Size: 124,2 MB
Time: 53:35
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2019
Styles: Blues, Jazz, Soul
Art: Front
01. Soul Of A Man (4:49)
02. Can't Let Go (4:44)
03. Plain Gold Ring (6:47)
04. Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (3:57)
05. The One I Love Is Gone (5:54)
06. Wishing Well (4:56)
07. Be My Husband (4:13)
08. I Don't Know (5:10)
09. Angel Eyes (4:52)
10. You've Been A Good Ole Wagon (3:45)
11. Music! Music! Music! (Put Another Nickel In) (4:24)
Virtuoso guitarist Charlie Hunter and powerhouse vocalist Lucy Woodward are proud to announce the release of their new album Music!Music!Music! Due out April 19 in the U.S. and 260 countries worldwide, with distribution by The Orchard — except for Japan, where it drops April 24 via Ultra-Vybe, INC/MOCLOUD — the collaborative album features eleven radically reworked songs by artists ranging from Blind Willie Johnson and Bessie Smith to Nina Simone and Terence Trent D’Arby. Music!Music!Music! will be available for pre-order on April 5; the album’s first single, “Can’t Let Go,” will be released the same day.
Recorded in November 2018 at Stephen Lee Price’s studio in High Point, North Carolina, with longtime Hunter collaborator Derrek Phillips on the drums, Music!Music!Music! showcases the dazzling interplay between Hunter’s funky guitar and Woodward’s stunning voice, while also beautifully capturing the spontaneity and good vibes of the duo’s live performances.
The album’s eleven tracks range from the old-world blues of Blind Willie Johnson (“Soul of a Man”) and Bessie Smith (“You’ve Been a Good Ole Wagon”) to the tormented soul of Nina Simone (“Plain Gold Ring,” “Be My Husband,” and the immortal “Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”), from jazz standards (“Angel Eyes” and “Music! Music! Music!,” popularized by Ella Fitzgerald and Teresa Brewer, respectively) to bluegrass and alt-country classics (Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard’s “The One I Love Is Gone,” Lucinda Williams’ “Can’t Let Go”), from the smoky Fifties R&B of Ruth Brown’s “I Don’t Know” to the technicolor Eighties funk of Terence Trent D’Arby’s “Wishing Well.” “We’d already worked out all the arrangements and grooves during our tours together,” says Woodward of the album. “We sort of planned for this all year, found the right time to do it — and pressed ‘record’!”
Hunter and Woodward first performed together in January 2018, when they joined forces for a tour originally booked for Hunter and Mexican singer-songwriter Silvana Estrada, whose visa application had been denied at the last minute by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Bonded by their shared love of blues, Hunter and Woodward improvised their way each night through a setlist of some of their favorite songs, and quickly realized that they’d hit upon something special. “About four days into the tour,” Woodward recalls, “Charlie was like, ‘I think we need to record this stuff!’”
Soulful, spacious and deliciously in the pocket, Music!Music!Music! reverberates with the thrilling intensity of the duo’s live shows, and crackles with the electricity of two talented performers stretching out together from their respective comfort zones. “It was just fun, man,” says Hunter of the recording sessions. “I’ve done so many records in my lifetime, everything from jazz to working with hip-hop people, really avant-garde stuff with Bobby Previte and Omaha Diner, and even jammy stuff — but this is the first record I’ve ever done that is really a partnership with a singer. I’m really happy with how it came out.”
“I’d never done a record where I’ve toured with anything smaller than a quartet, quintet or big band,” says Woodward, who in addition to her own solo career has sung on recordings by Celine Dion, Rod Stewart, Snarky Puppy, Barbra Streisand, Chaka Khan, Carole King, Nikka Costa and Joe Cocker. “Charlie taught me a lot about carving out and leaving space in the songs, rather than just singing your verse, and then another verse, and then a chorus. In his world, space is just as important as what happens when you play.”
Recorded in November 2018 at Stephen Lee Price’s studio in High Point, North Carolina, with longtime Hunter collaborator Derrek Phillips on the drums, Music!Music!Music! showcases the dazzling interplay between Hunter’s funky guitar and Woodward’s stunning voice, while also beautifully capturing the spontaneity and good vibes of the duo’s live performances.
The album’s eleven tracks range from the old-world blues of Blind Willie Johnson (“Soul of a Man”) and Bessie Smith (“You’ve Been a Good Ole Wagon”) to the tormented soul of Nina Simone (“Plain Gold Ring,” “Be My Husband,” and the immortal “Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”), from jazz standards (“Angel Eyes” and “Music! Music! Music!,” popularized by Ella Fitzgerald and Teresa Brewer, respectively) to bluegrass and alt-country classics (Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard’s “The One I Love Is Gone,” Lucinda Williams’ “Can’t Let Go”), from the smoky Fifties R&B of Ruth Brown’s “I Don’t Know” to the technicolor Eighties funk of Terence Trent D’Arby’s “Wishing Well.” “We’d already worked out all the arrangements and grooves during our tours together,” says Woodward of the album. “We sort of planned for this all year, found the right time to do it — and pressed ‘record’!”
Hunter and Woodward first performed together in January 2018, when they joined forces for a tour originally booked for Hunter and Mexican singer-songwriter Silvana Estrada, whose visa application had been denied at the last minute by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Bonded by their shared love of blues, Hunter and Woodward improvised their way each night through a setlist of some of their favorite songs, and quickly realized that they’d hit upon something special. “About four days into the tour,” Woodward recalls, “Charlie was like, ‘I think we need to record this stuff!’”
Soulful, spacious and deliciously in the pocket, Music!Music!Music! reverberates with the thrilling intensity of the duo’s live shows, and crackles with the electricity of two talented performers stretching out together from their respective comfort zones. “It was just fun, man,” says Hunter of the recording sessions. “I’ve done so many records in my lifetime, everything from jazz to working with hip-hop people, really avant-garde stuff with Bobby Previte and Omaha Diner, and even jammy stuff — but this is the first record I’ve ever done that is really a partnership with a singer. I’m really happy with how it came out.”
“I’d never done a record where I’ve toured with anything smaller than a quartet, quintet or big band,” says Woodward, who in addition to her own solo career has sung on recordings by Celine Dion, Rod Stewart, Snarky Puppy, Barbra Streisand, Chaka Khan, Carole King, Nikka Costa and Joe Cocker. “Charlie taught me a lot about carving out and leaving space in the songs, rather than just singing your verse, and then another verse, and then a chorus. In his world, space is just as important as what happens when you play.”
Music! Music! Music!