Recent releases and birthdays.
This three-CD set isn’t the unalloyed success a few outlets (Mojo and the frequently unreliable Pitchfork) have proclaimed it, its unevenness to be taken for granted considering that it’s basically a collection of outtakes, rarities, and leftovers. For all that, it’s a real bonanza for fans, and it’s incredibly charming.
The half of Cibo Matto that hadn’t made a solo album (though she’s collaborated with Smoky Hormel and Gorillaz) finally does – the title, “ecdysis,” means “the action of casting off skin or shedding an exoskeleton.” The songs are pretty, and generally her vocals will remind listeners of Bjork (though for Cibo Matto fans, she’ll remind them of herself!), but the production sound and rhythms shift from track to track – Japanese, Brazilian, chill-out electronica, African, and more. It’s a low-key delight.
None of the hip-hop flavor that might be expected of an Anticon release, rather an indie-rock/electronica (mostly) instrumental hybrid that’s chill yet tuneful. Mastermind Martin Dosh is joined by fellow Minneapolites Erik Appelwick (Tapes ‘n Tapes) on guitar and Happy Apple’s Michael Lewis on sax (adding welcome variety to the timbres), plus violinist Andrew Bird and Fog’s Jeremy Yvlisaker on bass, guitar, and pedal steel (more variety). It all comes together in a very pleasant listening experience that’s subtly imaginative.
12/3 birthdays
Anton Webern – 1883
He was a pupil of Arnold Schoenberg, but Webern was arguably more influential on post-war Serialism than his teacher. His ultra-concise, gestural music was inimitable, however; I have always found it highly emotional, never dryly academic.
Ferlin Husky – 1927
For awhile in the late 1950s and early ‘60s, Husky was one of the most popular country singers around, and one of the early stars (maybe the first) to emerge from the Bakersfield scene. He started out under the name Terry Preston (because, ironically, “Ferlin Husky sounded too made-up”). He had many #1 country hits after returning to his birth name. Working with Capitol producer Ken Nelson, he came up with an odd mix of slick production and rockabilly and crossed over to the pop charts (#4) with “Gone.” Other highlights of his career include “I Feel Better All Over,” an early songwriting effort by Kenny Rogers.
Ozzy Osbourne – 1948
I wouldn’t want to live in a world without the first three Black Sabbath albums, and Ozzy’s first couple of solo albums were quite a rebirth, but what you really need to hear is Ozzy singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” at Wrigley Field during the seventh-inning stretch. Thank you, YouTube.
12/4 birthdays
Chris Hillman – 1942
So much more than the bassist of the Byrds. He was in a band with Vern Gosdin that valued Hillman’s singing so much that it was renamed the Hillmen; they made an album with producer Jim Dickson, who recommended Hillman to the Byrds. He’d never played bass before, but his bluegrass background and digital dexterity combined in a new bass style. When Gram Parsons quit the Byrds, Hillman soon followed him into the Flying Burrito Brothers. Later he joined Stephen Stills in Manassas, briefly rejoined the Byrds, made two underrated albums with the Souther-Hillman-Furaytxp:ign_xref> band, made some solo albums, worked with McGuinn, Clark & Hillman for awhile, and finally achieved success on the country charts with his Desert Rose Band.
Cassandra Wilson – 1955
The most versatile jazz vocalist around, so much so that many purists wouldn’t even think of her as a jazz singer. Well, she is, and she’s also a blues singer and a pop singer, but all at once. I already loved her music when she was making quirky, extremely imaginative albums with members of Brooklyn’s M-Base scene in the mid-1980s (Point of View and Days Aweigh in particular), but of course it was when she made a couple of acoustic, eclectic albums with producer Craig Street in the mid-’90s (Blue Light Til Dawn and New Moon Daughter) that she found a larger audience.
12/5 birthdays
Sonny Boy Williamson (II) (Aleck Ford “Rice” Miller) – 1899 (or maybe 1909)
Sonny Boy ranks very, very high in the pantheon of blues greats. His highly influential harmonica style, his gritty singing, and his witty songwriting are all magnificent. “Help Me” (covered by Van Morrison), “Eyesight to the Blind,” and “Don’t Start Me Talkin’” (covered by the New York Dolls) are among his many classics.
Little Richard (Wayne Penniman) – 1935
The greatest scream in rock ‘n’ roll. Best moustache, too.
J.J. Cale – 1938
Eric Clapton covering Cale’s songs “Cocaine” and “After Midnight” may have made him rich, but does Cale also get royalties for the style that Clapton stole from him?
Jim Messina – 1947
Anybody who was in the Buffalo Springfield – he was the bassist on, and producer of, their final album – has my eternal gratitude. I liked Poco too. The less said about Loggins & Messina, the better.
12/6 birthdays
Joseph Lamb – 1887
A ragtime great, considered one of the three icons of the genre along with Scott Joplin and James Scott. Pretty good for a white guy from Montclair, NJ. who kept his day job in textile importing. Alas, he recorded only one album, in 1959 (the year before he died), by which time his chops were not what they used to be, though it’s still an important document. Sadly, the Folkways label has never issued it on CD. To hear his music, get American Beauties by Virginia Eskin.
