I wasn’t familiar with Rachele Lynae until I listened to her self-titled debut album. When I started listening, I immediately headed over to her web site to read her bio, and find out a little more about her. She grew up in Kodiak, Alaska, and started singing at a very early age. By the time she was 10 years old she had already been singing in church for five years. She started writing songs when she was 12, and at age 17 she started doing live shows, and building a reputation as a ‘riveting live performer’.

She moved to Nashville to attend Belmont University. That is a great music school, and is also where Josh Turner, Trisha Yearwood and Brad Paisley went to school. Rachele has been performing at Nashville’s famous clubs, and recorded a five song EP, which shared with Jimmy Murphy – who shared it with his daughter, Jamie O’Neal. That was all it took.

Jamie and Rachele began working on the new album. Rachele co-wrote every song on the album, Jamie produced it. Four of the songs even had Jamie in that ‘co-writer’ seat. 

“Done is Done” was written by Rachele and Luke Sheets. The title pretty much tells you what to expect from the song. Someone is about to get their heart broken. Someone is leaving. What is “Done is Done”. There aren’t any surprises with this song, and yet it was one of my favorites. Her vocals, which are so strong and so powerful in some of the faster songs, actually have a softer side. Even when Rachele slows things down, she still has perfect control, and perfect tone. And she still makes you want to see her on stage.

I jumped all the way down to the 10th track (Done is Done) there – let me list them all for you, in order, with their writers, and tell you a little about some of the rest of them. Here is what you are going to get on this new album: Touch the Stars, Rachele Lynae, Danick Dupelle, Patricia Conroy; Words in Red, Rachele Lynae, Kyle Stallons; Cigarette, Rachele Lynae, Katelynn Beckett; Sometimes You Fly, Rachele Lynae, Luke Sheets; Party Til the Cows Come Home, Rachele Lynae, Jamie O’Neal, Stephanie Bentley, Jimmy Murphy; Fishin for Something, Rachele Lynae, Hannah Bethel; Clean, Rachele Lynae, Justin Halpin; Out On the Floor, Rachele Lynae, Jimmy Murphy, Jamie O’Neal; Sticky Summer Lovin, Rachele Lynae, Jamie O’Neal, Hannah Bethel; Done is Done, Rachele Lynae, Luke Sheets; Two for One Special, Rachele Lynae, Jamie O’Neal, Shaye Smith; Old Fashioned Love, Rachele Lynae, Josh Holiday.

By the time I got to the end of the album, I realized I had a lot of favorite songs. Leading the pack for me are  “Done is Done” and “Sometimes You Fly,” but if they don’t end up being your favorites, no need to worry! You are definitely going to find a lot you like among the 12 songs on this CD. The first song very much falls into the category of ‘country/pop’, and is very much like a lot of the songs you hear on today’s Top 40 stations.  It is an upbeat song, and I can’t imagine Rachele being able to stand still and sing that one.

The second song, “Words in Red” gave her a great opportunity to showcase her vocals. With a title like “Cigarette” I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this song. But it’s a great song. I think we will all understand the lyrics, and I think most of us have probably been there at one time or another. The song is about regret. 

I don’t know what Rachele plans on releasing as a single, but if I were asked, I would to point to “Clean”. This song made me think about growing up’’; about my family; getting hurt as a kid; Mom always being ready with warm, soapy washcloth; church; leaving home; and, coming back. All that in addition to the fact that it is a beautiful song, being sung by an artist with a beautiful voice. This song, more than any of the others on this album, sounds ‘country’ to me. It isn’t country/rock, or country/pop, or country/soul, or country/blues, or country/jazz … it is country. 

