Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Donald Byrd - Live: Cookin' with Blue Note at Montreux

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2022
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:25
Size: 104,6 MB
Art: Front

( 8:11) 1. Black Byrd
( 7:42) 2. You've Got It Bad Girl
( 9:19) 3. The East
( 2:58) 4. Introductions
(11:50) 5. Kwame
( 5:22) 6. Poco-mania

With the release of his chart-topping, funk-fueled Black Byrd in 1973, Donald Byrd found himself in a volatile place in jazz circles. He was being hailed as having finally stepped out of Miles Davis' considerable shadow, while simultaneously many found the album to be Byrd's selling out his bop legacy for chart success. As most defining artistic moments reveal, a little of both were true.

Produced and arranged by the brothers Fonce Mizelland Larry Mizell, Black Byrd incorporated Motown's universal sense of rhythm and groove with the upfront horns and the then-nascent cosmic sounds of synthesizers and electric pianos. Perhaps it was just a little too much too soon. And perhaps none of this bothered Byrd at all. He just went on about his creative business like true creatives do, determined and undaunted.

So putting a band together and getting the grit before the people was the mission of that summer, and at Montreux Byrd and his small army took the beachhead. With "Shaft" like grooves and urgent funk methodology of equal parts rock insurgency (Sly and the Family Stone), electric Miles Davis, and genre-bending Herbie Hancock, to say the heat starts high and cookin' just about says it all.

Set for first time release on what would have been the trumpeter's 90th birthday (December 9, 2022), Donald Byrd Live: Cookin' with Blue Note at Montreux is a previously unheard, electric, fire breathing set from the Montreux Jazz Festival, July 5, 1973, that blazes in early fusion glory. A fierce and relentless percolation spikes the opening "Black Byrd" and the set simmers close to a boil thereafter. With the Mizell brothers beside him on their respective synths and horns, Byrd leads a ten-piece invasion proving exactly who's who, despite the chit and chatter from the naysaying scholars and pundits. Keeping the groove hot and in place, tenor sax/flutist Allan Barnes and fellow saxophonist Nathan Davis, electric pianist Kevin Toney, guitarist Barney Perry, bassist Henry Franklin, drummer Keith Killgo, and percussionist Ray Armando build on the serpentine, chunka-chunka/chicka-chicka rhythm of "The East" to climax on the high bop centered "Kwami" and frantic "Poco-Mania." Cookin' just about says it all. By Mike Jurkovic Mike Jurkovic
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/donald-byrd-live-cookin-with-blue-note-at-montreux-blue-note-records

Personnel: Donald Byrd: trumpet; Fonce Mizell: trumpet; Allan Barnes: saxophone, tenor; Keith Killgo: drums; Nathan Davis: saxophone; Kevin Toney: piano; Larry Mizell: synthesizer; Barney Perry: guitar; Henry Franklin: bass; Ray Armando: percussion.

Additional Instrumentation: Donald Byrd: flugelhorn, vocals; Fonce Mizell: vocals; Keith Killgo: vocals.

Live: Cookin' with Blue Note at Montreux

The Modern Jazz Quartet - Fontessa

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:40
Size: 83.9 MB
Styles: Bop
Year: 1956/1989/2009
Art: Front

[ 3:20] 1. Versailles (Porte De Versailles)
[ 3:48] 2. Angel Eyes
[11:23] 3. Fontessa
[ 3:52] 4. Over The Rainbow
[ 5:03] 5. Bluesology
[ 4:48] 6. Willow Weep For Me
[ 4:24] 7. Woodyn You

Recorded: January 22, 1956 & February 14, 1956. John Lewis - piano; Milt Jackson - vibraphone; Percy Heath - double bass; Connie Kay - drums.

This LP has a particularly strong all-around set by the Modern Jazz Quartet. While John Lewis' "Versailles" and an 11-minute "Fontessa" show the seriousness of the group (and the influence of Western classical music), other pieces (such as "Bluesology," "Woody 'N You" and a pair of ballads) look toward the group's roots in bop and permit the band to swing hard. ~Scott Yanow

Fontessa

Kenny Barron - The Source

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:30
Size: 154,8 MB
Art: Front

(8:02) 1. What If
(6:13) 2. Isfahan
(6:04) 3. Teo
(9:42) 4. Daydream
(6:16) 5. I'm Confessin' (That I love you)
(8:53) 6. Dolores Street, SF
(5:42) 7. Well You Needn't
(8:34) 8. Sunshower
(8:00) 9. Phantoms

He may admit to jitters whenever he first sits down at his chosen instrument to record or perform, but elder statesman and NEA Master Kenny Barron never fails to elicit a warm, enveloping sense of elegy, wit and emotional balance to whatever setting the music finds him.

On his first solo go-round in forty years, The Source, like its distant predecessor At The Piano (Xanadu, 1982) has Barron brimming with the same empathy and effervescence, but with all the reflective nature the years tend to instill in a man who has made one to one conversation an art form. An art form with his peers, ranging from Dave Holland to Regina Carter, Freddie Hubbard, Stan Getz, Booker Ervin, to Mulgrew Miller, as well as listeners far and wide.

