Thursday, September 8, 2022

Paolo Alderighi, Stephanie Trick - Double Trio Live 2015

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:26
Size: 150,3 MB
Art: Front

(7:10) 1. Shine
(5:22) 2. When You and I Were Young, Maggie
(8:28) 3. The Sheik of Araby
(5:36) 4. Old Folks At Home (Swanee River)
(5:19) 5. Charleston
(4:05) 6. Handful of Keys
(8:12) 7. St. Louis Blues
(4:40) 8. Home (When Shadows Fall)
(4:39) 9. Runnin' Wild
(4:25) 10. We'll Meet Again
(7:24) 11. Wednesday Night in Walnut Creek Blues and Boogie

Pioneers in the use of four-hands piano in jazz, Stephanie Trick and Paolo Alderighi have earned widespread success with their arrangements of classics from the stride piano, ragtime, and boogie woogie traditions, as well as from the Swing Era and the Golden Age of Tin Pan Alley. In recent projects, they have focused on the repertoire created during a time when musicals were at the heart of popular culture: the Classical Hollywood Cinema period and the Golden Age of Broadway, since the songs written between the 1920s and 1960s represent a high point and creative ferment in American popular music. Blending impeccable technique with mature musicality, the piano duo has performed across the United States, Europe, and Asia, winning the acclaim of critics and fans alike.

Stephanie Trick (from St. Louis), a leading exponent of stride piano, and Paolo Alderighi (from Milan), one of Italy’s foremost jazz pianists, met at a piano festival in Switzerland in 2008. Three years later, they started to collaborate on a four-hands piano project dedicated to classic jazz, preparing arrangements of songs from the Swing Era, as well as drawing from the ragtime and blues repertoire. Stephanie and Paolo explored the formula of four-hands duets on one piano, rarely used in jazz, in their first two albums, Two for One (2012) and Sentimental Journey (2014). Their partnership continued with Double Trio Live 2015 and Double Trio Always (2016), recorded in the piano trio setting, but with two pianists instead of one. In 2018, they released their first album on two pianos, Broadway and More. Their latest project is a double album, I Love Erroll, I Love James P. (2020), and it features the compositions of two legendary figures of jazz piano, Erroll Garner and James P. Johnson.

The four-hands piano duo has performed in a variety of venues, including the Gilmore Keyboard Festival, Jazz at Filoli, the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, the Kobe Jazz Street Festival in Japan, the London Jazz Festival, the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival, the Ascona Jazz Festival in Switzerland, the Silkeborg Riverboat Jazz Festival in Denmark, the Bohém Ragtime & Jazz Festival in Hungary, Teatro Dal Verme Milano, Jazzland in Vienna, Jazz Bistro in Toronto, and other jazz clubs.

Both Stephanie Trick and Paolo Alderighi have a background in classical piano. Stephanie graduated cum laude from the University of Chicago with a Bachelor of Arts in Music. Paolo has a degree in Piano Performance from the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan, Italy, and also graduated cum laude from Bocconi University in Management of Arts, Culture and Communication. Since 2008, he has been teaching a course at Bocconi entitled “Music and Society.”

Stephanie and Paolo’s dedication to jazz and the repertoire of early American popular music is accompanied in equal measure by a desire to share its rich history, and they also perform in schools and universities, as they believe in the importance of educational outreach. Their programs range from lectures and concert lessons to master classes for students of all ages, with a focus on various topics, such as “History of Jazz,” “Early American Popular Music,” “Musical Improvisation,” “Blues and Boogie Woogie,” “Ragtime and Stride Piano,” “Music Appreciation,” “Intersections of Jazz and Classical Music,” “Music and Technology,” “Women in Jazz, Ragtime, and Popular Music,” and “History of Broadway and Hollywood.”

They have worked with a variety of institutions, including the following: the Eastman School of Music, the University of Mississippi, the Colburn School (Los Angeles), the University of Santa Barbara, Syracuse University, Tri-North Middle School and Templeton Elementary School (Bloomington, Indiana), Tokyo Nihon University, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Bocconi University (Milan), and others.
https://www.paoloandstephanie.com/biography

Double Trio Live 2015

Dave Brubeck - Dave Brubeck at Storyville: 1954

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1954
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:19
Size: 110,9 MB
Art: Front

(10:51) 1. On the Alamo
( 7:02) 2. Don't Worry 'Bout Me
( 5:58) 3. Here Lies Love
( 8:15) 4. Gone with the Wind
( 9:29) 5. When You're Smiling
( 6:42) 6. Back Bay Blues

This Columbia LP contains a total of six tracks from three different appearances by the Dave Brubeck Quartet at George Wein's Storyville between December 1953 and July 1954, two of which originated from radio broadcasts. Sticking to a mix of standards and popular songs that have since fallen out of favor among jazz musicians, the pianist and his longtime alto saxophonist, Paul Desmond, weave their magic together with several extended imaginative improvisations, particularly "On the Alamo" and "Gone with the Wind." The campy pseudo-newspaper packaging adds to the appeal of this long unavailable record, which still pops up occasionally in used record stores nearly five decades after it was recorded.~ Ken Dryden https://www.allmusic.com/album/dave-brubeck-at-storyville-1954-mw0000895185

Personnel: Dave Brubeck (piano); Paul Desmond (alto sax); Ron Crotty (bass); Bob Bates (bass); Joe Dodge (drums)

Dave Brubeck at Storyville: 1954

Jimmy McGriff - I've Got A Woman

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 1962
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:20
Size: 95,2 MB
Art: Front

(4:34)  1. I've Got A Woman
(3:56)  2. On The Street Where You Live
(2:21)  3. Satin Doll
(5:45)  4. 'Round Midnight
(2:53)  5. All About My Girl
(4:57)  6. M.G. Blues
(2:20)  7. That's The Way I Feel
(6:00)  8. After Hours
(3:24)  9. Flying Home
(5:06) 10. Sermon

