Carol Sudhalter - The Octave Tunes

Styles: Flute And Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:38
Size: 158,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:04)  1. Flamingo
(4:23)  2. Pancake Blues
(6:08)  3. You Go To My Head
(6:08)  4. Alice In Wonderland
(6:31)  5. Nature Boy
(4:46)  6. Quisiera Ser
(5:43)  7. Daydream
(1:57)  8. Cheeseburger Blue
(4:48)  9. Somewhere Over The Rainbow
(4:38) 10. It' Only A Paper Moon
(6:29) 11. Crazy He Calls Me
(4:02) 12. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
(7:55) 13. The Christmas Song

The title of this album, according to leader/woodwind specialist Carol Sudhalter, refers to the fact that each of its thirteen tunes begins on the interval of an octave. Ten of The Octave Tunes' songs are standards, including a pair of holiday favorites, "Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" and "The Christmas Song." Of the three originals, two were written by Sudhalter's guests, organist Vito Di Modugno ("Pancake Blues") and precocious teen-age pianist Carlo Barile ("Cheeseburger Blue"), who accompanies Sudhalter on four charming duets, three showcasing her dancing flute, the other ("Over the Rainbow") her gravelly baritone sax. Sudhalter raises the baritone again on "Cheeseburger Blue," plays tenor on "Pancake Blues," "Crazy He Calls Me" and "The Christmas Song," and sits out on two numbers "You Go to My Head" (vocal by Marti Mabin} and Duke Ellington's "Daydream" (solo organ by Modugno). Mabin is the vocalist on "Crazy He Calls Me" and "The Christmas Song," Elena Camerin on the saucy samba "Quisiera Ser" (color added by trumpeter Charlie Franklin and percussionist Bobby Viteri). Sudhalter's flute is front and center again on "Nature Boy," "Quisiera Ser" and "It's Only a Paper Moon." Everything is well-played, and the album atones in variety for what it may lack in resourcefulness. Sudhalter is proficient on every axe, and the supporting cast is admirable, especially Barile and Modugno, who are among several Italians in the crew (the album was released on Rome's Alfa Music label). Those who haven't heard Sudhalter are sure to be pleasantly surprised, and may be inspired to seek out her splendid big-band album, Last Train to Astoria (Self Produced, 2002). ~ Jack Bowers https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-octave-tunes-carol-sudhalter-alfamusic-review-by-jack-bowers.php

Personnel: Carol Sudhalter: leader, flute (1, 4-6, 10, 12), tenor sax (2, 11, 13), baritone sax (3, 8, 9); Charlie Franklin: trumpet (6); Carlo Barile: piano (1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12); Joe Vincent Tranchina: piano (5, 10); Antonio Cervellino: bass (1, 3-6, 8, 10); Roberto Pistolesi: drums (3, 8); Kaori Yamada: drums (2, 10, 11); Marti Mabin: vocals (3, 11, 13); Elena Camerin: vocals (6); Vito Di Modugno: Hammond organ (2, 7, 11, 13).

The Octave Tunes

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48th St. Collective - Music Links

Styles: Vocal, Post Bop 
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 30:12
Size: 69,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:05)  1. Sure Know Something
(3:18)  2. Porcelain
(3:06)  3. Say Say Say - Acoustic Mix
(3:43)  4. Love is Love
(2:42)  5. Shine on You Crazy Diamond
(2:45)  6. Cry to Me
(3:56)  7. Wild Things
(4:29)  8. Torn
(3:03)  9. With or Without You - Album Mix

Music Links

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Lisa Hilton - Oasis

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:00
Size: 110,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:36)  1. Twists of Fate
(4:54)  2. Adventure Lands
(4:59)  3. Oasis
(4:06)  4. Watercolor World
(2:48)  5. Fascinating Rhythm
(4:08)  6. Vapors & Shadows
(3:11)  7. Just for Fun
(4:43)  8. Sunshine States
(4:21)  9. Lazy Daisy
(4:31) 10. Sunday Morning
(6:38) 11. Warm Summer Night

“‘Oasis’ is freedom and lyrical art. It overflows with Hilton’s somersaulting narrative, lyricism in every note, turning and churning in on itself  expressed with thought, clarity, and the fusion of movement and texture. Hilton slips in a whirlwind of feeling in “Watercolor World,” as a painter would to her canvas  in splashes and spurts, behind your back. The composition unravels in ever-shifting threads, which she seems to brush and stroke back into a semblance of orderly life. Her aerial lifts bank up against contrasting, darker chords for that subtle textural context she’s known for.”~ Festival Peak

“Because of her serene manner, glorious stylings and superb leadership skills, this award winner has gained the respect of an array of living legends, and she has worked alongside MANY. It all translates into extraordinary music that is compared to jazz and classical icons. Lisa Hilton is RARE.” ~  Hybrid Jazz

“Reliably exceptional  that is how I would describe Lisa Hilton. … Her composing and performance could be described as existing between impressionism and expressionism, but the one thing all her performances have is a heartbeat. Swinging-ly grounded in the beat she establishes is where Hilton’s charm shines the brightest.” ~ C. Michael Bailey/All About Jazz https://lisahiltonmusic.com/oasis/

Personnel:  Lisa Hilton - piano, Lucques Curtis - bass, Mark Whitfield Jr. - drums

Oasis

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Kirk Knuffke & Mike Pride - The Exterminating Angel

Styles: Cornet Jazz
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:53
Size: 158,9 MB
Art: Front

( 9:55)  1. Appeasing the Geezer
( 2:09)  2. Goldie
(10:03)  3. Moritz
(12:10)  4. Exterminating Angel
(11:25)  5. Benstein
(23:09)  6. SUPERDIXON

