These seem to be running about once a month, which lets me pick up the Recycled Goods entries for the archive file. Fewer this month than the last couple, as I didn't go on any binges. (Well, I went on one, looking up lots of old Ravi Shankar albums, but that's withheld for now, to be worked into a future Recycled Goods.)

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These are short notes/reviews based on streaming records from Rhapsody. They are snap judgments based on one or two plays, accumulated since my last post along these lines, back on February 5. Past reviews and more information are available here.

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Freedy Johnston: Rain on the City (2010, None): Singer-songwriter from Kinsley, KS -- actually a farm south of town. I asked my aunt, who taught grade school for many ears in Kinsley, if she knew him. Small town, after all, the sort of place where everyone knows everyone. She said she never taught him, but was aware of the family. Kinsley is now one of the hardest-hit towns in western Kansas, but while I was growing up I spent more time there than anywhere outside of Wichita. Not sure that means anything here. B+(**)

Four Tet: There Is Love in You (2010, Domino): After various ventures with jazz drummer Steve Reid, Kieran Hebden returns to pure laptronica -- nice, simple, warm, clean, right up my alley, even if it doesn't seem all that exceptional. B+(***)

The Magnetic Fields: Realism (2010, Nonesuch): I've never been a big fan of Stephin Merritt's pseudo-group, or at least I was never as smitten with 69 Love Songs as everyone else evidently is, and that leaves me a bit uncertain here. But "You Must Be Out of Your Mind" grabbed me right away, both with wit and a hook even if both were a little arch. "We Are Having a Hootenanny" suggests fake cheer, which is probably right. Elsewhere I hear Beach Boys echoes, dried out, of course. I could wind up souring on it all, but second play solidified the first. A-

Tea Cozies: Hot Probs (2009, Tea Cozies): Girl group, or maybe not -- Brady Harvey and especially Jeff Anderson strike me as suspicious names, but Jessi Reed sings and plays guitar. The sort of old-fashioned rock formalism that kicks in every time -- MySpace page lists Talking Heads, T Rex, Velvet Underground, My Bloody Valentine, and Wire as influences, with the Kinks first -- and carries some possibly interesting songs with it. B+(***)

I See Hawks in L.A.: Hallowed Ground (2008, Big Books): Fourth album by a California country band, influenced or inspired by Gram Parsons -- a standard they don't reach, but they have the basic sound, plus some song-sense, which is more than Hillman, Souther, et al. can claim. I originally went looking for their new career-spanning compilation, Shoulda Been Gold, which is probably the place to start, but this is pretty solid, and includes "When the Grid Goes Down" -- harder-edged than usual, and didn't make the comp cut. B+(**)

Spoon: Transference (2010, Merge): Austin group, indie-rock running on guitar edge, been around since the mid-1990s with one real good album and a lot of respectably consistent ones. This is another of the latter, once you get past the wobbly starter and just let them hack it out. B+(***)

Los Campesinos: Romance Is Boring (2010, Arts & Crafts): Welsh group. Third album, not counting an EP (or more). Not something I'm readily inclined to like: the multiple voices track operatically (or maybe more like Gilbert and Sullivan; at any case with a lot of gusto, not to mention sturm und drang), the music itself built from grand gestures (plus glockenspiel). On the other hand, the words are often sharper than the music, and they suggest such broad interests that their title song makes its case. Could go up (or down), but even if I had a copy I doubt that I'd play it much. B+(***)

Strong Arm Steady: In Search of Stoney Jackson (2009 [2010], Stones Throw): L.A. hip-hop collective, working with Madlib, with a lot of featured guests on tap -- none all that distinct or impressive, although the beats and flow are up to snuff, and there's plenty of shit worth following. B+(**)

Yeasayer: Odd Blood (2010, Secretly Canadian): Fairly arty Brooklyn indie-rock group, second album, shows a penchant for complex rhythms that may include Middle Eastern and African, jumpy synth sounds, and quite a bit of vocal excess. Much of that sounds promising, but I found myself distressed by the closer ("Grizelda") and that's not the only point where it gets a bit much. B

The Watson Twins: Talking to You, Talking to Me (2010, Vanguard): Second album, not counting their credited backup role on Jenny Lewis's debut. From Louisville via Los Angeles. Nice voice(s). Write all their own songs, which would be more impressive if any were memorable, but a bigger problem is that they really don't have anything that counts as a sound -- the closest I came was one song that echoed Carole King. On the other hand, not much downside. Not much of anything. B-

Charlotte Gainsbourg: IRM (2010, Elektra): Singer, non-songwriter, perhaps better known as an actress, or as the daughter of French chansonnier Serge Gainsbourg. Fourth album. Has a cool -- I'd even say frosty -- feel to it. Two songs in French; one with a lyric by Apollinaire. One song co-credited to Gainsbourg, but that's most likely Serge. The rest is credited to Beck, who plays spookily with the disguise. B+(**)

Manu Chao: Radio Bemba: Baionarena Live (2008 [2010], Nacional/Because, 2CD): Chao's basic live strategy is to crank up the volume and push the pedal to the metal. He did this before on Radio Bemba Sound System, where the effect cut into the charm and wit of his early songs. Same here, but the party is such a consistent up that it hardly matters. Fast you just have to pay more attention, or let yourself go -- either way works. Looks like some packages include an extra DVD with the 2.5 hour concert. Costs an extra $5, and as much as I hate DVDs I have to admit I'm tempted. Not sure of the title, which most sources reduce to Baionarena. A-

Lindstrøm & Christabelle: Real Life Is No Cool (2010, Smalltown Supersound): That sould be Hans-Peter Lindstrøm, who had a well-regarded album last year under his solo last name that I didn't get around to checking out, and an earlier collab simply called Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas. Norwegian beat mixer. Christabelle also goes as Isabelle Sandoo. She sings, of course, but also shares writing credits (except for one track credited to Vangelis). Varied dance pop, with some horns and a little tease. B+(***)

Lindstrøm: Where You Go I Go Too (2008, Smalltown Supersound): Starts ambient, then finds a pulse which the title track works for 28:58, with occasional synth swooshes flying in and out. B+(**)

Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love (2010, Nonesuch): I usually get Nonesuch's world music, but somehow missed out on this. I gather that this is a soundtrack to the title film by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhely, possibly a documentary about N'Dour, and the songs on it are old but in new versions, possibly live. That may make it redundant, but it's impossible for someone who can't fathom his language(s) to get overfamiliar with his songs, or even to make fine distinctions. At a gross level these are (mostly) great songs in (mostly) great performances. It's hard to overpraise him as a singer, and the sonic envelope and rhythmic flow is hard to resist. Will consider this further if/when I get a copy. A-

Gucci Mane: The State vs. Radric Davis (2009, Warner Bros.): Dirty South rapper, b. 1980, given name Radric Davis, as in the title. AMG credits him with 25 albums since 2005 but only bothered to rate three, most recently this one. Can't follow this lyrically, not even to give a rough sense how much is dirty and how much is gangsta, but it doesn't feel like much of either. Rather, it runs on big, happy beats, and keeps the nonsense in check. Probably lots of guests, too. Certainly, lots of pros. B+(**)

OK Go: Of the Blue Colour of the Sky (2010, Capitol): Chicago group, third album, rhythm guitar dominant -- I've seen comparisons to Cars and Pixies, and there's something to that. B+(***)

Beach House: Teen Dream (2010, Sub Pop): Rhapsody calls this "slo-core" which underrates the dreamy, creamy lightness of it. A couple of songs up front promise to make it all work, with looping melodies and a frizz of metallic guitar strum the only thing approaching an edge. Gets a bit twee later on, which may just take time to reconcile. B+(**)

The Whitefield Brothers: Earthology (2010, Now-Again): Not counting the occasional rapper, like Mr. Lif, this is basic exotica, with mallet instruments and flutes riding technoized Afro beats. A-

Dyan Valdés/Eddie Argos: Fixin' the Charts, Vol. 1: Everybody Was in the French Resistance . . . Now! (2010, Cooking Vinyl): Most sources give "Everybody . . . Now!" as the artist name, but Valdés and Argos get their names in the front cover, and "Everybody . . . Now!" is just a line from a song ("Creeque Allies"), unlikely to remain usable on future albums, so my version makes more sense. Maybe Art Brut's Argos should get top billing, but he's in gentleman mode, almost an old-fashioned song and dance man. Found melodies, found concepts, clever enough that it's all a tribute to pop literacy. A-

Dessa: A Badly Broken Code (2010, Doomtree): Female rapper, actually teaches the stuff at some music college. I was most impressed the first play when I actually focused better on the words; less so two more plays while I was trying to write something else, which may mean that her beats are less than exceptional. Still, one reason they slipped past me is that they do what they need to do. A-

Annie: Don't Stop (2009, Smalltown Supersound): Disco singer, I guess you could say, from Norway, full name Anne Lilia Berge-Strand. Has a lot of up-beat fizz and bounce, nothing deep, certainly not the radio-ready song about listening to the radio. B+(**)

Little Boots: Hands (2009 [2010], Elektra): English pop singer, aka Victoria Hesketh, got some year-end votes for last year's UK release. Mostly electropop, but richer than usual melodically, and some of the songs stick. Ends with a piece just backed by piano, and that works too. B+(***)

Cornershop: Judy Sucks a Lemon for Breakfast (2009 [2010], Ample Play): This album appeared in UK last year, but didn't show up on Rhapsody until February, and it's not clear how available it actually is -- most retailers I've checked don't have it. Fourth album; first since 2002, a long stretch although it's almost exactly a chip off the old block. Ready for their best-of: "The Roll Off Characteristics"; maybe "The Turned On Truth" too. And amuse your friends with their one cover: "The Mighty Quinn." A-

Madlib: Madlib Medicine Show No. 1: Before the Verdict (2010, Now Again): Reportedly the first of a 12-CD monthly series. You can tell he's pacing himself, padding the usual beats with bits from comedy sketches, and occasional depth: "Ask not what you can do for your country, but what in the fuck has it done for you?" And "To be a drug dealer is the American dream." B+(*)

Hot Chip: One Life Stand (2010, EMI): A couple years ago had a growing reputation as a sharp electro-pop band, but they seem to have softened up quite a bit, wandering into soft prog territory. Haven't lost their songcraft. B(*)

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Full archive file here.

Jason Gross: Why We Need Bad Reviews: From July 9 last year, just stumbled on this accidentally, mostly because I'm held up as an example of a critic who's too soft on bad jazz albums. Starts with a tweet: "Do bad reviews of jazz CDs help or hurt the art form? Why do you think jazz critics and bloggers are so hesitant to trash?" My short answer is that there's not much to trash: most jazz albums are conceived around interesting enough ideas and are more than competently executed. The few that aren't are best forgotten because, unlike other pop music forms, few stand any chance of becoming public nuissances. If I was covering other kinds of popular music -- country, rap, alt-to-metal rock bands, folk, soft soul, or new age come to mind -- the ratio would shift substantially. (I could add pop jazz to that list. I hardly get any of it anymore, but I cover what I get and it mostly ranges from innocuous to dreadful.) But the place to judge how critical I am isn't Jazz CG, which at 30-40 records per column and 4 columns per year only lets me address 20-25% of the jazz records that come my way. The other 75-80% show up in my lists, database, and above all in my Jazz Prospecting blog posts, and most of the duds and nonentities (as well as a lot of merely good albums) get buried there -- but not without a trace: I track everything I hear -- some 600 jazz albums per year, all sorted out in a list from top to bottom. Even when I'm polite in my notes, the rank list is necessarily brutal. Maybe the grade scale could be slid down a bit -- I find that it's pretty consistent with what I've been doing for many years -- but the relative ordering is inescapable.

As for whether more negative reviews would be good for jazz, I can't say. I do find that most of the jazz reviews I glance at are so positive as to not be useful or even credible. Everyone liking everything doesn't help much, but the problem is not so much that a few slams would make a critic more credible as that I keep reading critics fawning over records I know not to be in any way exceptional. I don't get enough feedback from readers to have a good sense of how my reviews are taken -- probably one reason I latched onto this piece, given more import because I know Jason Gross and know that his listening habits and range of interests are rather analogous to my own (e.g., he produces some of the longest year-end lists I'm aware of). I get roughly one complaint a month from someone who thinks I should listen to their record again (and more closely), and I get a similar number of compliments for finding things or (more often than I would expect) slamming some dud. If I had more space, I might list more duds, but I figure the limited space I do have is better used to recommend something worthwhile. At the margins you can argue that either way -- is it more useful to praise the 35th best album of the column or to disparage the 4th or 5th worst? -- so I may be letting my druthers win out. I don't particularly like dumping on a record, especially an artist I respect, given that anyone producing serious jazz is having a tough go of it. But I do recognize the need to be honest and consistent across the whole range of my listening, even when it drags me into uncomfortable territory -- both personally and aesthetically. And while words sometimes fail me, grades make their point brusquely.

PS: Worth reading the exceptionally high-grade comments. Especially good to hear from Ed Ward. I can say that his point about fear of being denied access for bad reviews -- at least affordable access; hardly any critic has the freedom of a budget to explore -- is valid on occasion, although it has only rarely happened to me.

Still in limbo between filing a Jazz CG column and waiting for it to appear. I suppose if I was publishing monthly I wouldn't have such stretches, but I can't say as I mind a break. Pulling stuff somewhat at random below. Also checked out a few of Christgau's Consumer Guide March picks on Rhapsody: Eddie Argos/Dyan Valdés, Dessa, and Whitefield Brothers strike me as keepers, along with Youssou N'Dour and Vampire Weekend which I got to earlier -- will have a batch of Rhapsody stream notes sometime this week. Also started listening to old Ravi Shankar to try to find a context for the new Rare and Glorious comp, which thus far is holding up as well as any. That'll go into Recycled Goods. Still, not finding much jazz that impresses me: only one 2010 A-list record so far, vs. 9 non-jazz releases. Got a letter from one artist complaining that I had missed his masterpiece. No doubt many more think that, but I'm probably as consistent as ever, and we're just going through a minor slump stretch, which happens now and then.

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Pablo Held: Music (2009 [2010], Pirouet): Pianist, quite young (b. 1986), from Germany, leading a trio with Robert Landfermann on bass and Jonas Burgwinkel on drums on his second album. Covers from Olivier Messaien and Herbie Hancock, plus eight originals. Starts quiet and cautious, but gradually opens up. B+(**)

Free Unfold Trio: Ballades (2009 [2010], Ayler): Piano trio, led by Jobic Le Masson, with Benjamin Duboc on bass and Didier Lasserre on drums. Two (or four) pieces, composed (or improvised) by the group, totalling a scant 28:39. French group, has one previous album together, and Le Masson has a trio album under his own name. Ballade means slow here, a untethered set of ambient abstractions, interesting but likely to slip past without much notice. B+(*)

Ehud Asherie: Modern Life (2009 [2010], Posi-Tone): Pianist, b. 1979 in Israel, based in New York, third album -- after a trio and a quintet with Grant Stewart and Ryan Kisor. Mainstream player, crosses bop and swing, cites Errol Garner as an influence. Two originals; eight covers, the bop side drawing on Hank Jones and Tadd Dameron, the standards songbook more dominant. One reason this quartet is a tad more retro is that it features tenor saxophonist Harry Allen, and he pretty neatly turns it into a Harry Allen album, which is fine by me. B+(***)

Sam Weiser: Sam I Am (2009 [2010], Disappear): Violinist, 15 years old (so that's 1994?), New Yorker, Mets fan, studied with Mark O'Connor, won some prize named for martyred journalist Daniel Pearl. Advance copy, no musician or session credits, a puke-yellow hype sheet with nothing I want to know. Main vocalist (6 cuts) is presumably Sonia Rutstein of folkie duo Disappear Fear who also does business as SONiA -- somebody else leads on Eddie Palmieri's "Azucar," a token piece of Latin jazz that gets away from everyone. Otherwise the catholic song selection works reasonably well, with Rutstein's three songs guarding against over-familiarity. The violin leads are rich and plush, the band swings; I wouldn't say anyone's improvising or even trying anything novel, but it's pretty listenable. Some day maybe Weiser will grow up and hire a real publicist. B+(*) [advance]

Mark Egan: Truth Be Told (2009 [2010], Wavetone): Electric bassist -- "fretted and fretless" is how he puts it -- b. 1951, has eight or so records since 1985, plus a large number of side credits going back to 1977 -- Pat Metheny, Bill Evans (the saxophonist, who plays here), Gil Evans, Mark Murphy, Jason Miles, Joe Beck. Basically a funk-fusion quintet, like Weather Report at their most homogenized, with less distinctive players at every slot: Egan, Evans, Vinnie Colaiuta (drums), Roger Squitero (percussion), and especially Mitch Forman (keyboards). C+

Paul Meyers Quartet: Featuring Frank Wess (2007 [2010], Miles High): Nylon string guitarist. I screwed up his biographical data last time, and I'm not totally clear now, but looks like he was b. 1956 in New York, attended SUNY Potsdam and New England Conservatory. Fifth album since 2004, but side credits go back to 1989 or 1981 or even 1974. Has an interest in Brazilian music -- not evident here. Wess, on flute as well as tenor sax, is counted in the Quartet, along with Martin Wind on bass and Tony Jefferson on drums. Andy Bey is "special guest" on "Lazy Afternoon" -- quite enough, I'd say, as he's even more mannered than usual. Guitar has a soft, sweet twang, tasty alongside Wess's tenor sax (caveat emptor on the flute). B+(**)

The Trio [Peter Erskine/Chuck Berghofer/Terry Trotter]: Live @ Charlie O's (2009 [2010], Fuzzy Music): No idea how many groups have called themselves The Trio over the years. Certainly enough to have made my pet peeve list. Seems like an exercise in ego, but pianist Terry Trotter has done a remarkable job of avoiding the spotlight since when? The 1960s? AMG credits him with two albums, having overlooked a ouple of Trotter Trio outings. AMG and All About Jazz have no biographies, and Trotter has no web page, let alone MySpace. Wikipedia has two lines: "studio pianist living in Los Angeles." Bassist Berghofer, by comparison, is widely known, and drummer Erskine even more so -- even if you're not a Weather Report fan. No song credits, but looks like standard fare, done with polish and aplomb. B+(**)

Mitch Marcus Quintet: Countdown 2 Meltdown (2009 [2010], Porto Franco): Tenor saxophonist; put his group together in Indiana then moved to Berkeley. Third album. Despite the reinforcement of a second saxophonist -- Sylvain Carton on alto -- the dominant player, and possibly major talent, here is guitarist Mike Abraham, knocking out a hard fusion-funk groove and dressing it up on his solos. At best this reminds me of Anders Nilsson. B+(*)

Soren Moller & Dick Oatts: The Clouds Above (2007 [2010], Audial): Moller is a Danish pianist, 34 (b. 1976?), based in New York where he is part of NYNDK. Second duo album with Oatts, credited here with "saxophones and flute" -- usually plays alto. Oatts has eight albums since 1998 on the Danish label Steeplechase (which I don't get), plus quite a few side credits going back to 1978 (with Mel Lewis). I wasn't much aware of him until I saw him doing a teaching session at Wichita State. (David Berkman had been advertised, but limited his contribution to heckling from the audience.) I figure him for a high quality journeyman, able to fit into most contexts. Moller wrote all of the pieces except for something from Prokofiev, and takes the lead here, but Oatts does a lovely job of coloring -- can't even complain about the flute near the end. B+(***)

Ken Peplowski: Noir Blue (2009 [2010], Capri): Plays clarinet and tenor sax. I prefer the latter, but he prefers the former. Basically a "young fogey" -- part of the postbop generation of swing-oriented players like Scott Hamilton and the Vaché brothers -- with an extensive discography of good but rarely outstanding records. Compatible quartet here: Shelley Berg on piano, Jay Leonhart on bass, Joe LaBarbera on drums. Nice tenor work. Wish there was more of it. B+(*)

Ralph Bowen: Due Reverence (2009 [2010], Posi-Tone): Tenor saxophonist, mainstream player, consistently impressive. Last record rated an HM. This has comparable strengths when he's on, but I've played it a lot and keep losing the thread. Strong quintet, with Sean Jones (trumpet), Adam Rogers (guitar), John Patitucci (bass), Antonio Sanchez (drums). B+(*)

Sean Bergin's New Mob: Chicken Feet: Live at the Bimhuis (2007 [2010], Pingo): Dutch saxophonist, also on the line here for flute, ukulele, and vocals, although most of the vocals belong to Una Bergin and Felicity Provan. They are sometimes distracting, sometimes surreal, which underscores the comic vein in the Dutch avant-garde. Not all that easy to follow, but sneaky clever when you let it go. B+(*)

Bill Cunliffe/Holly Hofmann: Three's Company (2009 [2010], Capri): Piano and flute respectively. Hofmann's in the upper ranks of Downbeat's poll because there's hardly anyone else, and Cunliffe doesn't place because there are jillions of good pianists (though somewhat less that are better than him). Most tracks add a guest, which usually helps -- the contrast with Terrell Stafford's trumpet yields a choice cut (the title track), where the three contributors abstractly lean against each other. The other guests spots: Regina Carter (violin), Ken Peplowski (clarinet), Alvester Garnett (drums). B+(*)

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No final grades/notes this week on records put back for further listening the first time around.

