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ARBORS JAZZ
FIVE PLAY/What the World Needs Now: Sherrie Maricle takes the band in a different direction since last we heard from her. Giving the membership more of an international scope and the song selection and younger and funkier outlook, this crews high octane chops are poised to take on the challenges of tomorrow. Even if the young songs on here date back 40 years, the playing of these five is as fresh as right now. A swinging set throughout, it’s one of those jazz rides you’ll want to take.
SOPRANO SUMMIT/1975 and More: Reaching back over 30 years for a double CD of killer blowing, this collection simply turns up the heat and never backs off. Collected out of the archives from the Institute of Jazz studies there’s no reason why these sides should have been left to linger in some university vault. Some of the cats on here were old when this was made and it’s certainly nice to hear something new from them now that they aren’t around anymore. Anyone needing a dose of some solid blowing by a crew of real pros is well advised to check this historical collection out.
COLLECTORS CHOICE (www.ccmusic.com)
PEGGY LEE/Then was Then, Now is Now-Bridge Over Troubled Water: Oy, poor Peggy Lee. 1965, the year 35-year-old depression era mothers across suburbia decided they wanted to be their 15-year-old daughters. Peggy Lee’s swing was deemed MOR even if she was working with Billy May, and she was given “relevant” material like a go-go version of “Seventh Son” and other things that just weren’t for her. Of course the set is redeemed by the few tracks that were right in her pocket. Such was the genius of record companies. The companion set, “Bridge Over Troubled Waters”, came in the wake of the career bounce gift that was “Is That All There Is?”. Hobbled by settling her with “me to” material, Lee refused not to give her all. After a distinguished career as a singular voice, oy! These sets making their CD debut are not bad albums, they’re just a perfect example of what happened to classic acts in the wake of the Beatles tsunami. Lee delivers on her end and Lee fans will not be disappointed but these two sets are certainly a long way from “Mañana”.
920
PEGGY LEE/Make It With You-Where Did They Go: Tthese two sets were recorded only an album away from the end of a glorious 30-year run with the label. With the pressure off and the label not watching, Lee proved that she still had it to compete in the contemporary marketplace. Coming in with a mix of Beatles, Bacharach, LeGrand, Kristofferson, Bread and even Sesame Street, Lee and her classically inspired charts delivered the goods. Even going so far as to look like youngsters like Lori Lieberman that the label was trying to break, she showed how she had much more on the ball than her handlers and their charges could ever hope to have. A dandy pair of late career sets that show she still had what it took.
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VIDEO SUPPLEMENT
SHOUT! FACTORY
I GOT THE FEELIN’-JAMES BROWN IN THE 60’s: If you have to ask, there is really no point in us getting into it. This collection rounds up three DVDs worth of James Brown. Yes, you do have all the tracks on board here even if you’re a casual fan. But even if you’re a casual fan, you should find it pretty hard to pass up a 1968 night at the Apollo, a 1968 night in Boston and a documentary about the night James Brown saved Boston when he gave a concert in the wake of the Martin Luther King assassination that not only save the city from being burnt down but sent Brown on a new road with a new view of his own blackness. If you can come away from this collection and think Brown was just boasting when he called himself the hardest working man in show business, you really are a hopeless cynic. A stone killer of a collection for any level of Brown fan, these three DVDs are almost single-handedly the building blocks of any serious soul music collection. Now jump back and kiss yourself and take it to the bridge.
Volume 31/Number 278
August 4, 2008
MIDWEST RECORD
830 W. Route 22 #144
Lake Zurich, IL., 60047
CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher
©2008 Midwest Record
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