Cécile Verny Quartet - The Bitter And The Sweet

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:18
Size: 129,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:51)  1. The Bitter And The Sweet
(3:03)  2. I Am Broken
(4:13)  3. Motherland
(4:22)  4. Face à Face
(5:34)  5. Soft Snow
(4:02)  6. Memory Hither Come
(5:38)  7. Two Ghosts
(4:00)  8. Quand Il Pleut
(4:48)  9. Nomades
(3:53) 10. Mad Song
(4:12) 11. I Will Give My Love An Apple
(4:21) 12. You Here And Now
(2:15) 13. Cradle Song Ii

The path of the Cécile Verny Quartet (CVQ) has been an eventful one, during the past quarter century of their existence.  When the young singer from the Ivory Coast moved from France to Freiburg in the late 80’s, she discovered Jazz almost by chance.  Yet even then, she dared to lead the way in bridging the gap between French and English texts.  First in a duet and then in a trio she explored the standards of Modern Jazz and Blues, all while creating her own material.  In 1989 they became a quartet with the addition of the bassist Bernd Heitzler, a like-minded new member, and from then on were known under the catchy abbreviation of CVQ. Their first CD release was in 1992 and in the following two decades the foursome, which also included pianist Andreas Erchinger and drummer Lars Binder, played their way to international esteem.  

The tour route led from Paris to Nairobi, from Antibes to Asmara, and from South Africa to Latvia. Eight CDs accompany the amazing career, they span from the Afro-colors (“Métisse”, 1999 and “Kekeli”, 2001) in which Verny reflects upon her heritage, through delicate Jazz poetry in French (“Amoureuse”, 2008), to the sophisticated, rocking soulful tones that characterize the last album “Fear & Faith” (2012).  German record critics are enthusiastic about the qualities of the CVQ and their 2006 production, “The Bitter & The Sweet,” was awarded the Grand Prix by the Jury at the festival in Antibes.  Numerous radio recordings characterize the varied work of the three men and their front lady. Today the Quartet can accredit themselves with 78 original compositions and 8 CDs. More.. http://jazzhausrecords.com/C%C3%A9cile_Verny_Quartet-en

Personnel: Cécile Verny (vocals); Bernd Heitzler (acoustic bass); Andreas Erchinger (piano); Torsten Krill (drums).

The Bitter And The Sweet

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The Mel Lewis - 20 Years At The Village Vanguard

Styles: Bop, Post-Bop
Year: 1986
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:35
Size: 127,6 MB
Art: Front

( 5:18)  1. All Of Me
( 7:19)  2. Blue Note
( 8:45)  3. Butter
( 6:08)  4. C Jam Blues
( 5:23)  5. Dearly Beloved
( 5:54)  6. Interloper
( 5:51)  7. Alone Together
(10:53)  8. American Express

The Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra (originally co-led by Thad Jones) celebrated its 20th anniversary with this Atlantic album, one of its very few major-label releases. Although two of Jones'arrangements are on this set ("All of Me" and "Interloper"), the big band had changed quite a bit since his defection in 1979, becoming younger (it was originally an all-star group), less dependent on one arranger, and a bit more influenced by classical music while still swinging. The 1985 version of the band included such notable players as pianist Kenny Werner, altoist Dick Oatts,and both Joe Lovano and Ralph Lalama on tenors, but it was more of a team effort without any one player dominating. Excellent modern big-and music. ~ Scott Yanow  http://www.allmusic.com/album/20-years-at-the-village-vanguard-mw0000188323

Personnel: Mel Lewis (vocals, drums); Joe Lovano, Ralph Lalama (vocals, flute, clarinet, tenor saxophone); Dick Oatts (vocals, flute, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone); Jim Powell (vocals, trumpet); Ed Neumeister (vocals, trombone); Kenny Werner (vocals, piano); Ted Nash (flute, clarinet, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone); Gary Smulyan (bass clarinet, baritone saxophone); John Mosca (trumpet, trombone); Bill Pusey, Glenn Drewes, Earl Gardner, Joe Mosello (trumpet); Stephanie Fauber (French horn); Earl McIntyre, Douglas Purviance (trombone, bass trombone).

20 Years At The Village Vanguard

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Tony Monaco Trio - Burnin' Grooves

Styles: Jazz, Straight-ahead/Mainstream
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:35
Size: 125,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:59)  1. Blues for T
(5:57)  2. Backward Shack
(4:18)  3. Girl Talk
(3:56)  4. Fungi Mama
(6:27)  5. Jumpin' the Blues
(6:40)  6. Ashleen
(7:42)  7. Bluesette
(6:42)  8. Road Song
(6:50)  9. So Long For Now

Tony Monaco fronts two organ trios on this album of hot standards. The leader and two excellent guitar traditionalists make the session stand out. Monaco maintains a lively rhythmic groove, while everyone adds fuel to the fire. Trading fours and stretching out, each trio member participates independently. And yet, they're cohesive. Derek DiCenzo and Louis Tsamous work with the organist on "Backward Shack," "Fungi Mama" and "So Long for Now." Paul Bollenback and Byron Landham – longtime associates of Joey DeFrancesco jam with Monaco for the rest. The courage required of him in overcoming neuralgic amyotrophy speaks to the organist's enthusiasm. His motivation has carried him through tough times from age 15 on. External motivation has come from Jimmy Smith and Joey DeFrancesco; both encouraging him to perform with them at key intervals. More about Monaco's courageous battle and highlights from this, his latest album, are available from his web site.  Joey DeFrancesco sits in on piano for "Girl Talk," the session's lone vocal number. His romping interlude burns in vintage form. That track and "Bluesette" represent the album's high points. This is hot, straight-ahead jazz. There are no low points. ~ Jim Santella  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/burnin-grooves-tony-monaco-review-by-jim-santella.php

Personnel: Tony Monaco- Hammond B3 organ, vocals; Joey DeFrancesco- piano; Paul Bollenback, Derek DiCenzo- guitar; Byron Landham, Louis Tsamous- drums.

