The Reason is Christ

I wanted you to hear this awesome song if you haven't already heard it. Guaranteed to blow your socks off. Enjoy. Oh, and have a blessed Christmas! - The Castle Lady

Are You Being Followed by a...

Moon Shadow?

 

Just for fun !

The Castle Lady

 

If I Can Dream

For the 40th anniversary of the passing of Elvis I thought I'd put up a video of one of his lesser known songs which just went platinum. I found that out from Priscilla Presley when she was being interviewed today early in the morning on T.V. Now this is a song befitting the great talent he was truly. R.I.P. dear and know you were well loved. -The Castle Lady

There are additional entries on Elvis on this blog. Check the archives.

                                                 

Oh, Zsuzsanna !

I make the most interesting musical talent discoveries on Good Morning America than just about anywhere these days! Ms. Zsuzsanna Eva Ward- showed up on my television screen the last full week of July and I was very impressed with her music. She said that she had played for and with several big headline acts, including ZZ Top- not just as an opening act- and I loved the song (Help me Mama) she sang on the show which was from her latest studio LP The Storm. Have a look and listen and decide for yourself. –The Castle Lady

     Known as ZZ Ward, she has been active as a professional singer since the age of 12 when she started out with her father’s band with her first song being Albert King’s ‘As the Years Go Passing By’. She is a relatively new artist since she had her official recording debut EP ‘Til the Casket Drops’ which came out in 2012. She has been compared to Tina Turner, Etta James and Aretha Franklin but what I hear is more original than that and she could vie with Sheryl Crow for rock sass. Her appearances include the 2014 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Bonnaroo Music Festival and even a short turn on tour with Eric Clapton. You can find out more at www.zzward.com

 

Dave Valentin- A Flute Legend

     The flute world lost a major star this year in March when Dave Valentin, a Grammy Award winner, passed away at the young age of 64 from complications of a stroke. He had been dealing with the effects of Parkinson’s disease for a number of years but had appeared to thrive despite the debilitating effects of this ailment. I first heard and saw him, in person, at a National Flute Association convention back in 1986 in New York City. I did not know at the time that nearly all of us flutists had invaded his turf but he quickly became a favorite, not only because he was a male in a female dominated instrumental world but also because we noticed he was the most handsome flutist we had ever seen. It was just a plus that he played like an angel in heaven. His only rival was Ransom Wilson but Dave’s niche was jazz and he did some amazing things with it, besides.

     His manager, Richie Bonilla filled in the gaps in my knowledge about him shortly after he passed. Born in the South Bronx to parents who came from Puerto Rico, Dave started in music playing conga and timbales by the time he was five. As a teenager, he became attracted to a girl who played the flute and, to better court her, switched instruments and taught himself to play. He went on to become one of the pre-eminent flutists in Latin jazz. In 2003 his Grammy for best Latin jazz album The Gathering was in collaboration with the Caribbean Jazz Project, which also featured vibraphonist Dave Samuels.

 

     Lauded by Jon Pareles in a New York Times review back in 1984 he cited his sultry tone and amazing agility of technique on the instrument as his strength in solos and always hovered around Latin and funk rhythms or combinations of both. He’d played many instruments before mastering jazz so his beginning was, of course, on piano by the age of nine. He had already started to play professionally in real gigs by that time and was considered a wunderkind all the while only receiving instructions from public schools. He played in every collection he could- band, jazz band, orchestra and chorus and out of seven music teachers, one-Stuart Soffer, recommended him to the now famous High School of Music and Art in Manhattan. After graduating, he studied under the acclaimed jazz/classical fusion flutist Hubert Laws, who became his mentor. He also studied at Bronx Community College before becoming a music teacher and taught seventh-, eighth- and ninth-grade music for three years in the South Bronx. He told NYT in 2014, “I had a jazz band and taught them how to play, so when they graduated they were ready.” His first album as a headliner Legends was released in 1979 on the GRP label, with which he had a long and fruitful relationship as both a leader and a sideman.

     I own several recordings with the GRP label which include Jungle Garden, Flute Juice and the ground-breaking Light Struck which was inspired and promoted by Juan Novo who had invented the Fantasia flute- a hand-crafted flute which incorporated modern tech as well. One song on Light Struck “Can’t Change My Heart” included Angela Bofill’s vocals in a beautiful compliment. This album coincided with his strong appearance at the NYC flute convention in 1986 and put both of them in the All-Stars permanently.

     In addition to releasing numerous albums under his own name, he also recorded with singers Patti Austin and Chris Connor, guitarist Lee Ritenour, McCoy Tyner’s Afro-Cuban All-Stars and many others. He also toured with the well-known jazz percussionist Tito Puente and was named music director of his Golden Latin Jazz All-Stars. After suffering a stroke in 2012, he convalesced in a rented bungalow in the Harding Park section of the Bronx for a time, surviving without savings or health insurance and mostly depended on donations, many handled by the Jazz Foundation of America.

