Search Results for "Bill Evans"

Lalo Schifrin – Black Widow (1976/2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · May 17, 2023 · Comments off

Although he is best-known for film scores like Bullitt and Enter The Dragon, prolific composer Lalo Schifrin has always maintained a side career as a jazz musician. He racked up a massive success in this field in 1976 with Black Widow, a slick instrumental excursion that combined the musical dexterity of jazz with the dance-friendly rhythms of disco. This album found Schifrin turning his skills as an arranger and keyboardist to a set of material that matched up some unlikely but effective covers with a few originals. Highlights among the covers include “Quiet Village,” which transforms the exotica classic into a slow-burning funk vamp dressed with plenty of spacey synthesizer, and “Moonglow & Theme From Picnic,” which reworks these classic film themes by giving them keyboard-driven arrangements that are gently nudged along by an insistent beat. Black Widow also spawned a dancefloor hit with Schifrin’s imaginative reworking of “Jaws,” which transformed John Williams’ spooky monster-movie theme into an ominous, percolating slice of nocturnal funk built on wah-wah guitar and Schifrin’s elegantly jazzy keyboard excursions. In terms of the original tunes, the standout is the title track, a keyboard showcase that weaves surging strings around a funky bass groove that is fleshed out with all manner of synth and electric piano shadings. The strong disco edge to the proceedings may turn off jazz purists, but Schifrin’s imaginative and stylish arrangements keep the music from succumbing to disco-beat boredom, and his expert backup band (including session stalwarts like Andy Newmark and John Tropea) attacks the material with energy and style to burn. The end result is one of the peak albums in Lalo Schifrin’s lengthy catalogue and a necessity for anyone interested in his jazz work.

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Kip Hanrahan – Beautiful Scars (2007) [Japan] SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

SACD / DSD By admin · April 30, 2023 · Comments off

Beautiful Scars was more than worth the wait. The album’s cast, is, as usual, full of all-stars: Steve Swallow, Robby Ameen, Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez, Milton Cardona, Fernando Saunders, Ron Blake, Alfredo Triff, Yosvany Terry Cabrera, Dafnis Prieto, Pedro Martinez, Bryan Carrott, and himself of course. His guest vocalists are an amazing, unlikely batch who work together in many ways: Ross, Xiomara Laugart, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Leijia Hanrahan, Lindsay Marcus. Some friends help out in various places: Billy Bang, Anthony Cox, Richie Flores, Mario Rivera, and the great guitarist Leo Nocentelli. The music is, for lack of a better word “Exotic”: here, jazz meets many Latin rhythms, meets organic breakbeats and folk musics from all over the world in this heady stew of lyrics born of raw eros, politics, spirituality, and art-poetry.

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Kimiko Kasai with Kosuke Mine Quartet – Yellow Carcass In The Blue (1971) [Japan 2007] SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

SACD / DSD By admin · April 30, 2023 · Comments off

Kimiko Kasai is a Japanese jazz singer (now – retired). Throughout her career Kimiko recorded numerous jazz albums in collaboration with some of the most renowned musicians in the jazz field, such as Billy Higgins, Gil Evans, Stan Getz, Oliver Nelson, and Herbie Hancock. “Yellow Carcass in the Blue” is considered an important album by Kimiko Kasai in which she really began to show her original qualities. At the same time, as the “double bill” credit suggests, it was also a showcase for the Kosuke Mine Quartet, which plays two tunes on their own.

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Kevin Eubanks – East West Time Line (2017) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · April 30, 2023 · Comments off

The gifted American guitarist draws out the fine lines between contemporary East and West Coast jazz with two equally emotive bands. The East Coast ensemble, featuring Nicholas Payton on trumpet and the energetic fizz of Jeff “Tain” Watts drumming, presents five Eubanks compositions ranging from the potent to the elegiac. The West Coast group, featuring saxophonist Bill Pierce as lead and Mino Cinelu on percussion, delivers five expertly reshaped covers spanning Ellington and Marvin Gaye. The East is funkier, the West more Latinate, and the playing exceptional throughout.

