Time After Time

Pianist Oscar Peterson's final Pablo album (after a countless amount of appearances as both a leader and a sideman) features his quartet (which at the time included guitarist Joe Pass, bassist David Young and drummer Martin Drew) on the second of two CDs (along with Oscar Peterson Live) recorded during an engagement at Los Angeles's Westwood Playhouse in Nov. 1986. For the well-rounded set Peterson performs two of his originals, the blues "Soft Winds," a solo ballad medley and, as a climax, a burning version of "On the Trail."

What Freelon is building is not just a castle of love, but an expanded repertoire for jazz singers' - The Washington Post. Multi Grammy nominated vocal artist Nnenna Freelon is back, delivering her eleventh album after a decade-long hiatus from the studio. With Time Traveler, she offers a celebration of love and a prayer of hope for those living with loss. The sessions for the album stretched over two years, between 2018 and 2020, coinciding with the loss of Freelon's soulmate and husband of forty years, Phil Freelon, to ALS. Freelon draws from her & Phil's shared love of jazz and rhythm and blues, to step through an imagined doorway where past, present and future collide. From the album's centerpiece, a medley of Marvin Gaye classics, to standards such as 'Come Rain or Come Shine' and 'Moon River,' or her self-penned title song, Freelon reminds us of the grace and elegance that naturally accompanies her approach to interpreting melody.

The debut album by Morris Day's band, The Time. Written & produced with, and performed almost entirely by Prince with vocals from Day.

Ann Hampton Callaway - After Ours
Label: DENON | Release 1997 | All Covers | MP3@320 kb/s | Time:63:65 | 130 MB

Ann Hampton Callaway is one of the top cabaret singers of the past decade. She has always been influenced a bit by jazz, and this 1997 release was her first full jazz recording. Callaway has a haunting voice and, as with most cabaret singers, a great respect for the lyrics she interprets; her singing on "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" is a bit eerie. Pianist Kenny Barron, Bob Mintzer on tenor and soprano, and trumpeter Randy Brecker all get a generous amount of solo space, while bassist Jay Leonhart and percussionist George Jinda are fine in support; considering the high quality of her sidemen, it is a major compliment to the singer to say that her vocals do not cause the set to sag or the listener to lose this interest. On "All Blues" and "Old Devil Moon" in particular, she shows the potential of becoming a significant jazz singer in the future if she sticks to this path. Strangely enough, an intriguing original blues (clocking in around four-and-a-half minutes) is included at the end of the program, but not mentioned on the back cover or in the liners. Recommended.

-Review by Scott Yanow.