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Music Week [340 - 349]Tuesday, July 23, 2019 Music Week
Music: current count 31798 [31749] rated (+49), 259 [262] unrated (-3). I had a lot of stuff I wanted to write about this week, but never found the time, and it doesn't look like that'll change over the next several days. Therefore, let's just dump this out, and try again next week. New records reviewed this week: 100 Gecs: 1000 Gecs (2019, Dog Show): Dylan Brady and Laura Les (aka osno1), electropop so cartoonish I've seen it classified as bubblegum bass. Annoying to start, eventually found some kind of groove. B Jay Anderson: Deepscape (2018 [2019], SteepleChase): Bassist, has appeared on close to 250 albums since breaking in with Woody Herman in 1978, and has led a few. Opens and closes solo, the tracks in beween with Billy Drewes (bass clarinet/alto/soprano sax), Kirk Knuffke (cornet), and Matt Wilson (drums), sometimes adding harmonium (Frank Kimbrough) and/or percussion (Rogerio Boccato). B+(**) Caterina Barbieri: Ecstatic Computation (2019, Editions Mego): Italian composer, based in Berlin, "working in the fields of analog and digital synthesis and minimalism." Fourth album. All synth, rooted in minimalism but building something more out of such basics. A- Michael Bisio/Kirk Knuffke/Fred Lonberg-Holm: Requiem for a New York Slice (2018 [2019], Iluso): Bass/cornet/cello, the strings on the scratchy side. Dedicated to the late Mike Panico (1965-2018), a founder of Relative Pitch Records. B+(*) [bc] Black Midi: Schlagenheim (2019, Rough Trade): British experimental rock band; two guitars, bass and drums; three credited vocalists, but the main guy is pretty distinctive; first album after some singles. Most similar band I recognize is Pere Ubu, but I don't instantly love them. Still, not a comparison I make lightly. B+(**) Blood Orange: Angel's Pulse (2019, Domino): British r&b singer Dev Hynes, started as Lightspeed Champion, fourth album under this moniker. Mix of soft soul with edgier moments. B+(**) Daniel Carter/Tobias Wilner/Djibril Toure/Federico Ughi: New York United (2016 [2019], 577): Best known for his work with William Parker, Carter plays a range of horns -- alto sax, tenor sax, flute, and trumpet -- against Wilner's jazztronica (electronics, synths, beats), backed with bass and drums. B+(***) Cheekface: Therapy Island (2019, New Professor Music): Los Angeles band, Greg Katz the singer-guitarist, backed by bass and drums. Reminds me somewhat of the Dead Milkmen. Not as funny, but not for lack of trying. B+(**) Stef Chura: Midnight (2019, Saddle Creek): Singer-songwriter from Michigan, second album, doesn't neglect the guitar. B+(*) Flying Lotus: Flamagra (2019, Warp): LA producer, filmmaker, more of the latter but better known for his records and his work with other artists (e.g., Thundercat, Kamasi Washington). I've usually found his records too scattered, and this 26-cut, 66:57 mess certainly is. Still, lots of good bits in the mix. B+(**) Future: Future Hndrxx: The Wizrd (2019, Epic/Freebandz): Rapper Nayvadius Wilburn, from Atlanta, did an album Hndrxx in 2017 and refers back here. Not as clear as I'd like, but runs long and steady. B+(**) Hilliard Greene: Spirituals (2019, Unseen Rain): Bassist, long stretch as Jimmy Scott's music director, member of the group the Jazz Expressions, has recorded on several notable free jazz records (like Billy Bang's Da Bang). Had a solo album in 2003, again here, a deep roots exploration. Some voice, just enough to identify "Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray." B+(*) Augie Haas: Dream a Little Dream (2019, Playtime Music): Trumpet player, from Wisconsin, based in New York, has a couple previous records, plays and sings standards here, the songbook expanded to inlude doo-wop ("Earth Angel," "Stay") and soft rock ("Love Me Tender," "Stand by Me," "Blackbird"). Backed by Carmen Staaf (piano/organ), bass, drums, and a lot of strings. Not a great singer, but you'll probably find yourself blotting him out by singing along. B+(**) [cd] Rich Halley: Terra Incognita (2018 [2019], Pine Eagle): Tenor saxophonist, from Oregon, cover pictures are all rugged high desert, but he trekked to Brooklyn to record this, with Matthew Shipp's regular piano trio (Michael Bisio and Newman Taylor Baker). Shipp has played with a lot of avant saxophonists. He seems more content than usual to lay back and fill in. Halley opens fierce, the group chemistry only really developing with the long off-speed closer, appropriately titled "The Journey." A- [cd] Aldous Harding: Designer (2019, 4AD): Singer-songwriter from New Zealand, third album. Easy listening, but not without its beguiling passages. B Randy Houser: Magnolia (2019, Stoney Creek): Country singer-songwriter from Mississippi, fifth album. Big gestures, deep emotions, strong voice. B+(**) Jelena Jovovic: Heartbeat (2018 [2019], self-released): Jazz singer-songwriter from Serbia, moved to South Africa, later Austria. First album, wrote lyrics to several jazz melodies, music and lyrics to the rest. Only picks up a bit toward the end. B- [cd] Juice Wrld: Death Race for Love (2019, Interscope): Los Angeles rapper Jarad Higgins, second album. Key lyric: "I don't want anyone to think I'm an asshole." Still, the whine wore me out. B- Steve Lacy: Apollo XXI (2019, 3Qtr): No relation to the late saxophonist. This one (Steve Thomas Lacy-Moya) hails from Compton, sings alt-r&b, plays guitar and bass. Best known from the Internet, but released an EP (Steve Lacy's Demo) in 2017, now this debut album. Some funk, some glitz, nice beats. B+(*) Lady Lykez: Muhammad Ali EP (2019, Hyperdub, EP): MC from North London, title track a remix with Lioness rapping and Scratchclart producing, who returns for two more rapid-fire bits. D'Lux produced the change of pace. Four cuts, 13:43. B+(*) [bc] Alex Lahey: The Best of Luck Club (2019, Dead Oceans): Budding power pop star, from Australia, likes her guitar riffs but drops back to keyboards for the slower ones. Second album. Good advice: "Don't Be So Hard on Yourself." B+(**) Lil Nas X: 7 (2019, Columbia, EP): Atlanta rapper Montero Lamar Hill, leads off with a remix of his breakout single, "Old Town Road," with Billy Ray Cyrus adding to the country twang. Six more songs plus the original single, total 18:44. B+(*) Maluma: 11:11 (2019, Sony Music Latin): Colombian pop star, fourth album, noticed him on Madonna's latest, and she returns the favor here ("Soltera"). That's the only song I can follow, so I'm mostly going by sound: beats good, strings less. B+(**) Mannequin Pussy: Patience (2019, Epitaph): Punk group from Philadelphia, principally singer-guitarist Marisa Dabice. Third album, assuming you count short ones (this one packs 10 cuts into 25:37). B+(**) Rico Nasty/Kenny Beats: Anger Management (2019, Sugar Trap, EP): Rapper Maria-Cecilia Simone Kelly and producer Kenneth Blume, nine hard and fast tracks, 18:40. Much anger, barely managed. B+(**) Jai Paul: Leak 04-13 (Bait Ones) (2013 [2019], XL): British songwriter/producer, of Indian descent, had a couple singles and was working on an eponymous album when a set of his demos were leaked, to some acclaim and the artist's horror. He litigated to get the leaks suppressed, shelved the project, and has scarcely been heard from since. This is the first official release of the leaked material, with most pieces labelled "(unfinished)." Most definitely, but flashes here and there do match the fuss. B+(**) PUP: Morbid Stuff (Rise): Canadian band, name an acronym for Pathetic Use of Potential, Stefan Babcock the singer, backed by guitar-bass-drums. Third album, advertised as punk, but don't really hear it. Not that they don't rock. B Queen Key: Eat My Pussy (Again) (2019, Machine Entertainment Group): Chicago rapper Ke'Asha McClure, first album (following last year's Eat My Pussy EP), reminds one of CupcakKe -- her more "mature" work as opposed to her salacious debut Cum Cake, but then Key is a year older, and judging from her forced rhymes and slack beats not as talented. Still, she remains fearless and defiant in a world where trust is hard to come by, and takes her pleasure where she can. A- Resavoir: Resavoir (2015-19 [2019], International Anthem): Chicago project, written, arranged, and produced by Will Miller (trumpet, keyboards, sampler). A vast orchestra, flows nice, sometimes lovely, spoken word helps, choral voices less. B [bc] Maggie Rogers: Heard It in a Past Life (2019, Capitol): Singer-songwriter, first album, has won some prizes. I could see her developing into some kind of pop star, but may be too adult too early. B+(**) ShitKid: [Detention] (2019, PNKSLM): Swedish punk auteur Åsa Söderqvist, morphing into a band with the addition of bassist Lina Ericsson, the fleshed out sound revealing itself as old-fashioned rock and roll. Short album by most standards (8 cuts, 23:54), but long by theirs. B+(*) Skepta: Ignorance Is Bliss (2019, Boy Better Know): British grime MC, Joseph Adenuga Jr., called his first (2007) album Greatest Hits without having any. Scored a breakthrough last time, and is pretty steady here. B+(**) Sote: Parallel Persia (2019, Diagonal): Ata Ebtekar, Iranian, born in Germany, based in California, handful of records, this a mix of Iranian acoustic instruments (santoor, tar, tombak) and electronics, fast and frenzied, maybe even cartoonish. B+(*) [bc] Emily A. Sprague: Water Memory (2017, self-released): Electronica composer, from the Catskills but based in Los Angeles. Ambient, sheets of synthy sound, simple and eloquent. B+(*) Emily A. Sprague: Mount Vision (2019, self-released): Similar, less watery, more engaging. B+(**) Supa Bwe: Just Say Thank You (2019, Freddy Got Magic/Empire, EP): Chicago rapper Frederick Burton, "Bwe" reportedly pronounced "boy/boo/buoy," second solo project, 7 cuts, 20:06, has something to say about entropy. B+(*) Kate Tempest: The Book of Traps and Lessons (2019, Republic): British poet, spoken word artist, seems to have lost the beat from her breakthrough 2014 album (Everybody Down), making her less of a rapper, more of a preacher (or maybe just a scold). B+(*) Yves Theiler Trio: We (2018 [2019], Intakt): Swiss pianist, second trio album with Luca Sisera (bass) and Lukas Mantel (drums). All originals, most strong on rhythm. B+(**) Turning Jewels Into Water: Map of Absences (2019, FPE): Percussion duo, a mix of Val Jeanty (from Haiti, aka Val-Inc) and Ravish Momin (from India, has done some jazz records I admire, with or without his group Tarana). Scattered voices and electronics flesh out the intensive beats. B+(***) Turning Jewels Into Water: Which Way Is Home? (2018, FPE, EP): Introduced the duo last year, with five cuts, 21:01. Same intensity, maybe a bit more abstract. B+(**) [bc] Faye Webster: Atlanta Millionaires Club (2019, Secretly Canadian): Singer-songwriter, based in Atlanta, various sources slot her in folk or country (note the pedal steel), but her slight voice and melodies don't fit there, any more than the token rap makes her trap. B The Yawpers: Human Question (2019, Bloodshot): Denver band, Americana as deep as their Whitman-honoring name, can be astute, can be catchy, can push their luck a bit too hard. B+(**) Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Johnny Shines: The Blues Came Falling Down: Live 1973 (1973 [2019], Omnivore): Bluesman, originally from Memphis, inspired by a chance meeting with Robert Johnson, moved to Chicago in 1941, cut a few records in 1946-52 but didn't really get on track until the late 1960s. Recorded this intimate solo set in St. Louis. B+(**) Grade (or other) changes: Rodrigo Amado/Chris Corsano: No Place to Fall (2014 [2019], Astral Spirits): Tenor sax and drums duo, improv pieces in a Lisbon studio. The drummer likes to kick up a racket, so this runs hard and fast. Back in June I tentatively reviewed this based on 2/5 Bandcamp cuts. Later got the CD, which burns bright the entire 48:53. [Was B+(**)] A- [cd] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, July 15, 2019 Music Week
Music: current count 31749 [31726] rated (+23), 262 [262] unrated (+0). Slow getting this out, with Monday wiped out by a house emergency (water heater broke down). Had a nagging sore throat much of the week, but right now mostly feel exhausted. Relatively mild summer so far, but looks like triple digits coming soon and probably persisting. Next couple weeks will probably be worse. Rated count cut off Sunday evening, but I've added unpacking since then, so the numbers are a little out of whack. Second straight week with an unusually low rated count (24 last week). Again, spent some time on the Resonance anthologies without writing any reviews, and also found a higher-than-usual split of A- records, plus high B+ that merited extra plays. Most of the finds this week come from Chris Monsen's Jazz favorites list, plus a few more from Phil Overeem's Halfway to Listville. The easiest one was John McPhee's Nation Time: I skipped over it when I was catching up with Corbett vs. Dempsey's Bandcamp a few weeks back, as I had already given Corbett's 2000 reissue a full A, and hadn't noticed the extra cuts. No reason to repurchase if you have the Atavistic release, but the bonuses are just that. Had a minor role in helping Joe Yanosik publish his magnum opus A Consumer Guide to FRANCO. I have a Guests section on my website, which I've used a few times but never really tried to promote. I've long thought that a better solution would be to set up guest areas on my Hullworks website, perhaps as sub-domains, which could be spun off should the guests decide to pony up for a domain name. I'm in a position where I can host those as well. I also considered hanging Joe's piece at Terminal Zone -- long my pet idea for a music-themed website (named for the zine Don Malcolm and I published back in 1977). In the end, I went with the path that involved the least thought and work. When Joe first mentioned his Franco project to me, I glanced at Napster's Franco offerings, and spent a week digging around. My own (much more limited) set of Franco grades are here. You can also look up what Robert Christgau has written. I might as well mention two projects that I've started but haven't gotten very far on. I've started to add recent reviews to the two large book manuscript files I have on jazz. Rather slow work, but I've added 99 pages up to January, 2019, pushing the 20th century jazz guide over 800, and the 21st over 1700. Files are backed up online, in ODT format. I've also started collecting mid-year lists, as I did last year. This uses the EOY list aggregate format, and most likely will eventually evolve into a full EOY list aggregate later this year. Only have four lists compiled so far (about a third of those collected on AOTY). I'm surprised there aren't more, but haven't really looked yet. The current aggregate is way too sparse to draw any real conclusions from. One issue here is that I'm only awarding 1 point for each list mention. (Two reasons: one is that so far many of the lists are unranked; the other is that it makes it easier to clean up with I replace the midway lists with EOY lists.) The other point I should note here is that I'm factoring in my graces (A: 5, A-: 4, ***: 3, **: 2, *: 1), which currently results in quite a bit of skew. E.g., 6 of the top 8 records now are ones I've graded A- (Billy Eilish, Lizzo, Charly Bliss, Big Thief, Little Simz, Jamila Woods), and the other two (Carly Rae Jepsen and Vampire Weekend) were *** and ** respectively. Expect my picks to slip as I add further lists, while