Benita Hill - I'll See You In My Song / Take Five

Album: I'll See You In My Song
Size: 121,3 MB
Time: 52:12
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2006
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. Love Came On Stealthy Fingers (4:04)
02. Go Slow (2:24)
03. Sausalito In The Summertime (3:33)
04. I Knew Him In New York (3:13)
05. I'll See You In My Song (3:58)
06. Born To Be Blue (5:02)
07. You've Ruined It For Me (3:59)
08. I Go To Extremes (2:50)
09. Besame Mucho (5:29)
10. The London I Remember (3:05)
11. Here's That Rainy Day (3:53)
12. I Can Dream Can't I (4:37)
13. That's For Me (2:00)
14. I Don't Have A Care In The World (3:57)

All who hear Benita Hill might be considered privileged, but I, having accompanied her, am doubly lucky. I’ll See You in My Song, though, takes the listener about as close as one can go to the heart of her music without actually playing with her on a gig. Benita’s exquisite phrasing, not to mention her ability to caress every nuance from a lyric, stand her out among even the best singers of our time. What’s most impressive to me is how much expression she achieves by simply singing the melody. Without even a single, show-offish scat, she uses a few well-timed oohs to turn “Go Slow” into a memorable experience. And her graceful negotiation of the difficult leaps in Bob Dorough’s “Love Came on Stealthy Fingers” draw attention not to her technique, strong though it is, but to the song. That in and of itself would win over any listener or even jaded accompanist, but add to it the fact that some of these great songs â€" six, to be exact â€" are in fact co-written by Benita, and her conquest is complete: As a writer, too, she knows how to capture the class and resonance and staying power of the older gems she covers so well. Her performances leave me in love with all these wonderful tunes, and that, to me, is what the great song stylists do. I can¹t wait to start playing them myself or to put this CD on again and hear Benita do them as they deserve to be done.

I'll See You In My Song

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Album: Take Five
Size: 38,6 MB
Time: 16:31
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2001
Styles: Vocals: Jazz/Pop
Label: Benita Hill
Art: Front

01. Raining In Rio (4:46)
02. Wineglow (3:30)
03. You've Got Something I'm Sure Gonna Miss (3:32)
04. Valentine Gift To Myself (2:08)
05. The Bow (2:34)

Take Five

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Michel Benebig - Black Cap

Size: 103,7 MB
Time: 44:35
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2012
Styles: Jazz: Hammond Organ
Art: Front

01. L.R. Blues Ii (4:45)
02. Green Bean (4:24)
03. I Remember Django (4:32)
04. Pour Toi (4:40)
05. Captain Jack (4:43)
06. Black Groove (9:11)
07. Long Fingers (6:48)
08. Black Cap (5:28)

Michel Benebig (leader, B3 organ, composer) with Doug Web (sax) , Frank Potenza (guitar), Paul Kreibich (drums).

This album confirms what those on the Pacific rim have long known and what is just dawning on the wider Jazz world. We have a fully fledged B3 master in our midst and the time for proper acknowledgement is due. ‘Black Cap’ should gain Michel Benebig the wider recognition that he deserves.

Michel has always been an artist with astonishing chops but like all great musicians he also has good judgement. He knows when to lay out, when to comp gently and when to lay down a burning foot-thumping groove. If you listen carefully you will hear how totally in the pocket this man is. He sounds as if he could swing with one hand tied behind his back. This is about timing, an innate sense of swing, a relentlessly propulsive groove but above all taste. This is a sound that many aim for but few can master.

I will also mention his pedal work, which lays down such solid walking-bass lines that you shake your head in disbelief. It made me pick up the album cover to see if I had missed a bass player . This album has come to the attention of organ trio/quartet specialists and their praise for it has been strong. The various comments have invariably drawn attention to the astonishing pedal work.

The numbers on ‘Black Cap’ are all Michel’s compositions and the track list is carefully balanced. This is great groove music and that would be enough, but the album possesses an extra something – a presiding spirit that holds you until the last note. I was already familiar with his ‘Brother Jack’; a tribute to Brother Jack McDuff. On the album this is fast paced and crackling with energy. In perfect contrast is the slow burner on track 6 – titled ‘Black Groove’.

These days Michel spends a lot of time away from his native New Caledonia, gigging up and down the western seaboard of the USA. The other musicians on the album are all from the west coast and the line up is very impressive.

These guys are serious Los Angeles heavyweights and their biographies are simply staggering. Saxophonist Doug Webb has played and recorded with everyone from Horace Silver to Quincy Jones and has worked on several Clint Eastwood films including ‘Mystic River’ and ‘Million Dollar Baby’.

Frank Potenza on guitar is well-known for his years with pianist Gene Harris. He has played with Dizzy Gillespie, Harry ‘Sweets’ Edison (long a favourite of mine), James Moody and more. He was a protegé of the immortal Joe Pass and no guitarist can carry higher credentials than that.

Lastly there is drummer Paul Kreibich. He has worked with Carmen McCrae, Red Rodney, Kenny Burrell, The Woody Herman band and dozens of luminaries. He was Ray Charles drummer for three years and spent considerable time with the Gene Harris quartet. These are the very musicians to have in your corner if you have something special to say. Michel does.

I would defy any lover of B3 Groove jazz to fault this album. In this world of financial turmoil and endless conflict, this is the eternal balm.

