Saturday, November 19, 2016

Beegie Adair - The Ultimate Christmas Playlist

Size: 181,6 MB
Time: 77:05
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2016
Styles: Jazz, Xmas
Art: Front

01. I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm (3:15)
02. It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year (4:25)
03. White Christmas (2:23)
04. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (3:39)
05. It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas (4:06)
06. The Christmas Song (3:43)
07. Deck The Halls (3:00)
08. The Little Drummer Boy (5:04)
09. The Christmas Waltz (3:14)
10. Sleigh Ride (3:59)
11. Jingle Bells (2:31)
12. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear (2:09)
13. Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow (2:54)
14. Toyland - O Christmas Tree (3:50)
15. Winter Wonderland (3:54)
16. Home For The Holidays (3:48)
17. I'll Be Home For Christmas (3:59)
18. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (2:23)
19. Jolly Old St. Nicholas - Up On The Housetop (3:20)
20. Mistletoe And Holly (3:38)
21. Christmas Time Is Here (3:32)
22. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (4:09)

Beegie Adair is a prolific, award-winning jazz pianist and arranger known for her interpretations of jazz and popular standards and show tunes. She has sold over two-million recordings globally. Her melodic, fleet-fingered style reflects the sounds of her major influences, including George Shearing, Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, and Erroll Garner.

Adair grew up in Cave City, Kentucky, where she began taking piano lessons at age five. She continued to study piano throughout college, earning a B.S. in Music Education at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. During and after college, she played in jazz bands, and spent three years teaching music to children before moving to Nashville, where she became a session musician, working at WSM-TV and on The Johnny Cash Show (1969-1971). She and her husband also started a jingle company to write music for commercials.

In 1982, she and saxophonist Denis Solee formed the Adair-Solee Quartet, which evolved into the Be-Bop Co-Op, a jazz sextet. In 1998, she released Escape to New York, her first trio-led date with a rhythm section consisting of Bob Cranshaw and Gregory Hutchinson.

She signed to the fledgling Hillsboro label for 2001's Dream Dancing: The Songs of Cole Porter; bassist Roger Spencer and drummer Chris Brown joined her. Dream Dancing was the first of dozens of themed albums devoted to songwriters and singers. In 2002, she was named a Steinway Artist.

Most of Adair's recordings have been issued by the independent jazz label Green Hill Productions. They include 2008's Yesterday: A Solo Piano Tribute to the Music of the Beatles, 2010's Swingin' with Sinatra, and 2012's The Real Thing (which spent 20 weeks on the jazz charts and was chosen one of the year's best 100 jazz albums). In 2015, her trio collaborated with saxophonist Don Aliquo on Too Marvelous for Words.

Since 2011, Adair and her trio have played Birdland in New York. While visiting, they have often collaborated with vocalist Monica Ramey. In the spring of 2016, that partnership bore fruit on the album Some Enchanted Evening. ~by William Ruhlmann

The Ultimate Christmas Playlist

Jennifer Hayes - And So It Goes

Size: 100,6 MB
Time: 37:05
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2016
Styles: Jazz/Pop Vocals
Art: Front

01. It's A Good Day (1:59)
02. Caravan (3:04)
03. And So It Goes (4:00)
04. The Look Of Love (3:46)
05. Too Darn Hot (3:53)
06. You Belong To Me (3:45)
07. Little Bird (3:46)
08. Wake Up Everybody (4:13)
09. Glory Box (4:18)
10. Ring Them Bells (4:17)

Jennifer Hayes is a Vancouver-based jazz/pop singer-songwriter. During the course of her career, Hayes has experienced numerous honours — including singing for the FIFA 2015 Women’s World Cup Soccer and 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games — as well as performing alongside numerous celebrities such as Dal Richards, Jim Byrnes, Michael Kaeshammer and Bria Skonberg, among others. She has performed around the world at various festivals and events in China, the USA and Canada including the Vancouver International Jazz Festival and Harmony Arts Festival. Hayes holds a degree in Jazz Studies from Capilano University along with RCM certificates in piano.

And So It Goes

Archie Shepp, Michel Marre Quintet - Passion

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:58
Size: 119.0 MB
Styles: Contemporary jazz
Year: 1990/2016
Art: Front

[12:04] 1. Passion
[ 5:06] 2. Prelude To A Kiss
[ 5:18] 3. We'll Be Together Again
[ 5:10] 4. For Heaven's Sake
[ 8:46] 5. You're My Thrill
[ 9:07] 6. Little Folks
[ 6:23] 7. Never Thought

Michel Marre, born in 1946, is a french jazz trumpet, tuba and Buglist, a composer and a director. He also plays euphonium.

Michel Marre studied piano and discovered jazz in the Dixieland Jazz Band '' Hot Peppers ". In 1971, he left for two years in West Africa for a musical journey. Upon his return, he studied Occitan and Breton music and recorded several discs with the Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra of François Tusques.

