Chick Corea - Delphi 2 & 3

Album: Delphi 2 Side One
Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1980
File: MP3@256K/s
Time: 23:06
Size: 44,0 MB
Art: Front

(1:06) 1. New World I
(0:45) 2. New World II
(1:30) 3. New World III
(1:14) 4. New World IV
(1:30) 5. New World V
(1:07) 6. New World VI
(9:42) 7. Sad Song
(2:40) 8. Samba
(3:28) 9. North Brasil

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Album: Delphi 2 Side Two
Time: 26:30
Size: 49,7 MB

(6:36) 1. Mountain Top
(2:46) 2. Voices
(7:22) 3. Spirits
(4:59) 4. Waltze For My Folks
(2:23) 5. Unicorns I
(2:21) 6. Unicorns II

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Album: Delphi 3 Side One
Time: 26:43
Size: 51,8 MB

(4:05) 1. Mime I
(4:57) 2. Mime II
(2:43) 3. Ballet I
(0:38) 4. Ballet II
(3:05) 5. Ballet III
(1:10) 6. Ballet IV
(0:32) 7. Ballet V
(1:50) 8. Ballet VI
(0:31) 9. Ballet VII
(0:26) 10. Ballet VIII
(0:20) 11. Ballet IX
(0:55) 12. Ballet X
(0:41) 13. Ballet XI
(0:39) 14. Ballet XII
(4:03) 15. Poem I

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Album: Delphi 3 Side Two
Time: 27:09
Size: 50,7 MB

(11:33) 1. Concerto Flamenco
( 3:22) 2. Poem II (Liana)
( 3:34) 3. Poem III (Thaddeus)
( 4:59) 4. Poem IV (Remember The Hearts)
( 3:39) 5. Poem V (Remember The Hearts

Innovator and Pioneer:
Since embarking on a solo career in 1966, Chick has been at the forefront of jazz, both as a renowned pianist forging new ground with his acoustic jazz bands and as an innovative electric keyboardist with Return to Forever, the Elektric Band, and now the electro/acoustic Vigil. His extensive discography boasts numerous albums, beginning with his 1968 classic, Now He Sings, Now He Sobs.

Renowned Pianist-Composer Chick Corea - A Prolific Explorer Of Jazz And Classical Music

A DownBeat Hall of Famer and NEA Jazz Master, 23-time Grammy winner, and keyboard virtuoso, Chick Corea has attained living legend status after five decades of unparalleled creativity and an artistic output that is simply staggering. Chick is the fourth-most-nominated artist in the history of the Grammys, with 65 nominations. He's also earned 3 Latin Grammy Awards, the most of any artist in the Best Instrumental Album category.

From straight ahead to avant-garde, bebop to fusion, children's songs to chamber music, along with some far-reaching forays into symphonic works, Chick has touched an astonishing number of musical bases in his illustrious career while maintaining a standard of excellence that is awe-inspiring. A tirelessly creative spirit, Chick continues to forge ahead, continually reinventing himself in the process. https://chickcorea.com/about-chick/

Piano – Chick Corea

R.I.P.

Mariangela Cagnetta - E–Motion

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:43
Size: 110,3 MB
Art: Front

(3:41) 1. Things Ain’t What They Used to Be
(4:55) 2. Afro Blue
(7:12) 3. Nature Boy
(3:32) 4. Lawns
(4:24) 5. Caravan
(2:55) 6. Lazy Afternoon Phunk
(5:19) 7. And I Love Him (Medley)
(2:32) 8. Speak Low
(4:33) 9. Blue in Green
(4:19) 10. Giant Steps
(4:15) 11. Moon River

A glance at the track listing on this album might prompt the title of another tune "So What's New?" However, after a thorough listening, a more appropriate musical response could be "I Never Knew." e-motion is an innovative, fascinating and marvelously performed modern perspective on eleven jazz standards delivered by superior musicians. The ensemble is minimal a vocalist, an electric bassist and a drummer. That's it. The musicians' creative output is anything but. Vocalist Mariangela Cagnetta is an incredibly versatile, talented and mature artist. She has terrific vocal chops across the session. It takes a highly competent and involved singer to walk this type of tightrope. Cagnetta is right at home communicating and responding magnificently with ace bassist, Viz Maurogiovanni and master drummer, Pierluigi Villani. She's a gem.

While the program is familiar, each of the arrangements is creatively unique and precisely structured for the trio format. For example, Duke Ellington's "Things Ain't What They Used to Be" gets a hip, rock re-do, as do "Caravan" and a darker feminine take on The Beatles' pop hit, "And I Love Him." The interplay among and between voice, bass and drums is the the marvel of this album whether it is Cagnetta scatting as a dervish over Maurogiovanni's pulsating bass, Villani's percussive bedrock on "Lazy Afternoon Phunk" or "conversing" in duo with Villani's ace polyrhythmic set and brush work on "Speak Low." Cagnetta's emotional depth and poetic lyric approach is displayed brilliantly on the exotic "Nature Boy," on Mongo Santamaria's "Afro Blue," and the killer closer, "Moon River." Classics "Blue in Green" and "Giant Steps" are recognizable, but delivered with "Lucy in the Sky" kaleidoscope glasses. Bassist Maurogiovanni, a regular contributor to drummer Villani's sessions, is a Miroslav Vitous / {m: Jaco Pastorius = 10148}} acolyte displaying incredible technical proficiency, deep drive and a bopper's heart. Villani has proven over the years that he's hands-down a world-class musician. They are both creatively outstanding on this session.~ Nicholas F.Mondello https://www.allaboutjazz.com/e-motion-mariangela-cagnetta-caligola-records-review-by-nicholas-f-mondello.php

Personnel: Mariangela Cagnetta: vocals, flute, backing vocals; Viz Maurogiovanni: electric bass; Pierluigi Villani: drums.

E–Motion

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Joey Alexander - Warna

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:12
Size: 143,1 MB
Art: Front

(6:43) 1. Warna
(5:11) 2. Mosaic (Of Beauty)
(5:33) 3. Lonely Streets
(4:25) 4. Downtime
(3:44) 5. Affirmation I
(7:16) 6. Inner Urge
(5:22) 7. We Here
(4:08) 8. Tis Our Prayer
(4:35) 9. Fragile
(5:47) 10. Our Story
(5:47) 11. Affirmation III
(3:37) 12. The Light

Hard to believe that after all of Joey Alexander’s accolades at the tender age of 16 Grammy nominations, a Grand Prix at the Master-Jam Fest, and a personal Jazz at Lincoln Center invite from Wynton Marsalis he’s done it all (and more) without a major-label deal. Warna (“color” in Alexander’s native Bahasa Indonesian) finds him, for the first time, in fine historic company on Verve. And the music? It’s proceeding with nary a hiccup. Youth propels the pianist, to be sure, but he’s hardly a slick trickster or a Warp Nine showoff. Writing 10 of 12 tracks here (with Sting’s “Fragile” and Joe Henderson’s “Inner Urge” thrown in), he distinguishes himself as before, first through simple, elegantly stated figures, then through lively and deep variation (more harmonic than rhythmic) on each.

