November/December 2005 • Issue 277

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Sam CookeAmerican Music Masters Series

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & Museum

31st Annual Holiday Gift Guide

November/December 2005 • Issue 277PAGE TWO

Published by Martin WahlCommunications

Editor & Founder Bill Wahl

Layout & Design Bill Wahl

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ContributorsMichael Braxton, Mark Cole,Chris Hovan, Nancy Ann Lee,Peanuts, Mark Smith, DuaneVerh and Ron Weinstock.Distribution Jason Devine

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The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame andMuseum and Case Western ReserveUniversity will celebrate the legacy ofSam Cooke during the Tenth AnnualAmerican Music Masters Series thisNovember. Sam Cooke, considered bymany to be the definitive soul singer andcrossover artist, a model for African-American entrepreneurship and one ofthe first performers to use music as atool for social change, was inducted intothe Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in theinaugural class of 1986.

The tribute will extend from Octo-ber 31 - November 6 and will featurepanels, films, educational programs, aday-long conference at Case and twotribute concerts. The main tribute con-cert will feature Cooke’s pop and R&Bmaterial and the gospel show will focuson his spiritual music.

Sam Cooke was one of the mostinfluential performers in the history ofAmerican popular music. His work cutacross genres of gospel, R&B and pop,and Cooke is credited as being one ofsoul music’s primary architects.

Cooke’s career with the Soul Stir-rers was enough to secure his place inthe annals of music history, but his am-bition and talent would take him muchfurther still. He was a pioneering figurein African-American entrepreneurship,gaining remarkable artistic control of hismusic and the business surrounding it.Recognizing the importance of owningpublishing rights to music, he foundedhis own record label and publishing com-pany after being courted aggressively bythe leading record labels of the day.

His extraordinary voice and unfor-gettable melodies appealed to black andwhite audiences, and the popularity ofhis music helped introduce many otherblack performers to mainstream audi-ences. When he died in 1964, Cookewas one of the most financially success-ful black artists up to that point.

Sam Cooke’s music expanded fromits gospel roots into more mainstreamR&B and pop genres while managing tokeep the interest of many among hiscore gospel following. Cooke was alsoa force in harnessing the power of mu-

sic for a socially conscientious cause. Herecognized both the growing popularity ofthe early folk-rock balladeers and thechanging political climate in America, us-ing his own popularity and marketingsavvy to raise the conscience of his lis-teners with such classics as “Chain Gang”and “A Change is Gonna Come.” In pointof fact, the use of “A Change is GonnaCome” was granted to the Southern Chris-tian Leadership Conference forfundraising by Cooke and his manager,Allen Klein, in 1964.

Sam Cooke was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo art-ist in the inaugural class of 1986.

The tribute concerts are as follows:

Main Concert

The main tribute concert will takeplace Saturday, November 5 at 8 p.m. atthe State Theatre, Playhouse Square.

Scheduled to perform are:• Aretha Franklin• Elvis Costello• The Dixie Hummingbirds• The Blind Boys of Alabama• Cissy Houston• Peter Wolf• Taj Mahal• Otis Clay• William Bell See the ad in this issue for the last

minute update on performers.Tickets for this concert are $20, $30

and $40 and are on sale throughTickets.com). Note: With the purchase ofa full price Saturday tribute ticket, buyerswill receive 50% off the price of a Sundaytribute concert ticket.

Gospel Tribute

The Gospel tribute will take place thefollowing night, Sunday, November 6, at6 p.m., also at the State Theatre, Play-house Square.

Scheduled to perform are:• Aretha Franklin• Lou Rawls• The Blind Boys of Alabama• The Dixie Hummingbirds• Cissy Houston• Taj Mahal• Otis Clay

“A Change Is Gonna Come:

The Life and Music of Sam Cooke”

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s10th Annual American Music Masters Series

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees Aretha Franklin

and Elvis Costello Headline Main Tribute Concert

Cover photo of Sam Cooke courtesy of Michael Ochs Archives.com

November/December 2005 • Issue 277 PAGE THREE

See the ad in this issue for the lastminute update on performers.

Tickets for this concert are $15, $25and $35 and are on sale throughTickets.com. packages are available forthe Sunday Gospel concert for group of20 or more (216-515.1228)

Conference

A day-long conference will take placeat Case Western Reserve University’sFord Theatre on Saturday, November 5,from 9:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. (registration be-gins at 9 a.m.)

The conference will feature: Keynotespeaker Peter Guralnick (whose bookDream Boogie: The Triumph of SamCooke was published by Little, Brown inmid-October); Chair of the NAACP andlegendary Civil Rights activist JulianBond; Leroy Crume of the Soul Stirrers;Ira Tucker of the Dixie Hummingbirds;Legendary R&B MCs Early Byrd andGorgeous George; and Sam Cooke’sbrother L.C. Cooke.

Tickets to the conference are $30 areon sale through Ticketmaster. (Note thatthe conference tickets are NOT availablethrough the same outlet as the tributeconcerts. Tribute concert tickets are avail-able through Tickets.com.)

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame andMuseum present this year’s AmericanMusic Masters, with the sponsorship par-ticipation of ABKCO Records and CaseWestern Reserve University.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame andMuseum exists to educate its visitors,fans and scholars from around the worldabout the history and significance of rockand roll music. The Museum carries outthis mission through its efforts to collect,preserve, exhibit and interpret this artform.

The Museum is open seven days aweek from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. OnWednesdays the Museum is open until9 p.m. Museum admission is $20 foradults, $14 for seniors (60+), $11 for chil-dren (9-12) and children under 8 andMuseum members are free.

Read The Reviewwww.jazz-blues.com

You Can Teachan Old Dog...

Chords 101 The Berklee MethodOnline Guitar Course Reviewed

By Jim MartinWith a rekindling of my musical am-

bitions this year I needed to take stockof what I can and can not do. My conclu-sion, I had a lot of musical gaps thatneeded to be filled. Having played gui-tar from the age of 14, I have subjectedmyself to a mishmash of teachers, styles,methods and a pile of unrelated bookscreating a fractured mosaic of disjointedinformation and knowledge – all probablywritten by guys who got theirs throughthe same mishmash of teachers andpoorly written method books...the prover-bial stack that would reach to the moon.So this summer I decided to do some-thing about it and enrolled in the BerkleeCollege of Music online summer pro-gram. Chords 101 was my starting point.Not exactly being what you call collegematerial, I was reluctant and a bit ner-vous.

First and foremost the teacher, gui-tarist Rick Peckham. With a B.M., fromOhio State University, M.M.Ed. from theUniversity of North Texas State, he is aninternationally active jazz guitarist, com-poser, writer, and clinician. Then add thathe’s a frequent contributor to Down Beatand other magazines, as well as a co-author of Berklee textbooks for ear train-ing and musicianship. Now add in realworld touring experience and a very laidback, confident and well thought outteaching style visa-vie the video files.Bottom line...you have a good guide toget you through the material.

The course it self is taught over sixweeks, each week being a lesson sup-ported by streaming videos, mp3 filesand a series of PDFs with two assign-ments due each week. The curriculumcovers chord construction from basicmajor and minor triads, progressing tomore complex chord voicings in variouspositions on the neck. The assignmentsconsists of a PDF chord chart and twomp3 files. One with a rhythm section andguitar (preformed by Rick Peckham) soyou can hear what your suppose tosound like, and one without the guitar.Your job is to record a guitar track, mix itdown and email it back for grading. Classparticipation is achieved through aBerklee chatroom where you get to in-teract with the teacher and other stu-dents through a well written website. Inaddition each lesson you incorporatesongs that allow you to apply what you

have just learned to real tunes.

Course requirements – obviously acomputer and internet access, but youwill need to the have the ability to playback and record mp3 files. I started myfirst class in Manila, class two from To-kyo, winding up in Miami thenCleveland...so this is a portable and con-venient process. You start out playingsimple chord charts and finish off play-ing “Stella By Starlight,” a tune that car-ries a lot of tradition around the Berkleecampus.... kind of the old school songfor music nerds.

Chords 101 does starts out simple,but the speed at witch the information istaught is rapid, so you don’t want to fallbehind. Note to seasoned players...youshouldn’t get overconfident, because youwill get lost in the chord drills.

Having played guitar for nearly 30years it seemed to take what I knew andorganized it to be more effective andaccessible. Referred to as the Berkleesystem, or method, the course proveditself when one of my bandmates broughtin the latest John Scofield CD, The Mu-sic Of Ray Charles: That’s What I’d Sayand I wanted to play one of the tunes. Iproceeded to pick off a tune, and it waseffortless. Before the course I would havediddled around with for a day or two try-ing to pick off Scofield’s voicing, but magi-cally it all just fell out of my fingers... ItWorks!

For information on this course andothers, as well as Berklee Press booksand videos, go to www.berkleepress.com.

Sammy’s Celebrates 25 YearsNov. 18 with Benefit for Tri-C

A Cleveland institution, Sammy’s in theFlats (1400 W. 10th St, Cleveland) cel-ebrates its silver anniversary, “25 Years ofHot Food & Cool Jazz,” on Friday, Novem-ber 18, 7 pm to Midnight. Single tickets areavailable at the $100 and $175 levels.

The special benefit, “Keep the JazzFires Burning,” will support Cuyahoga Com-munity College’s Jazz Studies and Com-munity Music Scholarship Programs. Theparty is a tribute to Cleveland jazz legendHank Geer, Sammy’s in the Flats’ well-known house mainstay. Proceeds from thebenefit to the two programs will honor thelate saxophonist (1922-2000), acknowl-edged by many as “the dean of Clevelandjazz musicians.”

Among those performing are ErnieKrivda & Swing City , Evelyn Wright & JazzAlive, Grupo Brasil, The Jackie WarrenQuartet and The Tri-C Jazz Studies Perfor-mance Combo

For more information about the eventor to order tickets, call 216.523.5560.

November/December 2005 • Issue 277PAGE FOUR

Jazz & Blues Report31st Annual Holiday Gift Guide

As is the case every year at this time, this section will give you some ideason holiday gifts to pick up for a friend...or to drop hints on for yourself!

As usual, most of these are boxed or 2-CD sets and DVD concertor documentary videos, although we have chosen some single CDs as well. Most are very new,

some a bit older titles that we have just recently latched on to. None have been previously re-viewed. As has been our custom, after the jazz & blues section we have several items in other

genres for those folks with diverse tastes, or those who are not into jazz or blues as such.Happy shopping!

RAY CHARLESPure Genius

The Complete Atlantic Recordings(1952-1959)

RHINO/ATLANTIC BOX SETRhino Records has long been cham-

pioning the cause and leading the pack formulti-disc reissues. This 7-CD/1-DVD setmight be their most extravagant release todate.

Ray Charles recorded for Atlantic from’52 to ’59. In all, there are 155 tracks onthe CDs and nine more on the DVD. Be-ginning with a NYC session in Septemberof ’52, which is thought to include ModernJazz Quartet (MJQ) drummer Connie Kay(although he would not know that for 3years), and ending with a session in thesame city in June of ’59, this set offersCharles in so many recording dates, withso many different musicians, playing somany tunes that it might just take the proudowner of the set so many hours to digest itall that the thought is a bit mind boggling.(Boy, I finally got out of that sentence!) Rightat this very moment I am listening to a ’57session with Milt Jackson as they play“How Long Blues” - one of many cuts in-cluded here pairing Ray with the MJQ vibist.Oscar Pettiford is on Bass and Connie Kayis back on drums for this date, which in-cludes a variety of other players on differ-ent tunes.

