Apologies for not dwelling on my keyboard exploits but availing myself of the opportunity to share with you a video that sends shivers down my spine. May I introduce to you singer Dana Winner from Belgium. she has been around the block for 25 years or more and has only gained celebrity in Holland, Belgium and South Africa, although her star is rising. She has a stellar voice, great pathos,matchless microphone technique and is also a very attractive woman to boot. She sings in six or seven languages both covers and original material, as a matter of fact she has just released her brand new album this week.
The link below is to a recent performance on a Belgian tv show in which artists perform in front of colleague artists. You will know this song in its original version by whitney Houston but imho this version is priceless. I know very few female singers, if any, who can emulate her performances. If you have gotten curious checke her out on youtube as there are many performances of her in several languages.....
Enjoy !

regards,
John Smies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb6AW00DgTI

WOW!!

Damn, I got touched and tears in my eyes........ most be the age.

Beautiful.

Fantastic. She really brings out the meaning of the lyrics.

Very nice performance,
However, sometimes a songs lyrics, melody and arrangement can evoke the "shiver" you mention. Whitney can remain at rest knowing no one, so far, can top her performance
Frank

I have to be honest although a very nice performance cover and I applaud her for attempting a classic Whitney Houston Song like this which IMO can never be topped..
Thank you for sharing John good stuff great song..

Forgive me Lord, but I have to agree with Donny on this .

chas

Oh boy are your national feelings flaring up

It was not meant to illustrate that she is better or worse than , in this instance, Whitney Houston, but just to show how good a singer she is. And if you do want a comparison made I would reckon she is much more versatile an artist than Whitney ever was. I will include a link below to a full length live performance of her. True it was in 2006 but she has only gotten better. If you guys have the stomach for it ( and the audio and video equipment to do her justice) just sit down for an hour and a half and let it run home. Most of it will be in Dutch and English but will bring home that what I wanted to share with you in the first place: a brilliant voice, a consummate professional artist, tremendously versatile and good looking to boot, though the latter is a matter of taste admittedly. In short, had she been born and discovered as a singer in either the UK or the US of A she would have shared the stage with the likes of Whitney, Streisand, you name it !!!!

regards
John

live show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyhQ6YVrdGc

The young lady did something that Houston could not...she could sell the song..Houston could not sing naked like this young lady...Houston needed all the studio production tools.I can recall her trying a live venue and it was a disaster..

1,2, cha, cha, cha,

Whitney Houston undoubtedly live in 1994:

like this Fran?..

Does EVERYTHING have to end up in a pissing contest ...

I totally agree. But the upper two Whitney Houston videos were not posted as a "contest" but as a reaction to the statement that she had problems singing live.

The point I was making is she could sell a song ....consider other artist like Elvis Presley Dean Martin Eva Cassidy they could sell a song

Here on SZ, we have Don Mason...maybe this will give you guys a better understanding.

A look-a-like for Lori Morgan, the country singer.

naked enough Fran?..just sayin' this is how you sell a song....great singers move people..
WOW what control & what an ending too!



anyway what this have to do with Arranger keyboards ....

[obsolete now, as DNJ has edited his post]

Hey Fran, you know I luv' you so you know I'm not trying to start a pissin' contest, but REALLY! Saying Whitney can't sell a song is like saying Rembrandt can't produce art without a 'paint-by-numbers' coloring book. I mean, the woman is a legend, with a once in a lifetime voice, and with some performances that will be imitated, admired, and endure until the end of time. Sure, towards the end, drugs and alcohol took their toll and it's sad that some people choose to remember that sad period rather than the brilliant career that few artists achieve.

When you take into account the subjectiveness of (opinions of) music, it's not possible for any individual to say which artist is better than another, so what we generally accept as 'truth' is what the plurality of people say. I listened to this lady very carefully and had I been asked to describe her, I would probably have used a term like 'pleasant'. In fact, I was more impressed by the smoothness of her skin (at her age). But that's just MY opinion. What it comes down to is, if that's your 'cup of tea', then that's who you should be listening to for your enjoyment and possibly taking your musical cues from. Me, I'd rather hear Joe Cocker sing 'You are so Beautiful' (which might actually make you throw up ), but that just goes to show how different artist affect different people.

Truth is, I consider this young lady more of a 'stylist' than a pure 'singer'. Sarah Vaughn was a singer, Billy Holiday was a stylist; Aretha is a singer, Gloria Lynne is a singer, Shirley Horn is a sytlist, Carmen McRae is a stylist. Hope you see what I'm trying to say here. No animosity, JMO.

chas

And a good morning to you !!!

