What Are You Listening To? November 2020

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McCoy Tyner ~ The Real McCoy (1967)



One of the most oft-cited, pithy reviews on RYM:

I went into this album questioning what McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones could do without John Coltrane. I left wondering what Coltrane could have done without Tyner and Jones.
 
Freakwater - End Time (1999)

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The lucky seventh effort from Janet Beveridge Bean & Catherine Ann Irwin finds them mining the same rich vein of dark Americana that brought them to the top of the alt country world. The weeping pedal steel of Eric Heywood only adds to the aura of heartbreak here. Pull up a Scotch and suffer along, won't you?
 
Sounds Of Blackness - Africa to America; The Journey of the Drum (1994)

They dominated the R&B market with several acts. They'd ran rampant over the Pop charts with Janet Jackson and Boyz II Men. By this time, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis' power had gone to their heads and they thought they could do anything. They decided to produce an album for a gospel group so deep in the Af-Am bucket it had no chance for crossover appeal. And Jam & Lewis made hits with them! I can just imagine the toasts that went around after the first sales charts for this were released.

Someone posted a 30-second clip of their 1991 hit "Optimistic" on social media yesterday. I listened and wondered why I hadn't listened to it in, like, forever. After the third of fourth time of listening returning to that message just to listen to that 30-second clip for five or eight times, I decided to listen to the actual album. Then I realized why I hadn't listened it. I don't own it. But I do own this album. So I listen to this. And I'm glad I am.
 
Lyrics Born (Tsutomu Shimura)- Real People (2015)

File this under West Coast Hip Hop Meets New Orleans Swag With Instruments
PopMatters said:
His fourth album, Real People, explodes into Sly and the Family Stone territory as it opens, but Born pairs that with a reflection on the complexity of life that fits the musical terrain. He puts an optimistic, even thankful spin on the messier side of life, on divorce and complicated relationships and the hardships of families getting by ... This record was recorded in New Orleans, with members of Galactic and some other local talents: the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Trombone Shorty, and members of Dumpstaphunk and Rebirth Jazz Band

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