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Kate Rusby - Underneath The Stars
Pure Records PRCD012 Reviewed by RP
Kate Rusby is an English folk icon. She occupies an important musical niche, and whilst it is an acquired taste albums like these are keeping alive the traditional words and tunes of a genre that spans centuries. At the same time with her own elegantly crafted songs such as ‘Young James’, ’Falling’, ’Underneath The Stars’ and ‘Polly’ she has expanded the canon. Accompanied by a core of like-minded musicians in Ian Carr, John McCusker, Ewen Vernal and Andy Cutting, Rusby’s scores for these tunes make frequent use of guitar, cittern, diatonic accordion, fiddle, viola, euphonium and double bass giving this twelve track disc a hugely atmospheric feel. It would be easy to overlook this contribution to folk music and let a unique form of expression and storytelling slowly whither and die but that would be an act of criminality.
From an opening ’The Good Man’ Kate’s airy and idiomatic singing reveals a wealth of truths and hard lessons originally learned so many years ago. It shows humanity in some interesting shades of dark and light. Often these insights are conveyed through finely tuned comic images-in the case of ‘The Good Man’ we are treated to a pastoral tale of mistaken identities – elsewhere it might be the young girl’s lament for her dead soldier lover in ‘The White Cockade’. Clearly little has changed along the way.

Bjork - Medulla
One Little Indian TPLP358 Reviewed by RP
In a world overflowing with weird shit this enigmatic Icelandic siren manages to out do the weirdest of them all on a bizarre album that includes a throat singer, finds hidden depths in a human beat box and features two choirs – one from London and the other from her homeland. Oh, and it’s almost entirely a cappella. This is extreme choral pop interspersed with what can only be described as orgasmic yelps, agonised birthing pains, violent outbursts and hymnal majesty. This cacophony assaults the ears right from an opening ‘Pleasure Is All Mine’ to ‘Mouth’s Cradle’ and a closing ‘Triumph Of A Heart’.
The emotional tension is palpable as individual primitivism and the massed synchronised vocal ranks collide in an unimaginable expression of dissonance and delight that I think is supposed to reflect life’s duality. Medulla takes every convention and musically either smashes it or stands it on its head. The moods, and they are many and varied, oscillate between the sombre and the ecstatic, but it is those darker instinctive drives that dominate. This is an album of extremes and they will diametrically divide opinions. There has been nothing quite like it and some will hope that there never will be again. Depending upon your persuasion this is either both brilliant and esoteric or a complete pile of crap!
Supplier: Vivante - www.vivante.co.uk (44)(0)1293-822186

Willie Nelson - Across The Borderline
Columbia COL 472942 2 Reviewed by RP
This man is an absolute country legend. An old weather beaten visage, gnarled fingers gripping a battered acoustic guitar and a stylish splash of colour with those distinctive headbands cut quite an image. Beneath this surface lurks a bristling talent. A songwriter who encapsulates both sides of the American Dream; a guitarist of outstanding quality, a singer who immediately captures the right mood and a genuine outlaw who at one time reputedly owed the IRS $16 million in back taxes.
Across The Borderline was perhaps his strongest album of the Nineties and amongst his very best of all time. There is a striking mixture of songs. Nelson originals like ‘Valentine’, ‘She’s Not For You’ and ‘Still Is Still Moving To Me’ gel with a diverse selection of covers and modern standards. Amongst them are Lyle Lovett’s ‘Farther Down The Line’; John Hiatt’s ‘(The) Most Unoriginal Sin’; a brace of Paul Simon penned numbers in ‘Graceland’ and ‘American Tune’ as well as Dylan’s ‘What Was It You Wanted’. The performances are all brilliantly handled. On his own old Willie is charismatic. Surrounded by his touring band of musician friends including guitarist John Leventhal, drummer Jim Keltner and Benmont Tench playing B3 & C3 he is irrepressible. Throw in guest spots for Bonnie Rait, Paul Simon, Sinead O’Connor, Bob Dylan and Mose Allison and you have another must own Willie Nelson album.

