Category Archives: Reissue

Thelonious Monk: Alone in San Francisco

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Jazz genius entertains listeners as he entertains himself

Having finely gained fame as a pianist with his recordings on Riverside, Monk took this 1959 timeout from leading group dates to lay down an album of solo sides. Recorded in San Francisco’s resonant Fugazi Hall (a spot popular with the Beats, and more recently home to the long-running Beach Blanket Babylon), Monk revisited several of his own classics, as well as several standards. The pianist seems relaxed and playful, entertaining himself as much as playing for the record’s eventual audience. Coming off sessions with Gerry Mulligan, Johnny Griffin, and others, Monk takes time to explore the tunes, running through varied interpretations of key phrases and indulging his idiosyncratic approach to tempo.

“Ruby My Dear” sounds as if it’s played on a music box cranked by a listener whose love of certain passages causes the intensity and tempo to increase. Monk stretches the piano’s dynamics from tender to nearly showy romanticism, exercising both the fluidity with which its notes can be strung together and the percussive ability of its hammers. He lets chords hang in the recording hall’s reverberant air, listening as his own playing surrounded him. This rendition of “Blue Monk” may be the best of the many versions he recorded, while several other titles were one-offs, including the original “Round Lights” and the 1929 standard “There’s Danger in Your Eyes, Cherie.” An earlier take of the latter is included as a bonus track. Concord’s latest reissue of this Riverside title was newly remastered in 24-bits by Joe Tarnatino. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Cannonball Adderley: Know What I Mean?

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Joyful 1961 sessions of jazz legends Adderley and Evans

This 1961 session, pairing saxophonist Cannonball Adderley and pianist Bill Evans has several interesting dimensions. Adderley and Evans, having played together as part of the 1958 Miles Davis Sextet, were familiar with one another, but initially only as sidemen. Evans had supported Adderley in a quintet setting, on 1958’s Portrait of Cannonball, and here they play in a quartet setting with the Modern Jazz Quartet’s Percy Heath on bass and Connie Kay on drums. Without a second horn in the combo, there’s more space for Adderley, but rather than trying to fill it, he lets the songs breathe. Evans draws Adderley into a leisurely, joyous groove, and in turn, Adderley draws a harder element of swing from Evans.

The iconic “Waltz for Debby” opens the album with Evans’ lovely, florid piano setting the stage for Adderley’s brilliantly swinging sax. Adderley keeps his tone warm, adding only a few harder-blown notes for color, and Evans returns the favor by playing a fluid solo whose swing is made in perfectly selected accents. Adderley plays a languid, late-night solo on Gordon Jenkins’ “Goodbye,” which Evans compliments with lyrical runs, and the leisurely “Elsa” includes some thoughtful, nearly meditative piano lines. The mid-tempo take on the Gershwins’ title track finds the rhythm section starting to drive, and by the time they hit Clifford Jordan’s “Toy,” all four players are cooking.

Evans’ legendary trio with Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian would cut their seminal live sides at the Village Vanguard a few months after these sessions, and then disappear with the death of bassist LaFaro. Evans retreated and eventually retrenched, but those live sides and this session with Adderley capture him at a peak of musical freedom and joy to which he never seemed to fully return. Concord’s latest reissue of this Riverside title was newly remastered in 24-bits by Joe Tarantino and adds alternate takes of “Who Cares?” “Know What I Mean?” and “Toy,” from the original sessions. The first two have appeared on previous reissues, while the third is previously unissued. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Shirley Scott Trio” For Members Only / Great Scott!!

