|
An occasional blog about populist politics and popular music, not necessarily at the same time. LinksLocal Links Social Media My Other Websites Music Politics Others Networking Music DatabaseArtist Search: Website SearchGoogle: Recent Reading
Music DatabaseArtist Search: Website SearchGoogle: |
Tuesday, August 26, 2025 Music Week
Music: Current count 44745 [44701] rated (+44), 24 [30] unrated (-6). Calendar has today as the last Monday in August, so I should be wrapping up the monthly archive and starting a new one for September. But I'm finding it hard to move ahead, maybe because I feel like I've accomplished so little this summer. Made very modest progress on some of my projects, but too little to mention. Did come up with a healthy set of reviews this week, most of which surprised me. I did publish a third Notes on Everyday Life column on Saturday, Bernie Sanders Finds It's OK to Talk Like an Old Lefty. This was occasioned by reading his post-2020 campaign book. I'm thinking about follow it up this week with a "More Thoughts" piece, as I find myself with some:
The last point will have to be very schematic: I haven't really figured it out yet, and doubt I could explain it briefly if I had. One idea is to try to formulate each postulate as a end (telos) and a set of initial paths toward it. For example, if your end is a full right to quality health care, what are the practical steps that move you in that direction? Bernie's Medicare-for-All is a pretty big step, but one that's hard to sell whole (and does it still work if it's cut up into an ACA-style compromise?). I have some thoughts, but no time to go into them here. There's also a section on media, another subject worth looking into, but while Sanders has valid complaints, but they're not all that useful. There's little that can be done with policies -- not that a number of past policy decisions haven't made the situation worse. Given that there's no practical way to make media trustworthy, the only real alternative is to get viewers and readers to be more wary, and more critical. Neil Postman argued that the highest goal of education is to equip us with finely-tuned bullshit detectors. That the media fails so often in this regard cannot be chalked up to a shortage of bullshit to detect. One need hardly add that the point of Trump's assault on education is to dull critical senses, or to obliterate them altogether. Why not turn this around on them, pointing out not just what they're trying to get away with, but how them are doing it. It's not as if the public isn't already skeptical of the Fake News Lamestream Media. One thing I've found in life is that it's virtually impossible to restore shattered faiths (e.g., my own early and quite fervent belief in religion, patriotism, and free enterprise). You'd have a better chance of building on what they already find credible, which is that the whole system is rotten. Then show how Trump is part of that rot, and not a fix. His desire to turn American history into some sort of catechism isn't just dogmatic. It's some kind of lobotomy. One reason I'm having trouble facing September is that I had this schedule in my mind about the 20th Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll: we'd make some key website design decisions in August, then start qualifying voters in September, so when November came around the website and mailing lists would be ready, and the poll would deploy like clockwork. Thus far none of that's happened. I'll try to get some messages out in the next week or two, to get the ball rolling. I run an "admin" email list for people who would like to help out, or just act as a sounding board for my ruminations, so if you're interested in joining that, let me know. If you know of anyone who should be voting but isn't, let me know -- or better still, get them to contact me. I'll post more info when I have some. PS: I posted this a day late, basically because I ran out of energy Monday night, and still wanted to mention the jazz poll. Spent most of the day working on the garage wood pile. I didn't make a lot of progress, but I did make a little. Should be done this week (although rain could spoil tomorrow). I thought about pulling Monday's records forward here, but I figure I won't have much next week -- I'm finally optimistic about my home projects, which will cut down on my listening/writing time. Besides, plenty already below. (Although I might as well sneak in cover pics for two surprise A- records next week.) I still haven't done the monthly cutoff, but will probably treat the rest of the week as the first of September. New records reviewed this week: Eric Alexander & Vincent Herring: Split Decision (2025, Smoke Sessions): Tenor and alto sax, mainstream, both came up in the 1990s (late 1980s for Herring), third album styled as a joust (after 2005's The Battle and 2012's Friendly Fire), backed by Mike LeDonne (piano), John