Showing posts with label Brenda Boykin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brenda Boykin. Show all posts

Monday, October 3, 2016

Brenda Boykin - The Time In The World

Styles: Vocal, Soul
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:39
Size: 149,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:22)  1. Feel Me
(4:35)  2. Mambo Jambo
(4:05)  3. This Maybe Game
(3:46)  4. Don't Take My Love Away
(5:08)  5. Where Is It Written
(4:31)  6. I'll Be With You
(4:40)  7. Stone Mad
(4:20)  8. El Ritmo
(4:04)  9. Pa-Pade Swing (Koko Chanel Club Mix)
(3:58) 10. Dancing All Night
(3:57) 11. All the Time in the World
(4:16) 12. La Diva
(3:56) 13. Ninety Nine 'n a Half
(4:56) 14. U Don't Love Me (I Don't Care)
(3:59) 15. And You Know How

Brenda calls it "Bourbon and Cornbread," the musical mixture of jazzy sweetness and down-home sass that marks her as "the most authentic and most inventive female jump blues vocal stylist of her generation," according to blues historian Lee Hildebrand. Brenda Boykin has earned a sterling reputation in the San Francisco Bay Area as a masterful interpreter of jazz and blues material gleaned from big bands, old blues hands, and honky tonk heroes. Boykin has firmly established herself as an unsurpassed vocal talent whose elixir of bourbon and cornbread - sounds from silk to sandpaper delight both new listeners and purists who compare her to the giants of the past. A native of Oakland, California, Boykin's first musical experience came through the youth choir of the North Oakland Missionary Baptist Church, one of the many houses of the lord where raucous, heart-felt sounds of the faithful still ring out on the wide streets of the East Bay flatlands. The church strains can still be found in her rich, husky contralto, effortless power and controlled vocal passion. After studying the clarinet in high school Boykin entered the University of California at Berkeley - and though studying psychology and social welfare gravitated toward the jazz bands working on and near campus. Boykin worked Bay Area jazz and blues hot spots that helped her expand her musical horizons.

With the encouragement of family friend and guitarist Sonny Lane, Boykin began to dig in with the blues people at Oaklands's legendary Eli's Mile High Club. The famous North Oakland night spot has been for many years the heartbeat of East Bay blues life, with giant figures including Percy Mayfield, Lowell Fulson and Jimmy McCracklin gracing the small stage alongside lesser-known stalwarts including guitarist and arranger Johnny Heartsman, Sonny Lane and Mississippi Johnny Waters.Under tutelage of Lane, Waters and drummer Francis Clay an influential force in the great Muddy Waters bands of the late '50's and early '60's - Boykin absorbed the laid back, call-and-response magic of the late night urban blues. "Boykin does delightfully unfamiliar things with familiar tunes," said the East Bay Express in 1988, "using her rhythmic authority and arranger's sensibility to create exciting new version" of tunes from Basie, B.B., Buck Owens and everybody in between. She often cites Sarah Vaughn as a major influence, but Brenda Joyce Boykin is certainly not a devotee to any one stylist or genre. She says that the incomparable blue balladeer Bobby "Blue" Bland, whose string of hits dates back to the early '50s, has had an enormous impact to her vocal approach. She also gives a nod to Brenda lee and Elvis Presley, LaVern Baker and even the "divorcee music" of Nancy Wilson and Dakota Staton.

Boykin has won rave reviews for her repeat performances at the venerable Monterey Jazz Festival, the more boisterous Monterey Bay Blues Festival, the San Francisco Blues Festival, the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival in Davenport, Iowa, the DuMaurier Jazz Festival in Vancouver, and the Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy. For many years she has performed duets with her "musical soul mate" Eric Swinderman, a sensitive guitarist who accompanies Boykin on material ranging from New Orleans rhythms to jazz standards. Boykin has performed countless times with Home Cookin', a small combo with a changing roster that has included guitarists Anthony Paule and Steve Freund, pianists Steve Lucky and Caroline Dahl, bassist Tim Wagar and drummer Tyler Eng. For the past three years Boykin has also taught singing workshops at the Rhythmic Concepts Jazz Camp, alongside a roster of the San Francisco Bay Area's most celebrated and dedicated jazz musicians. Boykin has mastered all of the crafts of a complete vocalist, she has a rich voice, a masterful grasp of musical dynamics, and a natural, unforced empathy with her listeners. "Part of showmanship is to turn to the guitar player and bass player and exchange some energy, look him in the eye and say 'Yeah, Baby,'" Boykin told Blues Revue in 1995. "I'm like the party master. The way a hostess gets at a house party. I'm walking around making sure the energy is up in every part of the room." In 1997 Brenda received a BAMMIE nomination for Best Vocalist of The Year. http://www.last.fm/music/Brenda+Boykin/+wiki

