Latin Soul legend, Joe Bataan, FREE on Friday

Living in DC has its benefits, like free stuff all over the place. For example, this Friday the 19th, Joe Bataan is going to be taking part in a talk and giving a free performance at the National Museum of Natural History’s Baird Auditorium. All the information is on the event website, and in the flyer below.

This is a great opportunity to see this Latin soul pioneer in person. Don’t miss out!

 

NEW CDs! Just in time for the new school year!

 

• Various Artists — Electronic Masters Vol. 1 — CD 9748

• Caetano Veloso — Caetano Veloso — CD 9854

• Gilberto Gil and Jorge Ben — Gil, Jorge – CD 9855

• Nikos Skalkottas — The Maiden and Death, ballet suite; Piano Concerto No. 1; Ouverture Concertante — CD 9856

• Nikos Skalkottas — 36 Greek Dances; The Return of Ulysses — CD 9857

• Robert Carl — From Japan — CD 9858

• Poul Ruders — Poul Ruders Vol. 8 — CD 9859

• Andrew Earle Simpson and Alfred Schnittke — A Crown of Stars; Requiem — CD 9860

• Stephen Sondheim — Merrily We Roll Along — CD 9861

• Various Artists — Tropicalia — CD 9862

• Joan Tower, Amy Beach, and Arthur Foote — American Flute Quintets — CD 9863

Enjoy and happy first week of classes!

Cene’s Staff Picks: School’s Out Edition

Welcome to the first staff picks of the summer session. We’re open all summer, so if you’re still in town, swing by and check out some music.

Bert Jansch – “The Best Of…” (CD 9713)

Scottish guitarist, Bert Jansch, was a leading figure in the British folk revival of the 1960s and ’70s, both as a member of the Pentangle and as a solo performer. This new arrival is a wonderful place to start, anthologizing some of his best work from earlier in his career.

Eddie Palmieri – Vamonos Pa’l Monte (CD 9619)

Latin jazz piano legend, Eddie Palmieri, put out this fantastic salsa album in 1971. It combines a (mostly) traditional salsa approach with more forward-looking elements liberally added to the mix. His powerful band handles the complex rhythms with ease and brio, resulting in a record that’s equally suitable for listening or for dancing.

Glenn Branca – Symphony No. 5 (CD 9498)

Branca’s fifth symphony – “Describing Planes Of An Expanding Hypersphere” - from 1983 is loud, heavy, droning, and seems to go on forever. That either excites you, or sends you running; there is no in-between.

V/A – Chicago/The Blues/Today! (CD 513, 514, 515)

This three-volume set from 1966 brought the contemporary Chicago blues scene to a wide audience, and is credited with accelerating the blues revival. It features slide players like Johnny Shines and J.B. Hutto, harmonica great, Junior Wells, and blues mandolin(!) player, Johnny Young, among many other great players.

Meredith Monk – Turtle Dreams (CD 9697)

This is my favorite Meredith Monk record. The title track’s spare instrumentation serves to highlight the daring and dramatic four-part vocals, which swoop from shrieking highs that make the hair on your arms stand up, to contrapuntal chattering, to moments of melody that stick in your head for days. The shorter pieces are awfully nice as well.

On a note of trivia: fellow New York composer, Julius Eastman, is one of the organists on the first track.

Cene’s Staff Picks

Magazine – Real Life (CD 4870)

When the Buzzcocks broke up, Pete Shelley gravitated towards the bright electronic future, while partner Howard Devoto laid the gloomy, arty groundwork for the post-punk movement with Magazine.

After a pair of influential singles – including their dramatic debut, “Shot By Both Sides” b/w “My Mind Ain’t So Open” – they dropped their first full-length, Real Life, filled with angular guitars and ominous, swirling synths. It the high-energy of punk without the frenetic speed; a forward-looking sound that portents a cold, impersonal future. Classic start to finish.

review

Chris Connor – Warm Cool: The Atlantic Years (CD 2026)

Of all the cool jazz singers to come out of Stan Kenton’s band, Chris Connor was the coolest. She had a gift for making even the most complicated phrasings sound understated and natural. I just love her.

