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Markelian Kapedani Trio - Balkan Bop (Red Records, 2011)

2012-01-18T12:28:00.002-06:00

Markelian Kapedani Trio
Balkan Bop
Red Records
2011

Jazz is uniquely an American gift shared with the world...and the would ran with it. It could be argued that the further East in Europe jazz migrates, the richer and more satisfying the jazz created. Albanian pianist Markelian Kapedani proves a volcanic composer and performer, throwing off intricate melodies and arrangements effortlessly. He runs the tightest trio since Fred Hersch in the mid-1990s. Conservative and mainstream Kapedani's retains much of the structure of jazz compositions and adaptations made in the 1980s. Drummer Asaf Sirkis proves powerful and decisive in the propelling the trio, paving the way for Kapedani's fertile ideas.

Pablo Bobrowicky - Southern Blue (Red Records, 2011)

2012-01-15T18:43:00.003-06:00

Pablo Bobrowicky
Southern Blue
Red Records
2011
* * * * *
Argentinian guitarist Pablo Bobrowicky turns to a trio format for Southern Blue, a recording of stripped-down grace and earthy resonance. This is organic music presented on a bed of soft silence, captured close and without augmentation. Bobrowicky plays close to the bone, displaying is fecund spirit on the opening original "Sos Vos ?" His Ellington is elegant ("Cottontail," "I'm Beginning to See the Light" and "C Jam Blues") and his Bird, fearless ("Barbados"). Bassist Ben Street and drummer Pepi Taveira follow the leader's groove, generating a working unit svelte and exact. The guitarist plays like Basie; he is not wordy or verbose. Bobrowicky plays only the notes that need be played...all the right ones.

Gary Smulyan - Smul's Paradise (Capri Records, 2012)

2012-01-13T16:02:00.000-06:00

Smul's Paradise
Gary Smulyan
Capri Records
2012
* * * * 1/2

Following James Carter's baritone-led organ band, Gay Smulyan joins forces with the formidable band of organist Mike LeDonne, guitarist Peter Bernstein and drummer Kenny Washington. In doing so, Smulyan revisits the heady heyday of Blue Note records in the 1950s and '60s, when jazz musicians would come together with little or no prior warning and sit down and play. Introducing the disc with a jaunty "Sunny," Smulyan sets a brisk neo-hard bop pace that never lets up. The baritone saxophone provides a muscular melodic motor to a standard organ trio.

Michael Campagna - Moments (Challenge Records, 2011)

2012-01-09T15:24:00.000-06:00

Moments
Michael Campagna
Challenge Records
2011
* * * *
Tenor Saxophonist Michael Campagna plays a well-behaved brand of contemporary jazz that never descends into the "smooth" realm (not that there is anything wrong with the smooth realm). His well-rounded tone feeds into the plushness of Michael Rodrigeuz's plush flugalhorn (almost sounds like Chet Baker had Baker ever given a damn). This is what one would hope all contemporary jazz would sound like: well conceived, composed and played with only an acoustic finish. All originals, Moments represents a jazz suite of completely listenable music that neither challenges nor bores. That is a mark of fine composition and Campagna achieves this in spades.

The Devil Inside (Paramount, 2011)

2012-01-08T11:59:00.001-06:00

The Devil Inside
Directed by William Brent Bell
Paramount Pictures
2011

Slasher films of the '70s and '80s held sexual congress with the ADD-riddled mentality of the '90s, that gave rise to The Blair Witch Project (Artisan, 1999), giving rise to the bastard child whose face launched a thousand faux-documentary ships that went on to include Paranormal Activity (Paramount, 2007) and its sibs, The Last Exorcism (Lionsgate, 2010), and now, The Devil Inside. The further the sub-sub-sub-genre evolves, the thinner the research becomes and the more fractal the story lines disintegrate. Point of Catechism: infants that die before Baptism do not go to Hell (as the OSB, MD in the film states in a seizure of spiritual Ecstasy), rather once to Limbo and now that the Holy Mother Church has declared Limbo to have been a bad joke all along:

Our conclusion is that the many factors that we have considered above give serious theological and liturgical grounds for hope that unbaptized infants who die will be saved and enjoy the beatific vision. We emphasize that these are reasons for prayerful hope, rather than grounds for sure knowledge. There is much that simply has not been revealed to us. We live by faith and hope in the God of mercy and love who has been revealed to us in Christ, and the Spirit moves us to pray in constant thankfulness and joy .

and, now, to somewhere altogether different. Get your facts straight, Bell. You should have paid more attention in class. I recommend William Friedkin's The Exorcist (Warner Bros., 1973), the film that started it all.

11/22/63 by Stephen King (Scribner, 2011)

2012-01-07T21:58:00.001-06:00

11/22/63

Stephen King

Scribner

2011

Notorious for poorly ending well-started stories, Stephen King manages for the first time since Insomnia (Viking, 1994) to keep a tale from "disintegrating into ravenous particles" during the plot climax. The Kennedy assassination serves as a vehicle for time travel and the consequences of good intentions. King addresses both Darwinian string theory and the concept of multiple dimensions. As a subtext, free will is interrogated and largely supported in the face of reality as a flood of fate, easily distracted and fickle. An excellent book.

Nicolas Masson - Departures (Fresh Sound, 2010)

2012-01-04T20:17:00.001-06:00

Nicolas Masson
Departures
Fresh Sound
2010
* * * *
This is the edge of wispy and ethereal free jazz, kind of Jimmy Guiffre meets John Abercrombie. The Swiss Masson, tenor saxophone and clarinet specialist is deft with the pen and score, summoning Eastern and Western influencesfrom the Balkan-sounding "Amber" to the airy and clever title piece. Guitarist Ben Monder nails down this pianoless rhythm section, blowing the playing space wide open. The edges are too rough for ECM, where this music would otherwise sound at home. But Masson is too restless and ambitious to bend to that sound. There is much to admire here.

Jurgen Hangenlocher - Leap In The Dark (Intuition Records, 2011)

2011-12-23T09:09:00.001-06:00

Jurgen Hagenlocher
Leap In the Dark
Intuition Records
2011
* * * *
The biggest change in small ensemble jazz since the formation of Miles Davis' second great quintet in the mid 1960s has been the emergence of instrumentalist/composers producing recordings of all original compositions. it is that natural evolution that occurs when the tried and true grows tired and better and better artists emerge to carry a given art to the next level. Tenor saxophonist Jurgen Hangenlocher assembles an outstanding band to perform eight of his compositions that can only be described as contemporary jazz that wen into the right direction rather than the "smooth" direction. David Kikoski's electric piano roots the sound just beyond the acoustic realm. There is nothing experimental about this music (often a hallmark of the un-listenable). Smart melodies and engaging arrangements characterize this semi-progressive offering.

