Album Reviews

At a time when the shortsighted have all but declared the album form either dead or dying, Suzanne Vega's latest one (issued on CD July, 2007 and more recently on vinyl by Classic Records) is a cool reminder that putting together a coherent program of well-produced (and carefully recorded) tunes remains a most satisfying musical art form. The album won a well-deserved Grammy, this past February (2008), for "Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical."

Never mind the much-vilified Marine and ex-Obama pastor Reverend Wright, if you want to hear the unvarnished, angry, hurtful truth of an era not so long past, listen to this stark, musical reminder of race relations in early ‘60s America.

Like a musical Old Faithful, Richard Thompson dependably spews an album’s worth of inspired material at regular intervals. He’s been doing this since 1972’s Henry the Human Fly (Island ILPS 9197), which is so deserving of a high quality all-analog reissue.

Frank Zappa acknowledges the influence of Edgar Varése, Igor Stravinsky and other modern classical composers in much of his music but did he ever mention Charles Mingus? Not that I can recall having read (save for the oblique reference in the title of the composition “Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue”), but it’s impossible to not draw the connection when the sextet slinks its way into the staccato twists and turns of the raucous, mocking, angry and mostly exasperated and distraught half hour version of “Fables of Faubus,” found on this epic but until recently unknown March 18th, 1964 Cornell University concert.

This is a weird, squooshy, watery record. The music is soft and squooshy, the lyrics are soft and squooshy. Songwriter Art Halperin’s voice is particularly squooshy, the background musicians play softly and squooshily, and even the veteran recording and mastering engineer Barry Diament has captured it squooshily in real stereo in a pleasingly reverberant church using a pair of carefully placed microphones.

In retrospect it’s easy to understand why these superstars would want to write and perform this codger-esque novelty stuff under assumed names. They must have figured that while writing and singing this lighthearted fare inspired by the music of their formative years was fun, they were hardly washed up artists and had more greatness within waiting to pour forth.

This set, recorded a few weeks shy of fifty years of when I’m writing this stars a 51 year old Hawkins leading a well- recorded session date featuring J.J. Johnson, Hank Jones, Ocar Pettiford, Jo Jones, Barry Galbraith (guitar) and Idrees Sulieman. I had no idea who Barry Galbraith was until I read the liner notes, so I’ve listed his instrument in case you’re unfamiliar as well. Perhaps I’m just showing my ignorance. If you don’t know the others and what they play, you’re showing yours, though trumpeter Idrees Sulieman is not exactly a household name now and wasn’t even one in 1957.