Olaf Polziehn Trio Feat. Scott Hamilton - Live at Jazztone Lörrach

Styles: Saxophone And Piano Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:58
Size: 149,4 MB
Art: Front

(10:53) 1. Have You Met Miss Jones?
( 9:19) 2. I May Be Wrong
( 8:36) 3. Woody 'n' You
( 6:56) 4. If I Only Had a Brain
( 7:27) 5. As Long as I Live
( 7:01) 6. Skylark
( 3:11) 7. Pitter Panther Patter
(11:33) 8. Blues

Researching key signatures in performances of “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams,” I made a discovery. Everyone else out there may have known about Olaf Polziehn, but he was new to me. After I heard him play the piece (in E-flat), further research turned up these facts: Polziehn is 40 years old. He was born in Ludwigsburg, Germany. He is professor of jazz piano at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria. That is where the expatriate American composer, arranger and trombonist Ed Partyka is chairman of the jazz department, Dena DeRose is a professor of voice and Ed Neumeister a professor of composition, arranging and trombone. Clearly, things are happening in Graz.

Polziehn has played with, among others, Bob Mintzer, John Riley, Harry Allen, Scott Hamilton, Patti Austin and Warren Vaché. In the video of his unaccompanied version of “Wrap Your Troubles…,” we see the only a three-quarters view of the back of his head. So here, on the right, is what he looks like. Now, press play and you’ll hear what he sounded like at the Stride + Swing Piano Summit in Switzerland in 2008. If you’re curious, the original key of Billy Moll’s, Harry Barris’ and Ted Koehler’s “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams” (1931) was C. If you’d like to hear a splendid version in B-Flat, click here for Hampton Hawes with Harold Land, Scott LaFaro and Frank Butler from Hawes’ album For Real.~ Doug Ramsey https://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/2011/04/meet-olaf-polziehn.html

Personnel: Scott Hamilton (ts); Olaf Polziehn (p); Ingmar Heller (b); Alan Jones (dr)

Live at Jazztone Lörrach

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Banu Gibson - Let's Face The Music And Dance

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:02
Size: 133,9 MB
Art: Front

(0:09)  1. Swing out Fanfare
(2:26)  2. Top Hat, White Tie and Tails
(4:15)  3. Music Makes Me
(3:24)  4. Let's Begin
(4:11)  5. I'll Be Hard To Handle
(3:54)  6. A Needle in a Haystack
(3:01)  7. No Strings
(3:46)  8. Isn't This a Lovely Day?
(3:36)  9. Let Yourself Go
(3:08) 10. I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket
(3:29) 11. They Can't Take That Away From Me
(2:54) 12. (I've Got) Beginner's Luck
(3:45) 13. Bojangles of Harlem
(3:43) 14. Pick Yourself Up
(2:54) 15. Let's Face The Music And Dance
(4:39) 16. Change Partners
(4:25) 17. A Fine Romance
(0:13) 18. Swing Out Swinging Fanfare

Banu Gibson, with the New Orleans Hot Jazz, is a dynamic performer with a big voice, and stage presence to spare she's the consummate entertainer specializing in early classic jazz, and her band is absolutely superb. An evening with Banu and her band features songs by Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Fats Waller, and George Gershwin. Leonard Maltin, film correspondent for Entertainment Tonight, said "Banu Gibson and her band blend musicianship and showmanship in an irresistible brand of entertainment. I'm crazy about them." http://centerstageartists.com/artists/BanuGibson/index.html

Personnel: Harry Shearer (vocals); Hank Mackie, Howard Alden (guitar); Matt Rhody, Ann Taylor (violin); Karen Ray (cello); Tom Fischer, Brian Ogilvie (clarinet, saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Jon-Erik Kellso (trumpet, cornet); Charlie Fardella, Connie Jones, Duke Heitger, Randy Reinhart (trumpet); Bob Havens, Dan Barrett , David Sager, Mark Mullins (trombone); David Boeddinghaus, Dick Hyman, John Sheridan (piano); Chris Tyle, Jeff Hamilton , James Alsanders (drums).

