Thursday, December 27, 2012

Legendary Jazz men George Benson & Al Jarreau are "Givin' It Up"

A few years ago I was listening to one of the jazz channels on iTunes radio and heard a song which caught my ear. After checking the play list I discovered who it was and immediately bought the album "Givin' It Up" by George Benson & Al Jarreau.





"Jazz, Crossover Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Contemporary Jazz" are the 'labels' you'll see when looking it up on iTunes which I guess does give you the idea of what to expect from this album.  Thirteen tracks including classics like "Breezin'", "Summer Breeze", "God Bless The Child", "Bring It On Home To Me" (featuring Paul McCartney) and "Long Come Tutu" (from the Miles Davis original "Tutu", which features Herbie Hancock). Other artists featured on the album are Patti Austin and Jill Scott.
My faves from this album are track 2 "Mornin" and track 3 "Long Come Tutu". I really admire how Al Jarreau write lyrics for songs that originally did not have lyrics and still keep the integrity of the melody and maintain the concept of how the song was composed from the beginning.

And Benson is just that Benson himself. With his smooth vocals and awesome guitar licks & solos, who could ask for a better collaboration? Two Legendary Jazz men still at the top of their game.

This is one sure album for all Jazz lovers to check out in my opinion.

Here they are performing "Summer Breeze"




Have A Great Day 


Thursday, December 20, 2012

A Very Special Christmas

Tis the season to be jolly, merry, happy etc. And there's nothing like some good music to set the tone for great feelings and emotions. Christmas is a few days away and I remember some twenty years ago, maybe more, I discovered an album which to this date is my favorite album for the season - A Very Special Christmas Vol. 1  (Various Artists)








I listened to this album even when it wasn't Christmas time LOL. Fifteen great songs for the season from hip hop to classic ballads. The album features artists such as Whitney Huston, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, U2, The Pointer Sisters and a slew of other great artists. I particularly loved Run-DMC's track "Christmas In Hollis", classic hip hop on an Xmas tune - GOOD STUFF!

 "A Very Special Christmas Vol. 1" was the first in a series of Christmas-themed compilation albums produced to benefit the Special Olympics for which it raised millions of dollars.

If you like classic Christmas songs mixed with hip hop and other popular styles/genres from the late 80's this is another great album for you to check out in my opinion.

Here's Run DMC's song "Christmas In Hollis"


Have A Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!





Wednesday, December 12, 2012

The Only True Genius In Show Business: Ray Charles - Genius Loves Company

I've come to realize that in this world greatness is often overlooked until the ones deserving of those praises have passed away. I've seen it happen to artists all the time, never getting the true recognition and being able to enjoy the fruits of their labor in the realm of the living.
Though Ray Charles had a successful career and was a celebrated artist, I, myself wasn't aware of his true greatness nor was I even fully exposed to his music until his passing in June 2004, then I bought his album that was released shortly after - "Genius Loves Company".








I'm sure most of us saw the movie "Ray" which showed us bits and pieces of the life of this great artist and being the man he was, no wonder all the artists who collaborated with him on this project gave their time, energy and shared each of their wonderful talent on this album with Ray Charles.
"Genius Loves Company" features Norah Jones, Willie Nelson, Natalie Cole, Elton John, B.B. King and a host of other artists who are also great artists in their own right.
Twelve songs produced and arranged perfectly, consisting of R&B, Pop, Country & Blues standards that went on to winning a total of eight Grammy Awards including 'Album of the year' and 'Record of the year' at the 2005 Ceremony. I totally love this album in it's entirety but my only disappointment was that there were no original songs from Charles in the collection.  My favorite song on this album is track 4 (Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word) which features Elton John. Maybe it's the guitar solo,  maybe it just touches something deep inside me, I really don't know.  But this album takes you on a wonderful journey in different genres and the contrast between the guest artists and Ray Charles' vocals just makes this record delightfully intriguing. "Genius Loves Company" is an album you should definitely check out in my opinion.

Here's a behind the scenes look into this album




Have A Great Day!!

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

My Dream Project: Emotion & Commotion - Jeff Beck

Every artist has an ideal project/album envisioned for themselves, an album that defines their work, an album that puts them in the history books. Jeff Beck has already been written in our history as a master guitarist, so this is the kind of project I would love to do which I think would define my own career - EMOTION & COMMOTION








First of all, if you know Jeff Beck you'll know he's not the traditional style kind of guitarist, and the emotion he creates is just awe-inspiring. Coming from a background with The Yardbirds like Eric Clapton & Jimmy Page, Beck is indeed another guitar legend from the UK.
Emotion & Commotion has 11 tracks with a mixture of originals and covers. My overall favorite on this album is the cover of "Over The Rainbow",  I was dumbfounded because I felt every emotion he expressed on his guitar and that's really a rare event for me. Two songs from the album won Grammy awards in 2011 "Nessun Dorma"(track 8) - 'Best Pop Instrumental Performance' and "Hammerhead" (track 2) - 'Best Rock Instrumental Performance'.  Guest artists appearing include Joss Stone & Olivia Safe.
This is a great album to listen, from orchestral sounds to rock, it is indeed "EMOTION & COMMOTION".


Here's Jeff performing "Over The Rainbow"


Have a great Day!