The Whole Music Experience

Harmonia Mundi/Jazz Village Bringing Back to the Classics: A Conversation with Catherine Russell The first time I heard Catherine Russell sing was when her 2010 Jazz Village CD, Inside This Heart of Mine arrived at my mailbox.   The songs, all thoughtfully chosen blues and jazz classics, delighted me and had my feet tapping while I reviewed the recording.   November hit the spot with its warm acoustic guitar, accordion, violin, and Russell’s soulful alto vocals wrapping around each word, like a winter scarf.   The send-ups All Cats Join In , We The People and Just Because You Can also had staying power. On the follow-up album, Strictly Romancin’ , again Russell treated her happy listeners to toe-tapping classics Wake Up and Live and Satchel Mouth Baby as well as, bluesy ballads Under the Spell of the Blues and Don’t Leave Me.   She sang romantic ballads too such as I’m in the Mood for Love.   Bring it Back , Russell’s la...

Classical / Jazz   Harmonia Ensemble Piotr Tchaikovsky/Duke Ellington Nutcracker Suites Harmonia Mundi No one was thinking of swinging to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker in 1892 when the Russian composer wrote the incidental music for ballet. Yet, when you listen to the Overture , we hear hints of jazz, even if this seems preposterous or impossible.   And when Harmonia Ensemble performs the March , again, we hear the delights of jazz.   Is this a coincidence? Perhaps, since Harmonia Ensemble performs back-to-back Tchaikovsky’s late romantic era ballet along with Swing Master Duke Ellington’s 1960 Harlem ballet version.   So if you’re wondering if much was lost in the translation, let’s just say a lot more layers were added. While this is a fabulous concept, I feel that the ensemble rushes through the classical version, which is probably why I’m thinking “swing” while I try to catch my breath.   Oh, the performance is still majestic and nostalgic,...

Jazz   Ahmad Jamal Saturday Morning   Jazz Village/Harmonia Mundi I enjoyed jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal’s 2012 New York Sessions, Blue Moon recording so when I saw that Jamal had another release coming up, Saturday Morning , I had to hear it.   Aptly titled, the French studio sessions feel like a warm and comfortable Saturday morning, with the dawn just breaking on the horizon.   Think of this CD as a musical cup of coffee without the side effects.   Even the titular track grabs attention with its ostinato and continuous theme played on the piano and surrounded by percussion with plenty of cymbal.   Listeners receive a double dose of this track since a reprise concludes the recording. The music sounds tight here played like a standard jazz trio of piano, double bass (Reginald Veal) and drums (Herlin Riley) but with extra percussion (Manolo Badrena) that provides the Latin groove.   Edith’s Cake features lyrical piano again surrou...

Jazz Virginie Teychené Bright and Sweet Jazz Village Jazz and women musicians launched 2013 and already two weeks into the New Year, and I’ve featured several women jazz musicians.   French jazz chanteuse Virginie Teychené arrived in my life like a sweet fragrance.   The name of her latest album, Bright and Sweet tells just as much about the vocalist’s character as it does the sweet, sad, and rousing repertoire she performs.   It has taken me longer to review this recording since I wanted to learn more about Teychené and also the collection of songs chosen for this project. A self-taught vocalist, Teychené impresses me with her vocal style range and her natural instincts as she makes her way around songs by Peggy Lee, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Abbey Lincoln, Billie Holiday, Michel Legrand/Jacques Demy, and other jazz greats from both sides of the Atlantic.   The French vocalist shapes the songs and makes them her own leading listene...