The Time In The World

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Brenda Boykin - Chocolate & Chili

Styles: Vocal, Soul, Swing
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:31
Size: 197,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:26)  1. Be My Lover
(5:05)  2. Ride Rich Rhythm
(3:32)  3. Chocolate And Chili
(5:31)  4. Wonderful
(5:21)  5. Love Is In Town
(4:55)  6. Hard Swing Travellin' Man
(4:43)  7. Talk With Your Hands
(3:23)  8. State Side Blues
(4:34)  9. Across The Stars
(4:37) 10. He Doesn't Know
(4:02) 11. Moaning
(4:46) 12. Listen To The Beat
(5:05) 13. Freedom Song
(3:55) 14. Rockabye Me
(3:27) 15. Be My Lover (Acoustic Bossa Remix)

It never ceases to amaze me how many US artistes of pedigree decide to set up home in Europe as part of their musical journey. Hailing from Oakland, California and now residing in Wuppertal, Germany the winner of the 2005 Montreaux Jazz Festival's Best vocalist award, releases her stunning new album on the innovative Chin Chin label. If you have yet to catch some of her previous work with the Nu Jazz/ lounge project that is Club Des Belugas then you are in for a real treat.

Her rich voice full of musical mastery mixes soul with jazz, bossa nova and swing that is a pleasure to behold and a class above the normal offerings. Make no mistake this is an album that sets itself apart both in its creativity and musicianship. From the opening track 'Be my Lover' Ms Boykin lets you know the calibre of what is to come with the Donald Byrd influenced delightfully moodily sung laid back two-stepper. Then comes the first of many rhythmic explosions courtesy of spoken sassiness and impeccable scatting from Ms BB with the able support of Bebo Best and the Bahama Soul Club. If you remember the massive club hit 'Hip Hip, Chin Chin' then that will give you an idea of what is on offer here. Basically, a good time for dancers and a happy feeling for everyone! Check 'Ride Rich Rhythm' , 'Love is in town' and 'Listen to the Beat' for the feel good factor.  Frankly, this album is full of gems that make if difficult to pick out any that deserve a special mention as being favourites above the others, though the beat led 'Hard Swing Travellin' Man' comes close. Overall, the album displays the talents of a complete vocalist who has mastered many styles and is at the cutting edge of 21st century soul. A real delight and one of my favourites of the year to date. ~ James Lewis http://www.smooth-jazz.de/James/Chocolateandchili.htm

Chocolate & Chili

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

The Johnny Nocturne Band - Wild & Cool

Styles: Jazz, Swing, Big Band
Year: 1997
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:50
Size: 104,6 MB
Art: Front

(3:03)  1. Lemon Twist
(3:12)  2. New Kind Of Mambo
(4:31)  3. Tu Ma Qui Te (Hey! Joli Blon)
(4:37)  4. Don't Get Around Much Anymore
(4:20)  5. Hey, Mister Jessie
(4:23)  6. A Pound Of Blues
(4:19)  7. At My Front Door
(3:26)  8. By The River Ste. Marie
(4:23)  9. Cha-bootie
(4:38) 10. After The Lights Go Down Low
(3:53) 11. Little Slam

With a solid four-horn frontline that reads and solo in the fine old-time tradition of the territory bands of yore, the Johnny Nocturne Band come to the plate with their third album full of jazz heavily laced with blues. Leader and saxophonist John Firmin keeps his troops swinging throughout this 11-song set, working like a fine, precise machine regardless of the musical setting. Swing, bop, and blues with strong attachments to melody are the signposts here, and the playing on Bobby Troup's "Lemon Twist," "Tu ma qui te (Hey! Joli Blon)," "After the Lights Go Down Low" and "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" are among the numerous highlights. ~ Cub Koda  http://www.allmusic.com/album/wild-and-cool-mw0000035541

Personnel:  John Firmin (tenor saxophone, clarinet);  Brenda Boykin (vocals);  Anthony Paule (guitar);  Rob Sudduth (baritone saxophone);  Bill Ortiz (trumpet);  Marty Wehner (trombone);  Henry Salvia (piano);  Alex Baum (bass);  Kent Bryson (drums).

