Ben Webster
出生：1909/03/27 肯薩斯城 過世：1973/09/20 阿姆斯特丹
Ben Webster和Coleman Hawkins以及Lester Young，在當時並稱為三位最佳次中音薩克斯風手。他的音色是容易被辨認的，那種低沈渾厚、又有點粗造的氣音需要高度技巧，這是別人沒有辦法學到的特色，他的風格表現多屬於溫柔且帶有傷感的味道。

幼年時開始學小提琴，也學鋼琴，後來有朋友教他薩克斯風，之後便專注於此。

1931年加入鋼琴手Bennie Moten的樂隊。1933年是低音薩克斯風手Andy Kirk的樂團的一員。1934年來到紐約是加入當時極富盛名的Fletcher Henderson大樂團。

常和他合作的有Duke Ellington （他們於1941年開始合作），他數度成為Duke的大樂團的獨奏樂手。五十年代常與唱片製作人Norman Granz的樂團JATP到處表演。他合作過的樂手太豐富了，大師級的人物比比皆是。1964年放棄美國國籍，在歐洲的十年間錄了十二張專輯，晚年在歐洲的哥本哈根度過。

Dinah Washington was an American singer and pianist, who has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the '50s". Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performed and recorded in a wide variety of styles including blues, R&B, and traditional pop music, and gave herself the title of "Queen of the Blues".

Carmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpretation of lyrics.

“What happens after that point when life as we know it can’t continue.”
Jazz saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings is releasing a new album with his The Ancestors collective, We Are Sent Here By History, via Impulse! Records this March.
Conceptualised as an hour-long sonic poem, with lyrics written and performed by Siyabonga Mthembu, We Are Sent Here By History explores African and Afro-Caribbean traditions, drawing parallels between the album and the modern-day griot, or storyteller.
Joining forces once more with his band The Ancestors, with whom he released Wisdom Of Elders on Brownswood in 2016, Hutchings describes the album as a “meditation on the fact of our coming extinction as a species. It is a reflection from the ruins, from the burning.”
Recorded in Johannesburg and Cape Town in 2019, the album also features contributions from Mthunzi Mvubu on alto sax, Ariel Zamonsky on double bass, Gontse Makhene on percussion and Tumi Mogorosi on drums. Nduduzo Makhathini (Fender Rhodes), Thandi Ntuli (piano), Mandla Mlangeni (trumpet) also appear on selected tracks.
The album follows Sons of Kemet’s Your Queen Is A Reptile, and The Comet Is Coming’s Trust In The Lifeforce Of The Deep Mystery, both previously released on Impulse!.
——The Vinyl Factory

Arranged By, Conductor – Claus Ogerman
Bass – Ron Carter
Drums – Elvin Jones, Grady Tate
Guitar – Jim Hall, João Gilberto, Kenny Burrell
Piano – Antonio Carlos Jobim, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Oscar Peterson
Tenor Saxophone – Stan Getz
Vibraphone – Gary Burton
Vocals – Astrud Gilberto

Duet albums were rare in 1962 and encounters of this quality are still rare. Bill Evans and Jim Hall, two modern jazz giants, were in peak creative form at the time, Evans leading his own trio and Hall working with Sonny Rollins's quartet at the time.

These two masters challenge and complement each other brilliantly on a series of standards and jazz originals. Newly remixed and remastered in 24 bit, this new edition of Undercurrent, which contains two more tunes (tracks 7 & 8) and two alternate takes (tracks 9 & 10) added to the original United Artists album, sound exceptional.

