The Best. (And Worst.) Beatles. Ever. Says Nick.

NICK DERISO: Here we take a look at the Fab and the decidely not-so fab moments from our Fab Four.

GUITAR SOLOS
Best: George's chunky guitar playing in "And I Love Her." No, wait, the gloomy, so-heavy work by John on "She's So Heavy" from 'Abbey Road.'
Worst: The cloying, clanging "Wild Honey Pie," from the White Album. One-off wastes like this are what happens when you give someone, even talented someones, too much room to fool around.

SONG INTROS
Best: Paul's scream at the beginning of "Revolution." Wait, no, the guitar feedback in "I Feel Fine."
Worst: "Two of Us," from 'Let It Be,' which John quite loopily introduces with this ... "I dig a pygmy by Charles Hawtry on the deaf aids; phase one, in which Doris gets her oats."
Ooooo-K.

BEATLES MOVIES
Best: "Hard Day's Night," with its timeless humor, grace and tunefulness.
Worst: "Magical Mystery Tour," in which the mystery is what the film is actually about. Cool videos, though.

BACKGROUND VOCALS
Best: "Michelle." Wait, no, I was only kidding: "Because" a multi-voice piece of magic.
Worst: John making stupid sea-faring noises on "Yellow Submarine." (Yes, that's him blowing through a straw into a bucket of water.)

BEATLES REMAKES
Best: "Got to Get You Into My Life," by Earth, Wind and Fire. Second: "Come Together," Aerosmith, the only reason not to make it legal to shoot the Bee Gees for their "Sgt. Pepper" remake. Third: "With a Little Help From My Friends" by Joe Cocker.
Worst: Those freaky robots singing "She's Leaving Home" in that 1970s "Sgt. Pepper" nightmare. "You Won't See Me" by Anne Murray is up there, though.

BEATLES MISTAKES
Best: When Paul played "Hey Jude" to John for the first time, he left in the filler phrase "the movement you need is on your shoulder," - but told John he'd replace it later. John replied that those were the best words in the song. They were.
Worst: It's got to be one those endlessly repetitive songs from 'The White Album,' either "Revolution No. 9" or "Why Don't We Do It In the Road?" No, wait ... allowing Yoko to sing on "Bungalow Bill."

THEY SAID IT
Smartest: "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans," by John Lennon.
Dumbest: Lennon again, right or not, with that whole "we're more popular than Christ" business. Might have been true, but still.

BTW: Sure would love to get my hands on some of the priceless collectibles those protesters sent up in smoke.

THOSE DARNED DJs
Best thing they did: Flip the "Penny Lane" 45, only to find "Strawberry Fields Forever."
Worst thing: Fade out "Hey Jude" when the 'na-nas' start.

SONG ENDINGS
Best: "A Day in the Life." DAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWwwwwwwww.........
Worst: Those, ahem, "spooky" vocals at the end of the aptly named "Long, Long, Long."

Which Beatles song are you? Your Result: The Space Between   You're definitely a spiritual psychedelic who looks at life as objectively as possible. You would feel right at home in a Buddhist monastery. Generating meaning from life is important to you.
Here Comes the Sun
Hey Jude
Eleanor Rigby
All You Need is Love
Yellow Submarine
Twist and Shout
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite
Which Beatles song are you? Quizzes for MySpace

Popa Chubby, "Stealing the Devil's Guitar" (2006)

DERRICK: It has long been the first trap any musician must jump once they hit it big. A successful record means a lot of people hear your music and from that point on you have a decision to make. Do you stick with the tried and true formula and give the less discerning fans out there what they want (more of the same old thing) or do you scratch the itch most artists have and experiment, expand and attempt to push your talent to new and unexplored levels?

The latter while being more emotionally satisfying for the artist can and often does alienate the core who buy your product (and by definition, pays your bills.)

Blues music as a genre faces the same problem. When you have an iconic form of music like the blues, it is just too easy for people to assume what the blues is supposed to sound like even though they hear actual blues fairly infrequently and new blues artists, well....never.

Add the simple fact that the music toils in relative obscurity to start with and receives practically no radio play then you have a situation where the artist is faced with the choice of playing straight blues according to the gospel of B.B., Muddy and John Lee Hooker which is exactly what the public has come to expect or you can do your own thing.

The former you already know will work assuming you can get people to listen to your interpretation. The latter is a long shot to the extreme considering the odds are already stacked against you regarding the exposure to your music the public is likely to get.

The final result blues music might face is the possibility of tripping over the same stump as classical apparently has which is artists sticking with proven standards provided by long dead masters and new work being relatively ignored and unheard.

The toiling in obscurity part of that equation unfortunately applies to New York City's blues version of King Kong, Popa Chubby. A quick listen to his latest CD Stealing the Devil's Guitar will leave the listener with no doubt on which direction was chosen when it came the sound and direction of this music. Devil's Guitar is packed with enough jazz, soul and R&B influenced blues numbers that the casual listener may at first not realize exactly what "type" of music they are listening to. Plenty of nasty blues guitar work is soon to follow which will be their first clue.

Some of the highlights for me include:

Buffalo Chips - a Django Reinhardt influenced romp complete with mandolin, dobro, and guitar work.

Preacher Man - a tune Leon Redbone would be perfectly comfortable having a go at, and done well here.

Virgil And Smokey - a fine example of typical juke joint blues served with enough personal touch to make it the chef's own but still rooted enough in the classic dish so that it sounds like it actually means something other than an attempt to serve up exactly what the diner expects.

Long Deep Hard And Wide - Anything as good as AC/DC did back in their heyday. They should cover this one and pretend it belongs to them. Most folks will never notice.

Young Guns - Maybe a sneaky little tip of the cap to a certain other blues band's cover of Rawhide?

In the World - a renamed cover of Jessie Mae Hemphill's Lord, Help the Poor and Needy as powerful and heartbreaking as always with a tinge of reggae that brings to mind what Bob Marley could do once he set his mind to it.

Those are six of the thirteen tracks presented and none of the 13 are weak, retreads or a complete waste of time, making this album well worth the price in my opinion. I'd judge it the best work yet from Popa Chubby. It might not be exactly what a casual blues fan might expect to hear, but it is good music which is the proper measuring stick.

Find this release on Dixie Frog Records:
PopaChubby.com
Popa Chubby Band Myspace

Bob Margolin, "Down in the Alley" (1993)

NICK DERISO: In 1948, young Muddy Waters recorded a 78 for Chicago's Aristocrat Records.

It was the shot heard 'round the blues world. Black urban listeners -- most of whom, like Waters, were from the rural South -- had found a new voice.

It sold out in fewer than 48 hours. Rooted in the traditions of contrapunctal Delta blues, yet breathing in the amped-up electricity of that big Illinois town, Waters instantly and forever redefined modern music.

Without Muddy, there could be no Rolling Stones ... much less Clapton and so on.

It follows then that these records would have lasting influence, importance ... and disciples. We started this blog to explore and celebrate them. Because they are us.

If you follow every Muddy creek and stream (and we do), then you've heard Steady Rollin' Bob Margolin. I'd recommend 1993's 'Down in the Alley' from this old-school protege who played with Waters from 1973 through 1980.

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Remix: The Beatles' 1970 finale

NICK DERISO: The first individual recordings by the Beatles bear a striking resemblance to the last of the music they made together - only they weren't actually together.

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Guilty pleasures: Gino Vannelli

By Pico:

"Gettin High" was the last track on 1975's "Storm at Sunup."
I don't care much for smokin' weed
You know I'm a man of a different breed
I don't thrive on drinking alcohol
'sides I’m feelin' much too tall

Gettin' high
Gettin' high
Gettin' high

And I don't mean I'm gettin' stoned
I was just a buckin' bronco bomb
I loved me a billion black and blue eyed blondes
I never thought I could change
Yep sure is pretty strange

Gettin' high
Gettin' high
Gettin' high

On something I've never known
I've got a babe of my own
Gettin' high
I've got a babe of my own
I've got a girl of my own

(By the way, look at the Amazon reviews for 'Storm At 'Sunup': 18 five stars and 1 four stars...and they don't seem to feel the least bit guilty about it.)

Back in the seventies when my dad and oldest brother bought and played Vanelli albums and 8 tracks, I liked his jazzy melodies, above average musicianship, cool synths and just ignored the incredibly vapid lyrics.

Now when I listen to vintage GV I still admire the melodies and muscianship, cringe at the badly dated synths and lmao at the lyrics...all of which still makes it entertainment, if only for small doses at a time.

Forgotten series: Les McCann, "On The Soul Side" (1994)

NICK DERISO: Pianist Les McCann is something of a could-have-been Horace Silver -- but with an even more soulful release.

Witness the aptly titled "On The Soul Side," on MusicMasters: His playing is a spontanous gestalt of funky, almost stride, riffs and airy hung-back precision. It's a shame the rest of the band is occasionally so rote.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Guilty pleasures: Sheryl Crow, "C'mon C'mon" (2002)

DERRICK: Old sayings get to be old sayings for a reason – there is usually a good bit of truth in them. I gave Sheryl Crow’s album "C'mon, C'mon" a spin based on the single 'Steve McQueen' and I thought yup - the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree.

