I think my best discovery of 2008 was Hollie Smith's "Long Player". I think it was only released in her native NZ, but you can buy it from a few different sources on the internet.
You can check out 3 full length cuts off of the record on her MySpace page. Here's a link:
http://www.myspace.com/holliesmithmusic
Let me know what you think. For me, a unique voice, soulful presentation, good background singers and good soulful musicianship. It's a winner.
BTW, earlier this year I read that she signed by Blue Note Records, but I haven't seen any news recently about a US release or a new record.
Enjoy,
TIC |
Mal Waldron "All alone" with Jackie McLean (1957) |
Pehare - How does "Cardinology" compare to "Heartbreaker"? I really like the latter, but have not warmed up a couple of his other CD's (Love is Hell and Easy Tiger) with The Cardinals. I also enjoyed his contributions to the anniversary release of The Cowboy Junkies "Trinity Sessions". Since I started this thread and haven't contributed anything in a while I'll add a few: Serena Ryder - Great, young female vocalist from Canada in the footsteps of Maddeline Peyroux and Norah Jones, with a pinch of Amy Winehouse... but with certainly with her very own voice. She has a great covers album from 2006 that is a bit pricey,titled, "If Your Memory Serves You Well" - just gorgeous! My friend just gave me a copy of Cat by jazz vocalist Catherine Russel. For those who like female vocals in the realms of classic jazz, this is a great album. In the realms of the really quirky and odd, I've really enjoyed Kimya Dawson, who has multiple contributions to the Juno soundtrack. This is definitely not for everyone, but I think she's great...quirky, fun, child-like but with a cutting edge. She's categorized under "Anti-folk". If this intrigues you check her out on the Juno soundtrack, or on her own CD, Remember That I Love You. She was formerly with The Moldy Peaches. Again, not for everyone. On classical I've really enjoyed an A'goner's recommendation for Kissin's renditions of Chopin. Marco |
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I picked up a CD by Beth Rowley about two weeks ago, and love it. It's one of those musical finds that makes it all worth while. It's titled... Little Dreamer. It was put out in 2007. Go to bethrowley.com The CD reminds me of Brandi Carlile's music but with better words, music, arrangements and voice that will knock you out. |
If you enjoy Mary Coughlan, give both Mary Black and Maura O'Connell a listen. |
REVORGANDRUM - Rev. Horton Heat on guitar and a few vocals (mostly instrumentals) accompanied by Hammond-B and drums. No bass so a different kind of sound. Fun retro kind of music. Better recorded and less intense than Rev.'s usual work. Highly recommended. |
Just today, i received Steve Turre's new album Rainbow People. I am stunned. This is likely to be one of favorites. Mulgrew Miller. Kenny Garret and many others. Everyone playing well both individually and as group, Steve is clearly having fun and enjoying himself, good warm sound. |
This does not really count as "audiophile" music but I really enjoy indie pop so here goes:
Jason Reeves
Meiko
Colbie Calliat |
Mary Coughlan...imagine Eleanor McEvoy but only more raw... |
If you like the acoustic guitar then you have to check out the concert DVD, Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds "Live at Radio City Music Hall"....amazing. |
"Music For Synchronized Swimming In Space" Title says it all. |
Charlie Mingus, Tijuana Moods....'07 RCA Victor/Legacy edition |
I really like Trumpet led Jazz, and have picked up a lot of new stuff lately to complement my Mile Davis collection, including - Kenny Wheeler, Tomacz Stanko, Jon Hassell, Erik Trufaz, and others. If you like trumpet led jazz you might want to listen to Lester Bowie. Even though he does covers of pop(ular) songs, his play can be amazing. Take a listen to "The Fire this time" - one of my favorite live albums. |
a few . . .
Terence Blanchard "A Tale of God's Will (a requiem for katrina)". this is an amazing and haunting CD, especially the second cut "Levees"
Also, Terence Blanchard "Jazz in Film" is excellent. I'll be looking for more Blanchard releases soon.
