Showing posts with label Vince Giordano. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vince Giordano. Show all posts

Sunday, January 8, 2023

Ed Polcer & His Swingtet - Lionel, Red & Bunny

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:08
Size: 140.0 MB
Styles: Big band, Swing
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[3:02] 1. King Porter Stomp
[3:45] 2. Stompin' At The Savoy
[3:20] 3. Darn That Dream
[3:45] 4. Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise
[2:27] 5. It Might As Well Be Spring
[5:57] 6. Bernies Tune
[3:28] 7. I See Your Face Before Me
[4:23] 8. Down By The Old Mill Stream
[4:22] 9. Don't Take Your Love Away From Me
[2:49] 10. Just One Of Those Things
[4:01] 11. I Can't Get Started With You
[2:49] 12. Blue Skies
[4:17] 13. I'm Old Fashioned
[3:34] 14. I May Be Wrong
[4:12] 15. I Hadn't Anyone Til You
[4:50] 16. Almost Like Being In Love

In addition to Ed Polcer, this swinging CD features (among others) vibraphonist John Cocuzzi as well as Vince Giordano, John Allred, Ken Peplowski, Ken Ascher, Joe Ascione, Norman Simmons, Frank Tate, and Judy Kurtz on vocals.

Ed Polcer has become one of the most sought after performers on the jazz festival circuit. He has appeared in hundreds of concerts, festivals and jazz parties throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Ed joined Benny Goodman's Sextet for an American tour in 1973. An expert showman, Ed has led numerous concerts with varied themes, including his extensive U.S. tours for Columbia Artists. In 1992, '93 and '94, "A Night At Eddie Condon's", transported the audience back to the famous nightclub and gave a musical retrospective of American jazz over the last 100 years. Since 1996, Ed's "Magic of Swing Street" has offered classic jazz in its many forms as it was played on New York's fabled W. 52nd Street, including four appearances at New York's Lincoln Center. Ed's recent presentation, "When Broadway Meets Swing Street", merges show tunes with the world of swing. "Lionel, Red & Bunny" is a centennial celebration of legendary jazz musicians Lionel Hampton, Red Norvo and Bunny Berigan.

In 2004, he was honored to play for the official opening of the Louis Armstrong House museum, and became a member of the Statesmen of Jazz. President Clinton invited Ed to play for the 1994 Congressional Ball in the White House, and in 2001, Ed appeared in a command performance in Bangkok for the King of Thailand. If you dropped in at Eddie Condon's club in New York City between 1975 and 1985, chances are good you ran across Ed. Besides being the resident cornetist and bandleader at that historic jazz spot, he was also the manager and co-owner. At Princeton University, he joined Stan Rubin's Tigertown Five, perhaps the best-known collegiate Dixieland group of the day. With that band he made several Carnegie Hall appearances and performed at the wedding of Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly in Monaco.

In the 1980's, Ed was honored to serve as President of the International Art of Jazz, as well as a member of the Advisory Panel of the Jazz Musicians Foundation of New York. Ed's biography has been included in the New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, the Encyclopedia of Jazz in the '70s and the Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz, both compiled by Leonard Feather and Ira Gitler, and Trumpet Kings by Scott Yanow. In Great Britain, Ed is listed in The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz, as well as Jazz, the Essential Companion and Jazz, the Rough Guide. Chip Deffaaa devoted a full chapter to Ed in Traditionalists and Revivalists in Jazz.

Lionel, Red & Bunny

Sunday, June 12, 2022

Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks - Cotton Club Revisited

Styles: Big Band
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:14
Size: 102,0 MB
Art: Front

(3:00)  1. Cotton Club Stomp
(4:29)  2. Stormy Weather
(2:48)  3. Get Yourself a New Broom
(2:52)  4. Trickeration
(4:10)  5. I've Got the World On a String
(2:35)  6. Harlem Holiday
(2:37)  7. Happy As the Day Is Long
(3:22)  8. Minnie the Moocher
(3:36)  9. Raisin' the Rent
(3:23) 10. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
(3:38) 11. As Long As I Live
(4:49) 12. Minnie the Moocher's Wedding Day
(2:48) 13. Truckin'

Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks once again establish a musical time warp, across 13 songs that carry listeners back to the summer of 1932, by way (mostly) of the music of Ted Koehler and Harold Arlen, with additional contributions by Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Duke Ellington, and Cab Calloway. The playing is inventive and impeccable, and there's not a false note anywhere. From the opening "Cotton Club Stomp" through "Stormy Weather," "I've Got the World on a String," "Harlem Holiday," "Minnie the Moocher," "Raisin' the Rent," etc. (with John Leifert providing vocals where needed), the effect is seductive if not downright intoxicating, and even veteran listeners will be thrown by the obvious new vintage of the recordings themselves.
~ Bruce Eder http://www.allmusic.com/album/cotton-club-revisited-mw0001419025

Cotton Club Revisited

Monday, June 6, 2022

Barbara Rosene & Vince Giordano - Deep Night

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:34
Size: 139,4 MB
Art: Front

