Joy Williams

This CD features the great pianist Mary Lou Williams during her earliest period. She is heard in 1927 on six selections with The Synco Jazzers (a small group that included her then-husband John Williams on alto) and then on the first 19 selections ever recorded under her own name. Performed during the long period when she was the regular pianist with Andy Kirk's 12 Clouds of Joy, Williams is featured on two hot stride solos in 1930, leading trios in 1936 and 1938, playing "Little Joe from Chicago" unaccompanied in 1939 and heading septets in 1940; among her sidemen were trumpeter Harold "Shorty" Baker and the legendary tenor Dick Wilson. Many of the compositions were written by Williams including "Night Life," "New Froggy Bottom," "Mary's special," and "Scratchin' the Gravel;" her version of Jelly Roll Morton's "The Pearls" is a highpoint.

This album is … excellent! This killer shuffle on "Going Far" is just great. Jan Hammer does a great job too. The second song "Hip Skip" is an awesome funky song which has Jan Hammer, George Benson, funky bassist Paul Jackson, Michael Brecker and Ralph McDonald. "Hittin on 6" is funky too and has Herbie and Stanley playin'. Now comes the hard-rock part of the album: "Open Fire" - a real hard rockin' song. My favorite song( out of 7 killer cuts)is "Tony" by Stanley Clarke. Gotta love Herbie's playing and Tony's tight grooves.. "ERIS" is another song which has Jan Hammer doing Keyboards and all synths and Tony's awesome drumming - but now it's not funky like on "Going far", now its rocking. Great playing - thayt isy Tony. "Coming Home" is a beatiful song. The only song I couldn't get into is the last one, "Morgan's Motion", which has Tony and Cecil Taylor doing a duo.

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Lucinda Williams - Little Honey (2008) {Lost Highway Records}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 401 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 155 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 82 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2008 Lost Highway Records / Universal | B001143402
Americana / Folk / Country / Alternative Folk / Alternative Country Rock

Lucinda Williams does anguish so well it’s easy to forget that Happy Woman Blues is not just the title of her 1980 album, but also the way she thinks of herself. That identity comes across full force in Little Honey, the follow-up to 2007’s heavily brooding West, where her melancholy voice seemed to creak with sadness. Here, a full-throated Williams revels in the rejuvenation of her engagement to her manager/co-producer Tom Overby, over whom she’s positively giddy on "Real Love." Her newfound bliss opens the floodgates to a musical revival, as well, since Little Honey, her ninth studio album, ranks as one of her most diverse, ranging from pounding rock ‘n’ roll (the raw sex of the title track) to the Hank Williams-ish country blues of "Well, Well, Well," to "Knowing"'s ‘60s soul. But some of the finest writing appears on "Plan to Marry," as thoughtful a meditation on love as any time-honored sonnet. Just when Williams seems to have run the gamut, she pulls out a Stones-y (via Louisiana) cover of AC/DC’s "It’s a Long Way to the Top" as the punctuation mark. It all makes for a rollicking ride with one of roots-rock's most unpredictable and passionate artists.