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CLEVELAND FATS

INSIDE:Robert Lockwood Jr.Remembered

Cleveland Fatsspeaks withRon Weinstock

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December 2006 • Issue 289PAGE TWO

Published by Martin WahlCommunications

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Cleveland FatsCarrying on the Musical Legacy

of Robert Lockwood Jr.

By Ron Weinstock

Ifirst met Mark Hahn, who performs as Cleveland Fats, inBuffalo in the mid-1970swhen he had traveled there as

part of Robert Lockwood’s band toperform at the University of BuffaloFolk Festival. I had the pleasure ofseeing him a number of times overthe years with Robert Lockwood Jr.until Robert’s performance at the1992Blue Bayou Festival which wasHahn’s last performance with Robertas he then set out for a solo career. Acouple years later his first CDappeared,’The Other Side of Mid-night, which was picked up byIchiban. With his most recent disc TheWay Things Go helping launch theHoneybee label, I had the chance tospeak with Mark as part of the pub-licity for this excellent CD. This wasabout a week after Robert LockwoodJr. had suffered his stroke, so someof our conversation centered onLockwood’s condition. But given thecentral role that Lockwood played inMark’s career and life, a good por-

tion of our chat would have been onthe late legend in any event.

Mark was born in Ravenna, Ohioon February 10, 1956 and grew up nearKent. As a youngster he messed witha guitar but was not really into music atthe time. He recalls seeing B.B. Kingon a Saturday night TV show when hewas 12. He had seen nothing like it, butthe blues hook was in and the next dayhe attempted to buy a B.B. King album,but the store was out of B.B.’s albumsso he purchased one by Albert Kinginstead. This began a period of learn-ing and listening as he purchasedrecords and started playing along.

He met Lee Eddie Clark and Clark’sfamily when he was 14. Clark was fromMississippi and his sons played in thefamily band and were in mark’s agegroup. They wanted a guitarist to playblues, as their guitarist did not likeblues. So at the age of 14, mark startedworking in bars two nights a week andgot turned on to Little Milton, JuniorParker, Earl Hooker and Little JohnnyTaylor among others. The vocalist withthe band was a cousin of Eddie, OtisTrotter who was also operating a shoeshine parlor.

In 1974, a Kent State Universitydee-jay, Chuck Ruby, took Mark toCleveland to see and meet RobertLockwood at The Grapes of Wraith,across from the bus station, with bandthat included Gene Schwartz and Ham-mering Hank Cockran on drums. Rob-ert was playing with a twelve-string atthe time and Chuck got Mark to sit in.Robert had Mark come back the follow-ing week and started to show him howto play behind him with Lockwood’sunique style. Robert continued show-ing mark things at the bars, what to do,how to act. Mark started going to gigsand became part of the RobertLockwood Band, a lengthy musical as-sociation that lasted until the summerof 1992.

During part of the seventies,

December 2006 • Issue 289 PAGE THREE

Lockwood’s band also included vocal-ist Otis Trotter, who Mark brought to agig and at first sat in. The band in-cluded Gene Schwartz, MauriceReedus on tenor sax and either Ham-mering Hank Cockran or George Cookon drums. Cook was a blind drummerwho had played with organist EddieBaccus and Roland Kirk as the ThreeBlind Mice and played many gigs withBaccus around Cleveland until the lat-ter drummer was on Lockwood’s Con-trasts album and became full-timewith Lockwood when Cochran gotsick.

With Lockwood Mark toured quitea bit, including traveling to Japan in1978, his first trip outside the UnitedStates. By this time he had been inthe studio on Lockwood’s excellentDoes 12 album, also on Trix. It was agood, steady gig, although there wasa period in 1983-84 where it startedgetting slow, and when it was real slowin 1986 he wintered south in Florida.

Robert encouraged Mark to sing.Once he had laryngitis and told Mark“I know you can bring us through thegig.” After it went well Robert toldhim,”“You did good and do more ofit…good for you when you have yourown band… you play behind yourself.That way you won’t have to hire a gui-tar player.” When mark left Robert andstarted his career as Cleveland Fats,he had learned his on-stage lessonswell.

Robert remained one of the for-mative persons in his life. “If I hadnever been a musician, I would havewanted to get to know him. He hasgood core values, a decent guy.{There is} not an insincere bone in hisbody. He is a heckuva good guy…I’venever seen a guy who truly loved toplay guitar like him. He really loved it.”While Lockwood was the biggest mu-sical influence as well as personal in-fluence, others he cites as shaping hismusic include Earl Hooker, AlbertKing, Magic Sam, Muddy Waters, T-Bone Walker, Otis Rush and BlindLemon Jefferson.

Mark recalls listening to musicwith Robert who would dissect thingswhile listening. He recalled FreddieKing, who Robert was on the bill withat the Agora, having dinner at Robert’shouse. Hideaway was playing andFreddie mentioned something abouta chord. Robert replied to the effect“that damn chord?” and Freddie

laughed that he stole that from Rob-ert.

After leaving Lockwood he put outThe Other Side of Midnight whichIchiban made generally available in1997 and had Norm Tischler on saxo-phone and Gene Schwartz on bass forseveral tracks. He was playing 7 or 8nights a week and also worked inheavy construction, which he hadstarted when he was 18. He startedtaking his pension in 2004, which gavehim more time and autonomy to playmusic. Of course, working a day jobis no unusual thing for musicians. Infact, Lockwood was delivering pre-scriptions for Sherwood Drugs when Imet him in 1970 and later was paint-ing houses.

Fats has seen the ups and downsof being a musician. A marriage endedin divorce as his ex did not want amusician husband, and he states heshould never have been married.

The new CD, The Way ThingsGo, was recorded over two days inJanuary 2006 with Earwig’s MichaelFranks producing. The selections onwhich Robert Lockwood play had himoverdub his parts the following monthin Cleveland with the exception of onetrack with just him, Billy Branch andLockwood. It was mixed in May, wasofficially released in October and cur-rently getting a lot of radio play. Healso had a 2000 CD, Pretty Poisonand did a live CD, Its Bluestime.

He moved back to Ravenna backin 1996-1997, which is where he isbased now as he starts touring anddoing radio gigs to support the newalbum. With Robert Lockwood nolonger with us, Cleveland Fats is oneof a number of musicians that will con-tinue his musical legacy forward in theyears to come.

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Robert Lockwood Jr.

Robert Lockwood, legendary andhighly influential bluesman, passed awayMonday November 21 at the age of 91.Born in Turkey Scratch, Arkansas, nearMarvell, Lockwood started playing apump organ when at the age of 11 a trav-eling blues performer named RobertJohnson started a dalliance withLockwood’s mother. Johnson showedLockwood some stuff on the guitar andwhile still a teenager started playingaround the Delta region with Johnson,Aleck Rice Miller (better known as SonnyBoy Williamson), Johnny Shines, ElmoreJames and others. For a period he livedin St. Louis where along with bluessinger, Dr. Clayton, traveled to Chicagowhere he backed Doctor Clayton andalso made his initial recordings for Blue-bird including songs that became bluesstandards including “Little Boy Blue,”“Take a Little Walk With Me” and “MeanBlack Spider.” That latter number, retitled“Mean Red Spider,” was the first com-mercial recording of one Muddy Waters.

He returned to the Delta region andjoined up with Miller for a new radio show,King Biscuit Time, that was broadcast atlunchtime and was heard throughout thedelta region.

Lockwood was one of the earliestelectric guitarists in the south so his play-ing inspired numerous performers includ-ing B.B. King and Muddy Waters.Lockwood left King Biscuit to do his ownbroadcast for a competing company,Mothers Best Flour, backed by theStarkey Brothers, a jazzy band withhorns in which Lockwood could expand

March 27-1915-November 21, 2006

December 2006 • Issue 289PAGE FOUR

his musical repertoire to include the bigband and jump numbers that could beheard on radio and in juke boxes. He wasan admirer of Charlie Christian amongothers and songs such as “Exactly LikeYou” and “Chinatown, My Chinatown”were also numbers that were part of hisrepertoire (as well as that of RobertJohnson) busking on the streets.

Later Lockwood mentored BB King,trying to get King to improve his timing.King’s timing was so bad, that Lockwoodwas among those who told BullettRecords to have King record with hornsto cover his bad timing. Eventually heended in Chicago where he became asession musician for a variety of labelsappearing on classic Chicago blues re-cordings by Eddie Boyd, Willie Mabon,Baby Face Leroy Foster, Floyd Dixon,Sunnyland Slim, and most notably SonnyBoy Williamson and Little Walter. He alsorecorded “Dust My Broom” before ElmoreJames did but Mercury sat on this record-ing and did not release it until later. HisJ.O.B. recording, “Aw AW Baby” was per-haps the version of Johnson’s “SweetHome Chicago” that led to recordings byhis good friend, Roosevelt Sykes and lat-ter renditions by Junior Parker and MagicSam that helped establish this as a bluesanthem. But the bulk of his work was sup-porting other artists and his marvelouschord work and single note runs behindWilliamson and Little Walter were integralto these classic blues recordings.Lockwood toured with both and it was withSonny Boy Williamson that he came toCleveland in 1960 to play the legendaryclub, Gleason’s. He never left Clevelandand lived for the rest of his life there. 1960was also when he was part of the legend-ary sessions that led to the classic OtisSpann albums, Otis Spann is the Bluesand Walking the Blues.

During the sixties and early seven-ties he played local clubs while workingdelivering prescriptions for a pharmacy oras a painter. He was called on stage atthe 2nd Ann Arbor Blues Festival in 1970which was followed by his first solo album,Steady Rolling Man for Delmark where hewas backed by the Aces. He recorded anumber of very fine albums for severallabels with the two Trix albums, Contrastsand Does 12 both standing out. By thelate seventies, he had stopped playing hisGretsch Chet Atkins model for a 12-stringguitar and continued trying to come upwith new sounds and songs at an agewhere many would retire or recreate pastglories. He recorded a couple of fine al-bums with Johnny Shines for Rounder,although a severe stroke suffered byShines limited the extent of the collabo-ration. He was honored with HandyAwards, induction into the Blues Hall of

Fame and in 1995 President Clinton pre-sented him with a National Heritage Awardfrom the National Endowment For theArts.

Lockwood’s influence on blues gui-tar is under appreciated. Guitarists LouisMeyers, Matt Murphy, Eddie Taylor andLuther Tucker are among those Lockwoodtouched in the fifties and sixties and morewere influenced in latter years. Bob Dylanreportedly asked Lockwood to show himsome tips on how to play some of RobertJohnson’s songs.

I was fortunate to know Robert forover 35 years. Some folks meeting himcould view him as arrogant, but if theychecked out what Robert told them theywould discover he was simply statingfacts. I found him quite engaging with avery dry, wry sense of humor, and some-one I am pleased to have known and hadinterviewed on several occasions. Hisdeath coming on the heels of RuthBrown’s passing is another great loss forthe blues community. The sweet soundof his playing still resonates in my headand I will miss him as a performer and aperson. Ron Weinstock

Photo of Robert at the 2005 Pocono

Blues Festival by Ron Weinstock

Experience Turned to Blue, theeagerly awaited follow-up to NancyWilson’s 2005 GRAMMY winning re-lease R.S.V.P. live at Severance Hallwith the Jazz Heritage Orchestra – Fri-day, January 19. Wilson will take thestage at 8 pm. Tickets are $25 - $100.Severance Hall is located at 11001Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio.

For more information or tickets call

Nancy Wilson to playCleveland’s

Severance Hall

216-231-1111 or toll free at 800-686-1141 or you can buy tickets online towww.severancehall.com.

After the show, come join MissNancy Wilson at 2 pm, Saturday Janu-ary 20 at Borders for a signing and dis-cussion about her career and magicbehind her new album. Borders is lo-cated at 3466 Mayfield Road in Cleve-land Heights, Ohio. For more informa-tion call 216-291-8605.

Turned To Blue is a classic repre-sentation of Nancy Wilson showcasingthe full spectrum of experiences thatcome with a five decade career in en-tertainment. The legendary songstressdelivers a story through ballads as onlyshe can, premieres unparalleled treat-ments of new songs and swings with abig band harking back to her days withCannonball Adderley and the Billy MayOrchestra.

This project marks the third col-laboration between Wilson and MCGJazz.

Finalists Announced for the6th Annual Independent

Music AwardsThe 2007 finalists have been an-

nounced for the 6th annual Indepen-dent Music Awards, a program thatdelivers real career opportunities forindie artists, labels and releases. Theawards recognize excellence in Music,Music Promotion, Packaging and Mer-chandise Design. Winners will be an-nounced and all finalists will be fea-tured in the 2007 edition of TheMusician’s Atlas — the independentmusic industry’s most comprehensiveand qualified networking directory forindependent musicians and musicbusiness entrepreneurs — to be pub-lished on December 15.

A diverse panel of artist and indus-try judges such as Peter Gabriel,Wynonna, Ozzy Osbourne, PaulOakenfold, Buddy Guy, SuzanneVega, Abby White (Music Editor of Per-forming Songwriter) and Louis Meyers(Executive Director, Folk Alliance) willselect the winners for the 2007 IMAs.Some of the 2007 finalists are elec-tronic pop duo BITTER:SWEET’s ‘TheMating Game’ for Best Pop/Rock Al-bum; activist singer-songwriter DanBern’s ‘Breathe’ for Best Folk/Singer-Songwriter Album; vocal jazz trioDave’s True Story for Best Jazz Albumand Best Film/TV Song; blues guitarist

December 2006 • Issue 289 PAGE FIVE

Duke Robillard’s ‘Guitar Groove-A-Rama’ for Best Blues Album; country-rocker Miko Marks’ ‘Freeway Bound’ forBest Country Album; singer-songwriterKara Suzanne and the Gojo Hearts’‘Aumsville’ for Best Folk/Singer-Songwriter Album; the alternative rockband Irving’s “Situation” for Best Pop/Rock Song and counrty-pop bandMoore & Moore’s “L.O.V.E.” for BestCountry Song. For a complete list andto listen to music from the finalists goto http://www.musiciansatlas.com/pages/IMAFinalist/

The IMA program has created aninformal “Vox Populi” vote that’s a com-ponent of the IMA Album and SongJukeboxes. Although the vote has noimpact on the judges’ decisions, it pro-vides a marketing opportunity whichenables finalists to promote their ac-complishments to their fans and giveslisteners a chance to discover othertalent spotlighted in the program. Also,for first year, the IMA program featuresthe new “Sing Out For Social Action”song category that focuses on artistswho use their music as a platform toaddress political and social issues.

