I am often criticized for paying too much attention to the good old days. While I think much of that comes from all the music I was raised on. I was kind of bathed in all types of music growing up. My uncle and grandfather were musicians, folk and country respectively. My father was a huge opera, classical, and Broadway fan. My mother ran a rock and roll club, and my grandmother was into bluegrass. But I hear the criticism loud and clear. So, I am going to go over a couple of cool things out in the last year. (I will wait for the smelling salts to take effect)
First of all, a girl who takes me back to the old school day, but trust me she is fresh. Her name is Ledisi. She is part Ella, part Aretha, part Billie Holiday and part just badass. She is soul, blues and jazz all at the same time. So often, an artist with this much depth has trouble making the transition to live concerts with the exception of the greats named above. This girl will be one of the greats because she makes the transition like the stage was built for her. Her 2009 release “Turn Me Loose,” I guarantee, will not disapoint.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUsfXyr23KQ
Next up is my venture into pop. Brodydoll has followed this band for many years and turned me on to them several years ago. I am still impressed. I am talking about the All American Rejects. They have always shown emotional performances and a knack for songwriting blended with (and I hate to say this) “pop sensibility.
All American Rejects doing \”My Dirty Little Secret
Now I was all set to skewer the latest release from Britney Spears. At the urging on Brodydoll I went back and gave some of it another listen. Now don’t get me wrong, I was not blown away by it but it wasn’t as bad as I first thought. I certainly do appreciate the sexy diva routine of her live performances. She would be better served by not only using a producer in the studio but drawing a page from the old Motown playbook and bringing in an arranger for her music. The techno thing can become stagnet and the music needs some meat and potatoes.