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What Are You Listening To?

JonnyLang-credit-Piper-Ferguson..jpg
 
I saw "Kid" Jonny Lang several times in a basement bar in Grand Forks, ND, when he was 14-15 years old. Cool to see he "made it".
That bar (whose name I can't remember) was destroyed in the flood of '96 (the home I sold in October '95 was also destroyed, dodged a bullet there!).
 
^ The first time I heard/saw Jonny Lang was on one of Claptons Crossroads Festival Concerts.

To say that he feels his music and puts 150% effort into his performance is an understatement!

Zing, how is this album?
 
The music is very good. Classic Lang material. I would definitely recommend it, especially if you're a Lang fan. The recording however is on par with virtually all other modern releases and not nearly as good as some of Jonny's previous offerings. Still, it's worth owning.
 
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East of The Sun -- CD

Scott Hamilton

1993 Concord Jazz

"Hamilton's playing is an inspiration - from the heart", February 12, 2001
By J. Lovins "Mr. Jim" (Missouri-USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: East of the Sun (Audio CD)

When you thought you heard the best album Scott Hamilton had recorded, this release gives you a kick - "East Of The Sun", truly an astonishing confident performance. Hamilton appeared in the mid '70s with his appealing swing-style on tenor sax, mixing Zoot Sims, Ben Webster and Lester Young during the fusion era before settling on now his-own distinctive style. Moved to New York in 1976, toured and has recorded over thirty albums for Concord Jazz, as sideman and solo...with Gene Harris, Ray Brown, Rosemary Clooney, Ruby Braff, Charlie Byrd and Cal Tjader.

Supported by Carl E. Jefferson (executive producer), Scott seized the opportunity to fulfill a cherished ambition to record with his regular British trio - Brian Lemon (piano), Dave Green (bass) and Allan Ganley (drums) - like Scott, Dave and Allan are self-taught and learned while they earned. Recorded at Lansdowne Recording Studios Ltd., London, England...August 31, 1993.

Of course there stand outs - "IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU" (Burke/Van Heusen), great standard recorded by many crooners Crosby and Sinatra, this bossa-nova Hamilton arrangement is rhytmically-intoxicating..."IT NEVER ENTERED MY MIND" (Rodgers/Hart), magnificent version of a like-minded team who work together regularly, so natural...and the highlight is - "BERNIE'S TUNE" (Miller/Lieber/Stoller), completely fresh interpretation, shades of Henry Mancini come to mind - every jazz player's dream is to swing, and swing it does!

Total Time: 63:13 on 11 Tracks...Concord Jazz CCD-4583...(1993)

Track Listing

1. Autumn Leaves
2. Stardust
3. It Could Happen to You
4. It Never Entered My Mind
5. Bernie's Tune
6. East of the Sun (And West of the Moon)
7. Time After Time
8. Setagaya Serenade
9. That's All
10. All the Things You Are
11. Indiana
 
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The Essential Lena Horne -- Remastered 2 CD Set (Playing Disc 1)

Lena Horne

2008 Columbia Legacy Masterworks

A SUPERB COMPILATION, GORGEOUSLY RE-MASTERED!! June 30, 2011
By Ronnie in Weho
Format:Audio CD

Lena was an RCA artist from 1955 to 1962, and then again later in the early 70s. This set is very wisely chosen from her recordings at RCA, with a generous 39 selections, all re-mastered brilliantly, to bring out the best sound. Besides her two live albums, also on RCA and released as a double CD, At the Waldorf Astoria / At the Sands, this is the perfect choice to sample Lena's incredible singing style. For the true Lena-philes, it contains a gift of FOUR songs given their FIRST appearance on CD, and which were extremely rare to find even on records: The following selections appear for the first time on CD:

If You Can Dream (recorded January 20, 1956 with Lennie Hayton and His Orchestra)
Give Me Love (recorded June 13, 1958)
Push de Button (JAMAICA) (recorded August 27, 1957) with Neil Hefti, His Orchestra and Chorus
Ain't It The Truth (JAMAICA) (recorded August 27, 1957) with Neil Hefti, His Orchestra and Chorus .
Take It Slow, Joe (JAMAICA) (recorded August 27, 1957) with Neil Hefti, His Orchestra.

