Thursday, September 16, 2021

Peter Bernstein - Signs Live!

Size: 202,4+151,6 MB
Time: 87:53+65:45
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2017
Styles: Jazz
Art: Front

CD 1:
01. Blues for Bulgaria (Live) (17:57)
02. Hidden Pockets (Live) (11:37)
03. Dragonfly (Live) (18:42)
04. Jive Coffee (Live) (19:03)
05. Pannonica (Live) ( 8:41)
06. Useless Metaphor (Live) (11:50)

CD 2:
01. Let Loose (Live) (15:23)
02. All Too Real (Live) (13:20)
03. Resplendor (Live) ( 8:42)
04. Crepuscule With Nellie - We See (Live) (14:34)
05. Ter Bernstein – Cupcake (Live) (13:45)

Signs LIVE! reunites the four master musicians who came together 20 years earlier to record the acclaimed Signs of Life, the second album by guitar-great Peter Bernstein. Recorded live at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the album captures the long-awaited live debut of Bernstein’s once-in-a-lifetime quartet featuring pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Gregory Hutchinson.

Bernstein’s second release for Smoke Sessions Records, Signs LIVE! (available July 28) allows audiences around the world to share the experience of the lucky few who were in the room for this summit meeting with four of modern jazz’s most revered artists. The two-disc set documents both sets of the quartet’s third and final night, with each soloist given the space to work out – an opportunity which each of these musicians seizes brilliantly.

When they originally came together to record Signs of Life for Criss Cross in December 1994, only the most psychic of jazz fans could realize the impact that the members of Bernstein’s quartet would end up having on the shape of the music over the next two decades. Mehldau had only recently formed his soon-to-be landmark trio, and had apprenticed alongside Bernstein in legendary drummer Jimmy Cobb’s band. McBride had garnered notice along with Mehldau in Joshua Redman’s quartet and had only a few months prior released his leader debut for Verve. Hutchinson was just beginning to make waves as a member of Roy Hargrove’s band.

Signs Live! CD 1, CD 2

Glenn Zottola - Glenn Zottola & Friends

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:46
Size: 152,7 MB
Art: Front

(4:02) 1. Song of the Sails (feat. Ray Burghardt)
(5:10) 2. By the Brook (feat. Romero Lubambo & Pamela Driggs)
(5:46) 3. Crystal Silence (feat. Romero Lubambo & Pamela Driggs)
(3:05) 4. Stars In the Sky (feat. Ricky Kej)
(3:02) 5. Pch (feat. Ray Burghardt)
(4:24) 6. Starlight In Your Smile (feat. Kirby Jones)
(4:19) 7. In the Pocket (feat. Ray Burghardt)
(5:03) 8. What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life (feat. Alan McPike)
(4:33) 9. Motown (feat. Ray Burghardt)
(5:49) 10. Natures Beauty (feat. Romero Lubambo & Pamela Driggs)
(3:58) 11. Blue In Green (feat. Glenn Alexander)
(3:38) 12. Then Sings My Soul (feat. Ray Burghardt)
(4:00) 13. The Look of the Hook (feat. Kirby Jones)
(5:00) 14. Ray’s Groove (feat. Ray Burghardt)
(3:51) 15. Sunshine (feat. Ray Burghardt)

B. Glenn Paul Zottola, 28 April 1947, Port Chester, New York, USA. Zottola first played trumpet at the age of three, his early start explained by the fact that his father not only played trumpet but was also a manufacturer of trumpet mouthpieces (his brother, Bob Zottola, played with the bands of Charlie Barnet, Maynard Ferguson and Billy May). At the age of nine Glenn was playing in public, and within three years was performing regularly on television and had made an appearance at the Atlantic City Jazz Festival. In the early 60s he played a leading role in a documentary film, Come Back. In 1967 he joined the Glenn Miller Orchestra, then under the direction of Buddy De Franco. In 1970, Zottola was briefly with Lionel Hampton and then began a fruitful decade that saw him backing a wide range of artists, including Bob Hope, Al Martino, Patti Page, Tony Martin, Robert Merrill and Mel Tormé. Towards the end of the 70s Zottola played lead trumpet in the orchestra accompanying the touring version of Chicago. In 1979 he joined Tex Beneke and that same year became a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet for a national tour.

