Cahl's Jukebox, 10-31-07

The daily mix:

1) The Clash: "Lost in the Supermarket"
2) The Hentchmen: "Cars on Film"
3) T.C. Atlantic: "Faces"
4) The Monks: "Complication"
5) Black Flag: "Six Pack"
6) Lou Reed: "Prism"
7) Patti Smith: "Summer Cannibals"
8) Syd Straw: "Howl"
9) The Detroit Cobras: "Just Can't Please You"
10) The Hold Steady: "Cattle and the Creeping Things"

Bowie on Nickelodeon

I'm not much of SpongeBob fan — OK, I've never even seen it — but I'll be watching "Atlantis SquarePantis," a SpongeBob SquarePants movie on Nickelodeon featuring David Bowie if I'm home on Nov. 12.

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-30-07

Today's mix:

1) Lonnie "Snake Boy" Johnson: "Lonesome in My Bedroom"
2) Johnny Rawls: You Got Me Going Through Changes"
3) Sam Cooke: "Get Yourself Another Fool"
4) Bobby Womack: "That's the Way I Feel About Cha"
5) Janiva Magness: "You Were Never Mine"
6) Nina Simone: "Marriage is for Old Folks"
7) Frank Sinatra: "The Second Time Around"
8) Lou Rawls: "Memory Lane"
9) Sonny Criss: "Blues in My Heart"
10) Tommy Flanagan: "Angel Eyes"

New Jazz Club

My friend Cindy tells me there's a new restaurant/jazz club in Bloomington called Jazz at the Station. I'm looking forward to checking it out the next I visit her.

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-27-07

The daily mix:

1) Lonnie Shields: "I Can't Let You Hurt Me"
2) Bettye LaVette: "Somebody Pick Up My Pieces"
3) Toni Price: "Gravy"
4) Chuck Prophet: "Would You Love Me?"
5) John Eddie: "Let Me Down Hard"
6) Dwight Yoakam: "Never Hold You"
7) Buck Owens: "Under Your Spell Again"
8) Solomon Burke: "Ain't Got You"
9) Bettye Swann: "Sweet Dreams"
10) Patsy Cline: "Love Me, Love Me, Honey Do"

Don't Miss It

If you live anywhere near central Indiana, you should think about attending Chuck Prophet's show at the Lafayette Brewing Company Sunday night. He's terrific in concert.

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-26-07

Friday morning blues:

1) Lonnie Johnson: "Don't Ever Love"
2) Junior Wells: "I'm Ready"
3) Larry Garner: "Juke Joint Woman"
4) Robert Covington: "I Don't Care"
5) Elmore James: "Baby, Please Set a Date"
6) James Cotton: "South Side Boogie"
7) C.C. Adcock: "Bo's Bounce"
8) Chicago Beau: "You Can't Send Children to School"
9) Otis Rush: "Please Love Me"
10) Hound Dog Taylor: "Sen-Sa-Shun"

Blues Blog Special: Willie Trice, 'Blue & Rag'd'

Willie Trice's body had been ravaged by diabetes and old age by the time he recorded the songs for "Blue & Rag'd" in the early '70s, but you'd never know it by listening to him play the guitar.

Trice, an old bluesman from North Carolina who was a friend and contemporary of Blind Boy Fuller and Buddy Moss, had an especially lively style on the guitar. On "I Love You Sweet Baby," for example, Trice sings about his desire to keep his woman, but his brisk guitar licks suggest he's ready to move on. "Shine On," which Trice learned from his Uncle Albert, who picked it up from an itinerant musician in the early 1900s, is a simple blues tune. Trice turns it into a whirling tour de force.

He spent most of his life working at gas stations and in the fields. As a result, he didn't make a lot of recordings in his youth, and the few he did make weren't preserved. That's a shame. If Trice was still a beast on the guitar when he was a tired old man, it's scary to think how good he might have been in his prime.

Pick up a copy of "Blue & Rag'd" if you can; it's a treasure of old school country blues.

(Blues Blog Special is a regular feature that examines older blues albums worth checking out.)

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-25-07

The daily mix:

1) Michael Penn: "Out of Its Misery"
2) Clem Snide: "All Green"
3) Moby Grape: "Motorcycle Irene"
4) Velocity Girl: "I Don't Care If You Go"
5) Weeping Tile: "Good Fortune"
6) Mary Lou Lord: "She's Bewitching Me"
7) Roger McGuinn: "The Time Has Come"
8) The Jayhawks: "Two Hearts"
9) Little Village: "Big Love"
10) Los Lobos: "I Can't Understand"

Jason Lindner Big Band: 'Live at the Jazz Gallery'

When I listen to the Jason Lindner Big Band’s “Live at the Jazz Gallery” album, I imagine the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Big Band recording an album arranged by a Mediterranean dude. I imagine Junior Mance playing blues with Charles Mingus and his band. I imagine Miles Davis and John Coltrane jamming with Tete Montolieu, Bernie Worrell and Tito Puente’s orchestra.

