| James
Blood Ulmer
No Escape From The Blues: The Electric Lady Sessions - Hyena
Records
James Blood Ulmer might not have ever had No Escape
From The Blues, but based on this disk, there’s been a shift
in direction. Ulmer, a relatively unknown bluesman outside of New
York City and Memphis, may have seen his time come because of this
superb CD.
Ulmer’s blues is so loose it fits fine; fashioned about with
such authenticity, the free-form disconnect that sometimes happens
between him and his session players just enhances the burst of freshness
on this album. Much of this CD has a haunting, distorted feel to it,
as fluid as life and as accurate as the blues can be.
Two standout selections include Queen Esther in a duet with Ulmer
on John Lee Hooker’s “You Know, I Know” and on harmony
in a bewitching Jimmy Reed tune, “Bright Lights, Big City.”
Olu Dara on pocket trumpet and Maya Smullyan Jenkins’ tap dancing
shows this cut as something converging on where the blues has been
and where it can go. —Bruce Rodgers
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Toni Gates
Outside the Lines - Ransomed Productions
Kansas City’s own Toni Gates presents a rich and
flowing musical masterpiece with outside the lines. Gates did most
of the arrangement on the album, which included an interspersing of
emotional piano, cello, electric bass, acoustic guitar and flute.
The diva Gates bares her soul in the upbeat “Good Things,”
and she looks to e.e. cummings for the lyrics of “Raise the Shade.”
Outside the Lines includes nine tracks with a total running
time of only 22 minutes — painfully short for a disc which could
have held three times the substance. But quality is always better
than quantity.
This album, with Gates’ smooth, captivating voice, has made its
way into the CD collection permanently keep in my car — a cherished
spot when the monotony of the road needs breaking and other reflections
are sought out. – Jessica Chapman
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| Sting
Sacred Love - A&M Records
In between his faux-English-hipster attitude and his
semi-serious, semi-sarcastic interview stylings, Sting/Gordon Sumner
has actually managed to squeeze out an impressive series of solo albums
since his law enforcement days and garnered some serious critical
acclaim from across the musical spectrum.
Four years after his last album, the King of Pain has returned with
Sacred Love, a somewhat standard mix of melodic ballads
with some Latin and Eastern influences thrown in to prove Sting’s
“progression” as a musical artist (ever notice that ripping
off the best of traditional music from other cultures now somehow
equates to your average McPopstar’s “evolution of ability”?).
Still, the sacredness here is easy to digest, the exotic flavors kept
to a standard Chinese buffet level, while each song’s just different
enough from the last to keep you coming back for more, making every
breath you take as shallow as spirits in the material...ok, ok, you
get the idea. –Brandon Whitehead
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The Appleseed
Cast
Two Conversations - Tiger Style Records
Two Conversations is the latest from this Lawrence-based emo group
whom, in the past, has been called very “Radiohead” like.
The group had a lot to live up to following the critical success of
their two-album project Low Level Owl as well as it being their first
release for Tiger Style Records.
The band has seemingly stepped back a little in their musical style
to more emo rock roots and away from some of the “artsy”
renderings that dominated Low Level. That’s not to say the album
is without merit.
Two Conversations actually brings the band up to date in the direction
of, what some might consider, modern emo rock. Singer Steve Crisci’s
vocals stand out while not completely dominating a song’s landscape
and he adds more legitimacy to the lyrics beyond the typical up and
coming band ambitions. Aaron Pillar (guitar) and Marc Young (bass)
hold down the underlying melodies while Jordan Geiger’s keyboard
and Josh Baruth (drums) bring the “punch” when it needs
to be there. The album, while not completely moving, lets the melodies
flow nicely from one song to the next. –Justin McBee
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