IMA winners receive year-longmarketing campaigns, partnershipsand distribution alliances that put themin front of millions of music fans andindustry decision makers around theworld. The winners’ CDs will be avail-able for sale at BordersStores.com. Inaddition, a compilation CD of the IMAwinners music will be distributed tomusic fans and industry movers andshakers at music conferences, festivalsand other events throughout the yearand will also be promoted to collegeradio stations throughout NorthAmerica by leading radio promotioncompany The Planetary Group.

Martin Folkman, publisher of TheMusician’s Atlas said, “One of thegreatest challenges for independentmusicians is to stand out and be heard.Musician’s Atlas has long been re-garded as the most accurate and com-prehensive contact directory available.We have worked tirelessly to fully up-date and enhance the 2007 edition withcritical contacts, resources and infor-mation to help connect the independentmusician with the right people and op-portunities to pave one’s way towardssuccess.”

The 2007 edition of The Musician’sAtlas has been revamped to provideindependent musicians with an up to

Cleveland’s Little Fish Records hasannounced that Carlos Jones & TheP.L.U.S. Band (aka The Peace, Love,Unity Syndicate) will be joined by a hotnew R & B/Hip-Hop act – Ghetto Wis-dom - for a dual performance at TheHouse of Blues, 308 Euclid Avenue, onTuesday, December 26 at 8 p.m. Tick-ets are $10.

Scheduled for the day after Christ-mas, this show features two groupswith uplifting, inspirational messages,and should be a boost to an audiencewinding down from a busy holiday sea-son. Carlos Jones, long-time stalwarton the reggae circuit with I-Tal then FirstLight, will headline the show with TheP.L.U.S. Band, featuring songs fromtheir recent CD, Roots with Culture, onLittle Fish Records. The group hasreleased two singles off the CD:“Torchbearer,” a tribute to the late BobMarley, and “Children Unite.” Jones,with his roots-based style inspired byBob Marley, is considered a pioneer ofthe “American Reggae” sub-genre thatfuses reggae with rock, r&b, and folk

Holiday Revival Showreturning December 26 toHouse of Blues Cleveland

date guide to the music industry. Dueto popular demand and reader feed-back the following sections have beenenhanced: Clubs, US/Canadian Col-lege Radio & Booking, Conferences &Festivals, National/Regional Press,Commercial & Public Radio, Song Con-tests & Compilations and Tours amongother opportunities.

Carlos Jones

to create a whole new sound.The group continues to rack up

awards in it’s home town, recently win-ning awards for Best Reggae/World actin the Free Times’ readers poll (Febru-ary ’06) and the Cleveland SceneMagazine readers poll (July ’06). Theywere voted Best Live Act by the Cleve-land Scene Magazine readers’ poll in2005, an award that encompasses allgenres of music. Jones’ smooth, soul-ful voice and charismatic stage pres-ence have been inspiring crowds forover 20 years, and he shows no signsof slowing down. He is currently work-ing on a new side project that will fea-ture collaborations with othersongwriters and producers, such asMike Calhoun (former guitar player withthe Grammy Award winning “DazzBand”). There is also a new CD in theworks for the PLUS Band, schedule forrelease in 2007.

Opening the show will be GhettoWisdom out of Lorain, Ohio who madea splash on the Cleveland music scenethis summer when they appeared at theLittle Fish Records Showcase at Mar-ket Square. In the audience that day,was Dennis and Elizabeth Kucinich,who have become big fans of thegroup, touting them to their friends inthe entertainment world including WillyNelson and Paul McCartney. Frontman for the group, Edwin Jackson (akaE&J) spits self-penned poetry with atwist of r&b-soul, hip-hop, reggae androck to tell stories of triumph and trag-edy.

Accompanying E&J on stage is thelive band Ghetto Wisdom, featuringformer Dazz Band guitarist, MikeCalhoun, whose dynamic perfor-mances take the music to heights notusually seen in the R&B/Hip-Hop world.Don’t be surprised to see both Mike andE&J together on stage with CarlosJones for a special grand finale, as theyhave a mutual admiration for eachother and a unique chemistry whichthey are excited to display on stage.

Little Fish Records (LFR) is aCleveland-based record label commit-ted to presenting the finest local andregional sounds within a wide varietyof musical genres, including Reggae,World, Americana, Blues, Folk, andRock. Little Fish Records is a divisionof Cross Track Music, Inc., a full-ser-vice provider of artist services, includ-ing management, promotions, distribu-tion, bookings, publishing, and foreign

December 2006 • Issue 289PAGE SIX

licensing.The Little Fish Records website,

www.littlefishrecords.com, hosts andsells its “Cleveland Classics” compre-hensive collection of music by Cleve-land-based artists from the 60’s topresent. The site also offers digitaldownloads of sheet music, through itsaffiliation with the Music Notes stores.

By Mark SmithIf you find yourself bewildered

about what to purchase your favoriteblues buddy for Christmas or if you arestumped about what to put on your ownlist so that your clueless non-bluesfriends don’t buy you yet anotherHouse of Blues T-shirt, consider a fewof the following ideas:

• A Subscription to Blues RevueMagazine- $23.95 a year (6 issues).Call 1-800-258-7388. Subscribers willalso receive three Blues Revue sam-pler discs featuring a wide variety ofestablished and up and coming artists.

•. A subscription to Big City BluesMagazine- $25 per year (six issues),$50 for two years (12 issues) and $75for three years (18 issues). Send acheck or money order to Big City Blues,P.O. Box 1805, Royal Oak, MI 48068-1805.

• A Subscription to Living Blues-$23.95 a year (6 issues). Call 1-800-390-3527.

• David Dalton’s wonderful bookBeen Here and Gone- A Memoir of theBlues (Morrow, 2000) which brings thekey figures of blues history such asCharlie Patton, Lightning Hopkins,Blind Lemon Jefferson, Sonny BoyWilliamson, Leadbelly, Bessie Smithand Ma Rainey to life. Using a fictionalbluesman, Coley Williams, who growsup with the blues and meets these art-ists and many others along the way,Dalton adds three dimensions to thedry historical facts about their lives andtimes. Gamblers, con artists, drunks,divas and poets all found their way intothe blues and over the course of 395pages Dalton introduces us to all ofthem. You’ll never hear these artists the

www.jazz-blues.com

same way after they come alive for youthrough Coley William’s recollectionsof their times together. An indispens-able book for anyone with any interestin the characters who created theblues.

• Rollin’ and Tumblin’ –edited byJas Obrecht- A 480 page collection ofessays and interviews detailing the ca-reers of 25 electric blues guitarists in-cluding Lightnin’ Hopkins, HubertSumlin, Jimmy Rogers and Freddie,Albert and B.B. King.

• Membership in the Blues Foun-dation. $25 per year for membershipgives voting rights in the annual W.C.Handy competition, discounts on mer-chandise, the Foundation’s newsletterand other benefits. Call 1-800-861-8795.

• A membership in your local bluessociety.

• The Blues Highway- New Orleansto Chicago- is a road trip through thecradle of musical innovation in America.This travel and music guide followsHighway 61, the Illinois Central railroadand the Mississippi River to explore theroots of jazz, blues, Cajun, zydeco,country, rock & roll, soul and gospelmusic from Congo Square in New Or-leans to down-home Delta juke-jointsand on to South Side Chicago clubs.Exciting features include: detailed cityguides; extensive listings on where tostay and where to eat; where to findthe best music clubs and bars; historiclandmarks; who’s who of jazz andblues; when and where to find musicfestivals and events; and the people,culture and cuisine of The Blues High-way. I can speak from personal expe-rience- this book took me straight tosuch historic sights as the Stovall Plan-tation where Muddy Waters took hisfirst steps and countless other stops ona recent journey from New Orleansback to Michigan. A must have

• A piece of highly cool art for theblues lover can be scored atwww.primitivekoolart.com.

See ya next year !

Happy Holidays!

MONTEREY CA - The MontereyJazz Festival, a leader in jazz educa-tion since its inception in 1958, ispleased to announce the 3rd AnnualNext Generation Festival, featuring thenation’s most talented middle school,high school and college jazz musiciansand vocalists. The Next GenerationFestival, which includes MJF’s 37thAnnual National High School JazzCompetition, will take place in historicdowntown Monterey from March 23 -25, 2007. The Competition is accept-ing applications from middle school,college and high school big bands andfrom high school combos and vocaljazzensembles through January 24,2007.

Application forms may be down-loaded at the Monterey Jazz Festival’swebsite, montereyjazzfestival.org. Theapplication process is free.

The weekend-long event will in-clude performances and competitions,with awards going to the best groupsfor College, High School and MiddleSchool Big Band divisions; and for HighSchool Combos and Vocal Ensembles.The event also includes a CompositionCompetition open to high school com-posers, with the winning piece to bedebuted at the 50th Annual MontereyJazz Festival.

Auditions will also be held for chairsin the Monterey Jazz Festival’s NextGeneration Jazz Orchestra, whichtours internationally and is a featuredensemble on the Festival’s Sunday af-ternoon Arena/Lyons Stage.

The Next Generation Festival is anexpansion of the Monterey JazzFestival’s Annual National High SchoolJazz Competition, now in its 37th year.The High School Jazz Competition isopen to superior rated big bands, com-bos, and vocal ensembles. The non-competitive middle school category isopen to superior rated big bands. TheNext Generation Festival is also opento all college level big bands. “At theNext Generation Festival we empha-size the ‘festival’ aspect of the eventand offer students, teachers, and jazzfans the opportunity to come togetherto share and enjoy this wonderful mu-sic called jazz,” says Dr. Rob Klevan,the Director of Education of theMonterey Jazz Festival.

Monterey Jazz Festivalnow accepting applicationsfor Next Generation Festival

December 2006 • Issue 289 PAGE SEVEN

Off to the Races, Donald Byrd Here to Stay, Freddie Hubbard Happenings, Bobby Hutcherson

Demon’s Dance, Jackie McLean City Lights, Lee Morgan Doin’ the Thing at the Village Gate, Horace Silver

The Cooker, Lee Morgan It Might as Well be Spring, Ike Quebec

The Congregation, Johnny Griffin

Another Workout, Hank Mobley

Trompeta Toccata, Kenny DorhamRoyal Flush, Donald Byrd

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. More RVG Editions have just been released. If you think you’ve heard these gems before, listen again.

Available In Stores & Online • www.bluenote.com

December 2006 • Issue 289PAGE EIGHT

We only bring you

the Cream of the Crop!

SONNY ROLLINSSonny, PleaseDOXY RECORDS

On his first studio recording in five years and on his ownlabel, tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins performs seven tuneswith his cohesive working band featuring trombonist CliftonAnderson, guitarist Bobby Broom, bassist Bob Cranshaw, drum-mer Steve Jordan and percussionist Kimati Dinizulu.

A month after returning from a sold-out Japanese tour inNovember 2005, the band went into the studio and, on fivedates from December to February 2006, recorded three stan-dards and four Rollins originals. Rollins is in peak form on thisrecording, demonstrating the expressive, flowing, imaginativechops and warm tonalities he’s been long known for. His play-ing is especially noteworthy on ballads such as the Noel Cow-

ard standard, “Someday I’ll Find You” and the warhorse 1930stune “Stairway to the Stars.” Yet, it’s his own compositionssuch as the “Sonny, Please” (quoting his late wife Lucille),“Nishi” (named for a bassist friend in Japan) and “Park PalaceParade” (citing the now-defunct Spanish Harlem dance hallwhere calypso bands played) that pack the most vitality. Hiswaltzing “Remembering Tommy,” first written 15 years ago fora session with Tommy Flanagan, pays tribute to the late pia-nist.

This attention-grabbing recording captures Rollins at hisbest and his team mates individually and collectively matchhis mastery. Nancy Ann Lee

JUNIOR WELLSLive at Theresa’s 1975

DELMARKNews of this previously unissued live Junior Wells record-

ing from 1975 came as a wonderful surprise to blues fans as.Delmark has issued Live at Theresa’s 1975, taken from re-cordings made for broadcast on Chicago station WXRT-FM.Theresa’s was a small neighborhood bar that was Wells’ homebase until it closed. Wells was supported by a band that in-cluded Phil Guy on guitar and Earnest Johnson bass. On thetwo dates from January 1975, Byther Smith or SammyLawhorn are on guitar and Vince Chapelle or Levi Warren areon drums.

There are some fine performances of songs that werestaples of Wells’ repertoire until his death, such as Little ByLittle, Come On in This House, It Hurts Me Too, What My MamaTold Me and Messing With the Kid. Smith takes a vocal onHelp the Poor from B.B. King’s repertoire. The music is solid,and there is plenty of banter from Junior including singingHappy Birthday to photographer Mark PoKemper and actingas PoKemper’s pitchman. Junior and the band were in terrificform and Phil Guy and Earnest Johnson were also regularmembers of Wells’ touring band when he joined up with BuddyGuy at the time. This is a marvelous addition to his discogra-phy and certainly a must for fans of his music and post-warChicago blues. Ron Weinstock

LYNNE ARRIALE TRIOLynne Arriale Trio Live

MOTEMA MUSIC DVD/CD SETPianist Lynne Arriale performs with her trio in this spec-

tacular 2005 performance recorded live Germany. This DVD/CD set is her tenth recording as leader and her sixth releasewith bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Steve Davis, togetheras a band since 1993.

Although she didn’t begin playing jazz until her mid-twen-ties, Arriale has evolved into a dramatic player whose ap-proach is full of passion and creative spirit. There are hints ofKeith Jarrett, Bill Evans, and McCoy Tyner in her playing andshe loves the Beatles’ music, but Arriale has a style her ownthat’s full of striking melodies and unexpected harmonictouches, artfully supported here by Anderson and Davis.

