#Ballads for Bass Clarinet

[beyourselfchulanmaria]

(chu-lan-maria)  🎶  playlist ||一根菸的時間 Time for a cigarette 

"……美要被感知，需要最低限度的沉默……美早已消失。 它已經消失在噪音的表面之下——文字的噪音、汽車的噪音、音樂的噪音——我們一直生活在其中。 ......只剩下這個詞，其含義年復一年地變得越來越難以理解。

…e la bellezza, per essere percepita, ha bisogno di un minimo grado di silenzio…la bellezza è ormai da tempo scomparsa. È scomparsa sotto la superficie del rumore- il rumore delle parole, il rumore delle automobili, il rumore della musica – in cui viviamo costantemente. …Ne è rimasta solo la parola, il cui senso è di anno in anno meno comprensibile."

- Milan Kundera, Il libro del riso e dell’oblio 米蘭昆德拉《笑忘書》-

(PS. I don't own any music and songs right, I just make the playlist for listening easily and enjoy all musicians your works and love to share it only. all copyright belongs to musician & singer. If you want me do delete yours from the playlist, please tell me then I will do it. Blessings! Thanks! Lan~*)

photo : Kristen Stewart 克莉絲汀·史都華 

[hooked-on-elvis]

"I Met Her Today" (1961-1965)

Recorded on October 15, 1961 at RCA’s Studio B, Nashville · Release date: July 19, 1965 · Album: Elvis for Everyone! (compilation)

MUSICIANS Guitar: Jerry Kennedy, Scotty Moore. Bass: Bob Moore. Drums: Buddy Harman, D.J. Fontana. Piano & Organ: Floyd Cramer. Saxophone & Clarinet: Boots Randolph. Accordion: Gordon Stoker. Vocals: Millie Kirkham, The Jordanaires.

Illustrative pictures · (1) On Sunday afternoon, July 30, 1961, Elvis appeared at Weeki Wachee Springs Park in Florida, on the west coast where he was then filming "Follow That Dream"; (2) Elvis on movie set Frankie and Johnny June 10, 1965.

RECORDING SESSION · BACKSTORY Soundtrack Recordings for Mirisch Company’s "Follow That Dream" July 2, 1961: RCA’s Studio B, Nashville One thing seemed certain to the Colonel: It made sense to go into the studio for another singles-only session. The June 25 session proved that Elvis and his band could focus their attention better when they were all trying to cut a hit single; increasingly, too, scheduling was becoming a problem, and between the two Mirisch pictures there would only be time to arrange a short session. Once Freddy [Bienstock] understood the Colonel’s goal, he knew exactly where to turn for hit material — to his hot new team, Pomus and Shuman. Having gotten three cuts on the last session was more than enough motivation to propel the songwriters into action. Mort Shuman had a simple formula for writing hits — “Chorus, break, and gimmick” — and the two had noticed that Elvis was drawn to first-person songs; in no time, then, they came up with a stranger’s tale, a gimmick, and a Phil Spector – produced demo. The song, “Night Rider,” was just the kind of rocker Freddy was looking for, and he sent it off to Elvis along with two Tepper and Bennett compositions, “Just For Old Time Sake” and “For The Millionth And The Last Time,” as well as two others (“Ecstasy” and “You Never Talked to Me”) and the promise of “a couple of real strong songs in the next few days.”

RECORDING OF "I MET HER TODAY" Studio Sessions for RCA October 15, 1961: RCA’s Studio B, Nashville The “real strong songs” Freddy had mentioned in his note were two brand-new Don Robertson ballads. Elvis’s careful phrasing suggests that he’d done serious preparation on the first, “Anything That’s Part Of You,” but that didn’t stop him from working hard on it, running through six takes as Floyd Cramer worked to duplicate the slip-note fills Robertson had played on the demo. Years later Elvis would tell audiences that “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” was “probably the saddest song I’ve ever heard,” but he never portrayed abandonment more convincingly than on this cut. Among Elvis’s recorded ballads perhaps the only competition comes from some of the other Robertson songs recorded in 1961 and ’62. The second of his contributions, “I Met Her Today,” told a more hopeful story, but it proved harder to get right. After a promising first take Elvis paused to correct some problems with the song’s challenging octave-and-a half leaps, but as soon as he’d mastered that, band mistakes began to multiply. After twenty takes the group’s concentration had worn thin, and they agreed to stop, leaving take eighteen as the master. But the recording lay unused for four years until RCA resurrected it for Elvis For Everyone.

Excerpts: "Elvis Presley, A Life in Music: The Complete Recording Sessions" by Ernst Jorgensen. Foreword by Peter Guralnick (1998)

LYRICS Don Robertson/Hal Blair I told you that some day If you kept on being untrue Somebody else would come along And release me from you You'll be glad to know now Your fickle world Can have its own way For it finally happened I've met her today I used to think I just couldn't live A day without you In spite of the thousand doubts and tears That you put me through All at once I don't care as much for you I'm sorry to say For now there's another I met her today How I treasured each smile, each kiss You gave to me now and then Well, you needn't be kind to me now Oh no, not ever again Just when the last bit of pride in me was gone Someone heard me pray And sent me my angel I met her today I met her today

[dustedmagazine]

Under the Radar: Jim Marks' Year-end List for 2023

Samuel Leipold, Jürg Bucher, Lucca Lo Bianco

The stream of great new music is constant and impossible to keep up with. Inevitably, some of it goes largely unnoticed. My year-end list consists of releases that I really enjoyed but didn’t get around to writing about and haven’t seen reviewed elsewhere in English. They are presented in no particular order.

