Willie Nelson – Stardust

Stardust

Willie Nelson – Stardust Columbia JC 35305 (1978)

Here’s the album that (nearly) ruined Willie Nelson.  The premise is that he performs jazz and pop standards like “Stardust,” “Blue Skies,” and “Someone to Watch Over Me” soullessly backed by Booker T. Jones arrangements.  This was a multi-platinum smash hit.  This is not so much country music as easy listening.  Yet unlike the subtle pathos that someone like Nat “King” Cole could deliver with such an approach, Willie just coasts along on the surface of the songs, floating by on light, fluffy orchestration.  This album helped cement some of Willie’s worst tendencies as a performer, giving him license to continue to avoid the “heaving lifting” of interpretive singing that involves seeking out an emotional or intellectual connection with the material and conveying it in a uniquely-suited performance.  If you do like this, you’ll be happy to note that Nelson went on to make a truckload more almost just like it.  Others may find this tediously boring.  “Georgia on My Mind” is still really good.

Wilco – A Ghost Is Born

A Ghost Is Born

Wilco – A Ghost Is Born Nonesuch 79809-2 (2004)

Wilco fully realized their new sound on A Ghost Is Born. Rather than tagging electronic effects onto songs songs that come from somewhere else, the group is making music out of that new sound from the start. Usually that describes a band is at its peak. That may not necessarily be the case for Wilco. The good news is that A Ghost Is Born has a level of proficiency unmatched anywhere on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Wilco’s prior effort). Their new sound is a precise tool. And, from time to time, the band can still call on their cantankerous, old-timey melodic sensibilities to make a point. The bad news is that Wilco’s new proficiency has quietly extinguished some of the wonder and excitement of previous efforts. At times, the group is operating in a fairly comfortable place. There, influences run rampant. “Spiders (Kidsmoke)” is little more than a tribute to motorik-style krautrock (bearing an unmistakable resemblance to old Neu! songs like “Negativland” and “Neuschnee”). “Less Than You Think” is like John Cage or Morton Subotnick compositions. Retro or not, the tributes happily resound with enough wit and punch to succeed. In general, the whole album is more durable than much previous Wilco material. Its greatest charms are far from obvious on a first listen. Understated, stately, and almost uniformly inspired, A Ghost Is Born is the group’s best album yet.

Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Nonesuch 79669-2 (2002)

Bringing in their vision of post-rock to country-tinged pop, Wilco has delivered a pretty good album here. Back a few years, comparisons to Yo La Tengo or The Sea & Cake would be laughable. Nobody would be laughing at that today. The spare arrangements make insinuations to their meaning, no more. Wilco’s preoccupation with thinking this through has let them wander into places they never expected. That is fine, except the results aren’t that punchy. The songs have to jump back occasionally when they realize what is happening about them. Too often the record is a bit light in its songwriting. The high points “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart,” “Jesus, Etc.,” “Pot Kettle Black,” and “Poor Places” do make quite an impact. Elsewhere, the record strays into much pretension despite what still could be called good intentions. Producer Jim O’Rourke perhaps made the mix a bit conservative. Frontman Jeff Tweedy starts out strong, but I don’t think his songwriting holds up for the entire album. This is still a fine piece of work. Perhaps, though, it’s a dead-end for Wilco who have now done all they can in this direction. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is instantly likable in a somewhat universal manner. Wilco’s real achievement here is making good music that reaches far beyond the insider niche markets where so many other ostensibly similar artists are stuck.

Wilco – Kicking Television: Live in Chicago

Kicking Television" Live in Chicago

Wilco – Kicking Television: Live in Chicago Nonesuch 79903-2 (2005)

I found this album tremendously disappointing.  Wilco spends most of the record trying to pander to the audience by over-emphasizing the sappiest elements of their music.  Kicking Television is a paradigmatic attempt to appeal to an audience’s bad taste.  These live recordings add nothing to the studio versions, save a few awkwardly tacked on guitar solos.  There are rewarding moments, but they are lost in a sea of mediocrity.