Though he may have since betrayed this quote, King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew once declared that he didn't need to deviate from the guitar's standard tuning because he hadn't "yet explored everything it has to offer" (this was the mid '90s when guitarist chic demanded a drop of all strings into obscure tunings). While he does color his tone with all manner of effect-stretching, there is something admirable about the embrace of an instrument's idiosyncrasy in the potential sea of technical and musical abyss. Cornetist Kirk Knuffke and drummer Mike Pride demonstrate a conservative approach to orchestration, meaning they aren't hooked up to amps, or playing underwater, or manipulating anything with feedback, or using special gadgets to coax sounds. And, you know, there are only two people to carry out a complete musical experience. They're confident and trust in the honest power of working through the history of duo jazz music; if you think about that mythology (Monk and Coltrane, Ali and Coltrane) there is a lot to live up to. However, Knuffke and Pride are effective  not flashy storytellers, and with their ability to pull you in with calmness and space, they don't require the pyrotechnics often employed as competition with the masters. Though the duo does get busy and work up modest storms, meditative qualities are what you'll take away from The Exterminating Angel. Knuffke opens "Appeasing the Geezer" with a gentle (maybe gentler) purr like Miles Davis' "Sanctuary", almost sighing out his chiaroscuro melody where dots of pauses are imagined and fill in the blanks; really, the whole album nests in a (and this always sounds stupid) "what isn't being played" aesthetic where Knuffke and Pride play just the right amount of music to spur your imagination into hearing "that's where the bass player would be, a pianist would comp the chords here" etc. 

Pride joins with an equally soft series of wooden taps and drum rolls that emulate a Morse code message (it reads "here I come, let's rally a bit"). There are bits of bowed cymbal, jingling objects on drum heads and out-of-breath, top-of-your-range squeals peppered throughout (i.e. "Goldie", "The Exterminating Angel"), but the music largely floats on time: swing, hard bop and more free rhythms / polyrhythms, with Knuffke and Pride either uniting or refueling while the other stretches out to explore. This template continues with both men playing in the moment (Knuffke mentions in the liner notes that this is his first fully improvised record), showing why their agile, chameleon and balancing approach to style and each other has collectively fit with such disparate characters as Mary Halvorson, John Zorn, Butch Morris, Talibam!, Nels Cline, Nate Wooley, Anthony Braxton and William Parker. On the 23-minute showcase finale, "SUPERDIXON", the two play off one another, both appearing to be engaged in extended, personal solos that bisect without tangle periodically; Knuffke works his lean, composed ascension of pan-harmonic movement while Pride bounces between genres hinged on his ever-present internal pulse (that also keeps the listener toe tapping). At sixteen minutes, the drummer reaches the end of his bag of tricks and opens a new one filled with snatches of Latin-infused triplets, languid Rock, almost-ceremonial Native American traipses and occasional chimes and Chinese gong; near twenty minutes, and the twosome begins to fade out with Pride delicately striking deep tom tones as Knuffke literally seems to walk behind the microphones. It inspires a visual experience where you can picture machines slowly power-down to sleep after a 70-minute voyage. Per Knuffke, the original formula for the album involved a bass player, but "no one we wanted was available". Who knows how that would have shaped this album, but I can't imagine adding or subtracting from this successful test of musical economy. http://www.squidsear.com/cgi-bin/news/newsView.cgi?newsID=1584

Personnel:  Kirk Knuffke - cornet; Mike Pride - drums, percussion

The Exterminating Angel

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Don Shirley - Don Shirley Solos

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:49
Size: 96,4 MB
Art: Front

(4:24)  1. It Could Happen To You
(2:25)  2. Laura
(4:39)  3. I'll Be Around
(2:36)  4. Bewitched
(3:31)  5. Something To Remember You By
(3:28)  6. Ill Wind
(3:28)  7. Little Girl Blue
(4:35)  8. I'm In The Mood For Love
(2:16)  9. This Is My Beloved
(3:44) 10. April In Paris
(2:27) 11. It Never Entered My Mind
(4:11) 12. Don't Worry 'Bout Me

Donald Walbridge Shirley (January 29, 1927 – April 6, 2013) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Donald Walbridge Shirley was born on January 29, 1927, in Pensacola, Florida, to Jamaican immigrants Stella Gertrude (née Young; 1903–1936) and Edwin S. Shirley (1885–1982). (Don Shirley's place of birth was sometimes given as Kingston, Jamaica, because promoters falsely advertised him as being Jamaican-born.) His father was an Episcopal priest. His mother, a teacher, died when Shirley was nine years old. Shirley's siblings were Dr. Calvin Shirley (1921–2012), Dr. Edwin Shirley, Jr. (1922–2006), Stella Lucille Shirley (1924–1926), and Maurice Shirley (b. 1937).  He also had a half-sister named Edwina Nalchawee (née Shirley) (b. circa 1955). He started to learn piano when he was two years old. At the age of nine, he was invited to study theory with Mittolovski at the Leningrad Conservatory of Music. He also studied with Conrad Bernier and Thaddeus Jones at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.  Shirley earned a doctorate of Music, Psychology, and Liturgical Arts after temporarily giving up the piano.  He spoke eight languages fluently and was also a talented painter. In 1945, at the age of 18, he performed with the Boston Pops,  with Dean Dixon as guest conductor, playing the Tchaikovsky B-flat minor concerto. 

A year later Shirley performed one of his compositions with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He received an invitation from the Haitian government in 1949 to play at the Exposition International du Bi-Centenaire de Port-au-Prince, followed by a request from President Estimé and Archbishop Le Goise for a repeat performance the next week. Discouraged by the lack of opportunities for classical black musicians, Shirley abandoned the piano as a career while young. He studied psychology and began work in Chicago as a psychologist. There he returned to music. He was given a grant to study the relationship between music and juvenile crime, which had broken out in the postwar era of the early 1950s. Playing in a small club, he experimented with sound to determine how the audience responded. The audience was unaware of his experiments and that students had been planted to gauge their reactions. During the 1950s and 1960s, Shirley recorded many albums for Cadence Records, experimenting with jazz with a classical influence. His single "Water Boy" reached No. 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the chart for 14 weeks. He performed in New York City at Basin Street East, where Duke Ellington heard him, and they started a friendship. At Arthur Fiedler's invitation, Shirley appeared with the Boston Pops in Chicago in June 1954. In 1955, he performed with the NBC Symphony at the premiere of Ellington's Piano Concerto at Carnegie Hall. He also appeared on TV on Arthur Godfrey and His Friends. In the fall of 1968, Shirley performed the Tchaikovsky concerto with the Detroit Symphony. He also worked with the Chicago Symphony and the National Symphony Orchestra.[5] He wrote symphonies for the New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra. He played as soloist with the orchestra at Milan's La Scala opera house in a program dedicated to George Gershwin's music. Only two other pianists, Arthur Rubinstein and Sviatoslav Richter, have performed there as soloists. Shirley wrote organ symphonies, piano concerti, a cello concerto, three string quartets, a one-act opera, works for organ, piano and violin, a symphonic tone poem based on the novel Finnegans Wake by James Joyce, and a set of "Variations" on the legend of Orpheus in the Underworld. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Shirley

