Rob Parton's Jazztech Big Band - The Count Is In

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:15
Size: 149.4 MB
Styles: Post bop, Big band
Year: 1993/2011
Art: Front

[4:03] 1. Seems Like Old Times
[6:28] 2. The Count Is In
[5:19] 3. Over The Rainbow
[8:26] 4. Dear Old Stockholm
[3:06] 5. Blue Skies
[5:56] 6. To Love And Be Loved
[4:59] 7. Doxy
[5:13] 8. When I Fall In Love
[6:53] 9. I Like Bebop
[5:25] 10. Prelude To A Kiss
[5:14] 11. Summertime
[4:09] 12. Giant Steps

Recording Date: July 19, 1992 - July 23, 1992

Rob Parton is still considered to be one of Chicago’s busiest and versatile trumpet players. While he is well known and highly regarded as a trumpet artist, performer, educator and bandleader, he is also active within the academic side of higher education at Capital University in Columbus Ohio. Parton has been the Associate Professor of Trumpet at Capital University in Columbus Ohio since Fall 2010. Prior to this position, Parton was a tenured, Associate Professor of Jazz Studies and Trumpet in Chicago.

The Rob Parton Big Band continues to live on in Chicago at FitzGerald’s Nightclub. Although the band is not performing on a monthly basis, it is performing a handful of dates each year including special jazz festivals and concerts. In addition to live performing, Rob Parton has earned national and international accolades for his seven critically acclaimed compact discs’ on the Sea Breeze Jazz label.

The Count Is In

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Ranee Lee - Dark Divas (2-Disc Set)

Ranee Lee, a Brooklyn native transplanted in Canada, has written a show honoring the divas who have influenced her the most in her career as a jazz diva herself. Her seventh album for the Justin Time label is a capsulized version of this review and features songs that were sung by Josephine Baker, Billie Holiday, Pearl Bailey, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald. Lee in no way apes the renditions by these great singers. She puts her own special stamp on each song on the play list. Given her long and distinguished membership in the jazz/pop vocal community, how could it be otherwise. Her position as one of the preeminent jazz vocal song stylists is solidified by the way she does such classics as "J'ai Deux Amours" that helped make Josephine Baker the toast of Europe. One also hears a nod to the pathos in Edith Piaf's here. Billie Holiday's "Fine and Mellow" is not only distinguished by Lee's singing, but by the wailing trombone of Muhammad Abdul Al-Khabyyr. Perdido captures the one of a kind swing scatting of Sarah Vaughan. Pearl Bailey's ability to mix stand up comedy with a song is recalled with "What Happened to the Hair on the Head of the Man I Love?". "Yesterday When I Was Young" often a paean to regretful sentimentality for past sins of omission and commission, in Lee's hands is "in your face I did it my way" pride. A telling coda to an album saying "thanks" to those she listened to over the years as she went down her own road. After listening to this album one wishes that Ranee Lee's one woman show were playing down the street. Highly recommended. ~Dave Nathan

Ranee Lee - Vocal; Richard Ring - Guitar; Tilden Webb - Piano; Mike Downes - Bass; Dave Laing - Drums; Richard Beaudet - Sax/Clarinet; Muhammad Abdul Al-Khabyyr - Trombone; Ron DiLauro - Trumpet

Album: Dark Divas (Disc 1)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:52
Size: 121.1 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2000

[0:32] 1. Dialogue
[0:43] 2. Charleston
[0:16] 3. Dialogue
[2:07] 4. Honeysuckle Rose
[0:49] 5. I'm Just Wild About Harry
[0:15] 6. Dialogue
[3:01] 7. J'ai Deux Amours
[0:22] 8. Dialogue
[1:43] 9. Riffn' The Scotch
[0:34] 10. Dialogue
[5:06] 11. Fine And Mellow
[5:09] 12. Ill Wind
[0:24] 13. Dialogue
[1:32] 14. The Lady Is A Tramp
[2:55] 15. It Was Just One Of Those Things
[0:32] 16. Dialogue
[5:22] 17. Stormy Weather
[4:20] 18. One For My Baby
[0:31] 19. Dialogue
[0:59] 20. This Little Light Of Mine
[1:02] 21. Dialogue
[2:22] 22. Toot, Toot, Tootsie, Goodbye
[0:22] 23. Dialogue
[2:33] 24. He May Be Your Man
[2:42] 25. What Happened To The Hair On The
[2:34] 26. It Takes Two To Tango
[0:17] 27. Dialogue
[3:35] 28. Hello Dolly

Dark Divas (Disc 1)

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Album: Dark Divas (Disc 2)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:35
Size: 115.8 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2000
Art: Front

[0:24] 1. Dialogue
[2:56] 2. Surprise Party
[4:46] 3. What A Difference A Day Makes
[4:00] 4. Makin' Whoopee
[0:17] 5. Dialogue
[5:28] 6. Misty
[2:32] 7. Perdido
[4:15] 8. If You Could See Me Now
[0:15] 9. Dialogue
[4:22] 10. Mack The Knife
[2:54] 11. A Tisket, A Tasket
[9:13] 12. Medley
[3:40] 13. Oh Lady, Be Good
[4:36] 14. Yesterday
[0:52] 15. Encore

Dark Divas (Disc 2)

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Paul Motian - The Windmills Of Your Mind

Styles: Contemporary Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:23
Size: 124,4 MB
Art: Front

(2:27)  1. Introduction (1)
(3:50)  2. Tennessee Waltz
(6:45)  3. The Windmills Of Your Mind
(1:56)  4. Let's Face The Music And Dance
(3:28)  5. Lover Man
(2:38)  6. It's Been A Long, Long Time
(2:21)  7. Little Foot
(3:15)  8. Easy Living
(2:42)  9. I've Got A Crush On You
(2:31) 10. Backup
(4:00) 11. I Loves You Porgy
(2:08) 12. Trieste
(3:17) 13. If I Could Be With You
(2:08) 14. Wednesday's Gone
(5:44) 15. I Remember You
(3:05) 16. Introduction (2)

While Paul Motian's name is on the spine of this CD, guitarist Bill Frisell is the tie that binds this band. Frisell's ability to paint ethereal coats of sound in an earnest manner that speaks to his love of all things musical is at the heart of this program, which may be seen as an expansion of Petra Haden and Bill Frisell (True North, 2003) a woefully overlooked vocals and guitar date which contains intimate and highly expressive takes on the music of Henry Mancini, Tom Waits, Stevie Wonder, George Gershwin, and many more. Motian, Frisell, Haden, and bassist Thomas Morgan, who appears on the drummer's On Broadway, Vol. 5 (Winter & Winter, 2009), recorded this album in celebration of Motian's 80th birthday, and they find success at every turn by imbuing these pieces with a sound that's both earthy and slightly off-kilter at the same time.

