RECOMENDADO POR DIEGO

Lista de temas:

Disc: 1
1. Like a Star
2. Enchantment
3. Put Your Records On
4. Till It Happens to You
5. Trouble Sleeping
6. Call Me When You Get This
7. Choux Pastry Heart
8. Breathless
9. I’d Like To
10. Butterfly
11. Seasons Change

Disc: 2
1. Since I’ve Been Loving You
2. Emeraldine
3. Munich
4. No Love Child
5. Enchantment [Amp Fiddler Remix]
6. Venus as a Boy
7. I’d Like To [Weekender Mix]
8. I Won’t Let You Lie to Yourself
9. Another Rainy Day
10. Daydreaming

Link de descarga en comentario

Corinne Bailey Rae premiered new song, “I’d Do It All Again”, last night on the popular British late-night variety show, Later with Jools Holland. The song is the first new material from Corinne since the tragic death of her husband from a drug overdose in early 2008, which makes the beautiful lyrics that much more poignant. ”I’d Do It All Again” is the lead single off her forthcoming album, ‘The Sea‘, in stores Feb. 2010.

via DSW

Corinne Bailey Rae

Aside from the infamous gorgeous head of hair, Lady Bailey always seems to exude a remarkably beautiful spirit.  I bought her first album back in 2007 after seeing the breathtaking video for  “Put Your Records On,” instantly fell in love! Her new album ‘The Sea’ drops in early 2010 (my ears tell me early February!). You can watch some of that spirit captured in the video below.

Corinne Bailey Rae is set to make her long awaited comeback with sophomore album The Sea, due early 2010. To kick off promotion for the album she performed an acoustic version of the first single, ‘I’d Do It All Again’ on last nights Later With Jools Holland.

I watched this on TV last night and was blown away. The stripped back, emotional performance is not something we are used to from Corinne (her first album was relatively upbeat and ‘happy’-sounding), however I suppose it was to be expected given that the track deals with her relationship with late husband Jason.

Thanks to SoulCulture for heads up on the availability of the YouTube video.

Aunque ha participado en unos cuantos proyectos más desde entonces, es Venus, de Roger Michell (2006), la última ocasión en que Peter O’Toole, actor de amplia y muy irregular filmografía (nos quedamos con lo mejor, Lawrence de Arabia, Becket, Lord Jim, La noche de los generales, El león en invierno, Adiós Mr. Chips o El último emperador), nos ha obsequiado una vez más con una interpretación memorable encarnando de nuevo a un personaje carismático y atormentado al estilo de los que le han dado fama y reconocimiento pero con tintes mucho más amables que de costumbre, gracias al cual obtuvo una nominación al Oscar. Esta vez da vida a Maurice, un actor en los últimos momentos de su carrera que todavía realiza pequeños papeles televisivos y cuyos momentos de ocio transcurren en compañía de sus camaradas Ian (Leslie Philips) y Donald (Richard Griffiths), actores jubilados como él. Los tres se reúnen diariamente en un bar para hablar del pasado y del presente, chincharse, lanzarse dardos irónicos y tomar una copa en un ambiente de camaradería y recuerdos. Al menos es así hasta que Ian manifiesta su preocupación por la llegada de Jessie (Jodie Whittaker), la hija adolescente de su sobrina, que viaja a Londres para atenderlo como enfermera las veinticuatro horas por la falta de alicientes y de posibilidades laborales en el campo. La chica modosita, tímida y apocada amante de la vida tranquila y de la música de Bach que él espera es una joven muy distinta, devota de la comida basura, sin experiencia como enfermera y con un gusto por las bebidas alcohólicas impropio para su edad.

Curiosamente, y utilizando como metáfora de su relación la historia que rodea la pintura de Velázquez La Venus del espejo, será Maurice y no Ian quien conecte más fácilmente con la recién llegada, de manera que las cada vez más horas que comparten y que sirven a Ian para escapar de la perniciosa, para él, influencia de la joven, les ayudan a establecer un extraño vínculo que se mueve en el fino límite de la amistad, la relación paterno-filial, el nacimiento a la vida adulta, el último aliento de deseo carnal de un anciano, la necesidad de paliar sus respectivas soledades y, sí, también el amor, extraño, entre crepuscular, ingenuo y morboso, pero amor. Así, Jessie se abrirá a un mundo que desconoce (los teatros, los museos, las tiendas caras de la City) y Maurice sentirá nostalgia por un tiempo que ya hace mucho que pasó, volviendo a sentirse joven al internarse con una chica joven en la vida nocturna de Londres; sólo su trabajo y su mujer (Vanessa Redgrave), con la que ya no vive pero con la que sigue manteniendo el trato, pone un punto de sensatez en su vida.

