FRIDAY!!

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What a week it has been!  Traveling to and from work this week was filled with delays and more delays.  But, I did have the opportunity for a night out this week - jazz night at Birdland in NYC.   I have always wanted to go to a jazz club in the city.  My father-in-law, a regular at Birdland, invited me for jazz night (yay)!  I jumped at the chance since it was within walking distance from Port Authority and it ended early.  We were entertained by David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Eternity Band.  I was blown away with the talent!  I wish I knew how to play and instrument; especially because I am such a music lover.  I had a blast meeting some of the musicians.  Specifically, David Ostwald, Adrienne Cunningham and grammy winner Vince Giordano.

Guys . . . I am so happy the work week is at a close and the weekend is calling for warmer temperatures.  I'm so looking forward to Spring.  I have flower arrangements all over the house, in soft color tones.  I figured why not bring that spring-time feeling inside the house, since the outside temperatures are so cold.

I just had to share the image above.  There is flower shop near my job called Rose in Bloom.  They have some of the prettiest floral arrangements.  I swear, I could stay there for my entire lunch hour, coming up with floral designs I would love to put together.  The inspiration in a flower shop is just what I crave.  Now, how would you feel if I told you, they have a selection of roses that are naturally preserved in the prettiest vases and can last up to two years?  Pretty exciting right?  I have already picked out my favorite (above).  Buying flowers weekly can start to add up financially. Investing in a naturally preserved arrangement can be cost effective. To see the entire collection, click here.

Wishing everyone a great weekend and enjoy!

xo,

TURN IT UP TUESDAYS . . . NYE PARTY SONGS



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On this week's Turn it Up Tuesdays I've compiled a list of songs that are sure to be rockin for New Years Eve.


Here's my list of some classic and current songs for New Years Eve (in no particular order).

1.  The Rolling Stones - Start Me Up

2.  Britney Spears - Work B**tch

3.  Justin Timberlake - Take Back the Night

4.  U2 - New Year's Day

5.  Benny Benassi (ft. John Legend) - Dance the Night Away

6.  Calvin Harris - Sweet Nothing

7.  Ella Fitzgerald - What Are You Doing New Years Eve

8.  Don Omar - Danza Kuduro

9.  Lady Gaga - Applause

10.  Glen Miller - Auld Lang Syne


What are some of your favorites?

Wishing you and yours a safe and Happy New Years.  May 2014 bring you lots of joy and happiness and nothing but good things!  Thanks for following along.

xo

TURN IT UP TUESDAYS . . .Folk, Rock and Soul

 AMOS LEE

Amos Lee (photo via website here)

On this week's Turn it Up Tuesday is musician, singer-song writer, Amos Lee.

Lee was born Ryan Anthony Massaro in Philadelphia, PA.  He was a second grade school teacher and bartender before pursuing a musical career.  It was during his college yeas that he developed an interest in music and was inspired by John Prine (specifically, the album, Great Days).

Lee is described as a male version of singer, Norah Jones.  He has a folksy, bluesy sound with a country twang.  Lee's voice is soulful!  This is what one New York Times music critic described Lee:

"Amos Lee has a honeyed singing voice — light amber, mildly sweet, a touch of grain — and the tendency to feature it squarely, without much fuss or undue strain." (quote taken from here)

He is very passionate about his music and when he sings, you can tell it comes from a place deep within. 

Lee has recorded five albums.  The popular ones you may have heard are Violin and Arms of a Woman.

His fifth album recently released in October, entitled "Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song").  Songs from the new album are: Johnson Boulevard and Chill in the Air.  You can also watch the album trailer Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song

Here are some of my favorites from his different albums:

Mission Bell album:  Learned A Lot, Behind Me Now and El Camino (featuring Willie Nelson) and Jesus.  I love how they are all sitting around in a circle just singing and playing . . . jamming to the music!

Last Days at the Lodge album:  Street Corner Preacher  (great a sense of the mix of folk, rock and soul) and my other favorite song, Windows are Rolled Down
 
If you haven't heard of Amos Lee, I hope I've inspired you to add him to your playlist.

xo

TURN IT UP TUESDAYS . . . Pop Rock, Alternative Rock

 

Photo image via website here

 

 

On this week's Turn it Up Tuesdays is the band, OneRepublic ("1R"). 

This rock band is from Colorado Springs, Colorado.   The band was formed by Ryan Tedder (vocals) and Zach Filkins (guitar and backing vocals).  Both met their senior year in high school.

But it wasn't until 2003 that 1R earned recognition and achieved commercial success on MySpace as an unassigned act. 