In 1979 he founded the group Cossi Anatz (Afro-jazz /occitan fusion ) and plays in several festivals. In 1985 he met Archie Shepp, they recorded an album, Passion, Tribute to Billie Holiday. Since the 90s, he's more interested in great orchestral jazz.

Passion

Joe Van Enkhuizen, Horace Parlan - Ellington Ballads

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:56
Size: 118.9 MB
Styles: Piano jazz, Saxophone jazz
Year: 1990/2000
Art: Front

[5:57] 1. Blue Reverie
[3:47] 2. Prelude To A Kiss
[4:09] 3. Just A-Sittin' And A-Rockin'
[5:11] 4. Creole Blues Tonight I Shall Sleep
[4:32] 5. Things Ain't What They Used To Be
[4:16] 6. Melancholy
[6:49] 7. I Got It Bad
[4:02] 8. Serenade To Sweden
[4:54] 9. Day Dream
[3:52] 10. Sophisticated Lady
[4:23] 11. What Am I Here For

Piano – Horace Parlan; Tenor Saxophone – Joe Van Enkhuizen.

A nice little record that's very much along the lines of the duet sessions that pianist Horace Parlan cut with Archie Shepp – done with a similar open, soulful style that really brings a lot of personal energy to these tunes penned by Duke Ellington! This might be the first time we've ever heard tenorist Joe Van Enkhuizen, but he's a surprisingly great player – and one who carves out these raspy lines on his instrument that fit really well with the well-crafted lines from Parlan's piano – a lot more subtle and spacious than during his Blue Note years, but maybe even more powerful because of that.

Ellington Ballads

Sarah Morrau - Here's To Life

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:42
Size: 95.5 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2009
Art: Front

[3:53] 1. Pure Imgination
[3:29] 2. Woodstock
[2:49] 3. I Think It's Going To Rain Today
[3:21] 4. Still Time
[5:56] 5. Vincent
[4:38] 6. Those Were The Days
[2:20] 7. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
[4:07] 8. I'll Catch The Sun
[3:17] 9. Away
[3:21] 10. Go Light Your World
[4:27] 11. Here's To Life

Fargo singer-songwriter Sarah Morrau recorded her third CD, "Here's To Life," at Raptor Studios throughout 2008, releasing it just in time for the holiday season. Her previous two releases, "Storm Warning" (1997) and "To Hold You" (1999) were both recorded at Raptor Studios and produced by Mike Coates. Sarah's regional fans have been waiting a long time for another collection of Sarah's trademark warm and intimate vocals, exquisite acoustic arrangements and appealing mix of cover tunes and originals.

Sarah writes in her liner notes, "'Here's to Life' is a mixture of songs that I've grown up with, songs of nostalgia, and songs about moving forward. They are about the inevitable passage of time, but ultimately about hope. Even the sadder songs have an element of hope. We can at times be moved to tears by music but also moved to smiling, dancing and remembering. In this CD, there is acknowledgement of the pain and changes of life, but also encouragement that we still have what's ahead of us and that, to me, is hopeful."

Here's To Life

Reid Jamieson - Dear Leonard: The Cohen Collection

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 33:55
Size: 77.6 MB
Styles: Singer-Songwriter
Year: 2016
Art: Front

[4:15] 1. Dance Me To The End Of Love
[3:09] 2. Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye
[4:44] 3. Tower Of Songs
[2:46] 4. Bird On The Wire
[5:11] 5. Alexandra Leaving
[5:03] 6. Suzanne
[4:03] 7. Dear Leonard
[4:39] 8. Hallelujah

Though still primarily known in and around his native Vancouver, singer-songwriter Reid Jamieson is a frequent flyer here at Cover Lay Down thanks to a grinning, gorgeous way with the songs of others and an especially prolific penchant towards interpretation: he’s previously published an album of Elvis songs and dozens of single-shot coverage tracks; in 2011, we offered his tribute to the songs of 1969, recorded for his wife’s birthday, as a release-day exclusive. Reido’s newest homage Dear Leonard: The Cohen Collection takes on the songs of Leonard Cohen lovingly and gleefully, and we’ve been stuck on it since it dropped in March. Like most of his work, it is deceptively light; the intros hit like Caribbean elevator music, and Reido’s husky tenor is sweet and plaintive as always. But there’s a huge diversity here, and something truly triumphant about the brightening of sound in songs like Suzanne, which tingles with robust steel drum rhythms and spousal harmonies, the driving countrified romp of Tower Of Song, and Hey That’s No Way To Say Goodbye, which gets turned on it’s ear, transforming the somber, pensive original into a bright and upbeat trainsong, chugging along light and lively with perfect layers of overdubbed harmony, gentle guitars and brushes. Elsewhere, ukes, brushes, and fiddle hold sway, adding flourishes and finishing touches to a sweet, sweet EP from somewhere under the sunniest of cowboy skies.