Black Cap

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Keri Johnson - Healing Now

Size: 104,9 MB
Time: 44:42
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Vocals: Jazz/Pop/Soul
Art: Front

01. Healing Now (2:53)
02. Running Back To You (Feat. Mario Mauer) (3:58)
03. New Day (2:54)
04. Sunlight, Moonlight (2:53)
05. Hearts Are Meant To Fly (3:45)
06. Didn't Know (Feat. Telefan) (3:26)
07. One Night (3:20)
08. Brick By Brick (2:34)
09. What Are You Living For (3:21)
10. Make It Better (3:01)
11. Take Me Back (3:47)
12. Bring Forth Into Light (2:43)
13. The Love Of You (3:01)
14. The World Needs Love (Feat. Teodor Ulmanen) (3:01)

Returning to her musical roots- as a singer/songwriter with her very first self-produced indie album, "Greystone" - along with now her 2nd- "Healing Now"- Keri's music inspires and ignites with stirring, soulful original music about life, love & loss. Drawing from a diverse background, innate ear & musical ability, Keri's music is in a genre unique to its own, with an intimate & bared down sound featuring piano, keyboards, tambourine & tribal beats, with her unique voice, intricate harmonies and vocal phrasing as the focal point. Most closely falling into Acoustic Soul/Jazz/Pop genres,- while drawing from her classical/opera background, Keri's voice is at once soulful & strong- then shimmering & ethereal- like an "angel whispering in your ear." "We are the music makers- we are the dreamer of dreams"- Arthur O'Shaughessy.

Healing Now

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Radam Schwartz - Blues Citizens

Size: 84,9 MB
Time: 50:21
File: MP3 @ VBR ~240K/s
Released: 2009
Styles: Jazz: Hammond Organ, Jazz Blues
Art: Front

01. Dem Philadelphia Organ Blues (5:22)
02. Driftin' (4:43)
03. Grieve But Be Brief (5:48)
04. Blues Citizens (5:11)
05. Misty (5:18)
06. Pay Up (5:43)
07. I Don't Stand A Ghost Of A Chance (5:27)
08. Hangin' With Smooth (2:52)
09. Steal Away (6:01)
10. Eighth Wonder (Album Version) (3:53)

One of the cool things about the relationship between jazz and blues is that both genres grew from the same emotional roots. At times, the only clear distinction is a subtle change in how notes are played. Is it jazz that sounds like the blues, or is it blues that sounds like jazz? On Hammond organist Radam Schwartz's Blues Citizens, the answer could be either—or both.

Schwartz has decades of experience, having worked with artists including David "Fathead" Newman, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Victor Goines. Here, Schwartz is accompanied by tenor saxophonist Bill Saxton, alto saxophonist Bruce Williams, guitarist Eric Johnson and drummer Cecil Brooks III.

"Dem Philadelphia Organ Blues" is textbook feel-good music. With Brooks' stick handling and Johnson's rhythm guitar, the saxophone duet leads while Schwartz uses the organ both for his share of the rhythm and to cover the bass line. Williams punches in a lively alto solo, with Schwartz and Johnson also enjoying features.

The title song struts along, with organ and cymbals in sync while the saxophones deliver a sassy melody. After Williams' solo and a repeat of the melody and chorus, Schwartz shows off, helped largely by Brooks.

The blues are in force on "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance." The organ introduction sounds like a warm-up for a funeral. Saxton's tenor is brooding in the lead, particularly when it reaches its depth. Schwartz, Johnson and Brooks softly underscore, and Johnson also solos.

A true jazz fan also appreciates the blues, and vice-versa. Blues Citizens is an example of what's in store when the genres meet. (By Woodrow Wilkins)

Personnel: Radam Schwartz: Hammond B-3 organ; Bill Saxton: tenor saxophone; Bruce Williams: alto saxophone; Eric Johnson: guitar; Cecil Brooks III: drums; Kice: vocal

Blues Citizens

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Lu Jasper - Good-Bye Heartache

Size: 41,1 MB
Time: 17:21
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Vocals: Blues/Jazz
Art: Front

01. Good-Bye Heartache (1:52)
02. About A Friend (2:38)
03. Addicted To Your Midnight Kiss (2:00)
04. Hello Mister Wrong (2:27)
05. Shiver And Sizzle (1:47)
06. Good-Bye (2:54)
07. Wasn't Expecting That (1:48)
08. Weakness To Sin (1:52)

Lu Jasper was born and raised in New York City. As a child, Lu loved to write poetry, but also fell in love with singers of the past, such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday, and Lil Green. This spawned an overall obsession with singing, which, aside from annoying her sister greatly, caused her poems to morph into songs. When she finally found the right band, she was able to record her first album, Good-bye Heartache. This album represents all the trials and tribulations she experienced during that time, primarily with regard to the absolutely terrible NYC dating scene. Really, what's up with the guys here? Are they this bad everywhere? Probably down the line, she will write an album titled, "I could have had love, but my sandwich seemed more intriguing."
This album features Lu's earliest recordings and is heavily influenced by jazz and blues.

