On this page
Music Reviews from Issue 56

Whilst we offer contact numbers and links to our suppliers websites for your convenience hi-fi+ does not support or endorse any of the businesses involved.
Back to hi-fi+ welcome page | Back to Last Page | This issues contents
Next pop / jazz Reviews | Next classical / Audiophile Review | Music Review Index

Search the Music Review Database

GoodBooks - Control
Columbia LIBRARY009 Reviewed by JK
Control is GoodBooks’ debut album and it’s a record that provides tight, thoughtful music in spades. Reminiscent of bands like Bloc Party: intelligent and considered, with a distinct focus on production whilst steering away from Neanderthal dad-rock they use a light touch to build a more complex sound than most bands, with percussion and guitar effects used to open it up, rather than hammer it home. However, Control isn’t about being experimental or progressive and this is certainly no concept album. Instead it is refreshingly light and tuneful, with breezy harmonies and dancehall keyboards. Not many bands can, or would choose to, write a song about the Great War, and far fewer still would set it to a disco backing. But this is what GoodBooks do - using metaphors, telling stories, fables and parables. They keep the overall tone light, but look underneath and their music, both lyrically and musically, is surprisingly deep. Throughout the album you get the distinct impression that there is something else here, some sort of message, snatched glimpses of something more. This record is subtle and heavily textured, brilliantly recorded, offering more each and every time you listen. It’s been a long time since I listened to an album that is as thoughtful and intelligent as Control, and longer still since that album was actually any good. This leap out of your hi-fi like a burst of fresh air.

Debbie Davies - Blues Blast
Telarc Records CD83669 Reviewed by AH
It hasn’t been easy for women guitarists/vocalists to gain a foothold in the blues, an area of music heavily dominated by the male fraternity. Things are beginning to change though, and there are some amazingly talented ladies out there currently giving the guys a real run for their money. Thanks to the likes of Susan Tedeschi, Ana Popovic, Sue Foley and more recently Roxanne Potvin, the girls are beginning to make blues fans stand up and take notice.
As a former pupil of the late, great Albert Collins, Debbie Davies has been plying her trade on the blues circuits for a number of years. For three of those years she backed the great man, and his intensified playing style can be heard in Davies’ marvelous and consistently inventive take on lead guitar. She wheels in some heavyweight guests to help out on this latest release. Coco Montoya, Tab Benoit and legendary harpist Charlie Musselwhite are on hand to make proceedings go with a right royal swing. Whatever floats your boat, be it blistering in-your-face instrumentals, foot-tapping Texas shuffles or heartfelt slow blues, you’ll find it all here in these grooves. Best of a great bunch is the instrumental ‘Sonora Sunset’, ten priceless minutes of scintillating slow blues where Davies, Benoit and Montoya take it in turns to let rip in their own inimitable styles. Yep, it’s definitely a real blast of the blues.

Country Joe & The Fish - Electric Music For The Mind And Body
Pure Pleasure Records/Vanguard VSD 79244 Reviewed by RP
This release from 1967 makes a real statement about the importance of all musical genres to our pastime. The psychedelic Sixties rarely make it onto 180g vinyl and that is a shame when it’s an album as coherent, inventive and rewarding as Electric Music For The Mind And Body. Former folk singer, Country Joe McDonald embraces the bold idiomatic range of distorted guitars and weird swirling organ and keyboard excursions but never loses sight of his audience through all this diversity and experimentalism. Even when handling the darkest of themes in a track like ‘Death Sound Blues’, which could have easily descended into an impenetrable dirge, the music remains eminently accessible and is the more enjoyable and thought provoking for it.
There are folk influenced songs and these include ‘Sad & Lonely Time’ and ‘Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine’. The latter resonates with witty and amusing lyrical dexterity and goes a very long way to prove that this music need not be a swirling, chaotic, drug influenced malaise. Excellent playing from Barry Melton (guitar),
Bruce Barthol (bass), David Cohen (organ) and Chicken Hirsh (drums), together with a vivid recording whose strongest card is stereo separation helps to further distinguish this album from its peers. A brave and surprisingly rewarding re-issue.
Supplier: www.purepleasurerecords.com