The DVD contains 10 tunes (the CD, nine) and featurespop/jazz standards and Arriale originals.

The added DVD performance, a haunting version of“Alone Together,” finds Arriale in a true Jarrett-mode, stretch-ing to the outside edge while Davis and Anderson spur heron. After bass and drum solos, Arriale brings the tune fullcircle to the melody head. It’s one of the best tracks on the

The 2006 Holiday Gift GuidePart 4 begins on page 13

December 2006 • Issue 289 PAGE NINE

FRI 8 .......... DAVE ‘C’ & THE SHARPTONES

SAT 9.......... ACES & EIGHTS

FRI 15 ........ K.G. BLUES

SAT 16........ SWAMP BOOGIE BAND

FRI 22 ........ CITY HEAT

SAT 23........ THE CHOSEN FEW

FRI 29 ........ DENZON AND THE ROADDOGGZ

SAT 30........ COLIN DUSSAULT & THE BLUES PROJECT

December

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album. Other renderings include Arriale originals such as theAfrican-themed “Iko Iko,” the sonorous “Home,” and the lively“Braziliana.” The trio also delivers refreshing takes on the JohnLennon/Paul McCartney classic “Come Together” and a per-colating version of Thelonious Monk’s “Bemsha Swing.”

DVD production quality is first rate. Camera operatorsand production crews seem to know jazz and add significantlyto making this an exciting viewing experience. Extras on theDVD include an engrossing 25-minute PBS video “Profile of aPerforming Artist” which features Arriale expressing herthoughts on jazz and performing with her trio; an interviewwith Woomy Schmidt; and band bios. Coupled with the mainperformance, the DVD extras make the project an exampleof how to do things right.

This first-rate DVD/CD project could become a bench-mark performance for piano trios. I’ve been admiring Arriale’srecordings for awhile. To see and hear her in action on thisDVD is a genuine treat. Visit www.LynneArriale.com for moreinfo or to purchase this set. Nancy Ann Lee

CLEVELAND FATSThe Way Things GoHONEYBEE RECORDS

I first met Mark Hahn when he was playing guitar with thelate Robert Lockwood, Jr. for over a decade (and he is onseveral of Lockwood’s albums including the classic Does 12).His last gig as part of Lockwood’s band at the Blue BayouFestival that took place in 1991 or 1992 at the Prince George’sEquestrian Center, after which Hahn started leading his ownband using the name Cleveland Fats. This new release is, Ibelieve, his fourth album since starting his solo career andwas produced by Earwig Music’s Michael Frank with an ex-cellent band that includes veteran bassist Aaron Burton; pia-nists Aaron Moore and Ariyo; drummer Dave Jefferson; saxo-phonist Doc Thomas; and organist Vince Willis. Billy Branchadds his harp on four tracks and Lockwood himself appearson four tracks which are among the final studio recordings onwhich the legend played.

This was recorded in Chicago, with Lockwood’s contri-

butions overdubbed a month later in Cleveland. Hahn himselfstarted getting into blues after catching B.B. King on a Cleve-land TV show. The next day the local store was out of B.B.’salbums and so he picked up an Albert King album. Both Kings,T-Bone and a host of others, especially Mr. Lockwood, shapedhis strong urban blues guitar playing. Echoes of Lockwoodphrasing heard on his solo on “Don’t Call Me,” one of thetracks with Branch’s remarkable harp artistry. The openingbars on “Invisible Man” echo Lockwood’s intro to Lockwood’s1960 recording “This is the Blues,” before Hahn launches intosome nice slide as Branch embellishes with fine harp. Thesetracks feature Hahn’s solid singing that to these ears suggestthe late Louis Myers and Chris Cain. And these numbers, likemost of the selections, are Hahn’s originals that deserve to bepicked up by others. “Cell Phone Blues” has an amusing lyricas Fats sings “Don’t want no cell phone hanging around withme, cause I may go to places I ain’t supposed to be.”

Lockwood first appears on the solid updating of SonnyThompson’s easy tempo shuffle “Long Gone,” taking thesecond solo. Hahn’s fine original “Blues Time” is a slow blueswith Hahn’s playing nodding a bit to T-Bone as well asLockwood with Lockwood taking another fine solo that wouldhave been at home on any of Robert’s albums. Just Fats,Branch and Lockwood are heard on Lockwood’s “Dead orAlive,” which Fats sings nicely as the three provide a relaxed,swinging performance.

This is marvelously recorded and performed and withRobert Lockwood now gone, this disc indicates that otherswill be helping keep his musical legacy alive by their ownmusic. Highly recommended. Ron Weinstock

ERNEST DAWKINS’NEW HORIZONS ENSEMBLE

The Messenger: Live at the Original Velvet LoungeDELMARK DVD (OR CD)

Building on the Chicago tradition begun by the AACM(Association for the Advancement of Creative Music) and otherWindy City forerunners, saxophonist Ernest Dawkins leadsan inventive (pianoless) group consisting of trumpeter Maurice

December 2006 • Issue 289PAGE TEN

Brown, trombonist Steve Berry, bassist Darius Savage anddrummer Isaiah Spencer.

Captured in a video set at the old Velvet Lounge, the bois-terous ensemble (founded in 1979) generates a big inside-out sound on six tunes, launching with “Mean Ameen,” a nearly11-minute spree named for the band’s first recruit (AmeenMuhammad) who died prematurely on 2/27/2003. Otherstunes include the groovin’ title tune; a drawling “Goin’ Down-town Blues” (featuring Dawkins’ vocals); the restless, riffing17-minute “Toucouleur”; an AACM-sounding space traveler,“The Brood”; and a rowdy fun-filled, New Orleans-tinged romp,“Lookin’ for Ninny.”

This July 14, 2005 gig (also available on CD) shows thatDawkins continues to create innovative, accessible music andhas plenty of stage charisma. The set rolls and rumbles withdeep grooves, solid front-line improvs and sterling musician-ship on a mixture of blues, bop, swing, Afro-Latin and tingesof avant-garde. Extra chapters on the DVD version includequick takes of Dawkins’ story about “The Boute” in Paris anda closing chant, “Go Fred” for owner Fred Anderson.

Dawkins, born November 2, 1953 on Chicago’s SouthSide, began his musical journey at age 12. He first studiedbass, played congas, and finally by age 19 got turned ontoreeds and took his first lesson at the AACM’s center. He laterformed his own band but has also performed with other Chi-cago bands as well as national acts. He holds a Masters inMusic Education degree.

Excellent camera work captures the action in detail, mov-ing in for close-ups on the soloists and documenting the ex-

citement and audience appreciation. Sound production issuperb. I’ve caught Dawkins’ New Horizons Ensemble in liveperformance at the Chicago Jazz Festival and this DVD aptlycatches the band in an intimate, benchmark performance thatwill be long-treasured by fans of Dawkins and the AACM aura.

Nancy Ann Lee

JOHN MOONEYBig Ol’ FiyaLML RECORDS

Its been four years since John Mooney had a new albumout, and he has produced his latest on LML Records (LiveMusic Lives, which should satisfy fans of his unique musicalgumbo of Son House-influenced delta blues with CrescentCity grooves.

This album also includes the keyboards of Jon Clearyalong with the bass of the late Jeff Sarli, percussionist Alfred‘Uganda’ Roberts and drummer Raymond Webber althoughBernard ‘Bunche’ Johnson is on two tracks and engineer MarkBingham picks up the bass for one track. Opening with a hotgroove on 2 Get 2 Heaven, the band kicks into high gear asMooney sings “I didn’t come here, to preach & pray; I ain’there to soothe you; ‘Cause you works all day; I ain’t here, tokiss & tell; I’m just tryin’ to getta out this hell.” as Mooneyadds some driving, crying slide. The title track follows as thetempo slows a bit with Cleary on organ as Mooney adds somenice slide runs with a lyric about what was love at first sightand how she is on his mind all day long but she left him andbroke his heart. Voice and slide are in harmony as Mooneystarts Dig My Way 2 China, how his woman left him so low heis digging his way down to China.

Few attempt to rework Son House songs, but Mooney’sinterpretations carry an authority that in part reflect what helearned directly from the archetypal blues legend. Here heprovides us a strong small band rendition of House’s LouisMcGhee, with Sarli, Roberts and Webber providing the strongcomplimentary backing for Mooney. A Mooney original, DoYou Love Me, is another strong performance rooted in thedelta blues of House and his friend Willie Brown.

The remainder is in a similar vein and is a most welcomeaddition to Mooney’s strong discography. For more informa-tion can check Mooney’s website, www.johnmooneylive.comwhich will link you to www.cdbaby.com which is where yourreviewer obtained this strong release. Ron Weinstock

CHARLES MINGUSCharles Mingus at UCLA 1965

Mingus Big Band Live in Tokyo 2005MINGUS MUSIC/SUNNYSIDE

Although the late composer-bassist Charles Mingus diedin 1979, his music lives on not only on his authentic record-ings but also through performances and recordings organizedby his widow, Sue Mingus, for the Mingus Dynasty, the MingusBig Band, the Mingus Orchestra and the Epitaph Orchestra.

These two separate recordings, Music Written forMonterey, 1965 Not Heard...Played Live in Its Entirety at UCLAand The Mingus Big Band Live in Tokyo at the Blue Note,2005 were released simultaneously in the fall of 2006. Thetwo-disc 1965 set documents the jazz giant with his band andthe other captures the big band bearing his name 40 yearslater.

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) gig fea-

December 2006 • Issue 289 PAGE ELEVEN

tures Mingus leading his octet through 11 compositions.Mingus had performed at the 1964 Monterey Festival andreturned the next year to debut a collection of difficult mate-rial. However, his set was cut to one half hour and most of theset list was scrapped. A week later, he premiered and recordedthe material in a “workshop” concert at UCLA. Since themasters were destroyed when Capitol cleaned its vaults in1971, the stunning performance was expertly remastered fromthe original vinyl. The band included trumpeters HobartDotson, Lonnie Hillyer and Jimmy Owens; alto saxophonistCharles McPherson; French horn player Julius Watkins; tubaplayer Howard Johnson; drummer Dannie Richmond andMingus on bass. Tunes include “One Upon A Time, ThereWas A Holding Corporation Called Old America” (a later ver-sion was titled “The Shoes of the Fisherman’s Wife Are SomeJive-ass Slippers”), “Meditation On Inner Peace,” “The Artsof Tatum and Freddy Webster,” and some tunes that providerare opportunities to hear Mingus perform on otherwise un-available compositions. A 20-page liner booklet describesevents leading to the performance and the performance it-self, unavailable on CD until now.

The 2005 Tokyo Blue Note set showcases the current14-piece Mingus Big Band playing rousing newly-arrangedcompositions from the Mingus songbook. Musicians includetrumpeters Eddie Henderson, Jack Walrath and Alex Sipiagin;saxophonists Abraham Burton, Craig Handy, Wayne Escoffery,Seamus Blake and Ronnie Cuber; trombonists Ku-umba FrankLacy, Conrad Herwig and Earl McIntyre; pianist Dave Kikoski;bassist Kenny Davis and drummer Johnathan Blake playingMingus classics such as “Opus 4,” “Meditations,”“Ecclusiastics,” “Free Cell Block 8,” and other numbers thatexude explosive energy.

These dazzling discs capture the melodiousness, energyand spirit of Mingus’ music and add nicely to existing record-ings by both the ingenious Mingus and the faithful Mingusbands formed after his passing. Nancy Ann Lee

SPECIALTY PROFILE SERIESCONCORD RECORDS

Concord Music Group’s release of six initial Specialty Pro-file budget reissues hopefully will introduce some to the greatmusic that has been issued by Fantasy Records prior toConcord’s acquisition of the label last year. Originally calledJuke Box, Specialty was one of the independent labels thatemerged after World War II that was central in the release ofso much rhythm’n’blues, gospel and blues as well as some ofthe most important pioneering rock’n’roll recordings. Thesereleases have 14 performances by the featured artist and asecond bonus CD with ten performances by Specialty artists.

Roy Milton, inspired by the big bands led his Solid Send-ers, the prototypical jump blues band, that in its tight, punchysound captured some of the flavor of the bigger bands on aprogram of blues and jump numbers. Milton was a swingingdrummer and an ingratiating vocalist with a terrific band thatfeatured the wonderful pianist Camille Howard. Milton hadmany charting records, which became staples of the emerg-ing rhythm and blues music. Two of his recordings Milton’sBoogie, his version of Count Basie’s Boogie Woogie andMilton’s Hop Skip & Jump were recorded by Elmore Jamespianist Little Johnnie Jones while such numbers as R.M. Bluesand Information Blues still appeal with the strong driving swing

and superb musicianship. This is terrific stuff.John Lee Hooker recorded prolifically between the late

forties and early fifties for a variety of labels including Spe-cialty who acquired sides produced by Bernie Besman inDetroit. The 14 selections presented by Specialty captureHooker on his driving one-chord boogies such as his revisit-ing of his first hit, Boogie Chillen, his slow brooding lamentabout a cheating woman which he would later visit for Vee-Jay, I’m Mad, and the hot duet with harmonica player EddieBurns, Burnin’ Hell, where he proclaims “Ain’t no heaven,ain’t no burning hell” as he lays down a hot boogie guitar riff.“There is a small combo version of Rosco Gordon’s No MoreDoggin’. This is this writer’s favorite period of John LeeHooker’s recording with some of his most powerful record-ings to which this disc is an excellent introduction.

After Fats Domino, probably no New Orleans artist hadthe impact of one Lloyd Price whose recording Lawdy MissClawdy was one of the first rhythm and blues hit recordingsto cross over to a white audience in a massive fashion. Pricewent on to a celebrated recording and performing career. The14 selections here come from two CDs of his music and is areasonable sample of his earliest recordings, dating from 1952or 1953 with the exception of 1956’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Dance.Price’s earliest recordings for Specialty had him backed byDave Bartholomew’s legendary studio band with Fats Dominoon piano for the Lawdy Miss Clawdy session while later ses-sions included pianists Edward Frank and Huey ‘Piano’ Smithand such horn players as Wallace Davenport and HerbHardesty. These tracks are classic New Orleans R&B withtracks like Mailman Blues, or Where You At? being hot rock-ers. Price’s youth perhaps leads to some vocals sounding asa bit overwrought (If Crying Was Murder).

