Die Drei Damen With Lisa Wahlandt, Andrea Hermenau & Christiane Ottl - Venus in The Backyard

Styles: Vocal, Post Bop
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:16
Size: 111,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:08) 1. Count on me
(3:01) 2. Wanderer
(4:02) 3. Love yourself
(3:45) 4. Time after time
(3:59) 5. Venus in the backyard
(2:38) 6. Old country
(4:13) 7. Dat dere
(4:02) 8. Embrace
(2:57) 9. Price tag
(2:55) 10. For the longest time
(3:36) 11. One for my baby
(3:18) 12. Here comes the sun
(4:36) 13. Calling you

The three ladies are charming again! They sing about Venus in the backyard, who wears a sparkling smile on her lips, about the warming embrace that makes the world a magical place, or about the wanderer whom she would love to accompany as she walks through the beauties of this earth. The three ladies playfully mix jazz with pop music in a playful, playful way. "Venus in the Backyard", the third CD of the Drei Damen sounds airy, like a breeze, but also earthy-grooving and winking-swinging, and in the slim cast with three voices, piano and bass. Since 2013, singer Lisa Wahlandt, pianist Andrea Hermenau and bassist Christiane Öttl have thrilled their audience with jazzy songs.

After the debut album 2014 and the excursions to Bavarian and German on "Dream Farther" in 2016, the master musicians have now focused on English-language hits and each of them has contributed to "Venus in the Backyard" an own composition. From the classic "One for my Baby" from the 40s to George Harrison's "Here comes the sun" to Cindy Lauper's 80s hit "Time after Time" to Bruno Mars' "Count on me" from 2010.

Their interpretations of familiar songs are like fresh air treatments for these hits. Brilliantly transparent is the band sound, clear and pure, the voices merge, with precisely articulated text. Wahlandt, Hermenau and Öttl prove a fine hand in their song selection. Songs that have a story and tell. Current pop songs are freed from the excessive production ballast and come as weightless chansons therefore, Jesse J's "Price Tag" about. Ed Sheeran's "Love Yourself", on the other hand, gets really groove-tailwind through casual Fender Rhodes sounds and the body percussion of guest musician and drummer Gabriel Hahn.

Back to the Jazzwurzeln the three ladies is in Bobby Timmons "Dat Dere". Here, saxophonist Mulo Francel from Quadro Nuevo as a guest may unpack his wonderfully creaky tenor saxophone sound. Playfulness, the highest musicality and an intimate band feeling are the secrets of the Three Ladies.By Editorial Reviews
https://www.amazon.com/Backyard-WAHLANDT-ANDREA-HERMENAU-CHRISTIANE/dp/B07GW2R798

Venus in The Backyard

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Shaun Johnson Big Band Experience - Made For Her

Styles: Vocal, Big Band
Year: 2021
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 26:20
Size: 60,8 MB
Art: Front

(4:22) 1. Sing Me Anything
(3:04) 2. Multiplied By Two
(3:06) 3. All Because Of You
(3:11) 4. This Old Man
(3:21) 5. Losing You
(3:19) 6. Say Goodnight
(3:07) 7. Multiplied By Two (Remix)
(2:47) 8. Love Me Tender (Live)

I'm surrounded by influential women in my life. My mom had four sisters - I have two - and growing up I enjoyed three great aunts who were like grandparents to me. Too, I started the Big Band Experience with an incomparable ally, Michelle, who has worked tirelessly by my side (Okay, actually I am usually running to catch up with her).

And now, I am lucky to be surrounded by three daughters and a beautiful partner in my wife, Mary, who not only supports me at hundreds of shows (with three girls in tow and a career of her own), but who also creates videos and brainstorms the next great ideas with me. Each track on this album was made as an homage to those around me. And the thread that clearly connects each song is HER.
https://musicconnection.us/UPC/760137565116

Shaun Johnson & The Big Band Experience are: Shaun Johnson - Lead Vocals (Saint John’s University); Aaron Moe – Alto Saxophone (Chair of the Music Department, Normandale Community College); Jeff Carver – Trumpet (Buena Vista University); David Stamps – Trombone (Assistant Professor of Jazz/Composition, Gustavus Adolphus College); Ronny Loew – Tenor Saxophone (Berklee College of Music); David Stanoch – Percussion (Percussion Faculty, McNally Smith College of Music); Theodore Brown – Piano (Music Education/Opera, Xavier University); Jim Bierma – Bass (Professor, University of Minnesota)

Made For Her

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Mark Soskin - Empathy

Styles: Contemporary Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:36
Size: 156,8 MB
Art: Front

(5:27) 1. Saints And Sinners
(4:32) 2. Three Flowers
(5:00) 3. Waltz For Zoe
(5:30) 4. In a Silent Way
(6:04) 5. Shadow Dancing
(5:09) 6. Small Victories
(5:56) 7. Little Fingers
(5:33) 8. Breathless
(6:55) 9. Wanderlust
(5:25) 10. Better Time
(6:36) 11. Fuchsia
(5:23) 12. Empathy

Empathy is the perfect title for this intimate session from pianist Mark Soskin and bassist Jay Anderson a set that's spare, but never sleepy or too relaxed as the players really understand each other well enough to swing at most moments, even when gentle as they make their way through a batch of material that was mostly penned for the record by Soskin. His tunes include "Fuchsia", "Better Times", "Little Fingers", "Small Victories", "Shadow Dancing", and "Waltz For Zoe"all beautiful numbers with a vibe that's as poetic as their titles balanced by nice takes on "Three Flowers" and "In A Silent Way". © 1996-2023, Dusty Groove, Inc.

Empathy

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Elizabeth Shepherd - Three Things

Styles: Vocal, Bop
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:03
Size: 85,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:16) 1. Time
(3:50) 2. Call Up My Scene
(3:06) 3. Thank You
(4:12) 4. Three Things Remain
(3:30) 5. Guests
(5:02) 6. Right Now
(4:02) 7. Vernon Morning Star
(3:10) 8. Move On
(1:33) 9. Wild Geese
(4:16) 10. All You Need

Definitely, the novelties that are appearing have sincerely summer flavors. And it's not the singer Elizabeth Shepherd who will contradict your columnist. Like jazz with its satellites, let's say that Three Things is a sumptuous record with urban and poetic atmospheres that will reach a vast audience, like those who frequent Osheaga and Sonic Islands while we're at it.