In other words, “Live at the Jazz Gallery” combines classic big band music with blues, Latin, Middle Eastern and electronic sounds. And the merging of influences sounds seamless.

Lindner, a pianist, is one of the best, and most versatile, young jazz band leaders I know. And his crew is killer. He’s joined by Anat Cohen on tenor saxophone and clarinet; Miguel Zenon on alto saxophone; Jay Collins on tenor and soprano saxophones, flute and vocals; Chris Karlic on baritone saxophone and bass clarinet; Duane Eubanks and Avishai Cohen on trumpet; Joe Fiedler, Dana Leong and Rafi Malkiel on trombone; Yosvany Terry Cabrera on chekere; Omer Avital on acoustic double bass; and Eric McPherson on drums.

“Live at the Jazz Gallery” sounds both timeless and modern. It’s the best new jazz album I’ve heard all year, and it’s been a great year for jazz.

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-24-07

The daily mix:

1) Galactic: "Black Eyed Pea"
2) Velvet Underground: "Sweet Jane"
3) Ugly Americans: "Vulcan Death Grip"
4) Gogol Bordello: "Ave. B"
5) Roxy Music: "Whirlwind"
6) The Undertones: "Family Entertainment"
7) Reigning Sound: "So Easy"
8) Minutemen: "Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs"
9) The Ziggens: "I Took My Mom to the Prom"
10) Supersuckers: "Rock-n-Roll Records (Ain't Selling This Year)"

Neil Young: 'Chrome Dreams II'

I learned how to drive in a pink 1961 Plymouth Savoy. And don’t tell my daddy, but that baby could fly.

I drove that old car on my first date and I drove it to my first Neil Young concert. Like that Plymouth, Young’s new album, “Chrome Dreams II,” is wild, scruffy and timeless. The album’s a perfect vehicle for cruising down memory lane.

“Beautiful Bluebird,” the acoustic opening track, sounds all the world like it should have been included on “Harvest,” one of the soundtracks to my high school years in the mid-‘70s. “No Hidden Path” is a rockin’ 14 and a half-minute jam that reminds me of a snowy evening a couple of friends and I did nothing but listen to “Cortez the Killer” over and over. The 18-minute “Ordinary People” sounds like a wild cover of a Warren Zevon song. I’ve had it on repeat all night.

“Dirty Old Man” reminds me that I’m getting old. But I’m an old guy who still loves rock that’s ragged and raw like only Neil Young can play it. And if I had my druthers, I’d be flying down I-65 in an old pink sedan with “Chrome Dreams II" blaring.

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-23-07

The daily mix:

1) Jack McDuff: "Silk 'n' Soul"
2) Sunnyland Slim: "Baby How Long"
3) Lou Rawls: "This Bitter Earth"
4) Dinah Washington: "A Bad Case of the Blues"
5) Mel Torme: "Down for the Double"
6) Frank Sinatra: "Too Marvelous for Words"
7) Gerry Mulligan and Johnny Hodges: "What It's All About"
8) Junior Mance: "Love for Sale"
9) Dirty Dozen Brass Band: "I'll Fly Away"
10) Louis Armstrong: "Tiger Rag"

Jazz Showcase to Reopen

My friend Greg Kline told me the other day that Joe Segal is reopening the Jazz Showcase in Chicago. It must be true. Segal says on the Jazz Showcase Web site that the club will reopen in January at Dearborn Station. I'm psyched.

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-22-07

Monday morning blues:

1) James Wayne: "I'm a Real Gypsy Fellow"
2) Chicago Blues Reunion: "Death of Muddy Waters"
3) Nora Jean Brusso: "Don't You Remember?"
4) Shemekia Copeland: "My Kind of a Guy"
5) Victoria Spivey and Lonnie Johnson: "Please Baby"
6) Lacy Gibson: "Dirty Old Man"
7) Alberta Hunter: "Amtrak Blues"
8) Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson: "No Good for Me"
9) Little Willie Littlefield: "Lay Your Cards on the Table"
10) Lightnin' Hopkins: "You Cook All Right"

Jazz Blog Special: Lew Soloff, "With a Song in My Heart'

Lew Soloff uses his normally brassy trumpet to whisper love songs to his listeners on “With a Song in My Heart.”

The space Soloff leaves around his muted notes on the album’s ballads will inevitably remind listeners of Miles Davis’ softer side, especially on the Spanish-tinged “Deguello.” And, in fact, Soloff speaks in the liner notes about his emotional connection to the simplicity of Davis’ music. But Soloff also mentions Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday, and you can hear their influence on the album, too.

On “The Way You Look Tonight” and “I’m a Fool to Want You,” Soloff uses his trumpet to mimic the sensuous phrasing of Sinatra’s vocals. And on “Come Rain or Come Shine,” Soloff manages to transpose the gentle sauciness of Holiday’s singing; pianist Mulgrew Miller helps with some lovely blues riffs.

