Janis Mann - Blow Away

Styles: Jazz Vocals

Year: 2010

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 45:08

Size: 104,0 MB

Scans: Front

(3:17)  1. That Old Black Magic

(4:04)  2. Never Let Me Go

(5:07)  3. Then I'll Be Tired of You

(4:15)  4. I Got Lost In His Arms

(3:26)  5. Moment To Moment

(5:30)  6. Slow Hot Wind

(5:37)  7. If You Could See Me Now

(4:37)  8. My One and Only Love

(3:23)  9. It's Always You

(5:48) 10. You'll See

Janis Mann’s last album, A Perfect Time (Pancake 2008), was a galvanizing tour de force that revealed her as a singer who loves to swing and has an affinity for rhythmic variation.With this offering, Mann shows us another side of her tonal personality. Her past efforts have utilized written arrangements and pre-set formats, but here Janis and her band trusted their musical instincts. This album is not a construct of multiple takes and canny edits, laboriously winnowed into a pasted-up final edition. It’s an audio snapshot of four musicians who met in the studio and courted serendipity. The heads were worked out on the spot and they relied on mutual chemistry as a guide.

The idea of equal collaboration is important here. Unlike the usual figure/ground relationship of a vocalist who stands in front of a trio, Mann functions as a horn that improvises yet also interprets lyrics. The lush though intense lyric reading on “Never Let Me Go” floats and undulates over the free-flowing accompaniment of indeterminate meter. Talk about flying without a net!

She’s one of the few true heirs to Sarah Vaughan, but Janis is no clone. They share an ability to improvise melodically and subtly manipulate notes like the discreet yet wavy melisma on Henry Mancini’s sultry “Slow Hot Wind.” Sarah took out a patent on Tadd Dameron’s lush “If You Could See Me Now” when she recorded it in 1946. Janis pulls off the hat trick of giving a first-class rendition while nodding to Sarah, and yet making her own statement.

Mann could scarcely have chosen more flexible collaborators. Pianist Bill Cunliffe is a Grammy-winning arranger, who plays with an arranger’s ability to see the whole tune, not just one set of eight bars after another. He doesn’t merely support Janis he provides musical options and potential. His sublime introduction to “I Got Lost in His Arms” offers a judiciously chosen harmonic outline for her to design the first chorus upon. Then he leads the way for her, gets underneath her, and opens up space for her in the most thoughtful ways.

Bassist Cristoph Luty has a similar sense of the best choices, drawn from a wide musical vocabulary: muscular chords on a rhythm tune, a melancholy arco break on “Slow Hot Wind” or a pizzicato melodic fragment behind one of Mann’s held notes. The protean Roy McCurdy remains a drummer for all seasons. He provides everything from the sizzle to “Old Black Magic,” whispering brushes, colorful cymbals, and the gently rocking beat on “My One and Only Love.”

In this company, she can swing at any tempo, take liberties with phrasing and rhythm, and impart a lyric with clarity and emotion. Her judicious use of scat, as on “Moment to Moment,” springs organically from the tag. A first-class balladeer as well, her “Then I’ll Be Tired of You” relies on forthright delivery rather than musical tricks. Taken together, it amounts to the province of an artist, and Janis Mann doesn’t share it with many others.  (by Kirk Silsbee) http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/janismann2

Blow Away

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Ikiz - Checking In

Styles: Jazz Instrumental, Jazz Vocals
Label: Stockholm Jazz Records
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:10
Size: 153,8 MB
Scans: Front

(4:38)  1. Estepona (Album Version)
(6:52)  2. Vino tinto por favor
(4:10)  3. Insanely (Featuring China Moses)
(9:16)  4. Anacapri
(6:45)  5. Hastayim yasiyorum
(3:41)  6. For here or to go?
(6:50)  7. Holy schhh
(5:12)  8. Over & over (Featuring Melo)
(8:09)  9. Whispering
(4:58) 10. Deadlock
(6:35) 11. Six days of silence

As an integral member of acclaimed outfits Nils Landgren Funk Unit, Magnus Lindgren Batacuda Jazz and Dan Reed Band, 32-year-old drummer and percussionist Robert Mehmet Sinan Ikiz has already toured the world several times over. The wealth of places, people and musical styles he has encountered on his travels has helped shape the diverse sound of Ikiz's debut recording as a leader, Checking In (Stockholm Jazz Records, 2012).

Born in 1979 in Istanbul, Turkey, Ikiz's family moved to Sweden when he was four years old. After enrolling in the Afro-American music program at Stockholm Music Conservatory, Ikiz received a scholarship to study at the Los Angeles Music School under drum ace Anthony Inzalaco. Once back in Europe, Ikiz set about building a career in jazz, which has seen him play, on occasion, with artists as diverse as pianists Joe Sample and Frank McComb and vocalists Barbara Hendricks and China Moses. He has also worked with the BBC Big Band in England, the NDR Big Band in Germany and symphony orchestras in the Czech Republic and elsewhere. His drumming can even be heard on a TV commercial with hip-hop giant Jay-Z.

As a touring musician, Ikiz spends a great deal of time in hotels and airport terminals. "That's where I got the idea to call my album Checking In," he explains. "I decided to record my own album, as I've been travelling around for years with a lot of different groups, and I've played on a lot of other people's albums, yet I never found the time to do my own, until now."
All About Jazz: Checking In features all sorts of influences, from soul and funk to classical music from Turkey, yet jazz is the central sound of the recording and the majority of your work as a musician. 

