The Kristin Korb-Todd Johnson Trio - Get Happy

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:44
Size: 136.8 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2004
Art: Front

[3:53] 1. I'm Old Fashioned
[4:59] 2. Top Of The World
[4:45] 3. Just A Closer Walk With Thee
[4:19] 4. If You Never Fall In Love With Me
[4:10] 5. Moon River
[4:42] 6. Sunshine & Slim
[4:30] 7. Cheek To Cheek
[2:08] 8. Wonder Why
[3:28] 9. Get Happy
[4:04] 10. You Don't Know What Love Is
[4:42] 11. Goin' Home
[2:58] 12. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
[3:09] 13. Everything Happens To Me
[4:32] 14. Blues For Hellen
[3:19] 15. When You're Smilin'

Kristin Korb, vocals & upright bass; Todd Johnson-6-string bass; Kendall Kay, drums.

My vision for a "bass duo" began sometime in 2003. I'd been working successfully as a solo bass act, but missed the interplay of another musician. I knew if I could find the right bass player it just might work. Shortly thereafter, I discovered Kristin Korb. I contacted her and spoke with her about my idea. She said, "Let's give it a try." So I booked us at a duo series I was hosting. She came and had dinner with my family and me, we talked over a few tunes and we were off to the gig. Well, the rest is history. My vision was rapidly becoming a reality. Just one thing was missing. I found it quickly in Kendall Kay. He's one of the finest drummers and people you'll ever hope to work with. He ALWAYS plays the RIGHT thing at the RIGHT time. My vision is now complete.

I hope you find this CD musical, entertaining, and a little bit innovative. Not bad for 2 bass players and a drummer! ~ Todd Johnson

Get Happy

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Richie Beirach - Manhattan Reverie

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:41
Size: 159.5 MB
Styles: Piano jazz
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[5:14] 1. You Don't Know What Love Is
[6:09] 2. On Green Dolphin Street
[6:40] 3. If I Were A Bell
[5:07] 4. Manhattan Reverie
[8:49] 5. Etude (No. 6 In E-Flat Minor, Op. 10)
[9:07] 6. Transition
[8:34] 7. Stella By Starlight
[5:37] 8. Veils
[6:30] 9. Blood Count
[7:52] 10. Footprints

Richie Beirach: piano; George Mraz: bass; Billy Hart: drums.

It was all in the eyes. They say peek into someone's eyes if you really want to see what they're about and how they're feeling. From the looks of things at a performance to celebrate his sixtieth birthday at Birdland at the end of August 2007, it seemed that Richie Beirach was feeling good. Sounded tops, too. This classically-trained veteran pianist was marking his sixth decade on earth with a little help from his friends—trio band mates, bassist George Mraz and drummer Billy Hart, expert rhythm makers also featured on this highly effective 2007 Japanese import from Venus Records, Manhattan Reverie. They all appeared to have a certain twinkle in their eyes, suggesting that they are very comfortable playing with each other, wise to each other's ways and that they were having a good time. It was kind of a nice message: Age has nothing to do with vitality or musical ability, except maybe, in this case, it adds to both of those things.

Two terrific guests shared in the belated (his birthday was in May) festivities at Birdland —trumpeter Randy Brecker and the violinist Gregor Huebner. Whether live or on recording, Hart and Mraz supplied excellent support to Beirach's intricate, introspective and lively playing. Surprises of the show included explorations of Bartók and Bach, each offering gorgeously rendered improvisations. A tribute to the late Michael Brecker, in the form of a rearranged "old Russian folk song as Beirach described it, was moving and beautiful, if at moments almost painful to witness, a feeling heightened by the intensity of brother Randy's participation. These stunning, seemingly effortless endeavors were punctuated by exquisite soloing by Huebner.

The live event had been touted in some circles as an occasion also to mark the release of Manhattan Reverie so the repertoire sampled on the Friday before Labor Day was somewhat unexpected, as no pieces from the album were played in that particular set. But the recording merits repeated listening. It features several standards, including "You Don't Know What Love Is, "On Green Dolphin Street and "If I Were a Bell, all performed at breakneck pace. Somehow that works. In fact, for those of us out here who are a little love-weary (or even love-leery?) it was a welcome change of pace to hear a heart-crushing tune like "You Don't Know What Love Is zip by at such a clip. Would that the pain of lost love could breeze by like that. The Germany-based pianist's own title track is delicious and more gently realized, though a pretty violin accompaniment goes by uncredited. ~Laurel Gross

Manhattan Reverie

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Alexa Tarantino - Firefly

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:35
Size: 133,7 MB
Art: Front

(5:39) 1. Spider's Dance
(4:44) 2. Mindful Moments
(4:08) 3. Move Of The Spirit
(4:43) 4. Iris
(4:19) 5. Daybreak
(1:37) 6. Surge Fughetta
(4:11) 7. Surge Capacity
(4:34) 8. La Donna Nel Giardino
(6:43) 9. Rootless Ruthlessness
(6:33) 10. Lady Day
(4:24) 11. Violet Sky
(5:56) 12. The Firefly Code

The twenty-first century sees many of us talking to a cloud-based artificial intelligence: "Alexa, play my music." And so she does. The time frame also sees the emergence of a talented human Alexa Alexa Tarantino, who plays her music, on Firefly, the woodwindist's third album release on Posi- Tone Records, an evolutionary leap forward conceptually and compositionally from her debut, Winds of Change (2019), and her second outing, Clarity (2020), both on Posi-Tone Records. Fronting a quintet which includes vibraphonist and label mate Behn Gillece and keyboardist Art Hirahara, Tarantino, plays alto and soprano saxophones, flute and clarinet, making a music which has a feeling of a release of positivity, of pent-up feelings and ideas being given voice with the easing of a post-pandemic isolation.

The disc opens with Hirahara's "Spider's Dance," a luminescent reverie, with the leader sounding particularly inspired, The arrangement the back and forth of piano, vibes and saxophone solos is as close to perfection as can be. Vibraphonist Gillece's "Mindful Moments" finds Tarantino switching to flute, floating over the rhythm section's fluid shuffle, leading into a composition from the group's drummer, Rudy Royston, "Move The Spirit," a high octane, get-up-and-dance type of tune.. With "Iris," a tune written by saxophonist Wayne Shorter which appeared on Miles Davis' ESP (Columbia Records, 1965) the ensemble explores Shorter's classic sound, edgy and luxuriant at the same time in this quintet's rendition.

