What Are You Listening To?

[Dennie]

Greatest Hits 1979 - 1990 -- CD

Dionne Warwick

1989 Arista Records

THROWBACK THEATER: In a world of glitter and glass, this was a diamond., December 22, 2011
By D. Baker "Blackworm" (Suffolk, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dionne Warwick - Greatest Hits (1979-1990) (Audio CD)

I was never a big fan of Dionne Warwick during her "DO YOU KNOW THE WAY TO SAN JOSE", or "I SAY A LITTLE PRAYER FOR YOU" days. I mean, the songs were cute, but they didn't hold my interest in her as a singer. Then, the 80's came along, and a new Dionne was born and my interest in her hit the ceiling, because this woman can really sing and her vocal talents are extrodinary. This collection showcases who she was and still is as a performer, and I gotta tell you, I know each and every one of these songs, almost by heart. To me, this is the winner of the "Feel Good" throwback award, because that's how I felt when listening to it. BRAVA, MS. WARWICK!

1. That's What Friends Are For
2. Heartbreaker
3. Love Power
4. I'll Never Love This Way Again
5. How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye
6. Walk Away
7. Take Good Care Of You And Me
8. Deja Vu
9. Friends In Love
10. No Night So Long
11. I Don't Need Another Love
12. All The Time

 

[PaulyT]

Cool stuff!!!
Bluegrass, progressive, Celtic, blues. If you can imagine that!! Fantastic musicians.

Ordered!

 

[Dennie]

Backroads -- CD

Ricky Van Shelton

1991 Columbia Records

When he's not trying to be Roy Orbison (as he did on 1990's RVS 3), it's easy to see that Van Shelton's a fine singer. And this is a fine record -- so fine it's tempting to hunt for signs of listener manipulation. But Van Shelton balances the self-pity of songs like "After the Lights Go Out" with the uptempo punch of stuff like "Call Me Up." So even though Van Shelton recycles "Rockin' Years," the duet from Dolly Parton's Eagle When She Flies, just call it good taste, sit back, and enjoy. ~ Brian Mansfield

Track Listing
1. I Am a Simple Man
2. Rockin' Years
3. Oh Heart of Mine
4. Some Things Are Better Left Alone
5. After the Lights Go Out
6. Call Me Up
7. If You're Ever in My Arms
8. Who'll Turn Out the Lights
9. Backroads
10. Keep It Between the Lines

 

[Dennie]

My last one for the evening....

Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook -- CD

Bette Midler

2005 Columbia Records

Amazon.com

Bette Midler and musical director Barry Manilow follow their successful tribute to Rosemary Clooney with a collection of songs immortalized by Peggy Lee. It starts off with the inevitable "Fever," which Midler does in a brassy, finger-snapping way that would feel more at home at the Sands c. 1960 than in a dimly lit 1950s boudoir. It's a deliberate, clever choice that works for Midler. The selection hits predictable bases ("Is That All There Is?", "Big Spender") but it's hard to argue when those bases are so loaded. Midler actually sounds a lot more at ease than on the Clooney disc. She handles the upbeat material as well as could be expected, but she also shines on the slower numbers, delivering sultry takes on "Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe," "I'm a Woman," and "He's a Tramp" (a song copenned by Lee, from the Disney movie Lady and the Tramp). The neglected gem in the collection is Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's "The Folks Who Live on the Hill," popularized by Irene Dunne in 1937 before being covered by Lee. Manilow's arrangements are deliciously lush and Midler uses a slight vibrato at carefully chosen moments, somehow sounding as if she had suddenly been lifted back to the 1940s. It's a real treat that epitomizes an accomplished album. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

