The Blue Room by Madeleine Peyroux - CD Review & Giveaway

Madeleine Peyroux is a Brooklyn-based jazz singer-songwriter/guitarist who just released her newest album The Blue Room on March 5 with Decca Records.

Madeleine and longtime collaborator / legendary producer Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock), re-examine Ray Charles’ classic, and one of his most controversial albums, Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music. But instead of replicating the album, Madeleine and Larry represented the artistic freedom Ray exhibited, using imagination to break down musical categories and barriers.

What Madeleine and Larry created is a sophisticated album rich in strings, pushing the power of Madeleine’s vocal capabilities – her melody changes, choices of tone and phrasing. The Blue Room explores new ground, showing that like jazz itself, Madeleine is willing to take new chances – reinterpreting songs with an emotion and depth that can’t help but touch the soul.

Follow Madeleine: Website, Facebook, Twitter. Purchase a copy of The Blue Room.

Want to check out Madeleine live? Tour dates for Toronto, Ontario are as follows:
May 31 & June 1 - Enwave Theatre & Harbourfront Center

Review: Without knowing anything about Madeleine Peyroux and her musical style, I played her new album, The Blue Room. I knew I liked Jazz but didn’t expect to be so familiar with the songs on this record. Madeleine captured each song as I remembered it, but added a feminine smoothness to songs that I had only ever heard sung by men. She changed the timing on a few and by speeding up or slowing it down, she gave the songs her own signature. I played the album on quiet evenings at home. It added a sparkle to the conversation during dinner with the hum along nature of the songs.

The album pays homage to Ray Charles and his musical genius. Almost half of the album is songs that were covered by Ray Charles himself back in the early ‘60’s. Other songs on the album are by more modern songwriters like Leonard Cohen and Randy Newman. The song choices were excellent and everything blended together. It is a very balanced compilation of music. Madeleine’s voice was well suited to the songs. I really like the jazz influence on songs that I originally known as Country music. Without a doubt, I will be listening to this cd again and again

This was a guest review from JoAnne.

Win a copy of The Blue Room by Madeleine Peyroux. This giveaway is open to US & Canada. Please fill in the rafflecopter form below. It will end on April 30th at 11:59pm EST.
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~*Disclaimer: The post was written by JoAnne. A copy of the cd was received for review purpose. All opinions are honest and my own.*~