Andy Fite's "20 from '10" for his Swinging Guitar, Voice, and Singular Songs

Andy Fite is no ordinary musical fellow. And what is ordinary? Never mind that for now. He plays the acoustic (flat top?) guitar in the solid-four swing of Django's Hot Club or Al Casey of Fats Waller's must illustrious small group. He writes songs that somehow reflect David Frishberg, Fats and something just Andy.

His 20 From '10 (Other Street Music) gives you the 20 songs he penned last year. They are in a sort of tongue-in-cheek cabaret style and they address in a funny-sad way the little as well the big events in a relationship, his own Woody Allenesque insecurities, and life-political-cultural frustrations. It's unique and it's lots of fun. Is it for everybody? What is? You have to be comfortable with the ironic cabaret style, I would think.

He is one in a million, a songwriter of originality, a vocalist who performs his songs. . . like he wrote them (because, duh, he DID), and a guitarist who functions mostly in an accompanying role here, but does so with a good handle on what he wants to do.

Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica Returns with "Third River Rangoon" Exotica

Mr. Ho, that purveyor of space-age music of the ('50's) future, occupied our attention some time ago on these pages with his Unforgettable Sounds of Esquivel, a fully realized retake on the lush mood orchestra/chorus sort of spectacular that some of our parents (fathers, mostly) graced their hifi with in the day.

He returns with a smaller group, taking an equally serious-fun look at the exotica of the era, Third River Rangoon (Tiki 002). This time it's Martin Denny, Arthur Lyman and the smaller ensemble Les Baxter that come up under Mr. Ho's transformative gaze. The group centers around vibes and bass flute or c-flute, along with contrabass and percussion (plus oud on a couple of cuts).

To me the funny thing about this one is that it is almost TOO good. It is sophisticated, well composed/arranged with the flute-vibe sonority of long tones nicely contrasting with bass-percussion movement. There is less of the cheese factor that often came along with typical exotica of the era. It's almost as if Mr. Ho's love for the form, his respect for the genre, gives him the urge to make something respectable out of it all. Well, not entirely! There is a slightly tongue-in-cheek quality still.

Fact is, though, this is music that would have appealed to those of the era, yet manages to sound equally interesting today. I must say I find myself responding to the arrangements as if I were experiencing the music of some unknown backwater in exoticaland. That was the point of the original form of this genre. That Mr. Ho can convince us of the "authenticity" of this ersatz music and do it in such a way that our ears are stimulated, that seems doubly ironic.

Well it's not something I would expect myself to react to in such a way, but I approve! There's life left in all sorts of abandoned period genres mouldering in the junk shops of today. A creative musical personality like Mr. Ho has just the sort of brazen determination and playful sense of humor to make the music speak to US in this moment we live in. It is a pleasure to hear this one.

Marc Ducret: His Guitar, Composition and Distinctive Quintet Interpret Nabokov's "Ada" on the Projected Multi-Volume "Tower"

It would be enough that Marc Ducret is a consistently interesting electric guitarist in the avant fusion zone. His composition-arrangements are also a huge factor in his music. Tower, Volume One (Ayler 118) finds him embarking on an ambitious multi-volume series of works interpreting and reacting to Vladimir Nabokov's post-modern masterpiece novel Ada. Like the labyrinthian multiple realities of that work, Tower in its first installment carves out densely textured, multi-voiced music. All that from a well-chosen quintet of Ducret on guitar, Matthias Mahler, trombone, Peter Bruun, drums, Kasper Tranberg, trumpet, and, instead of bass, the bass saxophone of Fred Gaspard. That latter factor alone (and Mr. Gaspard's zealous attack) contributes much to the unusual ensemble sound.

In essence the quintet sounds like a mini-big-band-orchestra. The parts are voiced to get a largeness and complexity of sound way over and above what you expect to hear in a group of this size.

The parts conjoin with improvisational interactions in ways that are pure Ducret. He is not Frank Zappa. He IS a logical choice for one of the handful of really stimulating jazz-rock-classic innovators following in Zappa's wake.

This is music to startle, music to sink into with absorption (and how else would someone sink in? But never mind that). It's one of Ayler Records' most illustrious releases. Marc Ducret is no "fusion as usual" or "freedom as usual" sort of musician-composer. And the band digs into the material like they wrote it.

An achievement, this is. It is. I certainly look forward to the volumes to come. Marc Ducret is not someone to watch. He is already here! He is someone essential to the avant electricity of the present. Tower, Volume One has all the earmarkings of an album of vital importance to what's happening this year, even this decade. If the volumes that follow are this good. . . well, we will have to wait for them and see.

