CD Review: The Flying Horse Big Band, "Good News!"

Recently I have discovered several new big band CDs that are outstanding.  It's always a pleasure to find new big band CDs because this type of CD is so expensive to record,  not to mention the difficulty of getting all the members of the band together in the same place at the same time.  But there is no stopping big bands and the musicians who love to play a part in producing wonderful music!  Today I have the pleasure of reviewing the "The Flying Horse Big Band" directed by Jeff Rupert.  This CD is a collaboration with the UCF Studio Orchestra made up students from
UCF'S Jazz Studies program.   These students are first-class musicians and playing together this band really cooks!

There is a beautiful version of John Lennon's "Imagine" by Jeff "T-Bone Gerard and a superb recording of "Round Midnight"tby the Jazz Professors who teach in the UCF Jazz Studies Program including the band director, Jeff Rupert producing lush and warm tones from Tenor Sax.  It's an outstanding recording!

The playlist chosen for this CD is from the A-list of Jazz composers: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Bob Mintzer.

Playlist:

Players:

I have attached two "YouTubes" that highlight how good this band and its talented musicians are.  The first one is the first cut on the CD "  a musical gem from Miles Davis, "The Serpent's Tooth".  The second is perhaps the most famous composition from Monk, "Round Midnight".  You must add this CD to your big band collection.
                                                                       "The Serpent's Tooth"

                       
                                                                 "Round Midnight"

Reflecting Back On Some Cherished Musical Friends Who Are Gone But Will Remain With Us Forever!

Summer Tulips Inspired by Master Painter, Max Horbund

Now that summer is over my thoughts wander to some of the wonderful performers that have left us in body but will never leave us in spirit because of the wonderful music they have gifted to us forever.  The majority of the music I review and discuss on this blog is performed by current performers,  and I love giving these talented musicians the much deserved public notice they deserve.  However,  there are some old friends whose music has had a profound effect on us, and we should revisit them every chance we can.  I would like to share a few of the performers who have played a part in shaping my musical life.

I would like to start with one of the best horn players in Jazz history,  John Coltrane.  John recorded with the very best American musicians in the history of Jazz,  playing hard-driving straight ahead Jazz.  For me, it was the soft, sensitive side of Coltrane's playing that never left me.  John's tone and feel for melody puts him in a special class of performers.  I found a "Youtube" of John playing one of the tunes on my "Top 10 Best Songs of All Time" list.  No vocals here,  but John's Tenor voice gives life to the lyric of "What New".      

The next performer Eva Cassidy died in her late 20's before she ever got to record and publish a single song.  After her death, her family put out a CD of some of her recorded but unpublished songs.  The CD sold over 1,000,00 copies.  We lost a musically brilliant singer before any of us ever got to know her.  She also recorded a song that is on my "Top 20 Best Songs of All Time" list, "You've Changed".  This song has been recorded by many great singers but Eva Cassidy's version is just outstanding! 

                                       

The last performer is one of the best and most influential Alto Sax players in American Jazz, the great Cannonball Adderley.  Like Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley could play straight ahead Jazz with anyone but in 1955 he recorded a CD entitled "Cannonball Adderley and Strings" in which Cannonball addressed some great American ballads with Jazz style and class.  As a former Alto Sax player,  the Album had a very deep affect on me that remains to this day.

So there you have it,  two of the best instrumentalists that ever played Sax and a young but super-talented singer.  And what do they all have in common?  All three had the ability and talent to project the emotion and beauty of great American ballads which touch listeners in ways that are always remained. 

                                    

CD Review: Deborah Latz "sur I'instant"

Take a look at the picture of Deborah Latz on the front of her new CD, "sur I'instant".  She looks like a happy and carefree person, right?  I think these personality traits present themselves when she sings. I had never heard Deborah sing before this CD but after listening to her sing a couple of times, it feels like I have known her all my musical life.  Deborah has a clear voice and perfect pitch and when combined with her sensitivity and interpretive skills makes her a major-league Jazz vocal star!  Deborah tries to extract from each song its core narrative.  In her words, "With each interpretation I ask myself, Did you tell the story?  ---that's the ultimate goal. I wanted the album to be about focus-to always ask "What is this song?" Deborah has been performing around New York for the past few years.  I recently caught a "YouTube" of her recent performance at the "Blue Note" that you might want to check out.