Handel: Messiah - New York Philharmonic, Leonard Berstein (Sony, 1998)

2011-12-20T21:05:00.000-06:00

Handel: Messiah
New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein
Sony Classical
1998
* * *
Leonard Bernstein's Messiah is very much an American affair that thumbs its nose at most of the last 30 years of period performance. It is very much a product of the late 1950s when it was recorded. If the listener is looking for a historically-informed, period-instrument performance, run, do not walk, from this recording. However, if the listener yearns for a full-bodied, meat and potatoes performance that does away with the traditional three-parts in favor of Ebenezer Prout's two-part Victorian Edition, all performed on modern instruments at late Romantic tempi, then this is the recording. There is nothing not to like. It is a different interpretation than most recent performances. But Bernstein was Bernstein and that is all that need be said.

Harry Allen - Rhythm On The River (Challenge, 2011)

2011-12-18T14:39:00.001-06:00

Harry Allen
Rhythm on the River
Challenge Records
2011
* * * *
Harry Allen is a keeper of the flame. He specializes in the type of jazz made between Bix Beiderbecke Stan Getz. He is a ballad specialist who does with the tenor saxophone what Frank Sinatra did this the Great American Songbook, that is...transformed it. Rhythm on the River is a thematic collection of songs having in their title the word, "river." Allen selects music that is as far and wide as Stephen Foster's 1851 "Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)" to Arthur Hamilton's "Cry Me A River" one hundred years later. Joined by crack cornetist Warren Vache, Allen recalls the near-New Orleans-Dixieland of "Riverboat Suffle" while playing his best Bean on "The Rhythm On the River." His tone is dry and vibrato-less, though not as stark as Lester Young's. Sumptuous and sensual in a "Jazz Age" sort of way, Harry Allen demonstrates his wares well.

Michael Buble - Christmas (Reprise, 2011)

2011-12-08T15:55:00.001-06:00

Michael Buble
Christmas
Reprise Records
2011

I so very much want to dismiss Michael Buble as just one more Sinatra knock-off. Having put it off as long as I could, I spun Buble's Christmas beneath the laser and, lo and behold, we have a traditional pop music holiday disc to really crow about. Buble's pronunciation, enunciation, tone and timbre are simply perfect. The charts and arrangements are exceptional. What sucks about this recording are the duets, particularly "White Christmas" with Shania Twain, who gurgles and chokes her way through Irving Berlin's masterpiece. I am not sure what Buble's handlers were thinking, but I am glad they quit smoking that shit before the end of recording and before they could have completely ruined it.

Wilhelm Furtwangler - Recordings 1942-1944, Vol. 1

2011-12-08T13:16:00.001-06:00

Wilhelm Furtwangler - Recordings 1942-1944, Vol. 1
Beethoven - Handel - Mozart - Schubert - Weber
Berliner Philharmoniker
Deutsche Grammophon
1989

Wilhelm Furtwangler's live wartime recordings bear a stigma not unlike the any other fundamentally good entity tainted with national Socialism at the time. The Nazis claimed Beethoven and other composers as the soundtrack of their own delusion. They also had considerable musical firepower in the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Wilhelm Furtwangler ("Hitler's Conductor"). These recordings are regulatory for their anger and militancy. I don't know is that is what Furtwangler intended, but these performances bristle with authoritarian attitude and swagger. Schubert's Eighth Symphony here could just as well been conducted by Richard Wagner with its air raid blasting brass. Odd man out here is Handel's Concerto Gross Op. 6 Nr. 10, which comes off strangely Mozartian. Nevertheless, this is essential music, produced under duress, that will never be made like this again.

Little Feat: 40 Feat - The Hot Tomato Anthology 1971-2011 (Hot Tomato, 2011)

2011-11-20T18:42:00.001-06:00

Little Feat
40 Feat - The Hot Tomato Anthology 1971-2011
Hot Tomato Records
2011

Little Feat has been a band without founder Lowell George three-times longer than when he was living. After the band's re-emergence in 1988, it was completely apparent that the band was firmly in the control of guitarist Paul Barrere and keyboardist Bill Payne, just as it was when Down on the Farm (Warner Brothers, 1979) was released. And that is as it is. 40 Feat - The Hot Tomato Anthology 1971-2011, a retrospective of the band's 40-year history represents the band in its entirety, Lowell George and all. When the band formed, Hot Tomato Records in 2002, they began releasing archival and new material. This anthology is made up of this music. There is no Warner Brothers music included, which is fine. This is a representation of the band as it is heard best, live. And, all of the usual suspects are here.

Joan Stiles with Joel Frahm and Matt Wilson: Three Musicians (Oo-Bla-Dee, 2011)

2011-11-20T12:45:00.001-06:00

Joan Stiles with Joel Frahm and Matt Wilson
Three Musicians
Oo-Bla-Dee Records
2011

Joan Stiles provided one of the finest recordings of the year in 2007 with Hurly Burly. She returns with an inspired bass-less trio composed of tenor saxophonist Joel Frahm and drummer Matt Wilson, two NYC chums who share Stiles' sense of humor and overall adventuresome musical outlook. Both are illustrated in the mash-ups "In The Sunshine of My Funny Valentine's Love" and "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime/Can't Buy Me Love," both recalling "The Brilliant Corners Of Thelonious' Jumpin' Jeep" from Hurly Burly. Stiles' piano is as much informed by Thelonious Monk as Hank Jones, Tommy Flanagan and Oscar Peterson. Three Musicians finds three musicians having fun while hard at work, playing with effortless swing and depth-less soul.

The Allman Brothers Band - This Is Not The Last Waltz

2011-11-14T21:41:00.001-06:00

The Allman Brothers Band
This Is Not The Last Waltz - Live at the Beacon, March 2009
40th Anniversary Concert Series
Qualitybootz
2009

The Allman Brothers Band's annual residence at New York City's Beacon Theater has always been a much anticipated event. In 2009, much was to be celebrated in the 40th anniversary of the band's founding by Duane and Gregg Allman. Eight compact-discs worth of the entire Allman library replete with special guests playing on the appropriate originals and covers, captured in near flawless lossless format make this a set worth seeking out. The riches here are so embarrassing, it is impossible not to froth over it. This is a band that perfected what the Grateful Dead created in the jam band with liberal taping policies. Never mind the absence of Dickey Betts, this is a crack band at the height of their powers and should be considered on those merits alone. This is, and is not, your parent's Allman Brothers Band.

Ry Cooder: Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down (Nonesuch, 2011)

2011-11-10T21:42:00.001-06:00

Ry Cooder
Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down
Nonesuch
2011

There would be no Rolling Stones "Honky Tonk Women" ushering out the 1960s were there never a Ry Cooder. Applied American musicologist extrodinaire, Cooder contributed to the Glimmer Twins' Let it Bleed (London, 1969) and while tooling around Olympic Studios, turned Keith Richards on to the open-G guitar tuning. Known for a near perfect guitar style, Cooder has also proven to be the clever lyricist also. On Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, Cooder combines 40 years of music study with a sharp, left leaning political wit that provides "No Banker Left Behind" the "Bourgeois Blues" vibe via Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter and "El Corrido de Jesse James" a Flaco-Jimenez-on-amphetamine-laced-mescaline ambiance. "John Lee Hooker for President" is the best Cooder in 25 years, the guitarist nailing an iconic method to drive his story of JLH hallucinating/projecting his presidency.

