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Mark Knopfler's (from Dire Straits) latest
album "Shangri-la"
The Libertines
Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson
Pearl Jam's "Lost Dogs"
and more ...
Ben Webster / Oscar
Peterson
Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson
Amazon.com Some Of The Old Ones Are Still The Best!!!, September 1, 2002
Reviewer: Robert J. Ament "papacoolbreeze" (Ballwin, MO United States)
This is some of the most recognizable music that is good jazz that you will
come across. The combination of the Oscar Peterson Trio with the breathy sax
playing of Ben Webster gives a special warmth and sentiment to these
standards. As has been mentioned by other reviewers, "In The Wee Small
Hours" is instrumentally the equal of what Sinatra did for the tune vocally.
Webster had an entirely different tone on faster tunes....more robust with
some rasps and growls. One can hear a hint of this on the mid tempo
"Sunday".
Look at the rest of these reviews and you have to conclude this is a
necessity for your collection if you're a serious lover of mainstream jazz,
the master saxwork of Ben Webster, or the equally excellent playing of the
Oscar Peterson Trio. It was one of the best buys I've made for my
collection!
Amazon.com
As if their dark lyrics and wall-of-sludge sound didn't already have an epic
sweep, Black Sabbath braved an even more ambitious approach on Sabbath
Bloody Sabbath, adding synthesizers and even strings to tracks such as "Who
Are You?" and "Spiral Architect." But even without them, the Sabbath
classics "Killing Yourself to Live," "National Acrobat," "Looking for
Today," and the title track pack a thunderous sonic wallop. "Fluff," a bit
of ponderous musing on acoustic guitar and keyboards, adds variety to the
disc but brings the headbanging pleasure of the rest of the album to a
screeching halt. Beyond that misstep, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is as slow and
deliberate as a lava flow, and just as powerful. --Daniel Durchholz
Brian Wilson
Smile
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The Greatest Album That Never Was finally is. The Beach Boys' uncompleted
1967 album Smile has remained the elusive touchstone of Brian Wilson's
brilliant, star-crossed career for decades. Artistic Holy Grail and
troubling professional Waterloo for Wilson, a tantalizing prism of
unfulfilled promise to his loyal cadre of fans, its story has become pop
music's Rashomon. Finally completed via spring 2004 recordings with his
stellar, longtime touring band (none of the original '60s sessions were
used, though they've been recreated here with often stunning authenticity),
it's arguably as alien to contemporary pop as it might have seemed in its
intended '67 context--even to ears freshly primed by the glories of Pet
Sounds.
Collaborator Van
Dyke Parks's impressionistic, often mischievous lyrics conjure a collage of
arcane 19th century Americana that's equal parts artful ellipse and aloof
nostalgia. But wed to Wilson's innovative composition and recording
techniques (echoing beat author William Burroughs's fabled cut 'n' paste
methodology and exemplified by the modular "Good Vibrations"), the resulting
semisuite confections challenge the boundaries of both song and album form,
but with an insouciant charm that's as different from Pet Sounds as that
landmark was from "I Get Around." Turns out those hypothetical comparisons
to Sgt. Pepper's weren't so far off the mark. --Jerry McCulley
Smiling with Brian Amazon.com
Music Editor Peter Hilgendorf called Brian Wilson to congratulate him on the
release of Smile, and to talk about the recording and some of the history behind
this highly anticipated release.
Listen now.
Album Description
Smile is inarguably the most long-awaited album in modern pop history. It's been
more than 37 years since the title first appeared on a label release schedule,
intended as the January 1967 follow-up to the groundbreaking art-rock of the
Beach Boys' Pet Sounds. But Smile never made its initial release date. Today,
this album is not a mere reconstruction of past performances, but something
entirely new, a serious summation of a project that has been gestating for
nearly four decades.
Acoustic Blues, Pop/Rock
Eric Clapton
Unplugged
Stereophile R2D4.
