music - s c i u r . u s

Blood, Sweat & Tears by Blood, Sweat & Tears, 1969. A recording which is a masterpiece of jazz and blues-influenced originals, as well as a covers including God Bless The Child. The arrangements are still stunning to listen to, particularly Blues, Part II. I recall this is one of the first albums I ever purchased

Blow by Blow, Jeff Beck, 1975. Jeff confounded his audience by working with (the Beatles) producer George Martin to create an intoxicating album that became a textbook example of jazz-rock. Ironically, he covered She's A Woman using a voice box, later made famous by Peter Frampton. This was back in the day when everyone and their brother were featuring a Fender Rhodes or Clavinet

Bridge of Sighs, Robin Trower, 1974. I doubt that another album will come along that affected me as much as this one did. Surely I have listened to it several thousand times by now, and still never tire of it. James Dewar had one of the most phenomenal voices to match, but it's Trower's compositions, his economic approach to the Stratocaster, a love of slow, metronomic meters, all coupled with a tone that no one will ever duplicate. The heavens aligned for this album to create a sonic paradise

Ella and Louis, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, 1956. I adore practically anything that Ella has done, but this was a triumph of two very distinct vocalists coming together on a set of standards. The duet nature is both playful and romantic

Extensions, Dave Holland, 1989. Shame on me, I had not even heard of this bassist until he opened for Miles Davis at the Paris Jazz Festival in 1991. I promptly bought a copy of the CD and it is still merits a complete listen on a regular basis. Kevin Eubanks' psychadelic guitar (later the leader of the Tonight Show orchestra) is a foil for Steve Coleman's alto sax. That most of the tunes feature odd meters is an added bonus. A real tonal landscape

Faith, Hope, Love, Kings X, 1990. I heard It's Love on the radio during a return visit to the States while living in Paris the first time. The best way someone described these three phenomenal musicians is 'Cream meets the Beatles.' Lush, harmonized vocals, soulful guitar, and oozing with lyrical optimism. I learned every song in six months, and Ty Tabor's dropped-D tuning went on to influence a bunch of other bands right at the time that grunge was emerging. Strangely, this music was shoved into the category of Christian rock due to the its spiritual references. After bassist Doug Pinnick announced that he was gay in 1998, the ever-so-loving Christians kicked them to the curb

Favourite Chopin, Vladimir Ashkenazy, 1990. While I had already been entranced by the Impressionism of Debussy and Satie, I went 'backwards' and stumbled across this great collection of solo piano pieces that was my introduction to Romanticism. I suspect that this particular discovery was a way of connecting the dots, i.e. that Debussy and Satie were stretching the limits and redefining what Chopin had begun

Ingénue, k.d. lang, 1992. I happened to be purchasing a new set of speakers in 1992 for home and this was the recording used to demonstrate the capabilities of the speakers whose main selling point was that they were three-way (i.e. with a mid-range cone) which made the vocals much more present. I nearly fell over and asked, "Who is this?" Favorite track is still 'The Mind of Love' due to the seductive mixture of the song itself, k.d.'s voice, and production that raises goose pimples when I listen

Kind of Blue, Miles Davis, 1959. What can I say? Bill Evans, John Coltrane, and Miles all together. Recorded in a minimal number of takes. There is a reason that if anyone asks me to suggest a favorite jazz recording, I tell them to buy this one. Too bad it has become such a cliché

Lady in Satin, Billie Holiday, 1958. The orchestration of Ray Ellis is a magnificent landscape for Billie's tired, painful voice. The opening moments of I'm A Fool To Want You are indicative of the mood that permeates the entire session. This recording makes heroin addiction almost glamorous

Oh, Yeah?, Jan Hammer, 1976. Jan was primarily working with Jeff Beck at the time this was recorded. This album blazed trails with an insane mélange of Moog and Oberheim synthesizers coupled with odd meters. The hook for me was Bambu Forest, a hypnotic piece in what I can best determine slithers around in something always divisible by 7. It occurred to me years later that Bambú is also the name of a well-known rolling paper for tobacco and other substances. This could explain why I was so enamoured with the album when it was released. And many thanks to Jan for finally releasing it on CD, I had been waiting thirty years!

Needlepoint Magic, Blossom Dearie, 1979. A live recording in NYC, this was the first version of Billy Strayhorn's Lush Life that I ever heard. It has since become a song that I'll probably demand be played at my memorial service

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