Dr. John - Things Happen That Way

Styles: Vocal,Piano
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:04
Size: 91,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:37) 1. Funny How Time Slips Away
(3:52) 2. Ramblin' Man
(3:24) 3. Gimme That Old Time Religion (Feat. Willie Nelson)
(4:54) 4. I Walk On Guilded Splinters (Feat. Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real)
(2:59) 5. I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry
(4:12) 6. End Of The Line (Feat. Aaron Neville)
(3:24) 7. Holy Water
(3:59) 8. Sleeping Dogs Best Left Alone
(3:54) 9. Give Myself A Good Talkin' To
(3:44) 10. Guess Things Happen That Way

Interviewing the late Dr John aka The Night Tripper aka Dr John Creaux aka Mac Rebennack was a pleasure. Witty, erudite and b.s. free, he was reliably good copy. On one occasion he was an hour late and obviously, totally and spectacularly off his face. "If I nod out," he said, "kick me on the shin." The doctor was in... and out.

Things Happen That Way has turned out to be Dr John's last recorded studio album, and it rises to the occasion. It is the Night Tripper at his gumbo best, a joyous, uplifting mix of New Orleans funk, jazz, blues and country rock, a healing Americana which laughs at ethnic and regional boundaries. Listen to the impossibly funky arrangement of Hank Williams Sr.'s country classic "Ramblin' Man" and try not to gasp with delight. Another Williams song, "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," is the only one of the ten tracks which is delivered mono-stylistically, in relatively straight country fashion.

Dr John is accompanied by a deeply empathetic band and chorus, plus a handful of guest artists. The Neville Brothers' Aaron Neville duets on vocals on the Traveling Wilbury's "End Of The Line," Willie Nelson duets on the traditional "Gimme That Old Time Religion" (on which he also adds a guitar solo), and his son Lukas Nelson and Promise Of The Real are the back-up band on a remake of "I Walk On Guilded Splinters," from the Night Tripper's voodoo-drenched debut, Gris-Gris, released on Atco in 1968 (check the YouTube below). Other Mac Rebennack originals are "Holy Water," "Sleeping Dogs Best Left Alone" and "Give Myself A Good Talkin' To." Solid gold, each of them. The album ends with an affecting reading of Jack Henderson Clement's "Guess Things Happen That Way."

Remarkably, Dr John lived a decently lengthy life, passing in 2019 aged 77 years, a span aided no doubt by his finally freeing himself from heroin thirty years earlier. Things Happen That Way is a fine epitath. By Chris May
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/things-happen-that-way-dr-john-rounder-records

Personnel: Dr. John: piano; Shane Theriot: guitar; Tony Hall: bass, electric; Carlo Nuccio: drums; David Torkanowsky: keyboards; Mark Mullins: trombone; Alonzo Bowens: saxophone, tenor; Leonard Brown: trumpet; Jon Cleary: voice / vocals; Herlin Riley: drums; Yolanda Robinson: voice / vocals; Jolynda Chapman: voice / vocals

Additional Instrumentation: Dr John: vocals, piano, keyboards, co-production; Shane Theriot: electric, acoustic, lap steel and baritone guitars, cardboard box drum, co-production; Jon Cleary: additional keyboards, Hammond B3 organ.

Things Happen That Way

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Lauren Meehan - Nature Boy

Styles: Vocal
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:57
Size: 108,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:33) 1. Blue Skies
(4:04) 2. A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
(3:40) 3. Nature Boy
(6:09) 4. Come Rain Come Shine
(4:08) 5. On the Sunny Side of the Street
(6:17) 6. Caravan (feat. Dave Albert)
(5:04) 7. When the Sun Comes Out
(3:01) 8. A Foggy Day
(5:56) 9. Over the Rainbow
(4:59) 10. I Wish You Love

Lauren's musical career ignited at an early age and became professional at the age of 16. Her musical influence began from the classic early Jazz and Swing era of Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, and Billie Holiday and the Big Band sounds of Duke Ellington, The Dorsey Brother's Orchestras and Glen Miller. Modern inspiration which influenced her career came from the iconic Diana Krall and Broadway artist Linda Eder.

Lauren has appeared in the iconic Jazz clubs throughout New England, down the Eastern coast and Internationally in the U.K. She has had the privilege to perform with the Boston Pops, the Broadway touring cast of Phantom Swings, opening for comedian Don Rickles, and appeared at the famous Ryles Jazz Club with guest trumpeter extraordinaire Wayne Bergeron, among many more esteemed accolades. Lauren is a featured recording artist on two Big Band Albums, Bandwidth and Time After Time, and in 2022 released Nature Boy, a Jazz quartet combo album.https://www.laurenjmeehan.com/the-band

Nature Boy

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Pablo Milanés - Standards De Jazz

Styles: Latin Jazz
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:32
Size: 84,4 MB
Art: Front

(4:44) 1. In Other Words (Fly Me To The Moon)
(4:27) 2. For Sentimental Reasons
(3:38) 3. All The Things You Are
(4:04) 4. As Time Goes By
(4:52) 5. Wild Is The Wind
(1:44) 6. Lullaby Of Birdland
(2:38) 7. Autumn Leaves
(3:06) 8. I’ve Got You Under My Skin
(3:15) 9. Stardust
(4:00) 10. Stella By Starlight

Pablo Milanés Arias (24 February 1943 – 22 November 2022) was a Cuban singer-songwriter and guitar player. He was one of the founders of the Cuban nueva trova, along with Silvio Rodríguez and Noel Nicola. His music, originating in the Trova, Son and other traditional styles of early 20th Century Cuban music, set him apart from the style of Silvio Rodríguez.

Pablo Milanés, widely known as Pablito, moved with his family from Bayamo to Havana in 1950. He studied in the Conservatorio Municipal de La Habana, at the time the most prestigious musical school in the country. His first public performance was in 1956. By age 15, he was active in "bohemian" musical circles in Havana, associated with the so-called "filin" musicians.

Although he supported the Cuban Revolution, in 1965 he was sent to the UMAP agricultural forced-labor camp in Camagüey. In 1967, he escaped and fled to Havana to denounce the injustice of the labor camp. This resulted in his imprisonment, first for two months in La Cabaña, an 18th-century fortress in Havana, and then for a time in a prison camp. He was released when the prison camp was closed due to international pressure.

In 1969, he became part of the Grupo de Experimentación Sonora, a seminal group of young musicians, many of whom became founding members of the nueva trova, which started as a movement with a concert given by Pablo, Silvio Rodriguez, and Noel Nicola on 18 February 1968. Until the late 1980s, nueva trova was the unofficial musical style of the Cuban Revolution.

Since his first recording ("Versos sencillos de José Martí" in 1973), he issued more than 40 solo records, and many more in collaboration with other artists from Cuba, elsewhere in Latin America, and Spain. His first record with original songs (the eponymous "Pablo Milanés") was not issued until 1976. The heyday of his creativity occurred probably in the early 1980s, with his records "El guerrero", "Yo me quedo", and "Comienzo y final de una verde mañana".

Within the context of the nueva trova, Pablo is widely considered one of the closest to the traditional roots of Cuban music, while being open to diverse musical influences from other contemporary traditions, such as Brazilian music and Blues. The range of his compositions extends from starkly political anthems to inspired love songs. He set the poems of Cuban writers such as José Martí and Nicolás Guillén to music. Some of his most important musical influences were María Teresa Vera, Lorenzo Hierrezuelo, Barbarito Diez, Benny Moré, Lucho Gatica, and Johann Sebastian Bach.

He lived in Vigo, Spain, with his Spanish wife and two sons since 2004. In 2014, he received a kidney transplant, receiving an organ donated by his wife.

