MON LAFERTE: "La Trenza"

Original released on CD Universal Music 5761266

(MEXICO 2017, April 28)

Después de escuchar a fondo el material de esta chica me doy cuenta que es un error subestimarla, sin dudas estamos ante un personaje único o por lo menos alguien que no es del montón. No me mal entiendan, no hablo precisamente de sus aptitudes musicales sino de la forma en la que ha construido su carrera que tiene mucho en común con los actuales “iconos” del pop latino. Con talento que no se le puede dejar de reconocer pero con mayor inteligencia arrancó con un movimiento obvio al cuadrarse ante el público mexicano que de inmediato la catapulto a nivel local. Este material “La Trenza” parece ser el siguiente paso en el que apunta a un mercado más amplio dentro de habla hispana, le elección de las colaboraciones Bunbury-Juanes-Manuel Garcia así lo indican, bastante bien pensadas y mejor construidas. Vendiéndose como “Latin Rock” o “Rock Alternativo” decidió apostar por uno de los públicos más difíciles (dentro del espectro mainstream) pero que una vez conquistados han demostrado ser de los más generosos. Como un hibrido entre Natalia Lafourcade y Calle 13 (por mencionar referentes inmediatos) el ambiente y sonido del disco en general no es malo, por momentos disfrutable y de no ser por las colaboraciones estaríamos hablando de un trabajo más uniforme y sólido. "La Trenza" el tema que da nombre al disco es probablemente uno de los puntos altos del álbum y de mayor honestidad en las letras que ratifica un poco lo mencionado, estamos frente a alguien que tiene bien claro lo que quiere y que va por todas, atención, mucha atención con Mon Laferte. (in RateYourMusic)

LOLA MARSH Debut Album

Original released on CD Barclay 575 871-4

(EU 2017, June 9)

Lola Marsh is an Israeli indie pop group led by singer Yael Shoshana Cohen and producer/multi-instrumentalist Gil Landau. With a haunting sound that's both earthy and cinematic, they claim influences as diverse as Sufjan Stevens, Tame Impala, Elvis Presley, Ennio Morricone, and Edith Piaf. Cohen grew up partly in Singapore and Kenya and was also influenced by her parents' eclectic tape collection, which included music from Southeast Asia. Landau had been writing songs on acoustic guitar and was looking for a singer, and Cohen had recently graduated from the Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music when the two met at a party in Tel Aviv in 2011. When they started performing at the event, Landau was immediately drawn to Cohen's unusual but warm, conversational vocal style and she to his melodies, which suited her voice. They spent a couple of years writing and playing together, eventually bringing in other musicians to record. You're MineThe band's debut single, "Sirens," appeared in March 2015 and landed on viral streaming charts in the U.S. Their second single, "You're Mine," followed in kind, reaching Hype Machine's Top Three. Both songs appeared on their debut EP, "You're Mine", released by Anova Music and Barclay in January 2016. The same labels released Lola Marsh's full-length debut, "Remember Roses", in mid-2017. It charted in Switzerland and was supported by an international tour that included opening for the Pixies in Israel. In early 2018, they visited Israel, Europe, and North America again, including dates with Milky Chance and stops at SXSW and Treefort Music Fest. (Marcy Donelson in AllMusic)

METROPOLE ORKEST & CARO EMERALD

Original released on CD Grandmono 8 718546 200687

(EU 2017, December 4)

Caroline Esmeralda van der Leeuw, better known by her stage name Caro Emerald, is a Dutch pop and jazz singer. Active since 2007, she rose to prominence in 2009 with "Back It Up". Follow-up single "A Night Like This" topped charts in the Netherlands. Emerald is often praised for her outstanding live performances. She predominantly performs in English. Her debut album "Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor" was conceived, written and produced as a studio project by Dutch songwriter/producer/creative director David Schreurs, Canadian songwriter Vincent Degiorgio and Dutch producer Jan van Wieringen, with Caro Emerald as the starring artist. In August 2010, the album spent its 30th week at number one in the Dutch album charts, setting an all-time record and beating Michael Jackson's "Thriller" by one week. The album became the biggest selling album of 2010 in the Netherlands with over 350,000 copies to date. Worldwide, approximately 2 million copies have been sold to date. On 3 October 2010, Emerald was awarded the Dutch music prize "Edison Award" for Best Female Artist. In 2013, a second studio album titled "The Shocking Miss Emerald" was released. The album entered at number one in the Dutch and United Kingdom album charts and sold over 600.000 copies. Caroline Esmeralda van der Leeuw was born on 26 April 1981 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to a Dutch father and an Aruban mother. She started singing lessons at age 12 with James Gilloffo in Amsterdam and joined a girl vocal group, Les Elles, under his guidance. Following high school she trained as a jazz vocalist at the Amsterdam Conservatory, graduating in 2005. During her September 2013 UK tour, she announced her pregnancy. She gave birth to a girl in March 2014. Emerald gave birth to a second daughter in August 2017.