I like the flirty uptempo pace of the title track, too, but the highlight of the album, at least for me, is “Andantino,” a selection from a Tchaikovsky symphony. It’s a timeless love song, a tune on which the hushed notes from Soloff’s trumpet, Miller’s piano and George Mraz’s bass caress listeners.

“With a Song in My Heart” seems to be out of print, but used copies are still available. Look for the album if you’re in a mood for love. It’s a great choice for a lazy Sunday morning, too.

(Jazz Blog Special examines older jazz albums worth checking out.)

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-21-07

Sunday morning jazz:

1) Hampton Hawes: "Soul Sign Eight"
2) Mulatu Astatke: "Yèkèrmo Sèw (A Man of Experience and Wisdom)"
3) Booker Ervin: "The Trance"
4) Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars: "Witch Doctor"
5) Sidney Bechet: "Maple Leaf Rag"
6) Sid Phillips and his Band: "Running Wild"
7) George Lewis: "12th Street Rag"
8) Kenny Clarke: "Tricotism"
9) Dexter Gordon; "Ca'Purange"
10) Dizzy Gillespie: "Moon Nocturn"

Toni Price: 'Talk Memphis'

The swing on Toni Price's last album, "Born to Be Blue," was a little too soft for my liking. On her new album, "Talk Memphis," Price returns to the feisty mix of rock, blues and country that made me fall in love with her music in the first place.

Price turns Jesse Winchester's "Talk Memphis" into a slinky, funky love letter to one of my favorite cities. Price and her band pick up the tempo on "What I'm Puttin' Down," which makes it even steamier than the title track. Her cover of Allen Toussaint's "Mean Man" falls somewhere in between the renditions by Betty Harris and the Detroit Cobras, and there's not a damn thing wrong with that. I'll still turn to Mable John first when I want to hear "Left Over Love," but just barely. Price's version is slow and steamy; in fact it reminds me of some of the sexiest songs on Janiva Magness' last album, "Do I Move You?"

I like Price's decision to raid the songbooks of some of her favorite soul singers for "Talk Memphis." "Ninety-Nine Pounds," popularized by Ann Peebles, sounds particularly good sung with a slight twang. Most of all, though, I like the fact that Price decided to check the schmaltz at the studio door. There aren't many things sexier than a great female singer with an attitude.

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-20-07

The daily mix:

1) Toni Price: "Talk Memphis"
2) Lou Ann Barton: "You Can Have My Husband"
3) Elvis Presley: "Long Tall Sally"
4) John Fogerty: "Premonition"
5) Rod Stewart: "True Blue"
6) Charlie Musselwhite: "Juke"
7) Koko Taylor: "Don't Go No Further"
8) Big Twist and the Mellow Fellows: "300 Pounds of Heavenly Joy"
9) Chuck Willis: "I Rule My House"
10) Wynona Carr: "Touch and Go"

Lucky Dube Killed in South Africa

Reggae star Lucky Dube has been killed during an attempted car hijacking in South Africa. We've lost one of the sweetest voices in all of reggae.

I bought my first Lucky Dube album on a whim 15 years ago because I liked the cover. After listening to that album, "House of Exile," I bought every CD he released over the next 10 years. Lucky Dube mixed elements of soul, gospel and jazz with his reggae; his lyrics often cried for political reform, but they were filled with messages of love, too. As a result, his albums always seemed both compelling and comforting.

On "Crazy World," a song from that first Lucky Dube album I bought, he sings about the uncertainty of life, the possibility of the man in the long black coat knocking on your door. And he asks that if he dies, he prays to God his soul to take.

I hope he got his wish, but I'm willing to bet he did. Lucky Dube was a deeply spiritual man. You could hear that in every tune he ever recorded.

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-19-07

The daily mix:

1) Joan Armatrading: "No Love"
2) Denita James: "I Have Feelings Too"
3) Jimmy Ruffin: "Gonna Give Her All the Love I've Got"
4) GTOs: "Girl from New York City"
5) The Police: "Can't Stand Losing You"
6) Sam Bisbee and His Incredible Band: "You are Here"
7) Guided By Voices: "The Main Street Wizards"
8) Super Furry Animals: "Rabid Dog"
9) Yo La Tengo: "Autumn Sweater"
10) Penelope Houston: "Frankenstein Heart"

Blues Blog Special: Hammie Nixon, 'Tappin' That Thing'

I know that Hammie Nixon was a pioneer of the blues harmonica who influenced Sonny Boy Williamson, Big Walter Horton and scores of other harp players. But if I’d heard Nixon play the kazoo when I was a kid, I’d have dreamed of becoming a blues musician rather than an astronaut, doctor or baseball player.