"Clapton caught the "unplugged"
trend just at the right time, when the public was hungry to hear how well
rock stars and their material can hold up when stripped of elaborate
production values. Clapton himself seemed baffled by the phenomenon,
especially when picking up the armload of Grammys Unplugged earned him,
including Record and Song of the Year for "Tears in Heaven," the
heart-rending elegy to his young son, Conor. That song and a reworked
version of "Layla" got most of the attention, but the rest of the album has
fine versions of acoustic blues numbers such as "Malted Milk," "Rollin' &
Tumblin', and "Before You Accuse Me" that make it worth investigating
further. --Daniel Durchholz"
Alternative Rock
Coldplay
Parachutes
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Music doesn't come more touching than this. With their debut single alone,
the emotion-fortified "Shiver," Coldplay prove they can shift between elated
and crushed in a breath, as singer Chris Martin pours out music's oldest
chestnut (unconditional yet unrequited love) with the shakiest of voices and
a backdrop of epic guitars. For 10 tracks on Parachutes, he adds new-found
meaning to the most tired and overused rock sentiments--love found, love
lost, love unrequited--over acoustic guitars and emotionally fraught rock.
And for once, all the clichés ring true because Chris Martin genuinely
sounds like a man picking over the bones of his life, coming up with just as
many reasons to be cheerful as seriously depressed. Not that Parachutes is a
depressing album--there's too much conviction to the guitars and hope in
Martin's words for that. Instead it's a beautifully tender balance that
comes as close to perfection as anything that's come before it. --Dan Gennoe
One of the few recommended Simply Vinyl reissues, good news as the
original is as rare as can be, being pressed in the 1990s.
"Although they didn't include my favorite, "Lying Eyes," there's enough
good stuff on the Eagles' reunion CD to make me feel 20 years younger
with the first few notes of "Desperado" or "Life in the Fast Lane." Time
has thickened Glenn Frey's and Don Henley's voices slightly and slowed
the tempos on some cuts, but "Hotel California" ' new concert opening
and closing work much better than the original studio version. Henley's
voice sounds better for not being buried in studio reverb, and is
enhanced here by added dynamic range, subterranean drums, bass slam that
doesn't quit, superb air and soundstaging, and pinpoint placement of the
acoustic guitar and keyboards. Best is the moment of recognition when
the crowd finally realizes which song is being played and goes wild.
Play this cut on the biggest, baddest
audio system you can afford." -
Larry Greenhill, Stereophile
Stanley Kirk Burrell's second megahit!, February 17, 2004
Reviewer: andy8047 (Nokomis,Florida)
TOO LEGIT TO QUIT, released in October 1991,was the second mega hit
for this artist, now simply known as Hammer. The success of PLEASE
HAMMER DON'T HURT 'EM, released only 20 months earlier, prompted
Hammer to record this album immediately. Aside from the title track,
hits include the religiously themed DO NOT PASS ME BY and THIS IS THE
WAY WE ROLL. Shortly after this album was released, Hammer
guest-hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live and was a musical guest as
well. In that episode, he performed THIS IS THE WAY WE ROLL and the
title track. Also, there's ADDAMS GROOVE, on the cassette format of
this album. That track is from the movie "The Addams Family", based on
the 1960's sitcom. All the aforementioned tracks would later appear on
the GREATEST HITS compilation, released in 1996. This is Hammer's
third album ever, and on the Capitol label (he would be dropped after
this album).
Hives, The
Tyrannosaurus Hives
Amazon.com
This Swedish garage-punk band that faced off against the Vines
on the MTV Video Music Awards in 2002 after the release of is
breakthrough Veni Vidi Vicious album still sounds like it's in battle
mode on Tyrannosaurus Hives. Violent songs such as "Walk Idiot Walk"
and "Abra Cadaver" jerk forward in a noisy collision of surf guitars,
frantic rhythms, and front man Howlin' Pelle Almquist's preposterous
barks. He's part ringleader, part instigator, and the main ingredient
that keeps the Hives' Nuggets-inspired retro rock from sounding as
dated as its influences. Despite a few light electronic touches, the
band sticks largely to formula throughout this album but by keeping
the focus on its biggest assets--simplicity and volume--it comes out
triumphant nonetheless. --Aidin Vaziri
Album Description
The Hives return to the forefront of the music scene with the blazing
new album TYRANNOSAURUS HIVES. The follow up to their smash "Veni Vidi
Vicious" CD which featured the worldwide hit "Hate To Say I Told You
So" and was listed in Rolling Stone's Top 50 albums of the year.
With TYRANNOSAURUS HIVES the band reaches new heights and
reestablishes themselves as one of the world’s best rock outfits
around today! "Every track on this record will be sure to make you
move," said the band's Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist. "It’s straight from
our roots – pure in your face punk."