Zottola began the 80s in fine style, playing, singing and acting in Swing, a musical presented at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, before playing in the pit bands of several Broadway shows including Evita, Annie and Barnum, and also for the Stratford, Connecticut revival of Anything Goes, which starred Ginger Rogers. In the early 80s he joined Bob Wilber’s Bechet Legacy band, playing on record sessions and international tours. Zottola has also recorded with Butch Miles, George Masso, Keith Ingham and Maxine Sullivan. In the mid-80s, in addition to his regular appearances with Wilber, Zottola led his own big band at the Rainbow Room in New York City and then joined forces with Bobby Rosengarden to co-lead a big band at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Greenwich, Connecticut. He toured overseas, playing jazz festivals in Ireland, Holland and Finland, while his US festival appearances have included St. Louis, Sacramento and the Kool Jazz Festival in New York. In 1988 he was featured soloist in Wilber’s recreation of Benny Goodman’s 1938 Carnegie Hall concert. In 1990 Zottola was headlining at the Clearwater Jazz Festival in Florida and late in 1991 toured the UK and Europe with a band led by Peanuts Hucko and then Glenn moved to Los Angeles to become the band leader on the Suzanne Somers TV show out of universal studios.

Unusually among brass players, Zottola is also an accomplished saxophonist, playing alto with flair. Although rooted in the mainstream of jazz and with a marked kinship for the swing era, his playing shows flashes of a deep awareness of bop and post-bop developments in the music. The exceptional talent he displayed as a child has not been dissipated but has been nurtured into an impressive all-round ability. https://glennzottola.com/about/

Glenn Zottola & Friends

Wednesday, September 15, 2021

Sallie Blair - Squeeze Me

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 31:35
Size: 72.3 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 1957/2014
Art: Front

[3:16] 1. Squeeze Me
[3:04] 2. Almost Like Being In Love
[3:02] 3. Better Luck Next Time
[3:10] 4. The More I See You
[2:51] 5. You Make Me Feel So Young
[2:14] 6. What Is This Thing Called Love
[2:28] 7. Come By Sunday
[2:52] 8. Ain't She Sweet
[3:01] 9. How Long Has This Been Going On
[2:47] 10. The I'll Be Tired Of You
[2:44] 11. Similau

With its saucy title and come-hither cover photo, Squeeze Me promises an abundance of sex-kitten thrills, but what separates Sallie Blair from dozens of other postwar bombshells is her bluesy, earthy voice -- sultriness notwithstanding, the girl can sing. This Bethlehem debut pairs Blair with arranger Richard Wess and a small-combo support unit headlined by bassist Milt Hinton, guitarist Sal Salvador, and pianist Sanford Gold. The record's candlelit ambience emphasizes Blair's prowess on romantic ballads, but a few uptempo, Latin-inspired cuts underscore the breadth of her vocal range. ~Jason Ankeny

Squeeze Me

Cynthia Sayer - Joyride

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 49:49
Size: 114.0 MB
Styles: Dixieland, Swing, Banjo jazz
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[3:12] 1. Banjo Blues
[3:25] 2. Move It On Over
[4:44] 3. I Get Ideas (Adios Muchachos)
[3:45] 4. Ella Miriam's Blues
[3:06] 5. You Talk Too Much
[5:08] 6. The Man On The Flying Trapeze
[4:13] 7. I Love Paris
[4:01] 8. Getting To Know You
[3:30] 9. El Irresistible
[3:45] 10. Goody Goody
[3:28] 11. Honey
[3:05] 12. Under The Bamboo Tree
[4:22] 13. When You Wish Upon A Star

Banjo!—one's mental and aural images might include straw-hatted gents picking away at an attraction at Disney World, Stubby Kaye and Nat "King" Cole strolling in Cat Ballou, (Columbia Pictures, 1965) "The Beverly Hillbillies Theme," or perhaps the iconic "duel" from Deliverance (Warner Bros., 1972) There's probably no other musical instrument on the planet that's more associated with novelty, Americana and all-around Good Times.

Joyride from celebrated jazz banjoist and vocalist, Cynthia Sayer, lives up to its title. And, while the jazz here is more traditional than contemporary and there's a limited amount of extended improv, this is an exhilarating excursion via an artist's and her supporting musicians' talents that results in a funhouse of good music. Sayer, a Banjo Hall of Famer and mainstay in Woody Allen's jazz combo and on his film soundtracks, has performed and recorded with a diverse Who's Who of jazz, popular music and the cinema—Marvin Hamlisch, Bruce Springsteen, Wynton Marsalis, Bucky Pizzarelli, and the New York Philharmonic. At that world-class level, Sayer and her 4-stringed buddy are no novelty. She's the real deal and this recording reinforces that standing.

