Nina Simone was one of the most gifted vocalists of her generation, and also one of the most eclectic. Simone was a singer, pianist, and songwriter who bent genres to her will rather than allowing herself to be confined by their boundaries; her work swung back and forth between jazz, blues, soul, classical, R&B, pop, gospel, and world music, with passion, emotional honesty, and a strong grasp of technique as the constants of her musical career. Nina Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina on February 21, 1933. Her mother, Mary Kate Waymon, was a Methodist minister, and her father, John Divine Waymon, was a handyman who moonlighted as a preacher. Eunice displayed a precocious musical talent at the age of three when she started picking out tunes on the family's piano…
Though Enrique Iglesias spent four years between albums, one would hardly know it by Sex and Love. No less than four of these 11 tracks were issued as pre-release singles in 2013. Musically, Iglesias walks the line between the dancefloor jams of 2007's Insomniac and the romantic flavor of 2010's Euphoria….
Chuck Berry fanatics, your ship has come in, and it’s the Queen Mary — or maybe we should call it the Queen Maybellene. As you’d expect from the Bear Family label, which specializes in gargantuan reissues, this 16-CD, 396-song box doesn’t simply span Berry’s career, it embraces virtually every musical note the man has ever issued. You’ll find all of his released album tracks and singles, starting with an obscure 1954 recording and including everything from the Chess, Mercury and Atco labels, plus every surviving alternate take. Also here are five CDs’ worth of concert performances from 1956 to 1972.
This is the second volume celebrating the history and recordings of Joe Ruffino’s New Orleans-based Ric & Ron Records. The first volume, You Talk Too Much (CDCHD1390) came out some 6 months or so ago and concentrated on the early years of the label, between 1958 and 1960. This set completes the story covering the period from 1960 to early 1963, at which time the label wound down operations following Ruffino’s death.
Wilco are a band who have shown that in the 21st century, a band can succeed creatively and commercially on their own terms, even without what would be considered a hit single, especially impressive since Wilco often seemed to be doing well despite their presence on a major-label rather than because of it. Which is why What's Your 20? Essential Tracks 1994-2014 is at once a welcome and curious release: it's essentially a greatest-hits album from a band that's never had a hit single, collecting 38 songs that have made some impression on non-commercial radio and become fan favorites during the band's first two decades. At the same time, What's Your 20? is also a fine "Beginner's Guide to Wilco," as the track listing gracefully charts their progress from a scrappy but heartfelt alt-country band that rose from the ashes of Uncle Tupelo to a thoughtful and imaginative pop/rock band with some outstanding players and an eagerness to experiment.
Avid Jazz presents four classic Betty Carter albums , including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD.
“Meet Betty Carter and Ray Bryant”; “Out There”; “The Modern Sound Of Betty Carter” and “Ray Charles and Betty Carter”
Introducing two new artists-two debut recording sessions….”Meet Betty Carter and Ray Bryant”. Ray Bryant, a new talent with an inventive piano style both as stylist and accompanist. Betty Carter, also a new talent with “a new approach to interpreting lyrics and a supple voice making old melodies sound fresh all over again”. As the original liner notes testify…” with this collection Betty Carter and Ray Bryant make their recording debuts with forceful and individual performances that mark them as important new names in jazz”…