In early 2007 Dutch producer Jan van Wieringen invited van der Leeuw to sing the vocal on a demo he was producing with David Schreurs. The song, "Back It Up", had been written by Schreurs and Canadian songwriter Vince Degiorgio and was based around a hip-hop beat created by Robin Veldman and Jan van Wieringen. Caro's jazzy vocal was considered a "perfect match" for the new song. The demo was pitched to various publishers and labels but without result. But online the demo quickly reached public notice around the world and radio stations started playing the song. Degiorgio, Schreurs, van Wieringen and van der Leeuw realised their sound had potential and started working on a studio album. Writing began in the summer of 2008 using "Back It Up"'s mix of 40s–50s jazz, easy listening, orchestral Latin, combined with infectious beats as a model. Adopting a sample based approach but with live instrumentation, the writing sessions drew from a wide range of influences including jazz organist Jackie Davis, exotica composer Martin Denny, mambo king Perez Prado, 1920s/30s jazz and van der Leeuw's own vocal inspirations of the Andrews Sisters, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan. The usual method would be for Schreurs to create the ideas and backing tracks and then get together with top line writer and lyricist Degiorgio to write the songs. Van der Leeuw co-wrote several songs on the album, and van Wieringen co-created the tracks for "The Other Woman" and "Dr Wanna Do". Schreurs and Degiorgio are credited as "Creative Directors".

The Metropole Orkest (or Metropole Orchestra) is a multiple Grammy winning jazz and pop orchestra based in the Netherlands, and is the largest full-time ensemble of its kind in the world. A hybrid orchestra, it is a combination of jazz, big band and symphony orchestra. Comprising 52-97 musicians, it is versatile across many musical forms, and is equipped with a "double rhythm section“ - one for pop and rock, and one for jazz based music.

KAREN SOUZA: "Velvet Vault"

Original released on CD Music Brokers MBB9337

(EU 2017, November 24)

Diana Krall or Karen Souza? Which one do you prefer? I think the choice is very, very difficult. Both are wonderful and georgeous ladies, both sing passionately, with fabulous voices. And their last CDs (look at the resemblance of the sleeves) are magnificent pieces of music. In 2013, Karen Souza spent two months touring throughout Mexico. While she was known for her jazz renditions of 1980s hits, her repertoire includes a number of her own songs, such as "Paris", "Break my Heart" and "Lie to Me". Her version of "Creep" by Radiohead was used extensively in the film "The Zero Theorem" (2013), directed by Terry Gilliam. Three years after the release of her successful "Essentials II", Karen Souza is back with her fourth studio album. "Velvet Vault" is the title of a collection that combine jazz standards with jazz reworks of pop classics plus two songs co-written by Karen herself. Japan's superstar Toku duets with Karen on the track "You Got That Something". Also part of the album are Robin Banerjee (Amy Winehouse guitarist) and legendary Tom 'Bones' Malone (Blues Brothers, Saturday Night Live Band). Vocals has been recorded in New York at The Orchard studios and produced by Richard Gottehrer (of Blondie, Richard Hell and Dr. Feelgood fame). The album's first single "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me", was first available on November 10th. "Velvet Vault" is without a doubt, Karen Souza's most accomplished record to date and will definitely surpass the success of her previous efforts.

