Saori Yano - Answer (2012)

Saori Yano has been sending a new breeze to the jazz world since her amazing debut at the age of 16 in September 2003. She has released nine works including the best album so far, and will celebrate the 10th anniversary year from September 2012. The first release of her anniversary year is a fan-voted request album. For 10 years since her debut, she held fan votes on the web and at live venues to maximize her gratitude to the fans who continued to support her, and recorded the album from among them. Select a song. We will deliver all songs with new recordings including songs recorded in the album in the past. Included are the two songs "A Night In Tunisia" and "Whisky, You Like It" that co-starred trumpeter Terumasa Hino. For both songs, which have countless covers and rearrangements, Yano dared to choose a stoic approach without any tricks in the form of Mr. Hino's heart. In her attitude of carefully selecting the sounds she should make and refining her phrasing, she can certainly find one "answer" that she has been searching for 10 years. ~ toppe2.web.fc2.com. [Translated from Japanese] 

Savoy Records, COCB-54001, 2012
Recorded 24th, 25th, 26th July, 2012 

Musicians:
Saori Yano - Alto Saxophone
Terumasa Hino - Trumpet (#7,14)
Toru Nakajima - Piano, Trombone
Ken Kaneko - Bass
Nobuyuki Komatsu - Drums 

Tracks:
01. The Days Of Wine And Roses {Henry Mancini} (3:28)
02. All Of Me {Gerald Marks, Seymour Simons} (2:44)
03. Moon River {Henry Mancini} (3:40)
04. Sand And Skirt {Saori Yano} (4:00)
05. Moody's Mood For Love {James Moody} (3:14)
06. Theme From "Taxi Driver" {Tom Scott} (3:41)
07. A Night In Tunisia {Dizzy Gillespie} (6:37)
08. Sing Sing Sing {Louis Prima} / It Don't Mean A Thing {Duke Ellington} (2:09)
09. Answer {Saori Yano} (5:19)
10. Waltz For Debby {Bill Evans} (3:54)
11. La Vie En Rose {Louis Guglielmi} (3:40)
12. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To {Cole Porter} (3:19)
13. Left Alone {Mal Waldron} (7:16)
14. Whisky, You Like It {Masamichi Sugi} (4:28) 

Total Time: 57:29

Whisky, You Like It

Saori Yano - 02 (2004)

Good Recording to Feel More Room
Saori Yano, here demonstrates the appeal of lightness and a neat performance, that cannot be said in the first album, but in this 02, I felt more room in this performance (there was no room in the first), but it creates more fun. When I look at the live performance, it seems to me that I'm always working hard, rather than enjoying the performance (although the sound is quite stretchy), but the CD recording is on the contrary, it feels like a relaxed performance. On this album, the talent of music making blossoms, and "sand and skirt" is a masterpiece. In the live, the ad lib is even clearer, and it has become an indispensable classic song. Of course, Parker and Baker's repertoire is also a unique and refreshing performance that is perfect for everyday jazz-fun. If you want a hot performance, please listen to the live. ~ Amazon Customer. [Translated from Japanese] 

Savoy Records, COCB-53231, 2004
Recorded 2nd & 3rd April, 2004 at Avatar Studio, New York 

Musicians:
Saori Yano - Alto Saxophone
Eric Alexander - Tenor Saxophone (#4,8)
Harold Mabern - Piano
Peter Bernstein - Guitar (#1,2,11)
Nat Reeves - Bass
Joe Farnsworth - Drums 

Tracks:
01. Laird Baird {Charlie Parker} (4:32)
02. Sand And Skirt {Saori Yano} (6:52)
03. Lover Man {Jimmy Davis, Ram Ramirez, Jimmy Sherman} (6:10)
04. RIZLLA {Saori Yano} (5:30)
05. The Days Of Wine And Roses {Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer} (5:18)
06. Work Song {Nat Adderley, Oscar Brown Jr.} (4:42)
07. Zion {Saori Yano} (6:33)
08. Scrapple From The Apple {Charlie Parker} (5:12)
09. Everything Happens To Me {Matt Dennis, Tom Adair} (8:06)
10. Billie's Holiday {Saori Yano} (5:05)
Bonus Track
11. Open Mind {Takashi Matsunaga} (4:35) 

