What are you listening to and WHY might anyone be interested? (Vol. XIII)
Posted by: Richard Dane on 01 January 2017
2017 has arrived today, so time to start this thread afresh.
Last year's thread can be found here;
Studio One Ska.
An album packed with bouncy ska goodness, from the masters at Studio One. 
seakayaker posted:Now Playing......
Allen Toussaint - The Bright Mississippi
Allen Toussaint (piano, vocals), Don Byron (clarinet), Nicholas Payton (trumpet), Marc Ribot (acoustic guitar), David Piltch (bass), Jay Bellerose (drums and percussion), Brad Mehldau (piano), Joshua Redman (tenor saxophone)
A mention from HAIM RONEN a couple of days ago peaked my interest and I placed this in the TIDAL Queue and now taking it out for a spin.......
Three tracks into the album and it is definitely worth your time to give a listen, very, very, nice!
Review from Mike Perciaccante in All About Jazz found here:
When asked about Allen Toussaint, Van Dyke Parks once said, "he's the greatest pianist alive, only no one knows it... including him." High praise from one legend to another. With The Bright Mississippi, Toussaint has finally released a jazz-oriented album. Though jazz-influences can be found on many of his rock/funk sides as well as in many of the songs that he has written (including "Whipped Cream," which was morphed into the theme from The Dating Game), arranged and produced, this album, a salute to the timeless music of his hometown of New Orleans is his first foray into jazz. Though he'd never recorded any of them, as a native New Orleanian, Toussaint was well-acquainted with the songs and music that has made The Big Easy synonymous with the phrase "The Birthplace of Jazz."On The Bright Mississippi, Toussaint re-imagines ("covers" is not the proper descriptive word) classic jazz pieces originally made famous by Jelly Roll Morton ("Winin' Boy Blues"), Sidney Bechet ("Egyptian Fantasy"), Louis Armstrong (the Joseph "King" Oliver-composed "West End Blues"), Duke Ellington ("Day Dream" and "Solitude"), Django Reinhardt ("Blue Drag"), Thelonious Monk (the title track) and many others. Additionally, the CD features Toussaint's versions of the traditional songs "St. James Infirmary" and "Just A Closer Walk With Thee."
Almost entirely instrumental, the CD has the feel, vibe and cadence that only an Allen Toussaint project has. Toussaint, with producer Joe Henry, has crafted a sound that is modern yet traditional, jazzy yet funky, soulful yet pristine and completely elegant. The players chosen by Toussaint and Henry (Nicholas Payton on trumpet, David Pilch on upright bass, Don Byron on clarinet, Marc Ribot on guitar and Jay Bellerose behind the drums) make the recording come alive with a warmth and texture that is usually only heard in live performances.
The Bright Mississippi is a rich and multi-layered CD. Each track deftly mines the musical milieu of what many just categorize as New Orleans music. While the title track has a very funky and somewhat bluesy and soulful 'Nawlins feel, "St. James Infirmary" has a little bit of a country feel under the traditional jazz arrangement. "Singin' The Blues" could easily be heard at Preservation Hall. Each of the twelve tracks, when taken on its own merits, is a lesson in the musical history and expression of the Delta.
To paraphrase producer Henry, the CD is loaded with performances of classic songs that sound both completely fresh and entirely familiar.
One of my favourite LPs of recent years. Well worth a listen. He did a second one but this remains the key recording in my view.
Although the first two Roxy albums remain my favourites, which were so different and fresh at the time, this one is probably next. Nice reproduction quality too.
loscil - first narrows (vinyl bought at the recent jazz café gig)
https://loscil.bandcamp.com/album/first-narrows
This is the usual reflective audience experience 
Chet Baker - The touch of your lips.
I was browsing Stereophile's list of recommended recordings / releases of 2016 and I came across this one by Chet Baker. They call this recording a jewel, and I must agree. It's a small setting, just trumpet, bass and guitar. Chet sing's on two of the seven recordings. Both Chet Baker as the sideman play play very well.
Chet Baker, trumpet, vocal; Doug Raney, guitar; Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, bass.
Stereophile's remarks about the recording:
Chet Baker made lots of records. With his drug habit, he had no choice. From his vast, uneven discography comes this little-known album, a jewel in his tarnished, battered crown. (Had Baker really owned a crown, he would have pawned it.) It is a low-key session recorded in Copenhagen, doubtless with minimal preparation, in 1979. There are only two sidemen: Jimmy Raney's son on luminous guitar, and one of the great bass players in jazz history. In 1979, Baker still had the chops to support his existential knowledge of the darkness within the human soul. With his spare, rapt trumpet lines, he could touch feelings you never knew you had until he played them.
(2014)
No particular reason other than wanting to listen to his voice again and this will do nicely.
The Strolling Bones second album, from the mono boxset ............. which is the only way to listen to the early stuff, IMHO. 
Diana Krall - A Night In Paris
Why? I heard a track off this at the Audio Show East and it reminded me I hadn't played it for a while. Listening to it now, I am reminded that not only is Ms Krall a great vocalist, she is also a superb pianist. Scrubs up well too don't you think!
Now Playing......
Chely Wright - Lifted Off The Ground
Going with a mention from PCD yesterday, placed in the TIDAL Queue and now taking Chely out for a spin......
