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Music Week [260 - 269]Tuesday, June 22, 2021 Music Week
Music: Current count 35664 [35610] rated (+54), 211 [214] unrated (-3). Ran a day late in posting this. The cutoff was on schedule, late Sunday evening, but I got distracted by the busy work noted below. More mid-year best albums lists (including country and hip-hop specialists, and one short jazz list):
If I had to construct a jazz list at the moment, it would be something like (scraped from my Year 2021 list):
If we were running a Jazz Critics Poll at the moment, only my top two are likely to wind up top ten, with outside shots for Jaimie Branch, Wadada Leo Smith, and maybe one of the Intakt pianists (neither has placed high before, but the label gets attention). Other big names you might see: Miguel Zenón (A-), Vijay Iyer (***), Charles Lloyd (***), Thumbscrew (***), Floating Points/Pharoah Sanders (**), although my guesses are increasingly suspect as you go down my list. Is Joe Lovano (with or without Dave Douglas) a cause célèbre any more? Does the other 3-CD Wadada Leo Smith box overcome its solo trumpet limits? Has anyone actually heard the 10-CD William Parker box? I haven't, although I did finally check out the sampler (below). I'm not seeing much else I haven't heard yet that strikes me as likely contenders. But I should take a look through here: several things that interest me (at least) on just the first page. I've added the records mentioned to my tracking file (haven't tracked down all the labels and dates yet), so it now has more unrated (442) than rated (328) records. I haven't tried to compile the lists, and haven't gotten very far in checking them out, although a few albums I noticed there made it into this week's list. We recently watched 1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything, an 8-episode Apple TV+ documentary series made by Asif Kapadia in England, based on David Hepworth's book Never a Dull Moment: 1971 the Year That Rock Exploded (see: Rotten Tomatoes, no Wikipedia?; reviews in Guardian, Under the Radar, and a rather pissy piece in the New York Times). Reviews inevitably focus on who got included or left out, and whether 1971 was really more important than 1970 or 1972 (or 1967 or 1977), but I don't want to get mired in that (although one should note that they not only featured albums released in 1971, but also singles that were recorded in 1971 but didn't appear on albums until 1972 (like Exile on Main Street and Ziggy Stardust). [PS: I did review the soundtrack tie-in product after my cutoff, but decided to slip it in here. And yes, I did comment on what was and wasn't included.] I will say that there was some remarkable footage. For me, it was most interesting to recheck my memories and nostalgia. In my case, 1971 was something of a low point in my interest in music, which had been waning during several years of self-imposed confinement, and was rekindled once I went to college in St. Louis in 1972, although I was very much aware of key events, like Nixon's escalation in Vietnam, Kent State, and Attica. And while I didn't notice much music in real time in 1971, I made up for it in the next several years, as I found that music was the common denominator of the society I was struggling to enter. Hence, there was very little in the series that I didn't know, or at least catch up on over the next few years (which makes it not 50 years old to me, but 45+). As this is 50 years after 1971, we're constantly running into anniversary reminders. (The one I'm most looking forward to is the release on HBO Max of my nephew Mike's documentary, Betrayal at Attica; see notices in Realscreen and C21 Media.) The most pedestrian of these tie-ins is the appearance of "best of 1971" album lists, like this one (the first I saw) at Yardbarker: Albums turning 50 in 2021 that everyone should listen to. These are 1971 releases. My grades are in brackets.
When I jotted that list down, I didn't have grades for 5 albums, so I scrambled to listen to them. Four were sensible decisions to have ignored, at least in an era where one actually had to buy albums. Reviews below. Spin also has a better (and more obscurantist) 1971 list, 50 albums deep, so it catches some important titles missing from above, as well as dropping in more ordinary albums and a few genuine obscurities. Ones from their list I'd rate A- or better:
I thought I might add a list of A-list albums they missed, then decided I should try my hand at compiling a fairly comprehensive annual list, like I've been compiling since 2002. That project got a little out of hand. It wasn't too hard to scan through my database for "1971" and pick out the actual releases, but most of my jazz records are listed by recording (as opposed to release) date, and I wanted to limit the list to actual (preferably US) releases that calendar year, so I had to do a lot of error checking. I also decided to go with original (preferably US) labels, whereas the database mostly had reissues. In some cases, I thought I should add notes contrasting the original releases with the reissues I actually listened to -- but I kept the database grades. I also decided to flag the jazz albums (J). As I was error-checking, I added a section called "unheard records of some note." Obviously, there are thousands of 1971 releases that I haven't heard, so getting onto this list is pretty arbitrary. (Discogs has something like 120,000 1971 releases, but expect a lot of redundant entries for trivial differences, as well as tons of reissues from previous years. I started looking at the 12,000 jazz releases, and got about 25% into it.) While I was doing all this, I listened to a few 1971 albums I had missed, so I kept shuffling albums around. A few quick observations:
In theory, I could do this for other years, but looks like a lot of work. My guess is that 1970 would have a larger A-list, especially up top. Probably 1972 too. I started buying significant quantities of albums around 1974, so everything picks up from there, to about 1980. From then, the lists would slacken off, then pick up again around 1986, and more so when I started buying CDs. I started buying a lot of jazz and oldies c. 1995, and everything exploded when I started reviewing oldies in 2003 and jazz in 2004, and again when I started streaming around 2010. That finally made it cheap to listen to crap, and I've done plenty. Jazz took a dive around 1970, aside from the fusion fad, which very few musicians showed any real skill at (Miles Davis, for sure, but not Herbie Hancock or Wayne Shorter, who still passed as pretty big successes). Jazz started to rebound in the US in the 1990s, but as art had been saved by small labels in Europe and Japan, and in any case it remains a music of small niches (definitely plural), despite being enormously creative. The thing about 1967-72 was that a lot of the innovation in those years was genuinely popular: we listened to the same records, and they were a common bond. I grew up in that environment, but by the time we published Terminal Zone we were starting to plot the fragmentation. Like the real universe, it's never gotten smaller, nor easier. One more week before we wrap June Streamnotes. It's a 5-week month, so the monthly file is likely to be a big one (currently 162 records). Don't know whether I'll do a Friday news/opinion post. Scratch file for that is currently bare. Got virtually no reaction last week. Got both of the porch rail projects done, thanks largely to Max Stewart, who always seems to be able to bail me out when I get in over my head. I spent what seemed like a lot of money (including a $50 shipping charge), and I'll never do business with them (Simplified Building) again. The hardware fit very loosely and/or awkwardly to the tubing, which was heavy but unattractive. The "self-tapping" screws weren't up to the job. Their instructions were wrong several places, resulting in drilling some holes too big, others too small. First thing I ever bought off an ad in Facebook, and may be the last. I have one more rail piece on order from Amazon (item had a very long lead time). Assuming it fits right, it should be much easier to install. Also bought some small grab bars to locate by the doors, so you can hold on with one hand while opening the heavy screen doors. They came late today, so I still have to install them, but they should be easy. Lots more making life difficult, but occasionally we make a bit of progress. New records reviewed this week: Rodrigo Amado This Is Our Language Quartet: Let the Free Be Men (2017 [2021], Trost): Portuguese tenor saxophonist, group name refers not to Ornette Coleman but to a This Is Our Language recorded by this same quartet in 2012: Joe McPhee (pocket trumpet/alto sax), Kent Kessler (bass), and Chris Corsano (drums). Joint credits, vigorous if a little on the rough side. A- [cd] Armand Hammer & the Alchemist: Haram (2021, Backwoodz Studioz): Hip-hop duo, Billy Woods and Euclid, sixth album since 2013, team up with producer Alan Marman (ex-Cypress Hill). "Haram" means forbidden in Arabic, and pigs figure prominently, especially on the cover. B+(**) Bicep: Isles (2021, Ninja Tune): Electronica duo from Belfast, Northern Ireland: Andrew Ferguson and Matthew McBriar. Second album. "A potent blend of euphoria and melancholy that captures the very essence of rave perfectly." B+(**) Abraham Burton/Lucian Ban: Black Salt: Live at the Baroque Hall (2018 [2021], Sunnyside): Tenor sax and piano duo. Burton was one of the brightest saxophonists to emerge in the 1990s, but has nothing as leader since 1995 -- although his side credits picked up after 2010, including two albums with the pianist. Strikes me as a bit cluttered, partly because the shift from alto to tenor slows him down. B+(**) Brian Charette: Power From the Air (2020 [2021], SteepleChase): Organ player, leads a sextet with a range of horns -- flute (Itai Kriss), alto sax (Mike DiRubbo), tenor sax (Kenny Brooks), bass clarinet (Karel Ruzicka) -- and drums. Postbop, but swings some, DiRubbo stands out among the horns. B+(*) J. Cole: The Off-Season (2021, Dreamville/Roc Nation): Rapper Jermaine Cole, sixth studio album. B+(*) Czarface/MF Doom: Super What? (2020 [2021], Silver Age, EP): Hip-hop supergroup (7L, Esoteric, Inspectah Deck) teams up with rapper Daniel Dumile for a short album (10 tracks, 26:44), a follow up to their 2018 Czarface Meets Metal Face. Originally slated for April 2020, held back due to lockdown, finally appearing after Doom's death in October. A- Dan Dean: Fanfare for the Common Man (2017-18 [2021], Origin Classical): Aaron Copland's title piece runs 3:34, but to these ears it's indistinguishable from surrounding pieces by Elgar, Bach, Debussy, Holst, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Khachaturian, and lots more Bach, rendered in a cappella (but surely multitracked) bippity scat, with a bit of whistle. Some famous titles here, but I hated classical music so much as a child I would plug up my ears or mute the TV, and I've never felt the slightest loss. My bad, perhaps, but not as bad as the "teachers" who thought that nothing else was worth listening to. B- [cd] John Dikeman/Hamid Drake: Live in Chicago (2018 [2020], Doek Raw): Saxophonist, born in America but based in the Netherlands, returns to Chicago for a 37:12 improv with local drummer. B+(*) [bc] Silke Eberhard Trio: Being the Up and Down (2020 [2021], Intakt): German alto saxophonist, also plays bass clarinet, leads the larger group Potsa Lotsa, trio with Jan Roder (bass) and Kay Lübke (drums), whose names also appear on the cover. A- Michael Formanek: Imperfect Measures (2017 [2021], Intakt): Bassist, another member of Tim Berne's 1990s group, dozen or so albums under his own name. This one is solo, pretty good for such. B+(**) Garage A Trois: Calm Down Cologne (2019 [2021], Royal Potato Family): Acid jazz group, sixth album since 2003, first since 2011, now slimmed down to a trio as saxophonist Skerik doubles up on keyboards -- other long-term members are Charlie Hunter (guitar) and Stanton Moore (drums). B+(*) Doug Lofstrom: Music for Strings (2018-19 [2021], Origin Classical): From Chicago, bassist, "has been composing prolifically since the 1970s," has a previous album on this label, but not much else I'm aware of. This was performed by Russian Strings Orchestra, conducted by Misha Rachlevsky. The sort of thing I couldn't stand as a child, and can barely tolerate now. B- [cd] Mach-Hommy: Pray for Haiti (2021, Griselda): Rapper Ramar Begon, from Newark, Discogs credits him with 14 albums since 2016, but most were self-released, and Wikipedia never heard of him. B+(***) Tobias Meinhart: The Painter (2021, Sunnyside): German saxophonist (tenor/soprano, alto flute), half-dozen albums since 2015, this with piano/bass/drums, guest guitar (Charles Altura) on two tracks, trumpet (Ingrid Jensen) on two others. B+(**) William Parker: Trencadis: A Selection From Migration Into and Out of the Tone World (2019-20 [2021], Centering): Bassist, has released massive works before -- e.g., the 8-CD Wood Flute Songs in 2013 -- but this year's 10-CD box is unusual both for its size and the short time involved. I received a promo sampler in January, but didn't bother as it didn't look like product, as I resigned myself to missing his magnum opus. However, this sampler does now seem to have an independent existence, at least as a digital album. No idea who plays or sings (most songs have vocals), and I continue to have doubts and frustrations about the utility. B+(**) Jeremy Pelt: Griot: This Is Important! (2020 [2021], HighNote): Mainstream trumpet player, albums since 2002, impressed me first with his chops, but has rarely made compelling ablums out of them. Ties in with a book of interviews with jazz musicians from Bertha Hope to Ambrose Akinmusire, full title Jeremy Pelt Presents: Griot: Examining the Lives of Jazz's Great Storytellers, Vol. 1. Half-dozen original pieces, a couple more with ongoing commentary, and snippets of interviews. With keyboards (Victor Gould), vibes (Chien Chien Lu), harp (Brandee Younger), bass, drums, percussion. B+(*) Ivo Perelman/Nate Wooley: Polarity (2020 [2021], Burning Ambulance): Tenor sax and trumpet duo, at least the fifth album they've done together but the first duo. Probably because the tone limits wear on you, no matter how creative they sound at first. B+(*) [bc] Tom Rainey Obbligato: Untucked in Hannover (2018 [2021], Intakt): Drummer, I first noticed him with Tim Berne in the late 1990s, has a half-dozen albums, including Obbligato (2014), a quintet mostly reunited here: Ralph Alessi (trumpet), Ingrid Laubrock (tenor sax), Drew Gress (bass), with Jacob Sacks (piano, replacing Kris Davis). B+(**) Skyzoo: All the Brilliant Things (2021, Mello Music Group): Brooklyn rapper Gregory Taylor, tenth album since 2006, underground vibe, not as distinctive as his two 2020 efforts. B+(**) Will St Peter/Steven Heffner/Steve Barnes: Honestly (2020 [2021], Origin): Guitar-bass-drums trio, based in Dallas, studied at UNT, first album. Three St. Peter originals, covers ranging from Mancini to Ornette Coleman. B+(*) [cd] The United States Air Force Band Airmen of Note: The 2021 Jazz Heritage Series (2021, self-released): Taxpayer-supported culture, probably the least offensive thing the USAF does, but still an annual event I hold no hope for and am regularly repaid with varying levels of distress. Not that they can't play, but they have nothing much to say. Does provide a paying gig for a couple of ringers each year: Peter Bernstein and Chris Potter this time. B- [cd] Jennifer Wharton's Bonegasm: Not a Novelty (2020 [2021], Sunnyside): Bass trombonist, second album, group a trombone quartet (John Fedchock, Nate Mayland, Alan Ferber) with piano/bass/drums, and guest spots for Samuel Torres (2) and Kurt Elling (1). B+(**) Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: 1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything (1971 [2021], Island): Does "That" make any sense here? Subtitle feels like an anagram where you can shift words around endlessly without settling on a satisfactory result. No doubt the music was changing, as was the world, but subject and object are harder to grasp. Maybe it was dialectical? The documentary series runs eight episodes, about 6 hours, and contained enough music for a 4-CD box, so a single CD is bound to disappoint. As a synopsis, sure isn't bad, especially starting with "Imagine" and "What's Going On." But David Bowie, who probably gets more screen time than anyone, and "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," which is heavily featured as the year's most striking song, are missing here, as are Curtis Mayfield, Bill Withers, Joni Mitchell, and Sly & the Family Stone. On the other hand, there are songs and artists here that I don't recall in the videos (like Rod Stewart, the Beach Boys, Edwin Starr's "Ball of Confusion," and the Temptations' "Just My Imagination"). I'm not inclined to complain about any of those last four -- even the piece from the otherwise lame Surf's Up (although John Martyn and Nick Drake do seem a little parochial, even in England). No doubt licensing has something to do with it, even though Universal, which owns Island, owns damn near everything. Makes me wonder if Sony can do an answer record (which should get us Bowie, Scott-Heron, and Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side"). A- Gary Bartz NTU Troop: Live in Bremen 1975 (1975 [2021], Moosicus, 2CD): Alto saxophonist, played with Dolphy, Mingus, Roach, and Blakey in the 1960s, with Miles Davis in 1971, left to form this band in 1971, with an uncompromising mix of avant postbop, black power, and crossover funk. This is close to the end of their run, down to a quartet with keyboards (Charles Mims), electric bass (Curtis Robertson), and drums (Howard King). B+(***) Tim Berne/Chris Speed/Reid Anderson/Dave King: Broken Shadows (2018 [2021], Intakt): Alto and tenor sax from Berne's breakthrough groups from the 1990s, plus Bad Plus bass and drums. First released by vinyl-only Newvelle in 2019, so technically a reissue, predating Jazzclub Ferrara's live Tower Tapes #2, credited to Broken Shadows, perhaps the best set in their Covid lockdown dump. Impressive group, but slips and slides a bit much. B+(***) Julius Hemphill: The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony (1977-2007 [2021], New World, 7CD): Box set with 40-page booklet, which may answer some of my questions. Alto saxophonist, major avant-garde figure from 1972 (Dogon A.D.) to his death in 1995, and in some ways beyond. He was the defining force behind World Saxophone Quartet, at least early on, and developed another saxophone choir in the 1990s (see Five Chord Stud), as well as a big band. He continued composing after he was no longer able to play (c. 1990), and periodically ghost bands appear in his name. I don't have date details here, but the stretch 12 years beyond his death is hard to fathom. The only thing he didn't play on was the Disk 4 "Chamber Music," and most of that (37:16) was a quintet he conducted (all horns, two brass/three reeds; the rest is 7:02 by pianist Ursula Oppens, and 19:15 by Daedalus String Quartet). The title is a group he played with c. 1977 (mostly a quartet with Baikida Carroll, Jehri Riley, and Philip Wilson; later with Carroll, Dave Holland, and Jack DeJohnette), and the other groups (various Quartet lineups and the duo with cellist Abdul Wadud) weren't much later. There's a fair amount of squawk early on, and the chamber music isn't that interesting, but this really picks up on the fifth disc (Roi Boyé Solo and Text), particularly the "Unfiltered Dreams" with K Curtis Lyle's poetry set to solo saxophone (e.g., "Nobody Tells Me What to Do"), and the later live groups are both bracing and sophisticated. Not all great, but rises to that level time and again. A- Old music: Bee Gees: Trafalgar (1971, Atco): British group, three Gibb brothers, born on Isle of Man, grew up in Manchester, formed a skiffle group there, took a detour to Australia, releasing Bee Gees' 1st in 1967, the first of four albums (through Odessa) that peaked 4-16 in the UK, 7-20 in the US, 8-13 in Australia. I didn't notice them until their disco revival in 1975, but they scored their first number one US single here with "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart." Nothing else here is remotely decent. C- Anne Briggs: Anne Briggs (1971, Topic): English folk singer, first album (after an EP in 1963), followed almost immediately by The Time Has Come, and very little else. I was surprised to find the latter in my database as a full-A album (English/Celtic folk is really not my thing, but the reissue was a pick hit in my May 2007 Recycled Goods). Much a cappella, remarkable in its own way. B+(***) James Brown: Super Bad (1970 [1971], King): He signed to Polydor in 1971, which took over distribution of his King catalog, so this "live" album and the two-months later Sho Is Funky Down Here got reissued by Polydor within the year. Title hit is so great they stretch it to three parts (9:16), and "Giving Out of Juice" runs a bit longer. Four other songs run 3:05-39 (basically, singles with dubbed audience), including covers of "Let It Be Me" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix." B+(***) James Brown: Hot Pants (1971, Polydor): Hot single, more funk vamps, about par for a period when everything he touched was golden. [CD reissue adds the 19:09 complete take of "Escape-ism," excerpted on the original.] A- James Brown: There It Is (1972, Polydor): More classic funk grooves, pausing for public service sermons about "King Heroin." A- James Brown: Get on the Good Foot (1972, Polydor): Only album I can recall which features an advertisement for itself in any form, let alone running 5:54 to start off Side 2. Great songs you've heard before and/or will hear again, and other stuff. B+(*) Carlton and the Shoes: Love Me Forever (1978, Studio One): Jamaican vocal group, also known as the Manning Brothers: lead singer Carlton, Donald, and Linford -- the latter two were also in the Abyssinians. First album (of three). B+(**) [yt] Carpenters: Carpenters (1971, A&M): Brother-sister duo, hugely popular, albums 2-5 from 1970-75 went platinum (as did, 7X, The Singles: 1969-1973), declined thereafter, with Richard's drug problems and Karen's anorexia (fatal in 1983) tarnishing their story book wholesomeness. This was their third album, anchored by their most famous single ("Rainy Days and Mondays"), second side with a fairly decent "Superstar," the rest fleshed out with string and choral arrangements that make Mantovani sound like Mozart. C Grin: Grin (1971, Spindizzy): Nils Lofgren, got his start playing guitar and keyboards with Neil Young, led this band 1971-73 before going solo, and winding up as a hired hand for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. I was introduced to this band through best-ofs, which emphasize Lofgren, so I recognize a few songs, but others have yet to sink in. Later reissues add "featuring Nils Lofgren" to the cover/title. B+(**) Grin [Nils Lofgren]: 1 + 1 (1971, Spindizzy): Lofgren's name on top, but in smaller type, as if they're having trouble figuring out who this is. Good songs, but they (he?) don't have a trademark sound, nor do they hint at the future Americana mold, and the orchestral swell on the finale leaves me cold. B+(***) Grin: All Out (1972, Spindizzy): Third album, went with the group name, and seem happier for it. This holds up better, but again the "best-of" songs get there first. A- Billy Joel: Cold Spring Harbor (1971 [1983], Columbia): Piano-playing singer-songwriter, first album, barely dented the charts (158, 95 UK, 44 Japan), two years before Piano Man got him some notice. Artie Ripp produced, and reportedly butchered the original mix, leading to a split and a long contract dispute. Ripp remixed the album in 1983, cutting it from 33:07 to 29:53, correcting the pitch, and dubbing in more band. That seems to be the mix I listened to, which is spare but inoffensive. He seems to have a knack for writing show tunes, but not much context for staging them. B Elton John: Elton John (1970, Uni): Piano-playing pop star, second album (but first released in US), scored a hit with "Your Song" but little else. B- Elton John: Madman Across the Water (1971, Uni): Two singles here, "Tiny Dancer" and "Levon," where the definition of an Elton John single is a melody fetching enough they can survive the dead weight of Bernie Taupin's lyrics. B- Elton John: Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player (1973, MCA): Helps to pick up the pace, as he did on Honky Château, and again (less consistently) here, especially with "Crocodile Rock." I suppose his "Texan Love Song" has a whiff of irony, but he doesn't impress with his redneck yahoo act. B Elton John: Caribou (1974, MCA): Recorded quick, then dressed up by the producer while he was on tour. Singles: "The Bitch Is Back," "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me." Fatigue sets in, if not him, then me. B Elton John: Elton John's Greatest Hits Volume II (1971-76 [1977], MCA): Ten songs on the original North American version: two from albums out before his first Greatest Hits, four from later albums (two from Rock of the Westies, his best album, and one from Blue Moves, possibly his worst), plus four non-album singles, including covers of "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" and "Pinball Wizard" and a duet with Kiki Dee ("Don't Go Breaking My Heart"). The covers seem celebrate his status as a celebrity, but don't do anything interesting. B+(**) Elton John: Elton John's Greatest Hits Volume III 1979-1987 (1979-87 [1987], Geffen): After Blue Moves (1976), I paid him no attention -- the only later album in my database was his 2010 duo with Leon Russell (The Union, a B; Christgau gave up after Jump Up! in 1982, aside from this best-of and a 1992 "dud"). However, his singles discography shows 11 top-20 records in this period, and 11 more through 20002 (more on the Adult Contemporary chart), so I thought this might be worth checking out. Only two songs I recognized here, and only one was close to great -- "Sad Songs (Say So Much)." The rest are uninspired formula (at best). B Curtis Mayfield: Curtis (1970, Curtom): Joined a group that became the Impressions as a teenager in 1956. Left them to go solo with this album in 1970. I've been playing his career-spanning 2-CD Anthology a lot lately, and the two most brilliant pieces here are there, but the rest of his music finds a unique groove and persona, and I don't see any point quibbling about details. A- Curtis Mayfield: Roots (1971, Curtom): Maybe you could nitpick some of the arrangements, but his voice and rhythms are so supple they wash right over them. Fewer songs I recognize from Anthology, but the flow is unique, powerful, sweeping. [PS: CD adds 4 alternate takes, underscoring great songs.] A- MC5: High Time (1971, Atlantic): Michigan rock band formed in 1964, cited nowadays as "proto-punk," third and final album (despite partial reunions in 1992, after vocalist Rob Tyner died, and in 2003-10, until bassist Michael Davis died). Eight songs, extra horns on the last. B+(***) [yt] MC5: Babes in Arms (1966-71 [1983], ROIR): Wayne Kramer compiled this from "rare out-takes, mixes, remixes, uncensored and experimental works in progress, and rehearsal tapes," for cassette release in 1983. Yet somehow this strikes me as more satisfying than any of their studio albums: some of their signature songs, loosely done but expertly paced, gets stronger and stronger. A- [bc] Helen Reddy: Helen Reddy (1971, Capitol): Pop singer from Australia, had some hits in the 1970s, especially on the Adult Contemporary chart. Second album, one short of her breakthrough hit ("I Am Woman"). She wrote 1.5 songs, smartly picked covers from John Lennon, Donovan, Carole King, Leon Russell, and Randy Newman, but my favorite is "Tulsa Turnaround." Nice voice, decent arrangements, even the strings. B+(***) Helen Reddy: Helen Reddy's Greatest Hits (1971-75 [1975], Capitol): Ten songs, picked for chart position (9 top-2 AC, the other was the oldest, peaking at 12), so nothing from her 1971 eponymous album. There are more "definitive" compilations, but the CD reissue, with (And More) tacked onto the title, just took her to 1979 (and down to 60 on the pop chart, 41 AC). Reminds me we stopped caring about pop charts as the 1970s progressed, and never gave Adult Contemporary a second thought. Arrangements can be a bit much, but I rather like her. B+(**) The Stylistics: The Stylistics (1971, Avco): Vocal group from Philadelphia, featuring Russell Thompkins Jr.'s falsetto and Thom Bell's production. First album, a tour de force. A- The Stylistics: The Best of the Stylistics (1971-74 [1975], Avco): I should probably sample the four intervening albums, which charted 14-66 (R&B 3-8) and got panned by Christgau (B+, C+, missed the 3rd, C), but I'm impatient. Ten songs, four from the debut, seems like it should have grabbed me faster -- like the first album did, but right now I'd rather move on. B+(***) Ike & Tina Turner: River Deep Mountain High (1966 [1969], A&M): Originally released on producer Phil Spector's label in the UK, but the Ike-less title cut stiffed (peaked at 88 in the US, vs. 3 in the UK), delaying US release. I've long regarded it as genius, but Ike's "I Idolize You" [originally from 1960?] has a lot more grit and soul. As the album alternates six productions by each, it risks schizophrenia, but both halves are so intense they modulate each other, albeit strangely. A- Ike & Tina Turner and the Ikettes: Come Together (1970, Liberty): After opening for the Rolling Stones, they make a (partial) move toward the rock market, adding four rock covers to eight Ike songs. Tina comes close to owning the latter, but really burns on the originals. A- Ike & Tina Turner: What You Hear Is What You Get: Live at Carnegie Hall (1971, United Artists): Live double, but not that long (59:26), notable for the preponderance of covers -- only two Ike credits, one shared with Tina, the other a mere 0:30 of "Ike's Tune" -- with "Proud Mary" featured and Otis Redding for the closer (or encore). B+(***) Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, June 14, 2021 Music Week