records I like less will make inroads (Solange is the surest shot; maybe also Tyler the Creator, Sharon Van Etten, Jenny Lewis). Record that I haven't heard with the most list mentions so far: Flying Lotus' Flamagra. New records reviewed this week: Maria Faust/Tim Dahl/Weasel Walter: Farm Fresh (2019, Gotta Let It Out): Alto saxophonist, from Estonia, based in Denmark, several albums since 2014, this trio gets a buzz from Dahl's electric bass, running through 10 pieces in 37:43. B+(***) Fire! Orchestra: Arrival (2019, Rune Grammofon): Started as a trio with Mats Gustafsson (baritone sax), John Bethling (bass), and Andreas Werlin (drums), then grew massive, up to 28 members, now down to 14: two vocalists (Mariam Wallentin, who wrote most of the lyrics, and Sofia Jernberg), a string quartet, trumpet, four reeds (arranged by Per Texas Johansson), and keyboards. Starts easy, swells to staggering, slows back down to some kind of lament. I'm baffled by it all, aside from a dirge with familiar lyrics, "At Last I Am Free." B Alex Fournier: Triio (3028 [2019], Furniture Music): Bassist, from Toronto, second album, calls this his "flagship project," actually started as a quartet and has since grown to six, with alto sax (Bea Labikova), trombone (Aidan Sibley), guitar, piano, and drums. Starts with piano trio, the horns sneaking in and expanding the sound into a very sophisticated postbop harmony. B+(***) Lafayette Gilchrist: Dark Matter (2016 [2019], self-released): Pianist, first noted in David Murray's Black Saint Quartet, haven't heard much from him since his stretch with Hyena ended in 2008. Solo here, strong on rhythm, which is usually what works for me. B+(***) [cd] GoldLink: Diaspora (2019, Squaaash Club/RCA): Rapper (or more often singer) D'Anthony Carlos, second album, major groove at least half the way through. B+(***) Bjørn Marius Hegge: Ideas (2019, Particular): Norwegian bassist. Title may extend to the fine print: "for Axel Dörner, Rudi Mahall, Hans Hulbaekmo and Håvard Wiik" -- no credits, but that's presumably the band here (trumpet, bass clarinet, drums, piano). A- Megan Thee Stallion: Fever (2019, 300 Entertainment): Rapper Megan Pete, from Houston. First mixtape, after two EPs and a few singles. Trap beats, splashy, cover looks like it's rising out of 1970s blaxploitation movie, hot and steamy. B+(***) Nature Work: Nature Work (2018 [2019], Sunnyside): Freewheeling quartet, Jason Stein (bass clarinet) and Greg Ward (alto sax) up front, Eric Revis on bass and Jim Black on drums. Impressive at full speed, loses me a bit when they slow down, but that doesn't happen often. A- Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity: To Whom Who Buys a Record (2019, Odin): Norwegian drummer, third album with this trio, featuring André Roligheten (sax/bass clarinet) with Petter Eldh (double bass). All three contributed pieces, with Nilsen having a hand in most. Slows a bit toward the end, without losing interest. A- Pere Ubu: The Long Goodbye (2019, Cherry Red): Great post-punk band from Ohio, not sure how much beyond vocalist David Thomas remains, but they can still do weird and murky, even if the rust squeaks here and there. [CD comes with a second, live disc, I haven't heard.] B+(**) Santana: Africa Speaks (2019, Concord): Guitarist Carlos Santana in group form, eponymous first album appeared in 1969, still kicking 50 years later (dozens of personnel changes along the way, but the early-'70s core group reunited in 2013 (Neal Schon, Gregg Rolie, Michael Carabello, Michael Shrieve). They were a big thing in their heyday, a group I never listened to after growing sick of Abraxas at a party that had nothing else to offer. So while he/they recorded 14 albums through 1979, I'm a bit surprised to find a steady stream of albums since (by decade: 7, 4, 2, 5). back for 50th anniversary with loud drums, bubbling percussion, wailing vocals, and great gobs of trademark guitar. B Bruce Springsteen: Springsteen on Broadway (2018, Columbia, 2CD): Mostly solo, acoustic guitar, sixteen signature songs with a lot of talk along the way, probably derived from his well-regarded autobiography -- could just as well be reviewed as an audiobook, albeit with exaggerated gestures. I've never been much of a fan, but I have to respect (maybe even admire) what he's made of his life. B+(**) Bruce Springsteen: Western Stars (2019, Columbia): Turns his eyes to the vast open spaces of the old west, then fills them up with loping melodies and swelling string arrangements. Some of the latter aren't so bad, and some are. Stories too, none amusing enough to get me to notice. B- Zhenya Strigalev/Federico Dannemann: The Change (2018 [2019], Rainy Days): Saxophone and guitar, with Luques Curtis (double bass) and Obed Calvaire (drums) keeping them on track. Mostly a fusion grind, the guitarist more impressive but the richer tones of the sax no doubt help. Strigalev sings one song, which only Robert Wyatt could get away with. B+(*) [cd] Gebhard Ullmann Basement Research: Impromptus and Other Short Works (2018 [2019], WhyPlayJazz): Leader plays tenor sax and bass clarinet, recorded the album Basement Research in 1993, and has kept the name for low-pitched groups ever since. This 25th anniversary project has Julian Argüelles on baritone sax, Steve Swell on trombone, Pascal Niggenkemper on double bass, and Gerald Cleaver on drums. B+(***) Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Dexter Gordon: At the Subway Club 1973 (1965-73 [2019], Elemental Music, 2CD): Five long cuts, 95:57, as advertised, recorded on tour at Subway Jazz-Club in Cologne, the tenor saxophonist backed by Irv Rochlin (piano), Henk Haverhoek (bass), and Tony Inzalaco (drums), plus four extra cuts from earlier European tours, different personnel, none previously released. B+(**) Clifford Jordan Quartet: Glass Bead Games (1973 [1974], Strata East; [2019], Pure Pleasure): Actually, two quartets led by the tenor saxophonist, both with Billy Higgins on drums, piano/bass duties split between Stanley Cowell/Bill Lee and Cedar Walton/Sam Jones. Piano equally impressive, leader makes it all seem so natural. A- Eero Koivistoinen: The Front Is Breaking (1976, Love; [2017], Svart): Finnish saxophonist (tenor/soprano/sopranino), liked to play free over funk-fusion grooves. Starts impressive, but not so much when he lays out. B+(*) Joe McPhee: Nation Time (1970 [2018], Corbett vs. Dempsey): Second album, plays tenor sax and trumpet, with Mike Kull (piano/electric piano), Tyrone Crabb (bass/electric bass/trumpet), and percussion (Ernest Bostic and Bruce Thompson). Original release was on CjRecord in 1971, the 18:30 title cut on one side, two more (22:12) on the other, as was the 2000 Atavistic Unheard Music Series reissue in 2000. This reissue adds three extra cuts, for a total of 65:00. The original album was one of the greatest artifacts of its era, a feat of radical boogaloo, the beat (especially on "Shakey Jake") just regular enough to drive us to ecstasy. The extras aren't as monumental, but hold up pretty well. A [bc] Harry Mosco: Peace & Harmony (1979 [2019], Isle of Jura): Nigerian singer-guitarist, last name Agada, member of the Funkees, used the alias Mr. Funkees for his first solo album (Country Boy), that name also appearing on cover here. Opens with disco, gets funky, goes reggae for the title cut, dubs out, returns to the dance floor. Not what you'd call an original thinker. B+(*) Woody Shaw Quintet: Basel 1980 (1980-81 [2019], Elemental Music, 2CD): Previously unreleased live set from Switzerland, with Carter Jefferson (tenor/soprano sax), Larry Willis (piano), Stafford James (bass), and Victor Lewis (drums), plus one later track (10:44) with just trumpet, piano (Mulgrew Miller), and drums (Tony Reedus). Pretty spectacular. A- Sonic Youth: Battery Park, NYC, July 4th 2008 (2008 [2019], Matador): Live shot, a year before their last album (The Eternal), two years after Rather Ripped, both solid entries in their 25-year run, although I can't say as I remember much from either. I do recall their sound, compressed and sharpened here. Blew me away at first, then faded into the ether. B+(***) Bruce Springsteen: The Live Series: Songs of the Road (1977-2013 [2018], Columbia): The first of three wide-ranging live compilations, released as digital downloads, loosely organized by theme. These are the car/road songs, with 8 (of 15) from 1977-80, from "Thunder Road" to "Cadillac Ranch." B+(**) Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, July 8, 2019 Music Week
Music: current count 31726 [31702] rated (+24), 262 [260] unrated (+2). Rated count down this week. Maybe I didn't focus well while Laura was in Boston, but it's also likely that coming up with a relative bounty of A- records had an effect: they always take more time. Also, I didn't take any dives into old music (the VSOP Quintet shows up in Napster's featured new jazz list, but with digital reissues I usually just cite the original release label/date -- and it wasn't good enough to inspire me to check out their other albums). This is my first Music Week since Robert Christgau posted his final Noisey Expert Witness column, so it's fitting that I looked a little harder than usual for recent non-jazz. In this I was helped by Phil Overeem's halfway through 2019 list (Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, Peter Perrett, Billy Woods & Kenny Segal, Abdullah Ibrahim), and by Facebook comments from Dan Weiss (DaBaby, Open Mike Eagle, Gibbs again -- he's also big on Denzel Curry's Zuu, which I previously had at B+(**)). Most of the others were picked up by scrounging for new music on Napster. The most controversial of these is probably Madonna's Madame X. Metacritic average is 70. Rob Sheffield wrote a 3-star pan at Rolling Stone, although it reads better than the rating. Spencer Kornhaber takes offense in The paradox of Madonna's gun-control music video. Took me a lot of plays before I recognized that the number of songs I was pleased to recognize exceeded the number of fingers I had available for counting. I have more doubts about the Peter Perrett album, but I gave How the West Was Won an A-, and this one hit the same pleasure spots. Makes me wonder if I underrated Special View (the 1979 Only Ones album), where I remembered his voice from. I'll also note that I've given Wes's Best: The Best of Wes Montgomery on Resonance 3-4 plays with increasing pleasure. I'd like to review the albums it was selected from before doing the compilation, but the release schedule hasn't made that possible. Haven't played the Bill Evans compilation yet, but same considerations apply there. I've been wanting to hear those records ever since they came out, but probably wouldn't have bothered with the compilations had they not appeared in the mail. Also got a note in email today asking whether I've downloaded recent AUM Fidelity releases. I've looked for them on Napster, but didn't notice the email invites. I'll eventually dig them out, but if you want my attention, best way is still to send a CD. There will be a new XgauSez out by Tuesday morning. I'm hope to get this post wrapped up before I take a good look at it, and I've been hobbled by Weekend Roundup running into overtime. Also in my input queue is a lengthy and quite extraordinary "Consumer Guide to Franco" that Joe Yanosik compiled and asked if I would publish. Expect that later this week. New records reviewed this week: 75 Dollar Bill: I Was Real (2019, Thin Wrist): Guitar-drums duo, Che Chen and Rick Brown, the former studied Mauritanian music with Jheich Ould Chighaly, perhaps why their most obvious (indeed, the practically only) connection seems to be with Saharan blues/rock. No vocals on this third album. The 16:55 title cut, fourth in, is where my interest kicks in. B+(***) JD Allen: Barracoon (2019, Savant): Tenor saxophonist, has a distinctive sound and built his reputation by in a series of powerhouse trio albums. This is another, a return to form with a new set of bandmates, Ian Kenselaar (bass) and Nic Cacioppo (drums). Title inspired by a Zora Neale Hurston book. Originals, but closes with a touching "When You Wish Upon a Star." A- Gretje Angell: In Any Key (2018 [2019], Grevlinto): Standards singer, born in Akron, based on Los Angeles, father and grandfather both jazz drummers. First album, voice reminds you of Brazilian singers even before she got to "Berimbau" and "One Note Samba." Backed by guitarist Dori Amarillo -- some cuts just him, others with bass, drums, and/or percussion. B+(**) [cd] Blind Lemon Jazz: After Hours: New Pages in the American Songbook (2019, Ofeh): "Featuring the songs of James Byfield," who usually does business as Blind Lemon Pledge. He is a guitarist, "roots songwriter," sings some but mostly turns his songs over to Marisa Malvino. She brings some blues grit. B+(*) [cd] DaBaby: Blank Blank (2018, South Coast Music Group, EP): Rapper Jonathan Kirk, born in Cleveland, grwe up in North Carolina, released his first mixtape in 2017, this number nine. Short pieces, packing 10 cuts into 23:57. Reminds me of Young Thug -- he started later, but is a year older. B+(***) DaBaby: Baby on Baby (2019, South Coast music Group): First studio album after a bunch of mixtapes, songs remain compact and sharp, taking 13 to push the album up to 31:36, scoring a hit single with "Suge" but can't say as it stands out much. B+(**) Open Mike Eagle: The New Negroes: Season 1 Soundtrack (2019, Comedy Central, EP): Cover adds "With Baron Vaughan & Open Mike Eagle" -- the former the comedian host for the series, with the rapper some kind of sidekick, his role unclear on these nine short cuts (21:56), eight featuring other rappers (Danny Brown, MF DOom, Phonte, Lizzo, etc.). B+(*) Freddie Gibbs & Madlib: Bandana (2019, Keel Cool/RCA): Rapper, from Gary, Indiana, second album (plus four mixtapes) with the producer (Otis Jackson), the combo sometimes known as MadGibbs. Lyrics are striking, carried along by the sweeping production. A- Jesca Hoop: Stonechild (2019, Memphis Industries): Singer-songwriter, eighth album, leans back toward folk this time, not as attractive as her pop move on Memories Are Now. B+(*) Abdullah Ibrahim: The Balance (2019, Gearbox): South African pianist, cut his first album for Duke Ellington in 1963, is 84 now. His solo pieces are steady here, but the group pieces really come to life, especially "Jabula" -- for some reason, Napster regards that the album title, but other sources read as above. B+(***) Mike LeDonne: Partners in Time (2019, Savant): Pianist here, although he's played organ more often in the past. Names on the front cover in slightly smaller type, probably because they're more famous than he is: Christian McBride, Lewis Nash. Lively, support is impeccable. B+(**) Madonna: Madame X (2019, Interscope): She's moved from London to Lisbon, picked up a few new beats, plus Colombian featured Maluma, although that was the sort of timely move she's been making for ages now (single: "Medellin"). As her life in exile puts America ever more distant in the rear-view mirror, her politics grow both snarkier and more empathetic, with the solution a path of personal growth that only she seems to be able to pull off. Still, good for her. [NB: Listened to "Deluxe Edition," two extra songs, pretty good ones.] A- Buddy & Julie Miller: Breakdown on 20th Ave. South (2019, New West): Husband-and-wife singer-songwriters, have recorded together off and on since 1995, also separately but they're usually better together. B+(**) Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real: Turn Off the News (Build