What are you listening to? August 2017

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Bruce Springsteen - HSBC Arena, Buffalo NY 11/22/09

220px-Brucebuffalo2009.jpg


Archive concert from the Working On A Dream album - sure it's arguably Bruce's worst album, but Bruce is very good over the course of a tour of knowing what works and what doesn't so by this show, the tour's last concert, he only uses a couple of songs of the WOAD album. Strong concert - not only a tour closer but also Clarence Clemmons last concert with the band :( so, listening now, quite the sentimental concert. Also Little Steven's birthday and Bruce's "gift" is performing a favorite of Stevie "Restless Nights" that, according to Bruce, Stevie badgered him for years unsuccessfully to do live. Also it's late November so we get "Merry Christmas Baby" and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". Also, he does the entire Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ album in order (some songs like "The Angel" are hardly ever done in concert). Also covers of "Green Onions", "Boom, Boom", "I Don't Wanna Hang Up My Rock n Roll Shoes", "Rockin' All Over the World", and "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher". Interestingly the show opens with "Wrecking Ball' (which won't be released on album until 2 years later). Contains my nomination for latest truly great Bruce song - "Long Walk Home" off Magic with a definitive live version (actually there are a few other late Bruce songs that are pretty great too).

So yeah, overall I'm digging this :thumbsup: (and hey! only 2 studio albums and 3 "Archive" concerts left in my chronological Bruce series...though I may add the two of the three concerts I attended last year as well to end the series)
 
Freakwater - Shehrazade (2016)


Freakwater is Janet Bean and Catherine Irwin. The 6 albums they made for Thrill Jockey between 1991 and 2005 formed a cornerstone of alt country and defined the post-Carter Family high lonesome female harmony duet. 11 years later they reunited to record this one for Bloodshot. From the first note, it's clear that the passage of time has not diminished them in the least. There are a few superficial changes but if you liked their prior work, you'll be completely satisfied with Shehrazade as a fresh effort from old friends.

:5.0: on the Sam-O-Meter.
 
Bruce Springsteen - Olympiastadion, Helsinki, July 31, 2012

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At the time of its release, the longest Bruce concert at 4 hours, 6 minutes (I think it's still the record - my last concert at Foxborough was like 4 hrs 2 minutes. Was so annoyed he didn't add one more tune)
"Prove it All Night" with lengthy piano into (used in 1978 shows"). First time playing the great outtake "Loose Ends" (released on Tracks) in 10 years. 18-1/2 minute version of "My City in Ruins", and a version of "Light of Day" that's melded with "Land of a Thousand Dances". Plus in the encore they do the Little Stevie-penned "I Don't Want to Go Home" (which was recorded by Southside Johnny).
 
Pat Suzuki - The Many Sides Of Pat Suzuki (1958)


Spotify has the same songs in a different order and different cover art.
 
Nicole Mitchell - Mandorla Awakening II: Emerging Worlds _2017_

Not very unsurprisingly, given Mitchell has previously released an album in tribute to Sci-Fi author Octavia Butler ( Xenogenesis Suite )and another with a Sci-Fi theme ( Intergalactic Beings ,) here is another Sci-Fi themed album. Somewhat surprising is the fact that Mitchell includes a self-authored short story in the liner notes, for which this album is ostensibly an accompanying soundtrack.

Musically, this is Jazz with more than a dash of avant-garde and some chamber leanings, fitting given the instruments. Included with Mitchell on flute and electronics, are others on cello, banjo, electric guitar, theremin, bass, percussion, shamisen, taiko, and violin. Accounting for the avant-garde and chamber aspects, this is definitely an album that will NOT appeal to some Jazz fans. Add in that being soundtrack oriented, some of the passages are kind of like mood or scene-setting music, that will also put off some listeners. However, if you like Jazz, Chamber music, African-influenced elements, and can live with some Avant-garde, you'll appreciate this. And if not, if you like Jazz (especially of the AACM variety,) you'll like at least parts of this. I'm not a huge fan of those aspects so it will take more listens for me to figure out how I will rate this. Reviewers who fully appreciate all the elements of this style of Jazz rate it highly, including this 5-star review at AllAboutJazz.

AllAboutJazz said:
Composer and flutist Nicole Mitchell has released her magnum opus with the provocative and stirring Mandorla Awakening II: Emerging Worlds. The single suite is a musical dramatization of the futuristic allegory that Mitchell wrote for the album. It is a short story set in the year 2099 and is about the symbolic struggle between the decaying and violent old order and the peace and vibrancy of an egalitarian society.
...
rolling polyrhythms mixed with electronic sound effects propel the first track ... Guitarist Alex Wing adds tension with his otherworldly tones as Mitchell and shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) player Kojiro Umezaki spar as they flitter in and out of the band's riotous group play ... Zen serenity ... wails ...
...
The disc concludes with a haunting and cinematic atmosphere that is cautiously hopeful and crackles with dynamic energy.
Click to expand...

For lack of more precise comparisons, I'll toss out Alice Coltrane's work, John Carter's "Dauwhe", and Cecil Taylor as somethings similar.

There's a lot to unpack with this one. I may or may not be up to the challenge of it, but I respect what Mitchell is doing with this album, and her career.
 
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Joshua Redman - Spirit Of The Moment: Live At The Village Vanguard _1995_ (disc 1 of 2)

It's unanimously awesome!
My rating = 4.5 stars
AMG rating = 4.5 stars
AMG avg fan rating (51 votes) = 4.5 stars
 
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JazzyRandy said:
As I worked through the '63 albums, I wondered if maybe I should change my choice. I'm sticking with Hub-Tones, but all the others are sooooo good.
Click to expand...
Be a man of conviction, if not today, then at least by next week. :confused:

This is the maxim that I live by, and hope to continue....
 
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