Good-Bye Heartache

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Deborah J. Carter - Daytripper: A Beatles Tribute

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:58
Size: 109,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:59)  1. Can't Buy Me Love
(4:31)  2. And I Love Her
(3:31)  3. Ticket To Ride
(5:18)  4. Yesterday
(4:21)  5. Daytripper / Trippin'
(4:52)  6. I Will / Here, There And Everywhere
(4:24)  7. Something
(3:16)  8. Fixing A Hole
(4:08)  9. Oh! Darling
(3:57) 10. Things We Said Today
(4:36) 11. With A Little Help From My Friends

By her interpretation of Lennon-McCartney compositions Deborah demonstrates eminently the distinction between jazz and pop. Her feeling for phrasing, improvisation and variation brings excitement in these songs which she considers part of the soundtrack of her life. With a fascinating penchant for free-spiritedness she creates in personal versions a sparkling cocktail of contrasts. ~ From the liner notes

On this jazz tribute, jazz vocalist Deborah J. Carter and her backing trio (plus a few guest musicians) opted for a mix of the obvious choices (And I Love Her, Yesterday) and a few not much covered ones (I Will, Fixing A Hole), as well as two medleys, the title track plus Trippin’, a vocalese composed by Carter and I Will coupled with Here There And Everywhere. Another striking thing is that she sings the songs from a woman’s perspective with gender changes in the lyrics when necessary. However, the main reason for buying this disc isn’t the track listing but the beautiful bright interpretations of the songs. With a gorgeous voice that is beyond dispute and the way she treats an up-tempo song like Day Tripper or a rocking Oh Darling by moulding them into her own soulful jazz or gospel style (With A Little Help From Her Friends)  it’s simply a delightful treat for fans of cover versions and sheer pleasure for anyone’s ears. And all embedded in exciting improvisations by her band, without losing sight of the original Beatles melodies clearly made with respect and love for the compositions. ~  Review from "BEATLES UNLIMITED" magazine

Simply put, I was spellbound in my first listen to this CD. It's THAT good. It's as though I'd never heard these songs before; having been given a red carpet treatment of modern chord changes and tasteful vocal styling, the result is an experience that a mere $15 could not buy anywhere. This is without doubt among the finest albums I've bought in many years. ~ Dan Goodman 

If you have never experienced Deborah J. Carter's voice and style then you are truly missing something. Her backing band, is as tight a jazz combo as you will find anywhere. The treatment that the group gives these Beatles tunes is innovative and let's the listener hear a perspective of Lennon & McCartney compositions that further proves the timelessness of the songs themselves as they are skillfully kneaded by the band. ~ Dean Brown    http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/deborahjcarter3

Personnel: Deborah J. Carter (vocals); Ed Verhoeff (guitar); Coen Molenaar (piano); Mark Zandveld (bass instrument); Enriqur Firpi (drums).

Daytripper

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Bruce Barth - Live at Smalls

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 66:02
Size: 152,9 MB
Art: Front + Back

(5:01)  1. Oh Yes I Will
(7:24)  2. Sunday
(4:56)  3. Yama
(8:02)  4. Almost Blues
(8:40)  5. Peaceful Place
(7:43)  6. Afternoon in Lleida
(8:58)  7. Wilsonian Alto
(5:56)  8. Good Morning Heartache
(9:20)  9. Looking Up

Jazz pianist and composer Bruce Barth has been sharing his music with listeners the world over for more than two decades. Deeply rooted in the jazz tradition, his music reflects both the depth and breadth of his life and musical experiences. In addition to traveling widely and performing his own music, he has also performed with revered jazz masters, and collaborated with leading musicians of his own generation. The Star-Ledger writes, No one sounds quite like Barth. His solos are characterized by robust swing, his ability to tell a story, and by his rich, beguiling sound. ~ Editorial Reviews   http://www.amazon.com/Live-Smalls-Bruce-Barth-Trio/dp/B004NWHW5C.

Personnel :  Bruce Barth – Piano;  Vicente Archer – Bass;  Rudy Royston – Drums

Live at Smalls

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John Coltrane - Sun Ship : The Complete Session CD1 And CD2

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:33 (CD 1)
Size: 139,5 MB (CD 1)
Time: 46:48 (CD 2)
Size: 107,8 MB (CD 2)
Art: Front

CD 1

( 6:33)  1. Dearly Beloved - Take 1 & 2, Fales Start and Alternate Version
( 1:25)  2. Dearly Beloved - Take 3, Breakdown
( 6:13)  3. Dearly Beloved - Take 4, Complete Version
(13:36)  4. Attaining - Take 1, Alternate Version
( 1:02)  5. Attaining - Take 2, Breakdown
(10:27)  6. Attaining - Take 3, Complete Version
( 4:42)  7. Attaining - Take 4, Insert 1
( 0:58)  8. Sun Ship - Take 1, Breakdown
( 6:29)  9. Sun Ship - Take 2, Complete Alternate Version
( 2:30) 10. Sun Ship - Take 3, Insert 1
( 6:33) 11. Sun Ship - Take 4, Complete Version

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CD 2

( 0:43)  1. Studio Conversation
(11:34)  2. Ascent - Take 1, Complete Version
( 4:49)  3. Ascent - Take 2, Incomplete Version
( 3:52)  4. Ascent - Take 3, False Starts and Incomplete Version
( 1:40)  5. Ascent - Take 4-6, Inserts / False Starts
( 4:03)  6. Ascent - Take 7, Complete Insert 4
( 4:02)  7. Ascent - Take 8, Complete Insert 5
( 7:46)  8. Amen - Take 1, Alternate Version
( 8:16)  9. Amen - Take 2, Released Version

Recorded on August 26, 1965 (and not released until after his death), Sun Ship was the final recording by John Coltrane's quartet with drummer Elvin Jones, pianist McCoy Tyner, and bassist Jimmy Garrison. Pharoah Sanders would join the group the following month, and Tyner and Jones would depart in January of 1966 to be replaced by Alice Coltrane and Rashied Ali. It is also one of the saxophonist's most intense taped performances. After nearly four years together, this band had achieved a vital collective identity. When Coltrane moved toward metrically free styles of rhythm and melody (with tunes often based on one chord or a short series of notes as themes), the quartet's rhythmic pulse and collective interplay evolved accordingly. The original album featured edited and sometimes overdubbed performances of its four compositions. 