Larry Williams was Lloyd Price’s second cousin, and bornin New Orleans although his family moved to the West Coastin his youth, returning to the New Orleans a couple of times,including stints with his cousin as driver and valet and thenbriefly with Fats Domino. He joined Specialty around the timeLittle Richard had quit music and with hits like Bony Moronie,Short Fat Fanny and Dizzy Miss Lizzy, which also influencedan imaginative John in Liverpool. He was a solid pianist,pounding out his boogie rocking licks backed by some of thebest studio bands in Hollywood with transplanted New Or-leans drummer Earl Palmer anchoring things. These weresplendid rock and roll recordings. There is a nice rendition ofhis cousin’s Just Because along with Sonny Bono’s HighSchool Dance and She Said Yeah, the coupling Bad Boy andSlow Down, covered by the Beatles, and Little School Girl, areworking of the blues classic Good Morning Little Schoolgirl.Williams could not handle success leading to drug problemsand an early death, but his legacy is these terrific recordings.

Percy Mayfield was labeled The Poet Laureate of the Blues,for his wonderfully crafted sophisticated blues. As a performer,he sang with an intimacy that matched the sophistication ofhis lyrics. Until disfigures in an auto accident he had the looksto make him a major star and still remained an majorsongwriter (hired by Rat Charles) as well as a performer whocontinued to make thoughtful and sophisticated recordingsuntil his death. His songs, including Please Send Me Someoneto Love, Strange Things Happening, The River’s Invitation, LostLove (aka Baby Please) and Lost Mind, have become bluesstandards and his original recordings are terrific. Given thatonly 14 selections were chosen, Mayfield’s early demo of Hit

December 2006 • Issue 289PAGE TWELVE

the Road, Jack, might have been omitted along with the duetwith Joy Hamilton, Sugar Mama-Peachy Papa, as they arebelow the level of these other included recordings.

The last of the reissues is devoted to the legendary SamCooke with the Soul Stirrers and includes of a nice samplingof his early gospel recordings along with several of his earli-est pop recordings. Nine of the selections are Cooke as amember of the Soul Stirrers in which he shares the lead withPaul Foster whose vocals are as remarkable as Cooke’s. Lis-ten to the closing I’m Gonna Build Right on That Shore, whereFoster takes the first lead with Cooke taking the lead mid-song and then the two trade lead verses. Its a remarkableperformance but just one of several classic gospel recordingshere including renditions of Thomas Dorsey’s Peace in theValley, Cooke’s Touch the Hem of His Garment and Jesus GaveMe Water. The five pop performances by Cooke include I’llCome Running Back to You, Lovable and I Don’t Want to Cry,but Cooke’s mostly are overshadowed by his later pop re-cordings. Still, this is a fine overview of early Sam Cooke andthe Soul Stirrers recordings sound fresh even today.

Ron Weinstock

RICHIE COLE& THE ALTO MADNESS ORCHESTRA

Risë’s Rose GardenJAZZ EXCURSION

Dedicated to alto saxophonist Richie Cole’s late wife, Risë(Ree-sah), this two-disc set containing 18 tunes was recordedin April 2006 after they performed eight sold-out sets at the

Jazz Standard in New York City.Recording shortly after his wife’s death, Cole produced,

arranged and conducted all the tunes in this studio set featur-ing Bobby Howell (tenor sax), Nathan Eklund, Chris Jaudes,and Jack Walrath (trumpets on various tracks), Rick Stepton(trombone), Vic Juris (guitar), Don Friedman (piano), RickCrane (bass), Wayne Dunton (drums) and percussionist RayMantilla on two tracks. The combined discs feature Cole’sband in formations from quartet to full ensemble performingan array of Cole’s enjoyable originals as well as pop and jazzstandards such as “There Will Never Be Another You,” “Ca-nadian Sunset,” “Speak Low,” “Town Without Pity,” “Blue-berry Hill,” and more.

Cole’s fluency and expressiveness, his talents as com-poser-arranger, and his ability to tag a team of talented musi-cians makes this a first-rate listen that bops, swings, and swaysmajestically. Nancy Ann Lee

CHICK WILLISCookin’ the Blues:

A Tribute to Albert King featuring Chick WillisOLD SCHOOL PRODUCTIONS

Its been close to forty years since this writer acquired a45 by one Chick Willis that included a solid rendition of Gui-tar Slim’s The Things I Used to Do. Shortly thereafter, Chickrecorded another single that would generate his career defin-ing song, Stoop Down Baby. Such a song can be a blessingand a curse because it does provide work but it is also analbatross that prevents folks from appreciating just how goodand varied a blues performer he is as opposed to be limitedto bawdy double entendre numbers. Jacques ‘Saxman’Johnson and Dr. Bill Clark had Chick come in to the Wash-ington, D.C. area for a gig at Blues Alley as well as a record-ing session. The result is this new Old School ProductionsCD.

As the album title suggests, Chick is heard on a numberof songs associated with the late blues giant including Can’tYou See What You Are Doing to Me, I’ll Play the Blues For You,Angel of Mercy, Laundromat Blues, and What the Blues is AllAbout. Willis sings and plays his distinctive guitar in a straight-forward fashion and Johnson leads a punchy and brassy hornsection supporting Willis’ fine performances. Four of the tentracks are instrumentals that give the Saxman a chance tostretch out, including a rousing rendition of The Hucklebuck,with Bill Clark getting some space to show his Hammond B-3 skills and Johnson’s son, Jacques Jr. being featured quiteadmirably on guitar.

In summary, Cookin’ the Blues is a delightful blues treatwith solid Willis interpretations of classic Albert king record-ings mixed in with the Saxman’s tenor sax features for anadded treat. For information on how to order, contact OldSchool Records at Jacques Johnson’s websitewww.jacquessaxmanjohnson.com or email sax251@aol.com.A website that carries some of the Old School Records andhopefully will have this one is www.rightonrhythm.com.

Ron Weinstock

Issues, Special Issues, Back Issues andThousands of CD & DVD Reviews

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December 2006 • Issue 289

A PeterWhite ChristmasFEATURING

Rick BraunMindi Abair

December 11Monday, 7:30 PM$35, $30, $25 & $10

TICKETS: Ticket Office216.241.6000PlayhouseSquare.orgGroup discounts: 216.664.6050

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Jazz & Blues Report32nd Annual Holiday Gift Guide - Part 4

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, we have included several items in other genres for those folkswith diverse tastes, or those who are not into jazz or blues as such. This year we started the GiftGuide in the September and October issues...so this is Part 3. Around the middle of Novemberyou can download the standalone Gift Guide from jazz-blues.com to get each installment alltogether, plus the entire Gift Guide from 2005 to give you even more ideas. Happy shopping!

Finally! Boy, I wish Ihad a dollar for every timeI’ve stated “I wonder whatever happened to RufusHarley.” Well Rufuspassed away in July ofthis year, but thanks toRhino Handmade, hismusic lives on.

projected that humor through his music, which is no doubtpart of why it is so much fun to listen to. Back in the 70s I dida radio show on WBFO in Buffalo and would occasionallyplay a pipes heavy Harley song. The phones would never failto light up. Most folks loved it, but of course a few squareswould say “what the hell are you doing up there...are youhigh?”

This set not only brings together all four of his albums intheir entirety, but also includes two previously unreleased

RUFUS HARLEYCourage

RHINO HANDMADE

So, who is he? Well, the is the first black jazz bagpipeplayer. Let’s face it, he’s probably the only jazz bagpipe player,unless you know of others. Harley was born in 1936 and startedplaying the sax at 12, later adding flute, clarinet, oboe andtrumpet to his arsenal. After seeing the bagpipe players atKennedy’s funeral, he thought he’d try something different.You got it...jazz bagpipes!

Harley picked up his first set of pipes after quite a search,started playing jazz on them, somehow hooked up with pro-ducer Joel Dorn and put out his first album on Atlantic Recordsin 1966 titled Bagpipe Blues. He offered varied stuff, like theblues title track with a drone opening, the traditional Irishsong “Kerry Dancers,” the ballad “Who Can I Turn To,” “ChimChim Cheree” played along the lines of Coltrane’s versionand “Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child.”

Harley plays bagpipes throughout this 2-CD set, but alsoplays tenor & soprano saxes and flute. And he was a verygood player on all of them. After his ’66 debut, he releasedScotch & Soul later the same year, followed by A Tribute ToCourage in ’67 and Kings/Queens in ’70. All four albums wereproduced by Dorn for Atlantic Records. Harley had a greatsense of humor – let’s face it, you would have to to play jazzbagpipes – check out his version of The Byrds “Eight MilesHigh” for example, with his pipes replacing Roger McGuinn’stwelve string guitar and the vocals, along with a little helpfrom Eric Gale. That’s only one example of many found here.And he would dress up in Scottish garb, sometimes with a kiltand a viking helmet with horns and all. He sure would havebeen a great subject for a filmed documentary! But Harley

Palace Theatre

December 2006 • Issue 289PAGE FOURTEEN

bonus tracks – “Pipin’ The Blues,” which he recorded on aSonny Stitt album, and a version of Pete Seeger’s “WhereHave All The Flowers Gone, a previously unreleased trackfrom the King/Queens sessions. While the first three albumsare more in the modal, straight-ahead, traditional (and otherstuff) veins, the funky direction on much on the last disc is afun listen, to say the least. And the last two songs “King” and“Queens” are the icing on the cake, featuring only Harley onpipes and Nadi Quamar on mamalukembia, which sounds tome like a mbira (or kalimba or African thumb piano) andMadagascar harp.

So, in closing...if you know a jazz fan with a sense ofhumor you can turn him or her onto something really differ-ent with this Harley set. And I can pretty much guarantee youthey will not already have it. Or...perhaps that person is you?This is available for 39.99 in a limited edition of 3,000 num-bered copies only from Rhino Handmade atwww.rhinohandmade.com. Bill Wahl

The past decade ofacid-jazz, trip-hop and allvariants of re-mixologyhas inarguably made thecase of the undying im-portance of ”da groove”.If one can nod one’s headto it or sway side to side

WHAT IT IS!Funky Soul

and Rare GroovesRHINO BOXED SET

to it, there’s something fundamentally right about a track.This king-of-anthologies label has quite possibly surpassedits own typical brilliance with this most imaginative four-disc collection of mostly obscure and consistently funky fare.

Culled from Atlantic and Warner Brothers vaults, thegreat majority of the ninety-one gems on What It Is! Hailfrom the glorious late 60’s and early 70’s boom times forr&b. Known soul quantities like Aretha Franklin, ClarenceCarter and King Curtis are represented as are jazz figuresincluding Junior Mance and Wade Marcus. It’s the droves oflesser-knowns and obscure sides, however, that make thiscollection the intriguing set that it is. Bands such asRasputin’s Stash, Harlem River Drive and Little Sister maynot now be on the tip of your tongue but that may be justbecause you haven’t yet checked them out. While reliablyfunky at the bottom a good number of tracks are unexpect-edly inventive, ranging from psychedelic to undeniably jazzyon top.

If you had a buddy that could entertain you ‘til the weehours with all sorts of crazy 45’s, this is the package thatcould put you in his league. Add a lava lamp or two and

What It Is! also makes for world-class party music- plat-form shoes optional. Duane Verh

Issues, Special Issues, Back Issues andThousands of CD & DVD Reviews

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VAN MORRISONLive at Montreux 1980/1974

EAGLE VISION DVDThere are thousands of Van Morrison fans scattered

throughout the world who have been long awaiting a live per-formance DVD. Well, folks, here it is. Anyone who is unfamil-iar with Van has probably been living in a cave for the past 40years or so and are not even reading this, so we’ll dispensewith historical and biographical data and get right to the point.

This 2-DVD set is a marvelous collection of 24 Morrisonperformances live at Montreux, now aged over 25 years. Tosay it is Van in his prime is not quite true...he is still in hisprime. But these “vintage” concerts certainly find him in muchyounger years singing many of his better-known songs plusmany more obscure writings. This is not unlike attending oneof his concerts today, where you leave the theatre saying”thatwas a great concert! Too bad he didn’t play....” I saw one inChicago where he didn’t play “Mondance,” which may havebummed some people out but was fine by me since manyradio stations think that’s the only song he has. He does do ithere though, along with such favorites as “It Stoned Me” (donein a bit of a reggae style, “Tupelo Honey,” “Wavelength,” “StreetChoir,” “Listen To The Lion,” “Wild Night” and “Satisfied.”And there are many more not as well known songs to feastupon.

His penchant for mixing genres is evident throughout, asit is in all his concerts. After his Blue Note CD, his show leanedmore towards jazz and blues. I’ve heard that after his recentcountry album his concerts leaned in that direction. Here oneshow is livelier and more in a rock vein, where the other ismore laid back leaning more toward jazz & blues. His bandson both are top notch, and the horn section of Pee Wee Ellisand Mark Isham on the ’74 date deserves special mention.Although he is not known as a showman, Van certainly seemedto be having a good time here and also played quite a bit ofguitar back in those days.

Van, who has played many shows at Montreux over theyears, had a lot to do with the release of this material and is infact the producer. Both the sound and video quality is firstclass, and the 2-1/2 hours are all about the music rather thanspecial effects. It’s been a long time coming, but worth thewait. This would be a perfect gift for any Van Morrison fan,and I’m sure we all know some of them. Bill Wahl

THE HEATH BROTHERSBrotherly Jazz

DANSUN PROD. DVDThe Heath Brothers have long been one of the most fa-

mous families in jazz. Their story is well told on this new docu-mentary DVD which also features some fine performances.

