CD Review: Tania Grubbs Quintet, "The Sounds of Love"

 

If you are a fan of Jazz Vocals, you will fall in love with Vocalist Tania Grubbs and the Tania Grubbs Quintet.  Tania has a smooth, velvety soft voice and phrasing that would please any Sinatra fan.  The songs Tania has included in her playlist are not just nice songs.  The carefully selected songs on this CD represent examples of the work of some of the greatest lyricists and composers embedded in the  Great American Songbook.  Lyric and Melody are important to Tania because she has the rare ability to use her voice and phrasing skills to turn word stories into beautiful music.  Tania Grubbs is a wonderful storyteller,  using her vocal skills to bring written words to life for the listener.  As I listened to the 14 songs on this CD, I kept thinking about how great these songs are but also how difficult they are to sing.  This list of songs would make a great final exam for a vocalist master class.  The members of the Tania Grubbs Quintet supported Tania's singing seamlessly with no gaps or spaces.  The group has ties to Pittsburg, Pa and has played together for several years.  This amazing CD was recorded by these stellar musicians in one day; one impressive accomplishment!

I have attached two "YouTube" videos for your listening pleasure.  The first song is the Gershwin gem, "But Not For Me".  The second song is an incredible performance of the Leslie Bricusse and Henry Mancini classic, "Two For The Road". 

PLAYLIST:

1. But Not For Me

2. Slow Hot Wind

3. This Time

4. Duke Ellington's Sound of Love

5. Strange Meadowlark

6. The Sculptor's Hands

7. Something to Live For

8. Blackbird

9. Sunshine on My

10. I Can Tell You Are Always There

11. Four

12. Dreamsville

13. If You Could See Me Now

14. Two For the Road

PLAYERS:

Tania Grubbs- Vocals

David Budway- Piano

Jeff Grubbs- Bass

Ron Afffif- Guitar

James Johnson III- Drums 

                                                                    "But Not For Me"

                                                                        "Two For The Road"

CD Review: Fred Hersch & esperanza spalding, "Alive at the Village Vanguard"

 

I am sure a lot of the readers of this blog are familar with Fred Hersch and esperanza spalding (stylized in all lower case at artist's request).  Both artists are acclaimed as two of the most inventive Jazz performers in music today.  Fred Hersch is the senior of this creative duo, but Fred never shows his musical age because he loves to keep reinventing himself.  He has released CDs as a single, duo, trio and with large bands and orchestras.  In my opinion, his work reinventing standards through his own emotional feelings puts him in a rare group of Jazz performers.  And yet, Fred can and does play all other genre of Jazz at the very top level of performance and style.  I would consider Fred Hersch as the Jazz renaissance man, never confined to any particular area of music.

Joining Fred on this CD "Alive At The Village Vanguard" is esperanza spalding.  While five-time Grammy Award-winner esperanza spalding is much younger than Fred Hersch in age, she is so talented that she performs at a similar creative and musical level as Fred.  On their new CD recorded live at the historic and internationally known Village Vanguard, both performers delight their Jazz audience with beautiful and creative performances that will become Jazz classics in future years.  These two spactacular musicians playing together is a wonderful treat for all Jazz lovers both young and old proving that Jazz at its finest level has no age barrier.  If it is good, it's good for everyone.  The chemistry between these two Jazz giants is very apparent to anyone listening to their CD.    And recording it live a the Villiage Vanguard is a super treat.  Fred offers, "This recording sounds like you're in the best seat in the Vanguard for a very live experience.  You can really feel the vitality of the room, of the audience, and of our interplay.  We decided on the word "Alive" for the album title as you can really feel the intimacy and energy of the performance."

esperanza spalding has this to say about partnering with Fred on this CD, "Playing with Fred feels like we're in a sandbox.  He takes his devotion to the music as serious as life and death, but once we start playing, it's just fun."  In turn, Fred offers this about esperanza, "I don't think anybody's heard esperanza sing like this.  She's a fearless vocalist, and is one of the biggest talents I know.  She's got a huge reach in her intellectual knowledge and is a big thinker in both her projects and in her outlook."

I selected two songs from this album for you to sample.  The first is a well-known Hersch composition with lyrics by Norma Winstone titled "A Wish".  The second song is their particular take on the Gershwin classic, "But Not For Me".  Both songs will highlight the creativity of both of these world class musicians.  

                                                                            "A Wish"

                                                                     "But Not For Me"

 PLAYERS:

Fred Hersch- Piano

esperanza spalding- Vocals 

PLAYLIST:

1. But Not For Me

2. Dream Of Monk

3. Little Suede Shoes

4. Girl Talk

5.Evidence

6. Some Other Time

7. Loro

8. A Wish

Michael Robinson Returns To Epernay

Michael Robinson

If you love "American Idol" and love to see and hear new talent now you can see a young and upcoming star up close and in person at Epernay Restaurant in Montclair, NJ. Michael Robinson is a Freshman in the BFA Musical Theatre Program at Montclair State University. Michael made his first appearence at Epernay with great reviews this past fall.  He will be singing Gershwin, Porter and Sondheim again at Epernay on Tuesdays, May 31, June 7 and June 14. Epernay has great food and it's a BYO. So grab your favorite bottle of wine and head over to Epernay for a great night out and support this young student. Tell your waitperson that you heard about Michael from "The Music Man Blog" and they will take 10% off your bill.

