Guest contributor: Una Persson
Sometimes, as a reviewer, your eyes are bigger than your stomach ears. Here’s how the process usually works, a veritable peek behind the curtain, if you will:
1. Our esteemed editor emails out lists of recently arrived CDs to be reviewed to the writers-at-large
2. The writers respond back with their requests, claims, pleas and bribes of what they want to review
3. Our esteemed editor lets you know if what you asked for has already been claimed; If you don’t hear anything, you assume you got what you asked for. (Ed. note: this is not entirely accurate, but I appreciate you giving me the benefit of the doubt.)
4. When the copy of the CD arrives, you listen to it (in heavy rotation if it’s good, not more than once or twice if its pure crap), write the review and send it in
5. Once every few weeks, our esteemed editor sends an email with all the CDs that didn’t get claimed, with pleas – sometimes demands! – for someone, anyone to take on some of these so-called “orphans.”
6. Go to Step 2
7. Rinse, repeat
It’s a wonderful system, in fact. The “bidding” has just enough uncertainty to make it interesting, and it’s a fairly democratic way to ensure the same people don’t review the same kind of material week after week, month after month.
The only problem I have is when my orphans pile starts stacking up, and I just can’t muster up the enthusiasm I once had to write “full” reviews of a stack of CDs that, by default, got placed in my personal B-list of new albums. The A-list CDs get my undue attention, of course…and this installment of this irregular column is my mea culpa for these mostly worthy B-listers…
Chet Atkins & Les Paul: Chester & Lester (RCA)
In 1976, these two guitar legends sat down in a studio to record this straightforward country instrumental session, which finds the fretboard icons laying back, stretching out and having an all-around good time as they flex their respective guitar muscles. Les Paul, of course, pioneered the use of both the electric guitar and multi-track recordings. Atkins is a fingerpicking virtuoso. Having ‘em both together on one CD is worth the price of admission alone.
Brown Shoe: Vanity (No Alternative)
My Morning Jacket-lite, with a shoegazer twist.
Charlie Hunter Trio: Mistico (Fantasy)
Guitar-based jazz fusion with plenty of groove- and jam-band elements to keep the kids happy. Fans should eat this up. If you’re not familiar with Charlie Hunter’s 8-string guitar playing eclecticism (though he’s playing “only” a 7-string on this outing), or if you only know him through his collaborations with Norah Jones and Mos Def, among others, I couldn’t think of a better place to get to know him better than on this CD.
Oakley Hall: I’ll Follow You (Merge)
Not quite Americana, not quite ork-pop, Oakley Hall is kind of like a southern-tinged Arcade Fire. I like it.
Super Guitar Trio: Live in Montreux 1989 (Eagle Vision)
Anyone who loves or remembers “Friday Night in San Francisco,” the acoustic guitar fusion album that showcased the awesome talents of Al DiMeola, John McLaughlin and Paco DeLucia, should run right out and buy this DVD. It’s an updating of that classic album from 1980, this time out featuring DiMeola flanked by Larry Coryell and Biréli Lagrene in a blistering showcase of guitar mastery. All three are virtuosos (but, if anyone’s keeping score, this one was all Lagrene’s).
Fjord Rowboat: Saved the Compliments for Morning (Independent)
Nu-gaze.
Terence Blanchard: A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina) (Blue Note)
Seeing as Terence Blanchard is film director Spike Lee’s go-to guy for music (“Mo’ Better Blues,” “Malcom X,” “Inside Man”), it’s no surprise Lee tapped Blanchard for “When the Levee Broke,” the four-hour award-winning HBO documentary that aired in 2006. Blanchard, after all, is a native of New Orleans, and an accomplished trumpeter-composer in his own right. Four of the tracks from the documentary were given new arrangements for this gorgeous, emotionally expansive album, which also features nine new tracks inspired by New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina.
Coco: Play Drum + Bass (K Records)
Picture the Black Keys (guitar and drums garage blues). Substitute a bass for the guitar (though the bass manages to sound like anything but on most tunes), and a female vocalist. Oh, and take away half the talent. That’s Coco.
