What Are You Listening To?
- Thread starter Rope
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Babs
Queen "B"
It’s no exaggeration to say that Eric Clapton’s Unplugged is the one album most responsible for starting the unplugged phenomenon. Who would have expected that nearly thirty years into his career Clapton would score his biggest hit? In 1989 he released the incredibly popular retrospective Crossroads, which was soon followed by one of his better studio albums in years, Journeyman. At a time when it would be understandable for anyone to rest on their laurels, a personal tragedy led Clapton to his greatest success with the mournful Tears in Heaven. Originally part of the film soundtrack Rush, the live MTV performance would do a lot to change the popular music scene for a few years.
Clapton’s Unplugged remains one of MTV’s finest Unplugged performances, partly because it contrasts so heavily with the slickly produced studio albums that had defined the artist’s work in recent years. The performance offers a relaxed run through of some popular Clapton tunes, that also takes the time to pay tribute to a few of the blues greats.
The reworking of Layla takes one of the most familiar songs in Clapton’s catalog and gives it a whole new sound. Likewise, the stripped down versions of Before You Accuse Me and Old Love also give fresh nuances to familiar songs. While most people will remember the heartfelt performance of Tears in Heaven most of all, this set of songs is the real deal. It set a standard for what all other Unplugged albums should aspire to: a great live performance recorded for posterity.
Q magazine ranked it number 71 on its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever, while Allmusic.com says Unplugged contains “some of the most genuine, heartfelt music the guitarist has ever committed to tape.”
^ I copied the above from an interesting article about Clapton on guitarnoise.com.
Dennie
Well-Known Member
Happy Monday everyone... :doh:
Restless -- CD
Shelby Lynne
1995 Magnatone Records
Amazon.com
Producer Brent Maher had to do something with his time after his prize clients, the Judds, broke up, and in Shelby Lynne, he has found one of the few women in Nashville who can match Wynonna Judd in vocal firepower. In 1993, Maher produced and co-wrote Lynne's Temptation, a terrific album of big-band country swing which somehow got lost in the shuffle. Lynne's sequel,Restless, is a return to the country mainstream after her left-turn detour through swing. When Lynne opens all the stops in her throat and just wails, as she does on the album's first single "Slow Me Down," there's no mistaking the sheer strength of her voice. But there's a lot more to her talent than that; she can down shift into a conversational murmur, as she does on "Talkin' to Myself," and still make you hang on every word--just by the way she maintains a full, intense tone even at the lowest volumes. Most importantly, her command of tricky rhythmic phrasing reminds one of Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson and few others in country-music history. All in all, this marks the full flowering of a major country talent and stands as one of the landmark events of 1995.--Geoffrey Himes
1. "Slow Me Down" (Stephanie Davis, Shelby Lynne, Brent Maher) – 3:14
2. "Another Chance at Love" (Maher, Allen Shamblin) – 2:25
3. "Talkin' to Myself Again" (Jamie O'Hara) – 3:18
4. "Restless" (Lynne, Maher, O'Hara) – 3:05
5. "Just for the Touch of Your Hand" (Lynne, Maher, O'Hara) – 3:56
6. "Hey Now Little Darling" (Lynne, Maher, O'Hara) – 3:02
7. "I'm Not the One" (Kent Blazy, Craig Wiseman) – 3:52
8. "Reach for the Rhythm" (Lynne, Maher, O'Hara) – 2:20
9. "Wish I Knew" (Rod McGaha) – 3:44
10. "Swingtown" (Lynne, Maher, O'Hara) – 2:34
Restless -- CD
Shelby Lynne
1995 Magnatone Records
Amazon.com
Producer Brent Maher had to do something with his time after his prize clients, the Judds, broke up, and in Shelby Lynne, he has found one of the few women in Nashville who can match Wynonna Judd in vocal firepower. In 1993, Maher produced and co-wrote Lynne's Temptation, a terrific album of big-band country swing which somehow got lost in the shuffle. Lynne's sequel,Restless, is a return to the country mainstream after her left-turn detour through swing. When Lynne opens all the stops in her throat and just wails, as she does on the album's first single "Slow Me Down," there's no mistaking the sheer strength of her voice. But there's a lot more to her talent than that; she can down shift into a conversational murmur, as she does on "Talkin' to Myself," and still make you hang on every word--just by the way she maintains a full, intense tone even at the lowest volumes. Most importantly, her command of tricky rhythmic phrasing reminds one of Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson and few others in country-music history. All in all, this marks the full flowering of a major country talent and stands as one of the landmark events of 1995.--Geoffrey Himes
1. "Slow Me Down" (Stephanie Davis, Shelby Lynne, Brent Maher) – 3:14
2. "Another Chance at Love" (Maher, Allen Shamblin) – 2:25
3. "Talkin' to Myself Again" (Jamie O'Hara) – 3:18
4. "Restless" (Lynne, Maher, O'Hara) – 3:05
5. "Just for the Touch of Your Hand" (Lynne, Maher, O'Hara) – 3:56
6. "Hey Now Little Darling" (Lynne, Maher, O'Hara) – 3:02
7. "I'm Not the One" (Kent Blazy, Craig Wiseman) – 3:52
8. "Reach for the Rhythm" (Lynne, Maher, O'Hara) – 2:20
9. "Wish I Knew" (Rod McGaha) – 3:44
10. "Swingtown" (Lynne, Maher, O'Hara) – 2:34
D
Deleted member 133
Guest
"Down on the Riverbed" has been on my "favourites" mix for ages.Botch said:
Jeff
Dennie
Well-Known Member
Today's work truck music...