"What If?" reimagined and reframed from its bop conscious 1986 original (on Enja's What If?), finds renewed power in a bass line that is impossible to avoid. It not only underpins the melody, it actively becomes it as The Source sails forth from there. As he has for year out of reverence and inquisitiveness, Barron revisits Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn's "Isfahan" with a glee reminiscent of Thelonious Monk. Which makes perfect sense in so many ways since Monk's own slipknot, "Teo," exuberantly follows. Deft, agile, lyrical and vibrant, Barron brings all his emotion to another Strayhorn epiphany, "Daydreams," before bringing us to a quiet place of Zen on his own "Dolores Street SF."

More Monk follows with the chromatic skip of "Well You Needn't" and, if Barron still needs a spotlight for his love of barrelhouse and Monk himself, well here it is. A steady rolling energy emanates from the track and you sense Barron, whose sense of improv is as alive here as on any other of The Source's nine highlight performances, is really enjoying himself. The disc closes with two highly regarded Barron staples: "Sunshower," its melodic resonance still a source of invention after its initial hearing on Innocence (Wolf, 1978), and "Phantoms.," which still holds all its dark tones even when the master steers the tune away from them, serving as a final reflection on a man who can make light and dark his building blocks without relying heavily on either. By Mike Jurkovic
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-source-artwork-records

Personnel: Kenny Barron: piano.

The Source

Monday, February 13, 2023

Matt Dusk - Two Shots

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:39
Size: 128,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:29) 1. Two Shots Of Happy, One Shot Of Sad
(3:35) 2. Miracle
(4:06) 3. Cold As Ice
(5:32) 4. Lonely Road
(3:43) 5. The Theme From Loaded Gun
(4:00) 6. Don't Go Looking
(2:50) 7. Fly Me To The Moon
(3:22) 8. Please Please Me
(4:15) 9. Precious Yours
(5:43) 10. Always
(4:03) 11. Every Mother's Son
(5:15) 12. Five
(4:40) 13. Two Shots Of Happy, One Shot Of Sad (Hot Nugget Remix)

The big-label bow of this Toronto-born, classically trained pretender to the contemporary crooner crown comes bundled in a shrewdly frank marketing gambit. Dusk scored a recurring role on the reality series Casino as a young, wannabe showroom headliner. As with virtually every ambitious retro-pop male vocalist since Harry Connick, Jr., the musical touchstone here is Sinatra, from the album's title track (an 80th-birthday gift from U2 to the Chairman himself, who never recorded it) to a rhythmically sprightly take on "Fly Me To the Moon."

But what noses the 24-year-old Dusk ahead of his rat-packaged competitors here is a promising understanding of the canon that goes deeper than mere ring-a-ding-ding trappings. While his bold, downbeat recasting of the Beatles' "Please Please Me" falls short of its ambitions, songs like "Lonely Road," "Every Mother's Son," "Always" and "Five" (the latter two tellingly co-written by the singer himself) have a reflective, autumnal tone that gratifyingly echo Sinatra's own period of willful, introspective reinvention in the mid-1950s. By Jerry McCulley
https://www.amazon.com/Two-Shots-Matt-Dusk/dp/B000255LHA

Two Shots

Gunhild Carling & The Carling Big Band - Harlem Joy

Styles: Swing, Vocal
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:48
Size: 160,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:30) 1. Fire Alarm
(3:11) 2. Ascona
(3:28) 3. Bix Radio Rhythm
(3:38) 4. Stompin’ At Herräng
(3:47) 5. Come Home To Me Blues
(2:53) 6. Trixter
(3:29) 7. Springtime In St. Paul
(2:11) 8. Big Apple
(5:01) 9. When Dreams Come True
(3:10) 10. Linger
(2:56) 11. Shake, Shout And Shuffle
(4:00) 12. Harlem Ghost Story
(3:00) 13. Bag Pipe Blues
(4:05) 14. I Remember Oslo
(3:31) 15. Saturday Night Walk
(1:54) 16. Harlem Joy
(3:42) 17. Rhythm Queen
(2:47) 18. Parlemo Sea
(3:47) 19. Amour’s Empire
(3:38) 20. Blue In My Heaven

2015 live release by the Swedish jazz multi-instrumentalist. 2014 was the year of success for Gunhild Carling. Tour across Sweden, Let's Dance on national TV, a highly acclaimed appearance in Central Park in New York City for tens of thousands of people, voted the most popular person in the south of Sweden 2014 and numerous of national television appearances. This live recording was made during Gunhild Carling Big Bands Jazz Varieté tour in January 2014.
By Editorial Reviews https://www.amazon.com/Harlem-Joy-GUNHILD-CARLING-BAND/dp/B00VK611MY

Personnel: Gunhild Carling - vocal, trumpet, trombone, bag pipe, harp (9), recorder (5);Max Carling - tenor sax, clarinet, violin (9); Mattias Carlsson - alto, flute, bass flute; Peter Wilgotsson - alto sax; Hakan Ekvall - baryton sax, tenor sax; Hans "Cooling" Carling - trumpet; Erik Berndalen - trumpet, vocal (15); Henrik Johnson - trombone; Goran Abelli - trombone; Svempa Lunderquist / Singe Magnusson - piano; Aina Carling - banjo; Ull Carling - drums, vocal (10), trumpet (10); Mattias Uneback / Goran Schelin - bass; Jenny Deurell - vocal (17)

