Barry Miles - White Heat

Styles: Jazz Fusion
Year: 1971
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:31
Size: 84,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:40)  1. Little Heart Of Pieces
(8:07)  2. White Heat
(4:30)  3. Woodstock
(3:37)  4. Descent
(4:42)  5. Tangent
(6:10)  6. Foot Mother
(4:41)  7. Sound Song

Barry Miles was considered a child prodigy: he began playing drums when he was three and piano at five, and joined the Musicians Union when he was nine. Miles played drums professionally from the age of ten, including sitting in with the Woody Herman Orchestra. At age 12, he recorded his first album as a leader on drums, leading a sextet that included pianist Duke Jordan. As a teenager, he studied classical piano and soon switched instruments. Originally a bop-oriented player, Miles leaned toward fusion by the late '60s, often playing electric piano and synthesizer. He led Barry Miles & Silverlight for several years (his sidemen at various times included Woody Shaw, John Abercrombie, and Al di Meola), worked as Roberta Flack's musical director from the early '80s to the mid-'90s, and became a studio musician in New York. Miles has led albums for labels including Charlie Parker (1959-1961), Venture (1966), Poppy (1970), Mainstream (1971-1972), London (1974-1975), Gryphon (1977), and others. ~ Scott Yanow https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/barry-miles/id20852469#fullText

Personnel:  Bass [Fender], Bass [Acoustic] – Victor Gaskin;  Congas – Warren Smith;  Drums – Terry Silverlight;  Guitar – John Abercrombie, Pat Martino;  Keyboards – Barry Miles;  Saxophone [Tenor], Flute – Lou Tabackin

White Heat

---

Raphael Wressnig Organic Trio - In Between

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:26
Size: 133.8 MB
Styles: B3 Organ Jazz/Blues
Year: 2016
Art: Front

[7:07] 1. Cherokee
[5:12] 2. Village
[5:11] 3. Mudslide
[4:37] 4. Hello Birdie
[8:35] 5. Fancy Free
[5:16] 6. Lightflight
[5:53] 7. Party At The Zoo
[7:10] 8. Dance On The Volcano
[9:21] 9. Vinny´s Blues

Raphael Wressnig - Hammond B-3 organ; Georg Jantscher - guitar; Lukas Knöfler - drums; Harry Tanschek - drums. Special guests: Ismael Barrios – percussion; Enrico Crivellaro – guitar; Vincenzo Barattin – drums.

Raphael Wressnig, based in Austria but frequently on the road, is not your ordinary B-3 organ player. He’s actually one of a kind: a young master of the imposing, large instrument who is expansive in his breadth of expertise. He’s technically fluent in the blues, in jazz, in soul, and in funk, and he concocts exciting mixed-genre music from his fervid imagination. Versatile Wressnig doesn’t flaunt his virtuosic talent for the sake of spectacle but rather backs up his every movement on the keyboards, the drawbar and the bass pedal boards with a fierce emotional commitment.

Influenced by royal predecessors like Jimmy Smith, Shirley Scott, Booker T. Jones and Joe Zawinul, Wressnig has taken his music around the world: the entire European Union, Russia, the Middle East, Asia, parts of Africa, the Caribbean, North and South America. This self-effacing musician, a native of Graz in southeast Austria, has recorded at least 20 feature albums and appeared as a guest on about 50 others. He has grabbed the attention of an international claque of critics and has been honored with a nomination as "Best Organ Player of the Year" at the DownBeat Critics Poll in 2013, 2015 & 2016.

In Between

---

Aki Takase, Silke Eberhard - Ornette Coleman Anthology (2-Disc Set)

Silke Eberhard: alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet; Aki Takase: piano.

Is pianist Aki Takase making a point of releasing an outstanding duo CD every year? Spring In Bangkok (Intakt Records, 2006), in the company of vocalist Lauren Newton, was a model of in-the-moment creativity, and whilst the reasoning behind this latest release is radically different, the end result is equally stimulating.

Tackling a two-disc program of pieces by saxophonist Ornette Coleman might have been a challenge for both musicians present here, but the results suggest it was anything but. The downright tricky opening unison on "Cross Breeding" is handled with extraordinary aplomb and also serves notice that Silke Eberhard is a reed player to watch. Her bass clarinet playing is admirably self-contained in the sense that it shows little overt influence of either Eric Dolphy or David Murray, and she imbues the unwieldy horn with a certain grace even in its lower registers, as on "Free," where Takase makes the keys ring in a fashion some less open-minded pianists can only dream about. In places Eberhard's alto saxophone playing shows traces of Lee Konitz's deeply considered approach, but on "Mr. And Mrs. People" her own considerable musical personality on that horn comes to the fore, especially when it's spurred on by Takase's exercises in rhythmic displacement. The duo is acutely alert to the humour in Coleman's music, as per the clarinet-piano duo of the opening "Turnaround," where the ungainly elegance of the melody is allowed to ring through sheer simplicity of approach. This is one of those happily infrequent occasions over the course of the two discs where the two women assume the roles of soloist and accompanist, but when Takase steps out on her own she melds Coleman with pianist Thelonious Monk in a way which suggests this is music reinvestigated, as opposed to music subjected to the clinical reverence for the notes that the notion of repertory might imply.

