Saturday, May 11, 2024

Brad Mehldau - Après Fauré

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2024
Time: 42:52
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 98,8 MB
Art: Front

(6:28) 1. Nocturne No. 13 in B Minor, Op. 119 (1921)
(6:39) 2. Nocturne No. 4 in E-Flat Major, Op. 36 (c. 1884)
(6:20) 3. Nocturne No. 12 in E Minor, Op. 107 (1915)
(3:31) 4. Prelude
(3:40) 5. Caprice
(2:43) 6. Nocturne
(2:03) 7. Vision
(8:39) 8. Nocturne No. 7 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 74 (1898)
(2:46) 9. Piano Quartet No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 45 (c. 1887) - III. Adagio non troppo (Extract)

Grammy-award winning jazz pianist Brad Mehldau connects the dots as though they were so many 16th notes.

His two new albums, “After Bach II” and “Après Fauré,” use classical music as a foundation for solo explorations that draw a through line from Art Tatum to Thelonious Monk to Bill Evans to Keith Jarrett to Philip Glass. It all sounds like Mehldau, and it all goes back to Bach.

The hybrid sets are out Friday, May 10, and “After Bach II” is a sequel to Mehldau’s absorbing 2018 album, “After Bach.” Once again, interpretations of Bach pieces alternate with original compositions inspired by him. “Après Fauré” follows a similar format, with the French composer’s work bookending four short original Mehldau compositions.

It’s music to delight a church choir or nightclub crowd. And, as Mehldau writes in the liner notes for the Fauré album, “music that breathes austerity and weirdness.”

The Fauré set includes his final two nocturnes, minor-key pieces written in 1915 and 1921. Their restless, romantic melancholy inspires dark, discordant elements in Mehldau’s own pieces, which are filled with percussive, searching music that underscores how Fauré’s work anticipated jazz.

There’s also a link between Jelly Roll Morton and J.S. Bach, which Mehldau has long embraced and celebrated. The new Bach album features graceful, persuasive interpretations of familiar material, including five pieces from Book I of The Well-Tempered Clavier. Mehldau describes the Fugue in A minor as an exploration of Bach’s funkiness, and it unspools as freely as a jazz solo, while the familiar melody of the Prelude in E major breaks out like sunshine.

Bach was an acclaimed keyboard improviser, so it’s fitting his Goldberg Variations are treated to Mehldau’s improvised variations. The seven include two in a 5/8 time signature and one in 7/4, creating a weird and wild flow that is very 21st century.

Mehldau’s variations are bracing and daring, breathtaking and beautiful, spiritual and psychedelic. Blue notes emerge from the contrapuntal complexity as he tests the limits of Bach’s music, showing there are none. https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/music-review-brad-mehldau-connects-bach-faur-jazz-109958966

Après Fauré

Friday, May 10, 2024

Denise Donatelli - Find A Heart

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2015
Time: 57:45
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 134,1 MB
Art: Front

(6:16) 1. Big Noise, New York
(5:24) 2. Love And Paris Rain
(4:21) 3. Spaced Out
(3:55) 4. Practical Arrangement
(5:30) 5. Find A Heart
(4:08) 6. Not Like This
(5:08) 7. Eyes That Say I Love You
(5:36) 8. In This Moment
(5:29) 9. Troubled Child
(6:19) 10. Midnight Sun
(5:35) 11. Day Dream

Multi Grammy nominee vocalist Denise Donatelli, unveils another gem of an album with the much-anticipated Find A Heart, collaborating once again with producer/arranger, pianist Geoffrey Keezer documenting a surprisingly new direction for the singer as she ventures into the non-standards area. The Great American Songbook will always be with us, here to stay forever as new re-interpretations of classics emerge every day. This project finds the vocalist and pianist exploring new territory as they take the music of modern pop and jazz masters like Sting, David Crosby and Russell Ferrante among others, and ask the question, Isn't it time for new standards?

One thing clearly evident on this album is, the superb cast of players that make the instrumentation such a pleasure to hear which features an all-star personnel listing that includes Brazilian guitarist Leonardo Amuedo, Cuban bassist Carlitos del Puerto, drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith and Canadian saxophonist Christine Jensen among them. The evolution of The Great American Songbook begins with the Donald Fagen composition "Big Noise, New York" featuring an opening blast from saxophonist great Bob Sheppard before the sparkling vocals of the leader take over on what is a burning beginning to a heck of an album.

The singer finds her softer side on Ferrante's beautiful love ballad, "Love and Paris Rain" with a little help from guitarist Amuedo then jumps into a lively tempo on Keezer's own "Spaced Out (En Babia)" before returning to a gentler mood on the absolutely gorgeous "Practical Arrangement" accompanied by the magic horn of Chris Botti and the soft guitar work from Amuedo. Keezer's arrangement of the Crosby title track, turns this pop tune into a true jazz number with a touch of the Latin flavor.

Keezer and Donatelli draw on a small string section of cello and violas to convey the trials and tribulations of a "Troubled Child" and call on bassist del Puerto and percussionist Walter Rodriguez to weigh in with brisk haunting solos as the singer's crisp voice reaches and beckons the child with a little help of background vocalists Yutaka Yokokura, and Julia Dollison.

Interestingly enough, while the mission of this venture is still, to offer different songs from more recent times as possible new standards for the future, Donatelli closes the album with heartfelt emotion paying humble respect to current standards with superior renditions of "Midnight Sun," and Billy Strayhorn's "Day Dream." Find A Heart is simply put, an outstanding vocal recording that takes Denise Donatelli's performance to another level.By Edward Blanco
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/find-a-heart-denise-donatelli-savant-records-review-by-edward-blanco

Personnel: Denise Donatelli: vocals; Geoffrey Keezer: piano, arranger; Leonardo Amuedo: guitar; Carlito Del Puerto: bass; Marvin "Smitty" Smith: drums; Walter Rodriquez: percussion; Chris Botti: trumpet; Bob Sheppard: tenor saxophone; Christine Jensen: soprano saxophone; Michael Thompson; guitar; Giovanna Clayton; cello; Alma Fernandez: viola; Matt funes: viola; Darrin McCann: viola; Yutaka Yokokura: background vocals; Sy Smith: background vocals; Julia Dollison: background vocals.