Total Time: 62:35 

Credits:
Producer - Hiroyuki Okano
Production Supervisor - Ken Komoguchi
Manager & Co-Producer - Haruki Naoi
Recording & Mixing Engineer - Dan Gellert
Assistant Engineer - Aya Takemura, Masumi Iwata
Mastering Engineer - Hiroyuki Hosaka
Illustration - Saori Yano
Art Direction - Ikkun Hagi
Design - Takanori Hirayama
Photography - Naoki Ishizaka
Liner Notes - Yozo Iwanami 

Sand And Skirt

Saori Yano - Bubble Bubble Bebop (2015)

Alto saxophonist Saori Yano, prior to the release of this album has been active in the Japanese jazz scene for more than ten years. Saori following in the footsteps of Charlie Parker, continues her devotion towards and further exploration and revival of bebop in a modern revision as showcased in her previous album BeBop At The Savoy (2009). Yano's consistent platform of Bebop sets the cornerstone of her broader love of salsa, incorporating other funky rich elements, by surrounding herself with other like-minded and equally passionate musicians. Together they fully reveal the valor to challenge Yano's innate ambition to create exciting modern jazz music, throwing aside the complex academic and somewhat hidden reservations that traditionalists would have conveyed. In the end, we as listeners can benefit and simply rejoice and embrace her confidence portrayed in this well-polished recording work. Saori is joined by other performing musicians which include: Toru Nakajima (piano), Kengo Nakamura (bass), Nobuyuki Kamatsu (drums), Ogimi Gen (percussion); Guests: Tabu Zombie (trumpet) and Motoharu (tenor) from Soil & "Pimp" Sessions. 

Savoy Records, COCB-54166, 2015 

Musicians:
Saori Yano - Alto Saxophone, Vocals (#8)
Toru Nakajima - Piano
Kengo Nakamura - Bass (#1,2,4-9)
Nobuyuki Komatsu - Drums (#1,2,4-9)
Ogimi Gen - Percussion (#4)
Tabu Zombie - Trumpet (#5)
Motoharu - Tenor Saxophone (#5)
Salsa Swingoza (#3) 

Tracks:
1. Blowin' The Blues Away {Horace Silver} (4:53)
2. Bluebird {Charlie Parker} (4:41)
3. Puerto Rico {Eddie Palmieri}/Suna To Skirt {Saori Yano} (8:14)
4. Betty Et Zorg {Gabriel Yared} (6:24)
5. Mercy, Mercy, Mercy {Joe Zawinul} (6:24)
6. Bayou {Jimmy Smith} (3:55)
7. Avalon {Vincent Rose} (6:19)
8. Bye Bye Babylon {Saori Yano} (8:05)
9. Confirmation {Charlie Parker} (5:44) 

Total Time: 54:44

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

Brothers And Other Mothers - Savoy 2LP - 24/48 Vinyl Rip

BROTHERS AND OTHER MOTHERS – (LINER NOTES) Part One® 1976 by Mark Gardner CODA Magazine

"Tides of musical influence are virtually impossible to monitor with complete accuracy. And in jazz, a young music still and one that has always been in a hurry, the problem is even more complex. Names and styles pass rapidly before our eyes and ears with disconcerting speed. This is not the scene for the leisurely, scholarly chronicler who likes ordered, out-and-dried developments, easy to trace.

So if an inquiring spirit poses the question, "Who was the first saxophonist to latch on to what Lester Young was into in the late 1930?" There is only one honest answer, "Who knows?" Influences are absorbed, often unconsciously, at other times deliberately (though perhaps not admitted), frequently quite casually. The process of widespread musical assimilation of new ideas in a constantly shifting artistic area like jazz is remarkably swift. One can notice significant changes, accepted and incorporated into the styles of numerous players, within months, even weeks.

There will always be the imitators, the mimics who can copy in meticulous detail the work of a true creator. But in jazz outright imitation is not as widespread as we may sometimes feel. Indeed, one of the fascinating aspects of the music is to view the innovations and to listen to the myriad ways they are expressed by various jazz practitioners who may not be originators but who do possess individualistic qualities.

