MWE3.COM
MUSIC NEWS & NOTES
SEPTEMBER
2011 RECORD LABEL SPOTLIGHT
POP
& ROCK
429
RECORDS - A guitar trendsetter who shaped some of the biggest
R&B hits of the ‘60s, Stax Records producer / pioneer Steve
Cropper returns with a 2011 CD release called Dedicated
- A Salute To The 5 Royales. The CD on 429 Records
is kind of Steve’s self-styled tribute to his fellow guitarist,
Lowman “Pete” Pauling and his pioneering R&B
group The 5 Royales. With the subject matter well in hand,
Dedicated finds Cropper backed up by a red hot band and in
the company of classic rock and R&B voices including Steve
Winwood, B.B. King and Bettye Lavette along with
high caliber artists like Lucinda Williams, guitar god Brian
May and more. Commenting on the album Cropper adds, ‘If I
can educate these young ears as to where the music started, because
they’re always asking, and if I can get them interested in the
Five Royales I’ve done something.’ Produced by Steve and
Jon Tiven, the 15 cut CD features cream of the crop Nashville
/ Memphis session players who could clearly be counted on to play
any standard from Cropper’s Stax library of R&B classics.
Getting Winwood to sing the lead off track “Thirty Second Lover”
was a real coup and throughout, the impressive CD booklet provides
a wealth of information behind the project. Perhaps the coolest thing
is how the album brings to light the music of the relatively unheralded
Lowman Pauling, who wrote a number of pop / R&B standards (“Dedicated
To The One I Love”, “Baby Don’t Do It”) and how
his music and guitar style turned on ‘60s generation R&B
guitar superstars like Steve Cropper. With all these classic rock
voices and rock superstars on hand, the only drawback is the album
features only two Cropper instrumentals. Even so, Dedicated is
a fitting summation of Cropper’s star studded career as guitarist,
producer and arranger. www.429records.com
BLACK HEN MUSIC - One of the hot guitar properties out of Canada
is Steve Dawson, the brains behind the well rounded, Vancouver
based Black Hen label. Dawson’s latest project is Montreal native
singer-songwriter and guitarist Roxanne Potvin, who scores
with the 2011 CD release of Play. Produced by
Dawson, who also plays many of the electric lead guitar work, the
album is definitely rootsy. Bearing the Dawson production stamp, it
also draws on what some might cite as white album era Beatles influences
as well as alt-pop icon Beck in places. As is par for the course,
Dawson has assembled a fine crew of players to assist, including drummer
Geoff Hicks. Coming of age in the post-MTV, early internet
era of pop, Ms. Potvin sounds truly inspired on a rockin’ (and
tongue in cheek) cover of the Right Said Fred hit from ‘91, “I’m
Too Sexy.” With the release of Play, Black Hen strikes
a refreshing balance between Americana and toe-tapping pop sophistication.
www.RoxannePotvin.com
DECCA
RECORDS - Being
handicapped didn't always mean that an artist would not make it. In
modern pop history Stevie Wonder, blind since birth, became a huge
sensation, starting in the early 1960's. Legendary songwriter Doc
Pomus—one of the key architects 
of
the early rock ‘n’ roll sound—spent most of his time
in a wheelchair. One of the true song writing geniuses of all time,
Doc would have loved Days To Recall—the 2011 CD
from Canadian singer-songwriter Justin Hines. Although Hines
himself is wheelchair bound, his spirit is clearly undaunted on an
album that sounds inspired by the upbeat, multi-faceted music of legends
like Elton John and Paul McCartney. Commenting on his physical limitations,
Justin states, ‘There have been so many blessings. It’s
afforded me so many other opportunities. It’s a bit of an attention
grabber. But then my job is to keep people interested and keep their
attention with my music.’ Hines is at his best on upbeat tracks
here like “Nothing Better Than Today,” “Tell Me I’m
Wrong” and “Come Around”, all of which mix solid backing
with a memorable hook and melody. Justin gets solid support from his
band including co-producer Justin Abedin (guitars), Kevin
Adamson (keyboards) and Jorn Juul Andersen (drums). Among
a rising, elite group of 21st century singer-songwriters who are expert
at combining heartfelt, upbeat pop and rock, Justin Hines is in a
class of his own. www.DeccaRecords.com
FAVORED
NATIONS - Starting out way back in 1982, L.A. Guns are
still going strong with a newly recorded unplugged live album entitled
Acoustic Gypsy Live. Released by Steve Vai and
his Favored Nations label, Acoustic Gypsy Live is a fine showcase
for guitarist Tracii Guns and lead singer Jizzy Pearl,
who are backed up here by the rhythm section of Chad Stewart (drums)
and Danny Nordahl (bass). The pounding of the drums and the
passionate vocals are still up front, yet for this live set—recorded
at The Hotel Cafe, February 20, 2011—the guitars are acoustic
and it shows yet another side of this versatile hard rock band. The
guitar work of Tracii Guns is quite a revelation and even ripping
out leads, mic'd on acoustic guitar, he’s rarely off the mark.
