JOHNNY HODGES | BEN WEBSTER - The Complete 1960 Sextet Jazz Cellar Session (2011) FLAC (tracks), lossless

This release contains th superb November 1960 session recorded by the Ben Webster-Johnny Hodges sextet in studio conditions at the Jazz Cellar, in San Francisco (without an audience). It is presented here in its complete form on a single CD for the first time ever. The two great saxophonists were the only horn players heard at the session. They were backed by a rhythm section of piano, guitar, bass and drums. These recordings are exceptional in that no other date exists in their collaborative discography featuring them as the only horns. A complete (and very rare) octet session featuring Webster and Hodges has been added as a bonus. Notas CD
Tracklist :
1    Ben's Web 5'08
2    SIde Door (Don't Kid Yourself) 5'49
3    Blues'll Blow Your Fuse 4'21
4    I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me 2'46
5    Dual Highway 3'14
6    Big Ears 4'50
7    Shorty Gull 3'45
8    Ifida 4'36
9    Big Smack 4'51
10    I'd Be There 5'16
11    Just Another Day 5'48
12    Lollalagin Now 2'51
- BONUS TRACKS -
13    Exactly Like You 2'52
14    I'm Beginning To See The Light 4'00
15    Val's Lament 4'10
16    Tipsy Joe 5'29
17    Waiting On The Champagne 3'24
Credits 1-12 :
Ben Webster (Tenor Sax)
Johnny Hodges (Alto Sax)
Lou Levy (Piano)
Herb Ellis (Guitar)
Wilfred Middlebrooks (Bass)
Gus Johnson (Drums)
Credits 13-17 :
Ben Webster (Tenor Sax)
Johnny Hodges (Alto Sax)
Russ Freeman (Piano)
Lawrence Brown (Trombone)
Joe Mondragon (Bass)
Mel Lewis (Drums)
Emil Richards (Vibes)
Jimmy Hamilton (Arranged)
Los Angeles, January 31, 1961.

THE GEORGE SHEARING QUINTET WITH DAKOTA STATON - In the Night (1957-2003) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

With its progressive-leaning jazz and modernist blues vocals, In the Night was the prototype for the piano-vocals collaboration record that George Shearing would remake with Peggy Lee, Nat King Cole, and Nancy Wilson while at Capitol (and many others afterwards). In July 1957, just after Dakota Staton's immense success with "The Late, Late Show," Capitol recorded two of its biggest jazz stars together for what would turn out to be one of the finest teamings in either's career. Staton appears on every other song, lending her blend of post-bop vocal prowess and late-night melodrama to a set of well-chosen songs including "In the Night" and "I Hear Music." (Ironically, the version of "The Late, Late Show" heard here is an instrumental.) Shearing and Staton are joined by the pianist's group at the time, including Emil Richards on vibes, the splendid Toots Thielemans on guitar, and a few features for Latin percussionist Armando Peraza. The group's finest features are the opener, "From Rags to Richards," a fine Shearing original with excellent solos from Richards and Shearing, and Ray Bryant's "Pawn Ticket," with fine work from Thielemans and Richards. by John Bush  
Tracklist:
1 From Rags To Richards 3:12
2 I'm Left With My Blues In My Heart 2:53
Featuring [Vocals] – Dakota Staton
3 Pawn Ticket 2:19
4 In The Night 1:59
Featuring [Vocals] – Dakota Staton
5 Easy 2:39
6 I Hear Music 2:30
Featuring [Vocals] – Dakota Staton
7 Senor Blues 3:45
8 Confessin' The Blues 2:43
Featuring [Vocals] – Dakota Staton
9 Later 2:49
10 The Thrill Is Gone 3:04
Featuring [Vocals] – Dakota Staton
11 The Late, Late Show 2:31
12 I'd Love To Make Love To You 2:43
Featuring [Vocals] – Dakota Staton
Credits:
Bass – Al McKibbon
Bongos, Congas [Conga Drum] – Armando Peraza
Drums – Percy Brice
Guitar, Harmonica – Jean ''Toots'' Thielemans
Piano – George Shearing
Vibraphone – Emil Richards

JOANIE SOMMERS - Softly: The Brazilian Sound [1964]

Released in 1964, the aptly titled Softly, the Brazilian Sound was Joanie Sommers' seventh long-player for Warner Bros. in under five years. She had been marketed as a torch balladeer to popular jazz and Great American Songbook enthusiasts, as well as a teenybopper to a considerably younger audience. Sommers joins forces with Laurindo Almeida (guitarist/arranger) in a move that predates Frank Sinatra's collaborative efforts with Antonio Carlos Jobim by several years. In actuality, the so-called "bossa nova" movement was one of the only trends to have any effect on the American pop scene during the mid-'60s -- particularly when going up against British Invasion bands. And it's little wonder that Jobim's name crops up throughout the effort, as he co-penned a couple of tunes -- including the sultry opener, "Meditation" (Meditacao). Comparatively traditional is Henry Mancini's title theme to Glenn Ford and Geraldine Page's concurrent romantic comedy, Dear Heart. Almeida's score is tempered, yet stays fairly close to Andy Williams' Top 30 hit reading of the song. "Watching the World Go By" -- which shouldn't be confused with the Dean Martin classic -- is the other cinematic selection. Sommers' refined confidence not only sells the number, but makes it one of the project's least dated entries. Although arguably obligatory, "Quiet Nights (Corcovado)" gives Almeida an opportunity to weave his lyrical and romantically charged acoustic guitar on the Jobim bossa nova archetype. Conversely, Almeida could have gotten significantly more mileage had he removed the syrupy and heavy-handed string section. "Once (Ils S'Aimaient)" is a perfect match for Sommers' expressive voice as she subtly contributes to the composition's ever so slight sense of melancholia. After an instrumental introduction that seems to portend a reflective ballad, "Softly, as I Leave You" is taken at a quicker tempo, giving the singer a bit more melody to work with. Unquestionably, Sommers' downy intonations are at once hypnotic and seductive. "I Could Have Danced All Night" then counters with a happy-go-lucky visage that settles into one of the finest samba vibes on the platter. She offers the same unencumbered flair to the bluesy "You Can't Go Home Again," while the Johnny Mercer collaboration with Almeida on "Old Guitaron" allows Sommers to engage listeners with the warm, inviting intimacy that she was becoming known for. In 2007, Collectors' Choice Music combined Softly, the Brazilian Sound with Sommers' 1960 long-playing debut, Positively the Most, making each available for the first time in decades. by Lindsay Planer  
Track Listing
1 Meditation (Meditacao) 3:01
2 Dear Heart 3:19
3 Watching the World Go By 3:09
4 Quiet Nights (Corcovado)  2:52
5      Once (Ils S'Aimaient) 2:47
6 Softly, As I Leave You 3:23
Giorgio Calabrese / Antonio de Vita
7 I Could Have Danced All Night 2:24
8 I'll Remember April 3:00
Gene DePaul / Buddy Johnson / Don Raye
9 You Can't Go Home Again 3:30
10 Carnival (Manha de Carnaval) 3:26
Luigi Creatore
11 Old Guitaron 3:59
 12 That's All 2:49
Alan Brandt / Bob Haymes
Credits
Arranged By, Conductor – Laurindo Almeida
Electric Guitar – Al Viola, Howard Roberts, Tony Rizzi
French Horn – Justin Gordon
Guitar [Spanish Guitar] – Al Hendrickson
Vibraphone [Mallet Instruments] – Emil Richards

  JOANIE SOMMERS - Softly: The Brazilian Sound 

[1964] Warner Bros. Records / FLAC / scans 

O Púbis da Rosa