Blues Hall of Famer and five-time Grammy-nominee Bettye LaVette returns with a new album, Blackbirds, produced by Steve Jordan. Blackbirds takes Bettye back to her roots, honoring her heritage as an R&B singer and the woman who came before her. It features songs primarily popularized by women who were the "bridge she came across on." These women helped to set the stage for Bettye and her contemporaries. The album finds LaVette in top form with powerful renditions of songs that touched her personally. From Dinah Washington's "Drinking Again," Nina Simone's "I Hold No Grudge," Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit," Nancy Wilson's "Save Your Love For Me" and more, they are all delivered in LaVette's rich and raspy tone and a touch of the blues.
A great pair of records – plus a huge amount of bonus tracks too! First up is the debut Reggae Strings album – one of the most unique albums on the Trojan label during the 70s – and a surprising hit for the company too! The approach here is very unusual – as the cuts here all are earlier Trojan vocal singles that had larger backings provided by UK maestro Johnny Archey – then stripped of their vocals and presented as instrumentals! As you'd guess by the names, Archey adds strings to the Kingston rhythms – but the approach is surprisingly nice – almost like early reggae rhythms coming into play with the best of the UK sound library generation – with results that are as groovy as that description might imply. Titles include "World Without Love", "One Woman", "Let The Man Go", "Leaving Rome", "Pantomime", "God Bless The Children", and "Young Gifted & Black". Reggae Strings 2 is a set that follows nicely on the first Reggae Strings effort on Trojan – and, like the first, a package that features older vocal tracks with the lyrics stripped away, all to provide a focus on the fuller orchestrations of Johnny Archey! The approach is cooler than you'd guess – lots of nice charts that bring a bit of 70s smooth to the sound of Trojan – almost like Barry White was recording down in Kingston – on titles that include "How Many Times", "Jump Hallelujah", "Strange World", "It's Too Late", "Tell It Like It Is", "Scientist", "Jamaica Jerkoff", and "Sweet Bitter Love". 2CD set features 25 bonus tracks too – all the original vocal tunes used for the strings versions – with work by Bob Andy, The Dynamites, Greyhound, Bob & Marcia, Nicky Thomas, Danny Ray, Merlene Webber, The Uniques, Pioneers, Winston Groovy, and others! 51 tracks in all – and a nice set of notes. ~ Dusty Groove
With her upcoming album, I Went This Way, London-based saxophonist Rachel Musson debuts her own ambitious compositions, incorporating spoken word text and daring instrumental experimentation, alongside eight other accomplished musicians, an ensemble built around her close and longstanding working relationship with drummer Mark Sanders. The music, a blend of compositions and improvisation designed to highlight all of the different musical voices in the ensemble, is suspended from a through-composed text written by Musson that explores the process of improvisation, and her reflections on the experiential process of making music. Showcasing her own directorial ability, this project also draws from a long career in experimental collaboration, including previous projects with SHIFA (her trio with Pat Thomas and Mark Sanders), Federico Ughi, and a diverse range of musicians on the European improvisational jazz scene, like Han Bennink, Eddie Prevost, Sebastian Rochford, Louis Moholo, among many others. While much of this album has its roots in free jazz, the semi-notated score and spoken word text allow for semi-orchestral influences to reach the fore, ranging from delicate chamber-size string sections to a more upfront horn section and simmering percussion throughout.
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