Samuel Leipold, Jürg Bucher, Lucca Lo Bianco — Ostro (Ezz-thetics)

This trio of clarinet, double bass, and guitar delivers atmospheric free jazz. Experimental without being confrontational (included is a choice Jimmy Giuffre cover), Ostro offers a rarely heard sound palette and consistently interesting arrangements.

Luis Ribeiro — A Inven​ç​ã​o da Fic​ç​ã​o (Porta Jazz)

The Porta Jazz label out of Portugal released fewer records than usual this year, perhaps a lagging effect of Covid. One standout is the debut by guitarist and composer Ribeiro, who leads a sextet with tenor and baritone saxophones in the front line. Love the eerie vocalization on the opening track. Space age and swinging.

Adrián Royo Trío — Pangea (Errabal Jazz)

This Spanish release initially caught my eye in the La Habitacion de Jazz blog because of the involvement of double bassist Manel Fortià. Strong original melodies and tight interplay make for a standout piano trio recording in a great year for piano trios.

Javier Burin — Escenarios (Los Años Luz Discos)

Another excellent but low-profile piano trio release this year. The assuredness and inventiveness of Argentinian Burin’s playing are the more remarkable given that he is only in his early twenties; check out especially the unlikely cover of “Tenor Madness.”

Marcus Eads — Pride of Ostego (self-released)

This Minnesotan has been putting out gentle Takoma-style guitar music for more than a decade. Strongly rooted in the rural midwestern landscape, his playing and homespun compositions call to mind back porches, canoe trips, and sitting by the fireside.

Scott Tuma — Nobody’s Music (Haha)

I was thrilled to stumble across this unheralded release recently by the Souled American alumnus and one of the architects of slowcore. Apparently first appearing last year on cassette, Nobody’s Music, coming six years after No Greener Grass, delivers more ambling and spindly acoustic guitar lines that seem to drip out of the instrument with the occasional accompaniment of what sounds like harmonica or accordion. Enchanting as always.

Mohamed Masmoudi — Villes Éternelles (Centre des Musiciens du Monde)

Canadian oud master Masmoudi creates a compelling blend of Arabic music and jazz in a percussion-less quartet also featuring clarinet, piano, and double bass. With top-notch musicianship and catchy tunes, the group shows how good world music fusion can sound.

Jorge Abadias — Camins (Underpool)

The Underpool label documents the lively Barcelona jazz scene. Its 2023 releases include this quartet date led by guitarist Abadias. His original post-bop (in the broad sense) compositions tend toward slower tempos, and fine soloing abounds.

Jakob Dreyer — Songs, Hymns, and Ballads Vol. 2 (self-released)

Another solid post-bop quartet recording featuring original compositions. Three U.S. musicians fill out German double bassist Dreyer’s quartet, and this second volume nicely complements Vol. 1 released last year.

Various Artists — You Better Mind: Southeastern Songs to Stop Cop City (self-released)

This project, spearheaded by the Magic Tuber String Band (who also released the outstanding Tarantism in 2023), brings together a broad swath of musicians, including Joseph Allred, Shane Parish, Sally Anne Morgan, Nathan Bowles, the Tubers themselves, and some I was unfamiliar with. The music tends toward the rustic; much of it is excellent, and the cause is as noble as they come.

Jim Marks

[hwajongteez]

Golden hour pt 1 - First listen

Thus follows my first thoughts as I listened to the album.... They are incoherent and perhaps inaccurate. I will be listening again and maybe doing a more in-depth thoughts because AH - Shaboom????? I must dissect. Anyway - comeback slayed. These are only my opinions they are not me saying anything is bad, just my thoughts because if I do not put them somewhere - I will explode. With that in mind ENJOY!

Golden Hour

I love an Intro song

go acapella - we winding up for

oh we are reflective, reflections on life, dreams and hopes.

Oh there is something underneath this

cherishing the small moments with friends and family, sweet

Blind

Oh this is a shaking ass song, drunk as all hell, drinks in the air, sun is shining. I love a group chanting moment

KIM HONGJOONG I like your magic words

the percussion in this song can get it

For a song so sonically empty it sure fills me with the urge to get up and dance

The bouncing bass is bringing me joy, its like a ping pong ball

THE BRASS

A Moment of silence before the build, I love it omg. I need a drink in my hand and the beach.

I'll come dance with you bb - I've got decent rhythm and no limb awareness

OH THE PERCUSSION AND SAX. Get it trumpet.

Oh they know how to end a song

Work

nice CLARINET BOYS

another song I must shake ass and drink alcohol to

that ping pong bass is back

so far all the songs defo have the same style inspo. I love some layers in the chorus.

