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DL MEDIA
JOE LOVANO/Symphonica: Usually it’s a question for film noir or beach novels: how well do you really know someone? On Lovano’s 20th set for BlueNote, we find him exploring his back pages with a big band led by an old pal and perhaps we find we are just getting to know the sax ace. Casting things with a whole different flavor, we find him making a very personal, intimate album, even while doing it with a big band bringing up the rear. Working with the WDR big band, we hear a whole different side of Lovano as he kicks it out on a set that’s mostly of his own pen as well. Pulling on some very personal sides of his real life for inspiration, this set connects on so many levels that it’s sure to dust off his back catalog as he blows open old and new ears to and with his virtuosity. A set that’s clearly a cut above.
26225 (Blue Note)
M6
WATEMELON SLIM & The Workers/No Paid Holidays: Two albums ago, it seemed like this was some kind of joke that grew out of the minds that made Frank Zappa and Tom Waits possible, but it was for real. Real for real. Heading into album three with a ton of awards, nominations and recognition, guests like Lee Roy Parnell lend a hand and the proceedings take white boy blues to the next level of the game, a level that isn’t frequently attained. A blistering , heartfelt set that goes someplace totally unexpected, you can call it blues, but it’s now become Watermelon Slim music. A wild ride that you really have to take.
47 (Northern Blues)
MANHATTAN RECORDS
MAD MEN/Music from the Series V. 1: Well chosen period stuff that sets the tone of this cynical cable series set in 1960. Digging up some of the usual suspects not doing their usual reissued tracks as well as some digging in the crates, if you dig the series or the sound, this neat period piece is a fun diversion.
17388
ROCK PAPER SCISSORS
FAMORO DIOBATE’S KAKANDE/Dununya: Remember the Eddie Murphy character in “Coming to America”? Suppose he was real, not a comic book character and came from the family that invented xylophones 800 years ago. Now filter that through the first time you heard Milt Jackson and thought he was cool. Now filter that thorough the mind of someone that wants ot keep the sound alive in it’s traditional form but wants modern ears to appreciate what’s going on. Add up all the cool elements and you get a heady world beat brew much like what’s going on here. Snazzy indigenous African beat with some jazzy sides and the feel of the streets. Add it up as not your old man’s world beat. Cracklingly alive and ripe and ready for zesty enjoyment.
8 (Jumble)
Volume 31/Number 219
June 6, 2008
MIDWEST RECORD
830 W. Route 22 #144
Lake Zurich, IL., 60047
CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher
©2008 Midwest Record
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