Monthly Archives: October 1997

No Resemblance Whatsoever

By lytspeed Posted in Music, Opinion, Reviews Leave a reply

No Resemblance Whatsoever

By: Dan Fogelberg and Tim Weisberg

Type: Light Jazz/Rock

Hot Tracks:

  • Forever Jung
  • Todos Santos
  • The Face of Love
  • Windward

It’s been twenty years since Dan Fogelberg and Tim Weisberg blurred the boundaries of rock and jazz with Twin Sons of Different Mothers, proving that an artist need not be bound to one form of music. Since that time, light jazz/rock has become a complete radio format all its own, and this album should find a happy home there. That is where Fogelberg gets most of his airplay these days, and although his catalog covers everything from electric rock to jazz to bluegrass, he seems to have accepted his niche happily.

The supporting members of the band are solid, featuring strong studio musicians Neil Stubenhaus (bass), Michael Landau (electric guitar), Larry Cohn (keys) and Vinnie Colaiuta (drums). Fogelberg demonstrates his musical acumen on a variety of instruments, as usual, and seems to have been influenced vocally by Aaron Neville recently. (If you don’t find this to be appealing, you may want to avoid this version of “Sunlight.”)

Weisberg, though not very much in the spotlight recently, has lost none of his smooth, fluid flute skill. His style still complements Fogelberg’s compositions well, and more than makes up for the Neville-style vocals on “Sunlight.”

This album doesn’t feature any songs as energetic as “Power of Gold,” from Twin Sons, but that is not surprising. Fogelberg’s current audience seems to be composed mainly of light rock listeners, so harder songs might not have the appeal that they might have once had for him. I’m sure both musicians are still capable of rocking out on occasion, but that was not the intent of this album.

It is good to see that whatever legal or personality conflicts existed between these two virtuosos has passed. Any conflict that robs people of the product of these two talents is to be avoided at all costs.

This album is excellent to play by firelight, in romantic situations or any time that you just wish to unwind and relax. Sit back, close your eyes, and let the strains of Tim Weisberg’s flute carry your troubles away on the air.

Rating (out of a possible five):

Live at Carnegie Hall

By lytspeed Posted in Music, Opinion, Reviews Leave a reply

Live at Carnegie Hall

By: Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble

Type: Blues

Hot Tracks:

  • Testifyin’
  • Letter to My Girlfriend
  • Iced Over
  • Rude Mood

It happened the day after Stevie’s birthday in 1984. He played the one place he’d always thought was unattainable: Carnegie Hall in New York City. He played at top volume, as always, and effectively defeated the purpose of the natural acoustic amplification in the building, creating a sonic assault that must have sounded muddy to the audience. (I had a similar experience at Phoenix Symphony Hall, when I saw a non-traditional Kansas lineup open for Alan Parsons. The sound personnel did not account for the natural acoustics of the hall, and Kansas played way too loud. The music was difficult to understand and differentiate. Fortunately, they had the problem worked out by the time Parsons took the stage; his sound engineering experience probably helped with that.)

On the album, whenever Stevie strums a chord and mutes it immediately after, you can hear the sound echoing off into the rafters. It takes some getting used to; I kept wanting to tweak a non-existent reverb control on my stereo to reduce some of the overall echo.

The best tracks on this album are the “new” ones. Stevie plays songs by several of his heroes, his way of saying thank you for influencing him. In particular, “Letter to My Girlfriend” shows a rare side of Stevie’s vocal talents and the backing help from Dr. John, the Roomful of Blues horns and Jimmie Vaughan works well. “Iced Over,” a classic Albert Collins tune, is excellent as well.

Stevie’s playing on “Dirty Pool” is characteristically great, but the arrangement hinders the song. I am particularly annoyed by Jimmie Vaughan’s embellishment in the left channel throughout the song. I have never seen the talent in Jimmie that the music industry attributes to him, honestly. I respect the man for his influence on Stevie and for carrying the torch after his death, but his guitar playing seems to me to be a repetition of the same tricks over and over. He is very fond of triplets, both when playing and singing, and tends to overuse them in both cases. His rhythm playing is low key throughout the rest of the album, and therefore tolerable. Unfortunately, he trades solos with Stevie on “The Things That I Used to Do.” When I hear his choppy, stilted solos I get the picture of someone walking with cement blocks strapped to their feet; that’s how strained his music sounds to me.