Harvest Moon -- CD
Neil Young
1992 Reprise Records
When Neil Young seems about to zig, he zags. Two years after 1990's loud Ragged Glory, he retreats to an old world of steel guitars, gentle folk melodies, and pristine country choruses. (That's Linda Ronstadt, who helped make 1972's Harvest a hit album, singing backup on the follow-up.) Young name-drops Hank Williams, Jimi Hendrix, and his old dog, King, in rich reminiscences about the musical ride he and his fans have shared since the late '60s. The album, as Young sings in "One of These Days," is "a long letter to all the good friends I've known." --Steve Knopper
All tracks written by Neil Young.
1. "Unknown Legend" – 4:32
2. "From Hank to Hendrix" – 5:12
3. "You and Me" – 3:45
4. "Harvest Moon" – 5:03
5. "War of Man" – 5:41
6. "One of These Days" – 4:55
7. "Such a Woman" – 4:36
8. "Old King" – 2:57
9. "Dreamin' Man" – 4:36
10. "Natural Beauty" (recorded live, 1992) – 10:22
Harvest Moon -- CD
Neil Young
1992 Reprise Records
When Neil Young seems about to zig, he zags. Two years after 1990's loud Ragged Glory, he retreats to an old world of steel guitars, gentle folk melodies, and pristine country choruses. (That's Linda Ronstadt, who helped make 1972's Harvest a hit album, singing backup on the follow-up.) Young name-drops Hank Williams, Jimi Hendrix, and his old dog, King, in rich reminiscences about the musical ride he and his fans have shared since the late '60s. The album, as Young sings in "One of These Days," is "a long letter to all the good friends I've known." --Steve Knopper
All tracks written by Neil Young.
1. "Unknown Legend" – 4:32
2. "From Hank to Hendrix" – 5:12
3. "You and Me" – 3:45
4. "Harvest Moon" – 5:03
5. "War of Man" – 5:41
6. "One of These Days" – 4:55
7. "Such a Woman" – 4:36
8. "Old King" – 2:57
9. "Dreamin' Man" – 4:36
10. "Natural Beauty" (recorded live, 1992) – 10:22
Dennie
Well-Known Member
Today's work truck music...
Legend - The Best of -- Remastered CD
Bob Marley and the Wailers
2002 Def Jam Records
Amazon.com essential recording
Even as greatest hits packages go, this is an utter gem. Every song is inspired, in a class of its own, whether the real version of "I Shot the Sheriff," the hymnlike "No Woman, No Cry," or the sheer joy of "Jamming." Even allowing that Marley never wrote any bad material, then Legend is still the crème de la crème, the heart and soul of the Jamaican people packed into one five-inch compact disc. He was unique, and the message of this record, more than any other, is that he died far too soon. --Chris Nickson
"Is This Love" – 3:52
"No Woman, No Cry" (Live) (Vincent Ford) – 7:07
"Could You Be Loved" – 3:55
"Three Little Birds" – 3:00
"Buffalo Soldier" (Bob Marley/Noel G. "King Sporty" Williams) – 4:17
"Get Up, Stand Up" (Bob Marley/Peter Tosh) – 3:16
"Stir It Up" – 5:33
"Easy Skanking" – 2:57 (bonus track on original cassette edition/2002 reissue)
"One Love/People Get Ready" (Bob Marley/Curtis Mayfield) – 2:51
"I Shot the Sheriff" – 4:41
"Waiting in Vain" – 4:15
"Redemption Song" – 3:49
"Satisfy My Soul" – 4:32
"Exodus" – 7:36
"Jamming" – 3:31
"Punky Reggae Party" –6:52 (bonus track on original cassette edition/2002 reissue)
Legend - The Best of -- Remastered CD
Bob Marley and the Wailers
2002 Def Jam Records
Amazon.com essential recording
Even as greatest hits packages go, this is an utter gem. Every song is inspired, in a class of its own, whether the real version of "I Shot the Sheriff," the hymnlike "No Woman, No Cry," or the sheer joy of "Jamming." Even allowing that Marley never wrote any bad material, then Legend is still the crème de la crème, the heart and soul of the Jamaican people packed into one five-inch compact disc. He was unique, and the message of this record, more than any other, is that he died far too soon. --Chris Nickson
"Is This Love" – 3:52
"No Woman, No Cry" (Live) (Vincent Ford) – 7:07
"Could You Be Loved" – 3:55
"Three Little Birds" – 3:00
"Buffalo Soldier" (Bob Marley/Noel G. "King Sporty" Williams) – 4:17
"Get Up, Stand Up" (Bob Marley/Peter Tosh) – 3:16
"Stir It Up" – 5:33
"Easy Skanking" – 2:57 (bonus track on original cassette edition/2002 reissue)
"One Love/People Get Ready" (Bob Marley/Curtis Mayfield) – 2:51
"I Shot the Sheriff" – 4:41
"Waiting in Vain" – 4:15
"Redemption Song" – 3:49
"Satisfy My Soul" – 4:32
"Exodus" – 7:36
"Jamming" – 3:31
"Punky Reggae Party" –6:52 (bonus track on original cassette edition/2002 reissue)
Dennie
Well-Known Member
Today's work truck music....