La película está construida a la medida de O’Toole, existe por y para él. Tras más de veinte años en papeles menores o secundarios, incluso en producciones mediocres y malas, vuelve por todo lo alto para dar una lección de lo que significa interpretar, manejando su espléndida voz y su todavía mejor dicción a capricho (se recomienda encarecidamente más que nunca la versión original), y haciendo de su rostro un mapa de emociones. Consigue dotar a su personaje de una fuerza difícilmente igualable, quizá porque en cierto modo se interpreta a sí mismo y cede al personaje de Maurice buena parte de su propio bagaje para componer ese actor prácticamente acabado que lucha por ofrecer la mayor de las dignidades al menos una última vez, tanto en su carrera como en su vida personal.

Como complemento, un guión acertadísimo, tanto en los aspectos más dramáticos como con los toques de humor y sarcasmo, incluyendo fragmentos y réplicas desternillantes que explotan las manías, rarezas de los ancianos, y también sus carencias y remilgos a la hora de adaptarse a los nuevos tiempos, en el que la mayor virtud consiste en tratar temas espinosos, o que en otras manos daría lugar a aspectos morbosos, con elegancia y tacto, consiguiendo salir más que airoso. Con alguna que otra debilidad en el aspecto visual, predomina en la película la atención al texto del guión y a la caracterización de los personajes sobre cuestiones como el diseño de producción y la ambientación.

Bordeando, sin pringarse, aguas pantanosas como el morbo, saliendo indemne de los peligros del sentimentalismo o de la lágrima recurrente, la película es un acertado ejercicio de equilibrio entre drama y comedia en la que la ironía somardas y algunos momentos descacharrantes se alternan con una emotividad que en ningún caso es fácil ni gratuita, que conmueve sin apelar a lugares comunes o tópicos sentimentales, y cuya mayor expresión tiene lugar cuando Ian y Maurice visitan en una iglesia londinense, con nostalgia contenida, las lápidas de algunos de los más célebres actores británicos de todos los tiempos y se detienen ante los nombres de Boris Karloff, Laurence Harvey o Robert Shaw. Un homenaje más que merecido a la vida y obra de tantos actores y actrices que nos han hecho un regalo inmejorable: la oportunidad de disfrutarlos para siempre en la pantalla.

Check out all these recent covers from Jennifer Chung, Esna Yoon, Mike Isberto & Victor Kim. Why the deuce is everyone from the west coast?

Jennifer Chung singing One Republic’s “Secrets”

Esna Yoon singing Estelle’s “American Boy”

Mike Isberto singing IYAZ’s “Replay”

Victor Kim singing Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Just Like a Star”

What was your favorite?

She joined me on my show on Friday and did an exclusive Live Lounge, which included a cover of Jimi Hendriz, Little Wing and a new track called Closer. She sounded amazing and looked great listen back here

Corinne Bailey Rae ha svettato per mesi in cima alle classifiche di vendita dei dischi con il singolo Put your records on. La cantante, molto a modo e dotata di talento, lo scorso anno è stata però sconvolta dalla morte per overdose del marito Jason Rae. A febbraio, lo ha annunciato People, Corinne tornerà nuovamente alla passione della musica con l’uscita del nuovo album in cui ha incanalato molta della sua amarezza e tristezza per il tragico lutto. L’album si intitolerà The Sea.

You got that right. Award winning songstress is coming out with a new album early next year! I am so happy, because I fell in love with her music last year. I still play her music, but wished I had discovered her three years ago. Ah, well. I was browsing through myspace and seen that she post a blog saying she’ll be releasing a new album entitled “The sea.” Are you guys happy for the new sounds?! I am.

