Sometimes singer/songwriters with eclectic musical tastes can seem bland or unfocused. Fortunately, Jen Chapin is able to blend her folk, jazz, blues, and other influences into a coherent and expressive urban folk style. She tends to favor measured performances over cutting totally loose, but her singing is soulful enough to give her music some backbone. The lyrics to "Gold" provide a good indication of how she is both similar to and different from her father, Harry Chapin; she shares her father's interest in social issues, as indicated by the song's inspiration (a comment by a sharecropper who was interviewed by civil rights leader James Foreman), but she has also been influenced by R&B, as indicated by her name-dropping trombonist Fred Wesley (James Brown, Parliament) during the song. Chapin seems equally comfortable gently chiding people for their political apathy ("Passive People") or using food metaphors for sex ("Me Be Me"); other songs are about heartbreak, hope, nostalgia, self-discovery, and her friend Kristy Ryan, who was killed on 9/11. The album also includes a couple numbers, "'Til I Get There" and "Manchild," that Chapin performed on Live at the Bitter End. Todd Kristel
Tracklist :
1 Little Hours 3:30
Jen Chapin
2 Good At Love 5:04
Jen Chapin
Keyboards – Stephan Crump
3 Me Be Me 5:14
Jen Chapin
Handclaps, Finger Snaps – Rod Sherwood
Percussion – Stephan Crump
4 Manchild 3:43
Jen Chapin
Percussion, Keyboards – Stephan Crump
5 'Til I Get There 5:14
Jen Chapin
Handclaps, Finger Snaps – Rod Sherwood
Percussion – Stephan Crump
6 City 5:34
Jen Chapin
Acoustic Guitar – Rod Sherwood
7 Numbers 4:38
Jen Chapin
Percussion, Keyboards – Stephan Crump
8 Hurry Up Sky 3:59
Jen Chapin
Percussion – Stephan Crump
9 Passive People 4:23
Jen Chapin
Acoustic Guitar – Robin Macatangay
Drum Programming – Dan Rieser
Harmony Vocals – Alan "AB" Burroughs, Martha Redbone
Percussion, Drum Programming – Stephan Crump
10 Regular Life 3:45
Jen Chapin
Hihat – Tony Mason
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Arranged By [Flute] – Chris Cheek
11 Gold 6:09
Jen Chapin
Portuguese Guitar – Rod Sherwood
12 I Could Fall (In Love With You) 7:01
Jen Chapin
Acoustic Guitar – Robin Macatangay
Acoustic Guitar, Handclaps, Finger Snaps, Drum Programming – Rod Sherwood
Percussion – Stephan Crump
Credits :
Cello – Ann Kim
Drums, Percussion – Dan Rieser
Electric Bass, Acoustic Bass, Arranged By [Strings], Glockenspiel, Balafon, Berimbau, Mbira – Stephan Crump
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Jamie Fox
Electric Piano [Rhodes & Wurlitzer], Piano, Pedal Steel Guitar, Tambura [Electric] – Peter Rende
Violin – Todd Reynolds
Vocals, Flute – Jen Chapin
Friday, May 10, 2024
JEN CHAPIN — Linger (2004) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless
JULIA FORDHAM — East West (1997) Japan Bonus Track Edition | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless
Working with noted producer and guitarist Michael Brook, British singer Julia Fordham released her fifth album (including the mini-LP Love Moves), East West, in 1997. Fordham wrote all of the record's ten tracks except for "I Can Tell You Anything," which she co-wrote with Simon Climie. Fordham possesses a gorgeous, dusky voice that is reminiscent of Joni Mitchell and Alison Moyet. The heartfelt lyrics, most of which deal with love lost, show a sense of vulnerability. The title cut is a lovely track featuring a cascading piano melody played by Brook and a hypnotic drum loop. "More Than I Can Bear," where Fordham is accompanied by piano only, is a heartbreaking tale of the realization that a former lover has indeed filled her place. Finally, "I Can Tell You Anything" adds some accordion into the mix of the irony-filled lyric. A gentle, lovely, articulate album. Tom Demalon
Tracklist :
1 Killing Me Slowly 5:30
2 East West 4:03
Arranged By [Arrangements] – Michael Brook
Programmed By [Programming] – Michael Brook
3 Stay 4:52
Programmed By [Programming] – Michael Brook
4 I Want To Call You Baby 3:51
Piano – Jeff Young
5 My Last Goodbye 3:19
Piano – Jeff Young
6 More Than I Can Bear 3:47
Piano – Judith Owen
7 I Can Tell You Anything 3:36
Accordion – James Fearnley
8 Wishing You Well 3:36
Cello – Martin Tillman
9 Magic 2:55
Shaker – Lenny Castro
10 Fat Lady 4:55
Accordion – James Fearnley
– BONUS TRACK –
11 Goodbye I Love You 3:13
Credits :
Acoustic Guitar – David Clifton (tracks: 7, 9), Julia Fordham (tracks: 1, 2, 3, 8, 9)
Bass – Kevin McCormick (tracks: 1 to 5, 7, 8, 10)
Drums – Mauricio Lewak (tracks: 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10)
Electric Guitar – David Clifton (tracks: 1, 4), David Clifton (tracks: 7, 8), Michael Brook (tracks: 3)
Guitar [Guitars] – David Clifton (tracks: 5, 10), Michael Brook (tracks: 5)
Guitar [Infinite Guitar] – Michael Brook (tracks: 1, 2, 3)
