Nice To Be Compared to Bjork and Kate Bush

Grateful for Mark Saleski's new review! I really enjoyed being likened to "nonstandard" singers like Bjork and Kate Bush but contrasted with them because of not seeming initially strange or inaccessible.

Plus he calls the CD sexy, funny, spiritually uplifting, evocative and more: "On 'The Poetry Of Groove,' Lisa B takes her spoken word beautifully sung excursions and wraps them up in a bunch of snazzy grooves that vary from hip-hop to slinky jazzification."

Check it out! http://blogcritics.org/music/article/music-review-lisa-b-the-poetry/

It's so good to have someone (else) get the record and describe it so articulately and entertainingly! I'm thankful.

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www.itunes.com/lisab
www.cdbaby.com/Artist/LisaBLisaBernstein
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Winter Solstice

Today is the Winter Solstice, the year's shortest day. A magic day that's the foundation of all winter holidays.

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"I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of inflections
Or the beauty of innuendoes,
The blackbird whistling
Or just after."

And

"When the blackbird flew out of sight,
It marked the edge
Of one of many circles."

--From Wallace Stevens, "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird"


Enjoy your many magic circles.

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www.itunes.com/lisab
www.cdbaby.com/Artist/LisaBLisaBernstein
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Focus on "The Poetry of Groove"'s Spiritual Content in Amazon Review by blogger/journalist Michael E. Ross

I was grateful to be reviewed by blogger/journalist Michael E. Ross on Amazon, and especially pleased by the fact that he focused on the CD's spiritual content:

“On ‘The Poetry of Groove,’… Lisa's signature alto, by turns smoky and lapidary, awakens us to her spiritual travels with infectious rhythms and witticisms that are seductively inviting…

She brings a refreshingly maverick cadence to the spoken-word experience...

In ‘The Poetry of Groove’ and ‘Get the Signal,’ Lisa explores the record's central themes: a call to spiritualism and more reliance on our deeper, more humanistic inclinations. But this ain't no lecture: Lisa brings the musical passion behind her spiritual manifesto… with her love of jazz, Latin rhythm and hip-hop's lyric sensibilities...

The remix of ‘Virtual Kiss’ [has]… nothing missing in terms of its nervous, thoroughly modern dissonance. Hearing it today, more than 10 years after the first version, Lisa's lyrics ring eerily prophetic; this clever take on the persistence of technology and how the ways of the heart struggle to rise in a digital, cubicled world has more pertinence now than it did a dozen years ago.

Lisa's inclusion of a remastered version of ‘Night and Day’ (from ‘What's New, Pussycat?’) may be the best distillation of where she's at as a singer and, more basically, as an evolving artist. This combination of a faithful vocal reading of the Cole Porter classic with her own feline-inspired poetic interpolation remains a reminder of what makes her so fiercely original.

…the jazzy-chill edit of the title track, which closes the album…[w]ith its lush string accents and a deft balance of vocal and instrumental prowess… shapes up as the perfect closing statement… on an album that capably and joyously brings the talents of a true musical iconoclast front and center again.”

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www.itunes.com/lisab
www.cdbaby.com/Artist/LisaBLisaBernstein
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Great New Reviews for "The Poetry of Groove"!

Really happy about the new reviews that have come in! Here are excerpts:

Chris Spector, Midwest Record:

Three years ago, B established herself as our fave Catwoman since Julie Newmar and now we find her moving back to her writer self and bringing her poetry slam side to the fore. Much more Jill Scott than Rod McKuen, B continues to ride the progressive tip with a creative abandon that makes it seem easy to break convention and get away with it. As sexy as you can sound without being a ...70s diva."

http://midwestrecord.com/MWR123.html

I Hear Sparks column by Jordan Richardson, blogcritics.com, December 2, 2009:

Funky, fresh and sexy as all hell, Lisa B’s The Poetry of Groove is an impressive collection of remixes and new pieces… seamless blending of jazz, hip-hop, soul, spoken word and popular music. Her approach to her craft is invigorating… an artist excited to take risks and make moves that other artists might stray from....it’s a mischievous and blistering compilation of work that forms the perfect vibe to warm up a cold winter’s night.

"Lisa B’s command of lyricism is manifest with each piece… [She] paints pictures… to tell entire stories.

