A Brighter Day

Amazon.com
On his fourth recording--his first for Blue Note Records-- guitarist Ronny Jordan moves in a more mainstream direction. He minimizes the hip-hop and rap elements in his mix to favor a more subdued, straightforward jazz approach that brings to mind one of Jordan's role models, Wes Montgomery. While this may furrow the brows of some acid-jazz fans, the results heard on this 73-minute excursion are largely positive and quietly appealing. The London-born Jordan reveals himself as thoughtful and expressive player, notably on self-composed, Pat Metheny-like, pop-jazz cruisers ("Two Worlds," "Rio," "Seeing Is Believing") and in a more mainstream vein, "5/8 in Flow." For some listeners, A Brighter Day may at times stray uncomfortably close to smooth-jazz innocuousness, but Jordan's prevailing inventiveness makes the overall package a pleasant one. Highlights are the soft-but-sweet grooves found on "Aftermath" and "Mackin'," the animated playing from vibraphonist Roy Ayers on "Mystic Voyage," and the nimble finger work heard on "New Delhi." --Terry Wood

From Jazziz
After Island Records released his debut album, "The Antidote," in 1993, guitarist Ronny Jordan quickly became part of the acid-jazz buzz. But Jordan says there's always been more to him than groove and he's happy about finally being able to share his other sides on his new CD, "A Brighter Day" (Blue Note). "When people think of me, they think of a guy who loves those beats, and oh yeah, plays a little guitar. But I've always seen myself as a guitarist first, one who ventures into various directions. I really feel this record is giving me the first opportunity to show all I can do." The track "Two Worlds," finds Jordan mining an aggressive bossa-minded groove, holding occasional musical conversations with the energetic, Latin-styled piano of Marcus Persiani.

REVIWER: - JAZZIZ Magazine Copyright © 2000, Milor Entertainment, Inc. Copyright © 2000, Milor Entertainment, Inc.

A Brighter Day,Ronny Jordan,Blue Note Records,Crossover Jazz,Jazz,Jazz Music,Jazz-Pop,Pop,Smooth Jazz,Urban

Average customer rating: Absolute Smooth Jazz Heaven Can't get it out of my player! Ronny's First CD for Blue Note Nice guitar, Ok singers British sound switches to American sound

A Brighter Day Ronny Jordan Manufacturer: Blue Note Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music Acid Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Styles | Music Smooth Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music General | Pop | Styles | Music General | R&B | Styles | Music Blue Note Records | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Dance Pop | Dance & DJ | Indie Music | Stores | Music General | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music Acid Jazz | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music General | Pop | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Off the Record After 8 The Antidote At Last Light to Dark ASIN: B00004NJLP Release Date: 2000-03-14

Tracks:

1. A Brighter Day
2. Aftermath
3. Mackin (Featuring DJ Spinna)
4. Why
5. Mystic Voyage (Featuring Roy Ayers)
6. Breauxlude
7. London Lowdown
8. Two Worlds
9. Mambo Inn
10. Rio
11. New Delhi
12. Seeing Is Believing
13. 5/8 In Flow
14. A Brighter Day (Remix) Featuring Mos Def

Amazon.com

On his fourth recording--his first for Blue Note Records-- guitarist Ronny Jordan moves in a more mainstream direction. He minimizes the hip-hop and rap elements in his mix to favor a more subdued, straightforward jazz approach that brings to mind one of Jordan's role models, Wes Montgomery. While this may furrow the brows of some acid-jazz fans, the results heard on this 73-minute excursion are largely positive and quietly appealing. The London-born Jordan reveals himself as thoughtful and expressive player, notably on self-composed, Pat Metheny-like, pop-jazz cruisers ("Two Worlds," "Rio," "Seeing Is Believing") and in a more mainstream vein, "5/8 in Flow." For some listeners, A Brighter Day may at times stray uncomfortably close to smooth-jazz innocuousness, but Jordan's prevailing inventiveness makes the overall package a pleasant one. Highlights are the soft-but-sweet grooves found on "Aftermath" and "Mackin'," the animated playing from vibraphonist Roy Ayers on "Mystic Voyage," and the nimble finger work heard on "New Delhi." --Terry Wood

Customer Reviews:

Absolute Smooth Jazz Heaven.......2007-05-14

That very rare CD where EVERY SINGLE TRACK is a winner. My wife's and mine fave music when we want to get intimate. This album just makes you happy to be alive. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful...

