Laura Crema - Blue Shadows on the Trail

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:31
Size: 103,3 MB
Art: Front

(2:55)  1. Sugar Moon
(2:47)  2. Break It to Me Gently
(3:18)  3. Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair
(4:33)  4. Blue Shadows on the Trail
(2:49)  5. Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter
(3:28)  6. I'm so Lonesome I Could Cry
(2:39)  7. The Lonesome Road
(3:37)  8. Don't Fence Me In
(2:48)  9. Katerina
(3:03) 10. Tumbling Tumbleweeds
(4:28) 11. Motherless Children
(4:02) 12. I've Always Been Crazy
(3:57) 13. Ramblin' Man

Jazz vocalist Laura Crema is not only a great singer but also an evocative musician. Her new album Blue Shadows on the Trail showcases both her stunning voice and ingenuity. Crema has re-imagined some of the finest classics while making them uniquely hers at the same time, recreating them for a new generation of folk, jazz, and country lovers. This album is a feast with rich flavors that will satisfy your musical palette. Delightful and charming, "Sugar Moon" is fitting to be placed as the first track in the album. It gives listeners a taste of what to expect Crema’s heavenly voice, a fusion of genres, and a creative re-imagining of a classic. Crema offers a slow jazz, folk country rendition of a K.D. Lang song. This stripped-down version of the song will make listeners savor its beautiful lyrics all the more. The piano and guitar solos are lovely, complementing Crema’s blissful voice. It’s like a sweet lullaby you can slow dance to under the moonlit sky. Famously sung by Nina Simone, the folk and jazz version of "Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair" is intense and hauntingly beautiful. Crema’s enchanting voice creates a more passionate yet endearing version of the song. The violin and guitar accompaniment making the song enthralling and enigmatic at the same time. Crema’s rendition of this classic is like a slow unveiling of an elusive loved one. Her voice effortlessly shifts from mysterious to magical. Many singers have covered Blind Willie Johnson’s "Motherless Children" like Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and Rosanne Cash. Crema’s velvety voice is what differentiates her version from the rest. Her American folk and Western swing fusion make this song slightly upbeat with a touch of country music, adding more flavor to it. Crema accomplishes something incredible in this track. She balances the sense of urgency with clarity and vulnerability, allowing the message of this song to resonate louder than ever before. There is strength in her ethereal voice, making this rendition more provocative than it already is. Crema’s new album is a collection of blended genres that gives birth to revitalized originals. Her captivating voice and independent vision allows her to transcend the limitations of covers and produce re-imagined songs that have a life of their own. ~ The Journal of Roots Music, Sept 17, 2016 http://www.lauracrema.com/reviews.html

Blue Shadows on the Trail

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Laura Crema - Fotografia

Size: 113,2 MB
Time: 48:45
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Jazz/Pop Vocals
Art: Front

01. Seraphina (3:47)
02. Brigas Nunca Mais (3:55)
03. Beautiful Boy (5:17)
04. Azure (4:04)
05. Photograph (4:02)
06. At Long Last Love (5:00)
07. Wild Is The Wind (5:53)
08. Waters Of March (3:10)
09. This Time The Dreams On Me (4:48)
10. Love Be Kind (4:10)
11. Lost In The Stars (4:34)

Almost everything we come into contact with today is disposable. Things catch our eyes, tickle our fancies, and then we throw them away. When it seems as if nothing around us has been built to last, it can be very disorienting and make us reach for something timeless - something like Laura Crema’s new CD, ‘Fotografia’.

Like the great vocalists of jazz’s golden age, Crema’s voice resonates from a place that is deeper than the words she sings to connect her listeners to the elusive feelings and unexpressed longings that her music suggests. Laura Crema has a rare interpretive gift that allows her to inhabit a song and dive deeply into the lyrics of an old standard to suggest new meanings, shades and inferences that have lain dormant until they were lit up by the sultry warmth of her voice. Opportunities to experience such deep and pure musical expression are rare, which makes the release of Laura Crema’s 3rd studio album, ‘Fotografia’ cause for celebration.
Like her 2007 release, ‘Spring Is Here’, ‘Fotografia’ was produced by Brad Turner, one of Canada’s most accomplished bandleaders and trumpet players. It is easy to hear the chemistry in the studio as Crema and Turner tapped some of the country’s greatest talents to contribute instrumental performances to augment her exceptional voice. Bill Coon’s guitar playing shines on many tracks, especially the emotive versions of Kurt Weil’s ‘Lost In The Stars’ and Duke Ellington’s ‘Azure.’ Empathetic piano and bass support from Sharon Minemoto, Dave Restivo, Adam Thomas and Paul Rushka provide a warm and sultry backdrop for Crema’s vocal explorations on ‘Wild Is The Wind’ and Antonio Carlos Jobim’s ‘Photograph’ while Joe Poole and Andrew Miller’s sympathetic drum and brush work keep everything moving ahead beautifully. The unexpectedly touching reading of John Lennon’s ‘Beautiful Boy’ offers a perfect entry point for ‘Seraphina’ a love song to Crema’s daughter that is one of ‘Fotografia’s’ original tracks along with ‘Love Be Kind’ that was co-written by Sharon Minemoto.

Laura Crema performs regularly, both as a singer and a multi-disciplinary artist and dancer in both her hometown of Vancouver and around the country. The depth and resonance of her voice as well as the singularity and discipline of Laura’s artistic vision has opened many door for her. She has performed with Canada’s finest vocalists at the ‘Divas for Life’ benefits in Vancouver, been featured on CBC radio’s Studio One Jazz Series during The Vancouver Jazz Festival in 2002, 2004 and 2010 as well as appearing on ‘Hot Air’, ‘North by Northwest’ and several other influential radio programs. Her previous recordings, 2007’s ‘Spring Is Here’ and 2002’s ‘Almost Blue’ received airplay worldwide and positive notices in ‘Downbeat’, ‘Coda’ and other taste making journals.

