The Australian Jazz Quintet - In Free Style

Styles: Jazz, Swing
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:26
Size: 97,8 MB
Art: Front

(5:33)  1. Swingin' Goatsherd Blues
(5:53)  2. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
(4:29)3. Takin' a Chance on Love
(4:36) 4. The Way You Look Tonight
(4:32)  5. I'll Remember April
(4:05)  6. Detour Ahead
(3:35)  7. Too Marvelous for Words
(9:41) 8. Take Three Parts Jazz: Rout 4

The group was formed in 1953 by three Australians and one American. The group was unusual in that it featured bassoon, flute, and vibraphone along with the more conventional jazz instruments, saxophone, piano, bass, and drums. Australians Errol Buddle (bassoon and tenor saxophone), Bryce Rohde (piano), and Jack Brokensha (vibraphone and percussion) arrived in Windsor, Canada during 1952-1953. These three planned to form a group and tour the U.S., but visa difficulties initially prevented this, so they settled down to local work in Windsor. Then, Phil McKellar, a Jazz DJ at CBE Windsor, arranged for them to record radio programs and for Brokensha and Rohde to play at the Killaney Castle in downtown Windsor. This led to Brokensha appearing across the border in Detroit on a local WXYZ-TV show and for him to obtain employment visas enabling the three musicians to play in the U.S.

They soon met American (b. 1929, Youngstown, OH) Richard J. (Dick) Healey (alto sax, clarinet, flute, bass) at recording sessions in Detroit, and together the four musicians began playing as a quartet on weekly TV shows and performances at the Kleins Jazz Club.

Early 1954 appearances on the Detroit WXYZ-TV show "Soupy's On" led comedian Soupy Sales to recommend the group to a Detroit suburb club owner Ed Sarkesian to accompany jazz vocalist Chris Connor for two weeks at the club (Rouge Lounge in River Rouge, a Detroit suburb)  and to have the group perform between each of her sets. Since Buddle had been playing bassoon regularly with the Windsor Symphony, Healey and Rohde quickly decided to make arrangements for the flute-bassoon-vibes combination, giving the group a distinctive sound. This unusual instrumentation created much interest in the quartet, not only from jazz enthusiasts, but also from classical music aficionados. During the two week engagement with Connor, Sarkesian contacted Joe Glaser of Associated Booking Corporation in New York. Sarkesian named the group The Australian Jazz Quartet/Quintet, and based on a quickly recorded 78 disk, he garnered a five-year contract with ABC and Bethlehem Records for the group. Sarkesian then became the group's personal manager, which worked out very well because he also soon became a major promoter of jazz concerts and festivals.

Under the new arrangement with ABC the AJQ performed at the Blue Note in Chicago; and on a concert in Washington DC. with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, the Modern Jazz Quartet, and Carmen McRae. Soon they began playing at clubs like The Hickory House, Birdland (jazz club), Basin Street, and the Roundtable in New York; the Blue Note, Modern Jazz Room, and Robert's Show Room in Chicago; Storyville in Boston; Jazz City in Los Angeles; Macumba in San Francisco; Sonny's Lounge in Denver; Peacock Alley in St. Louis; Rouge Lounge in Detroit; Peps and Blue Note in Philadelphia; Midway Lounge in Pittsburgh; Colonial in Toronto, Ball & Chain in Miami and many others. At many of these clubs the AJQ shared the band stand with well-known groups such as the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Les Brown Orchestra, Johnny Smith Quartet, Bud Shank Quartet, Miles Davis, Pete Jolly Trio, J. J. Johnson, Max Roach-Clifford Brown Quintet, Art Blakey Quintet, Teddy and Marty Napoleon Quartet, Bud Powell Trio, Thelonious Monk, Conte Candoli/Al Cohn Quintet, Ahmad Jamal Trio, Don Shirley Trio, Lee Konitz Quartet, Woody Herman, Billie Holiday and others.

National concert tours took place in 1955-57. In 1955 there was the "Modern Jazz Show" with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Gerry Mulligan, and Carmen McRae. In 1956 there was "Music For Moderns" with Count Basie, Erroll Garner, the Kai Winding Septet, the Chico Hamilton Quintet, and the Gerry Mulligan Quartet. In 1957, there was again "Music For Moderns" with the George Shearing Quintet, the Gerry Mulligan Quintet, Chico Hamilton, Helen Merrill, Cannonball Adderley, and Miles Davis.

These tours included performances at major concert halls, including Carnegie Hall in New York. The AJQ appeared on several national television shows, the most notable being the Steve Allen Tonight Show, The Dave Garroway Today Show, The Arthur Godfrey Show, In Town Tonight Chicago, and the Ed Mackenzie and Soupy Sales Shows from ABC in Detroit. On the Radio they were heard on CBS's "Woolworth Hour", NBC's "Monitor", and ABC's "Parade of the Bands".

During 1955 to 1958 the AJQ recorded seven albums under the Bethlehem label. The first album, distinguished by its cover illustrated by four side-by-side kangaroos, was a 10" LP recorded in February, 1955 and featured arrangements of eight standard songs. A 12" version of this album, released in 1956, added three standards and one original song by bassist Jimmy Gannon, who also assisted on the recording. Meanwhile, another album, this one with scores of kangaroos on its cover, was released with 10 songs including two originals, one by Gannon and the other by Healey.

In 1958 the group travelled to Australia for The Australian Concert Tour for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Also, there were TV and Radio Broadcasts, and, in Melbourne and Sydney, there were concerts with Sammy Davis Jr. These performances were broadcast nationally by the ABC. After the 1958 tour the group members decided to terminate the AJQ and become independent performing and recording artists. However, reunion concerts occurred in Adelaide in 1986 and 1993, and a recording of the 1993 concert was distributed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Australian_Jazz_Quartet


Personnel: Alto Saxophone – Dick Healey;  Bass – Jerry Segal;  Drums – Osie Johnson;  Piano – Bryce Rohde;  Tenor Saxophone – Errol Buddle;  Vibraphone – Jack Brokensha

In Free Style

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Michael Dease - Swing Low

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:45
Size: 151,6 MB
Art: Front

(5:16) 1. Dancing In The Dark
(5:30) 2. Don't Look Back
(5:58) 3. Appreciation
(5:20) 4. Phibes' Revenge
(7:06) 5. Just Waiting
(6:00) 6. Melancholia
(7:13) 7. Galapagos
(6:11) 8. New Blues
(7:00) 9. Up High, Down Low
(4:11) 10. Julian's Tune
(5:56) 11. Embraceable You

Really rich sounds from reedman Michael Dease a baritone player, and one who handles the large horn with effortless ease taking us back to some of our favorite bari players of the 50s who could carve out a line as if they were swinging an alto or a tenor!

The rest of the group have an equally compact sort of vibe tight, yet always thoughtful, as they pack plenty into each of their solo spaces, while also coming across with that sharp sound as a whole that can make the best Posi-Tone sessions so great! Ingrid Jensen plays trumpet, Art Hirihara plays piano, Boris Kozlov handles bass, and Rudy Royston is on drums and on three tracks, Altin Senclar also joins the group on trumpet.

