Amandah Jantzen - Northern Star (The Singapore Sessions)

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:59
Size: 122,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:04)  1. Sequined Mermaid Dress
(4:59)  2. Lady Wants To Know
(2:03)  3. Social Call
(4:44)  4. The Night We Called It A Day
(4:34)  5. All Or Nothing At All / Stolen Moments
(4:30)  6. Northern Star
(4:08)  7. Willow Weep For Me
(4:50)  8. Bye Bye Country Boy
(3:27)  9. (I'm Just) Foolin' Myself
(2:39) 10. You Don't Know What Love Is
(5:00) 11. There's No Such Thing As Love
(2:45) 12. Ev'rything I've Got
(5:10) 13. We'll Be Together Again

Jazz and popular music are overloaded with "overnight successes" who gain a great deal of attention when they burst upon the scene, only to slip away into obscurity within a short time. Amandah Jantzen is the complete opposite. Throughout her career she has gradually earned a strong reputation while mastering her craft. She is a singer who, once experienced, one never forgets. Amandah has the rare ability to uplift standards and make vintage songs sound fresh, new and topical. Her warm voice and swinging style, combined with a large repertoire, result in consistently memorable performances. She is never shy to embrace melodies and lyrics from the Great American Songbook, bringing out the hidden beauty in both, but her renditions are never predictable. She is a jazz singer yet also quite accessible to a wide audience. Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Amandah was drawn to music from an early age. 

Although she occasionally performed at jam sessions and in piano bars, she primarily worked outside of the music industry until 1986. By then, having discovered in turn Al Jarreau, Linda Ronstadt's Nelson Riddle recordings, Nancy Wilson and Sarah Vaughan, Amandah knew that she simply had to sing jazz. She relocated to Portland, Oregon five years later and became active locally, performing in jazz clubs and at concerts. She was particularly inspired by bassist Leroy Vinnegar and guitarist Charlie Byrd, developing into the warm and highly expressive singer that she is today. Byrd convinced Amandah that she should accompany herself on piano, a move which has added to the appeal and musicality of her performances. Amandah Jantzen's singing is well showcased on her three recordings, Some Other Time, Devil May Care and My Secret Love. She is also featured on a third of the songs on the Ellen Vanderslice compilation, Once in A Blue Moon, and half of the tunes on The Standard Vanderslice. Her newest CD, Northern Star/The Singapore Sessions was released in mid-2007. Because of the quality of these recordings and the popularity of her live engagements, I have picked Amandah as one of the top 500 jazz singers of all time and have included her in my book, The Jazz Singers, published by Backbeat Books in October, 2008. In addition to working in Portland (including long-term bookings at both the Doubletree and Heathman Hotels), Amandah has performed at extended engagements in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, at the Salishan Golf Resort on the Oregon Coast, at the Stone Harbor Resort in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, and at the historic Ankeny's Restaurant atop the Ridpath Hotel in Spokane, Washington. 

She has also been featured as a soloist at the Du Maurier Jazz Festival in Vancouver, British Columbia; in Florida with tenor-saxophonist Turk Mauro and multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan, at Bally’s Casino in Las Vegas, and has opened concerts for both Mc Coy Tyner and Charlie Byrd. She has been steadily building a growing following in Key West, Florida as well over the past few years.Internationally, she’s worked two engagements in Singapore, with multiple extensions that kept her busy for 15 months, culminating in the recording of her latest CD, (Northern Star.) Continuing her tour of Asia, she then performed extended bookings in Seoul, South Korea; Bali, Indonesia; New Delhi, India; Shanghai, China; Bangkok, Thailand; Hanoi, Vietnam; and her latest, a full year in The Maldives. Additionally, in early 2008, she was featured in the Emirates Air Jazz Vocal Concert Series at Nardis Jazz Club in Istanbul, Turkey.In early 2006 she placed second in the 5th Annual Jazz Connect International Vocal Competition. She has also developed a steady base of “House Concert” appearances in the US where she works at regional jazz venues in between her long term bookings in Asia. Her most recent overseas jazz concert was at the Esplanade in Singapore in July of 2010 with a powerhouse trio & a captivated audience. An enthusiastic and charismatic performer who is also subtle, Amandah Jantzen is a constant joy, both musically and personally. She is on her way to becoming a major name in the overlapping worlds of jazz, cabaret and classic American pop music. ~ Bio written by Scott Yanow, Los Angeles, CA    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Amandah-Jantzen/e/B001LHMPWW

Northern Star (The Singapore Sessions)

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Abigail Riccards & Tony Romano - Soft Rains Fall

Styles: Vocal and Guitar Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:26
Size: 95,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:56)  1. I Get Along Without You Very Well
(3:28)  2. Chega De Saudade
(4:24)  3. Blame It On My Youth
(3:16)  4. Stardust
(4:41)  5. Both Sides Now
(2:37)  6. Beautiful Love
(3:01)  7. Kathy's Song
(4:42)  8. I Can't Make You Love Me
(3:41)  9. I Wish You Love
(2:50) 10. The Nearness Of You
(3:42) 11. Bring It On Home

Vocalist Abigail Riccards’ collaboration with guitarist Tony Romano, Soft Rains, is a stylistically unique voice and guitar recital. Although this type of pairing brings to mind the Ella Fitzgerald/Joe Pass sessions, this is disc contains a very different kind of duets. There are Spanish classical influences, as on “Chega De Suadade,” that sounds like a Joaquin Rodrigo composition both when Romano is in the spotlight and while he is driving Riccards’ evocative vocal stylings up and down the musical scales. Elsewhere, on “Beautiful Love,” Django-esque strumming is paired with vocal improvisations, one of two tracks that feature Riccards’ scatting skills. The other, “I Wish You Love,” is perhaps the “jazziest” on the album with a short but advanced guitar work. Romano plays angular lines on “Blame It On My Youth,” where his carefully placed notes frame Riccards’ mellow contralto; soft as honey with a bite of spice like heady mead.  Her voice is well suited for Joni Mitchell’s poetic words giving “Both Sides Now” a personal treatment without altering the spirit of this classic song. 