Over the course of both discs no less than thirty two Coleman pieces are covered along with one by Takase ("Dedicated To OC-Doughnut"), and in a sense the lack of expansiveness that implies is one of the set's many strengths. Thus the one minute and twenty three seconds of "Round Trip" on the second disc is a model of concentrated communication, with Eberhard spinning out some coruscating phrases on alto before the theme reprise. "Peace" is taken at a slower tempo than the Coleman quartet's original reading; Takase's exercise in taking the thing apart and reconstructing it in a new way exemplifies how Coleman's music is individual enough to withstand such close scrutiny. The point is underscored by Eberhard when her turn comes, and the dry, slightly acerbic quality of her alto is both well suited to the music and a diametric opposite to Coleman's work on the same horn. At over seven minutes "Face Of The Bass" is given one of the lengthier treatments here and such is the duo's empathy, with each other and for the music, that not a second of the time is wasted. Eberhard explores the upper register of her bass clarinet in the wake of some ruminative low end variations, and in her solo Takase utilises her left hand in a manner so intriguing that the listener might rue the absence of a piano in those early Coleman groups. It's certainly the case that the depth of her musical intelligence is such that she can imply all sorts of harmonic variations.

All in all, those end-of-year polls have got themselves another entrant here. Regardless of its age, and some of the compositions here are almost half a century old, this is music worthy of the deep re-investigation going on here, and the listener reaps abundant rewards. ~Nic Jones

Album: Ornette Coleman Anthology (Disc 1)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:18
Size: 131.2 MB
Styles: Modern jazz
Year: 2014

[5:31] 1. Turnaround
[4:24] 2. Lonely Woman
[1:51] 3. Free
[4:02] 4. The Blessing
[3:15] 5. Folk Tale
[2:15] 6. Open To The Public-Check Out Time
[1:31] 7. Cross Breeding
[5:35] 8. The Sphinx
[2:32] 9. Dedicated To Oc-Doughnut
[3:02] 10. Revolving Door
[3:42] 11. Mr. And Mrs. People
[3:07] 12. Angel Voice
[2:34] 13. Motive For Its Use
[3:47] 14. The Disguise
[2:35] 15. Change Of The Century
[7:27] 16. Focus On Sanity

Ornette Coleman Anthology (Disc 1)

---

Album: Ornette Coleman Anthology (Disc 2)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:46
Size: 143.7 MB
Styles: Modern jazz
Year: 2014
Art: Front

[3:20] 1. Congeniality
[3:07] 2. Airborne
[4:17] 3. Broadway Blues
[3:13] 4. Beauty Is A Rare Thing
[7:21] 5. The Face Of The Bass
[4:55] 6. Peace
[3:28] 7. Little Symphony
[1:11] 8. Eventually
[3:24] 9. Humpty Dumpty
[1:11] 10. Eos
[5:15] 11. W.R.U
[1:56] 12. Check Up-Enfant
[7:24] 13. I Heard It Over The Radio
[1:24] 14. Round Trip
[2:35] 15. Music Always
[2:50] 16. Love Call
[5:47] 17. Una Muy Bonita

Ornette Coleman Anthology (Disc 2)

---

Marilyn Scott - Handpicked

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 76:35
Size: 175.3 MB
Styles: Adult Contemporary, Jazz vocals
Year: 2005
Art: Front

[4:39] 1. Starting To Fall
[5:08] 2. You Don't Know Me
[5:35] 3. The Look Of Love
[4:30] 4. Close Enough
[5:37] 5. Get Home
[4:53] 6. In Your Eyes
[4:34] 7. Understanding Love
[3:35] 8. The Last Day
[4:27] 9. Loving You
[4:34] 10. I'm Calling You
[5:05] 11. You Don't Know What Love Is (Feat. Frank Mccomb)
[3:58] 12. Smile
[4:19] 13. Give In
[4:35] 14. Don't Let Love Get Away
[5:46] 15. I Always Think Of You
[5:13] 16. Let Me Be The One

This 16-track retrospective covers ten years of jazz/pop singer/songwriter Marilyn Scott's career, from her first solo recordings in the early '90s to 2001. You'll probably find this album in the jazz section, and there are a few standards on the program, but the bulk of her repertoire is original and her sound is very definitely modern, in an R&B/smooth jazz vein. The tracks gathered here include collaborations with George Duke and the Yellowjackets' Jimmy Haslip, and several songs were co-written with Brenda Russell. The selections don't follow much of a narrative arc -- you don't really get the sense of an artist growing and developing in any particular direction. Instead, Scott explores various avenues of musical expression, from quiet storm-flavored ballads like "The Look of Love" to the slightly awkward soul-funk of "Get Home" and modern reinterpretations of jazz classics like "You Don't Know What Love Is." Her cover of Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" is technically impressive, but ultimately too imitative of the original to be very interesting. In general, though, this is a handy and attractive overview of what has been, so far, an impressive career. ~Rick Anderson

Handpicked

---

Randy Johnston 3 - Shockwave

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:02
Size: 107.7 MB
Styles: Guitar jazz
Year: 2017
Art: Front

[8:28] 1. Shockwave
[4:22] 2. Misty Roses
[5:31] 3. On The Town In Old New York
[6:31] 4. The Hat Man
[5:01] 5. Things We Said Today
[6:45] 6. Is It You
[7:00] 7. Hop A-Long
[3:20] 8. Out Of Nowhere

Randy Johnston is one of the most widely recorded and prolific guitarists of his generation. He has released 12 albums as a leader for the Muse, Highnote, J Curve, Mel Bay, and Random Act labels and has appeared on dozens of recordings with other top recording artists. In addition to his recording career, Randy has toured and played with some of the most acclaimed names in jazz, including Lionel Hampton, Houston Person and Etta Jones, Lonnie Smith, and has played for 17 years as a regular member of the Lou Donaldson Quartet. He has traveled the world concertizing, both as a bandleader and side musician, performing at the top clubs and festivals all over the United States, Europe, Japan, Thailand, and South America.