All great music, but it is with her own "Daybreak" that Tarantino's evolutionary progression begins to show. The tune serves as Part 1 of her original "A Moment In Time" suite. It has a "clean slate, go out and make the day" sound, brimming with energy and optimism," moving into the minute-and-a-half "Surge Fughetta" from bassist Boris Kozlov's pen. The tune has a dreamy, chamber music vibe (flute, vibes and bass), which segues into Tarantino's "Surge Capacity," a scintillating barnburner, with Tarantino's blowing bringing alto saxophonist Jackie McLean to mind. Tarantino and the group re-visit Wayne Shorter with "Lady Day," a lovely, introspective, time-stands-still six and half minutes. This excellent set closes with the highlight, Tarantino's "The Firefly Code," which, on an Alexa mix (the artificial intelligence Alexa, not the saxophonist Alexa) could be mistaken for a Hubert Laws composition intricately and ethereally beautiful, exuding "hope, faith, rest and rejuvenation," as only the best music can.~ Dan McClenaghan https://www.allaboutjazz.com/firefly-alexa-tarantino-posi-tone-records

Personnel: Alexa Tarantino: saxophone, alto; Behn Gillece: vibraphone; Art Hirahara: piano; Boris Koslov: bass; Rudy Royston: drums.

Firefly

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Nnenna Freelon - Time Traveler

Styles: Vocal
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:11
Size: 132,2 MB
Art: Front

(5:07) 1. I Say a Little Prayer
(6:05) 2. Marvin Medley: If This World Were Mine / Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing/ Ain't No Mountain High Enough
(5:31) 3. Just You
(4:53) 4. Betcha by Golly Wow
(6:59) 5. Time in a Bottle
(5:05) 6. You Make Me Feel Brand New
(5:56) 7. Moon River
(4:58) 8. Time After Time
(4:49) 9. Come Rain or Come Shine
(4:29) 10. Time Traveler
(3:17) 11. Time Traveler (Reprise)

Multi-GRAMMY nominated vocal artist Nnenna Freelon is back, delivering her eleventh album after a decade-long hiatus from the studio. With 'Time Traveler,' she offers a celebration of love and a prayer of hope for those living with loss. The sessions for the album stretched over two years, between 2018 and 2020, coinciding with the loss of Freelon’s soulmate and husband of forty years, Phil Freelon, to ALS. Freelon draws from her & Phil's shared love of jazz and rhythm and blues, to step through an imagined doorway where past, present and future collide. From the album's centerpiece, a medley of Marvin Gaye classics, to standards such as “Come Rain or Come Shine” and “Moon River,” or her self-penned title song, Freelon reminds us of the grace and elegance that naturally accompanies her approach to interpreting melody. Inspired by her emotive glances to the past, and soulful presence in the here and now, she paints a portrait of reverence and gratitude for the gift of love that permeates every aspect of the human condition. https://media.allaboutjazz.com/track-time-traveler-by-nnenna-freelon

Personnel: Nnenna Freelon - Vocals; Miki Hayama - Piano (1,3,5,7,8), Fender Rhodes (2,4,9), Synthesizer (2,8) ; Chuckey Robinson - Keyboards (10,11); Brandon McCune - Hammond Organ (1,3); Keith Ganz - Guitar (2-6,8-11); Noah Jackson - Acoustic Bass (1,3-5,7,9); Gerald Veasley - Electric Bass (2,8); Lance Scott - Electric Bass (10,11); E.J. Strickland - Drums (1,3-5,7,9); Adonis Rose - Drums (2,8); Jon Curry - Drums (10,11); Beverly Botsford - Percussion (2,4,8); Trineice Robinson-Martin - Background Vocal (1); Kirk Whalum - Tenor Saxophone, Flute (4); Shana Tucker - Cello (5)

Time Traveler

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Melissa Stylianou - No Regrets

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:23
Size: 131,1 MB
Art: Front

(4:34) 1. Nice Work If You Can Get It
(3:29) 2. Remind Me
(7:10) 3. I Got It Bad (Feat. Billy Drewes)
(5:07) 4. Humming To Myself
(5:14) 5. I Wish I Knew
(3:40) 6. Somebody's On My Mind (Feat. Anat Cohen and Linda Oh)
(3:31) 7. Down by the Salley Gardens (Feat. Matt Wilson)
(5:31) 8. A Nightingale Can Sing The Blues (Feat. Billy Drewes)
(8:06) 9. I'll Never Be The Same (Feat. Anat Cohen)
(6:30) 10. Polkadots and Moonbeams
(3:26) 11. I Mean You (Feat. Bruce Barth)

Canadian by birth and training, the singer Melissa Stylianou has been living in New York for a decade now, where she has made herself known and appreciated for her valuable collaborations ( Ben Monder , Chris Lightcap , Matt Wilson , Rodney Green ) and concerts in prestigious clubs like Blue Note, Iridium, Jazz Standard or Birdland. If in the previous four discs he faced a varied repertoire, alternating well-known standards with themes by Tom Waits , Biörk or Johnny Cash, in this No Regrets he chooses to immerse himself in tradition accompanied by a first-rate trio, including pianist Bruce Barth , the double bass playerLinda May Han Oh and drummer Matt Wilson . In some pieces the clarinetist Anat Cohen and the saxophonist Billy Drewes participate as guests. The record was also recorded in the most traditional way: live in a single session, with a double track recorder.

Stylianou is a singer with a clear and sensual timbre, who manifests her jazz identity with a brilliant technique and an intense interpretative taste. His singing favors atmospheres of intimate colloquiality but knows how to soar in moments of whimsical rhythmic tension. The disc is a nice roundup of well-known standards and a few songs that are not very popular but with a valuable "historical curriculum." Among them we have "Somebody's on My Mind,"Billie Holiday is linked to her magical interpretation, the archaic "Humming to Myself" sung by Connee Boswell , or "A Nightingale Can Sing the Blues," linked to the languid versions of Peggy Lee and Julie London .