McGriff's first album is great. The title cut was in the top 20 in 1962. Also on the same album is "M.G. Blues" and "All About My Girl." This session McGriff, Richard Easley on drums and Walter Miller on guitar. Hi-impact early McGriff is the still the best, and this is the album that started it all, on the Sue label. Three cuts available on the Collectable CD A Toast to Jimmy McGriff's Golden Classics. ~ Michael Erlewine https://www.allmusic.com/album/ive-got-a-women-mw0000090399

Personnel: Jimmy McGriff - organ; Morris Dow - guitar; Jackie Mills - drums

I've Got A Woman

Mary Halvorson - Amaryllis

Styles: Guitar Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:56
Size: 87,2 MB
Art: Front

(5:52) 1. Night Shift
(6:41) 2. Anesthesia
(5:55) 3. Amaryllis
(6:47) 4. Side Effect
(6:47) 5. Hoodwink
(5:50) 6. 892 Teeth

Guitarist Mary Halvorson has a formula she just doesn’t always follow it. The first track on this new sextet release begins with a jagged rhythm over which Halvorson solos. Her bandmates (Patricia Brennan on vibraphone, Nick Dunston on bass, Tomas Fujiwara on drums, Jacob Garchik on trombone, and Adam O’Farrill on trumpet) pick up pieces of the rhythm as well as related themes. It is relatively easy to determine which parts are composed and which are improvised. These themes develop and flow around one another in a fashion that has been used by Halvorson in the past, as well as by various avant-rock (and creative jazz) groups. If you are a Halvorson fan, this is all good and not far from what you expected.

But Halvorson’s influences are wide and deep. Her innovations might hide her more conventional proclivities. She clearly appreciates the standards, whether jazz, blues, or otherwise, and this appreciation colors her own works. Subtle nods to more conventional stylings appear throughout this album, even as it leans toward the experimental end of modern jazz. The chimeric nature of Halvorson’s writing is both obvious and yet subtle as she deftly dances between genres.

Amaryllis is one of two companion albums released by Halvorson last month. It features the aforementioned players forming a sextet with Halvorson, with help from the Mivos String Quartet on the second half. The pieces are of uniformly medium length, around 6-7 minutes each.

The title track is a compelling romp with Dunston and Halvorson providing a running (as opposed to walking) pattern over which the horns provide the main melodic structures with Brennan offering up accentuations. The tune moves along at a nice clip, even as Halvorson switches to her signature note-bending. It is hard not to get caught up in the group’s joyful expressiveness.

Side Effect begins with Mivos, and eventually the core group joins in. While there is no shortage of compositional complexity and sophisticated chops (not to mention a killer solo from Dunston), the overall feel is cinematic and slightly retro despite moments of start-stop rhythms.

Hoodwink is something of an outlier, with Mivos again beginning the piece but this time with a less-structured modern classical approach until Halvorson comes in on acoustic, followed by the rest. Mivos’s playing becomes sweeter to match the emotion of Garchik and O’Farrill, while Fujiwara and Dunston gently push the boundaries, serving as a reminder that this is not your grandparent’s jazz.

Amaryllis ends wistfully, bringing its bouncy opening around 180 degrees. 892 Teeth is deliberately paced and more sparsely populated, with Mivos serving mostly in the background, beneath soloists (with kudos to Brennan). But in the last two minutes, the piece goes avant, with an effects-laden lead providing a discordant break before returning to introspection. https://avantmusicnews.com/2022/06/28/amn-reviews-mary-halvorson-amaryllis-2022-nonesuch-records/

Amaryllis

Wednesday, September 7, 2022

Lakis Tzimkas Trio Feat. Mark Whitfield - The Meeting

Styles: Avant-garde Jazz
Year: 2017
File: MP3@128K/s
Time: 48:02
Size: 44,5 MB
Art: Front

(7:29) 1. Kosmos
(1:21) 2. Jamming
(5:06) 3. Ballad for Harris
(5:48) 4. Blues for Teo
(5:46) 5. Different faces
(2:06) 6. Walking in the city
(5:01) 7. Rainy Wednesday
(5:51) 8. Martini
(1:59) 9. Lullaby
(7:32) 10. Blues for my baby

The programme includes compositions by Lakis Tzimkas from her most recent work in collaboration with Mark Whitfield and other compositions by Whitfield.

Mark Whitfield is one of the most important jazz guitarists in the world, continuing in the footsteps of George Benson, with collaborations with Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Bradford Marsalis, Sting, D’ Angelo, Jill Scott, and many others.

Lakis Tzimkas has collaborated with jazz musicians such as Sheila Jordan, Terrence Blanchard, Airto Moreira, Milcho Leviev, Adam Nussbaum, Greg Hutchinson, and others. Christos Germenoglou has been a collaborator of Lakis Tzimkas for many years in the Plan3 and Free Call groups, a collaborator of Sakis Papadimitriou, and has had many international collaborations on the jazz and avant-garde scene.http://www.tch.gr/default.aspx?lang=en-GB&page=3&tcheid=2226

Personnel: Lakis Tzimkas Trio: Mark Whitfield Guitar; Lakis Tzimkas Double bass; Christos Yermenoglou Drums

The Meeting

Lee Konitz, Brad Mehldau & Charlie Haden - Alone Together

Styles: Saxophone, Piano Jazz, Bop
Year: 1997
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 73:39
Size: 168,7 MB
Art: Front

(13:45) 1. Alone Together
(12:55) 2. The Song Is You
(10:59) 3. Cherokee
(11:32) 4. What Is This Thing Called Love ?
(12:49) 5. Round Midnight
(11:36) 6. You Stepped Out Of A Dream