Luther Allison - Underground
Ruf Records RUF1132 Reviewed by AH
Long lost recordings of artists at the start of their careers can be one of two things: a truly awful, almost inaudible bootleg where the record company sees the opportunity to make a quick buck, or a really important historical document that just screams out to be heard. Underground was the first recording ever made by Luther Allison.
Like all good rock ‘n’ roll stories it was discovered by his son Bernard whilst he was going through some of his dad’s effects at his mother’s house. It was made fifty years ago when Luther was a less than confident 18-year old. He was coaxed into Wonderful Studios in Chicago by Bobby Rush, who encouraged the young Luther to just express himself whilst the tape rolled. What came out was pretty extraordinary, and considering money was short and the whole thing was done on a shoestring, the recording quality is outstandingly good. In later years Luther became a legend, not just for his blistering guitar work but also for
his impassioned vocals, and whilst he obviously wasn’t the finished article when these recordings were made, it’s plainly obvious he had a special ‘something’ that marked him out as a future star.
This isn’t a record company cash-in, it’s a vitally important discovery and if not a blues monument, then certainly an important signpost.

fields - 7 from the village
Black Lab Records 94522-2 Reviewed by AH

fields - Everything Last Winter
Atlantic 505144 20061 2 4 Reviewed by MC
It’s hard to convey just how good some of fields’ songs are. Just to listen to a track like ‘song for the fields’ is almost painfully superb. It’s such a shame then that they spread these tracks so thinly. These two albums are essentially the same record, just split across two discs, released on two different continents and mixed with different production values. So whilst 7 from the village catches a young band on an independent label Everything Last Winter sees the band signed to a major label and suddenly let loose in a first rate studio. But whilst the latter has greater gloss and punch, it lacks one important thing: ‘Brittlesticks’, a song so perfect that it makes my all time top ten. Which brings me to the problem with these records; whilst the highs are breathtaking, the lows are frankly pedestrian, a problem more pronounced on the mini-album where the filler is frankly dreadful, whereas on the full-length record at least the also-rans are glossed up and filled out. But for a chance to glimpse those stratospheric highs, those heavenly harmonies and brief moments of clarity I’d put up with some seriously bad low points. After all, what else is the track skip button for? If you buy just one, get the album, but there’s good fun to be had comparing the recordings, so try going that extra mile.

7 from the village

Everything last Winter

Kelly Willis - Translated From Love
Rykodisc RCD10886 Reviewed by AH
Kelly Willis is blessed with one of those heartbreaker voices; when she sings a real tearjerker she can bring the toughest of the tough to their knees. In the 90’s she was a product of the Nashville treadmill, but even in such a sterile environment she still managed to produce albums head and shoulders above her contemporaries.
Once free from the confines of the corporate music industry she set up home at Rykodisc to create a more alternative country sound. Her take on Nick Drake’s ‘Time Has Told Me’ still stands as the best version I’ve ever heard. Translated From Love finds Willis collaborating with ex-Green On Red guitarist Chuck Prophet, and together they have crafted the most fully realized album of her career. The twelve songs take in six co-writes and some pretty unusual covers, none more so than Iggy Pop’s ‘Success’. With call and response vocals, a huge dollop of vintage vox organ and sparkling guitar work from Prophet and Leisz, Willis hands it a new lease of life, albeit a million miles from the original. However, a Kelly Willis album isn’t complete without a tearjerker and there are three beauties here, ‘Losing You’, ‘Stone’s Throw Away’ and the stunning title track. Motherly duties have slowed her output but when Willis does get in the studio she never disappoints. This is just as good as what’s gone before.