In addition to some classic acoustic based rock, the band takes on
some new L.A. Guns style versions of both “These Arms Of Mine”
(an Otis Redding cover) and the metal rock anthem “Love Hurts”
(made famous by Nazareth). All in all, the 14 track Acoustic Gypsy
Live is an acoustic based live album delivered with a lot of passion
and verve. www.LAguns.co
JETTY RECORDS - Putting socially incisive lyrics together with
a toe-tapping folk-rock beat is tried and true, yet the genre gets
a lift with Perfect World Today, the 2011 CD
from NYC-based pop-
rock
innovator Peter Galperin. I could see fans of mid ‘60s
folk rockers such as The Byrds, Lovin’ Spoonful and Donovan digging
where Galperin is coming from on Perfect World Today. Written,
recorded and produced by Galperin over the past year, Perfect World
Today also blends in some fine electric guitar and keyboard work.
Although it’s just seven tracks, Perfect World Today covers
a lot of ground musically and overall, the CD provides a solid foundation
for Galperin’s singing, songwriting, guitar and keyboard style
and studio expertise. In the spirit of Paul Simon at his most folk-rockingest,
Galperin isn’t afraid to merge some Afro-Latin rhythms or even
smooth jazz fusion into the mix and several cuts even sound samba
and bossa nova inspired. A Seattle native, Galperin has spent the
past 30 years in NYC and likewise, he was greatly influenced by the
music of David Bowie, Talking Heads and Laurie Anderson. With the
CD release of Perfect World Today, Peter Galperin has created
an authentic sonic destination worthy of return visits. www.JettyRecords.com
MARINA RECORDS - Let’s face it. American’s greatest
contributions of the ‘60s were musical. This fact is still a
fact of life with the majority of the civilized world still catching
up with the retro-sonics of American pop music. All over the world,
kids are turning on to 
Brian
Wilson and the assorted West Coast geniuses that his music brought
us. Although he’s from Athens, Georgia—a town best known
for wild-eyed rock groups like the B-52’s and R.E.M.—Brent
Cash and his music honors the Wilson-ian musical spirit and also
songwriters like Bacharach and Rundgren. The eleven cut CD release
of How Strange It Seems features Brent’s very Pet
Sounds influenced music backed up by a mini-symphony orchestra
with real strings, horns, flutes and harps. Cash sounds positively
possessed with “Surf’s Up”, the song not the album,
and overall here, he manages to create and recreate a range of musical
moves that also pays a karmic tribute to a period when American pop
composer geniuses ruled the the planet. The Germany based Marina Records
are huge fans of that sound, having produced a spectacular tribute
album CD to the music of Brian Wilson way back in 2000 called (what
else but) Caroline No. www.MarinaRecords.com
MOGADOR MUSIC - Many rock albums sound good but often are derivative
of the genre, while sometimes a prog-rock band arrives that not only
fuses the best of the past but also breaks new ground with a fresh,
off the wall kind of approach. Mogador is a Pan-European prog
band featuring the vocals and lyrics of Richard Allen (drums)
with music supplied by Luca Briccolo (keys, guitars, orchestrations)
backed up by bass player Paolo Pigny. Allen merging his English
prog sensibilities with two formidable Italian progressive musicians
yields some intriguing sounds. Allen’s occasional Peter Hammill
and Chris Squire inspired vocal outbursts may be the focus, yet there’s
plenty of musical interplay and insightful composing that displays
some formidable chops. Commenting during the summer of 2011 about
new music from Mogador, Richard Allen adds, 'Work on the third CD
is well under way; we are finishing the writing of a set of songs
inspired by some paintings and poetry that we find inspiring. As usual,
I am having to re-programme by brain to be able to play in some challenging
time signatures. For those who may not be too familiar with what that
means, very simply it means rhythms that you might not be able to
dance to that easily...' Funny how, considering the Anglo-Italian
axis of musicianship here, one in the know progressive music review
web site described Mogador as being "Proghetti at its finest
and an artifact that you simply must have.' www.MogadorMusic.com
MVD
VISUAL -
One of the top DVD companies in North America today, MVD and its MVD
visual division MVDb2b has a 2011 DVD out of the 2010 reunion of Emerson
Lake & Palmer. Entitled Welcome Back My Friends,