Crow plows the same orchards as the California rock legends she grew up on such as the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac. Finally, she seems to have learned how to do it right more often than not.

You can sure hear vintage Buckingham Nicks in this album, in fact it’s likely what Stevie Nicks would be sounding like if she could just shake those 80’s pop/dance blues and get back to her roots.

Sure enough, both Nicks and Don Henley show up on schedule here with guest vocals as does Liz Phair, (where the hell has she been?) Lenny Kravitz, (him too?) Emmylou Harris and Gwyneth Paltrow. (Huh?)

Occasionally, you might hear a nasty little lick and think “damn that sounds like Keith Richards” and it might be since he is thanked in the liner notes as is Steve Earle, but I couldn’t find them credited in any of the song info.

The album kicks off with the previously mentioned Steve McQueen. I’d have to say I like it almost as much as my favorite Crow tune My Favorite Mistake. It’s a first rate, put it in you car and drive tune complete with Steve Miller style woo woos..... what’s not to like about that?

Next, Soak Up The Sun with Phair and I loved the nifty bass work by Jeff Trott who also co-wrote a lot of the songs with Crow. You’re An Original – at first I thought it was with Henley, but it turned out to be Kravitz.

Things chill out a bit with Safe And Sound and here you can really hear the Nicks influence. Stevie is right there on the next one with vocals on C’mon, C’mon and to tell you the truth, the two do sound good together.

It’s Henley’s turn next on the ballad It’s So Easy which would fit in nicely at your friendly neighborhood Eagles concert coming soon to an outdoor amphitheatre near you. Over You is an enjoyable song followed by another – Lucky Kid.

If KISS is smart (and billions of bucks in the bank say they are) they would cover this tune on their next "farewell tour." I thought of them for some bizarre reason during the song.

Nicks returns on Diamond Road which does exactly what the Bangles were trying to do before they got mixed up in that Egyptian stuff and self-imploded. The guitar work by Wendy Melvoin (of Prince and the Revolution fame) and John Shanks on the country rocker Abilene was first rate.

Hole In My Pocket is followed up by the fine Weather Channel which features Emmylou Harris and closes out what turns out to be a very enjoyable album.

Not a big Sheryl Crow fan here, but I am beginning to get with the program. Those that may not have cared much for her work may want to give this one a go – might change your mind as well. Her songwriting has really matured and she has surrounded herself with an excellent cast.

I’d have to say that all 13 cuts are strong without filler, and that’s rare enough these days to recommend an album wholeheartedly. I liked it first time out, which I don’t often do. I think this one will stand the test of time and hit the player more than just once.

Pat Metheny, "Secret Story" (1992)

NICK DERISO: The cover art for "Secret Story" on Geffen is telling: There's no central image, but a dizzying patchwork of photographs.

The lineup is much the same: Leave it to Pat Metheny to make a solo album with about 80 other players -- including everybody from the Metheny Group and a good portion of the London Orchestra.

I was more concerned with the possible absence of one in particular: But on a rare recording without major input from Lyle Mays, Metheny seemed to have freed up some. He plays acoustic piano on one track; he adds bird noises to another. And, never fear: Mays does appear.

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Forgotten series: Floyd founder Syd Barrett

NICK DERISO: Several years ago, Capitol Records released a terrific 3-CD box set called "Crazy Diamond," by Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett.

Included are "The Madcap Laughs" and "Barrett" -- Syd's only solo albums after getting the boot from Floyd. Also featured is a third disc of unreleased material and rarities, called "Opel."

For fans of the group's early, more whimsical side, these CDs are simply astounding.

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DaSlobTribute: Ode to Joe (Henderson)

By Pico:

On June 30, 2001, tenor saxophonist great Joe Henderson passed away. Among one of the giants in a crowded field of post-bop saxmen who sprang up in the fifities and sixties, Henderson nonetheless never got his due until nearly a quarter century after his superb 1963 debut Page One.

I wanted to commemerate his death with an extensive look at the first ten years of his extensive discography, but, alas, I only got through re-acquainting myself with 5-1/2 of his albums over the past week.

Suffice to say, though, that Joe's work on the Blue Note label in the sixties under his own name and as a sideman for others is a major reason why that label's output during that decade is so highly revered among jazz enthusiasts.

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Forgotten series: Ray Brown with Oscar Peterson and Milt Jackson, "The Very Tall Band" (1999)

NICK DERISO: This is one of those underrated guys who kept on producing important work well past his so-called prime, because Brown was such an in-the-pocket guy.

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Remix: Lennon's last

NICK DERISO: The problem with John Lennon's last works was wading through the over-done 1970s production on "Walls and Bridges" and (worse, really) sitting through Yoko's every-other-song contributions on "Double Fantasy" and "Milk and Honey."

Da' S~L~O~B is here to help.

We added the "Beatles" tunes featuring the living Fabs and John on tape for good measure, since both were late-period Lennon originals.

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Jazz sleeper picks: Woodwinds

By Pico: Some favorite jazz albums of mine that don't come up at the top of anyone else's top records list, but I thought were outstanding despite the lack of publicity about them.

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Sleeper picks: Big Bill Morganfield

Derrick: City Stages was well under way, and the likes of Shemekia Copeland, Michael Doucet, Kent Duchaine, Bobby “Blue” Bland, and Rosie Ledet were keeping the residents jumping in the streets of downtown Birmingham.

There was just something right about Ike Turner raining down killer riffs from the steps of City Hall.

After Ike’s set, I took off in the direction of the Alabama Sampler stage. Some may question the wisdom of leaving a stage with Rick James in its immediate future, but it was time for me to see the artist I was most looking forward to: Big Bill Morganfield.

It was definitely time for some butt-kicking blues. Morganfield was born in Chicago, grew up in Ft. Lauderdale and by then lived in Stone Mt. Georgia, but we claim him here in Alabama.

Given the current state of Alabama blues, you can’t blame us much for latching on to a degree holder from Tuskegee and Auburn Universities and calling him our own – thus his appearance on the Alabama Sampler tucked between La Paree Steak and Seafood restaurant and the massive Regions Bank building.

Maybe a strange setting for the blues but with temperatures in the low 50’s and a stout wind to deal with, Morganfield may have felt he was back in the Windy City.

Waiting for the band to take the stage I couldn’t help but notice ZZ Top’s ode to a Texas whorehouse “La Grange” pumping up the crowd.

Probably a good blues historian picked that one because after all The Three Wise Men were once given a piece of wood from Muddy Waters' shack in Clarksdale, MS, had it made into a guitar dubbed the "Muddywood," then sent it out on tour to raise money for the Delta Blues Museum.

Waters you see was born McKinley Morganfield and his son William is the guy we have under the microscope today. A pedigree like that would cause many to break into a cold sweat, but Morganfield didn't seem to be losing any sleep.

His debut CD “Rising Son” from Blind Pig Records is well worth searching out if you are interested in one of the young bucks playing the blues. The album garnered Morganfield the W.C. Handy Award for Best New Blues Artist in Y2K and he followed it up with another fine effort “Rambling Mind” which features special guest Taj Mahal.

On “Rising Son” Morganfield is accompanied by members of the Muddy Watters Blues Band including Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Paul Oscher, Pinetop Perkins and Bob Margolin as well as work by one of Chicago’s finest bass players Bob Stroger. Need anything more with a band like that? Highlights for me include "Dead A-- Broke" a Chicago style blues roller that hits that feeling of big bills and empty pockets right between the eyes.

That night on stage, Morganfield claimed his college days are what inspired the song and many of us in the crowd gave that knowing laugh.

"Rising Son" is a Delta slide tune that is a tip of the cap to his father - but still reminding you that a new kid is in town and playing by his own rules. “Left Hand Blues” takes you through the crossroads with Robert Johnson all the while lookin’ over your shoulder for the devil that is sure to come.

“Champagne & Reefer” is a cover of a Muddy song with some additional lyrics and arrangement by Big Bill.

Gotta say this one is highly recommended folks. If you like the blues here is a can’t miss. The original works by Morganfield are top notch and the music and vocals will get your heart pumping. If the chance comes to catch him live – jump on it.

I don’t give many guarantees but I feel pretty good I won’t take any heat from this one.

Johnnie Johnson, "Blue Hand Johnnie" (1988)

NICK DERISO: You will recall Johnson's strapping finger rolls. You just might now know from where.

Johnnie, careful liner-note readers know, was the piano man to Chuck Berry's duck-walk in Berry's heyday.

The 1988 album "Blue Hand Johnnie," along with 1991's all-star Elecktra outing with Keith Richards and Eric Clapton, will tell you all you need to know about how important this sideman's contributions are to rock history -- and how relevant his rolling and tumbling style still is.

