Benny Golson - The Modern Touch

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1957
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:11
Size: 92,3 MB
Art: Front

( 6:28)  1. Out of the Past
( 7:20)  2. Reunion
( 5:41)  3. Venetian Breeze
( 4:14)  4. Hymn to the Orient
( 4:48)  5. Namely You
(11:37)  6. Blues on Down

Benny Golson's second album as a leader (reissued on CD in the OJC series) is a solid hard bop date featuring the tenorman in a quintet with trumpeter Kenny Dorham, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Max Roach. The all-star group performs three Golson originals (none of which really caught on), a pair of Gigi Gryce tunes (best known is "Hymn to the Orient") and the standard "Namely You." Excellent playing on an above-average set that defines the modern mainstream of 1957 jazz. ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-modern-touch-mw0000099791

Personnel:  Benny Golson (tenor saxophone);  Kenny Dorham (trumpet);  J.J. Johnson (trombone);  Wynton Kelly (piano);  Paul Chambers (bass);  Max Roach (drums).

The Modern Touch

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The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Jimmy Rushing - Brubeck & Rushing

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:19
Size: 83.1 MB
Styles: Jazz, Blues
Year: 1960/1998
Art: Front

[2:07] 1. There'll Be Some Changes Made
[3:59] 2. My Melancholy Baby
[4:39] 3. Blues In The Dark
[2:29] 4. I Never Knew (I Could Love Anyone Like I'm Loving You)
[3:22] 5. Ain't Misbehavin'
[4:12] 6. Evenin'
[2:32] 7. All By Myself
[4:23] 8. River, Stay 'way From My Door
[3:31] 9. You Can Depend On Me
[2:51] 10. Am I Blue
[2:09] 11. Shine On Harvest Moon (Previously unreleased)

Alto Saxophone – Paul Desmond; Bass – Eugene Wright; Drums – Joe Morello; Piano – Dave Brubeck; Vocals – Jimmy Rushing.

Although associated with the more modern styles of jazz, Brubeck always had a great respect (if not reverence) for the masters of the past. On ten standards Brubeck, altoist Paul Desmond and the Quartet fit in perfectly behind the great swing/blues singer Jimmy Rushing who sounds rejuvenated by the fresh setting. This disc, a surprising success, is well worth searching for. ~Scott Yanow

Brubeck & Rushing

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Jane McDonald - The Best Of Love (2-Disc Set)

2012 two CD collection. From club singer to TV stardom via the ocean wave: that s the voyage Jane McDonald s enjoyed in the past decade and a half. The documentary The Cruise acted as an unexpected springboard to success with a double platinum album, and as one of the stars of Loose Women she s a welcome visitor to millions of homes. Now enough of the talking: here s the music of The Best Of Love! Music Club Deluxe.

Album: The Best Of Love (Disc 1)

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 55:52

Size: 127.9 MB

Styles: Easy Listening

Year: 2012

Art: Front

[3:01] 1. You're My World

[3:26] 2. This Is My Song

[4:36] 3. The Twelfth of Never

[4:46] 4. Have I Told You Lately

[3:03] 5. Where the Boys Are

[3:08] 6. (You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman

[4:16] 7. The Wind Beneath My Wings

[2:22] 8. Kiss Me, Honey, Honey, Kiss Me

[3:24] 9. Little Things Mean a Lot

[2:37] 10. You're Breaking My Heart

[3:51] 11. It Must Be Him

[3:44] 12. Some You Win Some You Lose

[4:05] 13. You Belong to Me

[4:49] 14. When I Look at You

[4:35] 15. One Moment in Time

The Best Of Love (Disc 1)  

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Album: The Best Of Love (Disc 2)

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 60:30

Size: 138.5 MB

Styles: Easy Listening

Year: 2012

Art: Front

[2:46] 1. You Don't Have to Say You Love

[3:16] 2. Give Me Time

[3:57] 3. i'll never love this way again

[3:30] 4. Do You Know the Way to San Jose

[3:25] 5. (There's) Always Something There to Remind Me

[3:29] 6. Downtown

[3:53] 7. How Do I Live

[4:32] 8. I Will Always Love You

[4:19] 9. I See It in Your Eyes

[4:39] 10. Kiss Me One More Time

[3:28] 11. When I Fall in Love

[3:13] 12. Behind Closed Doors

[2:58] 13. Blame It on the Bossa Nova

[7:16] 14. You're My World

[5:44] 15. Kiss Me Honey, Honey, Kiss Me

The Best Of Love (Disc 2)  

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Bennie Green - Walkin' And Talkin'

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:46
Size: 93.3 MB
Styles: Bop, Trombone jazz
Year: 1959/2008
Art: Front

[5:20] 1. The Shouter
[6:15] 2. Green Leaves
[7:23] 3. This Love Of Mine
[9:47] 4. Walkin' And Talkin'
[6:03] 5. All I Do Is Dream Of You
[5:55] 6. Hoppin' Johns

Bass – George Tucker; Drums – Al Dreares; Piano – Gildo Mahones; Tenor Saxophone – Eddy Williams; Trombone – Bennie Green. Recorded on January 25, 1959.

