Gil Scott-Heron is a person whom many established representatives of the today hip-hop culture name as their teacher and precursor of the music they work with now. Of course, Gil himself never did rap, yet his art prepared what was needed for the birth of this genre. This musician’s best works came from the remote seventies and eighties when Gil was actively performing a music fusing elements of soul, blues and jazz. His lyrics were strongly political and often associated with the black militant movement. You may ask yourself endless times why the sixty-year-old Scott-Heron decided to come back; yet you got to face the fact: his new work, I’m New Here, is his first studio effort in the last fifteen years. May the number of the featured tracks not misguide you! All the fifteen songs presented here are tightly packed within the limits of thirty minutes. But you may be sure: the old timer Gil did say what he wanted and felt necessary to say.

A half-an-hour story of all life

It does not take a genius to understand that there is a vast stylistic abyss lying between this record and the artist’s other efforts released so many years ago. Jazz and soul are rather obscure ghost-like shapes here than distinct and prominent characters. You’ll get it when you taste the opener, On Coming From A Broken Home (Part 1) backed by Kanye West’s sample. The music fabric of Scott-Heron’s new album is made of quite simplistic electronic beats while the leading part, as always before, is assigned to the vocals that even in the best years were never technically flawless. But there is no need for singing perfection here. The listener will be touched not by the undoubted sincerity of the one who sings. Although many tracks on the new record were not penned by Gil himself, the selection of the composition was conducted in such way that together they sound like the singer’s autobiographical work. I’ll Take Care of You is a smashing soul-styled composition that turned in the artist’s confession to all fatal mistakes he has made. It is not an easy task to adjust oneself to understand and accept New York Is Killing Me. The gloomy spirit of the song makes you believe that Gil is not acting like somebody, but merely lets out all the remorse and regret accumulated throughout these uneasy years.

New songs in the old manner

The times have changed; and Gil Scott-Heron could no longer sing about what once was the core of his artistic ideology. I’m New Here is not a moral code or collection of political slogans. Sixty is an age when many start looking back and rethinking what they wanted to do and what they eventually have done. These are thoughts that are put into Scott-Heron’s new album. However, while these songs are filled with new themes and problems, all of them preserved the unchangeable manner of performance, gust of emotions, flame of passion, impartiality and frankness. Who is the one to listen to the confession of the Godfather of Rap? Is it God? Listeners? Himself? These thirty minutes are enough for everyone to find his or her own answer to this question. This record is not easy to perceive as it gives more thoughts to ponder over than music to listen to. Chances are tiny that it will please all those who like the music Gil once helped to enter this world. Yet this work is interesting by its definition and may find its fans even among those who have never associated themselves with such music.

Alex Bartholomew

U.S. jazz musician Joe Farrell’s daughter Kathleen Firrantello filled a lawsuit against rappers Kanye West, Method Man, Redman, Common, and their record companies, all owned by Universal Music Group. She accused them of using her father’s music without approval.

Kathleen said that they all used parts of Farrell’s 1974 song Upon This Rock in their songs – West in Gone, Common in Chi-City and Method Man and Redman in their song Run 4 Cover. Firrantello is seeking punitive damages of at least $1 million and asked that no further copies of the songs be made, sold or performed.

Jamie Cullum has that type of career that any of starting artists would be happy to have. In most cases, musicians either become popular instantly if they play what is traditional to play here and now or they become popular after long years of genius playing what is not in high demand or fashionable yet. Cullum is a standout artist who makes music with its roots deep in jazz and who, despite this fact, reached stardom where pop stars dwell, soon after turning twenty. His musical career seems to have jus begun, but he has already amassed several powerful albums in his personal discography. In 2009, Jamie released a studio album, The Pursuit, that became his first effort in the last four years. The track-listing of this record included both covers of popular songs by established performers and Cullum’s own material. Whichever category you choose, it should be very interesting for the musician continues experiments over his sound and always stores a surprise or two for his listeners. You may be sure that to date this is his most eclectic and experimental work.

The Pursuit: trial and error method

So, what has Jamie Cullum managed to produce for these four years? It is does not take a genius to understand that Just One of Those Things is a perfect song to break such a long pause with. Cullum is extremely good at making covers as their original versions obtain completely new features. For instance, the ballad Not While I’m Around that is presented here in quite a rude form due to the peculiar singing manner. The same tendency is observed in I Think I Love You that starts with unpleasant sounds of heavy breathing or something like that. Meanwhile, this is logically predetermined by the text of the song. One of the best numbers of the whole album is the cover of Rihanna’s Don’t Stop The Music. This is the case when a pop-music hit turned into an excellent jazz composition that is unsurpassed in the role of the album closer. It is really difficult to find among the twelve songs of The Pursuit those that are significant failures. It could be that If I Ruled The World, and Mixtape are slightly weaker than the rest. The reason might be that Cullum went too far trying to combine jazz and disco, evidently bad matches here. We can easily forgive him for that because this is the very trial and error method that helped the musicians make such an astonishing progress.

