Description

Lacquer Cutting by SST Brüggemann GmbH in Germany
180g Vinyl Pressing by Pallas GmbH in Germany
Cover Sleeve Printed & Made by Khiov in Korea

The Play 33 1/3 LP Series is a 1st LP issue project of the masterpiece albums which have never been released on vinyl LP. The albums are released by Universal Music Korea and the heavyweight vinyl LP is pressed in Germany. Khiov designs the project, reforms the original artworks for the LP size and produces the sleeves precisely by handmade. You will have a chance to experience great analogue sounds and to enjoy splendid artworks through the series.

On The Blue Room, her second Decca recording, Madeleine Peyroux and producer Larry Klein re-examine the influence of Ray Charles revolutionary 1962 date, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. They dont try to re-create the album, but remake some of its songs and include others by composers whose work would benefit from the genre-blurring treatment Charles pioneered. Bassist David Pilch, drummer Jay Bellerose, guitarist Dean Parks, and pianist/organist Larry Goldings are the perfect collaborators. Most these ten tracks feature string arrangements by Vince Mendoza. Five tunes here are reinterpretations of Charles from MSICAWM. Take These Chains commences as a sultry jazz tune, and in Peyrouxs vocal, there is no supplication only a demand. Parks pedal steel moves between sounding like itself and a clarinet. Goldings alternating B-3 and Rhodes piano offer wonderful color contrast and make it swing. Her take on Bye Bye Love feels as if its being narrated to a confidante, and juxtaposes early Western swing with a bluesy stroll. A rock guitar introduces I Cant Stop Loving You, but Peyrouxs phrasing has more country-blues in it than weve heard from her before. The use of a trumpet in Born to Lose and You Dont Know Me, with Mendozas dreamy strings, allow for Peyroux to deliver her most stylized jazz performances on the set. Buddy Hollys Changing All the Changes contains the same happy bump as the original, but there isnt any ache in Peyrouxs vocal; its all declaration. The simmering, busted blues in Randy Newmans Guilty reveals he could have written the tune for Little Willie John or Patsy Cline. Both singer and producer prove that John Hartfords Gentle on My Mind can be as much a jazz-pop tune as a country song. The shuffling train motion in Glen Campbells iconic version has been traded for a less hurried pace. Peyroux employs her Billie Holiday-influenced phrasing to excellent effect. Mendozas restrained strings colour the tune from a simple, directly conveyed love song to an intimate reverie offered over time and distance; Goldings shimmering piano and Parks ringing guitar make it nearly elastic. Warren Zevons Desperadoes Under the Eaves illustrates better than any selection here that Charles approach to country to transcend genre and tell universal stories was indeed genius. Peyroux, her band, and Mendozas strings offer a nearly cinematic legend of old Hollywood envisioned through the eyes of one of its most seasoned and heartbroken denizens. The singer leans out of the arrangements and into the depths of her heart, conveying loss and loneliness to the listener directly. The Blue Room is a brave experiment, but one that pays off handsomely. For anyone who hasnt spent time with Charles classic country recordings, it doesnt matter, because whats here stands confidently on its own; for those who have, that experience will provide an additional reward.