Ray Obiedo - Sweet Summer Days

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 1997
Time: 55:15
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 127,3 MB
Art: Front

(5:39) 1. Casserra
(6:20) 2. Blue Cactus
(4:57) 3. Sweet summer days
(5:32) 4. Cha La Island
(5:47) 5. Juliet
(4:57) 6. Current state
(6:23) 7. Macondo
(6:03) 8. What in the world
(5:37) 9. Coco
(3:56) 10. One wish

It would be easy to peg Ray Obiedo's Sweet Summer Days in the lazy title category, but in this case, the Bay Area guitarist's easygoing approach applies perfectly. That's not to say he's dogging it; this is a tightly produced mix of memorable ballads and gentle, mid-tempo melodies, with subtle hints of the Latin fusion punch that is Obiedo's trademark. It's more like a well-planned vacation from the usual sense of polyrhythmic, Latin-meets-African busyness that previous efforts like Iguana had.

While his usual angle is breaking off the predictable melodic path towards odd metered explorations before returning, here he focuses on getting from A to B with minimal fuss. Less exotic and unique, sure, but the zip in his electric string style (which compares favorably to Steve Laury) is still center stage, and he still enjoys shading in the harmonies with splashes of Latin piano (Peter Horvath), trombone (Jeff Cressman) and sax, EWI and flute (the versatile Norbert Stachel). The title track, a foray into the smooth urban sound sung by Peabo Bryson, doesn't tax Obiedo's chops but is amiable enough. Which seems to be the point of the whole album.
By Jonathan Widran https://www.allmusic.com/album/sweet-summer-days-mw0000024082#review

Sweet Summer Days

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Mark Soskin - Rhythm Vision

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1980
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:16
Size: 88,7 MB
Art: Front

(5:56)  1. Colossus
(4:47)  2. Mambo Mio
(8:26)  3. Walk Tall
(5:29)  4. Caribbean Party Stomp
(4:27)  5. That's What Friends Are For
(5:08)  6. The Opening
(4:00)  7. Bolinas

Mark Soskin was born July 12, 1953 in Brooklyn, N.Y. Soskin has recorded and performed with such diverse musicians as Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, Randy Brecker, Billy Cobham, Buster Williams, Eddie Henderson, Stanley Turrentine, Cornell Dupree, Herbie Mann, John Abercrombie, Claudio Roditi, Sheila Jordan, Gato Barbieri, Joe Locke, David"Fathead"Newman, Mark Murphy, Slide Hampton, Pete and Sheila Escovedo, Bobby Watson, Miroslav Vitous, The NY Voices and others.   Soskin attended Colorado State University where he pursued classical studies, but at this time his interests in jazz music were growing. In 1973 he enrolled in The Berklee College of Music, studying composition as well as arranging. In Boston he began to work professionally until moving to San Francisco, eventually going on to work with some of the west coast's finest players.   Shortly after arriving in San Francisco, Soskin was introduced to the Latin music legend, Pete Escovedo. Along with Pete's daughter, percussionist Sheila. E, they toured and recorded as Azteca, a group in which Soskin's keyboard, writing, and arranging talents were showcased. Eventually, the group, which now included Tom Harrell on trumpet, went on to record two discs for Fantasy Records, produced by drum ace Billy Cobham. Soskin was enlisted in Cobham's band, a stint that lasted for two years and which produced two recordings for Columbia. Between tours for Cobham, Soskin did a tour and live recording for the CBS All Stars with Tom Scott, Alphonso Johnson, Steve Khan, and Billy Cobham. At this time Soskin was very active as a session player at Fantasy studios in Berkeley, California and veteran jazz music producer Orrin Keepnews took notice.   Soskin signed his first recording contract with Prestige (a subsidiary of Fantasy) produced by Keepnews, entitled "Rhythm Vision." This featured the likes of Benny Maupin and Harvey Mason with the album eventually making it into Billboard's top ten Jazz Chart.