Alone Together, Lee Konitz's first recording for Blue Note, is a special event. The saxophonist teamed up with legendary bassist Charlie Haden and young lion pianist Brad Mehldau, and the trio's interaction on this set of relaxed bop is astonishing. On paper, the music on Alone Together a collection of standards should just be straightahead cool bop, but all three musicians are restless and inventive, making even the simplest numbers on the disc vibrant, lively and adventurous. It's a wonderful record, one that makes a convincing argument that Konitz remains a vital force even as he reached his seventieth year.~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine https://www.allmusic.com/album/alone-together-mw0000596268

Personnel: Lee Konitz – alto sax; Brad Mehldau – piano; Charlie Haden – bass

Alone Together

Roy Ayers - Stoned Soul Picnic

Styles: Vibraphone Jazz
Year: 2017
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:27
Size: 89,3 MB
Art: Front

(9:00)  1. A Rose For Cindy
(2:47)  2. Stoned Soul Picnic
(8:01)  3. Wave
(3:54)  4. For Once In My Life
(6:34)  5. Lil's Paradise
(8:09)  6. What The People Say

Stoned Soul Picnic is vibraphonist Roy Ayers' third and probably best solo album, made in 1968 while he was still a part of Herbie Mann's group. Ayers stands clearly in the shadow of Bobby Hutcherson on this primarily modally-oriented date, sounding nothing like the groove-meister he would become known as later in the 1970s. Producer Mann, always an underrated talent scout, assembles an especially exceptional septet for Ayers here with Gary Bartz on alto sax, arranger Charles Tolliver on trumpet/flugelhorn, Hubert Laws on flute, Herbie Hancock on piano (and probably uncredited organ on the title cut), Ron Carter or Miroslav Vitous on bass and Grady Tate on drums. The program is a typical late 1960s menu, heavy on such Top 40 pop covers as the dated "Stoned Soul Picnic," "For Once In My Life" and "What The People Say." What sets these and the interesting, if unsuccessful, cover of Jobim's "Wave" apart are Tolliver's rather ingenious arrangements. Tolliver seems to tear apart the constraints of these duds (although "Picnic" is beyond hope) by dramatically slowing down the melodies, providing Ayers the time and space to set the mood (Tolliver correctly recognizes Ayers's strengths with ballads) and punctuating with nicely considered horn statements in between. It is the two modal originals here Ayers lovely "A Rose For Cindy" and Tolliver's waltz, "Lil's Paradise" that make this disc worth hearing. Ayers plays some of his finest-ever work on these pieces. You're sure to hear something new and different in these pieces every time. Hancock completists will also be especially pleased with the pianist's performance here (and on "What The People Say" too). Except for the nods toward late 1960s pop-jazz conventions, Stoned Soul Picnic is a marvelous disc well worth investigating. With so much of Ayers's West Coast work of the 1960s (especially with Jack Wilson) lost in limbo, this disc serves as a cogent reminder of the strength of the vibraphonist's chops. And groove lovers might be happily surprised hearing what Ayers was up to before the groove.
~Douglas Paynehttps://www.allaboutjazz.com/stoned-soul-picnic-roy-ayers-32-records-review-by-douglas-payne.php

Players: Roy Ayers: vibes; Gary Bartz: alto sax;  Charles Tolliver: arranger, trumpet, flugelhorn; Hubert Laws: flute;  Herbie Hancock: piano, organ; Ron Carter: bass;  Miroslav Vitous: bass;  Grady Tate: drums.

Stoned Soul Picnic

Caesar Frazier - Tenacity: As We Speak

Styles: Soul, Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:46
Size: 110,2 MB
Art: Front

(4:38) 1. Dat Dere
(5:05) 2. Mergin' Traffic
(6:07) 3. Festival el Spanol
(5:17) 4. Just Passin' Thru
(6:56) 5. Polka Dots & Moonbeans
(1:07) 6. Dat Dere (Reprise)
(4:51) 7. A Thought in Minor
(4:19) 8. Excuse Me
(3:14) 9. One Easy Morning
(6:08) 10. Poinciana

Hailing from Indianapolis, Ceasar Frazier was a funky soul-jazz organist who recorded several albums for the Eastbound/Westbound label family during the '70s. First making his mark in 1972 with one of saxman Lou Donaldson's funkier bands, Frazier cut his first album Hail Ceasar! later that year, which featured musicians commonly associated with the Prestige label's jazz-funk outings Melvin Sparks (guitar), Houston Person (tenor), and Idris Muhammad (drums).

The follow-up, Ceasar Frazier '75, featured the likes of guitarist Cornell Dupree and drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie; the album's key track, "Funk It Down," was later sampled by jazz-obsessed hip-hoppers Gang Starr for their "Ex-Girl to the Next Girl." In 1978, Frazier resurfaced as a smooth soul/disco vocalist with the LP Another Life, and while he showed some affinity for the idiom, it failed to reinvent him as a commercial force outside the jazz-funk marketplace. In addition to recording on his own, Frazier also played keyboards in Marvin Gaye's backing band. Thanks to the rare-groove revival, his rare original LPs now fetch generous sums on the collectors'market.
~Steve Huey https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ceasar-frazier-mn0000536319/biography

Tenacity: As We Speak

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Jackie Cain - So Many Stars

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:47
Size: 168,7 MB
Art: Front

(4:26)  1. Spring Can Really Hang You up the Most
(3:14)  2. Season in the Sun
(3:03)  3. A Face Like Yours
(2:44)  4. Kill 'Em with Kindness
(4:21)  5. Ballad of the Sad Young Men
(2:54)  6. It Could Happen to You
(3:56)  7. Imagination
(2:25)  8. Aren't You Glad You're You
(4:06)  9. Darn That Dream
(3:07) 10. Call Me Irresponsible
(2:28) 11. Thoroughly Modern Millie
(3:01) 12. (So You've Had A) Change of Heart
(2:57) 13. That's My Girl
(3:53) 14. Remember, My Child
(3:08) 15. Mimosa and Me
(3:29) 16. Such a Lonely Girl Am I
(4:03) 17. Walk Pretty
(4:06) 18. Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars (Corcovado)
(3:21) 19. Song of the Jet (Samba Do Aviao)
(4:09) 20. Dindi
(3:46) 21. So Many Stars

