Joanne Brackeen - Breath Of Brazil

Styles: Piano Jazz, Brazilian Jazz
Year: 1991
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:04
Size: 154,0 MB
Art: Front

(6:38)  1. Madalena
(5:52)  2. Velas
(6:15)  3. Aquas De Março
(3:39)  4. Guessing Game
(4:38)  5. Breath Of Brazil
(7:12)  6. Sue Encanto
(4:27)  7. Loro
(5:33)  8. So Many Stars
(5:40)  9. Anos Dourados
(6:29) 10. Brasileiro Escondido
(5:14) 11. Flora
(5:20) 12. Samba Do Soho

Pianist Joanne Brackeen is one of the best non-Brazilian interpreters of Brazilian music on the scene today. For many years a sideman in a wide variety of jazz combos, Brackeen has a natural flair for Brazilian and Latin rhythms as it quite clear from her brilliant album Breath of Brazil that features the works of a number of composers including Ivan Lins, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Sergio Mendes. “Madalena” and “Velas” are two songs by Ivan Lins that have become standards. Brackeen’s interpretation of “Velas” is particularly satisfying and is a model of the deceptively smooth laid-back performance style of the bossa nova that masks an underlying rhythmic intensity.  A very interesting work is “Guessing Game” with its angular modal melody and rhythmic tricks. Brackeen features her supporting musicians to great advantage, especially bassist Eddie Gomez who figures prominently in “Breath of Brasil” and in Sergio Mendes’ “So Many Stars.” Having “So Many Stars” begin with the melody in the bass is an interesting and unexpected twist.  No Brazilian album would be complete without Jobim, and Brackeen selects two of the master’s best songs, “Aguas de Marcos” and “Anos Dourados.” Jobim considered “Aguas de Marcos” to be his masterpiece and most performers have agreed with his self-assessment. The versatility of the song is remarkable and it has been interpreted in a variety of ways, from Elis Regina’s playful way with the song’s text in her famous duet with Jobim himself to hard-driving instrumental versions such as the one offered here by Brackeen. Joanne Brackeen is an excellent jazz pianist who deserves much wider recognition. Breath of Brasil is a good introduction to this fine performer, and if you’re already a fan it’s another “must have” for the cd collection.~William Grim https://www.allaboutjazz.com/breath-of-brazil-joanne-brackeen-concord-music-group-review-by-william-grim.php
 

Personnel: Joanne Brackeen: piano; Eddie Gomez: bass; Duduka Da Fonseca: drums; Waltinho Anastacio: percussion.

Breath Of Brazil

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Fleurine - Meant to be!

Styles: Vocal Jazz, Brazilian Jazz
Year: 1996
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:23
Size: 158,2 MB
Art: Front

(4:41)  1. Lazy And Satisfied
(6:14)  2. My Souldance With You
(6:14)  3. Favorite Love Affair
(5:59)  4. Velejar
(3:52)  5. Meant To Be
(5:11)  6. My Hearts Escapade
(3:59)  7. I've Got Just About Everything
(4:50)  8. When I Think Of One
(3:23)  9. Escolher
(4:45) 10. It's All In The Mind
(5:42) 11. Better Call Me Now
(4:07) 12. One Dream Gone
(4:25) 13. High In The Sky

Fleurine is a Dutch vocalist with an impressive international resume. She studied at the Amsterdam School of High Arts / Conservatory for four years, and then left The Netherlands to live in New York and has been working on both continents since 1993. Wanting to sing songs of Jazz in a different way, thinking it would be hard to add anything to the repertoire of her favourite vocalists, she set out to write her own lyrics to compositions of famous Jazz composers such as Thelonious Monk , Kenny Dorham, Ray Briant, Curtis Fuller and Thad Jones, but also to songs of contemporaries such as Tom Harrell and Joshua Redman, thus creating a brand new vocal repertoire, writing in English and in Portuguese. She recorded these songs on her debut Album "Meant to Be!" in N.Y, with a band consisting of Tom Harrell(tp), Ralph Moore(ts), Renee Rosnes(p), Jesse van Ruller (g), Christian McBride(b), Billy Drummond (d) and Grammy Award winning Producer Don Sickler (who produced a/o Joe Henderson, Jimmy Smith, Christian McBride and Mark Whitfield). The Album, which was received excellently by the International Press, (see reviews) was released on English Independent label "Bluemusic". (1996). It immediately became a regular Jazz Hit in a/o The Netherlands and England. Shortly after, Fleurine toured all over the world, performing with her own band at renowned Jazz clubs such as Birdland and Blue Note(recorded for TV) in New York, the renowned PizzaExpress Jazzclub in London and at International festivals such as the Montreal Jazz Festival and the Edmonton Jazz festival in Canada, the Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy, the Istanbul Jazz Festival in Turkey and the North Sea Jazz Festival, where she performed seven times since 1994.

She also debuted as a Producer on guitarist Jesse van Ruller's first album as a leader: "European Quintet"(1997) .This album became a top seller in Japan in 2000. Fleurine was soon noticed in the International Jazz scene and got invited to tour as a guest vocalist with bands such as the Roy Hargrove Quintet, at the Havana Jazz Festival in Cuba in 1996, and with the T.S. Monk Band in Canada and at the 1997 North Sea Jazz Festival where she met Brad Mehldau. Mehldau heard Fleurine sing, and invited her to sit in with his Trio at the famous Village Vanguard in New York. The combination turned out to be a great success, and the idea for a tour together was born. In the meantime Fleurine's debut Album "Meant to be!" had sold so well that she got an offer to record for Universal. Fleurine and Brad Mehldau went into the studio in New York in June '99 and recorded the fresh material they had just toured in Europe. The Album is a duo-collaboration, for which Brad Mehldau wrote exquisite string-arrangements on a couple of tracks. (a "primeur!")  Fleurine chose the material for the album, continuing to create new vocal standards by writing lyrics to beautiful compositions of Pat Metheny and Brad Mehldau, composing a song of her own, and interpreting contemporary songs by Jimi Hendrix and Supertramp as well as three classic composers, Michel Legrand, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Johnny Mandel.  Fleurine's duo album with Brad Mehldau is entitled "Close Enough for Love", released by  EmArcy/ Universal (157 548-2) in February 2000.

