One Month Music Discoveries


In the month of March I bought 35-40 CDs. I think finding new artists, particularly those with a good body of work, is the most exciting aspect of being a music lover/audiophile. Well, in march I "discovered" Holly Cole, and I like parts of all her CDs, but the CD "temptation", 1995, stands out. It has some great songs that I even think are reference quality-- at least for me. The songs "Take Me Home", "Jersey Girl", "Frank's Theme", and "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" have spare accompaniement, H. Cole's voice is great-- kind of breathy or husky in places, and the recording is excellent. I like her other CDs also.

The other "find" is Eva Cassidy, who according to my main music dealer is now deceased-- she died of cancer in her early 30s-- tragic. But her CD "Live at Blues alley" 1996, has some jazz/pop ballads that have quickly grown on me and she left a great legacy of music. The tracks "Tall Trees in Georgia", "Fields of Gold", "Autumn Leaves", trk #11 "Take Me to the River" rocks, and finally, trk #12 "What a Wonderful World" is beautiful. This is also a great recording, IMO. I have two other of her CDs which are also good, and she may have others? I hope so.

Both are highly recommended. Happy Listening. Craig.
garfish
Todays find is: "Sisters of Freedom", Harlem Spiritual Ensemble, recorded at North Presbyterian Church, Harlem, NY. The recording level is a tad low (similar to some of my MFSL discs) but it is a very nice recording and the performances are super. The first 40 minutes is called a "Cantata" in 11 parts, I think that may mean opera as that is what it sounds like to me. It is from Arts Crossing Audiophile series and is labeled as 24/96. Second mention is "The Stars of the Buena Vista (BV Social Club) - 21st Century: when life begins...". Not as polished as RY Cooder's vehicles and might even be better. The recording is on the bright side.
Today's finds: Juanjo Dominguez (guitarist) "From Manhattan to Buenos Aires, Vol 1". Not a clue but it's damm good. The second one is "Table Songs, Georgian Folk Songs", Rustavi Choir. It's on so so Sony Clasical label. I live in a small Russian area in West Hollywood and have heard some of this music first hand coming from near by parties (the performers were exceedingly tight by the way:-)
Today's find: Last Forever "Trainfair Home". Not a clue but it is a folksy, instrumental, chick singing group of musicians that do an exceedingly haunting version of "Duke of Earl" as the last song on the CD. It is worth keeping for this song alone.
Here's four more that were picked up at a thrift when coming back from the PO yesterday ($6 total). 1. Twentieth-Century Blues "The Songs of Noel Coward" done by a host of artists (Paul McCartney singing "A Room with View" and on and on), great CD. 2. The soundtrack from "Genghis Blues", KILLER. 3. Roger Waters "The Wall Live in Berlin", kind of spooky and emotional (for me anyway). 4. Bela Fleck & The Flecktones "Outbound", haven't listened to it yet as I am afraid that I will not like it (must be the new make me into a "nice guy" medication:-). I realize that this stuff may be common to many here, but hey, (I didn't listen to music for 15 years) and I am having a ball.