Vocalist Jackie Cain is known primarily for her work with her husband, pianist Roy Kral, as the duo Jackie and Roy. This Audiophile release, So Many Stars, spotlights Cain's solo career with over 70 minutes of music. Backing Cain on these sessions are pianist and arranger Loonis McGlohon, bassist Jerry Lassiter, and drummer Jim Lackey.~Al Campbell https://www.allmusic.com/album/so-many-stars-mw0000066748

So Many Stars

Jimmy McGriff - Greatest Organ Hits

Styles: Soul Jazz, Hard Bop
Year: 1968
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:18
Size: 91,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:56) 1. All About My Girl
(4:57) 2. M. G. Blues
(2:50) 3. Kiko
(2:40) 4. Topkapi
(4:35) 5. I've Got A Woman
(4:41) 6. Turn Blue
(4:34) 7. One Of Mine
(2:53) 8. Hello Betty
(4:28) 9. The Last Minute
(3:41) 10. Bump De Bump

Organ master Jimmy McGriff may have studied formally at Juilliard and at Philadelphia's Combe College of Music, but there's nothing fancy about his music. It's basic to the bone, always swinging and steeped in blues and gospel. McGriff's brand of jazz is about feeling. "That's the most important thing," he says.

Blues has been the backbone of most of the major jazz organists, including Jimmy Smith and Jack McDuff, but throughout his 42-year recording career, McGriff has stuck closer to the blues than any of them. "People are always classifying me as a jazz organist, but I'm more of a blues organ player," he insists. "That's really what I feel."

McGriff's recordings of "I've Got a Woman" and "All About My Girl" were r&b and jukebox staples during the Sixties. With McGriff Avenue, his fourteenth album for Milestone (counting the five he's cut as co-leader with Hank Crawford), the Hammond organ grinder remains true to the blues grounding for which he's famous. The way things turned out, McGriff Avenue was not just another record date for the organist and his sidemen, as producer Bob Porter recounts in the CD notes. Porter had booked a noon session at Rudy Van Gelder's New Jersey studio for September 11th, 2001, but that morning he quickly realized—especially since bridge and tunnel access to and from Manhattan was cut off soon after the World Trade Center towers were hit—that the session was not going to take place as scheduled.

When the record date was rescheduled for six weeks later, some personnel adjustments were necessary. Although Bill Easley, Ronnie Cuber, and bassist Wilbur Bascomb were able to make both days of recording, Purdie was replaced on the second day by Don Williams. Guitarist Rodney Jones couldn't make the first session, but he contributed the funky title track (and was ably replaced by Melvin Sparks-Hassan).

Saxophonist Gordon Beadle, a veteran of Duke Robillard's band, is new to the McGriff orbit, but the other players have extensive histories with the organist. The great drummer Bernard Purdie has appeared on most of McGriff's Milestone discs, and Don Williams has been a member of McGriff's touring band for years. Likewise Rodney Jones, Ronnie Cuber, Melvin Sparks-Hassan, Wilbur Bascomb, and Bill Easley are all McGriff familiars who deliver the "gospel/blues-kinda flavor" the leader finds much to his liking. The performances on the McGriff shuffle "All About My Girl," Jimmy Forrest's "Soul Street," and the sanctified "America, The Beautiful" make that absolutely clear.

James Harrell McGriff was born on April 3, 1936 in Philadelphia, long the capital of the jazz organ world. Such seminal jazz organists as Milt Buckner and Wild Bill Davis frequently passed through town, and it was there that Jimmy Smith laid the groundwork for modern jazz organ. Other outstanding organists associated with the City of Brotherly Love include Doc Bagley, Shirley Scott, Richard "Groove" Holmes, Joey DeFrancesco, and Charles Earland. In fact, Earland, who had played saxophone on McGriff's very first recording, a 1959 single on the White Marsh label titled "Foxy Due," learned the organ from McGriff.

Although both his mother and father were pianists, McGriff started out on bass and saxophone, later picking up drums, vibes, and piano. He served as an MP during the Korean War and spent two and a half years as a Philadelphia policeman. While on the force, he moonlighted as a bassist at Pep's Showboat, playing behind blues singer Big Maybelle and other stars of the Fifties. The lessons he learned as a bass player would later turn up in his signature organ style, which is marked by strong, swinging bass patterns.

After leaving law enforcement, McGriff turned his focus to organ and studied locally at Combe and in New York City at Juilliard, as well as privately with Jimmy Smith, "Groove" Holmes, Milt Buckner, and classical organist Sonny Gatewood. Of greater importance to McGriff's musical development, however, were his experiences as a young man at Philadelphia's Eastern Star Baptist Church. "They talk about who taught me this and who taught me that, but the basic idea of what I'm doing on the organ came from the church," he says. "That's how I got it, and I just never dropped it."

In 1962, while McGriff was performing in Trenton, New Jersey, a scout from a tiny record label called Jell was struck with the organist's arrangement of "I've Got a Woman" and offered him a contract. As McGriff's single was taking off, Sue Records in New York purchased the master and it became a smash, peaking at No. 5 on Billboard's r&b chart and at No. 20 on the pop list. With that and such subsequent Sue singles as "All About My Girl," "M.G. Blues," and "Bump De Bump," the organist staked out a musical turf all his own, somewhere between the jazz of Jimmy Smith and the r&b of Booker T. & the MGs. After leaving Sue, McGriff recorded prolifically for such labels as Solid State, Blue Note, Capitol, United Artists, Groove Merchant, and JAM. He also cut two albums with the great blues singer Junior Parker.

