Showing posts with label Erja Lyytinen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Erja Lyytinen. Show all posts

Friday, October 7, 2022

Erja Lyytinen - Waiting For The Daylight

Size: 113.5 MB
Time: 48:43
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2022
Styles: Blues Rock
Art: Front

01. Bad Seed (5:13)
02. Last Girl (5:28)
03. Run Away (4:59)
04. Waiting For The Daylight (6:11)
05. Never Really Had You (5:14)
06. Diamonds On The Road (4:25)
07. You Talk Dirty (6:17)
08. Love Bites (3:57)
09. The End Of Music (6:55)

Personnel:
Erja Lyytinen – Vocals, Guitars, Violin, Keyboards
Harri Taittonen – Keyboards, Hammond
Tatu Back – Bass
Iiro Laitinen – Drums

For musicians, the last two years have been a period of reflection and soul searching. What to do with oneself in the absence of life on the road? And would live music ever be able to return to the way it was pre-pandemic? Artists and music fans alike waited for that glimmer of hope and the return of some semblance of normality. Written largely during the pandemic era Erja Lyytinen’s new studio album Waiting For The Daylight encapsulates these emotions.

With time on her hands, Lyytinen was able to pause, dig deep and fully process her feelings. Some of which she had been carrying for a long time. This journey of self-exploration proved to be a source of inspiration for the artist’s latest offering. Carrying on from the gifted guitarist’s last two studio albums, Stolen Hearts, and Another World, respectively, Lyytinen continues to explore themes such as love, loss, heartbreak, and sometimes even revenge. Events transpiring around the world occasionally fed into the storyboard of Lyytinen’s song writing.

The album was recorded during the first half of 2022, between Erja’s hectic touring schedule, with the bulk of the sessions taking place at The Hollywood House in Helsinki, Finland. Lyytinen was joined in the studio by long-standing bass player Tatu Back and drummer Iiro Laitinen. Having played on every one of Lyytinen’s albums since 2008, Harri Taittonen features once again on Hammond and keyboard.

Waiting For The Daylight illustrates a new chapter in Erja’s musical and artistic trajectory. The album was proudly produced by Lyytinen herself. Subsequently, Erja simultaneously explored sounds on the periphery of the blues-rock genre. She fearlessly pushed herself and the band further than previously before.

During her formative years, Erja was schooled on the sounds of the 60s and 70s by her mother, and with her latest offering, she pays homage to rock greats such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Uriah Heap. With its heavy groove, atmospheric textures, and passionate delivery the title track is a testament to this. The song Waiting For The Daylight also features perhaps one of the artist’s most mesmerising and emotive solos to date. Lyytinen further showcases her chops during the album’s hook-laden opening number and lead single, Bad Seed.

The artist pours her heart and soul into the cathartic number Last Girl. Erja describes the latter a cross between Satriani meets Iron Maiden. Says Erja, “The song talks about bullying in schools and how you can be left out of a friendship group. I always put something of my own in the songs as well, so it became a very important song on many levels.”

Just as the title dictates, at approximately seven minutes long, The End of Music concludes the release to great effect. “The song talks about missing being back on stage and the audience, as many of us musicians did during the pandemic,” explains Erja.

Waiting For The Daylight MP3
Waiting For The Daylight FLAC

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Meena - Try Me

Size: 131,8 MB - 395,9 MB
Time: 57:33
File: MP3 @ 320K/s - Flac
Released: 2010
Styles: Rhythm & Blues
Art: Full

1. Try Me (with Joanne Shaw Taylor) (4:59)
2. Nothing Left (with Joanne Shaw Taylor) (5:12)
3. Send Me A Doctor (with Eric Sardinas) (4:07)
4. Put Your Hands Out Of My Pocket (5:30)
5. Sorry (4:13)
6. I'm Leaving You (with Joanne Shaw Taylor) (3:54)
7. This Song Is For You (5:20)
8. I'd Rather Go Blind (with Donna Grantis) (6:36)
9. Love Won't Fall Apart (3:32)
10. Let Your Sweet Love Shine On Me (with Joanne Shaw Taylor) (3:08)
11. I Shoot You Down (with Eric Sardinas and Erja Lyytinen) (4:34)
12. Just As I Am (with Coco Montoya and Shakura S'Aida) (6:23)

