Thursday, April 10, 2014

Patricia Kaas - Kaas Chante Piaf

Styles: Chanson
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:53
Size: 142,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:42)  1. Mon Dieu
(4:38)  2. Padam Padam
(2:44)  3. Avec Ce Soleil
(5:07)  4. Milord
(2:31)  5. The 9th Hour
(4:13)  6. La Belle Histoire D'Amour
(2:37)  7. Les Amants Merveilleux
(4:06)  8. T'Es Beau Tu Sais
(4:20)  9. Hymne A L'Amour
(3:08) 10. C'Est Un Gars
(3:24) 11. Song For The Little Sparrow
(3:56) 12. La Foule
(3:01) 13. Mon Manege A Moi
(5:18) 14. La Vie En Rose
(4:58) 15. Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien
(3:01) 16. Je T'Ai Dans La Peau

This is the recording studio version of the concert Patricia Kaas gave at Carnegie Hall in tribute to the 50th anniversary of Edith Piaf's passing. She is backed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, a small studio band accordion, bass, guitar, Theremin, keyboards and even a chorus under the direction of Abel Korzeniowski, who also arranged the material and produced the album. The live performance, while a commercial success, had its share of critics, including Piaf purists, who were quick to note that Kaas doesn't possess the vocal range of her subject. Kaas fans found the size and power of the orchestra too daunting for her to overcome. Both of these arguments are likely to follow this studio production, but ultimately, both are in error. The cinematic quality provided by the orchestra and her band adds a haunting drama to these proceedings that points toward Kaas' smoky, sometimes even raspy, lower register. She doesn't attempt to imitate Piaf, but to pay homage to her enduring legacy and celebrate her influence. Kaas never betrays herself as a modern vocalist in the process. Instead, by interpreting these songs in her own way, she makes plain that Piaf's music is not only a root source of inspiration, but a breathing, evolving, entity that defies the limits of time and offers instruction for French chanson as it continues to evolve. 

Check the shifting moods and textures in "Mon Manege a Moi," the slow, smoldering sensuality and tragedy at the heart of her reading of "Mon Dieu," and the raw need expressed in "La Belle Histoire D'Amour," introduced and punctuated heavy brass, and alternately colored by a slow, strolling electric bass, piano, bells, and even a bass drum. The nod to Astor Piazzolla's nuevo tango in the accordion's introduction to "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien" is a nice touch (Piaf loved tango, as does Kaas) is offset by pastoral strings in the backdrop, vamping on a series of three chords before the singer enters with the orchestra. The song unfolds as a reverie before becoming an anthemic celebration of life and love no matter its ultimate cost. It's unlikely that Kaas Chante Piaf will please "pure" fans of either woman; but then, it's not supposed to. In offering such a unique, sensitive, perhaps even iconoclastic interpretation of Piaf, Kaas underscores her own reputation as one of the great musical artists of our era. ~ Thom Jurek   
http://www.allmusic.com/album/kaas-chante-piaf-mw0002434718

Personnel: Colin Green, Adam Goldsmith (guitar); Liz Varlow (viola); Chantal Webster (cello); Julian Jackson (harmonica); Eddie Hession (accordion); Cameron Todd (trumpet); Andrew Vinter, John Constable (keyboards); Anthony Alcock (double bass); Andrew Pask (bass guitar); Harold Fisher (drums); Christian Mason (Theremin).

Mindy Carson - Baby, Baby, Baby

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:25
Size: 106,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:47)  1. Baby, Baby, Baby
(2:51)  2. I'm Not Just Anybody's Baby
(2:54)  3. I Don't Want to Walk Without You, Baby
(2:34)  4. Baby Face
(3:14)  5. Don't Cry, Cry Baby
(3:17)  6. My Melancholy Baby
(2:17)  7. Everybody Loves My Baby
(3:05)  8. I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby
(2:02)  9. I'm Nobody's Baby
(2:28) 10. My Baby Just Cares for Me
(2:05) 11. I Found a New Baby
(2:44) 12. Baby Won't You Please Come Home
(2:42) 13. Baby, I Love Ya Like Crazy [#]
(2:20) 14. Sentimental Touch
(2:23) 15. (What Can I Say) After I Say I'm Sorry [#]
(3:09) 16. My Foolish Heart
(2:26) 17. Knock on Wood (Holler Mazel Tov)

Use of the word baby isn't improved by repetition. Though it doesn't crop up often on this "concept" record including only songs with the word baby in the title, Mindy Carson's vocal histrionics succeed only in dating Baby, Baby, Baby as a relic of its time. Blessed with a strong voice that she wielded with much talent, Carson had unfortunately devolved, by the time this was recorded in 1958, into a belter who attempted to equal the lungs of Kay Starr without her impeccable jazz smarts. There are many excellent songs that fit the bill for entrée on this record "I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby," "My Baby Just Cares for Me," "My Melancholy Baby" and the charts by Glenn Osser and Sherman Edwards goose a well-worn standard quite well, but Carson fails to let any syllable cross her lips without worrying it to death. ~ John Bush   http://www.allmusic.com/album/baby-baby-baby-mw0000695953

Chick Corea - Live in Montreux

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1981
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 73:33
Size: 168,4 MB
Art: Front

( 0:55)  1. Introduction
(10:25)  2. Hairy Canary
( 9:09)  3. Folk Song
(12:50)  4. Psalm
( 8:54)  5. Quintet, No. 2
( 8:11)  6. Up Up and...
(10:20)  7. Trinkle, Tinkle
( 6:36)  8. So in Love
( 4:09)  9. Drum Interlude
( 1:59) 10. Slippery When Wet

This important live recording from 1981 features the great pianist with a stunning group: Joe Henderson on tenor sax, Gary Peacock on bass, and Roy Haynes on drums. Haynes worked with Corea on many prior occasions, and Henderson was about to collaborate with him on the Griffith Park albums of the early '80s, but this is the first time the three appear together. Peacock's presence is an additional delight. The probing bassist contributes the multi-layered, magnificent "Up, Up and...."  Three of Corea's compositions here "Hairy Canary," "Folk Song," and "Slippery When Wet" would later wind up as bonus tracks on Stretch's 1994 reissue of the 1981 CD Three Quartets. In addition, there are valuable renditions of two dense and challenging Corea tunes, "Psalm" and "Quintet #2," along with two standards: Thelonius Monk's "Trinkle, Tinkle" and Cole Porter's "So in Love." The latter culminates in a four-minute Haynes drum solo.  Overall, the record is essential for fans of any and all of the four musicians involved. ~ David R.Adler   http://www.allmusic.com/album/live-in-montreux-mw0000626806

Personnel: Chick Corea (piano); Joe Henderson (tenor saxophone); Gary Peacock (bass); Roy Haynes (drums)