Josh White: Bluesman, Guitar Evangelist, Folk Singer (Saga Blues, 2007)

2011-11-08T14:11:00.001-06:00

Josh White
Bluesman, Guitar Evangelist, Folk Singer
Saga Blues
2007

Josh White (1915-1969) is credited with changing the title of "Jesus Gonna Make Up My Dying Bed" to "In My Time of Dying" famously covered by Led Zeppelin on Physical Graffiti (Swan Song, 1975). White was born in the Carolina Piedmont area and his guitar playing reflects other Piedmont blues guitarists such as Blind Blake and Blind Boy Fuller. Bluesman, Guitar Evangelist, Folk Singer is a collection of blues tunes and spirituals recorded by White between 1932 and 1956. The sonic fidelity of these fine examples of Piedmont Blues is very good when compared to recordings made in the 1920s and '30s. "Low Cotton," "Careless Love," "Strange Fruit" and "John Henry" blur the boundaries of blues, ragtime, jazz, gospel in a beautifully illustrative example of American cross-cultural cross pollination.

Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings - Collector's Edition Box Set (2011)

2011-10-19T14:21:00.003-05:00

Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings
Collector's Edition Box Set
Proper American
2011

Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman never intended to retire when he left the Rolling Stones in 1992. He has had several post-Stones projects, his most recent being the Rhythm Kings, a band he shares with musical partner Terry Taylor, guitarist Albert Lee, and organist Georgie Fame. The Proper American Collector's Edition Box Set covers all of the band's releases to date. It is a five-CD chocked-full collection of mostly 3- and 4-minute R&B-flavored songs, all expertly played. Equal parts originals and standards, the collection also features the likes of Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Mark Knopler and Peter Frampton. There is nothing to not enjoy about this music.

Lawrence Lebo - Happy 25th Anniversary Baby

2011-10-19T13:00:00.002-05:00

Lawrence Lebo
Happy 25th Anniversary Baby
On The Air Records
2011

With her Don't Call Her Larry trilogy placing her firmly on the jazz-roots map, vocalist Lawrence Lebo sends husband-bassist Denny Croy a love note in the form of an EP, Happy 25th Anniversary Baby. Smokin' is the title piece with a great guitar solo by Tony Mandracchia and Hammond B-3 daydreams by Larry "Big House" David. Lebo is in unrestrained voice. Her self-penned "Shouting You Business" in two versions (one "clean" and one something other), is most fun, leaving this writer wanting more. Her lyrics are simple and clever. Lebo does not complicate things lyrically. The song is given a bit of a zydeco flair with Carl Byron's accordion, stimulating all of the dance receptors. Okay, Lawrence, let's have a whole album of this!

The Band - Night at the Palladium - 09-18-1976

2011-09-20T14:20:00.002-05:00

The Band
Night At the Palladium: Complete Live at the New York Palladium 1976
FM Broadcast
So Many Roads

The Band was in the process of winding down their touring career in the Fall of 1976. This show from New York's Palladium was part of the mammoth farewell tour that was to end with the concert at San Francisco's Winterland Auditorium, November 25, 1976 that was to become The Last Waltz (Warner Brothers, 1978). Replete with complete horn section, The Band blazes through their dense and deep catalog: "Ophelia," "King Harvest," and "This Wheel's on Fire" are all given in corrosive sacrifice. This performance may be more inspired than Rock of Ages (Capitol, 1972), with Levon Helm more committed than on The Last Waltz, though this show was not as complete. This is The Band under the pressure of winding things up...and they react superbly.

John Adams by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster, 2001)

2011-08-15T12:46:00.000-05:00

John Adams
by David McCullough
Simon and Schuster
2001

Yes McCullough's fine Adams' biography was published sometime ago, but it remains an important window to American Revolutionary politics. Adams has often taken a backseat to both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, and McCullough corrects that image in bristling detail. Expertly narrated by Edward Hermann, Adams comes very much alive and the entire book is worth the closing chapters and the Hermann's sympathetic reading of McCullough's account of the deaths of Adams and Thomas Jefferson on July 4, 1826, the 50th Anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence. That...is as American as apple pie.

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Last Exit (1971)

2011-07-06T11:56:00.000-05:00

Creedence Clearwater Revival
Last Exit - 04-07-1971, Fillmore West
So Many Roads to Soothe My Soul
1971

For as great a band as Creedence Clearwater Revival was, they were not a great live performance band. Their set lists typically varied little and their arrangements and performances of songs even less. The band's Woodstock appearance is notable historically, but not exceptionally well performed or captured, though it had its moments (a ferocious "Born on the Bayou"). Nevertheless, here the band finds itself at another historic fork-in-the-road, the closing of the famous Fillmore West, which coincides with CCR disbanding a year later. "Door to Door" sucked in the studio and live, foreshadowing the inevitable coming end. The band was on its way out, having been the greatest singles band ever. This show is of interest, but not that much.

Tom Jones - Glastonbury, UK, 06-28-2009

2011-06-28T15:05:00.000-05:00

Tom Jones - Glastonbury, UK, 06-28-2009
Soundboard
So Many Roads to Ease My Soul
2009

Tom Jones has been a popular presence since 1963, when he sang for Tommy Scott and the Senators in his South Wales home. His voice has lost little of its innate power, a smooth baritone as expansive today as when he sang "The Green, Green Grass of Home" in 1966 (it is reprised here vividly). This 2009 soundboard at Glastonbury captures a fit 69-year old Jones performing above himself with a smoking band. One listen to "Delilah" and the listener will know that this is not "easy listening" fodder.

Jones opens the show with a potent cover of Otis Redding's "Hard to Handle," demonstrating what children the Black Crowes were when they did the same in 1990. He sprinkles his standard concert fare ("I'll Never Fall in Love Again," "What's New, Pussy Cat") with the best of Randy Newman. "Mama Told Me not to Come," using the Three Dog Night arrangement, is dispatched with a knowing wink and wise sardonicism. "You Can Keep Your Hat On" is a steamroller, propelled by Jones' considerable "charm."

Jones transforms his standards, giving them a 21st Century edge. "She's a Lady" begins with a hard electric guitar and is performed as if composed by Peter Townsend for Tommy. He does the same with the aforementioned "Green, Green Grass." There are those songs resistant to updating, "What's New, Pussy Cat" and "It's not unusual" come off as quaint period pieces out of place with "Unbelievable" which closes the show. These quibbles mean nothing, Tom Jones remains the MAN!

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Woodstock '69

2011-06-24T13:16:00.000-05:00

Creedence Clearwater Revival
Woodstock '69
Blog Stoned
1969

Why is this poorly recorded soundboard source of Creedence Clearwater Revival's Woodstock performance so important? Its importance lies in the effect of the period's technological and political uncertainty and the creative muse that provided the band. CCR was very much a studio band whose live performances remained faithful to the recorded version of songs. With the exception of the longer songs like "Keep on Cooglin'" and "Susie Q" the band was a singles (as in 7-inch 45 rpm records) phenomenum. John Fogerty was not much on improvisation or other inventiveness in concert. Concert goers always knew what to expect. The atmosphere at Woodstock was one that did not encourage the status quo: rain and a half million people insured that.

