Al Di Meola: Tour De Force: Live/Scenario
Albatrosh: Yonkers
Brad Mehldau: Art Of The Trio Recordings: 1996-20
Art Of The Trio: Live At The Vanguard
Brad Mehldau: Art Of The Trio: Live At The Vanguard
Buddy Cole: Swingin At The Hammond Organ: 4 Stereo Albums
Dark Chocolate: Caper
Dark Chocolate: Box Of Dark Chocolate
Django Reinhardt: Swing Guitars
Complete Masters 1935-55
Ella Fitzgerald: Complete Masters 1935-55
Fred Van Hove: Tschus
Fred Wesley: Lost Album
Full Blast: Sketches And Ballads
Full Blast & Friends: Sketches & Ballads
Ein Halber Hund Kann Nicht Pinkeln
Han Bennink: Ein Halber Hund Kann Nicht Pinkeln
Han Bennink / Peter Brotzmann / Fred Van Hove: Balls
Jazz In The Charts: Vol. 80 - 1945 (Track 1749 - 1771)
Jazz In The Charts: Vol. 90 - 1948 - 1949 (Track 1979 - 2001)
Jazz In The Charts: Vol. 91 - 1949 (Track 2002 - 2022)
Jazz In The Charts: Vol. 92 - 1949 - 1950 (Track 2023 - 2045)
Jazz In The Charts: Vol. 93 - 1950 - 1951 (Track 2046 - 2067)
Jazz In The Charts: Vol. 94 - 1951 (Track 2068 - 2088)
Jazz In The Charts: Vol. 95 - 1951 - 1952 (Track 2089 - 2107)
Jazz In The Charts: Vol. 96 - 1952 (Track 2108 - 2126)
Jazz In The Charts: Vol. 97 - 1952 - 1953 (Track 2127 - 2147)
Jazz In The Charts: Vol. 98 - 1953 (Track 2148 - 2168)
Jazz In The Charts: Vol. 99 - 1953 - 1954 (Track 2169 - 2191)
Jazz In The Charts: Vol. 100 - 1954 (Track 2192 - 2211)
Kenneth Nash: Heartcore Praise
Othin Spake: Nethack Dictionary
Roy Ayers: Step Into Our Life/Prime Time
Stanley Clarke: Time Exposure/Find Out!/Hideaway
Wayne Shorter: Complete Albums Collection
When saxophonist Candy Dulfer steps onto the stage or into the studio, everything is immediately up for grabs and anything can happen. This sexy, high-energy vibe – seemingly out-of-control, yet always carefully calculated – is a direct result of her consistently hot and sweet confection of jazz, funk, R&B, soul, pop, techno and more. It’s a no-holds-barred recipe that has served her and her worldwide fan base well since her earliest recordings at the start of the 1990s.
Candy pushes the whole musical experience to the edge once again on her new recording, Crazy, set for release on, Tuesday, January 31, 2011, on Listen 2 Entertainment Group/Razor & Tie. The 13-song set includes numerous tracks co-written and produced by multi-instrumentalist Printz Board – whose mile-long list of credits includes musical director for the Black Eyed Peas for more than a decade, as well as work with a broad range of artists: Macy Gray, Mariah Carey, Sergio Mendes Gomez, Katy Perry, Burt Bacharach and dozens more.
“I wanted to return to working with Ulco Bed, a great guitarist and my songwriter partner since we were both very young,” says Candy, a native of the Netherlands and the daughter of jazz saxophonist Hans Dulfer. “We hadn’t recorded together for a long time, so I was looking forward to connecting with him again. But I also wanted to work with someone who could show me something new, something I’d never done before. When I met Printz, I knew right away that we could do something great together. I was surprised at how easy it was. I would put a beat down and just play a few licks, and it would be enough to inspire him to put together a whole chord sequence and write a song.”
It’s the kind of versatility and adaptability that comes from working with such a diverse spectrum of talent over the years. “I just go with the energy that’s in the room,” says Printz. “I try not to work with anybody whom I haven’t at least hung out with for a little while. I need a chance to get to know their energy and their personality. When Candy and I got started on this project, we knew the goal. We knew what we were going for. It just grew organically. I don’t think either of us knew what the end result would be, but we’re very excited with what it turned into.”