All of Bennie Green's Blue Note records were rich with joyously swinging blues and bop, highlighted by his warm, friendly tone and good humor. Walkin' & Talkin', his third record for the label, was no exception to the rule. Leading a quintet that features tenor saxophonist Eddy Williams, pianist Gildo Mahones, bassist George Tucker and drummer Al Dreares, Green keeps things light, swinging and immensely entertaining. Mahones wrote three of the six songs, including the swinging opener "The Shouter" and the Latin-tinged "Green Leaves"; Green contributed the bluesy title track, and the group offers two standards -- engaging, lightly swinging readings of "This Love of Mine" and "All I Do is Dream of You." The result is no different than Green's two previous Blue Note records, but it's no less satisfying, and fans of swinging bop should be contented with Walkin' & Talkin'. ~Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Walkin' And Talkin'

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Andi Kissenbeck's Club Boogaloo - Hammond's Delight

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:07
Size: 133.0 MB
Styles: B3 Organ jazz
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[5:35] 1. Return Of The Prodigal Son
[4:25] 2. Cat Walk
[5:18] 3. Oops, Too Short
[4:24] 4. I Ain't Got Nothing But The Blues
[5:35] 5. Ramblin
[5:36] 6. Blues For Joey
[5:59] 7. Waiting For The Sunrise
[6:20] 8. Bj-Blues
[4:03] 9. T-Bone Blues
[5:26] 10. Song For Dave
[5:22] 11. Refinnej Blues

Andreas Kissenbeck – Org | Torsten Goods - gitar, vocals | Lutz Häfner - sax | Andrej Lobanov- trompet | Jean-Paul Höchstädter - drums.

The name denotes its significance: organ jazz in the tradition of Lou Donaldson, Lonnie Smith, Joey DeFrancesco and George Benson. The groove is the basis – funk, shuffle, swing and boogaloo. In addition, there are melodies and harmonies from blues, funk, soul and modern jazz. The Hammond B 3 always plays a pivotal role. It is played by Andi Kissenbeck, who teaches at the music colleges of Wurzburg and Munster in addition to his activities as organist and pianist (concerts and tours with Bennie Bailey, Jiggs Wigham and Bobby Shew, among others). His fellow musicians on the other instruments – who also belong to the best and most experienced jazz musicians in Germany – are skilled in playing powerfully without sounding forced. When the fantastic voice of Torsten Goods is added, an unrivaled ambience is created! Goods, known thanks to his successful albums released by ACT, plays above all his guitar, which he also used with a great deal of success playing along with Les Paul, Bob James and Chris Potter. On the other hand, Lutz Häfner is not only in demand as a saxophonist (among others with Maria Schneider’s Jazz Orchestra, Ingrid Jensen and Billy Hart) beyond the borders of Germany, he is also an excellent arranger. Andrej Lobanov – also known to the connoisseurs of the Jazz thing Next Generation series from the band of Krischkowsky – teaches at Leipzig Music College in the meantime and has already played with stars such as Randy Brecker and Dave Brubeck. Jean-Paul Höchstädter, who formally honed his skills in big bands (RIAS Big Band, HR Big Band, NDR Big Band), can often be heard playing with musicians ranging from Tony Lakatos to Till Brönner today.It is not surprising that this group has been working successfully with the young Kissenbeck for years. In addition to unrestrained joy of playing, you sense the will to make music that is not only demanding, but which is also entertaining in the best sense of the word. Pieces by Ornette Coleman, Duke Ellington and others but above all Kissenbeck’s own compositions contribute to combine modern influences and consciousness of tradition. This is not surprising either when you know that he recently published a two-volume compendium on jazz theory at Bärenreiter Publishing House recently. No doubt about it, the man knows what he is doing.