“Old Fashioned Love” is another great ballad. I like songs that have memorable lyrics. After listening to the album three times, I found myself singing along with this one – and actually waiting for it to come around again. 
Regardless of your taste, you are going to find music on this CD that you like, and you will find music that will make you want to sing, dance, tap your feet, close your eyes and relax, think back, and play again.
To learn more about Rachele, visit her web site at www.rachelelynae.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @Rachele Lynae. Keep up with all the latest country music news at www.countryschatter.com, and follow us on Twitter @countryschatter.​

Music Charts Magazine Country music CD Review of Dolly Parton - Blue Smoke - by Donna Rea /of the website we all know and love: www.CountrysChatter.com

Date = 3 July 2014    

Artists’ names = Jeff Colella and Putter Smith; Jeff Denson and Joshua White        

Genre = Jazz

Title = Lotus Blossom; I’ll Fly Away

Record companies = American Jazz Institute; pfMENTUM

Review =

            Though I cannot identify the first recorded piano-bass duet, Duke Ellington and Jimmy Blanton recorded four duets in 1940. Oscar Pettiford (later to be Ellington’s bassist) recorded two with pianist Clyde Hart in 1944, one dedicated to Blanton, though this music is not known to exist. Bassist Red Mitchell recorded two albums of duets with pianists, one with Guido Manusardi (1974) and another with Kenny Barron (1986). Bassist Ray Brown recorded three such albums, two with Jimmy Rowles in the late 1970s and, early that decade, one with Ellington titled This One’s for Blanton. Beginning with a session with Hampton Hawes in 1976, bassist Charlie Haden might have been involved in more duet recordings than anyone, having also participated in sessions at least with Chris Anderson, Kenny Barron, Egberto Gismanto, and Hank Jones. Piano-bass duets continue being performed, as two recent CDs illustrate.  

            Pianist Jeff Colella and bassist Putter Smith recorded together initially in the 1990s. They recently reunited for an album of duets linked by mood, which is mainly subdued, introspective. As a result of the deliberate tempos, one can hear every note and appreciate the interplay between the two men. Colella states the melodies and Smith supports him, always playing pizzicato. While they both solo attractively and together do justice to the compositions, I am most smitten by their conception.

            Consider Miles Davis’s “All Blues.” During Smith’s introduction, Colella announces his presence with five spaced dissonant chords. The pianist strikes similar chords at the end of the second blues chorus and a few bars into the third, but also at the conclusion of the performance, which otherwise ends without resolution. That is, his chording constitutes a unifying device, a motif.

            Daringly, the musicians draw attention to the briefest selection (3:28) by titling the CD Lotus Blossom. Why daringly? This lovely, simple tune was written by Billy Strayhorn, Ellington’s songwriting associate. While musicians were packing at the conclusion of a recording session three months after the composer’s death in 1967, Ellington sat at a piano and played “Lotus Blossom” unaccompanied, with Strayhorn obviously in mind. Fortunately, the tape kept running so the music was preserved. Probably the most moving performance of Ellington’s long career, “Lotus Blossom” is pure emotion. Because it is, any recording of Strayhorn’s composition will likely be compared with Ellington’s and risk being deemed inferior. Possibly as a result—or because of the inherent nature of the composition--musicians performing “Lotus Blossom” follow Ellington’s example by treating it respectfully, ruminatively. With Smith discreetly in the background, this is precisely what Colella does in his interpretation that, though less deep than Ellington’s, is beautiful nonetheless. It succeeds on its own terms.

            While mood characterizes Colella and Smith’s CD, bassist Jeff Denson and pianist Joshua White’s is unified by the nature of the tunes, which are religious in nature. Their CD gets off to a rousing start and concludes with a bang with different versions of “I’ll Fly Away.” (A third version is more restrained.) Raucous and dissonant, these two selections are, with “Just As I Am,” the most extroverted pieces on this release, though other ones have passionate moments. Yet Denson and White also demonstrate an ability to sustain a performance at a slow tempo. For example, their deliberate treatment of “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” the longest selection, permits the natural beauty of the composition to emerge. Played not quite so slowly, “In the Garden” is similarly attractive, and moving. On all nine tunes the instrumentalists play together, they interact engagingly. Though Denson solos, he is most important when keeping the beat during White’s adventuresome solos. White’s playing sometimes reminds me of Don Pullen’s.  

            Denson performs two tunes unaccompanied, “Crying in the Chapel” (pizzicato) and “Amazing Grace” (arco). Played slowly, the latter is more impressive than the former. On “Amazing Grace” he makes multiphonic sounds that lead one to wonder if they result from overdubbing. (They do not.) This technique creates great interest in his version of this revered song that, at least for me, long ago entered the realm of cliché, possibly because I have heard it at so many funerals.

