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Quick Licks
Short reviews of a variety of new releases
C.C. Adcock · Norm Bellas · Continental Drifters · Merle Haggard · Corey Harris · The Jazzhole · Lloyd Jones · King Kong · The Klezmatics · Curtis Mayfield · The Psychobilly Cadillacs · Bernard Purdie · Dino Saluzzi, Anthony Cox & David Friedman · Brooks Williams · Workdogs · Stephen Yerkey
Continental Drifters Continental Drifters
Monkey Hill Records CD MON 6123-2, 1994 (38:43)
Grand slam $1.99 special, country-style
You don't need to know where they came from. You don't need to
know who's married to whom. Listen first, check their pedigrees
later. What you'll hear is a talented bunch of singing and songwriting
guys and gals serving up a hearty plate of roots in boots. Tasty
originals with a side of classic nuggets by folks like Gram Parsons
and The Box Tops. In two words-Camper Van Morrison meets The Band
with John Hiatt and Maria McKee in the trunk. --Jason Staczek
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The Jazzhole
...and the feeling goes round
Bluemoon Records, 2-92586, 1995 (55:09)
Anti-acid jazz
Don't let the name fool you. This is more hole than jazz, and
I mean that in the nicest way. Urbanely urban hip-hoppy pop that's
much closer to Soul II Soul or Brand New Heavies than US3 or Groove
Collective. Lots of lazy, funky grooves layered with live vocals,
horns and keyboards. File this one under hip-hop bachelor pad
soundtrack. --Jason Staczek
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Dino Saluzzi,
Anthony Cox & David Friedman Rios
Intuition CD INT 2156 2, 1995 (48:13)
Insinuating sounds and rhythms for late night
Dino Saluzzi is an ace on the bandoneon (aka button accordian,
the mainstay of the tango), David Friedman is a vibes/marimba
player who was part of Double Image, and Anthony Cox plays bass.
That may give you a pretty good idea of the sound of this trio:
pretty interesting sounds, pretty polite, pretty. There are several
original tunes and one standard, "My One and Only Love,"
where the melody is never really started outright, and it sounds
like all three are improvising simultaneously at a very slow pace.
The result is very atmospheric, not quite new age, good
for late night listening when beauty is more important than energy.
But you will find yourself wishing at times they would just get
on with it. The recording is very fine by the way. And the producer
is Lee Townsend, who turns up repeatedly. --Glenn Brooks
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Curtis
Mayfield Superfly
Curtom Records CD CUR 9503, 1995 reissue (36:17)
Freddy lives!
Freddy's back from the dead in this long-awaited domestic CD re-release
of the classic 1972 orchestsoulfunkfest. Superfly's sound
and its two chart topping hits--"Freddy's Dead" and
the title track--helped pioneer the funk sound that edged soul
music off the charts in the early '70s. All feature Mayfield's
magnificent arrangements, a conga and bass-heavy mix full of tasty
wahwah guitar and punchy horns, sugar-coated with a shine of strings.
The remaining tracks hold up very well for a soundtrack LP with
a heavy message, even when the lyrics turn overly didactic. In
fact, there's something almost humorous about Mayfield's distinctive
falsetto wisping lines like "secret stash heavy bread/baddest
bitches in the bed/I'm your pusherman." Hearing this once-baaad
'70s disc sound so innocent today makes me wonder how Public Enemy
will sound in twenty years. Long live Freddy. --Scott Boggan
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Corey Harris
Between Night and Day
Alligator CD ALCD 4837, 1995 (49:48)
An education in the blues
Harris is a young New Orleans teacher who has studied in Cameroon
and listened to the great blues singers from Blind Willie Johnson
to Bukka White to Tampa Red and Muddy Waters, all of whose tunes
he covers here, along with three originals. It's just Harris'
strong baritone voice and National slide guitar, with an occasional
kazoo. If that's not particularly innovative, it still sounds
damn fine, and Harris does manage to leave his mark on most of
these songs. I especially like Sleepy John Estes' "Going
to Brownsville," where his guitar and voice sing the song
together, in different ways.
