Artist - Art Farmer
     Album - To Sweden With Love
     Label - Atlantic
     Year - 1964, release 1992
     Quality - Mp3@320 kbps
     Size - 83 mb w/scans
     Total time - 32:41



     The premise of this Atlantic set is a bit unusual. The Art Farmer Quartet (consisting of flugelhornist Farmer, guitarist Jim Hall, bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Pete LaRoca), which was together from 1962-64 (after the demise of the Jazztet), was passing through Stockholm, Sweden at the time of this date and the musicians felt inspired to record a full album of traditional Swedish folk songs. Respect is paid to the often haunting melodies and Farmer sounds quite at home in this context, sometimes hinting a bit at Chet Baker. Fortunately, not all of the tunes are taken at a ballad pace, and once the themes are fully stated, Farmer and Hall have plenty of harmonically sophisticated solos. The band's cool and restrained style suits the music perfectly, turning it into jazz without losing its essence. Although a brief set (at under 33 minutes), every note counts on this successful outing.

     Artist: Lee Konitz and the Brazilian Band
     Album: Brazilian Serenade
     Label: Venus Records
     Year: 1995, release: 1999
     Quality: Mp3@320 kbps
     Size: 116 mb



     Rather hard to find Japanese only release, not to be confused with it’s companion release, Brazilian Rhapsody, with Lee delving into the Brazilian Jazz vein, of which his sound and style seem to be a perfect fit for. Lee and the group perform well known and not so well known Brazilian tunes. This is not sleepy Bossa Nova. It's more like Jobim after a couple of cafezinhos. The sound quality, as on all the Venus releases, is superb.

     Artist: VA
     Album: Rhythmstick
     Year: rec. June 19-21, 1989
     Label: CTI
     Format: MP3@ 320 Kb/s
     Size:102.4+31.84 Mb

     Artist: Luiz Bonfa
     Album: Non-Stop to Brazil
     Label: Chesky
     Year: 1989
     Quality: Mp3@320 kbps
     Size: 100 mb

     I could talk about Bonfa the composer or I can talk about Bonfa the guitarist. In either case I would be describing someone who is at the level that most composers and most guitarists aspire to be at. Bonfa has complete control of his instrument and, in addition to that, he’s able to get a warm, rich sound out of something that is basically a piece of wood. At the same time, his catchy melodies keep drawing you back to them and, like Jobim’s songs, have a familiar quality to them that makes you believe you’ve heard them before.

     Artist - Joгo Donato Trio
     Album - Amazonas
     Label - Elephant Records
     Year - 2000
     Quality - Mp3@320 kbps
     Size - 159 mb
     Total time - 63:00

     Another one of my ”desert island” recordings. I know, I know, that island is getting crowded.

     This killer trio album by pianist Joгo Donato with his longstanding drummer Claudio Slon and bassist Jorge Helder is a mighty force to be reckoned with. Donato is one of the more inventive improvisers and arrangers in Brazil, and his debut on the criminally under-recognized Vartan Jazz imprint is a revelation of his process. In his compositions, Donato looks toward the rhythmic element of any series of changes. Once this has been established, his melodic invention comes into play by using his vast knowledge of Latin and Caribbean musics as well as his place in the Brazilian musical lineage. Donato will often graft a Cuban son onto a samba onto a merengue onto a funky post-bop tune. His sense of timing and lyric on the title track is impeccable, breezing through a beautiful bossa theme that echoes Jobim while holding true to the Bill Evans dictum of melodicism and the Horace Silver edict of rhythmic improvisation. Other cuts where Donato shines his warm humor and grand emotional style onto a cooking post-bossa beat are "Alegria Pra Cantar" and the charanga-touched "Brisa do Mar." Donato's solos are wispy things as they fly by before the listener can take in the full weight of what it is he's playing. But when it finally occurs to you what you've heard, long after he's left the chorus and moved into other territory with his pervasive chromatic flourishes and shimmering ostinatos, the totality of what's being articulated will leave you literally sighing in disbelief. This is a hell of an album, and one that deserves far wider notice that it has received. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