Just got up to find 11 more reactions to my entry on Dana Winner.
I refrained from using the term "pissing contest" myself, a/ because it is not a very uplifting term ( no joke intended) and b/ I was afraid that by even mentioning the word it might become just that.

I was in no way trying to belittle the achievements, voice, or whatever of the late Whitney Houston but merely trying to bring to your attention the incredible vocal merits of this "young lady "( actually 51 now) from Flanders in Belgium.
And the fact that had she been born in your country or the UK she would in all likelyhood have been a big star.

Wonder how much of you actually find or will find time to watch the entire concert , the link to which I included in my last posting.

And yes Donny this has no bearings on arranger keyboards at least not directly. ( although it has some affinity with my other new thread on Arrangements, q.v.). But then I have seen folks here elaborating on American soccer, fishing, yachting and God knows what other diversion or temptation in life At least give me credit for staying close to the MUSIC.

kind regards,
JOhn

Wooops, who said that?

Just as the diversity of using an arranger KB to create kinds of styles of music in so many ways here in this discussion we can also see how different we all are in what we like & enjoy or dislike in musical tastes too,...no right or wrong just differences in opinions....

On of the points John makes is that she is not known outside her own country. Perhaps Adele; Jessie J; Leona Lewis; Amy Winehouse; and Katie Melua amongst others were advantaged by going to London's Brit School - http://www.brit.croydon.sch.uk/ - where they developed their undoubted skills.

John, she has an absolutely beautiful voice and she delivers her songs with a great deal of passion and emotion. Thanks for posting the link.

Gary

I can't say anything negative about this singer Dana Winner, she has a very good voice, hits the high notes perfectly and also has quite an expression in her voice. Personally, it doesn't make me shiver like some other singers would, but that remains a personal thing who really touches you and who doesn't.
I just doubt the thesis that the fact she lives in te Netherlands prevented her from getting famous worldwide. Other Dutch people got very famous e.g. in Germany and also worldwide, and nowadays with our media it's less a problem than any time before to overcome geographical "restrictions".
BTW, mentioning Katie Melua... I personally think that her voice is so unique and extremely expressive that she simply had to become famous no matter she is originally from, I think, Georgia. My very personal opinion is that Katie Melua has a more "unique" voice than Dana Winner, who I could mistake for a different singer more easily if she were played on the radio. (Again, just a personal perception).

But we can certainly agree on the fact that some musicians get famous mainly because they are lucky and encounter the ideal conditions while others have more talent and less luck.

John said she came originally from Belgium which is what led me to that thesis.

she is from Belgium. As you may know or not know Belgium is split up in the northern half ( Flanders) whose native tongue is Dutch ( in a nice way) and the southern half ( Wallony) speak French. So Dana Winner is definitely not Dutch and much as she likes performing in Holland would probably feel offended being called Dutch. If you take into account the Dutch speaking population of Belgium + the Netherlands we are talking roughly about 20 million people whose mother tongue is Dutch. You can imagine that internationally speaking one would not come very far with our language. If you watch her concert the link of which I gave you here you will notice that she sings immaculately in German, Spanish, French and Dutch and pretty darn good in English as well.
Thank you guys for your feedback by the way. I guess I got carried away somewhat because I think she is like a good wine.
Maturing and getting better and better with age. She is 51 now.

regards,
John

I think someone is smitten. Does the wifey know?

chas

51! WOW! She doesn't look any older than 35 at most - I would have never guessed 51. But, as Chas can tell you, at our age, everyone under 60 looks young.

All the best,

Gary

makeup does wonders...just sayin..

Trying some Dutch:

"Wat opmaak uitmaken kan..."

Donny, that ain't makeup, my friend - that's just pure beauty, which seems to be prevalent in that part of the world. Must have something to do with the cold weather.

When I was in Copenhagen and Oslow, I was just a 18-year-old kid. The 25 to 30 year old gals I met in the bars and clubs looked like they were 14 year olds. And, the vast majority had beautiful blonde hair and exotic blue eyes. Those were the days my friend.

All the best,

Gary

It really doesn't matter who done it first this was a great performance it touched my nerve ends well done that girl

John, THANKS! Really shows that talent is diverse. She is different and FABULOUS!

What a treat!


R.

She does Chas and she is jealous allright.........of the fact that Dana is exactly three DAYS younger than she is. But she enjoys her performances all the same

Thank you guys for your great feedback and for those who have not yet seen the full concert here is once more the youtube link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyhQ6YVrdGc


regards,
John