Silky Denims

Friday, October 2, 2020

Dusty Springfield - It Begins Again

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1978
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:07
Size: 95,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:28) 1. Turn Me Around
(3:23) 2. Checkmate
(2:53) 3. I'd Rather Leave While I'm In Love
(3:17) 4. A Love Like Yours
(4:16) 5. Love Me By Name
(4:37) 6. Sandra
(3:18) 7. I Found Love With You
(3:40) 8. Hollywood Movie Girls
(5:00) 9. That's The Kind Of Love I've Got For You
(7:10) 10. That's The Kind Of Love I've Got For You - Extended Mix

It Begins Again is the tenth studio album recorded by Dusty Springfield and the ninth released. Recorded during the middle of 1977, It Begins Again was her first completed and released album since Cameo five years earlier. Two of the album's titles, "Turn Me Around" and "A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Every Day)", were tracks from the abandoned 1974 Longing sessions and Springfield decided to record new versions of both songs for It Begins Again, placing Chi Coltrane's "Turn Me Around" as the opening track.

It Begins Again, which was Springfield's debut album for the United Artists label in the US and Mercury Records in the UK, was recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Englishman Roy Thomas Baker, at the time best known for helping create the four first albums by Queen. Musically It Begins Again was however geared towards the American adult contemporary, pop and disco markets. Contributing on the album were some of the most renowned American session musicians of the era, such as Jay Graydon, Jeff Baxter, Joe Sample, Ed Greene and David Paich and it featured backing vocals by Pattie Brooks, Dianne Brooks and Brenda Russell all acclaimed recording artists and composers in their own right. The songs on the album were also written by a number of notable composers and lyricists, among others Nona Hendryx, Lesley Gore, Ellen Weston, Dean Parks, Peter Allen and Carole Bayer Sager. Barry Manilow's "Sandra", often singled out as the highlight of the set, is a gentle piano ballad that portrays the life of a suburban housewife who minutely details her daily chores, all the while assuring both herself and the listener that "I swear I love my husband and I swear I love my kids" yet in the last verse she reveals that she one day found herself cutting her wrists "doing the dishes, quite by mistake. It was real touch and go for a while."

Containing a diverse range of styles, It Begins Again was seen as somewhat experimental by Springfield herself, as well as music critics, who generally gave it favourable reviews. Despite the critical reception, the hopeful album title, as well as a series of promotional performances made in both the US and the UK promoting the up-tempo singles "A Love Like Yours" and "That's the Kind of Love I've Got for You", It Begins Again only briefly made the charts in Britain, peaking at No. 41, and did not chart in the US. Springfield stated that she had wanted to try something different, but felt that she now needed to move into a different style, a commercial, lightweight R&B, which resulted in the following album Living Without Your Love.

In 2002, Mercury/Universal Music UK released the album on CD for the first time, then also including Tom Moulton's extended remix of "That's the Kind of Love I've Got for You", originally only released as a promotional 12" single, which took advantage of the popularity of disco at the time. The song which was the closing track on It Begins Again was, however, the only true disco song on the album. The 12" version was somewhat popular with US deejays and the track in fact managed to reach No. 31 in the US Hot Dance Club Play chart. When the Pet Shop Boys in 2005 released their instalment in the mix album series Back to Mine they both included a Dusty Springfield track, Neil Tennant chose her 60s classic "Goin' Back" and Chris Lowe rather surprisingly the ballad "I'd Rather Leave While I'm in Love" from It Begins Again. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Begins_Again

Personnel: Dusty Springfield – lead vocals, background vocals, production associate; Michele Aller – background vocals; Dianne Brooks – background vocals; Patti Brooks – background vocals; Brenda Russell – background vocals; Tommy Vig – background vocals, vibraphone; Rick Shlosser – drums; Ed Greene – drums; Oscar Castro-Neves – percussion; Mr. M. – percussion; Jeff Baxter – guitar; Charles Fearing – guitar; Jay Graydon – guitar; Thom Rotella – guitar; David T. Walker – guitar; Keni Burke – bass guitar; Colin Cameron – bass guitar; Bob Glaub – bass guitar; Chuck Rainey – bass guitar; Joe Sample – piano, keyboards; David Paich – piano, keyboards; William D. "Smitty" Smith – piano, keyboards, arranger; Jai Winding – piano, keyboards; John Barnes – synthesizer, keyboards, electric piano, Clavinet; Bill Payne – synthesizer, piano, electric piano, Clavinet; Richard Tee – piano, keyboards; Jerry Jumonville – saxophone, horn arrangements; Sid Sharp – concert master

It Begins Again

Thursday, October 1, 2020

Esquire All Stars - The First Esquire Concert Vol.2 1944

Styles: Jazz, Big Band
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:15
Size: 135,3 MB
Art: Front

( 3:38) 1. Back O' Town Blues
( 2:45) 2. Muskrat Ramble
( 3:00) 3. Buck Jumpin'
( 3:24) 4. Stompin' at the Savoy
( 5:31) 5. For Bass Faces Only
( 3:26) 6. My Ideal
( 5:34) 7. Rose Room
( 3:24) 8. I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling
( 3:58) 9. More Than You Know
( 2:50) 10. Squeeze Me
( 1:51) 11. Honeysuckle Rose
(12:26) 12. Flying Home
( 4:38) 13. Jamming the Vibes
( 1:42) 14. Star Spangled Banner

The First Esquire Concert Vol.2 1944

Josie Falbo - You Must Believe in Spring

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:25
Size: 128,0 MB
Art: Front

(5:06) 1. You Must Believe in Spring
(4:02) 2. A Night in Tunisia
(4:36) 3. Joy Spring
(5:27) 4. A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing
(3:46) 5. A Sleepin' Bee
(3:29) 6. Manhattan
(4:34) 7. Heaven
(2:24) 8. Just You, Just Me
(4:33) 9. Midnight at the Starlight Haunted Ballroom
(5:04) 10. Estate
(2:44) 11. Devil May Care
(5:17) 12. Tis Autumn
(4:17) 13. Tristeza

On You Must Believe in Spring, Josie Falbo sings and swings her way through from The Great American Songbook. “Spring" includes Billy Strayhorn's “A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing", Harold Arlen/Truman Capote's mesmerizing “A Sleepin' Bee" and the title track, “You Must Believe in Spring," by the late, Michel Legrand and his writing partners, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, where she soars with complete authenticity. Producer/Arranger Carey Deadman delivers tracks for full orchestra (50+ strong!) to splendid effect, with a “who’s who” of Chicago recording artists: Jeremy Kahn on piano, the late Mark Colby, Jim Gailloreto, Dave Onderdonk, Mike Smith, Ernie Denov, Andy Baker, Roger Ingram and Rob Parton. Veteran Jim Massoth (recording/mixing at Crystall Recorders) swings the tenor saxophone solo on “Just You, Just Me." The CD liner notes are by esteemed journalist Howard Mandel.

