Records To Die For

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Sasha Matson

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The Sons Of Champlin: Loosen Up Naturally
Capitol SWBB-200 (2 LPs). 1969. Bruce Walford, David Schallock, prods.; Leo de Gar Kulka, eng.

Released as a two-LP set by Capitol in 1969, this is the cornerstone album from the Bay Area psychedelic music revolution that many listeners today are unfamiliar with. The Sons were a large band that included a jazzy horn section. Anchored by his red-hot Hammond B3 organ playing, writer Bill Champlin delivered his lyrics with a soulful voice unequaled by any white boy at the time. Utopian ideals mixed with wry humor: "I got one thing to say to the Fool on the Hill: You're gonna feel funny on a rooftop." This double-whammy contains not one but two anthems—"Get High" and "Freedom."

Giacomo Puccini: La Rondine
The London Symphony Orchestra, London Voices; Angela Gheorghiu, soprano; Roberto Alagna, tenor; Antonio Pappano, cond.
EMI Classics 7243 5 56338 2 (2 CDs). 1997. David Groves, prod.; Simon Rhodes, eng.

Yes, it's digital, but it's really good digital and a fine example of what now is becoming a rarity: a large, state-of-the-art studio recording in Abbey Road's Studio 1. (This was a more common occurrence when giants like EMI still strode the earth.) La Rondine had gotten the short end of the Puccini stick until the then-youngish Pappano and his superstar couple of Gheorghiu and Alagna showed the music world what it had been missing. The glowingly warm yet amply textured sound supports ravishing playing and singing. The piece reaches a full-on Puccini climax toward the end of Act II, when Gheorghiu shoots for the stars. Music to make love by.

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Ken Micallef

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Elmer Bernstein: Sweet Smell Of Success
Pete Candoli, trumpet; Ted Nash, alto saxophone; Shelly Manne, drums
Decca DL 8610 (LP). 1957. Elmer Bernstein, cond.; Jack Hayes, Leo Shuken, orchs.

"I'd hate to take a bite outta you. You're a cookie full of arsenic," snarled J.J. Hunsecker, as portrayed by Burt Lancaster in this 1950s film noir classic. Described in this soundtrack album's liner notes as reflecting "the tempo, anguish and frustration in a contemporary popular idiom," Bernstein's wailing big band score is the star of the film—after Lancaster and Tony Curtis. The music churns, boils, swings, swoons, condemns, and empathizes as the film's characters struggle from nadir to nadir.

Steps Ahead: Steps Ahead
Michael Brecker, tenor saxophone; Mike Mainieri, vibraphone, synthesizer, marimba; Eliane Elias, piano; Eddie Gómez, bass; Peter Erskine, drums
Elektra Musician 60168-1 (LP). 1983. Steps Ahead, prod.

Steps Ahead comprised some of New York City's finest musicians, the vanguard of both younger jazz players and busy studio session stalwarts. The production is beautiful with a lucid, intimate sound, and the performances showcase each player as a master of their instrument. The compositions hold up well, especially Don Grolnick's dancelike "Pools," Mainieri's soaring "Islands," and Brecker's Afro-Cuban-to-samba–infused "Both Sides of the Coin."

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Julie Mullins

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Peter Gabriel: Peter Gabriel
Geffen GHSP 2035 (LP) 1980/1983. Steve Lillywhite, prod.; Hugh Padgham, eng.

A 1990s high-school friend introduced me to this, Gabriel's third eponymous post-Genesis solo album—aka 3 or Melt. I'd been steeped in '80s music since childhood, but only later did this record's impact and influence on that era's sound dawn on me. Gated reverb, for instance: Ominous cuts like "Intruder" are among the first examples of engineer Hugh Padgham's serendipitously "discovered" drum effect—a big, aggressive sound that would permeate pop/rock music for the rest of that decade (including on former Genesis bandmate Phil Collins's "In the Air Tonight") and beyond. Collins appears on this album, along with Robert Fripp, Kate Bush, and Paul Weller. Politics also appear: "Games without Frontiers," a gentle antiwar treatise with whistling, culminates in a cool breakdown with Bush's soft soprano against early synth beats. "Biko" recounts activist Steve Biko's fate under South African apartheid; real-world a cappella choral samples uplift and lend authenticity. Song by song or as a whole, this well-produced album is among Gabriel's most compelling.

Emmylou Harris: Wrecking Ball
Elektra/Asylum Records PRCD-9308 (CD) and 24/44.1 FLAC. 1995. Daniel Lanois, prod.; Trina Shoemaker, eng., mastering; Joe Gastwirt, mastering; Mark Howard, eng., Malcolm Burn, eng., arr., mixing.