Find A Heart

The Four Freshmen - Four Freshmen and Friends

Styles: Jazz, Crossover Jazz
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:38
Size: 84,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:48) 1. Avalon
(5:19) 2. Moonglow
(2:06) 3. Central Park West
(7:17) 4. Don't Be That Way
(5:10) 5. Stompin' At the Savoy
(2:59) 6. Here's That Rainy Day
(5:12) 7. So Danco Samba
(2:44) 8. It's a Blue World

In 1948, four young men created a sound that forever changed the way vocal jazz harmony was heard and performed. Known as The Four Freshmen, the group started with two brothers, Don and Ross Barbour, their cousin Bob Flanigan, and friend Hal Kratzsch. With a soaring, true tenor in Bob Flanigan, the group created a sound that has endured for over 6 decades. Hal Kratzsch sang the bass part and played trumpet. He sang the bass part with a big sound, laying the foundation for the Barbour brothers to add their beautiful inner part stylings. Ross sang the 3rd part and played drums. Don sang the 2nd part and played guitar. Thus, the original Four Freshmen was born and began touring, playing bowling alleys and small clubs across the country.

Early on in their career, the Freshmen met Stan Kenton. He had heard the rumors of a vocal group that sounded like his band. The Freshmen were all fans of Kenton and in many ways, modeled their sound after the Kenton trombone section. Once Kenton heard them, he was hooked. He loved the group and believed in them so much that he approached Capitol and essentially got the Freshmen signed in 1950. This led to a fruitful partnership between Capitol Records and the Freshmen for over 10 years. During the Capitol years, the Freshmen had some of their biggest hits, including their first hit with Capitol called "It's A Blue World." https://fourfreshmen.com/history

Personel:Tommy Boynton - Lead voice; Stein Malvey - 2nd voice; Curtis Calderon - 3rd voice + Trumpet; Bob Ferreira - bass voice; Ken Peplowski - Clarinet; Chuck Redd - Vibes;Ron Eschete - Guitar; Katie Theroux - Bass; Butch Miles - Drums.

Four Freshmen and Friends

Kenny Barron - Beyond This Place

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2024
Time: 52:50
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 123,3 MB
Art: Front

(6:34) 1. The Nearness of You
(5:35) 2. Scratch
(8:18) 3. Innocence
(6:40) 4. Blues on Stratford Road
(5:36) 5. Tragic Magic
(5:05) 6. Beyond This Place
(3:15) 7. Softly As in a Morning Sunrise
(7:10) 8. Sunset
(4:33) 9. We See

If, like me, you think you’ve known the name Kenny Barron since your earliest childhood, it’s perfectly normal, because the pianist and composer, 13-time Grammy nominee, member of the DownBeat Hall of Fame, is arguably the greatest jazz pianist currently active, with a continued link to the golden age of mid-century jazz, celebrating his 80th birthday… and having associated with other jazz greats (Dizzy, James Moody, Stan Getz, Freddie Hubbard, Yusef Lateef), offering once again an album that is totally impeccable, if not grandiose. “Beyond This Place” presents a quintet featuring one of the most talented and synergistic groups Barron has ever led. An intergenerational ensemble, it includes his longtime rhythm section, bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa and drummer Johnathan Blake, as well as the unparalleled vibraphonist Steve Nelson, who received one of his first recording mentions with Barron on the pianist’s 1982 LP “Golden Lotus”. Also on board is 26-year-old alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, whose recordings as a leader for Blue Note, “The 7th Hand” and “Omega”, have earned him deep respect and renown among critics and dedicated jazz enthusiasts. The “quartet… has become a group against which members of the younger generation can compare their own ideas,” suggests The New York Times. Wilkins’ presence also serves as a reminder of Barron’s enduring commitment to mentoring in jazz, as an employer of young talent and celebrated music educator. Indeed, the list of Barron’s school alumni is impressive, including Terence Blanchard, Jon Batiste, Aaron Parks, and Gerald Clayton, among countless others.

Immanuel Wilkins, whom Bayou Blue Radio listeners know well through his personal albums as well as his performances on the albums of other great artists, is no stranger. And don’t for a moment imagine that Kenny Barron’s compositions are retro; the pianist offers us one of the most “trendy” albums of all time here. If you have his previous album “The Source” in mind, “Beyond This Place” will surprise you. The artists here present were not chosen at random, and one can feel the improvisational elements that have benefited this project. Kenny Barron’s musical vision is perpetually in search of renewal; his great quality is not to get lost in novelty but always to impress us with his rich and precise playing. “Beyond This Place” begins with a quartet rendition of the standard “The Nearness of You,” highlighting the timeless kinship between Barron and Wilkins two modernists both forward-thinking and respectful of jazz history, with impeccable technique. “Scratch” by Barron, which the composer presented as the title track of a trio recording in 1985 with Dave Holland and Daniel Humair, is a delightfully Monk-like theme attacked here with the energy of Parker/Roach. “Innocence,” a Barron composition that lent its title to his 1978 LP for Wolf Records, is an archetypal post-bop piece, with an elegant and dark theme and a slow burning tempo; later, Barron’s “Tragic Magic” is a livelier and bolder post-bop vehicle that pays homage to his piano hero Tommy Flanagan. Blake’s contribution, “Blues on Stratford Road,” is self-explanatory in the most satisfying way a durable hard bop from a corner bar in the vein of Blue Note. (Blake is actually a Blue Note recording artist as a leader, although his dates are more decidedly contemporary.)

What’s most impressive is the marriage between a form of jazz that has become relatively “classic” and this modernity and the language that ensues. This quintet is truly exciting, full of musical propositions that are evidently the result of collective work, each member listening to and reveling in the flourishes offered by the others. One can only hope that festivals will clamor for this quintet, which for us is as “essential and indispensable” as earth, wind, and fire (and there’s no allusion here to the funk group we adore).
https://www.paris-move.com/reviews/kenny-barron-beyond-this-place-eng-review/

Personnel: Kenny Barron (Piano); Immanuel Wilkins (Saxophone); Jonathan Blake (Drums); Kiyoshi Kitagawa (Bass); Steve Nelson (Vibraphone).

Beyond This Place

John Colianni Trio - Blues-O-Matic

Styles: Piano Jazz 
Year: 1989
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:03
Size: 124,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:48)  1. Blues-O-Matic (with Lew Tabackin)
(3:19)  2. Liza
(5:37)  3. My One and Only Love
(2:38)  4. All God's Chillun Got Rhythm (with Lew Tabackin)
(5:42)  5. Exactly Like You (with Lew Tabackin)
(5:20)  6. Riding High - You Do Something to Me
(4:52)  7. After All (with Lew Tabackin)
(5:58)  8. Long Count
(5:06)  9. I Want You All the Time
(4:23) 10. Ding Ding
(5:16) 11. Slicer

Piano. Steady mainstream player, noteworthy for excellent rhythmic skills. His tastes are even further in past than most neoboppers, reaching to swing and big band era for inspiration, as well as early days of bop. ~ Ron Wynn http://www.allmusic.com/artist/john-colianni-mn0000216450/biography

John Colianni Trio: John Colianni (piano), Lew Tabackin (tenor saxophone, flute), Lynn Seaton (bass), Mel Lewis (drums).

