What Are You Listening To?

[Dennie]

No Quarter -- CD

Jimmy Page & Robert Plant - Unledded

1994 Atlantic Records

With drummer John Bonham's death and the dissolution of Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page pursued solo careers. In 1994 they reunited for MTV's hugely popular Unplugged. That historic session -- which led to a new studio album and an international tour -- became No Quarter. The duo's talents are potent as ever as they deliver these unique variations on choice picks from the Led Zeppelin songbook.

1. Nobody's Fault But Mine
2. Thank You
3. No Quarter
4. Friends
5. Yallah
6. City Don't Cry
7. Since I've Been Loving You
8. The Battle of Evermore
9. Wonderful One
10. That's The Way II
11. Gallows Pole
12. Four Sticks
13. Kashmir

 

[Dennie]

Happy Sunday everyone... :banana-dance:

Band On The Run -- 25th Anniversary Edition 2 CD Box Set

Paul McCartney & Wings

1973/1999 Apple/Capitol Records

Amazon.com essential recording

Band on the Run should have been a disaster. Two of Wings' original members quit in a huff just before its production. The whimsical decision to record in Lagos, Nigeria, became a nightmare when McCartney and company found themselves in a decaying studio, then had many of the project's demos stolen by armed bandits. Despite these hardships--perhaps because of them--Band on the Run remains the most focused and consistently satisfying record of McCartney's wildly uneven post-Beatles career. This mini box set contains the original album, a well-written booklet by Mark Lewisohn, and a bonus disc featuring outtake snippets and interviews with all the album's participants (including its cover crew, which includes actors James Coburn and Christopher Lee) and Dustin Hoffman, who recounts how he spurred McCartney to spontaneously write "Picasso's Last Words" on a dare. This second disc would make a fine radio show; it comes up short where it matters most--in music. Time spent detailing the album-cover photo session could have been more gratifyingly devoted to more contemporary outtakes (much of the bonus Band material is culled from live performances from as recently as the mid '90s; perhaps McCartney wants us to know how important the record has been to him over the years) or to a pair of single B-sides, which are curiously absent here. --Jerry McCulley

Disc: 1

1. Band On The Run
2. Jet
3. Bluebird
4. Mrs. Vandebilt
5. Let Me Roll It
6. Mamunia
7. No Words
8. Helen Wheels
9. Picasso's Last Words (Drink To Me)
10. Ninteteen Hundred And Eighty Five

Disc: 2

1. Paul McCartney (Dialogue Intro)/Band On The Run (Nicely Toasted Mix)
2. Band On The Run (Original) (Background)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue Link I)
3. Band On The Run (Barn Rehearsal)
4. Paul McCartney (Dialogue Link 2)/Mamunia (Original) Bckground)/Denny Laine (Dialogue)...
5. Bluebird (Live-Version)
6. Bluebird (Original) (Background)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue Link 4)
7. Paul McCartney (Dialogue Link 5)/No Words (Original) (Background)/Geoff Emerick (Dialogue)
8. No Words (Original)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue Link 6)/Tony Visconti (Dialogue).Band On The Run...
9. Jet ( Original From Picasso's Last Words) (Background)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue Link 7)...
10. Jet (Berlin Soundchek)
11. Paul McCartney (Dialogue Link 8)/Clive Arrowsmith (Dialogue)
12. Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five (Original) (Background)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue Link 9)...
13. Mrs. Vandebilt (Original) (Background)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue Link11)/Kenny Lynch (Dialogue)...
14. Let Me Roll It (Cardington Rehearsal)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue Link 12)
15. Paul McCartney (Dialogue Link 13)/Mrs. Vandebilt (Background)/Linda McCartney (Band On The Run...
16. Helen Wheels (crazed)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue Link 14)/Christopher Lee (Dialogue)
17. Band On The Run (Strum Bit)/v (Dialogue Link 15)/lemente Freud (Dialogue)
18. Picasso's Last Words (Original) (Background)/Paul McCartney Dialogue Link 16)/Dustin Hoffman...
19. Picasso's Last Words (Drink To Me) (Acoustic Version)
20. Band On The Run (Nicely Toasted Mix)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue Link 17)
21. Band On The Run (Northern Comic Version)

 

[Dennie]