CCR took the stage at Woodstock at 12:30 AM, Sunday Morning, August 17. They were following an aggressive set by Mountain and preceded Janis Joplin's breakout performance. They began the show with their typical starter, "Born On The Bayou," sounding as if they were playing in a hurricane of their own making. The traction grabbing momentum warmed up both the band and crowd, so that by "Green River" The well-oiled machine was cruising. "Ninety-Nine and a Half Won't Do" provided a blistering John Fogerty guitar solo. A chugging "Bootleg" fully established the show's momentum which was then kicked up a notch on "Commotion" and "Bad Moon Rising." "Proud Mary" and "The Nighttime is the Righttime" bring things to just below a simmer, where they stay for "Keep on Cooglin'" and "Susie Q."

CCR appeared at Woodstock during the most productive period of their short career, between the releases of Green River (Fantasy, 1969) and Willie and the Poor Boys (Fantasy, 1969) and the single releases of "Green River" and "Sown on the Corner." There was scarcely a record collection at the time that did not host all of these recordings and for good reason. CCR tapped directly into the blues and r&b psyche of America, strumming that heart-chord of the hopeful anxiety of the period. This was solid music that required little to be written and recorded save for the genius of John Fogerty.

Tedeschi-Trucks Band - Revelator (Sony Masterworks, 2011)

2011-06-08T09:42:00.004-05:00

Tedeschi-Trucks Band
Revelator
Sony Masterworks
2011

Echoing All About Jazz's Doug Collette:

"Revelator follows in the grand tradition of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Michael Bloomfield's Electric Flag and Al Kooper's (original) Blood Sweat & Tears, as a magnificent fusion of pop, blues, soul and jazz."

Following on the heels of Warren Haynes Man in Motion, Revelator succeeds in presenting a more unified and integrated message, one that orbits Susan Tedeschi's soulful voice and Derek Trucks' equally soulful slide guitar playing. A full horn section and Hammond B-3 are gravy. Musicians this good can do no other than make music this good. And when the material is this good, you can't go wrong...

Stephen Marley - Revelation Part 1: The Root of Life (2011)

2011-05-25T10:39:00.000-05:00

Stephen Marley
Revelation part 1: The Root of Life
Republic
2011

Bob Marley son, Ziggy Marley brother, member of the Melody Makers, Stephen Marley is leaving quite a footprint on Reggae music. Marley debuted as a solo act with 2007's Mind Control (Universal/Tuff Gong), soon after followed by Mind Control Acoustic (Universal/Tuff Gong, 2009). Marley's is an expansive Reggae sound, plush and full of color, taste and smell. These first two recordings are fully developed and well presented. They possess the earthiness of his father's legacy while plowing new fields in the genre. Revelation part 1: The Root of Life is the younger Marley effort to put Reggae into perspective. His textures are richer and more complex than on the earlier albums, adding hip hop and soul elements to the music. The Marley Legacy remains fully intact and thriving.

Elvis Presley - Little Rock, Arkansas - May 16, 1956

2011-05-16T12:43:00.000-05:00

Elvis Presley
Elvis Rocks Little Rock
Robinson Auditorium
Little Rock, Arkansas - May 16, 1956
So Many Roads to Ease My Soul

This recording has never been a secret. It was featured on KUAR's series Arkansongs a number of years ago and has been available for some time. The recording was made by a single microphone aimed at the concert public address system. It is surprisingly good and its value cannot be over estimated. Presley performed two shows at Robinson Auditorium at 7:00 PM and 9:30 PM. "Heartbreak Hotel" had hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts the previous April 21st. and Presley had turned 21-years old the previous January. This is not the music that would become cliche and parodied 20 years later. This was sex set to music, seminal and driving. This was rock and roll at the beginning making these scant seven songs essential, like Bach's Goldberg Variations.

Warren Haynes - Man in Motion (Stax, 2011)

2011-05-13T15:16:00.001-05:00

Warren Haynes
Man in Motion
Stax
2011

My friend Garry justly calls Warren Haynes a journeyman musician. Indeed that is true with his last 20 years with the Allman Brothers band and Gov't Mule, as well as individual appearances. Man In Motion, finds an already mature musician maturing further like bourbon whiskey. Haynes employs a full horn section for a ten-song rock and R&B workout that is light years beyond his jamb band - cover trappings of the last decade. Haynes steps fully out front of his own project, centers his vocals in his perfect range and blows his version of Southern Soul--blue-eyed or otherwise. Versitle just might be his middle name.

Hank Williams III - Hillbilly Joker (Curb, 2011)

2011-05-13T12:35:00.001-05:00

Hank Williams III
Hillbilly Joker
Curb Records
2011

If I get stoned and sing all night long
It's a family tradition!

Hank Williams III is not Hank Williams, Jr. and he sure as hell is not Hank Williams. this is not rock-a-billy, psycho-billy or any-kind-of-billy...it is molten Southern death metal mainlining a speedball of Linkin Park and Kid Rock without the faux-punk of the latter. Shelton Hank Williams is angry and mad as a 30-year untreated syphilitic, limping at a volume of eleven-on-a-scale-of-ten. Had Ozzy Osborn heard this music back in the day, he would have gone back in his shell and there would have never been a Black Sabbath.

Rossini: Julia Lezhneva, Sinfonia Varsovia, Marc Minkowski (Naive, 2011)

2011-04-18T14:20:00.000-05:00

Rossini
Julia Lezhneva, Sinfonia Varsovia, Marc Minkowski
Naive
2011

Gioachino Rossini pre-empted Giacomo Puccini in composing for the glory of the "Bel Canto" female soprano voice. Russian soprano Julia Lezhneva's is downright buttery rich, perfectly suited for Rossini arias. A stable coloratura with strong lyric tendencies, Lezhneva tears up "Tanti affetti" from La donna del lago and "della fortuna istabile" from La Cenerentola. Conductor Marc Minkowski directs a taut and searing "Sinfonia" from La Cenerentola, revealing all of the joy and exuberance of what is best in Rossini. Rossini's is music that smiles a big smile aurally.

Haydn Arias - Jane Archibald, Orchestre Symphonique Bienne, Thomas Rosner (ATMA Classicque, 2011)

2011-04-13T11:18:00.000-05:00

Jane Archibald, L'Orchestre Symphonique Bienne, Thomas Rosner
Haydn Arias
ATMA Classicque Search Amazon.com for Haydn Arias
2011

A creamy rich soprano with a dash of Tabasco lubricates the hinge between Baroque Opera and Mozart on the wheels of Papa Haydn. Canadian Jane Archibald bridges Vivaldi to to the Classical with selections from five Haydn operas on the wings of the modern instrument ensemble L'Orchestre Symphonique Bienne under the direction of Thomas Rosner. With powerful coloratura pipes, Archibald melts the reactor core this scenes from L'anima del filosofo, ossia Orfeo ded Euridice (1791) and Orlando Paladino (1782). Tired of one more Le Nozze de Figaro? Here you go.