In 2007, they came out with their album, "Dreaming Out Loud" and their single from that album, "Apologize" became a huge international success, reaching number one is 16 countries.  That earned them a Grammy Award nomination.  Another single of 1R "Stop and Stare" was another huge hit.   That album reached Platinum status. 

1R's second album, "Waking Up" came out in 2009.   Some of the hit singles from that album were, "All the Right Moves", "Secrets", "Marching On" and "Good Life" (which reached the top ten on the US Billboard Hot 100).

Their third album, "Native" was recently released this year.  The lead single from the album, "If I Lose Myself" is the highest charting album to date.  The third album single, "Counting Stars" is the most successful single.

You can hear their music played all around the world.  I didn't realize how many songs I loved from this group.  They have their own unique sense of musical style.  One of their biggest influences is the band, U2. 

They are currently on tour and will be part of the Teenager Cancer Trust Concert in March of 2014.  

Here are some of my favorites:

Feel Again

If I Lose Myself

Marching On

Counting Stars

(videos from 1R's website here)

 xo

TURN IT UP TUESDAYS . . . RAP/HIP HOP

JAY Z

 

 

 

On this week's Turn it Up Tuesdays, I'm featuring rapper, Jay Z.  Born Shawn Corey Carter (hereinafter Jay Z). 

 

Jay Z's musical career began back in the 1980s.  He grew up in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn in the Marcy Projects.  Folks in his neighborhood called him "Jazzy".  The nickname also pays homage to his musical mentor, Jaz-O as well as the J/Z subway line that stops at Marcy Avenue in Brooklyn, NY.  He started writing lyrics at a young age and would freestyle on the streets.  He did state that he sold drugs and has been shot a few times growing up.  I personally, am familiar with the neighborhood he grew up in.  I went to catholic school around there and also lived in a "rough" neighborhood for a few years. 

 

He is one of the most financially successfully hip-hop artists and entrepreneurs in America.  Jay Z has sold over 50 million albums worldwide and received 17 Grammy awards for his musical work.  He is considered one of the most greatest rappers of all time.  This entrepreneur and investor co-owns the 40/40 Club and the co-creator of the clothing line, Rocawear. 

 

I'll admit, my list of song choices on my iphone don't have a lot of rap or hip hop but can appreciate all types of music, including his genre.  I give Jay Z a lot of credit for making something of himself but never forgetting where he came from. I love this quote by Jay Z

 

"We all have genius level talent, we just have to find out what you're genius at and apply ourselves in a way that supports that genius. First recognize that genius, then believe in it. You avoid all the outside noise. People put their fears and their insecurities on you so you cant reach your full potential. Don't let all the outside things get in the way" - Jay-Z

 

Jay Z has worked with a many artists and producers varying from LL Cool J, Mariah Carey, Justin Timberlake, Linkin Park, Kanye West, Timbaland, Eminem, DJ Quick, 9th Wonder, The Buchanans, Rick Rubin, R. Kelly, Pharrell, Alicia Keys, Rhianna and many others. 

 

Recently, Jay Z organized the "Budweiser Made in America" music festival in Philadelphia, PA.  It was a two day festival that featured a variety of artists from rock, pop, funk, soul, etc.  The concept was to bring music lovers together in one place and let them experience different types of music. . . together.  Director, Ron Howard filmed the documentary.

 

Jay Z is in inspiration to many people, young and old.  Something to be proud of.

 

Here are some songs from Jay Z.

 

Enjoy!

 

Holy Grail featuring Justin Timberlake

 

Run This Town featuring Rhianna and Kanye West

 

On to the Next One

 

Empire State of Mind featuring Alicia Keys

 

Young Forever (Jay Z/Mr. Hudson)

 

99 Problems

 

 

 

 

 

 

TURN IT UP TUESDAYS . . . Folk Rock; Alternative Country

PATTY GRIFFIN

Image via Google

 



On this week's Turn it Up Tuesdays, I want to share with you one of my favorite artists, Patty Griffin.   Her genre of music is folk style singing/country alternative.  Griffin's sound is a mix of mellow songs with a high tempo of rock and roll songs.

Griffin is an American Grammy award-winning singer/song writer. Her talents don't stop there.  She is also a guitarist and pianist.  Griffin was inspired by her mother growing up, who sang all the time.

Griffin began singing at the age of 12 but had no inclination to set out to become a professional musician.  It wasn't until she was divorced that she started singing in coffee shops and was scouted by A&M Records.  The rest is history.

