Jonas Hellborg - Temporal Analogues of Paradise 1996

Here's another stunningly beautiful Jonas Hellborg album with another misleadingly dorky title (cf. Octave of the Holy Innocents, Ars Moriende, etc.). The dorkiness of the title is misleading because it's simply not reflected in the music, which, while decidedly virtuosic and occasionally even esoteric, is for the most part admirably grounded and accessible. With guitar hero Shawn Lane and drummer Apt. Q-258 (aka Jeff Sipe), Hellborg spins out two half-hour long improvisations (or, as they're called here, "movements"); the first is the more rockish, and also the less interesting of the two. Opening with a ringing tonic-dominant figure from Hellborg and a pummeling beat from Sipe, the piece quickly takes off into guitar-god territory as Lane lets loose -- his playing is genuinely inspiring, as pretty as it is jaw-droppingly virtuosic -- but on this track the trio doesn't ever hook into anything really transcendent. On the more lyrical and restrained "Second Movement," though, there is magic at work. Lane starts out in a South Asian modality and then gradually glides into a series of variations on achingly sweet diatonic themes while Hellborg supports him with solid but intricate bass figures underneath. Hellborg's solos are brilliant as well. The album is a solid success overall. AMG. listen here

Lena Horne - Seasons Of A Life 2006

Lena Horne had effectively retired in 2006 when Blue Note released Seasons of a Life, an album compiled for her by her musical director, Rodney Jones, and including unreleased performances recorded between 1994 and 2000. It's an effective capstone to her career, and shows that even at the age of 80, the former Cotton Club featured attraction had lost little of the verve and sophistication she exhibited throughout her career. The material comes from six different sessions, some live but most in a studio environment, including outtakes -- most of which sound like outtakes -- from her Blue Note albums of the '90s. Three of the performances come from the Blue Note project Classic Ellington, which allowed Simon Rattle and the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra to pay tribute to Duke Ellington in a classical context. (For this release, Rodney Jones appears to have merely excised the symphony to make these small-group performances.) Most interesting, however, are two tracks recorded with Herbie Hancock, the first a trio recording of Billy Strayhorn's "Chelsea Bridge" and the second a Horne-Hancock duet on "Willow Weep for Me." AMG. listen here

Keith Jarrett Trio - Somewhere Before (1969-1981)

While still a member of the Charles Lloyd Quartet, Keith Jarrett did some occasional moonlighting with a trio, anchored by two future members of Jarrett's classic quartet, Charlie Haden (bass) and Paul Motian (drums). On this CD, Jarrett turns in a very eclectic set at Shelly's Manne-Hole in Hollywood, careening through a variety of idioms where his emerging individuality comes through in flashes. He covers Bob Dylan's "My Back Pages" -- which actually came out as a single on the Vortex label -- in an attractive, semi-funky style reminiscent of Vince Guaraldi. "Pretty Ballad" delivers a strong reflective dose of Bill Evans, while "Moving Soon" is chaotic free jazz. By the time we reach "New Rag," we begin to hear the distinctive Jarrett idiom of the later trios, but then, "Old Rag" is knockabout stride without the stride. As an example of early, unfocused Jarrett, this is fascinating material. AMG. listen here

Doudou Ndiaye Rose - Djabote 1991

Doudou N'Diaye Rose has been called the "Jimi Hendrix of the drum skin." A virtuoso percussionist, Rose has proven equally effective whether he's working with a small ensemble or a symphony orchestra. According to www.runprod.com, Rose "has a passion for sounds and for harmonies; he loves to make his group reverberate like a tremendous rhythmical machine, which he controls with the hands of a master, using his baton to guide the musicians with an irresistible authority and natural charisma." Born to a Wolof family, Rose has inherited the status of griot or oral historian. Rose is reportedly the father of 38 children.
Unlike most drummers in the West African traditions, Rose has always tended to work with large ensembles. Yet their enormous power has mostly come with little loss of subtlety, as these recent recordings attest. This open-air set involving no less than 50 drummers and as many singers has a sweep and strength that take your breath away.AMG. listen here

INXS - X 1990

The seventh album from Australia's INXS basically sticks to the formula set up on Kick, mixing solid remixable dancefloor beats with slightly quirky production tricks, Michael Hutchence's rough-edged, bluesy vocals, and some good solid song hooks. The most immediate numbers are, of course, the two singles, "Suicide Blonde" and "Disappear," but other tracks stand out as potential hit material as well, including the anthemic "The Stairs." The biggest problems with the album are a tendency to play it safe, sticking to the tried and true -- echoing a line in the thumping "Who Pays the Price," when Hutchence sings "it's all been felt before" -- and the fact that there's very little in the way of subtlety on the entire album. All of the songs are designed for immediate radio contact -- they don't really give you a chance to grow into them, they just grab you by the throat and start shaking. "Know the Difference," as an example, threatens to be sneaky but immediately switches to an obvious assault instead. In the finish, the overwhelming lack of subtlety and sense of sameness overcomes the album as a whole. It's not that's it's a bad album. It's just nowhere near as good as it could -- and should -- have been. AMG. listen here