I really like Trumpet led Jazz, and have picked up a lot of new stuff lately to complement my Mile Davis collection, including - Kenny Wheeler, Tomacz Stanko, Jon Hassell, Erik Trufaz, and others.
Kenny Wheeler "It Takes Two!" is outstanding, and features John Abercrombie - one of my favorite guitarists.
Finally, great call by Johnrob on "BETHANY AND RUFUS - 900 MILES". I picked this up based on his post above. I must say I'm as or more intrigued by what Rufus does with the cello as I am by Bethany's vocals, though she is excellent too. |
I'm kind of like'n Wilco "sky blue sky" Nick Lowe "at my age" Sam Baker "pretty wrold"
Todd |
Kenny Drew "Undercurrent" (Blue Note, 1960) All devotees of the great vintage BN 'hard bop' house style need this album! Other than his sideman turn on "Blue Trane" I didn't know much about pianist Drew, but picked this disk up when I saw he wrote all six tunes, and had a frontline of Hank Mobley and a young Freddie Hubbard. Turns out this set is just as fine (and concise) as it got -- equally archetypal as any more famous Blue Notes of the period. (And featuring very inviting sound to boot -- and my copy isn't even the new RVG remaster...Sorry, don't know about the availability of audiophile vinyl.) Drew's accessibly moddish tunes are ace, the confidently probing horn tandem simply kills, each man pushing the other to make every note count, and the group as a whole (with Sam Jones on bass and Louis Hayes on drums) sounds as if they've been playing together forever, with the nominal leader (who in no way dominates the proceedings) displaying light and lithe articulateness and swing. According to AMG, the late Drew, who'd been active as a sideman and occasional leader in the 50's, became an ex-pat after this, his second date for the label, and didn't record again as a leader until the 70's. If classic Blue Note is yer bag and you don't own it yet, take it from me, this one here's a winner. |
Nouvelle Vague Bande A Part. Available on vinyl or CD. The Lp is recorded about as well as they come. The covers are enjoyable and Melane Pain's smokey voice is a delight. |
The Wayfaring Strangers: Both "Shifting Sands of Time," and "This Train," are killers.
Thom Jurek (allmusic.com) writes about "This Train":
"........the virtually stunning "Sit Down Servant," where Delta blues, New Orleans jazz, country gospel, bluegrass, and strange Eastern modalism all come together to swirl into an organically transcendent groove. Even without the guest appearances by Ralph Stanley and Jennifer Kimball on "Shifting Sands of Time," "This Train," like its predecessor, is one of the most gratifying, provocative, and original takes on true roots American music — as it comes from the rest of the world — on record. It is simply moving and beautiful." |
Feist "The Reminder"
Scissors for Lefty "Underhanded Romance"
Cat Power "The Covers Record"
Truly great stuff. |
Here's 6:41 o' fun if you dig Latin jazz: Go to young pianist Alex Brown's website and check out his composition "The Wrong Jacket", a positively infectious, multi-tempoed, acoustic bass/drums+percussion/electric piano workout (you can preview it in lo-fi, and the hi-fi download don't sound bad thru the big rig, but it's not yet released on CD). |
Two albums that rock from Down Under: Midnight Oil "Earth and Sun and Moon" and Paul Kelly "Live at the Continental". |
BETHANY AND RUFUS - 900 MILES
I saw Bethany Yarrow, daughter of Peter Yarrow of Peter Paul and Mary, at the Canmore Folk Festiful yesterday was blown away. Bethany's mesmerizing and comanding voice blends seamlessly with the cello playing of Rufus to make a unique and powerful folk album with some Jazz elements. I've listened to their CD (900 Miles) 4x's today. Reminds of the first time I listened to Margo Timmims on the Trinity Session. |
I just heard Emi Fujita on the Best Audiophile Voices series...I really like her voice. Another one is Salena Jones. If you like female vocals both of these artists are worth checking out. |
Iva Bitova on "Mater"
Mariam Matossian on "In the Light"
Tartit on "Ichichila"
Szaloki Agi on "Hallgato" (Lament)
Nynke Laverman on "De Maisfrou"
Teresa Salgueiro on "Obrogado"
These are my new discoveries for 2007.
