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Heather Myles - Sweet Talk and Good Lies
Rounder: RRCD3179 Reviewed by AH
If you're into Shania Twain, Leanne Rimes, Leann Womack or Shirley Lynne - stop reading now. If you love the traditional country sounds of Hank Williams, Loretta Lynn, Dolly, George Jones etc. then Heather Myles is definitely an artist you should make sure you listen to. Myles posses a natural country voice full of yearning and heartache, which she bends around 11 originals and two cover versions, the first being Jimmy Webb's 'By the time I get to Phoenix' and the second a splendidly mournful rendition of 'Cry me a river'. Of her own compositions 'Little Chapel' is an excellent duet with country superstar Dwight Yoakam, 'Sweet Talk and Good Lies' and 'If the truth Hurts' bounce along on a honky tonk vibe with plenty of fine twangy guitar from Bob Gothar, and 'Nashville's gone Hollywood' is a stinging lyrical attack on music city's sell out to image over content. Myles feels there's no room for authentic country singers in Nashville anymore and the lyrics get straight to the point; "seven million records / that must mean you're good / move over Earnest Tubb / Nashville's gone Hollywood". Of the 13 tracks only one creeps over the four minutes and seven of them manage to stay under the three minute mark. They're short, sharp, infectious bursts of authentic country honky tonk and they're best enjoyed at considerable volume - so buy it, take it home and crank it up.

Tony Joe White - The Beginning
Audium Records AUD-CD-8134 Reviewed by RP
The word from the swamps is that a mean-looking and hungry Tony Joe White is back with the kind of album he's been threatening to do for a lifetime. Languid solo blues, just him, his wickedly good guitar, a touch of Min' harmonica, and some rhythmic foot-tapping. Oh, and a carefully chosen acoustic, which is equally important to the way this music has been crafted. An old high ceiling and wooden floored house, where three microphones were left plugged in from early Fall through to late Winter, (so TJW put down these grooves when the feeling was right), is a nigh on perfect backdrop that suits the raw emotional undercurrents of these songs. This is a case when high marks are given to a recording because it dovetails so naturally with the subject matter. Eleven friction-filled cuts focusing on the difficult choices faced by a modern blues man, (dilemmas that aren't so different to those of a generation of old, grizzled journeymen who went before), include woman trouble, 'Clovis Green', 'money', 'Drifter' and the both of them in an opening, 'Rich Woman Blues'. The Beginning is that inspired and long overdue release many of us have been praying for.
Supplier: The Cherished Record Company - www.cherished-record-company.co.uk (44)(0)1579 363603

The Jam - The Sound Of
Polydor 589 781-1 Reviewed by RP
Ah, the festive season was upon us even earlier this year. How do I know? Well, it was August and the "Best Ofs" were hitting the racks in force. Amongst them was this 25th anniversary celebration release from Polydor, the label that back in 1977 signed a certain Paul Weller-fronted and mod styled four-piece outfit from Woking. Creditably, the twenty-six tracks here, which are spread thickly across four sides, do not neglect those early sticky songs such as their debut single, 'in The City'. Even though it was another two years before they made it with a first top ten hit. The Jam had by then put together tautly constructed masterpieces like, 'Down In The Tube Station At Midnight' which was a timely reminder that musicians could still take a telling, seriously antiracist, stance in a post-punk/ pre-Thatcherite era. Satirical social commentaries flowed freely after that, with an instantaneously recognisable slant on crass consciousness and post-colonial urban decay, heard in a series of generation defining cuts like 'Going Underground', 'Eaton Rifles', 'Boy About Town', 'That's Entertainment' and 'A Town Called Malice'. All these never-to-be-forgotten anthems are recalled for this album, which, while it captures the raw urgency and inherent dynamism of these songs, does precious little else to further the technical credentials of the day.
Supplier: The Cherished Record Company - www.cherished-record-company.co.uk (44)(0)1579 363603

