|
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: |
Music Week [250 - 259]Monday, April 26, 2021 Music Week
Music: Current count 35287 [35256] rated (+31), 220 [214] unrated (+6). Rough week. I was shocked and saddened to see an obituary for my cousin Don Hull. His father, Bob (Robert Lincoln Hull Jr.), was two years younger than my father, but got married a year before, and Don was 13 months older than me. Dad often said that his job growing up was to keep Bob out of trouble. Bob was the free spirit of the family, and probably figured his job was to add some spice to Dad's life. Bob got drafted and sent to Italy, where a bullet ended his war. He was part disabled, and could only work sit-down jobs. He found one driving a bus, and did that until he retired. I remember them living in a house my grandparents bought in 1942, but in the late-1950s he bought a new house in a development a couple miles southwest of us, other side of the river. We went there often, and Don (their only child) was by far my closest Hull cousin. One time, I ran away from home and spent a week or two there. We saw a lot of the Hull family until 1965, when my grandfather died. Shortly after, Uncle George died, and Bob and Lucille got divorced. I saw a lot of Bob and his second wife, Nellie, after that, but lost track of Don. I ran into him again after I moved back to Wichita in 1999. He married, had four grown children, and a few grandchildren. He lived in El Dorado, but had a job in East Wichita, as manager of the body shop at Rusty Eck Ford. I felt instantly at ease with him, like we had a deeper connection than I recalled -- most likely, part of that was how much he reminded me of his father. (Bob and Nellie retired and moved into a trailer outside of Las Vegas. I visited them five or six times there, and they were our witnesses when Laura and I got married.) We socialized some. He fixed up some dents, and helped us buy a car. We had Don and his wife Karen, his mother Lucille, and her second husband, Glen, over for a particularly memorable dinner. Bob and Nellie had died the year before, and Lucille and Glen died a year or two later. Lately, I've mostly seen him at funerals -- most recently at Uncle James's. Always comforting to know that he was there. I wasn't aware that he was ill. Day before seeing the obituary, I thought about calling him, hoping to compare notes on early family memories -- another opportunity I've blown. I went to the funeral on Saturday. I estimated there were about 100 people at the funeral, and close to 40 at the cemetery. Don was one of those guys who got along with everyone. Still, it was a different slice of Wichita than I'm used to. Most obviously, I doubt as many as 10 people wore masks. The minister was a close personal friend of the family, so the event had a personal familiarity that many funerals lack. Only person I knew there was Karen, but I got a chance to meet their grown children, some spouses, and some or all of the grandchildren. We talked about keeping in touch, but I don't know whether we'll see more of them. Three live in Wichita (the other in Arizona), and the youngest son is living in Bob & Lucille's old house on Euclid. Perhaps if they want to know more of the family. I'm working on a memoir, which includes some memories and stories of the Hull family. My grandfather looked into this long ago. His grandfather, Abraham Hull, had homesteaded in western Kansas in 1868, near where my father and his siblings were born 1919-31. His grandfather was named Thomas Hull -- the only namesake I can find, although my father never mentioned him. Evidently, he joined the Irish Rebellion of 1798, and fled to Pennsylvania to avoid getting hung by the British. Maybe I was fated to be a troublemaker? While in this rut, here is an obituary for our friend Rubena Bradley. She died, at 91, a few weeks ago, but her family has been moving slowly toward some sort of funeral/remembrance (in May, I think). She was a remarkable woman, and we were fortunate to know her. An interesting piece, not least for the curious omission of information on Mr. Bradley. Didn't listen to much new music this week, allowing the pending queue to expand to 17 albums. Part of my lack of urgency is that more than half (11/17) of those aren't scheduled for release until May. Meanwhile, I've been combing through my list of records that Robert Christgau graded A- but I hadn't heard. This week's slice runs from E-H, although I skipped a few, some because I couldn't find them, some because I didn't fancy them at the moment). The list I'm working off has 2550 lines (326 A- grades, 31 A, 4 A+ -- the latter are comedy albums, something I've never got in the habit of listening to, even though I have the Richard Pryor box on the shelf), and it's certainly not complete, so will take a fair while to process. I'll probably tire at some point, but at the moment it's easier and more fun than trying to figure out what's new and worth the trouble. Saw a comment on Facebook last week claiming that Jorge Ben's 1970s albums constituted one of the most impressive runs of any recording artist anywhere. I had a couple of his LPs back in the 1970s, but don't recall being very impressed, and they're currently ungraded in my database. The only one Christgau reviewed was Gil E Jorge (1975), which he had at A- and I have at B. It's the sort of record I should revisit (as I did this week to previous B grades for Etoile De Dakar and Woody Guthrie). Thought I had froze this Sunday night, but as I was writing the intro above, played a few more records, and figured they'd be better here than held back until next week. (Especially the early Hamell on Trial records, which I couldn't find when I initially looked for them -- also had that problem with Rant & Roll.) One thing I didn't get to was doing the indexing for the April, 2021 Streamnotes compendium. I'll wrap that up later this week. We didn't watch any of the Oscars last night. Thanks to streaming, we wound up seeing more nominated movies this year (6 of 8 nominated for best picture, missing The Father and giving up on Sound of Metal), but nothing especially great there. I would normally be delighted to see human-scaled small films come to the forefront, but that's because they're usually much better. Finished reading Russell Cobb's The Great Oklahoma Swindle: Race, Religion, and Lies in America's Weirdest State. I learned a few things there, but I would have preferred a better organized history, as opposed to the loosely stitched mosaic of standalone articles. New records reviewed this week: Focusyear Band 2021: Bosque (2021, Neuklang): "International ensemble from Basel presents a multi-faceted album," the most prominent facet vocalist Tatjana Nova, although I prefer it when the horns do the talking. A student ensemble, this year produced by Wolfgang Muthspiel. B+(*) [cd] [04-29] Binker Golding/John Edwards/Steve Noble: Moon Day (2020 [2021], Byrd Out): British tenor/soprano saxophonist, best known for his duo Binker & Moses, appears here with a veteran free jazz bass-drums combo. Long (73:18), strong work. B+(***) Nortonk: Nortonk (2020 [2021], Biophilia): New York freebop quartet, none over 26: Thomas Killackey (trumpet), Gideon Forbes (alto sax), Stephen Pale (bass), Steven Cramer (drums). Short (32:39), but retains your interest. B+(**) [cdr] Irčne Schweizer/Hamid Drake: Celebration (2019 [2021], Intakt): Swiss pianist, will turn 80 this year, ranks as one of the all-time greats, her specialty duos with drummers. This is something less than her duos with Han Bennink or Pierre Favre, but is still very impressive. A- Todd Snider: First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder (2021, Aimless): I never read those "most anticipated albums" pieces, but if I had to write one, this would lead. Given that, this feels a bit slight, but I can't complain about the tributes to dead homies -- he's always been a "reality-based" bard, and that's to be expected after 2020. I will complain a bit about the "agnostic" shtick: if you can't believe, why not let it go? I reckon his answer is "hope and wonder," but why presuppose a cause beyond oneself? Main innovation here is in the rhythm, where he breaks from folk tradition, probably for good. A- Old music: Earth, Wind & Fire: Open Our Eyes (1974, Columbia): Soul group, founded by Maurice White in Chicago in 1969, fifth album, first four panned by Christgau before he called this one "a fucking tour de force." I wouldn't go that far, but it's their best seller to date, an agreeable funk album with sophisticated vocals. B+(***) The English Beat: I Just Can't Stop It (1980, IRS): Ska revival group from Birmingham, known as the Beat in the UK, but disambiguation was needed for the US market. First album, of three before their 1983 break up. Since 2016, both singers (Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger) have recorded with their own Beat groups. I still prefer the later albums, but this is nearly there. A- Etoile 2000: Dakar Sound Volume 1 (1980-81 [1993], Dakar Sound): Etoile De Dakar spinoff, as the band, especially founding singer-songwriter El Hadji Faye, revolt against the Youssou N'Dour's takeover. They recorded three cassettes, and this picks out six songs, most pointedly one called "Boubou N'Gary." Rougher, nothing to hold against them. [Christgau reviewed this as Etoile 2000; 4/6 tracks] B+(***) [yt] Etoile De Dakar: Volume 3: Lay Suma Lay (1981 [1996], Sterns): Senegalese band, formed in 1978 and broke up in 1981, best known for young singer Youssou N'Dour but exceptional all around. This series of compilations ran to four volumes 1993-98, then a fifth later (2009?), but the 2-CD Once Upon a Time in Senegal: The Birth of Mbalax 1979-1981 is probably the one you want -- or you could scrimp with the 1-CD The Rough Guide to Youssou N'Dour and Etoile De Dakar, which only goes to 1982. Still, there's very little here that falls below their highlights. A- Etoile De Dakar: Volume 5: Maléo (1981 [2009], Sterns): Seems to be an afterthought, appearing a decade after Volume 4, but matches an undated cassette, itself titled Maléo: Vol. 5. Two (of six) songs appear at the end of Once Upon a Time in Senegal. El Hadji Faye's "Nataludie" is the most exciting thing here, but everything else comes close. B+(***) Eurythmics: Greatest Hits (1982-90 [1991], Arista): Electropop duo, Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart, released six albums during this period (one earlier, one more in 1999 after breaking up, with Lennox going on to a steady solo career, and Stewart focusing on soundtrack shlock). Seems like there should be enough high spots for a compilation, but the one song I love, "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)," is the outlier -- the later singles are just straighter and harder, although I rather like "Missionary Man" (maybe because I agree with the message). [NB: I pieced together the 18-cut "international version" CD; the "vinyl version" drops back to 14 tracks, as does the US CD, with 4 songs in alternate versions.] B+(**) Mose Se 'Fan Fan': Belle Epoque (1970-82 [1994], RetroAfric): Congolese guitarist Mose Se Sengo (1945-2019), started with Franco's TPOK Jazz, led the band Somo Somo. A soukous pioneer, back cover describes this relatively leisurely music as "Lingala rumba." B+(***) Mose Fan Fan/Somo Somo/Ngobila: Hello Hello (1995, Sterns): Slashes separate typographic shifts, which presumably mean something, but for me mostly raise questions. Somo Somo is Fan Fan's long-running band, but Ngobila? Six slices of fairly classic soukous. A- Fellow Travellers: Things and Time (1993, OKra): "World's only country/dub band," recorded three albums 1990-93, this the third, with Jeb Loy Nichols country (originally from Wyoming but based in Wales), Martin Harrison dub, and Nichols' wife Loraine Morley vocal help. B+(***) Fine Young Cannibals: Fine Young Cannibals (1985, IRS): British ska group, formed after the English Beat broke up by Andy Cox (guitar) and David Steele (bass), with singer Roland Gift -- also an actor, most memorably in Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (1987). B+(**) Fine Young Cannibals: The Finest: The Rare and the Remixed (1985-89 [1996], MCA): Group produced a superior second album, The Raw and the Cooked, then hung it up, This picks 5 songs each, a single from a soundtrack, and three previously unreleased tracks. Not sure this improves on the second album, but it suffices. A- A Flock of Seagulls: A Flock of Seagulls (1982, Jive): New wave pop band, first of four albums through 1985, allegedly silly, catchy enough. No reason to favor this over their 1987 The Best of a Flock of Seagulls. B+(**) Tennessee Ernie Ford: Sixteen Tons (1949-56 [1995], Capitol): Artwork looks like this could be the original LP his big hit was on, but there was no such thing. I loved the single as a child, several decades before I heard Merle Travis's original, so Ford's version is the one indelibly etched in my mind. He parlayed his hit into a TV career, wasting his exceptional voice on hymns. From 1949 to his death in 1991, he recorded tons of records, but smart compilers look for filler among his early singles, especially ones with "boogie" in the title. This has 4 (of 12), plus one I hadn't heard before, "Milk 'Em in the Mornin' Blues." B+(**) Gilberto Gil: Louvaçao (1967, Phillips): Brazilian star, Discogs credits him with 72 albums since 1967. This was his debut. Hard to tell, but hints of where he was going next, along with some strings and ballads that depend on words I can't follow. B+(**) Gilberto Gil: Gilberto Gil [Frevo Rasgado] (1968 [1998], Universal): Second album, differentiated from other eponymous albums by its first song title, widely regarded as one of his best, although I've only heard a couple, and have no sense of his career arc. First thing I'm struck by here is how radical a break he makes from the MPB norms of samba and bossa nova. Backed by Os Mutantes, famous in their own right. The shock of the weird wears off to reveal uncanny melodies and flights of fancy. CD extends the surprise with 4 bonus tracks. A- Gilberto Gil: Gilberto Gil [Cérebro Eletrônico] (1969, Phillips): Third album. Lead song dominated by organ, but later tracks are guitar-driven. B+(***) [yt] Gilberto Gil: Expresso 2222 (1972 [1993], Philips): Arrested by the military junta in 1969, freed on condition that he leave Brazil. He cut this on returning to Bahia, which seems to be the funky corner of Brazil. B+(**) Grandaddy: Just Like the Fambly Cat (2006, V2): Alt/indie band from Modesto, California, principally Jason Lytle, recorded four albums 1997-2006, a fifth in 2017. B+(***) Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five: The Message (1982, Deep Beats): First album by one of the first rap groups. The singles go back a couple years, and I recommend Rhino's 1994 Message From Beat Street for the extra range, backed up with Adventures of Grandmaster Flash: More of the Best. Still, only three songs here made the best-of, and "She's Fresh" is as good as any of them. Most editions of this add "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel," a mash-up I probably hated at the time but like just fine now. I was pretty slow on the uptake here. A- Woody Guthrie: Hard Travelin': The Asch Recordings, Vol. 3 (1944-49 [1998], Smithsonian/Folkways): Folk singer, from Oklahoma, recorded some 300 songs for Moses Asch in New York, a fair sampling organized into four CDs. This one is long on union songs: not only does he see unions as the foundation of freedom, he reminds us that Hitler's against them. A- Hamell on Trial: Big as Life (1995, Mercury): First record appeared in 1989, but this is the earliest I've found, first (or two) on a label anyone has heard of. B+(*) [bc] Hamell on Trial: The Chord Is Mightier Than the Sword (1997, Mercury): Second Mercury record. Seems