Sun Ship: The Complete Session delivers both complete versions of the album's performances, but also multiple takes of "Dearly Beloved," "Attaining," and the title track. There are inserts where edits and overdubs were clearly made, with studio dialogue, arrangement breakdowns, false starts, etc. Disc two contains eight different takes of "Ascent" (including the previously released version) as well as alternate and released takes of "Amen," and studio conversation. Author David Wild's detailed liner essay eloquently details the process in the album's creation and problems encountered, adding a keen insight into Bob Theile's and Coltrane's production methods and aesthetics. A set like this is obviously intended for the saxophonist's devotees, critics, and jazz historians, but even a casual listen offers a fascinating look at how different these sessions were from the final product. ~ Thom Jurek   http://www.allmusic.com/album/sun-ship-the-complete-session-mw0002485896

Personnel: John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); McCoy Tyner (piano); Elvin Jones (drums).

Sun Ship : The Complete Session (CD1)

Sun Ship : The Complete Session (CD2)

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Leo Parker - Complete Jazz Series 1947-1950

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1947
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 70:42
Size: 162,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:15)  1. El Sino
(2:55)  2. Ineta
(2:58)  3. Wild Leo
(3:06)  4. Leapin Leo
(2:45)  5. Wee Dot
(2:53)  6. Solitude
(2:53)  7. Lion Roars
(2:46)  8. Mad Lad Boogie
(3:03)  9. On The House
(2:29) 10. Dunky
(2:40) 11. Senor Leo
(2:49) 12. Chase N The Lion
(2:26) 13. Leos Bells
(2:27) 14. Sweet Talkin Leo
(2:32) 15. Swinging For Love
(2:28) 16. The New Look
(3:18) 17. Mona Lisa
(3:08) 18. Whos Mad
(3:04) 19. Darn That Dream
(2:39) 20. I Cross My Fingers
(2:51) 21. Mad Lad Returns
(2:50) 22. Woody
(2:41) 23. Rolling With Parker
(2:13) 24. Leo Leaps In
(3:21) 25. Solitude

There's something about the purling, snarling and booting of a baritone sax that can create pleasant disturbances in the listener's spine and rib cage. Leo Parker came up during the simultaneous explosions of bebop and rhythm & blues. Everything he touched turned into a groove. Recording for Savoy in Detroit during the autumn of 1947, Leo was flanked by Howard McGhee and Gene Ammons, who at this point seems to have been operating under the influence of Lester Young. Leo does his own share of Prez-like one-note vamping, bringing to mind some of Lester's Aladdin recordings made during this same time period. Leo's Savoys originally appeared on 78 rpm platters, then on 10" long-playing records. Anyone who has ever heard one of these relics played on period equipment can testify to the sensation of hearing an old-fashioned phonograph wrestling with the extra fidelity contained in the voice of that king-sized sax. 

The next session happened in New York two months later. J.J. Johnson was on hand to supervise a smart recording of his own soon-to-be-famous "Wee Dot." Dexter Gordon is in fine form and it's nice to hear Joe Newman blowing so much gutsy bebop through his trumpet. Everything smoothes out for a gorgeous rendition of Duke Ellington's "Solitude," a lush feature for the baritone. The rhythm section of Curly Russell, Hank Jones and Shadow Wilson makes this particular session even more solid than usual. Leading his "Quintette" in Detroit on March 23rd, 1948, Leo races into "Dinky" with a run straight out of Herschel Evans' "Doggin' Around." Sir Charles Thompson tosses off some of his most fragmented playing, splattering the walls with abrupt block chords and tiny whirlpools of truncated riffs. "Señor Leo" cruises at a very cool, almost subterranean Latin tempo, a mood that brings to mind Bud Powell's hypnotic opus "Comin' Up." You get to hear the voices of Parker and Thompson at the beginning of "Chase 'n' the Lion," a fine bit of updated boogie-woogie. 

Apparently, Sir Charles was also known at that time as "Chase." A second session recorded on the same day adds Charlie Rouse to an already steaming band. Leo gnaws his way through four tunes of his own devising. Nothing brilliant here, just good hot jamming. The people at Prestige Records were smart enough to line up a date with the Leo Parker Quartet in July of 1950, resulting in what has got to be the hippest version of "Mona Lisa" ever put on record. The quartet hatched two other handsome ballads and a pair of kickers. "Who's Mad" is a sort of sequel to the famous "Mad Lad," made when Leo was recording for the Apollo label under Sir Charles' leadership. That makes "Mad Lad Returns" a sequel to the sequel. Unable or unwilling to shake this particular thematic, Leo called his next recording band "the Mad Lads." Two out of four sides were issued on the little Gotham label. Meet the all-but-forgotten Henri Durant, a bop tenor who made all the right moves and promptly split the scene. Good thing he at least made it on to this blowing session. Finally, get a load of Leo's creatively reconstituted "Solitude," rejected by Gotham but included by Classics at the tail-end of this mother lode of vintage recordings by the amazing Leo Parker. ~ Arwulf Arwulf   http://www.allmusic.com/album/1947-1950-mw0000658641

Personnel: Leo Parker (alto saxophone, baritone saxophone); Dexter Gordon (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Gene Ammons, Charlie Rouse (tenor saxophone); Howard McGhee, Joe Newman , James Robertson (trumpet); J.J. Johnson (trombone); Hank Jones , James Craig, Kenny Drew, Al Haig, Sir Charles Thompson (piano); Eddie Bourne, Charles "Hungry" Williams , Max Roach, Shadow Wilson (drums).