Mark Gillespie - Unplugged
New West Records NW6128 Reviewed by RP
This is the disc that Mark Gillespie has for years threatened to release. It’s also his best. Unplugged is a studio album dedicated to his busking “street audience” and is based around his favourite covers and four of Gillespie’s own songs written during the recording sessions at the Chocolate Factory studio in Giessen, Germany. The originals: ‘Take To The Skies’, ‘Angels In The Rain’, ‘So Beautiful’ and ‘Chasing The Moon’ sit comfortably alongside ‘Don’t Mess Around’ (Richard H Jones); ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ (Bill Withers); ‘Chasing Cars’ (Snow Patrol); ‘Probably Me’ (Sting); ‘Crazy’ (Seal) and ‘Waiting In Vain’ (Bob Marley) emphasising Mark’s strength as both a writer and performer. The production is built upon Gillespie’s airy and compelling whiskey soaked voice that eases across the width and breadth of popular music, and of course the minimalist simplicity of his Lakewood acoustic guitar playing. He makes these covers his own not through imitation but through intelligent and confident reinterpretation, subtle inflection, thoughtful carefully revised tempos and many a crafted nuance. He also possesses in Peter Herrmann (bass) and Oliver Jager (piano) a pair of exceptionally talented sidemen who constantly remain on his wavelength. Mark Gillespie, a fantastic busker and a decent bloke with whom to share a beer.
Supplier: www.gillespie.de

Hans Theesink - Slow Train
Blue Groove Records CD1620 Reviewed by AH
Theesink’s last album, Bridges was recorded in an old church to give it a warm, open and very natural sound. So taken was he with the results, that he set about looking for similar surroundings for Slow Train. This time his friend Pinky Watts opened his house in the vineyards of Southern Styria and the whole band parked themselves there for ten days, along with lots of vintage equipment from Vienna and sound engineer Thomas Loffler, who built a makeshift studio from scratch. The results are absolutely stunning. Rarely have I heard a CD recording sound so analogue, it really is a joy to behold. Bridges was a peach of an album, full of African influences and beautifully married to Theesink’s deep love of the blues, but he’s gone one better with this one. The song writing is so strong and his band is nothing short of incredible.
Those African influences continue to play a major part too; think a bluesier Graceland and you’d be getting close to what this man does. Theesink’s voice is the perfect foil for the music; deep and creamy but with a lovely easygoing quality to it. My favourite song is the title track; I loved it on first hearing and it just gets better with every play. In fact, that’s true of the whole album, a really uplifting experience. Pure gold dust.

The Long Blondes - Someone To Drive You Home
Rough Trade RTRADCD364 Reviewed by MC
The leader of Last Train Home is Eric Brace, a former music journalist for respected newspaper The Washington Post who just happens to be an excellent singer and songwriter in his own right. This is Last Train Home’s fifth album, and although Brace is the principal songwriter, all the band members (which include ex-Jayhawk Jen Gunderman on keyboards) contributed ideas and arrangements. Last Good Kiss was mainly recorded live in the studio, and shows a band comfortable in their surroundings and capable of bringing the best out of one another. They fit the Americana bracket, or alt-country if you prefer, but really they’re just a damned fine rock ‘n’ roll band with a great grasp on melody and song structure. Not surprisingly, considering they have an ex-Jayhawk in their midst, there’s a strong ‘Hawks’ flavour to their music, especially on mid-paced numbers like ‘Can’t Come Undone’, which features delightful accordian playing courtesy of Ms. Gunderman.
They have their own identity though, and in Brace they have a vocalist with a flexible and hugely entertaining voice, and a songwriter every bit the equal of messrs. Louris and Olson. Thrown in for good measure is a cover of Dylan’s ‘Wheels Of Fire’, and it’s a compliment to Brace when I tell you his songs stand shoulder to shoulder with one of rock music’s legendary compositions.