With due kudos to the man in charge, this album belongs to all who play on it. Bassist Larry Grenadier never fails to deepen and enrich Alexander’s left hand. Drummer Kendrick Scott treats empty space as a tidepool, stirring his sticks to find a variety of rhythmic life in every go-round. Guest percussionist Luisito Quintero sticks steadfastly to Scott until they sound like one man with four hands. The other guest, flutist Anne Drummond, adds a bracing cold-spring ambience to two tracks. A tad jarring compared to the easy familiarity of the other four, but another intriguing direction of which I would have liked to hear more. This album will get plenty of hype; Alexander’s age and seemingly instant cred guarantee nothing less. I was pleasantly surprised, though, by the richness in restraint and the intuitive mastery of space and silence from everyone. By Andrew Hamlin https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/joey-alexander-warna-verve/

Personnel: Piano – Joey Alexander; Acoustic Bass – Larry Grenadier; Drums – Kendrick Scott; Flute – Anne Drummond

Warna

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Alex Sipiagin - Relativity

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2017
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:27
Size: 155,7 MB
Art: Front

(11:26) 1. Relativity
( 6:59) 2. Propagation of Light
( 4:31) 3. Space and Time
( 9:09) 4. Simultaneity
( 6:37) 5. Clocks in Motion
( 8:01) 6. Addition of Velocity
( 6:05) 7. Difficult Cosmos
( 4:51) 8. Spacetime
( 9:44) 9. Unbounded

Some years ago, Alan J. Friedman and Carol C. Donley published a book with the intriguing title Einstein as Myth and Muse, which traces the cultural influence of Einstein's theory of relativity. The impact of Einstein's theory on the public imagination has been profound and its influence on modern jazz as a muse is very artfully evident in the titles of the beautifully performed tracks of the Alex Sipiagin album Relativity: Music of Dave Lisik with performances by Chris Potter, Will Vinson, John Escreet, Boris Koslov, Eric Harland and Alina Engibaryan. As a theoretical physicist specializing in Einstein's theory of relativity, I look at the physical aspect of reality while jazz represents complex musical aspects of reality. Each track on this album highlights a particular aspect of Einstein’s theory. Relativity means looking at reality from different aspects to gain a better perspective of the whole. My ruminations consider what Einstein's theory has to say about the physical aspect of each title of this beautiful album. Let's take a look: Relativity: Einstein's theory of relativity is the result of a conflict between Newton's classical physics of motion and Maxwell's theory of light. This lack of harmony between Newton and Maxwell is what Einstein had to deal with.

Propagation of Light: All the visible information that comes to us from the universe, whether on the large or small scale, is due to light which, like sound, travels as a wave. These light waves travel at a constant speed of 186,000 miles per second. The speed of light does not change whether you're moving towards a light beam or away from it. Ordinary objects like a baseball change their speed if you're running towards the baseball after it is pitched or away from it. Light behaves differently. Space and Time: Newton says that, just like the baseball, light should change its speed depending on whether you're moving towards the source of light or away from it. Einstein said the speed of light doesn't change with the speed of the source and there is an important reason why: the speed of light stays the same because space and time change. Simultaneity: According to Einstein's theory of relativity, events that happen for you at the same time if you're standing still, did not happen for me at the same time if I'm moving relative to you. Time is relative.

Clocks in Motion: Einstein says that time for moving clock slows down. The faster you move, the more your clock slows down. Your heart is a clock so you age less the faster you move relative to everyone else. Addition of Velocity: If someone is running towards you and throws a baseball at you, the baseball will be coming at you faster than if they were standing still when they threw the ball at you. The velocity of the runner is added to the velocity of the baseball. If they are running at you while they are shining a flashlight, according to relativity, the velocity of light beam is the same as if they were standing still. In other words, adding any velocity to the velocity of light does not change the velocity of light. This is because space and time are changing. Difficult Cosmos: Relativity shows that the universe is much richer, deeper and more complex than we had ever thought before. When we look out into the universe, we are looking into the past. The universe we see now is the universe as it was because it takes time for light to reach us. Spacetime: The famous mathematician Hermann Minkowski stated that, because of Einstein's theory of relativity, "space by itself and time by itself are doomed to fade away into mere shadows and only a kind of union of the two will have an independent reality." Space and time are joined into a four-dimensional “spacetime.” Unbounded: The theory of relativity has given us a new view of the universe that is no longer constrained by the mechanical world of Newton. Jazz also gives us a new view of music that is radically different from the classical music of Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. To me, all the pieces in this dynamic album of modern jazz have a have a wonderful har

Personnel: Alex Sipiagin, trumpet and flugelhorn; Chris Potter, tenor saxophone; Will Vinson, alto saxophone; John Escreet, piano; Boris Kozlov, bass; Eric Harland, drums; Alina Engibaryan, voice

Relativity

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Chick Corea - Plays

Album: Plays Disc 1
Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:09
Size: 135,6 MB
Art: Front

(2:12) 1. Chick Talks Mozart and Gershwin
(4:18) 2. Mozart: Piano Sonata in F, KV332 (2nd Part - Adagio) - Live in Clearwater / 2018
(7:39) 3. Someone To Watch Over Me - Live in Clearwater / 2018
(2:18) 4. Improvisation on Scarlatti - Live in Paris / 2018
(2:07) 5. Scarlatti: Sonata in D minor K9, L413 Allegro - Live in Paris / 2018
(5:39) 6. Yesterdays - Live in Paris / 2018
(0:41) 7. Chick Talks Bill Evans and Antonio Jobim - Live in Berlin / 2018
(7:22) 8. Waltz For Debby - Live in Berlin / 2018
(5:06) 9. Desafinado - Live in Berlin / 2018
(4:14) 10. Chopin: Prelude Op. 28 #4 - Live in Paris / 2018
(5:00) 11. Scriabin: Prelude Op. 11 (Part 1) #4 - Live in Paris / 2018
(0:20) 12. Chick Talks Monk - Live in Berlin / 2018
(4:13) 13. Pannonica - Live in Berlin / 2018
(2:33) 14. Trinkle Tinkle - Live in Berlin / 2018
(4:20) 15. Blue Monk - Live in Berlin / 2018

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Album: Plays Disc 2
Time: 53:54
Size: 126,3 MB

