George THOROGOOD and The DESTROYERS - The Hard Stuff 2006

George THOROGOOD and The DESTROYERS - The Hard Stuff 2006
Label: Eagle

Blues

You always know what you're going to get with a George Thorogood record, and that's a good thing. For over thirty years, he and his band, the Destroyers, have been plying their brand of blues-rock to anyone and everyone that will listen, and they do indeed deliver the hard stuff on their latest release. Early musical influences are represented with a generous seasoning of blues covers and I, for one, thank Thorogood for digging them out of obscurity for a new generation of listeners.
A Thorogood original (written with Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, producer and performer, Tom Hambridge, and Destroyer guitarist Jim Suhler) starts things off in enthusiastic fashion with the hard-hitting title track, opening with a riff similar to Dwight Yoakam's "Fast as You", only with the volume cranked up to 11. Thorogood's signature slide guitar soon makes its presence heard, and features prominently throughout the record, particularly on "Love Doctor", "Taking Care of Business" and culminating frenetically in the finale. His take on Howlin' Wolf's "Moving" displays some tasty guitar work, but this is probably the most glaring example of a song that just can't be believably sung by a white guy. He does better on Fats Domino's "Hello Josephine", accompanied by Buddy Leach's saxophone playing, which is also spotlighted on the Jimmy Reed ballad "Little Rain".

"Now, here's a song with a message" Thorogood announces in the repetitive "I Didn't Know" that cleverly brings the music completely to a halt several times, as if the silence will help him think about why he doesn't know what he doesn't know. Always capable of finding a goofy song and making it work (who else could pull off "Get A Haircut"?), the boys present Hound Dog Taylor's "Give Me Back My Wig" with such speedy precision that you don't bother to ponder the "give me back my wig, honey let your head go bald" lyrics.

At about the midway point, the instrumental "Cool It" epitomizes a group effort with guitar, sax, and bass soloing. The blue-collar rocking highlight is "Any Town USA" which has Thorogood engaging in plenty of name dropping as he rattles off landmarks in cities such as Cleveland (Jacob's Field, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame), Chicago (Checkerboard Lounge, Wrigley Field) and Detroit, and also mentioning "Big Ten Michigan". The driving "Rock Party" finds Thorogood name dropping his own music catalog: "I feel like shaking up somebody's home/I'm sick and tired of drinkin' alone/I'm gonna show ya that I'm bad to the bone at the rock party tonight". It's not all one speed, however, as Thorogood dials things down for Bob Dylan's "Drifter's Escape" and resonates on a biscuit cone guitar for Johnny Shines' "Dynaflow Blues".

Sounding like a manic "Spirit in the Sky", the album concludes on a blistering high note, with the John Lee Hooker classic boogie "Huckle Up Baby". Thorogood growls his familiar line "you know what I'm talkin' about" before sending this song into the musical stratosphere with an inspired slide guitar performance. For a guy in his mid-fifties, Thorogood can still bring the hard stuff as well as he ever has. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the party album of the summer.
By Paul Schultz.
**
George Thorogood- vocals, guitars
Jim Suhler- Guitar
Buddy Leach- Sax
Billy Blough- Bass
Jeff Simon- Drums
*
01. Hard Stuff 3:51
02. Hello Josephine 3:05
03. Moving 4:13
04. I Got My Eyes On You 3:30
05. I Didn't Know 2:54
06. Any Town USA 4:14
07. Little Rain 4:09
08. Cool It! 3:01
09. Love Doctor 3:37
10. Dynaflow Blues 3:45
11. Rock Party 4:22
12. Drifter's Escape 3:15
13. Give Me Back My Wig 4:23
14. Takin' Care of Business 4:10
15. Huckle Up Baby 3:59
**
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Ali Farka TOURÉ - Talking Timbuktu 1994

Ali Farka TOURE - Talking Timbuktu 1994
Label: WCD (LP)
Recorded at Ocean Way Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California in September, 1993

Blues

(((TALKING TIMBUKTU won the 1995 Grammy Award for Best World Music Album.)))