While the complete quartet tackles many chestnuts in inimitable fashion, Haden sits out on several occasions, allowing the remaining trio to try their hand at different things. Two different takes on a gloomy, Motian-penned waltz ("Introduction") that would have felt at home on Bill Frisell Quartet (Nonesuch, 1996) bookend the album and, along with the twangy "Little Foot" and the oft-performed "Let's Face The Music And Dance," speak to the trio chemistry shared between Motian, Frisell and Morgan. Haden's hypnotic vocals blend in well throughout the program, and she smartly imposes her own personality on certain numbers, like "Lover Man," which avoids the same old, bluesy sentiments in favor of supple suggestions and woozy charm, and "I Loves You Porgy," which sparkles and shines. Like Frisell, Haden is completely lacking in affect, which is made abundantly clear on the duo trip through "I've Got A Crush On You" that also appears on their earlier collaboration.

While Frisell and Haden both place their unique aural stamps on this material, Motian and Morgan never play second fiddle to that pairing. The drummer's elastic sense of phrasing is a key ingredient in this mix, and Morgan integrates his bass into the very fabric of the music. Motian's prolific output makes it easy to occasionally overlook some of his albums, but this one is likely to gain a lot of attention. The Windmills Of Your Mind is simply sublime. ~ Dan Bilaswky  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-windmills-of-your-mind-paul-motian-winter-and-winter-review-by-dan-bilawsky.php
 

Personnel: Paul Motian: drums; Bill Frisell: electric guitar; Petra Haden: vocals; Thomas Morgan: bass.

The Windmills Of Your Mind

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Red Mitchell - Happy Minors

Styles: Jazz, Hard Bop
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 28:30
Size: 65,7 MB
Art: Front

(4:04)  1. Happy Minor
(2:49)  2. Bluesology
(3:53)  3. Once In A While
(3:49)  4. Long Ago And Far Away
(6:22)  5. Gone With The Wind
(2:36)  6. Kelly Green
(4:54)  7. Scrapple from the Apple

A hell of a cooker from bassist Red Mitchell  a set that's got a sound that's way more mature and modern than you might guess from the image on the cover! Red's at the helm of a hip combo that also features sharp tenor from Zoot Sims and beautiful work on valve trombone from Bob Brookmeyer working here at that cool compressed height of his 50s style we love so much. Conte Candoli's in the group on trumpet, giving things a surprising sort of bite and rhythm is completed by Claude Williamson on piano and Stan Levey on drums players who can be bold one minute, and carefully quiet the next. Titles include "Kelly Green", "Once In A While", "Bluesology", "Happy Minor", and "Long Ago & Far Away". https://www.dustygroove.com/item/717853

Personnel: Zoot Sims - tenor saxophone; Bob Brookmeyer - valve trombone; Conte Candoli – trumpet; Claude Williamson – piano; Red Mitchell – bass; Stan Levey - drums

Happy Minors

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Peggy Lee - At Last: The Lost Radio Recordings CD 1 And CD 2

As one of the greatest and most popular female pop singers working during radio s Golden Age, Peggy Lee made her share of appearances on the dial, particularly on her own radio show that, starting in 1951, was broadcast over the CBS network and the Armed Forces Radio Service. But, unlike many of her contemporaries who have had their on-air performances compiled into collections both legitimate and not, Peggy has never really enjoyed a proper retrospective of her radio appearances...until now! The 44 tracks on At Last The Lost Radio Recordings consists ENTIRELY of songs Peggy never recorded commercially, ranging from popular standards to novelty numbers to songs popularized by such esteemed peers as Doris Day, Rosemary Clooney, Dinah Shore, Jo Stafford, Kay Starr and Margaret Whiting, with musical direction by Sonny Burke in Los Angeles and Russ Case in New York. 

Most of these recordings haven t been heard since they were originally broadcast, and as this is the first-ever collection of its kind licensed directly from the Peggy Lee estate, this 2-CD set offers superior sound with remastering by Mike Milchner at SonicVision, rarely-seen photos, and expert liner notes by David Torresen, long-time editor of PeggyLee.com, her official website. Many folks feel that Peggy never sang as well as she did in the early and mid-1950s; her maturity (in her thirties) and confidence had fully blossomed, her phrasing perfected and the timbre of her voice was pure gossamer. Listening to her interpret this new material is a revelation an absolute must-have and a major, historic addition to the Peggy Lee discography and legacy! ~ Editorial Reviews  http://www.amazon.com/At-Last-Lost-Radio-Recordings/dp/B00S1QQ8KQ/ref=dp_return_2?ie=UTF8&n=5174&s=music

Styles: Vocal Jazz And Pop
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:04
Size: 108,8 MB
Art: Front

(0:22)  1. Peggy Lee Radio Show Opening
(1:22)  2. It's A Most Unusual Day
(2:00)  3. I'll See You In My Dreams
(2:29)  4. Getting To Know You
(2:10)  5. Cry
(2:19)  6. You Belong To Me
(1:48)  7. Takes Two To Tango
(2:48)  8. Solitaire
(2:28)  9. Did Anyone Call?
(2:24) 10. Please Mr. Sun
(2:04) 11. The Wheel Of Fortune
(1:25) 12. Life Is A Beautiful Thing
(2:25) 13. Somewhere Along The Way
(2:14) 14. And So To Sleep Again
(2:26) 15. Undecided
(2:29) 16. Everything Happens To Me
(2:25) 17. A Kiss To Build A Dream On
(1:30) 18. Botch-A-Me
(1:22) 19. My Darling, My Darling
(2:24) 20. Just One More Chance
(2:44) 21. Since My Love Has Gone (Addio del Passato)
(1:14) 22. Zing A Little Zong
(2:01) 23. Skylark

At Last: The Lost Radio Recordings   CD1

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Styles: Vocal Jazz And Pop
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:55
Size: 106,2 MB
Art: Front

