Express Milwaukee - CD Reviews http://expressmilwaukee.com/articles.sec-204-1-cd-reviews.html Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 CDT en hourly 1 The Saltshakers - Change The Channel (Unreal Records) http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-21079-the-saltshakers-change-the-channel-%2528unreal-records%2529.html On the Milwaukee power pop band’s second in a series of three-track CD singles, they find engaging ways to kvetch about lack of romance with the objects of their affections. The title tune takes to task a paramour partial to ridiculous

]]> Maria Schneider & Dawn Upshaw - Winter Morning Walks (ArtistShare) http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-21080-maria-schneider-dawn-upshaw-winter-morning-walks-%2528artistshare%2529.html  The most beautiful sound in all the world…Maria's. So Leonard Bernstein might've commented on how our finest jazz orchestra composer attains comparable artistry with chamber orchestra. Setting two groups of poems, Schneider

]]> Khat Thaleth (Stronghold Sound) - Various Artists http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-21081-khat-thaleth-%2528stronghold-sound%2529-various-artists.html  Rap has long gone international, and the idea of using the shuffling beats and staccato cadences to communicate political ideas and frustrations took hold in the Middle East. Arab-language rap was a factor in the Arab Spring, and

]]> Melissa Czarnik - Non Merci (Hyperdrive Motivator Productions) http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-21042-melissa-czarnik-non-merci-%2528hyperdrive-motivator-productions%2529.html  A Milwaukeean's residency in France is bound to have an effect on that artist's work. So it is with Melissa Czarnik, the rapper who now calls Brooklyn home. Her third album bears the imprint of time abroad between leaving

]]> Samuel Blaser Quartet - As the Sea (hatOLOGY) http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-21043-samuel-blaser-quartet-as-the-sea-%2528hatology%2529.html  “Who knows but that, on the lower frequencies, I speak for you?” So ends Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. Trombonist Samuel Blaser is no longer the invisible man of jazz. This Swiss bandleader is among various low brass players

]]> Zedashe - Intangible Pearls (Multiflora/Electric Cowbell) http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-21044-zedashe-intangible-pearls-%2528multiflora_electric-cowbell%2529.html  The Republic of Georgia, tucked into the Caucasus Mountains along the Black Sea, is an ancient land whose musical heritage receded under Soviet rule and is threatened by the global culture of now. Formed after the USSR’s collapse

]]> Keaton Henson - Birthdays (Anti/Epitaph) http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-20977-keaton-henson-birthdays-%2528anti_epitaph%2529.html Pensive, warbly, damaged—it’s hard to tell whether sad sack Keaton Henson’s voice is a heartfelt affectation or if he’s simply been listening to too much Jeff Buckley. Minimal electric guitar plucks and a haunted resonating

]]> CSC Funk Band - Funkincense (Electric Cowbell) http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-20978-csc-funk-band-funkincense-%2528electric-cowbell%2529.html  This is the second full album from the Brooklyn-based retro jazz-rock act. Aside from the prelude of sound bites discussing Barack Obama's pot-smoking habits preceding "Choom Gang," it's an all-instrumental affair

]]> Victor DeLorenzo, Lorenzo Menzerschmidt - Victor DeLorenzo, Lorenzo Menzerschmidt http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-20967-victor-delorenzo-lorenzo-menzerschmidt-victor-delorenzo-lorenzo-menzerschmidt.html  Given Victor DeLorenzo's busy schedule, little wonder it took nine years to complete his latest solo album. According to him, his eponymous album was originally intended as a percussion extravaganza, and evidence of

]]> Cream City Gypsys - "and the sun is the moon" http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-20968-cream-city-gypsys-and-the-sun-is-the-moon.html  From their snappy look and Romany-inspired name, one might assume Cream City Gypsys to be Milwaukee's latest exponents of the jazz genre Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli popularized so many decades ago. That's not

]]> José James - No Beginning No End (Blue Note) http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-20932-jose-james-no-beginning-no-end-%2528blue-note%2529.html  A hand adjustment on a drum kit, a suggestive slow bass-snare groove, a rubbery bottom-strings jive and then the voice—all late-night, hushed and come here, girl—before the sinewy trumpet lines lock it in. So begins the drawers

]]> McCrary Sisters - All the Way (McCrary Sister Production) http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-20933-mccrary-sisters-all-the-way-%2528mccrary-sister-production%2529.html  The McCrary Sisters come to gospel music through heredity as well as conviction. As daughters of a founding member of the seminal Fairfield Four, the quartet were reared in the ecstatic singing of the African-American church

]]> Grace Kelly - Live at Scullers (Pazz Productions) http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-20934-grace-kelly-live-at-scullers-%2528pazz-productions%2529.html  This album is a great reminder of why I still go to concerts. I recently enjoyed a performance by alto saxophonist Grace Kelly, whose hard bop jazz sensibilities showed impressive maturity. Kelly’s new concert release in no way

]]> Stephen Stills - Carry On (Rhino) http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-20892-stephen-stills-carry-on-%2528rhino%2529.html

 Although Stephen Stills sometimes seems overshadowed by his frequent collaborator, Neil Young, the new four-disc career retrospective offers ample reminders that Stills, a gifted and often imaginative songwriter, was integral

]]> Live from Festival au Desert (Clermont Music) - Various Artists http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-20893-live-from-festival-au-desert-%2528clermont-music%2529-various-artists.html  Timbuktu was long a symbol of all things distant and exotic; in recent years the ancient city was the site for an annual international musical event, the Festival in the Desert, and the focal point for an indigenous genre that

