What are you listening to and WHY might anyone be interested? (Vol. XIII)
Posted by: Richard Dane on 01 January 2017
2017 has arrived today, so time to start this thread afresh.
Last year's thread can be found here;
John Hicks: Something to live for
John Hicks and Billy Strayhorn prove to be an ideal match on this outstanding High Note release, Something to Live For: A Billy Strayhorn Songbook. For years Hicks has enjoyed a reputation as one of the finest and most versatile pianists in New York. Known mostly as an explosive, adventurous player in the mode of McCoy Tyner (check 1990s Power Trio with Elvin Jones and Cecil McBee), he shows his softer side here, tackling the lush romanticism of Strayhorn's timeless compositions with an appropriately light touch and sense of nuance.(AllMusic)
Streaming Tidal.
Frederic Chopin (1810-1849): Tatiana Shebanova (piano)
Piano Concerto No. 2 in f minor op. 21 | Andante Spianato and grande polonaise brillante op. 22 | Variations in B flat major op. 2
If you have an aversion to more moderate tempos then this will not be for you. For me it is quite fantastic and the clarity and beautiful tone that Shebanova produces is very nice. I can't wait to experience her complete Chopin which I will be going through in the near future.
A+3 | WAV
(1984 | 2011)
Why? Because this double album is a great way to start the day. This live album made from recordings of a December 1983 concert in Warsaw, the excellent Esoteric Reactive Label remaster has very good SQ and is the best digital version I've heard.
Continuing with another enjoyable album from Kenny Barron...
image: https://www.stereophile.com/si...es/headiconlarge.png
FRED KAPLAN
Kenny Barron Trio, Book of Intuition
Fred Kaplan | Apr 30, 2016
image: https://www.stereophile.com/im...00.jpg?itok=ZRpAhruE
Kenny Barron's Book of Intuition (on the revived Impulse! label) is an infectiously joyous album, bursting with riffs and vamps and sparkling chords over head-swaying melodies, some infused with a Latin tinge, others crooning with lyrical balladry, all of them propelled by a forceful forward motion, whatever the tempo.
At 72, Barron is a master pianist of unflagging energy who has always guided his own path: virtuosic without making a show of it, romantic but never sentimental, steel-fingered precise while at the same time swinging and supple.
This is his first trio album in 20 years (since Wanton Spirit, with Charlie Haden and Roy Haynes) and his first album ever with the trio—Kiyoshi Kitigawa on bass and Jonathan Blake on drums—that he's been leading in jazz clubs for the past decade.
My favorite Barron albums are his duet sessions: People Time with Stan Getz, Night and the City with Charlie Haden, The Art of Conversation with Dave Holland. He has such wide dexterity—and his grasp of harmony is total—that he can trade parts in a snap and fill in whatever gaps are left open. But the trio format and especially this working trio—Kitagawa treading the bass line, Blake klook-a-mopping the polyrhythms—leave him wide vistas of space to stretch. There's something of Ahmad Jamal's classic trio in their sound, with Blake particularly reminiscent of Vernel Fournier's percussive filigrees.
Seven of the album's 10 tracks are Barron compositions, all of them fetching. One, the final track, "Nightfall," is one of Charlie Haden's most lovely pieces. Two are by Monk—"Shuffle Boil" and "Light Blue"—and, though appealing, they're the weak links: Barron may lack the native dissonance to delve deep into Monk (just as Ella Fitzgerald was just too happy to sing the blues). Otherwise, this is a treasure.
The session—recorded and mixed by Jay Newland at Avatar Studios, mastered by Mark Wilder—has a warm, crisp sound with plenty of air and thump, though the drums are a little bit two-dimensional.
Just right for a sunny morning...
On vinyl...
Great label debut - so save record. A lady with great talent, so we will most probably hear more of her...
ANDREA MOTIS - Emotional Dance
Impulse Records
Andrea Motis (vcl, tpt) Ignasi Terraza (pno) Josep Traver (gtr) Joan Chamorro (bs) Esteve Pi (drs) Guest Artists, Joel Frahm (alt, sop) Warren Wolf (vbs) Gil Goldstein (accor) Scott Robinson (bar) Cafe Da Silva (perc)
At only 21 this is the sixth album from the vocal, trumpet at saxophone star from Barcelona. Influenced by Billie Holiday and Norah Jones in her very early days, she studied jazz under the watchful eye of Joan Chamorro at the Municipal School of Music in Sant Andreu, before being recruited by the bass man into his band of the same name while still a teenager. Such is her prowess both vocally and instrumentally that she confesses it has been difficult to decide which path to follow. For this, her first recording for the iconic Impulse label, she has decided to concentrate on her vocal performance with the occasional trumpet solo in addition for good measure.