On "Blue Hand Johnnie," Johnson refracts those reliable blues hand-me-downs (Rolling? Check! Tumbling? You bet!) -- alongside the able sax musings of Oliver Sain, a long-time St. Louis hotshot who's played with Little Milton Campbell.

It's a fun blues recording. So, the thing comes off with a soulful feel that Johnson's classic Berry sides ("Maybelline," "Roll Over Beethoven, "School Days") can only hint at.

Even when Johnson finally gets around to the expected "Johnny B. Goode" and "Back in the USA," he lets the slinky hue of Barbara Carr's vocals inform the proceedings. A real treat: her reading of Lowell Fulson's "Black Nights."

Joshua Redman, "Wish" (1993)

NICK DERISO: To me, Redman is one of the more impressive young tenor players in recent memory.

His first record, a 1993 self-titled release, was a wonder. Even as he gripped the horn and took off into an improvisation, there was sure-footed instinct for melody.

Young Redman appeared to be something like a warmer, more tuneful Sonny Rollins.

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The Rolling Stones, "A Bigger Bang" (2005)

By Pico: An event has occurred that hasn't happened in eight years...the Rolling Stones released a new record.

It was also an event that hadn't happened in over 25 years: the Stones actually released a good record.

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Guilty pleasures: Journey

NICK DERISO: It seems so remote now, but back in college I used to drive back home with my best friend to see our old high-school girlfriends. We'd go on weekends -- and sometimes on Wednesdays. We were sick with them, then.

Of course, we're now married to other women and have other lives -- kids, houses, so on. What we also have is the memory of tires spinning down Interstate 20, sometimes in my Volkswagen, sometimes in his Pinto (dating myself), windows rolled down and music -- music as our only companion on slow, sad, mostly silent treks back home.

Often, it was Journey (again, dating myself). There's one song in particular that, though I almost never hear it, always reminds me of that time.

We felt oddly disconnected from our old school, our old city, our old lives. What sad and desperate poets we were in our own hearts!

Back then, Steve Perry made all the sense in the world with this one, from 1981's 'Escape':

This ol' town, ain't the same
Now nobody knows his name
Times have changed,
still he rides.

Traffic lights, keepin' time
Leading the wild and restless
through the night
Still they ride,
on wheels of fire
They rule the night

Still they ride,
the strong will survive
Chasing thunder

Jazz sleeper picks: Guitar

By Pico: My look at jazz guitar records that didn't get their due.

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Sinatra-Martin-Davis, "The Rat Pack Live at the Sands" (2001)

DERRICK: Whoever says the singing isn't up to snuff must have never been to a concert or bought a live album. The only complaint I can think of is many of the songs are medley.

No problem there with me. I laughed at all of the antics esp. from Dean-O.

This is an act the Pack had down to a T and it really shows. A fun slice of musical history imo. Completely un-PC which is a much welcome change of pace. It was recorded in 1963. Funny how people seemed to have more of a sense of humor about things at that sensitive time than they do now.

The quality of the recording is great to be at the same advanced age as me.

I won't lie to you. It's probably not a CD you will play very often, but when you are in a crappy mood or having a party this baby will do just fine. No substitute for the straight stuff as Martin would probably say, but he tells it like it is right off the bat - If you wanna hear him sing "serious" as he puts it... buy a (slurred) "albium."

Highlights? For me you get a great taste of an underrated voice when Martin does June in January and a Volare/On An Evening in Roma medley. It's easy to forget the singer and remember the drunk schtick, but he had the goods.

Sinatra is Sinatra. He really caught my attention on Call Me Irresponsible. It's great fun hearing him goof around with his two friends and maybe a lot different than some people think of him. He's actually pretty funny. He does play it straighter than Sammy or Dean as far as the singing.

Tell you the truth, his highlight for me was Luck Be A Lady. It's one of his few songs that I have never cared much for, but to hear him do it live in Vegas in this setting is great. He really gets it swinging.

My only real complaint about the disk? Not enough Sammy.

He's another guy that it is easy to underestimate. Many may have seen him on all of the TV shows that he was doing later on and forget what a great entertainer he really was. When he does The Lady Is A Tramp it cooks, and may be the best cut from the album.

I really need to go out and search up some of his older stuff. Was a good time to find this disc finally, since I recently caught a Sammy profile on E! He had a interesting life for sure, and hearing RPLatS has made me really want to go out and dig up some of his old stuff.

Jazz sleeper picks: Piano ... records

By Pico: We already did piano men, but they were all by underrecognized artists.

Now, it's time to look at albums by the big names that didn't get the kudos of their better known companions, but should have.

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Eric Bibb, "Good Stuff" (1997)

By Pico:

Son of little-known folk singer Leon Bibb, Eric Bibb grew up listening and meeting musicians like Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan -- and his uncle, pianist and composer John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Eric has become more of a name in folk and blues circles in Europe and released his first album there in the 1990s already in his mid-forties.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Julian "Cannonball" Adderly, "Somethin' Else" (1958)

NICK DERISO:What an unmitigated triumph for all involved. And what a cast it is: There's Miles and Cannon, course. (Adderly had left his own group in 1957 to join Miles.)

But there's more: Oh-so-cool, oh-so-old school pianist Hank Jones, bassist Sam Jones and drummer Art Blakey, associated with the the then-new school of hard hop. Hard bop and MILES? Fertile, indeed.

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Junior Wells, "Pleading the Blues" (1979)

NICK DERISO: The year was 1959. The occasion was a "Battle of the Blues" at the Blue Flame Club in Chicago.

Young harmonica player Junior Wells -- who got his start as Little Walter Jacob's replacement in Muddy's band back in '52 -- probably didn't imagine he would come in second. After all, he had already ready put down both Otis Rush and (a favorite of mine) Magic Sam.

Still to come, though, was this fleet-fingered, skinny young Louisiana cat -- Buddy Guy. It was the beginning a beautiful friendship.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Forgotten series: "Johnny Shines and Robert Lockwood"

NICK DERISO: While the performances on "Johnny Shines and Robert Lockwood," from Shreveport's Paula Records, are first-rate, unfortunately the sound quality early on is spotty.

Some of the source material was slightly damaged on the Shines sides, resulting in a couple of gurgly spots where the sound falls out completely. Sit tight, however, This eventually works out.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Ike Turner, "Here and Now" (2001)

DERRICK: Just what Ike fans were waiting for.

The Clarksdale, Mississippi native returned to his roots with a barrel-house style blues recording that brings him back as a force on the music scene. The newest edition of his Kings of Rhythm band sounded tight and Ike picked right back up where he left off with his 50's sound.

Everybody seems to know more about Ike's history than his music, and that's too bad. You can't forget one, but should at least get to know the other.

Ike takes turns playing keyboards, bass and even a bit of drums on the album, but the Turner trademark guitar exists on all tracks. Surprisingly, he says he enjoys playing piano more than guitar on the liner notes. Ike is a great keyboard player, but if I played rhythm guitar like him I would never put it down.

Little bit of trivia in there also. Ike apparently switched from piano to guitar in order to accommodate an old girlfriend that played keyboards a place in the Kings of Rhythm, and bought his first Stratocaster at O.K. Houck's music store in Memphis. Maybe Houck's and the gal should be listed as historical landmarks. They did us all a big favor.

The disk starts off with Tore Up - a drinking anthem more than a few of us can relate to. It is a good updating of I'm Tore Up recorded in '56 but this time Ike does the singing. You Can't Winnum All has a guest appearance by Little Milton on guitar as does Feelin' Low Down.

Catfish Blues gives Turner a chance to strut his stuff on a good old-fashioned delta blues rumble and Gave You What You Wanted lets him give his Strat a hell of a nasty workout. Swanee River Boogie is a nifty piano instrumental piece that has some swing.

One thing I really enjoyed from the disk was Dell Akins work on the stand up bass on Catfish Blues as well as two other tunes. A horn section staffed by many keeps the album grooving all the way home.

Now for the scary part. When I first glanced at the set list, I was surprised to see that Turner took a shot at the classic Rhythm Kings song Rocket 88. Every likes Ike's Rocket 88, but nobody likes it when something that works is messed with. After all this is the song that Bill Haley and the Comets covered a full three years before Rock around the Clock. If you list the music that gave birth to rock and roll, Rocket 88 will be on the page.

When I listened to the song, I was a little surprised. I ended up scratching the original off my Winamp that was sung by Jackie Brenston from '51 and replacing it with the new version. It is every bit as fun as your first ride in Ike's Oldsmobile.

All in all, I'd have to say that I really enjoyed the album and it has been getting good airplay around the house. Nothing ground-breaking here, but a lot of good blues to be enjoyed.

Forgotten series: Miles Davis

NICK DERISO: Here's a handful of Miles Davis recordings that you might not have already grown dead-dog sick and tired of.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Steely Dan, "Everything Must Go" (2003)

By Pico:

After pulling off what could pass as one of the most improbable comebacks in rock history, Steely Dan re-emerges a mere three years later with another serious effort, Everything Must Go.