Burnin' Grooves

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Bill Watrous - Space Available

Styles: Trombone Jazz, Big Band
Year: 1997
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 70:24
Size: 161,6 MB
Art: Front

( 6:42)  1. Space Available
( 7:43)  2. The Road Goes Ever Onward
( 9:38)  3. It'll Count If It Goes
( 6:13)  4. My Foolish Heart
( 9:50)  5. Mama Lama Samba
( 6:15)  6. My Romance
(10:59)  7. I Got d'Zzz'z
(13:01)  8. Village Dance

In the mid-1970s, trombonist Bill Watrous led a couple of notable big band albums for Columbia. Since relocating to the Los Angeles area in the '80s, Watrous has put together jazz orchestras on a part-time basis to play at local clubs. Finally, in 1997, a recording was released by the more recent version of the Bill Watrous Big Band. Featuring arrangements by Tom Kubis, Shelly Berg, Gordon Goodwin, Ken Kaplan and Frank Perowsky, the Double-Time set is largely straight-ahead but not exactly predictable. Most of the eight selections have their complex sections, but always swing. 

The warm-toned trombonist is the main soloist (fully showcased on "My Foolish Heart" and "My Romance"); powerhouse pianist Shelly Berg is the top supporting player, and other key voices include Gene Burkurt and Bill Liston on tenors, trumpeters Bob Summers and Steve Huffsteter, and altoist Sal Lozano. The music is as rewarding as one would expect, considering the caliber of these players, and is easily recommended to modern big-band fans. ~ Scott Yanow  http://www.allmusic.com/album/space-available-mw0000025021

Personnel: Bill Watrous (trombone); Sal Lozano, Phil Feather, Bill Liston, Gene Burkurt, Bob Carr (saxophone); Dennis Farias, Wayne Bergeron, Bob Summers, Darrel Gardiner, Steve Huffsteter (trumpet); Doug Inman, Bob McChesney, Wendell Kelly, Rich Bullock (trombone); Shelly Berg (piano); Trey Henry (bass); Randy Drake (drums).

Space Available

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Pablo Bobrowicky - South Of The World

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:35
Size: 166.2 MB
Styles: Mainstream jazz
Year: 1997/2010
Art: Front

[ 4:26] 1. Straight, No Chaser
[ 4:33] 2. De Buenos Aires A Rio
[ 4:31] 3. Escape
[ 6:53] 4. Algunos Cambios
[ 4:00] 5. Casinha Pequenina
[11:32] 6. Tierra, Aire Y Fuego
[ 3:28] 7. Maxi Cuore
[ 3:50] 8. Well, You Needn't
[ 2:12] 9. Anike'
[ 4:12] 10. Casi Sergo
[ 1:28] 11. Blues Para Adamo
[12:11] 12. Imageno Salgueiro
[ 3:37] 13. Luli
[ 5:36] 14. Max...Who

You might call this Argentinean, by way of New York and Italy. Pablo Bobrowicky, a supple-toned guitarist, surrounds himself with a quartet of fellow countryman on most tracks, with saxophonists Bobby Watson and a few others substituted on some. The guitarist picks his ax like a horn, which is particularly effective on the two pieces by Thelonious Monk. Bobrowicky had a hand in writing most of the tunes, which display a decidedly Latin rhythm. The few tracks with vocals might remind the listener a tad of Joao Gilberto, but there is a little bit more adventurousness to occasionally be found. The material sometimes lags, making it difficult for much of it to rise above the ordinary. Bobby Watson's talents are largely wasted on the three tunes in which he participates. Bobrowicky possesses a clear tuneful tone that works better elsewhere. As it is, there is a pleasant quality to much of his playing and even a moment or two that rises to the occasion. ~Steve Loewy

South Of The World

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Mary Lowe - Jazz Diva

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:24
Size: 99.4 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[2:37] 1. Let's Face The Music And Dance
[3:35] 2. Ain't Misbehavin'
[2:34] 3. M Get Happy
[3:15] 4. Can't Help Loving That Man Of Mine
[3:03] 5. Night And Day
[2:04] 6. This Can't Be Love
[3:15] 7. They Can't Take That Away From Me
[3:16] 8. The Tender Trap
[2:36] 9. It's Only A Paper Moon
[2:37] 10. L-O-V-E
[3:17] 11. Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered
[5:24] 12. Orange Coloured Sky
[2:50] 13. Come Fly With Me
[2:53] 14. Secret Love

