ELIZABETH SHEPHERD — The Signal (2014) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

In 2012, Canadian pianist, songwriter, and composer Elizabeth Shepherd received a Juno nomination for Best Vocal Jazz Album for Rewind, her bright, wonderfully reimagined collection of standards from the worlds of jazz, pop, cabaret, and French chanson. According to Shepherd, she chose Rewind's standards -- which had always been meaningful presences in her world -- because she was pregnant, and the songs were the only things not changing in and around her. Two years on, The Signal is a rhythmic and textural shift. This profoundly feminist sociopolitical offering actively engages aesthetics of neo-soul, funk, and hip-hop (musics that have been referred to indirectly on her records since 2008), while remaining firmly rooted in her trademark meld of off-center jazz and pop. Her Rhodes piano is ever present, while a Moog makes select appearances -- all percussion and basslines are organic. Opener "Willow," with its funky crystalline Rhodes and rolling breaks, features the first of two appearances by Benin's master guitarist Lionel Loueke, who also lends a chant to its vocal. "What's Happening" -- with her longstanding trio featuring bassist Scott Kemp and drummer Colin Kingsmore -- has a keyboard that sounds more like a nasty clavinet, but it works to cement the infectious spiny riff. "B.T. Cotton" commences with a sample of Lead Belly playing and talking about picking cotton as Kemp's bass vamp introduces a fingerpopping groove before Shepherd begins singing (subtly and with stacked harmonies) about the brutal conditions in India's textile industry. A tight steel pan solo from Marc Mosca tops it off, creating the condition for a compulsive second listen. "Lion's Den," with its spacy Rhodes, Moog, reverbed drums, and Kevin Turcotte's killer trumpet break, belies its harrowing lyric about forced marriage and rape in Africa. "This" opens with ambient sound washes, a pronounced bassline atop Loueke's spectral guitar playing in the margin. The brushed snares and whispering Rhodes spiral around the tender, haunting melody before it ramps up toward the guitarist's colorful solo. "On Our Way" lets drummer Larnell Lewis use a cracking hip-hop tom-tom; Shepherd's chords fall forward and back across her vocal as Kemp's punchy bass vamp roils in the middle. "Another Day" addresses Trayvon Martin's killing; it commences as a ballad before picking up the tempo and tension in grasp-and-release fashion with a monstrous souled-out groove at its heart. It is an excellent illustration of topical songwriting in the 21st century -- displaying its poignancy framed inside music that attracts not by dynamic force but through a colorful imagination, yet speaks directly. The set closes with "Baby Steps," a funky, midtempo jam with a sunny, layered trumpet break and handclaps that accent its irresistible backbeat. The Signal is an excellent return for Shepherd; it's hip, bracing, sophisticated, and accessible. It will resonate deeply with fans of Esperanza Spalding, Robert Glasper, and José James. Thom Jurek
Tracklist :
1. Willow (4:41)
2. What's Happening (3:31)
3. B.T. Cotton (6:22)
4. The Signal (6:46)
5. Lion's Den (5:07)
6. This (6:46)
7. On Our Way (4:21)
8. I Gave (3:59)
9. Another Day (5:40)
10. Baby Steps (4:51)
Credits :
Piano (tracks: 4), Piano [Modified Piano] (tracks: 4), Synthesizer (tracks: 3, 4, 8, 9, 10), Synthesizer [Moog] (tracks: 5), Electric Piano [Rhodes], Kalimba (tracks: 8), Percussion [Tuned Bottles], (tracks: 8), Arranged By, Written-By, Producer – Elizabeth Shepherd
Bass – Ross MacIntyre (tracks: 1, 4, 5, 9, 10), Scott Kemp (tracks: 2, 3, 6, 7, 8)
Drums – Colin Kingsmore (tracks: 2-5, 9), Joshua Van Tassel (tracks: 8), Larnell Lewis (tracks: 6, 7), Roman Tomé (tracks: 1, 10)
Flute – John MacLean (tracks: 1)
Guitar – Lionel Loueke (tracks: 1, 6)
Handclaps – Elizabeth Shepherd, John MacLean (tracks: 9, 10)
Ngoni – John MacLean (tracks: 1)
Noises [Acoustic Roar Machine] – Roman Tomé (tracks: 5)
Percussion – Colin Kingsmore (tracks: 4)
Steel Drums – Mark Mosca (tracks: 3)
Trumpet – Kevin Turcotte (tracks: 5, 10)
Vocals – Alex Samaras (tracks: 4), Elizabeth Shepherd, Larnell Lewis (tracks: 9), Lionel Loueke (tracks: 1, 9), Scott Kemp (tracks: 9), Yvette Tollar (tracks: 9)

