Stanton Moore's Piano Trio: The Time Has Come

Long time readers of this blog will be familiar with my love for all things New Orleans. There have been many posts highlighting the exceptional musicians from this city and more than a few specifically about Stanton Moore, drummer for Galactic. Here's an interview I did with Stanton for The Huffington Post from a few years back.

I'll bet that those of you who visit New Orleans on a somewhat regular basis, whether for Jazz Fest or Mardi Gras or just to enjoy a long weekend of food and music, have your go-to artists. It's been 15 years now that Stanton Moore has been my go-to artist. I'd search weeks in advance for club dates featuring Stanton, either playing with Galactic or leading his own bad-ass funk trio with the great B-3 player Robert Walter and the ubiquitous and talented Will Bernard on guitar, or anyone of the collectives like Dragon Smoke with Ivan Neville or Garage A Trois with Skerik, Mike Dillon and old pal Charlie Hunter. If I was in New Orleans for a week, good chance I saw Stanton Moore play somewhere with someone 4 of those 7 nights.

100+ performances, with a good dozen or so different bands over 15 years, and nothing thrilled me as much as the Stanton Moore Piano Trio this past April at Cafe Istanbul in New Orleans. One main reason is that my other go-to band is the city's legendary jazz outfit Astral Project, once a quintet, now a quartet. Stanton's piano trio features Astral Project's bass player and one of the most unique and innovative bass players in all of music, James Singleton and original Project piano-player, the brilliant, melodic and always daring David Torkanowsky. I may be gushing, but this line-up is a New Orleans dream of mine and what they exhibited that night, and probably every Tuesday night at their regular residency in NOLA's Snug Harbor was beyond your piano-trio norm.

These guys are the best at what they do. They are never satisfied. Whether taking on a Monk classic or highlighting the work of legendary New Orleans musician and producer Harold Battiste, this trio makes the music of twice as many players. If a jazz trio can put on a rock and roll show and still keep the purists happy, then you know, this trio needs to be heard

Stanton and Tork have become friends of mine over the years and I've mentioned to both, possibly an irritating number of times, that this trio absolutely needs to release music.

Well, the wait is over. I implore you, please check out Stanton's campaign HERE and pass it on. This is for me, as much as it is for the band. And really, it is for you, too.

Bubbling Under: My Favorite Other Records of 2013

More than a few people made mention of 2013 not being a particularly strong year for music. That is how I've felt every year since 1979 and yet this year I had to edit my favorites down. The Top Ten is coming soon, but for now, here are 13 releases, presented alphabetically by album title, that I really enjoyed.

Richard Thompson-Electric

My first two passes through this record left me disappointed. I blame that not on the record but my high expectations. I wanted an RT trio record produced by Buddy Miller to be the greatest record ever and it just wasn't. Once I got over that, I realized "Electric" had a lot to offer and since then it has grown to be one of my favorite Richard Thompson records.

Jonathan Wilson- Fanfare

The praise and adoration for Wilson's previous release "Gentle Spirit" was a tad unnecessary. Kudos from people like Jackson Browne, David Crosby and Elvis Costello weren't enough to sell me on an overlong collection of overproduced, overdone and overrated songs. Over. So why did "Fanfare" hit me so hard? It's similar in many ways, but in small doses, like one side at a time if you have the vinyl, you will hear four different records. For my purposes, that worked much better. And while the songs themselves may not be the calibre of the songs written by Wilson's trio of admirers, the experience of "Fanfare" is huge, evoking the best of Pink Floyd, Buffalo Springfield, and Nick Drake for starters.

Parquet Courts- Light Up Gold
From NYC, this band serves up a good chunk of what I pine for, specifically... the best sounds of 1977. "Light Up Gold" is Richard Hell, Television, Jim Carroll, Gang Of Four, and maybe even a little John Foxx-fronted Ultravox all in one exciting release.

Queens Of The Stone Age- ...Like Clockwork

QOTSA is a band I've enjoyed not liking for years. Leader Josh Homme sits at the top of my "Most Overrated" list. But it seems like he and his band matured overnight. "...Like Clockwork" has better riffs, smarter production, and more melody than any previous QOTSA release and the single "I Sat By The Ocean," sounding like ELO with balls, is one of my faves of the year.

Gregory Porter-Liquid Spirit

Finally, an R&B singer-songwriter who doesn't oversing, sing flat, or melisma his way into my trash can. Some beautifully understated music on "Liquid Spirit," sung with purity and grace by Gregory Porter.