The Versatile VAN MORRISON

Original released on CD Exile 88985492262

(US 2017, December 1)

"Versatile" is Van Morrison's 38th album, and follows the release of the excellent R&B and blues covers collection "Roll with the Punches" by less than three months. Like its predecessor, it's primarily a covers set, but its focus is on jazz and pop standards from the Great American Songbook with six originals added for good measure. Historically, these experiments haven't worked for rock artists: Rod Stewart delivered five overblown, badly sung collections from the canon, and Bob Dylan delivered five discs of highly idiosyncratic interpretations of the stuff. Even Boz Scaggs tried them with very mixed results. Morrison fares better than his peers due to experience - standards have peppered his set lists for decades. "Versatile" is not a pillar in his catalog, but it's not a cynical cash-in, either. Morrison surrounds himself with a septet that includes saxophones, trombone, keys, guitar, bass, and drums. Most of these tracks were recorded in hotel lounges in Ireland's County Down, adding to the slippery jazz feel. The canonical material proves a real interpretive challenge. Curiously, he opens the record with a throwaway new original entitled "Broken Record," that shows off his band's fingerpopping swing quotient but little else. He quickly recovers with a fine reading of the Gershwin's "A Foggy Day," showcasing his fluid phrasing and empathic lyric interpretation. His Chet Baker worship is well known, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that he takes on "Let's Get Lost." His take is jaunty, offering tinges of Jimmy Rushing-inspired R&B while retaining its identity as a jazz tune. While his muted scat groove on Cole Porter's "Bye Bye Blackbird" is overly strident, he gives a polished, nuanced performance to the composer's "I Get a Kick Out of You." "Makin' Whoopee" contains a nice bluesy chart (Dave Keary's electric guitar playing recalls Grant Green's), but Morrison's vocal is uncomfortably stilted. Among his own tunes are two new ones - the punchy, Jimmy Witherspoon-esque "Take It Easy Baby" and the contemplative, nearly spiritual, modal, instrumental "Affirmation" with Sir James Galway guesting on flute - as well as beautifully rendered rearrangements of catalog material - "I Forgot That Love Existed," "Start All Over Again," and "Only a Dream." There is also a deeply satisfying arrangement of the traditional "Skye Boat Song" that melds Celtic soul with Celtic swing as Morrison's smoky alto sax leads the rest of the horn section's lithe groove. While he could have left off "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" as it adds nothing to the the canonical versions by Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra, readings of "The Party's Over" "Unchained Melody" and the Gershwin closer "They Can't Take That Away from Me" are impeccable examples of Morrison's mercurial phrasing and limpid modern arrangements that make swing their top priority. "Versatile" has its flaws and will likely appeal most to longtime fans, but Morrison fully invests himself in each tune, singing them as if he wrote them. This is head and shoulders above similar efforts by his peers and a solid addition to his shelf. (Thom Jurek in AllMusic)

KATIE MELUA: "The Ultimate Collection"

Original released on CD Digipak BMG 538433672

(EU 2018, October 5)

STEPHEN STILLS & JUDY COLLINS

Original released on CD Wildflower CLO 0691

(US 2017, September 22)

Judy Collins provided Stephen Stills with the inspiration for "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes," a song he composed in 1969 as their relationship was coming to an end. Lovers no more, the two remained friends over the years and decided to strike up a musical partnership nearly 50 years later, releasing "Everybody Knows" in September of 2017. The album deliberately plays off their past, with the duo reviving songs from their individual albums - "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" from Collins; "So Begins the Task" from Stills - and selecting covers from their peers, including the Traveling Wilburys' "Handle with Care," Tim Hardin's "Reason to Believe," Bob Dylan's "Girl from the North Country," and Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows," which also lends its name to the album title. It's a clean and crisp production, so much so that its transparency reveals the disparity between Collins' sweet voice and Stills' scraggly singing, a pairing that can sound as smooth as sandpaper. Nevertheless, there's an inherent warmth to "Everybody Knows". Stills and Collins have a gentle, easy chemistry and the studio-slick supporting performances provide a nice bed for a project that is less nostalgia than a reassuring reminder of the comfort of growing old together. (Stephen Erlewine in AllMusic)

DEEP PURPLE: "Infinite" + Live CD Bonus

Original released on CD Ear 0211848EMU

(EU, 2017, April 7) 
 

