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An occasional blog about populist politics and popular music, not necessarily at the same time. LinksLocal Links My Other Websites Music Politics Others Networking Music DatabaseArtist Search: Website SearchGoogle: Recent Reading
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Tuesday, October 15, 2024 Music Week
October archive (in progress). Music: Current count 43039 [43015] rated (+24), 41 [42] unrated (-1). Company departed, and left me feeling exhausted. I've been making very slow progress on the upstairs bedroom/closet project, but have very little to show for it, other than a gargantuan mess. I have a lot of sanding to do -- hopefully tomorrow will be good enough, after which I move on to primer and (still undecided) paint. The paneling for the closet is cut, and so far seems to fit. After an initial misstep -- one of way too many to count -- I think I bought the right glue today, and also some screws (which are more likely to work than the prescribed process of nailing around the edges). I can imagine someone who knows what they're doing wrapping this up in two days (plus breaks to let paint dry), but it's probably going to take me another week. And the soreness just adds to the frustration. Somehow, in my spare time I knocked out a rather substantial Speaking of Which yesterday. I added a couple small bits today, as I don't have a file open for next week, and without searching found a few items worth noting (e.g., an obituary for rapper Ka, whose recent records are noted below, and a record review by Allen Lowe). More records this week than last. Probably more next week than this, although it's hard to imagine ever getting back to normal. New records reviewed this week: Jessica Ackerley: All of the Colours Are Singing (2022 [2024], AKP): Canadian guitarist, based in New York, has several previous albums since 2019, this one backed with bass and drums, plus viola/violin (Concetta Abatte) on four (of seven) tracks). B+(*) [sp] Adekunle Gold: Tequila Ever After (2023, Def Jam): Nigerian Afrobeats singer-songwriter, Adekunle Kosoko, went through a Silver phase before he turned Gold. Has an interesting beat I can't quite match up elsewhere. B+(**) [sp] Bad Moves: Wearing Out the Refrain (2024, Don Giovanni): DC-based power pop quartet, third album after a 2016 EP, doesn't seem like much as first, but grows on you, especially with earworms like "I can't get the part where you fucked up out of my head." B+(***) [sp] John Chin/Jeong Lim Yang/Jon Gruk Kim: Journey of Han (2024, Jinsy Music): Piano/bass/drums trio, some electric keyboards, six originals by Chin, one each by the others, plus a few standards. B+(*) [cd] Guy Davis: The Legend of Sugarbelly (2024, M.C.): Blues singer-songwriter, son of actors Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, first album 1978, has been remarkably consistent since his third album in 1993. B+(***) [sp] The Kris Davis Trio: Run the Gauntlet (2024, Pyroclastic): Pianist, from Canada, a major figure since 2004, with Robert Hurst (bass) and Johnathan Blake (drums). This is very good, rewards patient listening, but never quite grabs me. B+(***) [cd] Wendy Eisenberg: Viewfinder (2022-23 [2024], American Dreams): Jazz guitarist, more than a dozen albums since 2017, singer-songwriter here, the songs focusing on seeing, occasioned by eye surgery. But the shift to instrumentals, chopped and skewed, gets more interesting. B+(**) [sp] Frode Gjerstad Trio: Unknown Purposes (2023 [2024], Circulasione Totale): Norwegian saxophonist, started in Detail in the early 1980s, many albums since 1996, Discogs lists 22 just for his Trio, here with Jon Rune Strøm (bass) and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums). B+(***) [bc] Frode Gjerstad/Margaux Oswald/Ivar Myrset Asheim: Another Step (2024, Circulasione Totale): Relatively short live set (2 pieces, 30:41), the leader on alto sax and clarinet, backed with piano and drums. B+(*) [bc] Joel and the Neverending Sextet: Marbled (2023 [2024], Motvind): Norwegian cellist Joel Ring, second group album, with Karl Hjalmar Nyberg on tenor sax/clarinet, backed with piano, tuba, bass, and two drummers. B+(***) [sp] Ka: The Thief Next to Jesus (2024, Iron Works): Rapper Kaseem Ryan, just got news of his death at 52 and recalled that he had a recent album that I had trouble finding. B+(**) [sp] Omer Leshem: Play Space (2024, Ubuntu Music): Tenor saxophonist, from Israel, based in New York, third album since 2017, Bandcamp shows two releases (2008, 2016) from what seems to be a different Omer Leshem (plays guitar, in Israel), Discogs is no help here (one co-credit with Naama Gheber for an arrangement that could go either way). Original pieces, backed with guitar, piano, bass, and drums, nicely done postbop. B+(**) [cd] Terence McManus: Music for Chamber Trio (2024, Rowhouse Music): Guitarist, albums start around 2010 with several duos, including ones with Ellery Eskelin (tenor sax) and Gerry Hemingway (drums), who