Hammond's Delight

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Joni James - I Feel A Song Coming On

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 34:52
Size: 79.8 MB
Styles: Vocal
Year: 1962/2011
Art: Front

[2:06] 1. 'deed I Do
[3:10] 2. You Came A Long Way From St. Louis
[3:40] 3. In Other Words
[2:00] 4. I Feel A Song Comin' On
[2:42] 5. Lullaby Of Birdland
[2:50] 6. You Do
[2:23] 7. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
[4:04] 8. My Melancholy Baby
[3:14] 9. Basin Street Blues
[3:09] 10. I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
[3:45] 11. By The Way
[1:43] 12. September In The Rain

After over a decade as a top-charting female vocalist, Joni James' early- and mid-'60s output is comparatively jazzy, featuring some of her most mature and progressive sounds to date. I Feel a Song Coming On (1962) saw James shed her pinup image for a dozen tracks culled from various American pop music songbooks. This effort's free-form and improvisational accompaniment lends itself well to the vocalist's unique and fresh interpretations of a wide variety of popular standards and, concurrently, new additions to the otherwise traditional lexicon. Joining James is Jimmie Haskell, whose scores are equally inventive as each arrangement swells and ebbs with the unmistakable energy and unity of a spontaneous jam session. The singer's earlier encounters with Stan Kenton's orchestra seem to have paid off quite a dividend as James weaves some post-bop mastery into the uptempo reading of "'Deed I Do" as well as the equally hot-steppin' "On the Sunny Side of the Street." The extended instrumental intros foreshadow the lightly maneuvered vocals that follow. Granted, James is no Ella Fitzgerald; however, she is able to swing with authority on George Shearing's "Lullaby of Birdland" and adds an exceedingly soulful inflection to Duke Ellington's "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)" and, most profoundly, the Creole-steeped "Basin Street Blues." Her more refined style of balladry is highlighted on the gentle "Fly Me to the Moon" and the bluesy torch reading of "My Melancholy Baby." Few vocalists, male or female, have repeatedly proven their versatility and emotive adeptness as has Joni James. I Feel a Song Coming On proves not only her continued relevance as a vocal interpreter but also as an innovator, by stretching her boundaries and displaying her limitless talents. ~Lindsay Planer

I Feel A Song Coming On

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Various - Atlantic Jazz: West Coast

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:18
Size: 126.6 MB
Styles: Bop, West Coast jazz
Year: 1986/2005
Art: Front

[ 2:56] 1. Eddie Safranski - Sa-Frantic
[ 4:56] 2. Shorty Rogers - Not Really The Blues
[ 4:03] 3. Jack Montrose - Paradox
[ 5:52] 4. Conte Candoli - Cheremoya
[ 8:00] 5. Shorty Rogers - Martians Go Home
[ 3:57] 6. Jimmy Giuffre - The Song Is You
[11:27] 7. Jimmy Giuffre - Topsy
[ 7:44] 8. The Red Mitchell-Harold Land Quintet - Triplin' Awhile
[ 6:19] 9. Shelly Manne - You Name It

Part of Atlantic's by-genre-and-instrument jazz series, Atlantic Jazz: West Coast spotlights some of the giants from the land of the Central Avenue breakdown and fog-bound bridges. On the high-profile end, such stellar players and bandleaders as Shorty Rogers and Shelly Manne contribute tasty sides, while the obscure quotient is nicely covered by Eddie Safrinski. Taking up the middle ground, tenor saxophonist Jack Montrose, the duo of Harold Land and Red Mitchell, and Conte Candoli contribute fine cuts as well. Maybe not the best introduction to those West Coast jazz sounds, but a fine selection of sides all the same. ~Stephen Cook

Atlantic Jazz: West Coast

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Veronica Martell - Lucky

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:50
Size: 123,0 MB
Art: Front

(3:05)  1. Too Young for the Blues
(5:18)  2. Something's Gotta Give
(4:38)  3. It's Alright With Me
(4:45)  4. If I'm Lucky
(3:43)  5. Flip Flop and Fly
(4:29)  6. My Heart Belongs to Daddy
(4:52)  7. Black Night
(5:39)  8. Teardrops from My Eyes
(4:56)  9. Romancing The Blues
(4:44) 10. Even God Must Get The Blues
(4:19) 11. Why Don't You Do Right
(2:16) 12. Ain't That A Kick In The Head (Bonus Track)

Lucky is Veronica Martell's second release in as many years and reveals to listeners several new dimensions of her remarkable vocal talent. The accompaniment of nimble winds, vivid percussion, and majestic brass make up Martell's swinging tentet, and together they bring the house down with their energetic rendering of Allen Farnham's arrangements of time-honored standards. Lucky also features guest artists Kevin Mahogany, Allen Farnham, Bob Sheppard, and Buddy Williams, along with Frank Pellegrino dueting with Martell on a special bonus track "Ain't That a Kick in the Head." This is modern-day swing singing at its finest, and their rousing duet is right on the money. The 11 songs also show off Martell's exquisite four-octave vocal range, the guitar finesse of Tony Viscardo, Allen Farnham's command of the minor key 12-bar blues, and the purposeful walking basslines of David Jackson. Her brilliant duet with Kevin Mahogany on "It's Alright With Me" features her less-than run-of-the-mill swing voice in perfect harmony with Mahogany's beautiful baritone vocals before Mahogany launches into a full-bodied scat. "Even God Must Get the Blues," an original written by Tony Viscardo and Veronica Martell, features Martell's range beautifully comped by Viscardo's swinging guitar solo and Bob Sheppard's tenor saxophone, while "Romancing the Blues" finds Martell's vocals wrapped in a blues ambience that will have listeners enraptured in her lament. Veronica Martell's repertoire is more versatile on Lucky than on her debut release, and as a result of international performances, a better production team, television appearances, and added name recognition, this CD serves notice that Martell's debut release, Big City Swing, was just the tip of the iceberg. ~ Paula Edelstein http://www.allmusic.com/album/lucky-mw0000492592

