What Are You Listening To?

[Dennie]

Ava is a local favorite......

From My Soul -- CD

Ava Lemert

2009 Ava Lemert

From My Soul; Ava Lemert is a Sacramento siren of soul. She is both a powerful singer, songwriter and electrifying saxophonist. Her original songs range from the acclaimed Kiss You which feature her singing lead, harmonies and layers of her alto and tenor saxophones to the amped up I Wanna Funk It Up, which is her own house-quaking nod to Zapp and Roger and the Isley Brothers. It has electrifying vocal and saxophone effects sure to get you moving to the sound! If seductive, passionate soul music move you, the CD has much more to offer you, from the lilting, softly sexy Rhodelea to the big tenor sound on the contemporary urban instrumental Soft and Silky, there won't be anything to feel by the end of the CD but pure satisfaction. You can't listen just once! From My Soul is not just one genre of music nor is Ms. Lemert just a 'vocalist' or a 'saxophonist' she is all that and much, much more. Catch a star on her rise and enjoy a unique multi-faceted, talented lady.


01. You Know You Got It 5:06

02. I Wanna Funk It Up 3:31

03. Rhodelea 4:41

04. Won’t Be Your Plaything 4:16

05. That 70’s Girl 4:24

06. Nothing Looks the Same in the Light * 4:30

07. Soft and Silky 4:05

08. You Got Somethin Coming to You 3:46

09. Kiss You 2:56

 

[Dennie]

Learn To Live -- CD

Darius Rucker

2008 Capitol Nashville
Amazon.com

As the lead singer and co-writer for Hootie & the Blowfish, Darius Rucker always eschewed overt R & B, and fixed the band’s music in roots rock. Now on this solo album, Learn to Live, he immerses himself in the typical Nashville themes of home, hearth, and spirituality, with varying results. His sturdy baritone knows how to carry these messages, and he displays an ease with country phrasing. Furthermore, he's assembled a fine passel of pickers, from mainstream guests Vince Gill, Alison Krauss and Brad Paisley, to 'grassers Aubrey Haynie and Bryan Sutton. All this works fine on the radio—the album and the single "Don't Think I Don't Think About It," which logged the number one slot on the country charts. But while Rucker pays fine homage to Buck Owens with the intro to the humorous divorce declaration "All I Want," and nurtures his inner redneck on the barroom anthem "Drinkin' and Dialin'," too many clichés weave their way into his lyrics, and the overall sound is that of amiable, cookie-cutter, country pop. Next time out, let’s hope Rucker reaches farther back into his South Carolina roots for a more authentic backwoods connection. -– Alanna Nash
1. "Forever Road" Frank Rogers, Darius Rucker, Chris Stapleton 4:01
2. "All I Want" Rogers, Rucker 3:49
3. "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" Clay Mills, Rucker 3:03
4. "Learn to Live" Rogers, Rucker 3:48
5. "If I Had Wings" Rogers, Rucker, Rivers Rutherford 4:03
6. "History in the Making" Mills, Rogers, Rucker 3:29
7. "Alright" Rogers, Rucker 3:51
8. "It Won't Be Like This for Long" Chris DuBois, Ashley Gorley, Rucker 3:39
9. "Drinkin' and Dialin'" DuBois, Gorley, Rucker 3:04
10. "I Hope They Get to Me in Time" Monty Criswell, Wade Kirby 3:26
11. "While I Still Got the Time" Rogers, Rucker, Rutherford 3:49
12. "Be Wary of a Woman" Dave Berg, Patrick Davis, Rucker 3:26

 

[Dennie]

In Between Dreams CD

Jack Johnson

2005 Brushfire Records
Amazon.com

For a man who gets his biggest kicks surfing the waves and strumming his guitar on a lonely beach in native Hawaii, singer-songwriter Jack Johnson has carved out quite a remarkable career on the mainland. His 2003 album, On and On, debuted at No. 3 on The Billboard 200 and subsequently went platinum on the back of hit single "The Horizon Has Been Defeated." The follow-up, meanwhile, seems destined to shine even brighter. The drifting chords and soft voice are still in place, only now Johnson's instinct for melody has sharpened alongside his ability to self-edit. These small concessions make third album, In Between Dreams, his most conspicuous, particularly on tracks like the three-minute relationship drama, "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing," and "Breakdown," a song he originally recorded for Handsome Boy Modeling School's White People album remade here to reveal its full stripped-down loveliness. Imagine all the coconuts it will buy. -- Aidin Vaziri


1. "Better Together" 3:27
2. "Never Know" 3:32
3. "Banana Pancakes" 3:12
4. "Good People" 3:28
5. "No Other Way" 3:09
6. "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing" 3:03
7. "Staple It Together" Jack Johnson, Merlo Podlewski 3:16
8. "Situations" 1:17
9. "Crying Shame" Jack Johnson, Adam Topol 3:06
10. "If I Could" 2:25
11. "Breakdown" Jack Johnson, Dan Nakamura & Paul Huston 3:32
12. "Belle" 1:43
13. "Do You Remember" 2:24
14. "Constellations" 3:21

 

[Botch]

(wow, I almost couldn't find an image of this CD...)

