For long time followers of this blog, you may have picked up on the fact I have a thing for female singer songwriters. It started with Joni Mitchell in the late 70s. Arlo Parks is my latest infatuation. Arlo Parks has been getting lots of hype in anticipation of her debut album that came out 1/29/21. So I have not exactly discovered her.
Per her website:
Arlo Parks is a singer-songwriter from London. In her words she spent most of school feeling like that black kid who couldn’t dance for shit, listening to too much emo music and crushing on some girl in her Spanish class. Her songs are confessional and tender, mainly inspired by Portishead and Earl Sweatshirt.
Per her website
I don’t like having to label music, but it is a useful way to explain what an artist or band sounds like. For Arlo Park I would call it “folk soul.” It has the intimacy and simplicity of folk music and some subtle funk and hip-hop vibe to give it soul.
Park is known as a poet and songwriter. The album opens with a spoken poem (not a rap) and a few of the other songs have spoken word parts. For the most part Park is singing in a relaxed easy-going style. Lyrically the songs are relationship oriented. They alternate between first person obsessions and third person observations. Most of the songs are stories – almost mini movies. The instrumentation has more of a hip hop beats feel than typical R&B or soul music. There is a freshness and originality to the album. It sounds nothing like Maggie Rogers’ Heard It In A Past Life, but it has the same sincere and youthful vibe. I love the Britishness of her phrasing.
I know it can be hard to commit to a whole album when sampling a new artist. If you just want a little taste, try “Black Dog.” That is a great example of what Arlo Parks is all about. I have a feeling I am going to wrap myself up in this album for the next few months.
I don’t recall how I got turned on to this album when it came out in December of 1979. It must have been touted in some music magazine like Rolling Stone. I certainly wasn’t a Velvet Underground or John Cale fan at that time. It was more punk than what I was into. But I was completely obsessed with it.
Sabotage/Live was recorded at CBGB, New York on 13–16 June 1979, and released by SPY Records. SPY Records was founded and owned by Cale and Jane Friedman, who was the manager of Patti Smith, and Cale’s girlfriend at the time. The idea of the label was for all the artists to be produced by Cale. The label never panned out, but Sabotage/Live is a masterpiece and a pretty amazing legacy for any label.
“Mercenaries (Ready for War)” is the single and pretty epic rock song. It set the tone for the album: dark, cynical paranoid and apocalyptic. It has this classic opening line:
“Mercenaries are useless, disunited, unfaithful
They have nothing more to keep them in a battle
Other than a meager wage
Which is just about enough to make them wanna kill for you
But never enough to make them wanna die for ya”
“Baby You Know” sounds like a cross between The Doors and The Monkeys. “Evidence” sounds like a punk rock version of Santana. “Dr. Mudd“ sounds like the punkier side of the Talking Heads. “Walkin’ The Dog” is a twisted cover of the Rufus Thomas soul song. “Captain Hook” is punkified prog rock – it is epic and awesome. “Only Time Will Tell” is a beautiful ballad sung by Deerfrance. “Sabotage” is darkness – it sounds like a punk rock Black Sabbath song. “Chorale” is a very cool ending to the album: a hymn – it is the perfect walk off song to what must have been an epic live show. The vinyl record ends with an obnoxious alarm sound that plays endlessly in the catch groove – pretty nifty gimmick.
Overall the album seems like the appropriate response of the Velvet Underground alumnus to punk and New Wave. The Velvet Underground were direct influences on the CBGB crowd (The Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Television, etc.). With the exception of The Ramones (who were truly punk), Blondie, Talking Heads and Television were art rock in the grand tradition of the Velvets. Cale’s Sabotage/Live seems like a love letter to the CBGB scene from an elder art-rock statesman.
The album is not available on conventional music streaming services, but it is on YouTube.
P.S. never has the album art been a more perfect match to the music.
Tone Poem is the third album by Charles Lloyd & The Marvels. The group is impossible to categorize, is it jazz, country, folk, rock, etc.? On a previous release by this band I said:
“I am a jazz and country music fan and typically when you merge those you get western swing. This is something altogether different. It is Americana Jazz, mellow, yet rich.”
The quintet features the 82 year old master saxophonist/flutist with Bill Frisell on guitar, Greg Leisz on pedal steel guitar, Reuben Rogers on bass, and Eric Harland on drums.
The first album was fantastic. The second took it up a notch by adding Lucinda Williams on vocals. This one is as good as the first two. At 82 years young, Lloyd appears to have lost nothing in his playing ability and creativity.
For me the star of the show is the complementary conversation between Frisell and Leisz. Frisell is in the left channel and Leisz in the right. Their tones mingle so well.
The songs are Lloyd originals along with songs by Ornette Coleman, Thelonious Monk, Leonard Cohen, Gabor Szabo, and Bola de Nieve. The band has such a distinct sound that despite the diversity of composers, they sound like originals.
Sonically this recording is perfect. Lots of separation over a broad soundstage and super clean. This album is a fitting addition to the acclaimed Blue Note Tone Poet series. The series is aimed at audiophiles. I have only listened to the high resolution streams, but the vinyl in the series are supposed to be amazing.
My son recently tipped me off that Vampire Weekend commissioned a couple of artists to cover the shortest song on Father Of The Bride. They commissioned acclaimed jazz saxophonist Sam Gendel and the Connecticut jam band Goose to both create their own reinterpretations of “2021”on an EP titled 40:42. Vampire Weekend gave Gendel and Goose the directive to turn their one minute and thirty-nine second long song into two twenty minute and twenty-one second versions (hence the title 40:42). The Gendle version didn’t do much for me but the Goose version blew me away.
I have always felt the Jerry Garcia and Grateful Dead influence in Vampire Weekend, but the Garcia influence is totally in your face in the Goose cover of “2021.” If your favorite part of a Grateful Dead song is the meandering Jerry Garcia solo, you are going to love Goose. The Goose of Ted Tapes reminds me a lot of Circles Around The Sun a predominantly instrumental Dead inspired jam band. Sampling some of the Goose catalog, it appears Ted Tapes is an instrumental anomaly, most of their catalog has vocals.
There is a big fun factor to Goose – as their bio on their website states:
“Goose could be likened to a keg party in the woods on a summer night with all of your closest friends.”
The quartet, based in Norwalk, CT, is comprised of Rick Mitarotonda (vocals, guitar), Peter Anspach (vocals, keyboards/guitar), Trevor Bass (bass), and Ben Atkind (drums).
When I heard Ted Tapes 2021 I was all in. Ted Tapes 2021 is 16 instrumental tracks from band soundchecks and rehearsals held between April 2019 and December 2020. It is available on the various streaming services. I am enthusiastic enough about the release to preorder the vinyl via Bandcamp.
Though clearly a jam band, this is not noodling – these are songs. They are pleasant enough to be background music, but engaging enough for to for serious listening. Rick Mitarotonda’s guitar is the most prominent feature of the bands sound, but this is a very tight ensemble, so I don’t want to give the impression this is showy shredding by the guitar player. I am surprised that these jam sessions sound thoughtfully composed – the band is super tight. I have heard the band’s sound described as folk-funk and that is as good a description as any. But I also hear a bit of prog and 70s jazz rock fusion too. But the Grateful Dead folk vibe does prevail. Great album – check it out.
As many of you know, I have a huge music collection of vinyl and CDs, but out of convenience I find that most of my listening these days is via streaming. I prefer Tidal to Spotify because Tidal is high resolution – at minimum CD quality and in many cases higher than CD quality via MQA (more about that here).
Streaming is great for portable listening, but more challenging if you want to listen via your big boy stereo. You can use a computer and a DAC as an input to your stereo – great sound but not as convenient as DJing from your phone. You can stream via your phone and Bluetooth to a receiver hooked to your stereo – convenient but not great sound. So I have been in search of a solution that is high resolution and convenient.
Turns out there are several options and they are called streamers. Entry point is about $500 and like all things audiophile you can spend plenty more. I chose Bluesound’s NODE 2i because it checked all my boxes, it had solid reviews, was endorsed by my local reputable hifi store (Stereoland) and was in my price range ($549).
First the Bluesound sounds great and I love sitting on the couch wirelessly controlling content – exactly what I was hoping for.
Set up was easy:
- Plug it in (no wallwort)
- Connect RCA cables to your amp
- Download BluOS Controller from App Store (I am an Apple guy)
- Configure (app leads you through this – discover device, join your WiFi network, log into your streaming services, etc.)
- Enjoy
Both Spotify and Tidal (the only streaming services I have experience with and subscriptions) have a “Connect” feature that allows their app to control the Bluesound. However, I have found the Tidal app is glitchy and the BluOS app is more reliable – which is too bad because the native Tidal and Spotify apps are better UIs. On the other hand, the BluOS app can do more – for example play music off your computer.
The only significant setup challenge I had was accessing files on my MacBook. But after doing some Googling I discovered it was permissions issue on the MacBook (AKA user error).
So what exactly is the Bluesound NODE 2i? The NODE 2i is a wireless music streamer that connects to any existing stereo. You can access audio streaming services (for example Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz, Prime Music, Internet radio, etc.) and even your own digital music library. The device is controlled by an app on your iOS or Android device. It has a two-way Bluetooth (stream from your phone to the NODE or stream from the NODE to Bluetooth headphones for example). It has AirPlay and you can connect it to Amazon Alexa. It is also capable of linking with other NODEs and Bluesound powered speakers to create a multi room sound system. You can upgrade the sound by using an outboard DAC that is of higher grade than the onboard original. My needs are simple: stream Tidal off the internet and FLAC files off my MacBook through my big boy stereo.
So how does it sound? Great! I decided to compare the NODE 2i to my MacBook and the Dragonfly Black DAC. I used Pat Metheny Group’s eponymous album from 1978 – I know it extremely well. The album was originally analog and is now available as MQA via Tidal. They sound between the two sources was similar, but the NODE 2i sounds slightly better than the Dragonfly – but this could just be my bias with a new toy. The point for me is that the NODE 2i is as good if not better than the MacBook/DAC combo and I have the convenience of controlling from my phone. It is significantly better than Bluetooth – so mission accomplished. I am only a few weeks in, but so far no disappointments with this product. Actually, I found one disappointment, it does not have a USB input to allow you to use it as a DAC (but this is offset with the fact you can read files off a computer). Overall: highly recommended.
Since I am focused on streaming and I am a vinyl guy – which sounds better vinyl or digital? I can give you a definitive answer: it depends on the specific recording. How an album was recorded, how it was mastered and how it was transferred to the final state (a vinyl record or a digital file) can make a vinyl record sound better than the digital file and vice versa. Don’t forget your mood upon listening. I find I am a more attentive listener with vinyl because the format demands more engagement: pull the album off the shelf, clean it, drop the needle, flip the record, etc. But in general, a well recorded digital album (and most everything recorded in last 20 years is a digital source anyway) that has been well mastered to digital generally wins over its vinyl sibling. Ultimately the last steps in production is an art form. Those final steps in the production to form the final product, whether vinyl or a digital file, are an artistic expression too. They are susceptible to the skills and taste of the engineer. All that being said, I love vinyl and despite the great sound and convenience of the Bluesound NODE 2i, I will not be giving up on vinyl any time soon.
I recently listened to a podcast with Cindy Blackman Santana and was reminded of this 2012 brilliant homage to Tony Williams’ Lifetime band.
The album is mostly songs from the early Lifetime catalog (1969-1971). In addition to the Lifetime material, there is a group-composed original “Blues for Tillmon” and a traditional Gaelic air “An-T-eilan Muileach.”
The players all have one foot in jazz and another in rock – highly appropriate given the material. There are strong connections between the players and Lifetime: Bruce was in Lifetime, Blackman Santana is a disciple of Tony Williams, Reid is a disciple of Lifetime’s John McLaughlin and Woods is a jazz and rock polymath (the quintessence of Lifetime). That is, the perfect super group of players to honor Tony Williams and Lifetime.
This is not easy listening jazz – it is a mix of jazz-rock fusion, prog-rock, funk, metal and blues. Some songs are loud and noisy (e.g., the first cut “Vuelta Abajo”) and others quiet beauties (“Blues for Tillmon”). If you are a fan of Tony Williams, this is a must listen. If you are open to challenging fusion music, you will be rewarded.
Here is the source material:
Who the hell is Ron Miles? Despite my having never heard of Ron Miles, this is his 12th album as a leader and his debut on a major label – Blue Note (at age 57). He has an impressive discography as a sideman: Bill Frisell, Fred Hess, Joshua Redman, etc. Being based out of Denver does not help his profile.
I recently read a review of this album in Stereophile and I was intrigued to check it out. Wow, what a amazing album! Although on Blue Note, this has an ECM vibe. This album was released in October of 2020, but I missed hearing it until now. If I had heard it in 2020 it would have easily made my best of list.
I have loved jazz since I was a kid. I have never had a technical understanding of the music. It just touches my soul and moves me. As a kid I listened to Hobbs’ House on WCCO radio. Franklin Hobbs was a smoothed voice DJ who played the likes of Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, and the big bands to a nationwide audience via ‘CCO’s clear channel signal every night from 10:30 PM till 5 AM the next morning. As a kid I never listened to rock radio or top-40, instead I listened to things like Hobbs House, classical radio and easy listening radio (that is elevator music – Muzak). I am not proud of this. But this is my music origin story. I did not discover rock, pop and contemporary jazz until I was in college. The point is jazz is the foundation of my music obsession.
On my first listen to Ron Miles’ Rainbow Sign I was immediately touched. I tend not to like blowing sessions, but rather intricately arranged, yet improvisational sessions. The band is so simpatico with each other – this is like an organism. Rainbow Sign is the definition of what my favorite kind of jazz performance. The instruments dance together in a way that in total support of each other resulting in a transcendent noise. There is constant movement between instruments, yet no one trips or steps on anyone’s toes. It is almost like this album doesn’t have solos. This is a band at the top of their game. I don’t know how to describe this style of jazz beyond that it’s beautiful. The interplay between instruments is like listening to an interesting conversation. Solos are introduced subtlety-easing in and then out before you know it.
Listening to this album I wonder why more horn players don’t use the cornet more. Its tone is so beautiful. But maybe that is just Ron Miles’ skill: he makes the cornet magical. I don’t think I have ever listened to an album that Bill Frisell plays on, whether as a leader or a sideman, that doesn’t sound great. Rainbow Sign doesn’t break the streak. I have not listened to much Jason Moran, but after this introduction I will be exploring his catalog.
In these impolite times the musical politeness of Rainbow Sign is therapeutic. Highly recommended.
Recorded June 21 & 22, 1977 at Sound Ideas, NYC by William Wittman
Dexter Gordon’s tenor is the first time I became aware that I have a kind of synesthesia when it comes to music – I can taste the sound of his horn.
Right before the young lions movement of the 1980s (e.g. Wynton Marsalis), Columbia Records made a major investment in jazz and Dexter Gordon was at the center of that investment.
Gordon was among the most influential early bebop musicians. He was in the same class, but less famous, as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell. His major influence, like Bird, was Lester Young. Gordon, in turn, was an early influence on John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins. Rollins and Coltrane then influenced Gordon’s playing as he explored hard bop and modal playing during the 1960s. The 60s were a hard time for jazz cats and so Gordon headed to Europe (mainly in Paris and Copenhagen) where he was treated with the respect he deserved.
Gordon returned to the United States and recorded the Homecoming album live at the Village Vanguard in 1976. That album, released on Columbia, was a jazz sensation and I became aware of it via Downbeat magazine. I loved that album, but Sophisticated Giant, that came out a year later, completely blew my mind.
Sophisticated Giant features an eleven-piece band playing tunes arranged by trombone player Slide Hampton. It is absolutely gorgeous. I mentioned my synesthesia earlier – when Gordon solos on the opening cut “Laura” it tastes like a piece of high end soft caramel – my mouth literally waters every time I listen.
Homecoming and Sophisticated Giant were my introduction to trumpeter Woody Shaw. Woody released another one of my hall of fame records on Columbia around this time: Rosewood. Woody and Dexter both solo on a Shaw composed standard “The Moontrane” that first appeared on Larry Young’s 1966 Blue Note masterpiece Unity.
As great as Woody Shaw is on this album, my favorite trumpet solo on the album is from Benny Bailey when he glissandos on “Red Top.” I never get tired of hearing it.
“Fried Bananas” is a Dexter Gordon song that gives most of the band a chance to strut their stuff.
“You’re Blasé” is dreamy late night ballad that is a brilliant showcase for Dexter’s big tone.
“How Insensitive” is a bossa nova by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinícius de Moraes. Dexter performs the main melody on a soprano saxophone and brings his great tone to that instrument too – I often find the soprano shrill, but in the hands of Dexter it is smooth and easy.
This is a dream band for Dexter: Frank Wess — alto saxophone, flute, piccolo; Woody Shaw — trumpet, fluegelhorn; Benny Bailey — trumpet, fluegelhorn; Slide Hampton — trombone and arranger; Wayne Andre trombone; Howard Johnson — tuba, baritone saxophone; Bobby Hutcherson — vibes; George Cables — piano; Rufus Reid — bass; Victor Lewis — drums.
The Slide Hampton arrangements, Michael Cuscuna production and William Whitman engineering/mixing are perfect. I bet I have listened to this album a thousand times. It could be the most listened to album in my collection. My original vinyl version is remarkably in great shape given the workout it has been through. Early in the CD era it was not available and a friend acquired me a CD copy while vacationing in Europe – so that added some life to my vinyl copy. Stereophile magazine has a feature called “Records To Die For” – Sophisticated Giant would be on my list. In the liner notes, Ira Gilter quotes Dexter: “This is a classic. It should be in everyone’s library.” Truer words have never been spoken.
Coda: Sophisticated Giant (The Life and Legacy of Dexter Gordon) is also the name of Dexter’s biography by his wife and manager Maxine Gordon.
Wilco started their career as the ultimate Americana band. Their debut, A.M., was the Jeff Tweedy side of an Uncle Tupelo album. Wilco was not yet Wilco. But the follow up, Being There, was a “not so fast” declaration that they were not going to be pigeonholed. They were as inspired by Liverpool as much as by Nashville. They then pivoted to a project collaborating with the unused lyrics of Woody Guthrie and British political folkie Billy Bragg on Mermaid Avenue. That, along with severe mental distress of the star of the show, Jeff Tweedy, was the set up for Wilco’s first masterpiece Summerteeth.
I was all in with A.M. and Being There, but Summerteeth was at a whole new level. Wilco discovered the studio as an instrument and became the American Radiohead. The music was experimental, but catchy.
Wilco is working their way though their catalog developing deluxe editions that add demos, alternative takes, unreleased songs and album cycle live recordings. Summerteeth Deluxe is the latest edition.
Up to this point the band had essentially recorded live, as a band, in the studio. For Summerteeth Tweedy and Jay Bennett wrote most of the album in the studio and it was heavily overdubbed with Pro Tools. This makes the demos and alternative takes particularly interesting to the obsessive Wilco fan (is there any other kind?). Jay Bennett, a multi-instrumentalist with studio skills took a significant role on the album nearly becoming Tweedy’s peer. The two take Wilco’s county and folk essence down a Pet Sounds/Sgt. Pepper’s rabbit hole. The results are a masterpiece.
If you are a Wilco fan Summerteeth is likely on the top of your favorites list. This deluxe reissue will reward your obsessions.
This is Sturgill’s second volume of bluegrass arrangements of his catalog. I like this volume better than volume one, mainly because it leans heavily on my favorite Sturgill album A Sailor’s Guide to Earth. Because of my familiarity with the recordings of these songs I can fully appreciate the genius of the bluegrass arrangements.
As I stated in my Vol. 1 review: “These bluegrass arrangements of old songs come off like new songs. According to some of Sturgill’s interviews, these bluegrass arrangements are the way the songs were always meant to be.”
This Cuttin’ Grass project is a welcome addition to Sturgill’s catalog.
Axl's Catch Groove 