Don Shirley Solos

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Billy Stritch - Billy Stritch Sings Mel Tormé

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:02
Size: 127,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:14)  1. Just One Of Those Things - On Green Dolphin Street
(2:27)  2. Let's Take A Walk Around The Block
(2:32)  3. Lucky In Love - The Best Things In Life Are Free
(3:45)  4. Blue Moon
(4:36)  5. You're Driving Me Crazy
(3:10)  6. Shine On Your Shoes
(3:46)  7. Born To Be Blue
(2:22)  8. I'm Gonna Go Fishin'
(3:11)  9. Nobody Else But Me
(4:41) 10. Cottage For Sale
(2:23) 11. Sunday In New York
(4:25) 12. Breezin' Along WIth The Breeze - Live Alone And Like It
(4:18) 13. A Nightingale Sang In Berkley Square
(2:46) 14. Lulu's Back In Town
(3:54) 15. Mountain Greenery
(2:25) 16. The Christmas Song

Billy Stritch is one of the premier singer-pianists on the New York and national jazz and cabaret scene. His current solo show is a tribute to the legendary Mel Tormé which has earned rave reviews from the New york music critics. Rex Reed of The Observer called it “an eclectic and thrilling set that is guaranteed to sent you into orbit” while The New York Times called it “a loving, carefully researched tribute from one singer to another.” Billy has appeared in cabaret venues across the nation as well as concert performances at the London Palladium, NHK Hall in Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro’s Municipale Auditorium. In New York, he has performed at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall and recently completed 688 performances as Oscar the rehearsal pianist in the Broadway revival of “42nd Street” which starred Christine Ebersole. It was in this production that Billy and Christine initially met, laying the groundwork for a happy and mutually rewarding musical collaboration. Their CD release “In Your Dreams” is available on Ghostlight Records. Billy is also a songwriter and arranger, and his composition “Does He Love You” was recorded by Reba McEntire and Linda Davis. The single reached the number one spot on the Billboard Country chart, winning a Grammy Award and selling over five million copies along the way. Billy has also written music for theater and for The Radio City Christmas Spectacular. He has arranged for many top performers and is a frequent collaborator with Liza Minnelli, having written the arrangements for “Minnelli On Minnelli at the Palace” and “Liza’s Christmas at Town Hall”. Billy has played and sung on numerous television shows including “The Rosie O’Donnell Show”, “Oprah”, “The CBS Morning Show” and “Today”. He has three CDs to his credit and his latest “Jazz Live”, recorded at The Jazz Standard in New York, was recently released on Fynsworth Alley Records. He is the winner of the Nashville Music City News Award, a BMI Song of the Year Award, and five awards from the Manhattan Association of Clubs and Cabarets including major male vocalist of 2007. https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/billystritch

Billy Stritch Sings Mel Tormé

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Shirley Horn - Do It Again

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 93:40
Size: 217,4 MB
Art: Front

(3:02)  1. After You've Gone
(2:59)  2. Do It Again
(3:14)  3. The Good Life
(2:14)  4. Something Happens to Me
(3:08)  5. Let Me Love You
(3:33)  6. Blue City
(3:43)  7. Wild Is the Wind
(2:50)  8. I'm in the Mood for Love
(3:16)  9. The Second Time Around
(2:27) 10. Loads of Love
(3:45) 11. Wouldn't It Be Loverly
(3:23) 12. Softly as in a Morning Sunrise
(2:43) 13. My Future Just Passed
(2:05) 14. The Great City
(3:29) 15. Go Away Little Boy
(2:35) 16. That Old Black Magic
(3:08) 17. Only the Lonely
(3:04) 18. I Thought About You
(2:44) 19. There's a Boat That's Leavin' Soon for New York
(3:39) 20. God Bless the Child
(3:04) 21. Mack the Knife
(3:21) 22. If I Should Lose You
(2:52) 23. Who Am I
(2:17) 24. On the Street Where You Live
(3:53) 25. Love for Sale
(3:23) 26. In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning
(2:09) 27. Just in Time
(2:54) 28. Come Rain or Come Shine
(2:41) 29. That's No Joke
(3:20) 30. He Never Mentioned Love
(2:31) 31. Like Someone in Love

A superior ballad singer and a talented pianist, Shirley Horn put off potential success until finally becoming a major attraction while in her fifties. She studied piano from the age of four. After attending Howard University, Horn put together her first trio in 1954, and was encouraged in the early '60s by Miles Davis and Quincy Jones. She recorded three albums during 1963-1965 for Mercury and ABC/Paramount, but chose to stick around Washington, D.C., and raise a family instead of pursuing her career. In the early '80s, she began recording for SteepleChase, but Shirley Horn really had her breakthrough in 1987 when she started making records for Verve, an association that continued on records like 1998's I Remember Miles and 2001's You're My Thrill. Along the way she picked up many prestigious honors including seven Grammy nominations (and one win for Best Jazz Vocal Album with I Remember Miles), a 1996 induction into the Lionel Hampton Jazz Hall of Fame and France's the Academie Du Jazz's Prix Billie Holiday for her 1990 album Close Enough for Love. In 2001 Horn's health began to fail (she had her left foot amputated due to diabetes) and while it affected her piano playing, she continued to perform sporadically and recorded one final album for Verve, 2003's May the Music Never End. Horn passed away on October 20, 2005, due to complications from diabetes. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/artist/shirley-horn-mn0000030925/biography

Do It Again

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Kenny Barron, Joe Locke - But Beautiful

Styles: Piano And Vibraphone Jazz
Year: 1991
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:56
Size: 166,2 MB
Art: Front

