The little label that could

One of the hardest things about being a jazz fan these days is to look at Billboard magazine’s list of the top 15 “Traditional Jazz Albums.”  Four of the titles are by Frank Sinatra, two by Michael Buble, and one by Barbra Streisand.  Sorry Barbra, jazz you are not.  I am happy to say Keith Jarrett and Roy Hargrove are on the list, but that’s about it for anything I would consider “traditional.”  Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Sinatra, but he’s just not a jazz artist.  So I’m pleased to give you a brief primer on the state of contemporary jazz courtesy of the fine folks at MaxJazz Records.

Founded in 1998, MaxJazz has done nothing less than bring amazing production values to some of the best jazz artists of our time.  From instrumental artists like Jeremy Pelt and Jessica Williams, to the guitar and vocal bliss of Rebecca Martin, you’ve got be-bop, swing, blues, standards and new works of brilliance.  I’m working my way through their catalog, and I have yet to hear a single track that doesn’t make me thankful for this label.

The best jazz CD’s these days tend to be reissues and remasters by artists we’ve always known and loved, but without new blood and new inspirations, any art form will wither away.  I don’t care that I can listen to every Miles Davis album 100 times over, nothing survives without forward movement; listen to Jeremy Pelt’s trumpet, his phrasing, and tell me you don’t feel Miles deep inside.

So next time you want to hear some great jazz, come into the library or visit us online and do a computer search for ”maxjazz” and take a chance!  I think you’ll like what you hear.

The Swell Season

Very seldom does an artist garner the praise and admiration they deserve.  But I am happy to say we have a grand exception in the case of The Swell Season.  After first breaking the surface with the film and soundtrack Once, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova became The Swell Season, and this is the second album the duo has produced.  What makes this new album even better, however, is that it’s not merely another wonderful example of natural songwriting and beautiful harmonies, but the package itself is part of the pleasure.  Seemingly not content with a new batch of songs, This new collection, Strict Joy, contains a CD with 12 new songs, another CD with a live concert featuring 14 songs, and THEN a DVD of a live concert with another 9 songs! 

Hansard and Irglova met by chance through the filming of Once, became a couple shortly thereafter, and are now back to being friends who just make music together.  It’s these kind of chance, perhaps precarious relationships that often make the most dazzling and intimate music.  If you’ve not heard the soundtrack to Once, make sure you give it a listen.  But either way, this new release should be on everyone’s shortlist.

Bob Dylan’ll be home for Christmas!

One of the true musical treats of the year has to be the recent release by Bob Dylan entitled Christmas In the Heart.  Yes, my friends, a holiday record from the Tambourine Man himself.  I’m not sure how many great reviews this album is going to receive because it’s rather difficult to find holiday cheer in a voice that – while I love it, so – sounds like he should have cleared his throat a few times before singing.  But all that aside, you simply have to hear this record.  Leading off with “Here Comes Santa Claus” was a masterstroke, as it is both a perfect opener for a Christmas album, and it is perhaps the last song – save for “On the Good Ship Lollipop” – I ever imagined Bob Dylan would perform.  If only he could do this in concert!  The rest of the disc is a mixture of popular favorites like “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” “O’ Come All Ye Faithful,” and, of course, “The Christmas Song.”  Really, you have to hear it.

The most interesting aspect of this CD, and perhaps the most interesting part of Dylan, as a performer, is that unmistakable voice.  In his last two records Together Through Life and Modern Times, his voice still sounded bubbly and gruff, but it worked so well, and seemed so perfect for those songs.  I’ve always wondered if that warm tone he found in “Lay Lady Lay” (which at the time he attributed to having just quit smoking before the recording sessions) was something he could produce easily, at will.  With Dylan, nothing is accidental.  So maybe this collection of holiday songs is meant to sound, not just like Dylan, but like the loveable yet slightly inebriated gentleman at the end of the bar in a restaurant otherwise filled with families and young couples.  It’s Christmas, it’s Dylan, why the heck not?!

