Bill Frisell - Have a Little Faith (1993)

Bill Frisell  - Have a Little Faith (1993)

jazz | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 330MB

Elektra/Nonesuch 7559-79301-2

Allmusic:
Bill Frisell has long been one of the most unique guitarists around. Able to switch on a moment's notice from sounding like a Nashville studio player to heavy metal, several styles of jazz, and just pure noise, Frisell can get a remarkable variety of sounds and tones out of his instrument. This set features Frisell in a quintet with Don Byron (on clarinet and bass clarinet), Guy Klucevsek on accordion, bassist Kermit Driscoll, and drummer Joey Baron. To call the repertoire wide-ranging would be an understatement. In addition to eight melodies from Aaron Copland's Billy the Kid, Frisell and company explore (and often reinvent) pieces written by Charles Ives, Bob Dylan, Muddy Waters, Madonna, Sonny Rollins, Stephen Foster, and John Phillip Sousa. This is one of the most inventive recordings of the 1990s and should delight most listeners from any genre.

Tracks
01. "The Open Prairie": from Billy the Kid (Copland) - 3:11
02. "Street Scene in a Frontier Town": from Billy the Kid (Copland) - 1:45
03. "Mexican Dance and Finale": from Billy the Kid (Copland) - 3:44
04. "Prairie Night (Card Game at Night)/Gun Battle": from Billy the Kid (Copland) - 5:02
05. "Celebration After Billy's Capture": from Billy the Kid (Copland) - 2:17
06. "Billy in Prison": from Billy the Kid (Copland) - 1:33
07. "The Open Prairie Again": from Billy the Kid (Copland) - 2:34
08. "The Saint-Gaudens in Boston Common": Excerpt 1 (Ives) - 0:41
09. "Just Like a Woman" (Dylan) - 4:49
10. "I Can't Be Satisfied" (Morganfield) (3:00)
11. "Live to Tell" (Leonard, Madonna) - 10:10
12. "The Saint-Gaudens in Boston Common": Excerpt 2 (Ives) - 3:05
13. "No Moe" (Rollins) - 2:37
14. "Washington Post March" (Sousa) - 2:05
15. "When I Fall in Love" (Heyman, Young) - 3:26
16. "Little Jenny Dow" (Foster) - 3:30
17. "Have a Little Faith in Me" (Hiatt) - 5:39
18. "Billy Boy" (Traditional) - 1:38
* Recorded at RPM Studios NYC March 1992

Personnel
* Bill Frisell – guitar
* Don Byron – clarinet, bass clarinet
* Guy Klucevsek – accordion
* Kermit Driscoll – bass
* Joey Baron – drums

 sample & buy: Have a Little Faith

 

Baby Face Willette - Face To Face (1961)

Baby Face Willette - Face To Face (1961)

jazz | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 375MB

Blue Note/EMI | RVG 2007

Allmusic:
While it's true that Baby Face Willette's Stop and Listen is widely regarded as his finest recording, this, his Blue Note debut from January of 1961, should not by any means be overlooked. After all, before this session he had the same lot as most Blue Note artists at the time; they played as sidemen on other's recordings before being allowed to headline their own dates. Willette performed on dates by Grant Green (Grant's First Stand) and Lou Donaldson (Here 'Tis). Face to Face boasts a mighty meat and potatoes soul-jazz lineup: Green on guitar, Fred Jackson on tenor, and drummer Ben Dixon. Comprised of six cuts, five of them are Willette originals. The evidence of the rough and rowdy side of Willette's playing is evident from the opener, "Swinging at Sugar Ray's." His approach to the B-3 is far more percussive than Jimmy Smith's, each note is a distinct punch; not only in his solos, but in his chord and head approaches. His solo is a nasty, knotty blues sprint that encompasses gospel licks and R&B fills, too. The other notable thing about the cut is Green's guitar break that shows a side of him we seldom got to hear early on, where he's bending strings, playing in the high register, and using intense single-note runs. It's nearly a breathless way to open a record. Things slow down on the blues "Goin' Down" that features a nice emotive solo by Jackson. The mambo-infused "Whatever Lola Wants" by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross comes next and includes some beautiful stop-and-and start moves in the melody, as well as beautiful call and response between Jackson and Willette, while Dixon's drums shift around the outside before the whole thing breaks down into a groover. The poppin' funky title track has one of those beautiful hard bop heads that's instantly memorable. Sure, it's not terribly sophisticated but it's full of soul and a relaxed yet quick group of changes before Jackson begins to blow. "Somethin' Strange" is pure blues, Chicago style, before moving into tough funky soul. The set closes with "High 'N' Low," a relaxed show-closing groove joint; it's all blues with fine contributions from Green, Jackson, and Willette. The two alternates are not necessarily revelatory, but they do keep the solid vibes happening for another 13 minutes or so. Certainly it's true that these compositions don't show a ton of imagination conceptually, but that doesn't mean anything. The group interplay here is the thing, it works seamlessly. The other notable is the looseness with which Green was playing on the date, and the true introduction of Willette's trademark approach to the B-3. That's all here. These tunes have their own little trademark knots and notches all over them. Highly recommended.