Jules Shear-Longer To Get To Yesterday
Years go by in between Jules Shear releases and then they appear quietly. So quietly that often, one has to just obsessively Google "Jules Shear + New Music" until one gets lucky and hits something. (Yes, I'm "one.") The songwriting here is stronger than ever. Few can paint such vivid pictures of joy and heartbreak with melody and harmony the way Jules can, and "Longer To Get To Yesterday" ranks as one his very best.

Roy Harper- Man & Myth

I can't think of an artist that has kept me as busy and interested, yet so confused for so long, as Roy Harper. Ever since the day I first heard Led Zeppelin "III," and noticed a song hat-tipping Mr. Harper, I tried to dig in to his catalogue. I mean, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Paul McCartney and David Gilmour all love the guy. I finally got it with "Man & Myth."  This is big, sprawling, demanding, lugubrious music, but still full of exquisite melodies and dynamic playing. Maybe you have to be in the mood, but I'm happy I finally got Roy Harper.

Mikal Cronin- Mcii

This type of low-fi, DIY pop music is not usually in my wheelhouse. One of my fantasies is to punch Robert Pollard of Guided By Voices right in the nose. But Cronin serves up so many hooks on "Mcii" you won't know whether to sing, dance or go trout fishing. Short, sharp and sweet.

Aaron Neville- My True Story

Neville covers his favorite jukebox oldies with a little help from Keith Richards and it is a blast. This could have been ruined with unnecessarily glossy production, like so many of Neville's solo releases, but all involved held back and what we have instead is one of the most distinctive voices in music leading a stripped-down, soulful band of what sounds like guys having fun. Yes, records can be fun, kids.

Paul McCartney-New

(Please read Peter Carlin's review of "New." I wouldn't have said it better, and it pretty much nails my exact feelings about the record.)

"Just turn your ear for a moment to the buzz attending Paul McCartney’s latest album. His first collection of originals in six years, titled simply, New, came with the predictable oohs and ahhs. Oh, the Beatle-esqueness of it all. The warmth and steel of his 71-year-old pipes. The grace of his melodies and the unexpected shrieks, whirs and purposeful murk in its electronic japery. But in the absence of the work itself all those promises are at best meaningless — McCartney is a living legend, a hero to generations. Journalists WANT him to succeed, and frankly so do we. Particularly if it means 45-plus minutes of lovely new Paul McCartney music.

So how terrific that New is pretty much exactly that. From the album-opening rocker “Save Us,” the songs are tautly constructed, melodic and – I swear I’m not kidding – lyrically compelling. The intellectual laziness that defines so many of McCartney’s solo songs is nowhere to be found.
Instead, we get the engaging obscurities in “Alligator” and, better yet, the prosaic revelations described in the sweet, mid-tempo “On My Way to Work.”   Like for instance, and I just love this for some reason:

“On my work to work I bought a magazine/Inside a pretty girl, liked to waterski/She came from Chichester to study history/She had removed her clothes for the likes of me.”

It’s that bit about waterskiing that knocks me backwards (what a weird detail, and yet exactly what dirty magazines make a point of noting). Next, a brief guitar break turns dark and driving, leading to a final verse where the ka-chunk of the office time clock brings a small vision:

“I could see everything, how we came to be/People come and go, smoking cigarettes/I pick the packets up when the people leave.“

Wherein lies one of McCartney’s most valuable traits — his eye for the magic of everyday life and motion. We fancy folk don’t often turn to janitors and nudie magazines for existential philosophy, but this artist sees more than we do. The real payoff, however, comes in the choruses that reveal the narrator’s passing fascinations as a symptom of the intimacy he never found in his own life:

“How could a soul search everywhere/Without knowing what to do?”

So okay, “Everybody Out There” falls a bit short in the lyric department, but the next tune is “Hosanna,” which pits a dark melody and pulsing bass against layers of electronic drone and tape loop shriekery unheard on a Paul song since “The White Album.”
And so it goes pretty much song for song, all with their own intrigue (OMG, the texture of his aged voice when singing, a touch bitterly, about the young Beatles on “Early Days”) and delight. Those perfect melodic fillips; the layers of joy in his stacked harmonies; the irresistible sweetness in the bouncy title track, which is as heavy as helium and as lovely as a summer morning.
Does that make it (yet) another silly love song? Not even. If only for the startling assertion McCartney makes a song earlier in “Early Days”:

“They can’t take it from me if they tried/I lived through those early days/So many times I had to change the pain to laughter/Just to keep from getting crazed.”

