Summertime Babychair

Chet Baker - Once Upon A Summertime (1977) {Galaxy OJCCD-405-2 rel 2001}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 226 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 96 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 9 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1977, 2001 Galaxy Records / Fantasy / Chet Baker | OJCCD-405-2
Jazz / Cool / Bop / West Coast Jazz / Trumpet

Artists House, a classy if short-lived label, released this attractive Chet Baker LP, a quintet date with tenor saxophonist Gregory Herbert, pianist Harold Danko, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Mel Lewis. The challenging material ("The Song Is You" is the only one of the five songs that is a standard) inspires the musicians to play creative solos. It is particularly interesting to hear Baker interpret the Wayne Shorter tune "ESP."

Vibrant young pianist, Isata Kanneh-Mason, presents her sparkling second album, Summertime, as she takes us on a journey through the musical landscape of 20th century America. Isata brings her signature flair to this virtuosic and spiritual music for solo piano, including a world premiere recording of a Samuel Coleridge-Taylor piece, the fiercely challenging Barber sonata, and dazzling arrangements of Gershwin's songs.

Ray Barretto (a master of the congas) has effectively fused together bop-oriented jazz with Latin rhythms to form a particularly viable version of Afro-Cuban jazz; he hates the term "Latin jazz." Rather than sounding like two forms of music, Barretto's group New World Spirit shows that Latin rhythms can uplift all types of jazz songs, even ballads such as "When You Wish Upon A Star." Barretto's sextet is quite strong with Michael Philip Mossman's trumpet recalling Freddie Hubbard at times, Adam Kolker showing versatility and hard-driving swing during his tenor and soprano solos and the leader constantly cooking in the rhythm section. Whether it be Duke Jordan's "No Problem," "While My Lady Sleeps" or "Summertime" (which has Barretto partly talking his way through a vocal), the music is both creative and easily accessible.