The Long Blondes - Someone To Drive You Home
Rough Trade RTRADCD364 Reviewed by MC
The Long Blondes have been building in my consciousness now since this album was released last year. It’s taken that long for them to have risen from also-ran to top of the class, but rise they have. They use the long-standing formula of a handful of guys at the back pumping out jangling guitar licks with a woman at the mic providing a hint of retro-chic sophistication. The Long Blondes twist is to keep things that little bit gritty. So whereas The Pipettes and The Chalets are buffed until squeaky clean, The Long Blondes still have a little bit of dirt under their fingernails. This allows their music a little more freedom, loosening the format and letting things get a bit darker; there’s absolutely nothing subtle about the performance on this album. The guitars stumble about like a drunkard on a Friday night, wheeling off in unexpected directions and exploding down each creative pathway and it’s this boisterous exuberance that gives the record its energy.
But what really sets the band apart are some of the finest lyrics I have ever heard. On they read like prose, on record they spin the melody off into unexpected detours as sentences run their course. This is a record that drips with bitterness, regret and jealousy seen from the eyes of the jilted lover or the forgotten woman. And it’s this dark, innovative song-writing that makes this album unforgettable.

Corey Stevens - Albertville
Ruf Records RUF1125 Reviewed by AH
Corey Stevens is one of the blues world’s best kept secrets. This Texas native has released some stunning albums over the years, none more thrilling than Blue Drops Of Rain, a record Stevie Ray would have been proud to call his own.
Like Vaughan, Stevens is an exhilarating guitarist comfortable in any style, and blessed with an excellent voice. Here he pays homage to a colossus of the blues, the immortal Albert King. Rather than take King’s best loved songs, Stevens has chosen to cover a batch of the lesser known ones - and my word, what a great job he’s done too! Wicked solos tumble forth, augmented by a crack horn section and the tastiest rhythm combination this side of Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon. This is most definitely the blues, but it’s shot through with a generous helping of funk, which makes standing still an impossible task when listening to it. There are too many highlights to list but to these ears ‘Little Brother (Make A Way )’ deserves special mention for its lazy, soulful groove. The bass-line is positively hypnotic, and Stevens’ solo hit’s the spot. The only downer is a pedestrian take on ‘Blue Suede Shoes’, a rock ‘n’ roll song that doesn’t translate too well to the blues. But hey, I’m being picky; the rest is a sublime listen and a must for all music fans.

Matt Andersen - Second Time Around
Andersen Records 07 Reviewed by AH
According to the single piece of flimsy paper passing for a booklet, this is the second time Matt Andersen’s recorded these songs, hence the album title. Having not heard the original versions, one has to judge on what’s to be found here, so it’s pleasing to report that this young Canadian is a first rate guitarist and a vocalist of some note.
He’s an excellent songwriter too; all but two of the tracks are written by him, the exclusions being a moody take on Bill Withers’ ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ and a more than passable wander through the Steve Earle classic ‘My Old Friend The Blues’. Most of the guitar playing is acoustic, picked to perfection, cleanly executed and quite breathtaking at times, but when he does swap to an electric he proves to be no slouch in that department either. ‘Just Don’t Call Me Your Friend’ has some delightfully fluid soloing - the perfect backdrop for his rough and tough vocal approach.
Andersen can slide with the best of them too; the fretwork on ’Tell Me’ dazzles as he weaves his way between slide and finger picking with an effortlessness not heard that often. This isn’t strictly a blues album, more a collection of songs with a strong blues vein at their centre. There’s a hidden track too, that just for a change proves to be well worth the wait.

