ANITA O'DAY — At Vine St. Live (1991) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

At age 71, Anita O'Day was way past her prime when she performed this live date at the now-defunct Vine St. club. The songs had all been recorded earlier by O'Day in versions more rewarding than these, although she tries her best. Gordon Brisker on tenor and flute leads the backing quintet, which also includes pianist Pete Jolly and does what it can to hold O'Day up. At least she didn't feel compelled to record "Let Me Off Uptown" this late in her career. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1    You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To 5:41
Cole Porter
2    Old Devil Moon 4:23
E.Y. "Yip" Harburg / Burton Lane
3    Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby? 4:22
Bill Austin / Louis Jordan
4    A Song for You 3:05
Leon Russell
5.    You Can Depend on Me 3:47
Charles Carpenter / Louis Dunlap / Melvin Dunlap / Earl Hines
6.    Street of Dreams 6:04
Sam M. Lewis / Victor Young
7Y.    You Turned the Tables on Me 4:09
Louis Alter / Sidney Mitchell
8.    Yesterday/Yesterdays 3:48
Otto Harbach / Jerome Kern / John Lennon / Paul McCartney
9.    S'posin' 3:59
Paul Denniker / Andy Razaf
10.    It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) 3:52
Duke Ellington / Irving Mills
Credits :
Bass – Bob Maize
Drums – Dan D'Imperio
Guitar – Steve Homan
Piano – Pete Jolly
Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Gordon Brisker

ART PEPPER QUINTET — Smack Up (1960-2001) RM | Serie Heritage Of Jazz By Digital K2 Contemporary 40 – 3 | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The title of this recording, Smack Up is ironic and inadvertently truthful. Within a short period, Art Pepper would begin spending many years in jail due to his heroin addiction; this was his next-to-last album from that period. Despite the bleak future, the great altoist (who never seemed to make an uninspired record during his unstable life) is in excellent form in a quintet with trumpeter Jack Sheldon, pianist Pete Jolly, bassist Jimmy Bond, and drummer Frank Butler. Highlights of this fine album include Harold Land's title cut, the five/four blues "Las Cuevas de Mario," and Ornette Coleman's "Tears Inside." [Some reissues add two takes of the otherwise unknown "Solid Citizens."] Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1 Smack Up 4:18
Harold Land
2 Las Cuevas de Mario 7:11
Art Pepper
3 A Bit of Basie 7:26
Buddy Collette
4 How Can You Lose 6:57
Benny Carter
5 Maybe Next Year 4:24
Duane Tatro
6 Tears Inside 7:47
Ornette Coleman
7 Solid Citizens 6:32
Jack Montrose
8 Solid Citizens 6:29
Jack Montrose
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Art Pepper
Bass – Jimmy Bond
Drums – Frank Butler
Piano – Pete Jolly
Trumpet – Jack Sheldon

CHET BAKER & ART PEPPER - Playboys (1956-2012) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

These 1956 Pacific Jazz sides appeared in 1961 under the title Playboys. Myth and rumor persist that, under legal advice from the publisher of a similarly named magazine, the collection would have to be retitled. It was renamed Picture of Heath, as more than half of the tracks are Jimmy Heath compositions. Regardless, the music is the absolute same. These are the third sessions to feature the dynamic duo of Art Pepper (alto sax) and Chet Baker (trumpet). Their other two meetings had produced unequivocal successes. The first was during a brief July 1956 session at the Forum Theater in L.A. Baker joined forces with Pepper's sextet, ultimately netting material for the Route LP. Exactly three months to the day later, Pepper and Baker reconvened to record tracks for the Chet Baker Big Band album. The quartet supporting Baker and Pepper on Playboys includes Curtis Counce (bass), Phil Urso (tenor sax), Carl Perkins (piano), and Larance Marable (drums). Baker and Pepper have an instinctual rapport that yields outstanding interplay. The harmony constant throughout the practically inseparable lines that Baker weaves with Pepper drives the bop throughout the slinky "For Minors Only." The soloists take subtle cues directly from each other, with considerable contributions from Perkins, Counce, and Marable. With the notorious track record both Baker and Pepper had regarding other decidedly less successful duets, it is unfortunate that more recordings do not exist that captured their special bond. These thoroughly enjoyable and often high-energy sides are perfect for bop connoisseurs as well as mainstream jazz listeners. by Lindsay Planer   
Tracklist :
 1    For Minors Only 3:59    
Jimmy Heath
2    Minor Yours 6:40    
Art Pepper
3    Resonant Emotions 5:41    
Jimmy Heath
4    Tynan Tyme 5:31    
Art Pepper
5    Picture of Heath 6:43    
Jimmy Heath
6    For Miles and Miles 6:24    
Jimmy Heath
7    C.T.A. 5:14
Written-By – Jimmy Heath
8    Tynan Time 6:19
Written-By – Art Pepper
9    Little Girl 4:17
Written-By – Henry, Hyde
10    Minor Yours 7:14
Written-By – Art Pepper
11    Sonny Boy 3:57
Written-By – Jolson, De Sylva, Brown, Henderson
12    The Route 5:04
Written-By – Pepper, Baker, Kamuca
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Art Pepper
Arranged By – Art Pepper (faixas: 2,4,8,10), Jimmy Heath (faixas: 1,3, 5-7), Johnny Mandel (faixas: 9,11)
Bass – Curtis Counce (faixas: 1 to 7), Leroy Vinnegar (faixas: 8 to 12)
Drums – Lawrence Marable (faixas: 1 to 7), Stan Levey (faixas: 8 to 12)
Piano – Carl Perkins (faixas: 1 to 7), Pete Jolly (faixas: 8 to 12)
Tenor Saxophone – Phil Urso (faixas: 1 to 7), Richie Kamuca (faixas: 8 to 12)
Trumpet – Chet Baker

