Maria Jacobs - Lucky Girl

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:40
Size: 92,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:36)  1. My Favorite Things
(3:24)  2. If We Never Touch Again
(5:55)  3. Lucky Girl
(4:13)  4. What If
(3:39)  5. Pour Me a Cup of Yesterday
(3:33)  6. I Wanna Feel Your Body
(4:18)  7. Can We End This Love
(4:39)  8. My Blue Heart
(3:05)  9. This Song
(3:13) 10. Closer to Christmas (Birth of a Savior) (Bonus)

Lucky Girl is the sixth studio album by singer/songwriter Maria Jacobs. It is an eclectic mix of smooth and straight ahead jazz, pop and just a hint of country. Track 5, Pour Me A Cup of Yesterday, is the radio edit for a radio campaign which earned it a place on 200 smooth jazz stations across the country, as well as on the Groove Jazz Charts. It features string arrangements and performance by acclaimed keyboardist and songwriter Lafayette Carthon (The Winans, R. Kelly, Michael Jackson.) ~ Editorial Reviews https://www.amazon.com/Lucky-Girl-Maria-Jacobs/dp/B077R4JPQY

Lucky Girl

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Maria Jacobs - Here Comes Winter

Size: 103,6 MB
Time: 44:15
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Jazz Vocals, Holiday
Art: Front

01. Here Comes Winter (3:26)
02. Til' Forever Comes (5:08)
03. Fall In Love Again (2:56)
04. Never Will I Marry (2:20)
05. Time After Time (4:16)
06. Case Of You (5:13)
07. In My Room (4:46)
08. Art Of Saying Goodbye (4:36)
09. From Both Sides Now (4:47)
10. River (4:03)
11. My God Is Here (2:40)

Maria Jacobs has grown quite a bit since her earlier days when she sang jazz in Los Angeles. Born in Cleveland, she spent 11 years performing in L.A. before returning to the Midwest. Maria has since opened up her repertoire to include her own originals, folk songs (including several by Joni Mitchell), and any material that suits her interests and her voice. She has expanded her range, both vocally and in the subject matter and styles that she explores.

Maria’s previous CD, Art Of The Duo, featured her performing duets with four different musicians including guitarist Bob Fraser. Her fifth CD as a lead
er, Here Comes Winter, matches the singer with Fraser on all but one of the 11 selections. Brian Wildman or Bob Curry play bass on five numbers, keyboardist David Strieter is on one song, and Cliff Habian is heard on piano during a duet performance of “Fall In Love Again” in addition to contributing background string patches to four selections. Otherwise the music is all Jacobs and Fraser. The result is one of the singer’s most rewarding showcases to date.

On Here Comes Winter, Maria Jacobs performs three songs on which she wrote both the lyrics and the music, two others that she co-composed with Cliff Habian, three Joni Michell songs, Brian Wilson’s “In My Room,” and two jazz standards. While the emphasis is on slower tempos with close interplay between the singer and the guitarist, there is a lot of variety to the performances and they always hold on to one’s attention. Whether making high notes sound effortless, displaying quiet passion, or cutting loose like the best Broadway singer (one could imagine her “Fall In Love Again” being in a show), she is quite impressive. But in addition, Maria Jacobs often sings with quiet and restrained passion, sounding quite fetching on some of the more haunting pieces.

Among the highpoints of this excellent set are the melancholy and thoughtful original ballad “Here Comes Winter,” the modern torch song “Till Forever Comes,” and a wonderful version of the Joni Mitchell classic “From Both Sides Now.” On “Never Will I Marry,” Maria hints at Nancy Wilson a bit and expertly scats a Cannonball Adderley solo.

