Turned to Blue
Encyclopedia
Turned to Blue is an album from Jazz singer Nancy Wilson
which saw release in 2006. The title track is a poem penned by Maya Angelou
. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2007.
Nancy Wilson (singer)
Nancy Wilson is an American singer with more than 70 albums, and three Grammy Awards. She has been labeled a singer of blues, jazz, cabaret and pop; a "consummate actress"; and "the complete entertainer." The title she prefers, however, is song stylist...
which saw release in 2006. The title track is a poem penned by Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou is an American author and poet who has been called "America's most visible black female autobiographer" by scholar Joanne M. Braxton. She is best known for her series of six autobiographical volumes, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first and most highly...
. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2007.
Featured performers
Several noted performers were featured on this recording, including (but not limited to):- Hubert LawsHubert LawsHubert Laws is an American flutist and saxophonist with a 40+ year career in jazz, classical, and other music genres. Alongside Herbie Mann, Laws is probably the most recognized and respected jazz flutist...
on fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening... - Billy TaylorBilly TaylorBilly Taylor was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and since 1994, he was the artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in...
on pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal... - Andy NarellAndy NarellAndy Narell is a musician and composer specialized in the steelpan.-Biography:He was born in New York City and moved to California in his teens. He took up the steelpan at a very young age in Queens, New York...
on steelpanSteelpanSteelpans is a musical instrument originating from The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago...
Reedists
Several reedists were featured on this recording, many of which are well-known saxophonists:- Jimmy HeathJimmy HeathJames Edward Heath , nicknamed Little Bird, is an American jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger. He is the brother of bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert Heath.-Biography:...
- Bob MintzerBob MintzerBob Mintzer is a jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band leader based in Los Angeles, California. Mintzer is a member of the jazz rock band the Yellowjackets.-With The Yellowjackets:*Greenhouse, 1991;*Live Wires, 1992;...
- Andy Snitzer
- Eric DeFade
- James MoodyJames Moody (saxophonist)James Moody was an American jazz saxophone and flute player. He was best known for his hit "Moody's Mood for Love," an improvisation based on "I'm in the Mood for Love"; in performance, he often improvised vocals for the tune.-Biography:James Moody was born in Savannah, Georgia...
- Tom ScottTom Scott (musician)Tom Scott is an American saxophonist, composer, arranger, conductor and bandleader of the west coast jazz/jazz fusion ensemble The L.A. Express.-Biography:Scott was born in Los Angeles, California...
- Sean JonesSean Jones (trumpeter)Sean Jones is an American trumpeter and composer featured on the 2007 Grammy Award-winning Turned to Blue from Nancy Wilson. As a bandleader, Jones has released five albums under the Mack Avenue Records label...
on trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
Track listing
- "This Is All I AskThis Is All I Ask"This Is All I Ask" is a popular song written by Gordon Jenkins.Jenkins considered this his finest composition, and he recorded it in arrangements he wrote for Nat King Cole, Harry Nilsson and Frank Sinatra....
" (Gordon JenkinsGordon JenkinsGordon Hill Jenkins was an American arranger, composer and pianist who was an influential figure in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s, renowned for his lush string arrangements...
) – 5:56 - "Take Love Easy" (Duke EllingtonDuke EllingtonEdward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, John La Touche) – 4:30 - "Turned to Blue" (Jay Ashby, Maya AngelouMaya AngelouMaya Angelou is an American author and poet who has been called "America's most visible black female autobiographer" by scholar Joanne M. Braxton. She is best known for her series of six autobiographical volumes, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first and most highly...
) – 4:02 - "Knitting Class" (K. Lawrence DunhamK. Lawrence DunhamK. Lawrence Dunham is an American songwriter and lyricist....
, Bryce RohdeBryce RohdeBryce Benno Rohde is an Australian jazz pianist and composer. He was strongly influenced by George Russell's musical conceptions....
) – 3:53 - "Be My LoveBe My Love"Be My Love" is a popular song with lyrics bySammy Cahn and music by Nicholas Brodzsky. It was published in 1950 and featured in the 1950 movie The Toast of New Orleans, where it was sung by Kathryn Grayson and Mario Lanza. The Lanza recording of the song was a million-seller and a Billboard #1...
" (Nicholas Brodszky, Sammy CahnSammy CahnSammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...
) – 3:55 - "Taking a Chance on LoveTaking a Chance on Love"Taking a Chance on Love" is a popular song by Vernon Duke with lyrics by John Latouche and Ted Fetter, published in 1940 , which has become a standard recorded by many artists. It was introduced in the 1940 show Cabin in the Sky, a ground-breaking Broadway musical with an all black cast, where it...
" (Vernon DukeVernon DukeVernon Duke was a Russian-American composer/songwriter, who also wrote under his original name Vladimir Dukelsky. He is best known for "Taking a Chance on Love" with lyrics by Ted Fetter and John Latouche, "I Can't Get Started" with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, "April in Paris" with lyrics by E. Y...
, Ted FetterTed FetterTheodore "Ted" Fetter was a Broadway lyricist who contributed material to such revues as "The Show Is On" and "Billy Rose's Aquacade" , but is best remembered for co-writing the song "Taking a Chance on Love," introduced in the 1940 musical comedy Cabin in the Sky.Fetter started as an actor,...
, La Touche) – 3:17 - "Just Once" (Barry MannBarry MannBarry Mann is an American songwriter, and part of a successful songwriting partnership with his wife, Cynthia Weil.-Career:...
, Cynthia WeilCynthia WeilCynthia Weil is a prominent American songwriter. She is famous for having written many songs together with her husband Barry Mann....
) – 4:21 - "These Golden Years" (D. Channsin Berry, John ProulxJohn ProulxJohn Proulx is a jazz pianist, vocalist, and Grammy Award winning composer out of Los Angeles, California. His singing style has elicited comparisons to a young Chet Baker. He is a MAXJAZZ recording artist. His debut album, Moon and Sand, was released on August 1, 2006.-Career:John Proulx is...
) – 6:10 - "I Don't Remember Ever Growing Up" (Artie Butler) – 5:17
- "Old Folks" (Dedette Lee Hill, Willard Robinson) – 5:24
- "I'll Be Seeing YouI'll Be Seeing You (song)"I'll Be Seeing You" is a popular song, with music by Sammy Fain and lyrics by Irving Kahal. Published in 1938, the song was inserted into the Broadway musical Right This Way, which closed after fifteen performances. The song is a jazz standard, and has been covered by countless musicians.The...
" (Sammy FainSammy FainSammy Fain was an American composer of popular music.-Biography:Sammy Fain was born in New York City. In 1923, Fain appeared with Artie Dunn in a short film directed by Lee De Forest filmed in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process. In 1925, Fain left the Fain-Dunn act to devote himself to...
, Irving KahalIrving KahalIrving Kahal was a popular lyricist active in the 1920's and '30's. He is best remembered for his collaborations with composer Sammy Fain which started in 1926 when Kahal was working in vaudeville sketches written by Gus Edwards...
) – 5:17
External links
- Partial List of Grammy Award winners from USA TodayUSA TodayUSA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...