Pop/Art Song/Folk

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The Jazz Related Pop/Art Song/Folk genre is for artists who perform pop jazz music, for instance; George Benson, Bob James, David Sanborn and Wes Montgomery. This genre also includes jazz influenced art song performers such as Tuomi and Robert Wyatt, as well as jazz influenced folk performers such as Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell.

pop/art song/folk top albums

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MILTON NASCIMENTO Clube da Esquina Album Cover Clube da Esquina
MILTON NASCIMENTO
4.80 | 6 ratings
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ROBERT WYATT Rock Bottom Album Cover Rock Bottom
ROBERT WYATT
4.42 | 29 ratings
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STEVE WINWOOD Roll With It Album Cover Roll With It
STEVE WINWOOD
4.62 | 7 ratings
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STING The Soul Cages Album Cover The Soul Cages
STING
4.49 | 11 ratings
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JONI MITCHELL Joni Mitchell (aka Song to a Seagull) Album Cover Joni Mitchell (aka Song to a Seagull)
JONI MITCHELL
4.48 | 3 ratings
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CHICAGO Stone of Sisyphus Album Cover Stone of Sisyphus
CHICAGO
4.35 | 4 ratings
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DONALD FAGEN The Nightfly Album Cover The Nightfly
DONALD FAGEN
4.10 | 11 ratings
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CHICAGO Chicago VII Album Cover Chicago VII
CHICAGO
4.11 | 8 ratings
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GEORGE BENSON Give Me the Night Album Cover Give Me the Night
GEORGE BENSON
4.33 | 3 ratings
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ROBERT WYATT Old Rottenhat Album Cover Old Rottenhat
ROBERT WYATT
4.09 | 7 ratings
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PAUL SIMON Graceland Album Cover Graceland
PAUL SIMON
4.10 | 5 ratings
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BLOOD SWEAT & TEARS Blood, Sweat & Tears Album Cover Blood, Sweat & Tears
BLOOD SWEAT & TEARS
4.00 | 9 ratings
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This list is in progress since the site is new. We invite all logged in members to use the "quick rating" widget (stars bellow album covers) or post full reviews to increase the weight of your rating in the global average value (see FAQ for more details). Enjoy JMA!

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Ridin’
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Aki
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JOANIE PALLATTO
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Ubuntu
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Returning Weather
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CHRISTINE TOBIN
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Euphoria
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KEIKO MATSUI
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CÉCILE MCLORIN SALVANT
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TOM COLLIER
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Gullokk
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SOLVEIG SLETTAHJELL
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Always on My Mind
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REBEKKA BAKKEN
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BENNY BENACK III
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pop/art song/folk Music Reviews

RANDY CRAWFORD Now We May Begin

Album · 1980 · Pop/Art Song/Folk
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Matti P
If you're into classic progressive rock, the first time you heard the vocals of RANDY CRAWFORD (b. 1952) might have been with the ex-Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett's second solo album Please Don't Touch! (1978) and its gorgeous ballad 'Hoping Love Will Last'. That was the case for me, around the age of 18. Sometime later I found a compilation CD of this American soul/ r&b vocalist, but I haven't much listened to her full albums.

It's a bit sad to notice she never became as popular or well known as she would have deserved, in my opinion. Perhaps she was too "easy listening" to seriously compete in the particular genre, and on the other hand, not mainstream enough for the big audience. The reception in Europe has been a bit warmer than in the USA. This is her fourth album which earned gold in Netherlands and silver in Great Britain, and one of the few occasions when she penetrated the American r&b markets.

The bulk of the album was co-written by keyboardist Joe Sample -- one its three producers -- and lyricist Will Jennings. Their 'Last Night At Danceland' is a nice but rather fogettable song with a lighthearted groove and jazzy playing especially on keyboards and rhythm section. The sweet & soft arrangement on 'Tender Falls the Rain' gets cheesy, but the ballad proves that Randy Crawford has a good sense of melody as a composer. 'My Heart Is Not As Young As It Used to Be' is quite similar to the opener. The groovy arrangement features strings and a trumpet solo. Side One is finished by the fresh-sounding title track. The strings that appear on most pieces give a slightly watered-down effect to the r&b album.

The B side is stronger. 'Blue Flame' (6:25) has energy in the playing, even the strings are effective on it. 'One Day I'll Fly Away' was Crawford's highest charting single, and the song has also been covered by several artists. The final Sample-Jennings tracks 'Same Old Story (Same Old Song)' and 'When Your Life Was Low' are both good, the first with a solid r&b groove and a brief sax solo, the latter being a peaceful, thoughtful slow-tempo song avoiding to be syrupy.

This is a good album in its own right, but if you're new to the artist or a casual listener, some kind of a "Best of" compilation is very likely more satisfying.