a Garden) (2019, Fantasy): Willie Nelson's son, via his fourth wife, has run this country-rock band since 2009. Fifth album (plus two backing Neil Young). B+(*) Willie Nelson: Ride Me Back Home (2019, Legacy): Still prolific at 86, a batch of originals (mostly co-credited to producer Buddy Cannon), almost as many covers (two from Guy Clark, one from Billy Joel). Reportedly the final chapter in Nelson's "Mortality Trilogy," but less focused on age and death than the previous entries. No dope songs either. Could be the new normal. A- Peter Perrett: Humanworld (2019, Domino): Former leader of the Only Ones, possessing one of the most memorable voices of the late 1970s punk invasion. Struggled long after the group broke up, only to make an improbably great comeback album in 2017 (How the West Was Won). This is a fitting sequel, if anything more fleshed out, more powerful. A- Mette Rasmussen/Julien Desprez: The Hatch (2016 [2019], Dark Tree): Alto sax and electric guitar. Can, on occasion, irritate with too much noise, or nod off with too little, but impressive when walking that fine line. B+(**) [cd] Rebekah Victoria: Songs of the Decades (2018 [2019], Patois): Standards singer, has a previous album with a group called Jazzkwest ("the jazz band for all occasions!"), works with trombonist Wayne Wallace and his many friends here. Idea here is to pick one song from each decade of the 20th century, although she slips a couple more in. "These Boots Are Made for Walking" (1966) fits most uneasily, then leads into "It's Too Late" (1971). The later songs, from Split Enz and Toni Braxton, are less iconic. B+(*) Billy Woods & Kenny Segal: Hiding Places (2019, Blackwoodz Studioz): New York rapper and Los Angeles producer, the former with a dozen-plus albums since 2002 (including groups like Armand Hammer). Something of a slog, although much of it is worth the effort. B+(***) Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Stan Getz: Getz at the Gate: The Stan Getz Quartet Live at the Village Gate Nov. 26 1961 (1961 [2019], Verve, 2CD): Tenor sax great, returns to US after three years in Denmark, a year before his crossover Brazilian moves made him a star. Hype sheet calls this "transitional," but it sounds little changed from his 1955-57 West Coast Sessions, his rhythm as sure, his tone every bit as cool. Pianist Steve Kuhn has some standout moments. John Neves (bass) and Roy Haynes (drums) fill out the quartet. A- Sourakata Koité: En Holland (1984 [2019], Awesome Tapes From Africa): Kora master, a Malinké from Senegal, sings some, moved to Paris in 1978, cut this in the Netherlands with Joseph Nganga (percussion, background vocals) and S.E.G. Cissé (more percussion). Too amiable for awesome. B+(**) [bc] Asnakech Worku: Asnakech (1975 [2018], Awesome Tapes From Africa): Actress, dancer, musician, "cultural icon" -- her work was previously featured in Éthiopiques, Vol. 16: The Lady With the Krar (as Asnaqètch Wèrqu), which overlaps this album recorded with Hailu Mergia on organ and Temare Haregu on drums. Her instrument was the ancient krar ("a lyre, or harp, with 6 strings attached to a cloth-wrapped wooden crossbar, the sound emits from a resonator bowl covered with animal skin"). B+(**) [bc] Old music: The V.S.O.P. Quintet: Five Stars (1979, CBS/Sony): Basically, the late-sixties Miles Davis quintet (Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Tony Williams) with Freddie Hubbard filling in for Davis, who moved on a decade earlier -- the others straggling to cash in on the fusion Davis created. Initially a live band to tour Japan, they release four live albums plus this studio effort. Four pieces, one each from everyone but Carter. None distinguished. B Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, July 1, 2019 Music Week
Music: current count 31702 [31671] rated (+31), 260 [264] unrated (-4). Noisey has evidently decided to drop Robert Christgau's Expert Witness column, the last one running on Friday. Christgau tweeted:
Obviously, I should make it a priority to round up these latest Consumer Guide reviews and stuff them into the database. Christgau's first Consumer Guide column was published July 10, 1969, so he's ten days short of fifty years. The whole list is here. Twice before, Michael Tatum responded to lapses in Christgau's review schedule, first by debuting then relaunching his A Downloader's Diary column. As it happens, he had a new column, his 50th, ready to roll last week when he read Christgau's news, and revised his introduction. (Christgau started the parenthetical numbering scheme, but gave it up after reaching 52 in 1975. I also used it for my Recycled Goods columns.) I managed to check out a few of Tatum's picks this week, but had previously given A- grades to Big Thief, Coathangers, Control Top, Dave, Billie Eilish, Little Simz, and Jamila Woods -- also a B+(***) to Stella Donnelly, B+(**) to Vampire Weekend. I haven't, however, checked any of his Trash picks. Streamnotes appeared last week, so this starts a new month. Don't have anything more to add -- at least anything fit to print. Bad day for me. New records reviewed this week: Ilia Belorukov/Gabriel Ferrandini: Disquiet (2017 [2019], Clean Feed): Russian alto saxophonist, never noticed him before but Discogs credits him with 55 albums since 2007. Teams up here with the Portuguese drummer (RED Trio and much more). Choppy, somewhat muted. B+(**) Lewis Capaldi: Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent (2019, Capitol): Singer-songwriter from Scotland, young, first album, processed as pop with his voice stretched toward soul. Topped charts in UK and Ireland. Impressive so far, but could turn annoying. B+(*) Charly Bliss: Young Enough (2019, Barsuk): Power pop group, Eva Hendricks sings, second album, seems like they got the tone right, all the hooks buttoned up tight. A- Sylvie Courvoisier/Mark Feldman: Time Gone Out (2018 [2019], Intakt): Piano-violin duo, several previous records together ("almost 20 years"). B+(*) Caroline Davis: Alula (2017 [2019], New Amsterdam): Alto saxophonist, handful of albums. With Matt Mitchell on synths, Greg Saunier on drums, bits of voice. Some stretches impress, some make me wonder, strikes me as overly fancy. B+(*) Whit Dickey/Kirk Knuffke: Drone Dream (2017 [2019], NoBusiness): Drums and trumpet duo, the drummer probably more steeped in free jazz but Knuffke can swing that way when the occasion calls for it. B+(***) [cdr] Sharman Duran: Questioning Reality (2019, self-released): Singer-songwriter, plays keyboards, from San Francisco, third album, rhythm section marks this as jazz, and Melecio Magdaluyo's sax/reeds drives the point home. Puts her politics up front, asking "who put them in charge?" B+(**) [cd] Ethnic Heritage Ensemble: Be Known: Ancient/Future/Music (2019, Spiritmuse): Drummer Kahil El'Zabar's long-running group, debuted in 1981 with Three Gentlemen From Chikago, sixteenth album, only their second since 35th Anniversary Project in 2009. The leader is the only constant, with several long-time members falling by the wayside, replaced here by Corey Wilkes (trumpet), Alex Harding (baritone sax), and Ian Maksin (cello). El'Zabar sings, chants, incants, an heir of Sun Ra, more of this world than out of it. B+(***) Damon Locks/Black Monument Ensemble: Where Future Unfolds (2019, International Anthem): Chicago-based "sound & visual artists," credited with "electronics, bells, voice" on his first album here, with a "15-piece" ensemble, but only credits three other musicians -- Angel Bat Dawid (clarinets), and two percussionists (remaining credits for singers and dancers). Pulls samples from "Civil Rights era" speeches but feels more contemporary, proof that the struggle for civil rights is ongoing. B+(*) [bc] Jan Maksimovic/Dimitrij Golovanov: Thousand Seconds of Our Life (2018 [2019], NoBusiness): Duo, soprano sax and piano, both Lithuanians -- probably a point of pride for the label, which has been an invaluable refuge for avant-jazz artists all around the world (including Japan). Relatively quiet, one could say intimate. B+(***) [cd] Jenna McLean: Brighter Day (2018 [2019], Moddl): Standards singer from Colorado, first album, wrote the title cut and lyrics to a Wayne Shorter tune and some vocalese on "Lover Man." Scats some, takes a nice turn on a Joni Mitchell song. B+(*) [cd] Gabriele Mitelli/Rob Mazurek: Star Splitter (2019, Clean Feed): Mazurek, from Chicago, has been recording since the 1990s, playing trumpet, dabbling in electronics and astronomy (one of his projects is Exploding Star Orchestra), so it's tempting to take him as the mentor if not leader here, but the younger Italian has the same tool kit -- his credits here: "cornet, soprano sax, alto flugelhorn, electronics, objects, voice"; Mazurek plays "piccolo trumpet, electronics, objects voice." No shortage of spaciness here, and it does tend to break up. B+(*) Monopiece/Jaap Blonk: Monopiece + Jaap Blonk (2019, Shhpuma): West Coast group, despite name a trio -- Nathan Corder (electronics), Matt Robidoux (guitar), Timothy Russell (percussion) -- first album, with the Dutch vocalist as wild card. Scattered chaos, odd noise. B Angelika Niescier/Christopher Tordini/Gerald Cleaver: New York Trio Feat. Jonathan Finlayson (2018 [2019], Intakt): German alto saxophonist, bassist and drummer from New York, also the featured trumpet player. Starts with a strong piece called "The Surge." B+(***) Evan Parker/Paul G. Smyth: Calenture and Light Leaks (2015 [2019], Weekertoft): Tenor sax-piano duo, the latter from Dublin, Ireland, with scattered records since 2003. Expected sound, deliberately paced. B+(**) [bc] Evan Parker & Kinetics: Chiasm (2018 [2019], Clean Feed): Tenor sax, backed by a Danish piano trio (Jacob Anderskov, Adam Pultz Melbye, and Anders Vestergaard), from two sets recorded two days apart, first in Copenhagen, second in London. LP length (38:13), fine form for the leader, also impressed by the piano. A- Caroline Spence: Mint Condition (2019, Rounder): Singer-songwriter from Virginia, settled in Nashville, fourth album, first not self-released. Lyrics tend toward the literary, but her voice softens the edges, and the melodies suffice. Took me a while. A- Aki Takase: Hokusai: Piano Solo (2018 [2019], Intakt): All originals, solo except for two pieces -- one with Alexander von Schlippenbach also on piano, the closer with a Yoko Tawada reading. B+(**) AJ Tracey: AJ Tracey (2019, self-released): British rapper, debut album after four years of singles, EPs (5), and mixtapes (2, released as Looney). Grime beats, a little slack. B+(**) Gianluigi Trovesi/Gianni Coscia: La Misteriosa Musica Della Regina Loana (2019, ECM): Duets, piccolo/alto clarinet and accordion, the pair has at least four albums together, with Trovesi's discography (much on alto sax) dating back to 1978. The title is a play on a novel by the late Umberto Eco (1932-2016), a friend and fan of the duo. B+(**) G. Calvin Weston/The Phoenix Orchestra: Dust and Ash (2019, 577): Drummer, played in Ornette Coleman's Prime Time in the late 1970s, released an album in 1988 with James Blood Ulmer and Jamaaladeen Tacuma, a couple other items. First name Grant, sometimes spelled out, often dropped. Group includes electric guitar, bass, keyb, some strings, and the odd vocal by Kayle Brecher. B+(*) Wschód: Wschód (2017 [2019], Clean Feed): Portuguese pianist Rodrigo Pinheiro (RED Trio) picked up this trio in Wroclaw, Poland, with Zbigniew Kozera (bass) and Kuba Suchar (drums). Builds to a strong simmer. B+(**) Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Chance the Rapper: 10 Day (2011 [2019], self-released): Chicago rapper Chancelor Bennett, one of the decade's best, released this debut mixtape in 2012, only 18 when he recorded it, yet bursting with wit, charm, and hooks. A- Detail: Day Two (1982 [2019], NoBusiness): Group founded in 1982 by South African bassist Johnny Dyani, saxophonist Frode Gjerstad, and drummer John Stevens, initially with a keyboardist not present here -- a set recorded just ten days after the tracks on their debut album, First Detail. They recorded several albums up to Dyani's death in 1986, and regrouped for Last Detail in 1994-95 (with Kent Carter on bass). B+(**) [cd] Kang Tae Hwan/Midori Takada: An Eternal Moment (1995 [2019], NoBusiness): Alto sax and percussion duets, part of Japan's free jazz scene, little known in the west except for frequent flyers like Satoko Fujii. Tends to move slow, at times feeling more like a bass-percussion group, but no less interesting for that. B+(***) [cd] Sunny Murray/Bob Dickie/Robert Andreano: Homework (1994 [2019], NoBusiness): Drums, bass, guitar, although there's an asterisk indicating that at some point Dickie switched to bass clarinet and Andreano to bass. Initially released in 1997 in a run of 22 copies. Main interest is the drummer, not least when the others drop out. B+(**) [cd] Horace Tapscott With the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra and the Great Voice of UGMAA: Why Don't You Listen? Live at LACMA 1998 (1998 [2019], Dark Tree): Los Angeles pianist and community organizer, first albums in late 1960s were phenomenal, much since then is relegated to private sessions although The Dark Tree (1989) is a Penguin Guide crown album, and two late releases on Arabesque caught my ear. Died in 1999, so this is even later, and too much of a sing-along to give you a good sense of his piano (although the opening instrumental piece, the title of his 1995 Arabesque album, is phenomenal). Still, only the choir at the end starts to wear my patience. A- [cd] David Wertman Sun Ensemble: Earthly Delights (1978 [2019], BBE): Bassist (1952-2013), self-taught, played in New York's late-1970s loft scene, second album -- jumped out at me because I remember the cover, but somehow missed listing it. With Greg Wall (baritone sax), David Swerdlove (soprano/alto sax), John Sprague Jr (flute/percussion), John Zieman (synth), and Jay Conway (drums). What's recently been referred to as spiritual jazz, often remarkable, as rooted in Ayler and Shepp as in hippie mysticism. B+(***) [bc] Old music: Peter Kowald/Kent Kessler/Fred Lonberg-Holm: Flats Fixed (1998 [2014], Corbett vs. Dempsey): German bassist (1944-2002), one of few who could keep your interest in a solo album, visits Chicago and picks up two sympathetic players. Kessler was bassist in Vandermark 5, and cellist Lonberg-Holm would join that group in 2006. B+(***) [bc] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, June 24, 2019 Music Week