Fleurine and Mehldau subsequently toured the world, playing in Paris, London , Berlin, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Prague, Utrecht, Los Angeles, New York, Montreux, The Hague, Sao Paulo (Brazil) , Buenos Aires (Argentina) with great success.(see reviews). Fleurine's debut Album, "Meant to be!", has been re-released by Universal, and is available in many new countries since 2000 under catalogue number EmArcy/Universal 159 085-2. For her new release, "Fire", Fleurine collaborated with producer Robert Sadin, who recently produced Herbie Hancock's Grammy winning "Gershwin's World" with Stevie Wonder and Joni Mitchell, and Wayne Shorter's latest release "Alegria". Sadin has also conducted, arranged and produced for a wide range of leading artists, including Kathleen Battle, Wynton Marsalis, Milton Nascimento, Dee Dee Bridgewater,  and the New York Philharmonic.

Sadin was so enthusiastic about Fleurine's previous recordings that he offered to produce her next album. Fleurine was thrilled to work with Sadin and their musical chemistry brought forth an exceptional album. Fleurine continues to be bold and original, this time arranging famous pop hits by Peter Frampton, Bruce Springsteen, Nick Drake, Paul Simon and The Pretenders in a jazz context, while at the same time reinterpreting a Gabriel Fauré's classic sung in French, showcasing that jazz has no limits. Her great love for Brazilian grooves and language, always present on all of Fleurine's albums is featured on the title track "Fire", as well as on two brand new Brazilian originals and one classic Jobim.  The album features top players from two continents; New York's finest -drummer Jeff Ballard, saxophonist Seamus Blake, accordionist Gil Goldstein, pianist Brad Mehldau and guitarist Peter Bernstein, and from Europe,  Fleurine's  treasured band-members of 10 years: Holland's premier guitarist Jesse van Ruller and Dutch bass ace Johan Plomp. With "Fire" Fleurine continues to create her own unique niche in the world of jazz.  http://www.fleurine.com/Biography/biography.html

Meant to be!

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Sarah Partridge - Beautiful Minds: Celebrating Extraordinary Women

Styles: Vocal
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:23
Size: 116,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:02) 1. Sky Sweeper
(7:54) 2. Blues in Maryam's Truth
(4:58) 3. A Double Life
(3:24) 4. Stella Splendida (Bright Star)
(4:10) 5. Against the Current
(5:20) 6. She Who Stayed to Prove the Day
(6:12) 7. Courage Is a Woman
(4:08) 8. Rise Up!
(5:28) 9. Queen of Disguise
(3:43) 10. Adorn the World

Jazz vocalist Sarah Partridge releases her seventh recording, a project two years in the making. Comprised of ten original songs written by Partridge and mostly members of her band, each piece is a musical portrait of a notable woman in STEM. (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). A stunning example of art meets science, these compositions bring each woman to life with a variety of international grooves, and lyrics that poetically celebrate each woman. This is a concept album like no other, and Partridge has assembled a masterful ensemble of players and composers.

From Maria Mitchell, the first female astronomer in the 1800’s to film star and inventor, Hedy Lamarr, to current climate scientist Nicole Hernandez Hammer, this is an inspiring exploration into jazz like never before. Partridge says, “My hope is to introduce the world to these courageous women through music: Women who have overcome mountains of challenges to achieve what they have.

I’d like the music to embody the flavor of their lives so that it inspires women everywhere to enter the STEM fields, and hopefully embrace jazz music!”~Scott Thompson Public Relations https://www.allaboutjazz.com/news/sarah-partridge-beautiful-minds-extraordinary-women

Beautiful Minds: Celebrating Extraordinary Women

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Michael Feinstein & Maynard Ferguson - Big City Rhythms

Styles: Piano Jazz, Bop
Year: 1999
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:03
Size: 149,6 MB
Art: Front

(2:58) 1. Close Your Eyes
(5:31) 2. The Very Thought of You
(3:34) 3. Let Me Off Uptown
(5:08) 4. Girl Talk
(4:34) 5. You Can't Lose 'Em All
(3:55) 6. One Day at a Time
(5:54) 7. The Rhythm of the Blues
(5:26) 8. The One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else
(4:30) 9. Ev'rything You Want Is Here
(2:28) 10. Johnny One Note
(2:39) 11. Swing Is Back in Style
(3:27) 12. Love Is Nothin' But a Racket
(3:26) 13. Lullaby in Rhythm
(5:00) 14. Medley: When Your Lover Has Gone/The Gal That Got Away
(3:40) 15. New York, New York
(2:44) 16. How Little We Know

Michael Feinstein steps out from behind his piano to front a big band, and not just any band, but Maynard Ferguson's. Extending the jazzy course he started in his first Concord album, Michael & George, Feinstein sounds at ease whether the swing is light ("Girl Talk") or hard ("Let Me Off Uptown"). He also contributes two of his own songs ("The Rhythm of the Blues", "Swing Is Back in Style"). While occasional piercing trumpet lines remind us who the bandleader is, Ferguson doesn't spend that much time in the stratosphere partly because he's now over 70 and partly because this crack band works beautifully in support of Feinstein. Released shortly after the singer opened his New York club, Feinstein's, Big City Rhythms will get your fingers snapping. ~David Horiuchi https://www.amazon.ca/Big-City-Rhythms-Michael-Feinstein/dp/B00001ZSTC

Personnel: Piano – Earl MacDonald, Michael Feinstein; Alto Saxophone – Gary Foster, Matt Catingub; Baritone Saxophone – Sal Lozano; Bass Trombone – Bryant Byers; Drums – Albie Berk, Dave Throckmorton; Flugelhorn – Bobby Shew, Maynard Ferguson ; Guitar – Dennis Budimir; Leader – Maynard Ferguson; Tenor Saxophone – Dan Higgins, Jim Brenan; Trombone – Alex Iles, Reggie Watkins, Tom Garling; Trumpet – Adolfo Acosta, Bobby Shew, Brian Ploeger, Maynard Ferguson, Wayne Bergeron; Tuba – Jim Self

Big City Rhythms

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Allan Harris - Open Up Your Mind

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:12
Size: 115,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:29)  1. Can't Live My Life Without You
(5:04)  2. Hold You
(5:29)  3. Fly Me To The Moon
(3:42)  4. Color Of A Woman
(7:00)  5. There She Goes
(3:58)  6. Autumn
(3:55)  7. Shores Of Istanbul
(5:41)  8. Inner Fear
(5:34)  9. Open Up Your Mind
(5:15) 10. I Do Believe

There is Allan Harris the romantic troubadour, serving up platters of Billy Strayhorn, Ellington and Nat King Cole tunes with his distinctly Cole-esque baritone. There is also Harris the singer-storyteller, two volumes 2006’s Cross That River and its 2009 companion Cry of the Thunderbird into his vibrant saga of unsung black cowboys, their trials and triumphs. Not until now, however, as his recording career enters its third decade, has an entire album been devoted to a meeting of Harris the romantic and Harris the songwriter. The inescapable Cole-ness that defined so much of his earlier work has all but disappeared. (Intriguingly, it only surfaces on the album’s sole cover, a gently funkified “Fly Me to the Moon,” suggesting that original material unleashes a more original Harris.) Instead, he eases into a smooth R&B groove more evocative of Teddy Pendergrass and Luther Vandross. 

