WB 25566 Recorded in London between January and September 1986.

1 Bring Him Back Home (Nelson Mandela) (Became prophetic in the next decade with the release of Nelson Mandela from prison)
2 Mayibuye
3 Ke Bale
4 London Fog – (About human homesickness)
5 Everybody’s Standing Up (This song celebrates the imminent fall of several of the world’s petty dictators)
6 Bird on the Wing
7 Something for Nothing
8 Serengeti

Masekela often performs sophisticated takes on three-chord township jive, leading the massed vocals with his own coarse yet evocatively blunt voice, while leaving himself just enough room to peel off a few patented, repeated-note trumpet licks and double-tracked flugelhorn statements.

from wiki:
“Hugh Ramopolo Masekela (b. Witbank, South Africa, April 4, 1939) is an South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, and singer. Masekela is an acknowledged master of African music.”

(Cont. on Special Page)

Later on the record, the keys turn minor but the high-tech verve is still there. His backup band, Kalahari, and a quartet of vocalists share Masekela’s passion — and the outcome of this chemistry is one of Masekela’s best albums of the last 20 years.

The late Billie Holiday left behind, as a reminder of her greatness, a huge body of recordings. Her singing was only a part of the legacy, however. Billie’s introduction of many new songs, and what she did with the old songs, helped to swell the storehouse of the jazz repertoire for all the singers and players who grew up with her, as well as those who came after.

From Wiki: 

“Chesney Henry “Chet” Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and singer.
Specializing in relaxed, even melancholy music, Baker rose to prominence as a leading name in cool jazz in the 1950s. Baker’s good looks and delicate singing established him as a promising name in pop music as well. But his success was badly hampered by drug addiction, particularly in the 1960s, when he was imprisoned.
He mounted a successful comeback in the ’70s, but died after falling from a hotel window.”

This is a tribute to Lady Day from one who is both a singer and a player – fluegelhornist Chet Baker. “Her style was so unique – so different,” he says of Billie. “She had a way of combining singing and talking a tune that was very intimate. One thing I really liked about her was that she never raised her voice. At least I never heard her shout. Her way of singing really reflected a lot of soul. Billie Holiday was Billie Holiday – that’s all. She was great. She always did the best tunes, tunes that really lent themselves to her style of singing. She really didn’t have a great voice, but what she did with it…”

Chet, another vocalist who doesn’t shout, began singing long before he took up the trumpet. “When I was 11 or 12, my mother used to drag me around to the amateur contests that they had in Los Angeles on Sunday afternoons. I never won but I was second once. Even at that time, I was singing the current ballads. I sang in a church choir at the same time – 1941 and 1942.

From Wiki: 

Billie Holiday (April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959), born Eleanora Fagan and later nicknamed Lady Day (see “Jazz royalty” regarding similar nicknames), was an American jazz singer, a seminal influence on jazz and pop singers, and generally regarded as one of the greatest female jazz vocalists. 

On May 31, 1959, she was taken to Metropolitan Hospital in New York suffering from liver and heart disease. On July 12, she was placed under house arrest at the hospital for possession, despite evidence suggesting the drugs may have been planted on her. Holiday remained under police guard at the hospital until she died from cirrhosis of the liver on July 17 1959 at the age of 44. In the final years of her life, she had been progressively swindled out of her earnings, and she died with only $0.70 in the bank and $750 (a tabloid fee) on her person.
Billie Holiday is interred in Saint Raymond’s Cemetery, Bronx, New York.

“My phrasing as a singer,” continues Baker, “has been influenced a lot by my playing. If I hadn’t been a trumpet player, I don’t know if I would have arrived at singing that way eventually. I probably wouldn’t have.

“The things I’m really conscious of when I sing are intonation, good diction without over-enunciating, a casual, relaxed way of phrasing, and singing in tune.”

Produced by Luchi DeJesus. Prepared for reissue by Richard Seidel and Seth Rothstein.

