Esther Tusquets

This reissue from Cherry Red/Soul Music features a pair of LPs by singer Esther Phillips, You've Come a Long Way, Baby and All About Esther Phillips, originally issued in 1977 and 1978. Highlights among the 17 tracks include "Into the Mystic," "You Think of Him (You Think of Her)," and "If I Fall in Love by Morning." Casual listeners who enjoy this era of Esther Phillips' recordings should keep an eye open for Home Is Where the Hatred Is: The Kudu Years 1971-1977 on Raven.

With few exceptions, greats who established themselves during soul's golden era were not well served by the disco era, when arrangements and material often poorly suited their abilities. Such was the case with the final two albums by Esther Phillips, Here's Esther…Are You Ready (1979) and Good Black Is Hard to Crack (1981), here combined onto one CD with historical liner notes.

A blend of intelligent musicianship and artistic authenticity.

After attracting attention with her clear soprano voice in the classical and opera genre, German singer Esther Kretzinger discovers new paths with her second album Sound of a Poem. Together with a small jazz ensemble of international repute, she sheds new light On a special selection of Romantic and Impressionist songs by Claude Debussy, Joseph Marx and Othmar Schoeck. With the Swiss violinist Georges-Emmanuel Schneider, New York vibraphonist Tim Collins, renowned bassist Wayne Darling and Austrian drummer Gerald Endstrasser, Esther Kretzinger works out the essence of these songs in the language of jazz, showing that the differences between Impressionist music and jazz often lie more in external features such as sound colour, articulation and instrumentation rather than their artistic cores.

Korean-American violinist Esther Yoo first came to international attention in 2010 when, aged 16, she became the youngest winner of the 10th International Sibelius Violin Competition. Following an acclaimed 2016 recording dedicated to Sibelius and Glazunov, she reunites here with conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Philharmonia Orchestra to spotlight Tchaikovsky's beloved Violin Concerto alongside five shorter works, including Pas de deux and Danse Russe from Swan Lake.

Having visited the rougher side of life, "Home Is Where The Hatred Is" is sung as though Esther's soul is turned inside-out. Written by Gil Scott-Heron, it is achingly beautiful. The title song "From A Whisper To A Scream" is one of the rawest blues tunes ever! Written by blues great Allen Toussaint, he must have been thrilled with Esther's rendition. Esther's vocal has funky tones in "Til My Back Ain't Got No Bone" accompanied by a soulful sax solo. Her vocal expression is perfection! You can feel the wanting in Esther's heavy vocal "Baby, I'm For Real", a ballad which was written by Marvin Gaye. Nothing can compare to sultry Esther singing "Your Love Is So Doggone Good". This steamy number is so thick you could cut it with a knife. When Esther sings "How Blue Can You Get?" written by Leonard Feather she IS about as blue as it gets. Full-bodied blues, Esther's hot interpretation of "Scarred Knees" is thankfully over six minutes long. "Brother, Brother" is a soulful tribute like none other for its songwriter, Carole King. Completely tender, Esther's artistry is very fine when she sings "Don't Run And Hide". "A Beautiful Friendship" is a mature and beautiful ending for the album. The arrangements contained bass, drums, guitar, percussion, organ, piano, trumpet, flugelhorn and three saxophones: alto, tenor, baritone. In addition are such seldom used instruments (by today's standards): trombone, violin, viola, cello, and harp. This alone tells you how full-bodied these blues arrangements are.

Digitally remastered edition of the second album from the Gospel/Soul vocalist. Nowadays known as "Queen" Esther Marrow, her Gospel and stage performances have made her a worldwide concert draw.