Earl Bostic - Dance To The Best Of Bostic

Styles: Cool Jazz, Swing
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 34:58
Size: 81,9 MB
Art: Front

(2:39) 1. Flamingo
(3:20) 2. Always
(2:26) 3. Deep Purple
(2:57) 4. Smoke Rings
(2:43) 5. What, No Pearls
(2:50) 6. Jungle Drums
(2:53) 7. Serenade
(3:18) 8. I Can't Give You Anything But Love
(2:42) 9. Seven Steps
(3:01) 10. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
(3:02) 11. Don't You Do It
(3:01) 12. Steam Whistle Jump

Earl Bostic was the king of the King record label prior to the arrival of James Brown. As a disciple of Louis Jordan, Bostic's approach to the alto saxophone was a departure, straddling the line between bar walking honking and an out-and-out instrumental crooning style. This collection is a very good one in that it expresses the many types of jazz, blues and R&B Bostic embraced. And one has to remember when these tunes were recorded 1951 to 1956 years of transitions from swing and bop to race records where more sophisticated tastes were at odds with the putatively square music being presented on a new thing called television. Bostic's music, as the title suggests, was also danceable. His easy swinging big hit from 1951 "Flamingo" kicks off the set, defining smooth well before illegitimate "smooth jazz" was coined. A few jazz standards are included, with an interesting take of "Always" as Bostic comes in late, a rocking shuffle swing ideal for the normally rendered ballad "Deep Purple," a vibrato laden Bostic with shimmering vibraphone behind him during "I Cant Give You Anything but Love," and an outstanding, slow, heart melting rendition of "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You." "Steam Whistle Jump" is clearly a knock-off of "Take the 'A' Train." Where Bostic expertly excels in a manner as potent as Gene Ammons is on the soul-jazz side of things. His energetic "What, No Pearls?" is a rocking time capsule for the era, and "Seven Steps" grooves with a Latin twist. Bostic's saxophone trades quick melody snippets with guitar on the most intriguing cut of the date, the jam "Don't You Do It." Not a definitive collection, but a fine cross-section of the meatier and substantive side of Earl Bostic, with no filler or the string dominated pop style music he eventually presented.~ Michael G.Nastos https://www.allmusic.com/album/dance-to-the-best-of-earl-bostic-mw0000200856

Dance To The Best Of Bostic

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Stephan Thelen - World Dialogue

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:03
Size: 103,8 MB
Art: Front

(10:09) 1. Circular Lines
( 4:32) 2. Chaconne
(15:20) 3. World Dialogue
(15:01) 4. Silesia

Stephan Thelen's compositions for his band Sonar have a minimalist groove that clearly relates to other groups in the experimental sphere like Swiss pianist and composer Nik Bärtsch's band Ronin. These works for string quartet are not stylistically far removed from Thelen's Sonar music, but the classical chamber music context establishes them in the world occupied by composers like Steve Reich. Thelen's desire to compose for the Kronos Quartet was the driver for this album. He composed the title piece with them in mind, but they decided to commission a new piece for their Fifty for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire project. Thus the piece Circular Lines was born. Composed in 2016, it was recorded in 2017, and opens the album with relentless rhythmic propulsion that does recall Sonar's music. With its 3-against-4-against-5 polyrhythms It is also the most rhythmically challenging piece Kronos has played (which is saying something).

The composition is also full of melody, usually riding on top of the rhythmic continuum. So it is both propulsive and lyrical. After a dramatic opening gesture the music moves gracefully through a series of events. The sound is far from monolithic: there is even a bit of a breakdown at about the eight minute mark. An insistent repeated figure brings it to an exciting conclusion. Kronos violinist David Harrington encouraged the Polish, all-women Al Pari Quartet to play Circular Lines to strengthen their internal rhythmic cohesion. Impressed by their performance of it, Thelen began working with them. They went on to record World Dialogue for this album (in place of Kronos). The piece was written in 2006 when Thelen was experimenting with additive rhythms. It is indeed fascinating rhythmically, but it has a rich harmonic structure which may be even more interesting. It is unusual for a minimalist composition to have such a large amount of harmonic movement: it moves backwards through the cycle of fifths all the way from the key of G back to G—12 key changes in all.

Thelen wrote a new piece for the Al Pari Quartet called Silesia named for the region of Central Europe (located mainly in Poland) where the group lives. They asked him to base the composition on traditional Silesian music, which gives it the most traditional sound on the album. It shares his characteristic rhythmic drive, but the Eastern European material is a bit reminiscent of Béla Bartók's string quartets. The ending is especially striking: a gradual decrescendo promises the sound of an electronic fadeout, but a final dramatic gesture provides a satisfying finale. Thelen makes a stunning debut as a New Music composer here. Hopefully the Kronos Quartet's marquee appeal will help it gain the attention it deserves.~ Mark Sullivan https://www.allaboutjazz.com/world-dialogue-stephan-thelen-rarenoiserecords

Personnel: Stephan Thelen: guitar, electric; Kronos Quartet: band/orchestra; Al Pari Quartet: band/orchestra.

Additional Instrumentation: Stephan Thelen: composer; Kronos Quartet: David Harrington: violin; John Sherba: violin; Hank Dutt viola; Sunny Yang: cello. Al Pari Quartet: Marta Lucjan: violin; Alicja Miruk-Mirska: violin; Magdalena Maier: viola; Elzbieta Rychwalska: cello.

World Dialogue

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Kate Ceberano - 19 Days in New York

Styles: Jazz, Vocal, R&B
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:50
Size: 101,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:06)  1. Since I Fell for You
(2:31)  2. At Last
(5:14)  3. Seven Day Fool
(5:37)  4. Higher and Higher
(5:41)  5. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow
(3:53)  6. Wanted- Lover, No Experience Necessary
(4:48)  7. A Natural Woman
(4:03)  8. Fever
(4:25)  9. I Had A Talk with My Man
(3:28) 10. Let it Be Me

It May have Only Taken 19 Days in New York, but 1960s Chess Records Legend, Billy Davis, Has Managed to Produce an Album for Kate Ceberano that Will Leave People Begging for More. '19 Days in New York' is a Sublime Album of Classic Soul / R&B Songs, Presenting Ceberano in a Completely New Light. ~Editorial Reviews 

https://www.amazon.com/Days-New-York-Kate-Ceberano/dp/B0002W18AM

19 Days in New York

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