Great music albums...recorded really well!!

Turntables from ₹16,900.00
Panditji, glad to know that we have something in common. In the particular Brian Culbersons album that I mentioned, he had veered away from the smooth jazz style and recorded a full blown funk album in collaboration with his favourite funk artists, over a period of just 5 days! The album cover shows baby Culbertson (little over a year old) wearing a headphone, listening to the music of Earth, Wind & Fire. The liner notes on the album makes it an interesting reading.

Mostly I prefer artists, whose music is spontaneous and without inhibitions. If the music meets this criteria, I dont bother about the genre. Some of my favourite albums are: -

Antonio Carlo Jobims Albums - Wave (1967) - Just a 31+ minutes of music - One of the most gorgeous jazz recordings. Passarim(1987) - Beautiful Brazilian music in addition to great vocals - recorded with family & friends.

Full House (Live) by J. Geils Band - A sub 35 minutes LP - Recorded live at Detroit-1972 - This must be the ultimate live recording of any band that I have ever heard. I never understood how these guys vanished into obscurity, whereas bands like Rolling Stones are still chugging along. If anyone likes great R&R live music in full blast, just get hold of this album - it is available in all formats - though the music content is limited, you get more than the moneys worth.

Bela Fleck - Bluegrass Sessions (Tales from the Acoustic Planet, Vol.2)-1999 - 75+ minutes of modern bluegrass music (mostly BFs compositions & some traditional) in collaboration with many of the talented musicians of the genre. The music is simply astounding and will convert any bluegrass hater into a believer. I also immensely like BFs collaboration with Edgar Meyar in Music for Two-2004. Another curious partnership & fabulous music.

Elvis Costello & Alan Toussaint - The River in Reverse (2005) - I am always partial to New Orleans music, which I find very infectious. This album was recorded subsequent to Hurricane Katrina disaster. The musicianship throughout the album is just outstanding.
 
Glad to meet another music lover.... However apart from Jobim, I have not heard much music of Bela Fleck and Elvis Costello but I simply love Jobim.....

I agree with you on Wave and Passarim but my favourite is Stone Flower (1970)...Wave and Passarim being joint second...

Will sample some of the Bela Fleck's music .... Got a new artist to look forward to...
 
Panditji -
The first time I encountered Bela Flecks music was more than 10 years back, when I bought BF & The Flecktones Greatest Hits of the 20th Century - this album is a collection of BF& Flecktones modern jazz fusion music. Subsequently, I bought the bluegrass album that I mentioned in my earlier post. Later on I acquired Music for Two - where BF & Edger Meyer covered Bach & Eccles, apart from their own compositions - this was released by SONY Classical label and was recorded live. The next was Tabula Rassa - collaboration with VM Bhatt & Jie-Bing Chen - elsewhere in this link Jls001 has reviewed it - another great world music recording. The last was The Enchantment with Chick Corea - mostly original compositions by BF & CC and beautifully rendered - released by Universal in India. You may still find The Enchantment-2007, which I feel is reasonably priced (Rs.395), in music stores.

Bela Fleck is the most versatile & adventurous Banjo player that one would ever encounter. He has created some of the best music that one would come across and has hardly puts his foot wrong. He has been recording since 1979 & therefore has a large music output. I have been trying to get hold of Melody of Rhythm - Triple Concerto & Music for Trio 2009 - a collaboration between him Edger Meyer & Zakir Hussain with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The price quoted at online music stores for this album is quite exorbitant. Hopefully, in future, some music co. will release this album here in India at a reasonable price.

Just as BF, Elvis Costello too has been in the music scene since late 70s at the onset of punk resurgence & has a huge catalogue of music that any musician would envy. I have many LPs released by Elvis Costello & the Attractions in the 70s & in the 80s - their music & lyrical contents were immediate & biting. Later on as the years wore off, his music became sober & he married his famous other half Diana Krall in 2003. He collaborated with her in The Girl in the Other Room and co-wrote, for the first time, many of her original compositions. I also have his album with Burt Bacharach Painted from Memory1998, that won many awards. EC has an edginess in his vocal delivery - dont let it put you off from trying out his music.