Gabby Young - Mole

Styles: Indie, Pop/Rock
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:55
Size: 161,3 MB
Art: Front

(5:54)  1. Nothing's Changed
(5:04)  2. Crows
(5:47)  3. Umm
(5:39)  4. Maybe
(5:58)  5. Black Books
(5:37)  6. Broken Record
(4:56)  7. Down
(4:15)  8. Actually
(5:47)  9. Mole
(6:03) 10. Growing Pains
(5:15) 11. Love Vs. Hate
(3:13) 12. Weak
(6:22) 13. Let Me Be

Mole is Gabby Young's second album. She has had a very eventful year since her debut Album "Free Second Memory" was produced in a week prior to her successful Tour of the USA. Halfway through reocording Mole, Gabby discovered she had thyroid cancer. The subsequent operation to remove the thyroid was fraught with danger that her vocal chords would be damaged forever. Not very good timing one would say!However, three months down the line and Mole has been completed, and Gabbys voice is now as good as ever. The album is autobiographical and she tells it as it is. She uses full emotive story-telling and the end of this amazing record, one feels so enriched by the experience, that one is keen to listen again and again. With a this album hot of the press and a move to London imminent Gabby continues too sonically seduce hordes of new fans with her Beautifully honest and Blues laced Rock and Folk. Missing out on this is missing out Entirely !  http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7353939&style=music&fulldesc=T

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Ilya Serov - September In The Rain

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 37:53
Size: 86.7 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[3:50] 1. September In The Rain
[3:52] 2. All Of Me
[4:42] 3. You Go To My Head
[4:03] 4. Our Love Is Here To Stay
[3:25] 5. The Girl From Ipanema
[3:54] 6. I've Got The World On A String
[3:15] 7. Dream A Little Dream Of Me
[2:54] 8. But Not For Me
[4:53] 9. When We Remake Love Tonight
[3:01] 10. Honeysuckle Rose

Los Angeles – based trumpeter/vocalist/songwriter ILYA SEROV has been hailed as one of the most versatile young jazz singer - trumpeters of his generation. Originally from St. Petersburg, Russia, he has graduated from the oldest academy of music in Russia (St.–Petersburg Conservatory of Music named after N.A. Rimsky – Korsakov). Ilya has performed as a guest artist in the United States and Europe. He is best known for his dazzling trumpet solos, smooth vocals and his own arrangements of jazz standards and original compositions influenced by jazz, R&B, pop and world music.

.September In The Rain.

Harry Allen - Dreamer

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 63:20
Size: 145.0 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz
Year: 2009
Art: Front

[4:32] 1. Change Partners
[6:25] 2. A Night In Tunisia
[5:32] 3. Out Of This World
[3:12] 4. The Shining Sea
[4:11] 5. O Morro (Nao Tem Vez)
[6:18] 6. Vivo Sonhando (Dreamer)
[4:58] 7. Dindi
[3:55] 8. Bye Bye Blackbird
[6:11] 9. The Shadow Of Your Smile
[6:24] 10. Silent Motion
[4:30] 11. Estate
[3:35] 12. Triste
[3:31] 13. O Que Tinha De Ser

A collection of Brazilian and American standards mostly arranged by Brazilian guitarist/arranger Dori Caymmi featuring an all-L.A. rhythm section and cello quartet on four tracks and clarinet quartet on one.

Harry Allen - tenor saxophone; Dori Caymmi - accoustic guitar, vocal; Bill Cantos - piano, synthesizer; Jerry Watts - electric bass; Michael Shapiro - drums, percussion; Kevyn Lettau - vocal; Gary Meek - clarinet, bass clarinet; Steve Richards - cello; Susie Katayama - cello; Daniel Smith - cello; Larry Korbett - cello

Dreamer

Sandra Dudley - Close To You

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:47
Size: 147,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:53)  1. Dearly Beloved
(6:52)  2. In Walked Bud
(6:24)  3. September Song
(5:23)  4. West Coast Blues
(5:25)  5. Close To You
(4:08)  6. Hallucinations
(5:15)  7. I Concentrate On You
(5:58)  8. Billie
(5:46)  9. Some Of My Best Friends Are The Blues
(4:53) 10. Red Moon
(4:47) 11. The Wrong Blues
(4:58) 12. A House Is Not A Home

Sandra Dudley is a versatile jazz vocalist who performs standards, bebop and original songs with a "pristine, horn-like clarity", writes Tim Carman, former writer of the Houston Post. "There's a husky resonance that gives her music a blue spirit, a kind of honest, lived-in quality that is both inviting and heartbreakingly human." "Jazz opens my heart to a spiritual experience. When I sing, I want to speak to the soul," says Dudley of her art. Dudley, a native of Buffalo, New York, grew up with jazz all around her. Her father, an amateur singer, exposed her to some of the music of the great jazz singers and big band leaders. Her early childhood music studies included lessons on pop organ, piano and voice. Following high school, Sandra attended Fredonia State University where she studied classical voice and opera. While at Fredonia, she placed in the regional finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and finished with high merit in the NATS Competition at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Sandra was performing jazz along with classical in performances with the Fredonia Jazz Ensemble and the Fredonia Symphony Orchestra. 

"I felt I had the best of both worlds learning about classical and commercial. I was lucky to have hip teachers who would allow it. Both idioms feed off each other in so many ways." Upon graduation from Fredonia, Dudley attended Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York where she studied with world-renowned mezzo-soprano Jan DeGaetani. There she studied classical and twentieth century music, including jazz. "I took jazz history with pianist Bill Dobbins and learned so much about jazz from his stories and experiences." Upon graduation with her Masters in Voice Performance, Sandra performed jazz with the Eastman School of Music Studio Orchestra and began to sing in jazz clubs throughout New York. Teaching was equally important, and in the following years Sandra taught classical and jazz voice at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, Canada and music at the University of Houston in Texas. She is currently Assistant Professor of Commercial Voice at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee where she has taught applied voice, jazz vocal styles, and directed the jazz vocal ensemble, Jazzmin since 1995. In 1994, Dudley made her national recording debut singing "Little Prayer" on an album entitled " Last Night When We Were Young: The Ballad Album" on the Classical Action label, produced by Fred Hersch. "All proceeds went to AIDS research. It was one of the warmest and most endearing experiences of my life thus far". 

