Music, Music, Music

Scott’s Picks - January 2025

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January’s picks closed out in a photo finish last night (Jan 31st!) when my research finally revealed enough information to make this list complete. Just as happened in December it is getting harder and harder to find new music to recommend. As a result my thoughts this month include only one album which is truly new.

I’ll start with a classical recommendation which is a tip of my keyboard to the excellent writing provided by our club member and classical music reviewer, Phil Muse. I hope he approves!

The second recommendation is for a singer/songwriter album which has only two released songs - the remainder to come in April. Even incomplete, the album shows enough promise to bring to your attention.

The final recommendation is for the work of a contemporary of John Prine. Originally recorded as quadraphonic albums they are finally available as downloads.

Recommendation #1:

Artist: Yunchan Lim

Title: Live from the Cliburn: Liszt - Transcendental Études

Label: Steinway & Sons 30217

Release Date - May 2023

As of today, the youngest person to climb Mt Everest is a thirteen year old from California. He accomplished the milestone accompanied by both of his parents and three guides. Now imagine this young man climbing alone and racing up the mountain against five other climbers. That is what Yunchan Lim accomplished at the age of eighteen when he won the 2022 Van Cliburn competition (like the Olympics held at four year intervals).

If this reference of absolute “highest” troubles you let’s change the accomplishment to climbing all 8000 meter mountains of the world (there are eighteen). There is a long list of climbers who have successfully reached these summits but they are considered among the elite of that athletic speciality. Mr Lim’s performance placed him in the 8k summit club of classical music.

Liszt, at the age of twenty one, published the Etudes in 1838 in response to his appreciation of composer and violinist extraordinaire Niccolo Paganini who pushed the technical limits of what violinists at that time could accomplish. As a result pianists who attempt the Liszt Etudes must be masters of both technique and expressive phrasing.

The Gramophone review of Yunchan Lim’s recording of the Etudes concludes: “This is certainly one of the finest and most compelling performances of the Transcendental Études I have ever heard.” The fact that the record label is none other than Steinway should add weight to the significance of this release.

Here is the Youtube video of Yunchan in concert. Except for a few minor edits, the performance is the same as what you hear from the CD.

Yunchan Lim - LISZT 12 Transcendental Etudes

The story of Yunchan Lim’s win at the 2022 competition is only partially told by his performance of the Liszt Etudes. His “final round” performance was with an orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop (MacArthur fellow and winner of Koussevitzky Prize for conducting) of the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No 3. Of that performance Alsop has said, “He’s a musician way beyond his years… Technically, he’s phenomenal, and the colors and dynamics are phenomenal.”

That concert is available on YouTube as is a very enjoyable analysis by Ben Laude. I give both my highest recommendations.

REMASTERED: Yunchan Lim – RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, op. 30

Is Yunchan Lim’s Rachmaninoff 3rd Concerto the greatest ever?

The Century-Old Pianists Behind Yunchan Lim's Award-Winning Chopin Etudes

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Recommendation #2:

Artist: Hannah Robinson

Title: Holding Up The Sky

Label: TBD

Release Date - April 2025

Of the four releases from UK based singer/songwriter Hannah Robinson it is only the most recent which offers the most singular sound. With that qualified recommendation it is one that lend my full support.

Let’s start with her 2019 EP, Endless Street. The title track is sung with a smoky and dark alto. In musical style, she is similar to Norah Jones. Hannah’s lyrics are best when using lyrics which deliver emotional impact. Here’s her opening phrase:

I’ve been wandering just like a stray

Since you left me that distant day

I’ve been dancing to a missing beat

Way down on Endless Street

Hannah Robinson - Endless Street

This imagery of social isolation is combined with a melody which suggests hopeless and perhaps desperation. For some this will place you squarely in Hannah’s world. That’s what the best singer/songwriters achieve. 

In the song “If I Get My Way” Robinson fights her way out of the emotional dead end offered by that opening song. The lyrics are purposeful and offer the listener both an entry into her emotions and the hope for resolution. It may be a short distance but with Robinson’s delivery and original melody it’s one that invites repeated listening.

Doubt bites my skin

And I want out

Soon as it gets in

And I’m dreaming away

All of my precious time

Finding a way

To speak my mind

If I Get My Way - Hannah Robinson

When writing which offers imagery with well defined characters she finds a musical well that if continued to be used may yield very memorable songs. An example is the title song from her upcoming release, Holding Up The Sky. One interpretation is that she questions the desire to “save” others stemming from a need for validation instead of addressing more personal issues.

I can’t let go, it’ll all cave in

Everyone below needs saving

Something on my mind

Reaching up so high

For all this time I’ve been

Holding up the sky

I can’t look down, I might lose my grip

I’m holding on by my fingertips

Something on my mind

I can’t close my eyes

For all this time I’ve been

Holding up the sky

Hannah Robinson - 'Holding Up The Sky'

Will Hannah Robinson deliver on her promise of making music worthy of belonging to the troubadour era of singer/songwriters? That remains an open question. Based on these songs the odds are certainly in her favor.

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Recommendation #3:

Artist: Bonnie Koloc

Title: All Previous Albums

 1971 - After All This Time

 1972 - Hold On to Me

 1973 - Bonnie Koloc

 1974 - You’re Gonna Love Yourself in the Morning

Label: Ovation

There is so much to say about Bonnie Koloc that whatever I include here will be less than she deserves. In the early 1970s the Chicago folk scene included three singer/songwriters described as “trinity of the Chicago folk scene.” Together with John Prine (Sam Stone, Angel From Montgomery) and Steve Goodman (City Of New Orleans), Bonnie Koloc well deserved her placement in that grouping.

Koloc has written songs which match those writers for quality. Take her salute to cowboy movies frequently broadcast on the weekend during an age when people had to choose video entertainment from a small set of channels. In song, she quickly places you a romance of a western. The melody is instantly likable and draws you into her world with a musical high point and the lyric “you made me feel like I’ve been sold.” 

Sunday morning movies

Dreams of the night before

She fell in love with a cowboy

He left her standing at the door

With his old silk shirt and a great big bag of gold

Crying oh my honey you made me feel like I’ve been sold

….

Sunday morning movies

Black and white and jealous yellow

Twisted sheets on a wrinkled pillow

His dusty boots upon the floor

She knows the sheriff’s coming but she just won’t say a word

All the sweet loving things she’ll pretend she’ll never heard

You’ve got to ride if you want to get away

Bonnie Koloc - Sunday Morning Movies

The four albums Koloc made for the small label, Ovation, have recently become available on streaming services. She followed these up in later years with offerings from Epic and other labels. It is the Ovation albums, filled with songs she describes in interviews as pouring almost effortlessly from her which are not to be missed. It is important to note that her music spans both folk and jazz.

Along with her excellent songwriter chops Koloc is also a first class interpreter of other’s songs. These writers including Jim Croce, Jackson Browne and Tom Rush (to name just three). Koloc’s version of Rush’s Wind On The Water is one of her best efforts. Unlike Rush’s original version, Koloc slows the melody enough to showcase the lyrics with her haunting alto. She transforms it from a good but not terribly memorable folk song to an achingly beautiful ballad. The difference is so great that the result is two versions which appear to share only the words.