Garage a Trois Plies Its Unique Blend of Jazz-Rock on "Always Be Happy"

Garage a Trois have been around a few years. The current lineup is Marco Benevento on keys, Skerik on (what sounds like tenor) sax, Mike Dillon, vibes, and Stanton Moore behind the drums. The new one Always Be Happy, But Stay Evil (Royal Potato Family) continues them on the journey to map out their own compositional-arranged blend of instrumental jazz-rock. They are fairly adventurous in the sounds they get, and parts can get pretty electric. Other times they have a bit of a collage texture. It's all pretty firmly routed in the idea of instrumental song crafting. The vibes-keys-tenor melodic-harmonic approach gives them a readily identifiable sound.

Beyond that I must say there's a different sort of thing happening than what Marco B. gets with his trio. No one stands out from the blend in a solo-virtuoso way. It's all mix. But if you accept those parameters, the music is attractive enough. I may personally prefer Marco's trio on a certain night, but I do see the merit in this music. It's the modern day equivalent to Bill Black's Combo, the Tornados or the Ventures--and pretty spacey at times to boot. Take it if that sounds good, leave it if that doesn't rings bells with you.

It's around on vinyl or CD, or download.

Wadada Leo Smith's "Heart's Reflections:" Electric Music That Isn't According to Formula

Put Wadada Leo Smith's Organic group's Heart's Reflections (Cuneiform Records Rune 330/331) on and listen. From the beginning you know that this isn't some warmed over fusion from yesterday. Pheeroan Aklaf's bass drum rings out like a barrel. None of the muffled "kick" sound. He plays rock-funk with all the complexity of his swing and freetime playing. Complex, varied, yet pushing the feel ahead. Wadada sounds not like a Miles clone, but like someone who is furthering his own playing after coming out of the experience of playing Miles's electric music (with Yo Miles). There's a large band at play here: two people manipulating electric sounds on the laptop. The distinct one-two punch of Brandon Ross and Michael Gregory on electric guitar, who weave in and out of the music in their own way, as themselves. Then there's the two-bass hit of John Lundberg and Skuli Sverrisson, plus two more electric guitarists, violin. alto and tenor and, oh yes, Angelica Sanchez on keyboards and piano, a great addition because she goes far beyond the funk licks some players would expect to play. Like Jarrett in Miles's "Live-Evil" band, she takes her own playing style and adjusts it to the context. She enriches the music in a very good way by so doing.

This is no rote funk thing. Rhythms are loosely jazzesque, sometimes even free, and the Wadada compositions go way beyond a few ostinatos and running lines.

This is electric music that dares to be art music. It's miles beyond a Miles tribute band. It's a Wadada's music band. Free electric post-funk? That's one label to put on it. The point is that there is an evolved group sound that brings fascination. Wadada has gotten a bead on where to take the music and he is taking it there.

Probably the most important electric band working in the music today and this is one of their very finest (double) albums. You have to check it out!

Bruce Arnold and Gilbert Isbin's Invocation: Guitar-Lute Duets

Bruce Arnold is a guitarist of many-sides, a kind of prism of many refracted sounds. When he performed in Belgium a while ago he had a chance to further widen the spectrum of his aural coverage. There he met up with lutenist-guitarist Gilbert Isbin to record a series of subtle duets released on CD as Invocation (Muse Eek 153).

A beautiful sound and wide-ranging compositional-improvisational end-games resulted. There are some mood enhancing pieces by both parties. And there are more open-ended improvisations. Arnold's acoustic guitar and Isbin's lute create a ravishing, meditative sonance, each listening carefully to create a balance between the more delicate lute presence and the acoustic.

The music has the kind of spatial quality of some of the early-middle period duet-solo ECM recordings with folks like Towner, Abercrombie, et al. Nonetheless Arnold and Isbin create their own tapestry of sound that does what it does with intelligence and originality.

It is a very stimulating listening experience that allows you to drift into your brown study or follow with interest the dialog that unveils itself in the course of the album. Either way this is a good bet. Try it and you may well like it.

Jane Bunnett and Hilario Duran's "Cuban Rhapsody": Music to Your (or Anybody's) Ears

Jane Bunnett and Hilario Duran's Cuban Rhapsody (Alma 789) has an exceptional combination of roots and innovation. It is rooted in its vibrant renditions of Cuban classics. It is innovative in the wonderful duet performances of Duran on piano and Bunnett on soprano and flute.

It is music with all the drive of the classic dance forms, but it uses the duet situation to suggest the essence of classic Cuban sounds while heightening the jazz inflections and improvisatory nuances of the players with their natural stylistic personalities. Think of the Chic Corea-Gary Burton duets for their spirit--now imagine that same sort of spirit, only very different players doing very different music.

It is Latin jazz in a kind of chamber setting. And what a setting. Superb performances of wonderful music!!