Tune In Friday - Jazz and Country

Kelly and I have been following this group on a TV contest... the "Sing Off". Their origins are simple; they're at Howard University in DC, they're all music majors, and their class decided to form an a capella group. Named "Afro Blue" after the great John Coltrane quartet....they've had to sing in all kinds of styles, probably not showcasing their strength....jazz....very much. Sadly, they didn't make the finals. But enjoy their "country" rendition of "I Need You Now", and their excellent take on Marvin Gaye.

Tune In Friday - Javier Colon

This guy is the winner of the competition, "The Voice" -- a show that convinced me to NOT watch American Idol again. Both of these songs he covers are special favorites of mine - the voice is exclusively his. Smile.

Tune In Friday - Classic Beatles and modern takes

A couple of acts I've been following musically lately are Sara Bareilles and Florence and the Machine.

Really love both their versions ... (and so different) of the old Beatles hit, "Oh! Darling". I went on a hunt for the Beatles doing this song in concert, and was surprised not to find any footage. Usually, if you can't find the Beatles doing a song live, you can find a later version of McCartney doing it solo. Not in this case. But, for contrast, here's the original version cut with a great selection of Beatles photos. Abbey Road was my second favorite Beatles album, after "White".

The YouTube versions for Florence can't be embedded, and give her audio version with just a still. But her version is so damn bluesy and special, I included a link.

Lastly, this was my favorite performance from "Across the Universe" with Dana Fuchs and Martin Luther McCoy.

Enjoy.

Bareilles:



The incomparable Florence (Welch, with the Machine):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn3L6lQF7YI

Across the Universe:




And, the original... fabulous:

Tune In Friday - The Great Smokey

I was fortunate to have tickets to Tuesday's concert in Lakeland with the great Smokey Robinson. Granted, not many of the crowd were below 40, but we were all highly enthusiastic! At 71 (yes, 71) Smokey embodies the title of his last CD, "Time Flies When You're Having Fun"....he wasn't afraid to wear a red suit. Smokey's had a little too much facial plastic surgery for my taste, but his voice hasn't aged a bit! He did a mix of all the Miracles hits, songs from his 3 decades of solo CD's, some hits by other artists... "At Last"...and my favorite of the evening, "Don't Know Why" by Norah Jones. I featured it in an earlier post, here:

http://livingimperfectly.blogspot.com/2010/05/tune-in-friday-some-new-and-some-old.html

Naturally, his closer was "Tracks of My Tears" and, like all the oldies, he had a lot of audience participation. An intrepid concertgoer already posted this... it's far from the stage, but you can get an idea of how tuned in the audience was:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mM78Or59Rk

I feature his a cappella version of this tune with the group NOTA, for your listening pleasure!

Tune In Friday - A Cappella

One of the brighter spots of the holiday period for me was watching the second season of a feel good contest for A Cappella groups, known as the "Sing Off". I didn't find this video until after Christmas, but it features ... well perhaps the only real Mariah Carey song I loved. And, it's done by last year's show winners, Nota.

Nota won the competition just before Christmas in 2009. Since then, they've released an album. When the show came on this year, I checked it out and downloaded it. The great thing about today's a capella groups is how they've expanded to insure the group SOUNDS like it includes instruments, using vocal techniques such as the beatbox. This group is from Puerto Rico, and used some songs from the show, a new song written for them, and some covers of standards in English, mixed with songs in Spanish for their following in their hometown. It's a great blend, and I even love the song "Solo Sin Ti", better than all the rest on the download...although I haven't got a handle on the English translation of the song yet.

The quality of the video... "All I Want for Christmas Is You"... is awesome. They use some film ing tricks to feature everyone in the group, and you really get to "see" the instrumental part of the song, all done by vocals. Enjoy! I'm reviewing the CD for Amazon this weekend, and will provide a link to the review when its finished.

Happy New Year! As we start 2011, I will start with my 400th post!

quid





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s1-N-_i-nA&feature=related

Tune In Friday....The World Series Does Odd Things To Me

You know, there are a lot of great baseball movies. Somehow, at this time of year, when the series is on, I always dig out my favorite... "A League of Their Own". Oddly, the memorable song from the movie "This Used To Be My Playground" was never marketed by Madonna showing clips from the film, and the film's trailer didn't use it at all. Madonna's official video (I'm not a particular fan) is really beautiful and touching. Very restrained. Also very narcissistic.
I prefer the song in combination with the movie.

I watched it tonight and loved it all over again. For those of you who want to reminisce... here's a clever remix, where the video author captured the last moments of the movie, which shows scenes in retrospect, mixed with this lovely song. And here's a link to Madonna's official video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6Ia2Hd_IvM&feature=related

Tune In Friday.... A Classic

This always makes me cry.