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Jazz organist lights up Impulse in ’63 and ‘64

After a six-year stay at Prestige, jazz organist Shirley Scott began a lengthy run of albums on Impulse! This two-fer brings together her first two albums for the label, 1963’s For Members Only and 1964’s Great Scott!!  Each album splits its tracks between Scott’s regular trio setting (variously featuring rhythms by Earl May/Jimmy Cobb and Bob Cranshaw/Otis Finch) and arrangements written and conducted by Oliver Nelson. Scott’s Hammond fits well into each setting, leading the trio with terrific energy and verve, and finding space for lower-wattage performances amid Nelson’s charts. Scott’s original tunes, including the superb “Blues for Members,” are given to the trios, with the orchestral numbers drawn largely from jazz and show tunes. The small combo is likely to be more satisfying to those who favor hard-swinging, bluesy shots of Hammond, though Scott’s long musical relationship with Nelson yields some nice results, including a swanky take on Henry Mancini’s “A Shot in the Dark.” [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Gabor Szabo: The Sorcerer / More Sorcery

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Hypnotic and forceful 1967 two-fer from legendary jazz guitarist

After emigrating from Budapest in the mid-50s, Hungarian guitarist Gabor Szabo found his way into the U.S. jazz scene, first with Chico Hamilton, and starting in 1966 as a group leader. These two 1967 live albums come from the middle of a productive two-year stay on Impulse!, and collect performances from an April run at Boston’s Jazz Workshop and a September date at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Szabo plays in a quintet of guitar, bass, drums and percussion. The song list mixes originals from Szabo and guitarist Jimmy Stewart, with standards, pop hits and several Brazilian tunes. This quintet was one of Szabo’s best showcases, as the interplay and conversations between the two guitars are buoyed by a solid rhythm section. Hal Gordon, who’d only joined the group the month before the Boston dates, quickly established his congas as an integral part of the combo’s sound. The use of only strings and drums (as well as the combination of acoustic and electric guitars) set the group apart from horn-driven jazz acts, creating a sound that suggested the ballroom jams of San Francisco, but without indulging either the volume of rock or the avant garde changes of fusion. This two-fer is an excellent showcase of what Szabo’s mid-60s quintet could do. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Paul McCartney: McCartney II

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McCartney’s first post-Wings solo album

A year before Wings officially disbanded in 1981, Paul McCartney followed the same path he’d trod as the Beatles fell apart in 1969: he retreated to the studio to record an album all by himself. Much like 1970’s McCartney, McCartney II was an outlet for ideas that might not have fit his band, and an opportunity for the artist to explore more contemporary sounds. The results weren’t as organic as the earlier solo album, often leaping ahead from Wings to contemporary synthesizer-influenced arrangements that, like many records from the 1980s, have aged poorly. Still, McCartney’s catchy hooks and memorable melodies were delivered with a crowd-pleasing smile. The album’s hit, “Coming Up,” scored on the UK charts and was in regular rotation on MTV, but it was a live version recorded by Wings that scored stateside. A second single, “Waterfall,” scored in the UK, but only grazed the bottom of the U.S. chart.

The experimental sides feel as if McCartney needed to prove he was more than a Top 40 hit-maker, but they aren’t particularly convincing. The repetitive, droning chorus of “Temporary Secretary” sounds like a cut-rate mash-up of Kraftwerk and Devo, the instrumentals “Front Parlour” and “Frozen Jap” sound like something scratched out on a toy Casio keyboard, and “Summer’s Day Song” is thin and unfinished. Better are the spare blues of “On the Way” and back-to-roots finish of “Nobody Knows,” trading production value for a peek behind the curtain of McCartney’s stage polish. The acoustic closer, “One of These Days,” though not one of McCartney’s greatest lyrics, does provide a moment of reconciliation with the life changes swirling about him.

Hear/Concord’s 2011 reissue offers a sharp remaster of the original album, along with an eight-track bonus disc. The new tracks include the 1979 live version of “Coming Up” which appeared as a B-side U.S. hit for the studio version. Oddly, the single’s other B-side, Wings’ “Lunchbox/Odd Sox,” is not included. Two more B-sides, “Check My Machine” and “Secret Friend,” are also included. McCartney’s non-album single “Wonderful Christmastime,” and four previously unreleased session tracks, including the orchestrated instrumental “Blue Sway,” fill out the bonuses. The all-cardboard four-panel slipcase and booklet include photos, lyrics and credits. This album has a few candid moments, but it’s not the burst of creativity found on McCartney, and represents something of a lull between Wings and McCartney’s forthcoming hit single collaborations. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