Since relocating to Spain, Milanés was publicly critical of some aspects of the Cuban government, though he remained dedicated to the Cuban Revolution. His willingness to speak openly about the failures of the revolution strained his relations with Silvio Rodriguez. Lately, he did not participate in pro-government campaigns. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Milan%C3%A9s

R.I.P

Born: 24 February 1943

Died: 22 November 2022

Standards De Jazz

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Alvin 'Red' Tyler - Heritage

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:07
Size: 94.2 MB
Styles: R&B, New Orleans jazz
Year: 1986/2004
Art: Front

[4:22] 1. Confusement
[4:03] 2. Under The Rainbow
[6:23] 3. I'll Only Miss Her When I Think Of Her
[7:10] 4. New Day
[4:10] 5. New Orleans Cakewalk
[5:12] 6. Heritage
[6:07] 7. Lush Life
[3:37] 8. No Relation

Saxophonist Alvin 'Red' Tyler is known to R&B historians as a member of the legendary New Orleans rhythm section that played on hit records by Little Richard and countless others. It was a surprise to the jazz world, then, to hear another side of Red on this album of exquisite modern jazz compositions (almost all written by Red for this recording), supported by a band of many of the best players in New Orleans. Johnny Adams' vocal on 'I'll Only Miss Her When I Think of Her' is a perennial radio favorite.

Heritage

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Glenn Close & Ted Nash - Transformation

Styles: Vocal And Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2021
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 77:23
Size: 178,8 MB
Art: Front

( 8:07) 1. Creation, Pt. I
( 5:13) 2. Creation, Pt. II
( 7:03) 3. Dear Dad/Letter
( 3:32) 4. Dear Dad/Response
( 5:37) 5. Preludes for Memnon
(11:18) 6. One Among Many
( 8:39) 7. Rising Out of Hatred
( 8:05) 8. A Piece by the Angriest Black Man in America
( 8:37) 9. Forgiveness
( 3:13) 10. Wisdom of the Humanities
( 7:54) 11. Reaching the Tropopause

Transformation is a multi-disciplinary work from saxophonist/composer Ted Nash, and iconic actress Glenn Close, exploring the multi-faceted and abstract theme of transformation. The works included examine the theme from both universal and individual conceptions. Music and literature at its best is clearly transformative for anyone experiencing it. Transformation is by essence, the highest and most illuminating expression of change. Nash embraced the project by creating a colorful and illustrative collection of pieces, embracing Close's curated literary selections recited by the fiercely talented cast of Wayne Brady, Amy Irving, Mathew Stevenson and Nash's son, Eli Nash. In doing so, he has brilliantly utilized the full range of sounds and full spectrum of colors of his collection of voices from the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

Close's attraction and motivation to delve into the idea of transformation grew from her observation of the collective human psyche of current times. She explains, "I am acutely aware of the amount of violence, cynicism, stress and anxiety being pumped into our collective nervous systems. We are so fractured and in need of healing. I want to create an experience from which people are comforted, but also inspired, to discover their shared humanity."

The opening two connected pieces, "Creation Parts 1 and 2," take on transformation at the very beginning of the creation of matter and our world. Close chose "Tales From Ovid," by Ted Hughes to illuminate the conception, recited by both Close and Brady. Nash's musical framework for the piece is accented beautifully by alto saxophonist Sherman Irby, and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. "One Among Many" shifts the focus from the primordial, to the individual, telling the story of Judith Clark's transformation from prison life to freedom in New York City. Amy Irving's recitation brings this stirring tale to an emotive clarity. Wayne Brady recites his own text on "A Piece By the Angriest Black Man in America (or How I Learned to Forgive Myself for Being a Black Man in America." Beginning with a finger snapping rhythm, Brady tells his very personal experience as a black man in modern America, with his well known humorous and whimsical wit and intelligence.

"Dear Dad/Letter," and "Dear Dad/Response" is a narration of the coming out letter for Nash's transgender son, Eli, and a father's loving response of love and support. Recited with poise and humor by Eli himself, the two pieces are beautifully honest and demonstrative of the very best of the human spirit. Nash delivers a father's loving response with his composition, but more importantly, with playing a response instrumentally on soprano saxophone that is as graphic and understandable a narrative as any spoken word performance could ever be. His son's personal transformation in a very powerful way illuminates the stated inspiration for all of the works skillfully created and performed in this collection. Nash's very colorful and visual compositions are reason enough to take on Transformation as a listener. His well crafted orchestral jazz is highlighted by the fine individual work of JALC members Tatum Greenblatt, Obed Calvaire, Victor Goines, Carlos Henriquez and the aforementioned Nimmer, Irby and Marsalis. Like so many recordings arising out of this period of history surrounding the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic, the recording is offered as an expression of transforming forms of hardship and despair into hope and light.By Paul Rauch
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/transformation-ted-nash-tiger-turn

Personnel: Ted Nash: saxophone; Glenn Close: voice / vocals; Wayne Brady: voice / vocals; Amy Irving: voice / vocals; Matthew Stevenson: voice / vocals; Wynton Marsalis: trumpet; Obed Calvaire: drums; Sherman Irby: saxophone; Marc Phaneuf: saxophone, baritone; Victor Goines: woodwinds; Mark Lopeman: saxophone, tenor; Paul Nedzela: saxophone; Ryan Kisor: trumpet; Tatum Greenblatt: trumpet; Marcus Printup: trumpet; Vincent Gardner: trombone; Elliot Mason: trombone; Christopher Crenshaw: trombone; Dan Nimmer: piano; Carlos Henriquez: bass.

Additional Instrumentation: Eli Nash - spoken word

Transformation

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Judy Whitmore - Isn't It Romantic

Styles: Vocal
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:33
Size: 148,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:32) 1. It Could Happen To You
(4:05) 2. I Remember You
(3:39) 3. Sunday In New York
(5:20) 4. You Go To My Head
(5:33) 5. The Nearness Of You
(4:15) 6. The Birth Of The Blues
(5:41) 7. Speak Low
(4:57) 8. Isn't It Romantic
(3:53) 9. In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning
(4:20) 10. But Beautiful
(4:15) 11. Just a Little Loving'
(3:55) 12. Hallelujah I Love Him So

Sometimes it is a pleasure to listen to an album simply because the quality of the music is so consistently gratifying. And if the music is sung as well as Judy Whitmore sings it on Isn't It Romantic, well, that is icing on the cake, as are the superb performances by her supporting cast, especially pianist Tamir Hendelman and saxophonist Rickey Woodard.

The music is taken for the most part from the Great American Songbook, and much of it is performed at a medium to slow tempo, which suits Whitmore's sultry delivery to a T. Her grasp of emotional substance is superior, her timing impeccable, her warm mid-range voice steady and clear as a bell. To affirm that Whitmore brings out the best in every one of these songs would be a completely accurate summation. As to the songs, they include such enduring gems as "It Could Happen to You," "I Remember You," "You Go to My Head," "The Nearness of You," "Speak Low," "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning," "But Beautiful" and of course, "Isn't It Romantic" (including the seldom-heard verse and an ardent solo by Woodard on alto).

Whitmore also sings Peter Nero's "Sunday in New York," Barry Mann/Cynthia Weill's "Just a Little Lovin,'" Ray Charles' "Hallelujah I Love Him So" and (with guest vocalist Peisha McPhee) Buddy DeSylva/Lew Brown/Ray Henderson's "The Birth of the Blues." For comparison's sake, Whitmore edges close to Frank Sinatra's definitive reading of "The Wee Small Hours," which is the highest praise a listener can bestow. Elsewhere, she holds her own against better-known versions of every tune, mostly by being unpretentious and letting the music speak for itself.

