Helen Carr - Down In The Depths On The 90th Floor (Remastered)

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 24:56
Size: 57.1 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 1955/2014
Art: Front

[3:01] 1. Not Mine
[5:15] 2. I Don't Want To Cry Anymore
[2:20] 3. Tulip Or Turnip
[2:48] 4. Memory Of The Rain
[3:11] 5. Down In The Depths Of The 90th Floor
[2:54] 6. You're Driving Me Crazy
[2:58] 7. I'm Glad There Is You
[2:25] 8. Moments Like This

Charlie Mariano: Alto Saxophone; Don Fagerquist: Trumpet; Helen Carr: Vocals; Max Bennett: Bass; Donn Trenner: Piano; Stan Levy: Drums.

One of the darkest vocal jazz albums of the 50s - packaged with a great title and cover image that features a lone lit window in a New York skyscraper! Helen has incredible backing on the record - a small combo that includes Charlie Mariano on alto sax, Don Fagerquist on trumpet, and Donn Trenner on piano - all gently sliding in behind Carr's blue vocals in a way that's similar to some of the Chris Connor work on Bethlehem from the same time. Titles include a near-perfect reading of 'Down In The Depths On The 90th Floor', plus 'Not Mine', 'Tulip Or Turnip', 'Moments Like This', 'I'm Glad There Is You', and 'Memory Of The Rain'.

Down In The Depths On The 90th Floor 

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'Killer' Ray Appleton, Melvin Rhyne Quartet - Latin Dreams

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:55
Size: 118.9 MB
Styles: Bop, Swing
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[6:15] 1. Night Vigil
[5:21] 2. I'll Take Romance
[5:38] 3. Cariba
[6:04] 4. The Very Thought Of You
[6:14] 5. Melvin's Masquerade
[4:27] 6. Lolita
[4:40] 7. Blue 'n' Boogie
[6:14] 8. Tequila
[6:58] 9. Full House

Despite the title, the musical direction of this 2004 recording isn’t Latin jazz. Instead, the real foundation of this session goes back to the Wes Montgomery Trio, circa 1955 in Indianapolis. That edition of the guitarist’s group featured drummer “Killer” Ray Appleton and Hammond B3 organ player Melvin Rhyne. Joined here by the great Latin percussionist Milton Cardonas and up-and-coming guitarist Ilya Lushtak, Appleton and Rhyne lead a laid-back excursion through a mixed bag of material ranging from a couple of swinging Rhyne originals, standards like “I’ll Take Romance” and “The Very Thought of You,” Dizzy Gillespie’s “Blue ‘n’ Boogie” and an energetic take on that old warhorse, “Tequila.”

Unlike a lot of B3 players, Rhyne takes a musical direction that’s decidedly more bop- than blues-oriented, adding plenty of interesting variations to his B3 grooves. Cardona’s presence on congas allows Appleton room to shine on cymbals-and the pair meld to create a rhythmic groove that finds a nice balance point between bop and Latin jazz. Add sparkling versions of Montgomery classics such as “Cariba” and “Full House” and you’ve got a strong recording that serves as a fitting reminder of the underappreciated talents of Rhyne and Appleton. ~Terry Perkins

Latin Dreams mc
Latin Dreams zippy

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Quadro Nuevo, Cairo Steps - Flying Carpet

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 73:50
Size: 169.0 MB
Styles: World music
Year: 2017
Art: Front

[6:33] 1. Shams
[7:33] 2. Flying Carpet
[6:20] 3. Symphony For The Sheik
[6:32] 4. Nilade
[6:29] 5. Dance Du Nil
[3:44] 6. Ikarus' Dream
[4:32] 7. Café Cairo
[6:14] 8. Gardens Of Damanhur
[6:47] 9. Tiepolo
[6:22] 10. Sansibar
[5:24] 11. Arabiskan
[7:14] 12. Gnossienne No. 1

Hailing from Germany, Quadro Nuevo has built a career assimilating musical influences from around the globe. While it's not unjustified to call them a jazz group, they've elevated their sound exploring the worlds of Argentinian tango, Austrian classical traditions, Indian raga, and Romanian folk customs, among others. The term “world music" may be a bit diluted and vague after years of being thrown about by record labels and PR firms (besides, isn't all music of our world?), but Quadro Nuevo has unquestionably earned the title considering their passport-friendly approach to composition and improvisation over the past 20 years.

With Flying Carpet they've collaborated with Cairo Steps, a relatively new collective by way of Egypt spearheaded by pianist Matthias Frey and oud virtuoso Basem Darwisch. Based on their first collaboration from back in January 2017, Flying Carpet features Quadro Nuevo and Cairo Steps building their unified sound augmented by the inclusion of flute, string quartet, and notable Sufi singers Ali El Helwabi and Sheikh Ehab Younis. The album features a tasteful blending of instruments and musical elements of widely divergent cultures, albeit while still exploring familiar ground for Quadro Nuevo. The Cairo Steps flex their musical influence right away in open track “Shams". A darbuka and duduk (Arabic percussion and wind instruments, respectively) open the tune with an exotic soundscape, later built up by Bollywood-inspired strings. Darwisch, Quadro's sax player Mulo Francel, and Cairo's duduk player Rageed William shine as they toss around the melody and trade solos, accentuating the drama without indulging in improvisational cliches. Title track “Flying Carpet" is more reserved, built upon a slow, alluring groove with ample space and ambiance.