GLORIA SMYTH + HELYNE STEWART - Like Soul! + Love Moods (2019) M4A (tracks) lossless [16bits 44.1khz]

"This release in Fresh Sound’s Best Voices Time Forgot series sees the pairing of two more overlooked albums from the late 50s and early 60s: Gloria Smyth’s Like Soul! and Helyne Stewart’s Love Moods.
The Gloria Smyth album, from World Pacific, is mixed – some of the uptempo tracks don’t sound that convincing, and although she has a forceful and strong voice, some of the inflections seem a little forced. I feel she is at her best on the slower ones and the ballads, and it is on these that her voice sounds more assured and controlled. She sings attractively on Sittin’ And Sighin’, on which she benefits from the presence of Teddy Edwards’ sensitive tenor accompaniment, and on I’ll Remember April, where both singer and saxophonist use some imaginative phrasing.
Helyne Stewart is a more rounded and stylish vocalist, with good range and accurate pitch, and a voice at times reminiscent of Dinah Washington. Once more Teddy Edwards is involved, both as arranger and as a featured soloist, with a quartet and an all-star septet that includes fellow West Coast players Frank Butler, Art Pepper, Jack Sheldon and Frank Rosolino.
Issued originally on Contemporary Records, the material is a strong selection of standards and well-known numbers and Stewart handles them well, with straightforward interpretations and good accompanying solos – Why Don’t You Do Right is an example in point. A fine follow-on from the Lil Green and Peggy Lee versions, this has blues-tinged contributions from Edwards and pianist Phineas Newborn Jr. How Deep Is The Ocean is notable for her warm and rich delivery and for Pete Jolly’s unobtrusive but soulful background piano, the higher keys riding the wave of the lush horn arrangement." by Matthew Wright
Tracklist :
GLORIA SMYTH - LIKE SOUL! (1960)
1. Running Wild  2:14
(Gibbs-Grey-Wood)
2. Billy 1:59
(Paley-Kendis-Goodwin)
3. Sittin’ and Sighin’ (Prison) 3:35
(D’Vogna White)
4. Imagination 2:59
(Burke-Van Heusen)
5. Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child  2:02
(Traditional)
6. I’ll Remember April  3:20
(Raye-DePaul-Johnson)
7. I’ll Be Over  2:10
(Gloria Smyth)
8. Bye Bye Blackbird 2:13
(Henderson-Dixon)
9. When You’re Smiling  2:44
(Shay-Fisher-Goodwin)
10. Gee Baby Ain’t I Good to You  2:34
(Redman-Razaf)
11. Sometimes I’m Happy  3:29
(Youmans-Caesar-Grey)
12. Time After Time 3:44
(Styne-Cahn)
13. It Don’t Mean a Thing 2:32
(Ellington-Mills)
Personnel on “Like Soul!":
Gloria Smyth, vocals
Tracks #4,6,9,12: Teddy Edwards, tenor sax; Les McCann, piano; Leroy Vinnegar, bass; Ron Jefferson, drums.
Recorded at Rex Productions Studio, Los Angeles, May 2, 1960
Tracks #1,11,13: Donald Sleet, trumpet; Daniel Jackson, tenor sax; Terry Trotter, piano; Herbie Lewis, bass; Lenny McBrowne, drums.
Recorded at Rex Productions Studio, Los Angeles, March 1960
Tracks #2,3,8: Teddy Edwards, tenor sax (out #2); Ronnie Ball, piano; Ben Tucker, bass; Al Levitt, drums.
Recorded at Sound Enterprises, Los Angeles, September 12, 1959
Tracks #7,10: Teddy Edwards, tenor sax; Joe Castro, piano; Leroy Vinnegar, bass; Billy Higgins, drums.
Recorded at Sound Enterprises, Los Angeles, September 12, 1959
Track #5: Terry Trotter, piano; Herbie Lewis, bass.
Recorded at Rex Productions Studio, Los Angeles, March 1960
HELYNE STEWART - LOVE MOODS (1961)
14. Love Is Here To Stay 3:22
(George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin)
15. I Hadn't Anyone 'Til You 3:49
(Ray Noble)
16. My Heart Belongs To Daddy 2:04
(Cole Porter)
17. That Old Feeling 3:01
(Lew Brown / Sammy Fain)
18. This Love Of Mine 3:48
(Henry W. Sanicola, Jr. / Sol Parker / Frank Sinatra)
19. The Man I Love 3:11
(George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin)
20. Why Don't You Do Right? (Give Me Some Money Too) 2:56
(Kansas Joe McCoy)
21. How Deep Is The Ocean 3:25
(Irving Berlin)
22. Easy To Love 3:35
(Cole Porter)
23. Besame Mucho 3:24
(Sunny Skylar / Consuelo Velázquez)
24. My Silent Love 3:05
(Edward Heyman / Dana Suesse)
25. This Can't Be Love 2:13
(Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers)
Personnel on "Love Moods":
Helyne Stewart, vocals
Tracks #14,19,21,24: Teddy Edwards Septet
Jack Sheldon, trumpet; Frank Rosolino, trombone; Art Pepper, alto sax; Teddy Edwards, tenor sax, arranger; Pete Jolly, piano; Jimmy Bond, bass; Frank Butler, drums.
Recorded at Contemporary Records, Los Angeles, January 20, 1961
Tracks #15,16,17,18,20,22,23,25: Teddy Edwards Quartet
Teddy Edwards, tenor sax, arranger; Phineas Newborn, Jr., piano; Leroy Vinnegar, bass; Milt Turner, drums.
Recorded at Contemporary Records, Los Angeles, August 21 & 22, 1961

