Benjamin Taylor
The Legend of Kung Folk
New studio album out April 3, 2009
19 april PARADISO Amsterdam (middagconcert)
tracklisting:
Wrong
She's Gone
Wicked Way
It's Only Love
5. Dangerous Girl
Something For Nothing
Wilderness
You're The One For Me
Space
After It's Over
Kung Folk seeks not to know the answers but rather to understand the questions. Benjamin Taylor’s memorable melodies, immaculate acoustic guitar playing and insightful, honest lyrics demand your attention with 10 songs that come straight from the heart. With his third full-length album, The Legend of Kung Folk, Part 1 (The Killing Bite), Taylor puts the “kick” back into folk music to reveal the humour, wit and skill of a singer-songwriter who’s comfortable in both his own skin and with his impressive musical legacy.
The son of James Taylor and Carly Simon, Ben’s life was always centred on music, although he spent several years travelling the world, developing a deep appreciation for the earth and the outdoors. His acclaimed previous releases include his debut album, Famous Among the Barns, and Another Run Around The Sun, which was hailed on Radio 2 as “LP of the Week.” Both were released on Iris Records, owned and run by Ben and his drummer, Larry Ciancia (Fiona Apple, Everlast, Ray LaMontagne). It’s a place where the duo is able to control their artistic decisions and create opportunities for other like-minded artists.
Highlights from this era included appearances by Ben on Good Morning America, The Tonight Show, The CBS Morning Show, Last Call with Carson Daly, and Howard Stern. He also made his acting debut with a recurring role on NBC’s American Dreams as Cal, a struggling singer/songwriter, and has appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone.
Making music has become as natural as breathing to Ben. Accordingly, this approach has coloured his songwriting on The Legend of Kung Folk - “Once you write it, a good song stands up on its own. You just have to be careful not to dress it in anything that will inhibit its natural potential. This time around I'm trying to focus less on making music and more on helping the music to make itself.”
On The Legend of Kung Folk, his songs run the gamut from the sonically spacious acoustic piano/vocal duet with Jamie Cullum, ‘After It’s Over’, to the enormous stack of background vocals on ‘She’s Gone’ and from the tongue-in-cheek, lusty ‘Wicked Way’ to the earnest, uplifting ‘You’re The One For Me’.
Kelly Sweet
We Are One
Click here for the video preview of Dream On
There can't be more than a handful of discs better than We Are One for snuggling up to a loved one or for that three in the morning wind down. Blessed with a beautiful voice made for soft emotional
ballads, Kelly Sweet hits notes heretofore saved for the likes of Mariah Carey or Enya or Celine Dion or even Barbra Streisand in her better and softer moments. Thanks to an incredible production job by Mark Portmann, who had a hand in writing many of the songs, the vocal pyrotechnics which Ms.Sweet could probably handle well are left by the wayside for the musical highs, thank the gods, and they come one after the other.
From the absolutely stunning We Are One through the light jazzy tones of Raincoat to an incredible version of the Jewish anthem Now We Are Free, Sweet takes us on an emotional ride right up there with the best. As her voice soars in tandem with the topnotch orchestral arrangements, so do we soar, carefree one moment, happy the next, and so in love the next. Even the joyful and upbeat How 'Bout You is more emotional than most songs out there, the voice taking a soft rocker out of the rock genome.
As if the voice and production are not enough, they throw in the perfect oddities—a heartrending ballad version of Aerosmith's Dream On (handled exquisitely and well worth hearing), a floating and spacey but all too short Caresse sur l'Ocean which glides between Enya and aria, the Italian love song Giorno Dopo Giorno (in Italian—this will make you understand why it is the language of love), and the aforementioned Now We Are Free—all obviously carefully chosen and laid out in a sequence which makes this album that much better.
This is the kind of album which makes believers of us all, the album so well performed with songs so well crafted and produced so well that it transcends genre. This is the album us rockers can bring home to our wives and girlfriends to prove that we, too, have hearts, in spite of the music we force feed them at other times. It's a perfect album for Valentine's Day or just for that romantic evening. Just turn the lights down low and put this on—the volume doesn't matter. If they don't hear it, they're the ones without hearts
Colin Blunstone
announces new album
Click here for the track The Ghost Of You And Me
“Probably the most quintessentially English pop voice of its generation” – The Times
Colin Blunstone, vocalist of The Zombies and solo artist in his own right, embarks on his first solo tour for ten years to coincide with the release of his new album ‘The Ghost Of Me And You.’ Currently standing at ten dates, the tour starts in Southampton on February 11th, visiting Wolverhampton, Crewe, Glasgow, Swindon, Cardiff, Milton Keynes, Sutton and Dartford, before concluding in Liverpool on February 24th.
“Although it has been brilliant touring the world with The Zombies over the last few years, I am really excited to be planning a tour with my own all star band. We will of course play many of my solo hits and also feature a selection of tunes from the new album.”
"Colin Blunstone's voice is one of the greatest British vocal sounds of the 20th Century." Sir Tim Rice, Evening Standard
Nobody sings like Colin Blunstone, the mild-mannered man from St Albans who became one of Britain’s most respected and popular vocalists. Lead singer with The Zombies, his distinctive voice (described by Clash Magazine as “wispy wonderfulness”) manages to be both sweetly angelic and deceptively strong and was a key element of the band’s sound. Subsequent solo hits included ‘Say You Don't Mind’, ‘I Don't Believe In Miracles and the 1981 hit ‘What Becomes of the Broken Hearted’. More recently Colin has enjoyed writing, recording and touring with Zombies bandmate Rod Argent and in March 2008 reunited with the original Zombies line up to perform Odessey & Oracle for the first time at the Shepherds Bush Empire.
13 years after its conception Colin Blunstone’s “new” album ‘The Ghost Of You And Me’ will be released March 9th. Produced by Jon Sweet with multi-award-winning writer and arranger Chris Gunning (who previously worked with Colin on ‘Say You Don’t Mind’) the album will be released on Colin’s own label Ennismore Records distributed by Absolute/ Universal.
“Jon Sweet and I have been recording tracks together for as long as I can remember, initially producing an album called ‘Echo Bridge’ which is one of my favourite solo albums. More recently we have been joined by Chris who immediately brought a freshness and focus to the project with his wonderful and unique string arrangements."
"Colin Blunstone's solo oeuvre seems more relevant than ever, by turns breathy, ethereal, and operatic" - Billboard