The project also featured performances by George Shearing, Phil Woods, Toots Thielemans, Mark Murphy, and Gary Burton, among others. Dudley won a jazz songwriting contest sponsored by Jazziz magazine with her composition "Billie". She can be heard singing it on a compilation CD "Vocals on Fire", which was released in the February 1998 issue of Jazziz. Sandra Dudley has been performing jazz for nearly two decades. While in Canada, she performed on CBC Radio and Television and in concert halls and clubs across the Atlantic Provinces. In 1993 Dudley became the feature vocalist for the Nelson Riddle Orchestra under the direction of Chris Riddle. "To sing the same arrangements that Frank Sinatra and Ella sang was a real thrill!" Dudley has performed at the Moncton Jazz Festival, Jazz at the Albright Knox in Buffalo, the Houston International Festival, the Texas Jazz Festival in Corpus Christi, the Tennessee Jazz and Blues Society's summer concert series, the Franklin Jazz Festival, and many others. Dudley was heard on National Public Radio in 1996 when her performance at "Jazz in June" from Oklahoma City was broadcast. She has performed with, among others, legendary guitarist Barney Kessel, Canadian pianist Oliver Jones, New York pianist Fred Hersch, saxophonist/flutist Bobby Militello, trumpeter Marvin Stamm, pianist/husband Bruce Dudley, Houston pianist Dave Catney, and Houston drummer Sebastian Whittaker. 

Sandra is presently the featured singer with The Jazz Orchestra of the Delta under the direction of Dr. Jack Cooper. A CD with the Memphis based band called "Big Band Reflections of Cole Porter" was released June, 2003 on the Summit Label and is receiving critical acclaim. Sandra's first solo CD, "Close To You" has just been released independently. The project features a seasoned band featuring Sandra's husband-pianist/arranger Bruce Dudley, bassist Roger Spencer, drummer Jim White and saxophonist Denis Solee. Special guests include trombonist Barry Green and trumpeter George Tidwell. "Close To You" is a pleasing mix of standards and originals. Sandra's creative rendition of the Burt Bacharach tune "Close To You" is one of the highlights of the album. Sandra Dudley is a dedicated jazz musician who believes in staying true to the art form. Her exuberant stage presence, sophisticated scatting ability, and tender ballad interpretations make her one of the most captivating performers on the scene today. http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/sandrad

Sue Raney - Breathless!

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1960
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:30
Size: 103,9 MB
Art: Front

(2:53)  1. Angel Eyes
(2:09)  2. There Be Some Changes Made
(2:33)  3. Breezin' Along With The Breeze
(2:19)  4. My Lucky Day
(2:34)  5. 'Deed I Do
(3:07)  6. Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring
(2:08)  7. It'S D'Lovely
(2:44)  8. September In The Rain
(1:58)  9. I'm In Love With The Honorable Mr. So And So
(1:58) 10. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams
(2:33) 11. Does Anybody Here Love Me?
(3:16) 12. The Boy Next Door
(1:57) 13. Breathless
(3:14) 14. Holiday For Strings
(2:04) 15. Bluesette
(2:32) 16. Cry Me A River
(2:27) 17. While We'Re Young
(1:53) 18. Some Of These Days

Sue Raney has always had a very attractive voice, a wide range with total control, and the ability to swing in a very appealing fashion. She has recorded relatively few jazz albums through the years, making this previously unreleased collection a bit of a gap-filler. Mostly taken from live radio performances, Raney is heard during 1960-1961 with pianist Page Cavanaugh (in both quartet and septet settings), accompanied by the Buddy DeFranco/Tommy Gumina Quartet in 1963, and joined by a small group headed by Shelly Manne in 1969 or 1970. The focus throughout the generally brief selections is on the singer, who is in prime voice throughout. Highlights include "Angel Eyes," "My Lucky Day," the humorously rapid "Breathless," a slower-than-usual rendition of "Holiday for Strings" and "Bluesette." Recommended. ~ Scott Yanow   http://www.allmusic.com/album/breathless-mw0000594609.

Personnel: Sue Raney (vocals, keyboards).

Breathless

Chris Standring - Soul Express

Styles: Jazz Funk, Smooth Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:22
Size: 133,1 MB
Art: Front + Back

(4:08)  1. Catwalk
(4:42)  2. Kaleidoscope
(6:16)  3. Constellation
(5:14)  4. A Method To The Madness
(4:21)  5. I Can't Help Myself
(4:38)  6. Soul Express
(4:21)  7. Through The Looking Glass
(4:17)  8. Mumbo Jumbo
(4:25)  9. As
(4:43) 10. Shooting Stars
(5:11) 11. Giant Steps

Los Angeles-based British expatriate guitarist Chris Standring's eclectic collection of smooth jazz instrumentals contains elements of acid jazz on songs like "A Method to the Madness" and "Shooting Stars," silky R&B on "I Can't Help Myself," and electronica on the dreamy "Kaleidoscope." Standring's fluid, accessible style recalls George Benson at his jazz crossover best, while compositions like "Giant Steps" and "Constellation" are high-quality chill-out mood music. 
http://www.allmusic.com/album/soul-express-mw0000419432

Ben Webster & Coleman Hawkins - Tenor Giants

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1977
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 77:29
Size: 190,2 MB
Art: Front

( 6:33)  1. Maria
( 5:51)  2. It Never Entered My Mind
( 4:19)  3. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
( 5:07)  4. La Rosita
( 6:50)  5. Blues For Yolanda
( 4:17)  6. Prisoner Of Love
( 5:25)  7. Tangerine
( 2:40)  8. Cocktails For Two
( 4:53)  9. Shine On Harvest Moon
( 6:08) 10. Budd Johnson
( 4:38) 11. Time After Time
(20:41) 12. In A Mellow Tone

A late 70s pressing of some classic Verve sides from the 50s, featuring two masters of the tenor, blowing side by side in a couple of small group settings: one with rhythm backing by Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, and Alvin Stoller and the other with Jimmy Jones, Les Spann, Ray Brown and Jo Jones, plus Roy Eldridge and Budd Johnson in the frontline. The best tracks have lots of room – plenty of space so that the tenors aren't butting heads with each other in too close of quarters, with space to express themselves freely. Titles include "Blues For Yolande", "La Rosita", "Shine On Harvest Moon", "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To", "It Never Entered My Mind", "De-Dar", "Time After Time", "Young Bean" and "In A Mellowtone". (Sides 1 and 3 have light residue that causes the vinyl to play with some noise. Cover has some spots of sticker residue and some light scratches.)   http://www.dustygroove.com/item/423048/Ben-Webster-Coleman-Hawkins:Tenor-Giants

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Deborah Shulman - 2 For The Road

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:33
Size: 137,4 MB
Art: Front

(4:01)  1. Two For The Road
(3:36)  2. Haven't We Met
(3:23)  3. Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year
(4:59)  4. I'm Through With Love
(3:02)  5. You Don't Know What Love Is
(6:11)  6. Where Do You Start
(5:46)  7. The Meaning Of The Blues
(4:44)  8. Something Cool
(2:41)  9. I Wish I Were In Love Again
(3:07) 10. Boy Next Door
(2:54) 11. I Like You, You're Nice
(5:15) 12. Here I Am In Love Again
(3:36) 13. In the Wee Small Hours
(5:11) 14. Some Other Time

Deborah Shulman, Singer, Recording Artist, Vocal Coach Growing up in Los Angeles, Deborah Shulman had the great fortune to be nurtured by a family with a very deep passion for music. Her late parents, both singers, lived in the back of their little music store at Carnegie Hall as newlyweds; her father had aspirations of joining the Metropolitan Opera before WWII intervened in his plan. Considering the family tree includes vaudevillians, a Broadway actor, and music lovers of all stripes, it’s easy to believe the Shulman family lore which says baby Deborah was singing before she was talking. When Deborah visited her grandfather, the renowned violin collector Nathan Posner, at his home in Beverly Hills, she’d sit surrounded by the magnificent instruments and sing her heart out. He made her feel like the world’s greatest singer, though he quietly hoped she would become a violinist. Today, Deborah Shulman is a successful singer and recording artist with an eclectic, international resume. 

