Alive! (Grant Green album)

Alive! is an album by American jazz guitarist Grant Green featuring a performance recorded at the Cliche Lounge in Newark, New Jersey in 1970 and released on the Blue Note label. The album was Green's first official live recording. The CD reissue added three bonus tracks.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Steve Huey awarded the album 4 stars and stated "Alive! is the hardest funk LP Grant Green recorded during the later phase of his career... this is the most convincing and consistent Green had been as a funkster and, while nearly all of his albums from the early '70s feature at least some worthwhile material for acid jazz and beat-sampling junkies, Alive! is probably the best place to start".

Track listing

Alive (Ed Kowalczyk album)

Alive is the debut solo album by former Live lead singer Ed Kowalczyk.

History

Kowalczyk entered the studio in early 2010 to record material that he began writing in 2008. He wrote songs for Alive with an acoustic guitar, as he had when he wrote for Live.

The lyrics on Alive feature much religious and spiritual imagery. Kowalczyk's acknowledgement of his faith is much more explicit on this album than it was on his work with Live. The album entered Billboard's Christian albums chart at number six.

The album entered the charts in the Netherlands, debuting at number four on the Dutch albums chart. It has also charted in the United States, Belgium, and Australia.

Track listing

All songs written by Ed Kowalczyk, except where noted

Alive (Natalie Bassingthwaighte song)

"Alive" is the debut solo single by Australian recording artist and actress Natalie Bassingthwaighte. It was released on 14 October 2008, as the first single from her debut solo album 1000 Stars. The song's musical-genre is pop and its lyrics describe being free, taking chances and making love. Upon its release, "Alive" peaked at number eight on the ARIA Singles Chart and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association for sales exceeding 70,000 copies.

"Alive" was written by Bassingthwaighte, Arnthor Birgisson and Andrew Frampton in Los Angeles, during the last week Bassingthwaighte was writing songs for 1000 Stars. It was also her last writing session with Birgisson and Frampton. Bassingthwaighte stated that it was really hard to write "Alive" because they wanted to write something that was "just fun" because she felt a song like that was missing from the album. The music video was directed by Anthony Rose and features Bassingthwaighte dressed in multiple outfits and wigs.

Praise

Praise refers to positive evaluations made by a person of another's products, performances, or attributes, where the evaluator presumes the validity of the standards on which the evaluation is based. The influence of praise on an individual can depend on many factors, including the context, the meanings the praise may convey, and the characteristics and interpretations of the recipient. Praise is distinct from acknowledgement or feedback, which are more neutral forms of recognition, and encouragement, which is more future oriented. In addition, while praise may share some predictive relationships (both positive and negative) with tangible rewards, praise tends to be less salient and expected, conveys more information about competence, and is typically given more immediately after the desired behavior.

As behavioral reinforcement

The concept of praise as a means of behavioral reinforcement is rooted in B.F. Skinner's model of operant conditioning. Through this lens, praise has been viewed as a means of positive reinforcement, wherein an observed behavior is made more likely to occur by contingently praising said behavior. Hundreds of studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of praise in promoting positive behaviors, notably in the study of teacher and parent use of praise on child in promoting improved behavior and academic performance, but also in the study of work performance. Praise has also been demonstrated to reinforce positive behaviors in non-praised adjacent individuals (such as a classmate of the praise recipient) through vicarious reinforcement. Praise may be more or less effective in changing behavior depending on its form, content and delivery. In order for praise to effect positive behavior change, it much be contingent on the positive behavior (i.e., only administered after the targeted behavior is enacted), must specify the particulars of the behavior that is to be reinforced, and must be delivered sincerely and credibly.

Praise (Marvin Gaye song)

"Praise" is a 1981 gospel-inspired funk number released by American soul singer Marvin Gaye. The song, written by Gaye, is a tribute to not only his church upbringing but also to the sound of then-label mate Stevie Wonder, who is given a shout out on the song by Gaye.

The song, equipped with horns, a propulsive drum beat, and Gaye's multi-layered vocals, returned Gaye to the top forty of Billboard's Black singles chart where it peaked at number 18 on that chart while reaching #101 on Billboard's Bubbling Under the Hot 100. It was the actual first release off Gaye's controversial recording, In Our Lifetime.

The song was originally recorded in 1979 under the title "A Lover's Plea" from the singer's shelved Love Man album.

Personnel

Praise (band)

Praise were an English new-age music group formed in London in 1991, comprising Geoff MacCormack, Simon Goldenberg and Miriam Stockley. The group was considered to be foundational in the genre of ethnic electronica.

Praise released one self-titled album in 1991, which was produced, engineered and mixed by Richard James Burgess. Praise combined European dance beats with a variety of traditional world samples and styles along with Miriam Stockley's vocals, in a manner that was continued by artists such as Enigma, Deep Forest and Adiemus (which also featured Stockley's vocals). The tracks segue using soundscape elements, and the album was one of the few ever to be mixed using Qsound which provided virtual surround sound out of a pair of stereo speakers. MacCormack and Goldenberg arranged and performed many of the instrumental parts, the latter providing the necessary computer programming. Stockley arranged and performed the lead and many backing vocals. All three have writing credits for Praise, and were supplemented by other specialised world performers.