Here Comes Winter, a milestone in the career of Maria Jacobs, is easily recommended. ~Scott Yanow

Le Here Comes Winter

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Maria Jacobs - Free as a Dove

Styles: Vocal Jazz, R&B
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:39
Size: 91,4 MB
Art: Front

(3:48)  1. Love You with the Lights On
(5:02)  2. Free as a Dove
(3:54)  3. Not Another Love Gone Wrong
(4:29)  4. Loneliness
(3:31)  5. Love Me Like the First Time
(4:22)  6. I Got Nothin' But the Blues
(3:55)  7. Pour Me a Cup of Yesterday
(3:17)  8. I Wish You Belonged to Me
(6:17)  9. Since I Fell for You [Live]

This album, Free As A Dove, is a couple of years in the making. I wrote eight out of the nine songs. They were tracked and recorded in Los Angeles. seven out of eight originals were tracked, co-produced and arranged and recorded/mixed at Moonlight Studios with Dave Vasquez and Jeff Lewis. J Curtis played guitar on the first three. He also co-arranged. J is the writer of the song Where Is The Love by the Blackeyed Peas. Track two was done in Los Angeles by Tadashi Namba. Finally, track nine is one of my favorite standards, Since I Fell For You. It was recorded live at the Torrance Civic Center in LA with the Richard Sherman Trio.  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/MariaJacobs1

Free as a Dove

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Maria Jacobs - Chasing Dreams

Styles: Vocal, Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:12
Size: 130,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:18)  1. At Last
(3:06)  2. Lullaby of Birdland
(3:14)  3. Where Are You?
(3:05)  4. Chasing Dreams
(6:31)  5. Yeh Yeh
(2:58)  6. I Will
(6:52)  7. Equinox
(3:57)  8. Just Squeeze Me [Live]
(4:17)  9. It Might As Well Be Spring [Live]
(6:36) 10. The Look of Love
(6:19) 11. Since I Fell For You [Live]
(3:54) 12. Pour Me A Cup Of Yesterday [*]

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, this former traffic reporter and disc jockey lived in Los Angeles for eleven years and sang The Langham Huntington, (formerly the Ritz Carlton,) The Four Seasons in Westlake Village, Chaya of Beverly Hills, and The Torrance Civic Center to name a few. She has released four albums, No Frills, Free As A Dove, Chasing Dreams and Art of the Duo. Maria also opened for jazz trumpeter Chuck Mangione at The Coach House and in Columbus, Ohio she was featured with the opening act for Bob Dorough. Maria recorded with Alphonso Johnson and Ndugu Chancler for “Chasing Dreams.” It received a wonderful review in Singer Magazine, LA Jazz Scene, All About Jazz and Jazz Corner. Also as a songwriter, she wrote “So This Is Love,” a theme song for a sitcom of the same name on the web. Maria has always been surrounded by diversity in music that reached far beyond what could be found in record stores. Maria began singing in the Melkite Catholic Church at a very early age, and soon began sharing the bandstand with her father Mike Jacobs, a drummer in the Cleveland area. 

Maria has always wanted to sing and began so by doing her rendition of favorite standards, a few of which are heard on her first album entitled “No Frills,” available on iTunes. In the fourth grade Maria began fifteen years of classical flute study and some piano, gaining a new appreciation for European melody and harmony through much practice and listening. All of these rich, early experiences lead to superior ratings in flute competitions throughout high school, a music scholarship at The Ohio State University and singing jobs in area night clubs. Maria has performed and recorded with some of the finest musicians, including: Tony Dumas, Ralph Penland, Greg Poree, Michael Bluestein, Jerry White, Bob Conti, Octavio Bailly, Ted Howe, Ed Czach, Adam Cohen, Bili Redd, Joe Corerro, Richard Sherman, Sherry Luchette, Jack Bone, John Stuart, Dan Maier, Joe Hunter, Greg Bandy, Drene Ivy, Kevin Muhammed, Dave Thomas and Mike Jacobs. Maria still performs in Los Angeles, as well as Milwaukee, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. Free As A Dove is heard world wide on internet stations and traditional stations in Los Angeles. http://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/mariajacobs