Blues-O-Matic

Art Pepper - The Art Of The Ballad

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:52
Size: 148.5 MB
Styles: Post bop, Saxophone jazz
Year: 1999
Art: Front

[ 5:30] 1. Winter Moon
[ 5:16] 2. Body And Soul
[ 4:20] 3. Maybe Next Year
[ 7:00] 4. Blues In The Night
[ 3:31] 5. 'round Midnight
[ 5:50] 6. Imagination
[ 6:47] 7. Over The Rainbow
[ 3:35] 8. Why Are We Afraid
[ 6:32] 9. All The Things You Are
[ 4:45] 10. Come Rain Or Come Shine
[11:41] 11. You Go To My Head

Fantasy's The Art of the Ballad series continues with a chronologically wide-ranging look at Art Pepper's way with standard tunes, splitting time almost equally between the two divisions of his career and striking emotional gold frequently. As good as the Contemporary label recordings from 1956 to 1960 are, Pepper's passionate, heart-stopping playing on the 1977-1982 selections from Galaxy simply put them deep in the shade; heard side by side, the earlier dates sound almost lightweight. The disc indulges in two selections from Pepper's string album Winter Moon (the title track and "Blues in the Night," where Pepper muses on the clarinet), but the emotional rush that they produce is worth the extra emphasis. There is also a spectacularly nuanced "You Go to My Head" from this period, live at the Village Vanguard, and two duets with George Cables from a month and a half before Pepper's death. Everything here is already out on CD; there is nothing from the peak late-period album Straight Life, and the sequencing is catch-as-catch-can, but this sampler is potent enough to give newcomers to Art Pepper a depth charge. ~Richard S. Ginnell

The Art Of The Ballad

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Tony Bennett & Diana Krall - Love Is Here To Stay (With The Bill Charlap Trio)

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2018
Time: 36:27
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 85,5 MB
Art: Front

(2:50) 1. 'S Wonderful
(2:48) 2. My One And Only
(3:05) 3. But Not For Me
(2:45) 4. Nice Work If You Can Get It
(4:26) 5. Love Is Here To Stay
(1:57) 6. I Got Rhythm
(3:40) 7. Somebody Loves Me
(2:53) 8. Do It Again
(3:58) 9. I’ve Got A Crush On You
(2:41) 10. Fascinating Rhythm
(3:23) 11. They Can’t Take That Away From Me
(1:56) 12. Who Cares?

Tony Bennett and Diana Krall's partnership didn't begin with the 2018 duets album Love Is Here to Stay. Krall popped up on two prior duets albums from Bennett and the pair toured at the dawn of the 2000s, but Love Is Here to Stay marks their first full record together, and it's an elegant affair.

Conceived as a tribute to George Gershwin, the album is filled with familiar tunes, but hints of imagination lurk around the edges, such as the revival of "Fascinating Rhythm," the tune Bennett recorded for his first single in 1949. Nearly 70 years separate that version of "Fascinating Rhythm" from this 2018 rendition, and while Bennett certainly sounds older his voice is slightly raspy, he can't hit the high notes the way he used to, nor does he sing with quite as much force he still sounds spry and commanding, happily dancing through these cozy melodies, singing with as much rhythm as lyricism. “

Krall responds in kind, trading staccato phrases that are slyly complementary to Bennett's own. In the Bill Charlap Trio, the pair have empathetic support, keeping the proceedings both light and lush, helping to turn this album into a charming testament to endurance endurance of the Gershwin catalog, the collaboration between Krall and Bennett, and, especially, how Tony Bennett can still sound completely committed to songs he's spent decades singing.By Stephen Thomas Erlewine https://www.allmusic.com/album/love-is-here-to-stay-mw0003196487#review“

Tony Bennett and Diana Krall's partnership didn't begin with the 2018 duets album Love Is Here to Stay. Krall popped up on two prior duets albums from Bennett and the pair toured at the dawn of the 2000s, but Love Is Here to Stay marks their first full record together, and it's an elegant affair.“

Personnel: Tony Bennett – vocals (tracks 1, 2, 4–12); Diana Krall – vocals (tracks 1–11); arrangement (track 3).

The Bill Charlap Trio: Bill Charlap – piano, arrangement (all tracks); Peter Washington – bass (tracks 1, 2, 4–12); Kenny Washington – drums (tracks 1, 2, 4–12)“

Love Is Here To Stay (With The Bill Charlap Trio)

Karen Souza - Language of Love

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:31
Size: 91,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:57) 1. This Masquerade
(2:50) 2. Everybody Knows
(3:36) 3. Love Is Not Fair
(3:57) 4. Language of Love
(4:28) 5. Less Is More
(3:39) 6. Someone Brought Me Wine
(3:33) 7. There You Are (Second Chance)
(3:43) 8. Rhythm and Blues
(2:58) 9. It's Gonna Happen Tonight
(2:42) 10. It Will All Work Out
(4:04) 11. Autumn Leaves / Dance Me to the End of Love

Latin American jazz singer Karen Souza, who has performed and recorded under the pseudonyms Pacha Ibiza, FTV (FashionTV), and Privé, is best known for her work on the popular jazz and '80s series, which featured sultry, jazz-infused covers of '8os hits like "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" (Culture Club) and "Personal Jesus" (Depeche Mode). Souza also contributed to '70s and '90s versions of the series as well.By James Christopher Monger https://www.allmusic.com/artist/karen-souza-mn0000917461/biography

Language Of Love

Joe Lovano - Trio Fascination Edition One

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1998
Time: 66:09
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 151,4 MB
Art: Front

(3:05) 1. New York Fascination
(6:44) 2. Sanctuary Park
(7:37) 3. Eternal Joy
(4:56) 4. Ghost of a Chance
(7:12) 5. Studio Rivbea
(4:59) 6. Cymbalism
(9:36) 7. Impressionistic
(7:15) 8. Villa Paradiso
(5:12) 9. 4 on the Floor
(9:28) 10. Days of Yore