Dear Leonard: The Cohen Collection

Mose Allison - Your Mind Is On Vacation

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 1976
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:34
Size: 91,1 MB
Art: Front

(2:37)  1. Your Mind Is On Vacation
(2:56)  2. Foolin' Myself
(3:40)  3. No Matter
(4:33)  4. One Of These Days
(2:28)  5. I Feel So Good
(2:59)  6. Fires Of Spring
(2:47)  7. If You Only Knew
(4:01)  8. I Can't See For Lookin'
(3:24)  9. What Do You Do After You Ruin Your Life
(4:11) 10. Swingin' Machine
(3:33) 11. Perfect Moment
(2:17) 12. Your Molecular Structure

It seems strange to realize that this was Mose Allison's only recording during the 1973-1981 period. In addition to his trio with bassist Jack Hannah and drummer Jerry Granelli, such guests as altoist David Sanborn, Al Cohn, and Joe Farrell on tenors and trumpeter Al Porcino pop up on a few selections. However, Mose Allison is easily the main star, performing ten of his originals (including a remake of the famous title cut, "What Do You Do After You Ruin Your Life," and "Swingin' Machine") plus renditions of the standards "Foolin' Myself" and "I Can't See for Lookin'."~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/your-mind-is-on-vacation-mw0000051625

Personnel: Mose Allison (vocals, piano); David Sanborn (alto saxophone); Al Cohn, Joe Farrell (tenor saxophone); Al Porcino (trumpet); Jack Hannah (bass); Jerry Granelli (drums).

R.I.P.
Born: November 11, 1927 
Died: November 15, 2016

Your Mind Is On Vacation

J.R. Monterose - The Message

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1959
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:49
Size: 86,8 MB
Art: Front

(5:30)  1. Straight Ahead
(2:47)  2. Violets for Your Furs
(5:14)  3. Green Street Scene
(5:38)  4. Chafic
(6:18)  5. You Know That
(5:44)  6. I Remember Clifford
(6:36)  7. Short Bridge

J.R. Monterose (not to be confused with fellow tenor Jack Montrose) is most famous for a gig that he personally did not enjoy, playing with Charles Mingus in 1956 and recording on Mingus' breakthrough album Pithecanthropus Erectus. He grew up in Utica, NY, played in territory bands in the Midwest, and then moved to New York City in the early '50s. Monterose played with Buddy Rich (1952) and Claude Thornhill and recorded with (among others) Teddy Charles, Jon Eardley, and Eddie Bert. After leaving Mingus (whom he did not get along with), Monterose played with Kenny Dorham's Jazz Prophets and recorded a strong set for Blue Note as a leader. Although he performed into the 1980s (doubling on soprano in later years), Monterose never really became famous. In addition to his Blue Note date, he led sets for Jaro (a 1959 session later reissued by Xanadu), Studio 4 (which was reissued by V.S.O.P.), a very obscure 1969 outing for the Dutch label Heavy Soul Music (1969), and, during 1979-1981, albums for Progressive, Cadence, and two for Uptown. ~ Scott Yanow  https://itunes.apple.com/ie/artist/j.r.-monterose/id2750934#fullText

Personnel:  J R Monterose (ts), Tommy Flanagan (p), Jimmy Garrison (b), Pete La Roca (d)

The Message

Junior Cook - You Leave Me Breathless

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1994
File: MP3@224K/s
Time: 66:11
Size: 106,2 MB
Art: Front

( 6:37)  1. Junior's Cook
( 8:17)  2. Envoy
( 9:02)  3. Warm Valley
( 7:22)  4. Sweet Lotus Lips
(10:01)  5. Vierd Blues
(12:09)  6. You Leave Me Breathless
( 6:53)  7. Fiesta Español
( 5:47)  8. Mr. P.C.

Tenor saxophonist Junior Cook's final recording, cut less than two months before his death, finds the veteran hard bop stylist in surprisingly prime form, taking upbeat solos and swinging hard. On this CD, one can really hear the mutual influence that Cook had on Joe Henderson. Trumpeter Valery Ponomarev is also in particularly fine form, and the rhythm section (pianist Mickey Tucker, bassist John Webber and drummer Joe Farnsworth) is somewhat obscure but excellent. Three group originals, Cedar Walton's "Fiesta Espanol" and four standards (including a warm tenor feature on "Warm Valley" and a hard-swinging "Mr. P.C.") comprise what was one of Junior Cook's finest sessions as a leader; he definitely exited on top.~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/you-leave-me-breathless-mw0000050689

Personnel: Junior Cook (tenor saxophone); Valery Ponomarov (trumpet); Mickey Tucker (piano); John Webber (bass); Joe Farnsworth (drums).

