Dick Hyman, Ken Peplowski - Counterpoint

Styles: Clarinet, Saxophone and Piano Jazz
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:48
Size: 147,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:18)  1. My Dearie
(5:04)  2. Danced
(3:25)  3. Mariah
(7:12)  4. Gigi
(5:36)  5. Gigi Piano
(5:31)  6. Trees
(3:40)  7. Almost Like
(5:40)  8. Follow Me
(4:02)  9. On The Street
(3:26) 10. Havent Changed
(4:43) 11. Show Me
(2:18) 12. If Ever
(6:07) 13. Wine
(2:38) 14. Thank Heaven

In the 1950s, everyone knew Lerner and Loewe’s music: songs such as “On the Street Where You Live,” “Gigi,” “The Rain in Spain,” and “They Call the Wind Maria.” 
The tunes were instantly memorable, and they seemed to be everywhere, on the screen as well as on original cast LPs, reaching homes where little other music penetrated. Many of us will remember the film Gigi, where Maurice Chevalier  via his regionally indistinct French accent and with a twinkle in his eye  sang “Thank Heaven for Little Girls.” (The girl in this case was the beautiful French actress Leslie Caron, who didn’t look little to my preteen eyes.) And some will remember the shock when Julie Andrews was not chosen for the movie version of the part she made famous onstage in My Fair Lady.Several of Lerner and Loewe’s musicals, Gigi as well as My Fair Lady, have an international flavor. No wonder. Frederick Loewe was born in Austria in 1901: his  father was a renowned tenor, who originated the role of Count Danilo in The Merry Widow. Viennese operetta had a considerable effect on American musical theater. As a counterweight to Loewe’s cosmopolitanism, Alan Jay Lerner was born in New York City 17 years later. Together, of course, they famously wrote Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, Gigi, and My Fair Lady. Their partnership foundered in the ’60s while they were writing Camelot, yet that hit show gave the name to the age: John F. Kennedy’s brief period as our president.  more... http://jazzbluesnews.com/2019/12/19/cd-review-dick-hyman-ken-peplowski-counterpoint-2019-video-photo-cd-cover/

Personnel:  Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone – Ken Peplowski;  Piano – Dick Hyman

Counterpoint

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Willis Jackson - Plays With Feeling

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 35:48
Size: 83,8 MB
Art: Front

(4:12)  1. Recubah
(4:51)  2. Feelings
(4:31)  3. Singing Bass
(3:23)  4. The Young Man with a Horn
(4:26)  5. Do Your Super Thing
(3:52)  6. Bouquet
(5:45)  7. Do It to It
(4:44)  8. Something Good

Born in Miami, Florida,  Jackson joined Duke Ellington alumnus Cootie Williams's band in 1949 as a teenager, after being discovered by Eddie Vinson. During the 1950s Jackson participated in R&B and jazz recordings, primarily as a session musician. He also toured as leader of the backing band of singer Ruth Brown whom he married. In the biography of Ruth Brown however is no mentioning of Willes Jackson. There it is mentioned that she was marries to trumpeter Jimmy Brown. Jackson joined Prestige Records in 1959, making a string of jazz albums that proved to an influence on the burgeoning soul jazz movement. 

During this era, Jack McDuff and Pat Martino became famous through association with Jackson. Jackson's main influences were Lester Young and Illinois Jacquet. Jamaican ska innovator Prince Buster has cited Jackson's song "Later for the Gator" as one of the first ska songs. Jackson died in New York City one week after heart surgery, in October 1987, at the age of 55. https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Willis_Jackson_(saxophonist)

Plays With Feeling

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Kenny Davern - Who Cares (Live)

Styles: Clarinet Jazz
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 78:13
Size: 180,4 MB
Art: Front

( 4:52)  1. Savoy Blues - Live
( 6:32)  2. Summertime - Live
( 6:36)  3. Travelin' All Alone - Live
( 8:07)  4. Struttin' with Some Barbecue - Live
( 3:01)  5. Sugar Foot Stomp - Live
( 6:01)  6. If I Could Be with You - Live
(11:45)  7. But Not for Me - Live
( 8:05)  8. All by Myself - Live
( 3:18)  9. Potato Head Blues - Live
( 8:17) 10. Fascinating Rhythm - Live
( 3:35) 11. Mood Indigo - Live
( 3:09) 12. Cornet Chop Suey - Live
( 4:49) 13. Wild Man Blues - Live

Described in The New York Times as "the finest clarinetist playing today" in the 1990s, that high praise wasn't far off the mark, as it applied to Kenny Davern in the autumn of his life, at the peak of his powers. Call him a jazz purist, even a snob, but Davern believed in playing standards, and that he did. Tunes by George Gershwin, Eubie Blake, Fats Waller, Irving Berlin; what are sometimes referred to as Great American Songbook tunes. He was often praised for the clarity and pureness of his tone, and often played outdoor festival gigs without amplification. Davern was born in Huntington, on New York's Long Island, on January 7, 1935. He lived with his grandparents in Queens, New York after his own parents split up, and was shuffled through a maze of foster homes in Brooklyn and Queens in his youth. He began playing clarinet when he was 11, via the radio. He heard Pee Wee Russell playing "Memphis Blues" with Mugsy Spanier's Ragtimers, and right then, he had a revelation. He knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life playing traditional and blues-based jazz. One big break was a phone call from trumpeter Harry "Red" Allen, who he accompanied locally on gigs around Queens while still in high school. He began playing clarinet and switched to saxophone for a time in high school, but switched back to clarinet before auditioning for pianist Ralph Flanagan's big band in the early '50s. Davern recalled he got the clarinet-playing part in Flanagan's band by bluffing his way in, saying he had another gig and the sooner he could audition, the better. He played with the bandleader in 1953 and 1954. While still a teen, Davern made his recording debut with Jack Teagarden, and four years later, he recorded his first album under his own name, In the Gloryland, for the Elektra Records label. Davern's discography is extensive and includes many albums for the Concord, Chiaroscuro, and Arbors labels. 