Titles include "New Blues", "Galapagos", "Appreciation", "Don't Look Back", "Melancholia", and "Just Waiting". © 1996-2023, Dusty Groove, Inc.

Musicians: Michael Dease - baritone saxophone; Ingrid Jensen - trumpet, flugelhorn; Altin Sencalar - trombone on #7,8,10; Art Hirahara - piano; Boris Kozlov - bass ; Rudy Royston - drums

Swing Low

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Johnny Dodds - New Orleans Jazz

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 73:56
Size: 169.3 MB
Styles: New Orleans jazz, Clarinet jazz
Year: 2016
Art: Front

[3:10] 1. Wild Man Blues
[2:54] 2. Come On And Stomp, Stomp, Stomp
[2:33] 3. Clarinet Wobble
[3:13] 4. After You've Gone
[3:27] 5. Billy Goat Stomp
[2:47] 6. Drop That Sack
[2:49] 7. Weary City
[3:23] 8. Flat Foot
[2:49] 9. Forty And Tight
[2:40] 10. Ballin' The Jack
[3:13] 11. Blue Clarinet Stomp
[2:53] 12. Bull Fiddle Blues
[2:56] 13. Too Tight
[2:52] 14. Someday, Sweetheart
[2:41] 15. Grandma's Ball
[3:13] 16. Bucktown Stomp
[2:42] 17. Carpet Alley-Breakdown
[3:02] 18. Gatemouth
[2:51] 19. Red Onion Blues
[2:55] 20. San
[2:48] 21. Get 'em Again Blues
[2:53] 22. Pencil Papa
[3:06] 23. Perdido Street Blues
[2:50] 24. Piggly Wiggly
[3:05] 25. Weary Way Blues

One of the all-time great clarinetists and arguably the most significant of the 1920s, Johnny Dodds (whose younger brother Baby Dodds was among the first important drummers) had a memorable tone in both the lower and upper registers, was a superb blues player, and held his own with Louis Armstrong (no mean feat) on his classic Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings. He did not start on clarinet until he was 17 but caught on fast, being mostly self-taught. Dodds was with Kid Ory's band during most of 1912-1919, played on riverboats with Fate Marable in 1917, and joined King Oliver in Chicago in 1921. During the next decade, he recorded with Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, and on his own heated sessions, often utilizing trumpeter Natty Dominique. He worked regularly at Kelly's Stables during 1924-1930. Although Dodds continued playing in Chicago during the 1930s, part of the time was spent running a cab company. The clarinetist led recording sessions in 1938 and 1940, but died just before the New Orleans revival movement began. ~bio by Scott Yanow

New Orleans Jazz

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Benny Bailey - Grand Slam

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:34
Size: 131.8 MB
Styles: Bop, Trumpet jazz
Year: 1978/1998
Art: Front

[ 6:53] 1. Reflectory, Pt. 1
[ 7:34] 2. Who's Bossa Now
[ 8:26] 3. Let Me Go, Pt. 1
[10:53] 4. Judgement Of Certain Kind
[ 9:55] 5. Thelonious Assault
[ 6:33] 6. Let Me Go, Pt. 2
[ 7:17] 7. Reflectory, Pt. 2

Trumpeter Benny Bailey was teamed with veteran tenor-saxophonist Charlie Rouse on this hard-blowing quintet date. The fresh material (two songs by Fritz Pauer who arranged the date, a pair from Bailey and one by Pepper Adams) inspires the soloists to play near their peak. With a fine rhythm section (pianist Richard Wyands, bassist Sam Jones and drummer Billy Hart) pushing the horns, this set is even better than expected. ~Scott Yanow

Grand Slam

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Adi Braun - The Rules Of The Game

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:49
Size: 144,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:48)  1. The Rules of the Game
(3:00)  2. Love Me or Leave Me
(7:19)  3. About Last Night
(5:24)  4. Beautiful
(4:10)  5. Honeysuckle Rose
(6:26)  6. Guanabara Bay
(5:25)  7. Show Me Yours
(4:53)  8. Got It Bad and That Ain't Good
(5:18)  9. Lonely House
(3:44) 10. You Do Something to Me
(4:21) 11. If We Had Never Met
(4:10) 12. You Can't Rush Spring
(3:45) 13. Hymne a l'Amour

Let us now pause to take assessment of another new vocalist, Canadian Adi Braun, who impressed with her 2003 debut, Delishious. The same trio of pianist Doug Riley and veterans Steve Wallace (bass) and Terry Clarke (drums) is once again on board for this album, with the addition of Perry White on tenor sax. Adi Braun, originally from Germany, comes from a family of professional singers. Her father sang in various opera companies. She relocated to Canada and evidently has a slight accent. You'd never know that from this recording. She has spent the past few years cultivating cabaret/jazz vocal credentials in Toronto and Montreal and appeared in November, 2005 at Joe's Pub in NYC. According to the liner notes, her taste includes a number of jazz singers, but her primarily influences are Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, and Lotte Lenya. This new album is a well-presented cabaret/jazz set, as judged by song selection, cleanly articulated delivery, and, yes, the ability to swing, on at least a limited basis. I do have some reservations on the above, but more about that later. This is the type of hour that is favorably greeted by cabaret enthusiasts: new songs, a few standards, and a lively musical backdrop.

The opening title tune is one of the best ballads on the album, beginning with a full verse. (Do they still write verses anymore?) I was startled to find out that this is a new composition written by Canadian brothers D. & J. Breithaupt, but it is a beauty, seemingly from the golden age of pop and jazz compositions. Of the thirteen tracks, seven are recent compositions, generally not known to the public, while five of the tunes come from the Great American Songbook. While the latter offer the listener a sense of familiarity, other than the mid-tempo Gus Kahn/Walter Donaldson "Love Me Or Leave Me," the others seemed to be rather tired titles (eg. "Honeysuckle Rose," "You Do Something To Me," "I Got It Bad"). Only on the closing track, the Edith Piaf-associated "Hymne A L'Amour," known in English as "If You Love Me," does Braun bring off a cabaret coup with her French ballad version. Perry White's tenor sax backing and solo bring some life to the chestnut "I Got It Bad." Braun tries to liven up "Honeysuckle Rose" by changing the lyrics on one line to "Honey, suck my toes." Part of the decision to introduce new material on album or live performance should involve whether or not the material will work for an audience that will be giving it one or two listens before categorization. Braun and company get in some good ones. A second tune from the Breithaupts, "Show Me Yours," is a typically saucy number that must be a highlight of her live performance; and "Guanabara Bay" is a tempting bossa appreciation of Rio's large body of water. 

