The Now Spinning/Recent Purchases Thread

This one is rather nice. I've only started dabbling in Mehldau's recordings (I previously posted his new album Finding Gabriel here). This is a trio recording, kind of laid back with his Trio.

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"I saw you last night and got that.....oooold feeeeelin'..."

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Another great Tormé/Paich album, from 1958. There's an epic 8 minute version of "Blues in the Night" on this one.
 
I've been digging deeper into my computer playlist and Lately i've been all over the place musically with the shuffle mode everything from A&M Artists To the Beatles to Jazz and Rock a little bit of everything even a few classical goodies among the classical I've been listening to James Levine's version of "Rhapsody in Blue" and Guitarist Christopher Parkening playing Bach just to name a few I heard somewhere Parkening studied under Andres Segovia ( The True classical guitar master of all in my opinion) there is just something about the classical guitar music that I always find enjoyable
 
My latest obsession has been the 70's albums of Renaissance, pigeonholed as prog-rock, but really a wonderful blend of classical and rock. Their stuff has always been able to generate goosebumps. Lead singer Annie Haslam has an incredible vocal range that just floats majestically atop the virtuoso piano work and the driving bass line.

They're from the UK, but had their greatest popularity in the I-95 corridor from Washington, DC, through Philadelphia, and on to New York. This is their signature song, an over-11-minute opus called "Ashes Are Burning". Take some time out of your day and give this a listen.

 
My latest obsession has been the 70's albums of Renaissance, pigeonholed as prog-rock, but really a wonderful blend of classical and rock. Their stuff has always been able to generate goosebumps. Lead singer Annie Haslam has an incredible vocal range that just floats majestically atop the virtuoso piano work and the driving bass line.

They're from the UK, but had their greatest popularity in the I-95 corridor from Washington, DC, through Philadelphia, and on to New York. This is their signature song, an over-11-minute opus called "Ashes Are Burning". Take some time out of your day and give this a listen.


Wow this is Beautiful I'll have to check out more of their music Thanks for sharing Harry.
 
My latest obsession has been the 70's albums of Renaissance, pigeonholed as prog-rock, but really a wonderful blend of classical and rock.
I'll have to look 'em up--I'm betting Qobuz probably has their albums available. :thumbsup:
 
Cinco No. 2 showed up today. It's the second 180g remastered 5-LP set of ZZ Top's albums (basically, LPs 6 through 10). So it contains Deguello, El Loco, Eliminator, Afterburner and Recycler. I only had a chance to spin a couple of favorites from Eliminator but it sounded as good as I remember it on my original vinyl copy.

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The kicker here--there was a deep discount on this set, only $33.48 plus tax (and free shipping) from GetImportCD on eBay. No idea why/how they are selling it so cheap, but since I wanted a couple of these anyway, it's a no-brainer. Cinco No. 1 unfortunately is past any similar discount (they had a sale on that set a while ago).

So this week is going to be featuring some southern-fried boogie. 😁
 
Wow this is Beautiful I'll have to check out more of their music Thanks for sharing Harry.
I'll have to look 'em up--I'm betting Qobuz probably has their albums available. :thumbsup:

Of course, Renaissance has a bit of an A&M connection as after their 70s core period, they signed with I.R.S. here in the States, producing two albums, CAMERA, CAMERA and TIME LINE. By the time they were at I.R.S., they'd eschewed the orchestral majesty of their 70s days and started using synths, sounding a lot more 80s. They also ditched the long, epic recordings trying to find perhaps some shorter, more radio-friendly records.

Their core albums are:

PROLOGUE
ASHES ARE BURNING
TURN OF THE CARDS
SCHEHERAZADE & OTHER STORIES (this one had an SACD Hybrid from Audio Fidelity!)
NOVELLA
A SONG FOR ALL SEASONS
AZURE D'OR

Prior to their core albums, the band had a different line-up and sound. That group did two albums, RENAISSANCE and ILLUSION.
 
