Tag Archives: 2015

Van Morrison: Duets: Re-working the Catalogue

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On March 13, 2015, “RCA” label released “Duets: Re-working the Catalogue”, the 35th Van Morrison studio album. It was recorded in 2014, at “Manchester Evening News Arena”, “Slieve Donard Hotel” in Newcastle, “British Grove” in Chiswick, London, “Air Lyndhurst Hall” in Hampstead, London and was produced by Van Morrison and Bob Rock.

Personnel:

  1. Van Morrison – vocals, acoustic guitar, alto saxophone
  2. Dave Keary – guitar, banjo
  3. Marcel Camargo, Ryan Lerman – guitar
  4. David Garfield, Alan Chang – piano
  5. Paul Moran – Hammond organ, piano, flugelhorn, trumpet
  6. Paul Moore, Stanley Banks, Craig Polasko – bass
  7. Jeff Lardner, Robbie Ruggiero, Khari Parker, Marion Felder – drums
  8. Abass Nii Dodoo, Mike Osborn, Lilliana de Los Reyes – percussion
  9. Jake Saslow, Rob Wilkerson – alto saxophone
  10. Christopher White – tenor and baritone saxophone, tin whistle
  11. Jacob Rodriguez – baritone saxophone
  12. Jean Caze, Jumaane Smith, Justin Ray – trumpet
  13. Alistair White – trombone, euphonium
  14. Mark Nightingale, Joshua Brown, Nick Vayenas – trombone
  15. Bobby Womack – vocals
  16. Mavis Staples – vocals
  17. George Benson – vocals
  18. Joss Stone – vocals
  19. P.J. Proby – vocals
  20. Clare Teal – vocals
  21. Gregory Porter – vocals
  22. Mick Hucknall – vocals
  23. Natalie Cole – vocals
  24. Georgie Fame – vocals
  25. Shana Morrison – vocals
  26. Steve Winwood – vocals
  27. Chris Farlowe – vocals
  28. Mark Knopfler – vocals
  29. Michael Bublé – vocals
  30. Taj Mahal – vocals

Track listing:

  1. Some Peace of Mind (with Bobby Womack)
  2. If I Ever Needed Someone (with Mavis Staples)
  3. Higher than the World (with George Benson)
  4. Wild Honey (with Joss Stone)
  5. Whatever Happened to P.J. Proby (with PJ Proby)
  6. Carrying a Torch (with Clare Teal)
  7. The Eternal Kansas City (with Gregory Porter)
  8. Streets of Arklow (with Mick Hucknall)
  9. These are the Days (with Natalie Cole)
  10. Get on with the Show (with Georgie Fame)
  11. Rough God Goes Riding (with Shana Morrison)
  12. Fire in the Belly (with Steve Winwood)
  13. Born to Sing (with Chris Farlowe)
  14. Irish Heartbeat (with Mark Knopfler)
  15. Real Real Gone (with Michael Bublé)
  16. How Can a Poor Boy? (with Taj Mahal)

Idles: Brutalism

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On March 10, 2017, “Partisan” label released “Brutalism”, the debut Idles studio album. It was recorded 2015 – 2016, and was produced by Space.

Personnel:

  • Joe Talbot – lead vocals
  • Mark Bowen – lead guitar
  • Lee Kiernan – rhythm guitar
  • Adam Devonshire – bass
  • Jon Beavis – drums

Track listing:

  1. Heel / Heal
  2. Well Done
  3. Mother
  4. Date Night
  5. Faith in the City
  6. 1049 Gotho
  7. Divide & Conquer
  8. Rachel Khoo
  9. Stendhal Syndrome
  10. Exeter
  11. Benzocaine
  12. White Privilege
  13. Slow Savage

Nada Surf: You Know Who You Are

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On March 4,2016, “Barsuk” label released “You Know Who You Are”, the eighth Nada Surf studio album. It was recorded in 2015, at “Nuthouse Recording” in Hoboken, New Jersey, and was produced by Tom Beaujour, Matthew Caws, Daniel Lorca, Ira Elliot and Doug Gillard.

Personnel:

  • Matthew Caws – vocals, guitar
  • Doug Gillard – guitar
  • Daniel Lorca – bass guitar
  • Ira Elliot – drums, percussion
  • Joe McGinty – keyboards
  • Martin Wenk – trumpet
  • Ken Stringfellow – backing vocals
  • Dan Wilson – backing vocals
  • Chris Shaw – mixing
  • John Agnello – mixing
  • John Goodmanson – mixing
  • Gabriel Bento – mixing assistant
  • Chris Atkens – mastering

Track listing:

  1. Cold to See Clear
  2. Believe You’re Mine
  3. Friend Hospital
  4. New Bird
  5. Out of the Dark
  6. Rushing
  7. Animal
  8. You Know Who You Are
  9. Gold Sounds
  10. Victory’s Yours

The Godfathers: A Big Bad Beautiful Noise

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On February 10, 2017, “Godfather Recordings” label released “A Big Bad Beautiful Noise” the eighth Godfathers (The) studio album. It was recorded 2015 – 2016, at “Bridge Studio” in Birmingham, “Cowshed Studio” in London, and was produced by Paul Robert Gray, Teo Miller, Steve Crittall, Peter Coyne, Mauro Venegas, Darren Birch and Tim James.