Set around a 2004 concert in a California amphitheater,the 70-minute video features a slew of stories told by the broth-ers, friends, family and fellow musicians including SonnyRollins, Herbie Hancock, Taj Mahal, Jack DeJohnette, Chris-tian McBride, producer Orrin Keepnews, George Wein andthe late news anchor Peter Jennings.

Some of the topics include bassist Percy Heath’s tenureas a Tuskegee Airman, bass lessons from Ray Brown and hislongstanding work as a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet.Saxophonist Jimmy speaks of his rebound and blossomingcareer after serving in prison, and one of the things drummer

December 2006 • Issue 289 PAGE FIFTEEN

Colin Dussualt’s Blues Project “Recorded Live at theMain Street Cafe” - The 10th compact disc from thehardest working band in northeast Ohio.Available Now!

Available online at: www.colindussault.comAvailable online at: www.colindussault.comAvailable online at: www.colindussault.comAvailable online at: www.colindussault.comAvailable online at: www.colindussault.comor at any of the bands’ live shows.or at any of the bands’ live shows.or at any of the bands’ live shows.or at any of the bands’ live shows.or at any of the bands’ live shows.

To order contact: Colin Dussaultc/o Dussault Moving Inc.13000 Athens Avenue,

Cleveland, Ohio 44107. (216) 221-5288

Tootie speaks of is that if it were not forhis older musician brothers he mighthave become a doctor or lawyer.Boy...he’s a great drummer...what abummer that would have been!

You’ll also see some rare vintagefootage of Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parkerand others. To give an idea of some ofthe topics covered, some of the chaptertitles are “Philadelphia” (their home-town), “The Brothers Beginnings,”“Drugs and Jail,” “Cabaret Card,” “DizzyGillespie” and “Segregation.” The 2004concert footage of the brothers onceagain reminds us that they are amongthe classiest musicians in jazz.

This is a well put together DVD pro-duced by longtime concert producerDanny Scher (at whose home this 300seat venue was at - must be tough!) anddirected by Jesse Block, who has beenvideo director for the Monterey Jazz Fes-tival since 2003 and worked for BET forits jazz programs before that.

The concert performances herewere one of the last times they per-formed together before Percy’s 2005death at 81. Jimmy just turned 80 Oc-tober 25 and has a full schedule per-forming and teaching. Albert has beenworking with an all-percussion en-

semble, The Whole Drum Truth, withfellow drummers Ben Riley, Ed Thigpenand Billy Hart. A fitting tribute to theHeath Brothers, this would be a nice treatfor a true acoustic jazz fan. Bill Wahl

MUDDY WATERSClassic Concerts

UNIVERSAL MUSIC DVDThree classic performances- New-

port 1960, Copenhagen 1968 and Molde(Norway) 1977- showcase Muddy inthree very different phases of his careerwith very distinctive band lineups. In hismidlife prime at Newport, Muddy’s solid,businesslike set becomes all fun andgames as he and guests (includingCount Basie vocal star Jimmy Rushing)cut up during the encore. Enjoying his“second life” with a more youthful fol-lowing, Muddy still cuts a virile figure inCopenhagen on a set further highlightedby features by pianist/half brother OtisSpann. As the grand old man of the bluessitting in a chair at Molde, Muddy isbacked by the group that would carryon after his passing as the LegendaryBlues Band.

All three are quality sets and theNewport footage in particular is capti-

vating stuff. Shot in black and white,Muddy’s no-nonsense, straightforwarddelivery contrasts well with the cutawaysto the casual summertime Newport au-dience. A goodly number of visiblyyounger white folk look like precursorsto Woodstock Nation. This is must-havematerial for Muddy’s fans. Duane Verh

WYNTON MARSALISIn this House, On This Morning

GENEON ENTERTAINMENT DVDThis DVD documents a July 1992

live performance by the Wynton MarsalisSeptet at the Munich Philharmonic Hall.The work initially premiered on May 22,1992 in Avery Fisher Hall at Manhattan’sLincoln Center and was released in atwo-CD set by Columbia in 1994. It wasnot available on DVD, until now.

Although the original work was com-posed as a three-part suite, the tray linershows it as 21 tracks on a “Song List”yet it’s listed as 14 chapters on the DVDmenu. Marsalis’ suite follows the struc-ture of an African-American church ser-vice (usually in 12 parts) with tunestitled, “The Devotional,” “Call To Prayer,”“Processional,” “Representative Offer-ings,” “The Lord’s Prayer,” and so onuntil the final piece, “Pot Blessed Din-

December 2006 • Issue 289PAGE SIXTEEN

ner.”Musicians include Marsalis on trumpet, Wess Anderson

(alto sax), Todd Williams (tenor/Soprano sax), Wycliffe Gor-don (trombone), Reginald Veal (bass), Herlin Riley (drums),and Eric Reed (Piano). This band broke up by 1995, althoughthe musicians still occasionally collaborate.

When the CD came out, critics lamented that it takesawhile for the music to get going and that this Marsalis worknods to influences of Ellington. Still, the suite was especiallyhailed for the ear-pleasing final section, “In the Sweet Em-brace of Life,” which begins with a bluesy bass melody head.

Camera work and sound quality are superb and the DVDbrings the performance to life. There are plenty of close-upson the drummer, bassist and pianist as well as collectiveand individual shots of members of the four-horn front line.Performance run time is about 123 minutes and it’s pre-sented both in Dolby 5.1 Surround and PCM UncompressedStereo and includes a Wynton Marsalis biography, bandmember bios and program notes.

It’s a treat to witness the performance as if you were inthe wings. Why it took so long to come out on DVD is amystery but it’s a treat to see one of my favorite versions ofthe Marsalis band in action, particularly for WessellAnderson’s playing and for their collective bluesy interpre-tations, expressiveness, and brilliant improvisations.

Nancy Ann Lee

BUDDY GUYCLARENCE “GATEMOUTH” BROWN

BOBBY PARKERCarlos Santana Presents Blues at Montreux 2004

EAGLE VISION DVDFirst up..this is not a Santana DVD. In 2004 Carlos

Santana produced a series of blues concerts at the MontreuxJazz Festival featuring three blues legends who were an earlyinspiration to the guitarist - Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown,Bobby Parker and Buddy Guy. His musical contribution wasto join each of them for some songs or jams at the end oftheir shows.

The first disc features Bobby Parker, whose set is less onshow and more on roots than that of Guy’s. On first watchinghe seemed almost pedestrian by contrast to the other fea-tured bluesmen in the set, but upon return the way he attackshis guitar is a treat and his interchanges with Santana are funto watch. I will say that his band is not up to the level of Guy’sor Brown’s, and that may have been the problem I had withthe first viewing, especially since I watched Brown’s set first.

Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, who passed away in 2005,delivered a masterful set with the finest band of the threeconcerts here. Alto sax player Eric Demmer and keyboardman Joe Krown are absolute standouts. Gatemouth is oneof music’s most notorious genre jumpers, and he takes youon a trip through blues, jazz and country with equal finesseas he’s heard on vocals, guitar and violin. As opposed toSantana’s appearances on Parker’s set (where he prettymuch sounded like Santana) he goes into more of a straightblues mode on his four guest spots here, one of which, “I’veGot My Mojo Working,” also features Guy.

The final disc is Buddy Guy. He starts of with some soloacoustic numbers but his stage command and witty humorcome up right away. Both are turned up several notches when

the band comes out as he grabs one of his polka-dot guitarsand cuts loose. From then on out it is all action as one of thebiggest showmen in blues lets it all hang out, and has a hellof a good time doing it. In addition to some blistering play-ing from Guy throughout, plus Santana on the last four cuts(two of which are jam sessions), another highlight on his setis the appearances of sassy singer Barbara Morrison. She’svery much at home in blues and jazz and her tradeoffs withGuy on “Stormy Monday” are fantastic. Needles to say, Guyand Santana plus Parker on the closing four songs is prettymuch all out guitar-o-rama. I was going to drop some ofGuy’s humorous lines on you, but it is better to hear themfrom him.

Throw in the fact that the video and audio quality is firstrate and you have four hours of live blues to feast on overand over again. My only complaint is that some of the cam-era work should have focused on the soloists at times whenit strayed, but other than that, this set should please almostany blues fan many times ove and would make a most wel-come gift. Bill Wahl

KEITH JARRETTThe Carnegie Hall Concert

ECM RECORDSLong being a collector of Keith Jarrett’s solo recordings it

was a nice surprise to see this new live concert released. Thisis his first solo concert on North America in 10 years, andone of the first since his late 90s bout with chronic fatiguesyndrome. His U.S. solo return is not only most welcome, it isa masterpiece.

Jarrett, who is equally respected in both the worlds ofClassical and jazz music, has taken a new approach to thesolo ventures. While most, and especially the earlier ones,were very long pieces where he would come up with a newidea and change direction without stopping, he now finishesoff the piece he’s on...stops...waits...and starts a new piece.Thus, instead of two or three very long pieces over these twoCDs, we instead get 15 running anywhere from 3 to just over9 minutes. The breakdown is “The Carnegie Hall Concert”Parts I-X spread over Disc 1 and half of Disc 2, and five moresongs with actual titles finishing off the second disc. Thosewho have heard his solo albums will find this to be a sort ofhistory lesson. Over the years we’ve heard some free, angu-lar improvisation, blues, sweet balladry and the trancelike, orhypnotic and very lyrical pieces such as heard on the KolnConcert and parts of Sun Bear. On Carnegie Hall we hearthem all in one concert and the flow is perfect. Highlightsabound throughout this 100 minute performance, completewith 5 encores. Two of the five titled encores were actuallyimprovised at the concert and titled later. The other three werepreviously written Jarrett compositions. The third encore infact is a reprise of the ballad “My Song,” from his mid 70sBelonging album with his Scandinavian quartet (with JanGarbarek). What a treat!

The applause before each encore has been left in uncutat Jarrett’s request as he felt the audience was particularlytuned in to what he was doing and was an integral part of theelectrifying atmosphere. It is certainly electrifying on CD, andone can only imagine what it was like to sit in Carnegie Hallthat night in September of 2005. A great addition to anyone’scollection, and a fantastic gift choice as well for any occa-sion. Bill Wahl

December 2006 • Issue 289 PAGE SEVENTEEN

THE WAY THINGS GO is a fresh take on traditional Blues from the veteran

Bluesman. CLEVELAND FATS once again shows that he is a master singer, guitarist,

and songwriter highlighting his talents on nine originals and three covers. This recording

includes the re-teaming with his former boss and mentor ROBERT LOCKWOOD, JR.

and special guest BILLY BRANCH on harmonica.

CD NOW AVAILABLE DIRECT FROM HONEYBEE ENTERTAINMENTOnly $15 including shipping (outside US add $2). Send check or money order to

4786 Dressler RD NW #145, Canton, OH 44718. Or online at www.honeybeeblues.com

For booking information please contact BLUE SKUNK MUSIC at (847) 275-8378

J. J. CALETo Tulsa & Back

On Tour With J. J. CaleTIME LIFE VIDEO DVD

J. J. Cale, one of the most prolific songwriters of ourtime, is well known to be much more than just a bit of arecluse. Well, I don’t know what came over him, but he suretalks your ears off throughout this close to 3-hour long docu-mentary DVD, and he obviously has a lot to say.

Many may only be familiar with Cale via the fact that hewrote two of Eric Clapton’s biggest hits, “After Midnight” and“Cocaine.” But those are only a small sampling of his manytunes, and his musical style and guitar work is admired by ahost of musicians, including people like Clapton, MarkKnopfler, Carlos Santana, Neil Young and Brian Ferry. Hislaid back Tulsa sound is a clever mix of blues, jazz and coun-try and has an infectious mid-tempo groove. Now we get tosee what makes him tick.

You’ll travel with Cale and his band to a variety of areas,but the focal point is his return to his hometown of Tulsa. Hetakes you to his childhood home, the clubs he played andtells some tales to behold. His longtime bandmembers inter-ject their thoughts on their fearless leader as well, as doesEric Clapton, Cale’s sister and many others. I am not goingto tell you any more than that....don’t want to spoil your fun.

While documentaries are not something most peoplewatch over and over again, this one has a feature that war-rants repeated viewings. After the documentary there is abonus section with new songs, acoustic performances andconcerts. This part is exceptionally long and offers manyintimate performances from Cale from venues scattered allover the place. Again, I must admit I was really impressedwith just how long this section went on. I watched this DVDon vacation in San Diego, and the next day my friend and Idrove to Escondido (where Cale lives) a short trip to the northhoping he’d happen by while we were at the coffee shop. Itdidn’t happen.

This new DVD is simply a must-have proposition for ev-ery fan of J. J. Cale. There are absolutely no excuses.

Bill Wahl

DIANA KRALLFrom This Moment On

VERVESince 1993 when she emerged on Canada’s Justin Time

Records, singer/pianist Diana Krall had been releasing al-bums of standards, and steadily building a larger and largerfanbase. She followed with releases on GRP and Impulsebefore signing to Verve seven years ago. By then, her careerwas really taking off, the awards were coming in and shewas hitting the top of the jazz charts. She had become one ofthe most, of not the most, successful recording artists andconcert draws in jazz.

She married Elvis Costello and in 2004 she released afine disc titled The Girl In The Other Room, changing direc-tion from the standards fare and featuring six songs she co-wrote with Costello and other non-standard material. But herfans who missed the standards need not worry, as she’s re-turned to that fold with From This Moment On.

I believe that she was pregnant with her first child whenthis was recorded, and this set of 11 standards might just be

her best effort yet. She is accompanied by the Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra for eight of the tracks, and the otherthree find her at the helm of a quartet with Anthony Wilson/guitar, John Clayton/bass and Jeff Hamilton/drums. Dianaco-produced this with her longtime producer Tommy LiPuma– who is definitely someone who has contributed to her in-credible success. With every new release she is constantlysounding more secure both in her vocals and piano work,and some of the songs here are much more uptempo thanwe normally hear from her. But there are a number of sweet,laid back ballads on tap, including “Little Girl Blue” and “Wil-low Weep For Me,” plus the Antonio Carlos Jobim bossa nova“How Insensitive.”

