Trouble is sleek, sexy, dynamic and effective with R&B undertones with catchy Pop tunes. With tunes like Pause, Trouble and Mizery packed with dramatic beats and bright, fresh production ideas, criss-crossing rock guitar licks and polyrhythmic harmonies. Trouble is as slick, effective and emotionally engaging that will keep the listener ear captivated....
The lack of liner notes doesn’t give much clue as to how long Maucha Adnet has been active professionally as a vocalist, though a quote from Antonio Carlos Jobim indicates that she toured with the late, legendary composer. Her deep, soulful voice is very appealing, similar to that of Leny Andrade. Accompanied by a mix of Brazilian and American musicians, including pianist Helio Alves, flugelhornists Claudio Roditi and Michael Brecker, trombonist Jay Ashby, guitarists Mario Adnet and Romero Lubambo, bassist Nilson Matta and drummer Duduka Da Fonsaca, she is obviously very familiar with a wide range of Jobim’s compositions, covering both internationally known hits and pieces that have received less exposure outside of Brazil. ...
Adriana Rios was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At the age of eight, she moved to the United States and divided her time between the two countries. She began her classical music studies at the age of eleven, playing the flute, and continued until she entered university. She graduated with honors from The College of William and Mary, (Va. USA) with a degree in Latin American Studies and left the US for Europe. There, she returned to her musical inclinations, singing, playing the flute and percussion with different Brazilian music groups in numerous jazz clubs in various cities of Greece, Italy, and France....
Following two acclaimed albums largely composed of covers and standards, mercurial jazz-pop singer Madeleine Peyroux has created her first album consisting entirely of original songs. Working with her longtime producer and bandleader Larry Klein, along with other co-writers including Steely Dan’s Walter Becker, Joe Henry, and second-generation jazz guitarist Julian Coryell, Peyroux has done a remarkable job of maintaining the sound and mood of her earlier work. Highlights include the opening acoustic shuffle “Instead,” a perky bit of affirmation that showcases Peyroux’s startlingly Billie Holiday-like phrasing, while the atypically rough-edged “You Can’t Do Me” takes a page from Cat Power’s recent fusions of Memphis soul and indie rock desperation...
Swedish singer Rigmor Gustafsson’s three previous ACT recordings have all concentrated on other composers’ material and all had titles including the word ‘you’ (On My Way to You, I Will Wait for You and Close to You); this is a departure in that it contains nothing but originals (some co-written), but it continues the appropriately intimate, confessional ‘you’ theme....
Rachelle Ferrell began singing at the age of six, which contributed to the “development of her startling six and change octave range.” Her range also includes the ability to reach the whistle register, as stated in an editorial review in which she references her whistle note in “It only took a minute” as “Minnie Riperton-like wailing”. She received classical training on violin at an early age and by the time she was a teen, she was able to play the piano at a professional level. She enrolled in Berklee College of Music in Boston where she honed her musical abilities in arrangement, singing and songwriting....
Here’s a terrific release, courtesy of Betsie Brown at Blind Raccoon in Memphis, of soulful blues from the San Diego-based Missy Andersen – Detroit-born and raised in Queens, New York – a short, but very sweet, eight tracks of classic soul and blues – mainly covers, but with a couple of original songs, all beautifully sung and the band delivering some great grooves! Influenced by her parents record collection, Missy Andersen grew up listening to the likes of Gladys Knight, Aretha Franklin, The Staple Singers and more, later picking up on O.V. Wright, Bobby Bland, James Carr, Ann Peebles, etc., before finding her own voice – and what an impressive voice it is!...
Let It All Out is one of Nina Simone’s more adult pop-oriented mid-’60s albums, with renditions of tunes by Duke Ellington (“Mood Indigo”), Billie Holiday (“Don’t Explain”), Irving Berlin (“This Year’s Kisses”), and Rodgers & Hart (“Little Girl Blue”). As ever, Simone ranges wide in her selection: Bob Dylan’s “The Ballad of Hollis Brown,” a swaggering adaptation of “Chauffeur Blues” (credited to her husband of the time, Andy Stroud), the gospel hymn “Nearer Blessed Lord,” and Van McCoy’s “For Myself.” “Images” is an a cappella adaptation of a poem about the beauty of blackness by Waring Cuney. All of Simone’s Philips albums are solid, and this is no exception, while it isn’t the best of them. This LP has been combined with the 1965 album Pastel Blues on a single-disc CD reissue...