Renewed interest in the Hammond organ over the past several years has substantially increased the demand for McGriff's music. "People that didn't listen to organ things before listen now," he says. "I'm playing jobs that ordinarily I wouldn't play."

McGriff had used a Hammond B-3 organ at the onset of his career but in recent years has been playing a modified model known as a Hammond XB-3. "The one I got is special 'cause it's built for me," he says. "I can separate the top manual against the bottom manual. I get strings on it, and I get a different kind of bass."

With McGriff Avenue, Jimmy McGriff serves up another satisfying set of the type of blues, swing, funk, and gospel-derived sounds for which he's known and loved. It's music from the soul that, as always, feels mighty good.https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/jimmy-mcgriff

Greatest Organ Hits

Capp-Pierce Orchestra - Juggernaut Strikes Again

Styles: Big Band, Vocal
Year: 1982
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:36
Size: 96,9 MB
Art: Front

(5:47) 1. Little Pony
(4:19) 2. One For Marshal
(4:22) 3. I Remember Clifford
(3:36) 4. New York Shuffle
(4:42) 5. Chops, Fingers And Sticks
(3:06) 6. You Are So Beautiful
(6:24) 7. Parker's Mood / Word From Bird
(4:20) 8. Charade
(4:56) 9. Things Ain't What They Used To Be

The 1981 edition of the Frank Capp/Nat Pierce Juggernaut sticks to its vision of being Count Basie soundalike big band. The repertoire is a bit farther reaching than on its previous releases including Pierce's "One for Marshal" (featuring altoist Marshall Royal), "I Remember Clifford," Buck Clayton's then-recent "Chops, Fingers and Sticks" and a medley of Charlie Parker tunes. among the key soloists are Royal, pianist Pierce, tenors Pete Christlieb and Bob Cooper, trombonist Buster Cooper and flugelhornist Al Aarons. Ernie Andrews helps out with two vocals. A typically swinging Juggernaut album; all are recommended.~Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/juggernaut-strikes-again-mw

Personnel: Vocals – Ernie Andrews; Alto Saxophone – Jackie Kelso, Joe Roccisano, Marshal Royal; Baritone Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Bill Green; Bass – Bob Maize; Drums – Frankie Capp; Guitar – Ray Pohlman; Piano – Nat Pierce; Tenor Saxophone – Bob Cooper, Bob Efford, Pete Christlieb; Trombone – Alan Kaplan, Buster Cooper, George Bohanon, Mel Wanzo; Trumpet – Al Aarons, Bill Berry, Frank Szabo, Johnny Audino, Snooky Young, Warren Luening

Juggernaut Strikes Again

Monday, September 5, 2022

Stephanie Nakasian - Bitter Sweet

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1992
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:55
Size: 134,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:54) 1. Almost In Your Arms
(6:08) 2. Too Many Tears
(4:55) 3. I'm All Smiles
(3:58) 4. When Your Lover Has Gone
(4:05) 5. By Myself
(5:08) 6. You Ain't Had The Blues
(4:54) 7. A Second Chance
(3:53) 8. Blizzard Of Lies - Little White Lies
(3:52) 9. If I Ruled The World
(4:32) 10. The Moth And The Flame
(5:49) 11. (You May Not Be an Angel But) I'll String Along With You
(3:05) 12. Love Is Just Around The Corner
(3:36) 13. Who Cares?

Born Patricia Stephanie Nakasian, 29 August 1954, Washington, DC, USA. Nakasian’s mother had been a singer in the 40s, working with the popular Meyer Davis band. Raised in Bronxville, New York, she studied classical music, becoming an accomplished pianist and violinist and she also sang in choral groups and studied voice privately. Planning a career in commerce, she attained an economics degree and worked for a while in banking and as a financial consultant. In 1980, she met pianist Hod O’Brien and soon thereafter abandoned her career and began singing with him (and later the couple were married). In the mid-80s, as a member of Jon Hendricks’ group, Company, she began attracting attention and capitalized on this with several well-received solo recordings.

Nakasian has played at many jazz festivals throughout Europe and the USA. With Jim Cullum, she has made numerous broadcasts, often in programmes of songs from the 30s and reflecting upon singers of that era, such as Helen Humes, Peggy Lee, Helen Ward and Lee Wiley. With the Pete Rugolo orchestra, she has appeared in a June Christy tribute and she has also worked with Dick Hyman on shows paying tribute to composers Hoagy Carmichael and Walter Donaldson. Among musicians with whom she has appeared both live and on record are Harry Allen, Wayne Andre, Urbie Green, Scott Hamilton, Milt Hinton, Vic Juris, Joe LaBarbera, Chuck Riggs, Clark Terry, Nabil Totah and Phil Woods.

She has also appeared in Denmark with the Danish Radio Big Band. Nakasian has toured her concert revues, The Great Ladies Of American Song and other tribute concepts, to venues around the USA, especially on the university circuit. One of Nakasian’s concept shows, Band Singers To Broadway, Bebop And Beyond, forms the basis of a course at the University of Virginia that she teaches. She also teaches jazz voice and vocal jazz improvisation at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Additionally, Nakasian conducts seminars and workshops on many aspects of singing at colleges and universities.https://www.allmusic.com/artist/stephanie-nakasian-mn0000024557/biography

Personnel: Stephanie Nakasian - vocal; Vic Juris - guitar; Mark Kirk - alto and soprano saxophones; Hod O'Brien - piano; Steve Gilmore - bass; Bill Goodwin - drums; Ed Hudak - congas

Bitter Sweet

Bob Brookmeyer Quartet - The Blues Hot And Cold + 7X Wilder

Styles: Trombone And Piano Jazz
Year: 1960
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:31
Size: 174,8 MB
Art: Front

(6:04) 1. On the Sunny Side of the Street
(5:54) 2. Stoppin' at the Savoy
(7:21) 3. Languid Blues
(4:53) 4. I Got Rhythm
(5:48) 5. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
(7:57) 6. Hot and Cold Blues
(6:09) 7. While Were Young (4:42) 8. That s The Way It Goes
(4:32) 9. The Wrong Blues
(4:04) 10. It s So Peaceful In The Country
(6:07) 11. Blues For Alec
(4:28) 12. I ll Be Around
(4:26) 13. Who Can I Turn To?