Streamnotes (June, 2019) archive is available here. Music: current count 31677 [31641] rated (+36), 264 [256] unrated (+8). Spent most of the week exploring the Corbett vs. Dempsey catalogue, newly available on Bandcamp. I've been wanting to do that for a while now -- even wrote them an unanswered letter after Amarcord Nino Rota and others placed strong in last year's Jazz Critics Poll. I even bought a couple of John Corbett's recent books (although not yet Pick Up the Pieces: Excursions in Seventies Music, which looks like it parallels my own 1970s experience -- except that he covers a lot of jazz I only got to 20-30 years later). Corbett previously compiled the Unheard Music Series that Atavistic ran in the early 2000s, which brought 50-60 avant-jazz albums out from deep obscurity. Atavistic started in the 1990s as an avant-rock label (big names there were Swans and Lydia Lunch) before they picked up the Vandermark 5, which pulled them more into jazz. Not sure what happened to them, but most of their records are on Napster, so I complemented my CvD dive with a few Unheard titles (Tom Prehn, with one title on each and nothing else anywhere, got me going that way). The result is a week which is very slanted toward avant-jazz, and mostly old music at that. I went with the CD release dates to decide which CvD records qualified as recent (2018 or later releases, with 2008 the dividing line between new and old music). I went ahead and included records I got to on Monday after my initial freeze Sunday night, figuring it's a short (4-week) month, and it would be nice to keep all this avant-jazz together. That added one more A- record, by Rodrigo Amado. I noted that Amado has another new record out, a duo on Astral Spirits. Their records are on Bandcamp, and I've reviewed a fair number of them there, but recently they've cut them back to 2 cuts each, so I usually don't bother with them, as they're not really reviewable as such. I made an exception here, hedging a bit based on 2/5 cuts. I decided to mark records like that "**?" in my annual list. When/if I get the chance to listen further, I'll revise. New records reviewed this week: Rodrigo Amado/Gonçalo Almeida/Onno Govaert [The Attic]: Summer Bummer (2018 [2019], NoBusiness): World class tenor saxophonist from Portugal, with bass and drums. Group name on cover from a 2017 album I filed under the bassist's name (with Amado but a different drummer), but spine here lists the artists as given, omitting the group name. Free jazz, not his best but so right up my alley I finally surrendered. A- [cd] Rodrigo Amado/Chris Corsano: No Place to Fall (2014 [2019], Astral Spirits): Tenor sax and drums duo, improv pieces in a Lisbon studio. The drummer likes to kick up a racket, so this runs hard and fast (as far as I can tell). [2/5 cuts: 18:45/48:53] B+(**) [bc] Albert Beger Quartet: The Gate (2017 [2019], NoBusiness): Israeli saxophonist, also plays shakuhachi here in this quartet with piano-bass-drums. Impressive as long as he stays aggressive on sax. B+(***) [cdr] Hamid Drake/Joe McPhee: Keep Going (2018, Corbett vs. Dempsey): Most sources list McPhee first, but cover favors drummer Drake. Duets, McPhee playing alto sax and pocket trumpet. Brilliant in spots, staggers a bit too. B+(***) [bc] Rosana Eckert: Sailing Home (2018 [2019], OA2): Singer-songwriter, from Texas, teaches voice at UNT, has a couple previous albums. This one is produced by Peter Eldridge, who plays keyboards and shares three writing credits. B [cd] Mats Gustafsson/Jason Adasiewicz: Timeless (2017 [2019], Corbett vs. Dempsey): Title track is by the late guitarist John Abercrombie, evidently a common touchstone for the Swedish saxophonist and the Chicago vibraphonist (also plays balafon, to fine effect). B+(*) [bc] Dom Minasi/Juampy Juarez: Freeland (2018, Cirko): Guitar duo. Juarez is from Argentina -- not much info on him, but he seems to have another duo album with John Stowell, and more (although Discogs comes up empty). Nice Monk closer. B+(*) Thurston Moore/Frank Rosaly: Marshmallow Moon Decorum (2012 [2019], Corbett vs. Dempsey): Guitar-drums duo, the guitarist famous from Sonic Youth, but he's occasionally played with jazz groups (e.g., the Thing). One 31:36 piece. Gets loud. B+(*) [bc] Matt Olson: 789 Miles (2018 [2019], OA2): Tenor saxophonist, originally from Wisconsin, now based in South Carolina, the title reflects the distance he's traveled. Two albums with Unhinged Sextet, second on his own, a trio with Mike Kocour on organ and Dom Moio on drums. "Stompin' at the Savoy" always sounds good. B+(**) [cd] Marlene Rosenberg: MLK Convergence (2016 [2019[, Origin): Bassist, from Chicago, wrote most of the pieces here, with words from Thomas Burrell and Robert Irving III for one political cut ("Not the Song I Wanna Sing"). Otherwise a superb piano trio with Kenny Barron and Lewis Nash. Two covers, both from Stevie Wonder. B+(***) [cd] Ken Vandermark/Mats Gustafsson: Verses (2013 [2019], Corbett vs. Dempsey): Avant saxophonists, notes say this was their first time as a duo, but they recorded several albums as a trio with Peter Brötzmann (as Sonore, first in 2003), and they played together before that (Vandermark recorded several albums with Gustafsson's AALY Trio, as early as 1996), as well as in larger groups like Pipeline and the Peter Brötzmann Tentet. Many of those albums sound like rutting contests to me, but they seem to be working together here, perhaps because they can hear one another. B+(**) [bc] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Amarcord Nino Rota (1981 [2018], Corbett vs. Dempsey): I file this under producer Hal Willner's name, who went beyond this first album to produce a series of tribute albums worthy of auteur tatus -- most fabulously Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill (1985). Otherwise, this would be "various artists" playing compositions by Nino Rota from the films of Federico Fellini. Mostly jazz musicians, several solo (Jaki Byard, Bill Frisell, Steve Lacy), larger ensembles arranged by Carla Bley and Muhal Richard Abrams, even a medley with the Marsalis brothers. A- [bc] Steve Lacy: Stamps (1977-78 [2018], Corbett vs. Dempsey, 2CD): The soprano sax great's quintet, with Steve Potts (alto/soprano sax), Irène Aebi (cello/violin/voice), Kent Carter (bass), and Oliver Johnson (drums). Second disc was originally released by Hat Hut in 1979, more than doubled here with a previously unreleased 1977 live set: Some vocals at the top, after which they roll hard, even more so on the reissued tracks. B+(***) [bc] Joe McPhee/Mats Gustafsson: Brace for Impact (2007 [2018], Corbett vs. Dempsey): Two avant saxophonists, alto and baritone although both rummage through their closet for exotic variants: pocket trumpet, alto clarinet, and voice for McPhee; slide sax, alto fluteophone, and electronics for Gustafsson. Expect strain and screech, but this has remarkable moments when they manage to hold it together. B+(***) [bc] Old music: Fred Anderson: Dark Day + Live in Verona (1979 [2001], Atavistic Unheard Music Series, 2CD): Tenor saxophonist (1929-2010), born in Louisiana, joined AACM and recorded a bit 1979-80, then ran his club until returning to the fray in the late 1990s. First disc (Dark Day) appeared on an Austrian label in 1979, combined with a previously unreleased live set here -- three long tracks, repeating two titles from the album at much greater length. With Billy Brimfield (trumpet), Steven Palmore (bass), and a young but most impressive Hamid Drake (drums/tabla). A- Fred Anderson Quartet: The Milwaukee Tapes Vol. 1 (1980 [2000], Atavistic Unheard Music Series): New bassist, but essentially the same powerhouse quartet. B+(***) Steve Beresford/Tristan Honsinger/David Toop/Toshinori Kondo: Double Indemnity/Imitation of Life (1980-81 [2001], Atavistic Unheard Music Series): Sticker explains: "Two hardcore improvised music LPs on one CD." But they used the original front and back covers from Double Indemnity, only crediting Beresford (piano/flugelhorn) and Honsinger (cello/voice). The second album, Imitation of Life, added Toop (guitars/flutes) and Kondo (trumpet), its cover, where the order was Honsinger-Beresford-Kondo-Toop, probably relegated to the booklet. Hard to sort so much chaos and invention out. B+(*) The Peter Brötzmann Trio: For Adolphe Sax (1967 [2002], Atavistic Unheard Music Series): German tenor saxophonist, first album (of hundreds, still coming) fashions his uncompromising avant assault while offering a tribute to the instrument's inventor. I've long found his attack hard to take, but I guess he's wearing me down. With Peter Kowald and Sven-Åke Johansson, plus pianist Fred Van Hove on the final cut. B+(*) The Peter Brötzmann Sextet & Quartet: Nipples (1969 [2000], Atavistic Unheard Music Series): Dialed back a bit from his legendary octet recording of Machine Gun in 1968, his sextet here offers a "who's who" of the early European avant-garde, with Evan Parker (tenor sax), Derek Bailey (guitar), Fred Van Hove (piano), Buschi Niebergall (bass), and Han Bennink (drums) -- minus the Brits for the flip-side quartet. The piano is especially striking on both. B+(***) The Peter Brötzmann Sextet/Quartet: More Nipples (1969 [2003], Atavistic Unheard Music Series): Three previously unreleased pieces, the title from the "Nipples" sextet, two shorter pieces from the later quartet. B+(***) Günter Christmann/Torsten Müller/LaDonna Smith/Davey Williams: White Earth Streak (1983 [2002], Atavistic Unheard Music Series): German bassist-trombonist, born during WWII in what became Poland, played in free jazz groups from 1976 on. Plays trombone here, with Müller on bass, the others scattered sound effects: piano, violin, ukulele, viola, pianoharp, objects, guitar, banjo, drums. B Guillermo Gregorio: Otra Musica: Tape Music, Fluxus & Free Improvisation in Buenos Aires 1963-70 (1963-70 [2000], Atavistic Unheard Music Series): Born 1943 in Argentina, moved to Chicago and established himself on clarinet and alto sax from 1996. These are early pieces, starting avant-electronic before moving on, with some solo sax improvs toward the end. B Mats Gustafsson: Torturing the Saxophone (2008-13 [2014], Corbett vs. Dempsey): Solo saxophone, starts on tenor with five short Ellington tunes, including a surprisingly tender "In a Sentimental Mood," before he roughs up with some live electronics. Switches to baritone for the final four tracks -- three Aylers, and a 22:30 meditation on "Danny's Dream" (a signature piece by the great Swedish baritone saxophonist Lars Gullin). B+(*) [bc] Staffan Harde: Staffan Harde (1968-71 [2015], Corbett vs. Dempsey): Swedish guitarist, only released this one album in 1972, cobbled together from three sessions. Two solo tracks, four more with bass and/or piano, one of those with drums. More is merrier, but reports that Harde is a unique guitar stylist aren't unwarranted. B+(**) [bc] Steve Lacy/Steve Potts Featuring the Voice of Irène Aebi: Tips (1979 [2015], Corbett vs. Dempsey): Soprano and alto saxophone duo, plus the vocalist declaiming aphorisms by Georges Braque. I never could stand her singing, which here takes opera to absurdist extremes. The saxophonists are wonderful at first, but they too turn annoying by the end. Originally released 1981 by Hat Hut. B- [bc] Jimmy Lyons: Jump Up (1978 [2016], Corbett vs. Dempsey, 2CD): Originally released by Hat Hut in 1979 as 3-LP. Alto saxophonist, best known for his work with Cecil Taylor, leads a fiery quintet with Karen Borca (bassoon), Munner Bernard Fennell (cello), Hayes Burnett (bass), and Roger Blank (drums). A- [bc] Joe McPhee Quintet/Ernie Bostic Quartet: Live at Vassar 1970 (1970 [2011], Corbett vs. Dempsey, 2CD): A double bill organized by McPhee, but two separate groups, no overlap, one disc each (although vibraphonist Bostic played on several other McPhee albums around then, including the masterpiece Nation Time). McPhee, with Byron Morris as second sax (alto) and Mike Kull on piano, plays an expansive set (76:06). Bostic, with alto sax (Otis Greene) and organ (Herbie Leaman) turns in a short (33:03) set, swinging through "Bags Groove" before tackling "Resolution" (from A Love Supreme). B+(*) [bc] Joe McPhee: The Willisau Concert (1975 [2017], Corbett vs. Dempsey): Avant-sax trio, recorded live in Switzerland, the leader playing tenor and soprano, with John Snyder (synthesizer, voice) and Makaya Ntshoko (drums). Favorite moment is when the synth aims at Krautrock, which just challenges McPhee to be more inventive. A- [bc] Joe McPhee: Variations on a Blue Line/'Round Midnight (1977 [2012], Corbett vs. Dempsey): Solo saxophone, starts on tenor with a 17:24 dedication to Coleman Hawkins ("Beanstalk"), then soprano for a piece called "Motian Studies." Closes with the two title cuts -- the most familiar latter resonant on soprano. B+(**) [bc] Joe McPhee: Glasses (1977 [2012], Corbett vs. Dempsey): Solo tenor sax and flugelhorn, a relatively short "Naima" sandwiched between two longer originals (42:24 total). Starts out by tapping a rhythm on a half-filled wine glass, and closes with more percussion, which is all the help he needs. B+(***) [bc] Joe McPhee: Alone Together: The Solo Ensemble Recordings 1974 & 1979 (1974-79 [2015], Corbett vs. Dempsey): Plays his whole gamut of instruments, including alto horn, overdubbing to build up his ensembles (duo, trio, quartet). B+(***) [bc] Joe McPhee & André Jaume: Nuclear Family (1979 [2016], Corbett vs. Dempsey): Duets, both play alto and tenor sax, McPhee also pocket cornet, Jaume also bass clarinet. Recorded in Paris, previously unreleased. B+(***) [bc] Louis Moholo/Larry Stabbins/Keith Tippett: Tern (1982 [2003], Atavistic Unheard Music Series): South African drummer, English saxophonist (soprano/tenor) and pianist. Stabbins is the least famous, but has a long association with Tippett and side credits with LJCO and many other avant ensembles, and could just as well be Evan Parker there. Still, the star here is the pianist, who plays free jazz as grand drama. A- Pipeline: Pipeline (2000 [2013], Corbett vs. Dempsey): A sixteen-piece "free music big-band," organized in Chicago with a bunch of visiting Scandinavians, shelved when the intended label (Crazy Wisdom, in Sweden) was shuttered. Four reed players (leader Mats Gustafsson plus Ken Vandermark, Fredrik Ljungkvist, and Guillermo Gregorio); two brass (Jeb Bishop on trombone and Per-Åke Holmlander on tuba); two each at guitar, piano, bass, and three drummers. Two long pieces (one Vandermark, the other Ljungkvist). This was recorded about the time of Vandermark's first large band project (Territory Band), but is very different: remarkable flow, rhythmic detail, minimal squawk. A- [bc] Tom Prehn Quartet: Axiom (1963-66 [2015], Corbett vs. Dempsey): Danish pianist, recorded a couple of albums in the 1960s, of which this 1963 effort is "arguably the rarest LP in European free jazz." Also one of the most surprising ones, as tenor saxophonist Frits Krogh predates any comparable free jazz in Europe by close to a decade. Adds a previously unreleased 12:36 track from 1966, not quite as good as the original album but clearly related. A- [bc] Tom Prehn Quartet: Prehn Kvartet (1967 [2001], Atavistic Unheard Music Series): Title from front cover, the reissue back cover translating Tom Prehn Quartet. Same short-lived group, with the leader on piano, plus Fritz Krogh (tenor sax), Paul Ehlers (bass), and Preben Vang (drums). Before launching his own label, Jon Corbett directed this remarkable label series -- I count 38 titles in my ratings database (7 A- or above), but I had missed this one. Similar, a bit more focus on the piano, so less intense. B+(***) Phillip Wilson: Esoteric (1977-78 [2016], Corbett vs. Dempsey): Drummer (1941-92), from St. Louis, played in the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in 1967, moved on to Chicago, where he was involved with AACM, recorded with Anthony Braxton, Lester Bowie, Julius Hemphill, and David Murray, plus a flurry of 1978-79 albums. This turned out to be the last, a duo with Olu Dara (trumpet/serpent). B+(*) [bc] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, June 17, 2019 Music Week