Recorded in Detroit, Michigan and New York, New York between 1947 & 1950

Complete Jazz Series 1947-1950

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Jessica Lee - Rhythms Of Anyway

Size: 142,0 MB
Time: 61:22
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. The More I See You (3:33)
02. Love No Hands (4:08)
03. Small Day Tomorrow (4:49)
04. Halelujah I Love Him So (3:40)
05. Nature Boy (5:34)
06. Whispering (4:31)
07. Baby Come To Me (5:21)
08. One With The Skies - Song For Claire (4:54)
09. Nocturne (4:11)
10. Song Bird (4:23)
11. You Don't Know I Love You (5:34)
12. World Medley What The World Needs Now Is Love - Wonderful World (6:45)
13. Raincoat (3:53)

Jessica Lee displays her considerable vocal palette on this collection of jazz and blues songs. In addition to songs from the Great American Songbook and some R&B and blues, the album contains three original songs by Jessica. Legendary drummer Roger Humphries is featured on ten of the tracks. Also featured are guitarist Mark Strickland, Max Leake on keys,Chris Hemingway and Jay Willis on sax and Mark Perna on bass. In addition to the 10 songs which comprise the "Rhythms of Anyway" collection three bonus tracks are included. These include "Raincoat" which we hoped to include on Jessica's first CD "Bluebird Fly", but the release was delayed and with a new guitar solo and a new vocal track it was worth the wait. We hope you enjoy the album.

Rhythms Of Anyway

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Frank Potenza - Soft & Warm

Size: 76,7 MB
Time: 33:00
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1987/2013
Styles: Guitar Jazz
Art: Front

01. California Dreamin' (4:15)
02. Sleeping Beauty (4:16)
03. Quiet Storm (4:21)
04. Coast Line (4:10)
05. Soft & Warm (3:51)
06. The 'In' Crowd (3:54)
07. Somewhere Out There (3:55)
08. Be My Love (4:14)

Upon graduating from the Berklee College of Music in 1972, jazz guitarist Frank Potenza embarked upon a prolific career that found him teaching, performing, and recording over the next few decades. A protégé of Joe Pass, Potenza has appeared with a number of well-known musicians, including Dizzy Gillespie, George Van Eps, Mose Allison, and Joe Sample, among others. Beginning in 1986, Potenza began recording solo albums for TBA Records of Los Angeles, CA: Sand Dance (1986), Soft and Warm (1987), When We're Alone (1988), and Express Delivery (1990). It wasn't until 1999 that he returned with another solo album, In My Dreams, recorded for Azica Records. At the time of the album's release, Potenza was teaching at USC and performing in his spare time. ~ Biography by Jason Birchmeier

Soft & Warm

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Gabrielle Ducomble - Notes From Paris

Size: 137,8 MB
Time: 59:22
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. La Vie En Rose (4:58)
02. Un Homme Et Une Femme (4:53)
03. Ces Petits Riens (5:24)
04. Padam Padam (5:13)
05. Que Feras-Tu De Ta Vie (6:09)
06. Je Ne Regrette Rien (5:58)
07. Sanfona (4:06)
08. Ne Me Quitte Pas (6:40)
09. Oblivion (5:43)
10. Que Reste-T-Il De Nos Amours (4:50)
11. Sous Le Ciel De Paris (5:24)

Personnel:
Gabrielle Ducomble - Vocals
Nicolas Meier - Nylon, Steel & Fretless Guitars
Dan Teper - Accordian & Piano on Tracks 2, 6
Nick Kacal - Double Bass
Saleem Raman - Drums & Bongos
Chris Garrick - Violin
Gilad Atzmon - Clarinet & Alto Saxophone
John Bailey - Piano on track 5

Belgian-born and London-trained singer Gabrielle Ducomble’s second album, Notes from Paris, offers a glowing and vigorous account of the French chanson, seasoned with touches of jazz and tango. As you would expect in a French singer featured in Jazz FM’s Valentine's Day playlist, she draws heavily on the traditionally romantic perception of an English-speaking audience to both French lyrics and French-accented English.

Ducomble has made her own arrangements of some of the most iconic chansons in the repertoire for this album. Her background combines popular acclaim (she first made her name as the winner of a TV talent show) and high-class training (at the Guildhall School of Music). Her voice is exquisitely groomed, sumptuously powerful and buttery, like a fine Meursault, though that very poise, control and strength is occasionally at odds with the character of the original song. The strength of the best chansons - certainly Piaf’s, and in many ways Brel’s too - lies in their combination of defiance and vulnerability, expressed in that unmistakably nasal, even whinnying resilience that’s on the edge of dissolving into sobs. Ducomble’s versions are, on the whole, too slick and confident for that: there’s a sense she’s cheerfully revealing all to a stadium of fans rather than disclosing intimate secrets.

It’s particularly apparent with the Piaf numbers. La Vie en Rose, the first track on the album, opens with a crackly, period sound, before Ducomble’s glossy tone bursts through, perhaps a little stridently, given the tenderness of the lyrics. Ducomble’s version of Je ne regrette rien, though a novel re-working, also obscures the desperation in the speaker’s defiance beneath a rather too-fluent self-confidence. However, her version of Brel’s Ne Me Quitte Pas is, for the most part, beautifully desolate, Chris Garrick’s spare violin opening setting the scene in evocative, vaguely Celtic colours.

There’s much to enjoy in the album’s band of expert jazzers. Ducomble’s arrangements use instrumental colours well, especially saxes (Gilad Atzmon), which varies from cute, piping alto to sensual, thrusting tenor, and accordion (Dan Teper), which displays everything from cafe-style coquette to rasping menace.