to be on his best behavior, although he cranks it up a bit toward the end. B+(**) [bc] Hamell on Trial: Choochtown (1999, Such-a-Punch): Ed Hamell, debut album 1989, fifteen since. This is number five, the first Christgau reviewed (after two HMs). His "one-man punk band" shtick strikes me as still rooted in folk, just louder, his stories darker, more nuanced, and more literate. [2019 reissue on New West adds nine alternate takes, reiterating the album's best songs.] B+(***) Hamell on Trial: Ed's Not Dead -- Hamell Comes Alive (2000, Such-a-Punch): Selected from a tour where Hamell was opening for Ani DiFranco, then self-released after an auto accident laid him up for nine months. Hamell's live strategy is simple: play faster and harder. B+(***) Hamell on Trial: Tough Love (2003, Righteous Babe): First of three records for Ani DiFranco's Righteous Babe label. More resources, but doesn't quite know what to do with them. B+(**) [bc] Hamell on Trial: Yap (2003, Such-a-Punch): I was looking for Rant & Roll, to no avail, but this popped up as Dec. 2020, so I figured I should check it out. Turns out it's old: spoken word, hardly any music, done on the side while he was working on Tough Love for Righteous Babe. Stories, like the memoir of Rupert Smiley ("ideas man"), a cop who sells Amway, a bit of "Star-Spangled Banner" for "the great and true patriots," a eulogy for a friend named Glover. B+(**) Hamell on Trial: Rant & Roll [Live From Edinburgh: The Terrorism of Everyday Life (2007 [2008], Righteous Babe): Cover reads Rant & Roll, but Bandcamp lists it as The Terrorism of Everyday Life. Discogs shows this with a different cover, where Live From Edinburgh gets the larger type. As Christgau noted, this is "basically a comedy album," where about half is stand up, sometimes with guitar riffs, leading into songs, mostly from previous albums. Possible you won't return to this often, but that's not because his rants need only be heard once. More because they demand attention, but his music also refuses to fade into the background. A- [bc] Grade (or other) changes: Etoile De Dakar: Volume 2: Thiapathioly (1980 [1994], Sterns): Not sure what turned me off this when I filed my CD -- perhaps the polyrythmic perversity, which is the band's calling card. At times it can interfere with the groove, making this a bit rougher than the other volumes, but the effect is pretty amazing when it works. Covers notes "featuring Youssou N'Dour & El Hadji Faye," as did Volume 3. Volume 4 and 5 add Mar Seck, but Volume 1 only features N'Dour. [was: B] B+(***) Woody Guthrie: Muleskinner Blues: The Asch Recordings, Vol. 2 (1944 [1997], Smithsonian/Folkways): With the canonical classics pooled in Vol. 1, and the political fare saved until Vol. 3, this is the folkiest set of the Moe Asch recordings. Makes it less interesting, since performance was never his forte. [was: B] B+(***) Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, April 19, 2021 Music Week
Music: Current count 35256 [35216] rated (+40), 214 [211] unrated (+3). Thought I'd sample some records from Chuck Eddy's 150 Best Albums of 1992/'93, but I didn't get very far. He does have two of my A records in his top ten (David Murray: Shakill's Warrior, and Justin Warfield: My Trip to Planet 9), and another dozen-plus albums I like further down the list, but nothing I played came close to A-. I gave up three cuts into Caifanes' rock en espańol El Silencio, not feeling like even trying to write something on it. But also my mind moved on to another idea: why not try to stream Christgau A-list albums that I had missed? One of those was on Eddy's list: Uz Jsme Doma's Hollywood. I vaguely remembered assembling a crib sheet like that. When I had trouble finding it, I constructed another one (although my method wasn't flawless). Looking for A/A+ records mostly gave me comps I had different versions of. For instance, Christgau reviewed three different but overlapping compilations of Lee Dorsey's 1960s singles, all graded A. I had the 1985 Holy Cow! The Best of Lee Dorsey on LP, and the 1997 Wheelin' and Dealin': The Definitive Collection on CD, so didn't see much need to pick up Music Club's shorter/cheaper 2001 package -- or review it now given how long it's been out of print. But as an afterthought, I did construct an equivalent playlist, and gave it a couple spins just to see how it fit together. Pretty good, of course. I've built playlists to match unavailable albums a few times. While there's always a risk of picking out the wrong version, I've found it to be useful -- especially for assembling original albums from later, more expansive box sets. The other thing I tend to do is to drop bonus cuts from stream albums, to get back to the original excuses. Christgau recently commented that it's hard to go back and do retrospectives of pre-CG years (1960s) because so many reissues add extraneous material. If streaming works for you, it's actually pretty easy. It also has the advantage of establishing a stable baseline, which later reissues can preserve or deviate from. I got an invite to vote in DownBeat's Critics Poll. I worked through the ballots today, trying to put as little thought into it as possible. When I was first invited, I wound up spending a couple days turning over each question. I became increasingly frustrated, then annoyed. To speed things up, last year I wound up leaning heavily on my previous year's picks. I raced through the thing today, complete in less than four hours. Here are my notes. Maybe I'll do some research on it later. But one thing I've noticed in recent years is that my own votes have next to zero effect. One indication of how out of step I am with the critical consensus is that I gave A/A- grades to only 8 of their 97 album of the year nominees. Conversely, they only nominated 8 of my 84 A-list albums from my 2020 Best Jazz file. OK, they (wrongly, I think) offset the year by three months, so the lists don't exactly line up. On the other hand, they nominated zero of my 8 (so far) 2021 A- jazz releases. (I'm most surprised they missed Miguel Zenón's Law Years. I haven't figured out how any 2021 releases they nominated, but the answer must be not many. On the other hand, they nominated a Sons of Kemet album, Black to the Future I hadn't heard of, probably because it doesn't drop until May 14.) Everyday life has been slightly better this week. We got our taxes figured and filed. I got a new batch of prescriptions from my obscure Medicare D provider. Snow is forecast for tonight, but I doubt we'll have to shovel anything to get to Laura's hair appointment tomorrow. Still too many struggles, but at least I won't have to post anything else until next week. New records reviewed this week: Barry Altschul's 3Dom Factor: Long Tall Sunshine (2021, Not Two): Drummer-led free jazz trio, Altschul played on several major albums in the 1970s, never really went away but rarely appeared as leader until he put this group -- with Jon Irabagon (saxes) and Joe Fonda (bass) -- together in 2013. (Irabagon had sought him out for an album in 2010, Foxy, and Fonda was in his FAB Trio with Billy Bang.) Irabagon has been erratic lately, but in the right company he still has tremendous chops -- and this is that, as they show even when he lays out. A- Avishai Cohen: Two Roses (2020 [2021], Naive): Israeli bassist, based in New York since 1992, couple dozen albums since 1998. Co-credit to Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Alexander Hanson) is earned, but my rule of thumb is to omit extra credits below the title. Mostly originals, but arranges Arab folk songs and standards like "Nature Boy." Also sings, too much. B Damata: What's Damata (2021, Dugnad): Norwegian guitar-bass-drums trio (Torstein Slĺen, Karl Erik Horndalsveen, Ola Řverby), first album, tempted to describe it as ambient but that's just a starting place. B+(***) [cd] Scott DuBois: Summer Water (2021, Sunnyside): Guitarist, sixth album since 2008, consistently impressive. This, however, is solo. Has its moments, but also limits. B+(**) Jared Feinman: Love Is an Obstacle (2021, West of Philly): Singer-songwriter from Philadelphia, plays piano, first album, title song appeared as a single in 2018. Offers "four clusters of love songs for the lovelorn and murder ballads in time for Valentine's Day in the midst of a global pandemic." A bit overwrought, reminds me of some long-forgotten 1970s songsters (i.e., not quite Billy Joel, let alone Elton John). B+(*) [cdr] Vijay Iyer: Uneasy (2019 [2021], ECM): Pianist, has a new trio, with Linda May Han Oh (bass) and Tyshawn Sorey (drums). B+(***) Natsuki Tamura/Satoko Fujii: Keshin (2020 [2021], Libra): Trumpet-piano duets, the former getting top billing, probably because for once he's louder and more demanding. B+(**) [cd] Three-Layer Cake: Stove Top (2020 [2021], RareNoise): Trio: Brandon Seabrook (guitar, banjo, tapes), Mike Pride (drums, glockenspiel, bells, organ), Mike Watt (bass). Percussion is most striking. B+(***) [cdr] [05-28] Michael Waldrop: Time Frames (2019-20 [2021], Origin): Plays marimba and vibraphone here, drums elsewhere. Mostly percussion, including djembe, bongos, and congas. B+(***) [cd] Rodney Whitaker: OutroSpection: The Music of Gregg Hill (2020 [2021], Origin): Bassist, leads a piano trio with occasional horns -- trombonist Michael Dease only plays on two tracks, but I looked up both times -- and vocals (Rockelle Whitaker 4 times). Hill Hill is a Michigan composer, a mentor to the bassist, who released a previous collection of Hill compositions in 2019. B+(*) [cd] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers: Volume 1 (2007 [2020], Stony Plain): Blues supergroup, names on the cover: Charlie Musselwhite, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Jimbo Mathus, Jim Dickinson, Luther Dickinson, Cody Dickinson. (The elder Dickinson died in 2009; the younger ones are better known as the North Mississippi Allstars.) B+(**) New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers: Volume 2 (2007 [2021], Stony Plain): More from the same session. More obvious songs, but that's not a bad thing. B+(**) Old music: Black Uhuru: Chill Out (1982, Mango): Major reggae group, with singers Duckie Simpson, Michael Rose, and Puma Jones, and Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare for riddim. This one was sandwiched between their two masterpieces (Red and Anthem), along with poorly-regarded dub and live albums. A bit chill, as advertised. B+(**) Blake Babies: Innocence and Experience (1986-91 [1993], Mammoth): Alt/indie trio, named for the poet (via Allen Ginsberg): Julia Hatfield, John Strohm, Freda Boner. Odds and sods collection, assembled after breaking up after their most sucessful album. This picks up quite a bit midway, with "Sanctify" (repeated from Sunburn), and finishes strong, especially with the live Neil Young song. A- Boogie Down Productions: Sex and Violence (1992, Jive): Fifth and last album, rapper KRS-One continuing under his own name, but this "group" had really been him since 1987, when DJ Scott La Rock was murdered. He's got this rhythm down where he's always coming at you, punching hard and punching often, which he can do because he never overcomplicates things, even when he admits complication. A- The Books: The Lemon of Pink (2003, Tomlab): Duo -- Nick Zammuto (guitar/vocals) and Paul De Jong (cello) -- make extensive use of sound and speech samples, producing a disjointed effect. B+(*) The Books: Lost and Safe (2005, Tomlab): Third album, duo both credited simply with "music, mastering, mixing, recording." Pays off in more flow, sometimes even tunes, with less pastiche. B+(***) [yt] The Books: Thought for Food (2002, Tomlab): First album, played it out of sequence. Introduces their musique concrčte approach, with the prominent cello smoothing off the rough edges. B+(***) [yt] The Bottle Rockets: 24 Hours a Day (1997, Atlantic): Country-rock band from Missouri, founded in 1992 and a going concern up to 2018, with Brian Henneman (guitar/vocals) and Mark Ortmann (drums) in for the long haul. Third album. B+(***) Cybotron: Enter (1983, Fantasy): Electropop group, founded by Detroit techno pioneers Juan Atkins and Richard "3070" Davis (both electronics and vocals), with John "Jon-5" Housely (guitar). Group is inspired by Parliament/Funkadelic and Kraftwerk, but only has the chops for the latter. [Album reissued as Clear in 1990, and as Enter with unheard bonus cuts in 2003, both Fantasy.] B+(*) The dB's: Stands for Decibels (1981, Albion): Jangle pop group, although they might prefer Big Star, with three members who went on to notable solo careers (Chris Stamey, Peter Holsapple, Will Rigby). First album. B+(**) [yt] The DeBarges: The DeBarges (1981, Gordy): Motown vocal group, siblings (four on cover, five in credits), first album, group name later shortened to DeBarge, with Eldra eventually going solo. Light funk, even lighter harmonies. B+(**) DeBarge: All This Love (1982, Gordy): Second album, slimmed down group name, gaining chops both instrumental and vocal. Change of pace ballad ("Life Begins With You") works too. B+(***) DeBarge: Rhythm of the Night (1985, Motown): Fourth album, their third gold record and chart high at 19. Cover shows the five siblings in separated boxes, with El's much larger, anticipating their break up? Six new songs padded out with three recycled from earlier projects. Title song is a choice cut. B+(*) El DeBarge: El DeBarge (1986, Gordy): First solo album from the family's star, although the remaining brothers (no Bunny, either) went on to release Bad Boys (1987), and to regroup (with Bunny but not Eldra) as The DeBarge Family for the gospel Back on Track (1991). Pleasant enough, but not much here. B+(*) El DeBarge: Gemini (1989, Motown): Second solo album, more focus on rhythm, stiffer eats: one step forward, one (or two) back. B The Del-Lords: Get Tough: The Best of the Del-Lords (1984-90 [1999], Restless): Old-fashioned rock & roll band from New York, 3-5 songs each from 4 albums plus 3 previously unreleased tracks (including covers of Johnny Cash and Dr. John) for a solid 73:08. Establishes their populist cred with a straight rock rendition of Blind Alfred Reed's "How Can a Poor Man Stand These Times and Live?" The other high point, also from their debut, is a song about working one's aggressions out by playing the drums. B+(***) Descendents: Milo Goes to College (1982, New Alliance): Los Angeles punk band, formed 1977 with drummer Bill Stevenson, adding singer Milo Aukerman in 1979. This was their debut, 15 tracks in 22:20. [Later reissued with Bonus Fat as Two Things at Once.] B+(***) Descendents: Bonus Fat (1980-81 [1985], New Alliance, EP): Combines the 5-track "FAT" E.P. (1981) with a single and a spare cut from a label comp, adding up to 8 tracks, a mere 10:22. B+(**) Descendents: Somery (1981-87 [1991], SST): Compiles 28 songs from Fat EP and four albums plus odds and sods, total time 53:12. B+(***) Lee Dorsey: Yes We Can (1970, Polydor): New Orleans singer, producer Allen Toussaint does the writing (aside from a cover of Joe South's "Games People Play"). Dorsey's best known for 1960s singles like "Ya Ya" and "Working in a Coal Mine," but only cut two albums in the 1970s, and no more before he died in 1986. This doesn't blow you away like 1960s comps like Holy Cow! and Wheelin' and Dealin', but it's funky and grows on you. A- Lee Dorsey: Yes We Can . . . and Then Some (1970 [1993], Polydor): Reorders his 1970 album, omitting one track (why?), adding five singles and four previously unreleased tracks. Probably the better deal, not least thanks to his spin on the extra covers. A- Lee Dorsey: Night People (1978, ABC): Second 1970s album, turned out to be his last. Again depends on Allen Toussaint for songs and production. "Babe" suggests he's listened to Al Green during his time off. A- Lee Dorsey: Working in a Coal Mine: The Very Best of Lee