According to the blog:
THE SEA, GRAMMY WINNER CORINNE BAILEY RAE’S NEW ALBUM,
SET FOR FEBRUARY 2ND RELEASE ON EMI’S CAPITOL RECORDS

On February 2nd, 2010, EMI’s Capitol Records will release Corinne Bailey Rae’s new album, The Sea. The record was co-produced by Bailey Rae with Steve Brown, and Steve Chrisanthou, who produced many of the songs on her debut album, which has sold four million copies worldwide. Fans can check out behind-the-scenes footage of Corinne recording the album and hear a preview of music from The Sea at her website, http://www.corinnebaileyrae.net/.

Bringing together a new band of musicians, Bailey Rae recorded the album mainly in Leeds and Manchester, England. Her voice, always an expressive and soulful instrument, resonates with a poignant and newfound depth on The Sea. Loss and grief are recurring themes yet a sense of beauty and wonder ultimately radiates from the album’s dark corners.

“There is something miraculous that pushes you along, makes you keep going, makes you carry on. It’s really about the mystery of that. In fact, the whole album is about that in a way; it’s about loss but it’s also about hope, about keeping going and trying to find that beauty,” Bailey Rae told the U.K.’s Observer Music Monthly, which hailed The Sea as “an extraordinarily intimate and impassioned album” in its recent cover story on her, which can be found at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/oct/04/corinne-bailey-rae-interview

In June 2006, her self-titled debut album entered the U.K. album chart at #1 and The Billboard 200 at #17. Within the year, Bailey Rae had won a Q award, a MOJO award, an Image award and two MOBO awards and appeared on a host of television shows, including “Saturday Night Live,“ “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “Good Morning America” and “Ellen.” She was nominated for three GRAMMY® awards – “Record Of The Year” and “Song Of The Year” for her first single, “Put Your Records On,” and “Best New Artist.” Her remarkable performance on the 2007 GRAMMY Awards telecast propelled her album into the Top 5 of The Billboard 200. The following year, “Like A Star,” her second single, was nominated for “Song Of The Year” and Herbie Hancock’s River: The Joni Letters, on which Corinne appeared, won the GRAMMY for “Album Of The Year.”

Bailey Rae will play a select number of shows in the States and her native U.K. this December; details will be announced shortly.

Can’t wait!!! Check her myspace myspace.com/corinnebaileyrae and official website: http://www.corinnebaileyrae.net/

Do you guys remember Corinne Bailey Rae? I loved her self-titled debut album. My favorite songs on the CD would have to be Call Me When You Get This, Enchantment, Till It Happens to You and Like A Star. Her beauty is always so modest and natural, which is rare today. But where is she know?

Unfortunately in 2008 Corinne’s husband Jason Rae died of a drug overdose and she was immensely affected by the loss. Also a great musician, Jason Rae played saxophone and performed with Lily Allen, Mark Ronson, and Amy Winehouse. Corinne was working on new music before her loss and I assume is rightfully still in mourning.

“Stay positive, and forward looking Corrine. Life blesses you with inspirational people that may come and go, but will influence your being on a level that will be ever-present in years to come”–FIRE

Here is one of Corrine Bailey Rae’s videos: Trouble Sleeping.

One of the joys of Sunday morning is settling down with the Sunday papers. Or at least the Sunday paper – in my case The Observer, which continues to outdo itself in the colour supplement department. Admittedly, I can live without the monthly Food supplement, and the monthly Woman supplement isn’t really aimed at me, but Observer Sport and Observer Music are both superb, offering the kind of eclectic, informed journalism that gives literacy a good name.

Yesterday’s music supplement had a great interview with Corinne Bailey Rae, a fantastic nostalgia piece on the New Romantics, and a lovely short piece on the break up of The Jam. Perfectly aimed at my demographic. But the whole thing was all wrapped up in a Beck’s advertising promotion, which gave me pause for thought.

There’s no doubt that the Beck’s art campaign is thoughtful and, in places, thought-provoking. The idea of limited edition beer bottle labels is enchanting enough; the fact that they’re designed by zeitgeisty popsters makes it all the more intriguing. Ladyhawke on a beer mat ranks right up there with Lady Di as a barmaid in the “things worth staying up to watch” stakes. And what a fascinating idea to get artists to re-imagine classic album covers. Though of course there’s nothing to stop them doing that in their spare time, without the encouragement and cash of a German brewer. All fine and fascinating.

