Various - Blue Bacharach: A Cooler Shaker

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:17
Size: 144.9 MB
Styles: Bop, Crossover jazz
Year: 1999
Art: Front

[2:32] 1. Stanley Turrentine - This Guy's In Love With You
[1:57] 2. Nancy Wilson - Wives And Lovers
[8:10] 3. Reuben Wilson - I Say A Little Prayer
[2:30] 4. The 3 Sounds - The Look Of Love
[6:39] 5. Stanley Turrentine - What The World Needs Now
[2:08] 6. Lou Rawls - They Don't Give Medals (To Yesterday's Heroes)
[6:43] 7. Grant Green - I'll Never Fall In Love Again
[3:56] 8. Richard Groove Holmes - Do You Know The Way To San Jose
[5:51] 9. Stanley Turrentine - Walk On By
[5:16] 10. The Jazz Crusaders - Promises, Promises
[2:46] 11. Ernie Watts Quintet - Knowing When To Leave
[2:42] 12. Stanley Turrentine - Always Something There To Remind Me
[8:58] 13. Grant Green - Wives And Lovers
[3:02] 14. Nancy Wilson - Alfie

Blue Bacharach: A Cooler Shaker features Blue Note interpreting Bacharach standards like "Always Something There to Remind Me," "I Say a Little Prayer," and "This Guy's in Love With You." Nancy Wilson's "Alfie," Grant Green's "Wives & Lovers," Stanley Turrentine's "Do You Know the Way to San Jose," and the Ernie Watts Quintet's "Knowing When to Leave" help make this album an interesting and entertaining combination of classic songwriting and sophisticated jazz. ~Heather Phares

Blue Bacharach: A Cooler Shaker

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Richard Groove Holmes, Gene Ammons - Groovin' With Jug

Styles: Jazz, Hard Bop
Year: 1989
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:09
Size: 124,5 MB
Art: Front

(8:40)  1. Happy Blues (Good Vibrations)
(7:10)  2. Willow Weep For Me
(3:22)  3. Juggin' Around
(7:23)  4. Hittin' the Jug
(9:06)  5. Exactly Like You
(4:17)  6. Groovin' With Jug
(7:53)  7. Morris the Minor
(6:14)  8. Hey You, What's That?

Ironically, Gene "Jug" Ammons tended to be critical of organists; he was quoted as saying that "organ players don't know any changes." However, as critical the Chicago tenor saxman might have been of organists most of them, anyway he did some of his best work in their presence. When you united Ammons with Jack McDuff, Johnny "Hammond" Smith and other B-3 masters in the '60s, the sparks would fly. They certainly fly on this excellent album, which finds Ammons and Richard "Groove" Holmes co-leading a soul-jazz/hard bop organ combo that also includes guitarist Gene Edwards and drummer Leroy Henderson. The quartet is heard in two settings on August 15, 1961 three of the eight selections were produced by Richard Bock in a Los Angeles studio in the afternoon, while the other five were recorded several hours later an L.A. club called the Black Orchid. 

Ammons and Holmes prove to be a strong combination in both settings, although their playing is somewhat looser at the Orchid, where the delights include some slow blues (Ammons' "Hittin' the Jug"), a smoky ballad ("Willow Weep for Me") and a lightning-fast barnburner (Ammons' "Juggin' Around"). However critical Ammons might have been of most organists, it's obvious that he and Holmes share a lot of common ground on Groovin' With Jug. ~ Alex Henderson  http://www.allmusic.com/album/groovin-with-jug-mw0000206027

Personnel: Richard Groove Holmes (organ); Gene Ammons (tenor saxophone); Gene Edwards (guitar); Leroy Henderson (drums).

Groovin' With Jug

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Joe Pass - But Beautiful

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 74:28
Size: 173,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:58)  1. Autumn Leaves (feat. Bud Shank, Clare Fischer)
(4:00)  2. Ontem a Noite (feat. Bud Shank, Clare Fischer)
(3:36)  3. Sambinha (feat. Bud Shank, Clare Fischer)
(3:20)  4. Barquinho (feat. Bud Shank, Clare Fischer)
(2:39)  5. But Beautiful
(4:11)  6. Elizete (feat. Bud Shank, Clare Fischer)
(3:38)  7. Just Friends
(2:17)  8. Serenidade (feat. Bud Shank, Clare Fischer)
(3:55)  9. Gostoso (feat. Bud Shank, Clare Fischer)
(5:50) 10. Falling in Love with Love
(2:39) 11. Nancy Joe (feat. Gerald Wilson)
(5:10) 12. Projections
(4:23) 13. Moment of Truth (feat. Gerald Wilson)
(3:14) 14. Me & Groove (feat. Richard Groove Holmes, Les McCann Quartet)
(5:02) 15. It Could Happen to You (feat. Les McCann)
(5:48) 16. Black Groove (feat. Richard Groove Holmes, Les McCann Quartet)
(4:23) 17. Stay Loose
(6:16) 18. Offering Time (feat. Paul Bryant, Johnny Griffin)