The wind on the water

Will let your mind wander

Pictures in the sky

Come and take your mind away

I see myself in different ways today

On the outside looking in

And finding myself wanting nothing

But to be with you again

It's just a short song to say

I hope to see you

Home again to stay someday

Wind On The Water - Bonnie Koloc

A return to Koloc’s work begs the question, “Will the troubadour songwriter era ever return?” The answer is far from certain but listening to Bonnie Koloc’s recordings instills a yearning for the style which will never disappear.

John Prine and Steve Goodman's Chicago Years -Bonnie Koloc

Roll Me on the Water - Bonnie Koloc

Bonnie Koloc - Kentucky Dream

Scott’s Picks - December 2024

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Finding new high quality music from singer/songwriters is nearly impossible. For this month, that’s my conclusion. I used Roon to try to find “similar artists” to ones already in my collection. I’ve read reviews from US and UK music publications including No Depression and the UK Americana Music Awards. Still, I heard little music which I could recall the next day.

Owing to personal taste I will accept that not everyone reached the same musical dead-end which I did. If you are in that camp I offer my applause. As for me, recommendations for this month involve older albums, two from my collection which are difficult or impossible to find and then one only a few years old which will serve as newly found music.

Recommendation #1:

Elizabeth Geyer - The Bridge

Let’s start out with the “difficult but not impossible to find” selection. It’s an album by Australian singer/songwriter Elizabeth Geyer. Entitled, “The Bridge” it was released in 2016. I recall the very moment, Sitting at my desk at work, that I heard it. I immediately emailed Elizabeth to say how much I loved it. Her melodies were all instantly memorable and the lyrics had uncommon points of view which stood apart from anything else I had heard.

The title song is a warning to musicians who sacrifice originality for conformity and as a result suffer banality.

Material things, or the brilliant swirls of colour in secret dreams?

but they march to the steady beat of drums they know

but they long to be the one to herald a new drum for tomorrow

but lost their hearts to their salaries, oh - oh, long ago

Then in the distance, lured toward an unfamiliar rhythm,

Famous last words turn round

for what they've shunned, they now have found

 (from The Bridge)

  Elizabeth Geyer - The Bridge

In remarks penned on her website Geyer explains…”It's always been a tough balance - how can music find the wider audience it deserves without being dumbed down to try and please everyone in the process? When music meets money, usually the music suffers.”

Another song, “Rain Falls,” benefits from straightforward nearly poetic lyrics.

Rain falls like a blanket on us all

and for a moment no-one's going anywhere

and all our differences lie hanging in the air

Rain falls and suddenly we're all the same

no amount of money can stop this rain

we drop the guns that we were holding and watch the rain

When it rains a boy and his granddad are the same age

both glued to the window with their cupcakes

and after the rain everything sparkles like Christmas time

 (from Rain Falls)

Elizabeth Geyer - Rain Falls

Liner notes detail Geyer’s motivation in writing this beautiful tale…“Rain can be beautiful, sometimes melancholy, awe inspiring and one of the great levellers - it can fill even the hardest person with wonder. All our differences, conflicts and the walls between us become nothing, when there is a sudden downpour.“

Arrangements on The Bridge feature Geyer playing her signature instrument, the flugelhorn. Far from an incidental choice, in Geyer’s hands this horn alternates between sounding triumphant and reflective. How remarkable that she serves as songwriter, vocalist and brass instrumentalist.

This music pulls the listener into new worlds and suspends reality. Here’s a torch song so vivid in imagery that it is worthy of earning a curtain call if sung in a broadway show.

We wondered how it would pan out

Thought it would fade, thought I'd come back to myself,

thought I'd met somebody else

But it never went away, the sadness in my heart

I just hide it from the world and I'm crying in this café

just picturing you walking in and what we'd say

like it's only been a year instead of eight

If I'd only known, I tried to be so lady like

So consumed with what was right, always thinking of your wife

Must you write, full of cheer and royal we,

Is that my twisted reward

would you like me to applaud, well seriously

'cause I've got no more grace to spare

please live your perfect life, just live it over there

'cause I know I'm being small

but please forgive me, I've tried to be an angel

I tried to be an angel, I wish I was an angel

but I'm just a human being.  (from The Perfect LIfe)

Elizabeth Geyer - The Perfect Life

I’ve labeled this album “difficult to obtain” as you will learn of it only through word of mouth, streaming service style matching or accidentally discovering her YouTube videos. Geyer’s collaborator and composer in his own right, Paul Adams, created videos for The Bridge and they are all worthy of your time.

The quality of songwriting recalls an assortment of songs picked from Bob Dylan’s catalogue which were used for the broadway show, Girl From The North Country (sample follows). Songs from The Bridge are so well written that they deserve a similar fate.

bonus video -

Sheila Atim performs Bob Dylan's 'Tight Connection to My Heart' | GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY

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Recommendation #2:

Bonnie Bishop - Things I Know

What happens when a songwriter finishes a masterpiece and the record label goes bankrupt just as it to be released In Bonnie Bishop’s case, the album, “Things I Know,” saw scant distribution and is now only available, when you can find it, on the used market. 

Think this fairytale gone sour is unlikely? Here’s some proof of Bishop’s worth as a songwriter. Bonnie Raitt’s album, Slipstream (Best Americana Album Grammy Award 2013), contained Bishop’s work. She penned the ballad “Not Cause I Wanted To” with Nashville songwriting veteran, Al Anderson. 

Well, I'm callin' you 'cause you deserve to know

You were not the reason that I had to go

Late at night in these hotel rooms

I think of all I've lost and what I've put you through

If I knew the reason I would tell you

Why somehow the feelin' slipped away

I only did what I had to do

Not 'cause I wanted to

Bonnie Raitt, Not Cause I Wanted To

Getting back to “Things I Know,” any listen to the country rock album quickly reveals similar honesty and original melodies which makes the album one to enjoy and frequently return to. 

They say woman is a ruby

And I’m a poor man I’m told

And I’ve never seen a ruby

God but I’ve held you my flesh and blood

If faith is unseen

And mine’s going cold

And I can’t sleep tonight

For there’s doubt in my soul

But the things that I know

Are the smell of your skin

And the way that you tremble when you came crashing in

 (From Things I Know - title track)

Bonnie Bishop-Things I know

While the album’s music style is a mix of country rock, at times almost gospel, the album opener is clearly a toe tapping salute to taking a chance on love.

There’s glimmer of hope

I feel it in my bones

And I think I will

Leave trouble behind me

Let happiness find me

Maybe I will

Maybe I will

Cause I’ve been running from my past now

I’m getting nowhere fast now

I’ve got a ticket to love and there’s no looking back now

Oh I Think I will, I think I will

Cause I’ve got a need to know

To see where it goes

So I think I will, I think I will

Don’t need to pack too much

No willin’ hard is just enough

  (From I Think I Will, Bonnie Bishop, Tim Krekel)

Bonnie Bishop - Think I Will

Even now, years after being written, this song is easily commercial and deserves to be part of contemporary musical culture. Should Kelly Clarkson find it, her TV show’s Kellyoke series would be a perfect fit. 

