NEIL COWLEY TRIO - Displaced (2006)

When it comes to Jazz music it’s really been some pianists who’ve opened the doors for me rather than the more textbook saxophonists or trumpeters (although there are now plenty of those I like too). The main thing you need to know about Neil Cowley, other than his keyboard genius, is that he’s classically literate but has also played extensively with The Brand New Heavies and Zero 7; it’s a set of differing influences that serve his Trio music well. This album was their debut album and they definitely found their feet from the off.

Opener ‘Little Secrets’ is propelled on a funky little bass line and then it’s the same trick with ‘How Do We Catch Up’; a repetitive, pumping bottom end and the most insistent piano figures layered over and over, subtly different each time, progressing...blooming...grooving, then kicking out all over the place with damaging chords bashed out as drums thrash increasingly complex patterns yet remain funky. It may not read like the greatest thing on paper but I hope it comes across a little; Neil Cowley’s brand of Jazz gives the form a good name in the 21^st Century for my money. The album actually ends with the ‘Entity Mix’ of ‘How Do We Catch Up’. It’s no major improvement, there’s a bit of added production but what it could do is provide a way into this music for the Jazz-Wary, putting subtly more emphasis on the rhythmic side to the sound.

There are slower tunes but even they never stand still, always giving off the vibe of a tuned-in trio cutting loose where anything could suddenly spark off and take the piece in another direction. They achieve this without ever sounding self indulgent or tedious as well; it’s not always you can say that with Jazz. There’s very little ‘over-playing’ either, you know where it sounds like a player trying to squeeze as many notes into as short a space of time as possible. That doesn’t occur here; in fact Cowley shows real restraint as can be evidenced on ‘Mourn’ with its sustained notes doing exactly what the title suggests.

Best of all for me is that ‘Displaced’ is the sound of someone really at home just playing incredible piano. Groovy piano with lovely meaty chords as well as the more classical styled passages. As first albums go (in terms of my own buying) this is one that leaves me wanting a lot more and I’ve got a feeling, after seeing Cowley earlier this year, that there is even better to come.

Essex Boy Rating: 7/10

RACHEL RIES – For You Only (2005)

I feel a bit sorry for an artist like Rachel Ries, operating as she does in a musical style that’s been really over-populated in the first decade of the 21^st Century. Those sensitive singer-songwriters are all over the place lately aren’t they? And some of them are just so bland, but somehow it seems the more mundane you are the better your chances of success. So what’s Rachel Ries got to do to get more attention? Her songs are really good and she can play them well, sing them like a natural and put together a really strong album like this but still nobody I know has even heard of her. What are you supposed to do when your medium is writing songs, singing them and playing them and you do all those things sublimely but you have to settle for a kind of marginal recognition? All the while a far lesser talent like Lady Gaga gets away with widely representing the new female music makers of our time. It’s almost as if she needs a gimmick, or perhaps she should just cover ‘Over The Rainbow’and license it out to an advert or something; a perfectly legitimate route for a lot of people. I do want to see her do something though simply because this is a record that I’ve lived with for nearly 12 months and I haven’t growing tired of it yet; there’s some really good songs on here.

I’ll confess now that I can sort of see the problem. When I first came across ‘For You Only’ and made a few rash judgements based on the ordinary looking cover shot, I did expect this to be quite a dull record. Rachel doesn’t really have any aspects to her image that aren’t plain likeable and pleasant; she doesn’t really have an edge. Once you know she’s good at this you can trust everything on her album will be worth a listen. Things never get too ponderous or meandering, a slower number is inevitably followed by something with a bit of pluck and bounce. The melodies are strong and the production pulls all the textures it can out of a couple of well played guitars, the occasional banjo or bit of light drumming. The song ‘We’ll All Be The Same’, has a slow moving strummed guitar over a lovely harmonium sound and really favourably evokes the sound of Elliott Smith. Walk down a wet street at night with this song in your headphones and you’ll experience a perfect symmetry of sound and setting. It is about as dark as Rachel gets on this album and easily stands out as an emotional high point. Then when the following tune ‘3am’ starts firing out almost aggressively thumped piano chords its clear there are more musical tricks up her sleeve should she need them. Fundamentally, I would strongly recommend this album just on the strength of the songwriting and performance. Both are above standard, they’re never remotely bland because music written and played so well never can be bland. That’s the thing about bland music, there’s nothing below the surface, no real substance or content. Here there’s content and quality in bundles, it’s just a shame that sometimes just being very good somehow isn’t enough to grab the attention you might deserve.

