ZARA MCFARLANE - IF YOU KNEW HER
If You
Knew Her is Zara McFarlane's follow-up album on Gilles Peterson's Brownswood
Recordings. This new, emotionally charged body of work sees her blossoming as a
lyrically conscious songwriter, cementing what her debut album Until Tomorrow
revealed - an artist composing original songs, telling her own stories (a
rarity among jazz singers), demanding attention for their daring brilliance. Over
half the tracks are stripped bare, revealing Zara's voice in all its variety
and subtlety. Leaving her full trio behind, she performs in different settings,
most poignantly with just understated accompaniment from the dazzling pianist
Peter Edwards or, as on the album's opening masterpiece, "Open
Heart," with just bass and hang. Yet when she employs her full impressive
band, magic is made. "Woman in the Olive Groves," one of the album's
stand-out tracks, is a spellbinding thought-provoking song and a standard in
the making. The albuma also includes some unexpected covers including a
wonderful jazz reworking of "Police and Thieves," the Junior Murvin
classic. ~ Giant Step
ISLAND RECORDS PRESENTS ROOTS: 37 ESSENTIAL ROOTS ANTHEMS
Righteous
roots music from the vaults of Island Records – a host of mid 70s killers that
were arguably the style of reggae that the label did best! The vibe here is
positive and progressive all the way through – and the set list mixes classics
with some lesser-known gems, including a number of tracks appearing here on CD
for the first time ever! The music is some of the most spiritual to ever come
from the Kingston scene - and titles include "Kude A Bamba" by Ras
Midas, "Congo Man" by The Congos, "Africa" by Rico,
"Freedom Song" by Third World, "Going Back To Ethiopia" by
The Righteous Foundation, "Police & Thieves" by Junior Murvin,
"Soul Fire" by Lee Scratch Perry, "Gold Spoon" by Hosbah
Lawrence, "Dubbing Is A Must" by Pablo Moses, "Roots Man
Reggae" by Zap Pow, "Jah Heavy Load" by Ijahman Levi, "Sons
Of Garvey" by Joe Higgs, "Feel The Spirit" by The Wailing Souls,
and "Real Ranking" by Trinity. ~ Dusty Groove
CATHERINE RUSSELL - BRING IT BACK
With
Bring It Back, vocalist Catherine Russell digs deeper into a rich vein of
musical treasures. Mining legendary collaborations between her father, Luis
Russell and the great Louis Armstrong, Russell brings along her team from two
previous chart-topping albums, the latest of which won the Prix du Jazz Vocal
from L'academie du Jazz and Grand Prix du Hot Club de France. Gems from the
jazz age and swing era, performed with new arrangements for ten-piece orchestra
blend seamlessly with reinventions sourced from Blues icons Esther Phillips, Al
Hibbler, Wynonie Harris and Little Willie John. Russell personifies the living
heart and proud history of each song. ~ Amazon
No comments:
Post a Comment