VOA标准英语2011--Muldaur Gifts Fans with Bluesiana Album 'Steady Love'

Muldaur Gifts Fans with Bluesiana Album 'Steady Love'

In 1974, singer Maria Muldaur became an international pop sensation with her hit song “Midnight At The Oasis².” Since then, she’s recorded nearly 40 albums, weaving between blues¹, folk, jazz and gospel. Her latest effort Steady Love falls into a category she calls “bluesiana.”

Muldaur has an encyclopedic knowledge of contemporary music. Her specialty³ is New Orleans rhythm-and-blues, inspired by working with legendary⁴ piano man Dr. John.

“I became addicted⁵ to that just wonderful, rolling, syncopated New Orleans piano style that he and Professor Longhair have done so well," she explains. "And I’d come back off a tour with him and I just really missed that sound. So I made it a prerequisite⁶ that any piano player that played with me had to really bone up on that New Orleans piano sound. That’s about when I coined the phrase “bluesiana.” In the early-‘90s I went down there to record my first album there called Louisiana Love Call. It’s just a very appealing, infectious, soulful kind of music, and it’s just kind of where I live musically.”

Muldaur became an established folk and blues singer with the Jim Kweskin Jug⁷ Band. She released her debut⁸ album in 1973, and, the following year, got her first real taste of fame with “Midnight At The Oasis.”

“It did kind of take me by surprise but it was a very happy surprise," she admits. "All it meant to me was I was nominated for Grammys, the album went gold, eventually platinum⁹ and all that. And it wasn’t just a hit in this country, but it was a big hit worldwide. For some bizarre reason that goofy little song just captured people’s imaginations all over the world, but I went right on doing what I was doing. I thought, ‘Ok, goody, now I can turn even more people on to the music I love.”

While she still performs her signature song on tour, Muldaur is always prepared with new material. It’s obvious her appreciation¹⁰ of the blues hasn’t diminished with time.

“New Orleans grooves¹¹ and rhythms are full of lots of percolating¹² syncopation. It’s just very deep, lively, greasy¹³, swampy¹⁴ kind of rhythms going on," Maldaur says. "Chicago blues are mostly shuffles¹⁵, and Delta¹⁶ blues are usually acoustic¹⁷ sort of stuff that was the blues when the blues first emerged in the rural South before anyone plugged their guitars in.”

Steady Love was recorded in New Orleans and includes tunes¹⁸ by Louisiana natives Percy Mayfield and Bobby Charles, as well as Elvin Bishop¹⁹, Greg Brown and Eric Bibb. Rick Vito’s “I Am Not Alone” is one of a handful of gospel songs featured on the album.

Muldaur and her Red Hot Bluesiana Band wind up their current tour in San Francisco with a Christmas concert on December 7.

1 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

2 oasis   

n.（沙漠中的）绿洲，宜人的地方

参考例句：

• They stopped for the night at an oasis.他们在沙漠中的绿洲停下来过夜。
• The town was an oasis of prosperity in a desert of poverty.该镇是贫穷荒漠中的一块繁荣的“绿洲”。

3 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

4 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

5 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

6 prerequisite   

n.先决条件；adj.作为前提的，必备的

参考例句：

• Stability and unity are a prerequisite to the four modernizations.安定团结是实现四个现代化的前提。
• It is a prerequisite of entry to the profession that you pass the exams.做这一行的先决条件是要通过了有关的考试。

7 jug   

n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂

参考例句：

• He walked along with a jug poised on his head.他头上顶着一个水罐，保持着平衡往前走。
• She filled the jug with fresh water.她将水壶注满了清水。

8 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

9 platinum   

n.白金

参考例句：

• I'll give her a platinum ring.我打算送给她一枚白金戒指。
• Platinum exceeds gold in value.白金的价值高于黄金。

10 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

11 grooves   

n.沟( groove的名词复数 )；槽；老一套；（某种）音乐节奏v.沟( groove的第三人称单数 )；槽；老一套；（某种）音乐节奏

参考例句：

• Wheels leave grooves in a dirt road. 车轮在泥路上留下了凹痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Sliding doors move in grooves. 滑动门在槽沟中移动。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 percolating   

n.渗透v.滤( percolate的现在分词 )；渗透；（思想等）渗透；渗入

参考例句：

• Bubbles simply supply a short cut for the faster-moving percolating gas. 气泡不过是对快速运动的渗透气体提供了一条捷径。 来自辞典例句
• I' ll percolate some coffee, ie make it by percolating. 我去用过滤法煮些咖啡。 来自辞典例句

13 greasy   

adj. 多脂的，油脂的

参考例句：

• He bought a heavy-duty cleanser to clean his greasy oven.昨天他买了强力清洁剂来清洗油污的炉子。
• You loathe the smell of greasy food when you are seasick.当你晕船时，你会厌恶油腻的气味。

14 swampy   

adj.沼泽的，湿地的

参考例句：

• Malaria is still rampant in some swampy regions.疟疾在一些沼泽地区仍很猖獗。
• An ox as grazing in a swampy meadow.一头牛在一块泥泞的草地上吃草。

15 shuffles   

n.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的名词复数 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的第三人称单数 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼

参考例句：

• She shuffles cards expertly, all the guys stare in amazement. 她熟练地洗着牌，爷们都看呆了。 来自互联网
• Fortune shuffles cards, but we discard them. 命运负责洗牌，而出牌的是我们自己。 来自互联网

16 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

17 acoustic   

adj.听觉的，声音的；(乐器)原声的

参考例句：

• The hall has a fine acoustic.这个大厅的传音效果很好。
• Animals use a whole rang of acoustic, visual,and chemical signals in their systems of communication.动物利用各种各样的听觉、视觉和化学信号来进行交流。

18 tunes   

n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• a potpourri of tunes 乐曲集锦
• When things get a bit too much, she simply tunes out temporarily. 碰到事情太棘手时，她干脆暂时撒手不管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。