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Bailey's Bundles

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Ten Artists: February 2019

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Cecilia Bartoli Antonio Vivaldi Decca 2018 2019 marks the thirtieth anniversary of mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli recording for Decca, her label for the duration of her career. Bartoli's first recording was Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia (London/Decca, 1989) opposite famous baritone Leo Nucci. My own introduction to Bartoli was through her Mozart Arias (London/Decca, 1991). For full disclosure, Ms. Bartoli was so beautiful that I purchased that recording based on the cover alone. 20 years ago, ...

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Memphis Rent Party: The Blues, Rock & Soul in Music's Hometown by Robert Gordon

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Memphis Rent Party: The Blues, Rock & Soul in Music's Hometown Robert Gordon 272 pages ISBN: # 978-1632867735 Bloomsbury USA 2019 One becomes part of a place when one takes that place for granted. I spent the better part of the 1980s in Oxford, Mississippi, attending graduate school. During that time, I practiced pharmacy in Charleston, the co-county seat of Tallahatchie County, along with Tutwiler. All of these locals are infused ...

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Lefty Frizzell: An Article From Life - The Complete Recordings

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Lefty Frizzell An Article From Life -The Complete Recordings Bear Family Records 2018 Obsession is a great motivator and perhaps the greatest form of appreciation. However, that may be no more than making a virtue out of necessity. The German label, Bear Family Records has made a career of being obsessed in providing a complete accounting of American Music. Previous to this 20-CD box set, An Article From Life -The Complete Recordings was the essential ...

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Ten Artists: January 2019

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I am adopting my “Bailey's Bundle" format as sole vehicle for my music reportage. Moreover, I am sharpening my focus to three segments of the jazz universe, in this order: (1) Jazz Vocals, (2) Archival Releases, and (3) Everything Else. I have changed the title to the more inclusive “Ten Artists," better reflecting how I have been programing my articles all along. The inaugural edition of this column is representative of what the reader can expect. Let's celebrate music together. ...

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Ben Sidran: Renaissance Man

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The only appropriate person to tell the story of Ben Sidran is Ben Sidran. And, that is exactly what he did in his “autobiography/memoir" Ben Sidran: A Life in Music. The book is also the perfect companion to Ben There, Done That: Ben Sidran Live Around the World (1975-2015), a 3-CD retrospective of Sidran performing in a variety of formats that only a Renaissance Man like himself could achieve. Ben Sidran: A Life in Music Ben ...

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Seven Women (Plus Three) 2018 – Part XI

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Kris Adams We Should Have Danced Self Produced 2018 There is a special significance to Kris Adams's release We Should Have Danced. The recording features Adam's original lyrics with arrangements by pianist Tim Ray, of compositions of the late Steve Prosser, Adams' former husband and Berklee College of Music professor. Shortly after Prosser's passing away in 2012, Adams came across a folder titled “Songs for CD" among the items he had left behind for ...

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The Traditional Holidays - 2018

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The Monastic Choir of St. Peter's Abbey, Solesmes, France Gregorian Chant Christmas Paraclete Records 2018 Paraclete Press continues its re-release of Gregorian Chant from The Monastic Choir of St. Peter's Abbey, Solesmes, France with a 2-CD Christmas offering hot on the heels of their recent release of Melodies I & II (Paraclete Records, 2018). Presently is a set of chants derived from two previous releases Christmas, which features Midnight Mass and the Mass of the ...

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The Nontraditional Holidays - 2018

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Robyn Spangler Christmas is... O.P. REcords

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Seven Women (Plus Three) 2018 – Part X

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Lucia Jackson You and the Night and the Music Roni Music 2018 To a precious few, much talent is given, particularly the young of age, like New York City --native Lucia Jackson, who, at the age of 26 has already distinguished herself as an accomplished dancer and model. Now Jackson emerges as a singer, capitalizing on her voice and piano training at the prestigious Escuela de Musica Creativa in Madrid, Spain, where she attended on ...

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If You Can Only Have One Christmas Recording…

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This Holiday article is early and necessary. I am writing this rare stand-alone review of a Seasonal offering because I have a couple of bah-humbug friends who disrespect Christmas Music. I am giving them, and all other such music Philistines, their warranted comeuppance by introducing the only proof I have ever found for the existence of the Divine as we approach the Christian Holiday Season. If you wanted to limit yourself to a single holiday recording, may it be this ...

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Gregorian Chant – Melodies I & II

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The Monastic Choir of St. Peter's Abbey, Solesmes, France was re-founded in 1833, following a period of latency. In the late 19th century, the monastery was challenged by the Holy Father, Pope Pius X to fully research the role of plainchant in the liturgy and to edit books on chant that reflected this research. If there is one thing a bunch of Benedictines can do, it is research. The result has been nearly 200 years of intense scholarship that led ...

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Bailey’s Bundle – Seven Women (Plus Three) 2018 – Part IX

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Yilian Cañizares and Omar Sosa Aguas Ota Records 2018 Pianist/composer Omar Sosa has established himself as a pioneer at the edge of Cubano-Caribbean music. Sosa teams with violinist/vocalist Yilian Cañizares for a breezy and sensual stroll through 11 original, for lack of a better term, world music compositions that are as entertaining as they are accomplished. I think the way to out the music of Sosa into perspective is to think of it as being ...