I have a Facebook Page where we are trying to get Ms Davis inducted into the Country Music Hall Of Fame... I have voted on getting The Carpenters inducted into The Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame, I mean when they first came out, they were referred to as Rock artists...I mean if they can put rap artists in there, why not our duo?
Skeeter Davis is in the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame. Inducted in 2013. I happened to be at the ceremony since I knew some of the other inductees. Here’s a link to her page there.


http://www.kentuckymusichalloffame.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/2013_skeeter_davis.pdf
 
Debussy morning here:

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Disc 7 (of 10), plus I added one track from a Philips LP that had "Jeux," so these comprise all of the Debussy works that Haitink conducted. Total playlist:
  • Prélude a l'Apres-midi d'un Faune
  • Nocturnes for Orchestra
  • La Mer
  • Rhapsodie pour orchestre et clarinette principale
  • Danses pour Harpe et Orchestre a Cordes
  • Jeux
 
I'm not a "modern country" fan by any means, so something that expands upon the boundaries of popular music is something I'm always attracted to. I've been a fan of retro-country/swing act BR5-49 for many years. I raved about the Xmas album by The Mavericks late last year, and finally had time to give a couple of their albums a spin on Qobuz. This one is spinning at the moment:

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This tune leads off this album, and definitely has that 50s country/pop vibe to it:



The final track on the album is a cover of the Sinatras' "Something Stupid" with Trisha Yearwood.

Lead singer and songwriter Raul Malo is of Cuban descent, so various elements of his music with The Mavericks and on his numerous solo albums combine and alternate rock, country, vintage pop, rockabilly, Tejano, salsa, Cubano, jazz, and even a couple of solo albums of pop standards. One of those albums, After Hours, recasts classic country tunes as standards by Buck Owens, Hank Williams, Eddy Arnold, etc. to masterful effect, highlighting the great songwriting. Good stuff!
 
File this under "Pandora's costing me more money." :laugh:

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If you've ever enjoyed those 70s and 80s albums on Fantasy's Milestone label, or Concord's Picante sub-label, this is right up your alley. Percussionist Luisito Quintero serves up a varied program with Afro-Cuban, Brazilian (samba) and even African tunes and rhythms, with a dose of jazz fusion holding it all together. I realize it seems counter-intuitive, but often, albums by Latin percussionists are some of the best out there (Poncho Sanchez, Tito Puente, Ray Barretto, Mongo Santamaria, and many others), as they surround themselves with top notch musicians and ace composers and arrangers. This one is no exception. Well worth a listen!

Amazon product ASIN B01K8R1AVC
 
This has a modern-day Brazilian vibe to it--one could almost hear Sergio Mendes doing something similar.



And here is the Puente cover, "Son Montuno:"

 
Classic Tito Puenté:

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"Ritual Drum Dance" playing presently. 😁 This very much a percussion-oriented album.

 
Listening to Michael McDonald "Wide Open" which came out in September of 2017. The CD runs 71 minutes long with 12 songs. The song "Hail Mary" (which is 6:51 minutes long) is a duet with his wife Amy Holland (of "How Do I Survive" from 1980 one hit wonder). Matt Clark Sanford, MI
 
After a break of several weeks of album listening, I've tripped upon a few new things to spin.

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The new Miles Davis Rubberband revives an album that was shelved in 1985, when he had ditched Columbia for Warner Brothers. Tutu was ultimate his Warner debut in 1986, but this one sat until it was revived and reworked by Davis's nephew Vince Wilburn, Jr., and co-producers Randy Hall and Attala Zane Giles. I could see why Warner shelved the sessions--it is not so much a contemporary jazz recording as it is deeply rooted in funk and soul. I'm a few tracks into it and it's a kick for what it is. "Give It Up" is where you can hear some of the trumpet parts used on the track "High Speed Chase" from Doo-Bop. Miles is present on both open and muted trumpet. The one downfall is that the mastering has smashed the dynamics. (I may see if the vinyl is any better, although it is probably cut from the same high-res files I'm listening to at the moment.)

Next up:

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Brand New Day is the most recent non-holiday/non-live release by The Mavericks, one of my recent discoveries. I've found the music to be a fluid blend of many different styles--while there is a little country twang every now and then, leader Raul Malo is of Cuban descent, and shades of Cuban music and Tejano find their way into the tunes. This release is no different--a cornucopia of styles, and Malo's smooth crooning on top of it.