My first Rach symphony (I didn't even know he wrote any, all I have from him are piano pieces). According to the liner notes, he wrote his first symphony and was widely blasted for it (damn critics bscene-birdiedoublered: ) and it was a decade before he came out with this one. Definitely need to listen to it many times, he does a lot of "solo voice vs. the rest of the orch." call-and-response.

The CD recording had just a slightly "murky" sound to it, almost like it was recorded from a good LP. It wasn't until the end of the CD I realized it was a LIVE recording! Usually I can hear coughs, dopes applauding between the 3rd and 4th movements, chair squeaks, etc which tips me off to a live recording, but this audience was actually very quiet! Glad I got it. :text-bravo:

 

[Botch]

(wow, I almost couldn't find an image of this CD...)

Nor can I read it on my 24" monitor (hah, mine's bigger than yours! :teasing-neener: )
It's Rachmaninov's Symphony No. 2, by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Leonard Slatkin...

 

[Rope]

(wow, I almost couldn't find an image of this CD...)

My first Rach symphony (I didn't even know he wrote any, all I have from him are piano pieces). According to the liner notes, he wrote his first symphony and was widely blasted for it (damn critics bscene-birdiedoublered: ) and it was a decade before he came out with this one. Definitely need to listen to it many times, he does a lot of "solo voice vs. the rest of the orch." call-and-response.

The CD recording had just a slightly "murky" sound to it, almost like it was recorded from a good LP. It wasn't until the end of the CD I realized it was a LIVE recording! Usually I can hear coughs, dopes applauding between the 3rd and 4th movements, chair squeaks, etc which tips me off to a live recording, but this audience was actually very quiet! Glad I got it. :text-bravo:

I'd be embarrassed to leave that little wennie thing in my post.

Rope

 

[PaulyT]

Y'know, we do have a classical thread. That's cool though, I don't know Rachmaninoff's symphonies all that well - as you said, it's mainly piano music he's most known for. Have to see if I can find some of these...

 

[Botch]

:angry-cussingblack:


:text-lol:

 

[Botch]

Y'know, we do have a classical thread.

That's actually a good point. I really don't know if I should post what I've been listening to in this thread, or the "genre" thread... Any opinions? :?:

 

[PaulyT]

Doesn't really matter, IMHO. Just that this thread is 14 pages long at this point, and the others are suffering by comparison. Poor, poor, lonely threads...

 

[Rope]

Rope

 

[Dennie]

Doesn't really matter, IMHO. Just that this thread is 14 pages long at this point, and the others are suffering by comparison. Poor, poor, lonely threads...

I think if you are listening to it, it belongs in this thread. I mean how many threads can we have??? This thread is for all genre's.

If you want to discuss it, it belongs in the Classical Thread. If you want to discuss blues, it belongs in the blues thread and so on.

Just my opinion,

Dennie

 

[Tee]

I'm enjoying the lastest from..

Tracks

1. When I'm Loving You - (featuring Kem/Randy Bowland/Rex Rideout/Ron Otis/Marlon Curry)

2. Can You Feel It - (featuring David McMurray/Kem/Rayse Biggs/Rex Rideout/Ray Fuller/Quentin Baxter/Ron Otis/Brian O'Neal)

3. Love Never Fails - (featuring Kem/Randy Bowland)

4. Share My Life - (featuring David McMurray/Maurissa Rose/Kem/Randy Bowland/Rayse Biggs/Rex Rideout/Ron Otis/Marlon Curry)

5. Human Touch - (featuring David McMurray/Kem/Randy Bowland/Rayse Biggs/Ron Otis/Marlon Curry)

6. If It's Love - (featuring David McMurray/Maurissa Rose/Ed Gooch/Kem/Rayse Biggs/Rex Rideout/Quentin Baxter/Ron Otis)

7. Why Would You Stay - (featuring Joseph Striplin/Robert Thurman/Robert Bergman/Alvin Score/Beatriz Staples/Marie Paul-Parcells/Linda Sneeden Smith/Gregory Staples/Craig Rifel/Carole Gatwood/Aubrey Full

8. Mother's Love - (featuring Marlon "Wild Bill" Curry/Kem/Rex Rideout/Ray Fuller/Ron Otis/Brian O'Neal)

9. You're on My Mind - (featuring David McMurray/Ed Gooch/Kem/Rayse Biggs/Rex Rideout/Quentin Baxter/Ron Otis/Brian O'Neal)

10. Golden Days - (featuring Marlon "Wild Bill" Curry/Jill Scott/Kem/Quentin Baxter/Ron Otis/Brian O'Neal)

Kem has long been a hopeless romantic. And his latest album, "Intimacy Album III," is a 10-song showcase of just that. Over a smooth-sounding piano and drum production on the song "When I'm Lovin' You," the R&B singer makes the comparison between the love his lady gives him and Christmastime, paradise, a fairytale and other picturesque intangibles. And atop a bluesy guitar on "Can You Feel It," Kem assures his ex of his devotion and reminds others of his still-standing love for her on "Share My Life," "If It's Love" and "You're on My Mind." The usually prudent artist takes risks with love this time around as well. On the track "Why Would You Stay," he confesses to falling for a woman he barely knows and speaks of wanting to spend the night with another over a jazzy beat on "Human Touch." Clearly, Kem isn't self-conscious about his love of love -- and we love him for it.