"The title track… 'Jazzy Chill Mix' starts the record off with polished beats and Lisa B’s spoken word vocals. She’s alluring, venturing through various tones and moods throughout the course of the song… while the 'House Mix' packs in a danceable beat.

" 'Be Electric (Electronica Remix)' is a sophisticated, sleek cut that makes great use out of Lisa’s hushed, breathy tones and funky witticisms. The remastered 'Trane’s Ride (Naima)' is my favourite song on the record. It uses Coltrane’s piece to underline Lisa’s deeply seductive lyrics… [On} 'Get the Signal' and 'Virtual Kiss'...she shows off her jazz pipes, gracefully dancing through various tones and moods with delight and style...

The Poetry of Groove is a sexy and exciting collection of tunes from one of the most daring and deft performers I’ve come across in a while."

http://blogcritics.org/music/article/i-hear-sparks-lisa-b-the/

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www.itunes.com/lisab
www.cdbaby.com/Artist/LisaBLisaBernstein
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For National Diabetes Month: Still Savoring the Peach (and Even the Peach Pie)

Self magazine asked for a piece a few months back about my diabetes and how it relates to my intuitive healing work and my singing – in fewer than 500 words. The editor loved it, 100% committed to run it in the October issue, and gave me the go-ahead to announce the publication on Facebook, etc. Then the publisher cut it before the mag went to press because of reduced ads and fewer pages. But I didn't want the piece, written in Self's rather breezy style, to go to waste.

Diabetes has been a great teacher as well as a challenge and offers much more to write about. Here's a start.

Still Savoring the Peach (and Even the Peach Pie)

I thought constant exhaustion and hunger was just the price of being an adult. After worrying throughout high school about my weight, it was a relief to eat twice as much as my 6-foot-2, 200-pound boyfriend and get even thinner. I didn’t pay much attention to my persistent thirst and need to pee.

But after four bouts of the flu in four months, I went to the doctor. My blood sugar was 492 milligrams/deciliter, about five times normal. I had type 1, or “juvenile,” diabetes. My body had mysteriously destroyed its ability to make insulin, which I would have to inject for the rest of my life.

I wept. I talked with family and friends. Suddenly, I had to deal with monitoring blood sugar, self-injection, eating the right proportions. But I figured you could have worse diseases. Research showed that normal blood-sugar levels help avoid diabetes’ terrifying complications (blindness, kidney failure, cardiovascular problems, infections), and normal blood sugar is within reach – with a great medical team, good nutritionist, effective technology, and endless adjustments.

I felt a strange thrill at the ritual pricking of my fingers. It was a gift to glimpse my mortality daily and yet have tools to stave it off. As I wrote in a poem, I was “grateful to have seen this particular death/and to walk away. I forgive us/this defect, the first defection/to the dissolving silence/trailing me like a cloak.” I became a healthy diabetic.

Diabetes quickly taught me that I was both a self (or spirit) and a body, and the spirit part had to take charge of this delicious, important body. This proved true especially during low-blood-sugar episodes, which caused shakiness, crying, and one frightening blackout.

My new awareness about being spirit/body led me to two gifts. The first was enrolling in a well-respected northern California psychic institute, where I learned to do clairvoyant readings and healings.

The psychic work emboldened me to reach for the second gift: singing. I had already begun writing poetry, but singing was a secret desire that seemed scary and hard. Yet those basic psychic axioms gave me the bravery to start my first vocal class, and another healing, exciting journey.

To keep doing anything well, you need good technique. This means admitting that the body is variable and you are imperfect. Every day is different. Every moment throws you new challenges. But what a relief – you adjust! You stock toolboxes – whether a diabetic toolbox (glucose for lows, insulin for highs, diet, exercise), singing toolbox (relax the throat, do that “meow” exercise, really say the lyrics), or psychic toolbox (imagine a tree trunk grounding you to the planet).

On my new CD, “The Poetry of Groove,” I sing about the joys of the body, and the joy of finding your very own truth through this body, in the moment, day after day. One song is about longing for, and tasting, a peach (and so much more). Another sings, “you can move through what’s broken to what’s you” to “find the flow, the poetry of groove.” Listen, sing along, dance.

