Saturday, November 18, 2006

Dionne Warwick - Live at Syracuse - Jazz Festival 2003


Marie Dionne Warrick (born December 12, 1940 in East Orange, New Jersey), known professionally as Dionne Warwick, is an American singer best known for her work with Hal David and Burt Bacharach as songwriters .
Born to parents Mansel Warrick and Lee Drinkard, Dionne Warrick began singing gospel with her family, and started her professional career after graduating from the University of Hartford. In the earliest stage of her career, she sang backing vocals on records by Chuck Jackson, Dinah Washington and Solomon Burke, among others. Her first solo single was 1962's "Don't Make Me Over", supplied by Warrick herself when she snapped the phrase at producers Burt Bacharach and Hal David during an arduous recording session producers. In this concert she sung some of her most memorable greatest hits. Celebrating her 40th year in the music industry.

Julia Fordham - That's Live - 2003

Julia Fordham (born August 10, 1962, Portsmouth, England) is a singer-songwriter based in California. Her professional career started in the early 1980s, under the name "Jules Fordham," as a backing singer for the likes of Mari Wilson & the Wilsations and Kim Wilde.
In 1988, she released her first album on Circa Records, Julia Fordham. The album, which contained a pair of UK top 40 singles, introduced her as a singer with considerable vocal range, and her deeply emotional lyrics endeared her to a small, committed audience. Licensed to Virgin Records America, the album was a minor hit and paved the way for the success of 1989's Porcelain. The lead single from this LP, "Manhattan Skyline," was an adult contemporary radio and VH-1 hit. Her music can be considered and categorized as Jazz music. In this concert she has guested multiple -jazz singers which resulted a very entertaining one.



Friday, November 17, 2006

Laura Fygi Live at Royal Theatre Carre, Amsterdam - 1998



Laura Fygi ( August 27, 1955 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch singer.
For the first eight years of her life, she lived with her parents in South America. She is the daughter of a Dutch father (a manager at Philips) and an Egyptian mother.
Between 1987 and 1991, Laura Fygi was a member of one of the most popular Dutch girl-bands, Centerfold. During performances, the ladies dressed themselves in sexy lingerie. They had hits in the Netherlands and all over Europe. In Japan, they were considered famous.
In 1991, the ladies of Centerfold stopped performing and Laura (together with Rowan Moore) started a band called The Backlot. After one performance in Dutch theatre Paradiso, an album was expected, but Mercury Records had already asked Laura to make a solo album. This first album of hers was called Introducing (album), produced by Ruud Jacobs. On this album, she was accompanied by famous Belgian musician Jean 'Toots' Thielemans. Most of the songs on the album are jazz. In this concert she sang classic jazz music such as Bewitched,Let there be love,and I've got you under my skin. Some are Antonio Carlos Jobims compositions. Known for her Bossa Nova melodies which made her popular singing to the tunes of some Brazilian jazz music. 1 hour of samba music.



Monday, November 13, 2006

Herbie Hancock Quintet - Live in France - 2002

Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an Academy Award and multiple Grammy Award winning jazz pianist and composer from Chicago, Illinois, USA. Hancock is one of jazz music's most important and influential pianists and composers. He embraced elements of rock, funk, and soul while adopting freer stylistic elements from jazz.

As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet", Hancock helped redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section, and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound. Later, he was one of the first jazz musicians to embrace synthesizers and funk. Yet for all his restless experimentalism, Hancock's music is often melodic and accessible; he has had many songs "cross over" and achieve success among pop audiences. In this concert he has invited Michael Brecker- tenor Saxophone player-performing his best- ala John Coltrane. Along with him are Rey Hargrove, George Mraz and Willie Jones at Theater Antique de Vienne on July 8, 2002. 1 hour of mainstream jazz.