The first song on Mary Lowe's new album will be sure to delight both diehard jazz fans and those not terribly familiar with the nuances of the genre. In fact, the first song, a cover of "Let's Face the Music and Dance," is a beautifully orchestrated piece of art. The jazz numbers performed on this album are riveting, nuanced and rather impressive. Like listening to the soundtrack of a professional play staged during the early 20th century, Jazz Age, this album is a success. Lowe's voice is perfectly suited to perform the sweeping jazz numbers she takes on in Jazz Diva. Mary Lowe's Jazz Diva is a great jazz album, and is a great way to introduce new fans to the remarkable jazz genre. ~Susie Kopecky

Jazz Diva

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Clairdee - Destination Moon

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:53
Size: 101,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:56)  1. When Lights Are Low
(3:46)  2. Star Eyes
(5:01)  3. Tonight I Shall Sleep With a Smile On My Face
(4:06)  4. I've Got the World On a String
(5:58)  5. My Future Just Passed
(3:16)  6. They Can't Take That Away from Me
(2:53)  7. Moonglow
(4:11)  8. Time After Time
(3:56)  9. East of the Sun and West of the Moon
(4:13) 10. Destination Moon
(2:32) 11. Beautiful Friendship

If a singer chooses to perform a program of standards in a laid back, relaxed manner, the vocalist had better have the chops to sustain slow tempos because there's nowhere to hide. One very fine singers now working out of the San Francisco area, Clairdee, pulls it off going away. With her husky, deep toned contralto, she runs through a musical agenda of eleven standards and near standards. All the usual adjectives rightfully apply to Clairdee's voice and delivery lush, velvet, smooth, sensuous and romantic. If one is listening to this with their significant other, the message is delivered very quickly to turn the lights down low and settle in for amorous activities along with some good listening. Clairdee brings to her interpretations of these gems from the Great American Songbook a feeling for jazz coupled with much more than a small breath of fresh air, but also a heavy dose of musical imagination with sensitivity. She gets plenty of help from the very good musicians who join her in the studio. 

On the title tune "Destination Moon" the opening measures by bassist John Wiitala provides the thematic framework for Clairdee and pianist Ken French to follow. Wiitala has worked with other San Francisco-based vocalists like Cathi Walkup. There's a Latin tinged rendition of "Star Eyes" that is one of the highlights of the album. Here Clairdee shows her ability to be soft and tender despite the pounding Latin beat. One of the few moments of swinging animation comes on "Beautiful Friendship" where Clairdee unpacks her scatting, but goes about in it a way so as not to override the whimsical ambience she creates with this CD. Dmitri Matheny's flugelhorn is used sparingly on this set. But he engages in a pleasant give and take with Clairdee on "I've Got the World on a String". With this album, Clairdee establishes her credentials as one of the more lyrical vocalists on today's scene. Destination Moon is highly recommended. ~ Dave Nathan  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/destination-moon-clairdee-declare-music-review-by-dave-nathan.php
 

Personnel: Clairdee - Vocals;  Ken French - Piano;  Eddie Marshall - Drums;  John Wiitala – Bass;  Dimitri Matheny - Flugelhorn

Destination Moon

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Steve Kuhn Trio - Looking Back

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1990
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:24
Size: 136,4 MB
Art: Front

(7:05)  1. Looking Back
(5:44)  2. The Duke
(5:56)  3. How Insensitive
(7:26)  4. Stella By Starlight
(8:44)  5. Alone Together
(5:09)  6. Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You
(6:02)  7. Baubles, Bangles And Beads
(3:58)  8. Zingaro
(5:17)  9. Will You Still Be Mine
(3:58) 10. Emmanuel

Steve Kuhn is in a fun-loving mood on this trio date from 1990, accompanied by bassist David Finck and drummer Lewis Nash. His one original of the session, "Looking Back," is full of humorous moments in a driving post-bop setting, and his lagging a bit behind the beat while giving Dave Brubeck's "The Duke" a bit of an oriental sound at times is almost tongue-in-cheek. 

But not everything is played with a twinkle in his eye; "Stella by Starlight" is lush and dramatic, as is Michel Colombier's pretty ballad "Emmanuel." Kuhn captures the droll mood of the golden oldie "Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You" with a campy, almost country-flavored approach. This is an outstanding date by a veteran musician who's always deserving of wider recognition for his efforts. ~ Ken Dryden  http://www.allmusic.com/album/looking-back-mw0000262601

Personnel: Steve Kuhn (piano); Lewis Nash (drums).

Looking Back

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Ann Armstrong & Steve Hughes - I Go To Pieces

Styles: Vocal, Folk
Year: 1990
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 66:07
Size: 153,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:54)  1. Reasons for Leaving
(3:37)  2. Lee's In Love
(2:41)  3. Just Dance
(3:40)  4. Free Ride & The Fat Lady
(3:46)  5. Texas Moon
(4:31)  6. Caress Me Baby
(4:25)  7. Heart Full of Ashes
(4:13)  8. I Go to Pieces
(4:28)  9. You Won't Call
(3:11) 10. Crazy
(3:03) 11. Built For Comfort
(4:00) 12. River Run
(5:33) 13. I Want You
(4:48) 14. Love Me
(3:37) 15. Listen to the Radio
(3:07) 16. Gone So Far
(3:24) 17. Key To the Highway

I Go To Pieces, the debut for Ann Armstrong and Steve Hughes on HEADS UP, gained them international attention. Radio and press in the U. S. and from as far away as Poland and Hong Kong was then and remains now very favorable. I Go To Pieces landed Ann and Steve a feature on Tom Bodett's "End Of The Road Show" that aired in 145 cities. The international talent weekly Performance wrote: "This is the kind of music you can listen to anywhere, but particularly in Texas, when you're in your car on the endless highway with no scenery around but a few city signs posting populations of 350. 