After 20-plus years, I’m sick of injecting insulin. And I’m frustrated when the day’s first notes sound scratchy. But so what? I know I can change my sound – and keep unfolding my life.

copyright © 2009 Lisa Bernstein

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www.itunes.com/lisab

www.cdbaby.com/Artist/LisaBLisaBernstein
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Mastick’s Mysterious, Vital Collages

Trundled to downtown Berkeley, Calif., to the art show featuring library employees that closed in early November. What a treat to see Nick Mastick’s collages amid the stacks and computer carrels! In this brightly lit atmosphere, Mastick’s dark yet welcoming pieces shimmered as if from out of time, from the time of the unconscious and its newly mapped geographies. I had seen some of the images online, but in person they resonated with much more depth and presence.

“Anatomy and the Spider’s Web” conveys a vivid vitality and a sense of cosmological connection, with its images of anatomical cutaways, spermatozoa, outer space, spiderwebs, and masks. The smaller “Follow Your Gleam” shows a small shelf of books, knicknacks, dolls, sculpture, and a lurking cat, managing to communicate a sense of booklove with a surrealist inflection, conjuring both homeyness and modernist mystery.

Mastick has been making collages for more than 20 years, and he’s due for a show in a real gallery. Looking for an album cover? Think about commissioning one from Mastick or using one of his pieces. Contact me if you’d like to reach him.

© 2009 Lisa Bernstein

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www.itunes.com/lisab

www.cdbaby.com/Artist/LisaBLisaBernstein

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New Music Video: "The Poetry of Groove"!

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www.itunes.com/lisab
www.cdbaby.com/Artist/LisaBLisaBernstein
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First Charting for "The Poetry of Groove"

Just found out that "The Poetry of Groove" has been on KVMR's Top 10 CMJ Jazz Chart for the past 3 weeks! This is a great station in Nevada City. Tomorrow we're launching a broader radio campaign, to noncommercial and college radio across the country and beyond, with the help of Twin Vision promotion, who also worked my first CD 10 years ago.

Thank you, KVMR folks!

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www.itunes.com/lisab
www.cdbaby.com/Artist/LisaBLisaBernstein
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Lisa B on Grammy Nominating Ballot in 3 Rap Categories: NARAS Members Mail Ballots by 10/2

I'm overjoyed that my new CD and title track "The Poetry of Groove," coproduced and cowriitten with James (Jim) Gardiner of Oakland's Pajama Studios, is on the 52nd Grammy Awards Nominating Ballot for Best Rap Solo Performance, Best Rap Song, and Best Rap Album. I'm honored to be joined by Queen Latifah, Mos Def, and many other exciting artists in this genre.

If you're a NARAS member (or if you're not!), please check it out at http://www.lisabmusic.com/cds_books.html. Or write me and I'll send you the mp3!

If you don't usually vote in the Rap field — if you usually hang in the R&B or Jazz or World or Alternative category — this is your chance to wander over to Rap and cast your vote for something creative that draws from those genres. This jazzy hip-hop CD has reminded listeners of such diverse artists as Gil Scott-Heron, Sade, Bob Dylan, Ani Difranco, Grace Slick, Jill Scott, John Coltrane (one tune is based on "Naima"), and Eric B & Rakim. I'm not kidding! I was a poet first, then a singer who released three CDs in the jazz and jazz-soul vein, but in "The Poetry of Groove" I feel I've found a unified sound that melds both poetry and the groove in a unique and memorable way. It's joyful and rich, playful and deep — or at least I hope you find it that way.

Ballots are due in L.A. (NOT postmarked) Oct. 9, so please mail early. Thanks for your support, and for helping achieve the further small miracle of making me one of the five actual nominees in one of these categories!
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www.itunes.com/lisab
www.cdbaby.com/Artist/LisaBLisaBernstein
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Isley Meets Bacharach

Reveling in the memory of Ronald Isley singing Burt Bacharach on a great CD I re-heard recently, "Here I Am." One of the most moving vocal records in existence. If maple syrup had a heart and sang rich and sweet. With impeccable control. Every word an authentic expression.

Who knew there was so much heartache and depth in Isley, not to mention Bacharach/David? With Bacharach's gorgeous orchestra & arrangements (& piano). Get it!

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www.itunes.com/lisab

www.cdbaby.com/Artist/LisaBLisaBernstein

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