Nixon, Sleepy John Estes’ longtime musical partner, turned the blues into happy music when he played his kazoo. And that’s a nice complement to the lonesome tone of his harmonica. Nixon didn’t record the songs for “Tappin’ That Thing” until he was an old man, but every note on the album is filled with life.

I love the way he sang as much as I do the way he played the kazoo and the harmonica. And though I’m now well into middle age, listening to Nixon makes me dream of becoming a blues musician once I retire. Perhaps I’d better keep one of the kazoos I was planning to give my nieces this Christmas.

(Blues Blog Special is a regular feature that examines older blues albums worth checking out.)

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-18-07

Thursday morning jazz:

1) Doug Watkins: "One Guy"
2) Dexter Gordon: "Long Tall Dexter"
3) Neal Hefti: "Rhumbacito"
4) Dave Brubeck Quartet: "Maria"
5) James Clay and David "Fathead" Newman: "What's New"
6) Bill Berry: "Avalon"
7) Danilo Perez: "Blues for the Saints"
8) Shelly Manne Septet: "The Princess of Evil"
9) Charles Gayle: "Rush to Sunrise"
10) Laszlo Gardonay: "Motherless Child"

'Introducing the Javier Vercher Trio'

I first heard the young Spanish tenor saxophonist Javier Vercher on ”Seven Angels on a Bicycle,” a CD by his wife, Carrie Rodriguez. Vercher’s quirky saxophone fills helped make it one of the most interesting alt-country CDs I’ve heard in a long time.

Sine then I’ve purchased “Introducing the Javier Vercher Trio” and “Wheel of Time,” which he recorded with drummer Ferenc Nemeth. They’re both nice CDs, but I like “Introducing the Javier Vercher Trio” the best.

Vercher obviously owes a great debt to John Coltrane; he sounds remarkably like Coltrane on several cuts of “Introducing the Javier Vercher Trio.” But he reminds me more of the excellent Greek saxophonist Dimitri Vassilakis. Vercher blows wild on most of the album’s tracks, but when he’s joined by the eloquent pianist Robert Glasper on two tunes, his sound is soft and beautiful. I like Chris Higgins on bass and Brannen Temple on drums a lot, too.

I’m looking forward to even better albums by Vercher in the future. Check out some of his music on myspace.

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-17-07

The daily mix:

1) Crazy Horse: "Downtown"
2) Gene Vincent: "Crazy Legs"
3) Keith Richards: "Locked Away"
4) Mary Weiss: "You're Never Gonna See Me Cry"
5) Trolls: "Every Night and Every Day"
6) The Rays: "Daddy Cool"
7) Nick Lowe: "You Stabbed Me in the Front"
8) The Pretenders: "Message of Love"
9) The Dandy Warhols: "I Love You"
10) Husker Du: "Dead Set on Destruction"

Neil Young Previews

Neil Young has a youtube channel on which he's offering previews of some songs from the new album, which will be released next week. I'm digging the fact that he's rocking hard and I'm wishing I had time to go see him when he comes to Chicago in November.

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-16-07

Tuesday night jazz:

1) Bobby Battle Quartet: "To Wisdom, the Prize"
2) William Parker Quartet: "Hawaii"
3) Charles Mingus: "The Shoes Of The Fisherman's Wife are Some Jive Ass Slippers"
4) Thad Jones and Mel Lewis: "The Waltz You Swang for Me"
5) Hank Mobley: "East of the Village"
6) Joe Henderson: "My Man's Gone Now"
7) Cecil Brooks III and Gene Ludwig: "Bird of Beauty"
8) Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers: "In Case You Missed It"
9) Fred Wesley: "Peace Power"
10) John Carter: "Moon Waltz"

'Lake/Tchicai/Osgood/Westergaard'

“Lake/Tchicai/Osgood/Westergaard” sounds like it should be playing in a beatnik coffee house for the new millennium … especially when saxophonists Oliver Lake and John Tchicai recite snippets of poetry.

Lake, Tchicai, drummer Kresten Osgood and bassist Jonas Westergaard play free jazz, to be sure, but the tunes have a snap your fingers kind of vibe punctuated by wild saxophone riffs and occasional African drum beats.

In the liner notes, Lake says the quartet recorded the album after finding its groove during a short tour of Denmark in 2003. On “Azurite,” the album’s opening track, that groove sounds like a free jazz boogie. Lake on alto and Tchicai on tenor sound like they’re bouncing off a wall of sound constructed with Westergaard’s walking bass lines and Osgood’s rumbling drum licks.

“Turku Boogie” could be a musical poem to John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley. The interplay between Lake and Tchicai certainly remind me of the duets between the two legendary saxophonists on “Cannonball and Coltrane.” Lake sounds as if he’s transposing Coltrane’s tenor parts to the alto and Tchicai sounds as if he’s playing Adderley’s alto parts on tenor.