(2:51)  1. Fit As a Fiddle
(3:01)  2. Keep Sweeping the Cobwebs Off the Moon
(3:30)  3. Deep Night
(3:16)  4. It All Depends on You
(3:14)  5. I Have to Have You
(3:23)  6. Blue, Turning Grey Over You
(2:44)  7. Me Minus You
(3:19)  8. Exactly Like You
(3:18)  9. Am I Blue?
(3:00) 10. Ain't That a Grand and Glorious Feeling?
(3:03) 11. You're the One I Care For
(2:47) 12. Twenty Million People
(2:50) 13. 'Deed I Do
(3:25) 14. Guilty
(2:40) 15. Cooking Breakfast for the One I Love
(3:03) 16. There's Something in the Air
(2:56) 17. I'm Nobody's Baby
(2:40) 18. Dancing with Tears in My Eyes
(3:00) 19. Lovable and Sweet
(2:26) 20. I'm in Training for You

New York/Cleveland vocalist Barbara Rosene has teamed up with Vince Giordano and the latest incarnation of the Nighthawks for a romp through 20 songs from the 1920s and 1930s. Some of these nuggets are familiar, others haven't been recorded for awhile. These Prohibition-era tunes were performed by Ruth Etting, Annette Hanshaw, Connee Boswell, and others, who laid down the foundations for popular-song singers to come. Even though some of the tracks retain that "old" sound, such as the title tune, "Deep Night," which has that Russian Tea Room violin of Andy Stein playing the interludes, they don't sound dated for nary a minute. Many of the old trappings are present. When Rosene sings the line about knockin' on wood on "Ain't That a Grand and Glorious Feeling?," there's Arnie Kinsella hitting the wood block. 

Among the selections Rosene picked for this session is "Cooking Breakfast for the One I Love," a tune made popular by Fanny Brice in the 1929 film Be Yourself. Rosene brings just the right vocal expression and emphasis to each tune with her very appealing vocalizing. She has a great feel for the offbeat syncopation inherent in music from this era, such as on "Exactly Like You," in which Rosene warbles with Rose Murphy in mind, while Conal Fowkes' music hall piano is plunking the melody right along with the singer, a rarity these days. These orchestrations are from the fine hand of Giordano. Rosene is fortunate to have the veteran trad jazz stylist on this her debut album. There are few who have devoted more time to transcribing, performing, and recording vintage jazz from the period covered by the album. The result? A fun, happy CD is the product of a fine vocalist and top-of-the-list musicians and is recommended.      
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/deep-night-vince-giordano/id449710088

Personnel: Barbara Rosene (vocals); Matt Munister, Jay Berliner (guitar); Vince Giordano (banjo, tuba); Andy Stein (violin); Dan Levinson (clarinet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Jon-Erik Kellso (cornet); Brad Shigeta (trombone); Conal Fowkes (piano); Arnie Kinsella (drums, timpani).

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks - Cheek To Cheek

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:05
Size: 105.5 MB
Styles: Big band
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[3:05] 1. Let Yourself Go
[3:53] 2. Cheek To Cheek
[2:48] 3. No Strings
[3:52] 4. Let's Face The Music
[3:07] 5. The Carioca
[3:07] 6. A Fine Romance
[2:46] 7. Shall We Dance
[2:34] 8. Flying Down To Rio
[4:12] 9. Night And Day
[4:07] 10. Isn't This A Lovely Day
[3:20] 11. I Won't Dance
[3:29] 12. Top Hat, White Tie And Tails
[2:52] 13. The Continental
[2:48] 14. Cet's Call The Whole Thing Off

Yet another stellar CD by Vince and his Nighthawks. This time, they explore the musicals of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and capture perfectly the grace, beauty and appeal of the music they danced to. I always have to emphasize that, unlike so many other "period" jazz bands, the Nighthawks show absolute respect for early jazz, and present it as it was back in the early days - in its authentic form, rather than in the form of caricature. This album is a great one for introducing a listener to early jazz - these pieces are all standards, whereas most of the Nighthawks' other albums focus on lesser-known, but equally great, examples. ~Danielle Bennignus

Cheek To Cheek

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Dick Hyman & Tom Pletcher - If Bix Played Gershwin

Styles: Piano And Cornet Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:55
Size: 137,8 MB
Art: Front

(2:55)  1. I Got Plenty O' Nuttin'
(3:51)  2. Oh, Lady, Be Good!
(3:36)  3. Sweet and Low-down
(3:27)  4. I Got Rhythm
(2:58)  5. But Not for Me
(2:56)  6. Kongo Kate
(3:27)  7. I've Got a Crush on You
(3:00)  8. Rialto Ripples
(3:16)  9. The Half of It, Dearie, Blues
(3:20) 10. 'S Wonderful
(2:48) 11. Yankee Doodle Rhythm
(2:54) 12. I Was So Young
(3:01) 13. Fascinating Rhythm
(4:11) 14. In a Mist
(2:43) 15. Sunny Disposish
(4:28) 16. Embraceable You #1
(4:24) 17. Embraceable You #2
(2:30) 18. Somebody Loves Me