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Unpacking: Found in the mail this week:

• Abraham Inc.: Tweet Tweet (Dot Dot Dot Music): advance
• Aida Severo (Slam -09)
• Tommy Babin's Benzene: Your Body Is Your Prison (Drip Audio)
• Jerry Bergonzi: Three for All (Savant)
• Anat Cohen: Clarinetwork: Live at the Village Vanguard (Anzic): advance, Apr. 13
• Stephan Crump with Rosetta Trio: Reclamation (Sunnyside): Apr. 20
• The Dominant 7 and The Jazz Arts Messengers: Fourteen Channels (Tapestry)
• Damian Erskine: To Speak (DE)
• Ben Goldberg: Go Home (BAG -09)
• The Inhabitants: A Vacant Lot (Drip Audio)
• Nomore Shapes: Creesus Crisis (Drip Audio)
• Jeremy Pelt: Men of Honor (High Note)
• Tin Hat: Foreign Legion (BAG)

I've been having a tough time finding appropriate and interesting reissues. Fewer find me than at any time since I started this column. And while I've somewhat made up for the shortfall by searching out things on Rhapsody, the lack of documentation makes many otherwise interesting items less worthwhile. I still don't see much point in seeking out a reissue without some useful history on how the record came to be.

That leaves world music, which has been slowly accumulating on my shelves. Most of these records are more/less new, but I found long ago that it's hard to draw a sharp line between new and old world music, and there may be no real value in doing so. I keep going back and forth on how best to handle it, but this month it came to the rescue of an otherwise thin list. February is short, and this one has been pretty unpleasant. Glad it's over.

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Afghan Star (2009, Silva Screen): Original soundtrack recording to a documentary which won a couple of Sundance awards. The subject is an Afghan TV show, a talent search show, sort of Afghanistan's answer to American Idol, most likely without the smarmy judges. About the only thing I (or hardly anyone) knows about Afghani music is that the Taliban did their damnedest to suppress it. But an educated guess would be that it absorbs Iranian classical music and Pakistani Qawwali, with dashes of Arabic improvisation and Bollywood schmaltz, and that's about right -- except for the closer, which picks up bits of rock and what sounds like Scottish bagpipes. Still a place where tradition runs strong, but if the Obama can keep from serving the country up to the Taliban on a silver platter, in a decade I figure the tide will turn toward hip-hop and baila funk. B+(**)

Goran Bregovic: Welcome to Goran Bregovic (Best Of) ([2009], Wrasse): Don't know when these widely scattered tracks were recorded: could be as early as his 1974 group Bijelo Dugme or as late as the title cut to his recent live party album Alkohol, or any time in between. A Serb from Bosnia, based in Belgrade, best known for soundtracks which may or may not exploit Gypsy music. Some cuts are pure soundtrack, some are trad wedding music, some deep Balkan, some borrowed from elsewhere, including a "Ya Ya" segment wrapped up as "Ya Ya Ringe Ringe Raja." B+(*) [R]

Betty Davis (1973 [2008], Light in the Attic): Born Betty Mabry, 1945, Durham, NC. Picked up her surname by marrying Miles Davis, which lasted about a year but featured her pic on the cover of Filles de Kilimanjaro. Skinny legs, big afro, not much of a voice but plenty of attitude and grit. Cut four funk albums 1973-76. None very successful, but these days obscure soul records have a certain vogue, enough so that she's become a cult star. Her first album is in thrall to the rhythm -- no surprise given Larry Graham and Greg Errico on bass with Merl Saunders on keyboards. She hangs tough too, with songs like "Game Is My Middle Name" and "Anti Love Song." B+(***) [R]

Boban i Marko Markovic Orkestar: Devla: Blown Away to Dancefloor Heaven (2009, Piranha): Balkan brass band, handed down from old lead trumpet Boban Markovic to new lead trumpet Marko Markovic, the transition effectively complete here -- the dancefloor more generalized and more welcoming than was the case with the old wedding band. Brass may be toned down a bit too, but that's only because the pace has picked up. A-

Tinariwen: Imidiwan: Companions (2009, World Village): Tuaregs from the north of Mali, which is to say the Sahara, where the residual calm of an individual guitarist like Ali Farka Touré can be likened to American blues, and where a full-fledged multi-guitar, multi-vocal group averages out into something that transcends blues individuality into collective trance. Fourth album, all pretty much the same, this one even more elemental, which for once beats idiosyncratic. A-

Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté: Ali and Toumani (2005 [2010], World Circuit/Nonesuch): Touré, Mali's quintessential blues guitarist passed away in 2006, shortly after these gently seductive sessions were cut. Diabaté may or may not be Mali's greatest kora player, but he is certainly the most effectively networked one, showing up on everyone's album, including 2005's In the Heart of the Moon, a previous duo with Touré. This isn't quite bare: the late Orlando "Cachaito" Lopez plays bass on five cuts, young Vieux Farka Touré plays congas, and several others add backing vocals and percussion, but nothing much roughs up the gentle roll. B+(***)

Briefly Noted

Albert Ammons/Henry Brown/Meade Lux Lewis/"Cripple" Clarence Lofton/Pete Johnson/Speckled Red: Boogie Woogie Kings (1938-71 [2009], Delmark): Your basic boogie woogie piano sampler with some vocals; Lofton's six cuts are the oldest; Red, with four cuts including a previously unreleased (and relatively mild) "Dirty Dozens" is the most recent; Lewis gets three sharply played cuts, plus one with the Ammons-Johnson-Lewis triumvirate. B+(**)

Mulatu Astatke: New York-Addis-London: The Story of Ethio Jazz 1965-1975 (1965-75 [2009], Strut): Broader than the overlapping Addis-only Éthiopiques 4 collection, mostly with swipes at Latin jazz, but the globetrotting Ethiopian percussionist never found a groove he couldn't incorporate, or spice up with the flavor of his homeland. A-

Anouar Brahem: The Astounding Eyes of Rita (2008 [2009], ECM): Dedicated to the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, whose poem posits a rifle between him and his love; the music itself flows in a gentle groove, oud over bass and darbouka or bendir, under a gentle breeze of bass clarinet. B+(***)

Goran Bregovic: Alkohol (2008 [2009], Wrasse): A live album which serves as a better intro (or maybe I just mean a more consistently enjoyable album) than his best-of, mostly because it's louder and rowdier, traits to look for in Serbian music -- in this case guitar-driven. A- [R]

Betty Davis: They Say I'm Different (1974 [2008], Light in the Attic): Cover pic shows her with a huge collar framing her afro like a lizard puffed up in a bold display, but her lower half is long and leggy -- but scrunched up, insect-like; the album has the usual sophomore faults -- less distinctive songs, less starpower in the band -- but the bonus cuts reiterate four songs that become more iconic the second time around, maybe because they're stretched a bit. B+(**) [R]

Betty Davis: Is It Love or Desire (1976 [2009], Light in the Attic): Fourth album, or would have been had it been released; easy to see why it wasn't, with the funk splayed wide and not all that tight on the one, and Davis's voice more croak than coo; holding it back for 33 years elevates it from inept to idiosyncratic, not that you have to indulge her. B+(*) [R]

Scott LaFaro: Pieces of Jade (1961-85 [2009], Resonance): A belated souvenir of the legendary bassist, dead in a car crash at age 25 shortly after blossoming on Bill Evans' remarkable 1961 Village Vanguard sets; five fine piano trio cuts with Don Friedman and Pete LaRoca, a 22:44 practice tape with Evans, an Evans interview from 1966, and a Friedman solo from 1985, appropriately called "Memories for Scotty." B

Memphis Nighthawks: Jazz Lips (1976-77 [2009], Delmark): University of Illinois students formed a trad jazz group, recycling the name of an obscure 1920s group, cut an long-forgotten album for a Chicago label, and disbanded; in some ways this is like every other trad jazz revival project, but the horn layering -- clarinet, trumpet, trombone, bass sax -- is subtle and powerful, and the guitar-drums rhythm cooks. B+(***)

Nneka: Concrete Jungle (2005-08 [2010], Decon): German mother, Nigerian father, splits her time between Lagos and Hamburg, gets a US debut by recycling cuts from two German albums; less Afro-Pop than Neo-Soul, although individual cuts fold in funk or reggae or hip-hop and start to get interesting as they pick up speed. B+(*) [R]

Tierra Negra & Muriel Anderson: New World Flamenco (2009 [2010], Tierra Negra): German group specializes in dueling flamenco guitars, while the American strums along on classic and harp guitar, with a dash of percussion to keep everything moving along at a nice pace. B+(**)

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Legend: B+ records are divided into three levels, where more * is better. [R] indicates record was reviewed using a stream from Rhapsody. The biggest caveat there is that the packaging and documentation hasn't been inspected or considered.

Jazz Consumer Guide is out of my hands but still a few weeks away from publication. Good time to Just pick my way through the backlog. Finding some good records, but no great ones. Lots more to go.

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Jerry Leake: Cubist (2009 [2010], Rhombus Publishing): Percussionist employing almost every instrument from around the world, graduated from Berklee, teaches at New England Conservatory and Tufts, has published eight books, released four records. This one marks a move towards assembling a band -- nominally an octet, but only guitarist-producer Randy Roos joins Leake on a majority of cuts. Some cuts develop an impressive African vibe; others add Turkish and Indian flavors. B+(**)

Babatunde Lea: Umbo Weti: A Tribute to Leon Thomas (2008 [2009], Motéma, 2CD): Drummer, I'm finding very little useful biography: grew up in New York and Englewood, NJ; now based in San Francisco, evidently since the late 1960s. ("In the late 1960s the youthful 49 year old percussionist migrated westward to the Bay Area": when was he 49? If in the late 1960s he'd be 90 now, which he sure doesn't look; if now he would have left NY/NJ by the time he was 10, hardly grown up.) Released an album in 1979, then nothing until 1996, a half-dozen (more/less) since. Leon Thomas (1937-99) might have been a blues shouter but he ran into the avant-garde, cutting six 1969-73 albums, plus appearing on albums by Pharoah Sanders, Oliver Nelson, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Archie Shepp, Mary Lou Williams, and Santana. His discography is spotty after that -- a 1988 Blues Band album I rather like, a 1998 duet with Jeri Brown, not much more. This was cut live at Yoshi, with Dwight Trible carrying the vocal burden, Ernie Watts waxing eloquent on tenor sax where Sanders and Shepp turned shrill, Patrice Rushen on piano and Gary Brown on bass. B+(***)

Maria Neckam: Deeper (2009 [2010], Sunnyside): Singer-songwriter, born in Austria, lived in Netherlands before winding up in Brooklyn. First record. Mostly backed by a slinky, slippery group consisting of Aaron Goldberg on piano, Thomas Morgan on double bass, and Colin Stranahan on drums, with a horn or two added on 5 of 10 songs. Peter Eldridge also sings on one song. Lyrics are buried in a PDF on the extended CD, but 90% of "Missing You" is rote repetition of "missing you," and I didn't notice anything else much, uh, deeper. C+

John Ellis & Double-Wide: Puppet Mischief (2009 [2010], ObliqSound): Tenor saxophonist, also plays bass clarinet here, b. 1974, sixth album since 1996. Seems that he has been aiming at some sort of a popular mainstream synthesis -- past album titles emphasize a common touch ("Roots Branches and Leaves," "One Foot in the Swamp"), and his Double-Wide aims low even when the shot drifts high. Blues are part, but also this veers toward circus music -- maybe it's Matt Perrine's sousaphone in lieu of bass, or Brian Coogan's organ (also in lieu of bass). The fourth group member is Jason Marsalis on drums, but things are made more complex with two guests: Alan Ferber on trombone and Gregoire Maret on harmonica, both quality additions. B+(*)

Tineke Postma: The Traveller (2009 [2010], Etcetera Now): Alto saxophonist, some soprano, b. 1978, Netherlands. Fourth album, this one fronting a quality American quartet: Geri Allen on piano, Scott Colley on bass, Terri Lyne Carrington on drums. Pushes hard on the edges of postbop, but doesn't make much of a breakthrough. B+(*)

Liam Sillery: Phenomenology (2008 [2010], OA2): Trumpeter, b. 1972, from New Jersey, fourth album since 2005, a hard bop quintet with name players -- at least in my book: Matt Blostein (alto sax), Jesse Stacken (piano), Thomas Morgan (bass), Vinnie Sperrazza (drums) -- and postbop airs but also rough edges. Best when they pick up the pace. B+(**)

Pablo Aslan: Tango Grill (2010, Zoho): Bassist, born in Argentina, based in New York, has several records based on tango themes -- 2007's Buenos Aires Tango Standards is one I particularly recommend. New one is more of the same -- an assortment of old tango tunes given a jolt of jazz improv, with piano and trumpet kicking in as well as the usual bandoneon and violin. B+(***)

David S. Ware: Saturnian (Solo Saxophones, Volume 1) (2009 [2010], AUM Fidelity): Practice as slow-motion performance: the inevitable solo album, tenor sax (of course), also stritch and saxello which are a bit funkier, perhaps because they're hard to play without thinking of Rahsaan Roland Kirk. But Ware, always a methodical guy, only plays one at a time. B+(***)

Sebastiano Meloni/Adriano Orrù/Tony Oxley: Improvised Pieces for Trio (2008 [2010], Big Round): Piano-bass-drums trio, respectively. Meloni and Orrù live in Cagliari, Italy; they have a short discography which hasn't come to AMG's attention yet. Credits are split 7 for Meloni, 7 for the group (one is just an Orrù-Oxley duo). Meloni plays sharp and percussive, able to take the lead when he sees fit. Oxley is relatively famous: a major drummer of Europe's avant-garde, past 70 now, with a Penguin Guide crown album to his credit (1969's The Baptised Traveler). B+(***)

Dan Dean: 251 (2009 [2010], Origin): Bassist; credits don't specify, but pictures show him playing electric. First album, although AMG lists about 50 credits going back to 1976. The songs here are covers, most well known standards ("'S Wonderful," "One Note Samba," "All the Things You Are," "In Walked Bud," "Body and Soul," etc.) done as duets with various keyboard players: George Duke, Larry Goldings (organ), Gil Goldstein (also plays accordion), Kenny Werner. Werner's cuts are brightly pianistic; Goldings is Goldings, and there's not much a bassist can do about that. B

Phil Kelly & the Northwest Prevailing Winds: Ballet of the Bouncing Beagles (2009, Origin): Big big band -- 22 pieces, plus string programming -- from Seattle, with a couple of recognized names but not many -- Jerry Dodgion, Pete Christlieb, Grant Geissman, Jay Thomas are the names I know. Third album for composer-arranger Kelly, who came out of Texas, where he was arranger for the Fort Worth Symphony Pops for 25 years. Reminds me of Kenton, sometimes even at his best, hardly ever at his worst. B+(*)

Scenes: Rinnova (2009 [2010], Origin): Guitarist John Stowell, leading a trio with Seattle stalwarts Jeff Johnson (bass) and John Bishop (drums). Second album as Scenes, plus an earlier quartet album titled Scenes. Stowell's credits go back to the mid-1970s. AMG credits him with 13 albums and a few more credits, mostly since 2000. Has an engagingly subtle style, calmly picking his way through intricate sequences. Need more time to decide just how substantial this is. [B+(***)]

Aaron Immanuel Wright: Eleven Daughters (2009 [2010], Origin): Bassist, b. 1979, from Oregon, studied in California, got a BA in philosophy, based now in New York. Wrote (or co-wrote with drummer Brian Menendez) 6 of 7 songs, with a cover of "Laura." Group is a quartet with Tim Willcox on tenor sax and Darrell Grant on piano. I suppose one way you can tell it's the bassist's record is that neither sax nor piano ever break loose. Such balance may be admirable, but it doesn't do much to get your attention. B

Tord Gustavsen Ensemble: Restored, Returned (2009 [2010], ECM): Pianist, b. 1970, from Norway, has three previous trio albums on ECM, slyly simple and elegant things that put him in the upper tier of ECM's ambience. This is a slightly bigger production, in which he plays slightly less. Several pieces are built around W.H. Auden poetry, sung by Kristin Asbjørnsen, who gives them a sultry musicality far removed from the archness that most found poetry results in. Tore Brunborg plays tenor and soprano sax, gently caressing the melodies and filling them out. B+(***)

Pete Lockett's Network of Sparks: One (1999 [2010], Summerfold): Percussion ensemble, released on Bill Bruford's label, as Bruford joins in and gets a "featuring" credit. Reissue of first album, released on Melt 2000 in 1999 or 2000, with same cover plus the legend across the bottom: "Rhythms and pulses from around the world." Lockett has five or more later albums, most or all with Nana Tsiboe (from Ghana, plays congas and djembe) and Simon Limbrick (mostly plays marimba and vibes), who are spotted here on about half of the cuts, along with Bruford (5 tracks, mostly drum set), Pam Chowhan and Johnny Kaisi (one track each). Lockett is credited with dozens of things, including samplers and sound treatments. Two pieces by other drum ensemble pioneers (Max Roach, Pierre Favre), the rest originals. B+(*)

Maxfield Gast: Eat Your Beats (2009 [2010], Militia Hill): Saxophonist (alto, soprano, EWI; also trumpet, synth, and drum programming) from Philadelphia. First album. Occasionally adds keybs, bass, and/or drums, but sometimes just does it all himself. One of his web pages describes this as "a combination of old-school instrumental hip hop, drum & bass, soul, and funk." I wound up refiling it as pop jazz, which isn't quite fair: it isn't slick or smooth or catchy, and it doesn't make you feel like wretching. On the other hand, it doesn't do much else either. Minor grooves, nothing to get your attention (least of all the saxophone), yet it doesn't slip into ambience either. B-

Carl Fischer & Organic Groove Ensemble: Adverse Times (2009 [2010], Fischmusic): Trumpet player (also flugelhorn and valve trombone here), second album. Played with Maynard Ferguson Big Bop Nouveau Band 1993-98, winding up as music director, and returning for spots up to 2004. Otherwise, resume mostly features performances (but I don't see any recording credits) with pop stars: Dianne Schuur, Mary Wilson, Blood Sweat & Tears, Dells, Four Tops, Will Smith, Shakira, Sam Moore, Sophie B. Hawkins, Mariah Carey, Billy Joel. Organic Groove seems to mean Hammond B3, guitar, tabla, and Latin percussion. Two vocals by Brent Carter are definite downers. The trumpet does remind a bit of Ferguson, to whom the album is dedicated. B

Orrin Evans: Faith in Action (2009 [2010], Posi-Tone): Pianist, b. 1975 or 1976 (seen both cited) in Trenton, NJ; raised in Philadelphia, studied at Rutgers (e.g., Kenny Barron), based in Philadelphia. Tenth album since 1994, most on Criss Cross. First one I've heard, partially plugging one of the larger gaps in my listening. Piano trio with Luques Curtis on bass, various drummers (Nasheet Waits, Rocky Bryant, Gene Jackson). Mostly Bobby Watson songs (5 of 10) -- Evans has appeared on a couple Watson albums, and Watson wrote an appreciative note on the inside, something about finding the portal and unlocking the compositions. That's too technical for me: what I hear is a first-rate postbop pianist picking his way through intricate material, impressive enough but nothing quite grabs me. Need to listen to him more, but that's true of a lot of more/less equivalent pianists. B+(**)

Roberto Fonseca: Akokan (2008 [2010], Enja/Justin Time): Cuban pianist, b. 1975, has six or so albums since 2001. Has a light touch, speed, and sophistication when out in the lead. His accoutrements are less impressive. Javier Zalba plays flute, clarinet, and baritone sax, none particularly apt. Several vocals also produce mixed effects. Few Afro-Cuban trademarks, which is neither here nor there. B+(*)

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These are some even quicker notes based on downloading or streaming records. I don't have the packaging here, don't have the official hype, often don't have much information to go on. I have a couple of extra rules here: everything gets reviewed/graded in one shot (sometimes with a second play), even when I'm still guessing on a grade; the records go into my flush file (i.e., no Jazz CG entry, unless I make an exception for an obvious dud). If/when I get an actual copy I'll reconsider the record.