The nurturing Deborah received paid off in a more unexpected way for the music world as well: as a vocal coach, Deborah is in demand by the dozens of professional and aspiring singers who come to her for guidance in overcoming large and small vocal challenges.Deborah developed and refined her coaching skills throughout the history of her own training beginning at age eleven, under the deft tutelage of her father (Irving Shulman). At age thirteen, Deborah Shulman became the youngest student ever accepted to The Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California where she studied opera with an esteemed faculty. In the idyllic Central Coast setting, with guitar virtuosos Pepe, Celin and Angel Romero in residence, Deborah grew enamored of the sound of classical guitar, and developed her attraction to song cycles, while enjoying the camaraderie of great artists and students. She also unsuspectingly began to lay the foundation of her own success as a teacher based on her father’s style wherein simple, joyful instruction supplants doubt and apprehension. Deborah jumped into the marketplace while still a student, and sang and auditioned at every opportunity. She hopskotched from operatic soprano and recitalist to pop songstress, musical theater comedienne and back again. She loved Schubert and Judy Garland, Schumann and Barbra Streisand. 

At 15, she attended the Musical Theater Workshop at UCLA with classmates Bonnie Franklin, Judy Kaye and John Rubinstein, and then returned to her roots soon after in the opera program at Cal State Northridge. At the age of 23, when Deborah met the successful actress and singer Ann Jillian at the Civic Light Opera Workshop at the Music Center, she had already been studying professionally for ten years. The two formed a musical partnership that seemed like just what the doctor ordered for a young woman weary from a decade of intense musical study: a way for Deborah to make a living in music, travel the world and blow off a lot of steam that had accumulated. The two singers played clubs for years in London, Sydney, Manila, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco under the name Jillian and Shulman and often opened for stars Johnny Ray, Robert Goulet and Carol Lawrence, delivering the wholesome brand of torch that was their specialty. When Jillian left to strike out on her own, Deborah quickly retooled the act as a solo, donned an army issue parka, and took off for the Aleutian Islands on a USO Tour. Later, back in the lower forty eight, Deborah began to pursue more theatrical and musical roles, appearing in many productions with The Actors Alley in Los Angeles. Among her musical theater roles, she portrayed Jellylorum in the second National Company of CATS at the Schubert Theater in Los Angeles. She found success in many other areas of the business as well, including as a librettist for four children’s operas and co-producer of the critically acclaimed L.A. production and National Tour of All Night Strut. 

She began her coaching career with the help of her friend, voice coach Seth Riggs. Her reputation as a generous, skilled teacher became well known and her vocal clientele has grown to include Bette Midler, Linda Ronstadt, Jennifer Warnes; Deborah received a platinum album for her work with David Lee Roth on his recording SKYSCRAPER. Recently, Deborah Shulman found herself to be a startled divorcée and a grieving orphan within the span of a few years. After the unexpected end of her first marriage Deborah comforted herself by listening to standards; the lyrics spoke to her and she was drawn by their truth and tenderness. For Deborah, it was the beginning of a journey forward by calling on the past for strength. In 2004 she teamed up with pianist Terry Trotter, in a collaboration which has produced two sophisticated, elegant recordings: 2004’s 2 for the road, and the brand new My Heart’s In The Wind. Trotter, the jazz pianist known for his interpretation of Sondheim scores, gently coaxed Deborah to use her considerable musical knowledge in a new way. They began to record piano vocal tracks, and Deborah’s mother and father were able to enjoy the beginning of her reinvention before they passed on within six months to the day of each other. Deborah’s liner notes described her inspiration for 2 for the road : “This is my story, my journey, a divorce I never thought would happen;grief, the kind I had only read about; a strength I never knew I had, and a new love, a new beginning and a new marriage.”

Trotter and Shulman recorded 2 for the road in Los Angeles in the highly regarded company of guitarist Larry Koonse, bassist Tom Warrington, and drummer Joe LaBarbara. On 2007’s My Heart’s In The Wind, the same personnel appear, with the exception of the bassist; instead we are treated to the talent of Kenny Wild. Deborah’s affinity for song cycles is celebrated throughout the pacing of the repertoire on both recordings. Rob Lester described Deborah’s debut online at Talkin’Broadway.com: “Silky, subtle, sophisticated and shimmering, Deborah Shulman is pure pleasure to hear if you love a love song sung with an adult been-there, done-that sensibility. She can explore a sad lyric without over-doing the sorrow or skimping on the pure musicality. 2 for the road is a thoroughly classy affair….beginning with the album’s rich, romantic embrace of its Mancini/Mercer title song, to its closer “Some Other Time” from On The Town, this is an album with so many impressive, detailed moments.” On My Heart’s In The Wind, Deborah continued her embrace of classic American Songbook, with selections like “A Sleepin’ Bee,” and “My One And Only Love.” Yet she skillfully expanded her repertoire to include under sung jewels like Mandel’s “The Shining Sea,” Dave Frishberg’s “You are There, ” and “Shiver Me Timbers” by Tom Waits. 