Bob Brookmeyer pioneered playing jazz on the valve trombone, and employed an open-ended approach that embraced both cool and chamber jazz elements. This CD combines two of his finest early period albums from 1960 and 1961, playing standards and originals alongside a stock backup piano/bass/drums trio with Jimmy Rowles, and interpreting the music of Alec Wilder in tandem with guitarist Jim Hall. For the latter date, Brookmeyer goes back and forth between trombone and piano, with drummer Mel Lewis on both sessions.

The first group is more sedate on songs like the polite "On the Sunny Side of the Street" and "Languid Blues," but hop it up for the happy swinger "I Got Rhythm," or up and down title track. Brookmeyer has a delicate touch on piano for the waltz "While We're Young" and "The Wrong Blues," but on the trombone bops along for the fun tune "That's The Way It Goes," and epitomizes California cool for classics like the immortal "It's so Peaceful in the Country," paired beautifully with Hall on "Who Can I Turn To?" or on the muted trombone during "I'll Be Around." As you listen, you notice Brookmeyer gets around on his brass instrument as a trumpeter, not with the acumen of J.J. Johnson's slide trombone, but with an attack that combines the subtleties of Chet Baker with the alacrity of Shorty Rogers, who must be a telling influence. These albums were highly rated when they came out, and stand the test of time as excellent early examples of Brookmeyer's performance prowess.
~Michael G. Nastos https://www.allmusic.com/album/blues-hot-cold-7-x-wilder-mw0001359682

Personnel: Valve Trombone, Piano – Bob Brookmeyer; Bass – Bill Crow (tracks: 7 to 13), Buddy Clark (tracks: 1 to 6); Drums – Mel Lewis; Guitar – Jim Hall (tracks: 7 to 13); Piano – Jimmy Rowles (tracks: 1 to 6)

The Blues Hot And Cold + 7X Wilder

Friedrich Gulda & His Sextet - At Birdland

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 77:00
Size: 176.3 MB
Styles: Bop, Piano jazz
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[ 0:38] 1. Theme Song Vienna Discussion
[ 0:49] 2. Pee Wee Marquette Introduces Friedrich Gulda And His Sextet
[ 5:21] 3. Scruby
[ 4:29] 4. Dark Glow
[ 4:23] 5. A Night In Tunisia
[ 3:03] 6. Dodo
[ 5:13] 7. Air From Other Planets
[ 3:25] 8. New Shoes
[10:07] 9. Bernie's Tune
[ 3:04] 10. Quintet
[ 3:55] 11. Introvert
[ 8:25] 12. Out Of Nowhere
[ 4:46] 13. Teheran
[ 7:38] 14. All The Things You Are
[ 5:34] 15. Cool Hill
[ 6:01] 16. Lullaby Of Birdland

Alto Saxophone – Phil Woods; Bass – Aaron Bell; Drums – Nick Stabulas; Piano – Friedrich Gulda; Tenor Saxophone – Seldon Powell; Trombone – Jimmy Cleveland; Trumpet – Idrees Sulieman. Live at "Birdland", New York City, June 28 (tracks 1-5, 7, 8, 15 & 16) and 29 (tracks 6, 9 & 14), 1956. Tracks 1-9 from the RCA Victor album "Friedrich Gulda At Birdland" (LPM 1398) Tracks 10-16 from the Decca album "A Man of Letters (LK 4189).

Friedrich Gulda was a classical pianist of international stature who, following a meeting with Dizzy Gillespie in 1951, embarked on an attachment with jazz. This eventually led to his first regular American appearance at Birdland in New York City in 1956 which has been captured in this Fresh Sounds reissue. The impresario John Hammond was the driving force behind this Birdland session which was originally released on two 12" albums, the first by RCA Victor entitled Friedrich Gulda At Birdland and the second by Decca called A Man Of Letters. Hammond was fully aware that, while there might be some curiosity value in such an appearance by a classically trained pianist, he needed to ensure that Gulda had the opportunity to succeed and thus he put together a front line that was supportive and collaborative. The bassist and drummer were also known for their swing and steady timekeeping. The song set was a combination of Gulda original compositions and "head" arrangements of popular and jazz standards designed to engage the audience.

Now while it is accurate to say that all the tracks were recorded at Birdland, not all of them were performed live. All nine Gulda compositions were recorded in the afternoon without an audience, much like a recording studio, and the other five jazz-oriented tunes were done with an audience during the evening sessions. The Gulda compositions are intricately constructed with a chamber jazz feel but allow space for solos by the members of the band. Dark Glow is a sensuous ballad designed to showcase the creative alto sax of Phil Woods. Another piece in the same vein is Cool Hill which has a modelled structure for Woods to shine. Seldon Powell's cool tenor sax is prominently featured on Air From Other Planets. The real goodies on this disc are the live tracks from Birdland and all are swingers. The first substantive taste of Gulda's pianistic style shows up on a trio version of A Night In Tunisia. With Aaron Bell on bass and Nick Stabulas on drums, Gulda romps through the tune with strong single-note phrasing in a Bud Powell mode, but with a percussive note-striking style reminiscent of Eddie Costa. An extended version of Bernie's Tune has all the elements of a jam session, with strong choruses from all members of the band. Out Of Nowhere becomes a vehicle for trombonist Jimmy Cleveland where his creative and enthusiastic offerings are fully evident. Idrees Sulieman, a somewhat under-appreciated trumpeter, shows that he deserves more attention with some fine soloing on All The Things You Are. Finally the George Shearing classic Lullaby Of Birdland allows Gulda to take a block-chord Shearingesque attack on this signature tune. This is an interesting and noteworthy addition to any record collection. ~Pierre Giroux