Traveler -- CD
Jerry Douglas (and friends)
2012 eOne Music
Jerry Douglas is the undisputed King of the Dobro, a musician with monster chops. He cut his teeth playing bluegrass with the Country Gentlemen, but he's equally adept at almost any kind of music and has played with the top jazz, pop, and country artists for almost 40 years. Traveler is another eclectic outing from an artist who refuses to be pigeonholed, and features Douglas kicking up his heels with a bunch of A-list friends including Eric Clapton, Alison Krauss, Dr. John, and Paul Simon. Douglas tries his hand at funky New Orleans R&B on Huey "Piano" Smith's "High Blood Pressure," with Keb' Mo' on lead vocals and Dr. John tickling the ivories. Douglas plays some greasy lap steel licks and Sarah Buxton adds Raelettes-like vocal harmonies. Douglas opens Leadbelly's "On a Monday" with his slippery, bluesy slide guitar work and adds credible lead vocals, but it's his stinging slide that carries the tune home. Alison Krauss & Union Station guest on "Frozen Fields," a track with Krauss delivering her usual luminous vocals while Douglas plays some laid-back acoustic guitar fills. He's more adventurous on the album's lively instrumentals. "King Silkie," co-written with Union Station guitarist Dan Tyminski, is a blazing hybrid of bluegrass and acoustic rock with Douglas smoking on Dobro in the company of Sam Bush on mandolin, Tyminski on guitar, and Charlie Cushman on banjo. Douglas turns jazzy on a medley of "American Tune/Spain," the latter a Chick Corea standard that incorporates elements of Joaquín Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez." Douglas layers up several Dobro tracks and incorporates the flavors and feel of flamenco into his free-flowing improvisations. Douglas blends the sounds of Celtic folk and hints of classical Indian music on "Gone to Fortingall." Béla Fleck's inventive banjo and Viktor Krauss' drumming provide sympathetic backup. ~ j. poet
1. On A Monday
2. Something You Got (featuring Eric Clapton)
3. So Here We Are
4. The Boxer (featuring Mumford & Sons and Paul Simon)
5. Duke And Cookie
6. High Blood Pressure (featuring Keb´Mo´)
7. Gone To Fortingall
8. Right On Time (featuring Marc Cohn)
9. American Tune / Spain
10. Frozen Fields (featuring Alison Krauss & Union Station)
11. King Silkie
Traveler -- CD
Jerry Douglas (and friends)
2012 eOne Music
Jerry Douglas is the undisputed King of the Dobro, a musician with monster chops. He cut his teeth playing bluegrass with the Country Gentlemen, but he's equally adept at almost any kind of music and has played with the top jazz, pop, and country artists for almost 40 years. Traveler is another eclectic outing from an artist who refuses to be pigeonholed, and features Douglas kicking up his heels with a bunch of A-list friends including Eric Clapton, Alison Krauss, Dr. John, and Paul Simon. Douglas tries his hand at funky New Orleans R&B on Huey "Piano" Smith's "High Blood Pressure," with Keb' Mo' on lead vocals and Dr. John tickling the ivories. Douglas plays some greasy lap steel licks and Sarah Buxton adds Raelettes-like vocal harmonies. Douglas opens Leadbelly's "On a Monday" with his slippery, bluesy slide guitar work and adds credible lead vocals, but it's his stinging slide that carries the tune home. Alison Krauss & Union Station guest on "Frozen Fields," a track with Krauss delivering her usual luminous vocals while Douglas plays some laid-back acoustic guitar fills. He's more adventurous on the album's lively instrumentals. "King Silkie," co-written with Union Station guitarist Dan Tyminski, is a blazing hybrid of bluegrass and acoustic rock with Douglas smoking on Dobro in the company of Sam Bush on mandolin, Tyminski on guitar, and Charlie Cushman on banjo. Douglas turns jazzy on a medley of "American Tune/Spain," the latter a Chick Corea standard that incorporates elements of Joaquín Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez." Douglas layers up several Dobro tracks and incorporates the flavors and feel of flamenco into his free-flowing improvisations. Douglas blends the sounds of Celtic folk and hints of classical Indian music on "Gone to Fortingall." Béla Fleck's inventive banjo and Viktor Krauss' drumming provide sympathetic backup. ~ j. poet
1. On A Monday
2. Something You Got (featuring Eric Clapton)
3. So Here We Are
4. The Boxer (featuring Mumford & Sons and Paul Simon)
5. Duke And Cookie
6. High Blood Pressure (featuring Keb´Mo´)
7. Gone To Fortingall
8. Right On Time (featuring Marc Cohn)
9. American Tune / Spain
10. Frozen Fields (featuring Alison Krauss & Union Station)
11. King Silkie
Dennie
Well-Known Member
Today's work truck music....