Terry Riley: Autodreamographical Tales (2010, Tzadik): Two multipart series, the title piece spoken word over ambient sounds, "The Hook Lecture" built around piano pieces (with some spoken word) that are somewhat more than minimalist. The spoken word isn't without interest, although it can be slow going. The piano is richly textured. I suppose there's a classical analogue, but don't know enough to pin it down, partly because I've never heard classical piano I liked quite this much. B+(*) [Rhapsody]

John Zorn: Femina (2008 [2009], Tzadik): A tribute to the ladies. The CD is organized as Parts 1-4, but the website notes that Zorn composed (doesn't play) this using his "file card technique," and the granularity includes references to: Hildegard von Bingen, Meredith Monk, Simone de Beauvoir, Frida Kahlo, Madame Blavatsky, Isadora Duncan, Hélène Cixous, Gertrude Stein, Abe Sada, Sylvia Plath, Louise Bourgeois, Margaret Mead, Loie Fuller, Dorothy Parker, Yoko Ono, moon goddess En Hedu'Anna, and others. Players are: Jennifer Choi (violin), Okkyung Lee (cello), Carl Emanuel (harp), Sylvie Courvoisier (piano), Ikue Mori (electronics), and Shayna Dunkelman (percussion), with Laurie Anderson offering some words at the beginning. While the action can shift dramatically, it mostly meanders unimpressively. B- [Rhapsody]

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No final grades/notes this week on records put back for further listening the first time around.

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Unpacking: Found in the mail this week:

• Jason Adasiewicz's Rolldown: Varmint (Cuneiform)
• Ehud Asherie: Modern Life (Posi-Tone)
• Stefano Battaglia/Michele Rabbia: Pastorale (ECM): advance, Mar. 30
• François Couturier: Un Jour Si Blanc (ECM): advance, Mar. 30
• Ergo: Multitude, Solitude (Cuneiform)
• First Meeting: Cut the Rope (Libra): Mar. 23
• Satoko Fujii Ma-Do: Desert Ship (Not Two): Mar. 23
• Satoko Fujii Orchestra Tokyo: Zakopane (Libra): Mar. 23
• Gato Libre: Shiro (Libra): Mar. 23
• Aaron Goldberg: Home (Sunnyside): Apr. 13
• Helge Lien Trio: Hello Troll (Ozella)
• Little Women: Throat (AUM Fidelity): Apr. 13
• New York Art Quartet: Old Stuff (1965, Cuneiform)
• Mark O'Connor: Jam Session (OMAC)
• Ken Peplowski: Noir Blue (Capri)
• Jean-Michel Pilc: True Story (Dreyfus)
• Karl Seglem: NORSKjazz.no (Ozella)
• Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars: Rise & Shine (Cumbancha): Mar. 23
• The Vinson Valega Group: Biophilia (Consilience Productions): Mar. 16
• VW Brothers [Paul van Wageningen/Marc van Wageningen]: Muziek (Patois)
• The Wee Trio: Capitol Diner Vol. 2 Animal Style (Bionic)

Finally got in a whole week of dipping into the jazz prospecting queue, almost at random, picking up some stuff that had fallen (sometimes literally) through the cracks, and some things I've passed over many times (as if avoiding).

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Michaël Attias: Renku in Coimbra (2008 [2009], Clean Feed): Alto saxophonist, b. 1968 in Israel, moved to US in 1977, bounced back and forth between US and Europe until settling in New York in 1994. Group is a trio with John Hebert on bass and Satoshi Takeishi on drums; same group recorded Renku in 2004. Attias wrote two pieces, Hebert three (including the one reprised at the end); the two outside pieces are by Lee Konitz and Jimmy Lyons, touchstones for Attias. Russ Lossing joins in on piano on one cut, but in three plays I have to admit I didn't notice him. Tight group, the sax not unusual for free jazz, the bass and drums busy but not overbearing. B+(**)

Steven Schoenberg: Live: An Improvisational Journey (2006-08 [2010], Quabbin): Pianist, b. 1952. AMG lists him as Classical, but doesn't list any classical recordings by him. Rather, we have an 1982 album Pianoworks reissued on his label in 2007, plus one more -- none reviewed or rated. His website is on of those Flash things designed to make extracting information so painful you give up. Seems to do film and theatre work. Married his his school sweetheart, Jane, who works with him in some capacity, but not on this solo set, improvised live at Smith College, Northampton, MA (except for two cuts recorded later). Doesn't strike me as very jazz-oriented, but likable as piano music goes, rhythmically regular with a lot of harmonic fill. B+(*)

Curt Berg & the Avon Street Quintet: At Stagg Street Studio (2009, Origin): Trombonist, originally from Iowa, studied at Drake and USC. Broke in with Woody Herman c. 1970, and has several more big band credits -- Don Ellis, Jim Self, Vince Mendoza. First album, with saxophonist Tom Luer and pianist Andy Langham, plus bass (Lyman Medeiros) and drums (Bill Berg, don't know if related). Berg wrote all of the songs, including three he dedicated to Gary Foster, Eliot Spitzer, and Moacir Santos. Trombone almost always plays in unison with the sax -- soprano, alto, and tenor are listed in that order -- for a harmonic effect I don't care for, but the rhythm is gingerly sprung. B

Big Crazy Energy New York Band: Inspirations, Vol. 1 (2008 [2010], Rosa): Leader here is Norwegian trombonist Jens Wendelboe, who cut a couple of non-NY Big Crazy Energy Band albums in the early 1990s. He plays, conducts, produces, wrote or co-wrote 5 of 9 songs, and keeps the energy level high. Still, as Wolfgang Pauli would say, his high energy physics isn't crazy enough. Can't say I like closing with a Beatles tune either. B-

Tineke de Jong/Albert van Veenendaal/Alan Purves/Hans Habesos: Midday Moon (2008 [2009], Brokken): Dutch group. De Jong plays violin, van Veenendaal (prepared) piano, Purves percussion, Hasebos marimba. De Jong's notes describe herself as "a classical violinist inspired by jazz standards" and van Veenendaal as "an improvising pianist without style boundaries." In other words, she's more conventionally boxed in, whereas the pianist easily breaks convention. Especially striking when the drums and marimba expand on the prepared piano's percussion; less so when de Jong returns to chamber jazz, which predominates. B+(**)

Q'd Up: Quintessence (2009, Jazz Hang): Utah group, fourth album since 1999, with previous iterations of the group going back to 1983. Steve Lindeman (piano, keyboards) and Jay Lawrence (drums, vibes) write most of the pieces, with a couple of assists from vocalist Kelly Eisenhour (who sings three cuts) and a couple of standards. Ray Smith plays various saxophones and woodwinds, Matt Larson plays acoustic and electric bass, and Ron Brough plays vibes when not switching off for drums. Overall they claim 25 instruments, which varies the sound in ways hard to pigeonhole, except what you get from postbop. B

Matt Slocum: Portraits (2009 [2010], Chandra): Drummer, from Minnesota, now based in New Jersey, looks like his first album, although AMG has him confused with another Matt Slocum who plays guitar and cello, particularly in the band Sixpence None the Richer. Piano trio plus guest sax on 4 of 9 cuts. The pianist, who lays out on two of the sax cuts, is Gerald Clayton, impressive here. Bassist is Massimo Biolcati. Walter Smith III and Dayna Stephens play tenor sax on two cuts each, with Jaleel Shaw on alto on a cut with Stephens -- Smith's two cuts stand out. B+(*)

Ralph Lalama Quartet: The Audience (2009 [2010], Mighty Quinn): Tenor saxophonist, b. 1951, 7th album since 1990 (first 5 on Criss Cross), with John Hart on guitar, Rick Petrone on bass, Joe Corsello on drums. Mainstream, more bop than post, with Rollins an obvious model -- "I'm an Old Cowhand" is a nice touch even if it falls well short of Way Out West. Hart has a good day. B+(**)

Lajos Dudas: Chamber Music Live (1990 [2009], Pannon Classic): Not sure why I have this down as a 2009 release: it was mastered in 1997 and most likely released shortly after that. Jewel case is a little worn, too. Dudas plays clarinet, was born 1941, don't know how many records he has but he sent me one in 2008, Jazz on Stage, that made my HM list. This was recorded live in Bonn, with Sebastian Buchholz on alto sax and "buch-horn" -- the two horns provide a sharp-shrill contrast, vigorous when it's just the two of them. The third participant is vocalist Yldiz Ibrahimova, who has one of those operatic voices I can rarely stand. B

Darryl Harper: Stories in Real Time (2009, Hipnotic): Clarinet player, b. 1968, has four previous records as the Onus -- the one I've heard an HM. Teaches at Virginia Commonwealth University. Organized this group as a clarinet quartet with piano, bass, and drums, plus occasional vocalist Marianne Solivan. Sometimes goes for a chamber jazz/quasi-classical sound, and sometimes makes it work, although he can also throw out a piece of light funk like "Tore Up." Don't care for the singer, although she's not without interest, at least on the "Saints and Sinners" suite. B+(*)

Scott DuBois: Black Hawk Dance (2009 [2010], Sunnyside): Guitarist, b. 1978, fourth album since 2005, second I have heard. His 2008 album Banshees got shortchanged in Jazz CG (19) with a high HM. This is only slightly less striking, probably because he slows the pace more, and defers less to his sax/bass clarinet player, Gebhard Ullman. Quartet is filled out capably by Thomas Morgan (bass) and Kresten Osgood (drums). Ullman has never sounded more like a mainstream bopper, which actually suits him well. B+(***)

Vivian Houle: Treize (2008 [2009], Drip Audio): Canadian vocalist, works through 13 tracks each with a different musician. Some pieces lean toward art song, or even opera, while others match the instrument head on -- especially the duo with drummer Kenton Loewen. I'm duly impressed, but can't say as I enjoyed much of it. B

Lee Shaw Trio: Blossom (2009, ARC): Pianist, from Oklahoma, b. 1926, played a little and taught a lot over the years, but didn't start to establish a discography until a mid-1990s trio with bassist Rich Syracuse and husband-drummer Stan Lee. Stan died in 2001, replaced (on drums, anyway) by Rich Siegel. Mostly Shaw originals, with one from Siegel, two from Syracuse, and two 1940s bop pieces from Fats Navarro and Johnny Guarnieri. B+(*)

Matt Vashlishan: No Such Thing (2008 [2009], Origin): Alto saxophonist, b. 1982, from the Poconos, based in/near Miami, latched onto Dave Liebman, adopting not just his sound but his look as well, and more importantly a big chunk of his band for his debut album: Vic Juris on guitar, Tony Marino on bass, Michael Stephans on drums, Liebman himself on soprano and tenor sax. Paired the saxes tend to run in boppish chase sequences, light-footed and fleet. A couple of change of pace pieces show nice form and tone. Juris gets in some tasty solos, too. B+(***)

Dana Hall: Into the Light (2009, Origin): Drummer, first album although he has a couple dozen side credits going back to 1998, including two with trumpeter Terell Stafford, who leads off here. Quintet, sort of post-hard bop, with Tim Warfield on tenor sax, Bruce Barth on piano/Fender Rhodes, and Rodney Whitaker on bass. The horns crackle, but come off a bit sloppy, with Warfield never clearly establishing himself. The drummer asserts his control by playing even louder, and is dazzling at best. B+(*)

Mike LeDonne: The Groover (2009 [2010], Savant): Keyboard player, mostly organ these days, something he's been getting progressively better at. The soul jazz formula is a dime a dozen, but you can't fault him for skimping on ingredients: Eric Alexander on tenor sax, Peter Bernstein on guitar, Joe Farnsworth on drums. Alexander's swoop through "On the Street Where You Live" is a high point, and Bernstein is always good for a few tasty solos. B+(*)

Chris Potter/Steve Wilson/Terrell Stafford/Keith Javors/Delbert Felix/John Davis: Coming Together (2005 [2009], Inarhyme): Originally intended to be the first album by saxophonist Brendan Edward Romaneck, 1981-2005, who wrote 8 of 11 tracks -- three covers are "My Shining Hour," "Nancy With the Laughing Face," and "Killing Me Softly With His Song." After Romaneck's "sudden and tragic end," the sax role was picked up by Chris Potter (first six tracks) and Steve Wilson (last five tracks). Potter's quartet sessions jump off to a fast start with a tour de force attack on "My Shining Hour." Romaneck's compositions are less compelling but provide plenty of scaffolding for Potter. Wilson's quintet sessions, with Terell Stafford on trumpet/flugelhorn, are less sharp, of course, but still of a high order. B+(**)

The American Music Project: On the Bright Side (2004-05 [2009], Inarhyme): Quartet with Dane Bays (alto sax), Keith Javors (piano), Dave Ziegner (bass), and Alex Brooks (drums) providing the jazz backbone, plus two vocalists: singer Curtis Isom and rapper Dejuan "D Priest" Everett. Bays wrote the music, except for a John Coltrane piece ("Lonnie's Lament"); Everett wrote the words, including a "Welcome" that spells everything out literally. I won't argue that this isn't quintessential Americana, but neither the rapper -- who sounds a bit like Chuck D but less so -- nor the singer hold their own, and while there's nothing wrong with the band -- I'll never complain about too much sax -- they're not really the point. B+(*)

Jeff Baker: Of Things Not Seen (2006-07 [2009], OA2): Vocalist, most likely Seattle-based, fourth album since 2003's inevitable Baker Sings Chet. This one is gospel-themed -- Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" threw me off for a minute, but two straight songs with "Thou" in the title steered me back. Stylistically he reminds me of Kurt Elling without the numerous annoying tics. Cut in Seattle with Origin's all-stars -- the Bill Anschell-Jeff Johnson-John Bishop trio is impeccable, and Brent Jensen is superb as always. Not into the songs, although the unlisted 12th song, with uncredited violin and backup singer, has some grace within it. B-

Marc Copland: Alone (2008-09 [2009], Pirouet): Postbop pianist, b. 1948, closing in on his 30th album since 1988, should be a major figure but they're so many pianists. As the title explains, solo. Very measured, quiet even, exactly the sort of thing that never commands my attention in a solo piano record. Starts with "Soul Eyes"; includes three originals and three Joni Mitchell songs among ten total. Intelligent and lovely, of course. B+(**)

Robin Verheyen: Starbound (2009, Pirouet): Saxophonist, lists soprano ahead of tenor, b. 1983 in Belgium; studied at Manhattan School of Music; based in New York. First record, a quartet with Bill Carrothers on piano, Nicolas Thys on bass, Dré Pallemaerts on drums. Wrote 9 of 11 pieces, with one by Thys and "I Wish I Knew" (Harry Warren, Mack Gordon). B+(**)

Gail Pettis: Here in the Moment (2008-09 [2010], OA2): Standards singer, b. 1958 in Kentucky, grew up in Gary, IN; now based in Seattle. Second album, split between two piano trios. Most songs have been done a lot -- "Night and Day," "Day in Day Out," "Nature Boy," "I Could Have Danced All Night" -- but she handles them with authority and a touch of soul. B+(*)

Hadley Caliman: Straight Ahead (2008 [2010], Origin): Tenor saxophonist, b. 1932, cut a few albums in the 1970s then nothing until 2008. Second comeback album, with Thomas Marriott on trumpet, Eric Verlinde on piano, also bass and drums. Mainstream player, not an especially strong voice, but his "Lush Life" is particularly nice. B+(*)

Bob Sneider & Paul Hofmann: Serve and Volley (2008 [2010], Origin): Guitarist and pianist, respectively, in a duo. Sneider has five previous albums, including a couple of Film Noir Projects with Joe Locke, and two previous duos with Hofmann. I find this a little light and sketchy. Title piece, by the way, is a 22:32 five-part suite. B

Dave Sharp's Secret Seven: 7 (2009 [2010], Vortex Jazz): Bassist, mostly electric, from Ann Arbor, MI. Group actually a quartet -- Chris Kaercher (various saxes, flute, harmonica), Dale Grisa (Hammond B3, piano), Eric "Chucho" Wilhelm (drums, percussion) -- with extras added here and there. Sharp and Kaercher share writing credits. Mostly funk grooves, with honking sax blasts; harmless. Ends with two "bonus tracks": a "radio edit" of the opener, and a vocal also pegged to radio, an r&b cover called "Can I Be Your Squeeze?" B

Tom Braxton: Endless Highway (2009, Pacific Coast Jazz): Saxophonist, tenor first, then soprano, alto, flute, keybs. Fourth album since 1998, dedicated to the late Wayman Tisdale. Pop jazz, soupy keybs, pumping sax riffs. Closes with three radio edits, including obligatory vocal fluff. B-

Dave King: Indelicate (2009 [2010], Sunnyside): Happy Apple/Bad Plus drummer, goes solo for his debut album with his drum track alongside an indelicate piano track. King wrote all the pieces. Probably unfair to say he plays piano like he plays drums, but the repetitive riffs and frills could easily have been conceived on drums; on the other hand, he never adds the sort of frills that are as natural to pianists as limbering up. Interesting, but not very compelling. B+(*)

The Zeke Martin Project: U4RIA (2009, Zeke Martin Project): Drummer, b. 1973, Brussels, Belgium; at age 12 played with Steve Lacy; moved to Cambridge, MA for high school, then on to New York, then back to Boston. Group is a quartet with Sean Berry (sax), Yusaku Yoshimura (keyboards, harmonics), and Rozhan Razman (bass). Seven cuts, all standard jazz/pop covers, only one I didn't recognize is Jaco Pastorius's "Teen Town." Little new here, but they bring graceful swing and good cheer to the project. One vocal: Nina Parlour on "Summertime." B

Darunam/Milan: The Last Angel on Earth (2008 [2009], 64-56 Media): Darunam is a group/duo of guitarist Radovan Jovicevic and vocalist Manu Narayan. Jovicevic is Serbian; Narayan Indian-American. They met up in New York, and have one previous album. Milan is Milan Milosevic, clarinet player, also from Belgrade (presumably not the Bosnian basketball player). Songs are based on various angels, saints, or deities, including Bacchus, Raphael, Cupid, Karl [Marx], Mahatma [Gandhi], and Theresa [Mother]. Mostly in English -- Vanessa Ivey also sings some -- sort of world fusion with Balkan and Indian elements but nothing that clear. Interesting sound mix; less sure about the themes. B+(*)

Tierra Negra & Muriel Anderson: New World Flamenco (2009 [2010], Tierra Negra): Tierra Negra is a pair of German flamenco guitar players, Raughi Ebert and Leo Henrichs. They have at least 9 albums since 1997. Anderson is an American guitarist, based in Nashville, considered Folk by AMG, credited with "classic & harp guitar" here. She has more than a dozen albums since 1989. Her website includes recipes but no biography. Most cuts include bass, drums, percussion; some palmas, but mostly the percussion is secondary. Nothing cooks, but intricate guitarwork can be its own reward. B+(**)

Kat Parra: Dos Amantes (2009 [2010], JazzMa): Singer, b. 1962 in Detroit (AMG, which also describes her as "a Northern California native who lived in Chile as a teenager"), based in San Jose, CA. Third album. Picks her way around Latin musics, including a special interest in Sephardic Jewrs, tracing their music from Spain to North Africa and singing in Ladino -- she calls her group The Sephardic Music Experience. All this would be fascinating if only she were better at it. Her voice has little appeal, the backing singers (where used) add clutter, the Sephardic pieces lack the kick of the Afro-Cubans, and a piece of Afro-Peruvian Landó is even duller. B-

Peggo: In Love (2009 [2010], Big Round): Not much info here, although the "enhanced CD" sticker promises more if I pop the CD into a computer. Don't have recording dates, so 2009 is a guess; don't have musician credits. Singer's full name Peggo Horstmann Hodes, where Horstmann is the surname of her grandfather Henry -- cited as her introduction to these old standards -- and Hodes is her husband's surname, congressman Paul (D-NH). First album, although she has a couple of early-1990s children's albums as Peggosus, and there are three evidently folkie Peggo & Paul albums. This one is straight standards, all indelible classics, with a "Medley of Love" mopping up nine more. The anonymous band does its job; a plain-sounding male singer joined in for the last two cuts, contrasting with her somewhat theatrical pitch. B+(*)

Melanie Mitrano: All Things Gold (2009 [2010], Big Round): Singer-songwriter, "Dr. Mitrano" on her website: "first woman to receive a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the New England Conservatory in Boston" -- doesn't say when, but she started teaching in 1996. Resume seems to be mostly classical, which is how AMG files her -- her MySpace page starts with "What's a nice classical singer like me . . ." Second album since 2006. Backed with a piano trio plus guest horns here and there. Voice doesn't set off any opera alarms; she goes with the flow, and the band swings. Has some things to say too. B+(**)

Mel Carter: The Heart and Soul of Mel Carter (2008 [2009], CSP): Singer, b. 1943 (although I've also seen 1939 cited). AMG: "Mel Carter was soul music at its most vanilla, if indeed he could be characterized as a soul singer at all." He recorded steadily 1963-70, with a top ten hit in 1965 ("Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me") and two more singles grazing the top 40. This is his first album since 1970, a standards set with a jazz combo, bookended with two takes of Hoagy Carmichael's "Heart and Soul," with some 1950s doo wop fare, like "The Glory of Love," worked into the mix. Don't know his early work other than the hit(s), but I'd guess the vanilla is mostly in the mix -- not an issue here, nor need he break new ground. He's a good ballad singer, and the songs and arrangements suit him fine. B+(**)

Eddie C Campbell: Tear This World Up (2008 [2009], Delmark): Chicago bluesman, plays guitar and sings, b. 1939, in Mississippi like so many others -- was 6 when he made aliyah. Only his eighth album since his 1977 debut, first in a decade. Not much to differentiate him from a dozen others, except that he's still around and kicking it, and blues authority grows on old guys. B+(**)

Burkina Electric: Paspanga (2009 [2010], Cantaloupe): Another African fusion project where a visitor (drummer/electronics wiz Lukas Ligeti) lands somewhere (Burkina Faso) and hooks up with local musicians (guitarist Wende K. Blass and singer Maï Lingani), the result being an African no less syncretic than the natives produce these days, but better distributed. Ligeti brought a German d/b/a Pyrolator along for more electronics. The only other credits are two dancers, brought along to "help us draw audiences into our unusual rhythms" and thereby to validate them. The rhythms are synthesized from local traditions, and scarcely feel wanting even if the main reason for going to Africa is to up the rhythm quotient. The guitar is less slick than the coast and less rustic than the desert. The vocals are down home, as they should be. A-

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These are some even quicker notes based on downloading or streaming records. I don't have the packaging here, don't have the official hype, often don't have much information to go on. I have a couple of extra rules here: everything gets reviewed/graded in one shot (sometimes with a second play), even when I'm still guessing on a grade; the records go into my flush file (i.e., no Jazz CG entry, unless I make an exception for an obvious dud). If/when I get an actual copy I'll reconsider the record.