Music: Current count 35610 [35564] rated (+46), 214 [217] unrated (-3). Turned my attention to new music this week, drawing on sources too numerous to recall, but one was Robert Christgau's June 2021 Consumer Guide: I already had graded Gyedu-Blay Ambolley (**), Dry Cleaning (**), Loretta Lynn (A-), Mdou Moctar (A-), and Olivia Rodrigo (A-) graded, and Chai earlier in the week. Bumped up Dry Cleaning's grade, and checked out old EPs. The other "old music" entries were background for current records, unlike the last month-plus, when I've been working off old music lists. Another source was the highest-rated 2021 album lists at AOTY and Metacritic, although they rarely led to significant finds. Working as fast as I do, I rarely spend enough time on a record to get a deep feel for whatever's unique about it. So what I offer are first impressions, hoping that breadth makes up for lack of depth. Finally, it occurred to me that there must be some mid-year best-of lists popping up. I searched out a few, and added the records mentioned to my hitherto skeletal tracking file. The lists I consulted are (unranked, unless noted):
In past year, I would have been tempted to tote them up, but I've given up on that sort of tracking this year. I doubt I can even guess most of a top ten, but most likely are (in alpha order): Julien Baker, Nick Cave/Warren Ellis, Japanese Breakfast, Olivia Rodrigo, St. Vincent, and/or Wolf Alice, with J. Cole about the only hip-hop breakout, and Floating Points and Sons of Kemet possible jazz crossovers. My own picks, which include two of the above (Rodrigo and Sons of Kemet) are here. (Note that with 26 A/A- in what we'll generously call 4 months, I'm on track to wind up with 78, which would be my shortest list since the 1990s, if not much farther back. The current jazz/non-jazz breakdown is 16/10.) I did an update of the Christgau website tonight, picking up five months of Consumer Guides (although the timelock is, if memory serves, eight months, so you can't read them there, but the records do show up in various indexes, like this 2021 release index. Christgau has 13 A/A- grades on new music releases. I especially want to point out Perfect Sound Forever's Ed Ward Tribute, with Jason Gross interviewing Greil Marcus. Would be lovely if Marcus were to follow up with an anthology of Ed's writings (and broadcast transcripts?), like he did for Lester Bangs. I've had a number of horribly frustrating days, which I realize would probably sound silly if I tried to enumerate my complaints. One thing clear is that as one gets older, little things get ever more troubling. The biggest of the little things was that I spent a couple hours working on installing some porch railing, and wound up behind where I was when I started. Doesn't help that it's gotten so hot the least exertion fails me. One thing I can announce is that I'll return with a new version of my links-plus-comments post. I'm thinking it will come out on Fridays, and the focus will be on picking pieces I want to comment on, as opposed to ones I merely wanted to keep track of. I won't call it Weekend Roundup, or any kind of Roundup, as that isn't the intent. Tentatively I'll revert to my old Weekly Links, but I hope I can come up with something better. New records reviewed this week: Susan Alcorn/Leila Bordreuil/Ingrid Laubrock: Bird Meets Wire (2018 [2021], Relative Pitch): Pedal steel guitar, cello, and tenor/soprano sax. Two public domain songs, five joint improvs. B+(*) Michael Bisio/Kirk Knuffke/Fred Lonberg-Holm: The Art Spirit (2018 [2021], ESP-Disk): Bass, cornet, cello (and electronics), effectively avant-chamber jazz. Grows on you, especially the cello. B+(***) [cd] [06-25] Black Midi: Cavalcade (2021, Rough Trade): British math rock group, 2019 debut Schlagenheim was widely hailed by critics, but impressed as I was (reminded me of Pere Ubu) I found it even more annoying. This starts better, and ends worse. B Namir Blade: Namir Blade Presents Aphelion's Traveling Circus (2020, Mello Music Group): Underground rapper, producer, multi-instrumentalist from Nashville, first album. B+(*) Chai: Wink (2021, Sub Pop): Japanese girl band, third four-letter title after Pink and Punk, conceived like thesis/antithesis/synthesis. B+(**) DJ Black Low: Uwami (2021, Awesome Tapes From Africa): South African DJ, Sam Austin Radebe, various featured rappers. Love the beats here. Don't know much more. A- [bc] Nahawa Doumbia: Kanawa (2018-20 [2021], Awesome Tapes From Africa): Singer from Mali, earlier albums were reissued as several volumes of La Grande Cantatrice Malienne. B+(***) [bc] James Francies: Purest Form (2021, Blue Note): Pianist, from Houston, second album, mostly electronic keyboards, trio with Burniss Travis and Jerey Dutton, plus spots for label stars Immanuel Wilkins (sax) and Joel Ross (vibes), plus vocals. Blue Note seems to be the only jazz label that can break stars from scratch, and there's no reason to doubt the talent they find, but what they do with it rarely pans out. Francies is hot enough for Chris Potter's latest trio, but this is a scattered mess, space warp and bent cocktail music at best, and rarely even that. B- Girl in Red: If I Could Make It Go Quiet (2021, AWAL): Norwegian singer-songwriter Marie Ulven, first album after a couple EPs. Band is bigger, songs flashier, lots of reverb. B+(***) Japanese Breakfast: Jubilee (2021, Dead Oceans): Singer-songwriter Michelle Zauner, born in Korea, but grew up in Oregon (mother Korean, father Jewish-American), third album, has written a memoir which will be filmed. First half is glorious pop, tails off a bit after that. B+(***) Jonathan Karrant/Joshua White: Shadows Fall (2021, self-released): Standards crooner, originally from Ft. Smith, Arkansas, accompanied by pianist. Two previous albums (one live). B+(*) [cd] Kuzu: The Glass Delusion (2018 [2021], Astral Spirits): Free jazz trio -- Dave Rempis (alto/tenor/baritone sax), Tashi Dorji (guitar), Tyler Damon (drums) -- fourth album in fairly short order. B+(**) [bc] Andy Fairweather Low & the Low Riders: Lockdown Live (2020 [2021], Secret): Welsh singer-songwriter, started in Amen Corner (1968-69), had a stretch out of memorable albums in the mid-1970s, got cut loose after 1980 with nothing more until 2006, when he released a fairly good comeback album. Since then he's been coasting, which for Brits of his generation means doubling down on the blues. B+(*) Vic Mensa: I Tape (2021, Roc Nation, EP): Chicago rapper, last name Mensah, father from Ghana. One studio album, one mixtape, half-dozen EPs. Six tracks, 24:04. B+(**) Ashley Monroe: Rosegold (2021, Mountainrose Sparrow): Sometime Pistol Annie, fifth solo album. Shows she's past her upstart phase, as well as any hint of rebellion. Her orchestrations are real pretty. Makes me suspect they're hollow inside. B Naeem: Startisha (2020, 37d03d): Baltimore rapper Naeem Juwan, previously dba Spank Rock. Don't know what to say about this, but gets catchier and more intriguing with each play. A- Larry Ochs-Donald Robinson Duo: A Civil Right (2018-19 [2021], ESP-Disk): Sax-and-drums. Ochs plays tenor and soprano, is part of Rova and has many more albums. Robinson is from Boston, has a couple albums under his own name, a previous duo with Ochs, was also a member of Ochs' Sax & Drumming Core, plus other side credits (mostly as Donald Robinson). B+(***) [cd] [06-25] Genesis Owusu: Smiling With No Teeth (2021, Ourness/House Anxiety): Rapper/singer Kofi Owusu-Ansah, born in Ghana, moved to Australia when he was two, first album, after an EP and a bunch of singles. He doesn't fit any mold, shifting genres, looks, and hooks. I'm impressed, if not quite as delighted as seems to be his goal. B+(***) Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble: Warszawa 2019 (2019 [2021], Fundacja Sluchaj): Group formed 1990 as a sextet, released five albums on ECM 1997-2009, recorded a live album in 2010, revived as a tentet for this set. Long-term members are Parker (soprano sax) and Paul Lytton (percussion/electronics). This edition adds trumpet (Percy Pursglove), clarinet (Peter Van Bergen), piano (Sten Sandell), bass, and various electronics. B+(***) [bc] Ralph Peterson: Raise Up Off Me (2020 [2021], Onyx Music): Drummer, started as second to Art Blakey in 1983, and remained devoted to Blakey's memory. Recorded this in December 2020, then died (cancer) in March, so this is his last record. With the Curtis Brothers, Zaccai and Luques, on piano and bass, with guest spots for Jazzmeia Horn (vocals) and Eguie Castrillo (percussion). Peterson plays a spot of trumpet. B+(**) Chris Potter Circuits Trio: Sunrise Reprise (2020 [2021], Edition): Saxophonist (tenor/soprano, clarinets, flutes, sampler/keyboard), reunites with James Francies (piano/keyboards) and Eric Harland (drums), the trio on his 2019 album Circuits. Potter can be terrific, and he has a few moments of that here, but not many. B Dave Rempis/Tomeka Reid/Joshua Abrams/Tim Daisy/Tyler Damon: The Covid Tapes: Solos, Duos, & Trios (2020 [2021], Aerophonic, 2CD): Chicago avant-saxophonist, alto/tenor/baritone, like most musicians spent last summer holed up, which gave him time to release a trove of old tapes -- 15 digital albums one per week from May through August -- but he also recorded some new music: solos at Unity Lutheran Church, plus a few duos (with drummers Daisy and Damon) and trios (with Reid/Abrams and Abrams/Damon). Choice selections here, including some fine takes on standards. A- [cd] [06-15] Serengeti: KDxMPC (2020, self-released, EP): "KD" is David Cohn's alter-ego Kenny Dennis. Kenny Segal produced, "adds more to Ajai world." Haven't figured out what MPC means, but appears in first two tracks. Nine tracks, 21:06. Fourth album of 2020, not that anyone noticed. B+(*) [bc] Serengeti: Curse of the Polo (2020, self-released): Getting difficult to keep up with him: Bandcamp shows six releases so far this year -- all short, but only one with less than 6 tracks. This one has 9 tracks, 31:43. Still, seems like diminishing returns. B+(*) [bc] Squid: Bright Green Field (2021, Warp): British post-punk band, Ollie Judge singer/drummer, first album after three EPs and more singles. Heard "Narrator" during a thunderstorm and didn't enjoy it at all. Still, something here. B+(**) St. Vincent: Daddy's Home (2021, Loma Vista): Annie Clark, sixth album, last four (inclusive) have charted 19-12-10-16, gets a lot of good press. Co-produced by Jack Antonoff, who shares five song credits. Could be more (or less) to it, but just on sound and occasional words: B+(**) Thomas Strønen/Ayumi Tanaka/Marthe Lea: Bayou (2018 [2021], ECM): Norwegian drummer, previously in the group Food with Iain Ballamy. Trio here with piano and clarinet/vocal/percussion. All pieces jointly credited, but not all in the same order. B+(*) Jazmine Sullivan: Heaux Tales (2021, RCA): R&B singer, fourth album since 2008, first since 2015. Short (32:21), didn't connect enough, although I may have missed a point or two. B+(*) Too Much Joy: Mistakes Were Made (2021 People Suck Music): Alt/indie band led by Tim Quirk, had a run from 1987 (debut album title Green Eggs and Crack), best one was Son of Sam I Am (1988), but I only heard two. Quirk took a day job at Rhapsody, and gave me a free subscription (one year), which I decided to repay by writing up notes on what I heard there (much longer). First album since. First question: is label name v.t. or v.i.? Not their best joke, but gets them started. Also some wisdom: "a decent mattress is a must." B+(**) Marta Warelis/Frank Rosaly/Aaron Lumley/John Dikeman: Sunday at De Ruimte (2020 [2021], Doek RAW): Polish pianist, based in Netherlands, second album of hers I've heard recently, with drums, bass, and tenor sax. Four pieces, nicely balanced free jazz. B+(***) [cd] Wolf Alice: Blue Weekend (2021, Dirty Hit): English alt/indie band, principally singer Ellie Rowsell (also guitar/piano) and guitarist Joff Oddie, plus bass and drums. Third album, currently the top 2021 release in Metacritic's metascore (96, but just a 7th place 86 at AOTY). I don't get the excitement or interest, or didn't until "Play the Greatest Hits" caught my attention: intense, uplifting. Next cut is a change of pace, which seems promising until it isn't. B+(**) Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Duck Baker: Confabulations (1994-2017 [2021], ESP-Disk): Guitarist, recorded five 1975-80 albums for Kicking Mule, one titled The Art of Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar, and along the way recorded with folkies like Stefan Grossman and John Renbourn, but since his 1994 encounter with Mark Dresser, Baker has gravitated toward jazz, with albums of Herbie Nichols and Thelonious Monk pieces to his credit. These are scattered pieces over the years, with musicians like Roswell Rudd, Michael Moore, and Derek Bailey. The mix keeps this interesting, without detracting from the focal guitar. A- [cd] [06-25] Billy Bang: Lucky Man (2008 [2021], BBE, 2CD): Born William Walker in Mobile, sent to Vietnam in 1967, picked up a violin in a Bronx pawn shop and became the greatest jazz violinist ever. He returned to Vietnam c. 2000, and recorded two brilliant albums drawing on their music: Vietnam: The Aftermath (2001) and Vietnam: Reflections (2004). In 2008, he returned, accompanied by a film crew with Jean-Marie Boulet and Markus Hansen. This is audio recorded on that trip, a dozen snippets of Bang talking, ten pieces playing with various Vietnamese musicians. B+(**) Hailu Mergia & the Walias Band: Tezeta (1975 [2021], Awesome Tapes From Africa): Ethiopian keyboardist, cut a number of instrumental albums in the 1970s before a military coup shut down popular music. Mergia moved to the US in 1980s, gave up performing, and was working as a taxi driver when Brian Shimkovitz's label earned its name with the reissue of one of his albums. He's since released new music, but this is old, his second, a simple and seductive groove. B+(***) [bc] Old music: Duck Baker: There's Something for Everyone in America (1975, Kicking Mule): First album, solo, cover promises "Finger Picking Guitar Virtuosity." Old songs, even the ones he claims as new, most delightful. B+(***) Duck Baker: The King of Bongo Bong (1977, Kicking Mule): Third album. Cover explains: "Hot tunes, Pop tunes, Blues, Instrumentals, and Hilarity." Baker plays guitar and sings some, with Mike Piggott on violin, and producer Stefan Grossman taking the guitar lead on two songs. Not quite hilarity, but definitely fun. A- Duck Baker: Les Blues Du Richmond: Demos & Outtakes 1973-1979 (1973-79 [2018], Tompkins Square): From the finger-picking guitarist's folkie period, fourteen pieces that missed his five albums on Kicking Mule. Solo aside from "That Rhythm Man" with bass and violin, a few vocals. B+(**) Duck Baker: Plymouth Rock: Unreleased & Rare Recordings, 1973-1979 (1973-79 [2020], Tompkins Square): Fifteen more pieces from the guitarist's Kicking Mule era, a couple pairing songs, like the opening "Take Me Out to the Ballgame/America the Beautiful," which is followed by a vocal on "Dr. Jazz." Outlier is "New Song of the South," which reminds me how much I once wanted to escape from my life (although I wouldn't have featured my mother's cooking among the reasons). B+(***) Duck Baker: Spinning Song: Duck Baker Plays the Music of Herbie Nichols (1995-96 [1996], Avant): Solo guitar. Nine songs by the legendary, short-lived jazz pianist, whose work remained a touchstone for avant-jazzers like Steve Lacy and Roswell Rudd. B+(***) Duck Baker: The Roots & Branches of American Music (2009, Les Cousins): Solo guitar, some vocals, mostly trad. pieces, the names starting with Scott Joplin, the outlier by Salif Keita -- the Malian griot whose own search for roots finds common ground with our own. B+(**) Dry Cleaning: Sweet Princess (2018 [2019], It's OK, EP): Six-track cassette/digital debut, 22:06. Opener emphatically drives their concept home. B+(***) Dry Cleaning: Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks (2019, It's OK, EP): Six more songs, 21:02, doesn't jump out quite as strong as its predecessor, but unless you're the type who obsessively parses lyrics it's hard to tell the difference -- other than that they hold the strongest track back for the closer. B+(***) Lisle Ellis: What We Live Fo(u)r (1994 [1996], Black Saint): I would normally parse the cover credit to bassist Ellis, but later group album covers don't single him out like this. Trio with Larry Ochs (tenor/sopranino saxes) and Donald Robinson (drums). B+(*) What We Live: Never Was (1996 [1998], Black Saint): Side note here: Napster has pretty much everything released on Black Saint/Soul Note, the Italian label that more than any other kept jazz active and creative during the 1980s. However, they've filed most of the records under the wrong names. This is credited to Dave Douglas, and I found it looking for Wadada Leo Smith. Neither appear, nor seem to have anything to do with this trio, but I figured I'd listen to it anyway, because members Larry Ochs (tenor/sopranino sax) and Donald Robinson (drums) have a new duo out (above), and it's long been on my Penguin Guide shopping list. Other member is bassist Lisle Ellis: listed first, but order probably alphabetical, with all song credits shared. Very solid work, especially from Ochs. B+(***) What We Live: Trumpets (1996-98 [1999], Black Saint): Presumably where Napster's confusion comes from: same trio (Lawrence Ochs, Lisle Ellis, Donald Robinson) but with trumpet added: Dave Douglas in 1996 (31:54), [Wadada] Leo Smith in 1998 (36:44). Score it for Douglas. B+(***) What We Live: Quintet for a Day (1998 [1999], New World): Sax-bass-drums trio, plus trumpets, together this time: Wadada Leo Smith and Dave Douglas. B+(**) Further Sampling: Records I played parts of, but not enough to grade: -- means no interest, - not bad but not a prospect, + some chance, ++ likely prospect. What Goes On: The Songs of Lou Reed (1967-2019 [2021], Ace): Not available for streaming, but I tried constructing a songlist, and found 17 (of 20) songs -- nearly enough (missed Lloyd Cole, Echo & the Bunnymen, Soft Boys), but lost track early on, only to find a few later tracks clicked. ++ Grade (or other) changes: Dry Cleaning: New Long Leg (2021, 4AD): English post-punk band led by singer Florence Shaw, first album after EPs and singles, dry talk over measured guitar riffs and choppy beats. Reminds some of Gang of Four. Less political, or maybe just more discreet about it. [was: B+(**)] A- Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, June 7, 2021 Music Week
Music: Current count 35564 [35522] rated (+42), 217 [208] unrated (+9). Saddened to hear that Frederic J. Fleron, Jr., died last week. Odd that I haven't found an obituary yet -- I did find one for his mother, Esther, from 1998, but it always seemed like fame was his due. He came into my life as Fritz, when he married my cousin, Lou Jean, and was a huge influence until they divorced. He got a Ph.D. in political science at Indiana, and taught at Kentucky and SUNY Buffalo. His specialty was Soviet Studies, and has his name on several academic books, but seemed to slow down with tenure. He came from a ritzy family, and struck me as a boisterous bon vivant, as well as a serious intellectual. He broadened my horizons, and inspired me to persevere through a very tough period in my life (not that my cousin didn't have even greater influence). I became reacquainted with him sometime after 2000. I was visiting my cousin. He recognized me in a Buffalo record store, and came up and started talking. I remember him as being into old blues, which now included a fair sampling of folk and country. He occasionally sent me mixtapes. I didn't reciprocate, because I've never done that sort of thing, but I did return occasional tips and reviews. I follow him and their daughter Ingeri on Facebook, which is where I learned of his death. He was quite a character, and will be remembered and missed. [PS: Here's an obituary for Fred Fleron.] I made a minor change to the Christgau website recently: I was fixing a security issue with the "Google Search" widget, and decided it would be better to target a new tab for the search results, since going to them would lose the website's navigation menus. A bit later, I thought I should have that same functionality on my website. Turns out I had implemented it some time back, but it was only showing up on some pages. It shows up on more now, although the historic sprawl has left some pages with older framing. Reminds me that a redesign is in order, but unlikely any time soon. Redesigning the Christgau website is a higher priority -- one that I've made very little progress towards. I did catch up the Consumer Guide database last week (still not public; probably later this week, but the new stuff is embargoed, anyway; may wait until his June CG comes out). I started this week off by noticing a Randy Sandke reissue in Napster's featured jazz list. Turns out that a lot of Nagel Heyer releases are now available, so I took a dive, which shortly led me to saxophonist Harry Allen. Nagel Heyer is a German label which released a fair amount of retro-swing in the 1990s and afters. One problem with their discography is that they have a bad habit of reissuing old records under new titles, often changing the artist credits as well. I ran across several such cases below, finally noting it on the Butch Miles release(s). Harry Allen is one of my favorite saxophonists, so his dive went further. He developed a big following in Japan in the 1990s, with BMG releasing 3-4 records per year there -- only a few appeared in the US on RCA. I've long been frustrated by inability to find those titles, but Slider reissued the Japanese BMG/Novus records in 2007, and they're now on Napster (and probably other streaming sources). Still, half of this week's A-list records are new music. Having listened to very little new non-jazz over the last couple months, it was easy to pick promising candidates off lists presented on the Expert Witness Facebook Group (one from Sidney Carpenter-Wilson proved most useful: his only A-list album I didn't check out was Black Midi, and the others scored *** or better, while a couple items from his B-list beat the odds). [PS: Gave Black Midi a B: "started better, ended worse."] I'll follow up on more tips next week, including the latest from Phil Overeem, plus whatever Christgau comes up with. (Meanwhile, enjoying Awesome Tapes From Africa at the moment, especially DJ Black Low.) Unpacking up this week, after a recent drought, so suddenly I'm behind on new jazz. Still not much there (other than Dave Rempis' The Covid Tapes) I'm really looking forward to. When I do bother to check sources, it seems like I'm getting very few of the top-tier albums (i.e., by artists I'll check out because everyone else will). I didn't have to look beyond Napster's featured list to find Tony Allen, Jaimie Branch, Dave Holland, and Sons of Kemet -- only two of those I knew were coming. Managed some minor home projects, including a couple bathroom items (faucet aerator, grab bar mounted on tile) that had vexed me for a long time. Trying to figure out what to do about a faulty air conditioner this week -- troubleshoot, repair or replace? I'm already bothered by the heat, and it hasn't hit 90F yet (although it will by Wednesday). Approaching the end of Jack E. Davis' The Gulf, where he gets into the chemical pollution allowed by the right-wing political regimes in the region, especially in Texas and Louisiana. This after the environmental destruction in Florida, which was mostly the work of developers. One might hope that some of