Cowboy Junkies - One Soul Now
Cooking Vinyl COOKCD296 Reviewed by RP
A cult following and no little critical acclaim has allowed this Toronto based band to plough its own furrow. One Soul Now confidently sits astride an accessible pop/rock groove that still has familiar ripples beneath its surface. The Cowboy Junkies were of course propelled into the audiophile hall of fame with that minimalist recording at the Church of the Holy Trinity back in 1988. While The Trinity Sessions cost a mere $250 to produce, more was definitely spent on this album and the track ‘Simon Keeper’ in particular. This is a prophetic tale about a middle-aged man; whitecollar crime and the price paid for having your hand in the cookie jar. One by one his children cut their ties and he is left alone to contemplate life’s ironies. Here there is a stronger rhythmic underbelly behind those eerie Margo Timmins vocals.
Elsewhere the provocative ‘From Hunting Ground To City’, ‘No Long Journey Home’ and ‘My Wild Child’ have that distinctively tight and quite sparse three-piece guitar, bass and drum sound we’ve heard before. Although these songs do have a profusion of religious allusions, these are songs that still have enough secular content to sustain the interests of an old heretic. An ambitious bonus five-track disc of covers including mouth-watering cuts of ‘Thunder Road’, Neil Young’s ‘Helpless’ and a haunting version of The Cure’s ‘Seventeen Seconds’ will also raise more than a few eyebrows.

Tony Joe White - Polk Salad Annie
IMC Music WMO 90382 Reviewed by RP
Snakey, Tony Joe White’s last album, did not find the old swamp monster at his best. The singing was not always in tune but at least the song writing in that trademark soulful white-rural blues style was as powerful and rugged as ever. This live eight- track CD is in many ways much more of a disappointment. The sound is dreadfully thin and has little depth or range and the audience noise is intrusive rather than atmospheric. Many pirated discs are better recorded! That said dyed in the wool TJW fans would be interested to hear the reprise of his unlikely US Top Ten hit from 1969, ‘Polk Salad Annie’ or a healthy rendition of ‘Roosevelt And Ira Lee’. There are also some thoughtful covers in the shape of an opening ‘J. Williams Baby’, ‘Please Don’t Go’ and the Otis Redding penned ‘Hard To Handle’. White’s tuning is more together and his voice, which here is surprisingly Elvis-like, has a lighter softer touch than we’ve become accustomed to down the years. Although this disc should set you back less than five quid, I would look elsewhere to either ‘Lake Placid Blues’ or his acoustic album from 2001, ‘In The Beginning’ for a more representative account of this unique music from the Louisiana wetlands.
Supplier: www.trackrecordsuk.com

Eric Bibb, Rory Block & Maria Muldaur - Sisters & Brothers
Telarc CD-83588 Reviewed by RP
There is an easy and unforced familiarity about this collaboration that reveals itself through the vibrancy, passion and delicacy in the vocal execution. Bibb, Block and Maulder – three distinctive voices that lie at the very heart of these fine folk and often quite spiritual country blues performances – were recorded in an old timberframe barn outside of the small Maine town of Unity. This unusual location provides an atmospheric, earthy and quite natural acoustic – one that is punctuated by sensual and eloquent singing as well as the lean and hungry Bibb and Block guitars. Per Hanson’s drums, the Michael “Mudcat” Ward upright bass and sinuous keyboard skills of Chris Burns are employed to rhythmically sustain this tight thirteen song set. They certainly bring together several old favourites, including a playful ‘Good Stuff’, ‘Lean On Me’, ‘Travelin’ Woman Blues’ and ‘Bessie’s Advice’ and go on to provide some unanticipated clear sightedness in gems like the Eric Bibb cover of Bob Dylan’s, ‘Gotta Serve Somebody’. Here his rich, almost lazy vocal style is well suited to this intelligent and emotionally profound material, probably because it establishes a striking contrast to these undernourished images. Elsewhere, when taking a back seat with the supportive harmonising on an unaccompanied ‘Rock Daniel’ Bibb’s understated contribution is equally impressive.
Supplier: Track Records- www.trackrecordsuk.com