I've also still been spinning one of the earlier Mavericks recordings, Music for All Occasions.

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Next, my "70s soul" station on Pandora has been fine tuned to where I have it mostly playing the Philly styled soul/R&B of the 1970s, and I didn't have a proper compilation by The Stylistics. This two-disc import, The Ultimate Collection, covers all of the important hits, and also throws in the Bacharach/David "You'll Never Get To Heaven"...

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A few of my favorites are "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)," "People Make The World Go 'Round" (which Alpert/Masekela covered on Main Event Live), and "Break Up to Make Up." The production is top notch, something I like about all the Philly bands of that era--lush and tastefully orchestrated, inspired songwriting, it's all good.



Finally, for some reason, I've been reliving this classic favorite:

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ZZ Top's Eliminator was one of those post-high school albums I played to death. 🥴 Thing is, I have to stick to my new vinyl copy (which is one of the five LPs in the box set Cinco No. 2) or the original CD, since the high-res version replaces the original version of "Legs" with the terrible remix/edit that seems to have shown up everywhere. Thankfully the LP box set has all the original records, so nothing is altered. "Every girl's crazy 'bout a..."

 
Listening to the late Cars lead singer Ric Ocasek's "Troublizing" (from 1997 on Columbia) which was produced by Billy Corgan, lead singer of The Smashing Pumpkins!! The album did NOT charted on Billboard's Top 200 Album Charts. All Music website says it is Ric's best album of all his solo releases!! Matt Clark Sanford, MI
 
When I finally got the project car finished up and running, I was resetting the head unit and trying to remember how to advance through the albums on the USB flash drive. After advancing through a few, I came across a favorite that I hadn't played in a while.

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Can't say I'm a huge Van Morrison fan, but this easygoing album goes down so nicely at the end of the day.
 
Sort-of similar to something that happened to me last evening. I was going through some music and stumbled upon an album by Astrud Gilberto called I HAVEN'T GOT ANYTHING BETTER TO DO. This was one that our @Mr Bill tipped us off to when he was in Japan. I've obtained both the old Verve LP and a Japanese CD of it, but haven't played it in a few years.

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It starts out with a slow ballad, the title track, and from what I've learned, it's sort of the runt of the litter when it comes to Ms. Gilberto's albums, but what struck Mr. Bill - and me - is the way Herb Alpert's WARM album mirrors this one.

Tracks in common are "The Sea Is My Soil" and "Without Him (Her)". She also does "Wailing Of The Willow" which Herb placed on his LOST TREASURES album.

Anyway, it was a pleasant listen, and it seemed to finish before I even realized it had completed. Like they say, "Time flies..."
 
Sort-of similar to something that happened to me last evening. I was going through some music and stumbled upon an album by Astrud Gilberto called I HAVEN'T GOT ANYTHING BETTER TO DO.
I kind of discovered that one earlier this year myself, back when I was shuffling through some of Astrud's albums. It is kind of the runt of the litter--can't say it'd be in regular rotation here. :wink: But it's good for a few tracks to add to an Astrud playlist.
 
When I finally got the project car finished up and running, I was resetting the head unit and trying to remember how to advance through the albums on the USB flash drive. After advancing through a few, I came across a favorite that I hadn't played in a while.

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Can't say I'm a huge Van Morrison fan, but this easygoing album goes down so nicely at the end of the day.

Listening to this album this week also. As they say great minds think alike. :D
 
Amazing what you can do with one chord, ain't it?
Indeed, and a lot of it is due to the arrangement. I regret not hearing of this band until just last year. (I'd seen the name but hadn't paid attention.) Their music just seems to get better the longer they've been together. And not many bands can pull off an accordion this easily either! :laugh:

They are on their 30th anniversary tour this year. Closest shows to me are in Indiana (at a casino northwest of Indy) and Milwaukee. But the dates won't work out for me, unfortunately.
 
A couple of cool Buicks in the video also. I saw a '58 (?) early on, and a '60 convertible (probably a LeSabre).

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