SD modified its approach to this album somewhat to set it apart from the prior, Grammy-winning Two Against Nature, by going back to analog recording and relying less on overdubbing, to create a warmer, livelier sound. There are a few other minor surprises here, too.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Pee Wee Ellis, "Blues Mission" (1992)

NICK DERISO: "Blues Mission" was the first bonafide solo release by Maceo Parker's running buddy Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis -- one of the funkiest homo sapiens anywhere.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Guilty pleasures: Robert Cray, "Strong Persuader" (1986)

NICK DERISO: I came to know about Robert Cray by association. Digging through the blues stacks at the old SOOTO Records in the Shreveport, I stumbled across the 1985 album "Showdown!" on Alligator, featuring two I knew and one I didn't: Albert Collins, Johnny Copeland ... and some dude named Robert Cray.

I bit -- and boy, am I glad I did.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Jazz sleeper picks: We got rhythm!

By Pico:

1. Peter Erskine; Sweet Soul (1991)

I've got scads of records led by John Abercrombie that show Erskine's prowess on the skins better than this record. But here, Erskine does such a great job leading an ensemble that shifts from track to track. On some, we are treated to Kenny Werner's inspired keyboard work and on others, John Scofield's guitar or Randy Brecker's trumpet takes the lead.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Sleeper picks: Kent DuChaine

Derrick: I'll never forget my first night at a "real bar" when I turned legal.

There used to be this place called Daddy Rawshucks Oyster Bar, which was the typical cool joint so common then and so rare now. No corporate logo needed.

I was legal anyway but my brother was not. No problem there - I bought, we both drank. Raw oysters and the blues might sound like a nasty combo but it was a night to remember. One of my best to tell you the truth.

Live blues music is always best IMHO and this night was my introduction to Kent DuChaine.

Kent was then and remains today a strange sort of fellow. Back in those days he toured the country in a powder blue '55 Caddy he named Marilyn (after Monroe of course) playing blues on his National steel guitar known as Leadbessie. Maybe that doesn't sound particularly strange to you, but the guy is from Minnesota after all. Not Mississippi - Minnesota.

Kent still comes through town from time to time and in fact he will be here at the end of the month. He travels the world now, can't say I know what happened to Marilyn, but Leadbessie is still at his side.

Over the years Kent has played music with the likes of Boogie Woogie Red, Luther Tucker, Big Walter Horton, Hubert Sumlin, Eddie Burns and Margie Evans, Lazy Bill Lucas, and Kim Wilson. He's shared the bill with B.B. King, Albert King, John Lee Hooker, Howling Wolf, Bukka White, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells and of course, Johnny Shines who he worked with in partnership until Shines' death in 1992.

Shines was done by the time DuChaine met him in 1990 but the two struck up a friendship that got Johnny Shines back in the game.

IMO, Kent DuChaine is the type of man that makes America great. He could be doing something else for more money I would imagine, but he has dedicated his life to something he loves - the Delta Blues. If we had more people like that, the world would be at least be a more interesting if not better place.

You may have never heard of Kent DuChaine, but he had a big impact on me. A lot of my love for the blues comes from that first night out and seeing him play the music.

Heck, if I had my head on straight I would have maybe dedicated this whole blues thread thing to him. I owe the debt.

The Beatles, "Abbey Road" (1969)

NICK DERISO: This album, because it has aged better than most of the very late-period Beatles albums, has actually gained popularity over the years.

That's even though, once side one is done, there is very little overt Lennon sprinkled throughout the rest. What there is, however, is important. ("One, two, three, four, five, six, seven ...")

See, if you're a Paul McCartney fan, this remains his brightest, most artistically satisfying, moment -- even thirtysomething years later. However, it's John Lennon's punctuations (and, to a lesser degree, George Harrison's), undoubtably, that make it so.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, "Fire of the Fundamentals" (1994)

NICK DERISO: While it doesn't have the cohesiveness of 1992's "Portraits of Ellington," this makes its own kind of statement.

The playlist is an evocative pairing of older, traditional big-band selections by composers like Billy Strayhorn, with more modern tunes from Miles, Monk and Coltrane. In that way, the CD nearly mirrors the band's own makeup.

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Steely Dan, "Two Against Nature" (2000)

By Pico:

Twenty years is a long time to go without a proper studio album, but long-suffering fans of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker’s Steely Dan finally got relief in February of 2000 with the release of Two Against Nature.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

The Beatles, "Revolver" (1966)

NICK DERISO: Any conversation about the Beatles inevitably leads to one place: The Desert Island Disc. (Well, actually, it passes through Which One Is Your Favorite -- somebody else can deal with that one -- but it ends up, inevitably, with this eternal question.)

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Forgotten series: Coleman Hawkins, "Rainbow Mist" (1944)

NICK DERISO: Just popped in Coleman Hawkins' smoker "Rainbow Mist" (Delmark), from 1944 -- a brilliant record borne out of boredom.

Hawkins, the tenor saxman, had already made his splash with the song "Body and Soul," back in 1939.

When he returned from living in Europe for five years, he took a chance on updating his by-then decrepit standard -- stirring in some talented unknowns that had yet to reach a mainstream audience.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Guilty pleasures: Paul McCartney, "Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest" (1994)

NICK DERISO: Capitol Records tried to drop hints that was, in fact, a record by Paul McCartney.

Press information shipped with the advance CDs had a pull-out reproduction of a tabloid, apparently circa 1964: "'Beatlemania,'" the headline screamed, "sweeps U.S." But the enclosed news release goes on and on about "an anonymous duo" known as the Fireman.

No other details given on the stark-red 1994 release, titled "Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest," but it turned out to be one of the wackiest Beatles solo releases ever. (Nothing, of course, tops John Lennon's "Two Virgins" -- not with THAT cover!)

Still, if you like some of Brian Eno's more uptempo stuff -- or if you get Moby at all, this is one you'll enjoy. At the very least, it goes into the Top Five Very Un-Fab Solo Albums.

McCartney is joined by producer Flood, who's worked with Charlatans UK and, more famously, with U2.

Sure, there were great reasons to keep it anonymous. Flood got to preserve his street cred -- and, yeah, McCartney might move some product among the funny-haircut kids.

But, still, it was a wow-inducer. Since the joys of Eno's first ambient noodlings, many are the eggheads who've taken it upon themselves to fire up the synthesizer and get after it. None, it would seem, more surprising than one Sir Paul.

Yet, a brush with his catalog clearly predicts the crisp, dancy stuff on "Strawberries ...": Specifically, there's "McCartney II," the 1980 release that marked the official breakup of Wings. It was the second album (that's what they used to call them, kids) that he'd done all alone.

Where 1970's "McCartney" -- which followed his split with some British supergroup -- was strictly down-home acoustic, "II" was a burst of eletrified home-studio messing around. Sometimes it worked ("Summer's Day Song," the hit "Coming Up") and sometimes it didn't (virtually the rest of "II").

Same here. There is the same fitful brilliance, matched with swoons into rote techno-razzle with no dazzle. This could have to do with the editing process -- or the lack there of. Only one tune is under eight minutes lone -- and it's still more than seven and a half!

It was minor hit in England, but of course, fizzled here. Just as well. Paul would go on to drop his dance-floor pretensions, call up his old buddies Ringo Starr and George Harrison -- and refashion two old Lennon demo tapes into the last music ever produced under the Beatles' monicker.

The Best. Tenors. Ever. Says Nick.

NICK DERISO:

1, always: Coltrane. Easily the most influential saxophonist ever, he was able to navigate through a muse that was by turns turbulent then like the sweet, sweet musings of a smitten lover. On the one hand, there is the troubled beauty of "A Love Supreme," on the other is his touching recording with singer Johnny Hartman.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Wynton Marsalis, "The Magic Hour" (2004)

NICK DERISO: “The Magic Hour” by Louisiana-born trumpeter Wynton Marsalis is that sweetest of swinging homecomings – like time spent laughing with old friends on a front porch.

We have Marsalis returning finally to small-band work – where he once sparked a resurgence of interest as the first widely known trumpeter since Miles Davis. We have Marsalis again beside music industry veteran Bruce Lundvall, who signed Wynton to his very first record deal in 1980.

We have Marsalis finally returning to the driving rhythms and lyrical whimsy that marked his best early work, before he won Pulitzers and made records with 199 other musicians

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Miles Davis, "Tutu" (1986)

By Pico:

Recently I revisited an album that wore our my cassette player during late '86-early '87: Tutu by Miles Davis.

It typically takes a long time to get the right perspective on a Miles record, he was often took a direction in music before his listeners were ready to follow him down the path he was taking. Tutu, however, wasn’t a watershed recording for its innovation; rather, it marks Miles’ first record by a new label in thirty years and the beginning of his final fully-realized phase, his collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Marcus Miller.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Sleeper picks: Feeling down? Do the zydeco

DERRICK: The best thing about zydeco is you can be feeling like total crap, put a little on and you will feel better...

Steve Martin used to do a joke back when he still had his "act" that you couldn't play sad songs on the banjo no matter how hard you tried so it was great for a comedian and that is pretty much zydeco.