Inevitably, most of the tracks on the album fall within the same structure of trading melodies and solos around the group, giving everyone a chance to shine. It's the path Quadro Nuevo tends to take (and Cairo Steps readily adapts) of blending global influences into song and improvisation structures at home in jazz. Despite treading on familiar territory, this variety of musical influences keep Flying Carpet feeling fresh and energized. The songs themselves may sound traditional, but it's the uniting of colors between European and Arabic instruments on tracks like “Tiepolo" and “Ikarus' Dream" gives the album depth. Inevitably, both Quadro Nuevo and Cairo Steps risk exploiting their diverse character as style over substance. It's intriguing to hear the blending of different musical cultures, but groups that embrace the “world music" tag for commercial purposes, inevitably, tend to sound stale. Notably, much of Flying Carpet works as both groups use the album to explore their sounds and test interactions. The Egypt-meets-Vienna waltz of “Café Cairo" thrives on its cross-cultural character, while the driving “Nilade" shines through the subtle yet colorful harp work of Evelyn Huber.

The closing track, a reading of Erik Satie's “Gnossienne No. 1" recorded live, best sums up the spirit of Flying Carpet. The French composer's work becomes source material primarily for improvisation, specifically from Cairo Steps who use their musical language to explore how Arabic elements fit within the Western classical tradition. While the recording does not break any new musical ground, it stands as a fine release for both groups, and a testament to how music can unite cultures under the same structures. ~Andy Jurik

Flying Carpet mc
Flying Carpet zippy

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Various - The Very Best Of Cole Porter

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 66:26

Size: 152.1 MB

Styles: Jazz vocals, Easy Listening

Year: 2004

Art: Front

[3:46] 1. Ella Fitzgerald - Too Darn Hot

[2:07] 2. Peggy Lee - My Heart Belongs To Daddy

[3:24] 3. Tony Bennett - Begin The Beguine

[3:59] 4. Sarah Vaughan - You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To

[2:06] 5. Jeri Southern - It's De-Lovely

[2:30] 6. Dean Martin - True Love

[3:50] 7. Shirley Horn - Love For Sale

[3:05] 8. Helen Merrill - Anything Goes

[8:40] 9. Ella Fitzgerald - Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love)

[3:27] 10. Eartha Kitt - Let's Misbehave

[2:59] 11. Billie Holiday - Easy To Love

[2:54] 12. Mel Tormé - What Is This Thing Called Love

[2:05] 13. Anita O'day - Just One Of Those Things

[6:18] 14. Dinah Washington - I Get A Kick Out Of You

[4:47] 15. Aaron Neville - In The Still Of The Night

[3:01] 16. Carmen Mcrae - Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye

[4:58] 17. Fred Astaire - Night And Day

[2:21] 18. Ella Fitzgerald - You Do Something To Me

The Very Best Of Cole Porter

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Chet Baker - Live at the Trade Winds 1952

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 1991
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 66:19
Size: 152,2 MB
Art: Front

(16:18)  1. Out of Nowhere
( 7:00)  2. Bernie's Tune
( 5:27)  3. My Old Flame
( 5:55)  4. Avalon
(11:15)  5. How High the Moon
( 7:01)  6. There Will Never Be Another Yo
( 5:47)  7. Sweet Georgia Brown
( 7:33)  8. I'll Remember April

Chet Baker was a primary exponent of the West Coast school of cool jazz in the early and mid-'50s. As a trumpeter, he had a generally restrained, intimate playing style and he attracted attention beyond jazz for his photogenic looks and singing. But his career was marred by drug addiction.Baker's father, Chesney Henry Baker,Sr., was a guitarist who was forced to turn to other work during the Depression; his mother, Vera (Moser) Baker, worked in a perfumery. The family moved from Oklahoma to Glendale, CA, in 1940. As a child, Baker sang at amateur competitions and in a church choir. Before his adolescence, his father brought home a trombone for him, then replaced it with a trumpet when the larger instrument proved too much for him. He had his first formal training in music in junior high and later at Glendale High School, but would play largely by ear for the rest of his life. In 1946, when he was only 16 years old, he dropped out of high school and his parents signed papers allowing him to enlist in the army; he was sent to Berlin, Germany, where he played in the 298th Army Band. After his discharge in 1948, he enrolled at El Camino College in Los Angeles, where he studied theory and harmony while playing in jazz clubs, but he quit college in the middle of his second year. He re-enlisted in the army in 1950 and became a member of the Sixth Army Band at the Presidio in San Francisco. But he also began sitting in at clubs in the city and he finally obtained a second discharge to become a professional jazz musician.  Baker initially played in Vido Musso's band, then with Stan Getz. (The first recording featuring Baker is a performance of "Out of Nowhere" that comes from a tape of a jam session made on March 24, 1952, and was released on the Fresh Sound Records LP Live at the Trade Winds.) His break came quickly, when, in the spring of 1952, he was chosen at an audition to play a series of West Coast dates with Charlie Parker, making his debut with the famed saxophonist at the Tiffany Club in Los Angeles on May 29, 1952. That summer, he began playing in the Gerry Mulligan Quartet, a group featuring only baritone sax, trumpet, bass, and drums -- no piano -- that attracted attention during an engagement at the Haig nightclub and through recordings on the newly formed Pacific Jazz Records (later known as World Pacific Records), beginning with the 10" LP Gerry Mulligan Quartet, which featured Baker's famous rendition of "My Funny Valentine."..More.. ~ William Ruhlmann https://www.allmusic.com/artist/chet-baker-mn0000094210/biography                

