Jazz

Lorez Alexandria - Deep Roots (1962)

2014-06-08T15:58:59Z

Lorez Alexandria - Deep Roots (1962)


01. Nature Boy 
02. I Was a Fool 
03. No Moon at All 
04. Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year 
05. Softly As In the Morning Sunrise 
06. Detour Ahead 
07. It Could Happen To You 
08. Travelin' Light 
09. Almost Like Being In Love 
10. I Want To Talk About You

Lorez Alexandria – vocals
George Eskridge – guitar
John Young – piano
Israel Crosby – double bass
Howard McGhee – trumpet
Vernel Fournier – drums

Although i don't dig vocal jazz as much as other things, i really dig this one. 'Nature Boy' and 'Softly as in a Morning Sunrise' are just great and Lorez' versions are among the best versions of theese songs i know, as well as 'Almost Like Being in Love' or 'Detour Ahead'. The other songs are by far bad. The musicians John Young (p), Israel Crosby (b) and Vernel Fournier (d) as well as from time to time George Eskridge (g) (the mono cover is wrong there but you can find it in the liner notes) do a work i really like behind Alexandria. The touch of Young is light and cool as well as the playing of the other musicians and somehow fir perfect to the warm singing of Lorez Alexandria. I totaly dig her singing in the lower registers and when she moves from below to higher notes and back like she does on 'Detour Ahead'. Don't hesitate if you can find this record, it's beautiful. --- jeunjean, rateyourmusic.com

Wow this album was a pleasant surprise! I had no prior knowledge of Lorez Alexandria until now. I knew the tracks were mostly vocal standards and decided to purchase. Once home I was fully engaged I could tell that she had influenced modern artist with her style and presentation. Since I am a vocal jazz lover it was like she had mentored the likes of Jane Monheit and Eva Cassidy. "Detour Ahead" by Eva Cassidy probably got its roots from Lorez's rendering. Now that I have been formally introduced to I will be on the lookout for more albums by Mrs. Alexandria. --- innerurban.com

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Lorez Alexandria - For Swingers Only (1963)

2014-06-13T16:22:47Z

Lorez Alexandria - For Swingers Only (1963)


01. Baltimore Oriole 
02. Little Girl Blue 
03. All or Nothing at All 
04. Traveling Down a Lonely Road
05. Mother Earth 
06. Love Look Away 
07. The End of a Love Affair 
08. That Old Devil Called Love

Lorez Alexandria – Vocals
George Eskridge – Guitar
John Young – Piano
Ronald Wilson - Flute, Sax (Tenor)
Jimmy Garrison – Bass
Phil Thomas - Drums