Heather Nova - Glow Stars
V2 VVR1001982 Reviewed by RP
Heather Nova debuted over a decade ago with this evocative and mostly acoustic album. Her sensual voice has a sweetness about it that rhythmically ebbs and flows in keeping with her favourite seascape imagery. A languid tempo, those fat bass lines, minimal percussion, some ethereal choruses and fragile harmonies also delicately sketch out an otherworldly feeling. While this youthful effort lacks some of the finesse and production punch found on her more recent outings it does successfully immerse us in an exposed lyrical place. One where the words for tracks like ‘Bare’, ‘Ear To The Ground’, ‘Talking To Strangers’ or ‘My Fidelity’ contrast with instrumental waves of contentment. When you interrogate your feelings in this way it throws up some interesting insights on the emotions that lie behind romantic entanglements and the frustrations and confusion that they cause. I really like the way she creates a tension with precise lyrics and dreamy, imprecise music. The limp Christ like figure of Heather on the reverse of the liner seems to reinforce a genuine sense of over exposure and vulnerability rather than hinting at irreverence. If there is mockery beneath this image it is a kind of confessional self-mockery. It is as much an album of discovery for Heather Nova as it is for us and we should be sensitive to that when approaching these idiosyncratic textures.

Paul Weller - Studio 150
V2 Records VVR 1026901 Reviewed by RP
Whereas the bankrupt Under The Influence LP masqueraded as a Paul Weller album, the big man at least deigns to rattle the keys, strum a chord or two and sing on this Studio 150 collection of covers. It’s a luscious and intricately arranged selection with the generous use of horn and string sections, male and female backing vocals, Eliza Carthy’s violin playing on ‘Black is the Colour’ and ‘Early Morning Rain’ and scoring for harp, tablas, Moog and Korg synthesisers elsewhere. These instruments certainly spice up familiar standards and classics alike. ‘All Along The Watchtower’ and ‘Birds’ retain enough of their original identities not to offend the purists; ‘Black is the Colour’ has a strong folk vein running through it and old romantic numbers such as ‘Close To You’ are delivered with sufficient dignity to just avoid pastiche. Paul’s vocal lines also stand the test of the traditional material. It is a rugged and textured performance that doesn’t allow these songs to regress under an immense weight of a pop idiom. The flexible production and engineering skills employed here are more than adequate for this presentation of these varied styles and musical hues.
Supplier: Vivante - www.vivante.co.uk (44)(0)1293-822186

Tamrah Aeryn - Typical Gurl
Massacre Records : MAS PCO433 Reviewed by AH
The delightfully named Tamrah Aeryn hails from Wisconsin, USA and this is her debut album. Tamrah trained as a classical pianist but quickly realised her calling was a career in the more popular field of music, so she started writing her own material and performed live whenever the opportunity presented itself. Events led her to Lionel Hicks, producer and drummer with rock band Balance Of Power, and the results of chance meeting can be heard here.
Tamrah’s music can be likened to Kate Bush, Tori Amos and, to a lesser extent, Bjork. Fortunately, she doesn’t go in for the latter’s ridiculous vocal warblings or nonsensical lyrics; Instead she relies on cleverly constructed songs which she layers with lush harmonies and thoughtful, poetic wordplay, underpinning each track with a strong, distinctive voice and lovely piano work. She displays a confidence and maturity way beyond her 23 years, and there are moments of genuine brilliance to be found on these 12 tracks, like the title song, where she seductively stretches and entwines her vocals to a backing of acoustic guitars, piano and congas. Not everything works; The ill-advised 80’s hairspray metal guitar solo ruins ’Over Now’ and must never be repeated on future releases, but that’s a minor quibble. Overall Typical Gurl is a very assured debut; I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something with a fresh and innovative twist.

