PDA

View Full Version : Album Club - Week 132: 11/02/2014: Madeleine Peyroux - Careless Love (2004)



Album Club
11-02-2014, 00:02
Martin (high.spirits) has been kind enough to choose an album for us this week's. Thanks a lot Martin.
Please enter into the discussion if you wish to vote, and listen to the entire album before commenting.


Madeleine Peyroux - Careless Love (2004)


http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51t3WXQ%2BrPL.jpg

spotify:album:5Abc3wXAy8U1f79eVn7AGd


I had never heard of Madeleine Peyroux (having led such a sheltered life of 1960’s / 70s blues, rock and soul !!), until I visited the HiFi Lounge (near Biggleswade, Bedfordshire) to listen to various SME tonearms this year.
This was my introduction to this album.
After listening to it several times, I immediately ordered a 180gm vinyl copy.
I am not a great jazz lover but this album is so smooth I really love it late at night with a malt whisky…..

Careless Love is a 2004 jazz album with all the tracks being covers, except for "Don't Wait Too Long," which Peyroux co-wrote with Jesse Harris and Larry Klein. It is Peyroux's most critically acclaimed album so far and her song choices were praised by many.

9PSuzsq7WJQ

Track Listing:
1. "Dance Me to the End of Love" (Leonard Cohen) - 3:56
2. "Don't Wait Too Long" (Madeleine Peyroux–Jesse Harris–Larry Klein) - 3:10
3. "Don't Cry Baby" (Saul Bernie–James P. Johnson–Stella Unger) - 3:16
4. "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" (Bob Dylan) - 3:26
5. "Between the Bars" (Elliott Smith) - 3:42
6. "No More" (Salvador Camerata–Bob Russell) - 3:31
7. "Lonesome Road" (Gene Austin–Nathaniel Shilkret) - 3:10
8. "J'ai Deux Amours" (Vincent Scotto–Géorges Koger–Henri Varna) - 2:54
9. "Weary Blues" (Hank Williams) - 3:39
10. "I'll Look Around" (George Cory-Douglass Cross) - 4:47
11. "Careless Love" (William C. Handy-Martha Koenig–Spencer Williams) - 3:50
12. "This Is Heaven to Me" (Frank Reardon–Ernest Schweikert) - 3:12
(Recorded at Market Street Recording Studios, Venice, Los Angeles, and at Paramount Recording Studios, Hollywood, by Helik Hadar)

Info from Wikipedia - Madeleine was born 18 April 1974, in Athens, Georgia, United States and is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She is noted for her vocal style, which has been compared to that of Billie Holiday.
Madeleine has cited Holiday, Bessie Smith, Patsy Cline, Édith Piaf, Leonard Cohen, Johnny Mercer, Charlie Chaplin, Serge Gainsbourg and Bob Dylan as influences on her music. Quite a range of styles.

Her first album, Dreamland was released in 1996 by Atlantic Records, and gained widespread attention. The disc was recorded over five nights with an unusually eclectic crew of some of NY's finest - guitarist Marc Ribot, saxman James Carter, pianist Cyrus Chestnut, keyboardist Charlie Giordano, violinist Regina Carter, drummers Kenny Wollesen & Leon Parker, with bassist/arranger Greg Cohen sharing production credit with Atlantic A&R man Yves Beauvais.

It featured a cover of Patsy Cline's "Walkin' After Midnight", Édith Piaf's signature-song "La Vie en rose" and two Bessie Smith covers, among others. This first record resulted in her being referred to as the 21st century Billie Holiday, particularly owing to a "Gettin' Some Fun Out of Life" cover and to "Hey Sweet Man", an original song with a style highly reminiscent of Holiday. Time called it "the most exciting, involving vocal performance by a new singer this year"

Tim
11-02-2014, 08:35
Great choice Martin :)

Tarzan
11-02-2014, 08:38
Yup great album, great choice, this does not get played enough at Tarzan Towers, this girl can sing!!:)

Tim
11-02-2014, 10:55
Great to hear this again as its a long time since I played it last (over 2 years according to Last.fm!).