Already recognized the world over for his guitaristic prowess, Randy's live performances and last two recordings feature him as a vocalist as well, singing his original songs as well as standards and blues standards. His vocals have been favorably compared to those of Ray Charles, and the combination of instrumental and vocal performances make for an extremely varied and entertaining live set. Both his vocal and substantial catalogue of instrumental compositions enjoy frequent airplay, both in the traditional and internet radio formats. Randy has also taught music at New York University, the Hartt School of Music in Hartford Connecticut, the University of Miami in Coral Gables Florida, and several other major American universities of note, in addition to conducting master classes in such diverse locations as Wales UK and Helsinki Finland.

Shockwave

---

Perry Como - The Very Best Of Perry Como

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:33
Size: 140.9 MB
Styles: Vocal, Easy Listening
Year: 2000
Art: Front

[2:42] 1. I'm Gonna Love That Gal (Like She's Never Been Loved Before)
[3:07] 2. Til The End Of Time
[3:02] 3. (A Hubba-Hubba-Hubba) Dig You Later
[3:03] 4. I'm Always Chasing Rainbows
[3:28] 5. Prisoner Of Love
[3:09] 6. Surrender
[2:55] 7. Chi-Baba, Chi-Baba (My Bambino Go To Sleep)
[2:48] 8. Because
[2:23] 9. A You're Adorable
[3:26] 10. Some Enchanted Evening
[2:52] 11. Hoop-Dee-Doo
[3:03] 12. If
[2:39] 13. Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes
[3:12] 14. No Other Love
[3:04] 15. Wanted
[2:39] 16. Papa Loves Mambo
[2:20] 17. Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom)
[2:31] 18. Round And Round
[2:28] 19. Catch A Falling Star
[3:17] 20. And I Love You So
[3:13] 21. It's Impossible

RCA's The Very Best of Perry Como delivers 21 of his best-loved songs, including number ones like "Catch a Falling Star," "Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom)," "No Other Love," "Some Enchanted Evening," and "Surrender." "Till the End of Time," "Papa Loves Mambo," "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes," "Because," and other million-selling singles have been digitally remastered and restored. Since most Como collections are either multi-disc collections or skimpy single discs, The Very Best of Perry Como is a welcome compromise, offering a good selection of Como hits for newcomers as well as fans who want his best on one disc. ~Heather Phares

The Very Best Of Perry Como

---

The Jones Boys - Quincy, Thad, Jimmy, Jo, Eddie & Elvin

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:21
Size: 85.5 MB
Styles: Contemporary jazz
Year: 1973/2010
Art: Front

[5:22] 1. Jumping For Jane
[8:05] 2. Bird Song
[4:30] 3. Mad Thad
[5:12] 4. Cat Meets Chick
[5:26] 5. Whisper Not
[8:45] 6. Quiet Sip

Bass – Eddie Jones; Composed By, Leader – Quincy Jones; Drums – Elvin Jones, Jo Jones; Piano – Jimmy Jones; Trumpet – Thad Jones. Recorded in New York December 12 1956, January 6 1957.

The Jones Boys is a studio supergroup of jazz musicians whose only connection is their last name. The group consisted of Thad Jones, Reunald Jones, Quincy Jones, Jimmy Jones, Jo Jones, and Eddie Jones. They recorded in the 1950's.

Quincy, Thad, Jimmy, Jo, Eddie & Elvin

---

Dick Hyman - Fabulous

Styles:  Piano Jazz
Year: 1963
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 32:47
Size: 75,8 MB
Art: Front

(2:29)  1. Washington Square
(2:09)  2. Danke Schoen
(2:44)  3. I'll Be Around
(2:51)  4. Wives & Lovers
(2:39)  5. Sonny Boy
(3:10)  6. What'd I Say
(2:34)  7. S'posin'
(3:06)  8. So Easy
(3:15)  9. The Best Is Yet to Come
(2:37) 10. I'll Remember April
(2:28) 11. Living on Borrowed Time
(2:39) 12. Mr. Lucky

The Command label had a lot of great jazz artists, but they frequently seemed stuck in instantly dated and very corny sounding commercial dates that obviously haven't stood the test of time very well. Dick Hyman is heard exclusively on the Lowery organ (a lightweight distant cousin of the better-known Hammond) and, although his supporting cast includes other jazzmen such as Bob Haggart and Osie Johnson (who, like the leader, were in heavy demand for all kinds of recording sessions), there's very little of interest to their fans on this record. "Danke Schoen" is recast as a slightly out-of-tune carousel calliope setting providing some humor, while it would be hard to believe that composer Alec Wilder wouldn't have stormed out of the studio had he been present for the wretched and bland take of his famous ballad, "I'll Be Around." Hyman is a superb pianist and pipe organ player who sounds overly restricted by the limits of this obsolete keyboard, so it is safe for nearly everyone to bypass this long unavailable record. ~ Ken Dryden http://www.allmusic.com/album/fabulous-mw0000857020