Lucky

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Kenny Drew - Everything I Love

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1973
File: MP3@224K/s
Time: 45:58
Size: 73,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:47)  1. Sunset
(4:33)  2. Portrait of Mariann
(3:28)  3. Blues for Nils
(5:57)  4. Yesterdays
(3:25)  5. Ev'rything I Love
(2:41)  6. Flamingo
(1:50)  7. Fingering
(4:34)  8. Winter Flower
(5:43)  9. Fall
(4:50) 10. I Can't Get Started
(5:06) 11. Don't Explain

Kenny Drew spent most of his playing career living, performing, and recording in Europe. Everything I Love represents one of his few solo piano outings, recorded over several sessions in late 1973. Drew wasn't particularly well-known as a composer, though his offerings on this CD are enjoyable. Both "Sunset" and "Portrait of Mariann" are shimmering, richly textured ballads, while the dramatic "Flamingo" is a dazzling showpiece, with a definite Spanish air. The haunting "Fall" has a melancholy air, a beautifully understated ballad. The familiar standards are just as intriguing. He slows"Yesterdays" to a crawl, adding a spacious disguised introduction. The deliberate take of the often blandly played "I Can't Get Started" also proves refreshing, bringing out a lyricism and sense of drama that many jazz pianists miss. This is easily one of the best albums of Kenny Drew's career. ~ Ken Dryden http://www.allmusic.com/album/everything-i-love-mw0000652742.

Personnel:  Kenny Drew (Piano).

Everything I Love

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Marc Copland - Another Place

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:22
Size: 139,1 MB
Art: Front

(10:47)  1. Like You
(11:31)  2. River Bend
( 5:47)  3. Dark Horse
( 7:19)  4. Car Blue Lady
(10:08)  5. Another Place
( 7:18)  6. Ballad In Two Keys
( 7:27)  7. Everything I Love

It's taken nearly a lifetime for British pianist John Taylor to receive the credit he's due. While still underappreciated in his own country, Marc Copland does seem to be pushing his way through the morass of American pianists to a position of greater prominence. With a discography that gets better every year, Copland approaching sixty, but looking a decade younger is, with little fuss but relentless persistence, emerging as an artist of significance, with a leading voice and compositional approach. Copland has had many great groups over the years, one being his longstanding trio with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Jochen Ruckert, last heard on Some Love Songs (Pirouet, 2005). One of his best outside the piano trio format was the quartet responsible for Second Look (Savoy Jazz, 1996). More than a decade later Copland has reconvened guitarist John Abercrombie, bassist Drew Gress and drummer Billy Hart for Another Place, an album that retains the magic of Second Look while reflecting the many changes that have taken place in the ensuing years. In 1996 Gress was still a relative up-and-comer, though he'd already established significant links with artists ranging from Fred Hersch to Erik Friedlander and Ben Monder. Now an increasingly in-demand player, he's a leader in his own right, with 7 Black Butterflies (Premonition) one of 2005's best releases. Here he contributes "Dark Horse," a soft-spoken tune with a deceptively simple veneer of ascending chords that, nevertheless, provides Abercrombie and Copland an opportunity to develop statements as much about texture and ambience as unmistakable melody. Copland, while retaining his signature ethereal harmonic ambiguity, builds a solo of unexpected and understated power.

Hart one of the busiest drummers on the scene brings a personal sense of time and swing, always sounding like himself while allowing every group he's in to build its own identity. On the album's sole standard, Cole Porter's "Everything I Love," Hart's gentle pulse keeps things in the mainstream, while pushing and probing with a delicate but persistent ride cymbal that focuses the entire group. But the real magic is the interaction between Copland and Abercrombie, two players who go right back to the 1970s loft scene, when Copland was still an altoist. Friendship and years of intersection have created a deep simpatico, allowing them to simultaneously lead and follow, with Copland's dark "Like You" dependent on their working through its lengthy head with the perfect balance of togetherness and interpretive looseness. Even more atmospheric than Second Look, the free intro to Abercrombie's "River Bend" succeeds only because everyone is playing with ears wide open. Still, there's a strength about Another Place too, with the core of "River Bend" approaching folkloric territory with a firm rhythm. But even when an unexpected swing emerges, it's only a signpost, a rallying point around which the group can coalesce before heading into more rarefied terrain. It's a place that's increasingly becoming home for Copland, and in its accessible yet oftentimes gossamer-like delicacy, one deserving greater attention. ~ John Kelman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/another-place-marc-copland-pirouet-records-review-by-john-kelman.php

Personnel: Marc Copland: piano; John Abercrombie: guitar; Drew Gress: bass; Billy Hart: drums.