While Hendelman and Woodard are the most prominent soloists, there are engaging statements along the way by flutist Lori Bell, trumpeter Mike Rocha, bassist Alex Frank, and guitarists Mitchell Long and Larry Koonse. The rhythm section (Hendelman, Frank, drummer Dean Koba) is bright and attentive. And even though it is Whitmore's voice that carries the day, there is far more to her than mere vocal chords. Aside from a solid career as a jazz and cabaret performer and recording artist, Whitmore who is named for Judy Garland, a friend of her grandfather's at MGM Studios is a best-selling novelist, a theatre producer, a therapist with a master's degree in clinical psychology, and a licensed commercial jet pilot who also rides horses and cans peaches.

Where does she find the time? That must remain Whitmore's secret. Listeners should be grateful that she found time to record Isn't It Romantic, as it is easily endorsed as one of the year's most impressive vocal albums.By Jack Bowers
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/isnt-it-romantic-judy-whitmore-arden-house-music__24624

Personnel: Judy Whitmore: voice / vocals; Tamir Hendelman: piano; Lori Bell: flute; Ricky Woodard: saxophone; Mike Rocha: trumpet; Mitchell Long: guitar; Larry Koonse: guitar, electric; Alex Frank: bass; Dean Koba: drums; Brian Kilgore : percussion.

Isn't It Romantic

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Etta Jones & Houston Person - Don't Misunderstand: Live In New York

Styles: Vocal And Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:32
Size: 123,8 MB
Art: Front

( 8:37) 1. Blue Monk
( 3:51) 2. Don't Misunderstand
( 5:28) 3. Exactly Like You
( 4:17) 4. Ain't Misbehavin'
( 4:02) 5. I Saw Stars
( 7:33) 6. I'm Glad There Is You
(10:19) 7. Bluesology
( 9:22) 8. Are you Real

For the over 30 years they worked together (Jones died in 2001), the billing was actually Houston and Etta, and the tenor saxophonist and vocalist achieved a rare collaborative synergy akin to that celebrated in Lester Young and Billie Holiday. They did it largely beyond the purview of most jazz critics and the kind of mostly white, middle-class fans who flock to jazz festivals and concerts, criss-crossing the country by van and playing mostly in black urban clubs on what was once called the chitlin’ circuit. This is a rare live snapshot of the duo, with B3 organist Sonny Phillips and drummer Frankie Jones, recorded in New York on one of their few appearances outside of Harlem, at the short-lived Greenwich Village club Salt Peanuts, in 1980.

In this typical set, the instrumental trio kicks it off with “Blue Monk,” Person weaving quotable blues lines through his solo and Phillips ranging beyond the usual organ stops to give a quirkily Monk-ish feel to his own. Tenor sax sets the table for Jones’ rendition of the title ballad, limned with her trademark tart tone and direct emotional engagement of the lyric. One of the most rhythmically adept and agile of all jazz singers, Jones swoops and swerves around the beat on “Exactly Like You,” playing slip-behind and catch-up games with the time as Person cushions it with his tenor sax, while she also displays her hipness by flatting the word “waited” in the lyric. Tenor and voice intertwine on a swinging “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” as Jones alternates legato with staccato phrasing. Person and Phillips collaborate on a slow “I’m Glad There is You,” marked by lush, sensual sax, before the trio closes the set with a blues and a Benny Golson tune in the soulful groove that made this band such a favorite among urban audiences. By George Kanzler
https://jazztimes.com/archives/etta-jones-houston-person-dont-misunderstand/

Personnel: Etta Jones - Vocal; Houston Person - Tenor Saxophone ; Sonny Phillips - Organ ; Frankie Jones - Drums

Don't Misunderstand: Live In New York

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The Ray Russell Sextet feat. Harry Beckett - Forget To Remember - Live Vol.2: 1970

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2021
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 76:02
Size: 174,5 MB
Art: Front

( 7:28) 1. Forget To Remember
(16:26) 2. Triple Goddess
(10:51) 3. Rites & Rituals
( 9:31) 4. Disinterested Bystander
(16:17) 5. The Third Real
( 7:19) 6. Forget To Remember (false start & take 1)
( 8:07) 7. Rites & Rituals (take 1)

In 1969, the CBS Realm label released Ray Russell's Dragon's Hill. It was followed in 1971 by Rites and Rituals. The live Forget To Remember Live Vol. 2, a session for the BBC Jazz Workshop series from January 1970, neatly bisects the two to illustrate how Russell's sextet evolved over this period to produce the convincing Rites and Rituals (that uses the same personnel as Forget to Remember). Rites and Rituals is now a highly collectable piece of vinyl Brit Jazz, but at the time, CBS Realm's efforts to document the cutting edge of British jazz of the period with albums by the likes of Russell, Howard Riley, Tony Oxley and Frank Ricotti quickly found their way to the deleted bins as all eyes were focussed on developments across the Atlantic with Miles Davis's entry into jazz-rock that was seen as the non plus ultra of extending the frontiers of jazz.

Russell's swarthy guitar tone on Forget To Remember was not divorced from what was happening in the US, but it came from his very personal conception of what jazz could become. The BBC Jazz Workshop sessions contain an early version of ‘Rites and Rituals’ where Harry Beckett emerges as a major force within the group, the central point around which Russell weaves his musical conception. He had been a constant from Dragons Hill, his lead voice and accomplished solos standing the test of time. Nick Evans on declamatory trombone fits Russell's musical context perfectly, especially on ‘Rites and Rituals’, while ‘Triple Goddess’ reveals what an exploratory soloist Russell was, who along with John McLaughlin and Chris Spedding pushed the boundaries of what a guitar could do in improvised music.By Stuart Nicholson
https://www.jazzwise.com/review/ray-russell-sextet-ft-harry-beckett-forget-to-remember-live-vol-2-1970

Personnel: Ray Russell - guitar; Harry Beckett - trumpet/flugelhorn; Tony Roberts - saxes;Nick Evans - trombone; Daryl Runswick - bass; Alan Rushton - drums

Forget To Remember - Live Vol.2: 1970

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Billy Bang - Vietnam: Reflections

Styles: Violin Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 70:05
Size: 161,7 MB
Art: Front

(11:49) 1. Reflections
( 3:23) 2. Ru con
(12:36) 3. Lock And Load
( 2:20) 4. Ly Ngua O
( 9:21) 5. Doi moi
( 8:23) 6. Reconciliation
( 6:48) 7. Waltz of the Water Puppets
( 2:29) 8. Trong Com
(12:52) 9. Reconciliation 2

With his previous record, Vietnam: The Aftermath, violinist, veteran, and anti-war activist Billy Bang exorcized some of the demons that continued to haunt him for thirty years following his return from a tour of duty in Vietnam in the '60s. With Vietnam: Reflections, an album that blends traditional Vietnamese folk melodies with modal grooves and tender ballads, he moves further towards reconciliation. It doesn't exactly shake any musical foundations, but that's not the point of this deeply personal project that finds Bang surrounded by a number of other Vietnam veterans trumpeter Ted Daniels, drummer Michael Carvin, percussionist Ron Brown, and conductor Butch Morris in addition to pianist John Hicks, saxophonist/flautist James Spaulding, multi-instrumentalist Henry Threadgill (this time heard solely on flute), and bassist Curtis Lundy.