A note is usually a slight, personal document; Notes from Paris is too big and bold for that, but it’s a confident statement by a powerful and charismatic singer, who’s destined to establish herself as a performer of the jazz- and tango-tinged chanson. ~Review by Matthew Wright

Notes From Paris

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Jack Brass Band - For Your Body

Size: 127,6 MB
Time: 55:05
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Jazz: New Orleans
Art: Front

01. There Goes My Baby (5:49)
02. If I Had No Loot (5:57)
03. Bad Mama Jama (4:58)
04. All I Do (4:51)
05. Got My Whiskey (4:35)
06. Freaky In The Club (4:44)
07. Every Little Step (4:59)
08. Let's Stay Together (3:50)
09. We're In This Love Together (6:20)
10. Can't Stop (4:40)
11. They All Asked For You (4:16)

Feel-Good Music is an apt description. The Jack Brass Band's latest album features 11 songs made famous by other artists, familiar to listeners from different generations, and puts a fresh spin on them to make them "street" and "party" worthy anthems. It's about the groove, and the way the rhythm section with a tuba (sousaphone) plays the basslines, and two drummers take over where many opt for one drumset player. Add in some greasy horns, killer ensemble and improvisational work, and a sing-a-long mentality to the lyrics - and you have a mix that makes people MOVE SOMETHING.

For Your Body

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Deborah Latz - Toward Love

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:28
Size: 95,4 MB
Art: Front

(3:10)  1. It Had To Be You
(5:07)  2. Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered
(6:49)  3. How Insensitive
(2:21)  4. Gone With The Wind
(3:00)  5. Avril A Paris
(5:30)  6. Lover Man
(3:51)  7. I Only Have Eyes For You
(6:54)  8. Night And Day
(2:08)  9. The Thrill Is Gone
(2:32) 10. Bluesette

They say that love makes the world go around. I don't know about that, but it's made for some great songs, tunes that vocalist Deborah Latz goes after with gusto on her debut disc, Toward Love. On the classic "Loverman," where Billie Holiday sounded fragile and deeply hurt where Carmen McRae gave us a wounded, world weary mood Latz evokes a hopeful innocence, as though she believes it will happen, that loverman will show up. The vocalist demonstrates some downtempo sass on Rodgers and Hart's "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered," this listener's highlight. Her voice rings with a fetching richness here, with Bob Bowen's bass caressing her syllables. And do I detect a hint of tongue in cheek? I'm not sure. The lyric is by today's perspective on romance wonderfully sappy; and Deborah Latz pulls it off with grace and straight-ahead beauty. On "Avril a Paris" Latz shows us she can sing a lyric in French with aplomb; pianist Timo Elliston works a percussive mode, nailing down the rhythm behind the mellifluous flow of language. "Night and Day" has the vocalist entering the scene with a coy hush in her voice, a softly feminine Tony Bennett-like rasp in front of Ben Sher's piquant guitar lines. A marvelous vocal effort, beginning to end. I'm bewitched. ~ Dan McClenaghan   

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=13783#.Ux0THoVZhhk

Personnel: Deborah Latz - vocal; Timo Elliston - piano; Bob Bowen -bass; Jimmy Wormworth - drums; Bob Sher - guitar

Toward Love

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Dee Daniels - Close Encounter of the Swingin' Kind

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 1991
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:53
Size: 131,0 MB
Art: Front + Back

(5:43)  1. Blues in the Night
(4:17)  2. Lavern Walk
(5:45)  3. Georgia
(5:32)  4. On Green Dolphin Street
(3:28)  5. Never Make Your Move too Soon
(8:33)  6. Nigerian Market Place
(5:56)  7. Lover man
(4:23)  8. J.c. Blues
(4:08)  9. Centerpiece
(5:05) 10. April in Paris
(3:57) 11. Things Ain`t What They Used to be

Dee Daniels mixes together the influences of Sarah Vaughan, R&B, and gospel in her own appealing style. She started off singing in church as a child and also took piano lessons so she could play for the choirs of her stepfather's church. She earned an art degree from the University of Montana in 1970 and taught art in high school in Seattle. She also sang on the side, at first for the fun of it and then eventually six nights a week with a band that performed rock and R&B. In 1972 she quit her teaching job to concentrate exclusively on singing.

Over time, Daniels began to love improvising and gradually drifted toward jazz. While living in Europe during 1982-1987, she worked with such jazz greats as Toots Thielemans, Monty Alexander, Johnny Griffin, and John Clayton. Although she moved back to the U.S. in 1987, she has performed often in other countries including Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, 11 African countries, and throughout Europe, and is actually better known overseas than in the U.S.

Daniels has appeared in such shows as the musical comedy Wang Dang Doodle and the 2001 Calgary Stampede, and she has performed with both jazz groups and pops orchestras. Along the way she has recorded for Capri, Mons (with the Metropole Orchestra), Three XD Music, and Origin in addition to releasing a DVD on Challenge. 

Bio ~ https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/dee-daniels/id155971580#fullText

Personnel: Dee Daniels (vocals); Johan Clement (piano); Fred Krens (drums).