Tracks
1. "Swingin' at Sugar Ray's" - 6:35
2. "Goin' Down" - 7:24
3. "Whatever Lola Wants" (Richard Adler, Jerry Ross) - 7:21
4. "Face to Face" - 6:17
5. "Something Strange" - 6:42
6. "High 'N' Low" - 7:07
7. "Face to Face" [Alternate take] - 6:52 Bonus track on CD reissue
8. "Something Strange" [Alternate take] - 6:41 Bonus track on CD reissue
All compositions by Baby Face Willette except as indicated

Personnel
* Baby Face Willette – organ
* Grant Green – guitar
* Fred Jackson - tenor saxophone
* Ben Dixon – drums

 sample & buy: Face To Face 

Cristina Branco - Corpo Iluminado (2001)

Cristina Branco - Corpo Iluminado (2001)

world, fado | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 250MB

EmArcy 014 151-2

Allmusic:
Cristina Branco might just be the best fado singer since the great Amalia Rodrigues, the woman who defined the genre. There's a subtlety to her voice that catches the emotions -- and fado, like blues or flamenco, is about feel -- and she never becomes histrionic, letting things stay in check, with the understatement much more eloquent. With this disc she refines and expands upon her two previous studio albums, even to the extent of the unaccompanied "Molinera" that closes the record, a song in a 13th century dialect. The musical relationship between Branco and husband Custodio Castelo, who arranges and plays the difficult Portuguese guitar (which gives fado its distinctive, mournful instrumental sound), continues to grow and deepen, while the other instruments -- guitar and double bass, build a framework for songs like the delicate "Musa." As with all fado, the lyrics are the crux of the matter, and Branco has chosen some beautiful poems (all well translated in the booklet), with "Tu Tens de Me Acontecer" a particular standout. But with a set this sublime, it's almost impossible to single out any one song above the others. There's a floating, breathless beauty about the whole thing that makes it timeless -- and over all too soon.

Tracks
01 - Corpo Illuminado
02 - Meu Amor, Meu Amor (Meu Limao de Amargura)
03 - Musa
04 - Aconteceu
05 - Meu Amor e Marinheiro
06 - Memoria de Meu Bem
07 - Que Fazes ai Lisboa
08 - Portos
09 - Aquele Tao Triste Dia
10 - Locais
11 - Disse-te Adeus e Morri
12 - Mill Janelas
13 - Rio de Nuvens VIII
14 - Tu Tens de Me Acontecer
15 - No Fundo do Pensamento
16 - Molinera

 sample & buy: Corpo Iluminado 

 

Oscar Peterson - With Respect To Nat (1965)

Oscar Peterson - With Respect To Nat (1965)

jazz | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 270MB

Verve by Request 557 486-2

Allmusic:
This album is quite unusual. Recorded shortly after Nat King Cole's death, pianist Oscar Peterson takes vocals on all but one of the dozen selections, sounding almost exactly like Cole. Peterson, who rarely ever sang, is very effective on the well-rounded program, whether being backed by a big band (arranged by Manny Albam) on half of the selections or re-creating both the spirit of the Nat King Cole Trio and his own group of the late '50s during a reunion with guitarist Herb Ellis and bassist Ray Brown.

Tracks
1. "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" (Gene Austin, Jimmy McHugh, Irving Mills) – 2:18
2. "It's Only a Paper Moon" (Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg, Billy Rose) – 2:29
3. "Walkin' My Baby Back Home" (Fred E. Ahlert, Roy Turk) – 2:31
4. "Sweet Lorraine" (Cliff Burwell, Mitchell Parish) – 3:31
5. "Unforgettable" (Irving Gordon) – 2:37
6. "Little Girl" (Francis Henry, Matt Hyde) – 2:35
7. "Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good to You" (Andy Razaf, Don Redman) – 2:56
8. "Orange Colored Sky" (Milton DeLugg, William Stein) – 2:12
9. "Straighten Up and Fly Right" (Nat King Cole, Irving Mills) – 2:25
10. "Calypso Blues" (Clifford Carmen, Cole, Don George) – 3:34
11. "What Can I Say After I Say I'm Sorry?" (Walter Donaldson, Abe Lyman) – 2:39
12. "Easy Listening Blues" (Nadine Robinson) – 3:23