Personnel:  Chet Baker (trumpet) Sonny Criss (alto sax) Wardell Gray, Dave Pell (tenor sax) Jerry Mandell (piano) Harry Babasin (cello, leader) Bob Whitlock (bass) Lawrence Marable (drums)

Live at the Trade Winds 1952

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Beata Przybytek Quintet - You Don't Know What Love Is

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:14
Size: 105,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:38)  1. Is You Is, or Is You Ain't
(7:10)  2. I Thought About You
(3:43)  3. Someday My Prince Will Come
(7:11)  4. My Funny Valentine
(8:36)  5. Angels Eyes
(3:32)  6. Sugar
(4:47)  7. I Fall In Love Too Easily
(3:00)  8. Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise
(4:34)  9. You Don't Know What Love Is

This is the debut album by Polish Jazz vocalist Beata Przybytek, recorded with her quintet, which comprises of saxophonist / flautist Marcin Zupanski, pianist Dorota Zaziablo, bassist Robert Szewczuga and drummer Ryszard Balcer. Violinist Krzysztof Maciejowski guests on one track. The album presents nine classic Jazz vocal standards, sung in their original English version. There are no arrangement credits on the album's liner notes. The album was recorded while Przybytek was a student at the Academy of Music in Katowice where she studied Jazz vocals and her group comprises of her fellow students from the same school as well as students from the Academy of Music in Krakow.The result is certainly well above the expectations one might have from a group of very young and inexperienced musicians. Both the vocals and the instrumental backing are quite excellent and most importantly have a unique sound and afresh approach to these standards, which have been tried countless times before. The arrangements include enough space for the instrumentalists to be able to show their skills, which they do repeatedly. Przybytek unveils her warm and expressive voice, which she playfully stretches between seductive meows and heartbreaking howls, all in good taste and with obvious talent. She does not use often the husky tone, which she utilizes on her later recordings, but her enormous potential is quite evident here. She also is one the very few Polish vocalists that can get away with singing in English without sounding utterly ridiculous, which works in her favor. Her intonation tends to be on the Gospel / Blues side, which suits her well. Overall, although not very innovative or groundbreaking, this is a very solid offering, which as a debut can be definitely regarded as an outstanding effort. Vocal Jazz fans will find this quite delightful, combining youthful enthusiasm and innocence with talent and dedication. Well done! By Adam Baruch

Personnel:  Beata Przybytek - vocals;  Marcin Zupanski - saxophone & flute;  Dorota Zaziablo - piano;  Robert Szewczuga - bass;  Ryszard Balcer - drums

You Don't Know What Love Is

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Gerald Albright - Bermuda Nights

Styles: Crossover Jazz, Saxophone Jazz 
Year: 1988
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:53
Size: 103,0 MB
Art: Front

(5:06)  1. When You Say You Love Me
(5:43)  2. In The Mood
(5:53)  3. Bermuda Nights
(5:39)  4. The Hook
(6:37)  5. Feeling Inside
(5:23)  6. Still In Love
(5:02)  7. Truth
(5:28)  8. Too Cool

Smooth jazz usually enjoys a bad reputation with critics, who tend to complain that the music is shallow and bereft of any personality. It's thanks to albums like Gerald Albright's Bermuda Nights that this style is often dismissed. There is virtually nothing on the album which is actually worth hearing. Sure, Albright's saxophone playing is competent, but he shows little excitement and even less personal style. The backing musicians include session cats such as drummer Harvey Mason and guitarist Paul Jackson, Jr., but they do not add anything to the proceedings. Basically, the songs tend to sound alike, and even though most feature different musicians, all of them offer the same pseudo-lush plastic-keyboard approach. There are many smooth jazz albums which show that the genre is not as terrible as critics pretend, but Bermuda Nights certainly doesn't fall into this category. This album is in its essence an inoffensive piece of fluff, recommended only to fans of Albright who would later record better smooth jazz albums himself. ~ Christian Genzel https://www.allmusic.com/album/bermuda-nights-mw0000202303   

Bermuda Nights

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Harry James & His Orchestra - You'll Never Know

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 1997
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:32
Size: 122,8 MB
Art: Front

