The Underground of Happiness

******************************************************************************************************** Bedouine – Back to you (from the album Bedouine , Spacebomb) Another wonderful nugget recorded at Matthew E. White’s Spacebomb hub in Richmond Virginia. The origin though is the voice and songs of Azniv Korkejian born in Syria to Armenian parents but resident in the US for some years. Her voice is an intoxicating thing. Hushed. Softly spoken. Insistent. Containing something of a Carole King about it. Or even a Karen Carpenter maybe. Another time anyway. When there was strength in subtlety and soul was in the nuance as much as the decibels. And the dream of an arrangement behind the perfect match. Gently enervating brass and woodwind. Uplifting top note strings. Beautiful pitter patter bass. A genius falsetto backing vocal that catches me every time. She also has a way with a lyric Ms Korkejian. California city parks They talk in excl...

Another gorgeous helping of late night lounge love songs smouldering with desire and longing. There are a couple of new songs. Some recycled. And the majority live from last year’s tour of Future Standards . The great news is the central presence of Lonna Kelley who is becoming a regular collaborator of Gelb’s. Her persuasive voice mercifully free of vibrato is a wonderful foil to Gelb’s insinuating melodies. The two new songs ‘Presumptuous’ and ‘All you need to know’ are both worthy additions to Gelb’s epic canon of work and to the body of the classic American songbook. What’s also fascinating is to ponder how Tucson – a part of the US you might associate with the Mexican border and country music and what might be called Americana or folk or roots – can give rise to this convincing blend of jazz and blues and maybe Gershwin. Amounting to a brand of lounge that detours in a carefree manner around the dreaded Easy Listening label. That is to say they contain a ...

A captivating tune from Howe Gelb as he goes back (to the future?) to a piano trio format and back to the atmosphere of the standards he grew up with. He also hooks up here with Lonna Kelley , often time associate of Gelb’s and duetter on ‘Pen to paper’ from the last Giant Sand record, Heartbreak Pass , one of the most glorious vocal performances ever committed to record I still believe. There’s a narcotic effect to this dual vocal, sleepy and late night. But though steeped in later years nostalgia, there’s a satisfying knottiness to the lyric that keeps pulling you back to wide awake. Love was just a just reward just not the thing that your heart could ill afford A beautiful intimate late night experience, this. Track 1 in this playlist