Willie Nelson - You Don’t Know Me: The Songs Of Cindy Walker
Lost Highway B0006079-1 Reviewed by RP
The prolific and legendary Willie Nelson delivers up new albums like shelling peas, but the standard rarely falters because of the terrific songs he writes and covers. The Songs of Cindy Walker is no exception. An entire LP devoted to this lady songwriter is long overdue and her contribution to the genre cannot be overstated.
For more than thirty years, hit followed hit, guaranteeing Walker’s induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In reinterpreting these classics, Willie nails each and every one of them. He pays homage to his friend and leaves his own indelible mark upon her music-music that traverses unfulfilled dreams, heartbreak,
failure, love and loneliness, all against a back drop of dusty towns, seedy bars and moonlit vistas. Whether it’s a drover’s lament like ‘Dusty Skies’; a song about love and forgiveness in ‘I Don’t Care’ or a traditional “crying into your drink” track such as ‘Bubbles In My Beer’, you’re left in little doubt as to the emotional and lyrical quality embedded in these songs. The transfer to vinyl, for a non-audiophile pressing, is incredibly successful, the transparency, fine detail and instrumental accuracy of the sound showing the depth of these brilliant arrangements.

Mary Gauthier - Between Daylight And Dark
Lost Highway 602517338579 Reviewed by AH
“No more running away. I’ve made up my mind to stay. I’m gonna stand my ground, stare my demons down…” Those words feature in ‘I Ain’t Leavin’’ and spell out Mary Gauthier’s current frame of mind. Her well documented past (abusive childhood, alcoholism, prison sentence) is now well and truly behind her, and although this album has its fair share of heart wrenching lyrics, there appear to be elements of new found hope inside these songs. As a confessional writer with a strong narrative side, Gauthier has few peers. She’s up there with Lucinda Williams in the songwriting stakes, her last album Mercy Now being the pick of her five prior albums.
She keeps improving though, and this one might be marginally better still. Between Daylight… was recorded live in Joe Henry’s studio and features cameo appearances from Loudon Wainwright and ace sessioneer Van Dyke Parks, whose piano contribution on ‘Can’t Find A Way’ lends a stark desperation to the Hurricane Katrina inspired lyrics.
Gauthier’s southern drawl is softer than Williams’ but just as adept at dragging the hurt out of a song, and although she might be more optimistic these days, there aren’t many writers who can paint more vivid pictures of life at the tougher end of the street than her. Triumph over adversity? The lady’s nailed it with a fair degree of aplomb.

Erin McKeown - Lafayette
Reviewed by AH
Live albums…you either love ‘em or hate ‘em. Personally, I’m a fan of the former, as long as they’re capable of making you wish you’d been there to watch it all going down. Erin McKeown’s early albums had a tendency to drift in an indiepop direction. Nothing wrong with that as she’s more than capable of writing a decent tune or two, but in a live setting it’s a very different story, as one might expect given that she calls her back up band ‘The Little Big Band’. Recorded at the Lafayette club in NYC, this album crackles with energy, and the performances of all the musicians are right out of the top drawer. Special mention has to go to drummer Alison Miller though, for providing constantly inventive fills and a rock-solid backbeat. Her timing is positively metronomic as she blends superbly with bassist Tom Sickafoose (what a name!) on the slow-building ‘James’, and she whips the intimate crowd into a frenzy with a great display of precision and power on ‘We Are More’. McKeown shows her leadership qualities on ‘…More’ too, as she gets the audience involved in a sing-a-long that makes the hairs on the back of the neck bristle with emotion.
Lafayette is a terrific live album with great songs, a knockout band and really excellent recording quality. It’s one gig I’d have loved to attend.

