Musical Ramblings

Best of 00s: Aquarium Rescue Unit - The Calling (2003)

I discovered the Aquarium Rescue Unit through Jimmy Herring, and while historical fans of the ARU would probably not even consider this record to be a legitimate part of the canon (it lacks the original founder Colonel Bruce Hampton and mandolinist Matt Mundy.) To me The Calling is actually their best. It's a much more organic piece of work than anything the Hampton-led line-up ever released and what it lacks in whimsical weirdness it more than compensates in focus and intent. It's the best funk-rock-jazz album I own bar none.

This is a stellar line-up too. I always thought that jazz musicians who could seriously embrace other musical genres (ie. not pretend to be doing other genres when actually playing jazz) had the potential to be the best ever, and this record absolutely demonstrates this. With brothers Oteil (on bass) and Kofi (on keys and flute) Burbridge, Sean O'Rourke on drums, Jimmy Herring on electric and acoustic guitars and Paul Henson on vocals, this is truly a killer band. Henson is particularly impressive and his soul/funk vocals do wonders all over the record.

I won't pretend that it isn't the Herring fascination that keeps me coming back to this one though. Herring truly is the most amazing jazz-rock guitarist in my book. His technique is baffling and yet he absolutely knows when not to play, which makes his occasional outbursts all the more potent. Nice is a good example of that, a very slow and somewhat heavy tune. When Herring comes in two thirds into the song, his sound is supremely raw, and you expect some kind of AC/DC like riffing to happen, but he breaks down into these mad jazz harmonies without ever losing the rhythmic drive.

There's really not a dud on this one, and it's a shame that ARU was never better known. They have all gone their separate ways now, of course, but if you can lay your hands on this one, don't hesitate for a second!

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Debussy in Madagascar

While you wait (with baited breath) for my review of last week's awesome Bob Brozman concert, here's one of my favourite of his, Debussy in Madagascar, on the Charango.

Best of 00s: Paul deLay - Heavy Rotation (2001)

The late Paul deLay was one of the most original blues and soul artists of the 90s and 00s. His songwriting was uniquely poignant and modern, his harmonica playing, both on diatonic and on chromatic was exceptional and intensely personal. His singing finally was powerful and moving. An all round artist whose passing away left many of us harmonica players orphans.

Of his output in the 00s, Heavy Rotation is without a doubt the best and most representative of his particular brand of music genius. Backed by his all star band - and the particularly thrilling contributions of Peter Damman on biting guitar and Louis Pain on organ - deLay explores here some of his favourite themes like the hardship of relationships (Ain't Feelin' That Love No More) and the constant struggle of being pennyless (Wealthy Man) with his habitual mix of humor and pathos.

deLay's instrumental magic is heavily on display on this album, but as always with him it serves the music first and foremost. What's astounding with him is that his phrasing in particular is truly unique. Not only that, but he also makes even the most intricate playing sound easy and fluid. The jazzy instrumental Jimmy Jones is perhaps the best example here: with a super fast bass, drums and organ backing, he plays this breakneck instrumental like it's a breeze. It's fluid, original and thrilling.

Style wise, Heavy Rotation navigates in the fertile waters trinagulated by the coasts of jazz on one side, the blues reefs on the other and a few islands of soul and gospel in the middle. But he makes all of these his own and sounds like none other than Paul deLay.

Heavy Rotation doesn't get old. Nearly ten years after I first got it, I still listen to it with the same pleasure. It's a keeper!

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Best of 00s: The Bad Plus - For All I Care (2009)

The Bad Plus don't much care about established tags, and while they are undeniably a jazz trio, they are probably one of the oddest ones around. For All I Care is a new step on their strange and personal road to dissonant postmodern jazz. They dared do what very few dared: hire a singer without compromising on all the underlying weirdness. It's comparatively easy to be weird when you're doing instrumental jazz. It's much harder to keep that dissonance and strange rhythmic construction when you're backing a singer.

And yet, they pull it off masterfully. Part of the success is due to the choice of Wendy Lewis as a vocalist. She's a rock singer with a grainy voice and therefore doesn't approach this with vocal technique but rather with gusto and guts. Just what the repertoire needs. The repertoire, not coincidentally, is mostly rock covers, a territory that the Bad Plus had already started exploring instrumentally in previous records. Here, the songs are given a new lease on life as songs, in a way that I simply haven't heard anywhere else.

The most striking and powerful of these is Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb. A very melancholy original, it starts very sparse, with the gorgeous bass sound of Reid Anderson and Wendy Lewis' veiled voice. As the song progresses, the backing becomes more menacing and dissonant up to the third verse, when Ethan Iverson goes completely bananas on the piano; the dissonance is painful at times, but so in touch with what the song is about that it's a perfect fit. The final (harmonious) resolution is also magnified by the sudden transition from completely out to completely in.

Despite the presence of vocals, this album of the Bad Plus is no easier to grasp than their previous, instrumental work. Certainly not music for the faint of heart. In between Lithium's lopsided rhythm breaks, Barracuda's absence of real harmonic backing, Lock Stop and Teardrops' absolute sparseness, there's not a lot hear in the way of easy listening. And perhaps that's the most glorious achievement here: these are recogniseable covers that will not sound familiar.

Not for the faint of heart, but absolutely necessary to push the envelope!

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Happy Birthday Jimi

Best of 00s: Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around (2002)

I first heard The Man Comes Around d in the car of a friend in Amsterdam and it really struck me. There's something really dip about it, and while some of the arrangements are a little sappy for my tastes (particularly on Bridge over Troubled Water), the power of Johnny Cash's voice and the dark feel of a man's testament in music is overwhelming and wipes out these little imperfections.