Cradled by a bewitching voice, sometimes synthesized with "pretty electronic loops" that don't spoil the sauce, Three Things is part of a current that combines both current R&B and light techno. Even if we prefer the pure blue note, why not?. These new well-calibrated trends are completely up to date, creating perfect atmospheres when the sun has come. In twelve tracks, everything can be consumed easily and we strongly recommend: Time, All You Need, Wild Geese and of course the flagship track: Three Things.

Elizabeth has cooked up a different album for us that is also her most innovative and accomplished work to date, with enigmatic sound samples and sounds all tied together in a musical groove that sounds more like Kendrick Lamar than Diana Krall. For the better part of two decades, she distinguished herself and stood out as a songwriter. The rhythmic complexity remains, but Three Things reveals that Elizabeth's relationship with music has changed, in part due to the isolation caused by the pandemic. By Christopher Rodriguez https://sortiesjazznights-com.translate.goog/three-things-delizabeth-shepherd/

Musicians: Elizabeth Shepherd – vocals, keyboards, samples, synthesizers; Michael Occhipinti – guitar, banjo; Mark Rainey – vocals; Erik Hove – alto saxophone; Chris Gestrin – organ, synthesizers; Jasper Hoiby – bass, looper, synthesizers; Rémi-Jean LeBlanc – bass; Samuel Joly – percussion, tambourine, synthesizers; Mark Nelson – drums; Colin Kingsmore – drums

Three Things

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Bud Powell - Bouncing With Bud

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1962
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:30
Size: 97,8 MB
Art: Front

(4:16) 1. Rifftide
(6:00) 2. Bouncing With Bud
(4:59) 3. Move
(6:00) 4. The Best Thing for You
(6:45) 5. Straight, No Chaser
(6:16) 6. I Remember Clifford
(5:49) 7. Hot House
(2:22) 8. 52nd Street Theme

This album has cropped up in various guises over the years. Most recently it was part of Storyville's In Copenhagen series." It's back, as part of the same label's Remastered Vinyl collection.

Powell was one of the most talented yet tragic artists in jazz history, a giant of the bebop era who translated Charlie Parker's harmonic ideas onto the piano, but whose life was blighted by mental illness, exacerbated by alcohol and drug use.

At the end of the 1950s he moved to Paris with Buttercup, an American woman who may or may not have been his wife. According to Francis Paudras, a jazz fan who befriended Powell and wrote about his life in the French capital in Dance Of The Infidels (Da Capo Press, 1998), Buttercup kept Powell sedated and took most of the money he made.

During this unhappy time, Powell visited Scandinavia, where on April 26 1962 he cut Bouncing With Bud in Copenhagen for the now defunct Sonet label. The bassist on the session was Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen, only 15 years old.

Relieved of domestic misery, Powell delved joyously into the past for his repertoire, kicking off with "Rifftide," a medium tempo bop number based on the chords of "Lady Be Good."

It's followed by "Bouncing With Bud," one of his most successful compositions. It no doubt brought back happy memories of the classic 1949 recording he made of the tune with the legendary Fats Navarro on trumpet and Sonny Rollins on tenor.

Then there's Denzil Best's "Move," recalling a 1950 session with Charlie Parker. Later Bird refused to play with Powell, telling people, "He's crazier than I am."

There are two songs by his friend Thelonious Monk, the blues-based "Straight No Chaser" and "52nd Street Theme," which Powell sometimes used as a signature tune, recording it with Kenny Clarke in 1946 and with his own quintet in 1949.

Francis Paudras wrote of Powell: "Emotion flowed out of him. There are different kinds of emotion: there is the easy, superficial kind, and there is another kind, that doesn't make you laugh or cry, that doesn't make you feel anything but a sense of perfection. That's what I felt with Bud." It can be felt here, if you listen carefully. By Chris Mosey https://www.allaboutjazz.com/bouncing-with-bud-bud-powell-storyville-records-review-by-chris-mosey

Personnel: Bud Powell: piano; Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen: bass; William Schiøpffe: drums.

Bouncing With Bud

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Buster Williams - Ain't Misbehavin'

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:41
Size: 106.9 MB
Styles: Bop
Year: 2010
Art: Front

[6:24] 1. Ain't Misbehavin'
[8:27] 2. When The Sky Is Clear
[7:06] 3. Dreams Come True
[9:29] 4. So Falls The Past
[6:34] 5. Betcha By Golly Wow
[8:38] 6. Seascape

One of jazz's most valuable sidemen, Buster Williams has flourished through many periods of changing fashions in jazz. Best known since the 1980s for his solid, dark tone and highly refined technique on the acoustic bass, the jazz-rock generation knew him as the mobile anchor of Herbie Hancock's exploratory Mwandishi Sextet from 1969 to 1973, doubling on acoustic and electric basses sometimes attached to electronic effects devices.

