Feb

25

HORST WENDE Biography

February 25, 2008 | 1 Comment

Horst Wende made music through seven decades of the 20th century, recording over one hundred easy listening albums as producer, bandleader, conductor, arranger and musician. Today many of his records, released under his own name or his long-time alias of Roberto Delgado, are sought and coveted by collectors of the German big band movement of the 1970s.

Horst Wende was born into a musical family in Saxony, Germany, in 1919, and was skilled enough that by 6 years old he as able to regularly guest on accordion in his grandfather’s band in a local restaurant. Young Wende played and studied music constantly; by his 15th birthday he was already accomplished at playing piano, accordion, and xylophone, and he was accepted into the prestigious Leipzig Conservatory of Music.

His music studies there were interrupted by World War II; conscripted into the Germany army, he was captured by British troops and incarcerated in a POW camp in Denmark in 1942. There he met a young trumpet player, Ladi Geisler, who had just been given a guitar by a fellow prisoner and was determined to learn that instrument (Geisler became the greatest session guitarist in the German music industry, playing on thousands of recordings and continuing to release his own material even now). On their release after the end of the war, Geisler and Wende relocated to the city of Hamburg, where they formed a trio playing small clubs in the same neighborhood that would later launch the Beatles. Wende started getting recording work as a session musician, then became a member of the Norddeutscher Rundfunk Big Band (North German Radio Big Band, aka NDR) with included such band mates as Bert Kaempfert, James Last, and Geisler. The Horst Wende trio grew in popularity, becoming a major attraction on the American military base circuit while ‘Horst Wende and His Swinging Accordion’ headlined the Tarantella nightclub in Hamburg.

In the mid-50’s Polydor Records snapped up all the budding stars of the swinging local Hamburg music scene, making long term deals with James Last and Bert Kaempfert, and signing Wende as a staff producer. There Wende produced, arranged and composed many compositions for Last, Kaempfert, Max Greger and others, contributing heavily to the popularity of Schlager, that particularly northern European style of ‘party pop’ music combining sweet sentimental ballads with catchy melodies. Wende assembled and began producing his own accordion group in the early 1960’s, releasing folk and pop recordings to considerable success in Germany. Always interested in new sounds, he released several accomplished records exploring world music styles, most notably ‘Africana’ and ‘Todos Bailan Calypso’, which were critically acclaimed but had very limited sales.

Feeling there was an opportunity to sell more records in Germany by giving Wende an exotic alias, Polydor decided to release future world music style records under an alias, givng Wende the latin-sounding name of Roberto Delgado. Young producer Uwe Bowien was brought in to add a modern recording sound to Wende’s musical ideas, and the result - brightly-recorded and well-arranged albums of funky, upbeat party music - proved to be a sales bonanza for Polydor, when fans in the UK and the United States embraced the ‘happy dancing’ sound. That label was then opening international subsidiaries, and heavily marketed the Delgado titles simultaneously with two of their biggest priorities, the big band recordings of Bert Kaempfert and James Last. All three orchestras shared many of the same musicians and recording facilities, giving a sleek professional sound that came to define easy listening big band music for several decades. In the name of Delgado, Wende explored many ethnic musical styles, and has been credited with the early popularization of world music, releasing up beat dance albums exploring Asian, African, South American, Italian, Russian, Greek, and Jamaican themes, as well as pop hits and show tunes. As with James Last’s output, Delgado records show a considerable sense of humor, covering such oddities as ‘The Mosquito’ from the Doors’ Morrison-less ‘Full Circle’ album as a Moog ballad; occasional jazzy fills, funky backbeats or brassy counter-melodies (for example) help make the recordings stand up over time

Wende also recorded and accompanied many Germany pop stars, and appears on hundreds of recordings by such stars as Freddy Quinn, Lolita, Helmut Zhacharias, Alfred Haus and Rudi Schuricke. His popularity faded in the 1980s, and he retired from music professionally later in that decade. He passed away in 1996, just as his recordings started to be reissued on CD.

