I always felt that Miki Howard would have opted to sing jazz full time if she had her druthers. She's not one of these R&B singers who turned to the Great American Songbook to revive a career when demographics and changing musical tastes made sticking with R&B and pop a choice with diminishing returns. Nope. Miki Howard included jazz standards on her albums when she was cranking out chart topping R&B joints such as "Love Under New Management" and "Come Share My Love." Plus, the standards Howard chose marked her as somebody who possessed more than a passing knowledge of the songbook material.
我一直认为, 如果Miki Howard能自主选择的话,她将会倾向于爵士乐.当人群素质和音乐品味的变化导致歌手坚持蓝调和流行曲的报酬正在日益递减之际,许多蓝调艺人转向借助上世纪美国传统歌集以期振兴他们的歌唱事业,但Miki Howard却与众不同；在她陆续推出畅销曲如 "Love Under New Management" 和 "Come Share My Love"时,她将爵士乐标准纳入她的专辑中.而且,Howard所挑选的标准水平更印证了她超凡的音乐才华.
She did Billie Holiday songs because Miki Howard loved Billie Holiday. Still, Howard left the beaten path when she went looking for a standard to record on her debut album. No "Misty" or "Solitude" or "Someone to Watch Over Me" or any of those great songs that have been done to death. She went and found the overlooked gem "Imagination," fought the suits to get the tune included on the record and released the song as a single. Yes, Howard actually got urban radio programmers to play a song that included the phrase "willy nilly." So, if you wonder where Howard gets sassiness and guts to sing tunes such as "Beer for Breakfast," and "She" on Private Collection, her latest album, now you know.
Miki Howard唱Billie Holiday的歌曲是因为她喜欢Billie Holiday.然而,她为了追寻一个新标准来录制她的首张专辑而不走传统老路.她放弃如"Misty" 或 "Solitude" 或 "Someone to Watch Over Me" 或任何这些已被重唱了无数次的经典老歌.她找到被忽略的佳作"Imagination",通过打官司成功把该曲纳入专辑,而且还发行单曲.是的,Howard 还真的让城市广播台主持人播放一首歌,其中就有一句“不管你愿意与否”.因此,如果你纳闷Howard是从那里找到活力与勇气在她的最新专辑Private Collection 中演唱歌曲如"Beer for Breakfast" 及 "She",现在你知道了.
【英语牛人团】