What Are You Listening To?

[Dennie]

The Best of the Songbooks - CD

Ella Fitzgerald

1993 Verve Records
Amazon.com

Trying to cull a single-CD "Best of" from the 16-CD set of The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song Books may seem like a daunting task, but it's also foolproof. The complete set is a monument to the century's greatest songs and, arguably, its greatest singer, and this selection is a series of gems programmed to simulate a Fitzgerald performance, carefully sequencing joyous uptempo swingers and moving ballads. Recorded between 1956 and 1964, Fitzgerald's finest years, the CD includes arrangements by Nelson Riddle, Billy May, and Buddy Bregman, as well as a superb rendering of "I've Got It Bad" with the Ellington orchestra and Johnny Hodges. Balancing the orchestral settings are some intimate small-group performances, including a witty rendition of Cole Porter's "Miss Otis Regrets" and Rodgers and Hart's "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered." This is an ideal introduction to the "Song Books," a selection so good it will appeal to owners of the box sets. --Stuart Broomer

Track listing

1. Something's Gotta Give
2. Love Is Here to Stay
3. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
4. I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm
5. Lady Is a Tramp, The
6. I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
7. Miss Otis Regrets
8. 'S Wonderful
9. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
10. Love for Sale
11. They Can't Take That Away from Me
12. Midnight Sun
13. Hooray for Love
14. Why Was I Born?
15. Cotton Tail
16. Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye

 

[Dennie]

Neck and Neck - CD

Mark Knopfler and Chet Atkins

1990 Columbia Records
Amazon.com
Two generations of guitarists merge on this cleverly-titled album, with former Dire Straits virtuoso Mark Knopfler taking time off from scoring movies to join Chet Atkins, one of the fathers of electric guitar pickin'. And there's some mighty fine country pickin' on display here, with the duo joined by some of Nashville's all-time finest players, including the late, great Floyd Cramer, Mark O'Connor, Larry Londin, Vince Gill, and Steve Wariner. The material ranges from choice country covers (Doc Watson's "Poor Boy Blues," Patsy Cline's "Sweet Dreams") to rock 'n' roll ("Yakety Ax," a take on Boots Randolph's "Yakety Sax"), jazz (Django Reinhardt's "Tears"), a Knopfler original, and even the old standard "I'll See You in My Dreams." It sounds like they had fun, too! --Bill Holdship

 

[Dennie]

Solitude Standing - CD

Suzanne Vega

1987 A&M Records
Amazon.com

Suzanne Vega emerged in the mid-'80s, and while her intimate voice and acoustic guitar brought to mind Joni Mitchell, her urbane lyrics suggested a sensibility that was as much reportorial as confessional. Vega's second album, which replaced the delicate acoustic textures of her self-titled debut with more dramatic arrangements, includes Vega's career song, "Luka," surely one of the biggest hits ever written about child abuse. But it was the energetic folk-rock production of "Luka," thick with ringing guitars and pushed by perky drums, that let the listener luxuriate in a song that suggested the darkness that can lurk behind a neighbor's door. The title tune confronts personal loneliness with a similarly powerful performance, while "Ironbound/Fancy Poultry" makes a downtown landscape sound downright homey. Well-turned tunes like "Calypso" and "Gypsy" recall the softer textures of her debut. Ironically, Vega's next big hit would come when the English production duo DNA made a dance hit out of "Tom's Diner," a nursery-rhyme tribute to a coffee shop that opens the album. --John Milward

All songs written by Suzanne Vega in 1986–87 except as noted. [1]

1. "Tom's Diner" – 2:09 (written 1981)
2. "Luka" – 3:52 (written 1984)
3. "Ironbound/Fancy Poultry" (Vega, Anton Sanko) – 6:19
4. "In the Eye" (Vega, Marc Shulman) – 4:16
5. "Night Vision" (Vega, Sanko) – 2:47
6. "Solitude Standing" (Vega, Visceglia, Sanko, Shulman, Stephen Ferrera) – 4:49
7. "Calypso" – 4:14 (written 1978)
8. "Language" (Vega, Visceglia) – 3:57
9. "Gypsy" – 4:04 (written 1978) Produced by Steve Addabbo, Lenny Kaye and Mitch Easter
10. "Wooden Horse (Caspar Hauser’s Song)" (Vega, Visceglia, Sanko, Shulman, Ferrera) – 5:13
11. "Tom's Diner (Reprise)" – 2:40

 

[Dennie]

This one cost an arm and half a leg, but is certainly worth it......

