Ingrid Jensen: Vernal Fields (1994)

Although trumpeter Ingrid Jensen has a wide range and a potentially fiery style, she holds a great deal in reserve on her debut recording, letting one peek at her emotional intensity now and then but mostly making lyrical statements. Her supporting cast (altoist Steve Wilson, George Garzone on tenor, pianist Bruce Barth, bassist Larry Grenadier, and drummer Lenny White) is quite impressive and adds a great deal to the CD without taking the spotlight away from the leader. Ingrid Jensen sounds particularly strong on "Marsh Blues" and the standards "Ev'rytime We Say Goodbye," "I Love You," and an ironic "By Myself," but all nine selections have their moments. The music is basically advanced hard bop, with Jensen (when she is playing open) sounding like a logical successor to Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw while resembling her teacher, Art Farmer, a bit when utilizing a mute. This is an impressive beginning to what should be an important career.

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Vernal Fields (RS) / Vernal Fields (DF) / Vernal Fields (HF)

Lenny White: Edge (1999)

A versatile drummer, Lenny White is still best-known for being part of Chick Corea's Return To Forever in the 1970's. White was self-taught on drums and he largely started his career on top, playing regularly with Jackie McLean (1968) and recording "Bitches Brew" with Miles Davis in 1969. White was soon working with some of the who's who of jazz including Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw, Gato Barbieri, Gil Evans, Stanley Clarke and Stan Getz among others. As a member of Return To Forever during 1973-76, White gained a strong reputation as one of the top fusion drummers, but he was always versatile enough to play in many settings. After the breakup of RTF, Lenny White headed several fusion projects but none of the recordings (for Nemperor and Elektra) have dated well at all, emphasizing commercial funk. However his work with the Echoes Of An Era and Griffith Park all-star groups were been more successful and he has been a valuable sideman for a wide variety of projects.
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Edge

The Stanley Clarke Trio: Jazz In The Garden (2009) mp3 @ 320K

In a career that spans nearly four decades and includes gigs with Return to Forever, Rite of Strings and a variety of other solo and collaborative projects along the way, bassist Stanley Clarke - one of the most prominent voices in electric jazz and fusion - had seemingly covered every possible corner of the jazz landscape. But there was one avenue he had yet to explore.
"I had never done an acoustic bass record, ever," he says. "There's a long list of people on whose records I've played acoustic bass - Art Blakey, Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Joe Henderson and many others - but I'd never done an acoustic jazz trio record of my own. So I wanted to record one that would just feature the piano and the acoustic bass in a way that you could really hear the bass."
This long-overdue dream project becomes a reality with the release of Jazz In The Garden. For his first straightahead acoustic jazz trio recording, Clarke assembles two brilliant collaborators at the top of their respective games: pianist Hiromi Uehara and drummer Lenny White. Each represents a distinctly different generational and cultural perspective, but given the range and versatility of both, the net effect is superb. Indeed, the synergy resulting from all three of these luminaries makes for one of the most refreshing Stanley Clarke recordings in recent years.
In many ways, Jazz in the Garden is Stanley Clarke's way of reconnecting with a time much earlier in his career before his plunge into electric jazz - a time when he earned his stripes playing acoustic bass with some of the most enduring names in the annals of jazz. "There are times when you want to revisit the things that really established the foundation in your life," he says. "I spent many, many years studying acoustic bass, and many years playing in New York after I left Philadelphia in the late `60s. I played with everyone who was there at the time. It was a long time ago, but all that stuff from that period is what made me who I am. This record is my way of reconnecting with that time and that music."

Highly recommended!!!