Ryan Adams - Demolition
Lost Highway 088 170 333-1 Reviewed by RP
North Carolina-born Ryan Adams is a young man with plenty to say in hurry. Despite a ravenous appetite for touring, this prolific and prodigious writer continues to show little signs of wear and tear. Yet, incredibly, he still averages a new song every day! Demolition began life as a proposed four CD box set solution for many of these outpourings. However, almost inevitably, Lost Highway battled it and settled instead for a single thirteen-track tumbler of demos and never-before-released songs, which had been cut at studio sessions in Nashville, LA and Stockholm from December 2000 onwards. Stylistically, it is musically diverse, emotionally dislocated and full of that aching honesty one has come to expect from an Adams LP. An opening, 'Nuclear' and the later side one cut, 'Desire', excites distant memories of prime Eighties U2, while the blue-collar, 'Chicago', where he is again joined by ex-Dylan guitarist, Bucky Baxter, is quite simply, "Springsteenesque". Elsewhere, an under-produced acoustic guitar intimacy suits those heavily auto-biographical themes of longing arid loss that permeate songs like, 'She Wants To Play Hearts', 'Cry On Demand' and the delicious, Tomorrow, with it's softly underscored and wistful Gillian Welch backing vocals. A surprisingly good, off-the-peg, vinyl release is the appropriate format. Somehow the CD just seems too precise in the delivery of these hard-earned lessons.
Supplier: The Cherished Record Company - www.cherished-record-company.co.uk (44)(0)1579 363603

Coco Montoya - Can't Look Back
Alligator ALCD 4885 Reviewed by AH
Coco Montoya's last alligator release Suspicion was a sparkling blues rock album, but he seems to have run into a rich vein of form because this release is every bit as good. Like all great bluesmen, Montoya has impeccable pedigree. He was a protégé of the late, great Albert Collins and went on to spend 10 years as lead guitarist with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (his contribution to Mayall's Sense of Place Album cannot be under estimated). Montoya's not just a great guitar player though, he's a fine singer and songwriter too. His voice has a subtle rasp but contains plenty of soul, and when he blends it with some high octane playing as he does on Holland Dozier Holland's 'Something About You' the results are very impressive indeed. The band are superb, with second rhythm and slide guitarist Chuck Kirkpatrick slotting in delightfully alongside Montoya, and the various rhythm sections laying down a rock solid backbeat. The real star of the show though is Montoya's playing. Notes cascade from his guitar but he keeps tasteful, resisting the temptation to overplay things. The solos on Albert Collins! 'Same Old Thing' makes the hairs stand up on the back of the neck and there's more than a passing nod to his mentor's style of playing throughout the album's 13 tracks. Jim Gaines lends his production skills to Can't Look Back and the whole package is an absolute peach for anyone into blues/rock.

Magic Slim - Blue Magic
Blind Pig BPCD5076 Reviewed by AH
Magic Slim is a giant in the blues world in more ways than one. Standing at 6'6" he creates an imposing sight - and slim he ain't! He's not as large as producer and second guitarist on this album though, the legendary New Yorker Papa Chubby. This is the first time that Chubby has worked with Slim and he talked in reverential terms when asked about the experience. "I've worked on about 25 records" he said, "and this is by far the best record I've made, and its for one reason: Slim. He's the real deal, plain and simple. This guy's been playing music longer than I've been alive." A magic Slim recording is always a gritty, foot tapping experience; tough Chicago Blues with gruff vocals and a very LIVE feel is what you get. Having Chubby around has given Slims playing a heavier, rocked out sound and when they play off each other as they do on lead track 'I'm a Bluesman' the results are simply devastating. After the initial recordings were made Chubby took the tapes away for mixing and told Slim he was going to add a few samples, a statement that filled the great man with trepidation. "I don't know how he's going to do it" he said, "But I hope he don't make me sound like no punk band". Well he didn't, and together they've made one great blues album.