Joyride is a terrific combination of Sayer's pluck, the wonderful sounds of Springsteen accordionist, Charlie Giordano, trumpeter Randy Sandke's Pops-like rides, and a Baker's Dozen of shrewdly selected offerings—past and present—performed by fine musicians who play with vigor. Sayer pens two interesting originals ("Banjo Blues," "You Talk Too Much") and re-lyrics another ("Man On the Flying Trapeze"). Overall, it's an eclectic hoot performed with sass and smarts. Sayer's vocal chops fit the material well and add a saucy dimension ("Banjo Blues," "Getting to Know You," "Move It On Over"). She's got a slick way with words and can shine new light on time-worn lines ("Goody,Goody," "I Love Paris," "When You Wish Upon A Star"). While banjo-centric jazz might not be everyone's cup of tea, Joyride is an entertaining effort from a truly gifted talent. It's a "'joy ride" indeed. ~Nicholas F. Mondello

Cynthia Sayer: banjo and vocals; Charlie Giordano: accordion; Mauro Battisti: string bass; Larry Eagle: percussion; Sarah Caswell: violin; Adrian Cunningham: clarinet; Jon Herington: electric guitar; Randy Sandke: trumpet; Scott Robinson: tenor saxophone, tarogato; Marcus Rojas: tuba; Mike Weatherly: string bass, backup vocals.

Joyride

John Hicks - Five After Four

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:28
Size: 96,5 MB
Art: Front

(4:07)  1. Cheaters Never Win
(3:33)  2. Five After Four
(5:08)  3. Behind the Velvet Rope
(3:09)  4. Outrun a Memory
(4:38)  5. I'm Going to Be Alright
(3:00)  6. Vanderbilt
(3:34)  7. Wonder Where Your Heart Is Tonight
(3:07)  8. Chasing the Sun
(4:54)  9. Bandera Wind
(3:01) 10. Missing You
(3:11) 11. Gift and a Curse

What do you get when you mix a six time Emmy Award winning producer, with brilliant musicians, back-up vocalists and raspy warrior poet lyricists? A Texas style cruising down the road feel good jam with a sprinkle of all the most edible genres! Finally here, and years in the making, John Hicks Five After Four is sure to delight, surprise and keep you coming back for more after just One Listen. Not a filler song on the entire album. Please enjoy! https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/johnhicks2

Five After Four

Bud Powell - Compact Jazz

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:09
Size: 105.7 MB
Styles: Bop, Piano jazz
Year: 1993/2012
Art: Front

[3:05] 1. Fantasy In Blue
[2:59] 2. Buttercup
[2:26] 3. Tempus Fugit
[1:39] 4. When I Fall In Love
[3:33] 5. Crazy Rhythm
[2:19] 6. Salt Peanuts
[3:30] 7. All The Things You Are
[2:25] 8. Someone To Watch Over Me
[2:25] 9. Be-Bop
[2:49] 10. Yesterdays
[2:22] 11. I Know That You Know
[2:49] 12. Sweet Georgia Brown
[3:00] 13. Blues In The Closet
[3:29] 14. Lover Come Back To Me
[2:17] 15. Dance Of The Infidels
[2:40] 16. I'll Keep Loving You
[2:13] 17. Dusk In Sandi

As a budget sampler, this edition of the Compact Jazz series offers newcomers an attractive overview of Bud Powell's Verve material from 1949-1956. That said, the disc does include several cuts from Powell's less-than-stellar mid-'50s trio sessions, a time when mental illness and electroshock therapy had started to take its toll. And although there are a few sides from Powell's monumental 1949-1951 dates with drummer Max Roach and bassists Curly Russell and Ray Brown ("Tempus Fugit," "I'll Keep Loving You"), plus one solo number from the same period ("Dusk in Sandi"), the majority here is of variable quality. This is not to say there aren't any good performances to be found in the later cuts; but for fans looking into a quality introduction to Powell's Verve work, the label's two Jazz Giant discs would be the best place to start. ~Stephen Cook

Compact Jazz

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

Toots Thielemans - Compact Jazz

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 1991
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:55
Size: 135,4 MB
Art: Front

(4:42)  1. A Volta
(4:19)  2. Dirty Old Man
(4:45)  3. Bluesette
(3:30)  4. I Do It For Your Love
(4:02)  5. Big Bossa
(3:33)  6. Lullaby
(8:00)  7. Tenor Madness
(3:43)  8. Bye Bye Blackbird
(3:36)  9. Old Friend
(6:43) 10. Quarte's fever
(8:03) 11. Footprints
(3:52) 12. Sultry Seranade

Toots Thielemans virtually introduced the chromatic harmonica as a jazz instrument. In fact, beginning in the mid-'50s, he never had a close competitor. Thielemans simply played the harmonica with the dexterity of a saxophonist and even successfully traded off with the likes of Oscar Petersom.  Thielemans' first instrument was the accordion, which he started when he was three. Although he started playing the harmonica when he was 17, Thielemans' original reputation was made as a guitarist who was influenced by Django Reinhardt.