Tim Warfield: One for Shirley (2007 [2008], Criss Cross): Tenor saxophonist, part of the "tough young tenors" generation, with an impressive debut album in 1995, but this is only his fifth album, the first since 2002. Shirley, of course, is Shirley Scott, the legendary soul jazz organ player, with Pat Bianchi filling her role here. No bassist necessary, but drummer Byron Landham gets reinforcements from percussionist Daniel G. Sadownick, and Terell Stafford slip in some trumpet -- not a soul jazz standard, but Stafford and Warfield are a frequent team. Aims low, and succeeds simply, although not as simply and elegantly as Scott's usual tenor player, Stanley Turrentine, could do. B+(*) [Rhapsody]

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No final grades/notes this week on records put back for further listening the first time around.

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Unpacking: Found in the mail this week:

• Mirio Cosottini/Andrea Melani/Tonino Miano/Alessio Pisani: Cardinal (Grimedia Impressus)
• Jorrit Dijkstra: Pillow Circles (Clean Feed)
• Scott Fields Ensemble: Fugu (1995, Clean Feed)
• Fight the Big Bull: All Is Gladness in the Kingdom (Clean Feed)
• Tom Harrell: Roman Nights (High Note)
• Pablo Held: Music (Pirouet)
• Barb Jungr: The Men I Love: The New American Songbook (Naim): May 11
• Kirk Knuffke: Amnesia Brown (Clean Feed)
• Rudresh Mahanthappa & Steve Lehman: Dual Identity (Clean Feed): advance, Mar.
• Peppe Merolla: Stick With Me (PJ Productions)
• Sei Miguel: Esfingico (Clean Feed)
• Marc Mommaas: Land (Sunnyside): Mar. 30
• Red Trio (Clean Feed)
• Eric Reed & Cyrus Chestnut: Plenty Swing, Plenty Soul (Savant)
• Rufus Reid: Out Front (Motema): Mar. 9
• Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté: Ali and Toumani (Nonesuch)
• The Ullmann/Swell 4: News? No News! (Jazzwerkstatt): advance

I figured I'd pass on Jazz Prospecting this week, but came up with enough at the tail end to post. The week was pretty much wiped out for me by a minor illness of some sort. In any case, this promised to be a light week as I moved on from finishing a Jazz Consumer Guide column last week to starting a new round this week. The Voice has the draft now. I'm told it will most likely run March 17 or 23. I have a lot of new stuff in the queue to prospect, but the next column is already overstuffed, so I may try to push through a short cycle. That was the plan last time, but didn't work out. I wound up with 219 records in the cycle's Jazz Prospecting file, just about the same as in recent cycles (225, 226, 230). One thing unusual this time is that I cleared my shelf of records I had put back for further play. I've been somewhat more intemperate about that lately, feeling the need to get past records I don't quite get but am pretty sure I'll never wind up sufficiently interested in to spend Jazz CG space on -- Jon Gordon is a prime example below, although actually only Ibrahim made the cut this week.

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Pat Metheny: Orchestrion (2010, Nonesuch): A solo album, of sorts, consisting of a huge array of mechanized instruments that can be programmed like a player piano -- the orchestrionics -- with guitar improvisation on top. The machines were custom-built: pianos, marimba, vibraphone, bells, basses, guitarbots percussion, cymbals and drums, blown bottles, "and other custom-fabricated acoustic mechanical instruments." Could have used more pictures and diagrams, although the cover hints at what's going on, not least through the absence of any humans in charge. The music itself is less eventful, an envelope of orchestration wrapped around the guitar, Metheny making his way through six long-ish, typically propulsive pieces. B+(**)

Torben Waldorff: American Rock Beauty (2009 [2010], ArtistShare): Guitarist, b. 1963 in Denmark, based in Sweden, has five or so albums since 1999, the last couple on my HM list. I can't say as I have a good feel for his guitar, mostly because he keeps using tenor saxophonist Donny McCaslin, who keeps blowing everyone else away. B+(**)

Tom Tallitsch: Perspective (2009, OA2): Saxophonist (tenor, soprano), b. 1974, based in New Jersey, closer to Philadelphia than to New York. Third album, a quintet with guitar and piano but no more horns. Strong postbop set, has an attractive sound to his tenor; soprano less so, of course. B+(*)

Sherman Irby Quartet: Live at the Otto Club (2008 [2010], Black Warrior): Alto saxophonist from Alabama, b. 1968, sixth album since 1997, the first two on Blue Note should have established him as one of the brightest young mainstream players around -- cf. Big Mama's Biscuits -- but he disappeared for six years before coming back on his own label. Otto Club is in Napoli, Italy, which flavors the quartet -- Nico Menci on piano, Marco Marzola on bass, Darrell Green on drums. One original and five jazz covers, with only Roy Hargrove's "Depth" of postbop vintage. The opening and closing bop classics ("Bohemia After Dark" and "In Walked Bud") shine, but the slower pieces don't stand out much, and the pianist doesn't do much with his spotlight. B+(*)

Abdullah Ibrahim & WDR Big Band Cologne: Bombella (2008 [2010], Sunnyside): Steve Gray, who died between the recording and its release, arranged and conducted ten Ibrahim pieces. The WDR Big Band is one of the better jazz repertory big bands around, with power and polish and a roster that can be counted on to nail a solo slot. Ibrahim plays piano, starting solo on "Green Kalahari." He is a consistent delight here. The band works wondrously sometimes, but sometimes seems a bit off. You can substitute piccolo flute for pennywhistle, and "Mandela" will be wonderful as always. B+(***)

Jon Gordon: Evolution (2009, ArtistShare): Alto saxophonist, also plays some soprano. Has a dozen or so albums since 1989, mostly on Criss Cross and Double-Time. This one is, well, complicated. Five of nine pieces are cut with a large ensemble, including John Ellis on tenor sax, Doug Yates on bass clarinet, plus trumpet, trombone, guitar, piano, bass, drums, percussion, and strings. First track opens with just the strings: two violins and a cello, with a quasi-classical feel. A couple of other tracks pair Gordon off with Bill Charlap on piano. Kristin Berardi pops up here and there with vocals. Couldn't listen closely in two plays, but doesn't seem promising enough to explore further, which isn't to say there isn't anything of interest here. B

John Stein: Raising the Roof (2009, Whaling City Sound): Guitarist, from Kansas City, MO; discography (8 records) starts in 1995 but he appears to be older. Quartet with piano, bass, drums, same group as on his previous Encounter Point. Mostly bop standards (Silver, Timmons, Thad Jones, Gillespie), with two originals, a Jobim, and "Falling in Love With Love." Has a light, silky touch that slices neatly through this material. B+(**)

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Unpacking: Found in the mail this week:

• Pablo Aslan: Tango Grill (Zoho): Mar. 9
• Ab Baars/Meinrad Kneer: Windfall (Evil Rabbit)
• Sean Bergin's New Mob: Chicken Feet: Live at the Bimhuis (Pingo)
• Ralph Bowen: Due Reverence (Posi-Tone)
• George Cotsirilos Trio: Past Present (OA2)
• Dosh: Tommy (Anticon): advance
• EEA [Peter Epstein/Larry Engstrom/David Ake]: The Dark (Origin)
• Mark Egan: Truth Be Told (Wavetone): Mar. 16
• John Ellis & Double-Wide: Puppet Mischief (ObliqSound)
• Jon Gold: Brazil Confidential (Zoho): Apr. 13
• Dave Holland Octet: Pathways (Dare2): advance, Mar. 23
• The Giuseppi Logan Quintet (Tompkins Square): Feb. 23
• Sam Newsome: Blue Soliloquy (Sam Newsome)
• Norbotten Big Band: The Avatar Sessions: The Music of Tim Hagans (Fuzzy Music)
• Bollywood Remembers: Laxmikant Pyareli: Best of the EMI Years (Times Square, 2CD): Mar. 9
• Scenes [John Stowell/Jeff Johnson/John Bishop]: Rinnova (Origin)
• Liam Sillery: Phenomenology (OA2)
• Bob Sneider & Paul Hofmann: Serve and Volley (Origin)
• Samuel Torres: Yaoundé (BLC): Mar. 23
• The Trio [Peter Erskine/Chuck Berghofer/Terry Trotter]: Live @ Charlie O's (Fuzzy Music)
• Bo van de Graaf: Sold Out: 25 Soundtracks (Icdisc)

Spent most of the week playing already-rated records. Managed to write a few more reviews -- enough to call this round done, and to have a huge leg up on the next one. Don't have much new prospecting to show, but I might as well dump what I have given that this is the end of the round. Presumably the column will appear sometime in March, and I'll start working on the next one this week. Should have a surplus cull before long, too.

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Mulatu Astatke: New York-Addis-London: The Story of Ethio Jazz 1965-1975 (1965-75 [2009], Strut): The guy who got away from Swinging Addis while the getting was good. Working from an advance with no doc, I can only guess where and when these scattered singles came from or who does what on them. Christgau reports that eight are dupes from the Addis-rooted Éthiopiques 4, which I've checked out on Rhapsody and find more/less as inspired. One thing I note here from his New York and/or London wanderings (or Boston or wherever else) is a flirtation with Latin jazz, which he spices up subtly. A- [advance]

Pete M. Wyer: Stories From the City at Night (2008, Thirsty Ear): Spoken voice or artsong -- a couple remind me of Kurt Weill, but they can get more operatic. Music, which mostly consists of Wyer's guitar and "sound design" with scattered guests -- trumpet on one song, trombone on another, Matthew Shipp's piano for one cut, Matthew Sharp's cello for three -- is interesting but scattered in a soundtrack sort of way. Can't say as I've followed it closely enough to know how it hangs together, which might make a difference. B

Eli Yamin: You Can't Buy Swing (2008, Yamin Music): CDR with a thermal print cover sheet in a slim jewel case, just the formula for a record I didn't notice for two years. Yamin is a pianist, b. 1968 in East Patchogue, NY; based in New York City; director of Jazz at Lincoln Center's Middle School Jazz Academy; has one previous album. This one includes Ari Roland on bass, Alvin Atkinson on drums, and two saxophonists: Lakecia Benjamin, whom I've never heard of, and Chris Byars, a favorite (except when he plays flute). Swings more than anything else, with a buoyant rhythm section and some tasty sax bits. B+(*) [advance]

Beaty Brothers Band: B3 (2007 [2008], Beaty Brothers): LP-style slipcase, probably a final product although it looked at first like an advance to me -- some labels do just that, but it seems unlikely that a self-release would. Brothers are John Beaty on alto sax and Joe Beaty on trombone. Band adds Yayoi Ikawa on piano (sounds electric), Jim Robertson on bass, Ari Hoenig on drums -- the latter is the only one I'm familiar with. Postbop, no real effort to take advantage of the electric instrument(s), and fairly limited solo power. B

Chris Greene Quartet: Merge (2009 [2010], Single Malt): Saxophonist, from Evanston, IL; studied at University of Indiana; returned to Chicago. Fifth album since 1998. Album pictures him with a tenor sax; website with a soprano. Grew up listening to funk, which comes through especially in the three originals that kick off the album. After that this leans more postbop, although I'm occasionally reminded of Illinois Jacquet. Group includes piano-bass-drums, no one I've heard of, although pianist Damian Espinosa wrote one song and takes a few notable solos. B+(**) [Apr. 6]

Edward Ratliff: Those Moments Before (2009, Strudelmedia): Bills himself as "composer, multi-instrumentalist" -- plays accordion, cornet, trumpet, trombone, and celeste here, the latter a rather rudimentary solo on the closer. I think of him as a soundtrack composer because his previous album, Barcelona in 48 Hours was a soundtrack, but he called the one before that Wong Fei-Hong Meets Little Strudel, and even this more generic album starts with Marelene Dietrich on the cover. He works in a pastiche of styles, the sort of thing adaptable to film. The accordion leans into European genres, while the horns complement various combinations of Michaël Attias (alto/baritone sax), Beth Schenck (soprano sax), and Doug Wieselman (clarinet). B+(***)

Chicago Underground Duo: Boca Negra (2009 [2010], Thrill Jockey): Rob Mazurek (cornet, electronics) and Chad Taylor (drums, vibes, mbira, computer, electronics). They've been the core of various Chicago Underground duos, trios, and quartets going back to 1998. The duo format doesn't seem much more stable than a two-legged stool, but they don't just give and take here, although they do try a lot of different variations. "Confliction" stands out as an unusually raucous piece: heavy drumming, rapid cornet riffs, so much momentum you never sense the lack of a bassist. B+(**)

Eri Yamamoto Trio: In Each Day, Something Good (2009 [2010], AUM Fidelity): Piano trio, with David Ambrosio on bass and Ikuo Takeuchi on drums. Yamamoto moved from Japan to New York in 1995 and soon put this group together, now with 6 albums to show for 14 years collaboration. Bright, fluid, quite likable, a performance level she consistently achieves. Don't have much more to say. B+(*)

Charles Evans/Neil Shah: Live at Saint Stephens (2009, Hot Cup): Evans plays baritone sax; had a solo record called The King of All Instruments that held up pretty well. Shah plays piano, and has a previous album I haven't heard. (Also reportedly sings, but not here.) Like so many duos, a lot of thoughtful interplay but nothing really takes off. B+(*)

Daniel Smith: Blue Bassoon (2009 [2010], Summit): Bassoon player, b. 1939, started out in classical music where, among many other performances, he produced a 6-CD set of 37 Vivaldi bassoon concertos. Not sure about his discography -- AMG classifies him as classical and is pretty spotty; on the other hand, his own website lists more records but no dates -- but it looks like Baroque Jazz and Jazz Suite for Bassoon were transitional. I've heard two of his jazz efforts -- one themed to bebop, the other to swing -- where he struck me as little more than a novelty. This one's a novelty too -- the bassoon has a thin, deep sound, combining the immobility of a bass sax or tuba with the sonic charm of a kazoo -- but it's so good natured it would be churlish to complain. Mostly jazz standards -- Silver, Parker, Rollins, Coltrane, Mingus, Morgan, Adderley, Shorter, etc. -- plus a couple of blues. Help on piano and guitar. B+(*)

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These are some even quicker notes based on downloading or streaming records. I don't have the packaging here, don't have the official hype, often don't have much information to go on. I have a couple of extra rules here: everything gets reviewed/graded in one shot (sometimes with a second play), even when I'm still guessing on a grade; the records go into my flush file (i.e., no Jazz CG entry, unless I make an exception for an obvious dud). If/when I get an actual copy I'll reconsider the record.

The Heliocentrics: Out There (2007, Now Again): Presumably Sun Ra-inspired, although an association with DJ Shadow has sharpened up their beats, and their jazz credentials are unsure. Still, they first came to my attention playing with Mulatu Astatke, and the difference they made between Astatke's old Ethio-Jazz and his Information Inspiration is not just beatwise -- they also improvise more around the beat. Subtract Astatke and you get this, which is more dancefloor and more soundtrack but only around the frilly edges. B+(***) [Rhapsody]

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And these are final grades/notes on records I put back for further listening the first time around.

Brinsk: A Hamster Speaks (2008, Nowt): A concept album about hamsters singing arias over "metal-based rhythmic structures." The horns -- trumpet, tenor sax, euphonium -- keep it in the jazz realm. (There are no vocals, so don't worry about that.) I didn't get it the first time, and I don't get it now. It does seem likely that the group name is derived from bassist Aryeh Kobrinsky's name. B+(*)

3 Play +: American Waltz (2009, Ziggle Zaggle Music): Odd group name, with a nonsequitur album name. Group is a quartet with two significant guests -- guitarist Mick Goodrick and tenor saxophonist George Garzone. Pianist Josh Rosen is the probable leader, but trumpeter Phil Grenadier is much better known, almost on par with the guests. I kept playing this, 4-5 times this round. It's never annoying, but I never grabbed onto any one thing to write about, except of course that Garzone is a national treasure, but you know that, right? B+(**)

Marcus Strickland Trio: Idiosyncrasies (2009, Strick Muzik): Clearly a rising star, but also clearly not an idiosyncratic one: he channels Coleman and Coltrane, Shorter, many others down through Donny McCaslin (but not Rollins or James Carter), but he has yet to produce a breakthrough album that stands on its own. Trio format keeps him up front, but switching away from tenor sax gives up some edge -- sure, he does play soprano better than most tenor men. Helps that his twin brother is every bit as good a drummer. B+(**)

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Some more re-grades as I've gone through trying to sort out the surplus (and/or Rhapsody records re-evaluated for real):

Mulatu Astatke/The Heliocentrics: Inspiration Information (2009, Strut): [was (Rhapsody)] A-

Borah Bergman Trio: Luminescence (2008 [2009], Tzadik): [was (Rhapsody)] A-

Dennis González/Jnaana Septet: The Gift of Discernment (2008, Not Two): [was (Rhapsody)] A-

Boban i Marko Markovic Orkestar: Devla: Blown Away to Dancefloor Heaven (2009, Piranha): [was (Rhapsody) B+(***)] A-

Quartet Offensive: Carnivore (2008 [2009], Quartet Offensive): [was: B+(**)] B+(***)

Roberto Rodriguez: The First Basket (2009, Tzadik): [was (Rhapsody)] B+(***)

Roberto Rodriguez: Timba Talmud (2009, Tzadik): [was (Rhapsody)] A-

Matt Wilson Quartet: That's Gonna Leave a Mark (2008 [2009], Palmetto): [was (Rhapsody): B+(***)] A-

John Zorn: Alhambra Love Songs (2008 [2009], Tzadik): [was (Rhapsody)] A-

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For this cycle's collected Jazz Prospecting notes, look here.

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Unpacking: Found in the mail this week:

• Juhani Aaltonen Quartet: Conclusions (Tum)
• Absolute Ensemble: Absolute Zawinul (Sunnyside)
• Sheryl Bailey: A New Promise (MCG Jazz)
• John Blake Jr.: Motherless Child (ARC): Mar. 2
• Salvatore Bonafede Trio: Sicilian Opening (Jazz Eyes)
• The Ian Carey Quintet: Contextualizin' (Kabocha): Feb. 16
• Steve Colson: The Untarnished Dream (Silver Sphinx)
• Scott DuBois: Black Hawk Dance (Sunnyside): Mar. 9
• Amir ElSaffar/Hafez Modirzadeh: Radif Suite (Pi): Mar. 23
• Carl Fischer & Organic Groove Ensemble: Adverse Times (Fischmusic)
• Tord Gustavsen Ensemble: Restored, Returned (ECM)
• Kalle Kalima & K-18: Some Kubricks of Blood (Tum)
• Mike LeDonne: The Groover (Savant)
• Carolyn Leonhart: Tides of Yesterday (Savant)
• Brad Mehldau: Highway Rider (Nonesuch): advance, Mar. 16
• Paul Motian/Chris Potter/Jason Moran: Lost in a Dream (ECM): advance, Mar. 9
• Michael Pagán Trio: Three for the Ages (Capri)
• Dan Weiss Trio: Timshel (Sunnyside): Mar. 16

A bunch of stuff since last time, January 6. Seem to be on a monthly schedule, which is partly driven by the way I keep track of Rhapsody-streamed Recycled Goods records. Most of the following were checked during early January when I was compiling year-end list data. Most of the records have their boosters, but overall it was patchy with only a few minor finds. Usual caveats apply: one or two plays, streamed through my computer, so judgments are quick and more/less subject to change, that is if I ever again bother. One problem doing this is the lack of documentation, which I try to make up for by searching the web, but sometimes don't find much. Another is that Rhapsody's performance is rather erratic, with the sound sometimes choppy, sometimes cut out, and "unexpected errors" too common to qualify as unexpected. Still probably worth my while.

