Showing posts with label Robin Nolan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robin Nolan. Show all posts

Saturday, June 3, 2017

David Grisman, Frank Vignola, Robin Nolan, Michael Papillo - The Living Room Sessions

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:53
Size: 125.7 MB
Styles: Gypsy jazz
Year: 2007
Art: Front

[6:10] 1. Claire De Lune
[5:38] 2. Black Orpheus
[4:03] 3. September Song
[8:17] 4. Sway With Me
[6:54] 5. Dawg's Waltz
[5:34] 6. Swing Gitan
[6:51] 7. Tears
[7:21] 8. Premier Guitar
[4:02] 9. Autumn Leaves

Ever wonder what it's like to be sitting in a living room feet away from master acoustic instrumentalists jamming on a Saturday afternoon? Well now is your chance. David Grisman, Frank Vignola, Michael Papillo and gypsy guitarist, Robin Nolan enjoyed a spontaneous afternoon of jamming in Seattle so we all decided to bring in a recording crew and capture the unbelievable music that went on this special day!

The Living Room Sessions

Monday, May 1, 2017

Kim Hoorweg & Robin Nolan Trio - The Boulevard Of Broken Dreams

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:42
Size: 86.3 MB
Styles: Gypsy jazz
Year: 2015
Art: Front

[2:58] 1. Mood Indigo
[2:56] 2. The Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
[4:15] 3. If I Didn't Care
[2:56] 4. Quiet Whiskey
[3:19] 5. When You're Smiling
[3:02] 6. Si Tu Vois Ma Mere
[2:20] 7. Les Yeux Noirs
[4:27] 8. I Ain't Got Nothing But The Blues
[2:36] 9. It's A Sin To Tell A Lie
[3:23] 10. Granada
[3:02] 11. When You're Lover Has Gone
[2:28] 12. Solitude

Dutch jazzvocalist Kim Hoorweg has adopted New York as her second home. She is known for her clever originals, her clear, warm and pleasant timbre and charming way of reinterpreting old forgotten songs.

She worked with top-notch musicians Trijntje Oosterhuis, Gino Vannelli, Candy Dulfer, Chance Howard (Prince) and Benjamin Herman. Signed with American record label Verve when she was only 14, frequently on Dutch television, performed twice at the North Sea Jazz Festival, worked with the famous Metropole Orchestra and was nominated for the most prestigious Dutch Music Award: the Edison. In 2016, she was working on a new record, in the USA with Raul Midón (collaborated with Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock and many more), widely known as an amazing songwriter, skilled vocalist and guitar virtuoso. Kim is also recording with gypsy-guitarist Robin Nolan to accompany their upcoming tour. You would almost forget that she is only 23 years old!

The Boulevard Of Broken Dreams

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Robin Nolan Trio - Boulevard Of Broken Dreams

Styles: Vocal Jazz, Guitar Jazz
Year: 2002
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:34
Size: 136,4 MB
Front:

(3:41)  1. Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
(5:35)  2. Route 66
(3:38)  3. The Lonely One
(2:39)  4. That's A Natural Fact
(3:03)  5. Oh, Lady Be Good
(4:14)  6. Out Of Nowhere
(3:26)  7. Caravan
(2:13)  8. Take The  A  Train
(3:58)  9. Honeysuckle Rose
(5:16) 10. The Shadow Of Your Smile
(3:57) 11. September Song
(3:17) 12. Shoo Shoo Baby
(2:59) 13. It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
(4:39) 14. All Of Me
(6:51) 15. Once In A While

If the Los Angeles-based Nat King Cole Trio of the '30s and '40s had employed Django Reinhardt on guitar instead of Oscar Moore and didn't use any piano or if Cole had been a featured vocalist for Reinhardt's European groups -- the results might have resembled what acoustic guitarist Robin Nolan does on Boulevard of Broken Dreams. This swing-oriented effort, which was recorded in Amsterdam, Holland, in 2000, finds Nolan featuring a very Cole-minded vocalist on all of the tracks: Randy Greer, the grand nephew of drummer Sonny Greer (who was with the Duke Ellington Orchestra from 1924-1951). Greer certainly isn't the only singer with a Cole obsession; the others have included Freddy Cole (Nat King Cole's younger brother), Allan Harris, and the late Sonny Brown (a Philadelphia resident who was little-known outside of that city). And even though Greer is hardly the most original singer in the world, he is good at what he does and isn't an exact replica of his main influence like Freddy Cole, Greer has a huskier voice than Nat King Cole. Together, Nolan and Greer (who are joined by Paul Meader on upright bass and Kevin Nolan on acoustic rhythm guitar) give listeners a CD that has one foot in the L.A. of the '30s and '40s and the other in the Europe of that era. Unfortunately, their choice of material is way too obvious; most of the tunes are warhorses that have long since been beaten to death. But the CD's concept Reinhardt's gypsy jazz meets Nat King Cole is certainly intriguing. And when all is said and done, Nolan and Greer provide a likable, if imperfect, disc that both Reinhardt and Cole fans will be glad to have in their collections. ~ Alex Henderson   http://www.allmusic.com/album/boulevard-of-broken-dreams-mw0000021258

Personnel: Robin Nolan (guitar); Randy Greer (vocals); Kevin Nolan (guitar); Paul Meader (acoustic bass).

