NEW YORK (Billboard) – If it's up to Fat Possum president Matthew Johnson, the classic '70s recordings of R&B legend Al Green will soon be seducing a new generation of listeners.
Johnson recently licensed the entire Hi Records catalog, which includes such classics as “Al Green Gets Next to You” and “Call Me,” as well as albums by Ann Peebles, Syl Johnson and longtime Green collaborator Willie Mitchell.
A revered singer/songwriter for over four decades, James Taylor has certainly earned the right to try his hand at a whole album of other peoples’ songs. The most surprising thing about Covers is how familiar most of the material is. And while not all of it is obviously – ahem – tailored to this artist, or really needs (re)covering, Taylor’s singing and the accompaniment are top notch.
His Band Of Legends are slick without
Homme and Hughes bring their two man, sex-drenched cabaret back with a mix of authentic 60s blues rock, and a generous sprinkling of glam-pomposity.
Having fulfilled his obligations to one musical family, Josh Homme returns to the bosom of the other, changing into his satirical hat on the way. The twoing and froing might have put obstacles in the way of the Eagles’ touring potential but his creative double-life evidently provides
On this album’s opener, Outlaw Pete, Bruce, it seems, is addressing nothing less than America’s own past coming back to haunt it (in the guise of a bounty hunter finally catching up with the titular outlaw) and Working On A Dream uses the complete range of The Boss to hunt down and redefine the dream
in the 21st century.
Yet the use of an harmonica sample from Sergio Leone’s Once Upon A Time In The West on Outlaw Pete is misplaced,
Alien Left Hand is a graceful and often surprising piano-based work that will further enhance the reputation of Janette Mason. Mason is one of UK jazz’s well-kept secrets: a pianist, arranger and composer, she has worked as a musical director for artists as diverse as Oasis and Robert Wyatt.
Alien Left Hand – named after a neurological disorder where one hand has a mind of its own – is her second album, the follow-up
ARTIST: JAMIE FOXX
ALBUM: INTUITION
NEW YORK (Billboard) – Tapping his musical side, actor/comedian Jamie Foxx debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with this latest outing. That ascent was no doubt buoyed by the infectious first single, “Just Like Me” featuring T.I., and the remix “She Got Her Own” with guests Ne-Yo and Fabolous. Sporting production by Chris “Tricky” Stewart, Terius “the-Dream” Nash and Timbaland (on the
Coming from a lineage of ‘icy’ (read: an easy label for any female voice that’s both pure and hails from somewhere near the Arctic Circle) singers such as Sidsel Endreson or Stina Nordenstam, Norwegian Susanna Wallumrod’s timbre and range are naturally given to investing anything she sings with pathos and aching longing. Flower Of Evil, a collection of cover versions (with two originals) has this in spades.
As with her Magical Orchestra’s
NEW YORK (Billboard) – A nonprofit record label? Sounds like the punch line to a joke.
But the Blue Shoe Project, a Dallas-based nonprofit aimed at educating school kids about the blues, isn't kidding around.
Co-founder Jeff Dyson describes himself as “not really a musician or a music business person, but just a huge fan of the blues.” The telecom executive says he started the Blue Shoe Project with his son
Multi-award winning soul singer and musical legend Van Morrison is set to release “Astral Weeks: Live at the Hollywood Bowl,” an in-concert reworking of his historic 1968 gold-certified solo album. Recorded live over two nights at the Hollywood Bowl this past Nov. 7 and 8, the album marks the premiere release on Mr. Morrison’s new EMI-distributed label, Listen to the Lion Records. “Astral Weeks: Live at the Hollywood Bowl” arrives in stores Feb. 10, 2009. A double-vinyl edition with three
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Merle Haggard is not letting a bout with lung cancer get in the way of his ambitious touring and recording plans.
Seven weeks after the 71-year-old country legend had a lemon-sized tumor removed in what he calls “the greatest test of my fortitude,” he said on Wednesday that he expects to work harder in 2009 than he has in 20 years.
Haggard says he is singing better now that he is in the