Melissa offers us successful versions of it, for elegance and sobriety, accompanied from time to time by Anat Cohen, Linda Oh and Billy Drewes. Another happy choice, which goes beyond the jazz tradition, is the traditional "Down by the Salley Gardens" sung with poetic intensity with only the accompaniment of the drums. Among the best known themes, we particularly appreciated the dynamic version of the Monkian "I Mean You," in duo with Bruce Barth. Translate By Google.... https://www.allaboutjazz.com/no-regrets-melissa-stylianou-anzic-records-review-by-angelo-leonardi.php

Personnel: Melissa Stylianou: vocals; Bruce Barth: piano; Linda Oh: double bass; Matt Wilson: drums. Guests: Anat Cohen: clarinet; Billy Drewes: alto sax.

No Regrets

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3D Jazz Trio - I Love to See You Smile

Styles: Jazz Fusion
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:32
Size: 130,8 MB
Art: Front

(5:20) 1. I Love to See You Smile
(8:21) 2. Besame Mucho
(8:29) 3. Moonglow
(6:07) 4. Back at the Chicken Shack
(8:49) 5. Angel Eyes
(7:14) 6. Recado Bossa Nova
(8:12) 7. When You and I Were Young, Maggie
(3:57) 8. L.O.V.E.

The spirit of sisterhood isn't based on size, but, rather, built on the power of kinship. If anybody in the jazz world truly understands that fact, it's drummer Sherrie Maricle. Way ahead of the curve when it comes to spotlighting the need for female empowerment and equality in the music, she's helmed the Diva Jazz Orchestra for more than a quarter of a century. And while that ensemble remains her flagship, some smaller spin-off combos that have followed it also carry serious weight. A quintet Five Play was formed near the turn of the millennium; the Diva Jazz Trio, featuring the rhythm section from the larger ensemble, turned some heads with the release of Never Never Land (Arbors Records, 2009); and her latest triangular endeavor the 3D Jazz Trio has been drawing praise since its debut album dropped in 2016.

The origins of this band predate its first release by two years, when Maricle connected with pianist Jackie Warren and bassist Amy Shook while backing dancer Maurice Hines' Tappin' Thru Life production at the Cleveland Playhouse. Strong chemistry between these three was there from the beginning, so an easy partnership came to pass. And judging by the music presented on this sophomore release, the group's bonds have only grown stronger and deeper over time. Right from the start on the Randy Newman-penned title track this trio cooks. Warren's monstrous chops ride atop the infectiously swinging foundation, Shook steps to the fore in fine form, and Maricle's stick work shines between the hits. A wonderful scene-setter that's tight in all the right ways, it leaves no doubt about this band's capabilities.

As the album continues, 3D explores numerous musical angles. Following a flowing Warren introduction, the collective powers deliver a "Bésame Mucho" which burns with the heat of a thousand suns. With a "Moonglow" that features some Gene Harris-esque flights from Warren's fingers, this crew pushes the thermometer from cool to hot and back again. The group's dynamic take on Jimmy Smith's "Back at the Chicken Shack" adds a welcome dose of blues and soul to the mix. And a haunting and happening trip through "Angel Eyes," with arco bass offering the melody while a menacing piano riff operates in the shadows, places this old chestnut in new light. Those first five numbers make clear that this trio can handle just about anything with aplomb, and the three that make up the balance of the program the Brazilian-t "Recado Bossa Nova," morphing 12/8 winner "When You and I Were Young, Maggie" and up-tempo "L.O.V.E." simply seal the deal. This three-dimensional band soars and roars through this set with power, precision and supreme taste. It's smiles all around here.~ DAN BILAWSKY https://www.allaboutjazz.com/i-love-to-see-you-smile-3d-jazz-trio-diva-jazz

Personnel: Sherrie Maricle: drums; Jackie Warren: piano; Amy Shook: bass, acoustic.

I Love to See You Smile

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Curtis Fuller - Cabin In The Sky

Styles: Trombone Jazz
Year: 1962
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:30
Size: 93,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:49) 1. The Prayer / Taking A Chance On Love
(4:00) 2. Cabin In The Sky
(3:22) 3. Old Ship Of Zion
(4:15) 4. Do What You Wanna Do
(3:25) 5. Honey In The Honeycomb
(4:57) 6. Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe
(2:45) 7. Savannah
(3:46) 8. Love Turned The Light Out
(3:40) 9. In My Old Virginia Home (On The River Nile)
(5:27) 10. Love Me Tomorrow (But Leave Me Alone Today) / The Prayer

If you love Miles Davis' Miles Ahead and Porgy and Bess both arranged by Gil Evans then you simply must consider Curtis Fuller's Cabin in the Sky. Recorded over two days in April 1962 for Impulse, the album's orchestrations are on par with both Davis albums and frame Fuller's trombone beautifully. [Pictured above, Curtis Fuller]. Arranged by Manny Albam [pictured above] one of the finest composer-arrangers of the '50s and '60s who remains woefully underappreciated Cabin in the Sky has the same sighing quality and provocative brassy bombast as the Evans works. They shift, turn, swing and ponder all the way through.

On the album, Fuller (like Davis) is cast as a wandering, vulnerable soloist who must spar with surging sections of the orchestra that hurl all sorts of heavenly bolts at him. From start to finish, Cabin in the Sky is a masterpiece that truly needs fresh critical consideration.At the time, however, the album was a considered a commercial flop through no fault of Fuller or Albam. Which is both tragic and baffling, considering its spectacular qualities and the musicians involved. Here's who were talking about... On the tracks with strings: Curtis Fuller (tb), Eddie Costa (vib,perc), Hank Jones (p), Barry Galbraith (g), Milt Hinton (b), Osie Johnson (d) and Margaret Ross (harp) along with unknown strings. On the orchestral tracks: Bernie Glow, Ernie Royal, Al DeRisi and Freddie Hubbard (tp); Curtis Fuller, Bob Brookmeyer, Kai Winding [pictured above] and Wayne Andre (tb); Alan Raph (b-tb) Harvey Phillips (tu) Jimmy Buffington, Ray Alonge, Tony Miranda and Morris Secon (fhr); Eddie Costa (vib); Hank Jones (p); Art Davis (b) and Osie Johnson (d).

As you can see, the date featured many of New York's finest. So what was the problem? To find out, I pulled Ashely Kahn's The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records off the shelf...

“The trombonist remembers that for a session requiring intricate coordination with large ensembles, all went surprisingly well until extra studio time was requested.

“ 'They allowed me three hours with the strings and three hours with the brass. The strings, obviously, went perfect; we got that done, boom, with time to spare. But we needed time to fuse the thing, to connect the strings with the brass... I said, No, [three hours is] kind of harsh, can we have another hour? They raised hell for about a week.'

