Dave Stryker Trio - Groove Street

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2024
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:57
Size: 124,1 MB
Art: Front

(5:14) 1.Groove Street
(6:15) 2 Overlap
(6:27) 3.Summit
(7:26) 4.Infant Eyes
(5:41) 5.Soulstice
(5:00) 6.Cold Duck
(5:44) 7.Cold Blue
(6:40) 8.The More I See You
(5:28) 9.Straight Ahead

Guitarist Dave Stryker's latest album, Groove Street, is in fact "The Dave Stryker Trio with Bob Mintzer," a combination that is a sure bet to enhance its merit and heighten its import a sentiment that is equally true when applied to any album on which the acclaimed tenor saxophonist sits in.

Stryker and Mintzer are longtime friends who somehow never recorded together, although Mintzer furnished the arrangements for Blue Soul, Stryker's splendid album with Germany's WDR Big Band. For this date, he has mapped out a pair of handsome original compositions ("Overlap," "Straight Ahead") to accompany three by Stryker and one each by Wayne Shorter, Eddie Harris and the trio's organist, Jared Gold, to chaperon Mack Gordon and Harry Warren's enduring standard, "The More I See You."

Stryker, Gold and drummer McClenty Hunter comprise the leader's working trio, which means everything on offer is not only engaging but seamless as well. This is as coeval as it gets, even as Mintzer teams up to add a collateral voice. Those familiar with Stryker should know what to expectdancing single-note runs with rare flourishes, always astute and accessible. As for Mintzer, his clean, angular phrases are never less than sharp and meticulous, while his emphatic, broad-shouldered style can be likened to that of Joe Henderson, Michael Brecker and other post-bop masters.

The session's basic mood is upbeat and breezy, best exemplified by Mintzer's twin burners, Stryker's robust "Summit" and hard swinging "Code Blue," and Harris' groovy "Cold Duck Time." Even "The More I See You" is taken at a brisker-than-usual tempo, fitting the ensemble like a proverbial glove. Shorter is represented by the tender "Infant Eyes," and Gold by the even-tempered and aptly named "Soulstice," on which he frames one of his several persuasive solos. Hunter doesn't solo as often, but when he does, he commands everyone's undivided attention.
Stryker's trio is splendid on its own, even better when enhanced by Mintzer's formidable presence all of which makes Groove Street an agreeable avenue whereon to stroll and linger long enough the sample its captivating sounds and charming ambience.By Jack Bowers
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/groove-street-dave-stryker-strikezone-records

Groove Street

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Sylvie Courvoisier - Chimaera

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 86:07
Size: 197,4 MB
Art: Front

(21:21) 1. Le pavot rouge
(13:32) 2. La joubarbe aragnaineuse
( 8:23) 3. Partout des prunelles flamboient
(15:00) 4. La chime`re aux yeux verts
( 8:40) 5. Ann​â​o
(19:09) 6. Le sabot de Venus

It says something about pianist Sylvie Courvoisier's current profile in creative jazz that she could assemble such a distinguished ensemble for her latest release, Chimaera. Augmenting her usual trio of bassist Drew Gress and drummer Kenny Wollesen are trumpeters Wadada Leo Smith and Nate Wooley, and with the always interesting Christian Fennesz completing the group on guitar and electronics, one would expect extraordinary results. And so they are worthy of a lengthy, two-CD treatment, in fact.

Courvoisier's work with Gress and Wollesen goes back to 2014, on Double Windsor (Tzadik). Since then, she's made two others with this trio, D'Agala (Intakt, 2017) and Free Hoops (Intakt, 2020), both of which are superb showcases of Courvoisier's prowess, with rhythmic intensity and improvisatory imagination galore, and with a telepathic rapport with her partners that always characterizes the best piano trios. And that is no less true of Chimaera, although listening to it the first time requires adjusting one's immediate assumption that it will be a display of the musicians' undeniable chops. What we get instead is something much more subtle and elliptical, in which mood and atmosphere are the objective rather than overt virtuosity. Indeed, part of the pleasure of this recording involves appreciating just how readily these formidable players subordinate themselves to Courvoisier's vision. Smith, Wooley, and Fennesz are outsized presences in their own right, but here their goal is to create something beyond their individual artistry; and although all six compositions are Courvoisier's, the album feels very much a group endeavor, and a superlative realization of a collective concept.

With four of the album's tracks coming in at over 13 minutes (and the first, "Le pavot rouge," a riveting 21 minutes), Courvoisier's music takes shape gradually, but with an emphasis on sustained development. This is music to get lost in, as ostinato passages and serpentine grooves meander through each cut, with a transfixing aggregative quality. Smith and Wooley are frequently at their most lyrical here, with a patience in articulation that matches the music's predilection for tempered restraint. The two engage in a gorgeous back-and-forth on "Le pavot rouge" with just a few perfectly placed notes; and when the rhythm ceases altogether for an even more muted segment as Wollesen takes up the vibraphone, the fragility of the music is striking, highlighted all the more when the captivating groove resumes. The group's use of space throughout the album is pivotal, allowing even the smallest gestures and flourishes to speak volumes.

Also crucial is Fennesz, whose crafty guitar and judicious use of electronics add indispensable texture to the music. Sometimes he floats in the background, almost imperceptibly, as on "Annâo," where he gently goads Courvoisier and the trumpets with occasional interjections. Elsewhere he is considerably more gregarious, particularly on "Partout des prunelles flambolent," easily the most dynamically enticing track on the album. Here Fennesz drives the music forward with beautiful distortion, fueling the leaps and flurries that give the piece its energy and verve. Courvoisier takes full advantage of the chance to stretch out here as well, with a glimpse of the sheer power and creativity she brings to her craft. Yet by the album's conclusion, the mysterious hold of "Le sabot de Venus" is finally released, and it is not the musicians' skill that most impresses, but rather their ability to cast a sustained spell for over eighty glorious minutes. A triumphant recording, and one of 2023's highlights.By Troy Dostert
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/chimaera-sylvie-courvoisier-intakt-records

Personnel: Sylvie Courvoisier: Piano; Wadada Leo Smith: Trumpet; Nate Wooley: Trumpet; Christian Fennesz: Guitar, electronics; Drew Gress: Bass; Kenny Wollesen: Drums, vibraphone

Chimaera

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Les McCann - Never A Dull Moment! Live From Coast To Coast 1966-1967

Never A Dull Moment! Live From Coast To Coast 1966-1967 CD 1 Styles: Hard Bop, Soul Jazz, Piano Jazz, Post-Bop, Jazz-Funk
Year: 2023
Time: 41:34
File: MP3 @ 320/s
Size: 57,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:29) 1. Blue 'n' Boogie
(6:54) 2. Could Be
(4:07) 3. The Grabber
(9:15) 4. Yours Is My Heart Alone
(5:31) 5. The Shampoo
(6:13) 6. Wait For It
(4:02) 7. This Could Be The Start Of Something Big

Never A Dull Moment! Live From Coast To Coast 1966-1967 CD 1

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Never A Dull Moment! Live From Coast To Coast 1966-1967 CD 2

Styles: Hard Bop, Soul Jazz, Piano Jazz, Post-Bop, Jazz-Funk
Year: 2023
Time: 39:28
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 54,6 MB
Art: Front

(5:43) 1. Out In The Outhouse
(6:17) 2. A Night In Tunisia
(4:44) 3. Da-Da
(7:24) 4. Lavande
(7:22) 5. There Will Never Be Another You
(7:55) 6. (Back Home Again In) Indiana

Never A Dull Moment! Live From Coast To Coast 1966-1967 CD 2

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Never A Dull Moment! Live From Coast To Coast 1966-1967 CD 3

Styles: Hard Bop, Soul Jazz, Piano Jazz, Post-Bop, Jazz-Funk
Year: 2023
Time: 49:49
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 68,9 MB
Art: Front

(7:12) 1. Love For Sale
(8:25) 2. I Can Dig It
(8:58) 3. Doin' That Thing
(6:08) 4. I Am In Love
(3:11) 5. Goin' Out Of My Head
(9:13) 6. Sunny
(5:00) 7. Blues 5
(1:38) 8. The Shampoo

Never A Dull Moment! Live From Coast To Coast 1966-1967 CD 3

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Les McCann - "Never A Dull Moment! Live From Coast To Coast (1966-67)" is a previously unreleased collection of live recordings from unsung piano and vocal icon Les McCann. Featuring performances at Seattle's Penthouse jazz club in 1966 with Stan Gilbert, Paul Humphrey and Tony Bazley, plus recordings by Resonance founder and co-president George Klabin from the Village Vanguard in 1967 with Leroy Vinnegar and Frank Severino. This is an official release (in cooperation with Les McCann) transferred from the original tapes and mastered for by the legendary Bernie Grundman.