Like any other focused musician, Davern devoted a lot of time to what he called his apprenticeship period, when he worked as a sideman to other bandleaders and recorded little under his own name. He collaborated on-stage and in the recording studio with trombonist Teagarden, trumpeters Harry "Red" Allen and Buck Clayton, and drummer Jo Jones. After he hit 40, he began having thoughts about leading his own group, and by that point, he'd been playing professionally for more than two decades. Davern always considered himself fortunate to have played with many of the pre-bebop jazz stylists in clubs in Manhattan in the '40s. Davern moved to the New Jersey Shore town of Manasquan from New York City in 1965, and he blamed the rise of rock & roll for diminished incomes suffered by many of his friends who played traditional jazz. He began to forge his own path and career with his own recordings, leading his own ensembles in the late '70s. For much of the '80s and part of the '90s, he spent upwards of 230 nights a year on the road, and it wasn't until the mid-'90s that he curtailed his travel schedule significantly, playing only a number of select festivals each year. His notable recordings include anything he recorded for the Florida-based Arbors Records label in the '80s and '90s and into the new millennium. "I like to play music that makes me feel good," Davern said in an interview. "I like to listen to it when I play it, and most of that music was played by people who happened to be born around the turn of the century. The lyrics may be corny, but the tunes are not. And the tunes will survive." Davern passed away at his home in Sandia Park, New Mexico, on December 14, 2006, after having a heart attack. He was 71. ~ Richard Skelly https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/interpreter/kenny-davern/download-streaming-albums

Who Cares (Live)

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Carmen Lundy - Modern Ancestors

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:46
Size: 119,7 MB
Art: Front

(4:10)  1. A Time for Peace
(3:58)  2. Burden Down, Burden Down
(6:22)  3. Ola De Calor
(4:18)  4. Flowers and Candles
(4:28)  5. Jazz On TV
(4:26)  6. Meant for Each Other
(9:39)  7. Eye of the Storm
(3:30)  8. Clear Blue Skies
(4:48)  9. Affair Brazil
(6:03) 10. Still

Featuring 10 self-penned and arranged tracks and a stellar band consisting of Julius Rodriguez on piano, brother Curtis Lundy on acoustic upright bass, Kenny Davis on electric and acoustic bass, Mayra Casales on percussion, Terreon Gully and Kassa Overall on drums and Andrew Renfroe on guitar, Modern Ancestors is set for release October 25th via Afrasia Productions and will be accompanied by tour dates both in the US and abroad. From the Gospel-inflected musings of “Burden Down, Burden Down” (Hello Sister Rosetta Tharpe!) to the Afro-Cuban vibes of “Hola De Calor” and “Affair Brazil”; from the Geri Allen-inspired “A Time For Peace” to the cynical humor of “Jazz On TV” and the terror and sadness of “Flowers And Candles”. From the beautiful love songs of “Meant For Each Other” and “Still” to the tropics-inspired “Eye Of The Storm,” Modern Ancestors takes the listener on a musical journey that traverses a multitude of cultures, emotions and generations and is at the same time unlike any album Carmen has recorded in the past and yet remains so true to her craft. https://carmenlundy.com/discography/modern-ancestors/

Personnel: Carmen Lundy: vocals [1-10], background vocals [1, 2, 3, 5, 9], nylon string guitar [6, 9], rhythm guitar [2], tambourine [2], synthesizers [1, 2], orchestrations [4, 6, 8, 9, 10], Fender Rhodes, keyboards [1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 9];  Julius Rodriguez:  piano [1-10];  Curtis Lundy: acoustic upright bass [1, 3, 4, 10];  Kenny Davis:  electric bass [2, 3, 7], acoustic bass [5, 6, 8, 9];  Terreon Gully:  drums [1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10] Kassa Overall:  drums [2, 5, 8, 9];  Andrew Renfroe:  guitar [2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10];  Mayra Casales:  percussion [2, 3, 7, 8, 9]

Modern Ancestors

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Mike Richmond - La Vie En Rose

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:11
Size: 154,5 MB
Art: Front

(9:31)  1. I'm Getting Sentimental over You
(9:53)  2. Stranger in Paradise
(8:30)  3. Come Sunday
(6:33)  4. How Deep Is the Ocean
(7:37)  5. Zingaro
(7:52)  6. Love Is A-Many Splendored Things
(9:00)  7. Duke Ellington's Sound of Love
(8:13)  8. La Vie En Rose

Rich, round tones from Mike Richmond one of the few improvising cellists we know in jazz a musician who can pluck the instrument with all the depth of a bassist, and whose work here takes us back to classics in the tiny genre by Ron Carter, Oscar Pettiford, and Eldee Young! The setting is lean, and the cello lines are clean really inflected with a mix of melodic and rhythmic vibes the latter of which are underscored by deeper conventional bass work by Jay Anderson, in a quartet with Peter Zak on piano and Billy Drummond on drums! The lineup have a great way of swinging gently, as Richmond moves between plucking and bowing on titles that include "Stranger In Paradise", "Come Sunday", "La Vie En Rose", "Duke Ellington's Sound Of Love", and "Zingaro".  © 1996-2020, Dusty Groove, Inc. https://www.dustygroove.com/item/934085/Mike-Richmond:La-Vie-En-Rose

Personnel:  Mike Richmond - cello;  Peter Zak - piano;  Jay Anderson - bass;  Billy Drummond - drums

La Vie En Rose

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Jackie And Roy - Storyville Presents Jackie And Roy

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 24:42
Size: 57,5 MB
Art: Front

