CD Review: Workin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet (The Miles Davis Quintet)

Workin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet
The Miles Davis Quintet
Prestige Records
2006
8 tracks

A long time ago but not that far away, in a world that was beginning to expand ever more rapidly, there existed a tightly knit community where excellent musicians were drawn together to play evolving styles of Jazz. That’s the real beauty of Jazz recordings made a half-century ago. The music feels as new now as it did then and playing with each great horn player is an equally great pianist, bassman, drummer, and so on. The result is magical. This reissued recording from 1956 is no exception.

Originally recorded on May 1 and October 26, 1956, these songs feature not only Miles Davis on trumpet but John Coltrane on tenor sax, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums. The sound they achieve together is flawless, a flowing resonance of the times in which this music was made but with a sense of timeless grace that holds up even fifty years later.

For a release with only eight songs on board, this set covers a lot of musical territory. Beginning with cool solo piano that is quickly resolved into a warm, comfortable, even sexy mix with Davis’ trumpet sliding soft in and around the keys, the first song sets the listener up for romance. The rest of the set blends seamlessly between this relaxed mood and livelier, swinging, groove sounds that wake the listener out of the trance with an invitation to dance.

In mid-century, the old genres had begun to meld together and then to break the mold and separate again into exciting new forms as distinct from one another as had been the old distinctions. This is as true of Jazz as of any other musical denomination. The old Jazz was giving way to the new Jazz. The music on this release shows the diversity and variations of this evolving music. Throughout can be heard smatterings of folk music and popular songs of the day, each enriching the sound of this Jazz. Among others can be heard allusions to “An English Country Garden” and the Blues standard “Corrina Corrina,” a touch of “Tweedlee Dee” and even a bit of Erroll Garner’s “Misty” threading through the improvisations.

As much as this is a Miles Davis recording, this release is an ensemble work featuring five equally stellar artists working in perfect synchronicity. There are moments of sweet communication among the instruments but there are also superb solo bits by each of these artists spread throughout the eight songs. And all of this only serves to complement the virtuoso trumpet work of Miles Davis. Workin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet would make an ideal addition to the collection of any jazz fan.

Of historical interest, this jewel-case insert includes both Jack Maher’s original liner notes from the 1956 release and new liner notes written by Joe Goldberg in 2006 plus a brief note from sound engineer Rudy Van Gelder, who made the masters for both releases. These notes give the reader an interesting historical and contemporary perspective on this artist and the music he created.

You can find a wealth of information on the late Miles Davis (1926 – 1991) at the Official Miles Davis Website or at Wikipedia.

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CD Review: Girl Time! (The ChoirGirlz)

Girl Time!
The ChoirGirlz
Riverdale Records
2006
11 tracks

Every time I play this CD, the final song comes far earlier than I might have hoped. This release is a sweet confection like my mother’s divinity fudge, rich and delightful and addictive. At only 41 minutes long, this set leaves the listener wanting more, lots more of this tasty treat. Debbie Fleming, Mary Ellen Moore, and Dorothy McDonall each have a lifetime of experience and it shows. Together, they are wonderful. This is perhaps the finest a capella singing trio in Canada.

On this release, The ChoirGirlz are only a capella for one song. On the rest of the songs, they are supported by members of the Canadian western swing band Bebop Cowboys. In part because the vocals are set against this Bob Wills ambience and in part because of some of the lyrics and vocal arrangements, at times I feel as though I’m listening to a reissue of an album from 1953.

Some listeners might compare this trio to fellow Canadians Quartette (Cindy Church, Caitlin Hanford, Gwen Swick, and Sylvia Tyson) or to the American Trio (Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Linda Rondstadt). When I first listened to these songs, I was transported back in time some fifty years. At first and now after listening several times, I’m reminded most of The Dinning Sisters, who had perhaps the longest successful career of any singing sister act, from Thirties Jazz to Fifties Rock & Roll. When listening to a couple of these songs, I’m also reminded of the British vocal group The Seekers.

There’s a definite country music feel here, but the sound evokes the country music of mid-century, before Rockabilly started to take hold and subtly change the music. It’s quiet music with a comfortable ambience that brings back those old times when the world was less dangerous.

Ten of the eleven songs on this release were written either by Debbie Fleming or by Fleming in partnership with her two singing partners. Listening to the CD, it soon becomes clear that the talent in this group transcends singing and harmonizing and extends to composing and arranging and writing lyrics. In fact, all of the lyrics are tightly written and expressive, ranging from humourous tales to touching family reminiscences.

It’s not obvious at first, but there’s a weird selection of songs on this CD. Of course, it may be just a Canadian thing or it may be that I spent far too much time watching Canadian children’s TV with my kids. While some of the songs are quite adult and some even tend toward a certain darkness, others tend to be what I would call “Sharon, Lois, and Bram” songs, the sort of song these performers would perform on The Elephant Show. “Favourite Book,” “Good Ol’ Jim,” and “Chocolate” especially have this feeling and, while it’s a bit more esoteric, “See BC” comes close. With these kiddie-crossover songs, moving adult songs, dark foreboding songs, and a gospel hymn all included I’m impressed how consistent and unified this set seems.

While I enjoyed all of the songs on this release, both for the excellent vocals and harmonies and also for reasons individual to each song, two of the more serious songs stood out as special favourites: “Tennessee Waltz” and “Back to the Light.”