The album concludes with a song I have personally requested Bishop sing whenever I catch her singing at local venues.

Well I used to live for summer

And taking floats down the river

I could pass a thousand days

My back to the sun’s rays

You always knew that summer’d end

Cause I feel the cold come creeping in

Bundled up and wait it out

And every time you’d come around

Oh love you’re bitter sweet

Sweep me up with your summer’s ease

I love your hands upon my face

But they never stay that way

Always know that you’d sleep away

Leave your side of the bed I made

Goin’ off without a sound

Every time you come around

Every time you come around

Don’t have to fear it now

Sure as the sun goes down

And everything comes back around

And every time you come around

Every time you come around

Meet you at the gates of town

Every time you come around

Now I’m waiting for summer rise

Guess I couldn’t sleep last night

Sat up in my favorite chair

Floor is cold and my feet are bare

No I’ll never get use to this

God I love him for what he is

I’m just take it easy now

And wait for him to come around

Cause every time you come around

I don’t have to feel it now

Sure as the sun goes down

Oh everything comes back around

And every time you come around

Every time you come around

Meet you at the gates of town

Every time you come around

Meet you at the gates of town

Every time you you come around

Bonnie Bishop - Every Time You Come Around

As far as I know this album is unavailable on streaming services. There have been many “lost” albums which have come to light years latter. This effort deserves to be in that category. For now, the only way I know to hear the songs is to listen on YouTube. 

The album is only one of several recorded by Bishop. Each are well worth seeking out. As a tease I have included a Youtube video of the song, “Brent Rollins,” that she wrote for a gas station attendant who loaned her twenty dollars only to create surprisingly harsh feelings by his jealous wife.

Bonnie Bishop "Brent Rollins"

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Recommendation #3:

Ellen Atwood - David

The final recommendation for December is the album David by singer/songwriter Ellen Atwood. I serendipitously found this release while researching a comment on Eva Cassidy made on the internet platform TicTok. Needless to say this was my first visit to the land of endless “watch me while I interact with people” videos. The recommendation for Atwood’s music was sincere and well informed. I wanted to know more.

For a singer/songwriter who has (count them) videos on Youtube and Instagram, a website and two released albums there is still very little to be learned about this artist. Here is the bio from her website:

“A trained pianist, singer, and performer, Ellen Atwood turned her life and her classical music background upside down in 2019, moving from rural Virginia to Bremen, Germany where she began writing songs. Her songs are written in the sweet spot between pain and inspiration - “sad girl” acoustic with an electronic undertone. In November 2023 she released her second album "Humboldt Street" in cooperation with La Plage Sounds (Dani Schmidle) with eight new songs by Ellen. 

Combined, the albums David and Humboldt Street represent a mere seventeen tracks taking only sixty two minutes. She writes and sings in the confessional style originated by Joni Mitchell. For those who find no value in Joni’s album, Blue, stop here. Atwood will probably not be in your musical wheelhouse. For others, here is a lyric which should get your attention:

In the haze I ran through the hallway

A maze of marble men guided my way

Then I stumbled up the stairs

Winding upwards till I reached the end

David, you are haunting me in my dreams

A fairlytale that never came to be

David, you are haunting me as I sleep

A man of stone, can break you free?

A man of stone is all you’ll ever be

Ellen Atwood - David

This song, like others by Atwood, are more brief musical snapshots than full ballads. The lyrics and melodies are memorable but offer more casual thoughts than complete stories. Atwood delivers the songs with inventive piano accompaniment and a warm alto which recalls Judy Collins. Not a bad combination of musical skills.

In the album’s opening song, Norway, Atwood writes of stepping out of a relationship. Her stated destination of Norway may be a suggestion of her desire for change. The song is a move away from an emotional entanglement without thought if the next emotional destination will prove any better.

I think I’ll go on a journey far away

Yeah I’ve always wanted to go to Norway

Climb a mountain persist till I reach the summit

I’ll run the race and quit the chase of the picket fence you wanted

And I’ll make my own way even when you said I couldn’t

Ellen Atwood - Norway

Intentional or not, the song brings up a comparison with Mitchell’s “A Case Of You.” That song, also about shaking free from a romance, offers more dimensions - what her lover ironically says and how she responds.

Just before our love got lost you said

"I am as constant as a northern star"

And I said, "Constantly in the darkness

Where's that at?

If you want me I'll be in the bar"

After hours of listening to Atwood’s songs her efforts are not yet even with Mitchell. That said, a reasonable expectation for those who seek confessional songwriting is that you will find them enjoyable.

The song, Rescue, succeeds with a simplified look a repairing a romance. 

This is not a love song

Or a plea to change the past

It’s the wishing and the wanting

 and the things that I can’t take back

If you told me then where we’d end up now

I’d get off the train turn around

Cause who we were shifted off track

As soon as the plane left the ground

On this foreign path that I’m winding down

Every turn I take is new

The only thing I know is that I miss you

Ellen Atwood - Rescue

Few songwriters compare favorably with Joni Mitchell just as few interpreter singers can compare to Eva Cassidy. So, take the comments lightly and with adjusted expectations you may find, as I did, that this a delightful album.

The album’s closing song is the listener’s reward for sticking with the album. It is the reason that Atwood has made a short list of singer/songwriters whom I will track - eagerly looking for her next release.

December in Virginia and you appear

In my backyard after seven years

And you look different, and young love grows old

But I still know you, and I’m still sold

I never thought of us as forever

So to the fire with these now or never

And I’ll accept that we’ve both moved along

But I’ll never say that we’re forever gone

Just put out the fire and walk me to the door

And we’ll put desire back in its familiar drawer

And if you find yourself missing your old friend

We’ll salvage the ashes and start again

Strange how familiar phrases make you feel so warm

Paired with familiar eyes it feels jus like home

And the stars aren’t aligned yet

I know it too

So we’ll seal it with a pact, and I’ll wait for you

Just put out the fire and walk me to the door

And we’ll put desire back in its familiar drawer

And if you find yourself missing your old friend

We’ll salvage the ashes and start again

You’ll take the train tomorrow back to Brooklyn

I’ll bottle up this lost love that resurfaced

And I’ll hold you close but far away

While we walk different paths till we both decide to stay

And restart the fire, swing open the door

And I’ll hold you tighter than ever before

Cause I think what’s meant to be works out in due time

And it feels like a dream your hand in mine

Ellen Atwood - The Fire

bonus video - Ellen Atwood in concert (first half only)

Ellen Atwood / Aron L Flow - live - StudioHire Festival 2024

Nov 2024 - Scott's Picks

More Demo Track Songs:

These were in the long list of recordings identified for the Baetis demo. All are very well recorded. Due to time constraints they were not included in the meeting. I've included YouTube links so that you can judge if the music is of interest to you. DO take the time to find them on a streaming service to hear the full quality of their sound.

