It`s About Time! (Willie Pickens, Southport).
The title of this album, available only on cassette, is appropriately celebratory-because on it veteran Chicago-based pianist Willie Pickens demonstrates that he is a world-class improviser. Backed by two different rhythm teams (bassist Larry Gray and drummer Wilbur Campbell and bassist Dan Shapera and drummer Robert Shy), Pickens is in ferocious form on the album`s trio tracks-the hair-raising peaks of dissonance he creates on ”Invitation” (which also includes some fine drum work from Campbell) being matched by his subtle reshaping of ”Sophisticated Lady.”
Equally remarkable are the two solo tracks, ”Lush Life” and ”It`s Only a Paper Moon”-both of which make it clear that Pickens` debts to Art Tatum and Bud Powell have been repaid in full. The album is handsomely recorded, too-which is vital because Pickens` rich, percussive touch is at least half of his message. (Reviewed on cassette.) SOURCE: Larry Kart.
Modern Drama, (Jane Ira Bloom, Columbia).
Few modern jazz musicians have been able to get an expressive range of tone out of the soprano saxophone, instead treating it like an anonymous cross between the oboe and the clarinet. But Jane Ira Bloom`s sound-hoarse, personal and with an attractive trace of ecstasy to it at times-suggests that she has solved that problem, while her lines speak of an orderly and no less personal melodic imagination. Bloom resorts to so-called ”live” electronics on several tracks, using a device that enables her to play multiple lines and produce surrealistic, smeared effects. But those tricks don`t get in the way of the music, which is especially appealing on Bloom`s ballad ”More Than Sinatra” and her Billie Holiday tribute, ”Strange and Completely.” Notable among the supporting cast is pianist Fred Hersch, who plays an excellent solo on yet another Bloom tribute piece, ”Cagney.” (Reviewed on LP.) SOURCE: Larry Kart.
Love`s Talkin` (Dobie Gray, Capitol).
In his decidedly unique way, Dobie Gray is as exceptional a vocalist as George Jones; like Jones` hard-country style, Gray`s soul-country never throws away a word, instilling the utmost nuance and emotion into each one.
In this LP, producer Larry Butler (best-known for making a country superstar of Kenny Rogers) backs Gray with trademark big, country-pop instrumentation, and he and Gray have assembled a collection of material worthy of Gray`s talent.
It is difficult to pick the best cuts here because all are so well-done, but the finest probably include two excellent reprises of oldies, ”Love Letters” and ”He Don`t Love You” (the former done at an unusual, low pitch and the latter in an eerie high register). Also immediately notable are ”I Should Know By Now,” ”Steady As She Goes,” ”Stay Awhile” and ”What She Is.”
If you like excellent singing, treat yourself to an early Christmas present in this album. You`ll be getting a voice that has everything. SOURCE: Jack Hurst.
American Soul Man (Wilson Pickett, Motown).
Not too many people would dare to call an album ”American Soul Man,”
and even fewer could then deliver a record that lives up to the title. Wilson Pickett does both, and he even manages to make it sound easy. Pickett`s pipes are in perfect form as he moves through this excitingly diverse set. There are some uptempo rockers and slow, stately ballads, a couple of charming cuts with wafts of Caribbean breezes and, of course, lots of classic soul, including a new version of Pickett`s 1965 hit, ”In the Midnight Hour.” Neither an exercise in nostalgia nor a pointless attempt to be trendy, this new album is classic American soul performed by one of its finest artists. (Reviewed on LP.)
SOURCE: Chris Heim.
Miracle (Willy DeVille, A & M).
Willy Deville, former leader of the band Mink DeVille, is an unrepentant romantic. In photographs, he looks like one of those 1940s, Humphrey Bogart types, with a heart of gold beneath a hard-boiled exterior. His deepest musical influences go back to the sounds of Spanish Harlem and early urban R & B. His latest album, not surprisingly, is a passionate hymn to the miracle of love. DeVille`s languorous, Lou Reed-style delivery and the preponderance of silky, soulful ballads (skillfully played by a group that includes producer Mark Knopfler and keyboardist Guy Fletcher of Dire Straits) accentuate the romantic atmosphere. Longtime fans might miss the rough-and-tumble rock of his earlier records, but true romantics surely will fall for DeVille`s latest labor of love. (Reviewed on LP.)
SOURCE: Chris Heim.
Babylon And On (Squeeze, A & M).
After years of changing lineups, break-ups and fitful reunions, Squeeze may have finally delivered the album ardent fans always knew they were capable of producing. Original members Difford, Tilbrook, Holland and Lavis, augmented by Keith Wilkinson (from the Difford and Tilbrook band) and Andy Metcalfe (ex- Robyn Hitchcock) have never sounded tighter, perhaps because they recorded this material live in the studio. Difford and Tilbrook, once hailed as the Lennon and McCartney of the `80s, are in top songwriting form here. Their stylistic trademarks-bright melodies, infectious rhythms and mad wordplay
(witness the album title)-are amply displayed in nearly every cut. If this is babbling, Squeeze should go on and on. (Reviewed on LP.)
SOURCE: Chris Heim.
Scream: The Compilation (Various Artists, Geffen Records).