The two tunes with a similar mid-tempo pacing are done back-to-back, while on other portions of the album, there are several stretches of two ballads strung together. The latter portion of the album has the better new entries. Kurt Weill's "Lonely House," following by an up-tempo standard, leads into Canadian singer/songwriter Shirley Eikhard's "If We Had Never Met" and then Ann Hampton Calloway's "You Can't Rush Spring," concluding with the Piaf song. Two compositions early in the album, Eikhard's "About Last Night" and Gordon Lightfoot's "Beautiful," were pleasant but did not strike me as memorable. So how does all of this work? Let's give Adi Braun some real credit for reseach, delivery, and presentation, and pianist Riley a big round for pulling this project together. After decades of listening to the work of Steve Wallace and Terry Clarke on Concord and several other labels, as well as their work with Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass, here are two of the best in the business. ~ Michael P.Gladstone   

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=19797#.UtMXyLRc_vs

Personnel: Adi Braun: vocals; Doug Riley: piano; Perry White: tenor saxophone; Steve Wallace: bass; Terry Clarke: drums.

The Rules Of The Game

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Céline Rudolph, Lionel Loueke - Obsession

Styles: Vocal And Guitar Jazz
Year: 2017
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:00
Size: 111,4 MB
Art: Front

(4:32) 1. C'est un Love Song
(5:30) 2. New Day
(6:56) 3. Veuve Malienne
(5:02) 4. Archaic
(5:33) 5. Here Comes the Rain
(3:55) 6. O Leãozinho
(5:22) 7. Morning Blues
(3:51) 8. Le Vent du Nord
(3:31) 9. Fábula
(3:44) 10. Rêve Obsession

A singer playing the guitar. A guitarist who sings. An album on which these two exceptional musicians show that in music, too, the whole can be bigger than the sum of its parts. Their common "obsession" opens up musical horizons, sounds like Jazz and singer-songwriter-elegance, like Cotonou, Rio, Memphis and Berlin.

It is music that speaks of the passion that loves, of deep moments, life, pleasure and the Blues. This duo, which most often sounds like a band, sometimes even like an orchestra, sings ten glorious, spontaneous songs, sometimes in English, sometimes French, sometimes in Celinish or Lionelish.

You may think, after just one listen, that you ve known these songs all your life, but there is really only one cover among them (Caetano Velosos "O Leãozinho"), while the rest of the songs were written by either Céline Rudolph or Lionel Loueke or both of them. Make no mistake: this is a complex, diverse album, while at the same time homogeneous and subtle, aptly titled Obsession. By Editorial Reviews
https://www.amazon.com/Obsession-C%C3%A9line-Rudolph-Lionel-Loueke/dp/B075GBJ6MH

Obsession

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Bob Cunningham - Walking Bass

Styles: Jazz, Bop
Year: 2003
File: MP3@128K/s
Time: 41:28
Size: 40,2 MB
Art: Front

(6:04) 1. Walkin' Bass
(5:04) 2. Manteca
(4:50) 3. Blues for Basie
(4:05) 4. Mama's House
(7:49) 5. D'Andrea
(3:51) 6. Lover's Theme
(4:30) 7. Rainy Afternoon
(5:11) 8. Night in Tunisia

Didja hear? Bobby C's back in town! Actually, bassist Bob Cunningham has always been around, but his first and only album as a leader, Walking Bass , has been released for the first time on CD. Originally recorded in 1985, it features the late, great Bross Townsend on piano and Melvin Sparks (Hassan) on guitar, with Alvin Queen and Bernard Purdie sharing drumming duties.

The title cut opens the disc and is Cunningham's spin on a humorous jazz poem written by Keeter Betts. While Cunningham's amplified singing voice is average, his plucking is authoritative and spry, producing deep, round tones. If "Walking Bass" flirts with rap, Cunningham's arrangement of mentor Dizzy Gillespie's "Manteca" goes there headlong.

This version of the Afro-Cuban classic, featuring excellent piano playing by Townsend and a blistering arco solo by Cunningham, includes a tongue-in-cheek rap homage to Diz, especially fitting since Gillespie was one of the founding fathers of bebop, a musical genre which, like rap, profoundly changed the landscape of world music and culture.

"Blues for Basie" is a juke joint delight, with Cunningham wailing over sparkling riffs by Townsend and solid drumming by Queen. Cunningham's bow sings like a horn on "Mama's House," and "D'Andrea" finds Cunningham overdubbed on synthesizer and bass, with Townsend contributing an absolutely brilliant solo.

"Lover's Theme" features Cunningham wailing on arco like a free jazz saxophonist as Townsend and Queen function as dual timekeepers, and the group gives "A Night In Tunisia" an R&B/funk groove. Whether he's playing originals or covering classics, going pizzicato or bowing like a buzzsaw, Bob Cunningham and his band hit all the right notes. Let's hope that we don't have to wait another 19 years for his next release.By Terrell Kent Holmes
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/walking-bass-bob-cunningham-nilva-review-by-terrell-kent-holmes

Personnel: Bob Cunningham: bass; Bross Townsend: piano; Melvin Sparks Hassan on guitar; Alvin Queen and Bernard Purdie: drums

Walking Bass

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Benny Bailey & Phil Woods - Big Brass / Rights Of Swing

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 78:43
Size: 180.2 MB
Styles: Hard bop
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[ 5:49] 1. Hard Sock Dance
[ 6:51] 2. Alison
[ 7:03] 3. Tipsy
[ 5:31] 4. Please Say Yes
[ 8:10] 5. A Kiss To Build The Dream On
[ 6:35] 6. Maud's Wood
[ 6:35] 7. Rights Of Swing: Prelude And Part 1
[ 7:42] 8. Rights Of Swing: Pt. 2 Ballad
[ 5:43] 9. Rights Of Swing Part 3 Waltz
[11:24] 10. Rights Of Swing Part 4 Scherzo
[ 7:16] 11. Rights Of Swing Part 5 Presto

Benny Bailey (tp), Curtis Fuller (tb), Julius Watkins (frh), Phil Woods (as, b-cl), Sahib Shihab (bs), Tommy Flanagan (p), Les Spann (fl, g), Buddy Catlett (b), Art Taylor, Osie Johnson (d). Tracks #1-6, from the album “Benny Bailey – Big Brass” (Candid CJS9011). Tracks #7-11, from the album “Phil Woods – Rights of Swing” (Candid CJS9016). Stereo · 24-Bit Digitally Remastered.

This memorable pairing of trumpeter Benny Bailey’s Big Brass and altoist Phil Woods’ Rights of Swing unites two albums which illustrate the virtues and the possibilities of the hard bop idiom. Made within months of each other at the start of the 1960s, they share largely the same brilliant players, but use them somewhat differently to achieve outstanding results.

For Big Brass Bailey had a blowing septet that included Woods, pianist Tommy Flanagan and French hornist Julius Watkins, and a programme mostly of originals, including pieces by Quincy Jones and Oliver Nelson. Simple arrangements gave the soloists a chance to shine and they took it, with Bailey, Woods, Flanagan and Watkins outstanding on the blues “Hard Sock Dance” and “Maud’s Mood” (with Woods on bass clarinet), and on “Tipsy” and “Please Say Yes” in particular.

