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Various Artists: 30th Anniversary Collection
by Kurt Gottschalk
Back in the early '80s, before ECM, Gramavision and Nonesuch started to notice the sounds being made below 14th Street, and Knitting Factory Records, Antilles and Enemy began documenting the growing scene, a handful of artists were doing it themselves. Eugene Chadbourne's Parachute and Elliott Sharp's Zoar were two of the early downtown DIY efforts and likewise, the Italian-born drummer Andrea Centazzo--who lived in New York City in the '70s before moving on to Los Angeles--captured some nascent moments in ...
Continue ReadingVarious Artists: New Orleans Christmas
by Ernest Barteldes
With so much holiday music appearing on the shelves at this time of year, it's refreshing when an album can actually surprise you instead of giving up the same old usual boring caroling. What you get instead from the one is an earnest, honest glimpse of what Christmas in New Orleans might be like. The disc opens with a right-down-to-business ragtime version of “Santa Claus is Coming To Town, which features Big Al Carson with Lars Edegran ...
Continue ReadingVarious Artists: Eye & Ear: Artist <-> Musician
by Brad Glanden
It's ironic that musicians are persistently identified as “artists" in the commercial domain, where music is likewise termed “product" and longevity is seldom a direct consequence of artistry. A liberal approach to categorization cannot mask the public's suspicion of creative individuals who attempt to branch out.
Whenever an established musician picks up a paint brush, be it Miles Davis or Paul McCartney, cynics and art snobs at large are inclined to dismiss the endeavor as a vanity project. Such mistrust ...
Continue ReadingMPS: Jazzin' the Black Forest
by John Kelman
Various Artists/Documentary Jazzin' the Black Forest Monitorpop Entertainment 2006
If ever there were a record label in need of reissue on CD, it's the German MPS label. Formed in the mid-1960s by the late Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer, it's hard to say what was more remarkable: that a studio based in the small town of Villingen, in the German Black Forest, could create a body of work 700 records strong; that ...
Continue ReadingVarious Artists: Mister Bond - A Jazzy Cocktail Of Ice Cold Themes
by Mark Sabbatini
The new James Bond can't drive a stick shift, is indecisive about martinis, and plays poker instead of baccarat. If that sounds appealing, this is the album for you.
Mister Bond strips the rockin' energy of various familiar title tracks and rearranges them as sleepy smooth/Latin compositions lacking the musicmanship necessary to jolt them out of mediocrity. Some of the material borders on the kind of parody the album's self-warning title suggests, like Rick Washington's Motown vocals trying to channel ...
Continue ReadingMosaic Singles Make Their Debut
by C. Andrew Hovan
Having the guts and tenacity to champion the reissue of albums that the major labels at the time weren't willing to touch with a ten foot pole, Mosaic Records back in the mid '80s led to way for the type of comprehensive boxed sets that are now the norm. Then a few years ago they launched their Select series in an effort to release material in smaller chunks that would not have merited the full box treatment. Now we see ...
Continue ReadingNew Exit From Brooklyn: Chris Speed's Skirl Records
by Troy Collins
In April of 2006, Brooklyn resident and multi-instrumentalist Chris Speed launched his new artist-run independent label, Skirl Records. Six months in and the label already boasts four titles, with at least another one or two tentatively planned for release before the end of the year. As a document of the fertile Brooklyn scene, Skirl has few equals. Skirting the boundaries between jazz, rock, electronic, classical and improvised music, the label presents a diverse blend of styles and genres. ...
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