Very much open to bop, Thielemans played in American GI clubs in Europe, visited the U.S. for the first time in 1947, and shared the bandstand with Charlie Parker at the Paris Jazz Festival of 1949. He toured Europe as a guitarist with the Benny Goodman Sextet in 1950, and the following year moved to the U.S. During 1953-1959, Toots was a member of the George Shearing Quintet (mostly as a guitarist) and freelanced for the remainder of his lengthy career in music.   He first recorded his big hit, "Bluesette" (which featured his expert whistling and guitar) in 1961, and was subsequently in great demand (particularly for his harmonica and his whistling) on pop records (including many dates with Quincy Jones) and as a jazz soloist. Toots' two-volume Brasil Project was popular in the 1990s and found him smoothly interacting on harmonica with top Brazilian musicians. Heard on numerous movie soundtracks (including Breakfast at Tiffany's and Midnight Cowboy) and also on the opening theme of television's Sesame Street, Thielemans received Jazz Master honors from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2009. He died in Belgium in August 2016 at the age of 94.~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/artist/toots-thielemans-mn0000159791/biography

Compact Jazz

Roger Kellaway - I Was There: Roger Kellaway Plays from the Bobby Darin Songbook

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:54
Size: 164,9 MB
Art: Front

(5:05)  1. Beyond the Sea
(5:16)  2. Charade
(4:12)  3. My Buddy
(4:23)  4. Just In Time
(6:41)  5. When I Look In Your Eyes
(5:35)  6. The Shadow of Your Smile
(5:03)  7. I Was There
(4:17)  8. I'm Beginning to See the Light
(5:51)  9. A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square
(5:34) 10. When Your Lover Has Gone
(5:45) 11. That's All
(4:38) 12. My Funny Valentine
(5:08) 13. All By Myself
(4:19) 14. Something in Your Smile

With renewed focus on the late singer Bobby Darin in 2004, due in part to the making of a film biography starring Kevin Spacey, the timing became ripe for a musical tribute album to him as well. Pianist Roger Kellaway served as Darin's musical director between 1967 and 1968. He got to know him very well and recognized him as more than just an ambitious singer continuously in search of a hit, as many critics labeled him at that time. Darin often had in mind what he wanted in an arrangement and sang ideas for his pianist to score. When Kellaway was working for the singer, Darin was looking for more than rehashes of his earlier pop hits. The pianist therefore chose to salute him by recording a mix of standards from earlier decades, including "My Buddy," "My Funny Valentine" and "All By Myself," along with 1940s jazz ballads such as Duke Ellington's "I'm Beginning to See the Light." But there is also newer material, including a brisk, inventive treatment of Henry Mancini's "Charade," a pair of songs from the film Dr. Doolittle (a lovely take of "When I Look Into Your Eyes" and "Something in Your Smile," the latter which also features a warm vocal by Kellaway). 

There is also a dreamy take of Johnny Mandel's gorgeous ballad "The Shadow of Your Smile," played with a lightly implied bossa nova rhythm. The only song never performed by Darin, "I Was There," is a swinging tribute composed by Darin's former music director. The sincerity of Roger Kellaway's tribute to Bobby Darin is never in doubt. ~ Ken Dryden  http://www.allmusic.com/album/i-was-there-roger-kellaway-plays-from-the-bobby-darin-songbook-mw0000140195

Personnel: Roger Kellaway (piano)

I Was There: Roger Kellaway Plays from the Bobby Darin Songbook

Swedish Swing Quartet - Live at Salsta Castle (Remastered)

Styles: Swing
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 73:31
Size: 169,2 MB
Art: Front

(6:03) 1. Avalon
(5:19) 2. Poor Butterfly
(5:32) 3. Limehouse Blues
(5:18) 4. I Must Have That Man
(6:17) 5. I Got Rhythm
(6:31) 6. Sweet Georgia Brown
(8:31) 7. More Than You Know
(6:16) 8. Tangerine
(5:33) 9. Have You Met Miss Jones
(6:36) 10. Stompin' At The Savoy
(5:52) 11. Moonglow
(5:37) 12. Flying Home

Personnel: Ove Lind (clarinet;) Lars Erstrand (vib); Ulf Johansson (p, vo; ) Bjorn Sjodin (ds)

Live at Salsta Castle [Live (Remastered 2021)]

Monday, September 13, 2021

John Pizzarelli - With A Song In My Heart

Styles: Vocal And Guitar Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:25
Size: 101,4 MB
Art: Front

(3:53) 1. With A Song In My Heart
(2:27) 2. This Can't Be Love
(4:36) 3. I Like To Recognize The Tune
(4:13) 4. It's Easy To Remember
(2:59) 5. Johnny One Note
(4:12) 6. Nobody's Heart
(4:25) 7. Happy Talk
(2:47) 8. Mountain Greenery
(3:40) 9. I Have Dreamed
(2:34) 10. The Lady Is A Tramp
(4:36) 11. She Was Too Good To Me
(2:59) 12. You've Got To Be Carefully Taught