But what doesn’t quite ring true is the tone of earnestness. To read their lengthy “advertisement promotion”, one might almost imagine that the people at Beck’s – or at least at their ad agency and PR company – actually believe they’re doing something important for art. They cite lots of precedents for the juxtaposition of art and music (quelle surprise!) and place their own promotional efforts in the same continuum. Come on guys! You’re selling beer! To Observer readers! Lighten up.

I’m old enough to remember when Beck’s conferred a certain cachet on the drinker. But I’m not dumb enough to let a beer brand give me a fine art education. By all means sponsor the arts, and run some cultural experiments, but please don’t imagine that your beer belongs in a gallery, or that art belongs in my local bar. As for my fridge – if it’s not drawn by my kids, it doesn’t get doorspace.

Hace unos días hablaba aquí de que no comprendía que no hubiera más artículos míos relacionados con música. Muchos de vosotros comentasteis que la música está en todas partes y que es parte de nuestras vidas, ¡y cómo no! De la mía también.

Hoy os hablaré de los artistas que me gusta escuchar en función del estado de ánimo que quiera conseguir. ¿Os pasa también a vosotros? ¿Escucháis música para conseguir determinado estado de ánimo?

Cuando estoy nostálgica, romántica o simplemente me quiero dar un baño tranquilo, incluso con sales o incienso, siempre recurro a ella. Es una de las voces más sensuales y bellas que conozco: Norah Jones. Además pienso que es preciosa y todas las portadas de sus discos me parecen muy acertadas en los que a diseño se refiere.

Cuando necesito estar de buen humor y con el espítitu divertido siempre le elijo a él, a Mika, especialmente por las mañanas de los lunes, es cuando más necesito su buen rollo y energía positiva. En seguida saca nuevo disco, y lo tendré!!

CORINNE BAILEY RAE es el término medio exacto entre estos dos artistas. Femenina, aterciopelada, a veces infantil y a veces animadilla. Estupenda para ir despertando tranquilo e ir animándose hasta tomar el café con las primeras tostadas.

Leer también:

Cosillas sobre mi

El Día Internacional de la Diversión en el Trabajo

El mundo se está volviendo loco

Relato-metáfora de un profesor de filosofía a sus alumnos.

Los hombres grises de los cuentos de cuando éramos pequeños

Ser optmista es clave

So as promised, I went to my coffee date with Boot Boy this evening.

Mmmmmmm yeah, that’s not gonna happen ever again.

And it feels so good to be able to tell you exactly why.

I know myself so well now.  I don’t know who I was even 2 years ago, but now I know who I am, what I want, and what I will/won’t put up with.

He is handsome.  And funny.  And charming at times.  But he is also aggressive, inappropriate, and self-absorbed.

Mama no likey.

We agreed to meet this evening at the most peaceful and spiritually balanced place I could think of.  Starbucks.  We exited our cars simultaneously, embraced, and went inside.  He paid for my coffee, and we agreed to sit outside.  It was a brisk 60 degrees, so this was the best way for me to insure that I didn’t break into a nervous sweat.

Of course with my big ole hair and the ferocious wind I looked like Chaka Khan.  But I digress.

We sat and talked for an hour.  Or more accurately, he sat and talked for an hour….about topics in which I had zero interest.  I was kind, and charming, and I laughed more than I should have.  But I knew 2 minutes into our date, that this little Espressopalooza would be our last.

Even though I knew pretty damn fast I was not interested, 18 months ago I would have sunk my claws into him for dear life, driving him batty with 100 text messages, wooing him with baked confections and my voice singing to him on his voice mail.  Today, I quietly said I needed to leave to pick up my children, gave him a short hug, and left.

Once I was in the car I turned on some music.  I flipped through my CD magazine for a few, trying to find something to get that strange meeting out of my head. 

Coldplay.

Over the Rhine.

Corinne Bailey Rae.

Marvin Gaye.

Sarah McLachlan.