Latin inspo for sure

liking the amount of silence they are using in these songs so far, its a nice break in comparison to what they have been putting out

such a playful instrumental.

JONGHO VOCAL

that clarinet theme has evolved very nice.

sudden ending bb

Empty Box

More of a ballad vibe?

indeed it is

husky vocals, smooth and sultry (a little sad)

Love a moment for the vocals to shine, shows the range in Ateez.

VOCALS - they are so gentle and careful. stunning

Not necessarily as much my style of song but its well put together, excellently sung.

rap time - very triplet and offbeat rap want to listen to more to understand

VOCALS - IS THAT HONGJOONG?

nice ending - its a very smooth song, that seems fun to sing

Shaboom

KNOCK KNOCK HELLO

OH LOVE THE OPENING

more reggaeton vibes

I once again need to be at the beach with a drink in my hand - this time not shaking ass

Oh a little teaser of shaking ass???

OH WE MIGHT BE SHAKING ASS

THIS WAS UNEXPECTED - i love it - I would indeed be shaking ass

I love me a switch up - how did they do this?

RETURN TO REGGAETON style like we didn't just break it down

SHABOOOOOOOOM

What we howling for boys?

I need to listen to this again and get how they went from chill to SHABOOOOOOm

this song lives up to its name

You teased me with that drop you whore

What is happening

What is going on with this song

Immediately going to relisten

Siren

HELLO INSTRUMENTS

I need a moment

what

call back to WORK????? in the instruments

HARMONIES ARE FUNKY, JAZZY HELLO

where are we going

we going down

down

we breaking it down

SHAKING ASS

an intense verse two with mingi - SIGN ME UP - killed it bb

This pre-chorus is so funky - what is that in the background, we go up and down and then we BOOGIE

I feel drunk

How are we ending this album boys

WITH A KETTLE???? Cup of tea anyone?

A big old shout yes yes please

Wow. What an album. Time to listen about ten more times

[juliansiegel]

JULIAN SIEGEL QUARTET UK/IRELAND TOUR SPRING 2024

Julian Siegel tenor and soprano sax, bass clarinet Liam Noble piano Oli Hayhurst double bass Gene Calderazzo drums

CLICK BELOW FOR TICKET LINKS

SATURDAY APRIL 27th MAGYS FARM, DROMARA, N.IRL

SUNDAY APRIL 28th WESTPORT JAZZ, CLEW BAY HOTEL, Co MAYO, IRL

MONDAY APRIL 29th CRANE LANE THEATRE, CORK, Co CORK, IRL

WEDNESDAY MAY 1st CAMDEN STUDIOS, 'SPEAKEASY SESSIONS', DUBLIN, IRL

THURSDAY MAY 2nd CITY OF DERRY JAZZ AND BIG BAND FESTIVAL, BENNIGANS, DERRY, Co. LONDONDERRY, N.IRL

FRIDAY MAY 3rd UNESCO & CV JAZZ WORLD JAZZ CELEBRATION 2024 SpArC THEATRE, BISHOP'S CASTLE, SHROPSHIRE, ENG

FRIDAY MAY 17th RONNIE SCOTTS JAZZ CLUB, SOHO, LONDON, ENG

FRIDAY JUNE 7th VERDICT JAZZ CLUB, BRIGHTON, ENG

With the Julian Siegel Quartet, the BBC Jazz Award winning saxophonist and composer Julian Siegel can be heard alongside some of this generation’s most distinctive voices, creating an in-demand Quartet on the UK and European Jazz scene. The band features inspirational pianist Liam Noble, his fluid touch and dazzling imagination perfectly complementing Siegel’s music and playing, and providing a perfect foil for the many directions the music can turn. With the creative spark of dynamic drummer Gene Calderazzo and the deep groove of bassist Oli Hayhurst dove-tailing perfectly with Siegel and Noble this is unquestionably one of the UK’s most exciting and powerful quartets. Following up from their London Jazz Award winning album Urban Theme Park (Basho Music), 2018 saw the release of VISTA, the second album of the Julian Siegel Quartet and the first on the Whirlwind Recordings label. The album features ten of Julian’s compositions plus an arrangement of Bud Powell's ‘Un Poco Loco’. This acoustic set of music moves freely through varied sound worlds and colours, from undercurrents of bop to searching ballads and joyful melodies. The bands UK/Ireland Tour Spring 2024 will feature music from the bands albums plus new music written especially for the band's upcoming tour.

“Expressive direct music…. tightly wound post-bop, pensive improv. and more.” John Fordham, The Guardian ★ ★ ★ ★ Jazz Album of the Month, February 2018

“A great quartet with an enthralling agility.” ★ ★ ★ ★ In Music

”Exciting, dynamic music with improvisation at its centre.”- London Jazz News

[theloniousbach]

LIVESTREAM and ALMOST: TODD MARCUS/VIRGINIA MacDONALD with Bruce Barth, Blake Meister, and Eric Kennedy, SMALL’S JAZZ CLUB, 23 JULY 2024, 7:30 and (partial) 9 pm sets

What a find!

