New Releases
VOICES Notes and news on New Releases
Doing His Thing
05 NOV 09 DAVID NATHAN
At just 27-years-old, Stax icon Isaac Hayes used a diverse spectrum of musical skills and influences to create the soundtrack to Shaft. With the release of the remastered Shaft Deluxe Edition, which features extra material and new liner notes, fans are reminded of just "who is the man who would risk his neck for his brother man" and the prodigious talent that made Hayes a musical pioneer.
By the time the movie Shaft was released in the summer of 1971, Hayes was already an established hit-maker thanks to his 1969 groundbreaking set Hot Buttered Soul. Still, Shaft proved to be as much a breakthrough for Hayes as it did for director Gordon Parks and actor Richard Roundtree. The film became a tent pole for the cinematic genre tagged "blaxploitation." Fast-moving, action-packed flicks with black heroes, the movies brought mostly black audiences to cinemas in droves. Hayes created the perfect soundtrack for Shaft -- a brilliant score that encompassed elements of jazz, funk, blues and soul.
The instrumental "Café Regio's" evoked jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery, "A Friend's Place" echoed the work of composers Bacharach & David. But, it was the bluesy "Soulsville" and the 20 minute-long jam "Do Your Thing" that reflected Hayes' work as a key player in the world of black music. Of course, "Theme From Shaft" was the hit, the infectious title cut that earned Hayes the first Oscar ever given to an African-American in a non-acting category, a Golden Globe and two Grammy Awards.
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Theme From Shaft
Isaac Hayes, from Shaft
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Hyperbolicsyllablecsesquedalymistic
Isaac Hayes, from Hot Buttered Soul
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Yesterday's Child
Wes Montgomery, from Dangerous
in this playlist.
The Sweetest Change
03 NOV 09 JOHN C. BRUENING
By the time the world met "Grandpa" Elliott Small in April 2009 via Playing For Change's two-disc Songs Around The World CD/DVD, he'd already been busking in New Orleans' French Quarter for more than 60 years. Small is now the first artist to sign with Playing For Change Records. Backed by the Playing for Change Band, he stepped off the streets and into the studio earlier this year to record Sugar Sweet, a collection of blues and soul classics delivered courtesy of his soulful baritone vocals and versatile harmonica style.
His stirring version of "Stand By Me" on Songs Around The World became the anchor track for the set that captured him and 36 other little-known but brilliant street musicians from around the world. The track and the accompanying video that went viral on YouTube and elsewhere transformed him into an unlikely global superstar.
Sugar Sweet opens with "Ain't Nothing You Can Do," a Bobby "Blue" Bland hit that -- despite the melancholy subject matter -- sounds unexpectedly upbeat here. "Sugar Is Sweet" derives its international groove from guitarists Jason Tamba and Louis Mhlanga (from the Congo and Zimbabwe, respectively), who set up a rumba beat supported by drummer Peter Bunetta. Other highlights include the emotionally churning "Share Your Love With Me," which Small borrows from an Aretha Franklin recording, and a straightforward take on the Sam Cooke hit "Another Saturday Night."
Despite the melancholy closer, "Please Come Home For Christmas," there's no need for tears. After a long stretch of lean decades, Santa's been good to Elliott Small this year and Grandpa seems more than happy to spread the love.
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Sugar Is Sweet
Grandpa Elliott, from Sugar Sweet
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Stand By Me
Playing For Change, from Songs Around The ...
in this playlist.
New Blood, Old Soul
20 OCT 09 ANNE FARNSWORTH
Young alto saxophonist Jon Irabagon was signed to Concord after winning the prestigious Thelonius Monk Jazz Competition in October of last year. This October marks the release of his Concord Jazz debut, The Observer. Featuring trumpeter Nicolas Payton and a stellar rhythm section, it combines a respectful nod to the past with a sound that is fresh and contemporary.
Like legendary alto sax men Charlie Parker and Cannonball Adderley, Irabagon's playing is stylistically more in line with tenor players. The influence of Coltrane and more current forebears like Joe Lovano is evident in his muscular approach. This affinity also surfaces in his material. Along with his originals, he's chosen Tom McIntosh's "Cup Bearers", whose progression at times recalls the complex harmonies of Trane's "Giant Steps" and "Moment's Notice."
Irabagon recruited one of the top rhythm sections around -- pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Rufus Reid and drummer Victor Lewis. It's almost redundant to mention how awesome they are, that's pretty much a given whenever they hit the stage, but I'll say it anyway. Payton shows why he is one of the top jazz trumpeters working today as he tears up the solo section of "Big Jim's Twins". And with legendary engineer Rudy Van Gelder at the controls, this project perfectly fuses old guard artistry with youthful vigor.
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Cup Bearers
Jon Irabagon, from The Observer
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Hot House
Charlie Parker, from Bird At St. Nick's
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Star Eyes
Cannonball Adderley, from Riverside ...
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Straight Street
John Coltrane, from Coltrane [Rudy Van ...
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Cosmos
Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman & Ravi Coltrane ...
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I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
Kenny Barron, from Live At Maybeck ...
in this playlist.
Celestial Voyage
19 OCT 09 JASON SERINUS
Gustav Holst's spectacular orchestral voyage into outer space has proven so popular that, on Oct. 27, Telarc will release its third traversal of the work in 23 years, Holst - The Planets. Recorded in extremely realistic, expansive DSD sound by Grammy Award-winning recording engineer Michael Bishop, the disc finds Paavo Järvi and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in top (that is to say thrilling) form.
I recall the last time I heard The Planets, in a mediocre performance. Led by an uninspired conductor who seemed intent on squandering the resources of the San Francisco Symphony, Holst's seven celestial bodies seemed dismayingly earthbound. In welcome contrast, nothing in this new Telarc recording gets in the way of lift-off. The huge punch of the opening track, Mars, the Bringer of War, finds its energetic opposite in Järvi's airy presentation of the final voyage to Neptune, the Mystic. Thanks to the clarity of the recording, which excels in preserving detail within a huge, naturally resonant soundstage, Holst's compositional daring impresses anew with its freshness.
The companion work is Benjamin Britten's The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra. Composed in 1946 for an educational film, it begins with an unforgettable theme from Henry Purcell's instrumental music to Abdelazer. In contrast to the darkness of Britten's most probing operas, some of the short movements in Young Person's Guide give Britten an opportunity to indulge in his whimsical side. The zippy final fugue, which packs a punch all its own as it brings the themes together, is an unmitigated delight.
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Britten: Young Person's Guide: Theme B
Paavo Jarvi & Cincinnati Symphony, from ...
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Gustav Holst: First Suite in E-flat major, ...
Various Artists, from Telarc Celebrating ...
in this playlist.
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