Polyphonic Spree - The Beginning Stages Of...
Good Records 679L011 Reviewed by RP
It's not often that I find myself left open-mouthed in astonishment, but how else would you react to a twenty five piece choral symphonic pop band dressed in white robes and possessed by a joyous, rarely seen, musical fervour not heard of since flower power in the Sixties? Taken at face value, well, they rise up like some hideous visual spectre created from a heinous and most vile mating of "hippie" and "happy clappy" sects. Yet, anyone who recently saw them perform 'Soldier Girl' with such blissful and uninhibited abandon on Later with Jools Holland, could not fail to be inspired by their wonderful musicianship. Amazingly, all this refreshingly extrovert cavorting went on while fiddle, French horn, flute, trumpet or theremin were expertly played. The timing and interplay was spot-on. Whatever these guys are on, I want some! This album is equally animated and goodnatured, and while comparisons could be made to the New Age music from the Eighties, they would seem erroneous, simply because there are none of those precious, statuesque and rather self-conscious tendencies which dogged that genre. If the "Spree" have an ideology, frankly, it doesn't matter. Just sit back and enjoy their truly remarkable approach with an ever-broadening grin. Almost, unbelievable.

Michelle Shocked - Deep Natural
Mighty Sound Reviewed by RP
A double helping from the only artist who owns their entire major label catalogue proves itself to be another one of those unconventional Michelle Shocked releases, which really challenges an audience through it's switchback attitude to genre and dogged ideology. Disparate forms including rock, gospel, folk, reggae and pop are welded together, and sometimes the discomfort begins to show. This is more apparent in the case of the second, Dub Natural, disc. Here, individual tracks such as Draughts of Dublin mix a chugging and repetitive rock beat, with penny whistle and jazz trumpet notes. However, Deep Natural is a slightly more rewarding experience, especially if you share Michelle's evangelical fervour. 'Psalms','I Know What You Need', 'Moanin' Dove', 'Good News', and a closing, 'Go In Peace' are deeply personal and spiritual songs whose titles and lyrics will leave you in little doubt as to where their sympathies lie. She's got it big and she's got it bad, but that's old time religion for you. Yet, despite the large spoonfuls of testament, the musician still shines through on occasions. Mostly in acoustic cuts like that of the tender and softly delivered 'If Not Here'.
Supplier: The Cherished Record Company - www.cherished-record-company.co.uk (44)(0)1579 363603

Creation Records - International Guardians of Rock 'n' Roll 1983-1999
Sony TV94LP Reviewed by RP
Over a decade and a half, Alan McGee's tiny record label signed some of the most innovative and outlandish British rock bands, and nearly all of them had at least one thing in common: their widely held critical acclaim and absence of chart success. On the roster, at one time or another, were bands like The Jesus And Mary Chain, Primal Scream, Felt, Pastels, Teenage Fanclub, Super Furry Animals and The Boo Radleys. Down the years this carefully nurtured pool of talent cut some classic grooves including, respectively, 'Cracking Up', 'Loaded', 'All The People I Like Are Those That Are Dead', 'Baby Honey, The Concept', 'The Man Don't Give A Fuck' and 'Lazarus'. The exception to all this under achievement was, of course, that commercial jewel in a Creation crown, the mighty Oasis. Whatever your opinion of the Gallagher brothers, the Nineties was their decade, but this album is not a homage to those Burnage boys. 'Wonderwall' is all that we hear from them. This leaves plenty of space to reclaim another twenty-four gripping, lyrically acidic, and frequently unsettling songs from a vital alternative scene. Musically uncompromising, the raw stuff feels just about right on this variable vinyl transfer. For a more critical ear, the CD politely buffs up the sound.
Supplier: The Cherished Record Company - www.cherished-record-company.co.uk (44)(0)1579 363603

