Carter Wilson

With Heart only intermittently active in the early 21st century, Ann Wilson took the opportunity to release her first-ever solo album, something her sister Nancy Wilson, Heart's other half, took care of back in 1999. But where Nancy's solo debut was a live, acoustic effort comprised of both original material and covers, Ann has gone the nearly-all-covers route for the Ben Mink-produced Hope & Glory; only one song, the album-closing "Little Problems, Little Lies," comes from Wilson's own pen…

Has there ever been a more consistent performer in jazz history over a longer period of time than Benny Carter? The classic altoist, who had fully formed his sound by the early '30s (he first recorded in 1927), has not altered his style much in the past 65 (and counting) years. The music on this Verve reissue CD features Carter in three settings: in a trio with pianist Teddy Wilson and drummer Jo Jones (those performances were only previously out in Japan), heading a quartet with pianist Don Abney, bassist George Duvivier and drummer Louis Bellson and showcased on three previously unissued tracks with the Oscar Peterson trio plus drummer Bobby White. Carter knew most of these standards extremely well and he glides effortlessly over the chord changes, infusing the music with swing and subtle creativity.

Ron Carter is one of the most recorded bassists in jazz. In his mid-seventies at the time of these sessions, he is very much still at the top of his game as he leads the first big-band date of his own, with potent arrangements by conductor Robert M. Freedman and including some of New York's busiest musicians, including Jerry Dodgion, Steve Wilson, Wayne Escoffery, and Scott Robinson in the woodwind section, brass players Steve Davis, Douglas Purviance, and Greg Gisbert, plus pianist Mulgrew Miller and drummer Lewis Nash, among others. Freedman's charts are short and sweet, all of them under five minutes, with much of the focus on imaginative writing and Carter's melodic bass central in the mix. The material spans from the 1920s to the present, played with imagination…

Cassandra Wilson's swinging for her own creative fences this time. The sultry, gentle, acoustic guitars on her last five recordings have been largely jettisoned for a more keyboard-and percussion -friendly approach – which includes lots of programming and loops. To that end, she's enlisted flavor-of-the-year producer T-Bone Burnett and keyboardist Keith Ciancia. This pair hired a stellar group of players that include drummer Jim Keltner, bassist Reginald Veal (a near-constant here), guitarists Colin Linden and Marc Ribot, and programming whiz Mike Elizondo. Mike Piersante plays "keypercussion" (read: drum loops), Jay Bellerose and Bill Maxwell also contribute kit work. Keb Mo' guests on a track.

For many years, Johann Pachelbel (1653–1706) was beset by the same malady as Tomaso Albinoni, i.e., that of being recognized primarily for a single work. In Albinoni’s case it was the Adagio (composed by Remo Giazotto, using only a bass line from his countryman); with Pachelbel it was the all-pervading Canon in D which has been recorded so many times that one loses count and in an almost infinite variety of versions, ranging from the composer’s original for three violins and continuo to tuba quartet! However, some have chosen to venture further into the musical legacy left by Pachelbel and therefore uncovered a number of compositions whose quality—while variable and occasionally mundane—is overshadowed by their importance in the development of specific genre, including the sacred cantata.

This live 1990 set makes clear that Cassandra Wilson had fully arrived. In the live setting, she calls on greater reserves of vim than mark her predominantly lolling, brooding studio dates. All to great effect. One senses Betty Carter-like showmanship, Peggy Lee-like swagger, and, of course, Nina Simone's otherworldly drone. Just as formative was Wilson's Joni Mitchell-inspired apprenticeship in the coffeehouses of Jackson, Mississippi, and other southern cities. She breathes fresh life into standards like "'Round Midnight." Her anthem of black resilience, "Don't Look Back," receives driving treatment. A telling selection is Wilson's own composition, "My Corner of the Sky," because its lyrics and delivery transport her to a distinctly personal space of the kind she was coming to inhabit so regally.