Keyboards – Jeff Young (2) (tracks: 4, 7), Julia Fordham (tracks: 3), Michael Brook (tracks: 2), Paul PJ Moore* (tracks: 1, 10)
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals [Background Vocals] – Julia Fordham
Percussion – Jason Lewis (tracks: 2, 3), Lenny Castro (tracks: 1, 4, 5, 8)
Written-By – Julia Fordham, Simon Climie (tracks: 7)
ANDREA MOTIS — Do Outro Lado do Azul (2019) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless
Tracklist :
1 Antonico 5:40
Composed By – Ismael Silva
2 Sombra De Lá 4:00
Lyrics By – Sérgio Krakowski
Music By – Andrea Motis
3 Brisa 5:37
Composed By – Andrea Motis
4 Sense Pressa 6:19
Composed By – Andrea Motis
5 Mediterráneo 5:04
Composed By – Joan Manuel Serrat
6 Filho De Oxum 2:30
Composed By – Roque Ferreira
7 Pra Que discutir Com Madame 3:36
Music By – Haroldo Barbosa, Janet De Almeida
8 Danca Da Solidao 5:27
Composed By – Paulinho Da Viola
9 Saudades Da Guanabara 5:44
Written By – Paulo César Pinheiro
10 Choro De Baile 4:42
Composed By – Sérgio Krakowski
11 Record De Nit 2:40
Composed By – Joan Mar Sauqué
12 Samba De Um Minuto 3:38
Composed By – Roberta Sá, Rodrigo Maranhão
13 Baiao De Quatro Toques 4:14
Composed By – José Miguel Wisnik, Luiz Tatit
Credits :
Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone – Gabriel Amargant
Double Bass – Joan Chamorro, Martin Heinzle (tracks: 3)
Drums – Esteve Pi
Electric Guitar, Flamenco Guitar – Josep Traver
Electric Guitar, Vocals – Carla Motis (tracks: 9)
Piano – Ignasi Terraza
Vocals, Cavaquinho – Fernando Del Papa
Vocals, Guitar – Mathieu "tétéu" Guilemant
Vocals, Pandeiro – Sérgio Krakowski
Vocals, Trumpet, Soprano Saxophone – Andrea Motis
Vocals, Violin, Mandolin – Christoph Mallinger
HALIE LOREN — Stages (2010-2012) Bonus Track Edition | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless
Jazz singer/songwriter Halie Loren provides a well-rounded sense of her
musical style on her first live album and third album overall, Stages.
Although she does not play an instrument, she fronts a piano-dominated
quartet featuring keyboard player Matt Treder (who also chimes in on
vocals occasionally), bassist Mark Schneider, drummer Brian West, and
trumpeter Tim McLaughlin. The combination of the prominent piano and
Loren's supple alto voice inevitably suggests Diana Krall. But Loren has
a somewhat lighter, less mannered sense of phrasing, and less of a
hardcore jazz sensibility. Call her singing style Krall with a flavoring
of the less serious side of Joni Mitchell, then. In addition to a few
of her own songs (among them "Free to Be Loved by Me," co-written with
songwriting veteran Rick Chudacoff), Loren addresses a range of material
from traditional jazz fare like "The Girl from Ipanema" and
"Summertime" to rock standards like the Kinks' "Sunny Afternoon" and
U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." She brings up what
may be her own female vocal heroines with "Ipanema" (Astrud Gilberto),
"Cry Me a River" (Julie London), and a version of Patti Cathcart' (of
Tuck & Patti) amusing "High Heel Blues," rendered a cappella. Her
backup musicians are given most of the jazz duties, and while Loren
employs enough unusual line readings to justify the "jazz" tag herself,
it's her accompanists who really make this a jazz recording. William Ruhlmann
Tracklist :
1 Danger in Loving You 3:16
Larry Wayne Clark / Halie Loren
2 Sunny Afternoon 3:27
Ray Davies
3 I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For 5:42
Adam Clayton / Paul Hewson / Larry Mullen, Jr. / Victoria Reina
4 More 4:05
Rick Chudacoff / Halie Loren / Victoria Shaw
5 Cry Me a River 4:50
Arthur Hamilton
6 The Girl from Ipanema 4:32
Norman Gimbel / Antônio Carlos Jobim / Vinícius de Moraes
7 Free to Be Loved by Me 3:55
Rick Chudacoff / Halie Loren
8 Is You or Is You Ain't My Baby 4:23
Billy Austin / Louis Jordan
9 Love Me Like a River Does 3:36
Melody Gardot
10 They Oughta Write a Song 3:37
Larry Wayne Clark / Halie Loren
11 High Heel Blues 3:44
Patricia Andress
12 Summertime 6:03
George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin / DuBose Heyward
13 My Rainbow Race 3:31
Pete Seeger
- Bonus Tracks -
14 I'd Rather Go Blind 5:04
15 Nearness Of You 4:57
Credits :
Bass – Mark Schneider
Drums – Brian West
Keyboards – Matt Treder
Trumpet – Tim McLaughlin
Vocals – Halie Loren
JUDY WEXLER — What I See (2013) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless
Tracklist :
1 Tomorrow Is Another Day 6:30
2 The Moon Is Made Of Gold 3:16
3 Convince Me 4:17
4 They Say It's Spring 4:47
5 A Certain Sadness 5:25
6 The Long Goodbye 5:11
7 Just For Now 3:50
8 Follow 5:36
9 Another Time, Another Place 3:29
10 A Kiss To Build A Dream On 3:22
11 Laughing At Life 3:37
Credits :
Alto Flute, Bass Clarinet – Bob Sheppard
Bass – Chris Colangelo
Drums – Steve Hass
Flugelhorn, Trumpet – Ron Stout
Guitar, Ukulele – Larry Koonse
Percussion – Billy Hulting
Piano – Jeff Colella
Trombone – Scott Whitfield
Vocals – Judy Wexler