(not to be confused with the multi-disc live album of the same
name) this 40th anniversary reunion concert features the original
band founders in fine form performing all time prog-rock classics
from the early ELP albums. On a live gig that doesn't miss a beat
or hit a bad note, it's hard to believe that this live concert appearance
was actually the first time ELP had played live since 1998. Classic
tracks here include favorites from the fabled first self-titled ELP
album from 1970, Tarkus (from 1971), Trilogy (1972)
and of course a helpful heaping of tracks from the all time ELP album
classic from 1971, Pictures At An Exhibition. Captured live
on July 25th at England’s famous Summer 2010 High Voltage rock
festival, ELP may be older and more seasoned, but they sound pretty
darn impressive. The DVD also adds in new interviews with Keith, Greg
and Carl. There’s even an in depth four color booklet that long
time fans will no doubt pour over. In addition to the DVD, MVD is
also making the release available as a high definition Blu-Ray video.
www.MVDb2b.com
OGAN
MUSIC / SOUND GROUND - Signed to Elektra back in 1972,
Oregon based Gary Ogan has slowly built his repertoire of solo
albums and he reaches new heights with his 2010 album Sound
Ground. Having produced two albums for Leon Russell—and
after producing and publishing in Nashville for years—Ogan is
really in his element as a solo artist. Influenced early on in his
career by Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder and Todd Rundgren recording
every instrument on their early '70s albums, as his jumping off point,
Ogan does in fact play, sing and write on every track here with the
overall vibe ranging from a mix of slick blue-eyed soul and sultry
funk to gospel-flavored ballads and toe-tapping pop-rock. Gary adds,
‘I wanted to reach back to that wonderful place in time when
those guys were making records by themselves.’ Even his old boss
Leon Russell is sold on Ogan’s infectious pop groove calling
him 'a great artist and a quality record maker.’ Throughout the
eleven cut Sound Ground CD, Ogan has as much soul as Stevie
and he can rock and produce himeself in the finest DIY spirit of Macca
and Rundgren. www.GaryOgan.com
PSYCHOTERIA MUSIC - NYC pop-rock maven Errol Antzis—founder
of Psychoteria—is a man of many talents, and one is the
ability to craft and release a mind boggling array of guitar based
pop-rock. The sound of instrumental guitar that was present on the
first two Psychoteria albums has given rise to Errol’s 2011 CD
called I Think I’ll Just Stay Home. Decked
out with typical Antzis style 
colorful
artwork, the music within features Errol in a solid pop mode, showcasing
Antzis, the pop-rock vocalist / guitarist. The results are quite interesting,
especially when you consider that backing up Errol on a number of
tracks here is none other than Holland's fabled fusion guitar hero
Jan Akkerman. One of the four instrumentals here, “The
Soft And The Hard” features a fine dueling guitars effect between
Errol and Jan that is a must for fusion fans while “Acting Class
(POP)” sounds like Dickey Betts in the Allmans. Antzis as usual
turns in a fine electric guitar performance and, assisted by drummer
Jonathan Mover on the title track, he serves up a smorgasbord
of ‘60s style—sometimes humorous and socially satirical—pop
songs and instrumentals. The title track “I Think I’ll Just
Stay Home” sounds inspired, no doubt by Errol’s endless
appetite for dissecting classic pop-rock of the ‘60s—from
The Monkees and Buffalo Springfield to obscure psyche-rock groups
like The Left Banke and The Leaves. Beatles fans will appreciate Errol’s
ringing cover of “It’s Only Love”—fusing the Fab
Four fave with a jingle jangle, tambourine turning, Byrds flavored
Beatles beat. www.psychoteria.com
THE FREED - The sound of rave-up rockabilly is alive and well
in Zurich Switzerland with the 2011 CD release of Beg, Borrow
Or Steal from pan-European revivalists The Hillbilly Moon
Explosion. You can hear elements of ‘50s rockers like Eddie
Cochran and Link Wray in the mix here, while further comparisons to
modern retro-rockers like Imelda May are accurate too. Fronted by
singer Emanuela Hutter (vocals) and Oliver Baroni (vocals,
slap bass, keys), the group also features some top performances from
Duncan James (on lead and rhythm guitar and six string bass)
and Luke Weyermann (drums). Ms. Hutter, in particular has a
fine voice that can leap and transcend musical genres in a heartbeat.
