Byther Smith – Funky Man 1993

Ego Lemos - O Hele Le 2010

Review from the Guardian

He plays acoustic guitar and harmonica, and his songs are remarkable for the way he mixes sturdy melodies that often sound as accessible as western folk themes, with lyrics in his native language Tetum (thankfully translated in the sleeve notes), that deal with his country's painful history or the need for conservation.

Allison Moorer – Crows 2010

BBC Review

..... Crows has Allison Moorer hitting her stride and going somewhere special.

not on the album but still gives a flavour

Quando Quando Quando

2 different versions

Sarah Vaughan - Sarah Vaughan a Paris 2010

Sarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century". She had a contralto vocal range. I agree entirely - she is one of my greats

Nicknames included "Sailor" (for her salty speech),"Sassy" and "The Divine One". The National Endowment for the Arts bestowed upon her its "highest honor in jazz", the NEA Jazz Masters Award, in 1989

I never knew this from her Wikipedia entry

Sarah Vaughan's personal life was a jumble of paradoxes. She had a mercurial personality and could be extremely difficult to work with (especially in areas outside of music), but numerous fellow musicians recounted their experiences with her to be some of the best of their career. None of her marriages was successful, yet she maintained close long-running friendships with a number of male colleagues in the business and was devoted to her parents and adopted daughter. Despite effusive public acclaim, Vaughan was insecure and suffered from stage fright that was, at times, almost incapacitating. While shy and often aloof with strangers, she was quite gregarious and generous with friends

William Cornysh - Choral Works 2001

Herbie Mann - At the Village Gate

Wikipedia

Herbie was a Jewish American jazz flutist and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophones and clarinets (including bass clarinet), but Mann was among the first jazz musicians to specialize on the flute and was perhaps jazz music's preeminent flutist during the 1960s

sometimes re-issues are work re-listening

Paul Simon – 1964-1993

3CD's of some iconic records - see here for a list.

Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War

America

F**K YOU

This is one of those catchy tuns that you can play over and over.

Levon Helms - Electric Dirt 2009

New Yorker

..... the set finds Helm both affirming life and anticipating death. ....Much is raucous, though there are sombre ballads that look directly into the great unknown. The constant throughout is Helm’s subtly spectacular singing. When he was young, he sounded like a wise old man. Now he sounds like an oracle

Marissa Nadler - Little Hells 2009

Pitchfork Score 8.3

....During those 14 perfect minutes, it's just her voice and finger-picked acoustic guitar, augmented cautiously by piano, organ, and ripples of electronics

blogcritics

Some artists have such perfectly serene voices that they'd still mesmerize you even if they were singing about hell, damnation, and sex.

Marissa Nadler The Whole is Wide live at Joes Pub NYC
Uploaded by lightning49. - See the latest featured music videos.

Gretchen Peters - Circus Girl 2009

Fish Records

One of Fish Records' favourite artists, Gretchen Peters studio albums are full of beautifully constructed songs, killer melodies and lyrics with real heart.
This hand picked 15 song retrospective includes 2 unreleased songs, and the quality of the songs throughout is exceptional

Mahler Symphony No 5 by LPO 2001

Wikipedia

The musical canvas and emotional scope of the work, which lasts over an hour, are huge. After its premiere, Mahler is reported to have said,

“Nobody understood it. I wish I could conduct the first performance fifty years after my death.”

Conductor Herbert von Karajan said that when one hears Mahler's Fifth, “you forget that time has passed. A great performance of the Fifth is a transforming experience. The fantastic finale almost forces you to hold your breath.”

Sorry - not by the LPO but a fine version - this is one of my favourite pieces of classical music.

Tom Waits - Chocolate Jesus

and

Patricia Kaas - Je te dis vous 2010

Patricia Kaas is a French singer and actress. She is a very successful French-speaking singer, with an International following. Stylistically her music is not classical chanson, but is closer to a mixture of pop music, jazz and chanson.
She had her greatest success in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, Russia, Finland, and Korea with her third album Je te dis vous.

