Red Shift Darwin Deez

At a time when Warp Records was known as "the premiere electronica label," along comes another album from this mostly acoustic quartet to drop some jaws with good old-fashioned musicianship. Richly accomplished for a sophomore full-length, Prince Blimey finds Red Snapper expanding rather than floundering for ideas. In a time where acid jazz was busy developing by artificial (sampled) means, Red Snapper's musical prowess became a force to be reckoned with, and many of the tracks here place heavy emphasis on the group's secret weapon: the rhythm section. On a drawing pad, many of these songs would look like pyramids, with the base (bass) end getting most of the emphasis and the top corner crammed with little harmonic afterthoughts. The double bass is essential to the success of these tracks, featuring Ali Friend growling, slinking, and sliding on the frets as confidently as Zeus with a thunderbolt in his hands. Similarly, Richard Thair keeps his drums in time with Friend – hopscotching, marching, and breakbeating from R&B club to jazz dub to acoustic jungle.

Anyone who listens through the previous six volumes of Red Norvo on Classics will likely experience a visceral sense of excitement from 1943 onward as Norvo switches from xylophone to vibraphone and adopts a noticeably modern attitude toward the music. Norvo underwent a profound artistic transformation in 1944-1945, his many years of experience enabling him to settle into a new role as established recording artist and bandleader with an open-minded respect for young artists bearing new ideas. Norvo's remarkable skills as an improviser coupled with a willingness to participate in what music critics call the bop revolution often placed him squarely within the eye of the rapidly evolving cultural hurricane of modern music…

This CD reissue by Columbia in their Legacy series is a bit of a hodgepodge, covering a 2 1/2 year period in the bandleading career of xylophonist Red Norvo. Unfortunately the music is not programmed in chronological order but since most of these largely enjoyable 18 titles (including two never previously released) have rarely been reissued, this sampler will have to do until a more "complete" session comes along. Norvo's band during this period not only featured the occasional vocals of his wife, Mildred Bailey, but fine solo work from the tenor of Herbie Haymer, clarinetist Hank D'Amico and trumpeter Stew Pletcher in addition to the leader. The biggest key in Norvo's orchestra achieving a sound of its own, however, were the distinctive and inventive arrangements of Eddie Sauter. This CD contains great music that deserves to be reissued more coherently.

The closest the Red Hot Chili Peppers ever came to straight funk, Freaky Styley is the quirkiest, loosest, and most playful album in their long and winding catalog. It's also one of the best, if least heard…

As the second release on Simply Red's own label, Simplified finds the smooth soulsters reworking classics of their back catalog as well as introducing some new songs all in a stripped-down and stylish manner. Featuring such Simply Red classics as "Holding Back the Years" and "More," Simplified works well as a reintroduction to the band. And that's probably the main intention here. Although lead vocalist Mick Hucknall – whose burnished vocals sound superb here – and the band have largely kept a low profile since the early '90s, they haven't stopped touring and recording and as such have cultivated a devoted fanbase.

"Raw" is an overused and sometimes misapplied term of admiration, especially in the realm of the blues, where it is all too often used as a euphemism for "incompetent and off-key." In the case of Louisiana Red's Back to the Black Bayou, however, it's the only apt descriptor, and it's fully justified as a term of praise: his sound is ragged-edged and fiery, though its center is utterly solid and his delivery is unfailingly powerful. Having lived in Germany since the early '80s, he went to neighboring Norway to record this album with producer and guitarist Little Victor, and even if the program leans heavily toward old and familiar material…