Pianist Dick Hyman has to be recognized as one of the foremost students of historical jazz. The authentic-sounding retro background tracks you hear behind scenes in many Woody Allen movies came from bands led by Hyman and his like-minded sidemen. Cornetist Tom Pletcher obviously shares Hyman’s enthusiasm for exploring old works and making them new again, as demonstrated on this joyous paean to two musical geniuses of the early 20th century. The concept and name for the album comes from a 1996 concert Hyman and Fletcher performed at the 92nd Street Y as part of its jazz series. The theme is so appropriate and simple, it’s surprising it hadn’t been done before. Both George Gershwin and Bix Beiderbecke were active in the ‘20s, the former changing the face of American musical theater, the latter changing the face of jazz. Both also died before their time, Gershwin of a brain tumor, Beiderbecke of alcoholism. Left to his own devices, Hyman’s piano playing sometimes suffers from his reverence for the music. This is usually more evident in his solo and duo work. Happily, on this album Hyman is nestled in a wonderful group that demonstrates an appreciation for the music while not displaying it in a museum display case. 

Dan Levinson’s clarinet and C-melody sax, David Sager’s trombone and Bob Leary’s banjo and guitar help maintain the authentic sound. At the same time, modern recording techniques afford them room for nuanced playing and subtlety not possible in the primative studios of the music’s original era. Vince Giordano, himself every bit a musicologist as Hyman, is a rollicking joy on the bass sax while Ed Metz Jr. plays his drums authentically, but with a lighter feel of someone exposed to a later generation of players. Hyman’s arrangements are perfect period pieces. If his chart on “I Got Rhythm” is guaranteed to get toes tapping, “But Not for Me” will conjure up elegant couples out for a night on the town in the roaring ‘20s. He does engage in a little musicologist speculation, playing Beiderbecke’s “In a Mist” as might have been done by Gershwin, with snippets of Gershwin tunes thrown in. ~ Mitchell Seidel  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/if-bix-played-gershwin-tom-pletcher-arbors-records-review-by-mitchell-seidel.php

Personnel: Dick Hyman piano, Tom Pletcher cornet, Dan Levinson clarinet & C-Melody saxophone, David Sager trombone, Vince Giordano bass saxophone, Bob Leary guitar & banjo, Ed Metz Jr drums

If Bix Played Gershwin 

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Bobby Gordon - Bobby Gordon Plays Joe Marsala

Styles: Clarinet Jazz
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:23
Size: 143,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:28)  1. Woo-Woo
(4:20)  2. Southern Comfort
(2:27)  3. Don't Cry Joe
(4:08)  4. Little Sir Echo
(3:40)  5. Say When
(3:38)  6. Morning Star
(4:07)  7. Hot String Beans
(3:45)  8. Jim-Jam Stomp
(3:34)  9. And So To Sleep Again
(3:00) 10. I Don't Have To Dream Any More
(4:11) 11. Angelique
(4:21) 12. Bird Man Blues
(3:36) 13. Village Blues
(4:47) 14. Like Never Before
(3:50) 15. Lower Register
(2:49) 16. You Can Never Give Me Back My Heart
(2:33) 17. I Must Be Dreaming

The first impression one gets when listening to this well-crafted tribute to the 100th birthday of Joe Marsala (and available now, thirty years after his death) is the feeling of having been transported to the past, albeit with clear digital technology. The CD is traditional jazz at its best with none of the hiss so common in remastered recordings of the 1930s era after all, the disc was recorded in 2007.  During the sessions, clarinetist Bobby Gordon made no attempt to write arrangements that modernized the tunes; all of them are played in their original swinging big band era style, of which Marsala is a direct product. To recreate the selections, much of the sheet music was obtained from publishers who still carried them, while others came from collectors' files and even auction sites like eBay.

On the never-before-recorded "Angelique," violinist Russell George obviously channels Stephane Grappelli in one of his solos; "Village Blues swings hard while George, trumpeter Randy Reinhart and Gordon trade solos until they all come together, improvising New Orleans-style until the end. The same happens with "Southern Comfort and "Little Sir Echo," the latter being the most enjoyable (and upbeat) of the three. The title track has a bluesy feel on which Gordon stretches and the brilliant "I Don't Have To Dream Anymore opens with a syncopated bass line by Vince Giordano and has another fine Reinhart solo. 

Another previously unrecorded tune, "Say When," begin with notes resembling the theme from the film An Affair to Remember but soon evolves through each musician's lead turns, one of the most beautiful coming from pianist Keith Ingham. This disc brings listeners back to a bygone era ripe for discovery by younger jazz fans. ~ Ernest Barteldes http://www.allaboutjazz.com/bobby-gordon-plays-joe-marsala-lower-register-bobby-gordon-arbors-records-review-by-ernest-barteldes.php
 
Personnel: Bobby Gordon: clarinet; Keith Ingham: celesta; James Chirillo: guitar; Russell George: violin; Randy Reinhart: trumpet; Vince Giordano: bass guitar; Arnie Kinsella: drums; Steve Little: drums.

Bobby Gordon Plays Joe Marsala