Ron Blake - Shayari

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:21
Size: 159,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:39)  1. Waltz For Gwen
(8:41)  2. Atonement
(6:03)  3. Come Sun
(5:54)  4. Hanuman
(4:30)  5. What Is Your Prayer For?
(6:45)  6. Of Kindred Souls
(6:04)  7. Please Be Kind
(7:15)  8. 76
(2:00)  9. Remember The Rain
(7:23) 10. The Island
(4:52) 11. Teddy
(1:01) 12. Abhaari (Pt. I)
(3:08) 13. Abhaari (Pt. II)

There's an attention to sonic detail and aural space on tenor saxophonist Ron Blake's Shayari that would be more expected from the ECM label than from Detroit's Mack Avenue Records. But Mack Avenue, through Blake and his producer/pianist Michael Cain, has given us a CD strong on tone and mood, intimate and introverted without being lightweight or insubstantial. The intimacy flows from the instrumentation: All the tracks are trios save for three duos, and all but one scant-minute track feature tenor sax and piano. There is a lived-in feel about this record as well, as Blake revisits some of his earlier compositions in a more ruminative frame of mind, such as "Waltz for Gwen," with hand percussion (Jack DeJohnette or Gilmar Gomes) shading the leader's dry, urbane sax tone.

"Of Kindred Souls," originally recorded with Roy Hargrove's band, becomes a conversational trio with Regina Carter's violin joining tenor sax and piano. A heavier spiritual vibe informs "Atonement," tenor soloing over a fraught piano ostinato and DeJohnette's bundled sticks on cymbals, and "Hanuman," where Blake's tenor becomes surprisingly staccato over toms and rumbling piano. But for the most part, Blake's tenor is dry and airy, with a yearning tone akin to polite Coltrane. Emotions here are definitely subdued. Ivan Lins' "The Island," with Gomes punctuating on frame drum, is breezily seductive; Christian McBride's bass brings smooth swing to Bobby Hutcherson's "Teddy and the tenor/piano duet on "Please Be Kind the only American pop standard is a model of easy grace.By George Kanzler
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/shayari-ron-blake-mack-avenue-records-review-by-george-kanzler.php


Personnel: Ron Blake: tenor saxophone; Michael Cain: piano; Regina Carter: violin (6); Jack DeJohnette: drums (2, 4, 8, 12, 13); Gilmar Gomes: percussion (1, 3, 10); Christian McBride: bass (5, 11).

Shayari

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Steve Turre - Lotus Flower

Styles: Trombone Jazz
Year: 1999
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:17
Size: 141,0 MB
Art: Front

(5:51) 1. The Lotus Flower
(6:39) 2. Chairman Of The Board
(6:55) 3. The Inflated Tear
(6:27) 4. The Organ Grinder
(2:02) 5. Passion For Peace
(6:48) 6. Sposin'
(6:22) 7. The Fragrance Of Love
(7:03) 8. Blackfoot
(7:23) 9. Goodbye
(5:42) 10. Shorty

You might call Lotus Flower an act of relaxation after the strenuous exercise of the Steve Turre album, for Turre reduces forces and idioms to a more-or-less straight-ahead sextet and concentrates almost entirely upon the trombone. In doing so, he re-stakes his claim to being one of the outstanding voices on the trombone of his time, turning some lovely playing on "The Fragrance of Love" and "Sposin'" and some extremely agile bop work at a fleet pace on "Blackfoot" to cite two extremes. But this sextet has no ordinary front line; Turre shares the spotlight with a violinist (Regina Carter) and a cellist (Akua Dixon), thus deliberately managing to avoid the trumpet/saxophone axis entirely.

Now and then, Turre also throws in a seventh element, Kimati Dinizulu's percussion or Don Conreaux's gong, to add exotic and spiritual flavors to the menu. Carter gets far more swinging time than Dixon on the album indeed, Carter's spiritual forefather seems to be Joe Venuti while Dixon gets typecast into the warm, lyrical role that cellists usually fulfill. Mulgrew Miller (piano, Buster Williams (bass) and Lewis Nash (drums) form the solidly mainstream rhythm section that is, however, occasionally asked to do unconventional things. Fortunately, there are enough off-center textures and quirks on this album to sustain Turre's yen for adventure in the '90s and on the rhythmically Balkanized "Shorty," Turre's conch shells make a welcome if brief cameo return.~Richard S. Ginell https://www.allmusic.com/album/lotus-flower-mw0000047074

Personnel: Trombone – Steve Turre; Cello – Akua Dixon; Double Bass – Buster Williams; Drums – Lewis Nash; Piano – Mulgrew Miller; Violin – Regina Carter

Lotus Flower

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Karrin Allyson Sextet - Shoulder to Shoulder: Centennial Tribute to Women’s Suffrage

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:57
Size: 117,8 MB
Art: Front

(1:58)  1. Preamble
(3:17)  2. The March of the Women
(4:40)  3. The Great Convention
(1:38)  4. Susan B. Anthony (1873)
(3:30)  5. I’ll Be No Submissive Wife
(1:34)  6. Frederick Douglass (1888)
(4:11)  7. Anti Suffrage Rose
(2:41)  8. She’s Good Enough To Be Your Baby’s Mother
(1:38)  9. Elihu Root (1894)
(3:48) 10. Columbia’s Daughters
(1:43) 11. Sojourner Truth (1851)
(3:49) 12. The Promised Land
(4:34) 13. Winning the Vote
(1:35) 14. Alice Paul (1921)
(4:18) 15. Way Down Below
(4:57) 16. Big Discount

The Karrin Allyson Sextet releases Shoulder to Shoulder: Centennial Tribute to Women’s Suffrage, a very special and timely album, today to celebrate the centennial of women’s voting rights. In addition to five-time Grammy nominee Karrin Allyson, the sextet also features Ingrid Jensen (trumpet),Mindi Abair (alto saxophone) Helen Sung (piano),Endea Owens (bass), and Allison Miller (drums). Shoulder to Shoulder seeks to re-create the multi-decade debate  warts and all that culminated in the enactment of t he nineteenth amendment. “We want to highlight this significant movement in American history. One that we shouldn’t forget and that is relevant today. It’s also one in which music played an important role,” said Karrin Allyson.

