The Versatile VAN MORRISON

Original released on CD Exile 88985492262

(US 2017, December 1)

"Versatile" is Van Morrison's 38th album, and follows the release of the excellent R&B and blues covers collection "Roll with the Punches" by less than three months. Like its predecessor, it's primarily a covers set, but its focus is on jazz and pop standards from the Great American Songbook with six originals added for good measure. Historically, these experiments haven't worked for rock artists: Rod Stewart delivered five overblown, badly sung collections from the canon, and Bob Dylan delivered five discs of highly idiosyncratic interpretations of the stuff. Even Boz Scaggs tried them with very mixed results. Morrison fares better than his peers due to experience - standards have peppered his set lists for decades. "Versatile" is not a pillar in his catalog, but it's not a cynical cash-in, either. Morrison surrounds himself with a septet that includes saxophones, trombone, keys, guitar, bass, and drums. Most of these tracks were recorded in hotel lounges in Ireland's County Down, adding to the slippery jazz feel. The canonical material proves a real interpretive challenge. Curiously, he opens the record with a throwaway new original entitled "Broken Record," that shows off his band's fingerpopping swing quotient but little else. He quickly recovers with a fine reading of the Gershwin's "A Foggy Day," showcasing his fluid phrasing and empathic lyric interpretation. His Chet Baker worship is well known, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that he takes on "Let's Get Lost." His take is jaunty, offering tinges of Jimmy Rushing-inspired R&B while retaining its identity as a jazz tune. While his muted scat groove on Cole Porter's "Bye Bye Blackbird" is overly strident, he gives a polished, nuanced performance to the composer's "I Get a Kick Out of You." "Makin' Whoopee" contains a nice bluesy chart (Dave Keary's electric guitar playing recalls Grant Green's), but Morrison's vocal is uncomfortably stilted. Among his own tunes are two new ones - the punchy, Jimmy Witherspoon-esque "Take It Easy Baby" and the contemplative, nearly spiritual, modal, instrumental "Affirmation" with Sir James Galway guesting on flute - as well as beautifully rendered rearrangements of catalog material - "I Forgot That Love Existed," "Start All Over Again," and "Only a Dream." There is also a deeply satisfying arrangement of the traditional "Skye Boat Song" that melds Celtic soul with Celtic swing as Morrison's smoky alto sax leads the rest of the horn section's lithe groove. While he could have left off "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" as it adds nothing to the the canonical versions by Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra, readings of "The Party's Over" "Unchained Melody" and the Gershwin closer "They Can't Take That Away from Me" are impeccable examples of Morrison's mercurial phrasing and limpid modern arrangements that make swing their top priority. "Versatile" has its flaws and will likely appeal most to longtime fans, but Morrison fully invests himself in each tune, singing them as if he wrote them. This is head and shoulders above similar efforts by his peers and a solid addition to his shelf. (Thom Jurek in AllMusic)

KATIE MELUA: "The Ultimate Collection"

Original released on CD Digipak BMG 538433672

(EU 2018, October 5)

STEPHEN STILLS & JUDY COLLINS

Original released on CD Wildflower CLO 0691

(US 2017, September 22)

Judy Collins provided Stephen Stills with the inspiration for "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes," a song he composed in 1969 as their relationship was coming to an end. Lovers no more, the two remained friends over the years and decided to strike up a musical partnership nearly 50 years later, releasing "Everybody Knows" in September of 2017. The album deliberately plays off their past, with the duo reviving songs from their individual albums - "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" from Collins; "So Begins the Task" from Stills - and selecting covers from their peers, including the Traveling Wilburys' "Handle with Care," Tim Hardin's "Reason to Believe," Bob Dylan's "Girl from the North Country," and Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows," which also lends its name to the album title. It's a clean and crisp production, so much so that its transparency reveals the disparity between Collins' sweet voice and Stills' scraggly singing, a pairing that can sound as smooth as sandpaper. Nevertheless, there's an inherent warmth to "Everybody Knows". Stills and Collins have a gentle, easy chemistry and the studio-slick supporting performances provide a nice bed for a project that is less nostalgia than a reassuring reminder of the comfort of growing old together. (Stephen Erlewine in AllMusic)

DEEP PURPLE: "Infinite" + Live CD Bonus

Original released on CD Ear 0211848EMU

(EU, 2017, April 7) 
 

No one, least of all Deep Purple themselves, expected the success of 2013's "Now What?!" It placed at number one on four European album charts and in the Top Ten of six other countries. It also sold exceptionally well: It was certified Gold in Poland, Germany (where it sold over 100,000), the Czech Republic, and Russia - it was the band's first album to crack the U.K.'s Top 40 charts in 20 years. For "InFinite", Deep Purple re-enlisted producer Bob Ezrin. At this point, he is almost a sixth member. This the longest running lineup in their history. "InFinite" is a heavier and more expansive record than its predecessor, but it's not as consistent. Ian Gillan is in excellent form - still possessing intense expressive power and range, his falsetto remains intact four decades on. Don Airey's organ and keys - so elemental in DP's musical architecture - is physical, atmospheric, and dynamic. He and guitarist Steve Morse combine brute force with imagination and finesse. Ian Paice, who had a mini-stroke last year, seems to have recovered fully. Roger Glover remains a bassist whose musical signature is so dominant it is only rivaled by Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler.

