Solitaire Miles - Melancholy Lullaby

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:44
Size: 132,7 MB
Art: Front

(2:54)  1. The Night Wind
(3:37)  2. How Little We Know
(5:17)  3. Tenderly
(2:21)  4. Stars Fell On Alabama
(5:49)  5. Darn That Dream
(5:32)  6. I Found A New Baby
(4:13)  7. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
(3:40)  8. Baby What Else Can I Do?
(4:45)  9. Nuages
(3:49) 10. Softy As In A Morning Sunrise
(3:02) 11. September In A Rain
(3:42) 12. Melancholy Lullaby
(4:07) 13. Out Of Nowhere
(3:45) 14. Me And The Moon
(1:04) 15. Blue Skies

“The memory of things gone is important to a jazz musician. Things like old folks singing in the moonlight in the back yard on a hot night or something said long ago.” ~ Louis Armstrong

I’ve spent most of my life listening to old swing and early jazz so this album is a compilation of popular American standards and also some lesser known songs that I’ve cherished over many years. Each selection is a discovery that I made along my musical journey, and some are abandoned melodies that I felt needed to be resurrected and restored. The project began in 2005 with countless happy hours spent hunting through stacks of ancient sheet music in the “Old Pop’s” collection at Chicago’s Harold Washington Library. It was a challenge to find some of these disregarded tunes like “Baby What Else Can I do” or “Say it with a Kiss” because they had only been recorded and released back in the 1930’s and 40’s, but the music librarians enjoyed the challenge and never failed to find any song that I asked for. After holding two public fundraisers to help pay for this project, I was able to record around 35 songs over several sessions with different groups of musicians in Chicago between 2008-11. Many of those songs appeared on my most recent album “Born to Be Blue, so these two albums are like sisters, similar in composition and tone, and I have tried to keep a common theme running between them. 

In 2011, I began recording the vocals using a vintage AEA Ribbon microphone, which gave my singing an old fashioned sound that I thought was more appropriate for this type of material. Legendary singers like Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee all recorded on Ribbons, and I hope I was able to capture a smooth and smoky feeling similar to early jazz and swing styling. Very old tunes like “The Night Wind” which hasn’t been recorded since vocalist Helen Ward laid it out with Benny Goodman in 1935, and “Melancholy Lullaby” which was recorded by Peggy Lee early on in her career, are complimented by the Ribbon’s dark, velvety sound, giving a more authentic feeling to these erstwhile songs. People ask me why I like to record older or more uncommon tunes and I’m not sure. Maybe it’s the antiquated lyrics or that they’re not performed very often, but I hope that I’ve been able to breathe some life back into these overlooked moments of the past. I think of myself as a music historian as well as a performer and so I’m very pleased to present a new recording from the late swing violinist Johnny Frigo and his accompanist and long time friend Joe Vito. 

Taken from my first recording session in 1996, this version of “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You” was never released because of technical problems. It was difficult to edit tape in those days, but with modern digital processing, my engineers were able to get the sound from the old tape to match the clarity of my new digital recordings, allowing us to present a new song from these late, beloved players. I am so happy to be able to revive this unreleased gem and include it with these other tunes. This project is a mixture of material from several sessions recorded in three different studios over the course of 16 years, but the glue that holds it all together is the fine playing by the talented musicians involved and our passion for the material. I hope you enjoy this musical excursion as much as I enjoyed living it.  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/solitairemiles2

Melancholy Lullaby

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Solitaire Miles - Born to Be Blue

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:50
Size: 116,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:03)  1. Baltimore Oriole
(4:02)  2. Too Close for Comfort
(5:11)  3. Born to Be Blue
(3:45)  4. You Gotta Crawl Before You Walk
(3:53)  5. Lover Come Back to Me
(5:51)  6. Detour Ahead
(3:43)  7. Moon Ray
(4:17)  8. Midnight Blue
(2:44)  9. Make with the Kisses
(4:11) 10. Serenade de Clair de Lune
(3:54) 11. Me and the Moon
(5:09) 12. I'll Never Be the Same

Solitaire Miles has always loved swing tunes. Her grandmother, a singer with a big band in the late 1930s, exposed her to the music early on. Solitaire originally planned to be an opera singer, but while attending DePaul University in Chicago, she met the legendary swing violinist Johnny Frigo who encouraged her to sing jazz. After college she began working in Chicago with Sax Maestro Von Freeman, and pianist Willie Pickens, who also played on her self-titled release in 2006. "I was lucky to have their guidance, because they were playing jazz with the greats in their day.” During later years while living in New York, she would sit in regularly with the great trumpeter Doc Cheatham, learning lots of swing tunes. From these venerable bandleaders, she learned more about phrasing; “They wrung every little bit of pop styling from my phrasing until it became authentic, unadulterated jazz and swing."

