Julian Lage - "Speak To Me" / Julian Lage returns with Speak To Me, his remarkable fourth release for Blue Note, which finds the guitar virtuoso broadening his sonic palette in collaboration with esteemed producer Joe Henry who enhances Lage's trademark melodic lyricism on this wide-ranging set of compelling new originals. In addition to Lage's longtime trio with Jorge Roeder on bass and Dave King on drums, the album also features contributions from saxophonist Levon Henry, keyboardist Patrick Warren, and Kris Davis on piano. CD Softpak. Capitol Music Group; Blue Note; Jazz

The great popularity of the piano trio enabled Haydn to explore countless formal and harmonic experiments; while the keyboard remains the central element in the musical structure, the strings give the discourse a subtle colouration, and the violin is often assigned independent musical ideas. This elegant three-way dialogue, conducted here by the Trio Wanderer, is as impressive for its originality as for its supreme stylistic virtuosity. Haydn was a past master at this little game, and still remains so centuries later!

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REVIEW:

These are beautifully played performances. There is enough clarity around each instrument to make every line audible, the sparer textures of the Classical trio style help greatly in this respect. It’s a treat to hear Haydn trios played with such care for their sound and texture.

– Gramophone

Modern Lore finds Julian Lage playfully flipping the script he followed on his acclaimed 2016 Mack Avenue debut, Arclight. That album - produced, like Modern Lore, by Lage's friend and collaborator, the singer-songwriter Jesse Harris - was his first trio set on electric guitar and found Lage inspired by the sounds and the attitude of the freewheeling, pre-bebop jazz era, when, as he puts it, "country music and jazz and swing were in this weird wild-west period." This time he incorporates the sensibility, if not the outright sound, of early rock and roll, a similarly hybrid form driven by rhythm, personality and a passion for the electric guitar.

Vinyl LP pressing. 2015 album from the acclaimed vocalist/pianist. WALLFLOWER is a collection of songs from the late 60's to present day that inspired Krall in her early years. Produced by 16-time Grammy Award-winning producer David Foster, the album finds Krall breaking new ground with her interpretations of some of the greatest pop songs of all time. On WALLFLOWER, Diana Krall showcases her considerable gifts as a vocalist in a bold and beautiful way. Krall sings a set of songs that include familiar popular classics like the Mamas and the Papas' "California Dreaming" and the Eagles' "Desperado," favorite vintage songs by Krall's musical heroes Bob Dylan (he inspired the album's title track "Wallflower") and Elton John ("Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word"). The album also features more recent gems like Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over" and a wonderful new composition from Paul McCartney ("If I Take You Home Tonight").

Double 180 gram vinyl LP pressing. The Very Best of Diana Krall collects an assortment of hits from the vocalist/pianist from 1996-2006. Krall covers classic tracks from America's songbook both intimately with a three piece band and on a large scale with a full orchestra. Standouts include Cole Porter's "I've Got You Under My Skin" and "The Look of Love" written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Krall has sold more than six million albums in the US and over 15 million worldwide. Krall is the only jazz singer to have eight albums debuting at the top of the Billboard Jazz Albums. To date, she has won three Grammy Awards and eight Juno Awards. She has also earned nine gold, three platinum, and seven multi-platinum albums.

Double vinyl LP pressing. All for You is Diana Krall's tribute to the Nat King Cole Trio of the 1940s, when Cole performed as both a singer and pianist. Krall, also a singer/pianist like her heroes Lena Horne and Carmen McRae, plays both roles on most of the songs here. She's able to link her singing to her piano, playing in sympathetic ways and projecting tremendous feeling through both. Verve's Acoustic Sounds Series utilizes the skills of top mastering engineers and the unsurpassed production craft of Quality Record Pressings.

Double vinyl LP pressing. When I Look in Your Eyes is the fifth studio album by Canadian singer Diana Krall, released on June 8, 1999, by Verve Records. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year, the first time in 25 years that a jazz album was nominated in that category, and won two awards for Best Jazz Vocal and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical at the 42nd Grammy Awards. The album also won the Juno Award for Best Vocal Jazz Album in 2000. If artistry is about growth, then count Krall as one of jazz's consummate artists. When I Look In Your Eyes is yet another step ahead for the vocalist/pianist. This gorgeous Verve release breaks away from the standard piano trio setting of her two previous releases; several of the album's cuts feature the graceful orchestrations of maestro Johnny Mandel. When I Look In Your Eyes features Krall on piano and vocals with long-time trio mate Russell Malone on guitar. Ben Wolfe and John Clayton share bass duties and Jeff Hamilton and Lewis Nash alternate on drums. The album was produced by Grammy-winner and Verve Music Group Chairman Tommy LiPuma, with some tracks being co-produced by LiPuma and Mandel. It was recorded by Al Schmitt.

Grammy winner Luciana Souza was raised in S�o Paulo, Brazil, where she grew up in a family of Bossa Nova composers. A respected composer and vocalist, she defies categories bringing her outstanding musicianship and unique sound to any project. Whether performing works by Osvaldo Golijov, Paul Simon, or Herbie Hancock, singing with the big bands with Maria Schneider and Kenny Wheeler, or performing in small jazz groups, Souza brings something to the music that has been called "transcendental." Her new CD, Duos III closes the trilogy, while the simultaneously released the Book of Chet is Luciana's highly introspective exploration of the singing of Chet Baker. Both records are to be released on August 28th, 2012, on Sunnyside Records.

Brazillian jazz vocalist Luciana Souza returns wit her final album in her trilogy. NORTH & SOUTH takes classic standards from Brazil and America and interprets them in her own beautiful way.

