October 21st, 2022
Azymuth's "Telecommunication" Reissue Delivers Craft Recordings and Jazz Dispensary Reissue Unique Funk-Jazz From Original Master TapesBy: Evan Toth
Formed near the sunny sands of Rio De Janeiro in 1973, Azymuth is a Brazilian funk-jazz trio though they manage to sound like a much larger group, especially when hosting guest players. The band features Jose Roberto Bertrami (unfortunately, deceased in 2019) on an array of keyboards, Alex Malheiros on bass and Ivan Conti on drums. These three musicians initially connected with one another in a previous band called Group Projeto 3 which later became Grupo Seleção. The... Read More
October 10th, 2022
Bill Evans "You Must Believe In Spring" Resurrected posthumously released album got lost in Warner Brothers shuffleBy: Michael Fremer
Recorded in 1977 but not released until 1981 after Evans passed away September 15th, 1980 at age 51, You Must Believe In Spring was kind of "the great lost Bill Evans album". For those who bought it when it was first released as a single LP mastered by Doug Sax (Warner Brothers HS 3504) the question always was "Why was this not released immediately upon its completion?" The music is certainly up there with Evans' best on record and on a more... Read More
October 10th, 2022
Viagra Boys' 'Cave World' Says Nothing New The Swedish band's attempts at satire are unconvincing, and 'Cave World' ends up representative of modern political music's broader problemBy: Malachi Lui
The absurdity of any culture is probably best seen from the outside, but by someone with first-hand experience inside of it. On paper, this puts Sebastian Murphy, tattoo artist by day and frontman of Swedish post-punk/dance-punk band Viagra Boys, in a perfect position to comment on the far-right’s increasing presence in America; born and raised in the US, Murphy knows America, but living in Sweden would give him a more distanced view. In execution, however, Viagra... Read More
October 9th, 2022
Mahler–Complete Symphonies by Leonard Bernstein DG resurrects the conductor that resurrected MahlerBy: Michael Johnson
The first time I ever saw a Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) symphony on my music stand, I was an 18-year-old student at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina. It was the Symphony No. 1 in D Major (sometimes subtitled “Titan”) and I was tasked with playing the delicate low English horn notes in the opening measures. From that point on Gustav Mahler’s orchestral works would hold a special place in my musical growth, heralding the finale concerts of various... Read More
October 9th, 2022
Anthony Wilson's "The Plan of Paris" Mixes Jazz, Folk, Blues and Country With Singer/Songwriter Sensitivity a dark album made for these timesBy: Michael Fremer
When Anthony Wilson is not on the road playing jazz guitar, he sometimes steps into a recording booth and exits Clark Kent-like as a sensitive ‘70s era singer/songwriter.For those more accustomed to Wilson backing Diana Krall or leading jazz ensembles on a series of Groove Note releases or providing orchestrations and/or playing on dozens of studio dates (for instance on Paul McCartney’s “Kisses on the Bottom”), his sumptuously packaged, sensitively drawn 2019 Songs... Read More
October 1st, 2022
The Latest (and Last) "Kind of Blue" The best-ever pressing of the best jazz albumBy: Fred Kaplan
(Revised Sept 17, 2022)Yes, yes, I know what you’re thinking: “What’s this now, another audiophile reissue of Kind of fu*king Blue?!” But here’s the thing: not only is this new one—pressed by Acoustic Sounds at 45rpm across two slabs of 200-gram UHQR Clarity vinyl—the best of the bunch; there almost certainly won’t be a better one for the foreseeable future.Not much need be said at this point about the 1959 Miles Davis classic: the best-selling jazz album of all time;... Read More
October 1st, 2022
Every Audiophile Needs This Lou Reed Live Album! Lou Reed talks, and talks, and talks... in glorious binaural sound!By: Malachi Lui
As I paid $25 for an original US copy of Lou Reed’s 1978 live album Take No Prisoners, my local record shop owner said, “Enjoy it, man, I’ve never seen this record before. Plus it’s a promo.” Indeed it is: not only is there a sticker from Arista denoting it a DJ copy originally loaned for promotional use only, but there’s also a bold red hype sticker reading “SPECIALLY PRICED TWO-RECORD SET—All the raw excitement of Lou Reed-Live,” with quotes from the Chicago... Read More
October 1st, 2022
Royal Trux, David Briggs, Burn Rock and Roll To a Crisp with Thank You The Final Album from Legendary Producer and Neil Young Cohort David Briggs is Giant and PerfectBy: Joshua Smith
Neil Hagerty and Jennifer Herrema, the duo that formed Royal Trux in the late '80s, don't look or sound like one of the smartest bands of all time. I saw them open for Pavement at the Roxy Theater in Atlanta in 1997. The two looked like they had escaped from the pages of an R. Crumb comic book. Singer Jennifer Herrema 's long pale arm was wrapped with black leather straps like some kind of profane arm-tefillah. Neal Hagerty had his back toward the... Read More
October 1st, 2022
The Lush Glory of Charles Lloyd The West Coast Coltrane's new balladeering trioBy: Fred Kaplan
Charles Lloyd is a force of nature. At 84, he’s not only active but very nearly at the top of his game, blowing blues, ballads, and up-tempo rousers—holding whole notes and raining sheets of sound—with grace, verve, and beauty. He has also been a superb gatherer of talent over the decades. His breakthrough album as a leader, Dream Weaver, featured Keith Jarrett, Cecil McBee, and Jack DeJohnette, in 1966, before any of them were known. In the past decade, unlike some... Read More
Blue Train is old enough to be on Social Security, yet this reissue (with an additional album of alternative takes) seems to have created a stir probably greater than when it was first released January, 1958. Rudy Van Gelder recorded it in his Hackensack, New Jersey home studio, September, 15th 1957, 65 years ago to the day I’m writing this.Blue Train is the only album Coltrane recorded for Blue Note. He’d signed with Prestige and did this “one off” built upon a... Read More
October 1st, 2022
Tyshawn Sorey Goes Deep into Jazz The avant-garde experimental drummer-composer puts his stamp on standardsBy: Fred Kaplan
The drummer Tyshawn Sorey has made his mark mainly as an experimental musician, composer, and conductor—a McArthur Genius Grant winner who spans the gamut between contemporary classical and avant-garde jazz, with stints as sideman to the likes of Marilyn Crispell, Roscoe Mitchell, and Anthony Braxton. But lately he’s taken small steps toward the mainstream, playing in Vijay Iyer’s trio and now, with Mesmerism, leading his own trio on an album of standards. Except for... Read More
September 29th, 2022
Coolio's Hit 'Gangsta's Paradise' From the archives: Coolio's new collection of intelligent, positive, smoothly gliding, retro soul/R&B, hip-hop is impressively varied and wide-rangingBy: Tracking Angle
(This review, written by Carl E. Baugher, originally appeared in Issue 5/6, Winter 1995/96.)If Coolio ain’t careful, he's gonna give gangsta rap a good name. ‘Course, he’d be the first to tell you he’s not a gangsta rapper anyway and, despite the album title, that’s a fact. This collection of intelligent, positive, smoothly gliding, retro soul/R&B, hip-hop is impressively varied and wide-ranging.It all adds up to way more than one normally gets in... Read More
September 24th, 2022
Classic Records Unearths Sonny Landreth's 'Outward Bound' From the Digital Glaze From the archives: when it comes to communicating the intent of music, records have it all over CDsBy: Michael Fremer
(This review originally appeared in Issue 5/6, Winter 1995/96.)What a shock to the audiophile system: an all-analog reissue of a CD-only release. When I first reviewed this engaging set back in 1992 I remarked that it sounded like a good recording was buried under the digital glaze, but who could be sure? Did I ever expect to see it issued on AAA vinyl? No. But here it is, courtesy of Classic Records.Sonny Landreth is a killer slide guitarist, electric guitarist,... Read More
September 22nd, 2022
David Blue's "Stories" Tells Mournful Tales Not as Sad as the Singer/Songwriter's Own Gets an AAA Limited Edition ReissueBy: Michael Fremer
There was a time when you could buy a label's output and be confident you'd made a quality record purchase without hearing the music. Labels that managed this late '60s/early '70's feat included Elektra, Warner Brothers/Reprise, Island and David Geffen's Asylum Records. You could buy with confidence Love's debut, The Doors, Jackson Browne's Saturate Before Using, Traffic's Mr. Fantasy, Cat Stevens' Mona Bone Jakon, for... Read More
September 17th, 2022
The Most Powerful Rock Album of 1995 From the archives: Carl E. Baugher reviews Alice In Chains' self-titled albumBy: Tracking Angle
(This review, written by Carl E. Baugher, originally appeared in Issue 5/6, Winter 1995/96.)Here’s the most powerful rock album of the year. Not necessarily the best, mind you, but definitely the most powerful. Alice In Chains has long been the heaviest of the hard n’ heavy bands out of Seattle. This eponymously titled release is their most ambitious and, arguably best in a string of excellent albums. It combines the range and creativity of "Jar Of Flies"... Read More