Comparisons to Taj Mahal and Keb Mo, who plow some of the same
ground, are in order. To my ears, Harris is a much stronger blues
singer than Keb, and he seems more single-minded and serious than
Taj, maybe too much so. Even on Jesse Fuller's "I'm a Rattlesnakin'
Daddy," he sounds contented, but not goofy-happy. In any
case, this album is of more than academic interest, and I'm looking
forward to hearing more. --Glenn Brooks
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Lloyd Jones
Trouble Monkey
Audioquest Music CD AQ-CD1037, 1995 (45:21)
This monkey means trouble!
Bluesman Lloyd Jones and his excellent 9-piece band record a set
of (mostly) Jones originals live to analog two-track in the studio.
The result is super crisp, funky rhythm-and-blues with a horn
section so tight it hurts. Terry Evans and Ray Williams finish
it all off with superb backing vocals. If I were Delbert McClinton,
I'd give Jones a call and tell him to back off if he knows what's
good for him. --Jason Staczek
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The
Klezmatics Jews with Horns
Xenophile CD 4032, 1995 (60:18)
Party on, chevra!
The Klezmatics are not your traditional klezmer band, thank you
very much. They take the party manifest of klezmer seriously to
heart, and keep their ears open to non-Jewish music that can get
the crowd moving. So, here we get rock and Latin rhythms, plenty
of horns (not just the ubiquitous clarinet), tremolo guitars playing
Middle Eastern modes, a wild variety of instruments and combinations
in intricate arrangements played by a superb bunch of musicians.
Oy, are these six guys and gals tight! The only slight blemish
is that main lead singer (David Krackauer?) has a voice a bit
too watercolor for this bright acrylic album. But the vocals tend
to be short (and half the tracks are instrumentals) so big deal.
Klezmer traditionalists, I am assured, will not like this album.
I do, very much. --Glenn Brooks
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Bernard
Purdie Jazz Groove Sessions in Tokyo
West 47th CD WST 2001, 1994 reissue (60:44)
Purdie good, but not great
This disc has all the right ingredients. Bernard Purdie, Melvin
Sparks, Houston Person, covers of "Memphis Soul Stew",
"Cissy Strut", "Green Onion" (I guess they
could only afford one) and "Cold Sweat". But man does
it ever not burn. "Jazz Snooze Sessions in Tokyo" is
more like it. This thing is limp, but still probably a must-have
for the serious Purdie collector/completist. Tell you what. First
new subscriber to mention this review gets a free copy. It must
be Purdie, cause jam don't shake like that. --Jason Staczek
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Norm Bellas
Out of the Norm
Blue Job CD BJCD 69001, 1994 (62:53)
These guys can blow
A Northwest quintet of sparkling jazz, led by pianist Norm Bellas.
If the group sometimes sounds larger than a quintet, it's because
one of the players is the multi-instrumentalist (trumpet, flugelhorn,
tenor and flute) Jay Thomas, who overdubs some of the heads on
these Bellas originals. Thomas and Bellas are the main soloists,
and the tunes are solid boppish numbers, some based on chord changes
you may recognize from the punny titles. (My favorite: "Darryl
Nefferby & Arthur Hugh.") --Glenn Brooks
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Merle
Haggard Same Train, A Different Time
Koch/Capitol Records CD KOC 3-4051-2, 1995 reissue (66:34)
Twenty-six years ahead of its time
It's no wonder the original double LP set--a tribute to country
forefather Jimmie Rodgers--was buried upon its release. 1969 was
not the time for laidback songs about trains and the scoundrels
who ride them, and the record had nothing vaguely resembling a
hit. But more than Merle's more political songs, this material
holds up well today. Haggard's mellow baritone fits these country
blues like a glove, and the simple production highlights their
quiet grace.