Dorsey (1961-78 [2001], Music Club): Christgau was very fond of this UK label, reviewing 32 of their cheap, short (16 cuts max), poorly documented oldie anthologies (counting the Merle Haggard set he misjudged and withdrew). Hard to find now, but I was able to peace a songlist together to get the effect: mostly 1960s singles, with a couple 1970s tracks slipped in. I doubt the latter recommend this over Wheelin' and Dealin', but they don't hurt, either. A Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band: James Monroe H.S. Presents Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band Goes to Washington (1979, Elektra): Founded by half-brothers Stony Jr. and Thomas Browder, the latter better known as August Darnell, even better as Kid Creole. With singer Cory Daye and percussionists Mickey Sevilla and "Sugar Coated" Andy Hernandez, their eponymous debut in 1976 looked retro but invented a whole new synthesis of mambo, swing and disco. I totally loved that album, rejected its sequel (Meets King Penett), and missed this one altogether. B+(***) Freestyle Fellowship: Inner City Griots (1993, 4th & B'way): Los Angeles hip-hop collective, released two 1991-93 albums, two more since (2001, 2011), all four principals (Aceyalone, Myka 9, Peace, and Self Jupiter) went on to solo careers -- the only one I've followed is Aceyalone. All over the place. B+(**) Prince Lasha/Sonny Simmons/Clifford Jordan/Don Cherry: It Is Revealed (1963, Zounds): Flute/alto sax/tenor sax/trumpet, with Fred Lyman (fluegelhorn), two bassists, and the drummer dropped from the cover credit. B+(**) [yt] Midi, Maxi & Efti: Midi, Maxi & Efti (1991, Columbia): One-shot Swedish trio, twin sisters Midi and Maxi Berhanu from Ethiopia and Efti Tehlehaianot from Eritrea, all born in 1976 and arrived in Sweden in 1985. Opens with "Ragga Steady," which sounds more Indian than Jamaican to me, but world beats turn crystaline in the Swedish pop machine. B+(***) [yt] Sonny Simmons: Burning Spirits (1970 [2003], Contemporary): Original 1971 2-LP credited to Huey Simmons (his given name). Plays tenor sax as well as alto and English horn, six tracks (79:01), with violin (Michael White) on five, trumpet (Barbara Donald) on four of those, piano on just two, plus bass and drums. B+(**) Sonny Simmons: American Jungle (1995 [1997], Qwest/Warner Brothers): The alto saxophonist hit a rough patch after 1971 (divorce, homelessness, no new records). He survived by busking in San Francisco, eventually worked his way into the clubs, and cut records from 1990, eventually landing two albums with a major label. This is the second (after Ancient Ritual), a quartet with Travis Shook (piano), Reggie Workman (bass), and Cindy Blackman (drums). Four originals plus "My Favorite Things." Hard to imagine what more the label could have hoped for. A- Sonny Simmons Quintet: Mixolydis (2001 [2002], Marge): Back cover credits Quintet, front names Simmons in large type, smaller type for "with": Eddie Henderson (trumpet), John Hicks (piano), Curtis Lundy (bass), Victor Lewis (drums). B+(**) Sonny Simmons Trio: Live in Paris (2001 [2002], Arhoolie, 2CD): With Jacques Avenel (bass) and George Brown (drums). Long, has some dull spots (and I don't mean the bass solos), but also some genuine hot streaks. [Missing 1 track, 14:00] B+(**) Uz Jsme Doma: Hollywood (1993 [1996], Skoda): Czech group, founded 1985, influences list starts with the Residents and the Damned and goes on to add Pere Ubu and Uriah Heep, emerged from the underground in 1990, Discogs credits them with 17 albums through 2020 but this is the one most noticed. With intense acoustic strum, sudden time shifts, and touch-of-opera vocals, this could be some kind of masterpiece. Just one I'm not inclined to appreciate. B+(**) Grade (or other) changes:
Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Wednesday, May 12, 2021 Music Week
Music: Current count 35216 [35184] rated (+32), 211 [209] unrated (+2). Allergies kicked in with a vengeance this week, which is one (but by no means the only) reason I'm miserable and in a deep funk. That may have taken a toll here, as all of the recommended albums are in the "old music" section. Still, nothing new came close enough to make me suspect my mood overrode my objectivity -- except maybe the Spoon and White Stripes best-ofs (from 2019 and 2020, respectively). On the other hand, more A-list in the Old Music section than usual. Was looking forward to Robert Christgau's April Consumer Guide, but got very little from it. I had previously given B+ reviews to the records from Mike, Dua Saleh, and Neil Young, so didn't revisit them. Couldn't find If I Have to Wreck L.A., but I did scrounge up a pretty good collection of earlier Willie Headen songs. I played White Stripes twice, and can imagine why fans like them, but wasn't moved to bump the grade up. The Spoon collection mentioned in the White Stripes review wasn't available anywhere, but I was able to create a songlist with everything on it. I always liked that band, but can't say their songs stand out, even from an average album (like the one I previously missed, Gimme Fiction). On the other hand, that early Spoon album was quite a surprise (but also note, I liked A Series of Sneaks). Sonny Simmons died last week, so I thought I should take a look at what I missed, but didn't get very far. (Also see how group Cosmosamatics. Rapper DMX also died, but I didn't get to him at all. New records reviewed this week: Tamar Aphek: All Bets Are Off (2021, Kill Rock Stars): Israeli singer-songwriter (in English), plays guitar and keyboards, and plays them hard. Ends, improbably, with "As Time Goes By." B+(**) Rahsaan Barber: Mosaic (2020 [2021], Jazz Music City, 2CD): Saxophonist (alto/tenor/baritone, sometimes two at once -- who does that remind you of?), third album, quartet with piano-bass-drums, guest trumpet and/or trombone on some tracks. Roland Barber's trombone is a nice touch. B+(**) Benny the Butcher: The Plugs I Met 2 (2021, Black Soprano Family, EP): Buffalo rapper Jeremie Pennick, has a bunch of mixtapes since 2004, two albums, five EPs -- this one's more like a short album (9 songs, 28:33). B+(**) Cabaret Voltaire: Dekadrone (2021, Mute): British new wave/industrial pioneers, debut 1978, disbanded 1994, returned as an alias for founder Richard H Kirk with a 2020 album. Early stuff was hit and miss, but they found an awesome groove in the mid-1980s (e.g., The Original Sound of Sheffield '83-'87: The Best of the Virgin/EMI Years). Not much groove here, with a single 49:55 track, ambient that prods you incessantly. I enjoy short stretches, but find it a bit tedious at such length. B+(*) Sarah Mary Chadwick: Me and Ennui Are Friends, Baby (2021, Ba Da Bing!): Singer-songwriter from New Zealand via Australia, Discogs lists his as her eighth album since 2012, mostly on labels I've never heard of (like Bedroom Suck and Rice Is Nice). Lo-fi, cut in her living room, stark and barren. I don't much care for it, but if you let it in, you may care a lot. B+(**) Eminem: Music to Be Murdered By: Side B (2020, Shady/Aftermath/Interscope): Sequel to the "Side A" January, 2020 release, again playing off Alfred Hitchcock samples. Physical package recycles "Side A" as a second CD, but we'll ignore that here (I just deleted the extra tracks, which I gave a marginal A- to back in February). This is a bit more scattershot, but while his shtick isn't new, he can still dazzle. B+(***) Joe Fahey: February on Ice (2021, Rough Fish): Minneapolis singer-songwriter. Has a couple previous albums, but nothing Discogs or Wikipedia have noticed. Rocks some, chills out, lyrics tend to ramble, but unique enough he may be worth the trouble. Or maybe not. Choice cut: "Fuck the Republicans." B+(***) Girl in Red: Chapter 1 (2018, AWAL/Human Sounds, EP): Norwegian singer-songwriter Marie Ulven, started recording songs in her bedroom and releasing them on Soundcloud, her debut ("I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend") getting 100 million streams. It leads off five songs here, 13:25, understated jangle pop. B+(*) Girl in Red: Chapter 2 (2019, AWAL, EP): Five more songs, 15:53. B+(*) Hennessy Six/Colorado Springs Youth Symphony: The Road Less Traveled (2020 [2021], Summit): Four tracks composed by Sean Schafer Hennessy (trumpet), the others by band members Cully Joyce (tenor sax/alto flute) and Colin McAllister (guitar). The Symphony adds to the kitchen sink effect, mostly strings. I find it all a bit excessive, but it does have some moments. B+(*) [cd] Yvette Janine Jackson: Freedom (2021, Fridman Gallery): Sound engineer, based in Kansas, two pieces (22:09 and 19:42), plus two excerpts from same. Electroacoustic "radio opera," occasional words. LP has liner notes by Gregory Tate. B+(*) [bc] Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas: Soundprints: Other Worlds (2020 [2021], Greenleaf Music): Poll winners at tenor sax and trumpet, at least when they convened this quintet in 2013. Third album, with Lawrence Fields (piano), Linda May Han Oh (bass), and Joey Baron (drums). Five compositions each for the leaders. Too much talent here to make a bad record, but that talent is wasted on the unison riffing. B+(*) [cd] [05-07] Dax Pierson: Nerve Bumps (A Queer Divine Dissatisfaction) (2021, Dark Entries): Played keyboards in band Subtle (2001-08) before an auto accident paralyzed him from chest down. Returned as a techno producer, with Live in Oakland in 2019, now this. B+(**) Jacques Schwarz-Bart: Soné Ka-La 2: Odyssey (2020 [2021], Enja): Saxophonist, from Guadeloupe, debut 1999, released Sone Ka-La in 2006. Band with piano, bass, drums, and extra percussion, incorporating gwoka rhythms. So far, so good, but I'm less fond of vocalist Malika Tirolien, scatting along like an extra horn. B+(*) [cd] [05-21] The Weather Station: Ignorance (2021, Fat Possum): Canadian band fronted by singer-songwriter Tamara Lindeman, folkie roots, fifth album since 2009. B+(**) Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Gary Lucas: The Essential Gary Lucas (1981-2020 [2021], Knitting Factory, 2CD): Guitarist, from Syracuse, played with Captain Beefheart circa 1980, and memorialized him with his Fast 'N' Bulbous tribute band (again in 2017 with Nona Hendryx). This is billed as a 40-year retrospective, with 36 songs from 30+ widely scattered albums. Hard to find details online, but first disc is fairly conventional singer-songwriter fare (with better-than-average guitar), with second more eclectic/experimental (often, but not necessarily, better). B+(*) Spoon: Everything Hits at Once: The Best of Spoon (2001-19 [2019], Matador): Indie band from Austin, founded in 1993 by Britt Daniel and Jim Eno, seven albums 2001-17 (plus reissues of 1990s work). Conceived of as an introduction/overview, but does have two hit singles ("Don't You Evah" and "Got Nuffin"), two more chart songs (30, 31). Given how many Spoon albums I've A-listed (4), I'm surprised I don't find this more engaging. [Songlist from other sources.] B+(***) The White Stripes: My Sister Thanks You and I Thank You: Greatest Hits (1998-2007 [2020], Third Man): Critically acclaimed alt/indie band from a period when I had lost my interest in same, so while I heard (and sometimes rated favorably) their records, I don't remember anything on them, or recognize anything here except for the occasional cover. This is a generous selection (26 songs, 79:28), probably a useful substitute for their six albums, not that you need one. Despite some impressive guitar I can't say as I enjoyed it much. B+(***) Old music: Willie Headen: Blame It on the Blues (1954-60 [2006], Ace): R&B singer, recorded singles for Dootone/Dooto, a dozen of which were collected in a 1960 LP with this artwork, except his name appeared as Willie Hayden. Reissue doubles the length, picking up some previously unreleased takes. Has a bit of Bobby Bland in his voice. B+(***) Justin Hinds & the Dominoes: Carry Go Bring Come: The Anthology (1963-72 [2005], Trojan, 2CD): Ska singer, worked with Duke Reid from 1963, recording scores of singles to 1972, none bigger than the title song in 1964 (original credited to Billy Ward & the Dominoes, with a second version later), which stand out, with dozens of other songs coming close enough. A- Justin Hinds and the Dominoes: Jezebel (1976, Island): After leaving Reid, Hinds worked the Jack Ruby. This is the first of two albums Island released, which got lost behind the bigger names. Rasta roots, plenty of groove. B+(***) [yt] Justin Hinds and the Dominoes: Just in Time (1978, Mango): Second album, also produced by Jack Ruby. Opening songs are "Let's Rock," "Let Jah Arise," "Help Your Falling Brother," but the one that hooks is "Bad Minded People." Second side goes pop, with a bubbly "(On) Broadway" and the self-evident "Groovin'," but the originals are even more seductive. A- The Itals: Early Recordings 1971-1979 (1971-79 [1987], Nighthawk): Reggae vocal trio, roots oriented, issued four albums on this label 1981-88, plus this compilation of early singles and other tracks I can't trace. B+(*) The Itals: Give Me Power (1983, Nighthawk): Second album, after Brutal Out Deh (1981). B+(**) The Itals: Rasta Philosophy (1985 [1997], Nighthawk): Third album, a short one (CD has 7 songs, 26:25, one more song than the original vinyl), but some of their best harmonies. B+(***) The Itals: Cool and Dread (1988, Nighthawk): Fourth album, can hold a groove, have something to say. Still, at the end of the album, I found myself carrying on, with some other song in my head. B+(**) The Plastic People of the Universe: Apokalyptickej Pták (1976 [2017], Galén): Czech rock band led by bassist Milan Hlavsa, founded in the "Prague Spring" of 1968, drawing inspiration from Frank Zappa and the Velvet Underground. Went underground in 1970, and were tried and imprisoned in 1976, shortly after this concert was recorded. They broke up in 1988, with some members joining the similar-minded Pulnoc, and regrouped in 1997, continuing after Hlavsa's death in 2001. Live artifacts detract somewhat, and I suspect the bouts of Zappaesque artiness, but the instrumental stretches are extraordinary. A- Duke Reid's Treasure Chest (1964-70 [1992], Heartbeat, 2CD): One of Jamaica's top producers in the ska and rocksteady eras, set up his sound system in 1953, died in 1975. This collects his work for Treasure Isle Records. Some classics here, lots of also-rans. B+(**) Sonny Simmons: Staying on the Watch (1966, ESP-Disk): Alto saxophonist, cut a couple records with Prince Lasha before this debut, a quintet with wife Barbara Donald (a blistering trumpet), John Hicks (piano), bass, and drums. B+(***) Sonny Simmons: Music From the Spheres (1966, ESP-Disk): Quintet with Barbara Donald (trumpet), piano, bass, and drums, plus tenor sax (Burt Wilson) on one cut ("Dolphy's Days"). Fast and bracing. A- Sonny Simmons: Manhattan Egos (1969 [2000], Arhoolie): Alto saxophonist, also plays English horn. Original album with trumpet (Barbara Donald), bass/congas (Juma), and drums (Paul Smith). CD adds four tracks from a live set in Berkeley, with a different group -- no trumpet, but add Michael White (violin). A- Spoon: Telephono (1996, Matador): First album, a trio with singer-songwriter Britt Daniel (guitar), Andy Maguire (bass), and Jim Eno (drums). Fourteen tight, twisted songs, 34:59, intense, bass cranked up. A band with a future, even if as something else. A- Spoon: Gimme Fiction (2005, Merge): The one album I missed from 1998 on, probably because Christgau's B+ review made it seem inessential, and I hadn't discovered streaming yet. I won't swear he's wrong, but this seems every bit as consistent as the "best of," and if anything the relatively light touch on the vocals is a plus. B+(***) Further Sampling: Records I played parts of, but not enough to grade: -- means no interest, - not bad but not a prospect, + some chance, ++ likely prospect.
Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, April 5, 2021 Music Week
Music: Current count 35184 [35141] rated (+43), 209 [212] unrated (-3). I had less trouble finding records to listen to last week. I picked some obvious new records off Napster's recommendations list, and decided to follow up Dr. Lonnie Smith's new one with a dive into old catalogue. Aside for a few CDs, most of the rest came from Chris Monsen's 1st quarter round-up, and AOTY's Highest Rated Albums of 2021. I had heard 6 of 20 records on Monsen's (only 2 from promo CDs), so I scrambled to add 9 more, including both of this week's A- records. (Actually, I wrote up Miguel Zenón's Law Years before Monsen posted, so at the time I claimed 7/20, but the review is in this week's batch.) The other five don't seem to be available online, at least complete enough to review. I'm not tracking reviews this year, so had no idea which albums might be on the AOTY list, and indeed had no idea most of them existed. (The ones I had previously reviewed were: Floating Points, Ghetts -- the former is on the Monsen and Phil Overeem lists, while the latter was the first thing I checked out from the AOTY list. Julien Baker is also on Overeem's list. I've heard 15 of Overeem's 30 records, counting Baker this week. Just saw Dave Sumner's Best Jazz on Bandcamp: March 2021. I've heard 3 of 14 records. More alarmingly, I haven't heard of most of the artists. More evidence I'm falling far behind. I'm a bit chagrined over the two A- records this week. Zenón's publicist still sends me most records. I got some email on this one, but the CD never showed up. Takase's label was sending me promos up to some time in 2019, so not getting this one was less of a mystery. I made up for the lost promos by streaming most of their releases on Napster, which is where I found this one. I'd be happy to continue in that way, but their more recent releases aren't on Napster, and one by Alexander Hawkins that came out the same day as Takase's has been withdrawn. Intakt does use Bandcamp, but don't offer complete albums there, so they're no substitute for reviewers. I count six A- records on Intakt last year, so not being able to review their releases will be a major loss. April should be less stressful -- unless, as forecast, we get hit by an exceptionally rough tornado season, or the earthquakes on the east side of town get more severe. (It is established that they're caused by injection wells between Wichita and El Dorado.) I got my second Covid-19 vaccination a couple weeks ago, and Laura got hers on Saturday. Perhaps we'll soon be able to entertain for the first time in more than a year. One frequent dinner guest from recent years will be missed. Rubena Bradley died last week. I haven't seen an obituary yet, but have heard from good friends -- two of her six daughters. They've invited us to Thanksgiving several years -- one with all six daughters visiting. A remarkable family. We're fortunate to have known Ruby. New records reviewed this week: The Anchoress: The Art of Losing (2021, Kscope): Catherine Anne Davies, born in Wales, grew up in England, got a PhD in "literature and queer theory" (published a book, Whitman's Queer Children), played in Simple Minds 2014-18. Second album, debut was Confessions of a Romance Novelist. Makes a strong impression here, although I'm not prepared to try to figure out whether she's as smart as she seems. B+(***) Julien Baker: Little Oblivions (2021, Matador): Singer-songwriter from Tennessee, third album (not counting all-star trio Boygenius). Rocks a little harder than her "sad girl" works. B+(*) Yaala Ballin: Sings Irving Berlin (2021, SteepleChase LookOut): Standards singer, from Israel, moved to New York "in 2004 to study with Sheila Jordan," fourth album -- her second, On the Road (2011), was a personal favorite. Backed by a swing-oriented band -- Michael Kanan (piano), Chris Flory (guitar), and Ari Roland (bass) -- hard to go wrong with Berlin. B+(***) Jon Batiste: We Are (2020 [2021], Verve): Pianist, from New Orleans, debut 2005, upped his profile in 2015 as music director of Stephen Colbert's Late Show. Title song, with its New Orleans marching band backup, was released as a single in June 2020, inspired by Black Lives Matter protests. Vocals abound -- I count 11 credits, but that includes Gospel Soul Children -- so slot this under r&b, not jazz. Choice cuts: "Freedom," "Sing." B+(**) John Butcher/Veryan Weston/Řyvind Stonesund/Dag Erik Kriedal Andersen: Mapless Quiet (2018 [2020], Motvind): Tenor/soprano sax, piano, bass, drums; one 49:28 piece, recorded live in Norway. Some strong patches, but seems to run out early. B+(**) [bc] Nick Cave & Warren Ellis: Carnage (2021, AWAL): Singer-songwriter from Australia, started 1970s in the Birthday Party, has fronted the Bad Seeds since 1983. I've never liked his albums, but many critics do, and it's possible someone could compile a best-of I'd have to show some respect to (a concession based mostly on use of their songs in Peaky Blinders). Ellis joined the Bad Seeds in 1994, and has done a number of side projects with Cave (mostly soundtracks). His trademark is the murky darkness his voice strains against. A couple spots here test my resistance, but I still came away with no interest. B Michael Dease: Give It All You Got (2019 [2021], Posi-Tone): Trombone player, originally from Georgia, more than a dozen albums since 2005. Jim Alfredson can lay the organ on a bit thick at times, but Gregory Tardy (tenor sax) and Anthony Stanco (trumpet) impress. B+(*) Dry Cleaning: New Long Leg (2021, 4AD): English post-punk band led by singer Florence Shaw, first album after EPs and singles. Talks over rock solid riffs. B+(**) Paul Dunmall/Percy Pursglove/Olie Brice/Jeff Williams: Palindromes (2020 [2021], West Hill): Tenor sax, trumpet, bass, and drums, live set at Café Oto in London. B+(***) [bc] For Those I Love: For Those I Love (2019 [2021], September): David Balfe, Irish, first album self-released in 2019, given a proper unveiling this year. Heavily accented spoken word over electronica. B+(***) Frode Haltli: Avant Folk II (2021, Hubro): Norwegian accordion player, albums since 2002 including folk and classical as well as jazz. Assembled this group for a 2018 album, with Hardanger fiddle, violin, sax, trumpet/goat horn, organ/synth, guitars, bass, and drums. B+(**) [bc] Joseph Howell Quartet: Live in Japan (2018 [2021], Summit): Clarinet player, second album, dedicated his debut to Buddy DeFranco, mostly plays Joe Henderson songs here, along with three swing era standards. Backed by a Japanese piano trio -- pianist Keigo Hirakawa is most impressive. B+(**) [cd] Kari Ikonen: Impressions, Improvisations and Compositions (2020 [2021], Ozella): Finnish pianist, new to me but eight albums since 2001. Nominally solo, but in spots the strings produced so much resonance I wondered whether a guitar or bass had slipped in. B+(***) La Femme: Paradigmes (2021, Disque Pointu): French "psych-punk" band, some women in the band but founders wee Sacha Got and Marlon Magnée. Third album since an EP in 2010. Genre strikes me as iffy, but first album was called Psycho Tropical Berlin, and I don't have any alternative suggestions, especially as each song points them in another direction. B+(**) Charles Lloyd & the Marvels: Tone Poem (2020 [2021], Blue Note): Tenor sax legend, also plays some flute, third group album, with Bill Frisell (guitar), Greg Leisz (steel guitar), Reuben Rogers (bass), and Eric Harland (drums). Three originals, after two Ornette Coleman pieces and Leonard Cohen's "Anthem," a 10:26 stretch on "Monk's Mood," a couple others. B+(***) Pat Metheny: Road to the Sun (2021, BMG Modern): Popular jazz guitarist, composed two suites here, the first ("Four Paths of Light") played by Jason Vieaux ("perhaps the most precise and soulful classical guitarist of his generation"), the title set played by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. Wraps up with Metheny playing a solo piece by Arvo Pärt. B Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Adrian Younge: Jazz Is Dead 4: Azymuth (2020, Jazz Is Dead, EP): First three albums listed Younge first. No idea why they swapped, but Muhammad is older (1970 vs. 1978), and his tenure with A Tribe Called Quest may have made him more famous (not that I recognized the name). Focus here is the Brazilian jazz-funk group, dating from 1972 up to 2016. This runs longer (8 tracks, 41:25), but is less engaging. B Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Adrian Younge: Jazz Is Dead 5: Doug Carn (2020, Jazz Is Dead): Eleven tracks, 41:03, so they've outgrown the series' EP start. Carn is a soul jazz pianist, husband of singer Jean Carn, recorded 1969-77 and occasionally thereafter, changed his name to Abdul Rahim Ibrahim by 1977. He mostly plays organ here. High point is a sax solo, probably Gary Bartz. B+(***) Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Adrian Younge: Jazz Is Dead 6: Gary Bartz (2021, Jazz Is Dead, EP): Alto saxophonist, cut some avant-soul fusion albums in the early 1970s with his Ntu Troop, later struck me as a pure bebop player. His sax nudges this entry back into jazz territory, no matter where the producers go with the rhythm. Eight tracks, 27:35 B+(***) [bc] Nubiyan Twist: Freedom Fables (2021, Strut): Large British jazz-funk group, third album. B R+R=Now: Live (2018 [2021], Blue Note): "All-star jazz collective," formed in 2018 for a studio album and a live stand at New York's Blue Note club, Robert Glasper (keyboards) cited as leader, with Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah (trumpet), Terrace Martin (sax/vocals), Taylor McFerrin (synth), Derrick Hodge (bass), and Justin Tyson (drums), plus spoken word on one of the better tracks, but pretty hit-and-miss. B Dan Rose: Last Night . . . (2017 [2021], Ride Symbol): Rose cut an album in 1979, a couple in the 1990s, released two this year. This one is solo guitar, cautiously feeling his way through standards, some in medleys. B+(*) [cd] Dan Rose/Claudine Francois: New Leaves (2019 [2021], Ride Symbol): Guitar-piano duo. Francois is French, has an album from 1984 but not much since. Four originals (two each), five more pieces, mostly from pianists (Monk, Silver, Waldron, Bley, Swallow). "Seńor Blues" is especially tasty. B+(**) [cd] Serpentwithfeet: Deacon (2021, Secretly Canadian): Singer-songwriter Josiah Wise, from Baltimore, grew up in his mother's church choir, studied classical music and was infatuated with opera. Second album, short (11 songs, 29:09). Choice cut: "Fellowship." B+(*) Skarbř Skulekorps: Dugnad (2020 [2021], Hubro): Norwegian drummer Řyvind Skarbř, several albums since 2009, second under this group name, which includes trumpet, three saxes (Signe Emmeluth, Eirik Hegdal, and Klaus Holm, who also plays clarinet), guitars (including pedal steel), and bass, with a couple guests. B+(**) Dr. Lonnie Smith: Breathe (2021, Blue Note): Organ player, not to be confused with his contemporary Lonnie Liston Smith (more of an electric piano guy), has wavered between soul jazz and pop, never impressing me much, but this is pretty agreeable. Produced by Don Was, half trio with Jonathan Kreisberg (guitar) and Johnathan Blake (drums), half adding horns (John Ellis, Robin Eubanks, Sean Jones), with two vocals toward the end (Alicia Olatuja on something gospelly, and Iggy Pop crooning "Sunshine Superman"). B+(**) Veronica Swift: This Bitter Earth (2021, Mack Avenue): Jazz singer, semi-famous musical parents (Hod O'Brien, Stephanie Nakasian), cut a record when she was 10 with Richie Cole and her father's piano trio. (O'Brien was pianist on Roswell Rudd's Flexible Flyer, which is my favorite Sheila Jordan album ever.) Second big label effort, backed by Emmet Cohen (piano), bass, and drums, occasionally others. Standards, some common but most not, done with authority and panache. B+(***) Aki Takase/Christian Weber/Michael Griener: Auge (2019 [2021], Intakt): German piano-bass-drums trio, the pianist moving from Tokyo to Berlin in 1987. Explosive. A- Thumbscrew: Never Is Enough (2019 [2021], Cuneiform): Guitar-bass-drums trio (Mary Halvorson, Michael Formanek, Tomas Fujiwara), sixth album since 2014, nary a false step -- a fine context for the guitarist. B+(***) [dl] Tony Tixier: I Am Human (2020 [2021], Whirlwind, EP): French pianist, has a couple albums. Originally released as a 6-track EP in 2020, reissued with an extra track (bringing it to 25:12). Two solo pieces, the others duets, including a lovely "Someone to Watch Over Me" with his twin brother Scott Tixier on violin. B+(*) Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad: Jazz Is Dead 3: Marcos Valle (2020, Jazz Is Dead, EP): R&B producers, first volume entertained several guest artists, but the second one focused on a single artist (Roy Ayers). Valle is a Brazilian pop star, started with the bossa nova craze in 1963, and still working at 77. Not sure whether these are new performances or remixes, but the luscious samba groove argues for the latter. Eight tracks, 27:29. B+(***) Miguel Zenón & Luis Perdomo: El Arte Del Bolero (2020 [2021], Miel Music): Alto sax and piano duo, from Puerto Rico and Venezuela respectively, but have played together often over the last decade-plus. Six songs by as many composers, taken at a leisurely pace (51:47). B+(***) Miguel Zenón/Ariel Bringuez/Demian Cabaud/Jordi Rossy: Law Years: The Music of Ornette Coleman (2019 [2021], Miel Music): Alto saxophonist, one of the major players of his generation, has spent most of the last decade cultivating his Puerto Rican roots, looks another direction here, for this live set from the Birds Eye Jazz Club in Basel, Switzerland. The others, from various points in Latin America, play tenor sax, bass, and drums, on seven Ornette Coleman compositions. The tunes are as radical ever, and played with aplomb. But for some reason I'm not nearly as blown away as I was on first hearing The Shape of Jazz to Come. A- Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Roberto Miranda's Home Music Ensemble: Live at Bing Theatre: Los Angeles, 1985 (1985 [2021], Dark Tree): Bassist, born in New York, parents Puerto Rican, long based in Los Angeles, teaches at UCLA, most of his recordings are connected to the "four giants" here: Bobby Bradford (cornet/trumpet), John Carter (clarinet), James Newton (flute), and Horace Tapsott (piano). Band also includes two members of the bassist's family: Louis R. Miranda Sr. (vocals/percussion), and Louis R. Miranda Jr. (drums), along with a few others. Starts with some brilliant piano, works around to give everyone a spotlight, some better than others. B+(***) [cd] Neil Young: Young Shakespeare (1971 [2021], Reprise): Between After the Gold Rush and Harvest, Young did a solo tour, his set captured here at Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford, Connecticut. B+(**) Old music: Lonnie Smith: Think! (1968 [1969], Blue Note): Played organ on George Benson's early albums, which led to his own 1967 debut, Figer Lickin' Good Soul Organ. Then, as Benson moved into pop, Smith went with a fading but still powerful jazz label, picking up Melvin Sparks (guitar), David Newman (tenor sax/flute), Lee Morgan (trumpet), and lots of percussion. B+(**) Lonnie Smith: Turning Point (1969, Blue Note): With Bennie Maupin (tenor sax), Lee Morgan (trumpet), Julian Priester (trombone), Melvin Sparks (guitar), and drums. Two originals, three covers: "See Saw" up his alley, "Eleanor Rigby" not nearly as awful as one would expect. B+(*) Lonnie Smith: Move Your Hand (1969 [1970], Blue Note): Third Blue Note album, live from Club Harlem in Atlantic City. Four 8-11 minute tracks, two original and two covers ("Charlie Brown" and "Sunshine Superman"). Two saxes (Ronnie Cuber and Rudy Jones), guitar, and drums. Vocal on the title cut. B+(**) Lonnie Smith: Live at Club Mozambique (1970 [1995], Blue Note): Live set from Detroit, issued 25 years after the fact. Two saxes (Ronnie Cuber and Dave Hubbard), George Benson on guitar, extra percussion. Six originals, including a vocal on "Peace of Mind," followed by covers from Sly Stone and Miles Davis. B+(***) Lonnie Smith: Mama Wailer (1971, Kudu): After Blue Note, one album on Creed Taylor's soul jazz subsidiary (released 39 records 1971-79, 8 by Grover Washington Jr., who plays tenor sax and flute here). Two Smith originals, two covers ("I Feel the Earth Move" and "Stand" -- the latter running 17:20). B+(**) Lonnie Smith/Alvin Queen: Lenox and Seventh (1985 [2000], Black & Blue): Reorded in Paris. Original release listed drummer Queen's namme first, and added "feat. Melvin Sparks," but the reissue (with an extra cut) swapped the order, and left Sparks on a sidebar, where the organ player's name starts with "Dr." Like everything on this label, leans hard on the blues. B+(***) Dr. Lonnie Smith: Boogaloo to Beck: A Tribute (2003, Scuffin'): Smith recorded for minor various labels in the 1970s -- Kudu, Groove Merchant, LRC -- and doesn't really pick up until he signs with Palmetto for Too Damn Hot in 2004, or this from a year earlier. First record I can find credited to Dr. Lonnie Smith was The Turbanator in 2000, recorded in 1991. No idea why he'd record a tribute to 1990s rock star Beck unless he was just hard up, which he was. Eleven Beck songs, larded out with plenty of boogaloo (the only one I recognized was "Loser," although Odelay was my favorite album of 1998), with guitar, drums, and "special guest" Fathead Newman (tenor sax) on five. B+(*) Dr. Lonnie Smith: Rise Up! (2008 [2009], Palmetto): He cut four albums 2004-2009 for Palmetto, this the third, and only one I missed. Mostly quartet with Donald Harrison (alto sax), Peter Bernstein (guitar), and Herlin Riley (drums). B+(**) Neil Young: Eldorado (1989, Reprise, EP): Released in Japan only, shortly before Freedom, which it shares three songs with (different mixes), plus two songs that don't appear elsewhere, totalling 25:30. B+(**) [yt] Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Arc (1991, Reprise): Edited from their 1991 tour, picking out noisy bits from various songs and piecing them together into a single 35:00 mixtape. Originally appeared along with two CDs of live songs, packaged as Arc-Weld, then split into separate releases. I skipped both at the time, then accidentally queued up this one while looking for that one. Not as unlistenable as I had been led to believe. B Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, March 29, 2021 Music Week