(1:53)  1. I Got Rhythm
(2:33)  2. Pretty-Eyed Baby
(1:35)  3. Ole Buttermilk Sky
(2:30)  4. The Little White Cloud That Cried
(2:12)  5. When I Fall In Love
(2:00)  6. Come What May
(1:38)  7. Johnny One-Note
(2:03)  8. Singin' In The Rain
(2:05)  9. Come On-A My House
(1:43) 10. Here In My Heart
(2:20) 11. Danny Boy
(1:54) 12. Half As Much
(2:01) 13. Go, Go, Go
(1:42) 14. I'll Never Smile Again
(2:29) 15. After All, It's Spring
(2:50) 16. Trust In Me
(1:36) 17. Blacksmith Blues
(3:07) 18. Domino
(1:20) 19. Heigh Ho (It's Off To Work We Go)
(1:58) 20. Oh Dear, What Can The Matter Be?
(1:18) 21. I'm Gonna Live Till I Die
(2:57) 22. At Last

At Last: The Lost Radio Recordings  CD2

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Dave Brubeck Trio - Distinctive Rhythm Instrumentals

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:15
Size: 156.3 MB
Styles: West Coast jazz, Piano jazz
Year: 1953/1982
Art: Front

[2:54] 1. You Stepped Out Of A Dream
[3:30] 2. Lullaby In Rhythm
[2:35] 3. Singin' In The Rain
[3:22] 4. I'll Remember April
[3:43] 5. Body And Soul
[2:41] 6. Let's Fall In Love
[2:42] 7. Laura
[2:33] 8. Indiana
[2:56] 9. Blue Moon
[2:45] 10. Tea For Two
[2:28] 11. Undecided
[2:38] 12. That Old Black Magic
[3:25] 13. September Song
[2:43] 14. Sweet Georgia Brown
[2:28] 15. Spring Is Here
[2:40] 16. 's Wonderful
[2:18] 17. Perfidia
[2:06] 18. Avalon
[2:33] 19. I Didn't Know What Time It Was
[2:47] 20. Always
[3:03] 21. How High The Moon
[3:44] 22. Squeeze Me
[2:19] 23. Heart And Soul
[3:10] 24. Too Marvellous For Words

Bass – Ron Crotty; Drums, Vibraphone [Vibes] – Callen Tjader; Piano – Dave Brubeck. Recorded between September, 1949 & November, 1950

During 1949-1951 pianist Dave Brubeck led a San Francisco-based trio with bassist Ron Crotty and Cal Tjader doubling on drums and vibes. This CD has all 24 of this group's recordings, interpretations of standards that are full of surprising moments. Even at this early stage, Brubeck had his own style and sounds nothing at all like Bud Powell, the dominant influence of the era. ~Scott Yanow

Distinctive Rhythm Instrumentals

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Avi Lebo Double Trombone Quartet - Shades Of Brass

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:56
Size: 130.4 MB
Styles: Trombone jazz
Year: 2010
Art: Front

[ 9:24] 1. Today's Nights
[ 4:19] 2. 24e
[10:22] 3. Let's Play
[ 9:06] 4. Everything Happens To Me
[ 4:48] 5. Our Delight
[ 8:01] 6. To Wisdom The Prize
[ 6:38] 7. Wait
[ 4:15] 8. I'm Gonna Laugh You Right Out Of My Life

Avi Lebo, trombone; Slide Hampton, trombone; Larry Willis, piano; Steve Novosel, bass; Jimmy Cobb, drums .

For the sonic glories of purely acoustic jazz, it's back to Mapleshade, with Shades Of Brass by the Avi Lebo Double Trombone Quintet. Lebo hails from Tel Aviv, a classically trained trombonist who, after hearing a Slide Hampton record, shifted to jazz, moved to New York, tracked down Hampton himself for lessons, and now features the master as a sideman on his own debut disc. The other sidemen aren't chopped liver, either: pianist Larry Willis, bassist Steve Novosel, and drummer Jimmy Cobb, whose sound and cadences you'll clearly recognize as the same Cobb who played on Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. Talk about ride cymbals: nobody rides with more grace, or sense of time and tune, than Cobb. He shuffles rhythms with supreme subtlety. On 24E, snap your fingers to the beat and listen to how many counterbeats Cobb's got going at the same time.

Percussion is something of engineer Sprey's specialty, as well. I can't think of another CD, except possibly another Mapleshade, on which so many bushels of air billow forth from a trapset. The bass (unplugged) sounds naturally woody and plucky. Willis' piano chords waft richly. And the dual trombones -- well, there they are, right in front of you. Lebo is quite a discovery. He plays with astonishing precision, hitting eighth and sixteenth notes without a smidgen of overhang, yet there's no coldness to his tone. He gets a burnished-bronze tone out of the 'bone, "like a dark, soulful French horn," just as the liner says. Hampton has a brasher sound and, when they mix it up the electricity sparkles (though, on Today's Nights, their playing is marred by saturation on the tape). Lovely stuff. ~FredKaplan

Shades Of Brass

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Nancy Wilson - Someday You'll Want Me To Want You

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 72:23

Size: 165.7 MB

Styles: Soul-jazz vocals

Year: 2015

Art: Front

[2:18] 1. Let's Love Again

[2:46] 2. Something Wonderful Happens

[2:58] 3. The Old Country

[2:37] 4. You Don't Know What Love Is

[2:24] 5. Call It Stormy Monday

[4:15] 6. The Masquerade Is Over

[2:32] 7. My Foolish Heart

[2:26] 8. He's My Guy

[2:41] 9. The Things We Did Last Summer

[3:23] 10. The More I See You

[2:13] 11. Little Unhappy Boy

[2:41] 12. Save Your Love For Me

[2:20] 13. Green Dolphin Street

[2:49] 14. Don't Tell Me

[1:46] 15. If Dreams Come True

[2:56] 16. The Nearness Of You

[2:24] 17. What A Little Moonlight Can Do

[2:10] 18. Born To Be Blue

[2:40] 19. The Great City

[1:57] 20. I Wish You Love

[3:03] 21. All Night Long

[2:22] 22. Happy Talk

[2:32] 23. A Sleepin' Bee

[2:22] 24. The Seventh Son

[2:13] 25. Ghost Of Yesterday

[2:17] 26. This Time The Dream's On Me

[2:16] 27. Never Will I Marry

[2:48] 28. Teach Me Tonight

She was among contemporary music’s most stylish and sultry vocalists; while often crossing over into the pop and R&B markets – and even hosting her own television variety program – she remained best known as a jazz performer, renowned for her work alongside figures including Cannonball Adderley and George Shearing. Wilson first attracted notice performing the club circuit in nearby Columbus; she quickly earned a growing reputation among jazz players and fans, and she was recording regularly by the late ’50s, eventually signing to Capitol and issuing LPs including 1959’s Like in Love and Nancy Wilson with Billy May’s Orchestra.