One truly bright spot of this CD is that all current and future proceeds from sales in the United States will go to Feeding America, a very worthy charity organization.  So who knows how many copies of this album will sold in years to come, but at least everyone involved will get a little something out of it.

Songs from Lonely Avenue

For anyone not acquainted with the jubilant musical expression that is the Brian Setzer Orchestra, here’s your chance.  Brian’s newest album, Songs from Lonely Avenue has just been released, and it’s a perfect example of all the things he does so right. 

Setzer describes this album as “a soundtrack to an unwritten film.”  It’s a series of original songs with classic crime noir images straight out of the 1940’s or ’50’s.  His guitar playing is as sharp and powerful as ever, and he’s one of the few artists at work today that can seemingly do whatever he wants to do.  What I mean is that so many performers release album after album that show little development or change from their past releases, but Setzer knows how to keep things interesting with the themes of his records.

His recent work has included a Christmas album, a solo rockabilly record (true to his roots with The Stray Cats), and a big-band classical record called Wolfgang’s Big Night Out where his orchestra performs well crafted and entertaining big band arrangements of pieces like “In the Hall of the Mountain King” and “William Tell Overture.”  This is just fun music, not to be missed.

Kiss – Still alive after 35!

Okay, sure, no one else I know would tout a new Kiss record, but I have to confess a bias.  The first “album” I ever owned was an 8-track of their 1976 release Destroyer.  When I was five or six, a neighbor named Eddie showed me the cover to their first album, and it was the beginning of my life in music.  As an adult, I can’t take many of their lyrics seriously (womanizing taken to its rock n’ roll extreme), but I also can’t deny that I know every lyric and every riff to every song they ever recorded, and Gene Simmons strong stance against drugs and alcohol played a large part in my own beliefs.  So when the boys announced they were releasing their first new album in over 10 years – exclusively through Walmart, no less – I had to hear it.  For those familiar with the 1970’s Kiss of songs like “Rock and Roll All Nite,” “Watchin’ You,” or “Strutter,” you’ll find these new songs were written to sound just like their classic predecessors.  The oddest part is how much they really do sound like those early records, albeit with a new drummer and guitarist along for the ride.

While founding members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons are still the driving force behind the group, relative newcomers Eric Singer on drums (who’s been with the band off and on since 1991, though now a “permanent” member), and Tommy Thayer on guitar, ably complete the classic Kiss sound.  Thayer, interestingly enough, was in a band called Black N’ Blue that was produced by Simmons in the mid-’80’s, and later played in a Kiss tribute band!  This latter fact explains how much of his playing sounds just like the Ace Frehley style many Kiss fans know and love.

This “tribute” sound is nowhere more obvious than on the special features of this new album.  Kiss has always held very strong ties to their fanbase, and decided with this new record to offer something new, and unique.  The new disc comes with a 6-song DVD of a recent performance in Buenos Ares, as well as a completely re-recorded greatest hits disc with 15 of their best known songs.  What makes this so special is that very few acts ever, ever, mess with their hits.  A live version is one thing, but it takes guts and confidence to say we’re as good now as we were 35 years ago, and this is how we play these songs, now.  As the life-long fan that I am, this is my favorite part of the new release.  No, Paul can’t hit some of the same high notes, but the strong production and the sheer simplicity of the idea makes it a real winner.  From the first few bars of “Deuce,” I was hooked.  So, listen or don’t, revile or rejoice.  Either way, the boys are still going strong.

The legend that is Jerry Jeff Walker

If Jimmy Buffett is the epitome of the “good-time” musician in popular music, Jerry Jeff Walker is the country equivalent.  Now, for those die-hard Walker fans out there, don’t get me wrong – I’m not trying to say Walker is a lesser version of Buffett.  On the contrary, Walker is perhaps the finer artist of the two.  In fact, Walker is actually responsible for bringing Jimmy Buffett to Key West for the first time, helping to create the persona and lifestyle Buffett would parrot to the masses for the next 30+ years.

