Cookin' Up A Song

Robert Cray may be a gloriously reliable musician when it comes to live performances, but he has become decidedly erratic when it comes to album releases. For 30 years America’s most successful contemporary blues guitarist and singer-songwriter didn’t release a live album, but now there have been three in just four years. In 2006 there was Live from Across the Pond, recorded at London’s Royal Albert Hall when he was opening for Eric Clapton (rather confusingly, the title wasn’t changed for its UK release).

2009 eight CD box set. The Blue Note Highlights Collectors Box was compiled by Jazz icon Hans Mantel commemorating the 70th Birthday of Blue Note Records. This box set contains four single CD's, and two double CD's, each with their own specific theme. The emphasis is on Blue Note's golden era between 1955 and 1967 with all material taken from commercially available recordings.

I'm not one of those people who believes that Christmas CDs are only for the holiday season. At any given point during the year I might pull out my Christmas CDs and enjoy them, though the experience is lacking something in, say, July or August, because the music is inextricably tied to Christmas. The tunes on Jimmy Smith's Christmas Cookin' are holiday standards, yes, but this CD stands out. ~ Amazon

This Real Gone Jazz compilation shows just why few recording artists can claim this level of innovation let alone revolution. The late-50's vocal trio of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross fit into that small category of performers who effectively turned a genre upside down. Expanding upon the technique known as vocalese, by which a jazz singer adapts an instrument to the human voice, Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks and Annie Ross applied the style beyond the usual intimacy of a small combo to full big band arrangements. Their sharp and witty vocals, energetic delivery, and stupendous harmonies took the jazz world by storm, making instant stars of the three performers and inspiring a host of similar acts, such as the Hi-Los, the King Sisters, and the Manhattan Transfer…