CD 1-Tracks 1-7 recorded at the Penthouse Club in Seattle on January 27, 1966

CD-2 Tracks 8-10 recorded at the Penthouse Club in Seattle on February 3, 1966, Tracks 11-12 recorded at the Penthouse Club in Seattle on February 10, 1966, Track 13 recorded at the Penthouse on August 15, 1963 with Victor Gaskin (bass and Tony Bazley (drums)

Les McCann - piano

Stanley Gilbert - bass

Paul Humphrey - drums

Tony Bazley - drums (Feb. 10, 1996)

CD 3-Tracks 14-21 recorded at the Village Vanguard on July 16, 1967

Les McCann - piano

Leroy Vinnegar - bass

Frank Severino - drums

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Bruno Santos - Almmond 3: Wild West

Styles: Guitar Jazz

Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:22
Size: 125,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:12) 1. Delicious
(4:13) 2. Wild West
(4:48) 3. Calypsol
(3:49) 4. Protagonism
(4:17) 5. Daddy waltz you
(4:05) 6. Home alone
(5:40) 7. I used to got no rhythm
(3:13) 8. To preach or not to preach
(4:20) 9. My old folks
(4:43) 10. Oeste
(4:17) 11. Purple, black and more
(6:41) 12. Strawberry Jerry

With a career shaped by different projects and instrumental contexts (trio, quartet, quintet, decatet), Bruno Santos (b. 1976) is one of the most solid national jazz guitarists. With his brother André he forms the duo Mano a Mano, which has already released five albums, the most recent of which is the highly recommended “Trilogia das Sombras” (reviewed on jazz.pt here). In this project delightfully called Almmond 3, the guitarist explores the classic guitar-organ-drums format, a sound geometry that tells him a lot: «I assumed and I completely assume that the premise was to make original music, but inspired by the sound and language of the classic trios of this format", Bruno Santos begins by telling jazz.pt. «I sought out this sound openly, almost as a tribute or homage to some of my favorite guitarists», he soon adds. They are joined by Hugo Lobo on the Hammond B3 organ and the Serbian drummer Nemanja Delic, who has long lived among us, ideal companions for this adventure in Almmond 3. And the sense of humor is not just in the name of the group: we find it too in the title and cover of the album and in the names of the songs.

Bruno Santos sees this new project of his as another chapter «of a sated desire or curiosity.» Music continues to be a mystery to him. The albums released in his name have always been with different formations, although they can be seen as loose chapters that tell a story in progress, the story of the curiosity to test various formats. «With the exception of Mano a Mano and, eventually, the Hot Clube de Portugal septet, in which there is continuity (in formation and music), the rest are episodes that can be seen or heard without knowing the previous episode», highlights the guitarist. The desire to create a trio along these lines comes from way back. «I would say it's an old love, or an old relationship that finally has a happy ending!» The sound of the Hammond trio with guitar and drums was something that always attracted him. But suddenly something happened that would allow me to finally realize this drive: «For years I thought it would be complicated to record in this format, until suddenly I met Hugo Lobo and learned that he had been playing Hammond since childhood.» At the beginning of 2021, they held some sessions at the guitarist's home, who liked the result so much that he proposed doing something more consistent. The trio began rehearsing in a regular and targeted manner, somewhere between March and April of that year.

There are several challenges that this instrumental configuration poses, the biggest of which is the way in which the guitar and the Hammond connect, I would say intimately, to each other. «They complement each other, not only from a timbral point of view but in the space created for comping/soloing. I would say that it is easier, from the outset, for a guitar and a Hammond to coexist without major hiccups, than a guitar and a piano, for example», explains Bruno Santos. Hugo Lobo, who plays bass with his left hand, allows this alliance to occur between guitar and Hammond, which complement each other and become almost a single instrument. «Simply put, if Hugo is with the melody/solo, he necessarily has his left hand on the bass and his right hand on the solo/melody, making room for the guitar comping. If the guitar is on the solo, the Hammond takes over the bass (left hand) and comping (right hand)», explains the guitarist, who reinforces the «little margin for shock». But there is also the difficulty that arises from the Hammond being able to steal some timbral spectrum from the guitar, not only because it is an electric instrument and requires volume, but because «timbrally there are similarities». «And because it is an electric instrument, with volume it ends up being more “muscular” and demands more from everyone.” The format calls for high levels of interaction; the smaller the formation, the greater the scope for this to happen: «Hammond is there in the middle, he is part of the rhythm section but at the same time the soloist's accompanist. There is a constant connection between the three, fueled by Hammond.» .

The preparation process for this record was simple and smooth. «We always rehearsed at my house. I have a nice space with drums, equipped with a simple sound system», reveals Bruno Santos. The three of them recorded some rehearsals to smooth out rough edges and refine details. At one point, the guitarist suggested spending two or three days recording, in live mode, to see what happened. With just four microphones (two on drums and one for guitar and Hammond), within a short distance of each other, everything happened. In addition to the recording, the mixing and mastering of the album were also done at home by Bruno Santos himself (in the same space where “Trilogia das Sombras” was also recorded). «My curiosity also led me to this work; I mixed, mastered – the best I could, looking for what my ear wanted –, I asked a good friend and neighbor to take some photos and the album ended up being made in the neighborhood where I live, away from the chaos, in peace and tranquility. from Camp." Without the pressure of the clock and other factors inherent to studio recording, «with the time and peace of mind to experiment and record without a stopwatch.»

The music we hear in “Wild West” is bright and energetic, drawing on various referential sources, from jazz to rock, blues or soul. “It all came naturally,” he says. «The electric sound of the organ (whether Hammond or not) reminds me of bands I listened to a lot when I was a teenager (I still do), like Deep Purple or The Doors. Rock might come from there. The Hammond jazz trios, the blues that is always underlying whether in the rock or jazz format.” “Delicious” opens with groovy, processed strumming that launches into an almost Latin-swinging piece, with fluid guitar and smoking organ alternating solos; the drums provide the traction that pulls the trio resolutely forward, into the margins of rock. Full of associations with the place where it was written, in the middle of agricultural fields, “Wild West” fills us with a refreshing blues in the way the melody is exposed, with the guitar assuming natural protagonism, the organ carpeting with elegance (another great solo by Lobo) and the drums add rhythmic refinement.

Fun and fully danceable, “Calypsol” is a calypso in G major, which evokes summer in a destination with turquoise waters. The following piece has a paradoxical title: “Protagonism” is one of the themes where the interaction between the three is exponentiated, frenetic, with a fast swing, with Santos drawing a sinuous line that the organ reinforces and the drummer emphasizes with an assertive drive ( excellent at using brooms). “Daddy Waltz You”, «a waltz I did with my daughter in my head and heart», as the guitarist makes a point of pointing out, brings water to the boil with its elegant melody and “Home Alone” («take one», listen -se at the beginning), a theme in three parts, brings a lightness that resonates, with the fluidity of the leader's guitar, the comforting warmth of the organ, and the always intervening drums.

“I Used to Got no Rhythm”, built on the structure of “I Got Rhythm”, a Gershwinian emblem, here densified without giving up a vintage flavor, displays the good articulation between the three musicians; Delic solos well, without excessive adornments. “ To Preach or not to Preach”, in a soul register, precedes “My Old Folks”, a ballad with a classic feel (in the jazz sense, that is), deeply dedicated to his parents, who always accepted and supported their son's choice to be jazz musician, at a time when it was not obvious to explain that this “involved studying at home and waiting for the phone to ring.” “Oeste”, with a placid atmosphere, reveals guitarist and organist letting go with sobriety and purpose, referring to the guitarist's “west”. “Purple, Black and More”, a small tribute to one of the heroes of adolescence, the guitarist Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple, Rainbow), is a blues song with a strong rock'n'roll flavor. To close, the melody of “Strawberry Jerry” refers to the character of an imaginary comic strip, walking among the strawberries that were sprouting in the vegetable garden, right next to the studio.