Signed to Vee-Jay Records in 1963, Falbo released a '45 “Leave Me Alone/Easy To Love" which served as an early catalyst for her life in music and recording. Josie's vocal career began singing in Italian and English when she was 19 months old! As one of Chicago's most frequently heard studio singers for over 35 years, Falbo has sung on countless radio and TV commercials, including McDonald's, Sara Lee, Green Giant... the list goes on and on. Josie Falbo's 2010 Southport debut CD Taylor Street is filled with her love of many forms of music, especially R&B and jazz. Vocally she delivers with a style and sound that will amaze and impress any audience. The annual “Festa Italiana” on Taylor Street in Chicago always brings back a ‘slice of life’ for the neighborhood of Falbo’s youth, where she performs each year. ~ LAMPKIN PUBLICITY SERVICE https://news.allaboutjazz.com/critically-acclaimed-singer-josie-falbo-to-release-long-awaited-cd-you-must-believe-in-spring-on-southport-records-september-25.php

You Must Believe in Spring

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Esquire All Stars - The First Esquire Concert Vol.1 1944

Styles: Jazz, Big Band
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:20
Size: 137,9 MB
Art: Front

(5:06) 1. Esquire Blues
(4:51) 2. Mop Mop
(3:46) 3. Do Nothing Till You Hear from Me
(4:18) 4. I Love My Man
(3:41) 5. I Can't Give You Anything But Love
(3:52) 6. I Got a Right to Sing the Blues
(3:37) 7. Sweet Lorraine
(9:08) 8. I Got Rhythm
(3:09) 9. The Blues
(1:26) 10. We All Drink'Coca-Cola'
(2:00) 11. Esquire Bounce
(3:30) 12. Rockin' Chair
(4:44) 13. Basin Street Blues
(1:44) 14. I'll Get By
(4:19) 15. Tea for Two

The First Esquire Jazz Concert was an all-star event held in 1944 at the Metropolitan Opera House to honor winners (including first and second place honorees) in the magazine's jazz poll. In addition to being broadcast, it was preserved on transcription discs and reissued many times over the years with different excerpts of the evening's program. Some of the highlights include "Sweet Lorraine" (Art Tatum with Al Casey, Oscar Pettiford, and Sid Catlett), "Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me" and "Billie's Blues" (Billie Holiday), and a lengthy jam on "I Got Rhythm" featuring Red Norvo (on xylophone), Coleman Hawkins, Louis Armstrong, Barney Bigard, Jack Teagarden, and Roy Eldridge with the rhythm section. At times the piano is not clearly heard and there are brief interruptions by the broadcast host to introduce some of the soloists, but the sound quality is quite remarkable for the period. ~ Ken Dryden https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-first-esquire-concert-vol-1-mw0000236975

Personnel: Bass [String Bass] – Oscar Pettiford; Clarinet – Barney Bigard; Drums – Sidney Catlett; Guitar – Al Casey; Piano – Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson; Tenor Saxophone – Coleman Hawkins; Trombone, Vocals – Jack Teagarden; Trumpet – Roy Eldridge; Trumpet, Vocals – Louis Armstrong ; Vibraphone [Vibes] – Lionel Hampton; Vocals – Billie Holiday, Mildred Bailey; Xylophone – Red Norvo

The First Esquire Concert Vol.1 1944

Nelson Symonds Quartet - Getting Personal

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 1992
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:08
Size: 166,5 MB
Art: Front

( 8:49) 1. Domino
( 6:23) 2. Getting Personal
( 4:54) 3. Impromptune
(10:03) 4. My Foolish Heart
( 8:04) 5. Low E
(10:38) 6. CB Blues
(10:10) 7. Yours Is My Heart Alone
( 9:49) 8. Swing Spring
( 3:15) 9. Jean

Nelson Frederick Symonds, jazz guitarist, composer (born 24 September 1933 in Upper Hammonds Plains, NS; died 11 October 2008.
Symonds began playing the banjo at 9 and the guitar at ll, performing first for dances in Halifax with his cousins Ivan and Leo Symonds (both guitarists), then l95l-5 in Sudbury, Ont, and 1955-8 on tour with carnivals in Canada and the USA. Settling in Montreal in l958 and devoting himself to jazz, he performed in various local clubs (eg, the Black Bottom intermittently l963-8, Café La Bohème l968-7l, Rockhead's Paradise 1977-80) and (in a duo 1971-7 with the bassist Charles Biddle, and sometimes accompanied by drummer Norman Marshall Villeneuve) in several Laurentian resort communities. During the 1960s he accompanied such US jazzmen as Art Farmer, John Coltrane, Ray Charles, Benny Golson, Jimmy Heath, Jackie McLean, Stanley Turrentine, and Sarah Vaughan in club or concert appearances (eg, at Expo 67) in Montreal.

For many years a legendary figure in Canadian jazz, Nelson Symonds emerged before a wider public during the 1980s as a regular performer in a variety of settings at the FIJM - eg, with his own groups (usually including the pianist Jean Beaudet), as a member in 1985 of the 'Montreal All-Stars' and as a guest in 1988 of the Vic Vogel big band. In 1985 he began to make occasional trips to Toronto, working in clubs there with the tenor saxophonist Dougie Richardson and others. He made his belated record debut in 1990 as a member of the Bernard Primeau Jazz Ensemble on the CD Reunion (Amplitude JACD-4019). One of the most original of Canadian jazzmen, Symonds plays in an essentially linear style in the tradition of Charlie Christian and of Christian's later, bebop-based disciples, but employs a charged, staccato attack and angular, headlong phrasing. He has been heard on various CBC radio jazz series and was seen in the documentary film Nelson Symonds Jazz Guitarist (Mary Ellen Davis, 1984).
His cousin Ivan (Sterling) Symonds (b Halifax l7 May l933, d Montreal 16 Mar 1991), whose style was more basic, moved to Montreal in l960. Though an auto mechanic by vocation, he worked at Rockhead's Paradise 1971-7 and operated his own club, the Jazzbar C + J on Ontario Street, 1978-84. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/nelson-symonds-emc

Personnel: Guitar – Nelson Symonds; Bass – Normand Guilbeault; Drums – Wali Muhammad; Piano – Jean Beaudet

Getting Personal

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Sant Andreu Jazz Band - Joan Chamorro presenta Joana Casanova

Styles: Jazz, Big Band
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:57
Size: 151,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:58) 1. Blowin' in the Wind
(3:59) 2. Just Squeeze Me
(4:13) 3. Old Country
(4:11) 4. Sweet As Bear Meat
(2:26) 5. I'm Walking
(6:02) 6. The Very Thought Of You
(3:17) 7. Gravy Waltz
(5:02) 8. Alagoas
(4:03) 9. Walkin' Shoes
(3:28) 10. Sweet Baby James
(3:05) 11. I Gotta Get Drunk
(4:20) 12. Birdsong
(5:06) 13. My Romance
(5:02) 14. Makin' Whoopee
(5:38) 15. Jump for Joy

I listen to Birdsong, lyrics and music by Joana Casanova. I do it as I write these words and I do it really excited and happy, for various reasons. I met Joana Casanova when she was 14 years old, who began to be my sax student. After a couple of years I suggested that she join my Sant Andreu Jazz Band project, knowing that it would be a great motivation for her and that as a vocalist and saxophonist she would enrich the sound of the band, as it has been. Joana is the proof that, with perseverance, with work, with faith and with love, you can achieve what you set out to do. It always seemed to me that Joana had a musicality and potential that, working well, could bear beautiful fruits. Joana is a person with a good heart, sincere, committed to nature, to animals. Her vegan status goes even further than my vegetarian status, and somehow makes me feel sympathy and admiration for her commitment and consistency. All this is reflected in his music, unpretentious, without unnecessary frills, but authentic, and with force, both with his saxophones (the alto in the vein of the classics like Johnny Hodges and the tenor, in the vein of Genne Ammos and Ben Wester) as with his voice, with morea strong personality, impregnated with soul, with a lot of swing, many nuances, inspired by the greats Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, Norah Jones, Aretha Franklin, Joni Mitchel ...

