Ray Brown Trio - Some Of My Best Friends Are...Singers

Styles: Contemporary Jazz, Vocal
Year: 1998
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:32
Size: 128,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:19) 1. I Thought About You
(3:24) 2. Poor Butterfly
(5:30) 3. More Than You Know
(2:25) 4. Little Boy
(5:37) 5. But Beautiful
(3:19) 6. At Long Last Love
(5:57) 7. Skylark
(6:15) 8. Cherokee
(4:16) 9. (There Is) No Greater Love
(4:32) 10. Imagination
(3:36) 11. The Party's Over
(5:15) 12. The Perfect Blues

What does a bass player do when he's recording an album as a leader? Surely not an hour's worth of bass solos! Ray Brown solved the bass player's dilemma with a series of recordings under the Some of My Best Friends Are... heading. This 1998 release is the third in the series, following the earlier Some of My Best Friends Are...Piano Players and Some of My Best Friends Are...Sax Players, and it's a gem. Featuring a sextet of fine vocalists, ranging from the well-established to the unknown, this CD is a class act from beginning to end. The rising jazz vocal superstar of the late '90s, Diana Krall, is showcased to great effect on "I Thought About You" and "Little Boy." Well-established female vocal veterans Etta Jones, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Marlena Shaw deliver superb performances, soulfully giving master lessons in the art of singing. The lone male singer spotlighted here, Kevin Mahogany, wraps his smooth baritone around the ballad "Skylark," and swings gently on "The Party's Over."~Jim Newsonhttps://www.allmusic.com/album/some-of-my-best-friends-aresingers-mw0000042710

Personnel: Ray Brown – double bass; Geoff Keezer – piano; Gregory Hutchinson – drums; Antonio Hart – alto saxophone; Russell Malone – guitar

Some Of My Best Friends Are...Singers

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Randy Porter (feat. Nancy King) - Porter Plays Porter

Styles: Vocal Jazz, Piano
Year: 2017
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:01
Size: 96,6 MB
Art: Front

(5:22)  1. I Concentrate On You
(3:55)  2. I Love You
(4:48)  3. Just One of Those Things
(4:30)  4. Inside Your Mind
(4:43)  5. All Of You
(5:04)  6. Why Can't You Behave
(3:52)  7. Night and Day
(4:07)  8. Get Out of Town
(5:36)  9. Every Time We Say Goodbye

Randy Porter's “Porter Plays Porter” wasn't merely a title of convenience. The quality of Cole Porter's wit, harmony, and mix of dark and light has been part of Randy Porter's vernacular since his early musically formative years when at age 20, Randy was the pianist and musical director of “Cole!” The music, its beauty, irony, intelligence and poignancy has remained with him ever since. There is a resemblance of musical features that puts Randy and Cole on the same page, taking the same major to minor, pain and beauty that gives these musicians more than just a vehicle for improvisation. It's their muse and inspiration. Nancy King has been long considered the top of the elite jazz singers on the planet by followers and lovers of the vocal jazz tradition. Her immense innate musical abilities including phrasing, musical awareness, flexibility and depth of experience through the music of Cole Porter, in the company of Randy Porter, John Wiitala and Todd Strait on a cold Portland day came together in a surreptitious way that just one of those things meant to happen can. - Steve Christofferson https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/randyporter22

Porter Plays Porter

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Karrin Allyson - By Request: The Best Of Karrin Allyson

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:47
Size: 153,1 MB
Art: Front

(5:26)  1. Night And Day
(6:02)  2. Moanin'
(5:55)  3. What's New
(3:54)  4. O Pato (The Duck)
(4:07)  5. Sous Le Ciel De Paris (Under Paris Skies)
(4:15)  6. Life Is A Groove (Jordu)
(6:44)  7. Everything Must Change
(4:20)  8. A Felicidade (Happiness)
(6:11)  9. Sweet Home Cookin' Man
(6:20) 10. Nature Boy
(3:44) 11. And So It Goes
(3:48) 12. Cherokee
(4:54) 13. Next Time Around (Soultrane)