It's songs about the Texas moon, listening to the radio, being in love, going to pieces and wanting to escape it all on the highway." Craig Allan of KERA expressed similar sentiments in the liner notes of I Go To Pieces, adding: "Think about an album you liked the first time you heard it and still like after years of listening. What are some of the aspects they have in common? I'll bet you could narrow it down to just three things: great singing and playing, great songwriting, and no gimmicks! Ann Armstrong and Steve Hughes have been making this sort of enduring music in Texas for years now." http://www.concordmusicgroup.com/albums/i-go-to-pieces/

Personnel: Ann Armstrong (vocals, guitars), Steve Hughes (vocals, flute, harmonica, thumb piano), Maurice Anderson (steel guitar), Glen Kostur (baritone saxophone), Royce Chambers (saxophone), Lee Arden (bass), Steve Babcock (drums), Martin Walters (percussion), Emilie Aronson (background vocals).

I Go To Pieces

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Bob Dylan - Shadows in the Night

Styles: Vocal, Folk
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 35:22
Size: 81,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:51)  1. I'm A Fool To Want You
(3:24)  2. The Night We Called It A Day
(2:56)  3. Stay With Me
(3:01)  4. Autumn Leaves
(3:38)  5. Why Try To Change Me Now
(3:28)  6. Some Enchanted Evening
(3:26)  7. Full Moon And Empty Arms
(3:37)  8. Where Are You?
(3:20)  9. What'll I Do
(3:36) 10. That Lucky Old Sun

As an encore at almost every show on his North American tour last fall, Bob Dylan performed an unlikely ballad: "Stay With Me," recorded by Frank Sinatra on a 1964 single and written for a 1963 film, The Cardinal, about a young priest who ascends to a post in the Vatican. Sinatra cut the song, a prayer for guidance, as if from on high, in orchestration as grand as papal robes. On this quietly provocative and compelling album, Dylan enters the words and melody as he did onstage like a supplicant, in a tiptoe baritone through streaks of pedal steel guitar that suggest the chapel-like quiet of a last-chance saloon. But Dylan's need is immediate, even carnal, and he pleads his case with a survivor's force, in a deep, shockingly clear voice that sounds like rebirth in itself. In stripping the song to pure, robust confession, Dylan turns "Stay With Me" into the most fundamental of Great American Songs: a blues. 

Dylan transforms everything on Shadows in the Night 10 slow-dance covers, mostly romantic standards from the pre-rock era of American popular songwriting into a barely-there noir of bowed bass and throaty shivers of electric guitar. There are occasional dusky flourishes of brass (the moaning curtain of horns in "The Night We Called It a Day"), but the most prominent voice, other than Dylan's, is his steel guitarist Donny Herron's plaintive cries of Hawaiian and West Texas sorrow. Sinatra is a connecting presence: He recorded all of these songs, and Dylan made Shadows at the Capitol Records studio in Los Angeles where Sinatra did his immortal work for that label. Sinatra even co-wrote the first song, "I'm a Fool to Want You," in 1951. When Dylan crawls uphill through the line "To share a kiss that the devil has known," it is easy to hear Sinatra's then-tumultuous romance with Ava Gardner along with echoes of the wounded desire Dylan left all over Blood on the Tracks.

Yet Shadows in the Night is less a tribute to Sinatra than a belated successor to Dylan's 1992 and '93 LPs of solo folk and blues covers, Good as I Been to You and World Gone Wrong: a spare, restorative turn to voices that have, in some way, always been present in his own. "Autumn Leaves" and Irving Berlin's "What'll I Do" are the kind of ladies' choices Dylan surely played with his Fifties bands at school dances. "That Lucky Old Sun" (Number One for Frankie Laine in 1949) turned up in Dylan's early-Nineties set lists, but that's no surprise: Its near-suicidal resignation is not far from that of Blind Willie McTell's "Broke Down Engine," on World Gone Wrong, or Dylan's own "Love Sick," on 1997's Time Out of Mind. The great shock here, then, is Dylan's singing. Dylan's focus and his diction, after years of drowning in sandpaper, evoke his late-Sixties poise and clarity on John Wesley Harding and Nashville Skyline also records of deceptive restraint and retrospect  with an eccentric rhythmic patience in the way he holds words and notes across the faint suggestions of tempo. It is not crooning. It is suspense: Dylan, at 73, keeping fate at arm's length as he looks for new lessons, nuance and solace in well-told tales. ~ David Fricke  http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/bob-dylan-shadows-in-the-night-20150203

Shadows in the Night

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Johnny Mathis - Close To You

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1970
File: MP3@224K/s
Time: 37:00
Size: 59,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:28)  1. They Long To Be Close To You
(2:41)  2. Evil Ways
(3:13)  3. Come Saturday Morning
(2:44)  4. Yellow Days
(2:49)  5. Pieces Of Dreams
(4:06)  6. Song Of Joy
(3:37)  7. Everything Is Beautiful
(3:26)  8. The Long And Winding Road
(3:18)  9. Why Can't I Touch You
(3:33) 10. Wave
(4:00) 11. Until It's Time For You To Go