     I have posted a video of the Trio (with Luiz Alves replacing Jorge Helder) performing Amazonas on YouTube

     Artists - Zetterlund Monica & Bill Evans
     Album - Waltz for Debby
     Label - Polygram
     Year - 1964
     Quality - MP3@320 kbps
     Size - 75,1 mb

     This 1964 date that places Swedish jazz vocalist alongside the Bill Evans Trio (with Chuck Israels on bass and Larry Bunker on drums) is one of those oddities in Evans' catalog. The match is seemingly perfect. Evans' lyricism is well suited to a breezy, sophisticated songstress like Monica Zetterlund. There is an iciness on this recording, but it is difficult to decipher if it is in the performance or in the engineering where she seems to be way out in front of the band, when she was really in the middle of all the musicians in the studio. This is a minor complaint, however, as the tune selection and decorum of these sessions are quite lovely. From the opener "Come Rain or Come Shine" through the Swedish ballad "A Beautiful Rose" and the achingly gorgeous delivery of "Once Upon a Summertime," it's as if Zetterlund were destined to sing with Evans for a career instead of an album. For his part, Evans is very relaxed, allowing the lyrics to feed his musing on the simple, yet elegant harmonics. The Swedish version of "Waltz for Debbie" is a true delight because Zetterlund's voice becomes another instrument, soloing over the top of Evans' stunning selection of comping chords. In all this is an odd but special item, one that is necessary -- for at least one listen -- by any serious fan of the pianist and composer. – Thom Jurek, AMG

     Artists - Mane Silveira & Swami Jr.
     Album - IMA
     Year - 1999, release - 2000
     Label - Nucleo
     Quality - MP3@320kbps
     Size - 98,0mb

     There are moments on this disc where you would swear it’s a trio and not a duo, due in part to the playing of Swami Jr. He’s playing the guitar parts and the low bass notes (sometimes simultaneously) on the 7 string guitar. I think it helps that Swami started out as a bass player. And Mane rises up to the challenge by playing what seems like just the right thing at the right time. This is another of my favorite discs, a nice mix of Jazz, Brasilian and originals. I’ve been listening to it for 8 years and always seem to find something I hadn’t heard the previous time. My only complaint is that they haven’t released a second disc yet.

     Artist: Fred Hersch
     Album: Passion Flower/Fred Hersch Plays Billy Strayhorn
     Release Date: 1996
     Label: Concord Jazz
     Format/Bitrate: MP3/320 kbit/s
     Time: 62:22




     Take a great composer, a highly sensitive bandleader, empathetic sidemen, arrangements that showcase all concerned and you have this (another one of my favorite) recordings. The duet with vocalist Andy Bey is worth the price of admission by itself.

     Artist - Irene Kral
     Album - Gentle Rain
     Label - Choice Records
     Year - 1977
     Quality - MP3@320kbps
     Size - 83,7mb

     This is a follow up to Luisqui’s post of Irene’s Where Is Love. Gentle Rain is the second
recording that Irene Kral and Alan Broadbent did as a duo. Irene was quite ill at the time
of this recording, going through chemotherapy treatments and yet she does a magnificent job
is spite of things, or perhaps because of things.

     Artist: Art Farmer
     Album: To Duke with Love
     Label: Inner City
     Year: 1975
     Format, birate: MP3@320 kbps
     Time: 0.40:20
     Size: 92 MB
     AMG Rating:

     Recorded less than a year after Duke Ellington's death, this Inner City LP (originally cut for the Japanese East Wind label) features flugelhornist Art Farmer performing five Ellington pieces along with Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life." With impeccable support by pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Sam Jones and drummer Billy Higgins, Farmer sounds melodic, lyrical, swinging and typically inventive on such numbers as "In a Sentimental Mood," "It Don't Mean a Thing," "The Brown Skin Gal" and "Love You Madly." This tasteful set (which is long out-of-print) features Art Farmer at his best. – Scott Yanow, AMG