<Ducking as blues purists throw things at me for my disrespect.>

“C.O.D.” is notable because it shows just how laid back and respectful Stevie could be as a rhythm player, yet still add to the song’s overall melodic quality. His musical phrases between Angela Strehli’s vocal lines help to create the illusion of chord movement without stepping on her toes in the bright spotlight of Carnegie Hall. A vocalist couldn’t ask for a better rhythm player.

Stevie ends the concert with a solo encore comprised of two of his old standards, “Lenny” and “Rude Mood.” “Lenny” seems a little disconnected without the band, but the quiet parts work well in the acoustics of the hall. Unfortunately, you can also hear the crowd getting rowdy, including someone clearly shouting “Shut the fuck up!” (Interesting note: The only guitarist other than Stevie that I’ve ever seen pull off a solo version of “Lenny” is Carvin Jones, opening for Albert Collins not long before his death. This young bluesman also plays some mean Hendix covers.) At the beginning and end of the piece, you can hear foreshadowing of the song that would eventually replace it as Stevie’s favorite slow number: “Riviera Paradise.”

“Rude Mood” works well as a solo piece. It has so many notes that it carries well without a band, and Stevie’s trademark simultaneous rhythm and lead playing style fills in the background. It also helps that he knows enough not to carry it on too long.

Basically, the historic value of this album makes it important, but it is not one of the best live recordings of Stevie Ray Vaughan & and Double Trouble that exists. This is not the band’s fault; the detractions from the quality of the performance were due to other factors and do not reflect on the members of the core group.

Rating (out of a possible five):

Ledbetter Heights

By lytspeed Posted in Music, Opinion, Reviews Leave a reply

Ledbetter Heights

By: Kenny Wayne Shepherd

Type: Hard Edged Blues

Hot Tracks:

  • Born With a Broken Heart
  • Deja Voodoo
  • While We Cry (Live)
  • Aberdeen

This album makes me wonder if reincarnation is a reality. Young Kenny has Stevie Ray Vaughan’s patented Strat tone down pat, as well as much of his playing style. The first time I heard him, I thought it was an unreleased Stevie Ray track with a different vocalist. At first, this turned me off, but it has now been two years since Ledbetter Heights came out, and I have a different perspective. I have decided that Kenny is not trying to make money off of Stevie’s chops, he is merely greatly influenced by him. This is no different than Stevie himself building a reputation on his interpretations of Lonnie Mack, Albert King and Jimi Hendrix. Shepherd makes all the appropriate nods to the blues greats that made his music possible and covers some classics on this first release as well.

Most of this album is pure KWS, though. Kenny is trying very hard to show that he does have his own voice on guitar. His cover of “Aberdeen” demonstrates his dexterity at slide guitar, with two different slide parts playing in perfect synch and pitch in either channel of the mix. “Riverside” features slide as well, though this in a lazy day feeling blues ballad. If I had to pick a direction in which Shepherd is most likely to establish a distinctive voice, I would say that his slide playing was it.

He handles straight electric blues tunes very well also. In fact, the more I listen to this album the more I like it and wonder where such a young talent could come from. There’s that reincarnation thing again, but he can’t be reincarnated from Stevie because he knew Stevie. Hmmm….

I look forward to future albums by this young guitar monster. I also hope he is successful in dispelling the rumors about his motivation and can continue to develop his own style. If he keeps playing like this, he will. He needs to pay his dues before being ranked among the top players, but I don’t think it will take long for his dues to be paid up.

Rating (out of a possible five):

In Step

By lytspeed Posted in Music, Opinion, Reviews Leave a reply

In Step

By: Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble

Type: Blues with touch of rock

Hot Tracks:

  • Crossfire
  • Travis Walk
  • Scratch-N-Sniff
  • Riviera Paradise

This is Stevie’s last studio album with Double Trouble and his first full-length recording after completing rehabilitation for drug and alcohol abuse. It is unfortunate that he didn’t get a chance to make more albums with Double Trouble in this style.