A remarkable artist, Allyson is also an activist who feels equally comfortable on the bandstand, as she does at the podium making the case for women’s rights. In fact, she has a history of writing songs (“Big Discount,” “Way Down Below”) that challenge conventional political wisdom and call for societal change. Most of t hese songs are propaganda. They were composed in the nineteenth or early twentieth century to advance or abridge women’s voting rights. In fact, the “suffrage” repertoire is made up of hundreds of songs, and Allyson and the productio n team selected ones that typified the back -and-f or th debate of t he struggle. That these songs can be re-imagined speaks not only to their timeless quality but the power of music in advancing social movements. The “war” over women’s rights was waged, in part, through and by music. And here these songs are made relevant again through modern jazz. Because of t he theme’s inclusive import, Allyson and the production team invited several notable guests to “lend their voices” to the debate. Adding copious artists can risk turning any project from a cohesive musical statement to a “gathering place.” Alas,Allyson’s powerful and profound vocals provide the through line and beginning-to-end narrative arc of the entire production. This album is very much a story. 

And Allyson is its storyteller, with each guest thoughtfully featured to dramatize historical episodes in the women’s suffrage movement. Shoulder to Shoulder has an incredible array of featured artists. Guest appearances by Madeleine Peyroux (vocals),Kurt Elling (vocals),Regina Carter (violin),Denis e Donatelli (vocals), Veronica Swift (vocals), Rapsody (rap),Antonia Bennett (vocals),Emily Estefan (vocals),Pauline Jean (vocals),Olivia Culpo (cello) and a Choir of over forty Women's Rights Activists. There are several spoken word performances that re-create the debateover woman’s suffrage: Harry Belafonte performs a speech by Frederick Douglass, Rosanne Cash performs a speech by Susan B. Anthony, Julie Swidler performs a speech by Alice Paul,Lalah Hathaway performs a speech by Sojourner Truth, and Peter Eldridge performs a speech by Elihu Root. There is even a brief appearance by Roberta Flack on the album. Susan Morrison of The New Yorker serves as an Executive Producer of the project, which was produced by multi-Grammy winners Kabir Sehgal, John Daversa, and Doug Davis.more..... https://karrin.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/S2S-Press-Release.pdf

Shoulder to Shoulder: Centennial Tribute to Women’s Suffrage

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Regina Carter - Swing States: Harmony in the Battleground

Styles: Violin
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:27
Size: 115,1 MB
Art: Front

(1:41) 1. Welcome to Swing States from Regina Carter
(4:05) 2. Georgia On My Mind
(4:02) 3. Rocky Mountain High (Colorado)
(6:08) 4. Dancing in The Street (Detroit, Michigan)
(0:48) 5. Jon Batiste 504
(6:41) 6. You Are My Sunshine
(1:04) 7. We Shall Overcome
(0:56) 8. Harvey Mason in Kansas
(5:46) 9. Home on the Range (Kansas)
(1:01) 10. John Daversa in the Everglades
(4:57) 11. Swanee River (Florida)
(5:03) 12. Pennsylvania
(6:34) 13. On Wisconsin!
(0:35) 14. Faygo Boat Song (Michigan)

We’re edging closer toward the United States’ 59th quadrennial presidential election, and it’s that pivotal event anchoring violinist Regina Carter’s sanguine Swing States: Harmony In The Battleground. The music never approaches the acerbic tone of the Black Lives Matter protests that followed George Floyd’s killing or the maudlin tenor surrounding the inescapable COVID-19 pandemic two events that almost certainly will impact the decisions of voters. Instead, Carter delivers ingenious covers of idiomatic tunes associated with U.S. swing states places that could decide the country’s next political epoch. Carter opens the album with a spoken-word recollection of growing up in Detroit and how observing cultural differences works toward shaping how individuals vote. She also mentions watching her older family members head to the polls a pertinent recollection given recent reports of voter suppression efforts and the centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which worked to give women in the U.S. the right to vote. Other band member pianist Jon Batiste, trumpeter John Daversa and drummer Harvey Mason provide their own personal mementos of Louisiana, Florida and Kansas.

The overarching theme of unity is channeled through masterful makeovers of chestnuts, like the rambunctious reading of “On Wisconsin!” and a blues-honed take of “You Are My Sunshine (Louisiana).” The high point, though, is the dramatic rendition of “Dancing In The Streets.” Instead of the tune being driven with its signature jack-hammering rhythm, Carter recasts it as an elegiac ballad, the bandleader and Daversa elongating the melody across the rhythm section’s lumbering tempo. Her violin then rises with luminous yet oblique improvisation, a feat illustrating her keen musicality and interpretive prowess.Even though guarded optimism permeates Carter’s latest effort, solemnity sneaks through in spots, articulating the gravity of what Americans are set to face in coming months.~ John Murph https://downbeat.com/reviews/detail/swing-states-harmony-in-the-battleground

Personnel: Regina Carter (violin), Harvey Mason (drums), Jon Batiste (piano), John Daversa (trumpet, flugelhorn), Kabir Sehgal (bass, percussion), Alexis Cuadrado (bass).