Can't get it out of my player!.......2006-02-16

Well I have many, many CD's but never have written a review on Amazon. Since it's been a few years in my library, I though I would offer some feedback. I will just say this, it is cool. If you like jazz, funk, with a little smooth hip-hop flavor mixed in, this is it. The grooves are hypnotic and infectious. It will get you. I just can't seem to get this out of my CD player for any prolonged period! It's a little Wes Montgomery, a little of contemporary Miles, a little hip-hop influence, melodic voice paintings, rhythmic upright Bass, man it just grooves. OK, my first review, just because this CD won't go away from my players, and that is saying something with my collection of CD's.

Ronny's First CD for Blue Note .......2005-02-05

and for me it was a disapointment. The think thats sets Ronny apart from the rest of the field is his street-flavoured, hip hop fusion jazz thing. This album lacks that this ingredient, and if this doesn't bother you, than I think you will love this CD. Only cut I really like is 5/8.

Nice guitar, Ok singers.......2004-07-16

Actually, I like Ronny's music because of his guitar work. Seems that on all of his Cds the vocal content is hit or miss. Some hit, some really miss. This CD was no different. But his guitar continues to get sound better and better.

British sound switches to American sound.......2004-02-17

Ronny Jordan is mainly a jazz musician, an excellent guitar player with a mature, tastily language, a personal sound that distinguishes himself from other guitarists of the contemporary jazz scene. He can play soft, acid, bluesy, using Wes- Montgomery style,... he is always himself, pertinent... this is not easy!. I noted his talent from the first album "The antidote" (1992), what impressed me was the contrast between the hip -hop, electronic loops he used and his smooth sound, his simply themes and his groovy solos... this is the acid-jazz form I prefer. What I appreciate is that he's coming directly from the contemporary influences (soul, hip-hop, black, funky, rap....), with a strong jazz-classic base. Like every good artist, his in evolution, in search of new situations and atmospheres, although this may disappoint someone, I think this is positive. To my opinion this album mainly marks RJ's turn to a music which is formally better than the one of his previous records: good arrangements, good musicians, good choice of the tracks....all songs of the CD are ok! Ronny switches to a more smoothed, American sound, but not loosing his "British" roots!! My favourite tunes: "New Delhi" has an involving, exotic atmosphere and is a tribute to great British musician/composer Victor Feldman, "Rio" has an amazing theme, "Mackin" is acid and groovy. This CD is substantially a good work, I suggest to listen to it many times, when relaxing at home.

Average customer rating:

Fond Affection - Works of Ernst Bacon Bacon , Brown , Burtis , Sharp , Musta , and Burton Manufacturer: Composers Recordings ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music Classical | Indie Music | Stores | Music ASIN: B0000646U4 Release Date: 2002-03-01

Tracks:

1. Is There Such A Thing As Day?
2. My River Runs To Thee
3. When Roses Cease To Bloom, Dear
4. Schilflied
5. The Red Rose
6. Gentle Greeting
7. Fond Affection
8. The Commonplace
9. Grand Is the Seen
10. Lingering Last Drops
11. The Last Invocation
12. The Divine Ship
13. Omaha
14. Its ComingThe Postponeless Creature
15. How Still The Bells
16. Farewell To A Name And A Number
17. Brady

Album Description

Ernst Bacon was one of that pioneering generation of composers, along with Thomson, Copland, Harris and others, who found a voice for American music. Born in Chicago on May 26, 1898, his Austrian mother gave him a love of song and an early start on the piano. Although his varied career included appearances as pianist and conductor, along with teaching and directing positions, his deepest preoccupation was always composing. His musical awards included a Pulitzer Fellowship in 1932 for his Symphony in D Minor and three Guggenheim Fellowships.

As a composer, Bacon belonged to no “school” and followed no fads. He was largely self-taught in composition, except for two years study with Karl Weigl in Vienna in the early '20s. While there, he experienced the depression of post-war Europe first hand and concluded that the European avant-garde movement, reflecting the pessimism of that era and region, was not appropriate to America. Returning to Chicago, he set out to write music that expressed the vitality and affirmation of our own country.

At the age of nineteen, while majoring in mathematics at Northwestern University, Bacon wrote a complex treatise exploring all possible harmonies, which was published by The Open Court Publishing Company (“Our Musical Idiom,” The Monist, October 1917). However, when he began to compose music in his twenties, he rejected a cerebral approach, taking the position that music is an art, not a science. He felt that its source should be intuitive and imaginative, rather than abstract and analytical.