Close Encounter of the Swingin` Kind

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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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Jackie Ryan - You and The Night and The Music

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:07
Size: 158,7 MB
Art: Front

(4:51)  1. You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To
(5:15)  2. The Very Thought of You
(3:50)  3. Something Happens to Me
(5:33)  4. Bésame Mucho
(4:34)  5. Let There Be Love
(6:56)  6. Wild Is the Wind
(5:57)  7. Moonlight
(4:39)  8. The Best Is Yet to Come
(5:58)  9. You and the Night and the Music
(5:15) 10. You Are There
(4:26) 11. I Just Found out About Love
(5:26) 12. Never Let Me Go
(2:25) 13. I Know That You Know
(3:54) 14. While We're Young

On most vocal recordings, singers are accompanied by their usual band, perhaps with a famous guest sitting in for a track or two. If the singer and band are good, the result is pleasing but when the singer is excellent, the band is a crackling, long-term trio on its own, and the guest is a legend, it vaults the whole enterprise into an altogether different category.  All of these elements are here, on Jackie Ryan's third release for Open Art Productions. Ryan is an excellent singer: classy and warm, with a supple, rich, wide-ranging voice, great phrasing and time and the ability to make you believe everything she says. The band is the peerless Jeff Hamilton Trio, featuring the superb bass of Christoph Luty, the exceptional playing and arranging of pianist Tamir Hendelman, and Jeff Hamilton, the world's most tasteful and musical drummer. The visiting legend is Red Holloway, who swings his posterior off on five of the fourteen tracks, and there are two more guests: guitarist Larry Koonse and harpist Carol Robbins, members of the Billy Childs sextet. 

Aside from their other contributions, each of them gets a powerful duet turn with Ryan. This CD is so good that picking highlights is purely a matter of personal taste. To these ears, the peaks include the swingers "You'd Be So Nice... and "Let There be Love (Red!!), the rarely-heard "Moonlight, rendered as a luxurious bossa, and Hendelman's blazing solo on "The Best is Yet To Come. Then there are luminous ballads "Wild is the Wind, "Never Let Me Go, and "You Are There, which Dave Frishberg has identified as his favorite of all the lyrics he's written. I also appreciated Ryan's sensuous, fully-ripe approach to "Besame Mucho it's high time somebody seared the clichés off that tune and revealed how beautiful it really is.  So far, Jackie Ryan is best-known on the West Coast and in London, where she performs regularly at Ronnie Scott's; this CD will create legions of new fans in all the places in-between. Consistently excellent, gimmick-free, alternately exuberant and moving, You and the Night and the Music is a treasure, and highly recommended. ~ Dr. Judith Schlesinger   

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=26731#.UxqQO4VZhhk
 

Personnel: Jackie Ryan: vocals; Tamir Hendelman: piano; Christoph Luty: bass; Jeff Hamilton: drums; Red Holloway: tenor sax; Larry Koonse: guitar; Carol Robbins: harp.
 

You and The Night and The Music

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Django's Cadillac - New Wheels

Styles: Gypsy Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:15
Size: 112,8 MB
Art: Front

(4:11)  1. Formosa Please
(3:57)  2. Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me
(4:47)  3. Blue Rondo ala Turk
(4:46)  4. Lullaby of the Leaves
(4:42)  5. Delphinus
(3:05)  6. Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen
(5:17)  7. Peel Me a Grape
(5:01)  8. Forget the Tears
(5:07)  9. When Sunny Gets Blue
(4:49) 10. Gata Salvaje
(3:28) 11. Somewhere Over the Rainbow

“These guys swing, they sit all the way in the back seat and just swing like crazy” ~ Joe Craven (David Grisman, Jerry Garcia, Stephane Grapelli)

“From the opening track, Rick Hulett's infectious and heart-pounding original "Formosa Please" to the final sultry, stirring rendition of the timeless Ballad "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" the crew takes us on an entire expedition of sweet harmony and captivating rhythm. These folks have been together a while, and it shows in their polished execution and acutely intuitive reciprocation. Years of being a team, simpatico in their tastes, you experience in every note how much they enjoy playing with each other. Throw in compelling guest appearances with percussionist Joe Craven, and you've more than you bargained for!” ~ Jazzmando.com (review of New Wheels CD)

“Django's Cadillac” recorded in 2003 is a 6 member band playing 10 great songs. Very unpretentious music...very skillfully played...joyful and light hearted but with plenty of depth...a wonderful blend of instrumental textures! ~ David Friesen (internationally reknown bassist)    http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/djangoscadillac2

New Wheels

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Great Jazz Trio - Flowers for Lady Day

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1991
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:27
Size: 126,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:23)  1. Sometimes I'm happy
(5:26)  2. I'll never smile again
(5:09)  3. Love me or leave me
(5:41)  4. You don't know what love is
(4:00)  5. Baby, won't you please come home
(6:22)  6. Lover man
(5:38)  7. Easy living
(5:51)  8. I'm a fool to want you
(4:32)  9. Time warp
(7:21) 10. Don't explain

When you name your group the Great Jazz Trio, you generally run the risk of being called arrogant and had better have a lot to back it up. But if your trio consists of pianist Hank Jones, drummer Roy Haynes, and bassist George Mraz, that name isn't an example of arrogance or conceit -- it's a statement of fact. Forming a very cohesive trio, Jones, Haynes, and Mraz pay tribute to Billie Holiday on Flowers for Lady Day. This 1991 session finds the veteran improvisers embracing mostly songs that Holiday recorded, including "Lover Man" and "Don't Explain" both of which she defined. However, you won't hear "Gloomy Sunday," "My Man," "Good Morning, Heartache," "Strange Fruit," or "God Bless the Child" on this CD  most of the other songs are standards that Holiday recorded but didn't necessarily define. "I'm A Fool to Want You," for example, was defined by Frank Sinatra and while Lady Day recorded a superb hit version of "Easy Living" in 1937, her version wasn't the only famous one. Nonetheless, the Great Jazz Trio's affection for Holiday's legacy comes through loud and clear. Post-swing pianism doesn't get much more lyrical and melodic than Jones, and his interpretations of melodies that Holiday embraced are every bit as rewarding as one would expect. Flowers for Lady Day is easily recommended to Holiday and Jones fans alike. ~ Alex Henderson   http://www.allmusic.com/album/flowers-for-lady-day-mw0000181197

Personnel: Hank Jones (piano); Roy Haynes (drums).

