JILL BARBER — Metaphora (2018) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

 Tracklist :
1.    The Woman 2:43
2.    Girl's Gotta Do 3:07
3.    I Hooked Your Heart 2:47
4.    Bigger Than You 2:39
5.    Mercy 3:47
6.    Clumsy Heart 3:03
7.    Cage Without a Key 3:45
8.    Love Is 3:16
9.    Hold On 4:04
All Credits :

JERI BROWN · JIMMY ROWLES — A Timeless Place (1995) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Jeri Brown, who has a four-octave range, is quite restrained during these thoughtful and very intimate performances. The talented singer performs nine compositions by Jimmy Rowles and uses the composer on piano along with bassist Eric Von Essen. Brown gives great emphasis and feeling to the often sensuous (and occasionally witty) lyrics. The words to four of the nine songs are by Johnny Mercer and for three others Rowles wrote his own but it is Norma Winstone's lyrics to the pianist's classic "The Peacocks" (here retitled "A Timeless Place") that are most memorable on this haunting set. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1    Morning Star    6:48
 Johnny Mercer / Jimmy Rowles
2    After School    5:09
 Jimmy Rowles
3    Baby, Don't Quite Now    6:43
 Johnny Mercer / Jimmy Rowles
4    A Timeless Place    7:09
 Jimmy Rowles / Norma Winstone
5    Old Orleans    5:03
 Jimmy Rowles
6    Music's The Only Thing That's On My Mind    5:44
 Jimmy Rowles
7    Fraser (The Sensuous Lion)    5:11
 Johnny Mercer / Jimmy Rowles
8    My Mother's Love    6:18
 Johnny Mercer / Jimmy Rowles
9    Looking Back    8:04
 Cheryl Ernst / Jimmy Rowles
Credits :
Bass – Eric Von Essen
Drums – Jerry Brown
Vocals – Jeri Brown
Vocals, Piano – Jimmy Rowles  

HELEN HUMES — Songs I Like to Sing! (1960-1988) RM | Two Version | FLAC (image+.tracks+.cue), lossless

One of the high points of Helen Humes' career, this Contemporary set (reissued on CD) features superior songs, superb backup, and very suitable and swinging arrangements by Marty Paich. Humes' versions of "If I Could Be With You," "You're Driving Me Crazy," and "Million Dollar Secret," in particular, are definitive. On four songs, she is backed by tenor great Ben Webster, a rhythm section, and a string quartet; the other numbers find her joined by a 14-piece band that includes Webster and Teddy Edwards on tenors along with altoist Art Pepper. This classic release is essential and shows just how appealing a singer Helen Humes could be. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1.    If I Could Be With You 3:22
Written-By – Creamer, Johnson
2.    Don't Worry 'Bout Me 2:58
Written-By – Bloom, Koehler
3.    Don't Worry 'Bout Me (Alternate Take)    2:56
4.    Mean To Me 3:25
Written-By – Ahlert, Turk
5.    Every Now And Then 3:49
Written-By – Silver, Lewis, Sherman
6.    I Want A Roof Over My Head 3:00
Written-By – Harvey Brooks 
7.    St. Louis Blues 2:43
Written-By – W. C. Handy
8.    You're Driving Me Crazy 3:09
Written-By – Walter Donaldson
9.    My Old Flame 3:20
Written-By – Johnston, Coslow
10.    Millon Dollar Secret 4:04
Written-By – Helen Humes
11.    Love Me Or Leave Me 2:58
Written-By – Kahn, Donaldson
12.    Imagination 3:04
Written-By – Burke-Van Heusen
13.    Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone 2:41
Written-By – Stept, Clare
Credits :
Arranged By, Conductor – Marty Paich
Baritone Saxophone – Bill Hood (tracks: 2, 3, 4, 6 to 8, 10, 11, 13)
Bass – Leroy Vinegar
Cello – Eleanor Slatkin (tracks: 1, 5, 9, 12)
Clarinet, Alto Saxophone – Art Pepper (tracks: 2, 3, 4, 6 to 8, 10, 11, 13)
Drums – Shelly Manne
Guitar – Barney Kessel
Piano – Andre Previn
Tenor Saxophone – Ben Webster, Teddy Edwards (tracks: 2, 3, 4, 6 to 8, 10, 11, 13)
Trombone – Bob Fitzpatrick (tracks: 2, 3, 4, 6 to 8, 10, 11, 13), Harry Betts (tracks: 2, 3, 4, 6 to 8, 10, 11, 13)
Trumpet – Al Porcino (tracks: 2, 3, 4, 6 to 8, 10, 11, 13), Jack Sheldon (tracks: 2, 3, 4, 6 to 8, 10, 11, 13), Ray Triscari (tracks: 2, 3, 4, 6 to 8, 10, 11, 13), Stu Williamson (tracks: 2, 3, 4, 6 to 8, 10, 11, 13)
Viola – Alvin Dinkin (tracks: 1, 5, 9, 12)
Violin – James Getzoff (tracks: 1, 5, 9, 12), Joseph Stepansky (tracks: 1, 5, 9, 12)
Vocals – Helen Humes