Meena first played in a band when she was fifteen. She developed into a wanderlust type and studied in Africa, the United States and Vienna, among other places. In the US, Chicago stole her heart for its atmosphere and blues music. Because of her temperament and good voice, several people wanted to make her a second Tina Turner or Janis Joplin, but when Thomas Ruf came across her it was the blues that would determine her life. On the CD 'Try Me' we hear a singer with a beautiful, sometimes somewhat melancholy voice. Most of the songs have a calm and compelling tempo. The title song is a good example of this. There are also several beautiful guitar solos on this CD by Coco Montoya, Eric Sardinas, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Erja Lyytinen and Chris Fillmore. These kind of solos are always very pleasant to listen to and never get boring. A well-known cover on this disc is 'I'd Rather Go Blind'. It may not be the most beautiful version I know of this song, but this version is very beautiful and penetrating. 'Try me' is a CD that is more than worth listening to.

Try Me MP3
Try Me FLAC

Sunday, August 9, 2020

Erja Lyytinen - Live In London

Year: 2015
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:40
Size: 156,4 MB
Styles: Electric blues
Scans: Full

1. It's A Blessing (1:46)
2. Let It Shine (5:06)
3. Person To Person (2:31)
4. Hand In Hand (2:33)
5. Grip Of The Blues (6:15)
6. Change Of Season (8:00)
7. Everything's Fine (7:59)
8. Hold On Together (6:36)
9. The Sky Is Crying (7:22)
10. It Hurts Me Too (5:26)
11. Dust My Broom (14:02)

On October 7th 2014, Erja Lyytinen rolled into London’s iconic venue the 100 Club for an evening of live music. At her side, Erja was accompanied by a crack band featuring long-time musical partner Davide Floreno, bassist Roger Inniss and drummer Miri Miettinen. After three years as a cohesive touring unit, Erja’s band was on full form. The groove, artistry and undeniable power of their performance on that famed 100 Club stage has been beautifully captured in all it’s excitement on the CD/ DVD 2-disc set Live in London.

With a colourful history that goes back to 1942, the 100 Club is considered the oldest independent music venue in the world. During that time, a who’s who of blues and rock’n’roll legends including Muddy Waters, B.B. King, The Who and The Clash have entertained audiences there. It’s also played host to “secret shows” by the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Metallica, to name but a few. For Lyytinen, however, a pair of concerts by American blues legend Son House – recorded at the 100 Club in the summer of 1970 and later released as Delta Blues and Spirituals – stand out above the rest. “He’s one of my big favourites, and when I first heard that recording years back, I didn’t expect I would someday be on the same stage!”

The live album kicks off with an a cappella tribute to another Delta Blues giant, Fred McDowell, then gets things rolling with the help of the band on her own grooving Let It Shine. The next two cuts are by Elmore James and offer listeners a first taste of her 2014 studio release The Sky Is Crying. A high-spirited and technically brilliant tribute to James, the album earned high honours in Erja’s native Finland (voted Best Album of 2014 by Finland’s YLE Radio Suomi ‘Bluesministeri’) and abroad (selected as one of top three international albums of 2014 by Britain’s Blues Matters magazine).

The album then progresses with an impressive block of original material: the shuffling Everything’s Fine is driven by Inniss and Miettinen’s strong and steady groove, while Hold On Together provides the framework for an all-out guitar duel between Lyytinen and Floreno. Three more Elmore James titles – including a stunning seven-minute version of The Sky Is Crying – allow Erja to show off the full depth of her slide-playing abilities, but also turn the spotlight on Floreno, who proves that the band is more than just a one-gal show. For her part, Lyytinen stays away from slavishly copying Elmore James, instead offering a respectful but fresh and decidedly female take on his classic material.