Swing States: Harmony in the Battleground

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Regina Carter - Motor City Moments

Styles: Violin Jazz
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:48
Size: 116,9 MB
Art: Front

(5:17)  1. Don't Git Sassy
(6:17)  2. Don't Mess With Mr. T
(5:53)  3. For Someone I Love
(3:48)  4. Forever February
(6:56)  5. Higher Ground
(6:24)  6. Love Theme From Spartacus
(3:47)  7. Prey Loot
(4:56)  8. Fukai Aijo
(3:50)  9. Chattanooga Choo Choo
(3:36) 10. Up South

Two years after her stunning debut on Verve, violinist Regina Carter offers listeners her exceptional string virtuosity on ten great songs inspired by her hometown of Detroit, Michigan. Motor City Moments features a stellar collection of songs written by some of the best musicians from Detroit including Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Thad Jones, and Milt Jackson. Regina Carter applies her pure skill, pizzicato, and arco passages to "Don't Mess With Mr. T" and "Higher Ground" with impeccable tuning and multiple approaches. Her string virtuosity on Milt Jackson's "For Someone I Love," is a masterful performance backed adeptly by Mayra Casales on percussion and spotlights a brilliant piano solo by Werner "Vana" Gierig. Two originals, "Forever February" and "Up South," which was co-written with guitarist Russell Malone, provide an interesting contrast of the artist's use of reflective temperament and folk-ornamented cadences. Each song also emphasizes Carter's adept techniques with melodic phrasing and song forms. Accompanied by her touring band of Darryl Hall on bass, Alvester Garnett on drums, percussionist Mayra Casales, Marcus Belgrave on trumpet and flugelhorn, James Carter on bass clarinet and tenor sax, Barry Harris on piano, Lewis Nash, as well as several special guests, Regina Carter has rapidly become one of the most exciting and original violinists to arrive on the jazz scene. ~ Paula Edelstein https://www.allmusic.com/album/motor-city-moments-mw0000672434

Personnel: Regina Carter - violin; Marcus Belgrave -trumpet; James Carter - tenor saxophone, bass clarinet; Werner "Vana" Gierig - piano; Darryl Hall - bass; Alvester Garnett - drums; Barry Harris - piano; Russell Malone - guitar; Lewis Nash - drums.

Motor City Moments

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Gary Smulyan - Gary Smulyan With Strings

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1997
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:11
Size: 120,1 MB
Art: Front

(2:47)  1. The Bad And The Beautiful
(3:41)  2. Lush Life
(4:18)  3. Thanks For You
(6:23)  4. It Happens Quietly
(5:23)  5. Don't Follow The Crowd
(6:00)  6. We've Got A Sure Thing
(4:56)  7. Beware My Heart
(6:10)  8. The Moment Of Truth
(6:34)  9. Yesterday's Gardenias
(5:54) 10. Two For The Seesaw

Charlie Parker's love affair with strings, most notably during the 1950s for Verve Records, made it acceptable for other saxophonists to undertake similar projects. After all, if a player of the magnitude of Parker can indulge, than it must be OK for everyone else. Gary Smulyan, who was a member of the Charles Mingus Big Band, undertook the daunting task of linking the deep, robust sound of a baritone with a string section without creating more than sugar-coated boredom. With the help of Bob Belden's charts, that musical objective is achieved. The deep sound and rich color unique to the baritone is used to good effect on such ballads as "The Bad and the Beautiful," "Lush Life," and "Beware My Heart." To avoid being trapped in the sensualness of lush arrangements, Smulyan and Belden offer contrasting, crisper, peppier arrangements and renditions for numbers like "The Moment of Truth." The Latin beat is introduced with "Two for the Seesaw." Strings notwithstanding, the ace rhythm section of Mike LeDonne, Kenny Washington, and Peter Washington remind the listener that this is, after all, a jazz album, and provide support to the Smulyan saxophone within that context. They have an opportunity to stretch out on several of the cuts without any competition from the strings. Smulyan and LeDonne work together with excellent results on "Lush Life" and LeDonne's piano gets extended play on "Two for the Seesaw." A good baritone added to imaginative string arrangements blended with a first-class rhythm section equals a fine album. ~ Dave Nathan https://www.allmusic.com/album/gary-smulyan-with-strings-mw0000033563

Personnel:   Gary Smulyan - baritone saxophone; Mike LeDonne - piano; Peter Washington - bass; Kenny Washington - drums; Bob Belden - arranger, conductor; Cenovia Cummins, Mark Feldman, Regina Carter, Laura Seaton, Jon Kass  - violin;  Ron Lawrence - viola; Erik Friedlander, Tomas Ulrich, Clay Ruede - cello

Gary Smulyan With Strings

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Karrin Allyson - Some of That Sunshine

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:28
Size: 132,1 MB
Art: Front

(4:08)  1. Wish You Were Mine
(4:21)  2. Home
(4:31)  3. As Long as I Know You Love Me
(4:56)  4. Some of That Sunshine
(4:17)  5. Shake It Up
(4:32)  6. Just as Well
(4:59)  7. Time Is a Funny Thing
(4:35)  8. One of These Days
(4:03)  9. Nobody Said Love Was Easy
(5:37) 10. Happy Now
(4:30) 11. Right Here Right Now
(3:51) 12. You Don't Care
(3:02) 13. Big Discount

Throughout her fifteen albums, Karrin Allyson, five-time Grammy nominee in the Best Jazz Vocalist category, has demonstrated an uncanny ability to ‘get inside’ a lyric  to take over a song and reshape it into something magical. “Ever since her impressive debut (I Didn’t Know About You, Concord, 1992) Karrin Allyson has successfully pulled material from both the pop and jazz world and it all works well with her voluptuous huskiness and rhythmic sensibility.” ~ Roger Crane, The International Review of Music

Stephen Holden, in a NY TIMES concert review, praised Allyson as “one of the most grounded singers working today,” with an “exceptionally keen eye for the smart, semi-obscure pop or jazz number that speaks directly to the moment.” In his Wall Street Journal preview, writer Will Friedwald buzzed, “she sings with amazing subtlety.” And in his lead Jazztimes Magazine CD review, VOX critic Christopher Loudon said Allyson’s songs “shimmer with tender vibrancy.” Now, in a brand-new album to be released on 3 August 2018, Karrin steps forward commandingly in a new role as songwriter, revealing thirteen new songs in an astonishing range of styles and moods. Teaming up with the remarkable L.A. producer and recording artist Chris Caswell and her very talented current working band  Miro Sprague on piano, Jeff Johnson on bass, Rod Fleeman on guitar and Jerome Jennings on drums and featuring guest artists Regina Carter on violin and the magisterial Houston Person on tenor saxophone, she has produced an album full of unexpected delights, including a guest appearance from mega-bassist Lee Sklar. “It feels like coming home in a way,” says Allyson “As a young musician I was writing songs in a variety of styles, even before I discovered jazz. I loved the singer-songwriters of my youth and I followed their influence. Now, after years of performing all sorts of jazz and Brazilian and French music, I’m coming back to where I started.”

