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Two Men With The Blues
Release Date: 2008-07-08
Sales rank: 21
The event was simply billed as "Willie Nelson Sings the Blues," but the historic two-night stand on January 12 and 13, 2007 at Jazz at Lincoln Center was far more than that. Call it a summit meeting between two American icons, Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis, two of the most significant figures in modern-day country and jazz, who discovered common ground in their love for jazz standards and the blues. Their performance stirred the sounds of New Orleans, Nashville, Austin and New York City into a brilliantly programmed mix that was equal parts down-home and cosmopolitan, with plenty of swing and just a touch of melancholy. To say that these shows were a hot ticket would be an understatement. Luckily, the tapes were rolling and the results of this unique collaboration now constitute the Blue Note album Two Men With The Blues for everyone who couldn't cram into The Allen Room. Featuring great playing from one of the hottest bands around these classic tracks are given new life by the extraordinary dual talents of Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis. At a time when most people are thinking of retirement, Willie has never been busier. His profile has been high in recent weeks with his various career retrospective releases and sold out tour and this album can rightly stake it's place alongside anything else he has done. Wynton rarely sounds so relaxed and both of these musical giants are clearly having the time of their lives together on these new interpretations of some of the greatest songs of the 20th century.Two Men with the Blues is no more a jazz album than a blues album. It's neither jazz returning home, nor blues wandering out. What Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis have created is a compilation of jump-blues standards with arrangements that compliment both genres. While most of the album is careful not to take itself too seriously, there are a few tracks that seem to plod on for ages. The live set kicks off with the upbeat "Bright Lights, Big City," on which Marsalis' horn is crisp and full. "Ain't Nobody's Business" and "Basin Street Blues" are arranged slower than better known versions but still fit the album's context. Nelson and Marsalis's take on "Stardust" comes off as a bit too "Sinatra" for Nelson's thin vocal, while "Georgia on My Mind" just doesn't work at all. Still, the things that work, work well. "Night Life" and "Rainy Day Blues" are particular stand-outs, and "Caldonia" is a faithful homage to the Louis Jordan original--minus Jordan's screaming punch line, of course. The album ends riding high on the last song, "That's All," with its straight-out-of-a-New-Orleans-Baptist-church feel. Both Nelson and Marsalis are notorious for collaborating with other artists. Therefore, it seems only natural that they've found themselves on a project together. Overall, this set is well worth the wait. --Eric C.P. Martin People en Español
Aunque a primera vista un dúo entre Willie Nelson y Wynton Marsalis suena como una combinación extraña, la realidad es que Two Men with the Blues es un disco bastante interesante. El álbum fue grabado el 12 y 13 de enero de 2008 en dos actuaciones en el famoso Jazz at Lincoln Center en Nueva York. No se puede negar que por momentos Willie Nelson parece un poco perdido el dentro del jazz, pero también demuestra el por qué es una leyenda de la música en canciones como "Caledonia" y "Georgia on My Mind," ambas interpretadas de forma espectacular. Quizá este no sea el mejor disco de Blues, Jazz o Country del año, pero sin duda es una adquisición obligatoria para los fanáticos tanto de Nelson y Marsalis. Además hay que decir que el sonido del álbum es magnÃfico, muchos músicos sueñan con sonar asà dentro de un estudio. --Ernesto Sánchez (People en Español  ) |
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Call Me Irresponsible
Release Date: 2007-05-01
Sales rank: 72
Melding the contemporary and the classic in ways only he can, Michael Buble has created his most complete studio effort yet. Ranging from "I've Got The World On a String" to "Me and Mrs. Jones," in addition to two new songs co-written by Michael, Call Me Irresponsible makes this album irresistible.It's no coincidence that Michael Bublé's new album starts with just his voice and some fingersnaps on "The Best Is Yet to Come," a song made famous by Frank Sinatra. The Canadian smoothie looks longingly towards early-'60s Vegas, an impression quickly reinforced when a boisterous horn section makes its grand entrance, about 20 seconds into the track. That Bublé means business is confirmed by the second cut, a fast-paced take on Henry Mancini's "It Had Better Be Tonight," and of course by the CD's very title, another song identified with Sinatra as his cockiest. There are just a few sidesteps from the retro formula that's served Bublé so well so far: a languid duet with Brazilian star Ivan Lins on the bossa "Wonderful Tonight," a gospel choir on "That's Life." Interestingly, Bublé co-wrote the best of those sidesteps, "Everything," a Norah Jones-esque number that alluringly harks back to sunny '70s pop. It's also the only song on the album produced by Bob Rock (best known for his work with Metallica), sending out a strong signal that Bublé should reach out to unlikely collaborators more often. --Elisabeth Vincentelli More Music from Michael Bublé 