(to be cont. http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=41489#.Uhd6qlcucv4)

Checking In

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Anke Helfrich - Stormproof

Styles:  Piano Jazz

Year: 2009

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 54:02

Size: 124,6 MB

Scans: Front

(4:23)  1. Hackensack

(5:59)  2. September Song

(7:32)  3. Stormproof

(5:21)  4. Sehnsucht

(7:07)  5. In Good Times As In Bad

(1:59)  6. After The Rain

(8:26)  7. Circles

(4:58)  8. Swiss Moment

(5:14)  9. Speak Low

(2:58) 10. Little Giant

German pianist Anke Helfrich has absorbed the influence of everyone from Thelonious Monk to Les McCann and channeled it into an original style that's rooted but not retro. On STORMPROOF, she covers Monk's "Hackensack," and its knotty harmonies and angular feel suit her singular style, but she really stretches out on her own compositions, where her approach feels completely contemporary. She doesn't stick strictly to the 88s, either; she occasionally moves over to electric piano and even harmonium. And while her thoughtful melodic statements are clearly the focus here, trombonist Nils Wogram offers some striking moments of his own throughout this, Helfrich's third release as a leader.~Jim Allen (www.allmusic.com/album/stormproof-mw0000813304).

Stormproof

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Agnetha Fältskog - A

Styles: Dance-Pop, Euro-Pop
Label: Universal Music
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:38
Size: 88,5 MB
Scans: Front

(3:30)  1. The One Who Loves You Now
(3:31)  2. When You Really Loved Someone
(3:31)  3. Perfume In The Breeze
(4:08)  4. I Was A Flower
(4:04)  5. I Should've Followed You Home
(3:30)  6. Past Forever
(4:10)  7. Dance Your Pain Away
(4:21)  8. Bubble
(3:43)  9. Back On Your Radio
(4:06) 10. I Keep Them On The Floor Beside My Bed

Agnetha Fältskog faded into a quiet retirement in the late '80s, resurfacing with an autobiography in 1996 and then a collection of covers, primarily standards, called My Colouring Book, a 2004 release loosely tied into the popularity of ABBA's jukebox musical Mama Mia. Despite these projects, she never pursued a full-fledged comeback, not until 2013 when she released A, a collection of new songs written and produced by Jörgen Elofsson, that received a major multinational push. Elofsson wrote hits for Britney Spears, including the fizzy early sensation "(You Drive Me) Crazy," but the touchstone for A is his masterwork of pageantry, "A Moment Like This," the song Kelly Clarkson sang at the conclusion of the first season of American Idol. There are hints of disco here and there, most prominently on "Dance Your Pain Away," and a bit of pure pop ("Back on Your Radio" is a terrific statement of adult contemporary purpose), but for the most part A  is straight-down-the-middle Europop ballads, the kind ABBA pioneered and the kind Fältskog still feels very comfortable singing. Throughout it all, she sounds strikingly robust  she may not hit the high notes anymore but she never sounds thin  and part of the credit should go to Elofsson, who crafts his songs and productions to showcase Fältskog at her best. Much of this feels familiar but not precisely like music she's made before. Rather, this is stately, sweet Europop, the kind that could have been released any time over the last 30 years, but it's given a warm, reassuring quality by Agnetha Fältskog, who retains an appealing, easy touch that separates her from her successors and still resonates all these years later.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine(http://www.allmusic.com/album/a-mw0002512449)

A

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Erin Dickins - Nice Girls

Styles: Jazz Vocals
Label: Champagne Records
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:15
Size: 108,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:05)  1. I Just Found Out About Love
(3:23)  2. Je Cherche Un Homme
(4:53)  3. Nice Girls Don't Stay For Breakfast
(2:58)  4. Tain't Whatcha Do
(3:34)  5. Walkin' With Your Barefeet On
(4:09)  6. Long Ago And Far Away
(3:29)  7. Stayin' Is The Only Way To Go
(3:38)  8. Can't We Be Friends
(3:30)  9. Loads Of Love
(5:23) 10. I Must Have That Man
(4:15) 11. Sometimes I'm Happy
(4:54) 12. Take Your Time

Erin Dickins is notable for being one of the founders of jazz vocal group The The Manhattan Transfer. Since that time, the singer has been quite the journey- woman performer, occasionally taking time off from the music industry. She concludes one such sabbatical (10 years) with the release of Nice Girls, a patiently assembled collection of show tunes and not-so-standard standards. 

The erstwhile title tune, composed by Jerome Leshay and Bobby Troup, was originally recorded by Julie London for her 1967 Liberty release of the same title. It has enjoyed relatively little coverage, appearing most recently on Kathy Kosins Vintage (Mahogany Records, 2005). Dickins' take on the chestnut is crazy sexy and breathless. Dickins possesses that ability all great singers have, to make the slowest ballads sound effortless. Her voice is light a coquettish, coy and smiling. A refined arrangement and spare instrumentation showcase this talent, welcoming it back.~C.Michael Bailey(http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=39837#.UhTHkn-Ac1I).

Personnel: Erin Dickins: vocals; Rob Mounsey: piano; David Finck: bass; Barry Danielian: tenor saxophone.

