Kenny Barron - Festival Jazz Sous Les Pommiers

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2021
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 83:32
Size: 192,4 MB
Art: Front

( 9:50) 1. New-York Attitude
(12:36) 2. How Deep is The Ocean
(11:20) 3. Night Fall
( 7:06) 4. Memories of You
(11:02) 5. Bud Like
(11:21) 6. Skylark
(14:02) 7. Calypso Calypso
( 6:12) 8. Cook’s Bay

Kenny Barron's unmatched ability to mesmerize audiences with his elegant playing, sensitive melodies and infectious rhythms is what inspired "The Los Angeles Times" to name him "one of the top jazz pianists in the world" and "Jazz Weekly" to call him "The most lyrical piano player of our time."

Philadelphia is the birthplace of many great musicians, including one of the undisputed masters of the jazz piano: Kenny Barron. Kenny was born in 1943 and while a teenager, started playing professionally with Mel Melvin's orchestra. This local band also featured Barron's brother Bill, the late tenor saxophonist. At age 19, Kenny moved to New York City and was hired by James Moody after the tenor saxophonist heard him play at the Five Spot.

He joined Dizzy Gillespie's band in 1962, where he developed an appreciation for Latin and Caribbean rhythms. After five years with Dizzy, Barron played with Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Turrentine, Milt Jackson, and Buddy Rich. In 1971 he joined Yusef Lateef's band. It is Lateef who Kenny credits as a key influence in his art for improvisation. In 1973 Kenny joined the faculty at Rutgers University as professor of music. He held this tenure until 2000, mentoring many of today's young talents including David Sanchez, Terence Blanchard, and Regina Bell. In 1974 he recorded his first album as a leader for the Muse label, entitled "Sunset To Dawn." This was to be the first of over 40 recordings (and still counting!) as a leader.

Throughout the 1980's, Kenny collaborated with the great tenor saxophonist Stan Getz, touring with his quartet and recording several albums, one of which was nominated for a Grammy ("People Time") Also during the 80's, he co-founded the quartet "Sphere," along with Buster Williams, Ben Riley and Charlie Rouse. This band focused on the music of Thelonious Monk and original compositions inspired by him. Sphere recorded several outstanding projects for the Polygram label, among them "Four For All" and "Bird Songs." After the death of Charlie Rouse, the band took a 15-year hiatus and reunited, replacing Rouse with alto saxophonist Gary Bartz. This reformation made its debut recording for Verve Records in 1998.

Kenny Barron's own recordings for Verve have earned him five Grammy nominations, most recently for "Spirit Song" in 2000. Prior Grammy nominations went to "Sambao," "Night and the City" (a duet recording with Charlie Haden) and "Wanton Spirit" (a trio recording with Roy Haynes and Haden.) It is important to note that these three recordings each received double-Grammy nominations (for album AND solo performance.) Barron consistently wins the jazz critics and readers polls, including Downbeat, JazzTimes and Jazziz magazines. He has been named Best Pianist by the Jazz Journalists Association every year since 1997 and was as a finalist in the prestigious 2001 Jazz Par International Jazz Award.

Throughout his career, Kenny Barron has been the pianist of choice for some of jazz's greatest musicians. Now at age 58, whether he is playing solo, with his Trio or his newest ensemble, "Brazilia" (a quintet featuring some of Brazil's greatest musicians), Kenny Barron is now recognized the world over as a master of performance and composition.https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/kenny-barron

Personnel: Kenny Barron, piano; Kigashi Kitagawa, bass; Johnathan Blake, drums

Festival Jazz Sous Les Pommiers

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Anne Ducros - Purple Songs

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:53
Size: 126,1 MB
Art: Front

(6:40)  1. A timeless place (The Peacocks)
(6:31)  2. Ode to Billie Joe
(4:14)  3. Dreamer Alone
(4:39)  4. In the wee small hours of the morning
(2:58)  5. Softly as in a morning sunrise
(7:33)  6. You must believe in spring
(4:29)  7. Who "R.U." (Saint-Eustache)
(3:19)  8. Sea Lady
(6:31)  9. Lush Life
(3:50) 10. Aovoatt (Trio Type Tune)
(4:06) 11. Send in the clowns

Native of the Pas de Calais, Anne Ducros began her classic training (musical and vocal) within the conservatoire of Boulogne Sur mer with Lyne Durian. Then at the same time she is studying law at the University of Lille, she completes and refines her vocal mastery thanks to the education of Yuri Anoff and Maddy Mespley. Afterward she has a practice of baroque music within training course at the University and investigates Couperin, Rameau or Bach's music.  Introduced to the vocal jazz from 1986. She sets up her first quartet of jazz with which she gains various international competitions (Price for better soloist and first vocaliste in the festival of jazz of Dunkerque; First price of soloist and vocalist in the festival of jazz of Vienne in 1989). This growing recognition will stimulates her of an inexhaustible will to sing always more by accumulating concerts in France and specially by publishing her first album of vocal jazz, "Don't you take a chance" at JTB in 1989.After this first recording was realized, she returns on the road by multiplying the tours, the festivals (Nice, Montreaux, Nantes, Barcelone, Ismir, Montreal.) and the musical meetings (Michel Petrucciani, Didier Lockwood, Michel Legrand, Ray Brown, Ted Curson, Jacky Terrasson, Eric Lelann, Stefano Di Batista.). This artistic fulfilment couples with an increasing educational investment. During years 1992-1993, she teaches the vocal jazz at the ARPEJ in Paris and since 1994 she is the manager of Prelude, first school of vocal jazz in Paris. Besides her teacher's implication, she animates clinics and master-classes all over the world (Aix, Le Havre, Chicago, Calvi, Bruxelles.).

In 1995 Anne Ducros participates in the recording of Friday 14 with Lugi TRUSSARDI and puts her voice on some tracks of this album, published by ELABETH. Surrounded with Gordon beck, Sal la Rocca, Bruno Castellucci and Didier Lockwood, Anne Ducros records "Purple Songs", published in 2001 by DREYFUS JAZZ. Further this album, the singer is awarded by the Academy of the Jazz, and she receives the Price Billie Holiday, in december 2001. This new award will not be the last one, because there in April 2002, the "Django d'Or/ Victoires de la musique" awards her with the price of the artist vocal of the year. In 2003 her third album, "Close your eyes" (DREYFUS JAZZ) and once more she wins the Vocal Artist of the year of the Victoires de la Musique Jazz awards. In this album she's surrounded by talented musicians, string orchestra, and prestigious special guests such as the harmonicist Toots Thielemans and the flute player Benoit Fromanger. Joy, rhythmic flexibility and melody characterize this recording. With her hot voice, Anne Ducros revisits some jazz standards and pop songs as Stevie Wonder's "Lately" or Beatles's "Black Bird". She also interprets with elegance some French Songs: "L'eau a la bouche" of Serge Gainsbourg and "Clopin Clopan" of Pierre Dudan.

In September 2005 her forth album comes out by DREYFUS JAZZ: it marks the height of her artistic career. The project called "piano, piano" is based upon the meeting of Anne's wonderful voice and some of the greatest today's piano players. She sings some of the most beautiful jazz standards surrounded by prestigious piano players as Chick Corea, , Jacky Terrasson, Enrico Pieranunzi and Rene Urtreger and her quintet (Benoit de Mesmay, piano and Fender Rodes, Sal La Rocca, double bass, Karl Jannuska/Manhu Roche, drums, Bob Franceschini, sax). This album is immediately a great public and critic success.

