Fay Claassen - Close To You

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2020
Time: 48:36
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 112,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:20) 1. The Fool On The Hill
(4:20) 2. Sailing
(3:55) 3. If You Leave Me Now
(4:48) 4. Close To You
(3:28) 5. Got To Get You Into My Life
(5:13) 6. One Day I'll Fly Away
(4:42) 7. I Can't Make You Love Me
(4:34) 8. Killing Me Softly
(3:29) 9. Spinning Wheel
(5:16) 10. At Seventeen
(4:25) 11. The First Time I Saw Your Face

To Dutch and German Jazz aficionados Fay Claassen needs no introduction. Born in Nijmegen Fay is without doubt one of the Netherlands best know jazz vocalists and recipient of multiple Edison awards (known as the Dutch Grammys) as well as the prestigious German “Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik”, a “Golden Record Award” and the “Chet Baker Award”.

Fay has always been known for her wide repertoire choice and and her ability to fearlessly go where most would not dare. This recording titled “Close to you” is Fays latest release and once again is confirmation of this. “Close to You” was released earlier in 2020 follows her 2018 release “Dutch Songbook”, recorded with the WDR Big Band, that also reached into a treasure trove of material rarely touched by jazz artists.

“Close to You” (Wedgeview Music) features eleven spectacular arrangements of well known pop gems, largely from the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, including among others compositions by Lennon & McCartney classic “The Fool on the Hill”, Blood, Sweat & Tears “Spinning Wheel” and of course the title track, Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “Close to You”. Recorded at Wedge View Studios in the Netherlands the album features a large line-up of musicians including standard rhythm section comprising of Roeland Jacobs (Piano), Frans van Geest (Bass), Marcel Serierse (Drums) and Daniel de Moraes (Guitar). Strings, Woodwinds were conducted by Alexandrea Arrieche and most tracks feature guest performances from Hermine Durloo, Benjamin Herman, Antonio Serrano, Lo van Gorp, Teus Nobel, Peter Tiehuis and Karel Boehlee.

The album features spectacular arrangements by Roeland Jacobs that elevate these classic songs to a new level while at the same time paying full respect to the original. The musical performances throughout the album are excellent yet, in my opinion, it is Claassen’s vocal performances on this album that make this set a true winner.

Opening with Lennon & McCartney’s “The Fool on the Hill” the scene is set. Couched in an easy Bossa Nova feel with the occasional odd meter bar this track immediately grabs your attention and leaving the listener wanting more. Christopher Cross’s 1980 hit “Sailing” follows and while the arrangement does not diverge a great deal from the original it presents one of the finest vocal performances on the album. In particular I liked the treatment given to Bonnie Raitt’s “I can’t Make You Love Me”. This track is the most contemporary of the repertoire presented on the album and Jacobs arrangement underscores this. I particularly enjoyed the opening straight eighth string motif with Peter Tiehuis’ introduction to the melody, a great way to open without giving away the farm!

“At Seventeen”, originally made famous by Janis Ian, is in my opinion one of the many highlights on this album. The combination of Fay’s vocal reading of the piece together with the Latin flavored arrangement and the contribution by Spanish Harmonica player Antonio Serrano converge to take this folk classic to a whole new level.

The album closes with, what in my mind is the true highlight of the album, “The First Time I saw your Face”. This song, originally written by Ewan MacColl for folk singer Peggy Seeger and of course best known for the 1972 release by Roberta Flack, has been one of my favorite songs for many years. Claassen’s performance on this album defies superlatives’, pure story telling at it’s best.

I would have to admit, based purely on the track list, this would not be an album that would normally end up on my playlist. Yet, after listening, once again I was reminded never to judge an album from preconceived notions. This album exudes class from the first note to the last. As stated above, the arrangements are spectacular as are the performances. The sonic quality of the recording is direct and balanced beautifully giving great clarity to the often complex layering.

What I particularly enjoyed with this album is its pure honesty, there are no science projects here, just great material beautifully arranged and featuring world class vocal performances. I can’t recommend this album highly enough.https://jazzineurope.mfmmedia.nl/2020/12/cd-review-fay-claassen-close-to-you/

Close To You

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Bunky Green - Healing The Pain

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:00
Size: 148.8 MB
Styles: Post bop, Saxophone jazz
Year: 1990
Art: Front

[7:29] 1. The Thrill Is Gone
[6:40] 2. A Raisin In The Sun Walter's Theme
[7:12] 3. Who Can I Turn To
[6:02] 4. Broadway Melody Of 1940 I Concentrate On You
[4:40] 5. A Raisin In The Sun Love Theme
[5:49] 6. You've Changed
[4:55] 7. Wild Green
[3:38] 8. A Raisin In The Sun Radio Theme
[5:29] 9. Everything I Have Is Yours
[3:46] 10. Seashells
[7:21] 11. Goodbye
[1:53] 12. A Raisin In The Sun Love Them (Reprise)