Of course, it helps me that sometimes I can't understand the words.

Steve Riley, Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas, Queen Ida, Ray Abshire, Rockin' Dopsie, Rosie Ledet (that's here on the right), Wayne Toups, D.L. Menard...

One Track Mind: Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, "Monroe, Louisiana" (1975)

NICK DERISO: "Sitting on a suitcase, in the Memphis depot - wishing to God I could fly," sings Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown on my old record. "Catching this train is my way of telling Memphis and Mildred goodbye."

People have actually asked me to bring it to parties.

The album - and it is an album, on vinyl pressed in 1975 - is unremarkable enough. Really, "The Bogalusa Boogie Man" looks like nothing more than another old blues record, issued by the tiny Barclay label.

The fourth song on side one, though: It's called "Monroe, Louisiana."

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Guilty pleasures: Earth, Wind and Fire

NICK DERISO: Funny, Earth Wind and Fire was considered too smooth for R&B stations and perhaps too black by white stations in the 1970s.

Maybe that dichotomy is why I like every one of their songs. And I never, ever fail to turn them all the way up when riding around with the windows down ...

"September." "Shining Star." "Boogie Wonderland." "After the Love is Gone." "Let's Groove." Even Philip Bailey's "Easy Lover" with that bald guy.

Even their brilliant funkified version of the Beatles' "Got To Get You Into My Life." Even "Sing a Song."

And especially -- especially -- "That's the Way of the World."

Over the top. Maybe even a little obvious. YEOW!

I'm there. For every bit of it.

Forgotten series: Little Walter, "The Blues World of Little Walter" (1988)

NICK DERISO: Many familiar Muddy Waters celebrate his stirring legacy without mentioning Little Walter, his burning early harpist. It's a shame.

Between 1950 and '51, the Louisiana-born Walter (at 19) did some of his most rowdy, thrilling work -- and almost all of it was with Muddy. For a peek at some of the best sides that haven't been issued under Waters' name, dig into Delmark's "The Blues World of Little Walter."

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Branford Marsalis, "Bloomington" (1992)

NICK DERISO: The jazz ideal is this: a hard-blowing, maybe bluesy horn player, sweat drops dripping down his nose, fronting a filterless rhythm section.

And the scene, no doubt, is this: Dim and sticky room in the middle a bustling mileau, with taxis and tourists groaning outside, businessmen passing vagrants near the front door, steam rising from the sewer grates.

Well, on Branford Marsalis' "Bloomington," forget it. This recording, done live during Marsalis's 1991 tour, was made in bucolic Bloomington.

In Indiana.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

The Crusaders, "Rural Renewal" (2003)

By Pico:

Soul-jazz was never a major genre, even in its seventies heyday, but the boys from Houston who called themselves The Crusaders were doing it better than just about anyone else then...and now.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Guilty pleasures: Don Henley

DERRICK: I've heard this song twice this week and they don't play it much any more. Can't say it's my all-time favorite but it speaks to me more than a little: Former Eagles drummer/singer Don Henley's 'Heart of the Matter.'

It was popular about the same time I had a rough breakup with my ex-fiancée who I had been dating about five years:

I got the call today, I didn't wanna hear,
But I knew that it would come.
An old, true friend of ours was talkin' on the phone,
She said you found someone.
And I thought of all the bad luck, and the struggles we went through,
And how I lost me and you lost you.
What are those voices outside love's open door?
Make us throw off our contentment and beg for something more?
'Cos I'm learning to live without you now,
But I miss you sometimes.
The more I know, the less I understand.
All the things I thought I knew, I'm learning again.
I've been tryin' to get down to the heart of the matter,
Because the flesh will get weak and the ashes will scatter.
So I'm thinkin' about forgiveness, forgiveness,
Even if, even if you don't love me anymore.

There are people in your life who've come and gone.
They let you down, you know they hurt your pride.
You better put it all behind you, baby, 'cos life goes on.
You keep carryin' that anger, it'll eat you up inside, baby.
I've been tryin' to get down to the heart of the matter,
Because the flesh will get weak and the ashes will scatter.
So I'm thinkin' about forgiveness, forgiveness,
Even if, even if you don't love me.
(Forgiveness, forgiveness.)
Even if you don't love me anymore.

That pretty much summed it up then - and it still does to this day. I can't hear the song without my thinking of her.

Sometimes that is a good thing and sometimes a bad thing.

The Best. Bird. Ever. Says Nick.

NICK DERISO: Spring and summer time. That means sudden storms, stingingly bright flowers -- and birds.

Or, for me, Bird.

Here are a few recommended Charlie Parker sides to while away the sunshine and showers ...

"The Legendary Dial Masters, Vols. 1 & 2," from 1996 on Jazz Classics

For beginning listeners, start here instead of Rhino's two-CD "Yardbird Suite: The Ultimate Collection" -- because it's more affordable and, in fact, includes 14 out of those 35 songs, anyway.

Of course, if you've got the jack, go for the Rhino set. It's terrific.

Either way, in today's post-bop world, it's easy to forget why these recordings from 1946-1947 were such mind-blowing things.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Forgotten series: Various artists, "Chicago Piano, 1951-58"

NICK DERISO: It you're interested in Delta piano stylings, as seen through the sieve of Chicago's mean streets, here's a great place to begin your journey.

Issued by Stan Lewis's hip-shaking local indie label , "Chicago Piano, 1951-58" features Sunnyland Slim, Little Brother Montgomery, Memphis Slim and others.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Maceo Parker, "Roots Revisited" (1990)

By Pico: Call this one, Mo' Maceo.

If you like Maceo Parker, get your hands on Roots Revisited; good, organic funky soul covering classic tunes by giants like Ray Charles ("Them That Got"), Charles Mingus ("Better Get Hit In Yo' Soul") and Sly Stone ("In Time").

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

The JB Horns, "Funky Good Time/Live" (1993)

NICK DERISO: Maceo Parker -- leader of the ferocious JB Horns, James Brown's band and musical backbone back in the day -- once put it all in perspective, introducing a song from the stage: "We like to play two percent jazz ... and 98 percent funky stuff."

The JBs later took off on their own, recording some terrific solo albums (altoist Parker's aforementioned "Life on Planet Groove," baritone saxist Pee Wee Ellis' "Blues Mission," bone player Fred Wesley's "Comme Si, Comme Sa"). But we're going to groove for awhile on a collaborative effort, the aptly titled "Funky Good Time/Live" on Gramavision.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Forgotten series: Ike Turner, "1958-59"

NICK DERISO: It's been more than 50 years since Stan Lewis opened Stan's Record Shop in downtown Shreveport.

From his vantage point at the the top of Texas Avenue (I used to sneak down there after class), he would go on to create a once-lucrative business, then see the shop whither and go under (as vinyl died). But, all the while, he issued some of the nation's most influential artists on three separate independent, north Louisiana-based record labels.

In the the early 1990s, we got a digital opportunity to become reintroduced to his best work from the Jewel, Paula and Ronn imprints through a series of terrific CD reissues. Taken together, these labels moved around in every important Southern genre -- early rock 'n' roll, country, down-home blues, black gospel and swamp pop.

On one of those discs, Ike Turner's terrific "1958-59," we find an encapsulation of all of those many diversions.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Sleeper picks: David Gilmour, "David Gilmour" (1978)

NICK DERISO: Maybe because it's the first Pink Floyd solo album I ever bought, but also because it came between two Waters-heavy releases ("Animals" and "The Wall") ... this has always been a sleeper favorite for me.

It's a loose record, with some interesting instrumentals, never didactic -- and anything but a knockoff of what the larger band was doing (like, say, "Momentary Lapse"). Lastly, it's the biggest throwback of Gilmour's career.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Branford Marsalis, "I Heard You Twice The First Time" (1991)

NICK DERISO: Neatly mixing two of our favorite topics, Branford Marsalis pays no empty lip-service to exploring blues through the jazz idiom here.

In fact, you don't have to listen more than once to hear that's he's gone off the deep blue end. Any CD with appearances by B.B. King, Linda Hopkins AND John Lee Hooker isn't playing footsie.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Jimmy Smith, "Back at the Chicken Shack" (1960)

NICK DERISO: Perfectly named, even better played: The 1960 groove bomb "Back at the Chicken Shack" is a Blue Note classic of singular brilliance.

Primarily this was because Jimmy Smith was among the first to understand the importance of a foot in the organ style. He also played with a rare two-handed artistry, equally adept at left-hand chordal accompaniment, as with solo lines in the right. Throughout, everything was greasy and, more often than not, up-tempo.

Great, great party music.

Thing is, even with all this R&B, blues, and gospel, Smith was clearly a fan of bebop (as was his labelmate Lou Donaldson, for instance) meaning he moved freely among both the roots and the jazz crowds. That makes him, and this terrific release, a Nick's Pick from start to finish.

Side note: This was also one of the first albums to properly feature tenorman Stanley Turrentine. The great Kenny Burrell is on guitar.