Her versatility is on display with her interpretation of Paul Simon’s “Kathy’s Song,” which flows smoothly from her lips revealing a vulnerability that is buried deep inside the music. Her heartbreaking delivery of romantic ballads is heard on “I Can’t Make You Love Me” with touches of folk music, and the Sam Cooke classic “Bring It On Home” maintains its earthiness but is infused with jazz sensibilities particularly on the closing guitar solo. On an album full of intimate moments, the most intimate tunes are “The Nearness Of You,” which is transformed to a voice and guitar conversation, “I Get Along Without You Very Well,” with enough musicality to the recitation of the lyrics to create a melancholy mood without overshadowing Romano’s sparse notes, and “Stardust,” where Riccards’ deceptively simple delivery is like someone humming to themselves but with a phrasing so exact and so one-of-a-kind that it belongs in the best of jazz venues. With the high quality of their musicianship, Riccards and Romano have created a record more stimulating and engaging with their bare-bones delivery than any overproduced vocal jazz album. ~ Hrayr Attarian  

http://www.chicagojazz.com/cd-reviews.php?SEARCH=review&REV=142.

Personnel:  Abigail Riccards – Voice; Tony Romano – Guitar

Soft Rains Fall

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Marian McPartland - Marian McPartland Plays The Benny Carter Songbook

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1990
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:33
Size: 124,5 MB
Art: Front

(4:04)  1. When The Lights Are Low
(5:16)  2. I'm In The Mood For Swing
(4:52)  3. A Kiss From You
(3:44)  4. Key Largo
(4:42)  5. Another Time, Another Place
(4:44)  6. Summer Serenade
(4:03)  7. Doozy
(5:16)  8. Lonely Woman
(7:07)  9. Only Trust Your Heart
(3:41) 10. Evening Star
(6:01) 11. Easy Money

Two aspects uplift this Marian McPartland CD above most songbooks. Benny Carter is much better-known as an altoist and an arranger than as a composer, so his compositions tend to be quite fresh since they have been underplayed through the years. Also, the fact that Carter himself performs on the majority of these selections (which also include bassist John Clayton and drummer Harold Jones) makes the set something special. Highlights include "When Lights Are Low," "I'm in the Mood for Swing," "Key Largo," "Doozy," "Lonely Woman" and "Only Trust Your Heart," but all 11 songs are enjoyable and swinging. ~ Scott Yanow   http://www.allmusic.com/album/plays-the-benny-carter-songbook-mw0000655084.

Personnel: Marian McPartland (piano), Benny Carter (alto saxophone), John Clayton (bass), Harold Jones (drums).

Marian McPartland Plays The Benny Carter Songbook

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Wes Montgomery - Boss Guitar

Bitrate: 320K/s

Time: 57:53

Size: 132.5 MB

Styles: Guitar jazz

Year: 2010

Art: Front

[6:27] 1. Besame Mucho

[4:47] 2. Dearly Beloved

[3:45] 3. Days Of Wine And Roses

[4:23] 4. The Trick Bag

[5:04] 5. Canadian Sunset

[6:42] 6. Fried Pies

[4:07] 7. The Breeze And I

[4:38] 8. For Heaven’s Sake

[6:22] 9. Besame Mucho (Take 2, Alternate) - Alternate Take

[5:01] 10. The Trick Bag (Take 6, Alternate) - Alternate Take

[6:32] 11. Fried Pies (Take 1) - Alternate Take

Before he moved away from straight-ahead jazz and starting playing what is now known as smooth jazz, Wes Montgomery was one of bop's finest guitarists. Montgomery's bop period ended much too soon, but thankfully, he recorded his share of rewarding bop albums when he was still bop-oriented -- and one of them is Boss Guitar, which Orrin Keepnews produced in 1963. It's a trio recording, employing Mel Rhyne on organ and Jimmy Cobb on performances that have held up well over time; Montgomery shows how expressive a ballad player he could be on the standards "For Heaven's Sake" and "Days of Wine and Roses," but the fast tempo exuberance of "The Trick Bag" (a Montgomery original) serves him equally well. Montgomery swings the blues with pleasing results on "Fried Pies" (another Montgomery original), while Consuelo Velázquez's "Besame Mucho" (which is usually played at a slow ballad tempo) is successfully transformed into medium-tempo Latin jazz. Boss Guitar is among the bop-oriented Montgomery albums that should continue to be savored after all these years. [In addition to the eight master takes that were heard on the original '60s LP, some reissues contain alternate takes of "Besame Mucho," "The Trick Bag," and "Fried Pies" all of which will interest collectors.] ~Alex Henderson

Boss Guitar      

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Marky Quayle - One December Day

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 49:45
Size: 113.9 MB
Styles: Easy Listening
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[4:30] 1. Then I'll Be Tired Of You
[2:28] 2. What A Difference A Day Made
[2:50] 3. When Sunny Gets Blue
[2:50] 4. I Hadn't Anyone 'til You
[3:35] 5. Moonlight In Vermont
[3:40] 6. My Buddy
[1:23] 7. Almost Like Being In Love
[3:35] 8. Cheek To Cheek
[2:43] 9. Embraceable You
[1:30] 10. Exactly Like You
[3:35] 11. The Very Thought Of You
[3:42] 12. For Sentimental Reasons (I Love You)
[4:37] 13. Like Someone In Love
[2:31] 14. When I Fall In Love
[2:21] 15. Long Ago & Far Away
[3:47] 16. Learnin' The Blues

Marky remembers, “The earliest live music that I recall hearing was the Mary Kay Trio singing in my father's living room when I was six years old. It was unforgettable the impression their beautiful voices made on me! I knew from then on that I wanted to be a singer.” Marky's father was a great music lover and counted among his close friends George Shearing and Les Brown, who were his regular houseguests, with Shearing often playing on the home piano. With her Dad playing vocal recordings around the house whenever he was home, Marky recounts that she learned three-quarters of her repertoire by the time she was nine. Although as a teenager she listened to the rock bands that were active in San Francisco during that era, when a neighbor gave her an LP titled The Divine One by Miss Sarah Vaughan, it turned her musical life around.

