Category: music
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Teo Macero with the Prestige Jazz Quartet, Teo, 1957 on Prestige
Macero is likely best known as the producer of both Bitches Brew and Time Out but he was also a great saxophone player and composer. He made multiple albums with Mingus and cofounded the Jazz Composers Workshop. Here he is joined by Addison Farmer (bass), Jerry Segal (drums), Mal Waldron (piano), and Teddy Charles (vibes).…
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Lucinda Williams, Bob’s Back Pages: A Night of Bob Dylan Songs, 2021 on Highway 20 Records
Hard to imagine how you could go wrong with Lucinda Williams covering Dylan, and this collection delivers exactly as expected. Volume three of the Lu’s Jukebox In Studio Concert Series (I’ve got the first three volumes of the seven). Side D is a etching of Williams, from the photo that was used for Runnin’ Down…
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The Time, The Time (Self-Titled), 1981 on Warner Bros.
This was the debut LP from Morris Day and co, though they started playing together in the early seventies under different names. The band here still includes Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who went on to become a well-known producing duo, and guitarist Jesse Johnson who made some solo releases. While most folks know The…
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Rufus & Chaka, Masterjam, 1979 on MCA
This was the eighth album by Rufus and their fifth with Chaka Khan. (They were Rufus, Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan, and Rufus & Chaka Khan in various releases). Produced by Quincy Jones, it’s great late seventies funk/soul and went platinum, led by the single “Do You Love What You Feel.” Rufus released their seventh album…
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Traffic, Traffic (Self-Titled), 1968 on United Artists / Island Records
Released in 1968 on Island in the UK and United Artists in the US, this was actually their sophomore album, following after Mr. Fantasy. Dave Mason had left the band after the debut album but returned for this record. Wonderful version of “Feelin’ Alright?” here if you only know the Joe Cocker version. My copy…
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Lou Donaldson, Blues Walk, 1958 on Blue Note
Great late 50s Blue Note album, with Donaldson joined by Peck Morrison on bass, Ray Barretto on congas, Dave Bailey on drums, and Herman Foster on piano. Sleeve notes by Ira Gitler. (Donaldson died last month – November 2024). I wasn’t as familiar with Donaldson as some of his better known contemporaries, but he started…
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Wilco, Cousin, 2023 on dBpm
Wilco’s 13th full length studio album, produced by Cate Le Bon, and recorded at the Loft in Chicago. The cover artwork is by Azuma Makoto – see Frozen Flowers 2023. Truly a fantastic Wilco album – if you’ve fallen off the Wilco train time to get back aboard. My copy via Waterloo Records in Austin…
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Rush, Exit . . . Stage Left, 1981 on Mercury
Like many, I found Rush as teen (or maybe pre-teen?) and was immediately hooked by the aggressive musicality and complexity and the allusive nature of Peart’s lyrics. Even the album title here is a reference to Snagglepuss (as well as a reference back to All The World’s a Stage?). Still holds up as an amazing…
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McCoy Tyner, Trident, 1975 on Milestone
Tyner (who plays harpsichord and celeste as well as piano) is joined here by Ron Carter (bass) and Elvin Jones (drums), and the album was produced by Orrin Keepnews. It was his eighth LP for Milestone after recording on Blue Note and Impulse! throughought the 60s. (Elvin Jones worked with Tyner in the John Coltrane…
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Aaron Neville, Like It Is (reissued as Humdinger), 1967 on Minit
Although this was released in 1967 on Minit (and Liberty in the UK) as Like It Is, my copy is a 1986 reissue titled as Humdinger, on Stateside (a UK label designed to reissue things from smaller American labels). As John Broven’s sleeve notes (from 1986) put it: This album harks back to Aaron’s first…
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Chet Baker, Chet Baker in New York, 1958 on Riverside
In something of the same vein as the West Coast / East Coast rap rivalry of 90s hip hop, the jazz scene in the 50s had a bit of a California vs New York thing happening. As the sleeve notes by Orrin Keepnews puts it: . . . during much of the 1950s considerable conversation…
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Eli Paperboy Reed, Down Every Road, 2022 on Yep Roc
Reed here covers Merle Haggard. Not exactly what you might expect from the blue-eyed soul singer, who I understand to be from Boston (graduated Brookline High in 2002) – but it is a wonderful set of versions. Liner notes by his dad, Howard Husock, pointing out that country music actually “grabbed ‘E’ first.” Produced by…
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John Grant, Pale Green Ghosts, 2013 on Bella Union / Partisan Records
In the US on Partisan Records, elsewhere on Bella Union, this was John Grant’s second solo album, recorded in Reykjavik, with backing vocals from Sinéad O’Connor (credited as Mrs. John Grant). Grant is one of my favorite artists of last 15 years. He was in a band called the Czars in the 90s and first…
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Ry Cooder, Borderline, 1980 on Warner Bros.
Cooder’s 9th studio solo LP, with John Hiatt, Jim Keltner, Jesse Harms, George Pierre, Bobby King, Willie Green Jr., Reggie McBride, and Tim Drummond. Produced by Cooder with Leslie Morris. Personally I don’t quite love this one as much as 1978’s Jazz, but it is a really sold album including a cover of John Hiatt’s…
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Hound Dog Taylor and the House Rockers, Natural Boogie, 1974 on Alligator Records
Second record from Hound Dog Taylor and his band, originally issued as AL 4704. The band her includes Ted Harvey on drums and Brewer Phillips on 2nd guitar, with Hound Dog Taylor on lead guitar and vocals. (Their debut LP had been the first release on newly-formed Alligator in 1971). Great electrified Chicago blues. Unfortunately…
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Ike Quebec, Easy Living, 1987 on Blue Note
Though this was first released / issued by Blue Note in 1987, it was actually recorded in 1962 at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio in New Jersey, and represents that early 60s jazz era. It was originally going to be issued as BST-84103 – but the tracks on side one did ultimately make it on Blue…
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Dexter Gordon, Daddy Plays the Horn, 1956 on Bethlehem Records
Wonderful mid-50s bop jazz record I’d have bought just for the cover illustration by Howard Stabin. Gordon is joined here by Kenny Drew on piano, Leroy Vinnegar on bass, and Lawreance Marable on drums. Liner notes by Joseph Muranyi. This was recorded just after Gordon got out of prison at Chino and before being incarcerated…
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St. Paul and the Broken Bones, The Alien Coast, 2022 on ATO Records
I’m a big fan of St. Paul and the Broken Bones since their debut album, Half the City, came out in 2014. On this record the 8-piece band is founders Paul Janeway and Jessie Phillips plus Al Gamble, Allen Bransetter, Amari Ansari, Browan Lollar, Chad Fisher, and Kevin Leon. This is their 4th studio full-length…