Another Place

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Curtis Fuller - New Trombone

Styles: Trombone Jazz

Year: 1957

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 44:14

Size: 102,6 MB

Art: Front

(7:44)  1. Vonce #5

(8:21)  2. Transportation Blues

(6:54)  3. Blue Lawson

(9:28)  4. Namely You

(6:33)  5. What Is This Thing Called Love?

(5:12)  6. Alicia

This 1957 date matches Fuller with bluesy, fervent alto sax wailer Sonny Red Kyner. They make both a tight ensemble pair and an excellent contrasting frontline, with Kyner's spewing, flailing delivery featured on such cuts as "Blue Lawson" and "Namely You" operating against Fuller's equally intense, but lighter and smoother trombone lines. With Hank Jones operating as the rhythm section's harmonic link on piano, bassist Doug Watkins and drummer Louis Hayes mesh underneath effectively. These undiluted, straight-ahead bop and blues numbers are still par for the course. ~ Ron Wynn http://www.allmusic.com/album/new-trombone-mw0000619915

Personnel: Curtis Fuller (trombone); Sonny Red Kyner (alto saxophone); Hank Jones (piano); Doug Watkins (acoustic bass); Louis Hayes (drums).

New Trombone

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Lou Rawls - Portrait Of The Blues

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 50:22

Size: 115.3 MB

Styles: R&B, Jazz-blues vocals

Year: 1993

Art: Front

[3:08] 1. I Just Want To Make Love To You (W. Junior Wells)

[3:04] 2. A Lover's Question (W. Phoebe Snow)

[2:41] 3. Person To Person

[2:42] 4. Since I Met You Baby

[4:29] 5. I'm Still In Love With You

[3:10] 6. Snap Your Fingers

[2:45] 7. Baby What You Want Me To Do

[3:14] 8. Suffering With The Blues

[2:56] 9. Hide Nor Hair

[4:22] 10. Chains Of Love

[3:16] 11. My Babe

[3:22] 12. I Ain't Got Nothin' But The Blues

[2:34] 13. Save Your Love For Me

[5:01] 14. Saturday Night Fish Fry (W. Joe Williams)

[3:32] 15. Sweet Slumber

Alto Saxophone – Hank Crawford; Drums – Chris Parker; Electric Bass – Tinker Barfield; Electric Piano – Richard Tee; Guitar – Steve Khan; Organ – Richard Tee; Piano – Richard Tee; Trombone – Hank Crawford. This album was recorded analog and mixed to digital. Recorded April - October 1992.

A wholesome blues effort by the native Chicagoan. Though these are bona fide blues numbers, Rawls confronts each song with an elegant touch. His delivery and articulation give the songs an uptown flair. Of the 15 numbers, only four ("Baby What You Want Me to Do," "Hide Nor Hair," "My Babe," and "Saturday Night Fish Fry") have that up-tempo, boogie-woogie fever. The latter, a classic Louis Jordan jump, is the most notable. It features Lionel Hampton on vibes and Rawls shares vocal duties with Joe Williams. The other selections have that cozy café ambience. Rawls also does a duet with Phoebe Snow on the calypso-seasoned "A Lover's Question." This is an all-star cast from the penmanship of greats like Duke Ellington, Ivory Joe Hunter, and others to the creative musicianship of Hank Crawford, Houston Person, Junior Wells, and company. ~Craig Lytle

Portrait Of The Blues               

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Fay Claassen - Red, Hot & Blue: The Music Of Cole Porter

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:03
Size: 148.9 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[7:12] 1. I Get A Kick Out Of You
[5:13] 2. Easy To Love
[6:14] 3. Love For Sale
[5:40] 4. Ridin' High
[6:23] 5. Dreamdancing
[4:44] 6. Anything Goes
[5:41] 7. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
[6:34] 8. I Concentrate On You
[6:12] 9. All Through The Night
[3:08] 10. Too Darn Hot
[7:57] 11. So In Love

Fay Claassen: vocals; Ingmar Heller: bass; Olaf Polziehn: piano; Hans Dekker: drums.

