Month: April 2017

alison krauss, ‘windy city’

once in a while alison takes a departure from her bluegrass affiliations with her band union station and makes a solo effort, usually in a non bluegrass direction. on this one she teams with long time nashville producer buddy cannon and takes a stab at some old country standards. they were attempting to capture the feel of classic country sounds of the 50s and 60s, namely brenda lee and patsy cline, and i think they hit hit it spot on. surrounded by some of best studio musicians in nashville, buddy expertly matches the ‘simple but complicated’ arrangements with her angelic and natural vocals.

if you are a fan of her bluegrass canon, you will not find anything like that here, nor will it sound like anything else heard on contemporary country stations. what you will find is an album that sounds like it could have been released decades ago. cannon helped krauss choose songs representing country’s practical eclecticism: “all alone am i,” the highly emotional “rockaballad” brenda lee made famous in 1963; john hartford’s “gentle on my mind,” made famous in 1968 by glen campbell, “poison love,” the sturdy elmer laird singalong that’s served bluegrass, rockabilly, classic country and new revivalist interpreters alike. krauss honors her bluegrass origins with several songs associated with the genre’s beloved risk takers the osborne brothers, including the poignant title track. she also gives a subtle reading to willie nelson’s lovely and sometimes overlooked meditation on loss, “i never cared for you.”

the first time i ever heard of her was when i bought her second album ‘too late to cry’ in 1987, and i have been a devoted fan ever since. she has received 27 grammy awards between then and now – more than any other female artist – and she might get another for this.

jerry garcia band, ‘garcia live volume eight’

the garcia estate has been slowly releasing choice jerry garcia band shows in this series, much like the dead have their dave’s picks releases. in general they both have been exposing great recordings, with a few occasional duds. this one is definitely growing on me. 1990 and 1991 are often considered the last great run of grateful dead and jgb tours, and this one catches the latter on a midwest tour in late november 1991. while this period was also a tremendous occasion for loss, with the passing of keyboardist brent mydland and promoter bill graham, the bands seemed to power on and process the grief through inspired playing.

this version of jgb was the longest running lineup by far, and they are in fine form this evening. a total of fifteen songs, only five of them are garcia/hunter compositions. the rest are covers ranging from clapton, van morrison, the band, dylan, and bruce cockburn. the keyboard/organ playing of melvin seals and the background vocals of gloria jones and jacklyn lebranch give many of the songs a significant gospel feel. a real solid show all the way through, and finishes with a ramped up classic jerry take on ‘tangled up in blue’

http://www.gratefulweb.com/articles/garcialive-volume-8-112391-review

another significant release by the estate came out a few months ago, hart valley drifters ‘folk time’.

recorded as a radio show in the bay area in 1962, it features a young jerry garcia on banjo and his good friend robert hunter on bass, along with david nelson on guitar (later with new riders of the purple sage). ken frankel on fiddle and norm van maastricht on dobro round out the lineup. the tape was rediscovered in 2008 by the former stanford student who had originally recorded it. this is three years before the formation of the grateful dead, and during this time frame jerry was very much a bluegrass artist and trying to make a name for himself in the area.

the boys here are doing their best to make a go of it, but there are a few miscues and some occasional sloppy playing. that being said, this is a really interesting glimpse of the early inspirations and playing of one of my musical heroes, and it is worth it just to hear him in this early period of his life. if you are a bluegrass fan and have any reasonable knowledge of the classics of that period, you will recognize many of the songs here.

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/22525-folk-time/

http://www.rollingstone.com/country/premieres/hear-jerry-garcias-early-bluegrass-band-hart-valley-drifters-w446570

nikki lane, ‘highway queen’

this is the third album for this 33 year old artist, nearly three years in the making from her breakout release ‘all or nothin’, which was produced by the black key’s dan aurbach. this one was self produced by nikki and her boyfriend jonathan tyler, and released on new west records. dubbed in some corners as the ‘first lady of outlaw country’ (which seems a bit premature to me), this album probably won’t go very far in dissuading that notion, but i also find it hard to categorize as a predominately ‘country’ genre. she is on the road about three hundred days a year, and there is a an edgier honky tonk feel to many of the cuts. she delayed recording the songs for quite a while because they didn’t feel right to her and took them back out on the road for some more work. but more importantly she is not afraid to add retro flourishes to many of the songs – doo wop vocals, seventies guitar rock, cry in your beer ballads, etc.

her voice is unique and intriguing. she won’t win any talent contests on tv, and she is not pitch perfect, but it is clear to me she has lived the songs, and her south carolina drawl is proudly on display. ten songs that are well produced, creative, and heart felt all the way through. i enjoyed this and will be keeping an eye on her.