The material, though consistently charming, is occasionally derivative. “Color of a Woman” suggests a mellower take on Sinatra’s mid-’60s quasi-hit “Tell Her (You Love Her Each Day),” the sparkling “Hold Me” sounds as if it was plucked from the Stylistics’ ’70s songbook, and “There She Goes” echoes countless other if-only-she’d-notice-me laments. But when Harris examines more distinctive sentiments, such as the swirling, mysteriously exotic “Shores of Istanbul” or the sinister, duplicitous “Inner Fear,” the results are impressively fresh and invigorating. ~ Christopher Loudon  http://jazztimes.com/articles/28872-open-up-your-mind-allan-harris

Open Up Your Mind

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Odyssey The Band - Back In Time

Styles: Big Band
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:23
Size: 301,1 MB
Art: Front

(4:39) 1. Last One
(6:12) 2. Open Doors
(5:52) 3. Happy Time
(5:16) 4. Little Red House
(5:29) 5. Water Tree
(5:18) 6. Love Nest
(5:45) 7. Woman Coming
(7:08) 8. Channel One
(5:09) 9. Let's Get Married
(4:30) 10. Free For Three

Every performance by guitarist James “Blood” Ulmer is a trip “back in time.” You can hear field hollers in Ulmer’s music. You can hear Africa. But you can also hear the shrieks of demons that live out beyond the free-jazz frontier. No one covers more historical and spiritual bandwidth than Ulmer, from raw backwoods blues to high-voltage thrash guitar to harmolodics learned directly from his one-time boss and landlord, Ornette Coleman. But the title of Ulmer’s new album refers to a particular past moment. In 1983 (during a brief three-album tenure with Columbia), Ulmer released a trio recording called Odyssey, with violinist Charles Burnham and drummer Warren Benbow. It has been out of print for years and it may be Ulmer’s best record. These three players had not been in a studio together for 22 years. They reunite for Back in Time and take up where they left off. Their group sonic signature still freezes you right in your chair. Burnham’s violin is often smeared through a wah-wah pedal, and Ulmer’s guitar is all whining sustains and shuddering double-stops. At the bottom, drummer Benbow kicks pure, relentless, unapologetic funk.

But any written description of Odyssey the Band is no longer valid by the time the ink dries. This group redefines itself every few moments. The opener, “Last One,” starts as the meanest of grooves, but two minutes later Ulmer’s snaking, jangling insinuations have detached themselves from Benbow’s beat, and so have Burnham’s moans and sighs. The next piece, “Open Doors,” proves that Ulmer could have gotten rich in rock ‘n’ roll. No one, not even Ulmer’s exact contemporary, Jimi Hendrix, has ever played filthier, nastier guitar. But Ulmer’s creative process is more than brute force and distortion. He goes right to the edge of the atonal abyss, where very few rock guitarists have ever dared venture. If Back in Time contained more tracks like “Open Doors,” it would be a monster. But “Love Nest” and “Channel One” are subdued, textural pieces that are content to revel in the evocative sonorities of that otherworldly guitar/violin blend. The two vocals, “Little Red House” and “Let’s Get Married,” sound like they come from a different session, restricting Ulmer’s vast instrumental abstract expressionism to a single verbal storyline. But even when he sings, Ulmer always disrupts expectation, blowing up whole verses with harmolodic riffs. And if Benbow’s gutbucket shuffles sometimes become reductive, like self-conscious simplifications, he is also capable of sliding off the beat and making you search for it. His solo on “Woman Coming” is perfect–deadpan yet erotic.

Odyssey the Band is, after all, a collective. What makes it an ideal showcase for Ulmer’s art is the transcendent hook-up with Burnham, whose reemergence on this album is the latest compelling example of the violin renaissance now occurring in jazz. (Think Billy Bang, Jenny Scheinman, Mark Feldman, Mat Maneri, et al.) Within the bare-bones trio format, Ulmer’s unison tuning enables his instrument to fill in, at least by implication, the missing bass parts. Burnham’s violin twists around Ulmer’s guitar to make a single, seething treble voice. It is an ensemble sound like no other, and engineer Bob Musso adequately captures its sting. By Thomas Conrad https://jazztimes.com/archives/odyssey-band-back-in-time/

Personnel: James "Blood" Ulmer – guitar, vocals; Charles Burnham – violin; Warren Benbow – drums

Back In Time

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Renee Rosnes - Kinds of Love

Styles: Piano Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:11
Size: 130,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:24) 1. Silk
(5:47) 2. Kinds of Love
(6:09) 3. In Time Like Air
(6:35) 4. The Golden Triangle
(7:29) 5. Evermore
(7:17) 6. Passing Jupiter
(5:20) 7. Life Does Not Wait (A Vida Não Espera)
(6:35) 8. Swoop
(5:31) 9. Blessings in a Year of Exile

Renee Rosnes has a reinvigorated appreciation for the many different shapes that love can take.With her new album Kinds of Love, the Canadian pianist and composer reflects on the many forms of love in her own life of a romantic partner, of family members, of nature, of the arts and of the close relationships she’s forged with fellow musicians. Kinds of Love features an all-star quintet with saxophonist Chris Potter, bassist Christian McBride, drummer Carl Allen, and percussionist Rogério Boccato.

For many of them, the recording date was one of their first times back in a studio after the long silence of 2020. During that time, Rosnes had taken the opportunity to write a full album’s worth of original compositions with these particular musicians in mind. “I’ve tried to look at the pandemic as a gift of time, and the knowledge that I would soon be recording with my friends inspired much of the music,” Rosnes says. “It was thrilling to experience the humanity of making music again in the moment. Each of these musicians are profound, humble virtuosos and, on a human level, enlightened spirits. Kinds of Love is a reunion of sorts for Rosnes, Potter and McBride, who last recorded together on Rosnes’s acclaimed Blue Note release As We Are Now in 1997. Allen enters the fold after having performed with Rosnes many times over the years, while Boccato is the pianist’s most recent acquaintance.

“We are longtime friends who share a lot of history and camaraderie,” Rosnes says. “Having an unusual amount of quietude to work kept me creatively motivated during the past year. As I composed, I thought about each musician’s essence, and was truly inspired by all the possibilities.”

