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Pop
and Contemporary Music |
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Wentus
Blues Band - Family Meeting
Ruf Records Reviewed by AH
To celebrate 20 years in the business, Finland’s Wentus Blues Band
decided to throw a party… Band style!
They gathered together a group of famous friends, set the cameras rolling
and produced a memorable evening of scintillating blues - their very own
Last Waltz. Invited to the party were Mick Taylor, Eddie Kirkland, Kim
Wilson, Eric Bibb, Guy Davis, Barrence Whitfield and a host of others,
and across two CD’s and 23 songs of originals and covers, they let
their hair down with passion, gusto and boogie. There are two Stones covers,
a down and dirty ‘Ventilator Blues’ and a near 10-minute moody
instrumental version of ‘Can’t You Hear Me Knocking’,
both featuring Mick Taylor and the latter decorated with particularly
feisty saxophone. Other highlights include a dripping-withemotion cover
of Omar Dykes’ ‘Angel Blues’ with the man himself on
guitar and vocals, a foot-tapping romp through ‘Stop Twistin’
My Arm’ with Barrence Whitfield at the helm and a lovely version
of Gary Davis’ ‘I Heard The Angels Singing’, soulfully
rendered his own by Eric Bibb. There are also two tracks performed backstage
and acoustic; ‘Ride On Red’ featuring Louisiana Red, and ‘Lonesome
Fugitive’, sung by Lazy Lester and sounding as authentic as a hot
and sticky night in the Mississippi Delta.
If two CD’s aren’t enough for you the show’s also available
as a DVD, for your consummate viewing pleasure.
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The
Cinematic Orchestra - Live At The Royal Albert Hall
Ninja Tune ZEN141 Reviewed by JK
Last year was a hectic one for Jason Swinscoe’s Cinematic Orchestra;
they released the Ma Fleur album and toured it extensively, a journey
that culminated in the RAH event from which these nine tracks are taken.
Having been at that concert but sat up in the gods, I was pleasantly surprised
at how much better things sounded down at the mixing desk (but then again
the venue is notorious in this respect).
What TCO’s first live album delivers is the band’s ability
to reinvent and interpret its own material. Aided in no small way by the
24-piece Heritage orchestra and with Patrick Carpenter once more on turntables,
they produce some fascinating variations on material from Ma Fleur and
earlier.
I particularly enjoyed ‘Familiar Ground’ with its guitar opening,
and the powerful rendering of ‘Breathe’ with Lou Rhodes (formerly
with Lamb) on vocals. Patrick Watson, whose fragile voice brought a different
feel to Ma Fleur, was not singing, but Grey Reverend’s take on ‘To
Build A Home’ with guitar backing is certainly different. And there’s
a special treat for those of us that have followed the band from the early
days; an acoustic jazz workout of ‘Ode To The Big Sea’. |
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Eric
Clapton - Complete Clapton
Reprise Records 294332-1 Reviewed by RP
“Definitive” and “complete” this is not. Stan
Ricker’s sub-audiophile but half-speed mastered collection, while
neatly dividing the material into two periods between1966-1981 and 1982-2006,
does include tracks recorded with Cream, Blind Faith, Derek & The
Dominos and those polished hits from an inconsistent solo career, but
it remains reticent on the subject of the formative days Clapton spent
as a Yardbird. The preference is to blend those well known classics like
‘Layla’, ‘Presence Of The Lord’, ‘White
Room’ and ‘I Shot The Sheriff’ with more recent radio
friendly tunes in the shape of ‘It’s In The Way That You Use
It’, ‘Tears In Heaven’, ‘Sweet Home Chicago’
and ‘Riding With The King’. The technical and compositional
accomplishments can be admired but we rarely more than touch upon that
almost spiritual quality which made this man a guitar God. Revelatory
moments and priceless insights are relatively few and far between, and
that’s frustrating. It’s easier to think of Complete Clapton
as a series of familiar intros promising much more than they actually
deliver. The inherently fragmented nature of any compilation is partly
responsible. However, for the barely or uninitiated this should offer
sufficient encouragement to explore the substance, continuity and heart
stopping work found throughout the better Clapton albums. |
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Shelby
Lynne - Just A Little Lovin’
Lost Highway 0602517609181 Reviewed by AH
Available in this months magazine |
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Ecki
- Mono
Product Records PRODUCT035 Reviewed by RP
Available in this months magazine
Supplier: Frontier uk@btconnect.com |
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Gary Moore