“[Quayle] lets the lyrics of each song speak for itself . . . and she is particularly skilled on ballads, so one enjoys hearing her bring out the warmth and timelessness of each song.” ~Scott Yanow

One December Day

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Cliff Richard - 40 Golden Greats (2-Disc Set)

Following on from four past single disc collections of hits collections, Cliff Richard's first ever U.K. double album offered a straightforward recounting of, not necessarily his 40 greatest hits, but certainly his 40 best known. No statistical ground rules set out its contents. Rather, the compilers went by instinct and, perhaps, a well-developed sense of the mystic point where musical immortality departs from commercial superiority. Of the artist's eight number ones to date, one, 1960s "I Love You," was absent. Of 12 Top Ten hits scored between 1966-79, three were replaced by lower ranking, but infinitely more memorable efforts. It seems incredible that such mid-1970s gems as "Miss You Nights" and "My Kinda Life" were outperformed by the likes of "Big Ship" and "It's All Over," but that's the mystery of the pop charts for you. The bulk of the album, of course, is concentrated on the years when Richard didn't simply dominate British rock, he epitomized it. The whole of the first album (the first disc on the CD reissue) is dedicated to the 1958-63 period; the remainder of the 1960s consume more than half the rest of the record -- 1970s "Goodbye Sam, Hello Samantha," famously celebrated at the time as the artist's 50th single, doesn't arrive until the 33rd track, while the five years which divided that from his "Devil Woman"-led rebirth are summed up in just three songs. And that is precisely how it should have been. 40 Golden Greats slammed to the top of the U.K. chart in November 1977, his first number one since 1963's Summer Holiday, and was it mere chance -- or wry fate -- which decreed that when it was dislodged from that lofty peak, it was the Sex Pistols who did it. Twenty years earlier, after all, Richard himself had been Public Enemy #1, with "Move It," a blast of brutal punk rock as potently shocking to listeners of the time as all of Johnny Rotten's patent outrage. The difference is, in 1977, "Move It" still bristled with all its original passion. One could not help but wonder whether the Pistols would prove so enduring. ~Dave Thompson

Album: 40 Golden Greats (Disc 1)
Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 49:32
Size: 113.4 MB
Styles: Rock
Year: 1977/2003

[2:20] 1. Move It
[2:36] 2. Living Doll
[2:35] 3. Travellin' Light
[2:28] 4. Fall In Love With You
[2:57] 5. Please Don't Tease
[2:05] 6. Nine Times Out Of Ten
[2:03] 7. Theme For A Dream
[1:56] 8. Gee Whiz It's You
[2:22] 9. When The Girl In Your Arms Is The Girl In Your Heart
[2:28] 10. A Girl Like You
[3:08] 11. The Young Ones
[2:12] 12. Do You Wanna Dance
[2:44] 13. I'm Looking Out The Window
[1:52] 14. It'll Be Me
[1:59] 15. Bachelor Boy
[2:55] 16. The Next Time
[2:04] 17. Summer Holiday
[2:41] 18. Lucky Lips
[3:09] 19. It's All In The Game
[2:50] 20. Don't Talk To Him

40 Golden Greats (Disc 1)

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Album: 40 Golden Greats (Disc 2)
Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 56:45
Size: 129.9 MB
Styles: Rock
Year: 1977/2003
Art: Front

[2:36] 1. Constantly
[2:25] 2. On The Beach
[2:51] 3. I Could Easily Fall (In Love With You)
[2:18] 4. The Minute You're Gone
[2:26] 5. Wind Me Up (Let Me Go)
[2:59] 6. Visions
[2:19] 7. Blue Turns To Grey
[2:39] 8. In The Country
[2:14] 9. The Day I Met Marie
[2:53] 10. All My Love (Solo Tu)
[2:30] 11. Congratulations
[2:46] 12. Throw Down A Line
[2:49] 13. Goodbye Sam Hello Samantha
[3:22] 14. Sing A Song Of Freedom
[3:00] 15. Power To All Our Friends
[2:55] 16. (You Keep Me) Hangin' On
[3:54] 17. Miss You Nights
[3:32] 18. Devil Woman
[2:47] 19. I Can't Ask For Anymore Than You
[3:23] 20. My Kinda Life

40 Golden Greats (Disc 2)

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Bob Haggart's Swing Three - Hag Leaps In

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 68:38
Size: 157.1 MB
Styles: Swing
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[3:34] 1. Big Noise From Winnetka
[4:45] 2. If I Had You
[4:32] 3. Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise
[4:55] 4. All Too Soon
[4:20] 5. Hag Leaps In
[6:59] 6. Always
[4:51] 7. I'm Beginning To See The Light
[5:57] 8. Dot's Cheesecake
[3:51] 9. Shky Breaks The Ice
[4:51] 10. My Inspiration
[5:47] 11. Azurte
[4:10] 12. Passion Flower
[5:42] 13. Chelsea Bridge
[4:16] 14. Air Mail Special