At Last -- SACD

The Gene Harris/Scott Hamilton Quintet with Herb Ellis, Ray Brown & Harold Jones

1990/2004 Concord Jazz

If anyone ever asks you what jazz is, words won’t do. Just play this music. The pulse, the flowing time that is the nurturing essence of jazz is distilled by Gene Harris, Herb Ellis, Harold Jones, and Ray Brown as they shape rhythm waves on which Scott Hamilton’s tenor glides, dives, and soars. And Gene Harris, when he solos, also rides the tides of the past as well as the powerful presence of the moment. Each of the players has a full, open, personal sound—and each always has sound in mind...It is being heralded as a lost art that has been rediscovered. But the guys on this date have never lost that art.”—Nat Hentoff (From the original 1990 liner notes)

Track listing

1. You Are My Sunshine
2. It Never Entered My Mind
3. After You've Gone
4. Lamp Is Low, The
5. At Last
6. Blues for Gene
7. I Fall in Love Too Easily
8. Some of These Days
9. Stairway to the Stars
10. Sittin' in the Sandtrap

Gene Harris (piano); Scott Hamilton (tenor saxophone); Herb Ellis (guitar); Ray Brown (double bass); Harold Jones (drums).

 

[Dennie]

Summer Wind: Live at The LOA -- SACD

The Ray Brown Trio

1990/2003 Concord Jazz

Ray Brown has many great contributions to jazz as a leader and a sideman, but one additional way in which he helped jazz was his encouraging Gene Harris to give up his early retirement and go back out on the road. The pianist was a part of Brown's groups for several years before he formed a working quartet and became a leader for good once again. This 1988 concert at a since-defunct Santa Monica night club (co-owned by Brown) finds the two, along with drummer Jeff Hamilton, at the top of their game. A phone ringing in the background distracts momentarily from Brown's opening solo in his composition "The Real Blues," during which Harris repeats a bluesy tremolo, which may be an inside joke about the early distraction. Harris take a blues-drenched approach to "Mona Lisa" before giving way to the leader's solo, while his lyrical approach to "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" is shimmering. Hamilton's soft brushes are prominent in "Little Darlin'," but his explosive playing provides a powerful pulse to the very unusual strutting take of "It Don't Mean a Thing." This extremely satisfying CD is warmly recommended. ~ Ken Dryden

Track Listing
1. Summer Wind
2. The Real Blues
3. Li'l Darlin'
4. It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
5. Mona Lisa
6. Buhaina Buhaina
7. Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man
8. Bluesology

Ray Brown Trio: Ray Brown (acoustic bass); Gene Harris (piano); Jeff Hamilton (drums).Recorded live at The Loa, Santa Monica, California in July 1988. Includes liner notes by Chip Deffaa and Leonard Feather.

 

[Dennie]

Swing Live -- SACD

Bucky Pizzarelli

2001 Chesky Records

Stereophile's "RECORDING OF THE MONTH - March 2002" "...Pizzarelli's quintet, with instrumentation similar to that of Goodman's small ensembles, plays the Swing Era style with expertise, authenticity, and passion." - Stereophile Join Bucky Pizzarelli, Bernard Purdie (drums), Peter Appleyard (vibes), Allen Vache (clarinet) and Michael Moore (bass) in a Manhattan Jazz club for a swinging concert without ever leaving your living room! Within the comforts of your own home, Swing Live will place you in the best seating position in the venue, and with the accompanying crowd interactions and sonic realism of this recording, you will be transported into the intimate setting of the Jazz performance. Sit back and enjoy the energy and enthusiasm Bucky and his quintet exude as they perform directly to you!

Track Listings
1. Lester Leaps In
2. Sweet Sue
3. Dinah
4. Perdido
5. If I Had You
6. Too Marvelous For Words
7. Lime House Blues

 

[Botch]

:music-listening:

 

[Dennie]

The Rare Delight of You -- SACD

John Pizzarelli with The George Shearing Quartet

2002 Telarc Jazz

Quite Delightful, Indeed!,
March 7, 2003
By M. Hartman
This review is from: The Rare Delight of You (Audio CD)

With a growing number of singers reinterpreting the old Jazz standards, the results have far too often fallen far short of their forebearers. With the recent demise of Peggy Lee and Rosemary Clooney the stylistic shortcomings of some of the current batch of jazz vocalists are even more pronounced. Then there is John Pizzarelli, a top-notch guitarist with a fine voice. This pairing of John with the legendary George Shearing is absolutely shimmering. It is largely a reinterpretation of the repetoire Shearing used with Ms. Lee and others but includes some of Pizzarelli's own compositions as well. The playing by both Pizzarelli and Shearing's combo is wonderful throughout.

