Charlie Parker - Bird: The Savoy Recordings (Master Takes) CD 1, CD 2

Album: Bird: The Savoy Recordings (Master Takes) CD 1
Styles: Big Band, Bop, Jazz Instrument, Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1976
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:21
Size: 95,7 MB
Art: Front

(2:56) 1. Tiny's Tempo
(3:02) 2. I'll Always Love You Just the Same
(3:03) 3. Romance Without Finance
(3:10) 4. Red Cross
(2:35) 5. Warming Up a Riff
(3:11) 6. Billie's Bounce
(3:18) 7. Now's the Time
(2:57) 8. Thriving on a Riff
(3:17) 9. Meandering
(2:56) 10. Ko Ko
(2:35) 11. Donna Lee
(2:47) 12. Chasin' the Bird
(3:00) 13. Cheryl
(2:29) 14. Buzzy

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Album: Bird: The Savoy Recordings (Master Takes) CD 2
Time: 44:02
Size: 102,0 MB

(2:40) 1. Milestones
(2:55) 2. Little Willie Leaps
(2:48) 3. Half Nelson
(2:26) 4. Sippin' at Bells
(2:42) 5. Another Hair Do
(2:55) 6. Bluebird
(2:50) 7. Klaunstance
(2:40) 8. Bird Gets the Worm
(2:31) 9. Barbados
(2:57) 10. Ah-Leu-Cha
(2:32) 11. Constellation
(3:05) 12. Parker's Mood
(2:37) 13. Perhaps
(2:46) 14. Marmaduke
(3:07) 15. Steeplechase
(2:24) 16. Merry-Go-Round

This two-LP set, whose contents have since been reissued in various forms on CD, contains all 30 selections that the great altoist Charlie Parker cut for Savoy. Bird is heard as a sideman with Tiny Grimes and then as a leader during the famous "Ko Ko" session of 1945 and throughout 1947-48.

With a supporting cast that includes trumpeter Miles Davis, pianists Clyde Hart, Bud Powell, John Lewis and Duke Jordan and drummer Max Roach (not to mention a cameo by Dizzy Gillespie on both trumpet and piano on "Ko Ko"), Parker is heard in prime form on such classics as "Billie's Bounce," "Now's the Time," "Thriving on A Riff," "Ko Ko," "Donna Lee," "Chasin' the Bird," "Milestones," "Parker's Mood" and "Steeplechase."By Scott Yanow
https://www.allmusic.com/album/bird-the-savoy-recordings-master-takes-mw0000902994

Personnel: Alto Saxophone – Charlie Parker; Bass – Curly Russell, Nelson Boyd, Tommy Potter,Bass, Vocals – Jimmy Butts; Drums – Harold "Doc" West , Max Roach; Guitar, Vocals – Tiny Grimes; Piano – Bud Powell , Clyde Hart. Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Jordan, John Lewis; Trumpet – Miles Davis

Bird:The Savoy Recordings (Master Takes) CD 1, CD 2

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Joan Chamorro - Joan Chamorro Presenta Koldo Munné

Styles: Vocal, Trumpet And Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2024
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 75:20
Size: 174,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:28) 1. Snails & Jellyfishes
(5:45) 2. Imagination
(5:58) 3. Koldin's Blues
(4:51) 4. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman
(3:49) 5. C.T.A
(5:33) 6. Fifteen-Twenty
(3:54) 7. Jazz House Rhythm
(4:59) 8. P.S. I Love You
(3:21) 9. E Que Deus Ajude
(6:41) 10. Easy Living
(6:25) 11. I'd Be There
(6:49) 12. Beautiful Love
(4:24) 13. Donna Lee
(2:56) 14. Ona's Lullaby
(3:27) 15. United Blues
(2:52) 16. Don't Rain On My Parade

I met Koldo when he was 6 years old, as a sax student. At the age of 8, in 2014, he was already part of the Sant Andreu Jazz Band. I have seen his personal and musical evolution over all these years. He has been and still is a very pleasant person to work with. Good companion, punctual, respectful, sensitive, committed…

As a musician, he is a very good professional, with a voice of his own that he will develop little by little over the next few years. Very good reader, very good technique, inventive improviser, and with the ability to continually surprise in his speech.

As a vocalist, he relatively recently began to have songs as the soloist, within the Sant Andreu Jazz Band. His voice combines the influence of the jazz vocalists that he has been listening to all these years and his passion for musicals, creating his own personal style, one that we can also hear in his original compositions.

In 2009, I started with this Joan Chamorro presents collection, and I did it with Andrea Motis. I never thought this collection would reach number 20, but here we are with this new CD that makes me proud and fills me with happiness. At the time of this recording, Koldo was 17 years old and already had more than 32 CDs recorded in the context of the SAJB.

He has played and record alongside world-class musicians, such as those who collaborate on his album: Scott Hamilton, Joel Frahm, Enrique Oliver and, during all these years, with Luigi Grasso, John Allred, Jon-erik Kellso, Scott Robinson, Dick Oatts, Joe Magnarelli, and a long etc.He has been the first alto on the sax section for some years, after playing second alongside Joan Martí. It was a good school.

As a first alto, he has an expressive and powerful sound that makes him a wonderful lead sax. After Alba Esteban left the baritone sax position, Koldo assumed that role, sharing an album, Jazzing 13, with her, doubling the baritone, as Sahib Sihab and Cecil Payne did in their day, in Dizzy Gillespie’s big band.

