Thisbe Vos: A Jazzy Christmas

In late 2014 jazz singer Thisbe Vos recorded her first Christmas album, "A Jazzy Christmas", through crowd-funding, and made the CD available to those who contributed to the album.  Being a big supporter of worthy crowd-funded projects, I signed up as a backer and received her CD fairly late in the holiday season, too late to give it much attention here, although it did make my Top 5 list, posted after Christmas.  As "A Jazzy Christmas" is such a magnificent record, I decided to kick off this year's Christmas posts with a full review.

Thisbe Vos is a Netherlands-born jazz singer now residing in the Los Angeles area, appearing frequently with her band in and around LA.  Prior to recording her Christmas record last year, she had released two jazz albums, "Sophistication" and "Under Your Spell", both excellent collections of standards and self-penned songs.

"A Jazzy Christmas" continues in this vein, featuring seven classic Christmas tunes, reinterpreted by Thisbe and her outstanding band, and three new songs written by Thisbe plus one, "Christmas is Everywhere", co-written by Thisbe and collaborator Gary Matsumoto.

The album kicks off with a rollicking rendition of "Let Snow", a superb, upbeat beginning to a great album.  Thisbe's vocals immediately grab your attention and don't let go.  (For any fans of NBC's "The Voice", it's just like those moments when a coach hits their button after about 3 seconds into the performance).

Traditionals "The Christmas Song", "Baby It's Cold Outside", and the inestimable "Jingle Bells" become gold standards of jazz Christmas vocal performances.  Even "Santa Baby", usually not one of my personal faves, is a great listen.  The album closer, a slowed-down, sultry, waltzy version of the usually lively "Deck the Halls" is a simply wonderful interpretation of the Christmas classic, with Thisbe's vocals offset and complemented by an outstanding tenor sax.

The true highlights of "A Jazzy Christmas" are Thisbe's original compositions.  "It Must Be Christmas Time", "It's Beginning to Snow", "When Moonlight Has Hit the Town", and "Christmas is Everywhere" hit the mark by not only being exceptional vocal and instrumental jazz performances, but they sound like Christmas standards.  You know, sometimes an artist's original compositions just don't hit the "Christmas" mark and don't blend so well with the traditionals, well, that's not the case here.  Thisbe's four originals flow and fit alongside the standards and help flesh out a truly notable and refreshing Christmas jazz record.  They sound like you've been hearing them for years.

Thisbe's vocal performance on this record is just wonderful.  Her phrasing will make you melt, her pitch is amazingly natural and effortless.  It's just aural honey flowing over and through you as you listen.  There's a bit of Jane Monheit here in terms of jazz style, but mostly it's completely original.  When I got this CD last year, I just kept playing and playing it.  High praise, since it was competing with a Santa's sack-full of competition for playtime :-)

"A Jazzy Christmas" is due for release this year on November 6th on Amazon, CD Baby, and iTunes.  If  you can wait until November 20th you can get a signed copy directly from Thisbe's website.

This was one of the best new records I heard last year.  Especially if you're a jazz lover, "A Jazzy Christmas" gets my highest recommendation.

By the way, "Sophistication" and "Under Your Spell" are excellent as well for, you know, those few times when you're not listening to Christmas Music :-)

Thisbe Vos website
Thisbe Vos Facebook page

Album Review: "Guitar in Hand" by Kasey Rausch

Missouri native Kasey Rausch is one of the hardest working musicians in the Kansas City area.  Follow her on Facebook and you'll get an event invitation here, an event invitation there, maybe two on any given Saturday, say, an afternoon at a local winery and then a nighttime gig downtown.  House shows, breweries, honky tonks, farmers' markets, as well as some of the best live music venues in the city - you'll find country girl Kasey at them all.

In November of 2014 Kasey released an album of new music, "Guitar in Hand" on the Mudstomp label.  "Guitar in Hand" is a testament to Kasey's talent, hard work, dedication to her craft, and relationships in the local music scene.  The album is a showcase of Kasey's musicianship with her guitar, her superb song-writing skills, and her voice.

The best one word that describes Kasey's voice is home.  If you can imagine a family gathering in an old country home, laughter, smiles, a crowded kitchen, and hugs aplenty, Kasey's music is the soundtrack for the day.  It's roots and new, it's country and never twangy and trite, it's honky-tonkin' and front porchin' all together.

"Guitar in Hand" features twelve songs, eleven written by Kasey (one - "Moonshiner's Dream" - with an assist from Scott Stanton), and one by songwriting great Johnny Mullins of "Blue Kentucky Girl" fame.  The first eight songs are roots-acoustic, with instrumentation by guitar, upright bass, mandolin, violin, and banjo.  The album closes with four songs featuring The Naughty Pines,  Kasey's regular gig partners at the KC hangout Coda.  The Naughty Pines kick things up a notch or two with electric guitar and bass, and pedal steel guitar.

