Showing posts with label Christy Baron. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christy Baron. Show all posts

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Christy Baron - Steppin'

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:37
Size: 120,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:54)  1. Will It Go 'round In Circles
(5:40)  2. Mercy Street
(7:05)  3. Tomorrow Never Know
(3:36)  4. Thieves In The Temple
(4:14)  5. This Must Be Love
(6:28)  6. Delays On The Downtown
(3:37)  7. She's Not There
(4:06)  8. The Shadow Of Your Smile
(1:23)  9. Is Love Enough
(3:13) 10. Ain't No Half Steppin'
(3:16) 11. Spooky
(6:03) 12. Nite And Day

Christy redefines “classics,” it’s entirely appropriate that she was signed by Chesky Records, an audiophile label that redefines the modern recording process by returning to the earliest recording techniques. Chesky works with artists who are not only great musicians, but who also must be able to stand up to a unique recording process. Take This Journey was recorded live to two-track over a three-day period at St. Peter’s Church in Manhattan. “On a Chesky recording, one doesn’t have the standard modern-day options,” Christy says. “If you make a mistake, you don’t go back to fix it. There’s no punching in vocals, no overdubs, no compression or EQ.” In approaching Take This Journey, Christy teamed with renowned bassist David Finck, who’s worked with Natalie Cole, Paquito D’Rivera, Rosemary Clooney, Ivan Lins, Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard, Andre Previn, and Peter Cincotti. Finck not only played the bass, but also wrote songs, handled the arrangements, and produced the CD. “In selecting material, the most important element of a song, for me, is my ability to connect with it emotionally,” Christy says. 

“The songs I choose need to be able to sustain a jazz treatment, but first and foremost, I have to respect the composer’s and the lyricist’s intention within my interpretation.” Take This Journey includes material by some of Christy’s favorite artists: Wonder, Carole King, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and Steven Sondheim, as well as David Finck. Christy grew up in a musical family  her mother is a pianist and music teacher who recognized Christy’s abilities early on. She sang with her brothers and sisters  six in all  merging their voices. (She now finds herself more influenced by instrumentalists than vocalists, a result of finding her own voice after her early years of trying to merely blend in.) Her parents listened to the pop music of their time, the music of Cole Porter and George Gershwin music that became standards, and instilled in Christy a reverence for the music of the times, be it music of the 40’s, the 60’s, or the 80’s. By the time she was 16, Christy was performing almost nightly in a club  she was underage, but with the help of her mother, she managed the necessary maneuvers. Her mother had recognized the significance of singing for Christy as a child, she’d suffered petit mal seizures, seizures that fully abated when she sang. 

It was inevitable that Christy would pursue a life in the arts, and when she enrolled at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, she studied not only music, but also dance and drama. She’s worked as an actress in film, television, and on the stage, (she landed a role in Les Miserables on Broadway, but left when her desire to sing her music overtook her.) And if the words “Wonderful use of iambic pentameter…wameter” sound familiar, it’s because Christy delivered them in her portrayal of a frazzled, baby-talking mommy in a now legendary commercial for Visa. When asked about her two seemingly diverse careers, Christy responds, “I approach both types of performances in a very similar way.” In fact, she likens acting with an ensemble to singing with a band. “The way actors play off each other influences each and every performance so performances differ every night. You have to really listen to each other and react accordingly... listening makes you a better actor. It’s the same thing when working with a band You surround yourself with great musicians... really listen... and it makes you a better singer... and because of these ever-varying conversations between artists, each song sounds unique each time we perform it.” But then again with Christy, each song is bound to sound unique on any given night. She’s fueled by a passion that can’t be contained, and that passion is guaranteed by Christy’s insistence on performing material to which she’s emotionally linked. Like the songs she’s performing, Christy herself is a classic. Bio ~ http://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/christybaron    

Personnel: Curtis King (vocals); David Johansen (spoken vocals); Didier Raxchou (guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, nylon-string guitar, congas, percussion, drum programming, percussion programming, sampler); Pauline Kim (violin); Dave Eggar (cello); Andy Middleton (flute, soprano saxophone); William Galison (harmonica); Chris Rogers (trumpet); Dan Zank (piano); Christos Rafalides (vibraphone); John Herbert (acoustic bass); Zach Danziger (cymbals); Jeff Haynes, Gilad (percussion); Doriane Elliot (background vocals).