Although Erja Lyytinen tours extensively throughout Europe and North America, there are a few places she hasn’t reached yet. The striking sounds and vivid colours of Live in London CD and DVD set will give listeners and viewers the opportunity to experience this unique musical talent up close and personal.

Live In London mc
Live In London zippy

Friday, August 7, 2020

Erja Lyytinen & Dave's Special - Attention!

Year: 2002
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:53
Size: 101,4 MB
Styles: Blues, jump blues, swing
Scans: Front, tray

1. I Will Have My Tomorrows (3:41)
2. Teach Me To Swing (4:03)
3. Don't Know If I Love You (2:41)
4. Jumpin' From Six To Six (4:14)
5. Not A Good Girl (5:06)
6. Attention (4:06)
7. Backyard Blues (2:51)
8. Jone's Boogie (2:53)
9. Don't You Feel My Leg (3:57)
10. Greed (2:55)
11. You Talk Dirty (4:25)
12. Twenty-One (2:57)

Erja Lyytinen is a Finnish blues guitarist and singer-songwriter. Lyytinen started playing guitar at age fifteen and sang in a soul music group. Her influences include singers Aretha Franklin, Koko Taylor, and Bonnie Raitt. Lyytinen is a 1995 graduate of Kuopio Senior High of Music and Dance. She studied from 1995 to 2003 at the Kuopio Conservatoire and Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, and has a Master of Music degree.

Born in Kuopio, a small town in central Finland, Erja was raised by a musically-orientated family on the sounds of Led Zeppelin, the Beatles and Deep Purple. She also listened to a lot of pop music, especially Madonna and Michael Jackson. By the age of 15 she was singing and playing the violin with her mother (a bassist) and father (who encouraged her to take up his own instrument – the electric guitar).

And then along came the blues and an array of guitar players: At first Robben Ford, Pat Metheny and Mike Stern and then, as the dam burst, Stray Cat Brian Setzer, T-Bone Walker, Danny Gatton, Kenny Burrell and Albert Collins. As her interest in slide guitar grew, so did an appreciation of Little Feat’s Lowell George, Derek Trucks, Elmore James, Muddy Waters and of course Bonnie Raitt.

Attention!, Erja Lyytinen’s first album, was published with "Dave's Special" band in 2002. The songs on the album were mostly danceable jump and swing blues numbers and were for the most part written by Lyytinen herself.

Attention! mc
Attention! zippy

Thursday, May 9, 2019

Erja Lyytinen - Another World

Year: 2019
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:06
Size: 101,6 MB
Styles: Blues-rock, rock
Scans: Front

1. Snake In The Grass (3:40)
2. Cherry Overdrive (5:53)
3. Another World (5:31)
4. Hard As Stone (4:43)
5. Wedding Day (3:47)
6. Miracle (5:58)
7. Torn (4:21)
8. Break My Heart Gently (5:02)
9. Without You (5:08)

The ‘Queen of the Slide Guitar’ Erja Lyytinen returns with the eagerly anticipated follow up to her 2017 album Stolen Hearts. Since the release of the aforementioned record, Erja Lyytinen has been far from resting on her laurels. Over the last two years, Lyytinen has featured on Finnish national TV as part of the Stars Stars TV series, shared the stage with guitar legend Carlos Santana, played in front of a crowd of 80,000 people in her hometown of Helsinki as well as performing in excess of 100 shows per year. These are impressive additions to Lyytinen’s already glowing resume, to say the least.