Jazz sleeper series: Let's get funky

By Pico:

This time we look at albums with grooves in the pocket even if they weren't much in the press:

1) Herbie Hancock, Mr. Hands (1980)
The seventies began very creatively for HH, first with the space funk Mwandishi albums followed by the better-known Head Hunters period that firmly eastablished Herbie's pre-eminance in synthesized instrumental funk. But as the decade wore on, the music got less and less creative until it devolved into generic disco.

Right at the end of this era, though, Hancock re-asserts control to generate an electric jazz album with every song distinguishable and original.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Forgotten series: Allen Toussaint, "Connected" (1996)

NICK DERISO: I've always been a fan of this pianist/composer. Perhaps never meant to be a star, Toussaint was one of those great working-class, behind-the-scenes talents -- he did session work, produced, helped with A&R, wrote songs -- who made the record business go back in the day.

In this way, Toussaint was the tireless, beating heart of New Orleans music in the early 1960s -- yet still found relevance with the rockers later on. That was him producing the 1973 McCartney album, "Venus and Mars," made in New Orleans ("Listen What the Man Said"); that was him scoring the horns for the Band's gritty and groovy "Last Waltz" performance, filmed by Martin Scorcese in the mid-1970s.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Frank Sinatra, "Only the Lonely" (1958)

NICK DERISO: It's not a swinging session, though it does feature arranger Nelson Riddle -- rather than Gordon Jenkins, who is so closely associated with much of Frank's more string-oriented, darker work. (See the very good CD "September of My Years," featuring "It Was A Very Good Year," from 1965.)

Frank had known Riddle since 1953, his second recording session for Capitol. Sinatra's tenure with the label would find its high watermarks in this almost telepathic relationship.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Forgotten series: Ahmad Jamal, "Ahmad's Blues" (1994)

NICK DERISO:Jamal, a pianist who Miles Davis was crazy about, originally recorded this concert at The Spotlite Club, in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 6, 1958.

Featured is the same terrific trio that had that Top 40 hit with "Poinciana" -- Jamal, bassist Israel Crosby and drummer Vernel Fournier. The results were initially released as two LPs, but then combined on disc by GRP in the early 1990s.

Throughout, the tunes seem to seize up, then release, in the most brilliant ways -- leading Davis to not only borrow from Ahmad Jamal's repertoire but insist, it's said, that Red Garland try to sound like him.

Nick's Pick: The wonderful "Let's Fall in Love." Like the whole album, there's so much space, but yet the tune is always swinging. Jamal was one of the few pianists in the 1950s who did not sound like another Bud Powell.

Tab Benoit, "Wetlands" (2002)

By Pico:

Being a S~L~O~B means you have an affinity for da' blooz and you gotta Louisiana connection. Which means that a Tab Benoit CD release is cause for celebration. And so it was with Tab Benoit's "Wetlands," back in 2002.

More than a decade ago, a young Cajun kid from Baton Rouge walked into a Houston studio and produced some of the most refreshingly honest rock-tinged swamp blues ever heard. Yet, one could sense that Benoit would go the way of may bluesmen who've tasted success and eventually dilute the pure sound of 1992's "Nice And Warm" until he becomes just another rock axe grinder miscast as a bloozer.

Six albums later, Tab's sound was even more basic and grittier than where he started; every one of the thirteen tracks on "Wetlands" is played like as if he's in a bar trying to earn his supper, and the electricity of a nightclub setting comes through on a session obviously recorded live in the studio.

Benoit's voice...which was always fine (despite critics' assertions that he "over-emoted"), has now developed a bit of a gruff sound and the confidence of a guy who is dead certain of how to phrase the lyrics.

And his guitar work has gotten leaner, as he rations the wailing for maximal effect.

Lionel Hampton, "Rare Recordings, Vol. 1" (1977)

NICK DERISO: A line-up from jazzer nirvana is one thing. Wringing such ringing performances out of the guys is quite another.

Call this cool vibes from vibrophonist Hampton, who certainly knows where to mail the invitations -- a veritable who's-who of jazz for the newbie.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Jazz sleeper picks: Miles Davis

By Pico: Another in a series of overlooked jazz classics. This time we look at diamonds in the rough by perhaps the single most influential figure in jazz since World War II: Miles Davis.

A high profile artist whose work has been picked apart as much as Davis' won't have a lot of unturned stones despite some 45+ years of recording history. In fact, his entire Columbia catalogue from 'Round Midnight’ in 1955 to 'Bitches Brew' in 1969 has been well regarded for many years now and are generally very easy to obtain; much of the same recordings even show up in different releases.

So, we'll ignore that big chunk to concentrate on albums outside the so-called golden era.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Remix: Beatles REUNION!

NICK DERISO: Whether it was because he was the only former partner they really liked, that he really needed the money or that he was the best darned rock drummer they could find, it seems that Ringo Starr was involved in most of the almost-reunions the Beatles ever had.

So let's play around a little with that legacy ... here is the rundown of our actual Beatles post-1970 reunion album. (Forget the posthumous stuff like "Free As A Bird.")

It features at least two Beatles on every track - and is put together like their real albums, alternating voices and styles.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Junior Wells/Buddy Guy, "Southside Blues Jam" (1970)

NICK DERISO: Several of Muddy's great sidemen -- Junior Wells , Buddy Guy and Otis Spann -- appear on the loose and funky "Southside Blues Jam," originally on Chicago's Delmark Records.

Funny, for all their marquee value, Wells and Guy -- born in Lettsworth, Louisiana -- are very nearly overshadowed by the intricate, intelligent playing of the shoulda-been legendary Spann.

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Forgotten series: Julian "Cannonball" Adderly

By Pico: If someone were to ask me who was the best alto sax player ever, I couldn't at least not heavily consider Cannonball, the Miles Davis sideman. He had both technique and soul by the sackful.

Adderley churned out some fine ones even without the Prince Of Darkness' help. Four come to mind.

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DaSlobTribute: Pianist/singer Marcia Ball

NICK DERISO:One of her best Rounder releases, and hilariously named, is "Let Me Play With Your Poodle." Featured is legendary guitar virtuoso Clarence Holliman, the guy who burned through Bobby "Blue" Bland's classic 1950s and '60 sessions.

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The Best. Gatemouth. Ever. Says Nick.

NICK DERISO: We talked a little about the late Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown earlier. Here are a couple of recommendations ...

I love "No Looking Back," actually a contemporary album from 1992 on Alligator. Not only does he punch up Ellington on "C Jam Blues" (instrumentals were always a strongpoint), it includes one of Brown's funniest sides: "Alligator Eating Dog." This is one of the best modern blendings of zydeco and blues that he's done.

But what about straight blues? I'd go with "Alright Again!," a Rounder reissue from the early 1980s. (From a time when Gate was working primarily in France.)

Here, Brown pays tribute to that early influence T-Bone Walker by doing Walker's "Strollin' with Bones." Love his take on Albert Collins's "Frosty," too. Then there's Junior Parker's "I Feel Alright Again" and Percy Mayfield's "Give Me Time to Explain." A blast.

Old stuff? You must get the Original Peacock Recordings. This is the basis for his post-war Texas blues legacy. They are, in fact, amazing.

Peacock was run by Don Robey, the Houston businessman at whose club Gate jumped up on stage as a fill-in for the ailing T-Bone. He was there through 1960. This best-of compilation was also reissued by Rounder.

MORE ON GATE.

Roomful of Blues "Watch You When You Go" (2002)

NICK DERISO: They haven't taken more than a week off since Nixon's first term. They've withstood disco, fathering a rafter-shaking, swing-blues style that saw its own too-fey-by-half revival. (Did you ever notice that all those bands a few years back had names with the word Daddy in them?)

So it is that after 30 years, nine guys still make their living as thatfunky tabernacle choir, the Roomful of Blues.

Formed in the late 1960s by Duke Robillard, Roomful found its widest popularity much later. artly that's because they didn't do much recording early on, until current saxophonist Rich Lataille joined the band's first horn sectionin 1970.

It's also partly due to the luck of timing: Roomful of Blues was ahard-swinging herd of retro cats when being a hard-swinging etc., etc. wasn't cool.

But they've been nominated for four Grammys since 1983. They were named best blues band of the year in the Down Beat international critics polla few times. They won a WC Handy Award for best instrumentalist, too - a tribute to the fat, cool sway of Lataille's blowing.

The line-up has been ever-changing: Roomful lost a whopping six members after that Christmas record a few years ago. But the vibe is still cleanly soulful, knee-slapping traditional - and above all fun.

Take "Watch You When You Go." As with the others before, the band's new album is like a windows-down tour of all the blues haunts.

You hit a bump and realize you're leaving Chicago, headed south to Memphis. You gas up in New Orleans and floor it for Kansas City. But not before a pit stop for this lazy Texas shuffle.

Perfect example: They get all over south Louisiana legend Earl King's "Your Love Was Never There" - then they boogie through the title track.

That down-home diversity, coupled with a new graduating class ofperformers every few years, always gives Roomful a new sheen: "I feel like I've been in two or three bands," Lataille has said. "The repertoire might be (large), but I'm probably the only one who knows them all."