(2:36)  1. Mountain Greenery
(2:58)  2. Yesterdays
(2:37)  3. Season In The Sun
(3:49)  4. Hook, Line And Snare
(3:00)  5. Cheerful Little Earful
(3:15)  6. I Didn't Know What Time It Was
(3:46)  7. Slowly
(2:39)  8. Thou Swell

Neither vocalist extraordinaire Jackie Cain, who died on September 15, nor her husband and musical partner, Roy Kral, ever claimed a particular closeness to the Boston scene. But Boston did them a good turn it housed the record company that gave them a chance to strut their stuff when they were just starting to make it as a duo act. The two albums they recorded for the Storyville label in 1955 set the tone for the two dozen that would follow in terms of musicianship and choice of material. “Finally,” wrote Jack Tracy in his review of the first of these, “Mr. and Mrs. Kral have been recorded the way they sound on personal appearances.”The partnership of Jackie and Roy was formed in 1946 in Chicago, where Jackie was singing with Jay Burkhart’s orchestra, and Roy was playing piano with George Davis at a club called Jump Town. Bob Anderson, a saxophonist with Burkhart who had worked with Kral in earlier days, brought Cain to Jump Town to sit in. They clicked. Soon Cain was the regular singer, and people noticed. Bandleader Charlie Ventura was one, and he hired them both in late 1947. Jackie and Roy were on their way.

Fast forward to May 1954, with Jackie and Roy in Boston for a week at Storyville, where owner George Wein signed them to his Storyville Records label. In late 1954 or early 1955, the duo recorded Jackie and Roy (STLP 322) as part of the Storyville Presents series. Their backing was excellent: Barry Galbraith on guitar, Bill Crow on bass, and Joe Morello on drums. The 10-inch LP featured eight tunes, a now-famous Burt Goldblatt cover photo, and glib George Frazier liner notes. The eight tunes included three Rodgers and Hart songs that remained in their repertoire for decades: “Mountain Greenery,” “Thou Swell,” and “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was;” flights of scat singing on two Kral originals; and the first of many Tommy Wolf  Fran Landesman compositions, “Season in the Sun.” Wrote reviewer Jack Tracy (Down Beat May 18, 1955): “It’s slickly swinging vocalizing singing that is applied to near-impeccable material and though there is still just that bit of chilliness to it that makes you wish they’d take their hair down and not worry if they were to make a mistake, it’s all most enjoyable.” Chilliness aside, Tracy gave the record four stars. Jackie and Roy’s popularity was not hurt by the fact they were easy on the eyes. A gushing Down Beat writer called them “wonderful looking young people; fresh, bright, and invigorating.” (He forgot “impossibly cheerful;” the duo just radiated joie de vivre.) Perhaps writers pushed the wholesome image because they were frightened by the looks of Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin in the proto-biker movie, The Wild One. In May 1955, Cain and Kral recorded their second effort for Storyville in Los Angeles, also part of the Storyville Presents series, and for whatever reason also called Jackie and Roy (STLP 904). This one was a 12-inch LP with a formidable West Coast band and liner notes by one of their champions, composer Alec Wilder. The dozen tunes included Tin Pan Alley standards; three Wolf and Landesman tunes, including the debut of “Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most;” “Dahuud” by Clifford Brown; and “Lazy Afternoon,” a ballad from the then-current Broadway musical, The Golden Apple.

Nat Hentoff’s five-star Down Beat review (Jan 25, 1956) heaped on praise from the first sentence: “This is one of the most excitingly pleasurable vocal albums of this or any year! Jackie and Roy are backed superbly by Barney Kessel, Shelly Manne, and Red Mitchell, but the leading honors go to this extraordinary team whose musicianship, imagination, and taste are so magnificently consistent. Neither Roy nor Jackie has a native sound of unusual impact, but they have everything else all the qualities listed above, plus a wonderfully swinging beat and such ears. And Roy, incidentally, blows some first rate piano.” Hentoff’s recommendation: “Don’t miss this one.” But that chilliness… Jackie and Roy were capable of uninhibited swing, but they never did quite beat the rap that they were a little too rehearsed, a little too controlled. A typical reaction was voiced by writer Don Gold in 1957, who heard them at Mr. Kelly’s in Chicago: “The Cain-Kral act contains excellent material, flawless presentation, and smooth showmanship… The well-rehearsed presentation, however, often strikes me as somewhat superficial and too contrived. More improvisation and less concern for details would give the act a genuine freshness, it seems to me. Perhaps this is what must be sacrificed in moving from the jazz idiom to the night club circuit.”

There was a third Jackie and Roy LP on Storyville, Sing Baby Sing! (STLP 915), released in fall 1956. It was a reissue of the 10-inch Jackie and Roy, with four additional tracks, recorded with Chicago musicians, date unknown. By this time, though, Jackie and Roy had a major-label recording contract with ABC-Paramount, and would soon head to Las Vegas for what became a five-year gig. They wouldn’t be back in Boston until late 1965, when Fred Taylor brought them to Paul’s Mall. Don Gold wrote of Jackie Cain that “Her voice is a delicate, subtle instrument. It is beautifully disciplined, with a splendid sense of dynamics, a fluid approach to phrasing, and a perceptive knowledge of lyric content.” Hentoff noted that Jackie “should be required listening for aspiring young singers.” I’ve added “Lazy Afternoon,” from the 12-inch Jackie and Roy, to my YouTube channel to showcase that voice. https://www.troystreet.com/tspots/2014/10/03/jackie-and-roy-and-storyville-records/

Storyville Presents Jackie And Roy

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Acker Bilk - That's My Home

Styles: Clarinet Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:17
Size: 105,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:20)  1. That's My Home
(3:10)  2. China Boy
(2:57)  3. Nagasaki
(3:24)  4. Maryland March
(2:43)  5. Creole Jazz
(3:18)  6. Jazz Me Blues
(3:34)  7. Savoy Blues
(1:53)  8. New Orleans Stomp
(3:37)  9. Buona Sera
(3:10) 10. South
(2:21) 11. Lazy River
(4:12) 12. Milenberg Joys
(2:44) 13. Original Dixieland One-Step
(4:48) 14. Black Label Blues