“The album was completed, released with an evocative double male-female profile by photographer Pete Turner [pictured above], who received positive notice in the jazz press. Yet what ultimately transpired, from Fuller's perspective, was a bitter lesson in record company acccounting that can leave an unwary musician with little chance of recouping expenditures, some of which were hidden. “ '[Bob] Thiele said, If w'ere going to have strings, we're going to go all out. We went from a six-string ensemble to the New York Philharmonic. Well, now, whose budget is it anyway? Then I found out that they would charge me for the ashtrays and the music stands and everything else you know, this is a big business... [Photo above of Impulse producer Bob Thiele and John Coltrane by Joe Alper]

“ 'I think Creed [Taylor] would have run that over with me. But Bob Thiele was, Let's just do this and let's let it be done. But once the album came out, I just don't think that the company was prepared to put the kind of [marketing and promotional] money into it."

If you are unfamiliar with Fuller's Cabin in the Sky, you will be knocked out by the trombonist's conversational style and Manny Albam's extraordinary gift for turning an orchestra into a rip-tide of brassy energy. https://news.allaboutjazz.com/curtis-fuller-cabin-in-the-sky

Personnel: Curtis Fuller - trombone; Al DeRisi, Bernie Glow, Freddie Hubbard, Ernie Royal - trumpet; Ray Alonge, Jim Buffington, Anthony Miranda, Morris Secon - French horn; Wayne Andre, Kai Winding - trombone; Bob Brookmeyer - valve trombone; Alan Raph - trombone, bass trombone; Harvey Phillips - tuba; Eddie Costa - vibraphone, percussion; Barry Galbraith - guitar; Hank Jones - piano; Art Davis, Milt Hinton - bass; Osie Johnson - drums; Harry Lookofsky - violin, concertmaster; Margaret Ross - Harp; Unnamed string section; Manny Albam - arranger, conductor

Cabin In The Sky

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Caetano Veloso - A Foreign Sound

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 75:06
Size: 173,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:31) 1. Carioca (The Carioca)
(5:31) 2. So In Love
(1:20) 3. I Only Have Eyes For You
(6:07) 4. It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
(3:27) 5. Body And Soul
(1:58) 6. Nature Boy
(4:09) 7. The Man I Love
(1:47) 8. There Will Never Be Another You
(2:38) 9. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
(3:28) 10. Diana
(5:18) 11. Sophisticated Lady
(4:16) 12. Come As You Are
(4:32) 13. Feelings
(2:33) 14. Summertime
(1:30) 15. Detached
(2:44) 16. Jamaica Farewell
(2:37) 17. Love For Sale
(3:09) 18. Cry Me A River
(3:05) 19. If It's Magic
(1:38) 20. Something Good
(3:25) 21. Stardust
(2:47) 22. Blue Skies
(3:24) 23. Love Me Tender - FAIXA BÔNUS

When an international artist records an English-language album, crossover is usually in the cards. For Caetano Veloso, however, it's an entirely different matter. The statesman of Brazilian pop, a musical giant who is on track to record more in his fifth decade of artistic striving than in any other (not to mention his accompanying exploits in literature), Veloso has no need to begin an American campaign. He also has shown no wish to. Caetano Veloso has never courted an American audience, though he has drawn a sizeable one because of his prescient, emotionally charged songwriting and a performance style that can be studied or unhinged depending on the circumstances required. A Foreign Sound is not only an English-language album but an American songbook, one that explores Veloso's long fascination with the greatest composers in American history. It began when he was a child in the '40s and '50s enamored of American culture, was strengthened when his hero João Gilberto began championing the great American songbook, and has remained steady if not continuous through his artistic career. The record is perhaps his most ambitious project ever, a 22-song album that ranges for its material from emperors of Broadway to the denizens of folk music, from the cultured (Rodgers & Hart's "Manhattan") to the torchy (Jerome Kern's "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes") to the gritty (Nirvana's "Come as You Are"). Veloso's high tenor has only strengthened 30 years after his other English-language record an eponymous 1971 LP, recorded in London as a forlorn postcard to the country he had been forcibly removed from by Brazil's fascist-leaning government. Although few recordings in his discography (or any other's) can rival that one's emotional power, A Foreign Sound comes very close. Veloso transforms these standards by a clever combination of his subtle interpretive gifts, his precise, literate delivery, and his ability to frame each song with an arrangement that fits perfectly (usually either a small group led by his acoustic guitar or a small string group, though "Love for Sale" is given a spine-tingling a cappella treatment). Out of 22 songs, only Bob Dylan's "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" sounds like a mistake; every other performance here is nearly irresistible, the perfect valentine to a country with a strong songwriting tradition that Veloso unites and celebrates with this album.~ John Bush https://www.allmusic.com/album/a-foreign-sound-mw0000329917

A Foreign Sound

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Molly Holm - Permission

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:15
Size: 157,7 MB
Art: Front

(1:55) 1. Improvised Raga
(7:01) 2. Sea Journey
(9:08) 3. Permission
(4:54) 4. The Bear
(9:14) 5. Go There Now
(8:06) 6. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
(2:24) 7. Secret Words
(6:44) 8. Something Else
(8:17) 9. Afro Blue
(2:55) 10. Straight No Chaser
(4:51) 11. You Don't Know What Love Is
(2:40) 12. Song At Seventeen

Vocalist Molly Holm has had a potent progressive ("Avant-garde") presence in the Bay Area for three decades, having been an original member of Bobby McFerrin's Voicestra and was a featured singer with Terry Riley and Zakir Hussain. Creatively, Holm never grew up into the proper, standard-singing chanteuse that many of her contemporaries did, rather she has remained on the cutting edge of jazz vocals exactly where she belongs. Permission is an eclectic collection of vocal jazz standards most having the lyrics composed after the music and six Holm originals that fit seamlessly into the universal groove of the disc. Edgy and defiant, Holm's musical approach is to push the envelope and her supporting musicians right up to the point of post-modern deconstruction, stopping just in time before her efforts disintegrate into ravenous particles.