Personnel:  Dick Hyman - Piano;  Tony Mottola – Guitar;  Osie Johnson – Drums;  Bob Haggart – Bass;  Bob Rosengarden – Percussion;  Phil Kraus - Percussion

Fabulous

---

Ernestine Anderson - Now and Then

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 1993
File: MP3@224K/s
Time: 54:17
Size: 87,4 MB
Art: Front

(4:37)  1. Jazz Street
(5:20)  2. A Night In Tunisia
(5:48)  3. One Child
(5:09)  4. This Could Be Dangerous
(2:21)  5. This Can't Be Love
(5:12)  6. Wrong Number
(4:28)  7. Ain't No Easy Way
(4:51)  8. My Funny Valentine
(4:59)  9. Monte Carlo Nights
(6:41) 10. When It All Comes Down
(4:45) 11. I'll Be Seeing You

Positioned squarely in the mainstream, at home in the worlds of jazz and pop standards as well as the blues, comfortable with small groups and big bands, Ernestine Anderson regularly received a lot of airplay on traditional jazz radio stations. She fit those demographics well with her tasteful, slightly gritty, moderately swinging contralto; she rarely probed too deeply into emotional quagmires (and thus didn't disturb the dispositions of those who use the radio as background) but always gave listeners an honest musical account. Anderson's career actually got rolling in the embryonic R&B field at first; as a teenager, she sang with Russell Jacquet's band in 1943, and she moved on to the Johnny Otis band from 1947 to 1949, making her first recording with Shifty Henry's orchestra in 1947 for the Black & White label. In the '50s, however, she converted over to the jazz side, working with Lionel Hampton in 1952-1953 and recording with a band featuring Jacquet, Milt Jackson, and Quincy Jones in 1953, and with Gigi Gryce in 1955. Upon hearing the latter record, Rolf Ericson booked Anderson on a three-month Scandinavian tour; while in Sweden, she made a recording called Hot Cargo that, ironically, established her reputation in America. Once back in the U.S., she signed with Mercury and made a number of albums for that label until the early '60s.  She moved to England in 1965 and remained largely invisible on the American radar until 1975, when Ray Brown heard her sing at the Turnwater Festival in Canada. Brown became her manager, and got her to appear at the 1976 Concord Jazz Festival, which led to a Concord contract that immediately bore fruit with the albums Live from Concord to London and Hello Like Before. 

These and other comeback albums made her a top-flight jazz attraction in the U.S. again  this time for the long haul and in the '80s, she was recording with the Hank Jones Trio, George Shearing, Benny Carter, the Capp-Pierce Juggernaut, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, and her own quartet. By 1992, she had attracted major-label attention once again, signing with Quincy Jones' Qwest outfit. For Koch, Anderson issued Isn't It Romantic in 1998. The live album I Love Being Here with You appeared in 2002, while 2003’s Love Makes the Changes found her signed to Highnote. The label released her album A Song for You in 2009. Anderson remained with the label for 2011's Nightlife, a live album that featured the singer in a number of small-group settings, with a guest appearance by labelmate Houston Person. Anderson passed away from natural causes on March 10, 2016 at the age of 87. ~ Richard S.Ginell  http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ernestine-anderson-mn0000200777/biography

Personnel: Ernestine Anderson (vocals); Arnold McCuller (vocals); Phil Upchurch, Ron Eschete, Paul Viapiano (guitar); Jimmy Z. (harmonica); Ernie Watts (saxophone); Lanny Morgan (alto saxophone); Oscar Brashear (trumpet); Geoff Stradling (keyboards, programming); Joe Sample, Larry Fuller (keyboards); Jim Keltner, Leon "Ndugu" Chancler (drums); Paulinho Da Costa (percussion); Terry Brooks, Petsye Powell, Petsye Powell-Huyghue, Cile Borman, Willard Pugh, Garrett Morris, Freda Morris, Pattie Brooks, Terry Wood (background vocals).

Now and Then

---

Larry Schneider - Freedom Jazz Dance

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1996
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:13
Size: 156,3 MB
Art: Front

( 5:18)  1. What Is This Thing Called Love
(11:25)  2. Days Of Wine Abd Roses
( 6:16)  3. The Inch Worm
( 7:52)  4. Peggy's Blue Skylight
( 6:09)  5. Freedom Jazz Dance
( 9:54)  6. Angel Eyes
( 5:39)  7. Mercury And Venus
( 3:18)  8. The Surrey With The Fringe On Top
( 8:06)  9. You Don't Know What Love Is
( 4:11) 10. All The Things You Are

Larry Schneider’s latest outing for SteepleChase is a pianoless trio format which provides the tenorman with more freedom and space. “ Larry Schneider is one of the select minority who consistently rises to the challenge implicit in this type of trio. He thrives in the looseness of the context and the choices it affords him .” (Mark Gardner)

Personnel: Larry Schneider (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Keith Copeland (drums); Steve LaSpina (bass)

Freedom Jazz Dance

---

David Garfield and Friends - Tribute to Jeff

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1997
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:34
Size: 157,2 MB
Art: Front

(5:55)  1. E Minor Shuffle
(6:02)  2. Let's Stay Together
(2:34)  3. Twenty-One Drum Salute
(6:27)  4. Lowdown
(7:06)  5. If Six was Nine
(5:37)  6. Bag's Groove
(5:31)  7. My Heart Wants to Know
(6:24)  8. It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
(6:26)  9. Babylon Sisters
(1:30) 10. Stuffy
(5:52) 11. Jeff's Strut
(6:57) 12. Big Bone
(2:07) 13. Long Time No Groove