Billed as a two clarinet front line with Bruce Barth (sold!), I was ready to watch the later set during the day (and I did). But I came in the middle of the early set in real time just to get a feel for the set and I stayed. TODD MARCUS, it turns out, plays bass clarinet and, remarkably, is an Egyptian American. I came in the middle of the first movement of his Suite Something which was dedicated to the 2011 uprising that was central to that Arab Spring. Clarinets of course suit such music, so I was hooked.

MARCUS is from Baltimore and seems to play regularly with Blake Meister and Eric Kennedy, so they are a solid, tried and true rhythm section. Kennedy can be too exuberant but he has a rich and bright style. Barth is always good to see and he provided a steadiness and heft. VIRGINIA MacDONALD is a more recent collaborator and she really is the co-leader contributing tunes (and organizational chops for this bands recent tour of Canada, where she’s from, and the Northeast) and her own approach to the clarinet. Another thoroughly modern player on the instrument to join Anat Cohen and Ben Goldberg, she wasn’t always as woody as them, sidling up to soprano sax territory while not crossing the line. She was fluid and inventive and wove around Marcus as he wove around her. Her contrafact on George Shearing’s Conception, Retrogression, made that complex tune even trickier and Up High, Down Low was a catchy closer to the second set.

Marcus had another Middle Eastern tune, Cairo Street Ride, that seemed to be the gem of the first set. But, damn, if the following ballad had a commanding quiet with Barth playing an important role. That was probably MacDonald’s; the closer, Windmills, was Marcus’ and it was both easy and pensive.

These folks create compelling music in those paradoxes. I hope to see more of them.

[allthemusic]

Week ending: 19th January

Oooh, I have a good feeling about this one! I say that sometimes and then regret it, but I know two of these songs, and the other is by an artist I also know I like. So I feel pretty confident this week.

Sixteen Tons - Tennessee Ernie Ford (peaked at Number 1)

Cards on the table: I really love this song. It's catchy, it's cool and it's good fun to sing along to. Plus, Tennessee Ernie Ford has a cool name, and looks like the most 1950s man ever to 1950s. What's not to like?

We start with clarinet, shortly followed by Ernie's voice, descending double bass and some finger clicks. It's such an undeniably cool vibe, a sort of country-jazz fusion that just works, helped along handily by Ernie's performance, which knows exactly when to grandstand and exactly when to play it cool. The result is a song that slinks along for the most part, all deep and growly and dangerous, in a way that highlights the lyrics perfectly.

And what awesome lyrics! The song was originally written by folk singer Merle Travis, back in 1946, and it's about a coal miner trapped working in a company time, and for all the music's slinking elegance, there's a real biting anger to the lyrics, talking about how a poor man's got A mind that's a-weak and a back that's strong, or bemoaning how You load sixteen tons, what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt. And then the best image of the whole thing, as Ernie sings St. Peter, don't you call me, 'cause I can't go! / I owe my soul to the company store.

It's a real image of poverty and drudgery, and more that, it's also some sort of origin story, with Ernie as a grizzled anti-hero (or villain?) We start with how he was born one morning' when the sun didn't shine, and then how it was drizzlin' rain / Fightin' and trouble are my middle name. And all this leads to the warning If you see me comin', better step aside / A lotta men didn't, a lotta men died / One first of iron, the other of steel / If the right one don't get you / Then the left one will.

Connecting the two, you get the sense that Ernie's anger at only being valued for his muscle - and barely valued, at that - has soured into a sort of violent anger, and a determination to use that muscle to get what he can from life. It's honestly a fascinating character study, and the way that Ernie's delivery highlights the sort of "caged tiger" danger of him is just marvellous, as is the line at the end when he really hammers the I ooooooooooowe my soul line, in a sort of anguished wail. Brilliant stuff.

Some questions about the line about how Can't no high-toned woman make me walk the line. Google tells me "high-toned" just means refined or having high principles? So it does give off slightly skeevy misogynistic vibes, but in a way that absolutely fits with the character Ernie's sketched out, all resentment and bottled-up anger. And I absolutely love the smug little laugh he's so clearly suppressing on that line. It adds such an interesting facet to the character, and it's just a little different to everything else in the song.

Man, this is so much darker and bleaker than most stuff you're seeing in the charts at the moment. Compare it to Alma Cogan last week - no competition which one I prefer!

The Ballad of Davy Crockett - Bill Hayes (2)

Another very American song, and it's a folksy one as well, but still couldn't be more different to Ernie's bleak anger. This song is pure optimistic Americana, taken from the titles of the 1954 Disney Davy Crockett miniseries, which got reskinned in 1955 into a film. Which begs the question, why's it only charting now in 1956? The answer there is apparently a big UK marketing push in late 1955.

So yes. Davy Crockett. A real figure who grew up in East Tennessee and was known as a frontiersman and hunter, then joined a militia, was elected to Congress in 1827, opposed the Indian Removal Act, returned to Texas and was killed at the Battle of the Alamo. I'm sure this is not news to Americans, but for Brits, this is not history we're really taught, so I've no idea how prominent a cultural figure Davy Crockett was, before the Disney series.