Rights of Swing is even better, an ambitious, unfailingly inventive, five-part suite composed and arranged by Woods, with the same group, with minor changes, expanded to an octet that included trombonists Curtis Fuller or Willie Dennis, and baritonist Sahib Shihab. Imaginatively conceived and deftly crafted writing lends the octet a huge sound, while the soloists respond magnificently to the opportunities it offers, notably on “Part III (Ballad)”, the contrapuntal “Part IV (Scherzo)” and a marvellous “Part V (Presto)”. Its success makes it surprising that Woods didn’t attempt this kind of project more often.

Big Brass / Rights Of Swing

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Adi Braun - Delishious

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:23
Size: 129.1 MB
Styles: Cabaret, Jazz vocals
Year: 2003
Art: Front

[3:26] 1. Crazy From The Heat
[4:08] 2. Delishious
[5:17] 3. Lover Man
[3:52] 4. Moon-Faced, Starry-Eyed
[5:29] 5. Miss Celie's Blues
[6:40] 6. More Than You Know
[5:51] 7. That Old Black Magic
[5:13] 8. The Nearness Of You
[2:57] 9. When In Rome
[3:43] 10. Cry Me A River
[5:24] 11. Girl From Ipanema
[4:19] 12. Mister Sandman

Born in Toronto, Adi Braun grew up in Europe surrounded by music and musicians. Her parents were opera singers, and her father, Victor Braun, was one of Canada's leading baritones. Her first instrument was piano, which she began studying at the age of six. With no formal voice lessons, she made her first pop/jazz recording at age 19. Following family tradition, Adi trained classically at the Royal Conservatory of Music and the University of Toronto's Faculty of Music. She began her singing career as a classical recitalist, a soloist with orchestra, and on-stage in operas and operettas alongside her brother, baritone Russell Braun.

Adi started "singing sideways" in the late 90's and returned to the music she loved, which she calls "cabarazz", drawing on aspects from both cabaret and jazz. After winning a local competition in 2001, she was catapulted to centre-stage as one of Canada's leading jazz vocalists. In 2007, Adi was nominated as "Best Major Jazz Vocalist of the Year" by the Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs (MAC).

Her sophisticated style and subtle delivery evokes such vocal greats as Sarah Vaughan, Lotte Lenya, Judy Garland and Rosemary Clooney. Elizabeth Ahlfors of New York's Cabaret Scenes describes Adi as "A tad Dinah Washington, a hint of Lena Horne, the enveloping warmth of Doris Day, all gift-wrapped up in a unique sound that is singular Adi Braun!" Adi's repertoire ranges from the Great American songbook, to European cabaret, to contemporary songs by Canada legend's Shirley Eikhard and Gordon Lightfoot as well as her own originals. Whether she is singing in English, French, Spanish or German, Adi Braun is "a power-frau who gives jazz standards a unique touch, telling stories that are miniature life moments" (Rheinische Post, Düsseldorf, Germany).

Delishious

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Joshua Redman & Gabrielle Cavassa - Where Are We

Styles: Saxofone Jazz, Vocal, Post Bop
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:38
Size: 142,2 MB
Art: Front

(7:43) 1. After Minneapolis (face toward mo[u]rning)
(5:20) 2. Streets Of Philadelphia
(4:54) 3. Chicago Blues
(5:37) 4. Baltimore
(4:41) 5. By The Time I Get To Phoenix
(5:05) 6. Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans?
(3:55) 7. Manhattan
(3:13) 8. My Heart In San Francisco (Holiday)
(4:47) 9. That’s New England
(0:16) 10. Alabama (intro)
(1:55) 11. Stars Fell On Alabama
(7:54) 12. Alabama
(5:10) 13. Where Are You?

After graduating from Berkeley High School in 1986, Joshua Redman (son of jazz legend Dewey Redman) won a full scholarship to Harvard, where he graduated summa cum laude in 1991. He was accepted at Yale Law School to become a lawyer. Instead, he embarked on a musical career which quickly turned luminous. He won the Thelonious Monk Institute's prestigious jazz saxophone competition in 1991, before moving to Brooklyn, becoming part of the thriving scene there. His debut album, Joshua Redman (Warner Brothers, 1993) was shortly followed by Wish (Warner Brothers, 1993), the latter with a band comprising Pat Metheny, Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins. Since then he has released over twenty albums in many different settings and is acknowledged as one of jazz's leading figures on tenor sax.

Where We Are is his debut on the Blue Note label. It is a thematic musical journey across the USA. Every track (except the title track which closes the record) references a city or geographic location. It also features vocalist Gabrielle Cavassa on nine of the album's twelve tracks.

The first stop is "After Minneapolis (face toward mo[u]rning)." On it, Redman begins by quoting the melody of Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" before beginning a short exploration of the tune and ending with a long, sustained note which leads into the piano playing single chords on the downbeat. Cavassa starts singing the lyrics written by Redman which reference the George Floyd killing over a dirge-like melody. Three minutes in, the band explodes onto the scene and Redman explores the pain and chaos of that tragedy before returning to the melody.

The next destination is Bruce Springsteen's Oscar Award-winning lament "Streets Of Philadelphia" Guest Kurt Rosenwinkel adds his unique sound which introduces the song before Cavassa enters. The interplay between Redmond and Rosenwinkel is very effective as the tune later turns more bluesy.

At this point, the album turns problematic. The remaining seven vocal tracks continue to have a slow, sameness to them. They are all ballads sung in a similar, lilting manner. Cavassa sings them all in a style reminiscent of Melody Gardot with her rich, sultry tone. "Chicago Blues" adds the vibes of Joel Ross which only increases the softening effect. The band is always empathetic, trying to create the space for Cavassa's vocals. "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" is done even more slowly than the original. "Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans" is also taken at a languid pace. Guest Nicholas Payton on trumpet, along with Redman, plays a coda where they jam together in a New Orleans style, adding a welcome change of pace.

"My Heart In San Francisco (Holiday)" is a mash-up of the Thelonious Monk tune and the standard Tony Bennett made famous. The twist with the Monk tune is very clever and works well but, once again, it is sung in the same manner as the others. "That's New England," "Stars Fell On Alabama" and "Where We Are" are more of the same. There is some differentiation in the arrangements of course, but not enough to change the overall vibe.

The saving grace of this album is the three instrumentals. "Baltimore" is a beautiful arrangement where Redman and pianist Aaron Parks get a chance to expound on the haunting melody in a post-bop manner. "Manhattan" by Rogers & Hart, is the swinging mid-tempo song on the album. Guest guitarist Peter Bernstein shows his bluesy skills before Redman turns it up a notch. It is the rare fun piece on the record. John Coltrane's classic "Alabama" is the album's standout track. Redman channels Coltrane by going inside out. He solos through the entire track, showing off his deep tone and intricate ideas.