Van Morrison: For Rainbow (Rainbow Theater, London, July 24, 1973)

2011-04-11T16:02:00.000-05:00

Van Morrison
For Rainbow (Rainbow Theater, London, July 24, 1973)
QualityBootz
1974/2011

My bootleg recording source, QualityBootz, has been posting some very fine mid-'70s Van Morrison. One such post was Morrison's July 24, 1973 appearance at London's Rainbow Theater. Portions of this concert were used in Morrison's 1974 live digest, It's Too Late to Stop Now (Warner Brothers). If there were a time to hear Morrison live it was in the mid'70s. Morrison shows in "Moonshine Whiskey" that he can do more with two chords than anyone. "Caravan," Cyprus Avenue" and "Wild Night" are a completing trifecta of blue-eyed soul perfection.

Black Swan (2010)

2011-04-06T20:52:00.000-05:00

Black Swan
Directed By Darren Aronofsky
Fox Searchlight Pictures
2010

Take Scott Hick's Shine (Fine Line Features, 1996), replace Goeffrey Rush with Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis, replace the piano with a ballet, add a huge, heaping pile of repressed pan-eroticism that spontaneously combusts allowing Sigmund Freud to light his cigar on the flame while Carl Jung cries for his mother and you have Black Swan. Stylish and predictable in an unpredictable way, Portman and Kunis portray the Id and the Ego locked in a mortal battle for perfection that is achieved in a modern liebestod.

The Fighter (2010)

2011-03-16T11:45:00.001-05:00

The Fighter
Directed by David O. Russell
Paramount Pictures
2010

I prefer Geoffry Rush more as an actor and would have preferred him winning the 83rd Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his roll as speech therapist Lionel Logue in The King's Speech. But as good as his performance was, it did not compare to Christian Bale's portrayal of Dicky Ecklund in The Fighter. Serious about his acting, Bale lost weight (again, for The Machinist) for the roll of the drug-addled Ecklund. Equal to Bale's performance was Melissa Leo as the overbearing mother, Alice Ward, mother to the two protagonists and seven daughters, all who lived with her. After previous nominations (Frozen River), her win here was much overdue. The movie plot? Think of an uneducated Irish Rocky Balboa from Southy.

The Last King of Scotland (2007)

2011-03-14T12:34:00.000-05:00

The Last King of Scotland
Directed by Kevin Macdonald
Fox Searchlight
2007

The 2007 movie The Last King of Scotland, based on Giles Foden's book of the same name, was a performance vehicle for Forest Whittaker's Oscar-winning portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin's rule from 1971 to 1979 in the same way that Kiss of the Spider Woman (Island Alive, 1985) was the sled William Hurt road to his Oscar at the 58th Academy Awards in 1985. A splendid diamond of a performance pressed into a marshmallow of a movie. For those of us who where of age to know that was going on in Uganda during the period, Whittaker's performance is chilling in its accuracy and implications. He captured perfectly this smiling madman's appeal and terror.

The novel The last King of Scotland is somewhat dramatized. The actual story surrounding the events in Amin's life are easily as compelling.

Berio: Sequenzas III & VII - Differences, Due pezzi, Chamber Music 1969/2011

2011-02-28T15:14:00.000-06:00

Berio: Sequenzas III & VII - Differences, Due pezzi, Chamber Music
Cathy Berberian, Heinz Hollinger
Member of the Julliard Ensemble, Luciano Berio
Newt On Classics
1969/2011

The immediate attraction of is pairing of Luciano Berio Sequenzas and Chamber Music lay in the composer conducting Members of the Juilliard Ensemble, this during his tenure at Juilliard between 1965 and 1971. To describe this music as Postmodern either says too much or too little regarding the music's overall impact. This is precise chaos in musical composition. "Differences" is scored for 5 instruments and magnetic tape, foreshadowing the use of loops and samples in recording. Soprano Cathy Berberian obviously enjoyed her performance of "Sequenza III for Female Voice," modulating her voice through the sonic steeplechase the composer write for it. Oboe-ist Heinz Hollinger is both lyrical and direct in his reading of "Sequenza VII for Oboe." "Due pezzi" is a violin-piano duet which hangs strangely together despite its Postmodern origins. Berio's three-part "Chamber Music" reprises the precise chaos of "Differences" while extending the anxious and disjointed language of Berio's vision.

Berlioz, Liszt and Wagner: Faust Pieces - Chaeur et Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Yutaka Sado (2000/2011)

2011-02-28T14:49:00.001-06:00

Berlioz, Liszt and Wagner: Faust Pieces
Chaeur et Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Yutaka Sado, Soloists
Apex
2000/2011

The Faust Archetype existed well before Robert Johnson went to the intersection of Mississippi 49 and 61 to sell hi soul to the Devil one midnight in exchange for fully formed guitar playing ability. During the early 19th Century, the Faustian legend was set to dramatic verse by Germany's Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in Faust. Der Tragödie erster Teil. Goethe was the intellectual darling of the Romantics and it is no surprise that three of the greatest set scenes from his legend to Music. Franz Liszt's Episoden aus Lenaus "Faust" is dark and brooding, sumptuous in "The Mephisto Waltz." Richard Wagner's Eine Faust Ouverature is ponderous in low brass, a Wagner specialty. It is Hector Berlioz who bring the piece to dramatic life in Huit Scenes de "Faust," where the doomed scholar comes alive in operatic splendor. Yutaka Sado directs Chaeur et Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France with a firm and stead hand, divining the wicked pleasure of the story, casting it musically with the greatest grace and drama. This is an Apex imprint re-release of the original 2000 Erato release.

Steve Lacy Live at Jazzwerkstatt Peitz (1981/2011)

2011-02-24T11:13:00.000-06:00

Steve Lacy
Steve Lacy Live at Jazzwerkstatt Peitz
Jazzwerkstatt
1981/2011

The late soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy was never one to shy away from musical exploration. His favorite vehicle were the grandly explorable compositions of Thelonious Monk, who is represented here with four pieces. Lacy performs solo in the old East Germany town of Peitz. His performances are at once extroverted and probing. His Monk is as expected, angry and angular. His original compositions provide him the sonic opportunity to explore the squeaks and squeals of his horn as he patterns through some complex arpeggios and scales in his wondering. Sweetly harsh describes best Lacy's approach, an approach with more success that the late Coltrane or Coleman.

The Glass Rainbow by James Lee Burke (2010)

2011-01-02T18:13:00.000-06:00

The Glass Rainbow

James Lee Burke

Simon and Schuster

2010

James Lee Burke took heed to the criticism of this last Dave Robicheaux novel, Swan Peak (Gayle Cengage, 2008) aging appropriately both Robicheaux and his partner Clete Purcell. Both are down right morose in The Glass Rainbow, each sensing that he is running out of time and luck. With that as a subtext, New Iberia is treated to a teasure trove of Burke miscreants: decadent old money in Timothy and Kermit Abelard, inheritors of the Thomas Sutpen clan's mantle; convicts in Vidor Perkins and Robert Weingart. Add to this the supernatural, a mysterious riverboat representing death and the reader of Dave Robicheaux has one more season to run.

