One of the great jazz labels of all time for me is ECM. I first discovered ECM as it was Pat Metheny’s original label. ECM releases have a distinctive feel – generally mellow, chamber jazz with a bit of a folk feel.
On of my garage sale finds this past summer was Ralph Towner/Gary Burton – Match Book. I picked it up for several reasons: it was an ECM release (which have never failed me), Ralph Towner (I am a huge fan of his band Oregon) and Gary Burton (who was Pat Metheny’s mentor and am a big fan of Gary owning several of his releases).
Gary play the vibes in a very distinctive style – he generally is generous about letting the vibes resonate. And he plays with two mallets in each hand – so he is playing both cords and individual notes.
Ralph plays acoustic guitars. Two my ear he mixes classical and folk stylings.
On this piece Gary plays with slow style that really allows the vibes to resonate. Ralph play both a classic guitar and a twelve stings. At times he is playing conventionally, but other times very percusively.
Together Gary and Ralph play beautiful duets – complementing each instrument – not so much in harmony but percussively. This is beautifully simple, yet complex music. It is engaging enough for intent listening, yet gentle enough to use a background music. In my mind this is an amazing feat to have engaging music for the active listening and yet still serve as unobtrusive background/ambient music.
I highly recommend this LP. Given how quite the music is you will want a very pristine vinyl copy or the CD. I got lucky and go a pretty clean vinyl copy for a buck at a garage sale – with a good cleaning it sounds absolutely amazing. Given this is from 1974 it was originally issued on LP (so the preferred source) – I have never heard a CD edition so I have no idea of the quality of the CD (but ECM is a quality label and rarely disappoints on reissues).
Finally I recommend the review on “beyond sound and space” blog of the LP: http://ecmreviews.com/2010/12/05/matchbook/
In January of 2007 Marsalis did a similar concert with Willie Nelson. For those of you not fully familiar with Willie this was not really an odd match up. Willie has a jazz/swing side and has always had impeccable ear for the great American songbook.
The match up with Clapton makes sense given Clapton’s encyclopedic knowledge of the blues. What makes this fun is that Clapton does not do his typical electric blues or even acoustic blues, but instead turns the reins over to Marsalis’ New Orleans traditional jazz aesthetics. These are wonderful arrangements of traditional blues songs.
I am not very educated in this style of music, but you really get the idea of what is going on when the band rearranges Clapton’s Layla as a New Orleans styled jazz funeral dirge – it re-imagines that familiar tune in a wonderful way. I really enjoyed hearing Clapton in this context.
A real treat for me was hearing Marsalis band – these are amazing players who have amazing chops and tone. Particularly notable was trombonist Chris Crenshaw – his tone is wonderfully nasty.
My only real disappointment was the recording quality – this also marred the Willie Nelson set too. It does not really capture the concert hall – there is a narrowness and harshness to the recording. But like a classic old vinyl recording with crackle and pops in the grooves this is pretty easy to overlook because the underlying music is so wonderful.
Be warned if you are a pop-Clapton fan you may not like this, but if you are open to jazz or to Clapton’s more traditional blues work you will not be disappointed.
Added note on Clapton – I have utmost respect for this guy, but he has put out so many duds over the years – why? I have a theory that Eric is only truly inspired when he is with the right players (he is always with great players, just not always the “right” players). Get him with the right players and he is amazing, get him with the wrong players (sorry Phil Collins) and he is sappy. Marsalis is the right player.
A regular new adventure on my calendar has been the bimonthly Record Show in Minneapolis’ Uptown. See www.mnrecordshow.com for more details. This a great event if you are looking for vinyl – both bargains and rarities. Next show is October 1, 2011. Not sure if I will make it as that is going to be a busy weekend for me. Put your self on a budget – bring only the amount of cash you can afford to spend as you will not walk out empty-handed and your wallet will be lighter. Mostly rock and pop, but a decent amount of other genres too. Make sure you talk to the vendors if you are looking for something in particular – many of these guys have huge inventories and can’t bring them all. So there is a decent chance they might have that special platter at home.
I am not a very sophisticated jazz fan, but I know what I like. My interest in jazz is pretty narrow – basically I love music from 1955 through 1975 with Miles Davis and his alumni being my guide posts. As I have recently started crate digging vinyl records again one of my other guide posts has been Creed Taylor and CTI Records. I will buy pretty much anything with the CTI imprint or the Creed Taylor signature. I don’t know much about Creed Taylor other than he is a record producer and eventually had his own label. His work tends to be more accessible jazz. What might be called soul jazz or acid jazz, but not quite lite-jazz. He has been affiliated with some of the most successful jazz acts – for example John Coltrane, George Benson, Grover Washington Jr., Freddie Hubbard, Bob James, and Stanley Turentine. My guess is that I will be reviewing many Creed Taylor productions in Catch Groove. I don’t know that much about Creed, but I plan to do more research on him. Here is a nice article from the WSJ on Creed Taylor: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703730104576260903900205990.html
I have been a sucker for the Jayhawks’ sound since day one. I have been waiting with anticipation since this release was announced. The gimmick here is that Mark Olson was back. I watched the teaser live show on The Current (local MPR radio station) and was enthralled. I bought the disk within 30 minutes of my local Best Buy opening on release Tuesday this week. I threw it on my home system and I was underwhelmed. But subsequent listens have proven there is more there than what I first thought. This sounds very much like mid-nineties Jayhawks but without a song that really grabs you – at first. But like I said subsequent listens reward. This is a texture record – one you have to excavate through the layers. The harmonies are amazing – no surprise there. The guitar work is tender – again no surprise there. I think what is really grabbing me is the arraignments and overall ambiance of the recording – very simple at first listen – but there is a complexity to that simplicity. I think any Jayhawks fan is going to love this record. For newcomers – if you like that mid 70’s singer songwriter great production sound, alt country vibe and CSN style harmonies – get this album and listen to it at least 5 times – I think it will become a repeat player in your collection.
You can stream the album from: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/exclusive-album-stream-the-jayhawks-mockingbird-time-20110913
I have not been able to find a full video of The Current show, but i was able to find this excerpt: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/09/13/jayhawks/
By the way The Jayhawks’ web site is pretty amazing – great video clips and some nice bootlegs you can download: www.jayhawksofficial.com
I have long been a Bob Mould fan so I was happy to see he recently published an autobiography. I was doing a little convalescing from some recent surgery so I was able to read it in pretty much one long sitting – a rarity for me.
I am more of post Husker Du fan and that really works here because Bob has lived a rich life post Husker Du.
I have greater appreciation for why he wants to close the chapter on Husker Du and not dwell on that. After reading hundreds of rock and roll bibliographies and autobiographies over the years I found it great to hear a gay man’s perspective on rock and roll.
One of the most best parts of Bob’s history is his time working for professional wrestling. He makes what I thought is pretty stupid entertainment fascinating.
If you are a Mould fan you will find this book very honest and revealing. You will enjoy his music even more after reading this.
I have long been a Tony Bennett fan. Several years ago I picked up a two disc “greatest hits” package and I was sold. I like his voice more than Sinatra and he just has a sense of cool – a guy you would truly enjoy having a glass of wine or cocktail with (somehow Tony does not seem like a beer guy). The fact that he is a visual artist is a cherry on top.
I picked up Duets from Target (they have a special edition with two more songs) mainly on the hype of Lady Gaga and Amy Winehouse as duet partners. I have a fondness for Gaga (which I feel odd about given I am a 52-year-old straight male) and I just knew in my heart she would nail a duet with Tony – and she does.
The production is wonderfully over the top on the whole album – lots of orchestration. This is a great way to introduce yourself to Tony if you are not already a fan. And if you are fan you will enjoy Tony the gracious host – he makes every duet partner fit like the finely tailored suits Tony wears.
In summary this release is the definition of pop grace and class. Add as for Gaga – see below how much Tony classes her up!
Last spring I acquired a new turntable: Pro-Ject Audio RPM 1.3 Genie. My old turntable was a very nice Sony purchased in 1978 – still works, but a little worn out. I have been truly enjoying the new turntable – it has been an inspiration to re-explore my record collection and to crate dig again.
I was pleased to see it highlighted in the recent Men’s Journal “59 Perfect Things” article http://www.mensjournal.com/in-the-september-issue-perfect-things.
Not only does it sound great – it looks cool too:
Axl's Catch Groove 