If You Really Want (Artistry Music)
Raul Midón with the Metropole Orkest Conducted by Vince Mendoza
Released September 14, 2018
Grammy Nominee for Best Jazz VocalAlbum 2019
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_ljRPlMRbp6gIgCRjAXadpKJwLxvAAvt-M
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/intl-pt/album/5DEOJDED4tra06myhqnexX?si=kS8inEq6Rc2Rd-7XZwsBRw
About:
The New York Times has called Raul Midón “a one-man band who turns a guitar into an orchestra and his voice into a chorus.” Now, with his exciting new album – If You Really Want, to be released via Artistry Music/Mack Avenue on September 14 – Midón’s voice and guitar ride the waves of an actual orchestra: the acclaimed Metropole Orkest, the GRAMMY® Award-winning Dutch ensemble that has collaborated with artists from Al Jarreau and Elvis Costello to Laura Mvula and Snarky Puppy. Midón – who earned his first GRAMMY nomination for Bad Ass and Blind, his Artistry Music/Mack Avenue album of 2017 – worked hand in glove on If You Really Want with another renowned GRAMMY winner and frequent Metropole Orkest collaborator: conductor-composer-arranger Vince Mendoza.
Track Listing:
1. Ride on a Rainbow 4:15
2. God’s Dream 4:42
3. If You Really Want 4:40
4. All Love Is Blind 3:22
5. Sunshine (I Can Fly) 6:38
6. Ocean Dreamer 3:29
7. Pick Somebody Up 3:29
8. Everyone Deserves a Second Chance 5:06
9. Sittin’ in the Middle 5:35
10. Suddenly 3:50
Personnel:
Raul Midon: guitar, vocals
With
Metropole Orkest
Conductor: Vince Mendoza:
Trumpets: Jan Wessels, Jelle Schouten, Peter van Soest, Ray Bruinsma
Saxophones and Clarinets: Leo Janssen, Marc Scholten, Max Boeree, Paul van der Feen, Werner Janssen
Trombones: Bart Van Lier, Jan Bastiani, Jan Oosting
Bass Trombone: Bart van Gorp
Flutes: Janine Abbas, Nola Exel
Horns: Jasper de Waal, Pieter Hunfeld
Oboe: Willem Luijt
Piano, Keyboards: Hans Vroomans
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar: Peter Tiehuis
Double Bass: Arend Liefkes, Erik Winkelmann, Walter van Egeraat
Electric Bass, Acoustic Bass: Aram Kersbergen
Drums: Martijn Vink
Percussion: Eddy Koopman, Murk Jiskoot
1st Violin: Alida Schat, Arlia De Ruiter, David Peijnenborgh, Denis Koenders, Ewa Zbyszynska, Jasper van Rosmalen, Pauline Terlouw, Ruben Margarita
2nd Violin: Federico Nathan, Herman Van Haaren, Merel Jonker, Merijn Rombout, Robert Baba, Seija Teeuwen, Wim Kok
Cellos: Annie Tangberg, Emile Visser, Jascha Albracht, Maarten Jansen
Violas: Isabella Petersen, Julia Jowett, Marit Ladage, Mieke Honingh, Norman Jansen
Harp: Joke Schonewille
Recorded 30
June – 4 July, 2014, at MCO Studio 3 and 5 – Hilversum, NL
Producers: Vince Mendoza & Raul Midón
Recording and editing: Raul Midón
Assistant Engineers: Paul Dorin, Dirk Overeem
Mixing: Tijmen Zinkhaan, assisted by Erik Van Der Horst
Mastering: Darcy Proper
Art Direction: Raj Naik
Photography: Samuel Prather
Review:
Raul Midon plays guitar and sings like Paul
Simon. Born blind in New Mexico in 1966, The New York Times once called him
“a one-man band who turns a guitar into an orchestra and his voice into a
chorus.” He was going somewhere once upon a time. Now he’s back, still
going somewhere.
One of his songs is called “Everyone
Deserves A Second Chance.” Midon probably does. He sings well, he plays
well and he writes good songs. Good enough? That is the question. Let’s leave
it unresolved.
Midon always liked to hedge his bets, frequently
switching to Latino. He plays here with a Dutch ensemble, The Metropole Orkest,
conducted by Vince Mendoza. They play Latino. So Midon breaks into Spanish now
and then.
Elsewhere he daydreams: You bring a
bottle of sunshine, I’ll bring a bottle of rain. If we can mix them up just
right, we’ll catch a ride on a rainbow.
In “God’s Dream” Midon gets serious,
singing in his doleful tenor, Imagine yourself Upon a star in a dream.
In the dream you are everything. And he goes on to describe how God
would experience mankind’s world: So you decide to walk upon the earth,
to be among the ones you’ve made. You dress up like a circus clown just to
march in their parade. The wilful bliss of ignorance Is everywhere displayed.
But in the closer, “Suddenly,” arranged
by Mendoza, there are echoes of Lennon and McCarthy as Midon bows out with hope
of renewal: Suddenly I see the things I used to see so differently. I
feel as if I found a new reality.
Let’s hope it lasts long enough to satisfy him.
Or will Raul Midon always want just that little bit more?
Chris Mosey (All About Jazz)