LINA NYBERG — Saragasso (2004) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1    Saragasso 5:35
Written-By – L. Nyberg
2    Spirulina 4:31
Written-By – L. Nyberg
3    Home Sweet Home 5:16
Written-By – L. Nyberg
4    This Is The Way Life Goes 3:44
Written-By – L. Nyberg
5    Old Devil Moon 4:02
Written-By – B. Lane, E.Y. Harburg
6    Chanting 6:44
Written-By – L. Nyberg
7    Another Story 4:21
Written-By – L. Nyberg
8    My Love 5:10
Written-By – L. Nyberg, M. Ruta
9    Good Morning 8:38
Written-By – A. Freed, N. H. Brown
Credits :
Producer, Vocals, Arranged By – Lina Nyberg
Backing Vocals – Torbjörn Zetterberg (tracks: 1, 4)
Electric Bass – Torbjörn Zetterberg
Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes], Electronics [Live Electronics] – Mathias Landæus
Pandeiro, Drums, Percussion – Sebastian Notini

CARO EMERALD — The Shocking Miss Emerald (2013) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Building on the success of her first album Scenes from the cutting room floor Caro has added to her superb ability to come up with sublimely different sounds from the normal pop genres yet has more infectious and catchy sounds than almost any artist around today. Using her love of fashion and delving into 1940's sounds she has come up with a brilliant album. Robin Lethbridge
Tracklist :
1. Emerald: Intro (0:40)
2. One Day (4:33)
3. Coming Back As A Man (3:35)
4. Tangled Up (3:16)
5. Completely (2:30)
6. Black Valentine (5:04)
7. Pack Up The Louie (3:34)
8. I Belong To You (3:28 )
9. The Maestro (without Karl Lagerfeld) (2:31)
10. Liquid Lunch (4:00)
11. Excuse My French (3:53)
12. Paris (4:48 )
13. My 2 Cents (3:46)
14. The Wonderful In You (3:10)

MADELEINE PEYROUX — Careless Love (2004) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Madeleine Peyroux took eight long years to follow up her acclaimed 1996 debut, Dreamland. While her website claims non-chalantly that she "took a breather," it still amounts to a courageous act. Careless Love was produced by Larry Klein who hired some heavy hitters for these sessions; they include Larry Goldings, Scott Amendola, David Piltch, and Dean Parks.

Even on first listen, Careless Love appears more focused than its predecessor. Klein's sense of restraint seeks subtler adventures in presenting Peyroux's voice and remarkable phrasing. The material is a curious collection of modern pop songs, country tunes, old nuggets, and the original, "Don't Wait Too Long," co-written with Klein and Jesse Harris. Peyroux's opening read of Leonard Cohen's "Dance Me to the End of Love" is radical, it's still presented as a cabaret song, but deliberately lacks the drama of the original; instead, her tender annunciation draws closer attention to the powerful emotion in its lyric.

