MARLENA SHAW - Who Is This Bitch, Anyway? (1975-2012) RM / FLAC (tracks), lossless

A record as fierce and blunt as its title portends, Who Is This Bitch, Anyway? vaults Marlena Shaw into a brave new world of feminism and funk, updating the sophisticated soul-jazz approach of her previous records to explore a fast-changing musical, political, and sexual landscape. Opening with "You, Me and Ethel," a hilarious satire of the singles bar culture, the album dissects modern romance with uncommon insight and candor, addressing lust ("Feel Like Makin' Love") and loss ("You Been Away Too Long") without pulling any punches. The music is similarly direct and progressive, running the gamut from luminous soul to scorching funk grooves. Not only Shaw's best-selling Blue Note release, Who Is This Bitch, Anyway? represents her creative apex as well. by Jason Ankeny
Tracklist :
1     You Me and Ethel/Street Walkin' Woman 6:23
Marlena Shaw
2     You Taught Me How To Speak In Love 3:54
Molly-Ann Leikin
3     Davy 5:29
Bernard Ighner    
4     Feel Like Making Love 5:02
Ellas McDaniel
5     The Lord Giveth and the Lord Taketh Away 1:10
Marlena Shaw
6     You Been Away Too Long 3:09
Benard Ighner
7     You 3:48
Marlena Shaw
8     Loving You Was Like a Party 4:20
Benard Ighner
9     A Prelude For Rose Marie 2:00
Bryon Olson
10     Rose Marie [Mon Cherie] 4:21
Benard Ighner
Credits :
Arranged By – Bernard Ighner (faixas: 3, 4), Byron Olson (faixas: 1, 2, 9, 10), Dale Oehler (faixas: 6 to 8)
Arranged By [Vocals] – Bernard Ighner (faixas: 1 to 5, 7 to 10), Dale Oehler (faixas: 6)
Backing Vocals – Julia Tillman, Marti McCall, Maxine Willard, Patti Brooks
Bass – Chuck Domanico (faixas: 10), Chuck Rainey (faixas: 1 to 4, 6 to 8)
Congas – King Errison (faixas: 1, 7)
Contractor [Strings] – Jules Chakin
Drums – Harvey Mason (faixas: 1 to 4, 6 to 8), Jim Gordon (faixas: 10)
Electric Piano – Larry Nash (faixas: 1, 2, 4, 6 to 8)
Flugelhorn – Bernard Ighner (faixas: 3)
Guitar – David T. Walker (faixas: 1, 2, 4, 8), Dennis Budimer (faixas: 2, 6, 7, 10), Larry Carlton (faixas: 2, 4, 8)
Percussion – Harvey Mason (faixas: 2, 6)
Piano – Bernard Ighner (faixas: 3), Bill Mays (faixas: 10), Marlena Shaw (faixas: 5), Mike Lang (faixas: 1, 2)
Wind Chimes – Harvey Mason (faixas: 4)

LENA HORNE + GABOR SZABÓ - Watch What Happens! (1970-1990) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

The pairing of chanteuse Lena Horne and guitarist Gabor Szabo may seem incongruous on paper, but Watch What Happens! is an unexpected delight, capturing a soulfulness and sass largely absent from the singer's previous efforts. Producer and arranger Gary McFarland's candy-coated orchestral settings afford Horne the opportunity to step out of the elegant but often stuffy refinement of her classic LPs and let down her hair. Her vocals pirouette around Szabo's hypnotically funky guitar leads with the focused abandon of a child playing hopscotch. Keyboardist Richard Tee, bassist Chuck Rainey, and drummer Grady Tate contribute the supple grooves that highlight so many McFarland sessions, and the material is top-notch, including no fewer than three Beatles covers: "In My Life," "Fool on the Hill," and "Rocky Raccoon," the latter featuring the most purely joyful performance of Horne's career. [Watch What Happens! was originally released on Szabo's Skye Records label as Lena & Gabor in 1970.]  by Jason Ankeny
Tracklist :
1 Watch What Happens 4:00
Jacques Demy / Norman Gimbel / Michel Legrand  
2 Something 3:08
George Harrison
3 Everybody's Talkin' 2:52
Fred Neil
4 The Fool on the Hill 3:35
John Lennon / Paul McCartney
5 Yesterday, When I Was Young 4:00
Charles Aznavour / Herbert Kretzmer
6 Rocky Raccoon 3:27
John Lennon / Paul McCartney
7 My Mood Is You 4:45
Carl Sigman
8 A Message to Michael 3:14
Burt Bacharach / Hal David
9 Night Wind 3:35   
Erroll Garner / Bobby Scott
10 In My Life 2:52
John Lennon / Paul McCartney
Credits :
Bass – Chuck Rainey
Guitar – Cornell Dupree, Eric Gale, Gabor Szabo
Orchestrated By, Arranged By, Conductor – Gary McFarland
Organ – Richard Tee
Vocals – Howard Roberts Singers, Lena Horne