With Almmond 3 and this “Wild West”, Bruno Santos adds a not insignificant chapter to a story that never ceases to surprise. https://jazz.pt/criticas/bruno-santos-almmond-3-wild-west-edicao-de-autor .

Almmond 3: Wild West

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Joel Haynes/Seamus Blake/Neil Swainson - The Return

Styles: Contemporary Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:24
Size: 113,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:19) 1. The Return
(5:28) 2. Peregrination
(6:35) 3. There And Back
(7:14) 4. Tomorrow Never Knows
(6:59) 5. Secret Garden
(7:53) 6. Allure
(6:13) 7. Angel
(4:40) 8. Payback

The Return! is certainly well-named, as it is drummer Joel Haynes' third album as leader of his own group but the first in fifteen years, following Cellar Music recordings The Time Is Now (2005) and Transitions (2008). During his long absence from a recording studio, however, Toronto-based Haynes has managed to stay busy, performing with many of the finest jazz artists in Canada and appearing at jazz festivals and other events in North and South America, the Caribbean and Europe.

On The Return!, Haynes leads an all-star quartet whose other members are tenor saxophonist Seamus Blake, pianist Tilden Webb and bassist Neil Swainson. No slackers in that lineup. Blake in particular warrants special applause, as he carries much of the melodic load and never once drops the ball. His teammates, meanwhile, give him ample room to run, forming an earnest and effective rhythmic phalanx.

The playlist consists of five original compositions by Haynes, a couple by Webb, John Lennon/Paul McCartney's "Tomorrow Never Knows" and one outlier, "Angel." There are two flag-wavers, Webb's "There and Back" and Haynes' "Payback," the last of which the group saves for its closing number. Webb swings hard on both tracks, while Blake delivers dazzling solos and Haynes and Swainson show they are master hands at any tempo.

"Tomorrow," not one of the Beatles' better-known themes, is a pleasant groover on which Webb takes another tasteful solo, leading to more of the same by Blake who clearly brought his "A-game" to the session. Swainson, one of Canada's premier sidemen, also solos admirably, while Haynes keeps his usual flawless time. Webb's placid "Secret Garden" is next, followed by Haynes' sunlit "Allure," the easygoing "Angel" (arranged by Webb) and the emphatic "Payback."

While it has been a long time between recordings for Haynes, The Return! is well worth the wait. An appetizing slice of contemporary post-bop jazz. By Jack Bowers
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-return-joel-haynes-cellar-records

Personnel: Joel Haynes - drums; Seamus Blake - tenor saxophone; Neil Swainson - bass; Tilden Webb - piano

The Return

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Angela DeNiro - Angela DeNiro Swingin' with Legends 2 with the Ron Aprea Big Band

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:43
Size: 151,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:02) 1. New York City Blues
(5:20) 2. You'd Be So Easy To Love (Feat. Ken Peplowski)
(4:22) 3. Hello Young Lovers (Feat. Randy Brecker)
(5:50) 4. A House Is Not A Home
(3:50) 5. Willow Weep For Me
(7:47) 6. It Might As Well Be Spring (Feat. Lew Tabackin)
(2:25) 7. Don'cha Go 'Way Mad
(4:59) 8. Two For The Road
(3:09) 9. That Old Black Magic
(5:31) 10. Come In From The Rain
(4:10) 11. On Green Dolphin Street
(5:17) 12. My One And Only Love
(5:18) 13. For Phil
(3:36) 14. The Curtain Falls

On Swingin' with Legends 2, her fourth recorded collaboration with arranger (and husband) Ron Aprea's big band, vocalist Angela DeNiro sings beautifully and receives a lot of help from her friends, especially guests Ken Peplowski on clarinet, Randy Brecker on trumpet and Lew Tabackin on tenor sax and flute. And what a band! Well-stocked with stars who are eager to fly whenever Aprea raises his baton.

Not that DeNiro needs much help. She is quite simply a marvelous singer with excellent range, splendid diction and obvious respect for a lyric. She also sings on key, and as for breath control, dig the final note on Burt Bacharach's "A House Is Not a Home." And she scats respectably too (in sync with the band on Rodgers and Hammerstein's "It Might as Well Be Spring," on which Tabackin solos on tenor). Ballads pose no problem, as DeNiro readily nails "My One and Only Love" and Henry Mancini's "Two for the Road" but it's clear that she and the band relish every opportunity to step on the gas and flat-out swing. For crystal-clear examples, look no further than "That Old Black Magic" or Cole Porter's "Easy to Love" (with Brecker on trumpet).

"On Green Dolphin Street" is another burner, encompassing one of alto Todd Bashore's heated solos (the others are on "Willow Weep for Me" and "For Phil," Aprea's clever tribute to the late alto giant and close friend Phil Woods). "For Phil" leads to the tender-hearted finale, "The Curtain Falls," a closing theme often used by Bobby Darin. Aprea employs only one soloist on each number. Besides Bashore and the band's guests, they include trumpeter Bryan Davis on the opening "New York Blues," "That Old Black Magic" and "Come in from the Rain"; trumpeter Chris Persad ("A House Is Not a Home"), bassist Tim Givens ("Don't Cha Go 'Way Mad") and trombonist Wayne Goodman ("My One and Only Love").

If this isn't the best vocalist-with-big band album of the year, it is definitely a close second. And the other one would have to be downright spectacular. DeNiro and Aprea's partnership is awesome, and Swingin' with Legends 2 shines brightly from every angle. In other words, a definite keeper.

Angela DeNiro Swingin' with Legends 2 with the Ron Aprea Big Band

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Larry McKenna - World on a String

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:19
Size: 111,1 MB
Art: Front

(6:08) 1. I've Got the World on a String
(6:24) 2. But Beautiful
(3:50) 3. I Love You, Samantha
(7:10) 4. Emily
(5:31) 5. Dreamsville
(4:24) 6. Stompin' at the Savoy
(4:54) 7. Somewhere in the Night
(5:33) 8. Samba De Else
(4:21) 9. What Is There to Say?

Larry McKenna is not really a celebrity. He probably never will be. He plays tenor sax in and around Philadelphia. He apparently does not say a lot although he clearly has a puckish sense of humor. It comes out in his playing. It is possible to drive by his suburban home, vaguely aware that a saxophonist, a pretty good one, lives there and keep right on going. A sort of metaphor for McKenna and his career (read our 2007 interview).

To a small group, musicians primarily, McKenna is not your average player. Some will say he is arguably the best in the world at what he does, not just in Philadelphia. And what he does is play beautifully and lyrically, distilling the modern history of the tenor saxophone, at least since Lester Young, into gorgeous sonorities. He has not recorded as much as say, Stan Getz, whose sound he sometimes recalls, or made live appearances in Mexico City and try to speak Spanish (as Getz once did). If you have heard him live, it may have been at a Catholic parish festival in South Philly. Or then again, at a Woody Herman Tribute Band festival in Los Angeles, since he is a Herd alumnus. McKenna has flown under that sort of oddly fragmented radar for many years. He has been called a "natural," schooled on the gig, not in the classroom. It shows.

Sooner or later, many great bop players McKenna is arguably that too have recorded with strings. These outings are not to everyone's liking, Somehow, the strings here, gifted players all, some associated with Temple University, where Larry has taught, are not an afterthought, but a harmonic extension of McKenna's playing. There are nine tunes, including "Samba de Else," a McKenna original, to add to Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Yip Harburg, Henry Mancini, Cole Porter , Jimmy van Heusen and Johnny Burke, Johnny Mandel, and Edgar Sampson, among others.

To top it off, McKenna and Jack Saint Clair, a fellow tenor player, did the arrangements. They knew what they wanted. There is no wasted space, no wasted motion, and not a wasted note. McKenna makes all the pretty changes, with spectacular results. Polished, tasteful, meditative, musical, gorgeous and in places, wryly hip. Dexter Gordon even peeks through occasionally. It is that kind of creative thinking.

