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CD Reviews
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Nicholas
Payton
Sonic Trance
(Warner Bros.)
You can add New Orleans trumpeter Nicholas Payton's name to
the proverbial registry of jazz musicians who have crossed over
to the world of digital patches, loops, and trance-like rhythmic
foundations. At times, it seems as though Payton is retrofitting
early '70s Miles Davis spacy jazz/fusion initiatives into a
modernist's outlook. Here, the estimable trumpeter and his bandmates
morph state-of-the-art EFX into otherworldly passages amid various
metrical structures and world beat percussion treatments. Besides
all of the digital delays and oscillating passages, Payton generally
soars skyward during many of these works.
Payton, keyboardist Kevin Hays and others align their wares
for movements consisting of turntable scratches, funk-drenched
horn parts and spacey synth swashes. The musicians cover quite
a bit of ground in concert with a relatively good-natured approach.
Sonic pandemonium dominates, though, in lieu of catchy melodies
or anything that resembles mainstream jazz. On a piece titled
"Tantric," you'll hear samples of breaking glass coalescing
with pulsating backbeats, whereas the ensemble jazzes it up
in spots. When viewed as a whole, Sonic Trance tends
to reflect Payton's buccaneer demeanor in contrast to simply
exploiting electronics for the sake of it. Some of it works
rather nicely.
Conversely, Payton's overall approach represents little more
than an array of fragmented musical ideas stitched together
in a time-elapsed sort of way. Though some of Payton's ardent
fans might become a tad skittish about his recent shift in strategy,
the thirst for innovation frequently spawns positive results.
-- Glenn Astarita
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Various Artists
Exile on Blues Street
(Telarc)
Exile on Blues Street features blues artists covering
the bluesiest rock 'n' roll album produced by a rock band so
influenced by the blues that they named themselves after a Muddy
Waters song. The artists take to the songs with enthusiasm and
bite. Hearing Lucky Peterson moan at the end of "Ventilator
Blues" or Deborah Coleman's cheerful vocals on "Happy" (much
less sleazy than the Keith Richards' original) buffs a new shine
on an old pair of shoes.
Most of the reinterpretations don't do anything too radical,
but Otis Taylor does turn "Sweet Black Angel" into a more lowdown,
less precious version than the original. However, this record
has none of the mystique of the album that inspired it. Exile
on Blues Street has a murky sound where instruments, lyrics
and flat-out emotion surface at strange times. You can feel
Keith Richards sweating and wanting to hurry up a take so that
he can get another fix. I've listened to the album a million
times, and I'm still not sure of the words on some of the songs,
and that makes me (and a lot of other people) listen harder.
Exile on Blues Street is much cleaner and obvious, but
much less mysterious. It's a trade-off, but one that a listener
can live with. This record is the third in a series in which
blues musicians cover famous rock albums, the other ones being
The Blues White Album and Blues Blonde on Blonde.
Let's hope they can do David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust or
the Ramones' first record next. -- David Kunian
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North Mississippi All-Stars
Polaris
(Tone Cool)
How's this for an opening line to the new North Mississippi
All-Stars record: "I ain't never been to heaven/ But I've been
told/ Angels in heaven/ Got sweet jelly roll." The verse comes
after a quick intro that sounds like the hill country blues
rumble that slides into an Allman Brothers-like lead guitar.
On this record, the All-Stars succeed in mixing these types
of Southern rock and north Mississippi blues into an organic
sound, despite the fact that this set of songs is definitely
more polished. There are ringing background vocals, samples,
and other studio embellishments that make it less raw than their
previous efforts. This is a good thing.
As pop as they make it, Polaris still sounds like real
people making real music with real instruments (unlike most
pop music today.) They still let it rip on "Never in All My
Days" and "Bad Bad Pain" (which even sounds a little like Steely
Dan with a blues vocalist). The All-Stars have added Duwayne
Burnside (R.L.'s son) on vocals and guitar; his teaming with
the band's other guitarist, Luther Dickinson, keeps the NMAS
full sound but with a different accent. Cody, Luther's brother,
also steps up here, taking lead vocals on several songs and
adding tasteful piano and organ, too. Bassist Chris Chew never
falters in giving a solid foundation to all the tracks.
One highlight for New Orleans fans is their cover of Earl King's
"Time for the Sun to Rise," which they slow down and make even
dreamier to fit the lyrics. Currently, the All-Stars' tour doesn't
take them to New Orleans, but they'll be here soon because they
just can't stay away for long. -- Kunian
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