The Squeeze

Austin-based pianist and singer Marcia Ball began her solo career in earnest with the 1984 album Soulful Dress, and 30 years later, she's still pounding out the blues and boogie on The Tattooed Lady and the Alligator Man. The biggest challenge of a career that's been chugging along for more than three decades is keeping things fresh, and while The Tattooed Lady doesn't blaze many new trails, the album proves Ball's mojo is still working as a songwriter and a piano player, and she clearly hasn't run out of things to say.

The Sentimental Drift sees the return of Black Swan. His music – described as ‘drones for bleeding hearts’ – has always contained within it a ton of emotion, personal in its expression and deep in its significance. And The Sentimental Drift has most definitely been worth the long wait. At first, smooth synths help to give off a white heat, radiating a warmth like that of overheated metal, hot to the touch, and almost radioactive in its ability to sizzle and burn the flesh. This opening sits in contrast to Black Swan’s cooler discography, and it’s a welcome change. Since the opening is entitled ‘Birth’, the warm apricot hues could represent the comfort of the womb, becoming the first chapter as the tones emerge into the world. The drone-work is similar, which is a good thing, and the music is just as refined as it ever was. Punctured fragments of sound later decay in front of the listener, adding a dull bronze and a nostalgic side to the music, a classic film noir in which all the stars have now moved on. The reels continue to revolve, though, pouring out a selection of sober melodies with long tails of delay and the trailing echoes of a memory growing fainter by the day.

Kenny Burrell - The Bluesin' Around Sessions (2013) {Essential Jazz 24bit Remaster rec 1961-1962}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 475 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 182 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 253 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1961-62, 2013 Essential Jazz Classics / Columbia | EJC55619
Jazz / Bop / Guitar

This release contains the complete original Kenny Burrell LP Bluesin' Around (Columbia FC38507), which showcases the guitarist in a quintet format with such stars as Illinois Jacquet, Hank Jones, Brother Jack McDuff, Leo Wright, and Eddie Bert. In addition, all existing songs from the same sessions that weren't included on the original LP plus all but one of the existing alternate takes from the dates. The music is presented here chronologically, in order to avoid mixing the personnel from the different sessions.

Ray Vega's fourth album not only confirms his status as one of the leading Afro-Cuban trumpeters of his generation, but also shows an admirable willingness not to be stuck in one subgenre of jazz forever. Squeeze, Squeeze focuses mostly on band originals, composed not only by Vega but also by bassist Gregg August, whose "Crescent Mood" has an enjoyably retro feel that recalls the smooth, fusiony jazz of the CTI Records crowd, and alto saxophonist Bobby Porcelli, whose post-bop ballad "Both" is one of the album's highlights. The album has a few standard Afro-Cuban jazz pieces, most notably the closing "La Tercera," the rollicking title track, and a bracing take on Wayne Shorter's "Black Nile"…

The ultimate Squeeze album is, of course, Singles, 45's and Under. This is a classic album of 1980s pop that belongs in any record collection. This compilation (The Piccadilly Collection) is an updated release of classic Squeeze tunes, containing many of the favorites from Singles, 45s and Under (Pulling Mussels, Tempted), as well as newer material from the 1990s (Everything in the World, Some Fantastic Place). It includes a few other noteworthy songs (Hourglass, Love's Crashing Waves) that are worth having, as they are of the same quality as the material from "Singles". In addition, there are a few interesting tunes (Spanish Guitar, Elephant Girl) that are positive additions and are relatively unknown. This is a good compilation to buy if you need a Squeeze CD that covers the highlights but also adds some newer material.