Julie Doiron - Goodnight Nobody
Jagjaguwar Jag66 Reviewed by RP
Montreal based Julie Doiron is an indie folk singer songwriter with a winsome and quite gentle vocal style who tells of beautifully chilling winter landscapes: ‘Snowfalls In November’; lightly touches upon romantic flights of fancy in ‘Dance All Night’ or reveals her tightly guarded secrets in an autobiographical ‘The Songwriter’. The instrumental arrangements are exceptionally sparse. Sometimes on songs like ‘Dirty Feet’ and ‘Banjo’ there is little more than Julie’s voice, or a guitar and banjo underscoring and perhaps a slight infusion of colour with a splash of vibes. Even with tracks such as ‘Last Night’, ‘No Money Makers’ and ‘When I Awok’e there is an understated simplicity about the accompaniment that rarely strays far from guitars, voice and the drum kit’s rhythmic support. This exposes both the themes and the vulnerability of the chanteuse. The LP sounds pretty good for a mainstream recording.
The closely miked vocals are cleanly and delicately reproduced; the guitars have a natural shape and the drums have a stronger presence when required. Of course this all happens across the midrange where little strain if any is placed upon the sonic extremities of the engineering process. However the surfaces are a bit noisy and if you find this intrusive then the CD would be a better choice of format.

Kings of Convenience – Quiet is the New Loud
Source SOURCD019 Reviewed by RP
Duo Eirik Glambek Boe and Erlend Oye love to tease us with their incongruous album and song tiles and those worldly wise lyrics which are set against the softest of close harmonising. It’s like entering the hall of mirrors at a fun fair where the music and the lyrics are inverted or bent out of shape into surprising new images. The two protagonists are so close to one another that the roles of guitarist, pianist, drummer or lead vocalist are totally interchangeable for any of a dozen tightly arranged songs that combine airy tunes, sugary backing vocals and provocative themes. However, an understated delivery and the absence of instrumental teeth occasionally diminish the seriousness of this subject matter. Themes like the promiscuity in ‘Toxic Girl’ or when you are haunted by a woman but life’s pressures have left you mute and unable to articulate the enormity of those most intense feelings on ‘The Weight Of My Words’, should hit you much harder than they do here. Which proves along the way that “quiet” is not always a “new loud” and that sometimes big sounding voices which chew you out with their biting and edgy qualities can be more appropriate and effective than these extremely pleasant tones.

Ron Block - Faraway Land
Rounder RRCD 0477 Reviewed by RP
Better known as a guitarist with Alison Krauss and Union Station, Ron Block is a musician and lyricist whose words and scoring on a dozen songs hark back to some old fashioned God fearing country roots. Fiddle, mandolin and banjo feature strongly alongside bedrock guitars and the light tenor Block lead vocals. There is tenderness about this beautifully constructed set of songs that generally make great play out of spiritual sustenance. Here the philosophy that shines through is one that places self worth, trust and affection at its core. Though if you concentrate too closely on the lyrical content then it does sometimes feel as though you’re being force fed religion with a spatula and this is less beguiling. I came away from this album with a respect for the strength that lies behind the dogma but no more than that. A supportive Alison Krauss makes an appearance on three tracks: ‘Your Heart Has Found A Home’, ‘Another Life I’m Living On’ and ‘In The Morning Light’ lending her sweet traditional vocals and accomplished fiddle playing to proceedings. Faraway Land is the kind of music to fuel an existing belief system rather than ask more searching questions beyond its Sunday morning fervour.

