Natasha Miller - Spinvintage

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:22
Size: 131,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:59)  1. Summertime
(4:06)  2. The Very Thought of You
(4:36)  3. At Last
(5:54)  4. Blue Skies
(6:31)  5. What's New
(1:57)  6. Smile
(6:29)  7. The Nearness of You
(4:13)  8. Cry Me a River
(6:13)  9. My Funny Valentine
(6:43) 10. God Bless The Child
(5:35) 11. My Romance

Sooner or later, most singers get the urge to make a standards record. And they always try to make it different, says Natasha Miller, the sterling Bay Area-based jazz singer prized for her rich sound, streamlined phrasing and unforced feeling. I wanted to make a standards album that was different different. Miller pulls that off brilliantly on her pleasing new CD, SpinVintage, a collection of classic songs that sound anything but standard. She puts a bracing spin on some of the best known tunes in the American Songbook, among them the Gershwin s Summertime, Irving Berlin s Blue Skies and Rodgers & Hart s My Funny Valentine. A deft musician with a keen sense of dynamics, tone color and timing, Miller brings spontaneity to the music while staying true to the melodies and lyrics. Her supple voice dances and floats through Adam Theis daringly original arrangements. His quirky and grooving charts, with their popping horn lines and moody film-noir flavors, frame and underscore the graceful melodies Miller sings, creating the yin-yang that gives this recording its singular sound. Adam is a wild man genius, says Miller, who s worked with the creative Bay Area arranger, trombonist and bandleader and his genre-crossing Jazz Mafia crew over the years. I needed his playful insight into this music. I wanted him to take the standards I d chosen songs that were familiar to listeners and were my favorites and basically create new songs from them. Produced by Miller for her Poignant Records label, SpinVintage is a major departure from the vocalist s last two successful recordings, Don t Move, from 2006, and I Had a Feelin , releases two years earlier. 

They both featured the music of Bobby Sharp, the brilliant but forgotten songwriter who composed the 1961 Ray Charles classic Unchain My Heart. Miller brought Sharp back to public attention, showcasing many of his songs that had never been performed until she brought them to life. With this new record, I wanted to give the audience something they didn't expect from me, says Miller, a highly trained classical violinist from Des Moines who played with orchestras and chamber groups in the Midwest before moving to San Francisco in 1995 to write and perform her original songs. She worked in advertising while performing at night until the music took over and she gave up the day gig. Her signing career took off. Miller became a favorite on the Bay Area club and festival scene, and her two Bobby Sharp recordings brought her wider acclaim.

Reviewing a performance of Sharp s songs, Los Angeles Times jazz critic Don Heckman praised the way Miller sang the material with sensitivity and insight, her cool musicality and clear articulation illuminating the unfamiliar pieces. A versatile jazz artist who can create a mood of hushed intimacy or hothouse exuberance, Miller draws inspiration for a wide range of musicians, from the classical violinists Itzhak Perlman and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg to singer-songwriter Ricki Lee Jones, the Police and operatic diva Frederica von Stade. Miller does the one operatic number on SpinVintage Summertime from the 1935 Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess in a decidedly un-operatic manner. She sings it in a lower octave than the original, giving the song a bittersweet reading in a dark-hued Theis arrangement set in 6/4 time. It s followed by Ray Noble s lovely The Very Thought of You, which sails along in relaxed bossa nova groove perfectly suited to the smiling sensuousness of Miller s vocal. I wanted to bring out the beauty and simplicity of the song, says the singer, who turns up the heat on a funky and joyous ride through the classic Etta James vehicle At Last. ~ Editorial Reviews https://www.amazon.com/SpinVintage-Natasha-Miller/dp/B003ZMWZGM

Spinvintage

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Natasha Miller - I Had A Feelin´

Styles: Vocal And Violin Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:28
Size: 118,3 MB
Art: Front


(4:58)  1. I Had A Feelin´
(5:12)  2. My Magic Tower
(6:10)  3. Unchain My Heart
(5:45)  4. Everlastin  Blues
(3:59)  5. I Return To The Sea
(4:19)  6. Monica
(3:01)  7. Things Are Breakin ike Rocks
(3:40)  8. Big Storyteller
(3:44)  9. A Real Swingin Affair
(5:31) 10. Madame Heartache
(5:05) 11. What Diference Does It Make

For her third album, Bay Area singer Natasha Miller devotes the eleven tracks to the songs of Bobby Sharp. The songwriter achieved his most notable success with "Unchain My Heart," popularized by Ray Charles in 1961 and later by Joe Cocker. Sharp was a New York songwriter who composed from 1946 through 1978. After having recovered from a drug addiction problem, Sharp relocated to San Francisco where he spent eight years as a drug counselor. Upon hearing Miller sing, Sharp contacted the vocalist, and I Had A Feelin' is the result of their labors. The album is structured to showcase ballad performances on the first six tracks and provides the remainding songs as mid- and up-tempo compositions. Miller's delivery on the first five tunes is that of a smoky jazz cafe in an afterhours performance reminiscent of the cool 1950s jazz vocal genre. Included in this section is the aforementioned "Unchain My Heart," which is forever associated with the rhythmic Ray Charles version. 