Nice Girls

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Diane Schuur - Schuur Fire

Styles: Jazz Vocals
Label: Concord
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:03
Size: 119,2 MB
Art: Front

(4:50)  1. Lover Come Back To Me
(4:05)  2. Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight
(6:29)  3. So In Love
(3:40)  4. Look Around
(3:32)  5. I Can't Stop Loving You
(4:26)  6. As
(4:10)  7. More Than You Know
(4:13)  8. Ordinary World
(4:14)  9. Poinciana
(3:54) 10. Close Enough For Love
(4:21) 11. Confession
(4:03) 12. Yellow Days

Having displayed a knack in the past for reinterpreting both pop and jazz tunes, jazz vocalist Diane Schuur once again succeeds in bringing together an unexpected mix of compositions on Schuur Fire. Featuring the Caribbean Jazz Project, the album finds Schuur's clarion vocals melding nicely with vibist Dave Samuels' superb Latin jazz ensemble especially trumpeter Diego Urcola, who takes some tasty solos throughout. 

To these ends, listeners discover that James Taylor's "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" makes for a comfortable soft jazz number with a nice double-time midsection, and Stevie Wonder's "As" fits perfectly into the uptempo Latin dance style. Interestingly, Sergio Mendes' "Look Around" is given a faithfully retro feel that harks back to such shiny vocal groups as the Free Design. However, nobody but Schuur could have predicted how great Don Gibson's classic country tune "I Can't Stop Loving You" would sound as a samba.~Matt Collar(http://www.allmusic.com/album/schuur-fire-mw0000454143).

Personnel: Diane Schuur (vocals, background vocals); Diane Schuur; Oscar Stagnaro (bass instrument); Oscar Castro-Neves (guitar); Diego Urcola (trumpet, flugelhorn); Dario Eskenazi (piano); Dave Samuels (vibraphone, marimba); Mark Walker (drums); Robert Quintero (congas, percussion).

Recording information: Capitol Studios, Hollywood, CA; Visual Rhythm Studios, Alhambra, CA.

Schuur Fire

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David Sanborn - Here & Gone

Styles: Jazz, Big Band

Label: Decca Music Group

Year: 2008

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 42:02

Size: 96,3 MB

Art: Front

(5:19)  1. St. Louis Blues

(5:40)  2. Brother Ray

(4:48)  3. I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town

(4:56)  4. Basin Street Blues

(4:10)  5. Stoney Lonesome

(4:31)  6. I Believe It To My Soul

(4:47)  7. What Will I Tell My Heart

(3:22)  8. Please Send Me Someone To Love

(4:27)  9. I've Got News For You

Whether contributing a solo for Steely Dan or backing up Maynard Ferguson, David Sanborn quickly made a name for himself as both a sideman and a bandleader more than three decades ago. And like a true musician, he keeps going and going. Sanborn journeys to the days of big bands and St. Louis clubs with Here & Gone. Sanborn effortlessly straddles the worlds of both pop and jazz. Among his contributions are the themes to Saturday Night Live and the original Late Night With David Letterman. He hosted the groundbreaking NBC television series Night Music. 

Sanborn's sax is also heard in the scores for the Lethal Weapon movies. The six-time Grammy winner has collaborated with a who's who of popular music and jazz, including Bob James, Miles Davis, Lou Reed, Santana, Sonny Rollins and Al Green. In fact, Sanborn's cover of Green's "Love and Happiness" is among the most popular soul-to-jazz transitions. Sanborn's familiar wail comes through on W.C. Handy's classic "St. Louis Blues." This is one of the slower adaptations of the song, and it works. Underscored by a small horn section, Christian McBride on bass, Steve Gadd on drums, Gil Goldstein on keyboards and Russell Malone on guitar, Sanborn delivers this song with a rare expression of soul. Trumpeter Wallace Roney joins the leader for a call-and-response exchange near the song's end. The blues continues with "Brother Ray," composed by longtime Sanborn associate Marcus Miller. Derek Trucks performs the guitar solo on this earthy selection. Eric Clapton provides guitar and lead vocals on the blues-swing track "I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town." "Stoney Lonesome" is straightforward, big-band jazz.

This upbeat Hank Crawford tune features Sanborn in front of a larger horn section. McBride and Gadd help set the pace, but it's the other horns that power this piece. Anthony Wilson contributes a slick guitar solo, followed immediately by a sustained Sanborn high note, which sets up the song's fade. British vocal sensation Joss Stone leads on the Ray Charles composition, "I Believe to My Soul." Stone delivers some old-school soul and Sanborn charges ahead with one of his funkier solos. One could easily dismiss Here & Gone as yet another album of covers. But what separates Sanborn's effort is he goes back farther a lot farther than many of today's recording artists. Rather than simply doing instrumental tracks of pop or R&B songs from the 1970s, he takes some classic blues and jazz songs that except for "St. Louis Blues" and "Basin Street Blues" are mostly forgotten and makes it work. It helps that he used a large ensemble, keeping with the spirit of the originals.~Woodrow Wilkins(http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=30151#.UhZjKn-Ac1I).