The Rubinoos: Live at the Hammersmith Odeon

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Seminal power pop band live in 1978

Originally released as part of the omnibus box set Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Rubinoos, the band has released this period live performance on its own for separate download. Taped at London’s Hammersmith Odeon on April 1, 1978, the concert shows off the band’s stellar harmony singing, tight guitar rock, super-tuneful songs and broad stage humor. Jon Rubin’s voice (which still sounds great today) is d-r-e-a-m-y, Tommy Dunbar shows off his killer guitar skills, and the band’s rhythm section is dialed in. This was a really tight live unit. Along with their best-known sides (the original “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend,” a charting cover of “I Think We’re Alone Now” and the pop-soul “Hard to Get”), there’s the rare “Hey Royse,” an a cappella doo-wop cover of “Rockin’ in the Jungle,” and a monumental jam of “Sugar Sugar” that quotes “Smoke on the Water” and “Downtown” before inviting the audience to sing along. The set closes with an unrelenting take on the Seeds “Pushin’ Too Hard” that suggests maybe rock ‘n’ roll wasn’t quite dead… yet. If you weren’t there, this is what you missed; if you were, this is what you heard, and it still sounds sweet. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

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Paul Simon: Still Crazy After All These Years

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Paul Simon expands his catalog of jazz-, soul- and gospel-inflected pop

After a lengthy world tour and live album (Live Rhymin’), Paul Simon returned in 1975 with his third post-Simon & Garfunkel studio album. Simon’s comfort with his solo stardom is signaled in part by the return of Art Garfunkel for the album’s top-ten “My Little Town.” He also shares the microphone with Phoebe Snow and the Jessy Dixon Singers (the latter of whom had toured with Simon in ’73 and ‘74) on “Gone at Last.” On the other hand, the cover photo of a mustachioed and behatted Simon suggests some lingering insecurity, if only with his long-thinning pate; perhaps it was the final dissolution of his marriage (which was grist for several songs on 1972’s Paul Simon) that instigated the physical changes.

Musically, the album continued the successful commercialtrajectory his previous pair of solo albums, launching four hit singles (including the chart-topping “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”) and winning a Grammy for Album of the Year. Musically the new songs weren’t as far-reaching, sitting mostly in the jazz-, soul- and gospel-flavored grooves Simon had explored on his earlier albums. Columbia/Legacy’s 2011 reissue reuses Bill Inglot’s remastering and the two bonus tracks of Rhino’s 2004 reissue, including demos of “Slip Slidin’ Away” and “Gone at Last.” Legacy’s traded out Rhino’s digipack for a standard jewel case and an 8-page booklet of lyrics and pictures. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Paul Simon: Paul Simon in Concert: Live Rhymin’

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Paul Simon live in 1974

With Paul Simon having licensed his early solo catalog to Sony, the Legacy branch has taken the opportunity to reissue four key titles on their original Columbia label. Of the four (which also includes Paul Simon, There Goes Rhymin’ Simon and Still Crazy After All These Years), this 1974 live album is the only one to get a fresh remastering (by Dan Hersch at D2 Mastering) and the addition of two previously unreleased bonus tracks. Given that this is the least consequential of the four albums, it’s a good marketing move to make it the sole title to be updated. Coming off two commercially and artistically successful solo albums, Simon hit the road for a series of solo shows that included the Brazillian group Urubamba and the gospel Jessy Dixon Singers.