The three JAMAICA songs are DIFFERENT versions from the RCA Cast Album JAMAICA--and I think all three are even better versions than on the cast album. "Take It Slow, Joe" finally sounds like the real "Lena Nightclub song" it was meant to be!

Is Lena's "The Man I Love" on this compilation--(from Live At The Sands) accompanied only by her husband's piano--the BEST VERSION EVER? The "always surprising Cole Porter" (as Lena said in her spoken introduction (on the record album only)) to the live Porter Medley contained here is both surprising AND SUBLIME, ending with (the BEST VERSION EVER?!) of "It's Alright With Me."

Track Listing
DISC 1:
1. Stormy Weather
2. Good-For-Nothin' Joe
3. I An't Got Nothin' But the Blues
4. Where or When [From Babes in Arms]
5. How Long Has This Been Going On
6. One for My Baby (And One More for the Road) [From The Sky's the Limit]
7. What Is This Thing Called Love?
8. Love Me or Leave Me
9. Let Me Love You
10. Mad About the Boy
11. From This Moment On [From Out of This World]
12. Love Is the Thing
13. If You Can Dream [From Meet Me in Las Vegas]
14. It's Love [From Wonderful Town]
15. Summertime [From Porgy and Bess]
16. New Fangled Tango [From Happy Hunting]
17. That Old Feeling
18. Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home [From St. Louis Woman]
19. Mood Indigo/I'm Beginning To See the Light
20. How's Your Romance/After You/Love of My Life/It's All Right with Me

DISC 2:
1. Just One of Those Things
2. Honeysuckle Rose
3. Ain't It De Truth [From Jamaica]
4. Give Me Love [From I, Mobster]
5. Someone to Watch Over Me
6. Push de Button [From Jamaica]
7. Speak Low [From One Touch of Venus]
8. Rules of the Road, The
9. You Don't Have to Know the Language
10. Napoleon [From Jamaica]
11. At Long Last Love
12. Concentrate on You
13. Take It Slow, Joe [From Jamaica]
14. Ride on a Rainbow/Never Never Land/I Said No/Some People, A
15. I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart
16. Man I Love, The
17. Watch What Happens [From The Umbrellas of Cherbourg]
18. I Will Wait for You [From The Umbrellas of Cherbourg]
19. Stormy Weather
 
Finally some Foo Fighters in my collection............

Not always in the mood, however the HT will be rock for a little while tonight!

:music-rockout: :music-rockout:

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Starduct -- CD

Ron Carter

2001 Somethin'else/Blue Note Records

Tad Hendrickson must be outta his mind!!! September 8, 2003
By Tubman Atnimara
Format:Audio CD

Tad, my boy, don't let the man Ron Carter ever hear you say that it is "ironic" that he's paying tribute to THE MAN Oscar Pettiford. What's worse, don't ever let Ron know that you hold him with higher regard than you hold OP--Ron must think that you must be outta your head!!! I have never met a jazz bassist in my life (and I myself am one) who has taken Ron over Oscar!!! Ron himself would laugh at even the suggestion. Pettiford wasn't only a giant of the 50's--he was a giant of the bass--period. Many jazz bassists consider Pettiford the supreme musician--polished in every single way--many of us still consider him the greatest that the instrument has yet to produce--the Art Tatum of bass, if you may. That Ron did this album is a lifelong dream come true for many jazz bassists. When OP passed away in 1960, Ron, whether he knew it or not, largely helped in continuing the Blanton-Pettiford tradition. Three players comprise the holy triumvirate of golden age jazz bass: Pettiford, Mingus, and Brown. In his approach and conception, Carter comes closest to Pettiford. Listen to Carter's rendition of "Stardust" on this LP, then listen to Pettiford's rendition on his "Another One" LP and you will understand where I'm coming from. Many critics seem to forget the extreme dominant force that Pettiford once represented--he is to the upright what Jaco would later become to the electric. This is an absolutely beautiful Ron Carter album. Pettiford's renditions of both "The Man I Love" and "Stardust" have become the definitive versions for jazz bassists, and Ron takes a stab at both. His covers of the Pettiford originals are equally beautiful--though no one will ever play a better version of "Blues in the Closet" than Pettiford did at the 1960 Essen Jazz Fest with Bud Powell and Kenny Clarke, it is good to know that Mr. Carter is keeping the spirit alive and well!!!

