I work for a jazz magazine, and of late Decca’s PR department has been pushing hard for us to review the latest Gardot album. This is despite our insistence that she is really a pop singer, or at best a “jazz-lite” singer (a bit like Norah Jones). And that we really haven’t got room for her.
Universal really want to market Melody Gardot to a “sophisticated” “jazz crowd” (they’ve had a lot of success with people like Diana Krall and Kandace Springs – neither of whom I like but I will concede both have a close relationship to jazz, which Gardot doesn’t).
To compare Sarah, Ella, Peggy or Nina Simone to Melody Gardot in any way, shape or form – other than they are all women, and all of them sing – is ridiculous. Gardot simply cannot swing - and those four jazz ladies can certainly do that. Listen to the new Ella Fitzgerald Lost Berlin Tapes album and then compare it to one of Gardot’s efforts. Ms G certainly doesn’t seem capable of the jaw-dropping improv that Fitzgerald pulled out of the hat, night after night. Nor can she write songs as good as Nina Simone’s.
I am thinking of picking up some XRCD’s from Acoustic sounds, mainly some old 50’s and 60’s Jazz, after reading about how great the recordings are. Does anyone know if they will rip and play with no problems with the Naim Core? I also wonder if they would sound better on Vinyl? The four I was going to start with are:
Hank Mobley-soul station
Tina Brooks-True Blue
Horace Parlon Quintet-Speaking my Piece
Sonny Clark-Cool Struttin
Well I bow down to your obvious superior knowledge. I must read and learn more about how I categorise artists…not.
Do not try to insult me with your cheap “ridiculous” comment, it doesn’t become you.
Didn’t/isn’t Norah Jones on theJazz label Verve? The fact that many companies label her as a jazz artist, as mentioned in another post, means more to me than any self righteous forum member!
I can never understand why so many people get so hung up on the pigeon holing of artists into genres. I understand even less why people react in such an unpleasant way to those with whom they disagree on such a trifling topic. There surely are far more important matters to address from the soap box!
Dire Straits the studio albums 1978 - 1991 in HMV Bluewater. I have all of their albums all bought on the release, I also have a half speed master of their 1st album, quality.
To me the 1st album is the best with a tight 4 piece band.
Diana Krall is he one you’re thinking of who’s on Verve. She’s jazz – not very good jazz IMO but she’s a gifted piano player and she was mentored early in her career by three jazz giants, Tommy LiPuma, Ray Brown and Rosemary Clooney.
Nora Jones was originally on Blue Note, which was at the time owned by EMI, and going through one of its occasional fallow periods. The marketing bods at EMI thought – quite reasonably – that Jones’ sophisticated, sometimes jazz-tinged pop might be a good fit for the label, and might rejuvenate it (as it proved – Come Away With Me sold by the truckload and pretty much saved the label) and allow the new young singer to reach the older, more sophisticated, affluent audience they were aiming for. Blue Note later tried the same trick with Annie Lennox, but it didn’t work – jazz purists wondered why BN was now home to the singer from that most '80s of bands, Eurythmics; and the album failed to reach the audience everyone was aiming for. Jazzers rejected it out of hand, Blue Note or not.
After EMI went bust and Universal took over Blue Note, new label president Don Was trimmed the roster, bringing the label back to basics and what we might call its core values. The most “mainstream” artists they have now are Gregory Porter and Kandace Springs. The former may, with his latest album, have drifted away from jazz into a more soul-pop direction, but his roots still lie in jazz. In both cases the fit is a reasonable one.
The point that I’m making is that the fact that record companies label someone as this or that doesn’t matter, because these labelling decisions are marketing decisions rather than musical ones. To be honest, you’re better off believing self righteous forum members.
As for the alleged “insult”, you’ve got to admit that your comparison of Gardot with Nina Simone and Sarah Vaughn is a bit daft, isn’t it?
And Nina never had to flash her arse on the front of one of her albums to boost sales.
"By framing each of Robert Johson’s songs with small instrumental miniatures
Carmen Gomes Inc. have created an album that sounds like an imaginary road movie.
Listening one perceives Robert walking late at night, en route in the Mississippi Delta, reflecting back on his life.
The low A, 27.5 khz, from the bowed down tuned double bass representing the Mississippi night, the drums creating the sounds surrounding the night and the guitar being Robert’s mind.
More than playing parts, guitarist Folker Tettero and drummer Bert are playing moods. I actually asked Bert to play the lyrics instead of the drums, a task I knew especially he would be able to fulfill.
Throughout the album Folker is in constant dialogue with Carmen’s melody line. Sometimes edging her on and at other times comforting her.
Folker decided to use an electric 12 string guitar on the small miniatures. The sounds he creates adds a whole new aspect to his musicianship and emphasizes his deep affinity for the blues.
Carmen is at the top of her game here. Her never the same way twice saxophone like phrasing showing her jazz heritage and why jazz is in such great debt to the blues.
Love in Vain in particular being a good example.
Engineer Frans De Rond created a one mic + set up. Adding two Josephson C700 microphones to the central Josephson C700s.
The benefit sound wise compared to the pure one mic setup being that Carmen’s voice and my double bass sound would not suffer when the band would at certain moments would raise the dynamic level."