Feb

18

It is well documented that surf guitarist Dick Dale’s career was revitalized by the inclusion of his 1962 recording of ‘€˜Misirlou’€™ in Quentin Tarantino‒s blockbuster film ‘€˜Pulp Fiction’€™; what is less known is the song was originally a major hit for a slender elegant pianist from New York, who was paid less than $40 for the million copies of his version that made the song a fixture in American pop history.

Pianist Jan Augustoff was born on September 24, 1904, the fifth and final child of middle-class immigrants in New York City. His siblings - three sisters and a brother - had all received music lessons while growing up, to dismal results; so when it came time for Jan to study, his parents decided he probably would be as incapable, and his music study was dropped. The youngster however had a natural inclination toward music - he became fascinated with the player pianos at the local movie houses, and would come home and pick out the melodies on the family piano. He had a distaste for mathematics that gave him trouble in school, causing him to finally flunk his courses and drop out; with some natural talent as a cartoonist, he got a job working for Bud Fisher, the creator of the popular ‘Mutt and Jeff’ series. Still, it was music that kept his attention - his brother taught him a simple left hand chord on the piano, and he taught himself the rest; additionally learning to play saxophone, vibraphone, and xylophone as well. He began getting small jobs in Greenwich Village nightclubs under his shortened name, Jan August, and eventually was recruited into Paul Specht’s band. In the 30’s he was invited to play in the highly-popular orchestra of Paul Whiteman, the ‘King of Jazz’, which he did for some years; as well he played occasionally with the young Ferd Grofe.

By the 1940’s popular music taste had shifted to swing, and August - an out-of-fashion ’sweet’ player - had returned to performing as a solo club pianist. His odd way of playing some songs on the high notes attracted the attention of Irving Gwirtz of Diamond Records in 1947, who hired him to make a record; in one night he performed ‘Bob-A-Loo’ and ‘Misirlou’, and was paid union scale for the recording, about $35. The record went on to become a Top Ten hit, selling 3 millions record and launching Jan August into the public view.

He was given his own 15 minute broadcast on the Mutual Radio network, and through 1947 and 1948 became well known to the American public. His popularity coincided with the rise of television as a medium, where his elegant good looks and mannered style made him a natural. He appeared on ‘The Toast of the Town’ (predecessor of the Ed Sullivan Show) in 1948, and again in 1950; and from 1949 to 1951 accompanied singer Robert Quinlan on her NBC variety show, recording several hits with her, most notably ‘Buffalo Billy’. After finishing the Roberta Quinlan show, he hosted ‘Jan August’s Revere Camera Show’ with singer Monica Lewis for several seasons. His public popularity was strong enough that he was the subject of a film short in 1949, entitled ‘Audition For August’ - Kitty Kallen threatens to quit her nightclub job unless the owner provides her with a proper piano accompanist. Enter August, who plays ‘Besame Mucho’ and ‘Jan’s Boogie’, to Kallen’s great delight; they perform together on ‘Stardust’ to end the 9-minute film.

In 1950 he also recorded often with Jerry Murad’s Harmonicats, and they had a big national hit with ‘Bewitched (Bothered and Bewildered)’ from the hit Broadway show ‘Pal Joey’. August then signed a long-term record contract with Mercury Records, and began releasing albums of piano instrumentals, the most popular of which merged Latin rhythms with light classical styles, which launched such minor hits as ‘Malaguena’, ‘My Shawl’, ‘Oye Negra’, and a rerecording of ‘Misirlou’. He was able to successfully put together his own orchestra and tour in Canada and the USA, endearing himself by dropping in and playing unannounced sets with local bands.

August’s final hit was with singer RIchard Hayman on ‘A Theme From The Threepenny Opera (Moritat)’, which reached #87 on Billboard in 1956. He continued to be an active performer into the 1960’s, then quietly retired, passing away in his sleep in 1976. Credited by Peter Nero as an inspiration, his work languished largely unnoticed until the Lounge music fad of the 1990’s, when it had a brief resurgence. A small number of CD titles have been reissued, and some of his big hits appear on compilations; fans who want a better idea of his work will have to find the original Mercury titles, many only available in the Mercury 25000-series 10-inch vinyl format, to experience the light piano artistry of Jan August.