After establishing momentum with her US debut, "PIANO, piano," and expanding her audience remarkably with several concert apperances in New York City (including Lincoln Center and an SRO performance at the 2007 IAJE conference), the gorgeous French diva Anna Ducros is back with her new offering, "Urban Tribe." The disc unites her with major players on the NY scene - Ada Rovatti on Sax, Essiet Essiet on bass and Bruce Cox on drums and also the one of the best french piano player Olivier Hutman . Highlights include her bold intepretation of Beatles' "Sexy Sadie," and an assortment of delicious standards and love songs such as "You and the Night and the Music," "Easy To Love" and the Otis Redding classic, "Dock of the Bay." http://www.mymusicbase.ru/PPB/ppb33/Bio_3323.htm

Purple Songs

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Wayne Shorter - Footprints - Live

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:31
Size: 146,4 MB
Art: Front

( 5:32) 1. Sanctuary
( 8:28) 2. Masquelero
( 7:59) 3. Valse Triste
( 5:01) 4. Go
( 9:29) 5. Aung San Suu Kyi
( 7:55) 6. Footprints
( 8:28) 7. Atlantis
(10:36) 8. Ju Ju

Could saxophonist Wayne Shorter have known that the songs he wrote and recorded back in the '60s would be fresher than ever over 30 years later? Of course not, but he cranks them out on his new disc Footprints Live! with confident, fresh, Scope-tinged breath. Perhaps the jazz icon didn't realize how timeless his tunes would be, but he knew he'd never lose his cool.

Last year Shorter put together a group of fine musicians pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci, and drummer Brian Blade a group that resulted in Shorter's first-ever live recording. Give Footprints Live!a spin and get a taste of the juicy, ripe fruit of this acoustic quartet. Fearless leaps toward the next sonic apex keep the players in unconflicting paths to a metaphysical freedom. Blade can feel it and he's not afraid to express it with frequent whoops and "whoas," and percussive outbursts.

But Footprints Live!isn't all jubilance and joy. Shorter gets real solemn sometimes, in that soft, beau-tiful way he lets the notes linger like incense smoke in the sweet air. And the way Perez shimmers around the sax sounds, on moments like the end of "Footprints," is forlorn gorgeousness redefined. The creativity and spontaneous spirit of the group recalls the Miles Davis Quintet that Shorter played with in the late '60s. Polyphonic confluence on songs like "Masquelero" and "JuJu" level into sultry, gaze-inducing rhythms.

These songs are sensual in ways that only the taste buds would know. Shorter and Perez’ interplay is like seltzer clear and effervescent. Patitucci's dynamite bass solos ascend into sheer exuberance. With a naked, flung into the wind way, these musicians express themselves completely, and their unrestrained nature creates constant inspiration. Each moment on Footprints Live! seems new, and the genre known as jazz rejuvenates itself once again. This review first appeared in the June 2002 issue of All About Jazz. By Celeste Sunderland https://www.allaboutjazz.com/footprints-live-wayne-shorter-verve-music-group-review-by-celeste-sunderland

Personnel: Wayne Shorter: tenor and soprano saxophones; Danilo Perez: piano; John Patitucci: bass; Brian Blade: drums

Footprints - Live

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Lina Nyberg & Bohuslän Big Band - The World´s A Stage

Styles: Vocal, Big Band
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:17
Size: 127,1 MB
Art: Front

( 4:45) 1. Prelude To A Dance
( 4:31) 2. The Dance
(12:19) 3. A Walk In The Park
( 4:51) 4. Royal Rumble
( 4:59) 5. I Apologize
( 7:24) 6. Enough
( 9:38) 7. A Wonderful Morning
( 6:45) 8. Close

Lina Nyberg is one of Sweden’s most creative and innovative jazz singers and contemporary composers. For more than 20 years she has been attracting consistent and widespread attention, mainly in Scandinavia, but also in many other parts of the world.

Lina Nyberg was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1970 and raised in an artistic home, both parents being artists/illustrators. After gratuating from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm in 1993 she released her first CD Close (Prophone records). A duo recording with late jazz pianist Esbjörn Svensson. An instant success and Swedish jazz classic.

As a solo artist she has been releasing 23 albums and tours the world with her band since 15 years Lina Nyberg Band: Cecilia Persson piano, David Stackenäs guitar, Josef Kallerdahl bass, Peter Danemo drums. She has received awards as Lars Gullin prize, She was honored with the Swedish Royal Academy of music Jazz prize 2016, and was selected to be a member in 2020.

As a composer she has writing works on commission from big bands, string quartets other chamber settings and symphony orchestras. She is the composer of the Swedish Radio music channel P2 signature. One of her most recent work is the album trilogy with works for big band Sirenades 2014, for stringquartet Aerials 2016 and for symphony orchestra Terrestrial 2017

The trilogy confirmed her as one of the most exciting composers in Scandinavia right now connecting the rhythmic and harmonic parts of her European jazz background with a contemporary classical language. In 2020 the album “the Clouds” was released with her new all star constellation, Lina Nyberg Tentet. In 2021 she reconnected with the quintet for the album Anniverse (Hoob records) and 2022 her collaboration and commissioned work with Bohuslän big band "the World's a Stage" marks her 30th anniversary as a recording artist. Swedish Jazz Grammy 1995 Swedish Jazzmusician of the year 2011 (Swedish Radio), Lars Gullin Award 2014, Album of the year (Gyllene skivan) 2017, Jan Johansson Award 2021, among others.
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/lina-nyberg

The World´s A Stage

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Anne Ducros - Close Your Eyes

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:13
Size: 111,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:37)  1. You've Got A Friend
(2:54)  2. L'eau À La Bouche
(4:47)  3. Lately
(3:24)  4. In your Eyes
(4:58)  5. Faded Roses
(4:26)  6. Blackbird
(2:42)  7. Taking A Chance On Love
(7:05)  8. The Island
(3:09)  9. Close Your Eyes
(4:11) 10. Song Bird
(3:56) 11. Clopin Clopan

Anne Ducros is a French jazz singer born in 1959 in Longfossé ( Pas-de-Calais ). She has recorded seven albums under her name, has taken part in other recordings as a guest and has earned an excellent reputation in the vocal jazz community. She defines her approach in this way: "My quest is to try to find the perfect harmony between the instinctive power that can be developed with jazz and how to channel this instinct with classical erudition with A proper aesthetic will ".  She began her musical studies with classical singing at the Conservatory of Music of Boulogne-sur-Mer with Lyne Dourian. Then, in addition to studying law at the University of Lille , she studied singing with Yuri Lov Anoff and Mady Mesplé . She works on baroque music ( Bach , Couperin , Handel , Rameau ), the solos of the great voices of jazz like Sarah Vaughan or Ella Fitzgerald , and the scat  . On a heart-stroke and thanks to the baroque and classical music that make her progress, she was introduced to jazz in 1986  and founded a quartet with which she presented herself in different competitions. In 1989 , with several awards, she recorded her first album, Do not You Take a Chance . His stage activity gained momentum, in the circuit of jazz clubs as in certain international scenes, sometimes in the company of René Urtreger ( 1992 ). Several encounters, such as the one with the bassist Ray Brown reinforce it in its artistic orientations .