Wait….Corinne Bailey Rae?  Yeah baby.  Just like oil on my hands.

And I started listening to the words that I’ve listened to and sung probably 1,000 times:

Just like a star across my sky
Just like an angel off the page
You have appeared to my life
Feel like I’ll never be the same

Just like a song in my heart
Just like oil on my hands
Oh I do love you

Still I wonder why it is
I don’t argue like this
With anyone but you
We do it all the time
Blowing out my mind

You’ve got this look I can’t describe
You make me feel I’m alive
When everything else is a fade
Without a doubt you’re on my side

Heaven has been away too long
Can’t find the words to write this song
Oh, your love…..

I have come to understand the way it is
Is not a secret anymore
Cuz we’ve been through that before
From tonight I know that you’re the only one
I’ve been confused and in the dark
Now I understand

Still I wonder why it is
I don’t argue like this
With anyone but you
I wonder why it is
I won’t let my guard down
for anyone but you….

Now I’m sure by this point you, my reader, probably think I am insane.  Didn’t I just say that this man was everything I didn’t want?

Exactly my point.

This strange and poignant love song expresses my heart, and exactly the way I want to feel.  It’s exactly the way I do feel….about someone who is completely emotionally unavailable to me at this point in his life. 

Tenderoni.  

I love him, nonetheless.  Before I met  Tenderoni, I would have accepted more dates from this narcissist I met today.  But meeting Tenderoni, and having him in my life, has changed everything for me.  And now I know how I can feel, how I deserve to be respected, and I will never settle for less.

And if that has been his only purpose in my life, I am grateful.

My heart belongs to Tenderoni.

What a strange way to figure that out.

        So, I must admit that I feel kind of like a tool reviewing a CD 2 years after it’s released. Not that I haven’t done it before (the previous review was 2 years after the fact, BUT in preparation for a new album). That being said, I could technically say that this is in preparation for a new album since she has one coming out in 2010.

       I’m really bad about writing off “pop music” ie: anything on the radio. (I do admit to owning a copy of Lady Gaga’s Fame, BUT that’s because it’s insanely catchy and kept getting stuck in my head).

       Mrs. Rae here, she snuck passed me. Her great single “Put Your Records On” won a Grammy in 2007 and in her home country of England, her self titled CD made it to number 1. Here in the states however, we only got her single.

       Getting passed the single gives the listener an incredibly shockingly soulful piece of art. From the first track, you can tell that she is something that should not have been written off by anyone. She’s has this beautifully raw vocal quality, and she’s begging to be listened to. Minimal back up showcases her voice, and the soul and honesty in her voice is touching.

       Almost every song deals with love. This might prove to be emotionally exhausting, but her pure honesty leaves you wanting more. “Feel like I’ll never be the same, just like a star in my heart, just like oil on my hand” is just a sampling from the first track: “Like a Star”. “He draws me in, I’m powerless, he posses an enchantment. Tell me I’m forgiven,” from track two: “Enchantment”.

       Undoubtedly my favourite track award has to go to: “Call Me When You Get This”. This song is a jam, pure and simple, and the one that mostly reminds me of Barry White’s “Never Gonna Give You Up”. This lyrics are so beautiful and touching and it’s one of those songs that totally makes you feel inadequate the way you express love. Observe: “And I have often wondered, who could love you the way I could. And I just want to let you know how I’m touched deep in my soul, just being with you.”

       One of the best things about this CD, especially the aforementioned track, is that you can hear the musicians having a good time behind her. The bassist and guitarist go off on random, soulful licks and walks. It just kind of adds to the overall energy of the CD. “I’d Like To” reinvokes the R&B groove, and then moves back to the soulful strut that matches the rest of the CD.

       I decided to spring for the 2-disc edition, and was surprisingly rewarded for my additional $9.99. The second disc begins with a trade: guitar for a piano, and the electric bass for a stand up double bass. The result could be described as magical. The soulful, the R&B, the groove sound found on the first CD isn’t lost, but morphs beautifully and creates a uniquely special jazz sound.

       But why stop there? “Emeraldine” and “Venus as a Boy” sound more like house, trance music. “Munich” is an acoustic piece – she on guitar and singing. Truly Rae has a broad understanding of music, and she’s here to show it off.

