IL VOLO, With PLACIDO DOMINGO: "Notte Magica: A Tribute to the Three Tenors"

Original released on CD Sony 88985356242

(AUSTRALIA 2016, September 30)

Marking 26 years since the initial 1990 Rome concert that introduced the world to the Three Tenors, "Notte Magica: A Tribute to the Three Tenors" showcases classical crossover trio Il Volo in concert at Piazza Santa Croce in Florence with legendary Spanish tenor Placido Domingo. An homage to Domingo and his fellow Three Tenors Jose Carreras and the late Luciano Pavarotti, "Notte Magica" features Il Volo's Piero Barone, Ignazio Boschetto, and Gianluca Ginoble, backed by the orchestra of the Teatro Massimo. Special guest Domingo sings and even shares conducting duties with Maestro Marcello Rota. Along with classic Italian opera numbers like "Nessun Dorma" from Turandot and "Libiamo ne’ i Calici" from La Traviata, we also get renditions of beloved songs from the Neapolitan tradition including "O Surdato' Nnammurato," "'O Sole Mio," and "Come Back to Surrento." (Matt Collar in AllMusic)

KATIE MELUA: "The Ultimate Collection"

Original released on CD Digipak BMG 538433672

(EU 2018, October 5)

O Grande Encontro: ALCEU, ELBA e GERALDO

O “Grande Encontro” foi, na sua origem, um álbum conjunto dos cantores Alceu Valença, Elba Ramalho, Geraldo Azevedo e Zé Ramalho, lançado em 1996 e gravado ao vivo em Julho desse mesmo ano no Canecão, no Rio de Janeiro. Este álbum foi o primeiro trabalho de uma trilogia, que contaria com mais dois álbuns (um de estúdio no ano seguinte, e mais um ao vivo em 2000, ambos sem a participação de Alceu Valença). A quarta edição desse encontro histórico da Música Popular Brasileira, aparece agora para celebrar os 20 anos de existência do projecto. Em Outubro de 2016, três deles voltam a se unir mais uma vez: a paraibana Elba Ramalho e os pernambucanos Geraldo Azevedo e Alceu Valença. Mesclando um repertório de clássicos da MPB, música nordestina e sucessos dos três artistas, este projeto é a junção de tudo o que houve de melhor das três edições anteriores. E traz ainda três faixas inéditas para enriquecer ainda mais o repertório e um cenário deslumbrante.

Depois do recente sucesso no Brasil, o “Grande Encontro” chega finalmente a Portugal (espectáculo único - 30€ - a 12 de Julho de 2018, no Coliseu de Lisboa), mais de 20 anos depois da sua edição original. A combinação das suas diferentes sonoridades promete esbanjar energia e criar uma atmosfera de festa, onde poderemos encontrar os artistas juntos em palco, grandes duetos e momentos a solo. A oportunidade perfeita de ver um dos maiores espectáculos de música brasileira no mundo. O “Grande Encontro” já foi tocado para mais de um milhão de pessoas na Passagem de Ano em Copacabana no Rio de Janeiro e foi dos concertos mais aplaudidos pela crítica e público no Rock In Rio, onde esgotaram o recinto do Palco Sunset. Aqui ficam 5 clips desse memorável espectáculo:

"Reflections Of My Life" By MARMALADE

EC Still Do

Original released on CD Bushbranch 51279-2

(US 2016, May 20)

Reuniting with producer Glyn Johns, the steady hand who guided "Slowhand" back in 1977, doesn't provide Eric Clapton with much of a jolt for his 23rd studio album, but it does provide the veteran guitarist with no small degree of nicely weathered warmth. Such mellowed good vibes are the calling card of "I Still Do", which otherwise proceeds along the same path Clapton's records follow in the 21st century: he blends covers of well-worn blues standards with a couple of J.J. Cale tunes, a few old pop standards, a Bob Dylan chestnut, and original songs that draw upon aspects of all of these. "Spiral" and "Catch the Blues," the two EC originals that anchor the middle of the album, are handsomely crafted tunes that complement the rest of the record; they don't draw attention to themselves but rather show how hard "Cypress Grove" swings and how "Alabama Woman Blues" crawls, and reveal the lightness of "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine" and "Little Man, You've Had a Busy Day." Although "I'll Be Seeing You" ends "I Still Do" on a bit of a wistful note, this album is neither melancholy nor some kind of summation. It is simply Clapton being Clapton, enjoying the company of his longtime band and songs he's loved, and here he's fortunate enough to be produced by Johns, whose expert touch gives this weight and color absent from the otherwise amiable "Old Sock". That's enough to give "I Still Do" some resonance because Johns focuses not on the songs but the interplay: it's not a vibe record so much as it's an album about the interplay of old pros who still get a kick playing those same old changes years after they've become second nature. (Stephen Erlewine in AllMusic)

RUMER'S IN LOVE (WITH YOU)

Original released on CD EastWest 0825646482313

(2016, October 21)

After trying her hand at writing her own vintage-inspired material with 2014's "Into Colour", singer Rumer returns to her core inspiration of covering classic '60s and '70s pop with 2016's sophisticated "This Girl's in Love (A Bacharach & David Songbook)". Produced by her husband and longtime collaborator Rob Shirakbari at Capitol Studios, "This Girl's in Love" finds Rumer applying her supple vocals and soft-focus aesthetic to songs written by the legendary team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. While Rumer has most certainly sung many of these songs in live settings, it's surprising, given her association with the time period, that she's never actually recorded any of this material in the past. Here, we get renditions of such beloved songs as Dusty Springfield's "The Look of Love," the Carpenters' "(They Long to Be) Close to You," and Dionne Warwick's "Walk on By." We also get to hear a sweetly gruff-voiced Bacharach sing the intro to the album's title track, a rewording of the Herb Alpert hit "This Guy's in Love with You." Thankfully, Rumer and Shirakbari don't simply stick to the best-of hits and additionally pepper the album with some well-curated, lesser heard choices like the poetic "Balance of Nature," the heartbreaking "Are You There (With Another Girl)," and the harmonically nuanced "The Last One to Be Loved."