World on a String opens appropriately enough, with McKenna cruising through an easygoing double-time with a touch of 52d Street here and there. An incredible "But Beautiful" follows, shades of Gordon Jenkins, as yearning a version as one could hear, with strings and piano tastefully interwoven. "Samantha" is a bossa, a genre which sometimes means cliché-time. Not here, where sincerity, not cynicism holds. To get away from the insanity with which we have surrounded ourselves, choose either "Emily" or "Dreamsville." Both will take you, unaided, to a much better place.

On "Savoy," McKenna is joined on tenor by Saint Clair, who more than holds his own. Joe Plowman also gets some space on bass, and with strings, the whole swings nicely indeed. The real sleeper is "Somewhere in the Night" otherwise known as the theme from the TV series "Naked City" (1960-1963), which has been little recorded since 1965. Some may remember Maynard Ferguson doing a big band arrangement, on Come Blow Your Horn (Cameo, 1963) and perhaps that is where this version originated. It is a pleasure to hear the Milt Raskin and Billy May chart rescued from obscurity. The recording closes out with a McKenna original, "Samba de Else" and "What is There to Say?"

A favorite? All of them. A memorable recording by an artist whose evident dislike for self-promotion and publicity should not prevent a widespread appreciation of his gifts.By Richard J Salvucci https://www.allaboutjazz.com/world-on-a-string-larry-mckenna-bcm-and-d-records

World on a String

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Ella Fitzgerald - The Complete Decca Singles Vol. 4 of 4 (1950-1955) 4-Disc Set

In 1934 Ella's name was pulled in a weekly drawing at the Apollo and she won the opportunity to compete in Amateur Night. Ella went to the theater that night planning to dance, but when the frenzied Edwards Sisters closed the main show, Ella changed her mind. "They were the dancingest sisters around," Ella said, and she felt her act would not compare. Once on stage, faced with boos and murmurs of "What's she going to do?" from the rowdy crowd, a scared and disheveled Ella made the last minute decision to sing. She asked the band to play Hoagy Carmichael's "Judy," a song she knew well because Connee Boswell's rendition of it was among Tempie's favorites. Ella quickly quieted the audience, and by the song's end they were demanding an encore. She obliged and sang the flip side of the Boswell Sister's record, "The Object of My Affections."

Off stage, and away from people she knew well, Ella was shy and reserved. She was self-conscious about her appearance, and for a while even doubted the extent of her abilities. On stage, however, Ella was surprised to find she had no fear. She felt at home in the spotlight. "Once up there, I felt the acceptance and love from my audience," Ella said. "I knew I wanted to sing before people the rest of my life." In the band that night was saxophonist and arranger Benny Carter. Impressed with her natural talent, he began introducing Ella to people who could help launch her career. In the process he and Ella became lifelong friends, often working together.

Fueled by enthusiastic supporters, Ella began entering - and winning - every talent show she could find. In January 1935 she won the chance to perform for a week with the Tiny Bradshaw band at the Harlem Opera House. It was there that Ella first met drummer and bandleader Chick Webb. Although her voice impressed him, Chick had already hired male singer Charlie Linton for the band. He offered Ella the opportunity to test with his band when they played a dance at Yale University. "If the kids like her," Chick said, "she stays." Despite the tough crowd, Ella was a major success, and Chick hired her to travel with the band for $12.50 a week.

Album: The Complete Decca Singles Vol. 4 (1950-1955) Disc 1
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 73:21
Size: 167.9 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2017

[2:55] 1. Baby, Won't You Say You Love Me
[3:21] 2. Don'cha Go 'way Mad
[3:00] 3. Solid As A Rock
[3:00] 4. Sugarfoot Rag
[2:20] 5. M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I
[2:10] 6. I Don't Want The World (With A Fence Around It)
[3:15] 7. I've Got The World On A String
[3:19] 8. Peas And Rice
[3:11] 9. Ain't Nobody's Business But My Own
[3:08] 10. I'll Never Be Free
[3:04] 11. Dream A Little Dream Of Me
[3:09] 12. Can Anyone Explain
[3:06] 13. Santa Claus Got Stuck (In My Chimney)
[2:41] 14. Molasses, Molasses (It's Icky Sticky Goo)
[3:13] 15. My One And Only
[3:12] 16. Someone To Watch Over Me
[3:05] 17. Looking For A Boy
[3:11] 18. But Not For Me
[3:12] 19. I've Got A Crush On You
[3:12] 20. How Long Has This Been Going On
[2:43] 21. Soon
[3:23] 22. Maybe
[3:05] 23. Little Small Town Girl (With The Big Town Dreams)
[3:15] 24. I Still Feel The Same About You

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Album: The Complete Decca Singles Vol. 4 (1950-1955) Disc 2
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 75:10
Size: 172.1 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2017

[2:59] 1. Lonesome Gal
[3:05] 2. The Bean Bag Song
[3:20] 3. Two Little Men In A Flying Saucer
[3:13] 4. The Hot Canary
[2:38] 5. The Chesapeake And Ohio
[3:08] 6. Because Of Rain
[3:28] 7. Even As You And I
[3:09] 8. Do You Really Love Me
[3:16] 9. Mixed Emotions
[1:56] 10. Come On-A My House
[2:58] 11. Love You Madly
[3:03] 12. Smooth Sailing
[2:46] 13. There Never Was A Baby Like My Baby
[3:18] 14. Give A Little, Get A Little
[3:16] 15. Baby Doll
[3:17] 16. Lady Bug
[2:30] 17. Necessary Evil
[3:08] 18. Oops!
[3:11] 19. I Don't Want To Take A Chance
[3:12] 20. Rough Ridin'
[3:07] 21. Lazy Day
[2:40] 22. What Does It Take
[2:24] 23. That Old Feeling
[2:50] 24. A Guy Is A Guy
[3:07] 25. Gee, But I'm Glad To Know You Love Me

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Album: The Complete Decca Singles Vol. 4 (1950-1955) Disc 3
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 66:26
Size: 152.1 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2017
Art: Front

[3:00] 1. Air Mail Special
[2:21] 2. Goody, Goody
[3:09] 3. Ding-Dong Boogie
[3:01] 4. Preview
[3:00] 5. Trying
[2:13] 6. My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean
[2:46] 7. My Favorite Song
[2:26] 8. Walkin' By The River
[3:19] 9. Would You Like To Take A Walk
[2:16] 10. Who Walks In When I Walk Out
[2:53] 11. I Can't Lie To Myself
[3:00] 12. Don't Wake Me Up
[2:50] 13. Careless
[2:44] 14. Blue Lou
[3:05] 15. Nowhere Guy
[2:52] 16. Angel Eyes
[2:43] 17. When The Hands Of The Clock Pray At Midnight
[3:05] 18. Crying In The Chapel
[5:11] 19. You'll Have To Swing It (Mr. Paganini) Pt. 1 & 2
[2:11] 20. The Greatest There Is
[2:54] 21. I Wonder What Kind Of A Guy You'd Be
[2:26] 22. Somebody Bad Stole De Wedding Bell (Who's Got The Ding Dong )
[2:49] 23. Melancholy Me

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Album: The Complete Decca Singles Vol. 4 (1950-1955) Disc 4

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 61:39

Size: 141.2 MB

Styles: Jazz vocals

Year: 2017

Art: Front

[2:39] 1. Baby

[2:37] 2. I Need

[2:46] 3. Who's Afraid (Not I, Not I, Not I)

[3:08] 4. I Wished On The Moon

[2:49] 5. Lullaby Of Birdland

[2:33] 6. Later

[3:03] 7. An Empty Ballroom

[2:43] 8. If You Don't, I Know Who Will

[2:38] 9. Moanin' Low

[3:04] 10. Taking A Chance On Love

[1:57] 11. Lover, Come Back To Me

[2:55] 12. Old Devil Moon

[2:24] 13. Pete Kelly's Blues

[2:58] 14. Hard Hearted Hannah

[3:00] 15. Soldier Boy

[2:31] 16. A Satisfied Mind

[2:46] 17. The Impatient Years

[2:56] 18. But Not Like Mine

[2:58] 19. The Tender Trap

[3:20] 20. My One And Only Love

[3:11] 21. Early Autumn

[2:32] 22. Ella's Contribution To The Blues

Ella Fitzgerald - The Complete Decca Singles Vol. 4 (1950-1955) Disc 1, Disc 2  

Ella Fitzgerald - The Complete Decca Singles Vol. 4 (1950-1955) Disc 3, Disc 4

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Bernie Senensky, Eric Alexander, Joe Farnsworth - Moment To Moment

Styles: Contemporary Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:41
Size: 155,2 MB
Art: Front

( 5:08) 1. Alexander’s Realtime Band
(15:02) 2. Speak Low
( 7:39) 3. Matchmaker
( 9:15) 4. Moment To Moment
(10:35) 5. Blues For E.J.
( 7:18) 6. Make Believe
( 8:57) 7. Stand Pat
( 3:44) 8. Alexander’s Realtime Band (Alt Take)

Canadian pianist Bernie Senensky's latest album, Moment to Moment, encompasses two quartet sessions recorded almost twenty years apart: the first in 2001, the second (live) in 2020. While the rhythm sections differ on each, the one constant (aside from Senensky) is the acclaimed tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander. If you are planning to have only one constant, Alexander is by any measure a superlative choice.