Time Has Come: The Best of... Remastered-- CD
The Chamber Brothers
1996 Columbia Legacy
At their peak, the Chambers Brothers were a boundary-pushing soul outfit that joined other African-American led acts like Love, Sly & the Family Stone, and Funkadelic in creating an innovative new vision of American music that drew on both white and black musical influences. The 16-track TIME HAS COME: THE BEST OF THE CHAMBERS BROTHERS does an admirable job of capturing this group at the height of their powers. Those looking to hear the Brothers at their most soulful should look to their incendiary cover of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" and a stunning, near-11-minute take on the old spiritual "Wade In The Water" that rivals even the work of seminal gospel outfits like the Soul Stirrers and the Sunset Travelers for sheer emotional intensity. Of course, the collection includes their monster hit, "Time Has Come Today," which remains a masterful fusion of the rock-solid songwriting of classic soul and the feedback-laden aesthetic of the psychedelic era.
Track Listing
1. Time Has Come Today - (single edit version 2)
2. All Strung Out Over You
3. People Get Ready
4. I Can't Stand It
5. Uptown
6. I Can't Turn You Loose
7. A New Time-a New Day
8. You Got the Power-to Turn Me On
9. Are You Ready - (mono single version)
10. Wake Up
11. Peace and Happiness - (single version) Love
12. Let's Do It (Do It Together)
13. New Generation - (single version)
14. Funky
15. Wade in the Water - (live)
16. Time Has Come Today - (mono single version 1)
Time Has Come: The Best of... Remastered-- CD
The Chamber Brothers
1996 Columbia Legacy
At their peak, the Chambers Brothers were a boundary-pushing soul outfit that joined other African-American led acts like Love, Sly & the Family Stone, and Funkadelic in creating an innovative new vision of American music that drew on both white and black musical influences. The 16-track TIME HAS COME: THE BEST OF THE CHAMBERS BROTHERS does an admirable job of capturing this group at the height of their powers. Those looking to hear the Brothers at their most soulful should look to their incendiary cover of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" and a stunning, near-11-minute take on the old spiritual "Wade In The Water" that rivals even the work of seminal gospel outfits like the Soul Stirrers and the Sunset Travelers for sheer emotional intensity. Of course, the collection includes their monster hit, "Time Has Come Today," which remains a masterful fusion of the rock-solid songwriting of classic soul and the feedback-laden aesthetic of the psychedelic era.
Track Listing
1. Time Has Come Today - (single edit version 2)
2. All Strung Out Over You
3. People Get Ready
4. I Can't Stand It
5. Uptown
6. I Can't Turn You Loose
7. A New Time-a New Day
8. You Got the Power-to Turn Me On
9. Are You Ready - (mono single version)
10. Wake Up
11. Peace and Happiness - (single version) Love
12. Let's Do It (Do It Together)
13. New Generation - (single version)
14. Funky
15. Wade in the Water - (live)
16. Time Has Come Today - (mono single version 1)
Dennie
Well-Known Member
Today's work truck music....
Heavy Picks - Collection -- CD
The Robert Cray Band
1999 Island/Mercury Records
Digitally remastered by Suha Gur (Universal Music Studios, Edison, New Jersey).
Throughout the '80s, Robert Cray and Stevie Ray Vaughan were heralded as the "new hopes" for the blues. Although Vaughan's fiery blues-based playing made this sobriquet more appropriate, Cray's style took as much from Memphis soul as it did Chicago blues. HEAVY PICKS compiles the cream of Cray's material released between 1980 and 1997.
Combining a fluid guitar sound and a creamy vocal style, Robert Cray wrote music often based on the fragility of relationships between men and women. His high-caliber songwriting not only found Cray being covered by the likes of Albert King ("Phone Booth") and Eric Clapton ("Bad Influence"), but also landed him in the Top 40 ("Smoking Gun"). Although covers of Willie Dixon ("Too Many Cooks") and Otis Redding ("Trick or Treat") bridged the blues and soul divide, Cray's R&B strengths leapt out more in his collaborations with the Memphis Horns. On songs such as "Consequences," "Forecast (Calls for Pain)," and "I Guess I Showed Her," Cray's singing not only channels the influence of soul legend O.V. Wright, but his crisp guitar playing also points to Steve Cropper's Stax/Volt legacy.
