Artist: Laverne Butler
     Album: Blues in the City
     Original Release Date: June 8, 1999
     Label: MAXJAZZ
     Quality: mp3@320 + covers
     Size: 136 mb

     Shreveport, LA native Laverne Butler came up in a musical family, and she's learned her lessons well. She sings jazz, blues and gospel in a manner quite reminiscent of Nancy Wilson, with a sleek, supple voice that oozes class. There are no gimmicky affectations or cutesy inflections, just straight soul. Backed by pianist/producer Bruce Barth and bassist John Webber — both first-class players — and drummer Klaus Suonsaari, Butler sings some of her favorite standards known worldwide. The CD starts with a string of tunes, including a swinging "This Bitter Earth," a ballad treatment of "Please Send Me Someone to Love," and a slow "Hit the Road Jack" — all employ background singers, sometimes using sweeping doo-wahs or call-and-response jiving. An up blues, "One for My Baby," (without the singers) lets Butler cut loose and show she can stand on her own. After a Barth trio number, the instrumental waltz "Late Sunday Afternoon," the singer gets on a roll for the remainder of the program with solid, honest melancholia on "I'm a Fool to Want You," a fine "Born to Be Blue," a light blue "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying," and the gospel original of Butler's "All That I Know." She finally gets animated, shouting on "Since I Fell for You," while doting and crying out on the finale "Backwater Blues." There is also Quicktime video bonus track of "Days of Wine & Roses." The second half of this recording has some powerful sounds, attesting to the ability Butler already has. She's good, and bound to get better.

     Artist - Jimmy Smith
     Album - The Incredible Jimmy Smith - Christmas '64
     Label - Verve
     Year - 1964, release - 2005
     Quality - MP3@320 kbps
     Size - 77,6 mb
     Total time - 34:28


     The master of the Hammond B-3 tickles the keys in full holiday mode on CHRISTMAS '64. While not nearly as gritty as BACK AT THE CHICKEN SHACK or THE SERMON, this seasonal platter finds Jimmy Smith lending his swirling, steamy organ sound to of, among other favorites, "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town." Compared to most Christmas albums, this is plenty groovy, with lots of Smith's trademark dexterity and bop runs on offer.

     Artist: Wild Bill Davison
     Album: In Copenhagen
     Label: Storyville
     Year: nov. 10 - 2008
     Quality: mp3@256


This is the best CD Wild Bill Davison has recorded in Denmark, due in part to the choice of material, with its avoidance of Dixieland war horses. Davison is in excellent form throughout, blasting out powerful solos in Am I Blue, Ghost Of A Chance, and Memories Of You, which combine some of his familiar effects with unexpected melodic twists. But Beautiful and Here’s That Rainy Day show Davison at his most restrained, his solo work on the latter being particular sensitive. It is hard to believe that he was in his sixty-ninth year at the time of this recording, for there is no hint of advancing age here. Wild Bill Davison is truly an original stylist, with an approach to his work that recalls a long past rumbustious era.

     Artist: The Singers Unlimited
     Album: Christmas
     Label: MPS
     Year: 1971
     Format: MP3 320 Kbps /Flac
     Size: 78969 KB ~ 100431 KB




     This jazz-vocal group presents a decent yet mostly uninspiring collection of holiday classics, including "Joy to the World," "O Come All Ye Faithful," "Silent Night," "Deck the Halls," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear." ~ Gina Boldman, All Music Guide [b]

     Artist: John_Mayall&Friends
     Album: Along For The Ride
     Label: Halahup records
     Year: 2001
     Genre: Blues
     Format: MP3 VBR, bitrate: 320 kb/s
     Time: 1:18:48
     Size: 115MB