Speaking of Brazilian music, I have Rio & Festival by Lee Ritenour. These are my favourite LRs albums. Since you seems to be a fan of Brazilian music, I guess you might have them in your collection. As mentioned in my earlier post, I have only those two albums of Jobim, other than collaborations. Stone Flower is also a stunning album that I dont have in my collection. Thanks for sharing your music.
 
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zozo02
In your earlier post you had written about Gillian Welchs album Soul Journey. I havent heard any of her solo outings. However, I have the OST of O Brother, How art though?, where she had contributed her vocals, along with Alison Krauss & Emmylou Harris, on a couple of tracks. After sampling her music on you tube, the OST doesnt seem to do justice to her talents.

I noticed that the Country Music artists are hardly covered in our forum, except for couple of biggies. Is there a reason? One of my favourite is Vince Gill. He has made some minor contributions in the bluegrass album of Bela Fleck that I had mentioned earlier. Because of their earthy nature, I am always attracted to country music.

Harlequin is definitely a great album too. However, in my collection I only have DGs Migration. Thanks.
 
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christian paul said:
The last was The Enchantment with Chick Corea - mostly original compositions by BF & CC and beautifully rendered - released by Universal in India. You may still find The Enchantment-2007, which I feel is reasonably priced (Rs.395), in music stores.
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The Enchantment by Bela Fleck and Chick Corea is awesome for the music and the sonics. A must listen for fans of either musician. Just a banjo and a piano duetting and duelling. The piano covers the lower registers so well one doesn't feel the absence of upright bass. One particular track (forgot the name) sounds more like a western classical in terms of its complexity.
 
OT warning: Shakti is having a concert tonight 7 PM at the Shanmukhananda Hall at Sion, Mumbai. Can't go but I would love to go listen to a live Shakti performance. They even have their breathless vocalist featuring tonight.

Shanmukhananda Hall was one of the two venues where they recorded their famous live album "Saturday Night in Bombay". BTW, this is another album that merits mention on this thread for its sonics.
 
One of my favorite recordings is Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life.

A new LP I am loving is Sir Paul McCartney's Kisses on the Bottom. A lot of it was recorded here in Hollywood at Capitol Records iconic studios. They used the underground concrete trapazoidal reverb chambers (designed by Les Paul, no less) to add a rich sweetness seldom heard today.

If you are a McCartney fan and have iTunes, you can listen to Sir Paul and Diana Krall stream live from the Capitol Studios on Feburary 9th, at 7:00pm Pacific Standard Time. That will be Feburary 10th, at 8:30 AM in India. It is not the ususal fare from McCartney, but as much as the man can still rock at almost 70, he delivers a smoothness from the 1940's as good as it ever was.
 
christian paul said:
I noticed that the Country Music artists are hardly covered in our forum, except for couple of biggies. Is there a reason? One of my favourite is Vince Gill. He has made some minor contributions in the bluegrass album of Bela Fleck that I had mentioned earlier. Because of their earthy nature, I am always attracted to country music.
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I am definitely a country music fan (for as long as I remember) and have amassed a sizable collection on LPs and CDs, including a couple of Vince Gill albums on CD. Very good songs but at least the albums that I have (Souvenir and one more album I can't recall) are mediocre in sonic quality. He is a fine guitarist and has contributed to Eric Clapton's Crossroads concert. He's also featured on Lee Ritenour's Six String Theory, both on vocals and guitar for BB King's number "Why I Sing The Blues", with the King himself.

One of the reasons, IMHO, why country is losing ground is because many artists have sold out to rock and pop influences. Consider the earlier albums of Shania Twain, who in the first place was a country star, and the later albums produced by her one time husband Robert John "Mutt" Lange. The difference is like day and night. To me the later albums are not even listenable (though I must admit to owning a double CD album).

Another instance is Lady Antebellum - recently hosanna-ed at the Grammies. They don't sound country to me. The first time I heard them I asked which rock band is this? Anyway, that's just me - very old fashioned.
 
christian paul said:
zozo02
In your earlier post you had written about Gillian Welchs album Soul Journey. I havent heard any of her solo outings.

Oh I didn't know she was on that. Loved many songs on that OST...