The inclusion of singer Co Boi Nguyen and Nhan Thanh Ngo on dan tranh, a sixteen-string zither, finds Bang moving towards a point that, despite experiences that have inexorably altered the lives of Americans and Vietnamese alike, also looks to moving on and finding nexus points between two very different cultures. Bang's own compositions are informed with a significant shade of blue and fashion their melodies after Oriental pentatonics in the same way that Coltrane integrated Indian harmonies in his music. And by interspersing them with traditional Vietnamese songs, Bang creates a moving work that, even with its sometimes melancholic nature, is ultimately filled with hope and healing.

Even the structure of the album is pointed towards resolution and a joining of cultures. "Reflections starts with a modal vamp that gets moving in a relaxed way, with Bang's oriental-informed theme not entering until nearly the two-minute mark. This piece, like the third track, the equally groove-based and modal "Lock & Load, is more about creating a simple, open-ended context for the soloists, rather than any developed compositional concerns. But the interspersing of the traditional pieces "Ru Con and "Ly Ngua O performed by Nguyen, Ngo, and Bang after "Reflections and "Lock & Load, respectively, paints a picture of cultural division, at least at first.

But then the haunting ballad "Doi Moi paves the way for the first of two takes on "Reconciliation 1, where the American and Vietnamese musicians finally join together and, for the rest of the nearly seventy-minute record, even when the musicians go their own separate ways as they do on the beautiful "Waltz of the Water Puppets and the traditional "Trong Com the precedent has been set, so that by the time of the album's closer, a more upbeat reading of "Reconciliation 2, the mood has become considerably brighter.

While Bang first got his credentials in more avant-garde and free jazz settings, his most recent work has moved closer to the centre, sounding more mainstream and certainly more approachable. Still, despite the more straight-ahead direction of Vietnam: Reflections, there's no sense of pandering. Instead it's all about finding common ground and the potential for beauty in the simplest of contexts.By John Kelman
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/vietnam-reflections-billy-bang-justin-time-records-review-by-john-kelman

Personnel: Billy Bang (violin); James Spaulding (alto sax, flute); Henry Threadgill (flute); Ted Daniel (trumpet); Butch Morris (conductor); John Hicks (piano); Curtis Lundy (bass); Michael Carvin (drums); Ron Brown (percussion); Co Boi Nguyen (vocalist); Nhan Thanh Ngo (dan tranh)

Vietnam: Reflections

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Ledisi - Ledisi Sings Nina

Styles: Jazz Funk
Year: 2021
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 30:52
Size: 70,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:54) 1. Feeling Good
(3:39) 2. My Baby Just Cares for Me
(5:11) 3. Ne Me Quitte Pas (Don't Leave Me)
(3:36) 4. Wild Is The Wind (Live)
(6:20) 5. Work Song
(4:49) 6. Four Women
(3:20) 7. I'm Going Back Home

Ledisi's profound connection with Nina Simone's music began in 2003, when a radio DJ's spin of "Trouble in Mind" provoked a moment of catharsis at an extremely low period in the singer's life. Over the years, Ledisi performed and recorded the Simone composition "Four Women," seen on BET's Black Girls Rock, and heard on the soundtrack of For Colored Girls, headlined numerous Simone-themed concerts, and put on a Simone-honoring autobiographical play - one that culminated in her interpretation of the song that was her providential gateway to (or lifeline from) the high priestess. Immediately preceded and followed by other celebrations of Simone, such as a PBS special and a Hollywood Bowl date, Ledisi Sings Nina strengthens the bond.

Much ground is covered in its brief duration. It varies in mood and style amid a mix of songs Simone either wrote or re-envisioned, with Ledisi supported in grand style by her hometown New Orleans Jazz Orchestra and the Netherlands' Metropole Orkest. On a new version of "Four Women," Ledisi takes the spotlight after strong turns from Lizz Wright, Alice Smith, and Lisa Fischer, thereby reprising her role as "fourth woman" Peaches. She belts "I'll kill the first mother I see" as if her blood is boiling instead of cold, and the threat startles even when it's anticipated. "Feeling Good" and "My Baby Just Cares for Me" the latter updated with some winking modern references seemed done to death until Ledisi's frisky resuscitations here.

On a stark and stirring "Ne me quitte pas," Ledisi craftily switches from Jacques Brel's original French lyrics to Rod McKuen's English adaptation. "Work Song" is flashier without trivializing the subject's grave circumstances. "I'm Going Back Home," high-energy gospel in original form, gets a brilliant NOLA second-line overhaul that celebrates Ledisi's origin and inspiration with equally elevated levels of conviction.

What's most appealing is that Ledisi is herself at all times, empowered by Simone yet utterly distinct. Whereas most tribute sets are merely pleasant stop-gaps between proper LPs, this is as crucial to Ledisi's discography as any of her four Grammy-nominated albums. She put all of herself into it. By Andy Kellman https://www.allmusic.com/album/sings-nina-mw0003533139?

Ledisi Sings Nina

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Kevin Hays - All Things Are

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2021
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:36
Size: 139,2 MB
Art: Front

( 7:45) 1. New Day
( 9:54) 2. Elegia
( 3:36) 3. Unscrappulous
(11:52) 4. For Heaven's Sake
( 9:35) 5. All Things Are
( 8:05) 6. Sweet Caroline
( 9:45) 7. Twilight

You can tell the heat of the trio by the laughter boiling over. Not in all cases, admittedly, but for this session, the exhortations and chuckles, picked up by the mic, drive drummer Billy Hart, bassist Ben Street, and pianist Kevin Hays with a gentle nudge here, a harder shove there to greater pleasures, in greater complexities, even as they start in simplicity.

Recorded live on the bandstand of a sans-audience Smoke Jazz Club, this date finds Hays and Hart switching posts between leader and led. The drummer can be a one-man solar system through his cymbals and dry snare, while the piano hops around the stereo spectrum, a fire sometimes banked as Hart muses, sometimes roaring ahead and around. I’m intrigued how Street keeps himself to one side, stereo and muse-wise. But from a little farther back he always comments, astutely, quietly, in wisdom.

Hays states that the virus gave him the chance to improve, practicing at home, but he worried about losing his ability to relate to others. Sounds like he needn’t have worried. Three tunes here stemmed directly from him; three others sprang up as contrafacts of standards. Reworking “All the Things You Are” into “All Things Are” gives you its hint from the new title: leaving things out to put most anything in, thus expanding possibilities from the already-rich cycle of fifths in the original. Street waits patiently for his chance, gets it, and explains everything the other two left out. I grow weary and numb and even cynical watching the news, feeling the grind through my bones; then I hear this, and our race seems worth saving.By By Andrew Hamlin
https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/kevin-hays-ben-street-billy-hart-all-things-are-smoke-sessions/

Personnel: Kevin Hays, piano; Ben Street, bass; Billy Hart, drums.

All Things Are

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Sam Rivers Quartet - Undulation

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2021
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:06
Size: 165,7 MB
Art: Front

(11:18) 1. Tenor Saxophone Section I
( 4:27) 2. Tenor Saxophone Solo
( 5:38) 3. Tenor Saxophone Section II
( 7:14) 4. Drum Solo
( 5:52) 5. Piano Solo
( 4:22) 6. Piano Section I
( 6:19) 7. Piano Section II
( 5:24) 8. Guitar Solo
( 4:54) 9. Flute Section I
( 4:09) 10. Flute Solo
( 2:07) 11. Flute Section II
( 5:21) 12. Bass Solo
( 4:55) 13. Flute Section III

Undulation is the fifth volume of the NoBusiness label's impressive Sam Rivers Archive Project, following the trio on Emanation and the quintet on Zenith, both issued in 2019, the trio outing Ricochet and the quartet on Braids, both 2020. All volumes comprise previously unreleased live recordings, the first four dating from Boston 1971, Berlin 1977, San Francisco 1978, and Hamburg 1979. Undulations takes us into the '80s, having been recorded at an unknown venue in Florence on May 17th 1981; Rivers is joined by drummer Steve Ellington who first recorded with him in October 1966 for the album A New Conception (Blue Note, 1966) and by guitarist Jerry Byrd and bass guitarist Rael-Wesley Grant.