     Я очень люблю этого блюзмэна, и хочу поделиться тем, что мне очень нравится в его творчестве. Нравится мне и его альтруизм - ведь именно Джону Майалу мы обязаны очень громкими именами в блюзе...
"«Along For The Ride» – это тринадцать (судя по всему, Mayall не суеверен) сочных блюзов, из которых лишь один («California») написал лидер сессии. Тем не менее, звучат все они так, будто создавались именно Mayall. В этом, на мой взгляд, и заключается единственный недостаток пластинки – мощная фигура старейшины британского блюза несколько заслонила собой других звезд, не дав им проявить себя в полной мере. Впрочем, возможно, мне это померещилось, уж больно много блюзовых пластинок отслушано. Как говорил Шарапов, «глаз замылился», а точнее, ухо..."
Михаил Иконников
As you have no doubt guessed, there is some serious guitar playing here, but what's most special about this CD is that these gifted ax men really get a chance to shine. Lang's lead guitar on "That's Why I Love You So," for instance, sure doesn't sound much like Mick Taylor's on "She Don't Play by the Rules," and neither of those resembles Gary Moore's work on "If I Don't Get Home" or Buddy Whittington's lead on "So Many Roads." Along for the Ride's cast also includes a few Mayall emeriti, such as Green, Mick Fleetwood, and John McVie, as well as Jeff Healey, Steve Miller, Otis Rush, and plenty of others. Lots of musicians do the all-star-album thing, but you know Mayall's going to integrate his guest stars smoothly, and that's exactly what he does. ~ Genevieve Williams

        Artist: Etta James
          Album: 12 Songs of Christmas
          Format: FLAC & mp3 (320k/s)
          Size: 389 & 147 MB (scans)
          Label: Private Music
          Total time: 63:25



It's a little surprising to realize that after decades of recording, Etta James finally released her first holiday album, 12 Songs of Christmas, at the late date of 1998. Thankfully, she decided to make the record something of a special occasion. Working with arrangers Etta and Cedar Walton, producer John Snyder and a terrific lineup of musicians -- including Red Holloway, John Clayton, Billy Higgins, Cedar Walton, Josh Sklair and her son, Sametto -- James has created a terrific Christmas record, one that is firmly in her style yet contains surprises. First of all, she sings "O Holy Night" in both English and French. She also reworks "Silent Night" into a plaintive, bluesy plea. Each song on the album doesn't sound like a traditional carol, even if they're very familiar -- it all sounds like James, and it all sounds good. James fans may not feel like they need a Christmas album from her, but after hearing 12 Songs of Christmas, they'll be quite pleased indeed. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG

     Artist - Count Basie
     Album - Live At The Sands
     Label - Warner Bros.
     Year - 1966, release - 1998
     Quality - MP3@320 kbps
     Size - 121 mb
     Total time - 53:00
     


Frank Sinatra's collaborations with Count Basie were among the singer's better ventures back into jazz in the early 1960s, and led not only to a couple of great studio albums, and one superb live Sinatra album, but also to Basie's being signed to the Sinatra-founded Reprise label in the mid-'60s. The 53 minutes of music captured on Live at the Sands was recorded during the opening sets from three different shows in late January and early February of 1966, by Basie and his band during the engagement with Sinatra at the Sands Hotel that yielded that live Sinatra album. Maybe that raises the expectations, because this release is a slight disappointment -- the band sounds OK, but except for Basie himself and drummer Sonny Payne, it seems like they're walking their way through some of this repertoire. There are a number of good moments here: "I Needs to Be Bee'd With," "Flight of the Foo Birds," "Satin Doll," "Blues for Home," and "This Could Be the Start of Something Big" (which is worth hearing for the ensemble work and Eric Dixon and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis' solos); the band finally takes flight, but compared with some of the recordings of complete shows by Basie that are nothing less than great, a lot of this is secondary. Given the fact that it was Sinatra's set that was going to be taped for release for certain, the band may, indeed, have been holding back during its own set, for good reason. Even the audience response says it, positive and polite but not excessive -- they were there for Sinatra, and nothing Basie and company did were likely to bowl them over, so why make the effort? It's not a bad set, and some of it -- "Makin' Whoopee" (especially the call and response on the piano), "Corner Pocket," and "Jumpin' at the Woodside" -- has great appeal. But this is overall a legendary band doing a somewhat less-than-legendary set, during some gigs that, in fairness, yielded up a great live album elsewhere. The quality is solid live sound, in crisp stereo from a nicely controlled mid-'60s venue, using state-of-the-art equipment. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