 

[Dennie]

Blue Gardenia -- CD

Etta James

2001 RCA Victor
Amazon.com

Putting her age-deepened voice to another set of small-group versions of jazz and pop standards, Etta James makes Blue Gardenia a personal statement of mellow truth. Again in the company of pianist Cedar Walton, James inhabits "These Foolish Things," "Cry Me a River," and nearly a dozen others with her blues-drenched, hard-lived sensibility. Ever hopeful and apparently still a deep-dish romantic, James comfortably yet intently engages with the classic material--right down to her occasionally punctuating a lyric or a lick with a knowing "yeah." While most of the album has the feel of a last set in a dark club, she acquits herself well with the single left-field entry, growling her way through a samba arrangement of the '60s soul hit "Love Letters" with aplomb. Other than that, there are few surprises here. The feeling is the point, though, and it's fine. --Rickey Wright

01 This Bitter Earth
02 He's Funny That Way
03 In My Solitude
04 There Is No Greater Love
05 Don't Let The Sun Catch You Cryin'
06 Love Letters
07 These Foolish Things
08 Come Rain Or Come Shine
09 Don't Worry 'bout Me
10 Cry Me A River
11 Don't Blame Me
12 My Man
13 Blue Gardenia

 

[Dennie]

Live at the Regal -- CD :handgestures-thumbup: :handgestures-thumbup:

B.B. King

1964/1997 MCA Records

Amazon.com essential recording

Heralded as one of the greatest live blues albums ever recorded, this set catches the singer-guitarist as his star was in ascent: in 1964 playing Chicago's answer to Harlem's Apollo Theater--the Regal. King's performance is visceral. He sings so hard that gravel flies even in his clearest high notes. And his trademark single-note guitar lines are sharp and steely, matching his voice with trembling vigor. He offers early hits like "How Blue Can You Get," "Worry, Worry," and "You Upset Me Baby" to what's essentially his adopted hometown crowd (by his own account, King had already played the theater hundreds of times). They give him a hero's welcome. In fact, the audience's screaming enthusiasm is distracting. But rarely has a love-fest of this magnitude between a performer and fans been documented. --Ted Drozdowski

1. "Every Day I Have the Blues" (Memphis Slim) - 2:38
2. "Sweet Little Angel" (Riley King, Jules Taub) - 4:12
3. "It's My Own Fault" (King, Taub) - 3:29
4. "How Blue Can You Get?" (Feather) - 3:44
5. "Please Love Me" (King, Taub) - 3:01
6. "You Upset Me Baby" (King, Taub) - 2:22
7. "Worry, Worry" (Maxwell Davis, Taub) - 6:24
8. "Woke Up This Morning (My Baby's Gone)" (King, Taub) - 1:45
9. "You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now" (Joe Josea, King) - 4:16
10. "Help the Poor" (Charlie Singleton) - 2:58

 

[Randy]

Iron Maiden

 

[Randy]

And now watching this, and boy is my wife impressed...

 

[Botch]

 

[Dennie]

The Capitol Years - The Best Of Cannonball Adderley -- CD

Cannonball Adderley

1991 Capitol Records

BEST OF THE CAPITOL YEARS is an odd compilation, largely because two of its eight lengthy tracks come from sessions where the alto saxophonist was a sideman, not the bandleader. That said, Yusef Lateef's "Work Song" and "Fiddler on the Roof" feature exceptional Adderley solos, and Lateef's brand of groove-oriented soul jazz slots in nicely with Adderley's similar yet unique version of this under-appreciated '60s sub-genre.

A precursor to jazz-rock fusion, soul jazz takes off from Ray Charles' jazz sides of the '50s, melding gospel music's call-and-response, fluid and percussive grooves, and solos alternately laid-back and fiery. Because Adderley's background was in hard bop rather than cool jazz, his Capitol sides often have a burning intensity missing from many other soul-jazz recordings. The style's pinnacle is "Mercy Mercy Mercy," one of the few jazz songs to hit Top 40 in the rock era and the clear highlight of this collection.

Recorded between August 1962 and October 1969.

1 Work Song (Live) 8:30
2 The Jive Samba (Live) 10:59
3 Fiddler on the Roof 7:20
4 Mercy Mercy Mercy 4:58
5 Why Am I Treated So Bad 7:41
6 Walk Tall 2:38
7 74 Miles Away 13:47
8 Country Preacher (Live) 4:30

 

[PaulyT]

So how is this one? Been interested in maybe hearing some of them, since I got those Neko Case albums that I like a lot.