The opener, The Man Comes Around really sets the tone for the whole record. It's deep, it's driven, the religious theme is really a metaphor for life and death themes, presumably something that was close to Cash's thoughts when the record was made. After having heard this album I started digging for some earlier Cash, and there's a lot there that's worth hearing, but his voice on The Man Comes Around has a depth and texture that is simply impossible not to touch you deep.

The arrangements (with the exception above) tend to be sparse and that's just what the music needs. Songs like Give My Love to Rose or the heart-wrenching Hang my Head have little more than an acoustic guitar and piano accompaniment, and it's just what's needed. The selection of song is both varied and consistent. Even the pop covers of Bridge over Troubled Water and Personal Jesus work. They sound personal, they don't sound like covers. 

I can't tell you that you should get this Johnny Cash record over others, because I don't know the rest of his discography well enough. But I can tell you that this is a hell of a record, although probably not one to listen to when you're feeling down. Very powerful stuff...

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Free Galactic Track from Next Album Ya-Ka-May

Galactic has released a free mp3 track from their next album out in February Ya-Ka-May. It's available here. I don't have the ability to switch the sound on where I'm sitting right now, but hey, this is Galactic, you can't exactly go wrong!

Best of 00s: Xavier Rudd - Dark Shades of Blue (2008)

Ever since listening to Xavier Rudd's folk-blues stuff, I had pegged him as a tree-hugging hippie. A gifted tree-hugging hippie musician, but a hippie first and foremost. And pleasant as that was, there was something a little too laid back about his music on Food in the Belly, for example. With Dark Shades of Blue, Rudd steers towards an angrier take on the same issues, and I think his music is all the better for it.

Dark Shades of Blue opens on a two-parter called Black Water / Dark Shades of Blue. From the start, you hear Rudd's characteristic slide and didgeridoo mix (and yes, he normally plays them at the same time, as well as some foot drums...), but the sound is heavy, reminiscent of metal, not folk-blues! Black Water is a long slow and somber instrumental that morphs into the title track, faster but just as heavy and just as angry.

Of course, the main difference between this album and Rudd's previous is that he's no longer a one-man band. While there was charm to that, his sound is inevitably fuller and more powerful. He doesn't lose his mix of influences, from reggae to blues, but he blends it into a meaner mixer. The end result is more original and even if every track is not as heavy as the opening of the album, the streak of anger remains throughout.

I think this is a better introduction to Rudd that what might be considered his more characteristic world, because you don't run the risk of falling asleep at the laid-backness. This is an electric album, and it will electrify rock fans looking for something a little different!

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Best of 00s: Skerik's Syncopated Taint Septet - Husky (2006)

I first heard Skerik on a Bonnaroo DVD playing King Crimson's Thela Hun Gingeet with Les Claypool, and I instantly knew I would like this guy's stuff. When I found Husky in a discount bin at a record store, I jumped at the opportunity to find out and it turns out I was right: I love Skerik's stuff! In many ways though, Skerik's Syncopated Taint Septet might not be representative of the variety of his musical projects, but it stands on its own as an amazing piece of work.

As the name suggests the band is a horn-laden septet with drums, hammond organ and/or wurlitzer organ forming the rhythm section and taking the occasional solo and a luxurious horn section of tenor sax, trumpet, alto sax or flute and bari sax or clarinet. There's a clear New Orleans brass feel to the whole, although it goes beyond that with a heavy dose of urban funk and a smidgeon of wild harmonic abandon.

There are a couple of things that make Skerik's Syncopated Taint Septet stand out in my opinion. First of all, while there's always some structure, melodic, harmonic and rhythmic, the band doesn't shy away from breaking it or at least straying off occasionally. This contributes some of these glorious moments in music when you've been freefalling for some time and suddenly realise you've touched the structural ground again. I love these moments. The other element which is really great with the septet is the dynamic range of their playing. They can go real quiet and melancholy and suddenly burst into luminous brass frenzy. Sometimes, as on my favourite track Go To Hell, Mr. Bush, they build up the tension slow and gradual, and it's all the more orgasmic when you reach the climax.

There's a wild abandon on Husky that I don't hear on many other records. I think that's ultimately what makes this a keeper, and if you like your jazz a little crazy then I suspect you're bound to love this one!

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Best of 00s: Renaud Garcia-Fons - Arcoluz (2007)

Double-bass is often considered as a rhythm section instrument, but there are a few stellar artists who have brought it at the forefront. NHOP is one of them, Renaud Garcia-Fons is another. Garcia-Fons' music stems from jazz aesthetics and European musical roots. Arcoluz is a live recording that pushes this melange far far out and is just a sonic marvel.

First of all, understand that Garcia-Fons has got it all, from deep groove to deeply moving lyricism (often with the bow), from stunning melodic precision to deep grumbling tension. He is also an amazing composer, often drawn towards orientalism in textures and mood. The fact that he is backed here by Kiko Ruiz on the spanish guitar and Negrito Transante on percussions reinforces that drive to the South, way beyond the Iberic peninsula.

There are moments of intense romantic tension on this live recording, in particular the intro to Dias. There are also pulsating moments of world groove like Berimbass (stunning double bass intro...) or Gitanet. The longer pieces like Anda Loco are more structured and have distinct movements and moods. But it's a record that has both an amazing consistency and a great variety of atmospheres.

As an added bonus to this wealth of great world jazz music, the package is CD+DVD with the full concert on DVD. It's really worth watching, not only to feel proximity to the music but to see Garcia-Fons' amazing techniques in emulating other instrument's idiosyncrasies. The way he slaps his bow on the strings while playing pizzicatis to create these short bursts is nothing short of astounding...

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