Overall, if you dig ‘50s early rock ‘n’ roll with a
touch Gypsy jazz and surf-rock thrown in for good measure, then the
Hillbilly Moon Explosion is for you. www.HillbillyMoon.com
INSTRUMENTAL
BLACK
RILLS RECORDS - Over in Switzerland, Black Rills has a winner
with the CD debut of Sick Sharks In Space. The quartet features
the two guitar sound of Marc Beetschen and Bruno Berger
topped off by a driving rhythm section. The overall album sound
is reminiscent of Bruford-era King Crimson meets Pink Floyd or even
Manzanera-esque Roxy meets Velvet Underground. Of course the entire
Sick Sharks In Space album is solidly instrumental rock and
with many of those bands in moth balls in 2011, SickSharksInSpace
is set to amaze a whole new generation of instrumental hard rock listeners.
www.BlackRills.ch
BROKEN
SILENCE - Being a huge fan of ‘60s style guitar instrumental
music, I was quite impressed by the sound of the Germany based Sutcliffe,
who have a number of CDs out on the Broken Silence label. The label
is part of the German-based Beste! Unterhaltung company, which distributes
the Broken Silence and the Nordic Notes labels. Sutcliffe made inroads
into the guitar based instrumental genre with their 2009, self-titled
Sutcliffe album and likewise do another fine
job on the 2010 CD release on the cryptically titled Mom, Where
Are The Seahorses? With the group featuring the guitars of
Herr Hofer and Jupp Colt (pedal steel guitar), Sutcliffe
might be considered an alternative rock version of a surf-rock band,
yet sometimes break the mold by adding in a touch of ska, hip-hop,
old world Europe romanticism, New Wave type rock edginess and assorted
electronica grooves to their potent surf-based, alternative rock sound.
In addition to the great music, the packaging of both CDs is quite
impressive, making Sutcliffe a solid choice for instrumental rock
fans. www.sutcliffe.de
LONG PLAY MUSIC - Most everybody over in Finland usually speaks
decent enough English yet interestingly, a majority of music over
there is instrumental. Following that tradition are Finnish surf-rockers
El Supernaut. Led by guitar figure Sami Paananen,
the quartet strikes instro surf-rock gold with the 15 track 2011 CD
Viva! Of course, the Shadows influence is always in
play here and the legacy gets handed down in style thanks to Paananen’s
deft skills on electric guitar. This style of music is still quite
popular around the globe and El Supernaut is among the best bands
of this style around these days. The Long Play music label over in
Finland also draws on a different style of instrumental rock with
the 2011 CD release of the self-titled Ronnie & His Twanging
Little Fellow. Although falling into the instrumental
rock genre, this album is just as much influenced by the boogie stomp
instro rock of say Neil Young and Billy F. Gibbons rather than the
Ventures or Shadows. That said, there is also a remarkable cover here
of the Ventures cut “Dick Tracy,” which is credited to the
axis of Bogle - Wilson - Edwards - Taylor. There’s also no one
named Ronnie in the four piece band but guitarist Antti Kukkola
really coaxes some wild, sonic tones from his electric guitar.