(5:55) 1. Pastime Paradise - Live in Clearwater / 2018
(0:46) 2. Chick Talks Paco - Live in Clearwater / 2018
(9:33) 3. The Yellow Nimbus - Live in Paris / 2018
(0:58) 4. Chick Talks Portraits - Live in Paris / 2018
(2:22) 5. Portrait: Henrietta - Live in Paris / 2018
(2:08) 6. Portrait: Chris - Live in Paris / 2018
(0:22) 7. Chick Talks Duets - Live in Paris / 2018
(3:57) 8. Duet: Yaron - Live in Paris / 2018
(3:06) 9. Duet: Charles - Live in Paris / 2018
(0:42) 10. Chick Talks Children's Songs - Live in Paris / 2018
(1:43) 11. Children's Song No. 1 - Live in Paris / 2018
(1:12) 12. Children's Song No. 3 - Live in Paris / 2018
(2:36) 13. Children's Song No. 4 - Live in Paris / 2018
(1:24) 14. Children's Song No. 9 - Live in Paris / 2018
(3:49) 15. Children's Song No. 10 - Live in Paris / 2018
(1:33) 16. Children's Song No. 15 - Live in Paris / 2018
(3:43) 17. Children's Song No. 17 - Live in Paris / 2018
(7:57) 18. Children's Song No. 12 - Live in Paris / 2018

As we huddle and binge on our national and moral failings, having as buoyant and engaging an artist come into our homes, as Chick Corea does on Plays, is simply a great, beautiful thing, and one of the core reasons that, even in the face of the daily ire, the majority of us hold tight the better part of ourselves in order to share it with the greater whole. It is not a matter of greatest performance of this or that or whatever, it is a matter of the honesty ringing forth as Corea, seemingly without effort, glides, leaps and bounds, across a host of his inspirations. Featuring agile illuminations of, among others, Scarlatti, Chopin, Bill Evans, George Gershwin, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Stevie Wonder, Thelonious Monk, Corea, his ageless touch and positivity on full display, crafts a shimmering Indra's web that connects the life force that composer has given to the player so that he can now connect deeply with his thankful audience. Music to feel, dance with, make love with, and create.

But that doesn't make any of Plays twenty-six performances (it's a double disc set) background music to the new normal. This gig plays like you're sitting (or standing) in any of the venues where this witty, whimsical set of animated miniatures was captured for posterity. A sincerely warm host, Corea explains his thinking that delights in pairing Mozart with Gershwin, Evans with Jobim. He spontaneously creates tone poems for two audience members. He improvises with two other audience participants who, it was later discovered, were French pianist Charles Heisser, and French-Israeli jazz pianist Yaron Herman. His Cirque du Soleil-styled ballet through three by Monk, "Pannonica," "Trinkle Tinkle," "Blue Monk," deliciously sum up the whole of Plays: It's great to be alive and listening.~ Mike Jurkovic https://www.allaboutjazz.com/plays-chick-corea-concord-jazz

Personnel: Chick Corea: piano

R.I.P.
Born: June 12, 1941, Chelsea, Massachusetts, United States

Died: February 9, 2021

Plays

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Sonny Stitt - Stitt Goes Latin

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1963
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:59
Size: 94,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:36) 1. Are You Listening
(4:42) 2. Amigos
(4:10) 3. My Little Red Suede Shoes
(6:11) 4. Ritmo Bobo
(5:25) 5. I Told You So
(5:19) 6. Chic
(5:16) 7. Senor Jones
(5:15) 8. Autumn Leaves

Musically born in the great tradition of Charlie Parker, Sonny Stitt was one of the alto sax giants in Jazz history. Recorded in 1963 and originally released on the Roost label, Stitt Goes Latin catches him at the head of an all-star line-up, a highly distinctive combo in full Latin mood, featuring Thad Jones on trumpet, a young Chick Corea on piano, Larry Gales on bass and a fabulous drums and percussion section with the great Willie Bobo on drums, Carlos "Patato" Valdes - congas, bongos and Osvaldo "Chihuahua" Martinez - cowbell, maracas. Needless to add that on this fine disc the music flies high through a series of catchy elegant tunes and highly sophisticated and yet infectious Afro-Latin grooves. https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/sonny-stitt/stitt-goes-latin

Personnel: Sonny Stitt - alto saxophone, tenor saxophone; Thad Jones - trumpet; Chick Corea - piano; Larry Gales - bass; Willie Bobo - drums; Carlos "Patato" Valdes - congas, bongos; Osvaldo "Chihuahua" Martinez - cowbell, maracas, jawbone

Stitt Goes Latin

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Regina Carter - Swing States: Harmony in the Battleground

Styles: Violin
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:27
Size: 115,1 MB
Art: Front

(1:41) 1. Welcome to Swing States from Regina Carter
(4:05) 2. Georgia On My Mind
(4:02) 3. Rocky Mountain High (Colorado)
(6:08) 4. Dancing in The Street (Detroit, Michigan)
(0:48) 5. Jon Batiste 504
(6:41) 6. You Are My Sunshine
(1:04) 7. We Shall Overcome
(0:56) 8. Harvey Mason in Kansas
(5:46) 9. Home on the Range (Kansas)
(1:01) 10. John Daversa in the Everglades
(4:57) 11. Swanee River (Florida)
(5:03) 12. Pennsylvania
(6:34) 13. On Wisconsin!
(0:35) 14. Faygo Boat Song (Michigan)

We’re edging closer toward the United States’ 59th quadrennial presidential election, and it’s that pivotal event anchoring violinist Regina Carter’s sanguine Swing States: Harmony In The Battleground. The music never approaches the acerbic tone of the Black Lives Matter protests that followed George Floyd’s killing or the maudlin tenor surrounding the inescapable COVID-19 pandemic two events that almost certainly will impact the decisions of voters. Instead, Carter delivers ingenious covers of idiomatic tunes associated with U.S. swing states places that could decide the country’s next political epoch. Carter opens the album with a spoken-word recollection of growing up in Detroit and how observing cultural differences works toward shaping how individuals vote. She also mentions watching her older family members head to the polls a pertinent recollection given recent reports of voter suppression efforts and the centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which worked to give women in the U.S. the right to vote. Other band member pianist Jon Batiste, trumpeter John Daversa and drummer Harvey Mason provide their own personal mementos of Louisiana, Florida and Kansas.

The overarching theme of unity is channeled through masterful makeovers of chestnuts, like the rambunctious reading of “On Wisconsin!” and a blues-honed take of “You Are My Sunshine (Louisiana).” The high point, though, is the dramatic rendition of “Dancing In The Streets.” Instead of the tune being driven with its signature jack-hammering rhythm, Carter recasts it as an elegiac ballad, the bandleader and Daversa elongating the melody across the rhythm section’s lumbering tempo. Her violin then rises with luminous yet oblique improvisation, a feat illustrating her keen musicality and interpretive prowess.Even though guarded optimism permeates Carter’s latest effort, solemnity sneaks through in spots, articulating the gravity of what Americans are set to face in coming months.~ John Murph https://downbeat.com/reviews/detail/swing-states-harmony-in-the-battleground

Personnel: Regina Carter (violin), Harvey Mason (drums), Jon Batiste (piano), John Daversa (trumpet, flugelhorn), Kabir Sehgal (bass, percussion), Alexis Cuadrado (bass).