Track Listing
1. Tamalpais
2. The Man I Love
3. Nearly
4. Bohemia After Dark
5. Tail Feathers
6. Blues in the Closet
7. That's Deep
8. Stardust

Personnel: Ron Carter (bass); Benny Golson (tenor saxophone); Joe Locke (vibraphone); Sir Roland Hanna (piano); Lenny White (drums).Recorded at Clinton Studios, New York, New York on April 6, 2001.
 
The voice you here is Bobby! Bobby "Blue" Bland! :banana-dreads:


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Two Steps from the Blues -- Remastered CD

Bobby Bland

1956/2001 Duke/MCA Records

If you are unfamiliar with Bobby Bland, TWO STEPS FROM THE BLUES is the place to start. The album marked a watershed of creative bursts and commercial recognition for the legendary blues singer. The foundation of TWO STEPS' blues was an uptown Texas blues sound, relying more on sophisticated arrangements, horns, and orchestras than gut-bucket Delta guitar heroics. Inside the lush grooves, Bland moved with restraint, crooning seductively, a tried-and-true ladies man. Which is not to say that Bland is all smooth grooves and sweet nothings. No, his gospel roots rise up like thunderclouds at precise moments, erupting to transform the album's ballads into rattling experiences. The undeniable power of Bland's squalls punctuates "Cry, Cry, Cry" and "I Pity the Fool." His trademark mixture of smoky crooning and strangled outbursts has helped place Bobby Bland alongside the best R&B singers of the century.

Track Listing
1. Two Steps From the Blues
2. Cry Cry Cry
3. I'm Not Ashamed
4. Don't Cry No More
5. Lead Me On
6. I Pity the Fool
7. I've Just Got to Forget You
8. Little Boy Blue
9. St. James Infirmary
10. I'll Take Care of You
11. I Don't Want No Woman
12. I've Been Wrong So Long
13. How Does a Cheatin' Woman Feel - (bonus track)
14. Close to You - (bonus track)

This reissue contains two bonus tracks from the original LP sessions.Personnel includes: Bobby "Blue" Bland (vocals); Wayne Bennett, Clarence Holloman (guitar); Robert Skinner, L.A. Hill (tenor saxophone); Rayfield Devers (baritone saxophone); Joe Scott, Melvin Jackson (trumpet); Pluma Davis (trombone); Connie Mack Booker, Teddy Reynolds (piano); Hamp Simmons (bass); John "Jabo" Starks, Sonny Freeman (drums).Recorded between March 12, 1956 and November 12, 1960. Includes liner notes by Bill Dahl and Dzondria Lalsac.Digitally remastered by Erick Labson (Universal Mastering).
 
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Electric Mud -- Remastered CD

Muddy Waters

1968/1996 Chess/MCA Records

Criminally Underrated, April 27, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Electric Mud (Audio CD)

While I prefer the younger, funkier Muddy Waters with his moaning voice in full swing, this album is by no means the abomination that it has been lambasted as for so many years. In fact, I prefer it to the much-hyped "Fathers and Sons" Waters-partial Butterfield Band team-up of several years later.