HOWARD ROBERTS - The Swingin' Groove of Howard Roberts (2018) FLAC (tracks), lossless

When Howard Roberts (1929-1992) decided to teach himself guitar, he decided to visit every black jazz club in his native Phoenix, Arizona. “All we did was play the blues. And that’s what I came out of—the blues.” Roberts, however, felt the need to learn more about the complexities of the profession, and so he started studying harmony and composition.

Looking for more musical activity, he moved to Los Angeles in 1950, where he gigged around the city in jam sessions at after-hours clubs. There, he developed his dazzling technique and fine harmonic sense. Having played with the best instrumentalists and composers, he started getting calls for session work.

He established his reputation with the Bobby Troup trio, which appeared on TV from coast to coast, and consolidated the fame of Troup’s group with some brilliant playing of his Gibson guitar, so much so that the Down Beat jazz critics accorded Roberts the New Guitar Star Award of 1955.

In the years following he continued recording with top jazz singers and instrumentists, and eventually made his first albums as a leader for Verve. In 1959 Roberts started getting more and more work on TV and film, but not content with settling down in the Hollywood studios, in a kind of prosperous obscurity, he kept very active in the jazz scene, playing concerts and recording his own albums.

Howard Roberts was a skilled guitarist with a fondness for direct and unencumbered jazz playing, his tone always bright and penetrating, never twangy. A fine technician, he was able to execute difficult passages cleanly and forcefully. He forged a sound of his own, fiery and hard-swinging, creative and unpretentious. These sessions are an example of his jazz work, as a sideman and as a leader. freshsoundrecords
Tracklist:
01. How Do You Do? (Bert Dahlander) 3:20
02. Johnson’s Wax (Terry Gibbs) 5:13
03. When the Lights Are Low (Carter-Williams) 5:07
04. Hip Soup (S.Swenson) 6:21
05. But Not for Me (G. & I. Gershwin) 3:58
06. Emma (Bert Dahlander) 5:47
07. Room 608 (Horace Silver) 4:17
08. Ballad Medley 6:28
-Everything Happens to Me (Dennis-Adair)
-Moonlight in Vermont (Blackburn-Suessdorf)
-Flamingo (Grouya-Anderson)
09. All the Things You Are (Kern-Hammerstein II) 2:41
10. Lover Man (Ramirez-Davis-Sherman) 4:28
11. Easy Living (Rainger-Robin) 4:05
12. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Arlen-Koehler) 2:42
13. The Most Beautiful Girl in the World (Rodgers-Hart) 2:51
14. In a Little Spanish Town (Wayne-Lewis-Young) 2:23
15. I’ll Take Romance (Hammerstein-Oakland) 2:57
16. Zigeuner (Noel Coward) 4:17
17. Aunt Orsavella (John T. Williams) 2:25
18. Anything Goes (Rodgers-Hart) 2:30
19. Caribe (John T. Williams) 2:14
Note
Tracks #1-8, from the album “Skål by Bert Dahlander and his Swedish Jazz”
(Verve MG V8253)
Tracks #9-12, from the album “Good Pickin's” (Verve MG V8305)
Tracks #13-16, from the album “The John Towner Touch” (Kapp KL-1055)
Tracks #17-19, from the album “Modern Jazz Gallery” (Kapp KXL 5001)

Personnel on #1-8: Howard Roberts, guitar; Victor Feldman, vibes & piano; Curtis Counce, bass; Bert Dahlander, drums.
Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, September 17, 1957

Personnel on #9-12: Howard Roberts, guitar; Pete Jolly, piano; Red Mitchell, bass; Stan Levey, drums.
Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, January 20, 1959

Personnel on #13-16: Howard Roberts, guitar; John T. Williams, piano; Joe Mondragon, bass; Jack Sperling, drums.
Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, October 3, 1956

Personnel on #17-19: Howard Roberts, guitar; John T. Williams, piano; Curtis Counce, bass; Jerry Williams, drums.
Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, November 2, 1956