Credits:
Arranged By [Horns] – Greg Adams
Arranged By [Strings] – Jun Fukamachi, Katz Hoshi, Masayoshi Takanaka
Baritone Saxophone – Steve Kupka
Bass – Abraham Laboriel, Chuck Rainey
Drums – Ed Greene, Harvey Mason, Shuichi Ponta Murakami
Guitar – Lee Ritenour, Masayoshi Takanaka
Horn – Tower Of Power
Keyboards – Jun Fukamachi, Patrice Rushen
Percussion – Motoya Hamaguchi, Paulo De Costa Steve Forman
Producer – Masayoshi Takanaka
Tenor Saxophone – Emilio Castillo, Lenny Pickett
Trumpet – Greg Adams, Mic Gillette
Vocals – Jim Gilstrap, Julia Tillman Waters, Maxine Anderson, Maxine Willard Waters

Wow, here's a first (or so it seems) -- a tribute to sax legend John Coltrane that doesn't include his arrangement of "My Favorite Things." Working with his trio featuring bassist George Mraz and drummer Al Foster at New York's Village Vanguard, the pianist instead chose a mix of well-known Coltrane gems like "Naima" (which begins cool and moody, and then heats up into a booming, improvisational jam and -- dare it be said when talking about traditional jazz? -- funk explosion) and "Afro Blue (in a strolling, slightly melancholy take with Tyner gliding over Foster's swift brushes). "Moment's Notice" is wacky and wild from the start, a primer on the power of freeform and swing; Tyner's improv ability has never been more intensely realized. After that, the 12 minutes of the mid-tempo "Crescent" come as a slight letdown despite some booming low-register chord pounding and an increasingly throbbing bassline. "After the Rain" is a somber interlude, while Billy Eckstine's "I Want to Talk About You" is like a cheerful ray of dancing sunlight after the gloom is gone. Like many great live jazz dates these days, the music was recorded direct to two-track analog tape, with no mixing or editing. The show on September 23, 1997, was to celebrate Coltrane's 71st birthday, and this recording brings listeners so joyfully close that they can almost blow out the candles themselves. ~ Jonathan Widran, All Music Guide

●1970 Down Beat雜誌四顆星高評價推薦片
●比爾艾文斯浪漫詩情的鋼琴典範錄音
身為爵士史上最偉大且具影響力的優雅爵士鋼琴手，已故的比爾艾文斯一直是最受全球無數爵士樂迷愛戴的傳奇人物。尤其是透過他奇幻而詩意指尖下所留傳下來的大量錄音作品，幾乎張張都被挑剔的樂評家們譽為爵士樂經典。溫和恬淡卻又深刻凝聚的唯美風格，以及擷取於印象樂派的創意轉換，比爾艾文斯的音樂中始終保有一股令人愉悅的優雅與現代風格，而由他所首創的鋼琴三重奏，更是將他的這種獨特而迷人的細膩氣質發揚到極致。
這張在他演奏巔峰期間所灌錄的專輯，除了展現他一貫的典雅抒情之外，比爾艾文斯更是首度嘗試一首曲子以鋼琴與電鋼琴在不同時間錄音後，又重疊remix合成一版，形成不同聲部的一首錄音（Synchronize）神乎奇技地詮釋了9首包括“What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Life ?”、“I’m All Smiles”以及“The Dolphin-before and After”等極為深刻感人的抒情曲目；此外，編曲兼指揮的米奇李歐納德（Mickey Leonard）的深厚功力亦讓整張專輯更顯得完整而具敘述性，相信這張早已絕版的大師經典，其再度面世必將引起爵士樂壇極大的迴響，更是樂迷們的一大福音。

Info for Big City Moves
Mosambique hits you right in the face with its snappy synths, sassy horns and pulsating rhythms. It's dirty and raw, with a scoop of self-irony. The band shows that jazz has no trouble being danceable!
With roots in both jazz, afrobeat and today's club music the band has created a sound that echoes 2019. Ivan Blomqvist, known from the band Rohey, has gathered some of the best young jazz musicians that Norway has to offer. Together they have created music that can both appeal to jazz cats and the young club scene. In March 2019, their debut album, «Big City Moves» will be released on Jazzland Recordings. Be prepared for a musical vitamin boost!
Ivan Blomqvist, keyboards
Lauritz Lyster Skeidsvoll, saxophone
Lyder Øvreås Røed, trumpet
Kristian B. Jacobsen, bass
Henrik Lødøen, drums