For Erja Lyytinen’s latest offering she recruited a whole raft of her esteemed friends and colleagues to feature on the record including slide guitar master Sonny Landreth and former Michael Jackson guitarist Jennifer Batten. Lyrically the songs are some of the finest Erja has written. With tracks on the record at times very personal and raw, you really find yourself drawn into the song lyrics. Likewise, the track listing and the way the album is sequenced clearly illustrates the underlying theme or story to the record. Like a completed jigsaw puzzle it all just fits together so well together, this in turn perfectly compliments the overall flow of the album. /Adam Kennedy, National Rock Review

Another World mc
Another World zippy

Sunday, February 4, 2018

Davide Floreno - One Thursday Evening

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:54
Size: 114.2 MB
Styles: Guitar blues
Year: 2011
Art: Front

[5:06] 1. Droolin'
[4:20] 2. Jone's Groove
[3:11] 3. Gutbucket
[8:40] 4. Blues For Miss E
[2:36] 5. Mister Sandman
[5:03] 6. Who Does The Dishes (Feat. Erja Lyytinen)
[8:26] 7. Beautiful Love
[3:56] 8. Broadcast
[4:52] 9. Space Boogie (Feat. Erja Lyytinen)
[3:39] 10. Munkka

Born in Rome and making his home in Helsinki, Finland, Davide Floreno is best known as the right-hand man to contemporary blues artist Erja Lyytinen. He has played lead & rhythm guitar on each of Lyytinen's first four international releases and accompanied her on hundreds of live dates. He'd have no problem keeping it that way. "I’m not much of a singer and I am not a front man by any means," says this modest six-string maestro. "I like to be on the side." But Lyytinen's fans, recognizing Floreno as an integral part of her sound, have been pestering him about a solo album for years.

So last summer, when Lyytinen's band had two days off between festivals, Floreno decided to oblige them. One Thursday Evening, an album of ten topflight instrumentals, showcases him together with other core members of the Erja Lyytinen band: bassist Roger Innis, drummer Miri Miettinen, keyboarder Harri Taittonen as well as select guests including Lyytinen herself on a pair of cuts. "The current line-up is the best band I've ever been involved with. You can throw pretty much anything at these guys and they'll nail it straight away."

The impromptu session took place in a cramped rehearsal space cluttered with drums, amps, tour cases, mics and cables. Floreno originally planned to lay down basic tracks and then overdub his guitar, but when push came to shove, he and the band went 100% live. In the course of a single day (hence the album title), the musicians set up, sound checked and got the whole album done. "In retrospect," says Floreno, "it was the right thing to do. There's definitely some sour moments on my part, but I like the struggle. Kind of like Buddy Guy when he goes wild. Just when you think he's really out there and lost, he lands on his feet and it sounds great."

Floreno didn't set out to copy his guitar heroes, but to make an album that feels like the classic recordings he loves most. He has always been partial to American rhythm & blues, professing his admiration for everyone from James Brown to the renowned "Three Kings": B.B., Freddie and – more than any other artist – Albert King. "Guys like that had the ability to be really tight and still sound extremely relaxed. And that always fascinated me." This really gets to the heart of the matter. Recorded smack in the middle of a busy concert season, One Thursday Evening captures a band at the top of their game, locked in and grooving. But there's nothing hectic or hurried about that groove. The music they create evokes images of dusty roads and southern jukes where slow is the order of the day – because it's just too damn hot to move any faster. Once upon a time, the measured pace of life in the American south filtered into the way people like Albert King played the guitar. He wasn't about crazy-fast licks and hundreds of notes and neither is Floreno. One Thursday Evening moves at a casual clip, leaving Floreno and his mates plenty of space to stretch out and shine as they deliver impressionistic splashes of jazz, some straight-ahead Bo Diddley bounce and a whole lot of gutbucket blues.

Along the way, Floreno shows that, while he may not sing, when he lets his guitar do the talking, good things happen. One Thursday Evening – the album his fans have been waiting for – is most definitely a good thing. ~Vincent Abbate

One Thursday Evening mc
One Thursday Evening zippy

Saturday, December 23, 2017

Erja Lyytinen, Davide Floreno - It's A Blessing

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:13
Size: 87.5 MB
Styles: Country blues
Year: 2005
Art: Front

[4:36] 1. Welcome Song
[3:52] 2. Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out
[3:24] 3. Frustrated Woman Blues
[3:42] 4. Whiskey Days
[3:44] 5. Hurry Make Love
[3:05] 6. Habanero
[4:53] 7. Love Me
[3:08] 8. Your Brown Eyes
[4:13] 9. Why
[3:30] 10. It's A Blessing

Erja Lyytinen : vcl/gtr, Davide Floreno: gtr/lap steel/vcl/dms/bss, Teemu Keränen : db-bss, Chris-Tomas Konieczny : dms, Pepe Ahlqvist : hca, Esa Helasvuo : pno.