       Enough good things could not be said about Corinne Bailey Rae’s freshman CD: Corinne Bailey Rae. It is refreshing, honest and musically versatile. I highly recommend going ahead and springing for the 2-disc edition.

Al Green nació en Arkansas, el año 1946 y comenzó en la música desde muy temprana edad, destacando en el Gospel y el Soul. Poseedor de una voz única que no necesitó nunca ser aterciopelada para tocar las entrañas de los oyentes, ni mucho menos llegar a niveles siderales para hacer sangrar los oídos, Al Green tiene el manejo de la voz de un Crooner como muy pocos llegan a tenerlo alguna vez, siendo la sensibilidad un instrumento más dentro de todos los que utiliza para crear su música. Mi disco favorito de Green es Let´s Stay Together (1972), la canción homónima fue usada por Tarantino en Pulp Fiction y, bueno, está dentro de los escenciales de la música negra (el disco y la canción).

Sin embargo, el 2008 edita Lay it Down su tercera placa con Blue Note y el motivo de este post. El disco lejos de ser una aventura de sonidos nuevos es la señal de que el cantante sigue vivo y como nunca, marcando presencia dentro del olimpo de cantantes aún vivos en estos tiempos. El disco contiene un montón de temas que perfectamente podrían haber encajado en alguna placa Motown de los 70´s, por ejemplo Just For Me o No One Like You, esta última mi preferida del disco y una de las melodías que me sigue mientras camino por mi ciudad. Un tema de una exquisitez que sólo puede venir de alguien que ha vivido el soul y el gospel en carne propia.

El disco esta empapado de la delicada crudeza del Soul de los años dorados, guitarras absolutamente limpias, y líneas de bajo con la velocidad precisa. Además de las excelentes colaboraciones de Anthony Hamilton, Corinne Bailey Rae y John Legend que con este feat se anota un punto alto en lo que va del año, después de que el año pasado nos dejara un disco de saborcito más bien pobre.

Después de escuchar el disco me resulta lógico entender por qué uno podría usar Lay it Down como definición de Soul, a pesar de que sea un estilo eminentemente setentero, la placa de Green, en pleno 2008, describe el estilo a la perfección. Como sea, si no conocen aún a Al Green da lo mismo por cual disco empiecen, la cosa es empezar YA! porque estoy seguro de que no se van a arrepentir de haber conocido al Reverendo… para los seguidores de años, este disco finalmente lo que hace es hacerte sentir más cercano a Green y una gratitud tremenda de que aún queden colosos como éste cantando en esta tierra. Amén.

[>] No One Like You – Al Green

…acordo desapontada. Ontem fiquei pensando o que queria para esse fim de semana e desejei um perfeito sábado de inverno. Ainda frio, mas com céu azul e sol forte, daqueles que te impede de ficar quieta em casa.

Fiquei imaginando se iria acordar e fugir para a praia. Sinto saudade da areia e do mar, de sentar para ver as tartarugas, de ver as pessoas passarem… Ou se iria colocar uma roupa confortável e, armada com o meu ipod, sairia para caminhar no parque. Gastar energia e depois tomar uma água de coco.

Nas duas opções, eu estaria ao sol, recarregando energia, ganhando forças e sardas. Eu não queria mais um fim de semana de melancolia. Quero me sentir jovem e viva, abusar da idade que tenho.

Arrasto-me para fora da cama e ponho o café para coar. Aleatoriamente saio recolhendo CDs.  Coloco alto. Que se danem os  vizinhos!

Entre um gole e outro de café, começo a arrumar a casa, a colocar a vida em ordem… A seleção é estranha, mas e daí? Eu já estou cantando e dançando. Já mais feliz.

1-   Tina Turner – Way of The World.

2  – Tina Turner – I don’t wanna Fight

3 – Toni Braxton – You mean the world to me

4- Corinne Bailey Rae – Call me when you get this.

5 – Ray Charles e Diana Krall – You don’t know me

 6- U2 e Mary J Blige – One

7 – Des’ree e Babyface – Fire 

8 – Queen – Don’t stop me now

9 – Alicia Keys – Super Woman

10- Alicia Keys – No one

11 – Tony Bennet e K.d. Lang – Dream a little dream of me

12 – Stevie Wonder – Sidned, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours

13 – Harry Nilson – The Puppy Song

14 - The Cranberries – Dreams

 15 – Álbum Casa de Samba.