Flowers for Lady Day

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Steve Kuhn trio - Mostly Coltrane

Styles: Piano Jazz

Year: 2009

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 77:29

Size: 181,6 MB

Art: Front

(5:00)  1. Welcome

(7:31)  2. Song of Praise

(6:23)  3. Crescent

(6:00)  4. I Want To Talk About You

(8:45)  5. The Night Has A Thousand Eyes

(5:12)  6. Living Space

(3:50)  7. Central Park West

(6:04)  8. Like Sonny

(3:41)  9. With Gratitude

(4:19) 10. Configuration

(6:53) 11. Jimmy's Mode

(8:21) 12. Spiritual

(5:24) 13. Trance

Although he's spent most of his career focusing on interpreting the music of others, pianist Steve Kuhn's albums for the ECM label have largely been about his small but significant repertoire of original music. Which makes Mostly Coltrane a real anomaly by comparison to earlier works like those reissued in the three-CD box set Life's Backward Glances - Solo and Quartet (ECM, 2009). Still, Kuhn has a perhaps little-known connection that makes this set of, well, mostly material either composed or covered by John Coltrane a stronger fit than might be expected. Kuhn gigged briefly with the iconic saxophonist in the early months of 1960, a transitional time for Coltrane. But instead of focusing on the repertoire Kuhn played with him, the pianist addresses a bigger picture, ranging from the more mainstream standards Coltrane was performing at the time of Kuhn's employment to the extreme experimentation so definitive of the saxophonist's later years, prior to his untimely death in 1967 at the age of 40.

Kuhn reunites his trio from Remembering Tomorrow (ECM, 1996) ubiquitous drummer Joey Baron and bassist David Finck, a longtime partner who also appeared on the pianist's last release for ECM, 2004's string-driven Promises Kept. But to make the connection to Coltrane complete, Kuhn also enlists saxophonist Joe Lovano. The beauty of Mostly Coltrane is that while the album is, indeed, reverential to the spirit of Coltrane, stylistically it's all Kuhn and his quartet.

Kuhn plays with a more delicate touch than Coltrane's longest-standing pianist, McCoy Tyner, so even when he heads into the swinging modal territory that Tyner carved out so singularly on "Song of Praise," first heard on Coltrane's Live at the Village Vanguard (Impulse!, 1962), it possesses none of Tyner's forceful, block-chord attack. Instead, with Lovano similarly eschewing Coltrane's infamous "sheets of sound" without sacrificing any of the passion, Kuhn plays it more impressionistically, although there's nothing implicit about the turbulent underpinning created by Finck and Baron.

Still, even Baron mainly plays it less hard-hitting than his Coltrane counterpart, the late Elvin Jones. While Jones would boil over on the title track to Crescent (Impulse!, 1964), Baron largely opts for a simmer on Kuhn's rubato arrangement, with greater power only occasionally demonstrated and, instead, more left to implication. Even when the quartet shoots for greater extremes on "Configuration," from Stellar Regions (Impulse!, 1967) including an incendiary opening duet between Baron and Lovano it feels somehow more truly collaborative and less a pure vehicle for Coltrane's by then truly out-of-this-world explorations.

Kuhn's motivic ability to build solos from the smallest of building blocks has always been a strength, and here he excels at taking music so strongly associated with Coltrane that it's difficult to imagine anyone else playing it, not just making it fit within his overall discography, but specifically within his ECM work. His own compositional contributions the new "With Gratitude" and a retake of the title track to Trance (ECM, 1975), both solo vehicles for the pianist fit just as comfortably in the overall program as do the two standards. These are Billy Eckstine's gentle ballad, "I Want to Talk About You" and the enduring Bernier/Brainin classic "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes," taken here at a fast clip.

Lovano is in equally fine form, capturing Coltrane's shimmering intensity on "Spiritual," but playing it on the Hungarian tarogato rather than the soprano saxophone towards which Coltrane became so disposed in his later years. He shines in the most understated of ways on a short but sweet duet with Kuhn on Coltrane's often-recorded and elegant ballad "Central Park West," from Coltrane's Sound (Atlantic, 1960), the two seemingly joined at the hip. Baron's ability to be both subtle and powerful sometimes instantaneously makes him an equal partner and superb foil for Kuhn's interpretive and sometimes sparse approach. Both players are capable as is Lovano of fervent energy and expansive dynamics, but they avoid the relentlessness that Coltrane was demonstrating by the time of Stellar Region's "Jimmy's Mode," which also features a rare but impressive solo from Finck. Mostly Coltrane is the ideal homage. There's no shortage of the intrepid exploratory spirit (and spiritual inspiration) that's made Coltrane a cultural icon for generations of musicians and fans, but equally there's no missing the personal qualities that define Kuhn and his group. A rare opportunity to hear Kuhn outside the trio setting he's largely preferred for most of his career, Mostly Coltrane may not appear, on first glance, to jibe with his original composition-focused discography for ECM, but in its absolute retention of the markers that have defined his work for the label, it's nothing short of a perfect fit. ~ John Kelman   http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=33244#.UxgE44VZhhk

Personnel:  Steve Kuhn: piano; David Finck: double-bass; Joey Baron: drums; Joe Lovano: tenor saxophone, taragato (12).

Mostly Coltrane

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