Thankfully, the song re-tells most of the story for you, starting with how Davy was Born on a mountain top in Tennessee, following him as he killed him a bear when he was only three, and then Fought single-handed through the Injun War / Till the Creeks was whipped an' peace was in store. It then hits up a chorus that I'd bet most folks can sing along to as it goes Davyyyyyyyy, Davyyyyyyyyy Crockett, king of the wild frontier! As a ballad, it returns to this regularly enough that it's bound to get into your head, before cutting back to Davy's life, as he loses his love, then went off the Congress an' served a spell / Fixin' up the Govern'ment an' laws as well / Took over Washington, so we heared tell / An' patched up the crack in the Liberty Bell, before returning home to fing that he big western march had just begun, and so he sets off to help, with the song slowing down to conclude that His land is biggest an' his land is best / From grassy plains to the mountain crest / He's ahead of us all, meetin' the test / And followin' his legend into the West. And that's it, that's the song (phew!)

It goes without saying that this is kind of monstrous, right? I mean, we've got a kind of "tall tales" folk tradition, and the classic tradition of the "honest man drains the political swamp" kind of story that ultimately gave us Trump, all of it married to just straight-up racism and "manifest destiny" narratives about the USA's western expansion. And then you're doing it up in a cute faux-folksy style, attaching it to a Dinsey film and marketing it to kids worldwide. And it hardly takes much of a leap to attach this to mid-century political ideas about American exceptionalism and the USA's place in the world. We're mid Cold War, so of course this is the kind of stuff America is putting out - doesn't mean I have to love it.

Honestly, I didn't expect to get this angry about what's ostensibly a kid's song that is kind of goofy and catchy, and honestly, pretty fun. I think it's the juxtaposition of this with Sixteen Tons, which uses the same Tennessee folk tradition to deliver a bleak, brutal takedown of capitalism and its effect on the "humble country folks" of rural America. Whereas this Disney-backed song is, not to put too fine a point on it, a win both for American capitalism and cultural imperialism. Ick.

Love and Marriage - Frank Sinatra (3)

Will this song also give me something scathing to say about the state of 1950s America? Will I be able to constrast it productively with the other two songs we've heard? Will it present us with a third option? On the surface, it doesn't seem likely. But that's not necessarily a bad thing - I kind of needed a break, to be honest!

We start with a jazzy musical theatre intro, which sets the tone for the whole thing, which I don't think would be out of place at all in a musical, with Frank playing a character who's for whatever reason obsessed with the institution of marriage, singing about how love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage, and about how you can't have one without the other. And look, I know that the 1950s were a different era, but I still think this was probably tongue in cheek? There's no way there's not a serious helping of irony here, right?

A bit of research tells me that I'm correct - it's from Our Town, a TV episode of a musical anthology series that's an adaptation of a play, also called Our Town, which actually sounds great. It's a bit meta - it's apparently set in a theatre, with the main character (played by Frank) being a quippy theatre director who talks the audience through life in a fictional small New Hampshire town as two other characters fall in love and get married. By the look of things, it's a classic "small town life isn't as perfect as it seems" type thing. It's nostalgic about it, but also gently critical, as far as I can tell - so maybe we've got some more veiled criticism of 1950s' America, except instead of looking at rural life, we're setting our sights squarely on the small-town middle class. Hence references to marriage as an institute you can't disparage, or encouragements to Ask the local gentry. Marriage, as an instution, is deeply part of this rather conservative, parochial town, for better or for worse, and Frank's character is just pointing this out.

It's a pleasant listen, with this context, but I do wonder what UK listeners were getting out of this. They almost certainly didn't have access to the US TV episode it spun off of, so I presume it was just a nice song about marriage, for UK listeners? It's fine, but very short, and honestly, Frank has better songs out there.

Well, that was a trilogy of songs that all took a very different approach to showing something of the quintessential American experience. And then there's the irony of this being the UK charts - a sign of the stranglehold that American culture had in the middle of the 20th century? Either way, it's fortuitous and kind of fun that they all hit the charts in the same week - gave me an excuse for the sort of interpretive leap that I love to make but rarely get given the opportunity for :)

Favourite song of the bunch: Sixteen Tons

[vitaminwaterreviews]

IU - Love Poem

I don’t really know what to put here. Song average of 8.3, but this is so much better than that. Let’s say 9.0. Do yourself a favor and listen to it.

The only song that I know from this is Blueming, which Sakura posted on her Instagram story a while ago.

unlucky

This sounds kind of like the first song on Palette

Have I ever mentioned how much I love IU’s voice?

Haha the cute little pops

Yes, I do hear the instrumentation, I hear the clarinet and the saxophone

Cute chorus

Suddenly we’re quiet for a moment, and then we’re back

7/10, very pleasant, barely not an 8

The visitor

Just guitar and vocals so far

Oh, we’re jazzy, are we?