Swing States: Harmony in the Battleground

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Matt Herskowitz - Mirror Image

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:31
Size: 132,4 MB
Art: Front

( 5:55) 1. Tribute to John Coates
( 8:31) 2. Gnossienne: No.1/ Moment Musical No.3 in F-Minor
( 5:38) 3. Song for Katya
( 4:15) 4. Ballade
(11:30) 5. Piano Concerto in G: Adagio Assai
( 3:20) 6. Mirror Image
( 4:17) 7. Rêve cinématique
( 7:08) 8. The Last Hope
( 1:25) 9. Last Impressions
( 5:28) 10. My One and Only Love

To play jazz on the piano, a musician must at some point come to terms with the weight of the instrument’s history. The modern drum kit started to come together in the 1920s; the electric guitar, which, unlike its classical forebears, would be played through an amplifier, primarily with a plectrum, would not be manufactured until the 1930s. But the piano so central to the sound of mainstream jazz predates the genre by over 200 years.

On the solo album Mirror Image, released on Montreal’s Justin Time Records, the accomplished pianist Matt Herskowitz demonstrates his command of both the jazz and classical traditions through a mixture of original pieces, compositions by the likes of Ravel, Satie and Schubert, and a jazz standard. The fusion of jazz and classical has its own rich history; third stream music has enjoyed a degree of popularity since the 1960s. This synthesis is used to great effect by Herskowitz, not as a way to showcase two separate skill sets, but as a framework with which to display an intelligent, well-developed, honest approach to music making that honours the pianist’s personal experiences on the instrument. Highlights include bluesy, gospel-tinged flourishes on Gottschalk’s The Last Hope, the percussive title track Mirror Image, and My One And Only Love, which closes the album. Herskowitz’s truest success, however, is the thread with which he so effectively and confidently connects the album’s many elements into a sensible whole.~ Colin Story https://www.thewholenote.com/index.php/booksrecords2/jazzaimprovised/29485-mirror-image-matt-herskowitz

Mirror Image

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Carly Johnson - Carly Johnson

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:44
Size: 122,0 MB
Art: Front

(3:48) 1. Take Care
(4:10) 2. Demons
(4:12) 3. The Believer
(4:21) 4. For You
(3:55) 5. I Don't Care (Zirophux)
(5:11) 6. Get Alone with You
(3:31) 7. Hit the Ground Running
(3:59) 8. This Home
(5:00) 9. I Used to Cry
(4:56) 10. Eternally Hopeful
(4:28) 11. Take My Hand
(5:08) 12. Burn Your Fears

“New singer Carly Johnson is a revelation versatile, tuneful, and with an emotional range that floats from first-person intimate to brassy belting with the greatest of ease.”~ Jacob Duncan, Liberation Prophecy

“...the sort of voice that can rile listeners into fiery elation, or ease them into a blue velvet-lined dream.” ~ Lara Kinne, LEO Weekly

“The power and scope of her voice takes on epic proportions.

She can burn like fire just as easily as she can flow and crash like water.”~ TOPS Magazine https://www.carlyjohnsonmusic.com/artist-page

Carly Johnson

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Vangelis Katsoulis - The Exile Of Dreams

Styles: Avant-Garde Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:57
Size: 142,9 MB
Art: Front

(7:59) 1. The Final Act
(7:01) 2. Invention
(7:40) 3. What Memories Of What Forgotten Moments
(6:59) 4. Endless Dream
(9:25) 5. Tears From The Sky
(4:22) 6. East Of The Heart
(3:12) 7. Landscape Of Sadness
(5:19) 8. Farewell
(9:56) 9. In Vain

A Greek composer and producer who spins compelling confections from a host of different genres, Vangelis Katsoulis' early works were influenced by the avant-garde movement of the 1970s, but as his career progressed he began introducing elements of jazz, rock, orchestral, minimalism, new age, and ambient electronic music into his oeuvre. Not to be confused with his fellow composer and countryman Vangelis (born Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou), Katsoulis was born in Athens, and studied music in both Greece and Germany before issuing his debut album in 1975. Improvisation, jazz, and electronics began to feature more prominently in his work during the 1980s, and in 1989 he co-founded Utopia, an independent record label. In addition to his myriad studio albums highlights include Through the Dark, Silent Voyage, and Pictures from Inside Katsoulis is a prolific producer and film and television composer who took home the first prize for best soundtrack at the 1994 Thessaloniki International Film Festival. In 2014 he released Sleeping Beauties, a collection of early and unreleased works.~ James Christopher Monger https://www.allmusic.com/artist/vangelis-katsoulis-mn0001384599/biography

Personnel: Vangelis Katsoulis: keyboards, percussion, sound effects; Paolo Fresu: trumpet, flugelhorn; Bendik Hofseth: tenor saxophone; Arild Andersen: bass; Paul Wertico: drums and percussion; Takis Farazis: piano.

The Exile Of Dreams

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Fiona Fergusson - The Gift

Styles: Vocal
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:16
Size: 116,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:18) 1. The Gift of Love
(3:44) 2. You’d Be so Nice to Come Home To
(3:12) 3. Almost Like Being in Love
(4:22) 4. Tenderly
(4:01) 5. Love Me or Leave Me
(3:50) 6. Beautiful Love
(3:30) 7. What Is This Thing Called Love
(4:58) 8. Dindi
(4:42) 9. Love for Sale
(4:04) 10. Bring It Back
(4:02) 11. Black Nile
(4:28) 12. Blue Moon

As daughter from a Jazz Pianist and Arranger (Ken Fergusson) born in Scotland, raised in Holland and Germany, Fiona Fergusson was brought up listening to Jazz music from an early age. She was influenced by the sounds of the legendary Big Bands such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman Orchestra e.g. and after listening to Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae and Sarah Vaughan she was completely dedicated to become a Jazz singer. She accomplished Vocal education in Lissabon, Münich and at the Sängerakademie Hamburg. Although life turned out leading her in other directions she continued singing. For the last 25 years she has been performing in clubs and events with various musicians and bands in Austria and Germany. 2016 she decided to take the next step towards her goal of becoming a profesional Jazz vocalist.

