Charito's "Heal the World"

There are sorts of music that I am not especially predisposed to like. Like the one up today. It's some arranged, jazzed versions of Michael Jackson songs. Namely Charito's Heal the World (Soho 201104).

But it's good! Harvey Mason produced it, got some very good arrangers and instrumentalists together (like Hubert Laws, Azar Lawrence) and gave singer Charito an effective backdrop for her song interpretations.

And it works. Charito's voice comes on as sultry and powerfully projecting in alternation. The arrangements get the world-funk thing in there along with a cosmopolitan jazz/r&b flair. They are a joy to hear (seriously). It has what this sort of remake should have to work: a lingering look at the songs as songs, vocal artistry and arrangements that refresh the material and bring new life to it.

Guitarist Matt Stevens' Latest, "Ghost"

Every so often an artist contacts me and sends me something good I would not have otherwise been able to hear. Matt Stevens is one such. He's a guitarist over in England and his new one, Ghost (self-released) has a very nice feel to it. It features Matt mostly on acoustic, with light percussion or sometimes a rock rhythm section. He has a modern sense of melodic contour that reminds me a little of Fripp's League of Crafty Guitarists and the California Guitar Trio, only it's pared down, more intimate at times, and it has Matt Steven's own sensibility in it. Nice playing and nice arranging are to be found here.

It's an h of a good listen. Trance, minimalism, psychedelics, quirky melodizing and some rhythm guitar almost out of Sonic Youth make this both fun and hip. And it's all put together in a way that sticks in your head as a definite breath of cool air. Check it out by Googling "Matt Stevens Ghost."

Alela Diane & Wild Divine Put Across Some Interesting Songs

Alela Diane writes songs and sings them with her band Wild Divine, which includes husband and also father, so its a family deal at least in part. She wrote the songs on the new album, simply titled Alela Davis & Wild Divine (Rough Trade) while on the road in 2009.

If I were to tell you she kind of reminds me of a female Neil Young in the folk-country rock zone, I would need to qualify that with the idea that her songs have earthiness and an honest directness, they have a musical richness-in-simplicity too. All of that reminds me of Neil Young. But that doesn't mean if you put her music on your system you'd think, "right, a woman version of Neil Young," because she doesn't sound like him.

I won't rattle on this morning. I will say that Alela Diane has talent and she writes good songs. There you are, if you care to go with it.

Lou Volpe, Jazz Guitar Stylist of Note, Steps Out With "Hear and Now"

It occurred to me as I sat listening to Lou Volpe's solo effort Hear and Now (Jazz Guitar 070) that the reason the playing sounded so familiar to me, so almost GENERIC, was that Lou had been on so many sessions that I had internalized his sound without thinking of the WHO in the playing, that I had become intimately familiar with his playing without associating it with a name. Lou Volpe's played with everybody, and he's played with everybody else too. Here's a cat who has done session after session without really stepping out into the spotlight, more or less until now.

And I must say I find it gratifying to hear him in a setting where it's just him and a quartet, all of whom are there to play--one nice quartet, too. It's good to hear Onaje Allan Gumbs on piano, sounding great, and the two-man rhythm team of Bob Cranshaw on bass and Buddy Williams, drums, is rock-solid, as you would expect.

The fare is contemporary hard post-bop, modern mainstream and some funk numbers. The latter was the bread-and-butter of many a session over the years, of course, and one must expect it, especially since what Lou does is pure Lou. Personally I may not always respond to the style as much as I might have in the past, but the point is what Lou does with it, and that is the interesting part.

On the whole this is one of those records that takes a middle-of-the-road approach to the music and so may appeal to a wider audience, yet it also showcases some very fine players. If you want to know why Lou has been so busy over the years, here is the musical reason--impeccably phrased bluesy-boppy runs with rhythmic vitality and beautiful comping, a sound that is a little earthier than the typical jazz guitar tone, and exceptional taste in note choice. That's Lou. Hear Lou now by checking out the disk.

Elizabeth Woodbury Kasius and Heard: Karibu

Elizabeth Woodbury Kasius. Composer, pianist, vocalist, putter-together of world, jazz, and compositional traditions to make it all sound new. Her album with Heard, Karibu (Heard Music HP-1010) has a different slant. It's a kind of mellow African-Latin blend of gently pulsing percussion,Jonathan Green's pelucid clarinet, John Ehlis on guitar and mandolin, the flute of Rebecca Kleinmann, plus bass, two percussion and two cello. Oh and of course Elizabeth herself on keys and vocals. They take what still is called ethnic music in some circles and turn it into an almost ECM-like jazz-classical hybrid.

It's a recording that fails to summon lengthy discourses from my typing fingers. Not this morning. Something this laid-back music is meant for is quiet listening, not a lot of words. It's most certainly interesting music and I suspect lots of people who might not enjoy some of the more earthy things from which this music derives will find Karibu a congenial listen. Kudos to Elizabeth and her clarinetist Jonathan Green.

Information Superhighway, Great Prog Band, Offers Free Live Album Download

There may be no such thing as a free lunch but there are musicians and bands out there that want you to hear their music and are letting you download some great stuff for free. Chicago's Information Superhighway is one of those bands. I reviewed their last album, This is Not the Ending on these pages a while ago (do a search and you'll find the article). The free live album is them in a looser framework, well recorded in July of 2009, and it's some fabulous music.

How to describe? Well they have a free-prog sort of outlook, with an excellent female vocalist, very good songs, and two good soloists on the keys and guitar. The rhythm section is very hip with all kinds of kicks and jolts during the song routines and solos. I suppose that tells you nothing, really, though, because it is the quality of the singing, the freshness of the songs and the collective strengths of the band giving a very excellent accounting of themselves that hit you on several listens. This is a band you must hear if you are into the prog-fuse nexus. Some label ought to sign them. If they would listen to this live session, perhaps they would!

Grab the download at http://informationsuperhighway.bandcamp.com/

Northern-Spy's "Clandestine" Series of Cassette Releases, Number One

Today we have something different. Different than what? In a way everything I cover on these pages is something at least a little different, otherwise why cover it? But the Northern-Spy Clandestine Series, Number One is different even by the usual yardsticks.

It is post-whatever (you fill in the term) music. There are four pieces by four artists. It is released as a 150 copy run on cassette (and I am sorry to say that the cassette is already sold out, but the download as MP3 or FLAC is still available). It is music that has an electric and even electronic flavor to it. There are twenty-something minutes of music total. It flies by and there is no wasted space.

Who are the artists? They are bonifide members of today's underground scene. Yes, there is one. Messages is an electronic conflagration that gives you some atmospherics that in part sound like retro commentary on '50s electronic music (and I do like that). There's guitarist Tom Carter doing a psychedelic sort of soundscape. There's Zaimph (Marcia Bassett) doing a droner thing and someone the press release assures me is an "avant folk" legend, one Loren Connors (and since I don't get the chance to do much avant folk listening, much as I'd like to, that is cool with me) in duet with bassist Margarida Garcia.

What matters as ever is the music. And this is DIFFERENT music. It is a good listen. Recommended.