For her third release Born to Be Blue, Solitaire utilizes some of Chicago's top jazz musicians, all of whom have the flexibility to sound at home in a swing combo. “Willie Pickens is always my first choice on piano,” says the singer. “I love working with him because he is not just accompanying me, we listen closely and challenge each other.” A few of the numbers feature pianist Joe Vito who was Johnny Frigo's regular accompanist for years. Some selections include tenor-saxophonist Jim Gailloreto, while the versatile trumpeter Art Davis is heard playing in a conversational style not that dissimilar from Doc Cheatham's.

Born to Be Blue begins with “Baltimore Oriole” which composer Hoagy Carmichael performed in the Humphrey Bogart movie “To Have and Have Not". “It's a quirky song with a period feeling.” Solitaire says. The haunting vocal and concise solos by Pickens and Davis perfectly fit Carmichael's unusual tale. “Too Close For Comfort” is associated with several singers from the 1950s including Ella Fitzgerald, but Larry Kohut's arrangement, which begins as a duet by Solitaire with drummer Phil Gratteau, puts a new spin on the standard. One particular joy of this CD is hearing a lot of fresh material, and vintage songs that deserve to be revived. “Born to Be Blue” is one of Mel Torme's best originals while “You've Got to Crawl Before You Walk” was the only tune co-written by Torme and Duke Ellington. “Detour Ahead” was Johnny Frigo's most famous original, so it naturally features Joe Vito on piano and is a tribute to the violinist and Jim Gailloreto contributes a tasteful solo to this emotional version. Since she wanted to record several obscure songs that the musicians weren't too familiar with, Solitaire added “Lover Come Back to Me." "It's the type of jam session tune that we play late at night, an up-tempo number that lets everyone stretch out.”

It isn’t often that one gets to hear such superior, if forgotten numbers as Artie Shaw’s “Moon Ray”, which has prominent roles for bassist Joe Policastro and guitarist Andy Brown, or “Make With the Kisses” which features Art Davis and guitarist Neal Alger, and is a delightful romp that has rarely been performed since Mildred Bailey recorded it with Benny Goodman 70 years ago. One can easily imagine Billie Holiday performing "Midnight Blue." which features more ingenious improvising by Art Davis. Most unusual is “Serenade de Clair de Lune,” a version of Glenn Miller's theme song “Moonlight Serenade” sung in French. Joe Vito adds to the cafe atmosphere by switching to accordion with Neal Alger strumming on acoustic guitar. Other songs include “I'll Never Be the Same,” and the charming “Me and the Moon” a sweet band favorite which was originally recorded by the Hal Kemp Orchestra in 1933.

Throughout this project Solitaire and her musicians are not content to merely recreate the past but are creative within the style, adding to the music's legacy. While Solitaire can name a long list of influences, not the least of which was her Grandmother, she does not sound exactly like any of the singers who preceded her. Nor do her sidemen sacrifice their own individuality while doing justice to the material. Instead, they all fully understand the music and are able to add their own voices to the songs while being themselves.

This delightful set not only proves that there is still plenty of life to be found in swing tunes, but it features Solitaire Miles at her very best, taking her place as one of the top swing singers around today. ~ Scott Yanow, jazz writer and critic  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/milessolitaire

Born to Be Blue

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Solitaire Miles - Solitaire Miles

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:05
Size: 108,5 MB
Art: Front

(4:36)  1. Comes Love
(3:19)  2. Autumn Leaves
(2:24)  3. I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl
(4:02)  4. I Wished on the Moon
(5:01)  5. Lush Life
(4:18)  6. I Don't Know Enough About You
(5:35)  7. Blowtop Blues
(2:56)  8. Softly as in a Morning Sunrise
(5:52)  9. You Go to My Head
(5:03) 10. You Let Me Down
(3:52) 11. A Kiss to Build a Dream On

Chicago jazz vocalist Solitaire Miles captivates the seasoned jazz veteran with mesmeric tone, conversational phrasing, and a sinuous sense of swing. Her unaffected delivery never draws attention to itself, allowing the lyrics to shine through. She presents each song in a sincere manner, intimating a supple delivery so the patois of each arrangement has a lasting effect on the listener. Her timing and style impressed Chautauqua Symphony Bassist Harry Jacobson enough to label her as "Billie Holiday with sunshine and air".

Her debut album includes some of Chicago's best performers, arranged by the great jazz violinst Johnny Frigo and incomparable pianist Willie Pickens, the recording reflects the laid back, forthright swing that is signature of the Chicago sound. Also featured is Chicago Sax Maestro Von Freeman, who keeps the music genuine and sassy. There is also a cameo from trumpeter Brad Goode and three live tracks recorded in New York with pianist Don Rebic.  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/solitairemiles

Personnel: Solitaire Miles vocals ; Johnny Frigo violin; Von Freeman sax;  Willie Pickens piano;  Brad Goode trumpet ; Don Rebic piano;  Bruce Johnstone sax/clarinet ; John Whitfield bass;  Mike Raynor drums

Solitaire Miles

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