Williams learned both the double bass and the drums from his father, but having been enormously impressed by Oscar Pettiford's recordings, he ultimately decided to concentrate on the bass. After studying theory and composition at Philadelphia's Combs College of Music in 1959, Williams joined Jimmy Heath's unit the following year and played with Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt in 1960 and 1961, as well as behind singers Dakota Staton (1961-1962), Betty Carter (1962-1963), Sarah Vaughan (1963), and Nancy Wilson (1964-1968). The gig with Wilson prompted a move to Los Angeles, where the Jazz Crusaders used him for concert dates and recordings from 1967 to 1969, and he also played briefly with Miles Davis in 1967 and the Bobby Hutcherson/Harold Land quintet. Moving to New York in 1969, Williams joined Hancock's sextet, appearing on all of his Warner Bros. albums, as well as The Prisoner (Blue Note), Sextant (Columbia) and with trumpeter Eddie Henderson's spinoff group on Capricorn and Blue Note. Over a five-year period (1976-1981), Williams led numerous recording sessions for Muse, Denon, and Buddah while continuing to freelance before, during, and after that span. In the '80s, he was a member of both the Timeless All-Stars and Sphere, writing a number of compositions for the latter. Among the musicians for whom he has played from the '80s onward are Kenny Barron, Frank Morgan, Stanley Cowell, Steve Turre, Emily Remler, and Larry Coryell. ~bio by Richard S. Ginnell

Ain't Misbehavin'

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Eddie Calvert - Easy

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 31:07
Size: 71,8 MB
Art: Front

(2:24) 1. Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man
(2:52) 2. Easy To Love
(2:21) 3. Falling In Love With Love
(2:52) 4. A Little Love, A Little Kiss
(2:25) 5. Love Is The Sweetest Thing
(2:37) 6. The Man I Love
(2:45) 7. Oh Mein Papa
(2:23) 8. One Night Of Love
(2:18) 9. Taking A Chance On Love
(2:19) 10. What Is This Thing Called Love?
(2:18) 11. Why Do I Love You?
(3:28) 12. My Yiddishe Mame

Eddie Calvert, known as the man with the golden trumpet, was born in Preston, Lancashire on the 15th March 1922 as Albert Edward Calvert. As a child he was exposed to his family's love of brass band music and he learned to play many brass instruments but concentrated on the trumpet. He joined the Preston Town Silver Band at the age of 11 but the war interrupted his musical career and by the late 1940s he returned to play in various amateur brass bands, eventually moving to the professional circuit with the dance bands Geraldo and Billy Ternet.

Going solo, he appeared on TV with the Stanley Black Orchestra. He signed to the Columbia label, part of the EMI group and released an instrumental trumpet version of the German song Oh Mein Papa which had most famously been covered in English as Oh My Papa by Eddie Fisher. Calvert's instrumental easily won the chart battle in the UK and it remained at no.1 for nine weeks at the beginning of 1954.

Over a year later he was involved in another chart battle for supremacy with the song Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White and this time it was much closer with both his and a very similar trumpet version by Perez Prado reaching no.1 in the Spring of 1955. Several other hits followed including a version of Stranger In Paradise, John And Julie and Mandy, while Little Serenade was his final hit in June 1958.

When the 1960s provided no change of fortune, Calvert moved away to settle in South Africa where he lived out the remainder of his life, dying on the 7th of August 1978. By Sharon Mawer
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/eddie-calvert-mn0000793645

Easy

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Mary Foster Conklin - These Precious Days

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:31
Size: 109,4 MB
Art: Front

(3:18) 1. Summertime
(4:05) 2. Some Cats Know
(4:11) 3. Just A Little Lovin'
(5:19) 4. Come In From The Rain
(5:38) 5. Scars
(4:27) 6. Just For Now
(3:59) 7. A Little White Ship
(3:50) 8. Heart's Desire
(3:31) 9. Rainbow
(4:31) 10. Until It's Time For You To Go
(4:36) 11. September Song

Mary Foster Conklin is a New York-based singer with an eclectic approach to the choices she makes in deciding upon a repetoire for her fifth release, These Precious Days. Unafraid to step outside the nine dots, she has focussed the project on lesser-known jazz and popular compositions by predominately female songwriters. Joining Conklin are a number of top shelf New York musicians including pianist and arranger John di Martino, violinist Sara Caswell, bassist Ed Howard, drummer Vince Cherico, guitarist Guilherme Monteiro and percussionist Samuel Torres.

The session opens with "Summertime." This is not the George Gershwin classic, but rather has lyrics that are unmistakably from the pen of the Canadian poet and iconic songwriter Leonard Cohen. Conklin delivers them with panache and resonance. "Just A Little Lovin'" by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil trips along in singular fashion with Conklin covering the importance of the simple things in life message with an earthy charm. Di Martino and Caswell offer well thought out interjections.

For an interesting change of pace, the Dory and André Previn number "Just For Now" is set to a samba beat led by guitarist Guilherme Monteiro and percussionist Samuel Torres, who keep the fire stoked. Conklin covers the number with brisk proficiency and tasteful restraint. The sardonic and hip songwriter /pianist Dave Frishberg hooked up with pianist Alan Broadbent to pen "Heart's Desire." Conklin inhabits this story of love and longing without rigidity or stifling nostalgia.

The final two cuts are more recognizable compositions. The first is Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Until It's Time For You To Go" and then the Kurt Weill/Maxwell Anderson popular standard "September Song." Conklin delivers the first with a strong lyrical footing and evocative coloration. On the second, sympathetically supported by Di Martino and Caswell, she reaches out on an emotional level to deliver a rendition filled with unhurried revelation. By Pierre Giroux https://www.allaboutjazz.com/these-precious-days-mary-foster-conklin-mock-turtle-music

Personnel: Mary Foster Conklin: voice / vocals; John di Martino: piano; Sara Caswell: violin; Ed Howard: bass; Vince Cherico: drums; Guilherme Monteiro: guitar; Samuel Torres: percussion.