The only true "standard" on the disc is a subdued ballad reading of "You Don't Know What Love Is," whose inclusion could have been based on Holm wanting to prove she can sing it straight. It does serve as a nice contrast to something like Holm's own "Improvised Raga," smacking of elastic electric bass bubbling funk crossed with Eastern Plainchant dissolving into Chick Corea's "Sea Journey." Mark van Wageningen's bass playing is virtuosic as a lead instrument while Holm takes the song into sophisticated contemporary jazz territory. Holm's title original is hypnotic over a simple rhythmic and harmonic figure. The piece provides a suitable vehicle for Holm's vocal experimentations over Frank Martin's probing piano. Larry Schneider provides a lengthy and meandering Coltranesque solo over the scaffolding of the song. "Permission" provides a good foil to Mongo Santamaria's "Afro Blue" which Holm stretches into assorted sizes giving the piece wide-open spaces.

The two highlights are Charles Mingus's "Good Bye Pork Pie Hat" (with lyrics by Rahsaan Roland Kirk) and Thelonious Monk's "Straight, No Chaser." The former stands up to any performance of this Mingus homage to Lester Young. Acoustic Bassist Jeff Chambers defies the time-space continuum with his limber pizzicato seasoned with Schneider's soprano horn and Martin's piano accents. This is eight-plus minutes of bliss. "Straight, No Chaser" is taken in the musical vernacular into which it was born. Trombonist Wayne Wallace polishes off Monk's jagger edges without harming his virile dissonance. It swings the hardest on this most satisfying and gratifying recording.~ C.Michael Bailey https://www.allaboutjazz.com/permission-molly-holm-self-produced-review-by-c-michael-bailey.php

Personnel: Molly Holm: vocalist and composer; Larry Schneider: soprano saxophone; Frank Martin: piano; Jeff Chambers: acoustic bass; Famoudou Don Moye; Deszon Clairborne: drums; Antonia Minnecola: North Indian vocal percussion; Wayne Wallace: trombone; Bill Bell: piano; Eddie Marshall: drums; Marc van Wageningen: electric bass; Paul van Wageningen: drums; David Frazier: percussion.

Permission

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Kyle Asche Organ Trio - The Hook Up

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:55
Size: 115,5 MB
Art: Front

(7:00)  1. Tightrope
(6:36)  2. The Best Thing For You
(4:39)  3. Takala
(6:15)  4. For Those That Are There
(5:32)  5. For Mike
(7:16)  6. Hide Inside
(6:15)  7. Alfie
(6:19)  8. The Hook Up

Nothing says "jazz" like an organ trio, and nothing sounds "cooler." I mean dark sunglasses, tight black suit and skinny dark tie cool, maybe a cigarette dangling, like on some of those old Wes Montgomery album covers on Riverside. Chicago-based guitarist Kyle Asche fits very well into the Wes Montgomery sound, though the look has been updated suits have a more modern cut, with some color, and the ties are wider, and the cigarettes (thankfully) are nowhere to be seen. These are young guys Asche is 26 but they've absorbed the Montgomery/Grant Green organ trio sound and given it a modern twist, with some gritty sax work growling up from under the guitar/organ solos on four of the eight tunes. Asche penned six of the tunes on The Hook Up, some fine compositions that pay homage to the tradition. The group also covers Irving Berlin's "The Best Thing for You" and Burt Bacharach's "Alfie," the latter opening with an extended Asche solo, the group joining him a minute and half in, with the whisper of Pete Benson's B-3 and the soft hiss of Todd Howell's brushes on skin. It seems an unlkely vehicle for the organ trio, but they make the song theirs, and it's a nice change of pace from the bluesier tone of most of the rest of the recording. Tenor saxophonist Scott Burns joins the trio on four tunes, mixing up the group sound on a nicely-paced set, one played with a lot of soul, passion and an updated "coolness."~ Dan McClenaghan https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-hook-up-oa2-records-review-by-dan-mcclenaghan.php

Personnel: Kyle Asche: guitar; Pete Benson: Hammond B-3 organ; Todd Howell: drums; Scott Burns: tenor saxophone.

The Hook Up

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Gerry Mulligan Quartet - Reunion With Chet Baker

Styles: Saxophone And Trumpet Jazz

Year: 1957

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 68:11

Size: 159,9 MB

Art: Front

(4:08)  1. Reunion

(5:09)  2. When Your Lover Has Gone

(4:46)  3. Stardust

(4:15)  4. My Heart Belongs To Daddy

(4:28)  5. Jersey Bounce

(4:44)  6. The Surrey With The Fringe On Top

(3:44)  7. Trav'lin' Light

(4:34)  8. Trav'lin' Light (Alternate Take)

(5:14)  9. Ornithology

(3:43) 10. People Will Say We're In Love

(3:23) 11. The Song Is You

(3:37) 12. Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You

(3:33) 13. Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You (alternate take)

(6:01) 14. I Got Rhythm

(6:46) 15. All The Things You Are

The Gerry Mulligan Quartet of 1952-53 was one of the best-loved jazz groups of the decade and it made stars out of both the leader and trumpeter Chet Baker. Mulligan and Baker had very few reunions after 1953 but this particular CD from 1957 is an exception. Although not quite possessing the magic of the earlier group, the music is quite enjoyable and the interplay between the two horns is still special. With expert backup by bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Dave Bailey, these 13 selections (plus two new alternate takes) should please fans of both Mulligan and Baker.~Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/reunion-with-chet-baker-mw0000194443

Personnel:  Chet Baker — trumpet;  Gerry Mulligan — baritone saxophone;  Henry Grimes – bass;  Dave Bailey - drums

Reunion With Chet Baker

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Toots Thielemans - European Quartet Live

Styles: Harmonica Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:24
Size: 130,3 MB
Art: Front

(3:27) 1. I Loves You, Porgy
(5:39) 2. Summertime
(6:58) 3. Começar de Novo
(5:47) 4. The Days of Wine and Roses
(3:16) 5. Circle of Smile (Theme From: Baantjer)
(3:07) 6. Round Midnight
(5:55) 7. Les Feuilles Mortes
(4:27) 8. Theme from Midnight Cowboy
(6:01) 9. On Green Dolphin Street
(3:55) 10. Ne Me Quitte Pas
(4:40) 11. Bluesette
(3:05) 12. For My Lady

Jean "Toots" Thielemans' musical education started early he had already started to play the accordion at the age of three. But it was his skill on the harmonica that brought him international fame, and it's that skill which is to the fore on European Quartet Live, featuring a set of well-known tunes taken from concerts in 2006, '07 and '08. It's the second Thielemans live album to be released in 2010 after The Live Takes, Volume 1 (In + Out Records), which was recorded in the '90s and with a different lineup of musicians, but it also includes versions of the first three tracks to be found on European Quartet Live. Thielemans was in his mid-80s when performing these concerts, but the precision and tone of his playing could well be that of a much younger musician. This is an album which has a comforting familiarity: a relaxed set that could have been recorded in a small club or even at a private party for friends, rather than in a series of concert halls. The European Quartet's other members give Thielemans sympathetic backing, the result, at least in part, of their long musical association. Drummer Hans van Oosterhout is particularly notable, providing subtle and inventive rhythms that are always interesting but never intrusive.