No, Walker is one-of-a-kind.  Besides being known for writing “Mr. Bojangles,” he’s beloved among country fans for his combination of laid back but almost raunchy attitude to life.  This may be best represented on his 1989 live album Live at Gruene Hall.  The song selection is amazing, the performances are perfect, and the production is truly something to behold.  I’ve heard a lot of live albums over the years, and this one sounds unbelievably crisp and clean, with a perfect balance of sound that is still rare for live albums, even with the advances in recording technology.  The crowd is quiet when they should be, rowdy when they want to be.  I saw Jerry Jeff in the early ’80’s in Sanders Theatre and, though he sounded great, Gruene Hall is even smaller than Sanders, and maybe it’s that intimacy that makes the album work so well.

Some of Walker’s own songs stand out here, such as “Pickup Truck Song” and “Little Bird,” but his verions of “Long, Long Time” and “I Feel Like Hank Williams Tonight” are among the best songs I’ve ever heard.  “Long, Long Time” has rarely sounded so personal or heart felt, and his voice has the perfect combination of age, love, and loss for “Hank Williams.”  When I think of the best Country music has to offer, I think of this album.  So the next time you have to take a little drive, checkout Live at Gruene Hall.  You won’t regret it.

A whole bunch of new stuff!

Thought I’d take a moment and list off a few of the new titles that have been added to our collection here at the HPL.  As always, I hope you find a few you like, as well as a few you’ve never heard of – some of the best albums I’ve ever heard are the ones I truly wasn’t expecting.  So, enjoy!

David Bowie – VH1 Storytellers – A great example of the Storytellers series, especially because the songs Bowie chose to perform and talk about are not the obvious choices – he talks about his favorites, not just the hits.

 

Imogen Heap – Ellipse – Imogen’s albums are always a treat, and this one is just as beautiful as her last album, Speak for Yourself.  My breath was literally taken away with the opening song “Last Train Home,” and the other tracks lived up to that initial thrill.  Imogen is capable of truly wondrous productions, so definitely check this one out!

Jenny Lin – The Eleventh Finger / Shostakovich: 24 Preludes & Fugues, Op. 87- Lin is a phenomenal pianist with a focus on more contemporary compositions.  Her Shostakovich recording has received multiple accolades, and is a vibrant and exciting recording.

 

Pearl Jam – Backspacer- Not being a fan of Pearl Jam, I was surprised by how much I loved some of the songs on their new CD.  The song “The Fixer,” in particular, is a perfect little burst of energy.

If you want to glance over the whole list of what’s been added in the last couple months, just click here!

Across the Universe, by any other name…

What with the recent Beatles re-releases, I wanted to mention a fabulous soundtrack album that is one of the rare instances where cover versions of the lads’ legendary songs were done right.  The CD in question is the delightful and surprising doublse-disc soundtrack to the film Across the Universe.  This was a Julie Taymor film from 2007 that used the songs of The Beatles to tell its story.  The film is essentially a love story that takes place in the late 1960’s, with the main characters being named Jude, Lucy, Max, Sadie, JoJo, and Prudence.  Jim Sturgess as Jude, and Evan Rachel Wood as Lucy, sing a fair amount of the songs, but the set also features other members of the cast, along with cameo performances by Joe Cocker, Bono, and Eddie Izzard.  Performing from The Beatles songbook is one of those risky things: we know the music so well it is often disconcerting to hear another artist perform one of their songs, let alone 29 songs in a row.  Well, whatever the risk, this album is a tremendous collection of youthful, potent and emotionally resonant versions of those timeless songs.  The lyrics seem even more powerful and resonant when sung in a collected context, and I dare say I might prefer a couple of these renditions to the originals (I know, sacrilege).  The only minor misstep could be the inclusion of the guest stars, as their voices are too recognizable and seem to take away from the overall concept.  Eddie Izzard, particularly, seems to camp it up way more than necessary, and although I have yet to see the film, I still wonder how his take on “For the Benefit of Mr. Kite” fits the overall story.  Having said that, this is a highly entertaining collection that I’ve listened to dozens of times, so far, and I hope you give it a chance.