No one, least of all Deep Purple themselves, expected the success of 2013's "Now What?!" It placed at number one on four European album charts and in the Top Ten of six other countries. It also sold exceptionally well: It was certified Gold in Poland, Germany (where it sold over 100,000), the Czech Republic, and Russia - it was the band's first album to crack the U.K.'s Top 40 charts in 20 years. For "InFinite", Deep Purple re-enlisted producer Bob Ezrin. At this point, he is almost a sixth member. This the longest running lineup in their history. "InFinite" is a heavier and more expansive record than its predecessor, but it's not as consistent. Ian Gillan is in excellent form - still possessing intense expressive power and range, his falsetto remains intact four decades on. Don Airey's organ and keys - so elemental in DP's musical architecture - is physical, atmospheric, and dynamic. He and guitarist Steve Morse combine brute force with imagination and finesse. Ian Paice, who had a mini-stroke last year, seems to have recovered fully. Roger Glover remains a bassist whose musical signature is so dominant it is only rivaled by Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler.

Things get off to a great start with "Time for Bedlam." Despite its slightly corny sci-fi spoken intro with Gillian's voice put through a processor, it acquits itself with a massive swirling charge worthy of the band's glory years. It also features Gillan's best lyrics - he tends to go over the top elsewhere. It's followed by the commanding blues-rock boogie of "Hip Boots," where Gillan's swagger rises above a biting mix of snare, kick drum, and dual leads from organ and guitar; but it's actually Glover who drives the tune. On tracks such as "All I Got Is You" and "The Surprising," this outfit doesn't let the listener forget they're the same band who delivered "Child in Time" and "When a Blind Man Cries." The latter is downright prog as it melds power ballad to metal in a gorgeous mix that includes wonderfully layered backing vocals and Airey's neo-classical keys that evoke the memory of Jon Lord. While the musical attack in "One Night in Vegas" offers a pumping barrelhouse blues piano woven into the hard rock bombast. "On Top of the World" has the craziest Gillan lyrics ever, but again, DP's crunchy choogle carries them to the finish line. The evocation of vintage psychedelia and Led Zeppelin in "Birds of Prey" makes it one of the more compelling tunes here. Unfortunately, there are two clunkers that sound like filler: the terribly clichéd "Johnny's Band" and a perfunctory read of the Doors' "Roadhouse Blues." Otherwise, "InFinite" is a winner; it proves not only that "Now What?!" was no fluke, but that Deep Purple, even at this stage, still have plenty left to offer musically and creatively. (Thom Jurek in AllMusic)

NEIL YOUNG: "Hitchhiker"

Original released on CD Reprise 560639-2

(US 2017, September 8 - Recorded 1976, August 11)

Recorded in a single evening in 1976, a few weeks after Neil dropped out of the Stills-Young Band tour, "Hitchhiker" captures a somewhat stoned Neil, his guitar, and a brace of songs which would later become key components of his next four years' worth of work. Each of his major albums from "American Stars and Bars" to "Hawks and Doves" would include songs from here; the title track would get reworked on a different version on 2010's "Le Noise" too (some ideas from it would get recycled on "Like an Inca" on "Trans" as well). Only "Hawaii" and "Give Me Strength" are flat-out unreleased tracks, but the solo guitar performances of this material, combined with the aesthetic unity arising from all of these pieces being recorded in the same night, ties them together to an extent which recontextualises them. Neil Young fans already value most of these songs, whether they represent highlights on an already excellent release (such as those that ended up on "Rust Never Sleeps") to diamonds in the rough on otherwise hit-and-miss releases (as with Captain Kennedy on "Hawks and Doves"), but "Hitchhiker" offers a brand new appreciation of them. Reprise were fools to reject it in 1976, and geniuses to release it now, when after over 40 years the songs have become intrinsically embedded in our cultural consciousness. (in RateYourMusic)

"The Winner Takes It All" By CARLA BRUNI

"Dream" By DIANA KRALL

"Enjoy The Silence" By CARLA BRUNI

"Miss You" By CARLA BRUNI

"The Winner Takes It All" By CARLA BRUNI

CARLA BRUNI Sings Some Standards

Original released on CD Verve 577 260-6

(EUROPE 2017, October 6)

As a singer and songwriter, Carla Bruni usually follows the labyrinthine tracks in French music established by artists such as Georges Brassens, Jane Birkin, and Pierre Barouh. Therefore, cutting a collection of standards from rock, pop, and jazz might seem out of character. The songs on "French Touch" are those Bruni sang and played on the guitar between the ages of nine and 29. The album was initiated by Grammy-winning producer, arranger (and then-head of Verve Records) David Foster. He was knocked out by a Bruni performance in Los Angeles and offered to produce an album. She is accompanied by her regular band and a slew of studio aces including drummer Jim Keltner, guitarist Dean Parks, and harmonica ace Mickey Raphael - who appears on a lovely, Caribbean-inspired version of "Crazy" that also features its composer, Willie Nelson in duet.

