Ry Cooder - I, Flathead

Ry Cooder is a man to admire. Master guitarist, musicologist and archivist, open-minded producer, guy behind Buena Vista Social Club. He taught Keith Richards about open tunings which resulted in the Stones' best work. He recorded a great soundtrack to Paris, Texas which he built on one riff by Blind Willie Johnson. And I, Flathead is his most recent release which closes a trilogy released on Nonesuch Records (Chavez Ravine and My Name Is Buddy).

I, Flathead is a concept album and there's a book included which I haven't read and I doubt I'll ever will. I like particular songs, particular sounds, I know this album is great, but it's beyond my tastes. Just with titles like "Johnny Cash", "Can I Smoke In Here?" and "Steel Guitar Heaven" it should be one of the releases of the year. Well no, it's not for me. I just can't really get into world music. It ruins things for me. If Cooder decided to record a stricte blues album, I'm sure I'd fall for him.

But his inspirations are much wider and more interesting for most, making me a kind of musical outcast. Listening to the Stooges, Gram Parsons and Miles Davis in a row is still a step before Cooder's music! His explorations of American music are clearly not for me, at least for now. Or maybe I'll take a listen to his "Boomer's Story"... While I love Tom Waits, this albums owns too much to him with all those crazy and weird sounds.

But even on I, Flathead there are moments. Not to mention great songs on his previous, quite similar albums, Chavez Ravine and My Name Is Buddy. Check out "Poor Man's Shangri-La" and some others, you'll know. I, Flathead is an album I wouldn't really mind listening with some friends at a party, but only in case we were all baked beyond recognition. ;^)

Gram Parsons - Sacred Hearts & Fallen Angels (the Gram Parsons Anthology)

While I just can't enjoy most of the country records, I find it great to put on Jerry Lee or Johnny Cash from time to time. If I was allowed to listen to only one country album though, I'm sure it'd be a Gram Parsons compilation, Sacred Hearts & Fallen Angels. What a fucking great album - and I'm not very much into compilations myself, but this LP is wonderful, diverse and absolutely enough to fall in love with Gram. A classic.

We've got two CDs of the International Submarine Band, a little Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Gram Parsons & the Fallen Angels and the man himself solo. We've got "She", "Hickory Wind", "Love Hurts" and "Sleepless Nights". Country and country rock can't, just can't get better. There are some really rare pearls I've never heard, well, never even heard of, that are just awesome. Gram was a very special guy and a very special story, and it's all there.

Recommended to everyone, not only fans of country. If you heard the Stones do "Dead Flowers" you can have a slight vision of what's to come on Sacred Hearts & Fallen Angels.

Steve Kuhn - Mostly Coltrane

Steve Kuhn's career started in the 50s and since mid-60s he has been recording and releasing a great deal of post-bop piano. He recorded with many big shots in the jazz world, most famous of them is John Coltrane. Unfortunately for Kuhn he played with Trane for a very brief time in 1960 and got replaced in the quartet by McCoy Tyner without recording anything.

Almost 50 years later Kuhn finally decided to record a tribute album to the great saxophonist containing tunes written or associated with Coltrane. It's called Mostly Coltrane. I picked it up just for one song, "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" (originally recorded by Trane on Coltrane's Sound in 1960), but other 12 tunes are worth checking out, too.

Kuhn plays with the listener perfectly. While Coltrane's "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" started with that unforgettable riff right away, Brooklyn-born pianist isn't rushing anywhere. He plays many notes teasing the listener with the melody, but never playing it in its original, crystal clear form. Kuhn's not covering Trane's work, he's reinventing it at times. His band includes bassist David Finck, drummer Joey Baron and guesting Joe Lovano on sax, who is an especially good addition to the usual Kuhn's trio.

Kuhn's usually a little too classical-oriented for my taste, but Mostly Coltrane will go down in 21st century jazz history as one of the finest tributes to John Coltrane.

Dave Holland - Pathways

After Vijay Iyer's Historicity I wanted to hear some more modern-day jazz, so I downloaded released this year but recorded live in 2009 album by Dave Holland Octet called Pathways.