Fotografia

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Laura Crema - Spring Is Here

Styles: Vocal

Year: 2007

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 58:38

Size: 134,2 MB

Art: Front

(5:07)  1. A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing

(5:27)  2. Autumn Serenade

(3:05)  3. Blackbird

(5:19)  4. Estate

(4:59)  5. A Ghost Of A Chance

(3:04)  6. New Day

(5:57)  7. Lazy Afternoon

(6:07)  8. So In Love

(5:21)  9. Skylark

(5:37) 10. Spring Is Here

(4:14) 11. Summer Night

(4:17) 12. Tenderly

Maximum Jazz together with EMI Music Canada are proud to announce that Laura Crema's "Spring is Here" was named Vocal Jazz Recording of the Year in the 2007 Village Voice Jazz Poll Ballots by Jazz Journalist James Hale (Downbeat, Coda). The annual poll by the one and only Village Voice combines ballots from 577 critics' Top 10 lists to acknowledge the best albums of 2007.

"Vancouver jazz vocalist Laura Crema and trumpeter/producer Brad Turner make for a powerful combination. Hers is a wonderfully deep, expressive voice and Turner has surrounded her with some great players and sounds. This is quite the inspired treat!"-The Vancouver Province "All great jazz singers have at least three qualities in common. The first is that unique timbre that sets their voice apart. The second is the material they choose to sing. And the third is the fresh ideas and insights they bring to those songs. Laura Crema has all three in spades!-CBC Radio

"Vancouver's Laura Crema has an ageless quality to her dry, dark voice.." --Downbeat Magazine

"She has a knack for bringing out a tune's inherant emotional contours"-Coda Magazine

"An uplifting and atmospheric album, the most impressive offering yet from this accomplished West coast singer."-The Edmonton Journal

"Vocalist Laura Crema is poised to take center-stage on the international jazz scene."-Flutenotes

"Crema makes low notes glow like coals" -Mark Andrews, The Vancouver Sun

"Vocalist Laura Crema is poised to take center-stage on the international jazz scene. Possessed of a powerful voice with great depth and resonance, she bring a warm and strongly emotive approach to classic torch songs." - Tom Keenliside, flutenotes

"Laura Crema's sultry vocals pull you deep into the dark, smokey room of some 40's speakeasy where torch songs spoke volumes from the heart.......unadulterated musical silk, and not to be missed." -Sue Braiden, CBC radio

"...Crema's rich, vibrant voice held the audience spellbound with a set that ranged from Cole Porter to Elvis Costello".... -Paul Grant, Host of CBC Radio's Hotair

"Crema is a true artist,..she knows when to hold the note like a longing memory and when to let it go like a painful betrayal. " -Gregory J. Robb, All About Jazz

"...a lush, unique instrument, with an affinity for ballads, such as the CD's ("Almost Blue") stunning title track"-George Evans, Planet Jazz   http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7535825&style=classical&fulldesc=T

Spring Is Here

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Laura Crema - Almost Blue

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:48
Size: 104,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:46)  1. Almost Blue
(2:47)  2. I Remember You
(5:41)  3. Young And Foolish
(4:17)  4. Like Someone In Love
(4:28)  5. Stormy Weather
(4:21)  6. All Of You
(4:38)  7. Comes Love
(3:04)  8. From This Moment On
(4:52)  9. In Love In Vain
(5:51) 10. The Meaning Of The Blues

A native of Vancouver, vocalist Laura Crema possesses a lush, unique instrument with great depth and resonance, her influences are broad and diverse as she blends jazz with popular music and improvisation. Laura Crema graduated from Simon Fraser University with a degree in Fine and Performing Arts, and Economics. She has studied at the Banff Centre for the Arts with legendary jazz vocalists Sheila Jordan and Jay Clayton and in Washington State with Nancy King and Kurt Elling. She has trained in extended voice with master teacher Richard Armstrong and studied music at Vancouver Community College. Laura is an accomplished dancer, choreographer and interdisciplinary performer. She has received numerous awards and grants including an "Emergence" Canada Council Grant for her work in the interdisciplinary arts. 

She has performed and worked with RADIX Theatre, the Karen Jamieson Dance Company, Touchstone Theatre, Olivia Thorvaldson, Grant Strate, Deborah Dunn, Catherine Lee,... composers she has worked with include, Jeff Corness, Peter Hannan, Ron Samworth, Cam Wilson and George McFetridge. She has presented her own Choreography at "Dancing on the Edge", "Women in View" and the "Single Solos Dance" Festivals. She was featured, along side five of Canada's finest jazz vocalists, at the 2001 DIVAS FOR LIFE concert benefit at the Vogue Theatre. Laura Crema was featured in CBC Radio's Studio One Jazz Series during the Vancouver International Jazz Festival 2002 and 2004 and she has also been showcased on CBC's "Hotair", "After Hours", "Coastal Grooves", "Richardson's Roundup", "North by Northwest" and Alberta's CKUA. Laura's CD "Almost Blue" was released under the Maximum Jazz record label/Universal Canada and has received excellent reviews and radio airplay in Canada, the U.S., and Europe. "Almost Blue" has been featured in Air Canada's Enroute magazine.  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/lauracrema

Almost Blue

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