VINCE MENDOZA | ARIF MARDIN — Jazzpaña (1992) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

"JAZZPAÑA, the most ambitious recording project ever undertaken by Siggi Loch in a most active and extensive music business career, fuses American jazz and the flamenco music of Andalusia in a most imaginative, adventurous, and inspirational way. JAZZPAÑA is a showcase for the special compositional and arranging skills af Arif Mardin and Vince Mendoza, for the impeccable and dynamic section work of the WDR Big Band, for the exotic, extrovert artistry of Ramon El Portugues and Los Jovenes Flamencos, and for the assured and articulate playing of top jazz guest players Michael Brecker, Al Di Meola, Steve Khan, and Peter Erskine. Furthermore, JAZZPAÑA reveals Vince Mendoza as a composer and arranger of immense talent and imagination. This music inevitably prompts comparism with the classic Gill Evans - Miles Davis collaboration of 1959, Sketches of Spain. ...but Mendoza has his own individual identity, approaching the task of composing and arranging rather like a painter creating a landscape of canvas."
Nominated for two GRAMMY AWARDS in 1994. ACT
Tracklist :
1    El Vito Cante    3:44
2    Tangos    8:38
3    Entre Tinieblas    5:30
4    Tanguillo    7:46
5    Soy Gitano    4:49
6    Bulería    9:31
7    Suite Fraternidad (First Movement Generalife)    4:50
8    Suite Fraternidad (Second Movement Albacin)    8:22
9    El Vito El Gran Tamaño    9:19
Credits :
WDR BIGBAND conducted by Vince Mendoza
Guests:
Michael Brecker - Tenor Saxaphone
Al Di Meola - Electric Guitar
Peter Erskine - Drums
Dieter Ilg - Bass
Steve Khan - Electric Guitar
Freddie Santiago - Percussion

V.A. : MAGIC MOMENTS 1 — The Ultimate ACT World Jazz Anthology Vol. IV (2000) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1    Soriba Kouyaté / Paolo Fresu / Linley Marthe / Joël Allouche–    Massanicissé    4:11
2    Javier Paxariño / Glen Velez–    Cortesanos    4:55
3    E.S.T.–    Dodge The Dodo    4:36
4    Nguyên Lê / Renaud Garcia-Fons / Tino Di Geraldo / Carles Benavent–    Encanto    5:41
5    Kudsi Erguner / Christof Lauer / Michel Godard / Mark Nauseef–    Sufimaj    4:00
6    Schäl Sick Brass Band–    Malka Moma    2:46
7    Bazillus (2) Featuring Eddie Harris / Jamaaladeen Tacuma–    Back To Ed-E    3:48
8    Nils Landgren Funk Unit / Fred Wesley–    Six Beauties On A Rooftop    3:55
9    Gilberto Gil–    Oslodum    4:00
10    Jens Thomas / Paolo Fresu / Antonello Salis–    The Man With The Harmonica    3:08
11    Larry Coryell / Philip Catherine / Joachim Kühn–    Deus Xango    5:27
12    The Real Group / Toots Thielemans–    Vem Kan Segla Förutan Vind    3:36
13    Michael Riessler / Elise Caron / Jean-Louis Matinier / Pierre Charial–    Itinéraires/Verticalement    4:34
14    Huong Thanh / Nguyên Lê–    Lovers On The Mountain    3:22
15    Christof Lauer / Marc Ducret / Michel Godard / Gene Jackson–    Ferma L'Ali    5:47
16    Vince Mendoza / Charlie Mariano / Dave Liebman / WDR Big Band Köln–    Pavane    4:22
17    Steve Klink–    Mountain Blues    4:27
18    Sidsel Endresen / Bugge Wesseltoft–    Epilogue    1:43

VINCE MENDOZA AND THE METROPOLE ORCHESTRA — El Viento · The García Lorca Project (2009) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

