What Are You Listening To?

[Dennie]

Honky Tonk Christmas -- CD

Alan Jackson

1993 Arista Records

Amazon.com

How is a honky-tonk Christmas different than a regular Christmas? Well, the predominant color is blue, rather than the more traditional red and green, and the stockings aren't filled exactly the way they were when you were a little one. But when Alan Jackson sings the songs of a honky-tonk holiday, the spirit is as infectious as can be, whether he's exploring the secular side of the holiday (as on a moving rendition of Merle Haggard's "If We Make it Through December") or delving into the spiritual (as on his duet with Alison Krauss, "The Angels Cried"). The Chipmunks--Alan's special guests on the silly "Santa's Gonna Come in a Pickup Truck"--are a little out of place, but it's a little too Grinch-like to dwell on that one flaw. --David Sprague

"Honky Tonk Christmas" (Buddy Brock, Zack Turner, Kim Williams) – 2:53
"The Angels Cried" (Harley Allen, Debbie Nims) – 2:51
feat. Alison Krauss
"If We Make It Through December" (Merle Haggard) – 2:45
"If You Don't Want to See Santa Claus Cry" (Keith Stegall) - 3:14
"I Only Want You for Christmas" (Tim Nichols, Turner) - 3:20
"Merry Christmas to Me" (Alan Jackson) - 2:53
"A Holly Jolly Christmas" (Johnny Marks) - 2:16
"There's a New Kid in Town" (Don Cook, Curly Putman, Keith Whitley) - 4:09
"Santa's Gonna Come in a Pickup Truck" (Don Rich, Red Simpson) - 4:08
feat. Alvin and the Chipmunks
"Please Daddy (Don't Get Drunk This Christmas)" (Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert) - 3:20

 

[Botch]

:music-listening:

 

[Botch]

 

[Dennie]

Stompin' At The Savoy -- Mono CD

Harry James & His Orchestra

1992 Delta Music

Album Notes
This budget CD looks like a bootleg, does not list the recording date (which is 1948) and only has around 40 minutes of music, but it is recommended anyway. Trumpeter Harry James was at the height of his powers during this underrated period, his orchestra sometimes is quite influenced by bop, and these ten instrumentals generate more than their share of heat. Highlights include "Shine," an extended "King Porter Stomp," "Stomping at the Savoy" and "Roly Poly." In addition to James, altoist Willie Smith, pianist Bruce MacDonald and tenorman Corky Corcoran all make strong impressions and the music is much better than one might expect. Well worth picking up. ~ Scott Yanow

Track Listing
1. Bluebeard's Blues
2. Lady Was Moody, The
3. Shine
4. Lament d'Amour
5. King Porter Stomp
6. Roach and I, The
7. Roly Poly
8. Stomping at the Savoy
9. Arrival Time
10. Snooty Fruity

 

[Botch]

 

[Dennie]

Merry Christmas (eve) Botch.... ccasion-xmas:

Russell Malone -- CD

Russell Malone

1992 Columbia Records

A Great Guitar Debut!, July 29, 2002
By Stuart B. Simpson (Lakewood,Wash. 98439, wa United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Russell Malone (Audio CD)

This 1992 recording (Russell's first) is great for a few reasons.One,it showcases Russell in a variety of small band contexts with many different styles.The supporting cast are equally talented young lions with elder statesman Milt Hinton on bass(he also wrote the liner notes).Secondly,Russell's technique and familiarity with electric,acoustic,and classical guitars is outstanding!That goes for the other band members as well!What makes me give this a 5 star review more than anything else is the only solo cut(played on classical guitar),"Flowers for Emmett Till".It's spiritual ramifications/socio-political implications leaves one with a sense of heightened humanity.Thanks Russell!Stuart B. Simpson Seattle,Wash.

1. Wives and Lovers
2. Invisible Colors
3. When I Take My Sugar to Tea
4. It's the Talk of the Town
5. St. Louis Blues
6. I Don't Know Enough About You
7. Close Your Eyes
8. London by Night
9. I Can't Believe That You're in Love With Me
10. Moonlight Serenade
11. Flowers for Emmett Till
12. Precious Lord

 

[Botch]

Right back atcha, Dennie! bscene-drinkingcheers:

 

[Dennie]

Love Deluxe -- CD

Sade

1992 Epic Records

Love Deluxe, October 4, 2000
By WILLIE A YOUNG II "willow" (Houston, TX.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love Deluxe (Audio CD)

Never has repetition worked so well! From the hypnotic bass groove of the opening "No Ordinary Love" this remarkable band uses space, and the lightest embellishments to wondrous effect. Paul S. Denman anchors every song with some of the most understated yet innovative bass playing ever recorded. His deep, sliding, funky bass playing makes "Feel No Pain" a virtual masterpiece of minimalism, and he gets downright buttery as he hangs in the background on "I Couldn't Love You More" and "Cherish The Day". Stuart Matthewman (guitar & sax) Andrew Hale (keyboards) and the underappreciated Leroy Osborne (backing vocals) help round out this solid, transistional effort. The spare, stripped down funky soundscapes painted here chart the the direction these men would follow 4 years later in Sweetback. Ms. Adu as always is in wonderful voice. Her achingly lovely contralto is front and center on every cut, (the instrumental piece that closes the album being the only exception) and you can actually hear tears in her delivery on tracks like "Cherish The Day", "Kiss Of Life" and the acoustic gem "Like A Tattoo". Not a bad song to be found here, and none of it ever sounds dated or pretentious. A Modern Classic.

