Album Reviews

Not having to include picture with sound gave the compilers of this 4 LP box set latitude Martin Scorsese did not have when he made his Dylan bio No Direction Home: The Soundtrack.

Bop clarinetist Tony Scott (born Anthony Joseph Sciacca in Morristown, NJ), who plays on this Sarah Vaughan album as part of an octet that includes Miles Davis (then 24), passed away the day before this was written, on the last day of March, 2007. An obit I read says that the eclectic Mr. Scott also arranged “The Banana Boat Song (Day-O)” for Harry Belafonte. As I write this sentence, his velvety clarinet sings prettily behind Vaughan at the end of “It Might As Well Be Spring.”

Remember when music was fun? Like when you were in high school trying to get a band together so you could rock-out while pretending to be your favorite group, and maybe get a date or two out of it? For many of us that was long ago, but for Born Ruffians it was last week, and their debut EP is brimming with a cheeky exuberance that seems only to inhabit those still in teendom.

Here’s hoping they enjoy it, because being able to get away with completely copping every hook and every look from your favorite bands can only last so long and get you so far before people start calling you this decades Stone Temple Pilots. Not that that hasn’t already started to happen to Born Ruffians, who seem to be creating quite a backlash in certain circles. Give ‘em a Google and you’ll soon see a whole lot of words like “pretentious”, “contrived”, “derivative”, and “unoriginal” popping up. Best of all is that they’re saying it like it’s a bad thing.

Critics are probably not supposed to like the kind of retro-kitsch proffered by The Puppini Sisters, a trio of unrelated gals based in the UK, though one of them, Marcella is a Puppini, or at least goes by the name.

Jazz vocalist Karrin Allyson’s tenth Concord release and her most recent to be issued on double 180g vinyl by Pure Audiophile, is yet another pleasing, eclectic and elegant set from the young, refreshingly unaffected vocalist.

Despite once having endorsed Bose, Herbie Hancock is clearly a good listener. For his first Blue Note solo outing back in 1962 when he was just 22, he led with “Watermelon Man,” an irresistible “crossover” tune that could attract a crowd beyond Blue Note’s usual buyers. While Hancock says it’s based on a childhood recollection of street vendors, the song’s groove was very much in tune with “the street” circa 1962. Hancock’s playing is funky but not flamboyant.

In describing the art of writing a serenade and Tchaikovsky’s relationship to it, annotator Fred Grunfeld wrote back in 1958 that the composer “prefer(ed) a well-filled concert hall to a single lady on a balcony.” No kidding!