Monday, September 2, 2024

Music Week

September archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 42905 [42869] rated (+36), 30 [34] unrated (-4).

Yesterday's Speaking of Which slacked off a bit, only citing 141 links, less than half of the previous week's 290 (although the word count only dropped by 28%, as I got off on more tangents; also last week included an extra day plus extra adds, whereas this one appeared on schedule, and I haven't tallied up what little I've added since).

Music Week is also coming in a day short. Rating count got a boost as my dive into Houston Person's old records carried over from last week, and led me to a new one. Also the A-list bounced back after only one record each in three of the last four weeks (but 7 for the week of August 20. Three of those came from promos I had been sitting on until their late August release dates. (An extra day would have added Patricia Brennan's Breaking Stretch, but that's banked for next week.)

I'm still updating the 2024 Jazz list, which has already reached a ridiculous A-list length (70+3 new music, 16+1 old music). I haven't sorted out the Non-Jazz yet, but at this point it's unlikely that I have half as many albums in any subdivision. Four pop records I tried I played multiple times before leaving them in the B+ ranks: Sabrina Carpenter, Lainey Wilson, Buoys, Magdalena Bay. The latter's Mercurial World was one of my favorite records of 2021, but only hints at that level toward the end. Same fate seems likely for Beebadoobee's This Is How Tomorrow Moves next week, but there's a lot to like there.

I started to write up a "to do" list in my Aug. 30 notebook entry, and hope to get back to it soon. I did cross a couple items off today already: I updated and did the indexing for August Streamnotes. I was surprised to find I have more patience for that kind of work early in the day.

Joan Didion's Where I was From is the first (of three) books I picked up in the brick-and-mortar bookstore last week. I've never read her fiction, but have read two books of political reporting: Political Fictions (2002), and Fixed Ideas: America Since 9.11 (2003), by which time she was a recovering Republican. Less of a memoir than I expected, but interesting as history, even as drawn from novels. I have more typical political books "on the nightstand" (Zack Beauchamp, Danielle Allen, Henry Farrell/Abraham Newman), but figured I could use a break.

New records reviewed this week:

The Buoys: Lustre (2024, Sony): Australian indie rock band, Zoe Catterall the lead singer and only constant member since 2016. This seems to be their first album, following several EPs (as far back as 2017). On first play, they're about as good as a dozen similar bands going back at least to the Go-Gos in the early 1980s. B+(***) [sp]

Bex Burch: There Is Only Love and Fear (2023, International Anthem): Percussionist, from London, but ranges far and wide (Ghana and Berlin are mentioned), makes her own instruments, calls this first album "messy minimalism." It's messy, but that's where the charm emerges. A- [sp]

Gunhild Carling: Jazz Is My Lifestyle! (2024, Jazz Art): Jazz singer-songwriter from Sweden, started in her cornetist father's trad-oriented big band, also plays trombone, likes it bold and brassy. Group credit could be expanded "Big Band with Strings" (Prague Strings Chamber Orchestra). B+(***) [cd]

Sabrina Carpenter: Short n' Sweet (2024, Island): This month's pop sensation, started posting YouTube videos when she was 10, became a Disney teen actor, first album at 16, fourth at 25. Slick, or sleek, took me a while, and I'm still not there, not that I quarrel with "refreshingly light" or "cheeky, clever, and effortlessly executed." B+(***) [sp]

Bill Charlap Trio: And Then Again (2024, Blue Note): Mainstream pianist, albums started on Criss Cross in 1995, moved to Blue Note in 2000. Trio with Peter Washington (bass) and Kenny Washington (drums) formed in 1997, their boast as "one of the great working jazz groups of our day" well earned. Eight standards, with Barron, Monk, and Brubeck from the jazz side, the show tunes even more impeccable. B+(***) [sp]

Doechii: Alligator Bites Never Heal (2024, Top Dawg/Capitol): Rapper Jaylah Hickman, third mixtape, has a couple EPs. B+(**) [sp]

Girl in Red: I'm Doing It Again Baby! (2024, Columbia): Norwegian indie pop singer-songwriter Marie Ulven Ringheim, second album after a couple EPs, short at 27:51 (10 songs). B+(**) [sp]

The Haas Company [Featuring Frank Gambale]: Vol. 2: Celestial Latitude (2024, Psychiatric): Drummer Steve Haas, credits keyboardist Pete Drungle as the fusion group's musical director, with Gambale the featured guest guitarist (replacing Andy Timmons from Vol. 1, an improvement). B+(**) [cd]

