced by the gorgeous and passionate arrangements Wind wrote for conductor Massimo Morganti's orchestra. The disc opens with the title track, an overture in full bloom that gives way to the quartet's recitation of melody with Robinson's saxophone laying down velvety notes. Each piece— such as the spry rendition of "The Days Of Wine And Roses," performed by the quartet or full orchestra—is dexterously accomplished. Wind has the knack for extracting the sweetest juice for each piece written by Evans or written in tribute to the great one. La Barbera's composition "Kind Of Bill" opens with a piano and bowed bass duo, then lingers in that romantic atmosphere Evans loved to reach for.

Even in full orchestra, the quartet is never overwhelmed. The luscious arrangement of "Blue In Green" plays off of the contrasts of lightness and dark, the orchestra a pastoral landscape for the quartet to rollick. The tricky "Twelve Tone Tune Two" pushes the orchestra into a challenging interchange with La Barbera's drums and the coughing horn of Robinson. At the center of this gorgeous evening is the stalwart bass of Wind, the infrastructure upon which both a quartet and a very large orchestra is held by his passionate zeal. ~Mark Corroto

Personnel: Martin Wind: bass; Scott Robinson: tenor saxophone, C melody saxophone; Bill Cunliffe: piano; Joe La Barbera: drums; Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana - Massimo Morganti: conductor.

Turn Out The Stars

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