Natasha Miller proves that the melody and lyrics are perfectly adaptable to the change in tempo. In other words, if you suspend any preconceived notions about how you feel the song should sound, you can discover a new love ballad. These other opening tracks, "My Magic Tower," "Everlastin' Blues" (featuring a funky Hammond accompanyment), and "I Return to the Sea," plus the title tune, are all well written. Songwriter Sharp makes a vocal appearance on "Monica." The pace picks up with the humorous "Things Are Breakin' Like Rocks," followed by "Big Storyteller" and "A Real Swingin' Affair," which insert an eleven minute swinging segment. Miller closes with two more ballads that feature a string quartet on "Madame Heartache" and the poignant lyrics of "What Diff'rence Does It Make." In fact, the label (Poignant) strikes me as being an aptly named vehicle for this singer. ~ Michael P.Gladstone https://www.allaboutjazz.com/i-had-a-feelin-natasha-miller-poignant-records-review-by-michael-p-gladstone.php

Personnel: Natasha Miller,vocals,violin;  Michael Bluestone, piano,Hammond organ;  Bill Bell,piano on "Madame Heartache";  Jon Evans,bass;  Tim Bulkley,drums;  Jeff Lewis,flugelhorn/trumpet;  Rob Roth, sax;  Liz Prior Runnicles,viola;  Emil Miland,cello;  Bobby Sharp,vocal on "Monica".

I Had A Feelin´

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Natasha Miller - Don't Move

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:30
Size: 109,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:22)  1. Don't Move
(4:45)  2. You Don't Have To Learn (How To Sing The Blues)
(4:07)  3. Stolen Love (On Highway 99)
(5:10)  4. Snow Covers The Valley
(6:33)  5. Once More
(4:40)  6. Prisoner Of The Blues
(3:46)  7. Don't Set Me Free
(4:41)  8. Bye Bye Bayou
(5:19)  9. At Midnight
(2:48) 10. As The Years Come And Go
(2:14) 11. Doin' The Impossible

Once again, spunky vocalist Natasha Miller teams up with 81-year-old songwriter Bobby Sharp (Unchain My Heart, Don't Set Me Free), and this time, she’s got an album of destined-to-be jazz standards that outdoes everything she's produced to date. The new CD Don't Move (scheduled for a March 28, 2006 release) features 11 songs written by Sharp, most of which have never been recorded before. That makes this album something of an historic event in its own right. What makes it a musical event of the first order is Sharp’s songwriting, Natasha’s gift for flawless phrasing, and stunning arrangements penned by a group of musicians whose roots go deep and whose talents run to the top of their class pianists Bill Bell (Duke Ellington, Carmen McRae, Nancy Wilson), Larry Dunlap (Cleo Lane, Mark Murphy), Ellen Hoffman (Oakland East Bay Symphony, Linda Ronstadt), and Josh Nelson (Peter Erskine, Ernie Watts). Some of the arrangements call for a 3-piece horn section and a string ensemble to augment Natasha’s jazz trio. “It’s only a 9-piece band, Miller says, “but the arrangements are so full and the band so tight, I sometimes think I’ve got The Stan Kenton Orchestra or Nelson Riddle and his strings behind me.”  Sharp’s songwriting, as always, demonstrates his impeccable talent. He possesses an uncanny ability to unify the elements of his songs so they tell moving stories with a profound simplicity always with style and grace (and sometimes, with a good bit of humor). Those elements, along with the energy Natasha brings to each song, make music you just can’t get enough of. In fact, the title of the album Don’t Move is not just lifted from one of the tracks; you’ll find it personally compelling. When you listen to it, you simply won’t want to move, that is. “Bobby’s a genius, a one-man Mercer-and-Arlen team,” Natasha says. “His work will go down in the songbook of great American classics.”