One of the last and most popular in a long line of traditional male vocalists who emerged before the rock-dominated 1960s, Johnny Mathis concentrated on romantic readings of jazz and pop standards for the ever-shrinking adult contemporary audience of the '60s and '70s. Though he debuted with a flurry of singles chart activity, Mathis later made it big in the album market, where a dozen of his LPs hit gold or platinum and over 60 made the charts. While he concentrated on theme-oriented albums of show tunes and traditional favorites during the '60s, he began incorporating soft rock by the '70s and remained a popular concert attraction well into the '90s. Unsurprisingly, given his emphasis on long sustained notes and heavy vibrato, Mathis studied with an opera coach prior to his teenage years, and was almost lured into the profession; his other inspirations were the smoother crossover jazz vocalists of the 1940s Nat "King" Cole, Billy Eckstine, and Lena Horne. Mathis was an exceptional high-school athlete in San Francisco, but was wooed away from a college track scholarship and a potential spot on the Olympic squad by the chance to sing. He was signed to a management contract by club owner Helen Noga, who introduced the singer to George Avakian, jazz producer for Columbia Records. Avakian signed him and used orchestras conducted by Teo Macero, Gil Evans, and John Lewis to record Mathis' self-titled debut album in 1957. Despite the name talent and choice of standards, it was mostly ignored upon release.

Columbia A&R executive Mitch Miller known for his desperately pop-slanted Sing Along albums and TV show decided the only recourse was switching Mathis to Miller's brand of pop balladry, and the formula worked like a charm; the LP Wonderful Wonderful didn't include but was named after a Top 20 hit later in 1957, which was followed by the number five "It's Not for Me to Say" and his first number one, "Chances Are." From that point on, Johnny Mathis concentrated strictly on lush ballads for adult contemporary listeners.

Though he charted consistently, massive hit singles were rare for Johnny Mathis during the late '50s and '60s half of his career Top Ten output had occurred in 1957 alone so he chose to focus instead on the burgeoning album market, much like Frank Sinatra, his main rival during the late '50s as the most popular traditional male vocalist. Mathis moved away from show tunes and traditional pop into soft rock during the '70s, and found his second number one single, "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late," in 1978. Recorded as a duet with Deniece Williams, the single prompted Mathis to begin trying duets with a variety of partners (including Dionne Warwick, Natalie Cole, Gladys Knight, and Nana Mouskouri), though none of the singles enjoyed the success of the original. 

Mathis continued to release and sell albums throughout the '90s his fifth decade of recording for Columbia  and beyond, among them 1998's Because You Loved Me: Songs of Diane Warren and 2000's Mathis on Broadway. Mathis followed the Broadway album with 2002's The Christmas Album and 2005's Isn't it Romantic: The Standards Album, both of which found the iconic vocalist in fine form. In 2008, Mathis released the Walter Afanasieff-produced and arranged A Night to Remember, his first straight-ahead adult contemporary album in over a decade. Let It Be Me: Mathis in Nashville, Mathis' first full-length album of country music, appeared in September of 2010. ~ Bio  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Johnny-Mathis/e/B000APEDOO

Close To You

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Lilly Martin - The Velvet Mission

Size: 125,1 MB
Time: 53:30
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2012
Styles: Blues/Jazz/Soul Vocals
Art: Front

01. Closer (4:47)
02. Funny How Time Slips Away (Feat. Philipp Fankhauser) (4:07)
03. Shut Your Eyes (3:33)
04. Vicious Games (4:13)
05. Money Don't Matter 2Nite (5:12)
06. Every Night (3:55)
07. Too Much Trouble (4:59)
08. Deja Vu (4:26)
09. Wicked Game (5:03)
10. 29 Ways (3:15)
11. What Is & What Should Never Be (5:26)
12. When My Final Hour Has Come (Feat. Polo Hofer) (4:27)

Over the years, along her professional journey, Lilly has had the privilege of performing for star-studded audiences that included personalities such as Harry Belafonte and Bob Geldof. She was honored to perform backing vocals with music celebrities Michael Bublé and Phil Collins as well as a number of acclaimed Swiss performers.

On her recent CD "The Velvet Mission“ (released in 2012), the New York singer showcases her sultry vocal interpretations on many familiar songs - personalized with blends of jazz-soaked Blues and Soul. Polo Hofer and Philipp Fankhasuer are featured guests in duets with Lilly.

Lilly Martin was born and raised in the heart of New York City. She grew up in an artistically influenced Cuban family and was accepted to attend the "Fiorello La Guardia School of Performing Arts" in Manhattan. Lilly's educational foundation and life revolved around music, art and theater. But years later, with the uprooting of family and home, Lilly felt compelled to pursue academic studies and a more conventional lifestyle. But passion for music and songwriting never let go.

Only many years later did she establish her career in music. Finally coming full-circle - back to her calling - she began meaningful collaborations in both songwriting and performance. It started when she joined a small group of singers who met weekly. Her fire for music was immediately rekindled and she began singing backing vocals, live and in-studio, for a variety of recording artists in Switzerland. It was during these years of regaining ground in her musical direction that Lilly played on her gift for interpreting so many different music genres. From Gospel and Blues to Soul, Jazz and Pop – the influences were spiraling her into another level of musical expression.

Lilly Martin formed her own event band together with keyboardist, producer and band-leader Michael Dolmetsch and became a popular front singer. Together with Michael she also began a creative songwriting-team known as "the loop". Their songwriting skills would later be recognized with an honorable mention from Billboard Magazine's newcomer contest for their original composition "Goin' Greyhound".

