Lady Linn & Her Magnificent Bigband - Black Swan

Styles: Vocal, Big Band
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:48
Size: 99,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:31) 1. Nobody But You
(3:15) 2. Miss The Boat
(3:09) 3. Laundry Day
(2:41) 4. You + Me
(4:27) 5. Black Swan
(2:39) 6. Direction
(4:12) 7. Sneaking Around
(2:38) 8. Afraid To Lose You
(4:00) 9. Everlasting
(3:12) 10. Walking In The Rain
(4:54) 11. You + Me - Reprise
(3:05) 12. Loneliness

Those who are tired of the uniformity that dominates the charts and radio waves these days, better brace yourself and read on quietly. Because who really doesn't give a damn about how songs seem to sound these days, is Lien De Greef. As Lady Linn, she's been doing her quirky thing for fifteen years. Usually supported by her Magnificent Seven, but to add some luster to her anniversary, they are even given even reinforcement this time. So Lady Linn and her Magnificent Bigband. She occupies a unique place in the Flemish music industry and she adds some strength to that on her new album 'Black Swan'.

Lady Linn's music is a bit like a time machine: you are sent back in time decades. We do not count ourselves among the cultural pessimists who think that everything used to be better, but it is nice to taste the tones of the first half of the last century: real big band music and you get that more than ever with Lady Linn . Her seven musicians have now turned sixteen. Four card tables, yes. That has to produce a pleasant atmosphere and you can hear that immediately in opener Nobody But You , in which all musical registers are immediately pulled open. An enormous sound that almost blows your mind and the song that lies beneath it is also quite enjoyable. But anyone who expects it to be such a bombastic sound all the time will be disappointed; and luckily. Trop is of course too much and we are convinced that no one knows that better than producer Jonathan Jeremiah. Because at the end of the second song, Miss The Boat , we already started to worry whether we could do this for a long ride. And just then there will already be a nice break with Laundry Day . That proves to us what a great singer and songwriter Lady Linn has become. A song about writer's block and how to deal with it: why not about the daily life of a singer / mom? The album is really at cruising speed, because a little later follows the excellent first single You + Me. We suspect that this is a real hit in swing circles, when even we start to feel light dancing jitters. Direction would also be excellent single material for us: it is catchy, danceable and easily digestible.

Keeping the big band feeling exciting for an entire album just didn't work out for us, but we still want to give Lady Linn all the praise for daring to choose a different sound so resolutely. Because we have the feeling that she could make it easier for herself and instead of jazz music opt for more poppy songs. What her passage in the vtm program 'Liefde Voor Muziek' made clear to us is how good she sounds when she opts for a sparse accompaniment. What Was To Come by Bart Peeters was the breathtakingly beautiful Raindrops On A Leaf . That is of course not on 'Black Swan', but there is another minimalist song that stands out for us: Afraid To Lose You. Wonderfully simple on the piano and therefore really stunning. Although we certainly do not want to drive Lady Linn out of that unique jazz corner that she gives us a unique interpretation. Maybe Walking In The Rain is the perfect symbiosis. It starts clean, but gets a grand finale with the big band and therefore it could be the best of both worlds...Translate By Google https://damusic.be/cd/lady-linn-and-her-magnificent-bigband-black-swan-6881.html

Black Swan

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Jerry Bergonzi - Nearly Blue

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 70:47
Size: 162,8 MB
Art: Front

(7:37) 1. It Might as Well Be Spring
(6:07) 2. Countdown
(5:36) 3. How About You?
(5:22) 4. Tectonic Plates
(8:17) 5. Nearly Blue
(4:51) 6. On Green Dolphin Street
(4:48) 7. We'll Be Together Again
(6:03) 8. While You Were Out
(8:19) 9. Nice Work If You Can Get It
(7:26) 10. Laura
(6:17) 11. Higgsboson - Bonus Track

Even though Jerry Bergonzi has nothing left to prove, after almost half a century near the top of almost every list of the jazz world's leading tenor saxophonists, he is hardly ready to sit back and rest on those laurels. On his latest album, Nearly Blue (a sequel to the well-received Spotlight on Standards), Bergonzi is supported, as before, only by organist Renato Chicco and drummer Andrea Michelutti, meaning his supple tenor is in action much of the time, which is fine with him, as taking the lead and running with it is what Bergonzi does best.

The ardent and invigorating session consists of seven standards and three of Bergonzi's perceptive original compositions ("Tectonic Plates," "While You Were Out," "Nearly Blue"). The album's well-chosen name, it should be noted, is both informative and accurate, as Bergonzi may flirt with "blue," as in sadness, but almost never gives way to that impulse, and the title track serves as the only "blues" on an otherwise upbeat menu; even when taken into account, it is, for the most part, as the title denotes, only "nearly" so. The only true "ballad" on offer is Carl Fischer / Frankie Laine's idealistic "We'll Be Together Again," wherein Bergonzi shows he is a master in that realm as well.