(5:57)  1. On a Misty Night
(8:08)  2. You Don't Know What Love Is
(7:53)  3. Spring Is Here
(3:43)  4. Single Pedal of a Rose
(9:03)  5. But Beautiful
(7:04)  6. The Island
(6:26)  7. Nancy with the Laughing Face
(7:53)  8. I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face
(8:35)  9. My Foolish Heart
(7:09) 10. Stolen Moments

Vibraphonist Joe Locke's intention was to make an instrumental CD of ballads while maintaining "a vocal quality in the music," as he explains in his liner notes, whether or not the songs played actually have lyrics. It doesn't take long for the listener to affirm the results of his duo date with the consummate pianist Kenny Barron; this is a lively release where both musicians "sing" on their respective instruments. Their interpretations of classic jazz compositions begin with the opener, a jaunty, strutting take of Tadd Dameron's "On a Misty Night." The sensuous arrangement of Duke Ellington's "A Single Petal of a Rose" finds Barron holding the pedal a tad longer than usual to slow the decay of his chords as Locke slowly and softly interweaves his voicings into this magical piece. Oliver Nelson's "Stolen Moments" is not the type of work that one envisions hearing in a duo setting, but Locke and Barron fill the studio with a foot-tapping, blues-infected performance. 

Other tracks stick pretty much to ballads, including a slowly savored arrangement of the bittersweet "You Don't Know What Love Is," a majestic "Spring Is Here" that has a slightly Latin-tinged rhythm, and a breathtaking "But Beautiful." This strongly recommended CD should be considered a high-priority acquisition for fans of Joe Locke and/or Kenny Barron. ~ Ken Dryden https://www.allmusic.com/album/but-beautiful-mw0000231205

Personnel: Kenny Barron - piano; Joe Locke - vibraphone

But Beautiful

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Sofia Rei Koutsovitis - Ojalá

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:29
Size: 114,9 MB
Art: Front

(2:49)  1. Ojala
(4:21)  2. Gatito E Las Penas
(4:37)  3. Gris
(4:32)  4. Dança Da Solidão
(4:20)  5. Silence 1
(3:51)  6. Silence 2
(5:49)  7. La Nostalgiosa
(3:07)  8. Alma Del Pueblo
(5:50)  9. El Suicida
(5:21) 10. You Don't Know What Love Is
(4:45) 11. El Silbador

On her debut recording Ojalá, Argentinean singer Sofia Koutsovitis fuses several Latin American rhythms with a post-bop aesthetic to create a fresh and innovative sound. Koutsovitis belongs to a new generation of Latin musicians who in the last fifteen years or so, have created diverse blends of jazz styles with several South American musicians  enriching their language as they integrate different musical traditions. Despite the long relationship between jazz and Latin music (some scholars trace the “Latin tinge to early expressions); Argentinean, Peruvian and other Latin rhythms are relatively new to the jazz vocabulary, since musicians have focused primarily on Afro-Caribbean and Brazilian styles.On this record, Koutsovitis, a skillful singer in Spanish, English, and Portuguese, is knowledgeable of many folkloric musical traditions as well as jazz and experimental music idioms. She presents a balanced feel and leads an octet that performs sophisticated arrangements of her own compositions and songs by Argentinean, Brazilian and Cuban composers.Eclectic, exciting, and aesthetically coherent, the recording shows the many faces of Koutsovitis’ influences. The opening track “Ojalá”, (a song by Cuban Nueva trova icon Silvio Rodriguez), features an arrangement with a Peruvian festejo rhythm. Other rhythms include “Gatito e la penas” (gato), and “Alma del pueblo” (chacarera) in duo with bassist Jorge Roeder, and “La Nostalgiosa”, which has a strong Argentinean feel. “Gris”, “Danca da Solidao”, “You Don’t Know What Love Is”, and “El Silbador” feature Koutsovitis as a more straight-ahead singer, with the swing incorporating ethnic rhythms. “Silence 1”, “Silence 2”, and “El Suicida” (based on the words by Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges) are more jazz oriented tracks featuring Koutsovitis as a more adventurous composer and singer playing with dissonances, rhythm changes, and her voice as an additional instrument of the ensemble. Ojalá exemplifies the recent trends in Latin Jazz and Latin American music in general, and proves why Sofia Koutsovitis is one of the most versatile and in-demand singers in the New York music scene. http://sofiamusic.com/2007/06/sofia-koutsovitis-ojala/

Personnel: Sofia Koutsovitis: vocals, arranger; Jason Palmer: trumper; Adam Schneit: alto saxophone, clarinet; Daniel Blake: tenor,soprano saxophone; Leo Genovese: piano; Jorge Roeder: bass; Richie Barshay: drums; Jorge Perez Albela: percussion; guests: Jamey Haddad: percussion; Reynaldo de Jesus: percussion; Felipe Salles: soprano saxophone.

Ojalá

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Stanley Cowell - Back To The Beautiful

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1989
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 66:48
Size: 153,3 MB
Art: Front

(7:04)  1. Theme For Ernie
(6:23)  2. Wail
(4:59)  3. It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
(6:26)  4. But Beautiful
(5:55)  5. Sylvia's Place
(9:07)  6. Come Sunday
(6:45)  7. Carnegie Six
(5:15)  8. St. Croix
(9:06)  9. Prayer For Peace
(5:44) 10. A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square

Pianist Stanley Cowell displays some of his versatility on this Concord CD, performing pieces that range from "It Don't Mean Aa Thing" and Bud Powell's boppish "Wail" to four of his own inventive originals. Most of the tunes are performed in a trio with bassist Santi Debriano and drummer Joe Chambers while guest Steve Coleman (on alto and soprano) helps out on three songs, sounding quite effective on "Sylvia's Place" and "Come Sunday."~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/back-to-the-beautiful-mw0000207035

Personnel:  Stanley Cowell – piano; Steve Coleman – alto saxophone, soprano saxophone (tracks 5, 6); Santi Debriano – bass (tracks 1-9); Joe Chambers – drums (tracks 1-9)

Back To The Beautiful

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Tom Grant - Mystified

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1976
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:06
Size: 90,7 MB
Art: Front

(6:01)  1. No Me Esqueca
(5:13)  2. Peddie Has A Point
(4:31)  3. Gazelle
(4:52)  4. Caribean Firedance
(7:35)  5. Mystified
(5:03)  6. Pannonica
(5:48)  7. Turtle Soup