Kinds of Love is Rosnes’s first album of her own original material since the 2018 releases Beloved of the Sky and Ice on the Hudson, the latter a joint effort with lyricist David Hajdu. However, Rosnes made a major splash in 2020 as the musical director of Artemis, the international supergroup whose debut album was one of the most critically acclaimed jazz releases of the year.” https://jazz.fm/renee-rosnes-kinds-of-love-new-album/

Kinds of Love

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Suzanne Pittson - Out Of The Hub: The Music Of Freddie Hubbard

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:43
Size: 158,3 MB
Art: Front

(6:51) 1. Our Own (Gibraltar)
(8:18) 2. Up Jumped Spring
(6:10) 3. Out Of The Hub (One Of Another Kind)
(9:18) 4. Bright Sun (Lament For Booker)
(4:22) 5. True Visions (True Colors)
(5:46) 6. You're My Everything
(6:57) 7. We're Having A Crisis
(5:51) 8. Moment To Moment
(4:53) 9. Lost And Found (The Melting Pot)
(4:19) 10. Like A Byrd (Byrd Like)
(5:53) 11. Betcha By Golly, Wow!

The vocalese and scatting tradition is alive and well in singer Suzanne Pittson. With Out of the Hub: The Music of Freddie Hubbard, Pittson continues to establish herself as one of the best singers on today's jazz scene. Out of the Hub includes tunes written by or associated with trumpet legend Freddie Hubbard, with Pittson writing or co-writing five lyrics, which Hubbard approved just three months before his passing in 2008. To honor Hubbard, Pittson recruited a group of extraordinaire musicians, including trumpeter Jeremy Pelt and bassist John Patitucci, who add along with saxophonist Steve Wilson and the rest of Pittson's quintet dazzling improvisations throughout.

More than just a singer, Suzanne Pittson is a jazz musician. With a fluid phrasing and stunning tone, Pittson use her voice as another instrument, improvising and playing with the melodies. Pittson's striking sense of melody and amazing vocal range allow her to express a vast palette of colors and textures on swinging tracks like "True Vision," "You're My Everything" and "We're Having a Crisis," and on ballads including "Bright Sun," Moment to Moment" and "Betcha by Golly, Wow!" Following in the steps of the great Ella Fitzgerald, Pittson is also a master of the scatting technique, as shown on "Our Own" and "Out of the Hub." All the arrangements are by pianist/husband Jeff Pittson, and the cover design is a creation of their son Evan, who also wrote the lyrics to "Out of the Hub."~ Wilbert Sostre https://www.allaboutjazz.com/out-of-the-hub-the-music-of-freddie-hubbard-suzanne-pittson-vineland-review-by-wilbert-sostre.php

Personnel: Suzanne Pittson: voice; Jeremy Pelt: trumpet, flugelhorn; Steve Wilson: alto saxophone, soprano saxophone; Jeff Pittson: piano; John Patitucci: bass; Willie Jones III: drums

Out Of The Hub: The Music Of Freddie Hubbard

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Steve Kuhn Trio - To And From The Heart

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:42
Size: 109,3 MB
Art: Front

( 7:49)  1. Thinking out Loud
( 6:15)  2. Pure Imagination
( 6:00)  3. Away
( 4:38)  4. Never Let Me Go
( 5:29)  5. Into the New World
(16:29)  6. Trance / Oceans in the Sky

Now an octogenarian, Steve Kuhn's career has in 2018 spanned nearly sixty years, never having a long lull of time without recording new music. It becomes something of a marvel then that after all this time, the pianist still finds something new to say; he is still able to surprise listeners with songs they don't expect and improvisations they don't anticipate. He continues with the same trio he used on his previous release, At This Time... (Sunnyside, 2016) It should surprise no one how well these three mesh, considering their history. Kuhn and bassist Steve Swallow have worked together as far back as the 1960s, when they recorded with trumpeter and flugelhornist Art Farmer, who had yet to help create the Flumpet. Joey Baron meanwhile, has played drums on four albums with Kuhn, dating as far back as 1995. The trio has To And From the Heart open with the radiant "Thinking Out Loud," an original composition by Swallow, before easing perfectly into a beautiful and instantly recognisable rendition of the now classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory tune, "Pure Imagination." With it's warm, romantic tone the song conjures the images of a crisp, cool city night, strolling hand in hand past pool halls, restaurants, and towering hotels. Swallow's long electric bass solo is rained over by Baron's cymbals before Kuhn masterfully brings the melody around for a final pass. In both these first songs it becomes clear how perfectly complementary the members of this trio are to each other. 

It's a kind of chemistry often taken for granted, but which exists only within a group of musicians such as this one. "Pure Imagination" is followed by two tender ballads, "Away" and "Never Let Me Go," the former of which is the second Swallow original and a simple, romantic song that feels just at home on the album.  Baron's cymbals spur Kuhn forward on Michika Fukumori's mid-tempo "Into the New World" before descending into a 16-minute long convalescence of two of Kuhn's original compositions, titled "Trance/Oceans in the Sky." The lengthy, latter half of this musical concoction is a wonderful, emotional ride. At times ominous, at others hopeful, yet never jarring. It's this song that draws the listener in, demanding full and complete attention to the band's technical prowess. Baron's drums weave through speakers left and right while Kuhn's piano lays out a remarkable turn reminiscent of the spectacular finale to a fireworks show. It's not just the perfect ending to a thoughtful, emotional album, it's the song that makes the entire 50 minute ride memorable. Despite the relative age of the group, To and From the Heart never feels geriatric. Meting out innovation with the sort of self assured aplomb which comes from experience and long-honed talent, the Steve Kuhn Trio has yet another solid addition to their catalogue. ~ Peter Hoetjes https://www.allaboutjazz.com/to-and-from-the-heart-steve-kuhn-sunnyside-records-review-by-peter-hoetjes.php

Personnel: Steve Kuhn: piano; Steve Swallow: electric bass; Joey Baron: drums.

