Volume 54 "maiden Voyage" Guitar Voicings

This is the Swedish duo Christian Riveli (vocals) and Linus Käse (keyboards), added with band members on vocals, solo - and rhythm guitar, bass and drums and guest-musicians on violin, acoustic guitar, background vocals and electric guitar (Kerry Livgren from Kansas on the track "Ground Zero"). The six compositions (between 6 and 10 minutes) contain lots of flowing shifting moods and strong soli on guitar, keyboards and violin. All tracks are quite complex and very rich orchestrated, very good musicianshiip on every second of this album. "Mayden Voyage" is a solid album in symphonic prog scene.

Nnenna Freelon's fifth CD should establish her as one of the top jazz singers of the 1990s. Rather than stick to typical jazz standards, she explore women's songs (or at least lyrics) from many fields of music. Her compelling interpretation of the title track, with its infrequently heard lyric by Mrs. Herbie Hancock, is followed by a hypnotic original lyric written by Freelon for Marian McPartland's "Threnody," titled "Sepia Wing" in its vocal incarnation. One of the more unusual songs selected is folk singer Buffy Saint-Marie's "Until It's Time for You to Go"; Freelon drastically rearranged this tune by changing the melody line and adding an uptempo vamp, and Bob Mintzer's soprano sax accents are also a nice touch.