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Robin Nolan - Gypsy Blue

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 48:15
Size: 110.5 MB
Styles: Gypsy jazz guitar
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[3:25] 1. Gypsy Blue
[5:11] 2. Ravi
[3:32] 3. Dream Of You
[6:36] 4. The Rain Song
[3:18] 5. Mokum Swing
[5:46] 6. Snow
[5:22] 7. Flora
[3:59] 8. Sweet Georgia Brown
[4:22] 9. Anniversary Song
[3:55] 10. Paquito
[2:44] 11. Buckets Of Rain

Gypsy Blue features twelve songs ranging from the upbeat title track, which opens the album, to the more contemplative jazziness of a song like "Snow", even tossing in some Spanish flamenco on "Paquito". The album also features a range of takes on established classics, including Led Zeppelin's "Rain Song" and Bob Dylan's "Buckets of Rain". One particular highlight of the album is a track called "Ravi", a Beatles-esque composition which Nolan says is not just a tribute to the legendary Ravi Shankar, but also a nod to the Harrison legacy. "Even though it's called 'Ravi' it's a whole melting pot of the feeling I get at Friar Park. I met Ravi there and played with him at George's wake, which was an intense evening, very emotional. So that song is inspired by Ravi, but is a blues basically and reeks of Harrison-there's a couple of things in it that sound very George. I do this kind of Indian slide, which is heartfelt and a mix of those two worlds," says Robin Nolan.

Robin Nolan has been around the world and back to find his wide-ranging musical style. His story begins in the psychedelic 60s no less, in an evacuation hospital in Vietnam, to be precise, where he was born in 1968, before spending his formative years in Hong Kong with his Liverpudlian father teaching him to play guitar. He eventually ended up at the Guildhall School of Music in London before having his entire perspective on music changed forever by a trip to the annual Django Reinhardt Festival in Samois-Sur-Seine, France.

Gypsy Blue

Monday, October 21, 2013

Robin Nolan Trio - Mediterranean Blues

Styles: Straight-ahead/Mainstream
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:31
Size: 145,4 MB
Art: Front

(3:42)  1. Mediterranean Blues
(3:52)  2. Friar Park
(8:03)  3. Song For Carolyn
(6:24)  4. And Then There Were Three
(5:43)  5. Luna Tango
(6:23)  6. Bar Del Pi
(5:26)  7. From The Banks Of The Odra
(7:10)  8. Bolero Blue
(4:45)  9. El Puente
(6:23) 10. Trouble In Paradise
(5:35) 11. Where Do We Go From Here

Every now and then a performer achieves success in the music business without the ‘benefit’ of a major record company. The Robin Nolan Trio is one such story. Drawing their initial style and repertoire from the Django Reinhardt-inspired “gypsy jazz” movement, the group’s genesis dates to 1991 when Nolan, a student at London’s famed Guildhall School of Music, met bassist Paul Meader. With the addition of Anthony Williams on rhythm guitar, they formed a trio dedicated to performing the music of Reinhardt. Beginning with cafés and small jazz clubs in the early ‘90s they’ve managed to work their way toward international renown. They’ve also played at several of the most prestigious international jazz festivals, including the Montreal, Barcelona, North Sea and Django Reinhardt jazz festivals, making their U.S. debut at the Tropical Heat Wave Festival in Tampa, Florida. (They’ve even made into the silver screen: two of the songs included here, “And Then There Were Three” and “From The Banks Of The Odra,” were featured in the Joan Chen film Autumn In New York, starring Richard Gere and Wynona Ryder.)

The Trio also released six self-produced CDs between 1994 and this year, selling them at gigs and through the Internet. The record companies aware of the group’s popularity and A & R men came sniffing around, but their silver-tongued appeals fell on skeptical ears: “It is a very weird business after all, full of very weird people. To begin with most of these people can't play an instrument and their respect for you is based on how much cash you might or might not make them,” according to Nolan. “This gets a little confusing for everybody involved when they start telling you what is good and what is not good for your music, based on the latest marketing figures . . .”

Fortunately, not all record companies are driven by the bottom line. One notable exception is Refined Records, a small in San Francisco-based jazz label “dedicated to furthering the art of acoustic performance,” according to the label’s press release. When Refined Records head J. Robert Roy heard the Robin Nolan Trio playing on Amsterdam’s famous Leidseplein, in 1995 he knew that they would be perfect for his new label.

Mediterranean Blues serves as an excellent introduction to both the label’s philosophy and the music of RNT. Though they began as an acoustic trio in the “gypsy jazz” tradition mentioned above, The Robin Nolan Trio isn’t content to merely recreate Django-style swing. Song titles like “Luna Tango,” “Bolero Blue,” “Bar Del Pi” and “El Puente” indicate the strong Latin influences, and Latin percussion and dance rhythms are prominently featured in the group’s music. Bassist Paul Meader, who provides tasteful accompaniment and well-conceived contrapuntal solos, ably supports Nolan’s skillful and imaginative playing. 

Both are given plenty of room to stretch out on the eight-minute “Song For Carolyn” and the Beatlesque “Friar Park,” composed in honor of George Harrison. (Harrison was an early champion of RNT and often books the trio to entertain in his home.) For those of us with a taste for jazz that still has le joie de vivre, this is an album for you, full of romance and refinement.  Good jazz ain’t dead, it’s where you find it.~ Derek Brown    
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=8168#.UmKtHBAuf-I

Personnel: Robin Nolan-solo guitar, Paul Meader-bass, Kevin Nolan-rhythm guitar, Jan P. Brouwer-rhythm guitar, Nema Lopes-percussion