Tom Grant, who has impressive technique and a likable style, has spent most of his recording career making music that purposely appeals to a wide crossover audience, combining jazz with pop and R&B. His father was a tap dancer who owned a record store and his older brother Mike played piano. When he was four, Grant began playing piano and drums. He graduated from the University of Oregon and then went to New York with Jim Pepper's Pow Wow band. He earned a masters degree in education and was teaching high-school social studies in Portland when Woody Shaw heard him playing at a weekend after-hours gig. Shaw offered Grant a job with his group and the experience soon led to more extensive work with Joe Henderson, Dexter Gordon, Charles Lloyd, and Tony Williams (1979-1981). Grant cut his first solo record in 1976 for Timeless and in 1979 he formed his own band, which was open to the pop music that the keyboardist loved. Starting in 1983 and continuing into the new millennium, Grant has recorded a lengthy series of poppish jazz-influenced dates (for labels including Chase, Verve Forecast, Shanachie, Double Play, and Nu-Wrinkle) that have variously fallen into the categories of new adult contemporary, quiet storm, contemporary jazz, and smooth jazz; all have been best-sellers in the jazz-lite market. In addition, Tom Grant has composed music for TV and radio. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tom-grant-mn0000604650/biography

Personnel:  Piano – Tom Grant ;  Saxophone – Joe Henderson; Bass – Rick Laird; Drums – Ron Steen

Mystified

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Joe Magnarelli - Why Not

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 1995
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:12
Size: 148,3 MB
Art: Front

( 8:46)  1. Cup Bearers
(10:02)  2. How Deep is The Ocean
( 9:34)  3. Bella Carolina
( 6:41)  4. After You've Gone
( 8:32)  5. When Your Lover Has Gone
( 5:02)  6. Storyteller
( 6:26)  7. Y-Not
( 9:05)  8. Blues for B.G.

Trumpeter Joe Magnarelli's debut as a leader features the boppish trumpeter in a straight-ahead setting. His quintet, which is augmented by percussionist Daniel Sadownick on "Bella Carolina," also features spirited solos from tenor-saxophonist Eric Alexander and pianist Renee Rosnes. Every selections works well during the mixture of standards and originals. 

Among the more memorable performances are a revival of Tom McIntosh's "Cupbearers," an up-tempo "After You've Gone," Magnarelli's "Y-Not" (which is based on "The More I See You") and the trumpeter's sensitive ballad feature on a slow version of "When Your Lover Has Gone." Why Not is easily recommended to fans of straight-ahead jazz. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/why-not-mw0000236455

Personnel: Trumpet – Joe Magnarelli;   Bass – Peter Washington; Drums – Kenny Washington; Piano – Renee Rosnes; Tenor Saxophone – Eric Alexander

Why Not

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Dorothy Ashby - Dorothy's Harp

Styles: Harp Jazz
Year: 1969
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 35:03
Size: 81,4 MB
Art: Front

(3:30)  1. By The Time I Get To Phoenix
(3:36)  2. Canto De Ossanha
(2:52)  3. Love Is Blue
(3:00)  4. Reza
(2:49)  5. The Girl's In Love With You
(2:52)  6. Truth Spoken Here
(3:05)  7. Toronado
(3:22)  8. The Windmills Of Your Mind
(3:01)  9. Cause I Need It
(3:08) 10. Just Had To Tell Somebody
(3:41) 11. Fool On The Hill

There had been considerable questions about the harp’s place in jazz. After all, it’s a music form that was (and still is) dominated primarily by brass, woodwinds, and percussion. Dorothy Ashby sought to change that mindset. A master player by all accounts, she could work wonders with her fingers making the instrument sound less classical and more like a soothing, yet still elegant guitar. A few years after Dorothy’s Harp, she’d be working with Stevie Wonder. To further her sound, she had enlisted the help of Richard Evans the prior year after signing with Cadet. Together they forged ahead to construct a rich palette of sounds that surrounded you with the instrument instead of immersing you. On “The Windmills Of Your Mind,” Ashby’s harp introduces the tune before being taken away by a light, but funky bass. She then floats back into the mix creating a texture that’s not often heard with the harp taking the lead while a groovy bass line plods with a soul-funk feel. That said, though, it works astonishingly well. The tones she creates with her harp create a haunting, yet beautiful vibe. To further that emotion, Evans added in some fantastic strings. Brazilian touches abound as well. Ashby and friends dial up two standards in “Reza” and “Canto de Ossanha.” The former showcases Ashby creating space in the mix for her solos, which helps make the faster-than-usual pace of the song more palatable. In their reading, the song becomes more prone to hip shaking whereas a slower-paced version might lend to more hip swaying. Meanwhile, “Canto de Ossanha” follows much the same trend.

There is some great interplay between the flute where the two instruments sometimes play alongside one another note-for-note, while at other times the flute relegates to rhythm steadier with succinct pop-pops. Odell Brown then seals the deal with some exquisite solo work on Fender Rhodes. However, it would be an incomplete review without mentioning Ashby’s originals in “Cause I Need It” and “Just Had To Tell Somebody.” She again goes with Brazilian touches on “Cause I Need It” including some great bongo work. There is no doubt who is in command of this track even as other instruments, including the oboe take the lead. The harp’s main riff is succinct before straying into solo mode. “Just Had To Tell Somebody” is a happy affair that finds her exploring pop-soul nuances with an arrangement that once again never overbears. The melody emboldens its title as it seems to build with excitement. In the ’90s and ’00s, Ashby’s work started to be plucked for hip hop samples. Notably Pete Rock sampled two songs from the album  one for the shelved-and-finally-released INI album that included “Fakin Jax” (which sampled “Cause I Need It”) – and the other being his beat for Rahzel’s “All I Know” (using “The Windmills Of Your Mind,” which you can hear at the beginning of the Rahzel track). Ugly Duckling also sampled “Canto de Ossanha” for “Another Samba.”~ Eric Luecking http://www.revive-music.com/2011/01/04/dorothy-ashby-dorothys-harp/

Dorothy's Harp

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Kit McClure - Some Like It Hot