His repertoire is eclectic, mixing modern and original arrangements of jazz standards , pop songs or compositions of classical musicians. During the years 1992 - 1993 she teaches vocal jazz at the ARPEJ of Paris and since 1994 she is director of Prélude , the first vocal jazz school in Paris. She also teaches courses and master classes around the world ( Aix-en-Provence , Le Havre , Chicago , Calvi , Brussels ...). It is within the community of musicians that its reputation spreads: one greets its stamp of contralto, its energy, its sense of the swing. The recognition comes thanks to the support of the violinist Didier Lockwood , which allows him to record Purple Song , accompanied by pianist Gordon Beck , published on the label Dreyfus Records in 2001 . Since then, she has recorded a new album on the same label every two years, but at the same time, she participates in many other recordings as a guest. In 1995, for example, Anne Ducros participates in the recording of Friday 14 with Luigi Trussardi and poses her voice on certain tracks of this album, released on the label Elabeth. In 2008 , she was hired as a singing teacher for Season 8 of Star Academy on TF1 (September 19 to December 19, 2008). When asked, on a special radio station ( TSF Jazz ), during a live interview of the Duke of Lombards on September 8, what can be the relationship between this reality show and jazz, she replies "I will Bringing jazz to an hour when, in general, it happens so little (...) The place of a jazz musician is wherever you want to share emotion, love, Happiness and joie de vivre (...) We were forced to move a few concerts, but it was extremely easy . In 2010 , Anne Ducros recorded Ella ... my dear , an album in tribute to Ella Fitzgerald which she particularly likes, whose arrangements are written by Ivan Jullien . In 2013, she released under the label NAÏVE Either way ... from Marilyn to Ella. In 2016, she meets the pianist and composer Robert Kaddouch in Paris, during a concert at the Sunside. It seems that the sound universe brought by the arrangements of this pianist opened new ways (voice). Translate by google https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Ducros

Close Your Eyes

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Alex Sipiagin Extreme Trio - Grizzlies

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 66:19
Size: 152,7 MB
Art: Front

(5:45) 1. Lady Jazz Is Back In Town
(2:00) 2. Thank You, Mr. Brooks
(7:04) 3. Waltz For My Parents
(6:01) 4. Cherokee
(3:17) 5. Misha
(6:21) 6. Micro Steps
(7:55) 7. Grizzly's
(2:16) 8. The Japan Trilogy - Kodai-Ji
(2:32) 9. The Japan Trilogy - Thoughts
(5:42) 10. The Japan Trilogy - Osaka No Basu
(3:32) 11. CR
(6:23) 12. Ballad For Beslan
(7:25) 13. Le Duc De Fontcaude

Alex Sipiagin was born on June 11, 1967 in Yaroslavl, Russia, a town known for being home to one of Russia's most famous opera singers, Leonid Sobinov, also Alex's great-grandfather. Following in the footsteps of his musical relatives (his great uncles were both string players), Alex began playing the trumpet at age 12, studying with one of Yaroslavl's best teachers, Mikael Tsamaev, and later continued his classical training and music studies at the Gnessin Conservatory in Moscow for a total of 8 years. During that time, he served the mandatory 2 years in the Russian army, then returned to the Conservatory to finish his studies.

It was around in 1985 that he became inspired by what few and rare taped recordings were available in Russia of bebop and other jazz music and, beginning in 1988, began working professionally in Russian jazz groups, touring and recording steadily. In 1990, Alex won first place in a Russian young jazz players' competition in Rostov City. That same year, he visited the United States for the first time, performing with a Russian student jazz band, Green Wave, when they were asked to headline the Corpus Christi Jazz Festival in Texas. He caught the attention and ears of many, leading him to become invited to participate in the International Louis Armstrong Competition sponsored by the Thelonius Monk Institute in Washington D.C. Other trumpeters competing were such prominent players such as Ryan Kaiser, Scott Wendtholt, Nicolas Payton, and others.

Alex placed 4th in the competition, and was presented a Bach trumpet by the legendary Clark Terry, which he still plays today. Following a challenging year, in 1991 Alex decided to pursue jazz to the next level and moved to New York City. He sat in on jam sessions while working in a house band in a Russian club in Brighton Beach until he snagged his first jazz gig in 1992, playing every Monday night at Sweet Basil with the Gil Evans Band directed by Miles Evans, which he still occasionally plays with, then in 1993 he became a member of Gil Goldstein's Zebra Coast Orchestra, which replaced the Gil Evan's Band slot on Monday nights at Sweet Basil.

In 1994, Alex became a regular member of the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band while performing also with drummer Bob Moses' band, Mozamba. In 1995, Alex became a regular for the Mingus Big Band, which still performs every Thursday night at The Fez in the Time Cafe located in downtown, NYC, and later the Mingus Orchestra from 1998. He also performed with Eric Clapton, Dr. John and Elvis Costello. In 2000, Dave Holland invited him to be a part of his newly formed big band. Today Alex regularly performs, records and tours worldwide with the Mingus Big Band, the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band, and the Dave Holland Big Band, is the bandleader for Monday Michiru's band, arranges, composes, and has several solo CDs out.
https://www.amazon.ca/Grizzlies-Extreme-Trio/dp/B000BPLPNA

Personnel: Regina Litvinova - piano, writer; Alex Sipiagin - trumpet, flugelhorn; Reiner Witzel - alto saxophone; Claus Kießelbach - vibraphone; Markus Schieferdecker - bass; Christian Scheuber - drums.

Grizzlies

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Nicola Sabato & Jacques Di Costanzo Quartet - Live in Capbreton (The Music of Ray Brown and Milt Jackson)

Styles: Be-bop, Jazz
Year: 2017
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:42
Size: 148,7 MB
Art: Front

(7:19) 1. Now Hear My Meaning
(6:17) 2. Small Fry
(7:15) 3. Once I Loved
(4:59) 4. Back To Bologna
(5:58) 5. The Nearness Of You
(6:53) 6. Think Positive
(5:50) 7. Sad Blues
(6:14) 8. Be-bop
(7:25) 9. It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
(6:28) 10. Captain Bill

Born 23 April 1973, Lyon, Rhône-Alpes, France. Nicola Sabato is a double bass player capable of developing with harmony and coherence his own path and proposal, which are well rooted in the history of jazz and of his own instrument, without neglecting “modernity” and appeal. As high-value sideman with a great personality, Nicola Sabato has refined his own skill thanks to a legend of double bass as Pierre Boussaguet, whom here in Italy we have maybe somewhat overlooked, and he met along his way two real giant artists like Ray Brown and John Clayton, surely some of the most decisive encounters for Nicola’s musical career.