Scream is a music club in Los Angeles that this year gained a reputation as one of the hippest places in that city, and this LP offers 10 studio-recorded songs by bands that have played the club. Although there are some easier-going, more atmospheric entries, the music here tends toward tough, dark, hard-edged sounds. Jane`s Addiction offers a `70s-rooted hard-rock number. TSOL does a hard-rock cover of Bob Dylan`s ”All Along the
Watchtower.” Caterwaul and the Delta Rebels contribute two more hard-rock tunes, the former mixing in progressive-rock touches, the latter displaying some pop proclivities. As is often the case with compilations, there are some interesting numbers and some songs that are just so-so. The best of the bunch is ”Grey Talk,” a tune by Francis X and the Bushmen (an L.A. name if there ever was one) that blends a heavy, industrial beat with wild guitars that sound like they`re gargling and ultra-relaxed vocals about indecisive people living in a colorless world. (Reviewed on LP.)
SOURCE: Tom Popson.
Rodgers and Hammerstein: Carousel (Barbara Cook, Samuel Ramey, Sarah Brightman, David Rendall, Maureen Forrester; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Ambrosian Singers, Paul Gemignani, cond.; MCA Classics).
Much as I am glad to welcome a new recording of this melodically exuberant musical into the digital era, especially one that includes some extended musical sequences, the sad reality is that MCA has botched its opportunity by casting singers in roles for which they are patently unsuited. Twenty years ago, Barbara Cook, a Broadway/cabaret performer, might have made a delightful Julie Jordan, but here her mature, unsteady soprano makes for rough going in ”You`ll Never Walk Alone,” and her penchant for
”interpreting” everything to the eye teeth becomes grating.
Samuel Ramey has a magnificent bass voice, of course, but it is all wrong for Billy Bigelow, the baritonal carnival barker; he intones Billy`s Soliloquy as if it were Verdi`s ”Ella giammai m`amo.” Maureen Forrester was ill advised to attempt the part of Nettie Fowler so late in her career.
Sarah Brightman as Carrie and David Rendall as Mr. Snow are more tolerable, if only because they alone appear to have some notion of what their characters are about. Gemignani conducts indulgently, but nowhere in the liner notes is it explained which ”new orchestrations” were used and why. Cross this crossover dud off your holiday list. (Reviewed on CD.)
SOURCE: John von Rhein.
Strike up the Band (Canadian Brass; RCA, 49:50).
The Canadian Brass, which specializes in a performance genre somewhere between music and comedy, takes on Gershwin standards in their latest effort. The results are pleasant through most of the album, as the quintet applies a variety of styles (Dixieland, jazz, dance band, etc.) to such classic Gershwin tunes as ”I Got Rhythm,” ”The Man I Love” and a suite from ”Porgy and Bess.” The only thud on the disc is a brass version of Gershwin`s Preludes for Piano, in which the ensemble shamelessly distorts Gershwin`s rhythms. Otherwise, this is a thoroughly endearing record, though certainly not one for Gershwin purists. (Reviewed on CD). SOURCE: Howard Reich.
Berg: Three Orchestra Pieces, Op. 6; Webern: Six Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6; Schoenberg: Five Orchestra Pieces, Op. 16 (Berlin Philharmonic, James Levine, cond.; Deutsche Grammophon, 52:21).
Of Levine`s three new DG releases with the Berliners (the other discs are the Saint-Saens ”Organ” Symphony and a Dvorak-Sibelius violin concerto disc with Shlomo Mintz), this collection of Second Vienna School works is the least generally accessible but the most satisfying artistic achievement. Levine devoted much of his Ravinia summer of 1974 to works by Schoenberg and his circle, but in his more recent local appearances he has rather neglected this European-modernist repertory. That is our loss, as these deeply felt performances prove.
Levine probes the lush, lyrical agonies of the Berg pieces with extraordinary intensity, playing up their musical debt to Mahler. It could be argued that such an overtly emotional approach is less well suited to Webern or Schoenberg, but it is hard to argue with such full-blooded readings, particularly when they are so finely played and recorded. Levine rightly opts for the original versions of the Schoenberg and Webern works, with their fuller and more vivid scoring. (Reviewed on CD.)
SOURCE: John von Rhein.
Mozart: Piano Sonatas K. 332 in F Major and K. 333 in B-flat Major
(Claudio Arrau; Philips; 59:05).
Here is Mozart playing of weight, stature and intellect. Arrau does not subscribe to the bejewelled Mozart pianism of Murray Perahia or the buoyant, highly colored playing of Alicia de Larrocha. Rather, he takes these two sonatas at slow, thoughtful tempos, emphasizing their expressive depth. Some listeners may find the approach better suited to early Beethoven than middle Mozart, but there is no denying that Arrau finds meanings in this music that other artists pass over.
He brings a nearly romantic elasticity of line to the second movement of the F Major sonata, and manages to make the virtuosic finale sing where others merely play fast. Those accustomed to hearing the B-flat Major sonata in a light, playful mode will hear the work anew-deliberate, probing and cast in dark shades. A fascinating, if not typical, interpretation. (Reviewed on CD). SOURCE: Howard Reich.