These Precious Days

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Ahmad Jamal - Emerald City Nights: Live At The Penthouse 1963-1964, 1965-1966

Emerald City Nights Live At The Penthouse 1963-1964 CD 1
Styles: Piano Jazz, Bop
Year: 2022
Time: 34:23
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 78,9 MB
Art: Front

(10:29) 1. Johnny One Note
( 7:20) 2. Minor AdJustments
( 6:06) 3. All Of You
(10:27) 4. Squatty Roo

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Emerald City Nights Live At The Penthouse 1963-1964 CD 2
Styles: Piano Jazz, Bop
Year: 2022
Time: 56:27
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 129,5 MB
Art: Front

(12:17) 1. Bogota
( 7:45) 2. Lollipops & Roses
( 8:16) 3. Tangerine
( 8:58) 4. Keep On Keeping On
(13:48) 5. Minor Moods
( 5:21) 6. But Not For Me

Emerald City Nights Live At The Penthouse 1963-1964 CD 1, CD 2

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Emerald City Nights Live At The Penthouse 1965-1966 CD 1, CD 2

Styles: Piano Jazz

Year: 2022
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 78:02
Size: 179,5 MB
Art: Front

(15:06) 1. I Didn’t Know What Time It Was
( 5:17) 2. Who Can I Turn To?
(10:33) 3. My First Love Song
( 9:26) 4. Feeling Good
(11:46) 5. Concern
( 5:43) 6. Like someone In Love
( 8:36) 7. Invitation
( 8:43) 8. Poinciana
( 2:47) 9. Whisper Not

Let's entertain the undisputed truth that Ahmad Jamal, all ninety-two years of him, is quite possibly the coolest cat on a warming planet and these companion double sets Emerald City Nights: Live at the Penthouse (1963-1964), and Emerald City Nights: Live at the Penthouse (1965-1966) take on a rather folklorish, must-have status.

With the blessing of His Coolness Jamal himself, Grammy-nominated producer and musical gumshoe Zev Feldman christens his new imprint, Jazz Detective, (itself a division of the Feldman-founded Deep Digs Music Group) in high, high fashion he has set as a standard with other crazy good releases by Cannonball Adderley Swingin' In Seattle Live At The Penthouse 1966-67 (Reel to Reel Recordings, 2019) and Bill Evans Some Other Time: The Lost Session From the Black Forest (Resonance Records,2016) just to name two of many.

Stunning on every possible sensory level audio, graphics, liner notes, performance both sets (a third set of recordings from the Penthouse, 1966-1968 is planed for future release) simultaneously captures Jamal and his cohorts in hot performance mode and sets them free to be heard like all greats should be: At the top of their game. Riding the frothy crest of the jazz world at the time, Jamal, along with bassist Richard Evans and drummer Chuck Lampkin (Disc 1-2 '63) and bassist Jamil Sulieman Nasser (Disc 3-4 '63) set the fires burning early. Rodgers & Hart's show tune "Johnny One Note" gets a fierce recalculation as Jamal creates off the cuff, on the spot, in synch to a whole other rascal level of show tune. This here is what live jazz, on any given moment of any night in any city or backwater, is and should be. Genius revealed. Genius shared.

Evans's romping, "Minor Adjustments" rolls from the stage with a spry and wiry minimalism too impossible (or too improbable) to describe. Let's just say cool abounds. Cool abides and Johnny Hodges's wild ranging "Squatty Roo" is a fast-paced testament to that. Evans' "Bogota" with Nassar on bass for this 3/26/64 gig, snaps and recoils making for a swaying, rhythmic adventure. Jamal throughout pulls from Art Tatum, Erroll Garner, as well as his contemporary Ramsey Lewis, whose insights into Jamal and the times they played accentuates the beautiful packaging, as do essays and analysis by Hiromi, Kenny Barron, Jon Batiste, Marshall Chess , Penthouse broadcast engineer Jim Wilke, Feldman, Aaron Diehl and others in the know.

Emerald City Nights: Live at the Penthouse (1965-1966) kicks off with another Rodgers/Hart show tune, "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" and the tune's inherent whimsy, when fused with Jamal's eccentric economy and the crackling pace of Nasser and Lampkin just skyrockets and ricochets from one end of the Penthouse to another. Hold tight as drummer Vernel Fournier engages in some playful wrangling to wrest control from Jamal on the pianist's own "Concern." Frank Gant picks up the drums and sets that soul/exotic hit single pace of "Poinciana," assuring Emerald City Nights: Live at the Penthouse (1965-1966) is indeed as worthy and exciting a set as the earlier 63-64 set and promises greater heights for all future releases. By Mike Jurkovic
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/emerald-city-nights-live-at-the-penthouse-1963-1964-emerald-city-nights-live-at-the-penthouse-1965-1966

Personnel: Ahmad Jamal: piano; Jamil Nasser: bass; Chuck Lampkin: drums; Richard Evans: bass .

R.I.P.
Born Jul 2, 1930
Died April 16, 2023

Emerald City Nights: Live At The Penthouse 1965-1966 Cd 1, Cd 2

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Buster Williams - Joined At The Hip

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop 
Year: 2002
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:46
Size: 124,1 MB
Art: Front

(5:55)  1. Yardbird Suite
(5:54)  2. Joined At The Hip
(7:53)  3. Scrapple From The Apple
(3:12)  4. Magic Samba
(6:26)  5. What Is This Thing Called Love/Hot House
(5:19)  6. Leo
(5:13)  7. Moose The Mooche
(8:02)  8. Francis Dances
(4:48)  9. Relaxin At Camarillo

Buster Williams’ latest combo session, Joined at the Hip (TCB) is further evidence of his firm anchoring skill and tasteful, hornlike solos. It also reveals his disdain for the limelight, generously granting more stretch-out room to his colleagues-in this case, alto saxophonist Steve Wilson, pianist Carlos McKinney and drummer Ali Muhammad Jackson Jr. Since it evolved into a tribute to Charlie Parker, Wilson gets the Bird’s share of solo space and proves to be an outstanding descendant of Parker. The concept can be an ear-opener for the unhip: The quartet reveals the origin of “What Is This Thing Called Love?” when Wilson follows that melody with the Parker line from “Hot House.” More instructive is “Scrapple From the Apple.” No mere juxtaposition: McKinney plays “Honeysuckle Rose” straight while Wilson jauntily overlays the bop line as Williams and Jackson add a mild Latin accent. This is Wilson’s moment to shine, but you can’t take your ears off Williams’ growling walk, bent tones and impeccable intonation. https://jazztimes.com/reviews/bassology/buster-williams-quartet-joined-at-the-hip/

Personnel: Buster Williams (bass); Steve Wilson (soprano saxophone, alto saxophone); Carlos McKinney (piano); Ali Muhammad Jackson, Jr. (drums).