With a virtual flood of female jazz vocalists seemingly appearing every year, it is a challenge to separate the wheat from the chaff. But anyway you slice it, Fay Claassen, one of European jazz's top singers, makes the cut. Graduating from the Conservatory of The Hague in 1997, she had a host of great teachers, including renowned jazz vocalist Judy Niemack. The rich-voiced alto learned her lessons well, with clear articulation and terrific tone to complement her urbane, sophisticated approach to singing, with no trace of her native Dutch accent.

Claassen's fifth CD is her first to focus solely on the works of a single composer. The 11 Cole Porter songs that she chooses are among his most popular, so she faces a considerable challenge to find a fresh approach to each of them. Fortunately, with the superb charts by Michael Abene and a potent trio—pianist Olaf Polziehn, bassist Ingmar Heller and drummer Hans Dekker—she is able to make them her own.

She savors Abene's bluesy treatment of "Love For Sale," bringing out the sexy nature of its lyrics as she tackles it at an almost crawling tempo. She shows her romantic side in the lighter-hearted rendition of "Dream Dancing," lagging just a bit behind the beat. The quirky staccato introduction to "Anything Goes" is a refreshing modern touch, though it quickly gives way to a swinging post-bop setting. While Claassen is also an accomplished scat singer, she doesn't overdo it, unlike her previous Two Portraits of Chet Baker (Jazz 'N Pulz, 2006). ~Ken Dryden

Red, Hot & Blue: The Music Of Cole Porter

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Paul Tillotson - Tequila Time!

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:17
Size: 135.7 MB
Styles: Piano jazz
Year: 2005
Art: Front

[0:13] 1. Intro Gene Harris
[2:59] 2. Tequila Time
[6:58] 3. Do Nothing 'til You Hear From Me
[6:21] 4. Morpheus
[4:22] 5. Gena's Song
[6:15] 6. The Beautiful Ones
[4:14] 7. Apple Blossom
[6:12] 8. 4 PM
[4:06] 9. Big Yellow Taxi
[4:55] 10. Dot.Dot.Dot
[7:35] 11. Blackbird
[4:56] 12. The Tickler
[0:04] 13. Whoooeee!

TEQUILA TIME! is the ninth studio recording of pianist Paul Tillotson, and his second with The Love Trio. This collection of jazz originals and covers features the standout track "Blackbird," Tillotson's dynamic yet introspective re-interpretation of the Lennon/McCartney classic.

TEQUILA TIME! is a nod to the late Gene Harris, Tillotson's friend and mentor. Upon Harris' death, in the third year of the Gene Harris Jazz Festival in Boise, Idaho, Tillotson was honored to be chosen to take Harris\' place at the piano. Rounding out the bill on TEQUILA TIME! are jazz veterans, and familiar faces from Late Night with Conan O'Brien, bassist Mike Merritt and drummer James Wormworth.

Tequila Time!

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WDR Big Band - Celebrating Billie Holiday

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 76:58
Size: 176.2 MB
Styles: Big band
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[4:39] 1. Fine and Mellow
[7:07] 2. Detour Ahead
[6:15] 3. Lover Man
[6:11] 4. You've Changed
[5:11] 5. What a Little Moonlight Can Do
[5:16] 6. My Man
[3:36] 7. Left Alone
[6:13] 8. Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone
[6:32] 9. For All We Know
[5:22] 10. I Cover the Waterfront
[8:13] 11. You Don't Know What Love Is
[5:55] 12. In My Solitude
[6:23] 13. I Cried for You

Billie Holiday was the Lady of Jazz, her singing and her expressive power for all subsequent Jazzvokalisten. The WDR Big Band Cologne and the singer Cécile Verny have recorded an impressive tribute to the icon of jazz with newly conceived arrangements by Michael Abene on this CD. It contains well-known songs from the repertoire Billie Holidays, including the popular title "Lover Man" as well as the song rarity "Left Alone". (Translated from German.)

Celebrating Billie Holiday

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Min Rager - First Steps

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:03
Size: 139.8 MB
Styles: Piano jazz
Year: 2014
Art: Front

[8:09] 1. Nothing To Gain, Nothing To Lose
[6:59] 2. First Steps
[6:02] 3. Bella
[1:58] 4. Persistence Of Memory
[4:26] 5. Passing
[6:24] 6. Song Of Love
[6:34] 7. Portrait Of Miles
[7:32] 8. Embrace
[5:42] 9. Goodbye, Manhattan
[7:11] 10. Always Near To You

Min Rager: piano; Kevin Dean: trumpet; Donny Kennedy: alto saxophone; Fraser Hollins: bass (2, 5-7); Alec Walkington: bass (1, 8, 9); Andre White: drums; Walt Weiskopf: tenor saxophone (4); Josh Rager (10).