The tragic death of Princess Diana reminded everyone of the impact a single person can have, and in turn, Elton John's moving tribute at her funeral reflected the great role music can play as emotional catharsis. Tribute to Jeff by David Garfield & Friends achieves that for all those who participated, but is in many ways the antithesis of the rewritten "Candle in the Wind," vigorously celebrating the life of multiple Grammy-winning drummer and first-call L.A. session cat Jeff Porcaro rather than choosing to mourn the tragedy of his early death in 1992 at age 38. Though best known for his skinwork in the pop supergroup Toto, Porcaro's influence on the music scene ranged beyond the light pop/rock the band was known for; he grew up on jazz and his diverse timekeeping skills were tapped by everyone from Boz Scaggs, Bruce Springsteen, and Don Henley to Stan Getz and Larry Carlton. He was also the backbone of the longstanding L.A. club-hopping band Los Lobotomys, the fusion-oriented '80s and early-'90s answer to Tom Scott & the L.A. Express featuring pianist Garfield and Toto member Steve Lukather on guitar (Joe Sample would occasionally sit in on second keyboard). In his two decades on the scene, Porcaro made a wealth of friends from all genres, ranging from hard rock to soul, blues, and straight-ahead jazz. Garfield, a veteran of the L.A. scene known for his long-term stint as George Benson's musical director, recalls his late friend as "the ultimate team player, never a forefront kind of guy, with a special camaraderie with musicians." As ringleader, arranger, and producer of the project, as well as lead performer, Garfield succeeds in capturing that sort of ensemble spirit. With 75 musicians participating, the pianist faced a four-month logistical nightmare of studio schedule-crunching in L.A., Nashville, and New York, but, using Porcaro as a muse (by virtue of lighting candles and occasionally playing cassettes of the guest of honor's interviews), Garfield & Friends pull off the ultimate wake, a remarkably all-encompassing, frequently unpredictable overview that, well, Porcaro would have doubtless killed to play on. ~ Jonathan Widran http://www.allmusic.com/album/tribute-to-jeff-porcaro-mw0000026486

Personnel: David Garfield (spoken vocals, piano, electric piano, synthesizer, Mini Moog, Moog); Michael Landau (vocals, guitar); Will Lee (vocals, bass); Paulette Brown, Michael McDonald, David Pack, Jason Scheff, Boz Scaggs (vocals); Simon Phillips (spoken vocals, drums); Steve Lukather (acoustic & electric guitars); Paul Jackson Jr., Eddie Van Halen, Denny Dias, Fred Tackett (guitar); Tom Scott (alto, tenor & baritone saxophones); Jerry Hey (trumpet, flugelhorn); David Paich (piano, electric piano, Fender Rhodes); David Benoit (piano); Emil Richards (vibraphone); Mike Porcaro (bass, cymbals); Nathan East (bass); Gregg Bissonette, Steve Gadd (drums); Luis Conte (conga, batas, percussion); Don Henley, Richard Marx (background vocals).

Tribute to Jeff

---

Barry Miles - Miles Of Genius

Styles: Jazz, Post-Bop
Year: 1961
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:03
Size: 82,8 MB
Art: Front

(5:48)  1. Timetable
(6:37)  2. Once There Was A Bird
(3:46)  3. Turchentine
(3:55)  4. Deez Weez
(4:16)  5. May-U
(4:52)  6. Old Jake
(6:47)  7. Terry

Barry Miles was considered a child prodigy: he began playing drums when he was three and piano at five, and joined the Musicians Union when he was nine. Miles played drums professionally from the age of ten, including sitting in with the Woody Herman Orchestra. At age 12, he recorded his first album as a leader on drums, leading a sextet that included pianist Duke Jordan. As a teenager, he studied classical piano and soon switched instruments. Originally a bop-oriented player, Miles leaned toward fusion by the late '60s, often playing electric piano and synthesizer. He led Barry Miles & Silverlight for several years (his sidemen at various times included Woody Shaw, John Abercrombie, and Al di Meola), worked as Roberta Flack's musical director from the early '80s to the mid-'90s, and became a studio musician in New York. Miles has led albums for labels including Charlie Parker (1959-1961), Venture (1966), Poppy (1970), Mainstream (1971-1972), London (1974-1975), Gryphon (1977), and others. ~ Scott Yanow https://itunes.apple.com/bs/artist/barry-miles/id20852469#fullText

Personnel:  Barry Miles /drums;  Bob Miller / saxophone;  George Clarke / saxophon;  Al Hall / bass;  Duke Jordan / piano;  John Glasel / trumpet

Miles Of Genius

---

Debby Moore - My Kind Of Blues

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 34:44
Size: 79.5 MB
Styles: Jazz/blues vocals
Year: 2011
Art: Front

[3:03] 1. Five Months, Two Weeks, Two Days
[2:27] 2. Come On Home To Me
[2:26] 3. See See Rider
[2:41] 4. Nothin' But Trouble On My Mind
[2:10] 5. Sent For You Yesterday
[2:40] 6. Baby, Won't You Please Come Home
[3:01] 7. I'm Travelin' Light
[2:58] 8. (I Know) My Baby Loves Me True
[2:51] 9. Why Don't You Do Right
[2:25] 10. How Come You Do Me Like You Do Do Do
[2:56] 11. Hallelujah, I Love Him So
[2:49] 12. No Love, No Nothin'
[2:12] 13. Get A Feeling

Debby Moore (vocals, whistling), Harry Edison (trumpet), Jimmy Jones (piano), Barry Galbraith (guitar), George Duvivier (bass), Elvin Jones (drums), Don Donaldson (arrangements). Recorded in New York City, December 1959.