Leaving Las Vegas (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] (2000)

2011-01-02T15:53:00.000-06:00

Leaving Las Vegas (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]
Arc 21
2000

Rewatching this Danse Macabre a decade later, I was struck by what I fine interpreter of the American Songbook Sting is. While Rod Stewart continues to salt the earth with his take on Tin Pan Alley and America continues to laud him the new Sinatra by his record sales (and with Tony Bennet still living!), Sting quietly gives a beautiful dignity to "Angel Eyes" and "My One and Only Love." Don Henley's "Come Rain or Come Shine" is pretty nifty too. Sting did release a non-standard standards album in My Funny Valentine: Sting at the Movies (Universal Japan, 1999), but it pales to his work on this soundtrack.

Repo Men [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] 2010

2011-01-02T15:37:00.000-06:00

Repo Men [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]
Relativity
2010

As a movie, Repo Men is the bastard child of Vanilla Sky and Pulp Fiction. Futuristic in intent, the move nevertheless cleverly employs the Great American Songbook in its soundtrack; I cite the creepiest "Cry Me A River" ever. The music is decidedly retro, but retro in a way that presents it as an appropriate update for the period. Perez Prado's recording of "Sway," with Rosemary Clooney serves the same purpose in this film as "Stuck in the Middle with You" did in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs. All is not old. Included are edgy songs like Method Man's "Release Your Delf" and Beck's "Nausea." All in all, a soundtrack that complements this quirky movie well.

Eclipse (Summit Entertainment, 2010)

2010-12-12T22:10:00.000-06:00

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
David Slade, Director
Summit Entertainment
2010

Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Jacob (Taylor Lautner) have a bromance all in the name of protecting Bella (Kristen Stewart) from the evil Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard, replacing Rachelle Lefevre) who has put together an army of vampire "newborns" with the explicit goal of killing Bella and damaging the Cullen Clan. Ostensibly lead by newcomer, local boy Riley Beirs (Xaiver Samuel) changed by the bad Victoria, the newborn vampires are physically more powerful than the seasoned undead. Thus the Cullen Clan with the aid of werewolves required the training of Cullen member Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) a former Confederate Major, who has the breakout performance here with his light Southern accent and easy manner. Bella remains the object of desire for both Edward and Jacob. Bella wants it both ways with each of them, making her a bit less a sympathetic character (she is human, after all).

Damn Good Writing: Nick Tosches - Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll (Da Capo, 1999)

2010-12-07T10:37:00.000-06:00

Nick Tosches
Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll: The Birth of Rock in the Wild Years Before Elvis
Da Capo
1999

Nick Tosches has a keen ear for language and nuance as well as over-the-top under- and over-statement. His description of the death of Nat King Cole in this collection Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll is a provocative case in point:

"It was late the next year when he got that call from Philip Morris. Cancelling an engagement at the Sands in Las Vegas, he entered St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica on December 8. On January 25, a week before his father's death in Chicago, his left lung was removed. At 5:30 on the morning of February 15, 1965, a month shy of his forth-sixty birthday, Nat King Cole died. A few days later, he was put to rest in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale. Sinatra showed up in a long black limousine."

Again, spanking good writing.

Damn Good Writing: Nick Tosches - Hellfire (Grove, 1982)

2010-11-30T21:09:00.000-06:00

Nick Tosches
Hellfire
Grove
1982

Nick Tosches is the enfant terrible of the Baby Boom. His writing is pure poetry mixed with gutter water, the sacred and profane, the Divine and the Damned. All things considered, Mr. Tosches can certainly turn a phrase, witness his description of The Killer, Jerry Lee Lewis' conception:

"...On a cold, dark night after Christmas, when the Hecate wind shrilled so wildly that dogs barked at it and the roaring whistle of the inbound Iron Mountain could not be heard, the seed took hold..."

Spanking good writing!

Kitty Brazelton: Ecclesiastes - A Modern Oratorio (Innova, 2010)

2010-11-06T15:15:00.000-05:00

George Frideric Handel brought the oratorio, a collection of Christian Scripture set to music, to a perfection like Mozart did later with the string quartet. But that was by no means the end of the oratorio's evolution. In the mid-1930s, Carl Orff set 24 poems from the 13th Century manuscript Carmina Burana. Enter composer Kitty Brazelton, who chooses the text of Ecclesiastes for a modern oratorio employing countertenor, tenor, baritone and bass voices with a variety of instruments from bells, to cello, to mandolin and computer drones (sounding like a didgeridoo).

Most striking and most musical of the 12 selections on the disc is "Motet," a multi-layered setting of the Byrds' 1965 single (by way of Pete Seeger's original 1959 composition) from the band's album of the same name. Brazelton give the text a very modern choral treatment buoyed by hammer dulcimer and cello. Everything is included form Bach to Part. The piece is at once tender and militant, brimming with life, creativity, and wonder. Ecclesiastes - A Modern Oratorio is not an easy listen, but it is a rewarding one.

The Persuasions: Knockin' on Bob's Door (Zoho, 2010)

2010-11-04T09:57:00.000-05:00

The Persuasions
Knockin' on Bob's Door
Zoho Records
2010

Zoho's Roots imprint has been a welcome home to older artists like the late Ike Turner (Risin' With The Blues, 2007) and Bonnie Bramlet (Roots, Blues, and Jazz, 2006). Add to this the 1960s A cappella group The Persuasions, who have covered tunes by the Beatles and U2 and now add Bob Dylan to the mix. The results are both interesting and mixed. "Mr. Tamborine Man," "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright," and "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" work splendidly while "All Along The Watchtower" and "Like a Rolling Stone" require additional listenings for clarity. No matter, A cappella singing is a dying art and The Persuasions take that method and pour gospel, blues and soul into these Bob Dylan compositions.

Bruce Pollack: By the Time We Got To Woodstock: The Great Rock 'n' Roll Revolution of 1969

2010-11-04T08:42:00.001-05:00

Bruce Pollack
By the Time We Got To Woodstock: The Great Rock 'n' Roll Revolution of 1969
Backbeat Books, 300 pages
ISBN-10: 0879309792
2009

Bruce Pollack's By the Time We Got To Woodstock is an informative and nostalgic stagger down memory lane for those of a certain age. Pollack concentrates on the year 1969, musically, politically, and socially. He expands his discussion to the years either side of this pivotal period, echoing Dave Thompson in his I Hate New Music: The Classic Rock Manifesto (Backbeat Press, 2008) regarding the demise of single-oriented radio and the rise of the LP as a cogent form of expression. Included in the discussion was the new entity of the Rock Festival, those leading up to and following Woodstock, the discussion concluding in the Rolling Stones' misguided Altamont Concert. The book is concluded with a month by month record of important music and social matters, providing a context for the book, beginning with Richard Nixon's election November 4, 1968 and ending with the June 23, 1970 release of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young's "Ohio."

Dave Thompson: I Hate New Music: The Classic Rock Manifesto (2008)

2010-11-03T15:03:00.000-05:00

Dave Thompson
I Hate New Music: The Classic Rock Manifesto
Backbeat Press
2008

Rock critic Dave Thompson fixes the idea of "Classic Rock" to the wall with a DeWalt pneumatic hammer shooting ten-penny nails. He claims that the best rock music was made prior to 1978 and details the 10 recordings that turned rock music into a celebrity stadium spectacle, over-produced and under-talented. Thompson discusses the end of AM radio with the rise of FM and the evolution of Album-Oriented Rock at the expense of the singles driven market of the 1950s and '60s. Provocative and powerful, I Hate New Music: The Classic Rock Manifesto is certain to delight and enrage in turn, often in the same sentence. To be sure, no reader will remain on the fence.