Someday You'll Want Me to Want You    

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Jimmy Smith - Jimmy Smith Plays Fats Waller

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 34:33
Size: 79.1 MB
Styles: B-3 Organ jazz, Hard bop, Soul jazz
Year: 1962/2008
Art: Front

[3:42] 1. Everybody Loves My Baby
[5:27] 2. Squeeze Me
[3:32] 3. Ain't She Sweet
[3:40] 4. Ain't Misbehavin'
[5:14] 5. Lulu's Back In Town
[6:55] 6. Honeysuckle Rose
[6:01] 7. I've Found A New Baby

Recording Date: January 23, 1962. Drums – Donald Bailey; Guitar – Quentin Warren; Organ – Jimmy Smith.

Playing piano-style single-note lines on his Hammond B-3 organ, Jimmy Smith revolutionized the use of the instrument in a jazz combo setting in the mid-'50s and early '60s, and this piano approach makes him a natural to adapt the piano tunes associated with Fats Waller to the B-3, which is what he did at the January 23, 1962, session that is represented here (Waller, by the way, was no stranger to the organ himself, and recorded several sides on the instrument). Working with guitarist Quentin Warren and his longtime drummer Donald Bailey (who worked with Smith throughout his Blue Note years), Smith brings his amazing rapid runs to Waller standards "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Honeysuckle Rose," and gives "Ain't She Sweet" a wonderfully warm and soulful groove. It's fairly typical Smith, who careens, bolts, stutters, glides, and flashes notes all over the place at a frequently breathless pace, doing what he always does, which is being Jimmy Smith at the organ. That's what you want, and that's what you get here. ~Steve Leggett

Jimmy Smith Plays Fats Waller

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The Anita Kerr Singers - The Great Days Of The Big Bands

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:29
Size: 111.0 MB
Styles: Swing, Vocal harmony group
Year: 2003
Art: Front

[2:10] 1. Take The A Train
[3:47] 2. Begin The Beguine
[3:08] 3. 'round Midnight
[3:29] 4. Sunny Side Of The Street
[3:35] 5. Sentimental Journey
[2:50] 6. Hot Toddy
[3:41] 7. Stompin' At The Savoy
[2:31] 8. I'll Never Smile Again
[2:41] 9. String Of Pearls
[3:48] 10. Mood Indigo
[4:15] 11. Don't Get Around Much Anymore
[2:29] 12. Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe
[3:13] 13. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
[3:23] 14. I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
[3:23] 15. Early Autumn

The Great Days Of The Big Bands

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Charlie Haden - The Private Collection (2-Disc Set)

Originally released as limited edition single discs sets, bass icon Charlie Haden and specialty audiophile label Naim Audio finally give The Private Collection broader release.

Two CDs documenting two concerts with his then relatively nascent Quartet West from 1987 and 1988, it's also a dovetail to The Best of Quartet West (Verve, 2007), prefacing Haden's 2008 summer tour with founding members Alan Broadbent (piano), Ernie Watts (saxophones) and newcomer Rodney Green (drums).

The 1987 show was in celebration of Haden's fiftieth birthday, and features the original Quartet West line-up with the late Billy Higgins on drums. Paul Motian is in the drum seat for the 1988 performance, prior to Larence Marable joining the band and remaining until it's sixth and (so far) final studio disc, The Art of the Song (Verve, 1999). Initially conceived as a West Coast, film noir homage, Quartet West's origins were as more of a playing band, in contrast with later projects, where Haden would paste archival recordings, Zeilig-like, from artists including Coleman Hawkins, Chet Baker and Duke Ellington.

With a handful of tracks from its first two releases, the group takes liberties with tunes like Pat Metheny's "Hermitage"—originally a lyrical tune from the guitarist's folkloric New Chautauqua (ECM, 1979)—that recall just how exciting the group was in its early years, before a stronger nostalgic penchant set in. Firmly planted in the mainstream, Charlie Parker's "Passport" is still a thrilling fifteen minute ride, with fiery solos from everyone, most notably Higgins, whose brushwork remains an unparalleled thing of beauty to this day.

Motian's set makes clear, on Charlie Parker's "Lisa," that despite a lifelong predilection for color he's just as capable of swinging hard. But it's the 23-minute version of Ornette Coleman's "Lonely Woman" that's a high point on two-and-a-half hours of music where the bar is set extremely high from the outset. More open-ended than anything the group's recorded before or since, its unbridled bursts of energy prove Broadbent and Watts two players largely associated with the mainstream to be more widely versed than their discographies suggest. Haden's solo returns to the country roots of his younger days, but feels completely natural in the context of Quartet West's no-boundaries approach to this Coleman classic.

Two versions of Metheny's poignantly balladic "Farmer's Trust" shed light, not only on how each performance is different for Quartet West, but on the difference two drummers can make. With Higgins it's taken at a brighter tempo, swinging in ways that Metheny's original on Travels (ECM, 1983) never did. With Motian the tempo is slower, the drummer providing a more texturally driven, implicit pulse. Still, as the tune intensifies during Watts' fluid solo, Motian doesn't steer clear of explicit rhythm, making it the more dramatic and, ultimately, satisfying take. Surpassing its Best of collection, The Private Collection finds Haden and Quartet West at its true best, with material spanning four decades but still sounding, twenty years later, as if it had been written yesterday. ~Joe Kelman

Charlie Haden: bass; Ernie Watts: saxophones; Alan Broadbent: piano; Billy Higgins: drums (CD1); Paul Motian: drums (CD2).