Steppin'

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Christy Baron - Take The Journey

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 50:31
Size: 115.7 MB
Styles: Easy Listening, Jazz vocals
Year: 2002
Art: Front

[2:56] 1. Happy Together
[4:20] 2. Gentle Journey
[3:47] 3. Not While I'm Around
[3:46] 4. I'm All Smiles
[5:45] 5. A House Is Not A Home
[2:23] 6. Bitter With The Sweet
[3:52] 7. That Old Devil Moon
[3:52] 8. The Lies Of Handsome Men
[5:07] 9. You Are There Why Did I Choose You
[4:20] 10. The Way He Captured Me
[3:52] 11. Overjoyed
[3:22] 12. Stand Behind Me
[3:08] 13. First Day In August

A truly talented vocalist, Christy Baron brings us her third release entitled Take This Journey, again revealing an intriguing repertoire of modern classics delivered through her evocative voice. But it's not only the sound of her voice that captivates the audience … her ability to maintain the delicate balance between the musical and poetic ideas of both the composer and lyricist creates the kind of mood that prepares the listener for a simply wonderful journey. Take This Journey is a story, a reflection of life that captures the wonderful reality of the genuine interactions we share with the people around us. Christy's rendition of the Turtles' classic "Happy Together" sets the tone of the record with her sultry yet optimistic recording that is nothing less than convincing. The album features songs from Carole King including "Stand Behind Me" and "First Day in August," and an incisive version of "Bitter With The Sweet." Christy's clear vocalizations are apparent when she explains the sad fact that "A House Is Not a Home" and sets the limits in Sondheim's Sweeney Todd classic "Not While I'm Around." The darker side of life is apparent through Sinatra's classic "Old Devil Moon" and Cleo Lane's "The Lies of Handsome Men." But don't lose hope just yet … a captivating rendition of Stevie Wonder's "Overjoyed" showcases Baron's optimism in mankind. Christy Baron communicates the pleasure and the pain of our existence in Take This Journey, appealing to the intellectual listener with her sweet, knowing recognition of life's wonder.

Take The Journey

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Christy Baron - I Thought About You

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 1997
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:17
Size: 126,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:15)  1. Got to Get you into my life
(5:05)  2. Round Midnight
(4:24)  3. Knocks Me Off My Feet
(2:23)  4. Ain't No Sunshine
(3:50)  5. Night And Day
(4:51)  6. Misty
(5:41)  7. Columbus
(5:45)  8. Body And Soul
(5:09)  9. Summer Soft
(6:58) 10. Somewhere Over The Rainbow
(3:43) 11. I Thought About You
(4:08) 12. If It's Magic

I Thought About You, Christy Baron's first album, demonstrated that a singer doesn't need the massive chops of Dianne Reeves or Dee Dee Bridgewater in order to deliver a convincing jazz vocal date. Instead of going for hard bop or providing a lot of complex, horn-like scatting and vocalese, the Pittsburgh native favors a light and melodic approach that is best described as "acoustic jazz with R&B and pop elements." One of the things that makes the CD successful is the fact that Baron doesn't bite off more than she can chew  though soulful and capable of depth, someone with as sweet and youthful a voice as Baron probably wouldn't have been very convincing on Billy Strayhorn's world-weary "Lush Life." 

But the singer shows how tasteful an interpreter of lyrics she can be on selections ranging from the standards "Night and Day" and "Body and Soul," to no less than three Stevie Wonder pearls: "Summer Soft," "Knocks Me off My Feet," and "If It's Magic." And her performance of Noel Brasil's "Columbus" is simply gorgeous. Thankfully, Baron realizes that great popular music didn't die with Cole Porter, and her ability to find the jazz potential in songs by the Beatles ("Got to Get You into My Life"), Bill Withers ("Ain't No Sunshine") and Wonder is a major asset. Though not well-known, I Thought About You indicated that Baron was someone to keep an eye on. ~ Alex Henderson   
http://www.allmusic.com/album/i-thought-about-you-mw0000232745

I Thought About You

Friday, November 29, 2013

Christy Baron - Retrospective

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:47
Size: 141,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:39)  1. She's Not There
(3:22)  2. Stand Behind Me
(5:43)  3. Body And Soul
(2:54)  4. Happy Together
(5:05)  5. 'Round Midnight
(5:40)  6. Mercy Street
(2:25)  7. Ain't No Sunshine
(3:49)  8. Night And Day
(3:47)  9. Not While I'm Around
(3:13) 10. Got To Get You Into My Life
(4:06) 11. The Shadow Of Your Smile
(3:52) 12. That Old Devil Moon
(3:13) 13. Ain't No Half Steppin'
(3:52) 14. Overjoyed
(6:58) 15. Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Retrospective is a best-of CD that draws its material from singer Christy Baron's three previous Chesky sets: I Thought About You, Steppin', and Take This Journey. Unfortunately the packaging of this CD does not bother including a list of the personnel; however the selections are well chosen and they feature Baron at her best. In addition to modernized versions of a few standards, she turns a variety of pop and rock tunes into jazz, ranging from the Beatles' "Got to Get You Into My Life" to songs by Carole King, Peter Gabriel, and Stevie Wonder. The backup groups are excellent, Baron has an attractive voice, and there are enough subtle surprises throughout this sampler to make one desire to hear her three previous CDs in full. 
~ Scott Yanow  http://www.allmusic.com/album/retrospective-mw0000209251

Retrospective