Like just about every other recording in Candy’s body of work, Crazy kicks off like a party. Literally! The opening track is a churning saxophone riff, supported by a swell of voices in full party mode. It all comes to a halt when a neighbor puts a damper on things by demanding some quiet.
Fat chance. The title track picks up where the noisy room leaves off, and keeps the intensity level well beyond the acceptable range of peace and quiet. Built on a call-and-response between Printz’s lyrics and Candy’s punchy alto riffs, the song is inspired by Printz’s recent heady experiences with a new romance. “You don’t know what to do with yourself,” he says. “You just want to see this person, and talk to this person, and hang out with them. The title is no mystery. I was just crazy about this woman.”
“Hey Now” starts in a midtempo groove, with generous doses of low-end electronic dance beats holding it together. “But there’s a moment when it really kicks into high gear and gets wild,” says Candy. “It’s that moment when I want people to say, ‘Wow, this is really something I didn’t expect. This is something amazing.’”
“Complic8ted Lives” is less about specific solos and parts, says Candy, and more about generating an overall mood. “It was just a really spontaneous track,” she says. “We made it in five minutes, but it was a beautiful song. It’s really about a specific feeling. You can take the vocals off and you can still hear what the song is about in the chord progression and in my saxophone work.”
Midway through the party, the neighbors are apparently getting increasingly frustrated. One tries to make a call, but there’s no hearing the phone amid the revelry.
The inspiration for “Electric Blue” originally came from the neon blue lights of Tokyo, says Printz. Candy adds quirky sax lines on top, while Printz inserts some slide instructions that culminate with the simply stated “Get your ass on the floor.” The throbbing backbeat dares the listener to defy the command.
Printz indulges his fascination with the vocorder on “Rocket, Rocket,” a track that morphs his voice into an electronic layer that merges seamlessly with his keys and Candy’s fresh alto licks. “We just recently started playing this live,” says Candy. “We didn’t know how it would go live, but we had people of every age dancing to this one.”
The riffs are still coming when the police arrive at the door, accompanied by the same irritated neighbor. Their efforts are apparently ineffective, because the music keeps coming for just a bit longer.
In the home stretch, it’s the sultry and suggestive “Please Don’t Stop,” followed by the “Too Close,” a quiet instrumental ballad that shifts the festivities into a more laid back vibe. Powered by a distinctly Euro groove,
“I’m very happy with this record,” says Candy. “It’s been a super-positive experience. In the last ten years, I was always in a safe environment with my own friends, and it was beautiful. This was a big leap for me, so it’s nice to see that the rewards for that risk were so great. It’s nice to be rewarded for taking risks. And on the other hand, reconnecting with Ulco has been great. It brought back a lot of beautiful memories. We realized that we can still make great music together.”
The Wayman Tisdale Story (CD/DVD) Rendezvous Music/Mack Avenue released The Wayman Tisdale Story on DVD and CD yesterday (November 22). The documentary celebrates the life of Wayman, a three-time All-American, Gold Medal Olympian, former NBA star and world renowned jazz musician, who lost his battle with cancer on May 15, 2009. The DVD features interviews with Wayman and his family, Michael Jordan, Toby Keith, Marcus Miller and Dave Koz, among others. The CD includes the previously unreleased track "Slam Dunk", produced by Jeff Lorber and "Cryin' For Me", a song written and performed as a tribute to Wayman by Toby Keith.
Paul Motian, a drummer, bandleader, and composer of grace and abstraction, and one of the most influential jazz musicians of the last 50 years, died early Tuesday morning at Mount Sinai Hospital in NewYork. He was 80 and lived in Manhattan.
The cause was complications of myelodisplastic syndrome, a bone-marrow disorder, said his friend, Carole d’Inverno Frisell.