MARY STALLINGS — Remember Love (2005) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Mary Stallings has long been a very impressive singer living on the West Coast. Her style is conventional, a bit reminiscent of Carmen McRae's, but of very high quality and a logical match with her warm voice. Remember Love greatly benefits from the guiding hand of Geri Allen, who not only plays piano and organ but produced the project and provided all of the arrangements. The backing is a bit more modern than is usual on a Mary Stallings disc and some of the selections are more challenging, yet still comfortably in her style. Stallings is heard throughout at the peak of her powers. Among the many high points are a touching version of "Hello Yesterday," very slow renditions of "Dindi" and "Lucky to Be Me," a duet with bassist Darryl Hall on "Centerpiece," a swinging and joyful "I Just Found Out About Love," a haunting "Remember Love," and the closer, an unusual vocal-tenor duet with veteran Frank Wess on "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes." This is one of Mary Stallings' finest recordings and is highly recommended. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1.    What A Difference A Day Makes 1:30
Written-By – Maria Grever, Stanley Adams
2.    No Greater Love 4:18
Written-By – Isham Jones, Marty Symes
3.    Hello Yesterday 6:24
Written-By – D. Channsin Berry, Randy Waldman
4.    Centerpiece 4:47
Written-By – Harry Edison, Jon Hendricks
5.    Moment To Moment 4:18
Written-By – Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer
6.    Dindi 5:37
Written-By – Aloysio De Oliveira, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Ray Gilbert
7.    Remember Love 3:56
Written-By – Adriana Evans, Jonathan Scott, Mary Stallings
8.    Lucky To Be Me 4:35
Written-By – Adolph Green, Betty Comden, Leonard Bernstein
9.    I Just Found Out About Love 3:22
Written-By – Harold Adamson, Jimmy McHugh
10.    Make Me Rainbows 3:12
Written-By – Alan Bergman, John Williams, Marilyn Bergman
11.    Why Should There Be Stars 7:18
Written-By – Bryce Rohde, K. Lawrence Dunham
12.    Still The One 3:31
Written-By – Robert John Lange, Shania Twain
13.    Stuck In A Dream
Written-By – John Proulx, K. Lawrence Dunham
14.    Funny Not Much 2:53
Written-By – Bob Merrill, Hughie Prince, Marcia Neil
15.    What A Difference Day Makes 2:04
Written-By – Maria Grever, Stanley Adams
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Vincent Herring
Bass – Darryl Hall
Drums – Billy Hart
Piano, Producer, Organ, Arranged By – Geri Allen
Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Frank Wess
Trumpet – Wallace Roney
Vocals – Mary Stallings

FREDA PAYNE - Band Of Gold (1970-2012) RM | Serie Invictus/Hot Wax 1000 Collection | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Although much of soul vocalist Freda Payne's early '70s association with the mighty Invictus label would be fraught with stress, her 1970 debut album, Band of Gold, was nevertheless a masterpiece of epic proportions. Touted on the sleeve as "people music, for people who like pop, rhythm and blues, ballad, hymns -- just about anything," Payne's set certainly reflects that wide range and, while the overall sonic tone of Band of Gold reflects her producers' Motown history, especially across songs like "Unhooked Generation" and the Holland-Dozier penned "The World Don't Owe You a Thing," there are other more spontaneous moments here as well. With a majority of the songs co-written by Ron Dunbar, who would go on to become part of the P-Funk empire, "Payne" wowed her audience first with the top hit "Band of Gold" before diving into "Deeper and Deeper." Both are downtempo love ballads, delivered with a maturity and richness that belies much of the balladeering of the era. Other standouts include the young love remembrances of "Through the Memory of My Mind," which allows Payne's vocals to stay fully in front and even includes a subtle Shangri-Las-y spoken work bridge and the smoky intro'd "This Girl Is a Woman Now." It must be said, however, that the title song -- truly one of the greatest soul ballads of all time -- so dominates proceedings that it is very easy to overlook these other gems, one reason why Band of Gold rarely attracts much attention today. Amy Hanson
Tracklist :
1     Band of Gold 2:53
Ronald Dunbar / Edyth Wayne       
2     I Left Some Dreams Back There 3:19
Ronald Dunbar
3     Deeper and Deeper 2:52
Ronald Dunbar / Norma Toney / Edyth Wayne
4     Rock Me in the Cradle 3:00    
Ronald Dunbar / General Johnson
5     Unhooked Generation 2:29
E. Wayne, R. Dunbar
6     Love on Borrowed Time 2:56
William Weatherspoon
7     Through the Memory of My Mind 2:40
William Weatherspoon   
8     This Girl Is a Woman Now 2:59
A.J. Bernstein / Vic Millrose
9     The World Don't Owe You a Thing 2:58    
Holland-Dozier
10     Now Is the Time to Say Goodbye 3:09
Freda Payne
11     Happy Heart 2:49
James Last / Jackie Rae
12     The Easiest Way to Fall 2:3
Ronald Dunbar