Christopher Joseph Isaak (born June 26, 1956) is an American musician and occasional actor. He is widely known for his hit “Wicked Game”, as well as the songs “Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing” and “Somebody’s Crying”. He is known for his signature 1950s rock & roll style and crooner sound, as well as his falsetto and reverb-laden music. He is closely associated with film director David Lynch, who has used his music in numerous films and gave him a role in the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. His songs generally focus on the themes of love, loss, and heartbreak. With a career spanning four decades, he has released a total of 12 studio albums, toured, and received numerous award nominations. He has been called the Roy Orbison of the 1990s and is also often compared to Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson, and Duane Eddy.
Chris Isaak is the second album by Chris Isaak, released in 1987. After the poor commercial success of his debut, Isaak honed his style to a sophisticated R&B for his follow-up.[5] The song “Blue Hotel” was a hit in France, and in the U.K. after being re-released in 1991 making the Top 20. (wikipedia)
Having established a winning musical combination on Silvertone, Chris Isaak and his band essentially continue it with little variation on his second album, 11 songs of smoky, wounded romance and dark menace given great all-around performances. Isaak’s gift for capturing a perfect blend of early rock & roll twang and making it sound perfectly of the now is his greatest strength, and if later albums showed him finding new ways to twist and develop his approach, the relatively straight-up work here is more than fine. “Blue Hotel” is easily the killer track on the album, James Wilsey’s spaghetti Western lead guitar and Isaak’s yearning, lost singing perfectly matched.
There are plenty of other reasons to listen in, though. “You Owe Me Some Kind of Love” is in many ways the precursor to Forever Blue’s “Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing,” only before the breakup, though still charged with a threat of desire and need. Wilsey’s concluding guitar solo is especially sharp, and the way Isaak delivers the chorus balances between melancholy and urgency. For all the Roy Orbison comparisons Isaak won, “Cryin'” is in fact an original, but Isaak does tip his hat another direction with an attractive remake of the Yardbirds’ “Heart Full of Soul,” making it sound very much like an Isaak original instead of a worshipful carbon copy. Erik Jacobsen’s production again emphasizes Kenney Dale Johnson’s drumming without making it suffer from late-’80s corporate rock disease, while touches like the sax on “Lie to Me” and the buried strings and wordless backing vocals elsewhere adds depth and lushness to the album in just-right amounts. The whole experience is pure doom-haunted passion, elegantly on the run away from — or towards — someone. All that and a killer cover photo as well, the iris of Isaak’s eye only just in the light. (by Ned Raggett)
Personnel:
Pat Craig (keyboards)
Chris Isaak (vocals, guitar)
Kenney Dale Johnson (drums, vocals)
Prairie Prince (drums)
John Robinson (drums)
Rowland Salley (bass)
Chris Solberg (bass)
James Calvin Wilsey (guitar)
Tracklist:
01. You Owe Me Some Kind Of Love 3.52
02. Heart Full Of Soul 3.20
03. Blue Hotel 3.12
04. Lie To Me 4.13
05. Fade Away 4.16
06. Wild Love 2.56
07. This Love Will Last 2.46
08. You Took My Heart 2.30
09. Cryin’ 2.32
10. Lovers Game 2.55
11. Waiting For The Rain to Fall 3.39
All songs written by Chris Isaak;
except 02., written by Graham Gouldman
More from Chris Isaak:
The offical website:
Heart is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Seattle, Washington, as The Army. Two years later they changed their name to Hocus Pocus. The year following they changed their name to White Heart, and eventually changed the name a final time to Heart, in 1973. By the mid-1970s, original members Roger Fisher (guitar) and Steve Fossen (bass guitar) had been joined by sisters Ann Wilson (lead vocals and flute) and Nancy Wilson (rhythm guitar, backing and occasional lead vocals), Michael Derosier (drums), and Howard Leese (guitar and keyboards) to form the lineup for the band’s initial mid- to late-1970s success period. These core members were included in the band’s 2013 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Because his pioneering Latin rock band shared his surname, it’s easy to conflate Carlos Santana with Santana, especially since the guitarist functioned as the group’s leader and spokesperson. Nevertheless, Carlos ventured outside of the confines of his namesake band to pursue adventurous collaborations with jazz musicians — his first non-band album, 1973’s Love Devotion Surrender, was recorded with John McLaughlin and Mahavishnu Orchestra; his second was made with Alice Coltrane — in addition to smoother material, like the kind showcased on 1983’s Havana Moon and 1987’s Grammy-winning Blues for Salvador. Throughout these solo excursions, as well as his work with his band, one thing remained constant: Carlos’ exceptional lead guitar work, characterized by its 
warm, saturated tone and fluid, lyrical phrasing. (by Stephen Thomas Erlewine)
As everyone here probably knows, I am a great lover of blues music (regardless of whether it is black or white blues music).
Neil Larsen (born August 7, 1948) is an American jazz keyboardist, musical arranger and composer. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio and grew up in Sarasota, Florida before relocating to New York and then, in 1977, Los Angeles.
Sir George Ivan “Van” Morrison OBE (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter, instrumentalist and record producer. His professional career began as a teenager in the late 1950s playing a variety of instruments including guitar, harmonica, keyboards and saxophone for various Irish showbands, covering the popular hits of that time. Van Morrison rose to prominence in the mid-1960s as the lead singer of the Northern Irish R&B band Them, with whom he recorded the garage band classic “Gloria”. His solo career began under the pop-hit oriented guidance of Bert Berns with the release of the hit single “Brown Eyed Girl” in 1967. After Berns’s death, Warner Bros. Records bought out his contract and allowed him three sessions to record Astral Weeks (1968). Though this album gradually garnered high praise, it was initially a poor seller.
Electric is the third album by British rock band The Cult, released in 1987. It was the follow-up to their commercial breakthrough Love. The album equalled its predecessor’s chart placing by peaking at number four in the UK but exceeded its chart residency, spending a total of 27 weeks on the chart (the most successful run for an album by The Cult).[1]
Unfortunately, I don´t know very much about the Jazz Fiddlers …
Tracklist:
Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz (October 1 [O.S. September 18] 1903 – November 5, 1989) was an American classical pianist and composer born in the Russian Empire. He was acclaimed for his virtuoso technique, his tone color, and the excitement engendered by his playing. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time. (by wikipedia)
This live recording at the Montreux Jazz Festival is the last of the glorious 1980s albums by the polish trumpet virtuoso / composer Tomasz Stanko and his Freelectronic ensemble, here consisting of keyboardists Janusz Skowron and Tadeusz Sudnik and bassist Witold Szczurek. Stanko is in top form and in a great mood, which is evident by the happy atmosphere captured herein.
Alternate frontcover
ManyFantasticColors 