In listening to Bunky Green, one can hear where Greg Osby, Steve Coleman, and Gary Thomas came from. Green sails in and out of the chord changes and makes most of his solos into a do-or-die situation full of emotional intensity, especially when he plays alto. On this diverse CD (which finds him also performing a bit on soprano), Green shows that he is not afraid to occasionally caress a melody (as on a slow "Everything I Have Is Yours") and frequently emphasizes unexpected notes, particularly during a fascinating version of "I Concentrate on You." Joined by a fine rhythm section consisting of pianist Billy Childs, bassist Art Davis, and drummer Ralph Penland, Green is in top form on what may very well be his definitive recording. Highly recommended. ~Scott Yanow

Healing The Pain

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Frances Faye - Frances Faye Swings Fats Domino

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 26:51
Size: 61.5 MB
Styles: Jazz-blues-R&B
Year: 1958/2013
Art: Front

[2:17] 1. My Blue Heaven
[1:59] 2. I'm In Love Again
[2:49] 3. Blueberry Hill
[1:55] 4. Wait And See
[2:32] 5. Ain't That A Shame
[2:29] 6. Blue Monday
[1:56] 7. I'm Walkin'
[2:16] 8. Goin' Home
[1:47] 9. Bo Weevil
[2:00] 10. It's You I Love
[2:23] 11. When My Dreamboat Comes Home
[2:24] 12. Poor Me

Fans of female vocalists of the '50s inevitably bemoan the lack of respect given to one of the true greats. Frances Faye, like Peggy Lee, was a dishy, somewhat off-kilter blonde who could scribble out a mean tune when the mood hit her. She was actually a recording presence in the decades prior, writing and co-writing songs that were recorded by herself and other artists such as the Andrews Sisters all through the late '30s and '40s. Faye started her professional career at 16, filling in for a local pianist on an amateur show when some misfortune befell him. She made her first stage appearance in Brooklyn two years later, and spent the next few years on the vaudeville and nightclub circuit, as an accompanist for singers. When one of these singers was canned by a nightclub owner right before the downbeat, Faye took over. An extensive career as a nightclub performer followed and, by 1934, her schedule had her working 11 months a year, much of that out on the road. In 1936, she had her first hit record, the thoughtful "No Regrets," in 1936. "Well, All Right" primed the jukeboxes across the nation after the Andrews Sisters cut the song. The following year, Faye co-starred in the Bing Crosby and Martha Raye vehicle Double or Nothing; Faye played the sister of Raye, and they perform a nightclub act together. A musical highlight is the performance of "After You," with both gals plus Crosby. As a singer, Faye was considered to be on the level of a Dinah Washington, in terms of power and not at all of the cutesy-cutesy female pop singer variety. When she played her own keyboard accompaniment, club owners sometimes complained that she had pounded the piano so hard that all that remained of parts were sawdust. Faye could do the type of romantic material that more commercial performers such as the bubbly Doris Day were known for, but also included obscure songwriting gems in her repertoire as well as funky, naughty rhythm & blues numbers. Faye continued to compose throughout her career, including the songs "Purple Wine," "You're Heavenly," "Frances and Her Friends," and "A Good Idea." As if more intent on pleasing music critics than the general audience and bless her heart for it she left the big-time Capitol contract and began cutting sides for the jazz-oriented Bethlehem company. As expected, quality improved, as well as range. Yet her career seemed to suffer due to lack of more general exposure. While other vocalists had done TV, Faye had not. Her film career was not much better, consisting of only two small bits. Perhaps she was not glamorous enough for the '50s mass media or Hollywood crowd; "I'm not pretty but I'm neat. Meticulous. You could eat off me," was how the singer herself described her appearance. Even more likely, the industry was not so receptive to performers who were so open about their alternative sexuality. Faye was not only an influence on the sassy-and-saucy nightclub performers such as Lena Horne, Eartha Kitt, and Bette Midler, but was also one of the very first openly gay female performers, dropping the rhyming couplet "Faye, Faye, gay, gay/is there any other way?" into her on-stage patter just in case anyone didn't get the idea. She made her last major recordings in 1964, but continued club gigs all the way into the '80s. Well into the 1970s, she was still headlining in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Miami, as well as England and Australia. In 1977, Frances Faye played a wise-cracking madam in the French film director Louis Malle's controversial film Pretty Baby, which, in the words, of Faye, "opens with me in bed smoking an opium pipe with a wig half off my head." After a series of strokes, perhaps brought on by so much excitement, she died in the early '90s. It was only near the end of that decade that any of her previously out of print material began to see the light of day in reissue form. Bethlehem led the charge with Frances Faye Sings Folk Songs, which manages to be simultaneously marvelous and a completely misleading example of her style. Fans surely sang their own chorus of "Well, All Right" when the artist's two volumes of live recordings were repackaged on a single CD, entitled Frances Faye: Caught in the Act. Her career was one of the subjects of the interesting documentary film Chop Suey, directed by Bruce Weber.~ bio by Eugene Chadbourne

Frances Faye Swings Fats Domino

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Pat Metheny - MoonDial

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2024
Time: 58:10
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 138,0 MB
Art: Front

