CD Music
Blue Buddha: "Blue Buddha"; Dave Douglas Quintet: "Brazen Heart"
Blue Buddha: Blue Buddha
Tzadik 4010
Format: CD
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Dave Douglas Quintet: Brazen Heart
Greenleaf Music 1044
Format: CD
Musical Performance
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Overall Enjoyment
Jason Isbell: "Something More Than Free"
September 2015
Southeastern Records
Format: CD
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Few things resonate in America as well as redemption tales. Alabama-born singer-songwriter Jason Isbell has a fine one to tell, bouncing back from an alcohol habit so bad it got him fired from the hard-living Drive-By Truckers in 2007, when he was just 28. Isbell's crash was particularly disappointing because he seemed to be living out the kind of disastrous self-destruction portrayed in some of the Truckers' darkest songs while proving himself to be the most promising young writer to come out of the South since Steve Earle.
Ryan Adams: "Ten Songs from Live at Carnegie Hall"
August 2015
Pax Americana/Blue Note B002263402
Format: CD
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In an earlier, less-cluttered musical era, Ryan Adams would be a much bigger star. He has the charisma and the songwriting chops of Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty, but, at 40, he is a generation younger and remains a cult favorite -- far from a household name (except, perhaps, for those who confuse him with Bryan Adams). In some quarters, he is best known as the romantic partner of quirky women like indie-film diva Parker Posey and actress-singer Mandy Moore.
Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell: "The Traveling Kind"
July 2015
Nonesuch Records 2-548243
Format: CD
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Close harmony lives at the heart of rural American music, a reflection of the fact that, in its early years, it was frequently created by family members or friends -- as much self-entertainment as anything meant to share with others.
Laura Marling: "Short Movie"
May 2015
Ribbon Music B00R8SN5U4
Format: CD
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At 25, and after creating five albums, British singer-songwriter Laura Marling is no longer the startling young ingénue she was when she scored three Mercury Prize nominations, but she can still stun you with the freshness of her music and the depth of her emotion.
Ted Kooshian: "Clowns Will Be Arriving"
February 2015
Nostalgic, Fun Jazz
Summit Records DCD 644
Format: CD
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I have to admit that it was the cover of this CD that called to me. It seemed to say, "Play me first." I expected some sort of circus music, and it was there, but not until the clowns had already arrived on tracks 2, 3, and 4. Truth be told, this exceptionally amiable jazz set is about Ted Kooshian's nostalgia, which includes not only clowns but other fun memories too. This is a guy who still remembers the pleasures of boyhood. I relate.
Suzie LeBlanc: "La Veillée de Noël"
December 2014
Beguiling and Energetic Holiday Songs and Dances from Canada
ATMA Classique ACD2 2523
Format: CD
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This hasn't been a bumper year for new recordings of holiday music. But there have been a few, and La Veillée de Noël is one of the best. It's the only holiday album I will be writing about here this year, in plenty of time for you to order a copy from Amazon.com or any other reputable mail-order house.
The Villains: "A Little Something for the Pain"
August 2014
Another Comfortable Album from the Villains
Toucan Cove/Universal Records
Format: CD
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One of the neatest things about being in my position is the flood of indie recordings that arrive weekly in my post-office box. Back in 2010 one such package introduced me to the Villains, an Atlanta-based bar band. Dan Call produced the album, and he also played bass, sang vocals, and wrote many of the songs. It was simply called The Villains, but it was re-released the same year with one track, "Amie," added, as Just Another Saturday Night.
Henry Mancini: "Music for Peter Gunn"
July 2014
Henry Mancini’s Jazz Score in a Modern-Recording Homage
Harmonie Ensemble/New York; Steven Richman, conductor
Harmonia Mundi HMU 907624
Format: CD
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Remember TV's pioneering Peter Gunn? From 1958 to 1961, women wanted to meet someone like him and men wanted to be him -- both thoughts that would apply to James Bond seven years later. He wore a suit and tie, was oh so debonair, and was so very cool and hardboiled. He had a gorgeous girlfriend (Lola Albright) who sang at the waterfront jazz club Mother's, and he dispatched villains with aplomb (after all, it was a half-hour show). But I bet that more people remember the name of the show's composer (Henry Mancini) better than the actor who portrayed Gunn (Craig Stevens).
Barb Jungr: "Hard Rain: The Songs of Bob Dylan & Leonard Cohen"
May 2014
Protest Songs Still Relevant Today
Kristalyn Records KLCD1
Format: CD
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Barb Jungr is an English singer-songwriter known as a chansonnière and cabaret performer. Though she has drawn from many different styles to fashion her arrangements, it's her singing of the songs of Bob Dylan that has made her famous. She recorded two albums for Linn Records that feature his songs, and even in albums devoted to other performers such as Elvis Presley, she has managed to slip in a song or two from Dylan.
