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Highlights!
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Showcase CD Where Our Love Grows - Swing Out Sister: Together Corinne Drewery on vocals & Andy Connell on keyboards are SOS and they are now quickly closing in on their 20th anniversary as a band. In spite of the success of one of their earliest singles titled Breakout, SOS has never attained more than a small but avid following in North America. They have achieved greater success back home in the UK, but where their sound has met with the greatest acceptance is Japan where they are one of the most popular acts in the country. Nevertheless, their latest effort titled, Where Our Love Grows, has just been released here and hopefully this album will lead to a larger and more widespread audience for the pair. Since the formation of the group back in 1985, the Swing Out Sister sound has been characterized by lush & sophisticated arrangements. This cd remains true to that style. The presentation is impeccable. The music is jazz-tinged but laden with catchy hooks, resulting in a listening experience that is emotionally complex and yet highly accessible. |
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Where Our Love Grows is now the 16th release under the
Swing Out name. In that list are a few compilations, a live cd, and several
that been issued exclusively in Japan. On this outing, Drewery and Connell
are joined by Paul Staveley O'Duffy who handles various sequencing and
programming. It captures the essence of the Swing Out sound and contains
some of their finest material to date. As we show case, Where Our Love
Grows, we begin with the title track. When The Laughter is Over opens
hour 2 and Certain Shades of Limelight closes our feature and the show. CD: Where Our Love Grows Label: Shanachie Web Site: Swing Out Sister |
Fresh Trax: Part One | |
You're
Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go - Madeleine Peyroux:
Madeleine Peyroux (pronounced Peru like the country) hails from Athens, Georgia. However, she grew up in various locals including Brooklyn, Southern California and Paris. As a teen, Peyroux got hooked on French culture and was drawn to the street scene in the Latin Quarter of Paris. In 1989, she started to perform with a group of buskers and at early age of 16 she joined a group called The Lost Wandering Blues and Jazz Band, with whom she toured Europe for several years. It was some time later while visiting New York, that Madeleine was spotted performing in a club. This led to a record deal and to the release of Dreamland, her debut album in 1996. The record drew rave reviews and many compared Peyroux to the late Billie Holiday. Appearances at Lilith Fair and several jazz festivals followed. Meanwhile cd sales worldwide reached 200,000 units. In spite of this success, Peyroux chose to step back and spent the next few years out of the public eye. She returned to her busking roots with street performances and club dates around the world. Now a full eight years after the release of Dreamland, Peyroux recently issued Careless Love her follow up album. From that effort we have Madeleine's cover of the Bob Dylan composition, You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go. CD: Careless Love Label: Rounder Records Corp. Web Sites: Madeleine Peyroux ; Madeleine Peyroux (2) |
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Zanzibar
- Daryl Stuermer: Stuermer grew up in Milwaukee Wisconsin and began playing guitar when he was 11. During a 1975 tour date , George Duke happened to sit in with Daryl's band and it wasn't too long afterward that he recommended Stuermer for an audition with Jean-Luc Ponty. Stuermer got the gig and at age 22, he went on his first world tour. He ended up recording a total of four albums with the acclaimed jazz violinist. Then in late 1977, Daryl connected with Mike Rutherford, a member of Genesis, and won an audition for their upcoming tour. This began a 20-year association with that band and led to Daryl's selection when Phil Collins formed his own group in 1982. In addition to his touring, Stuermer has appeared on all of Collins' solo albums and shares many of the writing credits. In between his work with Genesis and The Phil Collins Band, Stuermer began writing and working on his own music. He issued his solo debut in 1988 and now has six albums to his credit. Retrofit, released in September of last year is the most recent of these. I put the record on as soon as it arrived and in a phrase, I loved it! Stuermer has exceptional tone, great technique and a superb delivery! There is a nice variety of music with different tempos and textures, lots of stuff that perfectly fits our show and I've already slotted the album for a future show case feature. In any event, I'm getting just a bit ahead of myself as we still have the FT feature to contend with. To that end I selected a fabulous piece called Zanzibar! *Café Jazz Pick of the Week* CD: Retrofit Label: Urban Island Music Web Site: Daryl Stuermer |
