A friend gave me a tip about this guy (thanks Davy). It is always nice to listen to music that comes via a recommendation. I am perhaps guilty of trying too hard to return the favour though!
I really like the sound here, it’s soothing quality has been welcome this morning. It has a refreshingly simple, old school jazz flavour and there is something heartfelt in the vocals. I can imagine him sitting at a grand piano playing it in a smoky bar after midnight.
RjK
*Artist #410
Ray Bryant – Up above the rock (Rory McDermott guest post)
Forewords annoy me. I have read some of the most meaningless stuff written by some of the most meaningful men. John Peel piddling across the pages of a pop biography, Berry Gordy wasting paper….so I’m gonna keep it short.
RJ has done much of the hard work for us this year; so this is my IOU contribution.
Ray Bryant, who died earlier this year, is fairly well known for his work as a jazz pianist. He pretty much played with all the bigdogs beginning in Philadelphia then New York. However, his jangling piano here is thundering funk, the horns will pop your hernia. And if you blink at the start you may miss the tightest drum intro of all time.
RIP RB
Dave Brubeck – Unsquare dance
I was reminded of this recently when I heard it on the radio. It is just cool. The 60’s is an era I have become a little more conscious of recently (well, beyond Motown, Stax and Atlantic) through the TV show Mad Men. It was such a stylish time. I can imagine Don Draper sipping on an Old Fashioned while this plays on a jukebox.
Saint Germain – Rose Rouge
This song is just plain cool. I love how it is smooth as silk yet rapid and relentless.
I thought a change of pace was in order following a few days of fairly recent pop music. Not that it was a bad thing, I just get bored with too much of the same thing. Jazz is something I don’t feel grown up enough to really appreciate fully. Somehow I have always loved this track though – it is so smooth and soothing and this combined with hint of wistfulness is a powerful mixture. It has been a welcome calming influence on few occasions when I have needed it.
/RjK