Music: current count 31641 [31614] rated (+27), 256 [251] unrated (+5). Didn't expect to get to much music this week, but the planned project fell through. Responded to that by feeling listless and depressed, so not much of a recovery. Spent a lot of the time I did use on the Moserobie package, the extra plays merely confirming my first pass impressions. Finally started in on Weekend Roundup early Friday afternoon, and finally felt like I was getting something done -- wouldn't call it mindless, but the task posed enough structure to keep me going through the motions. The result was the most personally satisfying Weekend Roundup all year, plus I ticked off enough records to get close to my 30-per-week target. The Jamila Woods album was recommended by Michael Tatum, who should have a new Downloader's Diary out this week. I gave it a spin when I first heard about it, and probably would have filed it as a mid-B+, but decided to hold off a while. Returned to it mid-week, and 3-4 plays got better and better. Followed up on some Downbeat jazz reviews -- nothing very good there -- and landed on a couple of Bandcamps that looked promising: Fundacja Sluchaj (François Carrier has been very good at sending me records, so I held off on his record there, but eventually couldn't wait), Unseen Rain (Dom Minasi sent me mail about his record there, and I found more), and Corbett vs. Dempsey (Jon Corbett's obscure reissue label, one I've long wanted to be able to cover). All typically offer the chance to listen to full albums, which makes them reviewable. (Many other Bandcamps have dropped down to a sample cut or two, which makes them unusable for reviews -- that's the main reason I miss more Ken Vandermark albums than I hear these days.) More on the CvD next week, and probably for several weeks to come. Spoke too soon about NoBusiness dropping me, as I got a big package early last week. The Sam Rivers set was the one I had heard about, so I jumped on it first. Would have been a high B+ had I used their Bandcamp, but having the CD and booklet encouraged me to play it a few extra times. I also looked up what I've been missing from Intakt -- two monthly packages so far, so four releases -- but nothing looked critical right now (with Fred Frith's 3-CD live set the most imposing). They have a Bandcamp as well, but recent releases only have a couple of cuts available. I think the full records are on Napster -- at least the old ones are -- so I'll catch up there, but no rush. The Team Dresch reissues were all I got from looking at Pitchfork's Best New Music page -- something I rarely check, but Woods and Denzel Curry are also listed there, along with a Don Cherry reissue of an album (Brown Rice) I gave a B+ to long, long ago, and Slowthai's Nothing Great About Britain (a high B+ last week). New batch of Robert Christgau's XgauSez questions and answers up tonight. Still hope to launch something like that myself. New records reviewed this week: Fabian Almazan Trio: This Land Abounds With Life (2018 [2019], Biophilia): Pianist, born in Cuba, raised in Miami, fifth album since 2012, a trio with Linda May Han Oh (bass) and Henry Cole (drums), plus strings on one track. B+(*) Brad Barrett/Joe Morris/Tyshawn Sorey: Cowboy Transfiguration (2018 [2019], Fundacja Sluchaj): Bass/cello, guitar, and drums trio, all improv, artists listed alphabetically (although Barrett has sole credit as producer). Morris tends to get scratchy and choppy in this sort of group, almost percussion. B+(***) [bc] François Carrier/Alexander Hawkins/John Edwards/Michel Lambert: Nirguna (2017 [2019], Fundacja Sluchaj, 2CD): Free quartet, the alto saxophonist and drummer long-term companions from Quebec, here live at Vortex in London, with local pianist (Hawkins) and bassist (Edwards), almost as practiced together. Two 51-minute sets, each starting long, closing shorter, the leaders at their most aggressive. B+(***) [bc] Trish Clowes: Ninety Degrees Gravity (2019, Basho): British saxophonist, sings a bit, fifth album since 2010, backed by guitar-organ-drums, postbop with some chops. B+(**) Anat Cohen Tentet: Triple Helix (2019, Anzic): Clarinet player, from Israel, based in New York, featured artist here although the music looks to be by Obed Lev-Ari, a "concerto for clarinet and ensemble." Two reeds, two brass, cello and bass, piano and guitar, drums and vibraphone. Best when they kick up their heels. B+(**) Denzel Curry: Zuu (2019, Loma Vista): Florida rapper, fourth album, sharp and short (12 tracks, 29:02). B+(**) Fennesz: Agora (2019, Touch): Electronica producer Christian Fennesz, from Austria, big pile of records since 1997. Usually filed under ambient, but the drone here is a bit much. B Mark Guiliana: Beat Music! Beat Music! Beat Music! (2019, Motéma): Drummer, from New Jersey, first album (aside from a duo that listed Brad Mehldau first) was called Beat Music: The Los Angeles Improvisations, and he later used Beat Music Productions as his self-released label name. Single-word titles. Electronic keybs, bass, with occasional vocals. And, yeah, beats. B Per 'Texas' Johansson/Torbjörn Zetterberg/Konrad Agnas: Orakel (2018 [2019], Moserobie): Avant-sax trio from Sweden, all three write (but mostly bassist Zetterberg, who some sources credit first). All seems deeply thought out, nothing rushed or frantic. Johansson doubles on clarinet. Not much under his name, but he's been active since the 1990s, often impressive. A- [cd] Angelique Kidjo: Celia (2019, Verve): Pop singer from Benin, father Fon, mother Yoruba, cut her first album in 1981, moved to Paris in 1983, became an international star after Island picked up her 1991 album Logozo, but I've only heard one of her fifteen albums before this tribute to Cuban diva Celia Cruz. The Cuban rhythm picks up the pace, but she still seems a little stiff for the role. B+(*) La La Lars: La La Lars II (2019, Headspin): Swedish drummer Lars Skoglund, second album under this alias, Discogs lists 70 album credits since 1999, some rock or pop. Quintet, with Jonas Kullhammar (sax, flute, bassoon), Goran Kojfes (trumpet), Carl Bagge (piano), and Johan Bethling (bass). B+(**) [cd] Matt Lavelle Quartet: Hope (2019, Unseen Rain): Trumpet/flugelhorn player, alto alto and bass clarinet, Quartet same as on their eponymous 2017 debut: Lewis Porter (piano), Hilliard Greene (bass), and Tom Carrera (drums). Surprisingly mainstream, almost lush. B+(**) [bc] Xavier Lecouturier: Carrier (2018 [2019], Origin): Drummer, based in Seattle, first album, composed 5 (of 10) pieces, with guitarist Lucas Winter contributing three more and much of the sound. B [cd] Greta Matassa: Portrait (2019, Origin): Standards singer, based in Seattle, Discogs lists 8 records, one in 1991, the rest 2001-10, so this is her first in a while. Backed by piano trio plus saxophone (Alexey Nikolaev). Does a nice job of navigating the difficult "Lush Life." B [cd] Dom Minasi: Remembering Cecil (2019, Unseen Rain): Guitarist, cut two albums for Blue Note 1974-75, then nothing until 1999 when he surfaced on avant-oriented CIMP. Solo here, a tribute to the late Cecil Taylor but no songbook -- all inspired-by improvs. Doesn't remind me much of Taylor either, but I like the thoughtfulness that went into it. B+(***) [bc] Nobject [Martin Küchen/Rafal Mazur/Vasco Trilla]: X-Rayed (2018 [2019], Fundacja Sluchaj, 2CD): Free-wheeling sax-bass-drums trio (sopranino/tenor, acoustic bass guitar), a "new atomic working band." Four tracks from 7:17 to 30:30, short enough (70:30) it could have fit a single CD. Can get intense. B+(**) [bc] RPM: Just Like Falling (2019, Unseen Rain): Group named for first initials: Rocco John Iacovone (alto sax/piano), Phil Sirois (bass), and Michael Lytle (bass clarinet). Iacovone has always been a bracing saxophonist, and the bass clarinet provides a nice contrast. B+(**) [bc] Erik Skov: Liminality (2018 [2019], OA2): Guitarist, based in Chicago, wrote all the pieces for a sextet with three horns (trumpet, tenor sax, trombone), bass, and drums. Lively postbop with a bit of groove. B+(*) [cd] Ståhls Trio: Källtorp Sessions: Volume One (2017-18 [2019], Moserobie): Vibraphonist Mattias Ståhl, with Joe Williamson (bass) and Christopher Cantillo (drums). Ståhl should probably be getting some poll recognition. He always adds something to larger groups (like Angles 9), but this configuration shows the limits as a lead instrument. B+(***) [cd] Mary Stallings: Songs Were Made to Sing (2019, Smoke Sessions): Jazz singer, pushing 80, cut a record with Cal Tjader in 1961 but career stalled after tours with Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie. Restarted in 1990 on Concord, and had some good years with HighNote. All covers here, the ungrammatical title leading into the title of "While We're Young." They're not, although Eddie Henderson's trumpet stands out. B+(*) Jamila Woods: Legacy! Legacy! (2019, Jagjaguwar): From Chicago, published poet, filed her first album under rap but she sings her way through this second album. Song titles are names, all one word (save "Sun Ra"), most easy enough to fill out, with her best hooked song, "Betty," reprised ("I am not a typical girl"). Took a while to settle in, and probably has more depth than I'll ever be able to plumb. A- Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Agustí Fernández Trio With William Parker & Susie Ibarra: One Night at the Joan Miró Foundation: July 16th, 1998 (1998 [2019], Fundacja Sluchaj): Pianist, from Barcelona, where this was recorded. Discography starts around 1986, seems especially inspired here playing with Cecil Taylor's bassist, who's worth focusing on. A- [bc] Beaver Harris/Don Pullen 360° Experience: A Well Kept Secret (1984 [2018], Corbett vs. Dempsey): Had this in my database as an unrated LP, but haven't seen it in ages. Harris (1936-91) is a drummer, not much under his name but played in some important avant groups in the 1960s, and later cut an African Drums album. Pullen (1944-95) was a brilliant pianist, and he's often dazzling here, but the group is pretty scattered, with two saxes -- Ricky Ford on tenor and Hamiet Bluiett on baritone -- plus bass and steel drums. B+(***) [bc] Sam Rivers Trio: Emanation (1971 [2019], NoBusiness): Volume 1 of Sam Rivers Archive Project, drawing on a reportedly large trove of private recordings, here from the period when the late 1960s avant-garde retreated to the lofts of Lower Manhattan, chez Rivers in particular. Two massive chunks, 76:41 in total, with the leader playing tenor and soprano sax, a lot of flute, and some striking piano, all backed by Cecil McBee on bass and Norman Connors on drums. A- Team Dresch: Personal Best (1994 [2019], Jealous Butcher, EP): Relatively minor queercore/riot grrrl group, formed in Olympia, based in Portland, short first album (10 cuts, 24:14). Named for guitarist/bassist Donna Dresch, but vocals are credited either to Jody Coyote (Bleyle) or Kaia Kangaroo (Wilson). B+(*) Team Dresch: Choices, Chances, Changes: Singles & Comptracks 1994-2000 (1994-2000 [2019], Jealous Butcher): Twelve songs, most from 7-inch singles (starting with their debut "Hand Grenade") with a couple of change-ups and a sense of evolution, adds up to 30:31. B+(*) Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Saturday, June 8, 2019 Music Week
Music: current count 31614 [31587] rated (+27), 251 [248] unrated (+3). Ran the numbers late Sunday evening, but added Monday's unpacking, so the numbers have a slight skew from reality. I'm especially pleased to get a copy of Orakel, the Swedish label Moserobie. It's currently ranked number two on Chris Monsen's Favorites list, and follows a Moserobie release that topped my own 2018 list. It's gotten very expensive to mail CDs from Europe to the US recently, and several of the last few labels I've been getting service from seem to have dropped out (the ones I've felt the worst about are Intakt and NoBusiness, plus Clean Feed a couple years back). With labels like that, I try to find streaming sources, but it's not always easy. Joe Yanosik wrote to tell me he's working up a Franco discography, and asked whether I've considered doing a deep dive, especially into his numerous Sonodisc recordings. I had, in fact, picked up a couple of them in my shopping days, and have generally enjoyed everything I picked up. Napster has a few of them I hadn't heard, so before long I started working my way through them -- limiting myself to ones I could figure out dates for. The grades below split 3 A-, 4 B+(***), but there wasn't all that much to separate best from worst. Notable music links this week:
New records reviewed this week: Akiko Hamilton Dechter: Equal Time (2018 [2019], Capri): Organ-guitar-drums trio, with Akiko Tsuruga on organ, Jeff Hamilton on drums, and Graham Dechter on guitar. Straightforward soul jazz here, a steady groove with a little embellishment. B+(*) [cd] Angles 9: Beyond Us (2018 [2019], Clean Feed): The expanded edition of saxphonist Martin Küchen's Angles 3, fourth album at this number (plus one Angles 8), with five horns, piano (Alexander Zethson), vibes (Mattias Ståhl), bass, and drums. Five cuts, live, huge ensemble sound with some major solos (Magnus Broo stands out). B+(***) Big Thief: U.F.O.F. (2019, 4AD): Brooklyn-based indie band, third album (although leader Adrianne Lenker also has a solo). Nothing hard, or even very solid, yet the songs hold together nicely, with lots of minor pleasures. A- Alan Broadbent Trio: New York Notes (2019, Savant): Mainstream pianist, from New Zealand, discography dates from 1974, close to thirty albums as leader, seems like I first became aware of him in Charlie Haden's Quartet West (1987-2002?). Trio with Harvie S (bass) and Billy Mintz (drums). He's always been a fine pianist, but this one's exceptionally dazzling. A- Avishai Cohen: Arvoles (2019, Razdaz/Sunnyside): Israeli bassist, leads a piano trio (Elchin Shirinov and Noam David), adding trombone (Björn Samuelsson) and flute (Anders Hagberg) on four cuts (of 11). Mostly rhythmic vamps, captivating pieces, the horns adding weight and color -- the trombone, anyway. B+(***) Satoko Fujii/Ramon Lopez: Confluence (2018 [2019], Libra): Piano-drums duo. Starts and ends slow, contemplative even, with a strong middle section that shows the pianist moving past her Cecil Taylor inspiration. B+(***) [cd] Injury Reserve: Injury Reserve (2019, Senaca Village): Phoenix hip-hop trio, debut album after a couple mixtapes, runs rough but the beats and scratches are first-rate, the words come and go, and they know a hook when they hang one. B+(***) Kedr Livanskiy: Your Need (2019, 2MR): Russian, Yana Kedrina, lays her vocals on thick over electronics, the dance beats evidently the work of producer Flaty (Zhenya). B Rosie Lowe: Yu (2019, Wolf Tone): British (Leeds) singer-songwriter, second album, electropop, but avoid glitz, the slackness drawing you in. B+(**) Kelsey Lu: Blood (2019, Columbia): Based in L.A., plays cello and sings, last name McJunkins, not sure if Lu is her middle (she has recorded as Lu Lu McJunkins). First album, after an EP. Cover reminds me of Solange, albeit with more exposure. Songs expose more too. Surprise move is the cover of 10cc's "I'm Not in Love." B+(**) Martha: Love Keeps Kicking (2019, Dirtnap): Indie band from a village called Pity Me in County Durham, far northeast of England. Third album, very upbeat, a bit busy with all four musicians (guitar-guitar-bass-drums) singing. B+(**) Orville Peck: Pony (2019, Sub Pop): "Psychedelic outlaw cowboy croons love and loss from the badlands of North America." Wears a red hat and a black leather mask. Voice/guitar reminds of Robert Gordon, which probably means nothing to you. Lost me on a song about Kansas. He could be onto something, or could get even more annoying. B- Red Kite: Red Kite (2019, RareNoise): Norwegian "jazz-rock power quartet, Even Helte Hermansen the guitarist, plus bass, keyboards, and drums, impressive as long as they keep it hard. B+(**) [cdr] Chanda Rule: Sapphire Dreams (2016 [2019], PAO): Standards singer, born in