Album: The Private Collection (Disc 1)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:19
Size: 163.3 MB
Styles: Contemporary jazz
Year: 2009

[12:44] 1. Hermitage
[15:34] 2. Passport
[ 8:09] 3. Misery
[13:01] 4. Nardis
[11:00] 5. Segment
[ 3:29] 6. Etudes
[ 7:19] 7. Farmer's Trust

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Album: The Private Collection (Disc 2)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 75:14
Size: 172.2 MB
Styles: Contemporary jazz
Year: 2009
Art: Front

[13:28] 1. Billy Bay City
[ 9:14] 2. Farmer's Trust
[22:45] 3. Lonely Woman
[ 8:48] 4. Silence
[ 8:39] 5. Body And Soul
[12:17] 6. Lisa


The Private Collection (Disc 1),(Disc 2)                

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Barbara Montgomery - Dakini Land

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:16
Size: 145,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:53)  1. What Game Shall We Play
(6:31)  2. The Reason Why
(5:58)  3. Miles To Go
(7:37)  4. Crystal Silence
(7:17)  5. Carousel
(4:35)  6. High Wire
(5:11)  7. 500 Miles High
(4:46)  8. You're Everything
(7:05)  9. Like A Lover
(8:18) 10. Sometime Ago

Barbara Montgomery’s recordings may not be retailed in vast quantities, and thus they may not be immediately available to listeners who enjoy enlightening jazz singing. But her latest recording, Dakini Land, is worth seeking. Perhaps suffering the ironic plight of Diana Krall that is, that her physical appeal distracts from the perception of her inherent vocal talent Montgomery leaves no doubt about the depth of her insight or commitment in this album, which focuses on the often overlooked vocal potential of Chick Corea’s music. No, “Spain” doesn’t appear on Dakini Land. Rather, Montgomery investigates Corea’s tunes that have a personal significance for her. A practicing Buddhist who adopted the religion as a witness to Viet Nam’s social upheaval when she lived there as a girl, Montgomery has deepened the expression of her religious commitment through her music. Corea’s compositions, and especially “Crystal Silence,” had a spiritual and therapeutic effect on her when she was recovering from Lyme Disease. In fact, some of the sales of Dakini Land are donated to the Lyme Disease Foundation.

While philanthrophy is all well and good, in the end, it’s the music that makes the album. And it’s a pleasure to report that Montgomery interprets sometimes difficult melodies with ease and a huskiness that lure the listener into her realm of deep inner feeling released through music. Surrounded by a group of friends who happen to be Philadelphia musicians as well, Montgomery takes advantage of the camaraderie evident in the spirit of the CD to create a fully realized statement of her beliefs. Even the first tune, “What Game Shall We Play Today,” evokes Buddhist symbolisms of playfulness and immediacy. Dakini Land itself refers to Buddhist angelic entities with sprightly, overseeing characteristics. In spite of the profound meanings of the tunes, Montgomery’s music is entirely approachable, particularly as it comes to life through the skills of musicians like lyrical saxophonist Chris Farr, inspiring electric bassist Chico Huff or Montgomery’s co-producer and pianist Barry Sames.

Montgomery diverges from her presentation of the influence of Corea’s music in her composition of three tunes on the album, one of which, the clavé-driven “The Reason Why,” she sings in Portuguese. A special delight on that track includes violinist John Blake’s energetic violin solo over several choruses. Montgomery ends Dakini Land in the same consistent spirit of joy and extroversion. Corea’s “Sometime Ago,” long sung tones over percolating percussion, emphasizes ever-lasting child-like hope sustained through wonder, appreciation and play. ~ AAJ Staff     http://www.allaboutjazz.com/dakini-land-barbara-montgomery-review-by-aaj-staff.php

Personnel: Barbara Montgomery - Vocals; Tyrone Brown, Lee Smith - Acoustic Bass; "Father John" D'Amico, Barry Sames - Piano; Kenny Davis, Chico Huff - Electric Bass; Craig Ebner - Guitar; Chris Farr - Tenor Saxophone; Glenn Ferracone, Gregory McDonald - Drums; Doc Gibbs - Percussion; Bob Meashey - Trumpet/Flugelhorn; Marlon Simon - Drums/ Percussion; Terell Stafford - Trumpet/Flugelhorn; John Blake - Violin

Dakini Land

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Mike Melvoin, Kim Park - The Art Of Conversation

Styles: Piano And Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:07
Size: 154,0 MB
Art: Front

(8:44)  1. Speak Low
(7:59)  2. When I Fall in Love
(6:04)  3. I Remember You
(7:19)  4. Danny Boy
(6:44)  5. Tangerine
(8:09)  6. For All We Know
(6:48)  7. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
(7:27)  8. A Time For Love
(7:49)  9. Emily

Leading off is The Art Of Conversation, by pianist Mike Melvoin and alto saxophonist Kim Park.  Minus the familiar timekeeping of bass and drums,  a duet album might challenge the listener’s attention, but Melvoin, a stellar first-call player here in LA, and the lesser heard Park,  son of the late Stan Kenton soloist John Park, reward the listener at every turn.  On Tangerine, the spirit of  fellow Kansas City native Charlie Parker is evoked as Park explores the breadth of the instrument in exhilarating style, with Melvoin deftly filling in underneath, ending up with a quote from Sweet Georgia Brown.   A Time For Love features Park caressing the melody, exploring the lower register of the instrument, leaving it for Melvoin to seamlessly bring up the pace. When you listen to this album you can’t help but recall Stan Getz and Kenny Barron’s People Time.

Park was an artist-in-residence with Getz at Stanford in 1988, and demonstrates a striking lyricism throughout. Melvoin’s contributions are more complex, providing the rhythmic underpinnings for Park’s solos, while blending his own unaccompanied dialogue into the conversation. From the first pensive notes of Danny Boy to the sprightly upbeat rhythms of You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To and Speak Low, it’s a gorgeous set throughout. ~ Michael Katz  https://irom.wordpress.com/2009/02/17/cd-reviews-melvoin-park-cunliffe-and-wolff/

Personnel:  Mike Melvoin – piano; Kim Park - alto sax

The Art Of Conversation

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Matt Belsante - When You're Smiling

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:49
Size: 107,7 MB
Art: Front

(2:56)  1. When You're Smiling
(3:25)  2. Nothing But the Best
(4:37)  3. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
(3:01)  4. On the Sunny Side of the Street
(4:01)  5. The Nearness of You
(3:08)  6. It's Only a Paper Moon
(3:18)  7. Make You Feel My Love
(3:00)  8. They Didn't Believe Me
(2:32)  9. Exactly Like You
(4:59) 10. Skylark
(3:47) 11. Nothing Can Change This Love
(3:25) 12. More
(4:32) 13. Angel Eyes