The fact that Koldo has become the baritonist of the Sant Andreu Jazz Band this last couple of years, and that he has recorded several songs on his album with this sax that is so special to me, also makes me very happy.Congratulations, Koldo, for your career, for this wonderful album and for living music so passionately. I wish you all the best!!! By Joan Chamorro
https://jazztojazz.com/en/product/joan-chamorro-presenta-koldo-munne/

Joan Chamorro Presenta Koldo Munné

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Sarah L King - Fire Horse

Styles: Vocal

Year: 2024

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 53:13

Size: 123,3 MB

Art: Front

(3:37) 1. Holding On To Love

(4:38) 2. Devil May Care

(4:22) 3. Born Yesterday

(5:33) 4. Mystery Ride

(4:00) 5. Lush Life

(4:05) 6. As Though You Were Mine

(4:42) 7. Stolen Moments

(4:24) 8. Skyscapes

(5:06) 9. Black Dog

(4:08) 10. Show You The Way To Go

(4:08) 11. Snow Blind

(4:24) 12. Your Biggest Fan

Starting her musical path with coaching from Mike King, one of the UK's leading contemporary vocal coaches, Sarah L King (no relation), surfaced as a solo jazz vocalist, releasing an EP of standards and several singles. Her passage was helped by a family heritage consisting of an accomplished jazz trumpeter father and an orchestral conductor grandmother. An early career as a writer and director of short films provided the right impetus to be a compelling musical narrator.

King's debut album, Fire Horse, has the multi-talented Claire Martin producing. Martin and King have assembled a supporting band of top-level British musicians. They include Jim Watson on piano and keyboards. Watson brings extensive experience gained with artists of the calibre of Kurt Elling and Sting. Likewise, electric bassist Laurence Cottle has played with notable names such as Jason Rebello and Eric Clapton. He also leads his own big band. Double bassist Jeremy Brown has been a member of Stacey Kent's group and is a professor of jazz double bass at the Royal Academy of Music. Drummer Ian Thomas has recorded with Robbie Robertson and BB King. Add the talents of James McMillan on flugelhorn, Chris Traves on trombone and Ian Shaw, as well as Martin, on backing vocals and you have a cracking line-up.

Starting her musical path with coaching from Mike King, one of the UK's leading contemporary vocal coaches, Sarah L King (no relation), surfaced as a solo jazz vocalist, releasing an EP of standards and several singles. Her passage was helped by a family heritage consisting of an accomplished jazz trumpeter father and an orchestral conductor grandmother. An early career as a writer and director of short films provided the right impetus to be a compelling musical narrator.

Personnel: Sarah L. King (vocals); Jim Watson (piano & keyboards); Laurence Cottle (electric bass); Jeremy Brown (double bass); Ian Thomas (drums); James McMillan (flugelhorn); Chris Traves (trombone); Claire Martin & Ian Shaw (additional vocals)

 

Fire Horse

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Monika Ryan - Playfully

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:29
Size: 97,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:09) 1. Keepin' It Light, Keepin' It Mellow
(4:28) 2. Grow Where I'm Planted
(3:34) 3. I See It In You
(4:09) 4. Let Me Love The Whole Of You
(2:48) 5. I Found That Place
(3:59) 6. You Are Magic To Me
(3:56) 7. Slipping Out
(4:39) 8. We're Here
(2:47) 9. Reason To Be Happy
(4:06) 10. Living Thoughtfully
(4:52) 11. Whole and Resounding Love

Expressive NYC-based singer, a graduate of the city's New School, gets to the heart and soul of a set of originals.

Born in New York in the mid-1970s, Monika Ryan took an early interest in jazz and especially jazz singing. Principal among the musicians she admired was Carmen McRae, although from her early 20s she also developed a special ability as a composer.

After graduating from The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in the late 1990s, she worked locally and made her recording debut in 2000, her first two albums released under the name Monika Brand. The name change came some while after her 2002 marriage to Jeremy Ryan, with whom she co-owns Resensitize Records.

Her latest album, Playfully, is her 14th and all of the songs are her own compositions, each of them clearly demonstrating her interest in and skill with intelligent and meaningful lyrics. The themes she explores deal with intense emotions arising from the building of personal relationships, of loss and rediscovery, and all are cloaked in an air of optimism, a valuable quality in today’s troubled world.

Ryan’s vocal sound is rich and appropriately expressive and goes to the heart and soul of the songs. She is backed by the trio of pianist Steve Einerson, bassist Rene Hart and drummer Alvester Garnett, all of whom are subtly supportive, with Einerson having some well-taken solo opportunities.

On first hearing, the songs gathered here do not have immediately memorable melodies but many of the lyrics will be retained, at least in the subconscious mind. Those living in the New York area should certainly take the opportunity to attend one of Monika Ryan’s live performances where her impact is likely to be strong.
https://jazzjournal.co.uk/2023/07/10/monika-ryan-playfully/

Playfully

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Teddy Charles - The Many Sides of Teddy Charles

Styles: Vibraphone Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 80:55
Size: 186,1 MB
Art: Front

( 8:07) 1. Blues Become Elektra
( 7:00) 2. Bobalob
( 7:52) 3. Staggers
( 4:18) 4. Free
( 7:39) 5. Arlene
(11:42) 6. Blue Grens
( 3:17) 7. Speak Low
( 5:07) 8. Skylark
( 9:18) 9. Old Devil Moon
( 5:39) 10. Further Out
( 6:25) 11. No More Nights
( 4:27) 12. Wailing Dervish

Teddy Charles, along with Milt Jackson and Terry Gibbs, extended the legacies of Lionel Hampton and Red Norvo and established the gold standard for modern jazz vibraphonists. Charles was also an innovative composer and arranger whose recordings were some of the most forward looking and highly regarded of the 1950s, especially his Tentet sessions for the Atlantic label in 1956. His versatility is demonstrated by the broad spectrum of musicians with whom he worked during his career ranging from jazz luminaries such as Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, and Gunther Schuller to rhythm and blues stars including Aretha Franklin, Chuck Willis, and Earl Bostic.

Although I have been unable to obtain session details for the discography, Charles recalls doing many recording dates with pop, soul and rock artists including Bobby Vinton, Dion and the Belmonts, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Paul Simon, Diahann Carroll, Betty Barney and organist Ethel Smith. Teddy Charles also produced and supervised many recording dates involving artists such as John Coltrane, Zoot Sims and Howard McGhee, mainly for the Prestige, Bethlehem and Warwick labels. In the 1960s, Charles returned to his other passion in life, sailing.