Almost all the sessions were producedby either Ahmet, or his brother Nesuhi,Ertegun, and most all of those were co-produced by Jerry Wexler. Many boxed setsoffer reissues of the actual albums the waythey were released. Sometimes that makessense, but not in this case. Many of Ray’salbums included tracks from a number ofdifferent sessions. This set is produced instrict chronological order by recording ses-sion. Not only does that make for bettercontinuity and flow music wise, it also pro-vides the listener with the best possibleaudio experience. You are not constantlyjolted by the shift in sound characteristicswhich would be experienced by bouncingfrom one session to another. There weresome albums that were recorded in onesession and released intact. One exampleis Fathead/Ray Charles Presents DavidNewman. It was recorded at a single ses-sion in late ’58 which featured “Fathead”Newman on tenor and alto sax, MarcusBelgrave on trumpet and Hank Crawfordon baritone sax, before he switched to alto–which became his instrument of choice. Butthe eight songs from that session, whichincluded a sweet version of “Willow WeepFor Me,” are presented here not in the sameorder as on the original album, but ratherexactly the way they were recorded - mas-ters #1385-1392 all in strict order. Now thatis what I call chronological. Rhino deservesbig kudos for this.

The music in this set is in no way, shapeor form a rehash the songs you heard inthe movie. Sure, a lot of his hits are here,like “I’ve Got A Woman,” “What’d I Say,”“Hallelujah I Love Her So,” “Drown In MyOwn Tears” and many more. But the realjoys in this set are the tunes most peoplehave never heard before...Ray playing jazzor blues, and often jazz and blues, withsome first rate musicians on board.

As if the music isn’t enough, there isthe box and the book. Let’s start with thebox as it is so unique. It looks like one of

those old fashioned light brown suitcasesfrom the fifties. It has a carrying handle anda gold latch. When you open it you see anold turntable like I had as a kid. On thespindle is a 45 of Ray’s Atlantic single “MessAround,” and it has one of those yellowplastic adapters in the hole so it can beplayed on a spindle meant for 33 rpm al-bums. The speed selector includes 78, 45and 33. Of course 45 is selected. Don’t tryto play it though - it is a fake, a mightygood looking one...but still a fake. Aboveit, on the inside of the case, is a big labelcongratulating you on your purchase of thefine new high-fidelity instrument and a stepby step explanation of how to use it.

Lifting the fake turntable exposes the80-page hard cover 9x11 book. The semi-gloss pages offer all the discographical in-formation you will ever need on this mu-sic, many black and white (some color)pictures of Ray, full color reproductions ofconcert posters and the original Atlanticalbum covers, and text - a lot of text. Thereis a short forward by Ahmet Ertegun pre-ceding a lengthy piece by David Ritz, whoco-wrote Brother Ray: Ray Charles’ OwnStory, and wrote biographies on many othermusicians. Then the original liner notesfrom Ray’s Atlantic albums are reprinted,followed by notes on Ray Charles’ compi-lations by Leonard Feather, Jerry Wexlerand Nat Hentoff.

In addition to all his Atlantic output,close to an hour of previously unreleasedperformances are included. If all this is notenough, Disc 8 is a DVD of video footageshot at the 1960 Newport Jazz Festival. Theeight songs are mostly Ray’s hits and allare previously unissued. The band includesDavid “Fathead” Newman and HankCrawford, and the Raeletts add backingvocals to 5 songs. The DVD also includesan interview with Ahmet Ertegun.

In a nutshell...wow...what a package!You can’t go wrong with this one for a RayCharles fan. Bill Wahl

November/December 2005 • Issue 277

THE RUDY VAN GELDER EDITIONSTHE RUDY VAN GELDER EDITIONSTHE RUDY VAN GELDER EDITIONSTHE RUDY VAN GELDER EDITIONSTHE RUDY VAN GELDER EDITIONSFrom 1953 to 1967, Alfred Lion produced a body of work that ranks as the most innovative series of recordings in modern jazz.Almost all of these masterpieces were documented by the extraordinary Rudy Van Gelder; a self-taught engineer who morethan set a new standard. Devoid of caution or timidity, he captured the full power and rich sound of jazz ensembles withdazzling clarity. His contribution to the focused approach that Blue Note took at every stage of any album was immeasurable.Decades later, Rudy agreed to take a second look at the original recordings, bringing them into the digital domain with thesame skill and focus. Six more RVG Editions have just been released. If you think you’ve heard these gems before, listen again.

Thelonious MonkQuartet withJohn ColtraneLive at Carnegie Hall

These newly-discovered sonically-pristine concert tapes from CarnegieHall in November 1957, found in the

Voice of America archives at the Libraryof Congress in Washington DC earlier

this year, capture 51-minutesof remarkable music from two legends

at the height of their powers.

PLUS....A Major Find on Blue Note...

Never Before Released!

PAGE FIVE

Let Me Tell You ‘Bout It, Leo Parker Down With It, Blue Mitchell That’s Where It’s At, Stanley Turrentine

Reach Out, Hank Mobley Turning Point, Lonnie Smith The Sounds of Jimmy Smith, Jimmy Smith

Fuego, Donald Byrd • Symphony for Improvisers, Don Cherry • Music from ‘The Connection’, Freddie Redd • The Big Beat, Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers • Sunday Morning, Grant GreenInventions & Dimensions, Herbie Hancock • Oblique, Bobby Hutcherson • Time for Tyner, McCoy Tyner • Boss Horn, Blue Mitchell • Judgement, Andrew Hill • At the Organ, Vol. 3, Jimmy Smith

Other Recent RVG Edition Releases

Freddie Hubbard Gerald Wilson Kenny Burrell Lou Donaldsom

ARTIST SELECTS SERIES: A SELECTION OF THEIR PERSONAL FAVORITE BLUE NOTERECORDINGS, SELECTED & SEQUENCED BY THE ARTIST

November/December 2005 • Issue 277PAGE SIX

Cleveland Fats

The Schwartz Brothers

DC and the

Continentals

For Bookings Contact

HONEYBEE ENTERTAINMENT

4786 Dressler Rd #145

Canton, OH 44718

330-904-0454

Pblues@hotmail.com

MILES DAVISThe Cellar Door Sessions 1970

COLUMBIA/LEGACY BOX SETWhen this music was recorded at

Washington DC’s Cellar Door, Miles was inthe early stages of a two year live recordingstint. It had begun in March with the record-ings at the Fillmore. In the fall of that yearMiles changed the personnel somewhat,retaining Keith Jarrett/piano, JackDeJohnette/drums and Airto/percussion;and adding Gary Bartz to replace SteveGrossman on saxes and Michael Hendersonto replace Dave Holland on bass. ChickCorea had also left the band, so Jarrett wouldhave the piano chair all to himself. Thisstripped down unit was actually guided bythe directions Jarrett and DeJohnette woulddecide to go in, as they created the frame-work for the solos of Miles and Bartz in eachsong. Still very much in the vein fusing jazzwith rock, there are many fine moments tosavor here, and sameness is not a word tobe used to describe the musical events tak-ing place throughout this 6-CD set.

Somewhere around 85 minutes of thetotal of roughly 350 minutes of music in thisset was previously issued on the 2-LP setLive Evil, but it was chopped up and editedto the point that, in reality, all the musicshould be looked at as presented here forthe first time. At this point, Miles was intro-ducing some different material. While theFillmore recordings from earlier in the year

featured several songs from Bitches Brew,the Cellar Door recordings here have onlyone - Wayne Shorter’s “Sanctuary,” and the3 versions heard are all very short (no punintended.) The other songs from the Fillmorerecordings heard here are Joe Zawinul’s“Directions” (5 versions) and Miles’ “It’sAbout That Time” (2 versions). The rest ofthe songs here are: 1 version of “Yesternow,”5 versions of “What I Say,” 4 versions of “In-amorata,” and 4 versions of Keith JarrettImprovisations. Keith is wonderful to hearon the electric piano. For someone whoconsiders electronic instruments to be toys,he can certainly make the Fender Rhodessing like no one else. I don’t recall ever ac-tually enjoying solos in that instrument quiteso much. And, as with his majestic acousticwork, be it solo or trio, he just keeps thosefresh ideas constantly flowing....and flowing.

As much as I have always been a fan ofDavis’ previous saxophonist SteveGrossman, I have likewise enjoyed the play-ing of Bartz. He has a lot of fine momentsthroughout these 28, mostly extended cuts.Henderson does what he is supposed to doon bass to allow Jarrett and DeJohnette toshare the driver’s seat. Miles...well, he is Miles- what can I say? All the music here camefrom recordings done from Wednesday,Thursday, Friday and Saturday night per-formances on December 16-19. On the lastnight, guitarist John McLaughlin showed upfor the second and third sets and added awhole new dimension to the music -Hendrxifying it as some have said (perhapsno one said it exactly like that - that wordlooks kinda funny, bit I’ll go with it). Airtodidn’t show on Wednesday night, so thereare actually three different versions of thisband over the four nights. But, like I said,there are four nights and several versions ofsome of the songs, but they all sound quitedifferent. By the way, the songs, or partsthereof, used for the Live Evil album all camefrom the Saturday night sets with JohnMcLaughlin. The others have never beenreleased before in any fashion.

As has been the case for the premierLegacy Miles Davis box sets, this one ismarvelously packaged with a book contain-ing essays by Airto, Gary Bartz, JackDeJohnette, Michael Henderson, KeithJarrett and John McLaughlin - all writtenearlier this year. They will certainly give youan insight into this band, the music, the ex-perience and the main man himself. Anotherplus - the sound is actually quite good. Thisis especially true when you compare it tothe Fillmore recordings.

A great gift for a fan of Miles’ early 70sfusion period. Bill Wahl

JOHN COLTRANEOne Down, One Up

Live At The Half NoteIMPULSE RECORDS 2-CD SETWhat an absolute treat it is to hear pre-

viously unreleased recordings from theJohn Coltrane Quartet and Miles ’70 bandboth in the same month. And just twomonths earlier, we were treated to the Monk& Coltrane recordings from Carnegie Hall.

Just released by Impulse Records, this2-CD set captures Coltrane with McCoyTyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones atNew York City’s Half Note in 1965. Theyhad been playing together since 1960 (Gar-rison since ‘61) and were at this point aboutas well-oiled as a unit can get.

Originally recorded as a radio broad-cast, the sound quality is actually quitegood. Until now, many saxophonists hadmuch lower fidelity copies of the Half Notebroadcasts which they guarded with theirlives. Coltrane was allowed to pretty muchdo what he wanted when playing the HalfNote, so he could experiment with newavenues coming up with some quitelengthy and intense music. That is mostobvious with the 28-minute opening trackon disc one - “One Down, One Up,” whichopens with Garrison on bass and quicklyturns into a Coltrane tour-de-force impro-visation, for a period backed only by Jones’drums. In fact, Elvin’s bass drum pedalbreaks partway through, but it doesn’thinder a thing - nothing could get in theway when Jones was in motion. This ver-sion definitely stands by itself, as it is noth-ing like the other two versions of the songColtrane recorded. Next up on the first discis a 13-minute run of the ‘Trane classic“Afro Blue,” for which he switches fromtenor to soprano. Again, this is more in-tense than the earlier recordings of the song.Check out the incredible McCoy piano soloat the beginning of the journey.

Disc two opens with a song they wouldrecord in the studio ten days later for thealbum John Coltrane Quartet Plays (theliner notes say it was ten days earlier - one

November/December 2005 • Issue 277 PAGE SEVEN

of us is wrong, but I guess it really doesn’tmatter, does it). He’s back on tenor for this20-minute journey that starts out like ahymn and goes somewhere beyond that,also very much unlike the studio version.Then, the 23-minute version of a ‘Tranesignature tune “My Favorite Things” findshim switching back to soprano again withanother fine solo from Tyner, propelled byElvin and all kept together by Garrison.

There are a couple of glitches here andthere, and some fadeouts where the show’sradio host, Allen Grant, would take over tomake the closing announcement when theallotted time for the live broadcast ran out.Not a big deal!

The enclosed 20-page booklet featuresan essay from writer Ashley Kahn andColtrane’s son Ravi, who produced the set.As mentioned above, this is the first autho-rized release (there were some lousy sound-ing bootlegs) of this material from 1/4-inchstereo tapes, recently discovered in aColtrane family closet, by a band which wasreaching some fiery heights during thisperiod. It would not be that long beforeColtrane would hire a second drummer(Rashied Ali) which would lead to Elvinleaving the group less than a year from thisrecording. Tyner left the band too, and

Garrison would be the only member of thequartet to stay on.