John Pizzarelli salutes composer Richard Rodgers with this songbook including a dozen of his works. The vocalist/guitarist is accompanied by his trio, with Larry Fuller replacing Ray Kennedy, bassist Martin Pizzarelli, and drummer Tony Tedesco. Pizzarelli adds a personal touch to "I Like to Recognize the Tune" by altering Lorenz Hart's lyrics a bit, while also scatting up a storm in unison with his guitar. Bucky Pizzarelli is an added guest and soloist for "It's Easy to Remember," an intimate duet with the vocalist playing rhythm. Cesar Camargo Mariano takes over at the piano for the breezy bossa nova setting of "Happy Talk." Arranger Don Sebesky wrote the charts for the six tracks and a quartet of brass and reeds, highlighted by the snappy scoring of "The Lady Is a Tramp," recalling Pizzarelli's previous Telarc salute to Frank Sinatra (Dear Mr. Sinatra, in which he trades fours scatting with each of the horns). This release is a little short in the CD era, clocking in at just over 43 minutes, but there's never a dull moment.~ Ken Dryden https://www.allmusic.com/album/with-a-song-in-my-heart-mw0000793387

Personnel: John Pizzarelli – guitar, vocals; Larry Fuller – piano; Martin Pizzarelli – bass; Tony Tedesco – drums; John Mosca – trombone, baritone horn; Andy Fusco – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet; Kenny Berger – baritone saxophone, bass clarinet; Tony Kadlech – trumpet, flugelhorn

Special guests: Bucky Pizzarelli – guitar (track 4); Cesar Camargo Mariano – piano (track 7); Don Sebesky – Swing Seven Arrangements

With A Song In My Heart

Adam Rogers - Art Of The Invisible

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:03
Size: 140,0 MB
Art: Front

(6:31)  1. Long Ago (And Far Away)
(7:53)  2. Absalom
(6:41)  3. Bobo
(5:30)  4. The Aleph
(6:31)  5. The Invisible
(6:54)  6. Cathedral
(7:54)  7. Book Of Sand
(6:27)  8. In Broad Daylight
(6:37)  9. The Unvanquished

What's the best way to find out who's the best guitarist in New York? Simple-ask a few apple-based guitarists (or any other instrumentalists, for that matter). I've conducted an informal poll and the answer I've gotten more often than not is the leader here, who I've counted among the world's finest plectrists for almost a decade now. 2002 is shaping up to be nothing less than the "Year of Adam Rogers," with a hefty role taken in fantastic new releases by Scott Colley and Alex Sipiagin and notable appearances on Chris Potter's Traveling Mercies , The Mingus Big band's Tonight at Noon and a fairly well-received debut by Miss Norah Jones. Now, finally, Criss Cross Jazz gives us the long deserved and long overdue debut by quite simply, one of the world's finest guitarists- ever.

Adam's been developing his incredible gifts in a variety of genres throughout his career, and clearly finds fascination and inspiration in all musical places; from fusion to pop to mainstream to ethnic to avant-garde. This record finds him at his essence-swinging, mainstream, contemporary, small group, post-bop guitar nirvana. Guitar lovers-stop right now and buy this one before anything else this year because Adam's put himself right at the head of New York's, and therefore the world's, elite cadre of incredible players pushing the instrument's future forward. Highlights? The entirety of the outing swings incredibly hard or waxes gorgeously soft, with one standard and eight originals from Adam's mighty pen. Seems as though Mr. Rogers has known all along that composition, not merely prodigious technique on the instrument, is at the core of consequence on the musical map. That said, his skills as a pure player are absolutely mind-boggling, with long lines and phraseology extending the lineage of Martino, Montgomery and Benson, extruding a tone from a Gibson ES-335 so phat and warm it could be coming from a jazz box three times the width. One of the instrument's great compers as well, he relinquishes that role for the most part here to the refined and harmonically astute pianist Eduardo Simon. What a quartet he's assembled- Michael Brecker Band mates Clarence Penn, who stirs and swings the date hard and is full of surprises on the kit, and Scott Colley, a complete player with velvety tone on acoustic bass, round out the band.

Compositionally, it's full of layers. Listen to "Cathedral" for heart rendering piano and crystalline single note work emphasizing Rogers' mastery of linear phraseology, especially his uncanny ability to speed up and slow down the tempo of any given line and return to the phrase at precisely the right nanosecond. On "Book of Sand" he brings authentic classical technique to the fore while "Broad Daylight" and "Bobo" take Martino's and Montgomery's way with a minor blues to the next level, indeed. I had the pleasure of sitting stage side for Michael Brecker's Boston run last year. After that incredible string of performances, I remember leaving the club thinking Adam had nudged the bar delimiting the role of the small-group guitarist in a pianoless quartet up just a little further than it had been prior to that day. With Art of the Invisible, he's accomplished nothing less than raising the bar for all of mainstream jazz guitardom. ~ Phil DiPietro https://www.allaboutjazz.com/art-of-the-invisible-adam-rogers-criss-cross-review-by-phil-dipietro.php