For years, he was occupied with the maintenance and operation of the Mary E, an historic 72-foot clipper schooner built in 1906. He sold that vessel recently (January 2007) and conducted tours of the Peconic Bay estuary on the historic skipjack Pilgrim. On April 23, 2003, Charles performed in a trio setting with clarinetist Perry Robinson and bassist Ed Schuller at the Cornelia Street Cafe in New York City. Robinson and Charles had never worked together before this event. It was fascinating to hear the interactions between the unabashedly "outside" clarinetist and the more controlled but still adventurous Charles. On April 17, 2005, Teddy Charles performed with the Tony DiGregorio Trio (Tony DiGregorio, guitar; Tony Oblaney, bass; Keith Dorgan, drums) at DEKK in TrBeCa.

The quartet swung compellingly through a variety of jazz standards on a lovely, warm afternoon in lower Manhattan. Teddy Charles often performed at the Scrimshaw Restaurant in Greenport, NY with trombonist Bob Hovey, pianist Neil Ralph and drummer Andy Collier. Charles appeared as a special guest with the Chris Byars Quartet at Smalls Jazz Club in New York City on October 12 & 13, 2007. Performing some of Charles's own compositions, the ensemble included John Mosca on trombone, Ari Roland on bass and Stefan Schatz on drums with Chris Byars on alto, tenor and soprano saxophones and flute. Teddy Charles passed on April 16, 2012.
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/teddy-charles/

The Many Sides of Teddy Charles

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Caity Gyorgy & Mark Limacher - You're Alike, You Two

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:43
Size: 85,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:39) 1. Nobody Else But Me
(4:13) 2. A Fine Romance
(2:47) 3. Yesterdays
(4:04) 4. I'll Be Hard To Handle
(3:30) 5. You Couldn't Be Cuter
(4:23) 6. Bill
(3:08) 7. I'm Old Fashioned
(3:51) 8. April Fooled Me
(3:53) 9. Pick Yourself Up
(3:10) 10. The Bartender

Do you like scat singing? My Mum absolutely hates it the wordless vocal improvisation featured on so many of Ella Fitzgerald’s sides (which she loves, by the way) are, in her words, “just din.” In fact, much to my chagrin, Mum sometimes says the same about jazz in general. (And yet she has so many of Ella’s records. She adores Nat King Cole and is partial to both Eva Cassidy and Dean Martin, too figure that one out).

I like scat singing and believe, like many people, that Ella’s contribution sits comfortably within its topmost tier. Caity Gyorgy (pronounced George) clearly feels the same way, for her latest record opens with a whole bunch of scat. And it’s remarkably good I first put this record on to soundtrack the washing up, but quickly downed the scrubbing brush when Gyorgy’s aural acrobatics began. If the International Olympic Committee gave out medals for vocal gymnastics as well as artistic, rhythmic, trampoline etc., then Canada would be taking gold this year.

Hailing from Calgary, singer-songwriter Gyorgy recently became the youngest ever two-time winner of the JUNO for Best Vocal Jazz Album, for last year’s Featuring (having previously won with Now Pronouncing: Caity Gyorgy in 2022). And it’s clear to hear why: her pristine vocals have a breathy clarity, precision and dynamic range to rival Ella herself and that isn’t a comparison any halfway respectable jazz critic makes lightly. No tonic interval is beyond Gyorgy’s nimble navigation, whether sung or scatted. She reminds me of one of those stunt drivers who parallel parks by handbrake turning at high speed and just whipping the car in.

You’re Alike, You Two is a duet record celebrating the music of Jerome Kern, featuring piano accompaniment by Mark Limacher a departure from the award-winning formula of Gyorgy’s two previous records, which both featured full bands. But if the Canadian singer took a chance on employing a single musician, she picked the right one. Limacher, the keyboardist and music director at Theater Calgary, appears regularly with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, when he isn’t composing for the same or else hosting award-winning radio shows and podcasts.

His playing is, as one might expect from such an impressive résumé, delightfully deft, filling every little gap between and beneath Gyorgy’s vocalizations with exactly the right amount of music while never once impinging on them. His uncomplicated comping and melodious improvisations are precisely the kind of playing I aspire to (and make me realize that I use my piano’s sustain pedal far too much, filling space with sound to compensate for a comparative lack of skill).

If any doubt remained about Gyorgy’s Fitzgerald fandom, the album features several tunes more or less famously performed by the First Lady of Song. “Yesterdays,” “A Fine Romance,” “Hard to Handle,” “You Couldn’t Be Cuter,” and “I’m Old Fashioned” all appear, and all are superbly sparse reinterpretations. The record’s other numbers are equally listenable and include “Nobody Else But Me” (as sung by Sarah Vaughan), “Bill” (by Annette Warren, in Showboat), and “April Fooled Me” (à la Dorothy Fields).

I think “Pick Yourself Up” must be my personal highlight, ending as it does with a tremendous crescendo of voice and piano, capped off with a thwack of the bottom F from Limacher and a barely audible chuckle from Gyorgy, who was obviously as delighted with the track’s conclusion as I was.

Album closer “The Bartender” is a Gyorgy original, taking a swipe at certain detractors who called her double JUNO win fluke and who discount her talent on account of her young age. “So you think I lack experience / in the land of bar room escapades,” she begins, “Well I love a classic as much as the next.” The lyrics go on to blast the haters who “oppose what [they] fear” “cannot endorse what has not been aged years,” all delivered through the clever metaphor of fixing the listener a cocktail an Old Fashioned, obviously.