this has been reversed, but for four years Trump gave clear signals to pollute all you want, and the impact of that takes time to accumulate. How much we will pay for the folly of letting his corrupt regime take power is still unfathomable. (Of course, it's not just the Gulf. Look at Turkey this week.) Part of the reason is that it's hard to see where real change might come from. While the right-wing gets ever uglier, we're still beset by people (especially in the media) willing to patronize them. Especially ugly this week is Netanyahu's panic over the agreement to make someone else (Naftali Bennett, if that matters) prime minister of Israel. Looks like the intent there is to show Trump what a real coup looks like. (See: Shin Bet chief warns against Netanyahu incitement to political violence.) And speaking of ugly, consider this: Younger brother of Michael Flynn takes command of US Army Pacific. New records reviewed this week: Harry Allen/Mike Karn: Milo's Illinois (2021, GAC): Pandemic project, tenor sax and bass duo, mostly standards. Allen is one of the premier retro-swing players, and sounds typically fine, but the bassist doesn't give him much to swing. Karn, by the way, started out as a tenor saxophonist (one album on Criss Cross) before switching to bass. B+(**) Tony Allen: There Is No End (2020 [2021], Blue Note): Nigerian drummer, started with Fela Kuti, died in 2020. No recording date given, no idea what state this album was in when he died, but as presented features a dozen rappers, most names I recognize (Sampa the Great, Koreatown Oddity, Jeremiah Jae, Danny Brown, Marlowe, Skepta). Most striking cut is "Cosmosis," with Skepta and Ben Okri (Nigerian poet/novelist, won the 1991 Booker Prize). B+(**) Aly & AJ: A Touch of the Beat Gets You Up on Your Feet Gets You Out and Then Into the Sun (2021, Aly & AJ Music): Electropop duo, sisters Alyson and Amanda Michalka, released three albums 2005-07, this their fourth. B+(*) Jaimie Branch: Fly or Die Live (2021, International Anthem): Trumpet player, based in Chicago, has two Fly or Die albums (2017, 2019), a side project called Anteloper. She recorded this one in Switzerland, January 2020, with cello (Lester St. Louis), bass (Jason Ajemian), and drums (Chad Taylor), all credited with vocals (mostly on the "anti-Tr*mp" "Prayer for Amerikkka," sung by Ben Lamar Gay in 2019). Has crossover reach like 1970s Miles Davis, replacing the fusion with even more intense and complex rhythm. A- The Chills: Scatterbrain (2021, Fire): New Zealand singer-songwriter Martin Phillips, formed this band in 1980, reformed it in 1984, 1994, and 1999, the second iteration producing their best albums -- a best-of from this period was called Heavenly Pop Hits. Little change in their basic sound, but the songs take a bit longer to kick in. B+(***) Dave Holland: Another Land (2020 [2021], Edition): English bassist, straddled Miles Davis and Anthony Braxton in the early 1970s, filled in much postbop territory since then. Plays bass guitar as well as acoustic here, with Kevin Eubanks (guitar) and Obed Calvaire (drums), an echo of his g-b-d trio from 1975-96 (Gateway, with John Abercrombie and Jack DeJohnette). B+(**) Jack Ingram/Miranda Lambert/Jon Randall: The Marfa Tapes (2021, RCA Nashville): Lambert you know. Ingram and Randall I don't know, although the former has ten albums since 1995, while the latter has three (his first also appeared in 1995), and more production efforts. Country pros do campfire sing-alongs, against the dry, West Texas sky -- Marfa is near Big Bend, and has been losing population since 1930. B+(***) Gabor Lesko: Earthway (2021, Creativity's Paradise Music): Guitarist, from Italy, has at least one previous record. With various bassists and drummers, bits of sax (Eric Marienthal) and vocals (Guido Block). B [cd] The Linda Lindas: The Linda Lindas (2020, self-released, EP): LA girl group, "half Asian and half Latinx, two sisters, a cousin, and their close friend" -- a formula that has me thinking Beach Boys, but now. Billed as punk, fits the form -- four songs, 9:32 -- but at this point settles for catchy little songs. On the other hand, three more/less later singles -- "Claudia Kishi," "Vote!," and "Racist, Sexist Boy" -- up the punk quotient several levels. I doubt we'll have to wait long for a compilation. B+(***) L'Orange & Namir Blade: Imaginary Everything (2021, Mello Music Group): Producer and rapper/lyricist, Blade, from Nashville, released his debut album last year, so some further research is in order. L'Orange has a real knack for putting tracks together, but he also picks interesting collaborators. A- Mdou Moctar: Afrique Victime (2021, Matador): Tuareg guitar god, from Niger, sixth studio album since 2008, first on a rock label, resulting is some amusing hype: this album supposedly evolves from ZZ Top/Black Sabbath to Van Halen/Black Flag/Black Uhuru. I hear none of that, but fine with me if you want to try Ravi Shankar reaching for Jimi Hendrix's sky. Still, not just guitar. He/they sing in Tamasheq, "with poetic meditations on love, religion, women's rights, inequality, and Western Africa's exploitation at the hands of colonial powers." A- Maria Muldaur With Tuba Skinny: Let's Get Happy Together (2021, Stony Plain): Trad jazz band from New Orleans, Todd Burdick plays the tuba, but Shaye Cohn (cornet) usually gets first mention, backed by trombone, banjo, clarinet, two guitars, and washboard. They have close to a dozen albums since 2009, usually with Erika Lewis singing. Muldaur, who started in Jim Kweskin's Jug Band, is perfectly at home here. A- Olivia Rodrigo: Sour (2021, Geffen): Teenage (18) pop singer-songwriter from Temecula, California; great-grandfather from Philippines. Started taking acting and singing classes at age 6, got a film role at 12, a Disney+ series at 16, and is beginning to sound like a grizzled veteran -- even more so on the expertly paced ballads than on the opening anthem, "Brutal." A- Paul Silbergleit: The Hidden Standard (2018 [2021], BluJazz): Guitarist, four albums in his store (but none on Discogs), also some books on guitar, including Play Like Joe Pass. I'm all for expanding the standards repertoire, but "Eleanor Rigby" and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" aren't hidden standards -- they're failed ones. With trumpet, sax, piano trio, and Latin percussion on "Danny Boy" -- another bad idea that doesn't work. B- [cd] Ches Smith/We All Break: Path of Seven Colors (2015-20 [2021], Pyroclastic, 2CD): Percussionist, half-dozen albums since 2006, many more side credits. He released his Vodou project We All Break in 2017, and follows that up here with two discs: one earlier quartet (2015), the other recent octet (2020), packaged in a small box with two substantial booklets. Matt Mitchell (piano) and Miguel Zenón (alto sax) turn in stellar performances. Beyond that, lots of fractured percussion and some voices. The quartet gets the balance better. The octet is best when they fly away from the chants. [Hype sheet says there's a movie, but I haven't found it.] A- [cd] Sons of Kemet: Black to the Future (2021, Impulse!): British jazz group, led by saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, fourth album, second on major label, first was a major crossover success, and this currently ranks 6th at AOTY with an 87 over 23 reviews -- compare to Vijay Iyer with 6 reviews for a measure of how much attention they've garnered. With Theon Cross on tuba and two percussionists, they put out a lot of rhythm, without simplifying. Nor is it the guest rappers and singers they showcase, although their words have serious impact. Starts with George Floyd, and threatens to burn, before they sweep you away. A Old music: The Harry Allen-Keith Ingham Quintet: Are You Having Any Fun? A Celebration of the Music of Sammy Fain (1994, Audiophile): Ingham's an English trad jazz pianist, teamed up with tenor saxophonist Allen for several early-1990s albums. B+(**) Harry Allen: Tenors Anyone? (1996 [1997], BMG Novus): Tenor saxophonist, a retro-swing player, reprises the greats here, with "Flying Home," "The Peacocks," "Four Brothers," and a lot of Lester Young. One original: "Cool Man Chu." Backed by John Pizzarelli's trio (with Ray Kennedy on piano and Martin Pizzarelli on bass, but no drummer), sounding much like his father on guitar. A- Harry Allen: Here's to Zoot (1997, BMG Novus): Young enough that his models were less Hawkins and Young than the generation that came up after WWII, which included Zoot Sims. No songs by Sims here: just standards they had in common, backed by a rhythm section that knew how to swing: Dave McKenna, Michael Moore, Jake Hanna. B+(***) Harry Allen/Randy Sandke: Turnstile: Music of the Trumpet Kings (1997 [2007], Nagel Heyer): Tenor sax and trumpet, backed by the RIAS Big Band Berlin. This looks very much like a reissue a 1997 album, The Music of the Trumpet Kings, credited to "Harry Allen and Randy Sandke Meet the RIAS Big Band Berlin," so much so that I'll ignore the one source that has the music recorded in 1998. I don't have song credits either, but it starts with "I Love Louis" and ends with tunes by Woody Shaw and Freddie Hubbard. Not wild about the big band, but the soloists get their licks in. B Harry Allen: Day Dream (1998, BMG Novus): Quartet with Tommy Flanagan (piano), Peter Washington (bass), and Lewis Nash (drums). Seems like his ideal rhythm section, especially on ballads, where his more trad outfits have trouble slowing down. A- Harry Allen: When I Grow Too Old to Dream (1999 [2000], BMG Novus): Standards, backed by guitar (Herb Ellis), bass (Ray Brown), and drums (Jeff Hamilton). Typically solid effort, with some amusing song choices, but I find my attention flagging, only to be snapped back by some brilliant run. B+(***) Harry Allen: Once Upon a Summertime (1999, BMG Novus): A nod toward Brazil, with drummer Duduka Da Fonseca most valuable, the band rounded out with Joe Cohn (guitar), Larry Goldings (piano), and Dennis Irwin (bass), with Maucha Adnet singing a couple. Impressive. B+(***) Harry Allen: Cole Porter Songbook (2001, BMG Novus): At some point, I should note that Allen quickly became very popular in Japan, where his BMG Novus releases were released. They could turn him loose on any slice of tradition, as with these famous pieces, backed with piano (Benny Green), guitar (Russell Malone), and bass (Peter Washington). This is often lovely, but shouldn't the songs be jumping out more? B+(***) Harry Allen: Dreamer (2001, BMG Novus): Yet another Brazilian project, this one arranged by Dori Caymmi (guitar, vocals), with Gary Meek (clarinets), Bill Cantos (keybs), bass, drums, and strings, with Kevyn Lettau singing two songs. Don't they now strings are almost never a good idea? B Harry Allen: I Can See Forever (2002, BMG Novus): More Brazilian waves for the Japanese market, with Guilherme Monteiro and Jay Berliner on guitar, and Sumiko Fukatsu on flute. B+(*) Harry Allen: I Love Mancini (2002, BMG Novus): Not as surefire as Cole Porter, but the saxophonist is as happy swooning as swinging. Kenny Werner plays piano and synth, and arranged, which here includes bass and percussion, but also vibes, harp, and strings. The latter, clichéd as ever, are the problem, but "Moon River" is so sappy even they can't sink it. B Harry Allen: The Harry Allen Quartet (2003, self-released): Recorded in New York, with a rough draft for the group he co-led with guitarist Joe Cohn through 2008. With bass (Joel Forbes) and drums (Chuck Riggs). One original, eleven covers, including three by Cohn's father, saxophonist Al Cohn. He seems in exceptional spirits here, pleased that his guitarist is in such fine fettle. A- Harry Allen/Joe Cohn: The Harry Allen & Joe Cohn Quartet (2005, self-released): Leaders play tenor sax and guitar, backed with bass and drums. Quartet recorded a half-dozen albums 2004-09, including two notable collections of show tunes (Guys and Dolls and South Pacific). B+(**) Harry Allen/Rossano Sportiello: Conversations: The Johnny Burke Songbook (2011, GAC): After listening to so many quartet albums with occasional extras, this basic tenor sax/piano duo is a revolution. The Italian pianist came to America idolizing not just the swing classics but the retro-swing players who carried on, logging significant time in the studio with both Scott Hamilton and Allen. Here all he has to do is set up Burke's songs, and Allen knocks them out of the park. A- Harry Allen: Love Songs Only! (1993-2001 [2013], Nagel Heyer): Not in Discogs; all I've found is a song list and partial credits, which leads me to think these came from multiple live shows in the mid-1990s: three each pianists/bassists/drummers, Randy Sandke, Howard Alden, and omits two vocalists and at least one big band. Cover and concept similar to Love Songs Live! (released by Nagel Heyer in 2000, but culled from 1993-96, so I'll use those dates), but none of the same songs. A very mixed bag, mostly useless but has some redeeming moments. [PS: I extended the recording dates after I heard what's probably the same version of "Straighten Up and Fly Right" on Allan and Allen, below.] B Alan Barnes/Harry Allen: Barnestorming (2006 [2007], Woodville): English saxophonist (alto/baritone), with his quartet in London, joined by the tenor saxophonist. Leaders wrote two songs each, the title romp Allen's. B+(**) Butch Miles and Friends: Cookin' (1995, Nagel Heyer): Drummer, actual name Charles J. Thorton Jr., first records appeared in 1978 with Scott Hamilton and Bucky Pizzarelli (latter credited to Butch & Bucky). Friends here are: Randy Sandke (trumpet), Harry Allen (tenor sax), Howard Alden (guitar), Frank Tate (bass), and Terrie Richards Alden (vocals) -- she enters on the fifth song; I didn't count how many more, but I like her. B+(***) Butch Miles and Howard Alden: Soulmates (1994 [2002], Nagel Heyer): Reissue of Cookin', with new title and recording date moved up a year. Question is whether to give it the same grade, or dock it a bunch. B+(***) New York Allstars: The Bix Beiderbecke Era (1993, Nagel Heyer): Octet led by trumpet player Randy Sandke, playing 78 minutes of jazz tunes from the 1920s in the Musikhalle in Hamburg. Leon Bismark Beiderbecke was an early cornet player from Iowa, recorded 1924-30 before his early death at 28. Sandke was such a fan he named his son Bix. Band isn't as famous as advertised, but some names you should recognize: Dan Barrett (trombone), Scott Robinson (sax), Ken Peplowski (clarinet), and Marty Grosz (guitar, sings one, which he introduces in German). B+(**) The New York Allstars: We Love You, Louis! (1995 [1996], Nagel Heyer): Led by Randy Sandke, an octet with tuba and a second trumpet (Byron Stripling, who sings a couple), where only Kenny Davern has much credentials as a star. Like the Beiderbecke tribute, live in Hamburg, with lots of tunes you know, done with great respect and care. B+(*) Randy Sandke: Randy Sandke Meets Bix Beiderbecke (1993 [2002], Nagel Heyer): Reissue of The Bix Bederbecke Era, plus three songs (not sure how they managed that). B+(**) Randy Sandke and the Buck Clayton Legacy: All the Cats Join In (1993 [1994], Nagel Heyer): Clayton and Harry Edison were Count Basie's trumpet players, later noted for his jam sessions. Sandke plays trumpet and leads an octet with Harry Allen, Danny Moss, and Anti Sarpila on reeds, through a batch of Basie standards, recorded live at Birdland Jazzclub in Hamburg. With a smaller band, they generate Basie-level power, at least with the saxes. B+(***) Randy Sandke and the New York Allstars: The Re-Discovered Louis and Bix (1999 [2000], Nagel Heyer): Cover adds "George Avakian presents" and "Lost musical treasures of Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbecke," and names featured allstars Kenny Davern, Wycliffe Gordon, Dick Hyman, and Ken Peplowski -- the actual credits list is far deeper, with many substitutions between the two sessions. Wish I had a booklet with the details, but both sets are quite remarkable. A- Vladimir Shafranov Meets Harry Allen With Hans Backenroth/Bengt Stark: Dear Old Stockholm (2016, Venus): Russian pianist, moved to Finland in 1974 and took up jazz. Recorded in Stockholm, with tenor sax, bass, and drums -- could easily be filed under Allen. Usual standards, including a Jobim and a Monk (ok, "Round Midnight"), for the insatiable Japanese market. B+(**) Shaolin Afronauts: Flight of the Ancients (2011, Freestyle): Australian group, draws on Afrobeat and Sun Ra, first album (of 4 through 2014). Band led by bassist Ross McHenry, with trumpet, two saxophones, three guitars, lots of percussion, no vocals. Horns large at first, but over time the rhythm intensifies and carries the day. A- Shaolin Afronauts: Quest Under Capricorn (2012, Freestyle): Second album, considerable personnel churn. B+(**) Rossano Sportiello/Matthias Seuffert: Swingin' Duo by the Lago (2005-06 [2008], Styx): Piano/sax duo (tenor/clarinet), at least for 7 tracks, before Harry Allen joins in for 3 more, with Anthony Howe on drums. Winds up with three earlier tracks from Seuffert's quartet, with guitar-bass-drums, but no piano. No real complaints about Seuffert, but the temperature picks up when Allen enters with "Lester Leaps In," and his "Chelsea Bridge" is beyond gorgeous. B+(*) Allan Vaché and Harry Allen: Allan and Allen (2001 [2002], Nagel Heyer): Clarinet and tenor sax, the former the brother of cornetist Warren Vaché Jr., their father a bassist who played with Eddie Condon and Doc Cheatham and led his own Dixieland bands. Vaché called his group the Big Four, with Eddie Higgins (piano), Phil Flanigan (bass), and Eddie Metz Jr. (drums), and the saxophonist has rarely found himself in more congenial company. A- Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, May 31, 2021 Music Week
Music: Current count 35522 [35475] rated (+47), 208 [214] unrated (-6). Mostly old music again, continuing down the unheard Christgau list from Sir Douglas Quintet/Doug Sahm to Butch Thompson. As I'm mostly stopping for Christgau A-listers, my own grades are skewed considerably above the usual curve. I'm 71% through the file, so I'm a couple weeks from ending my first pass (and I skipped bunches of things I didn't feel like at the time). One problem I run into a lot is compilations that are no longer in print. In most cases, I can match them with song lists picked up from other compilations, so that's what I'm doing. If I'm missing 1-3 songs, I can usually pick them up on YouTube, not that the experience is the same. YouTube has been a valuable fallback, but also a nuisance, especially when it automatically segues to something else. I almost never play something twice there, which may be why Dook of the Beatniks stalled out for me. May archive is finished, but I haven't done the requisite indexing, or unpacked the usual Music Week comments. I'll get to them later in the week. Beginning to feel like taking some time to see what else is new, but it's easier to keep ticking off a list. Another one that might be worth exploring is this one by Brazil Beat. While working on Peter Stampfel albums this week, I found this interview, and thought it may be of interest, both on the new box and damn near everything that came before it. Among many items of interest is a discussion of Allen Lowe's latest (and greatest) project, Turn Me Loose White Man (30 CDs, plus notes on every song -- when I bought my copy, I only got one book, but the second volume came in the mail last week, so new buyers should be the whole package; link here). Robert Christgau wrote a review of Eric Weisbard's Songbooks: The Literature of American Popular Music. I like the idea of a book about books, so ordered a copy. Back in my teens, I developed a technique for speed-reading American history books: just read the footnotes, which is where academic historians consign their own opinions, and the bibliography (especially if it is annotated). I learned a helluva lot that way. (Of course, I also had the benefit of Robert Wine's 8th grade Amerian history course -- by far the best grade school teacher I ever had. Much later, I came up with a game: go to bookstore, pick up E.D. Hirsch's Cultural Literacy and go to a random page, check whether you knew the item. I always did, and a good 80% of the items I recalled learning in Wine's class. Of course, that also says something about Hirsch.) The footnotes give you perspective, some insight into how the author thinks, and also a quick sense of what others understand about the subject. Even more useful was pouring over John A. Garraty's Historical Viewpoints, a large book of interviews with prominent American historians. (Later came out in two paperback volumes -- long out of print and damn hard to find.) Hoping Weisbard's book will provide a similar map. Took Friday off and cooked a nice Greek dinner. Looked like this: clockwise from top right: pastisio (mac and cheese on top of ground lamb, eggplant, and tomatoes), horiatiki (chopped salad), baked lemon fish with potatoes, saganaki (fried cheese), and sweetbreads. Had walnut cake for dessert, soaked in a honey syrup. I wrote a postscript to my Damage Assessment piece on the latest atrocities in Gaza, with my latest thinking on how to reverse and repair the tragedy of Israel's moral descent. (Occurs to me that it's been a while since I last heard the IDF described as the world's most moral military -- no, they haven't stopped lying, but no longer consider that something to boast about.) I thought I should clarify my thoughts on political strategy, lest the proposal be misconstrued as urging simple capitulation to Israel. (I wasn't able to make the link jump directly to the PS, so you'll need to scroll down.) Seeing a lot of flag-waving soldier fetishism in the paper, on Facebook, and elsewhere today, including a lot of "ultimate sacrifice for our freedom." I can think of a lot of dead people to mourn, and a lot of family members who were in the military, but not many who died there, and not many who made a big deal out of it. My grandfather went to Europe in the Great War, and came back with medals, but hardly ever talked about it. All four of his sons served, and Bob got shot in WWII and was semi-disabled. My father was in San Francisco waiting to get shipped out when the war ended. They sent him back home to build airplanes -- something he was better at. He thought his time in the Army was the dumbest thing he ever did. My mother's siblings were mostly too young for WWI and too old for WWII, but one brother got in each, as did a few of their children. All survived, but Uncle Allen was killed in a car accident soon after. One second cousin was killed in Vietnam, but under suspicious circumstances: official story is his gun accidentally discharged while he was in a tank, but the alternate story where he was fragged. I've known other people who were killed or maimed in Vietnam -- all were terrible wastes. Uncle James did a tour in Vietnam, but he was an aircraft mechanic and never got off the base. Over the last two decades, some younger relatives (as far as I know, all from Arkansas or Oklahoma) signed up. Always struck me as a waste, but I'm not aware of anything really bad happening to them. I can think of many people who contributed to our freedom and well being, in many ways, but soldiering wasn't one of them. Maybe you can make a case that the Civil War -- my mother's great-grandfather and two of his sons fought in that one, for Ohio, only moving to Arkansas after the war -- and WWII were worth the fight, but neither followed up with the sort of reconstruction needed to establish freedom and justice for all, which is one reason why wars with noble slogans -- like "the war to end all wars" and "the war to make the world safe for democracy" -- only led to more wars. Another reason is that with holidays like Memorial Day we pretend they were something they weren't. New records reviewed this week: Fail Better!: The Fall (2017 [2021], JACC): Free jazz quintet: Luis Vicente (trumpet), Albert Cirera (soprano/tenor sax), Marcelo Dos Reis (guitar), José Miguel Pereira (bass), Marco Franco (drums/flute). Third album. B+(***) [cd] Doug MacDonald: Live in Hawaii (2019 [2021], DMAC Music): Guitarist, albums since 1981, quaret with vibraphonist Noel Okimoto especially prominent. B+(*) [cd] Keith Oxman/Frank Morelli: The Ox-Mo Incident (2019 [2021], Capri): Tenor saxophone and bassoon, Denver-based, Oxman has nine albums, mainstream, while Morelli's previous discography is classical. Quintet with piano (John Jenkins), bass, and drums; two Oxman originals, rest divided between show tunes and classical pieces (Brahms, Puccini, Rachmaninoff, two from Borodin). B+(**) [cd] Wadada Leo Smith: Trumpet (2016 [2021], TUM, 3CD): Released for the AACM trumpet player's 80th birthday year, this adds significantly to his seven previous solo trumpet albums. Solo trumpet is rare: few trumpet players even bother, and no one else has anywhere near that many. The first impression explains why: the tone is narrow, the dynamics slow, it's impossible to generate rhythm or much harmony, leaving you with sharp slashes and smears. Yet as I played and re-played these discs, I started to be entertained. Nice booklet with extensive notes, exploring the deep history that informs this music. B+(***) [cd] Wadada Leo Smith: Sacred Ceremonies (2015-16 [2021], TUM, 3CD): When I first saw these 3-CD sets, I thought compilations, but improvisers just create something new. One disc here is a trio with Bill Laswell (electric bass) and Milford Graves (drums). The other two are duos. The box is dedicated to Graves, who died last year, but his duo disc is the highlight, one of the best things he ever did. Laswell's duo is less interesting: he's a guy who works with an extraordinary range of people, and never overshadows them. The booklet, superb as usual, is especially good for its bios of Laswell and Graves. A- [cd] Butch Thompson & Southside Aces With Charlie Devore: How Long Blues (2019 [2020], Southside Aces): Minneapolis trad jazz group, several albums since 2005 (although this is the first in Discogs), "jazz legend" pianist also from those parts. Starts as a septet, with vocalist Devore entering for the second song. B+(*) João Valinho/Luis Vicente/Marcelo dos Reis/Salvoandrea Lucifora: Light Machina (2020 [2021], Multikulti Project): Drums, trumpet, trombone, electric guitar -- order unclear, as all of the material is joint improv. Especially nice outing for the trombonist, previously unknown to me. B+(***) [cd] Marta Warelis/Carlos "Zingaro"/Helena Espvall/Marcelo dos Reis: Turqoise Dream (2019 [2021], JACC): I guess you could call this "chamber jazz": piano, violin, cello, guitar. The Polish pianist has a couple recent records out -- not sure which one should count as her first. "Zingaro" has been around for ages, and dominates when he plays, slashing through the prickliness. B+(**) Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Blue Muse ([2019], Music Maker Foundation): Twenty-one various artist