You Leave Me Breathless

Bobby Short - Late Night at the Cafe Carlyle

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 1992
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:16
Size: 129,5 MB
Art: Front

(2:21)  1. Do I Hear You Saying 'I Love You'?
(4:28)  2. Tea for Two
(2:03)  3. Night and Day
(3:00)  4. Too Marvelous for Words
(3:16)  5. Love Is Here to Stay
(2:53)  6. Drop Me Off in Harlem
(4:08)  7. Body and Soul
(4:33)  8. I Can't Give You Anything But Love
(2:58)  9. I Can Dream, Can't I?
(3:36) 10. I Get a Kick Out of You
(5:38) 11. Satin Doll
(3:14) 12. Street of Dreams
(3:25) 13. The Nearness of You
(2:19) 14. Paradise
(2:21) 15. Easy to Love
(2:37) 16. After You, Who?
(3:19) 17. Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye

After more than three decades, off and on, Bobby Short moved from Atlantic Records to the audiophile Telarc label, which wisely began the new association by tracking him to his lair, the Cafe Carlyle of the Carlyle Hotel on Manhattan's Upper East Side, where he had been entertaining patrons for a quarter-century. Captured over three nights in June 1991, the 66-year-old singer/pianist presented a ballad set appropriate to the "late night" billing of the title. He doesn't worry about repeating tracks from his many modest sellers for Atlantic, revisiting Rodgers & Hart's "Do I Hear You Saying 'I Love You'" (first heard on Speaking of Love in 1958) at the outset, and also including new versions of the Gershwins' "Love Is Here to Stay," Cole Porter's "I Get a Kick out of You," and the standard "Body and Soul," all of which have graced previous discs. It doesn't matter, of course. Short was more a live performer than a recording artist, despite his extensive catalog, and his job was to give you heartfelt, animated, and sophisticated readings of evergreens like "Night and Day," "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," and "Too Marvelous for Words" (the last of which, come to think of it, he did previously on the home video At the Carlyle, filmed in the late '70s and released in 1986). Telarc was studious about getting a digital signal direct to disc, resulting in great clarity, all the better to hear the glasses clink during quiet passages. The album was released on the label's jazz division and Donald Elfman's liner notes use the word "jazz" frequently. But of course Short, who bills himself as "a saloon singer," was no more a jazz artist than ever, even though he obligingly threw in an instrumental version of Duke Ellington's "Satin Doll" on which bassist Beverly Peer and drummer Robert Scott get to do solos. (The marketing strategy worked, however. The album earned a placing in Billboard's jazz chart.) ~ William Ruhlmann http://www.allmusic.com/album/late-night-at-the-cafe-carlyle-mw0000071894

Personnel: Bobby Short (vocals, piano); Robert Scott (drums); Beverly Peer (bass).

Late Night at the Cafe Carlyle

Megan Hilty - Live at the Cafe Carlyle

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:36
Size: 98,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:08)  1. They Just Keep Moving the Line
(2:49)  2. Bye Bye Baby
(2:43)  3. The Best Is yet to Come
(3:53)  4. Someone to Watch over Me
(6:17)  5. Autumn Leaves / When October Goes
(3:15)  6. That's Life
(4:31)  7. Second Hand White Baby Grand
(3:46)  8. The Man That Got Away
(5:27)  9. Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend
(3:23) 10. Get Happy
(3:19) 11. Rainbow Connection

Stage and television actress/singer Megan Hilty is best known for her turns on Broadway as Glinda in Wicked and Doralee Rhodes in 9 to 5: The Musical, and for her role as Ivy Lynn on NBC's musical drama Smash. Born in Bellevue, Washington, Hilty started her vocal training at age 12 and studied at Redmond's Washington Academy of Performing Arts Conservatory High School. After graduating from the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, she moved to New York City, making her Broadway debut in August 2004 as the standby for Glinda, the Good Witch of the North in the Oz-themed musical Wicked, which was based on Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. Hilty took over the role in 2005 and after ending her run in 2006, played Glinda in Wicked's first national tour and in a sit-down production in Los Angeles throughout 2007 and 2008. Late that year, Hilty joined the production of the musical adaptation of the film 9 to 5 in the role of executive secretary Doralee Rhodes, which was played in the 1980 film by Dolly Parton. With songs composed and written by Parton, the production included Hilty's Wicked collaborators actress Stephanie J. Block and director Joe Mantello, along with Allison Janney and Marc Kudisch. For her performance as Doralee, Hilty earned acting nominations from the Outer Critics Circle Awards, the Drama League Awards, and the Drama Desk Awards. 