“Valley Sketch” swings hard and “Loop for Susan” meanders slowly and sexily for a while until Osgood bangs through an excellent drum solo. “Spirit,” which features ethereal solos by Lake, might be the mostly aptly named tune on the album. It’s divine.

“Smiling Billy Higgins,” Osgood’s tribute to the great drummer who played with everyone from Ornette Coleman to Bo Diddley, might be the best, and most appropriate, tune on the album. It reminds me a lot of “Don’t Stop the Carnival” by Sonny Rollins, with whom Higgins played. The Caribbean beat and funky melody make “Smiling Billy Higgins” one of the hippest free jazz tunes I know. It makes me feel like snapping my fingers and dancing all the way to the coffee shop.

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-15-07

The daily mix:

1) Delta Big Four: "I'll Be Here"
2) Blind Boys of Alabama: "Give a Man a Home"
3) Holmes Brothers: "Going Down Slow"
4) Jazz Gillum: "I Couldn't Help It Blues"
5) Sleepy John Estes: "If the River Was Whiskey"
6) Frank Stokes: "Sweet to Mama"
7) Memphis Minnie: "I'm Not a Bad Gal"
8) Katie Webster: "Money Honey or Honey Hush"
9) Carey and Lurrie Bell: "Short Dress Woman"
10) Lavelle White: "Movin'"

Kelly Willis is Coming to Lafayette

Friends of Bob, a local music cooperative, announced at the Mekons show at the Lafayette Brewing Company on Saturday that country singer Kelly Willis will be coming to Lafayette on Nov. 18.

I'm psyched. I had to skip her set at this year's Austin City Limits Music Festival so I could get to Bob Dylan's concert at Stubb's. I'm even more excited about Chuck Prophet's return to Lafayette on Oct. 28.

If you're in the area you should try to attend both shows.

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-14-07

The daily mix:

1) The Mekons: "Dark, Dark, Dark"
2) American Music Club: "Challenger"
3) Frank Black: "I Could Stay Here Forever"
4) The Sadies: "Coming Back"
5) Graham Parker: "A Brand New Book"
6) Sebadoh: "Everybody's Been Burned"
7) The Silos: "Love is a Beautiful Thing"
8) Lyres: "She Pays the Rent"
9) Teenage Fanclub: "Discolite"
10) Troubled Hubble: "14,000 Things to Be Happy About"

The Mekons' 30th Anniversary Concert in Lafayette

Jon Langford isn’t the first name that comes to mind when most folks talk about male sex symbols in rock. Maybe he should be. Tonight in Lafayette at the final show of The Mekons’ 30th anniversary tour, women all around me started swooning when Langford performed a sexy, spastic dance during one of the songs. Mostly they were laughing, especially when Langford executed a bump and grind before leaping from a chair and tumbling on the ground. But still the women were swooning; my best friend barely managed to stay on her bar stool.

I don’t know if I’ve ever laughed harder at a concert. Langford and Sally Timms, who has one of the strongest female voices and the sharpest tongue in rock, made fun of each other and the audience members all night. Between laughs, The Mekons delivered an outstanding set filled with rock, country, folk and even a little reggae.

Aside from Langford’s dance, the highlight of the show for me might have been watching Lu Edmonds bounce around the stage pounding on his electric saz, a long, thin Turkish stringed instrument. The biggest disappointment was that guitarist Tom Greenhalgh missed the show because he had flown to England for the birth of the child. But I forgot all about Greenhalgh when alt-country rocker Will Oldham joined the band on stage for impassioned renditions of “(Sometimes I Feel Like) Fletcher Christian” and “Sympathy for the Mekons.”

I liked Timms’ vocals on “Millionaire” a lot, too. But the best songs might have been the ones from The Mekons’ latest album, “Natural.” Those tunes sounded like a combination of The Decemberists and Fairport Convention filtered through The Pogues. And though the Mekons played a lot of acoustic tunes, they energetically attacked every song they performed – what else would you expect from a group of punk rock legends?

And did I mention that all of the band members, not just Langford, are goofy and drop-dead sexy? God, I love old farts who still know how to rock.

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-12-07

The daily mx:

1) The New Pornographers: "All the Old Showstoppers"
2) The Dandy Warhols: "Cool as Kim Deal"
3) Dan Sartain: "Lonely Hearts"
4) The Mountain Goats: "Broom People"
5) Spoon: "The Underdog"
6) Radiohead: "A Wolf at the Door (It Girl, Rag Doll)"
7) Pavement: "Box Elder"
8) The Mr. T Experience: "Dumb Little Band"
9) Gogol Bordello: "Forces of Victory"
10) Gitogito Hustler: "Maybe Love"

Blues Blog Special: Yank Rachell, 'Chicago Style'

I know the blues is based on hardship, but it’s hard to listen to Yank Rachell’s “Chicago Style” without smiling.