Personnel: David Sanborn: alto saxophone; Eric Clapton: vocals (3), guitar (3); Joss Stone: vocals (6); Sam Moore: vocals (9); Christian McBride: bass; Steve Gadd: drums; Russell Malone: guitar; Derek Trucks: guitar (2); Anthony Wilson: guitar solo (5); Ricky Peterson: Hammond B3 (2, 6, 8, 9); Gil Goldstein: keyboards (1, 2, 4, 6, 8), Hammond B3 (2); Howard Johnson: baritone sax; Charles Pillow: bass clarinet (1-4, 6, 9); John Moses: bass clarinet (5, 7, 8); Mike Davis: tenor trombone; Lou Marini: tenor sax; Keyon Harrold: trumpet; Lew Soloff: trumpet (1, 4, 6, 9); Wallace Roney: trumpet solo (1).

Here & Gone

Jelly Roll Johnson - Come Rain Or Come Shine

Size: 81,9 MB
Time: 35:18
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Blues Jazz, Soul Jazz, Latin Jazz
Label: JMJ Records
Art: Front

01. Moanin' (5:06)
02. Killer Joe (5:44)
03. Come Rain Or Come Shine (4:36)
04. Sugar (5:08)
05. The Preacher (3:46)
06. Willow Weep For Me (5:15)
07. Blue Bossa (5:40)

This instrumental album spotlights Jelly Roll’s sensual harmonica and an organ trio, featuring Pat Bergeson on guitar, Charles Treadway on B-3 organ and Chris Brown on drums. Jazz-blues classics Moanin’ by Bobby Timmons and Sugar by Stanley Turrentine, and standards Come Rain or Come Shine and Willow Weep for Me receive soulful treatments by the band. This collection also features fun romps through Killer Joe and The Preacher. Jelly Roll’s smooth take on Blue Bossa closes this noteworthy album.

Come Rain Or Come Shine

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Agneta Baumann - A Time For Love

Styles: Jazz Vocals

Label: Naxos

Year: 1996 / 2008

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 69:45

Size: 159,7 MB

Scans: Front

(5:33)  1. A Time For Love

(2:52)  2. I Get Along Without You Very Well

(5:14)  3. He Was Too Good To Me

(4:40)  4. Here`s That Rainy Day

(6:57)  5. More Than You Know

(3:56)  6. If You Love Me

(4:29)  7. The Good Life

(3:21)  8. When The World Was Young

(5:31)  9. I Fall In Love Too Easily

(3:57) 10. I`m Afraid The Masquerade Is Over

(3:27) 11. The Party`s Over

(5:52) 12. Everything Happens To Me

(6:10) 13. All My Tomorrows

(2:40) 14. The Best Is Yet To Come

(4:58) 15. That`s All

This is singer Agneta Baumann's come-back after an absence of nearly ten years from the scene; a musical self-portrait of artistic stature which is at the same time an open personal statement, as revealing as though the words were spoken in confidence. Up until the middle of the 80's Agneta Baumann had become established not purely as a jazz singer but more as a jazz-influenced artist-entertainer had in the glamorous environment of late-night dinner/dance restaurants. She was born in the town of Kalmar in south-eastern Sweden where as a youngster she sang in the school choir and as a teenager in the school jazz band, as she happened to prefer Anita O'Day to Elvis Presley. Later in life she also came to appreciate the artistry of Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae and Billie Holiday.

But it was not until after some years spent in other working activities that music took a central role in her life. During a period in the travel-agent business in Copenhagen 1965 she began to sing with The Golden Girls, a popular group in the style of The Supremes, and after an engagement in Stockholm 1968 she decided to stay and branch out on her own. During the following years she toured throughout the country and abroad with her own constellation "Agneta Baumanns Orkester". From the later part of the 70's she also often sang together with the jazz pianist Knud Jörgensen, who taught her what is perhaps the most important thing of all, that the space between phrases is also music, and that you have to mean what you sing.

A Time For Love

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Grant Stewart - In The Still Of The Night

Styles: Mainstream Jazz

Year: 2007

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 60:26

Size: 138,4 MB

Scans: full

(6:32)  1. In The Still Of The Night

(6:42)  2. Theme For Ernie

(7:47)  3. Wives and Lovers

(8:30)  4. Autumn In New York

(7:54)  5. IF Ever I Would Leave You

(8:03)  6. Work

(8:37)  7. Lush life

(6:18)  8. Loads of Love

This is hardly tenor saxophonist Grant Stewart's first recording as a leader, but his earlier CDs were for various European labels. In the Still of the Night is the release that set his career afire, as he joins forces with three of New York's in-demand musicians in his rhythm section: the hard-driving pianist Tardo Hammer, everyone's first call bassist Peter Washington and the talented drummer Joe Farnsworth. Right of the box, the big-toned Stewart makes his presence known with an up-tempo rendition of "In the Still of the Night" that makes one stand up and take notice. Stewart and Hammer dive head first into Thelonious Monk's "Work" (not exactly one of the pianist's more frequently recorded numbers), with Washington and Farnsworth fueling their spirited solos. 

