Avalanche of records

A few months back I started buying records again and there's so many I'd like to review but can't find the time to. So what I'll do now is shift to rambling mode and just tell you about all the interesting records I've listened to, discovered or rediscovered in the past months.

Way back in early January, Planet Harmonica co-author Laurent offered me Jean-Jacques Milteau's latest release Fragile. If you've read my review of JJ's previous opus Blue 3rd, you'll know that I loved some of it and loathed some of it, and was especially put off by the smooch of some of the tracks on that record. I was therefore understandably worried about the theme and title of Fragile, but it turns out there was no reason to. While the fragile thing is definitely there, it's very tasteful, and even the romantic pieces don't fall into smooch. The guests here are female vocalists Demi Evans, a blues gospel diva (and regular member of Milteau's touring band) and folk rocker Michelle Shocked. A  good choice on both counts. Fragile is a very pleasant listen, with none of the ups and downs of Blue 3rd. Milteau's playing, and especially his sound is as awesome as ever, like none you've heard on record. There's even the added spice of a few amplified harp tracks, something not seen on his records since Bastille Blues, if I'm not mistaken. The great moments, in truth, are not as thrilling as the gems on Blue 3rd were, but the low points on Fragile are definetely not as low and very listenable too. Highlights include Jack The Man, the liveliest and meanest track on Fragile, Shocked's delicate take on James Brown's It's a Man's Man's World and the suprisingly moving jazzy instrumental rendition of L'Internationale (the International Worker's Chant) which, instead of sounding like the combat anthem it usually is seeps of sad disillusion.

More recently, I accidentaly got another chance to get into modern jazz. This time, something has bitten. All my previous attempts to listen to recent serious jazz releases had sent me back to my Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown and Count Basie records. Until a few weeks back when a colleague lent me two CDs by Midwest piano-bass-drums trio The Bad Plus. The piano trio is my favourite line-up in "classical" jazz, but this is something different, kind of a complete redefinig of the genre. The drumming and bass playing on The Bad Plus are totally different from what I've been given to expect of such a line-up, a lot more up front and adventurous. And yet, the breakdown into something so out there that it's unlistenable by these ears does not happen. It's out there, and yet something I can relate to. Admittedly, I got drawn into their musical world by the cover of Nirvana's Smell Like Teen Spirit on These are the Vistas, a totally out there yet totally recognisable and faithful rendition. When jazz demolishes and rebuilds the grunge rock icons, you've got to admit that the term iconoclast has been taken to a whole new level. The rest of the album is equally amazing, especially the compositions, and so it their most recent Suspcious Activities ? In the meantime I also got my hands on their second Columbia release Give which features, amongst other excellent tunes a dark and stormy cover of Black Sabbath's Iron Man. I told you they were mad...

Ironically enough, I spontaneously purchased Bojan Z's latest album Xenophonia after listening to the amazing groove on a couple of tracks in a record shop. It's also a jazz trio album, and also one I would describe as post-rock. Again, the drummer and bassist have a very forward role, very far from the theme-chorus-chorus-chorus-back-to-theme thing I've grown bored of lately. The bassist in particular has a very nasty sound on the acoustic double-bass, full of clicks and string noises. Awesome. The album is an absolute delight from start to finish, highlights being the opening track Ulaz, the groovy Zeven and a couple of tracks with Eastern European pipes. It also features an interesting rock cover, of David Bowie's Ashes to Ashes this time. I'm seriously considering the whole rest of Bojan Z's discography now... I'm also considering giving Medeski, Martin and Wood another go. Five years ago, I wasn't ready, maybe I am now...

In a totally different genre, I purchased the John Butler Trio's live record Live at St. Gallen's nearly as soon as I saw it in the shops. In fact, I even purchased it twice after forgetting it and few other CDs in a Taxi... The sound is raw (especially the low-mixed bass), apparently due to an unplanned release of this live record, but it's also full of energy and spontaneity, and even quite moving at times, especially on Peaches and Cream. Nice to see that Butler is not just a studio success, and also nice to hear a more focused and less rambling live playing than what was featured on Living 2001-2002. The downside is that most of the tracks here are from Sunrise over Sea, it would have been pleasant to hear something a little more diverse. Apparently there's also a limited Australian release with a DVD. Wish they'd carried that at my local record store...

As you probably know if you read me regularly, there are few blues releases that please me anymore. In the mid-90s, when I was still exploring the genre, any new blues record had some form of appeal (expect Rod Piazza's, but I won't get into that again), but after ten years of intensive listening, I became very very picky. Most of the blues records or artists I hear nowadays are either vacuous or derivative, with very little personality or soul.