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Manchester Orchestra: Mean Everything to Nothing (2009, Favorite Gentlemen/Canvasback): Atlanta group, led by Andy Hull; second album, punkish, tuneful, all the more so when they slow it down, as if they have something to say. Likely they do. B+(**)

The Raveonettes: In and Out of Control (2009, Vice): A little prim as rock and roll goes, but they go for an authentic sound, plus a little extra fuzz on the guitars -- sometimes I think they want to slim the Rolling Stones back down to Buddy Holly size, but not lose anything in the process. As consistent and as suggestive as they've gotten. One cut lights up the amps, making you wonder why they don't do that more often. B+(***)

The Decemberists: The Hazards of Love (2009, Capitol): Portland group, on their 5th album. AMG lists them as Chamber Pop, but my entry is Alt-Prog. This is a song cycle, a veritable rock opera, with lit themes of uncertain depth and a lot more bombast than I care for. I'm tempted by the guitar crunch and the sheer guts, but every now and then I wonder what is this shit? For instance, the keyb-keyed title tune is swamped by a kiddie chorus, but then things start to break, and something rather marvelous happens next. B+(*)

The Horrors: Primary Colours (2009, XL): British rock group, second album, fundamentally sound -- AMG nabs it as a mix of shoegaze, post-punk, and goth, which is close enough. Deep-voiced, echoey lead singer probably gets the goth cred. B+(**)

Wild Beasts: Two Dancers (2009, Domino): Another British group, second album, plods a bit but keeps time, singer a little eerily falsetto but in turn. Doesn't have the consistent poll pull of the big 3-5, but I've seen it come out ahead a few times head-to-head. Don't see what they see, but seems OK to me. B+(*)

Baroness: Blue Record (2009, Relapse): Georgia band, has a couple of previous albums including a Red Album with similar (though redder) cover art. Basically a metal band although I don't hear them falling into the usual claptrap -- I could even imagine becoming a fan, although I can't say for sure on what basis. B+(*)

Dinosaur Jr.: Farm (2009, Jagjaguwar): Alt-rock band formed in the late 1980s, part of the SST stable but they came late and I never paid much attention to them. Bombed out around 1997, then regrouped in 2007. Tuneful, run up the guitar flash, stick to medium-fast and then some. I shouldn't be so hard on it, but this is the sort of thing that turned me off rock back, well, around about the time they were just getting started. B-

King Midas Sound: Waiting for You (2009, Hyperdub): Roger Robinson, from Trinidad or Tobago, barely registers with his soft-soled poetry, except on the wicked anti-capitalist "Earth a killya," which may be where he gives way to Hitomi. Kevin Martin is the beats guy. They, too, are slight. B+(**)

Khaled: Liberté (2009, Wrasse): Algerian raï star, safely ensconced in Paris since well before Algeria's "troubles" in the 1990s, where he's made various moves toward and away from electropop. This is as far away as I can recall, an acoustic grind that sounds rootsy even if it isn't, and that sets off his vocal prowess. A-

Why?: Eskimo Snow (2009, Anticon): Oakland rock group, led by Yoni Wolf, has a couple of albums now, an anomaly on what is otherwise an underground rap label. Sort of jangly, not quite pop, probably deeper than I'm following. B+(*)

2562: Unbalance (2009, Tectonic): Dutch DJ Dave Huismans. Electronics, fashioned into non-stop dance beats, with bits of good humor. B+(***)

Tanya Morgan: Broklynati (2009, Interdependent Media): Rap group, moved from Cincinnati to Brooklyn. Three guys, with an ongoing skit about alter-ego the Hardcore Gentlemen. Not quite what you'd call "old school," but moderately old, in the middle of the mainstream that put rap on the map. B+(**)

Black Moth Super Rainbow: Eating Us (2009, Graveface): Pittsburgh group, been around since 2003 with at least four albums, various EPs and singles. Long on texture, with a rather drab female voice centered, kind of like trip-hop transcribed back to alt-rock. Matos listed this, and specifically favored it over Animal Collective. Easy to say he's right, but the lack of irritation keeps them apart in my mind. A-

The Rural Alberta Advantage: Hometowns (2008 [2009], Saddle Creek): Toronto group, first album, self-released before it got picked up. Basic Middle American rock and roll, maybe a little cleaner since it's Canadian like, you know, Neil Young is Canadian. B+(**)

Vivian Girls: Everything Goes Wrong (2009, In the Red): Brooklyn group, three females improbably enough, a guitar-bass-drums trio that runs thin and lo-fi, and could stand to be nastier and/or more talented. B

Health: Get Color (2009, Lovepump United): LA band, second album, hard, sharp, metallic toned, a bit of noise but not much fuzz. Got some exposure opening for Nine Inch Nails, which is a match, although they're not as tightly bound to their concept. B+(**)

Andrew Bird: Noble Beast (2009, Fat Possum): A singer-songwriter with strengths on both counts, plus he puts his violin to good use for flavoring but doesn't lean on it too hard. Has recorded steadily since 1996. B+(*)

Dan Auerbach: Keep It Hid (2009, Nonesuch): Debut from Black Keys frontman -- a band I've never been much impressed by. Stands more forthright on his own; brings out the blues riffs and posture, and tightens up the songs. B+(*)

Julian Casablancas: Phrazes for the Young (2009, RCA): First solo album from former Strokes frontman. Tuneful, a nice jangly rhythm that has always been natural to the group. On the other hand, the keybs thicken around his voice, which turns out to be an annoying one. B-

Brendan Benson: My Old, Familiar Friend (2009, ATO): Singer-songwriter, has several albums as well as a role in Jack White's Raconteurs supergroup. Some MOR rock moves, some pop moves, some tendency to fake gravitas by overemoting. "Feel Like Taking You Home" overran these faults, but "Put Me Out of My Misery" succumbed. B-

Dan Deacon: Bromst (2009, Carpark): Synth guy, diddled around on a lot of obscure releases from 2003 to 2007, when he landed at experimental-rock label Carpark, who seems to have motivated him to get louder, jumpier, and quirkier -- i.e., more like Animal Collective, but he mostly goes overboard, which makes him much funnier. B+(**)

Cymbals Eat Guitars: Why There Are Mountains (2009, Sister's Den): Brooklyn alt-rock band, shifts speed and volume a lot, makes a fair impression both up and down, most so when they run flat out. Vocalist doesn't seem to be in command. Comparisons to Pavement are not wildly off base, although they're not on that level. B+(*)

The Big Pink: A Brief History of Love (2009, 4AD): Brit group, first album. Reminds me a bit of Joy Division, with less cool and more industrial clunk and a bit of shoegaze polish. Seemed promising early on, but midway the songs started getting stuffed and bloated. B+(*)

Death Cab for Cutie: The Open Door (2009, Atlantic, EP): Five-cut EP, one a demo for their 2008 album, the others leftovers. Band has been around since 1999, with 5-6 albums and a huge pile of EPs. Some words worth following, support melodies all right. Never really saw the utility in EPs. B+(*)

Lack of Afro: My Groove Your Move (2009, Freestyle): This showed up at the top of one (and only one) of the year-end lists, ahead of some stuff that led me to take it seriously. DJ Adam Gibbons draws on older soul/funk riffs, jacks up the beats, pulls in a rapper here, a singer there, points out an occasional riff. B+(***)

Fruit Bats: The Ruminant Band (2009, Sub Pop): Chicago group, fourth album, someone named Eric D. Johnson -- evidently there are other Eric Johnsons to disclaim -- wrote all the songs. Presumably sings them too, a lovely voice that sounds like a middle American John Lennon. Tunes move along gracefully. Richly satisfying. A-

The Field: Yesterday and Today (2009, Kompakt/Anti-): Swedish producer Axel Willner's second full-length album. First, From Here We Go Sublime, got a lot of attention in 2007 but I couldn't find it on Rhapsody. This time, he got picked up by a better-distributed label, but barely got noticed. Of the numerous sub-categories for electronica these days, pop ambient gets the parameters about right. Mostly catchy rhythm tracks with minor variations -- one vocal is a bit out of bounds. Very attractive at first blush, but second play didn't add much. B+(***)

Lightning Bolt: Earthly Delights (2007-08 [2009], Load): Noise group, from Rhode Island, been around since 1999, with a Christgau-recommended 2001 album I bought and never managed to rate, probably because I never felt like playing it a second time. Doubt I'll feel like playing this one again either. I can handle the guitar-drums noise all right -- even like some of the drumming -- and can overlook the vocal ballast for a while, but I find wildly disorganized shit like "Flooded Chamber" really worthless. Sure, they try to make amends with "Funny Farm," which I recognized as bluegrass before looking up the title, but afterwards thought it could have been funnier. B-

Nosaj Thing: Drift (2009, Alpha Pup): California DJ, known to his mother as Jason Chung. Keeps it fairly simple, with auras of churchy synth to chill it all out. B+(*)

5 Years of Hyperdub (2004-09 [2009], Hyperdub, 2CD): Label compilation, fairly narrowly focused on dubstep or ambient dub, moderately paced electronica with a fair amount of echo, vocals present sometimes but usually not a plus. Recognize a couple of artists here -- Burial, Bug, Zomby, Martyn, King Midas Sound -- but most fly well under my radar, with Kode 9 the most common unknown. Sort of thing that serves me well as background music, but never really draws me in. B+(***)

Vampire Weekend: Contra (2010, XL): The first big hype of the new year -- figure I might as well not wait until the year-end lists come out. First reputation had a reputation for incorporating bits of Afropop, but this goes much further, especially in the drums. Singer may remind a bit of Paul Simon, but more flexible and less full of himself. A-

Polvo: In Prism (2009, Merge): Rock band from the 1990s, where they had four 1992-97 albums plus a few EPs before giving up. Regrouped now, reportedly playing the same thing, loopy guitar-heavy textures. Nice cover art. B+(***)

William Basinski: 92862 (1982 [2009], 2062): Ambient electronics, mostly tape loops that subtly nod up and down, or etching a very quiet halo around a faint piano figure. Not much, not even minimalism, but I found it entrancing. B+(**)

The Very Best: Warm Heart of Africa (2009, Green Owl): Singer Esau Mwamwaya from Malawi plus the British DJ/production duo Radioclit (Johan Karlberg and Etienne Tron). Not sure how this official debut differs from last year's mix tape, Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit Are the Very Best. It is sort of a mishmash, with South African borrowings and other, harder to identify, tacks. Gets the basic flavor across, and has some fun doing it. Group name is rather awkward. B+(**)

Kid Cudi: Man on the Moon: The End of the Day (2009, Universal Motown): Young rapper from Cleveland, seems to have built a reputation in mixtapes and has some connection (I don't understand) to Kanye West. Works a man-on-moon (or man-in-moon?) concept through narration and soft-shuffle raps which get catchier as the record grows on you. B+(***)

Maxwell: BLACKsummers'night (2009, Columbia): Soul singer, has the basic skills but isn't especially distinctive, on his fourth record -- first in 8 years. Evidently the title case is necessary to distinguish this from two more albums from the same sessions, to be released with the upper case sliding rightwards. Maybe should be docked just for that, but I figure he's cutting himself thin enough as it is. B+(*)

Cass McCombs: Catacombs (2009, Domino): Mild mannered singer-songwriter, male, based in Baltimore, third album. Has a nice, even feel to it. B+(**)

Miike Snow (2009, Downtown): Swedish group, three guys, first album. In English, of course, depends on keybs giving an alt-rock identity a plastic coat of pop gloss. Tuneful enough to work. B+(*)

Mary J Blige: Stronger With Each Tear (2009, Geffen): Release date Dec. 1, too late to have any impact on year-end lists, not that it would have had much anyway -- her best Pazz & Jop finishes were: 21) Mary (1999); 30) What's the 411? (1992); and 40) No More Drama (2001). Another strong album, but I never fall for her very hard. For one thing, she makes it seem like too much work. B+(**)

Chrisette Michele: Epiphany (2009, Def Jam): Second album. Sounds fresher than Blige, but not as firmly in command. About right at this stage. B+(*)

Mariachi El Bronx (2008 [2009], Swami): Originally a punk band from Los Angeles, led by singer Matt Caughthran, but padded out with a mariachi horn section, as well as charango, guitarron, guests like David Hidalgo. Doesn't feel quite right, and not just because it's anglophone-friendly. B

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Archive file is here.

I don't plan on going with three album covers indefintely, but stumbled into it last time when I added Loudon Wainwright III late, and stumbled into it again this time. I've had the Coasters comp reviewed for quite a while, and wanted to show the cheap cover and its framing of the older, better edition cover -- besides which, it's a slam dunk pick hit. Then I figured I should do something to recognize the Willie Nelson section below. The obvious pick is the One Hell of a Ride box set, but when I fetched a cover scan, the supplemental packaging had been stripped away so you were left with a featureless tan (i.e., leather-like) tallbox with a little guitar-shaped embossing and no identifying print: not much to look at here. Then I finally got around to writing up a little something on Franco. I didn't want to hold it an extra month since I had already pegged it #2 on my Pazz & Jop ballot. And it's another slam dunk pick hit, at which point I thought of dropping Nelson.

Then I had another bright idea. The reason I held the Coasters back a couple of months is that I was toying with the idea of doing something much broader on Rhino's cheapo Flashback line, but never got into it -- partly because so many of the reissues are crap, but mostly because it proved nearly impossible to find necessary information on them. But it turns out that my favorite Willie Nelson compilation is another cheap Rhino set ($6.08 at cdconnection.com): Nite Life: Greatest Hits and Rare Tracks (1959-1971). I didn't include it in my research below because I had covered it way back when, but figured, what the hell, I'll throw the cover up and plug it here: nineteen early tracks, the songs Nelson built his songwriting reputation on, with every rare track as solid as the hits. That gives us three A+ album covers. Hard to top that.

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The Coasters: The Very Best of the Coasters (1954-60 [2009], Rhino Flashback): A cheap copy of a 1993 compilation with 15 Leiber-Stoller classics and the equally brilliant "Shopping for Clothes" -- a set that should be in every rock library, unless you're fortunate to already own 50 Coastin' Classics (or Rhino Handmade's completist 113-track There's a Riot Goin' On: The Coasters on Atco). Part of a 1993-94 series of 16 song samplers that consistently worked both ways -- as introductions to novices and special treats to aficionados -- only a few have gotten the Flashback treatment, which tarnishes the artwork and no doubt kills the useful doc. The Drifters and the Shirelles are missing but equally brilliant. A+

Franco & Le TPOK Jazz: Francophonic, Vol. 2 (1980-89 [2009], Sterns Africa, 2CD): The other shoe drops, after the first Francophonic volume proved the most definitive accounting yet of the 1953-80 rise of the Congo's greatest bandleader. His last decade was chock full of long grooves with sweet and soaring guitar lines, first-rate singers, and irresistible percussion. Booklet helps too, but is unnecessary to get into the music. A+

Nirvana: Live at Reading (1992 [2009], DGC): I might have liked Nirvana more if everyone else liked them less, but more likely I wouldn't have noticed them at all. I never could hear the mudmouth vocals through the guitar din. At most I'd get a barbed word, something about lithium, or something about a gun. Cut the grunge and it was clear that they had some talent: the demos collection Incesticide showed some songcraft, and MTV Unplugged in New York offered them a human scale. But when Kurt Cobain became a poster boy for the NRA, I couldn't care less. A quickie live comp, From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah, muddied the waters further. This new one has the virtue of being a single set, running at high volume with little to vary or personalize the sound. The only song that caught my ear was something about building a machine and watching the money roll in. B [R]

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In Series:

"Briefly Noted" appeared for the first time in the fourth Recycled Goods column, back in May 2003. The idea grew out of a bit of "Additional Consumer News" I tacked onto the April 2003 column. I had been writing a piece on Willie Nelson for The New Rolling Stone Album Guide, and in the process had slogged my way through a bunch of Nelson reissues. I listed those with one-line synopses, paving the way for "Briefly Noted."

This month Rolling Stone came back asking for an update for a new website project. I'm not sure what they're doing with the other 24 pieces I wrote, but combined they may not have more new records and reissues than Nelson has cranked out in the interim. I needed some space to sort out what I found, then thought why not do it here. Some are recycled; others are new but not that new. When I got through the obligatory ones, I looked through Rhapsody to see what else I may have missed, including the first time, and proceeded to note some of those. Admittedly, not all of them: I found no less than five different live records called On the Road Again, and four early comps called Face of a Fighter none matching Nelson's original 1978 release of 1960-vintage demos. Rhapsody lists more than 300 Nelson records, including a lot of redundant compilations and other things of uncertain provenance. (The booklet in Legacy's One Hell of a Ride has a gallery of 92 Nelson album covers. This seems to be the official list, minus at least four albums that have come out since.)

Also worth noting again that I reviewed Willie and the Wheel just last month. For my money it's the best individual album he's released since Stardust.

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Willie Nelson: One Hell of a Ride (1954-2007 [2008], Columbia/Legacy, 4CD): The third or fourth "career spanning" box of Nelson's still unfinished career, and definitely not the last given that he's released one great album (Willie and the Wheel in 2009) and several good ones since the cutoff date, but at age 75 this sets the standard. The package is slim but the booklet runs 96 pages, with all the pictures you'll ever need, and more credits than you usually get. The songs pick their way through the years, not an obvious canon but plenty of fond memories, and less obvious ones that get by as Nelson so often does, with charm and a golden voice. A

Willie Nelson: Legends of the Grand Ole Opry (1964-67 [2008], Time/Life): "Nashville was the roughest" not for lack of songs or voice, but maybe charisma, which Nelson found in Austin; nothing here he didn't do better in the studio, often in demos licensed so loosely you can find them in dozens of competing cheapo product. B

Willie Nelson: Naked Willie (1966-70 [2009], RCA Nashville/Legacy): Pooh on Chet Atkins, as Nelson finally gets the chance to offer his own mixes, shorn of the string and choral treacle Atkins so loved; limiting is that they could only work on multitrack masters which appeared in the latter half of Nelson's RCA tenure, so these aren't his best songs, and sometimes he sings too forcefully once the competing dreck is removed; conversely, back on 1965's Country Willie: His Own Songs the songs and singer were so great not even Atkins could ruin them. B+(**)

Willie Nelson: The Party's Over and Other Great Willie Nelson Songs (1967, RCA): Nelson's relationship songs are so devoid of feeling it's not surprising that he ultimately ditched them for a life of crime -- he breaks up so often you wonder how he ever managed to get hitched in the first place; the strings may be meant to soften the blow, but they just turn maudlin. B [R]

Willie Nelson: Texas in My Soul (1968, RCA): Texas-born, you'd think Nelson might have something to say about his home state, but given the chance he opts for 11 covers, mostly dull geography -- "Dallas," "San Antonio," "Streets of Laredo," "The Hill Country Theme" -- and angst over the Alamo; Ernest Tubb provides the only saving grace. B- [R]

Willie Nelson: Good Times (1969, RCA): Loneliness as existential dread, sometimes in songs arranged as sparsely as their sentiments, once or twice in songs gushing with Chet Atkins wrappers. B [R]

Willie Nelson: My Own Peculiar Way (1969, RCA): The title track is wrapped up in the full-blown string treatment and nearly swamped, as is much else here; five covers are hit and miss, but his own songs hold up, and he sings them with subtle flair. B+(*) [R]

Willie Nelson: Both Sides Now (1970, RCA): Joni Mitchell title song picked up fresh, with "Crazy Arms" and "Wabash Cannonball" up front to mark this as country -- not countrypolitan; more covers than usual, but the songwriter works five of his own in, including "I Gotta Get Drunk" and "Bloody Mary Morning." B+(**) [R]

Willie Nelson: Laying My Burdens Down (1970, RCA): Starts promisingly, with a good title original, and survives the Atkins treatment on "Senses"; on the other hand, Nelson's "Where Do You Stand?" is overblown, and a cover called "Minstrel Man" is an atrocity three final originals are hard pressed to overcome. B [R]

Willie Nelson: Willie Nelson & Family (1971, RCA): Without credits, I don't know how this relates to Willie's later Family (i.e., his band); half covers, top drawer stuff -- not that "Fire and Rain" suits him -- but he seems determined to solve the overproduction problem by singing operatically. C+ [R]

Willie Nelson: Yesterday's Wine (1971, RCA): First half follows a concept about a "flawed man" charged by God to deliver the message to his fellows: down to don't dwell on the numerous bad times, and don't try to understand -- that's God's job; fills out with several remarkable songs, including his road anthem "Me and Paul." A- [R]

Willie Nelson: The Words Don't Fit the Picture (1972, RCA): Title song is clunky, and everything else -- all Nelson originals, two with co-credits -- is prety scattered; the one with Waylon Jennings, "Good Hearted Woman," made its first appearance here, but made a bigger impression four years later, on Wanted! The Outlaws. B [R]

Willie Nelson: The Willie Way (1972, RCA): A set of solid but unremarkable Nelson songs, supplemented with one from Kristofferson that's up to snuff, and "Mountain Dew" for its hayseed factor. B+(**) [R]