It's Time | 
Michael Bublé | 
Caught in the Act | |
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The Sinatra Project
Release Date: 2008-09-02
Sales rank: 19
Classic romantic songs of the legendary Frank Sinatra delivered by the Master of the American Songbook himself, Michael Feinstein. On this amazing release Feinstein has chosen to reflect the Sinatra sensibility by interpreting the songs in conceptually different styles from Sinatra's own renditions. The results are a fascinatingly unique and memorably beautiful. |
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Esperanza
Release Date: 2008-05-20
Sales rank: 155
"Esperanza," bassist/vocalist/composer Esperanza Spalding's debut on Heads Up International, is set for worldwide release on May 20, 2008. Armed with uncanny instrumental chops, a siren voice that spans three languages, and composing and arranging skills that weave together the best elements of the old-school with the progressive, this 23-year-old has crafted a debut album that takes a completely fresh and refreshing approach to jazz by borrowing from the rich traditions of soul, pop, world music and so much more. Esperanza is joined in the studio by a crew of A-list session players, including flamenco guitar virtuoso Niño Josele, percussionist Jamey Haddad, drummer Horacio "El Negro" Hernández, saxophonist Donald Harrison and several other seasoned talents - all of whom collectively serve as further evidence of the kind of creative energy and magnetism that she radiates. |
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Nothing But The Best
Release Date: 2008-05-13
Sales rank: 193
Released to coincide with the tenth anniversary of Frank Sinatra’s passing (May 14, 1998), Nothing But The Best salutes "The Voice" with an essential single-disc compilation of hits. It features 21 legendary songs from "The Chairman Of The Board," plus a previously unissued version of "Body And Soul." The collection is part of an international initiative between the newly created Frank Sinatra Enterprises (FSE), Warner Home Video, MGM Home Entertainment, Turner Classic Movies, and the United States Postal Service to honor Frank Sinatra, whose music and movies had an everlasting impact on popular culture. For a limited time, Nothing But The Best will contain a collectible, commemorative Sinatra stamp with official USPS first-day issue cancellation. Frank Sinatra Photos More from Frank Sinatra 
Swing Along with Me | 
Lucky Numbers | 
The Concert Sinatra Live | 
Sinatra-Basie | 
Everything Happens to Me | 
Francis A. Sinatra & Edward K. Ellington | 
Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim | 
Christmas Collection | 
The Rat Pack Live at the Sands | 
Greatest Love Songs | 
I Remember Tommy | 
It Might as Well Be Swing | 
L.A. Is My Lady | 
Ring-a-Ding Ding! | 
September of My Years | 
Sinatra & Sextet: Live in Paris | 
Sinatra and Strings | 
Sinatra and Swingin' Brass | 
Sinatra at the Sands Live | 
Sinatra in Hollywood 1940-1964 Box Set | 
Romance: Songs From the Heart | 
Sinatra: Vegas Live Box Set | 
Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely | 
A Voice in Time: 1939-1952 Box Set | 
The Capitol Years Box Set | 
In the Wee Small Hours | 
My Way: The Best of Frank Sinatra | 
A Man and His Music | 
My Way | 
Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back | 
Sinatra's Sinatra | 
Strangers in the Night | 
The Main Event Live | 
The Reprise Collection Box Set | 
Duets/Duets II: 90th Birthday Limited Collector's Edition | |
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Here and Gone
Release Date: 2008-08-12
Sales rank: 189
On "Here and Gone," David Sanborn places his saxophone squarely within the context of the jazz-inflected pop music history that he himself has long been a part of. And while it was conceived as a tribute to his heroes, it inevitably traces his own development as the man who has heroically taken the saxophone to the next level. Few musicians are so closely identified with their instrument that they overshadow their peers, but the iconic David Sanborn truly merits his singular position as a saxophonist, unrivaled as a player who straddles the pop and jazz worlds while commanding respect in both. In pop, he is justly famed for his standout solo on David Bowie's 1975 hit "Young Americans"--one of many celebrated recording projects that evolved out of Sanborn's live supporting roles. Indeed, his matchless tone has additionally been sought to bolster performances by the esteemed likes of Eric Clapton, the Eagles, the Rolling Stones, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Miles Davis, Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder--many of whom have likewise gone on to enlist his inimitable sax presence in the studio. |