Gillian Welch - Hell Among The Yearlings
Acony Records ACNY-0102 Reviewed by RP
If you like your music runnin' barefoot round the stoop in a threadbare, sack cloth dress, then another eleven country folk songs penned and performed by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings will be the ones for you. Most are languidly paced, darkly blue dust bowl depression stories like, 'Miner's Refrain', 'One Morning', and 'The Devil Had A Hold On Me'. Meandering, poverty filled tales (that are pared back to a couple of acoustic guitars, or an acoustic guitar and banjo) touch a nerve with their exposed, uncomplicated, and straight talking attitudes. There's very little misty-eyed, or sepia coloured melancholia here. The message is clear. When you're poor bad things happen to you, and the testimony to that is, 'Caleb Meyer' A drunken rapist, who dies at the hands of his neighbour's broken bottle wielding wife while in the act of raping her. Generally, this is an emotionally destructive place, where love is rarely a satisfying and renewing experience. In fact, more often than not, it's described in pernicious terms. 'My Morphine' and 'Whiskey Girl' being the kind of songs whose titles and lyrics leave you in little doubt as to the addictive, oblivion-filled (and probably fatal) nature of these relationships.

The Coral - The Coral
Reviewed by JH
Take a step back, take two, now listen ... did we just take a 30 year jump? The Coral wear their influences on the front of their shirts using the expected rock band instruments; bass, drums and guitars all played in a new but still familiar way with a good dose of the operatic late 60's songwriting; Doors-like but with a modern twist. It's all propelled along with plenty of energy and this album flies by but still manages to repay repeated listening. The songs are very variable and I made more notes than for any of the other albums I have reviewed. This whole LP works like only one other that I have heard this year (Orange Can - Home Burns). It's a big, rhythmic, melodic and full of hooks sound reminiscent of the great bands from years gone by. The obvious comparison is to Gomez as they have a similar "swamp-rock" sound, but The Coral are lighter (think Supergrass light) and more open where Gomez are slower paced and introverted. Both bands are obviously strongly influenced by what came before but both still manage to plough their own furrow, often perpendicular to the rest of the industry, which is just what is needed. The album is pretty well produced, not a great recording but with this music you don't care; BUY IT NOW!

Nanci Griffith - Winter Marquee
Rounder RRCD 3220 Reviewed by RP
If you haven't been fortunate enough to hear Nanci Griffith perform on stage and don't own that wonderfully intimate 1988 live LP, One Fair Summer Evening, then you could do far worse than treat yourself to this CD. Winter Marquee was cut "live" towards the end of the recent "Clock Without Hands" tour. And although there is an understandable degree of tiredness heard on songs where Nanci's voice becomes stretched, these moments tend to amplify that feeling of vulnerability, regret and loss which figure so prominently in many of her reminiscences. Alongside nine Nanci originals that include old favourites like, 'The Flyer', 'Listen To The Radio', and an engaging duet with the robust James Hooker on 'Gulf Coast Highway', there are also five well-chosen covers. The pick of these are Dylan's, 'Boots Of Spanish Leather, the terrific John Prine opener, 'Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness', and Julie Gold's finely etched take on the Land of Opportunity, 'Good Night, New York', where Emmylou Harris steps up to the microphone to lend her support. A surprisingly good, "under canvas", recording does not let anybody down, be they guests, principals, or that ever-sympathetic band of musicians in her Blue Moon Orchestra.

Robert Lockwood, Jr. - Delta Crossroads
Telarc SACD-63509 Reviewed by RP
Misty-eyed Delta Blues, the kind that even the hardest heart will become all- sentimental over, courses through the veins of an octogenarian six and twelve-string guitar genius like Robert Lockwood, Jr. Between leaving his evocatively named hometown of Turkey Scratch, Arkansas, and those early 1940s Bluebird recordings, he mastered the secrets of solo guitar, its bass lines, tonal shades and textures, by hanging on the shirt-tails of his friend and mentor, the legendary Robert Johnson. Now, when these rare skills, with their unexpected shifts in emphasis, combine with his nasal, age cracked, and sometimes pinched voice, the poignancy that has for decades been so deeply ingrained within all sixteen of these tracks, is ratcheted up to a new level. Seven of these gems are taken from the Robert Johnson songbook; 'Little Queen of Spades', Mr. Downchild', 'Love In Vain Blues' and an opening classic, '30-20 Blues', amongst them. Lockwood also modestly and intuitively revisits five of his own, including 'Run Your Mama' and 'This Little Girl of Mine'. It seems that an ancient bluesman, no matter how fragile, can effortlessly tap back into those roots and mine that rich seam of a musical tradition which has shaped entire lifetimes. A brilliantly conceived and executed session presented on a format that is the equal of these remarkable insights.

