Showing posts with label Carolyn Leonhart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carolyn Leonhart. Show all posts

Sunday, November 25, 2018

Carolyn Leonhart - Carolyn Leonhart

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1992
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:04
Size: 137,8 MB
Art: Front

(4:46)  1. I Saw You in Sofi
(2:59)  2. Come Rain or Come Shine
(4:56)  3. Whisky
(4:43)  4. The Way You Look Tonight
(4:21)  5. Manhattan Lullaby
(2:45)  6. Teach Me Tonight
(5:49)  7. There Used to Be Colors
(6:14)  8. Bei Mir Bist Du Schon
(6:40)  9. The Island
(3:46) 10. Autumn Leaves
(9:44) 11. All Blues
(3:16) 12. My Funny Valentine

Carolyn Leonhart is a jazz singer with one foot firmly planted in the rock/pop universe. She is the daughter of veteran bassist Jay Leonhart, so her jazz sensibilities flow from her upbringing. Yet she gained wide exposure during the '90s as a backup vocalist for the reunited Steely Dan. Her jazz style is tinged with the edginess of a soul or R&B singer. Her first U.S. album, an inspired collaboration with pianist/songwriter Rob Bargad titled Steal the Moon, was released in 2000. ~ David R.Adler https://www.allmusic.com/artist/carolyn-leonhart-mn0000183584/biography

Carolyn Leonhart

Thursday, August 9, 2018

Carolyn Leonhart - Steal the Moon

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:57
Size: 116,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:02)  1. It Didn't Turn Out That Way
(6:20)  2. Nature Boy
(4:16)  3. A Sunday Kind of Love
(7:11)  4. Juju Knows
(4:14)  5. All Because of You
(5:17)  6. Steal the Moon
(5:12)  7. I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face
(4:16)  8. Little Man
(6:07)  9. Yesterday's a Dream
(3:57) 10. Moonglow

Carolyn Leonhart sits astride the jazz and pop worlds, allowing both to inform her singing and repertoire. The daughter of bassist Jay Leonhart and a backup singer for the reunited Steely Dan, Leonhart inflects her jazz singing with an unmistakable dose of soul and R&B, not unlike Chaka Khan or even Rickie Lee Jones. Pianist Rob Bargad is Leonhart's main collaborator on this album, contributing five compositions, including the lush ballad "Yesterday's a Dream" and a borderline-corny but charming vocal duo with Leonhart on "Steal the Moon," a good candidate for radio play. Leonhart even hands two tracks over entirely to Bargad: the Vince Guaraldi-like piano trio feature "Juju Knows" and a bluesy, smart-alecky vocal tribute to a child titled "Little Man." Leonhart is bright-toned and sultry on the standards "Nature Boy," "I've Grown Accustomed to His (Her) Face," and "Moonglow," the last an oh-so-hip duo between her and father Jay Leonhart on the bass. She struts her stuff sassily on "Sunday Kind of Love," Bargad's "All Because of You," and Mose Allison's "It Didn't Turn Out That Way." 

Bargad's solid post-bop piano work anchors every track. Jimmy Cobb and Billy Drummond share drumming duties, Daniel Sadownick weighs in with perfect percussion flourishes, and David Gilmore guests on acoustic guitar for the title track. As might be expected from a singer with such diverse influences, Leonhart walks a fine line between telling a coherent story and presenting a musical patchwork. But her voice is polished and distinctive, and her band cooks, which invariably makes Steal the Moon a fun listen. ~ David R.Adler https://www.allmusic.com/album/steal-the-moon-mw0000066428

Personnel: Carolyn Leonhart (vocals); Rob Bargad (piano, vocals, producer, songwriter); Jay Leonhart (bass).