     He is survived by his brother, George and many fans who will never forget his sound, his infectious verve and smile but most of all his unflagging faith in Jesus who he always referred to as his Lord and Creator in his liner notes when he dedicated his LPs. On Light Struck he wrote, “In my moments of solitude, His light fills my spirit.”

Amen, brother !

The Castle Lady

Ella at 100 years !

     Even though Ella Fitzgerald has been gone from our presence for a little over two decades, her voice and music continue in tribute albums and performances of some of the finest jazz talent around the world! Just a sampling of those are Aretha Franklin, Victoria Wyndham, Jane Monheit, Dianne Reeves and Natalie Cole! Her tribute albums are numerous and contain quite a roster of very talented folk. Ella's talent alone was legendary and her signature sound was so unique that if you heard her on the radio- five notes and three words were enough to identify her. She was purely an original and I remember the first time I heard scat was on a Fitzgerald platter.

     The past week marked the 100th anniversary of her birth on April 25, 1917 at Newport News, Virginia. On the day, a lecture was given by Larry Applebaum on her life and career at the Whittall Pavilion at the Library of Congress. On the same day there was a tribute concert at Birdland in NYC with musical artists recreating her tunes. She began singing in her teens with the Chick Webb Orchestra making her first and most popular early hit A-Tisket, A-Tasket and went on to sing with Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, The Ink Spots and Dizzy Gillespie. It's important to note that her amateur singing debut was officially at the age of seventeen when she took the stage on November 21st of 1934 on Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater. Doing a tribute herself of Connee Boswell, she sang Judy and The Object of My Affection and won first prize ! A few months later she was singing with a band at the Harlem Opera House and met Chick Webb there. Fitzgerald recorded nearly 150 songs with Webb's orchestra between 1935 and its final end in 1942, when she went solo. After that she sang with many different bands but always headlined with popular artists. She made the transition to bebop seamlessly and became an integral part of the Dizzy Gillespie band making it definitive with what today would be called vocal stylings. By 1945 she'd made a record called Flying Home with arranger Vic Schoen and received glowing reviews, amongst them the New York Times said it was "the most influential jazz record of the decade".

     Ella's discography and collaborations are so numerous that I would direct you to visit her web site to get everything you would want to know. There will be a full schedule this year of the tribute performances in and around Washington, D.C. and I urge everyone to get out and attend some of these if you are a true jazz fan. The above mentioned artists have done very well with her work but, of course, there ain't nothing like the real thing baby ! By the 50s Ella was covering just about every jazz song worth listening to in such composers as Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, Gershwin, A.C. Jobim and went international with Norman Granz in the 60s. At that time she made Ella in Berlin which became her all-time best selling album for which she won a Grammy with her performance of "Mack the Knife." It vies with Louis Armstrong's version which is also world famous. She even made four albums with Joe Pass in the 70s and 80s which rarely get attention but are quite poignant. A zenith year came in 1975 when Ella and Frank Sinatra appeared on Broadway along with the Count Basie Orchestra in September in which the shows grossed $1,000,000 for a two week run!

     Even though she looked the picture of health through most of her years Ella was diagnosed with diabetes type 2 in her later years and had several hospitalizations because of illnesses brought on by her condition. She passed away in June of 1996 at the age of 79 in Los Angeles and was interred there.

      Her awards are numerous and include thirteen Grammy Awards plus the Lifetime Achievement Award she garnered in 1967. In 1958 she was the first black female to win at the inaugural show. In 1990 she received an honorary doctorate in Music from Harvard University ! 

     If you are blessed to live in the vicinity of her hometown at Newport News, VA you may want to check out a music festival which is celebrated every year (since 1997) to honor her and her music for an entire week. The roster of Jazz musicians and singers who participate have grown exponentially over the years and you'll have a chance to hear what an impact this fantastic singer has had over the years and continues to exert even though her residence is now on high. Please do avail yourself of her musical influence and sound. There is no other like it in the world and there may never be again !

www.ellafitzgerald.com 

The Castle Lady

Bowie's Best Collaboration

David Bowie may have been the most versatile and changeable rock star the world has ever had the chance to experience. I saw this on national T.V. when it first aired in 1977 and it is still a blockbuster to me because I knew he had a great voice, I knew he could act but with Bing Crosby he became another creature. Have a listen: 

This was nearly forty years ago and it still sends chills up and down my spine. What a world this would be if they could only listen well and then decide to change...
                                  Peace on Earth-  can it be ??? 

It's time to have a...

Great Skate Songs

What's the best type of song to skate to and why are they always repetitious but fun? I think I just asked and answered myself in the same sentence. The best way to illustrate what I just wrote is to show you with a couple of videos:

        

 One of my favs from way back. 

and a new one...