At the same time, Hilty was establishing herself on the stage, she was also accumulating several television credits, with parts on shows ranging from children's fare such as The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and Phineas and Ferb to comedies like American Dad!, Family Guy, and Louie to dramas including CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Desperate Housewives. Starting in Feburary 2012, Hilty starred as veteran stage actress Ivy Lynn on Smash, a musical-within-a-musical that followed the development of a Broadway production about Marilyn Monroe; one of the songs she and co-star Katharine McPhee performed, "Let Me Be Your Star," was nominated for an Emmy and a Grammy that year. Early in 2013, Smash's second season premiered, and Hilty's debut album It Happens All the Time which featured songs by written Damien Rice, Ne-Yo, and Carrie Underwood arrived shortly after. ~ Heather Phares https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/megan-hilty/id322970148#fullText

Live at the Cafe Carlyle

Friday, November 18, 2016

Bobbi Humphrey - Blacks And Blues

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:32
Size: 90.5 MB
Styles: Jazz-funk
Year: 1974/1999
Art: Front

[6:33] 1. Chicago, Damn
[7:49] 2. Harlem River Drive
[6:32] 3. Just A Love Child
[4:35] 4. Blacks And Blues
[5:13] 5. Jasper Country Man
[8:48] 6. Baby's Gone

Backing Vocals, Arranged By [Vocal Arrangements] – Fred Perron, Larry Mizell & Fonce Mizell; Clavinet, Trumpet – Fonce Mizell; Congas – King Errison; Drums – Harvey Mason; Electric Bass [Fender] – Chuck Rainey, Ron Brown; Flute, Vocals [Solo] – Bobbi Humphrey; Guitar – David T. Walker, John Rowin; Percussion – Stephanie Spruill; Piano, Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes] – Jerry Peters; Synthesizer [Arp] – Fred Perren. Recorded June 7 & 8, 1973 at Sound Factory, Hollywood, California.

Bobbi Humphrey scored her biggest hit with her third album Blacks and Blues, an utterly delightful jazz-funk classic that helped make her a sensation at Montreux. If it sounds a lot like Donald Byrd's post-Black Byrd output, it's no accident; brothers Larry and Fonce Mizell have their fingerprints all over the album, and as on their work with Byrd, Larry handles all the composing and most of the arranging and production duties. It certainly helps that the Mizells were hitting on all cylinders at this point in their careers, but Humphrey is the true star of the show; she actually grabs a good deal more solo space than Byrd did on his Mizell collaborations, and she claims a good deal of responsibility for the album's light, airy charm. Her playing is indebted to Herbie Mann and, especially, Hubert Laws, but she has a more exclusive affinity for R&B and pop than even those two fusion-minded players, which is why she excels in this setting. Mizell is at the peak of his arranging powers, constructing dense grooves with lots of vintage synths, wah-wah guitars, and rhythmic interplay. Whether the funk runs hot or cool, Humphrey floats over the top with a near-inexhaustible supply of melodic ideas. She also makes her vocal debut on the album's two ballads, "Just a Love Child" and "Baby's Gone"; her voice is girlish but stronger than the genre standard, even the backing vocals by the Mizells and keyboardist Fred Perren. Overall, the album's cumulative effect is like a soft summer breeze, perfect for beaches, barbecues, and cruising with the top down. ~Steve Huey

Blacks And Blues

Ray Brown - With My Friends Herb Ellis & Serge Ermoll

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 35:01
Size: 80.2 MB
Styles: Bop, Mainstream jazz
Year: 2015
Art: Front

[5:36] 1. Tristé
[4:38] 2. I Love You
[3:33] 3. Au Privave
[5:29] 4. Autumn Leaves
[5:28] 5. All The Things You Are
[3:46] 6. Doxy
[6:28] 7. My Funny Valentine

The huge and comfortable sound of Ray Brown's bass was a welcome feature on bop-oriented sessions for over a half-century. He played locally in his native Pittsburgh in his early days.

Arriving in New York in 1945, on his first day in town Brown met and played with Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, and Bud Powell. He was hired by Gillespie for his small groups and his big band; "One Bass Hit" and "Two Bass Hit" were early features, and he can be seen with Dizzy Gillespie in the 1947 film Jiving in Bebop. Although not a soloist on the level of an Oscar Pettiford, Brown's quick reflexes and ability to accompany soloists in a swinging fashion put him near the top of his field. After playing with Jazz at the Philharmonic, he married Ella Fitzgerald (their marriage only lasted during 1948-1952), and for a time led his own trio to back the singer. Brown recorded with an early version of the Modern Jazz Quartet (under Milt Jackson's leadership), and then became a permanent member of the Oscar Peterson Trio (1951-1966).