Never predictable, Joe Lovano's saxophone artistry has him moving in all directions at once. Similarly, his ensembles have ranged from large to small, and this latest session features an excellent grouping. Presenting his own compositions, the 45-year-old leader draws upon nearly 30 years of professional experience and dedicates the album to those artists in Cleveland, Ohio who were there for him at the start. After performing with his father's band and attending the Berklee School of Music in Boston, Lovano's career went through the traditional phases that included experience with Lonnie Smith, Jack McDuff, Woody Herman, and Mel Lewis. Teaming with singer Judi Silvano in 1980, the saxophonist discovered a unique jazz presentation that employed the human voice as an instrument amid the timbres of a traditional ensemble. Combining tradition with avant-garde ideas, Lovano brings a unique sound to the modern mainstream. Three of the pieces on this album are extracted from a larger work that Lovano composed as part of a Jazz At Lincoln Center commission. “

Dave Holland works as a melodic counterpart to Lovano's saxophone lead. The bassist, who turned 52 last month, began his professional career in his native England before linking up with Miles Davis and later garnering associations with leading members of the modern jazz idiom, including Jack DeJohnette, Herbie Hancock, Sam Rivers, and Chick Corea. Elvin Jones accompanies with a light touch and subtle shadings; however, his periodic emphatic statements add a vital force needed for the balance this trio has attained. Jones, who turned 71 in September, is the younger brother of pianist Hank Jones and trumpeter Thad Jones. His name recognition stemming from his role in the John Coltrane quartet of the early 1960s, Jones has spent much of his career teaching and helping younger musicians to find their own voices in jazz.“

Joe Lovano chooses to present his familiar tenor saxophone sound on most tracks; the soprano saxophone is employed on "Eternal Joy," the alto sax on "Studio Rivbea" & "4 on the Floor," and the alto clarinet on "Impressionistic." Victor Young's "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You" is presented in standard form with brushes and strolling bass in support. It's all about the melody, as Lovano offers his heartfelt interpretation of Ned Washington's lyrics. With the leader choosing alto clarinet and Holland using the bow, the trio performs "Impressionistic" with an ear on the melody and a hand on the arrhythmic pulse.

Jones provides a feature, using every facet of the drum set to create various textures while Lovano and Holland pair off with doubled melodic lines. Switching to alto sax at mid-stream, Lovano continues to deliver the session's highlight with a superb presentation from all three artists. For the most part, the album contains music from a jazz trio that is steeped in the hard bop tradition, willing & free to unleash creative feelings, and in agreement as to what constitutes the modern mainstream in jazz. Highly recommended.https://www.allaboutjazz.com/trio-fascination-joe-lovano-blue-note-records-review-by-jim-santella“

Personnel: Joe Lovano- tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, straight alto clarinet; Dave Holland- acoustic bass; Elvin Jones- drums

Trio Fascination Edition One

Art Pepper - Surf Ride

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1956
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:25
Size: 87,3 MB
Art: Front

(2:54)  1. Tickle Toe
(2:59)  2. Chili Pepper
(3:14)  3. Susie The Poodle
(2:26)  4. Brown Gold
(3:11)  5. Holiday Flight
(2:54)  6. Surf Ride
(2:52)  7. Straight Life
(3:10)  8. Cinnamon
(3:29)  9. Thyme Time
(3:48) 10. The Way You Look Tonight
(3:15) 11. Nutmeg
(3:07) 12. Art's Oregano

The music on this Savoy LP is quite brilliant, but the packaging leaves something to be desired. The recording dates are all incorrect and there are only 12 performances included (around 37 minutes). There are quartet outings with either Russ Freeman or Hampton Hawes on piano and tracks from a classic session with tenor saxophonist Jack Montrose. The somewhat random nature of this set is unfortunate, for Pepper is in superior form throughout, with highlights including "Tickle Toe," "The Way You Look Tonight," and his earliest recordings of such originals as "Susie the Poodle," "Straight Life," and "Surf Ride." ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/surf-ride-mw0000612532

Personnel:  Art Pepper - alto saxophone; Jack Montrose - tenor saxophone; Russ Freeman, Hampton Hawes, Claude Williamson - piano; Monty Budwig , Joe Mondragon, Bob Whitlock - bass; Larry Bunker, Bobby White - drums

Surf Ride

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

Shorty Rogers - Just A Few 1951 - 1956

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 1996
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 76:55
Size: 185,6 MB
Art: Front

(6:03)  1. Moton Swing
(5:48)  2. Isn't It Romantic
(2:50)  3. Four Mothers
(5:33)  4. Dickie's Dream
(3:02)  5. Over The Rainbow
(6:13)  6. The Lady In Red
(4:16)  7. Just A Few
(6:15)  8. My Heart Stood Still
(5:23)  9. Blues Way Up There
(4:17) 10. Blues Way Down There
(4:23) 11. Easy
(5:02) 12. Not Really The Blues
(5:29) 13. Baklava Bridge
(7:25) 14. Clickin' With Clax
(4:49) 15. Twelfth Street Rag

The music of Shorty Rogers mixes an old-school swing vibe (thanks to a stint with Woody Herman's orchestra) and the subtle, Miles Davis-influenced sound of small-ensemble cool that was popular on the West Coast in the '50s and '60s. With his considerable skills as an arranger and a trumpeter, Rogers was one of the West Coast's true stars.  Just a Few: 1951-1956 collects some of Rogers's early recordings. While he was adept at interpreting standards and blues, Rogers was also a fine composer in his own right, and Just a Few features a handful of his first self-penned tunes, including the title track and "Baklava Bridge." As usual, Rogers's band is top notch, making this set a fine sampler not only of the band leader's early career, but of '50s West Coast jazz in general. https://www.allmusic.com/album/just-a-few-1951-1956-mw0000603209

Just A Few 1951 - 1956

Barbara Dennerlein - My Moments: Live On Hammond & Pipe Organ

Styles: Jazz
Year: 2016
Time: 71:41
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 166,0 MB
Art: Front

( 9:49) 1. Blues In The Pipeline (Live)
( 7:33) 2. Sensitivity
( 5:04) 3. Black And White
( 5:34) 4. Southern Funk
(10:04) 5. Frog Dance
( 9:11) 6. Fantasia Acusticum
( 6:48) 7. Blues In The Pipeline
(11:34) 8. Symphony In Minor
( 6:01) 9. Get It On

Barbara Dennerlein: Internationally celebrated Hammond & Pipe Organ virtuoso.
Her CDs have won numerous awards, including the German Record Critics Award. Her CD "Take Off" (Verve/Universal) even reached number 1 in the jazz charts and was the best-selling German jazz album of the year. Barbara Dennerlein belongs to the small circle of German artists of international repute. On her recordings and in her concerts, she stands out as a member of a new generation of jazz musicians, and is regarded by her peers and her audiences alike as one of the leading representatives of her instruments: the legendary Hammond B3, and the mighty pipe organ.