It is interesting how she’s maintained the jazz influence ever since Modern Times. Once bubblegum, always bubblegum; once jazz, always jazz

8/10, barely not a 7

Blueming

OH MY GOD I just realized

“Blueming” in Korean is probably 피어나는 which is romanized as pieonaneun lmao so that’s why Sakura had it on her story

That’s cute

Anyway, I don’t think I’ve seen the MV before so let’s see what we can see

Oh nvm I’ve totally seen this before

God that house is just So bright, i really appreciate that

Her hair is blue, that’s cute

Sakura had blue hair around the time she recommended this song

Hmmmm

It sounds kind of Lilac actually, now that I think about it

8/10 is about right. I like the song, but it doesn’t do anything Special to really earn that 9 for me

above the time

Woah okay, we’re all quiet and contemplative

Piano and strings

Here are the vocals, wow her voice is so Airy

The horns though, this is magical

And now we have drums and a really curious bass sound

I’m curious where this goes

Haha okay, it goes this way

Almost … country?

Nah, it’s like Disney-esque

9/10

Lullaby

This is, in fact, a lullaby

Except it’s a lullaby sung by Literally IU lol

God can you imagine? Her children are gonna be the Luckiest little babies

8/10, it won me over

Love Poem

Oh interesting, no MV?

I’ll listen to the song first, then read the lyrics

Very much a ballad, piano and vocals

A bit more reverb than she usually uses

A bit of guitar sneaking in here, I hear you

Oh okay, now we’ve got drums and a more prominent guitar

Goosebumps when the male vocals come in

Oh my god

10/10

[the-hindu-times]

Shrek The Musical - New Victoria Theatre, Woking - 31/10/23

On Halloween, with Christmas fast approaching, Shrek opened like a pantomime would but as the production proceeded, it actually lacked the full festive fun you’d expect.

Although the show didn’t quite measure up, the supposedly small Lord Farquaad ironically did; as the actor playing the role is no longer on his knees, to fit in with the musical’s well mannered moral. James Gillan possibly was the shortest person on stage but wasn’t noticeably enough for the one reference joke to work. Despite wishing these two elements were switched around, he was fantastic; simultaneously rescuing and stealing the show in the second half.

In fact, the shortfall was in the substance, which meant that the panto-style simplistic set felt more substandard than chic. Having seen many phenomenal productions over the past few months at the New Vic, it’s no wonder it felt dulled down.

Cherece Richards had her fan club with her in the audience as she transitioned from the smaller Rhoda McGaw Theatre (on opposite side of the room to the rear stalls entrance) to the main stage, to take on the role as the dragon. Antony Lawrence did an adequate job as Shrek, as he returned to the area he trained in acting, whilst Strictly Come Dancing’s Joanne Clifton (Princess Fiona) left the top twirling to the talented tribe of fairytale misfits.

With the orchestra pit consisting of drums, double bass, ukulele, trumpet, flugel, clarinet, sax, acoustic and electric guitars, the mediocre melodies in Himelstein/Darnwell’s boring ballads made these forgettable songs a chore to sit through until the “Shrektacular” finale we were promised; with an all dancing singalong for ‘I’m A Believer’. Written by Neil Diamond, and released by the Monkees in 1967, it proved that the old ideas are still the best; there was nothing for the children to really relish, let alone get involved with, up until this end point. When you think that such a simple showbiz idea, such as the 1899 folk song ‘Bobbing Up And Down Like This’, has worked so well at these young family affairs for years, it’s surprising that something as straightforward, yet excitingly enjoyable for the kids as being able to bob and down in their own theatre seats, wasn’t used here.

Shrek continues in Woking until Saturday, before heading to Eastbourne, Cardiff, York, Blackpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Coventry, Sunderland, Liverpool, Southampton, Milton Keynes, Hull, Cheltenham, Nottingham, Norwich, Belfast, Birmingham, Derry and Northampton, whist the New Voctoria Theatre prepare for The Magic of Motown, Frankie Boyle, Judi Love, BBC Rado 2 Sounds of the 80s, Fairytale of New York, Fastlove - A Tribute to George Michael, Cirque - The Greatest Show, The Drifters Girl and Pretty Woman all in this month of November.

Nic Bennett

[krispyweiss]

Album Review: Walter Hyatt - Must I Fall

Walter Hyatt is in Frank Sinatra mode on Must I Fall, a new album of previously unreleased material that comes 27 years after the Uncle Walt’s Band leader was killed in a plane crash and as he and his group are finally getting some of the recognition that eluded them in Hyatt’s lifetime.

After all, any composer who comes up with such lines as, My discontent burns brighter than the sun at noon (“Dark Side of the Moon”) merits music lovers’ attention.

The album swings best when Hyatt lends his smooth tenor to the jazz numbers that are the title track, “Old Number One” and “Rain Likely.”

It’s so hard to love and be wise, Hyatt sings on the latter, displaying the songwriting chops that made fans of Lyle Lovett, Shawn Colvin and Allison Moorer, as his band lays down a background of brushed drums, double bass, acoustic piano, electric guitar and clarinet.