They are on my CDP pretty often - and while foreign, most people who hear them say "Wow! where did you find that?" |
Sounds like Mystery Science Theater 3000 or What's Up Tiger Lilly? for cartoons...
I've heard some Marc Ribot, including some of the title you mention, and actually have a friend who knows him, but I don't own any of his albums. What I heard was good though, and I do own an Ellery Eskelin (tenor) disk that Ribot plays on (Ellery I knew personally myself many moons ago). |
Just a few Axiom albums that he plays on but no a proper solo album. You might wanna give the Marc Ribot album titled Y Los Cubanos Postizos a spin...I'm guessing you'll like it.
By the way Space Ghost Coast To Coast would probably just confuse a child. It's pretty subversive humor that is squarely aimed at adults. If you get a chance try to catch some episodes of Sealab 2021 or The Venture Brothers. They may change your outlook on "cartoons". They're total parodies of Hanna-Barbara cartoons from the late 60's/early 70's and specifically one little-known one called Sealab. They actually use the original animation but redub the voices and reanimate the characters. |
No kids, and don't really watch the Cartoon channel (with the sometime exception of early morning vintage Gigantor reruns -- love that no-fi spy-jazz, even if the dialog [such as it were] is half unintelligible). But they don't seem to show the vintage Tex Avery or WB (or even Hanna Barbera) 'toons I might actually sit still a few minutes for. The newer, snarkier stuff doesn't interest me by and large, so I usually skip right over the channel without glancing. I do however enjoy myself a little Spongebob on Nick from time to time :-)
So Synthfreek, do you have Sharrock in your collection? |
Sorry. It ran for over 10 years. I thought you had probably seen it at some point. |
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Synthfreek: Unless I've seen "Space Ghost Coast To Coast" -- whatever that is -- and don't know it, I'm afraid you misoverestimate me... |
Zaikesman you probably have heard Sharrock a bunch of times and didn't realize it. He played the theme song from Space Ghost Coast To Coast. |
Speaking of guitar fusion music -- a genre I'm not generally all that big on myself -- recently I got acquainted with one of the founding fathers, Sonny Sharrock, when I picked up his swan song "Ask The Ages" (Axiom '91, with Elvin Jones and Pharoah Sanders) because I spotted it cheap at a thrift store. It grew on me steadily and now I'm glad to have belatedly discovered a guy whose name I'd only read in passing before. Sharrock's compositions and playing seem to inhabit a space of their own, conforming neither to usual rock nor jazz conventions, but one of the neat things about this disk is that the backing group is most definitely post-bop acoustic jazz in spirit, instead of the funkified electric rock-based excesses typical of the 70's fusion heyday. Sharrock himself is 100% electric of course but no avatar of soulless technique, calling to mind Neil Young and The Allman Brothers as much as Hendrix and Coltrane. Spiritually way beyond mere grooving and wanking (and assiduously avoiding overt references to the blues), this stuff is highly thematic and uniquely personal, clearly intended to be transcendent and succeeding at almost every turn. (Here's a link to the Allmusic review I read for the first time just now; they rate this album as Sharrock's masterwork.) |
Hawaiian Slack Key Kings. Given as a gift...lucky me. Wonderful solo guitar with depth. Easy listening...ain't no Hendrix. Great when you're hiding from the heat. |
The album "Thick" by the jazz-fusion group Tribal Tech. I really like the interplay between the musicians. In particular, I find Scott Henderson's guitar work very interesting. |
Thanks, Albert. I'll check out one of the other Tibbets releases you recommend. I realized I haven't contributed any 'discoveries' to my own thread in quite some time. Looking back over my library, a couple of recent favorites have been: Damien Jurado "Where Shall you Take Me?" (dark, poetic, and frankly a bit creepy. Think Iron&Wine and Sun Kil Moon, but with a real dark bent.) Fly Fly (a Mark Turner collaboration trio of sax, bass and percussion - very nice jazz trio that was passed on by a local audiophile. Energetic and accessible jazz - nothing progressive, just good jazz.) Marco |
Sorry Slothman, your post appeared after I pressed the button at my end. I agree with your assessment of "Yr" (see response above).
