Tuesday, September 9, 2025

Music Week

September archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 44818 [44780] rated (+38), 21 [22] unrated (-1).

After another week of massive thrashing, I finally decided to delay this until after I finished my next Substack Notes on Everyday Life piece. It is called More Thoughts on Bernie Sanders and Capitalism. As it goes out in email, I want to give it a night to rest, then reread and edit it tomorrow. (The link above will get you to my first rough draft, in what I regard as the definitive archive for such pieces. I made an edit to the previous column, Bernie Sanders Finds It's OK to Talk Like an Old Lefty, which was so minor I didn't bother with updating the copy on Substack.) I wrote the section on Sanders' political program on Monday, while it was raining all day. I wrote the preceding "thumbnail history" today.

The extra day (or may be two, since I only did the cutover around 9 PM on Tuesday) let me push the rated count over 30. I was surprised to see the A-list grow to 10. Not a record, and not much more than last week's 8, but I figured I'd resist my temptation to downgrade the non-jazz releases I rarely spend much time with, especially as Haim, CMAT, and Sabrina Carpenter held up for 3-5 plays each. Still didn't get anything serious written about the latter, but it's not like I haven't been writing about anything.

I should also mention that I have a fair amount of Loose Tabs drafted. Pretty good chance I'll post one of those before next Music Week. It's pretty ugly so far, but I also opened up a book file for the latest political concept. Mostly just gross outline cribbed from a letter which goes back to June 1. As my plan going way back before that has always been to spend a month writing off the top of my head, the fact that I've already procrastinated more than three months bodes ill, but it's a step. A big chunk of tomorrow's post fits in with the thinking.

So it's not like I'm getting nothing done, but the pace remains extremely slow. I did manage to finally get Laura's new computer up and running. Only thing left is to configure the mailer. I had a long-running problem with a light upstairs, which I finally got working (at least with the original halogen bulb; the replacement dimmable LED bulbs come on but never dim, and worse still never turn off -- wonder what could explain that?). I have some padding ready to put up in the carport, to keep from banging the new car doors on the brick. I started to put it up on Sunday, but ran out of light; they it rained, then I wrote, and tomorrow I have a gruesome dentist thing, but it shouldn't take long once I get it started. I got far enough on the woodpile project to take some pictures. Then I noticed that the first round of pictures on it were dated June 19.

I spent some time today shopping for hooks to hang moulding on. I don't urgently need to add it, but I have lots of pieces in the basement. Next step will be to build the recycling kiosk. The idea there is to cobble it together using up some of the most useless pieces of scrap wood. It will sit in the foyer, and collect stuff to give away. I'm looking forward to doing some decluttering after that. Also need to do some plumbing: upstairs sink is probably something I can do, but I'll need some help for the basement floor drain.

That should be enough for the week -- especially Loose Tabs can chew up endless time. Also need to do some work getting Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll set up. We don't need to send invites out until November, but I don't want to put things off to the last minute, per usual. I'm slowly working my way through John Cassidy's Capitalism and Its Critics, and finding it very useful. I've ordered a bunch more books in the last week, with no idea when/how I'll get to them. The way things are going, it's doubtful I will.

New records reviewed this week:

Baths: Gut (2025, Basement's Basement): American electropop producer Will Wiesenfeld, fourth studio album since 2010 (also has two "B-Sides" compilations), has scattered moments but doesn't sustain them. B [sp]

Marilina Bertoldi: Para Quien Trabajas Vol. 1 (2025, Sony Music Argentina): Argentinian singer-songwriter, considered rock, has a couple previous albums, sort of a new wave sound, in Spanish, impressive until it slips a bit toward the end (10 songs, 29:27). B+(**) [sp]

The Beths: Straight Line Was a Lie (2025, Anti-): Indie rock band from New Zealand, singer-songwriter Elizabeth Stokes the singer-songwriter, Jonathan Pearce is lead guitarist/producer, fourth studio album since 2018. B+(***) [sp]

Sabrina Carpenter: Man's Best Friend (2025, Island): Pop singer-songwriter, started with Disney as a teen, so this is counted as her 7th album, but just 3rd in my book. This follows up on her breakthrough hit. A- [sp]