Feb

17

photo credit Wired Magazine

Santeri Ojala (aka StSanders) is a multi-media artist from Finland, whose most acclaimed work juxtaposes classic rock video footage with his own recordings to create satirical and humorous parodies of the pretentious playing style of popular guitar heroes. This ‘Shred’ series of videos attracted millions of viewers on Youtube, before being banned due to claims of copyright infringement by artists offended by his work.

YOU CAN WATCH SOME OF SANTERI’S HILARIOUS WORK HERE

Santeri Olaja was born on February 20, 1975, in a small municipality in Finland. A student of both piano and guitar, he moved to the city of Tampere to attend TTVO, the School of Arts & Video. There he created large audio and video installations in such public areas as highway underpasses, while becoming adept with samplers and sequencers, studying music creation while recording demos and doing commercial work.

One day watching a Steve Vai video without sound, he was inspired to pick up his Ibanez guitar and play along, trying to match Vai’s fingering in the video while playing as poorly and comicly as possible. The process intrigued him, so he took the video and began overdubbing, using his considerable skill to create a plausible sound track of amateur riffing and tuneless runs in amusing counterpoint to Vai’s seriousness. ‘Steve Vai Shreds’ was posted to Youtube under the name ‘StSanders’, and received a warm reaction, including good humor from Vai himself: ‘If I actually played like that, perhaps I could finally be on MTV and in Rolling Stone and have a real career,” he said through his label Epic Records.

This sudden notoriety spurred Olaja to continue experimenting in the same vein, and he followed up with more ambitious reworkings of classic rock videos, substituting pointless arpeggios, arhythmic chording, tuneless riffs, limp applause and lame rock references while also reworking vocals and other instrumentation. He created videos spoofing Eric Clapton, Eddie Van Halen, Slash, Paco DeLucia, Metallica, Gary Moore, Santana, and an ambitious reworking of Yngwie Malmsteen with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. His attention to detail, deft musicianship and spot-on timing fooled many observers - even some professional musicians - into thinking the videos were real, adding to his growing publicity. On the Jimmy Kimmel show, he played his guitar synched to a Guns’N'Roses video, with guitarist Slash in attendance; the obviously-unamused superstar interrupted Olaja’s performance before it was finished. The technical veracity of his playing gave him wide recognition by guitarists and guitar fans, leading to interviews and analysis of his work in such leading gearhead publications as Guitar Player.

Unfortunately not all of Olaja subjects were willing to let their work be parodied - after recieving over 7 million hits, Youtube pulled Ojala’s videos in early 2008, citing copyright infringement claims. Wired magazine and a few other internet sites have posted the videos in stories about the Youtube ban; it remains to be seen if they will persist on the internet. Olaja has expressed his disappointment publicly, but remains optimistic that new outlets and opportunities for his creativity will emerge from his recent notoriety.

Feb

17

New York was surprisingly slow to release records by independent hardcore bands, given that it was arguably the Ramones that had created punk rock (with considerable influence from the New York Dolls, the MC5 and the Stooges). This influential album, released in 1982 in a pressing of only 1000 copies, was actually the first real compilation that showcased some of the NYC hardcore scene, specifically six bands that hung around the A7, an after-hours bar in the lower east side. The six bands were ISM, Squirm, Killer Instinct, the Headlickers, the Mob, and Butch Lust & the Hypocrites; of which only the Mob can be considered truly influential in their own right (writer Scott Eisner is given credit for creating the term hardcore punk in a review of that band), but the album served notice to the world that NY hardcore was a force of considerable consequence. Two of the ISM songs, “John Hinckley Jr. (What Has Jodie Foster Done to You?”) and “Moon the Moonies” were the first hardcore songs to get regional commercial airplay on WLIR, prompting influential DJ Ben Manilla to start a weekly show focusing on hardcore, and manager/producer Bob Sallese was able to distribute the record on the newly influential college and alternative radio circuit, making a huge impression in the hinterlands and making NY hardcore a very real commodity.

