Joani Taylor - In My Own Voice

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 73:05
Size: 167,3 MB
Art: Front

(5:15)  1. Just Let Go
(3:34)  2. The Secret
(4:25)  3. Take Five
(5:36)  4. Thank You for Loving Me
(6:39)  5. Who's Gonna Hold Me Now
(3:19)  6. Lucky in Love
(6:43)  7. Peace Lullaby
(6:21)  8. Dance With Me
(7:24)  9. You Are My Sunshine
(4:07) 10. Photograph
(4:49) 11. Compared to What
(6:15) 12. Jim's Lament
(4:28) 13. Dance With Me
(4:02) 14. Just Let Go

Joani Taylor is a grand Dame among jazz singers, displaying a luster in her voice that glitters with the splendor of a Queen’s crown jewels. Taylor’s sixth album In My Own Voice shows her moving from spirited swing jaunts to sultry ballads while swigging a captivating R&B clef in her vocal holster that tells you this is a woman with a sturdy backbone who possesses the vulnerability of a maiden’s heart. Produced by Taylor and Miles Foxx Hill, In My Own Voice has chiefly original material co-written by Taylor with a handful of covers. The songs exhibit the multiple facets of Taylor’s vocals while honing her singing into sculptures for audiences to behold. She sings to a timing that she hears in head similarly to country music’s Faith Hill, which causes the lyrics to spill outside of the melodic lines making her voice move with authority and autonomy from the confines of her surroundings. She is not singing to the music scores but to someone whom she has in mind, which she puts on a pedestal and serenades with the charm of a love-soaked cockatoo. The Latin flare of “Dance With Me” brings out the sultry aspects of Taylor’s register while tracks like “Compared To What” and “Just Let Go” light up with the R&B intonations of her vocal nuances which infuse the melodies with a nice shot of adrenaline. 

Taylor holds her notes longer than humanly imaginable in “You Are My Sunshine” which penetrates deep into the listener’s skin, and the smooth way that she sings “The Secret” stokes a solace over the listener. Her remake of Paul Desmond and Dave and Lola Brubeck’s classic tune “Take Five” inflames a charming flirtation between herself and rapper Jay Kin. Afterwards, Taylor goes into a relaxing mode with a string of smooth torchlight melodies like “Thank You For Loving Me” featuring the lively trumpet curlicues of Brad Turner, and the “Who’s Gonna Hold Me Now” with its silk bedding of consoling piano keys played by Bob Murphy. “Lucky In Love,” penned by Taylor and Sharon Minemoto, has all the classic twinkles and cool cat strut which mark a memorable jazz standard, and the loving way that Taylor’s voice cradles the verses of “Peace Lullaby” is reminiscent of the feminine softness of Dena DeRose showing soulful caresses that feel ideal. In My Own Voice establishes Joani Taylor as a purveyor of love sonnets. Her voice delivers words of love as if they should be an everyday occurrence. Her songs seem more than wishful thoughts and ideal illusions. They seem so real as if these stories actually happened and are still happening everyday. Her album allows audiences to enter a world filled with blissful sensations and starry romances. No one in their right mind could say no to such temptation, and most of all, the human heart craves it. http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/joani5

Personnel: Saxophone - Ross Taggart, Trumpet - Brad Turner, Piano and Hammond B3 organ - Bob Murphy, Guitar - Doug Stephenson, Bass - Miles Foxx, Drums - Buff Allen and Berni Arai, Percussion - Jack Duncan, and Emcee - Jay Kin

In My Own Voice

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Katie Eagleson - Once Upon a Time

Styles: Cabaret
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:44
Size: 148,8 MB
Art: Front

(4:54)  1. Once Upon a Time
(3:19)  2. No One Is Alone
(2:14)  3. What You Don't Know About Women
(3:25)  4. You Are There
(3:54)  5. Losing My Mind
(5:43)  6. The End of a Love Affair
(3:55)  7. Where Do You Start
(2:59)  8. A Little Taste
(4:22)  9. You Must Believe in Spring
(4:52) 10. So Many Stars
(5:16) 11. My Foolish Heart
(4:36) 12. I'm All Smiles
(4:06) 13. How Do You Keep the Music Playing
(4:17) 14. Why Did I Choose You
(2:19) 15. I Like You, You're Nice
(4:24) 16. My Buddy

