Tom Conrad
Ryan Truesdell: Lines of Color: Gil Evans Project Live at Jazz StandardOrchestra with varied combinations of 25 musicians, Ryan Truesdell, cond.
Blue Note/ArtistShare ASBN 0133 (CD/download). 2015. Ryan Truesdell, Dave Rivello, prods.; James Farber, Tyler McDiarmid, Geoff Countryman, engs. Over the last 10 years, Ryan Truesdell has devoted much of his life to keeping the music of a great composer/ arranger alive. His Gil Evans Project has made two albums that are indisputably records to die for. The first, Centennial, gets the most attention. But the second, Lines of Color, is rich with gems too: an epic, nine-minute reimagining of the Evans/Miles Davis masterpiece "Time of the Barracudas," for instance, and Marshall Gilkes's trombone tour de force of "Greensleeves." It is also one of the most believable sonic representations ever achieved of a big band in a jazz club. It was recorded live at the late lamented Jazz Standard in New York.
Charles Lloyd & The Marvels: I Long To See YouCharles Lloyd, tenor saxophone, alto flute; Bill Frisell, guitar; Reuben Rogers, bass; Eric Harland, drums; Greg Leisz, steel guitar; Willie Nelson, vocals, guitar (one track); Norah Jones, vocals (one track).
Blue Note B002127702 (CD/ download/LP). 2016. Dorothy Darr, Charles Lloyd, Don Was, prods.; Dom Camardella, eng.
Brian Damkroger
FM: The Original Movie SoundtrackMCA Records MCA-12000 (2 LPs). 1978. Al Schmitt, Roger Nichols, engs. Let's be honest here, FM was at best a mediocre movie. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone I liked. But this is R2L4, not DVD2L4, and FM's soundtrack is a solid, if a bit mainstream, adult-oriented rock playlist from the late '70s. The songs are all great, but a few, such as Linda Ronstadt's live covers of "Tumbling Dice" and "Poor Poor Pitiful Me," are outstanding. The consistency and strength of this compilation have been borne out by its enduring appeal. It just feels right—like a cohesive musical time capsule. The original UK release is a little quieter, more detailed, and tonally richer than the US one (MCA2-12000), but you can't go wrong with either.
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons; Violin Concertos RV 375, RV 277, Il Favorito, RV 271 L'amorosoPhilharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Nicholas McGegan, cond.; Elizabeth Blumenstock, violin.
Philharmonia Baroque Productions PBP-03 (CD). 2011. David v.R.Bowles, prod., eng.
Tom Fine
Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter, Tompall Glaser: Wanted! The OutlawsRCA APL1-1321 (LP), 07863-66841-2 (20th anniversary CD). 1976/1996. Jerry Bradley, prod. (1976); Steve Lindsey, prod. (1996). The first country album to go Platinum started as RCA's attempt to cash in on the outlaw country movement that had reached fruition in Willie Nelson's successful Red Headed Stranger. Producer Jerry Bradley mined the vaults for unreleased tracks to be made into new remixes, and this 20th anniversary CD edition includes twice as much music and a then-new duet by Jennings and Nelson. Curiously, the Glaser tracks don't stream.
Little Feat: Waiting For Columbus Live DeluxeRhino 680966 (CD). 1978/2022. Lowell George, prod.; Jason Jones, reissue prod. This eight-CD box-set reissue of Little Feat's classic live album includes the unedited concerts that made up the original two-LP album. It is superbly remastered and handsomely packaged with a jauntily informative booklet. The complete concerts demonstrate what a great band peak-era Little Feat was.
Kurt Gottschalk
Public Image Ltd.: First IssueVirgin V2114 (LP). 1978. PiL, prod.; John Leckie, Bill Price, engs. Post-punk is now more hashtag than genre, but when it blossomed, in the late '70s, angry and atonal, it was the revolution punk promised. Embracing aggression without banging out blues progressions, the post-punk guitar architects rarely get their due. Andy Gill (1956–2020, Gang of Four) has earned acclaim, but John McGeoch (1955–2004, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Magazine) is lost to the footnotes. Keith Levene (1957–2022) quit the Clash early on, then fared better with Public Image Ltd., but was axed before "Fodderstompf" was swapped for MTV fodder. His guitar festers and howls on First Issue in dialogue with John Lydon's diatribes. They strike poses while finding their footing, concluding in the revealing, self-mocking chant, "We only wanted to be loved." Such adorable angry young men.
Joni Mitchell: TravelogueNonesuch 79817-2 (CD). 2002. Joni Mitchell, Larry Klein, prods.; Geoff Foster, Helik Hadar, engs. Loath as I am to die for a best-of, this 2002 revisitation, intended as Joni Mitchell's final record, retools her songbook with orchestra and some of the finest jazz soloists. It spans her catalog in 22 tracks that make a single statement of her singular career. She may have lost a little upper register as she approached 60, but she more than made up for it in command and maturity. This lifelong travel diary attests to Joni Mitchell's stature as one of the 20th century's finest songwriters.
Larry Greenhill
The Modern Jazz Quartet: PyramidJohn Lewis, piano; Milt Jackson, vibes; Percy Heath, bass; Connie Kay, drums.
Atlantic 1325 (LP). 1960 (Mono, original version). Nesuhi Ertegun, prod.; Tom Dowd, Earle Browne, Johnny Cue, engs.
Bobby Hutcherson: The KickerJoe Henderson, tenor saxophone; Bobby Hutcherson, vibes; Grant Green, guitar; Duke Pearson, piano; Bob Cranshaw, bass; Al Harewood, drums.
Blue Note 21437 (LP). 1999. Alfred Lion, prod.; Rudy van Gelder, eng. Just as I relished Milt Jackson's vibes in Pyramid, I reveled in Bobby Hutcherson's vibes in this superbly recorded LP, which I bought after reading Fred Kaplan's December 2020 review in Stereophile. Like Kaplan, I loved the airy and dynamic sound of the vinyl version and was swept away by the musicians' interplay. Hutcherson's vibes are quick, clearly defined, without excessive reverb. "Mirrors," the opening track, starts with slow, lyrical vibes, which reminded me of Milt Jackson's style, and is followed by Henderson's breathtaking tenor sax. This is inspired jamming at its best.
Alex Halberstadt
Mel Tormé: It's A Blue WorldStudio orchestra, Al Pellegrini, cond.; Mel Tormé, vocal; André Previn, Marty Paich, Russell Garcia, Alexander Courage, Al Pellegrini, arrs.; Hal Valentin, eng.
Bethlehem Records 20-30152 (Qobuz). 1955. Who would have guessed that God might place an unearthly set of vocal cords in the throat of a pudgy, yellow-haired Jewish kid from Chicago? Well she did, and the best place to hear them is on this session from 1955, Tormé's first for Bethlehem Records. Someone with such an extravagant gift could have succumbed to showy banality (see Johnny Mathis), but Tormé searched out great songs and venerated Fred Astaire above all other vocalists for his impeccable phrasing and taste. And so, the singer who hung an accent aigu over his made-up surname and possessed an instrument that critic Will Friedwald called "the most beautiful voice a man is allowed to have" deployed it with restraint and what the counseling industry calls emotional intelligence. Tormé's versions of "Isn't It Romantic," "Till the Clouds Roll By" (with lyrics by P.G. Wodehouse!), and "All This and Heaven Too" aren't simply lovely—they are definitive.
The Vaselines: Enter The VaselinesSub Pop Records SPCD 810 (Qobuz). 2009. The Vaselines, Stephen Pastel, Jamie Watson, prods.; Streator Johnson, Gordon Rintoul, Ian Beveridge, Peter Haigh, engs.