T-Bone Walker - Sings The Blues
Imperial LP 9098
Pure Pleasure Records Reviewed by RP
A hugely influential innovator, blues guitarist T-Bone Walker cut these grooves over four sessions in Los Angeles between April 1950 and January 1952.
The technical brilliance of his cool West Coast licks are supported by an array of truly excellent players including bassist Billy Hadnott, tenor Maxwell Davis, pianist Willard McDaniels and drummer Oscar Lee Bradley, with Walker’s guitar determining the tempo. Real synergy is generated throughout. The songs are tight and pithy little gems that range across a host of typical blues themes, obvious from titles like ‘Blues Is A Woman’, ‘Cold Cold Feeling’, ‘You Don’t Love Me’ and ‘Strollin’ With Bones’. None are longer than a touch over three minutes in length and this adds to the sense of momentum, musical flow and immediacy. Vocally, T-Bone Walker bears his soul and generates that classic tortured blues man persona as he wrings the last drop of emotion from this material, the smouldering ‘You Don’t Understand’ being a fine example. Ironic threads and rays of deprecating humour generously illuminate these songs in the traditional way of the blues. Shadow and sunshine struggling for ascendancy, and whilst Pure Pleasure’s release offers no sonic challenge to original pressings, it does offer the chance to own a crucial musical document.
Supplier: www.purepleasurerecords.com

Kim Richey - Chinese Boxes
Vanguard Records 79823-2 Reviewed by AH
As a Nashville songwriter Kim Richey has few peers; luminaries such as Trisha Yearwood and Mary Chapin Carpenter are amongst the many to have covered her songs. As a solo artist there’s been a steady shift; the earlier albums were very much country rock, but her last album Rise showed a different side to her, loaded as it was with beautiful, ethereal pop songs. Chinese Boxes carries on where Rise left off, only this time she’s enlisted the help of Sir George Martin’s son Giles as producer, and together they’ve crafted a record that’s sure to figure in a lot of 2007’s ‘album of the year’ lists. Chinese Boxes was recorded in London and that, coupled with Martin’s bright and spacious production, gives it a very ‘English’ sound. Unsurprisingly the Beatles spring to mind, especially with the arrangements and melodies displayed on ‘Jack And Jill’ and the bouncy ‘Not A Love Like This’.
However, ballads are Richey’s tour-de-force. She’s got heartbreak by the gallon in that voice of hers, and it spills over righteously on the pleading ‘The Absence Of Your Company’ and downright gorgeous closer ‘Pretty Picture’. These days, given CD’s ability to allow an artist to over-indulge, it’s refreshing to see Richey eschewing the temptation in favour of just 33 minutes of music, but what a lovely listening experience those 33 minutes are.
She is such a treasure.

Maria Rita - Samba Meu
Warner 2564698109 Reviewed by DD
The daughter of two icons of Brazilian music, Elis Regina and Cezar Camargo Mariano, Maria Rita has already carved a name for herself with her eponymous first album going platinum, and her second album Segundo gaining two Latin Music Grammys. This third album pays tribute to some of her country’s most characteristic music, the samba. It includes numbers by many of the best known songwriters including Arlindo Cruz, Franco Picole, and Elson do Pagode, but doesn’t exclude new composers such as Edu Krieger and Rodrigo Bittencourt.
With excellent arrangements by Jota Moraes and a strong crew of musicians in support, particularly (and as is only right for this music) on percussion, one track listing ‘cymbal, knife and frying pan’ amongst the arsenal, it’s Maria Rita’s voice that properly leads and sets the feel throughout. It’s a joyously seamless experience, guaranteed to put a little sunshine in your soul, but a few favourites quickly established themselves for me, including the sensual opening title track, the light as air ‘Num Corpo So’, the children’s voices joining in on ‘Cria’, the meltingly tender ‘Trajetoria’ and so it goes. It’s a strong album throughout, superbly sung, beautifully played and joyous.