There are three albums that came out under his name, one of which ‘Lined with a groove’ can count on the extraordinary support of Jeff Hamilton on drums; while ‘Cruisin’ with the Nicola Sabato Quartet’ is a cool work based on a very personal retrieval of an elegant jazz which is certainly not lacking in any flashes. Nicola Sabato is undoubtedly a musician to monitor with a great attention and interest in relation to his own clever and sensible approach to a kind of music, jazz, that is able to look forward in the best way when it doesn’t forget its basic principles, structural debts and the beauty of what has been left to build on itself and beside. We have told with Nicola Sabato so as to know more datails about his music, his own personal path as well as his undeniable Italian origin.
https://www.jazzmusicarchives.com/artist/nicola-sabato

Live in Capbreton (The Music of Ray Brown and Milt Jackson)
v

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Shannon Warto, Bob Phillips - A Moment with Bob

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 2022
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:41
Size: 110,2 MB
Art: Front

(5:32) 1. Embraceable You / I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
(3:13) 2. That Old Black Magic
(3:10) 3. Somewhere Over The Rainbow Connection
(3:31) 4. Blues In The Night
(2:16) 5. I Got Rhythm
(4:22) 6. Cry Me A River
(3:44) 7. Dream A Little Dream Of Me
(2:24) 8. My Baby Just Cares For Me
(3:54) 9. My Funny Valentine
(3:54) 10. Stardust
(3:59) 11. Till There Was You
(4:22) 12. What A Wonderful World
(3:14) 13. Smile

A recording documenting the beloved musical relationship between Shannon Warto and Bob Phillips. Featuring jazz standards, this album weaves together piano and voice beautifully, making for easy listening.

Shannon Warto has been singing on the Monterey Peninsula, throughout the central coast, as well as in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past 20 years. Although her main focus has been in traditional Celtic music she also loves to sing jazz, folk, country, pop, bluegrass, and more recently EDM (electronic dance music).

In 2006 Shannon co-produced her first CD under her former name Shannon Miller with the band Sweetfire. This CD features traditional Irish music and can be found on ITunes and CDbaby.

Her voice can be heard with various musicians and bands including Amy Krupski, Bright Side Band, Laurel Thomsen and Dan Frechette, Grumbling Ginger, Swingin’ Synapses, and SpekrFreks. She is currently recording her first jazz album with jazz pianist Bob Phillips.

In addition to singing cover songs, Shannon has also written her own material, and released her lullaby "Oh Hurley" in 2019, which accompanies her children's book Hurley the Hippo, published in 2017.

With a keen ear and quick ability to learn new material Shannon has sung for numerous events and weddings. She is also available for studio work, and has the ability to perform new material in a limited number of takes. Shannon is always looking for new musical opportunities and is open to performing with a wide variety of musical artists.

She is currently interested in recording opportunities, musical collaborations, focusing on guitar practice, singing at weddings, private parties, house concerts, and other venues, and hosts singing experiences for those interested in a unifying soul connection through song. https://shannonwarto.com/bio

A Moment with Bob

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Scott Hamilton & Harry Allen - Heavy Juice

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:09
Size: 144,8 MB
Art: Front

(6:05)  1. Heavy Juice
(6:57)  2. Did You Call Her Today?
(7:02)  3. Groovin' High
(6:48)  4. If I Should Lose You
(6:28)  5. Blues Up and Down
(8:32)  6. If Dreams Come True
(5:47)  7. Warm Valley
(9:08)  8. Ow!
(6:20)  9. Strike Up The Band

This CD has been a recording waiting to happen for twenty years. Back then, highschooler Harry Allen joined Scott Hamilton on stage at the Newport Jazz Festival for a cameo performance with the George Wein-led Newport All-Stars. Allen grew up in Rhode Island, which also claims Hamilton as a native son. And Hamilton certainly was a role model as Allen blossomed then and fast became a welcome young player on the New York swing jazz scene.  They've had occasional chances to collaborate on the bandstand. And now, Heavy Juice enables them to join a line of great tenor summit session pairings that through the years have included Ben Webster and Coleman Hawkins, Gene Ammons and Dexter Gordon, Ammons and Sonny Stitt, and Al Cohn and Zoot Sims. This is a splendid session in which two good musical friends mine common musical ground with very similar sounds. Both favor a breathy, growling Webster tone at times. These days, Allen comes more out of a Stan Getz melodic bag, which Hamilton explored in an earlier phase. 

At times, when they're playing in unison or locked into the same tone, it helps to know that Hamilton is on the left stereo channel, Allen on the right. The crack rhythm section provides a strong cushion, with John Bunch's dancing hands providing some elegant twists and turns at the piano. Nothing here disappoints, but their bop-meets-R&B take on "Blues Up and Down" by Ammons and Stitt ranks as my clear favorite. It's filled with an exuberant spirit of one-upmanship until they blend together for the final shout chorus. In contrast, the Duke Ellington ballad "Warm Valley" enables them to share a Websterish blend. From start to finish, through all eight tracks, this blend of Heavy Juice is very, very good.
By Ken Franckling https://www.allaboutjazz.com/heavy-juice-scott-hamilton-concord-music-group-review-by-ken-franckling.php

Personnel: Scott Hamilton (tenor saxophone), Harry Allen (tenor saxophone), John Bunch (piano), Dennis Irwin (bass), Chuck Riggs (drums)

Heavy Juice

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Anne Ducros - Piano, Piano

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:03
Size: 142,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:26)  1. Four
(4:45)  2. God Bless the Child
(6:25)  3. You Go to My Head
(5:00)  4. Les Feuilles Mortes
(5:20)  5. Never Let Me Go
(6:56)  6. Gnossienne No. 1
(4:21)  7. I Thought About You
(5:35)  8. My Foolish Heart
(5:14)  9. Moon and Sand
(3:59) 10. Just in Time
(4:41) 11. Body and Soul
(5:15) 12. Naima

There is little information about European jazz singer Anne Ducros within the liner notes to Piano, Piano, but she clearly endeared herself to each of the four guest pianists with whom she worked on her CD. She soars in the lush setting of "Never Let Me Go," where she packs an emotional punch, though her tripping over a few words slightly handicaps her interpretation of Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child." One of Europe's greatest jazz pianists, Enrico Pieranunzi, joins her for the powerful rendition of "You Go to My Head" and a graceful take of "Moon and Sand." She came to the United States in order to work with Chick Corea, singing "Les Feuilles Mortes" (Autumn Leaves) in its original language in a terrific duet and adding some humorous horn-like scatting reminiscent of Ella Fitzgerald on-stage. Both her lyrical "My Foolish Heart" and explosive "Body and Soul" are just as effective. Another veteran European pianist, René Urtreger, is paired with Ducros for a gently loping duet of "I Thought About You" and anchoring the rhythm section for another Ella-like scat exhibition in the swinging "Just in Time." Benoît de Mesnay, who doubles on piano and Fender Rhodes in "Four" (where she once again scats up a storm) and joins her for the swinging interpretation of "Naima," is evidently her regular accompanist. All in all, this is a very enjoyable effort. ~ Ken Dryden  http://www.allmusic.com/album/piano-piano-mw0000404358

Piano, Piano

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Pharoah Sanders - Pharoah Sanders' Finest

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:23
Size: 163.4 MB
Styles: Soul jazz, Bop
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[ 3:22] 1. Moniebah
[10:06] 2. You've Got To Have Freedom
[ 5:29] 3. Naima
[ 8:06] 4. Moon Child
[ 6:10] 5. Moon Rays
[ 6:51] 6. Origin
[ 8:23] 7. Africa
[ 4:34] 8. Duo
[ 6:18] 9. Lament
[ 4:57] 10. You Don't Know What Love Is
[ 7:00] 11. The Bird Song

Bass – Curtis Lundy, Stafford James; Drums – Eccleston W. Wainwright, Eddie Moore, Idris Muhammed; Percussion – Cheikh Tidiane Fale; Piano – John Hicks, William Henderson; Saxophone – Pharoah Sanders.

