SMOOVE VIBES is the electrifying new release from acclaimed Baltimore vibraphonist and multi-instrumentalist Warren Wolf. Blending jazz, soul, and groove-based rhythms, this self-produced album showcases Wolf's mastery across instruments-from vibraphone and drums to Fender Rhodes and vocals-recorded largely in his home studio. Joined by longtime collaborators Brent Birckhead, Elan Troutman, Terence Cunningham, Brandon Lane, and Imani-Grace Cooper, Wolf delivers a vibrant, accessible jazz experience that's both musically rich and irresistibly smooth. Featuring reimagined classics and standout originals like "Will the Real Kenny Gee Please Stand Up?", Smoove Vibes is a must-have for fans of groove-forward contemporary jazz.

SMOOVE VIBES is the electrifying new release from acclaimed Baltimore vibraphonist and multi-instrumentalist Warren Wolf. Blending jazz, soul, and groove-based rhythms, this self-produced album showcases Wolf's mastery across instruments-from vibraphone and drums to Fender Rhodes and vocals-recorded largely in his home studio. Joined by longtime collaborators Brent Birckhead, Elan Troutman, Terence Cunningham, Brandon Lane, and Imani-Grace Cooper, Wolf delivers a vibrant, accessible jazz experience that's both musically rich and irresistibly smooth. Featuring reimagined classics and standout originals like "Will the Real Kenny Gee Please Stand Up?", Smoove Vibes is a must-have for fans of groove-forward contemporary jazz.

MOTHERLOAD

Track Listing
1. Hey, Pretty Baby
2. Seventh Avenue Express
3. Walking Slow Behind You
4. Mister Roberts' Roost
5. Don't You Want a Man Like Me
6. South
7. You Call Yourself a Jungle King (I Found Out You Ain't a Doggone Thing)
8. Sophisticated Swing
9. House Rent Boogie
10. Basie's Basement
11. Brand New Wagon

Personnel includes: Count Basie (piano); Jimmy Rushing (vocals); Preston Love, Rudy Rutherford, C.Q. Price, Earl Warren (alto saxophone); Paul Gonsalves, Buddy Tate (tenor saxophone); Jack Washington (baritone saxophone); Ed Lewis, Snooky Young, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Clark Terry, Jimmy Nottingham, Gerald Wilson (trumpet); Bill Johnson, Ted Donnelly, George Matthews, Eli Robinson, George Washington (trombone); Freddie Green (guitar); Walter Page (bass); Jo Jones, Butch Ballard (drums).

Recorded between January 3 and December 12, 1947.

But for the fact that it only has 11 tracks, this mid-priced compilation (not to be confused with the identically titled Bluebird collection covering Basie's early-'30s recordings with the Bennie Moten band) could easily get the highest rating. And this could be the place to start for any rock fans wondering what Basie was about, at least some of the time. This disc shows Basie and company (especially singer Jimmy Rushing) working in an R&B mode, doing such songs as Willie Dixon's "You Call Yourself the Jungle King (I Found Out You Ain't a Doggone Thing)," "Hey, Pretty Baby," "Brand New Wagon," and "Walking Slow Behind You." Rushing and the band sound like they're pushing toward Chess Records' turf. And the astonishing thing is that they pull it off -- if these records had sold in any serious number, Basie and Rushing might have had a whole second career in R&B, right up there with Big Joe Turner. There's a minimum of annotation, and not all of the sound is quite perfect -- amazingly, the 1991 remastered "Basie's Basement" featured here has a click or two in evidence, for which there's no excuse. But the sound quality everywhere else is pretty much beyond reproach, and there's also one number here, "Mister Roberts' Roost," a laidback instrumental prominently featuring Basie's piano, that's otherwise unavailable.

Classical Music

This is a first-rate program of works for clarinet and strings. Tasha Warren brings these works to life, aided by a superb group of instrumentalists. Tasha Warren, assistant professor of chamber music at the Michigan State University College of Music, is an avid teacher and international performer. She has premiered numerous solo clarinet and chamber works working closely with composers and conductors including Shulamit Ran, Augusta Read Thomas, Cliff Colnot, and Oliver Knussen. She has recorded with Innova, Alba, and SCI Records, the I.U. New Music Ensemble, Hal Leonard Productions, CBC Radio, and PBC Korea Television. Crystal Records released her album, The Naked Clarinet, in December 2009, which garnered praise in reviews from International Record Review, Fanfare Magazine, The Clarinet Magazine and others.

Desert Song, Sigmund Romberg’s classic musical with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel, is brought to life in this 1959 Living Stereo recording. The cast features Giorgio Tozzi – a mainstay at the Metropolitan Opera at the time – Kathy Barr and Peter Palmer (Lil’ Abner). Legendary maestro Lehman Engel provided brand new arrangements as well as serving as musical director for the recording. Long unavailable in any format, this is the first release of the 1959 Studio Cast recording of Desert Song in the digital era.

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Thirty years ago the operetta stage reached one of its highest points when Sigmund Romberg's The Desert Song thundered across the stages of the world, thrilling audiences with its wonderful combination of romantic love songs and full-throated male singing ensembles. And when the dashing Red Shadow swept the love-struck Margo into his arms and carried her over the burning sands, he held every woman within hearing in the palm of his hand.

In the album you hold in your hands, two great voices of today, Giorgio Tozzi and Kathy Barr, sparkling modern orchestral arrangements by Lehman Engel, and the finest recording techniques are all blended to bring you a new RCA Victor production of The Desert Song which does full justice to the beloved Romberg melodies.

The rich, warm voice of Chicago-born, Milan-trained Giorgio Tozzi captures the excitement of “The Riff Song,” the dedicated love of “One Alone” and the beguil­ing romance of “The Desert Song.” You have only to listen to understand why Giorgio Tozzi is winning new laurels at the Metropolitan Opera each year.

Beautiful young Kathy Barr is the Margo of our production. She sings the difficult and demanding role, including the lovely “Romance” and “The Sabre Song,” with all of the vocal wizardry which has won her the applause of musical comedy and night club audiences from San Francisco to Monte Carlo.

Then there is the glorious singing ensemble to provide rich tones for the full-stage musical numbers, the likes of which are not being written any more. All in all, The Desert Song is a lovely recapture of a time gone by, told in the musical language of today by a pair of singing stars whose voices were made for each other. So put the disc on your player, lean back, and fall once more under the spell of The Desert Song.

– Leonard Louis Levinson, 1958, from the original liner notes for LOP-1000

Verdi: Il trovatore

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