Joy fluttered out of the strings on Rachell’s electric mandolin on every song, even when he was singing about busted love affairs. Rachell had a nice voice, but I’d have bought the album, which Rachell recorded in 1979 when he was 69, if it featured nothing but Rachell’s mandolin.

I don’t think even bluegrass legend Bill Monroe played the mandolin with as much dexterity; Rachell’s fingers flew around his frets. But when he wanted to make a point, Rachell bent his strings and held the notes, creating the kind of high-lonesome sound rarely heard in the blues.

One of my former students frequently asks me for a list of desert island albums. I never answer because my list would change every day. I can assure you, though, that “Chicago Style” would always be near the top because if I’m going to be stuck on an island, I want something that’s going to make me smile.

(Blues Blog Special is a regular feature that examines older blues albums worth checking out.)

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-11-07

The daily mix:

1) Joe Liggins: "Goin' Back to LA"
2) Joe Houston: "All Night Long"
3) Bill Doggett: "Real Gone Mambo"
4) Baby Face Willette: "Swingin' at Sugar Ray's"
5) Don Patterson: "Pisces of Soul"
6) Charlie Musselwhite: "Please Don't Think I'm Nosy"
7) Van Morrison: "Too Many Myths"
8) The Chimes: "#38"
9) Mott the Hoople: "Hymn for the Dudes"
10) Warren Zevon: "Desperadoes Under the Leaves"

Bye Bye Labels?

I'm delighted that Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Madonna and several other artists have split with their record labels. I've been buying albums directly from jazz musicians such as Sonny Rollins, Chick Corea and Maria Schneider for a long time now, and though I've bought thousands of CDs from labels, I'd much rather support the artists directly.

Moreover, I fear that big business-owned record labels will eventually dump the compact disc format when profits continue to decline. I purchase a lot of digital music, but I'm old, so I prefer a physical copy of my albums. I'm betting musicians will accommodate me.

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-10-07

Wednesday morning jazz:

1) Big John Patton: "The Turnaround"
2) Jimmy Smith: "Tuxedo Junction"
3) Teddy Hill Orchestra: "Blue Rhythm Fantasy"
4) Buddy Rich and His Orchestra: "Jump for Me"
5) Vienna Art Orchestra: "But Not For Me"
6) Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz: "Exactly Like You"
7) Al Cohn Quintet: "Back to Back"
8) Cal Tjader: "Bluesology"
9) Milt Jackson and John Coltrane: "The Late Late Blues"
10) Grant Green: "Blues in Maude's Flat"

Baby Face Willette: 'Face to Face'

“Swingin’ at Sugar Ray’s,” the opening track on Baby Face Willette’s “Face to Face” album, which Blue Note recently re-released, is one of the fiercest jazz tunes I know. Willette starts swinging hard on the opening note and never slows down. Grant Green follows with an exceptionally hard-driving guitar solo, giving way to Fred Jackson’s tenor saxophone solo, which sounds like he’s being chased by Sonny Stitt, Gene Ammons and Stanley Turrentine.

On “Goin’ Down,” the group finds a slow soul-jazz groove, which reminds me of some of the tracks from Green’s albums on which Willette played. Green, of course, is spectacular. But the surprise, at least for me, was how sexy Jackson’s saxophone sounds, before I bought “Face to Face,” I’d heard him play only on a Lou Donaldson record and a couple of Big John Patton albums.

Sarah Vaughan’s rendition of “Whatever Lola Wants” has always been my favorite version of the song, but Willette’s peppy take on it might be better. Willette and his band, which also includes drummer Ben Dixon, illustrate their mastery of the blues on “Somethin’ Strange.”

“Face to Face” is one of the best jazz reissues of the year. I can’t wait until Blue Note remasters Willette’s “Stop and Listen” and Fred Jackson’s “Hootin’ and Tootin’.”

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-9-07

Today's mix:

1) Tim Buckley: "Make It Right"
2) Andrew Bird: "Core and Rind"
3) Michael Penn: "Perfect Candidate"
4) Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers: "Pablo Picasso"
5) Peter Case: "Blind Luck"
6) The Walkabouts: "The River People"
7) Dion: "This Little Girl"
8) The Vulgar Boatmen: "Fool Me"
9) The Blake Babies: "Civil War"
10) Richard and Linda Thompson: "Walking on a Wire"

They're Hipper Than Cahl

My boss, who'd be the last person I know to call himself a hipster, digs Nick Drake. A lot of my students do, too. I've never been able to connect with Drake's music. Maybe my boss and my students really are hipper than I am. Oh well.

