2009.08.07
CD reviews that won't fit in Saturday's paper
LITTLE RICHARD
"The Rill Thing" (Collector’s Choice)
"King of Rock and Roll" (Collector’s Choice)
"The Second Coming" (Collector’s Choice)
As the titles attest, by the time of these comeback attempts in 1970, ‘71, and ‘72, Little Richard still had an audaciously flamboyant sense of his musical importance. Commercially, the albums didn’t live up to the boasts, but more often than not the music does: The sets are a worthy corollary to the preening piano-pounder’s seminal ‘50s hits.
"The Rill Thing," cut in Muscle Shoals, Ala., finds Richard cutting deep Southern R&B grooves — the title track is a 10-minute instrumental that never flags. In addition to his own socially conscious "Freedom Blues," he gets some payback on his disciples in the Beatles — who borrowed more than his trademark "Woooh!!" — with a funky reworking of "I Saw Her Standing There."
"King of Rock and Roll" is closer to Richard’s original style, while using contemporary material. It’s most entertaining when he launches into preacherly raps by way of introduction to songs such as "Joy to the World" and "Born on the Bayou."
"The Second Coming" reunites the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer with his original producer, "Bumps" Blackwell. Some of the selections — "Mockingbird Sally," "Rocking Rocking Boogie" — do sound like throwbacks. But the set also has an intoxicating New Orleans feel, thanks to the likes of "Second Line" and "The Saints," Richard’s wildly exuberant take on "When the Saints Go Marching In."
— Nick Cristiano, The Philadelphia Inquirer
THE COREY WEEDS QUINTET
"Everything’s Coming Up Weeds" (Cellar Live)
Vancouver-based saxophonist and jazz entrepreneur Corey Weeds is one busy dude. He runs the Cellar Restaurant/Jazz Club, a famed Vancouver hangout where organist Joey Francesco has played and plans to record early next year. Weeds also runs a label, appears regularly on radio, and plays some mean saxophone with his quintet.
Who says you can’t have a jazz life?
Weeds was trained at Vancouver’s Capilano College and in the University of North Texas’ celebrated jazz program. Appearing here with New York-based trumpeter Jim Rotondi, along with pianist Ross Taggart, bassist John Webber, and drummer Willie Jones III, Weeds exudes a Jazz Messengers-like ferocity. The set intersperses hard-bop originals from Weeds, Rotondi, and Taggert along with a comely take of the Frank Loesser standard, "I’ve Never Been in Love Before."
Weeds, who has played funk-laced jazz with Dr. Lonnie Smith, keeps that freshness in mind in his compositions. His "Bailin’ on Lou" crackles with energy, while "Little Unknown One" is a sensuous ballad.
— Karl Stark, , The Philadelphia Inquirer
THE RURAL ALBERTA ADVANTAGE
"Hometowns" (Saddle Creek)
At their best, Toronto trio the Rural Alberta Advantage sound like an indie-rock dream date between Neutral Milk Hotel and the Arcade Fire. Vocalist-guitarist Nils Edenloff strums forcefully and sings passionately, his flat voice invested with desperation and fervor, and a few tracks burst into horn-enhanced climaxes. The brief songs, most under three minutes, race along to the dual percussion of Paul Banwatt and Amy Cole, and there’s rewarding friction between their stripped-down, homespun quality and the grand, distorted intensity, abetted by judicious use of Cole’s backing vocals, keyboards, horns, or strings.
Edenloff relocated from Alberta to Toronto, and many of the songs on "Hometowns," RAA’s debut, grow from nostalgia: for rural life, for relationships lost, for historical events. RAA self-released "Hometowns" last year, but it’s now seeing well-deserved wider distribution, and the group is in town this week.
— Steve Klinge, The Philadelphia Inquirer