In the liner notes, Redman explains, "On one level, this is an album 'about' America at once a celebration and a critique but it is also, to varying degrees, a ballads album, a standards album, an album of romantic longing, an album of social reflection, an album of melodic invention, an album of improvisational adventure, an album of mash-ups, perhaps even a tribute album of sorts."

The ironic thing is while all the titles refer to many of the various and diverse parts of the country, the songs selected for the vocals, along with Cavassa's singing style, are anything but. Taken individually, they are all lovely, well-sung and well-played performances. The contributions of the four guest stars add some sizzle to their respective tracks and Redman with his core quartet is always solid but, taken as a whole, this album is less than the sum of its parts. It could have been so much more. By Dave Linn
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/where-are-we-joshua-redman-blue-note-records

Personnel: Joshua Redman: saxophone; Gabrielle Cavassa: voice / vocals; Aaron Parks: piano; Joe Sanders: bass; Brian Blade: drums.

Additional Instrumentation: Kurt Rosenwinkel: guitar (2); Peter Bernstein: guitar (7); Nicholas Payton: trumpet (6); Joel Ross: vibes: (3); Gabrielle Cavassa: guitar (13).

Where Are We

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Lloyd Arntzen - Lloyd Arntzen Salutes Johnny Dodds

Styles: Clarinet Jazz
Year: 2020
File: MP3@128K/s
Time: 77:42
Size: 72,1 MB
Art: Front

(4:43) 1. Canal St Blues
(3:54) 2. Perdido St Blues
(2:18) 3. Oriental Man
(3:31) 4. Melancholy
(4:40) 5. Big Butter And Egg Man
(3:14) 6. Wild Man Blues
(3:56) 7. High Society
(6:48) 8. Born Forty Years Too Late
(4:40) 9. Mabel's Dream
(3:29) 10. Weary City
(2:44) 11. Piggly Wiggly
(2:50) 12. Lonesome Blues
(4:34) 13. Oh Daddy
(3:52) 14. Wolverine Blues
(4:30) 15. Loveless Love
(3:11) 16. Gatemouth
(4:40) 17. Someday Sweetheart
(3:34) 18. Riverside Blues
(3:44) 19. Struttin' With Some Barbeque
(2:40) 20. After You've Gone

Lloyd Arntzen (born 19 September 1927) is a jazz clarinetist, folk singer, and soprano saxophonist from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Arntzen has been an active participant on the New Orleans jazz scene, forming the New Orleans North Traditional Jazz Band along with members Alan Matheson, Grant Simpson, Craig Scott and Graeme Peters. Arntzen is also a member of the band Sweet Papa Lowdown, featuring band members Jeff Schucard, Dan Marcus and Craig Smith.

Arntzen's family is a particularly musical one. In 2006, Gwendoline Records issued a live CD titled 3 Generations in Jazz, featuring Arntzen along with his two sons and two grandsons, recorded at Vancouver's Cellar Jazz Café.

In 2013, his group Blackstick released a CD that had been crowdfunded by fans. Other musicians on the disc include his grandsons Evan and Arnt Arntzen on reeds and banjo/guitar respectively, Don Ogilvie on guitar, Jen Hodge on bass, and Benji Bohannon on drums, and it was engineered by Dave Henderson. Including an original tune by Evan Arntzen, the album was recorded in Lloyd's basement over a period of three days in September.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_Arntzen

Lloyd Arntzen Salutes Johnny Dodds

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Annabelle Chvostek - Burned My Ass

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 21:05
Size: 48,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:15) 1. Devil's Paintbrush Road
(3:57) 2. Moya Hlava
(3:11) 3. Food On My Face
(3:23) 4. A Ja Taka Dzivocka (Slovak trad.)
(2:18) 5. The Fool
(4:59) 6. Slaves

Annabelle Chvostek is a Toronto-based singer-songwriter, composer and producer whose musical achievements range from folk to jazz to indie pop. She has composed music for dance and film, co-written songs with Bruce Cockburn, and was once in the band The Wailin' Jennys.

Born in Toronto, Annabelle began her career as part of Montreal's eclectic arts scene in the 90's and early 2000's, performing regularly at Le Boudoir, a queer, feminist 1920s-inspired cabaret series, and self-releasing four full-length albums between 1997-2003. In 2004 Annabelle joined The Wailin’ Jennys and wrote four songs on the multiple award-winning album Firecracker, which was on the Billboard Bluegrass charts for 69 weeks, peaking at #2.

After departing from the Jennys, she released the album Resilience (2008), produced by the Grammy-nominated Roma Baran (Laurie Anderson) and Vivian Stoll, Rise (2012), co-produced with Don Kerr (Rheostatics, Ron Sexsmith), and Be The Media (2015), co-produced with Jeff Oehler of Beehive Productions. Rise was nominated for a Juno Award in the Roots and Traditional Album of the Year category, and both Rise and Resilience were nominated for Contemporary Album of the Year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards. Annabelle also co-wrote two songs with Bruce Cockburn for his Juno-winning album A Small Source of Comfort (2011).

In 2015, Annabelle was forced into a slower and quieter pace due to a series of health crises, including an ongoing struggle with severe hearing loss and tinnitus in her left ear triggered by a feedback blast during a soundcheck in England in 2008. Wth support from Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts, she became the artist-in-residence at Toronto's community-based Echo Women's Choir between 2016-18. During this time, she developed skills in choral arrangement, composition and conducting under the mentorship of choral directors, Alan Gasser and Becca Whitla.

In 2017, Annabelle played her first gigs in Montevideo with Fernando on bass and Arturo Chilindron on drums. Annabelle's music was well-received by Uruguayan audiences, inspiring the newly-formed ensemble to deepen their collaboration from within Fernando's diverse musical community. Fernando's arrangements for the upcoming album draw from Uruguayan tango and early jazz-inspired winds. His lyrical orchestral instrumentations on “Walls” and “Halfway Through” were inspired by Canadian producer Bob Ezrin's work on Lou Reed's “Berlin” and Pink Floyd's “The Wall”.

Combining Canadian and Uruguayan songwriting traditions with the nostalgia for eras gone by was a fascinating place for Annabelle, and she believes that there is an openness and desire for a diversity of cultural inputs within the world of roots music. “This tapestry of interweaving cultural histories is very much tied to my own experience growing up in Toronto in an intercultural family, and raising my own daughter in two distinct cultural settings. My experience is by no means unique, and I think the universality of this experience, a very Canadian one, will resonate with a broad audience across cultures and age groups. I think music has the potential to tap into an openness that allows us to listen to new perspectives in unconventional ways, and it is my goal as an artist to think and rethink the ways in which this could be possible.” https://annabellemusic.com/about

Burned My Ass

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The Full Circle Quartet - The South Downs Suite

Styles: Contemporary Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@128K/s
Time: 76:59
Size: 72,5 MB
Art: Front

(4:23) 1. Oasis
(5:59) 2. Pathways
(6:44) 3. The Dance of the Dragonfly
(5:36) 4. River Runs
(6:04) 5. Amberley
(3:44) 6. Cathedral
(7:31) 7. Chalk and Flint
(4:28) 8. Selborne
(6:47) 9. One January Morning
(6:50) 10. For Now / Jack and Jill
(8:20) 11. La Belle Dame de Belle Tout
(5:06) 12. Seven Sisters
(5:20) 13. A Walk In The Woods

There is a happy tradition of pastoral celebration not just in British classical music, but in jazz as well. Recently we’ve had James Kitchman evoking his beloved Northumberland on Rain Shadows with Bruno Heinem, while Kate Westbrook’s Granite band is embued with the soul of Dartmoor and the West country. The Full Circle Quartet takes the concept several steps beyond, however.

