Here's a look at the jazz-heavy stack of discs teetering on my desk while I'm at Summerfest...
I'll admit I approached "Silence," a duo recording of saxophonist David Murray and pianist Mal Waldron recorded at two Belgian concerts in 2001, with some trepidation. The Justin Time Records disc has a less than compelling cover and, frankly, looks a little dull. But this is a prime example of why one should never judge a book -- or CD -- by its cover. The music inside -- seven tunes, ranging from Waldron's famous "Soul Eyes" to Murray's "Silence" to Ellington's "All Too Soon" and Miles' "Jean-Pierre" -- is fresh, exciting and dramatic, keeping you on the edge of your seat wondering just what these two brilliant musical minds will do next. Highly recommended.
Also from Justin Time is pianist Paul Bley's "About Time," a two-song solo disc recorded in 2007 with a 33-minute take of Bley's own "About Time" and a reading of Sonny Rollins' "Pent-Up House." The disc is Bley's sixth solo outing for the label and it's easy to see why. Set off on his own, Bley can let his personality and his skill as an improviser run free.
Blue Note Records has a trio of new Connoisseur Series limited edition reissues and five new entries in the Rudy Van Gelder Edition series.
I suspect this Connoisseur edition of "Smithville," by trumpeter Louis Smith -- in a 1958 sessions with Charlie Rouse, Sonny Clark, Paul Chambers and Art Taylor -- is the first U.S. CD release and it's got two more tracks from the session added. "Return of the Prodigal Son" collects tracks from two 1967 Stanley Turrentine-led sessions that had originally appeared scattered on other reissues.
The most exciting of the Connoisseurs is "Head On," a 1971 Bobby Hutcherson session with a great period sleeve design. While the music inside is similarly dated it captures Hutcherson at a transitional time in his career, as jazz began to suck in rock and roll and other electric influences in search of a new sound.
The most interesting of the RVG reissues is the first U.S. CD release of Lou Donaldson's 1962 "Here ‘Tis," an organ quartet session that features guitarist Grant Green, drummer Dave Bailey and erstwhile Milwaukee organist, the late Baby Face Willette. You can read my story on Willette here.
Others in the batch are: Stanley Turrentine's nice quartet session from 1960, "Look Out!," with pianist Horace Parlan; pianist Freddie Redd's 1961 "Shades of Redd" with Jackie McLean and Tina Brooks in the front line; "Further Explorations by the Horace Silver Quartet," recorded in 1958 and featuring trumpeter Art Farmer and tenor man Clifford Jordan; and a reissue of the 1979 release, "The Soothsayer," which was the first appearance of a 1965 session by Wayne Shorter that also included McCoy Tyner, Freddie Hubbard, James Spalding, Ron Carter and Tony Williams.
Away from the world of jazz, there's Heartbeat's deluxe edition of enduring reggae singer Johnny Osbourne's similary long-lived classic Studio One disc, "Truth and Rights." Bolstered by the Studio One musicians and harmonies from Freddie McGregor and Jennifer Lara, Osbourne created some classics on this late ‘70s set. "Jah Promise" ia an anthem of Rasta love, "Truth and Rights" is a remake of an earlier Obsourne hit and "Sing Jay Stylee" created not only a subgenre, but also gave it a name. This version of the disc adds six bonus dubs, extended mixes and other related material and an expanded book has an informative essay.
In a similar vein is "Survival of the Fattest" (Rasa Music), the brilliant disc from the U.K.'s Prince Fatty (aka Mike Pelanconi). With guest vocals from Winston Francis and Little Roy and a host of ace musicians, Fatty has created a retro rock steady masterpiece with dubs and toasting tracks on the same rhythms as the vocal tracks. What's really nice is to hear how this kind music sounds like recorded in a modern studio. With a nice spark and sweet vocals, this is one of the best Jamaican-style records of the year. Oh, and you might know Fatty from his work with Lily Allen.
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds' latest Anti- Records set, "Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!," came as a bit of a surprise. I've grown used to thinking of Cave in terms of Kurt Weill and dark, often orchestrated music bolstering Southern Gothic lyrics that read like Biblical verse these days. But "Dig!!!" returns Cave to unfettered rock and roll (although not quite as unfettered as his one-time band The Birthday Party). The 11 tracks here are a revelation, a fresh reminder of Cave's diverse talents and, once again, his skill as a songwriter. If you'd have told me in 1981 that Cave would be this guy, I'd have laughed.
On a lighter note is "Hummingbird, Go!" (Basin Street Records), by New Orleans-based Swede Theresa Andersson. Andersson -- who moved to Louisiana when she was 18 and has performed with The Meters, Dr. John and The Neville Brothers -- makes use of loop technology like David Ford -- and others, of course -- to create layered, one-woman pop that finds its muse in the great r&b of the 1960s. Her "Birds Fly Away" is the best 1963 girl-pop tune of 2008!
Tobias Froberg produced the record in Andersson's kitchen (there are some great videos on You Tube) and Andersson duets with no less than Allen Toussaint on "Now I Know," the only track on which she didn't play all the instruments. She's on tour this month but nowhere near Milwaukee, sadly.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