We can hear all this in this presentation album, and for several reasons It makes me feel excited and happy:
1- In it we can find several of Joana's companions, from the Sant Andreu Jazz Band, all of them turned into very good jazz musicians.
2- The rhythmic base is completed by three wonderful musicians such as Joan Monné (piano and arranger of most of the songs), David Xirgu (drums) and Josep Traver (guitar).
3- We have, in most of the songs, the presence of one of the most personal trumpeters on the world jazz scene of the moment, Joe Magnarelli, whose musicality flows, how could it be otherwise, in the eclectic repertoire that we can find in this job.
4 -There are also Dick Oatts and Scott Hamilton, honey for the ears.
5- And finally, and beyond all, I think that this new volume (the 13th) of the series "Joan Chamorro presents", is a beautiful, varied album, careful in all its details and that leaves a record of a voice that he envelops us and captures us with his special warmth, just like his saxophones. Because Joana, when she plays, she sings and when she sings, she plays.
Joana is pure melody. My best wishes!! Joan Chamorro

Joan Chamorro presenta Joana Casanova

Monday, September 28, 2020

Doug Ferony - Doug Ferony: In Concert

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 78:45
Size: 183,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:00) 1. Anything Goes
(3:01) 2. Come Fly With Me
(3:39) 3. Beyond the Sea
(3:40) 4. Times of Your Life
(3:35) 5. It Had To Be You
(2:14) 6. Too Marvelous For Words
(2:42) 7. Jailhouse Rock
(2:21) 8. Love Potion #9
(3:41) 9. Fire and Rain
(2:40) 10. I Ain't Got You
(3:03) 11. Smack Dab In the Middle
(5:33) 12. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
(3:40) 13. Theme From Godfather/That's Amore
(3:15) 14. Everybody Loves Somebody Sometimes
(3:05) 15. God Bless America
(3:21) 16. Lady Is A Tramp
(4:42) 17. You Will Be My Music
(3:26) 18. That's Life
(6:08) 19. Crazy
(2:31) 20. Doug's Joke
(4:45) 21. My Way
(4:31) 22. New York, New York

When Doug Ferony sings, his warm voice, high musicianship, enthusiasm, and sincerity make the music he performs infectious and joyful, even when he is interpreting a touching ballad. It is always obvious that he loves timeless standards and has the voice and phrasing to make them sound fresh and relevant. While he makes no secret of his love for the singing of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Dean Martin and Bobby Darin, he does not feel compelled to merely copy his predecessors and instead displays a sound of his own within the tradition of first-class singing.His career has included a variety of accomplishments. When I was very young,, remembers Doug, my parents played Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams, Tony Bennett and Dean Martin records around the house in addition to Rosemary Clooney and Ella Fitzgerald. I remember being very impressed by Frank Sinatra at an early age. While growing up, he played drums for a time, inspired by Buddy Rich. However by the time Doug was in high school, he knew that he wanted to pursue a career in singing.

In 1985, Doug Ferony moved to Los Angeles where he studied voice with Howard Austin and started gigging. He also went to acting school and began working in films. Through the years he has appeared in many major motion pictures including Back To School, GoodFellas, Spiderman II, and The Brave One in addition to such television series as Law & Order and The Sopranos. But singing before audiences has been his main love. Doug spent much of the 1990s in New York and fondly remembers performing three nights a week with a trio at the World Trade Center during 1995-96, singing regularly at the Supper Club with his big band, and with a piano duo at Tavern On The Green. Doug currently performs all over the country including at supper clubs, casinos, racetracks, cruises and concerts, and he recently worked a show at the Paramount Center for the Arts with veteran singer Al Martino. Some of Doug's performances include the Westchester Country Club, Empire City/Yonkers Raceway, the C-Note Jazz Club, The Arthur Ashe US Open, and on the Las Vegas Strip at the Monte Carlo Hotel and Casino.

Doug has many popular recordings such as I'm In Love With A Girl (title track featured in the film, "Mr. Vincent), This One's For You, Time After Time, It's Christmas, I Ain't Got You, and America's Greatest Songs. Lovers is intimate and thoughtful, says Doug. I wanted this to be a nice easy-listening candle-lit romantic CD. I've recorded a lot of uptempo swing in the past so this is a change of pace." "What I enjoy most about standards and swing is that I can understand and relate to the lyrics. I pride myself in doing justice to lyrics and I try to bring a lot of passion and fun to the music". Doug Ferony succeeds on all levels throughout Lovers, making the classic songs and vintage lyrics sound as if they were written specifically for him to communicate to today's listeners.~ Scott Yanow Author of ten jazz books including The Jazz Singers, Swing, Trumpet Kings, Jazz On Film, and Jazz On Record 1917-76 https://dougferony.com/bio

Doug Ferony: In Concert

Sant Andreu Jazz Band - Joan Chamorro presenta Jan Domènech

Styles: Jazz, Big Band
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:23
Size: 160,2 MB
Art: Front

(6:14) 1. Fables Of Faubus
(3:53) 2. A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square
(6:41) 3. Secret Love
(4:24) 4. Farol de Barra
(2:50) 5. Prom To Prom
(6:35) 6. We'll Be Together Again
(4:20) 7. September In The Rain
(4:00) 8. The Touch Of Your Lips
(4:55) 9. Status Quo
(6:41) 10. On a Clear Day
(4:33) 11. In My Life
(4:22) 12. Without a Song
(2:58) 13. Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me
(5:54) 14. It’s De-Lovely

Jan Domènech, at the age of 12, joined the Young Cats (the youngest of the Sant Andreu Jazz Band). That was 2010. The following year he was already part of the Band, and he played various songs at the concert at the Palau de la Música in 2011, of which there are many sequences in the director Ramon Tort's film, “A film about kids and music) and where Jan appears on several occasions. As of that year, little by little, his presence in the SAJB became more important, sharing the position of pianist, mainly with Marc Martín. Jan's evolution has been continuous since those early years. His passion for music and his desire to learn has led him to become a pianist who has assimilated the tradition (through listening to pianists such as Red Garland, Teddy Wilson, Duke Ellington and Oscar Peterson) and who continues his search for more contemporary sounds (through Brad Mehldau, Fred Hersh and those who have been their teachers directly: Ignasi Terraza and Marco Mezquida).Jan has been part of my project between 2010 and 2019.

We can hear his evolution as a soloist in the recordings of songs like Jordu (2015), Three and One and Triste (2016), Count Bubba. (2017) Shinny stokings (2018), Land End (2019) and many others, especially in recent years. That continuous evolution and that total dedication to jazz are the reasons why I propose to make a presentation CD (the 14th of the collection). In it we have the presence of renowned international soloists such as Scott Hamilton, Dick Oatts, Joe Magnarelli, with the voices of Andrea Motis, Joana Casanova and Alba Armengou. In several of the songs we have David Xirgu on drums.
His colleagues in the SAJB also have an important presence in the new job, as has been customary in recent CDs. About to turn 15 years of the project, I am proud and extremely happy to be able to have this new "Joan Chamorro presents" and see how Jan Domènech, little by little, is taking his place in the Catalan jazz scene. Congratulations, Jan, and may jazz music continue to be as important to you as it has been until now, filling your life with hope and pleasure, and may you continue to share it with all of us. https://santandreujazzband.bandcamp.com/album/joan-chamorro-presenta-jan-dom-nech

Joan Chamorro presenta Jan Domènech

Sunday, September 27, 2020

Clare Fischer - First Time Out

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1962
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:22
Size: 95,5 MB
Art: Front

(7:10) 1. Nigerian Walk
(4:42) 2. Toddler
(4:03) 3. Stranger
(4:10) 4. Afterfact
(7:33) 5. Free Too Long
(3:15) 6. Piece For Scotty
(5:12) 7. Blues For Home
(5:15) 8. I Love You

First Time Out is the debut album by American composer/arranger/keyboardist Clare Fischer, recorded and released in 1962 by Pacific Jazz Records. Aside from the overwhelmingly positive response that greeted Fischer's debut, the most pervasive reaction was sheer surprise; indeed, Down Beat's 5-star review dubbed it "the biggest surprise of the year." As jazz historian and critic Martin Williams observes, writing in The Saturday Review: First Time Out is from a rather unexpected source: it is a recital by a piano trio, led by Clare Fischer, a man previously known for his arranging and composing. Fischer's piano is not 'interesting,' as an arranger's piano is apt to be. It is much more accomplished than that." While struggling to pinpoint Fischer's pianistic forebears, finding elements of both Bill Evans and Dodo Marmarosa, critic Leonard Feather echoes Williams' essential point, noting Fischer's "complete command of the keyboard; unlike Gil Evans, Tadd Dameron, and other arrangers who are secondarily pianists, he can be judged entirely by a pianistic yardstick."