Music: Current count 35141 [35113] rated (+28), 212 [218] unrated (-6). Very little I feel like adding here. Rated count is down. I blame that Peter Stampfel monstrosity, but I probably would have made up the loss had I gotten onto an archive kick. New A-list this week is marginal, but at least it's all 2021 releases. And while I don't feel very certain about Lana Del Rey, I did play it four times, so I figure I gave it plenty of chance. Stampfel only got one play, as did the live doubles from Neil Young and Charles Lloyd. Life remains stubbornly stuck. Wrote a bit in my memoir, but not much. Spent a little more time collecting bits for a book roundup. I'll probably post that mid-week. New records reviewed this week: Nik Bärtsch: Entendre (2019 [2021], ECM): Swiss pianist, has an impressive string of albums since 2000, most with his Ronin and Mobile groups, where he seems more intent on improvising rhythm than melody. This is solo, several pieces looking back. The opener wanders, but he eventually returns to form. B+(**) Lana Del Rey: Chemtrails Over the Country Club (2021, Polydor/Interscope): Singer-songwriter, seventh studio album since 2012, following up her hugely acclaimed Noran Fucking Rockwell with something slower, softer, harder to grasp. Closes with a Joni Mitchell song, leaving precisely that impression. Not sure that's right, but two plays leave me wondering how much more work to put into it. B+(**) Floating Points/Pharoah Sanders & the London Symphony Orchestra: Promises (2021, Luaka Bop): British electronica producer Sam Shepherd, three previous albums, puts his classical training and passion for jazz to good use. The saxophonist is the draw here, the other bits of minor interest. B+(**) [bc] Amit Friedman: Unconditional Love (2018 [2021], Origin): Israeli saxophonist (tenor/soprano), third album, backed by piano-bass-drums, plus oud and/or percussion on a couple tracks. Nice tone. I don't care for the two vocal pieces. B [cd] Ghetts: Conflict of Interest (2021, Warner): British rapper Justin Clarke, third studio album plus six mixtapes. Grime beats, thoughtful lyrics. B+(*) Barry Guy: Irvin's Comet (2019 [2020], NoBusiness): British bassist, leader of London Jazz Composers Orchestra, offers an impressively varied solo performance. B+(*) [cd] Chris Hopkins: Meets the Jazz Kangaroos: Live! Vol. 1 (2020, Echoes of Swing): Retro-swing pianist, based in Germany, mostly records as Echoes of Swing. I haven't found anything else by the Jazz Kangaroos, but they're Australian, led by violinist/vocalist George Washingmachine, with David Blenkhorn (guitar) and Mark Elton (bass). Standards, ends with "Fine and Dandy." Vocals are passable, but the violin moves this into Hot Club territory. B+(**) Jonathan Kane and Dave Soldier: February Meets Soldier String Quartet (2020 [2021], EEG): Kane plays drums, guitar, and bass. Soldier is credited with strings. Four extended riff pieces, "file under rock-blues-jazz-experimental. B+(**) [cd] Achim Kaufmann/Ignaz Schick: Altered Alchemy (2016 [2021], Zarek, 2CD): German pianist, fairly prolific since 2004, takes the lead here, with Shick adding more-or-less ambient noise (turntables, sampler, live electronics). B+(**) [cd] Mark Lewis Quartet: Naked Animals (2019-20 [2021], Audio Daddio): Alto saxophonist, also plays flute, backed by piano, bass, drums. Albums date back to 1979, and title cut here may have been recorded in 1990 (liner notes unclear). B+(*) [cd] [04-02] Loretta Lynn: Still Woman Enough (2007-20 [2021], Legacy): Fourth album since 2016 produced by John Carter Cash, all including sessions from 2007 plus later songs. I don't know the mix, but she's 88 now, and had a stroke in 2017 which delayed the release of Wouldn't It Be Great. So it's surprising she sounds so steady all the way through this one. Helps that it's short (35:09), mostly built arounnd new versions of her classics, padded out with three gospel pieces (including the creepy "I Don't Feel at Home Anymore." Still, happy to hear her singing so strong. A- Magnet Animals: Fake Dudes (2020 [2021], RareNoise): Guitarist Todd Clouser, originally from Minneapolis, based in Mexico City, also sings and talks, second album for this group -- Eyal Maoz (guitar), Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz (bass), Jorge Servin (drums) -- also has another trio, A Love Electric, and other projects back to 2006. Not sure about the lyrics, but the guitar improvs stagger, even if they lean to the rock side of fusion. A- [cdr] Mai-Liis: Mai-Liis on Life (2019-20 [2021], OA2): Singer-songwriter, originally from Toronto, based in Vancouver (or maybe Seattle), first album, gets help from pianist Darin Clendenin with the melodies. Backed by piano trio, plus guest spots on most songs. B+(**) [cd] Wu Man/Kojiro Umezaki: How (2019 [2021], In a Circle): China meets Japan in Los Angeles with this pipa and shakuhachi duo. B+(*) [cd] Ben Patterson: Push the Limits (2020 [2021], Origin): Trombonist, originally from Oklahoma, spent 22 years in the US Air Force's Airmen of Note, now based in DC, has a couple previous albums (including one featuring Chris Potter), not the pianist Ben Paterson (who has albums on the same label). Quintet, Shawn Purcell's guitar the other lead, plus keyboards (Chris Ziemba), bass, and drums. B+(*) Ignaz Schick/Oliver Steidle: Ilog2 (2020 [2021], Zarek): German duo, Schick on turntables and electronics, Steidle drums and more electronics, both with discographies dating back to early 2000s. Feints toward noise, but an early bit with sampled vocals reminded me of DJ Shadow, and the drumming ultimately nudged this over. Their previous Ilog came out in 2015. A- [cd] Peter Stampfel: Peter Stampfel's 20th Century in 100 Songs (2021, Louisiana Red Hot): One song per year, $60 for CDs (not sure how many, but at least 4) with an 88-page booklet that's bound to be interesting. Stampfel has one of the most distinctive voices ever, but tones down the weirdness that's been his stock and trade, while still wandering eclectically. Hit and miss, especially later years. B+(**) [bc] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Edo Funk Explosion Vol. 1 (1980-85 [2021], Analog Africa): From Benin City, in south-central Nigeria, twelve tracks, 78:37, limited to three major artists of the period: Akaba Man, Sir Victor Uwaifo, and Osayomore Joseph. B+(**) Allen Ginsberg's The Fall of America: A 50th Anniversary Musical Tribute (2021, Ginsberg): Fifty years after publication of the poet's The Fall of America: Poems of These States, 1965-1971, adds new music to 20 poems, many read by Ginsberg himself. Dedicated to the late Hal Willner, figuring this is the sort of production he might have done. (Willner produced another Ginsberg project, The Lion for Real, in 1989.) B+(**) La Ola Interior: Spanish Ambient & Acid Exoticism 1983-1990 (1983-90 [2021], Bongo Joe): I was attracted to this by the fact that it's historically and geographically specific, but it doesn't sound distinct from any generic ambient compilation, anywhere, any time (well, since 1980). B+(*) [bc] Charles Lloyd Quartet: Montreux Jazz Festival 1967 [Swiss Radio Days Volume 46] (1967 [2019], TCB, 2CD): Saxophonist, debut 1964, by 1967 was playing the Fillmore and Monterey, like a potential star. Young quartet here, fast becoming famous: Keith Jarrett (piano), Ron McClure (bass), and Jack DeJohnette (drums). The leader is hit-and-miss, leaving a lot of space to the band. The drummer is especially sharp. B+(**) Now That's What I Call Music! Outlaw Country (1968-2015 [2021], NOW): I've never bothered with this series or any of its offshoots -- the flagship line is up to 78 volumes now, and Now This Is What I Call Country is up to 10. Needless to say, this is envisioned as another series, most likely with the usual diminishing returns. Still, "outlaw country" started with a compilation, and that's always seemed like its natural format. No surprise that the core comes from the 1970s. The three post-2000 songs (Chris Stapleton, Jamey Johnson, Miranda Lambert) don't fit the bill, but are gritty enough to fit in. B+(***) Joe Strummer: Assembly (1986-2002 [2021], Dark Horse): Clash frontman, had a checkered solo career brought to a sudden end by a massive coronary in 2002 (age 50). Three previously unreleased live versions of Clash songs, most of the rest from his three Mescaleros albums (1999-2003). About half of this is also on the 2-CD 001, and every bit as erratic. Too bad. B+(**) Neil Young With Crazy Horse: Way Down in the Rust Bucket (1990 [2021], Reprise, 2CD): Another bootleg (originally appeared as Feedback Is Back and Home Grown in 1991), given an official release: 19 songs, 6 topping 10 minutes, total 156:59. Slot after Freedom and Ragged Glory, a return to form after wasting much of the 1980s experimenting with electronics and/or horns. Familiar songs here, most memorably from a decade earlier. Can't say as they're exceptional takes, but far from disappointing. B+(**) Old music: Allen Ginsberg: Songs of Innocence and Experience (1970, MGM/Verve Forecast): The beat poet recorded many readings of his works, but this is something else, as he set 18th-century English poet William Blake's "Songs" to music -- drawn on English folk models, but not too rigidly. Aided by jazz-oriented musicians -- notably Don Cherry and Bob Dorough -- Ginsberg and Peter Orlovsky sing inexpertly, with others pitching in. B+(***) Allen Ginsberg: The Complete Songs of Innocence and Experience (1970 [2017], Omnivore, 2CD): Reissue adds a second disc of "Blake Songs" and three "Mantras." Not as much fun as the original, but that's here too. B+(**) A Love Electric: Son of a Hero (2014, Ropeadope): Guitarist-vocalist's Todd Clouser trio, with Aaron Cruz (bass) and Hernan Hecht (drums), fifth album since 2010. Songs predominate, which may not be the band's strong suit. B A Love Electric: A Permanent Immigrant (2020, Imagination Demand): Leans harder into the trio's sound, occasionally with spoken vocals which cut against the grain. B+(*) Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, March 22, 2021 Music Week
Music: Current count 35113 [35082] rated (+31), 218 [223] unrated (-5). More old music than new, again. Probably too early to call that a trend, but the relative ease of processing familiar artists was the main thing that pushed the rated count above 30 this week. Old jazz this week. Started with a friendly link to Drums Parade, which might have rated higher had I given it more time, which would have happened if I had an actual CD to look at while it played. Some good stuff there, especially toward the end. That led to Sid Catlett and Baby Dodds. I might note that The Chronological Cozy Cole 1944 is even better than the Catlett. And the reminder that most of the trad jazz albums on American Music are on Napster pointed me to New Orleans clarinetist George Lewis. I also thought I'd check out Joe Chambers' back catalog after not liking his new album, and didn't much care for the old ones either. Oh, well. By the way, I counted up Chambers' Blue Note albums for the review below, but held back from noting my guess of how many A-list albums he was on. It think that guess was 10-12, but when I checked, famous albums by Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Sam Rivers, Wayne Shorter, and McCoy Tyner fell short. Here's the actual list (all A-):
Since I'm no longer tracking new releases, I'm having some trouble finding new things I want to listen to. Some records below come from Phil Overeem, who seems to be struggling a bit himself. I doubt I'll ever manage the 7-CD Julius Hemphill box, or for that matter William Parker's 10-CD Migration of Silence Into and Out of the Tone World. (I have a promo sampler of the latter, and haven't bothered to play it yet.) More likely I will check out Peter Stampfel's 20th Century in 100 Songs, as it seems to be complete on Bandcamp (minus the "88 pages of liner notes," which is likely to make a difference). Laura's been bugging me to stream movies, especially ones that got nominated for awards. I haven't been enjoying them much, but as best I can recall, here's a graded list, consulting the Wikipedia list (also for 2021), plus a few titles I picked up from IndieWire's "50 Best Movies":
The Small Axe movies might deserve higher ratings, but they're very different, and I hedged because we didn't bother with the other three. Collectively, they're more like a limited series, which would move them into another, and more competitive, set. We haven't been to the movie theater since Bill Warren sold out his local chain (roughly a year before Covid-19 shut it down), in large part because my patience for 2-hour movies has worn thin. We watch a fair number of TV series, and I'm much happier with their pacing, character development, and story telling. I don't have any opinions on actors, except that Amanda Seyfried was good in Mank, and Gary Oldman wasn't. Note no less than three appearances for America's nemesis, J Herbert Hoover, and they were all merciless. The music films bothered me in lots of ways, but rarely for their music -- one minor exception was how Audra Day mastered Billie Holiday's tics but missed the seamless phrasing that made them seem natural. I also didn't like the treatment of Lester Young, who has a story worth exploring on its own (although hopefully not by anyone so ham-fisted). (By the way, neither point figures in Nitish Pahwa's What's fact and what's fiction in The United States vs. Billie Holiday, but if you watch the film, you'll be wondering.) I feel a bit weird about not writing Weekend Roundup any more, as my Sundays have become days of rest instead of intense pressure in such a sisyphean task. Every now and then I think of writing a standalone piece, but only pulled it off once so far. One idea that appears to have rotted on the shelf was a piece torching Keith C Burris' Two cults column. I'm not sure which is worse: the notion that because the right-wing has become a cult, anything on the left must be equally cultish; or that George Will and Barry Goldwater somehow constitute the vital center of American political thought. On the other hand, I did finally knuckle down and write a couple pages for my memoir. Not much, but a step toward restarting after February's freeze up. Also, I got my second Covid-19 vaccination last week. Still have a couple weeks until Laura gets her second. After which I hope to cook something for some long-neglected friends. I won't claim that's a return to normal, but seems like a step in the right direction. New records reviewed this week: Joe Chambers: Samba De Marcatu (2020 [2021], Blue Note): Drummer, I associate him with Blue Note albums of the late 1970s (I count 24 from 1964-69, including 9 with Bobby Hutcherson), has more than a dozen albums under his own name since 1974. By the way, he picked up vibraphone, which he overdubs here, along with various percussion instruments. One thing I don't associate him with is Brazilian (or Latin) music. Even here, it only enters as occasional whiffs (especially with the two guest vocals). B Charley Crockett: 10 for Slim: Charley Crockett Sings James Hand (2021, Son of Davy): Hand was a country singer-songwriter, died last year at 67. I sampled two of his albums, rated both high B+. Crockett is much younger, but survived his own health scare in 2019, so that may have factored in here. Or maybe he was just looking for better songs. B+(**) Rebecca Dumaine and the Dave Miller Trio: Someday, Someday (2020 [2021], Summit): Standards singer, half-dozen albums, swapped billing order with Miller's piano trio on number four. Bright voice, plenty of poise, can't say I enjoyed this particular batch of songs, but they were catchy and nicely turned out. B+(*) [cd] Michael and Peter Formanek: Dyads (2019 [2021], Out of Your Head): Famous bassist and his unknown son, playing tenor sax and clarinet, probably his first album. Something more than a nice duo album, the bass solos could stand on their own, but the extra color and shading extends interest, in this case all the way to 72:36. A- [cd] George Haslam/Joăo Madeira/Padro Catello Lopes/Mario Rua: Ajuda (2019 [2020], Slam): Tárogató, bass, percussion, drums; the title the name of the studio in Lisbon where this was recorded. Haslam, also notable as a baritone saxophonist, has a long career in the British avant-garde, thirty-some albums since 1989 (few I've heard, nearly all on this label, which Haslam owns but which has hosted dozens of other musicians). B+(***) [cd] Marcus Joseph: Beyond the Dome (2021, Jazz Re:freshed): British alto saxophonist/spoken word artist, has a previous EP. Opener is a pretty irresistible groove piece, at least once the tuba jumps in. The spoken word is neither here nor there, but I would have cut the album one track short, omitting singer Randolph Matthews' feature. B [bc] Reza Khan: Imaginary Road (2020 [2021], Painted Music): Guitarist, from Bangladesh but based in New York, sixth album, silky grooves, often augmented by other slick guitarists (Sergio Pereira, Miles Gilderdale). B- [cd] [03-26] Joăo Madeira/Hernâni Faustino: dB Duet (2020 [2021], FMR): Double bass duo, Portuguese, Faustino best known for RED Trio, Madeira has a much shorter discography starting in 2015. Sonic range is limited (as expected), but much of interest going on. B+(***) [cd] Roberto Magris & Eric Hochberg: Shuffling Ivories (2019 [2021], JMood): Italian pianist, couple dozen records since 1990, duo here with the American bassist, recorded in Chicago. Fluid, light touch, very nice. B+(**) Logan Richardson: Afrofuturism (2020, WAX Industry): Alto saxophonist, impressive