“Rotten to the Core” paved the way for such acts as the Cro-Mags and Murphy’s Law, and for independent labels such as Relativity Records to successfully market NY hardcore internationally. The best songs are by ISM, old-school melodic hardcore with humorous and topical lyrics; like the rest of the records, the songs are aggressive with no nods to pop or art school pretension; straight-ahead, angry guitar punk. None of the bands profited from the record in any real way, as a second pressing of the record never happened due to a dispute with the pressing plant; and several of the musicians on the album died tragically, either accidentally or through suicide. A popular sequel to Big Apple: Rotten to the Core, Vol. 2 was released in 1987, and sold well, but the first compilation has never been reissued, making it a true collector’s item for those fascinated by the history of punk rock and New York hardcore.

Feb

17

This document of a concert in British Columbia’s Cariboo Valley is nicely packaged, with a bonus DVD that gives concert footage showing interviews and background about this new event, the Grand Cariboo Opry; and it is the inclusion of the DVD that saves this from being a completely disposable release. The CD by itself is rather generic, average performances of feel-good country earnestly played to a converted audience; it is only the DVD that manages to convey a sense of the enthusiasm and passion this project inspired in all those involved.

The Grand Cariboo Opry is an ensemble-style live concert organized by Canadian music veteran Barney Bentall, and featuring performances by the excellent up-and-coming Vancouver-based alternative country movement — Ridley Bent, Weady Bird, Leslie Alexander, Kendel Carson, Cameron Latimer, Leeroy Staggers, Barney and his son Dustin Bentall — all collectively joining together as the Gold Rush All-Stars. The concept of the Opry sprang from annual jam sessions arranged by Bentall around the local rodeo, and was part of the programming for the 140th annual (uninterrupted and consecutive) Clinton May Ball, in the Ashcroft Opera House. The Cariboo is a terrific setting, with a dramatic history of Indian Wars and Gold Rush miners; unfortunately, none of which influenced the music. The songs and performances are stolid and uninspired, sounding as generic as anything played at the original Grand Ole Opry. Bentall’s “Going to the Opera” lyric melody is a direct lift from the Shel Silverstein-penned Johnny Cash hit “A Boy Named Sue”; the most unique voice is that of Ridley Bent — still his “Buckles and Boots” is a pale shadow of the version on his same-titled CD, and the DVD snippet of “Suicidewinder” doesn’t convey the strength of that song.

It’s all very nice, but all very forgettable, other than as a document of a warm and satisfying evening out for those who attended this happy concert at a remote unforgettable location.

Feb

10

Nigerian-born Patti Boulaye has had a unique life - she has lived through one of the great genocides of the 20th century to become a singer, actress, model, activist and fundraiser; a career propelled by controversy, determination, faith, and willpower.

Patricia Ngozi Ebigwei came into this world on the move, born in 1954 in a taxicab between two villages in the Bendel Igbo region of rural Nigeria. One of 8 children, she grew up in the middle of the horrific Biafran civil war, witnessing such horrors as a man running down the street with his head cut off, and stepping around fresh bodies as her family walked home from church. Later she credited her mother’s steadfast faith through these terrible times as the source of her strength and her musical inspiration, later recalling her mother singing along to her favorite music, Louis Armstrong’s ‘Nobody Knows the Troubles I Seen’ and Mahalia Jackson’s great gospel prayers.

At 16 she left Nigeria and moved to London, where she accidentally stepped into the wrong queue and wound up auditioning for a West End musical instead of going to Madame Tussaud’s Wax Palace. She won the audition, and began a career as a stage actress, first in ‘Hair’ at the Shaftesbury Theatre and then ‘Two Gentlemen of Verona’ at the Phoenix. Her stunning exotic beauty and powerful singing voice landed her in an all-girl group The Flirtations; she stayed with them for a year, and recorded several singles, leaving to perform in Jesus Christ Superstar’ and then the starring role in ‘The Black Mikado’. It was around that time that she met and was profoundly inspired by the then-70 year old English Theatre actress Evelyn Laye, known to her friends as ‘Boo’; in direct homage Patricia Ngozi Ebigwei changed her stage name to Patti Boulaye.

