DELLA GRIFFIN — The Very Thought of You (1996) APE (image+.cue), lossless

Despite being on the scene since the 1950s as a singer, a drummer and an occasional alto sax player, this is just Della Griffin's third album. Similarities to Billie Holiday's Verve Records voice are unmistakable, particularly on those tunes most closely associated with Lady Day like "The Very Thought of You," "You Go to My Head," and "All of Me." But Griffin is not a Holiday clone: she brings her special interpretive qualities to this set of nine standards. She delivers an aching rendition of "This Bitter Earth" that holds up very well with Dinah Washington's seminal version. Griffin has extraordinary backing on this session. Houston Person brings all of his experience working with such singers as Ernie Andrews, Lou Rawls, and especially Etta Jones. His bluesy saxophone is a perfect foil for Griffin's husky, smoky voice. "All of Me" is a platform for Ray Drummond's lyrical bass playing. Kenny Washington's brushes stand out on this cut. David Braham, who is on one of Griffin's earlier recordings, is familiar with the Griffin singing style and his piano is accordingly sympathetic. Vinnie Corrao's clean, uncluttered guitar is very effective on "Yesterdays." It's been over six years between recording sessions for Della Griffin. Based on her performance on this album, there should be a shorter lapse of time before the next release. The sole complaint is the paucity of playing time, just a bit over 41 minutes. Dave Nathan
Tracklist :
1    My Melancholy Baby    4:15
 Ernie Burnett / George Norton
2    The Very Thought Of You    5:42
 Ray Noble
3    All Of Me    3:18
 Gerald Marks / Seymour Simons
4    Misty    4:43
 Johnny Burke / Erroll Garner
5    This Bitter Earth    5:16
 Clyde Otis
6    Yesterdays    4:30
 Otto Harbach / Jerome Kern
7    It Could Happen To You    4:09
 Johnny Burke / James Van Heusen
8    You Go To My Head    5:43
 J. Fred Coots / Haven Gillespie
9    Sunday    3:40
 Chester Conn / Benny Krueger / Ned Miller / Jule Styne
Credits :
Bass – Ray Drummond
Drums – Kenny Washington
Guitar – Vinnie Corrao
Piano – David Braham
Tenor Saxophone, Producer – Houston Person
Vocals – Della Griffin

CORINNE BAILEY RAE — Black Rainbows (2023) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Her curiosity piqued by a photo of Theaster Gates taken in his workspace, Corinne Bailey Rae met the artist and activist the next time she played Chicago, where he welcomed her to the Stony Island Arts Bank, a gallery, archive, library, and community center. Bailey Rae felt profoundly affected inside the South Side monument to Black culture, and returned for an artist residency at the invitation of founder Gates. She wrote songs informed by her surroundings and experience -- everything from works of art to pages of Ebony and Jet to a dance party soundtracked by the preserved record collection of house pioneer Frankie Knuckles. Approaching the material as a side project had a liberating effect that allowed her to create without thinking about how the results would be received. Although Black Rainbows is a uniquely conceptual work and sticks all the way out from Corinne Bailey Rae, The Sea, and The Heart Speaks in Whispers, it's at least as personal as any of the singer's first three albums. Contrary to her reputation for making pillowy adult contemporary R&B, Bailey Rae started in a punk band that was hard enough to be courted by Roadrunner Records. Black Rainbows taps into that spirit more than once. "New York Transit Queen" is a thrashing celebration inspired by a mid-'50s image of future fashion legend Audrey Smaltz. "Erasure," seething and thunderous, was written in response to examining graphically anti-Black postcards. On these songs, Bailey Rae's buzzing guitar is as much a lead as her full-tilt vocals. Other moments -- the bristly, knocking, and wailing "Black Rainbows," the unfurling incantation "Before the Throne of the Invisible God" -- sound unselfconsciously sculpted, teeming with unbound imagination. The solitary piano ballad, "Peach Velvet Sky," is also a progression; written from the confined and anguished perspective of abolitionist and author Harriet Jacobs, it features Bailey's most powerful lyrics and vocal performance. The house diversions are suitably carefree, delightfully weird, and just as meaningful. A futuristic paradise is imagined in "Earthlings" through a slow, off-center groove slathered in guitar and concluded by birdsong. In the eight-minute "Put It Down," Bailey Rae achieves hard-fought release, distressed over turbulent strings and synthesizers, then seemingly indestructible as her voice slides atop a stout four-four rhythm. "I put it down -- I feel so free" could be the album's subtitle. Andy Kellman
Tracklist :
1    A Spell, A Prayer    5:27
Written-By – Corinne Bailey Rae
2    Black Rainbows 1:58
Written-By – Myke Wilson, S. J. Brown
3    Erasure    2:46
Written-By – Corinne Bailey Rae
4    Earthlings 3:38
Written-By – S. J. Brown
5    Red Horse 5:43
Written-By – Amber Strother, Paris Strother, S. J. Brown
6    New York Transit Queen    1:49
Written-By – Corinne Bailey Rae
7    He Will Follow You With His Eyes    3:45
Written-By – Corinne Bailey Rae
8    Put It Down 8:29
Written-By – S. J. Brown
9    Peach Velvet Sky 5:51
Written-By – S. J. Brown
10    Before The Throne Of The Invisible God    5:14
Written-By – Corinne Bailey Rae
Credits :
Aaron Burnett - Engineer, Sax (Tenor)
Amber Strother - Composer, Spoken Word, Vocals (Background)
Corinne Bailey Rae - Analogue Synthesizer, Bass, Composer, Drums, Fender Rhodes, Flute (Wood), Fuzz Guitar, Glockenspiel, Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Handclapping, Marxophone, Mini Moog, Percussion, Prayer Bowl, Primary Artist, Producer, Toms, Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Delphine Bailey Brown - Flute (Wood)
James Knight -Engineer, Sax (Alto)
Kyle Bolden - Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric)
Marvin Tate - Vocals
Myke Wilson - Bell, Composer, Congas, Djembe, Drums, Drums (Snare), Percussion, Surdo, Tympanon
Paris Strother - Composer, Engineer, Producer, Synthesizer, Vocals (Background), Wurlitzer Piano
Sam Bell - Bongos, Congas, Hand Percussion, Percussion
The Spitfire - Ensembles Horn, Strings, Woodwind
Yaw Agyeman - Vocals