Essex Boy Rating: 7/10

BELLE & SEBASTIAN – Tigermilk (1996)

Belle & Sebastian arrived, for me, in 1996 championed by the late night Radio 1 golden era of Mark Radcliffe. A literate Scottish band who’d appear reading poetry, playing crafted and tuneful pop songs of a much finer grain than the mid-nineties Britpop Indie norm. They were enigmatic and for a while there wasn’t a definitive image to attach to; in fact for ages I never saw a picture of the band and even more frustratingly for a while, prior to this CD re-issue, the debut album ‘Tigermilk’ was impossible to get hold of; a collectors item. This was very frustrating because back in 1996 these were the tracks that Radcliffe got a bit of a buzz going with.

And what tracks! The opener ‘The State I Am In’ alone is as impressive a mission statement from a bands debut album as I’ve ever heard. Pop music of an early seventies folky type but played by a band with an ear for every post 60’s style the indie fraternity held in estime...a touch of garage jangle here, a hint of Spector girl-group pop there and an overall dedication to songcraft, melody and poetic lyrics. In this song alone the story of one mans inner struggles with the expectations of others, the desire to do right and how it leads him to sin is coloured with various layers of storytelling that include a priest with a photographic memory writing down all the protagonists confessions to create a novel called ‘The State I Am In’. It’s a book that neatly turns up in the final song too, being read by ‘Mary Jo’ who wants “A thespian with a caravanette in Hull”. These songs are packed with pinpoint character detail like the schoolgirl outsider making models of The Velvet Underground in clay. ‘I Don’t Love Anyone’ too is a fine piece of writing. On the face of it an abused loner’s song of defiance but look closer and you realise the statements are that of someone in denial: “I don’t love anyone. Not even Christmas. Especially not that”.

Musically the songwriters introspective foundations are pretty firm but pointers to Belle & Sebastian’s future explorations into wide ranging pop styles are all here. ‘You’re Just A Baby’ (one of the albums seriously under-rated tracks) sharply echoes the raw three-chord riffing of the Velvets while ‘Electronic Renaissance’reveals a keen ear for 80s pop sounds and beyond. I’d go as far as to say that this album represents a starting point for at least 10 years worth of ambitious, kaleidoscopic record making that entered the UK and US Alternative scenes soon after this release, albums far beyond the imaginations of the mid-nineties buttoned-down collar shirt ‘n’ trainers brigade. After ‘Tigermilk’ some incredible records were made by the likes of The Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, Elliott Smith and The Delgados, to name just the tip of a massive iceberg, that tried pushing the album format to new levels of artistry with more attention to production, scoring, concept, song structure and sequencing. I’m not saying they all were influenced by or even heard this Belle & Sebastian album, but I see it as the first step on a ladder leading to some wonderful music to come. I personally had little or no interest in any guitar combo opting for the heads down vocal-barked-into-a-bucket style meat ‘n’ potatoes indie from this point on. Not that I cared for them much in the first place.

There’s nothing to fault here really. Closing track ‘Mary Jo’ opens with a flute or something that reminds me of David Essex’s ‘A Winters Tale’, which is not what I want in my head, but it quickly becomes a decent album ending. That’s a minor moan really because I’ve got to face facts that this is definitely my most played Belle & Sebastian album. It’s that classic scenario of a band with a musical ethos and concept, overloaded with ideas on a debut album that presumably they had a lot of time to plan and execute and they got it bang on. There’s isn’t a bad track on here and it has to be said, I’m not sure they’ve ever bettered it.

Essex Boy Rating: 9/10

LANG LANG – Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.3 / Scriabin: Etudes (2002)

Lang Lang is one of the 21^st Century performers with the ability and personality to take classical music into far wider areas of appreciation. A genuine child prodigy who began learning the piano at the age of three, throughout his childhood he quickly gathered praise and acclaim as a Chinese musical master with boundless potential. Recorded at a Royal Albert Hall Proms night while he was still a teenager, this piano concerto is an astounding virtuoso performance, a centre stage show in every way. It doesn’t play out like there’s carefully prepared slots for the piano to solo before the orchestra strike up on cue to make the structure and form solid. The piano leads from start to finish with the orchestral parts throttling up where appropriate, backing with bundles of sympathy, rhythm and flair, but never once overwhelming the lead instrument. The concerto is initially based on a simple melodic pattern that ebbs and flows throughout, re-appearing in sometimes recognisable form and others as variations that cling no more than tenuously to the original pattern. If you listen closely to Lang Langs’ playing the technical execution will impress but that’s really not the point; he’s playing all the way with nothing less than total empathy with the composition and the feel of the piece. Sensitive where required and yet bold and powerful too when it’s needed, there’s a great moment twelve minutes into the opening piece where he’s bashing out high treble clef chords as if he’s about to launch into a version of ‘Nut Rocker’! To say he’s owning the work is an understatement; this was a performance that exists on a whole other level of playing. It will seep into your subconscious and that simple piano figure that roots the opening of this concerto will play out in your mind during the deep dark hours of the night. All three movements are towering pieces of music played to perfection. For this show Lang encored with the sublime ‘Liu Yang River’ which he describes as a “Chinese folk song” to the strangely amused audience.

