2200 days in the top 100 
(606)CD > POPULAR MUSIC > ROCK
(131)2011 album from the creative force behind Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show. Music Is Better Than Words is a crisp sounding orchestral/big band record that features MacFarlane singing some of the hidden musical gems of the `40s and `5os. Introducing this rich sound and classic integrity to a new audience, the album features duets with beloved artists Norah Jones and Sara Bareilles, and was arranged, conducted, and produced by accomplished film and television composer Joel McNeely. McFarlane's voice has been celebrated for it's perfect phrasing, richness, and consistency. He is an experienced live performer, having played to sold out audiences at London's Royal Albert Hall and New York's Carnegie Hall.
Celebrated and Award-winning jazz singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Madeleine Peyroux gears up to release her inspired new album, THE BLUE ROOM, March 5, 2013 on Decca. The album is a return to what she is known best for reinterpreting songs with an emotion and depth that cant help but touch the soul.
THE BLUE ROOM features Madeleine reinterpreting songs from Ray Charles seminal album MODERN SOUNDS IN COUNTRY & WESTERN MUSIC, as well as others from legendary artists such as Randy Newman and Leonard Cohen, whose legacies are herein enveloped into a similar melting pot of the variety of American popular song.
Released in the summer of 1962, MODERN SOUNDS was a daring album for Charles as it broke the mold of what was expected from him, and in turn, truly represented artistic freedom something that clearly inspires Peyrouxs album THE BLUE ROOM.
Conceived and produced by the legendary GRAMMY-Award winner Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Tracy Chapman, Herbie Hancock), he says, Rays cultural landmark of an album has always been a part of me. I have loved this album ever since I can remember and I knew that Madeleine would be the perfect voice to bring it to the forefront again.
Reexamining this album is an ideal project for the multi-talented Madeleine Peyroux, because she comes from that same rare place as Ray Charles the junction of jazz, country and blues. The Brooklyn and Paris-bred artist, with a New Orleans pedigree, Peyrouxs soulfully piercing voice and eclectic musical mix makes for magnificent story-telling. And that is exactly what each of the songs on THE BLUE ROOM does tell a story but from her own perspective. Infusing her own vision and reinterpretation of the songs with modern sensibility, Peyroux brings elements of jazz, country and blues into each song, while evoking a depth of emotion and sound of such legends as Billie Holiday, Patsy Cline, Edith Piaf, and Bob Dylan.
Featuring sparse arrangements, each of the 11 tracks on the album sets a tone and mood that respects where the originals came from, but offers a modern reinterpretation of each song. Truly an inspired record, THE BLUE ROOM features five other tracks that Madeleine felt could accompany Charles seminal album.
(936)Few recordings maintain their power to utterly intoxicate for decades as Kind of Blue does. This 1959 all-time classic is one of the monuments of jazz: So What; Freddie Freeloader; Blue in Green; All Blues , and Flamenco Sketches . This vinyl release is the way to experience one of the greatest albums ever made.
22 days in the top 100 Smooth Jazz superstar Marion Meadows is without question one of the most popular and unique talents on the Jazz scene today.
Whisper is probably Marions most intimate and sensuous album yet. Co produced by his long time collaborators, Bob Baldwin who appears as a special guest on this album and Michael Broening who has produced George Benson and Al Jarreau. Whisper overflows with romantic pulsating grooves.
(9)2013 album from the veteran British songwriter, musician and producer. Features the single 'No Stress At All'.
48 days in the top 100 
(15)Without A Net marks the legendary jazz saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter return to Blue Note Records for his first album as a leader for the iconic label in 43 years. The album which features his long-running Quartet with pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci, and drummer Brian Blade is a 9-track musical thrill ride that consists of live recordings from the Quartet s European tour in late 2011, the one exception being the 23-minute tone poem Pegasus which features the quartet with The Imani Winds recorded at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. The album features six new Shorter compositions, as well as new versions of his tunes Orbits (from Miles Davis Miles Smiles album) and Plaza Real (from the Weather Report album Procession). The quartet also reinvents the title song from the 1933 musical film Flying Down To Rio, which film buffs (such as Shorter) know as the first on-screen pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
(358)And now for possibly the most popular album in jazz history! Dave contributes to the notes in this hi-fi version; new photos, too.
Hagars Song, the newest release from longtime ECM luminary Charles Lloyd, is an interactive duo recording with Jason Moran, the pianist who has been a key member of Lloyds latter-day quartet, contributing to the albums Rabo de Nube (2008), Mirror (2010) and Athens Concert (2012). Hagars Song, a collection of intimacy and homage, features pieces especially dear to Lloyd, ranging from compositions by Billy Strayhorn (Pretty Girl a/k/a Star-Crossed Lovers), Duke Ellington (Mood Indigo) and George Gershwin (Bess, You Is My Woman Now) to a standard strongly associated with Billie Holiday (You ve Changed), Brian Wilsons most famous Beach Boys ballad (God Only Knows) and a Bob Dylan song definitively interpreted by the Band (I Shall Be Released). The centerpiece of the album is the title suite composed by Lloyd and dedicated to his great-great-grandmother, who was taken from her home in south Mississippi at age 10 and sold to a slave-owner in Tennessee.