From his first job as opera coach at the Eastman School in the mid '20s, he went on to receive a master's degree from the University of California at Berkeley and to teach at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under Ernest Bloch. During

the '30s he was director of the WPA Federal Music Project and Orchestra in San Francisco and was a founder of the Carmel Bach Festival. From 1938 to 1945 he headed the School of Music at Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where he established the New Spartanburg Music Festival. At Syracuse University, he was director of the School of Music from 1945 to 1947 and composer-in-residence and professor of piano until his retirement in 1963.

In 1964 he returned to the West, settling in the small town of Orinda, California, east of the Berkeley hills. Here, as everywhere else, he drew his greatest inspiration from nature, jotting down notes as he explored local trails. His fertile imagination and constant creative efforts left little time for self-promotion, and although nearly blind in old age, he continued to compose until the very end of his ninety-one years.

Throughout his long career, Ernst Bacon's chief aim as a composer was to express the spirit of America in music as Whitman, Emerson, Melville and others had done in literature. He was deeply immersed in our country's history and folklore, as well as its indigenous music; and was inspired by the poetry, folk songs, jazz rhythms and geography of America as well as the landscape itself—which he hiked, climbed and also painted. All of these elements found their way into his music.

Those who influenced Bacon included Carl Sandburg, Thornton Wilder and Roland Hayes. Bacon's music expresses the common touch and humor of Sandburg; the profound simplicity of Wilder; and the melodic beauty that Roland Hayes expressed so movingly in his singing. As with Schubert, a large body of more than 250 art songs is the heart of an oeuvre that also includes numerous chamber, orchestral and choral works, as well as descriptive pieces for piano.

In 1998 numerous vocal-chamber concerts of Bacon's music were held in honor of his centennial. These events took place at Merkin Concert Hall in New York City; the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Coolidge Auditorium at the Library of Congress; the Free Library of Philadelphia; Syracuse, New York; Evanston and Chicago, Illinois; also in Berkeley and Waln

Average customer rating:

Brighter Day Manufacturer: Ambassador Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B00028B54U

Product Description

Track Listing: 1. By The Lord's Mercy 2. Turn My Life Around 3. God Has Not Forgotten You 4. Rejoice! The King Is Coming 5. Jah Leads 6. Coming Again 7. Brighter Day I & II 8. It's My Life 9. The Better Way 10. Workin' It 11. The Rapture

Average customer rating:

A Brighter Day Albert Washington Manufacturer: Iris ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Blues | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Styles | Music General | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music ASIN: B000001UJ0 Release Date: 1996-01-24

Tracks:

1. a brighter day
2. I just can't stay away from you
3. the day before we were married
4. rolling along
5. your gonna lose the best man you ever had
6. standing here all alone
7. he's my brother
8. I walked a long way
9. travelin'
10. don't drink and drive
11. keep on singing the blues
12. coming home tomorrow

Average customer rating:

Looking for a Brighter Day Ken Tucker Manufacturer: Jomar Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Blues | Styles | Music General | Children's Music | Styles | Music ASIN: B000OYCJQK Release Date: 2007-06-12

Tracks:

1. Looking For A Brighter Day
2. Call Me Up
3. The Sun Is Always Shinin'
4. Where Are You Tonight?
5. Walkin' Cane
6. Tin Cup Blues
7. Guitar Man
8. Lord You're All I Need
9. Why Do You Hurt Me?
10. Cold Rain Comin'
11. Hang My Head
12. The King Is Coming
13. Wayfaring Stranger

Average customer rating:

Brighter Day Gaeleri Manufacturer: Kick Music ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Rock | Styles | Music ASIN: B00008CR4A Release Date: 2003-08-05

Tracks:

1. Blue Town
2. Navigate Me
3. Brighter Day
4. Stand Aside
5. If You Leave
6. Lady Luck
7. Trapped in a Maze
8. Don't Go
9. 60 Days
10. Life as a Friend
11. Don't You

Average customer rating:

Brighter Day Keith Christmas Manufacturer: Voiceprint UK ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Rock | Imports | Stores | Music ASIN: B00009P92G Release Date: 2005-05-31

Tracks:

1. Brighter Day
2. Foothills
3. Country Farm
4. The Bargees
5. Lovers Cabaret
6. Robin Head
7. Getting Religion
8. Could Do Better
9. Song of A Drifter
10. Sweet Changes (bonus)

Product Description

1. Brighter Day
2. Foothills
3. Country Farm
4. The Bargees
5. Lovers Cabaret
6. Robin Head
7. Getting Religion
8. Could Do Better
9. Song of A Drifter
10. Sweet Changes


Format: CD

Average customer rating:

Brighter Day TWO EMPTY CHAIRS ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B000QY6SB0

Product Description

01. Brighter Day 02. There You Go 03. Breakaway 04. Lifelight 05. Forevermore 06. Maybe Next Time 07. In Your Hands 08. Out of Nowhere 09. Hanging On 10. Glory 11. Tears Could Talk 12. Two Days Left

Average customer rating: what happened? so so Yep, Its a Sizzla Album. . .