FSNT debut in 2006, has been erratic since then. B [bc] Schapiro 17: Human Qualities (2020 [2021], Summit): Big band, second album, leader Jon Schapiro composed 7 (of 8) pieces, the sole cover from Ewan MacColl, but doesn't play. Roberta Piket (piano), Eddie Allen (trumpet), Deborah Weisz (trombone), and Sebastien Noelle (guitar) are among the better known musicians. Solid group. B+(**) [cd] Zoe Scott: Shades of Love (2020, Zoe Scott Music): Singer, originally from London, left for Rome, then Los Angeles, acted, sang in rock bands. Has a couple albums, this one leaning toward bossa nova, mostly Jobim and Bacharach, but also slips in Chrissie Hynde, Stevie Wonder, and Amy Winehouse ("I'm No Good). B+(*) [cd] Archie Shepp & Jason Moran: Let My People Go (2017-18 [2021], Archieball): Tenor sax and piano duo, recorded at two European festivals (Paris and Mannheim). I've lost track of the pianist since he retreated to his own label and stopped promotion, but he is secondary here anyway. High point is Shepp inching his way through gorgeous ballads (like "Lush Life"). Low point is probably his singing, but only when the spirit moves him. B+(***) [bc] Ruth Weiss: We Are Sparks in the Universe to Our Own Fire (2018 [2021], Edgetone): Beat poet, born 1928 in Berlin, died 2020. She grew up in Vienna, managed to keep one step ahead of the Nazis, moving to Amsterdam in 1938, then to America, eventually San Francisco. She has some twenty books of poetry since 1958, and several jazz albums. Fairly minimal backing, with synth, bass, wooden log, and tasty squibbles of Rent Romus sax and flute -- puts this record over the top. By the way, Romus credits George Russell with introducing him to Weiss (in 2013). A- Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Emmylou Harris and the Hot Band: Hot Night in Roslyn: 1976 Radio Broadcast Recording (1976 [2021], Hobo): She had a couple solo albums out, and most recently co-credit on Gram Parsons' posthumous Grievous Angel. Parsons provides most of the song list here, with a nod to Patsy Cline ("Sweet Dreams"), Merle Haggard ("The Bottle Let Me Down"), Chuck Berry ("C'est La Vie"), Buck Owens ("Together Again"), Hank Williams ("Jambalaya"), and others nearly as obvious. This surfaced as a bootleg in 2014, but looks to be official now. B+(***) Juju: Live at 131 Prince Street (1973 [2021], Strut): Saxophonist Plunky Nkabinde and what I take to be a mostly African group -- later known as Oneness of Juju -- including Babatunde on congas and Lon Moshe on vibraphone. The address was Ornette Coleman's gallery, and the music fits the bill. Seven long pieces (114:44), Pharoah Sanders' "Thembi" a highlight, but they're all rearkable. A- [bc] Byard Lancaster: My Pure Joy (1992 [2021], Strut): Saxophonist (1942-2012), should be better known for his 1970s work, which I think of as black power/avant-garde fusion -- an attempt to make the latter more accessible by making it more political. Starts out with flute here, backed by "Drummers From Ibadan." B+(***) [bc] Old music: Sid Catlett: The Chronological Sid Catlett 1944-1946 (1944-46 [1997], Classics): One of the great swing drummers (d. 1951 at 41), mostly leading his own groups including a quartet with Ben Webster, plus a couple tracks each led by Edmund Hall and Al Casey. Nearly everything directly under Big Sid's name, but he played with everyone from Armstrong and Henderson through Condon and Goodman and Hawkins and Young and on to Byas and Gillespie. I don't have full credits here, but Art Tatum and Barney Bigard are on the jam session opener, and Illinois Jacquet comes along later. Closes with two blues vocals and two boogie tracks. A- Joe Chambers: The Almoravid (1971-73 [1974], Muse): Drummer, first album as leader, four originals, covers of Joe Zawinul and Andrew Hill, titles rooted in Muslim world. Recorded in three sessions, only one with horns -- Woody Shaw (trumpet) and Harold Vick (flute/tenor sax). B Joe Chambers: Phantom of the City (1991 [1992], Candid): A live set at Birdland, Bob Berg (tenor sax) getting second tier type, smaller for Philip Harper (trumpet), George Cables (piano), and Santi Debriano (bass). Postbop, seven pieces stretched out, some good spots for Berg. B+(*) Joe Chambers: Mirrors (1998 [1999], Blue Note): Plays vibes as well as drums in his return to Blue Note. Some quintet tracks with Eddie Henderson (trumpet), Vincent Herring (saxes), Mulgrew Miller (piano), and Ira Coleman (bass), or subsets all the way down to solo. B+(*) Baby Dodds: Baby Dodds (1944-45 [1993], American Music): New Orleans drummer (1898-1959), brother of clarinetist Johnny Dodds, played from 1918 with Sonny Celestin, Fate Marable, and King Oliver, following Louis Armstrong through his Hot Five and Hot Seven groups. Mostly talking and drum solos -- special interest, but gives you an idea how much thought goes into his craft -- with a few group cuts interspersed. B+(*) Baby Dodds: Jazz A' La Creole (1946-47 [2000], GHB): Several sessions (some only dated "Mid 1940s"), but the 1946 trio included Albert Nicholas (clarinet) and Don Ewell (piano), and the 1947 quintet had Nicholas and James P. Johnson (piano), plus an uncredited singer (Dodds?). B+(***) [yt] Drums Parade: From New Orleans to Swing 1937/1945 (1937-45 [1997], Jazz Archives): French label used by EPM Musique for 160+ CD compilations vintage jazz released 1988-2004. I bought at least a dozen back in the day, so when I saw the link, I figured this would be fun. For what it's worth, the New Orleans cuts are few and late: two each for Baby Dodds and Zutty Singleton, all 1940 or later. The only pre-1939 cuts are two with Chick Webb. Also skips luminaries like Gene Krupa, but gives a nod to Lionel Hampton, Sid Catlett, Cozy Cole, and Jo Jones, along with some less famous names. High point: the three-track Cozy Cole sequence (two with Coleman Hawkins). Also an especially hot ending. B+(***) [yt] George Lewis: George Lewis and His New Orleans Stompers: Vol. 1 (1943 [1994], American Music): New Orleans clarinet player (1900-68), played in various bands in the 1920s but didn't record as a leader until these sessions. In the 1950s he became the most famous of New Orleans revivalists, perhaps because he got in early and never wavered. B+(***) George Lewis: George Lewis and His New Orleans Stompers: Vol. 2 (1943 [1994], American Music): Eleven pieces, but four are alternate takes, all exciting. B+(***) George Lewis: At Manny's Tavern 1949 (1949 [1994], American Music): Credits include cornet, two trumpets, and a second clarinet player (Bill Shea), with Lewis also switching to alto sax. B+(***) George Lewis: Hello Central . . . Give Me Doctor Jazz (1953 [2001], Delmark): Radio shot from San Francisco, the clarinetist leading a septet with trumpet (Kid Howard), trombone (Jim Robinson), piano (Alton Purnell), banjo, bass, and drums. B+(**) George Lewis: The Beverly Caverns Sessions, Vol. 2 (1953 [1996], Good Time Jazz): I've long considered the previous volume, from the same Hollywood club, to be Lewis' pinnacle, but these are hardly sloppy seconds. Same septet, classic tunes, as buoyant as ever. Kid Howard and Joe Watkins each get a vocal. A- George Lewis With George Guesnon's New Orleans Band: Endless the Trek, Endless the Search (1962 [1997], American Music): New Orleans trad jazz, shows its roots in old marching bands without getting mired. With Kid Thomas (trumpet), Jim Robinson (trombone), banjo (Guesnon), bass, and drums. A- George Lewis: At Castle Farm 1964 (1964 [2001], American Music): Relatively late, showing signs of slowing down. Ends with the classics. B+(**) Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, March 15, 2021 Music Week
Music: Current count 35082 [35047] rated (+35), 223 [228] unrated (-5). Music Week is mostly a function of time, so I should be able to knock these out every Monday, as long as I spend any time listening to new or previously unrated music. That habit persists, although I'm not working nearly as hard at searching out new records. Indeed, I only rarely bother to add things to the tracking file, and I'm not following metacritic ratings at all. In theory, this gives me more time to work on other projects, but that hasn't worked out very well so far. I did finally write a possible first page for the memoir, but even after turning the lines over in my mind for weeks, I have no feel for how good or bad it is. Seems like I don't have much feel for anything these days. Life's a chore, making it all the harder to get anything done. Took me 30 minutes tonight just to change a light bulb. (Curses on whoever invented G10 sockets! Next time a bulb burns out, I'm replacing the fixture -- and the dimmer, because it won't work with new fixtures.) Still have to do laundry tonight, and the dryer door latch is broken, so that'll be a lot more work than it should be. (Something else I need to fix, but have you ever tried ordering replacement parts?) And those are just among the little things. Probably my fault that I don't have anything new I really recommend. (In Layers is probably the best of this week's jazz albums.) But the week hasn't been a complete waste. Still scrounging the bottom of the reggae barrel, and finding a few notable albums. New records reviewed this week: Baker's Brew: New Works (2020 [2021], Psychosomatic, 2CD): Los Angeles experimental jazz group led by drummer Maury Baker, whose side credits date back to Janis Joplin and "played with" list includes Scott LaFaro (d. 1961), as well as the band Ars Nova. Second album under this name. First disc is "New Jazz Works"; second "New Electronic Works." I rather prefer the latter, although it doesn't sound very electronic. Maybe because the former doesn't sound very jazzy. B+(*) [cd] Dan Blake: Da Fé (2019 [2021], Sunnyside): Saxophonist (soprano/tenor), half-dozen albums since 2011, postbop quintet with two keyboard players (Carmen Staaf and Leo Genovese), bass, and drums. Runs impressively fast and loose, but not the most appealing sound. B+(**) Jakob Bro/Arve Henriksen/Jorge Rossy: Uma Elmo (2020 [2021], ECM): Norwegian guitarist, albums since 2003, fifth on ECM, trio with trumpet and drums. Atmospheric, not much beyond the trumpet. B Ian Charleton Big Band: A Fresh Perspective (2020 [2021], none): Conventional 17-piece big band, the leader composed four songs, arranged the rest, but isn't credited as playing (seems to have originally been a saxophonist). Second album. Nothing new, but well done. Emily Charleton joins for two vocals -- I especially liked her "Everything I've Got." B+(***) [cd] [03-16] Pat Donaher: Occasionally (2020 [2021], none): Alto saxophonist, also a yogi, based in Boston, Bob Brookmeyer protégé, fourth album, lush and vibrant postbop sextet with Jason Palmer (trumpet), Carmen Staaf (piano), guitar, bass, and drums. B+(**) [cd] [04-09] Satoko Fujii: Hazuki: Piano Solo (2020 [2021], Libra): Japanese avant-pianist, tons of records since 1995, cut this solo at home in Kobe during lockdown. No idea how many solo albums she has -- certainly fewer than Keith Jarrett or Cecil Taylor, but I'm not sure about anyone else. By her standards, we'll call this "contemplative." B+(***) [cd] [03-19] In Layers: Pliable (2018 [2020], FMR): Free jazz quartet: Luis Vicente (trumpet), Marcelo Dos Reis (guitar), Kristján Martinsson (piano), Onno Govaert (drums). Nice balance, Vicente continues to impress. B+(***) [cd] Lukas Ligeti: That Which Has Remaindd . . . That Which Will Emerge . . . (2015 [2021], Col Legno): Percussionist, also electronics, son of famed Hungarian composer Gyorgy Ligeti, studied in Vienna and South Africa, teaches in Los Angeles, widely scattered projects since 1991. This one was the result of a residency at the POLIN Museum in Warsaw, a meditation on the Holocaust. I can't much follow the singer (Barbara Kinga Majewska), so I'm missing that whole dimension. B+(**) [cd] [03-26] Hafez Modirzadeh: Facets (2018-19 [2021], Pi): No Wikipedia entry -- seems like a pretty big omission. Born in North Carolina (1962), Iranian descent (if memory serves), Professor of Creative/World Music at San Francisco State, has developed the idea of "chromodal discourse," which is the basis of this and other works. Plays tenor sax, in duets with three pianists (Kris Davis, Tyshawn Sorey, and Craig Taborn). B+(***) [cd] Ben Monder/Tony Malaby/Tom Rainey: Live at the 55 Bar (2020 [2021], Sunnyside): Guitar-sax-drums trio, recorded last March just before lockdown, a piece called "Suite 3320" (3 parts, 61:35). I've never thought of Monder as a free player, but evidently he's had an association with Malaby for some time, playing with various drummers. Good luck this particular night. B+(***) Gary Negbaur: You've Got to Be Carefully Taught (2020 [2021], BluJazz): Pianist-singer, wrote 3 (of 10) songs, covers include the Rodgers & Hammerstein title song about bigotry ("to hate all the people your relatives hate") and two from Lennon-McCartney. B+(*) [cd] Reggie Quinerly: New York Nowhere (2020 [2021], Redefinition): Drummer, from Houston, studied at Juilliard and wound up teaching there. Fourth album since 2012, postbop quintet with trumpet (Antoine Drye), tenor sax (John Ellis), piano (John Chin), and bass. B+(*) [cd] Jason Ringenberg: Rhinestoned (2021, Courageous Chicken): Former front-man of 1980s country-rock band Jason & the Scorchers, cut a solo album in 1992, but didn't get serious about it until 2000, and often as not called himself Farmer Jason. I didn't notice much of that until his terrific 2019 album, Stand Tall. The best parts here are comparable, and it's a good sign that they are all originals (e.g., "The Freedom Rides Weren't Free"). On the other hand, he might reconsider his covers (starting with "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today"). B+(**) Charlie Sepúlveda: Charlie Sepülveda & the Turnaround (2020 [2021], HighNote): Trumpet player, from the Bronx, cousin of Eddie Palmieri. Hot Latin jazz group plus a roster of special guests, including Steve Turre and Miguel Zenon. B+(**) [cd] [03-26] Jim Snidero: Live at the Deer Head Inn (2020 [2021], Savant): Alto saxophonist, many albums since 1989, this one billed as his first live album since then, a "safe, limited-audience gig at Pennsylvania's famed Deer Head Inn." Quartet leans retro -- Orrin Evans (piano), Peter Washington (bass), Joe Farnsworth (drums) -- and the program is all standards, from "Now's the Time" to "Old Man River." B+(**) [cd] [03-26] Steve Swell: The Center Will Hold (2019 [2020], Not Two): Trombonist, cover adds a "featuring Andrew Cyrille," but doesn't mention Jason Kao Hwang (violin), Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello), Robert Boston (piano/organ), or Ariel Bart (harmonica). Strings are a little squelchy here, but the free trombone is superb. B+(***) Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Derek Bailey/Mototeru Takagi: Live at FarOut, Atsugi 1987 (1987 [2020], NoBusiness): Guitar and soprano sax duets. Bailey (1932-2005) was a major figure in the English avant-garde, with a vast discography I've barely sampled and never made much of. This seems typical of his abstract scratch. Takagi (1941-2002) has at least a dozen albums, from 1971 on, mostly playing tenor sax. B+(**) [cd] Irene Mawela: The Best of the SABC Years (1982-88 [2019], Umsakazo): South African singer, active from the late 1950s to recent, but her name is usually buried in vocal groups, some as legendary as Dark City Sisters and Mahotella Queens. Twenty-two easy going transcriptions of radio shots. B+(***) Old music: Bob Andy: Bob Andy's Songbook (1966-68 [1970], Studio One): Reggae singer-songwriter Keith Anderson (1944-2020), a founder of the Paragons. First album, actually a compilation of early Studio One singles. "I've Got to Go Back Home" is the one I know best from Tougher Than Tough, but all 12 songs have a gentle, knowing flow, and many have terrific sax refrains. A- Ken Boothe: Mr. Rock Steady (1968, Studio One): The Jamaican hitmaker's first album, lays his claim to the new style, with bigger hits to follow. I rarely like Jamaican covers of American soul hits, but his "Mustang Sally" is terrific. B+(**) Dillinger: CB 200 (1976, Mango): Lester Bullock, started as a DJ, emerged as a toaster, gangsta name suggested by Lee Perry. Early album, probably his second, had a hit with "Kokane on My Brain." A- [yt] Don Drummond: Jazz Ska Attack 1964 (1964 [1999], Jet Set): Trombone player for the Skatalites, credited as "backing band" here, but Drummond (1932-69) is credited with writing all 20 pieces, recorded at Treasure Isle and produced by Duke Reid. B+(**) Clancy Eccles: Freedom: The Anthology (1967-73 [2005], Trojan, 2CD): More reknowned as a producer and entrepreneur than as a singer-songwriter, although his name claims or shares the artist credit on more than half of these 50 singles -- Eccles has no albums, just a few compilations -- and I recognize few of the other names. Has enough moments that a single-CD edit would rate a bit higher, but still seem minor. B+(*) Alton Ellis: The Best of Alton Ellis (1968-69 [1969], Studio One): Genre-defining rocksteady star, singles start around 1962, but I can't date anything here before 1968 -- Discogs credits him with 19 singles in 1968, so there's a lot more where these came from, and many more years -- he recorded regularly into the 1990s, and died in 2008. B+(**) The Maytals: Never Grow Old: Presenting the Maytals (1962-63 [1997], Heartbeat): Vocal trio, with Raleigh Gordon and Jerry Mathias flanking soon-to-be-leader Toots Hibbert. Early tracks, not quite together although the organ points the way. Reissue adds four terrific bonus tracks, starting with their fully formed "Six and Seven Books of Moses." B+(***) Jackie Mittoo: Now (1970, Studio One): Jamaican keyboard player, hooked up with Coxsone Dodd while still in his teens, recording "thousands of tunes," many with their house band, the Skatalites. Plays organ here, mostly groove-steady instrumentals, Skatalites minus horns. B+(**) Scientist: Scientist Meets the Space Invaders (1981, Greensleeves): King Tubby protégé Hopeton Overton Brown, proclaimed himself Heavyweight Dub Champion in 1980, and went on to orchestrate dozens of mythic battles, encounters, and jams, of which this is one of the more legendary, although it feels like something he could do dozens of times. B+(***) Scientist: Scientist Rids the World of the Evil Curse of Vampires (1981, Greensleeves): More dub themes, titles add werewolves, zombies, and "Ghost of Frankenstein" to the vampire mix. Roots Radics plays, the bass gets deeper, and while I've already forgotten what the vocal was about, it was a highlight track (not that I recall which one). A- Scientist: Scientist Encounters Pac-Man (1982, Greensleeves): Not sure what "Pac-Man" signifies here -- not a collaborator, and not likely anything related to the video game, but the cartoons on the cover suggest some kind of menace. Seems like his average album. B+(**) Scientist: Scientist Wins the World Cup (1982 [2002], Greensleeves): Original album offered 10 untitled tracks, later grouped as "Ten Dangerous Matches," with the addition of five "Extra Time" and one "Golden Goal." B+(**) Scientist/Hempress Sativa: Scientist Meets Hempress Sativa in Dub (2018, Conquering Lion): Latter is Kerida Johnson, who has a previous (2016) album, Unconquerebel. She provides a center for his dub early on, although my favorite cut is Ranking Joe's feature on the closer. B+(***) Sizzla: Bobo Ashanti (2000, Greensleeves): Dancehall star Miguel Collins, debut 1995, prolific since them. After 10 albums in 5 years, thinking rastafari here. B+(**) Skatalites: Ska Authentic, Vol. 1 (1967, Studio One): Hype sheet describes these as "solid tracks," which is exactly right. B+(**) [bc] Skatalites: Ska Authentic, Volume 2 (1970, Studio One): Occurs to me that these compilations were recorded over multiple years, but I'm only identifying when they originally came out. More ace grooves, occasionally developed into memorable songs, always with their crack horn section. B+(***) [bc] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, March 8, 2021 Music Week