For the most part, these tunes are familiar, and the band's arrangements are mainstream beautifully played, but with no surprises. The songs are ideal for Thieleman's warm and romantic style, but his playing is especially suited to fellow-Belgian Jacques Brel's "Ne Me Quitte Pas," and Joseph Kosma and Jacques Prevert's Great American Songbook standard, "Les Feuilles Mortes," also known as "Autumn Leaves," in which the harmonicist closes with a bar or two of the French anthem, "La Marseillaise." The quartet's version of John Barry's theme to the film soundtrack of Midnight Cowboy (1969) on which Thielemans also played features a fine double-bass solo from Hein Van de Geyn, while on Thielemans' "Bluesette," the harmonicist adopts an accordion-like tone.

Thelonious Monk's "'Round Midnight" and George Gershwin's "Summertime" are also treated imaginatively by the quartet. "Summertime" gets an upbeat, swinging arrangement, its opening bearing more than a passing resemblance to Miles Davis' "All Blues," with both Thielemans and pianist Karel Boehlee delivering positive solos. Thielemans performs "Round Midnight" unaccompanied, and it's an inspired take on this classic tune, showcasing the harmonicist's continued ability to play with empathy and emotion. The venues at which European Quartet Live was recorded are not identified, but their audiences all give the band an enthusiastic welcome, as if they are greeting old friends. In return, Thielemans and his band mates deliver what the audiences expect: classic tunes, played with warmth and enthusiasm.~ Bruce Lindsay https://www.allaboutjazz.com/european-quartet-live-toots-thielemans-challenge-records-review-by-bruce-lindsay.php

Personnel: Toots Thielemens: harmonica; Karel Boehlee: piano, synthesizer; Hein Van de Geyn: double-bass; Hans van Oosterhout: drums.

European Quartet Live

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Freda Payne - Lonely Woman

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:51
Size: 90,0 MB
Art: Front

(3:29) 1. After the Lights Go Down Low
(3:01) 2. Sweet Pumpkin
(2:51) 3. Blue Piano
(2:36) 4. The Things We Love to Do
(2:16) 5. Awaken My Lonely One
(2:38) 6. Sweet September
(4:03) 7. I Cried for You
(4:27) 8. 'Round Midnight
(3:15) 9. Out of This World
(4:07) 10. Lonely Woman
(3:55) 11. I Wish I Knew
(2:07) 12. It's Time

The multi-talented Freda Payne is best known for her singing career, yet she has also performed in musicals and acted in movies over the years, and was briefly the host of her own TV talk show. Born Freda Charcilia Payne on September 19, 1942, in Detroit, Michigan, Payne developed an appreciation of music at an early age (due to such sultry jazz singers as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Billie Holiday). Payne's own musical career blossomed soon after, as she began early singing radio commercial jingles, which brought the young vocalist to the attention of several music-biz heavyweights. Berry Gordy, Jr. attempted to sign Payne to his then-burgeoning record company Motown, while Duke Ellington employed Payne as the featured singer with his renowned orchestra for two nights in Pittsburgh, resulting in Ellington offering the teenager a ten-year contract. But in both cases, Payne's mother turned them down.

During the early to mid-'60s, Payne established herself as a fine jazz vocalist, touring the country with both Quincy Jones and Bill Cosby, and issuing a jazz/big band-based album in 1963, After the Lights Go Down Low and Much More!. In addition to a sophomore effort surfacing three years later, How Do You Say I Don't Love You Anymore, Payne enjoyed further exposure via appearances on such TV shows as Johnny Carson, David Frost, and Merv Griffin. But it wasn't until Payne signed on to the Invictus label in 1969 (headed by longtime friends/former Motown songwriters/producers Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Brian Holland) and issued the fine album Band of Gold that she scored her breakthrough hit single, the album's title track, which peaked at number three in the U.S. and topped the chart in the U.K. in 1970.

Although Payne never enjoyed another hit as substantial as "Band of Gold," several other successful singles followed in the early '70s: "Deeper and Deeper," "Cherish What's Dear to You," "You Brought the Joy," and the Vietnam protest song "Bring the Boys Home." Further albums followed throughout the '70s, including such titles as Contact, Reaching Out, Payne & Pleasure, Out of Payne Comes Love, Stares & Whispers, Supernatural High, and Hot, which all failed to make an impression on the charts. Payne then switched her attention from music to TV, as she hosted her very own (yet short-lived) talk show in 1981, Today's Black Woman. The '90s saw Payne return to music, as such albums as An Evening with Freda Payne and Christmas with Freda & Friends were issued, while Payne also landed roles in such movies as Private Obsession, Sprung, and Ragdoll. Payne continued to balance an acting and music career during the early 21st century, as she appeared in the 2000 Eddie Murphy comedy Nutty Professor II: The Klumps and the made-for-TV movie Fire & Ice, plus issuing an all-new album in 2001, Come See About Me. Around the same time, several hits compilations were issued, including such titles as Band of Gold: The Best of Freda Payne, Unhooked Generation: The Complete Invictus Recordings, and The Best of Freda Payne: Ten Best Series. Impulse re-released After the Lights Go Down Low in 2005, but failed to add any bonus material. She returned in 2007 with the album On the Inside, which was a collection of her most personal songs. In 2009, she re-entered public consciousness with an appearance on American Idol, performing her most iconic song. In June 2014, she released a jazz-influenced studio album entitled Come Back to Me Love.~ Greg Prato https://www.allmusic.com/artist/freda-payne-mn0000796710/biography

Lonely Woman

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Massimo Faraò - The Young Lion

Styles: Piano Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:56
Size: 143,0 MB
Art: Front