Gramophone's review praises "this superlative album," in part for preventing Fischer from "becoming one of the most neglected figures in jazz."[5] The Atlanta Daily World's Albert Anderson stops short of such hyperbole, but does acknowledge his own surprise: I knew well before reviewing this record that Fischer was a composer of note. What I didn't know, though, was that he is such an outstanding pianist. However, after listening to these tracks (five of which are Fischer originals), I was tremendously impressed by his facility with a tune - He plays with mastery, melody and perhaps, too, with his audience in mind. The latter is suggested clearly in shifting moods and tempos; there is never a dull moment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Time_Out_(album)

Personnel: Clare Fischer - piano, composer; Gary Peacock - bass; Gene Stone - drums

First Time Out

Diana Krall - This Dream Of You

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:49
Size: 117,4 MB
Art: Front

(4:50) 1. But Beautiful
(4:05) 2. That's All / Azure-Te
(5:19) 3. Autumn In New York
(3:40) 4. Almost Like Being In Love
(3:57) 5. More Than You Know
(2:25) 6. Just You, Just Me
(4:48) 7. There's No You
(3:17) 8. Don’t Smoke In Bed
(7:01) 9. This Dream Of You
(2:38) 10. I Wished On The Moon
(5:18) 11. How Deep Is The Ocean
(3:27) 12. Singing In The Rain

These 2016-2017 sessions were done around the same time as Turn Up the Quiet but left unfinished following the death of Diana Krall’s longtime collaborator and coproducer Tommy LiPuma. Taking over the production herself, Krall returned to the material and completed This Dream of You as a kind of posthumous LiPuma tribute, with the titular Bob Dylan cover as a centerpiece. Krall on piano, with that low and dusky voice and swinging delivery, mixes it up with a varied cast in different ensemble configurations, and the blend of personalities is rich. At the heart of it is Krall’s quartet with guitarist Anthony Wilson, bassist John Clayton, and drummer Jeff Hamilton. They’re heard with lush string ensemble backing (Alan Broadbent, arranger) on the leadoff “But Beautiful,” but also in a snappier small-group vein on “That’s All,” “Almost Like Being in Love,” and the closing “Singing in the Rain.” Similarly, Krall enlists bassist Christian McBride and guitarist Russell Malone for the string-enhanced “Autumn in New York” as well as the sparser trio ballad “There’s No You.” She yields the piano bench to Broadbent on the intimate piano/vocal duets “More Than You Know” and “Don’t Smoke in Bed” and joins bassist Clayton for the swinging duo romp “I Wished on the Moon.” The title track, the vintage uptempo swinger “Just You, Just Me,” and the dark bolero rendering of Irving Berlin’s “How Deep Is the Ocean” feature the album’s most strikingly heterogeneous lineup: modern fiddler Stuart Duncan, avant-jazz guitarist Marc Ribot, longtime Dylan bassist Tony Garnier, and jazz drummer/hip-hop producer Karriem Riggins. https://music.apple.com/us/album/this-dream-of-you/1525376067

Diana Krall reunited with Tommy LiPuma, the producer who worked with her for the first decade-and-a-half of her career, for Turn Up The Quiet, a 2017 album that found the pianist returning to the Great American Songbook interpretations that made her name. LiPuma died just before the release of Turn Up the Quiet, prompting Krall to fashion a quasi-tribute to her collaborator from the album's leftovers. The ensuing This Dream of You is hushed and reserved, a leisurely stroll through quite familiar standards augmented by a version of Bob Dylan's "This Dream of You," a deep cut from his 2009 album Together Through Life. Krall is supported by a rotating cast of all-star players Christian McBride and Russell Malone are on "Autumn in New York," Marc Ribot and Karriem Riggins are on "How Deep Is the Ocean" and the Dylan tune -- but the energy is so subdued, the shift in players is felt more than heard; the exception is the lively, swinging "Just You, Just Me," where fiddler Stuart Duncan makes his presence known. That mellowness is an attribute of This Dream of You, as it gives the album a distinctly relaxed, sophisticated vibe, but it's also a detriment because the record is so soft and slow it can veer into the sleepy. That wasn't a problem with Turn Up the Quiet, whose stillness was compelling, so This Dream of You winds up shining a light on the accomplishment of the final album Krall and LiPuma finished in his lifetime. Together, they knew which songs to select to create a complete listen. What remained behind is nice but not quite absorbing.~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine https://www.allmusic.com/album/this-dream-of-you-mw0003412229

Personnel: Diana Krall - Vocal; Alan Broadbent – piano; John Clayton – bass; Karriem Riggins – bass guitar; Christian McBride – contrabass; Russell Malon – contrabass; Jeff Hamilton – drum; Anthony Wilson – guitar; Marc Ribot – guitar; Stuart Duncan – guitar; Tony Garnier – rhythm guitar

This Dream Of You

Saturday, September 26, 2020

Roberto Ottaviano - Resonance & Rhapsodies (Extended Love & Eternal Love) Disc 1, Disc 2

Album: Resonance & Rhapsodies (Extended Love & Eternal Love)Disc 1
Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:24
Size: 112,1 MB
Art: Front

( 9:15) 1. Promise
( 5:34) 2. Revelation
( 4:35) 3. Homo Sum
(11:17) 4. Dedalus
( 6:52) 5. Omumua
( 6:18) 6. Resonance
( 4:29) 7. Ad Astra

Album: Resonance & Rhapsodies (Extended Love & Eternal Love)Disc 2
Time: 50:21
Size: 116,9 MB

(6:35) 1. Adelante
(5:36) 2. Ergonomic
(4:58) 3. Ijo Ki Mba Jo
(6:07) 4. Monkonious
(6:35) 5. Villaraspa
(6:17) 6. To the Masters
(6:51) 7. China Syndrome
(4:30) 8. Violeta
(2:49) 9. Mad for Misha

The new double album by Roberto Ottaviano, Resonance & Rhapsodies, is a challenge addressed to the entire world of Italian jazz (and beyond), which has long been based on a very fashionable musical practice, sick with stereotypes and assorted niceties. Continuing on the path already traced in his previous records, Sideralis and Eternal Love, the saxophonist from Bari continues to search for a meaning for his making music in a difficult and intriguing quadrature of rigor and passion. Recovering the desire for gambling from the season of utopias of the Sixties and Seventies (John Coltrane, Steve Lacy, Keith Tippett and the English scene) but immersing it in a burning and disenchanted topicality together with his splendid companions in adventure, Octavian gives shape to a necessary music, which gives and at the same time demands attention and "presence" from its listeners. Not a pastime, in short, but something to be absorbed perhaps in headphones, taking all the time necessary, rediscovering a civilization of listening today shattered between streaming pills, mobile phones and social networks. Published by the Dodicilune label, for which Ottaviano has recorded since 2008, Resonance & Rhapsodies is a double album entrusted half to the Eternal Love quintet and half to the Extended Love octet. In both at the top there are Ottaviano's saxophones and Marco Colonna's clarinets, which integrate perfectly. The piano flashes between Ellington and Taylor of the faithful Alexander Hawkins and the acid tones of Giorgio Pacorig's fender rhodes, the basses of Giovanni Maier and Danilo Gallo, the drums of Zeno De Rossi and Hamid Drake shine. An hour and forty of original music in which to get lost and find yourself, between the intense chamber music of the octet and the fire of the quintet.
https://corrieredelmezzogiorno.corriere.it/bari/arte_e_cultura/20_settembre_16/discografo-ottaviano-resonance-rhapsodies-lancia-sfida-jazz-italiano-b997fe86-f7f4-11ea-900c-4248fd693a32.shtml