Is it experimental? Sure, there's plenty of 60's fuzz, reverb/echo and effects going on here.
Is it still blues? Absolutely, blues is not defined as an idiom by the way one amplifies guitars or filters vocals.
Is it good? Yes, in fact it apporaches greatness at several points in the album, particularly when compared to the "classic" albums of rock psychedelia of its era.

If you enjoy Muddy Waters with his bands and dislike late 60's rock and roll, you will not like this album. Unfortunately, most of the blues critics of the time fell into this catagory and hence this album's ridiculous reputation. If you can see beyond the rigid catagorization of musical artists, this album is for you.

1. "I Just Want to Make Love to You" Willie Dixon 4:19
2. "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" Willie Dixon 4:53
3. "Let's Spend the Night Together" Mick Jagger and Keith Richards 3:12
4. "She's Alright" Morganfield 6:36
5. "Mannish Boy" Morganfield 3:50
6. "Herbert Harper's Free Press News" Sidney Barnes, Robert Thurston 4:40
7. "Tom Cat" Charles Williams 3:42
8. "The Same Thing" Willie Dixon 5:42
Total length:
36:54
 
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ThankyouTHANKYOUTHANKYOU Babs and Zing for making me aware that some of Seal's music was available in Surround!

:text-thankyoublue: :text-thankyoublue: :text-thankyoublue: :text-thankyoublue: :text-thankyoublue:

I couldn't quite swing the asking price for his "Greatest Hits" DVD-A but I found his first album for a reasonable price; I consider it one of the Top Ten albums of all time, if not Top Five; a truly stunning debut! (Seal was discovered singing for tips in the subways of London, and his first album was produced by Trevor Horn, so there you go).
Some of the tracks had quite different mixes/effects/alt instruments, while other tracks (like his breakout hit Crazy) were pretty true to the debut, just "spread out". I'm so, so happy I have this disk now!
 
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Concert By The Sea -- Remastered CD

Erroll Garner

1955/1987 Columbia Records

Amazon.com

The sound is atrocious and the piano is out of tune, yet this live trio recording from September 9, 1955, in Carmel, California, was a bestselling album. Garner brings a wealth of imagination to every performance of every song. On uptempo numbers like "I'll Remember April" and "Red Top" he hammers away with intense left-handed figures while unleashing relentless cascades of improvised lines with his right. On ballads like "Teach Me Tonight" and "April in Paris" he plays with the softest of touches, changing tempo from verse to verse for dramatic effect. His performance of "Autumn Leaves" is so over-the-top it could have gone to parody, but not in the hands of this master entertainer. His humming, grunting vocal accompaniment--he seems to be commenting on "They Can't Take That Away from Me" as he plays it--provides a kind of side show to the performance. More than 30 years later it's still starkly original work. --John Swenson

"I'll Remember April" (Gene de Paul, Patricia Johnston, Don Raye) – 4:14
"Teach Me Tonight" (Sammy Cahn, Gene de Paul) – 3:37
"Mambo Carmel-by-the-sea" (Erroll Garner) – 3:43
"Autumn Leaves" (Joseph Kosma, Jacques Prévert, Johnny Mercer) – 6:27
"It's All Right with Me" (Cole Porter) – 3:21
"Red Top" (Lionel Hampton, Ben Kynard) – 3:11
"April in Paris" (Vernon Duke, Yip Harburg) – 4:47
"They Can't Take That Away from Me" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 4:08
"How Could You do a Thing Like That to Me" (Tyree Glenn, Allan Roberts) – 3:59
"Where or When" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 3:06
"Erroll's Theme" (Garner) – 0:46

-----

Erroll Garner – piano
Eddie Calhoun – double bass
Denzil Best – drums
 
Botch said:
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ThankyouTHANKYOUTHANKYOU Babs and Zing for making me aware that some of Seal's music was available in Surround!

