Topsy Chapman and The Pro's - My One and My Only Love

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:37
Size: 140,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:31) 1. If Dreams Come True
(4:40) 2. Just a Little While to Stay Here
(4:39) 3. I Still Get Jealous
(4:03) 4. Someday You'll Be Sorry
(4:01) 5. Mood Indigo
(6:27) 6. Somewhere Over the Rainbow
(5:18) 7. I Can't Give You Anything but Love
(3:47) 8. Bye Bye Blues
(5:22) 9. Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans
(5:08) 10. Baby Won't You Please Come Home
(5:08) 11. My One and Only Love
(3:01) 12. Deacon Jones
(5:27) 13. Solitude

The delightful musical One Mo'Time introduced singer Topsy Chapman to admiring audiences around the world. The production, which is set in 1920s New Orleans, reached cult status in its run at the old Toulouse Theater in the French Quarter in the 1980s before being exported to New York and then to Europe. Much of the local cast traveled with the play and thus Chapman, long-considered a living treasure in New Orleans, received some well-deserved exposure before a larger audience.

Chapman, who grew up not far from New Orleans in Kentwood, LA, was raised in the gospel music tradition. That gospel-tinged fervor is evident in her voice today, as she sings with some of the top musicians in the city of New Orleans. She still makes appearances at some of the popular gospel brunch venues around the city, but she mostly lends her elegant style to groups such as the Magnolia Brass Band, the Jim Cullum Jazz Band, and the Lars Edegran Orchestra. She gigs with the best of the best at venues in the Crescent City at popular clubs such as Donna's, Snug Harbor, and the Palm Court, as well as at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and the Satchmo Summerfest.

Chapman's affinity for the music of Armstrong is captured on her 2001 CD My One and Only Love. Recorded as Topsy Chapman and the Pros, the record does feature some real pros, such as Lucien Barbarin, Don Suhor, and Duke Heitger. The singer is joined on vocals by her two daughters, Yolanda "Peb" Windsay and Jolynda "Kike" Phillips. Among the selections are Armstrong's "Someday You'll Be Sorry" and "I Still Get Jealous." Another excellent release is Jazz in New Orleans: The Nineties. Working with Brian Carrick and his New Orleans Heritage Band, Chapman has made an uplifting record of gospel tunes such as "In the Sweet By and By" and "Just a Closer Walk With Thee." Her work with the Magnolia Jazz Band can be heard on their 1994 eponymous release, featuring jazz standards and popular tunes.

The vocalist also appears on Cubanismo!'s 2000 CD Mardi Gras Mambo-Cubanismo! in New Orleans. Chapman really fits in the groove, especially on her danzon-style duet with John Boutté, "It Do Me Good." In 2002, Chapman was nominated for Best Female Jazz Vocalist in the prestigious Best of New Orleans Awards given by Gambit magazine. With several records out there, personal appearances, and glowing reviews in journals from Ebony to the New York Times, her star is shining brighter than ever.~ Rose of Sharon Witmer https://www.allmusic.com/artist/topsy-chapman-mn0000792037/biography

Personnel: Topsy Chapman vocals, Jolynda (Kike) Philips vocals, Yolanda "Peb" Windsay vocals, Duke Heitger trumpet, Lucien Barbarin trombone, Don Suhor clarinet + alto sax, Rickie Monie piano, Mark Brooks bass, Ocie Davis drums.

My One and My Only Love

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Topsy Chapman & Magnolia Jazzband - Fine and Mellow

Styles: New Orleans Jazz
Year: 1994
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:36
Size: 159,7 MB
Art: Front

(7:57)  1. Fine And Mellow
(6:44)  2. You Can't Tell The Difference After Dark
(7:52)  3. My Man
(6:33)  4. Let The Great Big World Keep On Turning
(5:47)  5. When I come to the end of my journey
(5:48)  6. Yesterdays
(9:37)  7. Close to you
(7:06)  8. My sin was lovin' you
(6:50)  9. The same old love
(5:17) 10. Please, don't talk about me when I'm gone

The delightful musical One Mo'Time introduced singer Topsy Chapman to admiring audiences around the world. The production, which is set in 1920s New Orleans, reached cult status in its run at the old Toulouse Theater in the French Quarter in the 1980s before being exported to New York and then to Europe. Much of the local cast traveled with the play and thus Chapman, long-considered a living treasure in New Orleans, received some well-deserved exposure before a larger audience. Chapman, who grew up not far from New Orleans in Kentwood, LA, was raised in the gospel music tradition. That gospel-tinged fervor is evident in her voice today, as she sings with some of the top musicians in the city of New Orleans. She still makes appearances at some of the popular gospel brunch venues around the city, but she mostly lends her elegant style to groups such as the Magnolia Brass Band, the Jim Cullum Jazz Band, and the Lars Edegran Orchestra.

