It Will All Make Sense In The End 🔄
It Will All Make Sense In The End 🔄
Shuffle Sundays #45 • Laura Mvula, Shuffle Guest Andrew Paul Neesley, Laura Zalenga, & more!
Hello and welcome to Shuffle Sundays, a weekly newsletter with music recommendations to help you find your next obsession.
This week we’re listening to a sexy new album that draws inspiration from the best pop music from the 80s, learning more and getting recommendations from this week’s Shuffle Guest, feeling inspired by portrait photography, checking out some new music released this past week and more. Enjoy the read!
🎧 Soundtrack: Jónsi - Obsidian
💽 » Laura Mvula - Pink Noise
r&b, soul • 10 songs • 38 minutes
Pink Noise is the third studio album from English singer Laura Mvula, released a few months ago on July 2nd. It is such a mature record, that sometimes is hard to believe that it’s only the third, in her almost decade-long career. Apple Music describes Pink Noise as a “sexy” album, and I couldn’t agree more. From the opening with Safe Passage to the closing with Before The Dawn, Mvula throws us into a world that dives into the pop music of the 80s but, instead of feeling dated, it serves as a delicious nostalgia and a big homage to the artists of that era, which you should easily recognize right away. In times where most artists are revisiting disco music or trying (too hard) to sound like The Weeknd, it’s refreshing to listen to an album that feels safe while exploring its own identities.
Listen on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube
📣 » Shuffle Guest: Andrew Paul Neesley
Back to inviting guests here since I announced the transition 4 months ago, today I’m bringing the multi-faceted Andrew Paul Neesley with some personal recommendations to you. Hope you enjoy!
🗣 » Tell us a bit about yourself.
My name is Andrew Paul Neesley, and I’m a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and performer known primarily as a trumpet player. I’ve played and recorded with a wide variety of iconic artists, from Lady Gaga and The Roots to James Taylor and Chris Botti, and in a diverse mix of bands, including NYC favorite Jesus On The Mainline and Nees and Vos with Chris Vos of The Record Company. After a successful career performing extensively and contributing to various Grammy-nominated albums, I’ve spent 2020’s quarantine honing my guitar skills and developing new music for my solo debut as Andrew Paul.
👨🏻🎤 » A recent album/artist that you discovered and you can't stop listening to?
This one got me. I must listen to certain music as a matter of course for my various working musician gigs. Lately, I had to memorize “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!)” by Blu Cantrell. My listening habits are often heavily skewed. Having said that, here are a few nuggets I can’t get out of my head. I’m either late to every party, extremely early, or have no idea I’m at the party in the first place (so to speak.). Judge accordingly.
🥁 » The best concert you have ever attended?
Big question! I’ve heard incredible performances in my life. A few come to mind immediately:
Dawn Upshaw with Maria Schneider: During Winter Morning Walks recording sessions I was bouncing around helping out. I designed a number of Maria’s albums, and this was one. One afternoon I sat down to listen to Dawn sing. I was well aware of both Maria’s and Dawn’s genius, but something that afternoon resonated deeply. A profound musical statement was being given. I can’t quite put it into words, but I’ve described it as angelic.
Anything Brass Band of Battle Creek: My father played in a legendary English-style brass band. Much of my youth experience in the business came from the BBBC—I have a zillion experiences from that ensemble. From listening to Vince DiMartino and Danny Barber crush “Sing, Sing Sing” or Steve Mead serenade on “When Jesus Wept”, or any number of experiences in between… simply put, some of the best brass musicians to ever touch their instruments. I was lucky to have an arrangement of mine played while I soloed alongside Wycliffe Gordon.
Walter Smith III: MSM gave a concert at Jazz Standard and the band was playing rep music. Walter was so swinging… I’ve heard many examples of genius. That was one of them. Simply swinging.
Jason Isbell: I’ve seen Jason a handful of times. The night I recall is from The Beacon. He didn’t have much flash. Only a great band, playing great songs. That’s is all you need. Nothing else. Around the golden ratio point of the show, he hits a guitar solo. All he needed to pump it up a notch was to step five feet forward into a spotlight. No fireworks, no flash, no-nonsense. It blew your hair back.
Lady Gaga: I was playing keyboards for a friend at Gramercy Theater. Him being friends with Gaga, I knew there was a chance she’d show up. I feel a microphone whiz past my head. I look up and sure enough there she is whipping a mic around and working the crowd. There was a lot of boozing and partying that night. But damn… the force of her voice was to be respected.
💽 » The first album you remember buying it. Do you still enjoy it?
Blue Train by John Coltrane. Writing "I still enjoy it" doesn’t scratch the surface. It informed the entirety of my initial jazz composing, alongside Slide Hampton and Mike Mossman. It did for many. Those voicings are classic sounds. There isn’t a week where I find myself daydreaming and don’t have a Lee Morgan (trumpet) solo from Blue Train pop into my head. I spoke to Curtis Fuller (trombone) about the album during a college residency at Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead at The Kennedy Center. It was a surreal experience to hear about that session from the horse’s mouth; he knew immediately how much I loved those sounds when he heard my own writing.
🤔 » If you could only listen to one album for the rest of your life, which one would it be and why?
Uff da. Another big one! I don’t think I could live without Joshua Bell’s Presenting Joshua Bell. It’s part nostalgia, part very deep musical connection, part emotional connection… His playing, and those compositions, changed my life. The album opens with 11 seconds of silence—it’s stirring every time I put it on.
🔗 » Where can people find more about you/your work?
Instagram: https://andrw.pl/IG
Email List: https://andrw.pl/list
⚡️ » Visual Inspiration
Laura Zalenga is a German-based Photographer specializing in portraits and self-portraits full of dramatic surrealism and visual poetry. Check out her website or Instagram for more. Here are some favorites:
🎶 » New Music
This week’s new albums I'm particularly interested in checking out:
Also, new singles from Charli XCX, Castello Branco, Silk Sonic, alt-J, Green Day, and many more. If you’re curious to hear some of these songs and more, make sure to follow my 2021 playlist on Spotify, updated weekly with new releases:
👋🏼 See you next Sunday!
My name is Leo Mascaro and you are receiving this email because you signed up for Shuffle Sundays, a weekly publication that aims to bring music recommendations for people who feel overwhelmed with so much content out there, helping you find your next favorite artist, album, genre, and more. If this email was forwarded to you, subscribe using the box below:
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