Chet Baker Flugelhorn
Leon Cohen Reeds
Henry Freeman Reeds
Wilford Holcombe Reeds
Seldon Powell Reeds
Alan Ross Reeds
Hank Jones Piano
Everett Barksdale Guitar
Richard Davis Bass
Connie Kay Drums

CD Track List Follows:

1. Embraceable You
2. What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life? – (with Sting)
3. My One And Only Love – (with Paula Cole)
4. Let There Be Love – (with Michael Buble)
5. What’s New?
6. Good Morning Heartache – (with Jill Scott)
7. To Love Again
8. Are You Lonesome Tonight? – (with Paul Buchanan)
9. Lover Man – (with Gladys Knight)
10. I’ll Be Seeing You
11. Pennies From Heaven – (with Renee Olstead)
12. Here’s That Rainy Day – (with Rosa Passos)
13. Smile – (with Steven Tyler)

Personnel: Chris Botti (trumpet); Billy Childs (piano); Christian McBride (bass instrument); Peter Erskine (drums); Paulinho Da Costa (percussion). Recording information: Capitol Studios, Hollywood, California.

The exceptionally talented Smooth Jazz artist Chris Botti has released his CD entitled To Love Again. I am very confident and happy to announce that I believe Chris Botti fans, and Smooth Jazz fans alike will be pleased with this one. With the release of To Love Again Chris Botti’s artistic excellence is on full display as he has once again delivered a brilliant collection of tracks that could very well be his best work to date.

To Love Again kicks off with a great track, Embraceable You, that I anticipate will be heard on radio stations everywhere, and deservedly so. It really is a very nice track.

One of the refreshingly nice things about this CD is the way all of the participating artists seem to be really enjoying themselves. Combine that with the overall presentation and you’ve got one of Chris Botti’s most impressive releases ever.

Overall To Love Again is an outstanding release. What I call must have music. I give it two thumbs up and is most definitely a worthy addition to any Smooth Jazz collection. Truly an outstanding Smooth Jazz CD. One of those that is completely void of any wasted time, as each track is simply superb.

While this entire CD is really very good some of my favorites are track 2 – What Are You Doing With The Rest Of Your Life?, track 4 – Let There Be Love, and track 11 – Pennies From Heaven.

My SmoothLee Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore [...as in "Stuck On REpeat"] is track 12, Here’s That Rainy Day. Great track!

To Love Again Release Notes:

smooth jazz artist Chris Botti originally released To Love Again on Oct 18, 2005 on the Columbia label.

1. Lisa
2. Miami Overnight
3. Streets Ahead
4. Interlude
5. All Would Envy – (featuring Shawn Colvin)
6. Best Time
7. When I See You
8. You Move Me
9. Blue Horizon
10. Light The Stars
11. Through An Open Window
12. Easter Parade

Personnel: Chris Botti (trumpet); Shawn Colvin, Lani Groves, Camilla (vocals); Bill Reichenbach (trombone); Kazu Matsui (shakuhachi); Kipper (keyboards, programming); Jeff Lorber, Billy Childs, Jeff Young (keyboards); Dominic Miller, Shane Fontayne, Heitor Pereira, Marc Shulman (guitar); Christian McBride, Jimmy Johnson, Jon Ossman (bass); Vinnie Colaiuta, Abe Laboriel, Jr. (drums); Luis Conte (percussion). Engineers include: Kevin Killen, Christopher J. Roberts, Kipper. Recorded at Boogie Nights, Hollywood and Sony Studios, Santa Monica, California; Clear Creek Recording, Austin, Texas; Ted Spencer Recording, New York, New York.

AWESOME!

Refreshingly, Night Sessions was one of those CDs I was able to just pop in and comfortably listen to from beginning to end. Every track is enjoyable and was pretty easy for me to listen to from start to finish.

The nice thing about a CD like this is with this level of talent even if Smooth Jazz isn’t your favorite style you still can’t help but appreciate the greatness of the artist.

Smooth Jazz fans will recognize some of the players that have been assembled to play along with Botti on this CD. Artists like Shawn Colvin, Kazu Matsui, Jeff Lorber, and Billy Childs just to name a few.

The CD really grabs your attention right from the very first note of the very first song, Lisa and doesn’t let go until the very last note of the very last song. Which is by the way a very nice closing track.

Overall Night Sessions is an outstanding release. What I call must have music. I give it two thumbs up, as it is most definitely a worthy addition to any Smooth Jazz collection. Truly an outstanding Smooth Jazz CD. A collection completely void of any wasted time, as each track is simply superb.