TYRANNOSAURUS HIVES forces the world to break out from another work of
pure unadulterated genius so infectious as to be unstoppable without a
sucking serum, as this fivesome have once again kicked it out
skillfully, magnificently and brilliantly. The sound that they display
is like a velvet glove with brass knuckles, both brutal and
sophisticated at the same time. Based on youth, energy and taste, The
Hives are giving you PUNKROCK MUSIC AVEC KABOOM.
Tribute to Billie Holiday
Billie's Bones, the title song on this folk album, is a tribute to one
of Ian's heroes, Billie Holiday. From the moment she opens her mouth
on this, her 18th studio album, one of the most recognizable voices of
the 1960s folk scene comes out as clear as ever. After almost 40 years
in the music industry, Janis Ian shows she still has what it takes to
make an excellent album.
Looking Back on her Life
If there is a theme to this album, it is one of reverie. Ian seems to
be looking back at her life. Hear You Sing Again is a song co-written
with another folk icon, Woodie Guthrie, in which she longs to
hear her mother's voice. It's a sweet melody, but I would have loved
to hear Woodie join her on this tune.
In Paris In Your Eyes, and Amsterdam Canadian Ian reminisces about
former loves in foreign lands.
Matthew Shephard and Dolly Parton
In eerily slow jazz tune, Matthew Ian pays tribute to the death
of murdered gay college student Matthew Shephard:
What makes a man a man?
The cut of a coat, the hint of a tan?
It's not who you love, but whether you can
What makes a man a man?
The breakout song on this album, though is My Tennessee Hills, a duet
with country legend Dolly Parton. The two women's voices
compliment each other like a sunset and a pristine lake. It's full of
country twang and heart.
Mockingbird
If there's one thing Janis Ian is known for, it's songwriting. Perhaps
the best example on this album is Mockingbird:
If I had a mockingbird
for every tear I've shed
the skies would rain with laughter
everytime I raised my head...
Review by Joe Viglione
"Decades after their initial burst on the pop scene certain serious
artists conjure up special recordings deserving of extra attention. A
Jackie DeShannon will deliver something stunning like her wonderful
You Know Me disc while Ian Hunter strikes hard with his powerful Rant.
Janis Ian takes a more restrained approach, but the result is just as
masterful on Billie's Bones, a collection of 13 songs recorded over
three days in Nashville at Sound Emporium from June 9-11, 2003. Dolly
Parton adds a complementary vocal to "My Tennessee Hills" as Janis
takes the listener all over the world ..."
Read more at AMG
John Coltrane
Giant Steps - 180gm
"Released in January 1960,
John Coltrane's first album devoted entirely to his own compositions
confirmed his towering command of tenor saxophone and his emerging power
as a composer." Includes the classic ballad "Naima".
"Riot on an Empty Street ends a long period of inactivity for the
Kings of Convenience. During their three-year layoff Erlend Øye could
be found making solo records and DJing while Eirik Glambek Boe was
finishing his psychology degree. Luckily for fans of beautiful vocals
and thoughtful indie pop, they decided to get back together. What this
band is all about is the sound of Boe and Øye's voices blended
together in harmony. Their first album (in both incarnations) erred on
the side of consistency. Here the band seems to have learned the
all-important lesson of pace and variety. ..."
Read more at AMG ...
Punk Revival, Indie Rock, Britpop, Garage Rock Revival
"The Libertines joined the pop fray of 2002, competing with the likes
of the Strokes, Hives, Vines, and Doves with their debut single, "What
a Waster." The Bernard Butler-produced track entered the U.K.'s Top 40
in June, leaving NME to crown the Libertines as the best new band in
Britain."
"The Libertines' self-titled second album — which was released when
Doherty was out of the band, awaiting trial after pleading guilty to
possession of an offensive weapon, a switchblade he picked up after
fleeing rehab in a Buddhist monastery in Thailand — ends up being
frustratingly brilliant..."
Read more at AMG ...
New York Daily News
"Terrific"
Mojo [The Libertines] is an extraordinary record…an extraordinary and
challenging second LP, suffused with tenderness and anger.
NME
The Libertines’ second album is a masterpiece of life-changing rock ‘n
roll.