Tune in Friday.... on Saturday

Yesterday was a long day.... starting at the hospital at 5:30, then working a full day after my shift ended at 8 a.m. (YAY!!!!) Fell asleep early. Here is the post I planned; I love this group and I especially love this beautiful song from their 2009 CD:





Love

(I Say It’s Love) ~ Sugarland

Is it the face of a child
Is it the thrill of danger
Is it the kindness we see in the eyes of a stranger
Is it more than faith
Is it more than hope
Is it waiting for us at the end of our rope

I say it's love
I say it's love

Is it the one you call home
Is it the Holy Land
Is it standing right here holding your hand
Is it just like the movies
Is it rice and white lace
Is it the feeling I get when I wake to your face

I say it's love
I say it's love

Is it the first summer storm
Is it the colors of fall
Is it having so little
And yet having it all
Is it one in a millionIs it a chance to belong
Is it standing right here singing this song

I say it's love
I say it's love
I say it's love
I say it's love
I say it's love
I say it's love
I say it's love
I say it's love

Is it a veil or a cross
Is it the poet's gift
Is it the face that has launched over thousands of ships

Is it making you laugh
Is it letting you cry
Is it where we believe that we go when we die
Is it how you were made
Is it your mother's ghost
Is it the wish that I'm wishing for your life, for your life, for your life the most

Tune In Friday..... Been Blue

There is no one to share the blues with like Keb' Mo. Inordinately popular in Europe, he has been little known here. I've seen Keb a couple of times at the Tampa Theater, and just missed him this spring in Minnesota. For a great assortment of Keb's blues, here you go:












Keb recorded in 2009, after a long absence, and is currently touring. Let's hope he comes to Florida. My favorite song lyrics from Keb are below:

Keb' Mo' - Victims Of Comfort lyrics LyricsMode.com



Try and ignore the misspelling of the word connoisseur on that crazy site. :) I promise to try and come out of this funk in the next couple of weeks..... enjoy the blues in the meantime.

Making a Comeback

I hope to make my blogging comeback in July. June has been a hard and harsh month, and I'm looking forward to some renewal and some time back for me. A first stop was Sarah McLachlan's new CD... "Laws of Illusion". Here's a masterful cut from that for

TUNE IN FRIDAY

FORGIVENESS

~by Sarah McLachlan

Loving lying enemy

I have seen your face before

Never thought again I’d see

Didn’t want to anymore

I remember your loving eyes

And the moonlit kiss

The evening lullabies I will truly miss

Through the years we had it all

Midnight whispers, the midday calls

This house of cards, it had to fall

And you ask for forgiveness

You’re asking too much

I have sheltered my heart in a place you can’t touch

Don’t believe when you tell me your love is real

Because you don’t know much about heaven boy

If you have to hurt to feel

Every time I see you

I can’t help but look away

All along I had believed everything you’d say

When I look now I know I’ve seen your face before

Don’t want your deceiving smile

Standing at my door

And I don’t care what people say

I’m ready now to face this day

And you ask for forgiveness

You’re asking too much

I have sheltered my heart in a place you can’t touch

Don’t believe when you tell me your love is real

Because you don’t know much about heaven boy

If you have to hurt to feel

Because you don’t know much about heaven boy

if you have to hurt

And you ask for forgiveness

You’re asking too much

I have sheltered my heart in a place you can’t touch

Don’t believe when you tell me your love is real

Because you don’t know much about heaven boy

If you have to hurt to feel

Tune In Friday.... Some Eagles

Enjoy my favorite tune of all time from the Eagles (its the perfect harmonies....)

New Kid In Town -- old song, more recent version from the band's live tour.

Tune-In Friday. Some new and some old

A Jazz Classic…. By the great Smokey Robinson

Smokey is best known for Motown songs and working with the Miracles, but what a job he can do on a real jazz offering. Contemporary Smokey:



And a great clip from the ancient show “Shindig”… the Miracles really got a hold on the dance steps, singing "You Really Got A Hold On Me" This one fades to a great clip of Marvin singing "How Sweet It Is".. in case you didn’t have enough of ‘80’s Marvin that I've posted before. It is terrific that some of this film still exists; the editor had a little problem with the clip, since the Shindig announcer introduces the Miracles singing "Shop Around". Oops.

Tune in Friday...... late but great

Hmmm... this didn't post on time, but here you go, from the truly great John Hiatt.....

Tune-In Friday - Eva

Relatives have had old tapes pieced and remastered, allowing us to have many CD's of the late Eva Cassidy, taken from this life before most of us knew what a jewel we once had among us.


The newest of these is "Somewhere"... here's a gem from that; "Chain of Fools".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh2ScYKiLn0

Unfortunately, the world's been deprived of seeing Eva make music. Very little film exists of her singing and playing guitar. Her session "Live at Blues Alley" is a fine CD, and provides us with at least a little of Eva, from 1996, shortly before her death ... in the flesh. This is the best of that film. Enjoy.

You might as well enjoy him, too....

Listening to the blues... an artist who focuses on the lyrics. My favorite combination. He's had 2 CD's since his first, self-titled, but I don't think he's ever done better than this song. I give you,
Amos Lee:






And my review, this time on Epinions. Check it out:


http://www0.epinions.com/content_197524164228