Kudos to Dennis Juranek for picking the music out with me. The list was actually longer but this will give you an idea to what we listened to.

Foggy Mountain Breakdown - Alison Brown - Steve Martin - Album: On Banjo

Foggy Morning Breaking – Alison Brown - Steve Martin

Witchi-Tai-To - Oregon - Album: Out Of The Woods

Witchi-Tai-To OREGON

You Must Believe In Spring - Dave Young / Gene DiNovi / James Campbell - Album: Manhattan Echoes

You Must Believe In Spring - James Campbell

Rise Above It - Jamie O'Hara - Album: Rise Above It

Rise Above It - Jamie O'Hara

Northwest - Brandy Clark - Album: Brandy Clark

Brandy Clark - Northwest [Official Lyric Video]

Ring Them Bells - Sarah Jarosz - Album: Follow Me Down

Ring Them Bells - Sarah Jarosz

Vivaldi Basson Concerto in A minor, RV 498 Allegro - Danny Bond - Album: Vivaldi Masterworks

Vivaldi: Bassoon Concerto in A Minor - Danny Bond

You've Changed (Big Band) - Eva Cassidy - Album: I Can Only Be Me

You've Changed (Orchestral) - Eva Cassidy with the London Symphony Orchestra

Kradem ti se u veceri - Nenad Vasilic - Album: Bass Room

Kradem ti se u veceri

Life Goes On - Carla Bley / Andy Sheppard / Steve Swallow - Album Life Goes On

Life Goes On: Life Goes On

Across The Stars (Love Theme) - Anne-Sophie Mutter / John Williams - Album: Across The Stars

Rey's Theme (From "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" / Audio)

Fever - Peggy Lee - Album: All Aglow Again!

Peggy Lee "Fever"

Celestial Echo - Malia / Boris Blank - Album: Convergence

Celestial Echo

Iron Hand - Dire Straits - Album: On Every Street

Iron Hand - Dire Straits

Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered - Chris Botti - Album: Vol 1

Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

Send In The Clowns - Judy Collins / Don McLean - Album: Strangers Again

Judy Collins feat. Don McLean - Send In The Clowns

On Golden Pond - Dave Gursin - Album: NOW PLAYING Movie Themes - Solo Piano

On Golden Pond - Dave Gursin

Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley - Album: Grace

Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley

Scott's Picks - October 2024

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Pick#1: Lowell George - Feats First (YouTube Video)

At the last meeting we briefly discussed Lowell George’s solo album. I have long collected Lowell’s music via his band, Little Feat. Always curious about Lowell I was pleased to find this lengthly video on YouTube. Highly recommended!

Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ8EKw46Ce8

Pick#2: Jeffrey Martin: Thank God We Left The Garden

Jeffery Martin’s songs are filled with musical descriptions of his life using a style easily compared to John Prine. The lyrics immediately appeal to your curiosity. Here is the opening verse to the song, "Garden":

Nobody knows me

where I go when I'm angry

Or how often I'm lonely

I guess they're the same thing

Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9blfiRc9Ec

Martin’s collection of songs on this fourth studio album rewards any listener who values words which are as much poetry as they are lyrics. From his song Lost Dog:

I met an angel, a boring man by a tree

His fire had been stolen by an eternity

I'll be dead in a moment, just a breath and I'll be gone

Love is everything that can't be held for too long

Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPvfG9NRPqw

The album was released in November of 2023. His website quotes a rave review from the Americana Music website, American Highway, “Music, poetry, and observations aimed directly at your soul.” A link to that review and an interview with Jeffrey follows:

https://americanahighways.org/2023/11/01/review-jeffrey-martin-thank-god-we-left-the-garden/

https://www.lonesomehighway.com/interviewsold/2024/1/23/jeffrey-martin-interview

Wanting to know more about Mr. Martin, I downloaded his albums from Bandcamp. The album, One Go Around (Nov 2017), contains a cover of a Richard Buckner song, “Surprise, Az,” which also caught my attention. Buckner is very much a free spirit of songwriting and poetry. His songs deserve more attention and Martin choose well to include this one in his album.

And you know about me

At only 23

You saw her come and go as I went through everything I had

But mother, did you see?

What was gonna happen?

She let me down so far, I never quite made it back …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UFZ06JfUuQ

Pick #3: Fred Hersch: Songs From Home

Fred Hersch is a seventeen time grammy nominee who has recorded more than seventy-five of his own jazz compositions. In style, this album is more along the lines of Bill Evans than Ralph Towner. It contains jazz covers of well known material, Jimmy Webb’s “Wichita Lineman”, Joni Mitchell’s “All I Want” - to name just two. As I am new to jazz collecting I will end my comments here - hoping that others with more knowledge of this important artist can fill in details.

Youtube LInk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7kuejRAT_8

Reminder: PLEASE POST PLAYLIST SUGGESTIONS FOR THE NOV 17th MEETING

Gretchen Peters - Appears At Eddies Attic - Weds Oct 16, 2024 at 9pm

Based in Nashville, Gretchen is a songwriter's songwriter. I asked her about her routine for writing. The answer was that for her writing was like breathing - it was something she has to do every day to keep living.

Inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame a decade ago, Peters has written songs for most of Nashville's top artists - including Kenny Rogers, Trisha Yearwood, Martina McBride just to name a few. If you think Peters herself shares that Nashville twang you'd be mistaken. Instead, she sings in the fashion of any of the great singer/songwriters. With fourteen albums now to her name she is a talent which should be familiar to anyone interested in Americana music.

An example of a Peters' song sung by a Nashville star

Trisha Yearwood - On A Bus To St. Cloud

Peters singing one of her best ballads

Gretchen Peters - The Way You Move Me

Proof that Peters writes lyrics good enough to stand alone followed by a recording of the song:

Sunday Morning (Up and Down My Street)- Written by Gretchen Peters- Read by Hank Beukema

Sunday Morning (Up and Down My Street)

OCT 25, 2024 - Richard Buckner - Concert Atlanta GA

Richard Buckner (musician)

Surprise, AZ - Richard Buckner

I've been attending house concerts for years. I can't recommend them enough for listening to singer/songwriters. Richard Buckner is in my next month "Scott's Picks." Listen to his song, "Surprise AZ," and you may become a fan like me.

Leave the "elbow to elbow" experience of Eddies Attic aside - nobody talking or just not listening to the performer. I'll be in his audience on Oct 25th in a performing space in Atlanta. More info here:

Undertow Shows

Scott

Larry -

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply and also for listening to my suggestions. There was a time when looking through Amazon's new releases would more than satisfy my craving for new music. Tonight after doing that very exercise I found only a few albums interesting enough to order. I doubt any will make my subsequent recommendation lists.

I found your mention of Matraca Berg to be fascinating. She has been a long time favorite of mine as well. She's been in town with Gretchen Peters and Suzy Boggs (Wine, Women and Song) in the past but I was never quick enough to notice. Hoping that she'll return again one day - maybe with her husband - Jeff Hanna (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band).