:text-thankyoublue: :text-thankyoublue: :text-thankyoublue: :text-thankyoublue: :text-thankyoublue:

I couldn't quite swing the asking price for his "Greatest Hits" DVD-A but I found his first album for a reasonable price; I consider it one of the Top Ten albums of all time, if not Top Five; a truly stunning debut! (Seal was discovered singing for tips in the subways of London, and his first album was produced by Trevor Horn, so there you go).
Some of the tracks had quite different mixes/effects/alt instruments, while other tracks (like his breakout hit Crazy) were pretty true to the debut, just "spread out". I'm so, so happy I have this disk now!

That's AWESOME!!! Congratulations Botch, that's the way it is supposed to be. :eusa-clap:


......... :banana-dance:


Dennie :eek:bscene-drinkingcheers:
 
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Things Ain't What They Used To Be -- CD

Duke Ellington

1996 LaserLight Digital

Things ARE What They Used To Be, November 13, 2009
By Dexter Jeffries (New York City) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Things Ain't What They Used to Be (Audio CD)

These small Ellington sessions produced special recordings because they offered those individual geniuses timely opportunities to shine. Rex Stewart was always just that, a congenial and intelligent musician who was a political and social being. His cornet playing exhibited his fidelity to an instrument that his hero Louis Armstrong had abandoned after the Hot Five and Hot Seven sessions in the late 1920's. Stewart relished this instrument and diligently developed his unique sound on the cornet with his famous half-valving technique. No other musician ever replicated his "talking" cornet.

In addition to Stewart on these small group recordings, Ben Webster explored a rich sound on the tenor sax that placed him between Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young, a nice niche for sure. Raw and always tender in the high register, he is soothing and biting.
Finally, Johnny Hodges, the master of the swing alto sax, is a delight. Effortlessly playing ballads as well as jazz "dance-hop" pieces, his velvet sound is comforting.
This album is proof why Things Ain't What They Used To Be.

01. Smada (2:56)

02. La Plus Belle Africane (12:19)

03. Azure (7:12)

04. Satin Doll (5:40)

05. Diminuendo And Crescendo In Blue (8:16)

06. Caravan (6:01)

07. Things Ain't What They Used To Be (3:06)

08. Sophisticated Lady (3:43)

09. In A Sentimental Wolrd (3:39)

10. The Unknown (4:33)
 
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Volare! The Best of the Gipsy Kings -- 2 CD Set

The Gipsy Kings

2000 Nonesuch Records

This 38 tracks collection is a true retrospective of the musical career of the Gipsy Kings, including such latin pop classics as their cover to "Hotel California" and "Bamboleo".Although this compilation contains many of the songs featured on their 1995 release Best of the Gipsy Kings, this expanded two-CD set features many stellar tracks recorded since then. Featuring their unique style of pop-influenced flamenco, ­Volare! The Very Best of The Gipsy Kings is a passionate and uplifting collection featuring familiar, but not exhausted, Spanish-language songs. ~ Zac Johnson

Track Listing
1. Volare (Nel Blu di Pinto di Blu)
2. Bamboleo
3. Djobi Djoba
4. Bem, Maria Bem
5. Baila Me
6. Pida Me La
7. Soy
8. Sin Ella - (live)
9. Vamos a Bailar
10. A Ti a Ti
11. La Rumba de Nicolas
12. No Vivire
13. instrumental) Allegria - (live
14. La Dona - (live)
15. Oy
16. A Tu Vera
17. Solo Por Ti (Amiwawa)
18. Oh Eh Oh Eh
19. A (Comme D'Habitude) Mi Manera
20. Hitmix '99 - (radio edit)
21. Tu Quieres Volver
22. Un Amor
23. Escucha Me
24. Habla Me
25. No Volvere
26. Caminando Por la Calle
27. Mujer
28. Este Mundo
29. Ternuras - (instrumental)
30. Quiero Saber - (live)
31. Inspiration
32. Camino
33. Trista Pena
34. Viento del Arena
35. Passion - (instrumental)
36. Mi Corazon
37. I've Got No Strings
38. Hotel California - (Spanish Mix)


Gipsy Kings: Nicolas Reyes, Francois Canut Reyes (vocals); Paul Reyes, Patchai Reyes (guitar, background vocals); Tonino Baliardo, Paco Baliardo, Diego Baliardo (guitar).
 