Acker Bilk  or Mr. Acker Bilk, as he was billed has won immortality on rock oldies radio for his surprise 1962 hit "Stranger on the Shore," an evocative ballad featuring his heavily quavering low-register clarinet over a bank of strings. To the jazz world, though, he has a longer-running track record as one of the biggest stars of Britain's trad jazz boom, playing in a distinctive early New Orleans manner. After learning his instrument in the British Army, Bilk joined Ken Colyer's trad band in 1954 before stepping out on his own in 1956. By 1960, a record of his, "Summer Set"  a pun on the name of his home county  landed on the British pop charts, and Bilk was on his way, clad in the Edwardian clothing and bowler hats that his publicist told his Paramount Jazz Band to wear. Several other British hits followed, but none bigger than "Stranger," which Bilk wrote for his daughter Jenny. The single stayed 55 weeks on the British charts and crossed the sea to America, where it hit number one in an era when radio was open to oddball records of all idioms (Bilk gratefully called "Stranger" "my old-age pension"). Released on English Columbia in Britain, several Bilk albums came out in America on the Atco label, and he continued to have hits until the British rock invasion of 1964 made trad seem quaint. With that, Bilk moved into cabaret and continued to have some success in Europe, leading jazz bands, recording with lush string ensembles, and even scoring another hit, "Aria" (number five in Britain), in 1976. Continuing to perform through the 2000s, Bilk slackened his pace so that he could pursue, like Miles Davis, a hobby of painting. ~ Richard S.Ginell https://www.allmusic.com/artist/acker-bilk-mn0000926115/biography

That's My Home

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Erik Truffaz - Lune rouge

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:07
Size: 136,8 MB
Art: Front

( 0:45)  1. Tanit
( 6:33)  2. Cycle by Cycle
( 3:44)  3. Reflections
( 4:37)  4. Five On The Floor
( 9:46)  5. ET Two
( 4:05)  6. Tiger in The Train
(11:34)  7. Lune rouge
( 2:00)  8. Algol
( 3:01)  9. She's The Moon
( 1:43) 10. Alhena
( 5:53) 11. Nostalgia
( 5:19) 12. Houlgate

It is three years since Erik Truffaz last released an album. Now, with Lune Rouge, the acclaimed French trumpeter returns in his distinctive style, alongside Arthur Hnatek (drums and electronics), Marcello Giuliani (bass) and Benoit Corboz (Rhodes, keyboards and piano). It is an album of vast open landscapes. The rhythm section lay down insistent, cycling grooves – loping hip hop, four to the floor dance, straight rock, nu jazz electronic loops. A high-performance vehicle of interlocking rhythms, driving to the horizon under the big sky of Truffaz’ simple, beautiful melodic lines. “Do they do solos with so few notes in New York?” Truffaz jokes with Hnatek during the recording, apparently. And what notes they are. Each carefully chosen and delivered with a meltingly smooth tone. Sustained breathy exhalations - haunting, uplifting - surrounded by a luxury of space. Fragments of astral patterns repeated and developed. Simple harmonies. So little used to create so much.

The compositions for the album developed collectively in the Swiss studio from extended improvised sessions, before being adjusted, refined, polished. Hnatek, who joined the long-established band for their last album, is colourful and absorbing on drums  making angular sure-footed changes of direction to keep it fresh. Locking in tightly with Giuliani on bass, they are the compelling precision machine needed. Corboz is key to keeping the listener engaged throughout the album, providing essential variety in texture with his changing use of keyboard sounds. Smoothly supporting Truffaz with sweetly beseeching piano in Nostalgia or the album’s soporific savasana Houlgate. Creating tension with more unsettling, edgy synth sounds in the terrific Five on the Floor, the space-age Tiger in the Train, or the industrial distopian Alhena.

There are also two vocal tunes  the soulful Reflections featuring Jose Jones, and the wistful-optimistic She’s the Moon featuring Andrina Bollinger. They are uncomplicated, pretty songs, providing unexpected conventional islands in the open ocean of the album. It would be interesting to hear the contribution of the vocalists to some of the more spaced out, extended form tracks. Overall, this is a great album which is at its best when Truffaz makes that visceral connection between his music and the listener. The restless racing heartbeat of Cycle by Cycle. The anguish and release of the title track Lune Rouge, opening with an exquisite understated lament from Truffaz over a cycling, echoing electronic pattern, before rising to animalistic cries from the trumpet which loop and overlap. Through his 20 year career, we are told, Truffaz is setting out perpetually “on a passionate quest to make the stars align.” With Lune Rouge there are moments of that stellar calibration he is searching for. Truffaz is promoting the album through a European tour – including a date at the Jazz Café in London on 8th February 2020. https://www.jazzviews.net/erik-truffaz---lune-rouge.html

Personnel: Erik Truffaz (trumpet); Arthur Hnatek (drums, electronics); Marcello Giuliani (bass); Benoit Corboz (Rhodes, keyboards, piano)

Lune rouge

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Monty Alexander - Wareika Hill Rastamonk Vibrations

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:00
Size: 166,4 MB
Art: Front

(0:18)  1. Wareika
(6:48)  2. Misterioso
(6:32)  3. Nutty
(5:55)  4. Bye-Ya
(6:19)  5. San Francisco Holiday (Worry Later)
(5:36)  6. Rhythm-a-Ning
(4:49)  7. Brilliant Corners
(5:21)  8. Well You Needn't
(6:54)  9. Bemsha Swing
(6:20) 10. Green Chimneys
(6:36) 11. Monk's Dream
(4:23) 12. Abide with Me
(4:39) 13. Well You Needn't (Live at the Paris Philarmonie)
(0:22) 14. Wareika Goodbye

Like a Rastafarian in Jamaica, he was different,” Jamaican-born pianist Monty Alexander says of Thelonious Monk, whom he first heard in person at New York City’s legendary Five Spot in 1963. Monk soon became a major influence on Alexander’s music, which was rooted in the reggae and ska of his native country as well as the jazz he absorbed first in Kingston studios and later when he moved to New York. On Wareika Hill (RastaMonk Vibrations), a collection of fresh reinterpretations of Monk gems, Alexander effectively nails his hero’s idiosyncrasies.

Recorded over the course of several years, the album features Alexander and a core group of players plus a few guests, including guitarist John Scofield, who injects keening, wah-edged lines into the rub-a-dub of “Bye-Ya.” Joe Lovano delivers an edgy tenor romp on a percussion-heavy “Green Chimneys,” which opens up for a piano solo that has the leader tossing in an introductory quote of John Barry’s James Bond theme. Wareika Hill is packed with sly reboots of classic material.

A live-in-Paris version of “Well, You Needn’t” alternates between something akin to a dancehall rhythm and swing, and features provocative turns by tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery and trombonist Andrae Murchison. “Bemsha Swing” opens with unaccompanied stride-style piano before sliding into roots-reggae and later turning to straight-ahead jazz. “Brilliant Corners” is remade with a melody played on melodica and piano over a sticky, chugging groove, pulsing Nyabinghi drums, and a bass line that incorporates part of the theme.There are other treats here too, including the ever playful “Rhythm-a-Ning,” with more outings by Escoffery and Alexander, on an arrangement inspired by a Bob Marley recording. “Nutty,” also with Escoffery, is built on mento rhythms. And “San Francisco Holiday” shifts from Jamaican brukins rhythm to swing, benefiting from Ron Blake’s gritty tenor turn. https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/monty-alexander-wareika-hill-rastamonk-vibrations-macd/

Wareika Hill Rastamonk Vibrations

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Down to the Bone - The Urban Grooves

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 1999/2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 78:18
Size: 183,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:46)  1. Long Way from Brooklyn
(7:51)  2. The Zodiac
(5:02)  3. To the Bone
(7:27)  4. Joy Is a Good Groove
(4:24)  5. Phat City Hustler
(7:06)  6. Urban Jazz
(5:37)  7. Fusion Food
(5:25)  8. Vinyl Junkie
(6:01)  9. Yo Man It's Herbie
(6:03) 10. Bump 'n' Hustle
(5:29) 11. Right on Baby - Yeah!
(6:18) 12. A Little Touch of Soul
(5:42) 13. Concrete Jungle (2019 Bonus Track)

Album of the week. 'One of the most eagerly anticipated and awaited jazz-groove albums of the nineties - a marvellous album' ~ Ben Mynott - Blues and Soul magazine

'DTTB prove they deserve to be in the vanguard of the new 90's jazz groove. A magnificent sophomore offering'. ~ Malcolm Prangell - Blues and Soul magazine
I have teamed up with Soul Brother Records, Putney, London to bring you a page on the site where you can buy all of my releases via their friendly shop. Just click on the 'buy now' link and it will take you to the shop's site. http://www.downtothebone.com/music/tug.htm

The Urban Grooves

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Carol Sloane - Early Hours

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1959/2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 33:59
Size: 78,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:01)  1. Hush-A-Bye
(1:58)  2. Wait Till You See Her
(3:21)  3. Guess Who I Saw Today
(2:55)  4. I Never Had A Chance
(2:50)  5. In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning
(3:30)  6. Angel Eyes
(3:03)  7. It Could Happen To You
(3:30)  8. I Loves You Porgy
(4:33)  9. Body And Soul
(2:25) 10. April
(2:47) 11. Summertime

Carol Sloane was born to Claudia and Frank Morvan on March 5, 1937, in Providence, Rhode Island, the older of two daughters, but she never lived in that city. Instead, she spent her happy childhood in the small town of Smithfield, just a few short miles north of the city. Her parents worked steadily through the years of World War II in the textile mill near their home.  Carol was the lucky member of a large family of cousins, aunts and uncles who all possessed natural singing voices. Only one uncle ever received formal musical education, and he played the tenor sax. In 1951, her Uncle Joe arranged an audition for her with a society dance band led by Ed Drew, and she began singing the stock arrangements of popular hits of the day each Wednesday and Saturday night at Rhodes-on-the-Pawtuxet Ballroom, located in Cranston, Rhode Island. In 1955, Carol married a Providence disc jockey named Charlie Jefferds, and almost immediately, the couple found themselves at Fort Carson, Colorado where Charlie endured the rigors of basic training followed by a one-year obligatory tour of duty in Germany. They returned to the US in January 1958, and were amicably divorced in that year. Carol continued to sing in small bars and clubs until she met the road manager of the Les and Larry Elgart Orchestra, which was touring the amusement park ballrooms in the southern New England area. 

She auditioned for Larry Elgart, who then asked her to come to New York with his band. The brothers had recently split the organization, Les taking the territory west of Chicago, Larry to handle everything east of Chicago. Larry Elgart suggested she change her name to Carol Sloane. The "road years" with the Larry Elgart band continued until 1960, when the road simply became too boring and too difficult for her. After two years on the road, she was still unknown, and there were no singing engagements to be had. She took various secretarial jobs booked through Manhattan temp agencies. She continued her working relationship with the former road manager of the Elgart band, who had become an agent in the office of the legendary Willard Alexander. This man, Bob Bonis, arranged for Carol to sing at a jazz festival in Pittsburgh in 1960, at which time she met Lambert, Hendricks and Ross. Jon Hendricks asked Carol if she could learn the LH&R book in order to be prepared to take Annie Ross' place if that ever became necessary. Carol agreed to study the group's exacting material, and continued her secretarial gigs. 

