Frenchy’s Fracas

General Description
Artist/Band: Buika || ||
Album Title: Niña De Fuego
Year: 2008

More than just a pretty picture..

How I Got Into This Music
I just didn’t have any choice. LadyTO kept nagging me about this artist, and I kept ignoring it. Then she gave me this CD and continued nagging me into submission. After a month or so, I decided to cave in in a manly way and listen to the album.

Reviews:
Videos: ||
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Tracks that got my attention:
La Falsa Moneda
Thirty seconds into the track and you get a clear idea of what you’re gonna get with this album: soft tones, lazy summer breeze and an incredible voice. Believe you me, I do not like the whole Spanish guitar hero & gitano traditional crap, but as usual, there are a few exceptions..

Culpa Mia
It’s that voice.. the intro of this song is beautiful and when the guitars join in, it’s also sweet!

Mienteme Bien
Some parts remind me of stuff my parents use to play when I was a kid, and I didn’t like it that much then and I still don’t..

Arboles De Agua
H O L Y S H I T ! !
The intro, when her vocals get in on the song, the whole track: wow, goose bumps!
Break both my legs and play me this song, you have a great chance I won’t be pissed at you.
This is such a great feel good track, there’s no way you can be sad or angry after listening to it.
(Still break your limbs later on, but that’s a small detail..)

La Niebla
Ohman, that voice.. Mellow work on the piano too.

Volver Volver
More of the ranchera stuff I don’t really like. The mixup with the almost jazzy trumpet is a nice touch.
By the way, don’t know if ranchera’s the right category to use.. It’s that cry-cry type of music from Mexico that this song’s reminding me of.

Mentirosa
Hmm, a nice and unexpected change of style: a bit of easy latin with some brass on the side. Works for the European crowd, I guess.

Conclusion
I saw five minutes of her show at this year’s North Sea Jazz Festival and it’s a shame I didn’t see more of her (in more ways than one, yep..). And, as I said before, I’m officially in love with that face
Macho bull aside: I really enjoy listening to this album and this artist. The way she uses her voice on this record is fantastic, the musicians are solid and the production is nice and subtle. Some tracks are just a bit too cheesy for my snobby tastes, but I can recommend the whole product.

Oh, LadyTO? You were right.

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General Description
Artist/Band: Roy Hargrove Quintet || ||
Album Title: Earfood
Year: 2008

Excellent trumpet man..

How I Got Into This Music
Been listening to his Hard Groove album for quite a while now; saw him at the North Sea Jazz Festival last year and I really enjoy his different styles, beit his groove funk mixup or his more traditional jazz work.

Reviews:
Videos: ||
Have a listen on:

Tracks that got my attention:
I’m Not So Sure
Like Last.fm’s DocterD said:
What an Intro
Short and simple, he’s right. Incredible intro setting up a great jazz groove, making you want for more. The piano is almost gospel.
The trumpet and sax solos are great.

Strasbourg - Saint Denis
Well, if you want to make jazz really accessible then a track like this would work. It’s got this complicated Walk In The Park feeling to it, that would work in any lounge bar.
Love the piano on this track.

Starmaker
Nice and simple theme, again, the piano works superbly. Just love the short choppy stuff on the keys halfway.

Mr. Clean
Hmmm.. It’s big and bad approach that dominates the track, but it doesn’t really work for me.

Style
Sweetness when Hargrove puts that horn to work. And the lovely breaks through the song..

Divine
Wow, that laidback trumpet again on this lovely ballad!

Bring It Home To Me (Live)
Great Sam Cooke tribute.

Conclusion
You want to hear a tight band perform? Listen to this album or go see them play live. Everything is performed professionally and with a lot of love. This album has a coupla tracks that really stand out but what I really enjoyed was the fact that I could put the record on and leave it to play all day long, without boring me for one minute.
Don’t lose sight (or hearing) of this artist!

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Well, I attended two days of the North Sea Jazz Festival and it was quite a mixed bag of candy.
Location: Ahoy Event Halls, Rotterdam
When: 11 and 12 July 2008
Last.fm:
Tag: northseajazzfestival

Day 2

Victor Wooten
The incredibly talented bass player, Mr. Victor Wooten, is always a joy to be entertained by. A very solid performance with a great band (including an additional bass player).

Deodato
Not my cup of tea, and that percussionist scared me a lil’ bit..

Chaka Khan
After the incredibly horrific performance I saw from her on MTV with a certain K. West, I was very, very delighted to hear the Lady strut her stuff like the true singer she is. Excellent!

José James
The up-and-coming and yet already here-to-stay vocalist José James gave another fantastic performance, getting everyone excited and grooving.

Lizz Wright
Symptomatic for this year’s festival: arrived half an hour before the set started and there already was a line of a coupla hundred people! It used to be that the smaller stages were problematic, but now even the medium sized locations were overcrowded, sheesh..

Marc Broussard
Short visit and listen, but the man does have a great voice!

George Benson
Great instrumentalist and vocalist, delivers the goods.

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Another great tip from Hieronymus Fox: if Otis Redding was listening from the grave, he’d gave Sharon a thumbs up. Let’s not forget the Dap-Kings!
It really is possible to keep on playing that old Soul groove without being a blatant copycat: carrying on the Good Cause and extending the music.

Christian Prommer’s Drumlesson
Closing act: fantastic band mixing up different electronic, groove and jazz stuff!

Conclusion
This festival wasn’t that great, sad to say. The line up didn’t work for me that much. Saw and enjoyed quite a number of acts, but the overcrowded venues were more of a problem this year than before.
But closing my eyes and thinking of the incredible miss Sharon Jones just keeps putting a smile on my face.

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Well, I attended two days of the North Sea Jazz Festival and it was quite a mixed bag of candy.
Location: Ahoy Event Halls, Rotterdam
When: 11 and 12 July 2008
Last.fm:
Tag: northseajazzfestival

Day 1

Eliane Elias “A Tribute to Bill Evans”
A very calm and relaxed performance by Eliane Elias, accompanied by bass and drums. Have to school myself about mister Bill Evans, but the songs were sweet and highly enjoyable.

Jazzdiggers
Nothing to do with Jazz, just an excellent DJ playing groovy Classics like Prince, Zapp, Latin stuff and other Original Prime Cuts.

Concha Buika
I’m officially In Love With An Artist. Again. Wow..
Her music is very nice too
A musically Talented lady giving a passionate performance.

Angie Stone
An absolute riddle: a talented vocalist and a performance that just couldn’t get me excited. It’s me, I know, I know..

Abdullah Ibrahim Trio
Way too serious stuff for me: it’s like attending your first class in maths and the teacher starting off with Nobel Prize winning theories. Intricately beautiful, but boggled the mind.

Jill Scott
We went to see Abdullah Ibrahim, so we just caught the final three songs by JillyFromPhilly. HieronymusFox lamented choosing Ibrahim over Jilly. And boy, was he right!
The lady should ‘ve gotten the biggest venue in stead of the smaller Maas location. The festival director should use his brains next time and share the Greatness Of Scott on the biggest stage possible!

Bootsy Collins
Meh, we left just when he got on stage, tired after a very weird and crowded festival day.

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# - NorthSeaJazz2008: Christian Prommer’s DrumLesson - excellent closing act!!

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