No one will really ever know how Boo Laye influenced the young Nigerian actress, but from this time her star ascended dramatically - more stage roles followed, then she returned to Africa to star in the critically acclaimed ‘Bisi Daughter of the River’. Returning to London she entered the highly prestigious ‘New Faces’ tv competition, and easily bested the competition, getting the first perfect score in the five-year history of the show. New career peaks kept coming - she released successful records, toured around the world, danced with the Scottish Ballet, appeared on ‘Talk of the Town’ appeared in several more movies, and became the highly-visible face of Lux Beauty Soap in the UK for five years. She was named female vocalist of the Year in 1981 by BBC TV, and co-produced her own TV series ‘The Patti Boulaye Show’ on UK Channel 4. She was then hugely applauded for her performances in ‘Carmen Jones’ at the Old Vic Theatre, and many other critically lauded stage and television roles followed. The 100th broadcast of the ‘Patti Boulaye Show’- a Christmas Day special with Cliff Richard - was watched by millions. She performed at the 50th Birthday of Prince Hassan of Jordan, and the inauguration of the President of Nigeria.

Politics became the undoing of her first career. Her support of the Thatcher government came under considerable criticism in the vulturish British press; their attack on her reached it’s peak when The Guardian quoted her as saying she supported apartheid. As a black African, she was outraged; and successfully sued, proving to the courts that she had spoken of the importance of supporting ‘the party’, not apartheid, and had been misheard or misquoted by the reporter. Still, it took until 1999 to get that legal judgement, and in the meantime, her career stalled. Bookings dried up, her tv show was cancelled, her forward momentum came to a standstill.

Boulaye did not stay out of the limelight long, however; rather than being quashed by the political backlash she marshalled her considerable energy and faith, and entered a new phase of her career. She organised a charity, Support For Africa, with a mission to eradicate malaria and generate awareness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa, directly ensuring the money raised went to building screening centres in Cameroon and Nigeria. ‘God took away my career - with a lot help from the Tories - so I could do this’ she was famously quoted. She produced a massive fundraising event at Royal Albert Hall featuring a choir of 3,000 singers and major British footballers, and then most impressively, increased it to a record 5,000 Gospel singers for a parade she lead to Buckingham Palace for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002.
She has worked relentlessly for her charity, and has enlisted many high-profile celebrities in her efforts, such as Cliff Richard, Michael Jackson, Shaquille O’Neil and John Major.

Patti has remained creatively active as well - highlights in recent years include the stage production of ‘Patti Boulaye’s Sun Dance’, a colorful pageant of African custom and dance, for which she wrote several songs; and in 2004 she released the stunning gospel CD ‘In His Kingdom’, a heartful affirmation of her Christian faith using African arrangements and instrumentation.

In recent years she has become a successful painter and jewellery designer, and remains a tireless worker for her charity. In September 2007 she produced “Football Reaching Out For Africa”(FROFA), a charity event with a mass choir of 3000 gospel singers and a host of football stars and musicians. Now in her fifth decade, Patti Boulaye continues her career with the same energy of her early youth; and the world is a better place for it.

Feb

10

Boule Noire’ (literally ‘Black Ball’) was the recording and performing psuedonym of Quebec music star George Thurston, an abandoned child who overcame his harsh beginnings to become an international recording success. While not widely-known to English-speaking audiences, he was such a significant artist in his native French language that upon his death he was referred to as the ‘Quebecois Stevie Wonder’ by that province’s Minister of Culture, an accolade that he truly deserved.

George Thurston was abandoned at birth; thought to be the child of a U.S. baseball player, he was adopted and raised in a small town in rural Quebec, where his black skin made him the centre of attention - he later attributed this for his constant desire to be in the limelight. When his adopted mother became quite ill he was declared a ward of the state and taken away from the only family he had ever known at age 9, and placed in a series of foster homes. A troubled youth who had already been incarcerated in reform school and well on his way to a criminal career, George Thurston’s life was changed by a random act of kindness - a total stranger gave him an old guitar, and George Thurston became a musician.