            Though different in almost every way other than instrumentation and a high level of musicianship, these two CDs delight. With varied selections, the first is similar in mood throughout. With unified selections, the second has a wide range of moods. Both duos make meaningful contributions to the tradition of piano-bass duets possibly initiated by Duke Ellington and Jimmy Blanton in 1940.

Author = Benjamin Franklin V

Date = 21 June 2014    

Artist name = The Fat Babies  

Genre = Jazz

Title = 18^th & Racine

Record company = Delmark

Review =

            Why is it that some established forms of improvised music are more valued than others? Though bebop developed in the early 1940s, for example, it is possibly the form of jazz played most frequently. Traditional jazz, however defined, is less highly regarded. One reason for this disparity might be that the more modern music is complex and therefore demanding while the older is sometimes simple and presumably easy to play. Bebop is still capable of yielding surprises; traditional jazz, less so. On “High Society,” can any traditional clarinetist escape the influence of Alphonse Picou’s solo from the distant past?

            Whatever the answer(s) to the question, traditional jazz continues being performed by serious musicians. Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks is probably the most notable traditional group; bassist Beau Sample’s Fat Babies is another one. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Chicago, this septet plays compositions mainly from the 1920s and early 1930s. Its music is vital partly because most of its repertoire, as represented on 18^th & Racine, is not overly familiar. Yes, “Stardust” is one of the most popular tunes in all of American music and anyone interested in traditional jazz doubtless is aware of “Nobody’s Sweetheart,” but the remaining thirteen selections are less well known. Among them are creations by such stellar musicians as Fletcher Henderson, James P. Johnson, Jabbo Smith, and Clarence Williams.

            So what does the band bring to these more-or-less neglected compositions from long ago? At least two things: First, it plays well and energetically; second, it performs some tunes in a manner consistent with the original recordings of them while refashioning others. Consider the second point. Despite being twenty seconds longer than Jabbo Smith’s recording of “Till Times Get Better,” the septet’s version follows the structure of Smith’s. Both begin with a piano introduction (including three identical opening notes). Then, the cornet states the melody, a musician sings, the clarinet solos, and the cornet concludes the piece. The group takes liberties with Fletcher Henderson’s “The Stampede,” giving the opening melodic statement to the cornet rather than the ensemble and otherwise redistributing the solos among the horns; the new recording is over a minute longer than Henderson’s. In other words, the band’s approach to its material is not predictable.  

            Two selections require special comment. The corny vocal on “I’ll Fly to Hawaii,” recorded initially by Brad Gowans in 1926, makes it irredeemable. This might be the first recording of the tune since the second recording of it--by Julian Fuhs in 1927. The reason for its neglect is obvious. With many old songs worthy of reconsideration, I wonder why leader Sample chose “I’ll Fly to Hawaii” for inclusion on this CD. James P. Johnson’s “Blueberry Rhyme” is a piano solo by Paul Asaro, backed only by drummer Alex Hall on brushes. The composer recorded it twice (1939, 1943), both times as an unaccompanied piano solo. It became something of a favorite of Asaro, who recorded it at least four times as leader, all in 2004. That his and Hall’s version is polished therefore comes as no surprise.

            The music on 18^th & Racine shows that in the hands of spirited instrumentalists, traditional jazz played unpredictably is still viable.

Author = Benjamin Franklin V

Date = 18 Jun 2014      

Artist Name = Lena Bloch       

Genre = Jazz

Title = Feathery

Record Company = Thirteenth Note

Review =

            Among the jazz musicians born in Russia are Buzzy Drootin, Valery Ponomarev, Alexei Kuznetsov, members of the Ganelin Trio (Vladimir Chekasin, Vyacheslav Ganelin, and Vladimir Tarasov), and possibly Charlie Spivak. To this list may be added Lena Bloch, hitherto unknown to me. Born in Moscow, the tenor saxophonist has led, since 1989, a peripatetic life: Israel, Holland, Germany, United States, Germany again, Canada, Germany yet again, and finally United States, this time initially in Boston but then in Brooklyn, where she currently resides. Along the way she received a degree from the Cologne Conservatory and attended graduate school at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. In Europe around 1991 she began playing professionally, including with the rock group Embryo and as leader of her own quartet. Soon thereafter she met alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, who introduced her to music that would inspire her from then until now. This is the music of pianist-composer-theorist-teacher Lennie Tristano (1919-1978) and his associates Ted Brown and Warne Marsh, both tenor saxophonists; himself a Tristano student and colleague, Konitz is the best known musician of what might be called the Tristano School. As Feathery demonstrates, Bloch is, apparently, the most recent instrumentalist influenced by Tristano and dedicated to keeping alive his precepts, as practiced by his acolytes. She creates music well worth hearing and taking seriously.