tracks from the outfit that released Hanging Tree Guitars last year. No documentation, but looks like the label has 40+ albums, many full albums by the artists listed here, so effectively this is a label sampler. Could lead to a long research project, but something to be said for the variety. B+(***) [bc] Old music: The Nagel Heyer Allstars: Uptown Lowdown: A Jazz Salute to the Big Apple: Live at the 1999 JVC Festival New York (1999 [2000], Nagel Heyer): Filed this under Randy Sandke, who arranged and directed, and shares the trumpet spot with Warren Vaché. Other Allstars: Allen Vaché, Ken Peplowski, Joe Temperley, and Scott Robinson (reeds); Wycliffe Gordon (trombone), Eric Reed (or Mark Shane, piano), Howard Alden (guitar), Rodney Whitaker (bass), and Joe Ascione (drums). Starts with "The Harlem Medley," and returns to Ellington for the closer. B+(***) Doug Sahm With the Sir Douglas Quintet: Rough Edges (1969 [1973], Mercury): With Sahm moving on, Mercury scraped together this set of Quintet leftovers. Turns out leftovers is what they do best. B+(***) Doug Sahm & the Sir Douglas Quintet: The Best of Doug Sahm & the Sir Douglas Quintet 1968-1975 (1968-75 [1990], Mercury): CD era best-of, 22 tracks vs. 12 for Takoma's 1980 Best of, where the last 4 tracks were missing from The Complete Mercury Recordings -- two from Atlantic albums, two more that are among the album's best. A- Doug Sahm: Hell of a Spell (1979 [1980], Takoma): After Chrysalis bought John Fahey's Takoma label, they scrounged around for artists, and found Sahm available. The label requested a batch of blues, so Sahm dedicated this to Guitar Slim, and capped eight originals with a powerful turn on "The Things That I Used to Do." B+(***) Doug Sahm: Juke Box Music (1989, Antone's): He recorded for Sonet in Sweden after Takoma, and lived in Canada for a spell, but here he is back in Austin, with 15 short songs, only three bearing his byline. Rhythm and blues, mostly obscure, ample horns. B+(**) Doug Sahm: The Last Real Texas Blues Band (1988-94 [1994], Antone's): Live at Antone's Nightclub in Austin, six tracks left over from 1988, eight more presumably more recent, nearly all blues covers. B+(*) Sir Douglas Quintet: The Best of Sir Douglas Quintet (1965-66 [1966], Tribe): Rock band from San Antonio, led by Doug Sahm with Augie Meyers, had a breakthrough hit in 1965 with "She's a Mover," their signature a loud, pumping organ with a Tex-Mex accent. First album ("best of" could have been "rest of"), closest thing to a second hit was "The Rains Came" (31) with "Mendocino" (27) in the future. B+(**) Sir Douglas Quintet: The Best of Sir Douglas Quintet . . . Plus! (1965-67 [2000], Westside): Adds nine tracks, singles on Tribe and other period pieces. Napster attributes this to Edsel, release date 1980, but Discogs doesn't confirm, so I went with an edition that matches what Napster offers -- partly because the title makes the point. Edsel does have a 2-CD compilation, The Crazy Cajun Recordings, that includes everything here plus much more. The extras are about as scattered as everything else. B+(**) Sir Douglas Quintet +2: Honkey Blues (1968, Smash): Feels like they're aiming for a soul record, but as the title indicates, they have doubts. The "+2" are extra horns. Seven tracks (28:53). B Sir Douglas Quintet: Mendocino (1969, Smash): Title cut their second biggest hit (and last of 3 to crack the top 40). They also reclaim "She's About a Mover" here. B+(**) Sir Douglas Quintet: Together After Five (1970, Smash): Seems like he's -- all songs by Doug Sahm, except for a Dylan bit in a medley -- hit his metier, steady as it goes, no hits but everything sounds distantly related. B+(**) Sir Douglas Quintet: 1+1+1=4 (1970, Philips): All five band members are named on the cover, but Doug Sahm is the only one on every track, and he only wrote 5 (or 6, of 11), the band ranging from 4 to 10 musicians, so sometimes you get a big band feel. While that's a little strange, it's not so bad. B+(*) Sir Douglas Quintet: The Return of Doug Saldaña (1971, Philips): The band is back together -- at least Sahm, Meyer, and drummer John Perez, with Ricky Morales taking over on sax, and auditions for bass -- still feels more like a solo singer-songwriter album, but loose and comfortable. Signature song: "Me and My Destiny." A- Sir Douglas Quintet: The Best of the Sir Douglas Quintet (1968-71 [1980], Takoma): Napster has this as All Time Best: The Takoma Recordings, released 2015 by a label called All Time Best, but aside from order this matches the Takoma best-of. Not inconceivable these were re-recorded, but the simplest explanation is that they were licensed from Mercury (Smash or Phillips). Sahm had moved on (or been pushed out) by 1973, and recorded a couple albums around 1980 for Takoma (after it was bought by Chrysalis). Oddly, Mercury didn't produce its own compilation until the CD era in 1990 (22 tracks vs. the 12 here, definitive until the last two, which sound like the psychedelics just kicked in). A- Percy Sledge: The Very Best of Percy Sledge (1966-94 [1998], Rhino): Soul singer from Alabama. I long thought of him as a one-hit wonder, for his magnificent "When a Man Loves a Woman" (1966), but he cracked the top 20 three more times to 1968, and left enough stellar material for a best-of compilation, like this one: part of a CD series that normally stops at 16 tracks, but adds an alternate take here. I didn't snap this one up because I was perfectly satisfied with The Ultimate Collection ([1987], Atlantic), which has more songs and sticks to his 1966-69 heyday. One plus here: "True Love Travels on a Gravel Road." A- Spinners: Spinners (1973, Atlantic): Vocal group, started near Detroit, recorded an album for Motown, but didn't take off until they moved to Atlantic and producer Thom Bell with this, their third album. I totally missed them at the time, and probably didn't put enough time into the best-of I bought much later on. Five songs charted here, but only "I'll Be There" sounds like a hit from the git-go. Still, three plays in even an oddity like "Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You" was clicking. A- Spinners: Mighty Love (1974, Atlantic): Fewer hits, although "I'm Coming Home" and "Mighty Love" suffice. B+(**) Spinners: New and Improved (1974, Atlantic): Not clear to me that either is true. Dionne Warwick joins for a single. B+(*) Spinners: Pick of the Litter (1975, Atlantic): Another short record (8 songs, 33:49), slow-to-mid-tempo, some chart songs, everything pretty enticing but nothing quite strikes me as a hit. B+(***) Spinners: Happiness Is Being With the Spinners (1976, Atlantic): Fifth (and final) gold record with Atlantic, although they carried on, releasing nine more up to 1984. One of their biggest hits ("The Rubberband Man"), nothing else especially memorable. B+(*) Spinners: The Best of Spinners (1972-76 [1978], Atlantic): Ten tracks, all chart singles, not necessarily the biggest and/or the best hits. A- Peter Stampfel: Dook of the Beatniks (1999 [2010], Piety Street Files & Archaic): One of only two albums Christgau filed under the auteur's solo name. Hard to get a handle here, especially as YouTube blended into something else, but he's older than me, and I can recall my fascination with the beats, whih we must have shared. B+(***) [yt] Peter + Zoë Stampfel: Ass in the Air (2010, Jolly Olga): With his daughter, I think, although fact-checking isn't easy. Nor do I have time to figure out what's new and what's old (the latter certainly include "Drink American," "Bad Boy," and "Dook of the Beatniks"). I can't call these duets. At most she's a backup singer, and not just because no one can match his voice. I'm sure songs like "White Man's World" and "Song of Man" are meant ironic, but can't say I enjoyed them. B+(**) Steel Pulse: Reggae Greats (1978-80 [1984], Mango): Reggae band from Birmingham, England; recorded three albums for Island 1978-80, the basis for this LP series (other single artist volumes: Black Uhuru, Burning Spear, Jimmy Cliff, Gregory Isaacs, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Jacob Miller, Pablo Moses, Lee Perry, Sly & Robbie, Third World, Toots & the Maytals, The Wailers), although the group went on to record for Elektra (1982-85) and MCA (1988-97). Five cuts from Handsworth Revolution, two each from the others, plus a stray single. B+(***) Gary Stewart: Greatest Hits (1975-81 [1981], RCA): Country singer-songwriter, grew up in Florida, burst on the scene with singles from his debut Out of Hand -- "Drinkin' Thing," "Out of Hand," "She's Acting Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles" -- by far, his best album ever. He was one of the first country artists I got enthusiastic about. (I wrote a rave review of his 1976 album Steppin' Out, then let people talk me into thinking it wasn't that good.) This pulls nine songs from five 1975-78 albums, then tacks on a new single, which later/longer compilations unfortunately didn't bother with -- I constructed my play list from 1997's 20-cut The Essential Gary Stewart, then checked the missing "Let's Forget That We're Married" on YouTube. A- Gary Stewart: The Essential Gary Stewart (1974-82 [1997], RCA): Twenty tracks, ends with the title cut from his 1982 duo album with Dean Dillon, Brotherly Love. This was part of an impressive series of CD reissues, and Stewart easily fills the bill. Stewart also appeared in the slightly shorter RCA Country Legends (2004). After mergers, Sony's Legacy reused the title here for a 2-CD 2015 compilation. Also that my favorite remains 1991's Gary's Greatest, on Hightone after they licensed Stewart's RCA catalog. I'm also a fan of his MCA demos, released as You're Not the Woman You Used to Be in 1975 to cash in on his RCA hits, and some of his later Hightone records -- for which, see 2002's The Best of the Hightone Years. A- Gary Stewart: Live at Billy Bob's Texas (2003, Smith Music Group): At 59, his wife of 43 years -- long time for a guy who made his living from cheating songs -- died of pneumonia, and a month later he shot himself dead, leaving this as his last album. Song list is a de facto best-of. A- Super Mama Djombo: Super Mama Djombo (1979 [2003], Cobiana): Band from Guinea-Bissau, a small former colony of Portugal, which is to say it was a port for exporting slaves. The group was formed in the mid-1970s, released several albums from 1978-83. This is considered a compilation, but seems to come from a single 1980 session. Hard to get a real feel for, but mostly quite upbeat. B+(***) Systema Solar: Systema Solar (2009 [2010], Chusma): Colombian group, first album (two more through 2017). Raw, exuberant, the turntablism less important than the percussion, but not by much. A- Howard Tate: Howard Tate (1967 [1969], Verve): Soul singer from Georgia, worked with Jerry Ragavoy, who produced three albums 1967-72, then he basically vanished until Rediscovered in 2003. His first was Get It While You Can, in 1967. This is a reissue, with two extra songs, all impressive, but risks confusion with his 1972 eponymous album. My recommendation is the 1995 CD reissue, with more top-notch material: Get It While You Can: The Legendary Sessions. A- Howard Tate: Howard Tate's Reaction (1970, Turntable): Second album, produced by Johnny Nash and Lloyd Price, on the latter's label (aka Lloyd Price's Turntable). Uneven, although the singer's leaps and flourishes are impressive. B+(**) Howard Tate: Howard Tate (1972, Atlantic): Back with Jerry Ragavoy, who produced and wrote most of the songs. Powerful voice, likes to take it over the top. A- Hound Dog Taylor & the House Rockers: Beware of the Dog! (1974 [1976], Alligator): Blues guitarist-singer, from Mississippi via Chicago, named Theodore Roosevelt Taylor, became a full-time musician in 1957 but didn't get a recording contract until 1971, Recorded two studio albums for Alligator, and had this live one, recorded over several sets in Chicago and Cleveland, in the works before he died in December 1975, age 60. A- Hound Dog Taylor & the Houserockers: Genuine Houserocking Music (1971-73 [1982], Alligator): Previously unreleased scraps from what we'll have to call his prime period (because it yielded his only two studio albums). Cheap guitars, cracked amplifiers, "couldn't play shit, but sure made it sound good!" Indeed, it does, especially fast and loose. Not sure why these are considered inferior to the album picks. Maybe too many Elmore James licks? Sounds to me like a feature. B+(***) Johnnie Taylor: Chronicle: 20 Greatest Hits (1968-75 [1977], Fantasy): Rhythm and blues singer, from Arkansas, replaced Sam Cooke in the Soul Stirrers in 1957, signed with Stax in 1966, charted most of his singles there but only one broke top-10 ("Who's Making Love"). Stax folded in 1975, so this ends there, missing his only number one ("Disco Lady" in 1976). Christgau described Taylor as "everything you could ask for a soul singer except great." That's not wrong, but he deserves credit for hitting the mark so consistently. A- Irma Thomas: Sweet Soul Queen of New Orleans: The Irma Thomas Collection (1961-66 [1996], Razor & Tie): From New Orleans, recorded for Ron as a teenager in the late 1950s, then for Minit and Imperial during this prime period, and kept working into the 1980s. No big hits, but songs like "It's Raining," "Ruler of My Heart," and "Time Is on My Side" are indelibly etched in my brain. [NB: I found 22 (of 23) songs on The Irma Thomas Collection 1961-1966 (Capitol Catalog), which doesn't show up on Discogs.] A- Butch Thompson: Butch Thompson Plays Jelly Roll Morton Solos (1968 [1996], Biograph): Ragtime/trad jazz pianist from Minnesota, recorded two LPs of Morton solos in 1968. This matches the second, Vol. 2, but the smaller print on the cover now reads: "Classic New Orleans Jazz Vol. 3 From the Rare Center Series." Not sure what else appeared in the series (first two volumes were by George Lewis and Jim Robinson) -- I can only speculate that they went with Vol. 2 here because it has more famous songs. B+(***) Butch Thompson: Thompson Plays Joplin (1997 [1998], Daring): Solo piano, ten Joplin pieces plus three others (Arthur Marshall and Louis Chauvin, both of whom wrote with Joplin). As expertly paced and finely tuned as any ragtime set I can recall. A- Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, May 24, 2021 Music Week
Music: Current count 35475 [35420] rated (+55), 214 [216] unrated (-2). While I was fretting about yesterday's Israel/Palestine post, I kept powering through the unheard Christgau A-list (Nirvana to Johnny Shines this week), accumulating a substantial Old Music section. In between, I played some new jazz from my demo queue. The most tedious part occurred when I was looking for a compilation that wasn't on Napster. Sometimes I could synthesize one (or at least come damn close) by selecting tracks from other albums. This underscored for me what a mess trying to review compilations is. Several times I punted, when I couldn't find enough, but I decided I was close enough for Del Shannon. Sometimes I'd find a searched-for album (like Agwaya) elsewhere, which led me to an extended alternative. Some compilations (like the Johnny Paycheck Greatest Hits) had to be reconstructed from later compilations. Some I looked for frustrated me. One on the list I didn't bother trying was the Rolling Stones' Rewind (1971-1984). Undoubtedly an A-, but already had many of those. I've had less luck with YouTube lately. There must be some method for creating a playlist to sequence of song/videos approximating an album, but I don't know how to do it. I'll also note that I've seen a couple albums now on Spotify that aren't on Napster. My problems with streaming on Napster have largely abated -- I'm not convinced they won't reappear, as nothing's really changed -- so I find myself wondering whether it might be time to pick a different resource. Any expert opinions appreciated. Starting with Sir Douglas Quintet this week. One more Monday in May, so it might be good to push to the end of the list this week, then take a fresh look at 2021 music in June. Following Christgau's May Consumer Guide, people on Facebook have been praising No-No Boy, so I did finally give his new record a spin, and liked it enough to go back to his debut, which is approximately as good. The concentration camp pieces remind me to recommend Big Bands Behind Barbed Wire, a 1998 record by Anthony Brown's Asian American Jazz Orchestra. Surprise appearance in Facebook's "People You May Know": Mike Pompeo. One "mutual friend," a childhood neighbor I've seen once in 50 years, but thought it would be cool to add him to my limited set of "Facebook friends." By the way, my original intent in joining Facebook was to follow some family members who adopted it as their primary means of communication. Since then, I've only added people I know personally, plus a few I've corresponded with. I regularly get "friend requests" from musicians, and ignore them: nothing personal, but I don't want to see the feed clogged up with music stuff. I infrequently post on Facebook, and when I do it's mostly what John Chacona called "food porn" (something he's better at it than I am). My posts are usually public, so you can check them out if you're interested. I do announce all of my posts on Twitter, so encourage you to follow. Looks like I have 445 followers, and 2,442 tweets. Not a lot as stats go, but I try to make them worthwhile. At the author's request, I removed the contents to Joe Yanosik's Consumer Guide to Franco. Joe is reorganized the material as a book and/or CD, and I guess he thinks his sales prospects will improve by scarcity. I have my doubts, but it's his work, and he can do with it what he wants. At some point I may have more information. (I do know he's working on a guide book to Plastic People of the Universe -- here's a Facebook link, I think). I set up a guests section on my website quite a while back, to publish some of Michael Tatum's writings, and I've used for a couple others, but it's never been a going concern, or even something I've promoted. But I do have that ability, and can even do a bit more. I lease a dedicated server, and can set up web sites if you have something that seems worth doing (or I can set up sub-domains under hullworks.net). I don't come close to breaking even on this, but I'm pleased to help out a few friends, and to have the flexibility for my own projects. New records reviewed this week: Alchemy Sound Project: Afrika Love (2018 [2021], ARC): Postbop group, third album, seems to have two tiers where each core member wrote a song -- Sumi Tonooka (piano), Salim Washington (tenor sax, flute, bass clarinet, oboe), Erica Lindsay (tenor sax, clarinet, alto flute), David Arend (bass), and Samantha Boshnack (trumpet) -- rounding out with trombone (Michael Ventoso) and drums (Chad Taylor). B+(**) [cd] Rossano Baldini: Humanbeing (2020 [2021], RareNoise): Italian pianist, also electronics, couple previous albums, does a lot of soundtrack work. Solo here except for some cello (Carmin Iuvone). Six tight rhythm pieces, short (28:07). B+(**) [cdr] [05-28] Andre Ferreri Quintetto: Numero Uno (2021, Laser): Guitarist, born in New York, based in North Carolina, claims several albums (but I'm not sure about the 1995 nature sounds that are the only things I find on Discogs). With sax, bass, drums, and piano (three names, one each day of the sessions), plus trumpet (1 track). Nice postbop groove. B+(**) [cd] [05-31] Nnenna Freelon: Time Traveler (2018-20 [2021], Origin): Jazz singer, started in church, dozen or so albums since 1992, reprises singers like Dionne Warwick and Roberta Flack here. B+(*) [cd] Greg Germann: Tales of Time (2020 [2021], Origin): Drummer, based in New York, evidently well established for work on Broadway and in films. Not wild about the vocals (Chelsea Forgenie), but he hires two stars -- Luis Perdomo (piano) and Donny McCaslin (tenor sax) -- and gets his money's worth. B+(**) [cd] Thomas Heberer/Joe Fonda/Joe Hertenstein: Remedy (2020 [2021], Fundacja Sluchaj): German trumpet player, albums since 1988, trio with bass and drums. Engaging free jazz, the bassist a standout. B+(***) [bc] Brent Jensen: More Sounds of a Dry Martini (2020 [2021], Origin): Alto saxophonist, recorded a Paul Desmond tribute in 2001, and decided to add another volume here. With guitar (Jamie Findlay), bass, and drums, plus piano on two tracks. Three Desmond songs, one Brubeck, several standards, including an especially nice "These Foolish Things." B+(***) [cd] Shawn Maxwell: Expectation & Experience (2021, Jazzline): Pandemic project, alto/soprano saxophonist, also plays clarinet, wrote these compositions and hit up 30 musicians to record their bits remotely. B+(**) [cd] No-No Boy: 1975 (2021, Smithsonian Folkways): Julian Saporiti, Vietnamese-American born in Nashville, based in Portland, second album, steeped in Asian-American history, group named for John Okada's 1957 novel ("perceived as disloyal to the US but not fully Japanese"), title for the year Saigon fell. A- Almog Sharvit: Get Up or Cry (2019 [2021], Unit): Israeli bassist, based in New York, first album, a short one (6 songs, 26:50). Starts off with a kind of mariachi hoedown, with Brandon Seabrook's banjo and Adam O'Farrill's trumpet. The other pieces are less fun, especially the ones with vocals. B+(*) [cd] [05-28] Vasco Trilla: Unmoved Mover (2020 [2021], Fundacja Sluchaj): Spanish drummer, Discogs credits him with 40 albums since 2013, mostly duos and small groups where everyone is named. Solo here, credited with timpani and gong. B [bc] Uassyn: Zacharya (2019 [2021], JazzThing): Young Swiss avant-sax trio (Tapiwa Svosve, Silvan Jeger, Vincent Glanzmann), second album, recorded in Zürich. Fairly short (32:01), but intense. B+(***) [cd] Carlos Vega: Art of the Messenger (2017 [2021], Origin): Tenor saxophonist, from Florida, third album, all his own material, with Victor Garcia (trumpet), piano, bass, and drums -- an original take on Art Blakey (his two previous albums were titled Bird's Ticket and Bird's Up). B+(**) [cd] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Alex Chilton: A Man Called Destruction (1995 [2020], Omnivore): New wave Memphis rocker, big hit early with the Box Stops, followed by legendary cult band Big Star, followed by a very checkered solo career, ending with his death in 2010 (at 59). Half originals (counting one based on a Chopin funeral march), half obscure covers, this album (originally on Ardent) was as checkered as any. Reissue adds seven more tracks. B+(**) Alex Chilton and Hi Rhythm Section: Boogie Shoes: Live on Beale Street (1999 [2021], Omnivore): Backed by a local band (albeit, as Al Green's rhythm section, a famous one), opening for Rufus and Carla Thomas, so he doesn't bother trying to flog his own catalog. Just ten rock and soul standards that neither is known for but all know. B+(*) Old music: Nirvana: Hormoaning (1992, DGC, EP): Six-songs, 18:47, released in Japan and Australia only. Four covers, two b-sides to Nevermind singles, four back for the 1992 Incesticide compilation (counting the different take of "Aneurism"). I thought they were ridiculously overrated, but liked the trash they collected in Incesticide, and this is of a piece with that. B+(**) [yt] No-No Boy: 1942 (2018, No-No Boy): First album, title recalls the concentration camps the US built to lock up 130,000 Japanese-Americans for the duration of WWII. That racism seems like he foundation of the American experience, with Vietnam -- both the war and the exile and resettlement built on it. A- NRBQ: NRBQ (1969, Columbia): Stands for New Rhythm and Blues Quintet (later Quartet), first album, Terry Adams (piano) the constant over a 50+ year run, with Steve Ferguson (guitar) also contributing original songs, mixed with covers ranging from Eddie Cochran and Sonny Terry/Brownie McGhee to Sun Ra and Carla Bley. Shows their good taste, not the same thing as genius. B+(**) NRBQ: NRBQ at Yankee Stadium (1978, Mercury): Sixth album, including one with Carl Perkins -- I'm not yet ready to check them all out, but this has a bit of a rep. Adams and/or bassist Joseph Spampinato wrote the originals, plus two for guitarist Al Anderson. Still, none as good as the covers ("Get Rhythm," "Shake, Rattle and Roll"). B+(*) NRBQ: Kick Me Hard (1979, Rounder/Red Rooster): Aside from the Quartet, a couple horns help out. More songs about buildings and food, not to mention "Wacky Tobacky." B+(*) Orchestra Makassy: Agwaya (1982, Virgin): East African group, formed in Kampala in 1975 with Zairean and Ugandan musicians, moved to Tanzania to flee Idi Amin, and later to Kenya, disbanding in 1982, leaving this one album. Soukous influence, gently sweetened. A- Orchestra Makassy: Legends of East Africa: The Original Recordings (1982 [2004], ARC Music): Reissue of Agwaya, plus three extra songs (two previously unreleased), presumably from the same period. ("Ubaya Wa Nini," "Muungano," "Mume Wangu"). A- Ray Parker Jr.: The Other Woman (1982, Arista): Soul singer, cut two albums (1978-79) as Raydio, two more as Ray Parker Jr. & Raydio (1980-81), then this solo, followed later the same year by Greatest Hits, which with its catchy "Ghostbusters" bonus seemed like the obvious choice. Light touch, funky bass, leads with a hit, trails off toward the end. B+(***) Parliament: Gloryhallastoopid (Or Pin the Tale on the Funky) (1979, Casablanca): Suspecting a decline, or maybe just a feeling that their extended funk jams were becoming too mechanical, the only one of George Clinton's marquee group's nine 1970-80 I didn't buy. Should have skipped Trombipulation instead, but no real surprise here, other than that you can still grin your way through a whole heep of stoopid. B+(**) Parliament: Greatest Hits: P. Funk, Uncut Funk, the Bomb (1974-79 [1984], Casablanca): First-generation best-of, ten songs from a group that lost nothing when their 2-CD Tear the Roof Off came out in 1993 (and still had me complaining about omissions). Title songs from their first two Casablancas, only three songs from their two peak 1976 efforts, four more of their later vamp pieces. With their many spinoffs, they defined the 1970s for me. Not exactly my choice cuts, but a solid grounding for those of you who missed them. A Parliament: The Best of Parliament [20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection] (1974-80 [2000], Mercury): Budget series, limited to 11 cuts, but picking long-ish ones adds up to 67:30. Eight dupes from 1984's Greatest Hits, dropping "Do That Stuff" and "Theme From the Black Hole," adding "Dr. Funkenstein," "Agony of Defeet," and "Testify" (the 1974 album remake of Clinton's 1967 doo-wop hit), while discarding chronological order. I'd rate it a very slight improvement, but "Do That Stuff" is not one I would have sacrificed. A Party of One: Dead Violet Shannon (2000, Murder of All Music): Minneapolis guitar-bass-drums trio, singer-songwriter named Eric Fifteen, first album. Sketchy, lo-fi, but something here. B+(**) [bc] Party