But Stewart is also no slouch playing ballads, as his dreamy take of "Autumn in New York" and haunting treatment of "Lush Life" display a profound lyricism. Stewart's astute choice of Richard Rodgers' "Loads of Love" uncovers another gem that is rarely recorded, his sizzling solo will invite comparisons to Dexter Gordon. Even Burt Bacharach's often blandly played "Wives & Lovers" is rejuvenated with Stewart's lighthearted but aggressive interpretation. Highly recommended! (by Ken Dryden)

In The Still Of The Night

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Jesuton - Encontros

Styles: Adult Alternative Pop
Label: Som livre
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:97
Size: 101,0 MB
Scans: Front

(3:33)  1. Us(Nós)
(2:45)  2. Crosses
(4:19)  3. Same Mistake
(2:47)  4. Nothing Changes
(3:54)  5. Time Is Running Out
(4:58)  6. Holocene
(4:30)  7. Sodade
(4:37)  8. Between The Bars
(4:12)  9. The Blower's Daughter
(3:31) 10. Redemption Song
(4:41) 11. Wild Horses
(3:18) 12. O Mundo É Um Moinho
(3:13) 13. Try A Little Tenderness
(4:05) 14. I'll Never Love This Way Again [Bonus Track]
(4:35) 15. Because You Loved Me [Bonus Track]

Originally from London, Jesuton was born as Rachel Jesuton Olaolu Amosu in 1985 and goes by her middle name which was given to her by her Nigerian father. She arrived in Rio in March 2012 with the desire gain a broader knowledge of South America, a region she had always felt drawn to explore.She had previously spent time in Washington D.C. getting a masters degree and had traveled around Latin America to Argentina, Ecuador, Chile and Peru, where she lived for two years. Upon arriving in Rio she wanted to dedicate herself to music but didn’t know how to begin. “During that time where I was doing a lot of soul searching,” said Jesuton.“I was walking along the street in Ipanema and I saw a guy, his name was Alfredo Buendia, he had an amazing setup. I heard his voice before I saw him.” It was Buendia who encouraged Jesuton and told her the equipment she’d need to sing on the streets. “I started and I really really loved it. There’s so much freedom in it.” said Jesuton. “I really liked her voice and style,” Rio piano and musical theory teacher, Ana Espinola told The Rio Times. “She’s very well tuned and didn’t sound like everyone else.” Espinola became any early fan of Jesuton through videos posted online of her singing on the streets.

At the same time another Carioca, writer Glória Perez, was also discovering Jestuon’s live performances. Later when Perez was looking for an international song for her upcoming novela “Salve Jorge”, she thought of Jesuton and contacted her to cover Dione Warwick’s “I’ll Never Love This Way Again” for the novela soundtrack.

From there Jesuton began to be known be a broader audience in Brazil. When asked how it felt to gain popularity in a foreign.~ country, Jesuton said, “I don’t know if it’s strange because I would say that I didn’t try to forge a musical career in London. I think sometimes people might have the idea that I was singing on the streets in various different countries around Latin America or I tried my luck in London and it didn’t work out.”~Chesney Hearst(http://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-entertainment/jesuton-british-singer-shines-in-rio/#).

Encontros

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John Mayer - Paradise Valley

Styles: Americana, Contemporary Singer/Songwriter
Label: Columbia
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:48
Size: 91,1 MB
Scans: Front

(4:12)  1. Wildfire
(3:42)  2. Dear Marie
(4:32)  3. Waitin' On The Day
(4:18)  4. Paper Doll
(3:26)  5. Call Me The Breeze
(4:10)  6. Who You Love [Feat. Katy Perry]
(4:02)  7. I Will Be Found (Lost At Sea)
(1:26)  8. Wildfire [Feat. Frank Ocean]
(2:46)  9. You're No One 'Til Someone Lets You Down
(3:13) 10. Badge And Gun
(3:57) 11. On The Way Home

John Mayer's 2013 album, the Americana-tinged Paradise Valley, is an introspective if somewhat more upbeat affair than his similarly country-inflected 2012 release, Born and Raised. With that album, Mayer was coming off a rough career patch that found him issuing a mea culpa for an infamously loose-lipped 2010 Rolling Stone interview. Making matters worse, in 2011 the singer/songwriter announced he would be going on extended hiatus from performing while he received treatment for granulomas found near his vocal cords. Subsequently, with Born and Raised, Mayer moved away from the commercial pop of 2010's Battle Studies and toward an intimate, largely acoustic, '70s Laurel Canyon-inspired sound with songs that featured plenty of apologetic soul-searching. Named after the Montana river valley where Mayer owns a cabin and spends much of his time when not touring, Paradise Valley continues in this more intimate country-folk style and often feels less like a stand-alone album and more like a companion piece to Born and Raised. Which isn't to say it's a lesser work. 

On the contrary, Paradise Valley actually hangs together better than Born and Raised, with songs that achieve a balance between Mayer's electric Eric Clapton influence and his softer James Taylor-inspired side. Although his self-imposed period of supplication seems to have ended, Mayer still has plenty of troubles on his mind. Whether comparing his life on the road to the life of an old girlfriend he webstalks online, as he does on "Dear Marie," or struggling with his wanderlust and inability to call one place home, as he does on "Badge and Gun," Mayer is clearly still struggling with some of life's bigger issues. As he sings to his old girlfriend on "Dear Marie," "Yeah I got that dream, but you got yourself a family." It's this knack for turning his personal worries into universally relatable ones that helps Mayer avoid coming off as too self-absorbed and entitled. It is also this ability that helps him finesse "Paper Doll" from simply being a nasty swipe at rumored onetime paramour Taylor Swift (Swift purportedly wrote the song "Dear John" after being dumped by Mayer) into a superbly crafted and gorgeous song about romancing someone more emotionally vulnerable than yourself. Elsewhere, Mayer delivers a soulful rendition of J.J. Cale's "Call Me the Breeze" the most straightforward blues cut on the album -- and delves into two synergistic duets, the first with on-and-off girlfriend Katy Perry on "Who You Love" and the second with R&B auteur Frank Ocean on "Wildfire."