Há quanto tempo eu não me mexo nos meus CDs. Há quanto tempo eu não deixo uma música tocar até o fim, até o último segundo…maldita ansiedade!

Aos poucos percebo que já estou dançando pela casa, cantanto de olhos de fechados, mais feliz. As fotos que coleciono da família e dos amigos também tem outra cor. Embora estejam ali há tempos, algumas me arrancam gargalhadas; outras, lágrimas.

E é assim que eu vou lembrando das coisas que eu gosto e que, ainda que simples, me deixam feliz. Tomo banho e fujo para a rua. Não planejado, esse sábado vai ser muito bom. É o sol saindo…

On the last Thursday of every month, all supper diners at The Millhouse Restaurant & Bar at Skidby are entertained with a evening of live music performed by the region’s best jazz musicians.  This month’s Jazz evening is being held on 27th August in the main restaurant at 7.00pm and will be performed by The Jenny Smith Trio.  Please note this is one of the restaurant’s most popular events and booking is strongly advised.  Please call the restaurant to reserve on 01482 845610 or make a reservation online here.

Originally from Hull, Jenny moved to Leeds in 2003 to undertake a BA in Jazz Studies and was awarded the Leeds College of Music prize for singing (Jazz and Popular Style 2006). Since then, Jenny has gigged with outstanding musicians, and released her debut album ‘Love Holds Strong’ in June this year, featuring saxophonist Jim Corry (of Corinne Bailey Rae and Jamiroquai). Jenny’s credits also include performances with Solaris, Eastern European choir Samzeo, The Derrick Harris Organ Trio, Brazilian group Tombo Trio, The Al Wood Big Band,  and touring theatre show Swing Fever. For more information on Jenny Smith and The Jenny Smith Trio, please visit http://www.myspace.com/jennysmithvocals.

Frida Kahlo, The Two Fridas, 1939

Anjulie is a Canadian pop artist who absorbed M.I.A. and Santigold’s style into her wardrobe.  But, at the same time, people are comparing her to Nelly Furtado, even though parts of her album definitely sound like Corinne Bailey Rae and Norah Jones (by the way, where have they been?!).  Regardless, I really like her music video.  In junior high, I wanted to make music videos, and every now and then I have a flashback to those moments.  So, as you can imagine, when I saw Anjulie’s “Boom” I became a little wistful.  It’s such a creative music video.  Granted, I think music videos are a really interesting format for budding filmmakers.  Because the time limit is much shorter so one can get away with making a video that looks like a moving Frida Kahlo painting.  I think that’s why Julie Taymor’s Across the Universe received such mixed reviews.  To view a two hour and thirteen minute of such visual splendor might be a little much for those who aren’t accustomed or trained to deconstruct such layered imagery.  It’s just a bit intense and perhaps, too academic in an artsy-fartsy kind of way.  Here, Anjulie paid homage to the rich visual history of her Latina background in the video with the Western landscapes, the warm lighting, Dali-esque skies, and Frida Kahlo symbolism.  It felt like Isabel Allende’s Daughter of Fortune and the I thought of Nelly Furtado’s flamenco dress in her video for “Turn off the Light,” the wonderful 21 missions of California that unites all of California’s fourth graders (poor Indians! I’m so sorry, but my ancestors did a good job). Our frontier past with its wide open skies combined the common history of being colonized by the Spanish through the entire Americas influences artists from the Iberian Peninsula, the Caribbean, Western, Central, and South Americas is pervasive through “low art” music videos to Western literature to “high art” like Kahlo and Dali.  I hope Anjulie keeps plugging away with the magic realism in her future videos – she can give us transplants a little taste of home because it’s disorienting not being in California which has more common with the Western Hemisphere than the East. 

Now, I’m going to go watch a Western.

How awesome is music?

Watch this video, listen to this song, and try not to feel better. I dare you!

Have a great weekend!