It is an awe-inspiring experience to watch Barbara live on stage. As the most important and most successful German jazz export, she is familiar with large international festival stages and intimate clubs alike. A list of venues where she has wowed audiences is as varied as it is long: the "Blue Note" and the "Sweet Basil" in New York, "Ronnie Scott's Club" and the "Jazz Café" in London and the "Blue Note" in Tokyo; Philadelphia, Berkley, San Jose, San Diego; the Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, Edmonton, and Victoria jazz festivals; European festivals in The Hague, the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, the Pori Jazz Festival in Finland, the Molde Jazz in Norway, the Arhus Jazz Festival in Denmark, the Maastricht-Kortrijk Festival in Belgium, the Vitoria Festival de Jazz in Spain, and German festivals in Berlin, Frankfurt, Leverkusen, Nuremberg, Vilshofen, Burghausen, Freiburg, Hamburg, Hanover and many others. Besides her nearly endless live performances, Barbara has made numerous appearances on both domestic and international radio and TV.

Both with her own "Bebab" group and solo, Barbara is equally celebrated by critics and audiences alike on both sides of the Atlantic. The name "Bebab" is a play on "Bebop" and "Barbara" and indicates something unique for which there is no established term, no pigeonhole. She knows the value of tradition but is also at home in modern jazz, in the here and now. She is one of the few musicians who can make the connection between different styles and audiences, building bridges between the musical past and present. She is just as familiar with the grooves of youth culture as with the listening experiences of a generation that grew up with the Hammond organ boom of the fifties.

Swing, bebop, blues, soul, latin and funk - for Barbara there are no rigid boundaries, only fluid transitions. Audiences are captivated by her talent, her absolute mastery of the instrument, her taste, and not least, her warm personality. The B3, it would seem, is a seamless extension of herself. She understands better than anyone how to exploit her instrument to the full, creating a sound and a musical style that is unmistakably "Barbara Dennerlein". Her brilliant technique has breathed new life into the venerable Hammond organ, an instrument long neglected in modern jazz. She can rightfully claim to have paved the way for the organ's current renaissance in jazz.

Born in Munich in 1964, she fell in love with one sound at an early age. While others were practicing "Für Elise" or strumming "All You Need Is Love" on the guitar, Barbara was fascinated by the sound of the Hammond organ.
More.....https://www.barbaradennerlein.com/e/biografie.php

My Moments: Live On Hammond & Pipe Organ

Gabrielle Stravelli - Beautiful Moons Ago

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2024
Time: 55:21
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 129,4 MB
Art: Front

(3:30) 1. Did I Remember
(4:36) 2. June Night
(3:32) 3. You Say You Care
(5:29) 4. That Ole Devil Called Love
(5:57) 5. Messin' around
(3:23) 6. So Far so Good
(6:17) 7. Day Dream /You Stepped out of a Dream
(4:32) 8. With the Wind and the Rain in Your Hair
(6:11) 9. Let's Begin / I'm Beginning to See the Light
(3:41) 10. Beautiful Moons Ago
(3:12) 11. They All Laughed
(4:55) 12. I Walk a Little Faster

Vocalist and songwriter Gabrielle Stravelli blends musical traditions with a modern, genre-bending sensibility. The rhythmic swing of jazz frames her original compositions while as an actor and storyteller she reinterprets the Great American Songbook as well as works by contemporary artists as varied as Willie Nelson, Chick Corea and John Fogerty. Unexpected, highly individual choices are her trademark.

Pick Up My Pieces: Gabrielle Stravelli Sings Willie Nelson,” released in 2019, is a jazz and blues exploration that mines Nelson’s catalog, from his earliest works to his most recent. The album’s release was celebrated with a sold out concert at the iconic Birdland Jazz Club and the album has received unanimous accolades from critics for All About Jazz, The Midwest Record, and a featured write-up in The Wall Street Journal.

“Dream Ago” released in 2017 is another creative leap, featuring original material and earning a rare five-star review from DownBeat Magazine. “Dream Dancing” the album’s opening track, was placed on the Spotify editorial playlist “Women of Jazz” and has been streamed over 25,000 times. Gabrielle and her trio showcased the album with a headlining performance at the 2018 WBGO Jazz on the Mountain Festival, and in performances at major venues throughout the country, in addition to touring in Italy and Norway.

Gabrielle is a master vocal teacher for the National YoungArts Foundation and is faculty for Singnasium, the Kaufman Center's Lucy Moses Special Music School and the U. S. Department of State as a Jazz Ambassador. While touring in the U.S., Gabrielle has conducted masterclasses at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music (her alma mater), Loyola University Maryland, Wayne State in Detroit and the South Florida Conservatory of Music in Hollywood.

Since 2015 she has toured internationally with the “American Music Abroad” (AMA) program, performing and teaching throughout Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. In 2019, Gabrielle and her quintet headlined the Providencia Jazz Festival in Santiago, Chile, the Las Condes Jazz Festival and the 10th Annual Semana Internacional de Jazz en la Patagonia. She appeared at the 2019 Kota Kinabalu Music and Dance Festival in Malaysia, the 2016 Eleuthera All That Jazz Festival in the Bahamas, the 2013 Maree Sonore Festival in Venice and the 2013 Kastav Cultural in Croatia. Gabrielle has toured the United States with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra performing his masterwork Abyssinian: A Gospel Celebration. She was chosen by world-renowned jazz pianist Fred Hersch to premiere his song cycle, Rooms of Light, at Montclair University PAC. In 2020, she was honored with the Bistro Award for Outstanding Recording (“Pick Up My Pieces”); the 2019 Broadway World Cabaret Award for Best Jazz Vocalist; the 2015 MAC Award for Best Female Vocalist; and the 2015 Bistro Award as a Jazz Vocalist. Gabrielle holds a BFA from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/gabrielle-stravelli/

Beautiful Moons Ago

Charles McPherson - Reverence

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2024
Time: 44:39
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 103,0 MB
Art: Front

(6:24) 1. Surge
(9:10) 2. Blues for Lonnie in Three
(7:03) 3. Come Rain or Come Shine
(7:28) 4. Dynamic Duo
(7:30) 5. Old Folks
(7:00) 6. Ode to Barry

Legendary alto saxophonist Charles McPherson makes his Smoke Sessions debut with an inspired new album, Reverence, dedicated to his lifelong mentor and friend Barry Harris.