NY Post That scruffy Brit band The Libertines is the single best rock act
to emerge in the last decade.
Spin The Libertines have developed an ear for the refined pop that’s as
much their national inheritance as sneering pogo punk.
New York Post "THAT scruffy Brit band the Libertines is the single best rock act
to emerge in the last decade-hands down."
SPIN "Barat and Doherty trade lines...and the result is a dark, tense
record, but one still cracking with life...A-"
Details "...this second album proves that, at present, the band's
ramshackle rock is England's crown jewel."
Daily News "...a grippingly immediate feel. Many songs have the impact of
great Buzzcocks and Undertones numbers from the 70's."
Los Angeles Times "…A loud, taut, propulsive, punk powered display…"
Amazon.com essential recording
Never underestimate Madonna's power of persuasion: By nearly all
critical accounts, Ray of Light, Madonna's first album of new material
since 1994's Bedtime Stories, and her first since motherhood, is her
richest, most accomplished record yet. While Ray of Light is being
tagged as Madonna's big leap into electronica, it's important to note
two things: First, her music has always had close ties to dance
culture, and, second, her collaborator William Orbit is no Chemical
Brother. Though it has all the latest blips, bleeps, and crackles
electronica has to offer, Ray of Light is still largely an adult
album, completely within Madonna's realm. Still, Orbit's tasteful
sonic constructions provide Madonna with her most adventurous, hippest
musical backdrop ever. What's more, the arrangements and production
are understated enough to highlight an even bigger development: Fresh
from singing lessons on the Evita set, Madonna's vocal range, depth,
and clarity have never been stronger. But larger pipes don't
necessarily make for deeper, truer music. . --Roni Sarig
People
[ Ray of Light ] delivers 67 minutes of complex, challenging and
ultimately entrancing music without so much as breathing heavily....
[Madonna] sings here in a voice grown deeper and fuller about the
emptiness of fame and pleasure ... and the rewards of mystic
pursuits.... [S]he peppers her songs with apocalyptic visions of death
and rebirth, sin, salvation and transcendence..
Mark Knopfler
Shangri-la
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Mark Knopfler isn't afraid to drop names. The heavyweight Cassius Clay laid
low, the man who made burgers and fries into big business, the kings of rock
& roll and skiffle are among the motley assortment who pass through
Knopfler's fourth solo album. Recorded in Malibu with a tight crew of
steadfast Knopfler sidemen, Shangri-La (the title comes from the studio
where the entire set was recorded) chronicles the foibles of the acclaimed
and the adrift, all delivered with the nonchalant grace that has marked
Knopfler's music since Dire Straits emerged in the late '70s. Seven of
album's 14 originals clock in at between five and seven minutes. That's
Knopfler in a nutshell--don't rush things, but don't loose the thread,
either. As a songwriter, Knopfler has a storyteller's eye for minutiae,
which he delivers with practiced nuance. He overreaches here and there
("Song for Sonny Liston" fails to capture the pathos of the menacing
fighter), but also pulls off a few career highlights (the understated
crime-drama opener "5.15 a.m."). --Steve Stolder
Album Description The fourth solo excursion from acclaimed singer-songwriter-guitarist
Mark Knopfler, Shangri-La is perhaps his most rocking album since his
halcyon days in Dire Straits. A four- time Grammy winner who has sold some
110 million albums worldwide with that group and solo — and whose signature
guitar sound, instantly recognizable vocals and smart lyrics have made him
one of rock's most admired artists — Knopfler offers an idyllic earthly
refuge for the sophisticated rock fan with Shangri-La.
Morcheeba
Big Calm
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Blame Tricky and Portishead. They started this whole Bristol sound
thing, with sleepy techno beats overshadowed by the chirrupy vocals of
some slumberland chanteuse. And--just when you think the approach has
lost all its steam, all its relevance--along comes a new outfit to
make the music a few degrees sleepier, the singing a tad more dreamy.