Ben Webster - Atmosphere For Lovers and Thieves
Black Lion/Pure Pleasure 30105 Reviewed by DDD
One of several Black Lion releases from studio sessions recorded in Copenhagen in 1965 when Webster moved permanently to Europe, Atmosphere is among the best of his later recordings. This is a collection of titles from three different recording sessions, about half of which include as sidemen Kenny Drew, Niels-Henning Orsted Pederson and Alex Riel, while the others feature a larger group of less well known musicians. What results is consistently fine playing and superior sound. The tunes are mostly standards such as ‘Stardust’, ‘Autumn Leaves’ and ‘Days of Wine and Roses’, and Webster’s trademark romantic sound is stamped all over each tune.
These Black Lion sessions are fairly common in second-hand bins, but I was never especially impressed with the sound of these records until I heard this re-mastering by Sean Magee at Abbey Road Studios. The quavering, throaty sounds emanating from the bell of Webster’s horn are captured perfectly and the sound of the band is well reproduced. The only caveat is that the original recording engineer for these sessions recorded a very hard left/right stereo image. That result has not changed, and there is no mono alternative.
But the sound is so good, and the performances so worthwhile, that this caveat should not serve as an impediment to acquiring this set. For me, there is never enough good Ben Webster.

Charles Mingus and His Jazz Groups - Mingus Dynasty
Columbia/Pure Pleasure PPAN CS8236 Reviewed by DD
Like its better known predecessor Mingus Ah Um, this album was recorded in 1959 and is presented here in a newly re-mixed, expanded and re-mastered edition. Leading some of New York’s best and most creative improvisers, Mingus effectively challenged two ensembles, a tentet and a nonet including two cellos, as never before. And boy, did they come up with the goods. It feels from the opening ‘Slop’ like a particularly energetic live set throughout.
There’s no ‘filler’ despite the inclusion of unedited versions, simply great music making. It’s difficult with material of this calibre to extract favourites, but the storm whipped up in ‘Gunslinging Bird’ stays with me, as do the tributes to Mingus’ idol Duke Ellington in ‘Things Ain’t What They Used To Be’ and ‘Mood Indigo’. But really the set is a blast from start to finish and so far I’ve found it impossible to play a single track without enjoying the full set.
And whilst it’ll never be the classic that its predecessor has become, this remains a great example of the genius of Mingus – and in this superb issue a lasting joy.

e.s.t - Live in Hamburg
ACT 6002-2 Reviewed by JK
EST or the Esbjorn Svensson Trio has only produced one other live album in its 14-year history, and that was back in 1995 so it came as a surprise to see this double disc set from the Tuesday Wonderland tour. It consists of ten pieces, seven of them from the Tuesday Wonderland album but few if any are straight versions of the originals, e.s.t. being one of those bands that prefers to experiment with its music on stage, taking the opportunity to explore its possibilities and to indulge in the occasional solo.
There are various explanations in the liner notes for why this particular night was selected for release. The tour manager has it that the band were inspired by the sight on the previous night of the James Last touring ‘machine’, with its eight eighteen-wheeler trucks and huge double-decker sleeper vans, but this probably impressed the tour manager more than anyone. Another factor was that the PA system arrived late and the band were unable to fit in a proper sound check before going on stage which must keep you on your toes to begin with at least.
I suspect that the most important factor was the sound captured by the NDR which is front row in its intensity yet captures the atmosphere of the event. Whatever the reason it was a great gig and one for fans and newcomers alike to savour.

…and also… Reviewed by DD
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed e.s.t.’s previous studio bound albums but I have long been aware that they have a particularly strong reputation as live performers. This release goes a long way to explaining why whilst giving me a metaphorical kick up the butt for never having taken the trouble to catch them in the flesh.
Pianist Esbjorn Svensson, bassist Dan Berglund and drummer Magnus Ostrum present a set based largely around their ‘Tuesday Wonderland’ album and grab every opportunity to stretch out in live performance. The extended opening take on ‘Tuesday Wonderland’ sums up their strengths as well as anything. Svensson’s virtuosity is immediately apparent, the subtlety and delicacy of his playing at the opening followed by his unrestrained and powerful improvisation later in the number would carve him out as the dominant star in any less well balanced trio, but in this case the other two are certainly his equal. The fluidity and range of Berglund’s bass as he soars into abstractions and the power and inventiveness of Ostrum’s percussion make it so.
Couple this with their superb interplay and it’s a winning combination. This evening in November 2006 must have been a great experience. ACT, via this very well recorded release has enabled us to get pretty close to being there.