Alexander, whose solos are models of creativity and eloquence, seems to light a fire under Senensky who performs marvelously on every number while giving Alexander copious room to improvise (and granting him the first solo on most tracks). Senensky wrote three of the album's eight numbers, and they are excellent, especially the flag-waving "Alexander's Realtime Band," versions of which open and close the album. The others are the loping "Blues for E.J." and lyrical "Make Believe." For his part, Alexander composed the skittish burner "Stand Pat" as a tribute to his band mate and friend, the late guitarist Pat Martino.

Senensky and Alexander are blessed to have the support of not one but two blue-chip rhythm sections: bassist Dave Young and drummer Morgan Childs on "Speak Low" and "Blues for E.J." (showcasing Young's splendid arco bass) from 2020, bassist Kieran Overs and drummer Joe Farnsworth on the studio session from 2001. Speaking of bassists, Overs has his moment in the sun (and it is a bright one) on "Make Believe," while Childs sparkles on "Speak Low," Farnsworth on "Stand Pat." Alexander's solos, meanwhile, often extend for more than five minutes, and he never runs out of inspiration or passes up a persuasive turn of phrase. His statements on "Realtime Band" are textbook examples of how to unravel a theme and get it right.

On "Blues for E.J.," Senensky and Alexander prove that they can be as blue as needed, much as they cleave to the juggernaut that is "Alexander's Realtime Band" and do not let go until they have made their purpose crystal clear. The album's other songs, so far unmentioned, are Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick's "Matchmaker, Matchmaker" from the Broadway smash Fiddler on the Roof and Henry Mancini/Johnny Mercer's lovely ballad, "Moment to Moment" (from the film of that name), which lends the album its title. "Matchmaker," taken at precisely the correct tempo, spotlights typically impressive solos by Senensky (who leads off this time) and Alexander with staunch support from Overs and Farnsworth, while Alexander shows his tender side on "Moment to Moment" and Senensky frames a second amorous solo.

Alexander shows on every number why he has been ranked high in so many polls for more than two decades; he always comes to play, and never leaves an audience less than pleased and enlightened. Notwithstanding his towering presence, however, this is Senensky's date (or dates), and he demonstrates time and again why he is one of Canada's foremost jazz pianists, whether playing straight-ahead (as he does here) or avant-garde, as he has been known to do on other occasions. From Moment to Moment, Senensky enhances every note and phrase, as do Alexander who is always a pleasure to hear and those exemplary rhythm sections. Quartet sessions simply don't shine much brighter than this.By Jack Bowers
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/moment-to-moment-bernie-senensky-cellar-music-group__1010

Personnel: Bernie Senensky - piano; Eric Alexander - tenor saxophone; Kieran Overs - bass (tracks 1,3,4,6,7 & 8); Dave Young - bass (tracks 2 & 5); Joe Farnsworth - drums (tracks 1,3,4,6,7 & 8); Morgan Childs - drums (tracks 2 & 5)

Moment To Moment

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Vanessa Perica Orchestra - The Eye Is the First Circle

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:02
Size: 115,0 MB
Art: Front

(7:01) 1. The Eye Is the First Circle
(7:34) 2. What a Time to Be Alive
(6:14) 3. Hill of Grace
(7:29) 4. Meet Me at Phoenix Street
(6:56) 5. Song for Cleo
(9:47) 6. Still We Rise
(4:58) 7. Love and War

Czech pianist/composer Kristina Barta's Endless Questions and Answers opens on a rather ominous tone. Drummer Marek Urbanek plays on his toms a shadowy, esoteric rhythm. Tenor Jure Pukl flares in. Barta enters slowly, barely audible with bassist Peter Korman riding shotgun. But soon she controls the barely controllable rush that embodies "Breaking Through Some Border," the breakthrough opener to a fine, fine recording.

Barta a graduate from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and a finalist in the 2016 Euroradio Jazz Competition in the Netherlands keeps the action chugging along. "The One Who Believes" is a full bore slice of Euro post-bop: airy, articulate, unfussy. Clean and propulsive. The trio of Urbánek, Korman, and Pukl hold the landscape to task allowing Barta to muse about the sweeping terrain's many highway and byways.

The almost-too-ballady ballad "No Time Ritual" echoes just enough of the other eighheen-million ballads out there to kind of halt the forward spread of motion the previous two tracks had given themselves to. The slow, unfolding, knotty structure of "Everything's Changed" breaks that spell. It is soon followed by "Without Anxiety" where Barta balances her melodic balladry and her instinct for jumpy improv with keen nuance.

The quartet revels in that jumpy bop energy on "Fictional Trips." Barta is all over the Cecil Taylor/Marilyn Crispell playbook and it is a pure rush to listen to. Pukl, his tone classic sax sharp but not strident, resonant with metro narrative pulls with and against Barta, busting space for Urbánek's muscle and Korman's insistence to rule the day. Despite the couple of originals that sound a tad over-studied, Endless Questions and Answers does not disappoint and delivers if not many answers, certainly many promises.By Mike Jurkovic
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/endless-questions-and-answers-kristina-barta-alessa-records-jazz-and-art-second-records

The Eye Is the First Circle

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Victor Assis Brasil - Esperanto / Toca Antonio Carlos Jobim

Size: 194,5 MB
Time: 83:54
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2018
Styles: Jazz
Label: Far Out Recordings
Art: Front & Back

01. Ginger Bread Boy ( 6:14)
02. Children (10:14)
03. Marilia ( 6:44)
04. Quarenta Graus A Sombra ( 9:12)
05. Ao Amigo Quartin ( 5:07)
06. So Tinha De Ser Com Voce ( 4:01)
07. Wave ( 9:49)
08. Bonita (11:43)
09. Dindi ( 5:01)
10. Marilia (Alternative Take) ( 7:52)
11. Ao Amigo Quartin (Alternative Take) ( 7:51)

Over the course of the 1960s, Roberto Quartin released more than 20 albums in Brazil on his label Forma, by artists including the likes of Eumir Deodato, Quarteto Em Cy, Baden Powell and Vinicius De Moraës. Selling the rights of Forma to Polygram in 1969, Quartin struck out for pastures new at the dawn of the 1970s with the launch of his self-titled label. Significant works and high-water marks for Brazilian music overall followed in that decade’s first year. These singular gems in Brazilian music, difficult to categorise yet compellingly beautiful, have for too long gone unheard.

Gifted his first saxophone by his aunt at the age of fourteen, only four years later the inherently gifted and determined young musician Victor Assis Brasil recorded his debut album, with a second to follow only a year later. The prodigious young carioca was subsequently granted a place to study at Berklee College of Music, where he played alongside the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Chick Corea and Ron Carter. It was also during this period he recorded Esperanto and Toca Antonio Carlos Jobim with Roberto Quartin, upon returning to Brazil in the summer of 1970.

Recorded in the same sessions as the Toca Antonio Carlos Jobim album, Esperanto consists of five deep jazz cuts: original compositions except for a heavy-swinging latin-jazz cover of Jimmy Heath’s ‘Ginger Bread Boy’, alongside more moments of wild frenetic jazz, like ‘Quarenta Graus A Sombra’, amongst more melancholic, but no less captivating compositions like ‘Marilia’ and ‘Ao Amigo Quartin’. Esperanto’s influences span both American continents, finding a meeting point for Latin jazz and North American post-bop, with Roberto Quartin’s perfectionist approach to sound elevating the already incandescent music to divine new heights. The band consists of some mercurial greats of Brazilian music: Dom Salvador (bass), Edison Machado (drums), Helio Delmiro (guitar) and Edson Lobo (Bass).