 Keepnews introduced Soskin to Sonny Rollins, which started a long, fruitful collaboration (14 years). Besides the extensive touring throughout the world, Soskin can be heard on a number of critically acclaimed recordings with the tenor sax master, including a video,"Saxophone Collosus”.   Since 1981 Soskin has resided in New York City, remaining active as sideman and as a leader. He has ten of his own recordings to date and three as co-leader, one which features Harvie Swartz and Joe LaBarbera with Sheila Jordan called "Spirits", one under the name "Contempo Trio" with Danny Gottlieb and Chip Jackson featuring Ravi Coltrane and another Contempo Trio recording named"The Secret of Life" featuring Carolyn Leonhart. His recording, "17" on TCB, highlights Soskin in a quintet setting featuring mainly original compositions.  He continues to maintain a busy tour schedule as well as giving master classes and workshops. Television performance credits include the HBO hit series, "Sex And The City." Examples of arranging projects have been writing for Slide Hampton's "World Of Trombones" and his writing and playing on Steve Smith's DVD,"Drumset Technique/History of the U.S. Beat". Soskin has been featured in solo piano concerts throughout the world such as the Ottawa Jazz Festival. He has performed the premier of contemporary classical music composer John Adams' opera, "Ceiling/Sky" at Lincoln Center. Soskin is currently on the faculty of The Manhattan School Of Music and has been written up in numerous music publications, including Ira Gitler and Leonard Feather's Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz and The Jazz Book by Joachim E. Berendt. Mark Soskin is featured in the film documenting latin jazz artists entitled "Calle 54”. He signed with the Kind of Blue label and produced three recordings for the company, all critically acclaimed. The first is entitled,“One Hopeful Day ”, which features Chris Potter, Bill Stewart and Jay Anderson.  The second released in October 2009 is “Man Behind the Curtain” with Ravi Coltrane, Bill Stewart and Jay Anderson. The third,released in 2012, is “Mark Soskin Solo Piano- The Music of Nino Rota”. His newest recording is “ Live at Small’s, Mark Soskin Quartett(2015)”, featuring Rich Perry, Jay Anderson and Anthony Pinciotti.  Mark Soskin teaches privately and is available for master classes and workshops.

Personnel:  Mark Soskin-keyboards;  Bennie Maupin-tenor and soprano saxes,flutes ;  Oscar Brashear, Snooky Young-trumpet, flugel horn;  George Bohanon-bass trombone;  Mel Martin-alto flute,alto sax;  Ray Obiedo-guitars;  Paul Socolow-electric bass;  Harvey Mason-drums;  Sammy Figueroa-congas, percussion.

Rhythm Vision

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Pete Escovedo - E Street

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1997
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:15
Size: 131,4 MB
Art: Front

(6:14)  1. Another Star
(6:24)  2. Sambacu
(5:24)  3. Fantasy
(6:16)  4. Boomerang (Instrumental)
(4:57)  5. Smile Please (Instrumental)
(5:05)  6. Like A Volcano (Instrumental)
(4:49)  7. You're My Little Girl
(6:01)  8. La Familia (Instrumental)
(5:13)  9. Waterfall (Instrumental)
(6:47) 10. Lord Remember Me

E Street is an all-star affair led by percussionist Pete Escovedo, the father of drummer/percussionist Sheila E., who also guests on E Street along with several Escovedo siblings, saxophonists John Handy, Gerald Albright and Mel Martin, and pianist/vibraphonist Buddy Montgomery. E Street seems to expend a great deal of energy going in a lot of different directions wide-open freeways of Latin rock, lit up with horns and sparkling with guitar, piano, trumpet and of course percussion solos; rolling, soft cha-cha ballads; and new yet familiar byways with covers of Earth Wind & Fire's "Fantasy" and Stevie Wonder's "Another Star" but it never seems to actually GET anywhere. The only breaks in the placid scenery come from the appropriately titled fiesta jam "Like a Volcano" and the surprisingly stirring, hymn-with-vocals "Lord Remember Me," which closes this set. ~ Chris Slawecki https://www.allmusic.com/album/e-street-mw0000019566