In support of her recordings, Deborah has been performing in a variety of California clubs, including Spazio’s Restaurant in Sherman Oaks, Holly Street Bar & Grill in Pasadena, Club 10/20 at the Bel Age Hotel in Los Angeles, Tom Rolla’s Gardenia, The Hollywood Studio Bar and Grill, and Peter’s in Palm Springs. She recently made her New York debut at Barnes and Nobles Lincoln Center Location, featured in their Any Wednesday series of live performances by emerging and established artists. Deborah is enjoying her twelfth year on the faculty of Joe Malone’s Performing Arts Center, where she designed and teaches voice classes for professional dancers. Her successful curriculum utilizes the basic tenets organic to her style: simplicity and joy in learning. As in her private lessons, she uses her technique to build on an individual’s knowledge and gifts.  http://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/musician.php?id=16785#.U0HMZldSvro

2 For The Road

Alicia Myers - Peace Of Mind

Styles: Soul, R&B
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:10
Size: 97,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:41)  1. United We Stand
(3:50)  2. Fallin' Apart
(4:33)  3. I Really Really Want You Now
(3:44)  4. Journey
(2:29)  5. Stay
(4:31)  6. Weekend
(4:06)  7. Higher
(5:11)  8. I Will Stand By You
(3:42)  9. Fancy Dancer
(5:21) 10. Peace Of Mind

Alicia Myers has lived a real life since the spotlight from her time as a member of One Way and her respectable career as a singer of tunes such as “I Want to Thank You” and “If You Play Your Cards Right” receded. She worked office jobs, primarily in the medical field even returning to school to beef up her skills in medical transcription. Myers underwent treatment for breast cancer and now devotes herself to the cause fighting the disease by working with Susan G. Komen for the Cure and encouraging black women to stay on top of their health. With real life intervening on a regular basis, Myers didn’t have a lot of time to get back into the music business full time. Myers told a Jet magazine interviewer that she performs occasionally in her hometown of Detroit. Apparently, the itch to create was still there, and this year Myers decided to scratch it by releasing an album titled Peace of Mind. 

The album’s sound will be recognizable to anyone familiar with Myers from her time making funky dance music with Al Hudson or as Anita Baker’s predecessor as the princess of the Motor City’s jazz infused R&B. Myers is clearly in her comfort zone when driving in the smooth lane. The jazz ballad “Stay” melts like butter when Myers applies her smoky vocals to the lyrics. The 1981 song “If You Play Your Cards Right,” showed the Myers has a jazz singer’s sensibility when in comes to rendering vocals that are both understandable and intimate. Unfortunately, “Stay” is the only track on Peace of Mind in which we hear those skills applied to a ballad. Myers gives us a few dance tracks. “Weekend” is an up-tempo party anthem that sports a funky bass line and a catchy hook. Youth oriented artists have annexed the party anthem, and that makes sense to a point. They’re young and have the time and disposable income to hang out. 

However, there have been some pretty memorable party anthems made by grown folks can anybody say Bell and James and Myers mines that vein with this song. The song’s lyrics remind listeners that if anyone needs to go out on a Saturday night, it’s somebody with a job and kids (especially teenaged kids). Good tune, although I thought the ‘ain’t no party like a weekend party’ chant was a bit of overkill. On “Fancy Dancer” Myers seeks to recapture some of that One Way vibe, but the effort falls flat under clichéd lyrics that has the listener visualizing images from every dance floor song made between 1976 and 1979. That miss aside, Peace of Mind is a solid comeback effort for Myers that will hopefully lead to some dates outside of the Motor City and future projects. Recommended. ~ By Howard Dukes   http://www.soultracks.com/alicia-myers-peace-of-mind-review

Fraser MacPherson - Live at Puccini's 1977

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:59
Size: 112,7 MB
Art: Front + Back

(4:38)  1. I Got Rythm
(5:59)  2. All the Things You Are
(3:43)  3. Body and Soul
(3:33)  4. Goose Pimples
(5:21)  5. Someday You'll Be Sorry
(2:40)  6. Sweet Georgia Brown
(5:07)  7. Struttin' With Some BBQ
(4:35)  8. Drop Me Off In Harlem
(4:37)  9. Sophisticated Lady
(3:10) 10. Honeysuckle Rose
(3:12) 11. Young and Foolish
(2:19) 12. Back Home Again In Indiana

Raised in Victoria, BC, John Fraser MacPherson played clarinet and piano during his formative years. Later he took up the alto and tenor, establishing himself first in Vancouver as an altoist in the bebop tradition before learning to appreciate the subtleties of Johnny Hodges. He stuck to the tenor from the early 1970s on, earning an international reputation, largely influenced by Lester Young, whom he revered. MacPherson moved to Vancouver in 1948. In 1956-57 he studied in New York with Vincent James Abato (saxophone) and Henry Zlotnick (flute). He worked for 20 years in local nightclubs, among them the Palomar (1950-4, with the bands of Chuck Barber, Bob Reid, and Lance Harrison) and the Cave (1961-3 with Chris Gage, 1964-70 leading his own band), where he played with such visiting luminaries as Ella Fitzgerald, Earl Hines, Tony Bennett and Duke Ellington. Concurrently he was a first-call studio musician (saxophone, flute, and clarinet) and occasionally played saxophone with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. 

For many years MacPherson pursued his jazz career largely on CBC radio and TV, initially as a member of the Ray Norris Quintet (circa 1951) and later as a featured sideman with Doug Parker and trombonist Dave Robbins on such shows as 'Jazz Workshop,' as well as fronting his own groups, including a quintet in the early 1960s featuring Carse Sneddon on trumpet and valve trombone, and Gage on piano. Those musicians were later replaced by Ian MacDougall on trombone and Parker on piano. He was heard on alto saxophone as the leader of a nonet in the so-called West Coast style on 'Jazz Workshop' and 1963-4 with a string orchestra in a CBC series of his own called 'The Pretty Sounds of Jazz' (later 'The Sounds of the Sixties'). In 1978, under the aegis of Overture Concerts, he made the first of an unprecedented four tours in the USSR -- his was the first North American jazz group to be invited back behind the former Iron Curtain. Other tours followed in 1981, 1984, and 1986. MacPherson performed under Radio Canada International sponsorship in Europe (Montreux, The Hague) in 1979. In Canada he has made several national tours and performed at most of the major festivals eg, the Montreal Jazz Festival in 1982 and 1984, the Edmonton Jazz Festival in 1984 and 1986, and regularly at the Vancouver Jazz Festival. 

He also has appeared on occasion in the USA (Concord and the Kool Jazz Festival in Detroit with Rosemary Clooney) and in 1986 performed in Australia. MacPherson has remained a favourite on CBC radio jazz shows, among them 'Jazz Radio-Canada' and 'Jazz Beat,' and was host in the summer of 1977 for the former program's series devoted to the history of jazz in Canada. MacPherson was nominated for two Juno Awards, winning 'Best Jazz Album' in 1983 for his duo recording with Gannon (I Didn't Know about You). Besides work under his own name, MacPherson can be heard on recordings by Anita O'Day, Oliver Jones, Charles Mountford, Eiji Kitamura, Dave McMurdo and the Canadian Jazz All-Stars (featuring Jones, Ed Bickert, Jim Galloway, Terry Clarke and Dave Young). MacPherson was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1987 and won the Oscar Peterson Trophy shortly before his death in 1993. ~ Bio   http://www.amazon.com/Fraser-MacPherson/e/B000APXHKU/ref=ac_dtp_sa_bio

Personnel: Fraser MacPherson (tenor saxophone); Oliver Gannon (guitar); Wyatt Ruther (bass guitar).