If you have a Diana Krall fan on your gift list, you won’thave to worry about whether they will like this one. You justhave to worry about whether they have already scarfed oneup! Bill Wahl

MARVIN GAYELive in Belgium 1981

MOTOWN/UNIVERSAL DVDI a recent review of the late Marvin Gaye’s “The Real

Thing: In Performance 1964-1981” I mentioned that GayeDVDs were rare. Well, they still are, but by golly here is an-other one. This companion DVD to that one has just beenreleased here in the States and features the late R&B singerin a live concert in Ostende, Belgium in 1981, adding an-other perspective to the mostly videos collection of the RealThing.

Here Marvin and his band deliver 11 songs, including

December 2006 • Issue 289PAGE EIGHTEEN

Introducing The Dave Sterner Quintet’s Debut CD What’s

What, that features “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” “But NotFor Me,” “That’s All,” “Split Kick” and 8 original compositions thatshowcase talented writing with stellar playing.

the dave sterner quintet

“Dave and his band speakto an audience young andhip, but a foundation drawnfrom a deep well of traditiongives the music a substancethat takes it beyond thetrendy.” - Ernie Krivda

Available at: Borders and Barnes &Noble (Mentor, Westlake, ClevelandHts.), Academy Music (Noble Rd.),Skyline Music (Center Ridge Rd.)& online at www.CDbaby.com

“Got To Give It Up,” “Let’s Get It On,” “Ain’t Nothing LikeThe Real Thing,” “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” HowSweet It Is (To Be Loved By You” and from his classic What’sGoing On album “Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler).Also included are two performances and an interview fromthe Belgian television show Follies.

Marvin, who also plays piano on some of the songs, is ingood form at the helm of his band, which included back-ground singers. The sound and video quality, while decid-edly dated, are quite decent. This 60-minute DVD comeswith an eight page booklet with text by Rob Bowman of AllMusic Guide and some color photos. Another choice for aMarvin Gaye fan, and at 14.98 list the price is right. Bill Wa

BOBBY DARINSeeing Is Believing

HYENA DVDThis no-frills DVD features 20 clips of television appear-

ances by the immensely talented singer Bobby Darin, in-cluding his classics “Beyond the Sea,” “Mack the Knife” and“Splish Splash.”

Among Darin’s most enjoyable performances are thebluesy “Work Song,” the heartfelt “If I Were A Carpenter,” thegorgeous ballads “Happy” and “If,” and his biggest hits men-tioned above. On “Got My Mojo Working,” Darin plays har-monica and improvises on vibraphone along with band-backed vocals. He plays piano accompanying his vocals on“Splish Splash.” His swinging rendering of Duke Ellington’s“Caravan” with orchestral backing is a jazzy delight. Darinputs his own improvisational stamp on the bluesy rouser,“Come Rain or Come Shine.”

Born Walden Robert Cassoto in New York on May 14,1936, Bobby Darin was considered to be capable of singingin a number of fashionable styles (some accused him of be-ing a “chameleon”), as you’ll see and hear on this DVD. In-fluences such as Frank Sinatra, Neil Diamond, Fats Dominoand other then popular singers can be heard in various songs.Darin, who suffered from ill health as a result of childhoodrheumatic fever, had heart surgery in 1971 and died of aheart attack at age 37 on December 20, 1973.

There are no captions and no extras on the DVD. Theclips (mostly from a 1970s TV show) are not necessarily inchronological order and there are no liner notes. As if added

as an afterthought, a sticker on the front of the DVD men-tions that Connie Francis and Bobbie Gentry perform duetswith Darin, but there’s nothing listed in the songlist. Soundquality is average.

There’s no telling where Darin’s career would have ledhim, had he lived longer. Just watch these performances andyou’ll realize what a great performer Darin was (and what ajob Kevin Spacey did as Darin in the film,

Beyond the Sea). Because there are no extras such asdates, bios, interviews, etc., I’d recommend this DVD for die-hard Darin fans. Nancy Ann Lee

CHRISTMAS CDSWindham Hill Collection

Manhattan TransferTelarc Compilations

Charlie Brown ChristmasSkafish

Brian CulbertsonJames Taylor

Alligator Houserockin’ ChristmasWillie Nelson

Each year we receive more Christmas CDs than we canreally review, but we always like to choose some favoritesand pass them on to you. This bunch offers enough of avariety that you should be able to find one to suit most ofthe folks on your list.

Windham Hill Records has been releasing ChristmasCDs pretty much for as long as the CD format has beenavailable, and, I believe, on LPs before that. They are al-ways collections of the label’s artists, whether they play pi-ano, guitar, violin, flute or whatever. But not this time.Windham Hill Holiday Guitar Collection from Windham Hill/Legacy offers up 15 very well known chestnuts played onlyby solo guitarists, including Tuck Andress, Alex deGrassi,Will Ackerman, Steve Erquiaga and others. Some artistsare heard twice. This a very serene and quite pretty collec-tion of holiday melodies and is probably the most univer-sally likeable of this year’s set. It should do well in prettymuch anyone’s house, making the biggest hit for any newage friends you might have. Very melodic music, and thechanging styles of the guitarists makes it hold one’s inter-est quite well. On a related note, Windham Hill/Legacy hasalso just released Sundown: A Windham Hill Piano Collec-tion with 14 tracks featuring many of the label’s pianists.Some of those heard are George Winston, Liz Story, JimBrickman, Patrick O’Hearn, Philip Aaberg and BrianCulbertson. This one is not a Christmas CD, but will cer-tainly appeal to the same audience year-round.

In our previous issue, Nancy Ann Lee reviewed Manhat-tan Transfer - An Acapella Christmas, recently released onRhino Records. You can check that issue for the completereview, but Nancy gave it a high recommendation statingthat it contains an “unaccompanied, improvised delivery of10 holiday favorites, including a perky version of “JingleBells,” an upbeat take on Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas,”a heartwarming version of Vince Guaraldi’s “Christmas TimeIs Here,” a unique and sweet reading of “Toyland,” a bluesytake on “Merry Christmas Baby” and more.”

Telarc Records has released two discs for this year’s

December 2006 • Issue 289 PAGE NINETEEN

holiday season. The first, Christmas Break: Relaxing Jazzfor the Holidays is just what the title suggests. The evendozen Christmas songs here are extremely laid back ver-sions by several artists, including Oscar Peterson, RayBrown, Dave Brubeck, Mel Tormé, George Shearing andmore. Some of the highlights include Jim Hall’s solo gui-tar take on “Oh Tannenbaum,” Brubeck’s solo piano ver-sion of “Silent Night” and guitarist Al Di Meola’s solo piece“Ave Maria. Oh, and let’s not forget Brubeck and GerryMulligan doing an unaccompanied piano/baritone sax duetversion of “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.”

The second Telarc release is Christmas Time Is Herefrom Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops. This one is afull blown large production with the orchestra plus a largechoir and guests John Pizzarelli, Tierney Sutton and oth-ers covering 14 mostly very well-known carols. This is byfar the most traditional of the group reviewed here and isone you could take to the great grandparents’ house andthey’d love it.

Starbucks has released a version of A Charlie BrownChristmas by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. This Christmas clas-sic goes all the way back to the original TV Peanuts Christ-mas special in 1965 and has been a top selling holidayrecording ever since. Pianist Guaraldi’s bouncy, high spir-ited piano playing permeates the music here as the triocovers 11 songs, namely “O Tannenbaum,” “What ChildIs This,” “My Little Drum,” the classic Peanuts song “Linusand Lucy,” “Christmas Time Is Here” (two versions, an in-strumental and a vocal), “Skating,” “Hark, The HeraldAngels Sing,” “Christmas Is Coming,” “Für Elise” and “TheChristmas Song.” This Starbucks edition, in a digipacpackage, will be easy to find as you can pick it up at anyStarbucks company-operated location in the U.S. andCanada. It retails for 13.95 U.S and 16.95 Canada.

Just at our deadline Concord Records also released aversion of A Charlie Brown Christmas with the same songs,plus “Greensleeves” and three alternate tracks. If you wantthis one, you won’t find it at Starbucks but will have to goto your normal local or online music retailer. This one isavailable worldwide.

Now, for any jazzers out there who want a set of Christ-mas music that sounds different, there is Skafish...whohas released Tidings Of Comfort And Joy: A Jazz PianoTrio Collection on La Befana Records. Jim Skafish washeavily involved in Chicago’s punk, new wave, alternativeand indie rock movements. But this multifaceted musi-cian is classically and jazz trained and offers us a thor-oughly enjoyable set of acoustic trio Christmas renditions- all straight ahead jazz here. He sure has fun with the songs’melodies; plus his soloing is superb and his creative useof rhythms and tempos keeps things very interesting fromstart to finish. This is an extremely enjoyable set of 11traditional and two original songs and clearly among thefinest, most refreshing straight jazz Christmas offerings I’veheard.

This year we have only one release in the contempo-rary, or light jazz vein. Pianist Brian Culbertson has justreleased his first Christmas album titled Soulful Christ-mas on GRP/Verve Records. There are some interestingtwists taking place throughout this set of twelvesongs...such as “Jingle Bells,” which starts out as a defi-nite funk groove before switching abruptly to an all out

swing...with a big band sound achieved with four horn play-ers, including Eric Marienthal, via overdubbing. That’s fol-lowed by a sweet Culbertson solo piano version of “TheFirst Noel” before the 9-piece band returns for “All ThroughThe Christmas Night” with Michael McDonald on vocals.The mix of funk, swing, gospel, pop balladry and the holi-day spirit makes this an enjoyable set, mostly recorded atCulbertson’s home studio. Some of the other guests arePeter White, Jeff Lorber, Brian Bromberg, Paul JacksonJr. and a choir - The Jason White Ensemble. Some songsalso include an orchestra of 12 violins, three cellos, bass,oboe and harp. Quite a production.

Pop/rock singer James Taylor has chosen a jazzy di-rection for his holiday release titled James Taylor At Christ-mas on Columbia Records. Opening in a jazz vein with“Winter Wonderland” and continuing with a gospel flavored“Go Tell It On The Mountain,” Taylor lends his instantlyrecognizable vocals to 13 songs, also including “SantaClaus Is Coming To Town,” “Jingle Bells,” “Have YourselfA Merry Little Christmas,” “The Christmas Song,” and theweek later anthem “Auld Lang Syne,” which closes thealbum. He also does a version of Joni Mitchell’s “River.”Most of the music here was produced by Dave Grusin, andsome of the the band members include Grusin/piano, JohnPizzarelli/guitar and Larry Goldings/keyboards. SingerNatalie Cole duets with Taylor on “Baby It’s Cold Outside,”Toots Theilemans lends his majestic harmonica work to“Christmas Song” and trumpeter Chris Botti guests on“Winter Wonderland.” A fine offering from J.T.

While there were no new blues Christmas CDs comingour way this year, we continue to recommend GenuineHouserockin’ Christmas on Alligator Records. This 2003release contains 16 original songs about Christmas per-formed by 16 bands from Alligator’s large roster. If youwant a complete review, go to our website’s database, orcheck out the stand-alone Holiday Gift Guide on the site.But you probably won’t really need to - just combine theinfo above with Duane Verh’s closing remarks...The origi-nality and the strength of the tunes make this a disc thatcan take over a Christmas playlist...Blues people, this isholiday cash well spent.

The final entry for 2006 goes way off in a differentdirection, coming from Willie Nelson. The Best of WillieNelson: The Christmas Collection-20th Century Mastersreleased on YMC/Universal Records will no doubt be atreat for anyone wanting a country Christmas, as Williecovers 11 mostly well-known favorites. I must admit, I amquite enjoying this after all the jazz and jazz oriented Christ-mas songs I’ve just gone through. Nelson, who has an un-mistakable voice and delivery, lends his stamp to thesesongs making you want to light the fire and sip some loadedeggnog. This is a budget-priced CD, so not a lot of infor-mation is inside the booklet...but it seems as though manyof the songs were done fairly recently and one, “HereComes Santa Claus,” features Willie along with The Sing-ing Cowboy - Gene Autry - who passed away in 1998.This album includes such fare as “Silent Night,” “Joy ToThe World,” “Deck The Halls,” “White Christmas” and twoNelson originals, “Pretty Paper” and a standout, “El Nino.”Yes, this one is fun, lap steel and all. It is easy to under-stand why Miles Davis liked him so much!

Happy Holidays!! Bill Wahl

December 2006 • Issue 289 PAGE TWENTY

Good Stuff InDifferent Genres

We always love to cover interesting CDs and DVDs in othergenres year-round, and it is especially helpful at the holidayseason...so here are several more gift ideas!

TORI AMOSA Piano

The CollectionRHINO BOXED SET

If you have a Tori Amos fan on your shopping list, youcan make quite a statement with this 86-track, 5-CD set,recently released by Rhino Records. Amos produced this re-lease, which collects many of her classic songs along withrarities, remixes and previously unreleased material. The discsare each in their own digipak case and packaged together ina very unique shiny black rectangular box with a lid that hastwo octaves of what resemble actual piano keys made ofplastic. You can’t play them, but they sure look real!

For a very brief overview, disc one contains an extendedversion of her debut album Little Earthquakes along with al-ternate mixes, four B-sides and a previously unreleased ver-sion of “Crucify.” The second disc includes songs from Un-der The Pink and Boys For Pele, with original and remixedversions and a live song.

Disc three contains more songs from Boys for Pele plussongs from To Venus and Back and Tales of a Librarian. Again,these 15 cuts are original and remixed versions of albumtracks as well as some alternate special versions of two songsand a previously unreleased track from the Pele sessions.Disc four contains 15 songs taken from the albums FromThe Choirgirl Hotel, Scarlet’s Walk and The Beekeeper. Again,it’s a mix of original and remixed versions of album tracks,plus four previously unreleased songs. The fifth disc offers22 more tracks made up mostly of her B-sides and includesthe exclusive 1999 digital release “Merman.” Right in themiddle of this set of songs is a medley of three demos withAmos unaccompanied with just her vocal and some kind oforgan on two and piano on the other. She apparently wantedto show her fans how a song can go from concept to finishedproduct, as each of the songs is found in the boxed set as thefinal released version. There is also an elegant 60-page hard-cover book loaded with color photos, plus an essay by mu-sic critic Lorraine Ali and extensive commentary on the al-bums and songs from Amos.