Mr. Motian was a living connection to some of the groups of the past that informed what jazz sounds like today: he had been in Bill Evans’s great trio in the late 1950s and early 1960s, playing on the albums “Waltz for Debby” and “Sunday at the Village Vanguard,” and in Keith Jarrett’s American quartet during the 1970s. But it was in the second half of his life that Mr. Motian found himself as a composer and a bandleader, and his own work took off.
He worked steadily, and for the last six years or so almost entirely in Manhattan, with the support of the record producers Stefan Winter and Manfred Eicher, who streamed out his albums, and Lorraine Gordon of the Village Vanguard, who eventually booked his groups for up to four or five weeks per year.
Then there were the many musicians he played with regularly, including the saxophonist Joe Lovano and the guitarist Bill Frisell, with whom he kept a working trio; the pianist Masabumi Kikuchi and the saxophonists Greg Osby and Chris Potter, with whom he played in trios and quartets; the members of the Electric Bebop Band, with multiple electric guitars, which in 2006 became the Paul Motian Band; and dozens of other musicians, from young unknowns to old masters.
For almost all of his bands, his repertory was a combination of terse and mysterious originals he composed at the piano, American songbook standards, and music from the bebop tradition: Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus.
With the release of Ray Charles' Singular Genius: The Complete ABC Singles, on November 15, 2011, Concord Records made available for the first time the artist's collection of ABC-Paramount singles during this prolific period (1960-1972).
The digitally remastered deluxe 106-song collection presents the A and B sides of 53 singles, including 11 #1 hits, such Grammy Award winners "Hit the Road Jack," "Busted," "Georgia on My Mind," "I Can't Stop Loving You," "Crying Time," "America the Beautiful," and many more.
Twenty-one of the songs are making their digital debut, and 30 have never previously been available on CD. Liner notes were written by R&B recording artist and music historian Billy Vera and rare photographs are included. [Click on the amazon link for the complete track listing and to sample]
According to Valerie Ervin, president of the Ray Charles Foundation, "This compilation provides an opportunity to hear Ray's evolution into a full-fledged artist and creative force. The song selection was based upon the interpretation he could bring to the music and not the genre. The ABC singles comprise an epoch of essential Ray Charles music and a window into how his genius evolved."
John Burk, Concord Music Group's Chief Creative Officer stated, "Ray Charles is one of America's most iconic and treasured voices. We are fortunate to have the opportunity to present Ray's historic ABC singles with the reverence and respect they deserve and continue our dynamic partnership and acclaimed reissue program with Valerie Ervin and everyone at the Ray Charles Foundation."
By the time the singer released his first single for his new label affiliation, ABC-Paramount, in January 1960, he had crossed over into the stardom that show biz insiders had long known was his due. After several years of R&B hits on his previous label, Atlantic Records, he'd finally reached the coveted white teen market with his smash, "What'd I Say," the simplest, most basic song of his career.
Charles' contract was coming up for renewal and the Atlantic brass expected an easy negotiation. After all, most entertainers took a passive approach to their business, especially when things were going well. However, his agency, Shaw Artists, wanted to bring Charles to a broader audience, which they felt could be better delivered by a major record company.
One such company was ABC-Paramount, a newer major that had found success with teen idols Paul Anka, Frankie Avalon, and Fabian, while crossing Lloyd Price over into pop. ABC's Larry Newton convinced label president Sam Clark that Ray Charles was the ideal artist to not only make hits but to attract other black acts to the fold. Charles was granted a magnanimous contract that included ownership of his masters after five years. Even Frank Sinatra, as Vera points out, did not have a deal like this.
Sid Feller became Charles' A&R man and producer. Though as Atlantic's Jerry Wexler once said, "You don't produce Ray Charles; you just get out of the way and let him do his thing."
After striking a rich deal, the Ray Charles/ABC relationship had a momentary setback when the first ABC single, "Who You Gonna Love" b/w "My Baby," sold disappointingly. The second single, "Sticks and Stones," a "What'd I Say" knockoff, went to #2 R&B and #540 pop. Finally, the third ABC single, "Georgia on My Mind," culled from the album The Genius Hits the Road, reached #1 on the pop charts.