Webber (bass), and Lewis Nash (drums). B+(**) [sp] Barry Can't Swim: Loner (2025, Ninja Tune): Scottish electronica producer Joshua Mainnie, second album. B+(***) [sp] Alain Bédard Auguste Quartet: Particules Sonores (2024, Effendi): French Canadian bassist, side credits back to 1985, second Auguste Quartet album, with Mario Allard (saxes), Marie-Fatima Rudolf (piano), and Michel Lambert (drums). B+(**) [sp] Hayes Carll: We're Only Human (2025, Hwy 87): Country singer-songwriter, albums since 2002, most real good and some brilliant. More of the former here, some of the latter. A- [sp] Sharel Cassity: Gratitude (2023 [2025], Sunnyside): Alto saxophonist, half-dozen albums since 2008, star-studded rhythm section here -- Cyrus Chestnut (piano), Christian McBride (bass), Lewis Nash (drums) -- with guest trumpet (Terell Stafford) and/or trombone (Michael Dease) on a couple tracks. B+(***) [sp] Monique Chao Jazz Orchestra: Time Chamber (2023 [2024], Da Vinci Jazz): Pianist, born in Taipei, based in Milan, released a quartet album in 2021, a Subconscious Trio album in 2022, and now this big band album: sounds exceptional out of the gate, but runs on a bit past my interest. B+(**) [sp] Bootsy Collins: Album of the Year #1 Funkateer (2025, Bootzilla/Roc Nation): Prime-time bassist for James Brown and George Clinton, recorded classic funk albums in the 1970s with his Rubber Band, mixed results since then, finds the old magic for the title track, and hints at it further on. Of the later developments, most of the rap just doubles down on the funk, but it runs long and spreads a bit too far. B+(***) [sp] Adegoke Steve Colson & Iqua Colson With Andrew Cyrille/Mark Helias: Glow: Music for Trio . . . and Voice (2025, Silver Sphinx): Pianist, originally from New Jersey but associated with AACM, backed by bass and drums, with his wife on most songs -- she's accompanied him as far back as 1980's Colson Unity Troup. B+(***) [cd] Deafheaven: Lonely People With Power (2025, Roadrunner): Black metal band, sixth album since 2011, easily the highest-rated album I hadn't heard this year (20 on my metacritic list, next one down was Heartworms at 57; 83/19 at AOTY), by definition useless to me, but tolerable at low volume (I know, not the point), but they do seem to have something special -- manic frenzy that comes through anyway. I'm not sure I wouldn't like them even more at even lower volume, but might miss the quiet bits that definitely help. B+(*) [sp] DJ Koze: Music Can Hear Us (2025, Pampa): German electronica producer Stefan Kozalla, 7th studio album since 2000, lots more DJ mixes, singles, etc. B+(**) [sp] Wayne Escoffery: Alone (2024, Smoke Sessions): Tenor saxophonist, born in London, based in New York, albums since 2001, impressive chops and tone but albums have been erratic. Title suggests solo, but he's backed by Gerald Clayton (piano), Ron Carter (bass), and Carl Allen (drums), so must just be his mood. B+(**) [sp] Joe Farnsworth: The Big Room (2025, Smoke Sessions): Mainstream drummer, albums since 1998, Discogs counts 234 side-credits since 1992 (most often with Eric Alexander). Sextet with Jeremy Pelt (trumpet), Sarah Hanahan (alto sax). Joel Ross (vibes), Emmet Cohen (piano), and Yasushi Nakamura (bass), with all but the bassist bringing songs (one cover is "I Fall in Love Too Easily"). Flashy up front, but interest tails off. B+(*) [sp] Steven Feifke: The Role of the Rhythm Section Vol. II (2023 [2024], La Reserve): Pianist, has several blbums since 2015, including a previous volume in 2022. He also has a septet and a big band, but this is just a trio, with Dan Chmielinski (bass) and Bryan Carter(drums). Mostly standards, with a serious focus on the rhythm. B+(**) [sp] Béla Fleck/Edmar Castañeda/Antonio Sanchez: BEATrio (2025, Thirty Tigers): Banjo, harp, and drums trio. Fleck was born in New York, was inspired by Earl Scruggs to start in bluegrass, called his group the Flecktones, which recorded ten studio albums 1990-2011, but he has branched out in jazz and world music, here with the Colombian harpist and Mexican drummer (first initials BEA). B+(*) [sp] Garbage: Let All That We Imagine Be the Light (2025, Infectious Music/Stunvolume/BMG): Rock band from Wisconsin, eighth album since 1995, singer Shirley Manson, drummer Butch Vig already had a reputation as a producer (Nirvana). Starts nice enough, but sharpens up considerably. Eventually you get to: "They hate your women/ They rob your children and they love their guns/ They're all liars, they're all users." A- [sp] Jacob Garchik: Ye Olde 2: At the End of Time (2023 [2025], Yestereve): Trombonist, from San Francisco, based in New York, dozen or so albums since 2005, one called Ye Olde in 2015. Avant-fusion group then featured the multi-guitar attack of Brandon Seabrook, Mary Halvorson, and Jonathan Goldberger, with Vinnie Sperrazza on drums. This time Ava Mendoza replaces Seabrook, aside