But they all are here, and any fan ofthis classic Coltrane quartet should lovethis one. Grab one for yourself while youare at it. Bill Wahl

JOHN LEE HOOKERCome See About Me/The Definitive DVD

EAGLE EYE DVDWhile most of the DVDs we review are

relatively new releases, sometimes it is awhile before we get our hands on certaintitles. This is one of those, as it was releasedover a year ago, but it is so good we haveto spread the word.

This DVD offers a mix of interview foot-age with John Lee and several others mixedwith live performance footage recordedthroughout the long career of the late greatblues giant. It opens with a duet version of“Baby Please Don’t Go” with Van Morrisonin 1992 and is followed by some black &white footage from the 60s with a Hookerperformance of “Maudie” with the MuddyWaters Band at the 1960 Newport JazzFestival, and solo videos featuring “HoboBlues” and “It Serves Me Right To Suffer.”

Next is interview segments with BonnieRaitt (one of many artists who contributetheir thoughts throughout) and John Lee,followed by “Crawlin’ Kingsnake” withFoghat and Paul Butterfield in 1978.

The remaining live footage in storeis performances of “The Boogie” (1980),“Never Get Out Of These Blues Alive”(1981), “Worried Life Blues” (w/ CharlieMusselwhite, 1981), “Too Many Women”(w/ Ron Thompson & The Resis-tors,1984), “Boom Boom” (w/ the MarkNaftalin Band, 1984), “I’m Bad Like JesseJames” (1986), “I’m In The Mood” (w/Bonnie Raitt, 1990), “Bottle Up And Go”(w/ John Hammond at the Newport JVCJazz Festival, 1991), “Tupelo Blues”(1993), “Hobo Blues” (w/ Ry Cooder,1990), “The Healer” (w/ Carlos Santana,1990), “Boogie Chillen’” (w/ Eric Claptonand the Rolling Stones, 1989) and “I NeedLove So Bad” (1994).

While there are a lot of interview clipsin between the songs on this DVD, it isnot bothersome as it is with some con-cert DVDs. This is a different type of pre-sentation as it is a tribute to the life andmusic of John Lee with all the live foot-age coming from different sources ratherthan being a single concert. The clips of-

November/December 2005 • Issue 277PAGE EIGHT

fer very interesting and informative insightsinto the man himself. Some of the peoplewho offer statements are John Lee’s daugh-ter Zakiya Hooker, Santana, Bonnie Raitt,Charlie Musselwhite, John Hammond andRy Cooder.

The DVD’s bonus material includes aperformance of “Boogie Chillen’” with RoyRogers from the Blues Against Blindnessbenefit concert in Berkeley in 1992, andan interesting 13-minute set of interviewclips with Zakiya Hooker on her father’sprivate and personal life, and growing upwith Hooker as a father, his joking around,why he always wore sunglasses, describ-ing him as “like a willow in the wind” - akind and giving, non-confrontational per-son, that “he epitomizes ‘cool’”...and thelike. There is also a short interview withJohn Lee and his discography.

I had the pleasure of booking John LeeHooker into Peabody’s Downunder inCleveland a couple of times in the mideighties. I’ll never forget his performancesand the times I got to chat one-on-one withhim. I’ll also never forget his rider. Whilemany bands asked for so many ridiculousthings with regard to sound, lights, bandroom accommodations, etc. - I rememberhis stage lighting section of the rider whichread like this: “There should be a light onstage at all times. At no time should thestage be completely dark.”

John Lee is missed, but he sure left usa wealth of recordings to remember himby. This DVD should be a real treat for anyblues fan, period. Bill Wahl

TOMMY DORSEYThe Sentimental Gentleman of

Swing – The Centennial CollectionBLUEBIRD/LEGACY BOX SETThis delightful Tommy Dorsey collec-

tion compiles 70 tracks on three CDs in-side a hardcover 24-page book and in-cludes trombonist Dorsey’s sideman ses-sions as a studio player from 1928—34 andDorsey as leader of his own band from1935—55 as well as air checks from1939—56.

Born in Shenandoah, PA on Novem-ber 19, 1905, Tommy Dorsey played inbands with his older brother Jimmy beforemoving to New York. Although he’d laterbecome known for his beautiful trombonetone, Tommy occasionally doubled ontrumpet in the 1920s. During the Depres-sion, Tommy kept busy as a studio playeruntil he agreed to co-lead the Dorsey Broth-ers Band in 1934. A blowup on stage inlate 1935 led Tommy to form his own big

band. Major hits (“Marie” and “Song of In-dia”) in 1937 boosted the band’s popular-ity and top instrumentalists, singers andarrangers kept the band in the spotlight.Dorsey expanded the band with a stringsection in 1942, but by the end of WorldWar II and the waning of the swing era, hedropped the strings and cut back a bit, tak-ing a hiatus in 1946 until he reformed hisorchestra in 1947. In 1953, Jimmy Dorseyagreed to join with his brother and the band,emphasizing nostalgic dance music, wasrenamed Dorsey Brothers Orchestra untilTommy’s sudden death in November 1956.

Disc One contains earliest tracksgleaned from Tommy’s recordings with theGolden Gate Orchestra (which also featuredJimmy) and bands led by Sam Lanin, PaulWhiteman, Ed Lang, Red Nichols, theDorsey Brothers, and many others. High-lights include a nostalgic 1929 DorseyBrothers Orchestra version of “Mean ToMe,” a hot, swinging version of “Bugle CallRag” with Ed Lang and his Orchestra fromthe same year, an amusing small-bandtrack (“Sentimental Gentleman From Geor-gia”) with the Boswell Sisters, a rousing“Shoutin’ In That Amen Corner” from 1933featuring vocalist Mildred Bailey, and plentyof other gems.

Disc Two features recordings byTommy Dorsey as leader of his own or-chestra (“the band that made swing musicgood music”). It begins with a lilting ver-sion of “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You”recorded in July 1937 and ends with aversion of “Dippermouth Blues” recordedin New York in May 1955. There are plentyof melodious highlights in between, includ-ing a swinging version of “Marie” featuringvocalist Jack Leonard and a host of bandsoloists and a tidy uptempo take on “Songof India,” both featuring trumpet soloistBunny Berigan. Also notable are a jumpin’arrangement of Pinetop Smith’s “BoogieWoogie,” a lindy-hoppin 1944 version ofTommy’s hit tune “Opus #1, and othertunes that old-timers like me will find fa-miliar-sounding and enjoyable.

Disc Three features air checks (1939—1956) spotlighting vocalists Frank Sinatra,Connie Haines, The Pied Pipers, Jo Stafford,Dick Haymes and, yes, Elvis Presley! Bestabout these tracks is improved sound qual-ity, fine soloists, and drummer Buddy Richwho is featured on all but about five of the21 tracks. Top tracks include a spicy“Rhumboogie,” featuring Haines, and theSinatra tracks, “Star Dust,” “East of theSun,” “I’ll Never Smile Again,” “The SongIs You,” and others. Duke Ellington sits inon piano for a 1946 version of “Take the A

Train” with the Tommy Dorsey orchestra.The arrangements and instrumental

soloists are superb! With extensive linernotes by Richard Sudhalter, historic pho-tos, and all the nostalgic swinging music,this attractively packaged set makes a greatholiday gift for Dorsey fans or big bandenthusiasts in general. Nancy Ann Lee

BILL EVANSThe Complete Village Vanguard

Recordings, 1961RIVERSIDE RECORDS BOX SETOne of the greatest jazz trios of all time

recorded just two studio albums, both forthe Riverside label, and this live set at NewYork’s Village Vanguard. It was a magicSunday as piano great Bill Evans, bassistScott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motianplayed a total of 22 songs between the twoafternoon matinee sets and the two eveningshows. The sheer melodic beauty, creativesensitivity and interplay between thesethree musicians set them apart from anyother piano trios of the time.

As good as their studio albums were,those being Portrait In Jazz (1959) andExplorations (1961), these live Vanguardrecordings to my ears are even better. It isoften the case with jazz, especially whenyou have a group that works so well to-gether, as the audience and the nightclubatmosphere spurs creativity much betterthan the more sterile and empty confinesof a recording studio. The original releaseof some of these cuts, Sunday At The Vil-lage Vanguard, is long out of print, but Fan-tasy/Riverside did reissue most of thismusic on the CD version of that album andWaltz for Debby. What makes this set standout, in addition to the improved sound, isthe fact that the music is presented in theexact order as it was recorded. The tapeskept rolling between songs and you hear itall here, such as the final audience reac-tion- no breaks, no fadeouts. You even hearthe “Few Final Bars” at the end of disc 3.They also restored the original room soundand ambience as originally recorded, andincluded the original take of Gloria’s Step,”the first song of the day which was flawedby a short power outage. It is the first U.S.release of that take. But we get a full 5:41of the song before it happened.

Some of the songs are repeated in dif-ferent sets. So what you hear are anywherefrom one to three versions of “Gloria’sStep,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “My FoolishHeart,” All of You.” “My Romance,” “SomeOther Time,” “Solar,” “My Man’s GoneNow,” Detour Ahead,” Waltz For Debby,”

November/December 2005 • Issue 277

■ Will DowningRegina BellePalace TheatreDecember 2Friday, 7:30 PM • $40, $35 & $20

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Jazz up yourholidays!

PAGE NINE

Porgy (I Loves You Porgy),” and “Mile-stones.” This set sounds fantastic due tothe remastering in analog utilizing 20-bitK2 Super Coding System.

A tragic car accident just 10 days afterthis music was recorded took the life of ScottLaFaro, one of the finest bassists jazz hasever known. This excellent set will be a wel-come addition to the collection of any BillEvans fan, particularly those who loved thismagnificent under-recorded, short-lived triowith La Faro and Motian. Bill Wahl

RAY CHARLESGenius & Friends

RHINOThis brand new Ray Charles albums

presents him in a beautiful series of duetswith a quite diverse group of singers. Whilethe recording information is a bit sketchy -except for the fact that the tracks were sup-posedly recorded in ’97 and ’98, and it wasRay’s wish before he passed away that themusic be located and released. Normallythis would drive me crazy...needing to knowwho the musicians are, more recording infoand the like. Then I put the CD on. Youknow what? Who cares about any of that.

From the opening track with neo-soul(a genre fusing contemporary R&B, 1970sstyle soul, and hip hop) singer Angie StoneI began to become entranced with thismusic. It is about Ray and his partner sing-ers and the identity of the musicians nolonger mattered - there is an orchestra, andthat’s about all I can tell you. Ray is in topform and each of his duet partners shinealongside him. Most of the songs are bal-lads, even the version of Gene McDaniels“Compared To What” with Leela James istaken at a slower tempo than the norm.

There are many highlights here, suchas his soul-ballad duet with Mary J. Bligeon “It All Goes By So Fast,” John Lennon’s“Imagine” with Ruben Studdard & TheHarlem Gospel Singers, a ballad duet withGeorge Michael on Stevie Wonder’s “BlameIt On The Sun” and “Surrender To Love”with Italian pop star Laura Pausini. Other“friends” on the album are Chris Isaak,Gladys Knight, Diana Ross, Idina Menzel(from the award-winning Broadway musi-cal Wicked), John Legend and PattiLaBelle.

The last two songs obviously were notfrom the ’97-98 duet recordings. There isa live version of “Busted” with Willie Nelsonfrom the TV special Ray Charles: 50 YearsIn Music done back in ’91, and Alicia Keys’version of “America The Beautiful” re-corded live at the Superbowl XXXIX Pre-

Game Show in February 2005 sung as atribute to Ray. It is paired with a recordingof Ray singing the song much like the “Un-forgettable” duet with Natalie and her fa-ther Nat King Cole.

Very different from last year’s more in-formal, more jazz-oriented album GeniusLoves Company, the new Genius & Friendsis a highly produced effort, for the mostpart more in the R&B/pop vein. It is alsoan extremely enjoyable recording that willplease a very wide audience. Bill Wahl

ERIC CLAPTON/DAVID SANBORN/MARCUS MILLER/

JOE SAMPLE/STEVE GADDLegends Live At Montreux 1997

EAGLE EYE MEDIA DVDSo what happens when you mix a

blues/rock guitar star with four stars of thelight jazz genre? Well, you get a little bit ofeverything.