It’s a cleverly subtle diss track with a lovely melody, which proves Gyorgy to be as capable a writer of old-timey jazz as she is a singer of it. (Her JUNO-winners were both self-penned, by the way.) If Caity Gyorgy isn’t someone already on your radar, then she should be. Look for her work in all good record stores particularly this delightful disc. By Dave Doyle
https://syncopatedtimes.com/caity-gyorgy-mark-limacher-youre-alike-you-two/

You're Alike, You Two

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Vanessa Racci - Jazzy Italian

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2022
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:14
Size: 108,9 MB
Art: Front

(2:47) 1. Betcha I Getcha
(3:45) 2. Volare
(3:14) 3. At the Jazz Band Ball
(3:33) 4. Moon River
(3:52) 5. Coquette
(3:57) 6. Make Love to Me
(3:15) 7. I'm a Fool to Want You
(3:13) 8. A Lifetime or Two
(4:04) 9. A Sunday Kind of Love
(2:51) 10. Come Back Home with Me
(3:33) 11. September in the Rain
(3:29) 12. You're Everything
(5:37) 13. At Last

Vanessa Racci describes herself a jazz / cabaret singer of Italian-American descent with a passion for retro jazz and music made famous by Italian Americans. She has a previous album, entitled Italiana Fresca (2017, self-produced), and currently performs several shows that celebrate American jazz composers, Italian American music and contributions to jazz and pop in the US. She is a competent and entertaining singer, lively, and, by the video evidence, vivacious. She may not exactly lead a listener to forget some of her Italian and Italian-American competition, living or deceased.

But she is pleasant listening and not at all mawkishly cloying, or sentimental in the style of some of her Italian-American male predecessors. Moreover, her "Italian," whether she's fluent or not (one suspects she is) will not make anyone who has been around the language run screaming from the room in pain. Racci is the real thing and probably a welcome musical guest at any Sunday-afternoon festa italiana.

Racci's current recording is much less heavily slanted toward the raucous "C'é la luna mezzo mare" in her debut album. Even the Italian-language repertoire, such as "Volare," is updated to a montuno with an obligatory chorus in translation. Although the names Domenico Modugno and the San Remo song festival will mean absolutely nothing to an audience more than sixty years removed from the Modugno's surprise 1958 success in the United States market, "Nel blu, dipinto di blu" is surely aimed at a newer, contemporary audience.

There are also nods to Henry Mancini, Jo Stafford (who was definitely not Italian, other than in her big-band association with Frank Sinatra) and even to John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey. There is really a lot of good listening here. If Racci's intent is to break out of the circle to which her previous work has been pitched, it should probably be successful. She deserves a broader following among a younger audience.

An added attraction is the very good band that accompanies Racci throughout. It swings hard and modern, make no mistake. It really does make the recording a pleasure to hear. This is, by every musical standard, a successful outing. By Richard J Salvucci
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/jazzy-italian-vanessa-racci-zoho-music

Jazzy Italian

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Kool & The Gang - People Just Wanna Have Fun

Styles: Jazz Funk
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:40
Size: 138,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:21) 1. Let's Party (Feat. Sha Sha Jones)
(3:44) 2. Movie Star
(2:29) 3. People Just Wanna Have Fun
(4:13) 4. We Are The Party
(3:28) 5. Vip
(2:49) 6. Na Na Na
(3:17) 7. Go Get It
(3:43) 8. Give Love
(3:31) 9. I Want It All
(3:47) 10. Heaven's Gift
(4:43) 11. Obsession
(3:19) 12. For The Woman In You
(4:14) 13. My Weakness
(5:05) 14. That's What I Love About You
(7:51) 15. 99 Miles To Jc

With six decades of hits, the internationally celebrated group continues to tour the world. The band is led by founding members Robert "Kool" Bell (bassist) and George "Funky" Brown (keyboardist, drummer & producer of this album), who has a new book coming out called Too Hot: Kool & the Gang & Me.

Continuing to release music that makes the good times better and the bad times more bearable, this collection will be the band's 34th studio album, featuring some of the last studio work by founding horn players, Kool's brother Ronald "Khalis" Bell and Dennis "D.T." Thomas, who passed in 2020 and 2021. Lead vocals on the album also include Sha Sha Jones, Shawn McQuiller, Lavell Evans, Dominique Karan, Rick Marcel and Walt Anderson, plus rappers Ami Miller & Ole'.

Both Bell and Brown view People Just Wanna Have Fun as a summation of their long career, during which they sold 70 million albums worldwide with hit singles like "Celebration," "Ladies Night," "Get Down on It," "Hollywood Swinging" & beyond. Since their start in 1964, the group has amassed two Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, a BET Soul Train Lifetime Achievement Award and star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Kool's bass guitar is even featured in the Smithsonian Museum of African-American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

From Newark to Nairobi, Kool & the Gang have performed continuously longer than any R&B group in history and are the most sampled R&B band of all time, including by Madonna, Jay-Z, Beastie Boys, Janet Jackson, Cypress Hill and P. Diddy. Not to mention their music on soundtracks from Rocky, Saturday Night Fever and Pulp Fiction to Wreck-It Ralph and many more.

Yet, throughout all the success, Kool & the Gang has remained true to their roots while pushing into the future. Bell says of People Just Wanna Have Fun: "You've got the funk, you've got the jazzier tracks, we have a few ballads on there. Then there are songs that cross over to a pop sort of thing. We go from the '70s, the '80s, right into now. It's old school, it's new school we kinda captured it all here. With all our music over the years, people have had fun. So I'd say this album just about sums it all up."By Editorial Reviews
https://www.amazon.com/People-Just-Wanna-Have-Fun/dp/B0C3VZKRB4

Personnel:

Kool & the Gang: Robert "Kool" Bell – bass guitar, keyboards, vocals; Ronald "Khalis" Bell – horns; George "Funky" Brown – percussion, keyboards, production; Sha Sha Jones – vocals; Dennis "D.T." Thomas – horns

Additional musicians: Walt Anderson – vocals; Lavell Evans – vocals; Dominique Karan – vocals; Rick Marcel – vocals; Shawn McQuiller – vocals; Ami Miller – rapping; Ole' – rapping

People Just Wanna Have Fun

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Jim Rotondi - Finesse

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2024
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 76:52
Size: 176,0 MB
Art: Front

