Joey DeFrancesco - Joey DeFrancesco's Goodfellas (1999)

Joey DeFrancesco, Frank Vignola, Joe Ascione - three musicians who go together like spaghetti, garlic bread and Chianti. And when these Italian jazzers sit down to play together, under don DeFrancesco's leadership...hey fahgettaboutit! Featuring killer chops, humor, and creative, jazzed-up versions of "Italian standards", Joey DeFrancesco's Goofellas deliver a recording you can't refuse.

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Try to imagine the best Italian-American wedding you've ever been to - the people, the food, the style, the love - then set it to some great jazz music, Joey DeFrancesco's Goodfellas. Add this killer band to your next wedding party and be prepared to have the time of your life. Plain and simple, this album is 55 minutes of unabated fun. Joey DeFrancesco (Hammond B-3 organ), Frank Vignola (guitar), and Joe Ascione (drums), three outstanding musicians who grew up in typical Italian-American families, play some of the music on which they were raised. Highlights abound on this brilliant concept piece: the kicked-up, jazzy "Volare," the groovy, tasty "Fly Me to the Moon," the energetic, rollicking "Malafemmena," and the beautiful slow dance "Young at Heart." Even Monk's "Evidence," taken at a blistering pace, is right at home in this setting. The Goodfellas wrote a couple of tunes for the occasion as well, none better than the bluesy, gutbucket title track. This band has big-time chops, and this music swings like mad. ~ by Brian Bartolini, AMG.

Concord Jazz, CCD-4845-2, 1999

Recorded 17^th & 18^th March, 1998 At Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California

Musicians:

Joey DeFrancesco - Organ [Hammond B-3]

Frank Vignola - Guitar

Joe Ascione - Drums

Tracks:

01. Speak Softly Love {Larry Kusik, Nino Rota} (5:31)

02. Volare {Francesco Migliacci, Domenico Modugno, Mitchell Parish} (4:16)

03. Fly Me To The Moon (Bart Howard} (5:15)

04. All The Way {Sammy Cahn, Jimmy Van Heusen} (5:12)

05. Whack 'Em {Joe Ascione} (4:15)

06. Malafemmena {Antonio De Curtis} (4:06)

07. Young At Heart {Carolyn Leigh} (3:51)

08. O Sole Mio {Giovanni Capurro, Eduardo Di Capua} (5:14)

09. Evidence {Thelonious Monk} (4:33)

10. Goodfellas {Joe Ascione, Joey DeFrancesco, Frank Vignola} (6:11)

11. Ya See What I'm Sayin' {Joe Ascione} (4:44)

12. Whack 'Em [Reprise], Tarentella {Joe Ascione} (1:52)

Credits:

Producer - John Burk

Executive Producer - Glen Barros

Recording Engineer - Phil Edwards

Assistant Engineer - Ben Conrad

Mixing Engineer - Phil Edwards at PER, Hayward, CA

Mastering Engineer - George Horn

Director of Product Development - Alexis Davis

Production Manager - David Miller

Art Direction & Design - Add to the noise

Photography - John Abbott

The Heath Brothers - Passing Thru (1978) [viny>flac 24/48]

Review by Scott Yanow, AMG:
The Heath Brothers' second recording and Columbia debut has an impressive amount of variety. The core group -- Jimmy Heath on tenor, soprano and flute, bassist Percy Heath, drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath and keyboardist Stanley Cowell -- is joined on some selections by their future guitarist Tony Purrone, percussionist Mtume (Jimmy's son), and a four-piece brass section. With Jimmy's arrangements for the fairly diverse but consistently straight-ahead set adding color, this LP, which mixes together bop standards with more recent originals, is well worth searching for.