So, if you do want to make a statement for a Tori Amosfan who is worth it, you’ll make one for sure with this set.

Bill Wahl

MOODY BLUESDeluxe Editions

DERAM/THRESHOLD/UNIVERSALUniversal Music has just released three classic albums

from the Moody Blues in their Deluxe Edition import series.If you know of some Moody Blues fans on your holiday list,these would make some good prospects.

All three feature the original albums with great soundwhich will play in on a normal CD player, and two offer a

Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound mix that will only be heard on anSACD player with a surround system. All three are 2 CDsets.

Their 1967 album Days Of Future Passed on Deram/Universal is one that offers the SACD 5.1 option. The setincludes the original album in its entirety – which included“Nights In White Satin” and “Tuesday Afternoon – plus a sec-ond CD (not with 5.1) which contains four alternate versionsand outtakes of four songs, including “Tuesday Afternoon,six mono single masters, including “Nights In White Satin,”two ’67 studio recordings unreleased until ’77, and sevenBBC Radio sessions recorded in ’67 and ’68, which include“Nights In White Satin” and their version of “Don’t Let Me BeMisunderstood.”

The following year they released In Search Of A LostChord, also on Deram/Universal, which included “Ride MySee-Saw” and “Dr. Livingston, I Presume.” This is the onethat is not available with the 5.1 surround option. In additionto the original album in its entirety, the second disc gives you15 more songs. The first nine are alternate takes or differentmixes, the next five are BBC Radio performances and thelast is a 1968 single “B” Side.

The third Deluxe Edition is thought by many to be theirbest album, To Our Children’s Children’s Children, on Thresh-old/Universal. Released in 1969, this well produced albumincluded many favorites, including “I Never Thought I’d LiveTo Be A Hundred,” “Gypsy,” “The Eyes Of A Child” and“Candle Of Life.” This one does offer the 5.1 mix for the origi-nal album, with a second disc containing another 11 songs.The first three are alternate versions and outtakes, while thelast eight are previously unreleased 1969 BBC Radio con-cert performances, including a reprise version of ‘67’s “NightsIn White Satin.”

These three packages should please all those babyboomers who listened to the Moody Blues decades ago aswell as younger classic rock fans, and will offer a whole bunchof extras on the second discs. In addition, anyone who hap-pens to have an SACD player and the right system will haveall kinds of fun. No doubt there will be more coming in thisseries. Bill Wahl

PAUL MCCARTNEYThe Space Within US

A&E VIDEO DVDMost all of us have a Beatle fan or two on our gift list, and

this brand new McCartney DVD might just be something theydon’t have yet. Recorded during his world tour in 2005, thisdisc contains just under two hours of concert footage show-casing the McCartney with a solid band on a long list of songsfrom his 40-year career. The last McCartney video I saw, andI don’t remember when it was, was a VHS of some concertwhere he played mostly songs from his solo years. This oneis the exact opposite, which is why I mentioned Beatle fansrather than McCartney fans in the opening statement. Thereare somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 songs (there is nolisting with numbers, just a block text run-on list of some ofthe songs) and many, many Beatle songs here, which cer-tainly brought back memories from my teenage years. In-stead of only doing the big ones like “Yesterday” and “HeyJude,” he performs a wide array of many I’d not heard inyears, such as “Till There Was You,” Good Day Sunshine,”“I’ll Follow The Sun,” “Fixing A Hole,” “Penny Lane,” “I Will,”

December 2006 • Issue 289PAGE TWENTY ONE

“Eleanor Rigby” Magical Mystery Tour,” “Got To Get You BackIn My Life” and more. Must be Mr. Paul has returned to hisroots, so to speak. He does, of course, play some of his Wingsand later solo career material as well. There is also footageof pre-concert and road crew stuff.

The audio and video are very good, but one detriment isthe fact that there are a lot of commentary clips from peoplelike Bill Clinton and others, and some thing about astronautsdrinking tea in space. There are many DVDs coming out thisway these days, making them more concert/documentariesrather than straight concert DVDs. But, you can use the skipbutton to bypass the commentaries and go to the next song.

But that aside, there are some very nostalgic momentshere from one of the two living Beatles, and the only one whocan pull something like this off. Bill Wahl

This just-releaseddocumentary chroniclesthe life and music of oneof Americas 20th cen-tury musical masters.Roy was on cameramuch of the 90 minuteDVD telling his storyfrom his chidhood,through first picking upa guitar and his earlydays in the 50s andeventually signing to SunRecords.

Orbison recorded a

ROY ORBISONIn Dreams

ORBISON/LEGACY DVD

slew of big hits which he talks about, including “Only TheLonely,” “Dream Baby,” “Crying,””It’s Over” “Blue Bayou”and Oh, Pretty Woman, and performance clips are seenthroughout. It also covers the fact that later in his career hewas a member of the Traveling Wilburys with Bob Dylan,Tom Petty and George Harrison. He was inducted in theRock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 1987 and recorded the concertfilm “Black & White Night” in late ’87, and clips from thatconcert are viewed in segments throughout this documen-tary.

Orbison died in 1988 at the age of 52, but the next yearhe would become the first singer other than Elvis to havetwo Top 5 albums in the charts at the same time.

Also included are song clips with guests such asEmmylou Harris on “That Lovin’ You Feelin’ Again” and hisbeautiful remake of “Crying” with k.d. Lang. You’ll also hearmany other musicians with words to say about Orbison,including Johnny Cash, Chet Atkins, Willie Nelson, RobertPlant, Bruce Springsteen, Bernie Taupin, Bill Wyman, Bono,Chris Isaak and others.

This DVD provides a fine insight into Orbison’s life, timesand music. Keep in mind that this is strictly a documentaryand not a concert video. This would make a great compan-ion with the recent 2-CD release The Essential Roy Orbisonand/or the recent rerelease of the single CD Black & WhiteNight, both of which are also on Orbison/Legacy Records.

Bill Wahl

RHYTHMS DEL MUNDOCuba

HIP-O/UNIVERSALThis one came as a bit of a surprise. Looking at the cover

one might think it is a Buena Vista Social Club album. It isnot really, but rather a set of songs from artists in many ar-eas of music reworked by BVSC musicians in Havana. Start-ing off with Colplay’s “Clocks,” the Buena Vista treatment isimmediately apparent with the Latin rhythms and horns overColdplay’s vocal tracks. It is followed by Jack Johnson’s“Better Together,” Arctic Monkeys’ “Dancing Shoes” andpop singer Dido with her brother’s band Faithless on “OneStep Too Far.” Then you get the last recording featuring Cu-ban Bolero singer Ibrahim Ferrer, who died in 2005, cover-ing “As Time Goes By.” Another Cuban singer, OmaraPortuonda, resurrects Roberta Flack’s hit “Killing Me Softly”as they mix in some songs recorded entirely for the project.Some, like U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,”have a singer, in this case Coco Freeman, adding his ownlead to the original chorus vocal tracks. Ferrer, Portuondaand Freeman all sing in Spanish. Another standout using theoriginal lead vocals is Maroon 5’s “She Will Be Loved.” Stingand Radiohead also have songs given the RDM treatment,and several other Latin singers are featured, such as VaniaBorges covering Norah Jones’ hit “Don’t Know Why” in Span-ish.

I played this CD at a Thanksgiving dinner party withpeople ranging from 28 to 58 and everyone loved it – andkept picking up the cover as every new song would comeon. That is a good sign for any album. I’m sure some puristson both sides of the coin will hate it, but my guess is thatthey will be in the minority. Quite a trip!

The enclosed booklet gives the song and artist informa-tion, but mostly covers things we can do to save the world. Itincludes short essays such as “Climate Crisis” and Al Gore’s“An Inconvenient Truth.” The album is in aid of Artists ProjectEarth (APE), which lends support for natural disaster reliefand climate change awareness, and Universal Music will do-nate a portion of the proceeds of sales in the U.S. to MusicRising, which is an instrument replacement fund for musi-cians of the Gulf Coast. That, along with the enjoyable musicmakes this a good purchase all the way around. Bill Wahl

INDIA ARIECORRINE BAILEY RAE

SHAWN COLVINMOZILLA

Singer Songwriter ShortsIf you are looking for some nice singer-songwriter CDs

for someone, here are a few worth checking out.India Arie has just released Testimony Vol. 1, Life &

Relationships on Motown/Universal. I believe this is the thirdfull length album for India, who consistently offers some ofthe most intelligent and well performed music coming outtoday in the R&B vein. The arrangements are always inter-esting and the musicianship is tops throughout. Her originalsongs are serious and she knows how to deliver them. Onegetting airplay is her sweet version of Don Henley’s “TheHeart Of The Matter,” but the following cut “Good Mourning”

December 2006 • Issue 289 PAGE TWENTY TWO

is simply wonderful. It is one of her 11 originals out of the 15tracks. There is a lot to like about India Arie.

Music listeners have been recently blessed with a new-comer from England named Corrine Bailey Rae. Her self titleddebut album on Capitol Records sold over 2 million copiesworldwide in less than six months and has already won aslew of awards. She’s another unclassifiable singer/guitaristwho mixes soul with jazz, blues and folk with seamless easeand has come up with a set of 11 original gems. Her delicatevoice grabs you and keeps you where she wants you untilshe is all finished with you. Though many PR people love tocompare their singer to Billie Holiday and I never see it, Raereally does remind me of Billie in some ways on a few ofthese songs. No doubt you have heard some of these tunes,such as her hit “Put Your Records On,” but there are manyeven better songs to feast upon here. Exquisite music thatwill appeal to a wide array of people, including all who likeNorah Jones, though I’m not making a comparison as Raehas a style of her own.

Veteran singer/songwriter/guitarist Shawn Colvin cannever be accused of allowing herself to be over saturated.While many artists release an album a year, It has been around5 years since her last album of new material. These FourWalls has just been released on Noneshuch Records and willprobably have to satisfy her fans for several more years. Nomatter, sometimes less is best and Colvin certainly provesthat. She brings us a blend of folk music with country andpop with 13 sweet songs, all but two of which are originals -mostly co-written by John Leventhal who also produced thealbum. One cover is The Bee Gee’s “Words.” The band hereis small, with Colvin on guitars, Leventhal on bass, guitars,keyboards, percussion, mandolin, dobro and pedal steel, andShawn Pelton on drums. Guests are heard on a few songs.The creative multitracking Levanthal came up with is per-fect for Colvin’s rather soft voice. Very nice indeed.

A new singer/songwriter named Mozella has a debut re-lease that sounds like it might do quite well. Just released onWarner Bros. Records, Mozella’s I Will is underpinned with alot of programmed hip hop drumbeats on many of the songs,and others feature a live drummer. All are quite interesting,and some of the synth and guitar work (such as on “KillingTime” adds to the success. She is rock with a bit of folk anda bit of jazz and a lot of variety, and her music – all originals– brings to mind such singer/songwriters as Fiona Apple andRachel Yamagata, as do her vocals and delivery to an ex-tent, though she is not a copy of either by any means, hervoice is higher and her music has more catchy hooks. Avery nice debut.

As a final note, I still have to recommend Lizz Wright’sexcellent album from last year Dreaming Wide Awake onVerve Records. If interested, you can read the review on ourdatabase on our site, or go to www.lizzwright.net and click“news.” Bill Wahl

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ROBERT PLANTAnd The Strange Sensation

ZOE/ROUNDER DVDNo, he doesn’t hit those high notes like he used to, but

Plant proves here that he can still front a band and deliver asolid set. The one-time quintessential Brit blues-rock shouterdraws from likely folk and blues roots and his very capablefive-piece backup unit provides varied settings from acous-tic to electronic.

Subtle standouts include the swampy funk workup of theLed Zeppelin staple “Black Dog”and a most moody encoretake of “Hey Joe”. Plant & Co.’s onstage delivery is quitestraightforward and the video presentation is sympatheticallyunobtrusive and devoid of directorial flash.

Don’t worry Zep fans, he closes the main set with “WholeLotta Love.” Duane Verh

LOUIS ARMSTRONGWES MONTGOMERY

J.J. CALERIGHTEOUS BROTHERS

CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVISITEDStocking Stuffers

Universal Music Distribution has released several CDs,mostly at a budget price, which would make great stockingstuffers for a variety of folks in jazz and other arenas.

Know someone who might enjoy Louis Armstrong? Gold,just out on Hip-O/Universal, contains 40 of Satchmo’s re-cordings spread over two CDs. This compilation works inreverse...starting out with 1967’s “What A Wonderful World”and working backward all the way to “Heebie Jeebies,” re-corded in 1926. Covering his ABC Paramount, Mercury, Verveand Decca years, this set collects many of the hits the ma-jority of people associate with Louis Armstrong, such as“Mack The Knife,” “Hello Dolly,” “Mame” and many more.Plus...the remastered sound is very good.

The Best of Wes Montgomery: The Millennium Collec-tion is part of Universal’s 20th Century Masters Series. Re-leased on Hip-O/Verve/UM this set of 11 songs from the lat-ter years of Wes’ short life focuses on his more commercial“hits” from the albums he did with Creed Taylor on the Verveand A&M labels. Some of the songs here are “The ShadowOf Your Smile,” “Going Out Of My Head,” “Tequila,” “Califor-nia Dreaming,” “When A Man Loves A Woman,” “Road Song”and “Fly Me To The Moon.” While from a pure jazz stand-point, the great guitarist’s best work was on the Riversidelabel, as well as a Verve Album titled Smokin’ At TheHalfnote, these later songs made Wes some commercial suc-cess along with some money before he passed away in 1968at 43. Those who enjoyed his pop/jazz period will like this.Those into his pure jazz recordings should get the abovementioned Halfnote disc on Verve for sure.