Chicago Jazz Orchestra: More Amor: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery (2024 [2025], Chicago Jazz Orchestra): Trombonist Jeff Lindberg is artistic director, with several group albums starting with a Porgy & Bess in 2004. Bobby Broom is featured here on guitar, playing both Montgomery's classics and the chintzier fare of his later years, with no shortage of strings. B+(*) [sp]

Chicago Underground Duo: Hyperglyph (2024 [2025], International Anthem): Rob Mazurek (trumpets, electronics, voice, flutes, bells) and Chad Taylor (percussion, including mbira and kalimba). B+(***) [sp]

CMAT: Euro-Country (2025, CMATBaby/AWAL): Irish singer-songwriter Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, third album, all effusively admired, and not without reason, although the big production can be as much work to listen to as they were to concoct. "Ready" is way over the top, enough so that the more modest fare comes as a relief. I'm not very good at parsing her texts, but accept on faith that she's very smart, means well, and is having a remarkably good time with her newfound fame. A- [sp]

George Coleman: George Coleman With Strings (2022 [2025], Savant): Tenor saxophonist, now 90, perhaps best known for his brief term in the Miles Davis Quintet, but he's recorded some outstanding albums on his own: My Horns of Plenty (1991) is a favorite, Eastern Rebellion (1975) is another classic, and A Master Speaks (2016) kicked off one of history's finest octogenarian revivals. Seems like everyone wants to do a strings album sooner or later, even though very few have panned out. Stan Getz, in Focus, is perhaps the only one where the strings are as interesting as the sax; Art Pepper's Winter Moon is one where the strings are as gorgeous as one might hope for, and the sax even more splendid. But early efforts, like Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, and Ben Webster, were nothing more than signature saxophone over mediocre backdrops, and that's been par for the course. Bill Dobbins handles the strings here, and gives them a tolerable air of 1940s soundtrack melodrama. Also helping is a fine mainstream rhythm section: David Hazeltine (piano), John Webber (bass), Joe Farnsworth (drums), and Café Da Silva (percussion). A- [sp]

Hannah Delynn: Trust Fall (2025, self-released): Nashville-based folkie singer-songwriter, first album after a couple of EPs, very slow, rather an accident that I gave this sufficient play to warm to some of its details. B+(**) [cd] [09-09]

Dijon: Baby (2025, R&R/Warner): R&B singer-songwriter Dijon Duenas, American but born in Germany to a military family stationed there. Second album, got some rave reviews but I have trouble getting past the glitchiness. B+(*) [sp]

Joe Ely: Love & Freedom (2025, Rack 'Em): Legendary Lubbock singer-songwriter, started in the Flatlanders, his 1978 Honky Tonk Masquerade is an all-time favorite, and he's had lots of good ones since then, most recently 2024's Driven to Drive -- but that one was reconstructed from older demos. This was also based on home studio demos, but no info on how old they are. (One song talks about being 30 but feeling 45. Ely's 78 now.) Still sounds pretty good. B+(***) [sp]

Fieldwork: Thereupon (2024 [2025], Pi): Fourth album under this name, the first in 2002 with pianist Vijay Iyer and sax (Aaron Stewart) and drums (Elliot Humberto Kavee). The second substituted Steve Lehman on sax (2005), and the third brought in Tyshawn Sorey on drums (2008) -- a supergroup, even then, with Sorey contributing 6 songs to 3 for Iyer and 2 for Lehman. All three are superb, as is this new one, from the free rhythmic extravaganza to open to the soft landing to close. Song credits split 5-4-0, but "all tracks collectively developed." A- [cd]

Folk Bitch Trio: Now Would Be a Good Time (2025, Jagjaguwar): Indie folk-rock trio from Melbourne, Australia; first album, after singles going back to 2020. B [sp]

Ghostface Killah: Supreme Clientele 2 (2025, Mass Appeal): Wu-Tang rapper Dennis Coles, went solo in 1996, followed by Supreme Clientele in 2000. Regarded at the time as the most gangsta of the Clan, I wasn't a fan at the time, although later albums like Fishscale impressed me. B+(*) [sp]

GoGo Penguin: Necessary Fictions (2025, XXIM): English fusion band, 7th album since 2012, a piano-bass-drums trio but with synths and extra strings. B+(**) [sp]

Omer Govreen Quartet: All Things Equal (2024 [2025], J.M.I.): Israeli-born, Amsterdam-based bassist, has side-credits with Michael Moore and Ziv Taubenfeld, probably his first album as leader, original compositions, played with Aleksander Sever (vibes), Floris Kappeyne (piano), and Wouter Kühne (drums). B+(***) [sp]

