Eva Cassidy - "Live at Blues Alley"

I first heard Eva Cassidy searching napster for all of the versions and covers of the Fats Waller jazz tune "Honeysuckle Rose". When I heard her version I was struck by her voice. It's unbelievably clear and smooth and her phrasing was gripping. I started looking for more of her music and found that she died of skin cancer while on her way up in the music scene. Most of her music has been released posthumously and has been a commercial success, especially in Great Britain. Like the Gillian Welch album, I picked this one up for Collyn's birthday. It has a handful of tunes that people will now, but sung differently than what they have heard before. Arguably, the best song on the album is a cover of Sting's it "Field's of Gold". I really liked Sting's version, but Eva's makes his sound like an amateur karaoke performance. This is the kind of vocalist the record executives should be finding and signing. Go listen to her stuff at Amazon, but don't stop with this album. Listen to all of her stuff.

Gillian Welch - "Soul Journey"

I first heard Gillian Welch on the soundtrack to the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou?". She sings old timey music with a sparse, haunting style. I found this album a few weeks ago looking for something to get Collyn for her birthday. The album is outstanding. It includes a version of "Make Me a Pallet On Your Floor" a song I associate with Mississippi John Hurt, though I think it's an old traditional tune. I find myself with several of the songs stuck in my head, notably "Lowlands". Take a listen to the album on Amazon.

James Hunter - "The Hard Way"

I've gotten a little bit into 60s soul music recently. That's largely a result of Atomic Ballroom starting up a Swing & Soul night a few months back, though I have enjoyed The Temptations for a while. A few days ago when browsing through Starbucks' music site I found James Hunter. His music could be best described as modern soul. It's got a great groove that makes sitting still tough to do. I met up with Collyn at the Starbucks by her place and my gym on Friday morning before I hit the gym and grabbed the album from the music rack. It's been in my car cd played since and I've listened to it full through a couple times now. I'm enjoying it. Check it out at Hear Music.

Lyle Lovett and his Large Band - "It's not big it's large"

Collyn loaned me this one. She's been buying most of her music from Starbucks as of late, which is where she picked this one up. I'm not typically a Lyle Lovett fan, although admittadly, I don't know much about his music, having just heard him here and there during tv appearances. The album runs the gamut from country to jazz. It's one of those albums that is just good music. It's an enjoyable album to just sit and listen to. The first track is Lester Young's "Twinkle Toes", a big band jazz piece. One of my favorite tracks "Up In Indiana" makes two appearances, the first as a more modern sounding country tune, and then as the last track on the album as an acoustic bluegrass styled piece. You can preview it at Starbuck's music site, Hear Music.

That's all folks.

As of today, I'm out of albums. The posts of this only represent a small fraction of my music, since for the past few years I've been acquiring a lot of mp3s. Most of my music is purchased in mp3 rather than album form anymore. As a result I have a lot of really good music that is still worthy of a post. In order to include this music, from this point I'm transitioning the blog to a general music blog. Whenever I find new music or a new artist that really hits me you'll find a new post here. The posting probably won't be as frequent as in the past, but considering the amount of time I invest in finding music, it will still be pretty frequent.

Seth Horan - "...this is the session"

I bought this cd after first hearing Seth play at The Neighborhood Cup coffee shop. At the time he was in the process of recording Conduit. I was a little disappointed, because this album is more about the songs than Seth's bass playing. That means that there is a full band, so his bass playing just becomes part of the overall sound. The problem with this is that his bass playing is so unique and interesting it's a shame that it isn't showcased more. After listening to his fans, he's since changed the way he records, so that his recorded stuff is almost exactly like what you hear if you see him live...bass, vocals, and a multi-track loop recorder. The songs on here are good, but when I'm in the mood for Seth Horan, Conduit is such a better album that I always go for it. As a result I haven't listened to this much since acquiring the other.

Lonesome River Band - "One Step Forward"

This is the last album of theirs that I own, purchased several years. Like their others, the talent shown here is phenomenal. This album has a couple of songs that I really like, such "When You Go Walking", the instrumental "Southern Comfort", and "Carolyn the Teenage Queen". I haven't listened to this album much in the last year or two, simply because I've been listening to a lot of jazz. However, it's one that at some point will make it back into regular rotation. You can preview it on Amazon.