LIZZ WRIGHT — Salt (2003) APE (image+.cue), lossless

Vocalist Lizz Wright delivers jazz that harks back to such luminaries as Nina Simone and Abbey Lincoln on her debut Verve release, Salt. Still in her early twenties, Wright has a warm, dusky voice reminiscent of Cassandra Wilson and similarly to Wilson seems interested in tackling an eclectic mix of jazz standards, traditional folk, and R&B. Early on, a folky afterglow-Latin version of "Afro Blue" takes center stage followed by the gorgeous "Soon as I Get Home," which betters the version from The Wiz. Wright fairs equally well as a songwriter with about half the album filled with her soaring, bluesy ballads. There is a melancholy yet positive '70s vibe that eminates from songs like "Fire," which resonates lyrically as well as melodically much like the personal/sociopolitical writing of another of Wright's obvious inspirations, Terry Callier. Perhaps a little too low-key to register very high on the pop radio scale, but invested with enough sanguine emotionality and chops to make Salt easily recommended to fans of the neo-soul movement. Matt Collar
Tracklist :
1    Open Your Eyes, You Can Fly 5:09
Written-By – Chick Corea, Neville Potter
2    Salt 3:26
Written-By – Lizz Wright
3    Afro Blue 5:51
Written-By – Mongo Santamaria, Oscar Brown Jr.
4    Soon As I Get Home 4:26
Written-By – Charlie Smalls
5    Walk With Me, Lord 4:06
Traditional
6    Eternity 3:34
Written-By – Lizz Wright
7    Goodbye 3:57
Written-By – Gordon Jenkins
8    Vocalise / End Of The Line 4:33
Written-By – Cynthia Medley, John Edmonson, Sergei Rachmaninov
9    Fire 4:14
Written-By – Lizz Wright
10    Blue Rose 4:05
Written-By – Kenny Banks, Lizz Wright
11    Lead The Way 4:23
Written-By – Brian Blade
12    Silence 2:43
Written-By – Lizz Wright
Credits :
Acoustic Bass – Doug Weiss (tracks: 1 to 11)
Acoustic Guitar – Brian Blade (tracks: 12), John Hart (tracks: 8, 10)
Alto Saxophone – Myron Walden (tracks: 2, 3, 11)
Arranged By – Brian Blade (tracks: 3, 7, 9, 12), Doug Weiss (tracks: 9), John Hart (tracks: 9), Jon Cowherd (tracks: 1, 6 to 10), Kenny Banks (tracks: 5, 10)
Arranged By [Horns] – Jon Cowherd (tracks: 2)
Arranged By [Strings] – Jon Cowherd
Bass Clarinet – Myron Walden (tracks: 11)
Cello – Caryl Paisner (tracks: 6, 8, 10), Ellen Westermann (tracks: 6, 8, 10), Joe Kimura (tracks: 6, 8, 10), Mark Shuman (tracks: 6, 8, 10)
Cello [Solo] – Ellen Westermann (tracks: 8)
Conductor [Strings] – Jon Cowherd
Drums – Brian Blade (tracks: 1, 4 to 11), Terreon Gully (tracks: 2, 3)
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Guitar [Bottleneck] – Adam Rogers (tracks: 12)
Electric Organ [Hammond B3] – Kenny Banks (tracks: 2, 5, 9), Sam Yahel (tracks: 1)
Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes] – Jon Cowherd (tracks: 4, 7, 10, 11), Kenny Banks (tracks: 1)
Guitar – John Hart (tracks: 1 to 7, 9, 11)
Marimba – Monte Croft (tracks: 8)
Percussion – Jeff Haynes (tracks: 1, 3 to 9, 11)
Piano [Acoustic Piano] – Danilo Perez (tracks: 3), Jon Cowherd (tracks: 4, 6, 8, 9, 11), Kenny Banks (tracks: 2, 10)
Soprano Saxophone – Chris Potter (tracks: 7)
Trombone – Vincent Gardner (tracks: 2, 3)
Trumpet – Derrick Gardner (tracks: 2, 3)
Vibraphone – Monte Croft (tracks: 4)
Viola – Crystal Garner (tracks: 6, 8, 10), Judy Witmerr (tracks: 6, 8, 10), Ron Carbone (tracks: 6, 8, 10), Sarah Adams (tracks: 6, 8, 10)
Vocals – Lizz Wright

