Sunday, April 1, 2012

Vocal CD of the Month - "Malia: Black Orchid"

Vocal CD of the Month
Malia: "Black Orchid" (EmArcy) 2012

Produced by Malia
Artistic Director: Daniel Yvinec
Recorded & Mixed by Jean-Paul Gonnod
Mastered by Gotz-Michael Rieth
Featuring: Malia (vocals), Alexandre Saada (piano, organ, vibes, kalimba), Jean-Daniel Botta (bass, guitar), Laurent Sériès (drums, percussion) & Daniel Yvinec (acoustic bass on "If You Go Away" and vibes on "Four Women")

"Nina Simone is one of those people in my life that keeps on giving to me through the music she made," writes singer Malia in her liner notes to the CD booklet of this inspired tribute to N.S. "I have wanted to do this album for a long time but the timing was never right. Now I felt that I had the maturity and the confidence to interpret these great songs and back them up with my life's experiences and put them on a record. I felt compelled to give something back. I wanted to say thank you to Nina. I want to give the people who listen to this album little of what she gave me. She gave a deeper and more honest appreciation of humanity and myself."

The repertoire includes "Baltimore" (the title track of a memorable album that Nina recorded in Brussels for the CTI label), "My Baby Just Cares For Me," "I Loves You Porgy," "I Put A Spell On You," Dimitri Tiomkin-Ned Washington's gorgeous ballad "Wild Is The Wind" (previously rescued by Shirley Horn on her masterpiece Verve album "Here's To Life") and Simone's own "Four Women," among others.

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