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The Chairman of the Board wrote the rules for what singing superstars could do. From his first fling at fame in the late ‘30s, Frank Sinatra rarely did any wrong in the recording studio. Inspired by Bing Crosby and Billie Holiday, a young Sinatra worked with the bands of Harry James and Tommy Dorsey before striking out on his own. By then, the die was cast. His voice was an instrument unto itself, and after the 1942 Paramount Theatre shows in New York, the real star was born. He spent the ‘50s recording for Capitol Records, walking the line between pop music and jazz with such savvy that he was almost untouchable. Almost. Unhappy with his label, Sinatra started his own, Reprise Records, in 1960, and got down to serious business. The songs on this collection cover the Reprise years, when the singer was at the height of his popularity. Even if rock & roll had taken over the headlines, how do you argue with songs like “Come Fly with Me,” “My Kind of Town,” “That’s Life,” “My Way,” “Theme from New York, NewYork” or these seventeen other undeniable selections. Aided by the best arrangers and musicians alive, this music might recall a past era, but there is also the aura of timeliness written all over it. That’s because Frank Sinatra’s voice really is unique. He never overdoes it, pushing beyond its capabilities, which is the very definition of cool. He plays what he’s got to the max, and knows he doesn’t need anything else, never straining for more than he can deliver. It’s like there’s a smoldering fire within the notes, and even if things never catch complete fire, Sinatra’s voice can always melt hearts and minds. The fact that so many men wanted to be him while women swooned helped create the template for popular musicians still the standard today. It would be easy to say Ol’ Blues Eyes is back, but when you think about it, he never went away. 0 Comments
What a match. For good reason, singers like to do whole albums of Tom Waits’ songs. John Hammond and Scarlett Johansson are recent believers, and while they couldn’t be more unlike, each captured their own unique take on this music, written by Waits with Kathleen Brennan.
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Buckle up, because this album is an adventure in discovery. First off, it might be the only album released this century without at least one website address on it. But there aren’t any. And if you look at www.donniefritts.com, well, be prepared and don’t do it before lunch.
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This mesmerizing new album is not only the debut of the year, it could be the best release of 2008. Delta Spirit is a fivesome from Southern California, San Diego-style, and is powerfully possessed by the high holy spirit of rock & roll.
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Soul music comes in a lot of different dressings, but one thing is sure. When you hear it, it connects directly. Sometimes the music comes from the deepest corners of Memphis, or out in one of Houston’s murkiest wards.
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B.B. King is his own category. Through endless live shows and countless recordings, the Mississippi-born bluesman has created a place in the world occupied only by him.
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This is what happens when two Liverpool musicians (who met at the same art school there as John Lennon and Paul McCartney) come to Los Angeles and end up for a few days in the desert.
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Funk can be funny stuff. It’s not something you can really learn how to play. The notes may be right, but unless that extra element of mysterious feeling is in the music, the sound lays there like a limp pickle.
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Oxford, Mississippi, being a college town, has an abundant audience for all kinds of music. Blue Mountain could once have qualified as the house band there, but then the members went their separate ways.
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Jerry Garcia once accurately said, “All music is psychedelic,” and truer words were never spoken. At its best, sound can take a willing listener to the outer edges of reality, no matter what style it is.
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First things first. The late Luther Ingram’s 1972 hit “(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want To Be Right” is as good a single as has ever been recorded.
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Paul Thorn’s righteous American rock is music that’s made so far off the map that he named his label Perpetual Obscurity.
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Live albums aren’t what they used to be. Many times they’re more of a holding pattern while an artist catches their creative breath, instead of being a sweeping view of a musician’s performing strengths.
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He just might be the greatest blues guitarist alive. At 72, Lord knows Buddy Guy has the experience, and he’s always been the wild man in the way he attacks his instrument.
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Make sure all the volume needles are in the red, don’t worry about the blown left speaker, tell the neighbors to go ahead and call the cops and double-check the home insurance premium is paid...
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If ever a guitarist deserved to be chosen the ultimate designated hitter on that instrument, it should be Jesse Ed Davis. Think about this: when George Harrison was organizing the Concert for Bangladesh benefit, he chose Davis to play just in case a wobbly Eric Clapton didn’t come through.
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David Sanborn has always been a utility man. He can play just about anything: jazz, blues, rock, soul, whatever. Put him in a band and he is going to shine on saxophone. He made his early impression in the Butterfield Blues Band in the late ‘60s...
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One of the greatest country songs of all time is Randy Travis’ “On the Other Hand” from 1986. It introduced the singer to the world, and his many hits that followed came from that audacious start.
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Jazz appears to be lying low these days. Some of that is due to the devastating decline of the music business. In a time when established stars can’t sell their albums like they used to, how much chance does the lowly jazz musician have?
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Perfect albums are a funny bunch. While they’re usually in the heart of the beholder, there seems to be a consensus on some releases that they really do reach a precious plateau.
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This is a name everyone knows, even if they don’t. As one-half of the songwriting team in Squeeze, Chris Difford and his partner Glenn Tillbrook have created some of the sharpest rock ever out of England. Difford’s is the darker view, maybe More | 0 Comments
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