What are you listening to and WHY might anyone be interested? (Vol. XIV)
Posted by: Richard Dane on 31 December 2017
On the eve of a new year, it's time for a new thread.
Last year's thread can be found here:
Fancied some early Sandy, so picked the first disc of this box set. What a singer she was.
1979 - UK first pressing...
HappY New Year!
Followed by
2014 - vinyl...
I couldn’t end the year without playing my favourite album of 2017
Aldous Harding - Party
Norah Jones - Come Away With Me
Continuing my exploration of the vast world of music stimulated by this part of the forum. I think Melody Gardot is my favourite discovery, followed by Tina Turner, Tanita Tikaram, Peter Gabriel, Diana Krall and Alison Krauss. Just getting my ear into Norah Jones and her debut album. It’s not really that one wants a favourite because there are so many moods that need feeding.
Thanks to you all for sharing your favourites, and lots of hours of happiness in the New Year
Phil
Going to see the New Year in with Frank
A+3 24/96 Imelda May - Life, Love, Flesh, Blood
My first bit of blues for the New Year.
ewemon posted:
My first bit of blues for the New Year.
Keep up the good work. You did a great job in 17.
Happy New Year, Ewe.
MDS posted:
I haven't played in a long time. And at the turn of the year I thought I play an album that takes me way back. Among other things I associate this album with the first separates system I had (Goldring deck, Sansui integrated amp and Leak sandwich speakers).
Strange as it may seem, the first song that stuck in my mind was Danny Bailey. Reggie’s seminal album.
In spirit
Tony2011 posted:ewemon posted:
My first bit of blues for the New Year.
Keep up the good work. You did a great job in 17.
Happy New Year, Ewe.
Happy New Year to you as well Tony.
Last for tonight as it is bedtime. Rip from the dvd.
Night night everyone. Happy 2018 and keep the good music rolling whatever makes you tick. Love you all!
Now Playing.......
Charles Lloyd - The Water Is Wide
Charles Lloyd (tenor saxophone), John Abercrombie (guitar), Larry Grenadier (double-bass), Dark Oles (double-bass), Billy Higgins (drums), and Brad Mehidau (piano).
Streaming on TIDAL...... Something smooth and mellow to move into the new year with after a busy day of running around visiting friends. Last stop on the way home was to attending an evening church service with a friend of wife which featured a piano player and a small choir which was a most pleasant way to begin the end of 2017.
Notes from All Music.com:
Like 1999's Voice in the Night, The Water Is Wide features Charles Lloyd in the company of one of his dearest friends, drummer Billy Higgins, who would pass away less than a year after the album's release. Guitarist John Abercrombie also remains on board, but Lloyd extends the group's generational span by recruiting two younger players: pianist Brad Mehldau and bassist Larry Grenadier. The album begins with a straightforward, elegant reading of Hoagy Carmichael's "Georgia." Lloyd goes on to lead his ensemble through two lesser-known Ellington pieces, "Black Butterfly" and "Heaven"; Strayhorn's "Lotus Blossom"; two original ballads, "Figure In Blue" and "Lady Day"; and Cecil McBee's "Song of Her," a track from Lloyd's 1968 classic, Forest Flower. It's a glorious amalgam of sound: the leader's unique, glissando-laden phraseology, Mehldau's harmonic nuances, unerring rhythmic backbone from Grenadier and the majestic Higgins -- and only occasionally, pointed and eloquent guitarism from Abercrombie. The session ascends to an even higher level with the inclusion of two spirituals, "The Water Is Wide" and "There Is a Balm in Gilead." The latter features just Lloyd and Higgins, starkly setting the melody against a hypnotic drum chant. In addition, Lloyd's closing "Prayer," written for Higgins during a life-threatening episode back in 1996, features just the composer, Abercrombie, and guest bassist Darek Oles. (Oddly, Oles' credit is relegated to the fine print.) These tracks, most of all, resonate with personal meaning and profundity.
U2 - Achtung Baby
(1991) CD
Wanted to listen to something that has not been played in a while as the end of the year approaches. Also prompted a bit by the "What is the portion of your neglected music?" thread.
Happy New Year to all.
Now Playing......
Tord Gustavsen - What was said
Tord Gustavsen (piano, electronics, synth bass), Simin Tander (voice), Jarle Vespestad (drums)
Streaming from NAS......... I loved this album the first time I streamed it on TIDAL and ordered it immediately, I am happy that it arrived today, totally unexpected, and very happy to give it a spin here on New Years Eve. Simply beautiful!