(2:39)  1. You'll Never Know
(2:44)  2. Fly Me to the Moon
(2:45)  3. A Man and a Woman
(2:10)  4. Time After Time
(3:20)  5. Gigi
(2:43)  6. Blue Skies
(2:15)  7. My Melancholy Baby
(2:58)  8. Three Coins in the Fountain
(2:09)  9. Pennies from Heaven
(3:02) 10. I'll Be Seeing You
(2:28) 11. By The Time I Get To Phoenix
(2:42) 12. I Can Dream Can't I?
(3:11) 13. Willow Weep for Me
(2:27) 14. Poor Butterfly
(2:00) 15. My Heart Cries for You
(2:42) 16. This Guy's in Love with You
(3:06) 17. Traces
(2:25) 18. Anytime
(2:26) 19. Three O'Clock In The Morning
(3:12) 20. A Taste of Honey

While this British import is a reasonable compilation of Dick Haymes recordings from 1940 to 1946, including four tracks by the Harry James Orchestra and 20 of Haymes solo recordings for Decca, the album's subtitle, "24 Hits!" is misleading. The singer's sole hit with James, "I'll Get By (As Long as I Have You)," is included, as are 11 of his 27 singles chart entries as a solo artist during the period, among them the million-selling number one title track and such major hits as "It Can't Be Wrong," "I'll Buy That Dream," "Together," "It Had to Be You" (the last three duets with Helen Forrest), and "It Might as Well Be Spring." But other equally big hits, such as "Long Ago (And Far Away)," "Till the End of Time," "Oh! What It Seemed to Be," and "Put Your Arms Around Me, Honey (I Never Knew Any Girl Like You)," are missing (not to mention Haymes hits from after 1946), and half the tracks, while often worthy inclusions (such as "It's a Grand Night for Singing," a Rodgers & Hammerstein song that Haymes sang in the film State Fair, and "For You, For Me, For Evermore," a Gershwin song that Haymes sang in the film This Shocking Miss Pilgrim, here presented as a duet with Judy Garland), are not actually hits. Hence, this is not the ideal Haymes hits collection, though it does present some of his best and most popular material. The tracks contain a fair amount of surface noise, and there is a good, brief biographical essay. ~ William Ruhlmann https://www.allmusic.com/album/youll-never-know-asv-mw0000086051 

You'll Never Know

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Stanley Turrentine - Sugar

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:04
Size: 135.2 MB
Styles: Soul-Jazz, Post Bop, Modal
Year: 1971/2001
Art: Front

[10:03] 1. Sugar
[10:45] 2. Sunshine Alley
[14:10] 3. Impressions
[ 9:36] 4. Gibraltar
[14:28] 5. Sugar (Live)

Bass – Ron Carter; Congas – Richard "Pablo" Landrum; Drums – Billy Kaye; Electric Piano – Lonnie L. Smith, Jr.; Guitar – George Benson; Organ – Butch Cornell; Tenor Saxophone – Stanley Turrentine; Trumpet – Freddie Hubbard. Recorded at Van Gelder Studios November, 1970.

If ever there were a record that both fit perfectly and stood outside the CTI Records' stable sound, it is Sugar by Stanley Turrentine. Recorded in 1970, only three tracks appear on the original album (on the reissue there's a bonus live version of the title track, which nearly outshines the original and is 50 percent longer). Turrentine, a veteran of the soul-jazz scene since the '50s, was accompanied by a who's who of groove players, including guitarist George Benson, Lonnie Liston Smith on electric piano, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, bassist Ron Carter, organist Butch Cornell, and drummer Billy Kaye, among others. (The live version adds Airto, flutist Hubert Laws, drummer Billy Cobham, and organist Johnny Hammond.) The title track is a deep soul blues workout with a swinging backbeat and the rhythm section fluidly streaming through fours and eights as Benson, Hubbard, and Turrentine begin slowly and crank up the heat, making the pace and stride of the cut simmer then pop -- especially in Hubbard's solo. This is truly midnight blue, and the party's at the point of getting really serious or about to break up. By the time Benson picks up his break, full of slick, shiny, warm arpeggios, the seams are bursting and couples are edging into corners. Butch Cornell's "Sunshine Alley" is a solid, funky groover, paced by organ and double fours by Kaye. Turrentine and Hubbard stride into the melody and keep the vamp in the pocket, riding out past the blues line into a tag that just revs the thing up even further. But the big surprise is in the final track, one of the most solidly swinging, from-the-gut emotional rides of John Coltrane's "Impressions" ever taken. Turrentine is deep inside his horn, ringing out in legato with everything he has -- and it is considerable. Ron Carter's bass playing flows through the modal interludes, creating a basis for some beautifully intervallic invention by Benson and Smith by building a series of harmonic bridges through the mode to solos. It's hard to believe this is Turrentine, yet is could be no one else. If jazz fans are interested in Turrentine beyond the Blue Note period -- and they should be -- this is a heck of a place to listen for satisfaction. ~Thom Jurek

Sugar 

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Lee Gibson - The Nearness Of You

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:15
Size: 126.5 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 1996
Art: Front

[3:36] 1. Time After Time
[4:07] 2. Never Let Me Go
[5:43] 3. They Can't Take That Away From Me
[4:46] 4. Good Morning Heartache
[4:21] 5. Here's That Rainy Day
[5:08] 6. Nice 'n' Easy
[3:09] 7. The Lady Is A Tramp
[5:40] 8. A Foggy Day
[4:01] 9. Please Don't Talk About Me When I've Gone
[5:36] 10. The Nearness Of You
[4:23] 11. Teach Me Tonight
[4:42] 12. I Only Have Eyes For You