Joined At The Hip

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Ginger Baker - Unseen Rain

Styles: Jazz Fusion
Year: 1992
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:54
Size: 99,6 MB
Art: Front

(5:51) 1. Rain and the Rhinoceros
(5:09) 2. Worlds Within Worlds
(5:18) 3. Open Secret
(5:59) 4. The Great Festival of Destruction
(5:36) 5. The Time of no Room
(4:22) 6. The Sign
(5:17) 7. Mirror of Steel
(5:19) 8. To Each His Darkness

This is an instrumental trio album with drummer Ginger Baker as leader and also featuring bassist Jonas Hellborg and pianist Jens Johansson. Baker is characteristically busy at the drum kit, but the three play off each other well, creating what is in essence a free-form jazz date. By William Ruhlmann
https://www.allmusic.com/album/unseen-rain-mw0000095174

Unseen Rain

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David Hazeltine Trio - Live In Cologne

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:06
Size: 122,1 MB
Art: Front

( 9:22) 1. Midnight Waltz
( 7:51) 2. Blues for Eddie
( 8:17) 3. I Wish I Knew
( 9:55) 4. My Ship
(10:08) 5. Ask Me Now
( 7:31) 6. Pearls

Biography

David Hazeltine is one of a handful of contemporary pianists who has mastered all of the major musical skills, from improvisation and technique, to accompaniment, arranging, and composition. Even more impressive, David is the rare artist able to innovate in each category. Thus it’s no surprise that he’s the most recorded contemporary jazz pianist of our time, having recorded thirty five cd’s as a leader and hundreds more as a sideman, on various major labels globally. A Milwaukee native, David was playing the clubs as a preteen, and before he’d even come of age he was already grabbing the attention and respect of jazz legends like Sonny Stitt, and Chet Baker. They urged him to make the move to New York City, which he did in 1992.

Beautifully complex and memorable

The mark of a true artist, David’s style appeals to a wide range of musical tastes and levels of sophistication. His melodies and harmonies are beautifully complex and memorable. As a composer and instrumentalist, he has developed a signature style that is readily recognizable. His cooperative group “One For All” featuring tenor great Eric Alexander, has attained critical acclaim with their impressive 16 cd discography, and live concerts worldwide including appearances at the North Sea Jazz Festival and the Newport Jazz Festival.

Hazeltine is one of the most sought after pianists today. He has worked with some of the world’s most respected jazz legends including James Moody, Eddie Harris, Jon Faddis, Joe Henderson, Pepper Adams, Jon Hendricks, and Marlena Shaw. David is known for taking a familiar or unexpected song and making it new, making it his own. He effortlessly transfers this skill from song to stage. Whether he’s composing or interpreting, accompanying or leading, you are certain to end the set remembering the sounds of David Hazeltine.

Carrying the art forward

A brilliant teacher, David is also determined to carry the art forward to the next generation. Formerly an Associate Professor at Berklee, he currently teaches at SUNY-Purchase in New York. David is also a highly skilled clinician, and has served on the Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Camp faculty for the past 15 years. His teaching has had a major impact on many of today’s young professional pianists including Ben Markley, who published his doctorate “The David Hazeltine Method” based on his lessons with Mr. Hazeltine. Hal Leonard has published the new “Real Book - Enhanced Edition”, featuring David’s own re-harmonizations of 200 well known standards. Lessons from David are also available on his online workshops; check out his sessions on harmony at www.jazzpianomastery.com, and on the essentials of bebop at www.mymusicmasterclass.com.
https://www.davidhazeltine.com/biography

Live In Cologne

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Wayne Escoffery - The Humble Warrior

Styles: Saxophone Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:10
Size: 145,6 MB
Art: Front

(6:46) 1. Chain Gang
(9:31) 2. Kyrie
(7:22) 3. Sanctus
(5:05) 4. Benedictus
(0:53) 5. Sanctus (Reprise)
(8:54) 6. The Humble Warrior
(7:00) 7. Quarter Moon
(6:34) 8. Undefined
(5:17) 9. AKA Reggie
(5:44) 10. Back to Square One

Saxophonist Wayne Escoffery is renowned for his fiery, muscular and virtuosic tenor playing, but his explosive sound is paired with a soft-spoken and thoughtful demeanor off the bandstand. In many cases both of those aspects of his personality can be credited to the same inspirations, giants of the music who paired estimable talents and imagination with rock-solid integrity.

On his latest album, The Humble Warrior, Escoffery pays homage to those figures with his most ambitious and wide-ranging set to date. While Escoffery himself strives to represents the tenets of a Humble Warrior, it would be easy for him to act otherwise given his stand-out career and ample accolades. A Grammy Award and DownBeat Critics Poll winner, he has performed with a who’s who of jazz including Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Abdullah Ibrahim, Al Foster, Billy Hart, Eddie Henderson, Wallace Roney and others. He has been a member of the Mingus Dynasty, Big Band and Orchestra since 2000 and toured and recorded with Tom Harrell for over a decade. In addition to his Quartet, Escoffery co-leads the Black Art Jazz Collective along with other leading voices of his generation and the next.

The Humble Warrior marks Escoffery’s leader debut for Smoke Sessions Records, where he’s previously recorded with the trombonist Steve Davis. The album features the return of Escoffery’s stellar quartet featuring pianist David Kikoski, bassist Ugonna Okegwo and drummer Ralph Peterson. Trumpet great Randy Brecker and guitarist David Gilmore supplement the band for Escoffery’s breathtaking arrangement of several parts of Benjamin Britten’s Missa Brevis in D. Vaughn Escoffery, Wayne’s son, also makes a powerful debut on the Benedictus.