Bassist Bob Haggart, 81 at the time of his Arbors trio set, is heard still in prime form, whether accompanying the 74-year-old pianist John Bunch or guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli (a mere 69). The most unusual aspect of Haggart's date is that his group performs "Big Noise From Winnetka" without a drummer, which actually makes the song a bit pointless. Otherwise, the repertoire (swing standards and a few basic originals, including the title cut, which is based on "Lester Leaps In") is conventional and enjoyable. The music consistently swings, the three veterans split the solo space fairly evenly, and everyone plays at their usual high level. ~ Scott Yanow

Hag Leaps In

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Marica Hiraga - Mona Lisa - Tribute to Nat King Cole

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:27
Size: 102,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:50)  1. Mona Lisa
(3:16)  2. Almost Like Being in Love
(4:04)  3. I Love You for Sentimental Re
(3:19)  4. It's Only a Paper Moon
(2:47)  5. Love
(5:27)  6. Stardust
(3:07)  7. Route 66
(3:13)  8. Candy
(3:14)  9. Smile
(4:09) 10. Fly Me to The Moon
(3:41) 11. Unforgettable
(4:13) 12. Far Call (English)

Marica Hiraga is Japan’s leading jazz vocalist with a rich talent both in expression and technique. Her professional career began in 1981 after she was awarded the Asia Music Award in Hong Kong. She has acquired her understanding and feeling of jazz by performing and traveling between Tokyo and New York. Her first Jazz standard album, My Shining Hour, was released in 2001, and won the Best Singing Techniques award at the 19th Japan Jazz Vocal Award hosted by Jazz World magazine in 2003. Her 2nd album, Faith, released in 2006, was recorded with Eric Alexander and Harold Mabern Trio. Faith was selected as “ Swing Journal Gold Disc” and became her breakthrough album. She then worked with the legendary jazz combo, the Manhattan Jazz Quintet, lead by David Matthews, on 3rd album, Close to Bacharach, which was highly praised as the new Bacharach standards. The album was again selected as “ Swing Journal Gold Disc” and she received the Best Vocal award at the 41st Jazz Disc Award, hosted by Swing Journal, one of the most prestigious awards for jazz music in Japan. 

In May 2008, she released a collection of mature love songs as 4th album, More Romance, and in November, she released 5th album, BATUCADA-Jazz‘ n’ Bossa, on which she worked with many prominent musicians including the genius Gil Goldstein, the leading AOR musician Michael Franks, Marcos Valle, Phil Woods, Kenny Garrett and Randy Brecker, as a celebration album for bossa nova’s 50th anniversary. BATUCADA was again selected as“ Swing Journal Gold Disc” and won her the Best Vocal award at the 42nd Jazz Disc Award. In 2009, she released 6th album, Sing Once More-Dear Carpenters, a tribute album to Carpenters, for which she received the grand prize at the 25th Japan Jazz Vocal Award and the Best Vocal award at the 43rd Jazz Disc Award, making her the first musician to receive this award for 3 consecutive years. In 2011, She released 7th album, Mona Lisa-Tribute to Nat King Cole, a tribute album to the legendary singer, Nat King Cole. Marica Hiraga’s latest album, Sings With The Duke Ellington Orchestra, released in April 2012, The full big band album which becomes the first in self is challenged, and costarring with a historical big band is achieved. She has been performing at numerous concert halls and jazz festivals, and her artistic talents extend to a wide range of activities, such as being a radio personality and contributing as a music magazine columnist. ~ Bio   http://www.last.fm/music/Marica+Hiraga/+wiki

Mona Lisa - Tribute to Nat King Cole

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Peggy Lee - I Like Men!

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1959
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 28:44
Size: 68,9 MB
Art: Front

(1:35)  1. Charley, My Boy
(2:32)  2. Good-For-Nothin' Joe
(2:51)  3. I Love To Love
(2:46)  4. When A Woman Loves A Man
(2:06)  5. I Like Men
(2:09)  6. I'm Just Wild About Harry
(2:13)  7. My Man
(2:46)  8. Bill
(2:33)  9. So In Love
(2:59) 10. Jim
(2:23) 11. It's So Nice To Have A Man Around The House
(1:47) 12. Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!

Peggy Lee and arranger/conductor Jack Marshall's concept for the album I Like Men! is embodied in the title and in the title song that the two wrote together. The songs, from the annals of Tin Pan Alley and Broadway, specify several particular men: "Charley, My Boy," "Good for Nothing Joe," "I'm Just Wild About Harry," "Bill," "Jim," and "Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!" But sometimes Lee objectifies the object of her affection as simply male: "When a Woman Loves a Man," "My Man," "It's So Nice to Have a Man Around the House." And sometimes she generalizes even further by simply paying tribute to romance: "I Love to Love," "So in Love." The sentiments, if ever faithful, vary from friskiness to attachment and even outright slavery ("My Man," popularized in the U.S. by Fanny Brice, may be the ultimate torch song, though somehow it remains light in Lee's rendition). Sometimes, the man is not particularly accomplished ("Good-for-Nothin' Joe") or attractive ("Bill," "Oh Johnny! Oh Johnny! Oh!"). It doesn't seem to matter. Lee, as stated up-front, likes men. Marshall seems to like musicians, and he employs a lot of them, giving each song a different setting and instrumentation, from lush strings to small jazz ensembles. Lee is her usual buoyant self throughout, and even if the concept is really just another excuse to put together an album of standards, it gives her fans the opportunity to hear her sing them. ~ William Ruhlmann   http://www.allmusic.com/album/i-like-men!-mw0000849237

I Like Men!