Don’t forget, this is still Finland and you can even hear a few
cool Nordic type, Lapland Au-go-go musical modes shifting throughout
the sound. www.myspace.com/elsupernaut
MAD MONKEY / EMI - Back around 1986 or so, guitar pioneer
Duane Eddy joined forces with George Harrison, Jeff Lynne,
Paul McCartney and The Art Of Noise, to name a few, for his long awaited
return to form. Hard to believe it’s taken nearly 25 years for
a sequel, but in 2011 Duane returned with Road Trip—a
new studio album co-produced by, and featuring U.K. guitar aficionado
Richard Hawley. Touching on all aspects of Duane Eddy’s
star-studded guitar career, the eleven cut Road Trip is both
sentimental and modern sounding at the same time. Backed up by Hawley’s
band—including guitarist Shez Sheridan, keyboard players
Jon Trier, Dean Beresford (drums), and co-producer Colin
Elliot—Duane cuts loose on a range of new original tracks
that also features contributions from sax player Ron Dziubla,
who simply wails on several cuts here. Anyone who appreciated Duane’s
amazing comeback in the ‘80s with Harrison, Macca and Lynne will
totally love Road Trip. Duane may be a little older and a lot
wiser, yet when he plugs in his Gretsch 6120 guitar, the trip down
memory lane is forever timeless. www.Duane-Eddy.com
MUSICA SLOVACA - Let’s just say, for instance that back in
late 2008, Jon Anderson rejoined YES along with Slovakian keyboardist
Peter Machajdik, filling in for the Wakemans. Man oh man, that
would have been something! Before you go and call the nice young men
in their clean white coats, it’s not so far from reality, especially
when you take a listen to Anderson’s amazing vocal performance
on Machajdik’s CD, entitled Namah, which
was released in early 2009. Seems no one was really talking much about
this album by Peter yet, now a couple years later, it’s amazing
to hear his CD. Best known for his ground breaking work in YES, Anderson
sings on the five part suite here called, “Sadness Of Flowing”,
which Anderson added his vocals to way back in November 2007. Composing
the music here and contributing a range of electronic sounds and tapes,
Machajdik is assisted not only by Jon Anderson but by some of his
gifted Slovakian musician friends. This music is quite far from rock
and is tempered throughout by a near avant gard, yet still quite progressive
approach to classical music in the spirit of legendary geniuses like
Edgard Varese and even Wendy Carlos. Anderson’s contributions
may be the most accessible part of this 77 minute CD yet—featuring
some of the most adventurous instrumental and wordless sonic collages
most rock fans will ever hear—Namah is filled with a rare
blend of atmospheric, soundtrack type music that blends, neoclassical
orchestrations with a wild mix of improvisation and multimedia type
sounds that truly defies descriptions. Fittingly, Machajdik is based
in the city of Prague (pronounced “Prog”), capital city
of the former Czechoslovakia. www.Machajdik.de
PRECISION RECORDS - Guitarist Travis Larson has remained
on the cutting edge of hard rock / metal-rock / fusion instrumental
music for over a decade now and with the 2011 CD release of Soundmind
he’s released his greatest musical statement yet. In
the spirit of great 21st century rock instrumental bands—say
for instance Chicago’s best, the Flyin’ Ryan Brothers band—the
Travis Larson Band kicks up a ton of rock dust on Soundmind.
Described as being ‘a lot of meat on the barbecue,’
Soundmind features Larson’s guitar blowing the roof off
with the help of his long time band mates Jennifer Young (bass)
and Dale Moon (drums). Described by guitar fans in the know
as being state of the art, progressive rock-metal, Soundmind also
features a guest appearance by Steve Morse band bass ace Dave LaRue.
Instro rockers and melodic metal listeners can’t go wrong with
Soundmind. www.TravisLarsonBand.com
SAULITO MUSIC - Based in Dallas Texas, fretboard master Russ
Hewitt continues refining his unique blend of acoustic-based Nuevo
Flamenco and Gypsy Jazz guitar instrumentals. Sounding equally inspired
by vintage flamenco, classical guitar and rhumba 
flamenco
with a touch of glowing Santana inspired guitar moves, Hewitt clearly
has the chops and, while his sound is impeccable, it’s also worth
noting that on the 2011 CD release of Alma Vieja (Old
Soul), Hewitt is also about emotion and feel. The notes just flow
off of Hewitt's nylon string guitars and the melodies are memorable
too. On the Alma Vieja album, Russ reunites once again with
producer Bob Parr, and several of the key players who were
also featured on the 2009 CD release of Bajo el Sol—including
Steve Winwood drummer Walfredo Reyes Jr. and percussionist
Rafael Padilla. Where Hewitt dazzles with his usual deft flamenco
jazz sound, on track 8 here, “Las Cruces”, Hewitt also displays
a rare compositional knack for composing songs that could very well
turn out to be instrumental standards—for fusion, flamenco, jazz
and beyond. Texas has turned out some of the great American rock and
blues guitar pioneers of all time, and the American Nuevo Flamenco
Jazz sound gets a solid boost with the timeless flamenco guitar groove
of Alma Vieja. www.RussHewittMusic.com
SONY
MUSIC MASTERWORKS - Commenting on her new album, Guitar
Passions classical guitar maven Sharon Isbin states,
‘I’m paying tribute to my guitar heroes.’ It’s
that and a whole lot more on a classical guitar album that takes a
number of chances. Isbin studied with Segovia at age 14 and her dedication
to the classical nylon stringed guitar is beyond question. On Guitar
Passions she works in her rock influences with the album featuring
contributions from both Steve Vai and Steve Morse performing
classical adaptations without any drums. The near fourteen minute
“Adagio” from the fabled Concierto de Aranjuez features
contributions from both Dixie Dregs founder Morse on electric guitar
and Brazilian guitarist Romero Lubambo. Other artists appearing
on Guitar Passions include Stanley Jordan and Nancy
Wilson, from Heart singing and playing on “Dreamboat Annie”
accompanied by Isbin’s delicate guitar. In addition, Guitar
Passions features music from a range of Latin music territory
directly—countries including Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and
Spain. The CD booklet features some amazing photos of Ms. Isbin with
her heroes including Segovia, Jobim, Barbosa-Lima and more on an album
that reshapes the essence of classical guitar in the 21st century.