The album comprises thirteen tracks with a total running time of seventy-one-minutes. However, in reality, the music is continuous from start to finish, without any distinguishable gaps. The track titles describe the contents of the tracks themselves and will probably be most useful to listeners who are seeking out particular parts, Looking for the drum solo? Then play the fourth track. While such cherry-picking may suit some listeners, hearing the entire album from start to finish will prove to be a more rewarding experience.

As a cursory glance at the track listing reveals, the album is full of variety, with all four players having ample time to solo, their solos being integrated into the overall flow of the music, so never sounding bolted-on or routine. Inevitably, Rivers himself is featured extensively on tenor saxophone, flute and piano (but not, as Bill Shoemaker's sleeve notes highlight, on his customary soprano saxophone.) On all his instruments, he gives impassioned performances which showcase his prodigious talents; in amongst his flute section, he even slipped in some vocal interjections.
By John Eyles https://www.allaboutjazz.com/undulation-sam-rivers-quartet-nobusiness-records

Personnel: Sam Rivers: saxophone, tenor; Jerry Byrd: guitar; Rael-Wesley Byrd: bass, electric; Steve Ellington: drums.

Undulation

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Lee Konitz - The Lee Konitz Nonet

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1977
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:33
Size: 142,0 MB
Art: Front

( 0:41)  1. Fanfare
(10:55)  2. Chi-Chi
( 5:04)  3. If You Could See Me Now
( 3:19)  4. Sometimes I'm Happy
( 5:26)  5. Giant Steps
( 4:46)  6. April/April Too
( 7:25)  7. Who You
( 5:00)  8. Stryker's Dues
( 3:42)  9. Fourth Dimension
( 4:43) 10. Struttin' with Some Barbecue
( 0:50) 11. Hymn Too
( 9:35) 12. Jazzspeak

The Lee Konitz Nonet never really prospered, but they recorded several excellent albums. With such top players as flügelhornist John Eckert, trombonist Jimmy Knepper, and baritonist Ronnie Cuber in the group, and colorful arrangements provided by Sy Johnson, this band's repertoire was as wide as one would expect from a Konitz band. Whether it be the Louis Armstrong-associated "Struttin' with Some Barbeque," a Lester Young-inspired "Sometimes I'm Happy," Charlie Parker's "Chi-Chi," "Giant Steps," or some newer originals, the results are frequently superb.
By Scott Yanow; https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-lee-konitz-nonet-mw0000597017

Personnel: Lee Konitz – alto saxophone, arranger; Burt Collins – trumpet, flugelhorn, piccolo trumpet; John Eckert – flugelhorn; Jimmy Knepper – trombone; Sam Burtis – bass trombone, tuba; Ronnie Cuber – baritone saxophone; Ben Aronov – piano; Knobby Totah – bass; Kenny Washington – drums; Sy Johnson – arranger

The Lee Konitz Nonet

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Arkadia Jazz All-Stars - It's About Love

Styles: Jazz Contemporary
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:43
Size: 160,8 MB
Art: Front

(6:44) 1. Mood Indigo
(5:48) 2. A Summer Affair
(4:38) 3. My Cherie Amour
(8:37) 4. My Funny Valentine
(5:06) 5. Round Midnight
(4:27) 6. It's Really All About Love
(5:18) 7. The More I See You
(6:02) 8. Interlude
(5:53) 9. Passionata
(6:28) 10. Ask Me Now
(4:51) 11. I Want to Talk About You
(5:46) 12. A Perfect Couple

It could be said that jazz is really the musical language of Love. Like any quest, you have to seek jazz out, it never comes to you, and it may take a long time to truly understand its message but as soon as you hear it, you know you’ve found love. Jazz, like all personal relationships, has so many moods that it may confound you at first, but once you get to know it, there’s no turning back. Much of the repertoire of jazz has been dedicated to love and Arkadia Jazz All-Stars have recorded an album that celebrates the romantic, intimate side of jazz, and musically explores the unanswerable question: What is Love?

Starting off with Benny Golson’s sublime reading of Duke Ellington’s Mood Indigo, the stage is set for romance. The nylon strings of Nigel Clark are featured next in the breezy A Summer Affair, capturing the smoldering flame of passion. Joanne Brackeen performs Stevie Wonder’s pop standard My Cherie Amour in her own dynamic and totally individual way, and Randy Brecker’s Grammy Nominated performance on My Funny Valentine is a moment of real beauty. Both artists bring new depth to several of the all time great love songs. Paul Tobey’s sensitive and insightful rendition of Monk’s Round Midnight is rhapsodic, using subtle dissonances to create tension, released by his flowing lines.

T.K. Blue’s original composition, It’s Really All About Love features the flute, an instrument often tied with romanticism. The More I See You by Mary Pearson expresses the sentiment of undying love that we all long to have, as does the masterful ballad Interlude by the Billy Taylor Trio. Passionata was an unfinished composition by Kenny Drew Sr. that was completed and recorded by his son, Kenny Drew Jr., and is a testament to familial love. Eric Reed’s rendition of Monk’s Ask Me Now is a sparse, yet tender and eloquent doctrine on the state of love. David Liebman and Vic Juris show their gentle sides on the sparkling I Want To Talk About You, while pianist Uli Lenz’s mesmerizing A Perfect Couple brings this recording to a romantic close and is the perfect denouement for this CD, “It’s About Love.”

What happens to us when we fall in love, and when we hear or see something that kindles our passions? Our outlook on life becomes filled with possibilities. Jazz mirrors our life experiences, and we should try to remember that in our collective consciousness. As in our personal relationships, jazz is about the joy and creation of beauty and human emotion in real time. Share this music with someone; it has something to do with discovery and hope. It has something to do with love.

Whether looking surround yourself with beautiful ballads, or to set the mood for a romantic evening, or simply looking for a special Valentines Day gift all year round, “It’s About Love” is a wonderful collection that provides both the romantic atmosphere and world class music from some of the most influential sounds in Jazz.
https://arkadiajazzallstars.com/product/arkadia-jazz-all-stars-its-about-love/

Personnel: Carl Allen: Drums; James Weidman: Piano; Santi Debriano: Bass; Kenny Drew Jr.: Piano; Eric Reed: Piano; Peter Washington: Bass; Lewis Nash: Drums; Rodney Whitaker: Bass; Dave Liebman: Soprano sax; Vic Juris: Guitar; Dean Johnson: Bass; Ron Vincent: Drums;

It's About Love

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Paul Desmond - Pure Desmond

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1975
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:34
Size: 134,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:33) 1. Squeeze Me
(4:54) 2. I'm Old Fashioned
(4:22) 3. Nuages
(3:38) 4. Why Shouldn't I
(3:41) 5. Everything I Love
(4:30) 6. Warm Valley
(4:09) 7. Till The Clouds Roll By
(5:10) 8. Mean To Me
(3:04) 9. Theme From Mash
(6:21) 10. Wave
(4:47) 11. Nuages (Alt. Take)
(4:05) 12. Squeeze Me (Alt. Take)
(5:13) 13. Till The Clouds Roll By (Alt. Take)

With a dry tone, and unhurried phrasing definitive of the emergent West Coast Cool a relaxed alternative to the edgier hard bop coming from New York alto saxophonist Paul Desmond had already made a name for himself with pianist Dave Brubeck's quartet on the legendary Time Out (Columbia, 1959). Desmond also wrote the tune that became Brubeck's signature, "Take Five," and, while he passed away too young at the age of 52 from lung cancer, he's left behind a relatively small but significant legacy of recordings that have sometimes become overlooked with the passing of time.