Debby Moore, who once sang with Earl Hines, was a Fifties pop singer whose light, warmly caressing voice and ability to read a lyric and phrase well showed a frank jazz awareness. It’s no surprise, then, that she was able to get a quintet of this quality for this mix of blues and standards. Although group is cast in a mainly accompanying role, it could call on Sweets Edison’s swinging solos and delightful backing for the singer who also contributes the novelty of whistling on a couple of tracks in a style not unlike the trumpeters as well Jimmy Jones’s elegant soloing and Barry Galbraiths funky guitar. The result was a consistently interesting debut session, with the singer generating her lithe, detached swing and getting her own groove going.

My Kind Of Blues

---

Donald Byrd - Early Byrd: The Best Of The Jazz Soul Years

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 73:54
Size: 169.2 MB
Styles: Bop, Soul-jazz
Year: 1994/2015
Art: Front

[ 9:43] 1. Slow Drag
[ 5:19] 2. West Of The Pecos
[ 6:50] 3. Book's Bossa
[ 5:17] 4. Jelly Roll
[ 8:25] 5. Mustang
[ 6:15] 6. Blackjack
[ 8:57] 7. The Weasil
[ 7:48] 8. The Dude
[15:18] 9. The Emperor

Early Byrd: The Best of the Jazz Soul Years contains a selection of nine tracks from Donald Byrd's mid-'60s recordings, bypassing his funkier fusions of the late '60s and early '70s. These songs -- including such numbers as "Slow Drag," "Jellyroll," "Mustang," "Blackjack" and "The Dude" -- feature the trumpeter at his grittiest and funkiest. Fans of his early hard bop years will still find enough improvisation here to make it interesting, while latter-day fans will find enough grooves. It's a solid introduction to one of Byrd's most prolific periods.

Early Byrd: The Best Of The Jazz Soul Years

---

Joe Cocker - Mad Dogs & Englishmen (Deluxe Edition) 2-Disc Set

Listening to this CD brings back a lot of memories. Mad Dogs & Englishmen was just about the most elaborate album that A&M Records had ever released, back in 1971, a double LP in a three-panel, fold-out, gatefold sleeve, with almost 80 minutes of music inside and a ton of photos, graphics, and annotation wrapping around it. A live recording done in tandem with a killer documentary film of the same U.S. tour, it was recorded at the Fillmore East, where the movie was a cross-country affair, and the two were, thus, completely separate entities -- also, as people couldn't "buy" the film in those days, the double LP has lingered longer in the memory, by virtue of its being on shelves, and also being taken off those shelves to be played. Unlike a lot of other "coffee table"-type rock releases of the era, such as Woodstock and The Concert for Bangladesh, people actually listened to Mad Dogs & Englishmen -- most of its content was exciting, and its sound, a veritable definition of big-band rock with three dozen players working behind the singer, was unique. The CD offers a seriously good sound, whether it's just Joe Cocker and a pianist and organist in the opening of "Bird on a Wire," or the entire band going full-tilt on "Cry Me a River"; the remastering was set at a high volume level and there was a decent amount of care taken to get the detail right, so you can appreciate the presence of the multiple drummers, and the legion of guitarists and singers, plus the multiple keyboard players. The lead guitar and solo piano on "Feelin' Alright," for example, come through, but so do the 34 other players and singers behind the lead. This record was also just as much a showcase for Leon Russell as it was for Joe Cocker, which A&M probably didn't mind a bit, as Russell was selling millions of records at the time. As is now known, and it's recounted in the new notes, the tour from which this album was drawn all but wiped out Joe Cocker -- on a psychic level -- because the music was presented on such a vast scale (and there is a moment in the movie where he mentions breaking up his former backing group, the Grease Band, with a hint of regret in his voice) and his own contribution was so muted by Russell's work as arranger and bandleader. He may well have been the "victim" of a "hijacking" of sorts, but the musical results, apart from the dubious "Give Peace a Chance," are difficult to argue about upon hearing this record anew, decades after the fact -- it's almost all bracing and beautiful. [In 2005 Mad Dogs & Englishmen was reissued in a two-CD deluxe edition with eight previously unreleased live performances inserted throughout the discs and four rare studio recordings tacked onto the end. The new live performances are longer and looser and Russell plays an even bigger role. They're excellent, as are the stereo studio mixes of "The Letter" and "Space Captain," available for the first time here.] ~Bruce Eder

Album: Mad Dogs & Englishmen (Deluxe Edition) Disc 1
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:25
Size: 131.5 MB
Styles: Rock
Year: 1970/2005
Art: Front

[4:56] 1. Honky Tonk Women
[3:18] 2. She Came In Through The Bathroom Window
[5:57] 3. The Weight
[2:46] 4. Sticks And Stones
[6:31] 5. Bird On A Wire
[4:05] 6. Cry Me A River
[4:59] 7. Superstar
[5:48] 8. Feelin' Alright
[5:33] 9. Something
[5:47] 10. Darling Be Home Soon
[3:40] 11. Let It Be
[4:00] 12. Further On Up The Road