(6:23) 1. MoonDial
(4:48) 2. La Crosse
(2:38) 3. You're Everything
(4:23) 4. Here, There and Everywhere
(2:58) 5. We Can't See It, But It's There
(7:13) 6. Falcon Love
(7:12) 7. Everything Happens To Me / Somewhere
(5:03) 8. Londonderry Air
(5:28) 9. This Belongs To You
(3:14) 10. Shoga.mp3
(3:50) 11. My Love And I
(6:56) 12. Angel Eyes
(1:13) 13. MoonDial (epilogue)

With the release of Dream Box in the spring of 2023, I took off on a long solo tour around the world, sitting alone onstage for two and a half hours for the very first time. I had played a few tunes here and there by myself each night for years but had never built a presentation that focused solely on solo guitar playing for such an extended run of concerts.

This was a tour that represented not just the sound and conception of the Dream Box release but also was an opportunity for me to look at some of the other ways I have released records in a solo setting across the years.

Along with music from Dream Box, the concerts gave me a chance to revisit and extend the concepts represented on projects like New Chautauqua, Zero Tolerance for Silence, One Quiet Night, What's It All About, even a bit of Orchestrion and more, all in one setting. Each one of those solo recordings, like Dream Box, is distinct in some way and unlike the others.

The idea is to try to keep coming up with different angles and ways of thinking about music while hopefully keeping a fundamental aesthetic at work in all of it. In other words, to continue the research. Just before the tour started, I made a discovery.

Some years back, I had asked Linda Manzer, one of the best luthiers on the planet and one of my major collaborators, to build me yet another acoustic Baritone guitar, but this time one with nylon strings as opposed to the steel string version that I had used on the records One Quiet Night and What's It All About.

My deep dive into the world of Baritone guitar began when I remembered that as a kid in Missouri, a neighbor had shown me a unique way of stringing where the middle two strings are tuned up an octave while the general tuning of the Baritone instrument remains down a 4th or a 5th. This opened up a dimension of harmony that had been previously unavailable to me on any conventional guitar.

There were never really issues with Linda's guitar itself, but finding nylon strings that could manage that tuning without a) breaking or b) sounding like a banjo was difficult.

Just before we hit the road, I ran across a company in Argentina (Magma) that specialized in making a new kind of nylon string with a tension that allowed precisely the sound I needed to make Linda's Baritone guitar viable in my special tuning.

It has happened to me a few times along the way where an instrument has instantly peeled open up a whole new range of possibilities. The initial moments spent with the Roland guitar synth of the late 70s/early 80s come to mind as another example.

Literally, minutes after finally finding nylon strings that could handle this tuning and placing them on the Manzer guitar, I again experienced one of those revelatory flashes. There was suddenly a whole new palette of sound under my fingers, just like that. This all occurred just three days before the tour was set to begin. But there was no doubt that this was something that I could jump right into on the bandstand.

Across the first 50+ concerts of the tour, I gradually introduced this new instrument. At first, it was just one tune. Then two. By the time the tour's first leg ended, Linda's nylon-string Baritone guitar could be twenty or twenty-five minutes of the concert. It is a beautiful, rich, almost infinite feeling new world for me.

As soon as that first part of the tour went to break, I headed into the studio. I wanted to capture the magic of this new sound as quickly as possible and build on the immediate experiences that emerged from playing it every night for several months while it was all still fresh. The result of this journey is this recording; MoonDial.

While it fits exactly in line as a followup to One Quiet Night and What's It All About in that it is a purely solo guitar record - just me, the guitar, and a mic - but with the particular sound of nylon strings, it offers a very different kind of feeling.

These recordings took place across a few winter nights during that first brief hiatus in the Dream Box tour at the end of 2023.

The challenge was to whittle down the dozens of tunes I had found myself drawn to during the many overtime soundchecks and dressing room practice sessions spent with this new axe while on the road with it. I couldn't put the thing down.

Finally, I settled on a repertoire. Featured here are some new originals written just for this instrument, a couple of older tunes of mine revisited, a treasured Chick Corea piece dedicated here to my longtime friend, all mixed together with a few of my favorite songs by other composers from across the eras.

The feeling of this record follows the instrument's nature. The central vibe here is one of resonant contemplation. This guitar allows me to go deep. Deep to a place that I maybe have never quite gotten to before. This is a dusk-to-sunrise record, hard-core mellow.

I have often found myself as a listener searching for music to fill those hours, and honestly, I find it challenging to find the kinds of things I like to hear. As much "mellow" music as there is out there, a lot of it just doesn't do the thing for me.

This record might offer something to the insomniacs and all-night folks looking for the same sounds, harmonies, spirits, and melodies that I was in pursuit of during the late nights and early mornings that this music was recorded.

There were a lot of clear nights during that December, and in my imagination, it seemed like the moon was checking out what I was searching for up on the upstate NY mountain where I was recording.

This music is a reflection of those solitary winter hours for me. But mostly, it represents a new sonic and harmonic realm that I hope everyone will enjoy hearing as much as I have enjoyed getting to know it.https://patmetheny.com/current-release/

MoonDial

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