Jill Scott - Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds, Vol. 1
|
List Price: Our Price: $8.02 You Save: $5.96 (43%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $4.72 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds, Vol. 1
Free Music Review: Jill Scott, Where have you been?
Hit: 5 Stars
First of all, let me tell you that I would give this CD 10 stars if I could. When I put this CD in my stereo and gave it a quality listen, three CDs came to my mind right away. Adriana Evans' debut CD on Loud Records, Amel Larrieux's "Infinite Possibilities" and Erykah Badu's "Baduizm". Two amazon.com reviewers "Deldrick" and "Tony" told me to get this CD a long time ago and I just recently decided to follow their advice. This is the best CD of the year 2000. The album has a Roots vibe to it. The beats sound like something they would have put together but the production is primarily handled by Jazzy Jeff, (yes the same Jazzy Jeff of Fresh Prince fame), and other members of A Touch Of Jazz Productions. From there Jill Scott takes matters into her own hands. This is one of the most creative CDs I have ever heard. Jill Scott has an excellent way of presenting her vocals and her spoken word songs as well. She will remind a lot of people of Erykah Badu, which is a compliment, but Jill Scott does everything in her own way. The stand out tracks are "Do You Remember", "The Way", "He Loves Me" (Lyzel In E Flat) , "A Long Walk", "Slowly Surely", "Love Rain", etc. When this CD is in the stereo, you can ignore the fast forward button. If you haven't already, you should make it a point to buy this CD. The vibe will take you just like it did me. I recommend this CD to anyone that likes Erykah Badu, Eric Benet, D'Angelo or Chico DeBarge. This is the best current R&B CD out right now.Free Music Review: A Five-Star Review Out of Respect
Hit: 5 Stars
I don't love every song on this album, but there are so many that I DO enjoy and enjoy to such a degree that I feel like it deserves a five-star review, anyway--out of respect for what it is, if not because I enjoy its every nuance.It's a great album, full of intensely real images (something I love in both literature and music--two things Jill blends beautifully in the lyrics and musical arrangements of the songs here) invoked by the very down-to-earth words of the songs found here. "He Loves Me (Lyzel in E Flat)" has (in addition to its emotionally complex, yet simple-sounding lyrics and beautifully crisp images typical of most of the songs on this album) some great electronic as well as jazzy musical effects. "Do You Remember," "Exclusively," "Gettin' in the Way" and "The Way" are also quite notable for beautifully simple, real-sounding lyrics that I love about the songs on this album. Her sound is very real, smooth and distinctly urban in its feel. Her songs are about life--about the moment you get out of bed in the morning to the moment you go to sleep at night; about life in the city, life in love, life with friends. They're things that practically everybody can relate to and appreciate in their naturally varying degrees of simplicty and complexity. And they're spoken in a voice that is natural and everyday--nothing flowery or vague here.
I think this is definitely up there on my list of favorite albums of all time and if you enjoy smooth, urban, R&B, jazzy, electronic sounds, then I'm pretty sure that it will be up there on yours, as well.
Free Music Review: Debuts Don't Come Much Better Than This (5 Stars)
Hit: 5 Stars
Remember how your parents used to throw some oldies on during the weekend and just mellow out? Or when they talked about how music from their era was so much better than the stuff out now? Well, I'd have to say that "Who Is Jill Scott: Words And Sounds Vol. 1" is one of those albums. We'll be talking about this album when we're in our late 40's or early 50's. When our kids put on their music and we cringe as they dance, this will be one of the albums that we take out and show them as we fuss at them about what real music is. Jill Scott's debut LP is a work of art. In an age where most R&B acts are only covering a short range of topics (sex, adultery, ghetto tales, or money), Jill decided to take the high road. As I exit my 20's and enter my 30's (I'm only 27), I find myself looking for music that isn't so in-your-face and sleezy. I'm starting to gain an appreciation for the tasteful stuff. This album is tasteful, refreshing, amazing, and flawless. The scary thing is that when you make an album of this caliber, fans will want more and it has to be just as good or better than the first. After I write this review, I'm heading over to my local music outlet and getting her new CD, hopefully she steps up to the challenge. She will always have this debut album though. There isn't a thing wrong with this CD and you can't say anything bad about it. Jill has outdone herself with this album. 5 stars. This is great stuff.
Standout Tracks: The entire album stands out.
Free Music Review: 3 years later it's just as fresh
Hit: 5 Stars
Prior to buying this CD, I felt that the state of music, especially R&B/hip hop, was so abysmal that I had not purchased new works of music for several years. Instead, I explored works by artists from the 60s and 70s or bought reissues of stuff that I previously had on cassettes. I had pretty much given up on contemporary radio. But on a leap of faith and strong word of mouth three years ago, I took a chance and bought Who Is Jill Scott?Starting with the Jilltro, I knew that this was something special. This CD stayed in my player for months at a time and I never got tired of it. Finally, R&B/hip hop that was intelligent and adult and deviated from the standard of juvenile "sex you up/down" lyrics. Don't misunderstand, Jill sings of sex, most particularly in Exclusively, but it's sensual, witty and was obviously written with more than the beats or a video concept in mind.
My favorite cuts on this CD change periodically but standouts include A Long Walk, The Way, Honey Molasses, Love Rain and Slowly, Surely. I've watched folks young as 10 (just skip over the racy stuff) to as old as 60 groove to this music. This brings to mind the music of the 70s when artists such as Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Curtis Mayfield were at their peak.
I still think of lot of today's music in the R&B genre is garbage and dumbs down the audience, particularly what they play on the radio. But every once in a while a gem like this comes along and gives me hope that the situation will improve.
Free Music Review: Can't get enough of Jilly from Philly
Hit: 5 Stars
I remember seeing this album in my local record shop and wondering, "Just who is Jill Scott?" My curiosity got the better of me and I purchased it in blind faith, hoping it wouldn't be just "another" R&B album which I would listen to once and never play again. Boy was I ever pleasantly surprised!!!!
I constantly played this album over and over again (my poor neighbors) and loved every song on the album. I never took it out of my CD player.
Long Walk turned out to be one of my favorite songs as I just couldn't get enough of the opening instrumentals of the song - always uplifting after a hard days work. Honey Molasses, another favorite, is oh so buttery smooth it made me proud to be a man of color. Love Rain was a joy to listen to as she demonstrates her ability to take you on a lyrical journey of visual and emotional delight.
Although I have a lot of respect for Eryka Badu and India Arie (notice I won't even include Alicia Keys), I put Jill in a class above them. Jill Scott not only sings soulfully and sweetly but also has a gift of being able to express her feelings better than most singers I have heard -- as one reviewer highlighted from one of her songs, "He me had...had me he...he had me tongue tied" MIND BLOWING!!! I've never heard Alicia Keys come close to expressing herself like that.
I can't wait for the next Jill Scott album, but in the meantime I'll keep playing her album over and over again 'til the cops come knocking.