"Fly" opens the album, and immediately you're drawn in to a world of superbly arranged instrumentals with guitar, upright bass, mandolin, and violin.  Kasey soon adds her vocals, blending sublimely to complete the musical canvas.

"103" follows, as a loving upbeat foot-stompin' homage to Kasey's grandmother who lived to be 103, and, as Kasey's lyrics tell us, is "finally free".

"Crazy Heart", my personal favorite on the album, will get your toes tappin' and fingers snappin', and features harmony vocals by another Kansas City favorite, Mikal Shapiro.

"Moonshiner's Dream" is an amazing song about the creation of some of mighty fine beverage of the spirited variety, and how the head, tail, and heart must be handled with respect and care.

"Field of Greens", "Just an Old Man" by Johnny Mullins, "The Gospel of Winfield" about the annual Walnut Valley Festival of bluegrass music in Winfield, KS, and the beautiful "Sweet Missouri" lead into the closing four songs with The Naughty Pines - "Heavy Fog","Alabama", "My Piney Wood Home" and the closer "An East Texas Day", an exhilarating tale of a unexpectedly exciting horse ride down in Texas.

One last note - the cover art for "Guitar in Hand" is amazing!  It was done by Sonya Andrews, deserving of a shout-out for her contribution.  Check Sonya out at her website.

"Guitar in Hand" is a wonderful album by a treasure of the Kansas City music scene.

Kasey Rausch Music website
Kasey Rausch on Mudstomp Records
"Guitar in Hand" on Amazon

Concert Review: Rush R40 Tour at Sprint Center in Kansas City

The Canadian Royal Trio of Rock and Roll, better known as Rush, played in Kansas City at the Sprint Center on July 9th as part of their R40 tour, celebrating the 40th year of the group with Geddy Lee, Neil Peart and Alex Lifeson.

I'm a late in life Rush fan, really gaining a rapid appreciation for their music only in the past 6-7 years.  I actually had their comp set "Chronicles" many years ago, but it just didn't stick.  Then, all of a sudden - wham!  I was hit with a complete love of their music, and set out to acquire their studio catalog (done - check).

R40 is the third time I've seen them in concert.  All three of their last tours have come through Kansas City, so I've gone each time, taking a different one of my children along each time.  ("World's greatest living rock and roll drummer" piques their interest a bit, anyway...)

I thought that this was the best performance of the three.  It could be that this is near the beginning of the tour instead of close to the end (their last tour ended in Kansas City), and they are not yet tour-weary.  Regardless, they were in excellent form.  Geddy Lee sounded fantastic - by far the best I've seen him.  Alex and Neil played with more energy than ever.  Together they showed why they are Rock and Roll Hall of Famers.

Seriously, they play so tight, with so much pure energy and vigor.  If you looked up "rock and roll" in the dictionary, you'd see this performance - it was that good. (yeah, I've mixed a metaphor here...onward...)

The set list moved through their career in reverse chronological order, starting with two songs from their most recent album "The Anarchist" and "The Wreckers", and moving backwards through time - "Far Cry", "Roll the Bones", "Subdivisions", "Tom Sawyer", "Cygnus X-1 Book II followed by Cygnus X-1 Book 1, finally ending with "Working Man" in the encore.  The stage props, videos, and show effects followed suit, moving backward through time.  Awesome lasers (see picture below) gave way to a mirror ball in a faux high school gym.  Amazing.

I loved this show, I loved the music, I loved being able to experience a band that, after 40 years, is still at the top of its game.  No one does better rock and roll than Rush in 2015.  Folks, if they come through your town on the R40 tour, go see them.  It may be your last opportunity to see Alex, Neil, and Geddy, and believe me, it's worth it.  Even my 20 year old daughter thought it was a great show.

Kansas City Star Photo Gallery:  link

Set list (courtesy Kansas City Star): The Anarchist; The Wreckers; Headlong Flight; Far Cry; The Main Monkey Business; How it Is; Animate; Roll the Bones; Between the Wheels; Subdivisions. Intermission. Tom Sawyer; the Camera Eye; the Spirit of Radio; Jacob’s Ladder; Cygnus X-1 Book II > Cygnus X-1 Book I; Closer to the Heart; Xanadu; 2112. Encore: Lakeside Park; Anthem; What You’re Doing; Working Man/Garden Road.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/ent-columns-blogs/back-to-rockville/article26955364.html#storylink=cpy

Der Bingle Books blog is up!

