Bloggerhythms

Several reviews of albums released by jazz bassist  Joël Dilley  and his singing, piano playing wife, Bett Butler , have appeared on this blog. Each one has released several records on their own and they've also worked together. Their most recent joint effort is the 2016 Christmas album,  Winter Lullaby: Songs for the Christmas Child and it serves as the final entry for November's Women's Music Month and as the introduction to the holiday season. Butler wrote five of the twelve songs and plays piano. Her vocals include some jazz, pop and serious religious music. Dilley is the producer and arranger. He also added both acoustic and electric basses, and played keyboards.  This is not an album aimed at children but Butler said she subtitled it  Songs For The Christmas Child "with the thought in mind that the season – with its pleasures of giving and receiving – has the power to bring out the child in all of us." Butler also explains her inspiration behind a few of ...

  In just a couple of days we'll  be publishing the final installment of  Women's Music Month but first we are interrupting the program for some breaking news. As a daily viewer of Morning Joe on MSNBC I've been watching Joe Scarborough's informative segments the last two weeks promoting his recently released biography on the late President Harry Truman (1945 - 1953). Because Scarborough is a musician who has recorded and released an EP I thought he might be interested in a song about the 33rd president. So, I sent him a YouTube video of the single "Harry Truman" by the rock band Chicago via a private message on Twitter. At around 8:30 yesterday morning, as Scarborough was beginning his segment on the book, he played "Harry Truman" on the air and posted the lyrics on our TV screens. I haven't heard from the popular and controversial host - and I don't expect to - but I'm 100% convinced I gave him the idea after he opened and read my ...

Big Brother and the Holding Company was a mediocre band that would be totally forgotten today except for one very important asset. Their singer and frontwoman was the legendary Janis Joplin, perhaps the most highly regarded, female, white blues and rock singer in history. The band's most famous song off of their debut LP is the single "Down On Me." It's a cover of an old folk song that has at least five earlier recorded versions dating back to 1930 including a few rare field recordings (songs recorded outside of a studio). Joplin is credited on the band's single as the song's sole arranger. She also wrote some new lyrics that gave the historic piece a more uplifting message than the earlier, more serious recordings. Big Brother's brief, 2:06, 45 RPM stays true to the band's raw, acid-rock sound and features Joplin wailing away at full throttle, but with just enough restraint to get the song played on AM radio. Real, earthy, blues-oriented hard rock was...

Americana rocker and singer-songwriter Beth Lee last made an album four years ago with her group The Breakups, a name that tells you a lot about the outfit's songs. Now, she is back as a solo artist with  Waiting on You Tonight ,  a rewarding eleven song set   produced by  Vicente Rodriquez, drummer for  Chuck Prophet. The album will be released on February 12, 2021. Lee's work has many influences and she specifically sites, Stax-Volt, The Ronettes, The Beach Boys, and the late, great Doug Sahm as well as a more recent one, Nicole Atkins. Lee appears quite serious on the album's cover and the photo suits the mood of her songs. On the title track she sings, "I don’t care about your lies, cause believe me, honey, I empathize. I don’t care about what you done wrong, cause I know your heart, I knew all along. I don’t know if everything will be alright, I’m just waiting on you tonight." On "Four Letter Name" Lee talks about what appears to be a dying relatio...

Back in 2006 I discovered that the listening kiosks found in Grand Canyon souvenir stores enticing shoppers to sample their CDs perform their magic very well because I easily succumbed to one of the offerings on their shelves, Beneath The Raven Moon, by Mary Youngblood. This disc isn't something I would normally seek out on my own but the sticker on the wrapper advertising that the CD was a 2003 Grammy Award winner peaked my interest. Youngblood is the first woman to win two of those little statues for "Best Native American Music Album." Beneath The Raven Moon is an almost totally instrumental album of Native American flute music recorded by a musician who owns 125 different wooden flutes. She plays ten of them just on this CD. Youngblood, who is half Aleut and half Seminole, is considered to be a master of her instrument. Her composing skills and virtuosity are very much evident. Her very quiet and appealing melodies have a slight jazz influence as well as touches...

I've always been leery of albums where musicians cover classic songs of bygone eras. It usually signifies a reluctant contractual obligation to their record company, or the artist is in a phase of his or her career where artistic ventures are no longer a priority and the commercial ones have taken over. Frequently these works are recorded after the musicians have passed their prime - and are on the downward slide - as a way to keep the gravy train running with minimal effort. A case in point is Rod Stewart who unfortunately has released four CDs of generic standards. Cover albums also reveal the quality of a singer's voice. Most composers who write for themselves make sure all of their songs are written in their vocal range so the singer's liabilities either go unnoticed or are minimized. A true sign of vocal excellence comes when a singer nails somebody else's song. If the work is out of reach of the vocalist's capabilities the listener knows it immediately. Anybo...

Looking through all of Bloggerhythms' posts recently I noticed how underserved women musicians are on this blog when compared to the total number of articles posted about male artists. So, to help rectify the situation just a little, November 2020 has been designated  WOMEN'S MUSIC MONTH . Every Sunday this month I'll post an album or a song that features work performed by women. The reviews will cover jazz, folk, pop, rock, and even the upcoming holiday season. They will include both established artists and those new to the scene. Be sure to check them out. The first one appears today. _________________________ Svetlana Shmulyian's second album, Night At The Movies , was released last year to positive reviews, including the one published here   on Bloggerhythms. Night At The Speakeasy preceded it and was recorded with her highly talented band, The Delancey Five. The Russian immigrant has a perfect voice for singing old style, traditional jazz and The Delancey Five als...