Originally released in 1963, For Swingers Only is singer Lorez Alexandria's tenth album and her fourth for Argo. While Alexandria is best known to ardent jazz fans, she was one of the great interpretive vocalists of her time, and this set is proof of that. Alexandria was a Chicago native who had established her reputation there. That said, she was successful enough to relocate to Los Angeles in 1960 to lend her voice work to soundtracks, television commercials, and recordings, and to hold a club gig as a headliner. Unlike some of her previous Argo dates, this one was recorded in Chicago at Ter-Mar Recording Studios. Her band for the session included some regulars like guitarist George Eskridge and drummer Phil Thomas. The great Chicago pianist John Young and the amazing reed and woodwind studio player Ronald Wilson were also on the date. Her bass player for the session was Jimmy Garrison from the John Coltrane Quartet. The material is ambitious. Alexandria had cut Hoagy Carmichael's "Baltimore Oriole," before on the Deluxe label, but this version -- with its slippery, slightly Latin rhythm and popping flute -- is more sultry and atmospheric, and carries within it a loneliness that the earlier one doesn't touch. Her reading of Rodgers & Hart's "Little Girl Blue" is, though this may seem blasphemous, every bit the equal of Nina Simone's -- especially with its deeply soulful a cappella opening. The flute adds exponentially as it softly winds through the ends of lines, filling the space between the rhythm section and the singer. The sadness literally drips from her mouth, saturating the listener. These aren't all sad songs, however. The strutting "All or Nothing at All" is a finger-popping swinger with gorgeous work by Garrison, Young, and Wilson. Given that there are only eight cuts on this set, each one counts -- though these are far from one or two-minute selections, and they dig into their grooves and allow Alexandria to stretch out. The beautiful guitar work on "Traveling Down a Lonely Road" gives the listener the feeling that the protagonist doesn't mind so much. It is the first known vocal recording of the song -- it originally appeared as an instrumental in Federico Fellini's La Strada. Eskridge and drummer Thomas, with his subtle breakbeat style in the intro, set up a beautiful transaction for the piano, bass, and lilting flute work. The true highlight of the set is "Mother Earth," a 12/8 blues with Wilson blowing a gritty tenor and Garrison strolling the bassline in full gutbucket mode. Alexandria allows some of that large throaty range of hers out of the box and lets it rip. This is simply among Lorez Alexandria's most stylized, disciplined, soulful, and satisfying recording sessions, and is highly recommended. [While this fine album had been out of print in the United States for decades, Chicago's own Dusty Groove imprint licensed the master from Universal and had it remastered for release on compact disc for the first time in 2008.] ---Thom Jurek, Rovi

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Lorez Alexandria - Lorez Sings Pres. A Tribute To Lester Young (1956)

2016-10-05T12:22:31Z

Lorez Alexandria - Lorez Sings Pres. A Tribute To Lester Young (1956)

Side 1
1. Introduction
2. Fine And Dandy 2:32
3. Fooling Myself 3:20
4. D.B. Blues 3:55
5. You're Driving Me Crazy 1:51
6. Easy Living 3:18

Side 2
1. Polka Dots And Moonbeams 2:50
2. This Years Kisses 3:40
3. There Will Never Be Another You 2:20
4. No Eyes Blues 2:20
5. Jumpin' With Symphony Sid 4:55

Bass – Earl May, "L.D." Young
Drums – Vernal Fournier
Piano – King Fleming
Trumpet – Paul Serreno
Trumpet [Bass] – Cy Touff
Vibraphone – Charles Stepney
Vocals – Lorez Alexandria

Recorded in an intimate club in Chicago

In a small intimate club setting, Miss Alexandria's awesome performance promulgates quite emphatically a sterling empirical fact. In concurrence with the more erudite Jazz cognoscenti, she is indeed one of the three greatest Jazz Singers who ever lived. During this magnificent live set recorded in 1958, all of her superb artistic skills are in abundance even at this relatively early stage of her career. Her brilliant command of dynamics, formidable sense of timing and rhythm, her flawless phrasing, impeccable diction and intonation are all stunningly evident throughout her performance of these 11 tunes.

Miss Alexandria's astute and dynamic musicianship allows her to be in complete cohesion with her bandmates at every single moment and nuance of this album. Her tight interplay with her musicians, and total command of the musical environment gives the effect of her voice being just another instrument in the whole aggregate. Her consummate skills and control of her instrument allows her to scat so effortlessly and naturally, her voice sounds and feels like a beautiful Bermuda breeze on an exquisite summer day. Her extensive knowledge of the depths and intricacies of this complex and difficult artform, permits her to navigate deep inside the chord changes as if her voice were a horn and a finely tuned and calibrated laser beam performing complicated and complex musical surgery with us the patient experiencing a painfree euphoria and cultural bliss. God, what a magnificent singer!