Matt Belsante performs like a seasoned entertainer well beyond his years. An old soul with a distinctly modern sound, you can hear the respect and appreciation for the material in his smooth as silk voice.
Maybe it was the old Sinatra records that he used to listen to with his Grandfather. Or maybe it was the steady diet of Coltrane, Ellington, Basie and Fitzgerald that he was fed at home. Whatever it was, Matt knew it was in his bones, a part of his DNA that would ultimately lead this young artist to pursue a dream of his own. Just out of grade school, Matt picked up the tenor sax at the age of twelve and became a standard fixture in his middle school and high school jazz bands. But the sax wasn't his only instrument: he soon found he had a talent for using his voice. By his senior year of High School, Matt had won the prestigious Louis Armstrong Jazz Award in both the vocal and instrumental categories, the first student from his school to achieve such a feat.

That affirmation was a turning point for Matt, as he realized that his true passion was for using his voice to interpret a song. He grabbed a guitar, taught himself to play and began composing his own music the summer before he entered Nashville's Vanderbilt University. Before the first day of class commenced, the late Vanderbilt/Blair school of Music director, Billy Adair, had already recruited Matt to sing for the Blair Big Band. Soon, Matt was directing himself, leading the Dodecaphonics, an all-male a cappella group on campus. The rising star eventually came to the attention of Nashville's well-heeled music industry following a performance of the Nashville Jazz Orchestra. That night, the NJO performed a Sinatra tribute, and Matt sang many as if he was channeling Sinatra himself. That performance landed him a televised appearance as a featured entertainer for the Miss Tennessee Scholarship Pageant 2006, which eventually lead him to Green Hill Music, where he recorded an album of Christmas classic (White Christmas), and followed that with a spectacular non-seasonal collection of standards (Blame It On My Youth). The titles quickly became two of the label's top selling releases.

CBL Properties and KMT Creative Group tapped Matt to become both the voice and the face of the campaign. As a result, Matt was featured in a series of spots on television, radio and internet. Matt's latest collaboration with Green Hill, teams him with GRAMMY nominated producer, Jack Jezzro, acclaimed arranger and orchestrator, Jeff Steinberg and the exciting new jazz pianist, Mason Embry. A collection of traditional jazz and Big Band standards, as well a couple of pop and R&B classics, When You're Smiling boasts Matt's best vocal work to date. ~ Editorial Reviews  http://www.amazon.com/When-Youre-Smiling-Matt-Belsante/dp/B00QTVKD2Y

Personnel: Jack Jezzro (guitar); Janet Darnall, Conni Ellisor, Mary Kathryn Van Osdale, David Davidson , David Angell (violin); Chris Farrell , Elizabeth Lamb (viola); Sari Reist, Anthony LaMarchina (cello); Denis Solee (flute, alto saxophone); Sam Levine (flute, tenor saxophone); Matt Davich (clarinet, tenor saxophone); Doug Moffett (clarinet, baritone saxophone); Ellen Menking (oboe, English horn); Mike Haynes , Jeff Bailey , Steve Patrick (trumpet); Barry Greene, Roy Agee (trombone); Mason Embry (piano); Joshua Hunt (drums).

When You're Smiling

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Wolfgang Haffner - Kind of Cool

Styles: Contemporary Jazz, Crossover
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:04
Size: 138,2 MB
Art: Front

(5:37)  1. Hippie
(7:20)  2. So What
(5:02)  3. Piano Man
(4:03)  4. Autumn Leaves
(3:18)  5. Tantricity
(5:23)  6. Summertime
(7:00)  7. My Funny Valentine
(6:26)  8. One for Daddy O
(5:55)  9. I Fall in Love Too Easily
(5:00) 10. Django
(4:56) 11. Remembrance

Drummer Wolfgang Haffner is one of Germany's most respected and experienced jazz musicians: his 30 year career features recordings with Al Cohn, Joe Pass and Till Bronner as well as numerous albums as leader. On Kind Of Cool he's joined by an excellent line-up of European jazzers, including pianist Jan Lundgren and trombonist Nils Landgren: their mix of classics and Haffner originals is a delight from first note to last. Haffner and bassist Dan Berglund open "Hippie" (one of the drummer's own compositions) with a relaxed groove that immediately establishes the inaccuracy of the album title: this music isn't kind of cool, this is cool. The tune's title is also rather inaccurate: this melodic number, thanks especially to Jukka Perko's breathy alto sax, is redolent of the '50s not so much "Hippie" as "Beatnikie." 

Haffner contributes two more numbers. "Tantricity" is another relaxed tune that fits neatly into the cool school Perko's long, fragile, notes give it added grace. The lovely "Remembrance" gives the spotlight to 83-year-old trumpeter Dusko Goykovich (who's played with icons of cool, Miles Davis and Chet Baker). His languid, romantic playing on this tune is some of the finest on the record, although Lundgren's piano solo almost matches Goykovich for emotional depth. One of the striking things about Kind Of Cool is the presence of so many classic, world famous, tunes. Davis' "So What," Rogers and Hart's "My Funny Valentine," George Gershwin's "Summertime" are all iconic compositions. Most of them, in the right hands, have come to epitomise cool jazz one reason for Haffner's decision to include them here and these interpretations carry on that fine tradition. 

John Lewis' "Django," a Modern Jazz Quartet classic, is given a fresh tonal quality by the sax and trumpet of Perko and Goykovich "So What" gets its own shift in feel thanks to Christopher Dell's vibes and Berglund's subtle variation on Paul Chambers' bass line, "Summertime" is a beautiful mix of a gently swinging rhythm section and Goykovich's heartfelt muted trumpet. Two numbers deviate somewhat from the predominant cool sound. {Billy Eckstein}}'s "Piano Man" is a late-night story of lost love ..."that can only be told by the blues." Vocalist Max Mutzke tells the tale with just the right mix of self-pity and melancholy it's easy to imagine the empty bar-room, the tired bartender and the spurned lover as they listen to Frank Chastenier's piano. Nat Adderley's "One For Daddy O," featuring guest trombonist Landgren, is another blues, but this time swing and good vibes replace Mutzke's melancholy. So what kind of cool is Kind Of Cool? The good kind, the cool kind that's the kind of cool to be found on Kind Of Cool. ~ Bruce Lindsay  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/kind-of-cool-wolfgang-haffner-act-music-review-by-bruce-lindsay.php

Personnel: Wolfgang Haffner: drums; Dusko Goykovich: trumpet; Jukka Perko: alto saxophone; Christopher Dell: vibraphone; Jan Lundgren: piano; Dan Berglund: bass; Max Mutzke: vocals (3); Frank Chasteniere: piano (3); Christian von Kaphengst: bass (3); Nils Landgren: trombone (8).