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Rolf Kuhn & Friends - Affairs

Styles: Clarinet Jazz
Year: 1997
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:49
Size: 131,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:29)  1. Into The Pocket
(6:11)  2. Easy Living
(6:30)  3. Just Friends
(7:07)  4. Fractions
(5:26)  5. Off A Bird
(5:26)  6. Polkadots & Moonbeams - Like Someone in Love
(5:21)  7. There Is A Mingus Amonk Us
(4:50)  8. Three Bopeteers
(7:08)  9. Lover Man
(4:17) 10. The Vertical Circle

Rolf Kuhn's style has evolved through the years. The clarinetist started out playing in German dance bands in the late '40s. He worked with radio orchestras starting in 1952 and moved to the U.S. in 1956. Kuhn subbed for Benny Goodman on a few occasions during 1957-1958, played in the Tommy Dorsey ghost band (1958), and worked in a big band led by Urbie Green (1958-1960). In 1962, Kuhn returned to Germany, where he has explored more adventurous styles of jazz (including dates with his younger brother, keyboardist Joachim Kuhn) but still occasionally shows off his ties to swing. Kuhn recorded with an all-star group called Winner's Circle (1957), Toshiko Akiyoshi (1958), and as a leader starting in 1953, including a 1956 New York quartet date for Vanguard. ~ Bio   https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/rolf-kuhn/id129557301#fullText

Affairs

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Harold Mabern - Fantasy

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:21
Size: 138,3 MB
Art: Front

(5:13)  1. Almost Like Being In Love
(7:10)  2. Harlem Dawn
(5:25)  3. Lollipops And Roses
(6:38)  4. Sesame Street Theme
(7:03)  5. Fantasy
(5:03)  6. The Sidewinder
(6:12)  7. It Only Hurts When I Smile
(8:50)  8. Let's Face The Music And Dance
(4:16)  9. Jackson Park El Train
(4:30) 10. You Belong To Me

Early in his career, Mabern played in Chicago with MJT + 3 in the late 1950s and then moved to New York in 1959. Mabern has worked with Jimmy Forrest, Lionel Hampton, the Jazztet (1961-1962), Donald Byrd, Miles Davis (1963), J.J. Johnson (1963-1965), Lee Morgan (1965), Sonny Rollins, Freddie Hubbard, Wes Montgomery, Joe Williams (1966-1967), and Sarah Vaughan. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Mabern led four albums for Prestige Records, performed with Lee Morgan, and recorded with Stanley Cowell's Piano Choir. Harold Mabern has recorded as a leader for DIW/Columbia and Sackville and toured with the Contemporary Piano Ensemble (1993-1995).  A longtime faculty member at William Paterson College, Mabern is a frequent instructor at Stanford Jazz Workshop. Saxophonist Eric Alexander was one of Mabern's students at William Pattereson in the late 1980s. Mabern now frequently tours and records with Alexander as part of his quintet. To date, Mabern and Alexander have appeared on over twenty CDs together.   http://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/musician.php?id=8941#.U010YldSvro

Personnel:  Harold Mabern (piano); Dwayne Burno (bass); Joe Farnsworth (drums)   

Fantasy

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Jim Cullum Jazz Band - American Love Songs

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 62:39
Size: 143.4 MB
Styles: Early jazz, Dixieland
Year: 1997
Art: Front

[4:58] 1. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
[4:04] 2. Meet Me Tonight In Dreamland
[2:55] 3. Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea
[2:56] 4. Come Rain Or Come Shine
[3:38] 5. I Only Have Eyes For You
[5:46] 6. Lover Man/Body And Soul
[3:19] 7. What A Little Moonlight Can Do
[3:40] 8. When Lights Are Low
[2:56] 9. Singin' In The Rain
[4:41] 10. A Sleepin' Bee
[4:40] 11. My Fate Is In Your Hands
[3:12] 12. How Deep Is The Ocean
[4:15] 13. Ain't Misbehavin'
[4:22] 14. I Had To Do It
[7:08] 15. Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love)

Ever since it debuted in 1989, the notable radio series Riverwalk, Live from the Landing has given listeners a large dose of well-produced and intelligently presented classic jazz. This particular CD is the seventh to draw its material from these enjoyable programs, and it is a bit of a grab-bag. The theme of American love songs is rather loose, but it serves as an excuse to make the generally relaxed and concise performances available to the public for the first time since their airing. Jim Cullum is one of the finest cornetists/trumpeters in the field, and he can be heard in short statements with his jazz band throughout (taking a brief but dramatic spot on "Come Rain or Come Shine" and exuberantly leading the ensembles on "Ain't Misbehavin'"). The many guests uplift the music, particularly soprano saxophonist Bob Wilber on "Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland," Benny Carter during "When Lights Are Low," Joe Williams on an uptempo "Singin' in the Rain," and Dick Hyman playing a piano duet with John Sheridan on a charming version of "My Fate Is in Your Hands." The vocals of Nina Ferro and Carol Woods (three for Ferro and two by Woods), although well sung, are predictable and routine compared to the instrumentalists, but harmless enough. Much hotter are spirited renditions of a pair of Fats Waller tunes ("Ain't Misbehavin'" and the obscure "I Had to Do It") featuring personable vocals by Vernel Bagneris, plus the two pianos with the full band. Overall, this is fun music well worth picking up, as are the other entries in the series. ~Scott Yanow

American Love Songs

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Klaus Ignatzek & Susanne Menzel - In-Tandem

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 73:17
Size: 169,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:36)  1. Samba De Amor
(7:38)  2. Light In The Dark
(4:22)  3. Running Man
(8:14)  4. No Words
(6:07)  5. Message For Art
(7:10)  6. My Home
(5:56)  7. Her Own World
(5:05)  8. Herbies Invitation
(7:02)  9. Close The Door
(3:11) 10. Roamin
(7:50) 11. Time Will Tell
(6:00) 12. Chase The Time

In March 2006, Nagel-Heyer Records released the CD "IN-TANDEM" (Nh 2062) with german female vocalist Susanne Menzel. "...Ignatzek always succeeds in arousing his audience’s enthusiasm, thanks to his richly nuanced performance on the piano in connection with the original compositions. Here he is joined by the wonderful female vocalist Susanne Menzel. Together with Ignatzek she is making her first steps out in the jazz world, as this fabulous CD is her debut recording. She wrote all the lyrics and with her great sense for words she is making something special out of Klaus Ignatzek’s original compositions. While listening to the music you will surely understand why 1 + 1 can be much more than just 2. The two leaders are accompanied by a great band as well." "Peter Weniger (tenor saxophone), Martin Wind (bass) and Hans Dekker (drums) are well-known all over Europe and they do a marvellous job on this recording. If you enjoy a solid driving jazz recording performed by a dynamic group, the Klaus Ignatzek/Susanne Menzel Quintet should be on your playlist."  

http://www.klausignatzek.de/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=3&lang=en

In-Tandem

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Molly Ryan (Feat. Bucky Pizzarelli) - Swing for Your Supper!