Putting these five guys with heavy cre-dentials together gives you some blues,some acoustic jazz, some funk and somelight jazz - all in one show. There is evensome ragtime with Sample going solo onthe Steinway grand for a version of “Shreve-port Stomp.” There is no doubt that all theseguys can play, and they play very well.

Those into Clapton will get to hear himstretch out like rarely before. When he doessolo, rather than trying to sound like a jazzguitarist, he just plays like Clapton...butbetter. And Sanborn gets down when he’splaying the blues, as we all know he’s ca-pable of. In short, these guys have no pro-ducers or pencil pushers telling them whatto do, or how to play. Clapton does singseveral too.

A major highlight is the medley begin-ning with Duke Ellington’s “In A Sentimen-tal Mood,” played by Marcus Miller on bassclarinet, Sample on the grand andSanborn...then Miller’s bass clarinet gentlysegues into Clapton’s “Layla,” which is onethat Clapton sings as he plays acousticguitar with Sample on the grand again, plusSanborn and Gadd. After that, the showcloses with a jazz/blues version of “EveryDay I Have The Blues,” with anotherClapton vocal.

In Short - a very different kind ofshow played by 5 guys who have notrouble pulling it off. The video is good,the sound is very good and the musicis even better. Sound offerings are ste-reo, Dolby 5.1 and DTS. A good gift fora variety of people. Bill Wahl

November/December 2005 • Issue 277PAGE TEN

MILES DAVIS‘Round About Midnight: Legacy Edition

COLUMBIA/LEGACYWithin one day of Miles’ signing with Columbia Records in

1955, the sessions for his first album, ‘Round About Midnightbegan. The personnel in the quintet are all hierarchy in the historyof jazz - Miles, John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers andPhilly Joe Jones. Miles’ first Columbia album would begin a longand prolific recording career with the label, which in recent yearshas been releasing a slew of excellent reissues and boxed sets forDavis through its Legacy division utilizing up-to-the-minute im-provements in sound technology.

The original album contained six songs taken from three re-cording sessions in New York in ’55 and ’56: the title track, “Ah-Leu-Cha,” “All of You,” “Bye Bye Blackbird,” “Tadd’s Delight”and “Dear Old Stockholm.” This new release in the Legacy Edi-tion series of expanded releases in 2-CD sets offers four moretunes from the same three sessions which were not on the originalalbum, but were on the 2001 CD version and were also releasedon other compilation albums.

Disc two brings us nine more gems - and all of them are livein concert. The opening version of “Round Midnight” features Mileswith Zoot Sims, Gerry Mulligan, Thelonious Monk, Percy Heathand Connie Kay at the ’55 Newport Jazz Festival, and it was pre-viously released on a Newport tribute album. The remaining eightfeature the same personnel as on the Round Midnight album(Cotrane and all mentioned above), and are previously unreleased.All were recorded in 1956 in California at the Pasadena CivicAuditorium, and it is a smokin’ set to say the least. Included are“Walkin’,” “Woody ‘N You,” Salt Peanuts,” “Chance It” (aka MaxIs Making Wax) and a very short version of “The Theme.” Thenthere is the gorgeous version of the ballad “It Never Entered MyMind.” Simply put, this quintet with Coltrane was one hell of aband! All of the music on disc two was recently restored by notedsound master Malcolm Cecil.

So, if you already have the ‘Round Midnight album on CD,you might want to consider an upgrade. With the Legacy Editionyou get all the songs from the original album, plus an extra CD,40 more minutes of music (most of which is previouslyunreleased), all with great sound quality and a color booklet withrare photos, George Avakian’s original 1957 liner notes and morenotes from Bob Blumenthal penned for the 2001 CD release andthis set.

A great gift for any Miles Davis fan, yourself included if you fitthat category. Watch for more Legacy Editions in the future.Congrats go out again to the folks at Legacy for their fine reissueproductions. Bill Wahl

FRANK SINATRAThe Essential Frank Sinatra &

Tommy Dorsey OrchestraBLUEBIRD/LEGACY CD SET

Part of a series of Legacy’s “Essential” recordings, this two-disc set spotlights 44 tunes originally recorded for RCA Victor byFrank Sinatra during the short time he was with the Tommy DorseyOrchestra during 1940—1942.

Sinatra left the floundering Harry James band in 1940 to be-come the new male vocalist for Tommy Dorsey and His Orches-tra. This set culls the very best of their recordings during a timewhen 25-year old Sinatra began learning the essence of vocalphrasing.

As he sings Disc One gems such as “I’ll Be Seeing You,”“Stardust,” “I’ll Never Smile Again” and other songs, Sinatra doesn’ttake many chances or improvise his vocals as that may haveinterfered with the precision of the charts. Ditto for Disc Two whereyou’ll enjoy highlights such as “Everything Happens To Me,” “BlueSkies,” “Street of Dreams, and 18 other tunes.

This isn’t the best Sinatra collection available but it offerssamples of the singer at the beginning of his more than five-de-cade career and nicely documents his collaboration with the Dorseyband, featuring charts (some during Dorsey’s brief flirtation witha string section) that make this 2-CD set a true listening treasure.A 12-page liner booklet contains historic photos, a written introby Sinatra’s daughter, Nancy, and notes by Sinatra historianCharles L. Granata. Nancy Ann Lee

CREAMRoyal Albert Hall

RHINO DVDRhino has just released a 2-DVD set filmed at Cream’s four

night concert stint at London’s Royal Albert Hall in May of thisyear. Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker formed Creamin 1966 and the group broke up just under three years later. Inthat time, they recorded three very successful albums - FreshCream, Disraeli Gears and Wheels of Fire (some live albums alsocame out after the breakup). Those three albums contained sev-eral big songs for the band, like “Spoonful,” “I’m So Glad,” “Badge,”“Born Under A Bad Sign,” “White Room,” “Crossroads,” “and“Sunshine Of Your Love.” All those and many more are seen andheard on this set which includes 19 songs and three alternatetakes. You’ll also see interviews with Clapton, Bruce and Baker.

When I first heard of the release of this video, I must say I wasvery curious. Clapton has remained in the limelight for all theseyears, bit I’d not heard from Bruce in some time, and, quite frankly,I didn’t even know if Baker was still alive. But they are all alive andwell indeed, aged to be sure, but then we all are, aren’t we? Notonly that, they all appear to be in good shape! I’m glad to reportthat they also sound good, both instrumentally and vocally (theyall sing some lead), and the filming is topnotch. Same goes forthe sound quality - the DTS surround sound makes you feel likeyou’re right there in front of them at Royal Albert Hall.

These concerts marked the first reunion of Cream in two de-cades.

This DVD should please even the casual Cream fan, and willreally charge up their big time followers. Rhino has also releaseda 2-CD set of the music for those who care to go that way. Asurprisingly enjoyable concert video. Bill Wahl

GERRY GARCIALive At Shoreline

RHINO DVDGerry Garcia fans will want to get their hands on this just-

released concert DVD shot at Shoreline Amphitheater inMountainview, California. The 1990 concert featured Garcia’sband, which included Melvin Seals on Keyboards and Hammondorgan, bassist John Kahn, drummer David Kemper and back-ground singers Gloria Jones and Jackie LaBranch. The programis a mixed bag of cover material. Among the 14 songs are twomotown classics, “How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You” and “ISecond That Emotion,” Peter Tosh’s “Stop That Train,” the Beatles’“Dear Prudence,” Van Morrison’s “It Stoned Me,” two from BobDylan, “Tangled Up In Blue” and “I Shall Be Released” and a

November/December 2005 • Issue 277 PAGE ELEVEN

FRI 4 .......ARMSTRONG BEARCAT BANDSAT 5 .......COLIN DUSSAULT’S BLUES PROJECTFRI 11 .....RHYTHM SYNDICATESAT 12.....TONY KOUSSA JR. BANDFRI 18 .....SOUL’D OUTSAT 19.....TRAVIS HADDIX BAND (BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR TRAVIS FRIFRI 25 ....KRAKER BROTHERSSAT 26.....COLIN DUSSAULT’S BLUES PROJECT

FRI 2 .......RENDEZVOUS (DANCE, PARTY, ROCK)

SAT 3 .......COLIN DUSSAULT’S BLUES PROJECTFRI 9 .......SAM GETZ BANDSAT 10.....WALLACE COLEMAN BANDFRI 16 .....CITY HEATSAT 17.....KG BLUESFRI 23 .....SWAMP BOOGIE BANDSAT 24.....BROWNS GAME 1 PM! CLOSED IN PM

November

December

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NOVEMBER7 BASICALLY BLUE W/KRISTINE JACKSON14 GEEZE CATS21 MY THREE SONS28 DON BAKER BAND

DECEMBERNOVEMBER6 BILLY & THE BULLETS13 KENTUCKY THUNDER20 AND 27

ERNIE KRIVDA BIG BAND

TUESDAYS1 BILLY & THE BULLETS8 KENTUCKY THUNDER15 TBA22 ERNIE KRIVDA BIG BAND

SUNDAYS BROWNS GAMES NOV 27 & DEC 4 RON HOWARD & CRUISIN’ 5PM

SUN 25..... ARMSTRONG/BEARCAT’S ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY

FRI 31 .... NEW YEARS EVE PARTY WITH TONY KOUSSA JR. BAND

CLOSED FOR THANKSGIVING

FRI 30 .....FORTE’

version “That Lucky Old Sun,” originally ahit for Frankie Laine in 1949, and the blues“Think.”

The band is in good form mixing R&B,blues and rock with a gospel tinge deliv-ered by the singers. The quality of the videois good, especially when focused oncloseups of Garcia either singing or play-ing - which is what you will see most of thetime. The audio quality in Dolby 5.1 is veryclean, but I found the recording level lowcompared with other DVDs. Crank it upand boost the bass a bit.

The DVD extras include a Blair Jack-son interview with Robert Hunter, a mini-documentary, interviews with band mem-bers and photo galleries. Bill Wahl

GERRY GARCIAThe Gerry Garcia Collection Vol. 1

LEGION OF MARYRHINO CD SET

In 1974 Grateful Dead guitarist/vocal-ist Gerry Garcia formed a band known asLegion of Mary for a seven month concerttour. He had Merl Saunders/keyboards,Martin Fierro/sax and flute, John Kahn/bass and Ron Tutt/drums on board for thisjazzy/bluesy voyage which produced the14 songs on this 2-CD set. Most of thesongs were recorded at Great AmericanMusic Hall in San Francisco and KeystoneBerkeley, which was near the UC Berkeleycampus . Opening with Bob Dylan’s “Tough

Mama” and closing with the Holland/Dozier/Holland soul classic “How Sweet It Is To BeLoved By You,” the band covers blues andsoul/R&B songs in between such as “I Sec-ond That Emotion,” “Mystery Train” and“Neighbor, Neighbor.” They also do RobbieRobertson’s (The Band) “The Night TheyDrove Old Dixie Down,” Ray Charles’“Talkin’ About You” and Chuck Berry’s “LetIt Rock,” plus an instrumental jam versionof Smokey Robinson’s “Since I Lost MyBaby.” Garcia was undoubtedly having funhere with tunes he liked written by others.

There are some audio glitches here andthere, but as far as I know this music hasnever been released other than bootleg re-cordings, so Garcia fans will welcome thisrare set, regardless. Bill Wahl

VARIOUS ARTISTSFestival! The Newport

Folk Festival film (1963-1966)EAGLE EVE MEDIA DVD

Eagle Rock has just released this docu-mentary film released in 1967 featuringhighlights from the 1963-1966 NewportFolk Festivals. While much of the focus ison folk music and bluegrass, there are sev-eral blues performances from the likes ofHowlin’ Wolf, Mississippi John Hurt, SonHouse, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee,Fred McDowell, Mike Bloomfield and thePaul Butterfield Blues Band.