Personnel: Soprano Saxophone – Roberto Ottaviano; Clarinet – Marco Colonna; Double Bass – Giovanni Maier; Double Bass, Acoustic Bass – Danilo Gallo; Drums – Hamid Drake, Zeno De Rossi; Piano – Alexander Hawkins, Giorgio Pacorig

Resonance & Rhapsodies (Extended Love & Eternal Love)

Norah Jones - Come Away With Me

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2002
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:09
Size: 103,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:06) 1. Don't Know Why
(2:25) 2. Seven Years
(3:38) 3. Cold, Cold Heart
(2:57) 4. Feelin' the Same Way
(3:18) 5. Come Away With Me
(3:56) 6. Shoot the Moon
(2:34) 7. Turn Me On
(3:06) 8. Lonestar
(4:13) 9. I've Got to See You Again
(2:42) 10. Painter Song
(3:05) 11. One Flight Down
(4:12) 12. Nightingale
(2:44) 13. The Long Day Is Over
(3:07) 14. The Nearness of You

Come Away with Me is the debut studio album by American recording artist Norah Jones, released on February 26, 2002 by Blue Note Records. Recording sessions took place at Sorcerer Sound Studio in New York City and Allaire Studios in Shokan, New York. Come Away with Me peaked at number one on the US Billboard 200, and received Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album. It was later certified Diamond by the RIAA on February 15, 2005 for shipments of over ten million copies in the United States, and has sold over 27 million copies worldwide as of 2016 making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.

Come Away with Me is an acoustic pop album that features Jones supported by jazz musicians: Kevin Breit, Bill Frisell, Adam Levy, Adam Rogers, and Tony Scherr on guitar; Sam Yahel on organ; Jenny Scheinman on violin; Rob Burger on accordion; and Brian Blade, Dan Rieser, and Kenny Wollesen on drums. Jones wrote the title song. Guitarist Jesse Harris wrote the hit "Don't Know Why". The album includes cover versions of "The Nearness of You" by Hoagy Carmichael and "Cold, Cold Heart" by Hank Williams. Come Away with Me incorporates blues, jazz, and folk music. Bobby Dodd of All About Jazz writes that although the album features jazz standards, jazz purists and academics "may deny [Jones] jazz credibility for her folk infusion"....More ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_Away_with_Me

Personnel: Accordion – Rob Burger (tracks: 10); Acoustic Guitar – Adam Levy (tracks: 8, 10), Jesse Harris (tracks: 1, 6, 9, 11 to 13), Kevin Breit (tracks: 2, 4); Bass – Lee Alexander (tracks: 1 to 13); Drums – Brian Blade (tracks: 2, 4, 6, 8 to 13), Dan Rieser (tracks: 1, 5, 7, 11); Electric Guitar – Adam Levy (tracks: 3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12), Jesse Harris (tracks: 1, 5, 6, 9, 11 to 13), Kevin Breit (tracks: 4, 13); Electric Piano [Wurlitzer] – Norah Jones; Harmonium [Pump Organ] – Rob Burger (tracks: 8); Organ – Sam Yahel (tracks: 6, 11); Percussion – Brian Blade (tracks: 2, 9); Piano – Norah Jones (tracks: 1, 3, 5 to 7, 9 to 14); Resonator Guitar [National Guitar] – Kevin Breit (tracks: 2, 4); Violin – Jenny Scheinman (tracks: 9, 11); Vocals – Norah Jones

Come Away With Me

Friday, September 25, 2020

Roberta Donnay - Back Before The Why

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:09
Size: 159,8 MB
Art: Front

(4:50) 1. Catch Me
(5:25) 2. I Don't Want the Nite to End
(4:45) 3. Queen of Pain
(4:48) 4. The Edge
(3:55) 5. Soul to Soul
(4:07) 6. Primal Whispers
(6:32) 7. Harold's Rogue & Jar
(3:55) 8. In My Room
(5:43) 9. Someday
(4:33) 10. Shine
(3:53) 11. Walkin' With the Elephants
(4:05) 12. Call Me the Breeze
(4:06) 13. I'll Be Your Star
(3:54) 14. Ring
(4:30) 15. Ocean

With her singularly enticing sound, few contemporary vocalists are as well suited to dustily vintage material as jazz-blues stylist Roberta Donnay. ~ Jazz Times

Roberta Donnay is a Jazz Age preservationist, guardian of Depression-era sounds, and extender of traditions, but her music isn't covered with cobwebs or dated in any way. ~ All About Jazz

Donnay takes old school jazz, makes it new cool and most of all makes it fun. It swings and it swings hard.~ Critical Jazz

"She is an endangered species." ~ Dr. Herb Wong

The Prohibition Mob Band, led by Roberta Donnay, is a vintage jazz and swing band presenting 1920-1930s swing, blues, and roots music in the jazz tradition. The ensemble's mission is to explore, celebrate, and promote America's jazz roots by interpreting vintage material as well as contributing original works reminiscent of the Jazz Age. Roberta Donnay & the Prohibition Mob Band have been touring the U.S. since 2012. The Prohibition Mob Band released its third CD, "My Heart Belongs To Satchmo" on Blujazz in March 2018. This new record is devoted to the early music of Louis Armstrong, continuing the band's tradition of resurrecting both well-known and obscure vintage music. Previously, the group released "A Little Sugar" (2012) and "Bathtub Gin" (2015) on Motema. "A Little Sugar" spent 9 weeks on the Jazz radio charts, and "Bathtub Gin" was named one of the Best Albums of 2015 by DownBeat Magazine. Award-winning singer and composer Roberta Donnay has been performing and recording for more than two decades. Prior to forming the Prohibition Mob Band, she recorded with legendary producer Orrin Keepnews and was a member of Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks. Donnay's music spans multiple genres, including writing for film and TV. More... http://www.robertadonnay.com/bio/?id=6

Back Before The Why

Thursday, September 24, 2020

Marilyn Monroe - Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:29
Size: 121,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:31) 1. Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend - From "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes"
(3:03) 2. A Little Girl from Little Rock (with Jane Russell) - From "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes"
(2:36) 3. I'm Gonna File My Claim - From "River of No Return"
(3:25) 4. When Love Goes Wrong, Nothing Goes Right (with Jane Russell) - From "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes"
(3:02) 5. You'd Be Surprised
(4:21) 6. Heat Wave - From "There's No Business Like Show Business"
(5:00) 7. My Heart Belongs to Daddy - From "Let's Make Love"
(2:19) 8. A Fine Romance - From "Swing Time"
(2:46) 9. She Acts Like a Woman Should
(2:04) 10. One Silver Dollar - From "River of No Return"
(3:12) 11. Do It Again - From "The French Doll"
(2:59) 12. Kiss - From "Niagara"
(3:33) 13. Lazy - From "There's No Business Like Show Business"
(3:38) 14. After You Get What You Want, You Don't Want It - From "There's No Business Like Show Business"
(3:29) 15. Specialization (with Frankie Vaughan) - From "Let's Make Love"
(3:25) 16. Bye Bye Baby - From "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes"

She was born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926 in Los Angeles, California, to Gladys Baker. As the identity of her father is undetermined, she was later baptized Norma Jeane Baker. Gladys had been a film cutter at RKO studios, but psychological problems prevented her from keeping the job and she was eventually committed to a mental institution. Norma Jeane spent most of her childhood in foster homes and orphanages until 1937, when she moved in with family friend Grace McKee Goddard. Unfortunately, when Grace’s husband was transferred to the East Coast in 1942, the couple couldn’t afford to take 16-year-old Norma Jeane with them. Norma Jeane had two options: return to the orphanage or get married. On June 19, 1942 she wed her 21-year-old neighbor Jimmy Dougherty, whom she had been dating for six months. “She was a sweet, generous and religious girl,” Jimmy said. “She liked to be cuddled.” By all accounts Norma Jeane loved Jimmy, and they were happy together until he joined the Merchant Marines and was sent to the South Pacific in 1944.

