Jan Daleys The
Way of a Woman and Norah Jones Day Breaks Dominate the Smooth Jazz Music Scene
Jan
Daley is one of the greatest classic smooth jazz artists of our time. Her smooth jazz music and arrangements are reminiscent of the great artists
of the Great American Songbook era and her voice is clear and entrancing. Jan Daley has been releasing music for
decades now since her days of USO tours with Bob Hope and her newest album just
might be the best one yet. Even Frank
Sinatra agreed, “She’s got it.” And Jan
Daley does. Her raw talent is incredible
and her hard work and consistent execution are equally impressive.
Louis
Armstrong described Daley as having a, “great, big, beautiful voice.” Her newest smoothjazz album is an incredible blend of
five covers and six original songs and, after listening; you’ll truly
understand how unreal her voice really is.
Her swooning tone and absolute control are stunning to listen to and
will blow you away. If you haven’t done
so yet, take a listen to her new album on iTunes
If that’s not enough Jan for you, you can download the title
song from her EP “When Sunny Gets Blue” FOR FREE from Noisetrade. To learn more about Daley and to
keep up with her latest updates, check out her Facebook and her official website here:
www.jandaley.com/.
The new album is just ok in my book. Sound quality not up to par with 'Come Away With Me', and definitely far short of 'Not Too Late', which I believe is her best recording. Day Breaks sounds compressed and a little closed in to my ears.
I bet the recording was done utilizing state-of-the-art gear by experienced pro recording engineers, so something must have gone wrong in the mixing or mastering, or a wave of ear wax removal among all of the participants caused an unnatural sensitivity to high frequencies…yeah…that's it...
On the CD I found the bass guitar to be one-note-ish and sort of non-directional, muffled. And not a lot of top end stuff like cymbals, not much work for my tweeters to do on some songs. I don't think it's a great recording. The music is pretty good, but IMO not close to her first.
Listening to the album again tonight and instead of focusing on the music, I was focusing on the recording. Yes, wolf_garcia, it does sound darker than her previous recordings. But it is nowhere as dark as the "Rising Sand" album from Robert Plant/Alison Krauss. That album is so "syrupy" or like "thick molasses". This album is so much better. I have no complaints on the CD. If you forget about the recording and listen to the songs, it does not matter. Now someone should compare the CD Vs the hi-rez downloads.
@wolf_garcia Yes, that's a better way to describe it. To me it didn't sound like every track was that way but when I heard the first track I was like "Oh my." After a couple of listens I think I'm getting more used to it but the first track still sounds different than most of the album.
This album is "dark" sounding (the tone, not the content particularly). I like it but really don't get why it was mastered or mixed to this tonal feel. Almost bought the LP instead and now I wonder if it has the same lack of crisp highs as the CD. Her style features such a nice sort of mellow vocal tone it's really not doing her any favors to put the entire thing in a mid heavy place…strange.
Wow stringreen, a D+ for the vinyl? You should really listen to the CD then. Maybe they overcooked the vinyl? But like you, I like the music on this album as well.
Well, the full album dropped on Spotify sometime last week and I've listened to it a couple of times this weekend. I didn't think the sound was awful. A few of the tracks sound a bit fuzzy or murky but they're not unlistenable by any means. I also don't think it sounds "like" Come Away with Me except for the fact that Norah sounds like Norah. I like the addition of the sax which is not an instrument she's used much in the past. I don't find it boring (but then I liked her earlier releases) and I'll probably buy the CD or the download.
I just had my first listen.....(hard to judge with only one listen) ...but I like it a lot. All the musicians are excellent...done with great taste. The sound is disappointing (I have a vinyl edition). I'm using a VPI Superscoutmaster/rim drive/classic platter/3D arm/Ortofon Winfield....the sonics are D+. ...the same as her other releases. Too bad...otherwise the record is very good indeed. (by the way...it sounds better with no antiskate.)
"Oh boy, now I'm in trouble !!! The Jones fans are going to be out for my blood !!!"
Not at all. There is absolutely no arguement that the woman has a wonderful voice and a sultry quality, but let's face it ... you have to like the kind of songs she sings or it's dullsville. I'm with crazyeddy (not so crazy, eddy), the albums can indeed put one to sleep.
@czarivey I agree with you completely. I have bought a few of her LP's and I just don't get all the hype. Here music is not disagreeable to me, but it just does not strike up any emotion IMHO.
Oh boy, now I'm in trouble !!! The Jones fans are going to be out for my blood !!! LOL
Milpai - My current dedicated 2 channel system is completely different from the components you listed in your post and consist of: . CD - Ayon CD-5 Pre - NAT Symmetrical Amps - Merrill Thor mono blocks Speakers - Spatial M4 Turbo S . This system is neutral & revealing and does not hide inefficiencies in recordings. Sometimes I wish my system wasn’t so honest. PS - The recording sounds earns a C grade in my car system.
I listened to Day Breaks last night on vinyl and also found it somewhat boring. I didn't even flip to the second side. Maybe with all the hype on this album I was expecting more. The sound quality was worse than I was expecting. I will get around to playing the entire record but I am not as excited as I was before my first listen. Maybe it will grow on me. I do like Come Away With Me.
Re:sound of the record..... I bought the LP, which I don't have yet, but will post when I get it. Too bad if the sound is poor..... I commented on Norah's latter LP's of the poor sound...even wrote a letter to her to become aware of the sound quality on her recordings.... We'll see.
Sound quality is below average - a D rating at best. Way too much reverberation and very muddy sounding. Not listenable on a revealing system. What's up with this?
...just read a great review of Day Breaks in the Art and Music section of this week's "The Week" (the best magazine of all time). 5 Stars for the record and the mag.
I have the CD version of this album and I should say, it is growing on me. I like the album in general. Jafant, +1. I have not come across a bad album from Norah Jones. Have you listened to her "Featuring" album? I think you will like it.
Erndog, you are spot on about the SQ. It is very average and indeed muffled at some parts, not on par with the Come Away With Me album. I have all of her albums and the SQ of Day Breaks and Little Broken Hearts has to be the worst.
I also thought it was boring. I did like one or two of the cuts but the rest was meh. Now just to be fair, I have only listened once. So perhaps I will like it more with repeated listens.
I listened using Tidal through my Aurender N100 and I thought the sound quality was also average or maybe even one click below average. It sounds muffled to me.
I must be the anomaly. I bought the Day Breaks album having high hope for it; however, I find the album to be quite boring, not anywhere near the caliber of her Come Away With Me album. The only track that I like is "Carry On"
Yogiboy have had the that one for over 50 years, was actually my mom's and she played it often and I replaced with a newer copy found still sealed at a flea market about 10 years ago. I really enjoyed how Norah and Billie Joe stayed true to the original.
@stringreen I like the singles I've heard on Spotify. Waiting to hear the whole album before I buy but I agree with @jafant that pretty much everything she's done is worthwhile.
Mofimadness, thanks for the heads up on the New York City recording, also wanted to throw out there The Foreverly album with Norah and Billie Joe Armstrong redoing the Everly Brothers Songs My Daddy Taught Us, not real familiar with BJA but these two really harmonize well together.
Norahs new album is really good, must admit though I really like all her albums. You need to also try the stuff she does with her friends from around the Austin area as the Little Willies.
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