With Peterson, the bassist traveled the world, guested with other top jazz artists, was featured on JATP tours, became famous, and recorded constantly. He began playing cello in the late '50s, and used it on a few of his own dates. After leaving Peterson, Brown settled in Los Angeles, worked in the studios, continued recording jazz, and worked as a manager of several artists (including the Modern Jazz Quartet and Quincy Jones). He played with the L.A. Four starting in 1974, did a great deal to revive the careers of Ernestine Anderson and Gene Harris, and recorded extensively for Pablo and Concord. The Ray Brown Trio featured pianists Gene Harris, Benny Green, and Geoff Keezer, along with drummers Jeff Hamilton and Greg Hutchison, and recorded for Concord and Telarc. He continued touring up until his death, dying in his sleep while napping before a show in Indianapolis on July 2, 2002. His last batch of sessions, working as a trio with pianist Monty Alexander and guitarist Russell Malone, were released that fall. ~bio by Scott Yanow

With My Friends Herb Ellis & Serge Ermoll

The Intruders - Playlist: The Very Best Of The Intruders

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:25
Size: 97.1 MB
Styles: R&B, AM Pop
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[2:56] 1. Together
[2:54] 2. A Love That's Real
[2:50] 3. (We'll Be) United
[2:37] 4. Cowboys To Girls
[2:19] 5. Me Tarzan, You Jane
[2:54] 6. Friends No More
[2:24] 7. Slow Drag
[2:44] 8. (Love Is Like A) Baseball Game
[1:54] 9. Sad Girl
[3:20] 10. When We Get Married
[2:44] 11. Jack Be Nimble
[2:43] 12. (You'd Better) Check Yourself
[6:28] 13. I'll Always Love My Mama
[3:32] 14. Energy Of Love

From 1966 through 1975, Philly soul group the Intruders placed two dozen singles on the R&B chart, roughly a dozen of which are missing from the 14-track Playlist: The Very Best of the Intruders. Despite all the missing highlights, most of the group’s well-known songs are included. Casual fans are likely to expect Top Ten R&B hits like “Together,” “Cowboys to Girls” (the group’s lone number one), “(Love Is Like A) Baseball Game,” “When We Get Married,” and “I’ll Always Love My Mama,” and they will get them here, along with a smattering of relatively minor singles that are not filler. Those who want a more thorough overview should check Cowboys to Girls: The Best of the Intruders, originally released in 1995 and reissued years later. ~Andy Kellman

Playlist: The Very Best Of The Intruders

Anita O'Day & Cal Tjader - Thanks For The Memories

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 31:51
Size: 72.9 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2010
Art: Front

[2:45] 1. Thanks For The Memories
[2:59] 2. It Shouldn't Happen To A Dream
[2:46] 3. Just In Time
[2:22] 4. Under A Blanket Of Blue
[2:52] 5. That's Your Red Wagon
[3:02] 6. Peel Me A Grape
[2:27] 7. An Occasional Man
[2:20] 8. The Party's Over
[2:23] 9. I Believe In You
[1:55] 10. Mr. Sandman
[3:23] 11. Spring Will Be A Little Late
[2:32] 12. I'm Not Supposed To Be Blue

Anita O'Day (born Anita Belle Colton; October 18, 1919 – November 23, 2006) was an American jazz singer widely admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appearances that shattered the traditional image of the "girl singer". Refusing to pander to any female stereotype, O'Day presented herself as a "hip" jazz musician, wearing a band jacket and skirt as opposed to an evening gown. She changed her surname from Colton to O'Day, pig Latin for "dough," slang for money.

O'Day, along with Mel Tormé, is often grouped with the West Coast cool school of jazz. Like Tormé, O'Day had some training in jazz drums (courtesy of her first husband Don Carter); her longest musical collaboration was with jazz drummer John Poole. While maintaining a central core of hard swing, O'Day's skills in improvisation of rhythm and melody put her squarely among the pioneers of bebop.

She cited Martha Raye as the primary influence on her vocal style, also expressing admiration for Mildred Bailey, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday. She always maintained that the accidental excision of her uvula during a childhood tonsillectomy left her incapable of vibrato, and unable to maintain long phrases. That botched operation, she claimed, forced her to develop a more percussive style based on short notes and rhythmic drive. However, when she was in good voice she could stretch long notes with strong crescendos and a telescoping vibrato, e.g. her live version of "Sweet Georgia Brown" at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, captured in Bert Stern's film Jazz on a Summer's Day.

Thanks For The Memories

James Andrews - Expressions

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 29:39
Size: 67.9 MB
Styles: Fusion jazz
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[3:25] 1. Let The Horns Play
[3:39] 2. Groove With Me
[4:05] 3. Down The Road
[4:18] 4. Nobody Like You
[3:29] 5. I Know Someone
[6:01] 6. This Is To You
[0:58] 7. Improv
[3:42] 8. Drummer's Groove

The long awaited debut album of James Andrews is a soulful blend of jazz, gospel and inspirational songs featuring very talented artists such as Kyra Brown, Andrea Andrews and more. The instrumentation for this album was produced, recorded, mixed, and mastered by James Andrews for Expected Ends Media Productions LLC.