Lambchop - Aw C’mon / No You C’mon
City Slang 7243 595890 1 5 / CS 20232-1 Reviewed by RP
This is a sprawling double album that presents us with two distinct canvases. Aw C’mon was written to underscore Murnau’s 1927 silent movie and its vision is a broad one more concerned with the creation of a smooth panoramic. The relaxed mood is developed through a kaleidoscope of colours and new wave country textures that wrap themselves around Kurt Wagner’s soulful and Curtis Mayfield-like falsetto delivery. No You C’mon’s songs present a tougher attitude. The Wagner vocal threads become gruff and more clipped in their dark staccato mutterings on tracks such as ‘Low Ambition’ or ‘Nothing Adventurous Please’ while his characteristic musings upon low key and mundane topics in ‘Listen’ and ‘About My Lighter’ are never that far away. A curious and contrasting mixture of lush string accompaniment and stripped mined guitar alternately lightens and then darkens the mood on these tracks. The incongruous string and vocal combination is over played. This is a marriage of convenience; too contrived it dilutes some interesting observations on the commonplace.
Here Wagner’s preoccupation with life’s minutiae is lost within a vast aural landscape.
Supplier: Vivante - www.vivante.co.uk (44)(0)1293-822186

Mavis Staples - Have A Little Faith
Alligator Records : ALCD 4899 Reviewed by AH
Prince calls her the voice; a simple declaration but supremely apt for a woman who has made a massive contribution to the world of contemporary popular music. Mavis Staples was ‘The Voice’ in the hugely successful Staple Singers, belting out classics like ‘I’ll Take You There’ and ‘Respect Yourself’ with her sisters Cleo and Yvonne and Father Pops. As a solo singer she has had mixed success, her last recording being 1996’s ‘Spiritual and Gospel: A tribute To Mahalla Jackson’ 8 years later she arrived on blues label Alligator with Have A Little Faith, possibly her strongest recording to date. ‘The Voice’ is as supple as ever, husky and creamy sweet at the same time, absolute perfection for the emotional demands of gospel, soul, r & b and the blues. Running through Have A Little Faith is a very strong bluesy vibe; ‘Step Into The Light’ kicks in with a hurting acoustic slide, handclaps and a swirling organ amidst restrained electric guitar and heavy-on-the-gospel backing vocals whilst ‘Pop’s Recipe’ could easily have been lifted from a Staple Singers record, with its ultra catchy chorus and pump and bump groove. The production is clean, spacious and uncluttered with Mavis’ voice presented upfront in the mix – as it should be. The word ‘legend’ is thrown around too cheaply these days but in Mavis’ case totally justified; the woman’s a sublime singer.

Ron Sexsmith - Retriever
Nettwerk America 7243 5 78308 2 9 Reviewed by RP
Canadian born piano playing guitarist and singer/songwriter Ron Sexsmith, with his lightly textured, airy and understated vocals that stylistically so suits the nakedness and intimacy of his wordplay, has something of a less angry Ryan Adams about him. Lyrics from songs like ‘Hard Bargin’, “I’m a bit run down but I’m ok” and the wry observation on ‘Imaginary Friends’, that “They will always leave you hanging…and you won’t see them again” allows us to get pretty close to the man. But sometimes there is just a suggestion that in revealing these personal details he too easily slips into self-pitying and naval gazing moments. The lightness of his vocal touch, the hesitancy and downbeat nature of this storytelling does nothing to dissuade me from that opinion. However, Sexsmith is only human and in exposing his humanity in this way he does remind us that at one time or another we’ve all been guilty of over indulging our emotions. The quality of his songcraft always shines through, even in an album that has stronger than the normal Sexsmith production values. This is because he’s always more than capable of conjuring up persuasive and very visual images which cut so sharply to the chase on a track like ‘Tomorrow In Her Eyes’, which smartly weighs and measures the prospects for love in the face of his lover. Indulgent, yet arresting.