Badly Drawn Boy - Have you fed the fish
Reviewed by JH
Damon Gough or Badly Drawn Boy as he seems to prefer to be known has rocketed to fame. This is his third album and follows a Mercury award winning first outing (hour of the bewilderbeast) and a successful film soundtrack (the fortuitously titled about a boy. This album is immediately even more tuneful than the previous outings. We find multi-layered instrumentation with evolving melodies and shifting themes that are expertly executed along with beautiful shifts of pace: and all of that is found throughout this album. He still manages to retain much of what was so good from the first album - charm, along with a good dollop of lyrical excellence. The themes aren't as small-time as say Pulp but he hasn't let the massive success ruin him. The piano is still the key instrument but both electric guitar and drums are more prevalent that previously and they do sometimes seem to be interlopers. The production is more professional compared to his previous output and the result is slightly overdone, losing some of the spontaneity of the first LP. This album has an essence and coherence that is reminiscent of a soundtrack. However Have you fed the fish confirms Mr. Gough as one of the best singer songwriters around and this album should be in your collection.

Kasey Chambers - The Captain
EMI Australia 7243 5 20355 2 6 CDVIR 101 Reviewed by RP

Kasey Chambers - Barricades and Brickwalls
EMI Australia 7243 8 12423 2 2 CDVIR165 Reviewed by RP
When EMI signed this feisty Australian acoustic guitarist and singer/songwriter, they may well have had a Shania Twain style makeover in mind, but while Chambers has an undeniably sultry image, you can rarely take the girl with a stud through her chin home to mother. Kasey is quite the rebel. A charming one, but a rebel nonetheless, who refuses to be conveniently typecast as a roots or country music artist. Her early role in The Dead Ringer Band - an all family country act that toured extensively around Australia and cut three albums during the 1990s-has proven to be a valuable apprenticeship for this now burgeoning solo career. However, both albums here have family members featuring prominently. Her father, Bill Chambers, lays down some wicked lead, electric, dobro, slide and lap steel guitar licks, while older brother, Nash, who earns production credits for these CDs, also occasionally harmonises, and strums along on bass and acoustic guitar for Kasey's 1999 solo debut release, The Captain. This was the profile-raising album that was to establish her credentials at that bastion of country music, Nashville. When listening to those nasal and frequently breathless vocals, which are accompanied by an authentic- sounding instrumental twang on tracks like 'Last Hard Bible', or the melancholic, 'Southern Kind Of Life', one could be forgiven for thinking that the young Miss Chambers spent her childhood running barefoot among the levees. She also possesses a dry and dusty sense of humour, which surfaces for that irreverent take on booze, pills and mortality, 'We're All Gonna Die Someday'. Meanwhile, Barricades and Brickwalls is an album that often switches between idioms on its' search for a much broader explanation of her emotional and musical identity. Though sometimes it seems that these songs can too readily chop and change between country, folk, blues, rock and pop styles. Whilst she proves her versatility on a gutsy and sexually charged title track and the abrasive, 'Crossfire', and in revealing new degrees of vulnerability for 'This Mountain' and 'Not Pretty Enough', Kasey does occasionally leave you wondering if she knows where her real strength lies. Perhaps the answer can be found in the more "countrified" collaborations with Lucinda Williams, 'On A Bad Day', and Paul Kelly, 'I Still Pray'. A convincing performer and even stronger songwriter, nevertheless.