The first two tracks are very, very nice!
Notes from Tidal: In the late 1990s, Chely Wright had number one singles and Top Ten albums. After releasing 2005's excellent Metropolitan Hotel on the independent Dualtone, she vanished. In the intervening years, Wright endured a personal crucible that drove her to write in order to remain sane. Songs came furiously, demanding to be written. Wondering where these songs were taking her, she cold-called Rodney Crowell, whom she barely knew. After an initial meeting in which she played him her songs, Wright dropped demos into his mailbox, and insisted he email her comments on them. Eventually, Crowell gently coaxed her to make Lifted Off the Ground for Vanguard, which he produced. This period also resulted in her memoir, Like Me, published on the day of this release. Crowell's production is simple yet elegant. Performer and producer focused on getting this beautifully articulated, brutally poignant, 11-song cycle across as directly as possible. Wright, once regarded as a singer and performer, has become a songwriter of consequence here. The set opens with “Broken,” where her protagonist addresses a lover with the same trust issues she is plagued with: ”Why can't you just believe in me/Not everyone is the enemy…I'm wagin' war up in my head/Last time I loved it nearly left me dead….” Acoustic guitars with a bassline pushing them are accented by a drum kit and a Fender Rhodes, which lilt around her lyrics, letting them reveal themselves airily. “Notes to the Coroner” is an uptempo tune that addresses what might once have been a real possibility. Woven electric and acoustic guitars, popping bass patterns, and subtle drums underscore her lyrics' chilling details of the protagonist's demise as a B-3 paints the tag lines. More sarcastic than morbid, it still comes from an enormous ball of pain. Things get even darker on the haunting “Snow Globe” before they begin to transition. First, there's self-doubt expressed on “Like Me,” before the desire for another state of being asserts itself on the rocking “That Train.” “Damn Liar” moves through anger, as country and rock meet the blues in an infectious melody. That theme is echoed in “Object of Your Rejection,” though the grain of Wright's voice has changed: she's squarely looking at and confronting her offender with acceptance, and this is reflected in the melody and tempo. “Shadows of Doubt” closes the set with a steely resolve that is grounded in humility and an honest vulnerability. Lifted Off the Ground is easily the most harrowing and lovely recording in Wright's catalog. Crowell's ability to guide songs rather than helm them aided her in accomplishing the most difficult task an artist can encounter: complete reinvention. Wright has succeeded in spades. ~ Thom Jurek
Why because its a year today (07.11.17) since LC passed away....
I'm Your Man (on 1988 vinyl.
The Upsetters - Super Ape.
An essential classic reggae / dub album, which has to be in the collection of anyone interested in the genre ....... A belter!
Lorin Maazel - Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 2
Quad 33 posted:Why because its a year today (07.11.17) since LC passed away....
I'm Your Man (on 1988 vinyl.
Yes indeed.
The Ghost of Paul Revere
(1967)
One of the classic albums, just a half century young.
Dug this out.
Fabulous acoustic version of Baba O'Riley the Who track.
R-LANE posted:Nice call – my all time favourite with super graphics from illustrator Tony Wright. Lee 'Scratch' Perry is a living legend. Crucial Black Ark classic. The Return of the Super Ape is also worth a listen ('Bird in Hand' is a cover of a Hindi song from the 1950s).
Totally agree, Lee "Scratch" Perry rules ............ next up here? ............... "Return of the Super Ape" ..............
Yello - Motion Picture
Someone mentioned this the other day. I have a few from these boys but not this one. Listening to this now on Tidal. As usual huge fun by the boys who don't take themselves too seriously.
CD - Blue Note Records 2006 : )
Patricia Barber - piano & vocals
Neal Alger - Guitar
Michael Arnapol - Bass
Eric Montzka - Drums
With special guests: Jim Gailloreto saxophone (tracks 1, 2, 10); Choral Thunder, directed by Shelby Webb, Jr. background vocals (tracks 10, 11)
With additional vocals by: Paul Falk (track 7), Grazyna Auguscik (track 11), Lawrice Flowers (tracks 7, 10), Airreal Watkins (track 10), Walter “Mitchell” Owens, III (track 10)
dave marshall posted:
The Upsetters - Super Ape.
An essential classic reggae / dub album, which has to be in the collection of anyone interested in the genre ....... A belter!
Dave, you reference this album quite often, so decided to give it a go and have just ordered the last 2nd hand copy off M Magpie. Look forward to giving it a spin.
Freddie Hubbard - Ready for Freddie
From Allmusic.com
Trumpeter Freddie Hubbard really came into his own during this Blue Note session. He is matched with quite an all-star group (tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Art Davis, and drummer Elvin Jones in addition to Bernard McKinney on euphonium), introduces two of his finest compositions ("Birdlike" and "Crisis"), and is quite lyrical on his ballad feature, "Weaver of Dreams." Hubbard's sidemen all play up to par and this memorable session is highly recommended; it's one of the trumpeter's most rewarding Blue Note albums.
(2016)
His final album. Challenging,interesting and enthralling lyrics (as ever), quality song making, beautifully rendered with that trademark subterranean voice (from his later years). He is being honoured in Montreal tonight: