Cracker Barrell got it right this time. They are releasing the new Aaron Tippin CD on May 5,2008 and folks this is good down to earth country music the way it should be. I wondered what happened to Aaron. He had a string of hits in the 90's on RCA but I guess the older he got, well you know the story with the major labels, they dump you.

Well I hope he comes back and sells a million of these. Aaron has never ventured into the "syrup country" of today. His songs are as relevant today as they were when he originally recorded them. His voice is as strong as ever. The newly recorded track "He Believed" is a smash hit if radio would pick it up. You will be able to hear it on the Cashbox Country Countdown, the best radio show in the world. Other tracks include past hits " There Ain't Nothing Wrong With The Radio", "Working Mans PhD" and "I Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way". Great CD.
JDH    

Adam Gregory (born July 12, 1985 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) is a country music performer. Since 2000, he has recorded three studio albums to date, in addition to charting several singles on the Canadian country music charts. His latest single is this one Let the Crazy Days Begin. Displaying strong vocals and instrumentation, this should be heading up the charts as soon as the radio stations find out about it.

“Crazy Days”, has a positive nostalgic lyric about those wild days when life was full of promises and hope. Going back to the days when a young man's dreams were simple and based on living for the moment with that special girl who was the key to butterflies and once in a lifetime experiences. Hopefully we can all find that passion once again. This is a good solid song and the only thing missing is in going back to those days for many of us included singles (45 RPM) with 2 songs on them, not just one. But then again Adam probably won't remember that.
MSP    

Korean-born and Juilliard-trained, the Ahns are sisters – violinist Angella, pianist Lucia and cellist Maria – who during the past two decades have become leaders of the neo-classical movement, first deconstructing traditions and then rebuilding the music-forms by incorporating folk singers, club DJs and very subtle electronica-minimalism.

The first 12 songs on this CD are modern classical lullabies for relaxation, quality time-sharing, and quiet dinner gatherings. These are considered as NEO CLASSICAL or New Classical but the musicianship is as pure and exceptional as provided in the realm of true classical movements of centuries gone by.

The Ahn Sisters are devoutly dedicated to producing musical perfection of the highest level. If you are a classical music lover and are anxious to feast your ears on something you have never heard before, this is by far one of the most exciting banquettes you can feed into your hungry ears. The last 4 tracks are more of a current musical style beat-driven club-remixes meant for more energetic times of working out or partying.

This CD is not for everyone but it tries to keep a huge majority of music lovers happy.
MSP    

I predict this will be the no. 1 Cashbox album next week. The single "Small Town Southern Man holds at # 2 on the Cashbox Country singles chart. Alan is truly one of the greatest talents in Country Music and this CD does not dissapoint.

Alan sure gives the fans their moneys worth, 17 wonderfully produced tracks that flow well and not a dud in the mix. I just wish Alan had time to start a school for the "syrup laden" bucks and lasses of the new generation and teach them the history of what countrys supposed to sound like. While you're at it take your boot and put it up some of those so called record executives posterior and give them a three legged race to the hospital so they could have your foot removed. Thank God once in while something tasteful comes along. Its been better than usual lately but for a long time it was stale.

Tracks include "Good Time", Small Town Southern Man", and two of J.D.'s favorites on the CD "I Still Like Balogna(leave it to some jerk off to spell it right, I still say baloney) and "If Jesus Walked the World Today".
JDH    

The recordings on the five CDs comprising Rare Live Recordings constitute an important overview of Billie Holiday’s quarter-century career. They range from “Lost My Man Blues,” backed by the Duke Ellington band on the soundtrack of Symphony in Black, to selections from her appearance at the Storyville Club in Boston three months before her death. Gradually, her voice loses its vibrancy and range to the degree that the 1959 Storyville performances pale in comparison with her earlier recordings, though some listeners might find the last ones affecting because of their possible emotional depth.

The selections reflect the nature of Holiday’s live performances, especially in repertoire and length. With one exception, all the songs are brief, with only a few lasting as long as three minutes, thirty seconds. Many do not last two minutes. The exception is “Fine and Mellow,” from the television program The Sound of Jazz. This eight-minute performance contains the most instrumental soloing on these CDs, including that by Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, and Roy Eldridge, as well as other luminaries.

Spoken introductions give a period charm to this collection, as does Holiday’s occasional dialogue with some of the announcers. She also speaks with Eddie Condon, who offers her a drink.

The two booklets accompanying this release are difficult to use because they place recording information within a semi-narrative about Holiday’s professional career. Some assertions are incorrect. For example, the author claims that the 1957 recording of “Fine and Mellow” was “one of the last performances for baritone saxophonist Harry Carney.” In fact, Carney recorded frequently until his death in 1974. The author also claims that Holiday sang “on Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show” in 1953. There was no national Tonight Show in 1953, and Carson did not begin hosting it until 1962, three years after Holiday’s death.

Such carelessness is embarrassing, but it does not detract from the quality of Holiday’s singing or the importance of this release, which is mandatory listening for anyone interested in Holiday’s career.


B. F.    

Guitarist Bobby Broom has been recording since the late 1970s. As sideman, he recorded with such leaders as Sonny Rollins, Stanley Turrentine, Kenny Burrell, Dizzy Gillespie, and David Murray. He led sessions for Criss Cross, Delmark, and Premonition. He is one of the founders of the Deep Blue Organ Trio. Despite these associations, he is less well known than he should be.

His current trio, with bassist Dennis Carroll and drummer Kobie Watkins, is tight, though Broom is the dominant player. Favoring single-note playing and the middle and lower registers, he possesses an individual, attractive, and easily-identifiable sound. His group plays an equal number of jazz standards (Charlie Parker’s “Donna Lee,” Rollins’s “Airegin,” Sam Jones’s “Unit 7,” and McCoy Tuner’s “Inception”) and popular tunes (“Strike Up the Band,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” “Body and Soul,” and “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top”). Each performance is worth hearing.

Recording a live performance is risky. Through applause, attentiveness, and gestures, an audience can inspire musicians. Customers can, however, converse and otherwise create noise that distracts musicians and makes listening to the recording difficult. While the music Broom, Carroll, and Watkins create strikes me as inspired, a constant din accompanies their music. Clearly, some members of the audience at Pete Miller’s Steakhouse in Evanston, Illinois, cared little about the music, which was their loss. Noise is especially bothersome during Broom’s sensitive, unaccompanied melodic statement on “Fly Me to the Moon.”

Despite the problem I identify, “The Way I Play” is well worth hearing. Broom is a significant guitarist, as indicated by the music on this release that will be available on April 22.


B. F.    

Riding High on the Cashbox Inspirational Charts peaking at # 1 and rising on the Black Gospel singles with "Waging War" CeCe has an absolutely beautiful CD with Thy Kingdom Come. All 14 tracks are potential singles and the production on this CD is superb. Her voice has never sounded better and she sings with such grace that you can feel each and every song.

Besides the current hit "Waging War" other tracks and J.D.'s favorites on this CD include "Forever","Worthy", "It Ain't Over"', "Falling In Love", "You're The One" and the one I believe should be the follow-up single "Oh Holy Place". This CD is Grammy bound and no doubt will be nominated, its that good.
JDH    

Weird, excellent production, weird, strong musicianship and vocals did I mention weird? This CD is a throwback to the weird stuff in the 60s with hints of Led Zeppelin, the Doors, Jefferson Airplane, and the more recent B52s. The CD plays like a soundtrack of The Rocky Horror Picture Show in the way that the melodies have obscure twists and unexpected turns vocals that border on maniacal screaming and pitch problems that all seem to add to the mood. Yet the production is so good that you have to assume that the weird quirkiness is 100% intentional. Or maybe they don’t know they are weird, oh that’s a scary thought. (Insert dark scary music here or just use a cut from the CD)

Somehow I don’t think you will hear another group like Changing Modes in this Century.

I remember Frank Zappa who was in the weird bag like these people but it was this very musically weird obscurity that prevented him from climbing to any serious heights on the music charts even with 75 album releases. Yet the weirdness of Frank’s music contained a melodic sense about it, which didn’t give, the listeners brain a feeling of whiplash. Changing Modes seems to relish the idea of creating melodies that cause your brain to twitch and I suppose there has to be an audience that might enjoy that. I’m just not into that kind of torture.
Changing Modes are:

Delaney Bramlett, for almost 50 years a legendary performer from the Shindogs, Delaney and Bonnie with friends Leon Russell and Eric Clapton, Delaney has done it all and very successfully I might add. His new CD A New Kind of Blues was like a natural experience for Delaney.

Born in Mississippi he learned guitar at an early age before moving to L.A. in 1959. So you can say Delaney has come home to his roots with this new CD. That gravelly voice of Delaney is unmistakable to those of us old enough to grow up with his music. The CD's a pure joy and masterpiece from a genius of this stature. It is a "New Kind of Blues" because Delaney interprets each song the Bramlett way. He also wrote or co-wrote 10 of the 11 tracks and produced it himself, a guaranteed plus to his credit. This is Grammy material folks. Not a dud on the CD, it is prime beef. Songs include the title track, "Mighty Mighty Mississippi" and a unusual track titled "P.O. Box 32789", "Cold And Hard Times" and "What Do You Do About The Blues"
JDH    

If pianists are technically proficient and of similar musical temperament, the success of two of them playing together, unaccompanied, largely depends on their repertoire and listeners’ taste. While the twin-piano team of Ferrante and Teicher recorded the theme from “Exodus” to popular acclaim in 1961, the nature of their performances did not appeal to jazz fans. Such pianists as Hank Jones and John Lewis have recorded jazz standards together without accompaniment, and their efforts have been warmly received. A new jazz twin-piano team features Dick Hyman and Chris Hopkins.

Both men admire Teddy Wilson, who set the standard for most pianists during the swing era. Hyman studied with him. “Teddy Wilson in 4 Hands,” recorded in Boswil, Switzerland, in 2006, but released only recently, features Hyman and Hopkins playing a program of music recorded by Wilson, some of which he wrote. They capture his spirit and interact impressively, though I cannot tell how much of their music is written and how much is improvised. They play such attractive but generally ignored tunes as “Opus One Half,” “Sunny Morning,” “You’re My Favorite Memory,” and “Dizzy Spells.”

Hopkins’s career lies before him; Hyman has been a professional musician since the 1940s. Along the way, he recorded with such major figures as Charlie Parker, Benny Goodman, Zoot Sims, Roy Eldridge, Ella Fitzgerald, Coleman Hawkins, Wes Montgomery, and Count Basie, among others, including Ruby Braff, with whom he recorded several superlative albums. An assessment of Hyman’s place in jazz history is in order.
B.F.    

Currently the no. 1 album on the Cashbox Country albums chart for two weeks before our competitor realized we might be right. Suddenly the album jumped 47 notches on the competitions charts when they realized the truth. But you see we add creativity, songwriting and production into the equation, which in some cases makes all the difference. Yes that pretty little girl, Taylor Swift, that they’re keeping at number one can sing but it will be a long time coming before she can come close to the legendary, Miss Dolly.

Backwoods Barbie is the most commercial country album by Dolly in a long time. In the last 5-10 years she’s ventured into Pop, Standards and Bluegrass but now she’s back to her roots. Of course radio stations will still not play this CD, but at least the public has sense enough to know that Dolly is not going to sell them a piece of crap. All the songs on this CD are great and one that has gotten a little attention is "Better Get to Lovin’", followed by "Backwoods Barbie" which to me is reminiscent of "Coat of Many Colors". Dolly does a rendition of the Smoky Robinson classic "Tracks of My Tears" and surprisingly she makes it her own, which is very refreshing. Twelve tracks of pure Dolly.


JDH    

Hard rocking, raw, and pointless. Basically a party band that you probably can hire to play for your party in your own living room and they will sing about the various people who attend. “Mr. Sunshine” (track 4) being one of those party attendees who nobody seems to like and worst of all he’s drinking your beer. But hey, no problem because “...we won’t remember any of this” (lyric from the same song) That line could be Dyslextasy CD’s epitaph because it IS totally forgettable.

Yet the lyrics speak of drinking, drugging and getting busted, similar to the very successful Cheech and Chong comedy act from the late 60s, early 70s but somehow I don’t think Dyslextasy is even in the same league.

Live. Die. Repeat. will undoubtedly appeal to the druggies and boozers who now have someone to look up too, so there is definitely a specialized niche for their music.

Tracks

1. A Bug in a Jar
2. Crown Vic
3. Last Call
4. Mr.Sunshine
5. Highwayman
6. Imperial Stout


MSP    

I knew it had to happen sometime. A fusion of two unlikely genres of music but it turned out to be quite a masterpiece. Just in time for Easter, Greater Vision does a spectacular job with some of the best-known hymns in America. Having 20 top 40 hits under their belt, this will likely gain a much larger audience. Track one is a medley of "All Creatures of Our God and King", "O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing" and "O Worship The King". Track 2 is the most beautiful track on this CD "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus". Their A capella versions of the Easter classics "Christ Arose" and "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today is simply great. This is a CD for all gospel collectors no matter the genre. To the best of my knowledge this is an historic first.
JDH    

Titled hostile takeover, a group with five guys one female that delivers a combination of flows on an 18 track CD that I call gumbo

Straight streetheat, gangsta rap hardcore with good delivery on beats that sound experimental and the mix could've been a little better but the whole project is tight sounding to me real talk especially #2 It’s Over (Feat. Girl Gutta) is a beast on the mic. #5 Problem In The Streets and #6 Take a Deep Look (Feat. Ceazo & P-Nut) my favorite.This group deserve a listening from the majors I keep it 1 hunid


BIGISH    

Jamie Craig’s CD The Lost Dream According to Craig, he wanted to make a modern instrumental album for anyone who grew up on rock music and still enjoys hearing a solid bass-line and a full drum-kit. He does a great job of building tracks that are best listened to as backgrounds for living. While you work or go about your day-to-day chores the songs can create a relaxed environment that could make the time fly by. Not truly “Smooth Jazz” since the drum licks are more Progressive Rock stylings I believe Craig’s music fits the New Age genre best.

The drawback of this CD is that it truly lacks a solo instrument that plays a song melody. The music seems to cry for a singer or guitar player to carry a melody above the background tracks. All tracks were created entirely on synthesizers and no real instruments were played making for more mechanical timing during the few sax riffs. Craig is a real bass player and it seems that even a “hot cooking” bass line would have added more dimension to the tracks.

None-the-less, it is what it is, that being a fine relaxing musical production that will surely fill the need for chill out time music, movie background music fills and just plain Easy Listening music.


MSP    

Amazing, Amazing. Pianist Jane Johnson, a Burnsville. North Carolina resident formerly from Cleveland, Mississippi is the composer of these 17 absolutely beautiful songs. For a newcomer into classical music this CD was like I've already said, truly amazing. She delivers each track with grace and style and it is very relaxing to the ears. As Jane so eloquently put it, “My passions and emotions have been transferred to sheet music, giving clarity and peace to my mind. My desire to the listener is that you will be taken to a similar place by the music, one that will calm and restore you, so that you will know that this life has much to offer if it is embraced.”

The co-producer on this CD is none other than one of our Cashbox Magazines staff, Brandon Bailey, and he did a beautiful job. Some songs include "Proof" "Portrait of Dreams" , which took me back in time to 1977 and the great Frank Mills. It sounded like one he would have liked, ,"Fulfillment", "Stairs of Time", is so subtle and beautiful and ,"Twisted Memory". This is a 17-track masterpiece. What’s up with Mississippi folks? You got all the stars this week.
JDH    

Born in Mannheim, Germany, his family relocated to Nairobi, Kenya, when he was less than a year old. “Eastern Africa was full of impressions. Because of my parents' interest in travel, I experienced African culture first-hand at a very young age. Seeing and hearing African performers and their natural gift for song and dance had a strong impact on me.” A few years later, Jann and his family moved to Johannesburg, South Africa, “I remember my father taking us to a musical that I loved, called ‘The Warrior,' starring the late Margaret Singana, who was very popular at that time in South Africa.” Now living in the Bronx, New York, one of the most culturally diverse communities on earth, Jann already has so much diversity in his life from which to draw inspiration.

Klose is a true POP artist and one of the better artists to come along in this decade. He writes all of his own songs lyrics and melodies that remind me of some of the early Paul McCartney songs. His guitar, vocals and complimentary orchestration fit together so well that it should inspire other music artists to create songs of this caliber.

Track 6 “Give In To This Life” has such strong contrast between the verse and chorus that it gives me chills. Every song on this CD is as strong as the next and for anyone who enjoys the POP or Adult Contemporary type of music, this CD is made for you. In fact I would consider Jann Klose to be the template or model for other artists to emulate.


MSP    

If you are into Piano Rock ‘n’ Roll the likes of Billy Joel, Gavin DeGraw or even Traffic then you have come to the right CD. Yudoff may not quite be in the same league with the before mentioned artists, but it’s close enough to satisfy the fans. The best tracks could be #1- “Good Enough” a song of a dragon slayer soldier of many battles but it’s never good enough for you. It’s good but probably not good enough for me either, seems to lack a good hook. #2- “Personal Addict” has a jazzy feel with a touch of R&B drums, bass and full jazz piano chords topped with a muted trumpet. Again the lyrics are a bit too busy to make it catch your mental playback system. It’s not likely to stick with you.

“You Should Be My Girl” cooks and chugs through the instrumental backup but Yudoff doesn’t really seem to sell this song. #4- Side by Side is a strong power ballad that works well with Yudoff’s musical style and could be even stronger with some real fuzz guitar in the higher registers. Track 11 “Locked in the Box” is a piano jam that cooks but for me I kept waiting for a vocal that never happened to kick in.

All in all the CD is a great demonstration of what you will hear in a live performance. Audiences have raved about the charisma, raw energy and passionate performances that Mr. Yudoff puts across in each and every show. So if you have been to a live concert, you may want to run out and grab this CD, but like American Idol Judge, Randy Jackson might say, “I don't know man, I just wasn’t feelin’ it dawg.” that is pretty much my take.
MSP    

The Southern Gospel/Bluegrass event of the year brings Jeff Easter with his family the Easter Brothers and Sheri's family, The Lewis family for a musical Event of a lifetime. The thee singing sensations have over 130 years of touring, 150 recordings to their credit, Grammy nominations, and 15 Dove Awards plus over 70 industry awards combined and have not only played in their native Southland but Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Smithsonian, Sydney Opera House and the Gaiter Homecoming series. Ole J.D. remembers the Lewis Family and the Easter Brothers when I was a kid, was many moons ago. J.D.'s favorites on this CD probably nod to the Lewis Family on "They're Holding Up the Ladder" and the "Hallelujah Turnpike" and "We Are Family", a Woody Wright composition written for this project. Also includes Lewis and Easter classics "Slippers with Wings" and "Thank You Lord, For Your Blessings On Me".


JDH    

Ole J.D. hasn't figured out Norma Morris and Erin, but they have never sent me a dud to review. They know how to pick out the very best talent and this new CD by Jeff Bates is no exception.

Jeff recorded two other albums for RCA in 2003 and 2006 that were also very good albums and for the life of me I can't figure out what went wrong. It must have been Jeff was too good for the guys at RCA who love their syrup and pancakes. I understand Jeff may have had a little legal trouble but hell all of us have problems from time to time and we all get over it.

Whatever the reason RCA screwed up this time because this CD is AAA. The Black River Music Group is giving this young man another chance. He's a great songwriter and vocalist and I don't think I heard any of my no no words in any of his songs, so refreshing and the production and song flow are flawless. This CD should be in every collection of those who truly treasure what country music should be. I hope it gets a real push. There’s not one of these 13 tracks that’s not a potential single. My personal favorites and maybe J.D. is telling his age and the ones he can most relate to are "Riverbank", that song really brought memories back to me personally,”He Wasn't Like Us" a real gutsy song for a country artist, "Dead or Alive" neat hook and "Country Man", I actually took a bar-b-que break and "Somebody's Falling". I listened to this CD several times with my 12 dogs and 8 cats and they loved it too. Folks, buy this one and support Jeff.

Listen to the Cashbox Interview with Jeff


JDH    

From the opening song on this CD it becomes obvious that Jon Mullane is ready to “Go the Distance”. Musically “The Source” has muscle and drive to sustain the “Push Push” needed to make it in the music business.

Climbing quickly to the number one spot on Cashbox Magazine’s Indie Rock Picks chart it is apparent that there is substance to Mullane’s music and performance. Mullane’s vocals are strong and display a range and style that could easily drive him to the top in today’s world market.

Unfortunately, artists have to think about how they can be marketable these days. When asked how he would describe his music, Mullane says, "It's basically pop rock. There's an '80s influence to it. If you were to compare it to anything, fans of Maroon 5, Duran Duran, The Killers, those sorts of fans would like my music. Maybe that's a better way to describe it."

Go the Distance is also currently being primed for exposure in an upcoming feature film and several television series, international advertising campaigns and is in serious consideration to be theme music for this summer's highly anticipated Olympic Games coverage on NBC.

Not every one of the 10 songs on this CD is a hit but even the weaker tracks provide a bit of contrast and still show strength.

Track List
1. Go the Distance
2. Push Push
3. Thinkin’ About You
4. Desire
5. Love Can Move A Mountain
6. Changes
7. Closer To You
8. Magic
9. Savin My Maria
10 One More Chance


MSP    

Josh was only a mere 3 years old when he picked up the guitar for the first time and over the years his artistry has matured through the influences of performers including Johnny “Guitar” Watson, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and Albert Collins. I hear can even hear influences of early "Prince" in track 4 “I Don’t Want to Think About It” in the vocals and guitar stylings. Once you see him you’ll ask yourself, “Where has this guy been hiding?”

Hiding? Well at least the problem is visible and that is that in all the glory of Boyd's amazing guitar playing ability, he consistently over plays each song to the point that it becomes self-indulgent, making the listener wonder if it is just an instrumental CD that is interspersed with a vocal or two. The guitar solos are long and somewhat uneventful. If this were a live jam in concert, it would have the audiences going WOW that’s impressive. On a CD however you find yourself becoming bored with so much uniquely different yet “same ole” guitar leads. The language in a few songs is unnecessary and seems to be there only to gain the “parental advisory” label which this CD doesn’t include, yet it should to at least get some notice. However, it may actually be preventing him from getting any radio play visibility once the Program Director does play it and discovers the unbleeped passages. Then too, hidden on the CD cover artwork is the artist name. It was difficult to find since it is a painting of the recording artist with a brass plaque on the frame of the painting. Most times when a painting is hung, the brass plate contains the name of the painting and the artist who painted it. I didn’t expect to see the recording artist and his band's name on that tiny plaque as the CD Title. Cleverly, I checked the side of the CD and on the spine you can find the actual artist's name and the band's name, which is larger here than it appears on the actual CD cover. I won’t repeat this name since possibly the artist really wants to stay in hiding. The artwork inside and out are all understated paintings of the guitar player that shows absolutely no excitement about what you might expect if you actually buy the CD.

There is without a doubt the fact that our invisible guitar hero knows how to play his axe but he may need to work on marketing his musical abilities. Especially if you consider that the music market is dwindling with the closing of millions of music stores and the on-line music scene is totally flooded with mediocre music. So, the need to grab the listener’s attention is more important than ever. With all the serious competition out there, being seen at all has become very important and difficult at the same time. Where has this guy been hiding? I don’t know but I think he still is.


MSP    

We Weren't Crazy was released today April 1, 2008. Josh Gracin is an "American Idol" season 2 finalist and former Marine. "This album is more me," says Gracin. "I was able to focus on making the album I wanted to make. For the first album, I was still in the service, so I had to fly in and out of Nashville to record when I could. This time around it had my undivided attention." Gracin's debut album is certified gold by the RIAA and has sold over 695,000 copies. He's one of only three new male country singers to be introduced in the last four years to earn a gold album. Josh is also the only male solo country artist in recent years to release a debut album with three consecutive Top 5 country hits, including his first #1, "Nothin' To Lose."

We Weren’t Crazy is definitely a CD for Gracin to be proud of. Each song is a stand alone that should have listeners finding pieces of their lives interwoven in the lyrics and the way Gracin performs them. “We Weren’t Crazy”, is an autobiographical song was written by Gracin, Tony Lopacinski, and Bobby Pinson about Gracin's personal journey from childhood to raising children and having a family of his own. The other songs even though not written by Josh still have the stamp of emotional connection about them and Josh makes you feel like he is singing about his personal feelings and an life of events. One of my favorites that really rocks is Track 6 Favorite State of Mind but then every song on the CD is really a musical gem. This is one of the best new Country performances that I have heard in some time. Can’t go wrong with Gracin.


Song Title Time
1. Found 3:54
2. We Weren't Crazy 3:47
3. Invisible 4:38
4. Let Me Fall 4:08
5. I Don't Want To Live 3:35
6. Favorite State Of Mind 3:18
7. Telluride 3:53
8. I Keep Coming Back 3:51
9. Sweet September 4:13
10. Livin' It Up 4:05
11. Unbelievable (Ann Marie) 3:13


MSP    

Lawrence Blatt is a Guitarist/Mathematician who seems to be obsessed with numbers since his CD liner notes explain how we all count everything and how numbers play a heavy roll in all of our everyday lives. Music is all mathematics but fortunately the human element exists which allows us to add emotion to music. "Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent" -Victor Hugo. All that said however, it takes very little math skill to listen to music and if all the stars align and the mood is right you may or may not enjoy the experience. Being on hold listening to a piece of guitar music very similar to Mr. Blatt’s could make the on hold experience much nicer…unless you have been on hold long enough the have heard the entire CD 5 times.

Just forget the math and musical theory and listen to the music. Blatt’s classical guitar mastery is excellent and filled with emotion and the human elements that bring the listener joy.

This is not the kind of CD that most of us would sit and listen to without doing something at the same time. In other words it is a kind of ambient mood setting or enhancing kind of music that would go unnoticed within the format of a movie to accentuate a mood or moment. You wouldn’t have any idea that hearing the song altered the way you perceived the film but hearing “I’m Leaving Now” or “Catalina” in the background will do just that. The steady rhythms of the first a blend of Celtic and Spanish influences almost push the listener into a rebellious state while “Catalina” is smooth and flowing like the ocean breathing in and out or a gentle breeze over flowers and grasses. Definitely buy this CD for a party with a Mexican food flavor and it will make the food taste right and authentic. That’s the power of good music. That is what this is and nothing less.
MSP    

Critical consensus has not formed about Lester Young’s playing from his 1945 discharge from the Army to his death in 1959. Some listeners find it generally inferior to that from before his induction; others believe it less inferior than different--darker and more deliberate. Many agree that he was at his post-war best on a 1956 Verve album with Teddy Wilson.

Numerous recordings of Young’s live performances from the 1950s have been released in the United States and abroad. To the best of my knowledge, all the material on “Live at Birdland” has been issued in Italy and some has been available in Denmark and Japan, though none has appeared in America.

Trumpeter Jesse Drakes performed regularly with Young in the late 1940s and early 1950s. (The credits identify him as Jesse Jakes.) On four tunes from a 1953 Birdland session, he plays as well as I have heard him, though he falters on the second “Lester Leaps In.” His bright sound enhances the ensemble. Perhaps he is inspired by the driving piano of Horace Silver. At two 1956 sessions, each represented by three complete tunes, Young plays with different musicians: either Don Ferrara or an unknown trumpter plus Bill Triglia, Gene Ramey, and Gus Johnson. These groups seem less inspired than the quintet from 1953.

Ultimately, the sidemen are of secondary importance; Young is the major figure. He plays mostly in a comfortable middle groove. He does not falter on the two up-tempo numbers (different versions of “Lester Leaps In”); and while he plays sensitively on the ballads “Polka Dots and Moonbeams” and “These Foolish Things,” their tempos strike me as too slow.
B. F    

Malicious - Music Start With M is a ridiculous 16-track CD with good production that lacks a sense of direction.

From an unsigned artist that's tryna immulate LL Cool J, Jay-Z, Kanye West with an awfully boring flow I've listen to this CD four times and only one song got my attention #18 Walk Alone kinda deep but the project is a disappointment

keeping it 1 hunid
BIGISH    

Michel Griffin is best known in his native UK, where he appeared weekly on the BBC Radio regularly. He now lives in the wilds of the French Countryside composing and recording.

Griffin is an excellent lyricist and his music is more of a support for the lyrics and tends to be what I would consider simplistic with very little production giving the overall sound that of a folk song or children’s television show.

