Realistic Patterns

(Orchestrated Psychedelia from the USA)

Psychic Circle / www.soundlinkmusic.com

Put together by psych expert Nick Saloman and mastered by Dave Blackman, this record assembles 20 slices of vintage out-there rock cuts mainly featuring orchestral arrangements/backings . If I give you some of the artists and titles, you’ll get the picture of course :  The Subterranean Monastery with ‘Realistic Patterns’, The Balloon Farm and ‘Hurry Up Sundown’, The Visions playing ‘Small Town Commotion’, The Sound Solution performing ‘I Had The Notion’. The compilers take the view that the orchestrations add to rather than dilute the impact of the songs ( and a quick personal note – if you want to hear the optimum use of arrangements with a rock band, just try the first album by West Coast group Spirit !)

What you might expect hear soundwise on these cuts is all present and correct – quirky tempo’s, Zombies-style vocal stylings, crisp drumming, eerie strings, steady bass lines, floating-in-the-park lyrics.  The sound quality is pretty good and not over compressed – for example on opener ‘All Those Who Enter Here’ by Burned, a quite haunting piece with clipped trumpets in the mix. A sitar flourish and echoey piano start The Moon’s ‘Brother Lou’s Love Colony’ with a definite Magical Mystery Tour tinge, a weird catchiness..and love the bird twittering ; the stately Bubble perform ‘I Call Her Lady’ with it’s fuzz guitar and steady horn arrangement and perhaps over-earnest vocal. Compass have a Love-style running gallop at ‘Her Sadness Primer’ and have forceful singer riding over pumping bass and thin organ sound, what a lost gem ! And that’s the real value of these compilations, you can discover tracks you know would have loved at the time. No matter how keen you may be on music, you will always miss out on some great creations – if your collection includes Blues Magoos, Savage Resurrection, Sagittarius, Moody Blues and Zombies, you are almost bound to find something to love on this set.

The Sound Solution have a singer who would have given Blood Sweat and Tears and Chicago Transit Authority a run for their money, for sure, on the baroque ‘I Had the Notion’ included here ; every now and again bands like Left Banke and Association come to mind as these often short-lived and obscure combo’s do their thing. Some but by no means all the participants may have ended up in commercially successful outfits in later years but at this point and wearing their influences on their paisley sleeves, it’s hard to resist the charm of these creations, timeslip album artwork and all. I sure wish more contemporary groups could sing harmony as well as The Byzantine Empire..and here over a waltz tempo, to boot !

Pete Sargeant     www.fairhearing.co.uk

Chess Moves

Universal-Island Records

If you want to hear the Chess label greats as they originally recorded and arranged their numbers, there are lots of records out there that tell the story. Muddy, Wolf, Berry, Etta, Little Walter cut classic after classic at the downtown Chicago studios and we probably all have our favourites. When I spent an afternoon with the ebullient Marshall Chess though, I particularly wanted to know about the ‘psychedelic’ sessions as I love the Muddy and Wolf albums as much or more than the ‘originals’ but also about the phenomenal Rotary Connection which featured songstress Minnie Ripperton. Their dark and moody version of ‘Respect’ will haunt you forever, if you hear it !

What this new album brings the listener is a set of reworkings based upon original Chess sessions – so you’ll hear Little Walter, James Cotton, Memphis Slim, Willie Dixon et al but with what is basically the Little Axe band providing different rhythms/arrangements, often with a hiphop slant (these cats played on Grandmaster Flash’s ‘The Message’). If this notion seems like an abomination to you, as a ‘blues purist’/whatever please stop reading and don’t buy this cd. BUT it may surprise you to learn how great these vocal and instrumental works can work again in a refreshed setting. I saw virtually all of the Chess roster artists play live and their power lives again, I don’t find this crew’s approach in the least offensive. In passing, I absolutely hated what was done with Bob Marley’s work in the 90’s and bought none of it. You takes yer choice…

What makes this notion rock is the fabulous feel of the musicians – guitar man Skip McDonald ( I once had a phone chat with Skip whilst he was recording and this guy knows his stuff), bassist Doug Wimbish (the Living Colour man), drummer Keith LeBlanc. Not to mention the production by Marshall and Jamar Chess. I can only agree with Keith’s note to the effect that in his opinion if these artists were around today, they would most likely sound like this productionwise.  What is beyond doubt is the respect that the present muso’s have for the originators and the album’s warm, cohesive feel. It’s very hard to take off the deck once you’re playing it…the anti-Bono, really…

So open your mind and get a listen to the pulsing ‘Killing Floor’ featuring Howlin’ Wolf, the contagious ‘Rock This House’ with Jimmy Rodgers, the expansive ‘Mother Earth’ by Memphis Slim…you might be surprised and your offspring will ask ‘Who’s THIS ??’

Pete Sargeant        www.fairhearing.co.uk

Hit The Rhodes, Jack

Brown Sugar  www.o-tonemusic.com

This is a great idea – a compilation album showing off the Fender Rhodes electric piano and its players. I am a sucker for the warm sound of this keyboard and fascinated by the way it can work well with guitars, horns and all styles of singers. In the hands of the best

players, this instrument is affecting, driving and a fine vehicle for solo’ing.

On this set, we have Cedar Walton and ace percussionists working War’s addictive ‘Low Rider’ ; Dr Lonnie Smith and Lonnie Liston Smith are here on ‘Sizzle Stick’ and ‘Get Down Everybody’. Bob James weaves with gypsy guitar man Gabor Szabo on ‘Ziggidy Zag’. Of course, master stylist and pioneer Herbie Hancock HAS to be present and here he shines on Eddie Henderson’s bustling ‘Butterfly’.

