DAVID R. ADLER
David Gilmore: Numerology: Live at Jazz StandardDavid Gilmore, guitar; Claudia Acu§a, voice; Miguel Zen¢n, alto saxophone; Luis Perdomo, piano; Christian McBride, bass; Jeff "Tain" Watts, drums; Mino Cinelu, percussion
Evolutionary Music EVMU001 (CD). 2012. David Gilmore, prod.; Tyler McDiarmid, Geoff Countryman, engs. DDD? TT: 56:24 David Gilmore's a busy and versatile cat, which could explain why he's recorded only three discs as a leader. This extended suite, presented in two multipart movements and inspired by the likes of Pythagoras and Einstein, was worth the wait. The rhythm section is unrivaled, and even the most complex material feels effortless. It's deeply funky, with Latin elements and a certain dark quality amid the buoyant polyrhythmic grooves. Zen¢n and Perdomo battle the leader for the title of most vicious soloist. Acu§a sings all of Gilmore's trickiest written lines and gives the music an aura of seductive soul.
Matt Wilson's Arts & Crafts: An Attitude for GratitudeMatt Wilson, drums, recitation; Terell Stafford, trumpet, flugelhorn; Gary Versace, piano, organ, accordion; Martin Wind, bass
Palmetto PM 2154 (CD). 2012. Matt Balitsaris, prod., eng.; Matt Wilson, eng. DDD? TT: 59:36
JOHN ATKINSON
Elgar: Cello Concerto, Sea PicturesJacqueline du Pré, cello; Janet Baker, mezzo-soprano; London Symphony Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli
HMV ASD 655 (LP), EMI CDC 7 47329 2 (CD), 24-bit/96kHz FLAC files from HDtracks. 1965. Ronald Kinloch Anderson, prod.; Christopher Parker, eng. AAA/AAD. TT: 54:04 From the cello's muscular declamation that opens Elgar's Cello Concerto to the soaring flights of melody in the third movement and the contrasts between skittish optimism and contemplative melancholy in the finale, you are aware that this emotionally laden masterpiece, the last great work from the Edwardian English composer, was being performed by a mature master of the instrument. Yet when she made this recording in 1965, Jacqueline du Pré was a slightly built 20-year-old, musically wise beyond her years. I was fortunate enough to attend a master class she gave 10 years after she made this recording, when, crippled by multiple sclerosis and no longer able to play, she talked and sang the audience through the concerto's first movement; it was one of the most intensely musical performances I have experienced to this date. The late Peter W. Mitchell named the CD reissue of this best-selling recording one of his 1991 "Records to Die For," but the reissue of the recently remastered version as a hi-rez download from HDtracks justifies its inclusion in this year's list. The sound of the 24/96 files is clear and open, but reveals some analog tape saturation in the orchestral climaxes. The coupling since the second issue on LP (the original coupling, on HMV ASD 2764, was the Delius Cello Concerto), Dame Janet Baker's reading of Elgar's five-song Sea Pictures cycle, is overshadowed by the concerto—but it, too, is sublime music making. (XIV-1)
Bill Frisell: All We Are Saying . . . Bill Frisell, guitar; Jenny Scheinman, violin; Greg Leisz, pedal steel guitar; Tony Scherr, bass; Kenny Wollesen, drums
Savoy Jazz SVY17836 (CD). 2011. Lee Townsend, prod.; Adam Blombert, prod. asst.; Adam Munoz, eng.; Greg Calbi, mastering. AAD? TT: 68:12 I came late to Bill Frisell. It was only at the urging of Stereophile's self-proclaimed Web Monkey, Jon Iverson, that I began to pay attention to this extraordinarily inventive electric guitarist and his various bands. This, our December 2011 "Recording of the Month"—imaginative, beautifully recorded arrangements of songs by John Lennon—not only features Frisell's longtime rhythm section of Tony Scherr on double bass and Kenny Wollesen on drums, but continues the telepathic interplay between Frisell and pedal-steel player Greg Leisz heard on such earlier albums as The Intercontinentals and Blues Dream. Violinist Jenny Scheinman adds a fiddlish flavor, but her tone, lacking vibrato almost all of the time, is somewhat of an acquired taste, especially when the arrangement leaves it exposed, as in "No.9 Dream." Nevertheless, All We Are Saying . . . has been in regular rotation on the Mac mini the past year, Frisell and his band breathing new life into these chestnuts, and will continue to do so as I uncover new depths in their music making. (XXXIV-12)
JIM AUSTIN
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-NerdMCA 1685 (LP). 1973. Al Kooper, prod.; Bobby Langford, Rodney Mills, Danny Rurbervill, Dan Turbeville, engs. AAA. TT: 43:03
Sometimes, when life drags you down, you sit down between your speakers and you don't know what to play. What do you do then? One solution, at least for those of us who were born in Alabama, is to have another bourbon. Then have another. Then another. Then have one more, and put on some Lynyrd Skynyrd, preferably Pronounced. You'll be okay after that, I promise. Another solution: accept that, as we get older, we get spiritually heavier. It's not as easy to move us as it used to be, and that's okay. Then put on some music that's satisfying, even if it doesn't turn us into sloppy, giddy adolescents.