After Pharoah Sanders recorded as a leader for Impulse in 1973 (Love in Us All) he recorded a number of records for different labels; his self-titled album for India Navigation stands as a high point in his development as not only a saxophonist, but as a player who sought ways of moving to a more reflective approach. These included recordings for Arista/Novus, Theresa, Dr. Jazz, and the Netherlands-based Timeless imprints, as well as co-led and other sessions as a prominent sideman. Sanders spent increasing amounts of time in Europe and Japan because he could work regularly. The period he spent on Timeless is the subject of this wonderful compilation assembled by the excellent Dopeness Galore label in Amsterdam. For starters, Dopeness Galore is not strictly a jazz label; they are just as closely allied with hip-hop and dance music culture, and issue fine 12" singles as well as compilations, in addition to supporting a number of visual artists. Definitely a label to watch in the 21st century.

Sanders recorded three albums for Timeless, a label associated with fine jazz from the U.S., the European continent, and Asia: Africa, released in 1987, Moonchild issued in 1989, and Welcome to Love, a ballads collection. The tracks compiled on Finest are not arranged chronologically (thankfully); maximum attention was given to aesthetics and dynamics as well as showing the wide range of Sanders musicality and interests in world music as well as the jazz tradition, his own forward thinking, and his relentless pursuit of a spiritual muse in his music. ~Thom Jurek

Pharoah Sanders'Finest 

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Katie Melua - Love & Money

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 35:56
Size: 82,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:34) 1. Golden Record
(3:58) 2. Quiet Moves
(3:45) 3. 14 Windows
(2:48) 4. Lie In The Heat
(3:11) 5. Darling Star
(4:37) 6. Reefs
(3:35) 7. First Date
(3:39) 8. Pick Me Up
(3:26) 9. Those Sweet Days
(3:20) 10. Love & Money

In 2023, Katie Melua celebrates the 20th anniversary of her debut, having earned a legion of fans with her indie folk that fuses elements of blues and jazz. The Georgian-British singer returns with her ninth studio album and first release since 2020, Love and Money.

Opener Golden Record is a departure from what listeners might expect: built around a repetitive drum beat, it’s a long way from her early acoustic work, though still bringing her distinctive, haunting vocals. Quiet Moves continues the sonic shift, more upbeat in tempo and piano-driven – Melua is clearly at ease straying from her comfort zone. 14 Windows will feel more familiar to fans, a comparatively stripped-back listen.

The stunning Darling Star is a beautiful piano-based track that ranks as one of the best on the record, capturing the warmth and depth of the singer’s voice. Meanwhile, Reefs is an almost indie-sounding offering that doesn’t quite come off on the same level as some of its counterparts, but it is a pleasing risk.

The overarching sound here feels looser than in previous work, a deliberate move that feels befitting of the more introspective, reflective nature of the lyrics about her rise to fame over the past two decades and first moving to the UK. This is one of the artist’s most personal releases and spotlights her well-known songwriting ability.

It is a welcome development to see Melua stretching herself musically, employing instruments and genres that we haven’t heard from her before, and proving her vocals and composing style can diverge, often seamlessly. While her soothing delivery is as appealing as ever, the songs themselves tend to meander, resulting in a frustrating record that doesn’t quite hit the peaks it might, in spite of some beautiful moments.

Love and Money is an ambitious record from Katie Melua that is close to home. The stylistic shifts are intriguing, leaning into some unexpected directions, with piano ballads interspersed with drumbeat loops and indie guitars that don’t distract from the strength of the songwriting. The soft nature of some of the tracks can at times be a tad repetitive but, overall, this is another strong album. And, as her ninth, it proves Melua still has a lot to say and is willing to push herself, exploring new sounds something that should be applauded, even if it doesn’t always land perfectly.By Christopher Connor
https://www.theupcoming.co.uk/2023/03/27/katie-melua-love-and-money-album-review/

Love & Money

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Rosario Giuliani, Pippo Matino, Benjamin Henocq - Trio Ostiko

Styles: Saxophone Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:34
Size: 95,6 MB
Art: Front


(5:04) 1. Footprints
(3:16) 2. Mimì
(4:25) 3. Special Day
(4:31) 4. Suite et poursuite (Part I)
(3:44) 5. Suite et poursuite (Part II)
(1:41) 6. Suite et poursuite (Bass Solo Interlude)
(3:03) 7. Suite et poursuite (Part III)
(3:26) 8. The Circle
(4:09) 9. Bass Song for Napoli
(3:57) 10. Coffe Shop
(4:14) 11. Essential Blues

Destiny in the name. Perhaps, surely, however, this is not the case with this Trio. At least that, for "ostiko" you don't want to pass off the antithesis of what is cheaply sold, marketed, in the current Italian or overseas musical panorama. In this sense, then, it is easy for us to welcome the "hostilities" feared by the title and name of the group. A trio that was born from a rib of Pippo Matino's Essential Team, when in 1995 it hosted the then young emerging talent Rosario Giuliani. Fourteen years of limbo during which the bassist from Portici has never shelved the idea of giving birth to an ad hoc project.

With the absolute complicity of Peppe Rosato, owner of the Alhambra Birrjazz, a venue in lower Lazio where Giuliani and Matino have performed several times and have been able to hone their weapons, enriched by the meeting with Benjamin Henocq, drummer, composer and arranger, already awarded the "D'jango d'Or" in 1998, the eponymous album was born. Eight songs in all, of which seven originals and only one dedicated to Wayne Shorter with Footprints at the opening, with an intense groove fueled by the up-tempo of Matino and Henocq who launch the solo brilliance of Giuliani's alto sax. The seven autograph songs are well divided.

Mimì is the signature of the saxophonist from Terracina, breezy, with broad and round sonorities, fast and biting, preceded by a long and pressing solo by Henocq, permeated with a dry urban language. The filmic traits of the French drummer's ballad Special Day maintain that New York imprinting, without falling into mainstream mannerisms, and it is sensual and enveloping. Suite et poursuite is articulated in three movements that put the casual instrumental technique of the musicians on a pedestal. From the robust rhythmic architecture the first, fast and vigorous. The jumble of forms leads towards the second movement, pervaded by a gentle halo but always poised with restlessness and which spills over into the solo bass interlude where Matino shows all his mastery of the instrument.

Accelerations, dizzying rhythms, a veritable magma of sound led by Giuliani's torrential phrasing dictate the timing of the third movement. The Circle has the seal of Henocq and its rhythmic tensions come to the surface mixing well with the voices of the group. Bass Song for Napoli and Essential Blues see the theme song by Pippo Matino. The first has a soft and cautious lyricism, with Giuliani careful to juxtapose the notes on the scaffolding of the sounds woven with skill by the Campania bassist.