Have you ever heard the actual original on Frammis records? There were two versions, a day sky and night sky cover for the two LP's. As good as the ECM version was, it was made from a copy and omitted some fiddle work that they could not get permission to use.
Find a copy if you have a way to spin LP's, you won't regret it. |
Marco,
I do not have "A Man About a Horse," this release always came off as more of an "ambient" work when compared to Tibbetts early stuff. I would almost call it shallow compared to his older and more spontaneous work. Some of this may have been influenced by Mark Anderson who was contributing back then, or perhaps Steve mellowed out with age. In any case, his early music is intense and enthusiastic and why it remains an important part of my library.
Regarding your suggestion of Marc Ducret, I listened to some brief samples on line and to me his work sounds influenced by Cecil Taylor's group, particularly early stuff (1959). Cecil's work is not bad but it never quite reaches my musical soul.
Go back in time with Steve Tibbetts and give "Yr," "Northern Song,' and "Safe Journey" a listen and see if the younger and more passionate Tibbetts reaches you. |
Albertporter - I lost count of the number of copies I've purchased of the 'Yr' disc - seems though it would become permanent hostage any time I'd bring a copy to a friends house. Check out the bit torrent sites. Theres a great live show from 1988 for the release of "Exploded View" (Walker Art Center Minneapolis, MN December, 1988). The set also contains many cuts from the Yr album. As for my latest discovery - I was unaware that there was an actual release of the "Trio of Doom" - John McLaughlin/Jaco Pastorius/Tony Williams. I had read some years ago that this was a sick performance. A must have for fusion fans and a rare piece of musical history. More info here. |
Hey Albert - I have Steve Tibbets CD, "A Man about a Horse" which I keep going back to trying to "get it", as it were. I have enjoyed it more as I listen to it, but really had a hard time with it early on. Is it similar to the ones you've recommended? ECM consistently pushes the envelope and at the same time puts out some GREAT music. Are you a fan of Marc Ducret? If you don't know him check out his album "Detail" for some rather progressive improv fusion guitar. It's a superb recording as well. Interesting you bring this up; my wife and I were just talking about abstract art, poetry and music that doesn't follow convention. I think it's more difficult if you try to fit it into something you can understand. If you just let it wash over you and see what comes of it the results can often be surprising. It definitely requires allowing yourself to go out of a comfort zone. Another group I enjoy in that regard is "Rachels". Marco |
Not my latest discovery, but great music worth looking into. Steve Tibbetts "Safe Journey" and "Yr." albums. Steve is an ECM artist, a creative guitarist who pushes the bounds of rock into a sort of an organic fusion of sounds. He appeals to my love for Jazz and the Jimi Hendrix fan that still lives within me. Or, if you're really feeling adventurous and like abstract and/or electronic music, look into Jan Jelinek. Here is the AMG link: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:gvfuxqukldkeYou should probably listen to some of the brief samples at AMG to decide if Jan's extremely abstract take on Pop, Jazz and Classical (depending on which album) are acceptable to you. I am fascinated by his "stripped down" rhythm and timing and hear many different songs buried within his electronic landscape. My reaction to his music is much like the first time I heard Dave Brubeck when I was a kid, odd timing that has now become precious to me and part of the joy of exploring music that shakes up the bounds of what we consider normal. |
Marco, I am familiar with Vienna Teng. I like her as well. You have good taste in music! I'll give you a few more in the same vein that I'm pretty sure you'd like if you share those tastes: Over the Rhine, "Ohio" The Innocence Mission, "Umbrella" Rosie Thomas, "When I was Small" There are other good selections by all three--these are just the favorites that pop to mind. Marco |
Marco, I am familiar with Vienna Teng. I like her as well. You have good taste in music! |
Tbooe - I do enjoy HEM as well. If you like her stuff, and you have not heard Vienna Teng, check her out too. I have no idea how Citibank feels about the latter.