www.SharonIsbin.com
/ www.SonyMasterworks.com
TEMPORARY RESIDENCE - The Brooklyn-based Temporary Residence label
is doing right by the instrumental rock genre. 25 to 30 years ago,
much instrumental rock was based in Europe and England and a quarter
century later, a younger generation of American musicians have truly
made the genre a populist movement here in the U.S. over the past
decade. One of the latest bands to make a breakthrough, out of the
state of Oregon, is called Grails. Not necessarily The Grails,
but just Grails as in holy grails. Although groups like Love Tractor
and Djam Karet pioneered the American progressive instrumental rock
sound back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, respectively, clearly there’s
a lot of imagination and new directions left in the minds of these
players. It’s kind of hard to put your finger exactly on what’s
going on with the 2011 CD release of Deep Politics because
Grails draw on a number of genres including occult / fringe culture
music, film music, strings and all, cut and paste production techniques,
hip-hop beats and much more. There’s some amazing guitar and
drum work although the mysterious nature of the album packaging doesn’t
offer much info into even the musicians names! The instrumental nature
automatically means it’s much more complex and accessible at
the same time. Another case in point that proves that theory is another
2011 Temporary Residence CD entitled Take Care, Take Care, Taker
Care by Austin based instrumental rockers Explosions In
The Sky. This latest Explosions In The Sky CD is just as cryptic
as the Grails release but it’s more rock based and slightly less
eclectic. Much more influenced by downtown NYC based music in the
spirit of Massacre, Robert Fripp, Golden Palominos and Velvet Underground
than say, the West Coast surf rock of say, The Ventures, the EITS
sound is instrumental and cutting edge, often harrowing and takes
no prisoners. That said, there’s plenty of sonic guitar experimentation
and hard driving beats on hand to keep instrumental rock fans and
avant gardists happy. www.TemporaryResidence.com
TODD
NELSON MUSIC - Based in Upstate New York, guitarist Todd Nelson
earned his reputation by distilling and refining his big musical influences—from
Chet Atkins and Julian Bream to guitar icons Metheny, McLaughlin and
Martino. Todd will make a whole lotta 
guitar
fans happy with his 2011 CD, entitled Here, and subtitled
Songs For Guitar Bass And Drums. On Here, Todd
gets solid backup from his trio cohorts Kyle Esposito (fretless
bass) and Manuel Quintana (drums). Nelson’s trio specializes
in instrumental jazz that’s not afraid to merge in elements of
improvisational jazz, rock, electronics, pop, folk and gospel music.
