Monday, October 5, 2020

Van Morrison - His Band and the Street Choir

Styles: Vocal, Guitar
Year: 1970
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:18
Size: 98,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:09) 1. Domino
(3:00) 2. Crazy Face
(2:40) 3. Give Me a Kiss
(3:29) 4. I've Been Working
(3:55) 5. Call Me Up in Dreamland
(3:53) 6. I'll Be Your Lover, Too
(3:48) 7. Blue Money
(4:14) 8. Virgo Clowns
(3:18) 9. Gypsy Queen
(2:12) 10. Sweet Jannie
(3:47) 11. If I Ever Needed Someone
(4:49) 12. Street Choir

Released in 1970, Van Morrison's Moondance was a hit commercially and critically. Encouraged by his manager, Morrison and a sextet including three players from the Moondance sessions hit the studio and delivered His Band & the Street Choir in time for that year's holiday season. Morrison responded to the pressure by relaxing into it. The feel here is loose, often celebratory. He digs deep into his long-held fascination with the New Orleans R&B tradition for inspiration. "Domino" is his highest charting single. The funky guitar lick, left-hand piano rumbling, driving, Memphis-style horns, and pumping bassline kick things off in grand party style. The ballad "Crazy Face," written in 1968, melds acoustic guitar, mandolin, and piano. Morrison's brittle, bluesy saxophone line and a grooving B-3 tip the balance toward R&B. "Give Me a Kiss" has a great Zigaboo Modeliste feel in the horn charts; Fats Domino gets referenced in Alan Hand's piano stroll, and the punchy, doo-wopping tag in the chorus nods at Frankie Ford. "I've Been Working" (which dates to Astral Weeks) is Morrison at his funky best, roaring above a cooking choogle. The acoustic guitar vamp is highlighted by swirling organ, and electric Meters-esque guitar and basslines. Drummer Dahaud Elias Sharr lays down tough breaks and fills throughout as jazzy horns frame the singer. "Call Me Up in Dreamland" features the loose-knit "street choir" (musicians, wives, girlfriends, etc.). It's built on the ragged, Celtic soul-gospel template that Morrison would continue to refer to. The intimate "I'll Be Your Lover Too," adorned only by acoustic guitar and whispering drums, is haunted with the slow-burn passion that would flow so easily on 1972's Saint Dominic's Preview. Second single "Blue Money" is a Rhodes-and-brass driven blues that returns to the NOLA trick bag for fire. The poetic "Virgo Clowns" is painted in a lovely meld of 12-string acoustic guitars and bass clarinet. "Gypsy Queen" is slippery love song, with Morrison offering a gorgeous falsetto. The Celtic soul in "If I Ever Needed Someone" is highlighted by the same trio of backing vocalists that appeared on Moondance's "Crazy Love." The closing title track draws on the swaggering, testifying gospel that inspired that album's "Caravan" (and, played back-to-back, seems to grow right out of it). The street choir's backing is sweeter, balanced by eloquent sax and harmonica breaks. As an album, His Band & the Street Choir may not equal Astral Weeks or Moondance, but the aim was never that lofty. That most of these songs have endured as fan favorites is testament enough to their quality.~ Thom Jurek https://www.allmusic.com/album/his-band-and-the-street-choir-mw0000191086

His Band and the Street Choir

Sunday, October 4, 2020

Demis Roussos - My Only Fascination (Remastered 2016)

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/
Time: 46:35
Size: 127,6 MB
Art: Front

(3:43) 1. My Only Fascination
(2:48) 2. White Sails
(3:11) 3. Marlene
(2:56) 4. Say You Love Me
(3:00) 5. Smile
(3:04) 6. Someday Somewhere
(3:25) 7. Lovely Lady Of Arcadia
(3:41) 8. Shadows
(3:43) 9. Reverie
(3:59) 10. We Pretend
(3:33) 11. Let It Be Me
(3:04) 12. Yellow Paper
(3:23) 13. With You
(3:00) 14. Un Dia Igual A Los Demas