Music: Current count 35047 [35005] rated (+42), 228 [236] unrated (-8). I don't feel like writing much, but have a bunch of things to run through, so let's make it quick. I finally did the indexing on February Streamnotes, so that's out of the way. Only added 74 albums in February, way down from 273 in January. I expected to cut back after a record-setting 2020, but not that much. I wound up only posting two Music Weeks in February. Illness and injury had much to do with that, but the last week didn't post until March 1, after I had gerrymandered January to leave nothing. I still haven't moved on to any of the projects I anticipated for 2021, but did make a modest first step in adding the final Weekend Roundups to my compilation of Trump era notebooks/blog posts. You can download a copy, still using its working title: The Last Days of the American Empire IV: Extracts From a Notebook (2017-2021). Beware that it runs 2,750 pages (1,027,184 words), including an Appendix of earlier Trump-specific posts. Also, it's in ODT format, so you'd need a word processor to browse it -- I recommend the free LibreOffice package, but others should work as well. The title is a leftover from my first compilation of poltical posts, on the Bush-Cheney years (2001-2009). Early in those years there was much bluster about America as an empire, but even then it was clear that the exertion of power against unimpressive militaries but unconquerable nations like Afghanistan and Iraq would fatally erode the post-Cold War assumptions of the neocons. By 2009 the debacle was essentially complete, but Obama came not to bury Caesar but to rationalize him, as if a smarter War on Terror would end differently. Obama's folly was such that I kept adding to the title, writing as much on his first term as I had written on eight years of Bush-Cheney, and writing a bit more on Obama's second term. One clear lesson of America's "endless war" machine since 1945 is that while it is hard to claim anything plausibly resembling a victory, it's much easier to delay and deny defeat -- which is what matters most to politicians. All it takes is deliberate self-deception, lot of money, and sheer contempt for the lives of others. For all his supposed brains, Obama turned out to be as naively deluded as any of his predecessors. If the title seems less appropriate to Trump's years, that's partly because the damage his "America First" strategies did to America's reputation in the world seems paltry compared to the threat he posed to the Republic. Also, it's unclear how much of Trump's legacy will be quickly reversed and forgotten, and how much will haunt us well into the future. What I am certain of is that the only way Biden's "America's Back" reset works is the US starts working alongside the world instead of against it (as Trump was wont to do). But what could (and should) happen in US foreign policy is a different writing chore. What Trump did is history, even if it seems more incredible. Next step would be to sift through that file and see if I can come up with a short but still worthwhile version -- although choices over length and utility are likely to be personal and arbitrary, so I'm not especially hopeful. I can only say that when I go back to those old writings -- and there are three previous volumes (one on Bush, two on Obama) that aren't much shorter than the Trump tome -- I'm frequently impressed by the depth of information, coherency of argument, and even the quality of the writing. I dare say most people could learn a thing or two there. But will they? I also updated a file with my occasional notes on things other than politics and music. I doubt it's of any interest to anyone other than myself. I was looking for fragments of memoir, but didn't find much. I had written a few dozen pages some while back, and lost them among the crashes. Fortunately, it's mostly from memory, and I still have a fairly good command of that. Listened to a lot of old reggae last week, following the recent deaths of U-Roy and Bunny Wailer. I've been playing the latter's Crucial! a lot recently, so bumping the grade up a notch was the right thing to do. I've been working off a Mojo list of The 50 Greatest Reggae Albums, which strikes me as skewed toward instrumentals and dub, but identified a few holes to plug. One thing I'm especially happy about is knocking off two previously U-graded Big Youth albums: I found Progress on LP, and A Reggae Collection on CD. Finding anything around here always seems like a major victory. None of these records are rating super-high on my all-time list (as can be seen from my reggae grade list). Best choice if you're a neophyte is still the 4-CD box set, Tougher Than Tough: The Story of Jamaican Music. I've been referring back to it regularly over the last months. Got a first COVID-19 vaccination last week. Laura's is scheduled for Wednesday. I went to the former library downtown, but with Laura's lack of mobility, we'll try the drive-through (which has been harder to schedule, not that mine was easy). New records reviewed this week: Albare: Albare Plays Jobim Vol. 2 (2020 [2021], Alfi): Guitarist Albert Dadon, Australian tycoon though born in Morocco and grew up in Israel and France, has released albumsm since 1992, including his previous Albare Plays Jobim in 2020. B+(*) [cd] Cowboys & Frenchmen: Our Highway (2020 [2021], Outside In Music): New York-based group, two saxophonists (Owen Broder and Ethan Helm), piano (Addison Frei), bass, and drums. Group name from a David Lynch name, but with more cowboys. Third album. The saxes make a strong initial impression, but then the flutes come out, and more postbop doldrums follow. B+(*) [cd] The Dynamic Les DeMerle Band Featuring Bonnie Eisele: Hot Night in Venice: Live at the Venice Jazz Club (2020 [2021], Origin): Drummer, sings some, reminds me in that regard of Louis Prima, more so when he brings his better half out a third of the way in: second third of the set features Eisele, and both sing toward the end. All standards, most obscure is the funniest ("Woe Is Me"). No horns. They've had hotter nights. B+(*) [cd] Yelena Eckemoff: Adventures of the Wildflower (2019 [2021], L&H Production, 2CD): Russian pianist, classical training, came to US in 1991 and switched to jazz, has a substantial catalogue since 2010, original compositions, last two albums doubles. She recorded this one in Finland with local musicians, trio plus spots for guitar, sax, and/or vibes. B+(**) [cd] [03-19] Elephant9: Arrival of the New Elders (2020 [2021], Rune Grammofon): Norwegian fusion band, ninth album since 2008, members: Stĺle Storlřkken (keyboards), Nikolai Hćngsle (bass/guitar), Torstein Lofthus (drums). B+(**) Frank Gratkowski/Achim Kaufmann/Wilbert de Joode/Tony Buck: Flatbosc & Cautery (2018 [2020], NoBusiness): Free improv: alto sax (plus clarinets/flutes), piano, bass, drums. Can get noisy, but pianist is heroic both as alternate lead and support, and the bassist goes a long way toward holding it together. A- [cd] Doug MacDonald Duo: Toluca Lake Jazz (2020 [2021], Doug MacDonald Music): Guitarist, albums since 1981 but more frequently of late, with Harvey Newmark on bass, adding depth without making himself conspicuous -- the effect is much like a solo guitar album, but sounds a bit better. Nice mix of MacDonald originals and overs -- "These Foolish Things" is especially tasty. B+(**) [cd] Sana Nagano: Smashing Humans (2020 [2021], 577): Violinist, from Tokyo, moved to Oregon as an exchange student, studied at Memphis and Berklee, based in New York, first album, with Peter Apfelbaum (tenor sax), Keisuke Matsuno (guitars), Ken Filiano (bass), and Joe Hertenstein (drums). B+(***) [cd] [03-19] Charlie Porter: Hindsight (2020 [2021], OA2): Trumpet player, third album, all originals, two with lyrics (sung by Jimmie Herrod, plus a rap by Rasheed Jamal and a cut with Hallowed Halls Gospel choir. Various lineups, built around a piano trio led by Orrin Evans. B [cd] Idit Shner: Live at the Jazz Station (2019 [2021], OA2): Alto saxophonist, based in Oregon, juggles jazz and classical repertoires with several albums in each. This is jazz, backed by piano trio, the band contributing a song each (two for pianist Torrey Newhart). B+(**) [cd] John Stowell/Dan Dean: Rain Painting (2018-20 [2021], Origin): Jazz guitarist, couple dozen albums since 1977, this a duo where Dean is credited with "vocals, fretless acoustic bass guitar, electric & fretless electric basses, percussion, drum programming." The vocals, mostly scat, are the problem. B [cd] Theo Walentiny: Looking Glass (2020 [2021], self-released): Pianist, from New Jersey, based in Brooklyn, first album, solo, all original pieces/improvs. Several impressive stretches. B+(*) [cd] [04-02] Chris White/Lara Driscoll: Firm Roots (2020 [2021], Firm Roots): Piano duets; Driscoll from Chicago, released an album I liked last year; White from Toronto (although Discogs attributes this album to a British saxophonist of same name) but now based in Chicago. five original pieces plus four covers, including Walton and Silver. B+(**) [cd] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Don Cherry: Cherry Jam (1965 [2021], Gearbox, EP): Plays cornet here, already famous as part of Ornette Coleman's Quartet but didn't step out as a leader until 1965. Four tracks, 22:24, cut in Copenhagen with a pick up quintet: tenor sax (Mogens Bollerup), piano (Atli Bjřrn), bass (Benny Nielsen), drums (Simon Koppel). All nice. B+(*) [os] Old music: Big Youth: Dreadlocks Dread (1975, Klik): Jamaican toaster Manley Buchanan, his 1972 debut Screaming Target is the definitive classic of the style. Tony Robinson produced this follow up, the riddims seductive but understated, as are the toasts, which tail off toward the end. B+(***) Big Youth: Natty Cultural Dread (1976, Trojan): Sings more here, not much of a ballad voice although he's enough of a weirdo to get away with most of it. Exception: a pop ditty I wish I could unhear. B Big Youth: Hit the Road Jack (1976, Trojan): Starts with four covers: "What's Going On?"; "Hit the Road Jack"; "Wake Up Everybody"; "Get Up Stand Up." Nothing terribly interesting there, although he has much more feel for Marley than for Gaye. Rest is his improvisational toasting/singing mix, impressive when he finds his groove, but he's not his best producer. B+(*) [yt] Big Youth: Isaiah First Prophet of Old (1978, Negusa Nagast): Seems to have rounded off his rough edges without losing his faith. B+(**) Big Youth: Progress (1979, Negusa Negast): Rasta is real, but few prophets/entertainers have enjoyed themselves more in its service. A- [lp] Big Youth: A Reggae Collection (1973-80 [1992], Essex Entertainment): Best-of, roughly equivalent to Trojan's 1980 Everyday Skank (Best of Big Youth), repeating 9 songs (of 15), but I happen to have picked up this one somewhere along the way. Still, no best-of matches Screaming Target (1972), but if you want more I'd suggest Blood & Fire's 3-CD Natty Universal Dread 1973-1979, or maybe Trojan's 2-CD Ride Like Lightning: The Best of Big Youth 1972-1976. Still: A- [cd] Big Youth: The Chanting Dread Inna Fine Style (1973-82 [1982], Heartbeat): Compilation, second on label following 1981's Some Great Big Youth, not much info on when these tracks were recorded, but they were licensed from Negusa Nagast, and they get the general vibe right, albeit modestly. B+(***) Big Youth: Live at Reggae Sunsplash (1982 [1984], Sunsplash): Live, skips through a decade of material, with a light touch that lets' him flow. Wish he'd skipped "Every Ni**er Is a Star," but it fades quickly as he reverts to rasta roots revival, and after the band is introduced to "Roll River Jordan," his last pop shot ("Hit the Road Jack") climaxes on schedule. B+(**) [yt] Big Youth: A Luta Continua (1984 [1985], Heartbeat): The struggle continues, the music getting easier while the inspiration gets harder. Still, not a bad balance. B+(**) Big Youth: Manifestation (1988, Heartbeat): Seems like a perfectly average album, which at this stage could be taken as decline. Still love the riddim. B+(*) Big Youth: Higher Grounds (1995, VP): His discography thins out after 1988, aside from this and another album in 1995 and another in 2006. Still, this is a pretty solid effort, unlikely to be mistaken for anyone else. B+(*) Dr. Alimantado: Best Dressed Chicken in Town (1973-76 [1978], Greensleeves): Winston Thompson, Jamaican toaster, producer and DJ, first (and most famous) album, various singers (two for Gregory Isaacs) and engineers (including Upsetter and King Tubby). B+(***) Eek-a-Mouse: Wa-Do-Dem (1981 [1982], Greensleeves): Jamaican singer Ripton Hylton, second album. Playful name, playful vocals, starting with the nonsense title rhyme. B+(***) Joe Gibbs & the Professionals: African Dub All-Mighty (1975, Joe Gibbs Record Globe): Jamaican producer, studied electronics, started with a repair shop, built it into a sound system, hired a band, and cut hundreds of hit records. Cover is ambiguous here, with "Solid Gold," and "a Joe Gibbs production" also appearing, but credit is usually as stated. Instrumental pieces, tight, crunchy grooves. B+(***) Joe Gibbs & the Professionals: African Dub All-Mighty Chapter 2 (1976, Joe Gibbs Record Globe): B+(***) Joe Gibbs & the Professionals: African Dub All-Mighty Chapter 3 (1978, Joe Gibbs Record Globe): Some vocals here. I don't see the credit, and it may not matter, because they're more like cheers, mixed in with other special effects. A- Joe Gibbs & the Professionals: African Dub Chapter 4 (1979, Joe Gibbs Music): "All-Mighty" no longer evident on the cover, although some sources still claim it. Omission probably not an admission that this is the first "Chapter" to feel like they're going through the motions. B+(**) Joe Gibbs & the Professionals: African Dub Chapter Five (1984, Joe Gibbs Music): More, more, more. B+(**) Marcia Griffiths: Naturally (1978, Shanachie): Jamaican singer, started with Byron Lee in 1964, sang backup and duets with Bob Marley, whose backup singers recorded as the I Threes. Second solo album, nice voice over classic riddim, but only standout song is "Melody Life." B+(**) The Heptones: Cool Rasta (1976, Trojan): Jamaican vocal trio, one of the first groups picked up by Island/Mango for US release, but didn't have much kick. By the time Night Food (1973) appeared in the US, they tried something more roots/rasta, but it still came out rather smooth. B+(*) Bunny Wailer: Protest (1978, Island): Second album, like his debut Blackheart Man picked up by Island in US/UK, but has never been as well-regarded -- I missed it even when I was writing the Rolling Stone Record Guide entry on Bunny. Some kind of pop move, betraying its title with soft funk, and reprising his "Johnny Too Bad" as bubblegum. B Bunny Wailer: Struggle (1979, Solomonic): Jamaica-only album, prime political anthems although one could quibble that he sees his struggle against "the old dragon" (aka Lucifer) as opposed to more mundane sources of injustice. Five (of seven) songs repeat on Crucial! Roots Classics, which is the one you want. Without that alternative, I could have graded this higher. The other two songs are pretty good, except I could do without the "unborn children" line. A- Bunny Wailer: Rock 'n' Groove (1981, Solomonic): Politics may be a higher calling, but dancehall pays the bills. And he delivers as advertised. B+(***) [yt] Bunny Wailer: Tribute (1981, Solomonic): Bunny Wailer Sings the Wailers reclaimed the group's early songs, mostly his own, with scant reference to Bob Marley, whose became a huge star after Bunny and Peter Tosh left. But with Marley dying in 1981, Bunny knocked off this quickie, with seven of Marley's most famous songs. Not sure we need the extra versions. B+(**) [yt] Bunny Wailer: Time Will Tell: A Tribute to Bob Marley (1981 [1990], Shanachie): The label started carrying Bunny's albums in 1983, starting with an augmented reissue of In I Father's House (new title: Roots Radics Rockers Reggae). This is another, reissuing Bunny's Bob Marley Tribute plus two cuts, presumably (not that I'm sure) from the same sessions. "Bellyfull" is nothing special, but "Rebel Music" is. B+(***) [yt] Bunny Wailer: Marketplace (1985, Shanachie): "The more we live together/the irier we shall be." B+(*) Bunny Wailer: Liberation (1989, Shanachie): Lots of words on the cover -- one of the ways he's found to make his political points without compromising his dancehall groove. Not what I'd call an ideal synthesis, but has some merit. B+(**) [yt] Grade (or other) changes: Bunny Wailer: Crucial! Roots Classics (1979-82 [1994], Shanachie): Neville Livingston claimed the Wailers' spirit even as he left the group to Bob Marley. Still, I've been playing this compilation a lot more recently than I have anything by Marley, not just because it delivers on its subtitle, but because this may be the most inspiring political music ever recorded. Also because the earworms are irresistible. Bunny just died, at 73, so let's give him his due. [was: A] A+ Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, March 1, 2021 Music Week