Live at Puccini's 1977

J.J. Johnson - Four Trombones - The Debut Recordings

Styles: Trombone Jazz
Year: 1953
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 75:56
Size: 177,9 MB
Art: Front

(14:26)  1. Wee Dot (Blues for some bones)
( 5:03)  2. Stardust
( 6:58)  3. Move
(11:13)  4. Ill Remember April
(14:27)  5. Nows The Time
( 3:29)  6. Trombosphere
(15:19)  7. OW!
( 4:57)  8. Chazzanova

Recorded live at the Putnam Central Club in Brooklyn in September, 1953, and released later that year, this album documents the first meeting of what would become a well-known trombone duo, Jay & Kai. The first of these Jazz Workshops featuring four trombonsists was issued by Vogue about eighteen months ago. This record presents the same musicians in two extended performances. I gave the first volume five stars, but the present release is more mixed in quality, having the defects as well as the virtues of spontaneity. Benny Green's solo stands out in I'll Remember April. J. J. Johnson relies a little too much on his mannerisms on this side, yet it is he who plays the best trombone choruses even if some are a little uneven on Blues For Some Bones. 

Kai Winding and Willie Denis also contribute inventive and contrasting solos. But although all the soloists produce some good jazz, each seems to run short of ideas after a time and be forced to fill in with cliches. Perhaps the real star of the session is pianist John Lewis. His quiet, but not unemotional, playing succeeds in being original as well as satisfying. ~ E.J. , gramophone.net   http://theblues-thatjazz.com/en/jazz/475-jjjohnson/11124-four-trombones-the-debut-recordings-1953.html.

Personnel: J.J. Johnson, Kai Winding, Willie Dennis, Bennie Green (trombone); John Lewis (piano); Charles Mingus (bass);
Art Taylor (drums).

Monday, April 7, 2014

Ilona Knopfler - Live The Life

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:26
Size: 132,1 MB
Art: Front

(4:51)  1. I'm Going To Live The Life I Sing About In My Songs
(4:31)  2. Comment Alez-Vous
(3:54)  3. But For Now
(5:07)  4. Ask Me Now (How I Wish)
(5:15)  5. Throw It Away
(4:19)  6. Dansez Sur Moi (Girl Talk)
(4:26)  7. Le Jazz Et La Java
(5:35)  8. This Is Always
(3:55)  9. Parce Que
(3:28) 10. Alone Together
(6:38) 11. Les Moulins De Mon Coeur
(4:24) 12. No Tomorrow

Beaucoup plaisir awaits on this English and French jazz vocal new release. Ilona Knopfler, born in Paris but a pre-school world traveler, made her stage debut at the age of fifteen in Hong Kong and later became the house favorite at the Jazz Club in Hong Kong. Moving to New York, Knopfler studied for five years at the Lee Strasberg Institute. This album was recorded in both New York and Paris.  Live The Life begins with the unlikely gospel anthem of the late Thomas Dorsey, "I'm Going To Live The Life I Sing About." After the stated vocals, a stunning French vocal duo of Knopfler and Kim Nazarian (from New York Voices) emulates the stylings of the Blue Stars of France quite effectively. That is followed by a cooking alto solo from Antonio Hart.

Immediately on the way is the next tune, "Comment Allez-Vous," a signature piece of Blossom Dearie, who coincidentally founded the Blue Stars in the early 1950s.  Many well-chosen songs in both English and French ensue, and all are treated with respect and the appropriate feelings of swing or tenderness. We can include in that group Bob Dorough's "But For Now," Monk's "Ask Me Now" (with lyrics by Jon Hendricks), Abbey Lincoln's "Throw It Away," and Charles Aznavour's "Parce Que." "Dansez Sur Moi" is a French lyric for the 1960s jazz standard "Girl Talk," and "Le Jazz Et La Java" is Dave Brubeck's "Three To Get Ready" (from Time Out), with Knopfler singing vocalese beautifully against the horns, followed by a fine Sean Jones trumpet solo. "Les Moulins De Mon Coeur" is a French translation of the Alan and Marilyn Bergman hit "The Windmills of My Mind." "No Tomorrow" is an Ivan Lins composition with lyrics from Peter Eldridge. The haunting ballads "This Is Always" and "Alone Together" are also highlights.  Producers Jay Ashby and Al Pryor should be proud of this fine album showcasing the talents of Ilona Knopfler. I have no idea what her 2003 debut for Mack Avenue, Some Kind of Wonderful, sounds like, but on paper the selections all consist of pop and rock tunes. ~ Michael P.Gladstone   
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=18462#.Uz9brVdSvro

Personnel: Ilona Knopfler: vocals; Antonio Hart: alto sax; Sean Jones: trumpet; Paquito D'Rivera: clarinet; Alain Mallet: piano; Rufus Reid or James Genus: bass; Marty Ashby: guitar; Jamey Haddad: drums; Kim Nazarian: background vocals.

Basia - London Warsaw New York

Styles: Jazz Pop
Year: 1989
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:39
Size: 98,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:10)  1. Cruising for Bruising
(4:05)  2. Best Friends
(4:07)  3. Brave New Hope
(3:35)  4. Baby You're Mine
(4:59)  5. Ordinary People
(5:10)  6. Reward
(3:54)  7. Until You Come Back To Me
(3:52)  8. Copernicus
(4:24)  9. Not an Angel
(4:19) 10. Take Him Back Rachel

Basia's tantalizing Brazilian breeze and "Basia-nova" is a sheer delight to listen to. She keeps the same sweet infectiousness which made her debut Time and Tide a platinum stroke of genius. This time she's infused '60s soul and some heartfelt, sparkling ballads, like "Brave New Hope." Her voice is distinctive and lilting, her lyrics interesting, and her production frisky, employing such oddities as accordion and bass sax. Other top cuts include "Best Friends" and a rousing cover of "Until You Come Back to Me." Her disappearance from regular recordings after the mid-'90s (she made a few guest appearances on instrumental albums) was a great loss for adult contemporary music.   ~ Jonathan Widran   
http://www.allmusic.com/album/london-warsaw-new-york-mw0000654459
 
Personnel : Basia (vocals); Danny White (keyboards, drums).