Count Basie and his Orchestra - 88 Basie St
Analogue Productions/Pablo 2310-901 Reviewed by RG
Another Basie re-issue, this time from his later Pablo recordings, and post dating the fabulous Farmers Market Barbeque by a couple of years. The sonic picture here is familiar from that earlier recording, although this is a more relaxed, almost contemplative outing without the transparency and dramatic dynamic punch of the earlier session. It's a mood that's captured by the achingly beautiful 'Katy', which might be short but is very, very sweet. Basic even winds back the orchestra to a small ensemble for a couple of tracks, drafting in Joe Pass on guitar, and it is these that are the real highlights of this disc, allowing both the Count and Cleveland Eaton on Bass a lot more space. The sudden shift that dominates the opening of 'Sunday At The Savoy' is the precursor to Basie stretching out into long lines that he shares with Pass, a side to his music which many remain unaware of. The pressing here (from RTI) is simply superb, with ultra quiet surfaces that make the most of the musical subtlety that's captured in the grooves. Bass notes are deep and very clear, the piano crisp and properly percussive while the brass is convincingly breathy. Less of a sonic spectacular than some of Basic's work, it's no less an album for that.
Supplier: Vivante - www.vivante.co.uk (44)(0)1293-822186

Billie Holiday - Lady Sings The Blues
Speaker's Corner/Clef MG C-721 Reviewed by RG
There have been a handful of unmistakable voices that have graced the great songs of jazz, but perhaps the most inimitable of all belonged to Billie Holiday. And it was never better than when singing the blues, an idiom that came naturally after a life of extraordinary hardship and heartache. There's nothing faux or assumed about this performance, just the natural extension of a lifetime's experience, itself etched on her voice. If you're only going to own a single Holiday album then this is the one, both a perfect introduction to her vocal talents and a summary of them. She moves effortlessly through standards like 'Love Me Or Leave Me' (a startling contrast with Ella's seminal rendition) and 'Willow Weep For Me' as well as lighter material like the Johnny Mercer / Richard Whiting 'Too Marvellous For Words'. But with Billie it's always the blues that capture your heart: 'Travelin' Light', 'Good Morning Heartache', 'No Good Man' - just take your pick. They all have a special poignance that only she seems to bring. The pressing is well up to Speaker's Corner's excellent standards, flat and with quiet surfaces. The mono recording might not be exactly hi-fi, but it has a quality that is wonderfully direct and also strangely appropriate. Absolutely essential.

Miles Davis Sextet and Quintet - Walkin'
Acoustic Sounds/Prestige LP 7076 Reviewed by DD
Recorded in '54, and featuring great sidesmen such as Horace Silver, Kenny Clarke and Jay Jay Johnson, this is one of Davis' landmark albums. It helped to kick-start the hard-bop movement and was a reaction against the then prevalent 'cool school: The title track, based substantially on a 1950 Gene Ammons number 'Gravy' became one of Davis' signature numbers and with 'Blue n'Boogie' a jazz standard. It's a 12 bar blues that in this first outing really showcases the abilities of each player. After the introductory theme, Miles opens with seven choruses followed by Jay Jay with an equally impressive solo. Horace Silver shines too. Dizzy Gillespie's fast paced 'Blue n'Boogie' comprises the other classic here (the album neatly contains both these numbers on side 1) continuing the blues theme to great effect with more great soloing from all three horn players. The second half of the album, featuring Miles' quintet, is a more laid back affair with Davis utilising his trademark muted horn throughout. 'Solar' features a standout alto solo from Davey Schildkraut that many consider his finest on record. The album of course is in mono and none the worse for that. It just oozes presence in this fine RTI pressing. A superbly realised and highly enjoyable slice of jazz history.
Supplier: Vivante - www.vivante.co.uk (44)(0)1293-822186

