Sandra Dudley And Lori Mechem - All Of My Life

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:32
Size: 155,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:51)  1. Love Like Ours
(5:54)  2. Kisses
(5:58)  3. What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?
(4:46)  4. Summer Me, Winter Me
(5:04)  5. Moonlight
(5:05)  6. I Have The Feeling I've Been Here Before
(5:01)  7. Mozart In The Dark
(4:06)  8. What Matters Most
(4:12)  9. The Summer Knows
(4:26) 10. Like A Lover
(3:40) 11. Being Without You
(4:36) 12. How Do You Keep The Music Playing?
(4:45) 13. Alone In The World
(5:03) 14. You Must Believe In Spring

“Among the great pleasures and rewards of songwriting is hearing one’s songs performed with the respect and love that Sandra and Lori brought to this CD!  Some of these songs have never been recorded and some have many recordings, but all are sung and played here with such freshness and keen jazz sensibility.  Thank you both, Lori and Sandra”! ~ Love, Alan & Marilyn

“This is a lovely vocal album, with Dudley singing with pristine clarity and feeling, accompanied only by the tasteful piano of Mechem. Dudley has strong area ties a native of Buffalo, she studied at Fredonia then at the Eastman School of Music, where she cites her teachers, Jan DeGaetani (for vocal chops) and Bill Dobbins (for jazz history and understanding). All of My Life spotlights the songs of Alan and Marilyn Bergman, including “You Must Believe in Spring,” “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life,” and a dozen others. Dudley’s version of “What Are You Doing …” comes near to being definitive. Singer and pianist have a potent chemistry, bringing these classic pop standards to vivid and highly musical life.” ~  Jack Garner – Critics Playlist, Democrat and Chronicle 

“What happens when a remarkable singer and a fabulous pianist take on the catalog of a wonderful husband and wife team of lyricists, writing with a variety of top notch composers?  Just what you might imagine; a gorgeous recording, full of smiles, tears and some really breath-taking music.  Don’t miss this”! ~ Beegie Adair- Green Hill Music Artist, Composer and Educator

“Imagine you have before you a small box.  You open it and discover 14 exquisite little gems, each with its own sparkle and personality.  That is the sensation I experienced when listening to Sandra and Lori’s ” All Of My Life” collection.  It is certainly ranks among the finest renditions of the Bergman catalog ever recorded.  I’ll surely listen to this CD over, and over, and over again”. ~ Jeffery Steinberg- Arranger, Composer and Pianist

“These are the things you hope for when you hear a new CD. The music touches your heart and warms your soul. It has the power to make you smile, cry, think and feel. It reminds you that the power or music isn’t related to its volume or the number of musicians involved, rather the ability of those involved to bring the music to life”. ~ George Tidwell- Arranger, Composer and Trumpeter

“It’s long been said in Nashville that “it all begins with a song”.  That has not stopped thousands of records being produced each year with musical smoke and mirrors, technical sleight of hand, and layers of other creative veneer applied to hide the fact that the main ingredient could be missing.  Good songs sometimes need that additional TLC, but great songs need only to be played.  ALL OF MY LIFE, by Lori Mechem and Sandra Dudley is not just a tribute to the writing of Alan and Marilyn Bergman;  it’s a tribute to the way memorable records have always been made: Great performances of great songs.  It will take a lot longer to finish listening to these recordings than it took to make them.  And there’s nothing missing”~ Green Daniel  Nashville Producer and Arranger

“The Mechem and Dudley duo–the perfect wine for Bergman connoisseurs.  The magic sparks between these two musicians make every phrase alluring and unforgettable!  Lori and Sandra are simply world class jazz masters!  They are the perfect medium for the passionate, profound, and penetrating lyrics of the celebrated, award-winning songwriter couple, Alan and Marilyn Bergman.  This is a definitive collection” ~ Ron Browning- Nashville Vocal Coach to the Stars http://www.lorimechemmusic.com/downloads/all-of-my-life-album/

Personnel: Sandra Dudley - Vocal; Lori Mechem - piano

All Of My Life

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Sandra Dudley - Close To You

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:47
Size: 147,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:53)  1. Dearly Beloved
(6:52)  2. In Walked Bud
(6:24)  3. September Song
(5:23)  4. West Coast Blues
(5:25)  5. Close To You
(4:08)  6. Hallucinations
(5:15)  7. I Concentrate On You
(5:58)  8. Billie
(5:46)  9. Some Of My Best Friends Are The Blues
(4:53) 10. Red Moon
(4:47) 11. The Wrong Blues
(4:58) 12. A House Is Not A Home

