| | Leigh Harris House Of Secrets CD Leigh Harris Discography of CDs
On House of Secrets, New Orleans native Leigh Harris brilliantly explores her hometown's love of melodic song and dramatic presentation, turning what might otherwise be a folk-oriented set of emotion-laden originals and cleverly chosen covers into a lights-down-low, saloon singer's delight. A prime example is her take on "Backstreet Girl" from the Rolling Stones' songbook, opening with only vocal and piano as the arrangement adds layers selectively, first form a pair of accordions, then a vocal chorus, finally building to a peak of full-bodied intensity briefly, before letting it all wash away. The effect is haunting, reminiscent of a French cabaret singer. Blessed with a powerful voice capable of evoking strong emotions even at its quietest, Harris caresses each literate, languid selection with an impressive range of supple vocal chops, from intimate whispers to plaintive bright shouts, while co-producer Mark Bingham, a key institution on the equally thoughtful Yockamo All-Stars project, concentrates on selective effects that emphasize the variety of distinctive voices available in contemporary New Orleans, from the rocketing eruptions of the Wild Magnolias June Yamagichi to the balladic embellishments of Gen-X trumpter Jeremy Davenport. The repetoire includes a trio of declarations of longing written by Harris ("Telephone Sleeping in my Bed", "Crazy Mirrors", "Midnight Star"), a pair of compositions exploring absence("Like a Ghost", "Incommunicado") by longtime collaborator John Magnie,and two selections from other writers ("paint This Town", "Evening in Paradise")that color the overriding sense of longing with unmistakable melancholy. Adding unconventional cover choices (including The Beach Boys "Caroline No" and the Kinks' "Oklahoma USA")provides a wistful, ironic counterbalance of humor, while a Hammond B3-saturated composition by Doc Pomus, "Devil Jumped a Rabbit" early in the program and a final, undocumented track,"Working on a Building",complete with wailing gospel choir, help to connect the whole to the Southern tradition of blues and spirituals....Harris has re-invented herself and the American singer-songwriter tradition by incorporating a completely natural, European sensibility. Casting herself in the surprising, and wholly satisfying, role of a Delta version of Edith Piaf, Harris offers us one of the year's most inventive tributes to the power of song and a new appreciation for the richness of New Orleans' musical legacy.-- Offbeat Magazine House Of Secrets Music | Category | Jazz Albums | | Label | Deeva | | Orig Year | 1999 | | CD Universe Part number | 7174325 | | Discs | 1 | | Release Date | Sep 09, 2004 | | Studio/Live | Studio | | Mono/Stereo | Stereo | | Recording Time | 48 minutes |
Leigh Harris House Of Secrets Songs | 1. | Like a Ghost |
| 2. | Incommunicado |
| 3. | Paint This Town |
| 4. | Devil Jumped a Rabbit |
| 5. | Backstreet Girl |
| 6. | Telephone Sleeping in My Bed |
| 7. | Evening in Paradise |
| 8. | Caroline No |
| 9. | Crazy Mirrors |
| 10. | Oklahoma U.S.A. |
| 11. | Midnight Star |
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House Of Secrets Review
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Purchase House Of Secrets CD To buy, Click on price to add to cart | Diana Krall Quiet Nights CD (2009)
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Diana Krall's first studio outing since she and husband Elvis Costello became the proud parents of twin boys, 2009's QUIET NIGHTS finds the jazz singer/pianist turning in a serene and pleasantly subdued set. Krall breezes through a few bossa nova standards, most ...
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| | Herb Alpert Whipped Cream & Other Delights CD (1965) Bonus Tracks
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How a good-looking Jewish boy from Brooklyn discovered the secret of success in an updated form of mariachi music is perhaps beyond our scope. Then again, it might not be such a mystery after all. Aside from the obvious example of exotica, much easy listening depends upon more than a touch of ethnicity to maintain its musical roots. What Herb Alpert found in Mexican street bands was a previously untapped source of south-of-the-border melody and rhythm. With its unlikely combination of Alpert's cool Chet Baker-like trumpet and the blocky cadences of a marching band, the Tijuana Brass produced a lively, colorful mix that managed to appeal to hips and squares alike.
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A TRIBUTE TO JACK JOHNSON was originally conceived as the soundtrack for a documentary on the life of the first African American heavyweight boxing champion, but the album stands on its own as one of the most brilliant, compelling fusion recordings ever made. This is due in large part to the increasing influence of rock and funk on Miles's aesthetic, to the superb ...
| | Dave Camp Torrid Rain CD (1996)
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Dave Camp's splashy, picture perfect debut Torrid Rain is one of those ultra smooth sax albums that you try your darndest to resist even as it sucks you in by your lapels and gets your brain humming from the first listen. Logic says it's too infectious, too melodically simple and not adventurous enough (despite some cool atmospheric percussion effects) to be any sort of jazz, even if it's contemporary. And yet, those mouthwatering melodies, combined with a spirited mix of wild tenor funk and skydiving soprano, makes this an affair to remember. The hook about these great hooks is that Camp didn't just pop onto the scene out of ...
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Recording information: 2004.
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Charity Bigaruka comes from Uganda, East Africa, a country curiously called the 'Pearl of Africa' by Winston Churchill. Her ...
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