Styles: Swing
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 75:08
Size: 174,3 MB
Art: Front

(3:15)  1. Say It With a Kiss
(3:25)  2. Where the Morning Glories Grow
(3:24)  3. Hushabye Mountain
(3:04)  4. You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby
(3:33)  5. My Heart Belongs to Daddy
(3:34)  6. Get Rhythm in Your Feet (And Music in Your Soul)
(4:14)  7. My Dreams Are Gone With the Wind
(3:00)  8. Sing for Your Supper
(2:27)  9. All God's Chillun Got Rhythm / I'm Just Wild About Harry
(4:29) 10. Save Your Sorrow / Look for the Silver Lining
(3:04) 11. Love Is Just Around the Corner
(4:51) 12. I'm Old Fashioned
(4:34) 13. Ready for the River
(5:06) 14. Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life
(4:18) 15. When My Ship Comes In
(3:37) 16. Was That the Human Thing to Do?
(3:53) 17. A Hundred Years from Today
(3:36) 18. Happy Endings
(3:39) 19. Whispers in the Dark
(3:55) 20. Without a Song

When I first asked "the Dans" (Barrett and Levinson) to write arrangements for my new album, they both wanted to know what kind of "feel" I wanted. I told them "I want it to swing." The masterful arrangements they created swing all by themselves. But performed by the best musicians in the world, they transcend the genre and take on a magical life that can't be defined by a single word.  The vocal duets and trios were certainly inspired by the Boswell Sisters, but are by no means an attempt to re- create what three sisters who had been singing together since early childhood did. Banu Gibson, Maude Maggart and I sung together for the first time at a rehearsal the night before the recording session. They are two of my favorite singers, and it was a real thrill to be together in the recording studio with them.

Diane Naegel may not be a household name, especially to those of you outside New York City. When Diane had a dream, she made it a reality. She conceived and edited Zelda: The Magazine of the Vintage Nouveau. Along with her husband Don Spiro, she produced a monthly event in Manhattan called Wit's End, "A Celebration of Jazz Age Lifestyle, Music and Aesthetics," featuring era-appropriate bands. 

Diane asked me to put together a program of songs from Hollywood films for her March 2010 Wit's End event, and requested a little-known song called My Dreams are Gone with the Wind from the 1937 film The Awful Truth. I learned it and performed it. When Diane left us in 2011 at the age of 31, the world lost a beautiful human spirit. This one's for you, Diane. Your dreams live on. I hope you have as much fun listening to Swing for Your Supper! as I had making it. Most vocalists will tell you they prefer to sing later in the day, after their voice has had a chance to warm up. And it's an accepted fact that milk and dairy products don't mix with singing. I prefer to record in the morning and can't sing a note until I've stuffed a bagel and cream cheese down my throat. Perhaps I should have called the album Swing for Your Breakfast! ~ Molly Ryan   http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mollyryan2

Swing for Your Supper!

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J.J.Johnson - J.J.'s Broadway

Styles: Trombone Jazz
Year: 1963
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:28
Size: 86,3 MB
Art: Front

(3:56)  1. Lovely
(4:17)  2. My Favorite Things
(3:23)  3. Mira
(3:51)  4. Make Someone Happy
(3:54)  5. Who Will Buy
(3:54)  6. Sleeping Bee
(4:06)  7. Put On A Happy Face
(3:39)  8. Nobody's Heart
(2:55)  9. A Second Chance
(3:28) 10. The Sweetest Sounds

This is one of the more obscure J.J. Johnson LPs. On six of the ten songs, the great trombonist is joined by four others, while the remaining four tracks (the main reasons to search for this album) feature him in a quartet with pianist Hank Jones, bassist Richard Davis and drummer Walter Perkins. Johnson's writing on the larger group pieces lifts the material, which is all taken from Broadway shows, while his playing on the quartet tracks is up to his usual level. Some of the songs are now forgotten, but "My Favorite Things," "Make Someone Happy" and "Put on a Happy Face" are exceptions. This album has some good music, but it will be very difficult to find. ~ Scott Yanow   http://www.allmusic.com/album/jjs-broadway-mw0000041108

Personnel: J.J. Johnson (trombone); Lou McGarity, Tommy Mitchell, Paul Faulise (trombone); Hank Jones (piano); Chuck Israels (bass); Walter Perkins (drums).

