This album is often linked with ‘Bedside Manners Are Extra’, which always seems strange to me as there was an album in between the two, ‘Spyglass Guest’, but given this again shows the man with many arms it is probably due to the artwork and not the music. ‘Spyglass’ was the last to feature the original line-up as bassist Tony Reeves left to pursue a career in production and was replaced by session guitarist Martin Briley. The new line-up didn’t last long though, and ‘Time and Tide’ was to be the last album from Greenslade for more than twenty years. Dave formed a new version of the band at the turn of the century with Tony back on board, and keyboard player/vocalist John Young and drummer Chris Cozens. ‘Time and Tide’ has always felt to me to be of a band in flux, no longer really sure of direction, where they were going and what they wanted to achieve.
Greenslade (the man) was working more on his own, while some of the songs with vocals seem very at odds with what the band had been playing previously. “Waltz For A Fallen Idol” could have been produced for Rod Stewart, and it certainly doesn’t seem like a Greenslade track at all. The backing vocals and falsetto just doesn’t make sense at all, and the use of electric guitar also shows a band moving further away from their roots. Of all of the original Greenslade albums, this is the one I play least as while there are some delights to be heard, they are mixed with others which I can gladly skip.
This is the Esoteric reissue, which means there are some additional songs on the CD, one a single edit of “Catalan” while the other is a B-side. But we also have another disc, a Swedish Radio show which was recorded in March 1975, prior to the release of the album, and given this contains songs from other albums as well, this is the one I have been playing most. Opener “Pilgrim’s Progress” is still a powerful, dramatic number and one can only wonder what would have come of the band if they had stayed together for another album. With an essay from Malcolm Dome inside, this is yet another powerful reissue from Esoteric, but it just doesn’t have the punch and panache of ‘Bedside Manners’.
t was with is third album that Breton musician Alan Simon really made a huge impact, 1999’s ‘Excalibur, La Légende des Celtes’. As with the further albums in the series, he used a combination of well-known musicians and singers (in that instance it included the likes Roger Hodgson, Fairport Convention, Dan Ar Braz, Tri Yann, Angelo Branduardi, Didier Lockwood and Gabriel Yacoub). There have been three further albums in the series, and now we are treated with a compilation which takes songs from all of the ‘Excalibur’ studio albums plus ‘Tristan & Yseult’. The theme which ties all these together is in the title, in that every song features a female lead vocalist.
It is hard to imagine another collection which features singers of this calibre, as here are treated to performances by Moya Brennan, Maddy Prior, Karan Casey, Kohann, Siobhan Owen, Jacqui McShee, Nikki Matheson, Sonja Kristina and Maite Itoiz. I must confess to not knowing a couple of the names prior to playing this, but they certainly stand up within the august company. Musically this of course is full of the classical/folk/progressive elements we have all become used to with the ‘Excalibur’ series with rock guitars happily alongside trippy keyboards or flute, bagpipes, acoustic guitar, violin etc. Some songs are almost pop rock in their approach, while others are traditional with a capital “T” (suddenly I feel inspired to go and dig out some Horslips). All of them are joined together with stunning vocals, and with all the lyrics contained within the booklet, plus details of who sang on which song, it seems somewhat churlish to say I wish I also knew which musicians who had been involved as well. Putting that to one side, this really is a superb album, with vocals to die for.
Apparently, this is the third album from D’Adamo, but it is the first time I have come across him. Paul started formal lessons when he was just six years old, passion for singing, performing, and playing piano continued through his college years where he studied with some of the finest teachers at the Indiana University School of Music, The Juilliard School and Berklee College of Music. He also began teaching students, as well as studying privately to further his art and hone his craft. In 2002, Paul opened The D’Adamo School of Performing Arts, where he still teaches private voice, piano, music theory and songwriting lessons in his Las Colinas studio or at his students’ homes in the Greater DFW area. He has brought in a selection of musicians to assist him on this release, including Jerry Marotta, Tony Levin, Alphonso Johnson, Vinnie Colaiuta, Lee Curreri, Grant Geissman, Trey Gunn, Billy Sherwood, The California Guitar Trio, Chris Remediani, Canyon Kafer, Fuzzbee Morse, Nichelle Monroe, Connie Jackson, Lynne Fiddmont, Amy Keys and Fred White.