A Philosophical Investigation: A Novel By Philip Kerr (2010)

2010-10-01T23:03:00.000-05:00

Philip Kerr

A Philosophical Investigation: A Novel

Penguin (Non-Classics)

Reprint 2010

British Author Philip Kerr is probably best known for his Bernard Gunther novels Berlin Noir (March Violets [1989], The Pale Criminal [1990], A German Requiem [1991]), The One From the Other (2006), A Quiet Flame (2008), and If The Dead Rise Not (2009). Kerr has written many other books on various subject like Hitler's Peace (2005) and Dark Matter: The Private Life of Sir Isaac Newton (2003). Kerr has really only come into his own in the latter two Gunther novels and the present A Philosophical Investigation, originally published in 1993, shows a Philip Kerr still in development.

That is not to say that it is not interesting, it is. He does for the crime procedural what Umberto Eco did for the period piece. A Philosophical Investigation occurs in 2013 London (20 years in the future from 1993) pitting New Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Isadora "Jake" Jakowicz against a serial killer given the nom de plume Ludwig Wittgenstein as the result of a neurobiological program call the Lombroso program, which identifies possible future offenders based on the absence of a certain brain structure.

The plot plods but never so slowly to lose interest. Kerr weaves in broad philosophical discussions on semantics, epistemology, and post-modernism into the narrative and provides a succinct history of philosophy in a "lecture" given Inspector Jakowicz by the suspect, who speaks in terms of one philosopher killing those he or she replaces:

Would that Descartes had been killed says Thomas Hobbs was a fine subject for murder. Certainly one might have counted on Leibniz being murdered. Kant narrowly escaped being murdered. And, despite what is commonly held, De Quincy reveals not only the Spinoza met a violent and well deserved end, but also that Bishop Berkeley murdered Pere Malebranche by means of an argument which deranged his liver.

Today it is even more obvious just how much good can result from the murder of one dusty, arid, old philosopher. Both Marx and Freud were murdered by Jaspers. Bertrand Russell and G.E. Moore should have been murdered by Wittgenstein, as Ramsey certainly was. Heidegger died very properly at the hands of A.J. Ayer. It can be argued that Quine may indeed have murdered Strawson, however if he did, it could only have been with the assistance of Skinner. And Chomsky, well Chomsky may turn out to have killed nearly everyone he came into contact with...

Yes, that is much fun. The book is a bit of a push and is anticlimactic. I does offer a slightly dystopian view that may not be too much off the mark considering the present social and political climate. By all means, read the book. Just don't expect a post-war Bernard Gunther.

Robert Service - Trosky: A Biography (2010)

2010-09-06T11:46:00.000-05:00

Robert Service
Trotsky: A Biography
Harvard University Press
2010

Robert Service completes his Communist Trilogy (the first two biographies were of Lenin and Stalin) with Trotsky: A Biography. In many ways Lev Davidovich, AKA, Leon Trotsky, is the most compelling of figures in the early Bolshevistic leadership. His biography details the chaotic formation of the movement that finally overthrew the Romanovs in 1917. Much like Ernesto "Che" Guevara, Trotsky was a mouth piece for Lenin and his and Che's stories are similarly romanticized. He was an excellent writer and orator and comrade for the Party. Trotsky ran afoul with most internal leadership, including Stalin, reasoning he was not communistic enough, but rather a mere dictator. Stalin had Trotsky assassinated in his exile home of Mexico in 1940.

Carolina Chocolate Drops: Genuine Negro Jig" (2010)

2010-09-03T10:29:00.000-05:00

Carolina Chocolate Drops
Genuine Negro Jig
Nonesuch
2010

The music of the Carolina Chocolate Drops sets a new standard for what "roots" music. Blasting forward out of a 150 year tradition of jug and fiddle music of the Piedmont East Coast through Tennessee and North Mississippi, the Drops give a modern face to an African-American folk tradition that grew up along side the Delta Blues. This is antique music, rendered new again by youthful psyches ready to reacquaint the world with a nostalgic sound not often heard. The best music is that which is newly (re)discovered.

John Fedchock NY Sextet: Live at the Red Sea Jazz Festival

2010-08-01T21:19:00.000-05:00

John Fedchock NY Sextet
Love at the Red Sea Jazz Festival
Capri Records
2010

Trombonist John Fedchock leads his New York Sextet through a sextet of original compositions and standards at the Red Sea Jazz Festival in Eilat, Israel. Fedchock promotes his steady brand of hard bop with a Jazz Messengers front, circa Curtis Fuller. Fedchock's 'bone chops are round and intact as he blows his way through his four originals.

The "two standards" are Tom Harrell's introspective "Moon Alley," given a littlebig band sound with the three horn front and Ellington's "Caravan," which Fedchock arranges as a complex island piece, anxious and exciting. Pianist Allen Farnham battens down the hatches for the horns as they take flight. A hot set of listenable bop served up in the warm Middle Eastern climes.

Mike Mainieri: Crescent (2010)

2010-07-16T17:07:00.000-05:00

Mike Mainieri
Crescent
NYC Records
2010

The special duet relationship shared by vibraphonist Mike Mainieri and alto saxophonist Charlie Mariano was captured and released as Crescent, on the suggestion of the then dying Mariano. The result is one of those special odd trio discs (vibes, bass, saxophone) that transcends even what jazz is supposed to be about. Mainieri makes the release a tribute to his friend Mariano and John Coltrane with whom the recital repertoire is associated. The performances are ethereal because of the haunting tone set by Mainieri's reverberating vibes. Mariano captures the eternal spirit of Coltrane without excess noise and bluster. He plays only what is necessary. One will be hard pressed to hear as fine a recording as this anytime. Strongly recommended.

Mahalia Jackson: Gospel, Spirituals, and Hymns (1991)

2010-07-08T17:05:00.001-05:00

Mahalia Jackson
Gospel, Spirituals, and Hymns
Columbia/Legacy
1991

Contemporary Christian music is a poor remnant of the genre's evolution. Older formats are simply superior. A case in point is the Mahalia Jackson compilation, Gospel, Spirituals, and Hymns, songs recorded between 1954 and 1969. If the Holy Spirit has a voice, it is this one and one need only listen to "What a Friend We have in Jesus," "Take My Hand, Precious Lord," and "His Eye is On The Sparrow" to know that this is true.

I wouldn't take a thousand Casting Crowns or Matt Mahers for one Mahalia Jackson. Period.

The Harmonica and Magic Dick on All Things Considered, NPR

2010-06-30T21:00:00.000-05:00

'Pocket Full Of Soul' Explores The Harmonica's History : NPR

"Magic Dick" Salwitz has divined the soul of Marion "Little Walter" Jacobs for the past 40 years. He is a master of the harmonica as evidenced on any J. Geils' Band recording, but most particularly Full House Live. This LP was a slim 40 minutes long, but in those minutes a critical mass was reached, detonating a rock-soul-blues benediction with 100-proof attitude and a nuclear swagger.