The list of the other musicians seen

performing here reads like a who’s who ofthe 60s folk and country music scene –such as Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul & Mary,Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Buffy Sainte-Marie,Judy Collins, Donovan, Johnny Cash, JimKweskin & the Jug Band, Odetta and manyothers. Then there are some other treatslike the Ed Young Fife and Drum Corps,the Sacred Harp Singers, the Staple Sing-ers and others.

Keep in mind that this is a documen-tary, so you don’t see full songs as you werewatching a concert. Rather you’ll see partsof songs, mostly while viewing the per-former, but sometimes the music is overshots of the festival-goers watching theshows, milling about or waking up squint-ing to the morning sun in their sleepingbags. You’ll also get some chatter frompeople about the meaning of folk music,the issues of the time and the like. And you’llget some words from some of the perform-ers, like Son House and Mike Bloomfieldon playing the blues. House says “The bluesdon’t call for no jumpin’. If it goes to jumpin’,that ain’t the blues.” There are many no-table blues clips here, including Howlin’ Wolfdoing “Howlin’ For My Darlin’,” after whichit thunders and pours rain.

A very interesting documentary, shotin B&W of course, but good quality videosand decent sound considering thetimeframe . A good choice for anyone intothe 60s folk & blues scene. Bill Wahl

November/December 2005 • Issue 277PAGE TWELVE

CANDY DULFERLive At Montreux 2002

EAGLE EYE MEDIA DVDSmooth jazz and funk fans should enjoy this brand new

concert video from Dutch alto saxophonist Candy Dulfer.While I have not much from her own albums (she has seven)I have been impressed with her work with others - especiallyon one of Van Morrison’s albums - his 1993 double live setA Night In San Francisco. She’s also opened for Madonna,played with Pink Floyd, Aretha, Blondie and Prince amongothers. This concert at the 2002 Montreux Jazz Festival fea-tures Dulfer on lead vocals and alto sax with a second frontline singer, Monique Baker, and a tight, very funky band madeup, I would guess, mostly of Europeans...that’s judging bytheir names. The instrumentation, besides Dulfer, is sax,trumpet, guitar, bass guitar, two keyboard players and drums.

Her 2002 set here includes originals covering ballads,funk and smooth jazz. The bonus tracks from the 1998Montreux are just as funky as she mixes originals with hersmooth jazz version of the Isley Brothers’ “For The Love OfYou” and Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” whichshe does instrumentally first, then hints at George Michael’sversion as she adds a second vocal part to that of RogerHappel (one of her keyboard players). A very nice job - I’msure Bonnie approved.

A well rounded set from Candy Dulfer offering muchmore than I expected. She can be quite soulful for a verycute, blonde white girl from Holland. And yes...I’ve got tothrow this in...she is by no means hard to look at!

The sound and video quality is superb throughout. Theaudio choices include Stereo, Dolby Surround 5.1 and DTS.

Bill WahlNIACIN

Live In TokyoEAGLE VISION DVD

I was totally unfamiliar with Niacin until this DVD camealong, but they have apparently been around since the mid90s. formed by bassist Billy Sheehan, they are a jazz-fusionpower trio - a guitarless one at that with John Novello onkeyboards and Dennis Chambers on drums. Sheehan gradu-ated from a rock background with the likes of Talas, and DavidLee Roth. Chambers has been heard with a lot of bands in thejazz-fusion vein, including John McLaughlin, George Dukeand Stanley Clarke, to name a few. But it is Novello who car-ries most of the weight here, and he does most of it on theHammond organ. Now that I like.

Most of the songs were written by Sheehan and Novello,and one standout is “I Miss You (Like I Miss The Sun)” - I lovethose power trio ballads. The two covers are standouts aswell - Weather Report’s “Birdland” and The Supreme’s “YouKeep Me Hangin’ On” - according to Vanilla Fudge, that is.

Recorded and filmed at the Blue Note in Tokyo in 1997,the video portion itself, while not great, is certainly decentand pretty typical of nightclub footage. The sound is quitegood, but of course the Japanese are well known for that.

At first I wondered Why a DVD...why not just CD? But Ican see how some young musicians out there might enjoyseeing these guys at work. In fact, I’m enjoying watchingChambers, who appears effortless but sure doesn’t sound likeit.

Niacin eh? OK..well now I know. Bill Wahl

LEE RITENOUROvertime

EAGLE EYE DVDGuitarist Lee Ritenour, a much sought-after studio guitarist

for decades now, assembled a group of 16 musician friends in aBurbank recording studio with an audience for this set of 27 songsand came up with some first-rate music. Of course, why shouldn’the? Many of his “friends” are household names in the recordingstudio scene themselves, and many are known in contemporaryjazz (or light jazz) circles, such as Dave Grusin, Patrice Rushen,Harvey Mason, Ernie Watts, Eric Marienthal, Anthony Jacksonand Chris Botti. Also on hand is a wonderful vocalist, KenyaHathaway, the beautiful daughter of the late Donny Hathaway.

Disc One opens with straight acoustic jazz fare, such as LeeMorgan’s “Party Time” and Miles’ “Blue In Green.” Then there is aversion of the late Hungarian guitarist Gabor Szabo’s “Mizrab,” awonderful gypsy-like song I’ve not heard in years. From therethey go into a Latin mode with Ritenour’s “Sugarloaf Express”before featuring Brazilian vocalist Ivan Lins for three of his origi-nals.

Disc two opens with Ritenour’s “Captain Fingers,” the first offive of his originals on the disc, and the third of seven in the set.One is a nod to the great Wes Montgomery titled “A Little Bumpin’.”They also do Dave Grusin’s “Captain Caribe,” Antonio CarlosJobim’s “Water To Drink (Agua de Beber)” and the Temptations’“Papa Was A Rolling Stone,” nicely sung by Hathaway and GradyHarrell.

The music, Dolby 5.1 audio and the video are all first rate. Ican easily see how a big Lee Ritenour fan would love this. Butother folks may be put off by the interview clips from Ritenourand others interspersed between most of the songs. A concertvideo should be just that, with interviews by themselves as anextra. I tried to find a way to automatically bypass them, but hadno luck. That is the only real fault with this DVD set, so if it doesnot bother you, go for it. Bill Wahl

Different GenresHere are some CDs and DVDs that have nothing to do with jazz,blues, funk, soul or R&B, but they are all good choices for thosenostalgic trips or people who enjoy a variety of music styles.They are also some ideas for people on your shopping list whojust aren’t exactly into either jazz or blues.

CAT STEVENSMajikat

EAGLE VISION DVDHere is another one for all the baby boomers out there. I must

admit, I am one of them. I first became aware of Cat Stevenswhen he opened as a solo act for a Moody Blues concert in Buf-falo many, many years ago. Though unknown in the U.S., hepretty much had the entire audience enthralled for his entire set,and I believe they (we) demanded an encore. The rest is history.Stevens had 14 Top 40 singles, and 7 Top 10 albums between1971 and 1977. This is the first ever concert DVD of one of themost successful solo performers of all time. Recorded on hisMajikat tour in 1976, it captures the pop-folk artist in top form inWilliamsburg, Virginia. He is backed by a 7-piece band and back-ground singers as he plays both acoustic guitar and grand piano.It would be just a year and a half later that he would change hisname to Yusuf Islam and leave the music business completely.

November/December 2005 • Issue 277

AUSTIN CITY LIMITSMusic Festival 2004

RHINO DVD SETIf diversity fits the musical tastes of someone on your gift list,

think about this live concert 2-DVD set shot at the 2004 AustinCity Limits Music Festival. Several quite listenable and very di-verse indie rock bands are heard along with The Neville Broth-ers, Rosanne Cash, Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio, The Blind Boysof Alabama, Shelby Lynne, Sheryl Crow, Ben Harper, Los LonelyBoys and many others. The Blind Boys, Neville Brothers andBen Harper are among my favorites, along with Anastasio’s powerjazz-funk performance with a hot band which includes a hornsection. There are also a number of people I’ve never heard ofthat I’d like to hear more from. Two of these are Howie Day, asolo guitarist/singer from Maine who, as the song progresses,becomes a one man band via his percussive guitar slapping andcreative use of a slew of foot pedals. Then there is the sultrypianist/singer Rachael Yamagata, and also a band known asCalexico, who I could only describe as flamenco rock. Both theaudio and video quality are very good, with stereo and Dolby 5.1audio choices.

The 2004 Austin City Limits Festival was the fourth annualevent, and it drew over 70,000 people listening to over 130 bandsperforming on eight stages in Austin Texas - a city which hasover the years become one hell of a live music mecca. Rhino hasalso released a single CD companion to the video, but it is apaired down version with 16 songs to the video version’s 24.Yes...diversity is definitely the key word for this one. Bill Wahl

He sings many of his hits, including “Moonshadow,” “WhereDo The Children Play,” “Hard Headed Woman,” “Miles From No-where,” “Lady D’ Arbanville,” “Tuesday’s Dead,” “Oh Very Young,”“Sad Lisa,” “Father & Son,” “Peace Train” and many more.

The bonus material includes five more live songs, three ofwhich are from 1971, and a recent 35-minute interview duringwhich he answers many questions explaining why he walked awayfrom an incredible career and what he is doing today, a “Father &Son” Island Records promo video and more. Both the video andaudio quality are very good, and the Dolby 5.1 and DTS soundmixes are warm and full.

There is no question that this would more than please any-one who was ever a fan of Cat Stevens, and there are many mil-lions of them (us) out there. Bill Wahl

THE 60S ROCK EXPERIENCEShout! Factory Box Set

This 3-CD set packaged in a digibook longbox offers 59 hitsfrom the 60s (a few are early 70s) that will bring back some memo-ries for those old enough to remember them. Names such asLovin’ Spoonful, The Kinks, Steppenwolf, The Mamas & The Pa-pas, The Turtles, Van Morrison, Percy Sledge, The Supremes,Canned Heat, Paul Revere & The Raiders, Procol Harum, TheByrds, Grateful Dead, The Chambers Brothers, Edwin Starr, TheAnimals, The Temptations and many more are represented. Allthe songs were bonafide charted pop hits - most in the Top Ten,so you won’t find some people you might think of when the 60scome to mind - such as Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendryx. But thetop pop stuff is certainly well covered. The attached 36-page colorbooklet offers a retrospective on the era, some band pictures,festival crowd scenes and the song listings as well as chart rank-ing for each song. I believe this set was originally a PBS pledgedrive item. A great nostalgia trip for baby boomers. Bill Wahl

THE SIRE RECORDS STORYJust Say Sire

RHINO/SIRE CD/DVD BOX SETIf you were a fan of the diverse music which came from

Sire records during the eighties, or you are shopping for a giftfor someone who was, this set will be something to consider.

Not for jazz or blues purists by any means, this 3 CD/1-DVD set is about as diverse as you get. Sire Records was foundedin 1966 by record entrepreneurs Seymour Stein and RichardGottehrer. When Gottehrer left 10 years later, Stein teamed thelabel up with Warner Bros. From then until ’96 Stein and Sirewere in the forefront of breaking new music with great successand launched many a career. Three of the most notable of thosewere Madonna, Talking Heads and The Pretenders, but therewere many others, such as The Ramones, Ice-T, The Replace-ments, Depeche Mode, Lou Reed, the English Beat and Minis-try. They, of course, are all here.

The diversity of this set becomes obvious by just looking atthe front cover. You’ll see names like The Cult, Ministry, MyBloody Valentine, Deborah Harry, Tom Tom Club, Kid Creole &The Coconuts, k.d. Lang, Brian Wilson, Ofra Haza and LittleJimmy Scott...all quite different...all of them here. And thereare a lot more. The music in the set was recorded between ’76and the mid 90s, with the vast majority coming from the 80s.

The DVD contains 20 videos of many of Sire’s artists, in-cluding The Pretenders, Echo & The Bunnymen, Talking Heads,Petshop Boys, Depeche Mode and Madonna. The single fold,hard cover longbox holds the CDs on either side of the full color68-page booklet, which contains essays from Stein & Gottehrerand others, plus photos with info for each band and tributesfrom many of the artists and music biz veterans.