In Step marks a change in direction and energy for Stevie. This album has more of a rock feel than any previous Double Trouble album, but that does not mean Stevie neglected the blues in any way. All of the solos are still very blues based, with plenty of his trademark flash and Strat growl, but new songs like “The House is Rockin'” and “Scratch-N-Sniff” reveal a rock and roll energy that did not appear on earlier albums.

A couple of the album’s songs reflect Stevie’s struggle to get clean. “Tightrope” talks about what life on the edge was like, and how grateful he is for the people who helped him pull back from it. “Wall of Denial” is a call out to others who are suffering from substance abuse, telling them that the way out is through truth, love and facing their fears.

Of course, Stevie makes his obligatory nods to his heroes in three sixties standard blues tunes, Buddy Guy’s “Leave My Girl Alone,” Willie Dixon’s “Let Me Love You Baby” and “Love Me Darlin'” by Howlin’ Wolf. The best of these is the Buddy Guy tune, a slow, painful blues about a conversation between a man and his wife’s lover. Immediately after that, Stevie rescues us from the depths with a short, staccato instrumental called “Travis Walk,” which has a strong zydeco flavor. Uncharacteristic of his style, Stevie plucks almost every note, abandoning his slippery legato style for a brief time. Reese Wynans gets in a fine piano solo in this piece, too.

The crowning achievement of this album comes at the end, in “Riviera Paradise.” Arguably the best slow song Stevie ever wrote, it came to replace “Lenny” in concert as his audience address number. He often spoke about the dangers of drugs and alcohol during a quiet pause in the song before launching into the real meat of his solo. Occasionally, he would add emphasis to the song by preceding it with “Voodoo Chile, Slight Return” in concert as well. The contrast between the pyrotechnics of “Voodoo” and the smooth clean jazz of “Paradise” brought the crowd through a wide range of emotions in a short time, as well as showing off his range and technical expertise. Again, Wynans plays an excellent solo to complement Stevie’s melodic playing and chord comping. Hints of this song can be heard on live bootlegs as far back as 1982, as well as on the posthumous release “Live at Carnegie Hall,” so Stevie obviously worked on it for a long time before he felt he had the right combination.

It is a damn shame we no longer have Stevie’s playing to marvel at. When he died, he was still young by blues standards, and this album holds indications that the best was yet to come. Fortunately, there is a fairly large body of legitimate and bootleg recordings out there for us to love.

Rating (out of a possible five):

Hot

By lytspeed Posted in Music, Opinion, Reviews Leave a reply

Hot

By: Squirrel Nut Zippers

Type: Retro style jazz

Hot Tracks:

  • Put a Lid On It
  • Hell
  • Memphis Exorcism
  • Flight of the Passing Fancy
  • The Interlocutor

I’m trying not to tap my feet while playing this CD. I can’t do it!

The energy level of the band on this CD is unbelievable. I think this is partially due to the fact that it was recorded live in the studio, rather than being layered with overdubs. As one of the band members remarks on the the included multimedia computer track, this disc captures the live sound of the band, right down to the slight mistimings that often drive live performances.

The vocals, with the exception of Katharine Whalen’s, are mediocre. More than anything else in the group, her keening voice is reminiscent of what New Orleans jump joints must have sounded like in the 1920’s. Though all of the songs on this disc are original material, it is obvious that Whalen, Jim Mathus and the other members of the band have studied old 78s and jazz standards. Duke Heitger (cornet), Andrew Bird (violin) and Tom Maxwell (you name it, he plays it) stand out particularly for their talents, weaving solos around each other with practiced skill. The contrast of baritone saxophones to cornet is handled particularly well.

The production quality is not exceptional, though this kind of live recording comes across better on CD than it would have on LP. The compact disc’s extended dynamic range allows a clear live sound, as opposed to muddy reproduction. Without it, I don’t think this album would be as listenable. It would be too polished if done as a studio album, and that would take the fun out of it, so I think the production quality is appropriate for the music.

There are no lyrics on this album that will save the world, no socially-conscious words of deep meaning. Having fun is what this disc is all about, and if you have any tolerance for prohibition jazz at all, you will find that your feet just won’t stop tapping.

Rating (out of a possible five):