Marco |
I "discovered" this band a little while ago...HEM. They play what I would call is chamber music. The lead singer's (Sally Ellison) voice is incredible. Check them out at hemmusic.com. I recently heard one of their songs used for a Citibank commercial...can't disagree with Citibank right????? |
Just picked up "Bethany & Rufus, 900 Miles".
Acoustic guitar, cello, percussion, smoky female vocals doing modern arrangements of traditional music...topped off with an excellent recording.
Listened to it for the first time this morning and with each new cut it occurred to me, "this is why I built this system..."
The CD is a great addition to anyone's collection. |
Fred Hirsch Trio Plays.....Coleman, Coltrane, Davis, Ellington...
Heard it today on Pandora...it's on my list. |
My latest discovery was a gig rather than a cd. The band are called 'Stollen Babies'. Best live act I have seen in many a year. Their cd 'there be squabbles ahead', is excellent. I love 'em. |
Kind of a discovery, but more of a re-discovery:
Sole Inhabitant &
Live from SXSW with the Jazz Mafia Horns
Thomas Dolby.
Really good, and well recorded for live stuff if you like Dolby.
Z |
Some recent CDs buys we've been digging: vintage soul packages on the British Kent label including collections of the Knight Brothers (60's singles originally on Checker) and the Ikettes (Ike recorded them in the 60's without Tina for singles on Modern), and collector Dave Godin's "Deep Soul Treasures" vols. 1 & 2. Also no-label comps of Alvin Cash & The Crawlers ("Twine Time", 60's singles originally on Mar-V-Lus) and The Detroit Emeralds (late-60's/early 70's sides on Ric-Tic and Westbound).
Some recent vintage vinyl finds include the film soundtrack LPs from "The Swinger" (Ann-Margaret), "Charade" (Mancini), "Thunder Alley" (V/A including Davie Allan & The Arrows of "Wild Angels"/"Devil's Angels" biker-flick fame, though producer Mike Curb, who frequently used them as his house rock band, doesn't credit them here, as he often did not), and an beautifully authentic-looking Japanese '81 gatefold reissue of the '66 swinging London classic "Blow-Up" (Yardbirds, Herbie Hancock).
Also original press jazz LPs including: Harold Land (tenor) "West Coast Blues" [Jazzland, with Wes Montgomery, Barry Harris, Sam Jones and Louis Hayes]; Milt Jackson "Born Free" [Limelight, with Jimmy Heath, Cedar Walton, Mickey Roker and Walter Booker]; The Jazz Crusaders "The Thing" [Pacific Jazz]; Kenny Burrell "The Tender Gender" [Cadet]; Freddie McCoy (vibes) "Peas'n'Rice" [Prestige]; Mose Allison "Takes To The Hills" [Epic].
And as always many old 45's, including the hyperkinetic original version (pre-Little Richard's hit) of "Good Golly Miss Molly" by composer Bumps Blackwell's band The Valiants [Keen, '57], and Wilson Pickett's first band The Falcons' "I Found A Love" b/w "Swim" [Lu Pine '62, backed by The Ohio Untouchables, who later evolved into The Ohio Players], which is signed by its presumptive original owner, one Paul Simon, who of course I'd like to think is *the* Paul Simon... :-) |
