Time Out Take Five is the second of a regular jazz column by Glide contributor Doug Collette, who will be taking snap-shot reviews of recent jazz albums. This edition, looks at legends Dave Brubeck, McCoy Tyner, Pat Metheny and Joshua Redman, along with the Deep Blue Organ Trio.
In the most practical sense, Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood’s three-night run at Madison Square Garden is quite unlike the recent Led Zeppelin on show reunion or the comeback tour of The Police. These two esteemed musicians have some unfinished business: Blind Faith, the band they created and then lost control of stands as the most significant case of arrested development in the history or rock and roll.
Still in selected theatre runs, Todd Haynes' unorthodox biopic of Bob Dylan, I’m Not There, is a highly imaginative piece of work, perhaps too imaginative for its own good. A viewer somewhat knowledgeable with Dylan’s history, real or imagined, may be able to impose a sense of logic to the film, but someone only superficially familiar with the Bard’s life may see only a series of often surreal images with little or no continuity.
Charlie Hunter’s certainly been no stranger to the Green Mountains over the last few years, but he may never have enjoyed himself more than on his latest sojourn to Vermont.
Thirty-five years ago, Chick Corea and Gary Burton’s Crystal Silence began to unite the improvisational spirit of jazz with a classical formalism. The fruits of that collaboration continue with a sequel, The New Crystal Silence that is a logical extension of the original work of the duet, right down to its evocative cover art.
it’s not apparent by now, after eight official studio albums and the de rigueur double live set, Big Head Todd and the Monsters are not going to blow anyone away. But on the basis of the new All the Love You Need, they have learned how to avoid the pitfalls of the AOR subgenre in which they reside.
The first CD of the collaboration between Donna Jean Godchaux-Mackay and The Zen Tricksters is greater by far than the sum of its parts. Rather than merely an alliance of a former Grateful Dead vocalist and a once and future Grateful Dead cover band, Donna Jean & the Tricksters is a logical extension of the former's main influences and the band’s natural inclination to improvise.
Last Wednesday night The North Mississippi Allstars played like they had nothing to prove but a whole lot to say. In fact, this non-stop two-hour set suggested the trio is entering the prime of their collective career right now in the wake of their January studio release of Hernando.
Recorded comfortably in the Zebra Ranch studio operated by Luther's and brother Cody’s father Jim Dickinson, Hernando temporarily postponed the release of a documentary on NMAS. All Stars Front-man Luther Dickinson has recently joined the Black Crowes, appearing on their anticipated Warpaint release, making himself one of rock's most prolific guitarists.
Bob Marley & The Wailers’ Exodus has previously been afforded the Deluxe Edition treatment. With a previously-released two disc set including extra studio tracks and live recordings from the original release period of 1977, the real necessity of an ‘Anniversary Edition’ comes into question since this latest release adds no new music and only little except in terms of its packaging: a faux grain slip-sleeve and slightly more ornate jewel case.