I’m back on the grind for the 8th day in a row (aren’t there labor laws that should prevent this?) but I still wanted to make sure you got a jam today.  I swapped out ipods in my car, so I’ve bee listening to some of my less recent tunes, which have provided me a whole new set of songs for my “song of the day queue.”  I got this album a couple of years ago, and the ladies really seem to like it.  Funny enough, I also heard the hit song from this artist while waiting for a sandwich in Quizno’s earlier today.  I figured it was a sign to pull this jam off of the queue and onto your earwaves.  A smooth little R&B track about (what else?) love  from this soulful British songstress.  Today’s Jam: Corinne Bailey Rae – Till it Happens to You.  Enjoy….

The sky is a heavy, soft blanket, speckled with stars and a glowing violet moon. After such a gorgeous day, it’s an entirely perfect finish.

I completed the staining of the barn today. I didn’t know it was possible to not repeat Avett Brothers songs after five hours, but mixed in with Corinne Bailey Rae, Heart, and Anna Netrebko, I had a steadily churning playlist from three thirty until eight.

I’m a little sore from all of the painting but satisfied. I think my grandpa would have been pleased to see the barn looking new and solid again, as opposed to the faded, sad state it had been in before.

I had never known my grandfather collected railroad lanterns. The day I clambered up to the storage space up top, I counted eighteen, and a little midget lamp.

There were tens of softballs up there, too: he’d been an umpire. I’d known that of course, but until I was working in the barn I hadn’t been aware of the items in it. He was a mechanic; there were hundreds of items that I wouldn’t have a clue what to do with scattered in that old barn, collected dust and debris and age. He’d known what all of them were for, though.

All I ever hear about my grandfather was that he was a good man. He was solid, he was loving, he lived a good life until the brain tumor got him. I wish I’d known him! I had years with him, but I was a little girl and had seen him with the adoring eyes of a granddaughter. I will never know for myself how great a man he was. Since I was three his mind had been riddled with cancer.

With the thoughts of lobotomy fresh in my mind, I can’t help but wonder: did the tampering the surgeons do with my grandpa’s brain affect him? I mean, obviously brain surgery would affect anyone, but did it mess with his brain function?

My grandma told me yesterday that he was belligerent toward her near the end. He’d acted… not like himself.

Grandma and I agreed that any addling of the brain tissue was bound to make someone a great deal out of it, and that we would rather just die than have anyone poke around inside our skulls.

Inwardly I was thinking, I’m sure he would have rather just died, too. And his angry behavior toward her when he was completely out of his mind might have been the reaction of a man with self-control stolen away from him by disease. He may have acted so “belligerently,” as she put it, because she’d treated him like a child throughout their marriage– at least while I was alive, and old enough to know the difference. He may have acted so out of turn because she may have been cheating on him while he was so, so sick with the dumb racist ass she’s with now.

I’ll be happy if they sell the barn I just painted and move away to Florida. If someone else moves in next door, the house I will always remember as Grandma’s, good on them.

But if the woods that I know as Grandpa’s is sold, before my dad can purchase it, I’ll have different feelings on it.

My strange, selfish grandmother can have her sexy man with white fluffy chest hair (kinky?) and move away. She doesn’t even know or care what I’m majoring in or whether or not I want to go away for college (she thought I was a homebody). She doesn’t know or care what Michelle likes to be called, or what instrument she plays. The other day, when I mentioned to her that Emma (Steever) is extremely talented, she was quick to jump in with, “Well you are too, chicky, you play the flute very well.” Because obviously I was comparing myself to Emma? (Um, no… there is no comparision to a piano master who lives and breathes music every second. The fact that she’s fricken phenomenal is just that: purely fact.)

And, hello, since when do I play the flute?!

I just have to smile and laugh and savor the time she does have with me. I’ve never been deprived of love–ever–in my life. So it’s a weird, twisting and stinging kind of feeling when a grandmother who once babysat me and loved my grandfather (or I’d thought she did) is so absorbed in her own adventures that she doesn’t even bother to know her only grandkids who live in the same state.

But the moon is lovely, tonight, anyway, so I’ll focus on that and not the cranky disposition this muggy heat has brought out in me. I don’t like the humidity in this house right now. Too oppressive, and depressing.