A great gift choice for a very musically diverse person. Bill Wahl

NATALIE MERCHANTRetrospective 1990-2005

RHINO CD SETI’ve been a fan of Natalie Merchant since first seeing her in

Buffalo with 10,000 Maniacs before most people had ever heardof them. They were soon signed to Elektra Records and the restis history. Rhino issued a 10,000 Maniacs retrospective last year,now it is time for Merchant’s solo retrospective.

After leaving the Maniacs, Natalie released several very suc-cessful solo albums, beginning with Tigerlily in 1995. While shedid receive airplay on rock stations everywhere, she was a stapleof the AAA radio format. Never heard of it? Well, unfortunately,many cities, including Cleveland, don’t have an AAA station. Itstands for Adult Album Alternative and it is a great format. Theydon’t play the same 20 songs over and over again. Rather, theyplay all sorts of album tracks from many bands, so you never gettired of listening. Internet Radio listeners know it well.

This 2-CD set offers many of her best album tracks on discone, and a number of much less familiar songs on disc two, suchas performances with Billy Bragg and Michael Stipe of R.E.M.,plus a song from the Woody Guthrie Tribute album and her ver-sion of “I Know How To Do It” with Booker T. & the MGs, Dr.John, Jim Keltner and others from the 1995 opening concert forthe Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. There are also two songs shererecorded this year for the retrospective, “Thick As Thieves”and “Tell Yourself.”

Natalie also compiled the set, which was remastered forimproved sound, and wrote the liner notes which include com-

PAGE THIRTEEN

November/December 2005 • Issue 277

mentary for each track. Don’t confuse this with the single discrelease which covers 1995-2005.

A no-brainer for any Natalie Merchant fan, especially for therarities on the second disc. Bill Wahl

Tutorials & GearBERKLEE WORKSHOP

LATIN JAZZ GROOVESVictor Mendoza

BERKLEE PRESS DVDBerklee Press, a publishing division of Berklee College of

Music in Boston, has a large catalogue full of tutorial books andDVDs covering many different instruments, styles and tech-niques. One of its latest releases is this Latin jazz workshopconducted by Victor Mendoza, a Berklee instructor and Latin

NOISEBUSTER NOISECANCELLING HEADPHONES

How often do you fly? Have you noticed that the headphonesyou can rent from the airline don’t do anything to diminish thatannoying sucking noise from the jet engines? It doesn’t have tobe that way.

Even though I find flying to be a real rush, I don’t really do itthat often. So it was some time after I got a set of NoiseBusternoise cancelling headphones before I got a chance to use them.But when I did....man – what a difference!

You may have heard of headphones with this technology.Here’s how it works - NoiseBuster uses a microphone inside andoutside the earcup to listen to the offending noise coming intothe ear. Using electronics, the system takes the information fromthe microphone and uses it to create a noise wave that is identi-cal to, but directly opposite of, the one coming into the ear. This“anti-noise” wave is output through a speaker, also located in theearcup. When the two waves (the offending noise wave and theanti-noise wave) meet, the noise is significantly reduced. That’spretty much the idea in a nutshell, and all I really need to know.

My first flight with these things was on a plane that had nomusic or headphone jacks. What a bummer. But I put them onanyway and turned them on to see if they reduced the jetnoise.They sure did, and a lot. The next flight did have music. I put onthe included airline adapter that plugs right in to the armrest jacksand low and behold...the music sounded fantastic, while the jetnoise was so far in the background it was not bothersome at all.Yup...they really work.

Of course, you can use these things in places other than a jetairliner. You can use them with exercise equipment, mowing thelawn, ob rapid transit commutes - perhaps even the next timeyou need to drive a tractor.

There are many other companies that make noise-cancel-

percussionist/vibes player who has worked and recorded withPaquito D’Rivera, Danilo Perez, Claudio Roditi and many oth-ers.

On video he starts by explaining some of the fundamen-tals, such as keeping time, using a metronome, counting,the importance of the pulse, the upbeat vs. the downbeat,when to come in, what to play and what not to play and thelike. He explains and demonstrates a number of Latin jazzpatterns, such as Son Clave, Rhumba Clave, Cascara andTumbao. For example, the Tumbao is a bass line used inLatin jazz and Mendoza explains how you can sing the bassline as you learn play along with it. His approach is such thathe’ll have you understanding and playing these rhythms in asurprisingly short time. In the beginning he mostly just clapshis hands or strikes claves to demonstrate. Then he demon-strates on the vibes with a clave track accompanying him.

The first tutorial part of the DVD runs about 41-minutes.A second feature is the Victor Mendoza Quintet in concert forfour songs. Then there is a section where you can practicedifferent loops along with him as he plays solo claves foreach pattern - in loops of course. The second part featuresnine harmonic progressions with piano, bass and drums thatyou can play along with, including Afro-Cuban 6/8. This loopchapter is a great idea!

This tutorial is very well conducted by Mendoza and easyto understand and follow. Check out this and the many otherbooks and DVDs at www.berkleepress.com. Bill Wahl

PAGE FOURTEEN

MICHAEL MCDONALDThe Ultimate Collection

RHINOThis is a good choice for someone on your list who enjoys

pop/rock singer Michael McDonald, but doesn’t have a lot of hisalbums. It’s a mix of several of his Doobie Brothers hits, such as“Minute To Minute,” “What A Fool Believes,” and “Takin’ It ToThe Streets,” and many of his solo hits, such as “Ain’t No Moun-tain High Enough” from his Motown album and “Yah Mo B There,”a song he recorded with James Ingram.

In all, there are 19 McDonald hits in this tidy little package,which comes with a 12-page booklet . Michael Braxton

November/December 2005 • Issue 277 PAGE FIFTEEN

ling headphones, but these are the only ones I’ve had the experi-ence of actually using. I’ve seen some pretty steep prices for thesethings, but I don’t need $300 audiophile headphone quality at30,000 feet. Perhaps some of the pricey ones might sound better,but the fact that these drastically reduce the outside noise and themusic sounds good is all I need. Their specs are decent, with afrequency rage of 20 - 20,000 HZ. They come with the 3.5mmstereo adapter plug as mentioned and a AAA battery. You have toturn the power on to get the noise cancelling effect. The earcupsare comfortable, and achieve a good seal without completely en-closing the ear (which can cause some sweat). They are alsolightweight and fold up very small into the included pouch. Onenote...these are not meant to be your everyday set of head-phones at home, but they still sound decent as long as theyare turned on.

When I got these, they sold for $69.95 - a decent price. NowI understand you can get them directly from the company for$50, but only online at www.noisebuster.net. After December 31,they are supposed to go back to the regular price. You can alsobuy them at Amazon and other online retailers and at stores atmany airports, but you’ll probably pay the full price.

A great holiday gift for a traveler. Bill Wahl

WWWWWe only bring youe only bring youe only bring youe only bring youe only bring youthe Cream of the Crop!the Cream of the Crop!the Cream of the Crop!the Cream of the Crop!the Cream of the Crop!

SONNY ROLLINSWithout A Song: The 9/11 Concert

MILESTONE RECORDSSaxophone giant Sonny Rollins almost cancelled this first-

rate sextet gig recorded live at Boston’s Berklee PerformanceCenter on September 15, 2001. His Manhattan apartment wasonly six blocks from the World Trade Center and, after watch-ing the early rescue activities on 9/11, he returned to his apart-ment before the power went out and was rescued the nextday along with neighbors.

Rollins, 71-years old at the time and in peak form him-self, yields abundant time in the spotlight to trombonist CliftonAnderson, pianist Stephen Scott, electric bassist BobCranshaw, drummer Perry Wilson and percussionist KimatiDinizulu. The 16-plus minute title track opener establishesthe talents of each musician and shows how well this groupworks together. “Global Warming,” a swinging Rollins origi-nal of nearly equal duration, has a bouncy Latinate feel andserves up impressively inventive and lengthy solos by Rollinsand Anderson. Performed as a quartet with Rollins, Scott,Cranshaw and Perry, an almost 11-minute version of “A Night-ingale Sang in Berkeley Square” is given fresh meaning. Rollinslaunches a bopping 16-minute take on “Why Was I Born?”with an unaccompanied improv before the band jumps in toaccompany him on the melody head. The 12-minute albumfinale, “Where Or When,” gets an uptempo remake, highlightedby interchanges between Rollins and Anderson.

We’re lucky that Rollins granted permission to Carl Smithto tape this performance and that Richie Corsello, Rollins’sremix engineer, worked hard to produce the finished product.This is a magnificent recording that adds nicely to thesaxophonist’s extensive discography, proving that the sep-tuagenarian has lost none of his creative edge.

Nancy Ann Lee

SUSAN TEDESCHIHope & Desire

VERVE/FORECASTIn its original incarnation the Verve/Forecast label preoc-

cupied itself with artists prepared to take on larger audiencessuch as Richie Havens and Laura Nyro.

The current version remains true to this spirit in settingsoul-blues vocalist/guitarist Tedeschi’s transcendence fromniche star to crossover rave. This release could easily ac-complish this. On Hope & Desire Tedeschi lays down her axeand focuses on her straightforward and underplayed vocaldelivery. Her set list features well-selected covers includingboth familiar and lesser-known r&b/soul gems. The classicFour Tops hit “Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever”, OtisRedding’s gem “Security” and the lesser known but exquisiteCandi Staton workout “Evidence” get the personal treatment.Tedeschi’s singing is propelled by a solid backup unit, heavyon the keyboards and highlighted by distinctive guitar touchescourtesy of her husband, jam-band hero Derek Trucks.

There’s not a weak track present and the disc scores morepoints with each play. Hope & Desire is one of ‘05’s very best.

Duane Verh

PONCHO SANCHEZDo It!

CONCORD PICANTEOne of the stalwarts of Latin jazz, percussionist-bandleader

Poncho Sanchez breaks new ground with this energetic 11-trackrelease that features two tracks with the entire nine-memberTower of Power group, two tracks with legendary South Africanmusician Hugh Masekela, plus more.

There’s plenty of lively, colorful fare featured on this disc.Sanchez’s band launches the CD with a novel take on the ChanoPozo classic, “Tin Tin Deo. Hugh Masakela contributes vocals tothe catchy, danceable “Ha Lese Le Di Khanna” and his smoothoriginal, “Child of the Earth.” The instrumental soloists clinchthe engaging title track by trombonist Francesco Torres. Twofoot-tapping Latinate funk-jazz numbers, “Squib Cakes” and“Shotgun Slim” spotlight the Tower of Power band along withpercussionists Sanchez (who also sings lead vocals on the lat-ter), Sal Vasquez and George Ortiz. Hammond B-3 soloist DavidTorres spices up his original “The Kyper.”

Sanchez, who’s been making music for 25 years, got hisfirst big break when he met Latin music luminary and labelmate, Cal Tjader, with whom he worked for nearly 8 years be-fore beginning his own recording career. He’s made numerousrecordings since joining Concord in 1982. Visit eitherwww.concordrecords.com or www.ponchosanchez..com for moreinformation.

Diverse band arrangements, multi-talented musicians,catchy beats and extraordinary solos make this CD the ultimateadventure in listening for Latin-jazz fans. Mark your calendarsfor April 28, 2006 when Sanchez is scheduled to appear at theState Theater in Cleveland. Nancy Ann Lee

November/December 2005 • Issue 277PAGE SIXTEEN

JACOB FRED JAZZ ODYSSEYThe Sameness of Difference

HYENAIf the JFJO hangs around for long

enough, they will rightfully join the likes ofthe Modern Jazz Quartet or the classicGary Burton groups of the late 60’s as dis-tinguished outfits with a mission; groupswith a discernable philosophy about themusic they play. Pianist Brian Haas, drum-mer Jason Smart and bassist/effectsmeister Reed Mathis perform pieces ofbrief duration that frequently come off asmini-suites due to mood swings and pe-culiar points of departure within any giventune’s typical four-minute-or-so lifespan.They do this possessed of first-rate jazzchops and instincts.