My new book review blog is up!

http://derbinglebooks.blogspot.com/

Time To Catch Up

Well hello there good readers.  It's time for me to catch up on a few things here on the blog where I've fallen behind over the past few months.  Mainly, music reviews.  There are some terrific local artists that I want to share with the world, so I'll be getting some album reviews out in the next few days/weeks.  I may throw in a concert review or two for good measure.

One item of note - I'm going to spin off the book reviews to a new blog.  They seem to disrupt the flow over here a bit (unless the books are related to Christmas).  I enjoy doing the book reviews, so they will live elsewhere, with announcements posted here for a while until the new space takes hold.  I hope that some of you have enjoyed the book reviews.  I'm a huge reader, and like to share some thoughts out about what I've read.

Anyway, I'm off to start a new album review.  Check back in a day or so...

Book Review: "Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America"

While reading "Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America" by Linda Tirado (G.P. Putnam's Sons [Penguin]), many descriptors will come to mind.  Enlightment.  Victim.  Attitude.  Understanding.  Perspective.  Anger.  Introspective.  And, the most interesting part is that at times you will apply these to author Tirado and her chronicled experiences, and at other times you will turn the mirror on yourself.

Tirado explains in raw, clear, and unsettling terms what it's like to be poor in America.  She has an admittedly bad attitude at times, fueled by how she believes others, mainly "the rich", see the poor.  To Tirado, the rich believe that the poor are lazy, make terrible decisions, and are themselves the main reasons that they can't escape poverty.  Through her narrative about trying to hold down multiple jobs, obtain survival-level, absolute necessity-only healthcare, and find affordable transportation and clothing, not to mention feeding self and family, Tirado explains why the poor can't escape being poor.

Tirado doesn't claim to be an angel or a saint.  She has anger.  She doesn't help her own situation at times.  But, it is clear that she is far from lazy.  She shares terrible experiences of condescending attitudes while trying to get basic dental care and being presumed to be a meth addict.  Tirado does not want sympathy - she wants understanding.  "Hand to Mouth" will give the reader a vivid understanding of poverty.

And more - Tirado also gives us a glimpse of how she perceives the work routine of the rich.  She tells us about a new job in a typical office environment and how, in a meeting, she describes all the nothing that gets done.  From someone who has worked hard at multiple labor-intensive jobs, her most shocking insight is the waste of time in "rich" America.

You may or may not like Linda Tirado or her message after reading her powerful book.  But you will never view the working poor the same way again.

Penguin Books provided an advance reading copy of "Hand to Mouth" for review.

Book Review: "Descent"

On the surface, "Descent" by Tim Johnston (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill) is a mystery/thriller novel.  Set in the central Colorado Rocky Mountains, "Descent" tells the story of the abduction of Caitlin Courtland, an 18-year old out for a run in the mountains with her younger brother Sean, while marriage-reconciling parents Grant and Angela remain in their vacation cabin.  Sean is struck and injured by a driver of a modified sport utility vehicle, causing Caitlin to face the choice of staying with her brother or riding with the stranger down the mountain to where her cell phone will regain service.  Caitlin ultimately chooses to ride, and then becomes imprisoned by the driver.  Her family then must endure the ordeal of a lost child and sibling, as they spend months and years in a futile search.

"Descent" is much more than a typical mystery.  Guilt abounds through the Courtland family, each feeling that Caitlin's abduction and disappearance is somehow their own fault.  Author Johnston wraps the reader into the guilt with an intense subtlety.  Through the actions of Grant, Angela, and especially Sean, we feel their guilt rather than being told about it.  Sean is referred to as "the boy", telling us about his self-image, never allowing himself to truly grow from his 15 year old self.  Grant never leaves Colorado, even long after the official searches have ended, staying with the father of the local sheriff, Joe.  Joe's brother Billy, a black sheep character, is a conflict for the Courtlands.  Billy has run-ins with both Grant and Sean, and is a "bad man", described by Grant in a particularly tense standoff.

Mr. Johnston's skill at bringing depth to "Descent" is very admirable.  At times the cost of the depth is a story that moves at a deliberate pace,but it is well worth it.  When the story picks up the pace, you will not want to put the book down.

Many mystery stories have a point of plot convenience, where the reader must suspend disbelief momentarily and go along with an unlikely event that is there to progress the story.  There is a slight moment like this in "Descent", but Mr. Johnston addresses this with great skill.  The story flows amazingly from that point forward, and any "Oh, really?" thoughts a reader may have are quickly erased.

"Descent" is a fine, gripping, and involved novel, and an excellent choice for a Wintertime read