That long tenure is rewarded on Roomful's new album with a session-closing instrumental Lataille wrote called "Where's Bubba?"

Returning is scorching vocalist Mac Odom, who joined the band for 1998's "There Goes the Neighborhood." In the tradition of big personalities the band has had over the years (Curtis Salgado, Ronnie Earl, Sugar Ray Norcia), here's a guy who doesn't get swallowed up by the bright blast of horns behind him.

Guitarist Chris Vachon, who's been with Roomful since 1990, produces and writes much of their original stuff. (He's also gigged with founder Robillard over the years.) A particular favorite on "Watch You When You Go" is Vachon's tune "The Salt of My Tears," which chugs along with the kind of chin-wagging rattle associated with the best R&B of their original era.

Roomful isn't done here. They prove equally adept at straight blues, a killer take on "Wait and See" (by Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew) and the Stevie Ray-swagger of "Backlash."

Ain't nothing new. Nixon's gone, but they remain. Roomful still piles into the tour bus, making about 200 gigs a year.They still present a coiled, jumping blues that, through turnover and new commitment, hasn't wrinkled with age.

And they still fill dance halls by the roomful.

Jazz sleeper picks: Organ

By Pico: Here, we take a look at the mighty Hammond B-3. To make it a bit challenging, no records by the organ jazz godfather Jimmy Smith will be on the list.

Also, since I might have a list of acid jazz records later on, the more recent groovers will be excluded.

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One Track Mind: The Beatles, "Why Don't We Do It In the Road?" (1968)

NICK DERISO: Almost certainly written by McCartney in an attempt to mirror some of the heavier, more intellectually raw pieces that Lennon had begun to craft.

Lennon was not outwardly impressed -- famously sniffing that it was "the best song Paul ever wrote" -- but there are some who think "Why Don't We Do It?" actually pushed Lennon to greater experimental heights on "Revolution 9."

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DaSlobInterview: Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown

NICK DERISO:

The late Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown could be a grouchy man.

How grouchy?

When I talked to Brown in 1991, he was at work on an autobiography. Fair enough. But then he wouldn’t let a conversation get going.

What’s the lowest he’d been? It’s in the book.

But “bad times depends on how you look at it,” Brown admitted, after some prodding. “Heartaches and heartbreaks. You don’t know where your next dollar is coming from. Wading through water, mud and oil.”

He didn’t let things get him down, though.

“I live a positive way of life,” Brown said. “All you got to do is believe in yourself and it all will work out.”

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Melvin Taylor, "Dirty Pool" (1997)

By Pico: Electric blues guitarist Melvin Taylor has been sporadically recording solo albums for 20 years now. While a hit in Europe for some time now, a steady run of performing in Chicago’s famed blues clubs is slowly earning him a well-deserved reputation as an equal talent among the giants before him, such as Otis Rush, Albert King, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

While early records like "Melvin Taylor Plays the Blues For You" show off an equally amazing jazz side, Taylor traded away his Montgomery runs for more Luther Allison/Jimi Hendrix attacks with the formation of the trio Melvin Taylor and the Slack Band in the mid ‘90’s. The song of the second album by that outfit, "Dirty Pool", is actually more the balls-to-the-wall no-compromise hard rockin’ electric Texas blues of Vaughan and Johnny Winter than the sweet Chicago soul of Buddy Guy.

Indeed, three tracks on this 1997 release, including the title song, were SRV’s tunes. Other standards, like "Kansas City" and "Floodin’ in California" also have more of a Lone Star State approach to them.

But Melvin’s guitar is cleaner than his forebears and technically, he even surpasses them, yet the anger and sorrow of the blues is readily evident in his playing. This rare combination of qualities really comes out in a slow blues tune like his solo in "Dirty Pool", which after repeated listens, still makes make head shake in disbelief when I hear it.

"Too Sorry" is a good example of how well Taylor fares when he treads in Jimi Hendrix territory, whereas his rhythm work is the best I’ve heard from a lead guitarist since SRV; listen to "I Ain’t Superstitious", "Born Under A Bad Sign" and the funky "Telephone Song" for your proof.

It also helps that Taylor’s drummer James Knowles is well in synch with him while Ethan Farmer completely owns the low end of the sound. Farmer’s peppering bass lines in and "Floodin’ in California" is the textbook way electric blues bass should be, IMO. Overall, a tight little band.

Taylor’s vocals certainly won’t draw any comparisons to the Wide-Brimmed–Hatted One but he holds his own just fine until it’s cuttin’ time. This is right at the top of my list of best blues guitar playing on record in the last ten years. If you decide to give this one a listen, prepare to be blown away.

Fleetwood Mac, "One More Try" (2003)

NICK DERISO: They were the Chanteuse, the Wild Hair (in more ways than one) and the Songstress. And now Fleetwood Mac has had a hit album in every decade since the 1970s.

The reason seems to be in their very makeup: This is the rare group that has enough hardness (in the spindly tunes of Lindsey Buckingham) to attract the average rock music fan; enough magical mystery (in the gauzy stuff from Stevie Nicks) to attract the fanciful; and a dollop of old-fashioned power-pop (the now-missing Christine McVie) to lure in the rest.

In many ways, they were the perfect concoction for FM radio. Throw in the juicy melodrama of their lives, though, and it’s all the more surprising that any of it turned into great music. (Unlike say, P-Diddy or Mariah Carey.)

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Sleeper series: The I-20 Hiding and Watching Blues

NICK DERISO: Here's an article that first appeared in the 1995 Louisiana Folklife Festival book. Both Thomas Edison Ford and Jesse Thomas have passed away in the time since this story was written.
***
North Louisiana reached the end of the twentieth century with some things unchanged. Some people still work hard--many with their hands--and pray harder, and blues singers still speak to it with guitar, harmonica, and the human voice. Among those who speak, are four men who seem to form a kind of conversation about black and white, past and present.

There is Jesse Thomas of Shreveport. On his old records, he's a whispering recollection of all that is desired and feared, of human longing.

There is Brownie Ford of Hebert: When he sings about Cowboy Jack, Ford is fierce and determined, personifying everything that makes the South what it is in our mind--expansive, scary, yet hopeful.

And there is Henry and Tookie of Rayville, two friends who perhaps wouldn't have been friends in another time. A black man and a white man, joined together in songs celebrating the heavy air of the Delta.

In those four men, two white and two black, we can clearly see where blues has come from and where it's going. Their music unfolds in a time-honored way--blues or ballads sung loud--but in a most modern form: The overlay of race permeates their work, yet never shouts down its true voice.

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Montgomery/Smith, "The Dynamic Duo" (1966)

NICK DERISO: The first jazz record I ever heard was a mind-blower: Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Smith, 1966's "The Dynamic Duo" on Verve.

The orchestration -- including a tough version of "Down By the Riverside" -- was muscular and distinctive, by Oliver Nelson. My father and I were into what was then called Soul Jazz -- and this record, along with the seminal live Cannonball record "At the Club" were the touchstones of our groove thing.

Favorite line from the liner notes, concerning Montgomery, was a reference to his "amazing, blazing guitar phrasing."

Still got that sucker on vinyl -- both the copy we listened to (my father died when I was a teenager), the one with his name carefully written on it by my mother ... and the replacement copy for casual listening -- AND the (now never used) cassette tape, and the (now nearly worn out) compact disc.

Ain't love grand?

The Beatles, "Let It Be ... Naked" (2003)

NICK DERISO: “Across the Universe” – stripped bare on this new version of the Beatles’ penultimate record, “Let It Be” – finds John Lennon alone in his ringing chorus: “Nothing’s gonna change my world.”

The world of “Let It Be,” then, has in fact been drastically changed: There are no chicks in the background.

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Jazz sleeper picks: Pianists

By Pico: Piano records are tough to pick, because there's always the temptation to include records by Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea or Bill Evans:

1) The Michael Wolff Trio; Jumpstart (1995)
Before this guy was twenty, he was already good enough to be playing in Cannonball Adderley's band. For this session, he employs Christian McBride and Tony Williams, and thoughtfully mixes Wayne Shorter classic compositions with a few nice ones of his own. An unbeatable recipe for a virtually perfect trio record.

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Muddy Waters, "Hard Again" (1977)

DERRICK: Muddy Waters remains one of the greatest of all time. Like many of the greats; be it football, basketball, baseball or the blues, Muddy had what was undeniably a slump in his long career.

His 1977 release "Hard Again" was appropriately titled and marked the kind of comeback you expect from the great ones. The slump was mostly due to Muddy's long time record label Chess which at the time was beginning its fall as an active music label to what it eventually became - an awesome catalog and nothing more.

Dire times often lead to bad moves and Chess made a ton hoping to keep itself and its roster alive in its final ten years. Muddy was no exception and albums like "Electric Mud," "After The Rain," or "The London Muddy Waters Sessions" were thorns in the sides of blues lovers and Muddy fans at the time.

