Category: CD QuickTakes (Page 122 of 149)

Donna the Buffalo: Silverlined

September 4, 2008 /

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Forget the silly handle; there’s no one named Donna in Donna the Buffalo. For that matter, there’s no Buffalo involved either. Nevertheless, over the past 20 years or so, Donna the Buffalo has become a fan favorite on the festival circuit, thanks to a no-nonsense blend of breezy Americana and homespun attitude. Their latest, Silverlined, appears more streamlined than previous efforts, with the band’s three singers – Tara Nevins, Jeb Puryear and Joe Thrift – rotating the vocal chores. With a sound that recalls the latter-day Byrds and their Flying Burrito Brothers offspring, the new album finds them in affable country rock mode, complete with mid-tempo melodies, down home arrangements and a populist point of view. Nevins’ songs garner the most attention here – “Temporary Misery,” “Broken Record” and “I Don’t Need A Riddle” being the best of the bunch – and it’s her sass and swagger that gives the band its spunk. So while Silverlined doesn’t break any new ground, it still purveys plenty of back porch charm, and that’s ample reason in itself to want to run with the herd. (Sugar Hill)

Donna the Buffalo MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Country, Rock

Steal This Song: Carlon, “Cantaloupe”

September 2, 2008 /

Holy “Jesus Was a Crossmaker,” Batman.

New Jersey: It’s not just for bar bands anymore. This quartet does the best Hollies impression we’ve heard in ages, good enough to blow away anything by Band of Horses, to whom the band is favorably compared in their press release. Now, we like that Band of Horses album as much as the next guy, but there isn’t anything on Cease to Begin that comes close to matching the beauty of “Cantaloupe.” Is it just us, or does everyone else hear Christopher Walken’s voice when they see the word ‘cantaloupe’? Blame it on too many viewings of “True Romance.”

The band’s full-length debut, Johari Window, comes out September 30. We can’t wait to hear the rest of it.

Carlon – Cantaloupe

Americana, Artists, CD QuickTakes, Downloads, External Music, Songs

Jimmy Witherspoon featuring Robben Ford: Live at the 1972 Monterey Jazz Festival

September 2, 2008 /

Jimmy Witherspoon was so enthralled with what he was hearing from his guitarist, Robben Ford, that he shouted his name in approval a dozen times throughout his ’72 Monterey Jazz performance (ten of those shouts occurring during the solo in “Goin’ Down Slow” alone), preserved here on disc. Ford truly did earn the co-credit on this disc, and eventually went on to play with Miles Davis a decade later. As for ‘Spoon, what’s even more entertaining than his jolly takes on classics like “Kansas City” and “Walkin’ By Myself” are his outbursts – threatening to tear away the stage curtain (“I’ll cut it! I’ve got my knife!” he shouts three times when the curtain is drawn after “Walkin’ by Myself”), and then cutting off his band midway through his performance of “Early One Morning” to tell the audience about the night he drank some scotch after forgetting that he had just popped some reds. To their credit, the band (bassist Stan Poplin, drummer Jim Baum, and Paul Nagel on Fender Rhodes) also stay plenty tight for ‘Spoon and Ford, anchoring a night that had to have been a total gas for all who were there. (Monterey Jazz Festival 2008)

Monterey Jazz Festival Records Myspace page

Blues, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews

Shirley Horn: Live at the 1994 Monterey Jazz Festival

September 2, 2008 /

Listening with 2008 ears that have spent plenty of time with music of today’s standard bearer for female jazz vocals – Diana Krall, who else? – it becomes abundantly clear just how much a debt Ms. Krall owes to her forebear, husky-voiced singer/pianist Shirley Horn. Riding a wave of renewed interest that began in the late ‘80s, Horn came out swinging at her only Monterey Jazz Festival appearance. “Foolin’ Myself” and “Nice n’ Easy” are highlights, as is her rendition of “I’ve Got the World on a String,” which sounds awfully close to how Krall would approach it the following year on her second album. Best of all, though, is her total ownership of “The Look of Love” – she dips and swoons her way through a wonderfully elastic take on the Bacharach classic, with great sympathy from her rhythm section, bassist Charles Ables and drummer Steve Williams. (Monterey Jazz Festival 2008)


Monterey Jazz Festival Records Myspace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Jazz

Cal Tjader: The Best of Cal Tjader Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival

September 2, 2008 /

For the late West Coast vibraphone master Cal Tjader’s entry in the series of live discs issued by the Monterey Jazz Festival’s archival record label, performances from his dates at the annual event have been cherry-picked, spanning five dates between 1958 and 1980. Aside from the gloriously consistent fidelity of all the recordings – the ’58 sessions sound just as crystal clear as the ‘70s and ‘80s recordings – the voice he developed apart from peers like Milt Jackson and Bobby Hutcherson comes through loud and clear. Though his bop tunes from ’58 with pianist Vince Guaraldi, bassist Al McKibbon and drummer Willie Bobo are fine and dandy, it’s the Latin tracks that really put this disc over the top. Especially of note is the conga- and timbale-infused ’72 performance of “Mateca,” which stretches out for over 12 minutes and features fetching cameos from Dizzy Gillespie and Clark Terry, not to mention Mitchell Wolf’s awesome electric piano comping. Add a stately ballad from ’77 (“If You Could See Me Now”) and a little bossa nova (“Speak Low”), and Cal’s bases are pretty much covered here. (Monterey Jazz Festival 2008)


Monterey Jazz Festival Records MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Jazz

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