STUFF I LISTENED TO & REALLY HEARD!

I found myself in a jazzy state of mind this week. I am sure, being the musical -- that you are, you've experienced George Duke's "Déjà Vu" album. This collection of work is one of Duke's best in years! Yes, I know many people enjoyed "Dukey Treat's", his last album in 2008. In my opinion it gets no better that this one. Sit back, get yourself in the right state of mind and then take a listen to this link to "A Melody!" There are a lot of other strong songs on the CD ranging from Jazzy Funk to Smooth Love, you'll re-live it over and over again.  ____________________________

"LUST, LOVE & LIES"

My musical mood didn't wander far when I took the wrapper off my buddy Will Downing's album "Lust, Love & Lies (An Audio Novel)", not to be confused with Michael Baisden's old show title "Love, Lust & Lies". This CD is, sort of, a Tyler Perry play on disc. We meet Will Rollins (Downing) as he meets the LUST OF HIS LIFE, Dee Washington. The couple hooks up, fall in love, then bore of their partner, break up and like a true (positive ?) brother Will, is on to the next one! All the songs are tied to the story of LUST followed by LOVE and the LIES that happen in life. This is the Will Downing CD we've been waiting for. It has a couple of robust singles but the album cuts run DEEP on this one!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFUb8R-PsRA Will Downing - Tell Me 
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"EVERYTHING IS EVERYTHING"

I am positive that for any lover of the arts, you can't get too over-medicated with good product, so I'd like to put one more piece of meat on your musical plate. Kirk Whalum has taken his craft in many directions. He's done jazz both straight-ahead and smooth, gospel and now he has taken the Donny Hathaway songbook and made it a mainly instrumental masterpiece! The album is entitled "Everything Is Everything" (a saying that Donny made popular way before Lauryn Hill or Michael Baisden). The back story to the making of this album is powerful. This work was much more than selecting a iconic artist and replicating his music. If you get a chance listen to the reason why! 
The making of "Everything Is Everything"