The title song “Russian Dolls” may be the most produced with mutiple guitar parts and vocal harmonies while the lyrics speak of the hypocrisy of power and could lyrically be a spy film’s theme. However the lack of drums and bass instrumentation leaves the overall production feeling empty. To me Griffin is a coffee house poet interspersed with acoustic guitar.
MSP    

With today's oldies stations playing much more 70's songs and very few 1960's hits, along comes a solution to those of you still longing for those great 1950's and early 1950's musical memories.

The Time-Life "It All Started With Doo Wop" boxed set is a refreshing lookback at the doo-wop hits that molded rock and roll music's first six to seven years. With this nine-CD set and its 147 songs, who needs a radio?

And there's more, this Time-Life set also includes a special DVD with a 78-minute, 21-song concert that takes you right back to those rockin' 50's. Check out THIS lineup on that DVD: the Platters, the Dell-Vikings, Jimmy Beaumont and the Skyliners, the Penguins, Gene Chandler, Johnny Maestro and the Brooklyn Bridge, Lee Andrews and the Hearts, the Cleftones, the Capris, the Marcels, the Jive Five, the Legends Of Doo Wop (which consisted of several groups' lead singers) and Earl Lewis and the Channels.

Jerry (the Ice Man) Butler narrates and introduces the various acts. I watched the entire concert and, believe me, it's truly a trip down memory lane. And the standing ovations abound!

With 146 songs on CD, it's impossible to discuss all of them, but here are some of the better ones...

For instance, the song that annually would be #1 on WCBS/New York's top 500 countdown of its listeners favorite songs...is among them. "In the Still Of The Nite" was written by the leader of the Five Satins, Fred Parris, while serving guard duty...when else?...in the still of the night! Imagine, a song recorded in the basement of a New Haven, Connecticut, church that only reached #32 on the Cash Box pop chart still lives as a classic ballad today. Still another, "Sincerely" by the Moonglows, was the very first song played on the legendary "History Of Rock And Roll" 52-hour series that aired in the late 1970's and early 1980's.

There's a slew of songs that helped pave the way for the birth of rock and roll music. Among them on that list are "Ruby Baby" (the Drifters), "Sh-Boom" (the Chords), "Crying In The Chapel" (the Orioles...and, yes, Elvis remade this one), "Gee" (the Crows), "Stormy Weather" (the Spaniels)...and the song this writer considers one of the first first rock and roll songs ever, "Sixty-Minute Man" (Billy Ward and the Dominos).

Rock and Roll Music's first teenage star, Frankie Lymon, is on this set with "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" (as Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers). Also from 1956 is "Church Bells May Ring" by the Willows, which featured a then-unknown 17-year-old Neil Sedaka playing the bells.

You also get the studio AND live remake versions of the Skyliners' hits, "Since I Don't Have You" and "This I Swear."

There's also a goodly number of early 1960's classics, including "There's A Moon Out Tonight" (the Capris), "Stay" (Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs), "Blue Moon" (the Marcels), "Stand By Me" (Ben E. King), "(Will You Love Me) Tomorrow" (the Shirelles), "The Wanderer" (Dion) and "Up On The Rool" (the Drifters).

If you're craving for those great hits from the 1950's and early 1960's, then "It All Started With Doo-Wop" is the answer!


ROCKIN' ROBIN    

Bernard Stollman’s ESP-Disk released some of the most adventuresome improvised music from the late 1960s and early 1970s. Among its artists were Albert Ayler, Sun Ra, Alan Silva, Frank Wright, and many others, including Ornette Coleman. The music these men played might best be characterized as free, or avant-garde. Recently, ESP-Disk began reissuing this music on CD. In general, it sounds as vital as it did when initially released.

Ornette Coleman’s 1962 Town Hall concert is an example. Backed on three of the four tunes by bassist David Izenzon and percussionist Charles Moffett, Coleman soars. His lyricism and the group’s dynamics make one wonder why he was then so controversial, four years after his initial recording. Yes, he avoided chord changes and his group improvised collectively, thereby moving beyond the restrictions of bebop, which was then—and possibly still is—the dominant mode of jazz expression. Yet his playing sounds something like the singing of a bird in nature: its music is beautiful because of its freedom.

Coleman, Izenzon, and Moffett do not play on the fourth selection, “Dedication to Poets and Writers.” Coleman composed it for a string quartet. It anticipates such later “serious” compositions as Coleman’s Skies of America (1972).
B.F.    

Joe Henderson deserves being remembered; tenor saxophonist Paul Carr recollects him fondly and musically appropriately. Because Henderson played in the hard-bop manner, Carr performs similarly, with tenor-trumpet unison passages, soulful feeling, and so forth. Occasionally, though, his own solos are more reminiscent of John Coltrane, circa 1960, than of Henderson. Not attempting to duplicate Henderson’s music, even though the overall sound is similar to his predecessor’s, Carr plays in his own manner tunes Henderson recorded, most of which he composed. He also performs two of his own originals. Of the ten selections, I find three especially noteworthy: Henderson’s “Mamacita,” Henderson’s “Y Todavia LaQuiero,” and Tadd Dameron’s “If You Could See Me Now.” The first has an attractive Latin melody and engaging solos by Carr and trumpeter Terrel Stafford. Carr sets the mood for the second with forty-five seconds of solo playing before the melody is stated. The third, which lasts two minutes, thirty-five seconds, features Carr only, without accompaniment.

Excellent musicians back Carr. In addition to Stafford, the group includes pianist Mulgrew Miller, bassist Michael Bowie, and drummer Lewis Nash. Together, they create music that reminds me of some Horace Silver recordings of the early 1960s, updated. This is understandable because Henderson then played with Silver.
BF    

I have to exclude this CD from anything considered music. This is by far the most painful listen of any CD I have experienced. The songs have no hooks, melodies are chopped staccato notes and totally unmemorable. Poorly written lyrics make it stand out as a bad example of songwriting, vocals were not good and overall lacking in interest.

Members are: SOR (vocals), RAUL (Guitar) and ALEX (Drums). The CD credits are missing the most apparent instrument (Noise). Must have been an oversight. The only merit I can give this CD is that there are only 9 tracks totaling 31:22 minutes. Experience is a necessary element in making music and most musicians do improve with it so there is still hope.


MSP    

What the ? Ole J.D. looked at the title and didn't know what to think of it. Actually this CD is fantastic, no doubt about it. Its a 12 track collection of original Rock and Soul from this Auburn, Alabama based band. Bubba and the boys are great musicians but they enlisted Wayne Jackson, Carl Hale and Donnie "Sax" Sanders of the Memphis Horns who bring their 60's style of playing to this CD that they did to many Stax releases of that era. This is one of the best CDs of this genre to come out in a long time. With a name like that it kinda reminds me of a group from around here called Hootie.......

Tracks include "Let My Peoples Dance", "My Baby's A Seafood Platter", "the Jody Grine", believe it or not a Gospel track called "Pearly Gates" and a theme for Auburn University "Let the Eagle Fly". Release date May 12. 2008
JDH    

The south Florida movement has been building for about two years and Rick Ross has been part of that movement. This Carol City rep drops his second LP Trilla avoiding a sophomore curse where I've seen lot's of artist fail. Setting the bar high with their second debut, Ross surpasses all of that jinx. This album is tight (hood talk) with jam good production and features on it.

Every track has his own style with a glazed feel that is well crafted. I haven’t stop listening to it yet This album can be a classic but other magazine rap reviewers gonna criticize it because of his flow on some songs but I say hang this album in the hall of classics. My favorite songs are:
#8 "This Is My Life" (feat. Pharrell T-Pain & Pharrell)
#11 “Maybach Music" (feat. Jay-Z) This song need to be his next video cause it's hot
#13 "Luxury Tax" (feat. Lil Wayne), (Young Jeezy) and (Trick Daddy). Straight heat too street for the radio and video.

Give the boss his props, a well put together album it's bangin.
i keep it 1hunid

Track List
1. Trilla Intro (Explicit) 2:54
2. All I Have In This World (Explicit) 4:02
3. The Boss (Explicit) 3:45
4. Speedin' (Explicit) 3:25
5. We Shinin' (Explicit) 3:56
6. Money Make Me Come (Explicit) 3:31
7. DJ Khaled Interlude (Explicit) 1:29
8. This Is The Life (Explicit) 4:25
9. This Me (Explicit) 3:47
10. Here I Am (Explicit) 3:29
11. Maybach Music (Explicit) 4:08
12. Billionaire (Explicit) 4:12
13. Luxury Tax (Explicit) 4:44
14. Reppin My City (Explicit) 4:17
15. I'm Only Human (Explicit)


Ishmeal Duncan    

Liverpool 8 is a musical tribute to the artists own roots as Ringo travels back to Liverpool to the humble beginnings of the greatest Pop band in the history of the world. I don’t think it needs to be said but there may be someone out there who hasn’t heard of The Beatles. Ringo has and always will be Ringo his musical style is obviously part Beatles but more obviously Ringo’s own. His lyrics are straightforward, simple and honest, speaking of love and peace with the conviction of truth. This world at this time could use a lot more Ringo and what he stands for.

It’s hard to imagine that the opening and title song Liverpool 8 is history being his story in a chronological series of events. Check out the Video Think About You, kicks in right at the top of the song with some strong lead guitars while Ringo provides the drums and vocals. Lyrics are written by Ringo and his guitar players, Hudson, Dudas and Burr. Now That She’s Gone Away, is a sultry, sassy kind of rocker that speaks of the despair of losing her. Gone Are The Days psychedelic reminiscence of oddly enough, days gone by with familiar lines of “It Don’t Come easy”.

Melodies are well written and truly remind one of the days gone by when the “Fab Four” were all still with us. Ringo does a great job of bringing us back to those days and still keeping things fresh and new.

Ringo is currently on tour accross the country and he’s put together a show that I am sure everyone will enjoy.

Ringo’s Home page

Track List

R U Ready


MSP    

I don't know what to think of this. Its so far out in left field there’s no way to put a handle on it. I know its being promoted Country and Americana with hints of Hank Thompson, Tommy Collins, yes you're Leonard, didn't think old J.D. would catch that and one the Geico Gecko might get a kick out of "Gecko Tango".

The CD is certainly diverse in style, you don't know what’s coming next and there’s nothing about the actual artist involved. Reminds me of an old Don Vinson classic "Has Been Yesterday’s Star". I get the feeling these guys have been there and done that. The only true Country tracks on the CD are "Middle of the Night" being promoted as the single and "Shy Away". I still don't get the concept here.
JDH    

Thad Jones wrote many attractive tunes, “A Child Is Born” and “Three and One” among the best known of them. On recordings made in 1992, 2002, and 2005 but only now released, multi-instrumentalist Scott Robinson plays fourteen of them and does them justice. Despite good support from rhythm sections (including, on one selection, Hank Jones, brother of Thad Jones), Robinson dominates these performances. He plays a variety of woodwinds plus cornet, flugelhorn, French horn, and other instruments.

Despite the attractiveness of Robinson’s playing, this music is, to me, an experiment in sound, thanks largely to Robinson’s playing of the bass saxophone on four selections and the contrabass sarrusophone on two. These horns produce very deep sounds. Although the bass saxophone was used occasionally in early jazz (Adrian Rollini was the paramount practitioner) and is played sometimes in avant-garde jazz (Anthony Braxton and Roscoe Mitchell, among others), only rarely is it used in what might be called modern mainstream, such as Robinson plays. In the notes accompanying this release, Robinson comments on the appropriateness of using the bass saxophone with the Hammond B-3 organ, as happens on three of the pieces. Indeed, the combination, which I have not previously heard, sounds good. Stunning, though, is the pairing of sarrusophone and soprano flute on “Fingers.” (Seldom used in jazz, a sarrusophone is a brass instrument played with a double reed.) The difference in pitch is extreme, dramatic, stark, and appealing. Since there are unison passages and Robinson is the only horn player, he necessarily dubbed one of these parts.