Pure Desmond was only one of two albums the saxophonist made for CTI (though he did record two albums with Creed Taylor for A&M, before the producer started his own label), but it's the absolute winner of the two. A small group album featuring the same three bonus tracks as a previous CD version, with CTI Masterworks' warm remastering and beautiful mini-vinyl-like soft digipaks, it represents a welcome return to print of an album that, despite alcoholism and heavy smoking, finds Desmond in great form just three years before his death in 1977.

With label staple Ron Carter swinging comfortably with Modern Jazz Quartet and longtime Desmond musical cohort, drummer Connie Kay, Pure Desmond stands as one of the altoist's best records as cool as a calming breeze on a summer's day and as dry as a good martini. The album blend of standards ranging from Duke Ellington to Antonio Carlos Jobim also features the tremendously overlooked Ed Bickert, a Toronto, Canada native whose uncharacteristically warm-toned Fender Telecaster had already been heard in the company of fellow Canadians like flautist Moe Kaufman, and bandleaders Phil Nimmons and Rob McConnell, but whose star mysteriously never rose as it deserved, amongst peers like Joe Pass, Herb Ellis and, in particular, Jim Hall.

The tempo never gets past medium, but there's a simmering energy on some of the material, in particular the Jerome Kern chestnut, "Till the Clouds Roll By," heard here in two versions: the original album version, where Bickert's solo is the height of linear invention and occasionally bluesy bend; and a slightly longer alternate take where he builds a solo filled with rich voicings and single note phrases constantly accompanied with periodic chordal injections. The mix and overall tone of the alternate take is a little rawer, with Carter's bass a more visceral punch in the lower register.

Light Latin rhythms also define the session, with the by-then-popular "Theme from M*A*S*H" given a light bossa treatment, as is Jobim's "Wave," which closes the original album on a graceful note, but here acts as a gateway to alternate takes including the ambling opener, "Squeeze Me," and the Django Reinhardt classic, "Nuages," that skips the guitar/sax duo intro and heads straight into an ensemble reading.

With a supportive group that clearly gets the value of less over more, the aptly titled Pure Desmond stands, alongside The Paul Desmond Quartet Live (A&M/Horizon, 1975)his other album with Bickert as the pinnacle of this West Coast cool progenitor's career.
By John Kelman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/pure-desmond-paul-desmond-cti-masterworks-review-by-john-kelman

Personnel: Paul Desmond: alto saxophone; Ed Bickert: electric guitar; Ron Carter: bass; Connie Kay: drums; Don Sebesky: musical supervision.

Pure Desmond

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Judy Whitmore - Can't We Be Friends

Styles: Vocal, Piano
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:33
Size: 101,3 MB
Art: Front

(2:39) 1. Can't We Be Friends
(2:26) 2. I Could Write a Book
(4:34) 3. I Should Care
(3:49) 4. It Had To Be You
(4:44) 5. The Lies Of Handsome Men
(4:50) 6. How About You/Manhattan/ Autumn In New York
(3:16) 7. The Last Time I Saw Paris/The River Seine
(3:35) 8. S'Wonderful
(4:18) 9. My Favorite Year
(2:54) 10. Love Is Here To Stay
(3:12) 11. I Get Along Without You Very Well
(3:11) 12. Two For The Road

Judy Whitmore, a true modern-day Renaissance woman, heeds the call of the stage, the sky, and beyond. Her life as a vocal artist and writer has taken off, and the sky is the limit. The best-selling author, vocalist, theater producer and pilot, who also holds a Master’s Degree in clinical psychology, approaches all her endeavors with style and spirit. “When you walk alone to the center of the stage, it’s similar to flying,” she observes. “It’s exciting and it’s terrifying at the same time. You step up to the microphone, glance at your musical director, and it’s like hearing the guy in the control tower say ‘cleared for take-off,’ and somehow, you just soar.”

Named after the legendary singer Judy Garland (a friend of her grandfather from his days in the MGM Studio Orchestra), Judy was born in New York City and raised in Studio City, California. Her parents’ passion for the symphony and musical theater fueled her desire for a career in music. Her first foray as a vocal artist and performer began during college when she sang background vocals for Capitol Records in Hollywood. Although she expected to continue on this road, her journey took unexpected and often unbelievable detours.

Marrying young, she and her husband settled in Beverly Hills and had two children. Before long they were embarking on a new adventure that took them away from the glitz and glamour of that storied city. Wanting to raise their children in a more rural environment, they packed up the family and moved to the Rocky Mountain paradise of Aspen, Colorado. There, Judy learned to ski, can peaches, and saddle a horse. She maintained her love of theater, serving as president of both the Aspen Playwright’s Conference and the American Theatre Company, where under her presidency, ATC produced plays that featured Hal Holbrook, Vincent Price, and John Travolta.

It was also in Aspen Judy befriended her closest neighbors, Annie and John Denver. John coaxed her to confront her fear of flying and invited her to board his private plane, Windstar One. The experience was so powerful that it wasn’t long before Judy began to pursue and earn her pilot’s license. She eventually became a licensed commercial jet pilot and worked search-and-rescue missions for Pitkin County (Aspen) Air Rescue. She later flew seaplanes, and took up hot-air ballooning. (Listen to Judy describe her confrontation with the fear of flying and her transformation on Tim Benjamin’s “Fear of Flying” podcast.)

Lured back to Los Angeles and the stage, Judy undertook her first independent theater project as the producer of “Taking a Chance on Love” which received a rave review in Variety. From there, she headed to London to co-produce Leonard Bernstein’s “Wonderful Town,” then returned to Southern California where she met the man who would become her second husband. After settling in Pacific Palisades, Judy craved a new life experience. She went back to college, earned a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology, and opened a private practice in West Los Angeles.

In due course, it was time for yet another new and exciting move. Judy headed to Newport Beach and enrolled in a series of writing courses at UC Irvine. Her romantic-adventure Come Fly with Me, inspired by her own life as a pilot and penned in 2013, topped the Amazon Kindle Bestseller List. She was recognized with “First Place for Women’s Fiction” at The Santa Barbara Writer’s Conference and the “Editor’s Choice Award” at the San Diego State University’s Writer’s Conference. Other literary credits include All Time Favorites: Recipes From Family and Friends and an illustrated retelling of William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet.

Her passion for performing would never be too far out of sight. In 2014, she co-founded ACT THREE with her brother Billy and her neighbor Lynn. The trio brought timeless standards to life at legendary venues including The Ritz Hotel in Paris and both the Metropolitan Room and Carnegie Hall in New York. Once Upon a Dream, the award-winning documentary film, chronicled the trio’s journey to Carnegie Hall.

“I always wanted to sing full-time, but it was never possible. I had to pack my dream of a musical career away in an imaginary box. I tucked it on the highest shelf in my closet and tried to forget about it. I loved being a pilot, and a therapist, and a theater producer, and a writer. I had done all these exciting things, and none of it was easy. But I always felt something was missing,” she admits. “I knew it was time to get that box of dreams out of the closet, cast off the lid and embrace the music career I had always wanted.”

