Carmen Mcrae The Sound Of Silence

Carmen McRae - At Ratso's Vol. 1 (1976) {Hitchcock Media CD-0808V1 rel 2002}
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© 1976, 2002 Hitchcock Media | CD-0808 V1
Jazz / Vocal Jazz / Bop / Standards

Ron Hitchcock has managed to unearth previously unreleased material, mostly live performances, of Stan Kenton andWoody Herman, among others. His endeavors have resulted in a respectable catalog for his Hitchcock Media company. Hitchcock outdid himself this time by releasing in two volumes of Carmen McRae's appearance at the now defunct Ratso's Jazz Club in Chicago in 1976. Both volumes come from Saturday and Sunday night performances. Each CD has its own distinct and diverse play list; there are no duplications.

Norman Simmons - The Art of Norman Simmons (2000) {Savant ‎SCD 2029}
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© 2000 Savant ‎Records | SCD 2029
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Post Bop / Piano

As the accompanist for singers Dakota Staton, Carmen McRae, and Joe Williams, as well as a member of bands led by Johnny Griffin, Roy Eldridge and others, pianist Norman Simmons has spent little of his fifty-plus years as a musician in the spotlight. On the appropriately titled The Art of Norman Simmons, he successfully strikes a balance between putting his own talents front and center and melding them with musicians he respects and admires. The members of his quintet share the common goal of swinging in a relaxed, unhurried manner and no one ever feels compelled to shout to make a point.

The Summer of 1976 has remained a benchmark for long, hot summers – there may have been scorchers since, but none have seemed quite as relentless. Too hot to move, the country melted into a collective puddle. This album evokes the feel of that summer, the sweet heat and almost narcotic lethargy, the haze above melting tarmac.

Thirteen years into their tenure, the Dave Brubeck Quartet was still able to mine the creative vein for new means of expression. Despite the hits and popularity on college campuses, or perhaps because of it, Brubeck, Paul Desmond, Eugene Wright, and Joe Morello composed a restless band with a distinctive sound. These eight tracks, all based on a tour of Japan the year before, were, in a sense, Brubeck fulfilling a dictum from his teacher, the French composer Darius Milhaud, who exhorted him to "travel the world and keep your ears open." The sketches Brubeck and Desmond created all invoke the East, particularly the folk melodies of Japan directly, while still managing to use the Debussian impressionistic approach to jazz that kept them riding the charts and creating a body of music that, while playing into the exotica craze of the moment, was still jazz composed and played with integrity…

Frank Minion - The Forward Sound (1958) {Bethlehem Japan CDSOL-6053 rel 2013}
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© 1958, 2013 Solid Records Japan / Bethlehem Records | CDSOL-6053
Jazz / Bop / Vocal Jazz

Features the latest remastering. Includes a Japanese description and lyrics. One of the few albums ever issued by vocalist Frank Minion – an ultra-hip singer that we'd rank right up there as one of our favorites ever! Although the cover bears a 1970 date, the album was recorded in the late 50s – and date reference is a great indication of the forward-thinking approach that Frank brings to his vocals! Minion works with echoes of some of his hippest contemporaries – particularly Oscar Brown and Eddie Jefferson – but he's also got a voice that's really individual, too – a lighter and fluid, especially when he hits some horn-like inflections – spurred on by the hip small combo of the backings. There appears to be a bit of crossover with Frank's other Bethlehem record, but we're not sure.