There is nothing especially admirable about a musician who switches completely from one style to another which is coming into vogue. But an established player who shows he has been keeping his ears open for new things that he likes, and demonstrates the fact with a particular phrase, a tonal inflection, maybe just the choice of a certain tune, is informing us that he and the music are alive and growing.
The phenomenon of Lester Young's enveloping influence on young saxophone players between 1940 and 1950, and beyond has, perhaps, been over-simplified. The shadow of Pres was cast far beyond the generation of white tenor players who emerged from the wartime big bands, a refuge for many who were either too young or too clever to be drafted. The young, and not-so-young, black players were equally touched by Lester whose conception, let it be noted. penetrated deeply into all corners of jazz and was by no means an exclusive source for reedmen. Trumpeters, pianists. trombonists, singers and drummers all learned invaluable lessons from digging Young gliding out of the Basie section or riming those deceptively nonchalant gems behind Billie.

One can only generalize about how, why, when and where Pres seemed to permeate jazz and help to lead the music from swing into bebop in the most relaxed and logical way. Charlie Parker was on hand to crystallize and extend the direction, and meanwhile Pres went right along his own easy and supple path. His music changed, too, and young guys picked up on those shifts. But, unquestionably, Wardell Gray, Dexter Gordon, Teddy Edwards. James Moody, Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt were just as aware of/and affected by Pres as were their white contemporaries Stan Getz, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Allen Eager, Brew Moore and Herbie Steward. So too were older men like Flip Phillips, Illinois Jacquet, Buddy Tate and Georgie Auld.
Perhaps the key difference between, say Dexter and Getz, was that Gordon had also listened profitably to Hawkins, Webster and Byas, while Stan appeared to be a Pres man and a Dexter Gordon admirer! Ideas were exchanged more readily in those days and to unravel the cross-pollination of musical thought that went on between the guys involved would be impossible now.
But we can examine a goodly slice of recorded evidence, enjoyable clues and pointers and fine music to boot, within the covers of this key reissue. In this set can be heard a superstar in embryo (Stan Getz). a living legend (Allen Eager), two departed legends (Brew Moore, Serge Chaloff), Mr. Swing (Zoot Sims), and the complete musician, composer/arranger/soloist (Al Cohn), They all happened to be saxophonists who came to prominence immediately after the war. Four-Cohn, Getz, Sims and Chaloff-were Brothers in the famous Herman bebop hand. Moore (he never worked with Herman) was a brother by adoption while Eager had been a member of Woody's saxophone section in 1944...."
CONTINUED

Various Artists - Dixieland Main Stem New Orleans

Wait!!!  Don't scroll yet!!!

I know it says "Dixieland" and you are probably uninterested, but there's more than meets the eye here.  This is a recording of a live show at the Savoy Cafe in Boston, 1949.  The music is essentially mainstream, but more of a hot jazz/Chicago style, and the tunes are far from typical Dixie fare.  The Dixieland in the title would have been more for marketing than representation.

That said, this album is a really fun romp which maintains a jam feel throughout.  Side 2 plays like a medley, right up to Limehouse Blues which is infact a superb drum solo by Crawford.  Crawford's solo is a real banger too, something to behold.  Everybody gets a ton of shine, including Braff who is described as "new to the jazz scene" in the notes.  

The crooked cover is due to the application of the stickered sleeve, which was done at the factory.  Like most live recordings from this era (originally on 78), the sound quality is far from perfect.  However I think it's more than listenable.  I won't share anything which doesn't meet a certain standard.  The music is super fantastic and enjoyable as such.  This was ripped at 24/48 wav and transferred to 24/48 FLAC for your convenience.  I have it tagged under Edmond Hall.  As you probably assumed, it's in glorious mono... enjoy!!!

Regent MG 6076

"Savoy Cafe", Boston, MA, 1949

Ruby Braff (trumpet) Vic Dickenson (trombone) Ed Hall (clarinet) Kenny Kersey (piano) John Field (bass) Jimmy Crawford (drums)

Careless love
Please don't talk about me when I'm gone.
Bugle call rag.
Black and blue.
When a woman loves a man.
You made me love you.
My ideal.
Limehouse blues.

Gigi Gryce/Hall Overton/Duke Jordon - Signals (24/48 vinyl rip)

A new rip in 24/48! Sounds pretty good to me.


The story of these rather extraordinary records dates back to a short lived label called Signal (thus the title). Signal was the brain child of Jules Colomby, brother of Harold Colomby who was Monk's manager. Colomby had the idea that they would make records of a soloist over a crack rhythm section and put that on one side of the record, while on the other side the soloist would be deleted, leaving space for the home player to now play over the rhythm section. Kind of a cool idea. Jules got his brother Harold and Don Schlitten to become his partners and they found a silent partner investor for capitol. The investor eventually wanted his money back and the label was folded and sold to Savoy.