Personnel: Adam Rogers- guitar, Scott Colley-bass, Edward Simon-piano, Clarence Penn-drums

Art Of The Invisible

John Hicks - East Side Blues

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1988
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:43
Size: 123,3 MB
Art: Front

(7:10)  1. East Side Blues
(6:03)  2. Yemenja
(7:18)  3. Never Let Me Go
(6:43)  4. Out of Somewhere
(7:15)  5. Mow's Move
(8:01)  6. Is That So?
(4:32)  7. Somedity
(6:38)  8. A Beautiful Friendship

East Side Blues is an album by pianist John Hicks's Trio recorded in Japan in 1988 and released on the Japanese DIW label. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Side_Blues

Personnel:  John Hicks - piano; Curtis Lundy - bass; Victor Lewis - drums

East Side Blues

Sunday, September 12, 2021

Charlie Ventura With Mary Ann Mccall - Another Evening With Charlie Ventura And Mary Ann Mccall

Styles: Vocal, Hard Bop
Year: 1954
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:09
Size: 93,4 MB
Art: Front

(3:43) 1. Soft Touch
(4:07) 2. We'll Be Together Again (Voc)
(3:30) 3. There'll Be Some Changes Made (Voc)
(2:48) 4. The Breeze And I
(3:16) 5. Charlie's Venture
(3:06) 6. Swingin' On A Star
(7:36) 7. It Don't Mean A Thing
(2:49) 8. Deep Purple
(3:14) 9. Jersey Bounce
(2:28) 10. Lover
(3:28) 11. Yesterdays

Tenor man Charlie Ventura was was a prominent fixture on the jazz scene during his era. Born Charles Venturo he was one of thirteen children from a musical family who went on to become a jazz legend, and was named “Number One Tenor Saxophonist” by Down Beat Magazine in 1945. In the summer of 1942, Charlie got a call at his day job at the Philadelphia Navy yard to join Gene Krupa's band. Unwilling to relinquish the security of a paycheck, he turned them down. Then came the second phone call and before long, Charlie was on the road with the band becoming a featured soloist, along with trumpet star, Roy Eldridge and singer Anita O'Day. Throughout the forties, fifties and sixties, Charlie Ventura and Gene Krupa made music history together as America's leading jazz greats. Ventura was one of the first jazz musicians to make the transition from swing to be-bop. In 1946, he formed his own “Bop for the People” band, playing a commercially-oriented form of be-bop. Continuing to play with The Gene Krupa Trio, he cut “Dark Eyes,” which led to over a dozen released albums, including “Charlie Ventura With Special Guest Charlie Parker”(1949) “Bop For The People”(1949-53) and “Charlie Ventura And His Orchestra.”(1954-55) Many fans will remember the succession of great jazz groups, fronted by Charlie, that appeared at The Open House nightclub he owned in Lindenwold, New Jersey. Playing Las Vegas with Jackie Gleason, and Atlantic City, New York and Philadelphia, Charlie Ventura was the consummate jazzman. “Jazz is maturing and maturity carries responsibilities. I feel that I'm supposed to make people laugh, make them cry, make them day dream and give them some excitement,” Charlie explained. His lifetime of musical achievement ended in January, 1992, but his legacy to the world of jazz lives on. https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/charlie-ventura

Personnel: Vocals – Mary Ann McCall; Saxophone – Charlie Ventura; Bass – Bob Carter; Drums – Sonny Igoe; Piano – Dave McKenna

Another Evening With Charlie Ventura And Mary Ann Mccall

Charlie Ventura With Mary Ann Mccall - An Evening With Charlie Ventura And Mary Ann Mccall

Styles: Vocal, Hard Bop
Year: 1954
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 27:22
Size: 63,8 MB
Art: Front

(5:14) 1. Charlie's Parley
(2:58) 2. Careless (Voc)
(5:42) 3. Get Happy
(3:13) 4. Sam And Don
(3:23) 5. Detour Ahead (Voc)
(3:53) 6. Basin Street Blues
(2:57) 7. Please Be Kind (Voc)

Mary Ann McCall was a fine singer who started out singing middle-of-the-road pop, yet grew as a well-respected jazz singer during her episodic career. She began as a singer and dancer with Buddy Morrow's Orchestra in her native Philadelphia and was with Tommy Dorsey briefly in 1938. McCall had her first stint with Woody Herman in 1939 and she was Charlie Barnet's vocalist during a period of time (1939-40) when his band was attracting attention. McCall then dropped out of music, but when she returned it was for a high-profile position with Woody Herman's First Herd in 1946 and Second Herd from 1947-50. McCall was married to Al Cohn for a time, had a solo career and sang with Charlie Ventura from 1954-55. She gradually faded away from the scene, singing in Detroit from 1958-60 and then moving to Los Angeles where she was active on a part-time basis. McCall re-emerged to sing and record with Jake Hanna in1976 and Nat Pierce in 1978, still sounding close to prime form. As a leader, McCall recorded four songs for Columbia in 1947, six for Discovery in 1948, four for Roost in 1950; she recorded albums for Regent in 1956, Jubilee in 1958 and Coral in 1959. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mary-ann-mccall-mn0000370718/biography