After Jimmy left, Norma Jeane took a job on the assembly line at the Radio Plane Munitions factory in Burbank, California. Several months later, photographer David Conover saw her while taking pictures of women contributing to the war effort for Yank magazine. He couldn’t believe his luck. She was a “photographer’s dream.” Conover used her for the shoot and then began sending modeling jobs her way. The camera loved Norma Jeane, and within two years she was a reputable model with many popular magazine covers to her credit. She began studying the work of legendary actresses Jean Harlow and Lana Turner, and enrolled in drama classes with dreams of stardom. However, Jimmy’s return in 1946 meant Norma Jeane had to make another choice- this time between her marriage and her career.

Norma Jeane divorced Jimmy in June of 1946, and signed her first studio contract with Twentieth Century Fox on August 26, 1946. She earned $125 a week. Soon after, Norma Jeane dyed her hair blonde and changed her name to Marilyn Monroe (borrowing her grandmother’s last name). The rest, as the saying goes, is history. Marilyn played a series of inconsequential characters in her first films, until 1950, when John Huston’s thriller The Asphalt Jungle provided her with a small but influential role. Later that year, Marilyn’s performance as Claudia Caswell in All About Eve (starring Bette Davis) earned her further praise. From then on Marilyn worked steadily in movies such as: Let’s Make It Legal, As Young As You Feel, Monkey Business and Don’t Bother to Knock. It was her performance in 1953’s Niagara, however, that delivered her to stardom. Marilyn played Rose Loomis, a beautiful young wife who plots to kill her older, jealous husband (Joseph Cotten).

Marilyn’s success in Niagara was followed with lead roles in the wildly popular Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (co-starring Jane Russell) and How to Marry a Millionaire (co-starring Lauren Bacall and Betty Grable). Photoplay magazine voted Marilyn the Best New Actress of 1953, and at 27 years old she was undeniably the best-loved blonde bombshell in Hollywood. On January 14, 1954, Marilyn married baseball superstar Joe DiMaggio at San Francisco’s City Hall. They had been a couple for two years, after Joe asked his agent to arrange a dinner date. “I don’t know if I’m in love with him yet,” Marilyn said when the press got word of their relationship, “but I know I like him more than any man I’ve ever met.” During their Tokyo honeymoon, Marilyn took time to perform for the service men stationed in Korea. Her presence caused a near-riot among the troops, and Joe was clearly uncomfortable with thousands of men ogling his new bride.

Unfortunately, Marilyn’s fame and sexual image became a theme that haunted their marriage. Nine months later on October 27, 1954, Marilyn and Joe divorced. They attributed the split to a “conflict of careers,” and remained close friends. Marilyn was ready to shed her “shallow blonde” image by 1955. It had gotten her into the spotlight, but now that she had the opportunity and experience, Marilyn wanted to pursue serious acting. She took a hiatus from Hollywood and moved to New York City to study under Lee Strasberg at his Actors’ Studio.In 1956, Marilyn started her own motion picture company, Marilyn Monroe Productions. The company produced Bus Stop and The Prince and the Showgirl (co-starring Sir Laurence Olivier). These two films allowed her to demonstrate her talent and versatility as an actress. Marilyn received further recognition for 1959’s Some Like It Hot, winning a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy. On June 29, 1956, Marilyn wed playwright Arthur Miller. Friends reported she made him “giddy.” While they were married, Arthur wrote the part of Roslyn Taber in 1961’s The Misfits especially for Marilyn. The movie co-starred Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift. Sadly, the marriage between Marilyn and Arthur ended on January 20, 1961, and The Misfits was to be Marilyn’s (and Gable’s) last completed film.

At the 1962 Golden Globes, Marilyn was named female World Film Favorite, once again demonstrating her widespread appeal. Sadly, in a shocking turn of events on the early morning of August 5, 1962, 36-year-old Marilyn died at her Brentwood, California home. The world was stunned. Marilyn’s vibrant spirit and beauty made it impossible to believe she was gone. On August 8, 1962, Marilyn’s body was laid to rest in the Corridor of Memories, #24, at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California. https://themarilynmonroecollection.com/marilyn-monroe-biography/

Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend

Roberto Ottaviano QuarkTet - Sideralis

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2017
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:45
Size: 106,6 MB
Art: Front

(7:41) 1. Vulpecula
(5:09) 2. Berenice's Code
(4:47) 3. Planet Nichols
(3:43) 4. Planet John Lee Hooker
(1:50) 5. Ellingtonia
(2:02) 6. Afro Asteroids Game
(4:20) 7. On the Harmonica Wake
(3:26) 8. Holy Gravity
(4:34) 9. Centaurus
(8:10) 10. Sideralis

For his most recent work, just published, Roberto Ottaviano intended to make a tribute to John Coltrane on the fiftieth anniversary of his death. In reality, the disc is much more than a simple tribute to the great artist, who has always been one of the main points of reference for Ottaviano; the ten original compositions that compose it, all signed by the saxophonist from Bari, represent the ideal synthesis of the musical exploration work carried out over the years by its author. Hence the connection with the Coltrane of the last period, that of the sound research aimed at a cosmic absolute that we also find in this work.

Accompanied by very valid and renowned musicians such as the pianist Alexander Hawkins, bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Gerry Hemingway , Octavian takes us on a journey through the galaxy of contemporary jazz, also recalling some of his roots such as John Lee Hooker , Herbie Nichols and Duke Ellingtoncited directly in the titles of as many pieces, in a continuous exploration based on written forms that leave much room for free improvisation. The long opening piece, "Vulpecula," is already an example of this approach, with its thematic fragments that alternate with freely improvised phases with a broken rhythm; but the culmination of abstraction is reached in the final "Sideralis," eight minutes of indescribable sound immersion in cosmic space. Between the two extremes of the CD we find shorter and more structured pieces that highlight the perfect cohesion of the performers called to a constant work together, in which even the rare individual solos are part of a larger collective moment. The CD certainly represents a challenging and courageous listening, but it pays off with a sound journey that leads us through a very intense and stimulating musical experience.~ Mario Calvitti https://www.allaboutjazz.com/sideralis-roberto-ottaviano-dodicilune-records-review-by-mario-calvitti.php

Personnel: Roberto Ottaviano: saxophones; Alexander Hawkins: plan; Michael Formanek: upright bass; Gerry Hemingway: drums.

