Desire Avenue

Well, I finally bought the new (although old) Fiona album and strangely, it's been playing non stop since then (yesterday).
It's not a historical album but it does work on me.
Not bringing you down, not irritating, not... I don't know, it's just a nice record, isn't it? And it has some epic moments I think. I love when she talks about breaking that window and some other moment I don't remember.
I heard they'll release the Jon Brion version next year... Her wallet will be pretty fine after all that I guess.

Oh, and i just watched the dvd that was with it, it's a few songs played live in an intimist accustic set...Really good although not very professional. I wished the sound recording would have been better. Seeing Fiona sing can be quite impressive on some songs.
And i also noticed that the dvd has got the 12 songs recorded in enhenced stereo! Can't wait to be back in Siberia to play that loud on my surround system...
That was a good surprise since I had not even seen it when i bought the record

Elforel wrote:Well, I finally bought the new (although old) Fiona album and strangely, it's been playing non stop since then (yesterday).
It's not a historical album but it does work on me.
Not bringing you down, not irritating, not... I don't know, it's just a nice record, isn't it? And it has some epic moments I think. I love when she talks about breaking that window and some other moment I don't remember.
I heard they'll release the Jon Brion version next year... Her wallet will be pretty fine after all that I guess.

yeah, i think you put it very nicely, a nice record, but definitely not historical.

Hey, has anyone ever heard anything from her sister, Maude Margaret? I hear she sings songs from the 1920's. I haven't researched her, but my brother says she sounds great....

Just digging up the Fiona thread to post this, a cover song she's done for a recently released tribute EP (the songwriter in question is Cy Coleman):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uf1n1wU ... annel_page


Wow! Absolutely loving this. I could do with a whole album of similar stuff from her. Gorgeous.

Further to Tiffany's request on the previous page, if anyone has the orginal Jon Brion versions of the Extraordinary Machine album tracks, is there any way you could put them up as mp3s? Someone has posted some on youtube and they basically confirm my memory that the original versions were indeed superior to the subsequently redone official versions:

O Sailor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luOJK3gC ... re=related


Not About Love:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdVG02ex ... re=related


Extraordinary Machine:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T14ux2k7 ... re=related
(the music is the same here, but the vocal take is better, IMO)


Waltz:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2HyljME ... re=related


Better Version of Me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAAdToKf ... re=related



Better versions indeed. Until such time as Sony sees fit to release these officially, if anyone has the mp3s I'd be eternally grateful if you could post them!

blue wrote:Just digging up the Fiona thread to post this, a cover song she's done for a recently released tribute EP (the songwriter in question is Cy Coleman):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uf1n1wU ... annel_page


Wow! Absolutely loving this. I could do with a whole album of similar stuff from her. Gorgeous.

Ah,some proper music. (Well,it's is the kind of thing I do).
That's lovely,but of course a singer is always secondary to his/her material,and that's a fine old chestnut.So plaudits first to Cy Coleman. But I really like the way she sings it too,without trying to bend it around too much,and in so doing makes it much more her own than legions of would-be jazz singers who just mangle damn fine tunes in an effort to make them their own.
Pity the pianist is so pedestrian; he/she kind of stays with the simplicity but they could really point up some of the changes and also add some piquancy to the repeats rather than playing it exactly as the first time.
Anyway,a minor carp. It's great to hear singers who can cross the fence to the jazz world and not sound out of their depth. Rickie Lee Jones is another-I'd rather hear her cover the standards on her 'Pop Pop' album than many jazz singers I could name.
This reminds me of....who is it?...somebody like Jo Stafford.

sound world wrote:
Ah,some proper music. (Well,it's is the kind of thing I do).
That's lovely,but of course a singer is always secondary to his/her material,and that's a fine old chestnut.So plaudits first to Cy Coleman.

Would you believe I've never heard this song before, Dave? It's wonderful, I need to hear more Cy Coleman, I think. I know the name but that's about it.

sound world wrote:But I really like the way she sings it too,without trying to bend it around too much,and in so doing makes it much more her own than legions of would-be jazz singers who just mangle damn fine tunes in an effort to make them their own.