Keith Ingham - We're In The Money

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:17
Size: 144,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:36)  1. We're In The Money
(3:41)  2. Where Have You Been
(2:55)  3. The Image Of You
(4:00)  4. Mighty Like The Blues
(3:27)  5. Every Now And Then
(3:14)  6. Lulu's Back In Town
(4:30)  7. Pastel Blue
(3:48)  8. She Didn't Say Yes
(3:31)  9. Celestial Boogie
(3:41) 10. Comes Love
(2:46) 11. I Must Be Dreaming
(3:33) 12. Gee, But You're Swell
(3:35) 13. A Room with A View
(4:54) 14. Solid Old Man
(3:50) 15. Let's Get Lost
(3:08) 16. indian Summer
(4:01) 17. Peggy

This ensemble lead by U.K. expatriate Keith Ingham patterns itself on those outstanding small groups which let the bop revolution pass them by and stayed with a more refined approach to jazz. The Manhattan Swingtet finds musical antecedents in small groups led by Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, Tiny Grimes, Ike Quebec, and Earl "Fatha" Hines. Perhaps the Ingham group is a bit more suave than these groups with its swing a bit more sophisticated. Even on tunes where the title hints at some wild things to come, there's a touch of restraint, as on "Celestial Boogie" where Ingham moves over to the small upright celeste. But the group does let its hair down on some tracks as on the title tune "We're in the Money" when Peter Ecklund's laughing trumpet leads the way. In contrast, "A Room With a View" returns to a less hectic stance with Bobby Gordon's middle-register clarinet out front and once again Ingham being aristocratic on the celeste. 

Although euphonious throughout the session, songs like "Mighty Like the Blues" reveal the essence of melodic harmony as Gordon and Ecklund engage in musical byplay that can only be characterized as angelic. Tunes like "Gee, But You're Swell" and "Comes Love" conjure up images of cordial times over drinks at a swank New York lounge. In addition to Gordon and Ecklund, oft-recorded guitarist Chris Flory makes a major contribution on such cuts as "Indian Summer." Ingham is probably better known to many for his accompanist skill. He was musical director for Susannah McCorkle and backed such vocalists as Maxine Sullivan and Joyce Breach. But during his active and varied career, he also recorded with Bob Wilbur, Bud Freeman, and the World's Greatest Band. So he is very much at home in a solely instrumental setting as this album so entertainingly demonstrates. Coming up with just the right mix of up- and medium-tempo material and ballads, along with a blues number or two, We're in the Money is jazz at its cosmopolitan best. Recommended. ~ Dave Nathan  http://www.allmusic.com/album/were-in-the-money-mw0000105867

Personnel : Keith Ingham (piano, celeste); Bobby Gordon (clarinet); Peter Ecklunk (trumpet); Chris Flory (guitar); Murray Wall (bass); Steve Little (drums).

Dexter Gordon - True Blue

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1976
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:16
Size: 103,7 MB
Art: Front

(11:06)  1. Ladybird
( 9:33)  2. How Deep is the Ocean
(17:36)  3. True Blue

True Blue is led in title under the auspices of Dexter Gordon as a welcome home party conducted by Don Schlitten for the expatriate tenor saxophonist in 1976. Essentially a jam session, this very talented septet features a two tenor-two trumpet front line, utilized to emphasize the soloing strength of the horns, not necessarily in joyous shouts or big-band like unison outbursts. The real star here is Barry Harris, and if you listen closely to his comping behind the soloist or his many colorful chords and single-line runs, you realize how brilliant he continued to be in his prime during this beyond-bebop time frame. The distinctly different, legato flavored sound of Al Cohn contrasts nicely to the broader range and richer tones of Gordon, while Blue Mitchell's warm West Coast trumpet phrasings also run aside but a little behind the animated and clipped brassy sounds of Sam Noto, a player deserving much wider recognition, and playing to the hilt on this recording. The session kicks off with the classic superimposed melodies of "Lady Bird" and "Half Nelson," with melodies split between the trumpet and tenor tandems. In a larger context this is democracy at its finest, with a finish of eight-bar exchanges, Noto's wiry voicings and Gordon's distinctive, throaty sound, but once again Harris is the glue, with his inventive chord shadings constantly adding depth and substance. 

The ballad "How Deep Is the Ocean?" is led out by Harris ad extensia, while Cohn's solo features held notes that sets him apart from Gordon in shorter partnerships including Noto. Then Mitchell gets his due on the seventeen-and-a-half minute title track, his basic blues swinger where the four horns all play joyously together with little harmonic variation. Mitchell's solo is the first of all, but his is the tone setter in a lighter context, a sky blue sound where air is more important than heft. Gordon's solo, on the other hand, is memorable, sporting his signature swagger, with Harris and drummer Louis Hayes triggering a trading of fours to end the set. There is a companion CD, Silver Blue, that contains the remainder of these famous sessions, a remembrance of the golden years for several of these players, after which Gordon (1990,) Cohn (1988,) and Mitchell (1979) would pass away, but left large legacies. ~ Michael G.Nastos   http://www.allmusic.com/album/true-blue-mw0000262927

Personnel: Dexter Gordon, Al Cohn (tenor saxophone); Blue Mitchell, Sam Noto (trumpet); Barry Harris (piano); Sam Jones (bass); Louis Hayes (drums).

True Blue

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Tierney Sutton Band - American Road

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:16
Size: 140,4 MB
Art: Front

(6:11)  1. Wayfaring Stranger
(5:47)  2. Oh Shenandoah/ The Water Is Wide
(4:24)  3. On Broadway
(6:01)  4. Amazing Grace
(4:48)  5. It Ain't Necessarily So
(5:27)  6. Summertime
(6:55)  7. My Man's Gone Now
(5:23)  8. Tenderly
(2:24)  9. The Eagle And Me
(3:47) 10. Somewhere
(5:10) 11. Something's Coming/Cool
(4:53) 12. America The Beautiful

Solidly innovative and a forward-thinker in jazz vocals arena over the past 15 years, Tierney Sutton has constantly looked backwards while forging a future path that has influenced the likes of Laurie Antonioli and Gretchen Parlato, among many other noted contemporary jazz vocalists. A master of vocal pyrotechnics like Sarah Vaughan, Sutton sings on a high-wire, taking stylistic chances that, more often than not, pay off handsomely. Sutton and her band have been perfecting their unique updating of the great American songbook on such well-received recordings as Desire (Telarc, 2009), On The Other Side (Telarc, 2007) and I'm With The Band (Telarc, 2005). And she provides a tour-de-force in American Road. An important part of the band's unique sound derives from divining the organic earthiness from the standards it selects to perform. Where Cassandra Wilson spent the better part of the 1990s stripping down standards and redressing them with more rustic instrumentation such as acoustic slide guitars, mandolins, violins and other artifacts of rural blues, effecting a more seminal, fecund sound, Sutton accomplishes the same with carefully conceived arrangements, created by the entire band as opposed to a single person. Additionally, she does this with her traditional jazz piano trio of 18 years. 

