Valerie Joyce - New York Blue

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:42
Size: 118,6 MB
Art: Front

(6:14)  1. It Never Entered My Mind
(4:31)  2. Blue In Green
(3:12)  3. Baby Can I Hold You
(4:29)  4. Fever
(3:26)  5. Oasis
(5:25)  6. Every Time We Say Goodbye
(3:08)  7. Moon And Sand
(3:05)  8. Little Wing
(3:09)  9. Weaver Of Dreams
(6:10) 10. It's Easy To Remember
(2:56) 11. Darn That Dream
(3:38) 12. I Fall In Love Too Easily
(2:18) 13. Golden Slumbers

Without settling into jazz-vocalist convention, Valerie Joyce has developed a voice that is wonderfully idiosyncratic, lush, and richly expressive. In an emotionally arresting and disarmingly vulnerable style, she delivers standards, modern songs destined to become standards, and originals, all with great emotional nuance. With a knowing and considered expression of music and lyrics, she conveys a sense of discovering lyrics and the resonance of songs as if for the first time. All this is documented on Joyce’s fine discs on the influential audiophile label, Chesky Records. Those albums mark the maturation of this stellar Seattle-based singer, who grew up in Japan, the daughter of a Japanese mother and American father. Joyce’s musical education began with early solfege and classical piano lessons, and then music studies while pursuing her college degree in the United States, where she has lived since 1991. She has been making recordings since 2002 (Reverie), followed in 2003 by a yet-to-be-released world-jazz project with pianist Michael Wolff and others, and then two acclaimed CDs with Chesky since 2004. New York Blue featuring pianist Andy Ezrin and The Look of Love: The Music of Burt Bacharach, featuring pianist David Hazeltine. (by Peter Monaghan)  http://valeriejoyce.com/biography/

Personnel:  Valerie Joyce – Vocals;  Andy Ezrin – Piano;  Lawrence Feldman – Alto & Tenor Saxophone;  Eugene Jackson – Drums;  Jon Hebert – Acoustic Bass, tracks 4, 8, 9, 10 & 11;  Tim Lefebvre – Acoustic Bass, tracks 1,2,3, 5,6,7,12 & 13

New York Blue

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Valerie Joyce - The Look Of Love: The Music of Burt Bacharch

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:44
Size: 113.9 MB
Styles: Standards, Vocal jazz
Year: 2007
Art: Front

[4:54] 1. Walk On By
[5:44] 2. What The World Needs Now
[4:08] 3. Alfie
[4:28] 4. (They Long To Be) Close To You
[5:31] 5. A House Is Not A Home
[6:47] 6. The Look Of Love
[5:12] 7. Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head
[4:50] 8. That's What Friends Are For
[3:49] 9. I Say A Little Prayer For You
[4:19] 10. Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)

When, as the saying goes, there is more than meets the eye, why shouldn't the same apply to the ear? The sweet smile and the romantic design of Valerie Joyce's latest album, as well as the outwardly smooth arrangements contained on the CD suggest yet another stab at the commercially viable intersection between Pop and Jazz. And yet, this lady certainly knows how to spice up a tune.

Joyce, after all, has been a recognisable voice on the American Vocal-Jazz scene for over a decade. She has never rested on the laurels bestowed on her bronzen timbre and silky huskiness, but rather dared to contrast them with World Music, tablas and flutes. She founded her own label and played the piano in a bigband for years before making her breakthrough and signing with Chesky. Listen to her spaced-out version of "Fever" on her previous album "New York Blue" to find out why Valerie Joyce has deserved her share of tenderness on "The Look of Love-The Music of Burt Bacharch".

Besides, judging Bacharach's music by the cover is an obvious, but dangerous mistake, which risks missing the point completely. Of course, songs like "I say a little prayer for you" and "Arthur's Theme" are hummable tunes in perfection. But underneath their catchy shell hide eccentric chord modulations and lyrics full of bitterness, dark allusions, sadness and unfulfillable longing. "Bacharach has made it his trademark to populate his pieces with subtle twists and turns that burnish his inimitable footprints", Ted Panken writes in the liner notes, explaining why Valerie Joyce has decided to make changes, but to essentially remain faithful to the original. ~Music Lover

The Look Of Love

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