Haim: I Quit (2025, Columbia): Three sisters, all sing, play guitar-bass-drums-plus, with producer Rostam Batmanglij (mostly keyboards but also guitar, mandolin, and sitar) co-credited on all songs. I was reluctant at first, but this is pretty catchy. A- [sp]

Ill Considered: Balm (2025, New Soil): London-based group, ten numbered albums plus a few more starting with their eponymous debut in 2017, specialize in free improv built on top of deep grooves, although this one short-changes the groove in favor of solemn ambience. Group is reduced to: Idris Rahman (tenor sax/bass clarinet/flute), Liran Donin (bass/taishogoto), and Emre Ramazanoglu (percussion). Unusual business plan calls for an LP run limited to 300, each with "a unique hand-painted cover by Vincent De Boer [where] each one forms part of a larger 300-piece canvas" (on Bandcamp for £50, limit 1 per customer). B+(**) [sp]

Ill Considered: Live at Eye Film Museum (2024, New Soil): A full live show in Amsterdam, in one 89:28 chunk (although there are obvious gaps between pieces). B+(**) [bc]

Ill Considered & Rob Lewis: Emergence (2024, New Soil): I've tried to follow this group fairly closely, but several recent albums escaped my attention. As best I can figure out, Lewis is a London-based cellist-composer who mostly does soundtrack work. Some of that comes through, only sometimes as overwrought drama. B+(**) [bc]

Ill Considered: UnEvensong (2024, New Soil): Fourth album in as many months, rushed out in early December as a Christmas album, but while titles like "Come All Ye Faithful" and "Frosty the Snowman" are familiar, they don't weigh heavy on the music, which soars (ah, there's a wee bit of "Auld Lang Syne"). B+(***) [sp]

Larry Keel/Jon Stickley: Larry Keel & Jon Stickley (2025, self-released, EP): Two flat-picking guitarist singer-songwriters, filed this under bluegrass, which seems to be where they've been working since 2004 or so. Five songs, 17:09. B [cd]

KRS-One: Temple of Hip Hop Global Awareness (2025, R.A.M.P. Ent Agency): Another old-timer, just turned 60, still able to summon up the anger and the sound ("boom bap back to the basics") of his prime, which like Public Enemy and Wu-Tang sounds especially great right now. Of course, he's even more self-conscious and ever more didactic than his peers, but that's always been his thing. A- [sp]

Laufey: A Matter of Time (2025, AWAL): Icelandic singer-songwriter, last name Jónsdóttir, mother a Chinese classical violinist, has studied in Scotland and at Berklee, lived in DC and Los Angeles, has a twin sister who's a violinist and has a degree in international relations. Third album since 2022, gets some attention from jazz critics, but also hits the pop charts. Whatever this is, it is pretty accomplished. B+(**) [sp]

Billy Lester Trio: High Standards (2017 [2025], Ultra Sound): Pianist, described by Howard Mandel in 1998 as "a late-bloomer on that reticent branch of the jazz tree, the school of Lennie Trisano." His Discogs credits start in 2002 (aside from a composition credit for a song Anthony Braxton recorded first in 1997 as part of his Tristano Project). Trio here with Marcello Testa (bass) and Nicola Stranieri (drums), same as his Italy 2016 album, playing standards plus a closing 9:29 "Free Improvisation." B+(**) [cd] [09-12]

Christian McBride Big Band: Without Further Ado, Vol. 1 (2025, Mack Avenue): Mainstream bassist, emerged as a band leader in the 1990s and has retained his standing as a poll winner. He's had many ventures, with this his fourth big band album. Key here is that he's lined up a long list of big name singers, starting least conventionally with Sting and Andy Summers. B+(**) [sp]

Ashley Monroe: Tennessee Lightning (2025, Mountainrose Sparrow): Pistol Annies singer-songwriter decided to go big on her 7th album (since 2009): 17 songs, 61 minutes. So far hardly anyone has noticed (80/1 at AOTY after nearly a month). I can't say as I noticed much either, at least until the closing "Jesus Hold My Hand." B+(*) [sp]

Ned Rothenberg: Looms & Legends (2024-25 [2025], Pyroclastic): Alto sax/clarinet player, tends to work the gentler side of free jazz, and has since 1981. Solo here, includes some shakuhachi, a very attractive album, one that doesn't sound like practice, as most solo reeds albums do. Holds up to multiple replays. A- [cd]

