HALIE LOREN - After Dark (2010) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Halie Loren conceives a new style of jazz singer on her fourth album, After Dark. While the lively alto is not averse to putting her own stamp on evergreens like "Bye Bye Blackbird" and "In a Sentimental Mood," her conception also extends to songs borrowed from various branches of the pop/rock era including folk-rock singer/songwriters (Tracy Chapman's "Give Me One Reason" and Joni Mitchell's "Carey"), pop/R&B (Stevie Wonder's "Happier Than the Morning Sun"), and country-pop (Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe"). She is also willing to take on material closely associated with notable interpreters (Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Waters of March," Edith Piaf's "La Vie en Rose"), and to mix in the occasional composition of her own. The package is not as eclectic as all that might make it seem, since Loren sticks to one of two sets of backup musicians, either cutting in her own studio in Eugene, Oregon, with her stage trio (pianist Matt Treder, bassist Mark Schneider, and percussionist Brian West) or outside Nashville with such noted local jazzers as guitarist Jack Jezzro and bassist Jim Ferguson. They find the jazz feel in such seemingly unlikely material as "Ode to Billie Joe," given a bass/drums accompaniment with some sax work by Bryan Cumming, and "Give Me One Reason," which actually is simple enough to provide a platform for improvisation. Throughout, Loren sings with a light touch, even when she's dipping into Portuguese, French, or Italian. When she takes on the classical crossover standard "Time to Say Goodbye," the nominal closing song ("Carey" is billed as a "bonus track"), it has none of the histrionics applied by the likes of Andrea Bocelli. Loren and her musicians never lose sight of their duty to entertain, and that keeps this lengthy, varied set floating along to its conclusion. by William Ruhlmann  
Tracklist :
1     After Dark 3:56
John Barranco / Janis Carnes / Rick Carnes
2     Waters of March 4:27
Antônio Carlos Jobim
3     Gray to Grand 4:17
Rick Chudacoff / Halie Loren
4     La Vie en Rose 4:28
Louis Guglielmi / David Mack / Édith Piaf
5     Thirsty 4:17
Halie Loren
6     Bye Bye Blackbird 4:06
Mort Dixon / Ray Henderson
7     Ode to Billie Joe 5:50
Bobbie Gentry
8     Tango Lullaby 3:53
Larry Wayne Clark
9     Beyond the Sea 4:17
A. Lasry / J. Lawrence
10     In a Sentimental Mood 3:38
Duke Ellington / Manny Kurtz / Irving Mills
11     Happier Than the Morning Sun 4:36
Stevie Wonder
12     Give Me One Reason 4:35
Tracy Chapman
13     It's You 4:38
Joyce Cooling / Katherine Margolis / Jay Wagner
14     Time to Say Goodbye 3:56
F. Peterson / Lucio Quarantotto
- Bonus Track -
15     Carey 3:41
Joni Mitchell
Credits :
Baritone Saxophone – Bryan Cumming
Bass, Backing Vocals – Mark Schneider
Cello – Dale Bradley
Clarinet – Denis Solee (faixas: 9)
Drums, Percussion – Brian West
Piano – Matt Treder
Vocals – Halie Loren, John Shipe (faixas: 9)

HALIE LOREN - Stages (2010) FLAC (tracks), lossless

Jazz singer/songwriter Halie Loren provides a well-rounded sense of her musical style on her first live album and third album overall, Stages. Although she does not play an instrument, she fronts a piano-dominated quartet featuring keyboard player Matt Treder (who also chimes in on vocals occasionally), bassist Mark Schneider, drummer Brian West, and trumpeter Tim McLaughlin. The combination of the prominent piano and Loren's supple alto voice inevitably suggests Diana Krall. But Loren has a somewhat lighter, less mannered sense of phrasing, and less of a hardcore jazz sensibility. Call her singing style Krall with a flavoring of the less serious side of Joni Mitchell, then. In addition to a few of her own songs (among them "Free to Be Loved by Me," co-written with songwriting veteran Rick Chudacoff), Loren addresses a range of material from traditional jazz fare like "The Girl from Ipanema" and "Summertime" to rock standards like the Kinks' "Sunny Afternoon" and U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." She brings up what may be her own female vocal heroines with "Ipanema" (Astrud Gilberto), "Cry Me a River" (Julie London), and a version of Patti Cathcart' (of Tuck & Patti) amusing "High Heel Blues," rendered a cappella. Her backup musicians are given most of the jazz duties, and while Loren employs enough unusual line readings to justify the "jazz" tag herself, it's her accompanists who really make this a jazz recording. by William Ruhlmann  
Tracklist :
1     Danger in Loving You 3:16
Larry Wayne Clark / Halie Loren
2     Sunny Afternoon 3:27
Ray Davies
3     I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For 5:42
Adam Clayton / Paul Hewson / Larry Mullen, Jr. / Victoria Reina
4     More 4:05
Rick Chudacoff / Halie Loren / Victoria Shaw
5     Cry Me a River 4:50
Arthur Hamilton
6     The Girl from Ipanema 4:32
Norman Gimbel / Antônio Carlos Jobim / Vinícius de Moraes
7     Free to Be Loved by Me 3:55
Rick Chudacoff / Halie Loren
8     Is You or Is You Ain't My Baby 4:23
Billy Austin / Louis Jordan
9     Love Me Like a River Does 3:36
Melody Gardot
10     They Oughta Write a Song 3:37
Larry Wayne Clark / Halie Loren
11     High Heel Blues 3:44
Patricia Andress
12     Summertime 6:03
George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin / DuBose Heyward
13     My Rainbow Race 3:31
Pete Seeger
- Bonus Tracks -    
14    I'd Rather Go Blind     5:04
15    Nearness Of You    4:57
Credits :
Bass – Mark Schneider
Drums – Brian West
Keyboards – Matt Treder
Trumpet – Tim McLaughlin
Vocals – Halie Loren