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281

Article: Extended Analysis

Billy Jenkins: Jazz Gives Me The Blues

by Chris May
June 26, 2011

Billy JenkinsJazz Gives Me The BluesVOTP Records2011 If the title Jazz Gives Me The Blues suggests that London guitarist/vocalist Billy Jenkins is hacked off with jazz, you would be right. Kind of. What Jenkins objects to is the gentrification and institutionalization of jazz, once--a quantum leap from ...

289

Article: Multiple Reviews

Ornette Coleman & Thelonious Monk: One Revolution After Another

by Chris May
June 22, 2011

Two albums in Original Jazz Classics' Remasters series capture one iconoclastic genius at his late 1950s' peak and another limbering up for 1960s' notoriety. Each disc benefits from Joe Tarantino's resonant remastering. Ornette ColemanSomething Else!!!!Original Jazz Classics/Contemporary2011 (1958) In early 1958, when Contemporary's director/producer, ...

355

Article: Extended Analysis

Sebastian Rochford & Pamelia Kurstin: Ouch Evil Slow Hop

by Chris May
June 17, 2011

Sebastian Rochford & Pamelia KurstinOuch Evil Slow HopSlow Foot Records2011 For eighty years, the Theremin has hovered on the fringes of music like a freak show exhibit at a carnival. Since its invention by Leon Theremin in 1928, it has been used mainly for novelty and, occasionally ...

283

Article: Extended Analysis

Archie Shepp and Joachim Kuhn: Wo!man

by Chris May
June 14, 2011

Archie Shepp & Joachim KühnWo!manArchie Ball2011 At first glance, the pairing of veteran American saxophonist Archie Shepp and German pianist Joachim Kühn seems an unlikely one. But Wo!man is not the first time the two have performed together. Two or three decades back--Shepp says that he cannot ...

236

Article: Reassessing

John and Beverley Martyn: The Road To Ruin

by Chris May
June 10, 2011

John and Beverley MartynThe Road To RuinUniversal/Island2005 (1970) The posthumous release of guitarist/vocalist/songwriter John Martyn's Heaven And Earth (Hole In The Rain, 2011)--the basic tracks extensively overdubbed, though not edited, by producers Garry Pollitt and Jim Tullio following Martyn's death in 2009--is welcome. Compositionally, it is not ...

260

Article: Extended Analysis

Gwilym Simcock, Mike Walker, Steve Swallow, Adam Nussbaum: The Impossible Gentlemen

by Chris May
May 30, 2011

The Impossible GentlemenThe Impossible GentlemenBasho Records2011 You may not have heard of The Impossible Gentlemen, for this is the group's first album, and you may not have heard of one of its two chief protagonists, as he has chosen to spend most of his career away from ...

118

Article: Extended Analysis

JuJu: In Trance

by Chris May
May 29, 2011

JuJuIn TranceReal World2011 This is the third album from guitarist Justin Adams and singer/ritti player Juldeh Camara, and, as the saying goes, third time lucky. Not that Soul Science (Irl, 2007) or Tell No Lies (Real World, 2009) were disappointing, only that the duo's visceral mix of ...

233

Article: Extended Analysis

Sabor de Gracia: Sabor Pa' Rato

by Chris May
May 19, 2011

Sabor de GraciaSabor Pa' RatoWorld Village2011 For some non-native enthusiasts, Catalan rumba starts and finishes with Ojos de Brujo. But the word is that the Barcelona collective's album Corriente Vital: 10 Ans (Warner Music Spain, 2011) may be its last: after seven world tours and a string ...

184

Article: Extended Analysis

Omara Portuondo & Chucho Valdes: Omara & Chucho

by Chris May
May 17, 2011

Omara Portuondo and Chucho ValdésOmara & ChuchoWorld Village2011 After 50 years of carrying a torch for Bueno Vista Social Club singer Omara Portuondo, pianist Chucho Valdés has finally succeeded in getting her into bed. The rear sleeve photo on Omara & Chucho shows the pair side by ...

293

Article: Extended Analysis

The Waitiki 7: Waitiki In Hi-Fi

by Chris May
May 14, 2011

The Waitiki 7Waitiki In Hi-FiPass Out Records2011 It must have been hell being a young adult in the US in the 1950s. Imagine it: the government was headed by a five-star general; nuclear Armageddon was a constant threat; race relations were bitter going on murderous; demands for ...