Steal the Moon

Sunday, June 3, 2018

Donald Fagen - Morph The Cat

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:54
Size: 122,4 MB
Art: Front

(6:48)  1. Morph the Cat
(5:15)  2. H Gang
(6:01)  3. What I Do
(7:17)  4. Brite Nitegown
(7:37)  5. The Great Pagoda of Funn
(6:11)  6. Security Joan
(4:15)  7. The Night Belongs to Mona
(6:30)  8. Mary Shut the Garden Door
(2:56)  9. Morph the Cat Reprise

There are no surprises in sound and style on Morph the Cat, Donald Fagen's long-awaited third solo album, nor should any be expected ever since Steely Dan's 1980 masterwork, Gaucho, his work, either on his own or with longtime collaborator Walter Becker, has been of a piece. Each record has been sleek, sophisticated, and immaculately produced, meticulously recorded and arranged, heavy on groove and mood, which tends to mask the sly wit of the songs. When it works well as it did on Fagen's peerless 1982 solo debut, The Nightfly, or on Steely Dan's 2001 comeback, Two Against Nature the results go down smoothly upon first listen and reveal their complexity with each spin; when it doesn't quite succeed both 1993's Kamakiriad and the Dan's 2003 effort Everything Must Go didn't quite gel the albums sound good but samey on the surface and don't quite resonate. Morph the Cat belongs in the first group: at first it sounds cozily familiar, almost too familiar, but it digs deep, both as music and song. Sonically, at least superficially, it is very much a continuation of the two Steely Dan records of the new millennium not only does it share Fagen's aesthetic, but it was recorded with many of the same musicians who have shown up on the Dan projects. There are slight differences without Becker around, there's a greater emphasis on keyboards and the songs stretch on a bit longer than anything on Everything Must Go but this, at least on pure sonics, could have functioned as a sequel to Two Against Nature. But Morph the Cat is very much a solo affair, fitting comfortably next to his first two solo albums as a conclusion to what he calls a trilogy. If The Nightfly concerned the past and Kamakiriad was set in a hazy future, Morph the Cat is rooted in the present, teeming with the fears and insecurities of post-9/11 America. Fagen doesn't camouflage his intent with the gleefully enigmatic rhymes that have been his trademark: his words, while still knowingly sardonic, are direct, and in case you don't want to bother reading the lyrics or listening closely, he helpfully offers brief explanations of the songs (for instance, on "Mary Shut the Garden Door," he writes "Paranoia blooms when a thuggish cult gains control of the government," a statement that's not exactly veiled). 

On top of this unease, Fagen faces mortality throughout the album he talks with the ghost of Ray Charles, borrows W.C. Fields' phrase for death for "Brite Nitegown," writes about attempted suicides and every song seems to be about things drawing to a close. It's a little disarming to hear Fagen talk so bluntly although he came close to doing so on the deliberately nostalgic The Nightfly, the fact that he was writing about the past kept him at a bit of a distance but despite the abundance of morbid themes, Morph the Cat never sounds dour or depressing. In large part this is due to Fagen's viewpoint he never succumbs to mawkishness, always preferring to keep things witty and sardonic, which helps keep things from getting too heavy but it's also due to his smooth jazz-rock, which always sounds nimble and light. This, of course, is how Fagen's music always sounds, but here, it not only functions as a counterpoint to the darkness creeping on the edges of the album, but it's executed expertly: as spotless as this production is, it never sounds sterile, and when the songs start stretching past the five-minute mark two cuts are over seven minutes it never gets boring, because there's a genuine warmth to the clean, easy groove. More so than on Kamakiriad, or on the tight Everything Must Go, there is a sense of genuine band interplay on this record, which helps give it both consistency and heart something appropriate for an album that is Fagen's most personal song cycle since The Nightfly, and quite possibly his best album since then. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine https://www.allmusic.com/album/morph-the-cat-mw0000342064

Personnel: Donald Fagen (melodica, piano, Fender Rhodes piano, organ, background vocals); Donald Fagen (vocals); Ken Wessel, Frank Vignola, Hugh McCracken, Ken Emerson (guitar); Howard Levy (harmonica); Roger Rosenberg (bass clarinet, baritone saxophone); Walt Weiskopf (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Mark Patterson (trombone); Ted Baker (piano, Fender Rhodes piano); Tedd Baker (Fender Rhodes piano); Harlan Post, Jr. (acoustic bass); Art Smith (drums); Jennifer Battista, Candice Predham, Eddie Jackson , Camille Meza (clappers); Gordon Gottlieb (percussion, background vocals); Bashiri Johnson , Joe Passaro (percussion); Cindy Mizelle, Jerry Barnes, Amy Helm, Carolyn Leonhart (background vocals); Jon Herington, Wayne Krantz (guitar); Lawrence Feldman (flute, clarinet, tenor saxophone); Illinois Elohainu (flute); Marvin Stamm (trumpet); Phonus Quaver (vibraphone, marimba); "Ready" Freddie Washington (bass guitar); Keith Carlock (drums).