Victor Assis Brasil passed away aged just thirty-five, due to a rare circulatory disease, but by this point his status was already cemented as one of the most talented musicians in Brazil’s history.

This issue of Esperanto also features a track previously unreleased on vinyl, ‘Children’. All the releases in the Quartin series have been re-mastered from the original 2” tapes, and pressed to high quality heavyweight vinyl.

Esperanto / Toca Antonio Carlos Jobim

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Cal Tjader - Catch The Groove (Live at The Penthouse 1963-1967)

Styles: Vibraphone Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 146:53
Size: 340,4 MB
Art: Front

(6:15) 1. Take The A Train
(7:02) 2. In Your Own Sweet Way
(5:20) 3. It Never Entered My Mind
(5:35) 4. Morning Of The Carnival (Manha De Carnaval)
(2:41) 5. Insight
(5:13) 6. Sunset Boulevard
(3:59) 7. Here's That Rainy Day
(4:46) 8. Davito
(3:28) 9. Pantano
(5:13) 10. Leyte
(4:14) 11. Half And Half
(7:33) 12. On Green Dolphin Street
(4:27) 13. Love For Sale
(5:38) 14. Reza
(5:09) 15. Maramoor Mambo
(4:45) 16. The Shadow Of Your Smile
(7:09) 17. Bag1s Groove
(5:38) 18. Morning
(4:15) 19. Mambo Inn
(8:37) 20. On Green Dolphin Street
(5:41) 21. I Can't Get Started
(4:58) 22. Soul Burst
(3:49) 23. Cuban Fantasy
(5:18) 24. O Morro Não Tem Vez
(9:32) 25. Fuji
(5:51) 26. Lush Life
(4:36) 27. Along Comes Mary

It would be unusual to hear vibraphonist Cal Tjader mentioned alongside the all-time greats on his instrument. He is not remembered for being a fearless improviser like Bobby Hutcherson, or as deeply soulful as Milt Jackson, or as hard-swinging a presence as Lionel Hampton. Moreover, one will search in vain in his biography for the hard-fought personal struggles that have typically been the bread and butter of jazz legend: no tortured tales of substance abuse, or bouts with poverty or unappreciative audiences. By all accounts, he led a happy and satisfied life on the West Coast, far removed from the bustle (and prominence) of New York; he never toured Europe. But he did make a pivotal contribution to jazz through his work in Latin music an idiom that he helped to establish firmly within the jazz world. And that contribution is well-documented in Catch the Groove, a three-LP (or two-CD) collection of live recordings Tjader made at the Penthouse in Seattle during the mid-60s.

Listening to these performances, which include a range of dates and sidemen, one is struck by just how effortless Tjader's improvisations could sound perhaps another reason he has not won as much acclaim as some of his contemporaries. And although there is an abundance of Latin jazz on this release, as one would expect, some of the biggest surprises are found in the non-Latin material: hearing Tjader dig into "Take the 'A' Train" at the outset of the February 1963 concert is a delight, with enough harmonic invention and dynamic swing to belie the misconception that he was a one-dimensional Latin popularizer. Elsewhere it is Tjader's lyrical facility with a ballad that impresses, as on "Here's that Rainy Day," where his note perfect solo's luminescence has a deceptively simple purity.

But although there are more than enough jazz standards here to demonstrate Tjader's breadth, the Latin pieces are more reflective of his core impulses and indeed, are why the title of the release is so appropriate. Helped by percussionists Bill Fitch and Armando Peraza, the groups assembled here are most at home when they are finding a Latin groove and the work of pianists Clare Fischer, Lonnie Hewitt and Al Zulaica are also essential in that regard. Hewitt's bluesy licks are fundamental to the sinuous momentum of "Pantano," and his punchy block chords help propel the feisty "Maramoor Mambo" at the close of the 1965 set. Zulaica's own churning rhythms enliven "Mambo Inn" on the 1966 recording. Even a Latinized take on the Association's 1966 pop hit "Along Comes Mary" fares well in Tjader's hands. These musicians have impeccable instincts for a range of Latin styles, and they do justice to all of them.

In general, the recording quality is very good, with a nice balance between the instruments and not too much tape hiss. One can question producer Zev Feldman's decision to compress the material from these six concerts onto six LP sides, however. This led to fading out a couple of the tracks, namely "Insight" on the first set (after a mere two and a half minutes) and "Half and Half" on the second, with the latter unfortunately in full flight during the fade-out. But the folks at Jazz Detective can perhaps be forgiven these relatively minor transgressions, especially given the label's typically fine packaging and informative liner notes, including some illuminating reflections from modern-day vibe legends Gary Burton and Joe Locke on Tjader's undersung legacy. Kudos to Feldman and company for bringing this music to a wider audience. By Troy Dostert https://www.allaboutjazz.com/cal-tjader-catch-a-groove-live-at-the-penthouse-1963-1967-jazz-detective

Catch The Groove (Live at The Penthouse 1963-1967)

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Joan Chamorro - Joan Chamorro Presenta Sant Andreu Reunion Band

Styles: Jazz, Big Band
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:07
Size: 128,1 MB
Art: Front

(2:59) 1. Let’s Dream in the Moonlight
(3:54) 2. Femininity
(3:50) 3. That’s Life
(2:49) 4. Orange Colored Sky
(2:52) 5. Nevertheless
(3:01) 6. You and I
(2:52) 7. Chiclete com Banana
(4:29) 8. Green Green Grass of Home
(3:42) 9. Let’s Do It
(4:02) 10. You’ve Changed
(4:26) 11. Noite dos Mascarados
(2:41) 12. Haven’t We Met
(2:38) 13. Samba da Minha Terra
(3:52) 14. Del Sasser
(3:33) 15. Every Time We Say Goodbye
(3:21) 16. Old McDonald

The idea behind the Sant Andreu Reunion Band is to create a group in which all the musicians form or have formed part of the Sant Andreu Jazz Band. I always try to give opportunities, beyond the project, to all those who are working well: 1) Either through the collection of cds Joan Chamorro presents, or 2) counting on them, already as professionals, in the different groups I create. I continue to work with musicians who have not been in the orchestra for years and at the same time new musicians are joining, as they grow personally and musically.

More than 80 young musicians have already passed through the Sant Andreu Jazz Band, the vast majority of whom are or will become professional musicians. The result is that in each project new soloists appear, new voices that little by little have their own voice. Possibly next year we will see new faces in other groups. For the time being, here we have this new meeting of musicians where, once again, the voice is the protagonist through six singers with very varied styles, and all of them great instrumentalists. Completing the group we have the rest of the band who are great soloists and who, occasionally, also do vocals in some themes.

The arrangements, for the most part, are by Joan Monné. To be able to count on Scott Hamilton in some songs is an honour for us. I hope and wish to continue supporting young musicians through projects like this one. We continue Sant Andreu Jazz Band 18 years of jazz.
https://jazztojazz.com/en/product/joan-chamorro-presenta-sant-andreu-reunion-band-2/

Joan Chamorro Presenta Sant Andreu Reunion Band

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Adi Braun - Night and Day (The Cole Porter Songbook)

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:26
Size: 84,3 MB
Art: Front

(3:30) 1. Love for Sale
(3:13) 2. Just One of Those Things
(4:09) 3. Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye
(4:00) 4. I've Got You Under My Skin
(4:05) 5. Night and Day
(3:50) 6. In the Still of the Night
(3:17) 7. Get out of Town
(3:30) 8. I Concentrate on You
(3:22) 9. Too Darn Hot
(3:24) 10. What Is This Thing Called Love?

Adi Braun's love affair with the music of Cole Porter runs long and deep. The acclaimed Toronto jazz and cabaret chanteuse has long covered his tunes in her performances and on record. She describes the music of her favorite Great American Songbook writer as delicious, a great combination of naughty, provocative, sensuous, witty and devastatingly beautiful.