Mad Dogs & Englishmen (Deluxe Edition) Disc 1

---

Album: Mad Dogs & Englishmen (Deluxe Edition) Disc 2
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 79:22
Size: 181.7 MB
Styles: Rock
Year: 1970/2005
Art: Front

[ 8:05] 1. Let's Go Get Stoned
[ 5:20] 2. Space Captain
[ 4:09] 3. Hummingbird
[ 2:59] 4. Dixie Lullaby
[ 4:33] 5. The Letter
[ 7:03] 6. Delta Lady
[ 4:46] 7. Please Give Peace A Chance
[12:37] 8. Blue Medley
[ 8:40] 9. With A Little Help From My Friends
[ 2:40] 10. Girl From The North Country
[ 5:45] 11. Warm-Up Jam Under My Thumb
[ 4:10] 12. The Letter
[ 4:20] 13. Space Captain
[ 4:09] 14. The Ballad Of Mad Dogs And Englishmen

Mad Dogs & Englishmen (Deluxe Edition) Disc 2

---

June Christy - June's Got Rhythm

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:06
Size: 98.7 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 1958/2006
Art: Front

[2:23] 1. Rock Me To Sleep
[3:16] 2. The Gypsy In My Soul
[2:41] 3. I'm Glad There Is You
[2:43] 4. They Can't Take That Away From Me
[1:55] 5. It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
[2:46] 6. My One And Only Love
[2:56] 7. When Lights Are Low
[3:34] 8. I Can Make You Love Me (If You Let Me)
[4:17] 9. Easy Living
[3:15] 10. Blue Moon
[2:16] 11. All God's Chillun Got Rhythm
[2:30] 12. Baubles, Bangles And Beads
[2:22] 13. Aren't You Glad You're You
[2:39] 14. Looking For A Boy
[3:26] 15. Small Fry

Bass – Monty Budwig; Drums – Mel Lewis, Shelly Manne; Flute – George Spelvin; Guitar – Laurindo Almeida; Oboe – Bob Cooper; Piano – Russ Freeman; Trombone – Frank Rosolino; Trumpet – Ed Leddy; Tuba – Red Callender. Recorded in Hollywood, June, 1958.

Many of singer June Christy's popular Capitol albums feature her cool-toned vocals backed by an orchestra. This recording is an exception. Christy excels on a jazz-oriented set with a nonet that includes trumpeter Ed Leddy, trombonist Frank Rosolino and her husband Bob Cooper (who arranged the set) on tenor and oboe. Christy accurately called this music "intimate swing." Her versions of such songs as "I'm Glad There Is You," "My One and Only Love," "When Lights Are Low" and "Blue Moon" are tasteful, sincere and often quite memorable. ~Scott Yanow

June's Got Rhythm

---

Bill Heller - Find The Way

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:08
Size: 130.8 MB
Styles: Smooth jazz
Year: 2014
Art: Front

[5:17] 1. Guaraldi (Feat. Jeff Kashiwa)
[5:30] 2. Down & Loaded (Feat. Jeff Kashiwa)
[4:33] 3. Bill's Bop (Feat. Eric Marienthal)
[4:20] 4. Blackbird On A Fence (Feat. Jeff Kashiwa)
[5:06] 5. Find The Way (Feat. Jeff Kashiwa)
[4:49] 6. Hanna (Feat. Eric Marienthal)
[5:27] 7. Alone
[5:51] 8. Latinesque (Feat. Carl Fischer & Luis Bonilla)
[5:33] 9. 5 For 1 (Feat. Eric Marienthal)
[4:39] 10. Afrikaan
[4:53] 11. My Thing
[1:05] 12. Trottoir Du Musette

Perhaps best known as keyboard player with smooth jazz super-group (the) Rippingtons, Bill Heller has released his own solo collection, the excellent ‘Find The Way’. It fuses together jazz of varying complexions through the combined talents of guest performers (and Rippingtons band-mates) Jeff Kashiwa, Rico Belled and Dave Karasony plus fine work from Eric Marienthal Ronnie Gutierrez, Joel Rosenblatt and Dave Anderson. However, that said, this is very much Heller’s album. He writes all twelve tracks, produces throughout and, with his mastery on keys, leaves listeners wondering why it has taken him so long to move center stage.

Indeed it was back in 1998 that Heller made his first Rippingtons appearance. That was for the ‘Topaz’ CD and he has been performing live with the band since March of 2001. By that time Jeff Kashiwa was already a regular member of the line-up and with ‘Find The Way’ it is Kashiwa who helps get the show on the road with tremendous sax and flute for the opening ‘Guaraldi’. This mellifluous song has an aura of the Rippingtons about it and much the same can be said of the fabulous ‘Afrikaan’ that is right up there with the best that ‘Find The Way’ has to offer.