Track listing
1. Phone Booth
2. Forecast (Calls for Pain)
3. Smoking Gun
4. Playin' in the Dirt
5. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
6. Too Many Cooks
7. Dream, The
8. Right Next Door (Because of Me)
9. Consequences
10. Bad Influence
11. I Guess I Showed Her
12. I Shiver
13. Trick or Treat
14. I Was Warned
Heavy Picks - Collection -- CD
The Robert Cray Band
1999 Island/Mercury Records
Digitally remastered by Suha Gur (Universal Music Studios, Edison, New Jersey).
Throughout the '80s, Robert Cray and Stevie Ray Vaughan were heralded as the "new hopes" for the blues. Although Vaughan's fiery blues-based playing made this sobriquet more appropriate, Cray's style took as much from Memphis soul as it did Chicago blues. HEAVY PICKS compiles the cream of Cray's material released between 1980 and 1997.
Combining a fluid guitar sound and a creamy vocal style, Robert Cray wrote music often based on the fragility of relationships between men and women. His high-caliber songwriting not only found Cray being covered by the likes of Albert King ("Phone Booth") and Eric Clapton ("Bad Influence"), but also landed him in the Top 40 ("Smoking Gun"). Although covers of Willie Dixon ("Too Many Cooks") and Otis Redding ("Trick or Treat") bridged the blues and soul divide, Cray's R&B strengths leapt out more in his collaborations with the Memphis Horns. On songs such as "Consequences," "Forecast (Calls for Pain)," and "I Guess I Showed Her," Cray's singing not only channels the influence of soul legend O.V. Wright, but his crisp guitar playing also points to Steve Cropper's Stax/Volt legacy.
Track listing
1. Phone Booth
2. Forecast (Calls for Pain)
3. Smoking Gun
4. Playin' in the Dirt
5. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
6. Too Many Cooks
7. Dream, The
8. Right Next Door (Because of Me)
9. Consequences
10. Bad Influence
11. I Guess I Showed Her
12. I Shiver
13. Trick or Treat
14. I Was Warned
Dennie
Well-Known Member
Happy Sunday everyone... :banana-dance:
Light My Fire -- CD
Eliane Elias
2011 Concord Picante Records
Editorial Reviews
Since the mid-1980s, pianist/vocalist Eliane Elias has grafted various elements of jazz, pop, soul and other styles to her deep Brazilian roots to create a hybrid groove that exists comfortably on any hemisphere. Borrowing from an array of sources and singing in a variety of languages, Elias consistently forges a sound that appeals to listeners of every geographic locale and cultural persuasion. Her new album, Light My Fire - wields this universal sound to explore the various corners of the human heart - from romance and passion to the shared joy of being alive and embracing everyone into the dance of life. Along with four compositions written or co-written by Elias herself, the album also includes covers of familiar works by songwriters as diverse as Jim Morrison and the Doors, pop icon Stevie Wonder and jazz saxophonist Paul Desmond. Elias weaves it all together into a cohesive whole by injecting each of the twelve songs with distinctly Brazilian grooves that alternate effortlessly between the fiery and passionate to the cool and sophisticated.
"Some of the tunes are cool and laid back, but others are quite rhythmic and joyful," says Elias. "And they have some different grooves. I tend to gravitate toward romance - beautiful melodies, beautiful harmonies and rhythms with a great feel. But more than anything else, I'm singing about love on this record in its different aspects and dimensions. I've made more than 20 records in my career. I'm proud of all of them, but I'm especially excited about this one. It feels like it has a life and an energy all its own. With very few exceptions, nearly all of the songs were first takes. Everybody in the studio was so focused, and it was such a fun record to make. The music was really flowing, and we all felt very relaxed. From the very first day, not a note was wasted by anyone. It was an amazing experience."
Backing Elias on Light My Fire is a crew of twelve high-caliber players, including special guests guitarist/vocalist Gilberto Gil and trumpeter Randy Brecker. The rhythm section - which has accompanied Elias on several of her most recent recordings - includes guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves, bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Paulo Braga. Also on hand to sing with Elias and Gil on "Toda Menina Baiana" is Elias' daughter, singer-songwriter Amanda Brecker. New to Elias' team is percussionist Marivaldo dos Santos, drummer Rafael Barata, guitarists Romero Lubambo and Ross Traut, and flutist Lawrence Feldman.
Tracklist:
01 – Rosa Morena
02 – Stay Cool
03 – Aquele Abraco
04 – Light My Fire
05 – Isto Aqui O Que E (Silver Sandal)
06 – My Cherie Amour
07 – Toda Menina Baiana
08 – Bananeira
09 – Made In Moonlight
10 – Turn To Me (Samba Maracatu)
11 – Take Five
12 – What About The Heart (Bate Bate)
Light My Fire -- CD
Eliane Elias
2011 Concord Picante Records
Editorial Reviews
Since the mid-1980s, pianist/vocalist Eliane Elias has grafted various elements of jazz, pop, soul and other styles to her deep Brazilian roots to create a hybrid groove that exists comfortably on any hemisphere. Borrowing from an array of sources and singing in a variety of languages, Elias consistently forges a sound that appeals to listeners of every geographic locale and cultural persuasion. Her new album, Light My Fire - wields this universal sound to explore the various corners of the human heart - from romance and passion to the shared joy of being alive and embracing everyone into the dance of life. Along with four compositions written or co-written by Elias herself, the album also includes covers of familiar works by songwriters as diverse as Jim Morrison and the Doors, pop icon Stevie Wonder and jazz saxophonist Paul Desmond. Elias weaves it all together into a cohesive whole by injecting each of the twelve songs with distinctly Brazilian grooves that alternate effortlessly between the fiery and passionate to the cool and sophisticated.