Styles: Clarinet, Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1990
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:12
Size: 143,9 MB
Art: Front

(6:06)  1. April In Paris
(4:48)  2. Sing Sing Sing
(5:08)  3. I Can't Get Started
(5:18)  4. Take The A Train
(4:00)  5. In The Mood
(6:35)  6. In A Mellow Tone
(5:06)  7. It Don't Mean a Thing (If Ain't Got that Swing)
(4:53)  8. Harlem Nocturne
(3:37)  9. All Of Me
(2:51) 10. Opus One
(8:12) 11. Stompin' At The Savoy
(5:34) 12. Every Night

The Kit McClure Band has been in existence since 1982, providing great music for audiences and performance opportunities for hundreds of women over the years. After the band's 1982 debut at the Ritz, the band quickly became a popular fixture in the New York nightclub scene, and also had the privilege of touring with the great Cab Calloway. Soon the band was noticed by the recording industry and was put on the payroll of Island Records to prepare a repertoire with rock star Robert Palmer. This show toured two years later, playing soldout houses at Radio City Music Hall, Garden State Arts Center and similar venues across the Northeast. Eight tours of Japan quickly ensued, with time out to produce the CD "Some Like It Hot" on Redhot Records. The band's second CD release, "Burning", also on Redhot Records, was produced a few years later by jazz legend Teo Macero. The band has toured Europe and the USA numerous times in support of these recordings. https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/kitmcclure

Personnel:  Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Kit McClure; Alto Saxophone, Vocals – Paula Atherton;  Baritone Saxophone – Claire Daly; Drums – Bernice Brooks; Flugelhorn, Trumpet – Joyce Toth; Trumpet – Lauren Draper, Laurie Frink, Rebecca Coupe Franks

Some Like It Hot

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Tim Tamashiro - The Best So Far

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:29
Size: 84,7 MB
Art: Front

(2:39)  1. You Make Me Feel So Young
(2:35)  2. Lady Is A Tramp
(2:31)  3. Drive In
(2:50)  4. Alright, Okay, You Win
(3:21)  5. Theme From Bonanza
(2:55)  6. Nice N' Easy
(2:19)  7. Theme From Spiderman
(4:29)  8. I've Got You Under My Skin
(3:49)  9. How Sweet It Is
(4:03) 10. Sweet L.A.
(2:29) 11. Under The Berry Moon
(2:24) 12. Spidey Karaoke

Tim Tamashiro grew up in tiny community called Blackfalds, Alberta. At that time it was a very small village of a thousand citizens. Being a "different" kid in a small town presented both challenges and opportunities. Tim was “a different” by circumstance. He and his brother were the only Japanese kids. So he figured he might as well take full advantage of it. He took up trapeze, unicycle and the role of class clown. He was a little weird. He also took up piano. At home his family had a small brown parlour piano. Tim would plunk away at the piano figuring out songs of the day like “We’ve Only Just Begun” and the theme song to ”M A S H”. His mom put Tim into piano lessons. After six months of lessons mom and his piano teacher made the most important decision of Tim’s life. Tim stopped taking piano lessons. He played piano by ear and he loved it. So by NOT push theory and heavy practice down his throat Tim’s love of music roamed free. It wasn’t until after high school that Tim chose music as one of his life's missions. The decision came to him like a bolt of lightning. His choice popped into his head the second he woke up. He sat up straight in his narrow single bed and thought to himself, “I’m going to music school”. Within a few days he had arranged for an audition for Red Deer College. His audition was fun and musical… there was only one problem. Tim knew nothing about music. Over the summer he learned basic music theory and got accepted into Red Deer College in 1986. After two rewarding years at RDC, Tim had co-founded a local rock band called “The Mile High Club”. He also started to work in music retail at HMV.

Soon Tim landed a job in Edmonton as a representative for MCA Records. It was the coolest job ever. He sold millions of dollars of music, got to hang out with rock stars and went to record stores every day. It was a dream job. On top of that Tim was singing jazz standards with The Jump Orchestra. It was heaven. He thought he had found his calling in the music business. But he fell in love, quit his job and moved to Calgary. In Calgary Tim pursued his passion of playing music full time. He joined a local jazz group called The Swinging Bovines. Each weekend he would croon with the Bovines. In 1995 Tim branched out on his own to record his debut album called “Wiseass Crooner”. Soon Tim was touring throughout Canada promoting the album. His next albums came in 1999. He recorded a special holiday album called “Love at Christmas” for La Senza Lingerie. The album sold at their stores across Canada. That sales and marketing job at MCA had paid off. Calgary has always been a place where jazz is welcome at special events. Tim began to specialize as an entertainer at events for business and world leaders. He’s sung for prime ministers and royalty. He ever got to perform for Queen Elizabeth. Jazz turned out to be a pretty good business. 

So Tim concentrated on singing and MC’ing events for the next 20 years. Then CBC came calling. CBC was looking for a new host for the launch of the “new” CBC Radio 2. They were looking for a new host for an yet unnamed jazz show that would be on six nights a week. They had heard about Tim’s delivery style and believed that he could host a show with jazz music for all Canadians. Tim jumped aboard for a four month trial period for the weekend edition of the new show Tonic. After 10 years with CBC Tim departed from CBC to explore more. He sings and tells stories. He hosts a regular talk show called Handshake on Facebook Live and Youtube. Tim lives in Calgary with his wife and two children. He supports The Calgary Food bank, Cancer charities and daily acts of kindness. http://www.timtamashiro.com/tim-bio/

The Best So Far

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Lisa Ekdahl - More of the Good

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:16
Size: 92,3 MB
Art: Front

(3:26)  1. Let's Go to Sleep
(3:51)  2. Playful Heart of Mine
(3:43)  3. I Know You Love Me
(4:52)  4. More of the Good
(4:43)  5. Thorn in My Heart
(3:57)  6. Like Mermaids
(4:04)  7. Sweet Feeling of Freedom
(3:34)  8. The Moon Can Not Be Stolen
(3:06)  9. In Dreams
(3:54) 10. Crown of Love