She gigs with the best of the best at venues in the Crescent City at popular clubs such as Donna's, Snug Harbor, and the Palm Court, as well as at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and the Satchmo Summerfest. Chapman's affinity for the music of Armstrong is captured on her 2001 CD My One and Only Love. Recorded as Topsy Chapman and the Pros, the record does feature some real pros, such as Lucien Barbarin, Don Suhor, and Duke Heitger. The singer is joined on vocals by her two daughters, Yolanda "Peb" Windsay and Jolynda "Kike" Phillips. Among the selections are Armstrong's "Someday You'll Be Sorry" and "I Still Get Jealous." Another excellent release is Jazz in New Orleans: The Nineties. Working with Brian Carrick and his New Orleans Heritage Band, Chapman has made an uplifting record of gospel tunes such as "In the Sweet By and By" and "Just a Closer Walk With Thee." Her work with the Magnolia Jazz Band can be heard on their 1994 eponymous release, featuring jazz standards and popular tunes. The vocalist also appears on Cubanismo!'s 2000 CD Mardi Gras Mambo-Cubanismo! in New Orleans. Chapman really fits in the groove, especially on her danzon-style duet with John Boutté, "It Do Me Good." In 2002, Chapman was nominated for Best Female Jazz Vocalist in the prestigious Best of New Orleans Awards given by Gambit magazine. With several records out there, personal appearances, and glowing reviews in journals from Ebony to the New York Times, her star is shining brighter than ever. Bio ~ Rose of Sharon Witmer  http://www.allmusic.com/artist/topsy-chapman-mn0000792037/biography

Fine and Mellow

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Magnolia Jazzband & Topsy Chapman - Live At Oslo Concert Hall

Styles: Gypsy Jazz
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:42
Size: 151,6 MB
Art: Front

(5:48)  1. Lonesome And Sorry
(5:37)  2. Shout, Sister, Shout
(6:12)  3. I'm Through With Love
(7:39)  4. St. Louis Blues
(5:36)  5. Muddy Waters
(7:21)  6. Blue Bells Goodbye
(8:17)  7. Fine And Mellow
(5:30)  8. I Cried For You
(8:06)  9. My Man
(5:30) 10. Down In Honky Tonk Town

The 35th anniversary concert was a great success. The audience also had the benefit of hearing Magnolia's former pianist, the one and only Morten Gunnar Larsen, accompanying Topsy on "Muddy Waters". We took the liberty of sending a test copy of the resulting CD to Butch Thompson, asking him what he thought. Butch wrote:

"The partnership of Topsy Chapman with the Magnolia Jazzband is magic. Ms. Chapman brings that to all her performances, but with these guys you know there is something very special going on the moment she walks onstage. New Orleans music is all about connections between people, and the easy way the music comes together on this CD is born of longtime friendship and respect. Everybody is happy to be there, and it shows.

The Magnolia is simply one of the very best old-style New Orleans groups on the scene today. These tracks taken from their ambitious 35th anniversary performance at the Oslo Concert Hall in late 2007, are testimony to their remarkable cohesion. It's all about teamwork. Yes, they are fine soloists, but it all works so very well because they have mastered the art of the ensemble, the true basic of the music they have immersed themselves in for so long.

A Bonus here is the magical duet by Topsy and the superb Norwegian pianist Morten Gunnar Larsen, who made a cameo appearance that evening. The tune is Muddy Water,  well-remembered both for Bessie Smith's classic 1927 recording and for its dramatic performance by Thais Clark in Vernel Bagneris' hit off-Broadway show One Mo' Time. Like Ms. Clark, Topsy Chapman was a member of that show's original cast, but her performance here is entirely different from that of Ms. Clark, whose intense performance regularly stopped the show. For Topsy, it's something else: Intense, yes, but in her own very different, more relaxed style, finely and sensitively phrased and perfectly accompanied by the versatile Mr. Larsen, whose perfectly chosen tempo and sensitive playing are, as always, a marvel."  http://www.magnoliajazzband.com/eng/news.html

Magnolia Jazzband : Anders Bjørnstad - trumpet, Georg Michael Reiss - clarinet and alto sax, Gunnar Gotaas - trombone, Håkon Gjesvik - grand piano, Arild Holm - banjo, Per Hobbel - string bass and Torstein Ellingsen - drums; Topsy Chapman - vocal; Morten Gunnar Larsen accompanies on "Muddy Waters".

Live At Oslo Concert Hall

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