Commenting on appealing to a world wide audience with his eclectic,
guitar-centric instrumental jazz-rock, Nelson states 'I hope that
they recognize that it's simply good music and it doesn't matter what
people call it. If it reaches you directly through your heart, or
your head, or your body or some combination of these, then it's doing
what music does best, and you don't need words to enjoy it.' Over
the course of the seven track CD, it’s hard to put your finger
on exactly what style Nelson’s trio plays in, but the wondering
aspect adds to the overall enjoyment of the album. www.ToddNelsonGuitar.com
TWEETY
RECORDS - A subtle mix of mainstream jazz and a well honed mix
of funky grooves, Plain ‘n’ Simple is a splendid
return to form from guitarist Chuck Loeb. Throughout the 12
cut CD, Loeb conjures up some striking guitar interplay with the B-3
organ of Pat Bianchi and some solid drumming by Harvey Mason—his
band mates in the group Fourplay—with added contributions from
various horn players and percussionists, along with bass ace Will
Lee. A pair of singers—including Brazilian vocalist Carmen
Cuesta—lend their talents on the two vocal tracks here. Overall,
Plain ‘n’ Simple offers a stellar distillation of
Loeb’s early guitar influences—from the early jazz of Wes
Montgomery with Jimmy Smith to George Benson and Kenny Burrell. www.ChuckLoeb.com
VORTEXAN
MUSIC - A relatively unsung American guitar hero, Eric Johnson
continues recording as a solo artist and his 2011 release of Up
Close is among his best album releases to date. Placed prominently
in a field of instrumental music contemporaries including such as
guitar legends as Pat Metheny and Steve Morse, Johnson’s guitar
status seemed somewhat overshadowed yet his albums continued to live
up to the hype and the press. Like Morse and Metheny, Johnson knows
the value of both melody and mood and, like a 21st century blend between
Wes Montgomery and Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnson can do it all. Among
the Up Close instrumentals featured here are several Johnson
vocals, including a pair tracks featuring guest vocalists Steve
“The Joker” Miller and Jonny Lang. In an era
when some labels and some artists are sadly cutting back on physical
product altogether, clearly the CD release of Up Close looks
like a no expenses spared design, featuring a superbly designed packaging
and inserts. Throughout the CD, a number of key musicians assist in
backing up Johnson’s original compositions. As an enigmatic rock
fusion guitarist, Johnson always managed to make it look easy. With
Up Close, the attention to sonic detail is further understated
thanks to the work of a number of highly rated audio engineers, topped
off by the fact that some of these tracks were mixed by highly regarded
sound man Andy Johns. Sonically and musically, Up Close
is Eric Johnson at his best. www.EricJohnson.com
REISSUES & RETROSPECTIVES
FIREBALL RECORDS - Based up in Canada, The Surfdusters are
fondly recalled as one of the premier instrumental rock bands of the
past twenty years. In 2011, founding member Rich Hagensen has
done a great job assembling a 27 track, 80 minute CD compilation highlighting
the best of the Surfdusters entitled Save The Waves.
Currently receiving much praise in the U.K. press, including surf-rock
aficionados from Pipeline magazine, The Surfdusters line their sound
with what could best be described as vintage or classic instro rock,
while infusing their brand of rock with some finely honed modern edges.
There’s plenty of Ventures style instrumental guitar magic on
the CD while other influences here includes, of course, legends like
The Shadows, Davie Allan & The Arrows and Santo & Johnny.
In his fairly in depth CD liner notes, Hagensen details the history
of the group while mentioning the various guitarists who contribute
both their sound and songs to the group over the years. Funny how
a bunch of these instrumental rockers ended up appearing on the now
famous “Spongebob Squarepants” cartoon series. Funny stuff,
but The Surfdusters are quite serious in their approach to instro
rock perfectionism. Contact: surfdust@telus.net
HEAR MUSIC / MPL - Back in the summer of 1980 you had to
feel sorry for Paul McCartney. It was sometime around then,
that early summer period of ‘80, that John Lennon announced he
was returning to the recording studio and was, actually in fact, well
into the process of producing some of what would become some of his
enduring melodies and lyrics based songs. Anyway, in the months leading
up to that summer of 1980...bang / boom, Paul got busted for ganja
in Japan—abandoned in a Tokyo jail by Denny Laine, who beat the
rap. (so Denny, the half pound was all for Paul?) It seemed that checking
out his new stuff that summer of 1980, Paul was just getting primed
again, going back to his roots (check out Paul’s ironic Hank
Marvin impersonation in the “Coming Up” video). In some
ways the 1980 album release of McCartney II, is
perhaps the karmic sequel to McCartney—his now
contentious solo debut following the transformation of The Beatles
into four solo acts by early 1970. Of course we know what was supposed
to happen. By late 1985—as a result of the paradigm shift from
black vinyl to CD, and the untold millions stood to be made by suchlike—the
four original Beatles were set to reform for a world tour reunion
in 1986, accompanied only by keyboard genius and Moody Blues founder
Mike Pinder—who himself is directly responsible for informing
John and Paul and George and Ringo about the mellotron, the instrument
directly responsible for some of the most pioneering music of the
Beatles and Moody Blues and countless other bands that this fortuitous
alliance started. Anyway, compared to the ingenious music Lennon was
set to unveil before it ended so wrong for him, (think Buddy Holly,
even in the raw and under dubbed state, with some of the most promising
music of his career) the music on McCartney II is everything
we’d grown in that decade to admire about Paul (the ingenious
under / over production AND the occasional D-I-Y excess). As was sometimes
in case in the late period Beatles, Paul’s excesses are tempered
on McCartney II overall by his finesse in the studio and an
unfettered sense of glee at, perhaps, ten years after at the thought
of shaking off the shackles of Wings and imagine the possibilities...