Harlem Joy

John Coltrane - The Gentle Side Of John Coltrane

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 67:09
Size: 153.7 MB
Styles: Standards, Post bop, Saxophone jazz
Year: 1975/1991/2012
Art: Front

[5:22] 1. Soul Eyes
[3:43] 2. What's New
[5:29] 3. Welcome
[3:13] 4. Nancy (With The Laughing Face)
[5:15] 5. My Little Brown Book
[9:03] 6. Wise One
[5:25] 7. Lush Life
[2:22] 8. Alabama
[4:54] 9. My One And Only Love
[4:09] 10. After The Rain
[4:13] 11. In A Sentimental Mood
[5:39] 12. Dear Lord
[8:16] 13. I Want To Talk About You

"Gentle" is a relative term, for while this collection of material is mostly pitched at a slower set of tempos and a more lyrical frame of mind, John Coltrane was no less passionate in a ballad as he was in a roaring frenzy. Originally issued on two LPs, and now as an excellent value on a single CD, The Gentle Side draws nine tracks from the legacy of the classic Coltrane quartet (with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones), adding a pair of tracks each from his collaborations with Duke Ellington and Johnny Hartman. You can say all you want about how a collection like this disregards the musical flow of the original albums -- which is true -- and still be caught up helplessly in the staggering emotional power of this man's playing. Even when heard in this context, performances like "After the Rain" and "Welcome" remain breathtaking in their spiritual beauty, and the combination of Coltrane's eloquence and the warm, masculine baritone of Hartman can still break your heart with their most-likely-untopped interpretation of "My One and Only Love." Above all, if you know anyone who has resisted Coltrane because of the fearsome reputation of his more agitated music, lay this CD on them. ~Richard S. Ginnell

The Gentle Side Of John Coltrane

Simone Kopmajer - With Love

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:18
Size: 144,5 MB
Art: Front

(4:15) 1. The Look of Love
(4:40) 2. How Wonderful You Are
(5:36) 3. Until It's Time for You to Go
(4:46) 4. I Can't Make You Love Me
(2:31) 5. Opposites Attract
(4:36) 6. How Can You Mend a Broken Heart
(3:01) 7. Cold Cold Heart
(3:16) 8. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter
(5:06) 9. For Once in My Life
(4:06) 10. Take It All In
(5:15) 11. Everything Happens to Me (feat. Sheila Jordan)
(4:52) 12. Tell It Like It Is
(4:38) 13. You Don´t Know Me (feat. John Di Martino)
(4:33) 14. Over the Rainbow

Simone Kopmajer’s new album “With Love“ was produced by John Di Martino, Reinhardt Winkler & herself.

The trio brought Simone’s vision of an intimate but rich sound to a point. Wonderful string arrangements played by Grammy Winning NY string quartet are surrounding her subtle vocals. “With Love” is a mix of old time classics, love songs and for the very first time two original compositions, definitely Kopmajers most romantic album in her incredible career on which she is proving again her different facets as a musician and vocalist.

Accompanied by Harry Allen, John Di Martino, Boris Kozlov, Reinhardt Winkler, Gottfried Gfrerer & Wesley Amorim , Simone Kopmajer turns her sensual vocals to songs like “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart“ (Bee Gees), “Cold Cold Heart“ (Hank Williams and the legendary “Over the rainbow“.

Another highlight on the album are the guest appearances of jazz legend Sheila Jordan and John Di Martino. With love is a must have for every fan and fan to be! http://www.simonekopmajer.com/bio

Personnel: Simone Kopmajer: Vocals; Harry Allen: Tenor Saxophone; John Di Martino: Piano; Boris Kozlov: Bass; Reinhardt Winkler: Drums; Wesley Amorim: Guitar; Gottfried Gfrerer: Guitar; Sheila Jordan: Vocals; Sara Caswell: First Violin; Tomoko Akaboshi :Second Violin; Benni von Gutzeit: Viola; Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf: Cello

With Love

Sunday, February 12, 2023

Rossana Casale - Jazz in me

Styles: Vocal, Jazz
Year: 1994
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:37
Size: 136,7 MB
Art: Front

(5:18)  1. Every Time We Say Good-bye
(5:05)  2. Good Morning Heartache
(5:05)  3. Don't Explain
(7:26)  4. My One And Only Love
(5:05)  5. Just Friends
(5:28)  6. How Long Has This Been Going On
(1:57)  7. My Funny Valentine
(7:03)  8. Summertime
(5:27)  9. You Don't Know What Love Is
(2:06) 10. But Not For Me
(9:32) 11. Blue Monk

The New York-born daughter of an American father and an Italian mother, Rossana Casale has grown into one of Italy's most adventurous musicians. Her songs have been featured in such Italian films as the Pupi Avati-directed movie Una Gita Scolastica, while she toured with Teatro dell'Opera Raffaele Paganini in the musical comedy An American in Paris. She recorded an Italian version of "Someday, My Prince Will Come" for the restored edition of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Moving to Italy as a youngster, Casale temporarily lived in Venice before settling in Milan. A background singer for Italian group Albero Motore, in 1972 she enrolled at the Conservatory G. Verdi in Milan, where she studied vocals, percussion, and electronic music. Casale's 1982 debut single "Didin" was followed by the Italian pop albums Casale in 1984 and Aspettarti in 1985. She appeared at the Fest di San Remo in 1986 singing the Italian pop ballad "Destiny."