Morph The Cat

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Carolyn Leonhart & Wayne Escoffery - Tides Of Yesterday

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:14
Size: 156,6 MB
Art: Front

(5:27)  1. Better Next Time
(7:38)  2. The Sweetest Sounds
(5:47)  3. Sometimes I'm Happy
(5:24)  4. Never Never Land
(3:54)  5. You Must Believe In Spring
(6:38)  6. The Harbor
(6:37)  7. Eclipse
(9:18)  8. Big Noise New York
(5:08)  9. Where There Is Love
(5:24) 10. Straight To You
(6:53) 11. Infinity

Vocalist Carolyn Leonhart and saxophonist Wayne Escoffery are a young husband-and-wife team, and Tides of Yesterday is their second recorded partnership. And a partnership it is, because this CD (as the liner notes say) is not about a "vocalist with a band or a band with a guest vocalist." Leonhart's sultry and expressive voice acts, at times, as another instrument, contributing scatting and wordless vocals. Both have worked with the band members Toru Dodo (acoustic and electric piano), Hans Glawischnig (bass), Donald Edwards (drums), Jeff Haynes (percussion) and Adam Rogers (guitar) over the years, so the interplay between all of them is tight and intuitive. The material includes choices from the standard songbook, jazz classics and three originals with lyrics by Leonhart. 

The jazz classic standout is Charles Mingus' "Eclipse" (a piece Escoffery plays regularly with the Mingus Orchestra and Big Band), capturing the eerie, moody feeling of the solar phenomenon with the sensitivity of Leonhart's lyric reading and Rogers' playing. Notable also is a bluesy "Sometimes I'm Happy," where Leonhart and Escoffery feature a call-and-response section and some blistering saxophone work. But perhaps the real highlight is "Big Noise, New York," a good song by Donald Fagen (of Steely Dan fame, Leonhart being part of that band's touring ensemble). The reading grabs the attention from the opening moments to the long fadeout, with Leonhart's richly textured voice and Escoffery's energetic fills. Whether it be for the individual talents of Leonhart, Escoffery and their band mates, their interactions, or the arrangements of the material, more than one listen is needed to appreciate the entire musical tapestry here. ~ Marcia Hillman   http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=36476#.U0Ss5VdSvro 

Personnel: Carolyn Leonhart: vocals; Wayne Escoffery: tenor and soprano saxophones; Toru Dodo: piano and Fender Rhodes; Adam Rogers: guitar (2, 7); Hans Glawschnig: bass; Donald Edwards: drums; Jeff Haynes: percussion (2, 6, 7, 10).

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Carolyn Leonhart - Chances Are: The Romantic Music Of Robert Allen

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 55:36
Size: 127.3 MB
Styles: Easy Listening, Vocal
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[4:33] 1. Chances Are
[5:04] 2. I Don't Regret A Thing
[3:43] 3. Come To Me
[4:44] 4. You Are Never Far Away From Me
[3:22] 5. Everybody Loves A Lover
[6:16] 6. Meantime
[4:07] 7. It's Not For Me To Say
[3:41] 8. Play For Keeps
[4:13] 9. It Could Have Been Worse
[6:02] 10. No Such Luck
[3:59] 11. Teacher, Teacher
[2:47] 12. I'm Loving You A Lot
[2:57] 13. Moments To Remember

2008 release from one of the most accomplished and versatile singers of her generation. Leonhart is best known to the wider world as having performed with the reformed Steely Dan and as a member of the trip-hop group Wax Poetic. This album focuses on her interpretations of the songs of Robert Allen, the songwriter who died in 2000 and wrote many hits for Perry Como and Johnny Mathis.

Carolyn Leonhart (vocals); David Andrew Mann (saxophone); Tony Kadleck (trumpet); Clint DeGanon (drums).

Chances Are: The Romantic Music Of Robert Allen