Willie Nelson: Stardust (Legacy Edition) (1976-90 [2008], Columbia/Legacy, 2CD): Nelson's 1978 album of venerable Tin Pan Alley standards marked his emergence as a great interpretive singer, and was his bestseller to boot; the first disc doesn't tamper with the short original 10-cut package, so it remains as pristine as ever; the bonus cherry picks 16 similar cuts from 9 albums, a little more scattered, but better as a whole than his occasional more explicit returns to the Stardust formula. A-

Willie Nelson: Pretty Paper (1979, Columbia): A quickie Christmas album, wrapped up in the original title song -- about as secular as you can do in the season -- and a slight little instrumental called "Christmas Blues"; that's all the ideas they had, so for filler they picked ten songs everyone's done, and budgeted two minutes for each -- except for "Silent Night," which as you know tends to drag on and on. B [R]

Willie Nelson: Tougher Than Leather (1983, Columbia): A cowboy-gunfighter-damsel concept album, like Red Headed Stranger but more oblique, which is to say he bothered to write the whole thing -- except for a "Beer Barrel Polka" interlude, that is -- if not necessarily to figure it out; widely trashed when it came out, it actually holds up pretty well, partly because Nelson's loose narrative style has been missing ever since. B+(***) [R]

Willie Nelson: Without a Song (1983, Columbia): Another mild-mannered standards rehash, done with a minimum of fuss and bother, the only thing that breaks with the genteel strum and twang is guest Julio Iglesias on "As Time Goes By," which he dispenses with his bombast. B [R]

Willie Nelson: City of New Orleans (1984, Columbia): Steve Goodman's title song was good for a hit but not for emulation; Nelson prefered mopey ballads with strings, and penned only one song, defensively, "Why Are You Picking on Me?" B- [R]

Willie Nelson: A Horse Called Music (1989, Columbia): A short and slight album, with a worthy Beth Nielsen Chapman hit ("Nothing I Can Do About It Now"), three originals (two recycled, "Mr. Record Man" from back in 1962), some other hit and miss stuff -- I can buy into the title track, but not "If I Were a Painting." B [R]

Willie Nelson: Healing Hands of Time (1994, Liberty): Another standards album -- even if six are by Nelson himself, most are as familiar as "All the Things You Are" and "I'll Be Seeing You"; massive string orchestras aren't my idea of how to do anything, but they offset a truly remarkable voice. B [R]

Willie Nelson: Just One Love (1995 [1996], Justice): Title track is a touching duet with songwriter Kimmie Rhodes; most of the filler is classic honky tonk -- "Cold Cold Heart," "It's a Sin," "This Cold War With You," "Four Walls" -- but there's also the classic novelty "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)," and Grandpa Jones takes over to drive "Eight More Miles to Louisville" straight into the ground. B+(**) [R]

Willie Nelson: Nacogdoches (1997 [2004], Pedernales): Sold exclusive at Texas Roadhouse restaurants, a scrap session, billed as jazz but really old standards including another run through "Stardust"; actually his best such record except for his original Stardust, probably because he enjoys the company and has nothing at stake. A-

Willie Nelson: It Always Will Be (2004, Lost Highway): Three originals, the title song as simple and indelible as Nelson gets; a couple by other Nelsons and some choice filler, including a drinking song that claims "I've been thrown into better places than this"; three duets, with Norah Jones and Lucinda Williams attesting to Nelson's star power. B+(***)

Willie Nelson & Friends: Outlaws and Angels (2004, Lost Highway): Friends include Al Green, Ben Harper, Rickie Lee Jones, Carole King, Toots Hibbert, Holmes Brothers, Los Lonely Boys, Kid Rock, Jerry Lee Lewis, Keith Richards, Shelby Lynne, Lucinda Williams, Toby Keith, and (most important) Merle Haggard; they do what they do, and have a good time doing it. B+(**)

Willie Nelson: Countryman (1995-2004 [2005], Lost Highway): Ganja on the cover, but Nelson's reggae album is played straight, with two Jimmy Cliff songs and one duet with Toots Hibbert the seeds for the usual delightful riddims; the idea seems to be to cross one of Nelson's songs over like Toots did to "Country Roads"; pleasant enough, but none of the songs here catches a fire, much less inhales. B

Willie Nelson: You Don't Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker (2006, Lost Highway): Walker wrote some 500 songs, hits for everyone from Bing Crosby to Mickey Gilley, with Bob Wills recording more than 50; if you don't know her, you probably don't know who Fred Rose is either, but you should still recognize the title song, if not from Eddy Arnold then from Ray Charles; I recognize most of the songs, and Nelson sweeps them all. A-

Willie Nelson: Songbird (2006, Lost Highway): A Ryan Adams album with a better singer, but Adams' indistinct rock backdrop provides more grout than structure; Nelson wanders over a soundscape where even his own songs seem like strangers, the sole find being Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," ending as "Sad Songs and Waltzes" turns into a gloomy Adams-arranged "Amazing Grace." B

Willie Nelson/Merle Haggard/Ray Price: Last of the Breed (2007, Lost Highway, 2CD): Price is the senior honky tonker, the guy you don't instantly recognize, but he holds this collection of songs that show his age together, especially the Jesus songs; the other two make it special. A-

Willie Nelson: Moment of Forever (2008, Lost Highway): The guest catalyst this time is Kenny Chesney, who duets on one song, co-wrote another, and co-produced the set, not that he actually adds much; in the end an average Nelson album, with Nelson borrowing more than he writes, his Randy Newman cover welcome and his Bob Dylan all but inevitable. B+(*)

Willie Nelson: Lost Highway (2002-08 [2009], Lost Highway): Nelson's signing to Universal's alt-Nashville label seemed promising, but his seven years there produced a mixed bag, with a couple of superb vintage country sets and a maddening mess of bad ideas -- guest duets, reggae, Ryan Adams; the good albums yield good cuts, the not-so-good ones don't, and four unreleaseds just confuse, from the gender-crossing "Cowboys Are Frequently Fond of Each Other" to the homophobic "Ain't Going Down on Brokeback Mountain"; go figure. B

Willie Nelson/Wynton Marsalis: Two Men With the Blues (2007 [2008], Blue Note): Neither man has the first damn reason to be blue, but both are such pros they can play along with the concept; Marsalis's band brings a little New Orleans jump to the affair, the brass brightens the room, and the singer is a class act, with songs worth hearing him sing -- not least, Merle Travis's "That's All." B+(***)

Willie Nelson: American Classic (2009, Blue Note): A return to Stardust territory, vintage standards elegantly swung and sung, with Lewis Nash anchoring the mainstream band; Diana Krall and Norah Jones join for duets, the latter warming up "Baby It's Cold Outside." B+(**)

Briefly Noted

William Basinski: 92982 (1982 [2009], 2062): An archive tape of gently oscillating subminimal electronics, sometimes wrapped in a faint halo around a repeated piano figure. B+(**) [R]

Sun Ra: Interplanetary Melodies: Doo Wop From Saturn and Beyond, Vol. One (1950s [2009], Norton): A few doo wop singles from the 1950s, including a Christmas chant anyone could have improved on; a groove track called "Africa" that showed up on a 1966 album, a bunch of previously unissued material, including a fractured "Summertime"; a bit of spoken word -- stuff that kicks back and forth between quirky and too trivial to bother with. B [R]

Sun Ra: The Second Stop Is Jupiter: Doo Wop From Saturn and Beyond, Vol. Two (1950s [2009], Norton): More odds than sods, as they mix a couple more known singles with a lot of tape scraps, all with vocals, though most unreleased for good reasons -- not that he ever did anything completely uninteresting. B- [R]

Sun Ra: Nidhamu/Dark Myth Equation Visitation (1971 [2009], Art Yard): A series of impromptu concerts from a visit to Egypt, with Ra on his Moog and the band on instruments borrowed from the army; some solo keyb, some pieces with drums and backing vocals, a lot of odd constructions, nothing likely to blow you away, but plenty to think about. B+(*) [R]

Sun Ra: The Antique Blacks (1974 [2009], Art Yard): A small group live shot that wound up on Saturn in 1978 and languished in extreme obscurity, distinguished by lots of quirky rockish synth and tuneless vocals with occasional honks and screeches from the horns; by normal people this would be desperate but, of course, there's nothing normal about it. B+(**) [R]

Manfred Schoof: European Echoes (1969 [2002], Atavistic): Two LP-side-long bashes with a 16-piece avant band, distinguished not by teamwork but by blistering solos from the young men who moved the movement: saxophonists Evan Parker and Peter Brötzmann, guitarist Derek Bailey, pianists Fred Van Hove and Alexander von Schlippenbach, and ultimately the undersung trumpeter-leader. B+(***) [R]

Tom Waits: Glitter and Doom Live (2008 [2009], Anti-, 2CD): One disc of songs, ground down by a grungy band that generates deep-grounded momentum and growled out by a guy who can't exactly sing but projects so much feeling it hardly matters anyway; second disc is a 35-minute stand-up routine from a guy who marvels over the perversity of the natural as well as the manmade world; it's worth listening to once, maybe again. B+(**) [R]

Neil Young: Sugar Mountain: Live at Canterbury House 1968 (1968 [2008], Reprise): Transitioning from Buffalo Springfield to his solo career -- here very much alone -- Young talks a lot about songwriting and can get technical about it; his high voice is fresh, his guitar fluffs up his songs rather than plays them. B [R]

Neil Young: Dreamin' Man Live '92 (1992 [2009], Reprise): No band, just just singer with guitar and harmonica -- one cut each on banjo and piano -- unplugging his countryish retreat on Harvest Moon, shortly after he wrecked his amplifiers on Arc-Weld; he can, of course, carry his tunes, and they sink ever deeper, not least the bitter closer, "War of Man." B+(***) [R]

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Legend: B+ records are divided into three levels, where more * is better. [R] indicates record was reviewed using a stream from Rhapsody. The biggest caveat there is that the packaging and documentation hasn't been inspected or considered.

Didn't finish Jazz Consumer Guide this week, but came close enough that I'm pretty certain this coming week will do it. Draft currently contains 31 graded records, 39 HMs or duds, 2517 words. About 1500 will make it into the column, with the rest left over. I have 10 graded A- records still without a review, but only a couple of those might make the cut, and maybe not that many. Lots of unwritten HM candidates. Most of what I'll be doing this coming week is re-playing them. I've decided that if I don't get a reasonably good one-liner after one play they'll go into the surplus file. Need to do a pretty severe cull anyway. The column will be full up with 2009 releases, many already on various year-end lists -- not least my own. Leftovers will be more of the same. I've only managed to grade 7 2010 releases thus far, while I have 85 in the pending queue.

Also didn't get my kitchen done last week, but expect to do so this coming week. Very little left to do there.

A little bit of jazz prospecting from the last two weeks. My main focus has been on writing up already-rated records, and cleaning out the replay queue. Willie Nelson revision is done -- more on that soon.

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Sonore: Call Before You Dig: Loft/Köln (2008 [2009], Okka Disk, 2CD): Sax trio, three guys famous for walking on the wild side, all the more dangerous together: Peter Brötzmann, Mats Gustafsson, Ken Vandermark. Two sets, one live, one studio. Impossible to deny that they bring interesting ideas into play, and after several records together they communicate readily, but the casual listener is going to hear mostly noise, and I find it rough going myself. B+(*)

Mostly Other People Do the Killing: Forty Fort (2008-09 [2010], Hot Cup): Fourth album, third I've heard, led by Moppa Elliott, who takes the first notes on bass, just like Charles Mingus. Has the basic Mingus approach to horns, too, which is to put them on a roller coaster and let them run clean off the rails. Peter Evans does just that on trumpet, and Jon Irabagon's tenor as well as his alto sax defies gravity. Kevin Shea rounds out the quartet on drums, and gets a credit for electronics. Historical references are less obvious here than on the last two albums, although I might know more if only I could read "Leonard Featherweight"'s liner notes (tiny gray all-caps on a black background). I do recognize the cover art as influenced by Impulse! in the 1960s, but even that isn't obviously pegged to any one thing. They're coming out into their own. A-

Opsvik & Jennings: A Dream I Used to Remember (2007-08 [2009], Loyal Label): That would be bassist Eivind Opsvik and guitarist Aaron Jennings. A publicist note pointed out that Opsvik has played with Paul Motian, Bill Frisell, and David Binney, but I associate him with A-list records by Kris Davis and Jostein Gulbrandsen. Also has three FSNT records, and a previous one with Jennings, Commuter Anthems (Rune Grammofon). Opsvik also plays keyboards, lap steel guitar, and percussion; Jennings strays past banjo to electronics, and both are credited with software and vocals. The vocals tend toward choral, which I don't find all that enticing. Otherwise, the interaction is intimate and intriguing. B+(*)

Sharel Cassity: Relentless (2008 [2009], Jazz Legacy): Alto saxophonist, b. 1978 in Iowa City, IA, also plays soprano sax and flute. Second album. Solid mainstream group with Orrin Evans on piano, Dwayne Burno on bass, EJ Strickland on drums, and quite a few extra horns popping in and out -- Jeremy Pelt on trumpet, Thomas Barber on flugelhorn, Michael Dease on trombone, Andrew Boyarsky on tenor sax, Don Braden on alto flute. Slick and flashy postbop. B

Prana Trio: The Singing Image of Fire (2008 [2010], Circavision): Brooklyn group, although it's not clear that Trio means a group with three members. The only real member is drummer Brian Adler, although vocalist Sunny Kim is most noticeable on 11 of 12 tracks, while piano (Carmen Staaf and Frank Carlberg), bass (Matt Aronoff and Nathan Goheen), and guitar (Robert Lanzetti) come and go. Kim sings poems by Kabir, Kukai, So Wal Kim, Hafiz, Anselm Hollo, Shankaracarya, Wang Wei, and Han-Shan. The vocals got on my nerves at first, but it actually settles down; may even be deeper than I'm inclined to credit. B+(*)

Ben Wendel/Harish Raghavan/Nate Wood: Act (2009, Bju'ecords): Title all-caps on cover; spine only says "ACT" but front cover identifies the trio and their instruments: saxophone, bassoon, piano for Wendel; bass for Raghavan; drums for Wood. Not sure if my package matches the product: the print cover is pasted to a generic brown cardboard foldout wrapper, with a pasted print piece inside. On the other hand, nowhere is there "for promotional purposes only" print. I have less to say about the music, which is lean and articulate. B+(*)

Rempis/Rosaly: Cyrillic (2009, 482 Music): Sax-drums duo, Chicago musicians, also play in the two-drummer Rempis Percussion Quartet. Dave Rempis is best known for his work in the Vandermark 5. He is fluid and forceful on alto, tenor, and baritone saxes, and Rosaly does a good job of playing off his energy. B+(***)

Greg Reitan: Antibes (2008 [2010], Sunnyside): Pianist, second album, in a trio with Jack Daro on bass and Dean Koba on drums. Includes covers from Bill Evans, Denny Zeitlin, and Keith Jarrett, which should give you an idea. I'm impressed by both albums, but thus far don't have much to say. B+(**)

Empty Cage Quartet: Gravity (2008 [2009], Clean Feed): Jason Mears (alto sax, clarinet), Kris Tiner (trumpet), Ivan Johnson (double bass), Paul Kikuchi (drums, percussion). Group has five albums together since 2006. Tiner's title piece consists of 11 sections, split up here into five chunks, separated by another four chunks of Mears's multi-sectional "Tzolkien." This stradles the notion of free and composed in attractive ways, although I'm hard-pressed to tell which is which or why it should matter. The two horns stand tall. The rhythm does a nice job of supporting them. B+(***)

Andy Cotton: Last Stand at the Hayemeyer Ranch (2009, Bju'ecords): Bassist, plays guitar on one cut, grew up near Boston, studied at New School, based in Brooklyn, first album. Packaging a thin brown sleeve, looks biodegradeable. Gets lots of help, and the whole thing can be described as eclectic, but one relatively common theme is reggae -- "Shit Rock" is probably the best example, but there's also "Slow Reggie" and "C minor Reggie." Influences list starts with King Tubby; also includes "Appalachian fiddle music," which influences "Macallan's Waltz." Several cuts have vocalists, adding to the mish-mash feel even though there's nothing particularly wrong with any of them. B+(**)

The Respect Sextet: Sirius Respect (2009, Mode/Avant): New York group, been together (give or take a few changes) since 2001. Several previous albums -- not sure how to count limited editions. Lineup: Eli Asher (trumpet), James Hirschfeld (trombone), Josh Rutner (tenor sax), Red Wierenga (piano), Malcolm Kirby (bass), Ted Poor (drums); most also play related instruments. Album subtitled "Play the music of Sun Ra & Stockhausen" -- presumably Karlheinz. I was briefly intrigued by Stockhausen a long time ago, but never got in very deep. His pieces here tend toward drones with a bit of classical overhang. Sun Ra, of course, is a lot more fun. B+(*)

Out to Lunch: Melvin's Rockpile (2009 [2010], Accurate): New York group, led by David Levy (bass clarinet, alto sax, bansuri flute), presumably named for Eric Dolphy's legendary album. Septet, with three horns (Levy, Evan Smith on tenor sax, Josiah Woodson on trumpet) and a mostly plugged-in rhythm section (Eric Lane on keyboards, Matt Wigton on bass, Fred Kennedy on drums, and Kris Smith doing programming). Odd and interesting mix of free jazz and funk groove. B+(**)

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And these are final grades/notes on records I put back for further listening the first time around.

Komeda Project: Requiem (2009, WM): Polish pianist Krzysztof Komeda (1931-69) certainly is a project. I've only sampled one of the dozen or so albums he has on obscure Polish labels -- now prohibitively expensive given exchange rate, I might add -- and it is really superb (Astigmatic). So this group -- led by expat Poles Krzysztof Medyna (tenor sax, soprano sax) and Andrzej Winnicki (piano), with expert NY help from Russ Johnson, Scott Colley, and Nasheet Waits -- is welcome, but I can't claim to have made any breakthroughs with it. B+(**)

New Niks & Artvark Saxophone Quartet: Busy Busy Busy (2009, No Can Do): Drummer-led quartet with Fender Rhodes, guitar, and violin, but no bass, plays swanky postbop with some swing, mixed in with a sax section that can stand on its own. Has some awkward moments, but also marvelous ones when they loosen up. B+(**)

Gerald Clayton: Two-Shade (2009, ArtistShare): Piano trio, debut recording, although he had the advantage of growing up in his father, bassist John Clayton's big band, and has a substantial list of side credits already. As with many mainstream piano trios, I'm at a loss for words, but he has good balance and poise, and this holds up consistently well. B+(***)

Ben Allison: Think Free (2009, Palmetto): Subtler, in terms of melodies but also instrumentation, than his recent superb albums, but eventually they emerge with the precise good taste of someone assured in his thinking. Violinist Jenny Scheinman is central and critical -- her best showing since 12 Songs -- while Steve Cardenas' guitar and Shane Endsley's trumpet play off the edges. A-

Donny McCaslin: Declaration (2009, Sunnyside): There are stretches here where the guitar fusion (Ben Monder) and/or the extra brass let you forget that the album is supposed to belong to the most technically gifted tenor saxophonist of his generation. That doesn't strike me as the right strategy. B+(*)

Randy Brecker: Nostalgic Journey: Tykocin Jazz Suite/The Music of Wlodek Pawlik (2008 [2009], Summit): Bialystok's Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic play Pawlik's suite with unexpected flair -- you hear a lot of East European orchestras as jazz backdrops because they work cheap, but usually their classical breeding spoils the day. Helps no doubt that Pawlik's piano trio is featured, and especially that Brecker's trumpet is trusted with the highlights. He's always been a team player, but he's rarely had a team help him out so much. B+(***)

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For this cycle's collected Jazz Prospecting notes, look here.