These arrangements are spare and wide open. Often jarring and dissonant, the clever settings reveal the pieces as dramatically different from traditional performances, revealing their anxious and unsettling elements. American Road follows a year after Laurie Antonioli's America-focused recording, American Dreams (Intrinsic, 2010). Antonioli's organic approach lies between that of Cassandra Wilson's and Sutton's, focusing on using more rustic instrumentation with more original compositions and some truly inspired takes on musical Americana. Antonioli and Sutton intersect with inspired covers of "America The Beautiful," both spare and light, giving the singers plenty of time and room to display their considerable individual vocal wares. There is no edge here, both interpretations equally bring home the American goods. Sutton's choice of repertoire mines deep the American song, drawing from traditional folk sources, spirituals, show tunes and popular music. The disc opens with the Public Domain "Wayfaring Stranger" and "Oh Shenandoah/The Water Is Wide." As on previous recordings, drummer Ray Brinker plays an important role both using novel percussive approaches and keeping time as if by telepathy. The drums become an extension of pianist Christian Jacobs' equally percussive and ornate playing. "Wayfaring Stranger" is performed as if in a home parlor (albeit a "green" one) on a Sunday afternoon, after church and lunch. "Oh Shenandoah/The Water Is Wide" begins with nine muffled microphone strikes buoyed by bassists Kevin Axt and Trey Henry strumming chords, achieving an unsettled environment over which Sutton jazz-vocalizes the lilting melody of "Oh Shenandoah." This segues into Jacobs' clean as spring comping and solo on "The Water Is Wide." Sutton sings the "Oh Shenandoah" melody behind Jacobs' solo, solidifying the continuity of the song pairing. The effect is fresh and vibrant, like the first color Polaroid of Summer. Sutton and company strip all of the glamour from Lieber and Stoller's "On Broadway," leaving a nervous and excited performance where the arrangement leads the way. 

Bassists Axt and Henry shine, producing poly-rhythms with Jacob and Brinker. Sutton sings at her most sinewy and muscular here. To be sure, this is not your parent's George Benson version. This is a juggernaut. The group turns out a graceful and flowing "Amazing Grace," with Jacob providing an orchestral backdrop supported by Brinker's pistol-shot snare and shimmering cymbals. The disc programming establishes two mini-recitals of American monoliths: the Gershwin brothers and Stephen Sondheim/Leonard Bernstein. The Gershwin selections exist as a musical triptych of "It Ain't Necessarily So," "Summertime" and "My Man's Gone Now." "It Ain't Necessarily So" is bold, jarring, dangerous with hard and assertive playing by Jacob and corrosively sardonic deliver by Sutton. The rhythm and time is jack-hammer tight, ensuring a version of this chestnut not likely to be topped. This is likewise true for "My Man's Gone Now," where another hard rhythmic figure dominates the song even in its quieter moments. These songs are no longer the quaint ballads of cabaret singers. Sutton and her band transform them militantly into feral expressions of more base instincts. Gone is nicety and politeness: enter naked realism that is both seductive and refreshing.

Between these two songs is the old standby, "Summertime." Musical treatment here is gentler but no less provocative than Sutton's approach with the other Gershwin offerings. Bass and drums set up a three-note figure transfigured through the harmonic prism of the song. Jacob adds light filigree while Sutton sings with authority and melodic refinement. Jacobs' solo is a study of the skeleton of the piece, distilled to some bare essence. These very familiar tunes have been turned on their head to show a different angle. Sutton digs deep, revealing the novel and unseen in these compositions: dramatic and horizon expanding. After the Gershwins, Sutton turns her attention to Sondheim/Bernstein and West Side Story (1961). "Somewhere" and "Something's Coming/Cool" are given more traditionally dramatic arrangements, with an emphases on the dramatic. 

"Somewhere" is some of the best ballad singing of Sutton's career. The band's arrangement is straightforward and Sutton perfectly balanced and placed. The coupling of "Something's Coming/Cool" returns to the edge of the experimental, where boundaries and perimeters are extended. Over a brooding, ascending piano/bass figure Sutton injects impressive drama, accentuated by the clever arrangement. The transition between the songs is seamless and inventive, again give the arrangement. Not since Gil Evans worked his magic for the first Miles Davis quintet has arranging had such a potent and important effect in small-combo jazz. This is top- notch, full-throttle, jazz vocals. ~ C.Michael Bailey   http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=40384#.UztIqFdSvro

Personnel: Tierney Sutton: vocals; Christian Jacob: piano; Kevin Axt: electric and acoustic bass; Trey Henry: electric and acoustic bass; Ray Brinker: drums.

Cyrille Aimée & The Surreal Band - Live At Birdland

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2013
File: MP3@VBR ~148K/s
Time: 61:26
Size: 66,3 MB
Art: Front

(3:34)  1. The Lamp Is Low
(7:46)  2. A Dream Is A Wish
(7:46)  3. Caravan
(5:39)  4. Blue Skies
(6:42)  5. Darn That Dream
(5:21)  6. Well You Needn't
(7:16)  7. You And The Night And The Music
(4:20)  8. Softly As In A Morning Sunrise
(6:18)  9. Nuit Blanche
(6:39) 10. You Stepped Out Of A Dream

Cyrille Aimée has consistently proven herself to be an unstoppable, undeniable talent in the modern age of jazz. Internationally renowned and praised for her unparalleled abilities, Cyrille's vocal stylings are synonymous with musical genius. Her culturally rich background has supplied her with the driving force of Dominican rhythm and the incredible swing of the French Gypsies. Taking these natural abilities with her across the world, she has done nothing short of receiving rave reviews and a loyal following in each country she graces with her voice. Cyrille mastered the art of improvisation while studying at the well known conservatory of jazz at SUNY Purchase, with teachers such as Pete Malinverni, Jon Faddis and Jimmy Greene. Cyrille Aimée was a finalist in the prestigious Thelonious Monk Vocal Competition of 2010, performing in front of a jury of Al Jarreau, Kurt Elling, Dianne Reeves, Dee Dee Bridgewater... In 2007, Cyrille won both the first and public prize in the Montreux Jazz Festival Competition. Cyrille's discography and musical history is an impressive list for any musician, jazz or otherwise. At the young age of 26, she has already released three CDs internationally, including “Cyrille Aimée & The Surreal Band” and “Smile” with Brazilian guitarist Diego Figueiredo currently on iTunes. 

The Japanese label Venus Records has just released Cyrille and Diego’s latest duo album “Just the Two of us” this past November. Cyrille Aimée has been featured on compilations, feature film soundtracks across the globe and on the albums of Denis Chang and David Reinhardt. She fronted France's latest worldwide sensation 'Caravan Palace' on their European tour and performed in front of crowds that number over 10,000 people. Cyrille currently lives in Brooklyn and regularly performs in Manhattan with legends of the East Coast jazz scene. She can be found any given day in the historic jazz clubs of NYC, including Joe’s Pub and Dizzy's Club, with musicians like Steve Davis, Spike Wilner, Tom Kennedy and Anat Cohen among many others. Her latest record “Cyrille Aimée & friends Live at Smalls” features Roy Hargrove and Joel Frahm and is released under the label SmallsLIVE.  http://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/musician.php?id=20226#.U0Bi0VdSvro

Live At Birdland