Calabria Foti - A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:06
Size: 114,8 MB
Art: Front

(4:58)  1. Love Me As Though There Were No Tomorrow
(5:27)  2. The Touch of Your Lips
(6:08)  3. Do It Again
(4:22)  4. When Lights Are Low/Linger In My Arms
(3:54)  5. All Of You
(4:40)  6. I Am Woman (You Are Man)/You Fascinate Me So
(5:13)  7. I Wanna Be Loved
(4:27)  8. Close Your Eyes
(4:32)  9. A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening
(6:19) 10. For All We Know

Three especially sparkling ingredients shine through this exceptional CD. One is the singer, another is the well-chosen song selections, and the third is the stellar arrangements. The singer is the lovely, very talented Calabria Foti, she with a warm honey voice, a thoroughly musicianly voice. Foti phrases with feeling, emotes with intensity but always with taste. She has technique but it is always in service to the material, which brings me to the second ingredient, those romantic, sensual songs.“I am woman you are man” and “I wanna be loved starting tonight” and then “do it again. “Love me as though there’s no tomorrow;” why shouldn’t we surrender when “lights are low.” Calabria Foti is telling a story in this exceptional CD and it is a sexy story featuring a woman spending “a lovely evening” with a man who “fascinates her so.” 

Unlike many CDs, there are no weak songs, no throw aways in her selections. From beloved standards such as the exquisite “For All We Know” and Cole Porter’s “All of You” to lovely but lesser knowns, such as Herb Magidson’s “Linger In My Arms," each song is an emotive, polished gem. The dozen selections include two songs by the team of Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson, including the title song, “A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening” on which Foti wisely chooses to sing the rare verse. The second by this collaborative duo is the lovely “Love Me As Though There Were No Tomorrow.” which Foti performs as a beautiful bossa.Perhaps the highlight of this most satisfying CD is, Gershwin’s “Do It Again,” which is often done up-tempo and “tongue-in-cheek. But Foti’s slow version - complete with the well-written verse  takes the lyrics seriously and brings an intended erotic glow to this text. If this is not the definitive version, then it is certainly a most unforgettable rendition. But then, maybe the highlight is the unjustly overlooked Jule Styne song “I Am Woman” which Foti cleverly works into a medley with Cy Coleman’s “You Fascinate Me So." (Anyway, these cuts alone are worth the price of this CD.) And that third sparkling ingredient, the arrangements. 

At a time when charts seem to be growing more like obstacle courses, the beautifully crafted arrangements by Bob McChesney, Matt Harris and Foti are tasty, illuminating and in support of Foti’s soft-focus vocals. There is insufficient space to mention each of the superlative musicians, but it should be noted that McChesney enhances certain songs with most lovely and interesting trombone solos. Matt Harris is at the piano, Trey Henry at the upright bass, Dick Weller at the drums, the always lyrical Larry Koonse is the guitarist and some selections are enhanced by a string section. A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening elegantly explores an evening of love and is certainly one of the best jazz vocal recordings in many years. Since this CD has done quite well, thankfully my enthusiasm is shared by others. ~  Roger Crane  

www.thesongscout.com/.../Calabria_Foti_-_Lovely_Way_to_Spend_an_...

Personnel: Calabria Foti, vocals, violin solos; Matt Harris, piano, electric piano; Larry Koonse, guitars; Trey Henry, bass; Dick Weller, drums; Luis Conte, percussion; Bob McChesney, trombone solos; Rob Lockhart, tenor sax solo; string section

A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening

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Bobby Hackett - Rendezvous

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 1956
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 34:13
Size: 80,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:04)  1. You Are Too Beautiful
(2:38)  2. Thank You For A Lovely Evening
(2:38)  3. Autumn Nocturne
(2:59)  4. Cocktails For Two
(3:08)  5. When I'm With You
(3:07)  6. We Kiss In A Shadow
(2:36)  7. Two Cigarettes In The Dark
(2:35)  8. The Very Thought Of You
(2:33)  9. The Way You Look Tonight
(3:14) 10. Moonlight Becomes You
(3:07) 11. Love Me
(2:27) 12. One Kiss

Hackett was born in Providence, Rhode Island, to a family of Irish immigrants. He made his name as a follower of the legendary cornet player Bix Beiderbecke: Benny Goodman hired him to recreate Bix's famous "I'm Coming Virginia" solo at his (Goodman's) 1938 Carnegie Hall concert. In the late 1930s Hackett played lead trumpet in the Vic Schoen Orchestra which backed the Andrews Sisters. Bobby Hackett can be heard on the soundtrack to the 1940 Fred Astaire movie Second Chorus. In 1939 the talent agency MCA asked Bobby Hackett to form a big band with its backing. Unfortunately the band failed and Hackett was in substantial debt to MCA after it folded. Bobby Hackett joined the bands of Horace Heidt and then Glenn Miller to pay down this debt. To make matters worse, his lip was in bad shape after dental surgery, making it difficult for him to play the trumpet or cornet. Glenn Miller came to Hackett's rescue, offering him a job as a guitarist with the Miller Band. "When I joined the band and I was making good money at last, [...] [jazz critics] accused me of selling out. Hell I wasn't selling out, I was selling in! It's funny, isn't it, how you go right into the wastebasket with some critics the minute you become successful". Despite his lip problems, Hackett could still play occasional short solos, and he can be heard playing a famous one with the Glenn Miller Orchestra on "A String of Pearls."