These thrilling performances were captured in front of a live audience at Smoke Jazz Club and feature his quintet of Terell Stafford, Jeb Patton, David Wong, and Billy Drummond and represent the first of a series of live recordings scheduled for release to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Smoke Sessions Records and the 25th anniversary of Smoke Jazz Club.

McPherson certainly reveals why he's been held in such reverence for the last 60 years. The set is a showcase for McPherson's gifts as both composer and soloist and bridges his deep and far-reaching exploration of the full jazz spectrum.https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reverence-Charles-McPherson/dp/B0CVTWTX8Q

Reverence

Thursday, May 2, 2024

Teri Thornton - I'll Be Easy to Find

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 1997
Time: 52:22
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 120,4 MB
Art: Front

(3:46) 1. Somewhere in the Night
(2:49) 2. I Believe in You
(3:16) 3. It Ain't Necessarily So
(5:01) 4. The Lord's Prayer
(7:13) 5. Knee Deep in the Blues
(4:35) 6. I'll Be Easy to Find
(4:52) 7. Nature Boy
(5:16) 8. Wishing Well
(2:52) 9. Where Are You Running?
(3:21) 10. Feels Good
(5:42) 11. I'll Be Seeing You
(3:32) 12. Salty Mama

Vocalist and pianist Teri Thornton recorded a number of albums in the early 60s and then virtually disappeared from the scene. I'll Be Easy To Find finds Ms. Thornton, now 64-years-old, in fine form, her voice still strong. Thornton’s vocal interpretations display the kind of maturity and sincerity often born of hard times. The opening track, her signature Somewhere In The Night, evokes memories of Carmen and Sarah.

Thornton swings gently through I Believe In You and then scats Ella-like on the classic It Ain’t Necessarily So. Few jazz artists have “covered” The Lord’s Prayer. That makes her emotive rendition, augmented by Jerome Richardson’s alto solo, a unique addition to the program. Two Thornton originals, Feels Good and Salty Mama, showcase her bluesy/funky side. With this release, I don’t expect Teri Thornton to “disappear” this time around. I'll Be Easy To Find should keep this gutsy performer in the spotlight for good.ByJohn Sharpe
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/ill-be-easy-to-find-teri-thornton-verve-music-group-review-by-john-sharpe

I'll Be Easy to Find

Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Kelly Eisenhour - Seek and Find

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:57
Size: 139,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:14)  1. Moment To Moment
(3:06)  2. Confession on Love
(3:35)  3. I Didnt Know What Time It Was
(6:03)  4. Rising As The Sun
(6:00)  5. Too Late Now
(5:07)  6. Seek and Find
(2:54)  7. Lonely Woman
(5:14)  8. Wheelers And Dealers
(4:44)  9. My Man´s Gone Now
(6:49) 10. I Only Have Eyes For You
(5:23) 11. Better Days Ahead
(6:42) 12. Soul Eyes

Another member of the too-large club of superior jazz vocalists deserving of widespread popularity, Tucson, Ariz.-born Kelly Eisenhour boasts a seductive voice that is at once cognac-smooth and espresso-rich. The Berklee grad, now based in Salt Lake City, has been singing, writing, arranging and teaching for a quarter-century, and the depth of her experience shows throughout this, her third album. Saxophonist Bob Mintzer is given co-credit on the disc’s cover, but his involvement in these dozen consistently fine tracks is no less praiseworthy than that of pianist Steve Keen, guitarist Kenji Aihara, bassist Matt Larson or percussionist Jay Lawrence (all of whom contributed, as did Eisenhour, to gorgeously understated arrangements that echo the dusky beauty of Bill Charlap and his trio mates).

As demonstrated here by stunning readings of “Too Late Now,” “I Only Have Eyes for You,” “My Man’s Gone Now,” Horace Silver’s haunted “Lonely Woman” and a gently bossa-spiced “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was,” Eisenhour is a sublime standards-bearer. She also handles “Wheelers and Dealers” with a subtlety that appreciably heightens the bite of Dave Frishberg’s lyric. But the track that stands head and shoulders above the estimable rest is “Confession of Love,” a vocalese reinterpretation of “I’m Confessin’” shaped by Eisenhour from a transcription of a Lester Young recording.~Christopher Loudon

Seek and Find

Barbara Dennerlein - 10th Anniversary: It's Magic

Styles: Swing
Year: 2006
Time: 75:18
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 172,4 MB
Art: Front

( 8:37) 1. In the House
(12:02) 2. Longing
( 7:22) 3. Swing the Blondes
(13:05) 4. Change of Pace
(14:05) 5. The Long Way Blues
(11:04) 6. Make It Spicy
( 9:01) 7. Rankett Blues

Her CDs have won numerous awards, including the German Record Critics Award. Her CD "Take Off" (Verve/Universal) even reached number 1 in the jazz charts and was the best-selling German jazz album of the year. Barbara Dennerlein belongs to the small circle of German artists of international repute. On her recordings and in her concerts, she stands out as a member of a new generation of jazz musicians, and is regarded by her peers and her audiences alike as one of the leading representatives of her instruments: the legendary Hammond B3, and the mighty pipe organ.

It is an awe-inspiring experience to watch Barbara live on stage. As the most important and most successful German jazz export, she is familiar with large international festival stages and intimate clubs alike. A list of venues where she has wowed audiences is as varied as it is long: the "Blue Note" and the "Sweet Basil" in New York, "Ronnie Scott's Club" and the "Jazz Café" in London and the "Blue Note" in Tokyo; Philadelphia, Berkley, San Jose, San Diego; the Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, Edmonton, and Victoria jazz festivals; European festivals in The Hague, the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, the Pori Jazz Festival in Finland, the Molde Jazz in Norway, the Arhus Jazz Festival in Denmark, the Maastricht-Kortrijk Festival in Belgium, the Vitoria Festival de Jazz in Spain, and German festivals in Berlin, Frankfurt, Leverkusen, Nuremberg, Vilshofen, Burghausen, Freiburg, Hamburg, Hanover and many others. Besides her nearly endless live performances, Barbara has made numerous appearances on both domestic and international radio and TV.

Both with her own "Bebab" group and solo, Barbara is equally celebrated by critics and audiences alike on both sides of the Atlantic. The name "Bebab" is a play on "Bebop" and "Barbara" and indicates something unique for which there is no established term, no pigeonhole. She knows the value of tradition but is also at home in modern jazz, in the here and now. She is one of the few musicians who can make the connection between different styles and audiences, building bridges between the musical past and present. She is just as familiar with the grooves of youth culture as with the listening experiences of a generation that grew up with the Hammond organ boom of the fifties.