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Kenny Wheeler – Deer Wan (1978/2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · April 30, 2023 · Comments off

Born in Toronto in 1930 but based in England from 1952, Kenny Wheeler was by the late 1960s a highly regarded figure on the London scene, living a sort of double life – as a post-bop trumpeter and flugelhorn player inspired by Clifford Brown and Art Farmer and as a pioneering free player moving into unexplored territory alongside improvisers such as John Stevens, Evan Parker, Dave Holland and Derek Bailey.

Jazz tradition and free experimentation would intermingle in Wheeler’s palette as player and composer. As he put it, “the free stuff relaxed my conventional playing and the conventional playing gave shape to my free soloing,” and ideas discovered in improvising, especially a fondness for intervallic leaps, were subsequently deployed in his pieces. He cited Duke Ellington, Gil Evans and Stan Kenton as formative influences on his writing but also listened closely to classical and contemporary composition; Paul Hindemith was another key influence.

Melody was the core of his own writing, and he always found new ways to frame it, harmonically and rhythmically. In terms of emotional atmosphere, he found melancholy cheering. “Sad music makes me feel happy,” he said. “My favourite people in jazz are the ones who sound a bit sad. Billie Holiday, Miles Davis.” His recorded legacy includes albums now regarded as contemporary jazz classics such as Gnu High, Deer Wan, Music For Large And Small Ensembles and Angel Song.

His 1978 masterpiece Deer Wan was engineered by Jan Erik Kongshaug and finds wheeler working with top shelf musicians like Jan Garbarek (saxophone), John Abercrombie (guitar/mandolin), Dave Holland (bass), Ralph Towner (12-string guitar), and Jack DeJohnette (drums). Featuring four original smooth Wheeler compositions, three of which clock in at over 10-minutes, Deer Wan is both lyrical and romantic in all the right places.

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Kenny Burrell – Unlimited 1 (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · April 28, 2023 · Comments off

Kenny Burrell - Unlimited 1 (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz] Download

Guitarist Kenny Burrell, who isn’t generally known for hanging out with big bands, now has one of his own: the Los Angeles-based Jazz Orchestra Unlimited, for which he serves as music director on its debut album, Unlimited 1, Live at Catalina’s. While the ensemble is splendid, individually and collectively, there’s no doubt that Burrell is the star attraction. Any misgiving about that is erased by the fact that the names of orchestra members aren’t listed in the Catalina’s booklet except as soloists. Luckily, most of them have at least one chance to do so, leaving less than a handful of uncounted participants.
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Jaye P.Morgan – Just You, Just Me (1958/2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · April 12, 2023 · Comments off

Jaye P.Morgan - Just You, Just Me (1958/2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download

Jaye P. Morgan (born Mary Margaret Morgan; December 3, 1931) is a retired American popular music singer, actress, and game show panelist.
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Jay Rodriguez – Your Sound: Live at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola (2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · April 12, 2023 · Comments off

Jay Rodriguez - Your Sound: Live at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola (2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz] Download

Multiple Grammy-nominated saxophonist Jay Rodriguez celebrates his New York heritage in his multicultural approach to jazz in New York. This live recorded album transports audiences back to a New York City jazz club, like Dizzy’s, in the 1950s because of his clear dedication and passion for the preservation of jazz’s authenticity.
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Jack White – Boarding House Reach (2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · April 4, 2023 · Comments off

Jack White - Boarding House Reach (2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download

BOARDING HOUSE REACH is the new solo album from Jack White, and is a testament to the breadth of the artist’s creative power and his bold artistic ambition. This new material finds Jack White expanding his musical palate with perhaps his most ambitious work thus far, a collection of songs that are simultaneously timeless and modern. Written and conceived while holed up in a spartan apartment with literally no outside world distractions, White exclusively used the same kind of gear he had when he was 15 years old (a quarter-inch four-track tape recorder, a simple mixer, and the most basic of instrumentation). The album explores a remarkable range of sonic terrain – crunching rock ‘n’ roll, electro and hard funk, proto punk, hip hop, gospel blues, and even country – all remapped and born anew to fit White’s matchless vision and sense of restless experimentation.
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Idris Muhammad – Turn This Mutha Out (1977/2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · March 14, 2023 · Comments off

