Skip navigation

Monthly Archives: December 2007

Moments of Sophie

You know that feeling where you’ve never heard of something, but as soon as you do, it seems like it’s everywhere, and you wonder if you’ve just been missing it the entire time or whether or not it’s the consequence of some strange serendipity? Well, her name is Sophie Milman. It’s hard to imagine life before Sophie (among my favorite female names of all time). But in the oft uninspired realm of truly jazz female vocalists, Sophie is worth noting for her unique timbre that’s not overly dark, tinted with a slight sweetness despite being plenty sensuous.

I somehow came across her newest album, Make Someone Happy, which succeeded if that was its mission. This is an album of somewhat safe material to grace her voice, though some tracks come up far shorter (Rocket Love) than others (Something in the Air Between Us), while the majority of the repertoire is well suited to her ease of transitioning from playful swing to intrepid solemnity.

The title track to the album is an interesting take on the classic song, which up until now had the firm association of Jimmy Durante in my mind. While Sophie’s version, a bit more somber and at a slower tempo, is particularly emotional, I don’t think it will usurp my current memory of this tune.

One feature of this album that’s particularly impressing to me is the quality of her band. In a realm of truly lackluster bands (Norah’s Handsome Band), this group can certainly hold their own if they ever decided to, though they are clearly well suited for their front-woman. Specifically, her rhythm section comprised of Paul Schrofel on piano, Kieran Overs on bass, and Alan Hetherington on drums definitely do it for me, while I don’t particularly value the gratuitous use of the harmonica, especially on “Matchmaker, Matchmaker.”

Sophie even has small moments reminiscent of Madeleine Peyroux (and by extension, Billie Holiday), and there are definitely bars in “Like Someone In Love,” that are Ella-like in the purity of their tone.

However, with strong renditions of “People Will Say We’re In Love” and “So Long You Fool,” she’s definitely a voice all her own.

The Analogue Side to CD

For the past several years, since I acquired an iPod, it has served as my primary source, though I have not been willing to ditch the CD quite yet in favor of lossy digital downloads with no liner notes, physical disc, etc. The convenience of having everything at the thumb-tip is alluring. For the first time since 04, my iPod no longer carries my entire collection, but I’m rediscovering the wonderful-ness of changing CDs and attending to entire albums as works of arts. The nature of a single disc CD player is such that the disc playing has a continuity, and the sacrosanct act of choosing a disc cannot be taken lightly. It is even further with vinyl, as each physical side must be treated with care, along with needle placement and return, etc. Even the act of extracting vinyl maintains a level of seriousness and commitment to listening to a particular record that the convenience of a click wheel simply cannot afford.


Diggin’

It was a small excavation of one of the if not the best vinyl shops in Cambridge today — Stereo Jack’s on Mass Ave. Today I passed up the truly collectibles and went for stuff that was appealing by value. That is to say, If I had found The Quintet Jazz at Massey Hall original for $100, I probably would have snagged it, but it was more like, “sure, so-and-so is worth a dollar to hear.”

Of course, I won’t be able to hear most of these records for at least a few months, while I acquire a turntable (see below), but anyhow, here they are:

–Special Delivery, Miss Della Reese (who I thought was somehow related to Ray Charles via Raelettes but I was wrong – $1)

–King of Swing, Benny Goodman (great looking LP with Teddy Wilson, Gene Krupa, and Lionel Hampton! – $1)

–Swingin’ ’round the world, Jonas Jones Quarnet (never heard him or of him before — but looks fun – $1)

–My Way, Frank Sinatra (cheap and kind of an interesting looking record, Sinatra seemed to stretch out a lot, and not always in good ways, but … – $1)

–Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy (one of the very very first LPs I ever heard, so a little nostalgic, plus it’s … – $1)

–Pres Lives, Lester Young (surprisingly, my first Lester Young album by a hair; I just picked up With the Oscar Peterson Trio, so I won’t judge him by this album – $2)

–The Birth of a Band, Quincy Jones (if my memory serves me correctly, this is the killer band Q took to Europe that ultimately failed but remained among the best big bands ever. I’m super-excited about this one. Anyway, – $3)

–V.S.O.P The Quintet, Herbie Hancock (Finally! This CD is notoriously difficult to track down in a shop, so the LP is fine, especially for $4)

–And last, but certainly not least, there stereo AS-77 version of A Love Supreme, John Coltrane, to add to my A Love Supreme Collection. Favorite album of all time, for many jazz fans. I hate to be so unoriginal, but it’s incredible.

The Vinyl (Re-)Revolution

I own a large number of CDs, which I’ve acquired since around 1991. I ceased listening to tapes almost instantly when I got my Sony D121 Portable CD Player. I did MD for awhile, but like most outside of Japan, never committed to buying pre-recorded MD, and I was only mildly sad when the format died. Now that we’re on the verge of another regime change, as lossy digital audio formats not only threaten but act on taking over music delivery, the future of CD and vinyl are called into question, yet again.

However, apparently vinyl is becoming highly coveted for its geek appeal, among other things, but done properly, it can sound quite good, and some argue that it can sound superior to the venerable CD.

I’ve recently thought about re-investing in vinyl, picking up a nice little turntable, and breathing life into the 40 or 50 platters I own and possibly picking up new music in the format. It’s surprisingly expensive for the media, especially in the realm of jazz originals or well done modern pressings, sometimes even moreso than the comparable CD. Add that to the cost of a proper turntable, and it becomes no small expense. But I, like others, believe in that fat, warm analogue sound (somewhat ironically through my solid state amplifier) and hope to reclaim it soon.

With that in mind, I just picked up Weather Report’s Black Market and Shmuel Ashkenasi’s rendition of Paganini’s Violin Concertos No. 1 & 2. Fortunately, I have the WR on CD, so I won’t be waiting painfully by until I acquire a turntable. It will be interesting to compare the two directly and see if a preference exists. I might have to run down the CD of Ashkenasi in the meanwhile, but I don’t mind waiting on it.

"Jazz"

Alright, I’ve probably said it before, and it really won’t be the last time, but I thought I should address the term “jazz.” It’s a term for a musical tradition that is probably based on a blues scale, is marked by a syncopated rhythm among others (of which I am thinking of swing in a sense), incorporates improvisation, and is played by certain standard instruments (though notable exceptions certainly exist). There is an element of African polyrhythms, but like many other features of a particular period in jazz, this is not always strictly the case. Aside from the political and social landscape of jazz and various jazz movements which are critically important to telling a proper story of its progression, these are some of the elements that mark the music. It is not in an attempt to be elitist that some things are excluded from this label, but in the spirit of using genres as categorization tools, they won’t be useful if we don’t adhere to something; it’s also true that too many such labels also easily lose their meaning — avant-garde jazz, free jazz, cool jazz, post-bop, pre-bop, hard bop (but no soft bop), etc. What you hear on contemporary jazz radio isn’t jazz — it’s actually more suitably classified as R&B. It was an art form that has required jazz like instrumentation for a very long time, incorporating elements of soul, blues, and pop music. It’s often missing the traditional element of vocal song that most people associate with R&B (Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Shai, etc.), but if you listen to a contemporary Mindy Abair (gasp) record, you’re likely to hear something not dissimilar to what you’d hear on a Babyface album. While I’ve always known that “jazz” ain’t jazz, I didn’t really make the connection until listening to Every Time I Close My Eyes to realize that “jazz” is just R&B.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.