Javon Jackson/Nikki Giovanni: Javon & Nikki Go to the Movies (2024, Solid Jackson/Palmetto): Tenor saxophonist, started with Art Blakey 1987-90, led his first album on Criss Cross in 1991, moved to Blue Note 1994-99, then to Palmetto through 2008. He's been much less prominent since then, mostly on his own label, but got some notice in 2022 for his album with the famed poet (22 years his senior). They return here with a mixed concept album. She's featured on three tracks, spread out to make room for the movie-themed standards sung superbly by Nicole Zuraitis, lavishly burnished with Jackson's saxophone. A- [cd]

Magdalena Bay: Imaginal Disk (2024, Mom + Pop): Synthpop duo, Mica Tenenbaum (vocals) and Matthew Lewin (arrangements), with lots of strings and brass. I thought their first album was terrific, but this one is less immediately appealing. B+(**) [sp]

Mavi: Shadowbox (2024, Mavi 4 Mayor Music): Rapper Omavi Ammu Minder, grew up in Charlotte, NC; third album since 2019. B+(**) [sp]

Nicole Mitchell and Ballaké Sissoko: Bamako Chicago Sound System (2017 [2024], FPE): The AACM flautist hosts the Malian kora player and his cohort, most notably Fassery Diabaté (balafon) and Fatim Kouyaté (vocals), for a session that's much more theirs than hers, even with backing from additional jazz musicians Jeff Parker (guitar), Joshua Abrams (bass), and JoVia Armstrong (percussion). This is pretty delightful. A- [sp]

Houston Person/Peter Beets: Live in Holland: Houston Person Meets Peter Beets Trio (2024, Maxanter): I get nervous when I see a live album without the recording date, especially when the star up around 89. His first notes here sound as strong as ever, but that was also true of his eature turn in Emmet Cohen's Master Legacy Series Volume 5, which I have reliably dated to 2023. Beets is a Dutch pianist I should probably learn more about: he has several albums on Criss Cross (Chopin Meets the Blues is one on a recurring theme), other albums back to 1997, ranging from Concertgebouw to an ICP quartet with Han Bennink, with an Oscar Peterson tribute along the way. Beets is in Peterson mode here. Norman Granz would love this. A- [sp]

Catherine Russell/Sean Mason: My Ideal (2023 [2024], Dot Time): Standards singer, eighth album since 2006, had a famous father but their lives only overlapped seven years, with a great distance between his early peak in the late 1920s and her late emergence (first album at 50). Backed with just piano here, a young pianist steeped in blues and stride, which makes her sound rather like Bessie Smith. (I'm assuming that the August 2003 recording date is a typo.) A- [cd]

Taliba Safiya: Black Magic (2024, self-released, EP): Singer-songwriter from Memphis, some rhythm, more blues, first release, seven songs, 19:17. B+(*) [sp]

Sault: Acts of Faith (2024, Forever Living Originals): British r&b group, members mysterious, eleventh album since 2019, one track of 32:09. Their best stuff reminds me of Chic. The rest reminds me they're not as good as Chic. B+(*) [yt]

Philip Weberndoerfer: Tides (2023 [2024], Shifting Paradigm): Guitarist from Germany, 26, based in New York, seems to be his first album, seven originals plus two covers, backed by bass and drums, with saxophonist Dayna Stephens joining on five tracks. Billed as "a sonic portrayal of the human condition," I found it reassuringly pleasant. B+(**) [cd]

Lainey Wilson: Whirlwind (2024, BBR): Country singer-songwriter, fifth album since 2014, sounds great at first, upbeat, one could even say rocks out. B+(***) [sp]

Miguel Zenón: Golden City (2023 [2024], Miel Music): Alto saxophonist, from Puerto Rico, has explored his roots music extensively, but is mostly a postbop guy, with an Ornette Coleman tribute on his résumé. Some Latin tinge here (but not much, or at least not the main point), in an expansive set of pieces commissioned by the Hewlett Foundation and SFJAZZ, themed for San Francisco, performed by an all-star nonet that hits all the bases. A- [cd]

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

None.