So it's a little surprising that in the recent months I've stumbled upon not one but two recent and very exciting blues records. The first one, called Mainly Blue  is by French singer and harmonica player Charles Pasi. The album is mostly acoustic, very atmospheric and, most importantly, strikingly original. It feels like a genuine blues album cut by jazz players who have studied their gypsy jazz and chosen to forget it. It's got that kind if supple rhythm that also reminds me of the early blues rhythm sections (whose drummers and/or bass players were often jazz-schooled.) Pasi's voice is superb, smooth and veiled, a little broken at times and very rich emotionally. He has a slight accent, as French singers often have when they sing in English, but it's not too bad. His harmonica playing is good, if not stunning, and there's still a very obvious Milteau influence, but it blends nicely in the whole, and it's the whole that shines! Songs like She's, the opening track or the slow White Boy Blues really are moving. I'l lbe on the lookout for this guy's further work, and this first effort is worth tracking down!

A couple of weeks back, I stumbled upon Michael Powers' Onyx Root on a listening post, and I really liked what I heard. Powers has an acoustic guitar style reminiscent of Buddy Guy's, driving, heavy, yet intricate. His voice is a good and soulful one, not overused, and capable of a great variety of styles. His solos aren't too much, there's no histrionics there, and perhaps most importantly it's varied in style, with interesting arrangements, something that is ever so rare in the blues world. On Onyx Root there are downhome blues songs, hendrixian blues-rock pieces, soul songs and even a strange blues meets flamenco instrumental and yet there's a great unity. Apart from the funk-blues Shock which I don't find very convincing, the rest of the album is very convincing, with a special mention for the cover of Leonard Cohen's Bird on a Wire which sounds like Otis Redding  come from the grave. It's much more of a traditional blues record than what I usually fall for these days (with the exception of the genuine traditional blues records, of course), but it's a definite keeper!

A less recent blues record I stumbled upon and loved to bits is Jay McShann's Last of the Blue Devils, which was recorded in thelate 70s with an all-star line-up of jazz luminaries including a young John Scofield on guitar. The repertoire is mostly Kansas City Blues (or Jazz, depending on where you're from), songs asccoiated with Count Basie and the blues shouters like Jumping at the Woodside or Ain't Nobody's Business. McShann's piano style is definitely anchored in blues, but it's fluidity and harmonic inventiveness are an obvious influence of the jazz world. The accompanying musicians are absolutely level with this approach, not pushing it too much into the jazz area. The trumpet and sax are particularly tasty with often slow and soulful solos, and sometimes more lively horn section work. McShann also sings on about half the tracks, to great effect. A very, very nice record.

Speaking of being on the frontier of Jazz and Blues, an interesting yet slightly disturbing release is Pyeng Threadgill's Sweet Home : Music of Robert Johnson. It's an album of Robert Johnson covers, by a female modern jazz singer. As a jazz album rooted in blues but taking it way further, it's interesting and enjoyable, and Pyeng Threadgill's voice is beautiful and full of personality, (way more thrilling than the insipid jazz divas that seem to crop up every few months these days). The arrangements are daring and varied, some reminiscent of the groove of Roy Hargrove (Phonograph Blues), others more swinging (Dust my Broom). Some are totally destructured like the weird Come on in my Kitchen. The disturbing part (to me) is that the final result of these songs is often so far away from the original that I'm not sure they qualify as covers anymore. When you alter melody, harmony, rhythm and riffs, what's left of the original ? When is a cover not a cover ?

While hovering around the blues arena, harmonica player Peter Madcat Ruth sent me a couple of his latest releases, namely Madcat's Harmonica & Ukulele Project and Live in Rio. The first is exactly what the title says, a mostly solo studio project where Madcat plays ukulele and harmonica and plays guitar. I'd been intrigued by very positive comments on this record on the various harmonica joints of the internet, and when Madcat contacted me personally asking if I wanted a review copy, I heartily agreed. I guess I made a big mistake there in not asking what musical genre the record was. It turns out it's nearly exclusively what I would describe as country music (specialists might nitpick), a genre I simply cannot listen to. For a reason I don't quite understand, Country music not only fails to move me or get me excited, it actually annoys me (if not worse). I was, therefore, not the best guy to review this particular record and that's an understatement. I did listen to it in its entirety, and unsusprisingly, I didn't like it. What I can tell you is that the playing is impeccable, both on harmonica and ukulele, it sounds unusual, Madcat's singing is top notch (much better than on Live in Rio) but I simply cannot tell you if it's good music. I apologise to Madcat qand you readers for that...

