9 11 2002

Through more than 100 appearances on The Grand Ole Opry, Elizabeth Cook built strong ties to the audience most likely to respond to her debut album. Her voice throughout Hey Y'all begs comparison to classic country divas such as Loretta Lynn and especially Dolly Parton, to whom Cook pays good-humored tribute on "Dolly." …

The recordings on this LP were originally supposed to be released by the Mode label in the late '50s but the company went defunct before it could come out. Released for the first time by V.S.O.P. in 1986, these 16 selections (all recorded the same day) feature five different pianists (Carl Perkins, Jimmy Rowles, Paul Smith, Gerald Wiggins and Lou Levy) in fine form on three or four songs apiece. It is interesting to compare the players' similar but individual styles and to see how they adapt their bop-based approaches to the demands of playing solo.

Recorded live at the Paris Olympia, Live in Paris offers listeners Diana Krall's understanding of the musical techniques of composition, piano, and vocal improvisation on 12 songs from the Great American Songbooks of Cole Porter,Harold Arlen, George and Ira Gershwin, and contemporary artists Joni Mitchell and Billy Joel. Accompanied by the award-winning Anthony Wilson on guitar, John Pisano on acoustic guitar, John Clayton on bass, Jeff Hamilton on drums, and Paulinho Da Costa on percussion as well as the Orchestra Symphonies European on "Let's Fall in Love" and "I've Got You Under My Skin," the lovely vocalist heightens your listening pleasures with distinctive phrasings and tangible pathways to inside the creative imagination by getting inside harmony, the changes, and melodic structures…

This collection of Gregorian chants, recorded by Dom Minier and his fellow brothers of the order of Saint-Benoit-Du-Lac, is given a contemporary twist by the introduction of carefully orchestrated instruments throughout. The uninitiated will be relieved to find translations in both French and English alongside the Latin. The opening track, “Psaume 22/Psaume 129”, is a laid back, melodic version of Psalms 22 and 129 - however, the former is actually a rendition of Psalm 23 (someone’s careless typing error will confuse the sharp-eyed Bible student!). Mistakes aside, this is a worthy selection of echoey chants which sit comfortably with gentle percussion, guitars and a violin. The Celtic feel of “Iam Christus” (Now Christ) evokes the image of a rain-lashed monastery, abandoned and forgotten by time…