Jᴀᴄᴜʀᴜᴛᴜ - Tʜᴇ Cᴀsᴛ Oᴜᴛ

I need some evidence to back-up my argument. My boss and I have a music feud going on about the quality of a so-called singer by the name of Renee Olstead. Think Marie Fenring pretending to be a Jazz crooner. My boss keeps telling me he thinks she's talented and loves her CD's (we share audio-space and a CD player at work)

Her voice makes my ears bleed. I do not think she's a good singer, in my short musical career (school and church) i've learned the difference between someone who can project their voice powerfully and someone who can sing.
She uses the same producer as Michael Buble' who i basically hear and think, i'd rather listen to Sinatra rather than someone imitating Sinatra)

Yes I am band-geek-raging about this. Please, if there are any Jazz fans out there or just music fans in general please dare to listen to some of her covers and let me know.

If we don't stop her now she'll grow up to be the KJA of Jazz.

OH JAYZUS GAWUD!!! DAMN YOU DAMN YOU DAMN YOU!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE-fFDxKbPw (her killing "Summertime")

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

so i take it that's a vote for my side of the argument.

Well ... YEAH.

Seriously, that is some NASTY shit.

Where did she get her start, conventions of The American Society for the Deaf?

She's an child-actress thats been in a couple tv shows and a few movies. I haven't seen her act, so she might be talented there.

or she might just be a pretentious brat (or the child of one) with delusions of grandeur.

She is in one of my favorite movies The Insider . She was like 6-7 then.

I don't know. Her "Midnight at the Oasis" was okay, but the other ones I listened to I did not care for. In fact I could not listen to them to the end. I don't think I could listen to her a lot.

To each his own.

I know I like Harry Connick Jr. (Both his singing and playing) but there are those who do not care for him.

At least she's not too bad to look upon...only need to gag her then.

That was awful. I generally cant stand that highly-stylized form anyway.

Ew she's so nasal and the cover has so much wank in it!

RANT WARNING! Turn back now, ye of faint heart!

Why are people always impressed with these lame singers that sound like someone else? For all their technically impressive prowess, they have nothing else going for them as musicians/singers/performers. No innovation, no poetry, no style, no gravitas and ZERO presence. It absolutely astounds me how people can praise these "singers" when they offer nothing but driest, most empty technical accomplishment.

Fine, this Olstead is a good singer. The world is filled with good singers. But does she sing anything worth hearing? Does her band play anything worth your time? Is her singing or performance in any way stirring, new, or unique? The correct answer is "No."

Janis Joplin was a talent. Billie Holiday was a talent. Tracy Chapman is a talent. Tracey Thorne is a talent. Lisa Gerrard is a talent (funny connection to Olstead: Lisa Gerrard's soundtrack work on The Insider was brilliant). These singers have a sound all their own with a style that is undeniable and songwriting that is legitimate. When Joplin sang "Ball and Chain" at the Monterey Pop Festival, Joplin was so powerful that even watching her recorded performance on my DVD player some 40 years later sent shivers down my spine. When Tracy Chapman sings "Fast Car", her voice and lyrics are nothing less than soul stirring. When Lisa Gerrard sings "Meltdown", it's like the euphoria of living in oblivion.

Watching this Renee Olstead "sing" and "perform" is like reading the Wall Street Journal.

During my recent vacation I was forced to watch "Hit Man: David Foster", which was this spirit-crushing collection of the most bland, soulless, grammy-award-winning (BIG warning bell) adult contemporary music from the last 40 years. To call the experience "awful" is an understatement of epic proportions. It was music that attained a level of mediocrity usually reserved only for those named KJA.

I guess I just needed to vent

GamePlayer wrote:Watching this Renee Olstead "sing" and "perform" is like reading the Wall Street Journal.

I know! For a moment I almost forgot that I hate KJA. Don't worry, it was only a moment, trust me.

David Foster ... another great Canadian!

(I make no secret of the fact that I watch "American Idol" for the stupid factor. The last two seasons they've had him on as a "guest instructor" or something. I keep wondering how much he's paying them to get on the air.... Feh.)

GamePlayer wrote:During my recent vacation I was forced to watch "Hit Man: David Foster", which was this spirit-crushing collection of the most bland, soulless, grammy-award-winning (BIG warning bell) adult contemporary music from the last 40 years.

Yeah, I saw that train wreck. The mediocre music was bad enough, but the guests going into self-congratulary paroxysms over their collaborations with the guy were just too much to take.

HBJ

GP - Have you had the chance to hear the Klaus Schulze And Lisa Gerrard LP - Farscape? It's a little long winded, the man was in Tangerine Dream, but very, very nice.

Tleszer
Don't worry, KJA will always be waiting patiently for ridicule

my chigga
Could be worse. He could be American

Hunchback Jack
Wasn't it just awful? It was like the Oscars, only worse! Damn the whole palm-pressing, back-slapping, self-congratulatory lot of them. The worst part was the cringe-worthy attempts they made cracking "jokes" in between "songs". I HATE that kind of forced humor. It's like they are squeezing you until they force your laughter at gun point. "I order you to laugh! Laugh motherfucker!" I almost didn't make it

inhuien
No I haven't. I have the Gladiator and The Insider soundtracks by Lisa Gerrard and she's simply amazing. A true original for sure. Her voice is so unique with an amazing range.

GP, it made the Oscars look like the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony. Just cringe-inducing pap.

HBJ

I still really enjoy John Coltrane, mainly from '57-'59, altho my favorite is Love Supreme.

Kurt Elling is absolutely wonderful these days. (& a Canadian, btw).
If you young guys are looking to impress a young lady, have his Nightmoves
playing in your car when you pick her up for the first date. If that doesn't influence
her favorably in your direction, well, you're just a loser.

My love for (good) (old) jazz also stems from the racial component as well.
Jazz is the only music that you can listen to and not have a clue as to the color
of the musicians. You may visualize the bass player as the skinny black kid &
the piano player as the old fat balding white guy. Later you find out it's the opposite.
(I was convinced Dave Brubeck was black for many years - finally got an album
of his about 68 or so - damn, fat old balding white guy ...)

"Oh, he's the one who wrote that Nightmoves album. I love that album. Yeah, it's real sentimental bullshit."

Coltrane and Davis are awesome.

[quote]Jazz is the only music that you can listen to and not have a clue as to the color
of the musicians.

Yeah this is true. As a fan of metal I got used to all my music being from white males but when I was introduced to jazz I'm ashamed that for some reason I expected them to be white as well. I'm not racist (which is why I'm embarassed) and its always great to see a variety of races playing together, especially with so much illogical hatred around.

Great thing about music is that it can come from anywhere.

(Btw, Dave Brubeck's Time Out is so awesome.)