LOUIS CATO - STARTING NOW
Nice work from Louis Cato – a singer with a style that
warmly crackles along with his grooves – partly in a soul-based mode, but with
more of the depth of the singer/songwriter world – as Louis is clearly an
artist who doesn't care which genre he appeals to the most! That's not to say that
Cato is very way-out, just very personal – in a wonderfully special head space
that comes through both in the way he phrases his lyrics, and puts together the
instrumental core of the tunes – which often have his own guitar alongside
shifting percussion, bass, and other elements – almost all of which are handled
by the singer himself. Titles include "In My Reach", "Back &
Forth", "Starting Now", "Light", "Someone
Else", "SE Interlude", "Anymore", and "Look
Within". ~ Dusty Groove
OLLI AHVENLAHTI - THINKING WHISTLING
A long-overdue comeback from pianist Olli Ahvenlahti – the
musician who made so many wonderful records on the Finnish scene in the 70s,
and whose sound here shows that he hasn't dimmed his talents at all over the
years! Olli plays piano throughout, in a quartet that features Jussi Kannaste
on tenor, Antti Lotjonen on bass, and Jaska Lukkarinen on drums – a group
that's maybe a bit more down to earth than his 70s ensembles, but who still
have an incredible sense of soul! All tunes are originals by Olli, and they do
a great of of mixing angular rhythms with a forward-flowing sense of lyricism –
a sound that would already be strong enough if it was Ahvenlahti with a trio,
but which gets even greater with the addition of tenor. Titles include
"Black Forest Air", "Thinking Whistling", "Minor
Minor", "Say It Again", "Miles Away", "Little
White", and "A Piano Song". (Includes download with bonus
tracks!) ~ Dusty Groove.
Lisa B. (Lisa Bernstein) is a jazz singer and songwriter as well as a widely published poet
and spoken word performer. On "I Get A Kick: Cole Porter Reimagined", her newest CD and sixth as a leader, she applies
her vocal gifts and poetic prowess to fresh interpretations of ten tunes by
Cole Porter, one of the finest of the lyricists and composers
(unconventionally, he was both) who created the Great American Songbook. According to
Lisa B, “My five previous CDs were largely original music, and it was time to
tackle the works of another songwriter. I was always drawn to Cole Porter’s
writing, and I’ve been singing his tunes in my live performances for years. In his
lyrics and his shifting, major-to-minor harmonies, you can hear a dual nature.
He was an outsider and a high society partygoer, a gay man in a closeted era, a
breezy wit perfectly crafting up-to-the-minute, amusing lyrics who could pivot
to expressing powerful longing and sadness. I guess I’m attracted to these
tensions – his suffering soul, and his charm.” Lisa B chose
to record ten songs Porter composed for stage and screen between 1929 and 1954.
Although many jazz singers have sung and recorded Porter’s tunes, Lisa B set
out to present them in adventurous ways while still hewing to the essences of
the lyrics and music. I Get A Kick: Cole Porter Reimagined is stylistically diverse, offering a new
arrangement of each song spanning bebop, beguine, bossa, ballads, sultry funk,
and more. As for the
lyrics, each tune includes almost all of Cole Porter’s words, from the
introductory verses to the choruses to the once-censored parts. Plus, Lisa B
adds her original improvised vocalese on two tracks and spoken word segments on
three others.
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