Talking Timbuktu is a groundbreaking record that vividly illustrates the Africa-Blues connection in real time. Ali Farka Toure, one of Mali's leading singer-guitarists, has a trance-like, bluesy style that, although deeply rooted in Malian tradition, bears astonishing similarity to that of John Lee Hooker or even Canned Heat. It's a mono-chordal vamp, with repetitive song lines cut with shards of blistering solo runs that shimmer like a desert mirage. Toure may be conversant with some blues artists, but it is unlikely that artists like Hooker or Robert Pete Williams ever heard these Malian roots, which makes the connection so uncanny. Ry Cooder, well versed in domestic and world guitar styles, is the perfect counterpoint in these extended songs/jams, his sinewy slide guitar intertwining with his partner's in a super world summit without barriers or borders.
By Derek Rath.
**
On the surface, this is a very simple album, simple in that it is accessible, unpretentious and easy to listen to. On repeated helpings, however, Talking Tmbuktu becomes an extraordinarily beautiful ensemble of the rock-pop (Ry Cooder) and the trad and bluesy (Toure). Take Gomni, the heart rendering tune about "hard work". The rich rhythmic tapistry and haunting melody that shifts back and forth among variations with amazing fluidity touches any soul.
On the other hand, Lasidan, a song about happyness is groovy and multi-layered. Blues aficiandos attempt to catalogue Toure as the "West African John Lee Hooker" due to the similarity in the low-pitched vocals and mid-tempo, foot-stomping rhythms found in so many of his songs (like Ai Du). But I found his music richer; technically its combo of instruments ranging from the emblematic accoustic guitar to the calabash drums to the najarka lute create an inimitable style. Culturally Toure's songs draw from several sources. This is universal music, capable of reaching any heart despite the obvious language barrier.
For a mere mortal like me who picked this album on word of mouth, it also opened a whole new doors into music from Mali.
By Yohannes Dimberu.
**
By the time your average listeners get around to the slow, elemental backbeat of "Ai Du," all of their preconceptions about chickens and eggs, roots and fruits or bluesmen and griots have been blurred and obscured by the enchanting music that makes up TALKING TIMBUKTU.

That's because TALKING TIMBUKTU is an epic cross-cultural super-session that captures the deepest spirit of music and transports it across ethnic and stylistic boundaries without demeaning the gift-giver or the gift. Ali Farka Toure's blissful melodic lines do not adhere to traditional blues form, but rather suggest a kind of pre-blues music of African origins. On a tune such as "Soukora" Toure pours out his heart to his lover, as he and Cooder playfully circle each other with bell-like chords and ornaments that sound like a curtain of electric pearls, while Toure's more vivid attack on "Amandral" echoes phrases evocative of John Lee Hooker. In truth, TALKING TIMBUKTU resists easy description. It is exquisite, mysterious music.

It's all in there: the droning traditional timbres of Mali in Ali Farka Toure's guitar; the deep, mysterious incantations of the Mississippi delta blues in Ry Cooder's slide work; the soulful backwoods moan of "Gatemouth" Brown's viola; the percolating rhythms of Hamma Sankare and Oumar Toure; and the earthy resonant dance of drummer Jim Keltner and bassist John Patitucci. "Ai Du" sums out to something not unlike the blues or West African music...but it's something else again--like some pan-ethnic folk music for the 21st century.
From CD Universe.
**
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown- Guitar (Electric), Viola
Ry Cooder- Guitar, Mandolin, Guitar (Bass), Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Steel), Marimba, Vocals, Tamboura, Cumbus
Jim Keltner- Drums
John Patitucci- Bass, Guitar (Bass), Bass (Acoustic)
Hamma Sankare- Percussion, Vocals, Choir, Chorus, Calabash
Ali Farka Touré- Guitar (Acoustic), Banjo, Percussion, Arranger, Guitar (Electric), Vocals, Six String Banjo
Oumar Toure- Bongos, Conga, Vocals, Choir, Chorus
**
A1. Bonde  5:27   
A2. Soukora  6:05
A3. Gomni 7:00
A4. Sega  3.10
A5. Amandrai  9:23
*
B1. Lasidan  6:06
B2. Keito  5:42
B3. Banga  2:32
B4. Ai Du  7:09
B5. Diaraby  7:21
**
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Hank JONES - Porgy and Bess 1958