It is not often that a woman is given much elbowroom in contemporary music, no matter how good she may be. However, when she is as good as Min Rager on First Steps, more than elbowroom had better be made for her and her piano. True, Rager has been preceded by a celestial pantheon of female pianists, including towering personalities Mary Lou Williams and Marian McPartland, the elusive Jane Getz and Geri Allen. To stake her claim and strut her stuff in a gallery with vaunted company requires a singular brilliance; Rager has this in abundance.

Min Rager is an unbridled piano virtuoso with a large heart, creative spirit and wonderful, sinewy style. Rager also has a flair for the dramatic and for making the keys tell stories which captivate and bring rapture to the attentive ear. She has a bright, skipping manner and often lets her right hand ascend scales with alacrity, as if she were leaping through a bowling green. Her left hand strikes chords and notes with erudite tone and color. She will sometimes repeat a note twice, extracting a completely different meaning from its abundant timbral overtones. There are no half measures in her playing, and there is great elasticity in her solos; always a solid beginning, a tantalizing stretch down the middle and a resolute end.

Rager's compositions are mature and have a great feeling for the blues. Paying tribute to human triumph in the tradition of an African-American idiom is no easy task. However, the heartfelt inner sensitivity and the depth of soul enables Rager to sing with the sensibility of musician who has paid her dues too, albeit at a young age. Although this should need no explanation, it does bear mention because the blues is the mother of jazz and not every musician today is steeped in it. To Min Rager it appears to be second nature and this not only a rare gift, but also a credential that speaks volumes for her beckoning genius. The stamp of Rager's creativity is all over First Steps.

Rager's music is anchored in inventive bebop sensibility. "Nothing to Gain, Nothing to Lose" burns rapidly, as the rumor of a raid. "First Steps" is a refreshingly clever nod toward modal music and John Coltrane "Giant Steps." "Bella," "Persistence of Memory," "Song of Love" and "Portrait of Miles" are gorgeous ballads in the grand, Billy Strayhorn manner. Bassist, Fraser Hollins plays an unforgettably lush melodic solo on "Song of Love" and trumpeter Kevin Dean displays fine chops on "Song of Love" and "Miles." "Embrace" could have been entitled "Abraço," in that warm Brazilian embrace of the tradition of Antonio Carlos Jobim and Joao Gilberto. "Always Near to You," a duet shared with husband/pianist, Josh Rager, is completely captivating in the grand manner of Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea. On the evidence of this record, Min Rager has not simply arrived; it is already time to pay her homage. ~Raul D'Gama Rose

First Steps

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Various - Atlantic Jazz: Best Of The '50s

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:19
Size: 156.4 MB
Styles: Bop, Soul-jazz, R&B, Vocal jazz
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[ 4:36] 1. The Modern Jazz Quartet - Django
[ 2:48] 2. Chris Connor - All About Ronnie
[ 7:56] 3. Shorty Rogers - Martians Go Home
[ 6:45] 4. Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Evidence
[ 4:41] 5. Lavern Baker - Back Water Blues
[ 5:46] 6. John Coltrane - Cousin Mary
[ 3:32] 7. Jimmy Giuffre - The Train And The River
[ 7:16] 8. Big Joe Turner - Wee Baby Blues
[10:33] 9. Charles Mingus - Pithecanthropus Erectus
[ 5:21] 10. David Newman - Fathead
[ 5:21] 11. Lennie Tristano - You Go To My Head
[ 3:39] 12. Ray Charles - Come Rain Or Come Shine

Although there were plenty of early-'50s examples of Atlantic's commitment to jazz, the Ertegun brothers allegedly didn't get serious about establishing a full jazz line until 1955 when the twelve-inch LP was starting to take hold. Hence the half-decade span of this Rhino sampler that helped launch its repackaging of the Atlantic jazz caatalogue in 1993. In the space of one disc, Rhino touches upon most of the leading Atlantic jazz folk of the time, beginning with Shorty Rogers' inimitable "Martians Go Home" and running through to Chris Connor's live "All About Ronnie." Along the way, we hear samples of the MJQ (though there is no solo Milt Jackson), Art Blakey, LaVern Baker, John Coltrane ("Cousin Mary"), Jimmy Giuffre, Joe Turner, Charles Mingus, David "Fathead" Newman, Lennie Tristano, and some string-laden Ray Charles ("Come Rain Or Come Shine"). If quibble we must, there is nothing of the Dixieland resurgence that Atlantic was cultivating then, and most glaring of all, there is no Ornette Coleman, whose first two groundbreaking Atlantic albums were made in 1959. Otherwise casual jazz shoppers will find much to stimulate their appetites in this collection, better described as "best of the late-'50s." ~Richard S. Ginnell