And singers don't come any dreamier than Skye Edwards, whose lissome
trill infuses every track on this sophomore outing with a tranquil
ennui. You don't jump around to Morcheeba numbers like "The Sea." You
sit back and let them creep up on you, as steady as the tides. --Tom
Lanham
Spin
Always a hippie groove band at heart, Morcheeba have responded
impressively to trip-hop's AOR-ization with Big Calm--possibly the
most seamless mix of VH1 pop and DJ culture so far, and a joint that
recalls the Mamas and the Papas as much as Portishead ... nearly every
tune lingers in the memory, from the Delta-flavored sing-along "Part
of the Process" to the Brit-reggae swagger of "Friction
Neil Young
Tonight's The Night
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Amazon.com essential recording
By 1975 Young had written some of the most enduring anthems in rock
history. But from the slow, tension-building piano opening of
"Tonight's the Night," he downshifts into darkness and Crazy Horse's
folk-country melodies take on a guttural hum that would eventually
speak to generations of punk and grunge musicians. Inspired by the
overdose deaths of two of Young's friends, roadie Bruce Berry and
guitarist Danny Whitten, the title track (and its closing reprise) is
a hypnotic cry of "why?" Even the relative party songs, "Come On Baby
Let's Go Downtown" and "Roll Another Number," fit the album's
bus-to-nowhere resignation. --Steve Knopper
Amazon.com Convulsive, raw, and underrated, February 6, 2004
Reviewer: Rocco Dormarunno (Brooklyn, NY)
The long history of rock and roll is filled with many incongruities.
One of the more SEEMING incongruities has already been identified by
several reviewers (I didn't read them all, so this may be old hat) and
that is the punk feel in this mostly accoustic album. But this
shouldn't be surprising. In a 1977 interview, Johnny (Rotten) Lydon
stated that Neil Young was a major influence on him, and that
TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT impressed him the most. Neil returned the
compliment in "Hey, Hey, My, My" with the lyric: "The King is gone but
he's not forgotten/This is the story of Johnny Rotten".
Obviously, the influence wasn't musical. The influence wasn't in
attitude, either: much of TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT howls with pain and
despair, NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS..." growls with anger and mockery.
The true influence writhes in the convulsions, the hoarse screams, the
rawness of the emotions. There's a fury and an outrage in these
albums that is unsuppressed. It's little wonder that Kurt Cobain would
be the logical heir of this legacy. (Another seeming incongruity:
Kurt Cobain's suicide note contains Neil Young's lyric "It's better to
burn out than to fade away". And Neil wrote the sorrowful "Sleeps with
Angels" about Cobaine's suicide.)
Nearly thirty years later the raw wounds still fester; the album has
withstood the proverbial test of time. I won't go through each song
individually because I would just be repeating what other reviewers
have said. But it is worth repeating how powerful this album is.
Pearl Jam
Lost Dogs
Amazon.Com
Lost Dogs; a fitting title., November 2, 2004
Reviewer: Alan Pounds "music obsessor" (West St. Paul, MN United
States)
At the peak of the 90s alt-rock scene, Pearl Jam was the biggest band
in the world. Nirvana may have kick-started their fame, but "Ten"
climbed the charts quicker and higher than "Nevermind" ever has,
selling over 12 million copies (as of 2003). Pearl Jam wasn't about to
compromise their music for fame and glamour, which is clear when
examining their career. Although Pearl Jam had created the sound of an
entire decade, they continued to duck the spotlight, by making very
few videos, giving very few interviews, then enduring a long battle
against Ticketmaster, that lowered their popularity a few more
notches. After releasing "Vs." in 1993, each Pearl Jam album that
followed played to a smaller audience. Ultimately, Pearl Jam went from
being the biggest band in the world, to being the biggest cult band in
the world, by choice.
Due to the way Pearl Jam has gone about making albums in the past,
their are several "Lost Dogs" included here. Since each album plays to
a small audience, and includes an underlying theme, several songs that
were officially released were shelved if they did not fit in with the
rest of the material, and never made it to a proper Pearl Jam album.
This is why "Lost Dogs" is necessary, a compilation of their best
B-sides, stray singles, and compilation tracks, laid out in
non-chronological sequence.
The variety of material is very desirable. This is Pearl Jam at
their most experimental, their hardest rocking, most relaxed and most
intimate in their career. "Lost Dogs" captures what the band
sounded like at their peak, capturing their true passion. This proves
that they had what it took to release another "Ten" album, but wisely
chose not to.
