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:
seakayaker posted:Now Playing......
Timikrest - Chatma
Streaming on TIDAL...... Placed in the Tidal queue and getting a chance to take it out for a spin....... Interesting music, rock & roll from the Sahara, refugees in Algeria running from imposition of Sharia law in their hometown of Kidal located in Mali. Always interesting to hear the music of different cultures blending, enjoying both the familiar with the merger of the local instruments and vocals.
Try this one !
Pcd posted:Ripped CD another enjoyable album from Dire Straits
I was going to post that one, but you beat me too it! I’m playing from UnitiServe SSD through my nDAC with the XPSDR and SL IC restored. Richer and warmer sound, but I liked the nDAC bare as well. A different mode to this compared with Brothers in Arms. It starts as rock and adds jazz later. Very listenable and fun.
Phil
Now Playing........
Bela Fleck - Tales From The Acoustic Planet
Streaming on Tidal....... Some wonderful music here, produced with a cast of very talented musicians!
Note on Tidal: Whether this exceptional album is jazz with its roots in bluegrass or vice versa doesn't matter, because whatever it is, it works -- wonderfully. Fleck is joined by his jazz friends (Chick Corea and Branford Marsalis) as well as his progressive bluegrass pals (Sam Bush, Tony Rice, and Jerry Douglas), plus members of his usual backing band, the Flecktones (Victor Wooten and Future Man). The resulting performances should pique the interest of curious listeners across any number of genres. ~ Brian Beatty
Following Explorations with a little Interplay on reissued vinyl. This is a nice clean recording.
Blue Note reissue.
Bach and Contemporary Music: Alexandra Sostmann (piano)
Gubaidulina | Pärt | Chen | Riley | Dutilleux | Shostakovich
I have been hooked on the playing of Alexandra Sostmann since listening to her other album of Bach (French Suites) and Chopin (Mazurkas). I love her views on Bach which closely reflects my personality. That is, the structure is accentuated by playing in a softer, warmer and more sensitive way and without deliberate or percussive effects.
Besides, what I wouldn't give to have a practice room with a Hamburg Steinway, filled with books, overlooking the gardens and nature similar to that in the English Suite trailer below. Of course, it is wrong to covet.
More vinyl.
Jeroen20 posted:Kevin Mahogany - My romance.
Great male vocal jazz.
This is simply wonderful.
Many thanks for the recommendation Jeroen. 
...because I never ‘got’ The Beatles.
G
1991 - rip...
Now Playing......
Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell - Old Yellow Moon
Streaming on TIDAL....... A little Country Western with Emmylou & Rodney and they are at their best. Sounding mighty fine this morning.....
Note from TIDAL: This one was a long time coming, and given its nearly effortless execution, one wonders what took so long. Old Yellow Moon is an album of duets between Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell. He was a rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist in her Hot Band in the mid-'70s. After he left, he continued contributing songs to her records for the better part of two decades. But this marks a reunion of more than just Harris and Crowell. Brian Ahern, who produced her early Warner recordings -- and who is her former husband -- helms these sessions, with Hot Band members James Burton, John Ware, and Bill Payne making appearances, as well as heavy hitters Vince Gill, Stuart Duncan, and Steuart Smith, to name a few. Though recorded in Nashville, the sound of this recording is posited somewhere between the Southern California country sound of the early '70s and some of Music City's more adventurous sounds in the mid- to late years of that decade. The song choices are as eclectic as one would expect. Some of the set's highlights include a smokin' redo of "Bluebird Wine," which appeared as the opening cut on Harris' classic Pieces of the Sky album. This version has some fine-tuned lyrics in the first two verses -- Crowell was only 21 when he wrote it. The readings of Roger Miller's "Invitation to the Blues" and Allen Reynolds' "Dreaming My Dreams" are a pair of beautifully done standards. There are three excellent cuts here by Hank DeVito, another original member of the Hot Band. They include the midtempo, hard country opener "Hanging Up My Heart," the bluesy "Black Caffeine," and the title cut, a lilting waltz that closes the record. Crowell also contributed "Open Season on My Heart" (originally recorded by Tim McGraw), the languid pedal steel honky tonk ballad "Here We Are," and the back porch "Bull Rider." Kris Kristofferson's "Chase the Feeling" is given a rumbling, punchy, country-rock treatment here. Harris largely goes it alone on Patti Scialfa's "Spanish Dancer," in a radically different reading than the songwriter's, but Gill's gut string guitar, Jim Hoke's spare accordion, and Crowell's hushed harmony on the chorus offer a more picaresque take. The only misstep here should have been a natural: Matraca Berg's wonderful "Back When We Were Beautiful," recorded by the songwriter in 1997, feels forced; it lacks the stark drama of the original, replacing it instead it with a nostalgia that isn't true to the song. While this doesn't carry the weight of an "historic" recording, it is thoroughly enjoyable. Harris is in better voice than she's been in years and Crowell is a natural as a duet partner. Let's hope they consider Old Yellow Moon more than just a one-off, "bucket list" album. ~ Thom Jurek
Adam Makowicz - At Maybeck
Allmusic.com:
Some jazz pianists sound best in trios, with their shortcomings appearing during solo recitals, like the series recorded at Maybeck Recital Hall. Such was definitely not the case for Adam Makowicz, who has always been very much a two-handed pianist with phenomenal technique. As if to show what he has, he begins this CD with his own complex original, "Tatum on My Mind." After that, he digs into ten well-worn Cole Porter songs that Tatum and others had recorded through the years, coming up with interesting reinterpretations of such tunes as "Get Out of Town," "I Get a Kick Out of You," "You Do Something to Me," "Begin the Beguine," and "Just One of Those Things." Although Makowicz has recorded sessions that contained more variety, his total command of the piano is particularly well displayed throughout this memorable set.
1996 - CD (rip)...
(2005)
Yet again Roon have no or few reviews for fringe artists like Shpongle and I must say that I don't agree with about half of their published reviews for some of the more mainstream artists, so it's probably going to be a NO from me as far as Roon is concerned. Meanwhile, some rather addictive Shpongle is playing. 
The Montgomery brothers - Groove Yard
Allmusic.com:
Wes Montgomery was reunited with his brothers Monk and Buddy on this 1961 Riverside session, which also features drummer Bobby Thomas. The guitarist and his brothers are in great form throughout the session in spite of the less-than-ideal piano provided. According to producer Orrin Keepnews, Buddy Montgomery originally intended to split his time on the date between vibes and piano, but the failure of the motor on the former instrument caused him to spend most of his time at the keyboard. The highlight of the evening in the studio is a foot-tapping version of Carl Perkins' "Groove Yard," followed closely by a wild ride through Harold Land's "Delirium." The leader contributed the soulful hard bop work "Doujie." The pianist wrote the driving "Just for Now" and the easygoing blues "Back to Bock." The contents of this CD reissue, all of which are present within the 12-CD set The Complete Riverside Recordings, unfortunately doesn't include several valuable alternate takes later added to the boxed set. Like most of Wes Montgomery's Riverside recordings, this release is an essential part of his discography and is highly recommended.
Really enjoyed this one !
2002 - CD (rip)...
When a great singer and great guitarist get together they produce a superb album like this
1999 - CD (rip)...