JEFF HANNA + MATRACA BERG — COUNTRY’S GREATEST LOVE STORIES

In the meanwhile I listen to the title track from her album, The Dreaming Fields, which has one of my all time favorite song verses:

I'm going down to the dreaming fields

But what will be my harvest now

Where every tear that falls on a memory

Feels like rain on the rusted plow, rain on the rusted plow

OFFICIAL VIDEO: Matraca Berg | The Dreaming Fields

I've already started work on my October picks. I look forward to hearing your reactions and wouldn't be at all surprised if our musical tastes meet up again!

Scott, once again another killer list of music to expand my EARS. Thanks!

I already am an Eva Cassidy convert thanks to you. I was also familiar with Z.Z. Hill's version of "Downhome Blues" as I have a pretty good Blues collection already. I did enjoy hearing Shawn Theis and her vocal talents were reminiscent to me -- a little bit of Allison Krauss, a little bit of Joni Mitchell, and a few others mixed in. Very nice indeed. The Voces8 accapella group blew me away with their inter-twining harmonies.That was an interesting performance by Shawn Phillips, raw and visceral at times.

Most of all I really enjoyed the music of Karine Polwart & Dave Milligan. I found myself looking for more of their music on YouTube by the end.

THANKS again for the shares. I will now back-up and go check out your August 2024 music post to see what I missed during baseball season! :)

Scott, once again THANKS for sharing these musical nuggets. I will definitely check into them! I am already an Eva Cassidy convert (thanks to you) so I look forward to even more musical revelations to come.

Regards,

Larry

Scott's Picks - September 2024

===

Shawn Theis - One More Dance

Having an “old soul” quality is best how best to describe Shawn Thies’s voice. As comparisons, some will quickly recall Judy Collins or Kate Wolf. In any case, Shawn’s ability to use her clear alto to deliver lyrics will no doubt find a welcome with collectors of folk music. 

The song “Restless Heart” opens her just released album, One More Dance. Devoted to the songs of Michael Brinkenhoff, a songwriter with just one album to his name, the question arises why Theis, a largely unknown singer herself, would choose material from an even more obscure writer? Consider these lyrics:

You’ve been loosing yourself in the shadows

Where your boundaries are hard to define

Where black is white and wrong is right

and poems have no rhyme

And your feelings that change with each heartbeat

Because there’s nothing that lasts for all time

And the love that you know still leaves you alone

Its part of your grand design

Restless Heart - Shawn Theis

Nothing like being a little direct, eh? As if that arrow directly to the heart were not enough to leave a mark, the melody which is penned to the words is equally haunting. 

The opening description on her website states that Theis is “One of California’s best kept secrets.” The combination of her vocals and this ballad delivers on that claim.

Another aspect of this album is the excellent band which backs up the singer. Fiddle and harp are used wisely in arrangements that bring the musical high water mark above where others would have stopped. 

Some of the songs do have lyrics which harken to John Denver. Here’s an example from the song Tightrope…

Life’s a risky journey with no rules or guarantees

A gift of many moments each one for you to see

If one can accept this flaw, the album has a relaxed melodic flow that will be acknowledged by the listener. The song, “Every Time”, also has an edge which is well matched to an emotion filled vocal.

Every time you do this to me

 you push me farther away

Every time you question your heart

 we’re lifting farther apart

With each game you feel you must play

 those white lies your pretty lips say

Every moment you delay we’re drifting father away

Away

 Every Time - Shawn Theis

Thanks to YouTube, my discovery of Shawn Theis and her music was serendipitous. This album and her first release, entitled A Song For You, are available from the usual download resources but strangely not yet available from Bandcamp. Songs from these albums are now in my “mixtape” playlists for my car travels. She is on my music radar and likely to remain for some time.

==

Eva Cassidy: Walkin’ After Midnight

What stands out immediately on Eva Cassidy’s twelfth release is the impeccable sound. Eva vocals and Keith Grimes guitar are immediately in soundstage front. The guest instrumentalist, Washington DC area violinist Bruno Nasta, sounds like he is in studio yet in reality his tracks and most of the others are taken from a live recording made at a local tavern on DAT.

Known for her ability to arrange with original musical insights, this album is further proof that Eva Cassidy could deliver new versions of well worn melodies. It is the combination of her vocals with these arrangements which make this and all other of her recordings so listenable.

The album genre is centered on a style know as country swing - originating in the 1920 with a fast beat perfect for dancing. Originally the song “Down Home Blues” was a hit record for R&B singer Z.Z. Hill. Have a listen to his 1982 release:

ZZ Hill - Down Home Blues (Lyric Video)

Complete with background singers, the feeling of this recording is more B.B. King than it is Porter Wagoner. 

Eva, on the other hand, takes the melody right to the dance floor. Just try and keep your feet still while listening to her singing a syncopated (ie off the beat) version. The last verse is particularly of interest with extended notes and vocals which fall just short of the scat style. She really swings.

Eva Cassidy - Down Home Blues (Walkin' After Midnight)

Other songs on the album have similar transformations, Irving Berlin’s “Cheek To Cheek” becomes Fred Astaire at the weekly dance and bingo night. The twelve bar blues song, “Next Time You See Me,” a 1957 Jr Parker hit, is so full of county swing that you can almost smell the saw dust on the dance floor. The album’s standards, “Blue Skies” and “Summertime,” are an opportunity for Eva to draw back the melodic curtain from endless soundalike covers to reveal a swing that was always hiding in plain sight.

The album closes with “Desperado,” the trademark Eagles song (actually the first song written by Don Henley and Glenn Frey). Accompanied on organ by Cassidy Band keyboardist, Lenny Williams, Eva’s take on the song makes it less a soaring ballad than an end-of-trail lament. 

“And freedom, oh freedom well, that's just some people talkin'

Your prison is walking through this world all alone”

“You better let somebody love you before it’s too late”

It’s this unexpected infusion of emotion which Eva alone delivers that makes her music so rewarding through many listening sessions.

Walkin’ After Midnight is available for download now from the usual websites. Release date for the CD is November with Vinyl following in December.

==

Still As Your Sleeping

Karine Polwart and Dave Mulligan

Karine Polwart & Dave Milligan - Still As Your Sleeping - Trailer

In 2021, the release of Still As Your Sleeping album by Scottish musicians Karine Polwart and Dave Mulligan was followed by a long list of glowing reviews. I’m still wondering why I didn’t take notice. If you are like me and the album slipped by, read on. Otherwise congratulations for taking timely notice of this unusual work.

For those who don’t follow modern Celtic music a few words of introduction is warranted. Polwart is a celebrated Scottish singer/songwriter with nine (including this one) released albums to her name not to mention as a contributing member of the groups: Malinky, macAlias and Battlefield Band. Polwart is also a multiple award winer of the BBC Folk Awards.

If you guessed that Karine and Dave are husband and wife you’d be wrong. That might have been your first thought after listening to an album of songs where the two performers come as close as one would believe possible for musical soulmates. In reality Dave is actually Karine’s neighbor and a celebrated jazz pianist who has played with Larry Carlton, Mark Knofler and Art Farmer - to name just three.

