It’s the time of year for saving money!
Genre: Blues, Rock
Description: I rarely write negative album reviews, but occasionally an album comes along that requires the reviewer’s equivalent of a big yellow CAUTION sign. This is just such an album. The problem is that compared with how the Rolling Stones performed live in their own show, their performance here, by comparison, sucks. It doesn’t help that the picture quality on the DVD is mediocre at best. At least the beginning of the album which features Muddy Waters with his band sans Stones is good, but it all goes downhill from there…the sound production values are decent, especially considering it was an on-location live recording but that alone still won’t keep you from falling asleep after all the Stones hit the stage.
Rating (0- 10): Overall – 3, Sonically – 7
Title: The Rolling Stones – Some Girls Live in Texas 1978 – 2 Record and DVD set
Genre: Rock
Description: Now THIS is the Rolling Stones. Excellent sound and picture on the DVD combine to deliver a time-capsule trip to a night when the Stones were in top form. With their typically tight/loose arrangements, and Mick’s now you see ’em, now you don’t plastic pants, you are transported back in 1978. The sound is clear, clean, and demands to be turned up to eleven. The records (this is a two-record, one DVD package) is thick red and yellow translucent vinyl and tracked with nary a tick or pop. A Blu-Ray version will be available in about a month, but if vinyl is your thing, I’d snag one of these pronto because this very cool and very special version won’t last long.
Rating (0- 10): Overall – 9, Sonically – 8
Title: Patterson Barrett – When I Was Your Age…
Genre: Folk, Singer-Songwriter, Pop
Description: If upbeat pop/rock tickles your fancy, you probably spend a lot of time listening to recordings from the mid-80’s. Patterson Barrett’s music has a similar energy and invigorating quality. Joined by Gurf Morlix, Bonnie Bramlett, Barrett handles most of the guitar, pedal steel, piano, bass, lead vocals and he wrote ten of the eleven songs on the album. Barrett even handled all the production and recording engineer duties. The final result of all this musical auteurship is a well-crafted and creatively invigorating album.
Rating (0- 10): Overall – 8, Sonically – 8
Title: Justin Horn – Hornology
Genre: Jazz
Description: Like Horn sections? How about smooth “uptown” vocals? If your answer to both questions was, “yes,” I have an album for you…Justin Horn’s latest features a five-piece horn section whose fills and backing lines give Hornology a smooth and polished jazz-pop sound. Horn’s lead vocals remind me of Michael Buble’s in that they float over the top of the densely sophisticated arrangements, like seagull coasting through the tips of the waves. All eleven tunes are Horn originals, and while the lyrics aren’t exactly soul-baring, they do have enough emotional depth to support Horn’s lyrical melodies.
Rating (0- 10): Overall – 8, Sonically – 8
Title: Ferenc Nemeth – Triumph
Genre: Jazz
Description: Drummer and percussionist Ferenc Nemeth leads a quartet of top players through twelve original compositions. Featuring Joshua Redman on tenor and soprano saxophones, Kenny Werner on piano and Fender Rhodes, and Lionel Loueke on fingerstyle nylon string guitar and vocals. The music could best be described as neo-modern post-bop jazz, with a strong emphasis on textural and rhythmic patterns. Breezy with out being lightweight, musically adventurous without being atonal, Ferenc Nemeth’s music occupies a modern, yet accommodating place in the jazz lexicon. The sound is spacious and delicately detailed.
Rating (0- 10): Overall – 8, Sonically – 9
new album from Donald Fagen. “Sunken Condos” anyone listen to it yet?