Atlantic Jazz: Best Of The '50s

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Andy LaVerne & John Abercrombie - Live From New York

Styles: Piano And Guitar Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@256K/s
Time: 66:20
Size: 123,1 MB
Art: Front

(5:56)  1. How Deep Is The Ocean
(6:33)  2. Impromptwo
(5:37)  3. Al The Cat
(6:05)  4. Portrait In Jazz
(6:22)  5. Bw
(6:57)  6. Something You Said
(6:05)  7. Short Stuff
(6:18)  8. Undercurrent
(8:14)  9. Witchcraft
(8:09) 10. I Hear A Rhapsody

Andy LaVerne and John Abercrombie have worked together a number of times over two-plus decades when they're not leading their own respective bands. They have recorded together both as a duo and in a quartet and developed a musical ESP, as this concert recorded at Baruch College in the spring of 2010 demonstrates. A prolific composer, LaVerne contributed several originals, highlighted by the intricate "Impromptwo," the magical ballad "Portrait in Jazz," and the phenomenal "Undercurrent" (the latter two quickly revealing Bill Evans' influence, while the song titles just happen to be two of Evans' early landmark albums). It is easy to imagine Bill Evans and Jim Hall together when hearing Abercrombie and LaVerne playing the guitarist's lively jazz waltz "BW" and his equally enjoyable "Short Stuff." Toss in a trio of familiar standards and it is clear that Andy LaVerne and John Abercrombie can hold their own when compared to any jazz piano/guitar duo. ~ Ken Dryden http://www.allmusic.com/album/live-from-new-york-mw0002079691

Personnel: John Abercrombie (guitar); Andy LaVerne (piano).

Live From New York

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Ahmad Jamal Trio - Count 'Em 88

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1956
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 35:07
Size: 80,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:54)  1. Volga Boatman
(3:21)  2. Green Dolphin Street
(5:30)  3. How About You
(2:05)  4. I Just Can't See for Lookin'
(2:38)  5. Spring Will Be a Little Late T
(5:28)  6. Beat Out One
(3:40)  7. Maryam
(5:41)  8. Easy to Remember
(2:49)  9. Jim Love Sue

This LP (not yet reissued on CD) was pianist Ahmad Jamal's first with his new group, a trio also including bassist Israel Crosby and drummer Walter Perkins. Although he was reasonably popular around the Chicago area at the time, Jamal's major breakthrough would be the following album, But Not for Me, recorded more than a year later. 

The "Jamal sound," with its expert use of dynamics, close interplay, space and subtle surprises was very much in place, and this out-of-print set is on the same level as his better-known hits to come. Highlights include "Green Dolphin Street," "How About You" and "Easy To Remember." Well worth searching for. ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/count-em-88-mw0000929365

Personnel:  Ahmad Jamal – piano;  Israel Crosby – bass;  Walter Perkins – drums

Count 'Em 88

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Joe Henderson - Black Narcissus

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1974
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:12
Size: 92,3 MB
Art: Front

( 5:09)  1. Black Narcissus
( 2:41)  2. Hindsight And Forethought
(12:25)  3. Power To The People
( 5:39)  4. Amoeba
( 6:57)  5. Good Morning Heartache
( 7:18)  6. Other Side Of Right

A later album from Joe Henderson's ultra-hip 70s period for Milestone a sweetly electric session with the mighty Patrick Gleeson on keyboards! Gleeson is as strong of a force here as he is on other essential albums from the time  including some of Herbie Hancock's work and the keyboardist handles E Mu Polyphonic synth, which really fits the flowing style of the music! Henderson's great, as always, on tenor blowing the instrument with a searching quality that's a fair bit different than some of his contemporaries, a unique space that further pushed the instrument in the years after the passing of John Coltrane. The rhythm section holds its end up nicely too bringing in some key modal moments with players who include Joachim Kuhn on piano, JF Jenny-Clark on bass, and Bill Summers on drums. Tracks are a bit more open than some of Joe's early 70s work but still done with a hip Bay Area groove and titles include "Black Narcissus", "Hindsight & Forethought", "Amoeba", and a studio version of "Power to the People", which Henderson had done earlier on a live set. (Cover has a cut corner & light wear.)  © 1996-2017, Dusty Groove, Inc. https://www.dustygroove.com/item/25548

Personnel: Joe Henderson - tenor sax; Joachim Kühn - piano (1-3, 5-6); Patrick Gleeson - synthesizer (1-3, 5); David Friesen (5), Jean-François Jenny-Clark (1-3, 6) – bass; Daniel Humair (1-3, 6), Jack DeJohnette (4-5) – drums; Bill Summers - congas, percussion

Black Narcissus

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