ILLUSIONS CD

Eliane Elias

1987 Nippon/Columbia/Denon (Import Japan) :handgestures-thumbup:

Eliane Elias' debut as a leader (she had been a member of Steps Ahead) finds her abandoning the electric keyboards in favor of acoustic piano. On seven songs she is joined by bassist Eddie Gomez and either Al Foster or Steve Gadd on drums; the remaining two selections feature her accompanied by bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White. With harmonica great Toots Thielemans making guest appearances on two numbers, Elias was at the time easily the least-known of the players on her own CD. However the pianist was already far along toward developing her own sound as she shows on four originals, two obscurities, Herbie Hancock's "Chan's Song," Blossom Dearie's "Sweet Georgia Fame" and the standard "Falling in Love with Love." A fine start to a significant solo career. ~ Scott Yanow

Track listing

1. Choro
2. Through the Fire
3. Illusions
4. Moments
5. Falling in Love With Love
6. Iberia
7. Loco Motif
8. Sweet Georgia Fame
9. Chan's Song

 

[Dennie]

From My Soul CD

Ava Lemert

2009 Ava Lemert Music
Review
Ava Lemert: Sacramento's indie soul jazz saxophone spectacular If you dig soul jazz, if the saxophone makes you shake, if you swoon to a chanteuse, Ava Lemert is the indie musician to catch. With a new CD available and a variety of videos and singles available online, independent music's rich tapestry in Sacramento is held together with the original threads of deep soul and jazz. She is a songwriter and vocalist who plays the alto and tenor sax with a soulful and uplifting finesse and has been releasing singles, recording videos and promoting her music online. Although the new album, "From My Soul" is available now through her website, she will be having a CD Release Party at Simplie Indie in Rocklin on December 15. She recently played at Arco Arena, performing "The Star Spangled Banner" for the fans during the pre-game festivities. Anyone who enjoys music that thrills, original lyrics, traditional soul and jazz, sultry saxophone and seductive vocals should catch Ava Lemert, one of Sacramento's rising stars. You can hear Ava's music and connect with her on Myspace, Facebook or catch her tweets on Twitter. She also has videos on Youtube and a number of singles on ReverbNation. Posted Nov. 29, 2009 by Matthew Wright --Sacramento Indie Music Examiner
Product Description

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.
Track List

You Know You Got It
I Wanna Funk It Up
Rhodelea
Won't Be Your Plaything
That 70's Girl
Nothing Looks the Same In The Light
Soft and Silky
You Got Something Coming to You
Kiss You

 

[lulimet]

 

[Zing]

^^^ HEEEEY!!! Look at that! Lulimet's listening to multichannel music! :handgestures-thumbup: :eusa-clap: How'd you manage that? That must be some special player you're using. :eusa-whistle:

 

[lulimet]

:handgestures-thumbup: :text-thankyoublue:

 

[Dennie]

Rene Olstead - CD :text-bravo:

Rene Olstead

2004 Reprise Records
Amazon.com

No less an expert on pop affairs than Neil Sedaka likens the impossibly mature voice of 14-year-old vocalist/TV star (CBS' Still Standing) Renee Olstead to "Patsy Cline, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday all wrapped in one." There's no disputing the sultry vocal talents showcased on this debut that balances familiar chestnuts from the great American songbook ("Summertime," "Someone to Watch Over Me," "Sentimental Journey") with more recent fare that veers from R 'n' B sass ("Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby") to 70s chart hits like Sedaka's own "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" and Maria Muldaur's "Midnight at the Oasis." A cynical ear might question how much of Olstead's own life informs these bluesy performances: how trying can eigth grade be for an attractive redhead with a major label contract? Indeed, the tagline for at least one latter-day Ella Fitzgerald project comes frequently to mind here: "Is it real, or it Memorex?" Olstead is yet another teen protege of hugely successful producer David Foster (who's midwifed the careers of Josh Groban and Michael Buble in recent years), and he provides her with some sturdy jazz arrangements to riff emotively on here--even if his production is as slick and bloodless as ever. Still, Foster's penchant for overwrought melodrama is kept mercifully in check on his own composition "I Want a Love to Last," while his shrewd teaming of the young chanteuse with fellow teen pop phenom Peter Cincotti on Sedaka's "Breaking Up.." deftly underscores the promising talents of both. --Jerry McCulley