A useful experiment

At first sight, everything is simple as one can say that The Pursuit is a jazz album from a very good jazz performer. However, the songs, whose original versions are easy to define stylistically, here are packed into jazz clothing and together form a new, yet unnamed, style. Perhaps, in terms of execution, The Pursuit is not on a par with Cullum’s most remarkable work, Twenty Something. This can be explained by the musician’s endeavor to diversify his music, and not a desire to demonstrate his jazz performing skills. The audience must have already seen it; and to keep the subject interesting, he stepped into a new zone that is not well researched yet. Working on the boarder with pop-music should not be an alarming signal here. Cullum needs pop-music compositions simply as raw material to process it into high quality jazz products. The Pursuit was necessary for him because only such experiments can show the right direction to go further. And we all know that this young man will actually go further.

Alex Bartholomew

Norah Jones (born Geetali Norah Jones Shankar) was born on March 30, 1979 in New York in the family of the legendary Indian musician, professional sitar player Ravi Shankar, and Sue Jones, a dancer whose love towards music has left an imperishable impression on the future singer. Norah’s father didn’t take much part in her upbringing – at the age of four she moved with her mother to a suburb of Dallas, Texas, where her talents began to reveal themselves. From the early childhood Jones loved listening to mother’s vinyl records. She was especially enchanted by the music of Bill Evans, Billie Holiday and Willie Nelson whom she still calls her idol. While in school, she performed in church choir and learned to play piano and guitar. At the age of 16, with her parents’ permission, she officially shortened her name to Norah Jones, the name by which she is known to millions of fans worldwide. At the age of 17 she won a prestigious Down Beat Student Music Award for Best Jazz Vocalist and Best Original Composition. Shortly after that the future star entered the University of North Texas where she majored in jazz piano, but the education process came to its end quite soon – after two years of studying she moved back to her city of birth, New York, to focus on her musical career.

After assembling a band with her friends, guitarist Jesse Harris, bass guitarist Lee Alexander and drummer Dan Rieser, she recorded a handful of demos for the famous jazz label Blue Note Records. Her abilities didn’t evade observation and in 2001 the label signed a contract with Jones. The next year saw the release of her debut album called Come Away With Me, the music of which represented a sound of piano jazz with a slight shade of soul and folk. This work dramatically changed the artist’s life – response from both the listeners and the critics was exclusively positive, and at the next Grammy ceremony Jones was nominated for 8 awards, winning 6 of them, including Album of the Year and Best New Artist. The success of the disc can easily be evaluated by looking at the number of sales – 18 million copies worldwide. All these facts were telling about a long and successful future career of the singer.

In 2004 she released her second work, Feels Like Home – a mixture of jazz, skillfully performed by Jones, blues and country music. Just like its predecessor, the album quickly stood out against the background of other artists’ records – in a week after the release date the sales exceeded one million sold copies, and the hit single Sunrise won the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance award at the Grammy. While on tour in support of the album, Jones wasn’t wasting time and in the intervals between her concerts she was working on a new material for the disc called Not Too Late (released in 2007). Recording of the album took place in the home studio in cooperation with her boyfriend Lee Alexander. According to Jones, the recording label representatives were not aware of the work on new disc, which became not less successful than the preceding ones – it strived to number one on billboard charts of twenty countries and became a double-platinum seller. Deciding to leave music for a while, Jones played a leading role in My Blueberry Nights with such stars as Natalie Portman, Rachel Weisz and Jude Law. Soon after that she broke up with Lee Alexander and her feelings about the split-up found reflection on her work – the atmosphere of Jones’ new studio album The Fall (2009) was somewhat dark and melancholic. In general, her musical style was still there – the same blues, jazz and soul music. But still there was room for a minor experimental shift towards rock – and that was no surprise for the producer of the disc was Jacquire King who has worked with Kings Of Leon, Tom Waits and Modest Mouse. The album has proved once again that Norah Jones is a prominent figure in the world of music who is not going to rest on her success and is ready to amaze this world with her unique talent, huge creative potential and striving for experiments.