The-Low-Country - The Dark Road
Cat No Low CO 02 Reviewed by AH
There’s a whole host of female singers plying their trade in the music business currently, either solo or as part of a band. To stand out you have to be damned god, which is where The-Low-Country have a head start over most of the competition. Their secret weapon is Emily Barker, an Australian singer cut from the same cloth as Margo Timmons of The Cowboy Junkies and Oh Susanna’s Suzie Ungerleider. As well as being an incredibly moving vocalist she’s also a first rate songwriter and a powerful lyricist capable of quite stunning imagery. All 10 songs on the album were composed by her but it would be grossly unfair on the other band members to call The Dark Road an Emily Barker solo album. Rob Jackson’s spooky electric guitar playing adds plenty of haunting drama to the songs while Ian Pickering and Alex Mackell provide a suitably low-key backdrop on drums and bass respectively. By now you’ve probably formed a rough idea of what musical landscape the-Low-Key reside in. I’d pitch it somewhere between The Cowboy Junkies and Oh Susannna, with a little Kate Wolf and Joni Mitchell thrown into the mix for measure. All 10 songs on ‘The Dark Road’ display a delicate heart and posses the ability to enchant and delight at the same time. I’d describe it as beautifully sad –or sadly beautiful, depending on which way you look at it.
Distribution: proper music. Tel: 0870 444 0800

James Grant - Holy Love
Sanctuary Records Reviewed by AH
James Grant was lead singer with Love And Money, a very fine Scottish band who produced a clutch of great sounding albums in the late 80’s and 90’s. They should have been as big as Simple Minds and Deacon Blue, but for whatever reason, failed to capture the imagination of the record buying public. Dogs In The Traffic, their last for Fontana, was a masterful slab of white soul and singled out James Grant as a singer of considerable substance – the Scott Walker of his day. With Holy Love he’s stripped the sound to the bone and created an album of soft, intimate songs. Instrumentation is sparse and uncluttered; the merging of acoustic guitars, mandolins, banjos and harmonium compliment Grant’s deep honeycoated vocal, adding plenty of atmosphere to his poetic wordplay. He’s drafted in the great Dobro player Jerry Douglas and two of Scotland’s finest female talents – ex–Thrum vocalist Monica Queen and Capercaillie’s Karen Matheson – to help him create this understated little masterpiece. The blending of Grant’s voice with the two girls’ harmonies is a continual delight, especially on stand out track ‘The Streets You Walk Every Day’. James cites catholic guilt as the inspiration behind Holy Love. Personally, I think guilt’s a wasted emotion, but if it’s going to help him create songs as brilliant as this he can carry on feeling guilty for as long as he likes.

Tony Joe White - Heroines
Sanctuary Records SANCD 301 Reviewed by AH
Heroines is Tony Joe White’s first album in six years and the idea for this collaboration with some of his favourite female singers came about after a conversation with his son Jody (also his tour manager). Some of the girls couldn’t make it to White’s Tennessee studio to record because of other commitments (or in Lucinda’s case, a fear of flying), so Jody hand-delivered or shipped the tracks to wherever they were; they recorded their vocal performances and shipped them back. White is a spontaneous, one-take man. A few of the girls chose to do their vocal parts four or five times over, but it always ended up being the first take that he chose for the album. ‘Closing In On The Fire’ is a hot and sweaty duet with Lucinda, lusting loud and clear about ‘Being out of control’ and ‘ In it way over her head’. Emmylou’s contribution on ‘Wild Wolf Calling Me’ is a little more sedate, but still up to her exacting standards. Shelby Lynne, Jessi Colter and White’s daughter Michelle are the other “Heroines” contributing to this project; the rest of the tracks are just White doing what he does best – bluesy, swampy, groovin’ pop rock. Apparently there is a complimentary “Heroes” set scheduled for release sometime next year; perhaps sanctuary should consider releasing them as a double package.