Chicago, based in Vienna, Austria, has at least one previous album. Mostly Austrian musicians, with notable exception of pianist Kirk Lightsey. B [cd] The Jamie Saft Quartet: Hidden Corners (2019, RareNoise): Piano player, started as a groove guy but lately has been playing free. With Dave Liebman (tenor/soprano sax, flute), Bradley Christopher Jones (bass), and Hamid Drake (drums). Mixed bag. B+(**) [cdr] The Twilight Sad: It Won/t Be Like This All the Time (2019, Rock Action): Scottish post-punk band, fifth album since 2007. Way post-punk, but live up to their name. B Federico Ughi: Transoceanico (2016 [2019], 577): Drummer, from Rome, based in Brooklyn, twenty years worth of records (unnoticed by me thus far), this an avant-sax trio with Rachel Musson (tenor) and Adam Lane (bass). Slows down a bit near the end, but I'll need to keep an ear open for this British saxophonist. A- Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Paul Bley/Gary Peacock/Paul Motian: When Will the Blues Leave (1999 [2019], ECM): Piano-bass-drums trio. Not sure how far they go back together, but their earlier 1999 album was described as a reunion, Bley did a duo with Peacock in 1970, and Motian joins them in 1975 (if not earlier). All stars by this point, interesting as ever. B+(**) Alex Chilton: Songs From Robin Hood Lane (1991-94 [2019], Bar/None): Four previously unreleased songs, the others from two early-1990s albums (Medium Cool and Clichés) -- jazz standards, perhaps the point of the titles. B+(*) Old music: Franco Et TP OK Jazz: 1967/1968 (1967-68 [1992], Sonodisc): Congo's greatest bandleader, the most comparable Americans would be Duke Ellington and James Brown, from early (1956) up to his death (1989). Discography is vast, begetting a series of hard-to-find chronological compilations (as with Ellington and Brown). I doubt if these are as completist. Seems marginal two or three cuts in, then finds its own sweet groove. A- Franco Et TP OK Jazz: 1966/1968 (1966-68 [1992], Sonodisc): Should probably have listed this one above 1967/1968, but found it later, and have little more to add. Nothing blows me away, but everything is thoroughly enjoyable. B+(***) Franco & Le TP OK Jazz: 1971/1972: Likambo Ya Ngana (1971-72 [1994], Sonodisc): Kicks it up a notch here, not that anyone is in much of a hurry. A- Franco, Vicky Et L'OK Jazz: Marceline Oh! Oh! (1972 [1998], Sonodisc): "Early '70s," some tracks appeared in 1972, near the end of singer Vicky Longomba's 1961-72 stretch with OK Jazz (often as Vicky et l'OK Jazz). Feels a little pieced together, leaving me with little or no sense of Vicky, although Franco often delivers, as he so often does. B+(***) Franco Et Le T.P. OK Jazz: 79/80/81 Live: Kinshasa Makambo (1979-81 [1994], Sonodisc): Title track is a slow ballad, perhaps a lament, hard to say. Picks up a little midway, especially on the two long takes of "Bokolo Bana Ya Mbanda." B+(***) Franco Et Le TP OK Jazz: Makambo Ezali Bourreau: 1982/1984/1985 (1982-85 [1994], Sonodisc): Five nice groove pieces, running 9:20 to 12:18. B+(***) Franco/Simaro/Jolie Detta Et Le T.P. O.K. Jazz: 1986-1987-1988 (1986-88 [1994], Sonodisc): Two (of four) cuts from a 1986 album with singer Jolie Detta. Not sure where the rest comes from, but Discogs credits Franco with 16 albums in these three years, including one with "Le Poete Lutumba Simaro" (4 tracks, none here). The other nine pieces are short (3:02 to 5:39) but meaty. A- Franco Et Le TP OK Jazz: Les Rumeurs (Inedits 1988-1989) (1988-89 [1994], Sonodisc): Five previously unreleased cuts, 52:33, "en compagnie de Sam Mangwana." Another delightful groove album. B+(***) Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, June 3, 2019 Music Week
Music: current count 31587 [31558] rated (+29), 248 [251] unrated (-3). So, 29 again. Ran the counter this afternoon, after I found a missed grade and added a "remembered LP" grade -- an LP I distinctly remember having but which didn't get picked up when I jotted down my first grade list (mid-1990s, I think). I may have cut it some slack -- main thing I remember was being disappointed by it. Once again, surprised that I bagged that many -- after a very slow start, one that kept the Salamon Freequestra album in the changer for close to three days. Finished with Alfred Soto's top 20 list, checking out Mountain Goats, National, Tyler, and Weyes Blood, leaving me with only 5 A- records from his 20 (Control Top's Covert Contracts, Billie Eilish's When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, Robert Forster's Inferno, Lizzo's Cuz I Love You, and Nilüfer Yanya's Miss Universe). Only one Christgau pick in those five (Eilish), and only one more in Soto's other 15 (Sharon Van Etten's Remind Me Tomorrow, a low B+ for me). Speaking of Eilish, Phil Freeman dissed her album in the course of making a Facebook rant:
I commented, taking exception to his examples: Eilish is currently 12 on my Music Year 2019 list, behind 7 jazz albums (counting my top-rated Heroes Are Gang Leaders: The Amiri Baraka Sessions, which admittedly has vocals, although the other 6 don't) and 4 other non-jazz. Of course, Freeman isn't complaining about me ignoring jazz albums in my annual lists. And I'm not much bothered that who spends most of his non-jazz time listening to metal should have trouble appreciating a lo-fi girl singer-songwriter. Or even that he offers Tyler, a hip-hop artist who buries himself in soft off-kilter tones, as another option in hype. (I agree that he is overrated, but I also find Igor to be his most pleasing and interesting album yet.) Where I disagree is in positing that the Art Ensemble of Chicago survivors reunion album is this year's flagship jazz hope. I played it (both CDs) until I gave up all hope, then let if off easy with a B+(**), which is to say that I currently have at least 50 jazz records this year that I like better. On the other hand, if I had to handicap the 2019 Jazz Critics Poll, I doubt I'd find more than a couple of my A- records in the top ten: James Brandon Lewis's An Unruly Manifesto seems most likely, then maybe Matthew Shipp's Signature, Moppa Elliott's Jazz Band/Rock Band/Dance Band, Quinssin Nachoff's Path of Totality, or David Berkman's Six of One -- hunches based as much on labels and publicists as on the records themselves. But none of those artists have fared well in past polls, which is a much stronger indicator. Some albums you're more likely to find on JCP ballots (my grades in brackets):
AEC looks pretty imposing on this list: it's big (last year was dominated by 2-CD releases and won by Wayne Shorter's 3-CD monstrosity), has historic cachet that reconciles the avant-garde with the tradition; it augments what's left of a legendary group augmented with lots of guest stars, and is on a label which always places records high in EOY polls (that same label is the reason Mitchell is on this list). None of the other records have that sort of cred, so maybe Freeman is right to pick it. My only complaint is that it isn't good enough. If I wanted to broaden the horizons of non-jazz critics, I'd start by recommending better records. Christgau remarked recently that EOY list-building has more to do with brand identification than diligent sorting and ranking. I know that to be true of my own lists, where my brand is somone who listens to all kinds of things and doesn't give a fuck about what anyone else thinks. As the Dean, I figure Christgau is more focused on building a pantheon, but individual lists tend to be idiosyncratically personal (and his certainly is). Freeman's referring to corporate lists, which are carefully crafted to cater to a target audience. There's no place for jazz in most, not because their writers dislike jazz (although many do, or simply don't get the exposure -- hardly anyone hears much outside of their niche these days), but because their editors don't expect their readers to be interested in such things. So what you see is what you'd expect when people of limited knowledge try to write down to appeal/appease people who know even less. Nonethless, as someone who has compiled literally thousands of EOY lists in recent years, I believe that there is actually a tiny trend toward more crossover jazz in predominantly indie/pop lists (although more so in UK than US). Last year the major breakthroughs were Kamasi Washington, Makaya McCraven, and Sons of Kemet (two A- records among those three, the other a high B+, so those picks were much more respectable as jazz than, say, Bad Bad Not Good from a few years back). I could write volumes more on EOY lists (for data, see last year's EOY aggregate and Jazz Critics Poll). But my bottom line is learn what you can from the data, don't begrudge other people's pleasures, and don't rag on people for not liking what you like. Back to my original thread about what I reviewed this week: beyond Soto's list, I looked at AOTY's Highest Rated Albums of 2019 and picked out a few records that seemed promising. Three sounded good enough to warrant multiple plays before I settled on B+(***): Fontaines D.C.'s Dogrel (1), Slowthai's Nothing Great About Britain (22), and Craig Finn's I Need a New War. Two previously graded A- in top 25: Dave's Psychodrama (2), and Little Simz's Grey Area (6), and a bunch more I haven't heard. By the way, the Lee Perry dive started with Christgau's review of Rainford. I couldn't find it on Napster, so went to Bandcamp. Obviously, a lot more Perry I haven't heard. I've always recommended the 3-CD compilation, Arkology, but that only gets you 4 prime years (expect overlap with Super Ape). I also really like the recent (2014) Back at the Controls. New records reviewed this week: Melissa Aldana: Visions (2019, Motéma): Tenor saxophonist, from Chile, studied at Berklee, won a Monk prize. Quintet, with Sam Harris (piano), Pablo Menares (bass), Joel Ross (vibes), and Tommy Crane (drums). Cites Frida Kahlo as inspiration. Mainstream postbop, emphasis on flow. B+(**) Bruce Barth: Sunday (2017 [2018], Blau): Pianist, from California, more than a dozen albums since 1993. Tenor saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi threatens to take this over, but the pianist doubles down and plays harder. With Mark Hodgson on bass and Stephen Keogh on drums, recorded live in Spain. B+(**) Jerry Bergonzi: The Seven Rays (2019, Savant): Tenor saxophonist, quintet with Phil Grenadier on trumper and Danish pianist Carl Winther's trio, same line-up as on 2017's Dog Star. More postbop, or maybe I just mean his sax rarely stands out. B+(*) Dave Douglas/Uri Caine/Andrew Cyrille: Devotion (2018 [2019], Greenleaf Music): Trumpet-piano-drums trio, type suggests I could have credited it just to Douglas, but the other names are stacked above the title. Caine comes out aggressive here, but the trumpet never really takes charge. B+(*) Ezra Collective: You Can't Steal My Joy (2019, Enter the Jungle): London-based jazz group, led by drummer Femi Koleoso with his brother TJ Koleoso on bass, Joe Armon-Jones on keys, plus trumpet and sax. More fusion than pop but that's a fine line. B Craig Finn: I Need a New War (2019, Partisan): Fourth solo album, after fronting groups Lifter-Puller and the Hold Steady. Has a distinctive voice, writes fine songs about other interesting people, produces them with warmth and sparkle. Worried a bit that the reason the songs haven't sunk in yet is that they're less memorable than his best, but this sounds great, even if it wears a bit thin. Title refers to U.S. Grant, who would think such a thing. B+(***) Fontaines D.C.: Dogrel (2019, Partisan): Irish post-punk group, led by singer Grian Chatten, first album, 11 songs in 39:55, most with rhythm that reminds me of the Roadrunners with a soupçon of Pogues, ends on a ballad ("Dublin City Sky") that ripens the accent. B+(***) Ryan Keberle & Catharsis: The Hope I Hold (2018 [2019], Greenleaf Music): Trombonist, has used this band name since 2012, with Scott Robinson (tenor sax), Jorge Roeder (bass), Eric Doob (drums), and Camila Meza (vocals/guitar). Songs inspired by Langston Hughes. B+(**) [cd] Maren Morris: Girl (2019, Columbia Nashville): Nashville singer-songwriter, Wikipedia lists some juvenilia but her effective debut was a 2015 EP followed by her hit album, Hero. Her follow up sticks to formula, effectively oversinging on top of excess production. B The Mountain Goats: In League With Dragons (2019, Merge): John Darnielle's 17th album, something to do with dungeons and dragons (the tabletop game), offers the level of songcraft we've come to expect, passes perhaps a bit too easily. B+(**) The National: I Am Easy to Find (2019, 4AD): Alt/indie band from Cincinnati, released their debut in 2001, Matt Berninger has the voice, while the band has a knack for rhythm -- gives them reliable appeal, as we wait for special moments. Not enough this time, but the talkie "Not in Kansas" is one. B+(**) Lee Scratch Perry: Rainford (2019, On-U Sound): Hard to know how much to credit dub, which takes existing tracks and adds echo and scratch, but Rainford Hugh Perry has a major player since the 1970s, spawning further dub masters like producer Adrian Sherwood here. Nine distinctive tracks dwell on his Upsetter theme, artfully enough to sound like everything and nothing else before. A- Rotten Girlz: Punk You (2018 [2019], Sazas): Slovenian jazz guitarist Samo Salamon's project. Seems like the original idea was to do something rockish, to which end he wrote some lyrics and recruited Eva Fozenel to sing. But his band -- saxophonist Achille Succi and drummer Bojan Krhianko -- didn't see any reason to temper down their jazz chops. The singer tried some scat, then dropped out after 5 cuts. B+(*) [cd] Samo Salamon & Freequestra: Free Sessions, Vol. 2: Freequestra (2016 [2019], Klopotec): Slovenian guitarist, has been producing 3-5 albums per year since 2004. Group here expands from his Rotten Girls trio to twelve, with two more guitarists, piano, violin, tuba, more horns, and a second drummer. Vol. 1 was released in 2017 as Planets of Kei. A- [cd] Samo Salamon/Szilárd Mezei/Jaka Berger: Swirling Blind Unstilled (2018 [2019], Klopotec): Guitar-viola-drums trio. Mezei was featured in Freequestra Vol. 1, but missed out on Vol. 2. Similar moves here, but the group is too sparse to sweep you away. B+(**) [cd] Slowthai: Nothing Great About Britain (2019, Method): English rapper Tyron Frampton, from Northampton, first album, after two EPs and several singles. Hard/harsh but austere beats, thick accent, hard to catch much of an album where words are the main course. B+(***) Peter Stampfel and the Atomic Meta Pagans: The Ordovician Era (2019, Don Giovanni): Scratchy-voiced folksinger's follow up to The Cambrian Explosion, the ancient eras represented in his selection of moldy standards. Cover adds "featuring Shelley Hirsch." B+(*) Mavis Staples: We Get By (2019, Anti-): Quickly became the star of her father's gospel family act, tried going secular in the 1970s, much later finding her calling as the torch bearer of the civil rights movement. At 80 she has more gravitas than anyone needs, which lends extra heft to Ben Harper's solemn songs. A- Tyler, the Creator: Igor (2019, Columbia): Tyler Okonma, Odd Future rapper turned soul crooner and slinky r&b producer -- an improvement, for once. B+(**) Vampire Weekend: Father of the Bride (2019, Columbia): Fourth album, first three were alt/indie darlings, but this one -- six years after the last, minus music wizard Rostam Batmanglij, leaving singer Ezra Koenig the main writer, plus a number of guests -- is a sprawling 18-cut mix: cheerful, often catchy, rarely compelling, with a couple cuts where the pop gets overly ripe. Not something I care about enough to figure out. B+(**) Weyes Blood: Titanic Rising (2019, Sub Pop): Natalie Mering, moniker a corruption of a Flannery O'Connor novel (Wise Blood). Fourth album, heavily orchestrated. B- Old music: Jerry Bergonzi Trio: Lost in the Shuffle (1998, Double Time): With Dan Wall on organ and Adam Nussbaum on drums. Mostly originals (one Hart & Rodgers standard), strong tenor sax showing. B+(**) Jerry Bergonzi: Spotlight on Standards (2016, Savant): "Witchcraft," "Dancing in the Dark," "Come Rain or Come Shine," "Stella by Starlight," others less famous. Backed by organ (Renato Chicco) and drums (Andrea Michelutti), more energy than a great ballad album needs, but this tenor saxophonist has always been restless. B+(***) Lee Perry: Africa's Blood (1971, Trojan): First LP under his own name, most songs attributed to the Upsetters, although the opening James Brown riff is credited to Dave Barker, and Winston Price also gets a feature. Perry wrote everything but "My Girl," a weak signal of the song. B+(*) Lee Perry and the Upsetters: Some of the Best (1968-79 [1985], Heartbeat): One of the first US compilations of Perry productions, with credits to Dave Barker, Bob Marley, Junior Byles, and Linval Thompson, as well as lots of Upsetters. Not sure of the dates, but most pre-1974. All singles-length (2:07-3:43). Few stand out, but "Keep On Shanking" is the operative motto. B+(***) The Upsetters: Super Ape (1976, Mango): Lee Perry's first record appeared in 1969, and through the 1970s he mostly recorded as the Upsetters. This one originally appeared as Scratch the Super Ape in Jamaica, then was picked up by Island, introducing him to the world. This may have seemed slight, or just weird, at the time, its dub effects obscuring reggae's pop sense, but it seems like a classic now. In fact, one cut seems like a radical remix of Junior Murvin's "Police and Thieves" -- a hit a year later, produced by Perry. A- The Upsetters: Return of the Super Ape (1978, Upsetter): The sequel, didn't get the Island distribution but has been reissued a dozen times or more, with Cleopatra crediting this to Lee "Scratch" Perry & the Upsetters. B+(**) Added grades for remembered lps from way back when:
Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, May 27, 2019 Music Week
Music: current count 31558 [31518] rated (+40), 251 [252] unrated (-1). Last Monday in May, so extra work today doing my paperwork for the May Streamnotes archive. Rated count was 34 when I first checked on Sunday, but I've kept this open to see what fits into the month. Still, much of the bulk, both this week and for the month, has come from diving into back catalog. With new albums from George Cables and Jerry Bergonzi out, I thought they might be fun. When time ran out, I still had more Bergonzi to go, not least the new one. The week's finds are scattered. The latest Christgau Expert Witness picked a Youssou N'Dour album I had noticed from publicist email but hadn't tracked down (not on Napster, but I was able to stream from Rock Paper Scissors). Also Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba's Miri, a previous A- here (also according to Michael Tatum). Phil Overeem's latest list pointed me at Beyoncé's Homecoming and A Day in the Life, but the album I liked most was an exceptionally genteel trad jazz quartet he had down at 23. I got some more ideas from Alfred Soto's The best albums of 2019, first draft: specifically Nilüfer Yanya's Miss Universe -- although I'll note that I had heard his six higher-rated albums and didn't A-list any of them. (Further down his list, I did pick Control Top: Covert Contracts; Robert Forster: Inferno; Billie Eilish: When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?; and Lizzo: Cuz I Love You; still unheard: The Mountain Goats, Vampire Weekend, The National; Tyler, the Creator; and Weyes Blood.) Lucas Fagen provided the tip on L7 (also one I did't follow up on yet: Gary Clark Jr.). First L7 play didn't convince me, so I went back and played the Best Of. Gave the new one an extra play later, but didn't move it. They have one of the all-time great band sounds, but at this point I'd guess it's more likely to drop a notch than to rise one. Opposite is true of their eponymous debut, which Christgau missed and I'd never heard. They get something out of youth there that they'll never get back to again. It occurred to me that Ray Charles and Betty Carter might be on YouTube, and indeed it was. Someone wrote me a while back to point out that several albums I couldn't find on Napster were on YouTube (usually with nothing but the static album cover for video). I haven't followed that tip often, but with big chunks of backlist from both artists this month, seemed like good due dilligence. Disappointing album. David Cantwell has written an exceptionally thorough review of Robert Christgau's two recent essay compilations, Book Reports and Is It Still Good to Ya? (Duke University Press): Robert Christgau's big-hearted theory of pop. I managed to screw up Cantwell's name when I initially posted the link, confusing him with a mediocre pitcher from 1927-37 (W-L record 76-108, mostly with the doormat Boston Braves, although he looked better before going 4-25 in 1936). Turns out David Cantwell has been cranking out country music list-articles for Rolling Stone. It might be fun to follow up on them in June. I am posting tonight a new installment of XgauSez, Christgau's question-and-answer session. New records reviewed this week: Beyoncé: Homecoming: The Live Album (2018 [2019], Columbia, 2CD): Probably the biggest star in American music these days, but I never cared for her albums, at least until 2016's Lemonade -- ok, maybe 2013's Beyoncé, which I rated mid-B+. But none stuck with me long enough to recognize any songs on this Coachella concert, and that, plus the cavernous sound of spectacle I can't see let alone fathom, leaves me indifferent -- at least until "Run the World" broke through. B+(*) Carlos Bica/Daniel Erdmann/DJ Illvibe: I Am the Escaped One (2018 [2019], Clean Feed): Bass, tenor sax, and turntables. B+(*) Brooks & Dunn: Reboot (2019, Arista Nashville): Nashville hitmakers Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn reprise a dozen singles, starting with 1991's "Brand New Man," adding a guest vocalist to each. Mostly adds to the group's penchant for bombast, but Kacey Musgraves makes "Neon Moon" a choice cut. B George Cables: I'm All Smiles (2019, HighNote): Pianist, 75, my favorite of Art Pepper's pianists from his last period, still has a light and playful touch on his standards, in a trio with Essiet Essiet (bass) and Victor Lewis (drums). B+(**) Steve Davis: Correlations (2019, Smoke Sessions): Mainstream trombonist, twenty-some albums since 1994, after early stints with Art Blakey and Jackie McLean. Repeats Blakey's sextet lineup here, with trumpet (Joshua Bruneau), sax (Wayne Escoffery), piano (Xavier Davis), bass, and drums. B+(*) Elder Ones: From Untruth (2019, Northern Spy): Vocalist Amirtha Kidambi, second album as Elder Ones, a quartet with Matt Nelson (soprano sax/moog), Nick Dunston (bass), Max Jaffe (drums), with her on harmonium and synthesizer. Four pieces, 46:47, meant "to give the listener momentary relief from the anxiety and pain caused by living in our current reality." Doesn't work for me -- the music is abstract, and the vocals arch -- but then while I find much to be pessimistic about, I'm not much touched by pain and anxiety these days. B Luke Gillespie: Moving Mists (2018 [2019], Patois): Pianist, born and mostly raised in Japan (bio notes he lived in Ft. Worth in 1st grade and Memphis in 6th), studied jazz and classical piano at Indiana, where he teaches. Has a book and a CD (2003) in his CV, as well as several side credits (most with Indiana-based Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra). Various groupings here ranging from solo to septet, including three tracks with Walter Smith III (tenor sax), one each with Tierney Sutton (vocals), Dave Stryker (guitar), and Wayne Wallace (trombone). [July 12] B+(*) [cd] Luke Gillespie: Moving Mists (2018 [2019], Patois): Pianist, born and mostly raised in Japan (bio notes he lived in Ft. Worth in 1st grade and Memphis in 6th), studied jazz and classical piano at Indiana, where he teaches. Has a book and a CD (2003) in his CV, as well as several side credits (most with Indiana-based Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra). Various groupings here ranging from solo to septet, including three tracks with Walter Smith III (tenor sax), one each with Tierney Sutton (vocals), Dave Stryker (guitar), and Wayne Wallace (trombone). [July 12] B+(*) [cd] Carly Rae Jepsen: Dedicated (2019, 604/School Boy/Interscope): Canadian pop star, fourth studio album, I missed her 2008 debut, but have been a fan since "Call Me Maybe" broke as a single. This isn't as instant as her last two albums, but growing on me. On the other hand, instant is what you expect in a pop singer. B+(***) Norah Jones: Begin Again (2019, Blue Note, EP): Seventh album, a short one (7 songs, 28:53). Slight in every sense of the word. B Kehlani: While We Wait (2019, Atlantic/TSNMI): R&B singer, third mixtape, first after her certified gold debut album, a short one (9 cuts, 31:19). B+(**) L7: Scatter the Rats (2019, Blackheart): Riot grrrl band formed in 1985 by Donita Sparks and Suzi Gardner, peaked in the early 1990s, released their sixth album in 1999, called it quits until they regrouped to tour in 2015. First studio album since regrouping, hard to distinguish from their late 1990s efforts, but if anything rocks harder. B+(***) Doug MacDonald: Califournia Quartet (2018 [2019], Dmacmusic): Guitarist, originally from Philadelphia, based in Los Angeles, 15 albums. This a quartet, nice showcase for Kim Richmond (alto/soprano sax, flute), with bass and drums. B+(*) [cd] Matt Mitchell: Phalanx Ambassadors (2018 [2019], Pi): Pianist, based in New York, Wikipedia lists some early group records (2000-05) I wasn't aware of, but he's impressed a lot of folks since his 2013 Pi debut. I'm impressed too, as long as the piano is focused, but this no-horns quintet gets cluttered toward the end -- with guitar (Miles Okazaki), vibes, bass, drums. B+(**) [cd] Youssou N'Dour: History (2019, Naïve/Believe): Senegalese superstar, another strong album -- tempted to complain that his vocals are too strong, but that would be petty. A- [os] Phicus + Martin Küchen: Sumpflegende (2017 [2019], Fundacja Sluchaj): Catalan guitar-bass-drums trio (Ferran Fages, Alex Riviriego, Vasco Trilla), two previous albums, plus the Swedish saxophonist (tenor/alto), adding occasionally inspired noise. B+(*) [bc] Matthias Spillmann Trio: Live at the Bird's Eye Jazz Club (2017 [2019], Clean Feed): Swiss trumpet player, second album, both with same title -- refers to a club in Basel, the previous one with a quartet on the club's label. With Andreas Lang (bass) and Moritz Baumgärtner (drums). One original, five covers, closes with a nice "St. Louis Blues." B+(**) Spring Roll: Episodes (2017-18 [2019], Clean Feed): French chamber jazz outfit, steeped in avant-classical, led by Sylvaine Hélary (flutes), with Hugues Mayot (tenor sax/clarinet), Antoine Rayon (piano/Moog), and Sylvain Lemêtre (vibes/percussion). On two (of 5) cuts, Kris Davis takes over piano, and makes a difference (but it doesn't last). B+(*) Ben Stapp/Joe Morris: Mind Creature Sound Dasein (2017 [2019], Fundacja Sluchaj): Stapp plays tuba and euphonium, also "acoustic items," mostly duo with guitar, but Stephen Haynes (cornet) earns a "feat." credit on 4 (of 11) tracks. Scratch and drone, abstract, prickly. B+(*) [bc] Oli Steidle & the Killing Popes: Ego Pills (2017 [2019], Shhpuma): German drummer, has used his given first name Oliver as well as Olli elsewhere. Band includes Kit Downes (keybs) and Frank Möbus (guitar), and several guests pop in (bassist Peter Eldh with his own music, Philipp Gropper sax, Andreas Schaerer vocals). Prog rock, unsettlingly erratic. B- Norbert Susemihl/Chloe Feoranzo/Harry Mayronne/Barnaby Gold: The New Orleans Dance Hall Quartet: Tricentennial Hall Dance 17, October (2018 [2019], Sumi): German trumpet player/singer, started playing trad jazz in the 1970s, moving to New Orleans in 1980, eventually returning to Hamburg, then to Denmark. Recorded this in New Orleans, with Americans Feoranzo on clarinet (also vocals), Mayronne on piano, and Australian drummer Gold. Rather easy-going, often gorgeous renditions of some of my favorite music. A- Tanya Tagaq: Toothsayer (2019, Six Shooter, EP): Inuk throat singer from the south coast of Victoria Island, way up in the not-yet-balmy Arctic Ocean. Has a couple of interesting albums, the extreme vocals here mostly give way to hard beats, giving way to desolate ambience. Five songs, 24:57. B+(**) The Dave Wilson Quartet: One Night at Chris' (2018 [2019], Dave Wilson Music): Tenor saxophonist, some soprano, based in Lancaster, PA, where he has a musical instruments business. Fifth quartet album since 2002, recorded live in Philadelphia, a hot set with piano (Kirk Reese), bass, and drums, mixing Beatles ("Norwegian Wood") and Beach Boys ("God Only Knows") covers in with traditional fare ("Summertime"). B+(***) [cd] Nilüfer Yanya: Miss Universe (2019, ATO): British singer-songwriter, born in London, name preserves Turkish roots but the first band her guitar-rock reminded me of was the Buzzcocks. Gets slinkier after that, which I'd say is a plus. A- Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: A Day in the Life: Impressions of Pepper (2018, Impulse!): The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band reconstructed, one song each by twelve artists, all much younger than their source, most with some crossover potential, many from the UK scene. Don't have the full credits, so I'm left with questions, like who plays the flute with Brandee Younger's harp? Beatles songs have been notoriously hard to jazz up, and this particular set has rarely been attempted. Results are scattered, the mix too varied to flow well, but here and there you catch a whiff of something transcending nostalgia. B+(*) L7: Pretend We're Dead: Best of L7 (1992-97 [2019], Warner Music Group): Digital-only audio tied into the 2016 documentary DVD, L7: Pretend We're Dead, drawing from only three of their albums, with 10/11 tracks from Bricks Are Heavy, 8/12 from Hungry for Sink, and 7/12 from The Beauty Process -- the first two are solid-A in my book, and the latter holds up better than I recalled. A Old music: Jerry Bergonzi: Intersecting Lines (2012 [2014], Savant): Featuring Dick Oatts (alto sax), with Dave Santoro (bass) and Andrea Michelutti (drums). Too friendly for a proper joust, but the two saxes work marvels together. A- Jerry Bergonzi: Dog Star (2017, Savant): Tenor saxophonist, with Phil Grenadier on trumpet, backed by Carl Winther's Danish piano trio. B+(***) George Cables: Cables Vision (1979 [1992], Contemporary/OJC): Early album for the pianist, all tracks feature Bobby Hutcherson on vibes, one just a duo, the others running 5-7 musicians, with neither Freddie Hubbard nor Ernie Watts making the impression you expected. B George Cables Trio: Beyond Forever (1991 [1992], SteepleChase): First of a series of eight albums the pianist recorded for the Danish label, attributed to his Trio but with three names listed under the title: Joe Locke (vibes), Santi Debriano (bass), and Victor Lewis (drums). Locke started his own run with the