Susan Tedeschi - Just Won't Burn 1998

The very idea of a lady slinging a guitar sets traditional blues fans swooning. But with the release of her debut, Susan Tedeschi slings, aims, and hits her target. What a talent! Singer, songwriter, player, performer, and more, the lady from Boston can do it all. Effective, she does justice to John Prine's classic "Angel from Montgomery" while making her own efforts known. Her tunes include "You Need to Be with Me," "Found Someone New," and the title cut. Leading her own band, she has what it takes to keep the boys in line while she wails away. Big Mama Thornton and Bessie Smith must be proud, and B.B. King must be impressed, since she has opened for that blues master on several occasions. Just a little taste of things to come, Just Won't Burn blazes a trail that Tedeschi is pioneering for herself and younger women in the blues world. A brave heart with spunk and plenty of soul. AMG.
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Prince - Planet Earth 2007

Comeback accomplished, Prince now settles into a groove with 2007's Planet Earth, his 26th studio album and successor to the two deliberate comebacks, Musicology and 3121. Those two albums were designed to storm the top of the charts but, more importantly, they were made with the intention of making Prince prominent again -- a gambit that worked since Prince worked hard, stealing the show at both the Superbowl and the American Idol fifth-season finale and turning into an in-demand concert ticket once again. Both records were recorded with the expectations of making a splash, and 3121 even made some overtures toward modern music, most noticeably in the sleek electro workout of "Black Sweat," which suggested that Prince had heard the Neptunes, even if he didn't pay them much mind. In contrast to such grudging nods at his progeny, Planet Earth doesn't attempt to make concessions to contemporary music, although it does make a point of addressing the modern world, whether it's in the neo-apocalyptic warnings of destruction and God on the title track or his offhand reference to "this digital age" on the sweet slow jam "Somewhere Here on Earth." Such passing asides are enough indication that, even if Prince may belong to his own universe, he surely lives in our world, something that's also apparent from his move to give away the album with Sunday newspapers in the U.K., a move that infuriated record labels in Britain -- since how can you sell something that's being given away for free? -- yet makes some sense in terms of sheer marketing. After all, Planet Earth is the kind of sturdy, highly enjoyable music that needs some manufactured hoopla around its release; otherwise, it will fade into the artist's prodigious back catalog because of its very nature. This isn't a self-styled comeback, it's an album that showcases a still-vital veteran relaxing and playing music that's not surprising, not fashionable, but not stodgy or fussy. That may mean that Planet Earth isn't much more than a quite good Prince album, one that hits upon his most accessible personas -- impish popster, funk-rocker, seductive balladeer, charmingly mystic weirdo -- and doesn't go much further than that, yet it still offers plenty to enjoy, either as sheer music (some of the synths are a bit glassy, but nobody knows how to make a record sound warm like Prince) or as songs. If there are no classics here -- or even songs that are as instantly grabbing as "Lolita" -- there are no bad songs either, with the very funny, tightly wound rocker "Guitar," the light, frothy "The One U Wanna C," and the NPG knockoff "Chelsea Rodgers" being as engaging as slow jams like "Future Baby Mama." There's no fluff and no fat, just ten strong songs delivered with just enough flair to remind you it's the work of Prince, yet strategically avoiding the indulgence that marginalized him throughout the '90s. Ultimately, Planet Earth is the sound of a working musician working, which makes it a bit of a passing pleasure, yet there's no denying that it is indeed a pleasure having him turn out solid records like this that build upon his legacy, no matter how modestly. AMG.
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Gil Scott-Heron - Ghetto Style 1998