Wonderful voice and silky smooth Jazz which I love, especially on Sunday mornings. I really like her cover of Dance Me to the End of Love as I'm a big LC fan.

8/10 and thanks for bringing a little Jazz to Album Club. If we had half points it would be 8.5 ;)

Barry
11-02-2014, 18:48
8/10 from me as well. "Dance Me to the End of Love" and "You're Going to Make Me Lonesome When You Go" are my favourite tracks as well.

Good choice Martin.

high.spirits
12-02-2014, 10:24
Thanks for the great feedback so far.

The Album Club really does bring a diverse music range to it's members.

m10
16-02-2014, 18:23
I have to confess to being slightly put off (in the past) by Madeleine Peyroux's superficial vocal similarity to Billie Holiday. The more I listen, however, the more I feel it's accidental rather than intentional - and Madeleine's voice is more securely produced than Billie's ever was (wonderful as she is, of course).

This was a thoroughly enchanting listen. 9/10.

Alex_UK
16-02-2014, 22:57
Yep, a cracker, and too long since I listened - 8/10 from me. Cheers Martin. :thumbsup:

Bazil
18-02-2014, 13:10
Not for me this, no siree, I got absolutely zero enjoyment out of it.
It feels wrong to give it a 0/10 but she is not alone in that respect :)

Audio Al
18-02-2014, 13:13
6 out of 10 from me

A couple of enjoyable track and yes a sweet voice :)

loo
18-02-2014, 16:07
Sadly despite having had this for years I just don't enjoy it .She has a very nice voice but there's no emotion to it ,I really don't get the comparison to Billie Holiday ,
so 3/10 from me
Paul

MartinT
18-02-2014, 17:30
It all sounds technically competent but it's too smooth (no edginess?) and, as Paul says, not delivered with any emotion - although that could well be the songs at fault. 3/10.

Alex_UK
18-02-2014, 23:05
Wow - the diversity of people's taste never ceases to amaze me - and just when I think I know some individual tastes - surprises me too! Would be a dull old world if we all liked the same, blah, blah, blah, cliché, cliché, cliché!

MartinT
19-02-2014, 12:57
Surprised me too, Alex. I had fully expected to like it.

pjdowns
19-02-2014, 20:53
I bought this album after a recommendation from someone on the forum and initially liked it but over time I have decided I find Madeline's voice a little corse which spoils it for me… 4/10.

Paul.

Barry
19-02-2014, 23:10
After some of the recent postings concerning this recording, I replayed my copy today.

And enjoyed it enormously - I had forgotten how good the production is, and Peyroux's voice is certainly not lacking emotion or feeling.

losenotaminute
22-02-2014, 09:09
I enjoyed this album, some good covers. I particularly enjoyed the Leonard Cohen song "Dance Me to the End of Love" which opens the album.

Not so keen on the version of Dylan's "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go", had to skip past the second half as I think the original so much better.

I voted 6, not something I would buy.

Lawrence

John
03-03-2014, 05:30
A 7 for me (maybe I am mellowing to much!) agree with Martin could do with a bit more edge

Chops
03-03-2014, 09:05
7 from me too. Some really good tracks but I get a little tired of others. I personally love the voice. Still, it's one I play regularly.

Dreamland is also a favourite.

Saw her perform at the Sage not long ago. Bit disappointed tbh. She didn't seem in the best of moods, played to many low key tracks. Nothing wrong with the performance particularly but nothing that stood out either. I think a more intimate venue would suit better rather than Hall One.

Clive
03-03-2014, 15:01
I've had this album on vinyl for a couple of years. I like it but I want to like it more but her voice has too much syrup in it, it's a little too sickly sweet. As others have said there's a lack of emotion or passion. Even so I'll go with 7.

Barry
03-03-2014, 18:21
Saw her perform at the Sage not long ago. Bit disappointed tbh. She didn't seem in the best of moods, played to many low key tracks. Nothing wrong with the performance particularly but nothing that stood out either. I think a more intimate venue would suit better rather than Hall One.

Apparently she suffers badly from stage nerves. I saw her on 'Later' a year or so ago and she looked distinctly nervous, ill at ease, with her performance suffering as a consequence.

