Jazz Articles

Doors: Weird Scenes Inside the Gold Mine

by Doug Collette
October 4, 2014

Given his fascination with media, the late Jim Morrison would no doubt be deeply bemused at the irony of the release of a Doors compilation on cd (a dying configuration) due its popularity as a Record Store Day 2014 issue on vinyl lp (the configuration that won't die). It's no accident that Bruce Harris' original liner notes for Weird Scenes Inside the Gold Mine have been retained (nor pure expedience either, though there's no indication these tracks have ...

The Doors: L.A. Woman - 40th Anniversary Edition

by C. Michael Bailey
March 18, 2012

The DoorsL.A. Woman: 40th Anniversary EditionElecktra2012 In the end, The Doors were a jazz organ trio playing the blues, what keyboardist Ray Manzarek called “The Modern Jazz Quartet of Rock." Flirting with psychedelia on its first four albums, providing an acid soundtrack to 1967's Summer of Love, and releasing a critical career- killing album in The Soft Parade (Elektra, 1969), the band found its roots and made comeback skid-marks with Morrison Motel ...

The Doors: LA Woman: 40th Anniversary Edition

by Doug Collette
March 17, 2012

The two-disc reissue of The Doors' L.A. Woman (Elektra, 1971), released to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the original album, documents how this band achieved what The Beatles could not with Let It Be (Apple, 1970). Jim Morrison and company effectively and authentically went back to their musical roots and, in so doing, restored their camaraderie as a band.It matters little whether disc one or disc two is approached first--the former contains the now-classic, finished product, the latter ...

Oregon: Out of the Woods

by J. Glenn Miller
January 25, 2007

This album can be judged by its cover, an illustration by David Wilcox depicting an idealized old-growth forest. Scattered amongst the too-perfect trees and well-pruned shrubs are various oversized acoustic instruments sharing a well-manicured lawn with a gray squirrel, a curious raccoon, a startled owl and a pileated woodpecker. It's all pleasant greens bordering warm shades of brown and yellow. Well-placed, softly-shaped boulders invite you to sit and relax. The owl and the raccoon stare back at you, as if ...

Phish: Undermind

by Doug Collette
June 20, 2004

A decidedly conventional work from a decidedly unconventional group, Phish’s Undermind is a perfect marriage of purpose and production. Initial packing includes a DVD with studio footage and interviews with the band, but watching that disc isn't nearly so enlightening as hearing the CD in its entirety from start to finish. The artistic and personal unrest that may have led to the recent announcement of the band’s disbandment has clearly provided fuel for their collective creative fire.

If it weren’t ...

Natalie Merchant: Motherland

by Ashley King
December 1, 2001

People have been expecting big things from Natalie Merchant. While her latest release, Motherland, may not make many “Best of" lists for 2001, it most definitely made some “Most Anticipated" lists prior to its November release. On the heels of an American Folk Music tour and out of a collaboration with renowned roots-rock producer T-Bone Burnett ( O Brother Where Art Thou? ) comes Merchant's fourth post 10,000 Maniacs outing--the result being a record that, while more adventurous than either ...

Colin James: Little Big Band II

by Ed Kopp
August 1, 1999

A fine blues guitarist and singer, Saskatchewan native Colin James dabbled in the swing thing long before it became the pop flavor of the month. His 1993 release Little Big Band featured a dazzling band that included Roomful of Blues, Chuck Leavell and Reese Winans. James revives that sound here by inviting blues and swing talents Kaz Kazanoff (saxophones), Greg Piccolo (saxophones), Winans (keys), Brian Casserly (trumpet) and many others to join him in the studio. This collection mixes blues ...

David Sanborn: Songs From the Night Before

by Dave Hughes
November 1, 1997

The new CD from David Sanborn was billed as a return his funky, contemporary style after his recent diversions into standards with strings ( Pearls ) and straight-ahead ( Another Hand ). However, I found this album to be different from most of his previous works in that it is more blues and R&B oriented. The tunes are all good, but they are all performed in the same dark, sultry, blues-drenched mid-tempo setting. I would have enjoyed a little more ...