At Birdland

Wayne Shorter - Live At The Detroit Jazz Festival

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:38
Size: 127,6 MB
Art: Front

(14:20) 1. Someplace Called "Where"
(21:43) 2. Endangered Species
( 8:37) 3. Encontros e Despedidas
( 4:41) 4. Drummers Song
( 6:16) 5. Midnight in Carlotta's Hair

Wayne Shorter is arguably the greatest living jazz composer and a key participant in some of the most iconic jazz recordings of all time. Wayne Shorter is arguably the greatest living jazz composer and a key participant in some of the most iconic jazz recordings of all time. Here he is joined on stage by an all star band each of the musicians leaders and jazz icons in their own right. The record also pays tribute to the late Geri Allen, who composed some of the material.https://www.prestomusic.com/jazz/products/9366902--live-at-the-detroit-jazz-festival

Personnel: Wayne Shorter: tenor and soprano saxophone; Leo Genovese: piano and keyboards; Esperanza Spalding: bass and vocal; Terri Lyne Carrington: drums

Live At The Detroit Jazz Festival

Sunday, September 4, 2022

Lorez Alexandria - Chicago Jazz Festival'80

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1980
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:33
Size: 91,1 MB
Art: Front

(5:09) 1. Michael Cuscuna interviews Lorez Alexandria
(1:40) 2. Introduction
(2:04) 3. On a Clear Day
(6:44) 4. Something Cool
(2:09) 5. Satin Doll
(5:18) 6. Don't Explain
(2:41) 7. You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me
(5:43) 8. But Beautiful
(1:19) 9. Introduction
(2:39) 10. Little Boat
(3:02) 11. Somewhere (There's a Place for Us)
(1:01) 12. Billy Taylor comments

Lorez Alexandria concert at Grant Park at the Chicago Jazz Festival on 8/30/1980. Broadcast on WBEZ FM, Chicago's NPR station. Commentary by Billy Taylor and Michael Cuscuna, of NPR's Jazz Alive series. This was the 4th set of the evening's Jazz Alive broadcast. This evening was dedicated to Chicago Jazz Heritage. Thanks to Mark Rabin for sharing this recording and the festival flyer.
https://archive.org/details/lorez-alexandria-1980-chicago-jazz-fest-npr

Musicians: Lorez Alexandria-Vocals; Willie Pickens-Piano; Dan Shapira-Bass; Robert Shy-Drums

Chicago Jazz Festival'80

Friedrich Gulda - Ineffable: The Unique Jazz Piano Of Friedrich Gulda

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1965
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:38
Size: 90,3 MB
Art: Front

(5:02)  1. I Only Have Eyes For You
(2:04)  2. Prelude
(4:34)  3. Ineffable
(5:41)  4. The Horn And I
(4:33)  5. Plant Some Flowers (Plantem und Blomen)
(3:57)  6. I'll Remember April
(4:30)  7. Riverbed
(5:02)  8. Lament
(3:11)  9. Quartet

Classical and jazz pianist and composer, Friedrich Gulda was one of Austria's premiere pianists. Born in Vienna in 1930, Gulda started piano lessons at the age of seven. When he was 12, he enrolled in the Vienna Music Academy, and four years later received first place in the Geneva International Music Festival. In 1949, Gulda toured Europe and South America, earning international acclaim for his treatments of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, and the following year he successfully debuted at Carnegie Hall. Gulda became more involved in jazz from 1951 on, when he improvised with Dizzy Gillespie following a performance with the Chicago Symphony. Five years later, Gulda played his first American jazz concert at Birdland (N.Y.C.), followed by a performance at the Newport Jazz Festival. 

After this, Gulda formed the Eurojazz Orchestra, a jazz combo and big band which drew from both jazz and classical compositions. In 1966, ten years after his Birdland appearance, Gulda organized a modern jazz competition in his native city. He was awarded the Vienna Academy's Beethoven Ring in 1970, but later returned it to protest what he regarded as a constricting educational system. This only reinforced the public's perception of Gulda as an eccentric. This reputation was not helped when he abruptly called off major performances more than once. A 1988 incident occurred in reaction to objections to his program for a Salzburg music festival that included jazz musician Joe Zawinul; he made another last minute cancellation by faking his own death with a phony obituary only days before a scheduled performance of Mozart. On January 27, 2000, Friedrich Gulda died of an apparent heart attack in Vienna, the city of his birth.
~Joslyn Layne https://www.allmusic.com/artist/friedrich-gulda-mn0000207805/biography

Ineffable: The Unique Jazz Piano Of Friedrich Gulda

Denise Jannah & Wolf Martini - Live In Johannesburg

Size: 168,5 MB
Time: 72:12
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. There Will Never Be Another You (3:43)
02. Announcement (0:50)
03. Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars (5:01)
04. Skylark (4:45)
05. I Thought About You (4:55)
06. Syen (Shame) (4:00)
07. Wys My Die Plek (3:52)
08. Twisted (2:59)
09. My Funny Valentine (6:30)
10. Sondongo (Sunset) (4:51)
11. I'm In The Mood For Love (0:16)
12. Like A Lover (O Contador) (7:09)
13. There Is No Greater Love (3:31)
14. She Walks The Streets (3:32)
15. Somewhere Over The Rainbow (5:32)
16. How Do You Keep The Music Playing (4:57)
17. Moenie Weggan Nie - Ne Me Quitte Pas (5:41)

For more than a decade, the classic honeyed voice of jazz vocalist Denise Jannah has been heard on her solo albums in the U.S., but she has been singing much, much longer. After a childhood spent alternately in Surinam and Holland, she attended the Hilversum Conservatory, graduating in 1971. Her first American release was in 1991 with her album, Take It From the Top. Two others followed, A Heart Full of Music and I Was Born in Love With You. In 2000, Jannah became the first Dutch solo artist to release an album on Blue Note with The Madness of Our Love.