Personnel:

  • Peter Coyne – vocals
  • Steve Crittall – guitar, slide guitar, theremin, Farfisa organ, backing vocals, programming, mixing
  • Mauro Venegas – guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
  • Darren Birch – bass, acoustic bass, backing vocals
  • Tim James – drums, backing vocals
  • John Dale – keyboards
  • Paul Robert Gray – percussion, mixing, additional recording, remix
  • Teo Miller – mixing
  • Andy Pearce – mastering
  • Jaime Martin – artwork

Track listing:

All tracks by Peter Coyne and Steve Crittall, except where noted,

  1. A Big Bad Beautiful Noise
  2. Till My Heart Stops Beating
  3. You Don’t Love Me – Peter Coyne, Mauro Venegas
  4. Poor Boy’s Son
  5. One Good Reason
  6. Miss America – Peter Coyne, Mauro Venegas
  7. Defibrillator
  8. She’s Mine
  9. Feedbacking – Peter Coyne, Mauro Venegas
  10. Let’s Get Higher
  11. You and Me Against the World – Peter Coyne, Mauro Venegas

Lucinda Williams: The Ghosts of Highway 20

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On February 5, 2016, “Highway 20” label released “The Ghosts of Highway 20”, the 12th Lucinda Williams studio album. It was recorded in 2015, and was produced by Greg Liesz, Tom Overby and Lucinda Williams.

Personnel:

  • Lucinda Williams – lead and backing vocals, acoustic and electric guitar
  • Bill Frisell – electric guitar
  • Greg Leisz – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
  • Val McCallum – electric guitar
  • David Sutton – bass guitar, backing vocals
  • Carlton “Santa” Davis – drums
  • Butch Norton – drums, percussion, backing vocals
  • Ras Michael – hand drums, backing vocals

Track listing:

All tracks by Lucinda Williams, except where noted.

  1. Dust – Miller Williams, Lucinda Williams
  2. House of Earth – Woody Guthrie
  3. I Know All About It
  4. Place in My Heart
  5. Death Came
  6. Doors of Heaven
  7. Louisiana Story
  8. Ghosts of Highway 20
  9. Bitter Memory
  10. Factory – Bruce Springsteen
  11. Can’t Close the Door on Love
  12. If My Love Could Kill
  13. If There’s a Heaven
  14. Faith & Grace – traditional

Terje Isungset: Medotation

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On January 20, 2015, “All Ice” label released “Meditations”, the eleventh Terje Isungset album. It was recorded in 2014, and was produced by Terje Isungset and Reidar Skår.

Personnel:

  • Terje Isungset – voice, drums, percussion, horns, recording, edited, mixing
  • Lena Nymark – voice
  • Reidar Skår – keyboards, electronics, editing, mixing, mastering
  • Anders Jormin – double bass
  • Arve Henriksen – voice, trumpet
  • Mats Eden -viola d’amore 
  • Svante Henryson – cello
  • Asle Karstad, Chris Coleman, Per Sjösten, Tor Magne Hallibakken – recording

Track listing:

All tracks by Terje Isungset, except where noted.

  1. Northwest Passage
  2. Lomonosov Ridge – Reidar Skår
  3. H2O Cycle
  4. Glacial Motion
  5. Polar Auroraes
  6. Silent Folk
  7. Global Warming/Global Warning – Reidar Skår
  8. The View
  9. Industrial Arctic – Reidar Skår
  10. Inuit Living

Rosanne Cash: The River & The Thread

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On January 14, 2014, “Blue Note” label released “The River & the Thread”, the thirteenth Rosanne Cash studio album. It was recorded in 2013, and was produced by John Leventhal. In 2015, the album won three “Grammy Awards” for “Best Americana Album”, “Best American Roots Song” and “Best American Roots Performance”.