J.J.'s Broadway

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David Hazeltine - For All We Know

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:48
Size: 167,0 MB
Art: Front

( 6:13)  1. Et Cedra
( 9:00)  2. My Ship
( 8:23)  3. Pooh
( 6:59)  4. Lord Walton
(11:47)  5. For All We Know
( 7:32)  6. Eddie Harris
( 9:41)  7. Cheryl
( 7:12)  8. Imagination
( 5:56)  9. A.D. Bossa

Jazz pianist David Hazeltine was born and raised in Milwaukee, making his professional debut at age 13 and going on to gig extensively in Chicago and Minneapolis as well. Serving as the house pianist at the Milwaukee Jazz Gallery, he backed luminaries including Eddie Harris, Sonny Stitt and Chet Baker, the latter encouraging Hazeltine to further pursue his career by relocating to New York City; arriving there in 1992, he formed his own trio with drummer Louis Hayes and bassist Peter Washington, additionally serving as musical director for Marlena Shaw and playing with Slide Hampton's Jazz Masters Big Band as well as the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band. With tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, Hazeltine also helmed the group One for All; as a headliner, he made his debut in 1995 with Four Flights Up, followed two years later by The Classic Trio. He resurfaced in 1998 with How It Is, issuing The World for Her the next year. Blues Quarters, Vol. 1 was released in August 2000. ~ Bio  

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/david-hazeltine/id65618478#fullText

Personnel: David Hazeltine: piano; Seamus Blake: tenor sax; David Williams: bass; Joe Farnsworth: drums

For All We Know

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Katie Cavera - Who's Foolin' Who

Bitrate: 320K/s

Time: 49:57

Size: 114.3 MB

Styles: Jazz vocals, Swing

Year: 2000

Art: Front

[3:05] 1. Too Busy

[5:16] 2. Do Something

[3:34] 3. Some Of These Days

[2:23] 4. I'm The One

[5:59] 5. Foolin' Myself

[5:27] 6. Nilda Avenue Breakdown

[4:35] 7. Nobody Cares If I'm Blue

[4:02] 8. Don't Wait Up

[2:51] 9. You've Been A Naughty Boy

[3:39] 10. Irrational Pastime No. 1

[4:13] 11. Telling It To The Daisies

[4:48] 12. Who's Foolin' Who

Katie Cavera has made a name for herself on the West Coast playing Banjo, Rhythm Guitar, and New Orleans style String Bass. She also sings in the 20’s pop style of Helen Kane and Ruth Etting.

A few of her band credits include: The Bobby Gordon Sextet, Clint Baker’s New Orleans Jazz Band, The Reynolds Brothers Rhythm Rascals, Jim Cullum’s Jazz Band, Hal Smith’s Rhythmakers,The Ray Skjelbred Quartet, and Leon Oakley’s Friends Of Jazz.

Originally from Southern Indiana, she attended Indiana University where she studied jazz composition and performance with David Baker. She currently resides in Los Angeles where she works as a full time musician and occasionally works on theatrical productions and short films.

"She loves what she does and she makes everyone feel good about playing music with her. She's a timekeeper with a heartbeat sound." – Ray Skjelbred

Who's Foolin' Who

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Cal Tjader - Cal Tjader's Latin Kick

Bitrate: 320K/s

Time: 40:29

Size: 92.7 MB

Styles: Latin jazz

Year: 1959/1995

Art: Front

[4:12] 1. Invitation

[3:42] 2. Lover Come Back To Me

[2:59] 3. September Song

[3:27] 4. Will You Still Be Mine

[5:52] 5. I Love Paris

[3:13] 6. Tropicville

[2:55] 7. Moonlight In Vermont

[3:36] 8. Bye Bye Blues

[3:16] 9. Manuel's Mambo

[4:09] 10. All The Things You Are

[3:03] 11. Blues From Havana

Cal Tjader's era-defining mixture of Afro-Cuban rhythms and mainstream jazz solos undergoes a bit of a horizontal expansion in these 1956 sessions. The tracks are often longer than on previous albums, finally taking advantage of the logistics of the LP, and as a result, both the Latin and jazz elements benefit. Tenor saxophonist Brew Moore gets extended chances to blow in an easy-grooving Getz-like manner on several tracks, and on "I Love Paris," Luis Miranda (congas) and Bayardo Velarde (timbales) engage in some spirited percussion battles over the vamping of the brothers Duran (Manuel on piano and Carlos on bass). Everything cooks in a bright yet disciplined manner, and Tjader's elliptical, swinging vibes preside genially over the ensemble. ~Richard S. Ginnell

Cal Tjader's Latin Kick

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Marty Elkins & Dave McKenna - In Another Life

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:10
Size: 87,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:12)  1. Willow Weep For Me
(2:51)  2. Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans
(3:40)  3. Jim
(2:56)  4. Gimme A Pigfoot And A Bottle Of Beer
(2:42)  5. Summertime
(3:48)  6. Until The Real Thing Comes Along
(2:01)  7. I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart
(3:01)  8. When Your Lover Has Gone
(2:36)  9. I Wished On The Moon
(3:12) 10. Willow Weep For Me (Alternate Take)
(2:50) 11. Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans (Alternate Take)
(5:16) 12. Fuse Blues

When I get new jazz compact discs to review, a good percentage feature women jazz singers.  I am sure that they are wonderful people who love the music, but many of them have odd ideas of forming a style.  Some have ingested every syllable Billie Holiday ever recorded; some rely on huge voices with gospel trimmings to get them through; some meow and growl their way through a lyric, suggesting an undiagnosed hairball problem.  Almost all of the new singers emote in capital letters, their voices rich with imagined melodrama.  None of these tricks works, but the singers press on. For me, there are perhaps a dozen women singing jazz today if you’ve been reading my posts, you can count them off.  Now it’s time to increase that number.  May I introduce  (or re-introduce) Marty Elkins? I first met Marty perhaps a year ago when she and I ended up sharing a table at the crowded Ear Inn.  We chatted pleasantly, and I really had no idea of her talents until Jon-Erik Kellso asked her to sit in and she sang a few choruses of YOU TOOK ADVANTAGE OF ME with the band.  