Yep, it makes it very clear too what a superior singer she is compared to many in the rock world, who just can't cope with this kind of thing. The singing sounds so natural and effortless.

sound world wrote:Pity the pianist is so pedestrian; he/she kind of stays with the simplicity but they could really point up some of the changes and also add some piquancy to the repeats rather than playing it exactly as the first time.

I wonder if it's Fiona herself playing? I know she grew up playing jazz and standards. I think it's lovely, but of course I know nothing whatever about the technical side of piano playing. For which I'm rather grateful.

I do love this type of music when I hear it - not 'proper jazz' as I'd call it, the instrumental stuff - but great singers and fantastically well written songs like this. Any recommendations outside the usual culprits, Dave? I wouldn't know where to start. I find I've grown increasingly bored and impatient with rock music over recent years, I'm more or less a mainly classical listener now but I still feel a hankering for songs and singers.

Um,I'm not a big fan of jazz singing,despite backing dozens of jazz singers over the years. I don't really like big voices and people who show off,although I can appreciate it.

My favourite singers of that ilk are Cassandra Wilson and Kurt Elling (who both are biggish showoffy voices paradoxically).Mostly because they treat each song as something unique.Cassandra is likely to cover all kinds of stuff,Neil Young songs,Sting songs,you name it. She uses great musicians. Try 'New Moon Daughter' ,'Glamoured' or 'Blue Light till Dawn'. Kurt Elling is a bit of a poet/philosopher as well as a stunning singer. His later albums are pretty splendid.
Cy Coleman was one of those Jews who changed his name to get along in those times....He also wrote 'Witchcraft',I think.
Those old 30s/40s standards are brilliant. Quite often the lyrics get above the mundane conventions and express something universal in this kind of urbane style,like some Hollywood films of the period can do.And the music is so satisfying-it's why legions of jazz instrumentalists descend on those tunes like vultures and eat up the changes again and again.

Here's one of the greatest songs I know,I don't know what else to say about it. This is the only version; nobody else really attempts it,some sort of unspoken homage. Make sure you're not feeling heartbroken first.

I've got some Billie, but I've never heard that before! Thank you. Blimey, I thought her version of 'Gloomy Sunday' was the saddest thing she'd ever done.

I've just been on Amazon having a peruse and I'm terribly excited because my favourite ever version of 'Summertime', by Helen Merrill, is on there as a download! The CD I had disappeared some years back, I have no idea where it went, unless someone 'borrowed' it from me without my knowledge. So yay, I can get it as an mp3. I hadn't heard anything else by her at all but just previewing some other tracks, I really do love her voice.

I'm not a great fan of 'showy' voices either actually Dave, I tend to prefer sort of softer, more melancholy styles of singing. I find Ella Fitzgerald a bit unbearable at times for instance, much as I admire the amazing technique. Even Sarah Vaughn in her more declamatory moments can put me off (I want to take her version of 'Embraceable You' with me when I die though). I think this is one reason I never liked Sinatra - sorry, I know you like him a lot. To me that's a showy voice as well, although maybe I've only heard his more showy performances?

Cy Coleman was a big Broadway tune writer, from what I can gather on the 'net.

I like gloomy Sinatra from the mid-50s
Helen Merrill? Is that the album she did with Bill Evans (now there's a pianist). I've never heard that.

It's actually on a 'best of' album but yeah, I think she worked with a few jazz greats in her day. I seem to recall Spook knew a lot about her, I mentioned once that her version of 'Summertime' was practically my favourite recording of all time, he seemed surprised that I'd heard it.

Yeah, I had a feeling that maybe I just hadn't heard the right Sinatra!

Beth I have the entire original version of Extraordinary Machine if u r interested

Oooh!! Yes please!!

Fiona will finally have a new album out next year!

No title yet, but she's co-produced it with drummer/producer Charley Drayton and it should be released in spring '11.