The talented singer started visiting concerts and Jazzclubs all over Europe and joined Jam-Sessions to show her talent on various stages. Thats how she met the Austrian drummer Klemens Marktl and his swinging Trio in 2018 and they encouraged her to start working on her debut album “THE GiFT“
https://fionafergusson.com/www.fionafergusson.com/Biography/Biography.html

Personnel: Fiona Fergusson – vocals; Gregor Fticar – piano; Philipp Zarfl – bass; Klemens Marktl – drums/arrangements; Feat: Jim Rotondi - trumpet

The Gift

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Richie Beirach - Round About Federico Mompou

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:19
Size: 149,1 MB
Art: Front

(4:29) 1. Impressiones Intimas #1
(8:09) 2. Música Callada # 6
(2:13) 3. Fantasie on Musica Callada # 10
(6:37) 4. Música Callada # 10
(2:58) 5. Bass Fantasie on Música Callada # 1
(3:55) 6. Música Callada # 1
(1:48) 7. Música Callada # 27
(4:37) 8. Around Música Callada # 27
(3:13) 9. Fantasie on Música Callada # 19
(1:00) 10. Around Música Callada # 19
(3:42) 11. Música Callada # 19
(7:42) 12. Música Callada # 18
(1:58) 13. Fantasie on Música Callada # 18
(2:31) 14. Música Callada # 15
(8:19) 15. Música Callada # 22

Richard "Richie" Beirach (born May 23, 1947) is a jazz pianist and composer born in New York City. He initially studied both classical and jazz before entering the Berklee College of Music. In 1972 he began working with Stan Getz. He also worked with Chet Baker and in the 1990s worked well with Swedish saxophonist Henrik Frisk. He maintained an ongoing musical partnership with David Liebman from the 1970s to the 90s, in Lookout Farm, Quest and many duos. Richie Beirach's style is influenced by Art Tatum, Bill Evans, McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea and his earlier classical training. It is also individualistic with many touches all its own. Several of his compositions, "Leaving" and "Elm" for instance, have found their way into the jazz standard repertoire.
https://wn.com/richie_beirach_round_about_federico_mompou/musician

Personnel: Piano – Richie Beirach; Double Bass – George Mraz; Violin – Gregor Huebner

Round About Federico Mompou

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Juliet Kurtzman, Pete Malinverni - Candlelight: Love in the Time of Cholera

Styles: Violin And Piano Jazz
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:44
Size: 124,5 MB
Art: Front

(2:39) 1. Pulcinella
(5:22) 2. Candlelights
(6:04) 3. Oblivion
(4:06) 4. Davenport Blues
(4:06) 5. Por Una Cabeza
(3:40) 6. In the Dark
(5:54) 7. Solace
(5:56) 8. Body and Soul
(4:42) 9. Doce De Coco
(4:39) 10. In a Mist
(2:56) 11. Love in the Time of Cholera
(3:35) 12. Flashes

Gabriel García Márquez is a Columbian author whose novel Love In The Time Of Cholera forms part of the title of this duo recording by jazz pianist Pete Malinverni and classical violinist Juliet Kurtzman. The theme of the novel is about love found, lost and found again, while the musical program presented here keeps the love theme in focus surveying jazz and classical musical styles from the Americas. Malinverni has an evocative and vibrant playing style that works well with Kurtzman's resonant and stunning tone as they connect through the music. Although it might be a stretch to call this release a jazz album, it could probably be regarded as jazz influenced. For example Bix Beiderbecke, cornetist and pianist, and one of the tragic figures of the jazz age, wrote five of the compositions included here, as well as "Solace" from Scott Joplin and "Body And Soul" written by Johnny Green and Edward Heyman. The construct of bringing a jazz musician and a classical artist together for a recording session, presents an interesting dilemma. The jazz player lives for the moment using improvisation, while the classical performer rarely, if ever, strays from the musical notes written on the page. In this instance, the collaboration works quite well.

As for the repetoire, in addition to the titles mentioned above, there are two compositions by Malinverni, "Pulcinella" and "Love In The Time Of Cholera." Both of these numbers work well in the hands of the participants and are given characteristic presentations of the underlying tango themes. Of the Beiderbecke creations, the most readily recognizable numbers are "Davenport Blues" and "In A Mist." The tempos chosen for these numbers are more in keeping with current views of the pieces, rather than the ragtime flavour used by Beiderbecke. Scott Joplin's "Solace" was used as background music in the movie The Sting and here Malinverni and Kurtzman bring a sprightly flavour to their execution. The American Songbook standard "Body And Soul" is given a stellar revision here. Firstly with Malinverni taking a long detour into the melody of the composition. At that point Kurtzman picks up the theme, before reinterpreting Coleman Hawkins' milestone tenor saxophone solo with deep effect.~ Pierre Giroux https://www.allaboutjazz.com/candlelight-love-in-the-time-of-cholera-saranac

Personnel: Pete Malinverni: piano; Juliet Kurtzman: violin.

Candlelight: Love in the Time of Cholera

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Duke Ellington, Ray Brown - This One's For Blanton

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1975
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:35
Size: 91,6 MB
Art: Front

(5:32) 1. Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me
(3:02) 2. Pitter Panther Patter
(3:56) 3. Things Ain't What They Used To Be
(5:27) 4. Sophisticated Lady
(3:04) 5. See See Rider
(4:47) 6. Fragmented Suite For Piano And Bass - Movement 1
(5:08) 7. Fragmented Suite For Piano And Bass - Movement 2
(3:36) 8. Fragmented Suite For Piano And Bass - Movement 3
(4:59) 9. Fragmented Suite For Piano And Bass - Movement 4

For this set of duets, pianist Duke Ellington is teamed up with bassist Ray Brown in performances a bit reminiscent of Duke's work with Jimmy Blanton three decades before. In addition to the four-part "Fragmented Suite for Piano and Bass," the duo plays five standards (including "Pitter Panther Patter" from the Blanton days and three other Ellington-associated tunes). Delightful and often-playful music.~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/this-ones-for-blanton-mw0000191769

Personnel: Duke Ellington - piano, composer; Ray Brown - bass, liner notes, composer

This One's For Blanton

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Gemma Sherry - Let's get serious

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:31
Size: 105,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:23) 1. Blossom's blues
(3:16) 2. Give me the simple life
(3:05) 3. Too much in love to care
(5:38) 4. Try your wings
(3:21) 5. The alley cat song
(5:16) 6. The gentleman is a dope
(4:06) 7. Why don't you do right
(5:10) 8. Whatever Lola wants
(3:09) 9. Straighten up and fly right
(4:42) 10. Go away little boy
(3:20) 11. The doodlin song

A perfect response to challenge and change. In the parlance of the agrarian American South, Gemma Sherry is "makin' hay while the sun shines. Let's Get Serious is the singer's light-as-air, coquettishly coy wink at the COVID-19 pandemic a wink as opposed to any other response, as Sherry is a true Lady. The title of her third full-length (in 2020 alone) recording is deliciously ironic as the tone is anything but. Globally, this release is best defined in the Nat King Cole classic "Straighten Up and Fly Right:" light, sophisticated, ready-made for entertainment and consideration. Sherry showed up in 2020 with Songs I Love (Tunley Records), a collection of carefully selected standards that define exactly Sherry's musical inspirations. Sherry exposes her heart from the beginning with songs clearly important to her. The singer follows this debut with the surprise Gemma Sherry Sings Bossa Nova (Tunley Records, 2020), singing these Brazilian classics with a pristine voice. Sherry has two great artistic advantages: a perfect ear for melody and a voice so clearly realized and experienced that she could sing a telephone book, should one exist anymore. In that metaphor, her repertoire is derived from a similar, simpler time when martinis were served dry, asked for or not. She encompasses classic beauty and urbanity. This is Mad Men music, has the series been more light-hearted.