(7:31) 1. Ruth
(6:47) 2. Dark Blue
(8:02) 3. Ladybug
(4:18) 4. Designated Hitter
(7:47) 5. Falset
(0:40) 6. Before Curtis
(7:09) 7. For Curtis
(6:25) 8. Going To The Sun
(1:13) 9. Prelude for 14 Strings and Flute
(5:01) 10. Interlude
(7:31) 11. In Graz
(6:03) 12. Happy Feet
(8:19) 13. Miller Time

Here is an album of orchestral jazz that will inevitably make you think of film music, as it was still being made in the 80s. For his ninth album, Jim Rotondi pulled out all the stops, aided by a virtuoso orchestra conducted and arranged by Jakob Helling, all deeply immersed in the rich historical and musical tradition of Austria, where Rotondi currently resides and teaches. Rotondi also called upon his peers, the legendary trombonist Steve Davis, saxophonist Dick Oatts, and pianist Danny Grissett, who come from his prolific years spent in New York.

Ambiance! And yes, it’s all about ambiance, with numerous nods and references to past albums of various great jazz musicians. Sometimes it’s just with intentions, like in an introduction. For example, on the second track, the introduction reminds me of a Miles Davis album. The criteria for this genre are plentiful. The album’s title, Finesse, encapsulates the spirit required for this project and with which Rotondi approached the entire process. “I’m a musician known for recording projects straight out with small groups, in a less strictly organized style,” says Rotondi. “For me, this recording represents attention to every detail, hence the name Finesse.”

And that’s the case here. I dare not imagine the annotated orchestral scores in all directions, supporting an essential note or having an instrument start slightly offset. Such occurrences can be numerous, and that’s the delicate detail in the orchestra that allows the trumpet to reign at every moment, a task as essential as stage lighting. Finesse is also found in the precision of Jim Rotondi’s playing. After organizing an exhibition of his compositions performed with an orchestra and big band, Rotondi turned to Jakob Helling, an Austrian conductor, arranger, and trumpeter, who played an essential role in transforming this project into a recorded achievement.

“After discussing the idea with composer/ arranger Jakob Helling, [he] got in touch with key musicians in Vienna, who were able to provide information about the rest of these musicians,” says Rotondi. “Clearly, at every level, without Jakob’s involvement, this project would never have come to fruition.”

The Helling/Rotondi duo works wonders. There is a kind of secret and invisible alchemy between these two artists. When you consider the demands of orchestral form, this work deserves respect. It’s a titanic undertaking of composition, arrangement, and orchestra direction to achieve such a brilliant result. It’s sheer genius! I mentioned it to you in late 2023, and 2024 will be a great year, not only where you might expect. Artists, sometimes barely known, are surprising us at the same level as Jim Rotondi, the ultimate proof of the great vitality of jazz, which has never been so well represented and is one of the most exciting artistic forms.
https://www.paris-move.com/reviews/jim-rotondi-finesse-eng-review/

Finesse

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Jay Geils - Jay Geils Toe Tapping Jazz

Size: 125,8 MB
Time: 54:00
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2011
Styles: Jazz: Swing, Jazz Blues
Art: Front

01. Good Quenn Bess (Feat. Billy Novick) (3:46)
02. If I Were A Bell (Feat. Gerard Beaudoin) (4:54)
03. Funky Blues (Feat. Doug James) (5:01)
04. Stuffy (Feat. Billy Novick) (5:01)
05. Theme From M Squad (Feat. Billy Novick, Doug James, John Pierce & Jeff Stout) (3:40)
06. Li'l Darlin (Feat. Billy Novick & Jeff Stout) (4:44)
07. Don't Be That Way (Feat. Al Wilson & Gerard Beaudoin) (6:08)
08. Fish Market (Feat. Billy Novick, Doug James, Jeff Stout & John Pierce) (3:36)
09. Sunny Side Of The Street (4:47)
10. Down For The Double (4:49)
11. One Sweet Letter From You (Feat. Sugar Ray Norcia & Al Wilson) (3:54)
12. Pyramid (3:35)

As a young boy growing up in New Jersey J.Geils was exposed to jazz by his father who had a great collection of classic jazz albums. Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Good man with guitarist Charlie Christian and Louis Armstrong were just a few of the musical giants Jay was exposed to growing up. He played trumpet and drums in his high schools jazz and marching band and even attended jazz band camp. Upon going to college in Boston he traded the trumpet in for a guitar and never looked back. He became part of the then happening" Boston music scene" and formed the J.Geils Blues Band and backed famous blues musicians coming through Boston like Buddy Guy,Junior Wells, Muddy Waters and blues guitar icon Mike Bloomfield.

When the band signed with Atlantic Records they dropped the" Blues Band" moniker and became what would become the greatest" live rock and roll" band in the world, the "J.Geils Band". The rest is part of Rock and Roll history. When the J.Geils Band broke up Jay was burned out on the music business and spent the next years restoring classic Italian sports cars. He didn't even own a guitar. His old band mate Magic Dick got Jay back into the music business when they formed the band Bluestime and made two well received Cd's for Rounder Records and played sold out shows around the country. in 1992 Jay met jazz guitarist Gerry Beaudoin and started coming to his gigs to sit in playing jazz.

The two guitarists hit it off and enjoyed playing together and Jay's third career as a jazz guitarist began. Back in the woodshed Jay returned to his first musical love classic American jazz. Gerry and Jay have since their first gigs together produced six jazz Cd's together and one DVD and have toured the USA and Canada together. Toe Tapping Jazz is his latest and is a tribute to the music Jay grew up listening to. For this special CD Jay assembled a cast of the best musicians in Boston. Please enjoy it.