Okay, there’s this band…

So, you may have heard of this little band from Liverpool called The Beatles.  Just four lads who made a handful of records, sold a gagillion copies, and changed popular music as we know it.  Anyway, for those of you who have somehow managed to avoid the onslaught of Beatles  remastering news, John’s favorite number – 9 – became the gateway for all new editions of the Beatles landmark albums.  9/9/09 saw the release of the first-ever remasters of the Fab Four’s original lp’s, and they will be on the shelves here at HPL over the course of this week.

All 13 of the original albums plus the 2-disc Past Masters set that collected all the singles (see, Paperback Writer, Lady Madonna, Love Me Do, along with 30 other classics) are now sounding better than ever on CD.  There’s really no need to talk up these releases, but let me just say that I’ve listened to all of them, and it’s like a fine layer of dust has been wiped from the surface of the 1987 discs.  Everything is brighter where it should be brighter, warmer where it should be warmer, and so clean and pure that it feels like you’re in Studio 2 with the boys having a cup of tea.  If you’ve never really been into The Beatles, this is as good a time as any to give the music another try.  Start with Revolver or A Hard Day’s Night.  But really, start anywhere you like.  It’s all good, it’s all great.  It’s The Beatles.

All I Ever Wanted… in a pop album

For those of you who’ve read a few of these blogs, you’ll know that 1) HPL has a very diverse and exciting CD collection (blatant self-promotion), and 2) yours truly has similarly diverse tastes.  This brings me to a recent CD that is very much on the charts, and one that I’ve listened to a dangerous number of times, and I have to say it’s one of the best pop albums I’ve heard in a long time.  The album is All I’ve Ever Wanted by Kelly Clarkson.  I’ve always liked Clarkson’s music, but none of her previous work was as vibrant or universal as this new collection, or spent anywhere near as much time in heavy rotation on my drives to and from work.  But what’s most remarkable about this album is what it’s not.

Our star-obsessed culture has created an unfortunate style of songwriting that puts a painful twist on the much heralded “introspective” songwriters of the 1970’s such as Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, etc., leaving us with songs by major artists that are so personal and so clearly about their own unique life in the spotlight that the lyrics lose any sense of universality and, therefore, a deeper connection with their listeners.  This has been a problem with artists as far ranging in styles as Jewel and Britney Spears (a long guilty practitioner of songs about herself – which she doesn’t even write – though with terrific beats and production), and it’s a testament to Clarkson’s goals that she follows a similar production style as many other artists while keeping the quality of her songs on the upper end of the spectrum and universally accessible.

With the domination of iTunes and the increasing importance of a strong selling “single,” the traditional format of one artist working with one producer (think the Beatles & George Martin or even Shania Twain & Mutt Lange) is on the downswing.  While the solo-producer approach usually results in a more consistent style and quality of sound, the “single” approach – the desire to have a few big songs that will carry album sales – enlists multiple producers and songwriters to create a kind of jukebox effect where the only consistency may be the person singing the song.  For those of us accustomed to enjoying all the tracks on an album, the single approach can create a problem.  Far too often the first half of the record is loaded with up-tempo tracks hoping to be hits, while the second half is filled with ballads or, as it often sounds, just a few more songs to fill out the disc.  Clarkson’s album, however, is sequenced perfectly, balancing not just the rockers and the ballads, but the lyrical content as well: the “sad” songs come after a couple “confident” songs, etc.  Her album is also filled with musical quotes and references, ranging from Squeeze, Paul Simon, a nod to the retro-style of Amy Winehouse, and even a surprise appearance from The Sweet’s “Ballroom Blitz,” no less.  I decided against listing my favorite songs once I realized I’d have to include them all.

I know everyone loves the music they do for very personal reasons, and I know that contemporary pop music is not everyone’s cup of proverbial tea, but I truly love this record, and for someone who spends a lot of time listening to Miles Davis, Loudon Wainwright III, and Miles Davis (did I mention him already?), that’s got to count for something.  This is another one of those “roll the windows down and turn it up” kind of records, so take a chance while the air is still clear and the breezes are brisk.