Poetry and books of painting are hard behind this release plus a follow up of ensemble pieces. And all based on a vivid vision of the sights, sounds and nature of the South Downs. There are generic songs, such as the subtle awakening of ‘Oasis’ or the fittingly flighty ‘Dance of the Dragonfly’ by Davies. But there’s site specific songs too, like the moodily beautiful ‘Seven Sisters’ inspired by the chalk cliffs of the East Sussex coast.

But the suite’s not all bucolic romanticism. Indeed, much of the music was born from the band’s experiences of lockdown, a mix of isolation, awe and awareness of nature’s indifference to humanity. All the members compose, and the band plays with great service to the music. But it’s hard not to single out Davies, nightingale blithe on soprano and variously dark toned, even vicious on tenor. We’re lucky to be witnessing a generation of saxophonists like Davies, Trish Clowes, Tori Freestone and newer stars like Emma Rawicz and Asha Parkinson bringing a fresher sensibility to Adolphe’s invention.
https://www.jazzwise.com/review/the-full-circle-quartet-the-south-downs-suite

Personnel: Josephine Davies - Soprano and Tenor Saxophones; Joss Peach - Piano, Percussion and Voice; Terry Pack - Double Bass and Voice; Angus Bishop - Drums and Percussion

The South Downs Suite

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JoosTVD - Put Your Fake In It

Styles: Jazz Funk
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:43
Size: 89,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:26) 1. Living Is Instant
(3:34) 2. Put Your Fade In It
(3:55) 3. Hear The Sunshine Play
(3:12) 4. Up Up
(1:24) 5. The Shit Hits The Band
(2:43) 6. Hang On
(2:51) 7. Sentimental Overload
(3:14) 8. Careful
(2:55) 9. Agree To Disagree
(2:59) 10. Ennio
(2:45) 11. Move U
(1:43) 12. Mister Jump The Gun
(1:18) 13. Agnes Magnus Populess
(1:38) 14. Hear The Sunshine 2

The album has a great diversity of sounds. But the basis is a funky swinging touch with a basic singing beat. It's the sounds with which you can't sit on your lazy ass. It has a South American touch that touches on the African. By incorporating the horns into the songs, it gets a jazz moment. But above all are the catchy repetitive lyrics of, among other things, the title track and the opening track 'Living is Instant' with which you are sucked into the album.

‘Hear the Sunshine Play’, ‘Careful’ with a nice bass line and the piano track ‘The Shit Hits the Band’ sound like crooners with a weed, but certainly entertaining. The laid back songs 'Ennio' and 'Sentimental Overload' are the highlights of the album for me. From that perspective, a full album in a line would be most desirable to me. But the more people the more joy there are more flavors. By Roelof Noorda
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/joostvdutchman_joostvd-put-your-fake-in-it-de-muziekplank-activity-7097524447087071233-csDo

Put Your Fake In It

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Chris Connor - This Is Chris

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1955
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 29:31
Size: 68,6 MB
Art: Front

(2:39) 1. Blame It On My Youth
(2:28) 2. It's All Right With Me
(3:11) 3. Someone To Watch Over Me
(2:52) 4. Trouble Is A Man
(3:29) 5. All This And Heaven Too
(2:47) 6. The Thrill Is Gone
(3:29) 7. I Concentrate On You
(1:50) 8. All Dressed Up With A Broken Heart
(2:29) 9. From This Moment On
(4:13) 10. Ridin' High

During 1953-1955, singer Chris Connor recorded regularly for Bethlehem. This reissue LP has her final recordings for the label (before moving up to Atlantic) with such fine sidemen as Herbie Mann (doubling on flute and tenor), pianist Ralph Sharon, guitarist Joe Puma, bassist Milt Hinton, and drummer Osie Johnson.

The two-trombone team of J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding (which had recently become very popular) is prominent on four of the ten selections. Connor's cool tone, subtle, emotional delivery and haunting voice were perfect for the music of the 1950s. Highlights of this superior set include "The Thrill Is Gone," "Blame It on My Youth," and "I Concentrate on You," but all ten numbers are rewarding. By Scott Yanow
https://www.allmusic.com/album/this-is-chris-mw0000196885

This Is Chris

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Russ Johnson - Still Out to Lunch

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:36
Size: 130,0 MB
Art: Front

( 9:22) 1. Hat and Beard
( 7:39) 2. Something Sweet, Something Tender
(10:21) 3. Out to Lunch
( 5:01) 4. Intake
( 4:31) 5. Gazzeloni
( 7:58) 6. Little Blue Devil
( 7:09) 7. Straight Up and Down
( 4:30) 8. Song for the Ram's Horn

The 50th anniversary of Eric Dolphy's chef d'oeuvre, Out To Lunch and more to the point, one of the great entries in the Blue Note catalogue is marked in rewarding style here. Johnson's excellent group reprises the five songs on the original album and extends the programme with a composition based on the work of one of Dolphy's main champions, Gunther Schuller, whose son is also in the band.


This wider framework is not without merit but the handling of the far from easy source material impresses for its many astute confirmations and wily extrapolations, none more so than on the title track which eventually breaks down to a ballad with the kind of eerie romanticism that runs through much of Dolphy's other work.

Replacing the vibraphone of Bobby Hutcherson with the piano of Myra Melford gives the group sound a very different backbone and rootedness, and the way that some of her fuller, sturdy chords fill out the tightly entwined unison lines of the horns is excellent. It picks up on and cements the immense orchestral implications of Dolphy's work, something that is perhaps overshadowed by the verve of his playing.

Essentially, he bequeathed to modern music mercurial lines, shapes and patterns to be remodeled as well as solos to be admired, and the brilliance of his mind took him above borders between mainstream and avant-garde. This work makes that clear.
https://www.jazzwise.com/review/russ-johnson-still-out-to-lunch

Personnel: Trumpet – Russ Johnson; Alto Saxophone – Roy Nathanson; Bass – Brad Jones; Drums – George Schuller; Piano – Myra Melford; Soprano Saxophone – Roy Nathanson (tracks: 5, 8);

Still Out to Lunch

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Sophia Tomelleri - These Things You Left Me

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2021
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:56
Size: 114,7 MB
Art: Front

(4:56) 1. Swallows
(5:56) 2. Fuori da novara
(6:08) 3. Drei viertel 5
(3:56) 4. Ballad for G
(4:00) 5. Jojo
(5:35) 6. Takeaways
(7:41) 7. These Things You Left Me
(6:33) 8. Sound Sleeper
(5:06) 9. Ginetta

An album that reconciles the traditional sonority of African-American music with modern and contemporary jazz. If you present these Things You Left Me, album d'esordio della sassophonista Sophia Tomelleri, winner of the prestigious Massimo Urbani Prize in 2020, which is released on June 16, 2021 for the label Emme Record label.

