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Introducing Sunny & Her Joy Boys
Sunny & Her Joy Boys
Introducing Sunny & Her Joy Boys
Genres: Blues, Jazz, Pop
 
  •  Track Listings (14) - Disc #1

Introducing Sunny and Her Joy Boys is the debut CD from singer Sunny Crownover, backed by a band led by acclaimed guitarist/producer Duke Robillard. — Introducing Sunny and Her Joy Boys is the brainchild of award-winning gu...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Sunny & Her Joy Boys
Title: Introducing Sunny & Her Joy Boys
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Stony Plain Music
Original Release Date: 1/1/2009
Re-Release Date: 3/24/2009
Album Type: Enhanced
Genres: Blues, Jazz, Pop
Style: Swing Jazz
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 772532134125

Synopsis

Product Description
Introducing Sunny and Her Joy Boys is the debut CD from singer Sunny Crownover, backed by a band led by acclaimed guitarist/producer Duke Robillard.

Introducing Sunny and Her Joy Boys is the brainchild of award-winning guitarist and producer Duke Robillard, and debuts the stunning voice of Sunny Crownover, whose beautiful interpretations of these tunes from the Great American Songbook are nothing less than a revelation. Sunny spent a large part of her life in the Dallas/Fort Worth/Austin area and is now based in New England. Robillard heard her sing for the first time in late 2007 at a Harvard University concert and knew he'd found the voice he was looking for to bring a project to life he'd been wanting to do for over 35 years.

That project became Introducing Sunny and Her Joy Boys, a CD that salutes the golden era of women vocalists of the '20s through the '50s, where big bands and small combos alike created classic American pop, swing and blues songs of the day. Robillard assembled a small all-acoustic group to provide sympathetic backing to Crownover's voice, with the talented Billy Novick on clarinet and alto saxophone, Duke and Paul Kalesnikow on arch top guitars and Jesse Williams on acoustic bass. Many of the tracks were done in one take, a testament to the chemistry between the singer and band.

Robillard delved into his encyclopedic knowledge of this music and put together an amazing group of songs that complement both Crownover's voice and also play to the band's musical strengths and sterling arrangements. Included are gems from the pens of such classic jazz and swing composers as Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn and Chick Webb, to Tin Pan Alley legends Harold Arlen, Ned Washington and Victor Young.

Some of the album's many highlights are the opener, "Strictly from Dixie," originally popularized by Ella Fitzgerald; Walter Donaldson's "You're Driving Me Crazy;" the bluesy ballad, "That's My Desire;" the classic "Between the Devil and the Deep Blues Sea;" the gorgeous Ellington/Strayhorn composition, "I Don't Mind;" Billy Holiday's "Travelin' All Alone;" the seminal Ellington ballad, "I Got It Bad (and that Ain't Good);" and another great Chick Webb/Ella Fitzgerald hit, "Undecided."

This enhanced CD also includes a video performance of the album track, "You're My Thrill," playable on most computer CD players.

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CD Reviews

Great swinging 1940s girl night club singer album!
ilukens | Rhode Island, USA | 02/10/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)

"I saw duke robillard and sonny crownover a few days ago (early Feb 2010) at Chans in Woonsocket RI and they performed songs from this album. Then I bought the CD in the lobby and have been playing it constantly. I love this album! Its a great modern take on the swinging girl jazz night club singer style of the 1930s and 1940s. Its upbeat and sassy and great to dance to and the clarinet and guitar solos are just beautiful. Sonny Crownover is a winning and sophisticated singer with a lovely and pure voice who puts these "fun" songs across with a lot of humor, personality and charm. It is appropriate that her name is sonny because these songs-- and the whole album-- is sunny and good-timey. Her singing is relaxed and clear and lilting over the energetic swing background but she gets the jazz inflections right and swings enough to bring these standards to life. It really brings back all those great movies from the 1940s with the sleek nightclub singer. Duke's guitar playing is impeccable and the little combo he has gathered together-- the stand up bass, drums, clarinet etc. is perfect-- it swings, its high energy, it sounds authentic and all the parts are just really tasty."