The ten songs comprise just four original numbers, alongside one each by Genesis and Michael MacDonald and four by Peter Gabriel. When I looked at the tracklisting I really wasn’t quite sure to expect, as I have never been a fan of bands who attempt to provide note for note replications of others material, but there was no worry of that here. D’Adamo has one of the most luscious, velvety, beautiful voices I have ever come across. He has a tremendous range, but normally contains himself to the baritone, but it is all so effortless and timeless. For the most part we are in the world of soft jazz, and “Lovin’ Me Back To Life” has to be at least forty years out of time as the polish and harmonies, along with some stunning bass and horns makes one think of the major pop hits of the mid Seventies.
Right from the huge harmonies which opens the album on “Games Without Frontiers”, I knew this was going to be something special, and the muted trumpet just takes it to a whole new level. Although fans of the aforementioned bands are of course going to be interested in discovering more, this is an album which will be appreciated by all fans of great music as the arrangements and vocal performances are simply superb, all backed up by wonderful musicianship.
Resonance’ is the recording debut as a leader of drummer Dave Rudolph, who is based in Tampa, Florida. Rudolph is a veteran of the local scene for the last 25 years and is also currently the Professor of Contemporary Percussion at the University of Tampa. Inspired by his close friend Jessica Hiltabidle, who passed away recently, he realized that he was long overdue to record his own music. He has brought together a band of local musicians to bring his dream to reality, namely tenor-saxophonist Zach Bornheimer, guitarist LaRue Nickelson, pianist Pablo Arencibia and bassist Alejandro Arenas and together they perform nine of Rudolph’s originals. These are all instrumental, apart from the title song where be brought in Whitney James to provide vocals.
This is an album which takes no work at all to relax into, and the very first time I played it I knew I was in for an enjoyable time. Some jazz albums are bloody hard work, some concentrate solely on the skills of those playing, while others honestly never seem to make any sense whatsoever and others are just too lounge to be at all enjoyable. None of that is the case here, as we are treated to a band who really do feel like a band. I wasn’t surprised to discover that Rudolph started on guitar before moving onto drums, as this really is a very melodic album, and not as heavily rhythmic as some where the leader is also the percussionist. Although they are a quintet it isn’t unusual for the band to be working as a trio, such as on “Lonely Train” where Arenas keeps it all together, Rudolph displays lots of different tricks and styles, and at the front we are treated to a masterclass in understatement from Nickelson who shows there really is no need to play 9000 notes to the bar if you have an affinity to what you are doing.
Fresh, full of space, full of class, this post-bop set is creative, enjoyable, and a damn fine listen. It is possible to hear the album by going to the website at www.daverudolph.net.
Duke 72 is a new project formed by Big Hogg’s Justin Lumsden with drummer Jonny Mitchell (Future of Dead Relic Memories, Bricolage, The Stranglers). According to the press release it was conceived, written and performed by Justin Lumsden and Jonny Mitchell during a single nine-hour tracking session in Glasgow, with no prior rehearsal. Some of the music was written from scratch that day, while some others were revisiting material which had been thought about years earlier. After Mitchell returned to Melbourne the album was then completed with guest appearances from Justin’s Big Hogg bandmates Ross McCrae and Sophie Sexon, and Lavinia Blackwall (ex-Trembling Bells). The result is an incredibly evocative and atmospheric album, one in which in some ways is incredibly interesting and in others isn’t.
In many ways it sounds as if it was recorded no later than 1972, which makes me wonder if that is why there is a number in the band name. Harmony guitars, slide, little bits of horn, it’s almost as if Stone The Crows are back in town (with male lead vocals), while early Seventies band like Savoy Brown and Chicken Shack are also here (less blues than either, but with the same feel). There are bits of songs which are nothing but sheer delight, showing what might have been, but there is the downside in that they never really live up to the expectations offered. Most of this is down to the quality of some of the material, some of which would have benefited from judicious editing. By the end of “Backbone of a Jellyfish” I wanted to scream at trombone player Ross McCrae and ask him to stop repeating the same phrase over and over again as it was driving me insane. This feels more like a cult release than one which is going to set the world alight. There are plenty of Canterbury influences, some lovely rich guitar distortions combined with some sweet clear lines, but this is an album full of experiences and not many songs to which I want to keep returning.
The frustrating thing is that when they get it right, such as on “Oxblood and Rings”, which is a wonderful ballad, one can almost forgive them all their other sins. But not quite. Next time there needs to be a lengthier songwriting process, more culling, and then I am sure there will be quite an album to behold. I for one am looking forward to it.
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