Sideralis

Evan Christopher - The Art of the New Orleans Trio

Styles: Clarinet Jazz
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:57
Size: 122,7 MB
Art: Front

(5:43) 1. CIty Park Swing
(4:34) 2. Hello, Goodbye Blues
(3:21) 3. The Cascades
(5:03) 4. Trois Danses Des Jeunes
(3:50) 5. Meet Me At The Eagle Saloon
(4:42) 6. Let Me Call You Sweetheart
(4:08) 7. Alone At The Ball
(3:15) 8. Old Sober March
(4:07) 9. You'll Be Cryin' The Blues,Not Me
(4:37) 10. Where A True Heart Waits For You
(4:21) 11. Follow The Second Line
(5:11) 12. Lonesome Me

Evan Christopher combines virtuosity, immaculate taste, and enthusiasm with a commitment to exploring the full range of possibilities in the New Orleans clarinet tradition. His highly personal brand of “contemporary, early jazz” strives to extend the legacies of early Creole clarinet heroes such as Sidney Bechet, Barney Bigard and Omer Simeon. Critics remarking on Christopher’s dynamic expressiveness have coined his style “close-encounter music” (NEW YORK TIMES) and have called his respect for the music traditions of New Orleans, “a triumph, joining the present seamlessly to a glorious past.” (THE OBSERVER, UK).

His journey on Clarinet Road began in 1994, when he left his native California to join the New Orleans music community. Diverse freelance work included gigs with musicians such as Al Hirt and veterans of Preservation Hall to funk and brass bands including the Nightcrawlers and Galactic.But in 1996, he left for San Antonio, Texas to appear nightly for nearly three years with the Jim Cullum Jazz Band and record several of their public radio programs, Riverwalk: Live from the Landing. When Christopher returned to New Orleans in 2001, his published research on the New Orleans clarinet style initiated pursuit of a Master’s degree in Musicology at Tulane University. He began touring internationally and producing his “Clarinet Road” series of CDs (STR Digital).

In August 2005, when Federal levees failed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina decimating the city, Christopher left again for Paris at the invitation of the French Embassy’s Cultural Services division, where he formed his group, Django à la Créole. This Europe-based quartet fused Gypsy Swing with Latin-tinged grooves of New Orleans and beyond and was distinguished for an acoustic intimacy paired with driving swing.
Critics charmed by the group queried, “Is there a more graceful band at work at the moment?” (THE SUNDAY TIMES UK).

Three CDs for Lejazzetal (London), in partnership with Frémeaux & Associés (Paris) Django à la Créole (2007), Finesse (2010), and LIVE! (2014) earned the group critical attention worldwide for its elegant character.As a composer, Christopher’s original songs are the high point of acclaimed recordings including Delta Bound (Arbors, 2007) featuring pianist Dick Hyman, The Remembering Song (Arbors, 2010) featuring guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, his clarinet feature on the Grammy-winning New Orleans Jazz Orchestra’s Book One (2012) and his latest Clarinet Road CD, Bayou Chant & Other Textures (STR Digital, 2016).

In July 2010, he had the honor to debut his Treat It Gentle Suite with the Minnesota Orchestra, which was the first concerto written for clarinet with band in the New Orleans style. Evan Christopher began his musical training on clarinet at age 11. In high school, he received the Louis Armstrong National Jazz Award and was one of the first graduates of the prestigious Idyllwild Arts Academy. He continued studies at the University of Southern California and graduated with honors from California State University, Long Beach. A brief teaching stint at the University of New Orleans saw the creation of a New Orleans music ensemble that performed with guest mentors such as Lucien Barbarin and Marcus Roberts. Since 2008, having returned once again to New Orleans, Christopher actively advocates for the cultural workforce and music education.He frequently tours with and records as a guest with forward-looking artists, while performances under his own name are often complemented by workshops and educational and community outreach. Occasional columns about the music scene and New Orleans culture written for NolaVie.com, evidence Evan's passion for the city’s indigenous traditions. https://www.clarinetroad.com/about/

The Art of the New Orleans Trio

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

James Williams - Meet the Magical Trio

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1989
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:15
Size: 119,9 MB
Art: Front

(7:06) 1. Reedus' Rendezvous
(8:13) 2. Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me
(3:56) 3. Fingers
(6:03) 4. Lazybird
(6:59) 5. Be Real Special
(7:27) 6. Arioso
(6:38) 7. Shenanigens
(5:50) 8. Single Petal of a Rose/A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing

While the first two Magical Trio sessions teamed pianist James Williams with classic veterans (bassist Ray Brown and either Art Blakey or Elvin Jones on drums), this outing matches him with a couple of talented younger musicians: bassist Charnett Moffett and drummer Jeff Watts. But, despite the change in personnel, the advanced straightahead music is not all that different from the earlier dates. Once again Williams contributes a few originals (four this time including a remake of "Arioso") and uplifts some older tunes. Highlights include Thad Jones' "Fingers," John Coltrane's "Lazybird" and a solo medley of "Single Petal of A Rose" and "A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing." Easily recommended. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/meet-the-magical-trio-mw0000654922

Personnel: James Williams - piano; Charnett Moffett - bass; Jeff Watts - drums

Meet the Magical Trio

Ingrid Lucia - Wanderlust

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 31:32
Size: 73,8 MB
Art: Front

(1:12) 1. His Eyes Are on the Sparrow
(2:29) 2. You’re Not the Only One
(4:09) 3. Big and Juicy Lips
(3:02) 4. Hey There, Listen for the Love
(3:23) 5. It Had to Be His Way
(3:27) 6. The Escape
(3:13) 7. Dream a Little Dream of Me
(3:51) 8. Mississippi River Blues
(4:03) 9. Wanderlust
(2:38) 10. Nature Boy

Born into a family of street musicians, Ingrid Lucia sang in her family band, the Flying Neutrinos, from the age of eight, so she has music coursing deep in her soul. This sassy New Orleans native has a voice that's prompted thousands of comparisons to Billie Holiday. But despite her stylistic similarities to Lady Day, Lucia's delivery is upbeat, fun and just a bit naughty, in the true Big Easy tradition. Ingrid Lucia grew up in a gypsy-style traveling family band, living in buses, boats and tents for the first eighteen years of her life. She started out as a dancer, but by the age of 8 she was singing in the band.

That band was the Flying Neutrinos. At first the family travelled and played through Mexico, but eventually they returned to their New Orleans roots. When she was 18, Lucia and her cousin, Todd Londagin, took over the Neutrinos and took the group from the streets of New Orleans to the clubs and concert halls of New York City where they played with everyone up to and including Tony Bennett. They soon had their first CD, I'd Rather Be in New Orleans, featuring the great Doc Cheathan. Three additional highly acclaimed CDs have followed. Describing that first CD, the Washington Post said, “There are times when Ingrid Lucia and the Flying Neutrinos' album I'd Rather Be in New Orleans is enticing enough to make even a staunch New Yorker feel homesick for the Big Easy. A sultry, behind-the-beat voice, a combination of sometimes languid, sometimes syncopated rhythms, and lots of evocative brass all conspire to make this a picture postcard of an album.https//musicians.allaboutjazz.com/ingridlucia

Wanderlust

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

Rickie Lee Jones - Dutch Courage (Live 1979)

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:30
Size: 123,7 MB
Art: Front

( 6:17) 1. High Gear And Young Blood
( 4:36) 2. Young Blood
( 5:57) 3. The Last Chance Texaco
( 3:40) 4. Easy Money
( 3:41) 5. Chuck E's In Love
( 6:10) 6. Weasel And The White Boys
( 3:17) 7. Sentimental Journey
( 5:04) 8. Coolsville
( 3:16) 9. On Saturday Afternoons In 1963
(11:27) 10. Jam

Hilton Als is a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine; advisory editor at Grand Street magazine; has written about photography and prominent members in the field. The Women, his first book, an extended essay about women and self-invention, was published in November by Farrar, Straus, & Giroux. Think of what you are about to read as a documentary film of sorts, replete with close-ups and fade-outs, starring the premiere song-stylist and songwriter of her generation, Rickie Lee Jones. In this film we see: Rickie Lee Jones’ face, her distinctive mouth, and her thick, beyond shoulder length blonde hair as she walks down a road in a bucolic section of Tacoma, Washington, where she currently resides. It is springtime. She does not wear shoes. She carries a guitar. The sky overhead is as shiny as mica. As Jones searches for a place to sit and play in the sun, we see various aspects of her contemporary life come into frame, engaging Jones’ attention as she smiles, and listens, and reflects. We see her daughter, Charlotte Rose; Jones’ mother and siblings; various friends. All of these people come and go, passing in front of, and behind, our primary focus: Rickie Lee Jones playing her guitar and singing any number of her award winning songs: "Chuck E.’s in Love," or her interpretation of the classic, "Making Whoopee," for which she won a Grammy® in 1990.

