What Are You Listening To?

[Dennie]

I really enjoy this one...... :eusa-clap:

Stockings By The Fire -- CD

Various Artist

2007 HEAR Music


A Christmas compilation for grown ups, December 9, 2007
By Julia Flyte - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE)
This review is from: Stockings By the Fire (Audio CD)


I have a number of Christmas CDs which all get heavy rotation over the Christmas season, but this is my new favorite. It's a very grown up, almost sexy compilation: perfect for sipping eggnog by the fire while you read a book or chat to friends. There is a mixture of songs that are familiar (such as Winter Wonderland, White Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer) alongside others that are more obscure. The first seven tracks are quite slow and sophisticated, then the tempo speeds up for a few tracks before slowing down again towards the end.

Some of the standout songs for me are:

1. "Baby, it's cold outside" by Ray Charles and Betty Carter - this is a great lead off single - it's super sexy.
2. "I love the bells on Christmas Day' by Sarah McLachlan - if you loved Wintersong, you'll also love this single (which doesn't appear on that album)
3. "I'll be home for Christmas" by Frank Sinatra - Frank's voice just seems so right for this time of year and this is a lovely slow and poignant song.
5. "Sleigh Ride" by Ella Fitzgerald - this has been used so much in movies but it's still a great number.
8. "Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer" by Jack Johnson - somehow Jack makes this familiar song sound totally new - it's a great cover version.
15. "I don't have to change" by John Legend and the Stephens Family - a gorgeous gospel number that my son said sounded like something out of Happy Feet!
16. "White Christmas" by Aimee Mann - a heart-breakingly beautiful version of this song - just this track alone justifies the price of the CD!

 

[Dennie]

In The Dark -- CD

Grateful Dead

1987 Arista Records

Amazon.com essential recording

Hardcore Deadheads always equate this 1987 comeback record with commercial acceptance and a watered-down fan base, but while those assertions are indeed accurate, step back and you'll hear an album full of strong material and equally solid, live-in-the-studio performances. It's more than coincidence that songs such as "Touch of Grey" (the band's only top 10 hit), "Hell in a Bucket," "West L.A. Fadeaway," and "Throwing Stones" all became staples of the Dead's last decade of touring. While longtime fans will probably have no use (or desire) for this release (especially since the CD version omits the brilliant "Brother Esau"), it remains one of the band's most successful studio forays and the quintessential icebreaker for newcomers. --Marc Greilsamer

Side one

"Touch of Grey" (Garcia, Hunter) – 5:47
"Hell in a Bucket" (Barlow, Weir) – 5:35
"When Push Comes to Shove" (Garcia, Hunter) – 4:05
"West L.A. Fadeaway" (Garcia, Hunter) – 6:39

Side two

"Tons of Steel" (Mydland) – 5:15
"Throwing Stones" (Barlow, Weir) – 7:18
"Black Muddy River" (Garcia, Hunter) – 5:58
"My Brother Esau" (Barlow, Weir) - 4:20

"My Brother Esau" was omitted from the LP and CD releases of In the Dark, but was included on the cassette and on international releases.

 

[No-L]

Christmas Songs -- CD

Diana Krall

:text-bravo:

 

[Dennie]

Touchdown -- CD

Bob James

1978/1995 Tappen Zee/Warner Bros.

"Touchdown"!,
June 4, 2000
By Jeffrey Harris
This review is from: Touchdown (Audio CD)

First of all I have to strongly disagree with the other reviews written on this album, by reviewers who seem to know Bob James only from the songs that have been sampled by rappers. The five cuts on this album define "smooth jazz" before it became bland and uninteresting. I feel he hit a creative peak with this album that he only reached again with his duet album "One On One" with Earl Klugh. "Touchdown" features excellent supporting players like Hubert Laws, Earl Klugh, Ron Carter, Steve Gadd, Idris Muhammad, and David Sanborn, there's definitely nothing formulaic about the performances here. This album was James' first to crossover and hit the top forty on the pop chart thanks to hit theme from "Taxi", "Angela", and his first gold album. "Sun Runner" received heavy airplay from contemporary jazz stations when this album was released back in 1978. This is one of the best smooth jazz records of this or any era.