First thought: it doesn't site like an octet, everybody waits patiently for their time and has plenty of space. Holland's band consists of Antonio Hart (alto sax and flute), Chris Potter (tenor and soprano sax), Gary Smulyan (baritone sax), Alex Sasha Sipiagin (trumpet and flugelhorn), Robin Eubanks (trombone), Steve Nelson (vibraphone and marimba) and Nate Smith (drums). This is the first time this group played together but you don't feel this - they are really swinging. My favorite cut is the longest one, "How's Never?".

Loud applause after almost every solo adds to the album very much. It was recorded at New York's Birdland and I'd love to be there, but since I'm a million miles away, I am pretty satisfied with this live document. Dave Holland said he was always a fan of Duke Ellington and dreamed about playing with such a powerful front line (3 saxes, 2 brasses). So, he made one of the best jazz releases of the year. And I don't miss piano...

Vijay Iyer - Historicity

I love piano blues and piano jazz. Hell, I just love pianos. There are many mighty solo piano LPs and this is by far my favorite setting of this instrument (start with Monk's Alone In San Francisco). But jazz trios (piano, bass and drums) can be very fine either. I guess this is the case with the rising star of 00s jazz, Vijay Iyer.

Born in 1971 in New York City, he has a very nice name and Indian roots ;) And he plays mean piano; his trio also consists of Stephan Crump on bass and Marcus Gilmore on drums. They have released a couple of disks already, many critics say their last one, Historicity (Act, 2009), is their best. Now as I listen...

It's good. Sometimes Iyer is trying too hard and intense for my liking but in overall, it's good. One can't go wrong with jazz piano trios ;) And there's "Smoke Stack" by Andrew Hill. +10 to awesomeness. (Not to mention Stevie Wonder's tune...) All in all, it's recommended stuff.

I have no idea what's going on on today's jazz scene so hearing Vijay Iyer makes me happy there's still some good music around. I missed his show in Warsaw on the other hand - my huge mistake! I'll look for his Tragicomic LP (Sunnyside, 2008) and the good news: I'm looking forward to hearing his upcoming solo album named just Solo.

PS. Vijay Iyer won Downbeat Magazine's 2009 poll for Rising Star Pianist. So, he's like really, really worth hearing.

The Black Keys - Rubber Factory

Now this is it! Enough bluesy and acceptable dirty. Or at least much more and less (^^) than previously reviewed Brothers album. Ladies & gentlemen... Rubber Factory, the Black Keys' masterpiece from 2004.

Indie sucks. I like DIY attitude but it doesn't have to mean lo-fi sound. However, in this case it suits the blues. It's raw and dirty but easily listenable and catchy, it has everything the new album lacks. "10AM Automatic" is oh so good! That's what I call a rocker. Slow "The Lengths" is a boring ballad but the next one's a hot song - you sure have heard "Grown So Ugly" by Captain Beefheart, huh? - this version is equal.


And they played "Stack Shot Billy" on Letterman. And "Aeroplane Blues" was mighty interesting... Just like the whole album really. Most of those 13 tunes don't have the definitive hook that gets stuck in your head but it's alright with me. It's a 4/5 album that I proudly keep in my collection :) And "Till I Get My Way" was a surprisingly good finale, just when I expected nothing new and was ready to switch the player off.

"What about the night / Makes you change / From sweet to deranged" - "10AM Automatic"...

PS. See their music video to the song "Next Girl" from the Brothers album. Funny. And I really like the girls.

Monkey Junk - Tiger In Your Tank

Son House said about his music that he's "talkin' about the blues, not about some monkey junk". So, Monkey Junk is not a strictly blues ensemble, but it's hard to find a good blues band in the 00s anyway ;) Monkey Junk is an award-winning trio and they have just one CD out, 2009's "Tiger In Your Tank". I tend to like it ;)


As they say, their music is a mix of R&B, soul boogie and funk. Well, okay... There's even one pop tune which is a sure low-point of the album, but in overall "Tiger In Your Tank" is very good. The band consists of two guitars and drums (just like Hound Dog Taylor's classic House Rockers) and it works very well. Their Muddy Waters cover, "Tiger In Your Tank", is among my favorite contemporary blues tracks. It just rocks ;) So does "Leave the Rest to You".