Since first entering a recording studio some 15 years ago, singer/guitarist Erja Lyytinen has become a bona fide star in her homeland and a fixture on the international music scene. In that time, “the Finnish slide goddess” (The Blues Magazine) has recorded in places as diverse as Helsinki, London and Memphis, earning numerous accolades along the way. Rooted in both traditional and modern blues, she successfully blends styles like jazz, pop, soul and rock into a sound all her own. Celebrated slide guitar master Sonny Landreth, upon discovering Lyytinen’s music recently, remarked: “I sure enjoyed her guitar skills. She’s obviously made a big name for herself. Things are going well for her and for good reason.”

Born into a musical family in the town of Kuopio, Lyytinen quickly emerged as an artist to watch in her native country. She recorded her international debut Pilgrimage after signing with Germany’s prestigious Ruf Records label in 2005. The 2006 Blues Caravan tour gave audiences in Europe and the United States a first taste of her spirited live performances. The solo follow-up Dreamland Blues took her back to the USA to record with David and Kinney Kimbrough (sons of Mississippi blues legend Junior Kimbrough). After two years on the road, she returned with Grip of the Blues in 2008, mixing hard-edged blues with modern R&B. Her 2010 release Voracious Love was even more adventurous: The lavishly orchestrated “Bed of Roses” – featuring contributions from Marco Hietala (Nightwish) on vocals and Apocalyptica cellist Paavo Lötjönen – showed once and for all that Lyytinen is unafraid to push the stylistic envelope. With 2013’s Forbidden Fruit, she returned to more familiar territory.

It's A Blessing mc
It's A Blessing zippy

Saturday, April 8, 2017

Erja Lyytinen - Stolen Hearts

Size: 118,1 MB
Time: 50:37
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2017
Styles: Electric Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Front & Back

01. Stolen Hearts (4:41)
02. Rocking Chair (3:48)
03. Love Laboratory (4:12)
04. 24 Angels (3:55)
05. Black Ocean (7:13)
06. Slowly Burning (4:15)
07. Lover's Novels (3:30)
08. Silver Stones (4:44)
09. Awakening (3:59)
10. City Of Angels (5:20)
11. Broken Eyes (4:55)

Stolen Hearts is Erja Lyytinen’s first studio album since 2014’s Elmore James tribute The Sky Is Crying. The album was recorded in between Sonic Pump Studios in Helsinki and State of the Ark Studios in London.

Stolen Hearts was recorded under the guidance of multi-platinum selling engineer and producer Chris Kimsey, who is best known for his work with the Rolling Stones on their classic albums Sticky Fingers and Some Girls. Kimsey also mixed the album.

For those who have been fortunate enough to see Erja Lyytinen perform in recent times, you may have already have had the pleasure of hearing a few of the songs featured on the record. The likes of the title track, for which Erja has released a new video and the incredibly infectious “Black Ocean” have already established themselves as live favourites.

What is immediately apparent with this album is that it covers a lot of ground, with tracks spanning many genres and a whole raft of Erja’s influences. This is not just a straight-up blues record, it has many different layers which are gradually peeled away for the listener, maintaining their interest as the album progresses.

Stolen Hearts has it all, from the ferocious groove of “Rocking Chair”, which is one of the heaviest tracks Erja has recorded alongside the deep and funky “Black Ocean”, with its sublime twin part guitar harmonies. On the other hand, the beautiful “Broken Eyes” has more a classical feel with jazzy undertones. If you close your eyes the song transports you to a smoky New York piano bar. With less focus on the guitar playing in this number, the song really showcases Erja’s incredible vocal range.