The release of Hagars Song comes in time to help mark Lloyds 75th birthday, on March 15, 2013. About the pieces that constitute Hagars Song, the saxophonist says: Music has always been my inspiration and consolation I hope to give the same. The songs we chose for the recording are part of the continuous thread of music that is my life.
(9)Named after the famed New Orleans Mardi Gras parade float, Smokey Mary is singer/pianist Harry Connick, Jr.'s 2013 studio album. The release of the album coincides with the 20th anniversary of the Krewe of Orpheus, the Mardi Gras super krewe which Connick co-founded in 1993. Included on the album is the song, "Smokey Mary Boogie Woogie Choo Choo Train," which Connick-penned in homage to the krewe's signature float.
(11)Deluxe CD/DVD edition. 2013 album from the funky supergroup. Last year, a group of guys got together at The Baked Potato in Studio City, California to play some Jazz and Funk. It was so much fun that the guys - guitarist Joe Bonamassa, drummer Tal Bergman (Billy Idol, Joe Bonamassa, LL Cool J, Rod Stewart), bassist Mike Merritt (The Basic Cable Band on Conan), guitarist Ron DeJesus (Planet Funk, Groove vol 1), and keyboardist Renato Neto (Prince) - decided to gather in the studio to make an instrumental record, bringing in sounds from Jazz, Funk and Rock that captures the vibe of the early 70s and 80s, and bringing it into the modern age. From that, Rock Candy Funk Party was born. RCFP is powered by a lineup of world-class players collaborating for the sheer joy of making music, and a mutual love of genre-blurring grooves.
(309)In celebration of his 80th birthday, Tony Bennett performs 18 of his hits and favorite numbers with famous duet partners including Sting, Bono, Barbra Streisand, Paul McCartney, and Tim McGraw -- all live in the studio with the master.
(211)
(14)2013 album from legendary Rock/Pop vocalist Bryan Ferry best known as the frontman for Roxy Music. The Jazz Age is a step back to the classic Jazz era of the 1920s. By re-recording hits with top Jazz musicians, Bryan Ferry has given a new sound to his back catalog and the album includes hits such as "Don't Stop the Dance" and "Slave to Love".
Three-time GRAMMY nominee, saxophonist Boney James returns with the dynamic, genre-busting album, The Beat. One of the most successful instrumental artists of our time with sales totaling over 3 million records, James' new project fuses his R&B/Jazz roots with Latin rhythm and percussion. The initial inspiration for the record was Sergio Mendes, "Batucada (The Beat)," which is re-imagined as a funk tune, with the aid of trumpet great Rick Braun.
Other special guests on the project include eclectic R&B soul singer Raheem DeVaughn and spoken word phenom The Floacist. DeVaughn is featured on the sexy, soulful single, "Maker of Love." UK poet and musician The Floacist (former partner of Marsha Ambrosius) brings a seductive flow to "The Midas (This is Why)" adding to the World Music flavor of the album. The album also includes James fresh take on Stevie Wonder's R&B/Latin classic "Don't You Worry Bout a Thing," along with originals by James that run the gamut from subtle and sophisticated with tracks like "Acalento (Lullaby)" and "Mari's Song," to high energy with "Sunset Boulevard" and "Powerhouse."
(4)A specially priced 12-track compilation spotlighting the Great American Songbook recordings from the legendary singer s Improv Records catalog some of the most amazing music of Bennett s entire career. This CD is perfect for all traditional pop enthusiasts, fans of the Great American Songbook, and, of course, fans of the legend himself. This new collection is also ideal for Valentine s Day celebrations.
(8)Anat Cohen - celebrated the world over for her expressive virtuosity on clarinet and saxophone, not to mention the sheer joie de vivre in her charismatic stage presence - presents the latest record of her evolution with Claroscuro, her sixth album as a bandleader. Claroscuro takes its title from the Spanish word describing the play of light and shade (chiaroscuro in Italian). The album ranges from deliciously buoyant dances to darkly lyrical ballads, with live-in-the-studio spontaneity a priority; moreover, Claroscuro showcases Cohen's fluency in a global set of styles, from the creolized chanson of New Orleans and the evergreen swing of an Artie Shaw tune to African grooves and Brazilian choro, samba and more. Cohen was joined in the studio by her ace working band - pianist Jason Lindner, double-bassist Joe Martin and drummer Daniel Freedman - as well as special guests: trombonist/vocalist Wycliffe Gordon, percussionist Gilmar Gomes and star clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera.