I am always fascinated by the song selections picked by vocalists for CDs they are recording.  I think it tells a lot about the singer.  I think Deborah's selections match her love for lyric and melody. The mix is perfect for me, some classics and some Jazz compositions that are great stuff but we just don't hear them too often.  Take a look at the list below and you will see what I am talking about.

Deborah spotlights "Weep No More" written by Dave and Lola Brubeck,  "MR. P.C". by John Coltraine with lyrics by Jon Hendricks and Thelonious Monk's "Blue Monk".  These terrific Jazz compositions, combined with some great "Evergreens" make Deborah's interpretation a delight for any listener.

Deborah is greatly supported on this CD by the Marvelous Pianist Alain Jean-Marie and Bassist Gilles Natural.

          Playlist:
1. "Love Theme From "Spartacus"          2. "Throw It Away"
3. "Weep No More"                                     4. "All The Things Your Are"
5. "Four"                                                      6. "Blue Monk"
7. "Mr P.C."                                                 8. "Nature Boy"
9. "Over The Rainbow"

Deborah Latz-Vocals
Alain Jean-Marie-Piano
Gilles Naturel-Bass
















I have attached a "YouTube" video of Deborah singing the great American classic "All The Things You Are" from her new CD.  The Piano work from Alain Jean-Marie is terrific on this cut.

Johnny Hartman:Remembering The Jazz Giants: Chapter 7

Johnny Hartman

If you like pure, soft sensitive jazz singing combined with a straight forward honest expression of great lyrics, then you need not look any further than to Johnny Hartman. Johnny Hartman was without a doubt one of the greatest singers of his time. Sadly, he was not widely known; and, therefore, never got the proper public recognition for his magnificiant deep and silky voice and his unique approach to the lyrics of some of the greatest American songs ever written. When asked about his approach to a song, Hartman said, "Well to me a lyric is a story, almost like talking or telling someone a story, try to make it believable".  

Many American music lovers first got to know Johnny Hartman as a result of Clint Eastwood's "Bridges of Madison County" in 1995.  Eastwood, a serious jazz lover himself, used 7 Johnny Hartman songs in the movie that added perfectly to the emotional love story Eastwood was painting on the big screen.

There are lots of Johnny Hartman CDs still available today, but if I was limited to only one, it would be the "John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman" CD.  I recently posted a blog entitled, "The top 10 CDs that need to be on your bucket list, and I overlooked this gem.  It belongs on that list also.  If you are not familiar with Johnny Hartman, I have a real treat for you below.  I found two songs on "Youtube" from the Coltrane/Hartman CD that are just sensational! The first is "My One and Only Love" and the second is in my opinion the best recording of the Billy Stryhorn classic "Lush Life".  The combination of Stryhorn, Coltrane and Hartman is as good as music gets! 

                                                        "My One And Only Love"

                                                                  "Lush Life"

The iTunes Top 10 Jazz Songs

I found another list of the best selling songs on iTunes under the title: "Jazz Essentials".  Since I love Jazz, I was interested in what songs would be on this list.  However, with a title of "Jazz Essentials" I was at a loss to guess what performers and what songs would be included.   My first guesses were: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Johnny Hartman and maybe Billie Holiday.  Well, I wasn't too far off.  There were two songs on the list that surprised me.  I like "So What" by Miles but was still surprised to see it as one of the top selling songs on the list. This song is from what most consider the best CD every recorded by Miles, "Kind of Blue".  The other surprise song was "Strange Fruit" by Billie Holiday.  I had not even heard this song before so I went to iTunes to listen to it. After listening, I am still not sure why this Billie Holiday song in on the list?

             The Top 10 Selling Jazz Essentials on iTunes

1.    "So What"--Miles Davis

2.   "Take Five"--Dave Brubeck Quartet

3.   "In a Sentimental Mood"--Duke Ellington/John Coltrane

4.   "Summertime"--Ella Fitzgerald

5.   "In The Mood"--Glenn Miller

6.   "Sing, Sing, Sing"--Benny Goodman

7.   "God Bless The Child"--Billie Holiday

8.   "My One and Only Love"--John Coltrane, Johnny Hartman

9.   "It Don't Mean a Thing"--Duke Ellington

10. "Strange Fruit"--Billie Holiday