As Rickie Lee Jones sings, we hear, in voice over: Rickie Lee Jones is the second of three daughters and one son who are of Welsh and Irish ancestry. She was born on November 8, 1954, in Chicago, Illinois. Her parents, Richard Loris Jones and Bettye Jane Jones, both had peripatetic childhoods: her father lived from hand to mouth in a number of transient hotels, and rode the rails, wandering the country. Her mother was an orphan. She has described her family as "lower-middle-class-hillbilly-hipster. The late Mr. Jones was a performer who supplemented his income as a waiter, furniture mover, and gardener. (Richard Jones’own father was a one-legged vaudeville and carny dancer named Peg Leg Jones. Jones says of her paternal grandfather: "I have one clipping of him, advertising his act, where his name is bigger than Milton Berle’s.") Bettye Jones worked as a waitress; later, she became a nurse.

Between jobs, Richard Jones taught his musically inclined daughter how to sing. And to honor that, Jones used to perform, in her early concerts, "The Moon is Made of Gold," a lullaby her father wrote for her. Since her family led a largely marginal existence, Jones lived in Chicago, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Arizona, and Olympia, Washington by the time she entered high school. By all accounts, Rickie Lee Jones was an extremely solitary child who was especially close to her older brother, Danny. Nevertheless, she preferred the secret world of her imaginary friends and playmates. In an interview, Bettye Jones said that her daughter’s imaginary playmates had "strange names like Bashla and SlowBeeSlow." She continued, "[Rickie] would take them with her to church." When he was sixteen, Rickie’s brother, Danny, suffered a motorcycle accident that left him with one leg and partial paralysis. At the time, Rickie lived with an aunt. But she visited her brother in the hospital constantly. Her mother recalls that she would sing in the hospital’s elevator shaft. "You could hear it all around the hospital," Bettye Jones has said. "It was the eeriest sound I think I ever heard."

When Rickie was fourteen, she was living in Arizona with her father. Jones has said in an interview that her mother was always afraid she would run away a heartbreak she couldn’t take and so sent her to live with her father; her parents were separated by then. Jones recalls that she once ran away from her father as a result of his need to control his wildly imaginative young daughter, her burgeoning sexuality and charisma, and powerful talent. In an interview for a Rolling Stone cover story published in 1979, Jones said: "I never knew when I was gong to leave. I might be walking over to a kid’s house, then of all a sudden I would just stick out my thumb and hitchhike across three states." In this, Rickie resembles Cissy, the heroine of Tom Robbins’ classic novel, Even Cowgirls Get The Blues, the story of a young girl trying to find the world through the kindness of strangers offering her a ride to anywhere but here. After high school in Olympia, which she had returned to in her mid-teens, Jones began singing more and more. She also wrote lyrics in a little notebook she kept. Sometimes, she’d sing the entire score of "West Side Story," to amuse herself.

By the time she nineteen, Jones was living in Los Angeles, waiting tables and occasionally playing music in out of the way coffee houses and bars. All the while, she was developing her unique aesthetic: music that was sometimes spoken, often beautifully sung, and while emotionally accessible, she was writing lyrics as taut and complex as any by the great American poet, Elizabeth Bishop. In her voice and songs, we saw smoky stocking seams, love being everything but requited. And it was during these years that Jones’ song, "Easy Money," caught the attention of one musician and then the music industry. The song was recorded by Lowell George, the founder of the band, Little Feat. He used it on his solo album, "Thanks, I’ll Eat It Here." Warner Brothers auditioned Jones and quickly signed her to the label.

Her debut on Warners, Rickie Lee Jones, released in 1979, won the Grammy® for Best New Artist. She was hailed by one critic as a "highly touted new pop-jazz-singer-songwriter" and another critic as "one of the best if not the best artist of her generation." In addition to the album’s brilliant songs including the exceptional "On Saturday Afternoons in 1963," the haunting "Last Chance Texaco," and the popular "Chuck E’s in Love"--Jones was becoming a figure whose life was bearing a great deal of emulation by young women and men who found, in her deep and personal and idiosyncratic life and work, a model for the new generation of hipster: She was heralded as a trendsetter in dress (beret, subdresses, heels) and in lifestyle, given her by then famous relationship with two boys she helped to make famous, too: Chuck E. Weiss, a Los Angeles character, and the singer and songwriter Tom Waits, about whom Rickie has said: "We walk around the same streets, and I guess it's primarily a jazz-motivated situation for both of us. We're living on the jazz side of life."More...... https://www.rickieleejones.com/biography.htm

Dutch Courage (Live 1979)

Dmitry Baevsky - Somethin´ Special

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:57
Size: 98,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:41) 1. Somethin´ Special
(4:39) 2. Fools Rush In
(8:30) 3. Cheesecake
(7:58) 4. Lament
(5:10) 5. Eclypso
(7:08) 6. The End of a Love Affair
(4:48) 7. I Thought About You

“Cheese Cake” (Dexter Gordon) plays. The timbre is that of a tenor saxophone. I wonder to the producer and oh surprise, it's an alto sax! He gave it to me with cheese! I scrutinize criticism and verify that qualified critics also succumbed to his fraud. I reconcile myself to my self-esteem and reaffirm my admiration for Baevsky. Dmitry's sound is warm, thick, dark, with a strong presence and a timbre full of harmonics. In the present work, he has chosen a varied bunch of standards that go a long way with his style. It begins with Somethin 'Special, (Sonny Clark), playing the lie with the timbre of his sax, and with the structure of the theme that begins as a minor blues, to surprise us with an interlude to a ternary rhythm. Piano, drums and double bass talk loquaciously on the song.

It follows a mid-time swing with Fools rush in, (Mercer-Bloom), with a livelier and more cheerful tone and phrasing, in keeping with the title of the song.In the following Cheesecake cut, perfectly installed in the language of Dexter Gordon, Dmitry offers us a masterful version, without abandoning the Gordonian wave but using his own arguments. A great Fabio Miano solo and a few bars alternating between breaks and stubbornness lead to a great Joe Strasser drum solo. The fourth track lowers the rhythmic tension, not the emotional one, with a sense of Lament (JJ Johnson), where Baevsky shows his sensitivity and delicacy by threading this beautiful ballad note by note.

In fifth place appears Eclypso (Tommy Flannagan), a calypso, to tone the mood. The piano takes the voice to deliver the witness to the sax. Baevsky's agile phrasing, halfway between hard and Latin, invites the participation of double bass and percussion, which makes it clear that no rhythm is alien to him. Once on, why stop! Dmitry seems to propose with The end of a love affair (Edward Redding) in sixth place, with a final Latin nod. In seventh and last place appears I thougt about you (Jimmy Van Heusen). The song debuts as a ballad floating between undertones, but mutates into a mid-time swing with fresh and fluid phrasing, inviting you to participate in the conversation at the piano and double bass. In conclusion, a great album by a great sax virtuoso ... alto? Yes, stop, accompanied by great performers.
http://majazzine.com/2016/01/dmitry-baevsky-somethin-special/

Personnel: Saxophone – Dmitry Baevsky; Bass – Ignasi González; Drums – Joe Strasser; Piano – Fabio Miano

Somethin´ Special