“We lost a lot of really great musicians in 2018 and 2019,” he says. “People like Roy Hargrove, Harold Mabern, Larry Willis, Richard Wyands, Lawrence Leathers, and, most recently, Jimmy Heath. I would describe all of those musicians as “Humble Warriors.” I have a lot of admiration and respect for them; they were all great warriors of the music but always allowed the music to keep them humble. They all exemplified the utmost humility and integrity despite their superior abilities. I hope to maintain those same traits in my musical endeavors.”
https://smokesessionsrecords.com/shop/albums/the-humble-warrior/

Personnel: Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Wayne Escoffery; Guitar – David Gilmore (tracks: 3,4,5); Piano – David Kikoski; Acoustic Bass – Ugonna Okegwo; Co-producer – Damon Smith (6), Paul Stache; Drums – Ralph Peterson; Trumpet – Randy Brecker (tracks: 3,4,5,6); Vocals – Vaughn Escoffery (tracks: 5)

The Humble Warrior

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Vicki Burns - Siren Song

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:22
Size: 125,1 MB
Art: Front

(4:30) 1. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
(4:31) 2. How Am I to Know
(2:56) 3. Autumn Leaves
(5:26) 4. You're My Thrill
(5:18) 5. So What
(7:29) 6. Siren Song
(4:14) 7. Contemplation The Ancestors
(5:00) 8. I Got It Bad
(4:11) 9. You Are My Sunshine
(5:14) 10. Late Again Heres Looking at You
(5:28) 11. Witchcraft

Vicki Burns is a jazz singer who has been delighting audiences in the Bay Area for the past ten years. A vocalist with impeccable taste, a sure sense of rhythm and a glorious tone, she infuses each song with heartfelt expression, digging into the lyrics and melody for their richest interpretation. No wonder the great jazz drummer; Max Roach once described Vicki's singing as 'a gold mine'! Others have variously described Vicki's vocals as 'spectacular, yet soothing' and 'smooth as silk'.

Originally from New England, she brings her unique song styling to clubs, concerts and special events throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Some of Vicki's past performing highlights include: singing with the great jazz drummer, Alan Dawson, for the Martin Luther King Jr. 'Journey into a Dream' Concert series in Boston in 1986 and opening for Billy Taylor and Max Roach the same year in the 'Bright Moments' Concert series in Amherst, MA. She performed regularly at these prominent Boston area jazz clubs throughout the 80's: Ryles, 1369 Club, the Starlight Roof and the Turtle Café.

In 1985 she was featured on 'Music America', a syndicated WGBH broadcast hosted by Ron D'Ella Chiesa. Since moving to the Bay Area in 1989, Vicki has performed at Garden City in San Jose, The San Jose Museum of Art's 'Women in Jazz' series, in a featured spot in the San Jose Jazz Festival in 1993, The Great American Music Hall with the Oakland Jazz Choir in 1996, Kimball's East in 1996 with Madeline Eastman and the Oakland Jazz Choir and 'The Jazz and All That' Festival on the Fillmore in July of 1996. From June to October of 1998, Vicki was featured at Sweet Jimmie's, a legendary jazz and blues club in Oakland, CA.

In 1999, she performed regularly at Dillard's, also in Oakland. Currently, Vicki sings at Anna's in Berkeley, CA and at Hotel Donatello, Bistro Yoffi, the Cosmopolitan Cafe and L'Amour Dans Le Four in San Francisco. Siren Song is Burns' first CD,which features original music, lyrics and arrangements of both familiar and unusual standards. It is produced by Vicki and the acclaimed flugal hornist, Dmitri Matheny, who also arranges some of the material. Dmitri describes Vicki's voice as a ' wonderful, rich instrument' and says that it was a 'pleasure to work with her on this project'. Jazz critic Dan Ouelette says of Vicki's debut recording that she 'succeeds with rapturous, mystical beauty
https://www.amazon.ca/Siren-Song-Vicki-Burns/dp/B000BKP5NQ

Siren Song

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Nick Finzer - Dreams Visions Illusions

Styles: Trombone Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:06
Size: 139,1 MB
Art: Front

(5:01) 1. To Dream a Bigger Dream
(5:52) 2. Aspirations and Convictions
(2:06) 3. Intro To Follow Your Heart
(4:33) 4. Follow Your Heart
(7:26) 5. I Thought I Took The Road Less Traveled
(6:52) 6. But I Did What They Said
(6:43) 7. To The "Top"
(5:07) 8. Visions or Mirage
(8:36) 9. Waking Up
(3:47) 10. Now, Then and When

Nick Finzer returns with 10 challenging original compositions on Dreams, Visions, Illusions, made possible with support from Chamber Music America’s New Jazz Works program.

The trombonist, band leader and composer kept busy during the pandemic by composing an album which is on par with 2019’s stellar Cast of Characters. On this album, Finzer engages his own usual cast of characters Alex Wintz on guitar, Lucas Pino on bass clarinet and tenor sax, Jimmy Macbride on the drums, Dave Baron on bass, and Glenn Zaleski on piano.

Their collaborations on Dreams, Visions, Illusions sound like the work of a band that has been playing together forever. (In reality, it’s been more than 10 years.) Each of its three segments is a powerful statement which adds to the cohesiveness of the project.

The Dreams section starts with “To Dream a Bigger Dream,” which finds Finzer’s trombone and Pino’s tenor taking impressive turns. The main theme is supported by the energetic rhythm backing of Macbride and Baron. The album is at cruising speed by the time we get to the ballad “Aspirations and Convictions,” which continues the Dreams theme and contains a gorgeous bass solo by Dave Baron and delicate ride cymbal work from MacBride.

“Follow Your Heart” ends the first portion of the album with renewed vigor. Glenn Zaleski attacks the piano while Nick Finzer and Pino provide melodic leads, before Finzer steps out with an outstanding solo. Wintz and Zaleski also get to shine in their respective solo sections.

The middle segment of Dreams, Visions, Illusions features the dynamic “I Thought I Took the Road Less Traveled.” The song is expansive, with a mystical charm created by the interaction of Nick Finzer’s trombone lines with Lucas Pino. Alex Wintz’s clean tones and evocative style are featured in the middle of this shuffle, as the rhythm section builds the tension before Finzer settles the matter with his solo.