from two tracks with others (Miles Okazaki and Sean Moran on guitar, Josh Dion on drums). This got distributed early enough to show up on some mid-year ballots (I had my copy at the time; Discogs says this was "already being sold at concerts as early as July 11). Not much to my taste, but impressive enough I'm cutting it some slack B+(**) [cd] [08-29] Bruce Gertz Quintet: Octopus Dreams (2024 [2025], Open Mind Jazz): Bassist, composer here, hype sheet says he's led "over 20 albums," Discogs lists his credits as starting in 1979, with "featuring" spots under Jerry Bergonzi and Mick Goodrick. Quintet here with trumpet (Phil Grenadier), tenor sax (Rick DiMuzio), piano, and drums. B+(*) [cd] Roger Glenn: My Latin Heart (2025, Patois): Flute player, also vibes/marimba, alto sax, and vocals here, cover proclaims "a jazz legend revealed": the legend has one previous album, from 1976, plus 60+ side credits starting in 1970 with Mary Lou Williams, Mongo Santamaria, and Donald Byrd, later with Cal Tjader, and while he's slowed down since 2006, there are no real gaps. B+(**) [cd] S.G. Goodman: Planting by the Signs (2025, Slough Water/Thirty Tigers): Folk singer-songwriter, from Kentucky, third album since 2020. B+(**) [sp] Kelly Green: Corner of My Dreams (2024 [2025], La Reserve): Jazz singer-songwriter, plays piano, based in New York, several albums since 2017. Arrangements lean toward strings. B+(*) [cd] Andy Haas/Brian g Skol: The Honeybee Twist (2024 [2025], Resonant Music): Duo, sax with live effects and drums. The saxophonist has a long list of interesting albums, from Martha & the Muffins through Radio I-Ching to recent works. This seems marginal, an experiment in moving through space and time, but interesting nonetheless. B+(***) [cd] James Holden & Waclaw Zimpel: The Universe Will Take Care of You (2025, Border Community): Cover just offers surnames. Holden is a well-established (since 2006) electronica producer, with titles like The Idiots Are Winning and Imagine This Is a High Dimensional Space of All Possibilities. Zimpel is a Polish clarinetist, albums since 2008, that first with Chicago-based free jazzers (Dave Rempis, Tim Daisy), but also has a couple albums with Schackleton, so he's been down this road before. This starts off shimmering, goes beyond glitzy, and winds up somewhere in the stars. A- [sp] Aruán Ortiz: Créole Renaissance (2024 [2025], Intakt): Cuban pianist, in US since 2002, based in New York, dozen-plus albums since 2012, this is his second solo, the first with a title that played off "Cuban" and "Cubism" (Cub(an)ism). This one again references art (e.g., surrealism), especially as used by modernist intellectuals of the African diaspora -- the centerpiece here namechecks many such movements. B+(***) [cd] [08-29] Greentea Peng: Tell Dem It's Sunny (2025, AWAL): British neo-soul singer-songwriter Aria Wells, second studio album (first in 2021), closer to trip-hop here, but the singer is the focus, not just atmosphere. A- [sp] PlainsPeak: Someone to Someone (2024 [2025], Irabbagast): New quartet led by Jon Irabagon (alto sax), all his pieces, with Russ Johnson (trumpet), Clark Sommers (bass), and Dana Hall (drums), the group name a nod to Chicago, where the skyscrapers are supposed to tower higher than any of the surrounding plains -- which is probably true as far as one can see from there, but the plains I know go higher (if not steeper). Still, a good example of freewheeling two-horn quartets. A- [cd] Playboi Carti: [I Am] Music (2025, AWGE/Interscope): Atlanta rapper Jordan Terrell Carter, fourth album since 2017, most sources credit title as simply Music, but cover reads I Am Music (all caps, twice). For further confusion, the 30-track (76-minute) album cane out on 3/14, followed by similar 30-track V1, V2, and V3 releases through 3/20, and in April a 34-track variant called Sorry 4 Da Wait. (Discogs also lists "variants" 1-8.) B+(**) [sp] Mike Pope: The Parts You Keep (2022 [2025], Origin): Bassist, has previous albums from 2002, 2012, and 2021. This is an ambitious work, with originals studded with Parker and Coltrane pieces, "That Old Feeling," and ending with a bit of classical music featuring his 85-year-old pianist mother. Otherwise, the pianist is Geoffrey Keezer, with Nat Smith on drums, and spots for trumpet (Randy Brecker), sax (Roxy Coss), guitar (Amaury Cabral), and strings (two tracks). B+(**) [cd] PUP: Who Will Look After the Dogs? (2025, Rise): Canadian post-punk album, acronym stands for Pathetic Use of Potential, fifth album since 2013. B+(*) [sp] Julius Rodriguez: Evergreen (2024, Verve): Originally a drummer, leaves that part to others here while he plays keyboards (including piano and organ), guitar, and electric bass, and does some programming. Gets occasional help on horns and elsewhere, including a Georgia Anne Muldrow vocal. B+(***) [sp] Marc Seales With Ernie Watts: People & Places (2022-23 [2025], Origin): Pianist, side-credits from the 1980s but not much as leader until he landed on this label, first with Don Lanphere in 1996, on his own since 2004. Good to hear so much tenor sax. B+(***) [cd] Kae Tempest: Self Titled (2025, Island): English poet/rapper, has published poetry collections since 2012, four plays, a novel, and studio album since 2014 (or 2011?). Music is very strong here, and so are the words. A- [sp] Emma-Jean Thackray: Weirdo (2025, Brownswood/Parlophone): English singer-songwriter, started in jazz playing trumpet, second album, vocals are up front, synthesizers are her main instrument, and she's played everything else, aside from two guest spots. B [sp] These New Puritans: Crooked Wing (2025, Domino): English band, fifth studio album since 2008. Caroline Polachek guests. B+(*) [sp] Ben Thomas Tango Project: The Hat With the Grin and the Chuckle (2025, Origin): Vibraphone/bandoneon player, second group album (I missed the title when I originally logged this). Band includes two violins, clarinet, piano, and bass, with Thomas also credited for percussion. B+(**) [cd] Water From Your Eyes: It's a Beautiful Place (2025, Matador): Chicago band, principally Rachel Brown (vocals) and Nate Amos (guitar/production), started with self-released albums in 2017, breakthrough was 2023's Everyone's Crushed. I was slow on that one, and I'm slow on this one, but it's distinctive and interesting enough that I keep coming back to it, even though I'm not sure what it's delivering. A- [sp] Carlos "Zingaro"/João Madeira: Arcada Pendular (2023 [2025], 4DaRecord): Portuguese violin and bass duo, the former with many albums since 1988, many more side credits since 1969, but still no explanation for the quote marks (last name evidently Alves; use sometimes suggests a nickname, but quotes are as often omitted). I'm beginning to feel compromised here, as I would normally never give a violin-bass duo stream more than a cursory single pass, with some flavor of B+ depending on how it hit me, but Madeira keeps sending me CDs, and after 4-5 plays I start to love them. (Needless to say, there's no guarantee that I'll give your CD commensurate attention. But it happens on occasion, and with Madeira it's happened a lot.) A- [cd] Zurhub [Mattan Klein/Ezequiel Hezi Joit]: Countryside Motorways (2024 [2025], Origin): Flute and guitar, backed by keyboards (Itay Simhovich), bass (Assaf Hakimi), and Dani Benedikt (drums). B [cd] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru: Church of Kidane Mehret (1963-72 [2025], Mississippi): Ethiopian pianist (1923-2023), also plays organ and harmonium here, also happened to be an Ethiopian Orthodox nun, a selection of her 1963-96 solo recordings was a highlight of the Éthiopiques series. This is a 1972 album with two earlier cuts added. She's done some remarkable work, but too much organ here. B [bc] Kinloch Nelson: Waiting: More Recordings, 1968-1976 (1968-76 [2025], Tompkins Square): Guitarist, in the American primitive vein, from Rochester, studied classical and jazz guitar (the latter with Gene Bertoncini, the former Stanley Watson), has been playing since 1967 ("performing since 1969"). This follows a 2019 Tompkins Square compilation, Partly On Time: Recordings 1968-1970, with several other self-released albums. B+(**) [sp] Alick Nkhata: Radio Lusaka ([2025], Mississippi): Singer-songwriter from Zambia (1922-78), formed a quartet in the 1940s, which later became the Lusaka Radio Band, and later still the Big Gold Six, having some hits in the 1950s, and possibly after independence in 1964 (he had worked as a field recording engineer during WWII, and with the Central African Broadcasting Service until 1974). I don't see any dates, but Discogs lists his singles (where dated) between 1950-59. This sounds naively crude at first, but picks up midway (perhaps with a bit of calypso?). B+(***) [bc] Old music: The Colson Unity Troupe: No Reservation (1980, Black Saint): AACM pianist Adegoke Steve Colson and vocalist Iqua Colson, still together with a new 2025 album, released two albums under this name, this one with Wallace LaRoy McMilan (a saxophonist from St. Louis who also worked with Muhal Richard Abrams, Roscoe Mitchell, Henry Threadgill, and Wadada Leo Smith 1975-82, but not much since), Reggie Willis (bass), and Dushun Mosley (percussion). The music is quite adventurous here, but the changes sorely try the vocalist, who winds up sounding operatic. B+(**) [sp] Roger Glenn: Reachin' (1976, Fantasy): Flute player, also vibes, started in Latin jazz with Mongo Santamaria and in fusion with Donald Byrd, combines them on his first own album (and only album until 2025). Electric keyboards by Mark Soskin and Larry Mizell, electric bass (Paul Jackson) and guitar (Ray Obiedo), lots of percussion (bata, congas, shekere). Good funk as long as they keep it up. B+(*) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
|