"An enchanting masterpiece that fascinatingly blends poetry, flamenco, orchestral jazz, and elements of modern classical music." - AUDIO (DE) Jazz CD of the Month, July 2009. ACT
Tracklist :
1    La Canción Del Mariquita    4:16
Composed By – Ricardo Pachón
Arranged By – Vince Mendoza
2    Historietas Del Viento I: El Viento    4:40
Composed By – Niko Langenhuijsen
Arranged By – Joan Albert Amargos, Niko Langenhuijsen
3    Historietas Del Viento II: Viento Estancado 5:19
Composed By – Niko Langenhuijsen
Arranged By – Joan Albert Amargos, Niko Langenhuijsen
Percussion [Additional] – Efran Toro
4    Historietas Del Viento III: La Brisa 6:05
Composed By – Niko Langenhuijsen
Percussion [Additional] – Efran Toro
5    La Tarara    8:36
 Traditional
Arranged By – Vince Mendoza
6    De Los Cuatros Muleros    6:23
 Traditional
7    Sevillas Del Siglo XVIII    3:44
 Traditional
Arranged By – Vince Mendoza
8    La Nana Del Caballo Grande    6:10
Composed By – Ricardo Pachón
Arranged By – Joan Albert Amargos, Niko Langenhuijsen
9    Los Peregrinitos    3:33
 Traditional
10    Ángeles Negros 5:27
Composed By – José Ortega Heredia
Arranged By – Vince Mendoza
11    Los Mozos De Monleón    9:22
 Traditional
12    La Leyenda Del Tiempo    6:59
Composed By – Ricardo Pachón
Arranged By – Joan Albert Amargos, Niko Langenhuijsen
Credits:
Artwork [Cover] – Eduardo Arroyo
Cajón – Udo Demandt
Choir – Cindy Bourquin, Elin Carlson, Jennifer Barnes
Conductor, Producer – Vince Mendoza
Guitar – Daniel Méndez
Handclaps [Palmas] – Arturo Ramón
Percussion [Dancing] – Daniel Navarro
Vocals – Eva De Dios, Rafael De Utrera

VINCE MENDOZA – Sketches (1994) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

The world premiere of 'Sketches' was the highlight of the JazzFest Berlin 1993. ACT
Tracklist :
1    Pavane (Pour Une Infante Défunte) 9:06
Composed By – Maurice Ravel
Sketches
Composed By – Vince Mendoza
2    Part 1    2:04
3    Part 2    8:12
4    Part 3    10:21
5    Part 4    7:05
6    Part 5    9:27
7    Part 6    5:22
8    Part 7    5:47
9    Part 8    4:43
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Charlie Mariano
Arranged By, Remix – Vince Mendoza
Artwork [Front Cover] – Georg Baselitz
Bass – Dieter Ilg
Drums – Peter Erskine
Guitar – Nguyên Lê
Orchestra – The WDR Big Band
Soprano Saxophone – Dave Liebman

JOE ZAWINUL — Brown Street (2007) 2xCD | Serie WDR The Cologne Broadcasts | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Like his friend and onetime collaborator Miles Davis, Joe Zawinul was not one to look back on his past and savor the view. Yet as in the case of Miles (his parting concert in Montreux), Zawinul finally took the plunge in central Europe late in life by revisiting his old Weather Report repertoire -- live at his Vienna nightclub, Joe Zawinul's Birdland. The significant difference is that while Miles doubled back to a re-creation of the original Gil Evans charts, Zawinul retrofitted his tunes with new big-band arrangements by Vince Mendoza, read with gusto and heft by the crack visiting WDR Big Band of Cologne, Germany. To this, Zawinul added his own synthesizer virtuosity and some overdubs from his Malibu studio, two distinguished WR alumni who still play with him off and on -- bassist Victor Bailey and percussionist Alex Acuña -- and drummer Nathaniel Townsley. In just about every case, Mendoza's charts replicate and flesh out every twist and turn in the Weather Report originals, paying off big-time with "Brown Street," an overlooked swinger from the WR 8:30 album that gets the remake album off to a percolating start. Occasionally he piles on additional harmonic tissue, as in the Miles-period "In a Silent Way." Some of the writing seems a bit redundant, yet things never become too overloaded thanks to the ceaseless drive of the rhythm section, and there is plenty of room for solos. Only on "Procession" does Zawinul write his own big-band chart; though tied tightly to the original recording, it sounds looser than most of the Mendoza charts as it works out over the drone. A few of the song choices are unexpected: the frantic "Fast City" and the strutting title tune from the Night Passage album; the former features some liquid synth solos by Zawinul and stimulating tenor sax by Paul Heller, and the latter some relaxed flügelhorn from Kenny Rampton. Others aren't from the WR catalog at all; "Silent Way" predates it, of course, though WR did play the tune in concert, and "March of the Lost Children" and the perennial "Carnavalito" are from the post-WR solo years. Unlike most jazz tribute projects -- including a fairly bloodless, multi-artist 1999 salute to Weather Report on Telarc -- this double-CD set isn't burdened with artificial nostalgia, and it benefits a lot from the presence of one of the two founding co-leaders (the other being the absent Wayne Shorter). And Zawinul is the crucial one, because the crusty Austrian keyboardist sees to it that the swing is the thing and that the groove is deep. Richard S. Ginell   Tracklist & Credits :