"Fever" (Eddie Cooley, John Davenport) - 3:38
"Alright, Okay, You Win" (Mayme Watts, Sid Wyche) - 2:48
"I Love Being Here With You" (Peggy Lee, Frank Loesser, Bill Schluger) - 2:46
Duet With Barry Manilow
"Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe" (Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg) - 4:54
"Is That All There Is?" (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) - 4:26
"I'm a Woman" (Leiber, Stoller) - 2:28
"He's a Tramp" (Burke, Lee) - 2:39
"The Folks Who Live On the Hill" (Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern) - 3:07
"Big Spender" (Cy Coleman, Dorothy Fields) - 2:18
"Mr. Wonderful" (Jerry Bock, Larry Holofcener, George David Weiss) - 4:33
"He Needs Me" (Arthur Hamilton) - 4:09 [Bonus Track on CDs sold at Barnes & Noble]

Fever was remixed by L.E.X and reached #4 on the Billboard Dance Club Play charts in 2006.

 

[Dennie]

Say That! -- CD

Grant Geissman

2006 Futurism Records

Guitarist Grant Geissman became quite a well-known name in smooth jazz for a time, though he grew tired of its repetitive nature and decided to return to straight-ahead jazz. This two-day session consists of originals that are drenched with influences from well-known hard bop dates by jazz legends. The opener, "Say That," will surprise his smooth jazz fans with its potent solos by tenor saxophonist Brian Scanlon, pianist Emilio Palame, and the leader. Geissman's "Theme from Two and a Half Men" is rarely heard for more than a few seconds at a time on network television (and in a doo wop vocal setting at that), so this humorous, swinging instrumental arrangement demonstrates its full possibilities. "Grandfather's Banjo" actually features Geissman playing his grandfather's five-string banjo, backed by Trey Henry (on tuba), Scanlon (clarinet), Palame, and drummer Ray Brinker; this infectious piece has a classic jazz feeling with a clearly modern flavor. Smooth jazz fans may be slow to check out Grant Geissman's Say That, but every other jazz collector should snap it up and join the fun (which includes the colorful artwork and Bill Milkowski's enjoyable liner notes). ~ Ken Dryden

Track Listing
1. Say That!
2. What's the Story?
3. Point of View
4. Theme from Two and a Half Men
5. Yes or No?
6. New York Stories
7. Grandfather's Banjo
8. Bossa
9. Wrong Is Right
10. Spy Versus Spy
11. Siete
12. Below the Radar
13. Wes Is More

 

[Dennie]

Every Note Counts -- CD

Joe Jewell Quartet

2006 Joe Jewell Records

Every Note Counts pays homage to several jazz guitarists: the opening "Something Special" is a Jim Hall composition, and the popular Bobby Hebb song "Sunny" is done up a la Wes Montgomery from his most popular period with Verve Records in the late 1960s. Thad Jones' jazz classic "A Child Is Born" is presented as an homage to Kenny Burrell. Jewell also renders a version of Bruno Bartino's "Estate" as a nod to either guitarist John Pisano or Joe Diorio and leads into it via a composition from Paraguayan composer/guitarist Aujgistin Barrios Mangore ("La Catedral"). The group plays other pieces, like Dietz and Schwartz's "Alone Together" and Thelonious Monk's "In Walked Bud," attractively. Unfortunately, Cole Porter's "Dream Dancing" is marred by a heavily amped guitar opening and a lengthy Fender Rhodes solo.

Track Listing:

Something Special

Sunny

La Catedral(Prelude)/Estate

A Child Is Born

Alone Together

Back At The Chicken Shack

Beatrice

I've Grown Accustomed To Your Face

While We're Young

Dream Dancing

In Walked Bud

 

[Dennie]

Bird and Diz -- CD

Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie

1950/1986 Verve Records

The Triumvirate Summit, April 19, 2004
By David Gedalecia "DGed" (Wooster, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Bird & Diz (Audio CD)