"If Dreams Come True"
"The Lady's In Love with You"
"Everything Happens to Me"
"Lulu's Back In Town"
"Something to Remember You By"
"Lemon Twist"
"Lost April"
"Problem"
"The Rare Delight of You"
"Shine On Your Shoes"
"Indian Summer"
"Be Careful It's My Heart"
"September In the Rain"
"I Predict"
"Lucky to Be Me"


John Pizzarelli - vocals, guitar
George Shearing - piano
Ted Piltzecker - vibraphone
Reg Schwager - guitar
Neil Swainson - double-bass
Dennis Mackrel - drums

 

[Dennie]

The Nat King Cole Story -- 2 CD Chubby Box Set

Nat "King" Cole

1991 Capitol Records

This double CD finds Cole revisiting his earlier hits with new versions. The 36 selections mostly focus on his pop successes of the 1950s, although there are a few wistful looks back at his trio days. Not as essential as the original renditions of these popular recordings, the remakes nevertheless find Cole in peak form and comprise a highly enjoyable retrospective of his vocal career. ~ Scott Yanow

Disc: 1
1. Straighten up and Fly Right
2. Sweet Lorraine
3. It's Only a Paper Moon
4. Route 66
5. (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons
6. The Christmas Song
7. Nature Boy
8. Lush Life
9. Calypso Blues
10. Mona Lisa
11. Orange Colored Sky
12. Too Young
13. Unforgettable
14. Somewhere Along the Way
15. Walkin' My Baby Back Home
16. Pretend
17. Blue Gardenia
18. I Am in Love

Disc: 2
1. Answer Me, My Love
2. Smile
3. Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup
4. The Sand and the Sea
5. If I May
6. A Blossom Fell
7. To the Ends of the Earth
8. Night Lights
9. Ballerina
10. Stardust
11. Send for Me
12. St. Louis Blues
13. Looking Back
14. Non Dimenticar
15. Paradise
16. Oh Mary, Don't You Weep
17. Ay, Cosita Linda
18. Wild Is Love

 

[Babs]

:handgestures-thumbup: :music-listening: :handgestures-thumbup:

 

[Dennie]

'S Wonderful -- SACD

Bill Charlap Trio

1998/2014 Venus Records (Import Japan)


Breakthrough Album from Jazz Pianist Bill Charlap and His Trio!

Before the talented pianist Bill Charlap went "major" with the Blue Note label, he was discovered by Venus Records and the Japanese audience. This "debut" album of Charlap, released in 1999, was an enormous hit and became an instant classic.

Deeply rooted in the tradition of jazz and with tremendous knowledge and respect for the American songbook, Charlap's piano playing is lyrical, fantastic and powerful. This album may not dazzle you with apparent "newness," but the beauty of melody, sound, and deep swing will move you and make you smile. The great New York rhythm section, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington, contributes with great performances as well.

"Best known for his work with Gerry Mulligan and later Phil Woods during the 1990s, pianist Bill Charlap was clearly developing rapidly on his own record dates. Beginning with a crisp rendition of "Time After Time," Charlap, with a formidable rhythm section of bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington, explores a nice mix of standards and jazz classics...The sound on this studio date is so intimate that it sounds as if the listener is sitting right next to the piano." -Ken Dryden, allmusic.com

Features:
• Single Layer Stereo SACD

Musicians:
Bill Charlap, piano
Peter Washington, bass
Kenny Washington, drums

Selections:
1. Time After Time
2. My Shining Hour
3. The Blue Room
4. Boy, What Love Has Done To Me
5. Isfahan
6. Lover
7. Something To Live For
8. 'S Wonderful
9. Summer Serenade
10. Only The Lonely

 

[Dennie]

Temptation -- Stereo SACD

Steve Kuhn Trio

2001/2014 Venus Records (Import Japan)

