Thursday, June 16, 2016

Diane Schuur - Music Is My Life

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 1999
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:02
Size: 131,0 MB
Art: Front

(8:01)  1. Invitation
(3:13)  2. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
(4:36)  3. That Old Devil Called Love
(9:06)  4. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
(3:14)  5. Keepin' Out Of Mischief Now
(5:17)  6. Good Morning Heartache
(3:58)  7. I Only Have Eyes For You
(5:42)  8. Nardis
(4:12)  9. Music Is My Life
(6:17) 10. If You Could See Me Now
(3:19) 11. Somewhere Over The Rainbow

While most jazz singers probably do not improvise enough, in the case of Diane Schuur, the less she gets away from the melody the better. The reason is obvious: Schuur has a beautiful voice but she rarely seems to know what to do with it! Her improvising can be screechy and erratic. Fortunately, Schuur mostly sticks to the themes on this strong release. Utilizing a variety of top jazz musicians, including pianist Alan Broadbent (Schuur plays piano herself on two songs) and tenor saxophonist Nino Tempo (who always emulates Stan Getz), Schuur mostly uplifts standards on her colorful outing. She goes a bit over the top with her singing on "Invitation" but her versions of "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered," "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now" and "If You Could See Me Now" are quite lovely, and she takes "Over the Rainbow" as a haunting, unaccompanied vocal. This is one of her better releases and an excellent example of what her live shows were like during 1998-1999.~Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/music-is-my-life-mw0000047988

Personnel: Diane Schuur (vocals, acoustic & electric pianos); Jeff Clayton (alto saxophone); Nino Tempo (tenor saxophone); Marcus Printup (trumpet); Ira Napis (trombone); Emil Richards (vibraphone); Alan Broadbent (piano); Dean Parks (guitar); Roger Hines, Chuck Berghofer (bass); David Gibson, Larance Marable, John Guerin (drums).

Music Is My Life

2 comments:

  1. Just a general thank you for several of the wonderful albums you (and your buddies) have posted over the last few days. I must admit to loving the oldies.
    Best as always
    Bob

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Bob, I love the oldies too! Thank You as always!

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