Vision 2004

A welcome addition to the catalog of Saint-Saëns' chamber music, this disc presents four of his pieces for violin and piano in a balanced and satisfying program. Violinist Ulf Wallin and pianist Roland Pöntinen have a sympathetic feeling for Saint-Saëns that shines through their polished performances, particularly in the two sonatas – works of such interest and vitality that it is inexplicable that they are infrequently performed and recorded. In its pensive lyricism and effervescent virtuosity, the Violin Sonata No. 1 shows the influences of Brahms and Mendelssohn. Wallin gives full bow to the long, noble melodies in the first two movements, and delivers the brilliant scherzo and finale with verve.

This is a refreshingly straightforward, no-nonsense historical overview of Jefferson Airplane that, while not quite a documentary, sticks (unlike so many similar projects) to what the fans really want to see: complete archive clips of the band at its peak in 1966-1970 (as well as "Embryonic Journey" from their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in the 1990s), linked by interviews with bandmembers…

As his first album of all-original material (performed with a quintet or less) since his 1988 release Thick in the South: Soul Gestures in Southern Blue, Vol. 1, and his first album for Blue Note Records, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis' The Magic Hour is a disappointing return to progressive, small-group jazz. This is not to say that there aren't some excellent things here, but taken as an album, The Magic Hour seems logy and inconsequential.

Charles Tournemire (1870-1939) was a mystic composer who expressed his faith through his works, the most important of which is L’Orgue mystique (The Mystic Organ). The present recording, however, proposes the rare and fascinating piano cycle Douze Préludes-Poèmes, Op. 58 (Twelve Prelude-Poems). Composed in Paris between March 17 and May 21, 1932, these Prelude-Poems form a mystic vision of man’s life-long relationship with his Creator. The pianist Lise Boucher performs this magnificent and original music, which is both an extension of Debussy and a foreshadowing of Messiaen.

Although he was a student at the Paris Conservatoire at the same time as Debussy, studied with Massenet and Franck, won the Prix de Rome, and even succeeded Franck at the venerable post of organist at Sainte-Clotilde, the name of Gabriel Pierné is little remembered today, to say nothing of his compositions. Fortunately for listeners, the Canadian ensemble Trio Hochelaga has among its missions the revitalization of forgotten and underappreciated French compositions. Pierné's C minor trio certainly falls into their purview.

Hot on the heels of a string of masterful remasters, restoring the entire Nektar back catalog to the shelves for the first time in 20-plus years, original bandmembers Roye Albrighton, Taff Freeman and Ron Howden were reconvened with recently enlisted bassist Randy Dembo, to record a new album that proves their evolution is more than just a theory. From the opening drive of "Camouflage to White" to the closing mini-epic "After the Fall," Evolution may still be recognizably the Nektar of yore, albeit with a more finely honed style and vision, but the modern sound and production insure the group are well-adapted for contemporary climes. Their old fans, however, will be pleased that the band still relies on building drifting mantras, most notably across the nearly-ten-minute "Phazed By the Storm," while their signature infusion of deep bluesy riffs juxtaposed against some genuinely startling hooks remains much in evidence…

Version 2 Version: A Dub Transmission finds the veteran bassist/producer offering yet another dose of his intriguing neo-dub experimentation. Instead of giving an exact replica of grooves from dub's classic era, a 49-year-old Laswell combines dub with modern electronica and takes it to a trippy, hypnotic, atmospheric place - a place where the reggae beat interacts with ambient club/dance grooves. Version 2 Version doesn't cater to dub purists by any means; anyone who expects this 2004 release to sound exactly like King Tubby circa 1971 is bound to be disappointed. But then, anyone who is familiar with Laswell's history knows that expecting him to offer a carbon copy of old-school dubwise would be like expecting Ornette Coleman to play "Ornithology" exactly like Charlie "Bird" Parker played it in the late '40s…

"The Fall of Math" is a solid debut album from this UK band. 65daysofstatic is another side of Post-Rock. The machine syncopated drums, owing more to drum'n'bass and industrial than to Math-Rock, and the electronic textures, a brood Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails symbiosis, created both a impetuous background atmosphere where the band's dynamic Post-Rock inter-crusade of guitars, bass and piano moved along. The result is creative and intriguing, flowing with memorable instrumental passages and some solemn atmospheres, whilst the band preferring to move their music from contrast to contrast, between very balanced nuances, than using the genre's more traditional haunting crescendos. Plus, the music achieves to recreate emotionally their foreseen vision of a ideological catastrophe, elicited in the album's first track, being elegantly majestic or disturbing at incisive moments.

On Real Gone, Tom Waits walks a fraying tightrope. By utterly eliminating one of the cornerstone elements of his sound - keyboards - he has also removed his safety net. With songwriting and production partner Kathleen Brennan, he strips away almost everything conventional from these songs, taking them down to the essences of skeletal rhythms, blasted and guttural blues, razor-cut rural folk music, and the rusty-edge poetry and craft of songwriting itself. His cast includes guitarists Marc Ribot and Harry Cody, bassist/guitarist Larry Taylor, bassist Les Claypool, and percussionists Brain and Casey Waits (Tom's son), the latter of whom also doubles on turntables. This does present problems, such as on the confrontational opener, "Top of the Hill." Waits uses his growling, grunting vocal atop Ribot's monotonously funky single-line riff and Casey's turntables to become a human beatbox offering ridiculously nonsensical lyrics…

Here are the great musicians and singers that inspired Robert Johnson’s legendary performances. Peetie Wheatstraw, Charley Patton, Kokomo Arnold, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Skip James, Johnny Temple, Blind Blake, Leroy Carr, Tampa Red, The Mississippi Sheiks, Son House and more! These are the sources of both his powerful performing style and his compositional vision. This CD is a companion to the book “Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues”.
In a day and time (post-2000) when tribute albums spring up before a singer has a chance to die, much less become an immortal, it's a relief to get an album that switches the formula. Back to the Crossroads traces the roots - not the influence - of Robert Johnson, perhaps the most eulogized singer in blues history…