To And From The Heart

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Jack McDuff - Sanctified Samba (Live in New Jersey)

Styles: Soul Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:17
Size: 90,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:50) 1. Sanctified Samba
(5:11) 2. Whistle While You Work
(6:37) 3. It Ain't Necessarily So
(6:40) 4. Rock Candy
(7:42) 5. A Real Goodun'
(8:16) 6. Undecided

A marvelous bandleader and organist as well as capable arranger, "Brother" Jack McDuff has one of the funkiest, most soulful styles of all time on the Hammond B-3. His rock-solid basslines and blues-drenched solos are balanced by clever, almost pianistic melodies and interesting progressions and phrases. McDuff began as a bassist playing with Denny Zeitlin and Joe Farrell. He studied privately in Cincinnati and worked with Johnny Griffin in Chicago. He taught himself organ and piano in the mid-'50s, and began gaining attention working with Willis Jackson in the late '50s and early '60s, cutting high caliber soul-jazz dates for Prestige. McDuff made his recording debut as a leader for Prestige in 1960, playing in a studio pickup band with Jimmy Forrest. They made a pair of outstanding albums: Tough Duff and The Honeydripper. McDuff organized his own band the next year, featuring Harold Vick and drummer Joe Dukes. Things took off when McDuff hired a young guitarist named George Benson. They were among the most popular combos of the mid-'60s and made several excellent albums. McDuff's later groups at Atlantic and Cadet didn't equal the level of the Benson band, while later dates for Verve and Cadet were uneven, though generally good. McDuff experimented with electronic keyboards and fusion during the '70s, then in the '80s got back in the groove with the Muse session Cap'n Jack. While his health fluctuated throughout the '90s, McDuff released several discs on the Concord Jazz label before succumbing to heart failure on January 23, 2001, at the age of 74. ~ Ron Wynn and Bob Porter https://www.iheart.com/artist/jack-mcduff-31483/

Sanctified Samba (Live in New Jersey)

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Lisa Hilton - Transparent Sky

Styles: Piano Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:54
Size: 89,6 MB
Art: Front

(3:51) 1. Santa Monica Samba
(3:31) 2. Random Journey
(3:48) 3. Nightingales & Fairy Tales
(3:44) 4. Living in Limbo
(3:04) 5. God Bless the Child
(3:17) 6. Chromatic Chronicles
(5:21) 7. Fall Upon a Miracle
(3:10) 8. Infinite Tango
(4:02) 9. Extraordinary Everyday Things
(5:01) 10. Transparent Sky

As America and other countries re-emerge from the limitations of 2020, Lisa Hilton and her trio with Rudy Royston and Luques Curtis, enthusiastically embrace the moment with a vibrant new jazz offering titled Transparent Sky, that will inspire, uplift and motivate us all. Rich with glorious harmonies and unique compositions, Hilton's swinging band radiates a sun bleached aura to listeners. Throughout the album Hilton, Royston and Curtis develop a surprisingly wide range of rhythmic ideas from a variety of genres, masterfully blending classic traditions with new approaches and upbeat style. The recording jumps in with the Latin tinged "Santa Monica Samba," quickly following with the equally energetic "Random Journey" on this collection of nine originals, plus one cover. "What developed this year was a LOT of movement and richer chords and harmonies - which makes sense when you consider how static last year was. As musicians we need to challenge and also entertain ourselves, so I think that's why I subconsciously wrote in so many rhythm changes and multiple harmonic directions," says Hilton. "Living In Limbo," "Chromatic Chronicles," "Fall Upon a Miracle" and "Infinite Tango," highlight the multiple creative rhythms of Hilton's compositions and showcase ample opportunities for Curtis's agile bass, and the delightful details of Royston's drums.

Hilton has a way with ballads, and "Nightingales & Fairy Tales" is no exception. With it's slight nod to Bill Evans in the sixties, this has the making of a jazz classic for a twenty first century audience. In the same vein, a cover of "God Bless The Child," co-written by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog Jr, is a charmer, and like all the tracks here, is skillfully and originally presented without being forced. "For a long time I've been trying to record cover songs by women who were composers, because there is very little attention paid to them in jazz. I think it's important to give women recognition for their range of talents, and by promoting them, maybe we will see less discrimination in music", Hilton muses. Slowing towards the album's end, "Extraordinary Everyday Things" is a calm and expressive soundscape, but with a surprise twist, Hilton finishes up with the title track, "Transparent Sky" as a sonorous piano solo. "The melody is beautiful and has a bit of swing, but the harmonic ideas are quite chromatic and dissonant with overlapping/lingering sonorities between bar lines. " She says. "This piece needs to be played sensitively or it will sound harsh, but that is like our lives today - we are living in sensitive times and need to be aware of how we connect and communicate. The solo piano clearly delivers those delicate harmonies along with the emotions. It's about accepting our world as it is, whatever may be happening at that moment. Tomorrow will bring what it will, but there is still beauty to be found if we look for it, amid the dissonance of our times." Hilton explains. https://millsrecordcompany.com/UPC/806314102627

Transparent Sky

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Vanessa Rubin - Pastiche

Styles: Vocal, Swing
Year: 1993
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:14
Size: 122,2 MB
Art: Front

(6:24) 1. In a Sentimental Mood
(4:29) 2. Simone
(5:22) 3. I'm Just a Lucky So and So
(5:30) 4. When Love Is New
(4:46) 5. Black Nile
(3:32) 6. I Only Have Eyes for You
(4:02) 7. Mosaic
(4:40) 8. Estoy Siempre Junto a Ti
(4:21) 9. Weekend
(5:51) 10. A Certain Love
(4:12) 11. Arise and Shine

An appealing singer who does not improvise much, Vanessa Rubin recorded several fine albums for Novus. She studied classical music but switched to jazz early on. Rubin sang with and managed the Blackshaw Brothers (an organ quartet from Cleveland). After working with several groups locally (and recording with the Cleveland Jazz All-Stars), in 1982 Rubin moved to New York. She worked with Pharoah Sanders, Frank Foster's Loud Minority, and the big bands of Mercer Ellington and Lionel Hampton, and studied with Barry Harris in addition to teaching in the N.Y.C. public school system. In 1992 she signed with Novus and her releases for the label are quite enjoyable, including a fine tribute to Carmen McRae. ~ Scott Yanow https://music.apple.com/us/artist/vanessa-rubin/366318

Personnel: Bass – Tarik Shah; Drums – Aaron Walker; Percussion – Michael Rubin; Piano, Organ – Aaron Graves; Tenor Saxophone – Houston Person (tracks: 9); Tenor Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Roger Byam; Trombone – Steve Turre; Trumpet – Cecil Bridgewater (tracks: 2, 11); Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Eddie Allen

Pastiche

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Charlie Watts - Long Ago And Far Away

Styles: Jazz, Bop
Year: 1996
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:57
Size: 135,2 MB
Art: Front

(4:23) 1. I've Got A Crush On You
(5:04) 2. Long Ago And Far Away
(4:53) 3. More Than You Know
(4:07) 4. I Should Care
(4:56) 5. Good Morning Heartache
(2:51) 6. Someday (You'll Be Sorry)
(4:24) 7. I Get Along Without You Very Well
(3:49) 8. What's New?
(4:14) 9. Stairways To The Stars
(4:06) 10. In The Still Of The Night
(5:12) 11. All Or Nothing At All
(3:55) 12. I'm In The Mood For Love
(3:42) 13. In A Sentimental Mood
(3:13) 14. Never Let Me Go

