Share & Discover Vocal Recordings

Vocal Accompaniment
161

Tania Maria is great, so thanks for that, Scott. And Eliane Elias is one of my long-time favorites. For covers of pop/rock tunes, I really like her version of Oye Como Va which features a Hammond-like background with solos on a Rhodes-like instrument, Oye Como Va. It was released on “Around the City”, about 5 years before Light My Fire.

And, I can’t resist sharing her more recent cover of Copacabana (from “Dance of Time”, 2017), which features the wonderful vocal harmonies of Mark Kibble (from Take 6) including an extended acapella section: Copacabana.

P.S. Both these youtube versions have interesting photography/art.

162

Thanks gregb for sharing those clips. I especially like Puente’s “Oye Como Va.”

163

Lyndol,

Thanks for sharing that video. To see her in an acoustic setting, check out Tania Maria in Copenhagen (1979: Warner Music Denmark). It’s just her and the incredible Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. She’s definitely multi-faceted. Here are a couple of cuts. Enjoy! :musical_keyboard:

164

Love that Oye Como Va! How fun! And Capacabana is just so so smooth! Lovely. Thanks for sharing Gregb.

And Tania Maria is a maniac! I love hearing her playing even more in this intimate setting. I think she is whistling along at times ever so lightly. Just beautiful. And so expressive. So glad to have her on my radar now. Thanks again Scott.

Hope music is treating you guys good these days.

165

Love this concert her energy and joy of playing is so contagious . Fun, she was discover by Claude Nougaro in a jazz club and he helps her being more known .Nougaro is one of our great French singer, one of the only which go in jazz zone with grace and great taste .

She mix funk jazz latin in such a easy way , really unique. I long time follow her , even i dont love all what she did there are some jewels in her work.

This concert concentrate all what i love in her work Thanks Lyndol to point it. Nice discover.

2 Likes
166

@lyndol,

I recently posted an instrumental trio video clip of Omar Sosa’s beautiful “Mis tres notas” in another thread. Here is a version I just came across with a vocal by Yillian Cañizares. (I’ve posted this incredible violinist/vocalist here before.)

She starts out by saying that this is a special melody that is not on their album, one composed by Omar. She grew up listening to it and now years later has had the honor and privilege of writing lyrics for it. Not gonna try to translate the lyrics. :sunglasses:

This is the group I was lucky enough to see in person in a small venue just before all hell broke loose.

The video quality is horrible, but the sound is good enough to warrant posting it here. Love how she works the crowd at the end. I hope you enjoy! :musical_keyboard:

1 Like
167

Oh this is lovely. I like all the subtle rhythm/vibe changes + crowd singing - always fun! Love how they danced to the clapping at the end. So moving. Thanks for sharing. It’s beautiful.

168

Lyndol,

I listened to your Live Seminar on Piaf’s “La Vie en Rose” (one of my all-time favorites). I thought you might like these tunes by Sílvia Pérez Cruz (born 15 February 1983). She’s a Spanish singer from Catalunya who has a vibrato that reminds me of Piaf. Enjoy! :musical_keyboard:

169

Oh yes, she has such a light little trill, like a tiny song bird. It’s so gentle and sweet and precise. Very romantic.
And I like the trio too. Just read about Javier Colina, seems he’s a favorite among singers.

I am working on The Way You Look Tonight for my seminar tomorrow.

So many cool versions of this song, with Frank Sinatra’s being the most famous perhaps. But I love seeing it’s origin in this sweet little scene from Swingtime, where it earned Academy aware best original Song in 1936.
Sung and Played (presumably?) by Fred Astaire to Ginger Rogers…

170

Lyndol,

While listening to Yesun (© 2019 Wagram Music SAS under exclusive license to Mack Avenue Records) by Roberto Fonseca, I came across this vocal group that I thought you might find interesting–Gema 4. They’re a female Cuban a capello quartet who have been around since the early 90’s.

The four band members, now known as Gema 4, specialized throughout their extensive training in singing, choir directing and musicology. From the time they were very young, they sang regularly in the choir at the music conservatory where they studied. This was where they received their first inspiration to do something different. The idea they had was that of bringing back old songs along with a few forgotten genres which the youth of the time either no longer listened to or had little knowledge of, and then performing it all a capella. They paid particularly close attention to Bolero. . . . In 1994, the quartet recorded their first album titled, Grandes Boleros a Capella.

The first video is from that album (© 1994 Picap). The second is from Fonseca’s Yesun mentioned above.

171

So sweet! The A cappella song sounds like Angels! And the second one with Roberto Fonseca is just fire! I personally don’t get to hear that many harmonies in latin jazz, so it was a treat. Thanks.

I’m working on Lullaby of Birdland for my PG Live Singing/Playing Seminar later this month and came across a few cool videos. The first is an original video of Ella Fitzgerald which is so lovely to see + some great players accompanying her…

Live performance footage of Ella Fitzgerald from 1957
Ella Fitzgerald - Vocal
Herb Ellis - Guitar
Ray Brown - Bass
Jo Jones - Drums

I listened to a lot of different singers and it’s interesting that even the more modern singers keep the same form arrangement of 2 x’s thru, solo on first A of the 2nd time through. Like this one with Lizz Wright, which i like because of her use of vibrato - it’s interesting with her distinct voice. I don’t recall hearing it as much from her, on the limited performances I’ve heard. I also like the Trombone solo since I’m into jazz trombone right now due to an album by Brian Dryer that I’ll share elsewhere here on PG since there are not vocals. No much information about this Orchestral Performance but it’s lovely and quite the affair…

172

I’ve been working on “Rabo de nube” by Silvio Rodríguez, a Cuban singer/songwriter. I came across a couple of really nice vocals that I thought you might like. The first is by Omara Portuondo, another Cuban. She’s 90 now and has been been working professionally since the late 1940s. Love her interpretation. The second is by Kurt Elling with Danilo Pérez. Enjoy! :musical_keyboard:

173

Scott1 - How special! Omara Portuondo sounds fantastic, especially for her age. Every note is filled with so much life and wisdom.
And the 2nd is just lovely - Danilo Pérez is always so wonderful to hear, especially in this traditionally elegant pianistic ballad. Lovely.