To be honest I've never been a big fan of Country however always open to experiment with different artists and genres. In one of these moods I came across her music...what I like is that it's kind of difficult to slot her into either Bluegrass...Folk...Country...Blues...Rock. She seems to have a lot of different influences. And "Soul Journey" is a great album...takes a few listens though to start loving it. And lyrics are interesting

Another great album with great sound...Josh Ritter - Hello Starling
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Some more excellent music that I appreciate -
Spirit by Willie Nelson-1996
Just 40 minutes of running time - This is one of the compelling albums recorded by Willie Nelson. There are some instrumental tracks and the songs are beautifully constructed - the whole album meld together brilliantly. This is one of the most inspiring music Ive ever heard. Couple of years later, Willie released another album Teatro , which was also in similar vein.

The day finger pickers took over the world by Chet Atkins & Tommy Emmanuel-1997
Little more than 35 minutes of music - I guess this was the last full length album recorded by CA before he passed away in 2001. Both guitar virtuosos complement each other very well and recorded one of the magnificent albums.

I picked up both the albums on sale and shelled out between Rs.100/- - Rs.150/- each, about 10 years back. However, for Teatro I paid the full tag price - couple of years later, I found the album in the discount rack for Rs.110/-.
 
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Bela Fleck & the Flecktones DVD Live at the Quick (2003) is available at Rhythm House at Rs.419/- (after 30% discount) - less than 2 hrs of running time. A wide range of styles were being tackled by the Band throughout the DVD. A good sampler for first time listeners.

Spyro Gyras last album A foreign affair (2011) is also available at Rs.276/- (after 30% discount) - 60 minutes of music. This is a lively world/fusion jazz album. Singers Arijit Singh & Keb Mo have contributed their vocals on a couple of tracks. If you are a fusion/smooth jazz lover, dont miss the album.

The other day, I was informed that these reduced prices would be discontinued shortly.
 
Vulture Culture - Alan Parsons Project
Tango in the night - Fleetwood Mac

Incidentally, Alan Parson is the Sound Engineer for Pink Floyd's Dark side of the Moon.
 
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The Nearness of You : The Ballad Book-Michael Brecker (2001): One of the finest tenor saxophonist of our times - Teamed up with Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny and others (James Taylor lending vocals on Dont let me be lonely tonight & The nearness of you) to record this album. Superb selection of tracks that were played with passion - a sensual atmosphere prevails all thru the album. JTs Dont let me be lonely tonight outshines his original version. Unfortunately, MB is no more with us - he passed away in 2007 after battling bone marrow cancer. I bought this album on sale for Rs.190/-.

If you favour the music of Weather Report, try The Brecker Brothers music of the 70s, you will be amply rewarded.

Schuur Fire-Dianne Schuur (2005): This was a total surprise package for me. The album has Caribbean/Latin flavour throughout. JTs Dont let me be lonely tonight beautifully covered by her. The country song I cant stop loving you was also given a Latin feel. She even brilliantly covered Stevie Wonders As & Duran Durans Ordinary world. This album may still be available at music stores (price: Rs.395/-).
 
christian paul said:
Schuur Fire-Dianne Schuur (2005): This was a total surprise package for me. The album has Caribbean/Latin flavour throughout. JTs Dont let me be lonely tonight beautifully covered by her. The country song I cant stop loving you was also given a Latin feel. She even brilliantly covered Stevie Wonders As & Duran Durans Ordinary world. This album may still be available at music stores (price: Rs.395/-).
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Interesting.

I have a couple of her albums - Music is My Life and one more whose name I can't recall. Try Music Is My Life if you can get. The number "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" at 9+ mins is one hell of a number. And so is "Good Morning, Heartache".
 
jls001
I too have couple of other albums (Pure Schuur & Love Songs), however, in Schuur Fire she was a revelation. Ill try to get hold of the albums that you suggested. Thanks.
 
one well recorded album that i have been listening to of late is Carole King's Tapestry. In its time it was a huge hit. It sounds fresh and earnest even now.
(You make me feel) like a natural woman, Will you love me tomorrow, Way over Yonder etc are great to listen to...
timeless stuff.....

Carole King - Tapestry - YouTube
 
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