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21.01.2009 г.

Lonnie Liston Smith - 1998 - Transformation

Transformation finds Lonnie Liston Smith continuing to explore the smooth, overtly commercial soul-jazz direction he began in the early '80s. It has a bit more grit and invention than such albums as Magic Lady, yet it doesn't surge forward with the restless searching that distinguished his earlier masterworks. His brother Donald sings on "Space Princess" and "Transformation," but the best moments are tracks like his reworking of "A Chance for Peace (Give Peace a Chance)," which suggest that Smith still has the talent to be a true contender.

01. A Change For Peace (Give Peace a Change)
02. Nubian Nights
04. Space Princess
05. Quiet Moments
06. Angels Of The Night
07. Transformation
08. Expansions
09. Moon Beams
11. Beautiful Girl
12. A Chance For Peace (Instr.)

Link:part 1
Link:part 2

18.01.2009 г.

Jukka Eskola Quintet - 2006 - Hub Up


A beautiful tribute to the electric side of trumpeter Freddie Hubbard , done by Jukka Eskola from Five Corners Quintet, in a mode that almost beats some of Freddie's classic work for CTI! The setting here is spare and simple , trumpet from Jukka, tenor from Timo Lassey, and bass, drums, and plenty of sweet electric keys. All hitting a groove that's soulful, soaring, and filled with the new sense of invention that Hubbard brought to his work at the start of the 70s. Most of the tracks here are originals by Hubbard , "Keep Your Soul Together", "Gibraltar", "Povo", and "Love Connection" , but the set also features the well-penned original "Deli", and a version of Weldon Irvine's "Mr Clean" , a key title in the Hubbard songbook of the CTI years!

01 - Keep Your Soul Together
02 - Gibraltar
03 - Brigitte
04 - Deli
05 - Mr.Clean
06 - Povo
07 - Love Connection

Marvin Gaye - 2008 - Here My Dear EXPANDED EDITION

The year is 1978 and Marvin Gaye is fresh off a divorce from Anna Gordy, the sister of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr. MG's choice of release therapy? Chronicling the entire divorce, his feelings, and his failure at love on his out-of-print, oft-slept on album, Here, My Dear. When the album was initially released in 1978 during the height of the disco era, the LP was highly criticized for it's uncommercial sound and intensely introspective lyrics. When the LP was first re-issued in the early 90s, it debuted at #1 on the Billboard R&B charts and featured in-depth liner notes from Gaye's biographer David Ritz. Ritz wrote that Gaye was convinced that Motown would never push an album critical of the sister of company founder Berry Gordy, Jr., and did all he could to alienate the label, never giving Motown a chance to promote the album properly.

CD1
1. Here, My Dear
2. I Met A Little Girl
3. When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You
4. Anger
5. Is That Enough
6. Everybody Needs Love
7. Time To Get It Together
8. Sparrow
9. Anna's Song
10. When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You - Instrumental
11. A Funky Space Reincarnation
12. You Can Leave, But It's Going To Cost You
13. Falling In Love Again
14. When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You [Reprise]
15. Ain't It Funny (How Things Turn Around) - Alternate Mix


CD2
1. Here, My Dear - Alternate Mix
2. I Met A Little Girl - Alternate Version
3. When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You - Alternate Version
4. Anger - Alternate Extended Mix
5. Is That Enough - Instrumental
6. Everybody Needs Love - Alternate Version
7. Time To Get It Together - Alternate Extended Mix
8. Sparrow - Alternate Version
9. Anna's Song - Alternate Version
10. A Funky Space Reincarnation - Alternate Extended Mix
11. You Can Leave, But It's Going To Cost You - Alternate Extended Mix
12. Falling In Love Again - Alternate Version
13. A Funky Space Reincarnation - Instrumental

5.01.2009 г.

