Wednesday, December 16, 2015

NEW RELEASES: ANA COSTA - PELOS CAMINHOS DO SOM; CHICO HAMILTON - PASSIN THRU'/MAN FROM TWO WORLDS; JOHNNY HAMMOND - GEARS

ANA COSTA – PELOS CAMINHOS DO SOM

A tribute to the legendary Martinho Da Vila – served up in a sparkling samba mode that does way more than just go back to the roots, and instead really opens up these tunes with a fresh, personal sense of interpretation! The instrumentation blends classic percussion with some sweet electric guitar lines – used sparingly, but in a different way than acoustic strings – never commercial, but with a nice edge that makes the music groove beautifully as Ana brings her soulful vocals into play! The set features guest appearances from Mart'Nalia, Marcelinho Moreira, Zelia Duncan, Alceu Maia, Agriao, and others – and titles include "Meu Lairaira", "Fazendo As Malas", "Pelos Caminhos Do Som", "Semba Dos Ancestrais", "Ex Amor", "Canta Canta Minha Gente", and "Madalena Do Jucu".  ~ Dusty Groove

CHICO HAMILTON - PASSIN’ THRU / MAN FROM TWO WORLDS

Two Chico Hamilton treasures – back to back on a single CD! Passin Thru is wonderful work from one of Chico Hamilton's greatest groups! The record features Chico's quintet with Charles Lloyd on tenor and flute, Gabor Szabo on guitar, the great (and under-recorded) Al Stinson on bass and George Bohannon on trombone – and the tracks have that spaced out, slightly-Spanish tinge that Chico was crafting during his trippier years at Impulse. Szabo's guitar is a key element of this sound – but you can't discount Chico's amazingly open approach to the drums, and his freewheeling manner of spinning out a lively dancing rhythm. Titles include "Lady Gabor", "El Toro", "Passin Thru", and "Lonesome Child". Man From Two Worlds is a pivotal album for Chico – one that has him working with his hip group that included Charles Lloyd and Gabor Szabo, both of whom take Chico into a modal mode that would completely transform his sound! Lloyd's the center star on the album's version of his own "Forest Flower" – done here in "sunrise" and "sunset" passages – but it's really Chico's increasingly offbeat sense of rhythm that allows Lloyd and Szabo to develop their intense solos and searching grooves. Other titles include "Mallet Dance", "Love Song To A Baby", "Man From Two Worlds", and "Child's Play".  ~ Dusty Groove

JOHNNY HAMMOND – GEARS


One of our favorite albums of all time – and a record that just gets better and better the more we listen to it – and we've listened to it for years! Johnny "Hammond" Smith began his career as a simple soul jazz organist – but by the time of this album, he'd teamed up with the mighty Larry Mizell, the genius arranger/producer who'd breathed new life into the careers of Donald Byrd and Bobbi Humphrey. Mizell works with Hammond in the same way he does with other jazz artists – by taking a groove that works best with their solo style, and slowly layering other instrumentation and effects on top of it, so that when the solo kicks in, it's supported on waves and waves of funky sounds and soulful grooves. Mizell and his brother Fonce both play keyboards on the record, and the rest of the group includes monster fusion players like Harvey Mason, Roger Glenn, Hadley Caliman, and Jerry Peters. The real treat is Johnny, though – as his solos are heavenly, the best of his 70s work, stripped mean and lean, laid in at just the right points. Includes the breakbeat classic "Shifting Gears", the house classic "Los Conquistadores Chocolates", and funky numbers "Fantasy" and "Tell Me What To Do". This stunning version adds in some killer bonus tracks – 6 never-heard cuts from the Milestone vaults, including "Song For My Family", "Funky Native", "Detroit Rainbow", "Can't We Smile (alt)", and slow and fast versions of "A Child's Love". ~ Dusty Groove


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