Mellow Jazz

Not All Mellow, Houston Person's tribute to the softer side of jazz has its moments based on the laid-back timbre of his soul rather than a program consisting of only ballads. The tenor sax he wields certainly reflects the tradition established by Ben Webster in its soul-drenched tone, but is not as vocally pronounced or vibrato-driven. The quite capable pianist John Di Martino is the one whose more enunciated notions are harnessed, while tasteful guitar by the underrated James Chirillo rings out in acceptance of Person's embraceable hues. In a program of standards and two blues jams, Person rounds into shape this quintet of true professionals to render themes that are harder to play slow than fast…

Its impressive recording debut Four Odd is now followed by Mellow which features ten arrangements by Ivanusic on six of his originals, three standards and the Macedonian traditional piece “U Krusevo ogin gori”….

Quintessential jazz singer whose reedy voice and laconic style made her a legend for the ages. The first popular jazz singer to move audiences with the intense, personal feeling of classic blues, Billie Holiday changed the art of American pop vocals forever. More than a half-century after her death, it's difficult to believe that prior to her emergence, jazz and pop singers were tied to the Tin Pan Alley tradition and rarely personalized their songs; only blues singers like Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey actually gave the impression they had lived through what they were singing.

Fine & Mellow: Golden Classics album by Billie Holiday was released Apr 20, 1990 on the Collectables label. FINE AND MELLOW is a collection of live performances and radio transcriptions from various periods of Billie Holiday's career.

The idea was to put Ella in the studio with some of the best jazz musicians in the world (Tommy Flanagan, Ray Brown, Louie Bellson, Clark Terry, Zoot Sims, Lockjaw Davis and Sweets Edison) and turn them loose on a choice collection of standards. It turned out to be a pretty good idea. Fine and Mellow captures in the intimacy of a studio the kind of freewheeling improvisational performances that Ella usually reserved for the stage. The album won the Grammy Award Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 1980.