In 2018 Judy ventured onto the stage alone with her show-stopping, cabaret-style vocal act. She’s garnered critical praise from The OC Register and Los Angeles Times who observed “[she] has a bit of a Judy Holliday comedic edge” and “tackled some tough ballads with style.” Her repertoire is diverse, extending from the great American standards to Broadway and jazz. Coming full circle, she seized the moment and returned to Capitol Studios to cut her new album, Can’t We Be Friends, alongside collaborators John Sawoski and GRAMMY® and Emmy Award-winning composer Michael Patterson. Together, they have created a love letter to The Great American Songbook. “This is the music I grew up with, and I don’t want people to forget it. I think it’s one of the most extraordinary bodies of work every created.” Judy currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Pacific Symphony. There’s no end in sight to her adventures.https://www.jazzmusicarchives.com/artist/judy-whitmore

Can't We Be Friends

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Ben Goldberg - Everything Happens to Be

Styles: Clarinet Jazz
Year: 2021
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:50
Size: 133,6 MB
Art: Front

(5:41) 1. What About
(6:14) 2. 21
(4:48) 3. Fred Hampton
(7:04) 4. Everything Happens To Be
(6:23) 5. Cold Weather
(9:53) 6. Chorale Type
(5:51) 7. Tomas Plays the Drums
(5:10) 8. Long Last Moment
(5:32) 9. To-Ron-To
(1:10) 10. Abide With Me

The music of Ben Goldberg seems to come from a place outside of time—or maybe it comes from several times simultaneously. Maybe it's the instruments he chooses; while the clarinet family has been on the comeback trail in jazz for a quarter century, it's a sound that invariably invokes the New Orleans of a century ago. That's especially true when Goldberg picks up the mellow, woody, Albert-system E-flat instrument on "Cold Weather." That tune's sweet melancholy wobbles perilously close to Hoagy Carmichael, but by way of "Pannonica" by Thelonious Monk, another composer who had a soft spot for sentimental old tunes.

If you're interested in a nostalgia trip, you don't choose guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Tomas Fujiwara to be your traveling companions, and the tension they create between the retrogressive and the transgressive gives Everything Happens To Be. a low-key charge. On paper, Goldberg is following in the great tradition of hiring the All-Star rhythm section of the moment. They are certainly that and as the cooperative Thumbscrew, also one of the formidable bands of the last decade. But Everything Happens To Be. isn't a Thumbscrew+horns date.

Goldberg has worked with Halvorson and Fujiwara as The Out Louds, and with Formanek in a variety of settings. Tenor saxophonist Ellery Eskelin is a long-time Goldberg collaborator who shares the leader's affection for putting new wine in old bottles. His big tenor sound, slippery but warm, hearkens back to players such as Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Gene Ammons and fits right in on the almost-vaudevillian bounce of tunes such as "21" and "To-Ron-To." If you've always wanted to hear Halvorson strum four-to-the-bar, Freddie Green-style, cue the latter, which seems to be based loosely on "Sweet Georgia Brown." It ends in a collective, New-Orleanean tangle that resolves into something like a 21st-century updating of the Benny Goodman Sextet with Charlie Christian and Georgie Auld. It takes iron control to play this loose.

But then there are knottier compositions such as "Fred Hampton," a lilting, 6/4 tune where Halvorson spins a songful line only to smudge it with a pedal effect, as if to say let's not make this too pretty. Yet beauty is never far away on Everything Happens To Be., though it seldom arrives in conventional fashion. Take "Chorale Type," which starts in church and detours to a middle-school gym where Goldberg and Halvorson circle each other warily like seventh graders at their first dance. The almost 10-minute cut ends in the mosh pit with Goldberg getting his metal on via a stomping bass line on contra-alto clarinet over Fujiwara's slamming 4/4. The exception is another chorale, "Abide With Me" which, inspired by Monk's 1957 septet version, is played straight in a single reverent chorus.

Though this session was recorded at New Haven's Firehouse 12 in 2018, that hymn tune is a perfect way to and a session that feels old and sounds fresh, that is joyful and melancholy. Just like life. By John Chacona
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/everything-happens-to-be-ben-goldberg-bag-production

Personnel: Ben Goldberg: clarinet; Mary Halvorson: guitar; Ellery Eskelin: saxophone; Michael Formanek: bass, acoustic; Tomas Fujiwara: drums.

Everything Happens to Be

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John Escreet - Seismic Shift

Styles: Piano Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:54
Size: 119,8 MB
Art: Front

(6:46) 1. Study No.1
(5:51) 2. Equipoise
(6:45) 3. Outward and Upward
(5:26) 4. RD
(6:15) 5. Perpetual Love
(4:31) 6. Digital Tulips
(6:25) 7. Seismic Shift
(1:41) 8. Quick Reset
(8:09) 9. The Water Is Tasting Worse

John Escreet's recording Seismic Shift, the pianist's first trio recording, might be the case for the return of warning labels on packaging. Not that there are explicit lyrics or violent images, it is just that the 52 minutes of music contained here are quite tempestuous and unrelenting. By design.

Escreet is known for his wide-ranging interests in creative music. He has recorded in both the acoustic and electric realms, performing on instruments including the harpsichord, synthesizers, Fender Rhodes piano, and with adventurous musicians such as Evan Parker, Wayne Krantz, and Antonio Sanchez. Maybe the finest testimonial to his prowess are the musicians who have accompanied his project. They have included the bassists John Hébert, Matt Brewer, Eivind Opsvik and drummers Tyshawn Sorey, Eric Harland, Nasheet Waits, Jim Black, and Marcus Gilmore.

With Seismic Shift, add to that esteemed list bassist Eric Revis and drummer Damion Reid, whom Escreet assembled in Los Angeles during the pandemic. Maybe it was the oppressiveness of isolation and the exhilaration of finally performing together that makes this session sound as if it were a pressure release; "Study No. 1" sprints from the gate with a torrent of sound, Escreet plying a two-handed attack part Cecil Taylor and part Alexander von Schlippenbach. The pianist's pugnacity is equaled by both Reid's drumming and Revis' pulse.

These musicians are like three wrestlers, entangled and tangling by design. Escreet penned "RD" (Revis/Damion) for this bandmates. It progresses from a repeated pattern into an open structure with cascades of notes and energy detonations. Escreet plays off the agilities of this trio with their turn-on-a-dime skills. They can sprint through a composition like "Digital Tulips" with its changing time patterns, or gently stroke the face of the one cover piece here, Stanley Cowell's "Equipoise." Escreet, Revis, and Reid deliver two fully improvised pieces "Outward And Upward" and "Quick Reset." Both tracks maintain an internal logic consistent with Escreet's composed music. In other words, these three musicians are one tight working team and that makes for a stellar recording.
By Mark Corroto https://www.allaboutjazz.com/seismic-shift-john-escreet-whirlwind-recordings

Personnel: John Escreet: piano; Eric Revis: bass; Damion Reid: drums.

Seismic Shift

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Naama Gheber - Dearly Beloved

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:15
Size: 133,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:34) 1. Dearly Beloved
(5:00) 2. So in Love
(2:36) 3. S Wonderful
(4:19) 4. Since I Fell for You
(5:00) 5. I Can't Give You Anything but Love
(4:02) 6. Get out of Town
(4:56) 7. This Time the Dream's on Me
(3:56) 8. You Stepped out of a Dream
(5:01) 9. What's New
(4:18) 10. Just Squeeze Me
(3:48) 11. Sometimes I'm Happy
(4:08) 12. Good Night My Love
(3:22) 13. Exactly Like You
(4:08) 14. Good Night My Love (Layla Tov)

Cabaret singer? Jazz singer? Pop singer?

The splendid debut from Israeli singer Naama Gheber recalls a time when such distinctions were utterly without meaning. "Dearly Beloved" finds her inhabiting the same territory as such classic crossover singers as June Christy, Peggy Lee and Lena Horne. Of course, for that generation, jazz WAS the popular music when they were coming up, and it underpinned and influenced the stage and film soundtracks of the day as well so there was a common musical currency.

For the 28-year-old Gheber, her approach was obviously more intentional than subconsciously ingrained. And yet, whatever her path, the result is remarkably organic: Possessed of a rich, beautiful tone, and relaxed and conversational in delivery, the performance is imbued with a joyful naturalness that makes it seem she's simply telling us a story.

The material certainly doesn't hurt: Gershwin, Porter, Kern, Ellington, Arlen. And she chose wisely: Time-burnished standards like "'S Wonderful" and "This Time The Dream's On Me" are interspersed with equally evocative but lesser-known tunes like the title track by Jerome Kern and Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter's "Get Out of Town," or "Sometimes I'm Happy" by Vincent Youmans and Irving Caesar. The backing band is equal to the material and to Gheber's singing.

Pianist Ray Gallon isn't a nationally prominent name but should be. His playing behind Gheber is simultaneously sparkling and complementary, recalling some of the great accompanists: the superb Paul Smith (Ella Fitzgerald), Bill Miller (Frank Sinatra), or Ralph Sharon (Tony Bennett). He'll comp softly behind Gheber or vibraphonist Steve Nelson so on-point that you barely realize he's there, but then his own solos and lead passages are brilliant riffs on the melodic theme that left this listener wondering where HIS debut as leader is? Nelson's vibes lend a supper-club sheen to an outing that is already dripping in elegance.

Bassist David Wong and drummer Aaron Kimmel cue off each other throughout, providing a supple, rippling undercurrent that is a study in understated but unmistakable swing it's the foundation for everything wonderful that happens here. Few singers ever achieve the sense of mastery Gheber exhibits on her first outing: Supremely confident, in control, unafraid to surround herself with the kind of talent that might intimidate a lesser singer. It is an exhilarating experience to listen to this new voice here's hoping this is only the beginning of a lifelong body of work. By Jim Trageser
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/dearly-beloved-naama-gheber-cellar-music__13581

Personnel: Naama Gheber: voice / vocals; Steve Nelson, vibraphone (tracks 1, 5, 8, 10, 12); Ray Gallon, piano; David Wong, bass; Aaron Kimmel, drums.

Dearly Beloved

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Tony Bennett - Blue Velvet

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1959
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:05
Size: 83,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:03) 1. Blue Velvet
(2:47) 2. I Won't Cry Anymore
(3:10) 3. Have A Good Time
(3:01) 4. Congratulations To Someone
(3:06) 5. Here Comes That Heartache Again
(2:23) 6. While We're Young
(3:20) 7. Solitaire
(3:07) 8. My Heart Won't Say Goodbye
(2:52) 9. Until Yesterday
(3:08) 10. Funny Thing
(3:14) 11. May I Never Love Again
(2:49) 12. It's So Peaceful In The Country

Through Tony Bennett's long, remarkable career, it's possible to trace the evolution and endurance of vocal pop and jazz in the 20th century. Unlike his idol Frank Sinatra, Bennett was too young to be part of the first wave of the Great American Songbook in the years before World War II. He achieved his national breakthrough in 1951, when the charts were dominated by soft-focused orchestral pop and novelties, music that Bennett himself would often sing during his early years.

Occasionally, he was given the opportunity to sing jazz while recording for Columbia in the '50s, but it was a pop song that turned him into a superstar in 1962: "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," a song styled after the classic pop of the pre-war era. "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" turned into an enduring standard of the 20th century but, for a while, its popularity eclipsed that of the singer who popularized the tune. Bennett didn't weather the '60s well, thanks to record companies who attempted to modernize his sound, and while he had an artistically fruitfully '70s on his short-lived independent label Improv, he recorded albums with pianist Bill Evans that established his jazz bona fides he suffered a series of personal problems that left him at rock bottom at the dawn of the '80s.

It was then he achieved one of the greatest comebacks in pop music history. Hiring his son Danny as his manager, he reunited with his music director/pianist Ralph Sharon and began targeting younger audiences without shedding his longtime fans. This strategy paid off in the '90s, when 1992's Perfectly Frank topped Billboard's jazz charts and went Gold. Bennett's crossover to the pop mainstream seemed to culminate with 1994's MTV Unplugged, an unexpected hit that took home the Grammy for Album of the Year, but it turned out his revival was no flash in the pan. Bennett stayed in the spotlight until the '90s, not only maintaining his audience but building it through a series of duets with stars as diverse as Lady Gaga and Diana Krall. His partners may have changed along with the times, but through it all, Bennett remained a skilled, charismatic practitioner and vocal advocate for classic American pop.

The son of a grocer, Tony Bennett was born Anthony Dominick Benedetto on August 3, 1926. Raised in Astoria, Queens by Italian emigrates his father John was a recent arrival from Reggio Calabria, his mother Anna was born to natives of the Calabria region who headed to the States in 1899 Bennett suffered from poverty and ill fortune as a child, yet he also cultivated an interest in art and music. By the time his father died when Tony was ten, he was already singing professionally, notably performing alongside Mayor Fiorello La Guardia at the opening of the Triborough Bridge in 1936. As a teenager, Bennett had several gigs as a singing waiter and he enrolled in New York's School of Industrial Art, studying music and painting. When times got tight in his family, he dropped out of school to support his mother and siblings, making money once again as a singing waiter.

Bennett was drafted into the Army in 1944, during the final year of World War II. Stationed in Europe, he saw combat in France and Germany; he was also part of the liberation of a Nazi concentration camp outside of Landsberg. Staying in Germany as part of the occupying force, he sang in a Special Services band before his discharge in 1946. Upon returning home, he attended the American Theatre Wing under the G.I. Bill, all the while working as a singing waiter.

During 1949, Bennett's career began to take off. While working under the stage name Joe Bari, he recorded a version of George & Ira Gershwin's "Fascinating Rhythm" for Leslie, a single that didn't go anywhere but did coincide with the singer catching the attention of Pearl Bailey. She hired him to open for her at a Greenwich Village concert, which was attended by comedian Bob Hope. Taken by the singer then known as Joe Bari, Hope invited the vocalist on tour on the provision he change his name. Deeming Anthony Bendedetto too long for a marquee, Hope shortened the singer's name to Tony Bennett.

Things began to happen quickly for Bennett after this point. In 1950, he recorded a demo of "The Boulevard of Broken Dreams," on the basis of which Mitch Miller signed him to Columbia Records. The label was steeling itself for the departure of Frank Sinatra, who feuded often with Miller. Bennett eased into his vacancy by singing chart-friendly pop tunes, starting with "Because of You," which was buttressed by an arrangement by Percy Faith. It reached number one in September 1951, followed quickly by a cover of Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold Heart." This single also reached number one, its success often cited as elevating Hank Williams' reputation outside of the South and country music circles. "Cold Cold Heart" also proved Bennett wasn't a one-hit wonder, either.

During 1952, he racked up three hit singles, the biggest of which was "Here in My Heart," which peaked at 15, and he reached the top of the charts again in 1953 with "Rags to Riches," which was followed quickly by the number two single "Stranger in Paradise," a song taken from the Broadway musical Kismet. Bennett charted regularly over the next two years, with a handful of songs breaking into the Top 10 "There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight" and "Cinnamon Sinner," both from 1954 before the pop charts were changed irrevocably in 1956 by the rise of rock & roll. More... By Stephen Thomas Erlewine https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tony-bennett-mn0000006334/biography

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