The near-epic “Waking Up” is the climax of the final section, Illusions. The song features a nuanced trombone and bass opening, which builds in power. Pino quickly enters the melodic stew and Zaleski offers fine piano riffs which dance confidently with Wintz’s guitar. Pino offers a fine bass clarinet section to change the sonic texture of the track, while Jimmy Macbride gets to stretch at the climax.

“Waking Up” would have been a great ending to this LP but there’s more, as “Now, Then and When” provides icing on top of this already delicious cake. Recorded in just one day in July 2022, Dreams, Visions, Illusions is on my must-have list for the year. It’s available via Bandcamp and at nickfinzermusic.com.
https://somethingelsereviews.com/2023/04/11/nick-finzer-dreams-visions-illusions/

Dreams Visions Illusions

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Scott Hamilton - At PizzaExpress Live - In London 2023

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 91:24
Size: 216,3 MB
Art: Front

( 8:52) 1. The Breeze & I
( 9:22) 2. Black Velvet
(12:47) 3. Poinciana
(12:19) 4. Blue 'n' Boogie
(11:30) 5. The Girl From Ipanema
( 5:14) 6. Pure Imagination
( 7:29) 7. The Summer Wind
(10:19) 8. The More I See You
(13:28) 9. Tin Tin Deo

Marking 40 years since his first appearance at PizzaExpress Live in London, the revered US saxophonist Scott Hamilton is to release a new live album, the first release on the newly formed PizzaExpress label PX Records.

Having appeared at the club in Dean Street, Soho, across six different decades, Hamilton is very much part of the fabric of PizzaExpress Live and this new live album, which features Scott's UK-based quartet of John Pearce (piano), Dave Green (bass) and Steve Brown (drums), captures a 7-track set featuring an array of classic standards including The Girl From Ipanema and Pure Imagination.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/PizzaExpress-Live-Scott-Hamilton-Quartet/dp/B0BXHKTQFV

Personnel: Scott Hamilton (saxophone), John Pearce (piano), Dave Green (bass) and n Steve Brow(drums)

At PizzaExpress Live - In London

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Sue Matthews - Love Dances

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1991
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:51
Size: 131,0 MB
Art: Front

(5:58) 1. Love Dance
(5:48) 2. Detour Ahead
(6:41) 3. I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues
(3:17) 4. Easy To Love
(2:53) 5. The Can´t Take That Away From Me
(6:22) 6. How Long Has This Been Going On?
(3:46) 7. Make Me Rainbows
(3:45) 8. With Every Breath I Take
(3:36) 9. I Thought About You
(3:19) 10. Where Or When
(1:47) 11. There Ought To Be A Moonlight Saving Time
(4:28) 12. My Funny Valentine
(5:05) 13. Our Love Is Here To Say

Product Description:
Love Dances is a baker's dozen of some of the most seductive and stylish love songs you'll ever hear. From Lins, Porter, Gershwin, Van Heusen and the team of Rogers and Hart come many of the best jazz standards ever penned. Matthew's intimate delivery of these favorites is backed by a superb rhythm section headed by pianist Stefan Scaggiari (Corcord Jazz) whose arrangements are wisely sparse allowing Sue to showcase her extraordinary style. Scaggiari's sensitivity follows and anticipates Sue's every interpretive nuance. String bassist, Keter Betts (Ella Fitzgerald) sets the mood, enhancing Matthews' subtlety throughout the album. Guitarist, Steve Abshire and drummer Mike Smith round out this first rate quartet, creating the gentle acoustic sound that characterizes LOVE DANCES.

Review:
Matthews'version of "Love Dance"is the sensual invitation to romance Lins intended. Sue Matthews is definitely a jazz singer. She has a soft, intimate voice and definitely sounds involved in everything she sings. She brings a torchy aspect to world-weary pieces like "Detour Ahead" and sings more innocent songs like "How Long Has This Been Going On?" with a wide-eved sense of wonder. She has an excellent sense of dynamics knowing just when to come down hard on the climax of a song as on "Where Or When" and a stomping "I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues". Her backing musicians are on the money as well. Stefan Scaggiari and Steve Abshire back her moods with great sensitivity. Scaggiari tossing out sly blues comments here and there and Abshire kicking out like Les Paul on "Moonlight Savings Time". Keter Betts, who has stints with Dinah Washington and Ella Fitzgerald behind him, also shows he still knows how to back good singers and gets his moment on a hushed vocal-bass duet! By Jerome Wison, Cadence Magazine

About the Artist:
With a voice described as "silky smooth, honey-toned", "expressive" and "smoky", Sue Matthews caresses the jazz standard. Becoming a favorite among jazz lovers, her debut album, Love Dances, and her second release, When You're Around, have brought this talented performer worldwide recognition and critical acclaim. Both albums have received national and international radio play, achieving the "Top 20" berth on the Gavin and R&R Jazz Charts. Her repertiore of jazz standards, contemporary "pop jazz", sultry blues and the classic"torch" are delivered with ease, humor and intectious vitality.
Band Members: Sue Matthews, vocals; Stefan Scaggiari, piano; Keter Betts, bass; Steve Abshire, guitar; Mike Smith, drums.
https://www.amazon.com/Love-Dances-Sue-Matthews/dp/B000000JZ0

Love Dances

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Count Basie and His Orchestra - April in Paris

Styles: Piano Jazz, Big Band
Year: 1955
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:02
Size: 159,0 MB
Art: Front

(3:51) 1. April in Paris
(5:18) 2. Corner Pocket
(4:46) 3. Didn't You?
(4:01) 4. Sweetie Cakes
(3:09) 5. Magic
(5:17) 6. Shiny Stockings
(3:24) 7. What Am I Here For?
(3:16) 8. Midgets
(3:26) 9. Mambo Inn
(3:17) 10. Dinner with Friends
(3:55) 11. April In Paris (Alternate Take)
(5:07) 12. Corner Pocket (Alternate Take)
(4:58) 13. Didn't You? (Alternate Take)
(3:50) 14. Magic (Alternate Take 1)
(3:55) 15. Magic (Alternate Take 2)
(4:12) 16. What Am I Here For? (Alternate Take)
(3:11) 17. Midgets (Alternate Take)

One of the staples in the Count Basie discography, April in Paris is one of those rare albums that makes its mark as an almost instant classic in the jazz pantheon. April in Paris represents the reassembly of the original Count Basie orchestra that define swing in the 1930s and 1940s. The title track has come to define elegance in orchestral jazz.