(5:00) 1. I Can't Get Started
(3:49) 2. Witchcraft
(6:48) 3. In Your Own Sweet Way
(2:31) 4. Joy Spring
(4:49) 5. Body and Soul
(6:04) 6. Nostalgia
(7:41) 7. No Problem
(6:10) 8. I'm Confessin That I Love You
(4:58) 9. Minority
(4:36) 10. Whisper Not
(4:55) 11. Did You Call Her Today
(4:30) 12. Body and Soul Tk2

Massimo Farao (* 16th March 1965 in Genoa ) is an Italian jazz - pianist. Massimo Farao studied with Flavio Crivelli and worked with local formations; In 1983 he visited the United States for the first time. played with Red Holloway and Albert 'Tootie' Heath . In the 1990s he worked inter alia. with Tony Scott , Adrian Mears , Johannes Enders , Jesse Davis , Franco Ambrosetti , on whose Enja albums Grazie Italia and Light Breeze he worked. He also played in the Nat Adderley Quintet on a European tour. In 1993 he recorded his debut album For Me for Splasc (h)on; his teammates included the trumpeter Flavio Boltro and the bassist Dado Moroni . In 1995 the album Ciao Baby followed (on Monad ).

In a trio with Ira Coleman and Jeff Tain Watts , Farao recorded the album Black Inside for Enja in Brooklyn in 1998 ; In 2000, the album Thorn , recorded in trio and quartet line-up, followed (also on Enja) , on which Drew Gress , Jack DeJohnette and saxophonist Chris Potter participated. In 2001 he was a member of Archie Shepp's quartet (with Wayne Dockery and Bobby Durham ) ; From 2001 to 2005 Farao was artistic director of the jazz department of the Azzurra Music label . In 2003 he performed at the Jazz Piano Festivalin Lucerne. In 2006 he recorded an album with compositions by Ennio Morricone ; In 2007 he toured Europe and the USA in a trio with Joey DeFrancesco .Translate By Google https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massimo_Farao

The Young Lion

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Michael Kiwanuka - Love & Hate

Styles: Adult Contemporary 
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:08
Size: 126,7 MB
Art: Front

(10:10)  1. Cold Little Heart
( 4:19)  2. Black Man In A White World
( 4:16)  3. Falling
( 4:47)  4. Place I Belong
( 7:07)  5. Love & Hate
( 3:53)  6. One More Night
( 2:46)  7. I'll Never Love
( 5:42)  8. Rule The World
( 7:05)  9. Father's Child
( 4:59) 10. The Final Frame

On his ambitious sophomore set, London native Michael Kiwanuka expands outward from the warm retro-soul of 2012 debut, Home Again. With its trio of producers and transatlantic recording locales, Love & Hate arrives with the weight of high expectations. Announcing his intentions from the start, Kiwanuka challenges listeners with "Cold Little Heart," an exquisitely arranged, ten-minute opus of lush strings and elegant backing vocals whose first line doesn't arrive until the halfway point. It's a Homeric bit of heartbroken prog-soul that shows off its creator's lead guitar chops as much as his rich, sandy voice.

Co-produced by Danger Mouse and Inflo, it also introduces the heavy tonal palette that runs through the remainder of the album's ten tracks, even those produced by Kiwanuka's longtime collaborator, Paul Butler. Where Home Again was ultimately an intimate and gentler affair, Love & Hate puts some distance between singer and audience as he offers his worldweary introspections against the framework of '70s R&B, funk, and spaced-out rock. The timely social commentary of lead single "Black Man in a White World" feels lonesome and heavy in spite of its uptempo, hand-clapped rhythm and nimble guitar groove. Throughout the album, the space between parts is somehow wider, yet each tambourine hit, backing vocal, or funky guitar lick feels darker and more severe. The mildly psychedelic title cut is a mid-album standout whose slow-burning swagger and epic seven-minute length is countered by the tight, punchy "One More Night." Overall, Love & Hate has very little of the breezy, quietly strummed charm of its predecessor, but it represents serious growth from an artist deliberately pushing his boundaries. With this release, Kiwanuka has delivered a dark, graceful, and affecting artistic statement that is worth the patience it takes to experience it. ~ Timothy Monger http://www.allmusic.com/album/love-hate-mw0002934664

Love & Hate

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Susie Meissner With The John Shaddy Quartet - My Foolish Heart

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 26:32
Size: 61,2 MB
Art: Front

(6:02) 1. My Foolish Heart
(4:07) 2. There's a Small Hotel
(2:48) 3. Softly as I Leave You
(4:40) 4. All the Things You Are
(4:34) 5. Never Let Me Go
(4:17) 6. Dreamer

A major jazz and swing singer, Susie Meissner always seems to have a smile in her voice. In addition to her very appealing tone and impeccable musicianship, the enthusiasm that she displays when she performs is infectious. She always swings and is an excellent improviser yet the lyrics that she interprets are especially important to her. “When I perform a song,” says Susie, “I want to express the emotions of the words, so the listener is experiencing the lyrics the way that the writer intended. I’m never casual about the lyrics.” Her skill at reviving and revitalizing classic songs is very much in evidence throughout her recordings.

Susie Meissner performs regularly in Philadelphia, particularly at Chris’ Jazz Café, and for her latest recording she decided to feature some of Philly’s best jazz musicians along with a few guests. Susie’s fourth CD, I Wish I Knew, is the singer’s second release featuring a stellar group of Philly-based musicians: trumpeter John Swana, saxophonist Larry McKenna, bassist Lee Smith and drummer Byron Landham. In addition, Meissner invited some longtime collaborators from outside Philadelphia: pianist/arranger John Shaddy, guitarist Paul Meyers and master clarinetist Ken Peplowski.

“As a child I was always singing,” remembers Susie. Her grandmother played stride piano and her family was very fond of show tunes. “We had the sheet music from the Great American Songbook in the piano bench. The illustrated covers were real works of art and I used to hang them on my bedroom wall. I also listened to the records in my Grandfather’s Dixieland collection early on. Music has been an important part of my life.” Susie, who grew up in Buffalo, had piano and vocal lessons and sang in school choirs and musicals. She became interested in jazz after seeing performances by guitarist Kenny Burrell, pianist Earl Hines, and singer Nancy Wilson. When she was 17 Susie became a professional singer, performing the music from shows such as Oklahoma! and Hello Dolly in dinner theaters. She learned a countless number of songs from the Great American Songbook (Irving Berlin, Lerner & Loewe, Frank Loesser and Cole Porter became some of her favorite composers) and gained experience performing jazz in nightclubs.