Old music:

Ashtyn Barbaree: Debut EP (2018, self-released, EP): Country/Americana Singer-songwriter from Fayetteville, plays ukulele and guitar, voice somewhat quirky, backed with guitar, piano, bass, and drums, for six songs, 19:31. Followed up with a 2022 album, and has a new one coming out late October. B+(*) [bc]

Ashtyn Barbaree: Better Luck Next Time (2022, self-released): First album (9 songs, 29:10), after an EP (2018) and a couple of singles. Nice enough, but little stands out. B+(*) [bc]

Houston Person: Broken Windows, Empty Hallways (1972 [2004], Prestige): The tenor saxophonist's tenth album on Prestige, a fairly large group arranged and conducted by Billy Ver Planck, with Cedar Walton on piano and Ernie Hayes on organ. Reissue adds a second album from the same sessions, originally released as Sweet Buns & Barbeque. Both feature recent rock tunes, the first starts with Randy Newman and moves on to "Mr. Bojangles" and "Imagine" before slipping in a Monk and an original; the second kicks off with a swell "A Song for You" and winds up funky. B+(***) [sp]

Houston Person: A Little Houston on the Side (1977-94 [1999], 32 Jazz): Compiled from the tenor saxophonist's Muse albums, not so much his as the occasions where he appeared on others' albums. Discogs has artist credits, and undated source albums (some from other 32 Jazz comps with their own lapses), so so this could really use better documentation. Two Etta Jones vocals, one from Charles Brown. He is solid as ever. B+(**) [sp]

Houston Person: My Romance (1998, HighNote): Same quartet, but slower, as Person's evolving into one of the great ballad saxophonists. B+(**) [sp]

Houston Person: Soft Lights (1999, HighNote): Grady Tate takes over on drums, and guitarist Russell Malone joins in -- adding another dimension, where more saxophone might have been better. B+(**) [sp]

Houston Person: In a Sentimental Mood (2000, HighNote): Quartet with Stan Hope (piano), George Kaye (bass), and Chip White (drums), playing well-worn standards. B+(***) [sp]

Houston Person: Blue Velvet (2001, HighNote): Quartet with Richard Wyands (piano), Ray Drummond (bass), and Grady Tate (drums), for another luscious batch of standards. B+(***) [sp]

Houston Person With Ron Carter: Dialogues (2000 [2002], HighNote): Tenor sax and bass duo, a third album after two on Muse: Something in Common (1990), and Now's the Time (1993). B+(**) [sp]

Houston Person: Sentimental Journey (2002, HighNote): Another very nice set of standards, a little more upbeat, backed by Richard Wyands (piano), Peter Washington (bass), and Grady Tate (drums), with guitarist Russell Malone in on four (of nine) tracks. B+(***) [sp]

Houston Person: Social Call (2003, HighNote): Another batch of standards, mostly drawing on jazz composers -- leads off with title piece by Gigi Gryce, followed by Tadd Dameron, Horace Silver, and Benny Carter, with Cedar Walton and "Daydream" coming later. Quintet with Stan Hope (piano), Paul Bollenbeck (guitgar), Per-Ola Gadd (bass), and Chip White (drums). He's been so consistently superb, and so casual about it, that it's picking any album as a breakthrough is arbitrary. But no ballad master has ever offered a better "Bewitched," and that's just one example. Bollenback is an especially nice fit. By the way, Person's next album, To Etta With Love, is even better. A- [sp]

Houston Person: The Melody Lingers On (2014, HighNote): I heard nearly all of his albums from 2004's To Etta With Love on in real time, but this one slipped by. Quintet with Lafayette Harris (piano), Steve Nelson (vibes), Ray Drummond (bass), and Lewis Nash (drums). B+(***) [sp]

Houston Person: Something Personal (2015, HighNote): Another easy one, with Nelson (vibes) again, John Di Martino (piano), James Chirillo (guitar 4/10 tracks), Drummond and Nash, the title song the only original. B+(**) [sp]

Houston Person: Rain or Shine (2017, HighNote): Past 80, his duo album with Ron Carter, Chemistry, was one of my top albums in 2016. Here he augments his quartet -- Lafayette Harris (piano), Matthew Parish (bass), Vincent Ector (drums) -- with guitar (Rodney Jones on 8/9 cuts) and cornet (Warren Vache on 5). B+(***) [sp]

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • Ashtyn Barbaree: Sent Through the Ceiling (Artists 3 60) [10-25]
  • Anne Sajdera: It's Here (Bijuri) [09-20]

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