ELIANE ELIAS Love Stories

Album · 2019 · Pop/Art Song/Folk
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Matti P
Love Stories shows the much awarded Brazilian artist ELIANE ELIAS (b. 1960) in a mature age. She started her recording career in the mid-80's, at first being primarily a pianist. Quite early on Elias has also proved to be a capable band leader, composer, arranger and producer. As a coolly sensual pianist-vocalist she could be compared to Diana Krall. Many albums in her long career have a more or less distinctive Brazilian identity in the use of Portuguese and bossa nova style. This romantic and relatively American-style album is sung almost entirely in English -- 'Little Boat' is bilingual -- but it has bossa vibes to it.

Eliane Elias co-produced the album with her bass-playing husband Marc Johnson and Steve Rodby who's best known as Pat Metheny's bassist (he's not playing here). Guitars and drums are shared by several musicians. Orchestral arrangements are by Rob Mathes. Eliane's voice is still in a very good shape. Like Krall, she's just effortlessly being herself in an understatement approach that can be much more sensual than a more operatic virtuosity.

'A Man and a Woman' originates from the French 1966 film "Un homme et une femme". 'Baby Come to Me', originally recorded by Patti Austin in 1981, is very enjoyable as a smooth jazz version featuring male backing vocals. Equally cute is Antonio Carlos Jobim's 'Bonita' featuring sparse English vocals.

'Angel Eyes' and 'Come Fly With Me' are maybe best remembered as Frank Sinatra numbers. These versions are jazzier in comparison, especially noteworthy is the luxorious piano solo on the latter. Elias and her husband wrote together three songs for this album. 'The Simplest Things' and 'The View' are romantic jazz ballads easy to enjoy. 'Silence' is even in a slower tempo and puts the lush strings shamelessly in the centre.

To say something negative of this finely produced, amicable album, it surely could try to steer a bit further from the Easy Listening music and keep the piano jazz vitality more vibrant (as it does on some pieces). But if you and your sweetheart are looking for openly romantic music with soft and silky arrangements for your tender moments, this is a perfect choice.

JONI MITCHELL Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm

Album · 1988 · Pop/Art Song/Folk
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Matti P
This was the first Joni Mitchell album I ever listened to: I borrowed it from library at the age of 19 maybe. That explains why I have a closer relationship to this one than to her more classic era of the late 60's or the 70's that I eventually got to know years later -- and which took me quite a long time to warm up to properly.

Sonically this album is very much a product of its time, the late 80's, and understandably it's not counted among Joni's finest works. The jazz elements are pretty absent here. Produced by her then-husband Larry Klein, Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm has an adult pop sound of the era, familiar from albums by artists such as Suzanne Vega and Clannad (Sirius, 1987). There are some similarities to the late 80's/early 90's Peter Gabriel as well, due to drummer Manu Katché. But Suzanne Vega's debut (1985) and Solitude Standing (1987) I find more similar sounding, especially for guitars and thin synth backings.

I was already back then a Peter Gabriel fan, so the opening duet 'My Secret Place' easily became my favourite which I still enjoy. The rhythm is interesting, but most of all I like the song's overall spirit and the vocals. Also several other popular names are guesting on vocals. Country legend Willie Nelson on refreshing 'Cool Water', Billy Idol and Tom Petty on the relatively rocking 'Dancin' Clown'. Don Henley of The Eagles guests on 'Lakota' and 'Snakes & Ladders'. Of these I like 'Lakota' the best.

My second fave is the atmospheric, slow-tempo 'The Tea-Leaf Prophecy (Lay Down Your Arms)'.The female backing vocals make me remember Fleetwood Mac's pleasant 1987 album Tango in the Night. Suzanne Vega-ish 'The Beat of Black Wings' is nice, too. All in all fairly pleasant if a bit uneven and sonically partly outdated pop album. For a Joni Mitchell fan who's grown with her classic albums, Chalk Mark will most likely sound too 80's and poppy.

HEIKKI SARMANTO Syksy Ja Muita Lauluja

Album · 1976 · Pop/Art Song/Folk
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Matti P
Composer and pianist HEIKKI SARMANTO (b. 1939) is one of the most important persons in the Finnish jazz all time. His many-sided discography contains both instrumental and vocal jazz, and of the latter department, Syksy ja muita lauluja (= Autumn and Other Songs) is perhaps the most beloved, at least in Finland. Sarmanto based his compositions on poems by Aaro Hellaakoski and three other outstanding figures in Finnish poetry. This makes the album a classic also in the Finnish poetry-based music, alongside the Eino Leino albums of Vesa-Matti Loiri. "Laulelmamusiikki" is a good Finnish word that doesn't have a precise English equivalent. The French term chanson comes close.

The clasically flavoured arrangements feature piano, violin, cello, flute, oboe, saxophone, guitar, bass, drums and percussion. The vocal duties on the album are divided by Maija Hapuoja (she is one of Sarmanto's most frequent vocal collaborators), Harri Saksala (progheads may remember him from APOLLO and KALEVALA from the early 1970's) and cellist Karoly Garam.