A great late 70s chapter in the career of funky drummer Idris Muhammad – moving into very different territory here than his early soul jazz with Lou Donaldson, and even his earliest solo material too! David Matthews arranged the tracks, and he’s given them a slick but soulful sound, with lots of spacey fusion elements, and a nice funky soul vibe that’s a bit similar to some of Larry Mizell’s work – stretched out in this great mix of grooves and deeper jazzier elements – even at a level that’s hipper than Matthews’ usual material from the time. Idris is at the core on percussion – and the lineup also includes Jeremy Steig on flute, Eric Gale on guitar, Randy Brecker on trumpet, and Wilbur Bascomb on bass – and titles include the seminal “Could Heaven Ever Be Like This”, plus “Cambay Bolongo”, “Tasty Cakes”, “Crab Apple”, “Moon Hymn”, and “Say What”.

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Dorothy Fields – Simply … Dino! (2020 Remaster) (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · December 11, 2022 · Comments off

Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American actor, singer and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed “The King of Cool” for his seemingly effortless charisma and self-assurance.

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Alex Tremblay – Thoughts and Images (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · November 14, 2022 · Comments off

Alex Tremblay - Thoughts and Images (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download

Born and raised in North Providence RI, Alex Tremblay found his passion in music at a young age. He came from a family of musicians which enabled him to hone his craft at a young age and would eventually lead him to further his studies at the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford, where he was a student of the schools renowned jazz department that was founded by the legendary Jazz Saxophonist/Composer, Jackie McLean.
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Cheryl Fortune – Simply Cheryl (2017) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · November 13, 2022 · Comments off

A behind the scenes industry veteran, bestselling songwriter, professional session/tour singer & vocal arranger, now steps into the spotlight with her debut solo album, „Simply Cheryl“. This new release is inspired by Cheryl’s faith and crafted as an Urban Inspirational album with R&B flavor, along the musical lines of Faith Evans and Mary J. Blige. Her music credentials are impressive as Cheryl co-wrote (For James Fortune & FIYA) such #1 hits as “Still Able,” “Live Through It,” and “I Trust You.” She also serves as the Vocal Music Director for the Grammy Award winning artist Kirk Franklin.

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Peter Gabriel – Us (Remastered) (1992/2009) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · October 15, 2022 · Comments off

Peter Gabriel admits about his 1992 sixth studio album, Us. “I think it had some of my best songs on it.” No argument here: Us subjects, like the deep funky grooves, are all killer and no filler, from the pleading divorced parent to his regressing child on “Come Talk to Me“, the matter-of-fact demystification of personal therapy in “Digging in the Dirt”, to the Biblical allusions in “Blood of Eden” inspired by Gabriel’s study of capital punishment.

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Pete Townshend, Ronnie Lane – Rough Mix (1977/2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · October 14, 2022 · Comments off

„Rough Mix“ is one of the most relaxed albums of Pete Townshend’s solo career. With this release, the Who leader leaves the thundering avalanche of his band to create a rustic pub band atmosphere. It’s a damned notable pub band to be sure (with guest performances from Charlie Watts, Eric Clapton, and Ian Stewart, to name a few) and one can only surmise how much the late (and former Small Faces member) Ronnie Lane is responsible for the offhand charm.
On „Rough Mix“, ukelele, dobro, and accordion outweigh the Les Pauls and Marshall stacks that usually attend Townshend’s music. The album’s best tunes (some of which were written and are sung by Lane himself) rely on warm, homespun invitations rather than riffs played at eardrum-shattering volume. With tunes that are by turn bucolically wistful (‘Annie’), sweeping and majestic (‘Street in the City’), and playfully grandiose (‘Misunderstood’), „Rough Mix“ is delightfully out of place in Townshend’s catalogue.

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