The Silent Lady

Ella Jane Fitzgerald was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, intonation, and a "horn-like" improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing. After a tumultuous adolescence, Fitzgerald found stability in musical success with the Chick Webb Orchestra, performing across the country but most often associated with the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. Her rendition of the nursery rhyme "A-Tisket, A-Tasket" helped boost both her and Webb to national fame. After taking over the band when Webb died, Fitzgerald left it behind in 1942 to start her solo career.

The Painted Lady Suite, the debut album by the Michael Leonhart Orchestra (MLO) is inspired by the butterfly of the same name. While Leonhart was initially attracted to its flamboyant coloration and wing ornamentation, it was the butterfly’s incredible migration, which spans over six generations and 9,000 miles — twice that of the Monarch butterfly, that inspired the trumpeter/composer/bandleader to write his “Painted Lady Suite.”

Janice Lakers & Debbie Poryes - The Rainbow Lady (1985) {2016 Japan Timeless Jazz Master Collection Complete Series}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 204 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 82 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 255 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1985, 2016 Limetree / Timeless Records / Solid Records Japan / Ultra-Vibe | CDSOL-6433
Jazz / Cool / Standards / Vocal Jazz / Hip Jazz / Piano Trio

Reissue with the latest remastering and the original cover artwork. Comes with a description written in Japanese. Janice Lakers is a singer we only know from this one album – but she's a hip vocalist with a very compelling style – one that's very much in the best mode of some of the cooler American jazz singers of the late 70s! The song choices are great – some hipper jazz standards – and she's got a way of opening up with the lyrics that's far different than older vocal modes of the 50s – instead nearer to the territory of artists like Janet Lawson or Judy Roberts. Backing is by a hip trio with Debbie Poryes on piano – who really open up with their own sense of presence on the record, too – and titles include "Waltz For Debby", "Like A Lover", "Falling Grace", "Rainbow Lady", "In Your Own Sweet Way", and a nicely grooving take on "Moondance".

The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is one of the greatest achievements in orchestration by any composer in jazz history. Charles Mingus consciously designed the six-part ballet as his magnum opus, and – implied in his famous inclusion of liner notes by his psychologist – it's as much an examination of his own tortured psyche as it is a conceptual piece about love and struggle. It veers between so many emotions that it defies easy encapsulation; for that matter, it can be difficult just to assimilate in the first place. Yet the work soon reveals itself as a masterpiece of rich, multi-layered texture and swirling tonal colors, manipulated with a painter's attention to detail. There are a few stylistic reference points – Ellington, the contemporary avant-garde, several flamenco guitar breaks – but the totality is quite unlike what came before it. Mingus relies heavily on the timbral contrasts between expressively vocal-like muted brass, a rumbling mass of low voices (including tuba and baritone sax), and achingly lyrical upper woodwinds, highlighted by altoist Charlie Mariano.

If Born This Way was made for the Little Monsters, its 2013 sequel ARTPOP was made for the world. Lady Gaga has grand designs for her third album, to pull a "reverse Warhol," which presumably means she wants to channel high art into pop instead of pop into high art, but it's a little difficult to discern Gaga's intent, either in this statement or ARTPOP as a whole. Willfully existing simply on the surface, a surface that perhaps (or perhaps not) signifies a greater depth, ARTPOP is teasingly garish, its bright colors and brittle beats attacking with glee, the emphasis always on big, pulsating beats, shattered reflections, and sound cascading over song in every instance…

The original Lady Lake were formed in 1973 in the town of Deventer, named after the second album of UK progsters Gnidrolog. Influenced by the likes of Camel and in a lesser extent Focus and Genesis, Lady Lake offer extremely well-arranged and highly melodic progressive rock with a variety in moods and atmospheres. The ultra-sensitive guitar work of Fred Rosenkamp will definitely remind you of Camel's Andy Latimer, presenting a very melodic style with nice harmonies, a slight Canterbury feel and even some bluesy touches. A few pastoral passages with calm guitar playing is very close to early Genesis, while some jazzier parts remind of Jan Akkermann. Keyboards come as an absolutely fascinating element of Lady Lake's music with superb atmospheric parts and lots of good solos.