Things get off to a great start with "Time for Bedlam." Despite its slightly corny sci-fi spoken intro with Gillian's voice put through a processor, it acquits itself with a massive swirling charge worthy of the band's glory years. It also features Gillan's best lyrics - he tends to go over the top elsewhere. It's followed by the commanding blues-rock boogie of "Hip Boots," where Gillan's swagger rises above a biting mix of snare, kick drum, and dual leads from organ and guitar; but it's actually Glover who drives the tune. On tracks such as "All I Got Is You" and "The Surprising," this outfit doesn't let the listener forget they're the same band who delivered "Child in Time" and "When a Blind Man Cries." The latter is downright prog as it melds power ballad to metal in a gorgeous mix that includes wonderfully layered backing vocals and Airey's neo-classical keys that evoke the memory of Jon Lord. While the musical attack in "One Night in Vegas" offers a pumping barrelhouse blues piano woven into the hard rock bombast. "On Top of the World" has the craziest Gillan lyrics ever, but again, DP's crunchy choogle carries them to the finish line. The evocation of vintage psychedelia and Led Zeppelin in "Birds of Prey" makes it one of the more compelling tunes here. Unfortunately, there are two clunkers that sound like filler: the terribly clichéd "Johnny's Band" and a perfunctory read of the Doors' "Roadhouse Blues." Otherwise, "InFinite" is a winner; it proves not only that "Now What?!" was no fluke, but that Deep Purple, even at this stage, still have plenty left to offer musically and creatively. (Thom Jurek in AllMusic)

NEIL YOUNG: "Hitchhiker"

Original released on CD Reprise 560639-2

(US 2017, September 8 - Recorded 1976, August 11)

Recorded in a single evening in 1976, a few weeks after Neil dropped out of the Stills-Young Band tour, "Hitchhiker" captures a somewhat stoned Neil, his guitar, and a brace of songs which would later become key components of his next four years' worth of work. Each of his major albums from "American Stars and Bars" to "Hawks and Doves" would include songs from here; the title track would get reworked on a different version on 2010's "Le Noise" too (some ideas from it would get recycled on "Like an Inca" on "Trans" as well). Only "Hawaii" and "Give Me Strength" are flat-out unreleased tracks, but the solo guitar performances of this material, combined with the aesthetic unity arising from all of these pieces being recorded in the same night, ties them together to an extent which recontextualises them. Neil Young fans already value most of these songs, whether they represent highlights on an already excellent release (such as those that ended up on "Rust Never Sleeps") to diamonds in the rough on otherwise hit-and-miss releases (as with Captain Kennedy on "Hawks and Doves"), but "Hitchhiker" offers a brand new appreciation of them. Reprise were fools to reject it in 1976, and geniuses to release it now, when after over 40 years the songs have become intrinsically embedded in our cultural consciousness. (in RateYourMusic)

"The Winner Takes It All" By CARLA BRUNI

"Dream" By DIANA KRALL

"Enjoy The Silence" By CARLA BRUNI

"Miss You" By CARLA BRUNI

"The Winner Takes It All" By CARLA BRUNI

CARLA BRUNI Sings Some Standards

Original released on CD Verve 577 260-6

(EUROPE 2017, October 6)

As a singer and songwriter, Carla Bruni usually follows the labyrinthine tracks in French music established by artists such as Georges Brassens, Jane Birkin, and Pierre Barouh. Therefore, cutting a collection of standards from rock, pop, and jazz might seem out of character. The songs on "French Touch" are those Bruni sang and played on the guitar between the ages of nine and 29. The album was initiated by Grammy-winning producer, arranger (and then-head of Verve Records) David Foster. He was knocked out by a Bruni performance in Los Angeles and offered to produce an album. She is accompanied by her regular band and a slew of studio aces including drummer Jim Keltner, guitarist Dean Parks, and harmonica ace Mickey Raphael - who appears on a lovely, Caribbean-inspired version of "Crazy" that also features its composer, Willie Nelson in duet.