An Evening With Charlie Ventura And Mary Ann Mccall

Johnny "Hammond" Smith - Legends Of Acid Jazz: Soul Flowers

Styles: Hard Bop, soul Jazz
Year: 1999
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:21
Size: 162,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:23) 1. Theme From N.Y.P.D.
(5:00) 2. Dirty Apple
(3:20) 3. Days Of Wine And Roses (Instrumental)
(3:16) 4. Ode To Billy Joe
(3:11) 5. You'll Never Walk Alone
(3:05) 6. Alfie
(2:56) 7. Tara's Theme (My Own True Love)
(3:25) 8. Here's That Rainy Day
(5:27) 9. I Got A Woman
(3:01) 10. Dirty Grape
(8:09) 11. Animal Farm
(3:07) 12. Black Strap Molasses
(3:29) 13. She's Gone Again
(5:43) 14. Hi Heel Sneakers
(3:30) 15. To Sir With Love
(3:42) 16. Love Is A Hurtin' Thing
(5:30) 17. Please Send Me Someone To Love

Prestige's second volume of Johnny "Hammond" Smith's recordings in their Legends of Acid Jazz series contains two full original albums: 1967's Soul Flowers and its 1968 follow-up, Dirty Grape. Both sessions were recorded within four months of each other with the same sextet, featuring guitarist Wally Richardson, tenor saxophonists Houston Person and Earl Edwards, bassist Jimmy Lewis, drummer John Harris, and Richard Landrum on conga. On both records, he basically tackles modern pop songs that were hits on the pop and R&B charts and songs from movies and TV. This could have been predictable, lightly swinging jazz-pop, like so many soul-jazz records of its ilk in the late '60s, but what makes both sessions so enjoyable is that the band is lively, gritty, and clearly having fun with this material. Of the two, Soul Flowers is a little more satisfying, but both are highly enjoyable and they make for a great two-fer one that's the equal of Smith's first edition of Legends of Acid Jazz.~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine https://www.allmusic.com/album/legends-of-acid-jazz-vol-2-mw0000050217

Personnel: Organ – Johnny "Hammond" Smith; Congas – Richard Landrum; Drums – John Harris; Electric Bass [Fender] – Jimmy Lewis; Guitar – Wally Richardson; Tenor Saxophone – Earl Edwards, Houston Person

Legends Of Acid Jazz: Soul Flowers

Mose Allison - The Word From Mose

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 29:55
Size: 68.5 MB
Styles: Bop, Jazz-blues
Year: 1964/1998
Art: Front

[2:23] 1. Fool Killer
[2:59] 2. One Of These Days
[2:11] 3. Look Here
[2:50] 4. Days Like This
[2:12] 5. Your Red Wagon
[1:53] 6. I'm The Wild Man
[2:58] 7. Rollin' Stone
[3:01] 8. New Parchman
[2:44] 9. Don't Forget To Smile
[2:30] 10. I'm Not Talking
[4:09] 11. Lost Mind

This iconoclastic performer has sometimes been described as a country blues player, perhaps leading to images of a blind man standing on a corner playing a guitar with a bottleneck slide. In reality, Mose Allison is from a much more cosmopolitan tradition, and the country blues adage comes from attempts to describe the sound he gets playing light, swinging jazz with a distinctly rural, Southern influence. This album, from one of many he recorded for Atlantic, actually contains examples of him taking material from the real country blues heritage and reworking it into his own style, to brilliant effect. His "New Parchman Farm" is a fantastic piece, as he changes what was once a stark, depressing prison blues into something else again. Perhaps this version would be more suited to white-collar criminals such as the Watergate mob, basking in upper-class prisons complete with tennis courts. At any rate, this is a performance that only the most hardened individual would be able to listen to without a smile cracking their face. Like most of Allison's releases, this one suffers from a handful of tracks that although not quite throwaway, surely lack the substance of the best songs here. ~Eugene Chadbourne

The Word From Mose

Teodross Avery - The Diva's Choice

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:51
Size: 142,0 MB
Art: Front

(7:06)  1. Tryin' To Find The Light
(6:24)  2. The Dreamer (Vivo Sonhando)
(5:00)  3. Type Of Girl (Feat. Leela James)
(7:40)  4. Love With Respect (Instrumental)
(5:20)  5. She Doesn't See
(0:09)  6. Interlude: In Portuguese
(4:13)  7. Journey To Paradise
(6:16)  8. Never Let You Go
(6:25)  9. Adult Music (Feat. Roy Ayers)
(5:33) 10. A New Beginning
(7:41) 11. Love With Respect (Feat. Shannone Holt)