Best known in Scandinavia for her 1994 hit "Vem Vet, " Lisa Ekdahl became one of the top Swedish pop singers of the 1990s but also records and performs straightahead jazz. Ekdahl's pop albums have been in Swedish, while her acoustic jazz albums have favored English-language standards. The thin-voiced singer was born and raised in Stockholm, where in 1990, she started singing jazz with the trio of pianist Peter Nordahl. In 1994, her self-titled debut album came out in Sweden, and it was that year that her single "Vem Vet" (which is Swedish for "Who Knows") made her a superstar in Scandinavia at the age of 23. Ekdahl's subsequent pop albums in Sweden included Med Kroppen Mot Jorden in 1996 and Bortom Det Bla in 1997. The singer's first English-language effort, When Did You Leave Heaven, was also her first jazz album and the first Ekdahl album to come out in the U.S. When Did You Leave Heaven was a big seller in Sweden, but the album (which came out on RCA Victor in the U.S.) received its share of negative reviews from American jazz critics, who felt that Ekdahl's thin, very girlish voice was wrong for standards and straightahead jazz and argued that she should stick to pop. Her next jazz recording, Back to Earth, came out in 1999. ~ Alex Henderson https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lisa-ekdahl-mn0000297886/biography

More of the Good

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Ace Cannon - Ace Cannon's Sax Covers

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:17
Size: 144,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:59)  1. Bein' Green
(3:43)  2. Close to You
(3:19)  3. Cold Cold Heart
(2:11)  4. Corina, Corina
(3:30)  5. Desperado
(2:56)  6. Ease on Down the Road
(3:08)  7. Evergreen
(3:12)  8. Feelings
(3:00)  9. Gentle on My Mind
(4:11) 10. Georgia on My Mind
(2:59) 11. Good Hearted Woman
(2:26) 12. Help Me Make It Through the Night
(2:59) 13. Hey Good Lookin'
(1:54) 14. Honky Tonkin'
(2:18) 15. I Can't Help It
(2:07) 16. I Saw the Light
(3:02) 17. Jambalaya
(3:52) 18. Just the Way You Are
(2:57) 19. Kaw-Liga
(3:22) 20. The Long and Winding Road

One of Nashville's premier session men from the late '50s through the early '70s, alto saxophonist Ace Cannon began playing at the age of ten and signed with Sun Records during the early days of rock & roll. He performed with Billy Lee Riley and Brad Suggs but then in 1959 joined the original Bill Black Combo, recording for the Hi label. He stayed with the band until 1961, when he made his solo chart debut with the instrumental "Tuff," which made it to the country Top 20. This in turn was followed by a Top 40 hit, "Blues (Stay Away From Me)," and a minor hit for the Santos label, "Sugar Blues." He had two more hits in the mid-'60s with "Cotton Fields" and "Searchin'," both recorded for Hi. A decade later, he became the subject of the 1974 documentary film, Ace's High. After moving to Nashville in the mid-'70s, Cannon's version of "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" became a minor hit and was nominated for the Best Country Instrumental Performance Grammy that year. Cannon continued to perform into the '90s and frequently toured with such legends of early rock & roll as Carl Perkins. ~ Sandra Brennan https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ace-cannon-mn0000591692/biography

Ace Cannon's Sax Covers

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Nancy Wilson - Turned To Blue

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:09
Size: 120,7 MB
Art: Front

(5:56)  1. This Is All I Ask
(4:30)  2. Take Love Easy
(4:02)  3. Turned To Blue
(3:53)  4. Knitting Class
(3:55)  5. Be My Love
(3:17)  6. Taking A Chance On Love
(4:21)  7. Just Once
(6:10)  8. The Golden Years
(5:17)  9. I Don't Remember Ever Growing Up
(5:24) 10. Old Folks
(5:17) 11. I'll Be Seeing You

This recording is like heirloom silver: finely etched and gleaming with a rich and mellow sheen. Its many delights include top-level players, excellent arrangements and production values, and a variety of configurations from a smoking all-star big band to intimate quartets. There are also great solo turns by the likes of John Clayton, James Moody, Bob Mintzer, Hubert Laws, Tom Scott, Dave Samuels, Andy Narrell and Billy Taylor. Then there's the introduction of splendid new material, including a great breakup song ("Knitting Class") that's sure to be covered more often than cake at a picnic. Maya Angelou's poetry becomes a haunting ballad, "Turned to Blue," while the composer of the profoundly moving "Here's to Life" offers a sequel: "I Don't Remember Ever Growing Up," which could be the next boomer anthem. All of this provides the perfect setting for the center sparkler, Nancy Wilson herself. At age 69, she remains the musical definition of class, using her lovely, flexible, still-powerful voice to caress and swing, whisper and wail. Unlike much of the current crop of female singers, she aims her spotlight on emotional meaning, rather than melismatic tricks; the ever-elegant Wilson, a master of nuanced dynamics, never crosses the line into schmaltz. And when she tells her song-stories, you believe every word she's met love and loss in all their permutations, and her disclosures reach out to touch the listener, heart to heart. Wilson's genuine lyrical connection and deep musicality are evident throughout (catch that involuntary sensuous reaction to uber-bassist Clayton's solo opening on "Just Once"), and her trademark is here her bluesy vocal hitch, that patented uptick that conveys such passion and soul. This release will surely delight the legions of long-term Wilson fans, even as it gains her new ones. Turned to Blue is a worthy followup to Wilson's 2005 Grammy-winner, R.S.V.P. (Rare Songs, Very Personal), adding to the growing reputation of the MCG Jazz label for carefully crafted, reliably excellent music. ~ Dr Judith Schlesinger https://www.allaboutjazz.com/turned-to-blue-nancy-wilson-review-by-dr-judith-schlesinger.php

Personnel: Nancy Wilson: vocal; Alon Yavnai, Llew Matthews, Dr. Billy Taylor: piano; Marty Ashby, acoustic guitar; Nilson Matta, Rufus Reid, Kip Reed, John Clayton: bass; Mike Tomaro, Tia Fuller, alto saxophone; Bob Mintzer, Tom Scott, Andy Snitzer, Eric DeFade, Jimmy Heath, James Moody, tenor saxophone; Jim Hynes, Steve Hawk, Sean Jones, Jack Schantz, trumpet; Ed Kocher, Douglas Purviance, Jay Ashby, trombone; Hubert Laws, Jennifer Conner: flute; Mike Tomaro: clarinet, bass clarinet; Jim German: baritone saxophone; Jeremy Black, Kate Black, Kate Hatmaker, Stephanie Tertick: violin; Mikhail Istomin: cello; Vito DiSalvo: accordian; Andy Narrell: steel pans; Dave Samuels: vibraphone; Winard Harper, Jamey Haddad, Roy McCurdy, Terry Clarke, Portinho, Jay Ashby: drums, percussion.