This compilation features 21 tracks from Gil Scott-Heron's first three long-players -- Small Talk at 125th and Lenox (1970), Pieces of a Man (1971), and Free Will (1972) -- all for producer Bob Thiele's Flying Dutchman label. Although Scott-Heron's seminal recordings consisted of his radical street poetry set to a bombast of conga accompaniment, he honed his prose into socially conscious R&B. This would heavily influence rap music nearly a decade prior to its fruition in the early '80s and 1990s. The original recitation version of "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" -- which comes off as militant as the more familiar instrumentally accompanied reading -- as well as the slice-of-life commentary title track "Small Talk at 125th and Lenox" appropriately represent Scott-Heron's first disc with an edgy political incorrectness taken directly from the soul of the American ghettos. Although the tone of his later work would become somewhat melodically tempered, the lyrical content remained in-your-face and wholly uncompromising. On the follow-up, Pieces of a Man, the artist is accompanied by a bevy of studio musicians and jazz heavies, including Ron Carter (bass), Hubert Laws (flute/saxophone), as well as Bernard "Pretty" Purdie (drums). This would also begin Scott-Heron's dramatic and fruitful collaborative relationship with Brian Jackson (keyboards), which would spawn several landmark and otherwise socially conscious discs, including the apropos bicentennial release It's Your World (1976). Jackson's delicate interplay on "Did You Hear What They Said" and "Or Down You Fall" demonstrates the musical cohesion that would continue to develop between the two. Although this is a European import, as no domestic compilation of this material exists, Ghetto Style (1998) is a highly recommended primer. AMG.
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Jane's Addiction - Ritual De Lo Habitual 1990

Ritual de lo Habitual served as Jane's Addiction's breakthrough to the mainstream in 1990 (going gold and reaching the Top 20), and remains one of rock's all-time sprawling masterpieces. While its predecessor, 1988's Nothing's Shocking, served as a fine introduction to the group, Ritual de lo Habitual proved to be even more daring; few (if any) alt-rock bands have composed a pair of epics that totaled nearly 20 minutes, let alone put them back to back for full dramatic effect. While the cheerful ditty "Been Caught Stealing" is the album's best-known track, the opening "Stop!" is one of the band's best hard rock numbers, propelled by guitarist Dave Navarro's repetitive, trashy funk riff, while "Ain't No Right" remains explosive in its defiant and vicious nature. Jane's Addiction always had a knack for penning beautiful ballads with a ghostly edge, again proven by the album closer, "Classic Girl." But it's the aforementioned epics that are the album's cornerstone: "Three Days" and "Then She Did...." Although Perry Farrell has never truly admitted what the two songs are about lyrically, they appear to be about an autobiographical romantic tryst between three lovers, as each composition twists and turns musically through every imaginable mood. And while the tracks "No One's Leaving," "Obvious," and "Of Course" may not be as renowned as other selections, they prove integral in the makeup of the album. Surprisingly, the band decided to call it a day just as Ritual de lo Habitual hit big, headlining the inaugural Lollapalooza tour (the brainchild of Farrell) in the summer of 1991 as their final road jaunt. Years later, it remains one of alt-rock's finest moments. AMG.
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Gentle Giant - Acquiring The Taste 1971

The band's second album is a major advance on its first, featuring superior singing, playing, and songwriting, as well as a more unified sound, without sacrificing the element of surprise in the first record. Many of the melodies and even the riffs here (check out Gary Green's first guitar flourish on "Pantagruel's Nativity") have a pretty high haunt count, and all of the musicianship displays an elegance seldom heard even in progressive circles -- but the record also, amazingly enough, rocks really hard as well. Elements of hard rock and Gregorian chants mix freely and, amazingly enough, well throughout this album. AMG.
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Killing Floor - Killing Floor 1969

Listening to Killing Floor's debut LP today -- essentially rearranged Chicago blues songs given a bombastic heavy rock treatment -- you cannot dismiss the impact and influence of Led Zeppelin's self-titled debut, which was released six months earlier, in January 1969. The band's fledgling label, Spark, decided to them record "original" material during sessions in Pye Recording Studios, so vocalist Bill Thorndycraft reportedly spent several days thereafter in the studio's restroom, where he reluctantly rewrote all the group's lyrics. The only song that didn't end up as an "original" was their cover of Willie Dixon's "You Need Love" (retitled "Woman You Need Love"), the same song later purloined by Led Zeppelin for "Whole Lotta Love." The next track, "Nobody By My Side," repeats the same two-line riff from Zeppelin's "How Many More Times," which had been purloined by Zeppelin from Albert King's "The Hunter." "Come Home Baby," a honky tonk blues original, features pleasant ivory-tickling by Lou Martin (this song was later covered by bluesman Jimmy Witherspoon on Spoonful of Blues). The hymn-like "Sunday Morning" features Martin on harpsichord. Much of the rest of the album continues along in the same fashion. There are the occasional sloppy mistakes, both in the playing and the album's production, but, all in all, Killing Floor is a fine collection of B-level British blues-rock. The cover artwork -- a photo depicting jail cell doors with symbolic red ink splashed around like blood -- was changed for the original American release on Sire. Killing Floor was reissued on CD by See For Miles (retitled Rock the Blues) in 1992 and by Repertoire in 1993. AMG.
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Santana - Sacred Fire, Live In South America 1993