He is, on the other hand, even sharper and more persuasive when the pace quickens, as it does on "Nice Work If You Can Get It," "How About You?" and "On Green Dolphin Street." Or when he takes a familiar melody and turns it inside out, as he does on David Raksin's classic, "Laura." That is one of two numbers on which Chicco takes the first solo; the other is the animated opener, Rodgers and Hammerstein's "It Might as Well Be Spring." Chicco acquits himself well, as he does when supporting Bergonzi. "Spring" is taken at an agreeable mid-tempo clip that suits Bergonzi's spiraling tenor quite well.

John Coltrane's "Countdown," which follows, is another example of Bergonzi's distinctive way with a tune, as he renovates both melody and tempo without lessening its innate charm. "How About You?" is a more straightforward romp, "Tectonic Plates" more nebulous and shape-shifting but never less than enticing. Bergonzi's third original, "While You Were Out," an even-tempered bossa written when one of his students was a no-show, proves that someone who is astute and focused can often make excellent use of spare time. The Gershwin brothers' "Nice Work" is the only number on which Michelutti is able to flex his solo muscles, which he does with gusto.

Aside from offering a splendid showcase for Bergonzi and his Italian colleagues, Nearly Blue shows that the tenor master, now in his seventies, remains at the top of his invariably impressive game. Those who love the sound and swing of a superlative tenor saxophone won't find many who fly those flags higher than Jerry Bergonzi.~ Jack Bowers https://www.allaboutjazz.com/nearly-blue-jerry-bergonzi-savant-records

Personnel: Jerry Bergonzi: saxophone, tenor; Renato Chicco: organ, Hammond B3; Andrea Michelutti: drums.

Nearly Blue

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Gretchen Lieberum - This May Only Be a Dream

Styles: Vocal
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:08
Size: 95,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:26) 1. Come Rain or Come Shine
(4:17) 2. Don't Explain
(3:27) 3. Lonely Sea
(5:49) 4. Who Knows Where the Time Goes
(4:41) 5. Blue Skies
(3:25) 6. Wild Is the Wind
(3:31) 7. Angel Eyes
(4:26) 8. For All We Know
(2:56) 9. My Darling, My Darling
(3:07) 10. While We're Young

Los Angeles based singer-songwriter Gretchen Lieberum had a vision for her latest album, This May Only Be A Dream, over ten years ago, when she first met and worked with BAFTA award winning producer and musician Keefus Ciancia. Gretchen, who also fronts the Prince tribute band Princess with actress Maya Rudolph, wanted to create an album of jazz and pop standards, songs she’d loved and performed since childhood, but deconstructed and reimagined in a modern context, with Keefus in particular producing and arranging: “There was really no one else I wanted to do this project with besides Keefus. His impeccable taste and astounding creativity were exactly what I wanted for this album.” Keefus’s schedule has been quite busy over the last several years, creating the score for seasons one and three of True Detective with T-Bone Burnett, as well as scoring Killing Eve with David Holmes, for which they won a BAFTA for best original score. Gretchen in the meantime was playing sold-out shows across the country with Maya Rudolph as Princess, including a slot at the 2019 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. But Gretchen and Keefus managed to work on the project in bits and pieces when they could, finally completing the album in early 2021.

To create the album, Gretchen recorded vocal takes of over twenty of her favorite standards, accompanied only by piano, before sending them to Keefus, who is based in France: “I chose songs that speak to me lyrically, and have melodies that I’ve always loved and been haunted by. When recording them, I kept the accompanying instrumentation very minimal, in order to allow Keefus to have room to let his creativity and imagination run wild.” While recording, Gretchen found inspiration from the music of her idols, such as Nina Simone, Peggy Lee, and Nancy Sinatra. Of the songs Gretchen sent, Keefus chose his favorites, removed the piano and began to reimagine them, taking a rule-breaking approach to harmony, arrangement and genre around Gretchen’s a cappella vocals: “Sometimes Keefus would send a track back to me and I’d be absolutely blown away by what he’d crafted around the vocal; a stark ballad would come back accompanied by a dense, swooping orchestra, tempos might be slowed down or sped up, all in the same song. Then I’d continue to build on what he’d worked on, like adding layers to a painting.” The finished tracks, inspired by Gretchen’s emotional and intimate delivery, are at once lush, dynamic, visual, and cinematic.

To complete the album, the two met in Los Angeles at the historic Electro Vox Studios, bringing in a variety of seasoned and like-minded session musicians such as Jay Bellerose, David Ralicke, Gabe Noel, Woody Jackson, Peter Smith, string player Gabe Witcher, and Wendy Melvoin of Prince’s The Revolution on background vocals. “It was amazing to be able to flesh out our songs with these incredibly talented musicians, while working in such a beautiful and historic space. And best of all, Keefus and I were finally able to work together in person after two years of collaborating from different continents. It was a really special experience.”

The lyrical stories within these classic songs are both hallowed and revered, written by some of the world’s greatest songwriters, from Johnny Mercer to Billie Holiday to Brian Wilson. In recording This May Only Be A Dream, Gretchen and Keefus endeavored to honor these past greats, but also to reinvent them without any strict adherence to previous arrangements or “standard” rules. The result is an album that is at once timely and timeless, appealing to longtime listeners while simultaneously opening a door for a whole new generation to discover great music anew. http://www.gretchenlieberum.com/

This May Only Be a Dream

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