Tim
03-03-2014, 21:54
Apparently she suffers badly from stage nerves. I saw her on 'Later' a year or so ago and she looked distinctly nervous, ill at ease, with her performance suffering as a consequence.
That's interesting Barry, I am seeing her in May and have a front row seat too, I'll bear this in mind and report back.

Bazil
04-03-2014, 12:01
Apparently she suffers badly from stage nerves. I saw her on 'Later' a year or so ago and she looked distinctly nervous, ill at ease, with her performance suffering as a consequence.


That's interesting Barry, I am seeing her in May and have a front row seat too, I'll bear this in mind and report back.

I hope she doesn't read this , she'll be in a mess :(

Tim
04-03-2014, 12:33
To be honest Baz the chances of her reading this are zero to nil and the chances of her caring are probably a lot less and I'm frankly not concerned either - my remark was made more with the thought I'm going to dispel these remarks with a positive report as I know she is going to be good.

Jools Holland has never really been a good marker for what an artist can do live in front of their fans and his show has never put me off seeing somebody I wanted to see in the flesh. Its a great show and I love it, but it has severe limitations regarding atmosphere and sound quality, which often cannot be matched by an intimate music venue full of people who really get where you are coming from as an artist. Most artists I see live really feed off their audiences and because I favour small venues, this interaction is very real and very personal.

Its a shame more on AoS don't get out and support live music too, as that's the true holy grail ;)

MartinT
04-03-2014, 12:57
but it has severe limitations regarding atmosphere and sound quality

On the atmosphere, I'll grant you that it's lacking. However, for sound quality, JH fed through a good DAC and system sounds way, WAY better than any gig I've been to. I do love a good gig, but really and truly the sound quality in almost all gigs I've ever been to ranges between poor and horrific.

Tim
04-03-2014, 13:19
On the atmosphere, I'll grant you that it's lacking. However, for sound quality, JH fed through a good DAC and system sounds way, WAY better than any gig I've been to. I do love a good gig, but really and truly the sound quality in almost all gigs I've ever been to ranges between poor and horrific.
Hmmm, not sure I feel the same way Martin, maybe you should come to a few of the gigs I go too? I would make you leave your audiophile hat at home though ;)

Only went to one gig last year where I thought the sound was poor and that was sorted after around 20 minutes. I guess it depends on where you set the bar and how mad deaf you are, as I'm a bit of both I probably get more out of a live show than the average AoS'er does. Live music is the source for me, always has been.

Bazil
04-03-2014, 14:09
To be honest Baz the chances of her reading this are zero to nil and the chances of her caring are probably a lot less and I'm frankly not concerned either - my remark was made more with the thought I'm going to dispel these remarks with a positive report as I know she is going to be good.


yes I know, it was just a tongue in cheek comment :)

Tim
04-03-2014, 17:02
yes I know, it was just a tongue in cheek comment :)
Indeed ;)

To be honest if she turns up looking anything like this and with me being in the front row an' all, I'll be a happy boy :D

http://jazzinphoto.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/madeleine-peyroux.jpg?w=450

MartinT
04-03-2014, 17:30
Hmmm, not sure I feel the same way Martin, maybe you should come to a few of the gigs I go too? I would make you leave your audiophile hat at home though ;)

I've been to many hundreds of gigs, Tim, big, medium and intimate. There have been very few occasions when I have thought the sound to be good. It doesn't go with size, either, as one Roger Waters gig I went to see sounded quite superb. They are few, though. For the most part, the hall takes over and the acoustic of most venues (and I include the Albert Hall) is terrible. For orchestral, the best all-rounder is the Festival Hall, about six rows from the front. For rock, forget it, as I almost always prefer the sound of a studio album or a live album made from the direct feed.

I think you and I are different animals, fundamentally. It has nothing to do with an 'audiophile hat' and everything to do with insight. At the Bryan Ferry gig recently, which was generally excellent, Ruth commented on how poor his mic/PA setup was as we could hardly hear any diction. That's what I mean - I want to hear every detail, not a bunch of horrible horn-loaded stacks, over-driven amps and the hall getting in the way. In no way does the emotion of the event mean it doesn't matter, as to me the detail in the music is a big part of the emotion.