"No Ordinary Love" (Sade Adu, Stuart Matthewman) – 7:20
"Feel No Pain" (Adu, Andrew Hale, Matthewman) – 5:08
"I Couldn't Love You More" (Adu, Hale, Matthewman, Paul S. Denman) – 3:49
"Like a Tattoo" (Adu, Hale, Matthewman) – 3:38
"Kiss of Life" (Adu, Hale, Matthewman, Denman) – 5:50
"Cherish the Day" (Adu, Hale, Matthewman) – 5:34
"Pearls" (Adu, Hale) – 4:34
"Bullet Proof Soul" (Adu, Hale, Matthewman) – 5:26
"Mermaid" (Hale, Matthewman, Denman) – 4:23

 

[Xgm3]

Jack White Blunderbuss, listening to it on vinyl.

 

[Botch]

 

[Dennie]

Merry Christmas everyone....

The Christmas Collection -- CD

Frank Sinatra

2004 Reprise Records

Amazon.com

Talk about your gifts of Christmas past, The Christmas Collection is a must-have for any Sinatra-phile, right down to its family photos and one priceless shot of Sinatra swinging a golf club next to the tree wearing a Santa suit! Complete with four previously unreleased tracks (some from live TV specials) -- including two with Bing Crosby ("The Christmas Song" and "White Christmas"), the 18-song collection surveys Sinatra's holiday output and its effects are often chilling. Listening to him glide soulfully through Jimmy Webb's melancholy but romantic "What Ever Happened to Christmas?" or hearing him do his immaculate phrasing on "Silent Night" when he was visibly frail and aging in 1991 are close encounters of a Sinatra kind that are rarely captured on one album. There's also a delightful "The Twelve Days of Christmas" sung with his kids Nancy and Frank, Jr., from their 1969 record The Sinatra Family Wish You A Merry Christmas and insightful and intimate liner notes by James Ritz, not to mention those magical orchestral arrangements. Here's a five-star package to remind us that it's still Frank's world--we just rent a stable in it. Highly recommended. --Martin Keller

"I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" (Irving Berlin)
"The Christmas Waltz" (Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn)
"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" (J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie)
"The Little Drummer Boy" (Katherine K. Davis)
"We Wish You the Merriest" (Les Brown)
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (Hugh Martin, Ralph Blane)
"Go Tell It on the Mountain" (Traditional, John Wesley Work III)
"The Christmas Song" (Mel Torme, Robert Wells)
"I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Johnny Marks)
"I Wouldn't Trade Christmas" (Jimmy Van Heusen, Cahn)
"Christmas Memories" (Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, Don Costa)
"The Twelve Days of Christmas" (Traditional, Van Heusen, Cahn)
"The Bells of Christmas (Greensleeves)" (Traditional, Van Heusen, Cahn)
"An Old-Fashioned Christmas" (Van Heusen, Cahn)
"A Baby Just Like You" (John Denver, Joe Henry)
"Whatever Happened to Christmas?" (Jimmy Webb)
"White Christmas" (Berlin)
Bonus Track: "Silent Night" (Josef Mohr, Franz X. Gruber)

 

[Dennie]

Merry Christmas -- Remastered CD

Johnny Mathis

1958/2004 Columbia/Legacy Records

BEAUTIFUL REMASTERING OF A CLASSIC, September 20, 2003
By Tom Anderson (Piney Flats, Tennessee United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

Christmas albums don't get more lovely or Christmasy-sounding than this 1958 classic. It is widely considered to be one of the very best Christmas albums of all time and has sold over 5 million copies so far in the U. S. alone. This recording has some of the best singing of Johnny Mathis' early career, and Percy Faith's arrangements are very evocative, particularly in the secular songs--you can almost see the snow and feel the chill.

In its previous CD incarnation, the album's only drawback was its fairly anemic and somewhat hissy sound. I am very happy to report that Columbia/Legacy has done a really nice job remixing and remastering this album. It now has greater fidelity and presence, with greater clarity to the vocals and instruments. Also, it seems to me that some of the excess echo has been removed--a good thing, since it was the style in the Fifties through part of the Sixties (particuarly if the tasteless Mitch Miller had a hand in the production) to add so much echo that albums sounded as if they were recorded in a wind tunnel. While certain instruments at times still seem a bit muffled in the mix, this is probably as good as this album
can sound given recording limitations of the time. My advice is to gladly throw out your old copy and quickly snap up the new edition. You'll be very glad you did!