1. "Summertime" (Gershwin, Gershwin, Heyward) ? 4:12
2. "Taking a Chance on Love" (Duke, Fetter, Latouche) ? 3:31
3. "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby" (Austin, Jordan) ? 3:20
4. "Someone to Watch Over Me" (Gershwin, Gershwin) ? 4:26
5. "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" (Greenfield, Sedaka) ? 4:11
6. "A Love That Will Last" (Foster, Thompson) ? 3:32
7. "Meet Me, Midnight" (Manilow, Sussman) ? 2:56
8. "Sunday Kind of Love" (Belle, Nye, Prima, Rhodes) ? 4:34
9. "On a Slow Boat to China" (Loesser) ? 3:16
10. "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" (Adams, Grever) ? 3:27
11. "Midnight at the Oasis" (Nichtern) ? 3:21
12. "Sentimental Journey" (Brown, Green, Homer)

 

[PaulyT]

 

[Kazaam]

You've got the DVD-A of Machine Head, eh? Cool!

I've only bought the SACD of it that has the old British Quad version (apparently the US quad was different). I'm quite happy with it, but the DVD-A is (was) a newly created 5.1 mix if I understand correctly. Do you like it?

 

[Kazaam]

I'm currently listening to "Crosby & Nash: Live" in the background. When I first saw this in the record store a year or so ago, I thought it might suck because the cover artwork is so bad. That maybe it wasn't even an authorized release. But it is authorized. And it doesn't suck. It has probably the best version of "Lee Shore" ever recorded. (Love the backing band's little flourishes added here and there!) And "Deja Vu" has a long and trippy/spacey intro.

"Live" is a totally different beast than the intimate acoustic duo affair of "Another Stoney Evening" (for those already familiar). Definitely worth picking it up and it's fairly cheap.

 

[lulimet]

You've got the DVD-A of Machine Head, eh? Cool!

I've only bought the SACD of it that has the old British Quad version (apparently the US quad was different). I'm quite happy with it, but the DVD-A is (was) a newly created 5.1 mix if I understand correctly. Do you like it?

I didn't know it was released in SACD. The DVD-A mix is awesome. I really like it.

 

[Kazaam]

^^^
Hang onto it! I doubt they'll be making any more of that one. Though I guess you never know. :handgestures-thumbup:

 

[Botch]

 

[nats]

saw them at the charles playhouse in boston and have the how to be a rock star dvd alot of fun and some good cameos on the live dvd

 

[Dennie]

Hasten Down The Wind 24k Gold Ultradisc II CD

Linda Ronstadt

2009 MFSL

Smack dab in the middle of the singer's prime output, 1976's Hasten Down The Wiond is one of her most powerful, mature and yes, adventuresome albums she was to undertake. Drawing on mostly ballads and using crafted arrangements to emphasize vocals (many featuring gorgeous accapella sections); never to-date had she delivered such a song-to-song concentration of emotion. Continuing to find her muses in writers as diverse as the late Warren Zevon ("Hasten Down The Wind"), Ry Cooder ("The Tattler"), Willie Nelson ("Crazy") and truly Karla Bonoff ("If He's Ever Near" and two of the strongest cuts: "Lose Again", "Someone To Lay Down Beside Me"), this collection was the artist's first to go platinum and captured her a Grammy for the year's best female pop vocal performance. Her cover of Buddy Holly's "That'll Be The Day" charted at #11 on the Singles Chart, while "Crazy" peaked at #6. The album itself topped the Country Chart and went to #3 on Pop. Support comes from many of her regulars; Andrew Gold, Russ Kunkel, Waddy Wachtel, Kenny Edwards and Dan Dugmore plus guest harmony vocals on the title tune by Eagle Don Henley.

My copy is # 02905

 

[PaulyT]

 

[GreatDane]

Hi Dennie. Just today I was surfing You Tube and watched several Renee Osltead videos. I've had her first CD since release. I was blown away by her voice at that age. Is it OK to say she's hot. :shifty:

 

[GreatDane]

...but this is what's on now.