Anyway, newcomers and anyone who missed McCartney I & II—now
31 and 41 years after the fact—are advised to pick up on the
latest CD remasters on Hear Music, distributed by Concord Music Group.
Don’t expect sonic miracles here, (for that so far pick up the
Hear Music reissue of Band On The Run) but yet repackaged again,
this time as double CD sets complete with a number of bonus tracks
rarities and new packaging design, McCartney I & II once
again provides fresh insights into McCartney at his most whimsical
and innovative. www.ConcordMusicGroup / www.PaulMcCartney.com
OMNIVORE
RECORDINGS - Back in the mid ‘70s, a Leon Russell concert
was a lot like going to church—heaven and hell and rock and roll,
Leon style. Anyway, the maestro is well represented on Leon Russell
Live In Japan—a 2011 CD remaster of live Leon Russell
show (and subsequent nine track ‘74 Japan only Lp release, recorded
live on November 8th, 1973 at the Budokan Hall in Japan. The 16 track
CD features the original Live In Japan topped off with seven
additional Russell classics, recorded live in Houston, TX on April
22, 1971. For both shows, Leon is backed up by a solid band, while
the CD features some hot fretboard work from guitar aces Wayne
Perkins and Joey Cooper. Ever the multi-tasker, Russell
also straps on his Les Paul on the first track “Heaven”.
With so much going on here, the original nine cut Live In Japan
has got to be one of Leon’s great live recordings. The Japan
show was superbly recorded and Leon sounds completely in control.
In fact, turning the show into a revival of sorts, Leon whips the
unusually sedate Japanese crowds to a fever pitch like some cosmic
preacher, making this a sound to behold. Commenting on the first US
reissue of Live In Japan, Leon adds, ‘I am excited to
hear the Live In Japan album myself, having not heard these
tapes in so many years. The band on the show was very inspiring to
me, and I think this is the kind of Leon Russell show that fans remember
best.’ Designing a comprehensive CD booklet to accompany the
album, Omnivore has done a fine job bringing out this vintage sonic
relic from the legendary master of time and space. www.OmnivoreRecordings.com
/ www.LeonRussellRecords.com
VENTURE
X MUSIC - Founding lead guitarist Bob Bogle, of The
Ventures, passed away in 2008 yet his legacy lives on in sound
with the 2010 Ventures album Hawaii Five-0. Released
on the recently established Venture-X Music label, the 16 track CD
features original artist re-recordings of songs the Ventures made
famous way back in the ‘60s topped off by a new version of the
famous “Hawaii Five-0” theme song from the famed TV show,
which debuted in 1968. Scanning the cover art you can see that most
of the surviving Ventures are featured on this new collection of recent
reworkings of songs surf-rock fans know by heart, along with a few
surprises. Bob Bogle’s founding partner, the great Don Wilson
still packs a mean rhythm guitar punch and on the back of the
CD jacket you can also see the names of current Ventures drummer Leon
Taylor and his dad—Ventures drumming great Leon Taylor.
Also performing on this 2010 Hawaii Five-0 CD are more Ventures
guitar favorites including Nokie Edwards, Gerry McKee and
Bob Spaulding. Also dropping by—imparting tasty guitar
on a pair of track—are the great Duane Eddy and Jeff
“Skunk” Baxter, while sax great Edgar Winter also
appears here on a track. Commenting on the release, Ventures manager,
(and Mel Taylor’s wife) Fiona Taylor adds, ‘The track
with Duane was cut in 1997—Leon's first recording session with
The Ventures. The tracks are from all different times—the guys
did so many sessions in the 1990’s and early 2000’s that
they have a huge catalog of material to work with. Mel was on "Truth",
"Two On The Beach" and "Follow Your Heart".’
Surf rock is still huge all over the world, while millions of aspiring
guitarists continue to cut their teeth while learning chords and arrangements
to the all time Ventures song classic “Walk, Don’t Run”.
Now a half century later, the legacy of the Ventures is still alive
and well on this classic compilation. www.TheVentures.com
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