As usual, Merle's band (the Strangers) provides very
tasteful accompaniment, but for me the highlight is James Burton's
dobro playing. Burton (first recognized at age 16 for swamp guitar
on Dale Hawkins' "Suzie Q," later a sideman for Elvis)
dusted off the dobro to approximate the acoustic Hawaiian guitar
sound used by Rodgers, and he uses it to maximum effect on tracks
like "California Blues." Well worth a listen. --Scott Boggan
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The
Psychobilly Cadillacs Nobody Never Told Me
Third Wave Productions CD TWP PC 301, 1995 (37:37), see the Back
Page for source
Twang galore from north of the border
Newfoundland psychobilly? Well, as the guys say, "I just
can't say 'No' to something I never tried." You've got your
no-nonsense guitars, bass and drums, queasy vocals, and layers
of twang. Not really psycho, there are some terrific original
songs here, from the honky tonk lament of "She Only Half
Cried" to the barn harmonies of "Good Ol' Boys"
to the rave-up of "Wastin' My Last Quarter," which has
been stuck in my head for the last two days. They have a ton o'
fun, and so will you, although I don't think their boots have
stepped in much, if you know what I mean. --Glenn Brooks
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C. C. Adcock
C. C. Adcock
Island CD 314-518 840-2, 1994 (34:57)
Swamp-roots-rock from Lafayette, Louisiana
The CD starts with the sound of a phonograph needle dropping into
a groove. You hear the whoosh-whoosh of the record, which fades
into the sounds of a rural Lousiana night, crickets setting the
rhythm and the doves taking solos. Then C.C. Adcock jumps in with
a throbbing guitar and swampy vocals, and the party is on! This
is a nice update of classic swamp rock, with rockabilly and Cajun
overtones, featuring Adcock's good guitar playing and decent vocals.
Most of the tunes are original, about half just straightforward
guitar-bass-drums, while the others tastfully add essential ingredients
such as accordian and washboard. The production varies from echoey
and dark with processed vocals to crisp, clean and in-yo-face.
Recommended for your next gumbo feed. --Glenn Brooks
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Workdogs
Old
Sympathy for the Record Industry CD SFTRI 301, 1994 (43:37)
Blooze boyz
Blues with an attitude from New Yawk undergrounders. Imagine the
Velvet Underground backing Skid Roper & Mojo Nixon, or maybe
it's the other way around. Rob Kennedy plays bass and sings (if
that's the word) while Scott Jarvis pounds the drums on genuwhine
blues songs about Robert Kennedy (no relation) and his envy of
JFK, unrequited love (shall we say?) on a back road and a beloved
Chihuahua who got made into a suitcase. Fun, raucous and a bit
stoopid. Jon Spencer and others augment arrangements that slam
from funky small-band R&B to ragged folk blues. It's all certified
100% retro-cool for folks old enough to remember the Bush administration.
Although I like it, I don't know if I'll play it much. --Glenn Brooks
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Brooks
Williams Knife Edge
Green Linnet Redbird Series CD GLCD 2121, 1995 (57:52)
This is one serious singer/songwriter/guitarist
An easy rolling songwriter and guitarist (both straight and bottleneck
slide), Williams sounds somewhat like James Taylor. This a very
simply produced album, with his deep smooth voice and fine guitar
playing backed by drums and an occasional electric guitar, mandolin
or organ. The two instrumentals and the covers of blues and hymn
tunes are very enjoyable indeed. I am less enthusiastic about
Williams' original songs, which are ambitious, but lack a vernacular
feel. "Up in the canopy of Monterey pines, Day-like glow
of an equinox moon" sung to a bouncy country reel puts a
little too much distance between me and Williams. The references
to T. S. Eliot and Walker Percy (and the printing of the guitar
tunings) should have been a tip off, I guess. --Glenn Brooks
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Stephen
Yerkey Confidence, Man
Heyday Records CD HEY 038, 1994 (57:57)
Original variety hour
This is yet another interesting Lee Townsend production, with
strong all-original songs, very dark overall, in sparse and attractive
settings. Yerkey is capable of authentic sounding ventures in
a variety of directions, from Tom Waits-jazzish to Bob Dylan-talking-blueish
to country twangy--even sometimes a touch of Elvis Costello. But
the album still feels cut from the same cloth, partly because
of Yerkey's strong, distinctive voice (he reminds me of a new
improved version of Norton Buffalo.) By the way, Jason notes that
it sometimes feels like you're about to fall into Yerkey's mouth,
whatever that means. --Glenn Brooks
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King Kong
Me Hungry
Drag City Records CD DC67CD, 1995 (34:46)
Bam-bam does the boogie
Caveman family gets hold of guitar, bass, drums, organ and four-track.
Proceeds to relate details of daily life in song. Creepy jungle
instrumentals ward off evil spirits and fear of dark. This is
the CD that the frozen mummy guy they found in the Alps a few
years ago would have had in his Discman. --Jason Staczek
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