Any coach can tell you the best way to break out of the slump is surround yourself with good talent and get back to the fundamentals and Muddy did just that. Great musicians are all over this record. Howzabout James Cotton, Pinetop Perkins, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith....just for starters. Blues guitar monster Johnny Winter served as producer for this album and serves up some of his patented nasty guitar licks and some great vocals - maybe it's more like screeching, whooping and hell yeahs!

Anyway, it's all a bunch of fun and pretty much what you would imagine it was like to have Muddy and friends come into your house, eat all your food, drink your beer then plug up and jam. You should know you are in trouble right off the bat when Muddy takes his classic hit "Mannish Boy" and turns it into something new...maybe better, but definitely mean.

Take my word for it. No matter how bad you feel, no matter if your sweetie left you for another guy, your dog takes up with your arsehole of a neighbor or your boss tells you to hit the road - put this version of "Mannish Boy" in your car and drive. You

Cotton does some great work on "Bus Driver" and "Little Girl." The blues standard "I Can't Be Satisfied" is just what it should be: a kick butt, funky blooz swing. If you dig Muddy make sure you get a hold of this one.

Forgotten series: Lost Sinatra classics

NICK DERISO: First, the album: 1966's "Sinatra at the Sands," featuring the Count Basie Orchestra, with arrangements by a young Quincy Jones. While you're right to dig into the Capitol stuff first, Frank did some interesting, if perhaps too unfocused, work in the 1960s, too.

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Dizzy Gillespie/Sonny Stitt, "Duets" (1958)

NICK DERISO: An underappreciated Gillespie record on Verve, includes a s-s-smokin' version of "Con Alma" -- two, in fact.

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Forgotten series: Pink Floyd, "Division Bell" (1994)

NICK DERISO: Perhaps the only album from after the so-called Classic Period ("Dark Side"-to-"Animals," some would also include "The Wall") that must be checked out by any prospective Floyd fan -- if only because it helps encapsulate the Rest of the Story, outside of Roger Waters' monolithic influence.

"Division Bell" is the underrated album that knocked, what was it? ... Ace of Base? ... out the top spot. For that we should all thank Gilmour.

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Sleeper picks: Miles Davis, "Doo Bop" (1991)

NICK DERISO: Big confession: I found Miles Davis's last album, Doo-Bop, to be another in the long line of revolutionary countermoves that made his career so brilliant.

Sure, taken as a rap album, it was junk. But taken as a jazz album looking to the future, it was phenomenal -- the precursor to hybrid albums by Guru and Us3, hits that included (for the first time) actual jazz loops.

"Doo Bop" is a side trip, I'll grant you. Perhaps only worth mentioning if for nothing more than those darned completists. But I am one.

The minuses are these: Not only did Miles die before he could fully explore the idea, then disassemble it again (as he had so brilliantly with rock), he died before he even finished the record. And that rapper is subpar.

The pluses are these: Miles showed that, even nearing the end of his creative cycle, he still had the nerve to risk failure. And there are some flashes of nascent brilliants, even in a half-finished project. Might have been a very interesting new phase, but in the end we'll never know.

I also appreciated Sco's dip into this. (There's no doubt he has the chops.) I was likewise intrigued by Blue Note's smart repackaging of people like Wes Montgomery who fit nicely into this new so-called category of acid.

John Scofield, "uberjam" (2002)

By Pico:
Much as Neil Young was the elder godfather to the grunge bands of a decade ago, guitarist John Scofield now enjoys a similar stature among the numerous funk-jazz jam bands that have sprouted up in the wake of the emergence of Medeski, Martin and Wood in the mid-nineties.

Many of these young guns found inspiration in Scofield’s funky offerings from his Gramavision label releases of the eighties, most notably “Still Warm”, “Blue Matter”, and “Loud Jazz”. The return to favor of what is now known as “acid jazz” lured JS back from his flirtations with more straight ahead acoustic forms of jazz.

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A few recommended blues harp records

By Pico:

1) Little Walter "His Best"
First gaining fame as a member of Muddy Waters band, Marksville, La.-native Little Walter pioneered the amplified harp sound that is often imitated but has not since been duplicated. Chess Records (now part of MCA) released a "Best" series that rank as one of the best compilation projects in the history of the blues. Walter's set is no exception.

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First take: Miles Davis, "The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions" (2004)

By Pico: On the Columbia re-release of Miles Davis' "The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions" ...

This 3 cd set covers Miles Davis' recoding sessions from September, 1968 to February, 1969, chronicalling the line of demarcation between "acoustic Miles" and "electric Miles". It is an important piece of work for historical reasons, making the listener a fly on the wall while a genius and his talented supporting cast craft revolutionary music.

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The Best. Steely Dan Records. Ever.

By Pico:

1) Aja (1977)
Strong set of songs + note perfect production + top notch musicianship = masterpiece.

High point: The Wayne Shorter and Steve Gadd exchange during the extended instrumental passage of the title cut.

Low point: Didn’t come with a second LP.

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Ponty, Frank Zappa, JLP

By Pico: 'Life Enigma' by Jean-Luc Ponty
Born in Avranches, France, in 1942, classically-trained violinist Jean Luc Ponty discovered Miles and 'Trane in his twenties and became a pioneer in the fusion movement of the late-sixties and throughout the seventies.

He was--and still is--arguably the finest electric violinist in the world. Oops, did I say "arguably"? My bad, there is no argument there.

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Matt "Guitar" Murphy, "Lucky Charm" (2000)

DERRICK: When you mention Matt "Guitar" Murphy around people who think they know something about blues music, but really don't...you frequently get a response of rolled eyes.

Murphy is mostly known by his work in the Blues Brothers movies and not his works in the studio and on the stage. If that's all you know about him, you are cheating yourself. The credentials are there, and Murphy has played with some of the greats of the scene.

Since taking up the guitar at the age of 13, Murphy has worked with Howlin' Wolf, Little Junior Parker, Ike Turner, James Cotton, Otis Rush, Etta James, Sonny Boy Williamson, Chuck Berry, Little Junior Parker, Bobby Bland, Memphis Slim, Etta James and toured with Muddy Waters, Big Joe Williams & others too numerous to mention.

Belushi and Aykroyd were no fools when they signed Matt to the Blues Brothers Band. He knows the music inside and out. Murphy is often overshadowed in his own stomping grounds of Chicago by the Louisiana Legend; Buddy Guy, but after all, who can really touch Guy? Murphy must know how Scottie Pippen felt in the days of Michael Jordan. Pippen was a great one in his own right, and the same can definitely be said for Matt Murphy.

Here's my review of "Lucky Charm" from Roesch Records: 11 tunes are on this cd and none weak. One of the best things about this album is the large range of styles you will hear. It's what the old timers called eclectic.

The opening number, "Boogie Overture" is a nasty little instrumental with that ZZ Top style boogie riff we are all in love with, and some great fret work by Murphy. The Blues Brothers Horns; "Blue" Lou Marini, Alan "Mr. Fabulous" Rubin, and Birch "Slide" Johnson, keep things good and funky right off the bat. I really like the accoustic cut "What's up with you Baby?" and "Who's got the Puddy?" is a funky little tune that will put a smile on your face.

The piano work on the title cut "Good Luck Charm" by Leon Pendarvis is first rate. This number doesn't belong on some high tech cd, it belongs in some backwood Mississippi juke joint where you always have too much to drink and chances are good you might see your woman come in with another man.

On "Willie Mae" Murphy, Pendarvis, bassist Tom Barney and Sax Gordon get jazzy. All take the lead at various points in the song. Next up is another song with a jazz feel "Oh No, I'm Falling In Love Again" where you will continue to be amazed by Murphy, he can do anything he wants with a guitar and knows it. Blue Lou Marini really sounds great on "Wille Mae," and makes you wonder what the hell ever happened to horn sections? Stax Records, that's the ticket!

Vocals on the album are shared by Murphy, David Foster, Howard Eldridge and Pendarvis, which gives the whole thing the great feel of a garage band jam. The Roesch "style" of recording records is one I wish everyone would emulate, less studio crap and more artists playing music.

Don't miss this album if you love the blues, and next time, make sure you give Matt "Guitar" Murphy his props. He can get the job done as well as anybody, and better than most.

From the Miles Files: Getting started

Call this a common theme. Gushing about Miles Davis. This is what we do.

By Pico:

1) Miles Smiles 1966 - The best album by Miles' best band. The playing on it is out of this world and the compositions, half of which are by the saxman Wayne Shorter, are sublime.

2) In A Silent Way 1969 - The first full fledged fusion record, and his best. In many ways, it's Kind Of Blue set to contemporary instruments and rhythms. If you can, go for the 3-CD Complete Silent Way Sessions.

3) Milestones 1958 - Kind Of Blue belongs here instead, but since you have it already, this would make a fine substitute. In actuality, it's a better introduction to Miles' pre-fusion work than Blue, because it incorporates all the jazz forms he championed up to that time: bop, cool, and modal. Plus, you still get Cannonball and Coltrane together. What a deal.