"Some of the tunes are cool and laid back, but others are quite rhythmic and joyful," says Elias. "And they have some different grooves. I tend to gravitate toward romance - beautiful melodies, beautiful harmonies and rhythms with a great feel. But more than anything else, I'm singing about love on this record in its different aspects and dimensions. I've made more than 20 records in my career. I'm proud of all of them, but I'm especially excited about this one. It feels like it has a life and an energy all its own. With very few exceptions, nearly all of the songs were first takes. Everybody in the studio was so focused, and it was such a fun record to make. The music was really flowing, and we all felt very relaxed. From the very first day, not a note was wasted by anyone. It was an amazing experience."
Backing Elias on Light My Fire is a crew of twelve high-caliber players, including special guests guitarist/vocalist Gilberto Gil and trumpeter Randy Brecker. The rhythm section - which has accompanied Elias on several of her most recent recordings - includes guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves, bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Paulo Braga. Also on hand to sing with Elias and Gil on "Toda Menina Baiana" is Elias' daughter, singer-songwriter Amanda Brecker. New to Elias' team is percussionist Marivaldo dos Santos, drummer Rafael Barata, guitarists Romero Lubambo and Ross Traut, and flutist Lawrence Feldman.
Tracklist:
01 – Rosa Morena
02 – Stay Cool
03 – Aquele Abraco
04 – Light My Fire
05 – Isto Aqui O Que E (Silver Sandal)
06 – My Cherie Amour
07 – Toda Menina Baiana
08 – Bananeira
09 – Made In Moonlight
10 – Turn To Me (Samba Maracatu)
11 – Take Five
12 – What About The Heart (Bate Bate)
Dennie
Well-Known Member
Rural Renewal -- CD
The Crusaders
2003 Verve Records
Everyone should own this record, May 8, 2003
By Jan P. Dennis "Longboard jazzer" (Monument, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Rural Renewal (Audio CD)
I know virtually nothing about the Crusaders. Their kind of music--ultra-sophisticated, roots-based jazz-funk--has fallen outside my musical experience.
My loss.
Let me come straight out and say it. This is one of the most accomplished and satisfying discs I have ever encountered. There's this deep groove coming from some authentic place--Texas, I learned, since I became interested in this group. This is not the kind of music that can be mass produced, predicted, or even successfully copied. It has its own inherent, uncompromising authenticity and authority.
How can it be so precise without being slick? So soulful without being cliché? So sophisticated yet completely natural? I'll tell you. A lifetime of commitment combined with pure genius and musical telepathy set loose, UNLEASHED, given free rein.
Fundamentally, a project like this gains nothing by heavy-duty analysis, so I'm going to quit while I'm ahead. Trust me on this: Just buy it.
Track Listing
1. Rural Renewal
2. Creepin'
3. Heartland
4. Healing Coming On, A
5. Sing the Song
6. Shotgun House Groove
7. Territory, The
8. Greasy Spoon
9. Viva de Funk
10. Lazy Sundays
11. Goin' Home
Dennie
Well-Known Member
Happy Monday everyone.... :doh:
Turbulent Indigo -- CD
Joni Mitchell
1994 Reprise Records
Amazon.com
The 1996 Grammy winner for best pop album, Joni Mitchell's Turbulent Indigo is the singer's most distinctive and rewarding work since Wild Things Run Fast in 1982. Coproduced by Mitchell and her longtime collaborator and former husband Larry Klein, Turbulent Indigo is perhaps the only one of her '80s and '90s discs on which she isn't unduly hampered by studio technology. Whereas her rotten taste in synthesizers lent an automatically dated sound to 1988's Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm and 1998's Taming the Tiger, here the gadgetry is unobtrusive and enhances the power of Mitchell's voice and guitar playing. It also helps that this batch of songs is particularly evocative and well written, ranging from the graceful "How Do You Stop," on which she wonders how to stop "love from slipping away," to the wonderful vignette "Yvette in English," which describes a chance encounter between Picasso and a reluctant model. Paintings and painters are obviously a major theme on the disc--the cover is Mitchell's portrait of herself in the guise of Van Gogh--but more striking is her pessimistic view of humanity. "The Magdalene Laundries" describes the fate of girls left pregnant and abandoned in convent laundry rooms, "Not to Blame" details "the miseries made of love" for all the world's battered wives, and the title of "Sex Kills" is entirely self-explanatory. "The Sire of Sorrow (Job's Sad Song)," the album's finale, is nothing less than the cries of the much-put-upon Job against a heartless God who makes "everything I dread and everything I fear come true." The plaintive beauty of the music helps sweeten the potential sourness of Mitchell's lyrics. Indeed, the contrast gives great force to Turbulent Indigo and confirms that Mitchell's intellectual prowess and willfully contrary outlook are two qualities sorely missing in the work of many of the contemporary songwriters who cite her as their godhead. --Jason Anderson