This 2-disc collection, curated by Atlantic producer Joel Dorn and Connor herself, pulls from the period 1956-1962, when she recorded a dozen or so albums for Atlantic. It includes beautiful standards like “All the Things You Are,” “These Foolish Things,” and “Misty,” as well as lesser-known gems like “When the Wind Was Green” and “Lilac Wine.”

review

Danny Gatton – Redneck Jazz Explosion (CD 2053)

Local guitar legend, Gatton, with a crack band featuring pedal steel hero, Buddy Emmons performing live in 1978 at the Cellar Door here in D.C.

Gatton and Emmons trade off blistering licks almost telepathically, anchored by the rhythm section of Steve Wolf (b) and Scott Taylor (d). They burn through Brother Jack McDuff‘s “Rock Candy” and Horace Silver‘s “Opus de Funk,” and bring a rich, vaguely country-tinged sound to Rimsky-Korsakov‘s “Song of India” (based off of a Dorsey Brothers arrangement).

A must-hear performance for jazz guitar fans, and a great introduction to this shoulda-been-huge picker.

reveiw

Black Flag – Damaged (CD 2903)

When it came out in 1981, MCA refused to distribute the album on the grounds that it was “anti-parent” and ” past the point of good taste.” I can’t think of a better reason to recommend it.

Black Flag was already semi-legendary for their festering, feel-bad hardcore sound, relentless touring, and shows that induced police riots up and down the West Coast. With Damaged they came as close as they ever did to capturing that energy on record. The line-up was as close to definitive as possible for a group whose membership changed roughly every few months: mastermind Greg Ginn on lead guitar, former vocalist Dez Cadena moving back to a supporting guitar role, Charles Dukowski on bass, Robo on drums, and new vocalist Henry Rollins – a young D.C. ice cream shop attendant, hardcore musician, and Black Flag superfan, who was asked to join the group after jumping in to sing “Clocked In” during a New York performance.

Damaged contains indisputable punk classics like “Rise Above,” “TV Party,” and “Police Story.” Turn it up all the way, spray paint your walls, and get angry.

review

Carlos Gardel – The King of Tango, Vol.1 & 2 (CD 6312 – CD 6313)

The undisputed King of Tango and world-renowned star of stage and screen, Carlos Gardel was a superstar in Latin America, and helped popularize tango throughout the world. Upon learning of his death in a plane crash in 1935, young women across Argentina who had never even met him attempted suicide. Such was the power of his voice and charisma . . .

. . .

. . . or so this one guy told me. At any rate, it’s too good a story to check up on.

These two volumes cover the mid-to-late periods of his career, from 1927 to 1935, and feature Nimbus’ typically high quality transfers from the original 78rpm discs. Though be warned: these are old recordings, and they definitely sound old. Like cracking open a walnut, you’ll have to get past the crackles and thin sound in order to dig into the delicious Gardel inside.

New CDs

Feast your ears on the new batch new CDs at the Music Library!

Philip Glass & Robert Wilson - Einstein on the Beach (CD 9615)

Philip Glass & Constance DeJong – Satyagraha (CD 9617)

To What A Strange Place – The Music of the Ottoman-American Diaspora 1916-1929 (CD 9614)

A Clarinet Collective – Dennis Nygren, Clarinet (CD 9611)

War Horse – Original Music from the National Theatre production (CD 9613)

Silence! The Musical – The Unauthorized parody of Silence of the Lambs (CD 9612)

Jack Beeson – Dr. Heidegger’s Fountain of Youth and Hello Out There (CD 9606)

The Civil War – Original Soundtrack to the Ken Burns Film (CD 9618)

Rainbow Body – Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (CD 9616)

GodSpell -The New Broadway Cast Recording (CD 9621)

19th Century Organ Music – Dirk Jansz. Zwart, Organ (CD 9620)

Looking Back – Leonard Garrison, flute // Jay Mauchley, Piano (CD 9610)

Vamonos Pa’l Monte – Eddie Palmieri (CD 9619)