This is an album for anyone who loves jazz singing but feels a little starved of late. Sure there are some great singers around making interesting noises, but they can make demands on the listener too. What’s on offer either verges on the esoteric, or there’s too strong an admixture of soul, or the album is largely made up of the singer’s own (often uncompromisingly subjective) compositions. The difference between a singer and a jazz singer is that the latter always swings. ‘Phrasing like a horn’ is a well worn cliché but it serves the purpose of defining the critical essence of jazz singing, a genre which is perhaps more complex to understand and requires more of its audience than ‘popular’ singing. And the ability to invest sometimes banal lyrics with meaning and worth is another weapon essential weapon in a jazz singer’s armouryThe difference between Lee Gibson and many another jazz singer is that she swings in so many different ways, sometimes subtle, sometimes sensuous, sometimes joyful but always musical. Throughout this CD she never sacrifices respect for her listeners or fellow musicians; each song is presented with love and clarity, pitched to perfection.

Lee’s uninhibited delivery and unstoppable swing never occlude her concern for the meaning of the lyrics. There’s an overall excitement about the album, from which you can’t help getting the impression that each musician can hardly wait to join her. This is musicians’ singer. Every tune on this CD will reward repeated listening, right through to the exhilarating, high octane I Only Have Eyes For You with its cross rhythms and breakneck tempo."
~Jonathan Abbott

The Nearness Of You mc
The Nearness Of You zippy

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Ronald Tomas Nonet - Travels

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:23
Size: 90.2 MB
Styles: World Fusion
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[3:11] 1. Chili Con Pasyon
[3:38] 2. Pandango Palawan
[3:11] 3. Very Early
[4:12] 4. Joselynang Baliwag
[3:54] 5. Dum Da Dee Dum
[4:09] 6. Duyog Sunrise
[4:32] 7. Ground Zero
[3:57] 8. Ramut
[5:01] 9. Natutulog Ka Na Ba Sinta
[3:36] 10. Sinulugang Taktak

A brave kaleidoscope of musical fare from all over the world textured with indigenous Philippine rhythms and melodies over jazz as foundational bedrock. This in essence is the core of what the music of Ronald Tomas Nonet and their full length album “Travels” is all about.

Progressive and at the same time traditional in approach complemented by strong performances is what the group unapologetically radiates in every track. The new “Travels” album is in the “Sounds Like” category of Miles Davis’ Nonet of Birth of the Cool featuring the arrangements of Gil Evans, Joe Lovano Nonet’s 52nd Street Themes, Kalayo, Bob Aves and traditional Philippine Pasyon, Harana, Kundiman, Kulintang and Kalinga music.
Unique in vision and unprecedented in musical treatment, this record is tightly arranged and produced by Ronald Tomas, engineered by Shinji Tanaka and Johnoy Danao and mastered by Darryll Swann (record producer, songwriter, educator and musician who has worked with prominent artists including Macy Gray, Black Eyed Peas, Mos Def among others and has also done substantial work for Atlantic Records, Sony Records, and Universal Records.)

This trailblazing effort has both energy and driving power coupled with class, sensitivity and style thus making the group and the album project one broad spectrum of musical soundscape all rolled in one neat package.

Travels mc
Travels zippy

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Matt Savage - Piano Voyages No. 12

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:02
Size: 119.1 MB
Styles: Piano jazz
Year: 2016
Art: Front

[4:14] 1. Got To Get You Into My Life
[5:17] 2. Green
[3:56] 3. 5 Percent
[4:45] 4. Southie To Soho
[5:35] 5. To The Sky
[0:57] 6. Virtual Blues
[4:29] 7. The End
[4:55] 8. The Day Before
[5:39] 9. Maiden Voyage
[5:35] 10. Road Song
[6:33] 11. Lullaby For Boston

For those who have not had the pleasure, Matt Savage, born in 1992, is a most remarkably gifted pianist and composer. He was a precocious infant who walked early and learned to read by age 18 months. He was diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder, a form of autism, at age three. Matt did not like any noises or music during his early childhood. At age six, Matt taught himself to read piano music. He studied classical piano for less than a year before discovering jazz, which became his main focus. He began studying at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts in the fall of 1999. He continued his classical studies as well. Among Matt's talents are hyperlexia and perfect pitch. Coupled with his extremely high intelligence, these abilities have allowed him to achieve other distinctions as well, such as winning a statewide geography bee. Despite his young age and his autism, and even without formal instruction in musical composition, Matt is an accomplished musician and composer. He has released several albums, both as a solo performer and as part of the Matt Savage Trio. By the age of 14, he had also performed with Chaka Khan and other popular singers. Matt's compositions tend toward the technical, but they are still very approachable and often humorous. ~Grady Harp

Piano Voyages No. 12 mc
Piano Voyages No. 12 zippy

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Milt Jackson, J.J. Johnson, Ray Brown - Jackson, Johnson, Brown & Company