That's why I think you and I fundamentally listen to music in different ways :)

Clive
04-03-2014, 18:12
I was thinking about this thread whilst I was on my way to London on the train. I was listening to Nina Simone; this made me realise what Maddy does well and what she doesn't do. She does the honeyed voice so very well which is great if this is what you are wanting. What she doesn't have is vocal range giving intonation. This IMO is why some here have said there's not a lot of emotion coming from her singing. Nina Simone uses her similarly honeyed voice sparingly, mostly she's more raw and uses a greater range. This isn't to do Maddy down, she does have a very smooth delivery and I can't believe she's reading this! :eek:

Tim
04-03-2014, 18:40
That's why I think you and I fundamentally listen to music in different ways :)
Now that I think is very true Martin - Bryan Ferry though is quite a good example as unfortunately he suffers from memory loss and can no longer remember his words, so his diction is dreadful as he's reading a song sheet and not really projecting his performance into a microphone. I was very disappointed the last time is saw him.

I think I'm at odds with the majority here to be perfectly frank, as live music is where its really at as far as I'm concerned - the performance for me is so much more than listening at home, so yup we are very different animals. I still lurves you though ;)

John
04-03-2014, 19:36
I still enjoy a good live performance I used to average 2 to 3 concerts a week which I did for around 20 years mostly at small dingy clubs like the Marquee
For me they are different experiences a live band you get the atmosphere and energy that no listening experience comes close

Tim
04-03-2014, 20:09
. . . the atmosphere and energy that no listening experience comes close
That pretty much sums it up for me too John.

Barry
05-03-2014, 00:46
And for me too!

MartinT
05-03-2014, 08:13
I feel differently about classical concerts, being as they are acoustic. For me, live performance of a classical work is the pinnacle of musical experience.

Tim
05-03-2014, 08:49
For me, live performance of a classical work is the pinnacle of musical experience.
Definitely on the same page here Martin, live classical is the only music that can repeatedly make the hairs stand up on the back of my neck and send a chill down my spine. Mahler 9 during the adagio does it every single time I hear it.

Havana
05-03-2014, 09:06
Now that I think is very true Martin - Bryan Ferry though is quite a good example as unfortunately he suffers from memory loss and can no longer remember his words, so his diction is dreadful as he's reading a song sheet and not really projecting his performance into a microphone. I was very disappointed the last time I saw him. ;)

I had heard a sad rumour about this. Do you know it's definitely true ?

Audioman
05-03-2014, 09:24
I had heard a sad rumour about this. Do you know it's definitely true ?

4-5mjm9KIkQ

Dec 2012 - does it look like he is reading the words ? - pretty fluent performance.


Paul.

Tim
05-03-2014, 09:31
I had heard a sad rumour about this. Do you know it's definitely true ?
I saw him in Bournemouth awhile back and was standing right in front of him. There was a music stand to his left and at first I thought it was just a set-list, but it became apparent they were lyrics which he was reading during the songs. This for me disconnected him from the audience as his concentration was on the music stand instead of making eye contact with those out front and as Martin commented on, his diction was quite poor. This was for songs that were his, not just some of the covers he performed, so those words should be ingrained.

Additionally on the floor by his feet were taped the names of his band and backing singers, which he referred to as he introduced them. Most folk would have missed this, but as I was just a few feet away I could see what was going on and I'm a bit of a nosy bugger and tend to take notice of what's going on around me. This was half-way through the tour too, so not as if they were strangers on stage with him. It could be just unfamiliarity, but it certainly didn't appear that way. I still enjoyed the show, but there was something missing compared to when I have seen him before, as I really rate Bryan Ferry as both a live performer and songwriter.

MartinT
05-03-2014, 10:19
I have to say we found his recent concert at the Albert Hall superb. We weren't aware of any difficulties he was having with reading lyrics or band member names. Very sad, memory issues like that, and I bet he finds it very frustrating. It's even harder to absorb as we both commented on how youthful he looks for his age.