Listening Post /Brief reviews of select releases
Jazz
Vijay Iyer Trio, “Historicity” (ACT). The most exciting new jazz pianist to come along since Jason Moran and D. D. Jackson, Iyer, at the age of 38, is the great current pianist in the rhapsodic Andrew Hill wing of the great percussive piano tradition (Thelonious Monk, Randy Weston, George Russell, Mal Waldron, Herbie Nichols). What that means is that you have never heard a version of Leonard Bernstein’s “Somewhere” that’s anything like this one—dissonant paraphrase over a walking bass that gradually turns grandly romantic. On the same disc, he plays pieces by Hill, Stevie Wonder, Julius Hemphill and Ronnie Foster— “versioning” he calls these piano trio “conversations between the original work and something else entirely.” It is, he admits, a wildly eclectic music, drawing influence from “perceptual illusions, mathematical equalities and physical resonances, and everyday life in transcultural New York City.” That last phrase is particularly significant. There’s no question that the two most interesting jazz conclaves in current New York City are those centered around Israeli musicians and those with roots in India and the subcontinent (Iyer and his frequent saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa). A superb jazz piano trio disc and very much among the year’s best. ★★★★ (Jeff Simon)
•••
Vince Guaraldi, “The Definitive Vince Guaraldi” (Fantasy, two discs). To most, he’ll always be known as the composer/ performer of the universally beloved “Peanuts” music. But he was, long before that, one of the most likable, if unambitious, of West Coast jazz pianists of the ’50s and ’60s. Back when jukeboxes actually contained hits by jazz piano trios, his “Cast Your Fate to the Wind” competed with Ramsey Lewis’ rock-the-house version of the likes of “High Heel Sneakers.” There’s a full representation of Guaraldi on these two discs, including a lot of “Peanuts” music and the never-before-released “Autumn Leaves” and “Blues for Peanuts” from 1964.★★★½ (J. S.)
Pop
Bob Schneider, “Lovely Creatures” (Shockorama). Austin’s Bob Schneider must have called in sick the day the memo was distributed. As a result, he missed the message forbidding pop songs to draw on any and every thing that catches the songwriter’s passing fancy. So eminently able is Schneider as a pop craftsman that, had he focused on commercial breakthrough, it very well could have been his to claim. As it stands, though, the lovely “Lovely Creatures” is more likely to appeal to the freak with three different illegally downloaded mixes of “Pet Sounds” in his collection than it is to folks who actually buy CDs on a regular basis. Centered around keyboards—lots of ’em, be they acoustic piano, electric clavinet, pseudo-Fender Rhodes, or what have you— Schneider’s songs are ebullient, joyous little shards of melody with layered harmonies sitting atop them like frosting on a sinfully delicious cake. If you are part of that tiny demographic that owns the Jellyfish album “Spilt Milk” and knows who Jason Falkner is, you should buy this. ★★★(Jeff Miers)
Rock
Genesis, Live 1973-2007 Box Set (Rhino, five discs). Man, you can really get a grasp of the decline and fall of the Genesis empire when you take in the several hours of in-concert music presented by the “Live 1973-2007” box. It’s not that the rightly revered English band went down the sewer after, say, 1985 or so. It’s just that it became frustratingly very good, as opposed to mind-blowingly amazing. The cut-off point is not the departure of original lead singer Peter Gabriel, though one might be forgiven for believing as much. In fact, the finest album collected here – and presented in lush 5.1 surround sound—is most likely “Seconds Out,” the double album recorded just after Gabriel’s departure and Phil Collins’ ascendancy from drum throne to vocal mic, during tours for the band’s “Trick of the Tail” and “Wind&Wuthering” albums. This particular record is simply magnificent, redolent as it is of the grandiose, deeply Romantic Genesis sound that crystallized just as the band was hitting the peak of its prowess. (It didn’t hurt that it was still performing plenty of Gabriel-era material at this point.) The early gem “Genesis Live” has been beautifully scrubbed down, and sounds incredibly powerful. The inclusion of the long-bootlegged “Live at the Rainbow 1973” is a must-have for the hardcore Genesis head, too. (Although the real fan probably already has most of this, as it appeared on the late-’90s release “Genesis Archives Vol. 1.”) The later “Three Sides Live,” tracked during the band’s “Duke” and “Abacab” tours, is the final document of prime Genesis. The early ’90s effort “The Way We Walk” reveals the group to have fully morphed into an outstanding stadium-pop band, but one that has little in common with the gorgeous, sweeping melodies and harmonies of the early years. It’s hard to recommend this installment in the Genesis box set campaign to anyone but the “lifer” Genesis fan. The dearth of previously unavailable material is a bummer, and the lack of video content disheartening. That said, three of these albums are masterpieces, and they have never sounded better than they do this time around. ★★★★ for “Genesis Live,” “Seconds Out,” “Three Sides Live” and “Live at the Rainbow 1973”;★★½ or “The Way We Walk.” (J. M.)
Classical
From The Vaults of Westminster Cathedral, The Choir of Westminster Cathedral, Martin Baker, director (Hyperion). With England preparing for its first papal visit since the days of Henry VIII, the time is ripe for this disk from the mighty choir of London’s great Roman Catholic cathedral. The Westminster singers give us a kaleidoscopic range of Christmas season music by such Catholic composers as Thomas Luis da Victoria, Monteverdi and William Byrd, interspersed with plainsong. A couple of 20th century composers also appear—a simple Kyrie by the great harpsichordist George Malcolm is especially moving. Organist Matthew Martin gives a stunning concluding improvisation, “Marche des Rois mages.” I am wondering if the choir made a mistake in putting its most beautiful track first—a plainsong “Rorate caeli” that starts with a single voice and builds gradually, supported by at first imperceptible organ accompaniment. This is music for the ages. ★★★★(Mary Kunz
Goldman)
•••
Various Artists, The Devil’s Music (Naxos, two discs). Let’s grant that it was tacky for Naxos to release this two-disc anthology of classical music with Satan’s Touch without identifying the musicians involved more explicitly (you have to try to read disc covers in miniature) but the general plan and execution are so much fun that you can almost forgive them. In a collection of music that features everything from Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D-Minor” (in Gothic Stokowski adaptation) to Gyorgi Ligeti’s “L’Escalier Du Diable” with all the favorites you expect (Saint-Saens’ “Danse Macabre,” Liszt’s “Mephisto Waltz”) and a lot you don’t (diabolic musical imaginings by Vaughan Williams, for instance, and Johann Strauss, not to mention a “Mephisto Waltz” by Prokofiev). The conceit here is that the devil wrote the disc notes, too. “Music from the Dark Side” indeed. ★★★ (J. S.)
Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.
Reader comments