Fresh Trax: Part Two | ||
Joy,
Hope, and Peace - George Winston:
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What
You See Is What You Get - Daryl Hall and John Oates:
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Take
That - Gabriel Mark Hasselbach: An award-winning composer and recording artist, Hasselbach grew up in Denver Colorado relocating to Canada's West Coast in the late 70s. Gabriel Mark's initial taste of success came as an original member of the Powder Blues Band. In 1981, he set out as a solo artist. Since then GM has forged a career as one of the pioneers and innovators in the Canadian SJ scene. Hasselbach is now back with First Name Basis, his latest release. With each successive project GM has been able to elevate his playing, production, and presentation. Enlisting the aid of Miles Black on various keys and Tony Chamberlist on drums and percussion, this release continues that tradition. From First Name Basis we're featuring Take That, the lead single and one of GMH's finest efforts to date. This is a track that is certain to generate more than just a few ripples of excitement in the SJ community and earn many new fans for one of Canada's top players! CD: Gabriel...First Name Basis Label: Wind Tunnel Multimedia Web Site: GMH |
Special Mention: Letters From Joubee - Artie Traum | |
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In
a 35-year-career, Traum has been featured on over 20 albums and has
won recognition as an award-winning artist. Coming out of the Bronx
in the late 60s, he made his way onto the music scene in Greenwich Village.
Over the years Traum has produced or recorded with dozens of top artists
such as Michael Franks and The Band. Although he started out in the
folk scene, there was a period when he became absorbed with the sounds
of John Coltrane and Miles Davis. He recorded a few projects based in
jazz and recently issued Acoustic Jazz Guitar. The album is a retrospective
that chronicles much of Traum's best work from that period and includes
several superb selections that hit #1 and won national recognition.
Letters from Joubee originally appeared on the cd of the same name back
in 1993. However, its inclusion on Acoustic Jazz Guitar prompted its
selection for our show. This one takes me back as it was one of my favourite
tracks of the day. It remains as charged and vibrant as the day that
I first heard it and as such made a fantastic choice for the show! |
After Hours ~ Exclusive to our Web Site : | |||||
As 2005 gets into full swing we're following suit. On this installment the focus is on new music! Debuting are flutist Sean Grace and guitarist Nils with selections that are so good, I'm already considering them for The Best of 2005 series of specials. We have new music from 3rd Force and Jeff Lorber each with advance singles from their forthcoming releases. There's more new music from producer Jason Miles. Jason's latest project is titled Miles to Miles, a cd in the spirit of Miles Davis and we're playing a track from that. Ken Navarro is on the show with another fabulous tune from Love Coloured Soul. Rick Kelly as Soul Ballet is the subject of today's Then & Now feature (see below). And for our closing track, we have something totally unique from Paul Lamoureux and Zing Zing-a-Zing, the Toronto saxplayer's new release. The music on the album combines Lamoureux's love of smooth jazz with the traditional French-Canadian folk songs of his youth in a creative and exciting way. I know that you won't want to miss that or any of the other fantastic tunes that are being featured on this edition. | |||||
Then & Now Feature: Soul Ballet
Rick Kelly as Soul Ballet: Kelly began playing in clubs at the early age of 14, although he had to sneak in the back door in order to be able to do so. He's recorded with a long list of top artist such as Herbie Hancock, Robert Palmer, The London Symphony Orchestra, Madonna, & Chicago. However, it's his work as Soul Ballet that has brought Kelly two number one albums and two number one hits. Soul Ballet presents a hybrid blend of smooth jazz coupled with pulsating rhythms. In so doing, the music transcends many of the traditional boundaries between genres. Kelly masterminds the entire affair. He plays a number of different instruments and also acts as producer, arranger & programmer. The self-titled debut released in 1997, initiated a string of successful projects with dreamBEATdream now the fifth and most recent. As we briefly chronicle the music of Soul Ballet, we're featuring N.Y.C. Trippin, Blu Girl, Strawberry Girl, and S.Beach from the above albums in the order that they're presented. And as a bit of a footnote, that's the superb trumpet of Ken Ross that's highlighted on the tracks. |