Sherry expands her band stable with names new to her but not at large. Guitarist Paul Bollenbeck, pianist Rick Germanson, drummer George Coleman, and bassist Eric Wheeler. Wanting to select from lesser covered songs, the singer, nevertheless, plants some well-known ringers. Devoting much of the recording to songs like "The Alley Cat Song," "Try Your Wings," and "Doodlin' Song" and other tunes enjoying only sparse attendings over the last 50 years, Sherry includes "Give Me The Simple Life" and "Straighten Up and Fly Right" as proof of her grounding. She surprises with an innocently flirtatious performance of the Carole King-Gerry Goffin "Go Away Little Boy." The singer closes things with "The Doodling Song," featuring vibraphonist Joseph Doubleday, sung with coquettish delight. Let's Get Serious is Gemma Sherry's artistic gift to a worn world, one with hope and grace built in, so we remember what to expect on the other side of challenge.~C.Michael Bailey https://www.allaboutjazz.com/lets-get-serious-gemma-sherry-tunley-records

Personnel: Gemma Sherry: voice / vocals; Paul Bollenback: guitar; Rick Germanson: piano; Eric Wheeler: bass; George Coleman Jr.: drums; Joseph Doubleday: vibraphone.

Let's get serious

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Muriel Grossmann & Uno P. - Here and Now

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:10
Size: 86,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:46) 1. Listening
(5:53) 2. Flügel
(5:16) 3. Magnetic Universe
(4:12) 4. Joachim
(5:04) 5. Interaction
(3:17) 6. Kühn
(4:25) 7. Quintessence
(5:14) 8. Islandwind

Austrian alto, soprano, tenor saxophonist, singer and composer Muriel Grossmann was born in Paris and grew up in Vienna, where she initiated classical studies of flute at the age of five until twenty-one, when she switched to alto and soprano saxophone for further studies. Muriel Grossmann played and toured with various rhythm & blues, funk, world music and jazz groups and artists such as Hans Tschiritsch, Shani Ben Canar, Christoph Kurzmann, Geri Schuller, Pete Hoven, Robert Rehak, The Original Brothers. In 2002 she moved to Barcelona where she started to lead her own bands for recordings and concerts. Muriel Grossmann is resident in Ibiza since 2004, which marks a very fruitful recording and performing period.

Muriel Grossmann played and recorded with Joachim Kuehn, Wolfgang Reisinger, Rolf Kuehn, Martin Klingeberg, Thomas Heidepriem, Mark Vinci, Molly Duncan, Christian Lillinger, Johannes Fink, Robert Landfermann and Muriel Grossmann Barcelona Quartet featuring Radomir Milokovic on guitar, David Marroquin on upright and Marko Jelaca on drums, recording and performing original compositions. Grossmann played in Spain, Austria, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Greece, England, Morocco, South Africa, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary, Italy, performing over 150 concerts a year. 2011-2014 Muriel Grossmann was performing and recording with quartet featuring Radomir Milojkovic (Belgrade) on guitar, Robert Landfermann (Cologne) on upright bass and Christian Lillinger (Berlin) on drums. Since 2014 she is working with Radomir Milojkovic (Belgrade) on guitar, Gina Schwarz (Vienna) on double bass and Uros Stamenkovic (Belgrade) on drums. https://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/murielgrossmann

Personnel: Alto Saxophone – Muriel Grossmann; Drums – Uno P.

Here and Now

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Louise Alexandra - Today

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:28
Size: 121,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:17) 1. Today
(3:38) 2. Chain of Life
(4:01) 3. Nature Boy / Everything Must Change
(4:00) 4. Busy Days
(4:12) 5. Until You
(4:03) 6. Desafinado
(5:17) 7. Rewind
(3:12) 8. One Foot in Front of the Other
(5:46) 9. Naima / Skylark
(4:11) 10. The Only Answer
(4:16) 11. Try Something New
(3:37) 12. You Are in Everything
(2:53) 13. L-O-V-E

Vocalist and composer Louise Alexandra's Today requires a bit of unpacking. In 2012, a wunderkind polymath named Louise Van Aarsen released a debut recording, Destiny receiving positive critical attention. Known as Dr. Louise Koopman in her day job as Sr. Research Scientist at Dana Farber Cancer Institute and in the Boston biotech scene, the singer Van Aarsen proved richly multifaceted. At the time a Dutch expatriate, the singer sought the counsel of another singer for training, the incomparable Rebecca Parris (My Foolish Heart, Koch Jazz, 2001). Supremely gifted, Parris nurtured van Aarsen throughout the making of Destiny, remaining a large presence in the singer's life thereafter.

Destiny collects music composed and sung by van Aarsen. It is mature music, grown up music for grownups. Her touchstones are time ("Lately"), love ("Destiny," "Open End") and loss and desire ("Without You"). She is completely comfortable singing of the familial: marriage, children, and happiness. Life centers are buffered in plush arrangements tending toward the southern hemisphere, exacted with a hyper-produced contemporary jazz production. Van Aarsen's voice is well trained and appealing with a solid confidence and command. The influence of Parris is most apparent in the disc's ballad content, her presence more suggestion than command, such a teacher she was.

With regards to the music world, eight years between releases once was an eternity. In real-life terms it is often but a blink with a tear. Between 2012 and today, a great deal changed for Louise van Aarsen. Today, she finds herself back in her Dutch homeland, continuing her science career in Translational Immuno-Oncology at Genmab. In the meantime, she has raised three daughters, while continuing to work with Rebecca Parris between continents on a project that was to become the presently considered Today, under her new artist name Louise Alexandra, only to be interrupted and shelved by the unexpected death of Parris in 2018. After Parris's passing, Alexandra retreated and regrouped, assembling the tracks recorded between 2015 and 2018 under the musical direction of Parris at Peter Kontrimas' PBS Studios. Pianist Doug Hammer doubled his role, providing arrangements with Louise Alexandra and Parris, with final mixing and mastering of the final product. The results can only be considered an evolution from one firmly established place to the next higher order of the same. On Today, Alexandra retains her favor of the Latin clave, seasoning the disc liberally with that humid drive. Except, without the humidity. Alexandra's is a heart informing the head, one that is cerebral as it is organically creative. The singer's alto voice is a deliverer of a punctilious tone that is knowingly resigned without a victim temperament. In her lyrics, Alexandra looks forward and backward like a genius Janus in triumph. She displays this amply on the contemporary-tinged "Chain of Life," the hectic and balladic "Busy Days," and the keenly sharp "Rewind" where the realization of loss is tempered with the knowledge that "if" is only a word that passes not into the future. She propels her lyrics with serial rhymes always carefully selected. The instrumentation is rendered with grace, overall, allowing Mike Turk's deft and slippery harmonica considerably greater room than the same on Destiny.