While these readings are intimate, they are imbued without nostalgia or artifice. Foster arranges these songs according to Bruni's particular needs as a singer: her breathy contralto, though always intimate and tender, is surprisingly expressive in the English language. She opens with a moody yet sparse read of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" as a poignant ballad with Cyril Barbessol's ghostly piano, minimal percussion, strings, and nylon-string and slide guitars. Bruni follows with reading of the Clash's "Jimmy Jazz," complete with fingerpops and Fats Waller-esque piano, muted trumpet, and clarinet derived from early-'30s jazz. The Rolling Stones' "Miss You" is viewed through the Barry White and Love Unlimited production aesthetic, with strings swirling atop the airy, funky disco backbeat, hand percussion, and nylon-string guitar. ABBA's "The Winner Takes It All" is delivered sincerely, but its string-drenched chart is twee and forgettable. The reinvention of "Highway to Hell" as a slippery jazz-inflected blues is anything but, with its swinging horns, electric piano, and bumping bassline. The gorgeous cabaret-tinged reading of Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" is imbued with a flawless balance of innocent longing and moody introspection. It's followed - with a nod and a wink given to her husband Nicolas Sarkozy's difficulties during his time as France's president - by a too-sweet "Stand by Your Man" that weds Cafe Saravah's nouveau chanson breeziness, upscale honky tonk, and smooth pop. Bruni closes the set with two gorgeous American pop standards: "Please Don't Kiss Me" is modeled directly on Rita Hayworth's version from the 1947 film "The Lady from Shanghai". It's juxtaposed with Johnny Mercer's "Moon River," rendered without any of the stylistic artifice of the great pop stylists. Bruni's version is modeled on Audrey Hepburn's singing of it in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" alone on a windowsill. Though buoyed by an elegant yet economic use of strings, it nonetheless recollects that iconic silver screen moment. The songs on "French Touch" are idiosyncratic and free of drama. But they are chock-full of tenderness; Bruni delivers them with keen insight into the lyric meanings these melodies convey. (Thom Jurek in AllMusic)

"Tua Cantiga" By CHICO BUARQUE

KAREN SOUZA: The New Album

Original released on CD Music Brokers MBB9337

(EU 2017, November 24)

Diana Krall or Karen Souza? Which one do you prefer? I think the choice is very, very difficult. Both are wonderful and georgeous ladies, both sing passionately, with fabulous voices. And their last CDs (look at the resemblance of the sleeves) are magnificent pieces of music. In 2013, Karen Souza spent two months touring throughout Mexico. While she was known for her jazz renditions of 1980s hits, her repertoire includes a number of her own songs, such as "Paris", "Break my Heart" and "Lie to Me". Her version of "Creep" by Radiohead was used extensively in the film "The Zero Theorem" (2013), directed by Terry Gilliam. Three years after the release of her successful "Essentials II", Karen Souza is back with her fourth studio album. "Velvet Vault" is the title of a collection that combine jazz standards with jazz reworks of pop classics plus two songs co-written by Karen herself. Japan's superstar Toku duets with Karen on the track "You Got That Something". Also part of the album are Robin Banerjee (Amy Winehouse guitarist) and legendary Tom 'Bones' Malone (Blues Brothers, Saturday Night Live Band). Vocals has been recorded in New York at The Orchard studios and produced by Richard Gottehrer (of Blondie, Richard Hell and Dr. Feelgood fame). The album's first single "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me", was first available on November 10th. "Velvet Vault" is without a doubt, Karen Souza's most accomplished record to date and will definitely surpass the success of her previous efforts.

DIANA KRALL: "Turn Up The Quiet"

Original released on CD Verve B0026217-02

(US 2017, May 5)

Diana Krall spent the better part of the 2010s exploring byways of American song - her 2012 set "Glad Rag Doll" drew heavily on obscure jazz from the 1920s and '30s, its 2015 sequel "Wallflower" concentrated on pop and rock tunes - but 2017's "Turn Up the Quiet" finds the pianist/singer returning to well-known standards from the Great American Songbook. Reuniting with producer Tommy LiPuma for the first time since 2009's bossa nova-inspired "Quiet Nights", Krall works with a trio of lineups on "Turn Up the Quiet", alternating between a trio, quartet, and quintet. The album isn't divided into triads but rather gently shifts between these bands, a move that's sometimes imperceptible because the focus is firmly on Krall, the pianist. Her voice often operates at a hushed whisper - a decision that suits this collection of romantic, dreamy material; it also underscores the importance of the record's title - and that emphasizes her lithe piano along with the solo spotlights from her featured musicians. Krall gives her three bands plenty of space to shine - fiddler Stuart Duncan, in particular, stuns with his solo on "I'll See You in My Dreams," but there are nice turns from guitarists Russell Malone, Anthony Wilson, and Marc Ribot, along with supple playing by bassists Christian McBride, Tony Garnier, and Anthony Wilson - but what impresses is how these ensembles are all united in spirit and attitude, all thanks to their leader. Krall has a definite vision for "Turn Up the Quiet" - she wants to keep things smoky and subdued, a record for the wee hours - and the end result is so elegant, it seems effortless. (Stephen Erlewine in AllMusic)

