Crazy Joe

For decades, Joe Mooney's only Atlantic LP, Joe Mooney's Songs, was out of print - and if a collector was able to find a rare copy at a vinyl swap meet, he/she knew that the thing to do was grab it at once. Then, in 1999, the album finally became available on CD when Koch Jazz reissued it as Lush Life. An intimate session that finds Mooney on vocals and organ, Lee Robinson on guitar, Milt Hinton on bass, and Osie Johnson on drums, Lush Life shows just how charismatic a singer Mooney could be. Some of Mooney's admirers compared his casual, smooth, relaxed style of singing to that of Nat King Cole, and while that isn't a bad comparison, Mooney's highly accessible versions of "Lush Life," "My One and Only Love," "Polka Dots and Moonbeams," and other standards point to the fact that he was most certainly his own man…

Smokin' Joe Kubek and Bnois King's albums are dependable affairs that stick close to good old barroom Texas blues. The lyrics won't win any Pulitzer Prizes, and while Kubek is an amazing guitar player with a huge tone, he isn't exactly reinventing the instrument, and likewise King, although he is a distinctive and pleasant vocalist, isn't going to be mistaken for Marvin Gaye anytime soon. Not much has changed on their second release on the Blind Pig label, and Show Me the Money delivers another dose of straight-ahead roadhouse blues. If there are any concessions here, it is that all the songs pull in at a radio-friendly length, and at least one, the infectious "My Heart's in Texas," would fit effortlessly on "new country" play lists. The first two tracks, "I Saw It Coming" and "Burnin' to the Ground," pretty much lead the charge here, and King's easy, subtle singing pairs nicely with Kubek's gutbucket guitar tone, but there are no real surprises waiting in the grass, and certainly nothing that will shake the roots of the music industry – just solid blues-rock. Somebody's gotta do it, and Kubek and King do it so well.

The main fault to this set is simply that there is not enough of it. Trombonist Vic Dickenson, who receives top billing, is just on two of the six selections, for a total of 11 minutes. Dickenson's octet (which also includes trumpeter Buck Clayton, Hal Singer on tenor, clarinetist Herbie Hall, pianist Al Williams, guitarist Danny Barker, bassist Gene Ramey, and drummer Marquis Foster) is fine, the arrangement on "The Lamp Is Low" is catchy and Clayton takes honors. But one suspects that the Dickenson name was used originally to help sell the music of the other band, which is led by trumpeter Joe Thomas. The lyrical Thomas is joined by the extroverted trumpeter Johnny Letman, trombonist Dicky Wells (who has a few speechlike solos), tenor saxophonist Buddy Tate, clarinetist Buster Bailey, pianist Herbie Nichols, guitarist Everett Barksdale, bassist Bill Pemberton, and drummer Jimmy Crawford…

Time Machine is an excellent double-CD set providing something for just about everyone who's interested in Joe Satriani's music. Disc one reprints four tracks from the 1984 Joe Satriani EP, while also showcasing nine new studio tracks and a loose jam session, and disc two is a collection of 14 of Satriani's best live performances…