Sandra Dudley is a versatile jazz vocalist who performs standards, bebop and original songs with a "pristine, horn-like clarity", writes Tim Carman, former writer of the Houston Post. "There's a husky resonance that gives her music a blue spirit, a kind of honest, lived-in quality that is both inviting and heartbreakingly human." "Jazz opens my heart to a spiritual experience. When I sing, I want to speak to the soul," says Dudley of her art. Dudley, a native of Buffalo, New York, grew up with jazz all around her. Her father, an amateur singer, exposed her to some of the music of the great jazz singers and big band leaders. Her early childhood music studies included lessons on pop organ, piano and voice. Following high school, Sandra attended Fredonia State University where she studied classical voice and opera. While at Fredonia, she placed in the regional finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and finished with high merit in the NATS Competition at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Sandra was performing jazz along with classical in performances with the Fredonia Jazz Ensemble and the Fredonia Symphony Orchestra. 

"I felt I had the best of both worlds learning about classical and commercial. I was lucky to have hip teachers who would allow it. Both idioms feed off each other in so many ways." Upon graduation from Fredonia, Dudley attended Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York where she studied with world-renowned mezzo-soprano Jan DeGaetani. There she studied classical and twentieth century music, including jazz. "I took jazz history with pianist Bill Dobbins and learned so much about jazz from his stories and experiences." Upon graduation with her Masters in Voice Performance, Sandra performed jazz with the Eastman School of Music Studio Orchestra and began to sing in jazz clubs throughout New York. Teaching was equally important, and in the following years Sandra taught classical and jazz voice at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, Canada and music at the University of Houston in Texas. She is currently Assistant Professor of Commercial Voice at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee where she has taught applied voice, jazz vocal styles, and directed the jazz vocal ensemble, Jazzmin since 1995. In 1994, Dudley made her national recording debut singing "Little Prayer" on an album entitled " Last Night When We Were Young: The Ballad Album" on the Classical Action label, produced by Fred Hersch. "All proceeds went to AIDS research. It was one of the warmest and most endearing experiences of my life thus far". 

The project also featured performances by George Shearing, Phil Woods, Toots Thielemans, Mark Murphy, and Gary Burton, among others. Dudley won a jazz songwriting contest sponsored by Jazziz magazine with her composition "Billie". She can be heard singing it on a compilation CD "Vocals on Fire", which was released in the February 1998 issue of Jazziz. Sandra Dudley has been performing jazz for nearly two decades. While in Canada, she performed on CBC Radio and Television and in concert halls and clubs across the Atlantic Provinces. In 1993 Dudley became the feature vocalist for the Nelson Riddle Orchestra under the direction of Chris Riddle. "To sing the same arrangements that Frank Sinatra and Ella sang was a real thrill!" Dudley has performed at the Moncton Jazz Festival, Jazz at the Albright Knox in Buffalo, the Houston International Festival, the Texas Jazz Festival in Corpus Christi, the Tennessee Jazz and Blues Society's summer concert series, the Franklin Jazz Festival, and many others. Dudley was heard on National Public Radio in 1996 when her performance at "Jazz in June" from Oklahoma City was broadcast. She has performed with, among others, legendary guitarist Barney Kessel, Canadian pianist Oliver Jones, New York pianist Fred Hersch, saxophonist/flutist Bobby Militello, trumpeter Marvin Stamm, pianist/husband Bruce Dudley, Houston pianist Dave Catney, and Houston drummer Sebastian Whittaker. 

Sandra is presently the featured singer with The Jazz Orchestra of the Delta under the direction of Dr. Jack Cooper. A CD with the Memphis based band called "Big Band Reflections of Cole Porter" was released June, 2003 on the Summit Label and is receiving critical acclaim. Sandra's first solo CD, "Close To You" has just been released independently. The project features a seasoned band featuring Sandra's husband-pianist/arranger Bruce Dudley, bassist Roger Spencer, drummer Jim White and saxophonist Denis Solee. Special guests include trombonist Barry Green and trumpeter George Tidwell. "Close To You" is a pleasing mix of standards and originals. Sandra's creative rendition of the Burt Bacharach tune "Close To You" is one of the highlights of the album. Sandra Dudley is a dedicated jazz musician who believes in staying true to the art form. Her exuberant stage presence, sophisticated scatting ability, and tender ballad interpretations make her one of the most captivating performers on the scene today. http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/sandrad

Close To You

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