Helen Merrill and small group band leader Quincy Jones take a tour of the blues, cool jazz style. Merrill, dubbed the Sigh of New York by Japanese fans, does have an eccentric, breathy vocal style but she knows how to use it. An atmospheric, sometimes menacing late night record, though things lighten up when Merrill whispers “You Go to My Head” in French. ...
Grace Potter means business. She lets you know from the get go with the first “UH!” on her band’s new self titled album, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals. This isn’t some poppy, Adult Alternative record; it’s a gritty, passionate affair with swagger, soul and plenty of classic rock influences....
Eric Clapton’s live performance on MTV’s strip-down-the-rockers show allowed the heavily-blues-influenced guitarist a chance to show off another, underrated side of his talent–his voice.
It’s especially interesting to hear Clapton in an acoustic setting, because he made his mark as one of the early proponents of high-decibel rock. Here, sorting through numerous blues standards by the likes of Robert Johnson and Leadbelly, Clapton gives a lesson in technique, style and musical passion. His own, newer material allows him to stretch and play, while the heavily-grooved, slowed-down remake of his classic “Layla” is the essential standout. “Tears In Heaven,” a moving tribute to his son’s passing, is emotionally raw, yet stylistically smooth–a difficult task to achieve....
This is the debut album from the sultry and ever swinging Ms. Wilde and her Jumpin’ Jubilee Orchestra, a sweet blend of 16 world-class musicians who specialize in the raw, earthy big-band rythmn & blues of the 40′s and 50′s. This is music from the special time before strict boundaries were drawn between jazz, blues and r&b. Combining the drive of swing and jump-blues, the hot soloing of jazz, and the sublime vocal stylings of Lily Wilde, the Jumpin’ Jubilee Orchestra appeals to dancers, listeners and all fans of timeless music played by great musicians....
Calling both Switzerland and Canada home since leaving the U.S. when she was eight years old, her professional involvement in the Canadian music scene has been ongoing for the past 20 years, enriching the jazz, blues and classic R&B communities with her soulful voice, enthusiastic personality and commitment to music as an art form....
Carlos comes together with his brother Jorge and their nephew Carlos Hernandez to tear it up family-style on their monster guitar opus, BROTHERS. Released on Carlos’s Guts & Grace imprint, BROTHERS is a relentlessly fiery barrage of hard, prog-guitar textures and grooves. Several of the cuts were co-written by Jorge, who is a prodigious guitarist-composer in his own right....
The UK pop/soul act Simply Red maintained a fairly low profile in the United States during the first few years of the 21st century, but that changed with the 2005 release of SIMPLIFIED. Issued on the Verve Forecast imprint, the album presents vocalist Mick Hucknall and company easing into new arrangements of their most well-known songs, including “Holding Back the Years,” which gets a gentle, flamenco-inflected rendition. Hucknall’s distinctive voice is in fine form here, and though the red-haired frontman unveils a more subdued approach on some tunes, he showcases his passionate singing on a number of tracks, most notably the previously unreleased single “Perfect Love,” which coasts along on Cuban-influenced rhythms and a celebratory Santana-like vibe....
