Billie Holiday changed how we hear women sing. In recorded music, she essentially redefined vocal pop music by introducing a more personal and immediate singing style. She also changed how we think about phrasing, basing hers on instrumental music rather than the rhythms and cadences of pronunciation. But quite apart from all that, Billie Holiday [...]
Posts tagged with "jazz"
Today’s desert island disc: Norah Jones, Come Away With Me
I know people say “Snorah Jones.” But I like her music – I think it’s mature in a good way: music that begs to be listened to, music that’s firmly based in craft (she’s a very fine pianist) and sung with a clear, expressive voice. Yes, it’s subdued and acoustic and, as such, has been [...]
Today’s desert island disc: Kahil El’Zabar’s Ritual Trio, Live at the River East Art Center
Sometimes, the music you don’t understand is the music that touches you most deeply. I’ve never been much of a jazz listener; I’ve skirted around it for years, essentially avoiding bebop in its myriad permutations, and enjoying traditional jazz, some fusion and a lot of the more postmodern artists influenced by hip hop or country, [...]
Today’s desert island disc: Madeleine Peyroux, Dreamland
The wonderful first album from Madeleine Peyroux, a jazz singer whose music and voice sound somewhat like Billie Holiday. This is very well-recorded and engaging music. Her two subsequent albums are also good. I like this for dinner parties, in the car and on long, sunny summer weekends (which we’re currently experiencing).
Today’s desert island disc: Louis Armstrong, Hot Fives & Sevens
This is simply incredible music. I dearly love really old, pre-bebop jazz, and Louis Armstrong invented much of it. More than a trend-setter, he was an inspiration to generations of musicians (of any genre). These British remasters of the early recordings are flawlessly done (an example of how Europe’s ‘lax’ copyright laws drive technical innovation [...]
Jeff Healey dies at 41
Sad news: Jeff Healey died of cancer on Sunday. Jeff, who was blind, first became famous for playing electric blues guitar, holding it across his lap. He had always been an avid collector of old jazz 78′s, and released two superb ‘revivalist’ traditional jazz albums in recent years, where he played the trumpet and guitar. [...]
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About
Carsten Knoch
Software and services professional, attentive music listener, vision enabler, instigator, reader of books and the web, vegetarian, affordable audio hobbyist, thinker, writer, blogger, tinkerer, Internet dweller since 1992. Human being since 1970.
I blog about music, technology, business, vegetarian food, politics, culture and life.
More about me on the About page.
