Iggy Pop - American Caesar 1993

Boasting a big-name producer and appearances from a handful of actual mainstream rock stars, Brick by Brick was a remarkably successful attempt (critically, if not commercially) to create an "event album" around Iggy Pop, so the follow-up came as a surprise -- American Caesar was cut fast and loose in a New Orleans studio, with Malcolm Burn (hardly known for his work in hard rock) in the producer's chair and Pop's road band backing him up. But the real surprise was that American Caesar ranks with Pop's very best solo work. Dark, loud, and atmospheric, it's a far riskier album than Brick by Brick, lyrically following that disc's themes of America teetering on the edge of internal collapse with the same degree of hard-won maturity, but adding a wacked-out passion and force that recall the heady days of Raw Power. While Pop's group doesn't play with the subtlety of the studio cats on Brick by Brick (I'll leave it to others to debate if they won't or they can't), they also sound tight and forceful, like a real band with plenty of muscle and some miles under their belts. Eric Schermerhorn's guitar meshes with Pop's vocals as well as anyone he's worked with since Ron Asheton, and Malcolm Burn's production is clear and detailed but adds subtle textures that season the formula just right. The hard rockers are full-bodied ("Wild America," "Plastic and Concrete"), the calmer tunes still bristle with tension and menace ("Mixing the Colors," "Jealousy"), the few moments of calm sound sincere and richly earned ("Highway Song," "It's Our Love"), the manic rewritten remake of "Louie Louie" actually tops the version on Metallic K.O., and the title cut is a bizarre bit of spoken-word performance art that's as strange as the entirety ofZombie Birdhouse, and a rousing success where that album was a brave failure. In a note printed on the CD itself, Pop says of American Caesar, "I tried to make this album as good as I could, with no imitations of other people and no formula sh*t." And Pop succeeded beyond anyone's expectations;American Caesar is an overlooked masterpiece. AMG.

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Magic Malik - Short Cuts 2011

Flutist Malik Mezzadri grew up on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, and moved to France to study at the conservatory in Marseille when he was 17. There he would win the first prize in flute; for more than twenty years, his subsequent idiosyncratic career as Magic Malik has seen him energetically flitting about the territory where jazz gives way to other musical forms: contemporary classical, pop, various kinds of experimentation. He has often organized his own groups' music in the form of "XPs" (derived from "experiences"), with prescribed modes and rules of conduct for the musicians.

The XPs—as well as three "Junon" compositions—make their appearance on Alternate Steps. Malik's distinctive musical language is not ingratiating; all the tracks are rigorous, informed by clear musical intelligence and skillfully executed by all five musicians, but they do not pander. Though this is essentially the same band heard on Malik's earlier Short Cuts (Bee Jazz, 2011), the mood is more focused and uncompromising on this disc.

Jean-Luc Lehr's electric bass is generally charged with providing a regular pulse (though Lehr has appealing guitar-like solo passages, as during "Chant Amerindien Alternate"). Maxime Zampieri's drums, meanwhile, sounds something like a typewriter: resolute, purposive (and also slightly flat), but not rhythmic. Over this disorienting bedrock, Malik's flute and Sanne van Hek's trumpet enter arrhythmically, atonally, in no way obviously linked to the regular bass pulse. Gradually, a swirling melodic figure—often bolstered by Jozef Dumoulin's panoply of electric keyboards—emerges from the flute/trumpet duo.
These swirling figures alternate with solo features for the players, where Malik and van Hek in particular display an almost classical-sounding virtuosity that substantially enriches the somewhat austere color scheme of the compositions.

Dumoulin merits a special mention for the impishly anarchic value his electric keyboard playing adds to the album; jangly on "Junon 6," explosive on "Junon 4." The keyboardist confirms his credentials for enlivening an ensemble on the heels of Plugged In (Bee Jazz, 2012), his excellent record with saxophonist Jerome Sabbagh.

Given enough time, and with some good fortune, these elements coalesce into a small-group sound that is quite novel and pleasing in its way. "Junon 4," clocking in at over thirteen minutes, is perhaps the most successful track precisely because its length allows the components of the performance to take shape and cohere.

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Toledo - Fishnets & Cigarettes 1997

This album is an excellent find. Fishnets & Cigarettes never garnered the attention it deserved, probably for being an innovative rock album released on electronica label Moonshine. Tom Waits fans should check into this. Waits is a good analog for the tough lounge grit here ornamented with slick samples and sounds. Smoky, sexy, and slinky, this is the soundtrack to after-hours cool and basement-bar predawn shine. AMG.

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Nile Rodgers - Adventures In The Land Of The Good Groove 1983)

Famed producer, writer, and infamous co-conspirator in the disco band Chic, guitarist Nile Rodgersused his solo outings not only to stretch his own wings, but as an extra outlet for the overflow of his talents. Despite the presence of Chic alumni Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson, a coterie of musicians that included vocalists Rachel Sweet and Fonzi Thornton (then enjoying his own chart success with "Beverly") ensured that this debut wasn't just a Chic effort in disguise. Sandwiched as it was between that band's own Tongue in Chic and Believer LPs, In the Land of the Good Groove was sure to draw comparisons. Rodgers, though, sidestepped that trap completely, creating a set that was uniquely his own, across a barrage of pop-inflected urban groovers. Although Edwards' elastic basslines are unmistakable, the mood remains squarely up-tempo, feel-good without entering the realms of fierce disco. Both the title track and "Rock Bottom" are perfect examples of this catchy energy, while "Yum-Yum" emerges as a spunky contemporary funk song, and Rodgers handles his outstanding R&B ballad, the tender "My Love Song for You," with utmost finesse. In the Land of the Good Groove stumbles at times, to be sure, but still emerges a sweet peek at Rodgers' alter-alter-ego. AMG.

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Peter Murphy - Holy Smoke 1992

Hopes for another surprise American success from Peter Murphy with Deep's follow-up went unfulfilled, as success proved not to be the case; released in the initial craze of the grunge/alternative mega-crossover, Smoke's elegant ballads and angular, arty rockers simply didn't fit in. Taken on its own merits, though, Smoke is quite a strong release, avoiding any cloning of Deep or "Cuts You Up" in favor of a different approach meant to bring out the band's live power more directly. Producer Mike Thorne gets some great performances out of them and Murphy both, giving the album a crisp, solid punch throughout, even during its quieter moments. The album is like Deep in one important respect -- variety, which is showcased successfully throughout. "Low Room" was an especially powerful blast, the band firing out a choppy, strong rhythm as Murphy almost barks his lyrics; similar, if not as totally successful, energy appeared with "Kill the Hate" and "Dream Gone By." On the quieter tip, "Let Me Love You," the understated drive of "Our Secret Garden," and the lovely opener "Keep Me From Harm" are all fine showcases for Murphy at his most love-drunk. "The Sweetest Drop" was the lead single, but better choices would have been "You're So Close," with an anthemic, stunning chorus and a flat-out brilliant vocal, and the cleverly titled "Hit Song." Murphy's dramatic singing, concluding in a duet with guest singer Alison Limerick's lovely falsetto, makes it all the more enjoyable. AMG.

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Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Shahen-Shah 1988

This 1988 recording helped to launch Peter Gabriel's Real World label. It also introduced Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to the non-Pakistani world, presenting him as a kind of world music rock star. Nusratand his nine-man "party" perform their trademark qawwali here without alterations for the Western market. They sing in Urdu, using religious and romantic texts drawn from the poetry of Sufiism, the mystical sect of Islam. And yet, all the elements that would make Nusrat a world pop sensation are here, above all his enormous voice, husky and trenchant, powerful as a hurricane, severe and foreboding on the darkest tracks, but always bursting with the ecstatic joy of revelation, as on the classic, "Shamas-Ud-Doha, Badar-Ud-Doha." The relentless hand clapping and tabla drum accompaniment convey an aggressive tranciness that combines the contemplative serenity of Indian classical music with the headbanging frenzy of punk rock. Droning harmonium melodies introduce each of these six, ten-minute-plus tracks, and then wind through the escalating vocal fireworks. Singers repeat lines with building intensity, each repetition squeezing more emotional juice from the words.Nusrat's scat-like improvisations are always a high point, often leading to swelling unison chant melodies sung by the entire party. This release effectively rallied a host of samplers, re-mixers, and film scorers who would keep Nusrat busy for the remaining decade of his life. But in retrospect, nothing they created surpasses this, Nusrat's first session at Real World. "Shahen Shah" means the "brightest star," and though qawwali music now has other international stars, Nusrat still merits his title AMG.

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Nile Rodgers - B-Movie Matinee 1985

Released in 1985, B-Movie Matinee proved a stellar departure from Nile Rodgers' initial solo outing. Leaving behind the more traditional trappings of his R&B-inflected debut, he instead looked to the synthesized future, driving his organic bass and guitars into what amounted to a concept album of sorts, fueled by memories of lazy Saturday B-movie afternoons. Bright, punchy pop punctuates this set. From the quirky sci-fi of "Plan-9" and the contemporary urban groove on "State Your Mind," which is one of the album's better tracks, Rodgers fills the space with eminently danceable, if somewhat same-y, songs using synthesizer tricks to thrill. "Let's Go out Tonight," meanwhile, proved the album's hot prospect, dipping into the Top 100, giving Rodgers his only solo chart hit. Rounding things out are the ballad "Wavelength" and Rodgers' immaculate instrumentation -- most notably the guitar and bass, which bound through the funky "Groove Master" with glee. Perhaps a little too light on substance, B-Movie Matinee still manages to please. Being Nile Rodgers can't be easy, as the mere mention of his name conjures such strong sonic images from his Chic canon, and it's hard to ignore those predispositions when listening to his solo material. But that's no detriment to the fine set he's unleashed here. AMG.

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The Coup - Genocide & Juice 1994

A subtler and more fully realized effort than the debut, Genocide & Juice finds the Coup truly coming into their own, refining their mix of revolutionary politics and easy-rolling funk into some of the best political hip-hop ever put to wax. The main difference here is a richly developed cast of characters, asBoots and E-Roc put human faces on their beliefs, and paint sympathetic portraits of working-class African-Americans struggling to make ends meet any way they can, often stuck with little education and fewer options. Socialist ideology is rarely far from the surface, but because of the way it's presented, it seems just as logical in context as opposing racism. The opening three songs are intertwined together, and mark a quantum leap in the group's sophistication. "Fat Cats, Bigga Fish" introduces a small-time hustler scraping together a living; along with his cousin, he infiltrates a party for corporate fat cats, who happen to enjoy imitating rappers, and drop freestyles about their abuses of power on the screamingly funny "Pimps." Finally, on "Takin' These," the two hustlers rob the party blind, Robin Hood-style, chanting a chorus lifted from Lady and the Tramp's "The Siamese Cat Song." Just in itself, that trio is a tour de force, displaying a sharp satirical instinct that's rare in any form. Although there are a few missteps, the remainder of the album is more consistent than Kill My Landlord, which fell prey to some sleepy beats at times. "The Name Game" makes the point that a few famous rappers don't amount to much when there's no broad economic base to help average African-Americans improve their lives. Another highlight is "Repo Man," a bitter yet catchy complaint that's not just about the villainous title character, but also the circumstances that make him necessary. All in all, Genocide & Juice is an enormously sophisticated work that the Coup would only go on to better the next time out. AMG.

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Stevie Wonder - Characters 1987

Stevie Wonder shocked fans by taking only two years to release his next new non-soundtrack studio album, Characters. Unfortunately, it had long since become clear that Wonder was willing to settle for good pop music without challenging himself to make great pop music. And by now, a big chunk of his formerly mass audience had gotten the message: this was Wonder's first new album to miss the pop Top Five in 15 years. (The black music audience, however, responded far more favorably, as the album topped the R&B charts for seven weeks.) The biggest single was the "Superstition"-like dance track "Skeletons" (number 19 pop, number one R&B), and Wonder also charted with the pretty "You Will Know" and an up-tempo duet with Michael Jackson, "Get It." AMG.

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Ollabelle - Riverside Battle Songs 2006

Ollabelle's second album, Riverside Battle Songs, arrives on the heels of 2004's self-titled debut, one of the more celebrated Americana releases of the new millennium. That album combined classic gospel material with T-Bone Burnett's sparkling production and a fresh vocal approach featuring five gifted singers who could shine both individually and collectively. Where the debut album was skewed toward traditional songs with a smattering of originals, Riverside Battle Songs reverses the ratio. Nine of the 13 songs are Ollabelle originals. The traditional songs fare best here. Namesake Ola Belle Reed's "High on a Mountain" is given a spirited reading, while the familiar spiritual "Down by the Riverside" is updated with ambient touches that recall Daniel Lanois' production work. The Appalachian gospel song "Gone Today" arrives via spine-tingling a cappella singing, departs via a fiddle and Dobro hoedown, and is one of the album's highlights. The originals are more problematic. The mournful "Everything Is Broken" is a starkly lovely ballad, while "Troubles of the World" offers an impressive and surprising raga-tinged coda on what is otherwise a standard gospel song. However, producer and multi-instrumentalist Larry Campbell adds some too-familiar alt-country pedal steel work on "Heaven's Pearls" and "Blue Northern Lights," songs that are certainly pretty, but which overstay their welcome. More disturbingly, the five members of Ollabelle simply sound too polite and well-mannered for songs that are intended to convey spiritual desperation and heavenly joy. It's a charge that could have been leveled at the debut album, but the universally strong material offset the lack of funk and fire. But Riverside Battle Songs, with slightly weaker material, is The Gospel According to NPR and PBS, and as such it will appeal mostly to fans who like their fire and brimstone diluted with a strong dose of slick professionalism and urbane refinement. Undeniably well crafted and well sung, and occasionally moving, Riverside Battle Songs is nevertheless something of a disappointment. AMG.

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Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen - Mo Hippa 2008

Jon Cleary & the Absolute Monster Gentlemen consist of Cleary on keyboard and vocals; Derwin"Big D" Perkins (born 1974) on guitar; Cornell C. Williams (born 1962) on bass and backup vocals; and Jellybean on drums. All of the band members, except for Cleary, were born in New Orleans.

The band is generally well received, drawing large crowds of locals at classic New Orleans venues like Tipitina's and the Maple Leaf Bar. They are also a mainstay at the annual Jazz and Heritage Festival and have played at Bonnaroo as well as other music festivals. Rolling Stone's David Fricke wrote of the Pin Your Spin album: "Cleary can be an absolute monster on his own, but Cleary’s full combo R&B is as broad, deep and roiling as the Mississippi river, the combined swinging product of local keyboard tradition, Cleary’s vocal-songwriting flair for moody Seventies soul and the spunky-meters roll of his Gentlemen".

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Merl Saunders - Fiesta Amazonica 2010

Hammond B-3 player Merl Saunders has recorded with numerous renowned artists since the early '70s and has led many of his own dates in a variety of genres from jazz to blues to new age to rock. Born on Valentine's Day, 1934 in San Mateo, CA, Saunders began learning to play the piano at the age of 10. He was a classmate and bandmate of Johnny Mathis through junior high school. Saundersdecided on music as a profession after seeing how much fun was had by audience and performers alike at concerts by such musicians as Cab Calloway. He apprenticed early on with Jimmy Smith for a time, and attended various music schools. Starting in the 1960s, Saunders collaborated on and off withJerry Garcia, and the Grateful Dead. He also began working as a jazz keyboardist in the early '70s, and since has performed and recorded with Harry Belafonte, Frank Sinatra, Lionel Hampton, Miles Davis, B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt and Paul Butterfield. One of his several albums with Jerry Garcia, Blues From the Rainforest, hit the Top 5 of the U.S. Billboard New Age charts in the early '90s.Saunders runs his own label, Sumertone, which includes much of his catalogue, as does the Fantasy label. In 1998, Saunders released his 20th album as a leader, Merl Saunders With His Funky Friends: Live! (Sumertone), which includes guests Garcia, John Popper (of Blues Travelers) and Trey Anastasio (of Phish). In addition to his active touring schedule, the San Franciscan has also written scores for TV and movies, including Tales From The Crypt, Twilight Zone, Heavy Traffic and Fritz The Cat. In early 2000, Merl Saunders became the first recipient of the lifetime activist award from a Florida environmentalist group for his environmental activism that goes beyond just the titles of albums likeSave the Planet So We'll Have Someplace to Boogie and Blues from the Rainforest. Later that fall, Saunders released Struggling Man in November.
There are few musical boundaries that pianist Merl Saunders hasn't ventured into. For Fiesta Amazonica, a follow up to his classic Blues for the Rainforest, he continues to blend of world beat, new age, blues, funk, and jazz. Guests on the recording include Jerry Garcia, Steve Kimmock, Rob Wasserman, Bob Weir, and Vince Welnick. Songs on this album were inspired by a trip Saunderstook to visit the rainforests in South America. The title track attempts to capture the energy of an Amazon tribal celebration. It features a brilliant guitar solo by Zero and Other Ones guitarist Steve Kimmock. Perhaps the most intense tune, "Ayahuasca Zone" was based on a ceremony in which rainforest natives ingested a powerful psychedelic drug. An eclectic and dissonant tune, it brings the wild ceremony to life. With its strange directions and brilliant songwriting, this album is a testament toSaunders' long and diverse career.  AMG.

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Cécile McLorin Salvant - WomanChild 2013

The U.S. debut album from jazz vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant, 2013's WomanChild is a bewitching, exuberant introduction to this immensely talented young singer. The winner of the 2010 Thelonious Monk jazz vocal competition, Salvant has the technical ability, lyrical sense, and undeniable charisma to sustain a career that could undoubtedly match those of her idols -- who include Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, and Ella Fitzgerald. And while the distinctive influence of all three of these singers is evident here, with WomanChild Salvant reveals herself to be a genuinely original vocalist with a distinctive timbre, a singer steeped in tradition but with a style and phrasing all her own. And it's not just older artists whom she brings to mind; her reworking of "There's a Lull in My Life" evokes the sultry R&B influence of Sade. All of this merely speaks to Salvant's broad musical appeal and ability to integrate influences into her own sound. And it doesn't hurt that she's backed here by an all-star rhythm section of Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra regulars, including pianist Aaron Diehl, bassist Rodney Whitaker, guitarist James Chirillo, and drummer Herlin Riley. Primarily here, Salvant delves into a superb selection of lesser-known standards and original compositions, putting her stamp on such songs as "Nobody," "You Bring Out the Savage in Me," and "Jitterbug Waltz." Salvant even taps into her French heritage on her original composition "Le Front Caché sur Tes Genoux," which features lyrics culled from Ida Faubert's poem "Rondel." However, it is the title track, also an original song, that showcasesSalvant the best. A bluesy, roiling torch song, "WomanChild" is Salvant's declaration of womanly independence in the face of self-doubt. She sings, "WomanChild falters/Clumsy on her feet/Wonderin' where she'll go/When her time has come/Good she'll never know/Until she comes undone." WithWomanChild, Salvant's time has definitely come and despite whatever fears she may have, it's clear she has the talent to go very far indeed. AMG.

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