Herbie Hancock: River: The Joni Letters

Now listening to Herbie Hancock: River – The Joni Letters. The recording is an absolute gem. Legendary jazz pianist Herbie Hancock with legendary saxophonist, Wayne Shorter combine on this amazing tribute album that covers the spectrum of jazz vocals and seasoned instrumentals. Vocalists include the talents of Norah Jones, Tina Turner, Corinne Bailey Rae, Joni Mitchell, Luciana Souza and Leonard Cohen. This recording features veteran songwriting with a intimate feel to it. Hancock’s jazz variation of Joni Mitchell’s music is absolutely beautiful. You won’t be disappointed.

Dokken: One Night Live

Now listening to Dokken: One Night Live. The 1990’s were known for many things in rock music. One of the more memorable phases was the “unplugged” era, where everybody and their dog was playing all of their songs with acoustic guitars, acoustic basses, tambourines, Latin Percussion and candles. In fact, for a while these acoustic rock shows were popping up everwhere. They would  show up on MTV; Saturday Night Live; and meat department at your local Safeway. In 1996, American rock band Dokken (featuring Don Dokken, George Lynch and a lineup that has had more changes than a batting line-up of a major league baseball team) reunited at Redondo Beach, California for one night to perform and record a CD.

As it turned out, it would be a memorable performance. Fans of Dokken will not only appreciate this recording, they will probably appreciate that the unplugged version (in my opinion) is actually better than some of the original recordings. Let’s face it, some of the original recordings just didn’t hold up over time. Surprisingly enough, One Night Live doesn’t disappoint. Granted that the acoustic guitars are clearly peizo pickup models of an era gone by and George Lynch is actually playing is ESP Strat-styled guitar through what sounds like a Mesa-Boogie Rectifier. However, the performances are really good as are the arrangements. Some of the more memorable and best tunes of this recording include the prog rockish The Maze, the ballad Nothing Left to Say and the Emerson, Lake and Palmer cover From the Beginning. Dokken does covers of their most successful era: the late 1980’s. If you have a chance to pick up this recording and you’re a fan of these guys, this one really needs to be in your catalog.

Keith Jarrett’s “Standards Trio”: Standards in Norway

Now listening to Keith Jarrett (Pianist), Gary Peacock (Bassist) and Jack DeJohnette (Drummer) in the 1989 recording Standards in Norway. This recording is an awesome, and I mean awesome live recording of jazz standards by these three extraordinary musicians. Brevity does these men a disservice because of how accomplished they are as musicians, but for space sake, I will be unjustly concise. Keith Jarrett has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in jazz and he has played with the likes of the late, great Miles Davis. Jarrett is also an outstanding classical pianist. Gary Peacock, bassist and composer, has local ties in Washington state. He studied at the University of Washington and Cornish School of the Arts. Jack DeJohnnette, drummer, pianist and composer, also has enjoyed an outstanding career in jazz with such greats as Bill Evans and Miles Davis as well.  This represents one of many recordings that the trio has done.

This recording is amazing on many levels. The music is performed with soul and virtuosity live at Oslo Konserthus (Concert Hall in the City of Oslo, Norway) . The actual recording is one of the very, very best live recordings that I have every heard in any genre of music in terms of its quality. It is truly a joy to listen to. If you are looking for some amazing traditional live jazz, you would be remiss to not pick up this amazing recording.

Duran Duran: The Wedding Album

Now listening to Duran Duran’s 1993 release The Wedding Album. The reinvented (at that point) Duran Duran sheds their 1980’s British, Keyboard driven sound for a more straight forward rock sound in the early 1990’s. This album features outstanding songs, arranging and overall production. Check out Too Much Information, ballad, radio hit Ordinary World, Come Undone and international flavored Breath After Breath. What a terrific recording.

Claude Debussy

Now listening to the magical compositions of French composer Claude Debussy. Two of his better known works are two of my personal favorites: Claire De Lune and Arabesque No. 1. As far as these two compositions go, they are absolutely brilliant.

Neal Schon: Beyond the Thunder

Now listening to Neal Schon: Beyond the Thunder. This recording was released on March 30, 1995. This is just simply a terrific album of guitar-featured, instrumental music combining world rhythm influences, fusion and acoustic guitar work. Neal Schon is most famous as rock band, Journey’s main guitarist and one of their main contributing songwriters. In Journey, Schon is renown for his nice melodic lines, fiery blues-based licked, catchy guitar-hooks and chord progressions. Beyond the Thunder is a leap into the smooth jazz for Schon, but given his role in Journey, a logical one that he was able to pull off. The band on this recording features the writing talents of Jonathan Cain, Journey’s main keyboardist and Neal Schon. The album also features Santana percussionists Chepito Areas and Michael Carabello.

This is one of those albums where all songs are good. My personal favorite is Bandalero which was a smooth jazz favorite in the mid 1990’s during the time, after its release. Other songs of note are Big Moon, Cool Breeze and Send Me an Angel. Send Me an Angel is written by Schon for his wife Dina. The particular song sounds like a Journey song minus the vocals the Steve Perry. If you love journey and instrumental music, I don’t see why you won’t enjoy this one.

iTunes Podcast: Sounds of Berklee

If you happen to use the iTunes program, I have a free and wonderful podcast that you can subscribe to: it’s Sounds of Berklee. This podcast features students at Berklee College of Music (Boston, MA) who are actively performing and recording while in school. Berklee students are from all over the world and perform in different genres of music. I have discovered a plethora of young, trained, and very talented musicians. When in the iTunes story, simply enter Sounds of Berklee in the iTunes search engine and it should direct you to the Sounds of Berklee page. If you have eclectic taste in music, I know that you will enjoy discovering new artists as I have.

P.O.D. : Satellite

Now listening to P.O.D. Satellite. Great tunes Alive and Youth of the Nation featuring tight arrangements, dropped down guitar tunings and great production.

Harry Connick, Jr: Occasion

Now listening to Harry Connick, Jr’s Occasion. This excellent recording features Branford Marsalis. This always reminds me how fun it is to jam with another musician.

Supertramp: Breakfast in America

Now listening to Supertramp: Breakfast in America. Classic 70’s recording!