Personnel: Pete Escovedo (vocals, percussion, timbales); Brenda Roy (vocals); Peter Michael Escovedo (vocals, drums, percussion); Juan Escovedo, Sheila Escovedo (vocals, percussion, congas); John Handy (alto saxophone); Gerald Albright, Alex Murzyn (tenor saxophone); Melecio Magdaluyo (saxophone, flute); Mel Martin (bass clarinet); Bill Ortiz, Louis Fasman, John Worley, Mike Galisatus (trumpet); Robbie Kwock (trumpet, flugelhorn); Marty Wehner, Wayne Wallace, Jeff Cressman (trombone); Buddy Montgomery (vibraphone); Renato Neto, Jeff Chimenti, Murray Low (piano); Dave Mathews (piano, synthesizer); Ray Obiedo (synthesizer, guitar); Steve Erquiaga (acoustic guitar); Mark Van Wageningen, Derek Jones (bass); Paul Van Wageningen (drums); Van Waller (percussion); Juanita Escovedo (guiro).

E Street

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Eddie Henderson - Mahal

Styles: Trumpet Jazz 
Year: 1978
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:40
Size: 95,8 MB
Art: Front

(8:08)  1. Butterfly
(5:21)  2. Cyclops
(5:01)  3. Emotions
(5:18)  4. Prance On
(5:40)  5. Amoroso
(4:35)  6. Mahal
(3:28)  7. Ecstasy
(4:04)  8. Cyclops (Disco Remix)

Although Eddie Henderson rounded up a familiar, distinguished roster of help this time including his old employer Herbie Hancock, his old hornmates Bennie Maupin and Julian Priester, plus guest Headhunters Paul Jackson and Bill Summers not much had changed from his first Capitol release to his second. This meant more disco excursions for Capitol's A&R department and more listless themes for Henderson's horn to purvey, although his solo contributions are somewhat more involving this time.

Henderson's version of one of the few memorable compositions on the record, Hancock's lovely "Butterfly" is a disco disaster  all of its subtleties and sophisticated textures grounded away under the beat and Hancock himself can be indicted as a co-conspirator. Oddly enough, through all of the changes in his style and backings, Skip Drinkwater remained Henderson's producer all the way through the '70s which speaks well for loyalty if not for an artistic track record pointedly headed downhill. ~ Richard S.Ginell http://www.allmusic.com/album/mahal-mw0000902102

Personnel:  Eddie Henderson - trumpet, flugelhorn;  Hubert Laws – flute;  Julian Priester – trombone;  Bennie Maupin - tenor saxophone, saxello;  Herbie Hancock - electric piano, clavinet, synthesizer;  Mtume - piano, congas;  John Bowen - synthesizer, programming;  Ray Obiedo – guitars;  Paul Jackson – bass;
Howard King – drums;  Bill Summers - congas, percussion

Mahal

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Norbert Stachel - Shades Of The Bay

Size: 129,8 MB
Time: 55:35
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2015
Styles: Jazz
Art: Front

01. Crawdaddy Dance (4:23)
02. Step On It (5:28)
03. Afrobaldi (4:57)
04. Peace On Earth (4:57)
05. For Tito (8:13)
06. Mandela (4:56)
07. Last Minute Blues (7:40)
08. Power Tap (3:33)
09. Goodbye Elgin Park (6:21)
10. Elbo Greaze (5:05)

Personnel: Norbert Stachel, Happy Sanchez, David K. Mathews, Peter Horvath, Ray Obiedo, Marc Van Wageningen, Karl Perazzo, Dave Schul, Victor Little, Brian Collier, Daniel Gonzalez, Mic Gillette, Louis Fasman, Jeff Cressman, Yosvany Terry.