Personnel
* Oscar Peterson - piano, vocals
* Hank Jones - piano
* Ray Brown - double bass
* Richard Davis - double bass
* Herb Ellis - guitar
* Barry Galbraith - guitar
* Mel Lewis - drums
* Wayne Andre - trombone
* Jimmy Cleveland - trombone
* J. J. Johnson - trombone
* Tony Studd - bass trombone
* Seldon Powell - alto flute, tenor flute
* Jerome Richardson - bass flute, tenor flute
* John Frosk - trumpet
* Joe Newman - trumpet
* Ernie Royal - trumpet, flugelhorn
* Danny Stiles - trumpet, flugelhorn
* Phil Woods - alto saxophone
* Manny Albam - arranger, conductor

 sample & buy: With Respect to Nat 

 

Alice Coltrane - Universal Consciousness (1971)

Alice Coltrane - Universal Consciousness (1971)

jazz | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 270MB

Verve / Impulse! 24-bit remaster 2002

Allmusic:
Recorded between April and June of 1971, Alice Coltrane's Universal Consciousness stands as her classic work. As a testament to the articulation of her spiritual principles, Universal Consciousness stands even above World Galaxy as a recording where the medium of music, both composed and improvised, perfectly united the realms of body (in performance), speech (in the utterance of individual instrumentalists and group interplay), and mind (absolute focus) for the listener to take into her or his own experience. While many regard Universal Consciousness as a "jazz" album, it transcends even free jazz by its reliance on deeply thematic harmonic material and the closely controlled sonic dynamics in its richly hued chromatic palette. The set opens with the title track, where strings engage large washes of Coltrane's harp as Jack DeJohnette's drums careen in a spirit dance around the outer edge of the maelstrom. On first listen, the string section and the harp are in counter-dictum, moving against each other in a modal cascade of sounds, but this soon proves erroneous as Coltrane's harp actually embellishes the timbral glissandos pouring forth. Likewise, Jimmy Garrison's bass seeks to ground the proceedings to DeJohnette's singing rhythms, and finally Coltrane moves the entire engagement to another dimension with her organ. Leroy Jenkins' violin and Garrison's bottom two strings entwine one another in Ornette Coleman's transcription as Coltrane and the other strings offer a middling bridge for exploration. It's breathtaking. On "Battle at Armageddon," the violence depicted is internal; contrapuntal rhythmic impulses whirl around each other as Coltrane's organ and harp go head to head with Rashied Ali's drums. "Oh Allah" rounds out side one with a gorgeously droning, awe-inspiring modal approach to whole-tone music that enfolds itself into the lines of organic polyphony as the strings color each present theme intervalically. DeJohnette's brushwork lisps the edges and Garrison's bass underscores each chord and key change in Coltrane's constant flow of thought.
On side two, "Hare Krishna" is a chant-like piece that is birthed from minor-key ascendancy with a loping string figure transcribed by Coleman from Coltrane's composition on the organ. She lays deep in the cut, offering large shimmering chords that twirl -- eventually -- around high-register ostinatos and pedal work. It's easily the most beautiful and accessible track in the set, in that it sings with a devotion that has at its base the full complement of Coltrane's compositional palette. "Sita Ram" is a piece that echoes "Hare Krishna" in that it employs Garrison and drummer Clifford Jarvis, but replaces the strings with a tamboura player. Everything here moves very slowly, harp and organ drift into and out of one another like breath, and the rhythm section -- informed by the tamboura's drone -- lilts on Coltrane's every line. As the single-fingered lines engage the rhythm section more fully toward the end of the tune, it feels like a soloist improvising over a chanting choir. Finally, the album ends with another duet between Ali and Coltrane. Ali uses wind chimes as well as his trap kit, and what transpires between the two is an organically erected modal architecture, where texture and timbre offer the faces of varying intervals: Dynamic, improvisational logic and tonal exploration become elemental figures in an intimate yet universal conversation that has the search itself and the uncertain nature of arrival, either musically or spiritually, at its root. This ambiguity is the only way a recording like this could possibly end, with spiritual questioning and yearning in such a musically sophisticated and unpretentious way. The answers to those questions can perhaps be found in the heart of the music itself, but more than likely they can, just as they are articulated here, only be found in the recesses of the human heart. This is art of the highest order, conceived by a brilliant mind, poetically presented in exquisite collaboration by divinely inspired musicians and humbly offered as a gift to listeners. It is a true masterpiece. The CD reissue by Universal comes with a handsome Japanese-style five-by-five-inch paper sleeve with liner notes reprinted inside and devastatingly gorgeous 24-bit remastering.