The album is a collection of either traditional songs or covers of more recently written material. The opening song, Craige Hill, is traditional but also popularized in 1981 by Scottish songwriter Dick Gaughan. The song opens with a piano intro, your first clue that the album is far from a routine singer accompanied by a pianist effort. Here each musician is of near equal value.

So fare you well, sweet Craigie Hill,

 where oft times I have roved in

I never thought in my childhood days

 I'd part you any more

But we're sailing on the ocean for

 honour and promotion

And the bonny boats are sailing

 way down by Doorin shore.

Craigie Hill - Karine Polwart & Dave Milligan

Another special moment on this recording comes from the rendition of the Robert Burns (Scotland’s national poet who died at the age of 37 in 1796) song, “Ae Fond Kiss.”  

Fare thee weel, thou first and fairest

Fare thee weel, my best and dearest

Thine be ilka joy and treasure

Peace, enjoyment, love and pleasure

Had we never loved so kindly

Had we never loved so blindly

Nor never met, nor never parted

We would ne'er ha' been so broken-hearted

Ae Fond Kiss - Karine Polwart

If these recordings captured your interest be rest assured that the remainder of the album has songs of the same quality. Included are two songs penned by Polwart herself. The album deserves the high praise that was offered when it was issued. 

===

A few final thoughts:

In the coming weeks two performances are scheduled nearby the Atlanta area: 

Friday Nov 20, 2024 - Red Clay Theatre

Shawn Phillips

Singer/songwriter Shawn Phillips, has now released twenty studio albums. He is best known for a trilogy of albums (Contribution, Second Contribution and Collaboration) from 1970-1971. Paul Buckmaster (Elton John) served as his orchestrator. His song, Woman (She Was Waiting For Her Mother At The Station in Torino and You Know I Love You Baby But It’s Getting Too Heavy To Laugh) has been recorded by Canadian violinist Angele Dubeau on her album, Blanc.

The glow around your face

When you see the lighting race

I know I'm very near

And I can hear the thunder

Shawn Phillips - Woman

It would be a mistake to place Phillips in the prog-rock category of rock-n-roll as his work goes beyond experimenting with Buckmaster’s lush orchestrations. In concert he provides fascinating background on his songs and brings back the age of the singer/songwriter.

Friday Dec 6, 2024 - Newberry SC Opera House

Voces8

Voces8, an a cappella octet from England now has fifteen albums in release including the 2024 entry, Nightfall. Their musical repertoire spans early music through Purcell and more recent composers such as Eric Witacre and Paul Simon (who they collaborated with for his newest recording, Seven Psalms).

One of my favorite selections is The Road Home by the once Atlanta based composer, Stephen Paulus.

After wind, after rain

When the dark is done

As I wake from a dream

In the gold of day

Through the air there's a calling

From far away

There's a voice I can hear

That will lead me home

Voces8 - The Road Home (Stephen Paulus)

New links added to original post. Thanks -Scott

Remember the days of playing music that wrapped around you like a warm quilt? When songs were sung by the same person the who wrote them. Sometime you felt like they were someone you knew and would like to spend time with. The great era of singer/songwriters is generally sited as 1960 through the end of the 1970s. Of course there are exceptions. A recent example is Adel’s album, 24, released in 2015 (sorry I’m not big on the 2021 release entitled ’30’). 

These days dedicated fans of the singer/songwriter genre are hard pressed to locate work which deserves to stand along with names like Dylan, Taylor and Mitchell. My August 2024 picks represent recent work of singer/songwriters or arrangers who deserve a larger audience. You may not rank them immediately with the genre's greatest contributors. But, give them a chance and you may find yourself reaching for their music to bring that musical warmth back to your life. As a musical reference point, my first two picks are reminiscent of style of Sarah Jarosz. The third is a big band re-orchestration of an American classic album.

Maya de Vitry - The Only Moment

Maya de Vitry a singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist from Nashville released her sixth album, The Only Moment, on July 12, 2024. Shortly after I found the album on Bandcamp, my favorite website for discovering new artists, I noticed a review on the internet based radio station, Folk Alley. The author confirmed my belief that I had stumbled on something of value…

“De Vitry’s ethereal vocals—recalling Rickie Lee Jones and Mitchell—weave a magical spell over the luxuriant, spacious jazz folk…”

From start to finish the album’s basis is equal parts poetry and melody. That makes the album hard to turn off. Purchase the CD and you’ll have access to lyrics (not yet on Roon) that you’ll enjoy with each listening. 

“If They Feel Like Wings:” I wish I had something to give you Other than this / They don’t seem to scare away / All the hard things you heard About trying….If you find something that feels like sky/ And they feel like wings/ Try. 

If They Feel Like Wings - Maya de Vitry

Unlike so many new releases, the melodies Ms. de Vitry offers are instantly recallable. The music easily falls into the Americana genre - somewhere between folk and country. If radio was still a viable medium there are several songs which would have tracked as “request material.” One which is toe tapping and shoulder rocking, is a song that postulates something that anyone who has had special relationships may have realized sooner or later.

 “The Odds Of Getting Even:” What are the odds of getting even / What is the cost of dreaming…Come the morning I’ll be leaving / Its too late in the evening / To play the odds of getting even … / Can’t you feel the ground turning / Can’t you feel the hours burning / Oh the odds of getting even / Will no longer be my burden

Odds of Getting Even - Maya de Vitry

Many more songs from The Only Moment offer rewarding discovery. Buy the album and you may find something that recalls the earlier period of singer/songwriter albums. 

===

Caitlin Canty - Quiet Flame

There is a direct connection between the albums Quiet Flame and The Only Moment. That’s because “The Odds Of Getting Even” was cowritten by Caitlin and Maya. It may not be a surprise that their musical styles are very similar. Picking a favorite album between this two is almost impossible.

A 2018 article in Rolling Stone lists Canty in "Country’s Ten Country artists you need to know.” Quiet Flame, Caitlin’s tenth album, was released last September. Musically her output is squarely in Americana Country. Lyrically her songs are dense with descriptions of life you will only experience by taking the ride with her.

“Blue Sky Moon:” Between two lines / In the middle of the road / Can’t pass me by / In the middle of the road / Gonna take my time / In the middle of the road… /Breakneck boy goes speeding by / In a hellbent race to some finish line / I ain’t going with him … / In the middle of the road / Gonna take my time / In the middle of the road

"Blue Sky Moon" LIVE Caitlin Canty with Brittany Haas, Sarah Jarosz and Paul Kowert

A fiddle opens the ballad “Heart Of The Country.” Canty is adapt at portraying a nostalgic look at America within a fresh melody which will have you reaching for the repeat button before the end of the song. The words are just too good to let go by should even one be unnoticed.