Straight-ahead jazz vocalist Karrin Allyson came from Kansas City to the world at large, becoming as popular as any singer of her generation. These 12 selections plus one previously unissued track, done over a span of 11 recordings and 15 years, show why she has become likable, marketable, and admired within certain circles of the mainstream standard-bearers. She also writes a little, plays some piano, interprets others' lyrics to well-known standards, and tosses in a considerable amount of seductive Brazilian or French tunes done in their native language. Allyson's controlled voice never soars skyward or through wispy clouds, but her sensible style is one that easily attracts regular nightclubbers, as well as festival crowds who just want to hear good music professionally performed. Her sophistication through the years has grown considerably, but she has never been the cutesy singer who needed to grow up, and has remained as poised and polished as the first day she chose to sing for a living. This recording also displays a mix of the many collaborators she has worked with, including many of her friends from home. She's very comfortable with the blues, as the Bobby Timmons evergreen "Moanin'" displays, going from a scatted intro to the famous Jon Hendricks lyric. She uses two guitarists for the light samba take of "Night and Day," the perky "O Pato," and the convincing, heartfelt "Nature Boy." An accordion accompanies the waltz "Sous le Ceil de Paris," and she sings well in Portuguese on the happy, bouncy "A Felicidade." Working separately and together with the wonderful singer Nancy King, Duke Jordan's "Jordu" is turned into "Life Is a Groove" with Allyson's swinging lyrics, while her original "Sweet Home Cookin' Man" is a fan favorite about an imaginary sweetheart gourmet chef, with the modal piano of Paul Smith keeping the griddle sizzling. In retrospect, her version of the ballad "What's New?" is especially poignant and bittersweet to hear, considering that the late tenor saxophonist Bob Berg and pianist James Williams are backing her up. Both died far too young, making this statement a forever unanswered question. "Cherokee" is the most unusual arrangement, jamming the gears from idle neutral to furiously fast sixth gear at the drop of a flag like a drag race. Certainly there are those who would choose different tracks, but this is a very good overview of what Allyson has done in her relatively short career and there's much more to come. ~ Michael G.Nastos http://www.allmusic.com/album/by-request-the-best-of-karrin-allyson-mw0000816546

Personnel: Karrin Allyson (vocals, piano, shaker); Nancy King (vocals); Danny Embrey (guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Rod Fleeman (acoustic guitar); Carter Brey (cello); Randy Weinstein (harmonica); Gil Goldstein (accordion, piano); Kim Park (alto saxophone); Bob Berg (tenor saxophone); Paul "Scooby" Smith, Mulgrew Miller, James Williams , Bruce Barth (piano); David Finck, John Patitucci, Bob Bowman (acoustic bass); Todd Strait (drums, percussion); Lewis Nash (drums); Michael Spiro (pandeiro, shaker, surdo).

By Request: The Best Of Karrin Allyson

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Nancy King, Steve Christofferson - Straight Into Your Heart

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1996
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:21
Size: 93,1 MB
Art: Front

(5:04)  1. Moonray
(5:41)  2. Blue Beach
(3:27)  3. The Night Has A Thousand Eyes
(6:55)  4. Moonlight To You
(4:05)  5. Zanzibar
(4:43)  6. Waltz For Debby
(4:59)  7. Love Is What Makes Us All One
(5:23)  8. Straight Into Your Heart

An adventurous singer with an intriguing sense of humor, Nancy King stretches and extends the bebop tradition. After high school, she worked in San Francisco with Pharoah Sanders, Pony Poindexter, and a variety of local players. Resettling in the Pacific Northwest, the underrated vocalist has had an underground reputation among jazz singers. King released her first album, Impending Bloom, in 1991, followed five years later by Straight Into Your Heart. She also recorded two live dates, Moon Ray and Live at Jazz Standard, with pianist Fred Hersch; the latter was nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2006. ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/artist/nancy-king-mn0000366565/biography

Personnel: Nancy King (vocals); Steve Christofferson (melodica, piano).

Straight Into Your Heart

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