His prolific recording career begins with a cover of a Frankie Lymon song, ‘Jeune Fille’ (My Girl) with his garage band Les Zinconnus; the modest success of which led to an invitation into another group 25th Regiment, who had a minor Quebec hit covering Shocking Blues’ ‘Venus’ in 1969. His talent and drive attracted the attention of Tony Roman, a hyper-aggressive and well-connected record promoter, who gave him the connections he needed to begin working in the studio; over the next five years he worked as a musician and arranger with Michel Pagliaro, Robert Charlebois, Nanette Workman, Claude Dubois and others, constantly learning and developing his musicianship.

Again coincidence plays a role in Thurston’s career - kidding around during a session in Alabama with musicians from the Muscle Shoals horn section, he started loudly singing a tune in French. No one understood what he was saying, but his vocal style was so impressive and dynamic that it lead to his first record as a vocalist. Released under his own name as the disco era was gaining steam, ‘Aimes tu la vie comme moi?’ became an instant club hit in Quebec, and, during a promotional tour, a television host introduced him as ‘Boule Noire’ - literally ‘Black Ball’, but also a french slang term for an ‘Afro’ hair style. The nickname stuck.

His follow-up album, ‘Aimer d’amour’ was a monster hit, selling more than 100,000 copies worldwide. It was the first of several Boule Noire albums to utilize the Muscle Shoals horn section, creating a powerful combination of compelling disco rhythm and funky R&B; it propelled him to superstar status in the disco movement, with considerable sales in the United States and Europe as well as Quebec. He continued to be prolific and worked with other artists as well, writing and recording for Toulouse and Alma Faye Brooks, among others. As the disco era faded, he turned his attention to reggae, recording several very popular albums with a unique French soul flavor. In 1980 he released an English-language album ‘Premiere’ simultaneously with a French LP, ‘Primitif’; and toured internationally. Over the succeeding years Boule Noire also worked as a television personality, produced records, and founded the Zion Yant record label, and Unidisc record distribution, which became a key player in the Canadian music industry. He then showed his virtuosity by playing all the instruments on his 1987 release, ‘Les Tour Des Iles’; and in 1990 unexpectedly had a massive club hit in Europe, when his big debut ‘Aimes tu la vie comme moi?’ was rediscovered and remixed, selling a staggering 800,000 records worldwide. He next had big success with two different interpretations of the Beatles ‘Let It Be’ in 1995. He continued to record, while becoming a highly popular weekend radio host in his native Quebec.

In 2006 he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer; and immediately flew to Las Vegas to marry his long-time partner, Loraine Cordeau. Active until the end of his life, he released a new CD entitled ”Dernier Rappel’ (’Last Call’); as his end approached he completed work on his autobiography, but was too sick to attend the book launch. Publicly celebrated in his native Quebec to the very end of his life, George Thurston passed away in June 2007, at the age of 55. The love-starved orphan had ended his days cherished by thousands of fans. Prolific to the very end, he had written a song titled ‘Final Destination’, a moving ballad dedicated to his young son about life and love; it was played at his funeral to a church filled to capacity, while hundreds of fans stood and waited patiently outside to honor his life and music.

Feb

10

Canadian John Paul Young (not to be confused with the Brit-pop star of the same era) released The Life of Ermie Scub after leaving the Cardboard Brains, a popular Toronto art-punk club band who had put out a few records and toured with such bands as Bauhaus and the Stranglers. A concept solo album (truly solo, Young wrote, co-produced, and played most of the instruments), Ermie Scub is a rather bleak tale of an introverted child struggling with confusion and loneliness, trying to figure out his place in a hostile world: “Have you seen the boy in the gutter with the broken mind?” Musically. it is a minor synth-pop gem, a postcard from a time when synthesizers offered unlimited possibilities, when an electronic rhythm section eliminated the need for drummers and bass players, and layered composition was all the rage. Like much music of this time, Ermie Scub can seem overbearing and pretentious at times, yet riveting and creative at others. Fans may hear echoes of Depeche Mode or the British New Romantic groups, but when Ermie Scub was released these bands were in the future. Young’s work here was cutting-edge upon its release; innovative and current synth-pop. The club hit “Our Time Escapes” survives well, and now sounds like a minor Wall of Voodoo hit; other songs didn’t age as well, but that doesn’t detract from the overall warped and upbeat pleasure of the album. It was a local success for the Young, winning a Casby “People’s Choice” award for Best New Artist in 1982. John Young went on to become a successful television actor, and has reunited the Cardboard Brains several times; a best-of compilation which included several solo compositions went quickly in and out of print. So for fans of minimal synth-pop, the 1979-1981 Toronto art-punk scene, or new wave in general, the only way to hear The Life of Ermie Scub is on the original vinyl. Good luck finding it.