The Velvet Mission

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Joshua Breakstone - 2nd Avenue

Size: 164,2 MB
Time: 70:48
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2015
Styles: Jazz: Guitar Jazz
Art: Front

01. Thingin' (9:30)
02. Home (8:43)
03. I'm An Old Cowhand (6:57)
04. I Wish I Knew (6:03)
05. Evergreenish (7:03)
06. The Lamp Is Low (5:20)
07. Hit It (9:20)
08. My Conception (8:38)
09. 2nd Ave/Blues For Imahori (9:10)

A touch of nostalgia as I glanced at the sleeve - "Joshua Breakstone uses Ernie Ball strings exclusively". If I'd had a lousy dime for every set of Ernie Ball Super Slinky's I'd sold during my 30 year incarceration in Newcastle's Central Arcade I'd be worth a bob or two (well maybe one bob).
I don't suppose Joshua Breakstone ever bought any Super Slinkys from me, him being 3000 miles away, which is a pity because, if he had done, I'd have been able to claim to have had some involvement in one of the most listenable guitar albums I've heard since Charlie Christian showed the way.
This is guitar playing as cool as Stan on tenor or Chet on trumpet, music that makes you want to lay back and luxuriate in the sounds with maybe a G & T to hand.
We've also got a cello in the mix which is great. I've long advocated the cello - not as a double bass substitute - but as a frontline horn which is what we get here.
Bass players such as Harry Babasin, Oscar Pettiford and Sam Jones have dabbled with cello so it is far from being a first. Nevertheless, it's a worthy successor to these earlier efforts although I'd have preferred more arco and less pizzicato (I find I made a similar comment in my review of their previous album - With the Wind and the Rain) - still, I doubt if the boppy heads would have been as clean if the instrument had been bowed so what do I know!
The five tracks with cello are Thingin' (Konitz); Home (Cannonball); I'm an Old Cowhand (Mercer); Evergreenish (Dexter) and Hit It by bassist Atkinson..
The trio numbers are I Wish I Knew (Harry Warren/Mack Gordon); The Lamp is Low (Ravel and others); My Conception (Sonny Clark) and a Breakstone original 2nd Ave: Blues For Imahori.
Breakstone describes the quartet as A Chamber Jazz Foursome and I see no reason to quibble although I would have referred to it as The Chamber Jazz Foursome!
Recommended!

2nd Avenue

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Brussels Jazz Orchestra - The Music Of Enrico Pieranunzi

Size: 140,8 MB
Time: 61:01
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2015
Styles: Jazz
Art: Front

01. Persona (6:18)
02. Within The House Of Night (7:20)
03. Fellini's Waltz (6:24)
04. Newsbreak (7:26)
05. With My Heart In A Song (8:42)
06. Coralie (7:29)
07. Distance From Departure (8:25)
08. It Speaks For Itself (8:55)

The Italian pianist and composer Enrico Pieranunzi makes music that appeals to the imagination: filmic, compelling and with the kind of frivolity you might expect from an Italian.Bert Joris succeeded in adapting these light, airy compositions for the larger forces of the BJO.

Compositions by Enrico Pieranunzi, arranged for the Brussels Jazz Orchestra by Bert Joris. Performed and recorded live at De Werf in August 2014. With Enrico Pieranunzi at the piano. All trumpet solos by Bert Joris.

The Music Of Enrico Pieranunzi

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The Singer & The Songwriter - What A Difference A Melody Makes

Size: 103,2 MB
Time: 40:45
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Jazz/Pop Vocals
Art: Front

01. The Art Of Missing You (2:18)
02. Homebody (2:27)
03. Old Fashioned (3:17)
04. Dry Spell (3:40)
05. Out Of The Fog (3:31)
06. Half The Week (2:58)
07. Over The Town (2:23)
08. A Borrowed Room In A Borrowed House (3:09)
09. Pacific Coast Highway (3:02)
10. Unlove You (2:52)
11. Someday (2:15)
12. Summer Song (5:49)
13. A Lullaby (For Malcolm) (2:59)

Rachel Garcia and Thu Tran met in the winter of 2006, as students of San Francisco State University at an open mic night at the now defunct Canvas Gallery Café. Some years later, on a road trip up the coast of California to Oregon, on the Pacific Coast Highway, they were inspired to write their first song together, which led to the formation of the band. In the fall of 2009 they recorded their independently produced, 5-song debut EP at Amadeo Studios in the Bay Area.

Shortly after moving to Los Angeles in 2008, they began writing and performing music together (under the name Ampersand, later transitioning to The Singer and The Songwriter). Tran’s pop and folk influenced songwriting and Garcia’s jazz and blues vocal styling blend together to create TS&TS’s vibrant, sophisticated sound. Their music is a stylistic hybrid, reflecting their diverse musical and cultural backgrounds.

Rachel Garcia grew up listening to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Elvis and Michael Jackson. At a young age, her love of music was nurtured by performing in choirs. Her rich and nuanced vocal style draws inspiration from female vocalists old (Ella Fitzgerald, June Christy, Mama Cass) and new (FIona Apple, Laura Mvula, Melody Gardot, and Cecile McLorin Salvant).

