Intro

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From your first performance to your last, you're simply the best! Thanks for all the great memories, Haley.

Peace & Love,
Your adoring fans

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Hallelujah!  After what seemed like an interminably long wait, the "light at the end of the tunnel" is near.  Yes, my friends, Haley is close to releasing her new album; you know, the one all her fans have been clamoring for since late July when it was first announced that she signed with Interscope (wow, has it been that long since my first post???!!!).  Anyhoo, nearly six months and some 20 posts later, Haley finally announced via Twitter that her first single 'Free' is due out in March.  This timing is auspicious, as it was a year ago in March when this ravishing beauty first caught my eyes and ears during her soulful performance of Alicia Keys's 'Fallin' back on March 2, 2011.  Ahhhhh, sweet memories.

What gave me strength over the long months of waiting is my certain knowledge that Haley, along with all her collaborating songwriters and producers, poured their "blood, sweat and tears" into this album.   The project is in many ways a 'labor of love' for Haley, and that makes it so much more special than just making a commercial pop album for its own sake.  So what kind of album is it, precisely?  Just as Haley proved frustratingly difficult to grasp last season, repeatedly eluding JLo's and Randy's vain attempts to categorize or put her neatly into a box or musical genre (maybe that's partly why they were so mean to her), Haley's new album  promises to be equally diverse and eclectic.  And I'll admit that's exactly the way I like it.  Here's a soundbite from her interview with 'She Knows Reality TV Magazine' on 8/15/2011:

"I’m looking to do a very bluesy/sultry album with a lot of different genres incorporated; (I) have a little jazz in there and some funk and rock and I really just see it meshing all together."

And when asked what type of music she'll have on the album by The Daily Herald three days later she had this to say on 8/18/2011:

"I would love to mix it up. I'm really going to try to sneak jazz in. I know I have a lot of that soul R&B in me so I definitely want to try to get that across as well as funk, rock and a jazzy flavor. I think I told you before it sounds like a lot but I mean all of these things compact into one. As long as your style comes through, I think it's easy to tell."

In other words, it's not so much 'what' you sing but 'how' you sing it.  Just consider how Haley changed The Animals' popular folk song 'House of the Rising Sun' into something else entirely, something sultry, bluesy and jazzy at the same time through a combination of a capella solo-ing, rearrangements and altering (slowing down) the song's tempo.  In her 'Austin City Limits' interview, 2011 Grammy-winner Esperanza Spalding (whose fans include Haley and Casey by the way) said every major genre of music, whether it's rock, folk, soul/R&B, jazz or country, are all "deeply stewed" in the blues tradition.  All music are interconnected and interrelated, and you see elements of one genre cross over into another seamlessly.  "Improvisation, communication and solo-ing" are the key elements in all music.

Featured below are two of Haley's performances that further illustrate all this.  The first is her memorable 'Benny and the Jets' swan song at the end of the Top 3 results show.  Improvisation and communication are in evidence there.  The second is her near-a capella 'House of the Rising Sun' performance on Regis & Kelly, in which her ample solo-ing skills are on display. 

Lastly, though I don't usually like to dabble in gossip, James Durbin confirmed at his wedding (congrats!) last week that Haley and seventh-place finalist Stefano Langone are going out.  So I guess we guys can finally just all 'fergedabout it' and go on with our daily lives, haha.  So can Casey for that matter.  Stefaley fans and all teenage girls who think they make a cute couple can rejoice.  Here's wishing them all the best in their courtship.  No, really.

Seeya in a few when I give my impressions on Haley's new single.  L8r.



Sunday, January 8, 2012

A (belated) 'Happy New Year!' to all

So another new year is upon us.  2012 is looking to shape up to be a great year, barring any major earth-shattering cataclysms associated with the Mayan calendar cycle or the atrocious John Cusack movie--ugh!--of the same name.  It's a leap year and the "Year of the (oooooh) Dragon" on the Chinese calendar, though that won't officially begin in about another three weeks.  Of course, what makes 2012 particularly special is that our collective patience will be rewarded when Haley releases her highly anticipated debut album in a couple of months or so.  Yeah, yeah, I hear you.  You can't wait.  Deal with it.

And the cycle starts all over again.  The new season of FOX's reality singing competition and ratings juggernaut 'American Idol,' that is.  This show will be entering its 11th iteration and it is still going strong.  The faces may be different, but the talent and variety of music have actually improved from previous seasons (last season being a case in point).  'American Idol' easily trumps 'The X-Factor,' which saw Simon Cowell reduced to a wimp who patronized so-called 'talents' whom he would have criticized mercilessly  on 'American Idol.'  We'll see if the new season can match the quality of the last, probably not since Haley is a tough act to follow.  Alas, the new season begins in less than two weeks on January 18 and 19.  I'm sooooo excited.

Apart from the aforementioned new album and the new season of my favorite reality singing show, what I'm also giddy about (though admittedly this has nothing to do with Haley) in 2012 is that beautiful and big-voiced Season 5 runner-up Katherine McPhee, a local California girl and my favorite American Idol before Haley, will be featured in a new 'Smash' hit next month (see poster below).  'Smash' is a TV series developed by Steven Spielberg and producer Craig Zadan ('Chicago' and 'Hairspray') about a Broadway musical on the life of Marilyn Monroe.  Former 'Will & Grace' star Debra Messing and veteran actress Anjelica Huston also starring.  Unlike 'Glee,' which I also love of course, 'Smash' will feature all original songs.  'Smash' debuts on NBC February 6 (the day after--you heard it here first, folks--the New England Patriots  New Orleans Saints whip the Baltimore Ravens New York Giants -- so much for my predictive powers, huh? -- to win their first Super Bowl since 2004), so be sure to check it out!  Okay, end of shameless plug.

Here's hoping your 2012 will be as successful, healthy, and relatively free of world-ending catastrophes as mine.  Peace!

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