Good Early Morning

Guess what? March has arrived. Pretty cool, yeah?

Nearly Spring Break.. wow, honest to goodness, time is flying!

Now, let's get this post started!

I'd really like to mention and recommend some artists and albums I found over the past month in an attempt to give them a bit of thanks and perhaps pass their fantastic prowess onto another curious soul:

I'll be honest, I've never been a huge fan of Jazz music, and I'm pretty discouraged about that. I purchased the album Blue Train by none other than John Coltrane last year, but I never truly listened to it.. which is an absolute injustice, if you ask the newly enlightened Matthew James Simerly.

John Coltrane is a mastermind, he's pure inspiration. I'm ashamed to admit I scoffed his work at first, but I shed myself of that horrible opinion at the beginning of February when I pulled Blue Train back out and actually opened my ears to it. What did I hear? Ear candy, bliss.. a man with a passion.. for music.

Honestly, all I can say is thank you, Mr. Coltrane. I picked up three of his other records (Giant Steps, A Love Supreme, My Favorite Things) just recently.. now I'm absolutely enamored by his work. Do yourself a favor and pick up one of the aforementioned albums, find yourself in an area of solitude, and listen.

Next up.. Frank Sinatra! I've always admired his uniquely rich vocals, but I've never found myself listening to any of his works in their entirety. Just recently I read a blog post by John Mayer where he mentioned two albums that he found ultimately satisfying, both of which were by Old Blue Eyes. Just my luck!

Now, as many people know, I'm a huge John Mayer fan. I believe he's one of the few truly honest musicians on the airwaves these days, and I appreciate that. Not only that, he also shreds like no other, and is a real inspiration to me and my musical workings. So wait, where was I? Oh, yeah!

The two albums John mentioned were Only the Lonely and In the Wee Small Hours. He made them both sound like essential recordings, so I found myself obliged to locate and listen to both of them. To be completely honest, I had no idea exactly what to expect. Like I said, I've never really been hugely into Sinatra, and now I'm definitely regretting that. Both of the recordings are filled with lush orchestration and outstanding vocals with true feeling.

Thanks, Frank!