R.I.P.
Born:  February 20, 1937
Died: December 13, 2018

Turned To Blue

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Dave Siebels With Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band - Dave Siebels With Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band

Styles: Jazz, Big Band
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:45
Size: 120,1 MB
Art: Front

(5:24)  1. The Coupe
(5:09)  2. Not That There's Anything Wrong With That
(5:19)  3. Da Blues
(5:37)  4. Girl Talk
(6:10)  5. I Wish
(5:05)  6. The Gospel According to Hammond
(4:04)  7. I Love You Even More Again
(3:54)  8. The Cat
(4:41)  9. Sort of Like a Samba
(6:18) 10. The Eleventh Hour

A thrilling collaboration between one of the finest jazz ensembles in the business and a keyboardist whose résumé extends beyond jazz, the self-titled Dave Siebels with Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band is, quite frankly, one riveting session of big band music fronted by Siebels' commanding performance on the Hammond B3 organ. Not surprising, when the artistic content responsible for this recording is considered. Siebels has arranged and produced 27 albums, scored 35 films and conducted 65 musical variety shows. Goodwin's Big Phat Band has received three recent Grammy nominations, with "Act Your Age" making a total of eleven. With musicians like Wayne Bergeron, Andy Martin, Eric Marienthal, Brian Scanlon and Pete De Siena comprising some of the personnel, the Big Phat Band is a world-class orchestra that any musician would love to have as a backup band. The varied repertoire does contain some charts where the majority of the band is silent, allowing Siebels to perform with a select few players. For example, Neal Hefti's "Girl Talk," performed as a trio with drummer Dave Spurr and guitarist Grant Geissman, just happens to be one of the best readings of this tune around. In a quartet setting featuring Roy Wiegand on a light trumpet, bassist Michael George and Spurr on the sticks, Siebels' "I Love You Even More Again" comes across more like a wedding song than a love ballad. With saxophonist Ed Smart joining Wiegand, Spurr and George, "Sort of Like a Samba" is one of Siebels' strongest. Still, this is a big band album, and the orchestration starts with Gordon Goodwin's arrangement of Siebels' opener, "The Coupe," a hard-driving burner with the organist providing a Jimmy Smith-like performance, emulating his hero and leading a gutsy showing from the band, including solos from Scanlon and Geissman. 

Alto saxophonist Merienthal does some of the honors on the raw and funky "Not That There's Anything Wrong With That," but it is actually Siebels who delivers a blistering performance on the organ on this high-octane number. "Da Blues" releases the fine brass section, which goes on a real tear. The band provides a fresh new treatment to Stevie Wonder's "I Wish," showcasing the talents of band leader Goodwin, who delivers the tenor solo in support of Siebels' firm organ play. The only other standard the Lalo Schifrin special, "The Cat" provides a new big band arrangement featuring Sal Lozano's steamy flute solo. The album ends on the drum-pounding percussive blue- chip chart, "The Eleventh Hour" as Dave Siebels and Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band complete a dynamic album of big band jazz with elements of rock and Latin jazz to spice up the music. ~ Edward Blanco https://www.allaboutjazz.com/dave-siebels-with-gordon-goodwins-big-phat-band-dave-siebels-self-produced-review-by-edward-blanco.php

Personnel: Dave Siebels: Hammond B3 organ; Gordon Goodwin: piano; Rick Shaw: bass; Grant Geissman: guitar; Bernie Dresel: drums; Brad Dutz: percussion; Wayner Bergeron: trumpet; Dan Fornero: trumpet; Pete De Siena: trumpet; Dan Savant: trumpet; Andy Martin: trombone; Alex Iles: trombone; Charlie Morillas: trombone; Craig Ware: bass trombone; Eric Marienthal: alto sax; Sal Lozano: alto sax; Brian Scanlon: tenor sax; Jeff Driskill: tenor sax; Jay Mason: baritone sax; Dave Spurr: drums (4, 7, 9); Michael George: bass (7, 9); Ed Smart: tenor sax (9).

Dave Siebels With Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band

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Mark Knopfler - Down The Road Wherever

Styles: Vocal And Guitar Jazz
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 78:35
Size: 181,2 MB
Art: Front

(6:00)  1. Trapper Man
(5:30)  2. Back On The Dance Floor
(4:16)  3. Nobody’s Child
(5:12)  4. Just A Boy Away From Home
(4:12)  5. When You Leave
(5:38)  6. Good On You Son
(5:35)  7. My Bacon Roll
(5:15)  8. Nobody Does That
(5:05)  9. Drovers’ Road
(6:17) 10. One Song At A Time
(5:03) 11. Floating Away
(4:34) 12. Slow Learner
(6:00) 13. Heavy Up
(4:30) 14. Every Heart In The Room
(2:29) 15. Rear View Mirror
(2:52) 16. Matchstick Man

Mark Knopfler’s ninth solo studio album ‘Down The Road Wherever’ features unhurriedly elegant new songs inspired by a wide range of subjects, including his early days in Deptford with Dire Straits, a stray football fan lost in a strange town, and the compulsion of a musician hitching home through the snow. Mark has a poet’s eye for telling details that infuse his songs with his unique psychogeography  ‘where the Delta meets the Tyne’ as he describes it  and his warm Geordie vocal tone and his deft, richly melodic guitar playing are as breathtaking and thrilling as ever. ~ Editorial Reviews https://www.amazon.com/Down-Road-Wherever-Mark-Knopfler/dp/B07GW487VJ

Personnel:  Mark Knopfler – guitars, vocals; Richard Bennett – guitars; Guy Fletcher – keyboards; Jim Cox – keyboards; Ian Thomas – drums; Glenn Worf – upright and electric bass; Danny Cummings – percussion

Down The Road Wherever (Deluxe)

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