of One: Caught the Blast (2000-01 [2003], Fat Cat): Second album, new bassist Terrica Kleinknecht sings some, adding an important new dimension to Eric Fifteen's deadpan "oral propaganda." A- [bc] Party of One: Streetside Surprise (2014, Go Johnny Go): A third album for Eric Fifteen's group, a decade after their second. New band, quartet this time, with bassist Joe Holland returning from the first album. B+(**) Pavement: Slay Tracks: 1933-1969 (1989, Treble Kicker, EP): Five songs, 14:02, the most important alt/indie band of the 1990s makes its debut, with the nu-punk "You're Killing Me," the psyhedelic folk "Box Elder," and three more less coherent stabs at guitar noise. No idea what the dates signify. Reissued in 1993 as the first 5 (of 23) songs on Westing (by Muskeet and Sextant). A- Pavement: Demolition Plot J-7 (1989 [1990], Drag City, EP): Second EP, six tracks, 11:52, also in Westing. B/W cover, monochromatic noise, doubt there's anything brilliant buried here, but hard to tell. B+(*) Pavement: Perfect Sound Forever (1989 [1990], Drag City, EP): Seven songs, 11:52, originally on 10-inch vinyl. B+(**) Pavement: Terror Twilight (1999, Matador): Fifth (and final) album, after two EPs I haven't heard (Pacific Trim and Shady Lane), closing out their decade before Stephen Malkmus launched his now-longer solo career. Malkmus is such an odd vocalist that good Pavement albums seem like uncanny miracles. Took me three plays to concede that this is another of them. A- Johnny Paycheck: Johnny Paycheck's Greatest Hits (1972-74 [1974], Epic): Country singer Donald Eugene Lytle (1938-2003), recorded for Little Darlin' in the late 1960s -- I liked CMF's 1996 The Real Mr. Heartache: The Little Darlin' Years -- before signing with Billy Sherrill at Epic in 1972. This seems a little premature, as his only number one hit didn't come until 1977, but this reduces five albums, adding two non-album singles (one a duet with Jody Miller). "She's All I Got" was the closest thing to a hit here. It's pretty good, but not the only song here George Jones sang better. B- Johnny Paycheck: Greatest Hits, Volume 2 (1975-78 [1978], Epic): His breakthrough came in 1978 with his David Allen Coe-penned hit, "Take This Job and Shove It." He moves into his "outlaw" phase here, which puts some swagger into his voice, and must have been fun until he got busted in the 1980s. B+(**) Johnny Paycheck: 16 Biggest Hits (1971-79 [1999], Epic): Doesn't quite go to the end (1982) of his Epic period, but a good, solid selection of his 1970s singles, slanted toward his "outlaw" years, since that's where the better songs lie. B+(***) Johnny Paycheck: Mr. Hag Told My Story (1981, Epic): In 1980, Paycheck recorded Double Trouble with George Jones, mostly playing old rock songs for yucks: "Roll Over Beethoven," "Tutti Frutti," especially "Along Came Jones") and the single, "When You're Ugly Like Us (You Just Naturally Got to Be Cool)." The introductions here are just short of brown-nosing, but the songs aren't predictable, and the band is Merle & the Strangers. B+(**) Pearl Jam: Ten (1991, Epic): In the early 1990s I found myself turning to jazz, to old blues and country, to anything but rock and rap, which fell under the spell of grunge and gangsta. The former was dominated by a rash of Seattle bands, of which this one was ostensibly number two (after Nirvana and, maybe, Soundgarden). First album. I still don't get the grunge concept here, or much of anything else. B Pearl Jam: Yield (1998, Epic): Fifth studio album, the second (after Vitalogy -- the only one I got suckered into buying) Christgau A-listed. This is a bit better, or at least less monotonous. That leaves three more Christgau * or ** albums I won't trouble myself with, as well as scores of live albums he didn't touch. B+(*) Teddy Pendergrass: TP (1980, Philadelphia International): Former lead singer with Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes (1970-75), went solo in 1977 and reeled off five platinum albums before a 1982 car crash left him paralyzed from the chest down. This was the fourth, long on ballads and schmaltz. B+(**) Teddy Pendergrass: Greatest Hits (1977-80 [1984], Philadelphia International): Nine cuts from the five platinum albums, for my money superseded by the 15-song 1998 Greatest Hits on The Right Stuff (8 repeats). I tend to favor his upbeat songs, but they he slips in some sheer seduction like "Close the Door." A- Teddy Pendergrass: The Essential Teddy Pendergrass (1972-84 [2007], Philadelphia International/Legacy, 2CD): Picks up some early cuts with Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, and touches his first Asylum album. Lots of good material, but I find fatigue setting in. B+(***) Esther Phillips: Esther Phillips Sings (1966, Atlantic): R&B singer Esther Mae Jones, joined Johnny Otis' Rhythm and Blues Caravan at age 14, scoring several hits early on. Second of five 1965-70 albums for Atlantic, with Oliver Nelson, Ray Ellis & Jimmy Wisner arranging the big band and strings. Fine singer, not much else to recommend. B Esther Phillips: Burnin': Live at Freddie Jett's Pied Piper, L.A. (1970, Atlantic): Large (10 piece) band, arranged and produced by saxophonist King Curtis. B+(**) Esther Phillips: Conessin' the Blues (1966-70 [1976], Atlantic): Good selection of blues material from the late 1960s, first side with big bands stocked with jazz musicians like Sonny Criss, Teddy Edwards, and Herb Ellis. Second side small groups, but in all cases her voice is gripping. A- Esther Phillips: Black-Eyed Blues (1973, Kudu): She left Atlantic in 1970 for Kudu, which was Creed Taylor's soul division (although their roster included a lot of soul-oriented jazz musicians, like Grant Green, Lonnie Smith, and Grover Washington). Third Kudu album. Six songs (33:53), title from Chris Stainton and Joe Cocker, others range from Ellington to Withers. Pee Wee Ellis arranged the horns, and Bob James the strings. A- Esther Phillips: The Essential Esther Phillips: The Kudu Years (1971-77 [2018], Legacy, 2CD): Note the qualifier, as this skips the first 20 years of her career, as well as the last 7, before she died in 1984 (at 48). This picks 33 songs from 7 albums -- by reputation uneven ones, but she's such a consistently powerful singer they flow like one, and the bands are well stocked with jazz talent. A- Esther Phillips: Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song): 1984/New York City (1984 [2007], Jazzwerkstatt): Studio album, recorded March 6, five months before her death on August 7. Originally released by Muse in 1986 as A Way to Say Goodbye, reissued 1999 in Germany by ITM under the new title, which this label expands on. B+(*) Charlie Rich: The Legendary Sun Classics (1958-62 [2010], Charly): Country singer, became a big star in the 1970s, by which time his early stint with Sam Phillips at least looked good on the résumé. Like most of the label's output, these tracks have been reissued many times, most completely in Bear Family's 3-CD box, The Sun Years, 1958-62. This 14-cut sampler looked like as good a place as any to start. B+(*) Charlie Rich: The Fabulous Charlie Rich (1970, Epic): After Sun, RCA, and Smash, Rich signed with Epic in 1968 and settled into a pleasant countrypolitan groove. Sporting silver hair at 37, he's smooth and steady, picking good songs that hold up even to Billy Sherrill's strings and chorus. B+(***) Charlie Rich: The Best of Charlie Rich (1968-72 [1972], Epic): Seems premature after only three Epic albums, only one charting (peak 44). Indeed, I have to hedge here, given that I could only find 8 (of 10) songs on subsequent Epic compilations I consulted: Greatest Hits (1976), American Originals (1989), Super Hits (1995), Feel Like Going Home: The Essential Charlie Rich (1997, 2CD), 16 Biggest Hits (1999), Love Songs (2000), The Essential Charlie Rich (2007, 2CD) -- the latter, going back to 1959 and forward to 1991, is the one I recommend. B+(***) Charlie Rich: Pictures and Paintings (1992, Sire): Rich died in 1995 (at 62), leaving this final album, produced by Peter Guralnick, nicely playing up Rich's jazzy side. B+(***) Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth: All Souled Out (1991, Elektra, EP): I like this genre: "Golden age hip hop." Producer and rapper, six tracks (including two mixes of "Good Life"), 29:09. Nice bounce to this. B+(***) Max Romeo: Open the Iron Gate (1975 [1978], United Artists): Evidently a reordered, retitled reissue of his 1975 Jamaican album Revelation Time, which means it predates his Island-released 1976 album War Ina Babylon. B+(**) Diana Ross: Diana (1980, Motown): I love the Supremes as much as anyone, but haven't followed her solo career (just one short best-of in my database, a high B+). So I'm gobsmacked that she recorded this closet Chic album -- all eight songs written by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers. A- Del Shannon: Greatest Hits (1961-70 [1990], Rhino): Rock/pop star from the unjustly ignored early 1960s, hit number one with his debut single ("Runaway"), went top 20 3 more times (7 in UK), up through 1964 ("Keep Searchin'"). There are dozens of best-ofs with the same dozen-plus songs, plus varying hard-to-find filler. Christgau likes Music Club's 16-cut This Is . . . Del Shannon, but I gave up 3 songs short. I liked him enough at the time I'm surprised I didn't pick this up, from Rhino's pre-Warners golden age, but again I'm 3 short of 20 cuts (only 1 shy of 14 on on the cassette). B+(***) Del Shannon: This Is . . . Del Shannon (1961-66 [1997], Music Club): Sixteen cuts, different picks toward the end, doesn't make much difference, not even the slightly better hits/also-rans/filler ratio. [13/16] B+(***) Grade (or other) changes: Johnny Shines: Johnny Shines (1970 [1991], Hightone): Christgau: "the most vigorous surviving practitioner of acoustic Delta blues." He was reviewing an eponymous album recorded 1968 and given a US release on Blue Horizon in 1972. Seemed like this might be the one, but per Discogs this was recorded in 1970 and released by Advent in 1974. Christgau's album seems to be more properly titled Blues Masters Vol. 7, with a "The Complete Series" sticker on the cover (Vol. 1 was by Magic Sam). Also turns out I had this one, slightly misfiled, in the database already, so this is a regrade. [was: B] B+(**) Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, May 17, 2021 Music Week
Music: Current count 35420 [35378] rated (+42), 216 [220] unrated (-4). Robert Christgau published his Consumer Guide: May, 2021 last week. It included reviews of five albums I had previously weighed in on (his grades in bold, mine in brackets):
Only one of these I've replayed is the Milo, which I could have nudged up a notch, but didn't have to. Spilligion got a lot of favorable press late last year, but I only gave it a single play. I checked out records by Khaira Arby and Milo below. I'm feeling a bit iffy about Arby, which strikes me as a bit raw. If I had the time, I might wind up preferring her 2015 album Gossip (unreviewed by Christgau) over the new Live in New York 2010. But I moved on. Otherwise, I spent more time with my project of checking out old Christgau-graded but unheard-by-me albums -- a list I've been updating as I go along. I did run into a snag on Sunday, when Napster dropped into a deep funk, interrupting the music stream every few seconds, making it nearly impossible to listen to. I finally rebooted, in case background processes were hogging the computer, but with nothing else running it got worse than ever. I've complained. If the problem isn't fixed soon, I should look into other streaming services. Or give up. I can't say as I'm enjoying this very much. We went to Rubena Bradley's funeral on Saturday. Nice service, warm remembrances. I made some cookies for the reception after (dark chocolate chip, macadamia and white chocolate chip, pecan and salted caramel chip, molasses spice with orange zest). They were pretty good, but upstaged by a tres leches cake topped with whipped cream and strawberries. I just heard that Bob Erdos died back in 2017. He ran one of my favorite record labels, Stomp Off, and produced most of their 400+ albums. Stomp Off was a niche label, specializing in the obscure genre I like to call "real jazz." When I was writing Jazz Consumer Guide for the Village Voice, I tried chasing him down, and eventually got a single promo album: Ted Des Plantes' Washboard Wizards: Thumpin' and Bumpin' [review link]. (John Gill also sent me some of his records on Stomp Off. See [here for my review of Yerba Buena Stompers: The Yama-Yama Man.) A quick check shows 86 Stomp Off records in my database, 15 A-listed. Another important label founder, Chicago-based Delmark's Bob Koester (another obit), died last week. Running the same database check, I have 249 Delmark records in my database, 41 A-listed. Probably helped that I got service on their jazz titles -- a mix of AACM/avant and trad jazz -- until recently. They also released a lot of blues (Junior Wells' Hoodoo Man Blues and Magic Sam's West Side Soul put them on the map). Bassist-composer Mario Pavone died last week. He played with Paul Bley's 1968-72 trio, with Bill Dixon and Anthony Braxton briefly, with Thomas Chapin throughout his shortened career, and has released a couple dozen albums as leader -- my favorites are Dancer's Tales (1996), Deez to Blues (2005), and Arc Trio (2013), with another half-dozen real close, and other highly-regarded albums I haven't heard (including 2 4-star Penguin Guide). Outstanding bassist, but also an exceptionally noteworthy composer. I'm not following the news very well, but did notice this headline du jour: Man arrested in wife's murder now accused of voting for Trump in her name. As James Thompson noted on Facebook: "Why does every case of voter fraud I hear about concern a Republican committing the fraud?" Also noticed some pieces about Israel's latest psychotic breakdown. Start with the first two here:
If you want more depth, look to Mondoweiss and Tikun Olam. Early reports in the mainstream US press were almost comically biased with tortured false equivalencies, but as the destruction has accumulated, Israel's deliberation has become harder to ignore, let alone deny. I'm particularly struck by references to "mowing the grass": I wonder how much grass there is in Israel, let alone Gaza; I wonder if the phrase wasn't tuned to appeal to Americans, as it implies something that is both routine and aesthetically pleasing; I wonder whether they realize that the main effect of mowing grass is to stimulate growth. The only thing Israel's periodic assaults on Gaza guarantees is that they'll feel the need to do it again in the not-so-distant future. I've spent some time thinking over whether I should try to write another big piece on Israel. I spent a lot of time researching the subject in the early 2000s. In particular, I thought a lot about how to construct a mutually satisfactory solution. (From 2005, see: A New Peace Plan for Resolving the Israel Conflict.) The situation has changed considerably since then. As I noted above, from the Peel Commission in 1936 through the Bush Roadmap of 2003 (and its ever-fainter echoes, the Mitchell diplomacy of 2010-11, and the Kerry parameters of 2016), most thinking about solutions was based on Partition, with or without Transfer. Israel has occasionally voiced support for such schemes, but never committed to borders, and never been satisfied with the non-Jewish presence within their control, so no permanent "solution" has been possible. I'd argue that this has been consistent with their original colonial project, and has been legitimized because world powers (notably the UK and US) are used to thinking in such terms, but that argument isn't very helpful. The only way out of this trap is to refocus not on states but on people, as individuals, deserving the full complement of what we now tend to call Human Rights. If everyone has the same rights wherever they live, states and their boundaries are arbitrary and irrelevant (not in the short term, but increasingly over time). As an engineer, I have some pet ideas about how to make this work. But what I've learned from experience is that nobody likes my ideas on this -- I'd say because they're all stuck in the injustices of the past, and would rather stay there. (One of the first books I read on the subject caught this idea in its title: Righteous Victims, by Benny Morris, in 1999, just before he made his hard-right political turn.) So for now I'm sitting on my ideas, venturing no more than the tease above. I will say that neither Israel nor the Palestinians will embrace my proposals, so to have any chance they'd have to be adopted by a wide swath of world opinion, especially in the US and Europe. Several of the pieces above suggest that opinion is shifting, not just on Israel's own motives and actions but on the US "blank check" which has only led to greater racism and militarism in Israel. But also, as the piece on Andrew Yang shows, that there is still a long ways to go. I have been working a bit on editing the Trump book. Got up to my big November 12, 2016 election entry, which took a lot of work, not because I regretted anything but because it's so damn long. Next up is the "Election Roundup" on November 19, although if you follow the link, scroll up to "Golden Oldies (5)" on November 16, which quotes various things I wrote from 2006. You may recall that was one of those years Israel tried to "mow the grass," first in the West Bank, then Gaza, then most dramatically in Lebanon. This is still a good paragraph:
Beginning to have doubts that editing the Trump blogs will work as a book. There must be a simpler, clearer way to say what needs to be said. As fascinating as watching a trainwreck might be, in the end the pile of rubble is what matters. Going through my questions, I have three that I've been sitting on, though one is more of a suggestion than a question, and the other two are asking for or second-guessing grades. (Of course, Buck 65 is great, but I have no idea how anyone ranks over a decade. Of course, Laurie Anderson's Strange Angels is an A+. Of course, if you collect three good albums into a 2-CD package, the product is still a good one -- but why should I bother grading every configuration? I could have spent 3-4 days going over every configuration of Gladys Knight's Motowns, but they'd all wind up pretty much the same. (But in her case, the shorter Millennium Collection strikes me as the better value.) Use this form to ask me something. New records reviewed this week: Aaron Germain: Bell Projections (2015-20 [2021], Aaron Germain Music): Electric bassist, grew up in Massachusetts, moved to San Francisco area in 2000, also plays guitars here, with various musicians, recorded over five years. Paul McCandless plays oboe on two cuts, Nestor Torres is one of several flute players, mostly percussionists beyond that. B+(*) [cd] [05-14] Maria Grand: Reciprocity (2020 [2021], Biophilia): Swiss tenor saxophonist, based in New York, third album, sings some, trio with bass (Kanoa Mendenhall) and drums (Savannah Harris). Again impressed by her sax, less engaged by the vocals (some by Harris). B+(***) [cdr] Jeannine Otis: Into My Heart (2021, Adrielle Music/Monpolyhouse): Singer, writes some, originally from Detroit, seems to have a checkered career with an album in 1980, some singles (as Jahneen) in the 1980s. Mix of originals and standards here. B+(**) [cd] Jen Shyu & Jade Tongue: Zero Grasses: Ritual for the Losses (2019-20 [2021], Pi): Born in Peoria, Illinois; parents from Taiwan and East Timor; studied classical music, ballet, theater, and opera; sixth album since 2002, group name from her 2009 album. Early favorite for Jazz Critics Poll Vocal Album, as a significant number of critics seem to like (or at least be impressed by) this sort of disjointed art song. I can't stand it, myself, but will admit that when I did force myself to listen closely, it offered a few alluring details and admirable sentiments. C+ [cd] Amber Weekes: 'Round Midnight Re-Imagined (2021, Amber Inn Productions): Standards singer, several albums. Nothing very surprising in her reimaginings, although her take on the oft-recorded Monk ballad is touching enough. Hits more touchstones from "Hazel's Lips" and "Summer Samba" to "More Than You Know." Lots of strings. B+(*) [cd] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Khaira Arby: Live in New York 2010 (2010 [2021], Clermont Music): Singer from Timbuktu in Mali (1959-2018), touted as the first Malian woman to start a musical career under her own name (1992). Credited with two albums (at least internationally), the first coincident with her 2010-11 tour of the US and Canada, whence this set from Bard College. Tremendous energy here. A- Aaron Neville: Tell It Like It Is: The Sansu Years (1968-75 [2020], HHO): New Orleans singer, best known for his group (The Neville Brothers), with various solo ventures: singles for Minit 1960-63 ("Over You"), a second batch for Sansu (studio name, records appeared on various labels), a solo career from 1986 on. This is the latest repackaging of the Allen Toussaint-produced Sansu period, 19 songs, only the title cut a big hit (although it's hard to see why "Hercules" wasn't). Mixed bag, one cut I could do without is his tortured reading of "Yesterday." B+(***) Old music: Khaira Arby: Tchini Tchini (2012, Clermont Music, EP): Three tracks, 16:11. Fewer rough spots than on the album(s), lasts long enough to get a good groove going. B+(***) Khaira Arby: Gossip (2015, Clermont Music): Second album released in US, reportedly her fifth overall. Strong voice, supple guitar, traditional instruments in cross-cultural splendor. Strikes me as impressive as anything I've heard her do, but I'm at a loss to make fine distinctions. B+(***) Z.Z. Hill: The Complete Hill Records Collection/UA Recordings 1972-1975 (1972-75 [1996], Capitol, 2CD): Three LPs rolled into 2CD. Early albums seem to have an edge, but he's pretty consistent. Nice packaging on this series (I bought quite a few of them when they were new). B+(*) Z.Z. Hill: This Time They Told the Truth: The Columbia Years (1978-79 [1998], Columbia/Legacy): Two years, two albums -- Let's Make a Deal (1978) and The Mark of Z.Z. (1979) -- reduced to 12 tracks, but still the most minor of way stops. The only salvageable cuts go in different directions: "Tell It Like It Is" lets his voice shine, while "Let's Have a Party" is a pure funk rhythm track. Everywhere else: strings. B Z.Z. Hill: Z.Z. Hill (1981, Malaco): Mississippi label, opened a recording studio in 1967, but only started releasing records around 1976, billing itself as "The Last Soul Company" and picking up artists cut loose by majors as r&b evolved into new forms. Hill was one of the most important, releasing six albums up to his death in 1984 (age 48, a heart attack from a blood clot that could be traced back to a car crash). This was his debut, sounding like he was finally in his comfort zone. B+(**) Z.Z. Hill: Down Home (1982, Malaco): Second album here, even more comfortable but he picks up better songs, and knocks most right all out of the park. No reason to prefer this over Greatest Hits, which recycles the top three. A- Z.Z. HIll: The Rhythm & the Blues (1982, Malaco): Christgau complains about a drop in song quality, but hard for me to be that picky. Two more Greatest Hits songs, and "Wang Dang Doodle" is a shot in the arm. B+(**) Z.Z. Hill: I'm a Blues Man (1983, Malaco): Do I detect a little more grit in his voice? He's never been bluesier, but isn't soul his calling card? Four songs made it to Greatest Hits, but they're not the ones I recall instantly. B+(***) Z.Z. Hill: Bluesmaster (1984, Malaco): Fifth Malaco album, last before his death. Two more Greatest Hits, but the delights don't stop there. "You're Ruining My Bad Reputation" and "Why Don't You Spend the Night" are better than anything on the previous album. A- Z.Z. Hill: In Memoriam 1935-1984 (1981-84 [1985], Malaco): Hill was banged up in a car crash in February 1984. Two months later, he died of a heart attack, caused by a blood clot formed after the accident. He was 48. Malaco threw this first draft of history together, ten songs, pulling songs from his middle three albums and adding a couple non-album singles, then a year later came out with a slightly better-programmed Greatest Hits, only repeating "Down Home Blues" and "Someone Else Is Steppin' In." A- Alberta Hunter: The Glory of Alberta Hunter (1982, Columbia): Blues singer, born 1895 in Memphis, recorded extensively in the 1920s, retired in the 1950s, had a second career in nursing, started singing again after she was put out to pasture. Made a big comeback at 85 with 1980's Amtrak Blues, followed by this album -- more great American soundbook than blues, especially the risqué material she's famous for. B+(**) [yt] The Jive Five: Here We Are! (1982, Ambient Sound): Doo-wop group from Brooklyn, had their only real hit in 1961 ("My True Story"), survived the deaths of Jerome Hanna (1962) and Norman Johnson (1970), led by Eugene Pitt until 2006. This is the first of two albums they recorded in the 1980s (front cover notes "Featuring Eugene Pitt"). There are few things I love more than doo-wop, so it's nice to see it carry on, but this didn't sweep me away. B+(**) The Jive Five: Their Greatest Hits (1961-63 [1990], Collectables): Fourteen songs, "My True Story" the only top-ten (or sixty) hit, as far as I can tell all from Belltone -- they recorded for United Artists from 1964-66, with a minor hit ("I'm a Happy Man," 26 in 1965), and Musicor in 1967, but none of that here. The ballads are fine, but the uptempo pieces jump out. B+(**) Joy of Cooking: Castles (1972, Capitol): Berkeley group, led by singers Toni Brown (piano) and Terry Garthwaite (guitar), released three albums 1971-72. Eponymous debut was a landmark, second album a letdown (relatively speaking), then I missed this one (aside from the songs picked up on the American Originals CD, packed in my traveling case and played recently). A- Joy of Cooking: Back to Your Heart (1968-72 [2006], Njoy, 2CD): One disc of studio outtakes. Other disc a live Berkeley concert, climaxing with an 11:02 "Brownsville/Mockingbird" and 9:08 of "Laugh, Don't Laugh." B+(**) Mory Kanté: Sabou (2004, Riverboat): Guinean griot, became lead singer in Rail Band after Salif Keita left, shortly moving on to his own solo career. B+(***) Gladys Knight and the Pips: Greatest Hits (1967-70 [1970], Soul): A Motown group from 1966-1973, they started recording around 1958, and continued with Buddha, Columbia, and MCA up to 1988. This starts with three remade pre-Motown singles, which tend to be omitted in later Motown comps, probably because they have several more years of hits to work with. B+(**) Gladys Knight & the Pips: The Definitive Collection (1967-73 [2008], Motown): Motown never released a Greatest Hits Vol. 2. By 1973, they were issuing their Anthology series (2-LP, 23 tracks, expanded