Feb

10

Typhareth turned out to be the final release of the first manifestation of this great French progressive group,and it didn’t please their many fans. Many diehards lamented the loss of founder Yochk’o Seffer, who had left the group to concentrate on his new project Neffesh Music; Seffer had been a key element of the complex Zeuhl sound evident in Magma and earlier Zao releases. This album was more mainstream — closer to Weather Report than Magma, jazz-rock fusion without modern classical overtones, somehow more American than European in tone, composition and color. Time changes attitudes, and Typhareth has been reissued and reclaimed by fans of French progressive jazz; it stands up as a solid work in its own right. Francois Cahen usually takes the melodic lead on electric piano, while Gerard Prevost’s nimble bass playing is in front, allowing the other instruments — percussion, sax, flute, trombone — much room for expression. At times it is so laid-back it is almost loungey, pulled persistently forward by a sophisticated rhythm section, including a young Manu Katche on his first recording. Cool, assured, and dynamic; there are so many excellent parts it is no wonder it has become a go-to album for producers seeking choice samples. This was Zao’s last release for over twenty years, during which time he and Francois Cahen would create some vital work in their solo careers. A resurgence of interest in Zao led to the reissue of their back catalog, and some live recordings, in that last decade. Typhareth holds its own as a minor fusion masterpiece, and it’s worth a listen for fans of the genre.

Feb

10

RIDLEY BENT Blam CD

February 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment

“Hick-hop” was a term echoed by more than a few reviewers in describing this debut release by Ridley Bent in their attempt to categorize his rootsy storytelling over busy backing tracks; but, much like the earlier attempt of Greg Garing to fuse bluegrass and trip-hop, Blam ultimately fails to create a new genre, instead being an uneven exploration of sonic backgrounds for his compelling narratives. The story-songs are excellent (in interviews Bent is fond of crediting prolific Western author Louis l’Amour as an inspiration), showcasing Bent’s considerable talent at invention, his creative playfulness, and his strong verbal skills. The backing music — fusing hard rock guitar riffs, old-school beats, funky basslines, snappy scratching, and so on — is sometimes interesting, occasionally inventive, but more often both unfocused and self-aware, providing background without accompaniment, an ambience often more numbing than supportive. Overall it is easy to lose the thread of Bent’s lyrics in the verses, as he sticks to a narrow vocal delivery, half-talking, half-singing, with the listener only brought back into the song at the choruses or the occasional instrumental break. Still, it is impossible to be dismissive, and sometimes Bent’s writing can be clever and memorable: “I’m Johnny Cash when I’m drinkin’, I’m the Clash when I’m thinkin’, I’m Mad Max when I’m drivin’, I’m Mike Diamond when I’m rhymin’, I’m Humphrey Bogart when I’m smokin’, I’m Bob Marley when I’m tokin’, and in bed when I’m dreamin’ I’m a guitar-slingin’ demon” goes the catchy chorus of “Suicidewinder.” He evokes social radicalism à la Utah Phillips or Woody Guthrie in the historical “Fruit Pickers (In Dubious Battle)” and turns in a lovely romantic sketch with “Pastures of Heaven,” a song that works musically as well as lyrically. Clearly Blam shows Bent to be a songwriter of considerable talent and charm, even though the fusion of hip-hop and funk with his anecdotal writing style didn’t work on all levels. Still, for fans of Bent, Blam definitely has its charms.

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