Ben Webster and Joe Zawinul - Soulmates
Acoustic Sounds/Riverside RLP 9476/OJC 109 Reviewed by DD
The seemingly unlikely pairing of Webster in his fifties and Zawinul in his mid twenties, came together as a result of the two sharing an apartment and using their time to practice together. These practice sessions often lasting for as long as 5 hours sometimes involved the pair being joined by the likes of Coleman Hawkins. They proved so enjoyable that this album was the logical outcome. Comprising a mix of standards: Too Late Now, 'Like Someone in Love', along with a touch of Ellington's 'Come Sunday' and Webster's tribute to Ellington, 'The Guvnor'. The set also contains Zawinul's 'Frog Legs' (Frog was one of Websters nicknames). Zawinul provides subtle underscoring for the band throughout the set but it's Webster's distinctive work that predominates here, whether in the raunchy title track or in ballads like 'Come Sunday'. This is not to undermine either Zawinul or the band's contribution. The latter are superb, but then given the personnel how could they be otherwise? Zawinul is a master of understatement but for a flavour of his expertise just listen to his playing on 'Travelin' Light'. This album may not be a jazz classic but it is a highly enjoyable set by an outstanding bunch of musicians who are clearly having a great time and is one I know I'll return to for years to come. Originally produced by Orrin Keepnews this is another fine Acoustic Sounds/RTI job and well worth seeking out.
Supplier: Vivante - www.vivante.co.uk (44)(0)1293-822186

Tina May - One Fine Day
33 Records 33Jazz050 Reviewed by DD
This is Tina May's seventh album for 33 Records. She's also a regular at Ronnie Scott's and I'm ashamed to say that I'd never heard of her before. My loss. This is a superb set comprising a truly eclectic range of material including a particularly oddball choice in the opening 'Pure Imagination' from the Newley / Bricusse 1971 score for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Much like the hugely talented lain Ballamy in his handling of the equally unlikely 'White Horses' in his Pepper Street album, Tina May and the band make this their own, from the opening breathy alto lines from Alan Barnes the treatment remains respectful of the wistful melodies of the original but adds a real jazz sensibility. The set goes on to take in numbers as diverse as 'S'wonderful', 'I'll Be Seeing You', and 'Bop People' featuring a particularly dextrous duet between Tina's soprano scatting and Barnes low register clarinet. I should also mention Nicky Iles piano playing: she's in fine form throughout, underpinning May's soaring vocals with melodic, flowing lines. The album even takes in and does real justice to John Ireland's 30's musical setting of AE Houseman's poem 'The Vain Desire'. The cherry in this particularly tasty martini is that the recording quality is also excellent, bringing the very best from a band at the top of their form. Recommended.
Supplier: Vivante - www.vivante.co.uk (44)(0)1293-822186

Wes Montgomery - Full House - recorded 'live' at Tsubo - Berkeley, California
Analogue Productions/Riverside OJC-106 Reviewed by RG
Wes Montgomery, captured live in June '62, leading a stellar quintet consisting of Johnny Griffin on tenor sax with the Miles Davis rhythm section of Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb. It's an enticing proposition, which goes some way towards explaining the album's title, and it's not hard to imagine the buzz that must have swept the Bay area jazz community when news of the impending session leaked. But like all such high profile exercises, the question is whether it lives up to its promise. Well, the answer to that has to be a yes. It's a mixed set, with numbers drawn from Dizzy Gillespie, Lerner and Loewe and Mercer and Arlen. But it's the two lengthy compositions from Montgomery's own pen that are the standouts (there's also a five minute 'S.O.S'). His long-line solo in the upbeat title track is a thing of beauty, his jousting with Griffen's tenor setting the scene for the rest of the set. The immaculate support of the Davis rhythm section can be taken for granted, or at least it could if not for the brilliance of their solo interventions: the tastefully understated bass; the piano lifting its skirts to whirl with its higher profile companions; the rock solid drumming. Yet the lyrical smooch of 'I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face' works just as well, the innate understanding of the talented team melding effortlessly.
Supplier: Vivante - www.vivante.co.uk (44)(0)1293-822186

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