Bill Cunliffe - Live at Bernie's Super-Audio CD

Live at Bernie's album for sale Madeleine Peyroux's unique blend of jazz and pop was first unveiled on 1996's DREAMLAND, where she sounded like a postmodern heir to the smoky-voiced tradition that ran down from Billie Holiday through the likes of Karen Dalton and Judy Roderick. Though Peyroux made a splash with her debut, she quickly dropped out of the music scene, not to appear again until eight years later with the long-overdue follow-up, CARELESS LOVE. Here, Peyroux tackles material from a variety of sources; some songs were written expressly for her by such contemporary songsmiths as Jesse Harris (who penned Norah Jones's breakthrough hit, "Don't Know ...

Live at Bernie's buy CD music Eliane Elias' second record for Bluebird is, like the previous Kissed by Nature, a vocal date intended for crossover audiences. Elias connects with her Brazilian pop heritage by choosing to sing, early on, a pair of Astrud Gilberto pieces, "Call Me" and "So Nice (Summer Samba)," both of which fortuitously suit the short range of her voice. Still, she speaks far more with a half-minute of piano soloing than she does with several minutes of vocal interpretation, and sounds far more comfortable taking an extra verse of the latter in Portuguese. Unlike the Gilberto tracks, Elias succeeds on two Antonio Carlos Jobim compositions, "Photograph" and the title song, her voice ironically betraying ...

Live at Bernie's CD music Gary Burton has assembled his "dream band" for LIKE MINDS. With his former protege Pat Metheny, duet partner Chick Corea, favorite drummer Roy Haynes and legendary bassist Dave Holland, Burton has formed an ensemble of staggering proportions. Giants all, this is more than a collection of "all-stars;" it is a cohesive entity. The music is performed as if by one mind and soul with five equal divisions. The recorded results are stupendous to say the least. Original compositions by Metheny and Corea abound, as do two from Burton himself. Metheny's "Question and Answer" gets the proceedings off to a nice start as the rich sonorities provide an elegant backdrop to some fine soloing. ...

Live at Bernie's songs Bassist Buster Williams and his quartet perform six of his originals plus two standards on Griot Libertè. Williams' songs range from the modal "Nomads" and the medium-tempo blues "Related to One" (which includes some complex transitions) to the lyrical ballad "The Triumphant Dance of the Butterfly" and the swinging "Joined at the Hip," which has George Colligan's best solo of the set. Williams takes plenty of solos but is also generous in featuring vibraphonist Stefon Harris and pianist Colligan with drummer Lenny White being stimulating in support. There are times (particularly during "Related to One") when the group sounds a bit like the Modern Jazz Quartet, but other selections find the musicians ...

Live at Bernie's CD music It seems incredible that Roberta Gambarini didn't win the Thelonious Monk Jazz Vocal Competition but she was new to the U.S., having just arrived from her native Italy. But with each new release, she has demonstrated that she is easily the most accomplished vocalist of the competitors for the prize. Pianist Hank Jones, who knows a thing or two about great singers, refers to her as the "greatest vocalist to come along in the past 60 years." On 2009's SO IN LOVE, with a rhythm section rotating among three talented up-and-coming pianists (Tamir Hendeman, Eric Gunnison, and Gerald Clayton), Gambarini works her magic with familiar standards and a few unexpected choices. She ...

Live at Bernie's buy CD music Eden Atwood exhibits a confidence that few jazz vocalists of her generation seem to have in standards. While others seem to be opting for lightweight rock hits from the 1970s and 1980s, Atwood is able to find new approaches to old chestnuts that seem to be overlooked in the early 21st century. She shines in pianist Bill Cunliffe's loping arrangement of "Without a Song." Atwood restores the frequently omitted verse to "This Is Always," then steps back to feature Tom Harrell's brilliant, fragile trumpet, while conveying the lyrics with a sincerity that few singers seem able to convey. "Blame It on My Youth" is a powerful performance. She sings the verse unaccompanied, with bassist ...