“These songs are quite varied in style very ‘Allyson-like’, I suppose you could say. I’ve always loved to mix things up. Take the title track “Wrap Up Some of that Sunshine” featuring violinist and MacArthur fellow Regina Carter that’s more of a traditional swing- standard. And then there are a few unabashedly romantic ballads like “Just As Well” featuring Houston, “You Don’t Care”, (lyrics by my Dad) and "Time is a Funny Thing”. I drop back more into my pop roots with songs like “As Long as I Know You Love Me”, "One of these Days”, "Happy Now”, and “Home"…and dig into the blues with “Right Here Right Now”, “Wish You Were Mine” and "Nobody Said Love was Easy”. I am acutely aware of the political scene and its challenges and so I penned a couple songs begging for change; "Big Discount" and "Shake it Up”. “Though I take every song I sing very personally, of course, there’s something extremely personal-and scary too, about singing your own stuff... the audience gets to know you even better  And I’m ready for that.” So, if you like soulful, sly, heartfelt, groovy songs with meaningful (and fun) lyrics here they are brand new, welcome and somehow beautifully familiar. https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/karrinallyson2

Personnel:  Karrin Allyson, voice and piano, Rhodes;  Chris Caswell, Hammond B-3, accordion;  Miro Sprague;, acoustic piano and Rhodes;  Jeff Johnson, bass;  Jerome Jennings, drums.

Special Guests:  Lee Sklar featured on “One of These Days”;  Regina Carter (Some of That Sunshine, Time is a Funny Thing, Big Discount);  Houston Person (Right Here, Right Now, Just as Well, Nobody Said Love Was Easy).

Some of That Sunshine

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Christian McBride - Conversations with Christian

Styles: Post-Bop, Straight-Ahead Jazz 

Year: 2011

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 76:27

Size: 175,2 MB

Art: Front

(4:21)  1. Afrika (feat. Angelique Kidjo)

(4:40)  2. Fat Bach and Greens (feat. Regina Carter)

(4:19)  3. Consider Me Gone (feat. Sting)

(6:18)  4. Guajeo Y Tumbao (feat. Eddie Palmieri)

(5:21)  5. Baubles, Bangles and Beads (feat. Roy Hargrove)

(7:07)  6. Spiritual (feat. Dr. Billy Taylor)

(5:09)  7. It's Your Thing (feat. Dee Dee Bridgewater)

(5:32)  8. Alone Together (feat. Hank Jones)

(5:35)  9. McDukey Blues (feat. George Duke)

(9:06) 10. Tango Improvisation #1 (feat. Chick Corea)

(6:39) 11. Sister Rosa (feat. Russell Malone)

(5:36) 12. Shake 'n Blake (feat. Ron Blake)

(6:39) 13. Chitilins and Gelitefish (feat. Gina Gershon)

Plenty of ink has been spilled by those espousing their opinions on the art of the trio, but the duo format doesn't get its due nearly as often either in print or on record. The trio format allows for various permutations in musical interaction, but pairing two artists together is all about direct, head-to-head conversation, and bassist Christian McBride knows a thing or two about this. While McBride has made a name for himself as a go-to bassist for all occasions and styles of music, his podcasts, Sirius-XM Radio Show (The Lowdown: Conversations With Christian McBride) and work as the co-director of The National Jazz Museum in Harlem have also shown the bassist to be an engaging presence in one-on-one games of the aural variety.  While McBride considered the idea of a duo record in the late '90s, he had other things on his mind at the time. Now, more than a decade later, he brings this concept to fruition with some help from thirteen A-list partners. Violinist Regina Carter joins the bassist for a baroque-meets-the-blues exploration of Johann Sebastian Bach's Double Violin Concerto ("Fat Bach And Greens"), vocal-pop icon Sting makes an appearance with guitar-in-hand on "Consider Me Gone," McBride and vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater engage in saucy repartee on the funky and engaging "It's Your Thing," while shtick comes into the picture on a bluesy Jew's harp and vocals-meet-bass number with actress Gina Gershon ("Chitlins And Gefiltefish").

While McBride is more than comfortable and compelling in every setting on this album, the piano and bass partnerships on display seem to rise above the rest of the performances. Eddie Palmieri brings high energy Latin jazz into the mix on "Guajeo Y Tumbao," the dearly departed Dr. Billy Taylor brings a sense of calm and peace to the album with his own "Spiritual," which opens and closes with some gorgeous arco work from McBride, and George Duke delivers the most chops-heavy piano work on the record, with "McDukey Blues." While the late Hank Jones' isn't nearly as aggressive as Palmieri or Duke, his connection with McBride may be more powerful and palpable, and this pair deserves to be dubbed The Great Jazz Duo for this performance. Preconceived notions concerning structure seem to surround most of these numbers, but McBride's duet with pianist Chick Corea is of the organically-developed variety. Suspense-filled sounds and Spaniard-Argentine influences abound as "Tango Improvisation #1" takes shape, but a blues foundation sneaks into the music as the piece develops, and the final act surrounds choppy, paranoid single-note statements from Corea's piano. Conversations With Christian McBride may, ultimately, be critically eclipsed by the bassist's fine big band record, The Good Feeling (Mack Avenue, 2011), that arrived a mere two months before this collection, but that would be a shame. These albums are actually companion pieces that highlight McBride's mastery of all things musical. ~ Dan Bilawsky https://www.allaboutjazz.com/conversations-with-christian-christian-mcbride-mack-avenue-records-review-by-dan-bilawsky.php

Personnel: Christian McBride: bass; Angelique Kidjo: vocals (1); Regina Carter: violin (2); Sting: vocals (3), guitar (3); Eddie Palmieri: piano (4); Roy Hargrove: trumpet (5); Dr. Billy Taylor: piano (6); Dee Dee Bridgewater: vocals (7); Hank Jones: piano (8); George Duke: piano (9); Chick Corea: piano (10); Russell Malone: guitar (11); Ron Blake: tenor saxophone (12); Gina Gershon: vocals (13).