Let's Face The Music And Dance

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Buddy DeFranco - Cooking The Blues & Sweet & Lovely

Album: Cooking The Blues & Sweet & Lovely Disc 1

Emil Viklicky Trio - Kafka On The Shore (Tribute To Haruki Murakami)

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:46
Size: 166,9 MB
Art: Front

(7:08)  1. Afterdark
(7:16)  2. Dolphine Dance
(3:58)  3. Eleanor Rigby
(6:16)  4. Peacocks
(6:52)  5. Solitude
(2:16)  6. Windmills Of Your Mind
(5:55)  7. 1Q84
(5:31)  8. Double Moon
(6:28)  9. The Boy Named Crow
(6:35) 10. Kafka On The Shore
(6:45) 11. Entering Stone
(2:37) 12. Miss Saeki Theme (Feat. Jana Sykorova)
(5:02) 13. Windows

Since the '70s, Emil Viklicky has been among the top acoustic jazz pianists in the Czech Republic. Viklicky isn't very well-known in the United States, but in European jazz circles, he has commanded a great deal of respect and admiration. One of the reasons why Viklicky isn't better known in the U.S. is the fact that most of his albums have not come out on American labels  like so many European jazz artists, he has recorded most of his LPs and CDs for European labels. Consequently, jazz fans in countries like Sweden, France, Belgium, and Italy have had an easier time finding his releases than jazz fans in New York, Chicago, or San Francisco. But that doesn't erase the fact that Viklicky is a fine musician/composer who is hard-swinging yet lyrical and melodic. A versatile, open-minded player, Viklicky can be contemplative and impressionistic when he feels like it  or, he can be exuberant and festive. Viklicky was born in Olomouc, Czech Republic on November 23, 1948. Back then, the Czech Republic was still called Czechoslovakia and  like the rest of Eastern Europe had a centralized, Soviet-style communist government. 

When Viklicky was growing up, Americans referred to the pianist's country as "behind the Iron Curtain." But despite communism's well-deserved reputation for being oppressive and anti-American, the country had a jazz scene and, over the years, gave us first-class players like bassist George Mraz (who Viklicky has worked with on more than one occasion). Viklicky entered college in the late '60s, and in 1971, he graduated from Palacky University with a degree in mathematics. Even though Viklicky was living in a communist country, his situation was one that so many American artists could relate to despite showing serious promise as a musician, he studied something practical and sensible (as opposed to creative) in college. But studying mathematics didn't prevent Viklicky from practicing and studying jazz piano night and day, and in 1974 (the year he turned 26), the improviser won a prize for best soloist at the Czechoslovak Amateur Jazz Festival. It was also in 1974 that he joined the late Czech jazzman Karel Velebny's SHQ Ensemble. Then, in 1977, Viklicky was awarded a scholarship by Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music; during his temporary stay in Boston, he studied with trumpeter Herb Pomeroy at Berklee. Since then, he has built a sizable catalog. 

In the '80s, his European releases included The Window (Okno) and the Door (Dvere), which united Viklicky's group with guitarist Bill Frisell; 1981's Together, an album of duets with fellow pianist James Williams; and 1988's Homage to Joan Miro  all of those albums originally came out on the Supraphon label. Then, in the '90s, Viklicky's CDs included 1990's Beyond the Mountains on Supraphon, 1991's 'Round Midnight on Arta, 1995's Food of Love on Melantrich, 1995's Lacrimosa (which was the soundtrack of the Czech film Ma Je Pomsta) on Popron, 1996's Homage to Josip Plecnik on Lotos, 1997's UV Drive on Arta, 1998's Duets on Lotos, and 1998's Neuro on Gallup Music. In 2001, the veteran pianist was featured extensively on George Mraz's superb Milestone/Fantasy release Morava, which boasts an adventurous blend of jazz and traditional Moravian folk. During his long career, Viklicky has witnessed a lot of political changes in the Czech Republic. He has long since moved back to that country, and in a post-communist Czech Republic, he served as president of the Czech Jazz Society from 1991-1995. It was in 1994 that Viklicky started playing with Ad lib Moravia, an ensemble that, like the musicians on Mraz's Morava, blends jazz and Moravian folk. In 2002, the Arta label released Viklicky's 01, a live trio date that was recorded the previous year. https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/kafka-on-the-shore-tribute-to-haruki-murakami/595074448

Personnel:  Piano – Emil Viklický;  Bass – Josef Fetcho;  Drums – Laco Tropp;  Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Jana Sýkorová (tracks: 12);  Viola – Jitka Hosprová (tracks: 10)

Kafka On The Shore (Tribute To Haruki Murakami)

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