The second draws on the repertoire dear to Matino, made of expressive intensity conferred by the dynamics of the sound and the power of the phrasing, corroborated by Henocq's robust drive. Coffee Shop is by Giuliani and crosses his sound universe, with sustained tempos and a sense of proportion. A work of excellent workmanship, thick and with a very robust overall system. Alceste Ayroldi for Jazzitalia..Translate By Google http://www.jazzitalia.net/recensioni/trioostiko.asp#.ZCBeINeZOpo

Personnel: Rosario Giuliani alto, soprano sax; Pippo Matino bass; Benjamin Henocq drums

Trio Ostiko

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The Big 18 - Okay for My Baby

Size: 176,5 MB

Time: 77:05

File: MP3 @ 320K/s

Released: 2014

Styles: Jazz: Big Band

Art: Front

01. Easy Does It (5:12)

02. Tuxedo Junction (4:29)

03. Hors D'oeuvre (4:39)

04. Blues On Parade (4:46)

05. Feet Draggin' Blues (5:31)

06. Okay For Baby (3:37)

07. The Campbells Are Swinging (3:48)

08. Parade Of The Milk Bottle Caps (3:50)

09. Five O'clock Drag (5:42)

10. March Of The Toys (3:45)

11. Skyliner (4:39)

12. I'm Prayin' Humble (2:56)

13. Summit Ridge Drive (4:15)

14. Swingtime In The Rockies (4:00)

15. Quaker City Jazz (2:27)

16. Ton O'rock Bump (5:26)

17. Liza (3:26)

18. Organ Grinder's Swing (4:29)

The Big 18 was a studio only big band assembled by RCA Victor Musical Director Fred Reynolds in 1958. Reynold's idea was to use some of the great songs and arrangements of the big band era while showcasing some of the star sidemen of the great bands by allowing ample time for extended solos. There were two releases by The Big 18. They were Live Echoes Of The Swinging Bands and More Live Echoes Of The Swinging Bands.

Hi-fi stereo was of course a post Swing era invention. Extended recorded solos were not a luxury arrangers and band-leaders during the Big Band era were afforded as 78RPM records allowed only about three minutes per side.

Under the leadership of George T. Simon the Jazztone record label in 1957 had already begun the process of grouping former Big Band era soloists in an all-star setting and recording them in hi-fi. While excellent, records like "Cootie And Rex In The Big Challenge" used primarily new material and a smaller group of ten musicians. In the same year, on Capitol, Glen Gray was recreating hits of the big band era in hi-fi with larger bands. The Gray / Capitol recordings are stiff by comparison and not nearly as exciting as the nineteen issued takes done by The Big Eighteen in the summer of 1958.

The solos, the expert arrangements written by Charles Shirley, and the incredible personnel line-up sets the RCA Big Eighteen recordings apart from most other post WWII big band alumni or all-star big band groupings. A veritable who's who of jazz and swing participated in the five recording sessions done between June 10th and July 15th, 1958. Not since the great Metronome All-Star dates during the Swing era was there a group of sidemen of this caliber assembled for recording purposes.

On the June 10th date Billy Butterfield (Shaw, Goodman); Buck Clayton (Basie); Charlie Shavers (Tommy Dorsey, John Kirby); and Rex Stewart (Ellington); are all playing trumpet. On bones we hear Lawrence Brown (Ellington); Vic Dickenson (Basie); Lou McGarity (Goodman); and Dickie Wells (Basie). Walt Levinsky (Tommy Dorsey) is on clarinet and alto; Hymie Schertzer (Goodman, Tommy Dorsey) plays alto; Sam Donahue (bandleader) and Boomie Richman (Teddy Powell, George Paxton) work tenor. Ernie Caceres (Glenn Miller) plays baritone sax.

The rhythm section for the first four sessions consists of Johnny Guarnieri (Shaw, Goodman) piano; Barry Galbraith (Thornhill, McIntyre) guitar; Milt Hinton (Cab Calloway) bass; and Jimmy Crawford (Jimmie Lunceford) on drums. Peanuts Hucko (Bradley, Spivak, Miller) was used on clarinet subbing for Levinsky on June 17th and Yank Lawson (Bob Crosby) subbed for Butterfield on trumpet for the July 8th and 15th dates. Levinsky was back in on clarrey for Hucko on July 8th and 15th. Changes to the rhythm section for 7-15 included Don Lamond (Woody Herman) on drums and Russ Saunders (Thornhill) on string bass.

Okay For My Baby 

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Spanky & Our Gang - Greatest Hits

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 48:08
Size: 110.2 MB
Styles: Pop rock, Folk rock
Year: 1999
Art: Front

[2:56] 1. Sunday Will Never Be The Same
[2:33] 2. Makin' Every Minute Count
[4:58] 3. Brother, Can You Spare A Dime
[3:13] 4. Like To Get To Know You
[3:05] 5. Lazy Day
[3:06] 6. Prescription For The Blues
[3:49] 7. Sunday Mornin'
[4:01] 8. Stardust
[2:51] 9. Anything You Choose
[2:43] 10. And She's Mine
[3:43] 11. Yesterday's Rain
[2:31] 12. Without Rhyme Or Reason
[2:27] 13. For Lovin' Me
[3:13] 14. Everybody's Talkin'
[2:54] 15. Give A Damn

Digitally remastered by Suha Gur (Universal Music Studios, Edison, New Jersey). This 15-song compilation supplants a 12-song CD of the same name dating from the 1980s, which, in turn, was adapted from an LP from 1969. This time out, in addition to improving the sound somewhat, the producers have de-emphasized the cheerful, faux hippie pop sound of the group (though that is definitely represented) to show off some other sides of their output. All of the hits are here: "Sunday Will Never Be the Same," "Making Every Minute Count," "Lazy Day," "Sunday Morning" (in its hit version, not the interesting but bizarre outtake from the earlier hits collection), "Like to Get to Know You," "Give a Damn," "Yesterday's Rain," "And She's Mine," and "Anything You Choose." The real inspiration (and limitations) of this compilation lie in the other tracks, which include "Brother Can You Spare a Dime" and "Prescription for the Blues," the latter featuring Little Brother Montgomery, who taught Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane the song originally, and their live version of "For Lovin' Me," which features a quote from Sergie Prokofiev's "Lt. Kije Suite." And isn't it amazing how that piece of music manifests itself here and there in popular music, in locales such as this and Emerson, Lake & Palmer's "I Believe in Father Christmas," among others?. On the down side, the producers have removed one gorgeous and playful number, "It Ain't Necessarily Bird Avenue" and "Three Ways From Tomorrow," the latter a brilliant showcase for guitarist/banjoman Lefty Baker and the closest thing to a heavy psychedelic guitar track that this group ever issued. One gets a broader overview of the group's sound, but one wishes that they could've seen fit to work at least those two songs in, if not the third "missing" track, "Commercial." ~ Bruce Eder

John Seiter (vocals, drums); Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane, Nigel Pickering (vocals); Kenny Hodges (guitar); Lefty Baker (banjo).