Kind of Cool

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Kenny Burrell - Blues The Common Ground

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:16
Size: 85.3 MB
Styles: Bop, Guitar jazz
Year: 1968/2001
Art: Front

[3:16] 1. Everydays
[3:17] 2. Every Day (I Have The Blues)
[2:54] 3. The Preacher
[3:59] 4. Angel Eyes
[2:48] 5. The Common Ground
[1:07] 6. Were You There
[2:43] 7. Burning Spear
[3:57] 8. Wonder Why
[5:33] 9. Soulful Brothers
[3:28] 10. See See Rider
[4:10] 11. Sausalito Nights

Recording Date: December 15, 1967 - February 19, 1968. Bass – Ron Carter; Drums – Donald MacDonald, Grady Tate; Guitar – Kenny Burrell; Percussion – Johnny Pacheco; Piano – Herbie Hancock; Trombone – Bill Watrous, Jimmy Cleveland, Paul Faulise, Tony Studd, Urbie Green, Wayne Andre; Trumpet – Bernie Glow, Ernie Royal, Snookie Young, Jimmy Nottingham, Jimmy Owens, Thad Jones; Tuba – Don Butterfield, Harvey Phillips; Woodwind, Reeds – Jerome Richardson .

When it comes to Kenny Burrell, a title like Blues -- The Common Ground speaks volumes. His approach always keeps in mind the connection of jazz to the blues, infusing his guitar with a soulful, hard bop edge. Recorded in 1967 and 1968, Blues -- The Common Ground finds Burrell backed by lots of brass and wind instruments for most of the album, hardly his usual setting. But his guitar successfully weaves in and out of songs like "Every Day (I Have the Blues)" and "Burning Spear," blending with the band and creating a pleasant balance. Much of this works thanks to arranger Don Sebesky's tasteful settings.

Sebesky seems to have an instinctive grasp of when to sit on the band and when to let it fly loose. There's the late-night, gentle feel of "Angel Eyes," and the more animated setup on the title cut. The only time this doesn't work is on pieces like "The Preacher" and "See See Rider," where the upbeat horns and shrill flutes remind one of a "groovy" soundtrack from a bad '60s movie. It's also interesting to note that the album's unusual song choices, like "Everydays" by Stephen Stills, do find common ground in the blues. There's a beautiful, short solo piece, "Were You There?," and two quartet pieces, "Sausalito Nights" and "Soulful Brothers." Blues -- The Common Ground holds up well, and the 2001 reissue offers Burrell fans a cleaned-up version of this fine album. ~Ronnie D. Lankford Jr.

Blues The Common Ground

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Marcus Shelby Trio - Un Faux Pas!

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:48
Size: 123.2 MB
Styles: Contemporary jazz
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[4:35] 1. Je L'ai Vu En Permier (I Saw Her First)
[6:36] 2. Un Faux Pas! (One False Move)
[2:28] 3. Mademoiselle Mila (Enters)
[4:53] 4. J'ai Beaucoup De Chance (I'm So Lucky)
[4:27] 5. Desilusions De Grandeur (Delusions Of Grandeur)
[3:40] 6. Quest Coastings (West Coastings)
[6:32] 7. Femme Metisse
[4:50] 8. Rendez-Vous Avec Mila (Rendez-Vous With Mila)
[3:47] 9. Mademoiselle Mila (Exits)
[4:31] 10. Une Lettre Ouverte (An Open Letter)
[7:25] 11. Resolution D' Antoine (Antoine's Resolution)

The Marcus Shelby Trio was founded in 1997 and performs regularly in the San Francisco Bay Area, including national and international festivals. The trio consists of Marcus Shelby (bass), Matt Clark(piano) and Howard Wiley (drums). The MST performs original compositions, re-arranged Standards, spirituals, Rhythm and Blues, and pop music—all with a progressive influence of swing, ballads, and blues. The MST has released 2 CDs (“Un Faux Pas”, “The Sophisticate”), and serves as the rhythm section for the Marcus Shelby Orchestra, which has released 4 CDs, including their last recording on Porto Franco Records “Soul of the Movement”.

Un Faux Pas!

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Betty Johnson - The Take Five Sessions

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 31:27
Size: 72.0 MB
Styles: Cabaret, Standards
Year: 1995/2008
Art: Front

[1:04] 1. It's Been A Long, Long Time
[0:58] 2. After You've Gone
[1:31] 3. Two Faces In The Dark
[1:24] 4. September Song
[1:30] 5. That Old Feeling
[1:41] 6. I'm Confessin' That I Love You
[1:01] 7. You Are In Love
[1:03] 8. Somebody Loves Me
[2:40] 9. You Stepped Out Of A Dream
[1:19] 10. I Concentrate On You
[1:18] 11. Everybody Loves A Lover
[1:21] 12. Lazy River
[1:43] 13. You Go To My Head
[1:30] 14. So Rare
[1:42] 15. The Party's Over
[1:30] 16. Whispering
[1:03] 17. Taking A Chance On Love
[1:04] 18. Just In Time
[1:08] 19. Comes Love
[1:48] 20. Once In A While
[1:40] 21. I Only Have Eyes For You
[1:19] 22. Sand In My Shoes

Betty Johnson's first career in music coincided with the music career of her family, the Johnson Family Singers. Starting in 1938 and throughout the 1940s, the young soprano sang hymns with her parents and three brothers. The family had a daily broadcast on the powerful WBT radio in Charlotte, North Carolina and appeared at churches, military bases, and all-night sings throughout the South. Singing in the vein of the Carter Family and Speer Family, the Johnsons garnered enough attention to appear on the Grand Ole Opry and record for RCA-Victor and Columbia records.