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:36
Size: 88.4 MB
Styles: Bop, Vibraphone jazz
Year: 1983/2006
Art: Front

[8:28] 1. Jaybone
[5:04] 2. Lament
[5:49] 3. Our Delight
[5:35] 4. Bags' Groove
[4:47] 5. Watch What Happens
[5:09] 6. My One And Only Love
[3:41] 7. The Jumpin' Blues

The interplay between vibraphonist Milt Jackson and trombonist J.J. Johnson is the main reason to acquire this set. With fine backup from pianist Tom Ranier, guitarist John Collins, bassist Ray Brown and drummer Roy McCurdy, Jackson and Johnson are in top form on a variety of bop standards, including Johnson's "Lament," "Our Delight," "Bags Groove" and "My One and Only Love." Enthusiastic, consistently swinging music from some of the best. ~Scott Yanow

Jackson, Johnson, Brown & Company

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Howe Gelb - Future Standards

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:40
Size: 84.0 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2017
Art: Front

[3:50] 1. Terribly So
[3:47] 2. Irresponsible Lovers
[3:32] 3. A Book You've Read Before
[2:56] 4. Relevant
[3:09] 5. Ownin' It
[2:47] 6. Clear
[2:28] 7. Impossible Thing
[3:34] 8. The Shiver Revisted
[2:05] 9. Mad Man At Large
[3:42] 10. May You Never Fall In Love
[2:38] 11. Sweet Confusion
[2:05] 12. Mad Man At Home

Howe Gelb - piano, voice; Thøger Lund - bass; Andrew Collberg - drums. With guests: Lonna Kelley - voice; Naim Amor - guitar. Recorded and mixed in Tucson, AZ at Wavelab Studio by Chris Schultz.

These are ‘Future Standards’ by The Howe Gelb Piano Trio, taking an outsider view of early gospel and rhythm and blues both part of the American musical socialization that he touched on with 2006’s ‘Sno Angel’. Now he’s on a jazz-tinged trip, bending the genre, taking it back to his shack.

On ‘Future Standards’, Gelb duets with the equally laconic Lonna Kelley as the pair come on like a seasoned duo managed by Broadway Danny Rose in Woody Allen’s film of the same name. Gelb’s piano sinks to a pedal-depressed ambience as his cavalier vocal boasts of new love and faded times, all In the best tradition of the American Songbook that he’s pretty damn cleverly adding a new volume to.

"This is an attempt at writing a batch of tunes that could last through the ages with the relative structure of what has become known as "standards". The likes of Cole Porter and Hoagy Carmichael done up by Frank Sinatra or Billie Holiday," suggests Howe. "Julie London had a lot to do with it."

Future Standards mc
Future Standards zippy

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David Friesen, Joe Henderson, Chick Corea - Voices

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:19
Size: 122.1 MB
Styles: Contemporary jazz
Year: 2001/2015
Art: Front

[ 8:13] 1. Amber Skies
[10:16] 2. Blue And Green
[ 5:54] 3. Underlying
[ 4:39] 4. Jenelle Number Four
[ 8:51] 5. In The Place Of Calling
[ 6:11] 6. Sitka In The Woods
[ 9:11] 7. Voices

Once in a great while, a musician emerges with such authority and such seemingly effortless originality that his place in the front ranks of his instrument is unquestioned. So it is with David Friesen. ~Nat Hentoff

David Friesen has recorded over 78 CD's as a leader/co-leader and appeared as a sideman or featured artist on more than 100 recordings. He has performed and/or recorded with many of the great names and legends of jazz including: Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Sam Rivers, Michael Brecker, Bud Shank, Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Shaw, Freddy Hubbard, Art Farmer, Clark Terry, Joe Venuti, Mal Waldron, Jaki Byard, Kenny Drew Sr., Chick Corea, Milt Jackson, Slim Gaillard, John Scofield, Philly Joe Jones, Elvin Jones, Paul Motian, Jack Dejohnette, Airto Moreira, and many others. He has performed in concert as a soloist (Friesen is one of two or three bassists in the world that is able to play a solo concert and keep an audience riveted) and with his own groups throughout the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, The Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Turkey, Poland, Japan, Czech Republic, Ukraine, New Zealand, Australia, China and South America.

Friesen's music, which is imbued with certain ingredients of jazz, is also characterized by folk-flavored things and classical and Jewish veins with substantial spontaneity, lyrical strength, warmth and creative discoveries in the musical wilderness. ~Dr. Herb Wong

Voices mc
Voices zippy

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Hailey Tuck - Junk

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:10
Size: 98.8 MB
Styles: Contemporary jazz vocals
Year: 2018
Art: Front

[3:28] 1. That Don't Make It Junk
[2:42] 2. Cry To Me
[4:32] 3. Cactus Tree
[4:17] 4. Some Other Time
[3:14] 5. Say You Don't Mind
[2:38] 6. Alcohol
[4:22] 7. Last In Line
[4:18] 8. My Chemical Life
[3:11] 9. I Don't Care Much
[3:13] 10. Trouble In Mind
[4:10] 11. Underwear
[2:58] 12. Junk

Hailey Tuck’s story sounds like a far-fetched film script. A teenager from Texas with a bob borrowed from Louise Brooks and a suitcase stuffed full of vintage dresses takes off for Paris with her college fund and a dream of becoming a jazz singer. An Italian countess becomes her benefactor, she wows the crowds in crazy cabaret clubs and finds herself at underground jazz venues before her music wins her fans around the world and a legendary producer invites her to L.A. to record her debut album. As unlikely as that sounds, those are just the bare bones of Hailey’s tale. Throw in a Baptist military boarding school, a brush with a member of Maroon 5 and a chiselled tap dancer doing a Josephine Baker striptease and you’re still only scratching the surface.