A high-energy project featuring some notable Italian jazz musicians such as Simone Daclon on piano, Alex Orciari on contrabass and Pasquale Fiore on drums. In this work I do perceive a strong interplay and a great cohesion between all the musicians who with enthusiasm have taken part in this new adventure. I find a tradition that comes from Bebop and Hard Bop and acquires a new line thanks to a brilliant language that moves through the past and present with great disinvolvement.Il quartetto, infatti, si muove tra brani caratterizzati gives a decisive groove, a ballad più rilassate, with the phrases of the sassofono always at the service of the group.

Not in case Sophia Tomelleri, leader and principal author of the new branch of this album, is part of some years in diverse musical programs that have allowed her to perform an intense concert activity in Italy and all the countries. The album begins with Swallows, the opening piece of this work that synthesizes the perfection of the band's language.

The sinuous solo of the sax is embedded with the decisive groove of the drums so that the piano can be played bright and energetic. From Novara is a carico branch of swing where the cohesion of the musicists emerges, among Drei Viertel is a cadenzata composition, vivace in which the sax diventa più dolce e il suono della band si ammorbidisce. Ballad For G e This Thing You Left Me sono invece due “ballad” lens, malinconiche that show us the most intimate part of a versatile and determinate formation. Jojo is another energetic piece, with a serrato drum rhythm characterized by brilliant sax phrases, dynamic and all this essential tempo.

Takeaways, forse one of the most interesting parts of the quartet, associates an essential and malign melodic line with an energetic, original and decisive battery. Sound Sleeper raps once again at the perfect point of union between tradition and modernity, with a decisive groove, an essential and granite phrase. The album if you join Ginetta can give you a swing in which you can feel the cohesion of a band that has shared diverse languages, expressing a strong personality. Translate By Google
https://www.emmerecordlabel.it/release/these-things-you-left-me/

These Things You Left Me

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Ramsey Lewis - Hang On Ramsey!/ Wade In The Water 1965/1966

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1965/ 1966
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 77:00
Size: 177,3 MB
Art: Front

(5:01)  1. A Hard Day's Night
(4:17)  2. All My Love Belongs To You
(2:30)  3. He's A Real Gone Guy
(5:40)  4. And I Love Her
(3:15)  5. Movin' Easy
(9:13)  6. Billy Boy / Hi-Heel Sneakers
(5:17)  7. The More I See You
(6:09)  8. Satin Doll
(3:09)  9. Hang On Sloopy
(3:51) 10. Wade In The Water
(2:58) 11. Ain't That Peculiar
(4:33) 12. Tobacco Road
(2:44) 13. Money In The Pocket
(3:10) 14. Message To Michael
(3:16) 15. Uptight (Everything's Alright)
(2:27) 16. Hold It Right There
(3:11) 17. Day Tripper
(3:05) 18. Mi Compasion
(3:05) 19. Hurt So Bad

In 2002, BGO released Hang on Ramsey/Wade in the Water, which contained two albums by jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis on one compact disc: Hang on Ramsey (1965) and Wade in the Water (1966), both originally issued by Cadet. ~ John Bush  http://www.allmusic.com/album/hang-on-ramsey-wade-in-the-water-mw0000467953

Personnel: Ramsey Lewis (piano); Maurice White, Redd Holt (drums).

Hang On Ramsey!Wade In The Water

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Patricia Barber - Clique

Styles: Vocal
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:20
Size: 104,5 MB
Art: Front

(4:37) 1. This Town
(3:53) 2. Trouble is a Man
(8:04) 3. Mashup
(4:28) 4. Samba de Uma Nota Só (One Note Samba)
(4:56) 5. I Could Have Danced All Night
(4:28) 6. The In Crowd
(4:19) 7. Shall We Dance?
(6:09) 8. Straight No Chaser
(4:23) 9. All in Love is Fair

These time-honored songs, lovingly curated, arranged, and performed by pianist/vocalist Patricia Barber and her band, are at last seeing the light of day when the world needs them more than ever. Pristinely recorded, Clique assembles what began as encores to live performances into an experience all its own. The album comes out of the same sessions that gave us Higher (see review for All About Jazz here), which immersed the fortunate listener in a world shaped by art song and poetry, only now shed of its shadows and reveling in the city lights. "This music is fun, like Patricia Barber without the dark side," is how she describes her project in a recent phone interview. "We'd been booked for four days in the studio but finished Higher in two. Since the band was already there and tight from having been on the road, it was easy for me to pull these out."

There is indeed an ease that characterizes her vocal delivery of Jobim's "Samba de Uma Nota Só / One Note Samba" and the Rodgers and Hammerstein bon mot "Shall We Dance?" Appearances by Neal Alger (acoustic guitar) on the former and Jim Gailloreto (tenor saxophone) add to the nostalgia of these familiar grounds, though it's her core trio, led by the bandleader's keystrokes, that does much of the heavy lifting. Linked arm in arm with bassist Patrick Mulcahy and drummer Jon Deitemyer, she first croons her way onto the rain-slicked streets of "This Town" as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"In some ways, I'm a control freak," Barber admits of her sound. "These are arrangements. This particular group is one I cherish, so everyone gets time to play. So, while it's stylized, they definitely have an input." Said input is front and center in "The In Crowd," which tracks its nerve impulses outwardly from a spinal bass line. In this and "Trouble Is A Man," Barber shows that her greatest powers as a singer tend to reside in her quietest inflections. From a near whisper, she is able to elicit deep lyrical and emotional conflicts. Chalk this as another victory for Jim Anderson, whose engineering ensures both fine separation and artful blend. "He just gets better," says Barber of the producer with whom she has worked for the better part of three decades. "In my music in general, I value silence as much as I value presence, and he's able to capture that perfectly."

Even when her voice hangs its hat for an instrumental interlude, Barber ensures that the audience, however virtual, is never forgotten. Whether turning the kaleidoscope of her original "Mashup" or navigating the burnished corridors of Monk's "Straight No Chaser," she allows freer energies to occupy the foreground. Notes Barber, "This is a very good representation of what you will hear when you come to see us live. It was true to what this band was playing at the time. We worked very hard on pulling melody away from the rhythm as we know it. It takes a very quiet space and musicians who are listening closely to do that."