Certainly the J. Geils' Band is better known for their 1981 recording Freeze Frame (Capitol) and its single "Centerfold." But is was this early 1970s music that really grabbed America by the throat, declaring, "...this is what rock and roll is all about.

Nathan Eklund Group: Coin Flip (2010)

2010-06-22T21:39:00.000-05:00

Nathan Eklund Group
Coin Flip
OA2 Records
2010

Finally, a contemporary jazz release that swings. So much contemporary jazz recently released conforms to the Miles Davis-Second Great Quintet-post bop formula of banging gongs and clanging cymbals that when an intelligently conceived and performed collection of original jazz compositions comes along with that thing, that it is a real treat. Trumpeter Nathan Eklund sports an unpretentious performing style coupled with a crack ear for composition. His band is anchored by the Fender Rhodes of Steve Meyerson, giving the pieces a paradoxical retro-contemporary flavor. The electric piano almost sounds like a vibraphone in places. Nine superbly crafted pieces well played.

Ziggurat Quartet: Calculated Measures (2010)

2010-06-19T22:28:00.000-05:00

Ziggurat Quartet
Calculated Measures
Origin Records
2020

The Ziggurat Quartet is the brainchild of West Coast pianist and Origin Records stalwart Bill Anschell. It is the pianist/composer's vehicle for driving his and his band-mate's devilishly clever and complex pieces seasoned with East Indian tonalities and extraterrestrial time signatures. Anschell is joined my other like minded musicians from the Origin Arts family. Saxophonist Eric Barber summons from his soprano horn the spirit of well-behaved late-period Coltrane. His tenor is fat and throaty, recalling Sonny Rollins a la "St. Thomas" (hear "Zigtuno"). The sonics of this disc are crisply spectacular. Bassist Doug Miller is closely captured and readily heard beside drummer Byron Vannoy, whose every percussion strike is individually packaged sonically. Superb post bop.

Gwilym Simcock: Blues Vignette (2010)

2010-06-17T16:39:00.000-05:00

Gwilym Simcock
Blues Vignette
Basho Records
2010

Pianist Gwilym Simcock is ambitious. Comparisons with Brad Mehldau, Keith Jarrett and Gonzalo Rubalcaba are not unwarranted, he shares the same command of the piano's tonal palette. He is a talented young man who is evolving into a musical maturity. Blues Vignette is a two-disc set showcasing Simcock in solo, duo,and trio formats, shooting for the moon While provocative, Simcock's original compositions are just short of the creative heat he emits on the standards "On Broadway" and "Nice Work if You Can Get It," where he sounds more like Martial Solal than anyone else. Simcock has a great deconstructive ear sure to continue evolving.

Kristin Porter: By The Light of the Moon (2010)

2010-06-13T16:45:00.001-05:00

Kristin Porter
By The Light of the Moon
Self Produced
2010

Vocalist Kristin Porter strikes a functional balance between traditional stylings and contemporary performance. Her present EP frames three standards and two originals rendered by a crack septet lead by pianist Jody Nardone. Porter's voice is confident. Her singing is informed most prominently by Rickie Lee Jones, Maria Muldaur, and most notably, Ella Fitzgerald. "It Could Happen to You" and "Teach Me Tonight" represent the traditional, which Porter sings with gleefully playful sexiness. Her own title song is a contemporary dream, part Little Feat cut with the Rippingtons and conducted by mid-'80s Herbie Hancock. Over the top is Porter's flirty "Moody's Mood for Love." By The Light of the Moon leaves me wanting much more.

Monica Mancini: I've Loved These Days

2010-06-12T11:07:00.008-05:00

Monica Mancini
I've Loved These Days
Concord Records
2010

Her fifth recording, Monica Mancini devotes her attention to a carefully assembled collection of '60s pop songs, in several cases singing with the composer ("These Days" with Jackson Browne and "God Only Knows" with Brian Wilson and Take 6). Mancini crafts these songs with a 21^st Century sensibility, updating them without losing the huge nostalgic rush they provide us of a certain age and introducing the songs to a new generation of listeners. Plush arrangements and strings provide an aural personality targeting broad appeal and achieving it successfully. Monica Mancini hits her home run with I've Loved These Days.

Richard Sussman Quintet: Live at Sweet Rhythm

2010-06-11T16:29:00.001-05:00

Richard Sussman Quintet
Live at Sweet Rhythm (Featuring the Free Fall Reunion Band)
Origin Records
2010

Pianist Richard Sussman's 1979 quintet recording Free Fall made quite a splash when re-issued in 2002. Sporting trumpeter Tom Harrell and saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi, the disc was a hard bop celebration. Break forward 30 years, this same band unites for a live recording at NYC's Sweet Rhythm in 2003 playing a couple of pieces from the earlier recording as well as Tadd Dameron's "Soultrane" and the standard "What's New." the result is a cross between the tight Jack Sheldon and Jack Montrose Pacific Jazz releases from the 1950s and Miles Davis' second great quintet. This is music without peer.

John Prine: In Person & On Stage

2010-06-09T21:44:00.003-05:00

John Prine
In Person and On Stage
Oh Boy Records
2010

Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan claim John Prine as one of their favorite song writers. An American treasure to be sure, Prine has treated his devoted public with 40 years of superb song writing, beginning with his eponymous debut in 1971. His songbook is legendary and the songs he chose for In Person & On Stage show the singer in full maturity. From "Angel From Montgomery (sung with Emmylou Harris" to his masterpiece, "In Spite of Ourselves" (sung with Arkansan Iris DeMent), Prine displays a gentle charm cloaking a sharp wit that makes us all better for listening to him.

Stanley Hauerwas: Hannah's Child: A Theologian's Memoir (2010)

2010-06-06T11:11:00.003-05:00

Stanley Hauerwas
Hannah's Child: A Theologian's Memoir
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
2010
Read on an Amazon Kindle

Theologian Stanley Hauerwas has a reputation as big as his Texas home. He is a hugely prolific author in Narrative Theology and Ethics. He is the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity School, and rightly so. Hannah's Child: A Theologian's Memoir is a very personal book detailed in Hauerwas' straightforward prose how the son of a Texas bricklayer became one of the foremost theological minds of the 21st Century and a Christian in the bargain. He humbly spends much memoir time describing those people who made the greatest impression on him in his life.

Dan Brown The Lost Symbol (2009)

2010-06-05T10:28:00.005-05:00

The Lost Symbol
Dan Brown
Doubleday
Abridged, Narrated by Paul Michael
2009

The Da Vinci Code (2003) was a provocative if imperfect introduction into the world of esotericism. Angels and Demons (2000), was likewise, but a better story. The Lost Symbol is an anemic attempt to combine the successes of the previous two books with the cinema subjects of Nicholas Cage vehicles National Treasure (2004) and National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007). Protagonist Robert Langdon solidifies into his single dimensionality, and the story evolves quickly into Brown's well-worn tome of dormant secret revealed, cascading through a hastily assemble labyrinth of antiquity. Umberto Ecco does it better and stop abridging audio books.