Ruggiero Ricci /
Pierrino Gamba
Bizet (arr. Sarasate) Carmen Fantaisie
Sarasate Zigeunerweisen, Saint-Saens Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo
Capriccioso - 180g
Recording: September 1959 at Kingsway Hall, London by Alan Reeve
Production: James Walker
Some violinists enrapture their audience with their purity of tone,
others with their warm timbre, or their amazing technical virtuosity.
Pablo de Sarasate y Navascuéz was one of the very few violinists who
combined all these merits, and in addition was a composer in his own
right. The most famous of his 50 works are Zigeunerweisen,
based on traditional gypsy folklore and the fiendishly difficult
Carmen Fantasy.
And what better proof is there than Saint-Saëns’s Rondo capriccioso
that it is perfectly possible to unite high-spirited joyfulness with a
minor key. As the name suggests, his Havanaise is filled with the
melodies and colourful rhythms of Spain: no wonder this piece is known
as “the violinists' warhorse”.
It goes without saying that these 19th-century bravura pieces are an
absolute “must” for all those who wish to join the annals of great
virtuoso violinists. And today, 40 years after the making of this
recording, general consensus has it that Ruggiero Ricci has taken his
rightful place among the great virtuosos.
Smashing Pumpkins
Siamese Dream
Amazon.com essential recording
An introductory drum roll drops out and is replaced by a single
suspended electric guitar, which is then paralleled by a snare, filled
in with the bass, and--crash!--"Cherub Rock," the opening track, is
enveloped in an explosion of metal guitar. So the journey begins. This
album is pre-experimentation vintage Pumpkins. Produced by Butch Vig
(Garbage, Sonic Youth, Nirvana's Nevermind), Siamese Dream is first
about guitars. Lots and lots of guitars. A very close second is Jimmy
Chamberlain's unquestionably excellent power drumming. Throughout each
song, Billy Corgan delivers angsty lyrics in his signature breathy
whine. "Disarm" is a nice intermission halfway though the album. As
the title of the song suggests, it throws the listener into a
different mood with its full string arrangements and radiant
orchestral chimes. But then it is back to the aural masochism--a pain
that rarely sounds so sweet. --Beth Bessmer
Steely Dan
Everything Must Go
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After trading their infamous two-decade hiatus for an armful of
Grammies, Steely Dan breezed through the recording of Two Against
Nature's follow-up in a year--near record time in the oft-tortuous
Becker/Fagan sessionography. Loosening their notoriously anal
retentive studio bent has yielded upbeat immediacy, an almost
un-Dan-like brightness to jazzy funk and blues that snap and
crackle--even if pop is obviously the farthest thing from their
fevered brows. But anyone who confuses the sunny disposition of "Blues
Beach" and others here with anything but an ever slyer incarnation of
their trademark irony and icy veneer just isn't paying attention.
Bookended by "The Last Mall" (a cool, chunky update of "Black
Friday"'s apocalypse) and a bluesy, laconic title track that serves up
metaphors for bankruptcies both commercial and moral, Walt and Don
argue that our once fair society may well be past redemption. Better
to simply close out the excess with a good blue-light special. "Godwhacker"
serves jazz-head notice on no less than the almighty, whilst Becker
makes his belated Steely Dan vocal bow on the slinky "Slang of Ages,"
daring to be termed "Newmanesque" for rhyming "netherworld" with "Duke
of Earl"--if not his lugubrious, lounge-lizard delivery. Abetted by
guitarists Hugh McCracken and Jon Herrington, the sax of Walt Weiskopf
(and others), and synched to the playful grooves of drummer Keith
Carlock, Becker and Fagan bring a deliciously detached elegance to
"Green Book" and "Pixeleen"'s sharp musings on digital vidiocy,
forging an album that's a cunning, symbolic reminder that the sun will
shine brightest just before it explodes. --Jerry McCulley
Rickie Lee Jones
Evening Of My Best Day
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BRILLIANT - her best since"Pirates", October 7, 2003
Reviewer: Karl Miller "kemspeaks" (Phoenixville, PA United States)
It feels like forever since a release of original music from Rickie
Lee Jones ("Ghostyhead", some 6 years ago and now impossible to
find thanks to record company politics). Her long awaited return is
also one of the best new releases of the year - and her best work
since the one-two punch of her incredible debut and the follow up
masterpiece "Pirates" (for my money, one of the 5 best albums ever
recorded).