For their third live album, Santana introduced a new bass player, Myron Dove, and added guitarist Jorge Santana (Carlos Santana's brother), and singer Vorriece Cooper to bring the band up to nine members. Adopting the mantle of Bob Marley, the band played "Esperando," which borrowed Marley's characteristic audience chant. Much of the album, however, is given over to repeating Santana's earliest hits -- "No One to Depend On," "Black Magic Woman," "Soul Sacrifice," -- which should please the band's new record label (it's always good to have versions of the hits in your catalog), but which makes the album inessential for fans. Sacred Fire spent one week at number 181 in the charts, the worst performance ever for a Santana album.AMG.
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Dick Heckstall-Smith and Friends - Blues And Beyond 2001

Saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith had a major role in the British blues boom of the 1960s, playing in the bands of Alexis Korner, Graham Bond, and John Mayall. In all of his work, and particularly in the late-'60s band Colosseum, he ventured into the little-explored territory where blues, jazz, and rock meet. In addition to doing session work, he's released some solo recordings. 1995's Celtic Steppes, funded by the Arts Council of England, was an ambitious world fusion outing. AMG.
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Dave Cousins - Two weeks last summer 1972

Dave Cousins' 1972 solo album was very much like a Strawbs record of the period, albeit one in which his songwriting and vocals dominated even more than they did on other Strawbs releases from the era. The Strawbs connection is enhanced by the presence of soon-to-be Strawb Dave Lambert on guitar and backing vocals, and just-ex-Strawb Rick Wakeman on keyboards. A couple of other moonlighters from star bands (bassist Roger Glover of Deep Purple and drummer Jon Hiseman of Colosseum) are onboard too, as are, on a couple tracks, the wind septet of Robert Kirby, most known for his contributions to Nick Drake recordings. Like the Strawbs albums from the time, it shows a move toward a folk-rock/harder rock blend as compared to Cousins' folkier beginnings, though a few cuts mostly or wholly feature only Cousins accompanying himself on piano. Too, some of these songs -- such as "Two Weeks Last Summer," "October to May," and "We'll Meet Again Sometime" -- had actually been recorded with the Strawbs prior to inclusion on this release, even if the Strawbs versions didn't find their way into wide release until the CD era. It's not as good as the best Strawbs stuff, however, in part because it lacks as much of a group dynamic, in part because it doesn't have Cousins' most outstanding songs. All that noted, fans of Cousins and the Strawbs are pretty solidly guaranteed to find something to appreciate here, as the songs are very much in his tradition of haunting melodies and involved lyrics, sometimes with a story-spinning, remembrance-of-things-past bent. Lingering echoes of psychedelia are felt in the distorted vocals, foggy organ, backward washes of sound, and tinkling bells of the title track; the three-part "Blue Angel" is indicative of his taste for song-epics; and "The Actor" is an above-average hard rocker, Cousins' electronically treated singing sounding as if it's rising from a boiling pot. Long unavailable on CD, it was finally issued in that format on SDR Records in 2003.AMG.
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Dexy's Midnight Runners - Too-Rye-Ay 1982

For one brief moment, Dexy's exploded into America's consciousness -- and what a song to do it with! "Come on Eileen" combines ramalama rock & roll, soul delivery, and Celtic/country flavor into a perfect musical fusion and an irresistible U.K. and U.S. number one hit. Both the song and its video were such hits that years later, ska/punk band Save Ferris made a minor splash with its own version of the tune, while Garth Brooks appeared in a Saturday Night Live skit dressed as the capering, bedraggled Rowland. The rest of the album is nearly as successful, with quite a few numbers that should have matched "Come on Eileen"'s fame. Given that song's obvious debt to Van Morrison's similar fusions, it's no surprise that Dexy's tipped their hat with a great cover of Morrison's "Jackie Wilson Said," another big British single. Throughout the album, Rowland's distinct, unique voice takes the fore, but the revamped Dexy's lineup proves it was the original version's equal, if not better. Given that only trombonist Big Jimmy Patterson remained, and even then only for two tracks, recruiting a new band able to create the "Celtic soul" Rowland dreamed about turned out to be exactly the right move. Excellently produced by Rowland and the legendary Clive Langer/Alan Winstanley production team, Too-Rye-Ay sounds like an old soul revue recorded on-stage, no doubt an intentional goal. Other highlights include the opening jaunt "The Celtic Soul Brothers," which just about says it all both in title and delivery; the slow swirl of "All in All," and the vicious ballad "Liars A to E." AMG.
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