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-8-07

Monday morning jazz:

1) Julian Priester: "Under the Surface"
2) Phil Ranelin: "13th and Senate"
3) Saheb Sarbib Quartet: "It Couldn't Happen Without You"
4) Joe Newman: "Lil' Darlin'"
5) Ira Sullivan: "Nicky's Tune Number 3"
6) Cecil Bridgewater: "Sophisticated Lady"
7) Junior Cook: "Play Together Again"
8) Valery Ponomarev: "I Concentrate on You"
9) Billy Harper: "Let All the Voices Sing"
10) Dimitri Vassilakis: "James"

Eric Dolphy with Herbie Hancock: 'Gaslight 1962'

I’ve always been a fan of saxophonist Eric Dolphy, but I’ve had a major jones for his music since I heard him play on “Cornell 1964,” a live recording of a Charles Mingus concert that Blue Note released this summer. So I was thrilled a couple of weeks ago when I learned that the Get Back label had released “Gaslight 1962,” an album featuring a rare live recording by Dolphy with pianist Herbie Hancock.

The quality of the sound on “Gaslight 1962” isn’t great; you can hear the musicians fine, but they sound muted. I also wish the album included liner notes. I’m not complaining, though, because Dolphy is wild and wonderful, especially on “Miss Ann” and “G.W.” It sounds like Dolphy is playing a furious game of tag with Hancock, bassist Richard Davis, trumpeter Eddie Armour and drummer Edgar Batemen. The result is unpredictable and delightful.

The tapes for “Gaslight 1962” weren’t as important a discovery as those for Mingus’ concert as Cornell, but the album certainly fed my jones.

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-6-07

The daily mix:

1) Herbert Hunter: "I'm So Satisified"
2) Bettye LaVette: "Talking Old Soldiers"
3) Van Morrison: "Golden Autumn Day"
4) JJ Cale: "Cajun Moon"
5) Chuck Prophet: "Small-town Girl"
6) Alejandro Escovedo: "Notes on Air"
7) Jim Lauderdale: "Can't Find Mary"
8) Robbie Fulks: "Little King"
9) Ike Turner: "Big Fat Mama"
10) Sonny Boy Williamson: "Nine Below Zero"

'Freddie Keppard, 1923-1926: The Complete Set'

Everything I read about Freddie Keppard says the great cornetist had seen his best years before he started recording in the mid-‘20s. That’s scary because he was still damn good when he laid down the 24 tracks that can be found on “Freddie Keppard, 1923-1926: The Complete Set.”

The thing I like best about Keppard and his band is the spirit with which they played. Their music is playful and funny. In his liner notes, Mark Berresford trashes Elwood Graham, another cornet player, for his “crying” solos on “So This is Venice.” The solos sound remarkably like a laugh to me and, frankly, I think the song is hilarious.

The album includes many of the biggest jazz luminaries of the day, including Johnnie Dodds and Jimmy Noone on clarinet. If you ask me, these guys were the ultimate improvisers because they were creating the language of jazz as they went along. And I can still hear their influence in everything from the jazz in old cartoons to the theme song for the “Benny Hill Show.” For that matter, I can hear strains of their music in virtually every jazz album I own.

I wouldn’t trade your Louis Armstrong, King Oliver and Sidney Bechet albums to get “Freddie Keppard, 1923-1926: The Complete Set,” but you can’t have too much good music. Besides, according to Berresford, Bechet admired Keppard a great deal and Jelly Roll Morton considered Keppard his favorite cornet player. Who are we to second-guess those guys?

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-5-07

Friday morning Blues:

1) Sunnyland Slim: "Tired of You Clowning"
2) Boo Boo Davis: "Somebody Have Mercy"
3) Earl King: "Love Me Now"
4) John Primer: "Come Back Baby"
5) Sugar Blue: "Don't Start me Talkin'"
6) Otis Taylor: "Looking Over Your Fence"
7) Mighty Joe Young: "Lookin' for You"
8) Magic Sam: "Every Night About This Time"
9) Robert Covington: "Trust in Me"
10) Watermelon Slim: "Check Writing Woman"

Bruce Springsteen, 'Magic'

I like Bruce Springsteen's "Magic" enough that I've listened to it several times since I bought it on Tuesday. It does remind me of my college days and that's saying something for a middle-aged man who's surrounded by college kids 30 years his junior. But it reminds me more of Neil Young's "Living with War," which I also like.

Both albums engage me when I listen to them and I like the fact that they rock. Still, there aren't any songs from "Magic" or "Living with War" that I find myself singing when I'm walking the dog. And Franco, my little hellhound, knows the words to "Thunder Road" and "Cinnamon Girl" by heart.

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-4-07

The daily mix:

1) Al Smith: "Come on Pretty Baby"
2) Sam Cooke: "Trouble Blues"
3) Eddie Taylor: "I Got a Little Thing They Call It Swing"
4) King Curtis: "New Orleans"
5) Jo-Jo and the Fugitives: "Fugitive Song"
6) Charles Walker and the Dynamites: "Come on In"
7) Wild Jimmy Spruill: "Cut and Dried"
8) Jimmy McGriff: "Red Roses for a Blue Lady"
9) Sunnyland Slim: "Baby How Long"
10) Jack McDuff and Gene Ammons: "Strollin'"

Whoops

It seems that I made a tactical error in scheduling editing seminars on Thursday nights. Anoushka Shankar is playing at Purdue tonight; Esperanza Spalding and Gretchen Parlato are coming next Thursday.