That Mayer fails to cite country legend Ernest Tubb as the inspiration for "You're No One 'Til Someone Lets You Down," which basically cribs the melody from Tubb's "Walking the Floor Over You," might seem more of an oversight if he hadn't made it so obvious from the start that he was clearly drawing from the deep well of country music's past on Paradise Valley. Ultimately, whether it's Tubb's honky tonk twang, or the twang of Mayer's own heart, the sound of Paradise Valley rings true.(by Matt Collar)

Paradise Valley

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Sue Nixon & The Leo Raymundo Quartet - Moonglow

Styles: Jazz Vocals
Label: Self Released
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:15
Size: 140,3 MB
Art: Front

(3:40)  1. East of the Sun
(3:29)  2. Ain't No Sunshine
(3:32)  3. Lullaby of Birdland
(4:15)  4. Turn Me On
(5:18)  5. The Nearness of You
(4:46)  6. Song For My Father
(3:39)  7. Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight
(4:31)  8. Fever
(3:59)  9. I Remember You
(4:25) 10. Speak Low
(5:11) 11. Moonglow
(3:11) 12. The Girl From Ipanema
(3:19) 13. Fly Me to the Moon
(2:34) 14. Easy Living
(5:20) 15. All of Me

Sue Nixon and the Leo Raymundo Quartet interpret classic jazz and latin standards with its own distinctive style, and have become a fixture at Serafina Restaurant and the local jazz scene. With a voice described as soulful and rich, Sue Nixon walks the line between jazz, blues, and gospel. In 2000, She recorded her first CD release, Even There, a collection of time-honored hymns. Produced and arranged by noted composer/performer, Walt Wagner, the CD includes eleven beautiful hymns; classic and soulful. Formally trained on the alto saxophone, Leo Raymundo taught himself to play guitar and electric bass during high school, where he formed his first rock band, before eventually gravitating to the stand up bass and his first love - jazz music. Since his first professional jazz gig in 1991, Leo has had the honor of sharing the stage with some of the finest jazz legends of Seattle, like Greta Matassa, Dehner Franks, Pat Wright, and Clarence Acox.

At age 7, Aaron Mesaros began a life long passion for music with a focus in jazz and other improvised music. He studied music at the University of Washington and the University of Montana with such greats as Robin McCabe, Jerome Gray, and Marc Seales. Over the last 15 years Aaron has performed as soloist, sideman, and leader in various musical settings. Aaron loves the standards, invoking his own musical ideas in a fresh, imaginative, yet respectful way. Artie Huycke brings a musical background as diverse as high school All-State Band, a Top-40 cover band, a 3-piece blues band, a church pop band, to a biker rock band, and has been playing jazz with the Leo Raymundo Trio since 1996. With his excellent sense of time and drumming skills, Artie has helped create a solid and unique rhythm section that has become a hallmark of the band.(http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7381008&style=music&fulldesc=T).

Moonglow

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Sue Matthews - One At A Time

Styles: Vocal
Label: Renata Music Company
Year: 2002
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:41
Size: 111,5 MB
Art: Front

(4:11)  1. My Romance
(4:39)  2. On My Way To You
(4:23)  3. Rocks In My Bed
(2:02)  4. Down With Love
(6:06)  5. Here's To Life
(3:55)  6. Imagine That
(3:44)  7. Caledonia
(3:31)  8. Wild Women Don't Get The Blues
(4:25)  9. How Insensitive
(2:42) 10. One At A Time
(5:01) 11. Losing My Mind
(3:56) 12. Amazing Grace

For her third effort as a soloist, Mid-Atlantic singer Sue Matthews has opted to go with an agenda of standards, show tunes and traditional pop, all of which of she sings with an innate appreciation of intimacy and savoir-faire, mixing some blues inflection and torch where it makes sense. She also has a way about her that gives one a warm, cuddly feeling after listening to her do something like "Down with Love" where she gets a big assist from veteran bassist Keter Betts and long time Washington, D. C. guitarist, Steve Abshire. 

The same two show up for a rueful, blueful version of "Rocks in My Bed". At the same time, Matthews can wrench at your heart strings with a lovely Stephen Sondheim "Losing My Mind" from Follies. Another heart twister, "Here's to Life" is countered by a folk like "Caledonia" done A Capella showing her Irish roots which is also offset by a down and dirty, Sophie Tucker like "Wild Women Don't Get the Blues". Matthews does all of these wonderful vocal things with on the mark articulation, phrasing that's attuned to the meaning and direction of the lyrics. She has the ability to use her band members to her best advantage.

For instance, she hones in on the melodically rich and lyrically tender "My Romance" with strong and equal participation from pianist Stefan Scaggiari as well as trading phrases with guitarist Gerry Kunkel. Because of her willingness to share the song, musicians must like to work with her putting her in a class of vocalists that a Helen Merrill belongs to. This album is highly recommended.~Dave Nathan

(http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=10372#.UfQk_qyAc1I).

