Meredith d'Ambrosio - Sometime Ago

Styles: Vocal
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:46
Size: 122,4 MB
Art: Front

(6:30) 1. When Springtime Turns To Fall
(5:45) 2. Feast Your Eyes
(6:16) 3. Moonlight
(4:57) 4. Sometime Ago
(5:15) 5. May I Come In
(4:27) 6. I Wished On The Moon
(4:09) 7. My Open Heart
(5:11) 8. I Remember You
(5:03) 9. Oh Well, What The Hell
(5:09) 10. If I Should Lose You

Boston born Meredith d'Ambrosio, a renaissance woman of international critical acclaim, has successfully combined careers in the musical and visual arts. Her musical sojourn began in 1958 in Boston singing with small bands with Roger Kellaway on piano. Although she worked primarily as a jazz singer-pianist she is also known as a respected calligrapher, watercolorist, creator of eggshell mosaics, composer, lyricist, recording artist and teacher.

She branched out into NYC in 1981, and since that time has been touring extensively throughout North America and Europe performing with such musicians as Harold Danko, Bob Dorough, Dave Frishberg, Fred Hersch, Eddie Higgins, Dick Hyman, Hank Jones, Lee Musiker, Mike Renzi, Richard Wyands, Milt Hinton, Major Holley, Jay Leonhart, Michael Moore, George Mraz, Rufus Reid, Leroy Vinnegar, Buddy DeFranco, Harry Allen, Lee Konitz, Ken Peplowski, Phil Woods, Jack Sheldon, Don Sickler, Al Grey, Johnny Frigo, Gene Bertoncini, Kevin Eubanks, Joe Ascione, Terry Clarke, Keith Copeland, Jake Hanna, Butch Miles and Ben Riley to name a few.

Meredith d'Ambrosio continues to delight those who have come to expect a high degree of proficiency in her artistic offerings and has shown herself to be, if not an iconoclast, one who is comfortable enough with her own sense of self to challenge the mainstream concept of popularity without sacrificing considerable talents and originality.

"To listen to d'Ambrosio is to abandon oneself to her charm. She leaves you spellbound with her impeccable diction, great sense of phrasing, intonation, and gentle swing, showing an unaffected simplicity and inner lyricism that expresses more than all the high-soaring excesses of scat singers."

(Serge Baudot, Jazz Hot, France)"Her secret,one shared by very few singers, is her ability to deliver the meaning of a lyric in her understated and hip-as-can-be way. "George Fendel,Portland Jazzscene)https://meredithdambrosio.com/bio/

Personnel: Meredith d'Ambrosio - vocals; Randy Halberstadt - piano; Daryl Johns - bass; Steve Johns - drums; Don Sickler - flugelhorn (4) & muted trumpet (9)

Sometime Ago

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Meredith d'Ambrosio - Lost In His Arms

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1989
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 34:32
Size: 80,2 MB
Art: Front

(1:35) 1. Lost In His Arms
(2:54) 2. Baltimore Oriole
(2:17) 3. Land Where The Good Songs Go
(1:35) 4. In Love In Vain
(3:04) 5. Alone Together
(3:11) 6. It Never Entered My Mind
(1:53) 7. Once In A Blue Moon
(2:29) 8. Blame It On My Youth
(1:22) 9. Rip Van Winkle
(1:49) 10. Everytime We Say Goodbye
(2:34) 11. Never Never Land
(2:46) 12. I Get Alone Without You Very Well
(1:55) 13. Up Jumped Spring
(3:11) 14. Spring Is Here
(1:49) 15. Funny Girl

Meredith d'Ambrosio accompanies herself for the most part on this solo CD. She's got the perfect piano chops to back her soft but always swinging vocals, resulting in an album that often seems like the listener is eavesdropping on an artist performing alone for her own enjoyment. Part of the informal nature of these sessions is that only one of the 15 tracks exceeds three minutes in length, while several end after only a single chorus. The singer is especially effective interpreting wistful ballads like "Blame It On My Youth" and "In Love in Vain." She taps her foot a bit to "Baltimore Oriole" and the gliding treatment of "Up Jumped Spring," and delightfully restores the often omitted verse to "It Never Entered My Mind." She sings a bit more brazenly when Ray Santisi takes her place at the piano (adding bassist Chris Rathburn and an unidentified drummer playing brushes) on the brisk "Alone Together" and a waltz-time "Never Never Land." First released on LP by Spring, these memorable sessions were reissued on CD by Sunnyside in 1994.~ Ken Dryden https://www.allmusic.com/album/lost-in-his-arms-mw0000443061