Whatever made the young genius Donny Hathaway throw himself at a young age from a tower block floor I shall never be able to fathom, but he did leave a wonderful set of creations with his clear, agile voice and dextrous Rhodes vamping. The label has selected  his wahwah-backed ‘Valdez In The Country’ instrumental for this collection and it blends grassed-out bliss with mystery. Ace.

Elsewhere we have Zappa cohort George Duke featuring on a David Axelrod curio and ultra-cool songmeister Latimore playing ‘Sweet Vibrations’ (if you dig this, find ‘Let’s Straighten It Out’, a dark soul gem) plus Patrice Rushen with ‘The Hump’.

A satisfying listen and if they follow this up ( I suggest ‘On The Rhodes Again’) maybe they’ll include Santana’s ‘Abraxas’ opener and Herbie Hancock’s ‘Uh Oh’ from ‘Fat Albert Rotunda’….

Pete Sargeant   www.fairhearing.co.uk

Playin’ With Carlos

www.ravenrecords.com.au

Compilations can often fascinate me – from the ‘what a great round-up’ to ‘what WERE they thinking ?’ – I treasure one item bought in  a supermarket for £ 1.99

and called ‘ Sensual Listening’, ostensibly a celebration of gently passionate romantic coupling and including the LSO with Ravel’s insistent ‘Bolero’, the linguid ‘Adiemus’ and the theme from ‘Love Story’ – then somewhat brought down to earth by ‘Hold On – I’m Coming’! Sensual and subtle up to that point, I suppose….

Oz label Raven often puts out terrific compilation albums e.g. ‘Byrd Parts’ and Gene Clark retrospectives. Found quite by chance by the writer whilst delving through the racks of a London music store, this set rounds up 15 tracks by various artists and aggregations all featuring guest spots by guitar ace Carlos Santana. Whilst our man might not always vary his tone quite enough for some, his presence usually guarantees a colourful result whatever the musical setting and this intelligently collated, well-explained (notes by Ian Mcfarlane), nicely packaged and pretty well-sequenced collection is probably one of the best listens a Santana fan could find.

Stylistically, we are all over the place – the brisk rock-pop of the extract from a Gregg Rolie album ‘Too Late, Too Late’ works a treat (maybe not a surprising fact given Rolie’s time with the Santana band) as does the fusion/soul cut from Stanley Clarke ‘Straight To The Top’. Carlos’ linear singing notes always seem to come in at the right time. He phrases with space and tension and doesn’t crowd out other players, making his custom PRS guitars scream and plead. Often spotted at sound checks seeking out that particular hall’s ’sweet spot’ for maximum mid-range sustain, the chap is a craftsman.

There are some heavyweight names and anyone who likes the ‘Love Devotion Surrender’ set with Brit John McLaughlin should track this down for more of the spiritually-driven interplay these two conjure up, for example on opener ‘Friendship’. The keyboardy Weather Report cut ‘Man With The Copper Fingers’ is a good steady platform for CS to sing out ; Narada Michael Walden’s beautiful and lyrical ‘First Love’ is included here ; and there is a gorgeous take on the renowned ‘Samba Pa Ti’ helmed by Ottmar Liebert with electric guitar counterpoint from Carlos that some might consider is worth the cd price alone…

There are curio’s – Alex Acuna’s latin lament ‘Psalms’ and more so jazz stylist Flora Purim whose ‘Silver Sword’ is a florid jungle scene with treated wordless vocal swoops occasionally close to the dreaded Yoko Ono..but ! There, swooping across like an irritated dragonfly come the soaring, trilling fretboard runs of Mr Carlos Santana, once again lifting the proceedings and justifying his reputation.

So, 78 minutes-worth of a fine guitar player in various settings and none better than the piano genius version by McCoy Tyner (from whom the late MC5 vocalist Rob Tyner took his stage name, as he once confided to me in a far-reaching discussion about painting, currency, Sun Ra and John Lee Hooker) of ‘Hannibal’ which drives through the theme and changes like an interplanetary ship

Pete Sargeant    www.fairhearing.co.uk

We live in hope of the constant risk of snow fading away but musical sunshine ahead is pretty much guaranteed by the upcoming London Guitar Festival – www.igf.org.uk which will be held in early May at the South Bank Centre on the Thames. The various halls within the complex will be host to a stunning array of guitar stylists, echoing the great ‘Guitar-in’ show some forty years ago at which your correspondent witnessed Bert Jansch, folkrock band Pentangle, flamenco genius Paco Pena and the Jimi Hendrix Experience, who scooted on and launched into ‘Sergeant Pepper’ to wind up Paul McCartney, whose own band opted not to tour their landmark album.

In 2008, the best in guitar stars can include Nino de Pura’s flamenco ensemble, Luis Quintero the Venezuelan six string prince, Nicolas Meier fusing fusion and Turkish cadences, The Antonio Forcione Quartet a multi-national group of uncommon warmth and communicative skills and Brit pioneer Jason Carter whose travels have soaked into his fingerwork. Not only that, but former Stone, Bluesbreaker and Dylan cohort Mick Taylor will perform with the fabulously soulful songsmith Terry Reid, veteran drummer Colin Allen and even it is rumoured, JHE original Mitch Mitchell. And most likely others !

This plus workshops by the likes of Lee Hodgson and Andres Garcia and inspiration for new and old players and listeners is there for the booking.

Pete Sargeant www.fairhearing.co.uk