The slow, melancholic title track always gives me goosebumps. Maija Hapuoja interprets the charming Lauri Pohjanpää poem that depicts a meeting and chatting of two crows. The vocalise at the end is so beautiful it sometimes brings tears to my eyes. Hapuoja continues on the next songs, both based on nature-oriented Aaro Hellaakoski's poems about a nightingale. These arrangements focus on acoustic guitar.

'Surviaisten tanssi' (a Hellaakoski poem about insects) brings dynamic variety with its fast tempo and lively woodwind soloing. The deep voiced Harri Saksala is a perfect vocalist for this one. 'Missä, milloin?' (= "Where, when?"; on Pentti Saarikoski's poem) is a modernistic, complex piece sung amazingly by Hapuoja. A casual listener might find this one a bit too avant-gardistic. The Hellaakoski-based piece 'Laulu' ("Song") sung by Karoly Garam approaches classical lied, further coloured by saxophone.

Whereas most songs on side one are sung by Hapuoja, Harri Saksala sings on four of the seven pieces of the second side. Eino Leino's beloved poem 'Nocturne' is better known as another composition sung by Loiri, but also Sarmanto's more introspective music and Saksala's voice capture the poem's spirit. On the brief, lied-like 'Hauen laulu' Saksala is backed by piano only. 'Kesäyö' (= "Summer night") is an elegant jazz chanson sung by Hapuoja who sings also the piano lied 'Satakieli herää'. Sarmanto's unique style as a composer always stays pretty recognizable. He combines jazz and art music like no one else.

I frankly don't like the hectic "Song of the Ants" in which Saksala spits the words out fast, but some may find it amusing. 'Vapaa sana' (Leino, sung by Saksala) is yet another fine and expressive piano lied. The final Leino-based piece is a duet of Hapuoja and Garam, with a delicate arrangement focusing on piano, violin and woodwinds.

It's hard for me to estimate what a jazz listener without understanding of Finnish would think of this album, but I think 4½ stars are truly deserved for this unique classic.

SARAH ELIZABETH CHARLES Inner Dialogue

Album · 2015 · Pop/Art Song/Folk
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Mssr_Renard
Working backwards through the discography of an artist or a band is not always the right thing to do, because sometimes the quality of songwriting, music, performance and/or production can diminish.

But in the case of Sarah Elizabeth Charles it does not really matter in wich order you discover her albums, they are all of very high standard.

On Inner Dialogue the use of electronics is at a minimum and the emphasis here is on the use of analogue instruments. The music and vocal acrobatics remind me here a bit of Zap Mama, wich is huge compliment.

Sarah uses a lot of multritracking for her vocals and voices, while the band (Scope) uses mostly analogue and acoustic instruments (piano, double bass, drums, electric piano and some sparse synths). Christian Scott aTunde guests on trumpet.

Mostly the music can be described as World Fusion, and the lyrics are in different languages (english and french). Sarah is of Haitian heritage and tries to incoporate lots of Haitian folk in the music, aswell as (soft-)jazz, pop and fusion. The voice of Sarah is a bit reminiscent of Sade and Marie Daulné of Zap Mama.

A very enjoyable album, with a very warm sound and beautiful melodies.

pop/art song/folk movie reviews

STING Bring On The Night

Movie · 2005 · Pop/Art Song/Folk
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Slartibartfast
The concept here is a documentary of a band forming, The Blue Turtles Band, rather than a band at their peak or breaking up. Fortunately it is heavier on the music than the documentary.

The first half takes place in a French countryside chateaux and consists of presentable songs from nine days of practice sessions for what was to be their first show. Everyone in the band seems to be having a good time. The chateaux provides nice a nice backdrop to the sessions. The second half is the show itself.

Since this was Sting's first post Police effort, there's a lot of reworked Police songs mixed in with tracks from the first album. It's sort of like the Police meets jazz with Andy Summers ejected so Sting could play guitar. The band line up is primarily younger jazz musicians that already had a good reputation for work they had done before hooking up with Sting.

There are interview excerpts between the songs. One of the more interesting ones was Miles Copeland, Sting's manager and Stewart's brother going on about negotiations with the rest of the band. He was extremely dismissive of the band in relation to Sting when it came to monetary compensation. I suspect that was more about himself getting a bigger piece of the pie than a reflection on Sting, although I do recall him guest appearing on a Saturday Night Live show with Steve Marting and Steve introducing him as Stin-gy.

I originally saw this one in a theater and was really pleased to see it released being reworked with "high definition digital anamorphic picture transfer and digitally remastered surround audio." It actually does look a little sharper than I recall and I think the orginal sound was just stereo.

Artists with Pop/Art Song/Folk release(s)

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