label in 1990, and did some of his best work there -- and he certainly brightens this up. B+(**) George Cables: Quiet Fire (1994 [1995], SteepleChase): Piano trio with Ron McClure (bass) and Billy Hart (drums). Wrote title song, leans toward modern jazz pieces for covers, including Gary Bartz and John Hicks among his composers. B+(***) George Cables: Person to Person (1995, SteepleChase): Solo piano: four originals and eight well-known standards (starts with a touching "My Funny Valentine," ends with "Body and Soul") cover all the bases. B+(***) George Cables Trio: Skylark (1995 [1996], SteepleChase): With Jay Anderson (bass) and Albert Heath (drums). Typically fine set, with Latin touches and a bit of Monk. B+(***) George Cables Trio: Dark Side, Light Side (1996 [1997], SteepleChase): Return of his trio with Jay Anderson (bass) and Billy Hart (drums). Usual mix, with Don Pullen's tribute to George Adams ("Ah George We Hardly Knew You") a special treat. B+(***) George Cables Trio: Bluesology (1998, SteepleChase): With Jay Anderson (bass) and Billy Drummond (drums). Two originals here. Strong central arc from "A Night in Tunisia" to Milt Jackson's title song. In fact, strong throughout. B+(***) George Cables: One for My Baby (2000, SteepleChase): Another trio, with Jay Anderson on bass and Yoron Israel on drums. More standards, the title cut stretched to 10:04. B+(**) Ray Charles/Betty Carter: Ray Charles and Betty Carter (1961, ABC): When Charles left Atlantic for ABC, a big part of his deal was that he got control of his catalog, which has had the perverse effect of making his ABC years (24 albums, 1960-1973) hard to find, especially now. He poduced some of his greatest work during those years, but he was much less consistent. This was his fourth album, a meet up with a young jazz singer with a couple of recent albums, here backed by a snappy big band, there by mopey strings. Two brilliant singers, but not much chemistry between them. B [yt] Carly Rae Jepsen: Tug of War (2008, Maple Music/Fontana North): First album, at 22, after a 3rd place finish in Canadian Idol, sold 10,000 units in Canada but didn't chart anyway. Production isn't state-of-the-art, but I like her voice, admire her originals, and the one cover is the best John Denver I've heard since Toots & the Maytals. B+(***) L7: L7 (1988, Epitaph): First studio album, quartet fronted by three women: Donita Sparks sang and played guitar, Suzi Gardner played guitar ad sang, Jennifer Finch bass and vocals -- Sparks and Garder the writers. Eleven songs, 31:58. Sounds prophetic. B+(***) Art Pepper/George Cables: Tête-À-Tête (1982 [1983], Galaxy): The first of two sax-piano duet albums, recorded two months before Pepper died. Cables wrote the title piece, the other ballads, some as well worn and comfy as "Body and Soul" and "'Round Midnight." Pepper is as lovely as ever, and Cables plays a lot of piano. A- Art Pepper/George Cables: Goin' Home (1982, Galaxy): A second set of duets, recorded a month after Tête-À-Tête, one month before Pepper's death, and seems to have been released first -- it occupies most of the 16th and final CD of The Complete Galaxy Recordings, one of the most consistently inspired runs in jazz history. With more clarinet, comes in for a softer landing. B+(***) Grade (or other) changes: Assif Tsahar/William Parker/Hamid Drake: In Between the Tumbling a Stillness (2015 [2018], Hopscotch): Tenor sax trio, recorded at the leader's club in Tel Aviv with the best rhythm section one could hope for, as good as they get. The saxophonist is equally poised, opening long at 34:22, followed by shorter pieces (14:59, 4:29) that flow together. [was: A-] A Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, May 20, 2019 Music Week
Music: current count 31518 [31498] rated (+20), 252 [249] unrated (+3). Rated count well down this week. Wednesday through Friday got totally wiped out, starting with a dental appointment, then shopping for dinner on Friday, then marathon cooking. Zhanna Pataki and I made a blini feast. I found a Russian grocery store in Tulsa the previous week, and picked up a pound of salmon caviar ("Alaskan rubies") and three whole schmaltz herring. The latter went, one each, into sour cream sauce, mustard sauce, and Estonian potato salad (with golden beets, apple, and ham (actually, Canadian bacon). Other side salads: poached cod with horseradish sauce, cucumbers in sour cream, green bean and walnut, carrot and garlic. I got a couple of salmon filets and salted them. I made two loaves of rye bread (only disappointment: came out dense and dry, probably because the dough was, or maybe I just don't know how to properly knead bread; anyway, the expensive Breville food processor wasn't up to the task). For dessert, I made a light sponge cake, and topped it with strawberries and whipped cream (recipe called for smetana, but I didn't allow myself enough time to make my own -- probably should have bought some in Tulsa, when I had the chance). I just now realized that I had brought a jar of eggplant caviar back from Tulsa but failed to serve it. Dinner was spectacular, and exhausting. A couple weeks ago I learned that Ani DiFranco has written a memoir, No Walls and the Recurring Dream. She grew up in Buffalo, and was close to my cousin's family there, so I have some kind of personal interest in her story, and I've been aware of her musical career from near the beginning. Then last week I noticed her No Walls: Mixtape on Napster, so delved a bit deeper. I read what I could from Google's excerpt, while listening to Mixtape -- unplugged remakes of 25+ years of remarkable songs -- and a couple other items I had missed that I found on her Bandcamp. Stopped short of the bootlegs, although one of my favorites (and one of the best places to start with her) is the live Living in Clip. I was especially pleased that after panning most of her recent albums with Todd Sickafoose I enjoyed Red Letter Year so much. I wrote about her in [The New] Rolling Stone Album Guide. A current grade list is here. Robert Christgau reviewed Epic Beard Men this week, along with two records by Quelle Chris that I had already reviewed. I gave Guns another spin, enjoyed it, but left my grade at B+(***). For whatever it's worth, I've graded A- all four of Strut's Nigeria 70 compilations. I couldn't begin to rank them, other than to note that I have the CDs to the first, and played one out of my travel case while cooking last week. I doubt any are as good as the best King Sunny Adé albums, or the second edition of The Rough Guide to Highlife, but the new one hits the exact same pleasure centers, and that was good enough for me. The Ray Charles comp was the one I skipped when reviewing his Atlantics last week. It's the one you'd most likely buy if you're reluctant to get the entire 3-CD box (The Birth of Soul). Not sure why I didn't grade it as high as the box or two of the source albums, other than that I didn't give it a lot of time. I'm still bothered that we don't have the ABC albums available for streaming. And I will note that one problem with virtually every "greatest hit" collection from that period is the mandatory inclusion of two hideous Beatles covers. Compilers don't always pick the best songs, so that may be what's slightly off about the Rhino Atlantic Best Of. Best jazz album of the week was the first 2019 Clean Feed release I've found on Napster. They've sometimes been hard to search out, but until this year all of their releases have been available for streaming, which lately has saved me the hassle of downloading. Not everything that's come out is available yet, but I'm glad to get what I can. I'll try to catch up in coming weeks. (There are a couple more on this week's list, as well as one where the musician sent me the CD -- thanks for that favor.) New records reviewed this week: Charlie Apicella & Iron City: Groove Machine (2018 [2019], OA2): Guitarist, several albums both before and after moving up front in his band. Not as insipid or mechanistic as the title implies, thanks in large part to saxophonist Gene Ghee, although organ player Radam Schwartz (who contributed a piece) probably deserves some credit as well. Covers from Lou Donaldson and Willis Jackson. B+(*) [cd] Camp Cope: How to Socialise & Make Friends (2018, Run for Cover): Australian group, from Melbourne, three women, Georgia McDonald the singer-guitarist. Second album, singer has a distinctive voice, making a strong impression. B+(***) Ani DiFranco: No Walls: Mixtape (2019, Righteous Babe): Product tie-in to the folksinger's new book, No Walls and the Recurring Dream: A Memoir, reprising 25 years of songs, mostly unplugged but with a few tricks here and there (also guests on three songs). At first I tried reading excerpts from her memoir while listening to this, but didn't have enough attention to satisfy both. Many striking songs here -- probably also on Canon, her 2-CD retrospective through 2007 -- maybe more so with her accumulated perspective, chops too. A- Epic Beard Men: Season 1 (2018, Strange Famous): Rap duo from Providence, Rhode Island: Sage Francis, with seven albums and eight mixtapes since 1998, and B. Dolan, five years younger, three albums and three mixtapes on his own. First album, but their collaboration goes back at least a decade. B+(**) Epic Beard Men: This Was Supposed to Be Fun (2019, Strange Famous): Second album: picks up quickly from the first and powers through, with big, old school beats, pressured rhymes, real stories. A- The Fictive Five: Anything Is Possible (2018 [2019], Clean Feed): Avant group, retains the title of their 2015 album as group name: Larry Ochs (tenor/sopranino sax), Nate Wooley (trumpet), Harris Eisenstadt (drums), with two bassists (Ken Filiano and Pascal Niggenkemper), both using effects. B+(**) John Hart: Crop Circles (2017 [2019], SteepleChase): Guitarist, released two Blue Note albums 1990-92, a couple more on Concord through 1997, not much since. Quartet here with alto sax (Dick Oatts), bass, and drums. Three originals, twice as many covers, from "How Deep Is the Ocean" to "Besame Mucho" with stops at Ellington and Monk. B+(**) Fred Hersch & the WDR Big Band: Begin Again (2019, Palmetto): Pianist, more important as composer here as Vince Mendoza's big band overwhelms his typically erudite playing. B+(*) [cd] Jørgen Mathisen's Instant Light: Mayhall's Object (2018 [2019], Clean Feed): Norwegian saxophonist (tenor/soprano), has appeared on a few albums since 2014. Quartet with piano (Erlend Slettevoll), bass (Trygve Waldemar Fiske), and drums (Dag Erik Knedal Andersen). Very strong, especially on the closing "Neutron Star," the climax set up by a terrific piano interlude. A- The Pete McGuinness Jazz Orchestra: Along for the Ride (2018 [2019], Summit): Trombonist, sings some, discography goes back farther, but organized his big band in 2006, and that's been his main vehicle since. Composed half, arranged all, draws on New York musicians, swings a little. B Yoko Miwa Trio: Keep Talkin' (2019, Ocean Blue Tear Music): Japanese pianist, based in Boston, eighth album since 2003, mostly trios. Mostly originals, likes to keep them upbeat, plus covers of Monk, Mingus, Beatles, Joni Mitchell, something Latin ("Casa Pre-Fabricada"). B+(***) [cd] Priests: The Seduction of Kansas (2019, Sister Polygon): Postpunk group from DC, led by singer Katie Alice Greer, second album, expands a bit musically, arguably political because politics matters, but for them the context and form are "character sketches about the everyday banality of evil." B+(***) Scheen Jazzorkester & Thomas Johansson: «As We See It . . . » (2019, Clean Feed): Norwegian avant-jazz group, 12 musicians, founded in 2010, with a half-dozen albums, most featuring guests like trumpeter Johansson here, rising above the ensemble grind. B+(***) [cd] The Selva: Canicula Rosa (2018 [2019], Clean Feed): Portuguese trio: Ricardo Jacinto (cello), Gonçalo Almeida (bass), Nuno Morão (drums). Second album. The bassist is best known, laying down a minimalist groove, while the cello rises above. B+(**) Senyawa: Sujud (2018, Sublime Frequencies): Duo from Jogjakarta, Indonesia: Rully Shabara ("extreme vocals") and Wukir Suryadi ("homemade instruments"). Recommended by Phil Overeem, who is also a big fan of Zeal & Ardor, a group which mashes field blues into metal. These guys do something like that, although I can't identify the original ingredients for you. B+(***) [bc] Marcus Shelby Orchestra: Transitions (2017 [2019], MSO): Bassist, eighth album as leader, fifth with his big band. Mostly standards here, mostly Ellington and Cole Porter, although he starts off with a Mingus piece, shortening the title to "Remember Rockefeller" (dropping the bit about "Nazi U.S.A."). Tiffany Austin sings several, adding to the reverential air. B+(*) [cd] Rodney Whitaker: Common Ground: The Music of Gregg Hill (2017 [2019], Origin): Bassist, born in Detroit, director of jazz studies at Michigan State, eighth album as leader since 1995. Group includes Terell Stafford (trumpet/flugelhorn), Tim Warfield (alto/tenor/soprano saxes), and Bruce Barth (piano). Hill wrote all the pieces, co-produced, is pictured on the cover alongside Whitaker, but doesn't play. Whitaker's daughter, Rockelle Fortin, sings lyrics she wrote on four songs. B+(*) [cd] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Nigeria 70: No Wahala: Highlife, Afro-Funk and Juju 1973-1987 (1973-87 [2019], Strut): Fourth installment in the label's Nigeria 70 series, the first a sweeping 3-CD set from 2001 that expanded the decade from 1964 to 1980. Further single-CDs came out in 2008 and 2011, so they haven't been in a rush to dump this one out (12 cuts, 81:06). Not the top material, but the highlife and juju styles are pretty irresistible. A- [bc] Old music: Ray Charles: The Best of Ray Charles: The Atlantic Years (1951-59 [1994], Rhino): Twenty cuts on one CD, a fine introduction with most of the high points, although I haven't spent enough time with it to swear it's a better than any of the three discs of Rhino's earlier The Birth of Soul box. A- Ani DiFranco: Red Letter Year (2008, Righteous Babe): Sixteenth album, don't recall exactly when she grew too sophisticated for folk music. Maybe 2001's double Revelling/Reckoning, which started a series of albums I didn't much care for, but she's come out the other end here, with ten instrument credits (some plural), plus a number of notable jazz musicians (Todd Sickafoose, Mike Dillon, Allison Miller, a string quartet led by Jenny Scheinman, and the Rebirth Jazz Band to open and close). Songs too: subject matter ranges from the big bang to the atom bomb, not that it ever strays far from the personal (or the political). A- [bc] Ani DiFranco: Binary (2017, Righteous Babe): Nineteenth studio album, somehow missed my attention when it came out. Easy to hear why: she started as a folksinger because it was a cheap route, and made it work by being so damn direct. This, with jazz bassist Todd Sickafoose the main musical contributor and another dozen helpers (mostly jazzbos and New Orleans legends, plus a chance to hear Maceo Parker and Skerik on the same track), is all sorts of sophisticated. B+(*) Larry Ochs: The Fictive Five (2014 [2015], Tzadik): Second album kept this title as group name, but this first album was credited to the saxophonist/composer/producer. Same group: Nate Wooley (trumpet), Harris Eisenstadt (drums), Ken Filiano and Pascal Niggenkemper (bass). B+(*) [bc] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
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