Though only ten tracks in its original release, seven alternate takes have now been incorporated into Verve's re-release of the original session tapes. Other key tracks include "Corner Pocket" and "Magic," both of which are also featured in the alternate takes. Recorded in 1955 and 1956, April in Paris proved Count Basie's ability to grow through modern jazz changes while keeping the traditional jazz orchestra vital and alive. By Christopher Fielder https://www.allmusic.com/album/april-in-paris-mw0000191459

Personnel: Count Basie - piano; Wendell Culley (tracks 1-7 & 9–16), Reunald Jones (tracks 1-7 & 9–16), Thad Jones (tracks 1-7 & 9–16), Joe Newman - trumpet; Henry Coker, Bill Hughes, Benny Powell - trombone (tracks 1-7 & 9–16); Marshall Royal - alto saxophone, clarinet (tracks 1-7 & 9–16); Bill Graham - alto saxophone (tracks 1-7 & 9–16); Frank Wess - alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute, clarinet; Frank Foster - tenor saxophone, clarinet (tracks 1-7 & 9–16); Charlie Fowlkes - baritone saxophone, bass clarinet (tracks 1-7 & 9–16); Freddie Green - guitar; Eddie Jones - bass; Sonny Payne - drums; José Mangual, Sr., Ubaldo Nieto - percussion (track 9); William "Wild Bill" Davis (tracks 1 & 11), Neal Hefti (track 10), Frank Foster (tracks 3, 6, 7, 9, 13 & 16), Joe Newman (tracks 8 & 17), Ernie Wilkins (track 2, 4, 12) - arranger

April in Paris

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Wayne Escoffery - Like Minds

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:33
Size: 134,2 MB
Art: Front

(6:02) 1. Like Minds
(7:48) 2. Nostalgia in Times Square
(7:26) 3. Sincerely Yours
(7:55) 4. My Truth
(6:38) 5. Rivers of Babylon
(4:57) 6. Song of Serenity
(4:07) 7. Treasure Lane
(6:29) 8. Idle Moments
(6:08) 9. Shuffle

Like Minds, the latest album from saxophonist Wayne Escoffery, focuses on chemistry particularly the chemistry between old friends and bandmates who’ve played together so often their interplay is beyond telepathic. To that end, Escoffery uses his regular bandmates keyboardist David Kikoski, bassist Ugonna Okegwo, and drummer Mark Whitfield, Jr., replacing his late teacher Ralph Peterson, Jr. as the backbone. While this configuration has been a band for only about seven years or so, Escoffery has played with them in so many other contexts they sound like longtime soulmates. The quartet is joined by other Escoffery compadres from across his career, including trumpeter Tom Harrell, guitarist Mike Moreno, and singer Gregory Porter, all of whom grok Escoffery’s vibe well.

None of this is surprising, mind you even if you’re not familiar with the saxist himself, Escoffery’s position as co-director of the Mingus Big Band proves he knows how to lead the troops. In that respect, he takes them to fields of smooth hard bop (“Sincerely Yours”), mystical spirit jazz (Peterson’s “Song of Serenity”), soulful social commentary (“My Truth,” co-starring Porter and Harrell), smoky balladry (Duke Pearson’s “Idle Moments,” made famous by guitarist Grant Green), and funky bop fusion (Charles Mingus’s “Nostalgia in Times Square”). If that sounds too disparate, it ain’t – the tight arrangements, easy chemistry, and Escoffery’s warm tone make every song sound of a piece with the rest. Always smooth but rarely slick, Like Minds goes down like a great big bowl of spicy pho. By Michael Toland
https://bigtakeover.com/recordings/wayne-escoffery-like-minds-sm

Personnel: Wayne Escoffery - saxophone, tenor; David Kikoski - piano; Ugonna Okegwo - bass; Mark Whitfield Jr - drums; Gregory Porter - voice / vocals; Tom Harrell - trumpet; Mike Moreno - guitar

Like Minds

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Natalie Cole - Still Unforgettable

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:13
Size: 126.4 MB
Styles: Contemporary jazz vocals
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[2:55] 1. Walkin' My Baby Back Home [duet With Nat King Cole]
[3:09] 2. Come Rain Or Come Shine
[2:26] 3. Coffee Time
[4:40] 4. Somewhere Along The Way
[5:22] 5. You Go To My Head
[3:29] 6. Nice 'n' Easy
[4:00] 7. Why Don't You Do Right
[6:01] 8. Here's That Rainy Day
[3:51] 9. But Beautiful
[5:49] 10. Lollipops And Roses
[4:02] 11. The Best Is Yet To Come
[2:48] 12. Something's Gotta Give
[3:07] 13. Until The Real Thing Comes Along
[3:26] 14. It's All Right With Me

Natalie Cole's liner notes for Still Unforgettable make it sound like the Great American Songbook had been collecting dust on her shelf since 1991, when she recorded Unforgettable, the album that shot her into the mainstream. (She had been releasing Top Ten R&B albums since 1975, but Unforgettable was something else, a cultural phenomenon that inspired a Saturday Night Live skit.) Still Unforgettable features another duet with father, "Walkin' My Baby Back Home," but its make-up isn't that much different from albums like Take a Look (1993), Stardust (1996), or Ask a Woman Who Knows (2002). While she has been reinterpreting classics on and off for nearly two decades now, she can't be faulted for phoning it in; in fact, she seems to be having more fun with the songbook than before. If you're keeping score at home, Nat King Cole was 32 when he recorded "Walkin' My Baby Back Home"; Natalie was in her late 50s when she recorded the duet with her father's vocals which would, for the sake of the song here, make her old enough to be her father's mother. By Andy Kellman

Still Unforgettable

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