Jay Geils Toe Tapping Jazz

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Roy Eldridge And The Swing Trumpets: The Essential Keynote Collection 4, CD 1, CD 2

The Essential Keynote Collection 4 CD 1
Styles: Trumpet Jazz, Swing
Year: 1987
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 74:27
Size: 172,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:17) 1. Don't Be That Way
(3:00) 2. I Want To Be Happy
(2:56) 3. Fiesta In Brass (Alternate Take)
(2:58) 4. Fiesta In Brass
(2:40) 5. St. Louis Blues (Alternate Take)
(2:40) 6. St Louis Blues
(5:02) 7. Mountain Air
(4:21) 8. Curry In A Hurry (Alternate Take 1)
(4:42) 9. Curry In A Hurry
(4:41) 10. Curry In A Hurry (Alternate Take 2)
(4:43) 11. Stardust (Alternate Take)
(4:33) 12. Stardust
(4:11) 13. Rosetta (Alternate Take 1)
(5:04) 14. Rosetta (Alternate Take 2)
(4:44) 15. Rosetta
(2:58) 16. What Is This Thing Called Love
(3:16) 17. Minor Blues
(2:48) 18. You Know It (Alternate Take)
(2:38) 19. You Know It
(3:02) 20. Lullaby Of The Leaves

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The Essential Keynote Collection 4 CD 2
Time: 65:37
Size: 152,1 MB

(2:30) 1. Lust For Licks
(3:06) 2. Just Like A Butterfly
(2:39) 3. B.H. Boogie
(3:08) 4. Twelfth Street Rag (Alternate Take)
(3:06) 5. Twelfth Street Rag
(2:33) 6. Poor John
(3:24) 7. Trumpet Interlude
(2:56) 8. Little Sir Echo
(3:01) 9. Exactly Like You
(2:41) 10. Why Do I Love You (Alternate Take)
(2:38) 11. Why Do I Love You
(3:01) 12. All My Life
(3:19) 13. Groovin' With J.C.
(3:16) 14. What's The Use?
(3:20) 15. The Girl In My Dreams
(3:02) 16. A Pocketful Of Dreams
(2:46) 17. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
(2:50) 18. Wick's Kicks
(3:06) 19. You Can Depend On Me
(3:11) 20. She Didn't Say Yes
(3:07) 21. Black Butterfly
(2:47) 22. Pocatello

Roy David Eldridge was a jazz trumpet player in the Swing era. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, resulted in him sometimes being seen as the link between Louis Armstrong-era swing music and Dizzy Gillespie-era bebop. Roy's rhythmic power to swing a band was a dynamic tradmark of the Swing Era.

Eldridge was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His nickname was Little Jazz. Eldridge played in the bands of Fletcher Henderson, Gene Krupa and Artie Shaw before making records under his own name. He also played in Benny Goodman's and Count Basie's Orchestras, and co-led a band with Coleman Hawkins.

Also known as “Little Jazz” Roy Eldridge was a fiery, energetic trumpeter who although short in stature was a larger-than-life figure in the jazz trumpet lineage. Stylistically speaking he was the bridge between the towering trumpet stylists Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie. One of a significant number of jazz greats from the city of Pittsburgh, Roy’s first teacher was his alto saxophonist older brother Joe. Some of the great rhythmic drive of Eldridge’s later trumpet exploits could be traced to his beginnings on the drums, which he began playing at age six. His first professional work came at age 16 when he worked with a touring carnival, playing drums, trumpet, and tuba.

As a trumpeter Roy had come under the spell of Louis Armstrong’s irrisistable style. Among his earliest band affiliations were Oliver Muldoon, Horace Henderson, Zack Whyte, Speed Webb, and his own band, under the banner of Roy Elliott and his Palais Royal Orchestra. In 1930 he made the move to New York and headed straight to Harlem, where he gained work with a number of dance bands, among which was the Teddy Hill band. He left New York in 1934 to join the Michigan-based McKinney’s Cotton Pickers alongside such significant players as tenor man Chu Berry. Roy returned to New York to rejoin Teddy Hill in 1935, with whom he made his first recordings as a soloist in 1935. Prior to recording with Hill he toured with the Connie’s Hot Chocolates revue. After he left Hill’s band he became the lead trumpeter in Fletcher Henderson’s orchestra where his upper register abilities were highlighted. It didn’t take long for Eldridge to exert himself as a bandleader, forming his own octet in 1936 in Chicago; a band which included his brother Joe.

Eldridge recorded with the Three Deuces group, then left music for a short time to pursue radio engineering, an interesting twist considering his Chicago group’s nightly radio broadcasts. By the end of the 1930s after freelancing with such a wide array of bands Eldridge had gained notice as one of the swing bands’ most potent soloists. In 1941 he joined drummer Gene Krupa’s band. Not only did he provide trumpet fireworks for Krupa’s outfit he also sang, recording a memorable duet with the band’s female singer, Anita O’Day (NEA Jazz Master 1997) on the tune “Let Me Off Uptown” in 1941. Later, after Krupa’s band disbanded in 1943, and a period of freelancing, he toured with the Artie Shaw band in 1944. After Shaw it was time for Roy to lead his own big band, though economics forced him back to small swing groups.

In 1948 Norman Granz recruited Eldridge for his Jazz at the Philharmonic, an ideal situation for Roy since he was one of the ultimate jam session trumpeters. He toured briefly with Benny Goodman and took up residence in Paris in 1950, where he made some of his most successful recordings. He returned to New York in 1951 and continued freelancing with small bands, including work with Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter, Ella Fitzgerald, and Johnny Hodges. He made notable albums for Verve Records alongside Hawkins and continued freelancing and leading a house band at Jimmy Ryan’s club in New York. In 1980 he was felled by a stroke but that didn’t cut off his musicality. Disabled from the rigorous demands of playing the trumpet, Eldridge continued to make music as a singer and pianist until his 1989 passing.
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/roy-eldridge/

The Essential Keynote Collection 4 CD 1, CD 2

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Melba Moore - Imagine (Deluxe Edition)

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:37
Size: 105,7 MB
Art: Front

(4:05) 1. So In Love
(3:33) 2. Take Me Away
(3:51) 3. Can't Stop The Rain
(3:19) 4. Imagine
(4:18) 5. Since I Took My Heart Back
(4:37) 6. Take Her Picture Down
(4:18) 7. Free
(3:33) 8. The Highest Star
(2:47) 9. Joy & Pain
(4:22) 10. Forever
(3:25) 11. It Seems To Hang On
(3:24) 12. It Seems To Hang On (Pride Mix)

You don’t get to be six decades deep in your career without talent and tenacity. The ever-legendary Melba Moore has both in spades and continues to extend her legacy with each passing year. In 2022, she released her 28th album Imagine to great acclaim from her fans. Now she’s giving us all a special treat with her latest single “It Seems To Hang On.”