As the 1950s dawned, Betty charted a course that would take her away from the Johnson Family Singers and toward popular music stylings. In New York City, Johnson shared the top prize on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts and also found a regular Sunday evening radio job singing with the CBS orchestra as well as a Saturday morning spot on the Galen Drake Show.

Johnson kept a breathless pace. In addition to her recordings and television, she was the spokeswoman for Borden dairy products and starred in summer stock performances of Brigadoon, The King And I and South Pacific. She met live dates at the Copacabana in New York, the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans, the Drake Hotel in Chicago, the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, the Sands in Las Vegas, the Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles, and other clubs around the nation.

Betty Johnson works hard on her third career in music, a career that's defined by pop standards and cabaret performances. Betty draws from the Johnson Family Singers who groomed her voice and a 1950s solo tenure that proved her ability to sell whimsical pop records in the midst of the rock revolution. She presses on in the 1990s. "I feel like I'm about 23 years old. I feel very young because this is all so challenging for me and a little scary and very rewarding." -- Adapted from Discoveries Magazine

The Take Five Sessions

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Jens Fuglsang & Rêve Bohème - Cafe Django

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:13
Size: 121.8 MB
Styles: Gypsy jazz
Year: 2009
Art: Front

[3:44] 1. Embraceable You
[3:41] 2. Cherifa Says
[4:25] 3. Don’t Worry About Me
[3:24] 4. Flaxen Hair
[3:35] 5. I’ve Got You Under My Skin
[4:32] 6. R&R Heart
[2:46] 7. Them There Eyes
[4:56] 8. Partyoverkill
[4:00] 9. Old Moon
[4:02] 10. I Can’t Get Started
[3:59] 11. Just One Of Those Things
[3:39] 12. Trying To
[3:30] 13. Red Lights
[2:51] 14. Tiger Rag

Jens Fuglsang (vocal & lead guitar); Finn Poulsen (harmonica & vocal); Robert Pilgaard (rhythm guitar); Jesper Riis (bass).

The inspiration from the guitarplayer Django Reinhardt is the key to Rêve Bohème’s music and characteristic acoustic sound. Did the famous French guitarist Django Reinhardt ever play in the North? Yes, actually Django did visit Denmark back in February 1939 just before the outbreak of World War 2. With his “Le Quintette du Hot Club de France” he played 4 concerts in two days in the city of Copenhagen – for an enthusiastic crowd and with great reviews in the newspapers.

Obviously Rêve Bohème never had a chance to see the concerts back in 1939 but the spirit from Django’s music still lives on 73 years after his visit to Denmark. Over the years Rêve Bohème has performed in different line-ups and musical settings. Their fusion between the Nordic and South-European traditions always creates a unique musical universe which can be heard on their four previous albums: Café Django 2009 (Calibrated), Best of Rêve Bohème 2007 (Hot Club Records), Django’s Dream 2005 (Calibrated) and Django Jalousie 2002 (Cope). These albums feature Jens Fuglsang, Robert Pilgaard (guitars), Kasper Fredholm (sax), Morten Ravn (bass) and various guest appearances by Karina Kappel (voc), Lisa Haavik (voc), Knut Haavik (perc) and Bjarke Falgren (vio).

The band debutised at the famous gypsy jazz restaurant Bistro d'Eustache in Paris, 1998. Since then they have been touring and playing at clubs and festivals in Norway, Sweden, Finland, France, England, Germany, Holland, Greece and Poland. The band have played and performed with international gypsy jazz artists such as Dorado Schmidt, Robin Nolan, Andreas Öberg, Jon Larsen & HCN, Basily, Paulus Schäfer, Angelo Debarre, Gary Potter, Biel Ballester…and many others.

Cafe Django

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Von Freeman Quartet - Dedicated To You

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 64:22

Size: 147.3 MB

Styles: Post bop, Saxophone jazz

Year: 1994

Art: Front

[10:08] 1. There Is No Greater Love

[ 7:38] 2. Dedicated To You

[ 7:37] 3. Song For My Father

[11:55] 4. My Foolish Heart

[10:22] 5. Anthropology

[ 7:41] 6. There Goes My Heart

[ 8:57] 7. Four

Not nearly as famous as his son Chico Freeman (also a tenor saxophonist), Von Freeman was nevertheless an equally -- if not more so -- accomplished jazz musician. While not a free jazz player per se, Von exhibited traits commonly associated with the avant-garde: a roughly hewn, vocalic tone; a flexible, somewhat imprecise approach to rhythm, and a fanciful harmonic concept. The son of a ragtime-loving policeman and guitar-playing housewife, Freeman himself began playing music around the age of two, beginning on the family piano. He was surrounded by music from a young age; his maternal grandfather and uncle were guitarists, and his brothers George and Bruz also became jazz musicians (on guitar and drums, respectively). At the age of seven, Freeman made a primitive saxophone by removing the horn from his parents' Victrola and boring holes in it. Shortly thereafter he began playing clarinet, then C-melody saxophone. Louis Armstrong was an early influence.

Freeman attended Chicago's DuSable High School, where his band director was the famed educator Captain Walter Dyett. He also learned harmony from the school's chorus director, Mrs. Bryant Jones. Freeman worked for about a year with Horace Henderson's Orchestra (1940-1941). He played in a Navy band while in the military (1941-1945). Following that, he played in the house band at Chicago's Pershing Ballroom (1946-1950), and for a time with Sun Ra (1948-1949). While at the Pershing, he played with many of the top jazz musicians who passed through town, including Charlie Parker. Freeman developed an underground reputation among Chicago-area musicians, and purportedly influenced members of the city's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Freeman seldom left Chicago and recorded infrequently, therefore never achieving a great measure of fame.

Freeman recorded with Milt Trenier for Cadet in the mid-'60s; Rahsaan Roland Kirk produced a Freeman session for Atlantic in 1972. In the late '70s (as his son Chico became well-known) Von was discovered by a somewhat wider audience. In 1982, Chico and Von shared a Columbia LP with pianist Ellis Marsalis and his sons Wynton and Branford (Fathers & Sons). In the '90s Freeman recorded for the Steeplechase and Southport labels. Freeman was one of the great individualists of the tenor saxophone, and remained creatively vital through the end of the millennium. Freeman died of heart failure in 2012. ~bio by Chris Kelsey

Dedicated To You

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