JOHN ABERCROMBIE - Animato (1990) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Animato is not so much John Abercrombie's date simply because his name is listed first alphabetically. It is much more the music of Vince Mendoza, who composed six of the eight selections, and whose work on synthesizer is the dominant voice on this set of ethereal progressive instrumental music. Drummer Jon Christensen takes no backseat in urging the music forward with a subtle presence that represents a distinct primal and tribal jazz element. What electric guitarist Abercrombie does is link with Mendoza, merging his own synthesized blends of earth, sky and space to create beautiful textures and soundscapes in tandem with Mendoza's conceptual arrangements and expanded color palates. In "First Light" and "Last Light," the trio has touched on a theoretical circadian cycle, beginning in darkness, peace, serenity, and quietude, merging to darting guitar lines, bright steel drum samples, complex and dense activity, with Christensen's drum work a steadying and balanced influence. There's a hymnal quality in the airy "Single Moon" and the thin, dim "For Hope of Hope" with Mendoza's organ assimilations. "Right Now" is a space spiritual sped into animated bop mode with just Abercrombie's spare guitar and Christensen's fleet Euro swing, while "Ollie Mention" is a little waltz with tiny notes, the most tuneful of these pieces, with Mendoza's keyboards traipsing in dark, sacred, enchanted woodlands. Whooshing, vortex sounds akin to the Fairlight synthesizer identify the core of Abercrombie's lone composition in a somewhat playful fashion, while "Agitato" is clearly nestled in the new age style, a minimalist piece with hard drum accents buoying Abercrombie's individualist hypothesis. An unusual but beautiful item in John Abercrombie's discography, and a coming out for Mendoza, Animato signals a different direction for the ECM label, enabling electronic sounds in a way they had never fully embraced prior. by Michael G. Nastos  
Tracklist :
1     Right Now 7:32
John Abercrombie / Jon Christensen
2     Single Moon 4:20
Vince Mendoza
3     Agitato 5:06
Vince Mendoza
4     First Light 1:35
Vince Mendoza
5     Last Light 4:06
Vince Mendoza
6     For Hope of Hope 8:52
Vince Mendoza
7     Bright Reign 5:11
John Abercrombie
8     Ollie Mention 7:34
Vince Mendoza
Credits :
Synthesizer [Synthesizers] – Vince Mendoza
Drums, Percussion – Jon Christensen
Guitar, Guitar Synthesizer – John Abercrombie
Producer – Manfred Eicher
Programmed By [Synthesizer Programming], Electronic Valve Instrument [EVI] – Judd Miller

CHARLIE HADEN WITH MICHAEL BRECKER - American Dreams (2002) APE (image+.cue), lossless

This overly long quartet-plus-strings session is Charlie Haden's paean to an ideal America, made during a time that was ripe for such reflections. The band, with Haden on bass, Michael Brecker on tenor, Brad Mehldau on piano, and Brian Blade on drums, is unassailably strong. But listeners could have lived without the ear-candy sheen provided by the 34-piece orchestra, arranged primarily by Alan Broadbent, with additional contributions from Jeremy Lubbock and Vince Mendoza. (Broadbent and Mendoza also penned charts for Jane Monheit's In the Sun, released two weeks earlier.) Aside from outright banalities like "America the Beautiful" and "It Might Be You" (yes, the Stephen Bishop lite-radio hit), there are some saving graces, like Keith Jarrett's "Prism" and "No Lonely Nights," Mehldau's "Ron's Place," and Haden's two originals, "American Dreams" and "Nightfall." But Pat Metheny's "Travels" goes soggy without its Midwestern guitar twang, and Ornette Coleman's "Bird Food," one of only three tracks not to feature the orchestra, is so wildly out of place that its impact is somehow diminished -- notwithstanding a vivid pedal-point interlude about six minutes in. by David R. Adler