- Close As It Gets
Eagle Records EAGCD346 Reviewed by AH
Available in this months magazine |
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Jeff Healey
- Mess Of Blues
Ruf Records Reviewed by AH
Available in this months magazine |
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The
Landau Orchestra - Janus Plays Telephone
Milan 399 156-2 Reviewed by DD
Available in this months magazine |
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Sonic
Youth - Daydream Nation
Goofin GOO-013 Reviewed by PD
Available in this months magazine |
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Eleanor
McEvoy - Love Must Be Tough
Moscodisc MOSCD404 Reviewed by AH
Available in this months magazine |
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Landermason
- The Reason
Lama Records LAMA004 Reviewed by AH
Available in this months magazine |
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Melody
Gardot - Worrisome Heart
UCJ Reviewed by JK
Available in this months magazine |
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Hr-Bigband
featuring Jack Bruce - Live
Hr Musik HRMJ038-07 Reviewed by AH
Available in this months magazine |
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Jazz
Music |
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ELB:
Peter Erskine, Nguyen Le, Michael Benita - Dream Flight
ACT 9467-2 Reviewed by DDD
This is only the second CD from this highly talented transcontinental
trio. The conflicting demands on the musicians coupled with a bout of
serious illness that temporarily incapacitated guitarist Nguyen Le resulted
in a seven year wait for this release. Recorded immediately after a tour
the session was, in the band’s words ‘relaxed, focused and
fast.’ This comes over in spades with absolutely terrific playing
from all three. Erskine, a Weather Report veteran, contributes crisp,
propulsive and economical percussion; Nguyen Le understated at times,
at others wringing extraordinary sounds from his guitar is clearly in
his element in this setting; Benita’s warm, flexible bass playing
is vital to holding the whole complex mix together. The trio are also
joined by Stephane Guillaume’s sax on several tracks, adding welcome
additional texture to the mix.
It’s such a strong set and so well balanced between the heavier
faster paced numbers like ‘Rotha and Priska’, spacey, open
textured pieces like the title track (with some really extraordinary work
from Le), and ballads such as the tender ‘Song for Jaco’ with
more superb playing from Le and appropriately a particularly good solo
from Benita, that the album demands to be played from start to finish.
This is a great ensemble captured here at their very best. Play it loud.
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The
Tony Kofi Quartet - The Silent Truth
Specific Jazz Spec008 Reviewed by DD
Coming two years after his previous album, Future Passed, a strong trio
album built around solid, repetitive grooves with its funky flavour enhanced
by a Hammond B3, this quartet set is much freer and follows Kofi’s
interim work including the Herculean task of twice performing the complete
works of Thelonius Monk at the London Jazz Festival. The band is the same
as that which originally recorded versions of Monk’s tunes on Kofi’s
album All I Know but here is focused on original compositions from its
members.
The absence of jazz standards doesn’t detract a whit from the quality
of the music. All the compositions are strong and the ensemble playing
is outstanding. The mood shifts between the tender lyricism of ‘First
Breath’ a particularly lovely ballad that Kofi composed on seeing
the birth of his son, to harder driving pieces like ‘I Spoke My
Mind’ and, an older composition from Kofi ‘Bishops Move’
that he says has ‘matured like fine wine’. There’s great
playing from all the band throughout the set with many superb solos from
Kofi and really strong work throughout from Jonathan Gee on piano. All
four musicians convey real passion in their realisation of this fresh,
engaging and very enjoyable set.
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Hank
Mobley - Soul Station
Blue Note/Music Matters 84031 Reviewed by DDD
Available in this months magazine |
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Illinois
Jacquet - God Bless My Solo
Black & Blue/Pure Pleasure PPAN008 Reviewed by DDD
Available in this months magazine
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Hank
Crawford - Introducing Hank Crawford
Warner Music WCJ 8122799393 Reviewed by DD
Available in this months magazine |
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Louis
Prima - The WILDEST!
Capitol T755/Pure Pleasure Reviewed by DDD
Available in this months magazine |
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