All songs written by Bob James

"Angela" (Theme from Taxi) 5:48
"Touchdown" 5:44
"I Want to Thank You (Very Much)" 7:07
"Sun Runner" 6:17
"Caribbean Nights" 8:46

 

[Dennie]

Accentuate The Positive -- CD

Al Jarreau

2004 Verve Records

Amazon.com

Al Jarreau's style bridges Jon Hendricks's vocalese and Bobby McFerrin's incredible flights of fancy. This CD, with Diana Krall's rhythm section--guitarist Anthony Wilson, drummer Peter Erskine, and bassist Christian McBride--should please fans of albums like Jarreau's phenomenal 1977 live LP, Look to the Rainbow. Duke Ellington's "I'm Beginning to See the Light" is illuminated by Larry Goldings's down-home Hammond organ, while Lionel Hampton's "Midnight Sun" bops with hip-hop-friendly rim shots. Jarreau's tenor tones curve with saxophonic dexterity and pulse with percussive precision, especially on Dizzy Gillespie's "Groovin' High," where he slyly drops in a few words from the old show tune, "Whispering." --Eugene Holley, Jr.

"Cold Duck" (Harris, Jarreau)
"The Nearness of You" (Carmichael, Washington)
"I'm Beginning to See the Light" (Ellington, George, Hodges, James)
"My Foolish Heart" (Washington, Young)
"Midnight Sun" (Hampton, Burke & Mercer)
"Accentuate the Positive" (Arlen, Mercer)
"Betty Bebop's Song" (Jarreau, Ravel)
"Waltz for Debby" (Evans, Lees)
"Groovin' High" (Gillespie, Jarreau)
"Lotus" (Grolnick, Jarreau)
"Scootcha Booty" (Ferrante, Jarreau)

------

Al Jarreau
Keith Anderson – saxophone
Larry Williams – keyboards and arrangements
Russell Ferrante – piano
Larry Goldings – Hammond B-3
Tollak Ollestad – harmonica
Anthony Wilson – guitar
Christian McBride – bass
Dave Carpenter – bass
Mark Simmons – drums
Peter Erskine – drums
Luis Conte – percussion

 

[No-L]

 

[Kazaam]

The Smashing Pumpkins - "Machina II: The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music"

Remember when Billy Corgan disbanded the Pumpkins back in 2000? This is the album that was, at the time, intended to be the band's final album.

It essentially contains a bunch of demo-quality tracks that Corgan had hoped to release as a "part two" to the band's earlier album, "Machina/The Machines of God". But the record label apparently wasn't interested; thus, the band simply pressed 25 vinyl albums, gave them to friends, and told them to spread the music. Create MP3s. Put it on the Internet. Make it free for all to download.

In total there are 25 songs---14 on the main album, 11 on various EPs of so called "B-Sides". Lots of music here. And I can remember liking a few of the songs back in 2000, yet being totally disappointed in the sound quality. Well... after years of having lost my original downloads and forgetting the music, I re-downloaded the material and I think I appreciate it more now than I did 12 years ago. Heck, I'm not even bothered by the sound quality anymore. It's always been listenable, but now it almost comes off as somehow special.

The album and corresponding EPs are still available for download over at Archive.org. Totally free.

 

[Kazaam]

All done with the Smashing Pumpkins. Listened to 24 of the 25 tracks. (I just had to skip past the track James Iha sang, which is somewhat surprising since I actually liked Iha's solo album.)

Anyway... Now I'm onto some Michael Martin Murphey.

I really like Wildfire and also that song Mike Nesmith wrote. What am I doing hanging 'round here, I think. Probably won't listen to the whole thing, though. (I mostly like just Murphey's older old stuff, not his newer old stuff.) I'm gonna just hit up some random crap for the rest of the night.

 

[heeman]

Track Listings
1. Whole Lotta Love (featuring Chris Cornell)
2. Can't You Hear Me Knocking (featuring Scott Weiland)
3. Sunshine Of Your Love (featuring Rob Thomas)
4. While My Guitar Gently Weeps (featuring India.Arie & Yo-Yo Ma)
5. Photograph (featuring Chris Daughtry)
6. Back In Black (featuring Nas)
7. Riders On The Storm (featuring Chester Bennington & Ray Manzarek)
8. Smoke On The Water (featuring Jacoby Shaddix)
9. Dance The Night Away (featuring Pat Monahan)
10. Bang A Gong (featuring Gavin Rossdale)
11. Little Wing (featuring Joe Cocker)
12. I Ain t Superstitious (featuring Jonny Lang)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc-yHSfwLNo[/youtube]

 

[Dennie]

Today's work truck music....

Glad Rag Doll - Deluxe Edition -- CD

Diana Krall

2012 Verve Records

Deluxe edition includes four bonus tracks. 2012 release from the Jazz/Pop pianist and vocalist. Glad Rag Doll is an exhilarating and adventurous exploration of new sounds, new instrumentation and new musicians. It stars a singer and piano player, filled with mischief, humor and a renewed sense of tenderness and intimacy. The record reveals itself at that remarkable vanishing point in time where all music; swinging, rocking and taboo, collide with songs of longing, solace and regret. All are made new again in a vaudeville of Krall's own imagining. It is at once a major departure and a natural progression for the gifted musician. Diana simply calls the album, 'a song and dance record.'