Hank JONES - Porgy and Bess 1958
Label: Capitol / Toshiba EMI
Audio Cd: 2003

Jazz

The Porgy and Bess material, originally released on Capitol in 1960, is less satisfactory. Hank's brother Elvin replaces Osie Johnson, and Kenny Burrell replaces Barry Galbraith. But even surrounded by this unimpeachable level of musicianship, Jones' encounters with icons like "Summertime" and "It Ain't Necessarily So" bring no important insights. They are mannered, highly stylized and flawless.
**
HANK JONES- (Piano)
KENNY BURREL- (Guitar)
MILT HINTON- (Bass)
ELVIN JONES- (Drums)
**
01. Summertime 2:31
02. There's A Boat Dat's Leavin' For New York 2:10
03. My Man's Gone Now 3:41
04. Woman Is A Sometime Thing 2:39
05. Bess, You Is My Woman 2:46
06. It Ain't Necessarily So 3:23
07. I Got Plenty O' Nuttin' 2:28
08. Oh, I Can't Sit Down 4:03
09. Bess, Oh Where's My Bess 3:27
10. I Ain't Got No Shame 2:18
**
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Jay McSHANN - Going To Kansas City 1972

Jay McSHANN - Going To Kansas City 1972
Label: New World Records (Originally released: MJR)
Recorded at National Recording Studios, New York City on March 6, 1972
Audio CD: (June 18, 1992)

Jazz

Recorded originally for MJR in 1972, this is one of Jay McShann's best albums. Tune selection is excellent, and Buddy Tate and Julian Dash, two very robust tenor players, are terrific.
DOGGIN' AROUND starts things off in a swinging manner. A major highlight is McShann's HOOTIE'S IGNORANT OIL, a 12-bar blues, again taken up tempo, with real hot playing; Gus Johnson's playing of the center ring of his cymbal is very effective. Buddy Tate plays clarinet briefly on BLUE & SENTIMENTAL, too briefly - he has a very warm clarinet sound. 'FORE DAY RIDER is a slow blues with McShann singing the vocal as usual - he's recorded this tune many times; it's one of his best.
This is a most impressive CD. McShann enthusiasts will love it, although anyone with a liking for small-group, blues-inflected swing won't go wrong with this CD, either.
By  Bomojaz.
**
This set, originally put out on Master Jazz and the Australian Swaggie label, features pianist Jay McShann at the peak of his powers. Teamed up with a couple of fine swing tenors (Buddy Tate, who doubles on clarinet, and Julian Dash), bassist Gene Ramey and drummer Gus Johnson, McShann romps through some forgotten numbers from the book of his 1940s big band ("Say Forward, I'll March" and "Four Day Rider"), a few Count Basie-associated tunes, and a couple of basic originals, taking two bluesy vocals. The set gives listeners a strong sampling of Jay McShann's accessible and swinging music.
By Scott Yanow, All Music Guide.
**
Jay McShann (piano, vocals),
Buddy Tate (tenor saxophone, clarinet),
Julian Dash (tenor saxophone),
Gene Ramey (bass),
Gus Johnson (drums).
**
01. Doggin' Around 6:11
02. Hootie's Ignorant Oil 4:30
03. Blue and Sentimental 6:29
04. Hootie's in Hutchinson 6:10
05. Say Forward, I'll March 4:44
06. Four Day Rider 4:04
07. Moten Swing 6:28
**
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Art PEPPER - The Return Of Art Pepper 1957

Art PEPPER - The Return Of Art Pepper 1957
Label: BLUE NOTE
Audio CD: (3 Feb 2003)