As she has in all her previous work, both live and recorded, Miller again demonstrates she can sing anything put in front of her (possibly even the phone book). Her voice harbors a rich palette of colors, sometimes sassy and insistent (“Don’t Set Me Free,” “Don’t Move”), sometimes sultry and ironic (”At Midnight,” “You Don’t Have to Learn How to Sing the Blues”), and sometimes wistful and longing, as in the haunting “Snow Covers the Valley,” with its hint of the tragic realities found in old Irish ballads. But even when she’s “A Prisoner of the Blues,” there’s no crying in her beer here. These are songs for grown-ups rendered by a 34-year-old artist who knows that even though fate may often deprive us from what we want, we keep on going anyway. What Natasha does is to bring these qualities together with finesse and power, delivering each song to the listener’s doorstep, where they don’t beg for entry, they come as familiar guests. Put all this together vocal color, a tone that runs from hushed to fills-up-your-heart, a touch of attitude, range and power with Natasha’s natural gift for just the right lyrical timing and you wonder how these songs could be sung any other way.  As if that’s not enough, there’s the remarkable “sound” of the recording itself, due in large measure to the fact the album was produced at Skywalker Studios (George Lucas) in Northern California and engineered by the highly-respected Leslie Ann Jones. When you get that much talent under one roof, both in front of the mikes and behind the board, wonderful things happen. The group recorded all 11 tracks in a day and a half. Most were “down” on the first take. Natasha produced this her fourth album and is funding it through her independent record label Poignant Records based in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Her previous release I Had a Feelin' (also a collection of Bobby Sharp tunes) was well received by jazz radio (charting in JazzWeek), and played by jazz programmers around the world. I Had a Feelin' has garnered local and national media attention and has sparked a movie production deal about Natasha and Mr. Sharp, as well.

And the band? It includes all the West-Coast musical heavies Los-Angeles-based pianist Josh Nelson, and from the Bay Area, John Shifflet/upright bass, Tim Bulkley/drums, Rob Roth/saxophone, Jeff Lewis/trumpet and flugelhorn, Adam Theis/trombone, Liz Prior Runnicles/viola, Emil Miland/cello, and Natasha/violin. Don't Move is a CD with a rich array of color and emotion, bringing another segment of Bobby Sharp's songbook to life. There’s music here for everyone a little bit of the blue and the noir and a whole lot of up-tempo, foot-stompin’ surprises. There’s also the touching duet, “As the Years Come and Go,” sung by Miller and Sharp, a love song written by Sharp in younger years, now a testament by these two friends to their remarkable personal and musical partnership. Natasha is one of the Bay Area’s busiest performers and regularly sells out Yoshi's jazz club in Oakland. She made her Monterey Jazz Festival debut on Sept 18, 2005 with her 9-piece band to a standing-room- only audience who honored her with 2 standing ovations. https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/nmiller4

Don't Move

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Natasha Miller - What Christmas Means To Me

Size: 90,3 MB
Time: 38:48
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Vocal Jazz, Easy Listening, Holidays
Art: Front

01. Winter Wonderland (4:43)
02. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (3:18)
03. What Christmas Means To Me (3:26)
04. White Christmas (4:33)
05. Baby It's Cold Outside (3:38)
06. Christmas Time Is Here (3:48)
07. It Snowed (3:27)
08. The Secret Of Christmas (2:39)
09. My Favorite Things (4:50)
10. Somewhere Over The Rainbow (4:22)

Natasha Miller is an American vocalist who grew up in Des Moines, Iowa then hightailed it out to San Francisco as fast as she could load up her U-Haul. Having saved up $4,000 from playing the violin at weddings, she made her way to the west coast and has never looked back.

To date, Natasha has released 6 CD's on the Poignant Records label. The first is in the "singer/songwriter" category and she wrote all of the material. There are two "Great American Songbook" jazz recordings (Talk to Me Nice and SpinVintage), two recordings of material written by her dear friend Bobby Sharp (I Had a Feelin', Don't Move), and one holiday album (The Season). There is one more holiday album on the way. Why two holiday albums? Well, it's really Sam Bevan's fault.

Natasha plays the guitar and piano, but mostly uses those instruments as writing tools. It is rare that you'll see her performing in front of people on either instrument. She once was a very talented violinist, serving as concert master of orchestras and earning a full-ride scholarship to college. Fast forward to present day, and Natasha occasionally plays her violin on her recordings and concerts.

Natasha has had the privilege and thrill of performing at such great venues as Yoshi's (Oakland & San Francisco), The Plush Room. The Monterey Jazz Festival, The Jazz Standard in NYC, and Blues Alley in Washington, DC to name a few.

Natasha has been asked often who she considers her musical influences (usually "in jazz"), and she loves giving the following answer, "The Police, Itzhak Pearlman, Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians, Rickie Lee Jones (Pirates), Bonnie Raitt, Shawn Colvin, and now... Allen Stone. This always throws people off, especially when she notes she's not a fan of Billie Holiday's performances. Nonetheless, this is who she listens to still to this day.

What Christmas Means To Me

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