Swing, bebop, blues, soul, latin and funk - for Barbara there are no rigid boundaries, only fluid transitions. Audiences are captivated by her talent, her absolute mastery of the instrument, her taste, and not least, her warm personality. The B3, it would seem, is a seamless extension of herself. She understands better than anyone how to exploit her instrument to the full, creating a sound and a musical style that is unmistakably "Barbara Dennerlein". Her brilliant technique has breathed new life into the venerable Hammond organ, an instrument long neglected in modern jazz. She can rightfully claim to have paved the way for the organ's current renaissance in jazz.

Born in Munich in 1964, she fell in love with one sound at an early age. While others were practicing "Für Elise" or strumming "All You Need Is Love" on the guitar, Barbara was fascinated by the sound of the Hammond organ.More..https://www.barbaradennerlein.com/e/biografie.php

10th Anniversary: It's Magic

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Barbara Dennerlein - That's Me

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:15
Size: 144.8 MB
Styles: Bop, Organ jazz
Year: 1992
Art: Front

[5:02] 1. Grandfather's Funk
[9:36] 2. Dancing Shoes
[6:09] 3. That's Me
[6:56] 4. Three Hearts
[7:50] 5. Monkology
[6:45] 6. Love Affair I. The Ballad
[8:04] 7. Love Affair II. Forever And Never
[5:59] 8. One For Miss D
[6:50] 9. Downtown N.Y

By adding synthesizers and MIDI to her sound, Dennerlein has largely escaped from the dominant Jimmy Smith influence that buries most organists' potential musical personalities. With the exception of the somewhat overblown "Love Affair - The Ballad," she excels on the swinging set, holding her own with such extroverted soloists as trombonist Ray Anderson, tenor-saxophonist Bob Berg and guitarist Mitch Watkins; drummer Dennis Chambers completes the quintet. Dennerlein's expert foot pedal work often makes it sound as if there is an independent bassist on the colorful date. She contributed all of the originals except Anderson's "One for Miss D." and the mixture of blues, ballads, a jazz waltz and more complex pieces works quite well. This set is a very good example of Barbara Dennerlein's appealing talents. ~Scott Yanow

That's Me

Alyssa Allgood - From Here

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2024
Time: 63:40
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 146,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:57) 1. Burn (For Betty)
(4:05) 2. Your Wings
(7:04) 3. Both Sides Now
(6:25) 4. Brave Little Flower
(5:15) 5. No Good
(4:20) 6. Other Side
(4:35) 7. Dream
(5:11) 8. On a Clear Day
(5:37) 9. Still Searching
(3:45) 10. Above All Else
(5:41) 11. Time Told
(5:39) 12. Turn to Gold

Acclaimed vocalist and songwriter offers a new view From Here, due April 19 on Next Records, in company of international jazz stars John Patitucci, Geoffrey Keezer, Kendrick Scott and Greg Ward

On her exhilarating fourth album, Alyssa Allgood strides confidently into the next phase of her impressive young career. Her rich, clear contralto comes as no surprise, thanks to her previous recordings, but she has taken her phrasing, improvising, and sense of swing up yet another notch. And while Allgood has included an increasing number of original compositions on each previous disc, From Here made up of nearly all original compositions finds her at a new pinnacle of personal expression and emotional observation.

These songs are reflections of my journey to understand and love myself more deeply, and to fully embrace my artistic vision as a bandleader, composer, and arranger,” says the Chicago-based Allgood. Those reflections concern such themes as embracing change, but also knowing when to stand pat; how to feel good about a breakup, and even better about finding love; the need to treat oneself with compassion, and the hard truth that even the hardships we overcome remain with us in small yet important ways.

Don’t think for a minute that the poetry of Allgood’s lyrics overshadows the propulsion and depth of her music. Sure, she taps into the vocal tradition of songful storytelling. But her immersion in the jazz aesthetic with its emphasis on spontaneity and improvisation, and on compositions informed by a rich harmonic and rhythmic language ensures that her messages swing hard too, and delight the intellect in the bargain.

Featuring some of music’s most lionized artists: GRAMMY winners John Patitucci and Geoffrey Keezer, dynamic drummer Kendrick Scott, saxophonist Greg Ward, and produced by acclaimed jazz vocalist Jeff Baker, ‘From Here’ finds Alyssa Allgood reaching a new pinnacle of personal expression, emotional observation, and artistic achievement. Staying true to her jazz roots, Allgood goes where few singers dare with an album featuring 10 original songs, boldly celebrating the traditions of soulful storytelling, spontaneity, and improvisation.

Working with musicians of this caliber allowed Allgood to approach the recording with greater freedom than ever. In her words, “Their musicianship propelled me to take greater risks in the music and to lead boldly with confidence and conviction. Their sense of exploration and connection radiates throughout every track. Recording my original music with these extraordinary musicians revealed the power of believing in myself and working to bring my dreams to life” assets that resound throughout the songs featured here.

The album springs to life with “Burn (For Betty),” a take-no-prisoners homage to Betty Carter, whose galvanic performances and self-determinative philosophy have been a source of inspiration for Allgood. True to Carter’s example, the track includes two ear-opening scat vocal solos; they bracket racetrack improvisations from Keezer and Ward, establishing a high-water mark for the entire album. Several songs speak to specific people and events in Allgood’s life, yet each message transcends the specifics in order to reach those listeners she’s never met. For instance, “Time Told,” a love song to her fiancé, stems from Allgood’s own experience in grounding love in patience and trust; but her realization contains a universal human truth, emphasized by Ward’s high-flying improvisation. “Turn to Gold” transforms a familiar trope falling autumn leaves as a metaphor for loss into a beacon for life’s next chapter, set to one of her loveliest melodies (and a particularly emotive solo from Patitucci).

On the other hand, there’s the harmonically inventive “Still Searching” which, Allgood remarks, encapsulates a central theme of From Here: the journey toward self-compassion: “It shows the darker, more complicated part of that process, the questions, the struggles, the failures.” (Allgood’s soaring improvisation suggests she’s found many of the answers.) There’s the clear-eyed regret of “Above All Else,” which conveys the need to excise a toxic relationship and the value in having done so another song drawn from her own experience but applicable to anyone who’s ever loved.