After the genius of the Rachmaninov recital the remaining Scriabin Etudes, recorded on a different occasion, aren’t quite so joyous. Perhaps serving as more a demonstration of Lang’s range and versatility, they are eloquently played but do not come close to the breathtaking effect of the concerto performance, which is enough reason alone for me to strongly recommend this album to anyone.

Essex Boy Rating: 8/10

ART BLAKEY & THE JAZZ MESSENGERS – Moanin’ (1958)

The Blue Note label seemed to capture the essence of Jazz music with a sound that to this day defines the genre. It’s the label I’d refer to if I were trying to persuade a non-believer as to the value of Jazz. Not just that but this is one of, if not the, Blue Note albums I would turn to. Here’s a record that features in the title track, arguably the most swingin’ and soulful piece of Jazz music ever recorded. That it manages to both swing and feel so damn irresistible but still have that element of a cookin’ band just groovin’ and improvisin’ as they go is a massive achievement. ‘Moanin’’ is an undisputed slice of classic Jazz history. It heads up the album from the start and kicks in after a great opening sound-snippet simply titled ‘Warm Up And Dialogue...’ and its exactly that, a mouth watering start to the album which announces what we have here; a group of musicians at the top of their game cutting it in a studio as the tapes roll. I’d play that bit of opening studio chat, the pause and count-in to ‘Moanin’’ and then the opening few minutes to anyone not convinced about Jazz music. If they didn’t want to hear more after that then you’re wasting your time with them.

‘Moanin’’ is the work of keyboard player Bobby Timmons but it’s the sax player Benny Golson who dominates the rest of the compositions. Of these ‘Blues March’ is another stand out, a simply driving beast of a thing that even now a club DJ with an ear for the eclectic could drop easily into a set. Lee Morgan is another key player here on trumpet, a lynchpin of the 1950s Blue Note stable whose work I need to be delving deeper into.

Central to the whole set is ‘The Drum Thunder Suite’ where Art Blakey takes a starring role on a three piece suite that properly showcases his pounding prowess. You may wonder how it is that the drummer gets the top billing anyway? He’s only the drummer after all, he’s not the one playing all the music and creating the tunes! He’s just hanging out with a bunch of talented musicians who’ve been generous enough to let him join in. I don’t really think that of course and it should give you some idea of what a pivotal role Art Blakey plays here that there’s not much evidence of anybody over the years asking such a question. With the strong emphasis on rhythm he really did take jazz forward, you’ve only got to look at how a lot of the Blue Note fifties grooves were revived decades later on the Acid Jazz label to recognise what ground breaking work was going down here. Without Blakey this would just be a great jazz band, with him it’s a rollin’ an’ a tumblin’ jazz steamroller that knocks out anything that gets in its way!

Essex Boy Rating: 10/10

FRAZEY FORD - Obadiah (2010)

I love how the internet works for discovering music; you log onto a streaming site and there on the home page one of the albums they’re pushing is by some folksy lady ambling through a field of blackgrass and I think “hmm looks promising I’ll give it a try”. Most of the time the try out will lead to disappointment but it’s a fairly regular occurrence too that a record will grab you immediately and that’s the case here; ‘Obadiah’ is fast becoming one of my albums of the year.

It turns out Frazey Ford has been a ten year long member of The Be Good Tanyas; a band I have yet to try out because their name rings a few alarm bells (something I shouldn’t go by on account of the fact that I love the band Spoon!). At the time of writing I still haven’t given them a go but then if Ford can put out a record this good on her own perhaps she’s a little watered down in a group setting a-la Neil Young in CSN&Y? I could be talking cobblers of course.

What’s the big deal here then? Well her songwriting is of a higher standard than I’d generally expect. That she covers the classic Bob Dylan tune ‘One More Cup Of Coffee’ and it’s one of the weaker tracks here should tell you enough but there’s more. The title track ‘Firecracker’ paints a picture of booze fuelled bravado with a hint of doubt and reflection, but you just get the feeling that there’s so much more going on beneath the lyrics that can only reveal itself over time. A seriously great song and the others don’t let the side down either but then it’s not just the songwriting; this ladies got soul!

From start to finish if a track isn’t being pumped along to a raw seventies soul groove, hip-swaying drums with fruity organ and funky guitar chops, then even a slower number oozes the warm feel of a great soul ballad. You know Frazey could burst into a short refrain of Ann Peebles’ ‘I Can’t Stand The Rain’ over one of the fade-outs here and it wouldn’t sound wrong. ‘Blue Streak Mama’ has such a laid back vibe that you can just about here Frazey calling out changes to the band buried deep in the mix. But then it’s not just the fact that she’s got soul that makes this album such a winner. Oh no, it’s that voice as well. Frazey Ford is blessed with a vocal sound and sultry style of delivery that is about as distinctive as you can get. But what a voice, it melts over you and has sent me back to this album again and again and again.

Essex Boy Rating: 9/10

PETER GABRIEL – So (1986)

The aim of this blog is to properly listen and rate my entire collection of music; a process by which at a rate of 2-3 a week is going to take well over 20 years and seeing as I’m adding to the collection all the time...well it will basically end when I do. Now I accept that there will be a continual emphasis towards recently purchased stuff but I’m going to tackle ‘The Library’ with serious intent and in order to keep it interesting I plan to do that on a random basis. However....for the first entry let’s just start at the very beginning....

Peter Gabriel’s ‘So’ album was the first CD I bought. Peter Gabriel playing live at Earls Court in 1987 was my first gig. Allowing for the inevitable nostalgia induced favouritism, I’m happy to say that to this day they remain both a favourite album and one of my best ever gigs. ‘So’ is sadly under-championed I think, but then for such a big selling record I suppose that’s bound to be the case. Let’s get one other thing straight from the outset: success doesn’t always mean artistic decline or compromise. It does in many cases I know but any artist or band who just want to reach as many people as possible by recording a brilliant album full of classic songs won’t get knocked down on ‘The Essex Boy Review’. You won’t find any of that sad indie snobbery round here!

I know that there are elements to the sound here that surrender it to the 80s. That doesn’t really matter though because it’s not a thin, tinny sound; it’s deep, big and bold as much as it’s got that crisp 80s sheen. Then there’s Gabriel’s voice; his greatest asset if the truth be told. I doubt very much he’ll ever gain wider recognition as a soul singer but that’s basically what he is. There’s such resonance in that slightly croaky voice; a real ache in the Otis Redding style of delivery that it’s no surpise to learn it was Redding on tracks like ‘Respect’ that Gabriel was channelling for ‘Sledgehammer’. He pulled it off too; the ground breaking video deflected everyone’s attention away from what a great piece of soul-pop this actually was. A deserved hit.

So too is ‘Don’t Give Up’ with Kate Bush. This song features one of my favourite moments on the album in the bridge where the gospel-syle piano chords come in and Peter sings “got to walk out of here, I can’t take anymore”. It’s one of those rare moments in his back catalogue where Gabriel really pulls his punches in a straightforward manner and just lets the song and voice do their thing. It’s not just the hits though; ‘Red Rain’s’ crashing electric piano chords are as strong and emotive as a non-acoustic keyboard has ever sounded. ‘In Your Eyes’ has a groovy African rhythm and again another great hook while ‘Mercy Street’ is minimal, slow and graceful.

Back in the day me and my mate, the one who came to the Earls Court gig, bought this album again on cassette because the vinyl version didn’t have ‘This Is The Picture’ on it. I remember us both listening to this extra track for the first time and going “well that wasn’t up to much”. I’m not going to knock it now though; in fact I’m glad Gabriel still put out a couple of tracks on his most commercial release that required a bit of ear and head work from the listener. Besides that didn’t stop ‘So’ becoming my first CD purchase in 1989 or even stop me from buying it a ridiculous fourth time a few years ago after it was remastered. That’s the release I’ve listened to today and the source of my only moan comes from that because the running order is altered slightly. ‘In Your Eyes’ doesn’t close the album on any previous issue so I don’t think it should here, even though it does make a bit more sense and is a great upbeat end to the album now. Also, there should have been some bonus material surely? I remember a much better, longer version of ‘In Your Eyes’ on a 12” single back in the day and a really good b-side called ‘Curtains’. Still, that’s a fans gripe really isn’t it? This is one of the all time great albums and if you don’t like this....well you probably won’t like my blog. Top marks PG.

Essex Boy Rating: 10/10