I am also smitten by the fact that he wrote both lyrics and music, and his use of sexy Latin beats and rhythms is another major drawing card for me.Braun's affection for the work of the masterful songwriter has now reached full bloom with Night And Day (The Cole Porter Songbook), an album comprising ten classic Cole Porter songs given vibrant new life. Her sixth full-length record, it will be released on Sept. 15, 2023 on noted Toronto independent record label, ALMA Records.Adi's most ambitious album yet,

Night and Dayis a collaboration with Emmy-winning Canadian keyboardist, songwriter, producer,and arranger Don Breithaupt (Monkey House, Brass Transit). The pair had long had a mutual admiration for each other's work, as Don explains.Adi was one of the first singers to record songs by the Breithaupt Brothers, on her 2005 album The Rules Of TheGame, and I've always respected her sound, her nuance as an interpreter, and her international approach to jazz.

I contacted her in 2021, as I had a feeling I could help her cook something great. The minute we zeroed in on the Cole Porter songbook, a bottomless well of great melodies and lyrics, we had our focus. The material on Night and Dayneatly showcases the broad emotional and musical range of Cole Porter's work, as exemplified in the title. Adi explains that I find his songs illuminate different aspects of love, in a fascinating way.The tunes Braun interprets here range from light and bubbly romps to such powerfully emotional songs as Love For Sale and In The Still Of The Night.
By Editorial Reviews https://www.amazon.com/Night-Day-Cole-Porter Songbook/dp/B0CBQFJ4BF

Night and Day (The Cole Porter Songbook)

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Ray Benson - Beyond Time

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:32
Size: 106.6 MB
Styles: Country
Year: 2003
Art: Front

[3:32] 1. Sorry
[3:48] 2. Annabelle
[4:10] 3. Mary Anne
[4:50] 4. Hands Of Time
[2:57] 5. Isn't It Strange
[2:49] 6. Let's Get Lost
[4:17] 7. Haven't Gotten To You Yet
[2:40] 8. Leave That Cowboy Alone
[4:39] 9. Small Town
[5:12] 10. El Paso
[3:00] 11. Ain't Chet Yet
[4:35] 12. Clearin' Up

Most people know Ray Benson as the deep, rich voice of Western swing revivalists Asleep at the Wheel. After more than three decades behind that wheel, Benson finally decided to step out with an album of his own songs. While a couple of the tunes (the roadhouse blues stomp "Mary Anne," the Bob Wills-indebted "Leave that Cowboy Alone") wouldn't sound out of place on an Asleep at the Wheel album, the bulk of the songs run quite a bit further afield. It's hard to imagine Benson's band tackling the Don Williams-like 1970s-sounding country/pop of "Annabelle," the big-band ballad "Sorry," or the (non-Western) swing-inflected, jazzy "Let's Get Lost" (not the Chet Baker tune of the same name). It's also hard to imagine someone without as much experience, confidence, and just plain talent as Benson pulling off such a varied and resolutely non-commercial record as this in the lowest-common-denominator world of 21st-century American popular music.

Beyond Time

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Harry Allen & Ken Peplowski & Scott Hamilton - Like The Brightest Star

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:47
Size: 165,5 MB
Art: Front

(9:58) 1. You And The Night And The Music
(7:24) 2. Like The Brightest Star
(7:39) 3. Somebody I Just Met
(8:51) 4. Topsy
(3:42) 5. It Was So Beautiful
(5:33) 6. Das Blues
(6:59) 7. The Shadow Of Your Smile
(4:59) 8. That Old Black Magic
(5:32) 9. Old Folks
(9:04) 10. Sleep

The three major masters of Tenor Saxoph, Harry Allen & Ken Peplofski & Scott Hamilton This masterpiece allows you to fully listen to the charm of the Jazz Tenor Sax in an ensemble by Solo. Recorded at The Hideaway Studio in California at February 19 & 20, 2019.
https://www.amazon.com/Like-Brightest-Star-Three-Tenors/dp/B07Y1XMMHJ

Personnel: Harry Allen Harry Allen - tenor sax; Ken Peplowski - tenor sax; Scott Hamilton - tenor sax; Tom Lanier - Tom Ranier - piano; David Stone - bass; Kevin Canner Kevin Kanner - drums

Like The Brightest Star

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Miles Davis Quintet in Concert Live at the Olympia, Paris, November 30 - 1957 (Live)

Styles: Jazz
Year: 2023
Time: 72:36
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 167,2 MB
Art: Front

(7:24) 1. Solar
(6:27) 2. Four
(3:29) 3. What's New?
(8:08) 4. No Moe
(7:25) 5. Lady Bird
(4:40) 6. Tune Up
(6:24) 7. I'll Remember April
(7:29) 8. Bags' Groove
(5:11) 9. 'Round Midnight
(6:18) 10. Now's the Time
(7:15) 11. Walkin'
(2:20) 12. The Theme

Another live Miles Davis recording. Well, once the studio outtakes have dried up, this is the only seam left to mine. Happily, with advances in sound technology, old radio broadcasts are increasingly being dusted down and treated to a little digital TLC. Since 1983, Fresh Sounds Records has been a leading light in reissues and archival releases (see Fresh Sound Records and the Legacy of Recorded Jazz), in addition to producing many hundreds of contemporary artists. This one from Jordi Pujol's Barcelona label has rarity value, representing the first unabridged release of Davis' concert at the Olympia, Paris, in 1957. At this historic venue, the trumpeter was backed by top French musicians and old sparring partner from Minton's Playhouse days, drummer Kenny Clarke.

The set is a typical one for that time in Davis' trajectory post-bop, swing, blues and ballads. Given that Davis had undergone a throat procedure just two months prior to this late-November date, he is in remarkably good form. Local musicians Rene Urtreger on piano, bassist Pierre Michelot and tenor saxophonist Barney Wilen are well up to the task. Wilen, who despite his youthful twenty years had already recorded an album as leader at the start of the year, had impressed Davis on the American's visit to Paris the year before, and little wonder. Listening to Wilen's solos on "Tune Up" and "I'll Remember April," to pick just two gems, we hear a saxophonist confident enough not to be imitative.

Davis sits out three songs the hard-working Wilen plays overtime on "Now's the Time"but otherwise leads from the front, switching between mute and open bell on one extended solo after another. Fired up on "No Moe" and "Bags' Groove," Davis is hauntingly tender on "Round Midnight" and "What's New?" This latter sounds like a ghostly forerunner of "Blue in Green" from Kind of Blue (Columbia, 1959), a tune generally credited to Bill Evans. Regardless of tempo, the trumpeter's playing is unfailingly emotive.

Michelot and Urtreger enjoy their moments in the spotlight but impress most for locking in rhythmically with the dynamic Clarke. The great drummer, a Paris resident, is in wonderfully feisty mode, his trademark ride cymbal and bass-drum bombs driving the music and injecting an edge into otherwise fairly safe material. Notable too, however, is his subtly persuasive brushwork.

Four days later this same line-up would go into the studio to record the music for Louis Malle's film Ascenseur pour l'eschafaud (Fontana, 1958). Almost entirely improvised, Davis' atmospheric noir soundtrack asks more of the musicians, and is the more remarkable recording for that. Still, the evident passion of this live performance from the Olympia, created in no small part by an engaged Parisian audience, makes In Concert at the Olympia, Paris 1957 a welcome extract from the Davis mine that keeps on giving.By Ian Patterson
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/in-concert-at-the-olympia-paris-1957-miles-davis-quintet-fresh-sound-records

Miles Davis Quintet in Concert Live at the Olympia, Paris, November 30 - 1957 (Live)

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Janet Evra - Meet Me in Paris

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2023
Time: 37:35
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 86,7 MB
Art: Front

(2:34) 1. C'est Si Bon
(3:26) 2. Mia Mia
(3:06) 3. Turnaround / Suis-Moi
(2:49) 4. Comment Te Dire Adieu
(4:05) 5. La Vie En Rose
(2:57) 6. C'est Magnifique
(4:38) 7. Paris (Encore)
(3:15) 8. Sympathique
(3:20) 9. Un Homme Et Une Femme
(3:19) 10. Zou Bisou Bisou
(4:00) 11. La Mer / Beyond the Sea

One can, it is said, always find new wine in old bottles, assuming you have a good grapes to harvest and a knowledgeable vintner. Janet Evra, of British birth but now based in St Louis Missouri, is one such maker of good wine. The materials are, for the most part, familiar, but the genre is French as are many of the names associated with the tunes. Meet Me In Paris is indeed a pleasant treat. If your taste runs to Edith Piaf, Charles Trenet or Claude Lelouch films, Evra's most recent recording may indeed be welcome.