While these readings are intimate, they are imbued without nostalgia or artifice. Foster arranges these songs according to Bruni's particular needs as a singer: her breathy contralto, though always intimate and tender, is surprisingly expressive in the English language. She opens with a moody yet sparse read of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" as a poignant ballad with Cyril Barbessol's ghostly piano, minimal percussion, strings, and nylon-string and slide guitars. Bruni follows with reading of the Clash's "Jimmy Jazz," complete with fingerpops and Fats Waller-esque piano, muted trumpet, and clarinet derived from early-'30s jazz. The Rolling Stones' "Miss You" is viewed through the Barry White and Love Unlimited production aesthetic, with strings swirling atop the airy, funky disco backbeat, hand percussion, and nylon-string guitar. ABBA's "The Winner Takes It All" is delivered sincerely, but its string-drenched chart is twee and forgettable. The reinvention of "Highway to Hell" as a slippery jazz-inflected blues is anything but, with its swinging horns, electric piano, and bumping bassline. The gorgeous cabaret-tinged reading of Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" is imbued with a flawless balance of innocent longing and moody introspection. It's followed - with a nod and a wink given to her husband Nicolas Sarkozy's difficulties during his time as France's president - by a too-sweet "Stand by Your Man" that weds Cafe Saravah's nouveau chanson breeziness, upscale honky tonk, and smooth pop. Bruni closes the set with two gorgeous American pop standards: "Please Don't Kiss Me" is modeled directly on Rita Hayworth's version from the 1947 film "The Lady from Shanghai". It's juxtaposed with Johnny Mercer's "Moon River," rendered without any of the stylistic artifice of the great pop stylists. Bruni's version is modeled on Audrey Hepburn's singing of it in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" alone on a windowsill. Though buoyed by an elegant yet economic use of strings, it nonetheless recollects that iconic silver screen moment. The songs on "French Touch" are idiosyncratic and free of drama. But they are chock-full of tenderness; Bruni delivers them with keen insight into the lyric meanings these melodies convey. (Thom Jurek in AllMusic)

"Tua Cantiga" By CHICO BUARQUE

DIANA KRALL: "Turn Up The Quiet"

Original released on CD Verve B0026217-02

(US 2017, May 5)

Diana Krall spent the better part of the 2010s exploring byways of American song - her 2012 set "Glad Rag Doll" drew heavily on obscure jazz from the 1920s and '30s, its 2015 sequel "Wallflower" concentrated on pop and rock tunes - but 2017's "Turn Up the Quiet" finds the pianist/singer returning to well-known standards from the Great American Songbook. Reuniting with producer Tommy LiPuma for the first time since 2009's bossa nova-inspired "Quiet Nights", Krall works with a trio of lineups on "Turn Up the Quiet", alternating between a trio, quartet, and quintet. The album isn't divided into triads but rather gently shifts between these bands, a move that's sometimes imperceptible because the focus is firmly on Krall, the pianist. Her voice often operates at a hushed whisper - a decision that suits this collection of romantic, dreamy material; it also underscores the importance of the record's title - and that emphasizes her lithe piano along with the solo spotlights from her featured musicians. Krall gives her three bands plenty of space to shine - fiddler Stuart Duncan, in particular, stuns with his solo on "I'll See You in My Dreams," but there are nice turns from guitarists Russell Malone, Anthony Wilson, and Marc Ribot, along with supple playing by bassists Christian McBride, Tony Garnier, and Anthony Wilson - but what impresses is how these ensembles are all united in spirit and attitude, all thanks to their leader. Krall has a definite vision for "Turn Up the Quiet" - she wants to keep things smoky and subdued, a record for the wee hours - and the end result is so elegant, it seems effortless. (Stephen Erlewine in AllMusic)

R.I.P. JOHNNY HALLYDAY

1943, June 15 (Paris) >>> 2017, December 6 (Hauts-de-Seine)

MARCIANITA