Bob Dylan's "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" portrays the song's object as physically and emotionally present, to the delighted protagonist who knows sadness is approaching. Parks' guitar playing is sparse but physical; Amendola's brushwork complements Jay Bellerose's spare cymbal and tom-tom work, and Goldings' grooving organ and piano. The hinge track is Peyroux's version of Elliiot Smith's "Between The Bars" introduced by taut sonic ambience whispering in the backdrop, as Goldings' celeste underscores the atmospherics with a haunted groove. Amendola's brushes whisper and shimmer, allowing the singer to explore the lyric's devastatingly melancholic depths. The skeletal, ghostly treatment given Hank Williams' "Weary Blues" floats free of its country trappings. The band surround Peyroux's voice with uptown blues. Likewise, the title track, a standard composed by W.C. Handy, weds the sensual swing of Saturday R&B to Sunday morning gospel sway. Driven by B-3 organ and Rhodes piano, Parks adds dirty, spidery guitar, allowing Peyroux to seemingly swim inside the lyric, as it slowly and sensuously drips from her mouth. In choosing Klein for Careless Love -- one of the most empathetic producers of female vocalists -- Peyroux understood what was at stake in returning after such a long break. In the interim she's become a more confident, chancy, and commanding singer. She gets inside lyrics fully; she embraces her accompaniment as an aid in their expression rather than as merely a support vehicle. Balance that with the choice of material, and this set easily avoids the "sophomore jinx," and rises head and shoulders above the accomplishment presented on her debut. Thom Jurek
Tracklist :
1    Dance Me To The End Of Love 3:57
Written-By – Leonard Cohen
2    Don't Wait Too Long 3:11
Written-By – Jesse Harris, Larry Klein, Madeleine Peyroux
3    Don't Cry Baby 3:18
Written-By – J. Johnson, S. Bernie, S. Unger
4    You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go 3:27
Written-By – Bob Dylan
5    Between The Bars 3:44
Written-By – Steven Paul Smith
6    No More 3:33
Trumpet – Lee Thornburg
Written-By – Bob Russell, Salvador Camarata
7    Lonesome Road 3:11
Written-By – Gene Austin, Nathaniel Shilkret
8    J'ai Deux Amours 2:56
Lyrics By – Géorges Koger, Henri Varna
Music By – Vincent Scotto
9    Weary Blues 3:40
Written-By – Hank Williams
10    I'll Look Around 4:48
Percussion [Brushes] – Scott Amendola
Written-By – Douglas Cross, George Cory
11    Careless Love 3:51
Written-By – Martha Koenig, Spencer Williams, William C. Handy
12    This Is Heaven To Me 3:12
Performer [Excerpts] – Nino Rota
Trumpet – Lee Thornburg
Written-By – Ernest Schweikert, Frank Reardon
Written-By [Contains Excerpts From The Composition And Sound Recording "o Venezia Venaga Venusia"] – Nino Rota
Credits :
Madeleine Peyroux - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Dean Parks - Guitars
Larry Goldings - Piano, Wurlitzer Piano, Estey Organ, Hammond Organ, Celeste
David Piltch - Bass
Jay Bellerose - Drums, Percussion
Lee Thornburg - Trumpet (#6,12)
Scott Amendola - Brushes (#10)

AVA LOGAN — So Many Stars (2008) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

 

 New CDs by female jazz vocalists seem to outnumber every other category, so writers can be forgiven for becoming a little jaded in an era when everyone seems to be sending one as a business card. But Ava Logan, a Chicago-based veterinarian by day and jazz singer/actress by night, proves herself a captivating singer with her debut recording after years of performing in public. With a supportive group including ex-Joe Williams sideman Henry Johnson on guitar, pianist Larry Novak, bassist Larry Gray, and drummer Leon Joyce, the expressive alto mixes gems from the Great American Songbook, Brazilian music, and jazz favorites. Logan's expressive opener is "Day In, Day Out," no doubt helped by her seasoning as an actress. She skips lightly over the rhythm section with a brief, effective take of "The Song Is You." Logan's sense of drama is pronounced in the infrequently heard "Wild Is the Wind," backed by Johnson's soft guitar. Her sensual treatments of "So Many Stars" and the bossa nova arrangement of "Detour Ahead" also merit praise. Logan shares the vocal spotlight with Johnson in a touching take of "Day Dream," while she leaves listeners smiling (and wanting more) with her upbeat closer, Peggy Lee's "I Love Being Here with You." Ken Dryden
Tracklist :
1. Day in, Day Out (Bloom-Mercer) - 3:00
2. Too Close for Comfort (Bock-Holofcener-Weiss) - 3:42
3. So Many Stars (Bergman-Bergman-Mendes) - 4:03
4. The Song Is You (Hammerstein-Kern) - 2:15
5. Wild Is the Wind (Tiomkin-Washington) - 6:52
6. The Grass Is Greener (Anthony-Mann) - 2:32
7. Detour Ahead (Carter-Ellis-Frigo) - 5:27
8. Day Dream (Ellington-Latouche-Strayhorn) - 5:41
9. The Best Thing for You (Berlin) - 2:24
10. At Last (Gordon-Warren) - 5:22
11. I Love Being Here with You (Lee-Schluger) - 3:47
Credits :
Ava Logan - Vocals
Henry Johnson - Guitar, Vocal
Larry Novak - Piano
Larry Gray - Acoustic Bass
Leon Joyce - Drums, Percussion