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March music reviews

Craig Chaquico: Midnight Noon

EMI

There is a definite new age feel to Craig Chaquico's album Midnight Noon . Perhaps it has something to do with the trite comments on the case about his music taking you to a higher state of consciousness or the happy up-beat tracks that are adrenaline for the soul. This CD would be easy to discard, but for one thing, Craig's guitar playing is magnificent.

Craig Chaquico is best known as the guitarist and songwriter for Jefferson Airplane/Starship. In the early 90s he reinvented himself as a virtuoso guitar jazz instrumentalist and has made eight solo albums to date. On Midnight Noon Craig tells us that it is about "the apparent paradoxes in our lives... that may not seem to make sense but, in the end, make you see the ordinary, in a new light." (There's that new age thing again) El Gato starts with a classical Spanish guitar and progresses to acoustic steel string and finally a scorching electric guitar reminiscent of Santana. It is this development that makes the track noteworthy, that he can mix three distinct styles into a song and have them make sense. The Latin rhythms swing along in a bubbly way that is sure to put a smile on your face. This is not high jazz; this is high quality easy listening. Richard Nelson

Chemical Brothers: Push the Button

EMI

Push the Button is a rather obvious name for techno squeaks and knob twiddlers. The album's first chart topping track Galvanize, complete with Middle Eastern sample, attempts to take flight. The track features the ranting of Hip Hop artist Q-Tip and while there are definite progressive developments, it just never really gets off the ground. There is a feeling right from the start that these boys are pushing the envelope.

Dance fans do not despair, track three Believe delivers the full-on dance package of hypnotic beat, thundering bass, overlaid with electronic punctuation quickly dispelling the myth that dance music is dead. What did my dance instructor say, "Feel the music in your pelvis, and then you'll start to move" so Come Inside is followed by The Big Jump; makes sense to me. Hold Tight London is an atmospheric ballad that pushes the boundaries as to what dance/house/techno should be and Jean Michel Jarre would be proud. Other influences that rise are New Order and did I hear some Kraftwork.

Being the group's fifth album, there is a definite shift to explore new territory that might disappoint dance fans looking for traditional heavy beats, but ultimately, there is something to push everybody's button. Richard Nelson

The Dixie Hummingbirds: Diamond Jubilation

Rounder

Here's one for those who liked Ben Harper and Blind Boys Of Alabama's recent album There Will Be A Light. Believe it or not The Dixie Hummingbirds pre-date the Blind Boys by 10 years or so. Only one current member, Ira Tucker Jnr, can claim links to the foundation years having joined the band in 1938 as a 13 year old baritone (!!).

Not many groups get around to celebrating a diamond jubilee (75 years) no matter how many members they go through. This indicates that The Dixie Hummingbirds have been doing something right and listening to this cd confirms it. Ira can still belt out a tune laden with emotion and as you'd expect from a gospel quintet the harmonies are tight and powerful. The eleven tracks are a mixture of traditionals, a few covers (Dylan, Julie and Buddy Miller for example), and some originals.   The highlights for me would be Dylan's City Of Gold and the traditional I Bid You Goodnight , both showing off what the group does best.

I'm not a church going man but for 43 minutes I get me some got ol' time religion via Diamond Jubilation. The songs are sung with great feeling and enthusiasm and it's impossible for me not to get caught up in the momentum. Now brothers and sisters, hear me if you will as I'm going to give you the good word. If you want an antidote to the worries of the world, if you want something uplifting and joyous, get thee to a store and pick up a copy of this album. Do I hear an Amen? Craig Fenemor

Alison Krauss & Union Station: Lonely Runs Both Ways

Rounder

If you haven't been caught up in the magic that is this very special bluegrass combination of Alison Krauss and the star filled Union Station, then this release is as good as any to take the plunge. But there's the rub - a magic formulae it may well be but as all the best music writing books will tell you, to repeat it once is fine, do it again and you risk being boring.