Jazz

Blue Note's The Return of Art Pepper: The Complete Art Pepper Aladdin Recordings compiles the 13 final masters that the alto saxophonist recorded for Aladdin between August 1956 and January 1957. These are titled The Return of Art Pepper, since they were recorded shortly after he completed a jail sentence in 1956. As a result, Pepper's chops are a little rusty, but you can hear that he still has a passion for playing, and he does improve over the course of these tracks. For serious Pepper fans, it's worth a listen, but for less dedicated fans, there are better places to become acquainted with his work.
By Stephen Thomas Erlewine. AMG.
**
This album embodies the West Coast Cool sound of the late 50's/early 60's. Pepper is unfailingly melodic and lays back behind the beat. It's much different than the explosive approach of Charlie Parker. "Your Mean to Me" which includes vibes is a perfect example of the ambience. "Mambo de la Pinta" is a great pick-me-up. My mood is always better after hearing that selection. If you like straight-ahead melodic jazz of that era I think you will enjoy this album. A wonderful musician expressing a particular time and place.
By Stefanie N.
**
(Tracks 1-10)
Art Pepper- Alto Sax, Tenor Sax
Jack Sheldon- Trumpet
Russ Freeman- Piano
Shelly Manne- Drums
Leroy Vinnegar- Bass
*
(Tracks 11-15)
Art Pepper- Alto Sax, Tenor Sax
Red Norvo- Vibraphone
Gerald Wiggins- Piano
Joe Morello- Drums
Ben Tucker- Bass
**
01 Pepper Returns Pepper 4:26
02 Broadway Brown, DeSylva, Henderson 4:56
03 You Go to My Head Coots, Gillespie 4:15
04 Angel Wings Pepper 4:40
05 Funny Blues Pepper 4:36
06 Five More Pepper 4:37
07 Minority Pepper 4:17
08 Patricia Pepper 3:33
09 Mambo de la Pinta Pepper 4:15
10 Walkin' Out Blues Pepper 5:52
11 Pepper Steak Pepper 3:47
12 You're Driving Me Crazy Donaldson 5:05
13 Tenor Blooz Pepper 4:55
14 Yardbird Suite Parker 5:44
15 Straight Life Pepper 3:24
**
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Ben WEBSTER - My Man, Live At The Montmartre 1973

Ben WEBSTER - My Man, Live At The Montmartre 1973
Label: Steeplechase
Audio CD: (May 3, 1994)
Recorded at Jazzhus Montmartre, Copenhagen, on January and April, 1973

Jazz

Just months before his death, the great tenor Ben Webster shows that even with an occasional shortness of breath, he never really declined musically. The six selections (five standards and his "Set Call") are all familiar (one wonders how many times Webster recorded "Sunday") but he still sounds enthusiastic and emotional. Joined by pianist Ole Kock Hansen, bassist Bo Stief and drummer Alex Riel for these appearances at the Montmartre in Copenhagen, Webster's warm ballad renditions and hard-driving romps are as always quite enjoyable to hear.
By Scott Yanow. AMG.
**
Recorded live at Montmartre 1973. The indisputable tenor giant Ben Webster spent his last years in Copenhagen. His appearances at the famed Jazzhus Montmartre in those days greeted by faithful and appreciative audience were the historical moments filled with unique quality of beauty ignited by the last spark of a truly great man.
**
Ben Webster- Tenor Sax
Alex Riel- Drums
Ole Kock Hansen- Piano
Bo Stief- Bass
**
01. Sunday  7:55
02. Willow Weep for Me  8:56
03. Exactly Like You  8:44
04. Old Folks  10:06
05. I Got Rhythm  8:00
06. Set Call  8:06
**
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Kenny NEAL and Billy BRANCH - Double Take 2004