…and also…

Shanti Paul Jayasinha - Round Trip
Candid CCD79848 Reviewed by DD
First let me get the horror of the CD sleeve design out of the way: What were they thinking of, the poor guy in a LePetomanesque pose with trumpets for wings..aargh! Right, that’s better. Thankfully the music once you’re past the sleeve is well worth the pain. Jayasinha’s first album as a leader, he has previously worked with many jazz luminaries including Kenny Wheeler, Tim Garland (who plays on one track here), Courtney Pine and Jason Rebello, and has toured the World taking in many musical influences along the way.
The album reflects his travels with different soundscapes and images conjured from track to track. Standouts include the powerful and atmospheric ‘Sufi’, the lighter tones of ‘Racatu’, lifted by Clare Foster’s vocals, the chunky percussion driving ‘Jamuba’, and the bass lines and horns in ‘Yambu’. All in, it makes for a really enjoyable musical trip. There’s some excellent soloing here too, as you’d expect from the man himself, his fluid trumpet leading most tracks, but notably too from Patrick Clahar’s sax. This is a great start for Shanti Paul Jayasinha and I’m certain that next time he’ll be able to afford a better sleeve design.

James Carney Group - Green-Wood
Songlines Reviewed by JK
James Carney is a New York based keyboard player who cites Rush, Reich and Nancarrow among a wide range of influences. He is accompanied here by a four strong brass line-up, bass and drums.
The result is varied and often intense but manages to stay on the right side of the interesting / challenging divide. Carney’s use of synthesizer is particularly effective on the opening track which has a claustrophobic energy that gives the music remarkable torque. This electric buzz pops up on the fourth tune as well, which has a sorcery to it that is reminiscent of the mighty Mahavishnu Orchestra. Elsewhere a piano, drum and bass piece clicks into a distinctively east coast groove, something that pervades the disc as a whole and brings back the feel of John Lurie’s Lounge Lizards.
Tenor and soprano sax from Tony Malaby and Peter Epstein offer a lively contrast to the keyboard but you are never left to wonder who is calling the shots on these eight tracks.
The recording (originally 24/88.2 pcm) while clearly highly resolute and rich is a little shut-in and dense at times. The 5.1 version really opens it out though and certainly helps the listener’s enjoyment of this music.

Tim Garland and the Northern Underground Orchestra - Due North
Jazz Action JA11 Reviewed by DD
Saxophonist, arranger and composer Tim Garland, joined here by his regular collaborators Asaf Sirkis (drums) and Gwilym Silcock (keyboards), has assembled a highly talented bunch of Northern based players and with Arts Council help, commissioned several new pieces from musicians with strong ties to the North. Whatever the geography, this is a very fine set. Opening with a bracing Garland number ‘We Got a Future Together’ the terrific soulful voice of singer Hannah Jones makes an immediate impact and she also turns in great performances on ‘Just for Now’ and in a superb version of the Holiday/ Herzog Jr classic ‘God Bless the Child’. The latter includes some great solos, notably from Silcock, and is strong enough to justify the price of admission alone. The quality of musicianship throughout the set is remarkably high and there’s a real sense of the enjoyment they are clearly experiencing in making this music that draws you in and holds your attention throughout. Other standouts include Adam Dennis’ ‘Voyage of Discovery’ with its South African influenced rhythms and a telling tenor solo from Lewis Walton, Garland’s ‘Tynemouth Spray’ with great ensemble work and a strong solo from Stuart McCallum (guitar), and Simcock’s languid and lovely ‘Prelude’. With its refreshing absence of jazz-noodling, strong tunes, great playing and overall joie-de-vivre you can’t go wrong with this album.

© Images and text copyright Absolute Multimedia (UK) Ltd 1999-2008
another fine webwork by Global WebTrader