But we also get the charming, deceptively simple “Brave Little Flower,” inspired by the improbable sight of a small blossom growing between the boulders lining the shore of Lake Michigan. It’s a parable about fortitude and empowerment, set to a rangy melody in waltz time a song about “growing beyond where I was planted” that Allgood now considers her signature composition. Then she employs her whip-smart sense of fair play on the sassy revenge tune “No Good,” which has become a crowd favorite in performance. To top it off, the album includes two 1960s standards, each of them freshened by the light reharmonizations and changes in meter of Allgood’s arrangements: the Broadway hit “On a Clear Day,” and Joni Mitchell’s ageless “Both Sides Now.”

Allgood is quick to note that the album title has more than one meaning. “First, it refers to these songs coming from my heart,” she says. “It’s from this personal and vulnerable place that I share messages of love, strength, power and understanding and also acknowledge the pain, struggle, and doubt that makes the journey a triumph.” But the title also speaks to the fact that this album establishes a “pivotal moment in my career and a major step in my musical and artistic development. This album is a statement of who I am as a modern jazz vocalist: everything that happens next will be defined from here.”

Described by Downbeat Magazine as “assured and ddaring”, Chicago jazz vocalist and composer Alyssa Allgood stakes her claim amongst the most compelling singers in the modern jazz landscape with her exhilarating fourth album, From Here, her first recording on Next Records. Her three previous albums What Tomorrow Brings (Cellar Music, 2021), Exactly Like You (Cellar Music, 2018), and her self-released debut Out of the Blue (2016) trace a remarkable trajectory from a North Central College grad to a vocalist admired for the clarity of her instrument, the sureness of her phrasing, the range of her improvising, and the burgeoning depth of her interpretative skills.

Allgood first made her name in such legendary Chicago clubs as the Green Mill and the Jazz Showcase, through residences at Winter’s Jazz Club where she has delved into the songbooks of jazz’s classic divas (Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae, Dinah Washington) and at the internationally renowned Chicago Jazz Festival. Appearances followed New York’s famed Birdland and at Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai (China). She was a semifinalist in the 2015 Shure Montreux Jazz Voice Competition, where jazz icon Al Jarreau led the jury, before winning the Inaugural Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Voice Competition (2017) and the David Baker Memorial Scholarship offered through the Jazz Education Network (2022). Closer to home, she was a 2016 Jazz Improvisation Fellow of the Luminarts Cultural Foundation in Chicago and was named Best Jazz Entertainer in the Chicago Music Awards (2019).

Increasingly also known as an educator, arranger, and composer, Allgood is an adjunct lecturer at the University of Illinois Chicago, where she directs the vocal jazz ensemble and teaches private lessons as well as a jazz arranging course. She is a highly sought-after clinician and has presented masterclasses at many esteemed institutions including the Jazz Education Network Conference, the Illinois Music Educators Association, the Iowa Choral Directors Association, Anchor Music’s Vocal Jazz Academy, Jazzvoice.com, the University of Chicago and Drake University. She holds a Master of Music in Jazz Studies from DePaul University, where she served as a Graduate Assistant.https://lydialiebman.com/index.php/2024/02/19/new-release-alyssa-allgoods-from-here-is-due-out-april-19-2024-via-next-records/

From Here

Mal Waldron / Steve Lacy - The Mighty Warriors: Live in Antwerp (Live)

Styles: Piano And Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2024
Time: 98:41
File: MP3 @ 128K/s
Size: 91,0 MB
Art: Front

(17:14) 1. What It Is (Live)
( 6:04) 2. Epistrophy (Live)
(12:18) 3. Longing (Live)
(12:53) 4. Monk's Dream (Live)
(24:51) 5. Variation Of III (Live)
(25:18) 6. Medley: Snake Out / Variations On A Theme by Cecil Taylor (Live)

Producer/jazz detective Zev Feldman is still at it, ferreting out unreleased recordings from jazz giants of the past and releasing them with buffed-up sound quality and first-rate packaging. Long lost recordings from pianists Bill Evans, Thelonious Monk, Art Tatum and Ahmad Jamal have seen the light of the twenty-first century, thanks to Feldman, as has newly discovered music from trumpeter Chet Baker. Now it is pianist Mal Waldron (1925 -2002) and soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy's (1934 -2004) turn, with The Mighty Warriors. The two-disc set comes from a 1995 concert at De Singel Arts Center in Antwerp, Belgium.

Both Waldron and Lacy expatriated from the United States. Waldron made the move to Europe in the mid-1960s. Lacy moved to Paris in 1970. The pair worked together and recorded together often. Waldron has the distinction of participating as the leader on the first ECM Records release, Free At Last (1970).

Waldron and Lacy are often considered free-jazz guys. There may be some truth in this, but both were melodists of the first order; their music together and apart was approachable and adventurous. Waldron, like Monk and Andrew Hill and Bud Powell, was a stylist who sounded unlike anyone else. John Coltrane gets a lot of credit for popularizing the soprano sax, but Lacy was there before him on this, releasing three albums before Coltrane came out with the groundbreaking My Favorite Things (Atlantic Records, 1961).

The Mighty Warriors is Waldron and Lacy in a quartet setting, joined by drummer Andrew Cyrille and bassist Reggie Workman. The players sound loose, "going for it." The first disc is relatively concise, with four tunes, each running between six and seventeen minutes. The opener, "What It Is," comes from Waldron's pen. It is a rambling seventeen minutes. Waldron lays down a mesmerizing rhythm; Lacy his sound dry and robust searches. Cyrille and Waldron lay down a controlled stumbling bustle of a backdrop. Lacy wrote the twelve-minute "Longing." His horn complains about his unfulfilled desire, then shifts into the prettiest of reveries. Tracks 2 and 4 are Monk originals, "Epistrophy" and "Monk Dream" lift the music away from a brooding atmosphere, adding a welcome touch of familiarity and playfulness to the set.

Disc 2 of The Mighty Warriors moves closer to free jazz, with two extended cuts, "Variation of III" and "Medley: Snake Out/Variations on a Theme by Cecil Tayor," both clocking in at the twenty-five-minute mark. The latter opens like a full-frontal assault, fierce and percussive. The former sounds like a traveler lost in a foreign land. It opens with Workman's lonely arco bass that leads into a marvelous otherworldly musical hesitation that stops and starts.

Waldron and Lacy did not boast the highest of profiles. Their moves to Europe, away from the bigger record labels, and the New York City clubs, were probably partially responsible for this. Their talent and innovative approach to making music was of the highest order and can be experienced on The Mighty Warriors.By Dan McClenaghan
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-mighty-warriors-mal-waldron-steve-lacy-elemental-music

The Mighty Warriors: Live in Antwerp (Live)