This is one of my favorite cds ever. All the songs are amazing. Songs by Anita O'Day, June Christy, Helen Forrest, and Helen O'Connell make up the bulk of it, but there is one each by Peggy Lee, Doris Day, Ella Fitzgerald, and Lena Horne too. My favorites are "Boogie Blues" [Anita O'Day] (lyrics: "We're going up to the country, can't take you/ nothing up there a man like you could do"--ouch!), "Tampico" [June Christy] (its a funny one), "I Told Ya I Love Ya Now Get Out" [June Christy again], "You You Darlin'"[Helen O'Connell], and "Why Don't You Do Right" [Peggy Lee].
get it here
get it on amazon.co.uk here
Lisa Ono: Dans Mon Ile: La musique francaise recontre la Bossa Nova
Found this one on the shelf at home... No one seems to know where it came from, but it's pretty good. Lisa Ono is a Japanese bossa nova singer, who has spent half her life in Brazil and half in Japan. This album is famous French songs bossa nova-ized, and includes a duet with Henri Salvador (famous French singer, who wrote "Dans Mon Ile") on "J'ai Vu." This album is calming, and cool, and quite nice and her voice is lovely and clear; I particuarly like "C'est Si Bon" and/et "J'ai Vu." Not too much a fan of kiddie choruses (Morrissey, it was a bad idea) unless they are on albums that are already trippy like Sandinista or are on We Sing tapes, but it kinda works, I guess, on "Salade de Fruits."
get it here
on amazon here
Josephine Baker: Anthologie
Here's another one I borrowed, copied, and returned to the public library. Josephine Baker is a pretty cool lady I think. Missouri-born, became a sensation and an citizen in France starting in the mid-twenties. Singer, dancer, all-round entertainer, and, according to wiki, was active in the French Underground during WWII, "smuggling intelligence to the resistance in Portugal coded within her sheet music," and was active in the US Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s (a precursor to Bragelina in having like a million adopted children from all over the world, see here). (and look at that outfit!)
Get her Anthologie here
Edith Piaf: Les plus grands succes de Edith Piaf
I just really like Edith Piaf. (and I haven't yet seen last year's movie on her though I've heard it's good)
get it here
Dianne Reeves: Good Night and Good Luck soundtrack
I really liked the film Good Night and Good Luck and the soundtrack is great. Dianne Reeves won a Grammy for it in 2005. She has an amazing voice, I saw her at Disney Hall once, she's wonderful.
get it here
buy it on amazon here
2 comments:
C(aitlin) -
WOW - great Gen/Dis post! Edith Piaf has been one of my favorites for years - I haven't seen the bio-pic, either, but it's steadily climbing up to the top of my list...I LOVE Anita O'Day - I've got some of her songs on various compilations, but I didn't have "Boogie Blues"...Josephine Baker is so great - she kinda gets overlooked, it seems...Diane Reeves, and Lisa Ono - these gals are new to me, but I'm enjoying their music - thanks!
I stumbled on Rum Runner a few years ago, they're pretty good - certainly worth more than three bucks...
I've been searching for Marlene Dietrich's German recordings for a loooong time...thanks
I like Jane Austin and I enjoy reading her work if I'm in the right mood, but I really prefer the Bronte` version of British society - dark, brooding, somber, and melancholy - my wife, however, is a confirmed Janeite, so we watch all of the adaptations pretty regularly - Masterpiece Theater has been running a series based on Ms. Austin's work the past couple of months, I hope you've caught some of them, they've all been pretty good...
You did a smash-up job filling in for b, maybe you can be a regular guest-poster?
You guys are posting some really great stuff lately. A nice eclectic array of styles.
That Ladies of the 40s is bloody grouse (and my mother-in-law loves it too).
Keep up the great work, guys.
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