Young Brazilian-born composer/vocalist now living in New York, and is fluent in both the jazz idiom & Brazilian music; this album highlights her compositional skills in the form of songs made mainly to Bishop's poems - Souza's singing is reminiscent of the late Ellis Regina & Joni Mitchell

It seems safe to say that Shirley Horn has now gained the popularity and recognition she deserves and that she joined the ranks of the star singers. And if you’ll excuse our boasting tone, SteepleChase takes a lot of pride in being the first record company to re-discover this great singer from the local scene of Washington D.C. to make her come-back to the major market possible. As Nat Hentoff wrote in Modern Recording & Music in 1981, “..Miles Davis is not a notable enthusiast of singers, but one exception was Shirley Horn, a Washington-based improviser (on piano as well)...”, Shirley Horn was a musicians’ musician little known to the wider public until her break-through in the late 80s. Her appearance at the famous Dutch festival at the Northsea where this recording was made was the first live encounter with the European jazz crowd whom Shirley conquered with no sweat. 180g Audiophile Vinyl

When this recording came out as LP on the market in 1979 after Baker’s lengthy pause from the scene, Jazz Time’s reviewer started his article by saying “Whoof! The killer is back....” And indeed this cool killer was back on the scene to stay, though for a while until his tragic death in Holland, and made a number of wonderful recordings for SteepleChase. The first of the four releases with the same “drumless” group is a studio recording (three others are live from Montmartre) and “this subtle woodhued record shows that Baker at his best can still knock you dead...” (Jazz Time). 180g Audiophile Vinyl

Alto saxophonist Lee Konitz is one of the very few who have escaped the dominating influence of Charlie Parker and created his own style and became the central figure in the “cool” jazz. While it was a very courageous, lonely and hard work to do, recording unaccompanied solo alto performance of almost one hour suited Konitz’ particular style of even and smooth blowing using the full range of the instrument. The result was “a very unique Lee Konitz’ world with limitless imagination which enchants the listeners .... not a single second boring” (Swing Journal). “The Konitz sound, richer and much more expressive than in his earlyer years, also goes through intriguing changes during the course of these performances...”(The Boston Phoenix)

When Sunny Gets Blue

“Admirable!” (Jazz Magazine) “..Miles Davis is not a notable enthusiast of singers, but one exception was Shirley Horn, a Washington-based improviser (on piano as well)...” (Nat Hentoff, Modern Recording & Music) Previously issued on SCCD 31257 & SCCD 31164

Dearly Beloved

The Garden Of The Blues

This is the second release from the night at Montmartre Jazzhus (earlier release is “Daybreak” SCCD 31142) by the best Chet Baker Trio of this period. “...he sounds masterful, and is ably accompanied by Raney’s soft-bop guitar and NHØP’s towering bass...” (The Penguin Guide to Jazz - new edition)

“Top-of-the-range standards jazz by a marvellously Esperantist quartet.” (The Penguin Guide to JAZZ) “Masterful!” (Diapason D’Or by Diapason Dec. 1988) “...If you like to confirm the fact that when the well-known melodies are performed by musicians of extraordinary talent, the music expands and develops infinitely, you will not be disappointed with this album...” (Koji Kubota, Swing Journal)

My Man

Here is a classic example of SteepleChase’s “re-discovery” endeavour. This is Miss Shirley Horn’s first recording on SteepleChase after a long absence from the recording studio. Lazy Afternoon turned out to be a tremendous success critically and commercially and together with her three subsequent releases on the label (All Night Long - SCCD 31157, Viloets For Your Furs - SCCD 31164, Garden Of The Blues - SCCD 31203) had firmly established her as a major artist. “One of the greatest jazz singers and singer-pianists in years...”(Jazz Journal International)

Sheila Jordan who turned 90 on November 18, 2018 recorded this celebrated album Sheila 40 years ago in Oslo, Norway in a duo setting with Norwegian bassist Arild Andersen. Sheila has propelled Jordan’s career into most deserved recognition. On “Sheila” SCS 1083 the world’s press wrote: “Sheila Jordan is one of the foremost of contemporary jazz vocalists.” (Bill Henderson – Black Music & Jazz Review) “Jordan makes these tunes all her own, with personal, almost prayer-like readings on tales of personal devotion…Listening to this record may make you wonder where this honest, sensitive yet powerful vocalist has been all these years…” (Bouchard – Downbeat *****) “This album is a welcome addition to Jordan’s sparse discography, and it further establishes her as a vocalist of considerable accomplishment” (Benjamin Franklin V – Coda) “Detroit singer courageously performs a dozen standards with only Andersen’s acoustic bass behind her. But Jordan pulls it off…Her talent is unquestionable.” (Billboard – Recommended LP) 180g Audiophile Vinyl

The indisputable tenor giant Ben Webster spent his last years in Copenhagen. His appearances at the famed Jazzhus Montmartre in those days greeted by faithful and appreciative audience were the historical moments filled with unique quality of beauty ignited by the last spark of a truly great man. Canadian Coda magazine wrote reviewing this recording in 1975: “ Webster, as always, plays with passion throughout the album. But one title goes well beyond that. Old Folks is an exquisitely deep performance, the kind that even a great artist gets to play only once in his lifetime.” SteepleChase had the privilege of taping most of Webster’s performances during the last year of his life. And this recording (originally released on LP in 1974) is taken from those masters. 180g Audiophile Vinyl

All Night Long

Violets For Your Furs

Classical Music

Classical Music

Recorded in: St Bartholemew's Church, Orford, Suffolk 22-24 May 1995 Producer(s) Martin Compton Sound Engineer(s) Ben Connellan Peter Newble (Assistant)

Classical Music

McFarlane, Ronn: The Scottish Lute