Toots Thielemans European Quartet - 90 - VINYL LP

The first album in over six years from American songwriter Julie Byrne is a testament to patience and determination, the willingness to transform through the desolation of loss, the vitality of renewal, and the courage to rise, forever changed. For nearly a decade, Byrne has moved through the world as a characteristically private artist largely outside the public eye. A self-taught musician that has committed her life to her work, she now emerges from a deeply trying and generative period with the most powerful, lustrous, and life-affirming music of her career, The Greater Wings. While they hold the plasticity of grief and trauma, the songs are universally resonant, unbridled in their devotion and joy, held up by the love and alliance of a chosen family. Byrne leans further into atmospheres both expansive and intimate; the rich, evocative songcraft flows between her signature fingerpicked guitar, synthesizer, and a newly adopted piano, made wider by flourishes of harp and strings. It is the transcendent sound of resource, of friendship that was never without romance, of loyalty that burns from within like a heart on fire, and the life force summoned in unrepeatable moments - raw, gorgeous, and wild.The Greater Wings was written across several seasons, pulling imagery from nights on tour, periods of isolation, and the drives cross-country for it's various collaborations between Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. Recording started with the late Eric Littmann, her longtime creative partner and Not Even Happiness producer, and finished in the Catskills of New York with producer Alex Somers (Sigur Rós, Julianna Barwick).InchMy hope for The Greater Wings is that it lives as a love letter to my chosen family and as an expression of the depth of my commitment to our shared future. Being reshaped by grief also has me more aware of what death does not take from me. I commit th

NEA Jazz Master, Toots Thielemans, is widely considered to be the preeminent jazz harmonica player. It is safe to say that before him, the harmonica in jazz was simply not done, and Thielemans can be credited with legitimizing the instrument in the genre. Born in Brussels, Belgium in 1922. Theileman's excelled on accordion as a small child, before picking up the guitar as a teenager after hearing Django Reinhart. Along the way, he taught himself to play harmonica as a hobby. In 1948, during a visit to the US, he sat in on guitar with a jazz group at small club in New York and was Inchdiscovered.Inch Engagements soon followed with the likes of Benny Goodman, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones and more. As the story goes, in response to a musicians' union restriction, Thielemans was forbidden to play guitar at a gig. So, he pulled out his harmonica. The rest, as they say, is history. He went on to have a long and prolific career on the instrument, as both a band leader and session musician. With his unique sound, he became a go-to for film scores in the 1970s (The Pawn Broker, Midnight Cowboy). Perhaps most notably, Thielemans is unconsciously known to generations for having played the melody on Sesame Street's famous closing theme. Organized as a purely jazz session, the date here prominently features a young Joanne Brackeen on piano. It is perhaps Brackeen's presence that makes this set so interesting. As an avant-garde player she provides the vehicle for Thielemas to explore more advanced ideas. The album covers a wide range of material, including two originals by Brackeen, alongside standards by Coltrane, Ellington, Mercer and Mancini.

Vinyl LP pressing. 2019 . Johnson's introductory Warner project, Ain't Nothin' to It, ups the ante. After writing the bulk of his previous material, he put out word in Nashville that he was open to songs from other sources, and the results were astonishing. A-list writers - including Chris Stapleton, Radney Foster and Brothers Osborne guitarist John Osborne - came to the table with songs that suited Johnson's life and disposition. Music fans who are just now coming to the table will get a quick understanding of Johnson, from the rowdy troublemaker in the swampy InchDoubt Me NowInch to the devoted family man in the title track to the self-penned ex-bull rider in InchDear RodeoInch to the devoted Christian in InchHis Name Is Jesus.InchJohnson wears his musical influences on his sleeve - referencing George Strait in InchWhen Cowboys Were King, Inch Alan Jackson and Tim McGraw in InchY'all PeopleInch and Johnny Cash, Jackson Browne and Bruce Springsteen in InchMonday Morning Merle.Inch Two choice covers further meld his personality with his musical taste. InchHusbands and Wives, Inch a song that recognizes the day-to-day difficulties of holding a marriage together, is Johnson's way of tipping a hat to one of country's ultimate songwriters, the late Roger Miller. And InchLong Haired Country BoyInch has The Cody Johnson Band playing up his rebel side with a song established by The Charlie Daniels Band (yes, that's the CJB covering the CDB). But Johnson's version is filtered through the grizzly tone of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hank Williams Jr. And Brantley Gilbert.