In a sense, this is experimental music within a traditional context. The experiment was worthwhile and successful.
B.F.    

Steve Dooks puts out a sound that will take you back in time to the Big Band singer days. Like Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and today’s Michael Buble the sound of the big band is alive and well and thanks to Steve it’s some very new stuff. Dooks writes a lot of the songs on this CD and he has the skill and style that has never gone out of style. It’s good to hear this new music with songs like: Smooth and Easy, What Does Your Heart Say, The Smile On Your Face the title tune Cocktails, Heartaches and Cigars as well as In My Dreams All written by Dooks as well as a few standards like: My Attorney Bernie and I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face.

Steve's vocals are slightly raspy and smooth but with a touch of something like helium somehow sounding somewhere between male and female. In fact in a few of his song there are points where his voice sound very much like the velvety alto voice of the late great “Rosemary Clooney” style and all. This is the kind of CD that will have you reminiscing about the good ole days even though you don’t remember the song.

Tracks:

The band from Ames, Iowa, The Nadas have been going strong since 1994, and in 2001, the band was dubbed the "Best Band You've Never Heard of" by Playboy Magazine. That may be simply the lack of publicity that is available today for any up and coming group keeping them out of the star light. However, any band that can remain in existence for 14 years must be doing something right. The Nadas may or may not be dong anything right other than sustaining a following of loyal listeners out of sheer tenacity. “The Ghosts Inside These Halls” may actually be the ghosts of past performances haunting the listeners telling them “Go see the boys play again tonight”.

The Nadas course is controlled by the matching vocals of Mike Butterworth and Jason Walsmith, both sounding and performing like the other making for truly well blended harmonies in both live performances and recordings. This CD however does not stand out as anything truly exceptional and today with so much competition to garnish some notice from radio, TV and Internet you have to stand out or get mowed under. More and more top-name recording artists have been dropped by their own record companies for artists who only appear to be stronger at the moment. So each new release must be better than the last. I do not doubt that the Nada’s will be around for years to come but it is time now to really raise the bar and make the music and lyrics as good and strong as I believe The Nadas truly can. This comes very close guys but no cigar this time.
MSP    

If you are up for a big surprise, take a listen to Riddle Me A Song. This is a tribute album to the great Lesley Riddle, one of the founders of country music as we know it today. Riddle was born in Burnsville, North Carolina, and grew up in the mountains of the Eastern United States. As a young man, he had his leg amputated as the result of an accident, and thus picked up a guitar and began to play. Soon he was playing with the Carter Family Band, and gained a small amount of fame in the Appalachian area. After a few years, he sold his guitar and moved to the north, to fade out of existence. Mike Seeger found him again several years later, and had him record an album, Step by Step. Riddle's songs have helped to shape and define modern country music in countless ways, though his influence has never been fully recognized.

Because Riddle Me A Song is a tribute album, there are a number of artists performing the various tracks, and all have their own unique sound and style. It shows the diversity and artistic interpretation that can be given to any great song, and each track is stylish and wonderfully old-fashioned, and some with a contemporary twist.

The album includes a beautiful song called Motherless Children, with Nickel-Creek style instrumentals and soft, clear vocals by Debbie Sigmon (bearing a delightful resemblance to Allison Kraus). Then, the next thing you know, Frisco Blues is thumping out of the speakers, the most wonderful old-school country song you've ever heard, taking you right back to the mid-20th century, cruising in a '59 Ford down the dirt road. The fantastic and surprising contrasts come one after another, like the soulful (and I mean soulful) gospel song Working On A Building, complete with organ, jazzy piano, and full choir; the soft, delightfully amiable version of The Cannonball; and Minnie Powell's bluesy, edgy vocals on Red River Blues, which make a surprising addition to the soft, airy female vocalists found throughout the rest of the album.

The biggest surprise of all is the last track, One Kind Favor, sung by RKC Bartling. He transforms the song into a soft, pulsating, poetic meditation. It startles the listener, something so far from country or gospel—but not so far from the blues, perhaps, and ultimately this version of the song possesses the same essence as the original.

The ladies and gentlemen who performed the Riddle songs on this album did a wonderful job giving new life to these classics, and should be commended for their excellent work! This is a fabulous CD, deserving much attention and praise.
EEJ    

Despite having the energy of John Coltrane, creating a sound sometimes reminiscent of Sonny Rollins, occasionally invoking Albert Ayler, and bowing in the direction of Roland Kirk, saxophonist Willie Williams is his own man. He also composes attractive tunes. Despite his seeming preference for up-tempo blowing (“Leprechaun’s Dance” and the stop-and-start “Comet Ride”), two of the most moving pieces are the sensitive “Tenor Ballet” and “Three Generations,” on both of which the accompanying musicians, bassist Gary Wang and drummer Rudy Walker, are especially significant. Williams is, though, most impressive on a ten-minute treatment of “Caravan” (incorrectly attributed only to Duke Ellington) and a fifteen-minute medley of Eddie Harris’s “Freedom Jazz Dance,” Jimmy Heath’s “Gingerbread Boy,” and Heath’s “CTA,” three minor jazz classics. When soloing and playing ostinato behind Williams, Wang shines on “Caravan.” Williams introduces and concludes the medley by playing soprano and tenor saxophones simultaneously in the manner of Roland Kirk, though without Kirk’s multi-horn mastery or circular breathing. In sum, this is a dynamic, moving, and impressive release by a trio deserving of recognition.
B. F.