Artists - Hank Jones with
Dave Holland and Billy Higgins
Album - The Oracle
Label - EmArcy
Year - 1989, release - 1990
Quality - MP3@320kbps
Size:102,4+38,2mb
Total Time - 61:21

One could excuse Hank Jones if, at the time of The Oracle, the 70-year-old pianist chose to stick to revivalist bop, but the biggest surprise of this very democratic date is how modern he plays. Jones is Monkish on "Blues for CM" and often sounds more like a contemporary of McCoy Tyner than of Bud Powell, whom Hank was actually born six years before. Bassist Dave Holland has nearly as much solo space as Jones (along with contributing three compositions), and drummer Billy Higgins gets more space than usual. If there is any fault to this otherwise flawless CD (which also has some underplayed standards such as "Beautiful Love" and "Yesterdays"), it is that there are no individual features. But the interplay between the three musicians is quite impressive. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

     Artist: Chet Baker
     Album: Live In Sweden
     Label: Dragon
     Year: 1983
     Quality: MP3@320 kbps
     Time: 1.13:00
     Size: 100+63,1 mb


     This recording really captures that "end of the tour" sound of one of Chet’s Swedish tours.

     Artist:Jim Hall
     Album:Commitment
     Label:A&M
     Release:1976
     Format/Bitrate:MP3/320
     Studio/Live:Studio
     Mono/Stereo:Stereo
     Time:45:52

     A somewhat obscure date from guitarist Jim Hall, the second of his mid 70s releases on the short-lived Horizon label, the other a trio date entitled “Live!”. On this recording he uses various duo, trio and quintet combinations of the musicians involved. This recording was released shortly before the Horizon label folded, so it didn’t get the promotion it deserved. It was out of print until it was released in Japan a few years ago in a limited run. The original Lp included a gatefold cover and a multi page booklet that included liner notes, interviews, a discography, a lead sheet for Walk Soft and a transcription of Jim’s solo on Indian Summer. I remember hearing that originally the title was going to be “Jim Hall and Friends” and that’s just what this recording is, Jim inviting some of his friends into the studio and making great music. As always, I’m interested in what others think of this recording.

     Artists: Lee Konitz & Martial Solal
     Album: Star Eyes
     Label: hatOLOGY
     Recorded 1983, released 1998
     Format, bitrate: MP3@320 kbps
     AMG Rating:

     On paper, this recording shouldn’t work. There’s no bass player or drummer, the two musicians have two very different styles, one is a U.S. musician and the other is European. They don’t perform together that often, crossing paths only occasionally, sometimes in Europe, sometimes in the U.S. But on the concert stage, this live recording becomes the sum of two parts. Both musicians deconstruct each tune and then reconstruct them, listening to one another and finding ways to complement each other. There are no hidden agendas here. The musicians aren’t competing with one another to see who can play faster, more notes or swing harder. The listener hears that these two giants are beyond that type of playing. It’s obvious that they’re both interested in creating melodies that make musical sense but, in addition, playing in a way that also stretches the envelop and adds a sense of adventure and playfulness to the music.

     Artist - Tommy Flanagan
     Album - Lonely Town
     Label - Blue Note
     Year - 1959, release - 1999
     Quality - MP3 @ 320kbps
     Size - 71,4mb

     It’s hard to understand why this recording sat on the shelf for 40 years. It was recorded in 1959, two years after Tommy’s Overseas record (his first as a leader), it reunites him with Elvin Jones (who alternates between sticks and brushes), it includes bassist Joe Benjamin (known mainly as a member of the Ellington band and who alternates between pizzacato and violin-like arco playing) and it features the music from Leonard Bernstein’s popular at-the-time Broadway show, West Side Story. When this recording finally saw the light of day it was 1999 and released in Japan only. This recording quickly became my number two favorite Tommy Flanagan recording, with Overseas being number one. It’s interesting to compare this trio with the Overseas trio. Both groups were working trios where the musicians listened to one another and not just followed one another but actually anticipated where the other musicians were going. As always, I’m interested in what others think of this recording.