return to fill out this trio. "Chamber" seems to mean soft and slow, which over 71 minutes can add up to plodding, but it's always nice to hear Eskelin. B+(***) [cd] Kate Pierson: Radios & Rainbows (2024, Lazy Meadow Music): B-52s singer-songwriter from 1976 on, released a solo album in 2015, and now this second one. The herky-jerk one seems to have been Fred Schneider, but occasionally you get a whiff of that here. Notable lyric: "If you give your heart to science, I will give you mine." B+(**) [sp] Dafnis Prieto Sí o Sï Quartet: 3 Sides of the Coin (2024, Dafnison Music): Cuban drummer, moved to New York in 1999, debut album in 2004 was widely acclaimed, won a MacArthur in 2011, never any doubt about his chops but I've been slow to warm to his records, at least until this utter delight, with Ricky Rodriguez on electric bass, and star turns by Martin Bejerano on piano and Peter Apfelbaum on soprano sax, tenor sax, and flute. A- [cd] Dave Rempis/Jason Adasiewicz/Joshua Abrams/Tyler Damon: Propulsion (2023 [2024], Aerophonic): Saxophonist (alto, tenor, baritone) from Chicago, first appeared replacing Mars Williams in Vandermark 5 and immediately established himself as one of the world's greats. He's been releasing 3-5 new albums per year, some a bit rough for my taste, but most are so brilliant even that can be an advantage. Not much to differentiate his many releases, but key value added here comes from the vibraphonist. A- [cd] Dred Scott/Moses Patrou/Tom Beckham/Matt Pavolka: Cali Mambo (2023 [2024], Ropeadope): Piano, vibes, bass, percussion. One original, the rest standards, with "Manteca" especially fine as a closer. B+(**) [cd] M Slago/Homeboy Sandman: And We Are Here (2024, Fly 7 Music): Hip-hop producer Chris Jones, originally from Nashville but based in Dallas, has a previous (2021) solo album, Sandman is presumably the rapper ("feat." on all tracks, but joined on a couple, one with Aesop Rock). B+(***) [sp] Walter Smith III: Three of Us Are From Houston and Reuben Is Not (2024, Blue Note): Tenor saxophonist, from Houston, debut 2006 -- with bassist Reuben Rogers, who returns here (he's from the Virgin Islands), along with two other Houston natives who have made names for themselves: Jason Moran (piano) and Eric Harland (drums). Exemplary postbop, nicely balanced, ever-shifting, sketchy but pointed. A- [sp] Sulida: Utos (2023 [2024], Clean Feed): Norwegian trio of Marthe Lea (tenor sax/flute), Jon Rune Strøm (bass), and Dag Erik Knedal Andersen (drums), first group album (but all three have albums under their own names), all songs joint credits. Very solid effort. B+(***) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Kampire Presents: A Dancefloor in Ndola ([2024], Strut): "Up-and-coming" DJ Kampire spins fourteen East African grooves, some dating back to the 1970s, others "present day," details hard to come by, although influences include Congo and Zambia -- home to Ndola, where the Kenya-born DJ grew up before landing in Uganda, where his parents started. A- [sp] Miami Sound: Rare Funk & Soul From Miami, Florida 1967-1974 (1967-74 [2023], Soul Jazz): Pretty rare, with George and Gwen McRae the most recognizable names, but funk, for sure. [Rhapsody version is truncated from 17 to 9 tracks.] B+(**) [r] Miami Sound: More Funk and Soul From Miami, Florida 1967-1974 (1967-75 [2024], Soul Jazz): More adds up to 20 songs, a few more artists I'm familiar with (Betty Wright, Latimore). B+(**) [r] Old music: Ka: Languish Arts (2022, Iron Works): One of a pair of short albums released same day, at least digitally (vinyl and CD came out in 2023). Ten songs, 28:23. B+(**) [sp] Ka: Woeful Studied (2022, Iron Works): Same day release, ten more songs (26:27), not sure this is any better but his calm narration over modest squiggles of sound may be growing on me. B+(***) [sp] Don Walser: Rolling Stone From Texas (1994, Watermelon): Country/western swing singer-songwriter (1934-2006), best known for his yodeling, started a group called the Panhandle Playboys in 1950, later led the Texas Plainsmen, but spent most of his adult years as a mechanic and auditor in the National Guard, before "retiring" in 1994 and recording this career-defining album. Wikipedia notes that "his extraordinary vocal abilities earned him the nickname 'the Pavarotti of the Plains," which definitely overlooks Roy Orbison -- a comparison that occurred to me as soon as the opening sea of yodel parted, although it took a couple of covers -- "Shotgun Boogie" and "That's Why I'm Walking" -- to clarify into something uniquely his own. Per John Morthland: "perhaps the last of God's great pure country singers." A- [sp] Don Walser: Texas Top Hand (1996, Watermelon): Second album, opens with a yodel on the title song, drifts through various covers from "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" to "Weary Blues From Waiting" to "Divorce Me C.O.D." to "Danny Boy." B+(**) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
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