A dream come true for Hackett was his inclusion in Louis Armstrong's 1947 Town Hall Jazz Concert. In 1954, Hackett appeared as a regular on the short-lived ABC variety show, The Martha Wright Show, also known as The Packard Showroom.However, what made Hackett something of a household name was his being hired by Jackie Gleason as a cornet soloist for some of Gleason's earliest mood music albums. Starting in 1952, Hackett appeared on Gleason's first Capitol Records album, Music for Lovers Only. The record as well as all of Gleason's next ten albums went gold. Hackett went on to appear on six more Gleason LPs. This association led directly to Hackett signing with Capitol for a series of his own albums. In 1965, he toured with singer Tony Bennett. In 1966 and 1967 Hackett accompanied Bennett on two European tours. In the early 1970s, Hackett performed separately with Dizzy Gillespie and Teresa Brewer.In 2012, Hackett was selected to be inducted into the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame. Bio ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Hackett

Rendezvous

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Lizz Wright - Fellowship

Styles: Neo-Soul
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:32
Size: 109,3 MB
Art: Front

(3:33)  1. Fellowship
(4:37)  2. Imagination
(5:30)  3. I Remember, I Believe
(4:29)  4. God Specializes
(8:30)  5. Gospel Medley
(1:56)  6. Sweeping Through The City
(1:18)  7. All The Seeds
(4:51)  8. Presence Of The Lord
(3:06)  9. In From The Storm
(2:58) 10. Feel The Light
(1:31) 11. Oya
(5:07) 12. Amazing Grace

On her fourth album, Lizz Wright returns to her gospel roots after writing her own material on 2008's The Orchard. Typically, however, this is hardly a traditional collection of faith-based songs. Wright does include a medley of old spirituals including "Up Above My Head," and she closes the proceedings with "Amazing Grace." But her idea of gospel is highly eclectic, also encompassing the Gladys Knight & the Pips hit "I've Got to Use My Imagination" and Jimi Hendrix's "In from the Storm," neither of which seem particularly religious, as well as Eric Clapton's "Presence of the Lord." Wright also draws material from a clutch of black female contemporaries and influences including Me'Shell Ndegéocello, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Joan Wasser, and Angélique Kidjo as she ranges from neo-soul to African-styled folk-rock music. 

The disparate sources are united by Wright's distinctive and powerful alto voice, which anchors the music and provides a stylistic through-line, no matter what the nominal genre. This is an unusually somber type of gospel, as Wright favors moodiness over fervor in her statements of faith. That is especially true at the end, when she presents "Amazing Grace" in an ambient, funereal mood. Listeners should expect to be moved by these performances, but not to be cheered. 

~ William Ruhlmann  http://www.allmusic.com/album/fellowship-mw0002033204

Fellowship

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Bob Barnard & Jim Galloway - What's New

Styles: Cornet And Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1999
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:02
Size: 144,8 MB
Art: Front

(5:59)  1. I've Got A Feeling I'm Falling
(7:05)  2. You Are My Lucky Star
(5:57)  3. What's New
(5:43)  4. Marie
(6:04)  5. The Last Time I Saw Paris
(5:30)  6. I May Be Wrong
(6:13)  7. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
(7:20)  8. There'll Be Some Changes Made
(7:42)  9. Wabash Blues
(5:24) 10. Yearning

This Swiss concert matches together the hot Australian cornetist Bob Barnard with the Canadian soprano saxophonist Jim Galloway and a top-notch Swiss rhythm section comprised of pianist Henri Chaix, bassist Isla Eckinger and drummer Romano Cavicchiolo. Although they mostly perform swing standards, the music is closer to Dixieland than swing with many freewheeling ensembles. Barnard is in generally good form and the highlights include "I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling," "Marie," "I May Be Wrong," "There'll Be Some Changes Made" and the often-overlooked tune "Yearning." Listening to this very coherent and swinging music, it is impressive to note that Barnard and Galloway had never played together before. ~ Scott Yanow  http://www.allmusic.com/album/whats-new-mw0000414819

Personnel: Bob Barnard (cornet); Jim Galloway (soprano saxophone); Henri Chaix (piano); Romano Cavicchiolo (drums).

What's New

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