Speaking of jazz one cannot help speaking of Diana Krall, one of the most significant genre representatives. Her albums have always surprised with the richness of emotions and moods although her low key contralto always remains the same. Performing both original material and a great number of standards and cover versions of famous songs Krall is long known as a talented pianist who first sat to piano at the age of four and a remarkable vocalist all over the world. This year her twelfth record Quiet Nights is released. This album has become the first collaboration with arranger Claus Ogerman since the 2002’s recording Live in Paris and the 2001’s studio creation The Look of Love. The title Quiet Nights is the name of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s standard Corcovado translated into English. Those fond of contemporary Brazilian TV serials are sure to know this song although the peak of its popularity was in the early 1960s. Soft and calm as majority of Krall’s albums Quiet Nights will definitely occupy the worthiest place in her discography.

There is a certain romance in each song on Quiet Nights

The album Quiet Nights is Diana Krall’s small experiment with bossa nova, one of her favorite styles, and the musicians and producers working on the songs have greatly managed to lay it on the traditional jazz orchestral arrangements. Each of the songs has its own message and romance. The slight rhythm of cymbals refines practically each track giving it liveliness reminding of bossa nova and Krall’s low key vocals does not let the melodies sound too vividly not even for a second. The record opens with a melodious composition Where Or When about a beautiful love story, full of joyful reminiscences. The song Too Marvelous For Words tells about how difficult it is to describe with words one’s admiration with the beloved and a wonderful piano track I’ve Grown Accustomed To His Face will help those in doubt of their true feelings to understand whether the relationships are important. The song more famous when performed in Portuguese The Boy From Ipanema is at first difficult to recognize because of Diana’s unusual manner of performance and a splendid standard Walk On By is also presented in a more melancholic variant. The only song in Portuguese here Este Seu Olhar adds an exotic note to the album whereas So Nice is once again an English language version of one of Jobim’s standards as well as the title track – the Brazilian serials’ fans will recognize these melodies at once. The record closes with Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry, a slow track with a deep philosophic sense hidden in the interesting metaphors of the most beautiful lyrics. Besides the album offers two bonus compositions, How Can You Mend A Broken Heart and Every Time We Say Goodbye gracefully completing this unique collection.

Music for harmony with oneself

Diana Krall’s music smoothes and relaxes, makes one reflect of pleasant things and brings the listeners to the state of harmony with themselves. No doubt this is especially true about the album Quiet Nights. You are sure to appreciate the record if you listen to it at home doing the daily routine and it will be also suitable on a romantic evening. Besides it can be a great present for your parents who know well most of these songs and for the younger generation it will be a great way to go deeper into the unknown past. On the whole Diana Krall is still faithful to herself and knows what a really soulful music means. Elvis Costello’s wife and the mother of twins this woman can be truly proud of her life and successes at her age of 44. We can be sure that she will soon release a new masterpiece and for now we have an excellent record Quiet Nights. It quietly and unobtrusively makes us remember that the summer is coming soon and undoubtedly many of us will have new romantic acquaintances and have a good time in general.

Alexandra Zachernovskaya

There is hardly another story in the world similar to the one behind the entire creative work of the jazz singer Melody Gardot. She got into a severe car accident at the age of 19 and it was the music therapy that helped her to recover. By that time the girl had played only piano and she learnt to play guitar while supine. It was also then that a songwriting talent revealed itself. The singer’s first creation was the EP Some Lessons, then a full length recording Worrisome Heart was released. Melody writes all the material herself stating that the songwriting process occurs unconsciously the only thing she feels being the energy. This year the singer releases her sophomore effort My One And Only Thrill produced by Larry Klein that unlike the previous album proves to be much more profound in the respect of arrangements and the recording quality on the whole. We are only left to be glad that Melody has managed to find time in the tough touring schedule for studio recording and My One And Only Thrill is admirable in every way.

Really beautiful arrangements on My One And Only Thrill

The album consists of 11 tracks 10 of which are written by Melody Gardot and only one is a cover. Stylistically My One And Only Thrill is a bit livelier jazz collection refined with the singer’s sultry vocals and really beautiful arrangements. Each of the compositions on the album is remarkable for a low tempo, a bit sad atmosphere and a wonderful softness of performance. The record opens with Baby I’m A Fool pleasing with splendid cellos and fiddles, a melodious guitar and soulful lyrics which everyone in love is going to understand. The song If The Stars Were Mine has a more playful attitude corresponding the text: here we find Melody dreaming about what she could do for her beloved and is happy with her dreams herself. One of the album’s most contagious tracks Who Will Comfort Me pleases with a rhythmic finger clacking, splendid back vocals and Gradot’s laughing at the end of the song while Your Heart Is As Black As Night is a beautiful composition that seems to have been written especially to be played in a luxurious restaurant: piano and winds are talking to each other sound as though they exist separately from the vocals. Another example of marvelous violins is the song Our Love Is Easy filled with the deepest melancholy, and the track in French Les Etoiles conquers with an unexpectedly sprightly percussion. One of the most significant compositions on the album is The Rain with a very interesting and complicated tune and an arrangement that perfectly harmonizes with Melody’s singing. The title song proves to be the longest one on the album, over 6 minutes, and is one of the sincerest love confessions you have ever heard. Surprising is Gardot’s interpretation of Arlen And Harburg’s famous song Over The Rainbow, which for the first time gets painted with Brazilian colors and the album closer is another variant of the romantic track If The Stars Were Mine (Orchestral Version).