R.I.P. JOHNNY HALLYDAY

1943, June 15 (Paris) >>> 2017, December 6 (Hauts-de-Seine)

MARCIANITA

To Kids Who Never Grow Up

Original released on CD Decca/Cat-O-Log B0027220-02

(EU 2017, September 15)

There's something about career milestones that make many artists look fondly to the past, and Yusuf - the artist who rose to international fame in the '70s as Cat Stevens - is no different than anyone else in this respect. 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of his first success on the U.K. charts with the single "I Love My Dog," and on his album "The Laughing Apple" - the first for his own Cat-O-Log label - he explicitly looks back to his early days, albeit filtered through the eyes of experience. "The Laughing Apple" reunites Yusuf with Paul Samwell-Smith, who produced Cat Stevens' best-known work of the '70s, as well as guitarist Alun Davies, whose acoustic guitar work was an integral part of those sessions. And along with a handful of new songs, Yusuf has reworked 4 of his earliest tunes for this album (including "Blackness of the Night", "Northern Wind," "I'm So Sleepy," and the title cut, which original versions can be found on Cat Stevens 1967's "New Masters", 50 years ago) as well as resurrecting some unfinished pieces ("You Can Do [Whatever]" dates back to the songs he penned for the movie "Harold & Maude", but wasn't completed in time for the film). 

Not surprisingly, "The Laughing Apple" bears no small resemblance to vintage Cat Stevens favorites like "Tea for the Tillerman" and "Teaser and the Firecat", though this is clearly the work of an older and more seasoned artist, especially in his new take on "Grandsons," where the lyrics reflect what was once a young man's imaginings and are now an older man's reality. Yusuf can't quite hit the high notes as well as he used to, but otherwise his instrument is in fine shape, and the languid arrangements suit the melodies quite well. And while Yusuf doesn't sing at length about his faith, there's a spiritual undertow to many of the lyrics; "See What Love Did Do Me" is clearly about both human and divine love, and "Don't Blame Them" and the title tune can easily be read as fables and not just pop songs. "The Laughing Apple" can in some ways be viewed as a compromise, as Yusuf makes an album that will resonate with old Cat Stevens fans, but there's never a moment where he seems less than sincere and committed, and this merging of past and present makes for Yusuf's most satisfying album since his return to popular music in 2006.

ALISON KRAUSS IN WINDY CITY

Original released on CD Capitol B002625002

(US 2017, February 17)

Alison Krauss is one of the artists who helped break down the barriers between bluegrass and mainstream country music, but even though country radio was willing to make room for her, Krauss never seemed to be interested in courting their favor. Krauss has always followed her own creative path and let the audience come to her with her mature and adventurous approach to acoustic music. Thirty years into her recording career, Krauss has made her most specifically "country" album to date, though it's a musical left turn into a very specific time and place in country's history. Released in 2017, "Windy City" is a polished and carefully crafted tribute to the countrypolitan sounds of the '50s and '60s, music that fused the emotional honesty and personal storytelling of country with smooth, sophisticated production dominated by pianos and strings, and the set list draws from old standards rather than contemporary compositions. Producer Buddy Cannon has designed "Windy City" as a showcase for Alison Krauss the vocalist, with her stellar fiddle work appearing on only one track. While pale shadows of contemporary country can be heard in these performances, numbers like "Losing You," "You Don't Know Me," and the title track owe far more to Patsy Cline's classic "Nashville sound" sides than anything that's come out of Music City in the past decade. 

Even when the music takes on a twangier approach on "Poison Love" and "It's Goodbye and So Long to You," Cannon's production and arrangements are steeped in the sounds of the past; while Krauss's bluegrass music always sounded fresh and contemporary in its approach, "Windy City" is the sound of her moving forward into the past. If this is a very different Alison Krauss album, it's also a good one; the accompaniment is slick, but it's brilliantly executed, and Cannon favors the clarity and emotional range of Krauss's voice. She meets the demands of the material beautifully, and she brings a warmth and subtle passion to songs like "Gentle on My Mind" and "You Don't Know Me" that makes you briefly forget the definitive recordings of these classics. It remains to be seen if "Windy City" is a brief creative detour for Alison Krauss or the first salvo of a new creative direction. But if Krauss wants to be the new voice of retro countrypolitan music, "Windy City" leaves no doubt that she has the talent and the intelligence to make it work, and this album is a richly satisfying experience. (Mark Deming in AllMusic)