Alexandra includes thoughtfully presented standards as two diptychs and one standalone. "Nature Boy" is cleverly coupled with "Everything Must Change," creating an integrated whole where the shaman admonishes with the obvious that the present cannot remain static while the change is often slowly realized. Bill Vint's tenor saxophone adds an air of wistfulness and knowing. More challenging and profound is the mashup of John Coltrane's "Naima" with Hoagy Carmichael's "Skylark." The Coltrane melodic line is reduced to an ether blown through the performance by Vint's tart alto saxophone (its tone in search of Paul Desmond's spirit). The collection's coda, Bert Kaempfert and Milt Gabler's Nat King Cole vehicle "L-O-V-E" is a duet with Alexandra's daughter Mae van Aarsen (who was also responsible for the cover photograph and graphic design), who more than holds her own with her mother. What could have been a syrupy indulgence is rather a triumph of the mother-child experience, swinging with a whiplash momentum.

Alexandra does not limit her vocal generosity with only her blood kin. She also shares with her spiritual relatives, vocalists sharing the tutelage of Rebecca Parris. "Today" and the jaunty Supremes dream "Try Something New" include and feature Miriam Waks (So Many Stars, Alberto Pibiri Music, 2020) who tempers Alexandra's built-in seriousness and determination with a sassy reverence. On "The Only Answer" Alexandra is joined by Debbie Lane ( This Happy Madness, Self Produced, 2015) and Sue Sheriff, (Self Produced, 2016). The pair work well with Alexandra, betraying a solid friendship among them. The crowning achievement of the disc is the ballad "You Are In Everything." The piece begins and ends with a metronome clicking, that directional heartbeat of musical constancy. In between, Alexandra observes and personifies the spirit of music and memory while Vint accents with his seamless tenor saxophone. A certain liturgy reveals itself at the end of the coda metronome, a barely heard voice speaking with love and command. This is no ghost, but a guiding spirit and memory of goodness and grace: just like all of Today.~ C.Michael Bailey https://www.allaboutjazz.com/today-louise-alexandra-al-maslakh-recordings

Personnel: Louise Alexandra: voice / vocals; Miriam Waks: voice / vocals; Mae van Arsen: voice / vocals; Debbie Lane: voice / vocals; Sue Sheriff: voice / vocals; Paul McWilliams: piano; Doug Hammer: piano; Fernando Huergo: bass; Martin Vazquez: percussion; Mike Turk: harmonica; Bill Vint: saxophone, tenor.

Today

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Richie Beirach - Round About Monteverdi

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:15
Size: 133,5 MB
Art: Front

(1:34) 1. Lamento D' Arianna
(4:21) 2. Responsorium #5 (From Stabbata Sancto)
(5:53) 3. Eja Mater Fons Amoris (From Stabat Mater)
(4:59) 4. Chant (From Music for Good Friday)
(4:38) 5. Ben Mio, Rimanti in Pace (From the 6th Madrigal Book)
(7:29) 6. Orfeos Lament
(1:14) 7. Fantasy on Orfeos Lament
(2:49) 8. Fantasy on Fili Mi, Absalon
(4:21) 9. Dialog Orfeo Messanger
(3:10) 10. Around Dialog Orfeo Messanger
(6:09) 11. Sancta Mater, Istud Agas (From Stabat Mater)
(6:02) 12. Siciliana
(4:31) 13. Fantasy on Lamento D'arianna

Following early interpretations of the music of Béla Bartók and Federico Mompou, pianist Richie Beirach is once again joined by violinist Gregor Huebner and bassist George Mraz for a series of stunning interpretations of classical music, though most of this CD is devoted to the compositions of early Baroque composer Claudio Monteverdi. The mournful opener, Lamento d'Arianna, is the only remaining fragment of Monteverdi's lost opera Arianna. Beirach opens Don Carlo Gesualdo's Responsorium No. 5 (from his Sabato Sancto) alone, then ducks out as the bowed strings work their magic. Palestrina's Chant opens elegantly, then Mraz switches to a pizzicato line, with Huebner gradually making his way from the outer fringes, with Beirach eventually adding a passionate improvisation. Beirach's moving improvisation of Monteverdi's Orfeos Lament is spacious, followed by a brief fantasy upon the theme featuring wild pizzicato violin and occasionally hand-muted piano in an intense setting. Mraz, who assisted Beirach and Huebner with their arrangements, is solely responsible for Fantasy on Fili Mi, Absalon, a composition by Heinrich Schütz. Rarely heard unaccompanied on bass, Mraz makes the most of this opportunity with a powerful effort. No exploration of Baroque music is complete with venturing into the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, and Mraz's solo improvised introduction to Siciliano is every bit as powerful. He accompanies Beirach's brilliant improvisation, though the theme is never stated until Huebner joins in, taking the music down paths its composer could have never imagined. This outstanding release will cause more than a few jazz fans to search out classical recordings of these timeless works if they aren't already familiar with them.~ Ken Dryden https://www.allmusic.com/album/round-about-monteverdi-mw0000692174

Personnel: Piano – Richie Beirach; Violin – Gregor Huebner; Double Bass – George Mraz

Round About Monteverdi

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Silje Nergaard - Japanese Blue

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:20
Size: 109,0 MB
Art: Front

(5:53) 1. Be Still My Heart
(5:56) 2. Based on a Thousand True Stories
(4:03) 3. The Waltz
(5:21) 4. I Don't Wanna See You Cry
(5:16) 5. Mercy Street
(5:09) 6. Lullaby to Erle
(4:06) 7. Love of My Life
(6:23) 8. Japanese Blue
(5:11) 9. En Og En

The Norwegian Silje Nergaard is a singer who should be known to everyone who has not heard her sing yet. There is a special occasion for this. The artist is celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of her career this year. Of which Japanese Blue is an element - a thing for sensitive listeners. The soothing sounds that fill this album bring hope and light. A plaster for our aching souls in times of plague. She started out performing pop, and in the early 1990s she released several LPs sung in her mother tongue. She made her debut at the age of only 16. Over the past three decades, she has recorded over a dozen phonograms. He has collaborated with such stars of jazz and popular music as Al Jarreau, Pat Metheny, Toots Thielemans, John Scofield, Nils Petter Molvær or Morten Harket from the famous A-ha group. Her first single Tell Me Where You´re Going (recorded with Pat Metheny in 1990) was an international hit. Silje Nergaard has crowds of enthusiasts on both sides of the Atlantic. She is one of the few Norwegian singers whose albums and concert tours are selling out in Japan, Brazil, Germany, England and even the United States. In the Land of the Rising Sun, where jazz and classical music flow from the loudspeakers even in elevators and supermarkets, one of the types of wine was named in her honor.