The Greyboy Allstars - 1995 - West Coast Boogaloo (with Fred Wesley)


In 1995, The Greyboy Allstars teamed up with reknowned funk trombonist Fred Wesley to record their first album, West Coast Boogaloo. The group then recorded a live album in 1997. Their latest release, A Town Called Earth, was issued on their own Greyboy Records label in late 1997.
The Greyboy Allstars:
Karl Denson (vocals, soprano, alto & tenor saxophones, flute)
Harold Todd (tenor saxophone, flute)
Robert Walter (electric piano, organ)
Elgin Park (guitar)
Chris Stillwell (bass)
Zak Najor (drums)
Craig Levitz (percussion.

Additional personnel:
Fred Wesley (trombone).

01 - Soul Dream
02 - Let the Music Take Your Mind
03 - Fried Grease
04 - Fire-Eater
05 - Tenor Man
06 - Miss Riverside
07 - Gravee
08 - Browns at Home

2.01.2009 г.

Supersauce - 1998 - Keep On Keepin' On


Gretchen Lieberum - vocals
Michael Cruz - bass
Alex Budman - saxophone, flute
Jordan Glasgow - keyboards
Tim Carter - drums
David Metzner - guitar

Also featured on Keep On Keepin' On:

Dustin Hengl - trumpet
Dave Scott - trumpet
Primo Navarez - percussion

Founded by bassist Michael Cruz and vocalists Gretchen Lieberum and Maya Rudolph, Supersauce formed in 1993 at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Picking up where bands like the Brand New Heavies and Incognito left off, the group achieved local stardom almost overnight. From their first gig at a Halloween house party, they immediately graduated to rocking sell out crowds at infamous Santa Cruz institution, The Catalyst. The recipe was simple -- part funk, part groove, and all party. As their theme song goes, "once you taste The Sauce, you'll never be the same."

01. Keep On Keepin' On
02. Soldier
03. EZ West
04. Walk Slowly
05. Song In C
06. M-Bomb
07. Butterfly
08. Six Bucks On The Dollar
09. Gotta Get Back
10. Mango Street

1.01.2009 г.

Christian Scott - 2006 - Rewind That


CHRISTIAN SCOTT
Rewind That
Подравняване в средата
2006
Concord Jazz 3122442

Christian Scott – Trumpet
Luques Curtis – Bass
Thomas Pridgen – Drums
Walter Smith III (except track 1) – Tenor-sax
Matt Stevens (except track 4) – Guitar
Zaccai Curtis (except track 10) – Fender Rhodes and Wurlitzer
Donald Harrison (tracks 4, 8, 10 and 11) – Alto-sax

The jazz world used to be full of tenor-saxophonists pretending to be John Coltrane. Hearing this debut album by a 22-year-old trumpeter, I begin to think we are surrounded by trumpeters who want to sound like Miles Davis. Christian Scott has the same mournful tone (sometimes sounding rather flat) and the same economy with notes – playing short phrases above ostinato patterns very much in the style of Miles Davis when he was in his jazz-rock mode. Like Miles, Christian occasionally breaks out into fierce flurries of notes but most of his playing is subdued – and sadly rather uninteresting.

Thomas Pridgen’s cracking drums reinforce the jazz-rock style, mostly using the eight-in-a-bar rhythms of fusion, and Matt Stevens’ guitar adds some abrasive commentary – which can intrude on the ear in an otherwise well-recorded album. Christian Scott wrote nine of the eleven tracks himself but they tend to retread familiar paths and have little melodic appeal, preferring to depend upon repetitive grooves. Scott’s version of Miles Davis’s So What is rather lacklustre until Donald Harrison comes in with some biting alto-sax. In fact the outstanding soloists here are not Scott but Donald Harrison and tenor-saxist Walter Smith III, who both produce shapely solos. Despite their contributions, I am unlikely to be tempted to follow the CD title’s advice and rewind this album to hear it again.

02. Say It
03. Like This
04. So What
05. Rejection
06. Lay in Vein
07. She
08. Suicide
09. Caught Up
10. Paridise Found
11. Kiel