Live in Rio is a much more habitual affair, and also much more in my musical realm of enjoyment. It's a blues concert recorded in Rio with Madcat backed by the Big Joe Manfra Blues Band. Truth be told, it's not the most stunning of backing bands. There's obvious enjoyment here, but (call me picky), these guys simply don't have that blues groove down. To be fair, this is something I've been complaining about 90% of the blues bands on the planet, US included, and some of them are damn famous, so maybe it's more an indication of how picky I am than an indication of how good they are. To me though, that rhythm section is desperately square. The rest (repertoire, live interaction, etc.) is good but that one fatal flaw kind of wastes Live in Rio for me. The thing that shine through though, is Madcat's playing, sound and obvious experience. That man can nail you to your seat with one deadly note when he does that huge, ample vibrato, and his playing is his own, unmistakeable and original, even when playing a classic repertoire. The best track on there (to me) is his solo Highway 61, which got me thinking that Madcat's solo gigs must be something special...

Steering away from blues a little, are the recent releases by the Derek Trucks Band one of my favourite bands out there bar none. Back in February, the DTB released their latest album Songlines. I was eagerly awaiting for that one, and I must say that it's something of a dissapointment. As the first band release of the DTB since Matt Mattison joined them on vocals in 2002 (I think), it was bound to be different from the mostly instrumental Soul Serenade or the guest studded Joyful Noise. Furthermore, Derek had stated in several interviews how much of a studio experience this record was. I guess that should have worried me, because it's true and, to me, it's not a good thing. The first, major flaw of Songlines is how overproduced it is. The DTB has defined itself live and one of their great assets is spontaneity. I don't think it had to be neutered to do a legitimate studio album, but it has, at least to these ears. The second thing that really dissapointed me is how conventional the repertoire is. One of the things I love about the DTB is how they are willing to take risks. A usual DTB gig offers a mix of songs that are easy to get into and some more adventurous stuff. Indeed, Derek is often berating the conforming effect of FM radio on music. It seems to me here that he's been a victim of what he criticises. The choice of songs is very radio-friendly and, while I can't fault the DTB for aiming for a bigger success, I personally am not excited by the contents of that record. Having said that, we're still talking better than average here. Derek's playing is still astounding, Mike's voice is superb, the band is tight, it's not like it's unsufferable or anything. It's just a dissapointment. I guess I've been spoilt by Derek's past releases...

Fortunately, in early July the DTB released a DVD of a concert recorded at about the same time the record was being released. Entitled Songlines Live!, this concert is thankfully what the DTB is about. While many of the songs on the CD are also on the live DVD there are many other exciting tracks like For My Brother, Let's Go Get Stoned and a stunning jazz-rock rereading of theclassical  guitar piece Greensleeves. The band really is on fire that night, you even see Derek smile a lot, which is quite unusual. Kofi's flute playing is astounding as ever, breathy and rhythmically as well as harmonically powerful. To top it all, the sound and video quality is amazing, and the bonus interviews, while not vital, are quite interesting (although the talk about the recording of the Songlines record makes me cringe a bit, see above!) If you want to get a recent DTB release, this is the one to get, all the more so since it costs only $10!

I'm nearing the end of this long rambling chronicle. I've you've read so far, I'd like to point you to a surprising and deep music that would, I guess, have to be classified in this hodge-podge called World Music. Maloya is a style of music originating from Reunion Island, and one of its most famous porponents is Danyel Waro, who I discovered on the wonderful collaboration album with jazz harmonica player Olivier Ker Ourio called Sominnker.

Maloya is a non-harmonic musical genre featuring a singer and a group of drummers or percutionnists. I recently stumbled upon two solo records by Danyel Waro, respectively called Bwarouz and Foutan Fonnker and they totally opened my mind. The lack of any harmony, implied or otherwise behind the melody is very susprising at first. It's not something I'm used to, and I'd venture to guess that it's not something that western music has explored much. But once I got used to this, these two records were an absolute pleasure. Waro's voice is superb, flexible, and despite the fact that he sings in Creole, it's like you can understand the emotion behind the text without understanding the text. The further inclusion of translation of the lyrics in the sleevenotes provides the further pleasure of decripting the themes behind the songs. Of the two, my preference would go to Bwarouz, which seems more cohesive (Foutan Fonnker has both studio and live cuts.) Listening to that record gave me a sense of the power of rhythm. Despite the raw nature of the music, the subtle front and back line construction of the rhythms has nothing to envy to the apparently more sophisticated approach of Western music. Well worth a listen...

I think I'll stop there for now. I have purchased a few more records from the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, the Greyboy Allstars, ELP and others but I haven't had sufficient time to listen to them to form an opinion. I'll be sure to let you know when I have !