Thu Tran is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist (guitar, piano, harmonica, ukulele, banjo) and songwriter who merges traditional styles with modern pop sensibilities. His musical style draws inspiration from the Bossa Nova sounds of Antonio Carlos Jobim, the swinging jazz guitar of Django Reinhardt, and the lyricism of modern songwriters like Sufjan Stevens and Rufus Wainwright.

In May 2012, the duo won the West Coast Songwriters International Song Contest in the Miscellaneous category for their recording of ‘The Art of Missing You.’ The competition was judged by an Executive Committee comprised of noted singer/songwriters and industry leaders. Past judges and conference guests have included hit songwriters and producers Narada Michael Walden, Steve Seskin, Andre Pessis, George Merrill and Bonnie Hayes.

The Singer and The Songwriter have performed at many Los Angeles venues such as The House of Blues, The Eagle Rock Music Festival, The Eagle Rock Center for the Arts, Levitt Pavilion and The Silverlake Lounge. Of their live show, TheEastsiderLA.com writes: “Tran’s vibrant rhythm guitar swung faster than Amanda Byne’s changing moods and his colorful playing style paired wonderfully with the dramatic and soulful voice of his partner in crime. It was clear that underneath Garcia’s cafe-jazz voice lay a rich, billowing and powerful vocal onslaught. This duo’s set of original material did clearly mine the annals of Gypsy Jazz (as well as ‘60s folk) for inspiration. However, The Singer and The Songwriter are a Los Angeles original.”

In May 2014, The Singer and The Songwriter released their debut full-length LP, What a Difference a Melody Makes, produced by Charlie Stavish (Ryan Adams, Jenny Lewis) with mixing and mastering by Brooklyn collective Mason Jar Music (Lucius, Feist and Andrew Bird).

What A Difference A Melody Makes

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Kenny Burrell - Soulero

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:55
Size: 137.2 MB
Styles: Guitar jazz
Year: 1966/1995
Art: Front

[4:36] 1. Hot Bossa
[4:38] 2. Mother-In-Law
[2:39] 3. People
[4:57] 4. Isabella
[3:06] 5. Girl Talk
[4:42] 6. Suzy
[4:55] 7. The Tender Gender
[3:37] 8. La Petite Mambo
[3:14] 9. If Someone Had Told Me
[3:54] 10. I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)
[3:30] 11. My Favorite Things
[3:20] 12. I Want My Baby Back
[3:29] 13. Con Alma
[3:01] 14. Soulero
[3:08] 15. Wild Is The Wind
[3:01] 16. Blues Fuse

This CD reissues the ten selections on guitarist Kenny Burrell's Cadet LP The Tender Gender, a version of "My Favorite Things" from a Christmas album and five selections from his 1967 date Ode to 52nd Street. The former set showcases Burrell with a quartet also including pianist Richard Wyands, bassist Marty Rivera and drummer Oliver Jackson, while the other numbers feature him accompanied by orchestras arranged by Richard Evans. Burrell plays typically tastefully throughout the performances, displaying a clear tone and a solid mastery of the bebop vocabulary. No real surprises occur except perhaps for the repertoire, which includes such unlikely numbers as "People," "Girl Talk" (which works quite well) and "Wild Is the Wind." ~Scott Yanow

Soulero

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Lyle Lovett - Lyle Lovett & His Large Band

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:49
Size: 93.4 MB
Styles: Country-jazz
Year: 1999
Art: Front

[2:24] 1. The Blues Walk
[4:01] 2. Here I Am
[2:27] 3. Cryin' Shame
[3:13] 4. Good Intentions
[3:56] 5. I Know You Know
[3:04] 6. What Do You Do/The Glory Of Love
[3:13] 7. I Married Her Just Because She Looks Like You
[2:42] 8. Stand By Your Man
[4:08] 9. Which Way Does That Old Pony Run
[3:04] 10. Nobody Knows Me
[4:07] 11. If You Were To Wake Up
[4:24] 12. Once Is Enough

While from the outset Lyle Lovett sounded like a hard artist to pigeonhole, his sponsors at Curb Records and MCA Records seemed determined to sell him as a country artist, though the blues and retro-jazz leanings of Lovett's second album, Pontiac, suggested that strategy would only be practical for so long. With his third album, 1989's Lyle Lovett and His Large Band, Lovett seemingly sidelined any career aspirations as a mainstream country act he or his handlers may have held. The album kicks off with a lively cover of Clifford Brown's "The Blues Walk," and the next five tunes all bear the smoky, late-night vibe of a low-key jazz joint, with top marks going to the hilariously off-kilter "Here I Am," the witty scenario of potential infidelity "What Do You Do/The Glory of Love," and the marvelously sly "Good Intentions." The second half of the album is steeped in twang, but it was hardly more comforting for country radio programmers; "I Married Her Just Because She Looks Like You" is a "sweet on the outside and sick on the inside" tale of romantic obsession, "Nobody Knows Me" bears a punchline that makes "God Will" sound generous, and Lovett's straight-faced cover of "Stand By Your Man" stubbornly refuses to either announce itself as a joke or suggest another interpretation. Wherever you choose to file it, Lyle Lovett and His Large Band made it clear that Lovett was only getting better with each album; the songs are uniformly well-crafted, Lovett's vocals are full of subtle nuance, and his band is in brilliant form throughout (with special kudos to Lovett's frequent vocal foil, Francine Reed). If you're going to burn your bridges, you could hardly find a better way to do it than this. ~Mark Deming

Lyle Lovett & His Large Band

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George Freeman - George Burns!