He does it again on “Life in the City,” a lovely ballad that paints a vivid picture of a date going off the rails in a European city - Venice, perhaps - with the sound of a street accordionist as Hyatt croons:

She’s already been through all he has to offer enough times before/so she winds up calling a taxi and walking herself to the door

Though he was mostly a bluegrass and country guy, Hyatt knew a strong melody when he heard it and nicked a bit of Todd Rundgren’s “It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference” for “Snowing Me Under.” It stands as a teaser for where Hyatt might have taken his music if he’d had the chance.

Which is the case for all of Must I Fall’s eight cuts. A bit disjointed, it’s as strong as an album of such vintage cutting and pasting can be and - most importantly - should serve as a springboard back to Hyatt and UWB’s modest but under-recognized back catalog.

Grade card: Walter Hyatt - Must I Fall - B-

3/9/23

[hardcorefornerds]

Pierre de Manchichourt [1510-1564], Messe de requiem: Introït, performed by La Tempête and Simon-Pierre Bestion - Hypnos (Alpha Classics, 2022)

Heard on Radio: La Baroque from France Musique

If there is a concept of the ‘aural sublime’*, I think this is it - layers of sound sliding over each other, voices and (I think?) horns (their site lists ‘Instrumentalists: 1 cornet, 1 bass clarinet’) but always with the sense that what you’re hearing right now is exactly what you should be hearing...

* reader: yes there is: “Offering readings of canonical texts by Longinus, Dryden, Burke, Klopstock, Herder, Coleridge, De Quincey, and others alongside lesser-known figures, she shows how the literary sublime was inextricable from musical culture, from folksongs and ballads to psalmody, polychoral sacred music, and opera.”

[faebriel]

niki writing and playing a lovesick ballad for puffy on the acoustic guitar: cute

niki writing and playing a lovesick ballad for puffy on a bass clarinet: hilarious

rainduo band au

see this gives us the opportunity to choose character instruments: do we go for the cc options (guitar, bass, vocals) or do we assign on Vibes. i don't know what's more fun, giving them a little indie band played out of someone's garage that gets chewed up and spat out so bad that everyone hates each other afterwards or just straight up making them a marching band

[hooked-on-elvis]

"Heart of Rome" (1970/1971)

Written by Geoff Stephens, Alan Blaikley and Ken Howard, recorded by Elvis Presley on June 6, 1970 at the RCA’s Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee, "Heart of Rome" was released on the album "Love Letters from Elvis" on June 16, 1971.

MUSICIANS FOR THE TRACK Guitar: James Burton, Chip Young, Elvis Presley. Bass: Norbert Putnam. Drums: Jerry Carrigan. Piano: David Briggs. Organ & Harmonica: Charlie McCoy. OVERDUBS, Guitar: James Burton. Organ: David Briggs. Percussion: Jerry Carrigan. Percussion & Vibes: Farrell Morris. Steel Guitar: Weldon Myrick. Trumpet: Charlie McCoy, George Tidwell, Don Sheffield, Glenn Baxter. Saxophone: Wayne Butler, Norman Ray. Flute, Saxophone & Clarinet: Skip Lane. Trombone: Gene Mullins. Flute & Trombone: William Puett. Vocals: Elvis Presley, Mary Holladay, Mary (Jeannie) Green, Dolores Edgin, Ginger Holladay, Millie Kirkham, June Page, Temple Riser, Sonja Montgomery, Joe Babcock, The Jordanaires, The Imperials.

THE RECORDING SESSION

Studio Sessions for RCA on June 6, 1970: RCA’s Studio B, Nashville The last entry of the evening, “Heart Of Rome,” was an up-tempo dramatic ballad in the operatic vein of “It’s Now Or Never” or “Surrender”; it may have had a little more irony going for it than the earlier cuts, but by the end it had Elvis straining for the high notes — and the band struggling to keep awake. Excerpt: "Elvis Presley: A Life in Music" by Ernst Jorgensen. Foreword by Peter Guralnick (1998)

The song was recorded on the same day as the hits "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" and "Just Pretend", as well as "I Didn't Make It On Playing Guitar", "It Ain't No Big Thing ( But It's Growing)", "This is Our Dance" and "Life".

It was past midnight when they were working on "Heart of Rome", the last song recorded that night. Elvis, the recording team and musicians spent about ten hours working at the RCA's studio during the Nashville sessions from June 4 to 8, 1970, reporting each evening at 6pm and working until the wee hours, wrapping up the sessions around 4:30 am. Elvis and his band recorded 35 masters over the five-days 1970 recording sessions in Nashville.

June 1970, at RCA's Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee.

Top (left to right) David Briggs (piano), Norbert Putnam (bass), Elvis (vocals and guitar), Al Pachucki (engineer), Jerry Carrigan (drums/percussion); bottom Felton Jarvis (producer), Chip Young (guitar), Charlie McCoy (organ & harmonica/trumpet), James Burton (guitar).

ADDITIONAL INFO

Elvis on June 4, 1970 in Nashville, stepping out of a car at RCA's studio B parking lot on his way to the studio's back entrance. Photography source: elvis-collectors.com.

During that first recording session in Nashville in June 1970, Elvis would record the songs "Twenty Days And Twenty Nights", "I've Lost You", "I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago", "Little Cabin On The Hill", "The Fool", "The Sound Of Your Cry", "A Hundred Years From Now" and "Cindy, Cindy".

