As much as I love music, turning on the radio has long since been second nature for me when I get in the car. Thank goodness for Pandora, a great source for new sounds, though sometimes by the time I hear them the tunes have been around for years, which is how I found First Circle by Pat Metheny Group. The title cut is one that calls for the volume to be turned up so it feels like I’m at a live concert right in my own living room, one that deserves to be played loud as you lay back, eyes closed and let the music and the voice of Pedro Aznar take you on a journey. His vocalized sounds not words are haunting, exhilarating, soar. When the last note drops like a huge exclamation punctuating the air, I applaud; it’s that good for me! The energy from start to finish is truly exhilarating, joyously lifting me each time I hear it.
Pandora also recently exposed me to more soul stirring music missed upon its release -- Chico Pinheiro’s There’s a Storm Inside and Anthony Wilson’s Campo Belo. Pinheiro is a Brazilian guitarist/vocalist who, as I began to listen to the original compositions mixed in with familiar songs, reminded me of Toninho Horta, though he does have his own sound that in one review was described as seductive…I agree. Wilson, an American jazz guitarist, went to Sao Paulo and teamed with Brazilian musicians to record a sensuous collection of all original creations with a Brazilian flare. Get a glass of some elixir for this one.
Finally, Pandora coaxed me to sample and then I bought too darn hot I Wanna Be Evil by Rene Marie, the very cool horns of Oceana by Till Bronner and picked up hard to get Storytelling by Jean-Luc Ponty, something I have on vinyl and cassette, a find for sure. Wow! Writing all this tells me I have purchased more new and familiar scintillating music for my ears than I realized. What can I say? Personally, I still like the tactile feel of a record, tape or CD in my hand so no downloading for me. Regardless of how you like your music served, sample these and…
keep your peepers open!®
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