TRACKS:

We Just Couldn't Say Goodbye
There Ain't No Sweet Man That's Worth the Salt of my Tears
Just Like a Butterfly That's Caught in the Rain
You Know - I Know Ev'rything's Made For Love
Glad Rag Doll
I'm a Little Mixed Up
Prairie Lullaby
Here Lies Love
I Used to Love You But It's All Over Now
Let it Rain
Lonely Avenue
Wide River to Cross
When the Curtain Comes Down
As Long As I Love (Bonus Track)
Glad Rag Doll (Bonus Track)
Garden in the Rain (Bonus Track)
There Ain't No Sweet Man That's Worth the Salt of my Tears (Alternate Version) (Bonus Track)

 

[topper]

review ~

"By the mid-'80s Dire Straits were a platinum band dismissed in their native England as safe, yuppie rockers, yet the original quartet's lean, guitar-driven music struggled to find a label home when first recorded in 1978. Mark Knopfler offers craggy vocals, literate blues-based songs, and sinuous, virtuosic guitar work. He melds keening solo lines and rapidly picked fills and dodges the synth washes and postpunk power chords of then-competing new wavers; he relies on atmosphere, character, and pure musicianship intead of heavy irony or pop fashion. "Sultans of Swing," codifies this stance, a galloping paean to aging jazz musicians playing for the sheer love of the music. This became a major hit and has endured as a radio classic. The album itself has proven equally sturdy thanks to cinematic imagery and the tightly wound arrangements of "Down to the Waterline," "Six Blade Knife," and "Water of Love." ~ Sam Sutherland

, , :handgestures-thumbup: , .

 

[Xgm3]

 

[Xgm3]

 

[Dennie]

The Most Relaxing Jazz Guitar Music In The Universe -- 2 CD Set

Various Great Artists

2005 Denon Records

More of a intro to jazz, September 23, 2008
By This one goes to 11.... (Chicago,IL) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Most Relaxing Jazz Guitar Music in Universe (Audio CD)

This cd to me sounds more like an introduction to jazz guitar.However,
it does have some relaxing moments on it.On the other hand,I just started listening to jazz,so I'm really not that familiar with jazz.

Disc: 1

1. Listen to the Dawn -- Kenny Burrell
2. Samba de Orpheus -- Grant Green
3. Last Night When We Were Young -- Sal Salvador & Mundell Lowe
4. Over the Rainbow -- Kenny Burrell
5. All Blues -- Jimmy Ponder
6. In the Meantime -- Kenny Barron featuring Ted Dunbar
7. Road Song -- Pat Martino
8. Homage to Charlie Christian -- Charlie Byrd
9. I Can't Get Started -- Jack McDuff featuring John Hart
10. Sophisticated Lady -- Larry Coryell
11. Dreamsville -- Pat Martino
12. 'Round Midnight -- Larry Coryell
13. You Don't Know What Love Is -- Pat Martino
14. Tenderly -- Kenny Burrell
15. 'Deed I Do -- Red Norvo featuring Tal Farlow
16. One for Tubby -- Herbie Mann featuring Joe Puma
17. You Are Too Beautiful -- Jimmy Ponder
18. A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square -- Sal Salvador & Mundell Lowe
19. Keepin' The Faith -- Steve Laury
20. Visit -- Pat Martino
21. Motherless Child -- Grant Green
22. Angel Eyes -- Andy Bey featuring Paul Meyers

Disc: 2

1. 'Round Midnight -- Larry Coryell
2. You Don't Know What Love Is -- Pat Martino
3. Tenderly -- Kenny Burrell
4. 'Deed I Do -- Red Norvo featuring Tal Farlow
5. One for Tubby -- Herbie Mann featuring Joe Puma
6. You Are Too Beautiful -- Jimmy Ponder
7. A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square -- Sal Salvador & Mundell Lowe
8. Keepin' The Faith -- Steve Laury
9. Visit -- Pat Martino
10. Motherless Child -- Grant Green
11. Angel Eyes -- Andy Bey featuring Paul Meyers

 

[Xgm3]

 

[Xgm3]

 

[Dennie]

The Essential Oscar Peterson -- The Swinger -- CD

Oscar Peterson

1992 Verve Records

The Greatest Jazz Pianist that Ever Lived, August 31, 2009
By Carl Armstrong - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Essential Oscar Peterson: The Swinger (Audio CD)