Already lauded for her live shows and tipped by Interview, Nylon, People magazine and Marie Claire, Hailey is on a mission to turn jazz on its head. Junk, her spectacular debut album, is infused with her powerhouse personality, her love of the dark side of life and her carefree approach to convention.

Junk

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Michael Formanek - The Rub And Spare Change

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:52
Size: 132.5 MB
Styles: Bop
Year: 2010
Art: Front

[ 8:31] 1. Twenty Three Neo
[ 9:25] 2. The Rub And Spare Change
[ 5:59] 3. Inside The Box
[ 7:27] 4. Jack's Last Call
[17:11] 5. Tonal Suite
[ 9:16] 6. Too Big To Fail

Michael Formanek: double-bass; Tim Berne; alto saxophone; Craig Taborn: piano; Gerald Cleaver: drums.

With a discography that's growing with each passing year—expanding into territories new to both the label and music in general—it's difficult to understand the need for some to apply a reductionist stance to the music of ECM, whitewashing it with descriptions like "melancholy," or "Nordic cool." One listen to bassist Michael Formanek's ECM debut, The Rub And Spare Change, quickly dispenses with these—and many other—mythic generalizations that simply cannot describe a label that, in its fifth decade and with over a thousand releases, represents the broadest purview in the history of jazz, improvised music, and beyond.

Formanek's diminutive discography as a leader contrasts with busy work as a sideman, extending from the modern mainstream of pianist Fred Hersch to saxophonist Tim Berne's left-of-center nexus of complex form and unfettered freedom, Bloodcount. The Rub And Spare Change gravitates more towards Bloodcount's avant-edged extremes; those accusing ECM of avoiding dense, angular free play need look no further than the 17-minute "Tonal Suite." Here, Formanek combines an intro that actually swings (another ECM myth debunked), with a gradually expanding improvisational radius, where pianist Craig Taborn's assertive stance gradually morphs into a time-based yet still temporally fluid free-for-all, as the bassist and drummer Gerald Cleaver somehow retain an undercurrent of groove, even as Berne, who rounds out the quartet, avoids the obvious—layering, instead, lines that range from pulsating, counter-rhythmic support to rapid-fire soaring ascensions—curiously kept out of the front of the mix to engender an even more completely collaborative ambiance.

Egalitarian it may be, but with Formanek contributing all of The Rub And Spare Change's six compositions, it still possesses a leader with perspicacious focus. Amidst the organized chaos of "Too Big Too Fall," Taborn's dissonant note block chords—with Berne layering slow-built but powerful lines—quickly contrast with darker passages, where spare but oblique melodies, working from the same premise of repetition as their more extreme thematic cousins, gradually intensify, signalling a return to Taborn's quarter-note voicings with relentless inevitability.

There are moments of beauty as well, though the persistent, irregular-metered piano figure that drives the mid-eastern-tinged "Twenty Three Neo" creates an unsettling foundation for Formanek's arco and Berne's equally considered alto, which move, in turns, from orbiting gravitational opposites to lucid, coincident partners. Cleaver—who, with his work alongside bassist Miroslav Vitous, both separately and in trio with guitarist Terje Rypdal, has emerged as a new percussion affiliate to the label—moves effortlessly across Formanek's always demanding music, combining textures, both atmospheric and grounded, with complex rhythmic subdivisions and attention to the smallest detail. The ubiquitous Taborn continues to posit an encyclopaedic stance, ready to turn on a dime with absolute precision.

The Rub And Spare Change is Formanek's first album as a leader since Am I Bothering You? (Screwgun, 1998). With a group this vibrant and instinctive, performing music that combines rigor and reckless abandon, on a label ideal for Formanek's expansive artistic purview, here's hoping another decade doesn't have to pass before the bassist reconvenes this group for another go around. ~John Kelman

The Rub And Spare Change mc
The Rub And Spare Change zippy

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Willie Williams - Spirit Willie

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 73:38
Size: 168.5 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz
Year: 1994
Art: Front

[8:48] 1. Spirit Willie
[4:26] 2. Out
[5:36] 3. Sarge In Charge
[8:50] 4. Benita
[4:51] 5. Figure 10
[4:57] 6. Afternoon In Africa
[9:34] 7. Andrae's Theme
[4:07] 8. Leapin' And Weepin'
[5:58] 9. After All This Time
[5:39] 10. Misty
[4:16] 11. Song For Me
[6:31] 12. Quittin' Time

Bass – Christian McBride; Drums – Victor Lewis; Piano – Geoff Keezer; Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Willie Williams. Recorded March 20 & 21, 1992 by Rudy Van Gelder at Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.