Personnel: Vocals – Meredith d'Ambrosio; Bass – Chris Rathbun; Coordinator [Reissue] – François Zalacain; Guitar – Norman Coles; Piano – 1 to 4, 6 to 10, 12 to 16 (Meredith d'Ambrosio)

Lost In His Arms

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Meredith D'Ambrosio - It's Your Dance

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1985
File: MP3@224K/s
Time: 47:34
Size: 77,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:12)  1. Giant Steps
(2:30)  2. Once Upon A Tempo
(4:28)  3. Listen Little Girl
(4:55)  4. Devil May Care
(2:26)  5. August Moon
(2:56)  6. Nobody Else But Me
(3:03)  7. Humpty Dumpty Heart
(2:55)  8. It's Your Dance
(5:10)  9. The Underdog
(3:13) 10. It Isn't So Good - It Couldnt Be Better
(3:17) 11. Off Again On Again
(2:46) 12. No One Remembers But Me
(3:37) 13. Miss Harper Goes Bizarre
(2:59) 14. Strange Meadowlark

A first-rate trio date, possibly D'Ambrosio's finest in that format. Her singing has punch, variety, and dimension, and her phrasing is creative and expertly constructed. Kevin Eubanks' guitar contributions are concise, thoughtful, and without any gimmicks or wasted riffs. D'Ambrosio and Harold Danko interact smoothly, and his piano backing is delicate and supportive. ~ Ron Wynn   

http://www.allmusic.com/album/its-your-dance-mw0000188016

It's Your Dance

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Meredith D'Ambrosio - By Myself

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 61:43
Size: 141.3 MB
Label: Sunnyside
Styles: Easy Listening
Year: 2011
Art: Front

[4:38] 1. By Myself
[4:46] 2. Through a Thousand Dreams
[4:30] 3. Once Upon a Long Ago
[4:24] 4. If There Is Someone Lovelier Than You
[6:01] 5. All Through the Night
[4:44] 6. High and Low
[3:01] 7. I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan
[4:37] 8. You and the Night and the Music
[4:08] 9. Something to Remember You By
[3:10] 10. Dancing in the Dark
[5:22] 11. Then I'll Be Tired of You
[3:12] 12. Why Go Anywhere at All
[3:00] 13. I See Your Face Before Me
[6:05] 14. Haunted Heart

As a title, By Myself contains multiple levels of meaning. For starters, it's the first album on which jazz vocalist and pianist Meredith D'Ambrosio has devoted herself to the work of a single composer (Broadway songwriter Arthur Schwartz). Secondly, it's her first recording since 1981's Another Time on which she appears as the sole instrumentalist. Lastly, it is her first recording since the death of her husband, pianist Eddie Higgins. All but three of these 14 Schwartz compositions were written with longtime partner, lyricist Howard Dietz, and most of them are standards. Two exceptions are "All Through the Night" (with Johnny Mercer) and "Then I'll Be Tired of You" (with Ernie "Yip" Harburg). In addition, there are two little-known Schwartz compositions here, "Once Upon a Long Ago" and "Through a Thousand Dreams," written with Leo Robin. These last two were handpicked for her to sing by her son. D'Ambrosio's approach sounds a bit austere, at least initially. That's only because we're familiar with iconic singers -- from Sinatra and Streisand to Fitzgerald and Vaughan -- performing these tunes with more populated and complex arrangements. But D'Ambrosio's intimate setting provides a prime setting for her signature vocal interpretation of these songs. She slows tempos, transposes keys, and gives them over to her unique phrasing. Her piano actually becomes a second voice. Her sense of timing is impeccable; she isn't showy, but she is precise and flowing in her economy. With her voice she can wring nuances, impressions, and ghost traces from these melodies that we didn't know were there, and her piano knows just where to highlight them, as in "Something to Remember You By." The title track is full of simmering intensity; "High and Low," "Dancing in the Dark," and "You the Night and the Music" are sung not in the moment, but in the moment of remembering; not nostalgically, but emotionally. The closer, "Haunted Heart," is the lone exception, sung in the moment to the absent beloved, of her own ache and loneliness. The sense of restraint D'Ambrosio's so well known for serves these songs beautifully, because none of them can ever appear overwrought. Instead, they are abundant with meaning. Their melodies entwine with the lyrics in complete balance, expressing a musical poetry of the heart itself. In listening to By Myself, and long after it has ended, D'Ambrosio's voice reveals to the listener that she knows exactly what these songs mean as a highly skilled musician, and as a human being who has lived, loved, and lost.

By Myself

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