Norbert Stachel, a saxophonist and multi woodwind instrumentalist, is widely recognized for being a unique soloist and also for his strong ensemble contributions in all kinds of musical genres. Norbert has recorded, toured, and performed with a variety of known and established names, as well as artists deserving wider recognition. He has worked with famous names including: Aerosmith, Tower of Power, Roger Waters, Tony Toni Toné, Ted Nugent, Eddie Money, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Prince, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Dream Theatre, Diana Ross, Boz Scaggs, Bonnie Raitt, Cold Blood, Neil Diamond, En Vogue, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Sheila E, Quincy Jones, D’Angelo, Billy Joel, Jimmy Buffet, Quicksilver, Les McCann, Don Cherry, Freddie Hubbard, Roy Hargrove, Andrew Hill, Charlie Haden, Benny Green, Russel Malone, Woody Herman, Kenny Burrell, Buddy Montgomery, Joe Henderson, Eddie Henderson, George Cables, Bobby Hutcherson, Lou Rawls, Eartha Kitt, Dizzy Gillespie, Zigaboo Modeliste, Flora Purim & Airto, Merle Saunders, Bob Weir, Hiram Bullock, Carlos Santana, & countless others.

Norbert is accomplished on all saxophones, clarinets, flutes, and ethnic wind instruments. Norbert has 30+ years experience playing Jazz, Classical, Rock, R&B, Afro Cuban/Latin, Salsa, Klezmer, Middle Eastern, World, and most other forms of music. Norbert also composes instrumental & vocal music, and also arranges for any kind of instrumental ensemble or choir.

Instruments Played: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone, & Bass Saxophones- Eb Soprano, Bb, Bb Bass (low C), & BBb Contrabass (low C) Clarinets- Piccolo, C, Alto , & Bass Flutes- & a variety of ethnic wind instruments.

Shades Of The Bay

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Ray Obiedo - There Goes That

Size: 126,7 MB
Time: 54:39
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2015
Styles: Jazz: Latin Jazz, Jazz Funk, Croosover Jazz
Art: Front

01. Southern Side (4:34)
02. Fayola (6:33)
03. Werewolf (6:24)
04. Small Fortune (7:35)
05. Four Square (5:09)
06. Avila (5:08)
07. There Goes That (4:57)
08. Ten Thirty (4:24)
09. Somebody (4:20)
10. Almost Certain (5:31)

The 7th release by Bay Area guitarist and composer Ray Obiedo "There Goes That" on Rhythmus Records is a another collection of original compositions fused with Latin Jazz, Funk and Brasilian styled rhythms. His eclectic groove oriented compositions never stray far from his love of R&B. The melodies are simply stated and gracefully glide over jazz influenced chord structures. Obiedo enlisted some of the music industries top musicians and longtime cohorts for the project. Percussionist Sheila E, drummer Peter Michael Escovedo, steel pan master Andy Narell, trumpeter Michael "Patches" Stewart and Tower of Power drummer David Garibaldi, all make brief appearances. Santana members David K. Mathews, Karl Perazzo, Jeff Cressman and Bill Ortiz contribute their expertise. Playing soprano sax on two tracks, "Werewolf" and "Four Square", is Miles Davis alumni Kenny Garrett. "There Goes That" also features Norbert Stachel, Elena Ayodele Pinderhughes, Marc & Paul van Wageningen, Roger Glenn, Michael Spiro, Peter Horvath, Stefen Kuehn and Sandy Cressman. Ray has 5 previous releases on the Windham Hill jazz label; this is his first on his own Oakland based Rhythmus Records label. The music on "There Goes That" is a highly energized and hypnotically rhythmic soundscape revealing all the passion, flavor, color and style of the San Francisco Bay Area which conceived, nourished and inspired Obiedo's latest musical venture.

There Goes That

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