There are fourteen tracks on offer here in the one hour plus recording time, ranging from well known standards through to new material with lyrics by the leader. The band swings when needed, but always lightly, and provides appropriate backdrop to the ballads as required. On the opener, Billie Holiday's "He's Funny That Way" the arrangement is very similar to the original with Andrea's phrasing identical to Billie's and the piano of Ignasi Terraza mirroring the Teddy Wilson accompaniment from so many years ago. " Matilda" (sung in Spanish) and "If You Give Them More Than You Can" bring out the light but sure footed qualities from a maturing voice and both benefit from the reeds of the American saxophonist Joel Frahm whose presence adds vitality to proceedings. The title cut "Emotional Dance" with it's medium tempo Bossa Nova overtones and superb diction (not always shown by this vocalist, it must be said) is an album highlight. Tackling standards such as Cole Porter's "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To" and "I Remember You" from the pen of Johnny Mercer the twenty one year old stays with a straight forward approach to the lyric where perhaps in future years she will be confident enough to stamp her own personality upon them.
Eddie Jefferson's words to "Baby Girl" are used over a backdrop of the old thirties standard "These Foolish Things" by British composers Jack Strachey and Eric Maschwitz, stands out from most of the other performances on the disc with a more free wheeling approach to both words and music. Overall this release has lot's to commend it both from the vocal point of view and the almost "New Orleans" style of the leaders trumpet. Perhaps Ms Motis , who is only one of a number of superb musicians to emerge from The Sant Andrea Jazz Band in recent years, has not quite stamped her full authority on the music as yet, although it is clear she is well on the road to doing so.
Reviewed by Jim Burlong
Big label intro for her, so a bit save...., however you can hear the talent she has, and all in all an enjoyable album...
Andrea Motis (vcl, tpt) Ignasi Terraza (pno) Josep Traver (gtr) Joan Chamorro (bs) Esteve Pi (drs) Guest Artists, Joel Frahm (alt, sop) Warren Wolf (vbs) Gil Goldstein (accor) Scott Robinson (bar) Cafe Da Silva (perc)
At only 21 this is the sixth album from the vocal, trumpet at saxophone star from Barcelona. Influenced by Billie Holiday and Norah Jones in her very early days, she studied jazz under the watchful eye of Joan Chamorro at the Municipal School of Music in Sant Andreu, before being recruited by the bass man into his band of the same name while still a teenager. Such is her prowess both vocally and instrumentally that she confesses it has been difficult to decide which path to follow. For this, her first recording for the iconic Impulse label, she has decided to concentrate on her vocal performance with the occasional trumpet solo in addition for good measure.
There are fourteen tracks on offer here in the one hour plus recording time, ranging from well known standards through to new material with lyrics by the leader. The band swings when needed, but always lightly, and provides appropriate backdrop to the ballads as required. On the opener, Billie Holiday's "He's Funny That Way" the arrangement is very similar to the original with Andrea's phrasing identical to Billie's and the piano of Ignasi Terraza mirroring the Teddy Wilson accompaniment from so many years ago. " Matilda" (sung in Spanish) and "If You Give Them More Than You Can" bring out the light but sure footed qualities from a maturing voice and both benefit from the reeds of the American saxophonist Joel Frahm whose presence adds vitality to proceedings. The title cut "Emotional Dance" with it's medium tempo Bossa Nova overtones and superb diction (not always shown by this vocalist, it must be said) is an album highlight. Tackling standards such as Cole Porter's "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To" and "I Remember You" from the pen of Johnny Mercer the twenty one year old stays with a straight forward approach to the lyric where perhaps in future years she will be confident enough to stamp her own personality upon them.
Eddie Jefferson's words to "Baby Girl" are used over a backdrop of the old thirties standard "These Foolish Things" by British composers Jack Strachey and Eric Maschwitz, stands out from most of the other performances on the disc with a more free wheeling approach to both words and music. Overall this release has lot's to commend it both from the vocal point of view and the almost "New Orleans" style of the leaders trumpet. Perhaps Ms Motis , who is only one of a number of superb musicians to emerge from The Sant Andrea Jazz Band in recent years, has not quite stamped her full authority on the music as yet, although it is clear she is well on the road to doing so.
On vinyl...
On vinyl...
Henri Texier with his very special style of music - the American Quartet this time....
Continuing the journey, subtle music
James Carter is always worth listening to:
I so enjoyed my little Scott walker session yesterday, I'm going to continue. Here he is with Sunn 0))), the album's Soused, on three sides of vinyl.
from the 1953 & '56 recording sessions with the NYP. Great, old fashioned Mozart!
The Bad Plus - Made possible.
A bit strange but nice jazz music.
this duet just worked, and beautifully so...
i have the vinyl version of "Home and Away" -- a valued recording in my collection...
.....
"One and only rebel child,
From a family, meek and mild,
My Mama seemed to know what lay in store
Despite my Sunday learning,
Towards the bad, I kept turning
'Til Mama couldn't hold me anymore"
....
enjoy
ken
Still with Scott: his most recent recording, the taut, menacing, all-instrumental soundtrack to the 2016 movie The Childhood of A Leader. On vinyl...
On CD:-
Yello - 1980-1995: The New Mix In One Go
now playing.....
Bill Frisell - When You Wish Upon a Star
Continuing on listening to some of the Frisell catalogue.....