Conversations with Christian                

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Sir Simon Rattle - Duke Ellington Album

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 78:58
Size: 180.8 MB
Styles: Big band, Contemporary jazz
Year: 2000
Art: Front

[ 9:05] 1. Take The 'A' Train
[ 2:56] 2. You're The One (with Joshua Redman)
[ 5:12] 3. Sophisticated Lady (With Bobby Watson)
[14:09] 4. Harlem (A Tone Parallel To Harlem)
[ 4:50] 5. Isfahan (With Peter Walden)
[ 8:56] 6. Ad Lib On Nippon (Part 2) (With Colin Parr)
[ 9:04] 7. That Doo-Wah Thing From 'it Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing' Part 2, Duet Fugue (With Joe Lovano)
[ 4:33] 8. Something To Live For
[ 5:30] 9. Come Sunday (With Regina Carter)
[ 4:38] 10. Solitude In Transblucency (With Richard Simpson)
[ 2:44] 11. Maybe
[ 7:15] 12. Things Ain't What They Used To Be (With Regina Carter)

Clark Terry, John Barclay, Simon Gardner- trumpet; Joshua Redman, Joe Lovano- tenor saxophone; Bobby Watson- alto saxophone; Regina Carter- violin; Andrew Barnell- bassoon; Colin Parr- clarinet; Peter Walden- English horn; Richard Simpson- oboe; Geri Allen, Mike Renzi- piano; Peter Washington, Mark Goodchild- double bass; Lewis Nash- drums; Lena Horne- vocals; City of Birmingham [England] Symphony Orchestra.

Sir Simon Rattle conducts the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in a celebration of Duke Ellington’s music. Each impressive orchestration has been reworked by Luther Henderson to provide a full sound. The orchestra performs admirably with accurate interpretations of classic Ellington songs. Along the way, we find Clark Terry, Bobby Watson, Joe Lovano, Regina Carter, Lewis Nash and Josh Redman trading solos with the ensemble. They work together on three tracks, recalling the personal spirit of Ellington’s music and how it was created to fit his individual band members.

Some time ago, Duke Ellington and Luther Henderson discussed what would some day become this particular project. Ellington asked Henderson to arrange “Harlem” (from “Far East Suite”) for performance by a symphony orchestra, combined with his band in concerto grosso form. The two gentlemen agreed that it would represent a blending of two cultural traditions: Western European and African.

Lena Horne sings three songs. Her vocal lines, however, were prerecorded. Thus, there’s a distinct separation in sound between vocalist and accompaniment. Horne’s features appear cold and distant, while Lovano, Watson, Nash, Geri Allen and Peter Washington attempt to make things appear more convincing. Watson has a feature on “Isfahan” and Allen has a feature on “Ad Lib on Nippon,” while Carter and Terry take center stage for a lovely arrangement of “Come Sunday.” Much of the 80-minute album remains focused on celebrating Ellington’s music through full orchestral colors and carefully interwoven instrumental voices. As if to remind us of the balance achieved here between jazz and classical, Clark Terry takes over the closing number with a classic mumbles and wah-wah trumpet routine. The program makes a fine tribute to the music of Duke Ellington and presents these treasured pieces in a slightly different light. ~Jim Santella

Duke Ellington Album

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Regina Carter - Ella: Accentuate The Positive

Size: 126,6 MB
Time: 54:20
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2017
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive (6:52)
02. Crying In The Chapel (6:18)
03. I'll Never Be Free (5:17)
04. All My Life (5:28)
05. Dedicated To You (7:03)
06. Reach For Tomorrow (6:59)
07. Undecided (6:53)
08. Judy (3:37)
09. I'll Chase The Blues Away (5:49)

A hundred years after her birth, there are still plenty of lessons to be learned from listening to Ella Fitzgerald. But that s not the only takeaway that Regina Carter has gleaned from Ella s storied career. On her new album, Ella: Accentuate the Positive, the virtuoso violinist reveals the many aspects of Fitzgerald that have influenced her own remarkable path in music. That translates to an album that avoids the more obvious song choices in favor of more obscure though no less rewarding tunes from deep inside Ella s bountiful catalogue. Instead of trying to echo Fitzgerald s own choices and arrangements, or attempting the near-impossible task of evoking her beloved voice on the violin, Carter has done what has always set her apart followed her own dauntless instincts, resulting in a singular new take on both familiar and hidden classics.

Carter s enchantment with Ella Fitzgerald continued from childhood into adulthood and she grew to realize how much technique and virtuosity were involved in producing a sound so warm and inviting. The ability to spark that connection was central to Carter s choice of songs for Ella: Accentuate the Positive. From the gospel-tinged performance on the opening Ac-cen-tchu-ate the Positive to the airily funky arrangement of Crying in the Chapel and the bluesy take on I ll Never Be Free that sets the tone for the slinky groove of All My Live.

Regina Carter draws from a diverse well of influences that include classical, jazz, Motown swing, funk, and world music among others. Over a span of more than two decades, she has established herself as an enduring and creative force in jazz, thanks to a string of highly acclaimed solo and collaborative recordings, a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship and a relentless tour schedule that has taken her to all corners of the globe. She has performed with a variety of high-profile jazz and pop artists including Aretha Franklin, Lauryn Hill, Mary J. Blige, Billy Joel, Dolly Parton, Max Roach and Oliver Lake. A master of improvisational jazz violin, Carter s performances highlight the often overlooked potential of the jazz violin for its lyric, melodic and percussive potential.