Dave Brubeck – 1920
In the ‘50s a number of players expanded the sounds of jazz with time signatures beyond the usual 4/4 and 3/4 meters; none with greater popular impact than the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Brubeck’s dense, two-handed piano work was perfectly complemented by the light, dry tone of alto saxophonist Paul Desmond (who wrote “Take Five”), while Joe Morello’s spare, thoughtful drumming contributed greatly to the success of Brubeck’s metric experiments. “Blue Rondo a la Turk” is another successful experiment, mixing Mozart and the blues. The list of Brubeck’s great compositions is much longer than the popular favorites
Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki – 1933
This Polish composer’s Symphony No. 3 “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs” is so beautiful and haunting (and accessible, though without compromising his vision in any way) that the 1993 recording featuring soprano Dawn Upshaw actually made the pop charts in England.
Chris Stamey – 1954
The first great rock talent to come out of Chapel Hill, NC that I’d heard. That a man can start Sneakers and the dB’s and not become a huge star in the process just proves for the millionth time that the market doesn’t always work. At least I’ve got Stands for Decibels and Repercussion to listen to.
Peter Buck – 1956
Guitarist of R.E.M. and a real stand-up guy, totally approachable. Perhaps that’s because he’s such a great music fan himself.
12/7 birthdays
Louis Prima – 1911
As the leader of a band that combined swing and jump blues, Prima became known for novelty songs often featuring an Italian accent. But he also wrote “Sing, Sing, Sing,” a big hit for Benny Goodman, and “A Sunday Kind of Love,” a Jo Stafford smash, while such favorites as “Jump, Jive an’ Wail” provided a template for the neo-swing revival bands of the 1990s and was a Grammy-winning song for Brian Setzer. Rock fans are also familiar with Prima’s medley of “Just a Gigolo/I Ain’t Got Nobody” – one of the big hits of his stage show when Prima and wife Keely Smith (with star saxophonist Sal Butera) became a standing attraction in Las Vegas – thanks to a very faithful version David Lee Roth, while children for several decades have been charmed by Prima’s voice as King Louie, leader of the orangutans, in Disney’s The Jungle Book, including the song “I Wanna Be Like You.”
Tom Waits – 1949
I bet Waits is a Prima fan too. My favorite Waits albums, in order: 1. Small Change (Asylum), 2. The Heart of Saturday Night (Asylum), 3. Swordfishtrombones (Island), 4. Rain Dogs (Island), 5. Blood Money (Anti), 6. Closing Time (Asylum), 7. Bone Machine (Island), 8. Frank’s Wild Years (Island), 9. Mule Variations (Anti), 10. Nighthawks at the Diner (Island)
12/8 birthdays
Jean Sibelius – 1865
Finland’s greatest composer, a national icon, and one of the greatest symphonists of the 20th century. There’s a fine three-disc set of his seven symphonies by the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Lorin Maazel that offers generally estimable performances and good sound at a low price.
Jimmy Smith – 1925
When most jazz fans think of organists, Smith is probably the first name to come to mind, and for good reason. Smith was the first jazzman to gain respect making the organ his main instrument, and starting in 1956 with an impressive debut on Blue Note he pretty much created the template for decades to come. His combination of blues and bebop is so irresistible that pretty much all of his albums sound good; my favorites are Cool Blues (including Lou Donaldson and Tina Brooks), House Party (Lee Morgan, Curtis Fuller, George Coleman, Kenny Burrell, Donaldson, Brooks), and Home Cooking (the underrated Percy France, Burrell). He remained active until his death in 2005, still making fine records.
Jim Morrison – 1943
I pretty much can’t stand the Doors, especially Morrison (poet, my ass). Exceptions: “The Crystal Ship,” “Riders on the Storm,” and the “can you give me sanctuary” section of “The Soft Parade.”
Gregg Allman – 1947
It was pretty standard for British rock bands to be blues fans and build their early styles around imitating their idols, but few American bands did that. The Allman Brothers are the bluesiest U.S. rock band of long standing, not because they copied a style from across the ocean, but because they were born and raised in the blues. For them to cover Blind Willie McTell’s “Statesboro Blues” was as natural as breathing. It’s also why Allman has such a soulful vocal style.
12/9 birthdays
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf – 1915
She was an opportunistic Nazi (which she nonetheless denied, in the face of clear evidence, until she died this August), but wow did she have a beautiful voice. Her recording of Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs set the standard and has been only occasionally equaled and never bettered. She always excelled in Strauss and Mozart operas as well.
Junior Wells (Amos Blakemore) – 1934
Wells replaced Little Walter in the harmonica slot of the Muddy Waters band in 1952 and was a Chicago fixture for over four decades after that. “Messin’ with the Kid” was an instant R&B classic (in 1960 in some parts of the country, blues was still popular music, not a niche market) and established him as a singer. His Hoodoo Man Blues in 1965 was one of the first great Chicago blues albums (as opposed to a collection of singles issued on an LP) and is Delmark’s all-time best-seller. For years Wells teamed with hotshot guitarist Buddy Guy, they became a major attraction by blues standards, and toured for a while as openers for the Rolling Stones, who greatly admired both of them.
Joan Armatrading – 1950
She never quite broke in the U.S. beyond cult status. Count me as a member of that cult. I wish her underrated ‘80s albums that are out of print – especially Walk under Ladders and The Key – would reappear on CD.
