Leigh Harris - Polychrome Junction

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:30
Size: 136,2 MB
Art: Front

(5:48)  1. Dog Days
(8:11)  2. Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most
(5:34)  3. Oh What a Beautiful Morning
(4:28)  4. Paralyzed
(6:56)  5. Poinciana
(4:56)  6. You Always Knew Me ( Better Than I Knew Myself)
(7:00)  7. Crazy Mirrors
(2:39)  8. Cloudburst
(7:17)  9. Candy
(5:36) 10. Make a Better World

Recorded in New Orleans in 2000 by the innovative keyboard/percussion/vocal quintet, Roy G Biv, led by vocalist Leigh "Little Queenie" Harris, Polychrome Junction opens with Harris's "Dog Days" (later tapped for re-release on Sony's Doctors, Professors, Kings, and Queens: The Big Ol' Box of New Orleans): a funk-drenched, witty paean to Crescent City weather ("Down here in the land of the dreamy dream/the air condition stay on past Halloween"), complete with authentic howling about the heat and a blistering tuba solo by "honorary Biv-ouac" Matt Perrine. Jazz standard "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most" receives a major groove overhaul with percussionist Michael Skinkus's multilayering of shekere, congas, djali, shakers and bells, and pianist Joshua Paxton & organist David Ellington's adroit, joyous cross-pollination of New Orleans and Afro-Carribean polyrhythms; kit drummer Karl Budo picks up his sticks and lays down a subtle but definite NOLA street beat on "Poinciana". Young tenor saxophonist Rebecca Barry guests on "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" to great effect in both her solo and interplay work with Harris .The dizzying rendition of "Cloudburst" is a standout, and Harris's take on "Candy" will send many listeners to the bedroom or the kitchen or both. Harris's two other compositions, "Crazy Mirrors" and "Paralyzed" (written with Subdude John Magnie and Bruce MacDonald),are vivid tales of unrequieted love and sexual obsession. "You Always Knew Me Better (Than I Knew Myself"), written for Harris by Dr John and Doc Pomus, is a soulful, heartwrenching ballad performed as a duet between Harris and Paxton. The final track, Earl King's "Make a Better World", provides ample forum for Paxton and Ellington's James Booker/Professor Longhair chops and Harris's undeniable take-no-prisoners way with an R&B classic. Polychrome Junction is a fine archive of an extremely creative group comprised of top-notch musicians living and working in contemporary New Orleans, in energetic, fertile flower, containing superb playing and vocalising throughout. https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/lharris

Polychrome Junction

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Leigh Harris - House Of Secrets

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:01
Size: 113,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:02)  1. Like A Ghost
(4:45)  2. Incommunicado
(4:48)  3. Paint This Town
(4:43)  4. Devil Jumped A Rabbit
(4:53)  5. Backstreet Girl
(3:47)  6. Telephone Sleeping In My Bed
(5:42)  7. Evening In Paradise
(2:50)  8. Caroline No
(4:12)  9. Crazy Mirrors
(3:04) 10. Oklahoma Usa
(5:09) 11. Midnight Star

On House of Secrets, New Orleans native Leigh Harris brilliantly explores her hometown's love of melodic song and dramatic presentation, turning what might otherwise be a folk-oriented set of emotion-laden originals and cleverly chosen covers into a lights-down-low, saloon singer's delight. A prime example is her take on "Backstreet Girl" from the Rolling Stones' songbook, opening with only vocal and piano as the arrangement adds layers selectively, first form a pair of accordions, then a vocal chorus, finally building to a peak of full-bodied intensity briefly, before letting it all wash away. The effect is haunting, reminiscent of a French cabaret singer. Blessed with a powerful voice capable of evoking strong emotions even at its quietest, Harris caresses each literate, languid selection with an impressive range of supple vocal chops, from intimate whispers to plaintive bright shouts, while co-producer Mark Bingham, a key institution on the equally thoughtful Yockamo All-Stars project, concentrates on selective effects that emphasize the variety of distinctive voices available in contemporary New Orleans, from the rocketing eruptions of the Wild Magnolias June Yamagichi to the balladic embellishments of Gen-X trumpter Jeremy Davenport.  The repetoire includes a trio of declarations of longing written by Harris ("Telephone Sleeping in my Bed", "Crazy Mirrors", "Midnight Star"), a pair of compositions exploring absence("Like a Ghost", "Incommunicado") by longtime collaborator John Magnie,and two selections from other writers ("paint This Town", "Evening in Paradise")that color the overriding sense of longing with unmistakable melancholy.Adding unconventional cover choices (including The Beach Boys "Caroline No" and the Kinks' "Oklahoma USA")provides a wistful, ironic counterbalance of humor, while a Hammond B3-saturated composition by Doc Pomus, "Devil Jumped a Rabbit" early in the program and a final, undocumented track,"Working on a Building",complete with wailing gospel choir, help to connect the whole to the Southern tradition of blues and spirituals. ...Harris has re-invented herself and the American singer-songwriter tradition by incorporating a completely natural, European sensibility. Casting herself in the surprising, and wholly satisfying, role of a Delta version of Edith Piaf, Harris offers us one of the year's most inventive tributes to the power of song and a new appreciation for the richness of New Orleans' musical legacy. https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/leighharris

House Of Secrets

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