The pillars of the bands accompanying her were the masters of Scandinavian jazz: Tord Gustavsen and Jarle Vespestad. The outstanding conductor and arranger Vince Mendoza was nominated for a Grammy in 2011 in the Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist (s) category for his work on the title song from the album A Thousand True Stories, which is a recording of a session with the Dutch The Metropole Orkest. I often reach for this album ... It's high time that Silje herself won a Grammy! At the end of February we received the album Japanese Blue from Silje. It is a set of nine Norwegian hits and a few covers in an intimate arrangement for voice and piano. This disc has a special character because it was recorded at home near Oslo. Nergaard plunged into her cavernous catalog to pick out a few gems. The mid-generation pianist Espen Berg is responsible for the acoustic and minimalistic sound (he played, among others, with the trumpeter Per Jørgensen, saxophonist Marius Neset and with the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra). He is an equal protagonist of Japanese Blue. Silje Nergaard has an original, subtle, light, girly voice with a high register. I would compare her timbre to the vocals of such singing ladies as Blossom Dearie, Stacey Kent, Kat Edmonson, Lisa Bassenge or Lisa Ekdahl. The uncomplicated arrangement, the simplicity of the message, the minimalist approach to famous songs delight from the first sounds while listening to this ascetic album. In addition, there is a noticeable chemistry between the singer and her accompanist. Without fireworks, pompous solutions or pathos, we smoothly move on to the next ballad.

Japanese Blue opens the poignant version of Be Still My Heart. The song is almost 20 years old and first appeared on At First Light in 2001. We also receive an acoustic version of the song Based On A Thousand True Stories. I Don't Want To See You Cry hasn't grown old, on the contrary, in her new interpretation, Silje has matured. Covers of Mercy Street by Peter Gabriel and Love Of My Life by Queen are also interesting. For the finale, the Nergaard / Espen duo serves us the only song sung in Norwegian, En Og En. Japanese Blue is the first Silje Nergaard album that we receive this year. The coronavirus pandemic has thwarted many artist's plans. The schedule for celebrating the jubilee was different. The album with the original compositions was to come out with the acoustic album at the end of February. Forced isolation left a northern European diva trapped in the house. Silje decided to postpone such a premiere. Hamar Stasjon is expected to be finally released in May. Like hundreds of artists from around the world, during the worldwide quarantine, the artist regularly invites us to her living room on Saturday evenings for a live streaming of an intimate concert from the Living Room Session series. I will definitely "visit" Silje to listen to her subtle voice.~ Piotr Peplinski https://jazzpress.pl/plyty/silje-nergaard-japanese-blue

Personnel: Vocals – Silje Nergaard; Piano – Espen Berg

Japanese Blue

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Murat Verdi - Shuara (feat. Nana Vasconcelos)

Styles: Fusion,Brazilian Rhythms,Turkish Folk
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:50
Size: 147,0 MB
Art: Front

(7:52) 1. Mimi Upendo
(5:56) 2. Subindo
(6:02) 3. Beyond the Horizon
(5:54) 4. Kudema
(4:51) 5. Shalimar
(7:41) 6. Ovada
(6:06) 7. Yarin Senin.mp3
(3:31) 8. Corcovado
(9:15) 9. Funky Zeybek
(4:39) 10. Okundu
(8:04) 11. Tulpar

Born in Istanbul, Turkey he started to play percussion at age 6 In his early teens he started to develop interest in rock Music and picked up the drum set and started to play in high school groups and amateur groups which won awards in national competitions, Arif Mardin recommended him to study at Berklee College of Music, where he then studied arranging , composition and drums with great instructors Alan Dawson, Herb Pomeroy, Gary Burton, Michael Gibbs. In NYC further studies at Julliard and NYU Musical associations with Ismet Siral, “Creative Music Studio” in Woodstock, Nana Vasconcelos, Trilok Gurtu, Marilyn Crispell, Karl Berger, Ingrid Sertso, Steve Gorn, Badal Roy, Bai Konte, Tom Cora, Aiyb Dieng and many others, performed in Woodstock and NYC area with various groups at clubs and venues including “Sounsdscape”, “ Circle in the Square” Drummer with“ Free funk avantgarde band” “ Creativity” led by the late guitarist Alfonia Timms, which performed in the NYC area Musical associations and performances in Turkey with Emin Findikoglu, Onno Tunç, Tuna Ötenel, Levent Altindag , Imer Demirer, Misirli Ahmet and many others. As a co founder of the group “ Ritmistanbul” participated in the “Percussion Panorama Festival” Percpan in Salvador Bahia, Brazil, and in the Istanbul Jazz Festival. Recorded and performed several compositions for exhibitions in Istanbul Jazz critic Hülya Tunçag announced him as “one of the secret gems of Turkish jazz Music” https://www.turkishjazz.org/artist/murat-verdi

Juvenal de Holanda Vasconcelos, known as Naná Vasconcelos (2 August 1944 – 9 March 2016), was a Brazilian percussionist, vocalist and berimbau player, notable for his work as a solo artist on over two dozen albums, and as a backing musician with Pat Metheny, Don Cherry, Björk, Jan Garbarek, Egberto Gismonti, Gato Barbieri, and Milton Nascimento. Vasconcelos was born in Recife, Brazil. Beginning from 1967 he joined many artists' works as a percussionist. Among his many collaborations, he contributed to four Jon Hassell albums from 1976 to 1980 (including Possible Musics by Brian Eno and Hassell), and later to several Pat Metheny Group works and Jan Garbarek concerts from early 1980s to early 1990s. In 1984 he appeared on the Pierre Favre album Singing Drums along with Paul Motian. He also appears on Arild Andersen's album If You Look Far Enough with Ralph Towner. He formed a group named Codona with Don Cherry and Collin Walcott, which released three albums in 1978, 1980 and 1982. Between 1984 and 1989, he was the Honorary President of the first samba school in the UK, the London School of Samba. In 1981 he performed at the Woodstock Jazz Festival, held in celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Creative Music Studio. In 1998, Vasconcelos contributed "Luz de Candeeiro" to the AIDS benefit compilation album Onda Sonora: Red Hot + Lisbon produced by the Red Hot Organization. Vasconcelos was awarded the Best Percussionist Of The Year by the Down Beat Critics Poll for seven consecutive years, from 1984 to 1990.[5] He was also honored with eight Grammy Awards. Vasconcelos was diagnosed with lung cancer in mid 2015. He died from the disease on 9 March 2016, in Recife. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nan%C3%A1_Vasconcelos

Shuara (feat. Nana Vasconcelos)

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