Find The Way

---

Gerry Mulligan Quartet - Gerry Mulligan Quartet Featuring Chet Baker

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:15
Size: 112.8 MB
Styles: West Coast jazz, Saxophone jazz
Year: 1992
Art: Front

[2:26] 1. Carioca
[2:31] 2. Line For Lyons
[4:05] 3. Moonlight In Vermont
[3:12] 4. Bark For Barksdale
[2:55] 5. Turnstile
[3:11] 6. The Lady Is A Tramp
[2:54] 7. My Funny Valentine
[2:46] 8. Limelight
[0:20] 9. Gerry Mulligan Signing Off
[3:02] 10. Flying The Coop
[3:23] 11. Why Not
[2:44] 12. So What
[3:27] 13. I May Be Wrong But I Think You're Wonderful
[3:27] 14. New York
[2:28] 15. Leavin' Town
[3:23] 16. Hot Dog
[2:52] 17. Sax Appeal

This CD is a compilation of two separate recording sessions, one led by Gerry Mulligan with Chet Baker on trumpet, the other by the Chubby Jackson Big Band. Half the Mulligan-Baker quartet material was recorded at the Black Hawk in San Francisco in September 1952, the other half four months later in LA. The personnel remains the same for both. The two horn men, along with Carson Smith (b) and Chico Hamilton (d) were laying down the foundation of what soon would be referred to as West Coast or Cool jazz, a sound just as swinging as its East coast rival, but tempered somewhat by a more introspective rhythm approach (the use of brushes over sticks by the drummer, for example) and in the case of this group, no piano. Many who disparage West Coast jazz make the claim that it was cold, pensive, and unswinging, which makes one wonder if such people ever really listened to the music. Such tunes as BARK FOR BARKSDALE, TURNSTILE, and LIMELIGHT are modern dynamos, far from retiring wallflowers. Baker, who supposedly couldn't read music, is truly inspired on these early sides.

The Jackson sides were recorded at one session for Prestige in 1950 in New York and feature an all-star modern big band, including Mulligan (bar sax) Howard McGhee (tp) Zoot Sims (ts) JJ Johnson (tb) and Jackson (b) among many other top players. Best might be the up-tempo rouser FLYING THE COOP, written by Tiny Kahn, a performance that sets the band off well, especially Sims and Johnson. I MAY BE WRONG is also a great tune done to perfection here, thanks to Mulligan's playing and arranging.

The music on this CD is fresh and exciting. The playing is top-notch. This is a must-have CD for anyone interested in modern jazz, especially during its earlier years. ~Bomojazz

Gerry Mulligan Quartet Featuring Chet Baker

---

Erroll Garner Trio - Humoresque

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1995
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:11
Size: 166,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:11)  1. Humoresque
(5:28)  2. Moonglow
(4:19)  3. In A Mellow Tone
(5:03)  4. Don't Worry 'Bout Me
(3:12)  5. Exactly Like You
(4:42)  6. Creme De Menthe (Dreamy)
(2:35)  7. Oh, Lady Be Good
(4:00)  8. I've Got The World On A String
(2:37)  9. Rosalie
(3:10) 10. There's A Small Hotel
(3:14) 11. Mean To Me
(2:53) 12. Easy To Love
(3:20) 13. All Of A Sudden
(3:27) 14. You Are My Sunshine
(4:33) 15. Part Time Blues
(2:21) 16. I Wanna Be A Rug Cutter
(7:18) 17. 7-11 Jump
(3:39) 18. Alexander's Ragtime Band

One of the most distinctive of all pianists, Erroll Garner proved that it was possible to be a sophisticated player without knowing how to read music, that a creative jazz musician can be very popular without watering down his music, and that it is possible to remain an enthusiastic player without changing one's style once it is formed. A brilliant virtuoso who sounded unlike anyone else, on medium tempo pieces, Erroll Garner often stated the beat with his left hand like a rhythm guitar while his right played chords slightly behind the beat, creating a memorable effect. His playful free-form introductions (which forced his sidemen to really listen), his ability to play stunning runs without once glancing at the keyboard, his grunting, and the pure joy that he displayed while performing were also part of the Erroll Garner magic.

Garner, whose older brother Linton was also a fine pianist, appeared on the radio with the Kan-D-Kids at the age of ten. After working locally in Pittsburgh, he moved to New York in 1944 and worked with Slam Stewart's trio during 1944-1945 before going out on his own. By 1946, Garner had his sound together, and when he backed Charlie Parker on his famous Cool Blues session of 1947, the pianist was already an obvious giant. His unclassifiable style had an orchestral approach straight from the swing era but was open to the innovations of bop. From the early '50s on, Garner's accessible style became very popular and he never seemed to have an off day up until his forced retirement (due to illness) in early 1975. His composition "Misty" became a standard. Garner, who had the ability to sit at the piano without prior planning and record three albums in one day (all colorful first takes), made many records throughout his career for such companies as Savoy, Mercury, RCA, Dial, Columbia, EmArcy, ABC-Paramount, MGM, Reprise, and his own Octave label. ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/artist/erroll-garner-mn0000206967/biography

Humoresque

---

Michael Cochrane - Minor Matrix

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:17
Size: 145,3 MB
Art: Front

(7:08)  1. I'll Keep Loving You
(5:16)  2. One Finger Snap
(6:05)  3. Waltz
(6:43)  4. On The Sunny Side of The Street
(4:57)  5. Mamacita
(5:57)  6. This Is New
(8:40)  7. Summer Night
(6:55)  8. Minor Matrix
(5:03)  9. Ask Me Now
(6:30) 10. So Sorry Please

Michael Cochrane starts his new CD with Bud Powell’s classic “I’ll Keep Loving you” manifesting again his musical roots and influences. As John Murph of JazzTimes once wrote about Cochrane’s SteepleChase debut album Cutting Edge, this album also “ sings unapologetically that bebop indeed still lives. ”

Personnel: Michael Cochrane (piano); Alan Nelson (drums); Calvin Hill (bass)

Minor Matrix

---