[dustedmagazine]

Wayfaring — Intermezzo (Allos Documents)

Intermezzo is the second album by Wayfaring, a boundary-crossing jazz duo that originally formed in Chicago. The combo emulates the city’s best traditions by simultaneously showing their roots and not sounding much like any other band from Chicago, or anywhere else for that matter. It comprises James Falzone on clarinet, penny whistles and shruti box, and Katie Ernst on double bass and voice. While they were born in different decades, there are strong parallels in their aesthetic and professional pursuits. Both are educators, each has robust experience leading church ensembles, and they are both inclined to combine jazz with elements of classical and folk music. Additionally, they both students of poetry, from which they derive an attunement to spare, concentrated gestures. Since first convening in 2015, Ernst and Falzone have nurtured a partnership that’s survived both the latter’s departure for Seattle, where he is the academic dean at Cornish College of the Arts, and the pandemic.

The titular term, which is also the name of one of Ernst’s compositions, refers to a smaller piece of music situated between larger, related movements. Maybe it’s a humble acknowledgement Wayfaring’s place in each musician’s busy schedule? Or, since intermezzi often perform a connective function, perhaps it’s a way of noting how Wayfaring binds disparate elements into a cohesive musical whole. Falzone and Ernst can cover a lot of ground within a single tune. The inaugural strum of Ernst’s bass on the opening tune, “Bounce,” hints at the blues. But the ensuing string and clarinet figures dip and dart in close formation with chamber elegance and lived-in sense of swing.

The album doesn’t stay in one place emotionally, either. With its jaunty melody and springy rhythm, Jimmy Giuffre’s “Gotta Dance” fully lives up to its name. But “Flow My Tears,” a lament of Elizabethan vintage, plumbs a desolate vein of grief. And Falzone and Ernst know how to extract maximum impact from a good murder ballad; their performance of “Who Put The Blood” imparts a gravity that does full justice to the lyric’s exacting analysis of the web of pain, loss and disruption that can radiate from one violent act. And scattered throughout the record are brief, numbered pieces entitled “Tanka” after the Japanese poetic form, that manifest the compositional minds that guide Wayfaring’s improvisations.

Bill Meyer

[idowhatihate]

New album 'Songs from a Wall' now available for free on Bandcamp.

http://ardentepatience.bandcamp.com/album/songs-from-a-wall

This song is a duet of bowed guitar and bass clarinet welcoming PJ & MJ to this lovely planet.

[andrevasims]

Did you know that the Sims Makin’ Magic soundtrack was comprised entirely of songs licensed from the music libraries of APM & CPM Music?

This song isn’t in Makin’ Magic, but it may as well have been because Pierre-André Athané and his album Ciné Souvenirs, released in July 2000, make up half of the entire Makin’ Magic soundtrack.

Here they are in his album’s order:

• Rue en Pente (Build Mode 9)

• Marche des Étoiles (Build Mode 4)

• Via Napoli (Build Mode 5)

• Pas Vu Pas Pris (Magic Town theme)

• Hôtel des Bains (Build Mode 6)

• L'Autre Bal (Build Mode 7)

• Par La Forêt; Clarinet, Accordion, Double Bass Version (Build Mode 8)

• Marilu (Magic Town theme renamed "Foggy Shores")

• Sur Les Quais (Magic Town theme renamed "Magic Town")

--- Other Makin’ Magic song sources: ---------------------------

1989 Barrel Organ/Squeezebox by Brian Peters

• Flowers of the Thorn (Buy Mode 2)

• Cafe de Montmartre (Buy Mode 3)

1999 Pataphonic Dancing Circus ft. Xavier Demerliac

• Valsomatic (Build Mode 3)

1995 The Ethnic Sampler 3 (😬) ft. Daniel Jeannin

• La Ballade de Montmartre (Credits Theme)

2002 I Love Paris ft. Eric Gemsa & Bernard Rabaud

• Le Grand Manege (Magic Town theme renamed “Nutcase Land“)

• La Valse a Dede (Magic Town theme renamed “Ada-Quaint Place”)

1997 Cirque du Monde by David Grant & Ole Mathisen

• Anzane 2 (Magic Town theme renamed “Medieval Neighborhood”)

2000 G*psy Swing of Paris (😬😬😬) ft. Angelo Debarre

• Melancholy (Buy Mode 5)

2002 Zampano Magic Circus by Florence Caillon & Xavier Demerliac

• The Ring Master's Tango (Buy Mode 4)

2001 Cinema Francais by Jean-Michel Bernard

• La Nuit Enchantee (Buy Mode 1)

• Carrousel du Diable (Loading Screen - This one has an original remix in-game so the album version sounds different)

--- Other Sims music trivia posts: ---------------------------

• Urbz composer interview & unreleased Urbz songs

• English to simlish Urbz songs

• Artists who did songs for both The Urbz & TS2 Console

• Hot Date songs licensed from APM Music

• English to simlish Unleashed songs

• Nightlife DJs’ other 2000s music