Then, one night in early 1961, when attending a performance of LH&R at the Village Vanguard, Jon asked Carol to sing a couple of tunes on her own, after which the legendary proprietor Max Gordon asked her if she'd like to sing at the club the following August as opening act for Oscar Peterson. In her own words, "I stammered an acceptance, and walked five feet off the ground on the way home". More... http://www.carolsloane.com/p/bio.php

Early Hours

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Hendrik Meurkens - Cobb's Pocket

Styles: Harmonica Jazz
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:18
Size: 116,3 MB
Art: Front

(6:07)  1. Driftin'
(4:47)  2. Cobb's Pocket
(8:34)  3. Frame for the Blues
(6:29)  4. Slidin'
(5:40)  5. Slow Hot Wind
(5:35)  6. Unit Seven
(6:25)  7. Polka Dots and Moonbeams
(6:38)  8. A Slow One

It may be posited that what Louis Armstrong was to the trumpet, Toots Thielemans was to the mouthorgan. With Thielemans now blowing in the Upper Room, the field is open to aspiring and worthy replacements. Hendrik Meurkens fits that bill appropriately and is a leading contender, for sure. Like his aforementioned hero, Meurkens is not only a superior harmonica player, he is, like Thielemans, a multi-instrument-playing musician.

Cobb's Pocket, a very fine effort, has Meurkens fronting a terrific rhythm section consisting of B-3 organ, guitar and drums. Not a lengthy album -there are only eight tracks. The session offers terrific ensemble playing and great jazz improv across a variety of grooves. "Driftin'" is a Herbie Hancock-composed head-tilting ear-wormer that has Meurkens and Bernstein's guitar working its way over a hip, with a struttin' head and LeDonne chiming in before Meurkens, Bernstein and LeDonne deliver pocketed solos. The pairing of harmonica and guitar on melodies is an excellent touch that adds a robust dimension. The title cut, a Meurkens composition, is a respectful and furiously-paced tip of the hat to legendary drummer Jimmy Cobb. It is a burner with leader and cadre delivering smoking solos. Maestro Meurkens is a technical wizard. He holds little back and swings heavily throughout the date. His chops have chops. His improvisations are swinging, extended lines that resemble of those of a saxophonist or pianist. Remember, Meurkens is also an ace vibraphonist. He is (and all are) soulful on Slide Hampton's "Frame for the Blues" and he demonstrates great dynamic taste on "Polkadots and Moonbeams." Bernstein offers great swing and a tasty solo on the leader's "Slidin' and Henry Mancini's bossa, "Slow Hot Wind." LeDonne, as underrated as he is talented, is a swinger in the finest B-3 tradition. Cobb, a near-nonegenarian at the time of the session, is tasty and driven throughout and offers a fine solo on "Unit Seven."

Cobb's Pocket is shorter in length, but extensive in its delivery of an A-1 entertaining session. This is a pocket to be picked. And yes, The Baron would be proud. https://www.allaboutjazz.com/cobbs-pocket-hendrik-meurkens-in-and-out-records-2

Personnel: Hendrik Meurkens: harmonica; Peter Bernstein: guitar; Mike LeDonne: B-3 organ; Jimmy Cobb: drums.

Cobb's Pocket

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Charnett Moffett - Bright New Day

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:33
Size: 100,3 MB
Art: Front

(5:01)  1. Holy Spirit
(4:56)  2. Free the Slaves
(4:51)  3. Precious Air
(3:46)  4. O My God Elohim
(6:56)  5. Set It Free
(6:52)  6. Waterfalls
(3:25)  7. Netting
(7:43)  8. Bright New Day

Bassist Charnett Moffett has a catalog of solo recordings dating back 32 years, yet he may be best known for his touring and recording with guitarist Stanley Jordan. Such is the reality for rhythm instrumentalists, even ones whose recording credits include Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, and Ornette Coleman. On his latest release, Moffett who can impressively play every variety of acoustic and electric bass plays only a fretless electric instrument, which he utilizes to create a unique mix of jazz, folk, and chamber music with keyboardist Brian Jackson, violinist Scott Tixier, drummer Mark Whitfield, Jr., and guitarist/vocalist (and Motéma founder and president) Jana Herzen. When Jackson sticks to piano rather than synthesizers, as on the opener “Holy Spirit,” the disc evokes disparate European classical and acoustic Americana themes thanks to Moffett’s upright-like tones, the unplugged nature of Tixier and Whitfield’s instruments, and the sparse accompaniment of Herzen on a semi-hollowbody acoustic/electric guitar. On the subsequent “Free the Slaves,” Moffett’s funk bass line, Stanley Clarke-inspired solo, and chanted vocals help create a very different atmosphere. It’s a recurring pattern. The third track is the lone non-Moffett composition, Herzen’s “Precious Air,” which straddles pop and folk styles via her breathy lead vocal. “O My God Elohim” adds elements of gospel and Irish music, thanks to the 6/8-timed cadence of Moffett and Whitfield and dancing solos of Tixier. The disc only detours when Herzen becomes overly dissonant, but such moments are few and far between. The disc ends with the Mahavishnu Orchestra-inspired “Netting” and the title track, an anthemic piece that rides the ascending arpeggios of Tixier and Moffett. https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/charnett-moffett-bright-new-day-motema/

Bright New Day

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Billy Cobham - A Funky Thide Of Sings

Styles: Jazz, Hard Bop 
Year: 1975
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:05
Size: 104,3 MB
Art: Front

( 4:06)  1. Panhandler
( 2:24)  2. Sorcery
( 3:38)  3. A Funky Thide of Sings
( 4:29)  4. Thinking of You
( 5:10)  5. Some Skunk Funk
( 3:41)  6. Light at the End of the Tunnel
( 9:18)  7. A Funky Kind of Thing
(12:17)  8. Moody Modes