]]> Mop Mop - Isle of Magic (Agogo Records) http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-20849-mop-mop-isle-of-magic-%2528agogo-records%2529.html  Congas, shakers, marimbas, udu drums, something called a karkabou, something else called a bendir—all populate the world music, Afrobeat and spacey postmodern grooves of Mop Mop. But any disc that even moderately features

]]> Karl Paloucek - K. (Trait Media Works) http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-20850-karl-paloucek-k-%2528trait-media-works%2529.html Joe 2.0 - Better Living through Strings (Darth Kreisler) http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-20851-joe-20-better-living-through-strings-%2528darth-kreisler%2529.html   The idea of chamber rock began in the 1960s with The Beatles leading the way. Seldom has the concept been realized as well in recent years as on Joe 2.0’s CD. The Milwaukee sextet, led by violinist Joe Ketchum and fronted

]]> Kiwi - On the Move (Self Release) http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-20852-kiwi-on-the-move-%2528self-release%2529.html This is the second full-length CD by the eight-piece Jersey-based roots reggae band. The title is a bit misleading; high-energy music it is not. A funky rhythm section, punctuated by B3 organ fills and a three-piece horn section

]]> Blue Sky Hour - On the Coast of Lake Michigan http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-20812-blue-sky-hour-on-the-coast-of-lake-michigan.html

 The packaging of the sophomore release by Milwaukee acoustic rock trio Blue Sky Hour infers purposeful fun with maps of Wisconsin on the sleeve and lyrics in a miniature newspaper format. JoAnn Riedl (also from The Barrettes)

]]> Soft Machine Legacy - Burden of Proof (MoonJune Records) http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-20813-soft-machine-legacy-burden-of-proof-%2528moonjune-records%2529.html

 Soft Machine Legacy reads like a dubious proposition: a band with neither original members nor anyone from even the second or third lineups. But they sound great on Burden on Proof, carrying on the trajectory of the psychedelic

]]> Mahala Rai Banda - Balkan Reggae (Asphalt Tango) http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-20814-mahala-rai-banda-balkan-reggae-%2528asphalt-tango%2529.html

 Eastern Europe meets Jamaica in this surprisingly credible collaboration between the Romanian Gypsies of Mahala Rai Banda and such reggae remix producers as Mad Professor and Jstar. The convergence sounds more organic

]]> The Dominoes - The Dominoes (Splunge Communications) http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-20779-the-dominoes-the-dominoes-%2528splunge-communications%2529.html

 While he may not go out of his way to make the claim, Clancy Carroll has been a key player in the local alternative scene since its beginnings. In a sense, this CD documents Carroll’s personal history. Guitarists Carroll and Gerard

]]> 3onfire - Neo-Smorgasbord (Splunge Communications) http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-20780-3onfire-neo-smorgasbord-%2528splunge-communications%2529.html

 In hindsight the musical landscape of the late ’80s offered a landfill of new music. Radio, television, magazines and movies smelled money. But with some digging you can always find gems. Witness 3onfire, formed in 1987 by Clancy

]]> Harold - For the Love of a Woman (CD Baby) http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-20733-harold-for-the-love-of-a-woman-%2528cd-baby%2529.html  With a single released 30 years ago, Harold became one of the few Milwaukee acts to crack Billboard’s R&B chart. For the Love of a Woman finds him in good form all these years later. His tenor recalls Al Jarreau, singing

]]> Como Mamas - Get An Understanding (Daptone) http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-20734-como-mamas-get-an-understanding-%2528daptone%2529.html  Contemporary gospel music is often nothing more than bad pop—or at best mediocre R&B—with lyrics about Jesus. By contrast, the Como Mamas are the real deal, three Mississippi women raising the rafters in songs that expose

]]> Mark Lansing - Solstice (RockIt Records & Recording) http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-20735-mark-lansing-solstice-%2528rockit-records-recording%2529.html  Mark Lansing’s Hendrix-style guitar pyrotechnics took him from Milwaukee to session work in California, although he maintains a consistent presence on the Wisconsin circuit. Solstice heralds his solo debut. And it's solo all the

]]> Jimi Hendrix - People, Hell and Angels (Experience Hendrix/Legacy) http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-20702-jimi-hendrix-people-hell-and-angels-%2528experience-hendrix_legacy%2529.html

 Intended as an authorized companion piece to 2010’s Valleys of Neptune, which unearthed the final studio recordings of the original Jimi Hendrix Experience, People, Hell and Angels explores previously unreleased and often

]]> Classic Celtic Music (Smithsonian Folkways) - Various Artists http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-20703-classic-celtic-music-%2528smithsonian-folkways%2529-various-artists.html

 In time for St. Patrick's Day comes this well chosen compilation, culled from the rich mine of Irish music staked out over the decades by the Folkways label. Most of the recordings were made in the 1950s and '60s (with a few of more

]]> Black Motor - Rubidium (TUM Records) http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-20704-black-motor-rubidium-%2528tum-records%2529.html

 Finland is home to a flourishing circle of improv jazz musicians. The latest CD from that floating cadre opens in fractured waltz time; one could imagine a couple, weary from sleeplessness and liqueur, dancing clumsily around the tiny floor of a broken-down café. Likewise, the smudges of

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