Slinky soul ballads, finger snapping jazz grooves and a voice that is
weathered and childlike (sometimes on the very same note) are all over
this project. Rickie has reunited with David Kalish (one of the
featured performers on "Pirates") and he brings out everything you
love about her music - and helps her add a ray of sunshine that's been
missing since The Magazine's "Juke Box Fury".
No matter what you love about Rickie's music (and there is much to
love about her), you are going to find it here. For fans of her
acoustic ballader stylings, the title track is bound to be a new
favorite. Full of sunny, hopeful lyrics and sweet guitar strumming,
"Evening Of..." is classic Rickie.
"Little Mysteries" is the kind of R&B influenced track that reminds
you how special Rickie is. The seductiveness of this song is
outweighed only by its subject matter - Rickie's take on the 2000
presidential election (a subject that reappears on a number of songs -
Rickie was never overtly political in her music, but her feelings
about the Patriot Act and the Bush adminstration are a centerpiece of
this project).
"Lap Dog" takes Rickie deeper into blues territory, and it is an area
where she needs to concentrate - as always, this woman owns whatever
musical genre she chooses to dip her toes into. Her voice carries this
tune so well, it generates a huge "awe" factor.
"Ugly Man" is poetic improvisational jazz (and another swipe at George
W.) - and shows why Rickie Lee deserves to be mentioned in the same
breath as Shirley Horn and Betty Carter (and possibly Cassandra
Wilson)as one of America's great jazz chantrueses. Her voice blends so
well with the instrumentation of this song.
"Sailor Song" is a folk-like Celtic voyage, "A Second Chance" is
dirgelike in a "Skeletons" styled manner, and "A Face In the Crowd" is
unlike anything you ever heard - remember how your ears stood up and
paid attention as "We Belong Together" kept shifting rhythms, keys and
beat - you get the same feeling from this song.
These songs are going to sound incredible live - anyone who has ever
caught one of Rickie's shows knows how important live performances are
to getting a true sense of how brilliant an artist she truly is (even
if she is ALWAYS late).
This is a very special project by a one-of-a-kind artist. Hooray for
refinding the muse - and showing us once again that talent can shine
through
Various Artists
Blue Note Trip 3: Goin' Down - Gettin' Up
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Released: 27 September 2004
Tracklisting Disc 1
1 Sidewinder - The Adventure
2 Sky High - Donald Byrd
3 Freeze It Up - John Lee & Gerry Brown
4 Always There - Ronnie Laws
5 The Final Comedown - Grant Green
6 Black Pearl - Jimmy McGriff
7 Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler) - Reuben Wilson
8 Say You Will - Eddie Henderson
9 Dance Lesson No. 2 - Karl Denson
10 Dat Dere - Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers
11 Ummh - Bobby Hutcherson
12 Psychedelic Sally - Horace Silver
13 Pygmy Part 2 - Billy Larkin & The Delegates
14 The Sidewinder - Lee Morgan
15 Midnight Blue - Kenny Burrell
Disc 2
1 Sweet Sublime - Molly Johnson
2 Magrouni - Erik Truffaz
3 Wind Parade - Donald Byrd
4 Inside You - Eddie Henderson
5 I Got The... - Labi Siffre
6 Madamoiselle - Foxy
7 90% Of Me Is You - Gwen McCrae
8 Creole - Charlie Hunter feat. Mos Def
9 Los Alamitos Latinfunklovesong - Gene Harris
10 HNIC - Blue Mitchell
11 Why (Am I Treated So Bad)? - Cannanball Adderley
12 Keep It Up - Milton Wright
13 Gotta Be Funky - Monk Higgins
14 Friends And Strangers - Ronnie Laws
15 New York Times - Bobbi Humphrey
Various Artists
Blue Note Trip: Saturday Night
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Blue Note Trip: Sunday Morning
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Maestro has divided this compilation
BBlue Note Trip' into two parts: one half is full of uptempo, glowing,
jazzy tunes, while the other half comprises of loungy, laidback,
relaxed vibes.
The first LP, 'Saturday Night,' includes tracks by legends such as
Donald Byrd, Ronnie Jordan, Grant Green, and Minnie Riperton. A
selection based on feeling,
Amazon.com
Music Editor Peter Hilgendorf called Brian Wilson to congratulate him on the
release of Smile, and to talk about the recording and some of the history behind
this highly anticipated release.
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