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Watershed -- CD

K.D. Lang

2008 Nonesuch Records

WATERSHED is the first album K.D. Lang has ever produced by herself, and as such, it sounds like a culmination of nearly every sound the Canadian singer-songwriter has ever explored in her career, save the manic rockabilly cowpunk of her debut album, 1987's ANGEL WITH A LARIAT. The lush, torchy feel of 1992's INGENUE and the jazzier direction of her later albums are the most obvious touchstones for the warmth and intimacy of WATERSHED, with the wistful opener "I Dream of Spring" and the cocktail lounge balladry of "Sunday" the most obvious standouts in that category.
Elsewhere, the country-tinged sway of the harmony-heavy "Flame of the Uninspired" and the semi-rustic banjo-led folk of "Jealous Dog" recall the sound of SHADOWLAND and ABSOLUTE TORCH AND TWANG, while the gentle Brazilian pulse of "Upstream" and the minimalist electronics of "Shadow and the Frame" point towards new areas of exploration. One of Lang's finest and most self-assured records, WATERSHED is an essential listen.

Track Listing
1. I Dream of Spring
2. Je Fais La Planche
3. Coming Home
4. Once in a While
5. Thread
6. Close Your Eyes
7. Sunday
8. Flame of the Uninspired
9. Upstream
10. Shadow and the Frame
11. Jealous Dog

Personnel: k.d. lang (vocals, guitar, banjo, harp, piano, keyboards, percussion, drum programming); Ben Mink (guitar, acoustic guitar); Greg Leisz (guitar, electric guitar, steel guitar); Teddy Borowiecki (guitar, piano, organ, keyboards, vibraphone, programming, drum programming); David Piltch (guitar, acoustic bass, electric bass, drums, percussion, programming, drum programming); Grecco Buratto, Bryan Sutton (guitar); Noam Pikelny (banjo); Jon Hassell (trumpet); Danny Frankel (drums, percussion); Lynne Earls (programming, drum programming).
 
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Nina Simone's Finest Hour - CD :handgestures-thumbup: :handgestures-thumbup:

Nina Simone

2000 Polygram Records

Amazon.com

Nina Simone communicates with a unique force on this Finest Hour collection, a welling, riveting power that's beyond the range of other singers. It's there whether the song is romantic or political, whimsical or sentimental, and these recordings from the 1960s demonstrate the range of material that she could make her own, from Gershwin to Jacques Brel, from Screamin' Jay Hawkins to Nat Adderley. With her own civil rights era anthems like "Mississippi Goddam" and the Brecht-Weill "Pirate Jenny," Simone commands our attention with a profoundly brooding, searing rage, while there's potent sensuality in her "Wild Is the Wind" and Willard Robison's "Don't Smoke in Bed." Whether she's accompanying herself with her spare piano or defying studio orchestras with the intensity of her performance, Simone is a special singer, her art consisting in stripping away the decorative artifice of a song to reveal a molten core beneath. --Stuart Broomer

Track listing

1. Love Me or Leave Me
2. Wild Is the Wind
3. I Put a Spell on You
4. Work Song
5. Don't Explain
6. Other Woman, The - (Hidden Track)
7. Mississippi Goddam
8. Four Women
9. Pirate Jenny
10. I Loves You, Porgy
11. This Year's Kisses
12. Little Girl Blue
13. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
14. Ne Me Quitte Pas
15. Don't Smoke in Bed
 
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