After a string of successful solo efforts, Billy Cobham began to slip into mediocrity beginning with this recording, originally released in 1975. While elements of funk were always a part of his band's sound, it was now the primary focus. "Panhandler" stands out as the session's most memorable composition, while Milcho Leviev contributes nicely on "Moody Modes." Cobham fans will want to seek this out for the extended drum solo "A Funky Kind of Thing," which stands as one of the most original drum solos he ever recorded. Of particular interest here is the presence of John Scofield, who had replaced John Abercrombie. Not up to the standards of its predecessors, but a worthy purchase. ~ Robert Taylor https://www.allmusic.com/album/a-funky-thide-of-sings-mw0000239676

Personnel: Producer, Percussion, Synthesizer – Billy Cobham; Bass – Alex Blake; Guitar – John Scofield; Keyboards – Milcho Leviev; Saxophone – Michael Brecker;  Trombone – Glenn Ferris;  Trumpet – Randy Brecker 

A Funky Thide Of Sings

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Rosemary Clooney - Swings Softly

Size: 74,4 MB
Time: 30:50
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1960/2010
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. For You (1:55)
02. Always Together (2:46)
03. You Ol' Son Of A Gun (2:31)
04. I Wonder (2:48)
05. Always Be In Love (2:23)
06. Grieving For You (2:46)
07. With You And Me (2:20)
08. Looking For A Boy (2:12)
09. With The Night (2:57)
10. Love Eyes (2:29)
11. Sorry For Myself (2:39)
12. Keep It Simple (2:58)

Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me", "Mambo Italiano", "Tenderly", "Half as Much", "Hey There" and "This Ole House". She also had success as a jazz vocalist. Clooney's career languished in the 1960s, partly due to problems related to depression and drug addiction, but revived in 1977, when her White Christmas co-star Bing Crosby asked her to appear with him at a show marking his 50th anniversary in show business. She continued recording until her death in 2002.

Swings Softly

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Harry Allen & Scott Hamilton - 'Round Midnight

Size: 437 MB
Time: 66:23
File: FLAC
Released: 2012
Styles: Jazz
Art: Front & Back

01. My Melancholy Baby (6:03)
02. Great Scott (7:51)
03. How Am I To Know (8:29)
04. The Opener (6:26)
05. Baubles, Bangles And Beads (8:43)
06. Hey Lock! (7:50)
07. Lover (8:10)
08. Flight Of The Foo Birds (6:06)
09. 'Round Midnight (6:40)

Tenor saxophonists Harry Allen and Scott Hamilton are veterans who have occasionally shared the stage and recorded together, a complementary pairing reminiscent of the team of Al Cohn and Zoot Sims. For these 2012 sessions, the two tenorists are joined by pianist Rosanno Sportiello, bassist Joel Forbes, and drummer Chuck Riggs, all of whom, like the co-leaders, are regulars on the jazz party circuit. The songs selected include a mix of standards, jazz favorites, and a handful of obscurities. Their relaxed interpretation of the old chestnut "My Melancholy Baby" is anything but hackneyed, with a conversation between the two tenors. The hard-driving bop setting of Rodgers & Hart's "Lover" showcases how well the tenor men complement one another's playing, with Forbes' potent bass work driving them. The standard "Baubles, Bangles and Beads" was a favorite of Gerry Mulligan; this version transforms it into an easygoing bossa nova. The breathy vibrato in the robust setting of "'Round Midnight" recalls the great Ben Webster. One hidden gem is the brisk, swinging take of Neal Hefti's "Flight of the Foo Birds" (the title was inspired by an old joke with a Spoonerism punch line), written for Count Basie and long forgotten. Allen's punchy "Great Scott" is a reworking of "Indiana" that was inspired by a riff he heard Hamilton play; together they swing like mad. This rewarding release proves there is still plenty of life left in two-tenor record dates. ~Ken Dryden

'Round Midnight

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Staci Griesbach - My Patsy Cline Songbook

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:16
Size: 146,7 MB
Art: Front

(4:59)  1. Crazy
(3:20)  2. Sweet Dreams
(2:59)  3. Blue Moon of Kentucky
(4:12)  4. Why Can't He Be You
(3:38)  5. So Wrong
(5:28)  6. Leavin' on Your Mind
(4:03)  7. Walkin' After Midnight
(1:01)  8. I Fall to Pieces (Intro)
(4:39)  9. I Fall to Pieces
(3:25) 10. Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey
(5:33) 11. She's Got You
(2:41) 12. Strange
(4:32) 13. He Called Me Baby
(4:27) 14. Always
(4:01) 15. You're Stronger Than Me
(4:13) 16. Faded Love

“My Patsy Cline Songbook” is the first-ever full-length jazz-style tribute album dedicated to the one and only Patsy Cline. Staci Griesbach‘s debut album release show in Nashville will take fans on a journey through songs Patsy Cline made famous and written by some of Nashville’s most renowned songwriters, including Hank Cochran, Harlan Howard, Bob Wills, Willie Nelson and more. Classic Nashville standards that include “I Fall To Pieces,” “She’s Got You,” “Leavin’ On Your Mind,” “Walkin’ After Midnight,” and “Crazy.” Join us as we remember the trailblazing country music icon on her birthday. https://www.nowplayingnashville.com/event/staci-griesbach-presents-my-patsy-cline-songbook-a-birthday-tribute-to-patsy-cline/

My Patsy Cline Songbook

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Marc Copland Trio - Haunted Heart

Styles: Piano Jazz 
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:55
Size: 152,3 MB
Art: Front