Interspersed among tailor-made origi-nals are clever and masterful takes onMingus- “Fables of Faubus”, Brian Wilson-“Wonderful” and Lennon & McCartney-“Happiness Is A Warm Gun”. Few jazz line-ups in the last decade match the JFJOfor a fresh take on the idiom. Check themout. Duane Verh

BONNIE RAITTSouls Alike

CAPITOLFor most of her career Bonnie Raitt has

been a predictable commodity. It’s a safebet that any album she turns out will be atop-notch production with quality material,which will have some connection to theroots. Souls Alike is no exception andshould find its way in due course onto agood many radio playlists. While here andthere a touch of quirkiness may show up,this set by and large is mainstream adultpop, well executed and laced with enoughbluesy touches to recall Ms. Raitt’s coreidentity. While the whole set is most respect-able, the standout track shows up at thevery end, a jazzy, moody departure, “TheBed I Made”. Her fans should be pleased.

Duane Verh

MARC ANTOINEModern Times

RENDEZVOUS ENTERTAINMENT

PRAFULPyramid In Your Backyard

RENDEZVOUS ENTERTAINMENTFounded by saxophonist Dave Koz,

Rendezvous Entertainment has put to-gether an impressive catalogue of smoothjazz recordings in a short period of time.Two of the most refreshing of the lot so farare these new releases by Marc Antoineand Praful, both of whom were featuredon the recent Dave Koz and Friends con-cert tour.

Marc Antoine stands out in a sea ofsmooth jazz artists due to his unique andeasily recognizable guitar sound. Antoine,who was classically trained, plays with avibrant flamenco style while blending Latinand funk with world music and smoothjazz coming up with some outstandingresults throughout this album. While hegets a lot of airplay on the WAVE stationsthroughout the country, there are manycuts which you probably won’t hear in theirformat.

Two standout tracks are “Cantar AlAmor,” with chant-like vocals by BeatrizNunez and “Umbele,” both of which arevery much leaning in the world music di-rection. Antoine wrote all but one of the11 songs (Sting wrote the other one withDominic Miller). Bobby Martinez/flutesand David Ferraro/all programming andsamples provide most all of the instrumen-tal work along with Antoine, who is heardon guitars, bass, oud and keyboards. Avery nice release from Marc Antoine.

Praful opened the Dave Koz & Friends

concert tour with his blend of world mu-sic, jazz and electronic club music featur-ing a group of musicians from severalparts of the world. German-born Prafulplays soprano and tenor saxes, flute,bansuri (Indian bamboo flutes),harmonium, guitar, keyboards andmelodica. The recording session was doneat a floating recording studio inAmsterdam, and joining the leader wereseveral other musicians used on differenttracks, including several vocalists, a bass-ist, a keyboard player, a guitarist, a trom-bonist and a barker (yes..a barker.) AfraMussawisade plays a variety of percus-sion instruments, congas, bongos andthings with very strange names through-out and is definitely a major part of thesuccess of the project. Katia Moraes addssome sweet vocals to two cuts. The in-fectious rhythms and ethnic diversitiesheard on each of the dozen songs, com-bined with Praful’s multi-instrumental tal-ents and songwriting, percussionistMussawisade and the vocalist’s contribu-tions make for a very interesting and en-joyable world journey. Very different stuff.

Praful’s band, Marc Antoine and KatiaMoraes (with her singing and dancing)pretty much stole the show at the DaveKoz & Friends concert recently at the Pal-ace Theatre in Cleveland, and I presumeeverywhere else they played. These twoalbums explain why. Bill Wahl

SHIRLEY HORNBut Beautiful

The Best Of Shirley HornVERVE RECORDS

Over the past two issues I havementioned that we do not review awhole lot of jazz vocal albums, and thatI review very few myself. That was inthe reviews of albums by singers LizzWright and Judith Owen. Well, here Igo again, now it is Shirley Horn.

Definitely one of my absolute fa-vorite female singers, we have five re-views of her Verve albums on ourwebsite’s database. Looking back atthose reviews, let’s see what was writ-ten. In 1992 for the album Here’s ToLife I wrote “The program is ballads,and no one sings them like she does -with that combination of the perfect feel,magnificent tone, and the presence ofthat air in her voice... There’s no ques-tion about it. Shirley Horn’s voice is likea fine wine - simply exquisite.” In 1994for I Love You, Paris I referred to her as“The smooth, sultry voiced singer...”and in 1996 in a review of The MainIngredient I wrote that “Horn’s voice isalways silky smooth and wonderfullyromantic. These qualities, coupled withher smoky, low key delivery result inan always engaging, instantly recogniz-able sound.

Then in 2003 Nancy Ann Lee wrotein a review of May The Music Never End“Horn has a distinctive vocal style that’sbeen lauded by critics and other vocal-ists as “the personification of the word‘cool’,” “the preeminent jazz vocalist ofher generation,” and “the sexiest voicealive.” Indeed, whether Horn’s singinga ballad or a swinging blues number,she delicately shapes each song forpeak emotional impact”

Diana Krall, who lists Horn as amajor influence, once said “You can’tcategorize Shirley Horn... she is sexywithout trying. I loved her the first timeI heard her.”

Obviously, all that is said above stillholds true on this collection of 12 songsculled from seven of her Verve albums(one is an older track from a Mercuryalbum). Three are from one of my fa-vorites, You Won’t Forget Me (for somereason that one is not in our database-a glitch I’ll have to look in to), a won-derful album which included Miles Davisand Toots Thielmans. The gorgeous titletack with Miles on muted trumpet is oneof those heard here. Another of the

November/December 2005 • Issue 277

BLIND ARVELLA GRAYThe Singing DrifterCONJUROO RECORDS

Street singer Blind Arvella Graywas a fixture on Maxwell Street around40 odd years ago long before the Uni-versity of Illinois Chicago Campus de-cided historical preservation was lessimportant than yuppified urban condos.Cary Baker, who today is involved inpublicity for blues and other roots mu-sic, put together Blue Flame, a bluesfanzine, and also helped get Gray re-corded for a rare LP on the Birch labelthat he has arranged to get reissued asThe Singing Drifter, for his ownConjuroo label.

Gray can be seen in the Mike Sheavideo And This is Maxwell Street, andDylan’s He Was a Friend of Mine wasinspired by Gray which itself is†likelyderived from a Southern prison song,Shorty George. Born in Texas he camefrom Chicago via Peoria. Gray had losthis eyes and two fingers from birdshotpropelled by a shotgun and came toChicago playing a National dobro onwhich he is heard on much of this fas-cinating recording, which includes fourpreviously unissued sacred perfor-mances.

His repertoire ranges from an un-accompanied Arvella’s Work Song, thecountry There’s More Pretty Girls ThanOne, and gospel Take Your Burden tothe Lord and When the Saints GoMarching In. His signature tune is a vi-brant rendition of John Henry, and thereis a terrific Those Old Fashioned AlleyBlues, another traditional song sungwith a husky vocal delivery and force-fully played with a strong rhythmic at-tack and slide to the melody of St. LouisBlues. In all, a fascinating document of

standouts included is her version of“Fever,” the song made famous byPeggy Lee.

This is a great introduction to oneof the absolute top female jazz singers.Some are some small groups, somewith strings and some with horns. As abonus three previously unreleased cutsare included at the end which were re-corded in January 2005 at Au Bar inNew York City. Very sweet indeed.

Sadly, we just learned at presstimethat Shirley Horn passed away Octo-ber 20 in her hometown of Washing-ton, D.C. after a lengthy illness. Shewas 71 years old. She will be missed.

Bill Wahl

a street performer and an era thatseems so distant today. Ron Weinstock

KEN SAYDAKIT’S MY SOUL

EVIDENCEPianist Ken Saydak has been

around the blues block a time or twowith the likes of Mighty Joe Young,Lonnie Brooks, Johnny Winter, DaveSpecter and the band Big Shoulders.Along the way he has polished his pi-ano skills and vocals to a bright shineand has honed his songwriting to a finepoint.

The results of his journey havefound their way to this, his third solorelease. The thirteen cuts collected heretouch heavily on the broken heart andbad lover blues bases.

Half Assed Love is a kiss off to anuncommitted lover which is only slightlyless acidic than the “drop dead youwench” rant of Love in the Dumpster. .Hanging By A Thread is a demand thatthe object of his affections declare herintentions regarding the relationshipwhile Darling I’ll Pray For You is a noregrets promise to a partner after afailed relationship.

Two of Everything is a witty, yetregret filled, rumination about a mar-riage that has two of everything exceptonly one wife who considers him half aman. Not all is doom and gloom in theSaydak’s love department.

The rollicking Bonedance extols thevirtue of sex in a chair and All I ReallyNeed is a thank you card to a lover wholifts his spirits. Saydak jumps out of thelove swamp on the upbeat Learned MyLesson where he shares the wisdom ofdropping the B.S. in daily conversationsand simply telling things the way theyare. While he doesn’t mind lecturingyou, he isn’t keen to be lectured to bythe suits who repeatedly tell him whathe already knows, Preaching To theChoir. With a voice that evokes rockerDave Mason, Saydak pulls you into hisstories with ease.

Since he mostly avoids the stan-dard blues shuffles the disc often hasmore in common with Bruce Hornsbyor even Billy Joel than the typical bluespiano disc.

Skip this if you are looking forPinetop Perkins or Jay McShann butpick it up if you’re looking for some-thing bluesy in spirit but a little differ-ent in approach. Mark Smith

PAGE SEVENTEEN

Weekend Shows 9:30; Weekdays 8:30

216-902-4663812 Huron Rd E.. • Cleveland

ServingDelicious

FoodLunch

& Dinner

www.wilbertsmusic.com

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4:In celebration of the Sam Cooke American

Music Masters celebrationThe Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

presents: Friday Night Party!SHARON JONES & THE DAP

KINGS with special guestWILLIAM BELL

$10adv/$12dos - 9:00pm start

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19:DEBORAH COLEMAN - $10

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25MYSTERY TRAIN

featuring JIM McCARTYA veteran of the Detroit Wheels, The

Seigal-Schwall Band, The Buddy MilesBand, Cactus and The Rockets. $10

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9THE SAUCE BOSS

He sings the blues. He cooks the gumbo.He plays the guitar. He writes the tunes.

He makes the hot sauce. He leads theband. He feeds the masses. He is the

SAUCE BOSS! Sauce Boss Bill Whartoncombines blues with his hot sauce in a bigpot of gumbo, made right on stage. At the

end of the show, everyone eats. $10

BLUESHIGHLIGHTS

live eventsJoe LovanoBlue Note recording artist and Clevelandnative Joe Lovano will be a special guestof the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra at TheBop Stop, 2920 Detroit Avenue, Cleve-land Fri. & Sat., November 11 & 12 at 8p.m. Tickets: $40 from CJO at 440-942-9525, online at www.clevelandjazz.org.

KassabaAppearing at Fairmount PresbyterianChurch 2757 Fairmount Blvd., ClevelandHts. Sun., Nov. 13, at 4 p.m. Admission:free-will offering. 216-321-5800.

PeanutsThe Peanuts All Star Jam 2005 willtake place on Thanksgiving Eve,Wed., Nov. 23 at the Beachland Ball-room, 15711 Waterloo Road, Cleve-land. As always, there’s no cover!

November/December 2005 • Issue 277PAGE EIGHTEEN

MARIA MULDAURSweet Lovin’ Ol Soul

STONY PLAINThose in the reading audience into the

old school, country Highway 61 strain ofthe blues should have a pleasure circusgoing via Maria Muldaur’s latest nod to thegenre’s history. Twelve songs from the pastmaterialize in the present with new arrange-ments and instrumental help from, amongother supporting players, the likes ofPinetop Perkins, Taj Mahal and AlvinYoungblood Hart.

Starting off with Memphis Minnie’s “IAm Sailin’,” Muldaur revisits the honky tonksof long ago as Mahal kicks in some banjowork on the title cut, augmented by SuzyThompson’s fiddle solo. Perkins uses his92 year old fingers to massage the ivoriesduring “Decent Woman Blues,” as Mahaland Muldaur have a flirtatious duet in thecourse of “Ain’t What You Used To Have.”