Griffin is such a humble woman.  Her voice is . . . angelic.  She sends me to a place that's hypnotic and mesmerizing.  Some of her songs bring tears to my eyes.  For example, Heavenly Day is a love song that was written for her dog(s).  How sweet is that!

Her song writing and performances are real.  She opens up her heart and lets it all out for us to hear. Another favorite of mine, Up to the Mountain, was a song she wrote that was inspired by Martin Luther's King's speech, Up to the Mountain speech. 

One of her albums, American Kid, was dedicated to her father, who passed away a few years before.
You can watch the interview here

Griffin has written many songs that were recorded by artists such as Bette Midler, the Dixie Chicks, Jessica Simpson, Miranda Lambert and many, many others.  Her songs have been in film, television and theater.  Everyone wants a piece of Patty Griffin's talent.

Here are some of my other favorite songs by the talented Patty Griffin:

Someone Else's Tomorrow

Faithful Son

Ohio, featuring Robert Plant (of Led Zeppelin)

Griffin is an artist you should definitely add to your playlist, if you haven't already.

Enjoy!

xo

TURN IT UP TUESDAYS . . . JAZZ

Featured on today's Turn it Up Tuesdays is legendary Cuban artist, composer and musician, Arturo Sandoval.  If you haven't heard of this man yet, get ready to be inspired by this legendary artist!



ARTURO SANDOVAL (image from Sandoval's site http://www.arturosandoval.com/photvid.html)

Sandoval began studying the classical trumpet at the age of twelve.  Sandoval was influenced by the one and only Dizzy Gillespie (meeting in 1977).  Sandoval defected from Cuba while touring with Gillespie in 1990.  Gillespie was his mentor and colleague, playing with Arturo in concerts in Europe and Cuba. 

Years later, Sandoval created a tribute album to Gillespie entitled, "Dear Diz (Everyday I Think of You)".  You can watch the video here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vXsDAfQzcI

Sandoval has evolved into one of the world’s most acknowledged guardians of jazz trumpet and flugel horn, as well as a renowned classical artist, pianist and composer.  There was an HBO movie based on his life entitled, "For Love or Country", played by Andy Garcia (2000).

This multi talented man has played all over the world and has played with a variety of artists, ranging from Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Woody Shaw, Michel Legrand, Bill Conti, Stan Getz to Tito Puente, Andy Garcia to Johnny Mathis, Frank Sinatra, Paul Anka, Rod Stewart and Alicia Keys.  The list goes on and on. 

Sandoval has been an inspiration to so many people.  He can be heard throughout the jazz and classical music communities.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li3vItDBczw

DESTINATION . . . CHICAGO (Part 2)

In yesterday's post, I shared with you pictures taken of our hotel from our trip to Chicago.  Today I'm going to share some sites we visited in Chicago.

We were very lucky, weather wise.  We've heard Chicago gets very cold, so timing our trip worked in our favor.  The weather was absolutely beautiful and picturesque.

We arrived on a Friday afternoon; checked in and took a walk to gather our surroundings.  We also grabbed a bite to eat.  We didn't have much time after that because it was time to get ready to hit the jazz club that evening.  After doing some research (before our trip), we decided (okay, I decided) to go to The Green Mill (or as Chicago's call it, "The Mill").  The band that was playing that evening was Mama Digdown 's Brass Band.  They are a young (in age) band and their music is described as a New Orleans brass band music.  We arrived right before they were starting and was took our seats by the bar (center stage view).  Within the hour, the crowd was so big and everyone was enjoying the sounds of this band.  The band members were interacting with the crowd and were down to earth group of guys.  It was so much fun.  http://mamadigdown.com/

 



During our stay in Chicago, we did a lot of walking!  I'm from New York, so I'm used to it.  We explored the streets, filled with street art and amazing architecture. 

One our stops, was in the financial district.  We visited the Rookery building, http://www.therookerybuilding.com/ designed by famous architects, Burnham and Root.  The two story skylight lobby was redesigned by famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright.  Truly magnificent.  Check out some pics we took.

 

 

Other sites consisted of Millennium Park, the Architectural Boat Tour, the Magnificent Mile, the Museum of Modern Art  and The Willis Tower (Chicago peeps still call it the Sears Tower), Here are some pics:

 

the top looks like the Statue of Liberty

Nicknamed:  The corn cobs.

 

 

 

 

Millennium Park



THE BEAN!

THE BEAN AT MILLENIUM PARK

 

 

 

 

What an experience this was on The Ledge! 

 

 

 Check out Part 3 on Wednesday's blog to wrap up our Chicago trip.