Andra Sparks - Your Time
Verge 006 Reviewed by DD
Andra Sparks moved to jazz from a background in classical music and whilst there’s a trace of precise classical intonation in her singing she is clearly more than comfortable in the jazz environment. This album comprises a mix of carefully chosen standards along with a few less familiar tunes such as Dorough & Landesman’s ‘Small Day Tomorrow’ a number that is given an outstanding interpretation here. Sparks is accompanied by a very strong band, comprising Nick Weldon (piano), Russell van den Berg (sax), Jeff Clyne (bass), and Trevor Tompkins (drums). Standout tracks include a tender and quite beautiful reading of Wolf/ Landesman’s ‘Ballad of the Sad Young Men’, a nice reading of ‘After You’ve Gone’ enlivened and given edge by some fine piano playing from Weldon, a dramatic version of Rodgers and Hart’s ‘I Didn’t Know What Time It Was’, and for me the strongest song here, Sparks version of the title song, Ferre’s ‘Your Time’ (translated from the original ‘Avec Le Temps’) a song about both the fading of love within a relationship, and at another level about the diminishing spirit of life itself. Here she almost recites the lyrics imbuing the number with powerful emotion. This is a beautifully sung, very well played and well-recorded set that I hope will gain Andra Sparks the wider audience she clearly deserves.
Supplier: Vivante - www.vivante.co.uk (44)(0)1293-822186

Duke Ellington - Money Jungle
Chesky SACD275 Reviewed by DD
Way back before I knew anything about girls, working for a living or jazz, I bought a re-issue LP of Money Jungle. Compositionally and musically it just happened to be one of the Duke’s finest. Here the original seven tracks including classics like ‘Very Special’, ‘Caravan’ and ‘Solitude’ have been expanded to fifteen with alternate takes and four new titles that were all recorded at this New York session back on September 17th 1962 but not previously released.
This is definitely not one of those cases where more is less. More of the mighty Mingus on bass, more of Max Roach’s technical mastery and inventiveness on drums and more of that wonderfully adroit and quite unique Ellington sound are individual blessings. Together what a stellar trio they were and on the new cuts of ‘A Little Max (Parfait)’ and the traditional blues numbers ‘Switchblade’, ‘REM Blues’ and ‘Backward Country Boy Blues’ their playing is as sumptuous as ever. The 24-bit mastering and the re-mix of those original session tapes reproduce the synergy and beautifully intricate moments they conjured up over forty years ago. Even though this is not what I would describe as “audiophile” sound it is good enough to reveal that musically it’s an essential purchase.

McCoy Tyner - Illuminations
Telarc SACD 63599 Reviewed by DD
At a time when many musicians would be resting on their laurels, McCoy Tyner is one of the most influential pianists, composers and arrangers in jazz. A key member of the classic John Coltrane Quartet, his playing has graced two of the best albums in the genre, My Favourite Things and the groundbreaking A Love Supreme. Nevertheless, here he is at 66 with his energy undiminished, leading a powerful band comprising Gary Bartz (sax), Terence Blanchard (trumpet), Christian McBride (bass), and Lewis Nash (drums). A listen to just a few bars of ‘New Orleans Stomp’ with its spitting trumpet, lithe sax and driving percussion held together by Tyner’s masterful playing is enough to convince that he’s lost none of his powers over the years. The frenetic pace of Gary Bartz’s ‘Soulstice’ gives the composer and Blanchard an opportunity to really shine while Tyner kicks in with a magisterial solo. Outstanding stuff and one of the best tracks of this very strong set. McBride’s ‘West Philly Tone Poem’ demonstrates a more lyrical approach with bowed bass offsetting tender chords from Tyner in this delicate number. The bands romp through Arthur Schwartz’s ‘Alone Together’ is a fitting closer. Full-bodied and appropriately dynamic this is a good recording lacking (at least in 2 channel SACD mode) only in a little stage depth, and a highly enjoyable musical experience.
Supplier: Vivante - www.vivante.co.uk (44)(0)1293-822186