Greatest Hits

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Cécile McLorin Salvant - Mélusine

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:16
Size: 104,3 MB
Art: Front

(5:26) 1. Est-ce ainsi que les hommes vivent ?
(5:58) 2. La route enchantée
(2:47) 3. Il m'a vue nue
(2:41) 4. Dites moi que je suis belle
(5:34) 5. Doudou
(2:20) 6. Petite musique terrienne
(1:03) 7. Aida
(3:13) 8. Mélusine
(0:58) 9. Wedo
(3:44) 10. D'un feu secret
(3:49) 11. Le temps est assassin
(5:18) 12. Fenestra
(0:44) 13. Domna N'Almucs
(1:33) 14. Dame Iseut

A serpent woman haunts Cecile McLorin Salvant's dreams on her boldly realized seventh album, 2023's Mélusine. Inspired by the European folktale most famously detailed by 14th century French writer Jean d'Arras, Mélusine tells the tale of a shapeshifting maiden, half-serpent/half-woman, whose righteous anger takes on ever-more dualistic meanings under Salvant's dynamic musical sway. Having been lavished with accolades, including several Grammy Awards for her clarion, swinging jazz and French chanson-infused albums, Salvant has increasingly leaned into the more stylistically experimental and personal aspects of her artistry.

It was an approach she took to new levels with 2022's Ghost Song, performing her poetic originals alongside unexpected covers of songs by Kate Bush and Sting. Centered on the title track, which she composed during the Ghost Song sessions, Mélusine is a gorgeously realized production. Although there are some English lyrics here, the album features the most French Salvant has sung on record. Thankfully, she offers translations of each song with a sentence that also highlights how each track illuminates the story.

The album also finds Salvant (who produced the album with Tom Korkidis) pulling together all of her disparate influences, from her moody cabaret jazz reading of Charles Trenet's "La Route Enchantee" to her playfully mischievous interpretation of the 14th century composition "Dites Moi Que Je Suis Belle," the latter of which is done in dancerly duet with djembe percussion master Weedie Braimah. Along with Braimah, she's joined throughout by several longtime associates including pianists Sullivan Fortner and Aaron Diehl, bassists Paul Sikivie and Luques Curtis, drummers Kyle Pool and Obed Calvaire, and saxophonist Godwin Louis.

Shifting the line-up track to track, Salvant offers inspired forays into '70s sci-fi-inspired Canadian musical theater ("Petite Musique Terrienne" from Starmania), the dramatic French pop of Veronique Sanson ("Le Temps est Assassin"), and an Afro-Latin take on 12th century troubadour Almuc Castelnau's "Dame Iseut" that Salvant sings in both Occitan and Haitian Creole, languages that underline her own rich dual heritage.

There's even a synthesizer-accented take on Michel Lambert's haunting 1660 air de coeur "D'un Feu Secret" that sounds like electronic composer Suzanne Ciani, Ella Fitzgerald, and the Modern Jazz Quartet giving a Baroque court performance. Her originals here are just as stylistically wide-ranging as she pulls together jazz and Haitian compas rhythms on "Doudou," accompanies herself on analog synth on "Wedo," and weaves a dreamy overlay of vocals and electric piano on "Aida."

It almost goes without saying that Salvant's voice is utterly sublime on Mélusine, rich with an earthy jazz warmth on one song and shimmering with a brightly attenuated operatic resonance on another. There's also a feeling that for her, the story of a half-serpent half-woman is in keeping with her life as a Black woman raised in Miami by a Haitian father and French mother. Whether it's with the themes of romantic heartbreak and bodily autonomy, or the global boundary-pushing musicality at play on Mélusine, Salvant's work is transcendent.By Matt Collar https://www.allmusic.com/album/melusine-mw0003926207

Mélusine

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Maria Kim - Fotografia

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:13
Size: 139,1 MB
Art: Front

(2:49) 1. Samba de Uma Nota Só
(3:40) 2. Call Me
(4:34) 3. Fotografia
(3:30) 4. Desafinado
(5:09) 5. Ela é Carioca
(5:43) 6. Pra Machucar Meu Coração
(3:31) 7. So Danço Samba
(3:51) 8. Chega de Saudade
(4:54) 9. Garota de Ipanema
(2:34) 10. Doralice
(6:29) 11. Corcovado
(4:31) 12. Baubles, Bangles and Beads
(5:13) 13. Triste
(3:39) 14. O Pato

Piano player and vocalist. Maria Kim, a musician who perfectly plays these two roles and who constantly conceives of various projects, has returned with [Fotografia], an album containing Brazilian masterpieces. She started jazz and chose two instruments, piano and vocal, while listening to the music of multi-instrumentalist musicians such as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Eliane Elias, Joao Gilberto, and Gilberto Gil to learn about the organic harmony of melody, harmony, and rhythm.

It was from thinking about it. Like other albums she has conducted so far, Bossa Nova songs using simple but symbolic and lyrical motifs to capture the aesthetics of minimalism that Maria Kim pursues serve as a perfect canvas. As symbolized by Fotografia, the title song of this project and a song that depicts a couple at the beach at sunset as if looking at a picture, Maria Kim expresses a way that her music can convey more words to listeners with fewer words, sometimes silently.

I thought about making it something special that would give comfort even when I was sitting back, and I tried to melt this warm message into the music. This album [Fotografia], which captures the sensibility of existing Brazilian music as it is, adds more splendid performance techniques, delicate recording techniques, and modern arrangements. It is an album that shows the essence of MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira) grafted with. Translate By Google
https://www.musickorea.com/product/MARIA-KIM-FOTOGRAFIA/75004/cid/383.

Fotografia

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Hank Mobley, Donald Byrd - The Birth Of Hard Bop Disc 1, Disc 2

Album: The Birth Of Hard Bop  Disc 1

Styles: Trumpet And Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:18
Size: 146,6 MB
Art: Front

(7:30)  1. Budo
(6:58)  2. I Married An Angel
(8:02)  3. The Jazz Message
(5:49)  4. There Will Never Be Another You
(3:06)  5. Cattin' - Alternate Take
(4:37)  6. Cattin'
(4:41)  7. Madeline
(3:45)  8. When I Fall In Love
(4:20)  9. Space Flight - Previously Unissued
(4:12) 10. Space Flight
(5:18) 11. Blues Number Two - Previously Unissued
(4:56) 12. Blues Number Two

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Album: The Birth Of Hard Bop  Disc 2

Time: 64:36

Size: 149,2 MB

(6:30)  1. B. For B.B. - Previously Unissued

(6:28)  2. B. For B.B.

(7:01)  3. Hank's Shout

(7:53)  4. Bet

(8:53)  5. Nostalagia

(9:49)  6. Thad's Blues

(5:31)  7. A-1

(5:48)  8. A-1 - Alternate Take

(6:37)  9. Doug's Minor Bouk

This 2-CD set, introducing the Savoy Jazz Rare Sessions series, contains the reissue of four 1956 Savoy albums: The Jazz Message Of Hank Mobley, Hard Bop, The Jazz Message Of Hank Mobley, Volume 2 and A-1: The Savoy Sessions. It includes alternate takes and previously unissued tracks that serve an important purpose. Here, "Cattin’," for example, is played at different tempos: Bird-like on the alternate take with different featured soloists. The version originally issued is looser and more representative of hard bop. "Space Flight," on the other hand, is virtually the same on both takes. Minor flaws in the recorded sound were most likely caused when performers turned away from the microphone. The unissued track of "Blues Number Two" contains serious sound problems as well as artist miscues. But there’s more. The alternate track was performed at a faster bebop tempo without as much soulful expression as that evident in the issued take.