Michael Brecker and Pat Metheny Special Quartet - 2000

Michael Brecker Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 29, 1949) is probably the most respected and imitated jazz saxophonist of the post-Coltrane era. As of 2005, he has won 11 Grammys as both performer and composer.
Michael Brecker has been diagnosed with the blood disorder myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Despite a widely-publicized worldwide search, Brecker was unable to find a matching stem cell donor. In late 2005, he was the recipient of an experimental partial matching stem cell transplant. As of mid 2006 he is recovering, but it is unclear whether the experimental procedure will provide a long term remedy. Brecker made his return to public performance in June 2006, playing with Herbie Hancock at Carnegie Hall. In this concert Michael Brecker has teamed up with Pat Metheny forming a Quartet. This was recorded in France -2000. The band members are Pat Metheny-guitar, Michael Brecker-tenor saxophone, Larry Goldings-organ and Bill Stewart-drums. Playing wide selection of original jazz compositions. 1 hour of avant-garde jazz.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Anna Maria Jopek and Pat Metheny - Upojenie - Live in Poland

A combination of two very talented musicians. Anna Maria Jopek, a well known singer from Poland. A Universal recording artist is a classically trained pianist and graduated from Chopin's Academy of Music in Warsaw, Poland. After briefly studying in Manhattan School of Music's Jazz Department Anna decided not to play Mozart concertos anymore and trade her beloved Ravel for Keith Jarrett. Philharmonic Hall for a small, smoky clubs and theatres. Pat Metheny, a professional jazz guitarist and a 15 times Grammy Award winner.

Both has shared their collaborative compositions which resulted a phenomenon hit it Poland. Singing along with Pat Metheny's compositions can be so impressive, full of harmony and deep rooted emotional expressions. This concert has included some of the most beautiful songs Anna and her producer-music partner-husband Marcin Kydrynski have ever written. Aside from having a pretty face, Anna Maria Jopek has a very distinct voice( similar to ENYA) that people from Poland really adores her. Lately, she has been appearing in several jazz concerts seeing with current popular jazz artists like Chris Botti ,Christian McBride, Branford Marsalis and Richard Bona.

How can you refuse to a beautiful voice and face (a great resemblance of Michelle Pfeiffer - American actress) even though her lyrics are all sung in Polish? She has a certain charisma that everybody's always drawn to her whenever she starts singing. The band members are among her closest European musicians, giving ultimate performances. This concert is some of the finest playing of a contemporary guitar genius like Mr. Pat Metheny. 1 whole hour of enjoyment!


Friday, November 10, 2006

George Duke - Live in Japan - 1983

George Duke (born 12 January 1946 in San Rafael, California) is a piano and synthesizer pioneer. He is known for his own work as well as for his collaborations with composers such as Frank Zappa and Stanley Clarke. He earned a bachelor's degree in music from the San Francisco Conservatory in 1967. In 2001, French House duo Daft Punk used a looped sample from the intro to Duke's song "I Love You More" in their song "Digital Love". In this concert he explored more into his compositions. A fan of George Duke will surely love this concert.



Monday, November 06, 2006

TOTO - Live in Paris - 2004

Toto is an American rock/pop/prog band which had their greatest commercial success in the 1980s. They are known for covering several music styles, such as pop, rock, funk, prog, jazz, and others.

Toto was formed in Los Angeles in 1977 by David Paich, Steve Lukather, Bobby Kimball, brothers Steve and Jeff Porcaro, and David Hungate. The band members had met in high school and at studio sessions in the 1970s, when they became some of the busiest session musicians in the music business. This video will bring you back from some of their greatest hits. Awesome concert.




Steely Dan - Two Against Nature

Steely Dan is an American rock band centered around the core members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. The band's peak of popularity was in the 1970s, when it released six albums that blended together elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop. Their music is characterized by complex jazz-influenced structures and harmonies, literate lyrics and adroit musicianship.
Fagen and Becker named the band for a steam-powered dildo in the William Burroughs novel Naked Lunch. The group toured from 1972 to 1974, but from 1975 to 1980 the group became purely a studio-based act. The band was known for using session players such as Michael McDonald on their recordings. Steely Dan was inactive from 1981 through 1992, after Becker and Fagen parted ways but they have since reunited, returning with the 2000 release Two Againts Nature