Charlie Watts has always had a reputation as the coolest and quietest Rolling Stone. But ask the drummer about something he really cares about the great bebop players or the timeless jazz standards that the Charlie Watts Quintet perform on their new album, Long Ago and Far Away and you can’t shut him up. Watts formed the quintet in 1991 to record an album to accompany the reprinting of Ode to a High Flying Bird, a children’s book he wrote and illustrated in 1964 as a tribute to his hero, the saxophonist Charlie Parker. In the five years since the Parker project, the Stones’ backing vocalist Bernard Fowler has joined the quintet, and the group has recorded three more albums, each a labor of love undertaken by Watts in between commitments to his day job. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/qa-charlie-watts-on-his-new-jazz-album-sketching-hotel-beds-and-the-40-year-old-sex-pistols-244375/

Personnel: Drums – Charlie Watts; Alto Saxophone – Peter King; Double Bass – David Green; Flugelhorn, Trumpet – Gerard Presencer; Orchestra – London Metropolitan Orchestra; Percussion – Louis Jardim; Piano – Brian Lemon; Vocals – Bernard Fowler

R.I.P.

Born: 2 June 1941

Died: 24 August 2021

Long Ago And Far Away

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Stanley Turrentine - Let It Go

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1966
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 66:21
Size: 152,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:55)  1. Let It Go
(6:58)  2. On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
(5:54)  3. Ciao, Ciao
(5:31)  4. 'Tain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)
(5:21)  5. Good Lookin Out
(4:44)  6. Sure As You're Born
(4:49)  7. Deep Purple
(9:20)  8. Time After Time
(5:42)  9. Sent for You Yesterday (And Here You Come Today)
(8:07) 10. The Lamp Is Low
(3:56) 11. The Feeling of Jazz

For fans ready to graduate from Stanley Turrentine's many fine Blue Note sets, this excellent mid-'60s date on Impulse should be the perfect option. Joined by then-wife Shirley Scott on organ, Turrentine revels in a fine array of medium cookers, three of which came from his own pen. The covers are just as impressive, including a clutch of late-night blues and ballads from the standards canon ("Time After Time") and the Ellington ("The Feeling of Jazz") and Basie catalogs ("Sent for You Yesterday"). And making it all swing in the pocket, Turrentine and Scott get top-drawer support from bassists Ron Carter and Bob Cranshaw and drummers Mack Simpkins and Otis Finch. Enjoy. ~ Stephen Cook  http://www.allmusic.com/album/let-it-go-mw0000263512

Personnel: Stanley Turrentine - tenor saxophone; Shirley Scott – organ; Ron Carter - bass (tracks 1-7); Mack Simpkins - drums (tracks 1-7); Bob Cranshaw - bass (tracks 8-11); Otis Finch - drums (tracks 8-11)

Let It Go

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Ralph Sutton And Dick Cary - Rendezvous At Sunnie's 1969

Styles: Piano And Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 75:33
Size: 123,1 MB
Art: Front

(5:58) 1. I Can´t Believe
(6:14) 2. S`Wonderful
(6:38) 3. Everything Happens To Me
(4:53) 4. Save It, Pretty Mama
(4:23) 5. Honky Tonk Train
(6:45) 6. Someday Sweetheart
(6:20) 7. I`ve Found A New Baby
(6:18) 8. Louisiana
(6:01) 9. A Hundred Years From Today
(3:40) 10. Echo Of Spring
(5:09) 11. In A Sentimental Mood
(7:48) 12. Undecided
(5:21) 13. Sweet Georgia Brown

The seventh volume in the Arbors label's Historical Series is a delightful live set from 1969, recorded at Sunnie's Rendezvous in Aspen, CO. Aspen was pianist Ralph Sutton's home turf, and trumpeter Dick Cary was driven 2,000 miles to the club by a pair of California-based jazz enthusiasts who intended to record the pair's musical summit meeting. It took more than 25 years for the resulting tapes to finally see commercial release, but they've been worth the wait. Cary and Sutton are a match made in heaven, two men of spectacular musical erudition, gentle musical wit, and uncompromising swing who are equally capable of spinning out sweet and elegant variations on "I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me" and charging energetically through the barrelhouse boogie-woogie of "Honky Tonk Train".

" Sutton's soft but urgent introduction on "I've Found a New Baby" generates tremendous energy that only continues to build through his solos; listen carefully to his left-hand work and you'll hear a summary of the whole history of jazz piano. Cary has similar stylistic range, wailing and growling Louis Armstrong-style one moment and sighing lyrically the next -- his work on the rarely played alto horn is especially interesting and enjoyable. The producers apparently took special care with microphone placement on this live recording, resulting in unusually good sound quality. Highly recommended.~Rick Anderson https://www.allmusic.com/album/rendezvous-at-sunnies-1969-mw0000255438

Personnel: Piano – Ralph Sutton; Trumpet, Alto Horn – Dick Cary; Bass – Al Hall; Drums – Cliff Leeman

Rendezvous At Sunnie's 1969

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Suzanne Pittson - Blues and the Abstract Truth

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1996
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:51
Size: 126,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:50) 1. Butch and Butch
(6:16) 2. My Ship
(5:40) 3. You and the Night and the Music
(5:36) 4. In Love in Vain
(4:35) 5. Blues and the Abstract Truth
(4:42) 6. Out of Nowhere
(5:53) 7. The Meaning of the Blues
(6:52) 8. Love For Sale
(4:13) 9. Somewhere in Tokyo
(6:14) 10. Ginger Bread Boy

Singer Suzanne Pittson, who is based in the San Francisco Bay area, has a wide range, is able to interpret lyrics with proper sensitivity and is a masterful scatter. She improvises constantly, and her solos are full of surprises and chance-taking. In addition to a few fresh versions of standards (including "My Ship," "Out Of Nowhere" and an eccentric "Love For Sale"), Pittson explores such rarely heard material as Oliver Nelson's "Butch And Butch" and "Blues And The Abstract Truth" (both of which have been given lyrics by her husband, pianist Jeff Pittson), Jerome Kern's underrated (and rather emotional) "In Love In Vain," and Jimmy Heath's complex "Gingerbread Boy." The warm vocalist is assisted on this worthy effort (which was not put out until late 1996) by her spouse, along with trumpeter Jack Walrath (who takes several surprisingly extroverted solos), bassist Harvie Swartz and drummer Mike Clark. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/blues-and-the-abstract-truth-mw0000092181

Blues and the Abstract Truth

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George Kahn - Jazz & Blues Revue

Size: 155,2 MB
Time: 66:11
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Blues, Jazz, Soul
Art: Front