Chasing Dreams

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Maria Jacobs - No Frills

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 1996
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:55
Size: 91,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:42)  1. Time After Time
(3:04)  2. You Stepped out of a Dream
(3:30)  3. No Frills
(3:47)  4. Black Coffee
(6:07)  5. Tenderly
(4:37)  6. Corcovado
(2:39)  7. Scrapple from the Apple/Honeysuckle Rose
(5:25)  8. In a Mellow Tone
(6:01)  9. You Don't Know What Love Is

Maria Jacobs is a fine singer with an appealing voice, a subtle style and the ability to swing. On her debut recording, she is joined by Mike Petrone or Robert "Skeets" Rose on piano, Martin Block or Jesse Dandy on bass, drummer Roy King (on four of the nine songs) and, for three tunes, the saxes of Gerald Linthicome. Among the highlights are a pair of vocal-piano duets ("Black Coffee" and "You 'Don't Know What Love Is"). Based in Cleveland at the time of the recording (she has since relocated to L.A.), Maria Jacobs sings mostly melodic versions of standards (plus her own "No Frills"), stretching out a bit on "Corcovado," "In a Mellow Tone" and "You Don't Know What Love Is." Although hopefully she will explore some lesser-known and newer material in the future, this is an impressive start to what should be a productive career. ~ Scott Yanow   http://www.allmusic.com/album/no-frills-mw0000748365

No Frills

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Maria Jacobs - Art of the Duo

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:13
Size: 86,7 MB
Art: Front

(3:45)  1. Alone Together (feat. Bob Fraser)
(4:49)  2. Small Day Tomorrow (feat. Bob Fraser)
(4:24)  3. Too Close for Comfort (feat. Bob Fraser)
(4:10)  4. It Could Happen to You (feat. Steve Cipriano)
(3:34)  5. Summertime (feat. Steve Cipriano)
(2:30)  6. Nearness of You (feat. Steve Cipriano)
(4:30)  7. Poetry Man (feat. Steve Cipriano)
(2:57)  8. I Will (feat. Tony Dumas)
(6:29)  9. Yeh Yeh (feat. Dan Maier)

Simplicity in jazz performance is a sure bet when one has the chops to deliver. Jazz vocal in a duet format is one of the more exposed configurations, one where the singer liability is great. All mistakes, mis-steps and wrong notes are readily audible. Cleveland, Ohio native singer Maria Jacobs' fourth release features seven voice-guitar duets and one each with acoustic bass and piano. Jacobs is most refreshing because her voice is not over-trained and contains just enough grit to give it a lived-in sound that makes it at once familiar and friendly with a hint of sex and satin. Her rugged alto has a fearless quality that compliments the nine standards present here. Jacobs, accompanied by guitarist Bob Fraser give the Schwartz/Dietz standard "Alone Together" a rigorous, almost roadhouse treatment that pushes the song to the edge of jazz. 

"Alone Together" translates into Bob Dorough's ballad, "Small Day Tomorrow," played with equal grit, though lighter on the rigor. "Too Close for Comfort" swings with a mighty momentum and played with greater finesse and a lighter touch. Jacobs responds in kind until the coda, where she pulls out all the stops and belts out the ending. Jacobs pairing with guitarist Steve Cipriano provides a bouncing "It Could Happen to You" and a downright piquant "Summertime." The two remain pious on Phoebe Snow's signature "Poetry Man," where Cipriano's shimmering chords cradle Jacobs voice in the verse. The disc closes with the two non-guitar duets, Jacobs and bassist Tony Dumas on a strolling take of the Beatles' "I Will" and a slightly churchy treatment of "Yeh Yeh" accompanied by pianist Dan Maier. 

The Art of the Duo delivers a readily enjoyable catalog of the great American Songbook, presented in a fresh and refreshing manner.~ C.Michael Bailey  

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=44177#.UtLL3LRc_vs

Personnel: Maria Jacobs: vocals; Bob Fraser: guitar (1-3); Steve Cipriano: guitar (4-7); Tony Dumas: bass (8); Dan Maier: keyboards (9).

Art of the Duo

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