Their synergy is especially apparent on "I Could Have Danced All Night," in which the drum kit seems to spread its wings around us as Barber takes a half-lit stage with poise. The sonic whetstone along which she sharpens such tunes is indicative of their somewhat unusual choosing. "When people hear 'standards album,' they're expecting the classic American Songbook of the 30s, but these are from the 50s and 60s, one of my favorite eras. I would call it a covers album." In that spirit, Barber takes the metaphorical connotations of the concept to their fullest, dressing melodies and harmonizing with freshly tailored clothing.

In that respect, one can't help but hear Clique and Higher as complementary. Whereas the earlier release broke new harmonic ground for vocal jazz music and was the result of six years of writing, here we are treated to a set of comforts we know and love. Barber is acutely aware of the timing as well: "This is a pleasant album to throw on right now, though I am disoriented by having a record come out that I can't perform with." How fortuitous, then, that she should end with Stevie Wonder's "All In Love Is Fair." Its sincerity speaks to the heart of the matter and unpacks for us the album's multivalent title, which Barber picked from among a handful of choices because, in her words, "it sounded like the kind of jazz club you'd want to be a part of." Thankfully, not even a pandemic can keep us from walking through its doors, taking a seat, and opening our ears to the hope of a brighter future.~Tyran Grillo https://www.allaboutjazz.com/clique-patricia-barber-impex-records

Personnel: Patricia Barber: piano; Patrick Mulcahy: bass; Jon Deitemyer: drums; Neal Alger: guitar, acoustic; Jim Gailloreto: saxophone, tenor.

Clique

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Patricia Barber - Higher

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:21
Size: 127,1 MB
Art: Front

(5:45)  1. Muse
(5:43)  2. Surrender
(3:49)  3. Pallid Angel
(4:29)  4. The Opera Song
(3:30)  5. High Summer Season
(5:25)  6. The Albatross
(4:25)  7. Voyager
(3:11)  8. Higher
(5:23)  9. Early Autumn
(6:09) 10. In Your Own Sweet Way
(2:41) 11. Secret Love
(4:46) 12. The Opera Song with Katherine Werbiansky

Patricia Barber is more than the sum of her talents. As a composer, she peels back the craft of song to expose its barest textures, cultivating each like a tree that, while holding its own shape above ground, makes apparent the roots below it. As a singer, she understands not only that we perform our voices but also that our voices perform us. Whether crooning through the Great American Songbook, as on Nightclub (Blue Note, 2000), or rowing through intensely original waters, as on the Ovid-inspired Mythologies (Blue Note, 2006), she shapes words and meanings as one and the same. As a lyricist, she inhales the ingredients of life and exhales the perfume of lessons learned. As far as back "Too Rich for My Blood" on Café Blue (Premonition Records, 1994), her attention to detail has revealed a continuity between the intimate and the grandiose.

And as a pianist (her 2010 concert with Kenny Werner, documented on a 2011 release by Floyd Records, being a quintessential example), she never ornaments for mere effect but draws out shades from the sentiments already flowing inside her. Encountering Barber at this point in her career is like getting to the redemption chapter of a long and fascinating autobiography, and in every line one can feel her retrospective nature in spades. "You can tell what I care about," she says of listening to this album in a phone interview. "In some ways, this is all I care about. In Smash (Concord, 2013) you could tell my heart was broken, but you could also hear those art songs starting to come through. This one is a much happier affair, as it should be in this political climate." Although Higher chronicles an extroverted leap of intuition, it's as much a courageous dive inward, plumbing deeper-than-ever emotional reserves by blending whimsy and seriousness into an organic whole. Its centerpiece is "Angels, Birds, and I...," an eight-part art song cycle that polishes multiple facets of a modern soul trying to maintain her nonstick coating in an abrasive world.

"I feel very much that this album is a manifestation of my hard-won harmonic evolution," Barber says. The result of six years' labor, these sonic dioramas sound at once out of time and utterly relevant: "Art song is its own world. Even though you have these improvisational envelopes, it's distinct from jazz. The harmonies are much vaster and difficult to put into words. One moment it all sounds new to us, and another it sounds familiar. This album is my own particular way of mixing those two things."

"Muse" provides a gloriously subtle introduction to that very dichotomy. Here our narrative guide struggles to marry inspiration with realization as she imagines a stage where another sings in her place. Through images of dressing and undressing, of love both real and imaginary, Barber's unflinching vocals thread every needle as if poised to make one last defining stitch. Storytelling doesn't even begin to describe the fullness at play as she delineates for us a path on which few other feet have made impressions. It's a thread that continues to run through "Surrender" and "Pallid Angel," both of which wrap sacred shades around secular bodies in pursuit of mutual trust. Like stones sinking into love after a wholehearted skip, they leave only ephemeral marks of their passage on the surface yet linger as nostalgic memories to be recaptured in moments of creative fancy.

All the more fitting then that the content of these songs should revolve around its perennial themes: "Angels, Birds, and I..." is an homage to music and singers. It's about love for music, and love as music. As the protagonist I take on godly role, looking down on my singer and wishing I could do what she does." In this regard, "The Opera Song" glistens. This multilingual tale of allusions takes musical terms as reflections of one whose heart longs to belt out an aria for all to hear, but whose commitment to the status quo threatens to overtake that spark of individuality. Nowhere has Barber's deft balance of the Apollonian and the Dionysian been so present. "High Summer Season" parlays further climatic shifts into view. Accompanied only by guitar, Barber embodies every fluttering wing as if it were hers alone. Even more so in "The Albatross Song." What at first appears to be the monologue of a wife seeking fulfillment in a more familiar, less distant lover turns into a playful commentary on modern ennui. Said fulfillment blossoms in "Voyager," a somewhat surreal evocation of singing as a springboard for extraterrestrial journeying. As in the closing title song, it ends above the clouds, riding thermals of personal histories, closer to the edges of dreams. Through it all, bassist Patrick Mulcahy, drummer Jon Deitemyer, guitarist Neal Alger and saxophonist Jim Gailloreto document every emotional turn of phrase with nothing short of archival assurance.

"These musicians have been working with me for a long time," says Barber. "I was lucky in not needing to travel far to find the best people for this project. Because they're basically playing chamber music, they had to approach it differently. They were vital to its development." Vital, too, is Barber's pianism as it winds through a smattering of standards to round out the album. Her rendition of Dave Brubeck's "In Your Own Sweet Way" is a highlight, and stands firm alongside a savvily arranged "Secret Love." The encore, as it were, comes to us by way of lyric soprano Katherine Werbiansky, whose take on "The Opera Song" gives us another side of the story. By the end of all this, we have encountered songs that change both within their own skins and between them, each a life in miniature waiting to nourish itself on the food of our attention. ~ Tyran Grillo https://www.allaboutjazz.com/higher-patricia-barber-artistshare-review-by-tyran-grillo.php

Personnel: Patricia Barber: piano, voice; Patrick Mulcahy: bass; Jon Deitemyer: drums; Neal Alger: acoustic guitar; Jim Gailloreto: tenor saxophone; Katherine Werbiansky: lyric soprano.

Higher

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