Katie Eagleson’s first musical memory is of sitting in the family station wagon, singing along with the car radio – and her mother – and Patti Page.  The song was “Let Me Go Lover,” but Katie was singing “Ging Ging Go Gover” because she was two years old.  Fast forward to the present and you can hear Katie’s own recordings on the radio, on Sirius XM Satellite Radio, WXPN and WRTI in Philadelphia, WNYC in New York, and other stations. The youngest of seven children, Katie grew up harmonizing with her sisters, singing songs they learned from their mother.  Singing with her family, and listening to the great singers of American popular music, such as Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Nat King Cole, and Barbra Streisand, provided the inspiration that determined Katie’s musical taste and career path. 

Katie considers herself a lyric interpreter.  With her excellent pitch and crystal clear diction, it is obvious that she has great respect and appreciation for the composer and lyricist.  Performing the music of songwriters such as the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Stephen Sondheim, or Marilyn and Alan Bergman, she delivers the lyrics, whether sad, romantic, or funny, with great sincerity.  “I’m drawn to songs, of any era, that have words I can sing with emotional honesty,” said Katie.  “When those words are combined with well-crafted music, I think the impact of each is intensified.  And that to me is magic.”  As one reviewer wrote, “The Great American Songbook is a treasure of American culture, and Katie Eagleson is one of those rare vocalists whose artistry both preserves and inspires it.” Since the beginning of her professional career, Katie has been the featured vocalist in many ensembles, ranging from duos to Big Bands, singing “pop” music, in venues large and small, and for events both public and private, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Chris’ Jazz Café, and the Sellersville Theater.  These days most of Katie’s performances are jazz cabaret shows with her husband and musical director, Lenny Pierro and his group. http://www.katieeagleson.com/

Once Upon a Time

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The Manhattan Transfer - The Spirit of St. Louis

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:22
Size: 107,7 MB
Art: Front

(2:41)  1. Stompin' At Mahogany Hall
(6:18)  2. The Blues Are Brewin'
(3:28)  3. Sugar
(4:30)  4. A Kiss To Build A Dream On
(3:16)  5. Old Man Mose
(5:29)  6. Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans
(4:11)  7. Gone Fishin'
(5:46)  8. Nothing Could Be Hotter Than That
(4:46)  9. Blue Again
(5:54) 10. When You Wish Upon A Star

You always look for new things from the Manhattan Transfer, and after a couple of releases that weren't too innovative, followed by a three-year gap, suddenly they come out with a really peculiar-sounding, refreshingly weird observance of the Louis Armstrong centennial. It sounds as if they had spent those three years racking their brains trying to come up with a totally different studio sound that's neither nostalgic nor modern. Which is exactly what they've done; the sound is compressed to evoke that of an ancient 78 rpm disc but not any 78 you'll ever encounter, whether by Louis or anyone. You hear all kinds of odd things bumping around in the back like loose parts in a machine, strange electronic treatments of the voices, an accordion wailing through many of the tracks, Delta blues guitar, Cajun, and rock & roll, and even more modern styles (with members of k.d. lang's band and Los Lobos's Steve Berlin joining in). 

The A&R guys probably would have killed to make this CD an exercise in reverent nostalgia  "Do You Know What It Means to Miss Orleans" is the closest thing to it  but a track like "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" with its touch of hip-hop in the rhythm, electronically limited guitar, and strings doesn't sound nostalgic in the least. "Gone Fishin'" is an affectionate, extended Alan Paul/Tim Hauser takeoff on the easygoing rapport between Armstrong and Bing Crosby on their duet version, wisely leaving the funny topical references to the original. "Nothing Could Be Hotter Than That" has some trademark Cheryl Bentyne high-wire vocalese. And to end the album, a normally warm and cozy tune like "When You Wish Upon a Star" opens and closes with a spacy electronic arrangement, with harmonies that thankfully undercut the sweetness, transforming the tune. Louis Armstrong wouldn't have recognized this "tribute," but his younger self probably would have hailed the Transfer's renewed moxie and experimental spirit.  ~ Richard S.Ginell  http://www.allmusic.com/album/spirit-of-st-louis-mw0000619824

The Spirit of St. Louis

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