Steve Kuhn mixes standards and forgotten gems in these 2001 studio sessions with bassist Buster Williams and drummer Billy Drummond. Beginning with a tantalizing take of "Temptation" that has a slight Latin undercurrent, Kuhn finds new directions in these timeless pieces. "Dark Eyes" is another gem that has long fallen out of favor, though Kuhn's intricate workout demonstrates that there is plenty of life left in this decades-old warhorse. His treatment of Michel Legrand's "The Summer Knows" (written as theme music for the early-'70s film Summer of '42) is a bit jagged rather than the usual setting as a straight, slow, bittersweet ballad. John Lewis' "Django" has long been a favorite of jazz musicians, and the trio's elegant setting opens with an imaginative improvisation, slowly working into its well-known theme. Kuhn's sole original, "A Likely Story," is a driving post-bop vehicle that never runs out of steam. It's hard to go wrong by purchasing any Steve Kuhn CD, and this is among his best dates. Review by Ken Dryden

Tracklist:

1 Temptation 7:17
2 Dark Eyes 6:06
3 You Better Go Now 6:20
4 The Summer Knows 7:48
5 Love Is Here To Stay 6:40
6 Django 3:30
7 A Likely Story 9:17
8 I Can't Get Started 5:27

Steve Kuhn - Piano
Buster Williams - Bass
Billy Drummond - Drums

 

[Dennie]

Tigerlily -- 24k Gold OMR CD

Natalie Merchant

1995/2007 MFSL #2663

On Tigerlily, Natalie Merchant's warm, mellow voice, and mesmerizing yet gracefully understated musical textures are sure to please even the most discerning and contemplative music listeners. Stand out tracks include the radio hits "Wonder" and "Jealousy," which have a similar sonic signature to the unique folk rock mastery of 10,000 Maniacs and "River" an absolutely touching tribute to the late River Phoenix. Mobile Fidelity's heralded GAIN 2 mastering technique has extracted every tender nuance and note from this enduring 90's classic.

Selections:
1. San Andreas Fault
2. Wonder
3. Beloved Wife
4. River
5. Carnival
6. I May Know The Word
7. The Letter
8. Cowboy Romance
9. Jealousy
10. Where I Go
11. Seven Years

 

[Dennie]

Blood On The Tracks -- CD

Bob Dylan

1975/2004 Columbia Records

Amazon.com

Inevitably, when critics praise a new Dylan album, they label it the "best since Blood on the Tracks," and with good reason. Inspired by a crumbled marriage, and recorded after a tour with the Band had apparently re-ignited his creativity, Blood is among Dylan's masterpieces. The album's epic songs are well known, but its real high points are the shorter numbers--"You're a Big Girl Now," the flawless blues "Meet Me in the Morning," and the sweetly devastating "Buckets of Rain." These are songs of "images and distorted facts," each expressed through tangled points of view, and all of them blue. --David Cantwell

Side one

"Tangled Up in Blue" – 5:42 (Sound 80 Studio - Minneapolis, MN - 12/30/74)
"Simple Twist of Fate" – 4:19 (A & R Studios - New York, NY - 9/19/74)
"You're a Big Girl Now" – 4:36 (Sound 80 Studio - Minneapolis, MN - 12/27/74)
"Idiot Wind" – 7:48 (Sound 80 Studio - Minneapolis, MN - 12/27/74)
"You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" – 2:55 (A & R Studios - New York, NY - 9/17/74)

Side two

"Meet Me in the Morning" – 4:22 (A & R Studios - New York, NY - 9/16/74)
"Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" – 8:51 (Sound 80 Studio - Minneapolis,MN - 12/30/74)
"If You See Her, Say Hello" – 4:49 (Sound 80 Studio - Minneapolis, MN - 12/30/74)
"Shelter from the Storm" – 5:02 (A & R Studios - New York, NY - 9/17/74)
"Buckets of Rain" – 3:22 (A & R Studios - New York, NY - 9/19/74)

 

[Dennie]

A Night In San Francisco - Live -- 2 CD Set

Van Morrison

1994 Warner Bros. Records

WOW, September 24, 2008
By L. E. ALPERT "The Happy Wanderer" (North Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Night in San Francisco (Reis) (Audio CD)

Fabulous CD with great Blues! I mean Terrific Awesome BLUES! A must have for a complete Van Morrison collection.