Joe Pass did the near-impossible. He was able to play up-tempo versions of bop tunes such as "Cherokee" and "How High the Moon" unaccompanied on the guitar. Unlike Stanley Jordan, Pass used conventional (but superb) technique, and his Virtuoso series on Pablo still sounds remarkable decades later. Joe Pass had a false start in his career. He played in a few swing bands (including Tony Pastor's) before graduating from high school, and was with Charlie Barnet for a time in 1947. But after serving in the military, Pass became a drug addict, serving time in prison and essentially wasting a decade. He emerged in 1962 with a record cut at Synanon, made a bit of a stir with his For Django set, recorded several other albums for Pacific Jazz and World Pacific, and performed with Gerald Wilson, Les McCann, George Shearing, and Benny Goodman (1973). However, in general Pass maintained a low profile in Los Angeles until he was signed by Norman Granz to his Pablo label. 1973's Virtuoso made him a star and he recorded very prolifically for Pablo, unaccompanied, with small groups, on duo albums with Ella Fitzgerald, and with such masters as Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson, Milt Jackson, and Dizzy Gillespie. Pass remained very active up until his death from cancer. Bio ~ Scott Yanow  http://www.allmusic.com/artist/joe-pass-mn0000209773/biography

But Beautiful

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Curtis Amy & Paul Bryant - Meetin' Here

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 65:23
Size: 149.7 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz, Straight ahead jazz
Year: 1961/2013
Art: Front

[7:08] 1. Meetin' Here
[6:46] 2. Early In The Morning
[6:04] 3. If I Were A Bell
[8:02] 4. One More Hamhock Please
[6:22] 5. Angel Eyes
[4:12] 6. Just Friends
[3:23] 7. Meet Me In The Bottom
[4:32] 8. In The Evening
[2:42] 9. New B & O Blues
[5:00] 10. Puppy Love
[2:45] 11. Wake Up In The Mornin'
[5:50] 12. Wee Baby Blues
[2:32] 13. I'm The One

Curtis Amy was an accomplished Texas tenor who moved freely and productively between straightahead jazz, blues and rhythm and blues, and both aspects of his musical personality are fruitfully deployed on these enjoyable early 60s West Coast sessions. On the first, “Meetin’ Here,” he brings a fiery conviction to bear on a relaxed, grooving date with organist Paul Bryant. Sharing the front line with them is the solid trombone of Roy Brewster, and the results have the hand-inglove feel of a group to which cooking is as natural as breathing. Whether on a ballad or up-tempo driving, Amy is the main man, bringing a declamatory edge to his tone that reinforces his expressiveness.

After this, the tenor’s career soon shifted into higher gear. Pacific Jazz producer Richard Bock used him in an all-star jazz group to back the veteran blues singer and guitarist Bumble Bee Slim on the second session of this set. Recorded a year later under Slim’s leadership as part of the album “Back in Town!,” it offered, in addition to Slim’s unpretentious, relaxed, and undeniably expressive way with slow, medium and up-tempo blues tunes, gripping soloing by Curtis Amy, and fine contributions by organist “Groove” Holmes and trombonist Lou Blackburn.

Curtis Amy (ts), Roy Brewster, Lou Blackburn (tb), Paul Bryant, Richard 'Groove' Holmes (org), Bumble Bee Slim (vcl, g), Clarence Jones (b), Jimmy Miller, Leroy Henderson (d). Recorded at Pacific Jazz Enterprises Inc./Rex Studios, Los Angeles, on March 30, 1962

Meetin' Here

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Richard 'Groove' Holmes - Somethin' Special

Styles: Jazz
Year: 1962
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:08
Size: 109,6 MB
Art: Front

(9:12)  1. Something Special
(5:46)  2. Black Groove
(3:11)  3. Me & Groove
(5:17)  4. Comin' Through The Apple
(6:30)  5. I Though I Knew You
(5:27)  6. Carma
(5:41)  7. Blow The Man Down
(6:01)  8. Satin Doll

Somethin' Special is a laidback, funky classic which features Richard "Groove" Holmes trading licks with pianist Les McCann, saxophonist Clifford Scott and guitarist Joe Pass, who makes one of his first recorded appearances on this album. It's a fine, infectious album, highlighed by Holmes and McCann's stylish solo. Blue Note's 1997 CD reissue features two bonus cuts, including one that features saxophonist Ben Webster. ~ Leo Stanley   http://www.allmusic.com/album/somethin-special-mw0000098677

Personnel: Richard Groove Holmes (organ); Clifford Scott (alto & tenor saxophones); Ben Webster (tenor saxophone); Lawrence "Tricky" Lofton (trombone); Les McCann (piano); Joe Pass, Gene Edwards (guitar); Ron Jefferson, Leroy Henderson (drums).

Somethin' Special

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