In my world - I’ve been listening to a lot of versions of Loverman written by Jimmy Davis, Roger Ramirez, and James Sherman, published in 1941.
It will be the standard of focus for my August Live Seminar. This is a classic vocal standard, though perhaps Charlie Parker’s records are most popular. Listening through every version out there on youtube… here’s a couple that stood out to me for different reasons…

Cyrille Aimée - this is a super strong version from Smalls in NYC, 2010. I love the interplay between her and Roy Hargrove, as well as the sound of the band as a whole.

Performed by:
Cyrille Aimée -vocals
Roy Hargrove - flugelhorn
Spike Wilner - piano
Phlip Kuehn - bass
Joseph Saylor - drums

Then of all the jazz great vocalist - I found this Sarah Vaughn version to be the most interesting, and unique. I liked how she almost seemed nervous, but more so - authentic, real and as the song lyrics dictates - emotionally vulnerable.
And I like the reharmonization of the piano accompaniment.

Sarah’s accompanied by Richard Davis (Bass); Ronnell Bright (Piano); and Art Morgan (Drums).

I don’t know why but I’m feeling so sad
I long to try something I never had
Never had no kissin’
Oh, what I’ve been missin’
Lover man, oh, where can you be?

The night is so cold and I’m so all alone
I’d give my soul just to call you my own
Got a moon above me
But no one to love me
Lover man, oh, where can you be?

I’ve heard it said
That the thrill of romance
Can be like a heavenly dream
I go to bed with a prayer
That you’ll make love to me
Strange as it seems

Someday we’ll meet
And you’ll dry all my tears
And whisper sweet
Little things in my ear
A hugging and a-kissing
Ooh, what we’ve been missing
Lover man, oh, where can you be?
Lover man, where can you be?

174

Lyndol,
Both versions are great, but Sara Vaughn’s really grabs you! Thanks for sharing. I’ll have to check out your upcoming seminar.

175

Yestersday, Nanci Griffith died at the age of 68. She was a Texas born singer/songwriter who combined folk and country, but some of her tunes were so much more. One of her strengths was storytelling. She was hard to define. The country stations wouldn’t play her because she was too pop/rock. The pop/rock stations wouldn’t play her because she was too country. So others got their top ten hits singing versions of her tunes instead of her. Ironically, she won the 1994 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album with Other Voices, Other Rooms (1993) which consists entirely of cover songs, in tribute to songwriters who influenced her own songwriting. From the mid 80s to the mid 90s she was on fire with world tours and an extensive catalog of fine songs. If you’re thinking of checking her out, start with Storms (1989). For years, whatever I’ve been listening to or, recently, workng on, I’ve closed each night listening to a few of her songs. Sounds hokey, but it’s sort of like losing a friend. As she says in one of her lyrics: “If you can’t find a friend / You still got the radio.”

I can try to justify sharing her here with the following clips with an incredible backing band made up of players who have worked with some of the best jazz acts: Omar Hakim (d)–Weather Report and current Chairman of the Berklee Percussion Department; Hiram Bullock (g)–among other things, guitarist on my favorite Carla Bley album, Lawns (1987); and Philipe Saisse–who has worked with many acts including Gary Burton.

The session is from 1989. The first is her admitted favorite. It seems quite current now. She says, “I am guilty,/ I am war,/ and I’m the root of all evil.” Sounds like a precursor of being “woke.” And I add another of her greats after that. At any rate, I hope you enjoy. :musical_keyboard:

2 Likes
176

Scott–Totally agree about Nanci. For me, it was her simplicity and lack of pretense in her approach to music that struck a chord with me. Always tasteful.

1 Like
177

Now, back to contemporary jazz. The great pianist, Taylor Eigsti, has a new album of all new original tunes, Tree Falls (2021 GSI Records). It’s brilliant, and about 40% has vocals, mostly with Becca Stevens and Gretchen Parlato. Here are three that you should enjoy. The first features both vocalists; the second Gretchen Parlato; and the third, a sort of neo soul feel with Gretchen and her signature breathiness. Enjoy! :musical_keyboard:

1 Like
178

Those were great, Scott! My favorite of the three is “Listen In”, and I’m looking forward to listening more carefully and completely to the entire album.

It may have been shared here before, but one of my favorite Gretchen Parlato tunes (also accompanied by Mr. Eigisti is from her 2011 album co-produced by Robert Glasper, but the tune is a little older!

179

Nancy Griffin is such a gem! I didn’t know her til now, but feel your loss Scott. I agree Leo, she has such a lack of pretense in her voice and her song writing. I love that she was Kindergarden teacher and she advocates for the children in her music.

I’m so surprised I’ve never heard of her, but will certainly do the deep dive now. I think the musicians that defy genre, and can’t be put in a box are the most authentic!

Thanks for Sharing and RIP Nancy Griffith. I’ll go check out Storms now.

Especially the first Song, It’s a Hard Life Wherever You Go - it really spoke to me!

180

Lyndol,

Attached are 3 examples of what comes to mind when I think of Nanci. The 1st song was my introduction to her singing / storytelling and I was immediately hooked.

1 Like