Personnel: Sue Matthews - Vocals; Stefan Scaggiari - Piano; Keter Betts, Viktor Dvoskin - Bass; Steve Abshire, Gerry Kunkel - Guitar; Frank Russo - Drums

One At A Time

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Tianna Hall - Never Let Me Go

Styles: Jazz Vocals, Bossa Nova
Label: Blue Bamboo Music
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:45
Size: 123,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:29)  1. My Blue Heaven
(5:42)  2. I Wanna Be Around
(3:38)  3. Never Let Me Go
(3:14)  4. Samba Do Aviao
(5:27)  5. You Don't Know What Love Is
(4:46)  6. Secret Love
(5:52)  7. Charade
(3:56)  8. Fotografia
(3:29)  9. You And The Night And The Music
(4:28) 10. I Can't Get Started (With You)
(4:16) 11. I Love You
(5:23) 12. Everything Happens To Me

Never Let Me Go is Houston-native vocalist Tianna Hall's third release, and first for Blue Bamboo Music, following her self-produced Lost in the Stars (2007) and Ballads and Bossas (2010). Hall has preferred the intimacy of smaller accompaniment on her first two recordings, a preference she carries to Never Let Me Go. The singer is support by guitarists Mike Wheeler and Mike Nase, cellist Lisa Vasdoganes and percussionist James Metcalfe in a style that is equal parts Hot Club, Carnegie Hall, and Grand Old Opry. Hall's performance style is one of Americana, paralleling that of fellow singer and Houstonian Jacqui Sutton and her Frontier Orchestra (Billie & Dolly (Toy Blue Typewriter, 2010)). 

The music's personality is a bit sepia-toned with contemporary notes of modernity. Americana is not all that is featured as Hall's Portuguese is impeccable and she can spin a web with composer Antonio Carlos Jobim. On Never Let Me Go, it is about standards and Hall's steamy-sardonic take on the Broadway writers Arthur Schwartz

Howard Dietz classic "You and the Night and the Music" from the 1934 Broadway show Revenge With Music removes the love song to a more complex and provocative level. Well-covered, the piece is propelled into full swing mode by Wheeler and Nase, who provide an orchestra of support.

One guitar provides a bass line and rhythm and the other filigree with Hall rushing the lyrics just ahead of the beat, giving her singing a laconic, matter-of-fact tone. Hall's voice is a solid alto with sensual grit, not too little and not too much: just enough love dust to get the point across. She sings as an impatient lover comforting her insecure love object in seduction. The projected sentiment is compounded and compelling. Wheeler and Nase both solo to great effect within these small confines proving often less is more. The piece is a triumph of minimization, where brevity wins every time.~C.Michael Bailey

(http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=39987#.UfRO2ayAc1I).

Personnel: Tianna Hall: vocals; Mike Wheeler: guitar; Mike Nase: guitar.

Never Let Me Go

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Symeon Cosburn - Breakfast With The Blues

Bitrate: 320K/s

Time: 49:24

Size: 113.1 MB

Label: OT

Styles: Vocal jazz

Year: 2006

Art: Front

[3:56] 1. No One Ever Tells You

[2:59] 2. Love

[5:12] 3. Friendly Star/How High The Moon

[3:50] 4. I'm In Love

[2:57] 5. Golden Brown

[3:08] 6. East Of The Sun

[3:14] 7. Twilight Time

[5:44] 8. With A Song In My Heart

[3:21] 9. I Never Knew

[4:41] 10. A Letter For Anna Lee

[2:10] 11. Twisted

[4:49] 12. Love Affair

[3:18] 13. Golden Brown (Groove Foundry Re-Mix)

Symeon Cosburn is one of the major young male jazz singing & song writing talents in London at this time. Influences include Mel Tormé, Chet Baker, Mark Murphy, Carmen McRae and of course Ella Fitzgerald; in addition to UK based artists such as Liane Carroll, Ian Shaw & Claire Martin.

Symeons own brand of jazz is a healthy mix of bebop, swing, gospel groove & latin beats, and prefers to resurrect lesser-known standards along with modern classics & his own originals. Coupled with his improvisation and effortless ability to swing, he loves rhythmically manipulating the songs of his repertoire whether it be his own compositions or those of the great songwriters of yesteryear.

Symeons artistic personality led him into a few varied jobs before becoming a jazz singer, which included freelance graphic design. He spent his free time training himself as a dancer from around the age of 19, and then a little later as a singer, which led him on to seasonal cabaret work abroad – the jazz was to come much later.