After college, Susie Meissner moved to New York City, determined to become a jazz singer. Since the release of her 2009 debut, I’ll Remember April, Meissner has worked with a host of gifted jazz musicians in NYC, including Wycliffe Gordon, Brian Lynch, Joe Magnarelli, Freddie Hendrix, Martin Wind, Dean Johnson, Tim Horner, and Matt Wilson, among others. But she discovered a spiritual home in the City of Brotherly Love. “I am living my musical dream, learning, performing, and recording songs that mean a lot to me and, I hope, to listeners.” Now, with the release of I Wish I Knew, Susie Meissner is on the brink of greater success. Her irresistible and inviting singing, the way that she caresses ballads, her deep understanding of the lyrics that she sings and, most of all, that smile in her voice, make her one of today’s top interpreters of the Great American Songbook. https://susiemeissner.com/biography/

My Foolish Heart

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Norman Simmons - In Private

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:34
Size: 148,8 MB
Art: Front

(7:30) 1. Sushi Yama Blues
(4:22) 2. Stella by Starlight
(7:02) 3. My Melancholy Baby
(5:02) 4. It Could Happen to You
(6:35) 5. How Am I to Know
(7:42) 6. Caravan
(7:35) 7. Soft Wind
(6:28) 8. How Do You Keep the Music Playing
(7:50) 9. Manha de Carnival / Recado Bossa Nova
(4:23) 10. Chopin Waltz

Veteran pianist Norman Simmons plays quite beautifully throughout this disc, with the emphasis generally being on slower tempos. Most exquisite are three unaccompanied piano solos ("It Could Happen to You," "How Am I to Know" and "Chopin Waltz") that show how complete a pianist Simmons has always been. His interplay with bassist Lisle Atkinson and drummer Paul Humphrey is excellent on the other selections, and the slower-than-usual interpretations of "Stella By Starlight" and "Caravan" work quite well, with the medium-tempo "Soft Winds" being a fine change-of-pace. Norman Simmons has long been underrated. In Private serves as an excellent introduction to his music.~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/in-private-mw0000167742

Personnel: Piano, Producer – Norman Simmons; Bass – Lisle Atkinson; Drums – Paul Humphrey

In Private

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Luis Conte - La Cocina Caliente

Styles: Latin Jazz
Year: 1997
File: MP3@192K/s
Time: 58:34
Size: 80,9 MB
Art: Front

(5:46) 1. Tu Sabes
(5:30) 2. Ahora Si
(4:40) 3. Mujaka
(4:12) 4. Para Papa
(4:53) 5. Tingo Talango
(5:52) 6. Even He Paid
(5:05) 7. Chevereando
(4:57) 8. Killer Joe
(5:43) 9. No Place To Hide This Heart
(5:07) 10. Luisongo
(6:45) 11. Spankin (Rumbon)

La Cocina Caliente is Luis Conte’s first solo album. Luis Conte (born 16 November 1954) is a Cuban percussionist. As a child in Cuba, Luis Conte began his musical odyssey playing the guitar. However, he soon switched to percussion, and that has remained his mode since. He was sent to Los Angeles by his parents in 1967, in order to prevent him from being forced to serve in the Cuban military. This was a turning point in Conte’s life, as the musical community in Los Angeles during this period was vibrant. It was during this time that he studied at Los Angeles City College. https://www.sessiondays.com/2016/04/1988-luis-conte-la-cocina-caliente/

La Cocina Caliente/

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Lillian Boutté - The Jazz Book

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:37
Size: 111.3 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 1994
Art: Front

[4:05] 1. Now Baby Or Never
[5:04] 2. Comes Love
[4:21] 3. On Revival Day
[6:04] 4. Don't Worry About Me
[5:57] 5. Lover Come Back To Me
[5:02] 6. Muddy Water
[3:48] 7. Tennessee Waltz
[3:07] 8. That Old Feeling
[6:18] 9. Embraceable You
[4:46] 10. Barefootin

Lillian Boutte is a talented veteran singer from New Orleans who is quite credible in a variety of musical styles. For this fairly definitive outing, she mostly sticks to jazz standards and swings her way through such songs as "Now Baby or Never," "Comes Love," "Love Come Back to Me" and even the "Tennessee Waltz." Boutte is assisted by Thomas l'Etienne (her husband) on tenor and clarinet, trumpeter Leroy Jones (heard throughout in top form), pianist Edward Frank, bassist Lloyd Lambert and drummer Soren Frost. Dr. John, a longtime friend, guests instrumentally on four selections, playing either guitar, organ or piano. An excellent outing, easily recommended to listeners wanting to discover a "new" spirited singer. ~Scott Yanow

The Jazz Book

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Susie Meissner - Tea For Two

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 66:05
Size: 151.3 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2015
Art: Front

[3:20] 1. If I Were A Bell
[7:06] 2. Tea For Two
[4:40] 3. Mean To Me
[2:42] 4. Moonlight Saving Time
[6:52] 5. Laura
[4:10] 6. Love Is Here To Stay
[4:04] 7. Moonglow
[2:33] 8. Just You, Just Me
[4:51] 9. Everything I Love
[6:46] 10. Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry
[4:50] 11. I Didn't Know Time It Was
[4:46] 12. Crazy He Calls Me
[4:55] 13. Triste
[4:22] 14. Say It Isn't So

A major jazz and swing singer, Susie Meissner always seems to have a smile in her voice. In addition to her very appealing tone and impeccable musicianship, the enthusiasm that she displays when she performs is infectious. She always swings and is an excellent improviser yet the lyrics that she interprets are very important to her. "When I perform a song," says Susie, "I want to express the emotions of the words so the listener is experiencing the lyrics the way that the writer intended. I'm never casual about the lyrics." Her skill at reviving and revitalizing classic songs is very much in evidence throughout her finest recording, Tea For Two.

Since the New York-based Susie Meissner also performs regularly in Philadelphia, particularly at Chris' Jazz Café, for her latest recording she decided to feature some of Philly's best jazz musicians along with a few guests. Heard along the way are such greats as tenor-saxophonist Larry McKenna (a Philadelphia legend), valve trombonist John Swana, trumpeter Freddie Hendrix, guitarist Paul Meyers and clarinetist Ken Peplowski plus the superb rhythm section of pianist John Shaddy, bassist Lee Smith and drummer Dan Monaghan.

Tea For Two

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