This Schuur is Some Fine Jazz Vocals

Born in Tacoma, Washington, vocalist Diane Schuur has earned respect and garnered praise from such legendary musicians as Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie and B.B. King. Known for her three-and-a-half octave vocal range, Schuur’s remarkable career began at age nine with her first professional gigs, including those at the local Holiday Inn. While still a student at the Washington State School for the Blind, a 16-year-old Schuur was performing original material and wowing audiences with her playful and distinctive voice. Then, Schuur made her Monterey Jazz Festival debut in 1975. The legendary Stan Getz became one of her biggest fans and an important mentor after hearing her perform at the Festival. The rest is history.

Since then, Schuur has become a legend herself. She has been nominated for five and received two GRAMMY® Awards for "Best Jazz Vocalist," as well as headlined many of the world's most prestigious music venues, including Carnegie Hall. Schuur has toured the world and has performed with such greats as Stan Getz, B.B. King, Maynard Ferguson, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, and Quincy Jones. She has performed countless times on The Tonight Show, has performed at The GRAMMY’s and at the White House.
On June 6, Schuur will release her second live album, Diane Schuur: Live In London. Diane Schuur: Live In London is her first release on the GR2 Classics label and her twentieth album. Recorded at the famous Ronnie Scott’s in London, England, this 14 track album epitomizes the passion, humor, and power of Diane’s live performance.

The Very Thought of You
http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/diane_thought.wma

http://www.dianeschuur.com

Blackmore's Night

What an unexpected joy it is to be able to regain paradise lost--to go back in time, to a simpler more rustic life, when achieving an idyllic existence through hard work and good times seemed infinitely more possible than it does today in our current culturally complicated world.
Such is the magic conjured by the singular musical entity known as Blackmore’s Night, a group that effortlessly transports listeners back to the merry world of Medieval life with their festive, celebratory sound. Led by otherworldly vocal sorceress Candice Night and guitar deity—and former Deep Purple and Rainbow leader—Ritchie Blackmore, the group vividly recreates the charm and good cheer of Renaissance times by combining their reverent passion for a bygone era with the extraordinary musical skill and proficiency gained from years working as rock-and-roll troubadours. The result, as evidenced on their astonishing new album, THE VILLAGE LANTERNE, is music that sounds both soothingly timeless and refreshingly modern.
“When we started this project,” says Blackmore, “people would say, ‘You must be crazy. Why would you want to get involved in Medieval Renaissance music?’ But we did it because it was a labor of love. To me, it was time just to play something that I felt was 100% honest. It was just something I had to do. It was in my blood. I’d always listened to Renaissance music, and this was the first time that I could actually get involved in playing it. And Candice’s voice lends itself to those particular melodies. It all seemed so right. It was very natural.”
It is a documented fact that the music of Medieval times is extremely difficult to recreate. Many of the songs that were created half a millennium ago were improvised by bards that traveled from town to town, by farm laborers needing to pass the time in the fields, and by musicians accompanying the many impromptu dances and festivals of the day. It was music created to elevate the quotidian moments of everyday life. As such, many of the songs of that time have passed away with the men and women who created them.
The evanescence of much of the Medieval musical heritage is all the more reason to be thankful for the existence of Blackmore’s Night. Like the most fervently inquisitive scholars, Night and Blackmore have for years immersed themselves in the study of the customs, mores and culture of the Middle Ages. Not happy to just dutifully perform the already existing songs that their research uncovered, they decided to channel their interest into creating an entirely new repertoire that has enabled them to bring their love of this music to brand-new audiences all around the world.

Listen for yourself......
25 Years: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/bn_years.wma

or visit http://www.blackmoresnight.com