Oscar Peterson is the Vladimir Horowitz of the jazz world.When he was young, his father wanted him to finish school, but Oscar insisted that he wanted to be a professional jazz pianist. His father said the only way he would allow Oscar to quite school would be if he became the very best.He then took his son to hear Art Tatum.Oscar was discovered by Norman Granz who was in a cab in Canada heading for the airport. The cab driver had the radio on and Granz said "Who is that pianist?" The cab driver said it was Oscar Peterson live at a nightclub. Granz said "forget the airport. I have to meet him,"On this CD is the immortal rendition of "Tenderly" that Oscar first played when he made his American debut in Carnegie Hall on September 16, 1950 in Norman Granz immortal series entitled "Jazz at the Philharmonic". It is the very greatest jazz piano arrangement of all time as well as many other tracks which are in a class all by themselves on the superb CD. A true collectors item.

1 Something's Coming - Bernstein, Sondheim 3:51
2 Blues for Big Scotia - Peterson 5:55
3 People - Dunbar, Merrill, Rolie, Schon, Styne 3:32
4 Tour's End - Getz, Getz 4:54
5 Con Alma - Gillespie 6:55
6 Tangerine - Mercer, Schertzinger 4:30
7 March Past - Peterson 3:21
8 Tenderly - Gross, Lawrence 5:37
9 On Green Dolphin Street - Kaper, Washington 7:25
10 Gravy Waltz - Allen, Brown 4:24
11 Seven Come Eleven - Christian, Goodman 3:46
12 Waltz for Debby - Evans, Lees 5:52
13 Brotherhood of Man - Loesser 3:30


Personnel includes: Oscar Peterson (piano); Stan Getz (tenor saxophone); Nat Adderley, Roy Eldridge, Ernie Royal, Clark Terry (trumpet); Milt Jackson (vibraphone); Herb Ellis, Barney Kessel (guitar); Ray Brown (bass); Ed Thigpen (drums).Includes liner notes by Harvey Pekar.Personnel: Oscar Peterson (piano); Herb Ellis, Barney Kessel (guitar); Jud "Cannonball Adderley" Brotherly, Jerome Richardson, Norris Turney, Seldon Powell, George Dorsey, Cannonball Adderley (reeds); Stan Getz (tenor saxophone); Clark Terry, Ernie Royal, Nat Adderley, Roy Eldridge, Snooky Young, Jimmy Nottingham (trumpet); Morris Secon, Julius Watkins, Willie Ruff, James Buffington, Ray Alonge (French horn); Jimmy Cleveland, Melba Liston, Slide Hampton, Paul Faulise, Britt Woodman (trombone); Don Butterfield (tuba); Milt Jackson (vibraphone); Ed Thigpen (drums).

 

[Dennie]

Bing, Bing, Bing! -- CD

Charlie Hunter Trio

1995 Blue Note Records

Charlie Hunter's 1995 Blue Note debut landed the guitar virtuoso square on the music map as one of the most exciting new voices in jazz. His custom-built eight-string guitar (allowing him to play bass and guitar simultaneously) and taste for the funk was a revelation to younger listeners hungry for music rooted in jazz tradition but also encompassing more recent groove-driven movements such as hip-hop. When scribes tried to pigeonhole Hunter as a leader of San Francisco's acid jazz movement, the Bay Area native quickly dismissed the tag, referring to his music as "antacid jazz."The trio (with tenor saxophonist Dave Ellis and drummer Jay Lane) cuts deep, organic grooves through tunes such as "Greasy Granny" and "Fistful of Haggis," while the blue jazz ballad "Bing, Bing, Bing, Bing" plays like a meditative summer stroll along a North California beach. Elsewhere the trio brilliantly reshapes Nirvana's "Come as You Are" into a soulful samba. It's both a fitting tribute to Kurt Cobain, and a testament to Charlie Hunter's ability to drop-kick jazz into the 21st Century.

Track Listing
1. Greasy Granny
2. Wornell's Yorkies
3. Fistful of Haggis
4. Come as You Are
5. Scrabbling For Purchase
6. Bullethead
7. Bing, Bing, Bing, Bing
8. Squiddlesticks
9. Lazy Susan (With a Client Now)
10. Elbo Room

Charlie Hunter Trio: Charlie Hunter (8-string guitar); Dave Ellis (tenor saxophone); Jay Lane (drums).Additional personnel: Jeff Cressman (trombone); Ben Goldberg (clarinet); David Phillips (pedal steel guitar); Scott Roberts (percussion).

 

[Rope]

Rameses B

Chillwave

Rope

 

[Xgm3]