Keith Urban Defying Gravity 2009

The album's lead-off single is "Sweet Thing", which topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts in March 2009. "Kiss a Girl" was released on March 7, 2009 as the second single. The album became Urban's first number-one album on the Billboard 200, selling 171,000 copies in its first week of release. Critics gave it a mixed reaction - so it's personal taste.

Sweet Thing

Kiss a Girl

Coral - Butterfly House 2010

BBC

The Wirral band sounds like they’re enjoying themselves on their sixth LP

.

Guardian

.... the Heston Blumenthals of pop: they used the same ingredients as most other indie bands, but what they concocted was refreshingly strange

Gábor Szabó - Jazz Raga 2010

Gábor Szabó was a Hungarian jazz guitarist, famous for mixing jazz, pop-rock and his native Hungarian music. Give the guy a listen - an absolute pleasure.





Tracks
1. Walking On Nails
2. Mizrab
3. Search For Nirvana
4. Krishna
5. Raga Doll
6. Comin' Back
7. Paint It Black
8. Sophisticated Wheels
9. Ravi
10. Caravan
11. Summertime

Kate Walsh - Light & Dark 2009

BBC

But it’s perfectly pleasant fare for the undemanding listener, and several leagues ahead of the Melua-factory female artists still active in the UK.

So some way to go yet but a nice voice

Greatest Love

O. V. Wright - That's How Strong My Love Is 1989

Esperanza Spalding

I just love this artist's music





Amazon Artist

Suzanne Vega - Retrospective 2003

BBC

She shows love, loneliness and overall goodness in her timeless songs.

Suzanne Vega - Luka
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maggie may

Rufus Wainwright Want Two 2008

Want Two is the fourth album by American-Canadian singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. Mother Kate McGarrigle and aunt Anna (McGarrigle) both perform and sing on "Hometown Waltz". Antony Hegarty of 2005 Mercury Prize winners Antony and the Johnsons sings lead vocal alongside Wainwright on "Old Whore's Diet".

BBC

.... Want Two - wrapped in a melodic package so rich and varied as to make one giddy- will make sure that his name stands alone. Welcome to the world of Rufus the First...

Playing For Change 32

Joe Walsh - The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get 2008

A re-release of the 1973 album that propelled Joe into stardom

Rumer - beautiful songstress

A singer-songwriter in the classic 1970s soft-rock mould of Karen Carpenter and Carole King. To hear her, you'd never guess she was an Anglo-Pakistani hippy with a complicated history. Never off the radio at the moment - look here

Vijay Iyer - Historicity

Coming out with 2 new albums soon

Dutch Jazz - Caro Emerald

Caroline Esmeralda van der Leeuw (born 26 April 1981 in Amsterdam), better known by her stagename Caro Emerald, is a Dutch jazz singer.

Robert Plant Angel Dance

Earth, Wind & Fire (8/11) - Thats the way of the world

Earth, Wind & Fire jamming "That's The Way of the World".

Quebe Sisters Band Shame On You

The Quebe Sisters Band is an American fiddle Western swing group from Fort Worth, Texas, United States. The band consists of sisters Grace, Sophia and Hulda Quebe as well as Joey McKenzie on guitar and Drew Phelps on upright bass.

Funny Mathematician

Thomas Andrew "Tom" Lehrer (born April 9, 1928) is an American of Irish/English descent - singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, and mathematician. He has lectured on mathematics and musical theater. Very funny

Morcheeba - Dive Deep

Wikipedia

Morcheeba is a British band that mixes influences from trip hop, rock, rhythm and blues and pop. Their most popular albums include debut Who Can You Trust? and Big Calm.

After a break of several years, Morcheeba released their sixth studio album, Dive Deep in February 2008. On this album, the Godfrey brothers emphasised their role as producers creating a set of instrumental tracks entirely sung by a roster of guest performers - cult folk-rock singer Judie Tzuke, Norwegian singer-songwriter and former Jaga Jazzist collaborator Thomas Dybdahl, blues singer/guitarist Bradley Burgess, Korean-American rapper Cool Calm Pete, and French singer Manda.) Both Manda and Burgess toured with Morcheeba as lead singers on their 2008 tour.