It ain’t easy. So float away on “New” right now; consider the expressions on the faces you see and imagine what waits for them when their feet crunch back into the dirt below."

Valerie June-Pushin' Against A Stone
A gutsy, rootsy, soulful collection of country, folk gospel and blues. June's two previous releases were acoustic affairs that didn't quite nail it. But on "Pushin' Against A Stone," she gets some help from Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys and the results are magical.

Daft Punk-Random Access Memories

You don't have to be a fan of 70's disco or 80's electro-pop to appreciate just what Daft Punk has done here. (Ok, maybe you do.) This record is pure genius and it's a prime example of what "making records" is all about. There are plenty of hummable moments and plenty of danceable moments, but as a whole, "Random Access Memories" is an epic display of production and miraculously, doesn't feel like it's too much, which I think pretty much describes how we all felt during the 70's and 80's. Go into this one the way you would a documentary on a certain place and time.

Trigger Hippy- Trigger Hippy
"Trigger Hippy is a powerful, soul-infused rock and roll band founded by Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman featuring twin lead vocals from multi-platinum recording artist Joan Osborne and singer-songwriter Jackie Greene who also plays guitar and keyboards.  Rounding out the group are lead guitarist Tom Bukovac, who co-produced the EP with the band, and bassist Nick Govrik. "

Yes, this is only a 4-track, 10" vinyl E.P. at the moment, but I love this baby and if it were at least twice as long, it may have made the Top Ten.

Songs Of The Week 3.0: 11/30-12/6

Deep- Jules Shear
Expressway To Your Heart- Soul Survivors
Friday Night, Saturday Morning- The Specials
Tell It To The Rain- 4 Seasons
Make Believe- Joan Jett
I'm Goin' Down- Bruce Springsteen
Tanqueray- Johnnie Johnson

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"Yeah, That's Right, More Covers" : THE WEEKEND MIX

If you've already glanced at the tracklist, noticed Chuck Mangione's name, and decided to stick around anyway, I thank you. His version of "High Heel Sneakers" with Tony Levin on bass and Steve Gadd on drums kicks my ass, so I thought I'd pass it on. Then of course, more covers followed and here we are.

TRACKLIST

Hounds Of Love (Kate Bush)- The Futureheads
King's Lead Hat (Brian Eno)- The Dirtbombs
Barrytown (Steely Dan)- Ben Folds
Love My Way (Psychedelic Furs)- The Polyphonic Spree
Black Star (Radiohead)- Gillian Welch
High Heel Sneakers (Tommy Tucker)- Chuck Mangione
How Deep Is Your Love (Bee Gees)- Jacqui Naylor
Right Now (Herbie Mann)- The Creatures
Don't It Make My Brown Eyes, Blue (Crystal Gayle)- Glenn Tilbrook
His Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles (Captain Beefheart)- Joan Osborne
Brazil (Ary Barroso)- Gigi & The Charmaines
Heart Of The Sunrise (Yes)- California Guitar Trio

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Best Of 2013: Readers Choices Part 3

KEN D

For me this was a great year for albums by singer/songwriters. My list is eight records I went back to again and again this year and all have a single name attached. Maybe it's a coincidence or maybe bands are in decline (though I have no idea why this might be so). I don't feel that I hear enough albums to declare anything a "best," so I'll just say these are my favorites and highly recommended to anyone with country/rootsy/NoDepression-y leanings:

A list:

Steve Earle - The Low Highway

Brandy Clark - 12 Stories (kudos to you Sal for being way ahead on this one)

Robbie Fulks - Gone Away Backward

Josh Ritter - The Beast in Its Tracks

Sam Phillips - Push Any Button

A+ list:

Jason Isbell - Southeastern (and his show—opening for Nick Lowe—at Lincoln Center was a 2013 highlight)

Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer Different Park (for some I guess CMA nominations would be the kiss of death, but this album is miles above the typical country radio fare)

and the last is a plug for a guy I know—an ex-New Yorker, now living in Wisconsin—who made a superb album on his own (Indiegogo funded) with a bad title, worse cover art, and great, great music:

Matthew Grimm - Songs in the Key of Your Face

I highly encourage you to check him out: www.grimmreality.net/

http://matthewgrimm.bandcamp.com/album/songs-in-the-key-of-your-face

Best Of 2013: Readers Choices Part 2

JERRY LEE


Best/favorites of 2013, no order:

Barrence Whitfield And The Savages - Dig Thy Savage Soul
kicks ass!