As with past Rumer albums, these are gorgeously rendered productions featuring orchestral-tinged arrangements from Shirakbari that capture the golden era of soft pop without falling into garish pastiche. While the album is technically one of Rumer's most faithfully old-school, it still sounds fresh, and the analog production aesthetic only works to magnify the purity, lyricism, and expressiveness of her voice. If Rumer has consistently drawn favorable comparisons to the late Karen Carpenter in the past, "This Girl's in Love (A Bacharach & David Songbook)" will do nothing to diminish them. Ultimately, it serves to reinforce the idea that Rumer stands as one of the brightest torchbearers for the easy listening AM pop that Carpenter, and more specifically, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, helped make such an indelible part of 21st century pop history. (Matt Collar in AllMusic)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR. ASTLEY!

Original released on CD BMG 538293812

(2016, June 10)

Celebrating his 50th birthday with his first album in 11 years, Rick Astley has never seemed as subdued as he is on 2016's "50". Blame it on age: not only wouldn't the exuberance of "Never Gonna Give You Up" suit a man in his middle age but Astley's instrument has weathered with age, no longer quite as booming or insistent. Such changes actually benefit Astley, who is humanized by his years, especially as this light grit adds a little bit of heft to the immaculate adult pop of "50". His first set of original pop music since 2001's "Keep It Turned On2 isn't especially in tune with the times - it exists in an adult contemporary netherworld, sounding as if it could've been released any time between 1999 and 2016 - but there's an appeal in how Astley settles into his voice and surroundings, allowing himself to indulge in a couple of ridiculous moments (the slightly bluesy, slightly stomping "Somebody Loves Me") but generally luxuriating in his high thread count. It's not camp: there's no sign Astley cares - or is even aware - of his status as a classic Internet meme. "50" is earnest, rooted in American soul, and crafted to British pop specifications, a formula that once brought Astley fame and still suits him well. (Stephen Erlewine in AllMusic)

RICK ASTLEY - "Angels On My Side"

"Hineni Hineni, I'm Ready My Lord"

Original released on CD Columbia / Sony 88985365072

(2016, October 21)

«I Wish There Was a Treaty Between Your Love and Mine»

Given the subject matter addressed in the title and other tracks on "You Want It Darker" and Leonard Cohen's advanced age (82), it's tempting to hear this as a last album. In advance of its release, he told The New Yorker he was ready to die, but later walked back that comment. He wrote some of songs solo, and others with Sharon Robinson and Patrick Leonard. In declining health, and required to sing from a medically designed chair, Cohen enlisted his son Adam to produce. Cohen's sepulchral voice expresses a wealth of emotion. He is weathered but defiant in acknowledging failures, regrets, brokenness, and even anger. Typically, redemption arrives in these songs with unflinching honesty. The title track is introduced by a choir and a foreboding bassline, its lyrics as much an indictment of human concepts of religion as a confessional reflection, balanced by personal doubt and acceptance. Cantor Gideon Y. Zelermyer engages with the sacred even as Cohen wrestles with it. 

For every, «Hineni, Hineni/I'm ready my Lord…» there is a counter: «...Magnified and sanctified/Be thy Holy Name/Vilified and crucified/In the human frame/A million candles burning/For the help that never came….» In the final verse he asserts: «If you are the dealer/I want out of this game,» but Zelermyer and the choir answer and carry him with resolute devotion. "Treaty" recalls the melody of "Anthem" as piano, synth strings, and chorale highlight the poignancy in his lyric. Cohen equates the past with earned insights and an offer of amends: «We sold ourselves for love but now we're free/I'm sorry for the ghost I made you be….» "Leaving the Table" is a bittersweet country waltz where Cohen reveals things he no longer needs (even if he wishes he did), and underscores his impending exit: «I don't need a pardon/There's no one left to blame/I'm leaving the table/I'm out of the game.» The intersection of blues, and Yiddish and gypsy folk on "Traveling Light" flows through bouzoukis, mandolins, and drum loops. Their union recalls the haunted musical qualities of 1984's "Various Positions".

In song after song, Cohen delivers lyric juxtapositions that settle scores with God, past lovers, and himself, but almost always arrives at equanimity. He sounds like a spent Jeremiah alone in a cave conversing with God rather than the biblical figure transported to heaven in a fiery chariot. After coming to terms with the ghosts in his past and his acceptance of mortality, Cohen emits a resilient flicker of hope for total reconciliation in the shadows. A tender reprise of "Treaty" is adorned only by strings and his vocals as he expresses hope for detente: «I wish there was a treaty/between your love and mine.» Amid the list of gripes, sins, and losses detailed on "You Want It Darker", Cohen remains open to whatever earthly light offers even as his gaze shifts toward the eternal. He makes no compromises. These songs reveal that when all contradictions are nakedly exposed, all one can do is embrace them. Whether this is or isn't goodbye, "You Want It Darker" is one hell of a record. (Thom Jurek in AllMusic)

Read the lyrics and the complete interview at the album launch event