While Evra also plays string bass (with a distinctly American four strings), that is not really much in evidence here. The music is about her voice and stylings, a slightly come-hither tone entirely suited to the music at hand. Evra's band supports her very well; the musicians understand their function is to embellish and support the singing, not to overwhelm it. This they do quite capably and set a very relaxed mood.

Of course, not everything here is, in a strict sense, of French vintage. Evra adds a few originals ("Mia Mia," "Paris Encore"), and Cole Porter's "C'est Magnifique," but the rest is hardcore boite de nuit fare. "La Mer/Beyond the Sea" is often associated with Bobby Darin, but Evra puts her own distinctive stamp on it. But if one's taste runs to "La Vie en Rose" or "C'est Si Bon," here they are.

Some of Evra's other recordings suggest desire to broaden her audience, and to perform with topflight jazz players like Randy Brecker and Benny Benack. So much the better because these and other instrumentalists add rhythmic variation and dynamic modulation. They only serve to render her instrument a lovely voice more appealing. Sometimes, the bossa nova artists who Evra also admires were able to accomplish this by only a slight inflection in voice or even a well-placed breath. Who could forget Antonio Carlos Jobim's unforgettable "aaaah" in "Girl from Ipanema" Getz/Gilberto (Verve, 1964)?

Jazz belongs to everyone and to every language. French, Brazilian, British, and, of course American English too.By Richard J Salvucci https://www.allaboutjazz.com/meet-me-in-paris-janet-evra-plum-jazz

Meet Me in Paris

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The Flying Horse Big Band - A Message from the Flying Horse Big Band

Styles: Jazz, Big Band
Year: 2023
Time: 51:18
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 118,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:56) 1. Free for All
(5:34) 2. Hipsippy Blues
(6:02) 3. Room 608
(5:42) 4. This Is for Albert
(5:03) 5. Mosaic
(4:38) 6. Peace
(5:50) 7. Gregory Is Here
(5:50) 8. Lester Left Town
(2:38) 9. Whisper Not
(5:01) 10. On the Ginza

The Message on the Florida-based Flying Horse Big Band's sixth album comes straight from the "messengers" themselves drummer Art Blakey's legendary Jazz Messengers, whose music is admirably presented here, and to whom the album is dedicated.

Its ten songs were composed by members of the Jazz Messengers ayne Shorter, Hank Mobley, Horace Silver, Cedar Walton, Benny Golson and two were re-scored for a large ensemble by former Messenger Michael Philip Mossman, with other charts by Mark Taylor (four), Harry Allen (two), Don Sickler and Billy May. As was true of Blakey's ensembles, swinging is always on the front burner and, even though none of the themes was written for a big band, the Flying Horses and their masterful arrangers make them seem as though they have always belonged there.

It is hard to overpraise the section work, as brass, reeds and rhythm are strong and coherent throughout, working overtime to breathe life into these superlative charts. It is almost as if the Messengers had been revitalized, larger and more impressive than ever. And, as for the charts, there is not one that is less than eloquent and charming. Even so, special mention must be given to Taylor's clever arrangement of Shorter's "Lester Left Town," as he translates what is usually a mournful homage to the great Lester Young into a thundering flag- waver worthy of Woody Herman or Buddy Rich at their high-octane best.

The session opens and closes with seductive burners by Shorter "Free for All," arranged by Mossman, and "On the Ginza," arranged by Taylor. The Horses fly high on both, as they do on every number in between, thanks to splendid preparation by director Jeff Rupert, spotless section work and resourceful solos by all hands. "Free for All" seldom pauses for breath, nor does "On the Ginza." The temperature remains high on Mobley's "Hipsippy Blues," Silver's "Room 608," Shorter's "This Is for Albert" and Walton's "Mosaic," the first trimly arranged by Allen, the last by Sickler, and those in between by Taylor.

Even Silver's relatively easy-going "Peace" swings in its own sweet way, thanks to Allen's sparkling arrangement, after which the tempo accelerates on Silver's "Gregory Is Here" (arranged by Mossman) and "Lester Left Town." Golson's lone composition, and May's only chart, "Whisper Not," is yet another highlight, as the Horses gallop in harmony behind earnest solos from tenor saxophonist Edmund "Quint" Johnson and alto saxophonist Micah Silverstein. That leaves the postscript to "On the Ginza" and, again, no one disappoints, as the band plays with its usual gusto while alto saxophonist Paul van Wormer and trumpeter Josh Mercado lend their solo talents.

Although soloists are named, the only omission, improbably enough, is drummer James Fortune who has powerhouse turns on "Free for All" and "Mosaic." Fortune shares timekeeping duties with the equally talented Jamesly Jean-Mary. Mercado takes every trumpet solo, and the same holds true for trombonist Dan Parrish, while van Wormer owns every alto saxophone solo save one, Silverstein's on "Whisper Not." Guitarist Noah Charles shines another bright light on "Room 608," "Gregory Is Here" and "Lester Left Town." Trumpets and trombones face a number of arduous passages, every one of which is navigated with ease and assurance, while the rhythm section not only keeps pace but adds its own vitality to the partnership.

The Flying Horse Big Band is never less than superb, and its dynamic Message comes through loud and clear. Even those whose big-band library is bursting at the seams must find space enough to accommodate this marvelous album. It is a decision that won't cause any regret.By Jack Bowers https://www.allaboutjazz.com/a-message-from-the-flying-horse-big-band-flying-horse-records

A Message from the Flying Horse Big Band

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Lisa Hilton - My Favorite Things

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:06
Size: 115,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:22)  1. Let's Go!
(3:16)  2. My Favorite Things
(4:01)  3. Take Five
(4:10)  4. Midnight Sky
(3:59)  5. Alice in Wonderland
(4:45)  6. Desafinado
(3:47)  7. Baja Nights
(3:16)  8. Alfie
(3:27)  9. Clearly
(2:58) 10. Seduction (remix)
(3:28) 11. So This Is Love
(2:45) 12. They Can't Take That Away from Me
(3:12) 13. Thinking of You
(3:34) 14. Changes

Southern California pianist, Lisa Hilton, is justifiably proud of her new CD My Favorite Things: Everyone’s Jazz Favorites. The pianist involved herself in all aspects of its creation. Hilton’s seventh album in nine years is not only self-produced but the pianist composed eight original pieces and penned the arrangements of the remaining jazz standards. Her tasty reading of George and Ira Gershwin’s "They Can’t Take That Away From Me" is reminiscent of jazz pianists of the late 1930s and particularly of Teddy Wilson. Hilton handles the 1937 classic in a solo performance. The award-winning pianist is joined by some fine studio musicians on My Favorite Things. Reedman, Eric Marienthal, handles the flute and saxophone duties sympathetically.

Marienthal is fresh from appearances with The Rippingtons and Chick Corea. Drummer, Tal Bergman, worked in all genres including sessions with Billy Idol, Chris Botti and Joe Zawinul. Bassist, Reggie McBride, is probably one of the finest electric players on the scene. Over the years, the Detroit born bassist, provided the heartbeat for many greats including Aretha Franklin, Elton John, James Brown, Al Jarreau, Ry Cooder and Van Morrison. Many will recall his exciting recordings with Rare Earth in the 70s. Lisa Hilton dishes out some classy interpretations of several standards and Paul Desmond’s "Take Five" really stands out. This writer was most impressed with Hilton’s original tunes. "Baja Nights" is an exciting percussive melody with nice passages by the pianist accented by Bergman’s tasteful drumming. Our particular favorites are the bluesy "Seduction" and the closing tune titled "Changes." The latter song is a charmer in every sense of the word. The somewhat simple melody just demands a replay. ~ Richard Bourcier  http://www.jazzreview.com/cd-reviews/smooth-jazz-cd-reviews/my-favorite-things-by-lisa-hilton.html

Personnel: Lisa Hilton (piano); Reggie McBride (bass instrument);  Eric Marienthal (flute, saxophone);  Tal Bergman (drums).

My Favorite Things

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