New music

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/01/2019 (2790 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

POP / ROCK

Alejandro Escovedo (with Don Antonio)
The Crossing (Yep Roc!)

Alejandro Escovedo, a 68-year-old singer/songwriter/guitarist, has street cred that’s second to none (just Google him, he and his family are legendary). He explained that this hour-long, 17-track collaboration with Italian sextet Don Antonio (which has backed him on several tours) was contrived as the musical journey of two young men, a Mexican named Diego and an Italian named Salvo, travelling America in search of its vital, counterculture heart. That description is more conceit than anything, as The Crossing isn’t as much a narrative as it is a celebration of cross-cultural communion and an epic survey of Escovedo’s musical life.

Incorporating everything from orchestral strings to soulful horns, bossa nova beats to sincere balladry and plenty of foot-stomping rockers featuring Escovedo’s passionate shout of a voice, the record also includes guests such as James Williamson (of Stooges fame), Wayne Kramer (MC5), Peter Perrett (the Only Ones, singing on Waiting for Me) and Joe Ely (singing harmonies on a beautiful cover of his own Silver City, as well as the album’s title track).

As can be expected, the material cuts a broad swath, touching on the prejudices Escovedo has faced (Teenage Luggage, Rio Navidad), the lives that he and other Hispanic Americans have lived (Footsteps in the Shadows, Texas is My Mother), the ragged glory of his musical influences (Outlaw for You) and the joy and possibility that music has brought him (Sonica USA). Don Antonio plays exquisitely behind and beside him, and he graciously gives them room to stretch out and strut their plentiful stuff on Amor Puro and Flying.

★★★★1/2 stars out of five

Stream these: Footsteps in the Shadows, Texas is My Mother, Sonica USA

— John Kendle

 

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ROOTS / COUNTRY

Myles Goodwyn
And Friends Of The Blues (Linus Entertainment)

No matter what genre of music an artist has built their career upon, there seems to be a blues album somewhere in their consciousness, waiting to be unleashed.

April Wine lead throat Myles Goodwyn last recorded with the band in 2006, which is basically a lifetime in musical years, and since his only other solo release is 30 years old, it was about time the New Brunswicker got back to work. With this album, the 70-year-old Goodwyn presents himself as much more than your typical blues stylist — he takes enough chances with the form to make listening to this album virtually pure joy.

Firstly, he wrote 11 of the dozen tracks and all of them are worthy of any dyed-in-the-wool April Wine fan’s time. Good Man in a Bad Place is an earworm rocker with solid, mid-tempo boogie edge to it, while album opener I Hate To See You Go (But I Love To Watch You Walk Away) adds a dash of sassy horns to get its groove on.

Goodwyn’s voice is as solid as it has ever been and he lets it flow beautifully on the late-night-vibe ballads Weeping Willow Tree Blues and It’ll Take Time To Get Used To. Last Time I’ll Ever Sing The Blues adds 1970s-vintage-guitar demigod Rick Derringer on some scorching riffs that almost peel paint. Along for the ride are other friends and six-string fiends, including Kenny (Blues Boss) Wayne, Frank Marino, David Wilcox and Jack De Keyser, and with their help, the album moves from simple homage by a talented fan to an exceptional level of fun.

Who knows if April Wine will ever pour out their version of Canuck hard rock again, but until that time, it’s nice to stand back and hear one of the unique voices in music back on form for fans to enjoy.

Stream these: Nobody Lies (About Having The Blues), Good Man in a Bad Place

★★★1/2 stars

— Jeff Monk

 

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JAZZ

Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra
Suite 150 / A Big Band Portrait (WJO)

I’m perhaps a bit tardy in reviewing this album. It was released in mid-2018, but obviously refers to Canada’s 150th birthday.

The mainly live album was recorded at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in late 2017, but whenever one listens to it now, it is terrific. The WJO commissioned a number of excellent Canadian composers to write tunes that reflect some aspects of our country, including local musicians Jeff Presslaff, Andrew Balfour, Richard Gillis, and ones from other parts of the country such as Christine Jensen, Hilario Duran and Fred Stride.

Titles like Ontario’s Memories and From Far & Wide are pretty obvious, while others like Waves and Wenen (a trickster movement by Cree composer Andrew Balfour) are explained in the liner notes. The writing is impressive throughout; often complex and free-wheeling, and the soloists are excellent.

A Common Place Fanfare, which starts the album, is a fitting beginning, using the middle notes of the opening of O Canada as a base. Winnipeg pianist Ron Paley’s composition The More You Know is “all about the Prairies.”

Overall, this is a first-class outing — seriously constructed and imagined, and played with obvious enthusiasm and energy. One of the most complex tracks is Jeff Presslaff’s Here: 49 Degrees 52’ 34” N 97 Degrees 8’ 42” W, referred to as a musical calendar moving from winter to summer solstice. There is much to enjoy with this album, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to you.

★★★★

Stream these: From Far & Wide, Cirrus

— Keith Black

 

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CLASSICAL

Shudong Braamse
Sueños de España — Spanish Art Songs (Navona Records)

Acclaimed Chinese soprano Shudong Braamse ushers listeners to sunnier climes with this new release featuring evocative Spanish art songs, or canciones.

Each of her 19 selections chronicling life, love and loss are crafted with sensitive nuance, from first piece Un Adios telling of a troubadour leaving his lover and ancient city of Granada forever, to the album’s final offering, an appropriate bookend: A Granada (To Granada).

Equally dedicated to performing concert works from her homeland, as well as traditional western vocal music, Braamse’s agile vocals ably handle the florid ornamentation of other highlights: Lo Que Está de Dios and Niña Pancha, among others, with pianist Teresa Ancaya underscoring the latter song with dance-like, rhythmic ostinati the hallmark of the style, while showing her own lyrical touch during the lion’s share of the album’s pieces.

The singer also displays her expressive artistry and clear diction during A Tus Ojos, paying homage to the “eyes of a sweetheart,” as well as her soulful interpretation of Ave Maria, and the more darkly hewn El Caudillo de los Ciento.

Only A La Incredulidad and O Sí O No feature guitar accompaniment by Robert Phillips that infuses the recording with further instrumental colour and texture. More like this would have been welcomed, adding even greater variety to this still compelling paella of Spanish art songs, reverberating across the ages with heart-soaked sentiment.

★★★1/2 stars

— Holly Harris