Veering toward jazz in the late '90s, Casale performed at the Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy. Her first jazz album, Incoerente Jazz, was released in 1989. Although she has continued to explore the jazz realm, Casale continues to defy categorization. Her 1991 album Lo Strato Naturale represented a shift toward atmospheric jazz. A meeting with African group Toure Kunde sparked an interest in world music. Together with her quartet, featuring Riccardo Zegne, Luciano Milanese, Carlo Atti, and Luigi Bonafede, Casale continues to perform jazz standards by such American songwriters as Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, and Thelonious Monk. In 1994, they recorded the album Jazz in Me in a whirlwind, four-day session.
By Craig Harris http://www.allmusic.com/artist/rossana-casale-mn0000363589/biography

Personnel:  Vocals – Rossana Casale;  Contrabass – Luciano Milanese;  Drums – Carlo Milanese (tracks: 6), Luigi Bonafede;  Guitar – Sandro Gibellini (tracks: 3);  Piano – Andrea Pozza (tracks: 6), Riccardo Zegna;  Saxophone – Carlo Atti;  Trumpet – Marco Tamburini (tracks: 11);  Violoncello – Bruno Briscic (tracks: 8, 11)

Jazz in me

The Dynamic Les DeMerle Band - 2 albums: Cookin' At The Corner Vol 1 / Vol 2

Album: Cookin' At The Corner Vol 1
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:36
Size: 150.2 MB
Styles: Swing, Contemporary jazz
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[4:13] 1. Cookin' At The Corner
[4:57] 2. It Might As Well Be Spring
[3:21] 3. Bennie's From Heaven
[4:06] 4. Cute
[5:36] 5. Satin Doll-Don't Get Around Much Anymore
[3:50] 6. Agua De Beber
[3:55] 7. Lullaby Of Birdland
[5:31] 8. Stardust
[3:29] 9. Smack Dab In The Middle
[5:16] 10. The Shadow Of Your Smile
[3:11] 11. The More I See You
[3:35] 12. What A Difference A Day Makes
[6:54] 13. Compared To What
[2:22] 14. Jumpin' With Symphony Sid
[5:14] 15. I Do Love You

Les DeMerle's 4th recording for Origin is another swinging affair that further cements his reputation as one of the most dynamic drummers in jazz. Recorded live in front of an enthusiastic audience, the band sizzles on 15 tunes including classics such as "Cute," "Jumpin' With Symphony Sid," and the soul hit "Compared to What." With vocalist Bonnie Eisele, they caress standards "The Shadow of Your Smile," "The More I See You," and "Stardust," and they define future standards including the title cut "Cookin' at the Corner" by pianist Mike Levine.

Album: Cookin' At The Corner Vol 2
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:32
Size: 134.0 MB
Styles: Swing, Contemporary jazz
Year: 2007
Art: Front

[5:07] 1. In A Mellow Tone
[3:45] 2. Our Love Is Here To Stay
[4:55] 3. You Don't Know Me
[3:56] 4. Work Song
[4:38] 5. Caravan
[3:17] 6. I'm Beginning To See The Light
[3:12] 7. S'wonderful
[5:01] 8. Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans
[2:55] 9. Let's Fall In Love
[2:56] 10. How High The Moon
[5:11] 11. Autumn Leaves-Les Feulles Mortes
[4:28] 12. Black Orpheus-Manha De Carnaval
[3:21] 13. All Around The World
[2:40] 14. I Want You To Be My Baby
[3:02] 15. Jumpin' With Symphony Sid

“Cookin’ At The Corner, Volume Two is the real deal capturing a live jazz set in a real jazz club packed with loyal jazz fans. The music is hot and sweet, swinging and soulful. The Dynamic Les DeMerle Band is tight and grooves hard with creativity and passion giving each tune the perfect color and shade to create the ultimate jazz rainbow. Listen and relax as the music invites you in. Enjoy the sounds. Welcome to the club.” ~Scott Yanow

“The electricity on the first night of Cookin’ At The Corner, Volume One really transfers here on Volume Two as the music swings and gyrates to the up-tempo nature of the album’s fifteen standards. DeMerle and his trio really cook…with incredible instrumentals. Eisele delivers…enchanting performances and… exciting vocals…on another fiery session of great music.” ~Edward Blanco

Cookin' At The Corner Vol 1, Vol 2

Cyrus Chestnut - The Dark Before the Dawn

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1994
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:20
Size: 131,7 MB
Art: Front

(7:30)  1. Sentimentalia
(3:27)  2. Steps of Trane
(6:19)  3. The Mirrored Window
(4:42)  4. Baroque Impressions
(2:36)  5. A Rare Gem
(4:09)  6. Call Me Later
(5:36)  7. Wright's Rolls and Butter
(2:53)  8. It Is Well (With My Soul)
(5:36)  9. Kattin'
(4:58) 10. Lovers' Paradise
(3:06) 11. My Funny Valentine
(6:22) 12. The Dark Before the Dawn