Disc one

"Did Ye Get Healed?" – 4:18
"It's All in the Game/Make It Real One More Time" (Charles Dawes, Carl Sigman) / (Morrison) – 4:19
"I've Been Working" – 3:24
"I Forgot That Love Existed/All Along the Watchtower" (Morrison) / (Bob Dylan) – 6:17
"Vanlose Stairway/Trans-Euro Train/A Fool for You" (Morrison) / (Morrison) / (Ray Charles) – 6:55
"You Make Me Feel So Free" – 3:14
"Beautiful Vision" – 4:11
"See Me Through/Soldier of Fortune/Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" (Morrison) / (Morrison) / (Sylvester Stewart) – 10:18
"Ain't That Loving You Baby?" (Ivory Joe Hunter, Clyde Otis) – 4:44
"Stormy Monday/Have You Ever Loved a Woman?/No Rollin' Blues" (T-Bone Walker) / (Billy Myles) / (Jimmy Witherspoon) – 6:08
"Help Me" (Sonny Boy Williamson) – 6:10
Organ solo from "Green Onions" (Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Lewie Steinberg, Al Jackson, Jr.)
"Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" (Sonny Boy Williamson) – 3:33
"Tupelo Honey" – 4:01
"Moondance/My Funny Valentine" (Morrison) / (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 9:09

Disc two

"Jumpin' With Symphony Sid" (King Pleasure, Lester Young) – 4:47
"It Fills You Up" – 4:43
"I'll Take Care of You/It's a Man's Man's Man's World" (Brook Benton) / (James Brown, Betty Newsome) – 16:23
"Lonely Avenue/Be-Bop-A-Lula/4 O'Clock in the Morning (Try for Sleep)/Family Affair/You Give Me Nothing but the Blues/When Will I Become A Man?/Sooner Or Later/Down the Line" (Doc Pomus) / (Gene Vincent, Bill Davis) / (Morrison, John Platania) / (Sylvester Stewart) / (Morrison) / (Erica Ehm, Tim Thorney) / (Vernon, Ross, Shaw) / (Roy Orbison) – 14:51
"So Quiet in Here/That's Where It's At" (Morrison) / (James Alexander, Sam Cooke) – 5:00
"In the Garden/Real Real Gone/You Send Me/Allegheny" (Morrison) / (Morrison) / (Sam Cooke) / (Bill Staines) – 9:41
"Have I Told You Lately" – 3:51
"Shakin' All Over/Gloria" (Johnny Kidd) / (Morrison) – 11:29

 

[mcad64]

 

[mcad64]

I think it is the ONLY soundtrack I own??!!

 

[Botch]

That's probably the best album cover/title I've seen in years! :music-rockout: :music-rockout: :music-rockout:

 

[Dennie]

Today's work truck music...

Road To Ensenada -- CD

Lyle Lovett

1996 MCA Records

Amazon.com essential recording

After the more experimental themes and misanthropic bit players populating his prior album, I Love Everybody, the songs on this superb 1996 set return to the more affable, earnest, but still knotty balance established by Lyle Lovett on his first four albums. He spins amiable yarns about his preferred headgear ("Don't Touch My Hat") and larger-than-life love objects (the one-eyed "Fiona"), sways hilariously through the backfired seductions of the samba-paced "Her First Mistake," and swings buoyantly through "That's Right (You're Not from Texas)," then ropes the equally droll Randy Newman into a tongue-in-cheek duet on "Long Tall Texan." In between, he sneaks a fresh string of dark love songs ("Private Conversation," "I Can't Love You Anymore") that sustain his formidable standards. Forget the forced issue of his putative ties to "new country": Lovett is simply one of the best American singer-songwriters extant, whether playing raconteur, philosopher king, or wounded romantic. --Sam Sutherland

All songs composed by Lyle Lovett except as noted.

"Don't Touch My Hat" – 3:47
"Her First Mistake" – 6:28
"Fiona" – 4:09
"That's Right (You're Not from Texas)" (Lovett, Ramsey, Rogers) – 4:54
"Who Loves You Better" – 4:46
"Private Conversation" – 4:32
"Promises" – 3:07
"It Ought To Be Easier" – 4:11
"I Can't Love You Anymore" – 3:14
"Long Tall Texan" (Henry Strzelecki) – 3:27
"Christmas Morning" – 3:43
"The Road To Ensenada" – 10:12
"The Girl in the Corner" -- hidden at the end of track 12, following 1:30 of silence**

 

[heeman]

Some Alice IN Chains for this Gloomy Tuesday AM........

:music-rockout: :music-rockout: :music-rockout:

 

[Babs]