“Tennessee Waltz” was on the hit parade when I was only five or six years old. So, believe it or not, was the gruesome “Waltzing Mathilda” by, I think, Mitch Miller. In my young mind, I somehow confused and combined the two songs. So I had a couple waltzing on the big patio of an antebellum mansion then breaking up, after which the man (or the woman sometimes) wanders off into the surrounding darkness and is murdered beneath a tree by the billabong. Although most covers of “Tennessee Waltz” present this as a sweet love song [it is not], The ChoirGirlz sing it with a certain dark sorrow which is enhanced by the mournful violin of Drew Jurecka. Immediately following the bridge, the dark closes in as the most bitter verse of all is sung with all the sorrow of “The Long Black Veil” and sets the song up to end in a very “Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte” mood.

While I enjoy the music of the Bebop Cowboys and it certainly adds to my pleasure listening to ten of these songs, where these three singers really shine is on a capella harmonies. The final song in the set, “Back to the Light” is the only a capella song on this release. This is a very old-fashioned, traditional gospel song written by Debbie Fleming. It reminds me very much of Hank Williams’ “I Saw the Light” or several of the Carter Family’s gospel songs. On this recording, the song is delivered in a very reverent, sincere fashion that makes it the ideal song to close out the set.

The second CD released by The ChoirGirlz, this one is a very special treat for anyone who enjoys sweet harmonies, country music with a bit of swing, or just plain excellent playing and singing. Just be warned, like divinity fudge, the ChoirGirlz just may be addictive.

Discover everything you want to know about Debbie Fleming, Mary Ellen Moore, and Dorothy McDonall at The Choir Girlz Official Website. Go to MySpace.com/choirgirlz to hear three songs from this new release by The ChoirGirlz.

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CD Review: Black Mountain Rag (Doc and Merle Watson)

Black Mountain Rag
Doc and Merle Watson
Rounder Records
2006
20 tracks

This music takes me back to another time and place when life was simpler, or at least in retrospect appears to have been, and country music was still considered to be folk or hillbilly music. It takes me back to evenings listening with my parents to radio broadcasts like the WWVA Jamboree from Wheeling, West Virginia, and Nashville’s Grand Ol’ Opry or watching my father play and sing country music and call square dances in some great barn in Southern Alberta. This is music that brings back the old times.

Doc Watson, who is only two years younger than my father, has been playing and singing longer than many musicians have been on this earth. During that time, he has influenced the playing and singing of many of the musicians who followed. His incomparable flat-pick guitar playing impressed many young guitarists to play lead acoustic guitar with a flat-pick. While, outside folk and old-time country music circles, Doc Watson has not achieved the wide audience recognition of a Pete Seeger or Woody Guthrie, he is one of the important artists of the last century in American folk music.

The 20 tracks on this CD [actually 24 songs if you count the medleys] bring the listener an excellent selection of Watson’s playing and singing. Ably supported by his son Merle and a dozen or so other musicians who appear on various tracks, Watson presents a potpourri of traditional folk songs interspersed with some countrified pop and jazz standards. While the music seems overall quiet and unintrusive, often from across the room a phrase or refrain would suddenly grab my attention and draw me away from whatever I had been doing at the time. What drew my attention was both the familiarity of what I was hearing and the excellence with which it was being performed.

Watson is known primarily for his work as a guitarist and this is where his main influence on younger musicians has been. Less recognized is his vocal style. Watson sings in a warm, dry baritone that brings to his words a veracity that makes him particularly effective as a teller of stories in song. It’s always a pleasure to hear Watson sing a song, as he does on seven of these tracks.

While many of the songs on this release are traditional American folk tunes adapted from the music of England, Ireland, and Scotland, other songs wander off into a variety of genres. On this release can be heard pop standards spanning the last century, jazz classics, and even a bit of klezmer.

“Below Freezing” especially stands out with its unique blend of musical styles. This instrumental has a jumpy contemporary sound that swings from modern jazz to a klezmer clarinet sound that’s purely European, all served up over a bed that keeps it grounded in American country music.

The medley “Liza/Lady Be Good” is a lively jazz piece with some very cool jazz violin complementing Watson’s fine guitar work. Again, the style is eclectic and even quirky. Behind the cool jazz instrumental is a clickety-clack rhythm track that sounds more like skiffle [or perhaps step-dancing] than jazz beats.

Old favourites like “Smiles” and “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” take the listener back to some comfortable Forties living room listening to a broadcast on the old Victrola. The always lively “Down Yonder” brings that same sense of time gone by but with a definite country edge.

Songs like “Black Pine Waltz” and “Devil’s Dream” [probably my all-time favourite reel] take the listener even further back to a simpler time and place. There are traditional-style folk songs (“Sadie” and “Leaving London”), songs of protest (“Mole in the Ground”), and even humourous tales (Phil Harris’ classic “Smoke, Smoke, Smoke”), adding variety and interest to this set.

If you want to hear one of the finest and most influential of American folk music artists, then this CD should definitely be added to your library. If you just plain love Doc Watson, then this one is a gotta-have album, a compilation of some of his best work.

You can find an extensive biography of Doc Watson at Wikipedia. If you do a search for “Doc Watson” in google or another search engine, you’ll find a wealth of additional information on this important American artist. Go to http://myspace.com/docsguitar to hear four songs by Doc Watson, including the title song of this release, “Black Mountain Rag.”

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