“Heart Of The Country:” Flying over Oklahoma fields are broken ground / Every mile cut up into squares of green and brown / Like a quilt unfinished like a fiddle singing a low and lonesome sound / see the land before the gold and heavy plow…. Where is the heart of my country / Where is the heart of my country now

Heart of My Country - Caitlin Canty

Caitlin Canty - Heart of My Country | Tone Tree Music Live Sessions

Is it the beauty of the melody in these songs, the lyrics which invite repeated listening or Caitlin’s beautiful alto voice which makes this album so enjoyable? Obviously it is the combination of all three which rises this album to the high level of success which it offers. For any Americana music lover, this is not one to miss.

==

Billy Childs - Reimagining Laura Nyro & more

Frankfurt Radio Big Band - Full Concert

Billy Childs - Map to the Treasure:

Reimagine Laura Nyro

My third choice for August 2024 is a Big Band orchestration of an album of Laura Nyro songs originally released in 2014. Why the overlap? My guess is that the big band sound was such a successful part of Nyro’s masterpiece, New York Tendaberry, due to the orchestrations of the late Jimmy Haskell (also orchestrator for Bobby Gentry’s Ode To Billy Joe as well as Steely Dan’s Pretzel Logic) that it justified a return to full big band orchestration.

Recall for instance the use of brass with harp and piano on the song “Gibson Street.” Or, the number of measures repeated (19) chiefly by the trumpet section in the song “Save The Country.” The album’s orchestration used jazz band, orchestra and rock band.

Gibson Street - Laura Nyro

Save The Country - Laura Nyro

Billy Childs' recording, Map To The Treasure, made use of some of the best musical talents of the time ranging from Yo-Yo Ma’s cello with opera’s Renee Fleming to the jazz sax of Wayne Shorter and blues rock singer Susan Tedeschi - to name only a few. It was a tour de force by any means. Yet, that music diversity also left the door open for another pass at the material.

Enter composer and big band arranger Jim McNelly, an american who was chief conductor of the Frankfurt Radio Big Band aka hr-Big Band (from 2010-2022) and composer-in-residence in 2022. McNelly, who has several albums of his own, arranged Childs' album of Laura Nyro songs but this time to be played by his big band along with Childs at the piano and vocalist Alicia Olatuja. 

Some may disagree and yet the first reaction I had to finding this video on Youtube (the only place it is available) is that Nyro’s music had finally returned to jazz roots with a pianist and vocalist from the jazz club vocal style as Nyro offered herself.  Welcome home. The new arrangements frame this performance in the best light - expanding on what Jimmie Haskell originally brought to the album as issued by Nyro in the autumn of 1969.

For any Laura Nyro, Billy Childs, or big band enthusiast the entire one hour and forty eight minutes of the YouTube concert is worth your time to watch. I can’t begin to give justice to all of the performances. Each one is inspirational in its own way. That said, Nyro’s most famous songs are ones to hear to decide if this work is for you or not. I should add that many more recordings by Mr Childs and by the hrBand are also in my collection. So these are performers I whole heartedly recommend!

BILLY CHILDS - Reimagining Laura Nyro & more | Frankfurt Radio Big Band

Map To The Treasure - Billy Childs

"SAVE THE COUNTRY" | Billy Childs | Alicia Olatuja | Frankfurt Radio Big Band

"NEW YORK TENDABERRY" | Billy Childs | Alicia Olatuja | Frankfurt Radio Big Band

"AND WHEN I DIE" | Billy Childs | Alicia Olatuja | Frankfurt Radio Big Band

Scott, I have just finished listening to your latest recommendations and I must say I enjoyed them all. I did deviate slightly after hearing Eva Cassidy's 3 songs as I had to hear more!!!

What an outstanding performer she is. I found her "Live At Blues Alley" release and listened to the whole thing on my Amazon Music Unlimited account. WOW!! She may be my favorite female vocalist ever. Too bad she is gone. I grew up about 30 miles from Bowie, MD but left the area in 1981 to live in Atlanta so I missed her ascension in the local music scene.

The Louis Armstrong LIve at the BBC was also excellent. Lastly, the music of Alexi Murdoch was haunting and did make me think of Nick Drake from time to time. However, there were some surprises on there too. I especially liked "Home", "Dream About Flying" and "12" which had a definite prog rock Pink Floyd soundcape to me. I liked it!

Thanks for sharing! I am now definitely an Eva Cassidy fan and I will not rest until can hear her entire recorded catalog of music.:)

Larry - good to meet you and I do love a good discussion - especially one which is as informed as what you offered to share with me. See you at the next meeting! -Scott

Scott, great to chat with you yesterday about some musical picks. Sorry I had to rush off at the end.

I checked my personal catalog on Discogs (4,700+ items) and I do have the Nick Drake CD - "Time of No Reply" that my younger Brother sent to me as a recommendation many years ago. He was an amateur musician and songwriter and even went to Nashville for a short while to try to break into the music business. Alas, it was not to be for him, but he did write some songs and recorded them at home on a 4-track Portastudio and burned a CD for me and his friends. He is a sales manager these days at a Purple Mattress chains store in MD (not far from Annapolis, MD where Eva Cassidy recorded her music from "Walkin' After Midnight above). Strange coincidence....

I will check it out again today, along with ALL of your other wonderful suggestions. Keep 'em coming and Have a great day!

I hope you'll forgive an early entry to a conversation I have been making just monthly. At today's wonderful social at the Hickory House I could not hold back my enthusiasm for a few recordings. With that said, here are links that I trust you will find interesting and worth your time.

Louis In London

Released on the Verve label just a few days ago - this is the recording which probably will define the summer of 2024, although it actually has its origin on 2 July 1968. The praise is justified as it is Armstrong’s final recording and filled with music (and a few introductions) which speak to the talent of this particular artist. The songs are ones that are easily identified with Armstrong and include What A Wonderful World, Hello Dolly, Mame and Mack The Knife.

My album copy was obtained as a 24bit FLAC download from NativeDSD, an online seller of high resolution music files based in The Netherlands. As hoped, the sound quality is more 2000’s than 1960’s. Considering that this is a live recording, the sonics from the band and Louis’s vocals are very good.  For anyone who doesn’t recall his many broadcast performances, this has a “you are there” feeling which is a tribute to a great musician.

“‘Blueberry Hill’ has some fine low register playing from Muranyi, and he and Glenn create a perfect backing for the vocal. With fine versions of ‘Bare Necessities’, ‘Mack The Knife’ and Armstrong’s recent hit ‘Wonderful World’, this is not only one of the final recordings by the All Stars, but one of their best.”

Full Review by Jazzwise

https://www.jazzwise.com/review/louis-armstrong-all-stars-louis-in-london

Youtube videos:

Louis Armstrong - (Back Home Again In) Indiana (Live At The BBC)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etgTtLduUF0

New Louis Armstrong live album, recorded in 1968, released

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ptx3GVOu1bI

==

Eva Cassidy

Walkin’ After Midnight

Three of cuts from the full album were released on 19 July 2024. Here are the album notes from Blix Street (strangely hard to locate) which describes the album…

"Eva Cassidy's After Midnight collection is literally a ticket back to Eva's accidental Western Swing Night. A small gig at the King of France Tavern, downtown Annapolis. The 2nd of November, 1995, two months prior to her now famous Live At Blues Alley recordings. When two of Eva's usual four band mates were unavailable, she improvised via an impromptu invite to musician friend Bruno Nasta.