to 40 for the 1986 2-CD). Knight & the Pips have been represented in all the label's reissue series, like the 22-cut The Ultimate Collection (1998), the 11-song The Millennium Collection (2000), and this more recent 18-track edition. I'd like to say this one is the right-sized, but it might be a bit long. B+(***) Gladys Knight & the Pips: Claudine (1974, Buddah): Cover explains: "The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" and adds "Score Written and Performed by Curtis Mayfield," with some versions also noting stars James Earl Jones and Diahann Carroll. Rather slight, with just six songs and an instrumental running 30:18. B+(***) Milo: A Toothpaste Suburb (2014, Hellfyre Club): Rapper Rory Ferreira used this name before switching recently to R.A.P. Ferreira. First album, after a 2011 mixtape. Liquid beats, "Buck 65's Knee." B+(**) Milo: Who Told You to Think??!!?!?!?! (2017, Ruby Yacht): Kenny Segal produced, as on 2016's So the Flies Don't Comme, but fewer (and less famous) guest shots, focuses more on the star. Hard to write about him, but dozens of rhymes catch my ear, which is all it takes for the ditzy beats to work. A- My Bloody Valentine: Isn't Anything (1988, Relativity): Band from Dublin, reportedly more or less invented "shoegaze," a style where a band plays monotonous guitar riffs while staring passively at their shoes. I can think of examples I like, but not the two (of four) Christgau A-listed albums from this band I bought back in the day (the EP Glider and second LP Loveless). This was their first studio album (per Wikipedia, after two "mini albums" and a live one, on little-known labels). Not totally tuneless, nor totally uninteresting as noise, but no regrets at cutting them short. B [yt] My Bloody Valentine: Tremolo (1991, Sire): Teaser for their much-anticipated album Loveless, 4 tracks, 18:36. Fucking useless. C+ My Bloody Valentine: MBV (2013, MBV): Band signed with Island in 1992, but never released anything, and officially broke up in 1997. They regrouped to tour in 2008, and eventually hacked up this third album. Title stylized m v b. B- The Naysayer: Deathwhisker (2000, Carrot Top): Singer-songwriter Anna Padgett, first album, with co-founder Cynthia Nelson (drums) and Tara Jane O'Neill (guitar). Understated country-ish. B+(*) The Naysayer: Pure Beauty (2002 [2003], Carrot Top, EP): Five songs, brighter and funnier than the album, 15:16. B+(***) Aaron Neville: Make Me Strong (1968-75 [1986], Charly): First repackaging of the Sansu singles, 14 songs, nothing cringeworthy, hits often enough to show off his voice and Toussaint's songcraft. Long out of print. [I cribbed 13/14 songs from the HHO compilation, so should hedge a bit.] B+(***) Aaron Neville: The Classic Aaron Neville: My Greatest Gift (1966-75 [1990], Rounder): Christgau describes this as an "improved version of Charly's Make Me Strong," but is it? Released in the CD era, it retreats from 14 cuts to 12, repeating 7 obvious ones, adding 5 pretty good others. B+(***) Aaron Neville: Hercules (1961-75 [1993], Charly): Twenty-cut CD, trims Neville's Sansu selection back to 10 songs, making way for 10 early Minit sides, starting with "Over You." It's possible to find more completist reissues, like Charly's 2011 2-CD, 47-track Hercules: The Minit & Sansu Sessions: 1960-1977, But this gets you what you need, including another very choice cut: "Let's Live." A- Aaron Neville: Orchid in the Storm (1985, Passport, EP): Six 1950s songs, 19:42, most doo-wop classics, taken slow to show off his high, quavering voice, with a splash of tenor sax (David "Fathead" Newman) on "Pledging My Love." 19:42. B+(***) Aaron Neville: Nature Boy: The Standards Album (2003, Verve): Jazz label, jazz combo -- including Anthony Wilson (guitar) and Ron Carter (bass) -- plus a few horn spots (Roy Hargrove, Michael Brecker, Ray Anderson), with Linda Ronstadt joining for "The Very Thought of You." I suppose he always sounded mannered, but he never reminded me of José James before (although historically, that would have to be reversed). B+(*) Aaron Neville: Bring It on Home . . . The Soul Classics (2006, Burgundy): Annoyed at first that Discogs doesn't have any credits, but the closest thing to an obscurity here is "Ain't No Sunshine" (Bill Withers), and that was close to inevitable. B+(**) New Order: Republic (1993, Qwest): New wave guitar band, produced some of the heaviest disco music of the 1980s, and eventually got popular. Sixth studio album, the only one I missed, perhaps suspecting their run was coming to a close. Indeed, it was eight years before their seventh appeared. Still, this has a slightly lighter texture, as if the grooves are coming more naturally. B+(***) Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, May 10, 2021 Music Week
Music: Current count 35378 [35336] rated (+42), 220 [220] unrated (+0). Mostly old music again, continuing down my list of albums graded by Christgau but unheard (at least in that specific release) by me. Started with Sam Baker, whose earlier (somewhat better) albums were reviewed last week. At this late date, the records tend to get a single play (unless something seems like it might be worth clarifying). I also occasionally check out lesser graded albums that catch my fancy (e.g., Lester Bangs, Handsome Boy Modelling School)), and delve deeper into some catalogs. I'm not done with Z.Z. Hill, although I'm pretty sure that the essential album is Malaco's 1986 Greatest Hits. I've resorted my 2021 pending list to keep the records in release order. I'm trying to review things that are out, and hold back on future releases (3 well into June). Would probably be more helpful to sort the box I keep them in, but that's harder to do. Only six records in the queue that are out now but I haven't gotten to. Very sad this week to hear that Ed Ward died. (For obituaries, see: New York Times; NPR; Rolling Stone; Austin American-Statesman. Ward was one of the main rock critics I read in the mid-1970s, leading to my own brief fling at freelance rock crit. I never met him, but we corresponded a bit, and I remember him as being very open and supportive. I learned a lot from his section in Rock of Ages: The Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll. In recent years, he returned to Austin, and published two volumes of rock history, up to 1977. Two more deaths need to be noted here. Lloyd Price (88) was a major r&b and pop star in the 1950s. His early Specialty hits are worth owning (e.g., Lawdy!), but his 1956-60 pop hits (see Greatest Hits: The Original ABC-Paramount Recordings) are the ones I remember from my youth. In the 1960s he moved into business, and seems to have been quite successful there, too. Curtis Fuller (86) also died. He was one of the most prolific trombonists of the hard bop era, most notably with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (1961-66), but he led a couple dozen album, and played on many more, with a great many of the luminaries of the era. I recognized dozens of albums on his credits list, but when I went to compile an A-list I was surprised not to find many (9, 3 of those with Blakey; others with Sonny Clark, John Coltrane, Art Farmer, Benny Golson, Blue Mitchell, Ernie Wilkins; surprised by how many records on the list I've heard of but haven't heard). I'll also note that our friend Ruby Bradley's obituary belatedly appeared in the Wichita Eagle, albeit with her name misspelled. Service on Saturday, May 15. Hopefully the Eagle will correct their error. Much the same write up is also at Cochran Mortuary. Saturday night was the first time in over a year when we had a guest over for dinner. I fixed paella valenciana (see picture), with chicken wings, kielbasa, Chinese sausage, shrimp, and lobster tail. To complement it, I made some tapas/salads (cw in picture): white beans, mushrooms in garlic sauce, cabbage and green bell pepper slaw, tuna-egg-tomato salad, roasted pepper salad. Had strawberry shortcake, key lime pie, and whipped cream on both for dessert. Food was as good as I expected, but the big surprise was getting it all done exactly on time. I hadn't really planned the tapas part out. I thumbed through Penelope Casas' Tapas book for ideas, and noted the mushrooms and peppers recipes. For the beans and tuna recipes, I simply raided the pantry, glad to use up old cans. I bought the cabbage for my regular slaw recipe, but this was close enough I thought I'd try it. One thing I thought about making was deviled eggs stuffed with salmon, but I made them for lunch today. I've spent months shopping for a new inkjet printer. Finally ordered a HP OfficeJet 9015e, and tried to set it up over the weekend. Horrible experience, even punting the decision on whether to sign up for their 8-month "free ink" program. They tape over the USB socket to plug the unit into a computer, as the setup can only be run with the printer connected through wi-fi to the Internet. I wound up having to download an app to my phone, then use the phone to set up the wi-fi and update the printer software. Now HP has their spyware installed directly in my office. But from that point, my Linux machines automagically picked up the printer configuration (while not noticing that the old printer had disappeared). I can also print from the phone, and the app knows about paper sizes and ink levels and such. The ink cartridges all have printed circuit cards to ensure I can't use third-party ink. You may wonder where anti-vaxxers get their conspiracy theories, but dealing with companies like HP helps explain today's paranoia. PS on album covers. I substituted the Cucumbers' Fake Doom Years for their eponymous EP. The actual EP cover is in the top left quadrant of the compilation cover. It's also rated A-. I also didn't bother grabbing a copy of the Handsome Family's Down in the Valley. It's a long out-of-print Irish-only compilation, drawing from three albums reviewed above it. I only bothered because it was on the Christgau A-list, and was only able to do so by stringing a songlist together. New records reviewed this week: Carsie Blanton: Love & Rage (2021, So Ferocious): Singer-songwriter, based in New Orleans, albums since 2005, breakthrough was her 2019 album Buck Up. Eleven more first rate songs. Easy enough: to stay off her "Shit List," just "Be Good." A- Enzo Carniel and Filippo Vignato as Silent Room: Aria (2021, Menace): French pianist, Italian trombonist, both have several previous albums. Duo first played together in tribute to avant-trombone legend Albert Mangelsdorf, but they're also into Brian Eno's ambient synths, and find a pleasing synthesis herein. B+(***) [cd] Marianne Faithfull With Warren Ellis: She Walks in Beauty (2021, BMG): The Bad Seeds violinist used his soundtrack expertise to craft the music. Faithfull reads poetry: Byron, Keats, Shelley, Wordsworth, Thomas Hood and Lord Tennyson. I haven't read them in 50+ years, and doubt I ever will again, but there's no denying their brilliance. B+(**) Satoko Fujii Tokyo Trio: Moon on the Lake (2020 [2021], Libra): A rare conventional piano trio, although bassist Takashi Sugawa doubles on cello, with Ittesu Takamura on drums. Some spectacular passages, as you'd expect. B+(***) [cd] Flow Trio With Joe McPhee: Winter Garden (2020 [2021], ESP-Disk): Tenor/soprano saxophonist Louie Belogenis, released an album in 2007 called The Flow, leading to several Flow Trio albums, with Joe Morris (bass) and Charles Downs (drums). This adds a second tenor sax, an old master making the rounds. Morris is better known as a guitarist, but plays some exceptional bass here. A- [cd] Noah Haidu/Buster Williams/Billy Hart: Slowly: Song for Keith Jarrett (2020 [2021], An Die Musik): Piano trio, the pianist born in 1972, when Jarrett was 27 and conquering the world, joined on bass and drums by players of Jarrett's generation (actually, a couple years senior). All three wrote songs (5 in total), compared to one by Jarrett, plus several standards. B+(**) [cd] Madre Vaca: The Elements (2020 [2021], Madre Vaca): Collective, based in Jacksonville, fourth album as a group but their label lists 13 albums, including ones by various members. Website lists 16 musicians, but just a quartet here: Jarrett Carter (guitar), Thomas Milovac (bass), Jonah Pierre (piano), and Benjamin Shorstein (drums), with one original piece from each (you can guess the titles). B+(*) [cd] [06-12] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: The Cucumbers: The Desk Drawer Tapes (1988-2005 [2021], Life Force): Twelve songs, recorded over the years and stuffed into a drawer. Not top drawer material, but distinct in form and spirit. B+(**) Ojoyo: Plays Safrojazz (1996 [2021], Sunnyside): South African saxophonist Morris Goldberg, moved to New York before the fall of apartheid, where he played with Harry Belafonte, Paul Simon, and many others. Leads various musicians here -- one group has Chris Botti on trumpet, another Diego Urcola. The township jive vamps are fun, but neither here nor there. B+(**) [cd] [05-28] Steve Tintweiss and the Purple Why: Markstown (1968 [2021}, Inky Dot Media): Bassist, mostly played in the 1960s on albums by ESP-Disk artists, from Albert Ayler to Patty Waters and Frank Wright. This is billed as "authentic sixties ny city avant-garde free jazz," from two dates (St. Mark's Church, The Town Hall). Compositions by the leader, quintet plus vocals, only name that jumps out at me is Mark Whitecage (tenor sax/flute). Album does feature his bass, and he impresses. B+(***) [cd] Old music: Sam Baker: Say Grace (2013, self-released): Strings return, used tastefully, framing literary songs that don't give up anything easily. Okay, "Ditch" does, but I'm having trouble here. B+(***) Sam Baker: Land of Doubt (2017, self-released): More trouble following his songs, less interest in trying again. Not that I doubt I'm missing something. B+(*) Sam Baker: Horses and Stars (2019, self-released): Live, solo with guitar and harmonica, recorded in Buffalo, ten songs from his first three albums, one each from the other two. I recognize many, but the arrangements are so spare he can only hook you with words, which is hard to do. B+(*) Lester Bangs and the Delinquents: Jook Savages on the Brazos (1981, Live Wire): I knew him as a rock critic, corresponded a bit, but he left Creem before I could write anything for him. I met him my first night in New York, where he tried to make it as a rocker, but rarely ran into him, and never saw him perform. I bought (and kept) his single, "Let It Blurt," but never saw or heard this album -- the only one he released before his overdose (inadvertent, friends assure me) in 1982. Not as consistent as one would like, but several songs stand out, as does enough of the guitar. A- [yt] Ronnie Barron: Blues Delicacies, Vol. 1 (1979 [1981], Vivid Sound): Ronald Barrosse (1943-97), from New Orleans, grew up in the local piano tradition along with Professor Longhair and Dr. John. Sideman with Paul Butterfield and other blues outfits, recorded his first album as Reverend Ether (1971). Discogs lists 6 releases of this album under 4 titles, the hopes expressed by Vol. 1 unrequited. Distinctive voice, familiar songs. B+(***) [yt] Roy Brown: Hard Times (1967-68 [1973], Bluesway): His 1947 single, "Good Rockin' Tonight," is remembered as one of the first great rock and roll songs, but his King compilation (1947-57, out of print on Rhino) flounders, and his Complete Imperial Recordings (1956-58) isn't much better. This seems to be his first proper album, recorded a decade after he "retired," and released half a decade later. The big blues riffs and soul horns really lift him up, and his voice does the rest. A- [yt] Shirley Brown: Woman to Woman (1974, Truth): Soul singer, usual church upbringing, first album, title song her first (and only) hit single, voice drew comparisons to Aretha Franklin. Recorded two more albums for Stax (1974, 1979), then resurfaced on Malaco in 1989. B+(**) T Bone Burnett: Trap Door (1982, Warner Brothers, EP): Eventually better known as a producer, since O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), the guy every movie producer seeking roots music turned to. After his 1980 debut on Takoma, he signed to Warners, and released this 5-track, 22:08 EP before his 1983 Proof Through the Night. B+(**) T Bone Burnett: T Bone Burnett (1986, Dot): Fourth album, new label, MCA's revived country imprint. So he goes a bit more country, but just a bit. B+(**) Joe Cocker: Joe Cocker's Greatest Hits (1969-76 [1977], A&M): The history of interpretive rock singers starts with Elvis Presley and ends with Joe Cocker, and doesn't include much in between. Granted, the practice persists in country and pop, but even there the stars usually claim a piece of the action. Like Elvis, Cocker got by on voice and arrangement, but didn't get nearly as far. I was a big fan of his Leon Russell-organized Mad Dogs & Englishmen, but unlike Elvis he never had that many hits, even here. B+(***) Johnny Copeland: Fuel Presents an Introduction to Johnny Copeland (1961-67 [2006], Fuel 2000): Blues guitarist-singer, born in Louisiana, moved to Houston, started recording singles in 1956. This collects 16 tracks from small labels (All Boy, Golden Eagle, Paradise, maybe others). Only one song intersects with Kent's It's Me: Classic Texas Soul 1965-72. B+(**) Johnny Copeland: Copeland Special (1981, Rounder): First proper album, has all the chops you need for flashy blues. Also picked up a lot of horns, including three legendary avant-saxophonists (George Adams, Arthur Blythe, and Byard Lancaster), not that you'd recognize them in the mix. B+(***) [yt] The Cucumbers: The Cucumbers (1983, Fake Doom, EP): Four songs, 10:46, "My Boyfriend" should have been a hit. Included in The Fake Doom Years (1983-1986), which is also: A- The Cucumbers: Total Vegitility (1999, Home Office): Jangle pop band/duo from New Jersey, Jon Fried and Deena Shoshkes, peaked in 1994 with Where We Sleep Tonight. Their jangle is sharpened, but not the songs. B+(**) Miles Davis: Water Babies (1967-68 [1976], Columbia): After his second great quintet folded in 1968, Davis recruited young musicians and invented what came to be called fusion: a style that arguably ruined jazz in the 1970s, although his own records were often glorious exceptions. When Davis went on hiatus in 1975, his record company dredged up this transitional filler, with one side of classic quintet (Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Tony Williams), and one one side of his next step, with Hancock and Chick Corea on electric piano, and Dave Holland on bass. B+(**) Miles Davis: Circle in the Round (1955-70 [1979], Columbia, 2CD): More hiatus product: the first side three cuts from 1955, 1958, and 1961 (all great bands); from 1967, the 26:15 title piece, with Joe Beck sitting in on guitar; the 1968 quintet plus George Benson; and finally, from 1970, a much expanded band (Shorter and Bennie Maupin on reeds, three famous keyboard wizards, electric bass, sitar, two drummers, plus Airto Moreira on percussion) vamping on David Crosby's "Guinnevere" for 18:06. B+(**) Miles Davis: The Man With the Horn (1980-81 [1981], Columbia): Married actress Cicely Tyson, kicked cocaine, and returned from hiatus. Jazz-funk, recorded with various lineups, but mostly Bill Evans (tenor sax), guitar, electric bass, drums, percussion. B+(**) Miles Davis: Star People (1982-83 [1983], Columbia): Teo Macero's last production, pieced together from five studio and live dates over seven months. With Bill Evans on sax, Mike Stern (and in 1983 John Scofield) on guitar, Marcus Miller on bass (except for the last-recorded track), Al Foster drums, and Mino Cinelu perussion -- a fast, funky groove album elevated by the trumpet (not that it lasts). B+(***) Kimya Dawson: Hidden Vagenda (2004, K): Antifolk singer-songwriter, started as the more mature half of the Moldy Peaches, went on to the more successful solo career, although both of those comparisons are strictly relative. There's a nursery rhyme simplicity to these tunes, a playfulness that rarely comes around. A- Hakim: Talakik (2002, Mondo Melodia): Egyptian shaabi singer, nicknamed the Lion of Egypt, albums since 1991 (only 2 since 2007). B+(***) Handsome Boy Modeling School: White People (2004, Atlantic): Prince Paul and Dan the Automator, both had independent solo careers, joined up for So . . . How's Your Girl?, one of 1999's best-regarded albums, regrouped five years later for a second (and so far last) album. Lots of guests (maybe too many), lots of skits (better than average). B+(***) The Handsome Family: Odessa (1994, Carrot Top): Husband-and-wife duo, Brett and Rennie Sparks, plus a drummer and maybe others. He writes music, she does the lyrics, he does almost all of the singing -- she quavers punk, while his deadpan voice is clear as a bell, and no more engaging. First album. I missed one later on, but like them enough to go back to the beginning. Enough guitar drone to separate them from the folkies. Too much sarcasm for country (although they try in "Water Into Wine"). Here's another lyric: "How can you say there's only one way up/when you know there's a million ways down/ Some folks are falling, others trying to get up/ I'm the one who's staggering around." Had anyone noticed, this could have been deemed prophetic. Nowadays, of course it is. A- The Handsome Family: Milk and Scissors (1996, Carrot Top): Second album. Settling into a groove, with fewer rough edges. B+(**) The Handsome Family: Through the Trees (1997, Carrot Top): Third album, slipped by easily enough. B+(**) The Handsome Family: Down in the Valley (1994-97 [1999], Independent): Irish-only release, picks songs from the first three albums, slighting the first (2 tracks, vs. 6 and 5 for the later ones). Debut is more interesting in its own right, not least because it has a rock edge the later albums lack, but the later selection kicks out lots of memorable lines. Not sure if they really picked the best songs, or the extra plays paid off. Note that their 2000 Live at Schuba's Tavern covers the same era songs, if anything more entertainingly. Rennie may avoid singing, but she doesn't shy away from the microphone between songs. A- The Handsome Family: Twilight (2001, Carrot Top): Bland voice and simple melodies, doesn't seem like much, but I often enough find myself hanging on the words, grim as they may be. B+(***) The Handsome Family: Smothered and Covered (1993-2001 [2003], Handsome Family Music): Demos and outtakes, covers from "Banks of the Ohio" and "Knoxville Girl" to "Sunday Morning Coming Down" and "Far Away Eyes," short instrumentals of Brett Sparks playing cello and Rennie playing prepared piano. Sound's a little weak. B+(**) The Handsome Family: Singing Bones (2003, Carrot Top): Revisits an old folk song, "Dry Bones," best known from Bascom Lamar Lunsford, binding the murder songs, the more pervasive air of death, even to the end of the world -- twice, once in fire, again in ice. B+(***) Ted Hawkins: Watch Your Step (1982, Rounder): Bluesman, born in Mississippi, drifted around the country, in and out of jails and asylums, wound up busking in Los Angeles. turned to music on hearing Sam Cooke, and he picked up the voice and style. First album, not clear when he recorded it. The liner notes speak of a DJ ("Johnny Jr.") discovering him in 1971, leading to demos, but it's likely these were re-recorded. B+(***) Ted Hawkins: Happy Hour (1986, Rounder): A second album, also produced by Bruce Bromberg. Between records, he spent 18 months on a child molestation charge, which he subsequently denied. Title song is sad enough it belongs in Nashville. Or maybe it came from there? It's one of two non-originals, the other "Gypsy Woman." B+(**) Henry Cow: Legend (1973, Virgin): Experimental British group, thought of themselves as rock but without vocals came closer to jazz. First album, aka Henry Cow and The Henry Cow Legend (all three titles appeared in 1973). Fred Frith (guitar), Tim Hodgkinson (keyboards), Geoff Leigh (reeds), John Greaves (bass), and Chris Cutler (drums), with most credited with additional instruments -- also voice toward the end. B+(**) Henry Cow: Western Culture (1978 [1979], Broadcast): Fifth studio album, three founders remain (Frith, Hodgkinson, Cutler), plus Annemarie Roelofs (trombone, violin) and Lindsay Cooper (bassoon, oboe, soprano sax, recorder), with Hodgkinson writing the first side ("History & Prospects"), and Cooper the second ("Day by Day"). Also a couple guest spots, including Irène Schweizer (piano). B+(***) Z.Z. Hill: The Brand New Z.Z. Hill (1971, Mankind): R&B singer-songwriter from Texas, recorded for Kent in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s, ended up his career in the 1980s with Malaco, where classic soul music was repackaged as blues. This starts with a 3-act "Blues at the Opera," where the connected by spoken word that's hard to follow. The second half songs are perfectly solid. B+(**) Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, May 3, 2021 Music Week