All tracks composed by Joni Mitchell; except where indicated
"Sunny Sunday" – 2:21
"Sex Kills" – 3:56
"How Do You Stop" – 4:09 (Charlie Midnight, Dan Hartman)
"Turbulent Indigo" – 3:34
"Last Chance Lost" – 3:14
"The Magdalene Laundries" – 4:02
"Not to Blame" – 4:18
"Borderline" – 4:48
"Yvette in English" – 5:16 (Mitchell, David Crosby)
"The Sire of Sorrow (Job's Sad Song)" – 7:08
Turbulent Indigo -- CD
Joni Mitchell
1994 Reprise Records
Amazon.com
The 1996 Grammy winner for best pop album, Joni Mitchell's Turbulent Indigo is the singer's most distinctive and rewarding work since Wild Things Run Fast in 1982. Coproduced by Mitchell and her longtime collaborator and former husband Larry Klein, Turbulent Indigo is perhaps the only one of her '80s and '90s discs on which she isn't unduly hampered by studio technology. Whereas her rotten taste in synthesizers lent an automatically dated sound to 1988's Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm and 1998's Taming the Tiger, here the gadgetry is unobtrusive and enhances the power of Mitchell's voice and guitar playing. It also helps that this batch of songs is particularly evocative and well written, ranging from the graceful "How Do You Stop," on which she wonders how to stop "love from slipping away," to the wonderful vignette "Yvette in English," which describes a chance encounter between Picasso and a reluctant model. Paintings and painters are obviously a major theme on the disc--the cover is Mitchell's portrait of herself in the guise of Van Gogh--but more striking is her pessimistic view of humanity. "The Magdalene Laundries" describes the fate of girls left pregnant and abandoned in convent laundry rooms, "Not to Blame" details "the miseries made of love" for all the world's battered wives, and the title of "Sex Kills" is entirely self-explanatory. "The Sire of Sorrow (Job's Sad Song)," the album's finale, is nothing less than the cries of the much-put-upon Job against a heartless God who makes "everything I dread and everything I fear come true." The plaintive beauty of the music helps sweeten the potential sourness of Mitchell's lyrics. Indeed, the contrast gives great force to Turbulent Indigo and confirms that Mitchell's intellectual prowess and willfully contrary outlook are two qualities sorely missing in the work of many of the contemporary songwriters who cite her as their godhead. --Jason Anderson
All tracks composed by Joni Mitchell; except where indicated
"Sunny Sunday" – 2:21
"Sex Kills" – 3:56
"How Do You Stop" – 4:09 (Charlie Midnight, Dan Hartman)
"Turbulent Indigo" – 3:34
"Last Chance Lost" – 3:14
"The Magdalene Laundries" – 4:02
"Not to Blame" – 4:18
"Borderline" – 4:48
"Yvette in English" – 5:16 (Mitchell, David Crosby)
"The Sire of Sorrow (Job's Sad Song)" – 7:08
Dennie
Well-Known Member
Today's work truck music....
Here We Go Again - Celebrating The Gunius of Ray Charles -- CD
WIllie Nelson - Wynton Marsalis featuring Norah Jones
2011 Blue Note Records
Product Description
Once in a while the stars align and something magical happens...as on the night Jazz at Lincoln Center presented a salute to the late, great bluesman, Ray Charles. Two musical iconoclasts, Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis, along with the stunning songstress Norah Jones, collectively brought their unique musical perspective to the legendary artist's hits such as "Hallelujah I Love Her So", "Hit the Road Jack," and "Unchain My Heart." Country music legend Willie Nelson and Pulitzer Prize-winning jazz artist and Jazz at Lincoln Center Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis share more in common than their multiple GRAMMY® awards. They also share great respect and admiration for the late musical pioneer Ray Charles. Nelson and Marsalis joined musical forces for a two-night Jazz at Lincoln Center concert event at New York City's Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Their set list explored the legacy of Charles, cleverly sequencing the songs to tell the story of a love affair from beginning to end and beyond. This fine idea was made finer by the inclusion of fellow multiple GRAMMY® winner Norah Jones, whose style suggests a middle ground between Nelson and Marsalis. The sold out performance was captured and the resulting footage expertly mixed and mastered for the brand new album.