Music: Current count 35005 [34967] rated (+38), 236 [249] unrated (-13). Last week I speculated that I might nudge this week's Music Week up a day to fit it into February. Of course, it could have been that I was in no mood to wrap up February Streamnotes. (I certainly wasn't.) However, my post on Tom Cotton's Big Plan chewed up all my time on Sunday. Then it occurred to me that February was a wasted month anyway, so why not cut my losses and get a fresh start on March. It was easy enough to move this week's reviews forward. And I can still postpone the wrap up bookkeeping a few days, so no pressure there. I did make a dent in the new CD queue this week, but still quite a lot to get to there. Admittedly, didn't find much I liked there. Also my attempts at streaming new non-jazz (Willie Nelson, The Hold Steady, Slowthai) were also disappointing, so my only solid recommendations below are old music. I started the week listening to more records by the late Jamaican toaster U-Roy (including two recommended by Clifford Ocheltree), then stumbled onto some more reggae I felt like playing. After floundering around a bit, I decided to look for an expert list, and found this one on Mojo: The 50 Greatest Reggae Albums. I'm not sure it's a very good list, but it gave me some ideas to follow up on. I feel like sticking with it for a while. My own interest in reggae started in the 1970s, when I got on Island's promo list (although I may have had some earlier). Over the years, I've listened to a fair amount (although there's plenty more I haven't gotten to). The reggae albums were just the push I needed to lift the rated count over 35,000. I was surprised to see that happen this week, but it's a big, round number I've been closing in on, so was just a matter of time before I would hit it. Not something I have to think about any more. One thing I am tempted to think about is Chuck Eddy's 150 Best Albums of 1976. That was the year before I moved to New York, when Don Malcolm and I were planning out Terminal Zone, when my view of the rock world was at its most idealistic. My years in New York were richer in life experiences, and probably in music, but 1976 was when I started to feel like I really knew something. Worth noting that Eddy's top two records are probably mine as well: Have Moicy! and Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band. Also that at the time I used to figure I had to have at least one mainstream rock band in my top ten, and he has the year's two best: Blue Oyster Cult's Agents of Fortune (5) and Bob Seger's Night Moves (7). I can't imagine I'll ever warm to Aerosmith or Thin Lizzy or Boston or Crack the Sky or Heart, but I should track down some of his disco obscurities, especially as others are prominent on my list (and we share Silver Convention's Madhouse). Personal fave I'm surprised to see here is Michael Mantler's The Hapless Child and Other Inscrutable Stories (114). Lawrence Ferlinghetti died last week, at 101. Seems like just yesterday we were touting his 101st birthday, so I'm still more in the mode of celebrating his life than mourning his death. There was a day (many decades ago) when I read a lot of poetry, and he was the North Star everyone else rotated around. New records reviewed this week: Franco Ambrosetti Band: Lost Within You (2020 [2021], Unit): Trumpet/flugelhorn player, from Switzerland, debut in 1965, father was a saxophonist (both played with George Gruntz). Group with John Scofield (guitar), Scot Colley (bass), Jack DeJohnette (drums), and either Renee Rosnes or Uri Caine (or DeJohnette) on piano. B+(**) [cd] Emmet Cohen: Future Stride (2021, Mack Avenue): Pianist, debut 2011, has taken to looking back recently, with four Masters Legacy Series volumes and a mostly-Fats Waller joint called Dirty in Detroit (with glances toward Monk and Cedar Walton). This is a mix of oldies and original reflections thereon, mostly trio (Russell Hall and Kyle Poole), with Marquis Hill (trumpet) on four tracks, plus Melissa Aldana (tenor sax) on three of them. B+(**) Randal Despommier: Dio C'č (2019 [2021], Outside In Music): Alto saxophonist, from Louisiana, debut album, co-produced by Jimmy Haslip. Title track is a hymn, but with vocals sounds more like a displaced Christmas song. I didn't like it at all, but the instrumental pieces are nice enough. B [cd] Yoav Eshed/Lex Korten/Massimo Biolcati/Jongkuk Kim: A Way Out (2019 [2021], Sounderscore): Israeli guitarist, based in New York, several albums since 2013, backed by piano, bass, and drums. Nice enough. B+(*) [cd] Futari: Beyond (2019 [2021], Libra): Duo, Taiko Saito (vibraphone) and Satoko Fujii (piano), mostly the latter's compositions. B+(*) [cd] The Hold Steady: Open Door Policy (2021, Positive Jams): Craig Finn's post-Lifter Puller group, eighth album since 2004, Tad Kubler (guitar) and Galen Polivka (bass) constants since the group's founding, while Finn has recorded a few solo albums. Something slightly off about the sound here, but the songs are deeply observant -- I doubt anyone else writes more third-person songs about women. B+(**) Ethan Iverson/Umbria Jazz Orchestra: Bud Powell in the 21st Century (2018 [2021], Sunnyside): Pianist, "Do the Math" blogger, has another big project called "MONK@100," so seems to be focusing on roots recently. Half originals, one Monk tune, the rest from Powell, played by Italian big band horns arrayed aroud an all-star quintet: Ingrid Jensen (trumpet), Dayna Stephens (tenor sax), Ben Street (bass), Lewis Nash (drums). Not sure why I'm not more impressed. Maybe what was radical in 1950 is old hat today? B+(**) Jazz Worms: Squirmin' (2017 [2021], Capri): Denver quintet -- Ron Miles (cornet) and Keith Oxman (tenor sax) are the best known, with Andy Weyl (piano), Mark Simon (bass), and Paul Romaine (drums) -- cut a debut record in 1987, regrouped here for a pretty straightforward 30th anniversary bash. B+(*) [cd] Andy LaVerne: Rhapsody (2021, SteepleChase): Pianist, several dozen albums since 1976, played with Stan Getz 1977-79, someone I clearly haven't payed enough attention to (my one database record is 1993's A- First Tango in New York). Quartet with Zach Brock (violin), Mike Richmond (bass/cello), and Jason Tiemann (drums). B+(**) Johan Lindström Septett: On the Asylum (2020 [2021], Moserobie): Swedish guitarist, also plays "pedal steel and more, group includes saxophonists Per Texas Johansson and Jonas Kullhammar, trombone, organ/piano, bass and drums, plus "special guests" -- Elvis Costello snuck in a lyric, which started the album off in a hole. B+(*) [cd] Shai Maestro: Human (2020 [2021], ECM): Israeli pianist, sixth album, second for ECM, previous one a trio with Jorge Roeder (bass) and Ofri Nehemya (drums), this one adds Philip Dizack on trumpet. B+(*) Meridian Odyssey: Second Wave (2020 [2021], Origin): Seattle musicians at one point, since scattered but reconvened in Alaska to record this group album: Santosh Sharma (tenor sax), Martin Budde (guitar), Dylan Hayes (keyboard), Ben Feldman (bass), Xavier Lecouturier (drums). All five contribute songs, tightly wound postbop. B+(*) [cd] Willie Nelson: That's Life (2021, Legacy): A second volume of Frank Sinatra songs, following 2018's My Way, same producers (Buddy Cannon and Matt Rollings), feels like leftovers, or just an afterthought. I've never quite bought the notion that there even is a "Sinatra songbook" -- he worked the same songs many others did, and while he had an exceptional knack, few strike me as being exclusively his (one here is "Luck Be a Lady"). Nelson can also be a pretty great interpretive singer, but not in the same way, and their hyped association doesn't amount to much more than famous people are conscious of one another. This album's duet partner is Diana Krall, who should be a step up from Norah Jones, but when you queue up "I Won't Dance," the one that's stuck in my head is by Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. B Larry Newcomb Quartet: Love, Dad (2020 [2021], Essential Messenger): Guitarist, Bucky Pizzarelli a mentor, third album since 2015 although he's old enough to have three songs, including featured bassist Jake Newcomb. Quartet adds Thomas Royal (piano) and Dave Marsh (drums). Six originals, but the covers stand out more, especially the closing "The Song Is You." B+(*) [cd] Grete Skarpeid: Beyond Other Stories (2018 [2021], Origin): Singer-songwriter, from Norway, has a degree in Music Therapy, second album, recorded in New York, produced by pianist Aruán Ortiz, with Rob Waring (vibes), Cameron Brown (bass), and Gerald Cleaver (drums). Originals take a while to sink in, but her cover of "My Favorite Things" leaps out. B+(**) [cd] Slowthai: Tyron (2021, Method): British rapper Tyron Frampton, debut the memorably titled Nothing Great About Britain, sophomore effort just another of many times rappers have name-checked their given names. Organized as two discs, but they only add up to 35:17. B+(*) Yuma Uesaka/Cat Toren/Colin Hinton: Ocelot (2019 [2021], 577): Young Brooklyn-based trio, reeds/piano/drums; Uesaka has a debut out in January, a duo with Marilyn Crispell, while Toren's first record dropped last year. This is a quiet record, with an understated strength, the pianist most impressive. B+(***) [cd] [03-26] Rodney Whitaker With the Christ Church Cranbrook Choir: Cranbrook Christmas Jazz (2020 [2021], Origin): Release date Jan. 15, so they missed the season, and listening to this in February is trying my patience. Usual songs, Vanessa Rubin leads a long list of singers backed by the Choir. Leader plays bass, and Sextet is ably fronted by Timothy Blackmon on trumpet. Not bad if you're in the market. B [cd] Greg Yasinitsky Yazz Band: New Normal (2019-20 [2021], Origin): Saxophonist, alto probably his main choice but also plays soprano, tenor, and baritone. Big band, or close enough for practical purposes. B [cd] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Hal Galper Quintet: Live at the Berlin Philharmonic 1977 (1977 [2021], Origin, 2CD): Pianist, born 1938, steady stream of albums since 1971, always superb but I often need something extra to single out one of his albums. Here it's the horns, with Randy Brecker on trumpet and Michael Brecker on tenor sax. Discs run 51:31 and 36:08, three long tracks each, with the usual bass (Wayne Dockery) and drums (Bob Moses) solos. Superb piano, too. B+(***) [cd] Juozas Milasius/Tomas Kulavicius/Dalius Naujokaitis/Lithuanian Young Composers Orchestra: Live at Willisau, 1993 (1993 [2020], NoBusiness): Guitar/piano/drums, with extra participation from the "orchestra" -- most credited with "vocal, cymbal, clapping, tramping"; i.e., screams and cacophony. Not to my taste. C+ [cd] Masauyki JoJo Takayanagi/Nobuyoshi Ino/Masabumi PUU Kikuchi: Live at Jazz Inn Lovely 1990 (1990 [2020], NoBusiness): Japanese free jazz, something of a specialty for this Lithuanian label: guitar, bass, piano -- the pianist (1939-2015) best known for his Tethered Moon group, the guitarist (1932-91) known for several recent reissues on Blank Forms Editions. A bit sketchy, opening up space for all three. B+(**) [cd] Old music: Johnny Clarke: A Ruffer Version: Johnny Clarke at King Tubby's 1974-78 (1974-78 [2002], Trojan): A big star in Jamaica from the early 1970s, working mostly with Bunny Lee and the Aggrovators, signed by Virgin in 1976, and moved on to England in 1983. He released albums through the 1990s, and a few since. King Tubby adds his customary dub echoes, but this leaves me with the question: ruffer than what? B+(**) Johnny Clarke: Dreader Dread (1976-1978) (1976-78 [1998], Blood & Fire): Same years, but different recordings -- only song in common is "Play Fool Fe Get Wise" (longer here). Bunny Lee's productions are more balanced. B+(***) Phyllis Dillon: One Life to Live (1972, Trojan): Rocksteady singer, recorded singles for Duke Reid's Treasure Isle label from 1966, leading up to this single LP. Mostly covers of US-UK pop hits, poorly selected ("Love the One You're With," "Something," "Close to You"). B- Mikey Dread: World War III (1980, Dread at the Controls): Reggae singer Michael George Campbell (1954-2008), trained as an engineer, worked as a broadcaster, recorded with Lee Perry and Joe Gibbs, aligned with dub. Third album. Rasta themes, dense and dark, title track posits war could happen any minute, then attacks with weird whistles, not that he doesn't have better ideas. B+(***) Mikey Dread: Pave the Way (1982, Heartbeat): Eighth album, but the interval is mostly dub quickies. B+(**) Keith Hudson: Pick a Dub (1974 [1994], Blood & Fire): Dub producer/toaster, nicknamed "Dark Prince of Reggae," died 1984 (38). Mostly instrumental, hits some unsettling low notes, but carries on. B+(**) Keith Hudson: Rasta Communication (1978, Greensleeves): He moved to New York in 1976, signed with Virgin, got dumped, and returned with this record. He sings here, rasta/roots themes, not much dub effect. B+(**) Prince Buster: Fabulous Greatest Hits (1964-68 [1968], Melodisc): Cecil Bustamente Campbell (1938-2016), early Jamaican ska star, associated with Coxsone Dodd. This early compilation misses his early singles (from 1961), but includes his biggest ("Al Capone") and several others (especially "Take It Easy"). A better package may be possible, but this is classic. A- The Upsetters: Return of Django (1969, Trojan): Lee Perry's band's first album, title a reference to Sergio Corbucci's 1966 spaghetti western Django. Perry kept the group name through 1978 (plus a 1986 album), the titles mostly drawing on movies (most famously 1976's Super Ape). Instrumental pieces, Glen Adams' organ most prominent, with a few vocal intros. B+(***) The Upsetters: The Good, the Bad and the Upsetters (1970, Trojan): Lee Perry's second album, more instrumentals, more focus on chunky rhythm. B+(***) U-Roy: 30 Massive Shots From Treasure Isle (1970-74 [2009], Attack): Duke Reid productions, with U-Roy toasting over various singles, some familiar, some obscure. The only ones I've been able track down date from 1970-71, and they represent a small subset of U-Roy's singles from the period. B+(**) U-Roy: Version of Wisdom (1971-74 [1990], Front Line/Virgin): One of several CD reissues with similar covers. Notes say this combines two albums -- Version Galore (originally attributed to Hugh Roy) and With Words of Wisdom (1979) -- but the 1978-79 dates were reissues of the original Jamaican albums. A- [dl] U-Roy: The Lost Album: Right Time Rockers (1976 [1998], Sound System): Originally released in 1977 as Dubbing to the King in a Higher Rank (King Attarney, in Canada). A- [dl] U-Roy: Love Is Not a Gamble (1980, TR International): After his big decade, he seems ready to cruise along into middle age. Tony Robinson produced, capturing his sound and style, and adding a little rocksteady groove. B+(***) U-Roy: Serious Matter (1999, Tabout 1): Roots throwback, songs feature vocalists, most from back in the toaster's heyday -- Horace Andy, Dennis Brown, Beres Hammond, Gregory Isaacs, Third World, Israel Vibration -- old verities (like "money is the root of all evil"), possibly old tunes too. B+(*) Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, February 22, 2021 Music Week
February archive (in progress). Music: Current count 34967 [34957] rated (+10), 249 [253] unrated (-4). I made my excuses in last week's No Music Week, so won't repeat myself here. Not much to report, but also no reason not to kick this out on schedule. I've been erratic since Wednesday, not writing anything up on Sunday, when I was cooking a fairly serious dinner. (Salmon teriyaki, fried rice, stir-fried lima beans, some frozen potstickers, flourless chocolate cake. Picture on Facebook.) Only played the Sam Rivers album today, figuring it to be the best shot at an A- record -- may have cut it some slack, finishing my review before the long closing flute lead, so phobes beware. Started of trying to explore the late rasta toaster U-Roy, but didn't get very far, mostly because his discography boggled my mind. I should note that Clifford Ocheltree recommended two records I couldn't find: The Lost Album: Right Time Rockers (1976 [2010], Sound System); and Version of Wiscom (1978-79 [1990], Front Line/Virgin). He carried on into the 21st century, but the 1970s look to be his prime time: my own pick is still the 1969-70 Your Ace From Space. Percussionist Milford Graves also died last week (1941-2021). He had a pretty sketchy discography since his 1965 Percussion Ensemble. Some highlights include Real Deal (1992, with David Murray), Beyond Quantum (2008, with Anthony Braxton and Wiliam Parker), and Space/Time: Redemption (2015, with Bill Laswell). Last Monday of the month, but I'm in no mood to turn over my Streamnotes file, so maybe I'll aim for a February 28 Music Week on Sunday, and feel more like it then. New records reviewed this week:
Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:
Old music:
Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
|