Original material that can be easily taken for classic

Melody Gardot’s unique story is able to inspire anybody even if he or she is not interested in jazz music as it is. The interesting thing is that her vocals could go perfectly well for unobtrusive and light pop music as it can boast enough of the true feminine sensuality that brings success to the young pop starlets. Yet it seems to be all determined for Melody from the very beginning. Since childhood she has been fond of such performer’s works as Janis Joplin, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington and George Gershwin and she can now contribute herself to the word jazz culture. What is characteristic of all her original songs is their being so good that one can easily take them for classics and that definitely stands high. One can be sure that despite her quite young age – Melody hasn’t even reached 25 – a brilliant future is expecting this singer and her name is going become one of the most important in the world of jazz in no time. And the excellent album My One And Only Thrill is sure to play a meaningful part in that.

Alexandra Zachernovskaya

Singer and actor Michael Buble was born in British Columbia, Canada, on September 9, 1975. He was practically raised solely by his mother since his father, a fisherman, was at the sea all the time. By his teens, Michael had already gathered a considerable collection of records constituted mostly by jazz and soul performers that cultivated in him love for such music. Among the boy’s favorites were such stars as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald and Stevie Wonder. Their singing ignited Michael’s own desire to train his voice, which he practiced almost entire free time. Michael’s family supported this initiative since they saw how gifted he was. After Buble took part in a young talent competition for the whole province and won beautifully, one of the organizers, Beverly Delich, decided to help him make his first step into the professional music career.

With Delich’s support, Michael released independently his debut long player. In 1996, he played Elvis in the music play Red Rock Diner staged in Vancouver. This role was the first one in the long row of the others he took in the years to come. The true breakthrough in Buble’s career came along after his performance at the Canadian Prime Minister’s daughter’s wedding. On that particular evening, he was spotted by the Grammy-winning producer David Foster. Backed by David, Michael signed a contract with the 143 Records label and started working on his first official release. Self-titled, this album arrived in 2003. The record topped the charts in Australia and became multiplatinum in a number of other countries. This studio work showed all the sides of Buble’s rich talent. What he was best at was performing classic compositions in the contemporary vein, which instantly made them international hits .

In 2004, Buble won the prestigious Canadian national Juno Awards as the Best New Artist. In a year, he delivered his sophomore long player, It’s Time (2005). This album even outdid the achievements of its predecessor. The new record sold over five million copies worldwide and held a position in the Billboard Jazz charts for two years. The Canadian’s fans were especially happy with the hit Home, penned by Buble to his girlfriend. She was even featured in the video for this song. Home was number one in several countries and possessed a heavy airplay at the world’s leading radio stations for a long while. However, soon, Buble parted with his love, yet he managed to find another one presented by actress Emily Blunt.

In 2007, Michael issued his third full-length record, Call Me Irresponsible, debuting third in Canada. Both critics and music lovers praised the new product from the singer, in particular, his song about his previous affair, Lost. Personal life figured often in Buble’s songs. For instance, he wrote the composition Everything for Blunt, yet never released it because in July 2008 they also parted. This circumstance did not put Michael off the track as he kept recording and performing. By that moment, he had already sold eighteen million copies of his albums all over the world collecting one award after another. In December 2008, Michael Buble became part of big sports after buying the ownership rights to the hockey team Vancouver Giants. Besides, he participated in the television documentary Music and the Brain informing on the effects of music upon the human cognition. In 2009, Michael Buble released the concert DVD and CD titled Michael Buble Meets Madison Square Garden.

The soulfull and happy or sad Jazz renderings electrify the scences and sooth the savage beast in us.  The horn heavy tempos and gregarious lyrics preach to our pain and offer a indred spirtit.  Here we like to share* our Jazz stylings and enjoy the discussions about past current and future Jazz artists. 

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