     Artist - Woody Herman
     Album - The Swingin'est Big Band Ever
     Label - Philips / Verve
     Release - 2002
     Quality - MP3@320 kb/s
     Size - 85,2 Mb
     Total time - 37:46
     



While this is hardly "the Swingin'est Big Band Ever," as hyped on the cover on this Verve CD reissue of an LP that originally appeared on Phillips, this 1963 edition of Woody Herman's big band is a strong one, with an emphasis on well-constructed blues charts. Joe Newman's hard-swinging "Molasses," which features tenor saxophonist Sal Nistico and trumpeter Bill Chase, is a snappy opener, followed by a driving arrangement of Horace Parlan's "Blues for J.P." Nistico takes the spotlight again in a memorable setting of Horace Silver's "Sister Sadie," while trombonist Phil Wilson shines as a soloist in both Duke Ellington's "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" and the forgotten chestnut "It's a Lonesome Old Town (When You're Not Around)." The only letdown of the date is Herman's throwaway vocal chorus in Chase's "Camel Walk," which follows the leader's potent clarinet solo. Although fans will prefer the earlier editions of the Woody Herman herd, this CD, which is available only until May 2005, is well worth acquiring by big band aficionados. ~ Ken Dryden, All Music Guide

     Artist: Laverne Butler
     Album: A Foolish Thing To Do
     Label Max Jazz Records
     Orig Year 2001
     Quality: mp3@320

     LaVerne Butler's jazz vocals on A Foolish Thing To Do emphasizes her fluid mastery of the jazz form and her genuine joy in the music. The beautiful vocalist sings 12 blues-inflected jazz gems written by some of America's most prolific songwriters on this follow-up to her chart-topping Blues In The City. Accompanied by Terrell Stafford on trumpet, Bruce Barth on piano, Darryl Hall on bass and Victor Lewis on drums, Butler opens with "A Foolish Thing To Do," a love-gone-wrong blues she co-wrote with Bruce Barth. Terrell Stafford's trumpet announces the fateful theme and punctuates Butler's vocals throughout the song before easing into a solo with a bluesy jazz dialect reminiscent of the great Louis Armstrong.LaVerne Butler takes command of the lyrics on "Make It Easy On Yourself" and finds her wringing the tears from it whereas so many other vocalists have delivered it in such a glib matter-of-fact way. In addition to the excellent string accompaniment on three compositions and Bruce Barth's piano stylings throughout this great program, LaVerne Butler's graceful creativity, tone, phrasings and emotion are among the shining elements that make up her very cool tools of vocal expression and natural talent. ~ Paula Edelstein, All Music Guide

     Artists - Jamie Saft Trio
     Album - Trouble
     Genre - Jazz
     Label - Tzadik Records
     Year - 2006
     Quality - MP3@320 kbs/s
     Size - 121 mb

Опять меня поразили люди, которые играют, в основном, авангардный джаз, причем на лейбле, выпускающем музыку в направлении Radical Jewish Culture. Отличнейший альбом кавер-версий песен Боба Дилана, теперь уже с точки зрения еврейской культуры.

The sophomore release by the Jamie Saft Trio is a provocative and entertaining statement. Trouble attempts to reexamine Dylan's legacy from a Jewish point of view, as part of Tzadik's Radical Jewish Culture series, and to position Dylan as a Jewish role model—views that Dylan most likely would have renounced immediately. But furthermore, Trouble is provocative in its choice of Dylan compositions as well as their arrangements, and in these regards, Dylan may be more pleased. As Saft notes in his liner notes, "Blind faith is something Bob Dylan has resisted throughout his career—musically, spiritually and politically."