Ella

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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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Carmen Lundy - Something to Believe In

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:58
Size: 108,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:16)  1. In Love Again
(5:52)  2. Something to Believe In
(5:23)  3. Windmills of Your Mind
(2:53)  4. Happiness Is
(4:07)  5. Wild Child
(7:31)  6. I Loves You Porgy
(5:35)  7. Vu Ja De
(2:32)  8. A Gift of Love
(5:17)  9. It Might as Well Be Spring
(3:28) 10. Moody's Mood for Love

Something to Believe In could and should be the breakout album for veteran opera-trained vocalist Carmen Lundy. This is not to imply that Ms. Lundy doesn’t already possess a large group of devoted admirers, but this disc will go a long way to solidify her position as one of the finest jazz singers performing today; whether singing her own compositions, or bringing new interpretation and meaning to a standard tune, Lundy is hard not to believe in. Coincidentally all the songs here are about love. The title track, written by Lundy and Rich Meitin, is a sensual duet between her and Anthony Wonsey on piano. It’s a relaxed, slow-paced song whose melody sticks to you for a long time after the song ends. Wonsey knows when to take center stage and when to accentuate Lundy’s impeccable phrasing. On Lundy’s interpretation of the Michael Legrand classic "Windmills of Your Mind," a personal favorite, the vocalist is joined by Wonsey, drummer Victor Lewis, bassist Curtis Lundy, percussionist Mayra Casales, and violinist Regina Carter but unfortunately on just two others. Contributing gypsy-like floating phrases that sound like an elusive wind rushing round and round and round, Carter kicks a fast-paced rendition of "Windmills of Your Mind" up several levels.  Saxophonist Mark Shim blows tenor and soprano on four songs: the classic Gershwin tune "I Loves You Porgy"; an up-tempo Lundy original, "Vu Ja De"; "Wild Child"; and the opener, "In Love Again," another Ms. Lundy composition. Something to Believe In is immediately likeable, a quality that only expands through repeated listenings. ~ Rich Friedman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/something-to-believe-in-carmen-lundy-review-by-rich-friedman.php
 

Personnel: Carmen Lundy: Vocals, Percussion; Curtis Lundy: Bass Myra Casales: Percussion, Background Vocals; Anthony Wonsey: Piano, Fender Rhodes; Regina Carter: Violin; Victor Lewis: Drums; Mark Shim: Soprano and Tenor Saxophones.

Something to Believe In

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String Trio Of New York - Blues...?

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:36
Size: 122.7 MB
Styles: Avant garde jazz
Year: 1995
Art: Front

[8:42] 1. Cobalt Blue
[4:52] 2. Depth
[5:10] 3. Hurry Up And Wait
[4:03] 4. Speedball
[6:05] 5. I'm Afraid
[6:04] 6. Suite Of Works By Charlie Parker Bloomdido Billie's Bounce K.C. Blues
[7:17] 7. Bellyachin' Blues
[5:57] 8. Red Shift
[5:21] 9. Freddie Freeloader

Double Bass – John Lindberg; Guitar – James Emery; Violin – Regina Carter. Recorded on October 5 and 6, 1993 at Barigozzi Studio, Milano.

The String Trio of New York, which since 1991 has consisted of violinist Regina Carter, guitarist James Emery and bassist John Lindberg (the latter two were founding members in 1979), is often classified as an avant-garde group due to its unusual instrumentation and chancetaking improvisations. However this Black Saint release is among their most accessible. Although not all of the nine performances are blues (Duke Ellington's obscure "I'm Afraid" is a ballad and calling "Hurry Up and Wait" a reggae blues is stretching the point a bit), all of the selections are given blues feeling. In addition to five diverse originals (including an eccentric country blues "Bellyachin' Blues"), the group performs the Ellington piece (which was apparently never recorded by Duke), Lee Morgan's "Speedball," a mournful version of "Freddie Freeloader" and a six-song Charlie Parker blues suite which purposely slows down and speeds up in spots to jarring effect. With the exception of the latter (which ends inconclusively), this is a successful effort, well worth seeking out by adventurous listeners. ~Scott Yanow

Blues...?

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Various Artists - Disney Jazz: Everybody Wants To Be A Cat, Vol. 1

Styles: Straight-Ahead Jazz,Jazz-Pop 
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:18
Size: 155,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:01)  1. Roy Hargrove - Ev'rybody Wants To Be A Cat
(3:51)  2. Esperanza Spalding - Chim Chim Cher-ee
(4:02)  3. Dave Brubeck - Some Day My Prince Will Come
(5:16)  4. Regina Carter - Find Yourself
(3:56)  5. Joshua Redman - You've Got A Friend In Me
(4:52)  6. Dianne Reeves - He's A Tramp
(5:39)  7. Kurt Rosenwinkel - Feed The Birds (Tuppence A Bag)
(4:28)  8. The Bad Plus - Gaston
(5:59)  9. Roberta Gambarini - Alice In Wonderland (With The Dave Brubeck Trio)
(7:13) 10. Alfredo Rodriguez - The Bare Necessities
(3:12) 11. Nikki Yanofsky - It's A Small World
(6:24) 12. Gilad Hekselman - Belle
(5:18) 13. Mark Rapp - Circle Of Life

What a discovery; what a great idea. Producer Jason Olaine has taken songs from a number of Disney movies some rarely recorded by jazz musicians and made fresh new versions, utilizing some of today's most well-known jazz artists. The performers range from 90 year-old piano legend Dave Brubeck to 17 year-old Canadian vocalist Nikki Yanofsky; established horn players such as trumpeter Roy Hargrove and saxophonist Joshua Redman; and international performers including Israeli-born/US-based guitarist Gilad Hekselman and avant-garde Cuban pianist Alfredo Rodriguez. Olaine has given these diverse artists full control, and they have mined 13 gems from the Disney catalog.  Hargrove delivers a sprightly, hard bop rendition of the sparkling "Everybody Wants to Be A Cat," from 1970's The AristoCats, while accordionist Gil Goldstein provides the haunting opening to Esperanza Spalding's creative arrangement of "Chim Chim Cher-ee," from Mary Poppins (1964), the bassist later vocalizing along with her bowed lines to underscore the song's evocative mood Brubeck gets two selections: first, a swinging version of "Someday My Prince Will Come," from 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, where the pianist breezes through the lilting melody, before coming on strong with his trademark chordal fury; later, he gives fine accompaniment to singer Roberta Gambarini on the theme song to Alice in Wonderland (1951).