This session had real possibilities, but, as Max Harrison, Ira Gitler, Martin Williams, and recently Carl Woideck all point out, the presence of Buddy Rich, and his rim-shot/heavy-on-the-bass drum swing approach in the company of Parker, Gillespie and Monk, puts a drag on the proceedings. But this is not a diatribe on Rich. No doubt his inclusion was Norman Granz's idea, since he used Rich a lot in the JATP sessions in more appropriate musical contexts. What saves things are the many new intricate bop pieces that one finds only here, the teaming up of Monk with Bird and Diz, and some wonderfully inspired playing. One is hard-pressed, beyond Dean Benedetti's brief snippets, to find a Parker-Monk combination, and a Diz-Monk match-up is probably non-existent. It is especially interesting to hear Monk play behind Gillespie: all sorts of fascinating harmonic ideas emerge. All three are in fine form, and had Max Roach, or Kenny Clarke, or Roy Haynes been chosen to form a quadrumvirate, this would have been an even more unique session than it is, for they had given modern jazz drumming an independent voice, beyond just rhythmic accompaniment. Even so, the union of the triumvirate means that this is a five-star recording. It has been reissued on Polygram with alternate takes, though none of "Bloomdido" or "Mohawk," two of the real stand-outs.

A1. Bloomdido
A2. An Oscar For Treadwell
A3. An Oscar For Treadwell (Alternate Take)
A4. Mohawk
A5. Mohawk (Alternate Take)
B1. My Melancholy Baby
B2. Leap Frog
B3. Leap Frog (Alternate Take)
B4. Leap Frog (Alternate Take)
B5. Relaxin' With Lee
B6. Relaxin' With Lee (Alternate Take)

 

[Dennie]

Journey To Love -- CD

Stanley Clarke

1975/2008 Epic Records

All Good, December 8, 2004
By AustinTeddy "Teddy" (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Journey to Love (Audio CD)

Not one bad cut. The great thing about this album is you can take each of the musicians singly and explore what they are doing. Listen to Jeff Beck...not on "Hello Jeff" (actually DO listen to that too!) but on "Journey to Love". His haunting solo fits perfectly with the mood of the song...and gives it the Beck Edge. George Duke glides throughout. David Sanctious (sp?) is a monster...not just on keyboard but guitar as well. From Stanley's original "Stanley Clarke" through this album and then to "School Days" this three album era was Stanley stepping out and rippin it up.

All tracks composed by Stanley Clarke; except where indicated

"Silly Putty" (4:52)
"Journey to Love" (4:52)
"Hello Jeff" (5:16)
"Song to John, Part 1" (Clarke, Corea) (4:22)
"Song to John, Part 2" (Clarke, Corea) (6:09)
"Concerto for Jazz/Rock Orchestra, Parts 1-4" (14:25)


Stanley Clarke - electric bass, acoustic bass, organ, piccolo bass (first used by Stanley Clarke) with Maestro Synthesizer on "Concerto For Jazz/Rock Orchestra," hand bells, tubular bells, gong, vocals
Jeff Beck - electric guitar on "Hello Jeff" and guitar solo on "Journey to Love"
Chick Corea - acoustic piano on "Song to John"
George Duke - organ, synthesizer, Moog synthesizer, keyboard, Arp Odyssey, clavinet, acoustic piano, electric piano, bells, vocals
Earl Chapin - brass horn
John Clark - brass horn
Jon Faddis - trumpet
Steve Gadd - drums, percussions
Peter Gordon - brass horn
Tom "Bones" Malone - trombone
John McLaughlin - acoustic guitar on "Song to John"
Alan Rubin - trumpet
David Sancious - electric guitar, 12-string guitar
Lew Soloff - trumpet
David Taylor - trombone
Lenny White - drums on "Hello Jeff"
Wilmer Wise - brass horn

 

[Dennie]

Take Your Shoes Off -- CD

Robert Cray

1999 Rykodisc

TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF won the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album.

TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF finds Robert Cray picking up the Memphis soul thread that infused so much of 1997's SWEET POTATO PIE. Joined by the always-reliable Memphis Horns, Cray delivers another masterful batch of tunes that are as much a tip of the hat to Stax as they are to Chess. The bluesman's creamy vocals fall somewhere between Sam Cooke and Otis Redding and are particularly effective on the brassy "24-7 Man" and the pleading "Let Me Know." The R&B map is well traversed with Jim Pugh's flickering organ licks and Steve Jordan's solid playing (turning "It's All Gone" into a lost Hi track), while the strolling tempo on "There's Nothing Wrong" brings to mind Motown's finer moments. As always, the talented guitarist's choice of covers is an interesting mix. Willie Dixon's "Tollin' Bells" is presented with brushed drums and a reverberating chord that eerily replicates the song's title. Most interesting is a reading of Solomon Burke's "Won't You Give Him (One More Chance)" that finds Cray being joined by Cajun accordionist Jo-El Sonnier on an arrangement that Taj Mahal might have suggested.

Track Listing
1. Love Gone to Waste
2. That Wasn't Me
3. All the Way
4. There's Nothing Wrong
5. 24-7 Man
6. Pardon
7. Let Me Know
8. It's All Gone
9. Won't You Give Him (One More Chance)
10. Living Proof
11. What About Me
12. Tollin' Bells

 

[heeman]

Track Listings
1. A Life Within a Day
2. Tall Ships
3. Divided Self
4. Aliens
5. Sea of Smiles
6. The Summer Backwards
7. Storm Chaser
8. Can't Stop the Rain
9. Perfect Love Song

:text-bravo:

 

[Dennie]

Today's work truck music....

Two Against Nature -- CD

Steely Dan

2000 Giant Records

Amazon.com essential recording

Never so much a band as the slyly crafted specter of one, Steely Dan's mid-1990s "return" to live performance was as surprising as it was perverse. They'd previously toured only once, round about the era of Watergate, pet rocks, and Shaft. A half-decade after their concert comeback and a mere 19 years after Gaucho seemingly closed out their recording career, the jazz-pop conceit of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen deliberately dropped back into a recording landscape where they weren't so much seasoned vets as alien ambassadors. Two Against Nature, indeed. The tack is instantly familiar: a musical/lyrical reconciliation of Monk and Newman, with familiar harmonic flourishes, nimble studio chops, and an icy, world-class cool, as willfully insulated from hip-hop and techno as it was from disco and Top 40. Less concerned with melodic hooks than a canny sophistication of mood and manner, Becker and Fagen never let a trite melody get in the way of a good story, whether their protagonists are plotting some nefarious obliquity ("Gaslighting Abby"), Southern-fried incest (the deliciously funky "Cousin DuPree"), or bleakly confronting dashed expectations ("What a Shame About Me"). A little more musically languorous perhaps, its trademark cynicism now undercut by hints of sadness and regret, this is nonetheless a Steely Dan album worthy of the name, and like the best of them, one whose subtle charms reveal themselves in surprising ways. -Jerry McCulley

All songs written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen.

"Gaslighting Abbie" – 5:53
"What a Shame About Me" – 5:17
"Two Against Nature" – 6:17
"Janie Runaway" – 4:09
"Almost Gothic" – 4:09
"Jack of Speed" – 6:17
"Cousin Dupree" – 5:28
"Negative Girl" – 5:34
"West of Hollywood" – 8:21

 

[Rope]

Rope

 

[Kazaam]

Kid N Play - 2Hype

 

[heeman]

Track Listings
1. Inca Roads
2. Can't Afford No Shoes
3. Sofa No. 1
4. Po-Jama People
5. Florentine Pogen
6. Evelyn, A Modified Dog
7. San Ber dino
8. Andy
9. Sofa No. 2

1975 - One Size Fits All

The pinnacle of his jazz-rock work of the early '70s, One Size Fits All boasts some of the most memorable songs of Frank Zappa's career performed by one of the most beloved Mothers of Invention lineups ever assembled. This cast of musicians' musicians--including George Duke, Ruth Underwood, and Johnny 'Guitar' Watson--blasts through the groovy sci-fi world of Inca Roads, the hyper-charged blues rock of "Pajama People," the lounge majesty of "Sofa" and concert mainstays like "San Ber'dino" and "Florentine Pogan." An integral part of any Zappa Collection. --Andrew Boscardin

