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Details: CD music

July 2013

Not Quite Bluegrass, but Very Good Nonetheless

Self released
Format: CD

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Overall Enjoyment

A good 90 percent of the indie albums we receive for review come from agents that have only indie clients. SoundStage! Network writers recommend about five to seven percent. Then about two to three percent come from the artists themselves. A Town Called Normal is one of the latter. That's sort of ironic, because it sounds like it could have been recorded in West Virginia, where I live.

Details: CD music

July 2013

Nancy Harms -- A Star Ascending

Gazelle Records GNH-002
Format: CD

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Sound Quality

Overall Enjoyment

Nancy Harms hails from small-town Minnesota and has developed a sophisticated performing style that couples nicely with a sweet, direct personality. She has a marvel of a voice that will do anything she asks of it. It can be sweet and simple or sultry and dark. She colors her voice to suit whatever a particular song demands. She has a sure sense of both rhythm and pitch and can float some high notes that would make an opera singer jealous.

Details: CD music

June 2013

Sweet and Neat Jazz for a Good Cause

Self released
Format: CD

Musical Performance

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Overall Enjoyment

This is Abigail Riccards's third album. Perhaps that's why its 12-song playlist seems so comfortable and secure. I like her voice and interpretations, and I surely like her choices in picking repertory. It's been a long time since I've had "I've Told Every Little Star" pass my way, and it's a first that it keeps company with "Circle Game" and "Waltz for Debby."

Details: CD music

June 2013

“Just for Fun” Recordings Have Become Treasures

Jazzknight Records JKR001
Format: CD

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Overall Enjoyment

George Shearing became practically a household word when the pianist was under contract with Capitol Records. His recordings comfortably crossed the line between pop and jazz and sold exceptionally well. He was often backed by strings, and did some significant duo albums with Nat King Cole and Nancy Wilson. No doubt, album titles such as Latin Lace, Latin Affair, Beauty and the Beat! (a duo album with Peggy Lee), White Satin, and Black Satin (with voluptuous female models on the cover) helped ease the public's fear that they might be buying a jazz album.

Details: CD music

June 2013

Suave Vocals and the Ghost of Billy May

222 Records 222RO1
Format: CD

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Overall Enjoyment

I'm a great fan of TV's Glee and have admired Matthew Morrison and his character, Will Schuester, from the first episode. Musically, the show has sometimes gone off the rails, but then it miraculously gets back to center with Morrison and the cast doing what they do best -- show tunes. Remember that tribute to "Make 'Em Laugh," from Singin' in the Rain? One of the most entertaining bits on television in a while.

Details: CD music

June 2013

Impeccable, Sophisticated Singing

Prime Productions
Format: CD

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Overall Enjoyment

The title of the first album by Thisbe Vos was Sophistication, and that might well describe the mood and manner of Under Your Spell, her second CD. As she sings five timeless classics and seven new tunes that she authored, Vos gives the impression of a singer-songwriter who has arrived at the top and who needs only more exposure to comfortably stay there. I can't imagine anyone who loves music not loving Vos. And that's both as singer and songwriter.

Details: CD music

May 2013

Virtuoso Bluegrass from Down Under

Self released
Format: CD

Musical Performance

Sound Quality

Overall Enjoyment

Folk music will never die. It will be revisited and reinvented by each new generation. Mumford & Sons are the latest and most recognizable incarnation, mixing rock and a few drum sets in with the banjos and guitars, resulting in sold-out arenas. Miley Cyrus has even touched on country and folk lately, and the result might surprise you. I believe there's folk music in the heart of every great performer. America is so rich in it that it's hard to ignore.

Details: CD music

May 2013

Bold Singing from Denise King

Cristal Records CR 209
Format: CD

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Overall Enjoyment

Talk about successful hands-across-the-sea unions! Denise King was born in Philadelphia and got her first singing experience in clubs in the City of Brotherly Love. Olivier Hutman was born in France and has quite a lengthy resume as bandleader, sideman, and film-music composer, having made over 200 recordings. The two met, toured together, and now have released Give Me the High Sign, their second album together. It sounds like they have known each other for a long time when actually their association has been very brief. But based on what I hear on this dynamic CD, their partnership should go on for a very long time.

Details: CD music

April 2013

Madcap Music for the Concert Hall

Preiser PR91239CD
Format: CD

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Overall Enjoyment

If you want to poke fun at music, it helps to be a virtuoso, a title that both Thomas Gansch and Georg Breinschmid can easily claim. Trumpeter Gansch and double-bass player Breinschmid met in 1997. Each had impressive credentials performing classical music, and together they decided to quit that business and play what they wanted to play, which included just about everything. They are now well on their way to joining the ranks of such famous music spoofers as Spike Jones, Victor Borge, and Anna Russell. They'd be right at home at the Hoffnung Music Festival concerts as well.

Details: CD music

March 2013

Ben Sidran's Totally Hip 35th Solo Album

Unlimited Media 5638090383
Format: CD

Musical Performance

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In his written notes for this upbeat retro CD, Ben Sidran reminds us that hipster was originally a term used during Prohibition to describe a dude who arrives at a club with a flask in his hip pocket. If you were "hip," it meant you had booze. Later on, other meanings started to define the word -- anti-establishment, cooler than cool, the height of "it." Cannonball Adderley is credited with saying, "Hipness is not a state of mind. It's a fact of life."

CD Music

Vincent Cross: "A Town Called Normal"

Not Quite Bluegrass, but Very Good Nonetheless

Nancy Harms: "Dreams in Apartments"

Nancy Harms -- A Star Ascending

Abigail Riccards: "Every Little Star"

Sweet and Neat Jazz for a Good Cause

George Shearing & Don Thompson: "George Shearing at Home"

“Just for Fun” Recordings Have Become Treasures

Matthew Morrison: "Where It All Began"

Suave Vocals and the Ghost of Billy May

Thisbe Vos: "Under Your Spell"

Impeccable, Sophisticated Singing

Mustered Courage: "Powerlines"

Virtuoso Bluegrass from Down Under

Denise King & Olivier Hutman: "Give Me The High Sign"

Bold Singing from Denise King

Thomas Gansch and Georg Breinschmid: "Gansch & Breinschmid Live"

Madcap Music for the Concert Hall

Ben Sidran: "Don’t Cry for No Hipster"

Ben Sidran's Totally Hip 35th Solo Album