Recent moods have swung from the upbeat bossa nova tempos of Eliane Elias and Nicole Henry, to the savory urban tunes of Candy Dulfer and Boney James. It’s amazing how versatile jazz is, the ability to insert itself into your subconscious and propel your thoughts through streams of stardust.

Music has Charms to sooth a savage Breast,
To soften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak.
- William Congreve, The Mourning Bride

[audio:candydulfer_fortheloveofyou.mp3] [audio:candydulfer_smoovgroove.mp3] [audio:candydulfer_ambiente.mp3]

_	[audio:boneyjames_wannashowusumthin.mp3][audio:boneyjames_sendoneyourlove.mp3]

I never liked Jobim’s “Waters of March” (portugese: Águas de Março”). For some reason, the fast-paced tempo but the slow drawl of previous singers who covered this song just does not appeal to me.

All until today, I was listening to the Ritmo Latino podcast, and at the ending track was a new artiste, Nicole Henry, doing a cover of this song – and it was totally mesmerizing.

After getting her album and giving it a thorough listening, Nicole Henry is set to be another perennial favourite of mine. For your enjoyment, i have included three tracks from her latest album “The Very Thought Of You”.

[audio:nicolehenry_watersofmarch.mp3]

[audio:nicolehenry_thatsall.mp3]

[audio:nicolehenry_makeitlast.mp3]

Ever since an evil she-troll who digs song lyrics like

Tongues on the sockets of electric dreams
When the sewage of youth drown the spark of my tears
– Golden, by Fall Out Boy

took the music server away (an old PowerBook G4 1.5GHz), I have been living with the songs last synced on my iphone, and frankly, it’s getting repetitious.

It’s a good time to re-kindle the on-off love affair with net radio… and here it is, the perfect setup.

Jazz FM + Screamer = Listen Heaven

Screamer, a portable application that is designed to do nothing but stream internet radio, and one of my favorite stations, Jazz FM. Screamer has a wide range of podcasts in its inbuilt directory, and there is bound to be something that excite your ears.

WHY SCREAMER AND NOT ITUNES? Simple, Screamer takes up 12 megabytes of RAM and utilizes on average 2% of my Sony TX’s weak CPU. iTunes take up close to 60 megabytes of RAM (not counting the other services it loads), and CPU utilization hovers at about 7%. Screamer FTW.

So, while I would like to transfer all my music back to a computer near me, it’s not going to be anytime soon that an internet jazz radio station will stop playing on my computer. Give it a shot (not in the office of course), you might just like it too.

EDIT : I found that Jazz FM on certain time slots have degenerated into inserting popular pop singers like Mary J. Blige doing jazz covers. Not my cuppa tea, and in those time slots, it’s SmoothJazz.com for me.

EDIT 2 : People have asked me for the streams direct so they can subscribe to it. They are -
(All streams at 64k AAC+)
JazzFM : http://stream.jazzfm.com:8000/
SmoothJazz.com : http://smoothjazz.com/streams/smoothjazz_64.pls

From one of the legends of jazz vocals – Nancy Wilson. Her voice tells stories, brings songs to life. Aahhhhh…

Beyonce who?

[audio:nancywilson_hellolikebefore.mp3]

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaNukIE5ToU

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_i3FX62F8U

What a perfect accompaniment for a slow Saturday, where the pregnant sky outside holds promises of early evening rain.

… with a whole spate of untimely work. Yet slowly, but surely, i’m sorting out the rubble and climbing out of it.

The headphones are plugged in lately to concentrate on the tasks at hand… and found a lovely track.

[audio:jeffgolubandsueanncarwell_ifieverlosethisheaven.mp3]

Original by Average White Band, and while the Jeff Golub & Sue Ann Carwell version is my favorite, Minnie Riperton’s cover is a close second.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrWuJFdssAE

Read on for the lyrics.

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