 

[Dennie]

Shaking Free -- SACD

Nnenna Freelon

1996/2003 Concord Jazz

For this excellent effort, Nnenna Freelon solidifies her position as one of the better female jazz singers of the 1990s. Her appealing voice and versatility are well displayed throughout a set that includes a 5/4 version of "Out of This World," the folk song "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair," "Birk's Works," "I Thought About You," "Nature Boy," and three originals. Freelon is ably assisted by her regular rhythm section of the period (pianist Bill Anschell, bassist John Brown, and drummer Woody Williams), and there are worthwhile guest spots for guitarist Scott Sawyer, Rickey Woodard on tenor and soprano, and Alex Acuna on congas. ~ Scott Yanow

Track Listing
1. Out of This World
2. Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair
3. I Live to Love You
4. Shaking Free
5. Stories We Hold
6. Birk's Works - (CD only)
7. My Shining Hour - (CD only)
8. Visions
9. I Thought About You
10. What Am I Here For?
11. Nature Boy
12. Blue Daughter

 

[Botch]

Shaking Free -- SACD

Bought, at $5.60 its worth a gamble. Only three, er two, left at Amazon! :text-thankyoublue:

 

[Dennie]

Main Stem, Volume #4 -- CD

Terry Gibbs Dream Band

1961/1990 Comtemporary Records

Unlike the first three CDs released by Contemporary of Terry Gibbs' early-'60s "Dream Band," the music on the fourth and fifth volumes was out previously on Mercury. And while the earlier sets focused on swing-era standards, the fourth volume mostly has less common material. Gibbs' all-star orchestra (which includes trumpeter Conte Candoli, high-note trumpeter Al Porcino, trombonist Frank Rosolino, Richie Kamuca and Bill Perkins on tenors, altoists Joe Maini and Charlie Kennedy and drummer Mel Lewis among others) swings hard on such tunes as "Day In, Day Out," "Sweet Georgia Brown," "Too Close for Comfort" and "Ja-Da." It is not at all surprising that the vibraphonist-leader sounds so happy leading his short-lived band. ~ Scott Yanow

Track Listing
1. Day In - Day Out
2. Summit Blues
3. Limerick Waltz
4. You Don't Know What Love Is
5. Sweet Georgia Brown
6. Nose Cone
7. Too Close for Comfort
8. Main Stem
9. Ja-Da
10. T and S

 

[Dennie]

Shaking Free -- SACD

Bought, at $5.60 its worth a gamble. Only three, er two, left at Amazon! :text-thankyoublue:

Ha! That's the reason I bought it, I thought it would be worth a shot at this price! :handgestures-thumbup:

It's not my first Nnenna Album, she can be a little "torchy", but a great singer either way! This is the best album of her's so far and the Sound Quality is top notch! I hope you enjoy it.


Dennie

 

[Dennie]

Decca Presents:

Solos (1940) Great Standards By The Jazz Piano Master-- CD

Art Tatum

1990 MCA Records

Solo recordings from 1940.MCA's short-lived Decca CD-reissue program put out this gem, all of Tatum's piano solos from 1940, including two versions of the previously unknown "Sweet Emalina, My Gal." Some of the routines on these standards were a bit familiar by now (this "Tiger Rag" pales next to his 1933 version) but are no less exciting and still sound seemingly impossible to play. ~ Scott Yanow

Track Listing
1. Elegie
2. Humoresque
3. Sweet Lorraine
4. Get Happy
5. Lullaby of the Leaves
6. Tiger Rag
7. Sweet Emalina, My Gal (Take A)
8. Sweet Emalina, My Gal (Take B)
9. Emaline
10. Moonglow
11. Love Me
12. Cocktails For Two
13. St. Louis Blues
14. Begin the Beguine
15. Rosetta
16. Indiana (Back Home Again in)

 

[PaulyT]

]
Bought, at $5.60 its worth a gamble. Only three, er two, left at Amazon! :text-thankyoublue:

Agreed - ordered!