A C Newman, Shut Down the Streets

A C Newman writes songs that you remember once you hear them a few times, that come from some place inside his inner sanctum. His third album, Shut Down the Streets (Matador), combines some very nice songs with some haunting arrangements, floating sorts of things at times, but then they have movement too. Some nice guitar in there now and again as well.

It's music that wards off the depredations of a long winter, that looks ahead to spring, that's what hits me right now.

It's pop-rock-alt that doesn't assume you are stupid. I like that. Because we aren't stupid. The "Shut Down the Streets" song has a message too. So I like this guy.

Marc Ducret, Tower Vol. 4

Marc Ducret's Tower, Vol 4 (Ayler AYLCD 121) finds the guitarist switching gears. This is an unaccompanied guitar solo album with Marc on acoustic.

It's not at all ordinary however, in whatever way "ordinary" might connote for a solo acoustic set. There is an interesting mix of both conventional and unconventional sounds produced--by introducing prepared objects (it sounds like) and unusual playing techniques into the situation.

So sometimes the guitar might sound like a Chinese Pipa lute, or by the use of unusual singingly sustained harmonics, sound like a Southeast Asian stringed instrument, and so forth.

Even when the sound is conventional, his musical approach to line and chord is highly original and comes through strongly on these pieces. There's perhaps a hint of classic Beefheartian abstraction, bluesiness, and then otherwise simply not what you might expect.

A composer's guitarist? A guitarist's composer? Both.

This is an extraordinary record. Ducret must be heard. And the very short, concluding rendition of Joni Mitchell's "Electricity"! Brilliant.

Ken Hatfield Sextet, For Langston

February 1st of this month marked the release of guitarist-composer-arranger Ken Hatfield's For Langston (Arthur Circle Music 6854). It's an ambitious song cycle honoring Renaissance Harlem's poet laureate Langston Hughes. February 1st also marks Langston's would-be birthday.

It's a sextet performing music set to the poetry of Hughes, covering a wide range of poems and creating a modern, somewhat cool jazz ambiance that fits the exceptional wordplay without attempting a completely literal correspondence between the two.

The sextet showcases the vocal presence of Hilary Gardner, who has a pleasing, musical way about her. Ken Hatfield's nylon stringed acoustic guitar has plenty of space and solo time, which he puts to good use. The striking sound world of Jamie Baum's alto flute brings a third solo voice into the mix and she responds with nicely turned phrasing and a beautiful sound. The group is grounded by solid rhythm section work from Hans Glawischnig, Jeff Hirschfield and Steven Kroon, on bass, drums and percussion.

What results is a series of memorable songs, well sung and well played, that get the deepening of Langston Hughes's thoughtfully expressive poetry as the basis of it all. It's not asphalt jungle anguish so much as lyrical homage. Once you get with the premises, there is very much good music to enjoy. I am sure there are more than a few songs here that could stand fully erect on their own in new versions by other artists.

It's an absorbing listen. The songs, the poetry and the improvisation work together nicely.

Waves of Fury, Thirst

It's not easy sounding snotty, raw, garagy in an authentic way, punky without pretension. Try it. Waves of Fury do that on their EP Thirst (Alive Records paste http://www.alive-totalenergy.com/x/?page_id=3283 into browser to get info or disk).

We have full-out rawness on this EP, with skronk guitar, pounding drums, a horn section, adenoidal teen frenzy vocals that take no prisoners. It's as if the Seeds evolved into a band capable of hitting the airwaves with all their ten-thumbed directness, with a bit more in the song department than they had later on. Or as if the early Fugs cleaned up their act. . .

Well, it's more than that. But it's freaking good for being so bad, do you know?

Has the time passed for this sort of punk-garage? Not when it's as convincing as this.

Torben Waldorff, Wah-Wah

There is innovation. Then there is everything that follows. Some of it too is innovation. Guitarist Torben Waldorff is somewhere in that cycle. He plays guitar and writes songs in ways that make it clear that Metheny, Scofield and Abercrombie have each spent some time on his CD player or i-pod. But Waldorff is so good. He is so conversant in the musical language he speaks, there is such a something about him, that you hear him on his own terms.

I speak of his recent album, Wah-Wah (Artistshare 0117). I say recent even though at least one site published a review of it last November, I believe.

Point: if this is a good album then it's good in February or November. And it's good. Torben is joined by Gary Versace on piano and Hammond, and that's very good because Mr. Versace is ace.

This is memorable music--compositionally and improvisationally. And for that reason I would recommend it. There is good harmonic sequence, there are nice lines, and a sound that has some sheen but some grit, too. Mr. Waldorff is on his way to his own guitar style. He'll get there. In the interim we have this excellent disk to savor.

Elizabeth Shephard, Rewind

Why do jazz vocalists tend to be more popular than their instrumental counterparts among plain folks? Words, for one thing. My sister-in-law is an example. She cannot listen to music that doesn't have words. There must be vocals. OK, I can understand that. And jazz standards tend to be about romantic topics, which folks tend to resonate with. There are many very pretty female vocalists, dashing male singers, also. I can understand that. Jimmy Rushing, "Mr. Five By Five," was a notable exception. He wasn't pretty! And of course none of that matters in the end, if they can sing.

The fact is though, that we naturally respond to the human voice, like baby ducks respond to their mom, following her anywhere. We are imprinted with it. And to understand what's really good about a jazz vocalist, listen to some not-so-good ones and you will be reminded, especially after you put on some Billie Holiday afterwards.

So we have Elizabeth Shepherd. Pretty? Sure. Even if she wasn't though, she has a voice that leaps out of the speakers at you. On her latest, Rewind (Linus 270135), which I believe is her second, you hear her and there is an immediate recognition. The voice has a sensuous quality, plenty of finesse, pitch perfect control and she does versions of things that stand out as different, sometimes partially due to he double-tracking vocal harmonies she incorporates as backdrop, but even if not. If I were a baby duck I'd follow her wherever she led. Quack!

"Lonely House," the Kurt Weil-Langston Hughes masterpiece, for example. Take that. Her version comes across whispery, sulky, truly lonely sounding. One of the best versions I've ever heard, in fact.

So there is an emotional element involved too in doing these songs right. Betty Carter didn't care all that much about that aspect and nobody cared because she just blew you away. There are songs though where some kind of emotional honesty is needed and the fickle-fay-phony mannerist opposite destroys the song and degrades the fine art of singing in a jazz mode. Billie again. You know she was feeling it.

So these are some reasons why Elizabeth Shepherd is such a pleasure to hear. Chanteuse extraordinaire!

Baird Hersey and Prana Featuring Krishna Das, My Foolish Heart, the Single

It happens to be Valentine's Day today. And what better day to introduce the new single from Baird Hersey and Prana, "My Foolish Heart"? What can I say about this one? It gives me the chills. It has the beautiful vocal textures, overtone singing prowess and timbral mystery of Baird and Prana, doing a song that features Krishna Das on the initial lead vocals.

It's just the vocalists and drums. It is so cosmic, so warmly human, the song so unforgettable (it's not the standard by the same name), the arrangement so beautiful, it moves me very much. Doowop from outer space? Yes and more. It's extraordinary. Get your ears ready, and listen!

Go to http://bairdhersey.com/media/recordings/ to hear it. Then go to itunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/my-foolish-heart-enhanced/id597676928?ls=1 and plunk down your 99 cents and get it.