VOA标准英语2010年-Josh Charles' Debut Album Aims to Help

Singer, songwriter and pianist Josh Charles calls his style of music "Notown," a blend of Motown soul with New Orleans blues¹. Josh is lifting spirits with his debut² album and a song dedicated³ to rebuilding the Crescent City.

No one could be happier than Josh Charles about the release of his first album, Love, Work and Money.  Josh is just happy that he was able to make it at all.  Ironically, on his first attempt to move to New Orleans in 2005, Hurricane Katrina flooded the city and he was forced to evacuate⁴.

Eventually, Josh returned to New Orleans to finish the album, and while he still plans to move there, for now, he is busy touring and playing in and around his current home in New York City.

Josh says all of his influences come together, including the "Notown" sound he nurtured⁵ as a teenager, on his new ten-song collection.      

"I grew up with Motown music in my house," he explains. "My parents are from Detroit, so I grew up with that music.  I love New Orleans R&B, and New Orleans piano is definitely what people know me and my style to be.  But, I also like rock and roll and Stax [Memphis-based record company that specialized⁶ in soul music] and everything.  So, I just made my own gumbo, and 'Love, Work and Money' is a kind of combination of my gumbo."

Included on the album is a remake of Josh's signature song, "Healing Time."  According to Josh, "Healing Time" is not only a tribute to New Orleans in the aftermath of the hurricane, but it's also a tune⁷ people everywhere can relate to.

"When you write a song you just think, 'Well, I've got to write this because I'm feeling it and this is right to me," he says.  "And then you put it out there for the world, and when the world hears it, it takes on a new meaning.  At the time, when 'Healing Time' came out, obviously, I wrote that for the emotional state of the people who were just uprooted⁸ from their homes or lost loved ones or lost their city, and just thinking how much time healing time it would take.  But, our country, our economy and personal people's love lives, everything.  It does have a very universal message."

One of Josh's biggest fans and a key figure in guiding his career is legendary⁹ New Orleans music man Doctor John.  Josh was only 14 when he impressed his soon-to-be mentor¹⁰ with his bluesy¹¹ piano playing.      

"I met him in New Orleans, but after I got into college and moved to New York, that's when I called him up and said, 'I want to learn from you.  I want to hear what you're doing, and I want to talk to you about music.'  He told me at the time he really respected that because it was a hustle," Josh says.  "And, he really liked that because he did the same when he was my age.  He said, 'I did the same thing with Professor Longhair and Fats Domino, and he was producing records at 14 and 15.  He was there at the birth of rock and roll."

Josh is donating the proceeds from the sale of "Healing Time," and a portion of the proceeds from his album Love, Work and Money, towards the rebuilding and restoration of New Orleans through an organization called the Preservation¹² Resource Center.  For more about Josh and the recovery efforts in New Orleans visit his website at joshcharlesmusic.com.
 

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 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。

3 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

4 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

5 nurtured   

养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• She is looking fondly at the plants he had nurtured. 她深情地看着他培育的植物。
• Any latter-day Einstein would still be spotted and nurtured. 任何一个未来的爱因斯坦都会被发现并受到培养。

6 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

7 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

8 uprooted   

v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园

参考例句：

• Many people were uprooted from their homes by the flood. 水灾令许多人背井离乡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The hurricane blew with such force that trees were uprooted. 飓风强烈地刮着，树都被连根拔起了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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。

10 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

11 bluesy   

adj.布鲁斯乐的（一种摇摆乐）

参考例句：

• As a teenager I was obsessed ragtime, and bluesy guitar guys like Johnny Winter. 当我十几岁的时候我迷上了雷鬼，和JohnnyWinter那样的布鲁斯吉他手。 来自互联网
• Lips Accentuate your new bluesy beat in simply sensational LipSlicks Hint of Mauve. 为了强调新布鲁斯乐的节奏，涂上紫红色的唇彩是最自然的。 来自互联网

12 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。