Her partners in musical crime on this date is the wonderfully explosive King Fleming Septet, with whom she has worked from her early beginnings. The set opens with an intoxicating "Fine and Dandy" and boy is it just that! It seques into a beautiful ballad rendition of "Fooling Myself". Her velvety soft dynamics paint exquisite pastel colours that flow into a rambunc-tious "D.B.Blues. She scats playfully and rhythmically with the band underpinning her playful romp right through to "You're Driving Me Crazy"."Easy Living" is soft and easy, while "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" become her personal vehicle where she takes us on a breathless floating journey to the cosmos. Here the timbre of her voice and her phrasing clearly shows Sarah's influence on Lorez whom she idolized and adored.

Charles Stepney's vibes and Paul Serrano's muted trumpet create a exquisite palette for Lorez to paint these magnificent colours and textures resulting in a gorgeous latticework of golden embroidered elegance. She has made this ballad hers. Floating right on through "This Years Kisses", "There Will Never Be Another You", bouncing merrilly through "No Eyes Blues"

and ending with a scatting tour de force with the entire band making "Jumpin' With Symphony Sid" a real live Jam Session. Rounding out the band is King Fleming on piano, Sy Hubb on bass trumpet, Earl May on bass, and Vernell Fournier on drums. There is no producer credited. This is a smokin' tribute to Prez.

Although highly regarded and admired by her peers, and devotedly adored by her fans, Miss Alexandria's struggle for proper respect and recognition for her work continued until her passing last year. She was disgracefully treated and horrendously victimised with racism by the powers that be, because of her strong nonobsequious personality and uncompromising sense of self and ethnic pride. As a result she was blatantly robbed of her rightful status in the industry. Systematically denied respect and exposure to a wide audience, she was banished and relegated to virtual obscurity her entire career which spanned over 45 years!

Blessed with a voice more melodic, controlled and unique than Carmen McRae, and far more refined and elegant than Billie Holiday along with a discography in excess of 30 odd albums, her treatment at the hands of the industry was deplorable and down right criminal. It absolutely astonishes everyone who is just becoming aware of this magnificent womans' gifts how someone so gifted and talented with such a wide body of glorius and stupendous work could be kept from being exposed to the wider world for some 45 years! Her illustrious body of work which includes her additional five masterpieces: "This Is Lorez", Sing No Sad Songs For Me", "Deep Roots", Alexandria The Great", and "More Of The Great Lorez Alexandria" securely and firmly establishes her place in the pantheon of the Queens of this African-American artform called Jazz, right beside the other two greatest singers of all time: Sarah Vaughn and Ella Fitzgerald. Everyone take off your hats and your shoes and genuflect to the uncrowned third Queen of Jazz, The Illustrious and Effulgent Miss Lorez Alexandria. Rest in Peace Lorez, you will finally begin to receive your just due. ---Abdul R. Hakeem, amazon.com

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

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Lorez Alexandria - Sings Songs Everyone Knows (1959/1988)

2014-06-03T15:51:00Z

Lorez Alexandria - Sings Songs Everyone Knows (1959/1988)


01. Just One of Those Things 
02. Then I'll Be Tired of You 
03. Lush Life 
04. Sometimes I'm Happy 
05. Long Ago (And Far Away) 
06. But Beautiful 
07. I'm Beginning to See the Light 
08. I Can't Believe That You're in Love With Me 
09. Spring Is Here 
10. Angel Eyes 
11. Better Luck Next Time 
12. I Didn't Know What Time It Was

Wow this cd is an amazing reissue of the original lp, with cover artwork and everything. What a thrill it is to hear such a beautiful voice soaring over wonderfully arranged jazz orchestrations. This is one of my favorite Lorez Alexandria recordings{also check out Lorez Sings Prez and Band Swings}, she truly is a master of her art, jazz vocalizing. Listen to her the way she effortlessly scats thoughout the opening number "Just One Of Those Things", and the way she really makes you think she's a hopeless lush on a difinitive version of "Lush Life", and "Angel Eyes" is just haunting. If you enjoy 50's recordings by Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, and Ernestine Anderson, you will surely enjoy this exciting cd, no complete jazz vocal colelction should be without it. Essential music. ---amazon.com

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