“It Seems To Hang On” is a cover of the Ashford & Simpson staple from their 1978 album Is It Still Good To You. While that version, with its pulsing disco grooves, was perfect for its era, Melba retools the song to fit her style and the current day. To that effect, it’s now become a mid-tempo R&B cut perfect for two-stepping to or just lounging around thinking about your love.

Melba is still in fine voice as she sings and harmonizes over the warm mix of synth piano, bass and gently knocking drums. Her vocal is subtle as she evokes the feeling of being wrapped up in a love that will always linger. She even makes time for a spoken moment on which she gets a little sassy before falling back into the groove.

“I recorded this classic as a way to honor my fans as well as two very special people Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson who opened up so many doors of opportunities for me,” the singer said of the song in a press release.

We’ll always have time for Melba Moore and “It Seems To Hang On” is a welcome addition to our playlists. The song will be added as a bonus track on Imagine, but you can give it a spin in full below.By D-Money https://soulbounce.com/2023/06/melba-moore-it-seems-to-hang-on/

Imagine (Deluxe Edition)

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Mark Lewandowski - A Bouquet (for Lady Day)

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:12
Size: 107,0 MB
Art: Front

(0:53) 1. Day Breaks
(5:17) 2. More Than You Know
(4:14) 3. This Year’s Kisses
(6:07) 4. P.s. I Love You
(4:08) 5. What A Little Moonlight Can Do
(4:45) 6. Billie’s Blues
(3:21) 7. Lady Sings The Blues
(6:06) 8. Some Other Spring
(0:52) 9. The Still Of The Night
(5:17) 10. Who Wants Love?
(5:07) 11. Left Alone

A regular in the Mingus Big Band and Wynton Marsalis' quartet, New York-based Mark Lewandowski has won numerous awards for his sonorous double bass playing, which can be appreciated in settings as diverse as John Zorn's The Book of Beri'ah (Tzadik Records, 2018) and Joe Chambers's Dance Kobina (Blue Note Records, 2022). As a leader, Lewandowski previously released the joyous, highly personal Fats Waller homage Waller (Whirlwind Records, 2017) and, following his relocation from London to New York, the impressive, all-originals calling-card Under One Sky (MGL Music, 2021). For his third opus, Billie Holiday provides the inspiration.

As with Waller, Lewandowski teams up with pianist Liam Noble. Whereas that was a trio recording (with drummer Paul Clarvis) A Bouquet For Lady Day is mostly duets, with singer Heidi Vogel lending smoky gravitas to "Lady Sings The Blues" and "Left Alone," songs which also acknowledge Holiday's collaborators Herbie Nichols and Mal Waldron.

Given the reduced setting, the aim from the outset was evidently to avoid slavish reproduction or mawkish tribute. Instead, Lewandowski and Noble revel in intimate dialogues as playful as they are tender. The overarching mood is mellow, the exchanges melodious; clearly, this is a celebration of Holiday's musical gifts to the world, with little room for mournful reflection on the darker aspects of her short yet storied life.

The sunny disposition of the swinging "This Year's Kisses," the gentle blues of "P.S. I Love You" and a gossamer reading of "What a Little Moonlight Can Do," which features an exquisite bass solo, speak to the beauty of Holiday's musical soul.

It is in the imaginative deconstruction of Holiday's self-penned "Billie's Blues" and Franz Waxman & Gus Kahn's "Who Wants Love?" where bassist and pianist flip between gnarly improvisation and walking blues figures that the duo's bridging of old ways and modern byways is seen in starkest relief.

The spaces between the eleven tracks are threaded with brief field recordings of police sirens, rainfall, car horns and a dog barking in the distance a nod, perhaps to Holiday's beloved canine friends. These sounds provide a noirish ambiance, though one rendered with a light touch.

"Left Alone" closes the set on the bluest of notes. To spare accompaniment, Vogel's rich tenor invests Holiday and Waldron's devastating portrait of hurt, rejection and longing with an aching which Holiday would probably have recognised all too well. It is a fine performance from the vocalist, though somewhat at odds with the album's generally upbeat vibe.

Lewandowski's heartfelt homage to Billie Holiday is full of grace, grit and soul much like her incomparable voice. A second volume of such splendid fare would not go amiss.By Ian Patterson
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/a-bouquet-for-lady-day-mark-lewandowski-ubuntu-music

A Bouquet (for Lady Day)

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Eileen Mager - Songs of Life

Styles: Vocal 
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 74:22
Size: 173,9 MB
Art: Front

(2:05)  1. Darest Thou Now, O Soul
(4:36)  2. What God Doeth, That Is Rightly Done
(3:32)  3. High O'er the Lonely Hills
(4:49)  4. The Butterfly
(1:51)  5. Yes, That's the Way Things Are
(3:00)  6. Birdsong
(3:17)  7. Ridente La Calma
(3:55)  8. Gospel Blues
(2:01)  9. Juba: Ev'rytime I Feel the Spirit
(2:03) 10. From Far, From Eve and Morning
(4:24) 11. Laudate Dominum
(2:30) 12. An Die Musik
(4:32) 13. Recordare
(2:10) 14. Widmung
(3:19) 15. Yih'yu L'ratson
(2:53) 16. Adon Olam
(2:58) 17. Avinu Malkeynu
(3:40) 18. I Vow to Thee, My Country
(3:00) 19. Psalm 23
(2:31) 20. 4 Songs for Voice and Violin, Op. 35: I. Jesu Sweet
(1:03) 21. My Soul Has Nought but Fire and Ice
(1:23) 22. I Sing of a Maiden
(2:18) 23. My Leman Is So True
(2:08) 24. Ain't That Good News?
(2:18) 25. For I Will Consider My Cat, Jeoffry
(1:56) 26. How Joyful Is My Heart

