Thursday, March 17, 2016

NEW MUSIC: CANNONBALL ADDERLY – MUSIC, YOU ALL; SERGE GAINSBOURG – LONDON PARIS 1963-1971; WALKER FAMILY SINGERS – PANOLA COUNTY SERIES

CANNONBALL ADDERLY – MUSIC, YOU ALL

Julian “Cannonball” Adderley first gained notice as the bluesier saxophone voice on Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue (John Coltrane being the other), and in the late ‘60s and early ’70s, he was engaged in an ongoing artistic conversation with Miles, often trading musicians with him and taking the electric innovations of Bitches Brew and filtering them with through his own earthy sensibility. The height of Cannonball’s fusion phase arguably came in 1970, a year that yielded no less than three live albums—all produced by David Axelrod—that have since ascended to cult favorite status. Drawn from the same 1970 Troubadour performances that yielded the album Black Messiah (also issued by Real Gone Music), and featuring the same line-up (the two Adderley brothers, Cannon and Nat; keyboardist George Duke; bassist Walter Booker; drummer Roy McCurdy, and special guests guitarist Mike Deasy, percussionist Airto Moreira and saxman Ernie Watts), Music, You All displayed the same uncompromisingly eclectic rock/soul/jazz fusion as did its companion release. But on Music. You All, Cannonball’s warmly iconoclastic stage personality really comes to the fore…witness the two tracks simply entitled “Cannon Raps!” And George Duke fans will flip over this album; check his solo on “Capricorn” for starters. One of those live albums that REALLY makes you wish you were there!

SERGE GAINSBOURG – LONDON PARIS 1963-1971

Stunning work from the great Serge Gainsbourg – a special set that takes a look at the strong work he recorded in London studios during the late 60s, presented here with some ultra-groovy cuts from Paris as well! You'll know a few of these cuts if you're a fan of Serge at all – but the set also mixes in some lesser-remembered gems from this monumental moment in his career – including some excellent instrumentals, and one title that appears here for the first time ever! British work includes recordings with arrangers Arthur Greenslade, Harry Robinson, and David Whitaker – and both Michel Colombier and Jean-Claude Vannier help out on the frew Parisian tracks. Titles include the unreleased "69 Anne Erotique (inst mix with orig backing vocals)" – plus "Danger", "L'Hotel Particulier", "Roller Girl", "Vilaine Fille Mauvais Garcon", "Hold Up", "La Horse", "Bloody Jack", "Torrey Canyon", "Ford Mustang", "L'Anamour (single mix)", "Breakdown Generique", "Requiem Pour Un C", and "Docteur Jeckyll & Monsieur Hyde". ~ Dusty Groove

WALKER FAMILY SINGERS – PANOLA COUNTY SERIES

Maybe the best title so far in the Como, MS series from Daptone Records – a very earthy, very rootsy set of harmony vocals sung by the Walker Family Singers – a group headed up by sometime Sam Cooke backing singer Raymond Walker! Yet the music here is quite far from the Cooke reference mentioned on the cover – and even quite far from Sam's roots in the Soul Stirrers, too – because the recording style is very stripped-down, and the group works with no other instrumentation at all – just their magnificent voices, in a timeless gospel style that's still alive and well down in Como. Titles include "Sweet Home", "Old Ship Of Zion", "Living Testimony", "Shake My Mother's Hand", "He Didn't Have To Wake Me", "My Time Will Come", "Chilly Jordan", and "Had My Chance". ~ Dusty Groove

 


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