Music for Grownups Reviews: Esperanza Spalding, Louis Armstrong
By: Richard Gehr | Source: AARP.org | Date Posted: 2008-19-13
Richard Gehr is a veteran music critic based in New York City.
Esperanza Spalding
"Esperanza"
Heads Up
Likely to be lauded as the jazz debut of the year, this immensely talented, Berklee-trained, 23-year-old singer-bassist's collection of sambas, standards, and swinging pop sounds more assured than most players twice her age. Spalding sings in three languages with as much clarity, power, and poise as that with which she tackles her instrument. As a bassist, she holds her own with heavyweights such as trumpeter Donald Harrison and saxophonist Joe Lovano. All that said, her album's probably only half great—although which half that is depends upon the listener. While I prefer the sambas that open and close the record, you might opt for her self-penned meditations on life and love. Spalding has something for everybody, which is why "Esperanza" fits so comfortably alongside Norah Jones's "Come Away With Me."
Louis Armstrong
"Live in Australia 1964"
Medici Arts DVD
You'll be putty in the hands of the twentieth century's consummate entertainer from the first unmistakable trumpet notes of "When It's Sleepy Time Down South" to the final jubilant bars of "When the Saints Go Marching In." Although it's only 45 minutes long, and documents a show that Satchmo and his peerless quintet—each of whom gets his moment of glory—performed countless times, this delightfully frill-free DVD nonetheless offers an intimate glimpse into the soul of America's preeminent jazz ambassador. Heck, I'd pick it up for singer Jewel Brown's two songs —"Did You Hear About Jerry" and "I Left My Heart in San Francisco"—alone.
"Esperanza"
Heads Up
Likely to be lauded as the jazz debut of the year, this immensely talented, Berklee-trained, 23-year-old singer-bassist's collection of sambas, standards, and swinging pop sounds more assured than most players twice her age. Spalding sings in three languages with as much clarity, power, and poise as that with which she tackles her instrument. As a bassist, she holds her own with heavyweights such as trumpeter Donald Harrison and saxophonist Joe Lovano. All that said, her album's probably only half great—although which half that is depends upon the listener. While I prefer the sambas that open and close the record, you might opt for her self-penned meditations on life and love. Spalding has something for everybody, which is why "Esperanza" fits so comfortably alongside Norah Jones's "Come Away With Me."
Louis Armstrong
"Live in Australia 1964"
Medici Arts DVD
You'll be putty in the hands of the twentieth century's consummate entertainer from the first unmistakable trumpet notes of "When It's Sleepy Time Down South" to the final jubilant bars of "When the Saints Go Marching In." Although it's only 45 minutes long, and documents a show that Satchmo and his peerless quintet—each of whom gets his moment of glory—performed countless times, this delightfully frill-free DVD nonetheless offers an intimate glimpse into the soul of America's preeminent jazz ambassador. Heck, I'd pick it up for singer Jewel Brown's two songs —"Did You Hear About Jerry" and "I Left My Heart in San Francisco"—alone.
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