1. "Winter Wonderland" – 3:19
2. "The Christmas Song" – 4:18
3. "Sleigh Ride" – 2:58
4. "Blue Christmas" – 3:02
5. "I'll Be Home for Christmas" – 4:04
6. "White Christmas" – 3:32
7. "O Holy Night" – 4:35
8. "What Child Is This? (Greensleeves)" – 3:58
9. "The First Noel" – 3:49
10. "Silver Bells" – 3:34
11. "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear" – 3:08
12. "Silent Night, Holy Night" – 3:51

 

[Dennie]

Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas -- CD

Ella Fitzgerald

1960/1988 Verve Records

Amazon.com

It'd be hard to imagine a happier wish than the one this jazz vocal legend wishes her listeners on this urbane-yet-homey collection of holiday favorites. The First Lady of Song recorded these tunes in 1960, at the peak of her interpretive powers. As such, she puts her singular stamp on everything from a sultry vamp like "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve" to the sweet and cozy "The Christmas Song." Even potentially shopworn standards like "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" sound fresher when they're coming from Ella Fitzgerald. --David Sprague

"Jingle Bells" (J.S. Pierpont) – 2:21
"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" (J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie) – 2:56
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin) – 2:56
"What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" (Frank Loesser) – 3:32
"Sleigh Ride" (Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish) – 2:56
"The Christmas Song" (Mel Tormé, Bob Wells) – 3:00
"Good Morning Blues" (Count Basie, Eddie Durham, Jimmy Rushing) – 3:15
"Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" (Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne) – 2:43
"Winter Wonderland" (Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith) – 2:16
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (Johnny Marks) – 2:51
"Frosty the Snowman" (Steve Nelson, Jack Rollins) – 2:12
"White Christmas" (Irving Berlin) – 3:02

 

[Botch]

 

[Botch]

 

[Botch]

The only rock band that could out-sing Queen:

:music-rockout: :music-rockout: :music-rockout: :bow-blue:

 

[Dennie]

The Best of Sidney Bechet -- CD

Sidney Bechet

1994 Blue Note Records

Recorded between 1939 & 1953. Includes liner notes by Dan Morgenstern.

Sidney Bechet was one of the key figures in the development of jazz. His early recorded work (some of which predates Louis Armstrong) shows a soloist in full command of his medium, employing a powerful, vibrato-rich tone in both his clarinet and soprano sax work (he pioneered the latter as a solo instrument). Oddly, Bechet's name remained largely unknown until recordings with Blue Note in the late '30s, '40s and '50s helped boost his public profile, beginning with his extremely popular 1939 version of "Summertime" (the opening track on this album). Here, his soprano sax unfurls the melody with the skill of a snake charmer.

The rest of the compilation covers the whole of Bechet's Blue Note tenure, primarily with ensembles of five or six musicians, and provides ample evidence of his strengths as a soloist and group improviser. Alfred Lion's fine production gives a sheen to such jazz classics as "St. Louis Blues," "Muskrat Ramble," "Basin Street Blues," and the masterfully soulful "Blue Horizon," possibly the album's highlight. The mode throughout is early 20th century New Orleans jazz, flavored with Dixieland and swing, and sparkling with Bechet's impeccable musicianship.

Compilation producer: Michael Cuscuna.

Personnel: Sidney Bechet (soprano saxophone, clarinet); Sidney De Paris, Bunk Johnson, Jonah Jones (trumpet); Wild Bill Davison (cornet); Vic Dickenson, Sandy Williams, Bob Diehl, Jimmy Archey (trombone); Albert Nicholas (clarinet); Meade Lux Lewis, Art Hodes, Cliff Jackson, Joe Sullivan, Buddy Weed (piano); Teddy Bunn (guitar); Johnny Williams, Pops Foster, Walter Page (bass); Sid Catlett, Manzie Johnson, Fred Moore, Danny Alvin, Slick Jones, Johnny Blowers (drums).

Producer: Alfred Lion

1. Summertime
2. St. Louis Blues
3. Blue Horizon
4. Muskrat Ramble
5. Porto Rico
6. Way Down Yonder In New Orleans
7. Bechet's Fantasy
8. Blame it On The Blues
9. Old Stack O' Lee Blues
10. I Found A New Baby
11. Sister Kate
12. When The Saints Go Marching In
13. Basin Street Blues
14. Copenhagen
15. Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None Of My Jelly Roll
16. Black And Blue
17. All Of Me
18. Rose Of The Rio Grande

 

[Dennie]

 

[Botch]

... on 5.1 SACD... :music-listening:

 

[Botch]

Side 1 of this "album" is still probably the greatest achievement in rock. dayam! :bow-blue: :bow-blue: :bow-blue: