Reviews of new pop, country/roots, jazz and classical releases
By
The Philadelphia Inquirer,
Source: MCT News Service
Pop:
RAHEEM DEVAUGHN "The Love and War Masterpeace" (Jive, 3 stars)
For all his creamy R&B and sly, romantic attitude, Raheem DeVaughn has issues. Actually, DeVaughn never truly played things straight. His 2008 album "Love Behind the Melody" introduced stone-soul hippie howls into the live hip-pop vibe, with clever Gnarls Barkley-like bits for good measure. Odd. But this newest of the crooner's albums finds DeVaughn embracing his political side with a sociocultural vision that's subtle, sharp, and never loses track of its contagious songcraft. Bringing scholar Cornel West for between-song skits seems heavy-handed, but ultimately comes across as confident and paternal. Smooth operator DeVaughn and slippery rapper Ludacris discuss mean streets in the bouncy "Bulletproof" and negligence of all stripes in the sleek, stern "I Don't Care." No, DeVaughn doesn't skimp on dreamy sex and sensuality in this handsome album. But the salty seducer really does save his best lines for social illing, such as in "Nobody Wins a War." That rubbery track, featuring Philly's Bilal and Jill Scott (among others), tucks into battle states, grand and intimate, and finds that love among the ruins is but a kiss away. Sounds like DeVaughn's all kinds of passionate.
_A.D. Amorosi
WAS (NOT WAS) "Pick of the Litter 1980-2010" (Micro Werks, 3 1/2 stars)
The pretend Was siblings (in actuality Detroit producers Don Fagenson and David Weiss) concocted music that seemed to have emanated from some evil lab in Dr. Funkenstein's basement. Their parodic pop was a cheesy yet oddly danceable pileup of jazz, funk, New Wave, and disco, punctuated with rants and beatnik poetry.
Although they were actively recording for less than half the cited span, this compilation showcases all their hallmarks: a grab bag of genres, out-of-left-field instrumentation, and surreal guest vocalists, from Ozzy Osbourne to Mel Torme.
A Bizarro World variation on Steely Dan, Was (Not Was) was never an acquired taste. You either embraced or dismissed them immediately. For the former, "Pick of the Litter" is a windfall.
_David Hiltbrand
QUASI "American Gong" (Kill Rock Stars, 3 stars)
The Portland, Ore. duo of pianist-guitarist-songwriter Sam Coomes and drummer Janet Weiss have been making two-person garage rock together since the early 1990s, predating the White Stripes when it comes to former spouses who carry on professionally after their relationship goes under. Weiss, who also has played with Sleater-Kinney and Stephen Malkmus, is both a technically dazzling and a physically propulsive drummer, and previous Quasi albums have held together just fine by combining her rhythmic thrust with Coomes' mordant lyrics and shambling melodies. On "American Gong" they add bassist Joanne Bolme to become a bona fide power trio. Coomes is typically wry and witty in the service of a dark vision. The album's one near-dirge ironically regards "the receding daylights of a teenage dream" on a song called "Laissez les Bon Temps Rouler." "American Gong" kicks up a refreshing, raucous storm on what has become a distressingly placid indie-rock sea.
_Dan DeLuca
PEASANT "Shady Retreat" (Paper Garden, 3 1/2 stars)
What songwriter Damien DeRose does as Peasant is simple enough: a folky guitar strum here, an afterglow of synth there, and double-tracked vocals heightening the emotions. Yet his songs consistently take one's breath away, thanks to a subtle touch and much sincerity. DeRose keeps his musical cupboard as bare as possible, with instruments appearing and fading like apparitions. By the same token, the songs on this second album are short and to the point, making the most of his tear-jerking whisper. Moving naturally forward from 2008's "On the Ground," the superior "Shady Retreat" puts Peasant ever nearer the ranks of Bon Iver and Elliott Smith. It's achingly close to the heart _ especially "Hard Times" and lead single "The End" _ without falling into to sappiness.
_Doug Wallen
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Country/roots:
BOBBY CHARLES "Timeless" (Rice 'n' Gravy, 4 stars)
Bobby Charles, the south Louisiana songwriting great ("See You Later, Alligator," "Walkin' to New Orleans"), died in January at 71. You don't have to go very far into this posthumous release to realize what a loss that is. The first track, "Happy Birthday, Fats Domino," a slice of blaring, funky New Orleans R&B, is as insanely catchy and infectiously joyous as anything you'll ever hear.
The rest of the appropriately titled "Timeless" also shows that this reclusive artist was at the top of his game. From R&B workouts ("Where Did All the Love Go") to heartrending ballads ("You'll Always Live Inside of Me"), Charles exudes plainspoken soulfulness. His even, laid-back delivery plays off the richness of the Crescent City- and bayou-steeped accompaniment, highlighted by the presence of co-producer Dr. John on keyboards and slide guitarist extraordinaire Sonny Landreth.
In saluting his pal Fats Domino, Charles sings, "You and your music touched my heart and soul." We can say the same about Bobby Charles Guidry.
_Nick Cristiano
THE HOLMES BROTHERS "Feed My Soul" (Alligator, 3 1/2 stars)
Since they began recording in 1989, the three graybeards of the Holmes Brothers _ guitarist Wendell Holmes, bassist Sherman Holmes, and drummer Popsy Dixon _ have served up a spirit-nourishing roots-music melting pot.
"Feed My Soul" offers more of this genre-defying amalgam. Originals such as Sherman's R&B/gospel "Dark Cloud" and Wendell's country-spiced "Living Well Is the Best Revenge" blend in with Holmes-ified takes on the Beatles' "I'll Be Back" and the oldie ballad "Pledging My Love." Like the band's three distinct voices _ Wendell's gritty tenor sits between Sherman on the low end and Popsy on the high _ the collection coalesces into a whole whose fusion of juke-joint rambunctiousness and churchy uplift remains undeniably transcendent.
_N.C.
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Jazz:
FRANK VIGNOLA "100 years of Django" (Azica Records, 3 1/2 stars)
Guitarist Frank Vignola mines the big field of swing guitar on this accessible and occasionally explosive tribute to the great gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt.
Swing is a long passe genre, and Vignola, a Long Island native with the ability to play many types of jazz, stays true to Reinhardt's picking style on this drum-free set. And Vignola consistently works these Reinhardt originals to reach impressive levels of froth.
"Rhythm Futur" puts Vignola beside accordion player Julien Labro in what becomes a competition of the fittest.
That level of excitement is hardly an outlier, because Vignola scales similar heights on "Troubland Bolero." "Swing Gitane" features some flashing interplay between the leader and fellow guitarist Vinny Raniolo, while "Diminishing Blackness" gets softly funky before it segues into a lusher section; Reinhardt is said to have written the tune while watching a sunrise.
One of Reinhardt's best known tunes, the slinky "Nuages," is played straight up but with choice improvisation.
_Karl Stark
NORRBOTTEN BIG BAND "The Avatar Sessions: The Music of Tim Hagans" (Fuzzy Music, 3 1/2 stars)
Besides stints at Boston's Berklee College of Music and on the New York jazz scene, trumpeter Tim Hagans has developed his art in Europe, especially in Sweden, where he's the artistic director of the Norrbotten Big Band in Lulea, more than 560 miles due north of Stockholm.
This hot band in a cold clime plays seven Hagans originals and is joined by a killer lineup of American exports, including drummer Peter Erskine; saxophonists George Garzone, David Liebman, and Joe Lovano; trumpeter Randy Brecker; and bassist Rufus Reid.
The result documents a unique big band.
Hagans got one of his first gigs back in the mid-1970s with the Stan Kenton Band, and it's easy to feel the connections. Big-band composer Maria Schneider also feels present.
An Ohio native, Hagans uses the tune "Buckeyes" to ask a lot of modernist questions that unroll and lead to more developments. Hagans likes knotted lines that get worked through. Some of these charts are darn difficult. But also on display here are his versatile intelligence and some fierce blowing from the assembled glitterati.
"Boo" harks back to Hagans' fusion days. "Here With Me" is a silken ballad, while "Rufus at Gilly's," a Dayton, Ohio, jazz club, lets Reid go down deep on the bass.
_ K.S.
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Classical:
BRAHMS "Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2" London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski conducting (London Philharmonic, two discs, 3 1/2 stars)
The question of conductor Vladimir Jurowski's mastery of core Germanic repertoire is partly answered by these perfectly fresh, authoritative recordings of Brahms' first two symphonies in a specially priced two-disc set. Tempos are brisk but never rushed, with balances particularly attuned to the composer's masterly counterpoint. String textures have particular transparency thanks to relatively light articulation and low vibrato that borders on historically informed performance.
The one problem movement is the eventful finale of the "Symphony No. 1" _ Jurowski has twice as many tempo ideas as he needs, not all of them coherent or congruent, making the symphony's ending an unconvincingly bumpy ride. An aberration? A taste lapse? A habit?
_David Patrick Stearns
_Gerald Finley
GREAT OPERATIC ARIAS Gerald Finley, baritone; London Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner conducting (Chandos, 3 1/2 stars)
Distinguished singers are periodically tapped by England's Peter Moores Foundation for the deluxe treatment: A disc of operatic scenes with orchestra, chorus, and soloists to fill out smaller roles. The catch: Everything must be sung in English. Baritone Gerald Finley, now at the peak of his career, lets his broad-reaching musical interests run wide _ with almost as many minuses as pluses, though never obscuring his considerable vocal charisma.
The big news is Doctor Atomic's "Batter My Heart," from his signature role of Robert Oppenheimer. Though he's reasonably convincing in excerpts of roles he's not likely to sing onstage soon _ Hans Sachs in "Die Meistersinger," Scarpia in "Tosca," and Iago in "Otello" _ his voice is still too light, and his personality never fully inhabits more malevolent moments.
Surprising successes include an elegantly sung "Toreador Song" from "Carmen," a lovely, heartfelt "Some Enchanted Evening" from "South Pacific," and articulate, earnest "Tannhauser" excerpts. English translations have an odd impact on the music: An aria from Tchaikovsky's "Iolanta" sounds like Franz Lehar (not a bad thing), though in the seductive duet "La ci darem la mano" from "Don Giovanni," "Let's go" just isn't a very poetic substitute for "Andiamo."
_D.P.S.
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