Helen Merrill - Screen Favourites
JVC SVCD1045 Reviewed by SG
The cover, which shows an immaculately permed and twin-setted Merrill simply screamed ‘not for me!’ However since she had certainly earned her jazz chops over the years I relented. Dating from 1968, during Merrill’s five year stint in Japan, this collection of songs sees her accompanied by ‘Takesh Inotamal and the Westliner Plus All-Stars’. No, it doesn’t mean a thing to me either, but it amounts to a full orchestra and chorus backing Merrill with very classy arrangements throughout. Merrill treats these chestnuts with due respect delivering pretty straight renditions of each with little hint of her jazz background. The whole thing could so easily descend into a sticky vat of musical treacle but fortunately it’s saved by the quality of Merrill’s honey-toned voice, her phrasing and the outstanding orchestration and production. It only took a few bars of the first track ‘Three Coins In The Fountain’ (I know, I know), to hook me. Sure it’s sweet and a tad sickly but this is a fine Belgian chocolate in comparison with the high-street fare that performances of this material so often become.
Merrill takes on a host of fairly predictable numbers their very familiarity making the whole experience more comforting and enjoyable. My only quibble over this lightweight yet deeply satisfying set is that the playing time is under 39 minutes.
Supplier: Vivante - www.vivante.co.uk (44)(0)1293-822186

Jacintha - The Girl From Bossa Nova
Groove Note GRV1026-3 Reviewed by RG
This is a suitably laid-back tour through the oh so familiar tunes made famous all those years ago by Gilberto, Getz, Jobim and of course Astrid Gilberto. Familiar as they are Jacintha backed by Bill Cunliffe (piano), and a top-class band including Harry Allen (tenor sax), John Pisano (acoustic guitar), Darek Olezkiewicz (bass), and Tim Pleasant (drums), is in fine voice and adds a layer of emotion missing from Astrid’s original recordings. Helped by superb arrangements from Cunliffe, Jacintha has a deeper toned voice than Gilberto and digs that little bit deeper into the core of each song, drawing out the poignancy of these tales of love and longing. The other star here is Cunliffe, not simply for his arrangements but for fine and sensitive playing throughout. There are no surprises here, with all the familiar numbers present and correct.
The recording is another great job from Groove Note, weighty and very natural with a wide, deep soundstage, Jacintha centre stage and well forward of the speaker plane. Whilst this set will never replace my treasured original recordings, they are too familiar and too wound up in my personal history, and good as Harry Allen is, he ain’t Stan Getz, this is a very worthwhile and beautifully recorded new spin on this material and one that’s well worth (re)visiting.
Supplier: Vivante - www.vivante.co.uk (44)(0)1293-822186

Herbie Mann - Caminho De Casa
Chesky SACD280 Reviewed by DD
In the early 1960’s Mann asked Nesuhi Ertegun if he could record the new music of Brazil at source. The ‘yes’ that followed allowed Mann to capture the true Brazilian sound, along the way suggesting to Jobim that he sing, thus sparking off his first recorded vocal performance in ‘One Note Samba’, and sustaining in Mann a lifetime’s love for this music. This album, originally released in 1992, is proof enough of Mann’s ongoing passion. Accompanied by his top-notch band ‘Jasil Brazz’ this is a relaxed and fluid set with Mann’s flute riding over the sinuous, bubbling rhythms as they work through an album comprising tunes by the contemporary Brazilian composer Ivan Lins, Milton Nascimento, and others.
This is a remarkably consistent set flowing naturally from one tune to another, but standouts for me include the very relaxed ‘Yesterday’s Kisses’ (the only Mann composition), the percussion driven closer ‘Doa A Quem Doer’, and the gentle ‘Gabriela’s Song’. The contributions from pianists Eduardo Simon, and Mark Soskins and from New Orleans drummer Ricky Sebastian are superb, providing a consistently subtle and sympathetic backdrop to Mann’s flute.
Whilst this album breaks no barriers it is a rewarding listen; gentle, lyrical and very well produced. If you like your Jobim you won’t go wrong here.
Supplier: Vivante - www.vivante.co.uk (44)(0)1293-822186

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