Review by Thom Jurek on All Music Review website here:
After three fine quartet albums that culminated in 2014's excellent Extended Circle, Norwegian pianist and composer Tord Gustavsen returns to the trio format of his earliest ECM outing. What Was Said isn't a look back at the standard piano trio format. German-Afghan vocalist Simin Tander joins the pianist and drummer Jarle Vespestad. Gustavsen's instantly recognizable sound ripples in ever widening circles around melodies often based in traditional Norwegian hymns, folk songs, and gospel music. This band incorporates improvisational elements into the core of each composition, and the singer is a co-conspirator in the moment of creation. Tander sings in Pashto, Norwegian, and English. In most cases, lyrics have been translated from their origins into another tongue. Tander's delivery, an expressive and disciplined, slightly smoky contralto, is full of mystery. Gustavsen's piano playing (and occasional subtle electronics) derives inspiration from her singing. He returns it by adding warmth, and a restrained brightness. He merges possibilities of harmony, time, and timbre. Vespestad's control allows him to shape even the most taut sounds into elements of color and illuminate their musical poignancy. On "Imagine the Fog Disappearing," 18th century Norwegian lyrics have been translated to Pashto. Tander inhabits them with gentle authority, as if she had written them. Vespestad bubbles under with brushed snare and Gustavsen responds to underscore an "otherness" that exists between lyric, translation, and jazz harmony. Rumi's "Your Grief" -- delivered in English -- juxtaposes jazz balladry and processional hymnody in a painterly fashion. Tander's singing feels experiential, not academic. "A Castle in Heaven," a Norwegian traditional song, emerges with a foreboding, lower-register chord and Middle Eastern modal fragments played by the right hand. When Tander begins singing in Pashto, Gustavsen reverts toward the composed melody and she bends the otherness of her notes toward him. The trio expresses its fullness on Rumi's "What Was Said to the Rose/O Sacred Head." Tander hums, whispers, drones, and shivers out the lyrics. It begins quietly, but swells with power and invention. Her voice guides its shifts in direction and dynamic. Her wordless solo in the bridge is breathtaking. She delivers Kenneth Rexroth's defiant poem "I Refuse" as a quiet yet anthemic elegy as Gustavsen frames it with a gospel melody. In "Rull," one of two piano and drum duets, tribute is paid to both the New Orleans and Southern gospel piano traditions. Another Rumi poem, "The Source of Now," combines jazz, modal blues, and elegant pop (think Nick Cave sung by Ute Lemper) as whispering snares, electronic ambience, and muted chord voicings resonate far beyond the simple harmonic boundaries. In the songs on What Was Said what this ensemble articulates between the notes is as important as their more formalized architectures. The trio's musical democracy delivers sensual beauty, emotional weight, and spiritual depth.
John Mellencamp. Plain Spoken. On vinyl from 2014. I was always impressed by this album's haunting music and introspective lyrics. Listening tonight with the lyric sheet in my lap, reading every word sung, gives me an even greater appreciation of Mellencamp's poetry.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. On original vinyl from 1985. The music is lively, energetic, exuberant. The recording, mastering, SQ superb. An exemplary case and point as to why some folks still listen to vinyl, despite all the inconvenience 
.
Now playing.......
Ron Miles - I Am A Man
Ron Miles (cornet), Brian Blade (drums), Bill Frisell (guitar), Jason Moran (piano), and Thomas Morgan (bass)
Streaming on NAS........ Surprise Sunday arrival of this CD today, ripped to NAS and taking out for a spin. I have streamed this on TIDAL a few times and just love it.
Review by Dan Bilawsky found on All About Jazz here:
...
The quintet that Miles assembled for I Am A Man capitalizes on long-lasting relationships and familiar figures. First and foremost on the list of old friends is Bill Frisell. The shared sensibilities that bind the cornetist and guitarist have been on display for more than two decades, highlighted on Frisell releases like the eerily wonderful Quartet (Nonesuch, 1996), the richly textured Blues Dream (Nonesuch, 2001), and the stylistically broad-minded History, Mystery (Nonesuch, 2008); collective concoctions, such as the two albums from Floratone; and a number of Miles dates, like the duo-licious Heaven (Sterling Circle, 2002) and the trio-centric Quiver (Enja/Yellowbird, 2012) and Circuit Rider(Enja/Yellowbird, 2014). Drummer Brian Blade, the third member of the trio on those aforementioned Miles albums, also returns for another ride here, bringing his inimitable touch and signature blend of grace and groove to the fore.
While Miles' past trio dates never wanted for anything or anyone, the two additives on this outing—bassist Thomas Morgan and pianist Jason Moran—prove indispensable, manifesting as the missing ingredients that nobody could've known were missing in the past. Morgan, who's Frisell's bassist of choice these days, is a highly skilled harmonic navigator and a rhythmic pillar, capably binding this band and craftily finding his way through solid checkpoints and the mists of uncertainty that occasionally create a fog. Moran, whose distinctive personality could theoretically threaten to overpower any situation, perfectly meshes with his band mates. At times he artfully weaves his keys into the tapestry, but he's equally comfortable standing out front to paint a pensive picture as an entryway ("Darken My Door") or add his two cents in a quaint and beautiful setting ("Mother Juggler").
The originals presented here are basically in keeping with the general theme and Miles' established persona. His cornet, with its sapphire-to-indigo blue streaks, provides a high level of warmth that draws in the ears, and his compositions inspire conversation, communication, and the occasional feeling of consternation (i.e. the core of "Revolutionary Congregation"). One number might be set off by a simple motif, inviting a lyrical strain to set in and a grooving gathering to take shape ("I Am A Man"); another might flow from the start, with an underlying swing pulse setting a curved course for cool ("The Gift That Keeps On Giving"); and a third may call on deep reflection ("Is There Room In Your Heart For A Man Like Me?").
There's great specificity in Miles' writing, yet the music is flexible enough to allow for these five beautiful and intrepid souls to make their mark within the established bounds. I Am A Man occupies a rare space, existing as a mark of musical pride and dignity, a statement driven by social activism, a history-propelled piece of art, and an album that challenges and unites. What's more, it scores incredibly high marks when viewed from each of those angles.