Regina Carter's exotic violin merges with accordionist Gary Versace and kora master Yacouba Sissoko in the captivating and ear-opening "Find Yourself," from Cars (2006), while Redman adds depth to the innocuous "You've Got A Friend in Me, " from Toy Story (1995), the tenor saxophonist's creative energy unleashed in a trio with bassist Matt Penman and drummer Gregory Hutchinson. The irrepressible The Bad Plus is mind-blowing on a rousing version of "Gaston," from Beauty and the Beast (1991), taking this French-flavored tune through creative hijinks to a stirring climax, delivered with the brio of an Edith Piaf ballad. On the many strengths of Olaine's Everybody Wants To Be A Cat: Disney Jazz Volume 1, hopefully Volume 2 won't be far behind. ~ Larry Taylor  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/everybody-wants-to-be-a-cat-disney-jazz-volume-1-various-artists-disney-records-review-by-larry-taylor.php
 

Personnel: Roy Hargrove: trumpet (1); Justin Robinson: alto saxophone (1); Ameen Saleem: bass (1); Thaddeus Dixon: drums (1) Esperanza Spalding: bass, vocal (2); Gil Goldstein: piano, accordion (2); Dave Brubeck: piano (3, 9); Michael Moore: bass (3, 9); Randy Jones: drums (3, 9); Regina Carter: violin (4); Gary Versace: accordion (4); Yacoba Sissoko: kora (4); Chris Lightcap: bass(4); Alvester Garnett: drums, percussion (4); Joshua Redman: tenor saxophone (5); Matt Penman: bass (5); Gregory Hutchinson: drums (5); Dianne Reeves: vocal (6); Peter Martin: piano (6); James Genus: bass (6); Alvester Garnett: drums (6); Kurt Rosenwinkel: guitar and piano (7); Joshua Thurston-Milgrom: bass (7); Tobias Backhaus: drums (7); Ethan Iverson: piano (8); Reid Anderson: bass (8); Dave King: drums (8); Roberta Gambarini: vocal (9); Alfredo Rodriguez: piano and percussion (10); Nikki Yanofsky: vocal (11); Paul Shrofel: piano (11); Rob Fahle: bass (11); Geoffrey Lang: drums (11); Rod DiLauro: trumpet (11); Pat Vetter: alto saxophone (11); Christopher Smith: trombone (11); Jean Frechette: baritone saxophone (11); Gilad Hekselman: guitar (12); Joe Martin: bass (12); Obed Calvaire: drums, percussion (12); Mark Rapp: trumpet (13); Jamie Reynolds: piano, keyboards (13); Rene Hart: bass (13); Greg Gonzales: drums (13).

Disney Jazz: Everybody Wants To Be A Cat, Vol. 1

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James Carter - Chasin' The Gypsy

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 54:13

Size: 124.1 MB

Styles: Post bop, Saxophone jazz, Gypsy jazz

Year: 2000

Art: Front

[5:36] 1. Nuages

[6:33] 2. La Derniére Bergére (The Last Shepherdess)

[7:27] 3. Manoir De Mes Reves Django's Castle

[6:52] 4. Artillerie Lourde (Heavy Artillery)

[3:59] 5. Chasin' The Gypsy

[8:01] 6. Oriental Shuffle

[7:15] 7. I'll Never Be The Same

[4:37] 8. Avalon

[3:49] 9. Imari's Lullaby

Just when you had him pegged as a rip-snorting tenor and bari monster with a wicked penchant for ferocious overblowing, he comes across as a shameless romantic on Chasin' the Gypsy, his lovely ode to Django. Still, Carter's characteristic bravado, tenor squeals, trills and remarkable displays of multiphonics are still intact here, even in the lush setting of "The Last Shepherdess" and "Django's Castle." Carter nicely grafts his own sense of swagger onto Django's swing-era aesthetic on "Heavy Artillery," which features some very frisky exchanges between Regina Carter's Joe Venuti/Stuff Smith-styled violinand Carter's blowtorch bass sax. The two also joyously unite on the lithe title track, a giddy homage that has Carter soaring effortlessly on soprano sax while Jay Berliner and Romero Lubambo chunk appropriately behind him on guitars.

Django's melancholy "Oriental Shuffle" is a showcase for Carter's F-mezzo soprano sax, while Regina Carter flashes her considerable chops and musicality on a tender reading of "I'll Never Be the Same." Then the sparks fly on a spirited Hot Clubish rendition of "Avalon," with the two Carters engaging in some explosive violin and tenor sax call-and-response as the tune heats up.Carter is given brilliant support throughout by bassist Steve Kirby and drummer Joey Baron, whose instincts are always right on, whether he's swinging fervently with sticks or conjuring up an alluring mood with brushes. Accordionist Charlie Giordano adds coloristic touches throughout, and Lubambo helps convey a tasteful Brazilian vibe with his soothing nylon-string guitar work. Lubambo's moving duet with Carter on the lovely closer "Imari's Lullaby" is a lyrical highlight. ~Bill Milkowski

Chasin' The Gypsy

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Madeleine Peyroux - Keep Me In Your Heart For A While: The Best Of Madeleine Peyroux CD 1 And CD 2

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:01 (CD 1)
Size: 128,4 MB (CD 1)
Time: 54:11 (CD 2)
Size: 128,5 MB (CD 2)
Art: Front

CD 1

(3:11)  1. Don't Wait Too Long
(3:26)  2. You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
(3:14)  3. (Getting Some) Fun Out Of Life
(3:45)  4. Between The Bars
(3:29)  5. I'm All Right
(3:22)  6. La Vie En Rose
(4:23)  7. Half The Perfect World
(3:58)  8. Dance Me To The End Of Love
(4:01)  9. Smile
(4:01) 10. Once In A While
(3:58) 11. The Summer Wind
(3:53) 12. Careless Love
(3:55) 13. Guilty
(5:20) 14. Desperadoes Under The Eaves

CD 2

(3:10)  1. Changing All Those Changes
(2:56)  2. J'Ai Deux Amours
(5:22)  3. River Of Tears
(3:43)  4. The Things I’ve Seen Today
(4:38)  5. Damn The Circumstances
(4:12)  6. La Javanaise
(4:00)  7. The Kind You Can't Afford
(3:29)  8. Bye Bye Love
(4:49)  9. Walkin' After Midnight
(5:47) 10. Standing On The Rooftop
(5:14) 11. Instead
(3:35) 12. Keep Me In Your Heart
(3:10) 13. This Is Heaven To Me

Vocalist and composer Madeleine Peyroux has a stylistic reach well beyond that of jazz. Her only peer in this respect is Nora Jones. True, she has a great fascination with Billie Holiday, but she has managed to assimilate this influence into her own presence and parlay it into the para-jazz realm with intelligent programming and song choice. These have been the hallmark of Peyroux's art over her six recordings.