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It's Time
Release Date: 2005-02-08
Sales rank: 150
Michael Bublé's assured debut and the tireless year of globe-trotting touring he spent promoting it elevated the 20-something Vancouver native into the first rank of pop crooner revivalists. His sophomore studio follow-up largely turns on the same formula that helped make his considerable vocal prowess so attractive to mainstream audiences, mixing the nigh flawless, if expected Sinatra-channeling ("I've Got You Under My Skin") with more playful and inviting renditions of pop standards like the Gershwin's "A Foggy Day in London Town," "Feeling Good," "Try A Little Tenderness" and Cole Porter's "I've Got You Under My Skin." But it's the eclectic mix of more contemporary material the singer seasons them with -- apt tribute to Bublé hero Bobby Darin -- that keeps him walking the narrow tightrope between artistic intrigue (a blues-tinged vamp of Holland-Dozier-Holland's "How Sweet It Is," Leon Russell's lovely "Song For You," with a guest turn by Chris Botti) and the kitsch-laden abyss ("Quando, Quando, Quando"'s Euro-centric duet with Nelly Furtado, a ring-a-ding-fling with the Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love" that echoes fellow Canadian crooner/rival Matt Dusk's more successful flirtation with Lennon-McCartney). Arranger/producer Tommy LiPuma offers Bublé a welcome swinging jazz showcase on "The More I See of You," a bracing respite from the rest of producer David Foster's slick, if typically bloodless MOR production. -- Jerry McCulley [Note: A special edition including two bonus tracks--"Dream a Little Dream" and "Mack the Knife"--is also available.] Michael Bublé and More
Michael Bublé | 
Come Fly with Me | 
Totally Bublé | 
Come Fly with Me (DVD) | 
Two Shots | 
Peter Cincotti |
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Thunder
Release Date: 2008-08-12
Sales rank: 229
SMV is a bass supergroup formed in 2008. The group's name comes from the initials of each of its members, Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, and Victor Wooten. SMV's debut release is the "Thunder" album. Marcus Miller (bass clarinet, synthesizer, electric bass); Stanley Clarke (acoustic bass, electric bass) and Victor Wooten (electric bass). |
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Dukey Treats
Release Date: 2008-08-26
Sales rank: 204
Veteran keyboardist and producer George Duke remembers a time when funk was a powerful force not just in popular music but in social discourse. Frequently with a measure of wit and irony, and often with a strong dose of positivity at the core, titans like James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone and other funk icons of the ‘60s and ‘70s boldly addressed societal concerns ranging from poverty to racial disharmony to the battle of the sexes. Among the numerous treats on this album are not just the songs themselves but the roster of high-profile personnel helping to bring them to life many of them alumni of Duke’s earlier bands and projects. Included on the guest list are bassist Christian McBride, percussionist Sheila E and trumpeter Michael Patches Stuart, to name a few. Along with Duke himself, the vocal crew includes Jonathan Butler, Howard Hewett, Teena Marie, Rachelle Ferrell and more. |
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Michael Bublé
Release Date: 2003-02-11
Sales rank: 247
Producer David Foster (Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, Whitney Houston) has a new discovery in the wake of a very successful young find Josh Groban. Michael Buble (pronounced boo-blay) is a 25-year-old singing sensation whose smooth voice & heartthrob style harks back to the swingin' greats of earlier decades, to the likes of Frank & Dean, but also speaks to a new generation's sensibility. 2003 self-titled debut from Reprise/143.Pop's rush to raid the cradle continues with this promising debut by 25-year-old Canadian singer Michael Bublé. And while the young vocal star's good looks are smart enough for a boy band, his muse seems to have sprung from a more sassy and compelling musical era. Mentored by Paul Anka (whose '50s hit "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" is covered in dreamy, cabaret fashion here), Bublé sings in the orbits of Darin and Sinatra, covering swing epoch gems ("Come Fly with Me," "The Way You Look Tonight," "That's All") and rock era standards (Van Morrison's "Moondance," "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" by the Brothers Gibb, Queen's "Crazy Little Ting Called Love") with equal aplomb. David Foster's production is typically slick and played to the back row of the bleachers, but it's informed by smart contexts provided by such arrangers as Johnny Mandel, Randy Waldman, and Mike Melvoin. If the choices of material are sometimes staid and predictable, they also give the singer a crucial framework for building toward something more challenging; his is a bright future. --Jerry McCulley |
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