NILS LANDGREN & JOE SAMPLE — Creole Love Call (2006) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Swedish trombonist and vocalist Nils Landgren joins forces with Joe Sample and friends in New Orleans for this studio session, which mixes up a hot gumbo of R&B, jazz, and Crescent City down-home fun. The play list draws from many styles, including works by local legend Allen Toussaint, Ray Charles, rocker Stephen Stills, and even Willie Nelson, as was as originals by Sample and one from jazz master Duke Ellington. The duet tracks are the most fun as Landgren shares the vocals with Ray Parker, Jr. ("Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay") and Charmaine Neville (on the funky "With You in Mind"). The guitar and percussion-heavy take of "Love the One You're With" leans more toward Stills' original conception than the Isley Brothers' overdone interpretation, though Sample's playful licks keep things loose and the heavy overdubs of the composer are missing in this version. The only dull track is the monotonous "I Can't Get Enough of Your Love," which wears out its welcome quickly. "Creole Love Call" adds the Piety Street Brass Band for a slightly modern twist on an early jazz favorite from the 1920s. When he's not singing, Landgren plays a mean trombone. Fortunately, this CD was completed several months before the unwelcome arrival of Hurricane Katrina. Ken Dryden   Tracklist & Credits :

JOE SAMPLE & NDR BIGBAND — Children Of The Sun (2012) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Even longtime fans of Joe Sample don't normally associate the music he wrote and played with Caribbean and Latin rhythms. That said, Children of the Sun, commissioned by and recorded with the NDR Bigband, is drenched in them. The album's inspiration dates back to 1995 when Sample played a date at the St. Croix Jazz Festival. He spent some time on the island afterward and did some hiking. He was struck by the contrast between its gorgeous scenery and its notorious history as part of the "Middle Passage" in the slave trade triangle between Africa and the New World: "This seemingly idyllic place had been an island of suffering and torment, floating in a blue abyss…." Shortly after leaving St. Croix, ideas for melodies and themes began to come to him. Sample wrote them down and let them gestate until he received an invitation from trombonist Nils Landgren to write for the NDRB. Landgren is featured as a soloist, and the mighty Steve Gadd was enlisted to play drums on the date. Sample's grooving' Trinidadian folk melody creates the set's theme on opener "I Wanna Go Home," but Afro-Cuban montunos grace his playing on "Buttermilk Sky" (not the Hoagy Carmichael nugget), which contrasts with the trombonist's low-end soloing. While "Islands of the Mind" commences as a nearly cinematic theme with lush brass and wind harmonics, it gives way to an intimate, soulful, bluesy fingerpopper with Sample's piano at the forefront. "Gold in the Cane," despite its brooding solo piano intro, is a breezy merengue with gorgeous interplay written into the horn and wind charts. There is a simmering samba tinge in "I Believe In," with a lovely clarinet solo by Gabriel Coburger. The title track weaves soul-gospel and blues with Caribbean motifs, while "Blue Skies" is a remarkable midtempo showcase for both Sample and Gadd; they lock on and swing mightily. Closer "Albatross Day" is a highlight that offers a striking portrait of why the NDR Bigband is one of the brightest units on the scene, with their gorgeous tones, unshakeable time, and enough languid elasticity to offer pianist, trombonist, and Coburger's tenor a setting for their lithe grooves. True to its inspiration, the striking contrast between beauty and pain is captured perfectly on Children of the Sun; it is easily the most ambitious recording in Sample's vast catalog, which is no mean feat. The bittersweet coda here is that he passed away months before it was finally picked up for North American distribution. This is a testament to his legacy as one of mainstream jazz's finest composers during the last half-century, and to his prodigious gifts as pianist and arranger.
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