Music: Current count 35336 [35287] rated (+49), 220 [220] unrated (+0). The music part is easy enough to introduce. Early in the week, I pulled enough new music from the demo queue to keep the backlog count even. I tried to grab things that were already available, but I went ahead with Simon Moullier (out June 11) after I inadvertently slapped it on. The other future release is the new James Brandon Lewis, coming out later this week. I couldn't wait. I did a little work last week adding jazz records to my tracking file, so that suggested some of the new non-CD records, and leaves me more for the future. First time I did that this year, but the list currently has 109 unheard records (almost all jazz), in addition to the 226 records I have rated (or have in my queue). Still far from exhaustive. (I've only made it about 50% of the way through Discogs 2021 jazz list, and have only picked out records that struck me as interesting.) More old music again. I lost track of where I was with my file of albums that Christgau has graded but I haven't heard, so started again at the top, with Asleep at the Wheel and Asylum Street Spankers. I like the former's more recent Bob Wills tributes (Ride With Bob and Still the King), also the Spankers' The Last Laugh, but had heard little of their earlier work. I also had totally missed Sam Baker. Still working on him. Before that I took a dive into Jorge Ben, who Christgau hasn't reviewed (except for Gil E Jorge). I had listened to a fair amount of Gilberto Gil recently, which led to the Ben recommendation. I had two unrated Ben albums in my database: Tropical and Samba Nova, both on Mango in 1976, but I couldn't find the LPs. I did find the former on YouTube, but not the latter -- a comp from 1970-74 albums, but I couldn't find enough of them to assemble a songlist, so I wound up dropping it from my unrated list. While researching the Ben albums, I was surprised to find Wikipedia citing my grades for albums I had never heard before. Turns out the grades came from a notebook entry, where I had squirreled away a multi-part "Jorge Ben Projeto" that Rodney Taylor had posted on the now-defunct MSN Expert Witness forum. Taylor covers everything there, but it turns out he later revised and greatly expanded his piece, available on his Brazil Beat blog. Someone should alert Wikipedia and get them to credit the grades properly. They definitely shouldn't drop them, nor should they substitute (or even include) my new grades, which are little more than guesses from someone who knows very little about Brazilian music, who doesn't speak or follow the language, and who has rarely heard these records more than once or twice. For resources on Brazilian music, I should also mention Cam Patterson's Brazil Project, which also dates from MSN EW days (2011), and I've long hosted in my "guests" space. Knowing a little bit more now than I did then, I should revisit the piece and check out some of his recommendations. Still not finding much new non-jazz that appeals to me, but I'm not looking very hard. Just notice Phil Overeem's Most Euphonious Fruit of First Quarter, 2021, so I have work to do catching up, but will note that his 3 and 5 picks are new jazz: James Brandon Lewis's Jesup Wagon and Miguel Zenon's Law Years, which rank pretty high on my 2021 list. Christgau wrote a nice, ungraded review of Peter Stampfel's 20th Century in 100 Songs. I slogged through the Bandcamp a while back, and gave it a B+(**). Chances are that in CD-sized chunks, with the nice packaging and extensive documentation, it might rate better -- although I may have already cut him some slack.Bought a new printer, and I'm already hugely annoyed at HP for insisting that it be connected to the Internet and not to my computer for set up. Supposedly I get eight months of "free ink," but looks like I have to sign up for a subscription to get that. We hardly ever print anything, so this involves a lot of speculation. Trying to clean up and reorganize as I go on, so that's another excuse to take it slow. Made trivial progress on memoir last week, a bit more on collecting the blog posts into a Trump era book. I need to be very selective with the latter, to compress 2800 pages into something like 300. I find I'm doing a lot of rewriting as I proceed -- not that I need to change my arguments so much as I'm seeing easy ways to squeeze sentences into more compact form. At least, until I ran into the RNC in July, 2016 post, which includes a long intro that is too kind to Trump. At the time, I stressed that Trump was no worse than his rivals. I haven't changed my mind -- thank God we don't four years led by Cruz, Rubio, or Kasich for comparison -- but didn't stress enough how low that bar was. Sometimes I miss writing about politics, but I sure don't miss the pressure on Sundays. I'm pretty happy with Biden so far. Two things: he recognizes that real answers come from the left these days; and he recalls that Obama's bipartisan outreach fell into a trap, and that Republicans cannot be trusted. Those are big things, and they're not things you would have predicted from him, either based on his 2020 campaign or on his 50-year track record of dealing with the devil. I could rag on him over foreign policy, but it looks like he's taking a circuitous route to progress on Iran and North Korea, and the hot air on China and Russia seems to be just that. No doubt if I dug deeper, I'd find things to get upset over, but I'm too old to sweat that many details. Jeffrey St. Clair is still trying, but even he is losing much of his vitriol. ("One hundred days of platitudes" is something we should be alarmed by?) I should write up answers to whatever questions I have pending. I don't have many. Some are mere suggestions, which I may follow up on and maybe even report. Also, questions about specific album grades aren't very interesting. However, if there is something you're curious about, or just want to prod me into expanding on something, now would be a good time to use the form. New records reviewed this week: Lina Allemano Four: Vegetables (2020 [2021], Lumo): Canadian trumpet player, divides her time between Toronto and Berlin, seventh quartet album with various lineups, here: Brodie West (alto sax), Andrew Downing (bass), Nick Fraser (drums). Opener is "Onions," reminds me a bit of the Beach Boys song but free jazz. B+(**) [bc] Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt: Made Out of Sound (2020 [2021], Palilalia): Drums and guitar duo, former has been prolific since 2002, often working with guitarists (including several previous albums with Orcutt). Some debate whether this is jazz -- Orcutt has more of a noise/rock profile, but that doesn't seem to limit the drummer. B+(**) [bc] David Friesen & Bob Ravenscroft: Passage (2015-20 [2021], Origin): Bassist, Discogs credits him with 65 albums since 1976, in a duo with the pianist -- his much thinner discography goes back to 1982, mostly devotional music for Music Serving the Word Ministries. Short, interesting pieces, nicely turned out. B+(**) [cd] Vincent Herring: Preaching to the Choir (2021, Smoke Sessions): Alto saxophonist, hard bopper these days but he started farther out in left field. Quartet with Cyrus Chestnut (piano), Yasushi Nakamura (bass), and Johnathan Blake (drums). Hype talks about him getting Covid, which led to rheumatoid arthritis, which made it hard to play, but doesn't pin down the date when this was recorded. He does sound pretty sharp, so hoping this documents his recovery. B+(***) James Brandon Lewis Red Lily Quintet: Jesup Wagon (2020 [2021], Tao Forms): Tenor saxophonist, always impressive, means to pay homage to George Washington Carver (1864-1943), but see the booklet for that. A blindfold test puts him closer to David S. Ware, aside for the change-of-pace closer ("Chemurgy"), my favorite piece here. With Kirk Knuffke (cornet), Chris Hoffman (cello), William Parker (bass/gibri), and Chad Taylor (drums/mbira). A- [cd] [05-07] Damon Locks/Black Monument Ensemble: Now (2020 [2021], International Anthem): Credited with "samples & electronics," also "lyrics & compositions," with a half-dozen other vocalists, backed by Angel Bat Dawid (clarinet), Ben LaMar Gay (cornet/melodica), Dana Hall (drums), and Arif Smith (percussion). I'm not getting a lot out of the vocals, but the closer, "The Body Is Electric," offers an inspiring groove. B+(**) Simon Moullier Trio: Countdown (2020 [2021], Fresh Sound New Talent): French vibraphonist, second album, scattered standards ("Hot House," "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat," "Nature Boy," two Monks). Trio with Luca Alemanno (bass) and Jongkuk Kim (drums). B+(**) [cd] [06-11] Natural Information Society With Evan Parker: Descension (Out of Our Constrictions) (2019 [2021], Aguirre/Eremite): Chicago bassist Joshua Abrams, plays guimbri in this group, which dates back to his 2014 album Natural Information. Group also includes Jason Stein (bass clarinet), Lisa Alvarado (harmonium), and Mikel Patrick Avery (drums). Recorded live at Café Oto in London, with Parker sitting in on soprano sax. One long groove piece with a lot of Parker's signature circular breathing. B+(***) Evan Parker Quartet: All Knavery and Collusion (2019 [2021], Cadillac): Tenor sax, backed by Alexander Hawkins (piano), John Edwards (bass), and Paul Lytton (drums). Passes rather uneventfully. B+(*) Nicki Parrott: If You Could Read My Mind (2021, Arbors): Bassist from Australia, has developed into a fine standards singer. Nudges the songbook into the 1970s, with "Jolene," "Lean on Me," "Every Breath You Take." Good as she is, the sweet spot here is any time tenor saxophonist Harry Allen butts in. B+(**) Rich Pellegrin: Solitude: Solo Improvisations (2019 [2021], OA2): Pianist, based in Seattle although he teaches in Florida and has written "extensively" on jazz. Fourth album, solo, XXV numbered improvisations. Nice. B+(**) Ruben Reinaldo & Kely Garcia: Acuarel (2019 [2020], Free Code): Guitar duo, probably Spanish, only album I can find by either, cover can be parsed to read credits either way, but spine is as listed. Hard to say much about this pleasant and engaging record. B+(***) [cd] Jeff Rosenstock: Ska Dream (2021, Polyvinyl): Former leader of the Arrogant Sons of Bitches (1995-2004) and Bomb the Music Industry (2004-14), fifth solo album since 2015. The earlier groups classified themselves as ska-punk, and this album is conceived of as a ska re-recording of his 2020 album No Dream. I suppose it helps, but not a lot. B+(*) Greg Skaff: Polaris (2020 [2021], Smoke Sessions): Mainstream guitarist, only his sixth album since 1996, a trio the cover notes as "featuring Ron Carter & Albert 'Tootie' Heath," who played together in the 1960s backing Wes Montgomery. B Alexa Tarantino: Firefly (2021, Posi-Tone): Alto saxophonist, also plays soprano, flute, and clarinet, from Connecticut, fourth album since 2015, with Behn Gillece (vibes), Art Hirahara (piano), Boris Koslov (bass), and Rudy Royston (drums). B+(**) Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Henry Franklin: The Skipper (1972 [2021], Black Jazz/Real Gone Music): Bassist, first album, with trumpet (Oscar Brasheer), tenor sax (Charles Owens), guitar, electric piano, and drums. Franklin wrote 4 (of 6) tracks. Adventurous postbop, has some passages that could be taken as spiritual. B+(***) Henry Franklin: The Skipper at Home (1974, Black Jazz); Second album, more horns, with trombonist Al Hall Jr. contributing 3 (of 6) songs. Seemed like a step up until "Soft Spirit" went too soft. B+(*) Chester Thompson: Powerhouse (1971 [2021], Black Jazz/Real Gone Music): Organ player, first album, nothing more until 2012, having spent the intervening years playing keyboards in Tower of Power and Santana. Soul jazz moves, with sax (Rudolph Johnson), trombone (Al Hall), and drums. B+(*) Old music: Asleep at the Wheel: Comin' Right at Ya (1973, United Artists): Founded in West Virginia by Ray Benson and Reuben Gosfield (aka Lucky Oceans), they soon moved to Berkeley (well, East Oakland), crossing bluegrass with hippiedom, then decided they could have it all. Drummer LeRoy Preston's originals fit comfortably with country standards that probably seemed less obvious at the time, and Chris O'Connell's vocals balance nicely against Benson's. A- Asleep at the Wheel: Asleep at the Wheel (1974, Columbia): Label dropped them, they moved to Austin, and wound up in a Nashville studio. LeRoy Preston only penned three originals, so they doubled down on Bob Wills, and stretched a bit with Count Basie and Louis Jordan, picking "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" as their lead single. B+(**) Asleep at the Wheel: Texas Gold (1975, Capitol): Third album, third label, finally sold some records. Identifying more with Texas. B+(**) Asleep at the Wheel: Wheelin' and Dealin' (1976, Capitol): Down to two LeRoy Preston originals, they're becoming a covers band: "Route 66," "Miles and Miles of Texas," "Blues for Dixie," "They Raided the Place." B+(*) Asleep at the Wheel: The Wheel (1977, Capitol): Big change here is original songwriting, reducing the cover count to one, a "traditional" instrumental they arranged. And for once the originals aren't just nice filler but could have been obscure gems ("A Dollar Short and a Day Late," "My Baby Thinks She's a Train," "Am I High?"). B+(***) Asleep at the Wheel: Collision Course (1978, Capitol): This year the writers came up near-empty: Benson (1), Preston (1). They go back to the well for more Louis Jordan and Count Basie. Also Randy Newman. B Asleep at the Wheel: Western Standard Time (1988, Columbia): Christgau stopped reviewing them after 1979's Served Live (C+). I didn't start until their first Bob Wills tribute in 1993, which doesn't come close to their 1999 Ride With Bob or their 2015 Still the King -- both fortified with a long list of guests. Among their 1980s albums, this set of obvious covers seemed promising: Three from Bob Wills, a "Hot Rod Lincoln" to match Commander Cody's, a Willie Nelson guest spot on the opener, and Ernest Tubb to close. B+(*) The Asylum Street Spankers: Spanker Madness (2000, Spanks-a-Lot): Acoustic blues-roots band from Austin, active 1994-2011, four lead vocalists but foremost is Christina Marrs, who wrote the five songs she leads. Mostly drug songs, although one after running the gamut winds up preferring beer. A- Asylum Street Spankers: Mercurial (2004, Yellow Dog): Looks like all covers (well, one credited to Wammo), from "Tight Like That" and "Digga Digga Doo" to the B-52s and Beastie Boys. B+(***) The Asylum Street Spankers: What? And Give Up Show Biz? (2008, Yellow Dog, 2CD): Live double, recapitulates most of the albums above with lots of extra patter. A good argument for catching them live, but I'm not sure how often I'd want to replay it. B+(***) Au Pairs: Sense and Sensuality (1982, Kamera): British post-punk band, seemed promising but this second album turned out to be their last. B Average White Band: AWB (1974, Atlantic): Hailing from Scotland, a modest but somewhat above-average approximation of a soul group, with several voices intertwined, and an instrumental for their hit single. Second album, their commercial breakthrough. Nothing here feels like disco or funk, which is where the 1970s went without them. They fell off the charts after 1979, broke up in 1982, regrouped 1989. B+(**) Eric B. & Rakim: Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em (1990, MCA): Turntablist Eric Barrier and rapper Rakim (William Griffin Jr.), recorded four famous hip-hop albums in the 1987-92 golden age, this the third. The flow is steady, the rhymes part of the rhythm. B+(***) Sam Baker: Mercy (2003 [2004], Blue Lime Stone): Austin-based singer-songwriter, folkie division, first album at age 50. Eighteen years earlier was riding a train when a bomb exploded, killing seven including three sitting with Baker. He suffered numerous injuries, including brain damage, blown-in eardrums, and possibly what sounds like a speech defect here. He has a song about it here, plus others with one-word titles. He rounded up a six-piece band here with pedal steel and violin, and picked up some guests, but it sounds pretty basic, the 8:08 title cut especially lovely. A- Sam Baker: Pretty World (2006 [2007], Blue Lime Stone): Thoughtful singer-songwriter, but weaves bits of other songs into his tapestry. Title song gets a well-deserved reprisal. A- Sam Baker: Cotton (2009, Music Road): I'm not seeing the familiar band credits from previous albums. The album is quieter, although piano grounds most of it, and a female singer helps out. Baker's voice has smoothed out into a rather offhanded John Prine. B+(***) Jorge Ben: Samba Esquema Novo (1963, Philips): Major Brazilian artist, Jorge Duilio Lima Menezes, adopted Jorge Ben as his stage name, then extended it to Jorge Ben Jor in the 1980s. First album, a hit, tapping into the popular samba mainstream, which would define him even as he moved on. B+(***) Jorge Ben: Sacundin Ben Samba (1964, Philips): Third album. B+(**) Jorge Ben: Big Ben (1965, Philips): Fourth album, ends his early period on Philips, the label he would return to in 1969. B+(*) Jorge Ben: O Bidú: Silêncio No Brooklin (1967, Artistas Unidos): Regarded as his samba-rock fusion breakthrough, I can hear both sides but have trouble reconciling them, especially as he seems to be reaching for something they'd soon be calling tropicalía, or psychedelic to foreign ears. B+(***) Jorge Ben: Jorge Ben (1969, Philips): Backed by Trio Mocoto, with some strings to slick down the rough edges, flowing as naturally as samba but with so much more going on. A- Jorge Ben: Negro É Lindo (1971, Philips): "Black and beautiful." More recognizable as a samba album, even when inscrutable. [YouTube version looks to be scrambled, with all the songs but in the wrong order.] B+(***) [yt] Jorge Ben: A Tábua De Esmeralda (1974, Philips): Seems to be going singer-songwriter here, not that I can really tell (aside from the Jesus paean "Brother"). B+(***) Jorge Ben: Solta O Pavão (1975, Philips): "Unleash the peacock," referring "to the outward expression of inner beauty." Samba flow, but more urgent and complex. Seems to be entering a peak period. A- Jorge Ben: África Brasil (1976, Polygram): Dense rhythm, much going on, but flows easily enough, some kind of masterpiece. A- [yt] Jorge Ben: Tropical (1976, Mango): His regular label is Philips, a major in Brazil, but this one was picked up by Island, hoping it might piggyback on their success introducing reggae to the American market. Hard to peg this, but veers toward salsa (and misses). B [yt] Jorge Ben: Alô Alô, Como Vai? (1980, Som Livre): Rod Taylor admits that Ben declined after África Brasil, but argues that his "Som Livre period" continued to produce worthwhile music -- his comparison is to the Rolling Stones post-Exile. I'm not specialist enough to know or care, but this is agreeably upbeat most of the way through. B+(**) Jorge Ben: Dádiva (1983, Som Livre): Same here, feels live, note that the high point is a medley of oldies. B+(**) Gilberto Gil: Refavela (1977, Philips): Opens with the very slippery title tune, and matches it later on, but not so reliably. B+(***) Charles Tolliver Music Inc: Live in Tokyo (1973 [1974], Strata-East): Trumpet player, used "Music Inc" as his group name on his 1969 debut (The Ringer), and kept that through the 1970s, although the only constant in his quartets was pianist Stanley Cowell (co-founder of Strata-East Records). With Clint Houston (bass) and Clifford Barbar (drums). Three originals, one by Cowell, and "'Round Midnight." B+(**) [yt] Further Sampling: Records I played parts of, but not enough to grade: -- means no interest, - not bad but not a prospect, + some chance, ++ likely prospect. Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society: Mandatory Reality (2017 [2021], Eremite): [1/4, 23:39/81:39] + Hedvig Mollestad Trio: Ding Dong. You're Dead. (2021, Rune Grammofon): Norwegian guitar-bass-drums trio. [2/7] + Grade (or other) changes: Gilberto Gil/Jorge Ben: Gil E Jorge (1975 [1992], Verve): Two stars meet up, or collide. Alternate (original?) title: Ogum, Xangô. I bought the CD long ago, found it bewildering, and only gradually acclimated myself to radical fringe artists like Tom Zé, who took advantage of these liberties. Most striking now: how neither singer-guitarist backs down or shies away. [was: B] A- Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, April 26, 2021 Music Week
Music: Current count 35287 [35256] rated (+31), 220 [214] unrated (+6). Rough week. I was shocked and saddened to see an obituary for my cousin Don Hull. His father, Bob (Robert Lincoln Hull Jr.), was two years younger than my father, but got married a year before, and Don was 13 months older than me. Dad often said that his job growing up was to keep Bob out of trouble. Bob was the free spirit of the family, and probably figured his job was to add some spice to Dad's life. Bob got drafted and sent to Italy, where a bullet ended his war. He was part disabled, and could only work sit-down jobs. He found one driving a bus, and did that until he retired. I remember them living in a house my grandparents bought in 1942, but in the late-1950s he bought a new house in a development a couple miles southwest of us, other side of the river. We went there often, and Don (their only child) was by far my closest Hull cousin. One time, I ran away from home and spent a week or two there. We saw a lot of the Hull family until 1965, when my grandfather died. Shortly after, Uncle George died, and Bob and Lucille got divorced. I saw a lot of Bob and his second wife, Nellie, after that, but lost track of Don. I ran into him again after I moved back to Wichita in 1999. He married, had four grown children, and a few grandchildren. He lived in El Dorado, but had a job in East Wichita, as manager of the body shop at Rusty Eck Ford. I felt instantly at ease with him, like we had a deeper connection than I recalled -- most likely, part of that was how much he reminded me of his father. (Bob and Nellie retired and moved into a trailer outside of Las Vegas. I visited them five or six times there, and they were our witnesses when Laura and I got married.) We socialized some. He fixed up some dents, and helped us buy a car. We had Don and his wife Karen, his mother Lucille, and her second husband, Glen, over for a particularly memorable dinner. Bob and Nellie had died the year before, and Lucille and Glen died a year or two later. Lately, I've mostly seen him at funerals -- most recently at Uncle James's. Always comforting to know that he was there. I wasn't aware that he was ill. Day before seeing the obituary, I thought about calling him, hoping to compare notes on early family memories -- another opportunity I've blown. I went to the funeral on Saturday. I estimated there were about 100 people at the funeral, and close to 40 at the cemetery. Don was one of those guys who got along with everyone. Still, it was a different slice of Wichita than I'm used to. Most obviously, I doubt as many as 10 people wore masks. The minister was a close personal friend of the family, so the event had a personal familiarity that many funerals lack. Only person I knew there was Karen, but I got a chance to meet their grown children, some spouses, and some or all of the grandchildren. We talked about keeping in touch, but I don't know whether we'll see more of them. Three live in Wichita (the other in Arizona), and the youngest son is living in Bob & Lucille's old house on Euclid. Perhaps if they want to know more of the family. I'm working on a memoir, which includes some memories and stories of the Hull family. My grandfather looked into this long ago. His grandfather, Abraham Hull, had homesteaded in western Kansas in 1868, near where my father and his siblings were born 1919-31. His grandfather was named Thomas Hull -- the only namesake I can find, although my father never mentioned him. Evidently, he joined the Irish Rebellion of 1798, and fled to Pennsylvania to avoid getting hung by the British. Maybe I was fated to be a troublemaker? While in this rut, here is an obituary for our friend Rubena Bradley. She died, at 91, a few weeks ago, but her family has been moving slowly toward some sort of funeral/remembrance (in May, I think). She was a remarkable woman, and we were fortunate to know her. An interesting piece, not least for the curious omission of information on Mr. Bradley. Didn't listen to much new music this week, allowing the pending queue to expand to 17 albums. Part of my lack of urgency is that more than half (11/17) of those aren't scheduled for release until May. Meanwhile, I've been combing through my list of records that Robert Christgau graded A- but I hadn't heard. This week's slice runs from E-H, although I skipped a few, some because I couldn't find them, some because I didn't fancy them at the moment). The list I'm working off has 2550 lines (326 A- grades, 31 A, 4 A+ -- the latter are comedy albums, something I've never got in the habit of listening to, even though I have the Richard Pryor box on the shelf), and it's certainly not complete, so will take a fair while to process. I'll probably tire at some point, but at the moment it's easier and more fun than trying to figure out what's new and worth the trouble. Saw a comment on Facebook last week claiming that Jorge Ben's 1970s albums constituted one of the most impressive runs of any recording artist anywhere. I had a couple of his LPs back in the 1970s, but don't recall being very impressed, and they're currently ungraded in my database. The only one Christgau reviewed was Gil E Jorge (1975), which he had at A- and I have at B. It's the sort of record I should revisit (as I did this week to previous B grades for Etoile De Dakar and Woody Guthrie). Thought I had froze this Sunday night, but as I was writing the intro above, played a few more records, and figured they'd be better here than held back until next week. (Especially the early Hamell on Trial records, which I couldn't find when I initially looked for them -- also had that problem with Rant & Roll.) One thing I didn't get to was doing the indexing for the April, 2021 Streamnotes compendium. I'll wrap that up later this week. We didn't watch any of the Oscars last night. Thanks to streaming, we wound up seeing more nominated movies this year (6 of 8 nominated for best picture, missing The Father and giving up on Sound of Metal), but nothing especially great there. I would normally be delighted to see human-scaled small films come to the forefront, but that's because they're usually much better. Finished reading Russell Cobb's The Great Oklahoma Swindle: Race, Religion, and Lies in America's Weirdest State. I learned a few things there, but I would have preferred a better organized history, as opposed to the loosely stitched mosaic of standalone articles. New records reviewed this week: Focusyear Band 2021: Bosque (2021, Neuklang): "International ensemble from Basel presents a multi-faceted album," the most prominent facet vocalist Tatjana Nova, although I prefer it when the horns do the talking. A student ensemble, this year produced by Wolfgang Muthspiel. B+(*) [cd] [04-29] Binker Golding/John Edwards/Steve Noble: Moon Day (2020 [2021], Byrd Out): British tenor/soprano saxophonist, best known for his duo Binker & Moses, appears here with a veteran free jazz bass-drums combo. Long (73:18), strong work. B+(***) Nortonk: Nortonk (2020 [2021], Biophilia): New York freebop quartet, none over 26: Thomas Killackey (trumpet), Gideon Forbes (alto sax), Stephen Pale (bass), Steven Cramer (drums). Short (32:39), but retains your interest. B+(**) [cdr] Irène Schweizer/Hamid Drake: Celebration (2019 [2021], Intakt): Swiss pianist, will turn 80 this year, ranks as one of the all-time greats, her specialty duos with drummers. This is something less than her duos with Han Bennink or Pierre Favre, but is still very impressive. A- Todd Snider: First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder (2021, Aimless): I never read those "most anticipated albums" pieces, but if I had to write one, this would lead. Given that, this feels a bit slight, but I can't complain about the tributes to dead homies -- he's always been a "reality-based" bard, and that's to be expected after 2020. I will complain a bit about the "agnostic" shtick: if you can't believe, why not let it go? I reckon his answer is "hope and wonder," but why presuppose a cause beyond oneself? Main innovation here is in the rhythm, where he breaks from folk tradition, probably for good. A- Old music: Earth, Wind & Fire: Open Our Eyes (1974, Columbia): Soul group, founded by Maurice White in Chicago in 1969, fifth album, first four panned by Christgau before he called this one "a fucking tour de force." I wouldn't go that far, but it's their best seller to date, an agreeable funk album with sophisticated vocals. B+(***) The English Beat: I Just Can't Stop It (1980, IRS): Ska