Curve Ball

Sturgill Simpson - A Sailor's Guide To Earth (2016) {Atlantic}
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© 2016 Atlantic / Warner | 551380-2
Country / Americana / Contemporary Country / Neo-Traditionalist Country / Outlaw Country

Back when he released High Top Mountain in 2013, the retro sensibilities of Sturgill Simpson seemed to be rooted solely in outlaw country: he swaggered like the second coming of Waylon Jennings, a man on a mission to restore muscle and drama to country music. Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, his 2014 sophomore set, was a curve ball revealing just how unorthodox his rulebook was. After nearly two decades of alternative country doubling down on po-faced authenticity where simpler was better, Simpson embraced indulgence, pushing new wave, psychedelia, and digital-age saturation, all in an attempt to add the cosmic back into American music.

Miles Davis - The Original Jacket Collection (2006) [30 Albums, 37 CDs] {DSD Japan Mini LP Analog Collection} (part 5of6)
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© 2006 Sony Music Japan / Columbia | SICP 1222~29 | DSD | HQD High Quality Disc
Jazz / Fusion / Jazz Rock / Jazz Funk / Trumpet

None of Miles Davis' recordings has been more shrouded in mystery than Jack Johnson, yet none has better fulfilled Miles Davis' promise that he could form the "greatest rock band you ever heard." Containing only two tracks, the album was assembled out of no less than four recording sessions between February 18, 1970, and June 4, 1970, and was patched together by producer Teo Macero. Most of the outtake material ended up on Directions, Big Fun, and elsewhere. The first misconception is the lineup: the credits on the recording are incomplete. For the opener, "Right Off," the band is Miles, John McLaughlin, Billy Cobham, Herbie Hancock, Michael Henderson, and Steve Grossman (no piano player!), which reflects the liner notes.

Miles Davis - Miles Davis At Fillmore: Live At The Fillmore East (1970) [2CD] {1997 Columbia Remaster}
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© 1997 Sony Music / Columbia / Legacy | C2K 65139
Jazz / Fusion / Jazz Funk / Trumpet

With the critical reviews for Bitches Brew popping up in everything from local and national newspapers to jazz magazines, and Steve Grossman firmly established in the saxophone chair recently vacated by Wayne Shorter, Miles threw his band a curve ball. He added Keith Jarrett on organ to a group that already included bassist Dave Holland, electric pianist Chick Corea, percussionist Airto Moreira, and drummer Jack DeJohnette for a four-night stand at the Fillmore East. This double-LP/CD package puts together selections from each night, without regard for repetition. It's fine that there are numerous performances of certain tunes: the problem is that, although the music is compelling, it's schizophrenic because there are no full performances on the final release; they were all edited severely (as was standard practice by Teo Macero and Davis).

Picking up where Still Life (Talking) leaves off (instead of throwing listeners a curve ball like Song X), the equally triumphant Letter from Home stresses Brazilian elements with superb results. While a number of these treasures including "Beat 70," "Have You Heard," and "Every Summer Night" are light and accessible enough to have enjoyed exposure on some smooth jazz stations, Letter contains the type of depth and honesty that's sorely lacking in most smooth jazz. Metheny has always known the difference between light and lightweight, and even at his most delicate, he avoids entering "Muzak" territory.

Willis Jackson - Soul Night Live! (1964) {Prestige PRCD-24273-2 rel 2002} (with Pat Martino)
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© 1964, 2002 Prestige / Fantasy | PRCD-24273-2
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Jazz Blues / Hard Bop / Saxophone

The term "soul" was tossed around quite a bit in the '60s and '70s. It usually had an African-American connotation – as in soul brother, soul sister, soul food, soul music (a specific style of R&B), or James Brown, the Godfather of Soul. But the term isn't always used in reference to black culture; soulful means expressive, and in that sense, country greats Ernest Tubb and Patsy Cline were seriously soulful. However you define the word soul, Willis "Gator" Jackson was the epitome of it. The tenor titan played with a tremendous amount of feeling, and in the '60s, Prestige wasn't shy about using the word soul in connection with his work.

In 1980, guitarist and composer Eric Gale came off the commercial success of 1979's Part of You (produced by Ralph MacDonald) and didn't do the obvious thing. Rather than make another record that swung for the smooth jazz fences, he made a darker, deeper, funkier, and bluesier album with legendary New Orleans producer Allen Toussaint. The sessions included the cream of the Crescent City's jazz-funk crop as well as mates Charlie Earland, Grover Washington, Jr., and Idris Muhammad, three of soul-jazz's greatest lights – with special guest Arthur Blythe on the Charlie Parker nugget "Au Privave" as a curve ball. Toussaint wrote four of the album's seven tracks, and they range from the murky blue soul-jazz of "You Got My Life in Your Hands" to the sweet, boudoir-perfect urban-styled title track.