Andrew
Alice Coltrane – Universal consciousness
A reissue,
originally from 1971. Not quite as good
as World galaxy from the following year (World galaxy wins out
due to the guru + organ + funky drummer version of “A love supreme”) but still
a classic of freak jazz. It’s a swirl of
spirituality (mostly of the Hindu variety), Coltrane’s harp and organ,
skittering percussion, and spooky strings.
Miles Davis – At Newport 1955-1975:
the bootleg series vol. 4
A 4-CD survey
of Miles Davis’ musical styles recorded live at the Newport Jazz Festival. It’s got an all-star session with Monk and
others, the first and second great quintets, and a load of stuff from Davis’
rock years.
Steve Earle & The Dukes – Terraplane
Steve tackles
the blues, mostly. A few of the tracks are
in rock mode. Not his best but it’s
fun. Anyone who can make a song called
“Baby, baby, baby (baby)” work deserves some kudos.
Grateful Dead – 30 trips around the
sun: the definitive live story
Not the 80-CD
version, only a 4-CD edition, documenting one song from one show from each of
the 30 years of the Dead’s existence. Many nice choices, some expected and some
unexpected. The material from the later
years is better than I thought it would be.
Last Exit – Iron path
Another
reissue, the only studio album from the avant jazz supergroup. Featuring noise rock getting together with
free jazz, it’s a nice antidote to the masses of mushy jazz that exist in the
world.
Rob Mazurek Exploding Star Orchestra – Galactic
parables: volume 1
More crazed
cosmic music from the prolific Mazurek and gang. Sounds like Sun Ra on steroids plus more
electronics and spoken word.
Richard Thompson – Still
More very good
songs and playing from the (almost) always excellent Thompson. I like it better than his last release, Electric;
things just seem about a half-notch better here.
Ryley Walker – Primrose green
Yes, Ryley has
listened to an awful lot of Tim Buckley, John Martyn, and Pentangle and this
clearly shows on this recording. That
being said, there are far, far worse influences to be showing plus the album simply
works. The supporting musicians are from
the jazz world, which seems to add much to the proceedings.