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Unpacking: Found in the mail this week (or last):

• Art-i-facts: Great Performances From 40 Years of Jazz at NEC (1973-2008, New England Conservatory)
• Niklas Barnö/Joel Grip/Didier Lasserre: Snus (Ayler)
• Johnny Butler: Solo (Johnny Butler Jazz): Mar. 2
• The Nels Cline Singers: Initiate (Cryptogramophone, 2CD): Apr. 13
• Peggy Duquesnel: Summertime Lullaby (Joyspring Music): Apr. 5
• Orrin Evans: Faith in Action (Posi-Tone): Feb. 2
• Free Unfold Trio: Ballades (Ayler)
• Tia Fuller: Decisive Steps (Mack Avenue): advance, Mar. 16
• Tobias Gebb & Unit 7: Free at Last (Yummy House): Mar. 2
• Chris Greene Quartet: Merge (Single Malt): Apr. 6
• Sherman Irby Quartet: Live at the Otto Club (Black Warrior): Feb. 16
• Open Graves [Paul Kikuchi/Jesse Olsen]: Hollow Lake (Prefecture)
• Tide Tables [Paul Kikuchi/Alexander Vittum]: Lost Birdsongs (Prefecture)
• Whitney James: The Nature of Love (Stir Stick Music)
• Michael Janisch: Purpose Built (Whirlwind): Jan. 26
• Ralph Lalama Quartet: The Audience (Mighty Quinn)
• The Low Anthem: Oh My God, Charlie Darwin (Nonesuch)
• Olivier Manchon: Orchestre de Chambre Miniature, Volume 1 (ObliqSound): advance, Feb. 9
• Mitch Marcus Quintet: Countdown 2 Meltdown (Porto Franco): Feb. 16
• Sebastiano Meloni/Adriano Orrù/Tony Oxley: Improvised Pieces for Trio (Big Round)
• Melanie Mitrano: All Things Gold (Big Round)
• Soren Moller & Dick Oatts: The Clouds Above (Audial): Feb. 9
• Willie Nelson: Naked Willie (1967-70, RCA Nashville/Legacy)
• Willie Nelson: It Will Always Be (2004, Lost Highway)
• Willie Nelson & Friends: Outlaws and Angels (2004, Lost Highway)
• Willie Nelson: Countryman (2005, Lost Highway)
• Willie Nelson: You Don't Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker (2006, Lost Highway)
• Willie Nelson: Songbird (2006, Lost Highway)
• Willie Nelson: One Hell of a Ride (1954-2007, Columbia/Legacy, 4CD)
• Willie Nelson: Moment of Forever (2008, Lost Highway)
• Willie Nelson: Lost Highway (Lost Highway)
• Gia Notte: Shades (Gnote): Feb. 17
• Peggo: In Love (Big Round)
• Steve Raegele: Last Century (Songlines): Feb. 9
• Scottish National Jazz Orchestra: Rhapsody in Blue: Live (Spartacus)
• Scurvy: Fracture (Johnny Butler Jazz): advance
• Ravi Shankar: Rare and Glorious (Times Square, 2CD)
• Emilio Solla & the Tango Jazz Conspiracy: Bien Sur! (Fresh Sound World Jazz): Feb. 9
• John Vanore & Abstract Truth: Curiosity (Acoustical Concepts): Apr. 6
• Eric Vloeimans' Gatecrash: Heavensabove! (Challenge Jazz)
• Torben Waldorff: American Rock Beauty (ArtistShare)
• David S. Ware: Saturnian (Solo Saxophones, Volume 1) (AUM Fidelity)
• Mark Weinstein: Timbasa (Jazzheads)

I know, this is getting ridiculous. Got a request last week to update my Rolling Stone Album Guide piece on Willie Nelson, and foolishly said, "sure." Turns out there are something like 16 Nelson albums since I wrote the original piece in 2003, more or less while the Bushwacking of Iraq got started: I remember going back and forth between Fela Kuti piece and my Another Day in Infamy post. I can't find a good up-to-date account of the war costs, but between Iraq and Afghanistan, it works out to close to 5,000 US soldiers dead, 40,000 injured, several hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Afghans killed, several million displaced; over one trillion dollars allocated for the wars, which will wind up costing more than three trillion once you factor in the future costs; and all sorts of other ridiculous side effects -- possibly including the financial meltdown, which was caused by the same geniuses who dreamed up the war, and maybe whatever global warming has in store for us, which I'll chalk up to opportunity costs even though it's not clear who else knew better.

Jazz Prospecting will return next week, for sure. Whether Jazz CG will be done by then is less certain. The big thing I am hoping to finally get done this week is the kitchen project, which has dragged on even longer. But right now I have all of the missing pieces. Some are not in the right places, and some are not the right color, but all that seems doable. Jazz CG seems doable as well, despite my recent lack of performance. Willie Nelson, at least, is done.

The Village Voice's 2009 Critics Poll is out. A week ago I compared the 2008 results to my metafile projection, so I should do the same for 2009 now. The big difference between my metafile this year and last year's is that I sampled many more year-end lists this year. One measure of this is that the winner count this year is 224, vs. 41 last year. The correlation was actually better last year. The probable reason is that most of the extra counts come from bloggers who most likely deviate from critics in certain uniform ways: I'm guessing they're younger and play fewer records; what I'm sure of is that they're more narrowly into alt-rock. Even, I should say, since Chuck Eddy observes that the poll critics themselves are more like that than ever before.

Let's start off with a table of the top 50 records from my metafile, listed in metafile rank order. The two numbers on the right are the P&J poll rank and the ratio of the two ranks: anything less than 1.0 did better on P&J, anything greater did worse.

1.	Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Glassnote)	2	2.000
2.	Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino)	1	0.500
3.	Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest (Warp)	6	2.000
4.	Dirty Projectors: Bitte Orca (Domino)	5	1.250
5.	Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It's Blitz (Interscope/DGC/Dress Up)	4	0.800
6.	The XX: XX (XL)	7	1.167
7.	Neko Case: Middle Cyclone (Anti-)	3	0.429
8.	St Vincent: Actor (4AD)	12	1.500
9.	Girls: Album (True Panther/Matador)	10	1.111
10.	The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (Slumberland)	17	1.700
11.	Passion Pit: Manners (Frenchkiss)	36	3.273
12.	Fever Ray: Fever Ray (Mute)	13	1.083
13.	The Antlers: Hospice (Frenchkiss)	51	3.923
	The Flaming Lips: Embryonic (Warner)	9	0.692
15.	Wilco: Wilco (The Album) (Nonesuch)	21	1.400
16.	Japandroids: Post-Nothing (Polyvinyl)	33	2.062
17.	Raekwon: Only Built for Cuban Linx . . . Pt. 2 (Ice H2O)	8	0.471
18.	Bat for Lashes: Two Suns (Astralwerks)	23	1.278
19.	Mos Def: The Ecstatic (Downtown)	11	0.579
20.	Camera Obscura: My Maudlin Career (4AD)	30	1.500
	The Decemberists: Hazards of Love (Capitol)	29	1.450
22.	The Avett Brothers: I and Love and You (Columbia)	15	0.682
	Florence and the Machine: Lungs (Island)	68	3.091
	Metric: Fantasies (Metric International)	52	2.364
25.	Atlas Sound: Logos (Kranky)	50	2.000
26.	Mastodon: Crack the Skye (Warner Bros)	18	0.692
27.	Andrew Bird: Noble Beast (Fat Possum)	81	3.000
28.	Fuck Buttons: Tarot Sport (ATP)	39	1.393
29.	The Horrors: Primary Colours (XL)	65	2.241
30.	Jay-Z: The Blueprint 3 (Roc Nation)	27	0.900
31.	Sonic Youth: The Eternal (Matador)	20	0.645
32.	Them Crooked Vultures: Them Crooked Vultures (DGC/Interscope)	58	1.812
33.	Micachu & the Shapes: Jewellery (Rough Trade)	38	1.152
34.	Wild Beasts: Two Dancers (Domino)	147	4.324
35.	Bill Callahan: Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle (Drag City)	56	1.600
36.	Sunset Rubdown: Dragonslayer (Jagjaguwar)	77	2.139
37.	Lily Allen: It's Not Me, It's You (Capitol)	22	0.595
	Arctic Monkeys: Humbug (Domino)	207	5.595
	The Dead Weather: Horehound (Third Man/Warner Bros)	28	0.757
	Dinosaur Jr: Farm (Jagjaguwar)	48	1.297
41.	Antony and the Johnsons: The Crying Light (Secretly Canadian)	26	0.634
	Monsters of Folk: Monsters of Folk (Shangri-La)	69	1.683
43.	Future of the Left: Travels with Myself and Another (4AD)	67	1.558
	Regina Spektor: Far (Sire)	89	2.070
	Yo La Tengo: Popular Songs (Matador)	40	0.930
44.	Dan Deacon: Bromst (Carpark)	85	1.932
45.	Sunn O))): Monoliths & Dimensions (Southern Lord)	42	0.933
46.	La Roux: La Roux (Cherry Tree)	146	3.174
	U2: No Line on the Horizon (Interscope)	32	0.696
48.	Doom: Born Like This (Lex)	44	0.917
49.	Kid Cudi: Man on the Moon: The End of Day (Universal Motown)	101	2.061
50.	Baroness: Blue Record (Relapse)	19	0.380
	Converge: Axe to Fall (Epitaph)	24	0.480
	Neon Indian: Psychic Chasms (Lefse)	112	2.240

Animal Collective beating out Phoenix wasn't unexpected. I didn't do any weighting, but had I done so Animal Collective would have easily finished on top: of the lists that I did keep rank info on, Animal Collective won 15 vs. 3 for Phoenix. More on this later, but first let's track the major movements.

The biggest drops from my Meta list are: Arctic Monkeys (207/37: 5.595), Wild Beasts (147/34: 4.324), The Antlers (51/13: 3.923), Passion Pit (36/11: 3.273), La Roux (146/46: 3.174), Florence and the Machine (68/22: 3.091), Andrew Bird (81/27: 3.000), Metric (52/22: 2.364), The Horrors (65/29: 2.241), Neon Indian (112/50: 2.240), Regina Spektor (89/43: 2.070), Sunset Rubdown (77/36: 2.139), Japandroids (33/16: 2.062), Kid Cudi (101/49: 2.061).

I picked up a lot of UK lists, but P&J polls relatively few UK critics. Inevitably, some UK albums didn't make much of a splash here, with Arctic Monkeys the prime example. La Roux and Florence were others. In general, a whole cluster of arty indie-rock albums following Animal Collective and Phoenix slipped, starting with Grizzly Bear (6/3: 2.000) and including Antlers, Passion Pit, Horrors, Sunset Rubdown, and Neon Indian.

To get a better sense of the gains, we need to look further down the Pazz & Jop poll results. The following table lists everything from the top 100 that didn't make the metafile top 50.

14.	Maxwell: BLACKsummers'night (Columbia)	60	0.233
16.	The-Dream: Love vs Money (Def Jam)	71	0.225
25.	Miranda Lambert: Revolution (Sony)	55	0.455
31.	Lady Gaga: The Fame/The Fame Monster (Interscope)	65	0.477
34.	Brad Paisley: American Saturday Night (Arista Nashville)	75	0.453
35.	K'naan: Troubadour (A&M/Octone)	71	0.493
37.	Green Day: 21st Century Breakdown (Reprise)	91	0.407
41.	Bob Dylan: Together Through Life (Columbia)	75	0.547
43.	Allen Toussaint: The Bright Mississippi (Nonesuch)	60	0.717
45.	Rosanne Cash: The List (Manhattan)	110	0.409
46.	Levon Helm: Electric Dirt (Dirt Farmer Music/Vanguard)	221	0.208
47.	Dâm-Funk: Toeachizown (Stones Throw)	86	0.547
49.	Vijay Iyer Trio: Historicity (ACT)	66	0.742
53.	Leonard Cohen: Live in London (Columbia)	194	0.273
54.	Pissed Jeans: King of Jeans (Sub Pop)	110	0.491
55.	Amadou & Mariam: Welcome to Mali (Because Music/Nonesuch)	158	0.348
57.	Bruce Springsteen: Working on a Dream (Columbia)	181	0.315
59.	Tinariwen: Imidiwan: Companions (World Village)	103	0.573
60.	Pearl Jam: Backspacer (Monkeywrench)	66	0.909
61.	Ida Maria: Fortress Round My Heart (Mercury)	91	0.670
62.	DJ Quik & Kurupt: BlaQKout (Mad Science)	126	0.492
63.	The Very Best: Warm Heart of Africa (Green Owl)	84	0.750
64.	Oumou Sangare: Seya (Nonesuch)	314	0.204
66.	Big Star: Keep an Eye on the Sky (Rhino)	158	0.418
70.	Tune-Yards: Bird-Brains (4AD)	126	0.556
71.	Kylesa: Static Tensions (Prosthetic)	272	0.261
72.	The Black Crowes: Before the Frost . . . Until the Freeze (Silver Arrow)	181	0.398
73.	Loudon Wainwright III: High, Wide & Handsome: The Charlie Poole Project (161)	314	0.232
74.	Paramore: Brand New Eyes (Fueled by Ramen)	117	0.632
75.	Art Brut: Art Brut vs Satan (Downtown)	86	0.872
76.	POS: Never Better (Rhymesayers Entertainment)	86	0.884
78.	Drake: So Far Gone (Young Money)	158	0.494
79.	Jay Reatard: Watch Me Fall (Matador)	103	0.767
80.	The Mountain Goats: The Life of the World to Come (4AD)	71	1.127
82.	DJ Sprinkles: Midtown 120 Blues (Mule Musiq)	314	0.261
83.	Jarvis Cocker: Further Complications (Rough Trade)	84	0.988
84.	The Raveonettes: In and Out of Control (Vice)	136	0.618
86.	Real Estate: Real Estate (Woodsist)	86	1.000
87.	Buddy and Julie Miller: Written in Chalk (New West)	126	0.690
88.	Broadcast & the Focus Group: Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age (Warp)	126	0.698
90.	Built to Spill: There Is No Enemy (Warner Bros)	126	0.714
91.	Mayer Hawthorne: A Strange Arrangement (Stones Throw)	110	0.827
92.	Health: Get Color (Lovepump United)	55	1.673
93.	Kurt Vile: Childish Prodigy (Matador)	82	1.134
94.	Nellie McKay: Normal as Blueberry Pie (Verve)	314	0.299
95.	The Clientele: Bonfires on the Heath (Merge)	136	0.699
96.	Brother Ali: Us (Rhymesayers Entertainment)	98	0.980
97.	A Sunny Day in Glasgow: Ashes Grammar (Carrot Top)	249	0.390
98.	Black Eyed Peas: The END (Interscope)	272	0.360
99.	The Fiery Furnaces: I'm Going Away (Thrill Jockey)	117	0.846
100.	Glasvegas: Glasvegas (Columbia)	194	0.515

The big gains were: Oumou Sangare (64/314: 0.204), Levon Helm (46/221: 0.208), The-Dream (16/71: 0.225), Loudon Wainwright III (73/314: 0.232), Maxwell (14/60: 0.233), Kylesa (71/272: 0.261), DJ Sprinkles (82/314: 0.261), Leonard Cohen (53/194: 0.273), Nellie McKay (94/314: 0.299), Bruce Springsteen (57/181: 0.315), Amadou & Mariam (55/158: 0.348), Black Eyed Peas (98/272: 0.360), Baroness (19/50: 0.380), Sunny Day in Glasgow (97/249: 0.390), Black Crowes (72/181: 0.398), Green Day (37/91: 0.407), Rosanne Cash (45/110: 0.409), Big Star (66/158: 0.418), Neko Case (3/7: 0.429), Brad Paisley (34/75: 0.453), Miranda Lambert (25/55: 0.455), Raekwon (8/17: 0.471), Lady Gaga (31/65: 0.477), Converge (24/50: 0.480), Pissed Jeans (54/110: 0.491), DJ Quik & Kurupt (62/126: 0.492), K'Naan (35/71: 0.493), Drake (78/158: 0.494), Animal Collective (1/2: 0.500), Glasvegas (100/194: 0.515), Bob Dylan (41/75: 0.547), Dâm-Funk (47/86: 0.547), Tune-Yards (70/126: 0.556), Tinariwen (59/103: 0.573), Mos Def (11/19: 0.579), Lily Allen (22/37: 0.595), Raveonettes (84/136: 0.618), Paramore (74/117: 0.632), Antony and the Johnsons (26/41: 0.634), Sonic Youth (20/31: 0.645), Ida Maria (61/91: 0.670), Avett Brothers (15/22: 0.682), Buddy and Julie Miller (87/126: 0.690), Flaming Lips (9/13: 0.692), Mastodon (18/26: 0.692), U2 (32/46: 0.696), Broadcast & the Focus Group (88/126: 0.698), Clientele (95/136: 0.699), Built to Spill (90/126: 0.714), Allen Toussaint (43/60: 0717), Vijay Iyer (49/66: 0.742), Very Best (63/84: 0.750).

Only a few of these belong to the dominant alt-rock aesthetic. Nearly every hip-hop record improved -- Kid Cudi was the exception, although you might also count Brother Ali. Maxwell and The-Dream did even better. Country/Americana made gains, as did African pop, veteran rockers (which seem to include Green Day as well as Dylan and Springsteen), and Lady Gaga. A couple of top jazz records also improved, despite my focusing on jazz lists -- this didn't hold up lower down the list. You can chalk these shifts up to an older, more professional electorate. By "professional" I'm not making a value judgment -- just recognizing that newspaper and generic pub critics have to cover a wider range of popular music than bloggers, and that necessarily means some hip-hop, soul, Americana, and whoever's selling -- this year, Lady Gaga.

The value judgment I'm inclined to make is that the Pazz & Jop critics promoted better records than my metafile found. Three of my ballot picks found no other supporters, but everything else I voted for gained ground. One possibility is the uniform use of a top ten standard in P&J, whereas my metafile occasionally picked up 100-deep lists. Another possibility is that my metafile undervalued Robert Christgau's real (though certainly limited) influence: those seven records were all very favorably featured in his Consumer Guide (as well as one of my three solo picks -- the other two were jazz records; I did find a few non-jazz A-list albums that haven't appeared in Christgau's CG, but none finished high enough to make my top ten ballot -- Mika's The Boy Who Knew Too Much came closest; Syran M'Benza, Fuck Buttons, Ersatzmusika, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Khaled, and Van Morrison had others; a similar number of records appeared in CG much lower than I had them -- Maria Muldaur tops that list).

One thing I did with the results was to pick out all of the ballots by people who voted for my picks. Adding them up, and dropping out my picks (which swept the top six spots), I'm left with (my grades in brackets; many of these are based on Rhapsody):

1. Brad Paisley: American Saturday Night (Arista Nashville) [*]
2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It's Blitz! (DGC/Interscope) [A-]
3. Neko Case: Middle Cyclone (Anti) [B]
4. Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Glassnote) [*]
5. Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino) [*]
6. Maxwell: BLACKsummers'night (Columbia) [*]
7. Nellie McKay: Normal As Blueberry Pie: A Tribute to Doris Day (Verve) [A-]
8. The XX: XX (Young Turks) [***]
9. The-Dream: Love vs. Money (Def Jam/Radio Killa) [*]
10. Dirty Projectors: Bitte Orca (Domino) [C+]
11. Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest (Warp) [B-]
12. Black Eyed Peas: The E.N.D. (Interscope) [A-]
13. The Avett Brothers: I and Love and You (American/Columbia) [B]
14. Miranda Lambert: Revolution (Sony/Columbia Nashville) [A-]
15. Allen Toussaint: The Bright Mississippi (Nonesuch) [A-]
16. Amadou & Mariam: Welcome to Mali (Nonesuch) [A-]
17. Girls: Album (True Panther) [A-]
18. Sonic Youth: The Eternal (Matador) [A-]
19. Lady Gaga: The Fame/The Fame Monster (Streamline/Interscope) [*]
20. Tinariwen: Imidiwan: Companions (World Village) [A-]
21. Bob Dylan: Together Through Life (Columbia) [A-]
22. Wilco: Wilco (The Album) (Nonesuch) [**]
23. Rokia Traoré: Tchamantché (Nonesuch) [**]
24. Mos Def: The Ecstatic (Downtown) [A-]
25. Khaled: Liberté (Wrasse) [A-]
26. Wussy: Wussy (Shake It) [***]
27. Darcy James Argue's Secret Society: Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam) [***]
28. Justin Adams and Juldeh Camara: Tell No Lies (Real World) [**]
29. Levon Helm: Electric Dirt (Welk) [*]
30. Rihanna: Rated R (Def Jam) [*]

Of these, Paisley, McKay, perhaps Black Eyed Peas, and certainly Wussy can be chalked up to Christgau's promotion. Some records from the alt-rock consensus leaked in, although the reordering of nos. 2-5 is significant (although I liked Case the least). For what it's worth, the critics I intersected with more than once (and therefore counted more than once) are: Leslie Berman (2), Max Berry (2), Larry Birnbaum (2), Robert Christgau (4), Banning Eyre (3), Steve Knopper (2), Frank Kogan (2), Todd Kristel (2), Tom Lane (2), Milo Miles (4), Derk Richardson (2), Ellis Widner (3), K Leander Williams (2).

Glenn McDonald's voter similarity stats gives this order: Christgau (0.569), Miles (0.566), Widner, Eyre, Williams, Kristel, Richardson, Berman, Berry, Kogan, Knopper, Lane (0.366). Conversely, I came off as the voter most similar to Christgau, followed by Ted Cox, Miles, Berman, Alfred Soto, Dan Weiss, J Anthony Ware, Chris Herrington, Williams, and Ken Tucker. My "centricity" figure -- a measure of overlap with the winners -- was 0.12, tied for 506 of 696 critics. (Five voters tied with 0.00, meaning they filled their ballots with records no one else picked. Christgau came in at 470, with 0.146.) McDonald has been doing his centricity analysis for some time now, and my placement there has been pretty consistent.

McDonald also has an interesting chart on album similarity, which I should return to later.

Still in mid-winter doldrums, but after several dry weeks, there's enough here to post. Only minor progress on Jazz CG, but it will come along soon. Mail has been generally light the last few weeks, but 2010 is starting to pile up.