Singer Demis Roussos, known for his dramatic, operatic vocal stylings, was born Artemios Ventouris Roussos in Alexandria, Egypt, on June 15, 1946, to Greek expatriate parents. In the early '60s, however, the family decided to return to their homeland, and once there, the young Roussos (who had studied trumpet and sung in the church choir in Egypt) began playing in local bands. One of these was Aphrodite's Child, which also featured Vangelis Papatanassiou and Lucas Sideras. A huge hit in Europe, especially France, the band released a handful of albums before breaking up in 1971. With his label contacts in place, however, Roussos was able to secure a deal as a solo recording artist, and later that same year issued the single "We Shall Dance," also included on the album On the Greek Side of My Mind. The 1970s were a prolific time for Roussos, and he released a number of singles and albums that charted highly on the European and Latin American charts. In 1978 the singer decided to retire, and moved to Malibu Beach, where he kept a lower profile. Eventually he moved back to Greece, however, and it was there from which he boarded TWA flight 847 to Rome on June 14, 1985. The plane was hijacked by members of Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, and Roussos and his wife, along with the other passengers, were held captive for a few days. The experience changed his life, and he decided the best way he could help others and promote understanding in the world was by returning to music. The Story of Demis Roussos came out shortly thereafter, and for a short while the singer's career was reignited, especially in southern Europe. Demis Roussos died in Athens in January 2015; he was 68 years old.~ Marisa Brown https://www.allmusic.com/artist/demis-roussos-mn0000243851/biography

My Only Fascination (Remastered 2016)

The Puppini Sisters, The Pasadena Roof Orchestra - Dance Dance Dance

Styles: Vocal, Swing
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:24
Size: 102,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:30) 1. 9 to 5
(3:47) 2. I Wanna Dance With Somebody
(2:39) 3. Sing Sing Sing
(4:16) 4. Shallow
(3:37) 5. Dance Dance Dance
(2:51) 6. Ba Ba Baciami Piccin
a (3:20) 7. Jealousy
(3:44) 8. Dancing Queen
(3:17) 9. Mack the Knife
(3:54) 10. I Put a Spell On You
(2:45) 11. Puttin' On the Ritz
(3:39) 12. Groove Is In the Heart
(2:59) 13. Don't Fence Me In

Three simple words define gorgeous close harmonies, impeccable fashion sense and trailblazing re-workings of pop and classic songs… The Puppini Sisters! Often copied, never equalled, this truly original trio, founded in 2004 by Marcella Puppini and featuring Kate Mullins and Emma Smith, seamlessly blend elegance and sophistication with a touch of retro and turn it into a must have lifestyle.

With five unprecedented albums under their waist-cinching belts, including the fastest selling UK jazz album of all time, Betcha Bottom Dollar, and fans such as Prince Charles and Michael Bublé, its no wonder everybody wants a piece of them in some way or another; whether it is one of their inimitable albums, tickets to their exhilarating live shows or an exclusive and innovative item of merchandise, it all adds to the Puppini experience. So come and join the worldwide followers of this inspirational band and check out their new online shop below, to help bring Puppini retro chic to your life! https://www.thepuppinisisters.com/

Dance Dance Dance

Saturday, October 3, 2020

Francesco Caligiuri Quintet - Renaissance

Styles: Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:16
Size: 100,3 MB
Art: Front

(5:53) 1. The Breeze
(3:10) 2. Le petit enfant
(4:23) 3. Restless
(4:12) 4. Rêve
(5:48) 5. Il Canto dei Titani
(7:04) 6. Double Essence
(5:49) 7. Relax Your Mind
(6:54) 8. Renaissance

Eugenio Colombo describes the disc in the cover notes by saying these words: “Amazing, the music on this CD seems to have come from a secret (British) casket of the fatal 70s. Complexity of the compositional form, unitary and consequent conception of the proposed music, agogic and use of times and meters of other latitudes refer us to the aesthetics of the so-called “progressive rock”, but the expressive freedom and the risk in the improvisational parts transport us to a universe close to the most authentic African American avant-garde.

We are less surprised that this music is composed, organized and played by a young man: Francesco Caligiuri, from a small town near Cosenza, therefore from the periphery of the periphery of the Empire. Italy, on the outskirts of Europe, has accustomed us for a long time that cultural events do not necessarily take place in big cities, just think of Clusone, Noci but also, in other ways, Spoleto. The project is already defined by the choice of the adventure companions: Nicola Pisani soprano sax, the same Francesco Caligiuri baritone sax, bass clarinet and alto recorder, Michel Godard tuba and serpentone, Luca Garlaschelli double bass and Francesco Montebello drums; expert musicians, curious about different sound environments, without pre-made models and with original sounds.

The compositions are always at the service of the soloists, there is a counterpoint design which, also due to the absence of a harmonic instrument, gives us the illusion of listening to a small chamber orchestra instead of a jazz quintet”. https://francescocaligiuri.com/en/js_albums/renaissance-2/

Personnel: Francesco Caligiuri (baritone sax, bass clarinet and flute), Nicola Pisani (soprano sax), Michel Godard (tuba and serpentone), Luca Gralaschelli (double bass), Francesco Montebello (drums).