Tracks
1. "Universal Consciousness" 5:06
2. "Battle at Armageddon" 7:20
3. "Oh Allah" 5:00
4. "Hare Krishna" 8:14
5. "Sita Ram" 4:47
6. "The Ankh of Amen-Ra" 6:09
Recorded at A&R Recording, New York City and/or at the Coltrane Studio, Dix Hills, New York

Personnel
* Alice Coltrane — harp, organ
* Jimmy Garrison - bass (1,3,4,5)
* Jack DeJohnette - drums (1,3,4)
* Clifford Jarvis - drums (4,5), percussion (4)
* Rashied Ali - drums (2,6), wind chimes (6)
* Tulsi - tamboura (4,5)
* John Blair, Julius Brand, Leroy Jenkins, Joan Kalisch - violin (1,3,4)

 sample & buy: Universal Consciousness

 

Dans Les Arbres - Dans Les Arbres (2006)

Dans Les Arbres - Dans Les Arbres (2006)

jazz | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 270MB

ECM

ECM info:
Guitarist Ivar Grydeland (born 1976 in Trondheim) and percussionist Ingar Zach (born 1971 in Oslo) have worked together since 1998. Both are innovative and adaptive players, exponents of extended technique, musicians who’ve modified their instruments to meet the needs of the music. In 2000 they co-founded the record label SOFA providing a platform for improvised/intuitive music and, often, bringing improvisers from Norway together with players from around the globe. Collaborators have included Evan Parker, Derek Bailey, Barry Guy, Philipp Wachsmann, Tony Oxley, Jim O’Rourke, Phil Minton, Susie Ibarra and dozens more. Several of these have worked also with the large ensemble No Spaghetti Edition (NSE), of which Zach and Grydeland are core members.
Clarinettist Xavier Charles (born in France 1963) and Christian Wallumrød (born 1971) have both performed and recorded with the NSE. Wallumrød first collaborated with the Zach/Grydeland duo in 2003: they had approached him after hearing the ECM release “Sofienberg Variations”, feeling there was common ground to be investigated. In 2004 what would become the Dans les arbres quartet convened for the first time. In 2006, all four musicians recorded together on NSE’s “Sketches of a Fusion” album a project that underlined, for all participants, the potential of further collaborative work. In July of that year Charles, Grydeland, Wallumrød and Zach recorded “Dans les arbres”, the album, at the Festiviteten gallery in Eidsvoll, Norway.

Tracks
1. La Somnolence
2. L'Indifférence
3. Le Flegme
4. L'Engourdissement
5. Le Détachment
6. La Froideur
7. L'Assoupissement
8. La Rettenue.

Personnel
* Xavier Charles: clarinet, harmonica
* Ivar Grydeland: acoustic guitar, banjo, sruti box
* Christian Wallumrød: piano
* Ingar Zach: percussion, bass drum.

 sample & buy: Dans Les Arbres

 

Elvin Jones - Elvin! (1962)

Elvin Jones - Elvin! (1962)

jazz | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 250MB

OJC

Allmusic:
Drummer Elvin Jones' first full-length album as a leader (reissued on CD in the OJC series) is different than one would expect when it is taken into consideration that he was a member of the fiery John Coltrane Quartet at the time. This sextet session, which also includes his brothers Thad and Hank on cornet and piano in addition to flutist Frank Wess, Frank Foster on tenor, and bassist Art Davis, is straight-ahead with a strong Count Basie feel. Jones is still recognizable on the fairly obscure material (only "You Are Too Beautiful" qualifies as a standard) and shows that he can cook in the fairly conventional setting. All of the musicians are in fine form, and two selections feature the rhythm section as a trio.

Tracks
-1. "Lady Luck" (Jones, Frank Wess) - 6:19
-2. "Buzz-At" - 6:31
-3. "Shadowland" (Sara Cassey) - 4:06
-4. "Pretty Brown" (Ernie Wilkins) - 3:30
-5. "Ray-El" - 8:03
-6. "Four and Six" (Oliver Nelson) - 5:01
-7. "You Are Too Beautiful" (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) - 4:20
All compositions by Elvin Jones except as indicated

Personnel
Elvin Jones - drums
Thad Jones - cornet (tracks 1-3, 5 & 7)
Frank Wess - flute (tracks 1-3, 5 & 7)
Frank Foster - tenor saxophone (tracks 1-3 & 5)
Hank Jones - piano
Art Davis - bass

 sample & buy: Elvin