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:52
Size: 143.9 MB
Styles: Hard bop, Guitar jazz
Year: 1999
Art: Front

[4:03] 1. It's Cha Time!
[5:27] 2. Hot Box
[4:15] 3. And She Left Me
[4:58] 4. Vonski
[4:57] 5. You Are My First Love
[5:54] 6. George Burns!
[5:47] 7. Here's Bruz
[5:23] 8. Swinging Shepherd Blues
[4:35] 9. Once In A While
[4:18] 10. Hen Pie
[4:31] 11. Satin Doll
[4:14] 12. Tee-Hee
[4:24] 13. Messy

Guitarist George Freeman has long been in the shadow of his brother, tenor saxophonist Von Freeman and his nephew, saxophonist Chico Freeman. The guitarist does a fine job of generating excitement on this well-rounded and varied set, which ranges from heated blues to soul-jazz. Most of the selections feature Freeman in a quartet with pianist Lou Gregory, drummer Phil Thomas, and veteran bassist Eldee Young (who was with the Ramsey Lewis Trio in the 1960s). Brother Von sits in on "Vonski," Ron Cooper adds a so-so vocal to "And She Left Me," and the one-time vocal team of Cooper and Joanie Pallatto sound like a somewhat demented (and oddly successful) version of Jackie & Roy on "Here's Bruz." But most of the focus is on the leader, and George Freeman plays in prime form throughout. ~Scott Yanow

George Burns!

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Nancy Harrow - The Beatles & Other Standards

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 1989
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:26
Size: 121,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:04)  1. My foolish heart
(4:04)  2. Drive my car
(3:18)  3. Yesterday
(3:58)  4. Got to get you into my life
(4:07)  5. When the world was young
(5:23)  6. Here comes the sun
(2:55)  7. Blackbird
(4:01)  8. Nature boy
(4:00)  9. Because
(3:54) 10. Yesterdays
(6:16) 11. Something
(6:21) 12. More than you know

"The Emarcy disc comes from Japan and finds Ms. Harrow singing so well that we are beguiled into believing that Ringo, Paul, John and George are legitimate pretenders to the ranks of Jerome, Johnny, Vincent, Victor, and Otto. In the end, we are only incredulous that she has been able to make tortes out of muffins like 'Drive,' 'Got to Get,' 'Here Comes,' 'Because,' and 'Blackbird.' 'Drive' comes off sounding like something Dave Frishberg might have written in an off moment, while 'Here Comes,' enhanced by Bill Easley's pirouetting soprano, is as cheering as a Summer sunrise. 'Got to Get' is slowed down, denied its usual air of hyperventilation and made marginally meaningful. Ms. Harrow manages to make something out of next to nothing with 'Something,' and clears up considerable confusion about 'Yesterdays and 'Yesterday'. The former is a masterwork by Harbach & Kern, whose perfection of lyric ('...gay youth was mine/truth was mine/joyous free and flaming life, forsooth, was mine') wed to melody is examined in great detail in a performance abetted only by George Mraz's resolute bass. 

The latter is Lennon & McCartney's adolescent whine ('Love was such an easy game to play/now I need a place to hide away'), but this singer elevates it to a reasonable level of maturity by dint of her interpretive resourcefulness. Together with 'Yesterday', her reading of three of the other non-Beatle tunes, 'Foolish', 'World,' and 'Know' constitute the warm, pulsating marrow of this recital, the moments during which she eschews any pretension whatever, draws on the pain and pleasure of her own experience and makes confession. With only Roland Hanna's unbelievably empathic piano lighting the way on these three tracks, we emerge from the inner passages of her psyche, abashed but slightly wiser than we were."~ Alan Bargebuhr, Cadence  http://www.nancyharrow.com/rev.php

The Beatles & Other Standards

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Claude Tissendier & Saxomania Starring Phil Woods - Out Of The Woods

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1991
File: MP3@256K/s
Time: 50:49
Size: 93,4 MB
Art: Front

(7:14)  1. Quill
(5:59)  2. Bloomdido
(4:36)  3. Randi
(6:57)  4. Star Eyes
(6:07)  5. Eddie's Mood
(6:02)  6. Yardbird Suite
(6:04)  7. Memoir de Mes Reves
(7:48)  8. Yes There is a Coda

Born France. While studying classical clarinet and alto saxophone at Toulouse Conservatory, Tissendier began playing jazz. His interests followed a chronological path, starting with New Orleans music, passing through the mainstream into bop. In 1977 he joined the big band led by Claude Bolling and also worked with Gerard Badini and others. In the early 80s he taught at the Paris School of Jazz and in 1983 formed a sextet especially to recreate the music of John Kirby. 

In demand for club and festival dates, the band won many awards for both live performances and records. In 1987 Tissendier formed Saxomania, a seven-piece band featuring two alto saxophones, two tenors and three rhythm. Once again he won honours and gained invaluable experience and exposure accompanying visiting American jazzmen including Benny Carter, Buddy Tate, Jimmy Witherspoon and Spike Robinson, with some of whom he also recorded. Tissendier’s alto playing is striking for its intensity and driving swing and the high musical standards displayed by the Saxomania band ably demonstrate that his is a major talent. ~ Bio  http://www.allmusic.com/artist/claude-tissendier-quintet-mn0000391438/biography

Out Of The Woods

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