The Ear Inn is more conducive to trumpets and trombones than to unamplified singers, but I could hear that Marty swung, knew the harmonic ins and outs of the song, could improvise neatly, and was expressive without being melodramatic.  She used her quiet talents to make the material sound good rather than asking Rodgers and Hart to step aside so that she could shine.  When she was through, I asked her if she had recorded CDs that I could hear her better and at greater length.  She casually mentioned that she had done a duet session with Dave McKenna years back, and that it would be issued some day. The disc is called IN ANOTHER LIFE, and it’s issued on the splendidly reliable Nagel-Heyer label (CD 114).  It captures Marty and Dave in an informal session with good sound, in 1988  when Dave was still in full command. The first thing that must be said will seem tactless, but this CD is not the combination of a young, untried singer with a master pianist.  Not at all.  

The Elkins , McKenna pairing is a meeting of convivial equals.  From the very first notes of this session, she shows off her relaxed, expert naturalness.  Her naturalness comes from loving the lyrics  that is, knowing what the words mean! and admiring the composer’s original lines.  She has a sweet, earnest phrase-ending vibrato, reminiscent of a great trumpet player, and she holds her notes beautifully.  Marty’s delivery is full of feeling and warmth, but she doesn’t shout, grind, or act self-consciously hip.  Her voice is also attractive wholly on its own terms  it has a yearning, plaintive quality that fits the material, but that never overwhelms the song or the listener. On JIM, for instance, a rather masochistic song, Marty embraces and entrances the lyrics without ever suggesting that things are so dire that she needs therapy or an intervention.  It’s a performance I found myself going back to several times.  And she’s equally home with the somewhat archaic enthusiams of GIMME A PIGFOOT  she sings the song rather than singing at it from an ironic distance.  (And, as a sidelight, her diction is razor-sharp, enabling me to hear a phrase in the lyrics that has always mystified me in Bessie Smith’s version.)  On a number of the other selections, she avoids the perils of over-dramatization (I’m thinking especially of SUMMERTIME, which has attained the status of National Monument, making it almost impossible to sing it plainly without histrionics) by lifting the tempo just a touch  what Billie and Mildred did in the Thirties.  It works.  I was able to hear the most famous and well-worn songs on this disc without thinking of their more famous progenitors.  On her second choruses, she improvises, subtly and effectively; her voice takes delicate little turns up or down, which seem both new and natural.  And she knows the verse to WHEN YOUR LOVER IS GONE!  What more could we ask for? For his part, McKenna is in especially empathetic form: he doesn’t put on his locomotive-roaring-down-the-tracks self, but you always know he’s there.  And at times his accompaniment sounds so delicately shaped that I would have sworn Ellis Larkins had slid onto the piano bench. The alternate takes are revealing for both Marty’s subtle reshapings of her first inspirations, and for Dave’s inventiveness and drive.  

The CD’s last track, FUSE BLUES, comes from a 1999 Nagel-Heyer session Marty did with Houston Person, Tardo Hammer, Herb Pomeroy, Greg Skaff, Dennis Irwin, Mark Taylor, and it’s a thoroughly naughty composition of Marty’s that will make you look at your electrician in a whole new way.  I think it should be Consolidated Edison’s theme song, but doubt that they’ll take me up on it. As an afterthought, because the liner notes are very spare, I asked Marty to comment on the session, which she did: The original recording was just for a demo for me, and Dave really did it as a favor for very little bread as he was an old friend from my days in Boston. I went to Boston U and just kind of stayed up there, hanging around with musicians for about ten years after college. I met Dave at the Copley Plaza hotel, where he was a regular performer, and he let me sing with him and was pretty much my first accompanist. The funny story I always tell is that he said, “When you go out there and sing with other musicians, don’t expect them to play in the key of B…” because he would say “Just start singing, baby, I’ll follow you.”  I guess that really was starting at the top! Everyone loved Dave – he was the most accessible guy and not even aware of his own genius. He leaves a lot of broken hearted pals. We did the recording at Jimmy Madison’s (the great drummer) studio on the Upper West Side. I think Dave was in town for a gig at the old Hanratty’s, because by then I was living in New York. The Nagel-Heyers did the remastering, and it really sounds good now.  I hear new things in Dave’s playing every time I listen to it.  I had hoped it would come out before Dave left us, but it was not to be.    Marty is planning a late-summer CD release party at Smalls  with, among others, Jon-Erik Kellso  and she has promised to let me know the details so that I can alert all of you.  Until then, this CD is winning music.  http://jazzlives.wordpress.com/2009/06/19/marty-elkins-in-another-life/

In Another Life

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Joscho Stephan & Olivier Holland - Gypsy Meets Jazz

Styles: Gypsy Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:05
Size: 103,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:21)  1. Made In France
(4:57)  2. Morning Drop Off
(4:49)  3. Take the Train
(2:58)  4. Sleepless
(4:51)  5. Spain
(3:05)  6. Crazy Daisy
(4:12)  7. Afro Shuh
(2:54)  8. Donna Lee
(3:53)  9. Tears
(3:43) 10. Senor Carlos
(2:39) 11. Babik
(3:38) 12. Gutted

Two virtuosos of the strings sought and found each other: On the one hand, the master guitarist from Mönchengladbach, Joscho Stephan, on the other, the German-New-Zealander double bass player Olivier Holland. Ever since the 1990s, the paths of these two exceptional musicians have crossed in joint projects. The two artists always find new ideas and inspiration for their playing, which gave riseto a collaborative studio effort, where the two artists bundled their creative energies to form an exciting fusion style that also gave the album its title: "Gypsy Meets Jazz". The two musicians are joined by Stephan's father Günter on rhythm guitar, bass Max Schaaf, violinist Sebastian Reimann and percussionist Thomas Kukulies. Together they create a fascinating musical kaleidoscope with compositions by the two string virtuosos themselves and refreshingly interpreted classics by Bireli Lagrène and Charlie Parker, Chick Corea and Django Reinhardt. "Gypsy Meets Jazz" shows two brilliant trailblazers engaging in an extremely creative and highly entertaining excursion that enriches both genres in a fascinating manner.  http://www.joscho-stephan.de/en/music

Gypsy Meets Jazz

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