A1. A New Blue (Jimmy Heath) 7:57
A2. Light Of Love (Albert Heath, Jimmy Heath) 4:52
A3. In New York (Percy Heath) 5:16
A4. Artherdoc Blues (Jimmy Heath, Percy Heath) 2:40
B1. Mellowdrama (Jimmy Heath) 4:03
B2. Yardbird Suite (Charlie Parker) 4:03
B3. Changes (Jimmy Heath) 8:23
B4. Prince Albert (Kenny Dorham) 4:02

Jimmy Heath - tenor sax, soprano sax, flute
Wayne Andre - trombone
James Buffington, Joseph DeAngelis - French horn
Howard Johnson - tuba
Tony Purrone - electric guitar
Stanley Cowell - keyboards, kalimba
Percy Heath - bass
Albert "Tootie" Heath - drums
Mtume - percussion

Columbia LP JC-35573, USA, May - June, 1978
Recorded at A&R Recording Studios, NYC.

Wallace Roney - No Job Too Big Or Small (1999)

32 Jazz/Savoy's No Job Too Big or Small contains 11 highlights (as chosen by producer Adam Dorn) from Wallace Roney's recordings for Muse in the late '80s and early '90s. Although these were made at the outset of his career, Roney was already at the top of his game, as evidenced by this highly enjoyable collection. While the original albums are certainly worth hearing themselves, this is an excellent introduction to the trumpeter's finest recordings. ~ by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG.

Savoy Jazz, SVY 17274, 1999

Recorded 19^th February, 1987 - 6^th June, 1993

Musicians:

Wallace Roney - Trumpet

Kenny Garrett - Alto saxophone

Gary Thomas - Tenor Saxophone, Flute

Antoine Roney, Ravi Coltrane - Tenor saxophone

Jacky Terrasson, Donald Brown, Geri Allen, Mulgrew Miller - Piano

Peter Washington, Christian McBride, Charnett Moffatt - Bass

Eric Allen,Cindy Blackman,Kenny Washington,Tony Williams - Drums

Tracks:

01. Melchizedek {Antoine Roney} (7:33)

02. Alone Together {Howard Dietz, Arthur Schwartz} (8:53)

03. Daahoud {Clifford Brown} (6:08)

04. Obsession {Wallace Roney} (6:10)

05. Blue In Green {Bill Evans} (5:46)

06. Donna Lee {Charlie Parker} (4:22)

07. Solar {Miles Davis} (8:57)

08. Float {Cindy Blackman} (5:43)

09. Lost {Wayne Shorter} (6:10)

10. For Duke {Wallace Roney} (8:24)

11. Love For Sale {Cole Porter} (7:40)

Credits:

Producer - Don Sickler, Joe Fields, Tony Williams, Michael Cuscuna

Compilation Producer - Adam Dorn

Production Coordination - Becky Wisdom

Engineer - Rudy van Gelder

Mastering, Reissue Mastering - Gene Paul

Cover Photo, Photography - David Gahr

Graphic Design - Page Simon

Photography - Pamela Stanfield

Harold Land - A New Shade of Blue (1971) [vinyl]

A lost chapter in the legendary Harold Land/Bobby Hutcherson relationship – and a record that often gets overlooked. The set is a great moody mellow bit of jazz funk, recorded with Buster Williams on bass, Bill Henderson on electric piano, and Billy Hart on drums. Mtume sits in on congas, and the tracks have a very soulful groove that's different than the duo's work on Blue Note, but which also has the same sense of funkiness. Titles include "Mtume", "Ode To Angela", and "De-Liberation". © 1996-2012, Dusty Groove America, Inc.

Well not my idea of jazz-funk, this is straight ahead jazz and a logical development from the previous Blue Notes!

1 A New Shade Of Blue (Land)
2 Mtume (Hutcherson)
3 Ode To Angela (Land)
4 De-Liberation (Land)
5 Short Subject (Land)

Harold Land (ts); Bobby Hutcherson (vib); Buster Williams (b); Bill Henderson (p); Billy Hart (d); Mtume (per)

Recording date unknown (released 1971), New York, NY

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