This wasn't the same Emmylou I grew up hearing—yet it was: Her inimitable voice lilts, warbles, and soars through the tracks. They're nearly all covers (Dylan, Hendrix, Young, et al), but you wouldn't guess it: Her signature style fulfills each song's promises. Daniel Lanois's rock-cred production and ambient effects and Larry Mullen Jr.'s drumming drove her talents in new directions, weaving an intricate web of lush atmosphere and texture. Equal measures sweet and sad, the songs' well-hewn edges and images still move me. (The 24/44.1 digital Deluxe Edition beats my old CD.) A haunting amalgamation of ethereal and earthy, it marks a fine moment for crossover Americana—ahead of that curve. It's also that rare album my family might agree on across generations.

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Dan Ouellette

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Anouar Brahem: The Astounding Eyes Of Rita
Anouar Brahem, oud; Klaus Gesing, bass clarinet; Björn Meyer, bass; Khaled Yassine, darbouka, bendir.
ECM 2075, B0013356-02 (CD). 2009. Manfred Eicher, prod.; Stefano Amerio, eng.

In this recording of transcendent beauty, Tunisian oud virtuoso Anouar Brahem brings his Middle Eastern flair into a jazz/chamber music setting. The album features rich harmonic interplay between Brahem and German bass clarinetist Klaus Gesing. There's evocative beauty in this unusual combination, as the acoustic oud's pitches dance with the bass clarinet's low undertones.

Björn Meyer's grounding bass lines and Lebanese percussionist Khaled Yassine's darbouka and frame drum add to the mix of pensive atmospherics. Brahem dedicated these eight lyrical songs to the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish (1941–2008), and the music reflects Darwish's poetic contemplations, especially on the melancholic yet hopeful title track based on the discordant poem, "Rita and the Rifle." Throughout the album's expressions of joy, gloom, and longing, Brahem charms with artistic elegance.

NRBQ: Uncommon Denominators
Rounder Records 11506 (CD). 1986. Terry Adams, Joey Spampinato, prods.; Tom Mark, Eddie Kramer, engs.

Despite its late-'60s Columbia debut and a one-off 1989 Virgin showcase, NRBQ (New Rhythm and Blues Quartet) never scored a hit. But this quartet scores triumphant in rock history (and beyond) as a cult classic. This mercurial 21-tune compilation contains the evidence. The tracks were plucked from 1972–84 Rounder/Red Rooster sides, when 'Q was at its finest: The lineup included exhilarating keyboardist/founder Terry Adams, whose playing ranges from Monk jazz to Jerry Lee Lewis slam; blazing guitarist Big Al Anderson; soft-pedaled electric bassist Joey Spampinato (all three songwriters and lead vocalists); and in-the-pocket drummer Tommy Ardolino. The compilation features catchy melodies, dance-crazed beats, avant-jazz horn inflections, plus a campy version of Barbra Streisand's "People" and a wacky celebration of pro wrestler Lou Albano. NRBQ is still around after decades, but only Adams remains from this early lineup, making this disc a historical document of 'Q's early heyday.

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Herb Reichert

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Joseph Spence: Bahaman Folk Guitar: Music Of The Bahamas – Volume 1
Folkways Records/Smithsonian Folkways FW03844, FS 3844 (LP, CD, or 24/96 FLAC). 1959/2018. Sam Charters, 1959 rec./editing; John Cohen, prod.; Paul Williams, eng.

My guitar-player friend "Long Tall" George turned me on to Bahaman guitarist and singer Joseph Spence. He said, "besides Spence's uncanny technique, he growls, and mumbles, and goes deep." While he is playing, Spence speaks to himself out loud—in trancelike voices—as if he is somewhere else and doesn't know there's an audience.

Best of all, his music is dance music—it's got Bahaman swing and sway—and it's Church, too. It comes from a culture where sacred and secular have not been fully separated. If you like Ry Cooder, Blind Willie McTell, or Thelonious Monk, Joseph Spence will thrill you.

Roscoe Holcomb: An Untamed Sense Of Control
Folkways Records/Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40144 (CD or 16/44.1 FLAC). 1961–1973/2003. John Cohen, prod.; Pete Reiniger, mastering eng.

The chief virtue of Roscoe Holcomb's awe-inspiring musical art is how it draws attention to forms of poetic content I did not know existed. His performances feel authentic and mystical while exposing me to high levels of timeless human sentiment. In my world, Holcomb is the J.S. Bach and Vincent van Gogh of rural American music. These unedited, unprocessed, two-track, audiophile-quality recordings showcase Roscoe's eerie high-lonesome voice and paranormal banjo, guitar, and fiddle accompaniments in a clear and compelling manner. This is not hillbilly music; it is sophisticated American art.