GATO BARBIERI - El Pampero (1971-2002) RCA Victor Gold Series / RM / FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This record chronicles a flavorful and unforgettable night during a live show recorded in Montreux, Switzerland. Gato Barbieri leads his fantastic group of musical friends with hurricane-like flair on his tenor sax. At times surreal and mind-boggling, Barbieri shows just how far one can let the music go to break the borders of jazz, sending his music into fresh and uncharted territory. Barbieri's chops and melodic sweeps are daring and bold, while the back crew brings vitality and utter life to the music, from the record's beginning to its very end. Within the first tune, "El Pampero," Barbieri plays a home tone riff over and over, changing only the keys of the song, with improvisation in between that gets the audience into dancing. Lonnie Liston Smith plays with great sweeping ease on the piano, while percussionists Pretty Purdie, Na-Na, and Sonny Morgan send their rhythms into soaring heights. A wondrous sense of dynamics is displayed here and throughout the record. The call and response between Na-Na and Morgan is a featured key ingredient, keeping the mood of the percussion section fluid and tight. Yes, the listeners were mesmerized, and one can feel lifted in spirit again with each playing of this recording. Perhaps the focus and direction of the music, which latched on greatly to the home key and initial melody, gives the music a more solid foundation. This was certainly a special night in Switzerland, in which Barbieri proudly shared his music, credited in a natural more than economic fashion, breathing spirit into the audience rather than taking money. For this performance was priceless, a can't-miss that left audience members bedazzled, talking among themselves years later, saying, "Do you remember when?...I was there!" With passion and faith in music, this group of musicians thrived here in this recorded moment, to demonstrate art, haunting art, vivid imagination, and victory in art.
For real jazz fans, two words suffice for this recording: Get it. El Pampero is one of the greatest live jazz recordings ever made, a showcase for the soaring tenor saxophone of Gato Barbieri and a primer on what spontaneous jazz music can aspire to at its most passionate and joyous. The ensemble work by Gato's partners on this outing is superb. And after all these years, I still believe that the way Gato Barbieri weaves the hypnotic folk music of South America into the very North American textures of mainstream jazz points the way to the future for this still vibrant form of music. by Shawn M. Haney  
Tracklist :
1. El Pampero 13:44
Gato Barbieri
2. Mi Buenos Aires Querido 6:21
Carlos Gardel / Alfredo Le Pera
3. Brasil 9:36
Ary Barroso / Bob Russell
4. El Arriero 11:59
Atahualpa Yupanqui
- Bonus Tracks -
5. El Gato 12:25
Oliver Nelson
Credits :
Gato Barbieri (Tenor Saxophone)
Lonnie Liston Smith (Piano)
Chuck Rainey (Electric Bass)
Bernard Purdie (Drums)
Sonny Morgan (Conga)
Naná Vasconcelos (Percussion)

 

SAUNDRA HEWITT - Saundra [1976] Think!-Japan / FLAC

Tracklist
1 Won't Be Water Next Time
2 Got A New Pair Of Shoes
3 Heart Of Stone
4 Up On Cripple Creek
5 I Loved You Too Much
6 Just To Be With You
Credits
Bass – Chuck Rainey (tracks: 5, 6), Tinker Barfield (tracks: 1, 2, 3, 4)
Drums – Bernard Purdie
Guitar – Shiro Mori
Keyboards – Mark Gray
Piano, Electric Piano – Kinney Landrum (tracks: 1, 2, 3, 4), Paul Griffin
Tenor Saxophone – Bob Mintzer
Vocals – Saundra Hewitt

SAUNDRA HEWITT - Saundra 

[1976] Think!-Japan / FLAC / scans

O Púbis da Rosa

NANCY WILSON - This Mother's Daughter (1976-2014) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This Mother's Daughter remains the most soulful record cut by Nancy Wilson during her Capitol tenure -- producer Eugene McDaniels proves an inspired if surprising choice to helm the session, and his subtle but ingenious jazz-funk flourishes are essential to the project's immediacy and appeal. McDaniels couches Wilson in settings as smooth and rich as velvet, crafting a series of mellow, gently propulsive grooves that flirt with contemporary soul but pay heed to the singer's roots in jazz. Wilson responds with a performance that's sophisticated yet saucy, commanding the spotlight with an intensity that's missing from her lesser Capitol efforts.  by Jason Ankeny
Tracklist
1 From You to Me to You  4:00
Rachel Perry
2 Love Has Smiled on Us  3:53
Jon Mayer / Rachel Perry
3 I Don't Want a Sometimes Man  3:55
Rachel Perry
4 Tree of Life  4:26
Gene McDaniels
5 China  3:49
Buddy Johnson / Diane Johnson / Gene McDaniels / McDaniels / Guy Wood / Jeff Wood
6 Now  4:58
Marc Hillman / Marcia Hillman / Jon Mayer
7 This Mother's Daughter  3:57
Gene McDaniels
8 He Never Had It So Good  3:14
Jon Mayer / Rachel Perry
9 In My Loneliness (When We Were One)  4:00
Jon Mayer / Leida Snow
10 Stay Tuned  4:40
Gene McDaniels / McDaniels / Rachel Perry / Wayne Perry
Credits
Arranged By – Dave Grusin (tracks: 1-4, 6-8, 10), George Duke (tracks: 5), Hugh McCracken (tracks: 9)
Arranged By [Background Vocals] – Morgan Ames
Arranged By [Strings, Horns] – Dave Grusin, Hugh McCracken (tracks: 9)
Backing Vocals – Afreeka Trees, Carla Bee, Carolyn Willis, Eugene McDaniels, Jackie Ward, Jim Gilstrap, Lisa Roberts, Morgan Ames
Bass – Chuck Rainey
Drums – Steve Gadd
Flugelhorn [Solo] – Blue Mitchell
Guitar – Hugh McCracken, Jeff Miranoy
Percussion – Oliver Brown
Piano – Dave Grusin
Synth [Moog], Piano, Backing Vocals – George Duke