There ain't much to tell about this album. Songs are rather short and straight-to-the-point without any improvisations or long solos. Vocals are quite ordinary and typical for a pop band, not a blues one, but they don't sound that bad. Not that I hate the White Stripes but finally we have a contemporary band not influenced by them ;) They are as far to the blues as the Stripes, I was hoping for a more traditional brand of American music. It'll be interesting to see Monkey Junk evolving. Oh, and the cover art's good, ain't it?

Ramblin' Jack Elliott - A Stranger Here

I wanted to write something about recent Grammy Awards announcments but there wasn't much to write about: we've got only two categories, for traditional and contemporary albums. One of them was won by Derek Trucks with his "Already Free" which I don't find too pleasing, although I heard it the last time about a year ago. The second award, far more exciting, is in hands of old folk master, Ramblin' Jack Elliott. Yeah, that one. He's still alive just for you to ask ;)

It's not a strictly blues affair, he's rather a folk artist, but whatever. He made an album of old blues covers in style of Tom Waits. Songs are played on acoustic guitar but there are many weird sounds around.


Album's okay. Compositions by old devils like Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Willie Johnson, Son House, Leroy Carr or Mississippi John Hurt are amazing. "A Stranger Here" starts with "Rising High Water Blues" about the Great Flood in Mississippi in 1927. Ramblin' Jack almost happily sings: "back water rising, comin' in my windows and doors". Well, okay.

"Death Don't Have No Mercy" have never been a favorite of mine, even Grateful Dead messed it for me. Here it gets nice treatment with Keith Ciancia's piano line, but anyway to hell with it. It gets really better from here: "Rambler's Blues" is amazing and "The Soul Of A Man" has some of the nicest slide guitar licks played by a white guy. It's Ry Cooder-ish. Which is kinda obvious when you see that the tune was written by Blind Willie Johnson.

Remarkable is "Grinnin' In Your Face" but I'll never forget it with no accompaniament. It's not as angry as it used to be... It's all radio-friendly blues. Sometimes it's mourning blues, sometimes just barrelhouse fucking around, it's great that Ramblin' Jack Elliot decided to release a tribute to old blues folks, play their songs in an old-fashioned way and make it sound good in 21st century. And maybe this album has soul, really. We'll find out when it'll be 50 years old :-)

But I think it's better (and totally different) than Chicago Blues: A Living History and it deserves a Grammy.

VA - Chicago Blues: A Living History

"Chicago Blues: A Living History" is released in 2009 newly recorded tribute album to Chicago blues and its greats. Local performers (Billy Boy Arnold, John Primer, Billy Branch and Lurrie Bell) took part and gave us fine two discs of modern takes on 50s and 60s classics. Covered are Muddy Waters, Big Bill Broonzy, Jimmy Reed, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker et cetera.


I like the disc, it sounds modern yet it's still traditional brand of blues we all know so well. "Can't Stand to See You Go" is my favorite track, or at least one of the best 'cause it's very hard to choose, and it's performed almost exactly the way it was played by Jimmy Reed decades ago. It lacks magic of those times - it's not overproduced, but it does not sound as warm as it could. "Chicago Blues" is a very fine effort but I guess I won't be putting it on too often.

This album surely got me interested in contemporary Chicago blues musicians: John Primer played some mean slide guitar on "Feel Like Going Home", Billy Boy Arnold surprised me with "Memphis Slim, USA" :), Billy Branch rocked the place with "One More Mike" and Lurrie Bell kind of let me down with his three songs, of which the best was "I Believe" in the vein of Hound Dog Taylor.

If you live in Chicago or are particularly interested in Chicago blues, get this because it's worth 18 bucks on Amazon. :) Y'all can also see a special Facebook page.