            Bloch is possibly most indebted to Marsh and Brown in matters of tone: like theirs, hers is dry, with little vibrato. She plays cleanly by articulating individual notes and avoiding flurries of sixteenth notes. Each note matters. This tendency is perhaps most obvious on “Baby Suite” and “Starry-Eyed.” On the former, she plays strings of single notes, each note followed by a rest; on the latter, which is really the standard “Star Eyes,” she usually pauses between the notes that correspond to the words “star” and “eyes,” “eyes” and “are,” and “skies” and “are” when sung. This separation of notes creates an airiness that parallels the tone she gets from her horn. Especially at slow tempo, her technique has the effect of forcing the listener (this listener, anyway) to focus intently on her playing. (Altering aspects of a popular tune and renaming it is part of the Tristano tradition. His “Lennie’s Pennies,” for example, is a reworking of “Pennies from Heaven.”)

            Bloch drew on Marsh and Brown for two of the tunes included on Feathery. Though not flagwavers, they are the most

Lena Block - Feathery - Music Charts Magazine Jazz CD Review by Benjamin Franklin V

sprightly performances on the CD. Marsh’s “Marshmallow” is based on the chords of “Cherokee”; Brown’s “Featherbed,” on those of “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To.” She acknowledges Konitz with an original tune titled “Hi-Lee,” which alludes to his composition “Hi Beck.”

            If the Marsh and Brown compositions are up-tempo, guitarist Dave Miller’s “Rubato” is the opposite. Though it contains a section of relatively energetic playing, that section is framed by music performed at a dirge-like tempo. Amazingly, the group, a quartet, engages in effective collective improvisation at this tempo. Billy Mintz’s drum solo is so slow that it barely moves. As with Bloch’s own playing, though, this deliberateness—almost stasis—forces the listener to focus on the sounds Mintz creates. Bassist Cameron Brown—a major presence throughout the CD and the composer of “Baby Suite”—plays arco, while Miller provides chords and joins the leader in unison passages. “Rubato” is an impressive performance.

            Yet all the music on this release is impressive. Feathery signals the arrival of a significant musician, Lena Bloch.   Not only does she help keep alive the Tristano tradition, but her music is among the most stimulating I have heard recently.     

Author = Benjamin Franklin V

Dolly Parton has done just about everything a person can do in one lifetime, and it doesn’t appear that she’s about to slow down. She still tours, the U.S. and the world. She’s still working behind the scenes at her theme parks, and she is very involved in the Imagination Library, where children are provided a free book every month through the age of five. She has an honorary doctorate, she’s worked with Girl Scouts, she has been in movies, written songs, and been nominated for at least one Tony Award, Emmy Award, Grammy Award…the list goes on Dolly recently released her 42nd studio album. I listened to the review copy for several weeks before it was officially released on May 13. She always has something different to offer her fans. We’re talking about Dolly Parton here. A unique, recognizable voice that can sing any kind of song out there. And, the new album definitely shows us that. The album includes the song “You Can’t Make Old Friends,” which features Kenny Rogers, and “From Here to the Moon and Back,” with Willie Nelson. The album has an old Bob Dylan song, “Don’t Think Twice”. And, the album has nine songs that Dolly wrote. Dolly actually started recording in 1959. She became a huge success in the mid 1960s, putting out hit after hit. When the sound of country music changed, Dolly changed with it. But somehow, she never left the sound of real country music behind. She has the ability to let us hear her gospel sound, her folksy sound, her country sound, and for certain a little of that bluegrass side. You can dance to Dolly’s music, you can sing along with it, you can cry with it. But, whatever reaction each song generates, you are for sure going to enjoy it. Here are the songs you are going to get on this new album:  Blue Smoke, Unlikely Angel, Don’t Think Twice, You Can’t Make Old Friends, Home, Banks of the Ohio, Lay Your Hands on Me, Miss You-Miss Me, If I Had Wings, Lover Du Jour, From Here to the Moon and Back and Try. First time through the album, I had a few favorites. Second time through, I changed my mind, and picked different favorites. But by the third time I listened, I realized there is something to like about each and every one of the songs on the CD. This is one of those albums that will find you are really listening to the lyrics. “Try” and “Unlikely Angel” remained two of my favorites, no matter how many times I listened. Dolly is very convincing when she tells the listener, “And if you fail at first just keep on trying, ‘Cause you are not a failure in God’s eyes, So spread your wings and let the magic happen, ‘Cause you’ll never really know if you don’t try”.