Breakfast With The Blues   

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Shirley Bassey - April In Paris

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 52:43
Size: 120.7 MB
Label: MBop
Styles: Pop-jazz vocals
Year: 2009
Art: Front

[2:58] 1. April In Paris
[3:13] 2. A Foggy Day
[2:56] 3. As Long As He Needs Me
[2:36] 4. Basin Street Blues
[3:32] 5. The St. Louis Blues
[2:17] 6. Take My Love, Take My Love
[2:42] 7. The Banana Boat Song (Day-O)
[4:05] 8. Birth Of The Blues
[3:30] 9. The Party's Over
[2:20] 10. Kiss Me, Honey, Honey, Kiss Me
[3:13] 11. They Can't Take That Away From Me
[2:17] 12. 's Wonderful
[3:36] 13. Cry Me A River
[3:05] 14. Easy To Love
[2:48] 15. I'll Get By (As Long As I Have You)
[3:40] 16. I've Got You Under My Skin
[3:47] 17. I've Never Been In Love Before

Known to Americans most for her belting rendition of the theme to Goldfinger, the 1964 edition in the James Bond series (as well as 1971's Diamonds Are Forever and 1979's Moonraker), Shirley Bassey was one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century. Known as Bassey the Belter and also the Tigress of Tiger Bay, her early career in touring shows and cabaret brought her a recording contract with Philips by the late '50s. After reaching the top of the British charts in 1959 with "As I Love You" and later "Reach for the Stars/Climb Every Mountain," Bassey was tapped to swing the theme song to the third James Bond vehicle. Her voice, brassy and sexy, conveyed the James Bond myth perfectly and became a big hit in America. Though later chart placings in the U.S. were few, she continued to do well in Great Britain, France and the Netherlands into the mid-'70s.

April In Paris

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Henry Mancini & His Orchestra - Mancini '67: The Big Band Sound Of Henry Mancini

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 37:48
Size: 86.5 MB
Label: RCA
Styles: Big band, Easy Listening
Year: 1967/2002
Art: Front

[3:06] 1. Stolen Sweets
[2:41] 2. The Cat
[3:04] 3. The Shadow Of Your Smile
[2:59] 4. Satin Doll
[3:03] 5. Cherokee (Indian Love Song)
[3:15] 6. Stockholm Sweetnin'
[2:53] 7. Conquest
[2:40] 8. Tijuana Taxi
[4:13] 9. Autumn Nocturne
[3:13] 10. The House Of The Rising Sun
[3:53] 11. 'round Midnight
[2:42] 12. Turtles

Putting his fabulous arrangements to work on all kinds of songs, Mancini scored a sizable hit with this 1967 LP. Check out his vivacious versions of Satin Doll; Cherokee; House of the Rising Sun; The Shadow of Your Smile; Autumn Nocturne; 'Round Midnight; Tijuana Taxi , and more!

Recorded in Hollywood, California, 1966

Featuring: Al Porcino (tp), Ray Triscari (tp), Pete Candoli (tp), Frank Beach (tp), Bud Brisbois (tp), Maurice Harris (tp), Dick Nash (tb), Jimmy Priddy (tb), John Halliburton (tb), George Roberts (bt), Karl de Karke (bt), Vincent De Rosa (fh), Dick Perissi (fh)

Mancini '67: The Big Band Sound Of Henry Mancini

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Emmylou Harris - Evangeline

Bitrate: 320K/s

Time: 33:55

Size: 77.7 MB

Label: Warner Bros

Styles: Country

Year: 1981/2011

Art: Front

[3:47] 1. I Don't Have To Crawl

[3:21] 2. How High The Moon

[3:51] 3. Spanish Johnny

[2:41] 4. Bad Moon Rising

[3:11] 5. Evangeline

[3:05] 6. Hot Burrito #2

[4:03] 7. Millworker

[3:00] 8. Oh Atlanta

[2:20] 9. Mr. Sandman

[4:32] 10. Ashes By Now

Evangeline was a 1981 album by Emmylou Harris that was composed mostly of leftover material from past recording sessions and which did not fit into any of her other albums. Songs included a remake of "Mister Sandman" (from the ill-fated Trio sessions with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt), "Evangeline", which she had previously performed with The Band, Rodney Crowell's "Ashes By Now", and a cover of John Fogerty's "Bad Moon Rising".

Though it received mixed reviews upon its release, the album was yet another commercial success for Harris. It was certified Gold in less than a year after its release. A single release of "Mister Sandman" (Top 10 country/Top 40 pop) did well on the charts, though neither Ronstadt's nor Parton's record companies would allow their artists' vocals to be used on the single, so Harris rerecorded the song, singing all three parts for the single release. The album is one of two Harris albums that have never been issued on CD. The other album is Thirteen. ~palmerthirteen/Norway

Evangeline

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Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - How Big Can You Get

Styles: Swing, Jive
Label: Vanguard Records
Released: 2009
File: mp3 @320K/s
Size: 102,4 MB
Time: 44:42
Art: front

1. Come On With The 'Come On' - 3:22
2. Calloway Boogie - 4:03
3. The Call Of The Jitterbug - 3:30
4. Hey Now, Hey Now - 4:34
5. The Jumpin' Jive - 4:02
6. How Big Can You Get - 4:05
7. The Old Man Of The Mountain - 4:15
8. The Ghost Of Smokey Joe - 5:29
9. Reefer Man - 2:54
10. Minnie The Moocher - 4:59
11. Tarzan Of Harlem - 3:24

Notes: 2009 release. Cab Calloway was a legendary fireball of talent, whose infectious 'hi-de-hi's', 'ho-de-ho's', scattin' and jivin' became the spirited cry of people wanting to be happy. A truly larger than life figure in American pop culture, immortalized in cartoons and caricatures, Calloway also led one of the greatest bands of the Swing Era. 100 Years later the coolest Swing band around, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, are celebrating the birthday of Calloway with this fantastic album. 11 tracks including 'Minnie The Moocher'.

How Big Can You Get

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