Superchunk: Songs in the Key of Yikes (2025, Merge): Indie rock band from North Carolina, 13th studio album since 1990 (with a 2001-10 gap), Mac McCaughan the singer-songwriter. Got a reputation for political songs recently, but I'm mostly just hearing soaring guitars. B+(**) [sp]

Sunny Sweeney: Rhinestone Requiem (2025, Aunt Daddy): Country singer-songwriter, sixth studio album since 2006. Terrific sound, songs include anthems, as timeless as the clichés they're built on. A- [sp]

Teyana Taylor: Escape Room (2025, Taylormade/Def Jam): R&B singer-songwriter, fourth album since 2014, two gold records so far, also has a fairly substantial acting career. Talks through a lot of this. B [sp]

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Larry Stabbins/Keith Tippett/Louis Moholo-Moholo: Live in Foggia (1985 [2025], Ogun): British saxophonist, b. 1949, not a lot under his own name but side credits start up in 1971, joining the pianist in 1978, and the drummer by 1982, while also working in groups led by Chris McGregor, John Stevens, Tony Oxley, and Barry Guy. This same trio recorded Tern in 1982. Two long pieces here (45:34 and 27:11). In fast company here, he rises to the occasion. A- [sp]

Old music:

Hannah Delynn: The Naked Room Demos (2021, self-released, EP): "Stripped down and straight forward," 5 songs, 18:57. B [bc]

Hannah Delynn: Making Friends (2023, self-released, EP): Five well-crafted, nicely produced songs, 16:58. Leans toward pop, but doesn't deliver much. B [bc]

Evan Parker/Ned Rothenberg: The Monkey Puzzle (1997, Leo): Duo, another one followed in 2007, former plays soprano and tenor sax, latter bass clarinet and alto sax. Parker has a lot of this sort of thing, both solo and duo. Rothenberg adds a nice balance. B+(***) [bc]

Ned Rothenberg Double Band: Overlays (1991, Moers): Two alto saxophonists (with Thomas Chapin), two electric bassists (Jerome Harris, also on guitar, and Kermit Driscoll), two drummers (Adam Rudolph, credited percussion, and Billy Martin). The basses set up a funk current that the saxes tease at and play with like Ornette Coleman. A- [bc]

Ned Rothenberg: The Crux: Selected Solo Wind Works (1989-1992) (1989-92 [1993], Leo): Seven pieces (54:45), on alto sax (4), bass clarinet (2), and shakuhachi (1). He fills his space with wonder and fascination. B+(***) [bc]

Ned Rothenberg Double Band: Parting (1996 [2004], Moers Music): The last of three Double Band albums, released after second saxophonist Thomas Chapin's death, with Jerome Harris back on electric guitar and bass, Tony Scherr on electric and acoustic bass, and drummers Michael Sarin and Samm Bennett. Wile some of this is impressive, it can also be overwrought. B+(*) [sp]

Ned Rothenberg: Ghost Stories (1999-2000 [2000], Tzadik): Four tracks recorded in three sessions, a 6:30 shakuhachi solo, and three longer: duos with Riley Lee (shakuhachi) and Satoshi Takeishi (percussion), and the 19:41 title piece with cello (Erik Friedlander), pipa (Min Xiao-Fen), and percussion (Takeishi again). B+(*) [sp]

Ned Rothenberg Sync: Harbinger (2001-03 [2004], Animul): Plays clarinet, bass clarinet, alto sax, and shakuhachi, backed by Jerome Harris (acoustic bass, string guitar, acoustic bass guitar) and Samir Chatterjee (tabla). This is very nice. B+(***) [bc]

Ned Rothenberg/Satoh Masahiko: Decisive Action (2003-04 [2004], BAJ): Duo with piano, two sessions, Rothenberg playing clarinet, bass clarinet, alto/soprano sax, shakuhachi. B+(**) [bc]

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • Mike Clark: Itai Doshin (Wide Hive) [10-03]
  • Orhan Demir/Neil Swainson: Wicked Demon (Hittite) [07-14]
  • Wadada Leo Smith/Sylvie Courvoisier: Angel Falls (Intakt) [10-03]
  • Mark Turner: Reflections On: The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (Giant Step Arts) [10-10]

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