For everything you want to know about Dolly, visit her web site at dollyparton.com. You can follow her on Twitter, too, @DollyParton. Country music news and reviews are always available at www.countryschatter.com, and you will find us on Twitter @countryschatter.

Music Charts Magazine Country music CD Review of Dolly Parton - Blue Smoke - by Donna Rea /of the website we all know and love: www.CountrysChatter.com

Date = 21 June 2014    

Artist Name = Sonny Rollins   

Genre = Jazz

Title = Road Shows, Volume 3

Record Company = OKeh

Review =

            Some superior Sonny Rollins performances have been made available in recent years as a result of his decision to release selections from concerts on his own label, Doxy. The first CD appeared in 2008, and the second three years later; the third has just been issued on OKeh, sixty-five years after his initial recording (with Babs Gonzales) in 1949. His desire to circulate this worthwhile music as he ages (he was born in 1930) is understandable; it is also cause for celebration.

            Recorded in France, Japan, and St. Louis, the six selections come from 2001, 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2012 (two). At over fifteen and twenty-three minutes, respectively, the standards “Someday I’ll Find You” and “Why Was I Born?” are the longest ones. (Could some of the former, a Noel Coward composition, have influenced Thelonious Monk when he was writing “Ask Me Now”?) Two Rollins originals are familiar (“Biji” and “Don’t Stop the Carnival”), while he wrote “Pantanjali” only recently. A curiosity, “Solo Sonny” is more a melange than a unified whole.

            Though all of Rollins’s recordings are worth hearing, even the least inspired ones, the music on Road Shows, Volume 3, which is of almost uniformly high quality, supports the view that Rollins usually plays better in live performances than on studio recordings. Aided by effective rhythm sections, his rhythmic drive is impressive on “Biji,” “Don’t Stop the Carnival,” “Pantanjali,” and “Why Was I Born?” He plays only “Someday I’ll Find You” relatively slowly. His tone is as full bodied and attractive as ever. His inventiveness never flags. Though the other soloists (trombonist Clifford Anderson, pianist Stephen Scott, and guitarists Bobby Broom and Peter Bernstein) are adequate, they are largely of incidental interest; they mostly fill time as the high-energy leader rests and recharges. He is the main attraction.

            I find two aspects of this release irritating. One is “Solo Sonny.” Played without accompaniment, it consists entirely of quotations from familiar tunes that lack any obvious connection. Its presence on this CD indicates Rollins’s approval of it, and many listeners will probably consider it a highlight, going so far as to attempt to identify all the compositions from which Rollins quotes. Yet it strikes me as a stunt, an exercise appropriate for a practice session, not a concert. I wonder why Rollins values “Solo Sonny” and decided to release it instead of something else from among the hours of unissued concert performances to which he doubtless has access.

            That these performances deserved enthusiastic audience response is obvious, but too much of it is retained on this CD. The applause totals five minutes, time that could have been given to the inclusion of another musical selection. People listening to this release more than once at a single sitting will have to endure two full minutes of applause between the end of the final selection and the beginning of the music on the first one. Around forty seconds of clapping typically separate tunes, applause that, in linking one piece to another, creates the impression that the selections were played in sequence at the same concert. Nothing would have been lost, and something would have been gained, from significantly reducing the amount of audience response to Rollins’s playing. This sublime music does not need the validation implied by excessive applause.

            These reservations aside, the third volume of Road Shows is a major addition to the rich recorded legacy of Sonny Rollins. I hope he will release, or permit others to release, additional concert material of similar quality.        

Author = Benjamin Franklin V