By including the alternate track, Savoy is giving the listener an opportunity to hear what was considered desirable in the recording studio: better sound and a genuine, gospel-influenced, blues-based expression.While the previously unissued take of "B. for B.B." is obviously inferior, both in its poor sound balance and in the faster, uninspired mood; "A-1" appears as two different arrangements, both of great value but independent of each other. Each session leader is well represented. Sweet ballads and driving jams feature the Byrd/Mobley quintet as well as the Morgan/Mobley quintet. Lee Morgan and Hank Mobley appear on the last 7 tracks. Over two hours in length, Savoy’s reissue offers early glimpses of several pioneers, four very different pianists, and an introduction to what folks began calling hard bop. ~ Jim Santella https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-birth-of-hard-bop-lee-morgan-savoy-jazz-review-by-jim-santella.php

Personnel: Donald Byrd, Lee Morgan- trumpet; Hank Mobley- tenor saxophone; John LaPorta- alto saxophone; Horace Silver, Ronnie Ball, Barry Harris, Hank Jones- piano; Wendell Marshall, Doug Watkins- bass; Kenny Clarke, Arthur Taylor- drums. 

The Birth Of Hard Bop Disc 1, Disc 2

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Scott Robinson - Tenormore

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:25
Size: 157,8 MB
Art: Front

( 2:52)  1. And I Love Her
( 5:49)  2. Tenor Eleven
( 7:38)  3. Put On A Happy Face
( 6:08)  4. Morning Star
( 6:34)  5. The Good Life
( 7:46)  6. Tenor Twelve
( 5:21)  7. Rainy River
( 7:01)  8. The Weaver
( 6:53)  9. The Nearness Of You
(11:19) 10. Tenormore

When attempting to lend form to the term "rara avis" in jazz, Scott Robinson instantly appears in the mind's eye. He's most easily recognized these days as a horn heavy on the most standard of heavy horns, adding ballast and low-end individuality to the sound of Maria Schneider's orchestra with his baritone saxophone, but Robinson is also beyond proficient a virtuoso, in fact on numerous instruments that most people don't even know exist. His arsenal includes theremin, ophicleide, sarrusophone, alto clarinet, echo cornet, bass marimba, contrabass banjo, and a few hundred other rarities. Long before Robinson acquired his treasure trove of instrumental curiosities, his heart belonged to the second instrument he ever owned (behind a 1927 Conn alto saxophone from his grandfather) and the first instrument he actually purchased: a silver 1924 Conn tenor saxophone procured from a Maryland antique store in 1975. That tenor has been a constant for Robinson since it came into his life, so it's only fitting that the horn receives its due on what is, surprisingly, the multi-instrumentalist's first all-tenor date. In some respects, such a project seems limiting for a man who thrives on diversification. But the album itself makes an important point which counters that line of thinking: the man, not the vessel, is the music. The range of expression that Robinson is capable of eliciting from a single horn this single horn, for this affair is astounding. Opening on a stratospheric four-note motif that introduces a solo take of "And I Love Her," Robinson's vision proves rangy from the start. There is romance in the music for sure, but also a hint of feral snark. As the program plays on, Robinson works his tenor for all it's capable of while also thriving in the atmospheres he creates with his A-list bandmates pianist/organist Helen Sung, bassist Martin Wind, and drummer Dennis Mackrel. This quartet bumps and grinds its way through an eleven-bar blues aptly named "Tenor Eleven," turns "Put On A Happy Face" into a ballad that balances the scales of emotions with rueful revisionism, sets a cool-headed take on "The Good Life" into motion with some free improvisation, and visits church on Wind's soulful, organ-enhanced "Rainy River." Scott Robinson may typically take instrumental variegation to a level unsurpassed in this music, but that shouldn't diminish his position as a tenor saxophonist of note. In that most crowded of fields, he still stands out.  ~ Dan Bilawsky https://www.allaboutjazz.com/tenormore-scott-robinson-arbors-records-review-by-dan-bilawsky.php

Personnel: Scott Robinson: tenor saxophone; Helen Sung: piano, Hammond B3 organ (7, 9); Dennis Mackrel: drums; Martin Wind: bass, acoustic bass guitar (9, 10); Sharon Robinson: flute (8).

Tenormore

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Robin Mckelle - Alterations

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:05
Size: 113,7 MB
Art: Front

(5:14)  1. Back to Black
(4:30)  2. Rolling in the Deep
(3:39)  3. Head High
(5:43)  4. Don't Explain
(5:32)  5. Born to Die
(4:59)  6. Jolene
(5:30)  7. River
(5:25)  8. No Ordinary Love
(3:22)  9. Mercedes Benz
(5:07) 10. You've Got a Friend - Bonus Track

For her ninth album, ‘Alterations’, US soul and jazz chanteuse Robin Mckelle has chosen to do something very different to her previous recordings; she’s chosen to record a set of covers though not just any covers. The song selection on ‘Alterations’ (with one exception) is drawn from the repertoires of celebrated female artists… people like Joni Mitchell, Adele, Nina Simone and Janis Joplin. Robin explains that after recording a few albums of her own original music she wanted to focus once again on her first passion just singing and, by extension, interpreting the music and lyrics of others. So she set about choosing a set of songs which spoke directly to her emotions allowing her interpretative instincts to take flight… and how! ‘Alterations’ is no “karaoke covers” album; rather it’s a personal journey in music with each song given a totally different reading to the original version. That’s most apparent on Robin’s reading of Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’. Where the original was sprightly, jaunty even, this new take is almost a southern soul meander on which the lyrics seem to have more desperation and meaning. Janis Joplin’s wish-list ‘Mercedes Benz’ is another southern country/soul steamer. The vocal’s smoother than Joplin’s but no less raunchy.

Much more sombre is the visit to Nina Simone’s ‘Don’t Explain’ which is offered with a pleading reassurance, as is the cover of Lana Del Ray’s ‘Don’t Explain’ where amongst the highlight is Marquis Hill’s trumpet solo… and that’s another of this collection’s attractions. The players, marshalled by keyboardist Shedrick Mitchell (Maxwell’s MD by the way), seem to understand the concept and play with love and empathy. Their CVs tell us that they are all rooted in jazz /soul and rock  and it shows. As an example try ‘Alterations’ version of Sade’s ‘No Ordinary Love’ where the band (notably guitarist, Nir Felder and bassist Richie Goods) work nimbly with Ms McKelle to gear up from a subtle understatement to an electric climax. The only original song on the album is McKelle’s own ‘Head High’ a song that tells a story about the strength and the power the female singer so, lyrically and, importantly, musically it chimes with the album’s theme. The other cover songs are Joni Mitchell’s ‘The River’, Adele’s ‘Rolling In The Deep’, Amy Winehouse’s ‘Back To Black’ and Carole King’s ‘You’ve Got A Friend’ which, with just simple, tasteful piano accompaniment from Shedrick Mitchell, brings the collection to a most satisfying of ends. Find out more about this album by accessing our recent Robin McKelle interview. https://lydialiebman.com/index.php/2020/02/14/review-robin-mckelle-alterations-soul-and-jazz-and-funk/

Alterations

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