Cyrus Chestnut's The Dark Before the Dawn is a mature, versatile album. Chestnut and his trio members Steve Kirby (bass) and Clarence Penn (drums) provide their fortunate listeners with a little bit of everything on this collection. Chestnut pays homage to John Coltrane, and his brilliant "Giant Steps," on the lightning fast "Steps of Trane," and gives J.S. Bach a swinging, 21st century twist on the interesting "Baroque Impressions." "My Funny Valentine" is slow and spacious and represents Chestnut's best ballad playing to date. Mix in originals such as the confident "Sentimentalia," the pretty "The Mirrored Window," the playful "Call Me Later" and the show-stopping "Kattin'." Kirby lays down a rock-solid musical foundation and Penn generates the rhythmic fire, but it is Chestnut who breathes life and soul and meaning into these tunes. He has the unique ability to make complicated music both approachable and enjoyable. The listener won't realize it, but will eventually notice their toes tapping and their fingers snapping to this recommended set. ~ Brian Bartolini https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-dark-before-the-dawn-mw0000125513

Personnel: Cyrus Chestnut (piano); Steve Kirby (bass); Clarence Penn (drums).

The Dark Before the Dawn

John Coltrane - Live at the Village Vanguard And Live At The Village Vanguard Again!

Album: Live at the Village Vanguard

Styles: Hard Bop, Avant-Garde Jazz
Year: 1966
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:37
Size: 84,0 MB
Art: Front

(13:48) 1. Spiritual
( 6:40) 2. Softly as in a Morning Sunrise
(16:09) 3. Chasin' the Trane

Review: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coltrane_%22Live%22_at_the_Village_Vanguard

Personnel: John Coltrane — soprano and tenor saxophone; Eric Dolphy — bass clarinet on "Spiritual"; McCoy Tyner — piano on side one; Reggie Workman — bass on side one; Jimmy Garrison — bass on side two; Elvin Jones — drums

Live at the Village Vanguard

Album: Live At The Village Vanguard Again!

Styles: Hard Bop, Avant-Garde Jazz
Year: 1966
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:41
Size: 97,1 MB
Art: Front

(15:11) 1. Naima
( 6:08) 2. Introduction To My Favorite Things
(20:21) 3. My Favorite Things

Live at the Village Vanguard Again! is one of the more hotly contested albums in John Coltrane's catalog. Released less than a year before his death, the original recording showcased his new quintet with Alice Coltrane, piano; Pharoah Sanders, tenor saxophone; Jimmy Garrison, bass; and Rashied Ali, drums. Additional percussion on the date was provided by Emanuel Rahim. The three selections here are what survive from a much longer tape. Coltrane's signature ballad "Naima" opens the album and goes on for over 15 minutes.

One of the most iconic tunes in his repertoire, the treatment it is given here is radical. While the melody is referenced in the beginning, Coltrane moves it aside fairly quickly to concentrate on improvisation. His tenor solo (heard in the left channel) begins in earnest a minute-and-a-half in. He gradually deconstructs the various phrases in the lyric to blow passionately through them. By the time Sanders begins his (overly long) tenor solo (right channel), the abstraction becomes total. His intensity and ferocity are simply more than the ballad calls for. Even when Coltrane returns to solo again, and gradually winds it down, he has to begin at that hot peak. "Naima" is a different tune when all is said and done. "My Favorite Things" is in two parts. The first six minutes belong to a gorgeous, imaginative solo by Garrison.

The tune's familiar theme is not stated by Coltrane until after the mode is introduced; then bits and pieces of the melody are brought in until they become however briefly the whole head line. It disappears quickly even though referenced occasionally throughout Coltrane's solos. His soprano solos are intense but utterly beautiful. His playing is pure passion and creative imagination, ever aware of the shimmering block chords played by Alice.

Ali skitters propulsively around them, driving insistently until he's allowed to let loose when Sanders and his tenor begin their violent wail that simply disregards the entire tune save for one quote near the end to bring Coltrane back in. Sanders screams through his horn throughout his solo, and when Coltrane rejoins him, it's to meet him and try to rein him in; it leaves the listener exhausted after its 25-minute run. Live at the Village Vanguard Again! is certainly not for Coltrane newcomers, and may indeed only hold value for his most ardent followers despite its many qualities.By Thom Jurek
https://www.allmusic.com/album/live-at-the-village-vanguard-again%21-mw0000652602

Personnel: John Coltrane – soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, flute; Pharoah Sanders – tenor saxophone, flute; Alice Coltrane – piano; Jimmy Garrison – bass; Rashied Ali – drums; Emanuel Rahim – percussion

Live At The Village Vanguard Again!

Friday, February 10, 2023

Suzanne Cabot - Fine & Mellow

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:32
Size: 121,2 MB
Art: Front

(6:21) 1. Fine And Mellow
(6:25) 2. The Very Thought Of You
(6:48) 3. Crazy He Calls Me
(4:45) 4. Don't Explain
(2:58) 5. Them There Eyes
(5:13) 6. Vivo Sonhando
(6:17) 7. One Meatball
(6:50) 8. Dream Dancing
(3:55) 9. The Night Has A Thousand Eyes
(2:54) 10. Gotta Have Me Go With You

Suzanne Cabot reveals her sweet and bluesy style in her debut CD, 'Fine and Mellow' with the ever unique improvisations of pianist Pamela Hines and bassist David Clark. There's plenty of Lady Day tunes and it's clear that Cabot is a Holiday fan from the first track, 'Fine and Mellow.'

