Christian
McBride
Live at Tonic
Ropeadope
From a reviewer standpoint, I’d rather just listen to this 3-disc
masterpiece than write about it. It makes you move, makes you bob your
head, makes you happy — sitting in front of a screen seems nonsensical
because McBride is sketching the feelings within anyway; words can be
a damper. One-word adjectives like “excellent,” “superb”
or “sensational” don’t really reflect what this CD
is about.
The artistic expanse of bassist Christian McBride in playing and improvising
what is both familiar and so remarkably fresh, along with his band of
Geoffrey Keezer on keyboards, Terreon Gully on drums and Ron Blake,
sax and flute, makes Live at Tonic one of the top-10 best jazz
CDs released in 2006. This is excellence; this is heart, soul, love,
life, creativity and humanity-grabbin’-everyone-is-part-of-this-moment
fun.
Disc 1 is made up of the best takes from the first sets of both nights
at the NYC club. Disc 2 features Charlie Hunter on guitar, Jason Moran
on piano and Jenny Schienman on violin. Dj Logic, turntables, Scratch,
beat box, Eric Krasno, guitar, and Rashawn Ross on trumpet join McBride
on Disc 3. Every cut is worth the time spent with it, but let me indulge
with my favorites: “Say Something,” (Disc 1), “Lower
East Side/Rock Jam (Disc 2) and all the jams — “E Jam,”
“Ab Minor Jam,” “D Shuffle Jam” and “D
Shuffle Jam (part 2) on Disc 3.
Okay, this is how I would sum it up: Disc 1, kick ass, Disc 2, kick
ass more so and Disc 3, oh man, this is really kick ass. Live at
Tonic causes old white guys do a stiff-legged shuffle over to black
gals fanning themselves. —Bruce Rodgers (posted 11/17/06)
+44
When Your Heart Stops Beating
Interscope
“We were two-thirds of blink-182, so we’re not afraid of
sounding like ourselves.”
Obviously, singer-bassist Mark Hoppus of +44 is confident of the new
group’s sound after the break-up of Blink 182 almost two years
ago. He has good reason. If the break-up hadn’t been all over
the radio, it would be easy to believe this to be Blink’s latest
release. The +44 musicians managed to maintain the pop-punk sound they
were know for in their wildly successful past.
While the music feels upbeat, the lyrics aren’t recommended for
anyone with suicidal tendencies. Lines like let’s slit our
wrists and burn down something beautiful from “No, It Isn’t”
and you smile while twisting the knife in my stomach/until everything
is gone from “Lillian” can bring a depressed listener
down even further. Band members do admit that a lot of the effort put
into this album is to express how they feel about their previous bands
break-up, giving the impression it wasn’t mutual.
Not everything on the album is that glum though. The first cut, “When
Your Heart Stops Beating,” is about being there for the one you
love and screw the rest of the world. However, the upbeat songs are
the minority.
For Blink 182 fans this is a step in the right direction for the new
band. Just keep in mind that like anyone coming out of a break-up, they
have a few things to get out of their system. —Ron Johnson
(posted 11/17/06)
Wayne
Hancock
Tulsa
Bloodshot
Perennial country and R&B musician Wayne “The Train”
Hancock’s newest album was made in two and a half days, and kicks
off with a fancy swing number praising the beauty and super-coolness
of…Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Now, being that this humble critic is himself a Sooner, and like most
Oklahomans has traveled through Tulsa a few times (often at a questionable
rate of speed), such claims of magnificence would seem a little questionable,
in the same way that it was perhaps a little questionable to invade
Iraq. All that bein’ said, damn, you got to give some serious
props to the “Train”, and all his musical engineers for
creating one of the best and purest blues and country albums in years.
Right from that swingin’ first number Hancock pulls that throttle
and never stops, rollin’ through classic twangy blues (“I
Don’t Care Anymore”) to home-style country and back, with
just the right number of stops on the track. Backed by Eddie River’s
fantastic steel guitar, particularly on “Gonna Be Flyin’
Tonight,” and a whole posse of equally impressive musicians, Hancock
excels in writing and performing full, rich and fun home-down music
that easily channels the likes of Roy Orbison and Hank Williams, always
with a simple country affability unlike that standard obnoxiousness
that is most musician’s bread and butter. You think some asshole
rock star singer would stop to dedicate a song to some friend’s
newborn baby girl? Probably not. (By the way just a little projection:
The Killers have jumped the shark, big time — hey, everybody gets
to dream…)
If you like good music, buy this album, support a damn fine musician
and have a great ride on this train, cause no ride goes on forever…hell,
you may even want to visit Tulsa!
But don’t. Really. —Brandon Whitehead (posted
11/03/06)
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