Personnel:

  • Rosanne Cash – lead and backing vocals
  • John Leventhal – guitar, bass guitar, organ, celeste, mandolin, electric sitar, drums, percussion, harmony vocals, string arrangements, mixing
  • Derek Trucks – slide guitar
  • Jon Cowherd – Wurlitzer piano
  • Tim Luntzel – bass guitar, upright bass
  • Dan Rieser – drums
  • Shawn Pelton – drums
  • Rick DePofi – percussion, backing vocals, mixing
  • Jake Leventhal – percussion, backing vocals
  • Gabe Witcher – fiddle
  • Larry Farrell – trombone
  • David Mansfield – violin, viola
  • Dave Eggar – cello
  • Allison Moorer – harmony vocals
  • John Paul White – harmony vocals
  • Cory Chisel – harmony vocals
  • Donivan Cowart – recording
  • Reuben Cohen – mastering
  • Tawatha Agee – backing vocals
  • Tabitha Fair – backing vocals
  • Catherine Russell – backing vocals
  • Amy Helm – backing vocals, choir
  • Kris Kristofferson – choir
  • John Prine – choir
  • Tony Joe White – choir
  • Rodney Crowell – choir
  • Bobby Tis – recording
  • Gavin Lurssen – mastering
  • Jill Dell’Abate – production co-ordination

Track listing:

All tracks by Rosanne Cash and John Leventhal.

  1. A Feather’s Not a Bird
  2. The Sunken Lands
  3. Etta’s Tune
  4. Modern Blue
  5. Tell Heaven
  6. The Long Way Home
  7. World of Strange Design
  8. Night School
  9. 50.000 Watts
  10. When the Master Calls the Roll
  11. Money Road

Benjamin Clementine: At Least For Now

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On January 12, 2015, “Behind Records” label released “At Least for Now”, the debut Benjamin Clementine studio album. It was recorded May – August 2014, at “RAK Studios” in London, “Marlon B Studios” in Paris, and was produced by Jonathan Quarmby and Benjamin Clementine.

Personnel:

  • Benjamin Clementine – vocals, piano, keyboard, percussion, foot stamping, design
  • Manu Sauvage – bass guitar, keyboard bass
  • Jonathan Quarmby – bass guitar
  • Alexis Brossard – drums
  • Richard Woodcraft – engineer
  • Akatre – photography

Track listing:

All tracks by Benjamin Clementine.

  1. Winston Churchill’s Boy
  2. Then I Heard a Bachelor’s Cry
  3. London
  4. Adios
  5. St-Clementine-on-Tea-and-Croissants
  6. Nemesis
  7. The People and I
  8. Condolence
  9. Cornerstone
  10. Quiver a Little
  11. Gone

Alfa Anderson

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On December 17, 2024, Alfa Anderson died aged 78. She was singer and educator, founding member (together with her husband Eruliel Barfield) of the band “Voices of Shalom”, but was best known as the lead singer of the band Chic. She recorded with many famous musicians, among them with Luther Vandross, Lou Rawls, The B-52’s, Jaheim, Roberta Flack, The Roches, Marvin Sease, Odyssey, Doc Powell, Martha Wash, Debbie Gibson, Jennifer Holliday, Ashford and Simpson, Nat Adderley, Roy Buchanan and Dionne Warwick. In 2014, Anderson received the “Global Entertainment Media Arts (G.E.M.A.) Foundation’s Golden Mic Award”, and Citation from the City of Philadelphia for her contributions to music  “Le Freak” (song by Chis) featuring Anderson on the lead vocals, was inducted into the 2015 “Grammy Hall of Fame”. In 2018, the song was added to the “National Recording Registry” by the “Library of Congress”. In 2018, Mayor Hardie Davis Jr. of Augusta, Georgia gave Anderson the Keys to the City and declared May 5 as “Alfa Anderson Day”.

Quincy Jones

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On November 3, 2024, Quincy Delight Jones Jr. died aged 91. He was musician (trumpet), music producer, songwriter, composer, arranger, and producer, with career spanned over 70 years. He was named one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century by magazine “Time”.

For his work he received the following awards and honors:

  • Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music (1983)
  • Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member Ray Charles in 1984.
  • Grammy Legend Award in 1992
  • Garfield High School in Seattle named a performing arts center after him.
  • Quincy Jones Elementary School, located in South Central Los Angeles, is named after him.
  • Humanitarian Award at the BET Awards in 2008.
  • John F. Kennedy Center Honors in 2001.
  • National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama on March 2, 2011.
  • Los Angeles Press Club Visionary Award in 2014.
  • Honorary doctorate from the Royal Academy of Music, London, in 2015.
  • Ahmet Ertegun Award in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.
  • In 2021, Jones was inducted into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame as a “foundational inductee”.
  • He won 28 Grammy Awards (third in the list of all-time Grammy award wins).

Quincy Jones was producer of “Thriller” by Michael Jackson (1982), the best sold album in music history (more than 51.3 million copies sold).

As leader, Quincy Jones released 40 albums.