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The Second Approach Trio With Roswell Rudd: The Light (2007 [2009], SoLyd): Russian group, has seven albums since 1999, plus various collaborations. Consists of Andrei Razin on piano, Igor Ivanushkin on bass, and Tatyana Komova singing or otherwise exercising her voice, with all three credited with percussion. Razin plays a little bit of everything, ranging from plaintive accompaniment to rough and ready avant-garde. In the latter context, Komova can hurl sounds against the wall, and is remarkably engaging at it. Rudd stopped in Moscow on his way back from a Siberian engagement with Tuvan throat singers, and he reminds you that he can hold his own in any avant-garde circus, as well as dash off a touching solo. B+(***)

Albert Ammons/Henry Brown/Meade Lux Lewis/"Cripple" Clarence Lofton/Pete Johnson/Speckled Red: Boogie Woogie Kings (1938-71 [2009], Delmark): Your basic boogie woogie piano sampler with some vocals; Lofton's six cuts are the oldest; Red, with four cuts including a previously unreleased (and relatively mild) "Dirty Dozens" is the most recent; Lewis gets three sharply played cuts, plus one with the Ammons-Johnson-Lewis triumvirate. B+(**)

Memphis Nighthawks: Jazz Lips (1976-77 [2009], Delmark): Trad jazz band formed at University of Illinois by clarinetist Ron DeWar, with trumpet (Steve Jensen), trombone (Joel Helleny), bass sax (Dave Feinman), guitar (Mike Miller), and drums (Bob Kornacher) -- didn't recognize any names, but all but the drummer and the leader have notable credits lists. They cut this album for Delmark, another live shot, and quit. Delmark dug up five previously unreleased cuts to fill out the CD length. In some ways this is like every other trad jazz revival project, but the horn layering is subtle and powerful, and the guitar-drums rhythm cooks. B+(***)

Harry Allen: New York State of Mind (2009, Challenge): A follow-up to his Hits by Brits: I suppose Hits by Yanks would have seemed too broad, just as a London-themed album would have been too narrow. Not sure that it's such a good idea to drag Billy Joel into this, but his "New York, New York" is decidedly tender, and almost everything else swings powerfully. Half quartet, half with trombonist John Allred added -- latter half is better. B+(**)

Oliver Jones/Hank Jones: Pleased to Meet You (2008 [2009], Justin Time): The younger Jones is a Canadian, 65 now, grew up under the spell of Oscar Peterson, has been a favorite of his Canadian label since 1984, with a couple dozen albums in the catalog -- titles like Speak Low Swing Hard and Have Fingers, Will Travel. The elder Jones is 90, born seven years before than Peterson, who died before this session, drafting it into something of a tribute. Piano trio plus extra piano. These things rarely work, but Oliver doesn't have to overstretch knowing that Hank's got his back, and Hank is a rare jazz genius who doesn't mind fitting in. Peterson might have tried playing both parts, and might have gotten away with it, but he couldn't have made this much piano power sound so effortless. B+(***)

Scott LaFaro: Pieces of Jade (1961-85 [2009], Resonance): Legendary bassist, almost exclusively known for his work in Bill Evans' trio culminating in Waltz for Debby and Sunday at the Village Vanguard -- the most essential records in Evans' considerable discography. He died in a car wreck in 1961 at age 25, leaving no records in his own name, but has grown in stature to the point where he regularly gets substantial votes in Downbeat's Hall of Fame poll. This release gives him something for the books, but it's pretty scattered. Five tracks pick up a trio session with pianist Don Friedman and drummer Pete LaRoca -- fine work, as you'd expect from Friedman. There follows a 22:44 rehearsal tape of LaFaro with Evans, a 13:39 interview with Evans talking about LaFaro from 1966, and a 6:23 Friedman solo, "Memories for Scotty," dating from 1985. All this is interesting but in the end it strikes me that we're reading more into his premature death than his short life warranted. He's not even unique in that regard -- cf. Ray Blanton, Richard Twardzik, and others who actually did leave more to chew on, like Charlie Christian, Booker Little, and for that matter Charlie Parker. B

Aram Shelton's Fast Citizens: Two Cities (2009, Delmark): Chicago sextet, with leader on alto sax, Keefe Jackson on tenor, Josh Berman on cornet, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello, Anton Hatwich on bass, Frank Rosaly on drums. All lean avant, and they are capable of some energetic slicing and dicing, which is bracing when it works. Just doesn't work as often as it should. B+(*)

Jon Irabagon: The Observer (2009, Concord): Alto saxophonist, best known for his slash and burn approach to Mostly Other People Do the Killing. Won a Thelonious Monk Saxophone prize which came with a Concord recording contract. Some evidence that Concord tried to turn him into another Christian Scott, but he outfoxed them: held out for his own songs, compromised by getting a mainstream rhythm section, but held out for a really good one, best known for working with Stan Getz: pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Rufus Reid, drummer Lewis Nash. He blows rings around them, but they never lose a step. There's even a little duo with Barron -- not exactly like Getz, but lovely. Nicholas Payton slides in on a couple of cuts. Bertha Hope takes over the piano for one of three covers, one of her late husband's songs. Another cover is from Gigi Gryce, safe common ground. B+(***)

Empirical: Out 'n' In (2009 [2010], Naim): UK group, based in London, a quartet with Nathaniel Facey on alto sax, Lewis Wright on vibes, Tom Farmer on double bass, and Shaney Forbes on drums, expanded here with Julian Siegel on bass clarinet and tenor sax. The occasion for the latter is an interest in Eric Dolphy, who provides the two covers and inspiration for a Facey original, "Dolphyus Morphyus." B+(**)

Andy Haas/Don Fiorino: Death Don't Have No Mercy (2005, Resonant Music): Haas is a saxophonist (alto, I believe), who also plays piri, fife, and live electronics here, didjeridu elsewhere. He first appeared c. 1980 in a Canadian rock group called Martha and the Muffins -- their Metro Music was one of my favorite records that year. Since then he's worked with God Is My Co-Pilot, circulated in and around John Zorn projects, and landed with a group called Radio I-Ching. I liked their latest when I streamed it from Rhapsody, asked for a real copy, and got a lot of background material in addition. This is a duo with Fiorino, who plays guitar, lotar, banjo, and dobro. Some of this stuff is fascinating, including the stretched way out "Anthem" which you will recognize as "Star Spangled Banner," but it tends to wander especially when they get off their main instruments. B+(*)

Andy Haas: Humanitarian War (2006, Resonant Music): What's it good for? Absolutely nothing. Sorry, couldn't resist. The ten tracks are named for weapons, especially ones that are more oriented toward maiming than killing -- cluster bombs ("CBU 87 Steel Rain," "BLU108B Cluster"), anti-personnel mines ("PFM-1 Green Parrot," "Valmara 69"), "White Phosphorus" and "Depleted Uranium." "AGM-142 Have Hap" is an Israeli air-to-ground missile; "MK77 Mod 5" is a US incendiary bomb, updated napalm; "BLU 113 Penetrator" is a US bunker-busting "smart bomb." Solo improvs, with shofar and fife prominent on the instrument list. Educational, I suppose, but not very enjoyable. B

Andy Haas: The Ruins of America (2007-08 [2008], Resonant Music): Another solo job, which is inevitably its weak spot. Haas is credited with sax, piri, fife, live electronics and prepared loops, footnoting that the electronic sounds are processed from unnamed acoustic instruments. Two Brazilian tunes, but mostly Americana -- a lot of trad., a little Irving Berlin, the three part original title track split up into four pieces. Tends toward abstraction, deconstruction, sonic mischief. B+(*)

Radio I-Ching: Last Kind Words (2005-06 [2006], Resonant Music): Andy Haas once again (sax, fife, morsing, live electronics), Don Fiorino too (guitar, lap steel, banjo, lotar), but also drummer Dee Pop, invaluable for moving things along. Otherwise similar to the earlier albums by Haas (one with Fiorino): deep Americana like "Let My People Go" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "Brother Can You Spare a Dime?"; also "The Mooch" and "Caravan" and "Song for Che." B+(*)

Radio I-Ching: The Fire Keeps Burning (2007, Resonant Music): The first in this series of records to break away from Andy Haas's peculiar interest in Americana, which pays immediate rhythmic dividends. Starts off with two Arab pieces (Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Hamza El Din), for good measure adding a piece of Count Ossie nyahbinghi. Second half has a jazz sequence -- Roland Kirk, Prince Lasha/Sonny Simmons, Thelonious Monk -- sandwiched between Captain Beefheart and Jimmie Driftwood. B+(**)

The Hanuman Sextet: 9 Meals From Anarchy (2006, Resonant Music): Radio I-Ching -- Andy Haas (sax, raita, morsing, live electronics), Don Fiorino (lotar & lap steel guitar), Dee Pop (drums, percussion) -- plus Mia Theodoratus (electric harp), Matt Heyner (bass, erhu), and David Gould (more drums, percussion). Two covers -- one from Jamaican saxophonist Cedric Brooks, the other "Everything Happens to Me" -- plus eight joint improvs. The latter are rather scattered, but rarely short of interest. B+(**)

Linda Oh Trio: Entry (2008 [2009], Linda Oh Music): Bassist, born in Malaysia, raised in Australia, based now in New York. Trio with Ambrose Akinmusire on trumpet and Obed Calvaire on drums, a nicely balanced arrangement. B+(***)

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These are some even quicker notes based on downloading or streaming records. I don't have the packaging here, don't have the official hype, often don't have much information to go on. I have a couple of extra rules here: everything gets reviewed/graded in one shot (sometimes with a second play), even when I'm still guessing on a grade; the records go into my flush file (i.e., no Jazz CG entry, unless I make an exception for an obvious dud). If/when I get an actual copy I'll reconsider the record.

Bud Shank Quartet: Fascinating Rhythms (2009, Jazzed Media): Alto saxophonist, b. 1926, worked his way up through Charlie Barnet and Stan Kenton bands, one of the most distinctive figures in the west coast cool jazz universe; worked steadily until he cut this (presumably) last record, a live set at age 82, a couple of months before he died. Quartet with Bill Mays (piano), Bob Magnuson (bass), and Joe La Barbera (drums). Mostly well-worn covers, two possibly picked for their titles (Monk's "In Walked Bud," Jobim's "Lotus Bud"). Feels a bit rough edged, with some chatter, occasional harshness in his tone, ambling by Mays. Still, this has some awesome moments. B+(*) [Rhapsody]

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And these are final grades/notes on records I put back for further listening the first time around.

Rez Abbasi: Things to Come (2008-09 [2009], Sunnyside): This is a great group but not quite a great record. Part of it is that guitarist Abbasi and alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa shine on their solos but they remain separate things. Part is that pianist Vijay Iyer doesn't shine even though he's the most talented player here. Part may be that Dan Weiss plays drums instead of tabla, which steers this toward American jazz instead of Indo-Pak. Then there is the matter of wife-singer Kiran Ahluwalia, who tries to steer the album back toward India on her four spots, leaving it a bit unhinged. Reminds me that no matter how much they like the idea of an Indo-Pak coalition, what they really like is being in the forefront of jazz back home in the USA. B+(**)

Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet: ¡Bien Bien! (2009, Patois): As Latin Jazz goes, this is well-ordered and consistently listenable -- especially if you're a trombone fan. The extra trombones don't hurt, but the vocals sometimes do. B+(**)

Mary Halvorson & Jessica Pavone: Thin Air (2008 [2009], Thirsty Ear): Guitarist and violinist respectively; both sing some, but not well. Halvorson has occasionally played brilliantly in the past, but there's little evidence of it here, in what is roughly speaking jazz chamber anti-folk. Obliquely primitivist when they're just playing, suggesting little talent and no finesse, but something distinctive. Can't say anything nice about the vocals. (Note unusually big drop from first round.) B-

Michiel Braam's Wurli Trio: Non-Functionals! (2009, BBB): Dutch pianist, plays a Wurlitzer electric piano here along with bass and drums or some such like. Something of a more modern organ groove, or a swing around from EST -- not really fusion, but more playful than serious avant-gardists like to present themselves. B+(**)

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For this cycle's collected Jazz Prospecting notes, look here.

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Unpacking: Found in the mail the last several weeks:

• Big Crazy Energy New York Band: Inspirations, Vol. 1 (Rosa): Feb. 16
• Hadley Caliman: Straight Ahead (Origin)
• Bill Cunliffe/Holly Hofmann: Three's Company (Capri)
• Dan Dean: 251 (Origin)
• John Ellis & Double-Wide: Puppet Mischief (ObliqSound): advance, Feb. 23
• Roberto Fonseca: Akokan (Enja/Justin Time): Feb. 16
• Abdullah Ibrahim & WDR Big Band Cologne: Bombella (Sunnyside): Feb. 2
• Jon Irabagon: The Observer (Concord)
• Dave King: Indelicate (Sunnyside): Feb. 2
• Pete Lockett's Network of Sparks: One (Summerfold): Jan. 25
• Pat Metheny: Orchestrion (Nonesuch): Jan. 26
• Paul Meyers Quartet: Featuring Frank Wess (Miles High): Feb. 16
• Mostly Other People Do the Killing: Forty Fort (Hot Cup)
• Neel Nurgai: Neel Murgai Ensemble (Innova): Jan. 27
• Maria Neckam: Deeper (Sunnyside): Feb. 2
• Dave Nelson & the 32nd Street Quintet: 32nd Street (Independently Released): Mar. 1
• Vince Norman/Joe McCarthy Big Band: Bright Future (OA2)
• Linda Oh Trio: Entry (Linda Oh Music)
• Opsvik & Jennings: A Dream I Used to Remember (Loyal Label)
• Kat Parra: Dos Amantes (JazzMa)
• Gail Pettis: Here in the Moment (OA2): Jan. 12
• The Respect Sextet: Sirius Respect (Mode Avant)
• RG Royal Sound Orchestra: Impact (RG): Feb. 2
• Dave Sharp's Secret Seven: 7 (Vortex Jazz)
• John Stein: Raising the Roof (Whaling City Sound)
• Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté: Ali and Toumani (Nonesuch): advance, Feb. 23
• Mort Weiss: Raising the Bar (SMS Jazz): Feb. 16
• Aaron Immanuel Wright: Eleven Daughters (Origin)

I happened to stumble across last year's Village Voice Pazz & Jop results, and thought I should compare them to last year's Meta File, just to get an idea how closely they correlate. It's worth noting that last year I looked at far fewer lists -- the winner count was 41 vs. 224 this year -- which may or may not mean anything. The following table shows the top 46 from the Meta file, everything that counted 13 or more. The right two columns are: where the record placed in P&J, and P&J rank divided by Meta file rank. In the latter column, anything less than 1.0 did better in P&J than it did in my Meta rankings. Anything more than 1.0 was overrated by my Meta method. Because I have more ties, the norm is actually a bit more than 1.0.

1.	TV on the Radio: Dear Science (Interscope)	1	1.000
2.	Portishead: Third (Mercury)	3	1.500
	Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend (XL)	2	1.000
4.	Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop)	4	1.000
5.	Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago (Jagjaguwar)	8	1.600
	Lil Wayne: Tha Carter III (Cash Money)	6	1.200
7.	Santogold: Santogold (Downtown)	7	1.000
8.	MGMT: Oracular Spectacular (Red Ink/Columbia)	17	2.125
9.	Girl Talk: Feed the Animals (Illegal Art)	15	1.667
	The Hold Steady: Stay Positive (Vagrant)	13	1.444
	No Age: Nouns (Sub Pop)	14	1.556
12.	Erykah Badu: New Amerykah, Pt 1: 4th World War (Motown)	5	0.417
13.	Nick Cave: Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! (Anti-)	9	0.692
14.	Beck: Modern Guilt (Interscope)	41	2.929
	Coldplay: Viva La Vida (Capitol)	21	1.500
16.	Hercules and Love Affair: Hercules and Love Affair (Mute)	18	1.125
	Randy Newman: Harps and Angels (Nonesuch)	12	0.750
18.	Sigur Rós: Með Suð I Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust (XL)	54	3.000
19.	Deerhunter: Microcastle (Kranky)	11	0.579
	M83: Saturdays=Youth (Mute)	28	1.474
	The Raconteurs: Consolers of the Lonely (Warner Bros.)	70	3.684
	REM: Accelerate (Warner Bros)	25	1.316
	The Roots: Rising Down (Def Jam)	39	2.053
	Al Green: Lay It Down (Blue Note)	46	2.421
	Hot Chip: Made in the Dark (Astralwerks)	33	1.737
26.	Los Campesinos!: Hold on Now, Youngster . . . (Arts & Crafts)	22	0.846
27.	Cut Copy: In Ghost Colours (Modular)	23	0.852
	Frightened Rabbit: The Midnight Organ Flight (Fat Cat)	34	1.259
	My Morning Jacket: Evil Urges (ATO)	16	0.593
30.	Black Keys: Attack and Release (Nonesuch)	55	1.833
	Drive-By Truckers: Brighter Than Creation's Dark (New West)	27	0.900
	Duffy: Rockferry (Island/Mercury)	53	1.767
	Fucked Up: The Chemistry of Common Life (Matador)	38	1.267
	Gnarls Barkley: The Odd Couple (Atlantic)	114	3.800
	Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks: Real Emotional Trash (Matador)	43	1.433
	Raphael Saadiq: The Way I See It (Columbia)	19	0.633
37.	The Bug: London Zoo (Ninja Tune)	108	2.919
	Hayes Carll: Trouble in Mind (Lost Highway)	60	1.622
	Death Cab for Cutie: Narrow Stairs (Atlantic/WEA)	47	1.270
	Elbow: The Seldom Seen Kid (Geffen)	44	1.189
	Flying Lotus: Los Angeles (Warp)	59	1.595
	Jamey Johnson: That Lonesome Song (Mercury Nashville)	56	1.514
	Kings of Leon: Only by the Night (RCA)	35	0.946
	Lykke Li: Youth Novels (Atlantic)	81	2.189
	Metallica: Death Magnetic (Warner Bros)	37	1.000
	Conor Oberst: Conor Oberst (Merge)	86	2.324

The top four are pretty much dead on. The biggest drops from my Meta list are: Gnarls Barkley (114/30: 3.800), Raconteurs (70/19: 3.684), Sigur Rós (54/18: 3.000), Beck (41/13: 2.929), Bug (108/37: 2.919), Al Green (46/19: 2.421), Conor Oberst (86/37: 2.324), Lykke Li (81/37: 2.189), MGMT (17/8: 2.125), Roots (39/19: 2.053). Aside from P&J prejudice against Scandinavians, I don't see much trend there. Gnarls Barkley won the song category, so that outlet probably explains the album vote drop.

The big gains here were: Erykah Badu (5/12: 0.417), Deerhunter (11/19: 0.579), My Morning Jacket (16/27: 0.593), Raphael Saadiq (19/30: 0.633), Nick Cave (9/13: 0.692), Randy Newman (12/16: 0.750). Badu broke late, and I can attest that Saadiq and Newman had records that kept gaining on you. But to get a better sense of what the Meta file missed, you need to look at the records that finished in the top 40 P&J that didn't make the above list. The first number below is the P&J finish rank, and the last number is the raw count from the Meta file. I don't have a good way of merging these in with the above, but note that 12 just missed the above list by one.

10.	Kanye West: 808s & Heartbreak (Roc-A-Fella)	5
20.	Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs - Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006 (Columbia/Legacy)	10
24.	The Gaslight Anthem: The '59 Sound (Side One Dummy)	6
26.	Q-Tip: The Renaissance (Universal Motown)	10
29.	She & Him: Volume One (Merge)	12
30.	David Byrne/Brian Eno: Everything That Happens Will Happen Today (Todo Mundo)	11
31.	Torche: Meanderthal (Hydra Head)	3
32.	The Walkmen: You & Me (Gigantic)	12
36.	Alejandro Escovedo: Real Animal (Back Porch)	10
40.	TI: Paper Trail (Grand Hustle/Atlantic)	7

Kanye West broke real late, and was a record that initially disappointed most critics, many of whom then turned around and decided that it was pretty good after all. It's safe to say that there's no such record this year. Dylan was caught between the new/reissue division many lists impose, but he also always does better in P&J than elsewhere. Torche, Gaslight Anthem, and TI had significant jumps, but the others were within statistical range.

In any comparison like this, you'd expect that the correlation would be tighter at the top, and looser at the bottom as the samples get ever smaller, and that's pretty much what you get here. Other than the surprise gains by Badu and West I don't see much out of line. I don't see any comparable records this year, although I do expect the late-arriving Ghostface Killah to do a bit better than my Meta file suggests. Mary J Blige too, but she came in late even for the P&J deadline. Historically, P&J voters have tended to provide token support for a couple of select black albums each year, which gives the sort of pattern we see here -- Badu and West significantly up, Roots and Green down. Raekwon and Mos Def are the leaders this year (at 17 and 19), but I doubt that either has the crossover support to break top-10.

So I think this will go pretty much as expected. Which means, among other things, the surprises will be surprising.