Still, I have a lot of good shows coming up:
• Oct. 13: The Mekons
• Oct. 26: The Vulgar Boatmen
• Oct. 28: Chuck Prophet
• Nov. 9: Rosanne Cash
• Nov. 17: Stefon Harris

I'm also hoping to get to Chicago in February to see Dave Alvin.

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-3-07

Wednesday morning jazz:

1) Carla Bley: "Fresh Impression"
2) Joe Henderson: "A Shade of Jade"
3) Grachan Moncur III: "Saturday and Sunday"
4) Bob Florence Limited Edition: "Earth"
5) Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker: "It's Sandy at the Beach"
6) Roy Ayers: "Ricardo's Dilemma"
7) Dave Brubeck Quartet: "Alice in Wonderland"
8) Gene Ammons All-Stars: "Jammin' with Gene"
9) Baby Face Willette: "Goin' Down"
10) Johnny Griffin: "These Foolish Things"

PJ Harvey: 'White Chalk'

I’m not about to suggest that musicians should record the same things over and over again, but PJ Harvey’s new album, “White Chalk,” makes me want to pull out her older, harder rockin’ albums and crank up the volume.

The serene, ethereal music on “White Chalk” is pleasant enough. I’m sure some folks will love it. I’m just bored.

I admire Harvey for trying something new, but if I want to listen to music that makes me feel like I’m floating, I’ll grab one of my old Kate Bush albums.

Jazz Blog Special: Art Pepper, 'Friday Night at the Village Vanguard'

Folks who think of saxophonist Art Pepper only as a pretty balladeer have obviously never heard “Friday Night at the Village Vanguard."

On the album’s first track, “Las Cuervas de Mario,” Pepper starts with warm riffs that illustrate just how beautiful his tone really was. But midway through the tune, Pepper starts squawking on his alto almost like he was Steve Lacy or Sonny Rollins. And on “Caravan,” for which Pepper switched to tenor, he bops as hard as anyone you’ll ever hear.

Pepper’s renditions of “But Beautiful” and “Labyrinth” reinforce the notion that Pepper had one of the most elegant sounds in jazz, but he was hardly one-dimensional. I’m convinced that Pepper could have played anything he wanted, even covers of Ornette Coleman tunes. The extraordinary band he used for this gig — pianist George Cables, bassist George Mraz and drummer Elvin Jones — would have followed.

The other albums from Pepper’s trip to New York, “Thursday Night at the Village Vanguard” and “Saturday Night at the Village Vanguard,” are worth checking out, too. But if I had to select just one Art Pepper album to keep, it would be “Friday Night at the Village Vanguard.”

(Jazz Blog Special is a regular feature that examines older jazz albums worth checking out.)

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-2-07

The daily mix:

1) Dave Alvin: "Peace"
2) Sons and Daughters: "Blood"
3) Two Cow Garage: "Burn in Hell"
4) Dean Carter: "Rebel Woman"
5) Hacienda Brothers: "Cowboys to Girls"
6) Green on Red: "Sun Goes Down"
7) The Minders: "Go Wave Your Wand"
8) The Replacements: "Hootenanny"
9) Billy Lee Riley: "No Name Girl"
10) Rockin' Saints: "Cheat on Me Baby"

Cees Slinger Dies

A lot of jazz fans know the tatseful piano work by Cees Slinger on Dexter Gordon's "Our Man in Amsterdam," even if they don't know the name of the excellent jazz pianist from the Netherlands. I think a collection of Slinger's recordings called "Then and Now: 1966-2000" is just as good as Gordon's album, if not better.

On "Then and Now," Slinger, who died over the weekend, provides an elegant base for saxophonist Ben Webster on six of the tracks. On the other six songs, Slinger glides when he plays jazzy riffs filled with a hint of the blues.

I highly recommend that you check out "Then and Now," which I see is now available from emusic. Webster was incredible on the album and Slinger illustrated that he might have been the best pianist most jazz fans have never heard of.

Cahl's Jukebox, 10-1-07

The daily mix:

1) John Prine: "The Great Rain"
2) Steve Earle: "Jericho Road"
3) Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper: "Six More Miles"
4) Jimmy Martin: "Sunny Side of the Mountain"
5) Hank Snow: "The Rhumba Boogie"
6) Hawkshaw Hawkins: "Waitin' for My Baby (Rock, Rock)"
7) Lefty Frizzell: "Always Late"
8) Steve Young: "Ramblin' Man"
9) Buddy Miller: "Somewhere Trouble Don't Go"
10) Flatt & Scruggs: "Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms"