Reviews

Paco de Lucía, Cositas Buenas.

On his long-awaited new CD, Spanish guitarist Paco de Lucía exceeds whatever high expectations may have been generated by the five-year wait between new recordings. Where 1998's Luzia was introspective, Cositas Buenas is aggressive—de Lucía's playing is more powerful and more up front in mix and attitude than ever. Despite the large number of guest artists, including singers Montse Cortés, Potito, and Diego el Cigala, it's one of his least ensemble-oriented recordings. De Lucía expands his soloist role by multitracking himself on guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, and laúd (a Spanish folk instrument similar to a 12-string guitar), and no longer a self-described frustrated singer, he even sings on two tracks. To kaleidoscopic effect, he recasts musical ideas from each instrument through the others, but he always keeps the focus on guitar. Only "El Dengue," a rumba with guitarist Juan D'Anyelica, and "Que Venga el Alba," a remix of a bulería with the late Camarón de la Isla and guitarist Tomatito, have a truly ensemble feel. Emphasizing his guitar playing and his ability to constantly reinvent flamenco, Cositas Buenas presents Paco de Lucía at a new peak of creativity. (Blue Thumb, www.vervemusicgroup.com)

—Stephen Dick

Chris Hickey, Release.

On "Kitchen," the standout track of his third solo record, Chris Hickey sings, "If my vision fails when I'm crossing over / I'll use my hands like anyone / Sometimes a nail in my kitchen table rises / I hammer it down like I would in anyone else's kitchen." The musical accompaniment is understated but evocative: palm-muted eighth notes on acoustic guitar, well-placed cello swells, shaker and percussion loops, and the ringing vocal harmonies of Hickey and his former Uma bandmate Sally Dworsky. Like most of the tunes on Release, the quiet but powerful "Kitchen" resonates long after the last note has rung out. Although his wordplay sometimes recalls Dylan, Hickey also has a knack for sharp, melodic tunes that are evocative in spite of their simplicity. Twenty-five years ago, Hickey was a member of the Spoilers, an LA punk/pop band influenced by Johnny Rotten and Bruce Springsteen. He recorded solo records in 1985 and 1987, plus albums with the bands Show of Hands and Uma. Release doesn't betray his hard-rocking roots, but it definitely reveals a talent born of experience and persistence. It makes you want to check out his previous work and, more importantly, look forward to what he'll produce next. (Work-Fire, www.chrishickey.net)

—Drew Pearce

Ken Hatfield Trio, The Surrealist Table.

Over the past five years, fingerstyle jazz guitarist/composer Ken Hatfield has released a series of albums featuring his nimble nylon-string guitar work and imaginative original pieces in formats ranging from solo to sextet. On The Surrealist Table, his first trio recording, Hatfield is joined by bassist Hans Glawischnig and drummer Jeff Hirshfield, and the result is an empathetic session brimming with beautifully realized musical ideas and stellar playing. Hatfield's well-constructed pieces range stylistically from the blues-with-a-twist feel of "Most Every Day" to the haunting neoclassical "Berceuse" to the sprightly bossa "Castalia." Other highlights are "Ariadne's Thread," with its shifting 5/4—3/4 pulse, and the somber, noirish ballad "Iphigeneia." The harmonic richness and strong melodic content of these pieces makes them perfect vehicles for Hatfield's thoughtful, intricate, and often burning improvisations. At times, as on the up-tempo McCoy Tyner-ish tune "The Chimera," Hatfield improvises with an almost classical sensibility, choosing short motifs from the melody and reworking them into extended lines that are more like inventive variations on the melody than "blowing over changes" (which is something this not-quite-reformed bebopper also does very well). On this tune and others, he weaves chords, arpeggios, and single lines into both his solos and comping in a fashion that brings to mind the playing of pianist Bill Evans, who Hatfield evokes on the sublime jazz waltz "Á Demain." As with Evans, Hatfield's playing is characterized by creative invention, a refined delicacy of touch, and an in-the-pocket rhythmic swing and drive, and these qualities abound throughout the musical feast he lays out on The Surrealist Table. (Arthur Circle, www.kenhatfield.com)

—Ron Forbes-Roberts

Glen Bonham.

With a British father and a Choctaw mother, Glen Bonham makes an unlikely standard-bearer for trad bluegrass. But from beneath the feather headdress and porcupine quills comes a smooth, rich baritone that recalls the young George Jones and Merle Haggard, expressing a heart that's true to the mother-and-home music of the Carter Family as well as the tear-in-my-beer school of '60s Nashville. Apart from "Mr. Homeless," a richly bathetic original country weeper that already feels ancient, Bonham has chosen oft-recorded songs like Jimmy Skinner's "You Don't Know My Mind," Bill Monroe's "Walk Softly (On This Heart of Mine)," and Lawton Williams' "Fraulein." Even for bluegrass, most of these songs are hopelessly old-fashioned, but some recording sessions are just charmed, and the musicians here sound like they're having the time of their lives, making the best of a chance to hew so close to the tradition. On guitar, New Grass Revival's Pat Flynn shifts between taut, understated rhythms and bright, complex bursts of notes, while Dobroists Rob Ickes and Randy Kohrs wax beautifully sentimental on these tunes, providing the perfect accompaniment for an album that's deliciously out of time. (Scena, www.scenarecords.com)

—Kenny Berkowitz

Helsinki Mandoliners, 2.

In the world of fretted-instrument ensembles, the Helsinki Mandoliners are not only one of the most accomplished but also one of the most intriguing. On their second recording, these four Finnish virtuosos deliver their globe-ranging and mind-bending music with mastery and charm on mandolins, octave mandolin, and bass. The tunes, all composed by band members, reflect diverse influences—"Mediterranean Polska" is evocative of Greek music, "Tsuhna" starts out with a Russian-sounding melody, and "Siltatanssit Tango" has the sophistication of an Argentine classic. The music's emotional range embraces the laugh-out-loud rollicking polka "Kolmas Rastas" and the somberly gorgeous "Ingela and Morten." Surprising musical twists are everywhere: some melodies pause, then spill over bar lines to create intricate, odd-length phrases; others go romping through a dozen distantly related chord changes before finally coming to harmonic rest. Though much of the music will seem unfamiliar to listeners accustomed to American folk and popular music, this is a delightful journey for anyone who enjoys great musicianship, innovative compositions, cool syncopation, and beautiful harmonies. (Folk Music Institute, www.kaustinen.net)

—Sue Thompson

Janis Ian, Billie's Bones.

Ever since her precocious entrance into the spotlight at age 16 with her 1967 hit, "Society's Child," Janis Ian's best work has always created its own uniquely intimate atmosphere. Her sensuous, conversational vocal delivery and finely wrought tales from the heart connect on levels that most folk-pop artists can only aspire to. Billie's Bones, Ian's 18th studio album, showcases the Nashville-based singer-songwriter's signature attributes on a par with any collection in her deep catalog. Led off by the title cut, a hauntingly poetic ode to jazz great Billie Holiday, the 13-song set generates a vibe both poignant and visceral throughout. Other standout tracks include "My Tennessee Hills," a lovely countrified duet with Dolly Parton; "Paris in Your Eyes," a bitter-sweet farewell to love gone awry; and "Matthew," a jazzy blues dedicated to the memory of slain gay college student Matthew Shepard. The varied but cohesive playlist also features "Dead Men Walking," a gently rousing folk-rocker, and the churning, Appalachian-grown alt-country of "Mockingbird." And lest anyone overlook Ian's formidable acoustic guitar chops, she offers her first-ever recorded original instrumental, the Celtic-accented "Marching on Glasgow." (Rude Girl/Oh Boy, www.ohboy.com)

—Mike Thomas

Eric Bibb, Rory Block, Maria Muldaur, Sisters and Brothers.

In the recording biz, there are two kinds of artist collaborations: those that give the impression of having been conceived by marketing professionals for their sales potential and ones that sound organic, born of musical kinship and shared delight. Sisters and Brothers, an affecting collection of gospel, blues, and soul by Eric Bibb, Rory Block, and Maria Muldaur, seems a prime example of the latter.

On their own records, Bibb, Block, and Muldaur always straddled the borders between gospel and blues, and they clearly had a ball doing that on these 13 tunes, recorded in an old timber-frame barn in Unity, Maine, with spirited backup by Chris Burns on piano, Michael "Mudcat" Ward on bass, and Per Hanson on drums. The highlights are many, beginning with Block's lilting lead vocal in a call-and-response with Bibb and Muldaur on Sister Rosetta Tharpe's "Rock Daniel." Bibb contributed four original songs to the session, including the simmering jazz-blues "Bessie's Advice," a tour de force of bent-note singing for Muldaur. Bibb also delivers a soulful cover of Bob Dylan's "Gotta Serve Somebody" and Block lends her world-class Delta-style picking to the 1920s-era blues "Rolling Log." (Telarc, www.telarc.com)

—Ian Zack

El McMeen, Dancing the Strings.

Celtic to Contemporary. McMeen's ninth solo CD has the deceptive simplicity, elegant construction, and pure clean lines of Shaker design, with one variation opening on the next like finely crafted nesting boxes. Striking lyricism and uncommon arrangements transform common American pop tunes like "Tennessee Waltz" into small gems, while McMeen's use of C G D G A D tuning captures the flavor of Celtic music, evoking the squawk of the fiddle and the drone of Uilleann pipes on "The Kid on the Mountain" and "The Humors of Ballyloughlin." Especially lovely are "There Is a Rose in Spanish Harlem" and "The Lovers' Waltz," whose artful techniques will be particularly appreciated by other fingerstyle guitarists. (Piney Ridge, www.elmcmeen.com)

—Céline Keating

Claus Boesser-Ferrari and Hans Reffert, Nachmittag Eines Fauns.

Claus Boesser-Ferrari has demonstrated his mastery of six- and 12-string guitars on his solo instrumental albums. Hans Reffert is known for the diverse and anarchistic musical sensibility that ran rampant in the enormously entertaining duo Schrammel and Slide. Here, they come together to take the guitar duo format in a new and adventurous direction, revelling in waves of scraping and knocking swirls, harsh attacks, and hanging electronic decays. They playfully mangle their own compositions as well as stylistically varied works by Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, and Claude Debussy. Fearlessness and familiarity with the cover tunes will help you enjoy these fine players on their musical holiday. The audacity of their version of Davis' "All Blues" is especially likely to elicit a smile. Instrumentation includes six-string, 12-string, archtop, and solid-body electric guitars; five-string banjo; and lap steel. The shaky vocals on some tracks have to be considered as part of the fun. The lion's share of the CD is pure twisted guitar extravaganza. (Acoustic Music, www.acoustic-music.de)

—Gary Lee Joyner

Nerissa and Katryna Nields, This Town Is Wrong.

Since disbanding the Nields, a quirkily intelligent '90s East Coast folk-rock favorite, sisters Nerissa and Katryna Nields have forged ahead as a twosome. This Town Is Wrong, the follow-up to their well-received 2002 duo debut, Love and China, grew from unusual origins. Commissioned by Scholastic Books to write a series of young adult novels based on her songs, Nerissa went a step further and created a soundtrack for the first book, scheduled for fall 2004 publication. Every cut on This Town Is Wrong documents an episode in the fictional adventures of Angela Riddle and Randi Rankin, a pair of headstrong 13-year-old girls who decide to become singer-songwriters. Some tales are told from the girls' point of view, notably the country-rockin' "Glow in the Dark Plastic Angel" and the title track, a pulsing folk-pop jewel. Other narrative voices chime in as well. Randi's musician father, Guy, contributes a superb folk-rock thumper, "The Day I Let Glory Steer," and the Big Idea, a local band that the girls fancy, offers "When I'm Here," an otherworldly country blues driven by Dave Chalfant's slide guitar. Lead vocalist Katryna Nields' shimmering vibrato and lilting, Celtic-flavored phrasing beautifully convey each storyteller's poetically crafted message, and the duo's angelic sibling harmonies glide over a punchy mix of acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, percussion, Dobro, banjo, and pedal steel. It all adds up to a stirring sonic blend that's at once buoyant and earthy. (Zoë/Rounder, www.rounder.com)

—Mike Thomas

Excerpted from Acoustic Guitar magazine, June 2004, No. 138.

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