1. Hallelujah I Love Her So (Gospel 2-beat / Boogaloo / 4/4 Swing)
2. Come Rain or Come Shine (Walking Ballad)
3. Unchain My Heart (Bolero with Habanera bass)
4. Cryin' Time (Country Ballad)
5. Losing Hand (Dirge with Chain-Gang Shuffle)
6. Hit The Road Jack (Gospel 2-beat / 4/4 Swing)
7. I’m Moving On (Boogaloo with Afro-Latin Backbeat / 4/4 Swing)
8. Busted (Gospel 12/8 Shuffle)
9. Here We Go Again (Rhythm & Blues 12/8 Shuffle)
10. Makin’ Whoopie (Hard-Bop 2-beat / 4/4 Swing)
11. I Love You So Much (It Hurts) (Waltz)
12. What'd I Say (Boogaloo)
Here We Go Again - Celebrating The Gunius of Ray Charles -- CD
WIllie Nelson - Wynton Marsalis featuring Norah Jones
2011 Blue Note Records
Product Description
Once in a while the stars align and something magical happens...as on the night Jazz at Lincoln Center presented a salute to the late, great bluesman, Ray Charles. Two musical iconoclasts, Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis, along with the stunning songstress Norah Jones, collectively brought their unique musical perspective to the legendary artist's hits such as "Hallelujah I Love Her So", "Hit the Road Jack," and "Unchain My Heart." Country music legend Willie Nelson and Pulitzer Prize-winning jazz artist and Jazz at Lincoln Center Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis share more in common than their multiple GRAMMY® awards. They also share great respect and admiration for the late musical pioneer Ray Charles. Nelson and Marsalis joined musical forces for a two-night Jazz at Lincoln Center concert event at New York City's Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Their set list explored the legacy of Charles, cleverly sequencing the songs to tell the story of a love affair from beginning to end and beyond. This fine idea was made finer by the inclusion of fellow multiple GRAMMY® winner Norah Jones, whose style suggests a middle ground between Nelson and Marsalis. The sold out performance was captured and the resulting footage expertly mixed and mastered for the brand new album.
1. Hallelujah I Love Her So (Gospel 2-beat / Boogaloo / 4/4 Swing)
2. Come Rain or Come Shine (Walking Ballad)
3. Unchain My Heart (Bolero with Habanera bass)
4. Cryin' Time (Country Ballad)
5. Losing Hand (Dirge with Chain-Gang Shuffle)
6. Hit The Road Jack (Gospel 2-beat / 4/4 Swing)
7. I’m Moving On (Boogaloo with Afro-Latin Backbeat / 4/4 Swing)
8. Busted (Gospel 12/8 Shuffle)
9. Here We Go Again (Rhythm & Blues 12/8 Shuffle)
10. Makin’ Whoopie (Hard-Bop 2-beat / 4/4 Swing)
11. I Love You So Much (It Hurts) (Waltz)
12. What'd I Say (Boogaloo)
Dennie
Well-Known Member
Today's work truck music...
The Doors -- CD
The Doors
1967/1990 Elektra Records
Amazon.com
On their 1967 debut album, the Doors more than fulfilled the promise of their infamously challenging gigs around Los Angeles throughout the previous year. Whether belting out a standard like "Back Door Man" or talk-singing such originals as "The Crystal Ship" and "I Looked at You," leather-clad vocalist Jim Morrison exuded both sensuality and menace. The mixture, on the outsize album finale, "The End," helped rewrite the rules on rock song composition. None of this would have worked, though, were it not for the highly visual instrumental work of keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robbie Krieger, and drummer John Densmore, whose work on tracks such as "Take It As It Comes" and the lengthy hit "Light My Fire" virtually defined the rock-blues-jazz-classical amalgam that was acid-rock. --Billy Altman
Side one
"Break on Through (To the Other Side)" – 2:29
"Soul Kitchen" – 3:35
"The Crystal Ship" – 2:34
"Twentieth Century Fox" – 2:33
"Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)" (Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill) – 3:20
"Light My Fire" – 7:06
Side two
"Back Door Man" (Willie Dixon) – 3:34
"I Looked at You" – 2:22
"End of the Night" – 2:52
"Take It as It Comes" – 2:23
"The End" – 11:41
The Doors -- CD
The Doors
1967/1990 Elektra Records
Amazon.com
On their 1967 debut album, the Doors more than fulfilled the promise of their infamously challenging gigs around Los Angeles throughout the previous year. Whether belting out a standard like "Back Door Man" or talk-singing such originals as "The Crystal Ship" and "I Looked at You," leather-clad vocalist Jim Morrison exuded both sensuality and menace. The mixture, on the outsize album finale, "The End," helped rewrite the rules on rock song composition. None of this would have worked, though, were it not for the highly visual instrumental work of keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robbie Krieger, and drummer John Densmore, whose work on tracks such as "Take It As It Comes" and the lengthy hit "Light My Fire" virtually defined the rock-blues-jazz-classical amalgam that was acid-rock. --Billy Altman
Side one
"Break on Through (To the Other Side)" – 2:29
"Soul Kitchen" – 3:35
"The Crystal Ship" – 2:34
"Twentieth Century Fox" – 2:33
"Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)" (Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill) – 3:20
"Light My Fire" – 7:06
Side two
"Back Door Man" (Willie Dixon) – 3:34
"I Looked at You" – 2:22
"End of the Night" – 2:52
"Take It as It Comes" – 2:23
"The End" – 11:41