Sonny Sharrock Trio - Dance With Me Montana

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2019
Time: 70:03
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 161,2 MB
Art: Front

( 4:00) 1. Dick Dogs
(10:09) 2. Dance With Me Montana
( 5:10) 3. Slow Drag
( 4:22) 4. Marpasa Dawn / Song to Chester
( 2:42) 5. 74–75
( 8:45) 6. She’s Only Fourteen
( 5:19) 7. Purple, Blue, Green and Yellow
( 2:48) 8. 74–75 (alt.)
( 4:20) 9. Marpasa Down / Song to Chester (alt.)
( 6:46) 10. Slow Drag (alt.)
(11:44) 11. Dance With Me Montana (alt.)
( 3:51) 12. Dick Dogs (alt.)

The main point of interest of this album is its session date. Recorded in 1982, this is one of the very few documents of the late Sonny Sharrock's playing between his classic work with Pharoah Sanders and Don Cherry as well as on his own and his re-emergence with Last Exit in 1985.

Bill Laswell had already utilized his talents on Material's Memory Serves release from the prior year, but here is Sharrock in a simple trio, playing several of the pieces that would become part of his stock repertoire for the remainder of his career. Unfortunately, his bandmates aren't very inspiring and the entire affair is thinly recorded, making this a less-than-rewarding pickup.

One can attempt to mentally divorce Sharrock's sound from his surroundings, but even so, he's more workmanlike than ecstatic here and the listener can only scrape together the faintest clues of just how great a guitarist he could be. Even his "Dick Dogs," normally a guaranteed roof-raiser, is dragged down here by some astonishingly leaden drumming, though it also provides some of the leader's best work on the date.

Serious students of Sharrock's style will probably want to have this if only to provide a link between his earlier and later playing, but there are many better places to hear his unique genius. Additional warning: This album also contains, arguably, one of the very worst covers in the history of recordings. Be afraid. By Brian Olewnick https://www.allmusic.com/album/dance-with-me-montana-mw0000453199#review

Dance With Me Montana

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Ken Peplowski Quartet - Lost In The Stars

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 66:06
Size: 151.3 MB
Styles: Bop, Saxophone jazz
Year: 2002
Art: Front

[8:07] 1. If This Isn't Love
[6:34] 2. Why Do I Love You
[4:20] 3. Ataraxi
[6:25] 4. My Ship
[4:29] 5. Ballad For Very Tired And Very Sad Lotus Eaters
[7:14] 6. People Will Say We're In Love
[3:59] 7. Marchons
[4:49] 8. Lament
[7:45] 9. Good Morning Heartache
[5:52] 10. Sleep
[4:23] 11. Lost In The Stars/When You Wish Upon A Star
[2:03] 12. Piece #8 From Benny's Gig

Lost in the Stars sounds like the title of a romantic mood music album, and in fact, parts of this 2001 session are romantic and sentimental. But other parts are up-tempo, exuberant, and hard-swinging. So listeners shouldn't make too much of the album's title; Ken Peplowski, true to form, provides yet another well-rounded swing-to-bop effort that ranges from the lyrical to the exhilarating. Like other Peplowski releases, Lost in the Stars has one foot in small-group swing and the other in early bebop an approach that recalls the mid'40s, when there were a lot of players who were right at that swing/bop border.

They were being influenced by the innovations of Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, and Dizzy Gillespie, but they weren't 100 percent bop and hadn't forgotten about swing. On Lost in the Stars, Peplowski oversees a rhythm section that includes pianist Ben Aranov, bassist Greg Cohen, and drummer Lewis Nash and these players serve Peplowski well whether he is on tenor sax or clarinet. Although not groundbreaking, this German release has its share of surprises.

Aranov and Cohen do some writing Lost in the Stars isn't just an album of overdone warhorses and Peplowski unearths a few overlooked gems, including "Ballad for Very Tired and Very Sad Lotus Eaters" (a little known Billy Strayhorn piece from the '50s). "My Ship" certainly falls into the warhorse category some would argue that as great as the song is, the jazz world needs to give it a rest in the 21st century. But Peplowski's version of "My Ship" is so gorgeous and deliciously lyrical that one can easily cut him some slack, and he is equally expressive on "Good Morning Heartache." Lost in the Stars falls short of essential, but even so, it is a solid and rewarding addition to Peplowski's catalog. By Alex Henderson

Personnel: Benny Aronov/Piano; Greg Cohen/Bass; Lewis Nash/Drums; Ken Peplowski/Clarinet, Liner Notes, Primary Artist, Sax (Tenor).

R.I.P. (May 23, 1959 – February 1, 2026) Ken Peplowski was an American jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist. He was known primarily for playing swing music. For over a decade, Peplowski recorded for Concord Records.

Lost In The Stars

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