Johanna Grussner - Lazy Afternoon

Styles: Vocal Jazz 
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:51
Size: 114,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:57)  1. Lazy Afternoon
(2:52)  2. It Never Entered My Mind
(3:54)  3. I Can't Make You Love Me
(3:59)  4. My Foolish Heart
(3:54)  5. A Natural Woman
(2:59)  6. They Can't Take That Away From Me
(4:29)  7. Caught Up In The Rapture
(3:59)  8. Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing
(4:18)  9. Day By Day
(4:58) 10. Willow Weep For Me
(3:11) 11. Let's Stay Together
(3:42) 12. It's Alright With Me
(2:32) 13. When I Fall In Love

Johanna Grüssner is from the Åland Islands in Finland. She studied in Sweden before moving to Boston. She is a Berklee and Manhattan School graduate. Grüssner made headlines in major U.S. television broadcasting companies in 2001 when she had trained her Bronx public school children to sing groovy gospel, and touring her native Finland. She made a particular impression on New York Times journalist Anemona Hartocollis, who wrote the book Seven Days of Possibilities, describing Grüssner's ambitious dedication.  Grüssner has recorded several albums with pianist Mika Pohjola. Additionally she has performed and recorded with her Manhattan Jazz Orchestra and Grammy award winning musicians Darmon Meader and Peter Eldridge. Her quintet, featuring drummer Antonio Sanchez, guitarists Miles Okazaki and Paul Pesonen and bassist Hans Glawischnig recorded for the Swedish Prophone-Naxos Jazz label in 2002. A follow-up album was recorded two years later. Johanna Grüssner is currently based in Stockholm, Sweden where she is a busy performer and teacher.

All Things Considered: Ten years ago, jazz singer Johanna Grüssner moved to New York from Finland to study music and pursue stardom. Instead, she discovered a second love teaching music to 10, 11 and 12-year olds at P.S. 86, an underprivileged Bronx school. Nine out of 10 students enrolled at the school were poor. Only four in 10 spoke English; only two in 10 could read at grade level. Many were considered troublemakers and underachievers. Hoping to show the students what they were capable of, Grüssner formed a children's choir. Three and a half years ago, the group traveled to the Åland Islands, Grüssner's homeland, for a performance that captivated their hosts. Their story is chronicled in the new book Seven Days of Possibilities, by New York Times education reporter Anemona Hartocollis. Shortly after that performance in Finland, Grüssner left the states. This summer, Grüssner reunited with many of her former students for one last performance. NPR's Claudio Sanchez talks with the students about what the experience meant to them. http://en.johannagrussner.com/biography

Lazy Afternoon

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Johanna Grussner - No More Blues

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:25
Size: 109,2 MB
Art: Front

(6:54)  1. Out Of This World
(4:16)  2. The Touch Of Your Lips
(5:03)  3. My Ship
(3:18)  4. No More Blues
(5:44)  5. The Very Thought Of You
(4:18)  6. I'm Old Fashioned
(3:28)  7. Help
(5:45)  8. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
(4:52)  9. Hallelujah I Just Love Him So
(3:43) 10. Desafinado

Honestly, I do not know what thrills me more, the fact that Johanna Grussner's No More Blues makes a great companion disc to Peter Cincotti's On the Moon or the fact that it is the first Naxos Jazz release in two years. Let's address the second fact first. Naxos Records began Naxos Jazz in the late 1990s with the hope of replicating the same phenomenal success that the label's classical side has experienced. The result was sixty plus releases that I have written on in the past. The label has lain dormant for the past two years and now reemerges with the hope that the independent market is more receptive than at that time. This reemergence takes the form of a new vocal release by the beautiful Finnish chanteuse Johanna Grussner. Ms. Grussner makes No More Blues a notable recording in her choice of repertoire and instrumentation. The selections on this recording are eclectic and well chosen, ranging from the well covered "The Touch of Your Lips" and "The Very Thought of You" to the less frequently recorded "My Ship" and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face." The big surprises lie in the pop covers, "Help" and "Hallelujah I Just Love Him So," which treat the pop icons well and will surprise and delight. In her choice of instrumentation, Grussner forgoes the standard piano trio or quartet for the guitar variety. 

This effectively brings out the bossa nova quality of the singer's intentions and adds a particular synergy to the title tune and "Desafinado." This theme extends to the untethered "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and the rocking "Out of This World," which unconsciously mimics Cincotti's cover of "St. Louis Blues" on his On the Moon. Like Cincotti, Ms. Grussner covers a Ray Charles standard, "Hallelujah I Just Love Him So." She delivers the piece in a sultry fashion over the gutbucket guitar-bass-trio rhythm section. Her use of this ensemble is not unlike that of Cassandra Wilson, only more disciplined. Disciplined is how I would describe this recording, but not boring. This is a superb album deserving of anyone's year-end list. This is hyper-smart music that should satisfy the most critical among us. ~ C.Michael Bailey  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/no-more-blues-johanna-grussner-naxos-review-by-c-michael-bailey.php 
 

Personnel:  Johanna Grussner-Vocals;  Hans Glawishinig-Bass;  Antonio Sanchez-Drums;  Miles Okazaki-Guitar and  Paul Pesonen-Guitar

No More Blues

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Johanna Grussner - Come Rain Or Come Shine

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 40:38
Size: 93.0 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2011
Art: Front

[3:55] 1. Caravan
[3:10] 2. Come Rain Or Come Shine
[4:50] 3. Save Your Love For Me
[4:31] 4. A Felicidade
[4:09] 5. Honeysuckle Rose
[3:21] 6. Moon And Sand
[4:11] 7. How Long Has This Been Going On
[2:56] 8. Norwegian Wood
[3:02] 9. Samba De Um Nota So
[6:28] 10. Little Guy At Bachin's

Her clear-as-a-bell vocals, assured phrasing and near perfect grasp of English put Johanna Grüssner right at the top of the current crop of Scandinavian female jazz singers. Come Rain Or Come Shine is her third solo album and best yet: a gently swinging, highly enjoyable mix of straight jazz and Brazilian samba, performed with supreme professionalism.

Grüssner, from the Finnish Åland islands, makes use of a broad musical palette. On previous albums she has sung both Swedish and Finnish traditional songs, interpreted songs featured in Finnish author Tove Jansson's Moomintroll children's stories and, with her two sisters Ella and Isabella, been a lynch pin of the folk group Daughters Of The Wolf.

Jazz, however, remains her principal bag. She's paid her dues with studies at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and Manhattan School of Music, and with sporadic gigging in New York City. On this release, she's accompanied by some of the most talented musicians in Stockholm, where she now lives. They include Ulf Karlsson, who helped her produce and whose work on both six and twelve-string guitars is impeccable. ~Chris Mosey

Come Rain Or Come Shine

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