A WORD ABOUT "SONGS OF LIFE" Eileen Mager

All of my life, I've been fascinated by and often humbled by the extraordinary strength and resilience of the human spirit. Our capacity for love, humor, spirituality, and joy, often in spite of whatever reverses and downright horrors and tragedies life may dish out. We are inspired by life's challenges, each other, all of nature, our connection with our Deity, the beauty that surrounds us, music, and life itself. These songs express those sources of inspiration. We begin with "Darest Thou Now, O Soul" a challenge to one's own soul to walk out "toward the Unknown Region" to take on life's adventure. We continue with songs expressing a lifetime of experiences and responses to them responsesliturgical songs, and a Benjamin Britten song which has perhaps the oddest expression of faith and worship I have ever encountered "For I Will Consider My Cat, Jeoffry." It all concludes with Bach's song of reconciliation with the spiritual, "Wie freudig ist mein Herz" ("How Joyful Is My Heart"). I was assisted in this project by some wonderful musicians and friends: pianist/organist Ellen Brown, bassoonist John Friedeman, flutist Lisa Tharp, and violinist Jim Apperson. "Songs of Life" is, to say the least, an eclectic collection. But then, isn't life a mixed bag as well? I hope you enjoy them...More https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/emager7

Songs of Life

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James Walsh Gypsy Band - Muscle Shoals '79

Styles: Jazz, Big Band
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 34:41
Size: 81,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:49) 1. I've Got The Feelin'
(2:46) 2. Looks Like You Got Down In Love
(3:39) 3. Lie To Me
(3:20) 4. The Caves Of Altamira
(3:34) 5. It's Over Now
(3:30) 6. Where Do We Get Off
(2:42) 7. This Time The Feelin' Is Right
(4:11) 8. Alabama Eyes
(3:32) 9. Lovin' You
(3:34) 10. Just Like Fallin' In Love

The soaring, sometimes harrowing vocals of singer/guitarist James Walsh reveal an obvious debt to the unrestrained raw passion of the late Jeff Buckley. In the late '90s, Walsh read that one of his favorite artists was a Buckley fan. Out of curiosity, Walsh purchased a Buckley record and became an admirer himself, eventually listening to similar artists such as Tim Buckley (Jeff's father), Van Morrison, and Neil Young.

Those influences eventually helped carve the sound and confessional lyrics of his band, Starsailor, named after a Tim Buckley LP. Walsh formed Starsailor in Wigan, England, with James Stelfox (bass), Ben Byrne (drums), and Barry Westhead (keyboards) in 2000. Walsh took piano lessons when he was 12, and by the time he met Stelfox and Byrne in college, he already had songs written. After two Top 20 hits in England with "Fever" and "Good Souls," Starsailor released their critically acclaimed first album, Love Is Here, in the U.K. in 2001. By Michael Sutton https://www.allmusic.com/artist/james-walsh-mn0001926207#biography

Personnel:
James Walsh Gypsy Band :
James Walsh : Lead vocals & Keyboards
Richard Jorgensen : Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Piccolo, Trumpet & Vocals
Deone Johnson : Trumpet, Solo Flugelhorn & Vocals
Todd Hansen : Trombone, Bass Trombone & Vocals
Bob Jones : Bass & Vocals
Jim Behringer : Lead Guitar & Vocals
Scott Fronsoe : Bass & Vocals
Ernie LaViolette : Drums & Percussion

Additional Musicians :
Tower Of Power Horns
Emilio Castillo : Tenor Saxophone
Lenny Pickett : Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone & Tenor Saxophone
Stephen 'Doc' Kupka : Baritone Saxophone
Greg Adams : Trumpet & Flugelhorn


Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section
Barry Beckett : Keyboards
Roger Hawkins : Drums
David Hood : Bass
Jimmy Johnson : Guitar

Muscle Shoals '79

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Bill Barron Quartet - Live at Cobi's, Vol.1 (1987-1988), Vol.2 (1985)

Album: Live at Cobi's, Vol.1 (1987-1988)

Avalon Jazz Band, Tatiana Eva-Marie - Paris

Styles: Vocal, Jazz Band
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:01
Size: 103,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:26) 1. Swing rêverie
(4:32) 2. Les oiseaux de Paris
(3:02) 3. Place blanche
(3:07) 4. Belleville
(3:17) 5. Utrillo
(3:20) 6. Paris je t'aime
(3:08) 7. Chanson pour Guillaume
(3:23) 8. Le petit cheval
(3:20) 9. Romance
(3:13) 10. Paris au mois de Septembre
(3:20) 11. Bébert d'Anvers
(3:25) 12. Venez donc chez moi
(3:22) 13. Quel temps fait-il à Paris?

Tatiana Eva-Marie and the Avalon Jazz Band represent Parisian culture and bohemian spirit in New York City.
This swing band performs French jazz songs, old classics with a hot twist and American standards,celebratingFrance,lovemusic.music
https://avalonjazzband.bandcamp.com/

Tatiana Eva-Marie is a Swiss-born vocalist based in Brooklyn who sings 1930s-style swing and gypsy jazz. She moved from Paris to New York City in 2011, and formed the Avalon Jazz Band in 2014 with violinist Adrien Chevalier. Her singing has been compared to the jazz vocalists Cyrille Aimée and Cécile McLorin Salvant. Her band opened for vocalist and pianist Norah Jones. She is the daughter of musicians Louis Crelier and Anca Maria, and she grew up in France and Switzerland. Eva-Marie was a finalist on the first season of the television show Music Explorer (fr), a musical competition show in France, in 2014. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatiana_Eva-Marie

Paris

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