Robbie Fulks - Gone Away Backward
alt-country wiseass, great songwriter

Dog Party - Lost Control
two punk-like teenage sisters, excellent tunes

John Paul Keith - Memphis 3AM

The Len Price 3 - Nobody Knows

The Sadies - Internal Sounds

Allen Toussaint - Songbook

Willis Earl Beal - Nobody Knows

Emiliana Torrini - Tookah
because I like the sound of her voice.

Terry Allen - Bottom Of The World
Texas eccentric

Phil Lee - The Fall & Further Decline of the Mighty King Of Love
good, witty roots rock songwriter on a bummer.

Swearin' - Surfing Strange
Breeders-like.


Andre Williams - Silky
released in 1998, but still the best album every year since then!








JEFF MATTHEWS

Favorite albums:
Bowie- The Next Day
Mavericks -In Time
Jason Isbell - Southeastern
Neko Case - (ridiculously long title)
QotSA- Like Clockwork
Frank Turner - Tape Deck Heart
Steve Earle - Low Highway
...I don't think I can come up with 10 this year...
2 Favorite singles:
High School Lover - Cayucas
Stoned and Starving - Parquet Floors
...I'm sure I'm forgetting something...looking forward to your listings to catch up on what I missed.

Best Of 2013: Readers Choices Part 1

BUZZBABYJESUS

I was about to say I didn't listen to much new music this year until I looked at my playlists.

My Top Ten (12) of 2013
(In no particular order)

1 The Wood Brothers- The Muse
2 Joseph Arthur- The Ballad Of Boogie Christ
3 William Tyler- The Impossible Truth
4 Elvis And The Roots- Wise Up Ghost
5 Janelle Monae- The Electric Lady
7 Jeffrey Novak- The Lemon Kid
8 Jonathan Wilson- Fanfare
9 Mavis Staples- One True Vine
10 Omar Suleyman- Wenu Wenu
11 Roy Harper- Man and Myth
12 North Mississippi All Stars- World boogie Is Coming

Reissues

King Crimson- The Road To Red
Bob Dylan- Another Self Portrait
Yes- Close To The Edge

(I can't believe I left "The Next Day" off my list. Also Okkervil River's "The Silver Gymnasium.")









OLDROCKR1

I haven't put together my full list yest, but I do know my 3 favorites of the year. My listening habits have been focused primarily on Americana artists for the past few years and there have been some very good releases in 2013.

1) Jason Isbell - Southeastern
America's best songwriter at the moment. You know he's good when my wife stops what she is doing to marvel at the lyrics.

2) Holly Williams - The Highway
The best record made by anyone in this family since, well since Hank.

3) Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison - Cheaters Game
I've had this sine last December and I keep on playing it. A wonderful record.

There were also very good releases from John Moreland, Sturgil Simpson, Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell among others. All in all a pretty good year.






 



SHRINER

For me, this was not a *great* year. That said, these are 2013 releases I've played more than once and will continue to go back to:

1) Minor Alps -- Get There (I am an unabashed fan of Juliana Hatfield, and I really like Nada Surf, so this was right in the wheel house...) Yet Juliana's "Wild Animals" -- made no impression at all...

2) Drink a Toast to Innocence: A Tribute to Lite Rock. I can't add much that hasn't been already said about this great collection.

3) Belle And Sebastian -- The Third Eye Centre. I love this band as they continue to fit into the "I miss the Beautiful South" place in my head.

4) Lyn Saga -- Venice. If only for the brilliant "This Way" (but the rest of the album is very good, too.)

5) Kurt Baker -- Brand New Beat (lots of fun here.)

But the album I played most in 2013? The rip of "Pure McCartney" by Time Christensen (and others...)

What put the biggest smile on my face in 2013? The boot of the first Replacements reunion concert. I wish I had been there!!!


There were many others that were good (new Neil Young & Crazy Horse almost made the cut as did "Time" by Rod Stewart), but -- looking back to what I added to my iTunes in 2013 -- the list above is what I've gone back to most.

Discoveries of older albums/artists in 2013 (mostly from Bandcamp) that I really liked: The Wellingtons, I Was A King, Throwback Suburbia's "Shot Glass Souvenir" (OK, I probably played this album *more* than "Pure McCartney", The Grapes of Wrath, Fastball


There were more things I thought I *would* like, but didn't like as much (M B V jumps out as does Sid & Susie's Vol 3) this year.