LIANE FOLY — Les Petites Notes (1993) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1    Les Faux Soleils 4:03
Arranged By [Horns] – Hervé Gourdikian
2    Doucement    4:22
3    Voler La Nuit 5:03
Backing Vocals – Trio Esperança
4    Les Parfums D'Autrefois 4:41
Arranged By [Violins] – Hervé Leduc
Backing Vocals – Trio Esperança
5    Laisse Pleurer Les Nuages 4:04
Arranged By [Horns] – Pierre Drevet
Backing Vocals – Trio Esperança
6    Une Larme De Bonheur 3:42
Arranged By [Horns] – Hervé Gourdikian
7    La Marelle 3:49
Arranged By [Horns] – Hervé Gourdikian
8    J'Irai Tranquille 4:18
Arranged By [Horns] – Hervé Gourdikian
Backing Vocals – Carole Fredericks, Yvonne Jones
9    Passe Le Temps    3:51
10    Les Yeux Doux 5:15
Arranged By [Horns] – Pierre Drevet
Backing Vocals – Trio Esperança
11    Les Petites Notes 3:56
Arranged By [Violins] – Hervé Leduc
Credits :
Accordion – Richard Galliano
Bass – Etienne M'Bape
Double Bass – Gilles Coquard
Drums – André Ceccarelli
Electronics [Programming] – Allioum Ba
Guitar – Jean Marc Benaïs
Keyboards – André Manoukian
Lyrics By – Liane Foly, Philippe Viennet
Music By – André Manoukian
Percussion – Steve Shehan
Saxophone – Hervé Gourdikian
Trumpet – Pierre Drevet

ROBIN McKELLE & THE FLYTONES — Soul Flower (2012) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1    So It Goes    5:20
2    Tell You One Thing    3:59
3    Nothing’s Really Changed    3:34
4    Fairytale Ending    3:50
5    Miss You Madly    5:09
6    Don’t Give Up    3:41
7    Walk On By    3:13
8    To Love Somebody 4:06
Featuring – Lee Fields
9    Change    3:42
10    I’m Ready    4:49
11    Love’s Work 4:30
Featuring – Gregory Porter
12    I’m A Fool To Want You    4:50
Credits :
Arranged By – Ben Stivers, Robin McKelle
Bass – Derek Nievergelt
Drums – Adrian Harpham
Guitar – Al Street
Keyboards – Ben Stivers
Saxophone – Pee Wee Ellis
Tenor Saxophone – Mike Tucker
Trombone – Clayton DeWalt, Fred Wesley
Trumpet – Scott Aruda
Vocals – Gregory Porter (tracks: 11), Lee Fields (tracks: 8), Robin McKelle