Peyroux's music is beautifully crafted and organic with more polish than late '90s Cassandra Wilson. The instrument choice on a given song is as carefully chosen as the song itself; careful programming being another hallmark of Peyroux's art. Her book is no rubber-stamp of the Great American Songbook, assaulted yet another time. Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" is the closest thing to a standard in this collection (from Half a Perfect World, (Rounder, 2006)). It is delivered with spare instrumentation and a gently strolling tempo.

Peyroux's cover of Edith Piaf's iconic "La Vie En Rose" is perfect in its sardonic spirit, begging the question why Piaf has not provided much more material to contemporary singers to interpret. Randy Newman's "Guilty" is given a sleek, Ray Charles circa 1963 strings treatment. Her singing is closely set among the elaborate instrumentation, bearing a slight sepia tone without sounding archival. Part of Peyroux's genius lies in her melding of the new and the old into something that is both new and familiar.

Notable are the inclusion of two Warren Zevon pieces, making Peyroux Zevon's biggest benefactor since Linda Ronstadt. "Desperados Under the Eaves" is delicately provocative, sung in a comely and humid fashion. This is grown-up Zevon, performed with intent and grace. "Keep Me in Your Heart," one of Zevon's last songs is given a plaintive treatment demonstrating the extent of Peyroux's evolution from the album opener, "Don't Wait Too Long." In an age when a "Best of" compilation is suspect in the absence of the 45 rmp record (downloads are meaningless), it says a lot to release a recording like this. A collection of Peyroux's best is long overdue. ~ C.Michael Bailey  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/keep-me-in-your-heart-for-a-while-the-best-of-madeleine-peyroux-madeleine-peyroux-rounder-records-review-by-c-michael-bailey.php#.VEaKqMlNeKU

Personnel: Madeleine Peyroux: vocals and guitar; Dean parks: guitars (1-3, 5, 6, 8-11, 13, 15); Larry Goldings: keyboards (1-3, 5, 9, 11, 15); David Piltch: bass (1-3, 5-8, 15); Jay Bellerose: drums (1-3, 5, 8-11, 15). Cyrus Chestnut: piano (4); Steve Kirby: bass; Leon Parker: drums; Sam Yahel: keyboards (6, 8, 10); Till Bronner: trumpet (6); Scott Amendola: drums (6, 8); Mark Ribot: guitar (7, 12); Regina Carter: violin (7); Charlie Giordano: accordion (7); Gary Foster: alto saxophone (8); Christopher Bruce: guitar (12); Charlie Drayton: drums (12); John Kirby: keyboards (12); Meshell Ndegcello: bass (12); Larry Klein: bass (13); Vinnie Colaluta: drums (13); Jim Beard; piano (13); Duke Vinnie: guitar, bass (14); Jane Scarpantoni: cello (14); Robert Burke: drums(14); Lee Thornberg: trumpet (15).

Keep Me In Your Heart For A While: The Best Of Madeleine Peyroux CD 1, CD 2

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Regina Carter - Southern Comfort

Styles: Violin Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:19
Size: 130,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:01)  1. Miner's Child
(2:11)  2. Trampin'
(4:36)  3. Hickory Wind
(7:21)  4. Shoo-Rye
(4:39)  5. Blues de Basile
(7:11)  6. I'm Going Home
(3:52)  7. Honky Tonkin'
(4:14)  8. Cornbread Crumbled in Gravy
(5:14)  9. See See Rider
(3:33) 10. I Moaned and I Moaned
(8:21) 11. Death Have Mercy / Breakaway

Although certainly best known as a jazz violinist, Carter seems comfortable enough playing the classical repertoire when called upon. Witness her 2003 album Paganini: After a Dream. And now with her new album, Southern Comfort, set for release March 4, she is out to show one more of the many faces of Regina Carter as she tackles a program of southern folk music and Americana. Needless to say, she takes this music and makes it her own.  As on some of her past albums, Southern Comfort is a thematic celebration of an important influence on her life and music. There was I'll Be Seeing You: A Sentimental Journey (2006) which focused on jazz favorites of her late mother, and then in 2010 there was her nod to the African influence on her musical heritage, Reverse Thread. In Southern Comfort, she explores some of the music that would have been available to her grandfather, an Alabama coal miner. She adds a modern tune or two, but even the additions are couched in the spirit of the album's theme-a little Cajun-style fiddling, some work songs, a homey lullaby, and a bit of the gospel spirit.  As she points out in the album's liner notes, while this music has a personal significance for her, it is indeed "the common experience of American folk music." The personal is indeed universal.

The 11-song set begins appropriately with a traditional piece called "Miner's Child" in an arrangement by guitarist Marvin Sewell. With some exceptions, most of the songs were arranged by instrumentalists playing on the individual tracks. Carter points out that the only direction she gave to the various arrangers "was to preserve the music's raw beauty." There is a haunting version of Gram Parsons' lovely "Hickory Wind" and a take of "Cornbread Crumbled in Gravy" reeking with sensitive simplicity. There is also a little vocal passage of this at the end of the album's final track, "Death Have Mercy"/"Breakaway." "Blues de Basile" is a tangy Cajun blues, while the hugely popular "See See Rider" is played in a version I had never heard before. Elsewhere, "I'm Going Home" is a lovely melody, not to be confused with Dvorak. Joining Carter on most tracks are Will Holshouser on accordion, Jesse Murphy on bass, Alvester Garnett on drums, and Sewell on guitar. Together with Carter, they have put together a truly exciting piece of work with a unique sound.   http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/Music-Review-Regina-Carter-Southern-Comfort-5248666.php

Southern Comfort

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