James Andrews has been in the recording world for over 15 years and has had the opportunity to work with many artists to help bring their musical dreams to reality. He formed Expected Ends Media Productions LLC after relocating to Atlanta, Ga in 2006. Expected Ends Media Productions LLC is a graphic and web design, music and video production company that covers all aspects of business branding and advertising. It is his prayer that this Cd will touch the hearts and lives of those it comes in contact with.

Expressions

J.R. Monterose - J.R. Monterose

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1956
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:45
Size: 111,8 MB
Art: Front

(6:59)  1. Wee-Jay
(5:18)  2. The Third
(8:06)  3. Bobbie Pin
(6:33)  4. Marc V
(9:04)  5. Ka-Link
(5:26)  6. Beauteous
(7:17)  7. Wee-Jay (alternate take)

Tenor saxophonist J.R. Monterose (Frank Anthony Monterose, Jr.) made only two appearances on Blue Note, both in 1956 one with trumpeter Kenny Dorham's Jazz Prophets recorded live at the Café Bohemia and the other as a leader of his own crack hard bop unit. It was an early ascendancy for Monterose, who had recorded with bassist Charles Mingus, vibraphonist Teddy Charles, and worked in the big bands of arranger Claude Thornhill and drummer Buddy Rich. But unlike tenor players Sonny Rollins, Hank Mobley and Tina Brooks, Monterose wouldn't make a home (and barely a sonic dent) on Alfred Lion's label, much less in New York. He was soon back in his hometown of Utica and not long for a European sojourn that lasted most of the rest of his life.  Presumably, it had nothing to do with Monterose's abilities that his time with Blue Note was so brief; rather, a loss of the proverbial cabaret card scuttled his appearances in the city and his ability to make work. On this program of three originals and readings of tunes by session drummer Philly Joe Jones, Paul Chambers and Donald Byrd, he's joined by scene regulars in pianist Horace Silver and Jones, as well as Chicagoans bassist Wilbur Ware and multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan. Sullivan is heard here on trumpet, but also had baritone, alto saxophone and flute in his arsenal.  Perhaps one reason Monterose's name isn't mentioned even among the heavy birds in Blue Note's stable is because his sound was, even at this fairly early stage, extraordinarily individual echoes of Chu Berry and Coleman Hawkins in his massive tone and the odd, quotable cadences of Sonny Rollins. Yet his influence lay more in pianists. Harmonically, Monterose cited Bud Powell (which would give him a passing affinity with alto saxophonist Jackie McLean), and his solos are odd-metered whirls, half-dissolved licks and emphatic blats that seem directly linked to isolationist pianistic flourishes. The leader's mid-tempo composition "Wee Jay" is the lead-off track here, and is reprised in an alternate take on this Rudy Van Gelder remaster edition.

Monterose probes shards of the theme, a lilting and fragmentary cadence of honks and blats with their edges rounded and velvety, slowly strung together in flourishes and then broken apart. There are echoes of Rollins (circa the contemporaneous Vanguard recordings) in his attack. Lingering a little behind the beat he's still an extraordinarily rhythmic player, riding the rhythm section's wave in alternating swirls and pointillist jabs. Silver is conspicuously absent for the first few bars of Monterose's solo, perhaps trying to find a way in with his comping the tenor man's phrases are obviously a world unto themselves. For those used to Silver's hard, churchy approach, his touch is much lighter here, perhaps because Monterose, Ware and Philly Joe bring such meat to the proceedings. Donald Byrd's "The Third" follows; a jagged and nearly stop-time theme that fits well with Monterose's sinewy and stammering patterns as a soloist. He takes cues from Silver's arpeggiated cascades, hopping and pirouetting into a collective dance with Sullivan. The trumpeter is an excellent front line foil, a brittle and ragged logic that fills the holes in the leader's quixotic play of force and filigree. It's hard to imagine a player like Monterose making cookie-cutter hard bop sessions the likes of which fill out the catalogs of many jazz labels from the period. However, he was certainly up to the task of making a warm and utterly unique contribution to the field, and having this date available again in stunning sound is a welcome homage to an uncompromising and individual saxophonist. ~ Clifford Allen https://www.allaboutjazz.com/jr-monterose-jr-monterose-by-clifford-allen.php

Personnel:  J.R. Monterose: tenor saxophone;  Ira Sullivan: trumpet;  Horace Silver: piano;  Wilbur Ware: bass;  Philly Joe Jones: drums.