 Watch all the way to the end. I think some other Marilyn lookalike took the skating spill but it says everything right there. This song is just meant to be skated to and that's it ! Go ahead- life's too short not to have some fun !

 

More on Ivy...

  The following is a brief bio from their official web site. When you get a chance check them out. - The Castle Lady
 "It’s a rebirth," says Ivy singer Dominique Durand about All Hours [Nettwerk], the New York trio’s new album and first release in six years. "We really had no idea where we were going for a long time. But in my mind, I knew I wanted to go back to some kind of innocence, and also a feeling of energy and excitement. I wanted to make a record based on those very basic sensations."

Ivy have certainly journeyed far. The group was formed in 1994 when Andy Chase and Adam Schlesinger convinced Parisian Dominique Durand, who had recently moved to New York and had no aspirations to be a singer, to venture into Chase’s studio and try recording four new songs with them. Those recordings, which showcased Durand’s intimate, distinctive – and at that point, heavily accented – vocals alongside Chase and Schlesinger’s pop melodies and jangly guitars, quickly led to a record deal. Soon Ivy became a real working band, and Durand, who had previously been working as a photographer’s assistant, found herself opening for acts like Oasis, Edwyn Collins, and St. Etienne.

After receiving Melody Maker’s "Single Of The Week" with their debut 7″, "Get Enough", they released their debut EP, Lately, and then their first full-length LP, 1995′s Realistic. However, it was with Apartment Life (1997) that they hit their stride. That album, which combined the simplicity and charm of their earlier work with growing sophistication and confidence in the recording studio, received glittering reviews and helped Ivy solidify a loyal fanbase. Long Distance (2001) continued on the trajectory established by Apartment Life, and contained the standout single "Edge Of The Ocean", which quickly became one of Ivy’s signature songs and was licensed in numerous films, television shows, and commercials.

The band released a covers record, Guestroom, in 2002, which revealed a mix of influences including Orange Juice, The Go-Betweens, Nick Heyward, and The House Of Love. Then, for 2005′s In The Clear, the band enlisted the help of UK producer/mixer Steve Osborne, who had worked with favorites like New Order, Suede, and Doves.

During the band’s final, sold out New York show in support of In the Clear, in 2006, Durand closed the evening by simply saying "Goodbye," foreshadowing the band’s impending hiatus. "When we did that gig, I had this feeling I wasn’t going to be on stage with Ivy for a long time," she says. "It was an abstract feeling, but it was real. We didn’t intend to, but we did disappear for a while."

They didn’t plan on being away so long. In fact, they initially discussed trying to make a record quickly, and they started working again in the studio soon after finishing that tour. "But when we first started recording, we were grasping for inspiration," says Schlesinger. "We did a lot of work, but honestly we weren’t too excited about any of it."

In fact, over the next few years, the band wrote and subsequently discarded at least an entire album’s worth of songs. But at some point, explains Chase, "we turned a corner and hit on something that felt fresher to us."

That something was a change of working method: they started by building off of rhythms and textures rather than writing primarily on acoustic guitar, which had been Ivy’s traditional approach. Chase and Schlesinger, who each began life as keyboard players, allowed themselves to focus less on being a "guitar" band and more on creating compelling, exciting tracks through any means necessary.

The first breakthrough was "Distant Lights", which was to become the leadoff track on All Hours. A slow-building, shifting soundscape with a relentless, hypnotic beat, the song manages to sound simultaneously like classic Ivy and not quite like anything they’ve ever done before.

"That was a galvanizing moment," says Chase. "We were sent in a direction that we hadn’t explored completely and we became more excited about what we were doing than we’d been in a few records." Durand continues, "It’s an important song because it started All Hours. We chose it as the album opener because it is a departure."

In a burst of new inspiration, the group came up with a batch of songs that felt related to that one, but still with unmistakable Ivy melodies and hooks. "Suspicious" tells a tongue-in-cheek lyrical tale over handclaps and a bouncy, stripped-down groove; "Fascinated" sounds like a lost 80′s synth-pop hit remixed for today. "The Conversation" is a lilting ballad over a jittery beat; the jangly "You Make It So Hard" is reminiscent of early Ivy singles, and yet the keyboard hook and propulsive rhythm ties it to the rest of All Hours.

"Making this album reminded us of how excited we were at the beginning, when we first started writing together," says Schlesinger. Adds Durand, "Returning, there’s a sense of victory. I said goodbye, but we’re back."

Ivy- special sound- special song

This song is played at the end of the movie Bee Season and I thought it an excellent piece of mood music. A good part of the dynamic of the sound of this band is the singer. Strong or whisper soft there is a special quality to her voice rarely heard these days. Give a listen:

Do check out their web site and iTunes. Every song they do is unique but in this same genre. Treat yourself !

The Castle Lady