Steve Tyrell On The Difference Between "The Great American Songbook" and "Contemporary American Music".

Steve Tyrell has been a favorite of mine ever since he recorded his first "Standards" CD and I love everything he has recorded. In addition, he is a great supporter of the "Great American Songbook".  I recently came across a Blog called "Wentzville Patch" that published an article about Mr. Tyrell and his upcoming May 15 performance at The Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis, Mo. I was surprised by Mr. Tyrell's answer to the following question: "In your opinion, what is the difference between the "Great American Songbook" and "Contemporary American Music" that includes the music of Motown, Paul Simon, James Taylor and Elton John?" Mr. Tyrell answered, "The biggest difference--and I'm not knocking them in any way, shape or form--"Fire and Rain" is as good as it gets.  But you don't want to hear anybody else sing them".  "That's the difference", he said.  "I mean, I couldn't make an album of James Taylor songs, you know? Nobody would want to hear it.  Even The Beatles, you don't want to hear somebody singing The Beatles' songs.  But there's been a million versions of Cole Porter songs. Then hundreds of versions, thousands of versions, of the Gershwin songs, or Harold Arlen.  And they've been done in every genre you can think of.  And you can love 25 versions of the same song." I have heard other artists make similar statements and with all due respect to Mr. Tyrell and those other artists, I totally disagree with this opinion on the subject. Let's use The Beatles Songbook as an example.  I put together a songlist of Beatles' songs titled "The Beatles Minus The Beatles Plus Paul" that I think in many cases are at least as good or perhaps even better than the orginial Beatles' recording (My apologies to those Beatles' fans that can't deal with this possibility). My playlist has two songs sung by Paul McCartney because no one does them better than Paul! Before you reject this possibility, head to iTunes and check out these versions of Beatles' songs!

Side note to Steve Tyrell: I am absolutely sure that you could do a great new CD of songs from James Taylor and Elton John adding the Tyrell touch and style to them.  "Steve Tyrell does James Taylor and Elton John". Please give this some consideration.  I would love to see how you would approach some of the wonderful songs these great performers have recorded. I would be happy to work on a draft playlist if you had any interest.


1. Help                                                              Little Texas

2. With A Little Help From My Friends              Joe Cocker

3. Yesterday                                                      Eva Cassidy

4. Nowhere Man                                               Randy Travis

5. Can't Buy Me Love                                       Shenandoah

6. Come Together                                            Delbert McClinton

7. Something                                                    Tanya Tucker

8.The Long And Winding Road                        Ray Charles and Count Basie

9. Eleanor Rigby                                               Liz Callaway

10. Oh! Darling                                                 Huey Lewis

11. Ticket To Ride                                            Joshua Rifkin

12. Baby I Am Amazed                                    Paul McCartney

13. Lady Madonna                                           Paul McCartney

Brian Wilson Does Gershwin

I just finished listening to the new Brian Wilson CD, "Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin".  Let me cut to the quick, if you like the Brian Wilson sound, you will like this CD.  If you like Gershwin you will like this CD. If you like the Brian Wilson sound and Gershwin songs, you will love this CD.  It turns out that the only Gershwin song that Brian knew before he made this CD was "Rhapsody in Blue" because he said his family played the record all the time at home and the melody really got into his head and has never left.  I find it hard to believe that in all the years Brian has been a major player in the music industry, he never got to know any other Gershwin songs. But that's exactly what he said when he was interviewed on XM radio's Nancy Sinatra show last week. This fact makes Brian's approach to many of these Gershwin gems very interesting.  He sang each song with an open mind and without any restraints caused by hearing the many classic recordings.  One other comment from Brian was that he was musically influenced at an early age by the music of the Four Freshmen. I had never heard this before and in thinking back about the "Beach Boys" sound, you can pick up some of the voice harmonies that the Four Freshman made famous.  Personally I really liked the CD.  I enjoyed the "Pop" approach to these "Super Star Songs" from the "Great American Songbook".   In particular, I really liked Brian's arrangement of the Gershwin song "The Like in I Love You".  I was not familiar with this Gershwin song but loved the melody and lyric. There are also four songs that sounded very much like the "Beach Boys": "They Can't Take That Away From Me", "I Got Rhythm", I've Got A Crush On You and "Nothing But Love". I loved them all.  And last but not least, there were five songs that Brian did as a solo that showed me a new side of his great talent.  His approach and sound was just great on: "I Loves you Porgy", "Love Is Here To Stay", "It Ain't Necessarily So", "S'Wonderful" and "Summertime".  At times Brian sounded the way I think "Sting" would sound singing these songs.  I hope this CD is very successful for Brian and encourages him to do another CD from songs listed on my "Top 20 Greatest Songs Ever Written in the Great American Songbook". I would be honored to work on the development of the playlist with Brian. Brian, have your people call my people!
Get the CD, you won't be disappointed!