Brighter Day Sizzla Manufacturer: Kingston Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Dance Hall | Reggae | International | Styles | Music General | Reggae | International | Styles | Music General | Reggae | Compilations | International | Styles | Music Similar Items: Soul Deep Jah Knows Best Burning Fire Bobo Ashanti Royal Son of Ethiopia ASIN: B00079RNH2 Release Date: 2005-03-08

Tracks:

1. Murderer - Sizzla,
2. One Day
3. Different Side to Sizzle
4. Brighter Day - Kadia Gritton, Sizzla
5. Jah Knows
6. Burn It Down
7. Rastafari Teaching
8. Free Up the Prisoners - Sizzla,
9. Love and Respect
10. Don't Be Ashamed
11. Sexual Appeal
12. Dig It Out !
13. Nuff Girls
14. Dangerous
15. Live Up - Sizzla, Vybz Kartel

Customer Reviews:

what happened?.......2005-12-08

To me this seems like the complete opposite of the conscious sizzla everyone loves. Just because he sometimes has a harsh delivery doesnt' mean he has to go into detail about such harsh topics. there are a few okay tracks on it but most of is below his usual standard. When I first heard the song Murderer, i thought there could be no way Sizzla is singing with a guy rapping about "POP- POP".

so so.......2005-03-19

I have mixed feelings about this album. If you like the louder more explicit side of Sizzla this is a good one. If, like me, you admire the more spiritual and sensitive side of Sizzla, this album falls short. There are some positive aspects but criticisms come first.
The first track 'murderer' is ironically humurous when one thinks of his songs such as 'explain to almighty' and 'love is all'. The lead track always sets a certain tone for an album, and this one does not suit an irie mood. The title of this cd is somewhat misleading - 'brighter day' is not the first thing I think of when listening to rude boy songs about killing and rough sex.
With that off my chest, there are a few exceptional tracks. 'Jah Knows' is my favorite track on this album because of its originality and melody. 'Dig it out' is artistic and uses the same rhythm as the previous mentioned track. 'Live up' and the title track 'brigher day' are both worth taking your time to listen to. The rest of the cd is mediocre at best.

Yep, Its a Sizzla Album. . ........2005-03-09

I don't think I should necessarily go into a big discussion about how the year is only 65 days old and Sizzla has one album now on the shelves and another set to be released in a few weeks. I don't think I should necessarily go into a big discussion about how he finished last year with an album in November, 2 summer albums a greatest hits album and an early fall album. I don't think I should necessarily go into a big discussion about how disturbingly prolific the artist is, so I won't.

Instead, I'll just talk about the music. The musical highlights here are without a doubt the combinations. Free Up the Prisoners is the long awaited track between Kalonji and prodige' Turbulence, pretty good message on the track and pretty much what one might expect from two high level artists, although I might have preferred them riding an Xterminator riddim instead. The other, perhaps even more interesting combination here features Sizzla with Vybz Kartel on Live Up. Live Up is more of a Kartel sounding gun toating tune than a Sizzla cut, but it's interesting to hear the 2 together and to hear Kartel on a simple one drop for a change. In terms of the best tune here completely, without a doubt, it's One Drop, a somewhat agressive knowledge tune that just gets better each time you listen to it. I'd also recommend the title track, Burn it Down and the crazy sounding Jah Knows.

Overall, Brighter Day is a fun album. It never seems to take itself too serious which is a problem Sizzla records have suffered from in the past, and I can imagine the artist probably wrote it, recorded it and doubled it in an afternoon (there are some pretty good shots in the liner notes). Its pretty good, not as good as its more spiritual predeccessor, Speak of Jah, but good dancehall nevertheless. I don't think I should necessarily talk about how a year from now I'll probably be writing a review for the 3rd Kingston Records album which is about a 99.99998% chance for 2006, so I won't, instead I'll just recommend Brighter Day as a decent Sizzla album.

Average customer rating:

Brighter Day ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music ASIN: B00004WJIM Release Date: 2002-04-30

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