Tenor saxophonist Willie Williams comes on strong, but no wonder, since the liner notes of this, his second recording in more than half a decade, proclaim 1992 the year he'll receive his due. He's got a good, straightforward sound. It doesn't break any barriers, but the music seems to come from something true within. He travels in good company, too. Gifted pianist Geoff Keezer backs him up beautifully. ~Jack Fuller

Spirit Willie mc
Spirit Willie zippy

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Greg Abate - Bop City Live at Birdland

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1991
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:02
Size: 165,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:02)  1. Bop City
(5:05)  2. Minorism
(4:16)  3. What is this thing called love?
(7:58)  4. The Gypsy
(8:17)  5. Peaks Beaks
(5:11)  6. Basting The Bird
(6:17)  7. Andromeda
(6:38)  8. These Foolish Things
(7:46)  9. The Young 'uns
(5:23) 10. Opportunity
(6:36) 11. Gemini Mood
(3:27) 12. Sax O'Blues

Journeyman saxophonist Greg Abate makes a decent modern hard bop recording on this 1992 session. His playing is solid and sometimes frenetic, but also derivative. The compositions are straightforward and long enough for Abate and cast to make effective solos, yet short enough not to become tiring. He has a first-rate rhythm section with pianist James Williams, bassist Rufus Reid, and drummer Kenny Washington. ~ Ron Wynn https://www.allmusic.com/album/bop-city-live-at-birdland-mw0000602278   

Personnel: Greg Abate (soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); James Williams (piano); Rufus Reid (bass instrument); Kenny Washington (drums).

Bop City Live at Birdland

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Amy Holland - The Journey To Miracle River

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:09
Size: 122,8 MB
Art: Front

(4:45)  1. Don't Lose Your Faith In Me
(3:16)  2. Backdown
(4:01)  3. Miracle River
(4:49)  4. Hate Love A Little
(4:40)  5. A Few Short Hours
(4:30)  6. Witness
(4:04)  7. You Move Me That Way
(3:40)  8. Everybody Wants To Be Your Friend
(3:59)  9. Surrender
(5:07) 10. Nothin' Left To Believe In
(4:21) 11. My Little Rebel
(4:52) 12. Honest Emotion

Amy Holland’s career began at 15 years old when she migrated to LA to sign with Brother records a label started by the Beach Boys. Though no album was to materialize, it was a ticket out of palisades NY straight into the music business of the 70’s in that mecca known as Hollywood California. Amy Boersma came to LA as a singer songwriter in 1970 and during the typical string of artist development deals that for some reason, don’t quite pan out, she met and captured the interest of more than a few distinguished record producers. Among these were Jack Daugherty (the Carpenters. Paul Williams) and Rick Jarrard (Jefferson Airplane, Nillson, Jose Feliciano). However it was a randomly brief but fortuitous rehearsal encounter with a relatively unknown composer, and for the moment, piano accompanist Michael McDonald, during these early years that would lead ultimately to Amy Hollands success at radio years later, winning her a best new artist nomination at the Grammy Awards of 1980. McDonald who, years later, remembering the allure of her vocal style, would join forces with keyboardist/composer/producer, Patrick Henderson to produce her first Capitol LP from which the top 20 hit “How do I Survive,” (composed by Paul Bliss), emerged on to the charts, taking Amy Holland around the world as an American 80’s ingénue. This period of Amy’s career is documented by TV appearances in Japan and the US that can still be found on You Tube. A second Capitol LP titled “On Your Every Word” and musical contributions to films such as “Scar Face” and “Teen Wolf” (Some of those tracks produced and written by the infamous Georgio Maroder) along with her contributions to the projects of other artist’s such as Kenny Loggins, Joni Mitchell, Tim Weisburg, Doobie Brother Patrick Simmons and McDonald’s solo projects, would mark her career path for the next few years. During this time her music business relationship with producer McDonald had developed into something much more and with their marriage and the subsequent birth of their two children, Amy found herself embracing the role of wife and mother. discovering along the way that she had to somewhat relax her grip on her lifelong dream of being a recording artist. After a much longer than intended hiatus due to a battle to survive breast cancer, Amy has found a renewed inspiration in the making and release of her most recent CD “The Journey To Miracle River”. 

Produced by Bernie Chiaravalle, this Album is very much the autobiography of a personal sojourn she was destined to return from at this point in her life, It’s her first solo CD release in over 20 years. With songs co-written by Amy with friends Jon Vesner, John Goodwin, Michael McDonald and Bernie Chiaravalle. The much anticipated album is slated for an early fall release and features contributions from Vince Gill, Michael McDonald, Shannon Forrest, Bernie Chiaravalle, Stuart Duncan, Tim Akers, and her son, Dylan McDonald to name a few. Most recently, Amy’s voice can be heard on Willie Nelson’s release of “Whatever Happened To Peace On Earth”. A poignant call to conscience featuring other artists such as Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, Michael McDonald, and Pat Simmons with all proceeds going to benefit the National Veterans Foundation. https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/amyholland

The Journey To Miracle River

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