CD Review: The Susan Krebs Chamber Band "Simple Gifts"

"Simple Gifts" is a new CD released this month by The Susan Krebs Chamber Band.  When I received my review copy of this CD, my first thought was "what's Jazz got to do with Chamber music?".  It turns out that Jazz and Chamber music fit perfectly together especially when Susan Krebs is leading the direction of the music.  

Chamber Music is defined as "music composed for small instrumental ensembles and performed with a conductor.  Traditionally intended for performance in a room or reception hall, often solely for the performers' own pleasure."  The Susan Krebs Chamber Band takes the classic Chamber music concept, infuses wonderful modern day musical thinking and performing and suddenly it becomes a new Jazz paradigm.

The songs on this CD have been around for a while, but I would bet that when you listen to them they will feel fresh and brand new.  The selection of supporting instruments is unusual, but the sound that this amazing group of musicians produce is pleasing to the ears!  The idea for "Simple Gifts" came out of music salons hosted by Vocalist Susan Krebs at her home.  Susan calls these salons "ThemeScenes" in which she and a small group of her friends who just happen to be some of the finest Jazz musicians in Southern California get together to explore various motifs through wide-ranging music, poetry and spoken word.

Supporting Susan's wonderful Vocals on this CD are:

Rich Eames, Piano
Rob Lockart, Woodwinds
Scott Breadman, Percussion
Paul Cartwright, Violin/Viola

I can only describe the music on this CD as fresh and beautiful.  Susan Krebs has a glorious voice and the musical performance from Eames, Lockart, Breadman and Cartwright produces sounds that are heavenly!  Paul Cartwright's contribution with Violin and Viola is terrific!

               Playlist
1. "Let's Call A Heart A Heart"
2. "Looking Back"
3. "So Many Stars"
4. "Once Upon A Summertime"
5. "Falling Grace"
6. "Throw It Away"
7.  "For All We Know"
8.  "Simple Gifts"

I am excited to attach a "YouTube" video of The Susan Krebs Chamber Band playing "Let's Call A Heart A Heart".  This tune was originally recorded by Billie Holiday.  Enjoy!

CD Review: "From The Heart" by Anya Malkiel

Anya Malkiel released her debut album, "From The Heart" in late August of 2013. Anya has an interesting story to tell that proves that the allure of Jazz music can capture the hearts of individuals no matter how controlled the musical environment. Now living in California, Anya grew up in Russia where at the time, Jazz was considered taboo.  The music that she heard in her house was classical, and she was given lessons in violin and piano. But her fascination was always on singing. Anya was first introduced to Jazz in St. Petersburg's only Jazz club. Once hearing the freedom that it allowed performers, Anya was hooked. From here, Anya got her hands on a bootlegged Ella Fitzgerald album and listened to it until she could visualize every vocal move Ella made. Anya went on to collect other albums of artists that she just fell in love with like Billie Holiday, Louie Armstrong and Carmen McRae and other American Jazz greats.

When Anya was able to move to the United States, the Jazz music opened up to her and she embraced it with body and soul.

On her new CD, "From The Heart", Anya has selected 10 rather diverse songs that all have a couple of things in common.  First, they are all American Jazz classics and second, Anya had a deep love for all of these great songs. So "From The Heart" contains songs that truly are part of Anya's heart. The Album starts with the classic Billie Holiday tune "Fine and Mellow" and immediately the listener can feel the emotional lesson of the lyric. It's one of the best cuts on the album. Anya brings this same emotional interpretation to the other 9 songs on this album. My favorites was: cut 4, "Lullaby of The Leaves" first sung by Ella Fitzgerald. It's always dangerous for a singer to cover a song made famous by one of the greats, but Anya handles the task by presenting her own unique interpretation to this great song. I loved the arrangement that Anya wrote for the classic "I Thought About You". Two other cuts that I thought were outstanding were "There'll Will Never Be Another You" and a great ballad, "Beautiful Love" that had a terrific arrangement by Christian Tamburr.

The supporting group of musicians Anya collected for this album fit her singing style perfectly. Randy Porter, Piano, John Whtala, Acoustic Bass, Jason Lewis, Drums, Jim Schneider, Tenor Sax & Flute, Christian Tamburr, Vibraphone. 

Congratulations to Anya for producing a great first album with her true and unique approach to the music that fills her heart.

The iTunes Top 10 Jazz Songs

I found another list of the best selling songs on iTunes under the title: "Jazz Essentials".  Since I love Jazz, I was interested in what songs would be on this list.  However, with a title of "Jazz Essentials" I was at a loss to guess what performers and what songs would be included.   My first guesses were: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Johnny Hartman and maybe Billie Holiday.  Well, I wasn't too far off.  There were two songs on the list that surprised me.  I like "So What" by Miles but was still surprised to see it as one of the top selling songs on the list. This song is from what most consider the best CD every recorded by Miles, "Kind of Blue".  The other surprise song was "Strange Fruit" by Billie Holiday.  I had not even heard this song before so I went to iTunes to listen to it. After listening, I am still not sure why this Billie Holiday song in on the list?

             The Top 10 Selling Jazz Essentials on iTunes

1.    "So What"--Miles Davis

2.   "Take Five"--Dave Brubeck Quartet

3.   "In a Sentimental Mood"--Duke Ellington/John Coltrane

4.   "Summertime"--Ella Fitzgerald

5.   "In The Mood"--Glenn Miller

6.   "Sing, Sing, Sing"--Benny Goodman

7.   "God Bless The Child"--Billie Holiday

8.   "My One and Only Love"--John Coltrane, Johnny Hartman

9.   "It Don't Mean a Thing"--Duke Ellington

10. "Strange Fruit"--Billie Holiday