Recording News

Rush, Synesthesia, and Musical Resonance

Source: Something Else!
March 3, 2011

By Mark Saleski Several years ago, I had an email exchange with a couple of my fellow music obsessives about a certain rock group. We never got to the details of the music, instead focusing on “love 'em" / “don't." Actually, “don't love 'em" isn't quite right. It was more like “don't understand the attraction." Being the musical evangelist that I am (and aren't we all...just a little bit?), I decided to describe, as concretely as possible, why I like ...

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The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger - Acoustic Sessions (2010)

Source: Something Else!
March 3, 2011

By Nick DeRiso Featuring this dreamtime folk whimsy and a fabulist band name, The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger sound at times like Syd Barrett, or maybe Simon and Garfunkel. Or, like an ornate, late-night 1960s French pop singer, after perhaps one too many tokes. What they don't sound like, not really, is John Lennon. And that's saying something. See, last November's Acoustic Sessions is the quietly issued debut of Sean Lennon—second son of Beatle John; only child of ...

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Emmylou Harris: Hard Bargain

Source: JamBase
March 3, 2011

FOLLOW UP TO 2008'S ALL I INTENDED TO BE OUT APRIL 26 ON NONESUCH RECORDS Hard Bargain, the new album from musical icon Emmylou Harris, will be released April 26 on Nonesuch Records. The album follows Harris's acclaimed 2008 release, All I Intended to Be, which received widespread acclaim. Hard Bargain, which comprises 11 new songs by Harris as well as two covers, was produced by Jay Joyce (Cage the Elephant, Patty Griffin). See below for a complete track list. ...

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The Dorf - Le Record (Leo Records) ***a1/2

Source: Free Jazz by Stef Gijssels
March 3, 2011

By Joe Higham What an easy CD to review. This is one of those albums that is easily digested and has a wide appeal, in fact 'Dorf' means 'Village,' so maybe something for the whole family? Here we find brass bands, prog-rock (aka—rock in opposition), jazz, (a little) free, and plenty of punch (helped by an excellent recording). This is a 21 piece big band led by Jan Klare that literally rocks, making your speakers vibrate with lovely grooves and ...

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Thelonious Monk: Let's Cool One

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
March 3, 2011

One of my favorite Thelonious Monk sessions took place on May 30, 1952, his last for Blue Note Records. There's a slippery urgency to the pianist's playing on this date, and the sidemen are both bluesy and martini dry. Joining Monk was Kenny Dorham (trumpet), Lou Donaldson (alto sax), Lucky Thompson (tenor sax), Nelson Boyd (bass) and Max Roach (drums). For the time, the music was beyond revolutionary and made when Monk was particularly exuberant and creatively subversive. [Photo of ...

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Jayme Stone: "Room of Wonders"

Source: Chris M. Slawecki
March 2, 2011

Bach's Lilt, Mystery Melodies, and the Wonders of the World: Banjo Instigator Jayme Stone Whirls and Waltzes on Room of Wonders

As masterful banjo player and musical instigator Jayme Stone was fixing dinner one night, he heard Bach dance. “I was listening to Bach's “French Suites" while cooking. The performance had such a lilt to it that I literally wanted to dance," Stone recalls. “It was an epiphany moment. Bach used European folk dance forms to inform his own music. ...

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Dan Block Plays the Music of Duke Ellington

Source: Gapplegate Music Review by Grego Edwards
March 2, 2011

Reedman Dan Block is cool with me. His Plays the Music of Duke Ellington, From His World to Mine (Miles High 8612) is cool too. It's not just another Duke tribute. For this one Dan obviously spent some time with the song list. It's not the well-worn blockbusters on display here, but instead some of the relatively under-recorded gems like the WWII era “Kissing Bug," the New Orleans Suite movement “Second Line," the Bigard-not-canard “Are You Sticking?" (he wasn't) and ...

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Big Head Blues Club - 100 Years of Robert Johnson (2011)

Source: Something Else!
March 2, 2011

By Nick DeRiso You could argue that Robert Johnson, the doomed 1920s-era Mississippi bluesman, was the first rock 'n' roll star. Johnson certainly played the role, with his flair for the dramatic, questionable lifestyle choices and early death. More particularly, he sounded the part: Tough and honest, full of vibrancy, danger and rhythm. Whether you've actually ever heard a Robert Johnson record—he put out just 29 songs for the old Vocolion label in 1936-37—is of little importance. If you've been ...

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