Rhythm And Sounds

I Was Young And I Needed The Money! (1998). At its best, this album sounds like Stevie Wonder possessed and traveling at light speed; at its worst, it sounds like a battlefield of sonic carnage. "Deliver the Weird" is sure to go down as a classic drill'n'bass cut with its nuclear keyboard and bass work; this is where Gilberto is at his most potent. "Giant Jumps" makes playful allusions to Coltrane's Giant Steps. "Ms. Looney's Last Embrace" showcases his ability to integrate a wide variety of sources to his sound and keeps you laughing with him, not at him.

Like the Charleston Chasers, the Louisiana Rhythm Kings existed entirely as a studio recording ensemble. The time frame is even the same; both bands operated during those fascinatingly pivotal years of 1929 and 1930. The Louisiana Rhythm Kings were at first nothing more or less than a variable version of Red Nichols & His 5 Pennies, or in the case of the sessions recorded February 20 and April 23, 1929, the last vestiges of Red & Miff's Stompers. Miff Mole's trombone acted as the gravitational center of most every band he ever worked with, while Red was usually the next best thing to his idol, Bix Beiderbecke. Some of the players on the first three selections are holdovers from the Stompers sessions of several years earlier…

A man with as much experience as he has ingenuity, Randall Bramblett has been a singer-songwriter, a session musician, and a hired gun for legends such as Gregg Allman and Steve Winwod. Bramblett’s latest release from his more than thirty years in the business, Devil Music, delivers the expected level of virtuosity, and surprises with a deep-fried, novel twist of Southern darkness. “Dead in the Water,” the album’s lead single is equally fulfilled through evocative lyrics, well-timed and managed effects, and instrumental superiority; a narrative of nowhere, the track is populated by dead-end characters and lowly living; fitting, for a track that Bramblett claims is inspired by William S. Burroughs. While immersing itself in the wonderfully weird, infinitely spiraling darkness of whimsy that exemplifies some of Tom Waits’ best work, “Dead in the Water” sees a guest appearance by storied axeman Mark Knopfler.

When Bill Wyman left the Rolling Stones, he didn't leave music at all. Instead, he went back to the songs he loved growing up, whether it was rock & roll or big band or folk/skiffle. Now, those tracks make up the majority of songs performed during Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings Live, taped during a Berlin concert in June 2005. Supported by a talented cast of musicians including guitarist Albert Lee, Wyman and company are introduced one by one, with each then joining in for a fun and lively boogie version of "I Got a Woman." Each member of the band takes their turn on lead vocals, with Albert Lee taking charge during the swinging, big band bop of "Jump, Jive and Wail," while "Baby Workout" has the soulful pipes of Beverley Skeete.