Kenny NEAL & Billy BRANCH - Double Take 2004
Label: Alligator

Blues

This no-frills Alligator reissue of 2003's Easy Meeting (recorded in France, 1998), allows a wider audience to hear this exceptional recording, which might have been all but impossible to find on its previous indie label. Louisiana swamp guitarist/vocalist Neal is well known through his nine discs on Alligator and Telarc, but harp player Branch is a more obscure, yet tremendously talented bluesman who blues fans may recognize from his inclusion on Alligator's 1991 Harp Attack. Branch ended up a little lost on that project since he had to share the spotlight with James Cotton, Carey Bell, and Junior Wells, but here, even working with Neal, he shines. This is a low-key but charming, predominantly acoustic project, split fairly evenly between classics, new tunes, and obscurities. Neal has the better voice, and sings seven of the 12 tracks, but Branch does a fine job on his five tunes, even between verses where he's playing harp. There aren't many — if any — overdubs, and the session is as loose and down-home as you'd expect from two seasoned musicians. Branch blows strong, electrified harmonica only slightly less cutting and explosive than Little Walter (two of whose hits "My Babe" and "I Just Keep Loving Her" are here), and is particularly impressive on the slow blues of his original "Northern Man Blues," where he switches from amplified to unplugged settings. Neal revisits "The Son I Never Knew," from his 1989 Devil Child release — twice actually — and the song in both of its versions (the second features Branch on amplified harp) is an album highlight. Other than a cover of "Mannish Boy" that, at nearly eight minutes, should have been pruned to four, the duo keeps the songs and performances concise, but still lazy and swampy. In fact, it sounds like the musicians were lounging on their porch on a sweltering summer's night. This is a relaxed, casual but moving album that goes down easy and doesn't try to be more than what it is, which is what ultimately makes it so successful.
By Hal Horowitz.
**
This recording is a blues, acoustic tapestry weaving guitar, harmonica and vocals into magnificent work of art. But unlike the art found in a stuffy old museum, this is down home and very comfortable. It fits like your favorite pair of jeans. It was recorded in France in 1998, mastered in October of 2002, and was previously released in Europe on Isabel Records as Easy Meeting. It is a collection of classic covers paying tribute to the blues masters and some very tasty originals that are the fruits of years of paying dues. The CD opens with a version of St. Louis Jimmy’s “Going Down Slow” that jumps right up in your face and gets your toes tappin’. This disc includes two versions of “A Son I Never Knew” which is haunting tale of a father’s lament for the child he did not know. The texture of this song hangs in your mind with the sounds and feelings that only a father knows. There a couple of Little Walter classics, “I Just Keep Loving Her” and “My Babe”, that add new life and energy to these well-worn blues standards. Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Don’t Start Me Talking” and Muddy Waters’ “Mannish Boy” are revisited with new vim and vigor featuring the vocals and harmonica of Billy Branch. Kenny Neal’s “Early One Morning” and “Going to the Country” are originals that stand on their own as contemporary blues standards. They have the sound of the past combined with the freshness of today. The original instrumental “Billy and Kenny’s Stomp” provides an avenue for both artists to stretch their collective musical wings. It is safe to say there is not a bad song on this disc.
Kenny Neal and Billy Branch are veteran blues performers who have worked hard to establish themselves in the world of the blues. Kenny Neal is a triple threat bluesman whose guitar, harmonica and vocals make him a stand-out in the world of the blues. Billy Branch is one of the best blues harmonica players in the world. His vocals are powerful expressions of the blues stories being told. Together, Kenny and Billy, deliver a CD that will stand the test of time. Go get the disc and invite Kenny Neal and Billy to spend some time in your living room. I’m sure you will have them visit you many times.
By Rich Gordon.
**
Billy Branch- Harmonica, Vocals
Kenny Neal- Guitar, Vocals
**
01. Going Down Slow  3:59
02. The Son I Never Knew [Take 2]  6:03
03. I Just Keep Loving Her  3:04
04. My Babe  3:16
05. Early One Morning  4:09
06. Going to the Country  3:29
07. Don't Start Me to Talking  4:31
08. Mannish Boy  7:48
09. Billy and Kenny's Stomp  4:45
10. Baby Bee  4:25
11. Northern Man Blues  6:44
12. Son I Never Knew [Take 1]  5:56
**
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