With the overwhelming popularity of "Georgia on My Mind," Charles was at last a full-fledged mainstream star, right up there with the Nat Coles and Peggy Lees. The company's strategy was to cater to his new market while still releasing singles to serve his R&B base.
Charles in the meantime launched a publishing arm, Tangerine Music, signing one of the greats of West Coast blues, Percy Mayfield. Mayfield brought with him a song he'd pitched to Specialty Records without success, "Hit the Road, Jack." Ray's version rose to #1 on both the pop and R&B charts. It was followed by "Unchain My Heart."
ABC-Paramount celebrated his grand success by giving Charles his own label, Tangerine, which he used to record some of his personal R&B heroes including Mayfield, Louis Jordan, and Little Jimmy Scott. At the same point in time, Charles became enamored of country music and recorded several country sides: "Take These Chains From My heart," "Busted," "That Old Lucky Sun," and from Buck Owens, "Crying Time" and "Together Again."
1966 saw the opening of Ray Charles' own RPM Studios on Washington Blvd. in Los Angeles. The first song he recorded at the facility was "Let's Go Get Stoned," a Coasters cover penned by Nick Ashford, Valerie Simpson, and Jo Armistead.
The ABC-Paramount recordings continued into the late '60s and early '70s. In 1972 Charles cut a version of the New Seekers hit, "Look What They've Done to My Song, Ma," but it was the B-side, "America the Beautiful," that became a runaway hit, Grammy Award winner (one of five on this collection) and to a younger generation unfamiliar with his earlier major works, his signature song.
John Mayer, Keith Urban, James Taylor, Cyndi Lauper, Sheryl Crow, Steve Lukather/Toto, Bonnie Raitt, Sheila E. and more join the jazz community
for The Help 4 Jeff Golub Online Auction
Musicians Join Together. Some of music’s top artists have joined along with the smooth jazz community to help guitarist Jeff Golub. Jeff suddenly lost his vision a few months ago, and as a result has been undergoing extensive testing to diagnose with the hope of finding a means to restore his vision.
The Help 4 Jeff Golub Online Auction www.charityauctionstoday.com/store/Help4JeffGolub/has been created with generous contributions from many of Jeff's colleagues, friends, and fans where 100% of the proceeds will go towards Jeff's medical expenses.
The Auction. A sampling of the items:
* John Mayer Autographed Music and Collectables Package
* Autographed James Taylor “Sweet Baby James” - printed cello/vocal part from one of his personal set of parts
* Sheila E. Autographed 11” Toca Conga
* Steve Lukather Music & Toto Concert Memorabilia
* Rod Stewart Autographed Sales Award for album "Still the Same - Great Rock Classics of our Time" 2006
* Autographed limited edition, Yamaha Custom EX Alto Saxophone signed by Dave Koz, Mindi Abair, Kirk Whalum, Boney James, Richard Elliot, Gerald Albright, Warren Hill, Eric Marienthal and Michael Lington
* A Private Concert with Peter White and Euge Groove
* 2-Person Deluxe Stateroom with Veranda for The Smooth Jazz Cruise 2012 (Week 1 - to the Caribbean)
* Richard Elliot Alto Saxophone with Tiger-Stripe Finish
* 3-Night VIP Package for 2 Guests to Earl Klugh's Weekend of Jazz at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs (includes airfare credit), April 12-14, 2012
More Items Coming In. From Sarah McLachlan, Marcus Miller and others.
If you have any questions or would like to contribute to the auction, please contact Help4JeffG@gmail.com.
Rendezvous Music/Mack Avenue released The Wayman Tisdale Story on DVD and CD yesterday (November 22). The documentary celebrates the life of Wayman, a three-time All-American, Gold Medal Olympian, former NBA star and world renowned jazz musician, who lost his battle with cancer on May 15, 2009. The DVD features interviews with Wayman and his family, Michael Jordan, Toby Keith, Marcus Miller and Dave Koz, among others. The CD includes the previously unreleased track "Slam Dunk", produced by Jeff Lorber and "Cryin' For Me", a song written and performed as a tribute to Wayman by Toby Keith.