Sides one and two here are the quartet sides from Jazz Laboratory - Do It Yourself Jazz, volumes 1 and 2. On side one Gryce plays in front of the jaw dropping rhythm team of Duke Jordon, Oscar Pettiford and Kenny Clarke! Side two features Phil Woods in front of Hall Overton, Teddy Kotick, and  Mick Stabulas. Both sessions are quite nice but I think Phil's tone sounds a bit muddy next to Gryce's.

The second record gets REALLY interesting. I'm not sure if these two sessions were ever presented in the format described above or even intended to be, but each is half a record so who knows what they had in mind. Side three is a lovely large band set with Gryce sounding glorious in front of a large portion of the Oscar Pettiford Orchestra of that time. Side four is the BIG payoff though...four tracks of Gryce in a quartet with Thelonious Monk, Percy Heath, and Art Blakey!!! Can you imagine if they DID make a second side without Gryce and you got to try to play over those guys? This second record was later released as Nica's Tempo.

Gigi Gryce - Duke Jordan - Hall Overton – Signals
Label:Savoy Records – SJL 2231, Format:2 × Vinyl, LP, Reissue
Country:US, Released:1978, Genre:Jazz, Style: Bop, Swing

A1         Sometimes I'm Happy        
A2         Embraceable You        
A3         Jordu        
A4         Oh Yeah!        
B1         Pennies From Heaven        
B2         Yesterdays        
B3         It's Only A Paper Moon       
B4         You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To        
C1         Speculation        
C2         In A Meditation Mood        
C3         Social Call        
C4         Smoke Signal        
C5         (You'll Always Be) The One I Love        
C6         Kerry Dance        
D1         Shuffle Boil        
D2         Brake's Sake        
D3         Gallop's Gallop        
D4         Nica's Tempo        

   Alto Saxophone – Gigi Gryce (tracks: A1 to A4, C1, C2, C4, C6, D1 to D4), Phil Woods (tracks: B1 to B4)
    Baritone Saxophone – Cecil Payne (tracks: C3, C5), Danny Bank (tracks: C1, C2, C4, C6)
    Bass – Oscar Pettiford (tracks: A1 to A4, C1, C2, C4, C6), Percy Heath (tracks: D1 to D4), Teddy Kotick (tracks: B1 to B4)
    Drums – Art Blakey (tracks: C3, C5, D1 to D4), Kenny Clarke (tracks: A1 to A4, C1, C2, C4, C6), Mick Stabulas* (tracks: B1 to B4)
    Executive Producer – Steve Backer
    French Horn – Gunther Schuller (tracks: C1, C2, C4, C6), Julius Watkins (tracks: C3, C5)
    Mastered By, Recorded By [Original Recording] – Rudy Van Gelder
    Piano – Duke Jordan (tracks: A1 to A4), Hall Overton (tracks: B1 to B4), Horace Silver (tracks: C1, C2, C4, C6), Thelonious Monk (tracks: D1 to D4)
    Producer [Original Sessions] – Jules Colomby
    Reissue Producer – Bob Porter
    Trombone – Eddie Bert (tracks: C3, C5), Jimmy Cleveland (tracks: C1, C2, C4, C6)
    Trumpet – Art Farmer (tracks: C1, C2, C4, C6)
    Tuba – Bill Barber (tracks: C1, C2, C4, C6)
    Vocals – Ernestine Anderson (tracks: C3, C5)

Side 1 Recorded In Hackensack. March 7, 1955.
Side 2 Recorded In Hackensack. February 8, 1955.
Side 3 Recorded In Hackensack. October 22 & 30, 1955.
Side 4 Recorded In Hackensack. October 15, 1955.

Jazz For Playboys

During the 50's, Savoy released quite a few mainstream jam sessions.  They generally revolved around the same batch of players, mostly culled from Basie's band.  The results were excellent and most importantly, consistent.  Jazz For Playboys is no exception and overall is a pleasant ride through jazzville.

You will find that this side gets listed under Frank Wess and Kenny Burrell's names... rightly so.  They appear on all of the tracks and definitely lead the charge as far as soloing is concerned.

I thought this would be a nice break from the Basie project, while still staying in a related sound.  This minty Savoy side is a 1985 reissue, ripped at 24/44.1 wav and dithered to 16/44.1 FLAC... enjoy!!

Savoy Jazz MG-12095