SoundStage! Xperience | SoundStageXperience.com

Details: CD music

September 2013

Cool Singing and Playing Bring Back an Era

Summit Records DCD 615
Format: CD

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This saucy, hip CD stems from a live concert that Cheryl Bentyne and Mark Winkler put together in 2010. Bentyne is a Grammy Award-winning singer from the Manhattan Transfer, and Winkler is a staple of West Coast jazz, both as singer and lyricist. Each is an appealing singer alone, but together they're downright irresistible. Not many jazz duos feature a match like this one.

Details: CD music

September 2013

A Perfect Album from a Brilliant, Multi-Talented Artist

Jazzed Media JM1063
Format: CD

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Lorraine Feather was born into music. Her father was Leonard Feather, a jazz pianist, composer, and producer who is best remembered for his journalism -- writing reviews and album notes pertaining to jazz. Her mother was a singer in the big-band era and an ex-roommate of Peggy Lee. And her godmother was none other than Billie Holiday. Being blessed with genes and attention from the best offers no guarantee that one will come out ahead, but in Lorraine Feather's case everything took, and she has become one of the most brilliant and multi-talented artists performing today.

Details: CD music

August 2013

The Ultimate Album about Love

A.T. Music 3101
Format: CD

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The mellow flugelhorn from Gilbert Castellanos sets an elegant and sophisticated tone for "Change Partners," the opening cut from Lyn Stanley's Lost in Romance, a mood to which the rest of the album adheres. Stanley's vocals are so voluptuous and assured that I was surprised to learn that this is her first album. I had thought it was probably another in a string of successes.

Details: CD music

August 2013

Sorrow As Life’s Twin

Ozella SW 513 EP
Format: CD

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A true international sensation, Randi Tytingvåg is a Norwegian singer who records in Germany and sings in English. She has a style that is completely her own. You simply can't peg it, since it contains elements of jazz, cabaret, and pop put together in a unique and effective manner. Her first album, Red, was a huge hit, and it brought her to the attention of American listeners through Ozella Music, a German audiophile recording company.

Details: CD music

July 2013

Not Quite Bluegrass, but Very Good Nonetheless

Self released
Format: CD

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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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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

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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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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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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.

CD Music

Cheryl Bentyne and Mark Winkler: "West Coast Cool"

Cool Singing and Playing Bring Back an Era

Lorraine Feather: "Attachments"

A Perfect Album from a Brilliant, Multi-Talented Artist

Lyn Stanley: "Lost in Romance"

The Ultimate Album about Love

Randi Tytingvåg: "Lights Out"

Sorrow As Life’s Twin

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