While boring is far too harsh a word for this combination, the sugar jar is getting a little too full and something more savoury (adventurous) is starting to be screamed out for. Krauss' vocals remain a wonder, Jerry Douglas is a supreme slippery dobro player and Dan Tyminski can pick better than anyone on the planet. What's needed now is some fresh ideas, maybe a guest or two - Bill Frisell for example?

While a compulsory purchase for so many of us, and there are tracks that will end up on a 'best-of' one day - A Living Prayer and Goodbye , I sadly found myself yearning for much more this time. Allan McFarlane

Ladysmith Black Mambazo: No Boundaries

Heads Up/Telarc

As the cliché goes, this CD has been on repeat since I received it a few days ago. What a charming recording- so warm, so enthusiastic. In a world full of cynicism these guys have hope and an unabashed faith that they are so happy to share with us all. Yeah brother and praise the Lord. This album will enliven the most jaded palette.

What a wonderful idea-to combine these fine African singers with the English Chamber Orchestra. The sound is lush and at least for the singing gives a strong sense of presence.

There are a couple of weaknesses. The orchestra is not recorded with the kind of clarity we have come to expect from alternative inexpensive labels such as Naxos. Over the years I don't think the singer's English diction has improved much either.

Hey, I am just being nit picking. Listen to this album with your heart and with your feet. You will soon find yourself smiling and your feet tapping. If music was like this when I went to church-maybe I would still be there? Warmly recommended. John Groom

David Russell: Spanish Legends

Telarc

There are times when I tire of digitally recorded music and need a tonic to remind me of why we pursue this hobby. This recording is just the ticket. David Russell has a beautifully subtle and slightly understated touch but still projects well, which is so important with Spanish music. Billboard described Russell as 'coaxes a magnificent range of colours from his instrument' and the album as 'charming' and 'definitely a keeper'. I agree heartily with all of those sentiments. We are talking a world master here who is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music and who has recorded extensively for Telarc. While ever David Russell still plays it is as though the great Segovia is still with us. The pieces chosen are varied enough to warrant our undivided attention and most are less than three minutes in length. This is not just background music for dinner parties. As you would expect of Telarc this is a beautifully clean and 'present' recording that will impress your most discerning audiophile friends. John Groom

Ali Farka Toure: Red&Green

World Circuit/Elite

Mali guitarist and singer Ali Farka Toure regards himself as a farmer first and a musician second. His informal recording sessions are frequently interrupted to enable him to tend to his cattle or to irrigate his parched farmlands. These albums, recorded in 1979 and 1988 respectively, have been unavailable for more than a decade; now, thanks to remastering from the original tapes, they can take their place in his back catalogue alongside Radio Mali, Niafunke and, perhaps best known of all, Talking Timbuktu, his Grammy Award-winning collaboration with Ry Cooder.  

Red comprises eight tracks, performed in several Malian tongues, with just Ali on guitar and vocals with Hammer Sankare on calabash. Heard superficially, the repeated motifs and drone - reminiscent of John Lee Hooker - and modal scale used, may make them "all sound the same" and perhaps even monotonous. But a repeat listen reveals that there's more diversity and colour here than is first apparent. Just as his homeland is seemingly an unchanging desert until you look closer.

Hammer joins Ali for the first half of Green , thereafter Boubacar Farana is added to the line-up on the ngoni, a traditional four-string guitar, broadening the palette.  

These are stark, primitive recordings - not "easy listening". Several have been re-recorded on subsequent albums:   here we have the unadorned originals.  

