With the weekend upon us I thought I would mention a great new experience which really is the old experience from our childhood.
With the rise of the Internet and downloading (legal and illegal) and the demise of the record store, it's become really hard for music lovers to find and enjoy music. Now I'm not a fan of illegally downloading music but I know a lot of people who are. So I wanted to talk about my new discovery from some of those records that people new to jazz might still be a little hesitant to buy or even download. My new experience is really and old experience--The Public Library. Yeah, I know...who wouldn't thought that!?!
So I've been going to the public library that's near my home for about 4 months now. I have to say its been great. Now you would be surprised by what the library actually as far as music is concerned. Now the library won't have the Woody Shaw boxed set but they will have Miles Davis Kind Of Blue and Dave Brubeck Time Out and a number of other big name classic jazz albums. You may also be surprised because you may even find brand new releases if you lucky.
One afternoon I stopped in at the library just to see what music they had and I stumbled upon some nice jazz albums (most of which I already owned) but it got me thinking. This is the perfect opportunity for those of you who are starting a jazz collection or you just want learn some more about jazz without having to purchase or download them. Plus it gives you an opportunity to support your community by joining the library and finding books for yourself as well the family and some music.
I personally found the entire Led Zeppelin catalog at the library and uploaded it to my iPod. Now I already owned two Zeppelin albums and a compilation. I've always wanted to pick up the boxed set that came out a few years ago but just didn't have the money. This turned out to be a great way to satisfy my need and I'm very happy for it.Now believe me, the selection is extremely limited but you can stumble into a lot suprising stuff. Blossom Dearie, whom I will write about in a few more entries, is one of the best and under-rated female vocalist ever. I found a couple of her CDs that are pretty hard to find and that made my day.
The whole experience of rediscovering the library has been incredibly eye opening. I highly suggest that everyone wherever you are across the world, if you have a library please, please, please try to check it out and ask for where the music department is. You might be pleasantly surprised by what you find.
Nnenna Freelon (vocals; b. 1954) Homefree (Concord Music)
Nnenna Freelon is one of those artists you really must see live. While her albums are exceptional it is the live performance that has always been the clincher for me. I have to admit, I hadn't listened to a Nnenna Freelon album in awhile but listening to the new record Homefree (Concord) I was reminded why I became a fan just under 20 years ago.
Freelon interprets soul, pop, jazz and the American Songbook with the versatility not seen in most singers today. For anyone who hasn't heard Nnenna Freelon before your first impressions may be Billie Holiday or Sarah Vaughan but Freelon has developed her own distinct voice over the last two decades. This is an artists that when you hear her voice coming through the speakers you know it and she commands your attention.
Homefree, Freelon's 7th studio album, is another beautiful reconstruction of the American Songbook with delicate and well crafted arrangements of "The Very Thought Of You," "You The Night And The Music," "Skylark" and more. One of most exciting and refreshing things I've always enjoyed about Nnenna Freelon is her ability to turn a standard into her own. Her arrangements are not what you immediately expect from a jazz singer. I sometimes think how Tony Bennett, Peter Gabriel and Bryan Ferry can rearrange a classic and make you think they actually wrote the song.
The band are another reason for Freelon's creative versatility. With some truly elegant work from Brandon McCune (piano), Kinah Ayah (drums), Wyane Batchelor (bass) and the rest of her ensemble Freelon takes the listener on luminous journey filled with emotion, passion and occasional swathes of funky soul that shines on every tune. From the funky opener "The Lamp Is Low'" to the one Freelon penned number "Cell Phone Blues", Homefree displays her rich gift as both a truly fascinating vocalist and original arranger.
The one startling number for me was towards the end with the standard "Lift Every Voice And Sing" which includes a rap by Pierce Freelon. It's a little jarring but on second listen it settles into the Freelon cannon as another interesting revision on a classic. As with such vocalist as Claire Martin and Mark Murphy, Nneena Freelon has always been a risk taker and appears to enjoy the challenge of re-imagining what can be done in the vocalists songbook.
Homefree is definitely a diverse and rewarding experience. If you end up getting this, you might also want to check out Better Than Anything (Concord) which is a compilation of her previous six albums and makes for the perfect companion piece to Homefree.