Wild & Cool

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Brenda Boykin - Brenda Boykin

Styles: Soul, R&B
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:49
Size: 99,1 MB
Art: Front

(4:41)  1. Stone Mad
(3:58)  2. All the Time in the World
(5:32)  3. Wonderful
(5:21)  4. Love Is in Town
(4:55)  5. Hard Swing Travellin Man
(4:26)  6. Be My Lover
(4:43)  7. Some Like It Hot
(5:15)  8. Straight to Memphis
(3:55)  9. A Cool Cat in Town

Brenda calls it “Bourbon and Cornbread,” the musical mixture of jazzy sweetness and down-home sass that marks her as “the most authentic and most inventive female jump blues vocal stylist of her generation,” according to blues historian Lee Hildebrand. Brenda Boykin has earned a sterling reputation in the San Francisco Bay Area as a masterful interpreter of jazz and blues material gleaned from big bands, old blues hands, and honky tonk heroes. Boykin has firmly established herself as an unsurpassed vocal talent whose elixir of bourbon and cornbread - sounds from silk to sandpaper delight both new listeners and purists who compare her to the giants of the past. A native of Oakland, California, Boykin’s first musical experience came through the youth choir of the North Oakland Missionary Baptist Church, one of the many houses of the lord where raucous, heart-felt sounds of the faithful still ring out on the wide streets of the East Bay flatlands. The church strains can still be found in her rich, husky contralto, effortless power and controlled vocal passion. After studying the clarinet in high school Boykin entered the University of California at Berkeley  and though studying psychology and social welfare - gravitated toward the jazz bands working on and near campus. 

Boykin worked Bay Area jazz and blues hot spots that helped her expand her musical horizons. With the encouragement of family friend and guitarist Sonny Lane, Boykin began to dig in with the blues people at Oaklands’s legendary Eli’s Mile High Club. The famous North Oakland night spot has been for many years the heartbeat of East Bay blues life, with giant figures including Percy Mayfield, Lowell Fulson and Jimmy McCracklin gracing the small stage alongside lesser-known stalwarts including guitarist and arranger Johnny Heartsman, Sonny Lane and Mississippi Johnny Waters. Under tutelage of Lane, Waters and drummer Francis Clay - an influential force in the great Muddy Waters bands of the late ‘50’s and early ‘60’s - Boykin absorbed the laid back, call-and-response magic of the late night urban blues. “Boykin does delightfully unfamiliar things with familiar tunes,” said the East Bay Express in 1988, “using her rhythmic authority and arranger’s sensibility to create exciting new version” of tunes from Basie, B.B., Buck Owens and everybody in between. She often cites Sarah Vaughn as a major influence, but Brenda Joyce Boykin is certainly not a devotee to any one stylist or genre. She says that the incomparable blue balladeer Bobby “Blue” Bland, whose string of hits dates back to the early ’50s, has had an enormous impact to her vocal approach. She also gives a nod to Brenda lee and Elvis Presley, LaVern Baker and even the “divorcee music” of Nancy Wilson and Dakota Staton. Boykin has won rave reviews for her repeat performances at the venerable Monterey Jazz Festival, the more boisterous Monterey Bay Blues Festival, the San Francisco Blues Festival, the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival in Davenport, Iowa, the DuMaurier Jazz Festival in Vancouver, and the Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy. For many years she has performed duets with her “musical soul mate” Eric Swinderman, a sensitive guitarist who accompanies Boykin on material ranging from New Orleans rhythms to jazz standards. 

Boykin has performed countless times with Home Cookin’, a small combo with a changing roster that has included guitarists Anthony Paule and Steve Freund, pianists Steve Lucky and Caroline Dahl, bassist Tim Wagar and drummer Tyler Eng. For the past three years Boykin has also taught singing workshops at the Rhythmic Concepts Jazz Camp, alongside a roster of the San Francisco Bay Area’s most celebrated and dedicated jazz musicians. Boykin has mastered all of the crafts of a complete vocalist, she has a rich voice, a masterful grasp of musical dynamics, and a natural, unforced empathy with her listeners. “Part of showmanship is to turn to the guitar player and bass player and exchange some energy, look him in the eye and say ‘Yeah, Baby,’” Boykin told Blues Revue in 1995. “I’m like the party master. The way a hostess gets at a house party. I’m walking around making sure the energy is up in every part of the room.” In 1997 Brenda received a BAMMIE nomination for Best Vocalist of The Year. http://www.last.fm/music/Brenda+Boykin/+wiki