J.R. Monterose

Bob Rockwell & Jesper Lundgaard - Light Blue

Styles: Saxophone Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 1995
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:23
Size: 150,1 MB
Art: Front

(4:22)  1. Bird Feathers
(5:53)  2. Tea for Two
(5:22)  3. Nobody Else But Me
(5:56)  4. Squeeze Me
(5:28)  5. Love Walked In
(5:33)  6. Caravan
(8:02)  7. Sweet Lorraine
(7:04)  8. Three Little Words
(6:04)  9. When It's Sleepy Time Down South
(5:23) 10. Crazy Rhythm
(3:05) 11. Light Blue
(3:05) 12. After You've Gone

Bob Rockwell (born May 1945, Miami, Oklahoma) is a jazz saxophonist. He was born in the United States but emigrated to Denmark in 1983, where he has lived since. Rockwell was raised in Minneapolis, and in his early career he toured the U.S. in various rock and rhythm and blues bands. He worked in Las Vegas in the late 1960s and early 1970s, then moved to New York City, where he played with Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, Tito Puente, Ben Sidran, Freddie Hubbard, Ray Drummond, Billy Hart, Rufus Reid, Victor Lewis, Ron McClure, Tom Harrell, Chuck Israels, John Hicks, Al Foster, Anthony Cox, Bill Dobbins, Keith Copeland, Clint Houston, and Richie Beirach. After settling in Copenhagen, Rockwell released a large number of albums on jazz label SteepleChase Records. He has also worked in Europe with Ernie Wilkins, Kenny Drew, Alex Riel, Marilyn Mazur, Kenny Wheeler, Jan Kasperson, and Jesper Lungaard. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Rockwell

Personnel: Bob Rockwell (soprano & tenor saxophones); Jesper Lundgaard (bass).

Light Blue

Ramón Valle Trio - No Escape

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:24
Size: 153,0 MB
Art: Front

( 5:23)  1. El Vigia
( 5:50)  2. De vuelta a casa
( 4:44)  3. Fourty Degrees
( 6:08)  4. Viva Coltrane
(11:13)  5. Andar por dentro
( 4:58)  6. Ilegal
( 4:52)  7. Alice Blues
( 3:55)  8. Clouds
( 5:27)  9. Kimbara pá Ñico
( 5:09) 10. Brindemos
( 5:40) 11. Pesadilla

Although pianist Ramón Valle (who contributed all 11 selections), bassist Omar Rodríguez Calvo, and drummer Liber Torriente were all born originally in Cuba and are masterful with polyrhythms, the music that they perform on No Escape is more post-bop jazz than it is Latin or Afro-Cuban jazz. Valle's style recalls Herbie Hancock of the 1960s at times, although it is fairly original. Working closely with his sidemen, Valle performs pieces that are often dark, complex, and a bit dissonant but not without their lighthearted moments. Of these, "El Vigia" is an inventive jazz waltz, the lengthy "Andar por Dentro" sounds mysterious, and "Brindemos" swings hard in its fashion. None of these originals are destined to become standards, but they certainly do challenge the musicians, who somehow often sound as one, following each other telepathically and creating stirring music. ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/no-escape-mw0000335238

Personnel:  Ramón Valle – piano;  Omar Rodríguez Calvo – bass;  Liber Torriente – drums

No Escape

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Rigmor Gustafsson Quintet - Plan #46

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:39
Size: 136.5 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 1998/2011
Art: Front

[7:27] 1. Love Is A Little Late
[6:09] 2. The Catch
[6:42] 3. Prelude To A Kiss
[4:16] 4. Plan #46
[5:13] 5. Bluesette
[5:32] 6. Gelsomina
[6:46] 7. I Will Stay The Way I Am
[6:48] 8. Kumbaya
[4:25] 9. Rain
[6:15] 10. End Of A Love Affair

Bass – Hans Glawischnig; Drums – Roland Schneider; Piano – Tino Derado; Saxophone, Flute – Gabriel Coburger. Recorded at Systems Two, New York, September 1, 2 & 3, 1998.

An award-winning jazz vocalist from Sweden with an international following, Rigmor Gustafsson has strong ties to the United States, where she launched her career, as well as Germany, where she recorded for the ACT label, not to mention her homeland, where she is a contemporary jazz icon. In addition to her studio recordings and live performances, she's an accredited educator who taught at both the Royal Academy and Royal College of Music in Stockholm for a couple years before her singing career became a full-time profession. Born on April 12, 1966, in Värmskog, Sweden, Gustafsson studied at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm from 1986 to 1991, with a jazz vocal major, and received a Master of Fine Arts degree in music education in 1992. Upon graduating, she began working as a professional singer; moreover, she moved to New York City in 1993 and, in addition to working as a singer, studied at the New School Jazz Program. In 1994, while in New York City, she formed the Rigmor Gustafsson Quintet (Tino Derado, piano; Gabriel Coburger, saxophones, flute; Hans Glawischnig, bass; Roland Schneider, drums) with whom she toured Germany in 1995 and then again in 1996.

With her career now firmly established, she moved back to Sweden in 1996, settling in Stockholm, where she taught for a couple years, first at the Royal College of Music and then the Royal Academy. Her first two albums In the Light of Day (1996) and Plan #46 (1998), both released by Prophone Records  featured the aforementioned Rigmor Gustafsson Quintet and were well received critically.

Plan #46