01. Cantaloupe Island (4:01)
02. Yes We Can Can (4:56)
03. Summertime (5:56)
04. Beat Me Daddy Eight To The Bar (3:11)
05. Shoo Shoo Baby (4:37)
06. Use Me (5:48)
07. The Boy From New York City/The Way You Make Me Feel (4:17)
08. God Bless The Child (5:22)
09. I'd Rather Go Blind (5:06)
10. Something's Got A Hold On Me (4:31)
11. Rock Me Baby (5:49)
12. Feeling Good (4:49)
13. Afro Blue (7:41)

Billed as the "Sass 'n' Soul World Tour," LA jazz pianist George Kahn presents the Jazz & Blues Revue, his eighth album as leader featuring three of LA's finest female jazz vocalist in his first all-vocal project and departure from previous recordings. On tap, fresh new arrangements of thirteen songs that obviously, not only touch on the jazz and blues landscape but, also include elements from the R&B and soul genres. On vocals throughout the session are Gina Saputo, a Eugene, Oregon native, educator and staple of the LA jazz scene, Crystal Starr winner of the 2011 Hollywood Music Awards for Best R&B singer and Santa Monica's own Courtney Lemmon who released her debut jazz album at the age of fifteen and has appeared on other Kahn recordings.

The pianist provides able support for the singers by assembling a cast of players that include jazz luminaries among them, saxophonist Eric Marienthal and trumpeter Dr. Bobby Rodriguez as well as special guests guitarist Pat Kelly and tenor saxophonist Chuck Manning. Herbie Hancock's "Cantaloupe Island" starts the vocal ball rolling featuring Saputo on lead as the other singers provide the background with solos from Marienthal on the alto and the Dr. on the horn jazzing up the piece. Kahn and the band introduces what seems, at least in the beginning, like a New Orleans styled soulful version of the Gershwin standard "Summertime," but then develops nicely into a percussive Latin jazz tune with vocalist Starr doing the honors while M.B. Gordy lays down the percussion.

The three vocalist become the newest version of the fabulous Andrews Sisters of the 30s and 40s with a boogie-woogie-styled romp on "Beat Me Daddy Eight to the Bar" and lay down one mean version of the popular Bill Withers song "Use Me" complete with funky rhythms and superlative piano lines from the leader. Songbird Saputo leads a sassy rendition of the time-honored Billie Holiday classic "God Bless the Child" as Marienthal's expressive alto and the other ladies, do a little blessing of their own on this tune. The Gospel and soul sound is alive and well on the Etta James piece "Something's Got A Hold On Me" with songstress Starr taking the lead and propelling her crisp sharp vocals on a swinging tune punctuated by Kelly's rock-styled guitar riffs.

This vocal experience winds down with Lemmon voicing a stellar arrangement of Anthony Newley's "Feeling Good" while a terrific read of the Mongo Santamaria standard and finale tune "Afro Blue," provides some of the best instrumentals of the recording. Kahn states that "each of my albums features a wide range of styles..." and this new album continues in that tradition with LA songbirds Saputo, Starr and Lemmon voicing their interpretations of the jazz, blues, soul and R&B sounds contained in George Kahn's Jazz & Blues Revue, a vocal jazz statement that begs to be heard. With great vocals, superb instrumentals and an exciting selection of music, this is vocal jazz at its best.

Personnel: George Kahn: piano; Courtney Lemmon: vocals; Gina Saputo: vocals; Crystal Starr: vocals; Lyman Medeiros: bass; M. B. Gordy: drums, percussion; Eric Marienthal: alto saxophone, soprano saxophone; Dr. Bobby Rodriguez: trumpet; Chuck Manning: tenor saxophone (2, 11); Pat Kelly: guitar (2, 3, 8, 11).

Jazz & Blues Revue

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Sonny Rollins - Rollins in Holland - The 1967 Studio & Live Recordings

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 129:51
Size: 298,1 MB
Art: Front

( 4:49) 1. Blue Room
( 5:13) 2. Four
( 6:03) 3. Love Walked In
( 6:57) 4. Tune Up
( 8:13) 5. Sonnymoon for Two
( 9:30) 6. Love Walked In
(22:25) 7. Three Little Words
( 9:33) 8. They Can't Take That Away from Me/Sonnymoon for Two
(14:59) 9. On Green Dolphin St.
(19:45) 10. Love Walked In
(22:19) 11. Four

From the very first decibel of this unrealistically good, previously unreleased recording, Sonny Rollins bears no bones to inform listeners he is suffering no fools. It is a big, Buescher, bellwether sound, the one that gave Rollins the sound and spirit he needed to tell of a man taking it all on without apology. It is also meant to say that, without argument, unrealistically good here is totally understood as a decisively human characteristic and not necessarily one Rollins aspired to. So Resonance dug this one up from some archive somewhere up north where it is way colder and the society is a lot nicer, (to pique your interest, there is a fun, fact-filled one-hundred-page booklet with contemporaneous action photos included) and it makes for a great package Rollins In Holland. It is what Resonance always does and why they are, and should be, lauded.

Then there is the music they find, and there is no alternative fiction going to convince us this is not Rollins, along with drummer Han Bennink and late bassist Ruud Jacobs riding one of those unexplainable peaks of clarity which stir great artists from time to glorious time. One of those updraft moments, as when a young hawk begins its ascent sunward, which awards us the ringingly eloquent "Blue Room." As "Four," "Love Walked In," and "Tuned Up" in real-time attest, both then and now, these guys who, just as a brief historical aside and coincidence, had never met or played before, early on slip into a mindset which serves them unfailingly throughout.

Be it the sheer, free artistry or the moxie of the admen, you won't be able to turn your ears away from Rollins In Holland, because then it goes live and all hell breaks loose and that's not idle, hoary punditry either. All hell breaks does break loose and we are transported back to a time when the music did, and was entrusted by the audience to, distract from the worries of the day. And so "Sonnymoon For Two" finds Rollins' soul urging Bennick on during the drummer's hell-raising solos and conclusively, with no-holds-barred, sets the whole riotous tone for the entire disc-and-a-half to follow. This one is as close to five stars as we're going to get. Have a treat. It's been a hell of a year. ~ Mike Jurkovic https://www.allaboutjazz.com/rollins-in-holland-sonny-rollins-resonance-records

Personnel: Sonny Rollins: saxophone; Ruud Jacobs: bass; Han Bennink: drums.