In 2003 a film crew and blues musician Corey Harris visited Ali on his farm in order for him to appear in the first episode of the seven-part Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues in which the trajectory of the blues is traced from the banks of the Niger to the Mississippi Delta. That the blues originated in north Africa is demonstrated in this TV series as well as these recordings of which fROOTS editor Ian Anderson has commented:   "Two iconic albums that changed many lives, combined in an exemplary reissue". The journalists at fROOTS voted this set as the best roots reissue of 2004. Fred Muller

Tomasz Stanko Quartet: Suspended Night

ECM

Once again I'm reminded that some of the freshest jazz around is coming from Europe, in this case Poland. This same quartet released the well-received album Soul Of Things in 2001. Having enjoyed that, I was interested in seeing what would be different this time round and in a word that difference is confidence. It's a delight to see how the three youngsters, all still in their 20's, have grown and matured under the guidance of the master in the past three years. On the first album Stanko was the man, the one who really held you attention. If he wasn't in the mix you were waiting for him to return. But here all four members are playing with equal confidence and great understanding.

Marcin Wasilewski on piano shares the main focus with ease, producing wonderful melodic and harmonic touches. Listening to Slawomir Kurkiewicz's constantly changing bass figures on the 5 th variation (like Soul Of Things this album features 10 variations around a central theme plus one other track) is a joy, as is his work on the rest of the album. Michal Miskiewicz on drums glues them together, adding subtle colour here, running more standard cymbal figures there, or adding dynamic punch right where it's needed. Then there's Tomasz Stanko. The dark, frail tone that I commented on in an earlier review of From The Green Hill is still there, but just underneath the surface I sense a mellowness in his playing that I haven't heard before. Certainly there's still moments where he cuts the air in his distinctive way, but other times (the 6 th variation for instance) there's an almost reflective warmth coming through.

If you're a jazz fan and you haven't heard Tomasz Stanko then this is a great place to start. There's a sense of swing happening through a lot of the album that is unusual for Stanko but which makes Suspended Variation more instantly accessible than some of his earlier work. If you're already a fan then this will show yet another facet of one of modern jazz's diamonds. Simply put, this is an excellent album. Craig Fenemor

U2: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb

Island Records

U2 have been saving the world for a long time now and what better way to save the world than to dismantle an atomic bomb. The album's pretentious name has political overtones. The song, Love and Peace or Else , has a clear message, "Lay down your guns all daughters of Zion, all Abraham sons." Thankfully we are spared further insights into the world's problems.

The first track on the album is the racy single Vertigo. The most up-beat track on the album and, I thought, a promise of better things to come. But the next two songs are schmaltzy ballads that fail to excite. The City of Blinding Lights is a return to the city where the streets have no name, but it doesn't really fire. The occasional song rocks, like All Because of You , but I've heard it all before. U2 have tried new directions with the interesting Zooropa and the questionable Pop , but for whatever reason they have decided to court their loyal fans by returning to the "classic" formula. What we end up with is a facsimile of earlier U2.

The problem with dismantling bombs is that they can blow up in your face... BANG. Richard Nelson

Mozart: Piano Concertos 9 & 18

EMI Classics

Leif Ove Andsnes (piano); Norwegian Chamber Orchestra

With so much dross being dredged up and 'discovered' by classical labels, it is important that some one can still recognise major talent and record them in repertoire that requires that level of talent to make it's mark in a very crowded and competitive catalogue. This is one such release.

The career of Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes has attracted considerable interest and excitement since his international debut in the early 1990s. He is now firmly established as one of the most compelling artists on the international concert circuit.   The release of the Grieg and Schumann Piano Concerti with the Berlin Philharmonic and Mariss Jansons created an immense buzz in 2004, culminating in the Gramophone Magazine Concerto Award.

Of Mozart's early piano concertos Number 9 has long been a stand out, receiving constant performance and numerous highly praised recordings. Number 18 enjoys an even greater popularity. Here both concertos receive highly detailed and well-thought and rehearsed performances. The orchestra and the voicing of the modern piano show a clear understanding of period style and while some will find the decision to emphasise every dynamic nuance a degree unsettling, there can be no dispute with the impeccably prepared performances themselves. Captured in a vibrant and ideally balanced recording this is a definite 'classic-to-be'. Hear it now, and treat yourself to decades of enjoyment. Allan McFarlane