Renaissance

Ella Fitzgerald - Invite You To Listen And Relax

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1955
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 35:09
Size: 82,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:08) 1. I Wished On The Moon
(2:43) 2. Baby
(3:00) 3. I Hadn't Anyone Till You
(3:13) 4. A Man Wrote A Song
(2:49) 5. Who's Afraid (Not I, Not I, Not I)
(2:27) 6. Happy Talk
(3:05) 7. Black Coffee
(3:05) 8. Lover's Gold
(2:55) 9. I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair
(3:01) 10. Dream A Little Longer
(2:40) 11. I Need
(3:00) 12. Foolish Tears

Responding to the demand for mood music albums in 1958, Decca put together an LP of ballads and things that Ella Fitzgerald recorded in tandem with Decca's all-purpose music director Gordon Jenkins when he was riding high in the early '50s. Fitzgerald could invoke a few jazz inflections here and there, particularly on a bluesy rendition of "Black Coffee," but she is asked mostly to play the role of a white-bread pop crooner. All of Jenkins' harmonic, big-band, orchestral and choral trademarks are in full play here, evoking the cozy ambience of postwar suburbia as completely as anyone did in those days. As a period piece, it is very enlightening, but Fitzgerald's best Decca work lay elsewhere. ~Richard S. Ginell https://www.allmusic.com/album/miss-ella-fitzgerald-and-mr-gordon-jenkins-invite-you-to-listen-and-relax-mw0000871003

Invite You To Listen And Relax

Friday, October 2, 2020

Glenn Crytzer - Uptown Jump

Styles: Swing, Big Band
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:01
Size: 142,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:12) 1. The Savoy Special
(3:08) 2. Hop on the Mop
(3:05) 3. What Did I Do (an Ambiguous Love Song)
(3:42) 4. Uptown Jump
(4:46) 5. Le Fantôme de Saint Bechet
(3:26) 6. Not Far to Fargo
(3:23) 7. It's About Time
(3:44) 8. The Road to Tallahassee
(2:59) 9. Smokin' That Weed
(3:19) 10. Mrah!
(2:58) 11. Downtown Slump
(3:33) 12. Could This Be Love?
(3:17) 13. That Zombie Music
(3:09) 14. Yes, I'm in the Doghouse Now!
(3:33) 15. Glenn's Idea
(3:15) 16. The Lenox
(3:28) 17. Missouri Loves Company
(2:54) 18. Good Night, Good Luck

The first track on Glenn Crytzer's new album literally made me do a double-take: Did I really cue-up an album recorded just a few months ago or did I make a mistake and play a vintage track out of my own swing music library? This first track in question, “The Savoy Special,” has a tone and feeling so terrific with its bounce and that infectious “hep-hep” motif coming from the horns it sounds like you just struck it rich while crate-digging and plucked out a mint 78rpm swing-era record that no one has ever heard before. Welcome everyone to a new milestone in the modern swing era! I am writing this review for you, the readers of Swing DJ Resources which is a bit like preaching to the choir, so let's just cut to the chase and say that if you are a swing DJ, dancer, or music enthusiast, you will want this record. ‘Nuff said. Are we done here? Well, since I'm hoping that this album will find a much wider audience based on it's entertaining musicality, let's continue, shall we Back? Yes! Crytzer has always tried to get a more authentic sound out of his studio recordings. He eschews close-mic techniques the modern methods that attempt to stick a mic in front of everything to isolate the individual players for greater control over the recording process (but which introduce a certain artificiality in the sound.) To achieve the sound he is looking for, Crytzer favors using a vintage pair of microphones placed so as to capture the live sound of the room and the musical interaction between the instruments. Friends, this new album “Uptown Swing,” sets a new standard of excellence in recording for swing bands and demonstrates what can be accomplished with the studied use of old-school microphone techniques.More... https://swingdjresources.com/uptown-jump

New York’s finest: Glenn, guitar, arranger, composer, vocals; Mike Davis, trumpet; Dan Levinson, soprano, alto, tenor saxophone; Evan Arntzen, clarinet, tenor saxophone; Jesse Gelber, piano; Andrew Hall, string bass; Kevin Dorn, drums. Recorded this year at Peter Karl Studios (thanks, Peter, for the lively sound!)

Uptown Jump

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/

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