J.J. Cale is a living legend, although many people don’teven know who he is. But they do know some of his songs,such as “Cocaine” and “After Midnight,” and those plus 18others are packed into The Definitive Collection on Mercury/Universal. Oklahoma native Cale is one of the most prolificsongwriters in music today, and his songs have been recordedby Eric Clapton, Santana and a slew of others. His laid back,

December 2006 • Issue 289 PAGE TWENTY THREE

medium groove Okie singing and gui-tar style is always a joy to hear, andthis compilation is a perfect introduc-tion to his music for anyone. This disccontains four songs from 1975’s 5...myvote for his best album. The November7 release of his joint effort with Clapton,The Road To Esdondido (see our No-vember issue), will surely stir some newinterest in Cale’s earlier recordings. Pickthis one up for yourself or a friend toget a good sampling of J. J. Cale.

As we go genre jumping, the lasttwo are also part of UM’s 20th CenturyMasters Series.

The Best Of The Righteous Broth-ers: The Millennium Collection onPolydor/UM harkens back 40 years torock & roll, doo wop and R&B with acollection of 14 songs from the hit vo-cal duo. Beginning in 1963 with “LittleLatin Lupe Lu” and closing in 1974 with“Rock And Roll Heaven,” this set offersup the hits the pair was known for. And,the two 1965 recordings most will belooking for are, of course,included...”You’ve Lost That Lovin Feel-ing” and “Unchained Melody,” the lat-ter of which became a hit all over againwhen it was featured in the movie Ghostin 1990. Although they had beenachieving success with their renewedcareer, Bobby Hatfield passed away in2003 while on tour. But before hepassed, he and Bill Medley were in-ducted into the Rock & Roll Hall ofFame. And they are two that definitelybelong there. A very nice, nostalgiccollection.

The Best of Creedence ClearwaterRevisited: The Millennium Collection onHip-O/Universal. This one has a trickytitle. Note that it is “Revisited” and not“Revival.” This is a CCR tribute bandfeaturing two of the original members,drummer Doug “Cosmo” Clifford andbassist/vocalist Stu Cook. John Fogertywas the lead singer and songwriter andhis brother Tom played rhythm guitarand piano. Tom passed away in 1990,and John had long pursued his own solocareer. CC Revisited has been touringand carrying on the music of CCR withJohn Tristao doing Fogerty’s lead vo-cals, and Elliot Easton (of The Cars)playing lead guitar. Two guys to doone’s work. Oh well... As much as thismight be a criminal offense to somedied-in-the-wool CCR fans, this bandactually pulls it off quite well. Tristaohas a somewhat similar voice toFogerty, and Easton’s guitar work is a

surprisingly good fit (and not Cars-likeat all). So, for anyone who can forgiveFogerty’s absence, and wants to hearlive versions of 10 CCR songs withtoday’s recording technology, this setfrom a 1997 Calgary, Alberta Canadaconcert might be just the trick.

All of the releases in the 20th Cen-tury Masters Millennium Collection se-ries, namely Wes Montgomery, TheRighteous Brothers and CC Revisitedare only $9.98 list. The J.J. Cale is13.98 list - all good values. The 2-CDLouis Armstrong set is 19.98 list.

Bill Wahl

THE HOUSE THAT TRANEBUILT: THE STORY OF

IMPULSE RECORDSby Ashley Kahn

W.W. NORTON & CO. 2006Ashley Kahn is an award-winning

journalist and radio essayist whoauthored A Love Supreme: The Storyof John Coltrane’s Signature Album.Thus, it seems fitting that Kahn wouldwrite this historical account about the15-year saga of Impulse Records, thepopular recording label that signed thelegendary saxophonist as its first ex-clusive artist.

The House That Trane Built revealsthe story of the label with the distinc-tive orange-and-black logo, balancingtales of artistic passion, label vision,corporate politics, and commercial in-centives. Kahn weaves a fascinatingstory gleaned from extensive researchand hundreds of interviews with the in-siders—label executives, producers,jazz journalists, and musicians.

Founded by renowned jazz pro-ducer Creed Taylor as an imprint ofABC-Paramount records, ImpulseRecords cut an innovative swaththrough the 1960s and 1970s, offeringswing to the avant-garde jazz that de-fined its musical and spiritual identity.Taylor’s rein was short, but before hewas recruited to overhaul VerveRecords, he signed Coltrane, who,through his endless musical forgings,recommendations of other artists andstatus as the label’s bestseller, wouldhelp define Impulse’s sound. Despite itspenchant for avant-garde jazz, the la-bel also released timeless titles by

Count Basie, Duke Ellington, JohnnyHartman, Benny Carter, ColemanHawkins, Ben Webster, Johnny Hodgesand others.

Bob Thiele followed Taylor to be-come the major driving force at Im-pulse, heading the label from 1961-69during a period of explosive musicalcreativity amid violent social change.He supported Coltrane through thesaxophonist’s prolific, often perplexingmusical experimentation and also pro-duced records by other influential art-ists such as Pharoah Sanders, ArchieShepp, and McCoy Tyner.

Kahn’s writing style may force youto read slowly (perhaps with a dictio-nary at hand), yet The House ThatTrane Built is a riveting chronicle of thejazz label that shaped an era during theage of rock ‘n roll. Thiele’s departurefollowing a 1969 corporate clash cametwo years after Coltrane’s prematuredeath at age 40. Kahn’s account con-tinues with Impulse’s 1970s stay in LosAngeles, where the label briefly flour-ished under Ed Michel, who issued clas-sic recordings by saxophonist GatoBarbieri and pianist Keith Jarrett beforeImpulse was sold to MCA in 1977.

Annoyingly interspersed andbreaking the flow of the main story inthe chronologically ordered chaptersare 38 two-page album reviews withblack-and-white photos of album cov-ers and session photographs. Rich withillustrations and photographs, this bookshould certainly satisfy jazz historians.The 338-page book also contains anextensive notes section and a detaileddiscography from 1961-1977.

To coincide with Impulse’s 45thAnniversary celebration and the bookrelease are 10 “Best-of Impulse” singleCD compilations and a four-CD, multi-artist label overview featuring many keyImpulse recording artists mentionedabove. Also available is a nine-trackcompilation CD (available from Ama-zon at $4.98) featuring recordings byOliver Nelson (“Stolen Moments”), ArtBlakey (“Alamode”), Charles Mingus(“Theme for Lester Young,” aka”Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”), John Coltrane(“A Love Supreme”), Archie Shepp(“Los Olvidados”), Albert Ayler (“OurPrayer”), Earl Hines (“Black and TanFantasy”), Alice Coltrane (“Journey inSatchidananda”) and John Handy(“Hard Work”). Containing some clas-sic tracks, it’s a bargain for the price.

Nancy Ann Lee

books

December 2006 • Issue 289PAGE TWENTY FOUR

gearGriffin TechnologyiPod AccessoriesGriffin Technology makes a wide

array of accessories for the Apple iPod,as well as others for handling MP3 files.Here are a few we have come acrossthis year.

Griffin iTrip FM Transmitter - Thisis the second version of an Griffin iTripFM Transmitter I’ve owned, and it of-fers some significant improvementsover the original version. On the origi-nal, the tuning procedure was to find a“dead” frequency on the FM dial, thennavigate through the iPod menus to findthe frequency list and lock in your sta-tion with a bizarre dance on the iPodcontrol buttons. On the new version,one simply finds the dead station, playa song on the iPod and tune to the fre-quency using a tuning wheel on the rightside of the unit. The frequency is shownon an LCD display on the front on theiTrip. It’s nice to be able to see the fre-quency when you power up rather thanhaving to navigate the menus to find it.This model plugs into the dock connec-tor on the bottom of the iPod and fea-tures a mini USB jack, which allows youto update and power the iPod throughyour computer during use. Another newfeature is the ability to switch to mon-aural broadcast for a stronger signalwhen necessary. I do have the impres-sion that the new model is more sensi-tive to distance and placement than theoriginal, but once position is establishedwith good clarity it will play all day. Allin all the iTrip is a very useful acces-sory for those times when it’s impos-sible or inconvenient to hardwire youriPod into a sound system in a car, athome or elsewhere. Dave Wahl

Griffin PowerDuo Charging Kit -Griffin’s Power Duo, AC Adapter andMobile Charger Power Pack makeskeeping your iPod or mini-USB deviceall charged up and ready to go easy.The kit includes both wall and carchargers and cabling for both regularand mini-USB connectors. Both the carand wall chargers are simple to use.The Power Block Wall Charger is com-pact and has hinged prongs that allow

it to fold flat. It’s a well balanced powerpack that does not fall out of the outletunder the strain of its own weight likeso many other wall adapters do.

In the car, the PowerJolt VehicleCharger gets the job done and has areplaceable 2 amp fuse to protect yourequipment. The styling is clean andpractical and you can even listen toyour iPod while it’s being charged.

I used my iPod Nano to test thesechargers. Charging up was quick andpainless. These devices work with alliPods and the Shuffle plugs directly into either unit with out the need of anadditional cable.

The Griffin PowerDuo Charging Kitlists at $39.99 but we’ve seen it onlinefor considerably less. Both items arealso sold separately but the kit is thebest value. Wanda Simpson

Griffin iFM Radio and Remote foriPOD - The idea of the Griffin’s iFM, Ra-dio and Remote for iPOD is just whatwe need in the, “Walkman what??” dayand age. This transmitter gives you thecapability of listening to FM radio sta-tions through your iPOD plus containsa remote control.

Fairly easy to use and just aboutthe size of a Zippo lighter, there are 3states: ‘Off’, ‘FM’, and ‘Remote’ locatedon the left side of the device. I am stillfairly young, and it was extremely hardfor me to even read these labeled sates.Although once using the device a fewtimes, you should know where the slidershould go without looking.

I first chose FM. You are able topreset up to 6 stations, which is prettycool. The process of tuning was veryeasy, but difficulty came when tryingto push down on the very small E.Q.button in order to preset a station. Tun-ing and volume control were no prob-lem at all.

I was so excited about the remoteoption that this transmitter has, al-though to my great disappointment, theone with my unit didn’t work. I sat therefor about an hour trying everything Icould to get it to work...but no luck.

The Griffin iFM Radio and Remotelists at $73.78 but I’ve seen it online forconsiderably less. All in all, it is a bril-liant idea, and fairly easy to use. Butthe fact the remote did not work is verydisappointing. Perhaps in the next yearor so these issues will be fixed and im-provement in usability will take place,if not already. Emily Wahl

Griffin iMiC Hi Resolution USB Au-dio Capture and Griffin Clear ChoiceTurntable Grounding Cable - Taking atip from Apple, economy of design andsimplicity of use, makes Griffin’s iMICHi Resolution USB Audio Capture ahandy little tool for both Apple and PCusers.

A free USB port is all you’ll need toadd CD quality stereo input and outputto ANY computer (laptops also). Thecompact unit (2" round) takes a stan-dard 1/8th inch mini jack stereo in &out and comes with a stereo RCA to 1/8" adapter cable. The only controlyou’ll need is on the unit, a slide selec-tor for line-in or microphone. There areno additional drivers needed if you arerunning Windows XP or Mac OS 10.2.8

Plug a cassette, record or cd playerto the unit and archive your favoritesongs on your computer or convert toMP3 format for transfer to a portableplayer. If you plan to archive a lot ofold LPs I would suggest investing a fewdollars in the Griffin Clear Choice Turn-table Grounding Cable to use with theiMic unit, all the cables are wellshielded, but adding the ground will helpwith any magnetic interference inher-ent with older turntables.

An added bonus for Apple users theFINAL VINYL Audio Recording Softwareavailable FREE on line. Sorry PC’ersyou’ll have to Google a bit for a freewarePC program.

Compact design, a very resonableprice and ease of use - you won’t finda better deal than the iMic USB AudioCapture if you want to unite all youraudio devices with personal computer.

Michael Braxton

Griffin iFill - Wow! Now, this is areally cool piece of software! Griffin’siFill enables the user to choose fromwhat seems like hundreds, of Internetradio stations and download the onesto your liking directly to your iPod.

The iFill was extremely simple toset up. The application came on a CDwith the license key ready to install rightto your computer. Once downloaded,the station selection was also just as ef-fortless. iFill allows you to choose mul-tiple stations to record. I am not sureof the max #, but I choose 6 simulta-neously. Once, the 6 stations were se-lected, I hit ‘Record’. I was able to seewhat songs were being recorded andcould listen to them one at a time. Theunfortunate part was I could not stop

December 2006 • Issue 289

recording a song and have the rest ofthe songs keep recording. In order tostop a song, I had to stop all songs. Thiskinda stinks because there were a fewsongs that came on that I did not wanton my iPod. In the end, this is not thatbig of a deal, as you can go into iTunesafterward and just delete the songs youdon’t want. The other thing that I didnot like was the fact that when youchoose songs to record, it is very diffi-cult to get them to record at the verybeginning of the tune. Most all of thesongs that were recorded, I only gotaround 1-2 minutes of the song. Theanswer to this I suppose is to choosestations that you like the majority of thesongs played and record all of them.You can then go in to iTunes and deletethe few that you do not like.

Overall, I really enjoyed Griffin’siFill. In just under 5 minutes, I was ableto record 27 songs! Granted, like I saidabove, the entire length of many songswere not recorded, but I think once youget the hang of the recording process,this shouldn’t be an issue. Emily WahlEditor’s Note: Keep in mind that all GriffinAccessories doe not necessarily work on ALLiPods. At this point there are several iPod ver-sions and while Griffin appears to be con-stantly updating its compatibility features, I’dsuggest that you go to the Griffin site atwww.griffintechnology.com where you canchoose your iPod and see what accessoriesare available for you. There is also a compat-ibility list on the page for each accessoryshould you choose to follow that route. Ourreviewers tested these units new, and did notinclude long-term results.

A shot from Hubert Sumlin’s 75th birthday hosted by Libby Johnson in New Yorkrecently and coinciding with a screening of “Before the Music Dies.” Both Libby and Hubertperformed, and he said of her “She’s going to the moon. That girl can really sing.” Theword is that Hubert smoked on “Killing Floor” and “Sitting On Top of the World.” LibbyJohnson is a singer-songwriter currently set to release her first solo album. She wasfeatured on three albums as a founding member of the band 22 Brides.

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