J.S. Bach: Sonatas for Unaccompanied ViolinNathan Milstein, violin
EMI CDM 5 66869 2 (mono CD). 1957/1959/2001. Richard Jones, prod.; Frank Abbey, eng.; Wayne Hileman, 2001 remastering. ADD. TT: 57:12 For those choosing Solution 2 above, a very good music choice is Nathan Milstein's recordings of Bach's Sonatas for Unaccompanied Violin, which I have on a 2001 CD, along with the Partitas, on a Capitol LP (PCR 8370) that apparently would be valuable if it were in better condition. Take note: These are Milstein's late-1950s recordings, in mono, not the widely distributed 1970s stereo versions on Deutsche Grammophon. Getting old may not be exactly fun, but it has its consolations.
ROBERT BAIRD
The Beatles: Stereo Vinyl Box SetEMI 33809 (14 LPs). 2012. George Martin, Phil Spector, orig. prods.; Norman Smith, Geoff Emerick, Ken Scott, Philip McDonald, Glyn Johns, orig. engs.; Allan Rouse, project coordinator; Paul Hicks, Steve Rooke, Guy Massey, Sean Magee, Sam Okell, remastering. ADA.
Steely Dan: Can't Buy a ThrillABC/Speakers Corner 111886-1 (LP). 2000. Gary Katz, prod.; Roger Nichols, eng.; Tim Weston, asst. eng. AAA. TT: 40:39 In the now-teeming world of new LP reissues, there are the cheapies, the reasonably heavy, and the big boys: sumo vinyl. If it's those extra-heavy pressings that make you salivate, this weighty gem is a Joe Louis of the reissue world. While the sound of the original was always good, this hard, carefully pressed platter seems to have more detail and presence. Of the 44 different CD and LP pressings of Can't Buy a Thrill, this is the one to have: you'll never need or want another. Then there's that glorious music. Most bands tend to pack all their best ideas into their first recordings, and this one is no exception, though Donald Fagen and Walter Becker would come up with many more rewarding twists and turns in their short but glorious career. While FM radio play back in the day may have worn out certain tracks, such as the two side openers, "Do it Again," and "Reelin' in the Years," it's the deeper tracks that make this album such a classic—such as the rambunctious harmony vocals and Elliot Randall's solo in "Kings," Skunk Baxter's moaning steel guitar and the line "Am I myself or just another freak" in "Fire in the Hole," and David Palmer's plaintive vocal in the sublime "Brooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me)." There's not a wrong melodic turn on the entire album, which was recorded in L.A. by a band of New Yorkers who would forever change the definition of soul music.
LARRY BIRNBAUM
Hank Mobley: WorkoutHank Mobley, tenor saxophone; Grant Green, guitar; Wynton Kelly, piano; Paul Chambers, bass; Philly Joe Jones, drums
Blue Note 3-37771-2 (CD). 1961/2006. Alfred Lion, orig. prod.; Michael Cuscuna, reissue prod.; Rudy van Gelder, orig. eng., remastering. AAD. TT: 46:13 Workout is a Blue Note classic in every sense, from its recording by Rudy van Gelder to its cover photography by Francis Wolff. Label stalwarts Mobley and Grant Green, backed by an illustrious rhythm section, meld bebop and blues into pure hard bop, investing every note with soulful feeling. Only "Smokin'" and "Greasin' Easy" are actual 12-bar blues, but even the standards "Three Coins in the Fountain" (not included on the original LP) and "The Best Things in Life Are Free" are steeped in bluesy spirit. Most effective are the extended 32-bar blowing vehicles "Uh Huh" and the title track, elegantly funky Mobley originals that allow the mellow-toned saxophonist and the mordant-toned guitarist to stretch out to the fullest.
Tshala Muana: Soukous SirenShanachie 64031 (CD). 1991. Tshala Muana, Lou Deprijck, prods.; Robert Vosgien, remastering. AAD? TT: 49:38
ARIEL BITRAN
The Gap Band: Gap Band IVTotal Experience TE-1-3001 (LP). 1982. Lonnie Simmons, prod.; Michael Evans, Jack Rouben, Scott Simon, Lonnie Kelem, engs. AAA. TT: 42:05 The Gap Band's IV inspires a wider range of emotions than your average funk album. Like the album cover, "Early in the Morning" is gray yet hopeful, like waking to a dark morning with focused vision, like charging the New York City sidewalk to a storm of handclaps through the misty dawn. The day is yours to take. But "Season's No Reason to Change" takes the hopefulness out of your hands. Does the key change at the end ease your pain? Probably not, but the ecstatic "Outstanding" sure does, exuding the skin-tingling excitement of meeting your soul's equal. And that's just side 1. Ironically, the Gap Band's most ubiquitous number, "You Dropped a Bomb on Me," is buried between tracks on side 2.
The Posies: Blood/CandyRykodisc RCD 11094 (LP). 2010. Jon Auer, Ken Stringfellow, prods., engs.; Paco Loco, Scott Greiner, others, engs.; Greg Calbi, mastering. AAA. TT: 42:39 On their post-hiatus Blood/Candy, Stereophile's December 2010 "Recording of the Month," the Posies return with a tasteful use of melodrama, story-fueled lyrics, and hooky yet mature melodies reflecting a time off well spent. The first song, "Plastic Paperbacks," with bombastic drums and low-register harmonies, offers a darker Posies. But when the chorus hits, it hits hard. Though plaintive at the start, "The Glitter Prize" shines like daylight, and "So Caroline" offers a song about friendship, a relationship often forgotten in the world of rock'n'roll. It asks, "With friends like you, who needs anyone else?" Honest and humble. Their years apart served the Posies well. (XXXIII-12)
