12/02/06
COLLECTABLES
BOBBY DARIN/You’re the Reason I’m Living-18 Yellow Roses: This set finds him at Capitol after leaving Atlantic and turning in two albums of Vegas swing meets Bakersfield country. Since Darin was practically a genre to himself, particularly as he went about his genre splicing ways, it kind of works most of the way through. Always a fun set even when the song choices fall flat, this is pretty much what happens when you try to swing country when not wearing a Nudie suit. If you’re a fan of Darin, you’ll take this trip with him.
2915
JOHN LEWIS & SASHA DISTEL/Afternoon in Paris: One afternoon in 1957, Lewis took a break from Milt Jackson (oddly, the rest of MJQ is here) and paired up with the French songwriter/guitarist for a set of international jazz. Classy in the typically MJQ way, this duo with pals on board does a fine job of setting a mood and a mode that still feels right today. The sparks and the simpatico are all there, seemingly for the ages. High tone with out being snooty, this was urbane music long before it had a name.
6752
LEE KONITZ/Inside Hi Fi: 50 years ago, hi fi was still new and this sax man and his pals took the opportunity to blow up a storm on some tunes old and new. Still active today, Konitz was a young lion here and was in the process of letting the world know just that. It’s a bouncy set that still delivers what sax fans are known to appreciate.
6753
TRINI LOPEZ/Second Latin Album: One of those hitmaking cats that was an anomaly in the 60’s when it was happening and an enigma today. A spirited entertainer, he was suddenly thrust into the spotlight with an up tempo folk song and the rest was off beat history. The succeeding albums showed they weren’t quite sure what to do with im, but he followed his muse and always turned in credible dates. Squarely in his element on this set, Lopez knows Latin and gives it a proper crossover pop treatment.
6765
DUKE ELLINGTON/Blue Light-Hi Fi Ellington Uptown: A reach back to Ellington’s fruitful period on Columbia in the early 50’s when big bands were still profitable and his music was still in vogue on the front lines. With all the great cats on board, these two sets have the hits, well done remakes and then original tracks that were loaded with what jazz was all about. This stuff is both too hot and too cool to ever be considered nostalgia.
7843
UNIVERSAL MUSIC ENTERPRISES
DEF LEPPARD/Hysteria deluxe edition: A lot of careers were made with the making of this classic, best selling hard rock set that came close to defining hard rock 80’s style all by itself. Expanded in usual Deluxe Edition style with a second disc loaded with goodies for the uber fan, since this is something of a timeless/rite of passage set, it will live on in the collections and Ipods of younger brothers for a good long time. Spiffed up so you can hear what they were hearing as they were making it, this is an essential hard rock classic that shows it has what it takes to withstand the ages.
249843047 (Mercury)
Volume 30/Number 19
December 2, 2006
MIDWEST RECORD RECAP
830 W. Route 22 #144
Lake Zurich, IL., 60047
CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher
(c)2006 Midwest Record