Teodross Avery is a saxophonist to watch, as evidenced by many of today’s biggest names in music relying on his wide musical reach. While growing up in Oakland and Vacaville, California, his parents exposed him to a broad range of music including traditional African music, Soul, Rock, and Jazz. At ten, his father started him with classical guitar lessons. Jolted by the sound of John Coltrane’s ‘Giant Steps,’ he switched to the saxophone. As a testament to his young promise, the great Wynton Marsalis purchased a saxophone for him. He eventually won a full music scholarship at 17 to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. While at Berklee, renowned A&R exec, Carl Griffin of GRP/Impulse Records, heard of Avery’s new cutting edge sound and signed him at 19, stating, “I was so thoroughly impressed with his lyricism and writing talent”. In 1994, Avery launched his first album “In Other Words”, which was welcomed by critical acclaim, including a rave review in USA Today, which praised its “mature sense of composition, swing, and improvisation.” After tackling New York City, Avery landed a performing role in the successful film Love Jones in 1995. He then launched his second album, “My Generation”, under the GRP/Impulse label, in 1996. He has also performed and/or recorded with the likes of Amy Winehouse, The Roots, Leela James, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Shakira, Joss Stone, Roy Hargrove, Roy Ayers, Pat Monahan (lead singer of Train), Mos Def, Lauryn Hill, Matchbox Twenty, Talib Kweli, and Betty Carter. Avery holds a Masters degree in Music from the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University, and is the recipient of multiple awards, including The Sony Innovator Award (1992), The NFAA’s Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship (1992), and The NAACP ACT-SO Award (1991). https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/Teodrossavery

The Diva's Choice

Jesse Van Ruller - Spirits High

Styles: Guitar Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:36
Size: 214,1 MB
Art: Front

(5:56) 1. Tideline
(4:40) 2. Bye, Bye, Big City, Bye
(3:34) 3. Drops
(3:54) 4. Sonder
(5:40) 5. Spirits High
(5:34) 6. First Steps, Born Again
(5:13) 7. Apollo
(5:06) 8. Robin
(2:33) 9. First Steps (reprise)
(4:24) 10. Fantail
(2:55) 11. Into Silence

Van Ruller was born in Amsterdam on 21 January 1972. He started playing the guitar at the age of seven. "He continued his studies at Miami University, Ohio (MM 1995), and in 1995 won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Guitar Competition in Washington, DC." Van Ruller recorded two quintet albums for Bluemusic: European Quintet in 1996 and Herbs, Fruits, Balms and Spices two years later. He went on to record three albums for Criss Cross Jazz. These were Here and There and Circles in 2002, and Views in 2005. The guitarist composed almost all of the pieces played on the last two. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_van_Ruller

Personnel: Alto Saxophone – Maarten Hogenhuis; Electric Guitar – Jesse Van Ruller

Spirits High

Saturday, September 11, 2021

Joyce - Timeless

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:42
Size: 93.2 MB
Styles: Latin jazz
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[3:31] 1. Everything
[5:09] 2. Sometimes When We Touch
[4:47] 3. One Moment In Time
[3:24] 4. Time After Time
[4:10] 5. If We Hold On Together
[4:24] 6. Love Of A Lifetime
[4:06] 7. For The First Time
[4:07] 8. Time After Time
[3:46] 9. So Nice (Summer Samba)
[3:13] 10. All The Time

Timeless

James Moody - Flute 'n the Blues

Styles: Saxophone And Flute Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:00
Size: 88,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:11) 1. Flute 'n the Blues
(2:34) 2. Birdland Story
(2:46) 3. It Could Happen to You
(2:46) 4. I Cover the Waterfront
(4:26) 5. Body and Soul
(3:24) 6. Breaking the Blues
(3:25) 7. Parker's Mood
(3:56) 8. Easy Living
(3:46) 9. Boo's Tune
(4:41) 10. Richard's Blues

This fairly rare Lp (which has fortunately been reissued on a Chess CD along with Last Train To Overbrook) features James Moody's septet of 1956, a fine bop-based unit that also includes trumpeter Johnny Coles and pianist Jimmy Boyd. Moody, who had just begun to play flute, is heard on that instrument along with tenor and alto; an added plus are Eddie Jefferson's three vocals (including his alternate lyrics for "Parker's Mood"). The basic material (mostly standards and blues) are given spirited and swinging treatment by the underrated group.~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/flute-n-the-blues-mw0000313322

Personnel: James Moody - tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, flute; Johnny Coles - trumpet; William Shepherd - trombone ; Pee Wee Moore - baritone saxophone; Jimmy Boyd - piano, peck horn; John Latham - bass; Clarence Johnston - drums; Eddie Jefferson - vocals

Flute 'n the Blues