SwingDJs

On Thursday, May 30, 2002, Barbara Morrison took to the stage at the 9:20 Special in San Francisco and delivered one of the truly memorable nights of live music for dancers in recent history. Backed by a band of some of the best musicians in the San Francisco Bay Area, Barbara energized, enchanted and amazed a sold out crowd of Lindy Hoppers and Jazz and Blues aficionados. Recorded by one the top live recording engineers in Northern California, the magic of this evening is now finally available for everyone in Barbara's latest CD release: "Barbara Morrison Live at the 9:20 Special".

Buy your copy today:

www.paulandsharon.com/barbara.html or www.springboardllc.com

"One of the most beloved Jazz and Blues vocalists backed by one of the most talented bands today....(this) is sure to become, one of your favorite records of all time. All the magic that is a Barbara Morrison performance is captured here, for the first time, for dancers only." - Paul Overton

"Barbara Morrison is mesmerizing on stage, and her music inspires me to no end. This album captures all of her live swinging energy and is definitely a 'must have' for every dancer's music collection." - Jesse Miner

Jesse

Let me add my positive review. I just updated my reviews and made Live at the 9:20 Special the featured CD. My review is below. See:
http://www.swingorama.com/music/ronsrevshome.html
for all my latest reviews.

New! Barbara Morrison - Live at the 9:20 Special (Springboard - 2002)
Reviewed: 25 May 2002. Ratings: ***½, LLL½

If you could design the perfect CD for dancing, what would you ask for? If you are a typical Lindy-hopper, you'd probably ask for a full CD of fun, high-energy jazz and blues classics sung by a passionate, dynamic singer backed by a relentlessly swinging band and for song tempos from 130 to 170 BPM. And this is the CD you'd get--one of the best CDs that I've ever reviewed for Lindy-Hop dancers. It was recorded live at a Lindy-Hop venue in San Francisco and produced by Lindy-Hopper extraordinaire Elliott Donnelley, so how could it not be great for dancers? It even has the BPM of the songs on the back. It does have some of the "texture" of a typical live recording--the occasional rough spots, the forgotten lyrics, and the strained notes. And you can't really ever capture the excitment of a live performance in a recording. But this is the closest you can get. The sound quality is excellent. The energy is almost palpable. You can hear Morrison as she works the crowd. You smile at her as she laughs and says "that was fun!" You can almost see her belt out the songs with passion. You almost feel you are there doing 8-ct swing-outs right there in front of the band. I was at her recent show at Lindygroove in Pasadena and this does justice to her delightful performances. Its hard to find fault with this CD. OK, for what its worth, I prefer other versions of some of these songs, like "Fever", "Hit the Road Jack", "I Love Being Here With You", "Bye Bye Blackbird". But to get all my favorite versions, I have to buy something like 12 CDs. With this CD, you get very good versions all on one CD. And every song is extremely dancer-friendly. There isn't one bad song. And some of her versions are just totally sweet, like "All Right OK You Win/Every Day" (130 BPM) and "Never Make Your Move Too Soon/Smack Dab" (135 BPM). She sings a lot of medleys, and medleys can annoy me, but her medleys work pretty well. The length of the songs are a little long (almost five minutes), on average, for dancers. The band is great. Morrison gives plenty of room for her band to shine and shine they do. The rhythm section compels you to move, and the piano and guitar solos kick-butt. Saxophone and trumpets also are good. Summary: buy this CD. Now. For CD ordering info, go to www.paulandsharon.com/barbara.html or www.springboardllc.com

"Lindy Hop" is not hyphenated.

This is simply the best new album I've bought this year.

Thanks for the heads up Jesse. It's in my regular rotation now.

We've also been talking to Elliott about her visiting the Twin Cities. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

Terry

So, I just got this in the mail. It's a really nice CD and Barbara tears shit up in it.

With that in mind, I would like to continue to enjoy these songs for some time.

So I will try to head this off at the pass and say: DJs, please do not play this to death.

If I go to an multiple DJ event and each DJ plays multiple selections from it, I will sharpen the edges of the CD and throw it at your head. Then I will come to your house and make you listen to "Blip Blip" of the LCJO CD repeatedly until you realize the error of your ways.

Love,
Andy

Ah, the voice of experience:
Wise, wise Andy...

*Shows everyone large scar on forehead*

He's not kidding - look what I got as a "present" for playing too much Lou Rawls.