(1:55)  1. My Favorite Things 1
(7:17)  2. Crescent
(6:32)  3. Dark Territory
(6:05)  4. Greensleeves
(5:39)  5. When We Dance
(2:26)  6. My Favorite Things 2
(7:50)  7. Soul Eyes
(8:02)  8. It Ain't Necessarily So
(7:49)  9. Easy to Love
(8:42) 10. Haunted Heart
(3:33) 11. My Favorite Things 3

Originally released in 2001, Marc Copland's Haunted Heart deserves re-examination and re-evaluation, as hatOLOGY brings one of the perennially undervalued pianist's most sublime trio recordings back into print. With the original subtitle And Other Ballads removed, those familiar with Copland's intimate approach will already know what to expect, especially with a trio that, in the early part of the 21st century, was Copland's most consistent line-up. Copland works less regularly with drummer Jochen Rueckert these days, but this first trio encounter with bassist Drew Gress their first recorded collaboration being Second Look (Savoy Jazz, 2006), with guitarist John Abercrombie and drummer Billy Hart; a quartet recently reformed for Another Place (Pirouet, 2008) and expanded to a quintet with the addition of saxophonist Dave Liebman on Five on One (Pirouet, 2010) was of particular importance. It introduced a marvellously effective stylistic conceit that Copland would repeat on subsequent hatOLOGY releases, including the career-defining solo disc, Time Within Time (2005): choose a particularly meangingful song, and use multiple solo takes to bracket other material in the program. In this case, Copland delivers three very different, yet consistently dark and brooding readings of the old Sound of Music chestnut, "My Favorite Things" made famous in the jazz world by John Coltrane to set up two mini-sets that combine other songs popularized by the late saxophone giant, as well as a subtly Latin-esque look at Sting's "When We Dance," a series of well-heeled but here equally distinctive standards, and one Copland original.

Copland turns the ambling swing and simmering intensity of Coltrane's "Crescent" into a hushed, romantic showcase for his impressionistic harmonic approach; rarely resolving in a direct way, Copland instead deals in ambiguous implication. Coltrane also covered the traditional English tune "Greensleeves," but the "sheets of sound" saxophonist never sounded this spare, this economical...or this hauntingly lyrical. Copland's own "Dark Territory" fleshes out the first "set," revolving around a three-note bass pattern that shifts harmonically, but acts as a rallying motif throughout this perfect example of the pianist's three-way empathy with his band mates; Rueckert's understated brushwork, a definitive combination of gentle pulse and kaleidoscopic color; and Gress' thematically oblique feature surpassed only by his unerring support for Copland's softly stated solo. The second set collects a number of often covered standards, with the trio's take on Mal Waldron's enduring "Soul Eyes" one of the best on record. The trio's approach to time is fluid and pliant, so when it begins to swing more decidedly than anywhere else on the disc with Copland into some of his most assertive and overtly virtuosic playing of the set it creates a dramatic high point, without breaking free of the disc's overall subdued tone. It's hard to beat Copland's subsequent New York Trio Recordings series on Pirouet, where the pianist teamed with three different trios to explore the intimacies of the format. Still, though he'd been working with piano trios for nearly two decades when Haunted Heart was released, it's where this modern mainstreamer's greatest growth began and, consequently, is well-deserving of return-to-print status. ~ John Kelman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/haunted-heart-marc-copland-hatology-review-by-john-kelman.php

Personnel: Marc Copland: piano; Drew Gress: double-bass; Jochen Rueckert: drums.

Haunted Heart

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Thank You

My friends!

It is a real joy to be with you again and say: how will I ever be able to express all the gratitude I owe you? There are no words that can express what I feel for each one of you who joined in prayers so that I could be here today.

My confidence in walking has clearly not yet been totally restored but I'm working very hard with the physiotherapist and I hope that I will get well soon. I still feel pains in my back, but it doesn't stop me from coming here every day to say hello to those I care so much.

I decided that I will post an album a day. I can't do more than that, unfortunately, but I will be here to express my gratitude. In the meantime, you can count on the help of Yara and MaiNeime who, in solidarity, returned to the blog (hopefully our mentor Mat.Tiggas will also return, at least an invitation was sent to him).

Once again, all my gratitude for your coming here to say a word of affection and solidarity. I read all the messages and I thank each one of you for your words of encouragement and prayers.

You are in my heart.

See you later!

With all my love,

Giullia

Dave Ballou - The Floating World

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:58
Size: 140,7 MB
Art: Front

( 8:54)  1. All the things you are
( 6:25)  2. Bronk
( 5:52)  3. Pannonica
( 6:38)  4. Memories of you
( 5:40)  5. Don and Dewey
(10:02)  6. I hear a rhapsody
( 5:46)  7. The floating world
( 7:50)  8. Time remembered
( 3:49)  9. Plan

On his third release, trumpeter Dave Ballou opts for a standard quartet, with George Colligan on piano, Doug Weiss on bass, and Darren Becket on drums. Ballou's original compositions are less prevalent this time around, and a casual glance at some of the titles  "All the Things You Are," "I Hear a Rhapsody" suggests that The Floating World might be more middle-of-the-road than his previous efforts. That's only partially true, as Ballou can't resist throwing curves. His four originals are decidedly left of center particularly "Bronk," which appears early on. His flugelhorn reading of Thelonious Monk's "Pannonica" (sans Colligan) is fabulous, and his trumpet/piano duo rendition of Eubie Blake's "Memories of You" is inspired on a multitude of levels. Other highlights include Colligan's thunderous solo on "I Hear a Rhapsody" and Ballou's melodic insight on the Bill Evans classic "Time Remembered." Despite its low and inconsistent recording level, The Floating World is superb, proving Ballou's ability to say something very different each time he's heard from. ~ David R.Adler https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-floating-world-mw0001170149

Personnel: Dave Ballou - Trumpet; George Colligan - piano, Doug Weiss - bass,  Darren Beckett - drums.

The Floating World

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