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 :

RANDY CRAWFORD & JOE SAMPLE — Feeling Good (2006) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

After a quarter of a century in the Warner Bros. camp and five years on the recording sidelines, Randy Crawford drew a circle back to the beginning, reuniting with keyboardist Joe Sample. In turn, the old Crusader put together a genuinely distinguished rhythm section, bassist Christian McBride and drummer Steve Gadd, and called upon Tommy LiPuma to produce the disc. That combination ought to guarantee a certain floor of competence from the get-go -- and it's great to report that this disc always rises above it, sometimes considerably above it. By this time, both Crawford and Sample were established veterans -- and the music they make here seems to come so easily from within, with only minimal backing and nothing getting in their way. Gadd puts out a propulsive beat on brushes that pushes the title track along just fine -- and his work on "See Line Woman" and "Last Night at Danceland" generates something resembling the irresistible Crusaders groove, giving Sample something to trip lightly and soulfully through. Every track seems to change style with a smooth movement of the clutch -- the slinky R&B funk of "Lovetown," the gentle Latin beat of "Rio de Janeiro Blue," the pure mainstream piano trio jazz of "But Beautiful," the heavy blues atmosphere of "Tell Me More and More and Then Some," a trip back to the 1960s' Top 40 with "Everybody's Talking" (dig Randy's fervent high note that Harry Nilsson once hit in falsetto). A very gratifying release -- considering how tempting it would have been to crank this out on autopilot. Richard S. Ginell
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JOE SAMPLE — Creole Joe Band (2013) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

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