Live In Johannesburg

Saturday, September 3, 2022

Orrin Evans - Easy Now

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:32
Size: 127,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:49) 1. Captain Black
(5:21) 2. BM
(6:06) 3. For DE
(8:11) 4. Don't Fall Off the L.E.J.
(5:22) 5. Easy Now
(4:21) 6. Bonus Round
(9:29) 7. Dance on the Moon
(2:12) 8. Dorm Life
(7:24) 9. Song for My Father
(1:11) 10. Don't Fall Off the L.E.J. (cont.)

For those who may have been disappointed by the Philadelphia pianist-composer Orrin Evans' recent experiments with backbeats and electric keyboards, Easy Now marks a notable return to swinging on acoustic instruments. But this new venture is primarily a tribute to the late Don Evans, a gifted playwright and educator, as well as Orrin's father.

If these compositions are any indication, Don Evans must have been complex, thoughtful, and unpredictable, perhaps a bit like the jutting measure of 5/4 time that concludes each chorus of "Don't Fall Off The L.E.J.," which is in all other aspects a fast 4/4 cooker. Actually, like most of the musicians who work in the new mainstream of today's jazz world, Orrin Evans uses composition to create modern challenges for modern impovisers. This would also include the drum thwacks that constitute part of the line of "Captain Black."

Further, the playing here is consistently top-shelf, giving these tunes a worthy presentation. Evans often plays percussively, playing clusters, even pounding the piano. But that's hardly all he does. He can play gently and lyrically, or he can spin a long, swinging line. Although he sometimes alludes to Monk, Orrin Evans is very much his own man. Saxophonist Ralph Bowen is also his own man. Heard here on alto and soprano sax rather than his customary tenor, Bowen reveals a lush, warm sound on each horn, almost as if he were trying to combine Eric Dolphy with Benny Carter or perhaps Lucky Thompson. He swings up a storm on "Don't Fall Off The L.E.J." and "Dorm Life."

Finally, J.D. Allen should be singled out for his warm, deeply moving tenor sax playing on "Song For My Father." He and Evans play the Horace Silver classic as a duet, in a stately ballad that may be the highlight of the album.~AAJ Staff https://www.allaboutjazz.com/easy-now-orrin-evans-criss-cross-review-by-aaj-staff

Personnel: Orrin Evans, piano; Ralph Bowen, alto and soprano sax; Mike Boone, bass; Byron Landham, drums. Track 9 only: J.D.Allen, tenor sax. Tracks 5, 7 only: Eric Revis, bass. Tracks 1,2,3, 5 only: Rodney Green, drums.

Easy Now

Brian Lynch - Unsung Heroes Vol.1

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:56
Size: 170,7 MB
Art: Front

(8:09)  1. Terra Firma Irma
(7:28)  2. I Could Never Forget You
(9:47)  3. Further Arrivals
(8:02)  4. Saturday Afternoon At Four
(7:26)  5. Household Of Saud
(7:02)  6. Roditisamba
(5:36)  7. Big Red
(7:10)  8. Unsung Blues
(7:11)  9. Wetu

Trumpeter extraordinaire Brian Lynch is always willing, quite rightly, to acknowledge the masters who have gone before him. Some of the finest jazz trumpeters never made it big, while others no longer sit as securely in the minds of jazz fans as they once did. Nevertheless, they are all part, as Lynch writes, of "the jazz trumpet tradition" and their talents as players and composers deserve to be remembered and revisited. Unsung Heroes is Lynch's salute to some of these players. It's a superb album: no mere tribute to past masters, it puts their work firmly in the present living, breathing, exciting music that is as vibrant in the twenty-first century as it was in the twentieth. Like Finnish pianist Iiro Rantala's own reflections on past greats, the stunning Lost Heroes (ACT Music, 2011), Unsung Heroes is the work of an exceptionally talented player. Rantala performed solo, but this record features a kick-ass band. Altoist Vincent Herring and pianist Rob Schneiderman are particularly strong, but every player impresses. One of the most stylish solos comes from bassist David Wong on Idrees Sulieman's "Saturday Afternoon At Four," a bop relative of Kurt Weill's "Speak Low."

Lynch's heroes on this album are players whose own work is predominantly from the bebop era and later, men who could play hard and fast but who could also swing, and play with feeling. The writing skills of many of these trumpeters were also exceptional, giving Lynch some terrific compositions to work with, some of which were never recorded by the writers themselves. Tommy Turrentine's beautiful ballad, "I Could Never Forget You," affords Lynch the opportunity to deliver a masterclass in pure-toned, considered yet emotive playing. Charles Tolliver's "Household of Saud" is a standout ensemble performance as well as featuring one of Lynch's more high-energy solos. Lynch's own tunes are just as enjoyable. "RoditiSamba," dedicated to Claudio Roditi, is smoothly seductive; "Unsung Blues" gives Lynch and Schneiderman the chance to stretch out with a deft lyricism. 

This isn't the first time that Lynch has paid tribute to his predecessors: Tribute To The Trumpet Masters (Sharp Nine) appeared in 2000. Unsung Heroes is volume one of an extended project, which includes some fascinating writing by Lynch on his website. The project is a great idea, and on the evidence of this beautiful recording it's also brilliantly executed. ~ Bruce Lindsay https://www.allaboutjazz.com/unsung-heroes-brian-lynch-hollistic-musicworks-review-by-bruce-lindsay.php

Personnel: Brian Lynch: trumpet, flugelhorn; Vincent Herring: alto saxophone; Alex Hoffman: tenor saxophone; Rob Schneiderman: piano; David Wong: bass; Pete Van Nostrand: drums; Vicente "Little Johnny" Rivero: congas (3, 6).

Unsung Heroes Vol.1