This Boston-based trio offers a very intimate take on ten tunes without drums. The fresh improvisations in this close setting make you feel as though the stage is three feet away. Hines and Clark offer strong solos to make this CD a three-way creative journey that you'll want to listen to over and over. By Product Description
https://www.amazon.ca/Fine-Mellow-Suzanne-Cabot/dp/B008IG0B8O

Fine & Mellow

The Boswell Sisters - Jazz Age Scattin'

Styles: Vocal, Swing
Year: 2022
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:17
Size: 92,8 MB
Art: Front

(2:51) 1. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter
(3:14) 2. Shuffle Off To Buffalo
(3:14) 3. When I Take My Sugar To Tea
(3:17) 4. Shout, Sister, Shout!
(2:53) 5. If I Had A Million Dollars
(3:06) 6. Dinah
(3:04) 7. Shine On, Harvest Moon
(2:59) 8. Roll On, Mississippi, Roll On
(2:39) 9. Heebie Jeebies
(3:24) 10. It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing
(2:48) 11. Rock And Roll
(3:22) 12. Forty-second Street
(3:21) 13. The Object Of My Affection

Definitely the most talented and arguably the all-around best jazz vocal group of all time, the Boswell Sisters parlayed their New Orleans upbringing into a swinging delivery that featured not only impossibly close harmonies, but countless maneuvers of vocal gymnastics rarely equaled on record. Connee (sometimes Connie), Helvetia (Vet), and Martha Boswell grew up singing together, soaking up Southern gospel and blues through close contact with the Black community. They first performed at vaudeville houses around the New Orleans area, and began appearing on local radio by 1925. At first, they played strictly instrumentals, with Connee on cello, saxophone, and guitar; Martha on piano, and Vet on violin, banjo, and guitar. The station began featuring them in a vocal setting as well, with Connee taking the lead on many songs (despite a childhood accident that had crippled her and left her in a wheelchair).

Word of their incredible vocal talents led to appearances in Chicago and New York, and the Boswell Sisters began recording in 1930 for Victor. By the following year, they'd moved to Brunswick and reached the Hit Parade with "When I Take My Sugar to Tea," taken from the Marx Brothers' film Monkey Business and featuring the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra in support. The trio continued to work with many of the best jazzmen in the field (including Eddie Lang, Joe Venuti, and Bunny Berigan), and appeared in the 1932 film extravaganza The Big Broadcast with Bing Crosby and Cab Calloway. The Boswell Sisters hit the top of the Hit Parade a second time in 1935 with "The Object of My Affection" from the film Times Square Lady. One year later, however, both Martha and Vet retired from the group in favor of married life.

Connee had already made a few solo sides for Brunswick as early as 1932, and she continued her solo career in earnest after the Boswell Sisters parted. She hit number one twice during the late '30s, with the Bing Crosby duets "Bob White (Whatcha Gonna Swing Tonight?)" and "Alexander's Ragtime Band," and continued recording into the '60s.By John Bush
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-boswell-sisters-mn0000521942/biography

Jazz Age Scattin'

Rex Stewart - Solid Rock - Swingin' Cornet

Styles: Cornet Jazz
Year: 2022
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:07
Size: 87,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:20) 1. Solid Rock
(2:47) 2. Rexatious
(2:33) 3. Tea And Trumpets
(2:46) 4. Without A Song
(2:59) 5. Lazy Man's Shuffle
(3:10) 6. My Sunday Gal
(3:04) 7. Mobile Bay
(3:25) 8. Linger Awhile
(4:15) 9. Diga Diga Doo
(4:23) 10. Cherry
(4:18) 11. Bugle Call Rag

Rex Stewart (1907–1967) was an American jazz cornetist best known for his work with the Duke Ellington orchestra.

After stints with Elmer Snowden, Fletcher Henderson, Horace Henderson, McKinney's Cotton Pickers, and Luis Russell, Stewart joined the Ellington band in 1934. Ellington arranged many of his pieces to showcase Stewart's half-valve effects, muted sound, and forceful style.

Stewart co-wrote "Boy Meets Horn" and "Morning Glory" while with Ellington, and frequently supervised outside recording sessions by members of the Ellington band. After eleven years Stewart left to lead his own groups. He also toured Europe and Australia with Jazz at the Philharmonic from 1947 to 1951. From the early 1950s on he worked in radio and television and published highly regarded jazz criticism. Jazz Masters of the Thirties is a selection of his criticism.
https://www.jazzmusicarchives.com/artist/rex-stewart

Solid Rock - Swingin' Cornet

Gary Versace - Time Frame

Styles: Post Bop
Year: 2022
File: MP3@320K/s
oyston Time: 59:37
Size: 136,9 MB
Art: Front

(8:38) 1. Cold Duck Soup
(9:32) 2. Distant Call
(7:14) 3. Red Cross
(6:51) 4. Faro
(8:52) 5. Panda Blue
(7:49) 6. Sweet Surprise
(3:56) 7. Evidently
(6:41) 8. One Year From Today

Since basing himself in New York City in June of 2002, jazz organist, pianist, and accordionist Gary Versace has quickly become one of the busiest and most versatile musicians on the scene, often featured in bands led by musicians such as John Scofield, John Abercrombie, Maria Schneider, Matt Wilson, Lee Konitz, Eliot Zigmund, Scott Wendholt, Joe Magnarelli, Danny Gottlieb, Seamus Blake, John Hollenbeck, Andy LaVerne, Adam Nussbaum, Brad Shepik, Ingrid Jensen, Tim Ries and many others.