Proving the old adage, less can be more, the resulting violin/ lead guitar/bass combo, together with Eva's acoustic guitar, created a serendipitous alternate context for some of Eva's most popular repertoire. Dancing in the space opened up by the absence of additional instruments, Eva's vocals are as joyous and free as any previously heard. Although 11 of the 12 songs (all but Down Home Blues) appear on existing Eva albums, all 12 tracks are previously unreleased Eva Cassidy recordings."

Walkin' After Midnight (Walkin' After Midnight)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rlcPvQi-Ys

Ain't No Sunshine (Walkin' After Midnight)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYWGlBG7c4E

Blue Skies (Walkin' After Midnight)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSaNsd0Z1BE

==

Alexi Murdoch

Time Without Consequence

A review of this album described Alexi as someone who sounds like the great UK singer/songwriter Nick Drake and who plays guitar like another UK “great”, John Martyn. You may recall Nick Drake from the VW commercial which used his song Pink Moon while Martyn is known for his song about Nick called “Solid Air.”

The three recordings which Murdoch made are from 2002, 2006 and 2009. He came to my attention when I discovered a 2022 vinyl release of the 2006 album, Time Without Consequence. What caused this obscured album to be reissued? And, what has Murdoch been doing since his three releases?

Regarding the second question - he’s been touring (some) and sailing his boat. Which leaves open the possibility for more new music but only the possibility.

On to what makes this album worth your time. Like, Nick Drake (who lived from 1948 - 1974) Murdoch’s writing is largly an internal dialog…

“Well I have been searching

All of my days, all of my days

Many a road you know

I’ve been walking on

All of my days

And I’ve been trying to find

What’s been in my mind

As the days keep turning into night.”

All My Days - Alexi Murdoch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3QJ4brLYZQ&list=PL04432CD8C7C0A83A

Murdoch’s desire to choose his own path is documented in this CNN article:

The 'Britney' backlash: Budding songwriter rejects record contract

  https://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/12/01/hln.hot.hit.alexi.murdoch/index.html

From his song, “Wait” here are lyrics to which I hope that others who find his music will join me in saying a strong “yes.”

“So if I stumble, and if I fall

And if I slip now, and loose it all

And if I can’t be, all that I could be

Will you? Will you wait for me?

Take a listen to this haunting musical question:

Wait - Alexi Murdoch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFPVF9J9Wmo

Larry - you gave some great comments and offer many points I would not argue with. As the moderator of the twitter/X based Eva Cassidy Discussion Group I have long been a champion of emerging artists - as that was what Eva was when she died at in obscurity at the age of thirty-three. My sincere fear is that life will pass by another such talent. I do agree that these artists I've posted of may still need room to grow their art. Nonetheless I find something of value in what they have to offer today.

I look forward to reading more of your insights on my "picks."

Scott

Scott, thanks for sharing your music pics with the group. I have now been able to listen to all of the recent suggestions. I had only heard of one of them - Joanne Shaw Taylor before but not this album. I enjoyed all of them, particularly Sierra Ferrell and Valerie Carter. I liked John Moreland, especially the fingerpicking guitar but I must admit that after several songs it seemed a bit monotonous to me and some of his song lyrics a bit "hokey" such as:

One man holds the world hostage

For his petty satisfaction

To watch the chain reaction

While he makes a redaction

==========================

I'm a Louisville slugger

Aimed for the fences

While my oldest defenses keep me down

And I give my confession

Without disgrace or discretion

I will torch the kingdom outright, just to hold the crown

========================================

Lord, send down a heavenly rain

Pixels bleeding in my brain

Silver sliver in the sky

I'm in love with you and I don't know why

The well's been dry since 2015

Baptize me in a digital stream

You gotta go where there's work that pays

Digital souls in digital praise

Maybe Bob Dylan can get away with this, but it didn't really work for me on the first listen. I like the musicianship of Joanne Shaw Taylor immensely as I really enjoy the Blues genre, but her voice also gets a bit monotoned after a few songs in a row.

Thanks again for sharing these and I will keep an eye out for more. I might also dig back into your earlier posts for more pearls....:)

Here is some music I have been listening to lately: I especially recommend the Ann Wilson "Fierce Bliss" album and Tinsley Ellis "Naked Truth".

Black Country Communion/V

Handel: Sonatas For Diverse Instruments - Smithsonian Chamber Players

Kronos Quartet and Friends Meet Sun Ra/Outer Spaceways Incorporated

Duane Eddy/Have Guitar Will Twang

Rolling Stones/Exile On Main Street

Zabriske Point/Soundtrack

The Who/Tommy

Weather Report/8:30 Live

Lenny Kravitz/Blue Electric Light

Stan Kenton Plays Chicago

".

John Moreland

An American singer-songwriter from Tulsa, Oklahoma. His tenth studio work was released at the end of May, 2024.

From No Depression...

"...the music that’s left is an honest companion, an important presence in the void that presses us to pay attention to what matters most."

John Moreland - Gentle Violence (Official Music Video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr2tUljEYUo

Homepage

https://johnmoreland.net/

==

Joanne Shaw Taylor

English blues/rock singer/songwriter who released her ninth album, Heavy Soul, just last month (June 2024). Also on the album is a cover of Drowning In The Sea Of Love, which borrows heavily from Eva Cassidy's recording.

From Blues Rock Review:

"Heavy Soul shows Taylor both embracing the styles that she initially found success with and trying new things. At a tight 44 minutes, it’s a crackling album full of energy and passion, a strong offering from Taylor that her fans are likely to love."

Joanne Shaw Taylor - "Heavy Soul" - Official Music Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPthr403VwE

Joanne Shaw Taylor - "Drowning In A Sea Of Love" - Official Music Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFAzxD0h_qI

Homepage

https://www.joanneshawtaylor.com

==

Sierra Ferrell

Latest album, Trail Of Flowers, was released in March 2024.

Sierra Ferrell – American Dreaming (live for The Current)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCdOwh0FSP4

Sierra Ferrell's unconventional journey to new album "Trail of Flowers"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqc6_n_lgvE

Homepage

https://www.sierraferrellmusic.com/

From No Depression...

"With all of Ferrell’s best instincts at play, Trail of Flowers knows no bounds."

More information on Valerie Carter...

Recording I played at the June meeting

O-o-h Child

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H32jFWceWI&list=PLGg4P-7ZUhcZGBN612vT6FLjws4uiTYN4

wiki

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerie_Carter

Singer Valerie Carter Dead at 64: Check Out the Many Great LP's She Sang On Our Tribute

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO7XjwOlf7M

Valerie Carter "Whistle Down The Wind" Tom Waits

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKJLjC479JM

Obit

https://www.tampabay.com/news/valerie-carter-recording-artist-and-backup-singer-of-st-petersburg-dead-at/2315426/

Homepage has some hard to find recordings

https://www.valeriecarter.com