The song list includes Simon’s recent solo hits and several classics from the Simon & Garfunkel catalog. Though he wasn’t ever going to replace Garfunkel’s award-winning vocal on “Bridge Over Troubled Water” or duplicate the bite of the duo’s harmonies on “Homeward Bound” and “The Sound of Silence,” the net effect is a showcase of the Paul Simon songbook. The Singers’ take the spotlight for the gospel “Jesus is the Answer,” and in the original concert set, Urubamba was featured on several instrumentals. Legacy’s 2011 reissue adds solo acoustic performances of “Kodachrome” and “Something So Right,” but here’s hoping a complete rundown of the reported 24-song set eventually sees the light of day. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Paul Simon: There Goes Rhymin’ Simon

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Simon expands his reach with third solo effort

Simon’s third solo album (including 1965’s The Paul Simon Songbook), found the singer-songwriter expanding upon the freedom he’d displayed on the previous year’s eponymous release. The branching out displayed with reggae, Latin and South American sounds was now expanded with bluesy doo-wop, New Orleans pop, gospel and Memphis soul. Simon deftly choreographed an impressive guest list that includes The Dixie Hummingbirds, The Roches, horns arranged by Alan Toussaint and strings arranged by Quincy Jones. His mastery weaves multiple studios, dates and backing bands (including the players of Muscle Shoals) into a surprisingly cohesive album.

Beyond the album’s hits (“Kodachrome” and “Love Me Like a Rock”), Simon produced an album of memorable songs that set themselves apart from his earlier work with Art Garfunkel. The brass party on “Take Me to the Mardi Gras,” gospel backing vocals of “Tenderness,” Jamaican style of “Sunny Day,” and country underpinnings of “St. Judy’s Comet” were fresh to Simon’s catalog, and even the Garfunel-esque “American Tune” feels like a declaration of independence with Simon singing unaccompanied. Legacy’s 2011 reissue reuses Bill Inglot’s remastering and the four bonus demo tracks of Rhino’s 2004 reissue. Legacy’s traded out Rhino’s digipack for a standard jewel case and a 12-page booklet of lyrics and pictures. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Paul Simon: Paul Simon

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Paul Simon sets out on a brilliant solo career

Though not technically Paul Simon’s solo debut – that honor goes to the acoustic performances he recorded for 1965’s The Paul Simon Songbook – this first post-Simon & Garfunkel album does represent the true beginnings of Simon’s massive success as a solo artist. Released in 1972, it came two years after Simon & Garfunkel bowed out with the Grammy winning Bridge Over Troubled Water, and the same year as the duo’s greatest hits album topped the chart. Simon’s re-debut was a strong artistic statement that was both commercially successful and the seedbed for experimentation and growth that would mark his solo career. The album opens with the reggae-inspired hit single “Mother and Child Reunion,” and along with the Latin influences of “Me and Julio Down By the School Yard” and haunting Andean instrumental breaks in “Duncan,” the melting pot of styles predicted the wealth of world music Simon would fold into his music.

At 32, Simon had matured from the sharp, at times bitter, worldview of his twenties. The difficulty of Simon & Garfunkel’s end had given way to the freedom of a solo act, and there’s a sense of renewed discovery in his characters and lyrical forms. The wayward “Duncan” recounts the education of a small-town fisherman’s son into a clear-eyed world traveler, while the fragmentary allusions of “Mother and Child Reunion” are surprisingly open-ended and poetically opaque. Simon’s marriage with his wife was apparently following his professional partnership with Garfunkel into dissolution, providing grist for “Everything Put Together Falls Apart,” “Run That Body Down” and “Congratulations.” Simon’s voice never sounded better, he asserts his picking talent on “Armistice Day” and “Peace Like a River” and vamps happily behind violinist Stephane Grappelli on the swing instrumental “Hobo’s Blues.”

Producer Roy Halee, as he’d done for Bridge Over Troubled Water, surrounded his artist with friendly, talented and inventive musicians. Together they crafted spacious, highly sympathetic arrangements that had the delicacy of an acoustic band, the depth of a jazz combo and the power of well-placed moments of electric guitar. Columbia/Legacy’s 2011 reissue reuses Bill Inglot’s remastering and the three bonus tracks of Rhino’s 2004 reissue, including solo acoustic-guitar demos of “Me and Julio Down by the School Yard” and “Duncan,” and an alternate version of “Paranoia Blues.” Legacy’s traded out Rhino’s digipack for a standard jewel case and an 8-page booklet of lyrics and pictures. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]