Versace was voted a "rising star" on the Hammond organ in the last three Downbeat critics polls, and was the subject of a feature article in the July 2004 issue of Keyboard magazine.

Versace has been a featured soloist on several critically acclaimed recordings of recent years: accordionist on Maria Schneider's Grammy-winning recordings "Concert in the Garden" and "Sky Blue" and as the pianist on John Hollenbeck's Grammy-nominated large ensemble recording, "A Blessing."

Over the past five years, Versace has appeared as a leader for the Criss Cross and SteepleChase labels, and as a sideman on over 50 recordings with artists on various labels including Palmetto, ACT, Omnitone, Songlines, Pirouet, High Note, Justin Time, ArtistShare, Fresh Sound, Kind of Blue, and many others.

As a pianist, Versace performed in a two-piano recital with Marian McPartland, and in April of 1999 appeared on her acclaimed National Public Radio program, "Piano Jazz." McPartland has called him "...endlessly inventive...(Versace) really has an extraordinary talent."

Gary Versace has a masters degree in music performance from the Eastman School of Music, and spent eight years as a tenured associate professor in the jazz studies department at the University of Oregon. He remains active as a clinician and guest soloist both nationally and around the world.
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/gary-versace/

Personnel: Piano – Gary Versace; Bass – Jay Anderson; Drums – Rudy Royston

Time Frame

Thursday, February 9, 2023

Gunhild Carling - Good Evening Cats

Styles: Swing, Vocal
Year: 2022
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:43
Size: 84,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:47) 1. Good Evening Cats
(4:20) 2. My Lovin' Heart Can't Forget
(4:22) 3. Mack The Knife
(4:55) 4. Love Song From The Attic
(2:23) 5. Million Stars Are Out Tonight (Feat. Billy Stritch & Nanna Carling)
(3:05) 6. Att Angöra En Brygga (Feat. Idun Carling)
(4:04) 7. Two Movie Stars
(2:44) 8. Monday Through Sunday
(4:05) 9. La Vie En Rose
(2:55) 10. Wave

Swedish musical sensation Gunhild Carling is an internationally acclaimed superstar whose show is a can’t-miss event! Whether she’s singing favorite swinging jazz standards, playing one of many instruments (trumpet, trombone, harmonica, oboe, harp, flute, recorder, or jazz bagpipe!) or juggling and tap dancing, Gunhild’s sublime showmanship shines. And just wait for the finale spoiler alert she plays three trumpets at once!

Carling competed as a celebrity dancer in Let’s Dance 2014 on TV4 placing third. Was also on Sweden’s Dancing with The Stars. Gunhild performed for Sweden’s Got Talent in 2017 and this year she is currently on America’s Got Talent season 2019.

She recently performed with her 'Carling Big Band' at the Royal Palace in Stockholm in the celebration for King Carl XVI Gustaf's Ruby Jubilee. Performing such great memorable vintage songs such as "Minnie the Moocher," "Sweet Georgia Brown," "All of Me," "It Had to Be You," and an endless repertoire of songs, Gunhild masterfully takes you back to another era like a time machine.

Between Touring with her own band, she performs in several configurations from solo to orchestra to symphony and as a featured singer and multi-instrumentalist in several of Postmodern Jukebox's songs, including a 1920s jazz swing version of "Material Girl", and a 1920s hot jazz cover of ABBA's "Dancing Queen”. Gunhild Carling keeps serenading audiences in the US and all around the world today.
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/gunhild-carling

Good Evening Cats

Alex Sipiagin - Mel´s Vision

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:17
Size: 163,8 MB
Art: Front

( 9:25) 1. Mel's Vision
( 8:54) 2. Summer's End
( 8:03) 3. Four by Five
( 9:08) 4. Maritima
(10:01) 5. Vesnianka
( 6:21) 6. Bird Food (Take 2)
( 8:30) 7. Balmoral Point
( 3:50) 8. Peggy's Blue Skylight
( 7:01) 9. Bird Food (Take 1 – Alternate Take)

The music of trumpeter Alex Sipiagin just keeps getting more and more complex with every record to a point where it always a bit hard to assign any sort of easy label to his style, and figure out what he's going to give us next!

This really fresh album is full of surprises not just in the choice of material, but in the way that Alex and the group interpret it moving through original tunes by group members and some well-chosen modern jazz numbers balanced in a really five-pointed way between the trumpet, tenor of Chris Potter, piano of David Kikoski, bass of Matt Brewer, and drums of Johnathan Blake! Potter brings a nice edge to the proceedings, in a way that definitely has an influence on Kikoski and titles include "Summer's End", "Four By Five", "Maritima", "Bird Food", "Vesnianka", "Mel's Vision", and "Balmoral Point". © 1996-2023, Dusty Groove, Inc.https://www.dustygroove.com/item/137173/Alex-Sipiagin:Mel-s-Vision

Personnel: Alex Sipiagin - Trumpet; Chris Potter - Saxophone; David Kikoski - Piano; Matt Brewer - Bass; Johnathan Blake – Drums