As you would want and expect Stolen Hearts is packed full of Lyytinen’s trademark slide guitar play and blistering blues riffs, particularly on the likes of the title track with its Hendrix-esque, wah infused guitar licks and Erja’s incredible latest single “24 Angels”. Throughout blues number “Slowly Burning” Erja really demonstrates some passionate playing and a superb appreciation of space.

Stolen Hearts gives Erja’s fans something completely fresh and new whilst staying true to her blues roots. The album has allowed Lyytinen to truly flex her creative and artistic muscles so to speak and the end result is one of her most accomplished records to date. ~by Adam Kennedy

Stolen Hearts

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Erja Lyytinen & Heikki Silvennoinen - Live 2016

Year: 2016
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 76:56
Size: 177,8 MB
Styles: Blues, roots, rock
Scans: Front

1. Baking Song (4:40)
2. The River (4:27)
3. You Should Know (4:26)
4. Silloin Nyt Aina (5:34)
5. Love Laboratory (4:38)
6. Sun Don't You Shine (4:53)
7. I Can't Hold Out (2:59)
8. Four Thousand Miles (5:03)
9. Pohjoinen Jää (5:53)
10. Rakastatko Vielä Kun On Ilta (4:42)
11. Have You Ever Loved A Woman (5:02)
12. Crossroads (4:18)
13. Singing The Blues (8:56)
14. Rock Steady (5:02)
15. I Loved Another Woman (6:15)

Since first setting foot in a recording studio 15 years ago, Erja Lyytinen has become a bona fide star in her homeland and a celebrated fixture on the international music scene. She has recorded nine studio albums in locations as diverse as Helsinki, Memphis and Clarksdale, Mississippi, earning numerous awards and honors along the way. Lyytinen is equally at home in traditional and modern blues and has never been afraid to incorporate styles like jazz, pop and soul. Even motherhood hasn’t slowed her down: Her 2014 Elmore James tribute album "The Sky Is Crying" – recorded shortly before she gave birth to twins – was universally hailed as her best and bluesiest to date. “Erja has seemingly achieved the impossible by both sounding like Elmore as he played in the 1950’s whilst adding her unique flair and 21st century vista,” wrote Blues In Britain in a glowing review.

Heikki Silvennoinen is a guitarist and songwriter from Tampere, Finland. He has played in several well known bands since mid-70's, most notably Tabula Rasa, Catwalk and Q.Stone. He has also released several solo albums. Ironically, Silvennoinen did not gain nationwide fame until early 90's when he started to act and write sketches to Kummeli, a massively popular TV sketch show in Finland.

Personnel: Erja Lyytinen (vocals, guitar), Heikki Silvennoinen (vocals, guitar), Juha Verona (bass), Harri Taittonen (keyboards, hammond organ), Kai Jokiaho (drums).

Live 2016 mc
Live 2016 zippy

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Erja Lyytinen - The Sky Is Crying

Size: 126,8 MB
Time: 54:05
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Delta Blues, Chicago Blues, Slide Guitar Blues
Art: Front

01. Person To Person (2:38)
02. Baby Please Set A Date (3:52)
03. It Hurts Me Too (5:05)
04. Erja's Contribution To Jazz (4:06)
05. The Sky Is Crying (6:57)
06. Got To Move (6:08)
07. King Of The Slide Guitar (5:07)
08. Sho Nuff (2:49)
09. Something Inside Me (5:15)
10. Hand In Hand (2:30)
11. Dust My Broom (Live) (9:34)

Praised as the queen of the slide guitar by international publications, Erja Lyytinen will return from a break from the road with an extensive tour of Finland and the rest of Europe in spring 2014. Erja’s new album The Sky Is Crying, which will be released at the beginning of the year, is her tribute to the undisputed king of the slide guitar, Elmore James.

The concert will include both Erja’s renderings of old Elmore James classics and the best songs from Erja’s ten-year solo career. Her charismatic and soulful performance with an ensemble consisting of some of the best musicians in the field guarantees an unforgettable concert experience.

The Sky Is Crying