Gary Bartz Quintet – Libra

Libra

Gary Bartz Quintet – Libra Milestone MSP 9006 (1967)

A nice, if very straightforward, post-bop album from saxophonist Gary Bartz.  This is not too far off from what he would have been doing when he played in The Jazz Messengers, or what Miles Davis‘ groups were up to in the mid-1960s.  Bartz’s quintet is packed with big names.  Bassist Richard Davis really emerges as one of the most delightful voices.  Bartz isn’t a particularly strong presence, and he hasn’t yet found his unique voice that relied on long, sinuous lines that fit into a jazz/rock fusion setting.  Even if this doesn’t push any boundaries, it is still adeptly played stuff with appeal for many listeners.

Tim Berne’s Bloodcount – Lowlife: The Paris Concert I

Lowlife: The Paris Concert I

Tim Berne’s Bloodcount – Lowlife: The Paris Concert I JMT Productions 514 019-2 (1995)

Those listeners well acquainted with the late 1970s New York loft jazz scene (of the kind documented on the Wildflowers series) and other efforts from that era might say Tim Berne’s Bloodcount is mining familiar territory on Lowlife: The Paris Concert I.  But the performances here are superb, and the band members do manage to leave their own personal stamp on the music even if they don’t quite (or even try to) reinvent musical forms completely.  They borrow freely from the past; yet their focus is on musical effect in the present.  All the playing is confident and bold.  Berne himself is playing as well as ever.  He doesn’t overplay his hand, and his long, sinuous lines build tension with impressive dexterity.  On the Julius Hemphill compositions “Reflections/Lyric/Skin 1” Marc Ducret locks in to his inner Sonny Sharrock, though elsewhere he is more plaintive.  He deserves a reputation as a top-flight guitarist.  Jim Black is a powerfully steady force throughout, as is the rest of the band.  On the remastered version at least, the sound is pristine, and if not for the album title one would probably never guess this was recorded live (the plastic-free packaging of a Winter & Winter reissue is also pretty neat).  The intriguing originals “Bloodcount” (not the Billy Strayhorn tune) and “Prelude/The Brown Dog Meets the Spaceman” are perfectly placed to build up to and then ease off the intensity of “Reflections/Lyric/Skin 1”.  This one is too good to turn off midway through.

dead prez – Let’s Get Free

Let's Get Free

dead prez – Let’s Get Free Loud 1867-2 (2000)

dead prez are not a passive kind of group. The duo’s logo is the hexagram “Shih” (the army) from the I Ching (the Chinese Book of Changes). This represents the power collectively residing in the people. Lets Get Free unabashedly tries make use of that power. stic.man and M-1’s raps are direct. They can be more purposeful than elegant, but that is part of the uncompromising artistic position dead prez take.   Lets Get Free has a southern sound with little treble and a whole lot of bass. The first side of the record is a cynical condemnation of American society. “‘They’ Schools” is a broad critique of a defective educational system only responsive to white interests. Side 2 makes plans for the future. “Discipline” and “Animal In Man” reveal some diverse talent. The instrumental “You’ll Find A Way” has a smooth, assured attitude and keeps the record fresh. “Hip-Hop” was the underground hit.  There are some cringe-worthy songs here, but mostly this is good.

Tom Waits – Blue Valentine

Blue Valentine

Tom Waits – Blue Valentine Asylum 6E-162 (1978)

While not Tom Waits’ most strikingly original work, his Hollywood beatnik shtick is still quite effective here.  There are plenty of faux jazz ballads, a showtune, and a few intimations of his edgier eighties songwriting.  He even manages to pull off the maudlin “Kentucky Avenue”.  Everything seems more polished and sober than Small Change and most people find it far more inspired than Foreign Affairs.  This is one of Waits’ most successful albums of the 1970s.  It was also his last effort completely dedicated to this particular old time hipster musical persona.  His next albums would start to take a left turn toward rogue carnival weirdness.