Mel´s Vision

Kirk Knuffke Trio - Gravity Without Airs

Styles: Cornet Jazz
Year: 2022
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 90:23
Size: 208,4 MB
Art: Front

(11:37) 1. Gravity Without Airs
( 5:39) 2. Stars Go Up
( 4:28) 3. Between Today and May
( 6:43) 4. The Sun Is Always Shining
( 8:44) 5. Birds of Passage
( 6:12) 6. Time Is Another River
( 2:52) 7. Paint Pale Silver
( 4:21) 8. The Water Will Win
( 9:56) 9. June Stretched
( 6:08) 10. Blinds
( 6:22) 11. Piece of Sky
( 5:59) 12. Shadows to Dance
( 7:17) 13. Heal the Roses
( 4:00) 14. Today for Today

An adventurous improviser with a fat, warm tone, cornetist Kirk Knuffke takes his bold jazz style to another level on 2022's Gravity Without Airs. The Colorado-born/New York-based Knuffke has carved out a distinctive niche in the modern jazz landscape with his artful duo and trio albums. He has also been a vital member of creative ensembles like drummer Matt Wilson's Big Happy Family and drummer Allison Miller's Boom Tic Boom. Here, he is joined by two stellar veteran performers in pianist Matthew Shipp and bassist Michael Bisio, essentially two-thirds of Shipp's trio as of 2009 (minus drummer Newman Taylor-Baker). Knuffke's pairing here with Shipp feels intrinsic and spiritually connected to the pianist's early work as a member of saxophonist David S. Ware's ensembles.

What's particularly engaging about the group's work is just how organically balanced it is. While Knuffke certainly grabs the lion's share of the spotlight, many of his compositions hinge upon the trio's dynamic interplay and the raw, textural landscapes they carve out together. In fact, the first sound you hear on the opening title track is a scratchy, strummed chord from Bisio that Shipp quickly augments with an airy, off-kilter harmony. All of this leads to Knuffke's mournful, breathy entrance, his minor-key melody a streak of golden light in the trio's swirling storm clouds.

They sustain an equally imagistic vibe throughout the rest of the album, straddling the line between free-jazz tone poems and moody, architectural chamber jazz. Knuffke is a dynamic soloist with a style that can be bluesy and linear one minute and fractured and full of spatter-paint squelch the next. It's a sound that brings to mind the work of legendary Italian free jazz trumpeter Enrico Rava, especially recalling his classic 1975 ECM date The Pilgrim and The Stars. On Gravity Without Airs, Knuffke and his trio grab your ears with a tactile beauty.By Matt Collor
https://www.allmusic.com/album/gravity-without-airs-mw0003720607

Personnel: Kirk Knuffke: cornet, compositions; Michael Bisio: bass; Matthew Shipp: piano

Gravity Without Airs

Joe Henderson - Four!

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1968
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:45
Size: 165,9 MB
Art: Front

(13:37)  1. Autumn Leaves
(12:18)  2. Four
(14:57)  3. On The Trail
(11:46)  4. Star Dust / Old Folks
(16:04)  5. On Green Dolphin Street
( 3:00)  6. The Theme

This live session from 1968 features the great tenor Joe Henderson (who was then just a few days short of turning 31) playing for the first and possibly only time with the Wynton Kelly Trio. Henderson, pianist Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Jimmy Cobb really stretch out on six standards (including a two-song medley), all of which clock in between 11:47 and 16:05 (except for a three-minute "Theme"). Henderson really pushes the rhythm section (which, although they had not played with the tenor previously, had been together for a decade) and he is certainly inspired by their presence. This is a frequently exciting performance by some of the modern bop greats of the era. ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/four-mw0000120886

Personnel:  Joe Henderson – tenor saxophone;  Wynton Kelly – piano;  Paul Chambers – bass;  Jimmy Cobb – drums

Four

Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames - 20 Beat Classics

Styles: Pop/Rock
Year: 1981
File: MP3@224K/s
Time: 57:45
Size: 93,8 MB
Art: Front

(2:45)  1. Yeh Yeh
(2:32)  2. Getaway
(2:15)  3. Do Re Mi
(2:55)  4. My Girl
(2:32)  5. Sweet Things
(2:26)  6. Point Of No Return
(2:51)  7. Get On The Right Track, Baby
(2:38)  8. Ride Your Pony
(4:22)  9. Moody's Mood For Love
(3:28) 10. Funny How Time Slips Away
(2:35) 11. Sunny
(3:21) 12. Sitting In The Park
(2:12) 13. Green Onions
(2:35) 14. In The Meantime
(3:44) 15. Papa's Got A Brand New Bag
(2:14) 16. Blue Monday
(2:23) 17. Pride And Joy
(3:51) 18. Pink Champagne
(2:38) 19. Let The Sunshine In
(3:21) 20. I Love The Life I Live

The best compilation of Fame's work, finding his R&B-jazz fusion at its most potent (and most commercially successful) on these 20 cuts from the mid-'60s. Like a Mose Allison for the British Invasion, Fame sings and plays with a soulful verve on this set of blue-eyed soul. Includes the #1 British hits "Yeh Yeh" and "Get Away," although "Ballad Of Bonnie And Clyde" is missing. ~ Richie Unterberge  http://www.allmusic.com/album/20-beat-classics-mw0000742302

Personnel: Georgie Fame (vocals, keyboards).

20 Beat Classics