Rollins in Holland - The 1967 Studio & Live Recordings

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Michael Feinstein - With a Song in My Heart

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:48
Size: 82,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:21) 1. The Summer Knows
(2:34) 2. You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile
(4:15) 3. With a Song in My Heart
(2:52) 4. Real Live Girl
(3:13) 5. Moon River
(2:31) 6. Dance a Little Closer
(4:50) 7. Thanks for the Memory
(2:49) 8. More I Cannot Wish You
(3:32) 9. Polka Dots and Moonbeams
(3:57) 10. I'll Never Fall in Love Again
(4:14) 11. Two for the Road
(3:28) 12. Here's That Rainy Day
(3:40) 13. My Blue Heaven
(2:11) 14. Hallelujah
(3:20) 15. What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?

Singer/pianist Michael Feinstein was both a prime motivator and a beneficiary of arenewed interest in pre-rock popular music that started in the 1980s, a trend that also found Linda Ronstadt selling millions of copies of albums of traditional pop made with conductor Nelson Riddle and that fueled the success of Harry Connick Jr. In Feinstein's case, it allowed him to establish a career as a nightclub entertainer and then move up to theaters while releasing major-label albums; his background as a musical archivist also enabled him to bring a scholar's knowledge to his performances of classic pop music.

He was born Michael Jay Feinstein on September 7, 1956, in Columbus, Ohio. His father, Edward Feinstein, was an executive in the meat business, but had been a band singer, while his mother, Mazie Feinstein, was an amateur tap dancer. Beginning to play the piano by ear at age five, Feinstein grew up fascinated by the pop music of generations preceding him and amassed a large record collection. He moved with his family to Los Angeles in 1976, and there began to come in contact with the people who created the music he adored. He was hired by Ira Gershwin to catalog the veteran lyricist's archives, a job he performed until Gershwin's death in 1983. (He also worked for Harry Warren in 1981-1982.) At that point, he turned to performing as a cabaret artist full-time, beginning in Los Angeles. In 1985, he released his debut album, Pure Gershwin, on Parnassus Records. A 1986 engagement at the Oak Room of the Algonquin Hotel in New York was extended for four months and resulted in the LP Live at the Algonquin (Elektra, 1987). After releasing Remember: Michael Feinstein Sings Irving Berlin (1987), he was able to take his act to Broadway, opening Michael Feinstein in Concert: Isn't It Romantic at the Lyceum Theatre on April 19, 1988. The same year, he released his third album, also called Isn't It Romantic. During 1989, he released two thematic albums, Over There (Angel), devoted to the music of World War I, and The M.G.M. Album (Elektra).

For Elektra's Nonesuch imprint, Feinstein launched a series of "songbook" albums recorded with the participation of the veteran songwriters themselves, the first of them devoted to Burton Lane (August 1990, with a second volume in November 1992), followed by Jule Styne (October 1991), Jerry Herman (October 1993), and Hugh Martin (September 1995). Back at Elektra, Feinstein devoted an album to children, Pure Imagination (April 1992). Forever (March 1993) found him balancing contemporary material with the usual standards. He then switched labels, landing at Atlantic Records for Such Sweet Sorrow (March 1995) and Nice Work If You Can Get It: Songs by the Gershwins (February 1996) before moving to Concord Records, beginning with an album to mark the centenary of George Gershwin, Michael & George: Feinstein Sings Gershwin (September 1998).

In 1999, Feinstein lent his name to a new nightclub in New York located in the Regency Hotel, as Feinstein's at the Regency became a venue for sophisticated cabaret entertainers including its namesake. (A second Feinstein's later opened in Hollywood.) The same year, he released Big City Rhythms, fronting the Maynard Ferguson Big Band. Romance on Film/Romance on Broadway (October 2000) was a two-CD set, the first disc recorded live. It was followed by Michael Feinstein with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in May 2002. In the fall of 2002, Concord announced the formation of Feinstein's own custom subsidiary label, Feinery, intended to "present hidden gems from the American Popular Songbook." It was launched with a new album, Michael Feinstein Sings the Livingston & Evans Songbook, on October 8, 2002. Feinstein's 2003 album, Only One Life, was devoted to the songs of Jimmy Webb. In 2005, he and George Shearing teamed up for Hopeless Romantics. The Sinatra Project appeared in 2008. In 2009, Feinstein and Broadway star Cheyenne Jackson made The Power of Two for Harbinger Records. Fly Me to the Moon (September 2010) on the Duckhole label found him accompanied by jazz guitarist Joe Negri. In 2011, Feinstein followed up his 2008 homage to Sinatra with The Sinatra Project, Vol. 2: The Good Life. ~ William Ruhlmann https://music.apple.com/us/artist/michael-feinstein/269030

With a Song in My Heart

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Marianne Faithfull - The Montreux Years

Styles: Vocal
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:54
Size: 119,0 MB
Art: Front

(6:30) 1. Madame George
(8:06) 2. Broken English
(3:33) 3. Times Square
(5:00) 4. Guilt
(4:37) 5. Song for Nico
(3:00) 6. Come and Stay with Me
(8:11) 7. Sister Morphine
(3:39) 8. She
(2:53) 9. Hold On Hold On
(4:58) 10. Solitude
(5:49) 11. Working Class Hero
(4:36) 12. Tower of Song
(5:21) 13. Strange Weather
(6:35) 14. Why D'ya Do It?

Instantly recognizable with her raw, varied vocal talents and tangible charisma, Marianne Faithfull has been a long-time friend of the Montreux Jazz Festival, appearing five times over a nearly 15-year period: 1995, 1999, 2002, 2005 and 2009. The first live album of Faithfull in over 10 years, Marianne Faithfull: The Montreux Years opens with an enchanting rendition of Van Morrison’s “Madame George,” recorded live at Auditorium Stravinski on July 10, 1995, where Faithfull’s powerful range and unfaltering dynamism was instantly apparent.

The singer’s fans can immerse themselves in these unique recordings, which include several songs from her celebrated album Broken English, such as an electrifying, guitar-heavy performance of the titular track “Broken English,” the soaring “Guilt,” and John Lennon’s rousing anthem “Working Class Hero.” Meanwhile, the haunting sensitivity of “Strange Weather,” recorded live at Casino Barrière on July 6, 2005, captures the bottomless depths of Faithfull’s brutal and ragged beauty.

Marianne Faithfull: The Montreux Years and Muddy Waters: The Montreux Years are the second installment of The Montreux Years series, which started with two true titans, Nina Simone and Etta James. Both have received critical acclaim, and Nina Simone: The Montreux Years debuted at #1 on the U.K. Official Jazz & Blues Albums Chart. Mathieu Jaton, CEO of the Montreux Jazz Festival, adds: “Muddy Waters and Marianne Faithfull have both made indelible marks on the Montreux Jazz Festival and these releases will immortalize their iconic performances for fans both new and old in stunning quality.” http://www.basementdiscs.com.au/shop/marianne-faithfull-the-montreux-years/

The Montreux Years

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