Duets are a big part of Sweet Lovin’ Ol’Soul as Muldaur teams up with Hart during“She Put Me Outdoors,” then Tracy “MotherEarth” Nelson in “I’m Goin’ Back” and oncemore with Mahal during the gospel favorite“Take A Stand.” At this point, Neil Diamondmust be jealous he never got a chance at theharmony festival going on here.

Sweet Lovin’ Ol’ Soul is the middlerelease in the planned Maria Muldaur threedisc arc that will spotlight the work of earlyfemale blues singers of the last century. Ifnothing else, Muldaur’s take on BessieSmith’s “Empty Bed Blues” here will makea great live medley when teamed with herearlier FM radio hit, “Don’t You Make MeHigh (Don’t You Feel My Leg). Peanuts

ECM REISSUESSTEVE KUHN

TranceJULIAN PRIESTER

Love,LoveECM RECORDS

Back in the late-70s I had a Sundayafternoon jazz radio show known as “JazzContours.” Starting at noon I would alwaysbegin with something light, bright and verymusical and end at 2, well, somewhere else.The title track from Steve Kuhn’s Trancealbum was quite often the opener of choice.

Long out of print, ECM has just issuedthe album for the first time on CD in theU.S. My German LP pressing has been longworn out, and hearing this song again surebrought back a lot of memories.

Many may not even be familiar withKuhn. He was actually the original pianistin John Coltrane’s first quartet, just afterleaving Miles’ band, in 1960. He is a welltrained musician who can play a variety ofstyles with ease, which is evident through-out Trance. The title track is still one of themost beautiful and melodic jazz tunes I’veyet to hear. Accompanied by Steve Swal-low on electric bass, Jack DeJohnette ondrums and Sue Evans on percussion, Kuhnis simply majestic playing acoustic pianoand backing himself on electric. It soundsas fresh today as when it came out in ’75.Evans’ percussion work is a perfect com-pliment to the mood.

Never to be stuck in a rut, Kuhn fol-lows with a quick-paced tune on electricpiano starting much in the vein of ChickCorea’s RTF before shifting into a hardswing. He follows with a slightly-out modaltune on acoustic with some fine improvswith DeJohnette. Then there’s anothersomewhat free, yet melodic venture, aLatin-ish electric cut, a short piano solostatement and a hard-funk piece beforeclosing, fittingly, with “Life’s BackwardGlance.”

As good as the rest of the album is, I’llalways make sure I hold on to this disc justfor the song “Trance,” a tune which couldn’thave a more fitting title.

Julian Priester was the tromboneplayer in Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi bandin the 70s. Priester carried on much in theMwandishi style with his 1973 release Love,Love. Fusing jazz with electronics and rock,improvising over repetitive bass lines anddrum patterns, it was really a continuationof much of what Miles introduced yearsearlier. Only two songs are heard, eachclocking in at just under 20 minutes, but

many deep moods are travelled. Priester isheard on bass, tenor and alto trombones,baritone horn, whistles and percussion. PatGleeson is on a variety of electronic key-boards and synths. Hadley Caliman, aname I’ve not heard in a while, offers someoutstanding work on flute, soprano andtenor saxes and bass clarinet. Bayete Um-bra Zindiko plays pianos and clavinet. Eachsong features a different bass/drums team- Henry Franklin and Leon Chanceler onone, and Eric Gravatt and Ron McLure onthe other. David Johnson/sax and flute andBill Connors/guitar are on one tune each.Believe me, there is a lot going on here,yet it manages not to get overcrowded.

It is a treat to hear this music againafter so many years. Yes indeed - time forblastoff - it’s jazz in deep space.

Two very fine yet different reissuesfrom ECM. Let’s hope there are many moreto come. Bill Wahl

By Mark Smith

New Release Blues....Well, time isrunning out for new additions to yourblues collection this year before youcreate your Christmas list. Here’s a fewto tide you over until then: Zac Harmon-The Blues According to Zachariah; MelMelton & The Wicked Mojos- PapaMojo’s Roadhouse; Sista MonicaParker- Can’t Keep a Good WomanDown; Harry Manx- Mantras for Mad-men; The No Neck Blues Band-Quvaris; Bill Wyman & His PleasureKings- Live; Fleetwood Mac- Men ofthe World: The Blues Years; Missis-sippi Heat- One Eye Open- Live atRosa’s Lounge, Chicago; Otis Rush-All Your Love I Miss Loving- Live atWise Fool’s Pub, Chicago; Various(Bonnie Raitt, Sue Foley, JoannaConnor, Deborah Coleman, AnaPopovic, Etta Baker and others) –Blues Guitar Women; Brian Blain-Overqualified for the Blues; Johnny“Guitar” Watson- The Funk Anthol-ogy.... It’s all about Sam.... the Rockand Roll Hall of Fame and Museum inCleveland is hosting a week long Trib-ute to Sam Cooke from October 31 toNovember 6. Sam Cooke, consideredby many to be the definitive soul singerand crossover artist, a model for Afri-can-American entrepreneurship andone of the first performers to use musicas a tool for social change, was in-ducted into the Rock and Roll Hall ofFame in the inaugural class of 1986.The Tribute to Cooke will† feature pan-els, films, educational programs, a day-long conference and will culminate in asecular concert on Saturday, Nov. 5spotlighting Cooke’s pop and R&B ma-terial and a gospel concert on Nov. 6that will focus on his spiritual music.†Otis Clay will perform at both concertsalong with Rock and Roll Hall of Fameinductees Aretha Franklin and†ElvisCostello, plus Taj Mahal, The Blind Boysof Alabama,The Dixie Hummingbirds,Lou Rawls, Solomon Burke, CissyHouston, William Bell†and original Souis l Stirrer, Leroy Crume..... That’s it forthis month. Watch this space nextmonth for Smitty’s 2005 picks.

November/December 2005 • Issue 277

The Fifty Greatest Jazz PianoPlayers of All Time

Gene RizzoHal Leonard CorporationA nameless “electoral body” com-

prising top educators and musicianspolled by The Hal Leonard Corporation(an international music sales and pub-lishing house) and author Gene Rizzohave selected, analyzed and ranked inorder the 50 greatest jazz piano players,based on “chops, originality, creativity anddegree of influence.”

That the author doesn’t reveal whoor how many comprise this illustrious“electoral body” in the Preface or else-where in the book is an obvious problemwhen you scan the Contents page. Jazzaficionados (and historians) may stronglydisagree with the rankings and analyses.

For example, the first four of 50 pia-nists presented in three-page bios withphotographs are Oscar Peterson, BillEvans, Bud Powell and Art Tatum, heavy-weights in the jazz piano realm. But num-ber 5 is Monty Alexander (born in 1944)and number 6 is Benny Green (born in1963), hardly worthy of weightings sohigh on the list, especially when moreinfluential pianists are ranked furtherdown the list. Mary Lou Williams, the onlywoman included in the main 50, is rankednumber 47. Other questionable rankingsare Erroll Garner (24) Jelly Roll Morton(43), Lennie Tristano (30), Earl Hines (39)and Keith Jarrett (50).

Readers may wonder why somerelatively obscure names were includedon the list and other more influential play-ers relegated to the “Honorable Mention”chapter or omitted entirely. In the three-page “Honorable Mention” chapter, you’llfind some names you believe should bein the main 50. Omitted are such stal-warts as John Lewis, pianist of the Mod-ern Jazz Quartet, so influential in devel-oping Third Stream music, and Sun Ra(born Herman Blount) who so uniquelyreinvented himself, the concept of bigband music and modern-day musicalvaudeville.

Although author Rizzo apologizes inthe preface that there is only one womanin the main 50, seemingly as an after-thought he includes a Chapter of “TopTen Women,” mentioned in order: MaryLou Williams (again), Marian McPartland,Eliane Elias, Jessica Williams, JoanneBrackeen, Barbara Carroll, DorothyDonegan, Lorraine Geller, ToshikoAkiyoshi, and Renee Rosnes.

Rizzo, currently Professor of Pianoat Beaver College in PA, is no slouch buthis biographs are hardly subjective andtheir lack of critical information will frus-trate jazz historians. Although Rizzo’swritten several books on piano techniqueand related subjects and has performedand written music for more than four de-cades, knowledgeable readers shouldquestion cavalier statements such as,“Thomas “Fats” Wright Waller playedwrote, and sang some of the happiestmusic in the history of jazz….Waller’spopularity was only exceeded by LouisArmstrong.”

Fortunately, this $20 book is afford-able (cheaper online) if you decide to buyit solely for the splendid photographs fromthe Frank Driggs Collection and othersources. Nancy Ann Lee

Incurable Blues: The Trouble &Triumph of Blues Legend

Hubert SumlinWill Romano

Backbeat BooksHubert Sumlin is one of the most

individualistic guitar stylists in the bluesof the past fifty years, and one of thenicest persons you could ever meet. Heis best known for his association withthe legendary Howlin’ Wolf on which hismercurial, unpredictable guitar playedso important a role on so many record-ings.

Will Romano has written this bio ofHubert that recounts Hubert’s life andmusic from growing up in the Delta andlearning to play in various juke bands;his association with the Wolf down inthe Memphis area and later comingnorth to Chicago where he became anintegral part of Wolf’s band and musicthrough the end of Wolf’s life; and thethirty odd years since then with Hubertcarrying on Wolf’s musical legacy, aswell as trying to establish a bit of hisown, separate from Wolf. A premise ofthis book is that Sumlin is one of thegreat and influential blues guitarists andRomano tries to establish this throughinterviews with blues and rock musi-cians, discussions of a wide variety ofrecordings and performances thatHubert was a part of. It is not a com-pletely successful book in part becausethe author focuses on the testimonialsof rock legends to make his case ofHubert’s impact and influence. Butwhile Sumlin’s best recordings exhibithis brilliant originality and invention,there are few examples other than tes-timonials to show his influence in the

blues world. The fact that Eric Claptonmay have pushed to get Sumlin in-volved in the London Howlin’ Wolf ses-sions when producer Marshall Chessmay not have wanted him says moreabout Clapton’s understanding ofWolf’s recordings and what Sumlinbrought to them. Chess’ focus mayhave been on rock stars to sell thismusic but Clapton helped insure themusic would come out right. Still, theadmiration of many blues-influencedrock superstars does little to establishHubert’s influence compared to otherequally talented blues guitarists.

The discussion of the various re-cordings, that post-date the Wolf’spassing is fascinating but too lengthy,and while recognizing Hubert’s limita-tions as a vocalist tries to make theseas more important and seminal thansome are. I am particularly thinkingabout the lengthy discussion aboutAbout Them Shoes, the recent Sumlinalbum that had Clapton, DavidJohansson, Bob Margolin, Paul Oscher,David Maxwell and others join him ona collection of mostly songs associatedwith Muddy Waters. It resulted in apleasant recording, but one not nearlyas remarkable as Romano suggests,as the grooves in Muddy’s music do notlend itself to allow Sumlin’s playing toshine. Of course part of the success ofWolf’s recordings might have beenWillie Dixon’s production and shapingof the rhythms. Certainly songs like Hid-den Charms and Do the Do are other-wise forgettable but for the hot, tightband, Wolf’s ability to make anythingsound good and Sumlin’s staggeringplaying. Also for a book that chroniclesSumlin’s life there is no mention of BigMac’s sixties Jewel 45, Rough DriedWoman, which sported Sumlin’s guitaror a late sixties, early seventiesSunnyland Slim session with membersof Wolf’s band, along with WalterHorton backing the legendary pianist.Sumlin’s guitar was prominently fea-tured on this spirited date, which strikesme as a lot better than some of theEuropean American Folk Blues Festi-val recordings that the author herepraises.

Still, despite its flaws, the bookdoes get a sense of Hubert’s shy andsweet personality that has led many toreally love him, and when he does getto play, he still can blow you away. Ifhis influence is overstated, the qualityof his best music is not overstated inthis bio. Ron Weinstock

BOOKS

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November/December 2005 • Issue 277