My previous post and the accusatory slings and arrows regularly fired my way to the contrary, I don't detest swing.
In fact, I'm a shameless fanboy of mainstream jazz pianist Orrin Evans. While I don't wake up each morning eager to spend my day consuming piano trio albums, Evans' new …It Was Beauty (his twentieth release!) avoids the usual pitfalls of the format. Only two tracks- "Dorm Life" and "Hats Off to Rebay"- fail to stave off tedium.
Evans, one of the more intriguing theoreticians in jazz, helps keep things fresh by using several bassists, including two on a couple tracks. A version of "African Song" is stunning. It's one of several selections that shine with the freedom I associate with the late Esbjörn Svensson.
Fortunately, I watched the ill-advised homemade EPK for …It Was Beauty only after I'd already fallen in love with the album.
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Sound the Alarm, Booker T's new album, is two or three bum tracks away from being an album-of-the-year contender.
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Is the world ready for Y-Love, a "black Orthodox Jewish rapper"?
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Howlin, the new throwback album by Jagwar Ma, isn't my thing. RIYL: (the vastly superior) Tame Impala, Oasis, 1985.
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Soft Will, the new throwback album by the Smith Westerns, is my thing. RIYL: (the vastly superior) My Morning Jacket, Badfinger, 1985.
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Young Jeezy's "It's a Cold World" is embarrassingly awful.
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I'm glad to have discovered New Zealand's Meth Drinker. RIYL: oblivion, Black Sabbath, drinking meth.
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At a different point in my life, I might have eaten up the Restorations' new album LP2 like a cow in cabbage. RIYL: Fugazi, Gaslight Anthem, Big Country.
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Ellery Eskelin's Mirage is an excellent new free jazz album. RIYL: beautiful chaos, pedal steel, chess.
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Don Cavalli is a convincing French bluesman. "Tempermental" is RIYL: JD McPherson, Lloyd Price, the Black Keys.
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I still haven't forgiven T.I. for his lackluster concert at the Sprint Center earlier this year. Even so, I like his new "Problem" featuring B.o.B.
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"This Is the Place", a dusty slow jam from Springfield's Kansas City Express, is amazing. Hey, BGO- can you provide any context for this forgotten relic?
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Tech N9ne is billed third- behind Insane Clown Posse and Twistid- in the highly-anticipated annual announcement video for the Gathering of the Juggalos.
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Sure, I laugh at Juggalos. I don't laugh at Maggots. Slipknot remains woefully under-appreciated.
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The Bootleg Series Vol. 10 Another Self Portrait? Oof. But yeah, I'm in. (First spotted via a posting by Big Steve NO.)
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Of all the albums slated for release this week- the list includes titles by Ace Hood, Phil Anselmo, Court Yard Hounds, George Duke, Tom Kennedy, Peter Leitch, Mayday, Soft Metals, the Steve Swallow Quartet and A Road Leading Home: Songs By Dan Penn- I'm most interested in hearing Border Wars, the new release from longstanding There Stands the Glass favorites The Architects.
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Kansas City Click: Night Beds performs at the RecordBar on Monday.
The Green Lady Lounge hosts Steve Lambert on Tuesday.
Joe Nichols plays Kanza Hall on Wednesday.
Buckwheat Zydeco will fill the dance floor at Knuckleheads on Thursday.
(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)
4 comments:
I like the EPK...its raw and real. Way to much fake shit out there. At least you get the real deal and real words. Glad you like the record though! Peace! O
I like the "raw and real" aspects of the EPK, "O," and I wish more artists would adopt your DIY aesthetic.
The segments that turn me off begin at 1:53, 4:17 and 5:12. I'd encourage you to have someone else- preferably a woman so that your voice and the "official" voice are distinctly separate- read the PR stuff.
Thanks for checking in. My Kansas City jazz blog, by the way, is here.
I'm looking forward to the new Pet Shop Boys album like a cow in cabbage (whatever that means).
In your honor, Steve, I'm starting my day with the new Pet Shop Boys album. (It's electric.)
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