revival group from Birmingham, known as the Beat in the UK, but disambiguation was needed for the US market. First album, of three before their 1983 break up. Since 2016, both singers (Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger) have recorded with their own Beat groups. I still prefer the later albums, but this is nearly there. A- Etoile 2000: Dakar Sound Volume 1 (1980-81 [1993], Dakar Sound): Etoile De Dakar spinoff, as the band, especially founding singer-songwriter El Hadji Faye, revolt against the Youssou N'Dour's takeover. They recorded three cassettes, and this picks out six songs, most pointedly one called "Boubou N'Gary." Rougher, nothing to hold against them. [Christgau reviewed this as Etoile 2000; 4/6 tracks] B+(***) [yt] Etoile De Dakar: Volume 3: Lay Suma Lay (1981 [1996], Sterns): Senegalese band, formed in 1978 and broke up in 1981, best known for young singer Youssou N'Dour but exceptional all around. This series of compilations ran to four volumes 1993-98, then a fifth later (2009?), but the 2-CD Once Upon a Time in Senegal: The Birth of Mbalax 1979-1981 is probably the one you want -- or you could scrimp with the 1-CD The Rough Guide to Youssou N'Dour and Etoile De Dakar, which only goes to 1982. Still, there's very little here that falls below their highlights. A- Etoile De Dakar: Volume 5: Maléo (1981 [2009], Sterns): Seems to be an afterthought, appearing a decade after Volume 4, but matches an undated cassette, itself titled Maléo: Vol. 5. Two (of six) songs appear at the end of Once Upon a Time in Senegal. El Hadji Faye's "Nataludie" is the most exciting thing here, but everything else comes close. B+(***) Eurythmics: Greatest Hits (1982-90 [1991], Arista): Electropop duo, Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart, released six albums during this period (one earlier, one more in 1999 after breaking up, with Lennox going on to a steady solo career, and Stewart focusing on soundtrack shlock). Seems like there should be enough high spots for a compilation, but the one song I love, "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)," is the outlier -- the later singles are just straighter and harder, although I rather like "Missionary Man" (maybe because I agree with the message). [NB: I pieced together the 18-cut "international version" CD; the "vinyl version" drops back to 14 tracks, as does the US CD, with 4 songs in alternate versions.] B+(**) Mose Se 'Fan Fan': Belle Epoque (1970-82 [1994], RetroAfric): Congolese guitarist Mose Se Sengo (1945-2019), started with Franco's TPOK Jazz, led the band Somo Somo. A soukous pioneer, back cover describes this relatively leisurely music as "Lingala rumba." B+(***) Mose Fan Fan/Somo Somo/Ngobila: Hello Hello (1995, Sterns): Slashes separate typographic shifts, which presumably mean something, but for me mostly raise questions. Somo Somo is Fan Fan's long-running band, but Ngobila? Six slices of fairly classic soukous. A- Fellow Travellers: Things and Time (1993, OKra): "World's only country/dub band," recorded three albums 1990-93, this the third, with Jeb Loy Nichols country (originally from Wyoming but based in Wales), Martin Harrison dub, and Nichols' wife Loraine Morley vocal help. B+(***) Fine Young Cannibals: Fine Young Cannibals (1985, IRS): British ska group, formed after the English Beat broke up by Andy Cox (guitar) and David Steele (bass), with singer Roland Gift -- also an actor, most memorably in Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (1987). B+(**) Fine Young Cannibals: The Finest: The Rare and the Remixed (1985-89 [1996], MCA): Group produced a superior second album, The Raw and the Cooked, then hung it up, This picks 5 songs each, a single from a soundtrack, and three previously unreleased tracks. Not sure this improves on the second album, but it suffices. A- A Flock of Seagulls: A Flock of Seagulls (1982, Jive): New wave pop band, first of four albums through 1985, allegedly silly, catchy enough. No reason to favor this over their 1987 The Best of a Flock of Seagulls. B+(**) Tennessee Ernie Ford: Sixteen Tons (1949-56 [1995], Capitol): Artwork looks like this could be the original LP his big hit was on, but there was no such thing. I loved the single as a child, several decades before I heard Merle Travis's original, so Ford's version is the one indelibly etched in my mind. He parlayed his hit into a TV career, wasting his exceptional voice on hymns. From 1949 to his death in 1991, he recorded tons of records, but smart compilers look for filler among his early singles, especially ones with "boogie" in the title. This has 4 (of 12), plus one I hadn't heard before, "Milk 'Em in the Mornin' Blues." B+(**) Gilberto Gil: Louvaçao (1967, Phillips): Brazilian star, Discogs credits him with 72 albums since 1967. This was his debut. Hard to tell, but hints of where he was going next, along with some strings and ballads that depend on words I can't follow. B+(**) Gilberto Gil: Gilberto Gil [Frevo Rasgado] (1968 [1998], Universal): Second album, differentiated from other eponymous albums by its first song title, widely regarded as one of his best, although I've only heard a couple, and have no sense of his career arc. First thing I'm struck by here is how radical a break he makes from the MPB norms of samba and bossa nova. Backed by Os Mutantes, famous in their own right. The shock of the weird wears off to reveal uncanny melodies and flights of fancy. CD extends the surprise with 4 bonus tracks. A- Gilberto Gil: Gilberto Gil [Cérebro Eletrônico] (1969, Phillips): Third album. Lead song dominated by organ, but later tracks are guitar-driven. B+(***) [yt] Gilberto Gil: Expresso 2222 (1972 [1993], Philips): Arrested by the military junta in 1969, freed on condition that he leave Brazil. He cut this on returning to Bahia, which seems to be the funky corner of Brazil. B+(**) Grandaddy: Just Like the Fambly Cat (2006, V2): Alt/indie band from Modesto, California, principally Jason Lytle, recorded four albums 1997-2006, a fifth in 2017. B+(***) Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five: The Message (1982, Deep Beats): First album by one of the first rap groups. The singles go back a couple years, and I recommend Rhino's 1994 Message From Beat Street for the extra range, backed up with Adventures of Grandmaster Flash: More of the Best. Still, only three songs here made the best-of, and "She's Fresh" is as good as any of them. Most editions of this add "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel," a mash-up I probably hated at the time but like just fine now. I was pretty slow on the uptake here. A- Woody Guthrie: Hard Travelin': The Asch Recordings, Vol. 3 (1944-49 [1998], Smithsonian/Folkways): Folk singer, from Oklahoma, recorded some 300 songs for Moses Asch in New York, a fair sampling organized into four CDs. This one is long on union songs: not only does he see unions as the foundation of freedom, he reminds us that Hitler's against them. A- Hamell on Trial: Big as Life (1995, Mercury): First record appeared in 1989, but this is the earliest I've found, first (or two) on a label anyone has heard of. B+(*) [bc] Hamell on Trial: The Chord Is Mightier Than the Sword (1997, Mercury): Second Mercury record. Seems to be on his best behavior, although he cranks it up a bit toward the end. B+(**) [bc] Hamell on Trial: Choochtown (1999, Such-a-Punch): Ed Hamell, debut album 1989, fifteen since. This is number five, the first Christgau reviewed (after two HMs). His "one-man punk band" shtick strikes me as still rooted in folk, just louder, his stories darker, more nuanced, and more literate. [2019 reissue on New West adds nine alternate takes, reiterating the album's best songs.] B+(***) Hamell on Trial: Ed's Not Dead -- Hamell Comes Alive (2000, Such-a-Punch): Selected from a tour where Hamell was opening for Ani DiFranco, then self-released after an auto accident laid him up for nine months. Hamell's live strategy is simple: play faster and harder. B+(***) Hamell on Trial: Tough Love (2003, Righteous Babe): First of three records for Ani DiFranco's Righteous Babe label. More resources, but doesn't quite know what to do with them. B+(**) [bc] Hamell on Trial: Yap (2003, Such-a-Punch): I was looking for Rant & Roll, to no avail, but this popped up as Dec. 2020, so I figured I should check it out. Turns out it's old: spoken word, hardly any music, done on the side while he was working on Tough Love for Righteous Babe. Stories, like the memoir of Rupert Smiley ("ideas man"), a cop who sells Amway, a bit of "Star-Spangled Banner" for "the great and true patriots," a eulogy for a friend named Glover. B+(**) Hamell on Trial: Rant & Roll [Live From Edinburgh: The Terrorism of Everyday Life (2007 [2008], Righteous Babe): Cover reads Rant & Roll, but Bandcamp lists it as The Terrorism of Everyday Life. Discogs shows this with a different cover, where Live From Edinburgh gets the larger type. As Christgau noted, this is "basically a comedy album," where about half is stand up, sometimes with guitar riffs, leading into songs, mostly from previous albums. Possible you won't return to this often, but that's not because his rants need only be heard once. More because they demand attention, but his music also refuses to fade into the background. A- [bc] Grade (or other) changes: Etoile De Dakar: Volume 2: Thiapathioly (1980 [1994], Sterns): Not sure what turned me off this when I filed my CD -- perhaps the polyrythmic perversity, which is the band's calling card. At times it can interfere with the groove, making this a bit rougher than the other volumes, but the effect is pretty amazing when it works. Covers notes "featuring Youssou N'Dour & El Hadji Faye," as did Volume 3. Volume 4 and 5 add Mar Seck, but Volume 1 only features N'Dour. [was: B] B+(***) Woody Guthrie: Muleskinner Blues: The Asch Recordings, Vol. 2 (1944 [1997], Smithsonian/Folkways): With the canonical classics pooled in Vol. 1, and the political fare saved until Vol. 3, this is the folkiest set of the Moe Asch recordings. Makes it less interesting, since performance was never his forte. [was: B] B+(***) Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, April 19, 2021 Music Week
Music: Current count 35256 [35216] rated (+40), 214 [211] unrated (+3). Thought I'd sample some records from Chuck Eddy's 150 Best Albums of 1992/'93, but I didn't get very far. He does have two of my A records in his top ten (David Murray: Shakill's Warrior, and Justin Warfield: My Trip to Planet 9), and another dozen-plus albums I like further down the list, but nothing I played came close to A-. I gave up three cuts into Caifanes' rock en español El Silencio, not feeling like even trying to write something on it. But also my mind moved on to another idea: why not try to stream Christgau A-list albums that I had missed? One of those was on Eddy's list: Uz Jsme Doma's Hollywood. I vaguely remembered assembling a crib sheet like that. When I had trouble finding it, I constructed another one (although my method wasn't flawless). Looking for A/A+ records mostly gave me comps I had different versions of. For instance, Christgau reviewed three different but overlapping compilations of Lee Dorsey's 1960s singles, all graded A. I had the 1985 Holy Cow! The Best of Lee Dorsey on LP, and the 1997 Wheelin' and Dealin': The Definitive Collection on CD, so didn't see much need to pick up Music Club's shorter/cheaper 2001 package -- or review it now given how long it's been out of print. But as an afterthought, I did construct an equivalent playlist, and gave it a couple spins just to see how it fit together. Pretty good, of course. I've built playlists to match unavailable albums a few times. While there's always a risk of picking out the wrong version, I've found it to be useful -- especially for assembling original albums from later, more expansive box sets. The other thing I tend to do is to drop bonus cuts from stream albums, to get back to the original excuses. Christgau recently commented that it's hard to go back and do retrospectives of pre-CG years (1960s) because so many reissues add extraneous material. If streaming works for you, it's actually pretty easy. It also has the advantage of establishing a stable baseline, which later reissues can preserve or deviate from. I got an invite to vote in DownBeat's Critics Poll. I worked through the ballots today, trying to put as little thought into it as possible. When I was first invited, I wound up spending a couple days turning over each question. I became increasingly frustrated, then annoyed. To speed things up, last year I wound up leaning heavily on my previous year's picks. I raced through the thing today, complete in less than four hours. Here are my notes. Maybe I'll do some research on it later. But one thing I've noticed in recent years is that my own votes have next to zero effect. One indication of how out of step I am with the critical consensus is that I gave A/A- grades to only 8 of their 97 album of the year nominees. Conversely, they only nominated 8 of my 84 A-list albums from my 2020 Best Jazz file. OK, they (wrongly, I think) offset the year by three months, so the lists don't exactly line up. On the other hand, they nominated zero of my 8 (so far) 2021 A- jazz releases. (I'm most surprised they missed Miguel Zenón's Law Years. I haven't figured out how any 2021 releases they nominated, but the answer must be not many. On the other hand, they nominated a Sons of Kemet album, Black to the Future I hadn't heard of, probably because it doesn't drop until May 14.) Everyday life has been slightly better this week. We got our taxes figured and filed. I got a new batch of prescriptions from my obscure Medicare D provider. Snow is forecast for tonight, but I doubt we'll have to shovel anything to get to Laura's hair appointment tomorrow. Still too many struggles, but at least I won't have to post anything else until next week. New records reviewed this week: Barry Altschul's 3Dom Factor: Long Tall Sunshine (2021, Not Two): Drummer-led free jazz trio, Altschul played on several major albums in the 1970s, never really went away but rarely appeared as leader until he put this group -- with Jon Irabagon (saxes) and Joe Fonda (bass) -- together in 2013. (Irabagon had sought him out for an album in 2010, Foxy, and Fonda was in his FAB Trio with Billy Bang.) Irabagon has been erratic lately, but in the right company he still has tremendous chops -- and this is that, as they show even when he lays out. A- Avishai Cohen: Two Roses (2020 [2021], Naive): Israeli bassist, based in New York since 1992, couple dozen albums since 1998. Co-credit to Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Alexander Hanson) is earned, but my rule of thumb is to omit extra credits below the title. Mostly originals, but arranges Arab folk songs and standards like "Nature Boy." Also sings, too much. B Damata: What's Damata (2021, Dugnad): Norwegian guitar-bass-drums trio (Torstein Slåen, Karl Erik Horndalsveen, Ola Øverby), first album, tempted to describe it as ambient but that's just a starting place. B+(***) [cd] Scott DuBois: Summer Water (2021, Sunnyside): Guitarist, sixth album since 2008, consistently impressive. This, however, is solo. Has its moments, but also limits. B+(**) Jared Feinman: Love Is an Obstacle (2021, West of Philly): Singer-songwriter from Philadelphia, plays piano, first album, title song appeared as a single in 2018. Offers "four clusters of love songs for the lovelorn and murder ballads in time for Valentine's Day in the midst of a global pandemic." A bit overwrought, reminds me of some long-forgotten 1970s songsters (i.e., not quite Billy Joel, let alone Elton John). B+(*) [cdr] Vijay Iyer: Uneasy (2019 [2021], ECM): Pianist, has a new trio, with Linda May Han Oh (bass) and Tyshawn Sorey (drums). B+(***) Natsuki Tamura/Satoko Fujii: Keshin (2020 [2021], Libra): Trumpet-piano duets, the former getting top billing, probably because for once he's louder and more demanding. B+(**) [cd] Three-Layer Cake: Stove Top (2020 [2021], RareNoise): Trio: Brandon Seabrook (guitar, banjo, tapes), Mike Pride (drums, glockenspiel, bells, organ), Mike Watt (bass). Percussion is most striking. B+(***) [cdr] [05-28] Michael Waldrop: Time Frames (2019-20 [2021], Origin): Plays marimba and vibraphone here, drums elsewhere. Mostly percussion, including djembe, bongos, and congas. B+(***) [cd] Rodney Whitaker: OutroSpection: The Music of Gregg Hill (2020 [2021], Origin): Bassist, leads a piano trio with occasional horns -- trombonist Michael Dease only plays on two tracks, but I looked up both times -- and vocals (Rockelle Whitaker 4 times). Hill Hill is a Michigan composer, a mentor to the bassist, who released a previous collection of Hill compositions in 2019. B+(*) [cd] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers: Volume 1 (2007 [2020], Stony Plain): Blues supergroup, names on the cover: Charlie Musselwhite, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Jimbo Mathus, Jim Dickinson, Luther Dickinson, Cody Dickinson. (The elder Dickinson died in 2009; the younger ones are better known as the North Mississippi Allstars.) B+(**) New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers: Volume 2 (2007 [2021], Stony Plain): More from the same session. More obvious songs, but that's not a bad thing. B+(**) Old music: Black Uhuru: Chill Out (1982, Mango): Major reggae group, with singers Duckie Simpson, Michael Rose, and Puma Jones, and Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare for riddim. This one was sandwiched between their two masterpieces (Red and Anthem), along with poorly-regarded dub and live albums. A bit chill, as advertised. B+(**) Blake Babies: Innocence and Experience (1986-91 [1993], Mammoth): Alt/indie trio, named for the poet (via Allen Ginsberg): Julia Hatfield, John Strohm, Freda Boner. Odds and sods collection, assembled after breaking up after their most sucessful album. This picks up quite a bit midway, with "Sanctify" (repeated from Sunburn), and finishes strong, especially with the live Neil Young song. A- Boogie Down Productions: Sex and Violence (1992, Jive): Fifth and last album, rapper KRS-One continuing under his own name, but this "group" had really been him since 1987, when DJ Scott La Rock was murdered. He's got this rhythm down where he's always coming at you, punching hard and punching often, which he can do because he never overcomplicates things, even when he admits complication. A- The Books: The Lemon of Pink (2003, Tomlab): Duo -- Nick Zammuto (guitar/vocals) and Paul De Jong (cello) -- make extensive use of sound and speech samples, producing a disjointed effect. B+(*) The Books: Lost and Safe (2005, Tomlab): Third album, duo both credited simply with "music, mastering, mixing, recording." Pays off in more flow, sometimes even tunes, with less pastiche. B+(***) [yt] The Books: Thought for Food (2002, Tomlab): First album, played it out of sequence. Introduces their musique concrète approach, with the prominent cello smoothing off the rough edges. B+(***) [yt] The Bottle Rockets: 24 Hours a Day (1997, Atlantic): Country-rock band from Missouri, founded in 1992 and a going concern up to 2018, with Brian Henneman (guitar/vocals) and Mark Ortmann (drums) in for the long haul. Third album. B+(***) Cybotron: Enter (1983, Fantasy): Electropop group, founded by Detroit techno pioneers Juan Atkins and Richard "3070" Davis (both electronics and vocals), with John "Jon-5" Housely (guitar). Group is inspired by Parliament/Funkadelic and Kraftwerk, but only has the chops for the latter. [Album reissued as Clear in 1990, and as Enter with unheard bonus cuts in 2003, both Fantasy.] B+(*) The dB's: Stands for Decibels (1981, Albion): Jangle pop group, although they might prefer Big Star, with three members who went on to notable solo careers (Chris Stamey, Peter Holsapple, Will Rigby). First album. B+(**) [yt] The DeBarges: The DeBarges (1981, Gordy): Motown vocal group, siblings (four on cover, five in credits), first album, group name later shortened to DeBarge, with Eldra eventually going solo. Light funk, even lighter harmonies. B+(**) DeBarge: All This Love (1982, Gordy): Second album, slimmed down group name, gaining chops both instrumental and vocal. Change of pace ballad ("Life Begins With You") works too. B+(***) DeBarge: Rhythm of the Night (1985, Motown): Fourth album, their third gold record and chart high at 19. Cover shows the five siblings in separated boxes, with El's much larger, anticipating their break up? Six new songs padded out with three recycled from earlier projects. Title song is a choice cut. B+(*) El DeBarge: El DeBarge (1986, Gordy): First solo album from the family's star, although the remaining brothers (no Bunny, either) went on to release Bad Boys (1987), and to regroup (with Bunny but not Eldra) as The DeBarge Family for the gospel Back on Track (1991). Pleasant enough, but not much here. B+(*) El DeBarge: Gemini (1989, Motown): Second solo album, more focus on rhythm, stiffer eats: one step forward, one (or two) back. B The Del-Lords: Get Tough: The Best of the Del-Lords (1984-90 [1999], Restless): Old-fashioned rock & roll band from New York, 3-5 songs each from 4 albums plus 3 previously unreleased tracks (including covers of Johnny Cash and Dr. John) for a solid 73:08. Establishes their populist cred with a straight rock rendition of Blind Alfred Reed's "How Can a Poor Man Stand These Times and Live?" The other high point, also from their debut, is a song about working one's aggressions out by playing the drums. B+(***) Descendents: Milo Goes to College (1982, New Alliance): Los Angeles punk band, formed 1977 with drummer Bill Stevenson, adding singer Milo Aukerman in 1979. This was their debut, 15 tracks in 22:20. [Later reissued with Bonus Fat as Two Things at Once.] B+(***) Descendents: Bonus Fat (1980-81 [1985], New Alliance, EP): Combines the 5-track "FAT" E.P. (1981) with a single and a spare cut from a label comp, adding up to 8 tracks, a mere 10:22. B+(**) Descendents: Somery (1981-87 [1991], SST): Compiles 28 songs from Fat EP and four albums plus odds and sods, total time 53:12. B+(***) Lee Dorsey: Yes We Can (1970, Polydor): New Orleans singer, producer Allen Toussaint does the writing (aside from a cover of Joe South's "Games People Play"). Dorsey's best known for 1960s singles like "Ya Ya" and "Working in a Coal Mine," but only cut two albums in the 1970s, and no more before he died in 1986. This doesn't blow you away like 1960s comps like Holy Cow! and Wheelin' and Dealin', but it's funky and grows on you. A- Lee Dorsey: Yes We Can . . . and Then Some (1970 [1993], Polydor): Reorders his 1970 album, omitting one track (why?), adding five singles and four previously unreleased tracks. Probably the better deal, not least thanks to his spin on the extra covers. A- Lee Dorsey: Night People (1978, ABC): Second 1970s album, turned out to be his last. Again depends on Allen Toussaint for songs and production. "Babe" suggests he's listened to Al Green during his time off. A- Lee Dorsey: Working in a Coal Mine: The Very Best of Lee Dorsey (1961-78 [2001], Music Club): Christgau was very fond of this UK label, reviewing 32 of their cheap, short (16 cuts max), poorly documented oldie anthologies (counting the Merle Haggard set he misjudged and withdrew). Hard to find now, but I was able to peace a songlist together to get the effect: mostly 1960s singles, with a couple 1970s tracks slipped in. I doubt the latter recommend this over Wheelin' and Dealin', but they don't hurt, either. A Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band: James Monroe H.S. Presents Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band Goes to Washington (1979, Elektra): Founded by half-brothers Stony Jr. and Thomas Browder, the latter better known as August Darnell, even better as Kid Creole. With singer Cory Daye and percussionists Mickey Sevilla and "Sugar Coated" Andy Hernandez, their eponymous debut in 1976 looked retro but invented a whole new synthesis of mambo, swing and disco. I totally loved that album, rejected its sequel (Meets King Penett), and missed this one altogether. B+(***) Freestyle Fellowship: Inner City Griots (1993, 4th & B'way): Los Angeles hip-hop collective, released two 1991-93 albums, two more since (2001, 2011), all four principals (Aceyalone, Myka 9, Peace, and Self Jupiter) went on to solo careers -- the only one I've followed is Aceyalone. All over the place. B+(**) Prince Lasha/Sonny Simmons/Clifford Jordan/Don Cherry: It Is Revealed (1963, Zounds): Flute/alto sax/tenor sax/trumpet, with Fred Lyman (fluegelhorn), two bassists, and the drummer dropped from the cover credit. B+(**) [yt] Midi, Maxi & Efti: Midi, Maxi & Efti (1991, Columbia): One-shot Swedish trio, twin sisters Midi and Maxi Berhanu from Ethiopia and Efti Tehlehaianot from Eritrea, all born in 1976 and arrived in Sweden in 1985. Opens with "Ragga Steady," which sounds more Indian than Jamaican to me, but world beats turn crystaline in the Swedish pop machine. B+(***) [yt] Sonny Simmons: Burning Spirits (1970 [2003], Contemporary): Original 1971 2-LP credited to Huey Simmons (his given name). Plays tenor sax as well as alto and English horn, six tracks (79:01), with violin (Michael White) on five, trumpet (Barbara Donald) on four of those, piano on just two, plus bass and drums. B+(**) Sonny Simmons: American Jungle (1995 [1997], Qwest/Warner Brothers): The alto saxophonist hit a rough patch after 1971 (divorce, homelessness, no new records). He survived by busking in San Francisco, eventually worked his way into the clubs, and cut records from 1990, eventually landing two albums with a major label. This is the second (after Ancient Ritual), a quartet with Travis Shook (piano), Reggie Workman (bass), and Cindy Blackman (drums). Four originals plus "My Favorite Things." Hard to imagine what more the label could have hoped for. A- Sonny Simmons Quintet: Mixolydis (2001 [2002], Marge): Back cover credits Quintet, front names Simmons in large type, smaller type for "with": Eddie Henderson (trumpet), John Hicks (piano), Curtis Lundy (bass), Victor Lewis (drums). B+(**) Sonny Simmons Trio: Live in Paris (2001 [2002], Arhoolie, 2CD): With Jacques Avenel (bass) and George Brown (drums). Long, has some dull spots (and I don't mean the bass solos), but also some genuine hot streaks. [Missing 1 track, 14:00] B+(**) Uz Jsme Doma: Hollywood (1993 [1996], Skoda): Czech group, founded 1985, influences list starts with the Residents and the Damned and goes on to add Pere Ubu and Uriah Heep, emerged from the underground in 1990, Discogs credits them with 17 albums through 2020 but this is the one most noticed. With intense acoustic strum, sudden time shifts, and touch-of-opera vocals, this could be some kind of masterpiece. Just one I'm not inclined to appreciate. B+(**) Grade (or other) changes:
Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
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